Mark Thompson

"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it." - Billings Learned Hand, 1952, aspendrl.org/portal/browse/…

"Tryon Declaration of Rights and Independence from British Tyranny."

In the early 1770s it was clear to the American "colonists" that the London government which ruled them - led by Tory Party Prime Minister Lord North - had "gone rogue". The first of the 13 Colonies to approve independence in writing was North Carolina, whose flag today includes the dates of two pro-independence documents which were issued there. Car number plates in NC say "First in Freedom". One of the men who organised the resistance movement in NC was Colonel John Walker. He wrote the "Tryon Resolves" of 14 August 1775. His grandfather was Governor George Walker who had led the resistance at the Siege of Derry in 1689.

Back in 1958 #NorthernIreland beat #Italy to successfully qualify for their first World Cup finals after beating the Azzurri at Windsor Park, Belfast. James McIlroy and Wilbur Cush getting the goals for #NornIron 💚

@GribbenC @piratechristian 🤣

@MarkThompStuff @piratechristian Is it the braces?

I do not know who made this, but WOW this is accurate.

Interesting - “the intellectual work of weakening the desire for liberty.”

Samuel Adams - “… learned about more contemporary writers and philosophers such as John Locke and James Harrington. The events of the Glorious Revolution and the rise of Parliament had spawned a tidal wave of discussion about the relationship of power, liberty, government, and the right of revolution. Adams nodded quick agreement with Locke's assertion that the goal of good government was to ensure men rights to life, liberty, and property. While based on more secular concerns, Locke's concept of the covenant between government and citizens was parallel to Adams's own deep-seated commitment to the covenant of his ancestors …”

Thomas Jefferson later explained that the Declaration of Independence did not aim to express new principles, but was based on "the American mind," including ideas expressed by "the elementary books of public right, as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, &c." reason.com/volokh/2016/07…

"...And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis – a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?..." - Thomas Jefferson, 'Notes on the State of Virginia' (1785)

Thomas Paine – "The Law is King" (1776) The same idea had been (treasonously) printed 130 years before, and an ocean away. Rev. Samuel Rutherford, Anwoth, Scotland – "Lex Rex" (1644)

Happy St Patrick’s day from the top of Slemish

In 1526, the Bishop of London burned copies of William Tyndale’s English NT at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, calling it a “most pernicious poison.” This summer that same church will host a special exhition for the book to mark its 500th anniversary. stpauls.co.uk/whats-on/exhib…

Today is the anniversary of the Clydebank Blitz - those two nights back in March 1941 when the Luftwaffe tore the town apart. Nearly every house got hit; out of 12,000, just seven stood untouched. More than 500 people lost their lives, thousands were wounded

Daniel Boorstin, The Reith Lectures, 1974 "America and the World Experience" bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00…

Norton St Philip, Somerset - The George Inn and the 1685 Monmouth “Pitchfork” Rebellion

@GribbenC The 1634 planning trip for “Eagle Wing” was a meeting with Rev John White in Dorchester. He was founder of the Massachusetts Bay Company.

@MarkThompStuff At one point, the most Puritan town in England - see Underdown’s “Fire from heaven” for a great read

Dorchester. Material memories of King James II and Judge George Jeffreys’ “Bloody Assizes” of autumn 1685. Fast-tracked mass trials, executions and “transportations” to the Caribbean. A story told by Hollywood in the 1935 breakthrough movie for Errol Flynn, entitled “Captain Blood”.