Byles & Lecky

This date marks the birthday of two notable gentlemen, albeit with births more than a century apart and in two different calendars, to be especially noted in this 225^th anniversary year of the first inauguration of George Washington as chief executive.

On this date in 1706, 308 years ago, Mather Byles was born.

Two dozen years short of two centuries ago today, William Edward Hartpole Lecky was born.

Mather Byles supported the Loyalist cause during the American War for Independence. He spoke out with these words:

Which is better - to be ruled by one tyrant three thousand miles away or by three thousand tyrants one mile away?

W.E.H. Lecky was an Irish statesman, historian, and political theorist. He wrote of the American rebellion:

The disruption of America from the British Empire was largely due to the encroachments of Parliament on the ancient prerogative of the Crown; and no small part of the success of English colonial government is due to the class of men who have been appointed governors.