Comments on: 1803: Edward Marcus Despard, a patriot without a nation

By: darren redstar

darren redstar — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:20:47 +0000

what a shame that jays despard has become the widest distributed account of the colonels life.
Jays book displays a woefull ignorance of the historical work on both despard and the revolutionary mvement in britain and Ireland at the end of the 18th century. His willingness to dismiss the wealth of such work in favour of seeing despard as a champion of ‘conservative liberty’ and is woefully ignorant that he believes that patriot was a conservative term in the late 18thcentury when it was in fact the name which the most radical of revolutionaries gave themselves.

By: Headsman

Headsman — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 05:55:53 +0000

A fine question. Precedents seem discouraging. Optimism of the will?

Off-topic, I’d also like to flag some good commentary on this post that took place on Livejournal.

By: Lane Brooks

Lane Brooks — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:47:40 +0000

The most interesting aspect of this fascinating post is in the interview with Mike Jay. The parallel between the political situation we face today in the U.S. with a manufactured war on terror designed to consolidate power and the crossroads in the Britain of the time is brought into powerful focus. Will we allow our liberty to be executed in respectful silence or will we stand up to the corrupt officials who are directing the executioners?

By: Blunderov

Blunderov — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 05:43:52 +0000

I believe the verb for an execution by means of a noose is “hanged” not “hung”. Pictures are hung. Persons are hanged. There does seem to be an anomoly with the expression “hung, drawn and quartered” admittedly. Put it down to usage I suppose. English is a language with may exeptions to the rule.

Thanks for this remarkable site. It has done a lot for the abolitionist cause IMO.

Best regards.