The first substantive theory of free speech as a secular political right was concocted by two anonymous London journalists, Thomas Gordon and John Trenchard, in their best-selling, endlessly reprinted newspaper column, Cato's Letters (1720–1723). Though its ideals became hugely influential, especially in the American colonies, Trenchard and Gordon's motives and the peculiar biases of their theory remain unexplored. John Locke's theorizing of personal liberty while accepting patriarchy and slavery has been much studied; that of Cato's Letters, a comparably significant text, not at all. Drawing on a wealth of newly discovered materials in British, Caribbean, and American archives, the author explores the telling roles of gender and especially race in early Anglophone ideals of free speech, connecting them to the lived experiences of Gordon, Trenchard, and their shadowy publisher, Elizée Dobrée. The article thus reframes our understanding of one of the most important Anglo-American political works of the eighteenth century, and exemplifies how to approach free speech historically, as both a theory and a practice. Freedom of expression does not simply arise from the lessening of “censorship” and restraint, nor is it ever equally accessible to all. Visibly and invisibly, like every kind of liberty, it always has a particular shape.

中文翻译：

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自由、奴隶制和传记：言论自由的隐藏形态

第一个将言论自由作为世俗政治权利的实质性理论是由两位匿名的伦敦记者 Thomas Gordon 和 John Trenchard 在他们最畅销、不断重印的报纸专栏 Cato's Letters (1720–1723) 中炮制的。尽管它的理想产生了巨大的影响，尤其是在美国殖民地，但特伦查德和戈登的动机以及他们理论的特殊偏见仍未得到探索。约翰·洛克在接受父权制和奴隶制的同时对个人自由的理论化得到了大量研究；加图的书信，一个相当重要的文本，根本不是。作者利用英国、加勒比海和美国档案馆中大量新发现的材料，探讨了性别，尤其是种族在早期英语国家的言论自由理想中的重要作用，将他们与 Gordon、Trenchard 和他们神秘的出版商 E​​lizée Dobrée 的生活经历联系起来。因此，这篇文章重新构建了我们对 18 世纪最重要的英美政治著作之一的理解，并举例说明了如何从历史角度看待言论自由，既是一种理论，也是一种实践。言论自由不仅仅源于“审查制度”和限制的减少，也不是所有人都能平等地获得。有形无形地，就像每一种自由一样，它总是有一个特定的形状。言论自由不仅仅源于“审查制度”和限制的减少，也不是所有人都能平等地获得。有形无形地，就像每一种自由一样，它总是有一个特定的形状。言论自由不仅仅源于“审查制度”和限制的减少，也不是所有人都能平等地获得。有形无形地，就像每一种自由一样，它总是有一个特定的形状。