Arator by John Taylor of Caroline

Arator by John Taylor of Caroline. Intro by M.E. Bradford. Softcover: 426 pages. (Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 1977) $10.00.

Arator is very much a distinctive "series of agricultural essays-political and practical" written by Virginia statesman and planter of the Old Republic which was first published in 1813. John Taylor, also known as the Sage of Hazelwood, dedicates a considerable portion of this book reflecting upon the socio-economic and political order of an agrarian republic which he sought to defend. In his book Arator, John Taylor speaks to a multitude of subjects and issues. He also offers practical and perhaps dated advice on farming (i.e. manuring, livestock, draining, etc.) as well which though extraneous may be a historical curiosity to some modern readers. To sketch a brief biography of the man, John Taylor of Caroline, in the words of M.E. Bradford,

"became the classic figure of `old republican' theory: the exemplar of an almost Roman virtus, the Virginia Cato, who soldiers, enforces the law, writes in its defense and of the life it secures, and serves the state well when called to office because he has something better to do-because there are lands and people of whose good is a faithful steward."

During his early tenure in the military, he rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel serving in both the Continental Army and Virginia militia. Thereafter, he adopted the profession of his stepfather, and became an accomplished attorney. Taylor turned his oratory abilities to the task of statesmanship and became a legislator in the Virginia House of Delegates and the United States Senate. He grew restless in the practice of law and politics and eventually retired to his plantation where he farmed. Though, he was not aloof from political concerns and discourse, as he wrote a number of books and political tracts.

John Taylor of Caroline dedicated much of his political life in defense of the Constitution as a strict constructionist and a principled republican. Likewise, he fought against the perceived depredations of the artificial aristocracy of "paper and patronage" that was wrapping itself around the edifice of the federal government like some sly serpent. He assailed the corrupting mercantilist system of patronage and privilege that the centralising nationalists sought to import from England. According to Taylor, if this moneyed oligarchy thoroughly entrenched itself than the inevitable dire results would be consolidation, empire, monopoly, special privilege, jobbery, patronage, legal plunder and theft by taxation. Taylor no doubt had nothing but disdain for Hamilton's scheming to conscript legions of children and women to work factories. He felt strongly that either imperial consolidation or disunion would be the end result, and in any case, it entailed the ruin of the republic.

Taylor was sharp in his rebuke and criticism of the so called "paper aristocracy." Taylor saw this mercantilist class committed to plundering the productive agricultural, mechanical and labour interests so as to endow opulence upon the manufacturers, financiers, speculators and stock-jobbers. This scheming oligarchy driven by material avarice was hardly averse to the creation of legal monopolies and the spoliation of the taxpayers so long as they were enriched through bounties, subsidies and interest from government debt. Taylor penned, Monarchies and aristocracies, being founded in the principle of distributing wealth by law, can only subsist by frauds and deceptions to dupe ignorance for its benefit; but in genuine republics, founded on the principle of leaving wealth to be distributed by merit and industry, these treacheries of government are treasons against nations" (p. 94). Taylor remained a principled republican and resisted the temptation to mount a campaign of counter-plunder for the benefit of the agricultural class. Taylor surmised, "If a scheme could be contrived in favour of agriculture, similar to the protecting duty scheme in favour of manufacturers, it would enslave the farmers... The utmost favour which it is possible for a government to do for us farmers and mechanics is neither to help nor hurt us" (p. 95). Thus, in his political capacity as a Senator who championed the agricultural and landed interests, he did fall prey to the philosophy of legal plunder, but preferred laissez-faire instead. Though, he recognised the need for a civil framework to protect property while prosecuting the twin depredations of force and fraud. He was eerily prophetic in surmising that the usurpations of this plundering class would ultimately led to civil war: "...it will begat new usurpations of internal power over persons and property, and these will begat dissolution of the union." Taylor committed his pen and oratory skills to confronting such despotism, and wrote a number of treatises, political tracts, and made some poignant filibuster speeches as a legislator.

History tends to vindicate Taylor's concerns in my humble opinion. Taylor though was a nimble Unionist, and saw it necessary to preserve the liberties of the people in their natural communities with the concert of thirteen separate commonwealths tethered together by friendship, mutual consent and the fraternal bonds cultivated during the Revolution. But just as the John Adams-the quintessential Yankee had spoken of States as being "nations," Taylor no less considered Virginia to be his country. One must surely be a Virginian, Marylander or Georgian as they are an American; and this was the understanding of patriotism that our forefathers embraced and espoused. In the early 1800s, John Taylor alongside John Randolph of Roanoke rose to become sectional leaders of the Tertium Quids (i.e. Latin for the Third Thing.) They represented the extreme conservative wing of the Jeffersonian Republicans. The Tertium Quids saw themselves as authentic expositors of classical republicanism, and their principles compelled them to oppose the artificial aristocracy and the compromises of both Jefferson and Madison, et al. within their own ranks. They were especially averse to the machinations of the High Federalists (i.e. the Essex Junto, Fisher Ames, Aaron Burr) who sought to disrupt and fragment the Union.

Taylor, the leader of the pastoral republicans looked to certain classical exemplars like Cato the Censor. Likewise, as an Old Whig he was no doubt influenced by Cato's De Agri Cultura and by Virgil's Georgics. These classical works connect virtue and the proper order of human life with the discipline of the farmer and husbandman. For this reason, Taylor tended to treat agriculture as a species of moral instruction. Moreover, agriculture represented a noble and honorable calling to Taylor. The landed farmer relied on prescriptive wisdom, experience, patience, hard work, and a profound sense of duty and reverence to the divine. Such a way of life cultivated independence which made for good solid citizens, or vir bonus-the plain good man. The Roman republic of hollowed antiquity called upon the independent freeholders-indeed farmers and yeoman-to provide for her defense. This militia consisted of citizen-soldiers which were always deemed preferable to standing armies or hired mercenaries. Taylor deemed the citizen-militia the "rock of our liberty." For Taylor, the classics offered a breadth of historical insight and wisdom, and he saw that the pursuit of empire undone the Romans. Taylor confronted the perils of slavery with surprisingly candid commentary, and like Jefferson, he saw the existence of that peculiar institution as a catalyst for sparking future conflict, and social strife. He was emboldened to admit that the continuity of slavery might very well kindle the judgment of God. "Virtue and vice are naturally and unavoidably coexistent... Perhaps the sight of slavery and its vices may inspire the mind with affection for liberty and its virtue" [p. 124]. The exploitation of slave labour by the landed interest, conversely reflected a subtle hypocrisy on the part of Taylor as he and other agrarians were so quick to condemn the spoliation and organised legal plunder perpetuated by the "paper aristocracy."

All things considered, this is a good window into John Taylor of Caroline's political thought which represents the "Old Country Whigs." His other books such as Tyranny Unmasked and New Views on the Constitution come highly recommended as well. If you're just looking for a cursory look at Taylor's political thought than I recommend that you check out New Views first. Historian W.A. Williams opined that Taylor made "the best case against empire as a way of life."