It lamented the death of a friend. Part of it went:

He was a friend of mine

He was a friend of mine

Every time I think about him now Lord I just can’t keep from cryin’

Cause he was a friend of mine

In 1963, Roger McGuinn of the Byrds rewrote this song to make it an eulogy for President Kennedy:

He was a friend of mine, he was a friend of mine
His killing had no purpose, no reason or rhyme
He was a friend of mine

He was in Dallas town, he was in Dallas town
From a sixth floor window a gunner shot him down
He was in Dallas town

He never knew my name, he never knew my name
Though I never met him I knew him just the same
Oh he was a friend of mine

Leader of a nation for such a precious time
He was a friend of mine

This song actually caused a little bit of tension among the members of The Byrds. Before singing the song at a festival in 1967, David Crosby stated he did not accept the usual explanation of the shooting (which is to some degree affirmed in the song). The other members were upset at him for littering the performance with this conspiracy theory, at least partly because it resulted in less television coverage. This, along with other events at the festival, is probably at least partially an explanation for the split between Crosby and the rest of the group. Or at least part of the progression that led to that.

Anyways, just an interesting random history flashback.

However, there is another aspect to his thought, specifically relating to politicial issues. Was he a libertarian? George Marsden, The Freeman, and other sources believe so!

Historian George Marsden called him “radically libertarian” and stated that he “opposed almost any extension of state power and took stands on a variety of issues. Like most libertarians, his stances violated usual categories of liberal or conservative.”

Daniel Walker said the following of him: “Machen is one of many prominent American defenders of political liberty and economic freedom who have been largely forgotten by a people intent on abandoning its heritage of freedom.”

Machen opposed the military draft during World War I and also opposed prohibition, two stances that might not seem to jive with the common caricature of how a theologically conservative Christian would think, especially in the early 1900’s.

Here are a few quotes right from Machen:

“Personality can only be developed in the realm of individual choice. And that realm, in the modern state, is being slowly but steadily eradicated.”

“Everywhere there rises before our eyes the specter of a society where security, if it is attained at all, will be attained at the expense of freedom, where the security that is attained will be the security of fed beasts in a stable, and where all the high aspirations of humanity will have been crushed by an all-powerful state.”

On education, he said “If you give the bureaucrats the children, you might as well give them everything else as well.” He also said: “Place the lives of children in their formative years, despite the convictions of their parents, under the intimate control of experts appointed by the state, force them to attend schools where the higher aspirations of humanity are crushed out, and where the mind is filled with the materialism of the day, and it is difficult to see how even the remnants of liberty can subsist.”

Nathaniel attended a Baptist church and was an intimate friend of figures such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Randolph.  It should be noted that Jefferson’s famous quote about truth in advertising originated from a letter to Macon. He is known for having stood up against a Alien and Sedition acts, among other things and quite consistently stood against the expansion of federal power.

In the memoir written by Weldon Nathaniel Edwards, it is said that

“Of his political creed, it is scarcely necessary to speak. His unchequered consistency–the frank and manly avowal of his opinion on all proper occasions….Adopting to the fullest extent, the doctrine which allowed to men the capacity for, and the right of self-government…and never would consent–however strongly the law of circumstances, the common plea of tyrants, might demand it–to exercise doubtful powers.”

John Randolph commented about Nathaniel: “He is the wisest, the purest, and the best man that I ever knew”.  He leaves a legacy of republicanism (with a small ‘r’) and has had a handful of towns and counties are named after him.

Here are a few exerpts from an article by Clyde N. Wilson on Macon:

“…an important Founding Father almost unknown these days.  Comparing Macon with the politicians of today gives us a benchmark as to how dreadfully far America has degenerated from the principles on which it was founded…Macon was admired because he never changed from the principles with which he began.  What were these principles?  The federal government should be tightly bound by the Constitution.  It should not tax the people and spend money any more than was absolutely necessary for the things it was entitled to do, nor go into debt, which was just a way to make the taxpayers pay interest to the rich.  Eternal vigilance was the price of liberty.  Power was always stealing from the many to the few.  Office-holders were to be watched closely and kept as directly responsible to the citizens as possible.   A few words from Macon in Congress often stopped bills that proposed supposedly attractive measures…As time went on, Macon realised more and more that preserving true republican principles was a losing cause, but in the company of John Randolph and John Taylor he never wavered…But Macon, like Washington and Jefferson, was not important and respected because he was elected to office.  He was elected to office because he was important and respected.  He never campaigned for an office.  He never attended a party caucus.  He never promised anyone patronage to support him.  Macon was elected over and over and revered because of what he was….Macon was more Jeffersonian than Jefferson himself.”

No doubt Macon, along with many other founding fathers, kept slaves and had a troubling and despicable view on the slavery question. And many of these politicians and other later highly lauded politicians, including the often revered Abraham Lincoln, had very racist ideas. But nonetheless, there is much to be learned here about principles of politics and nobility in politics by looking into the history of these men.  Macon, for all his warts, is an example of a early zealous “Dr No”, so to speak.  In a few different ways, he should be an inspiration to those who would boldly against statism.

“Who will show me any Constitutional injunction which makes it the duty of the American people to surrender everything valuable in life, and even life itself, not when the safety of their country and its liberties may demand the sacrifice, but whenever the purposes of an ambitious and mischievous government may require it?”

“The Great Awakening was the have important consequences for America. It transcended narrow colonialism by raising up national figures, and led to the revival of numerous churches in various denominations. Many schools, some of which would  become the most advanced institutions of learning in the world, such as Princeton, Brown University, Rutgers University and Dartmouth grew directly out of the Great Awakening. Furthermore, the fact that “state churches” opposed the Great Awakening preachers…sharpened the debate on the seperation of church and state, and important principle the Founding Fathers would embrace at Independence. The Great Awakening, in fact, established the basic beliefs which would see America through the War of Independence and the formulation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It drew the nation together in the conviction that all men are equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, the most famous being the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

from The Fall of Christendom and the Rise of the Church by Peter Pikkert, p200-2001, p248-249

“In the last days of December the plans were completed, and the warrants went out by the thousands to Department of Justice officials across the country. The target date for te raids was to be January 2.

In Chicago, when the Republican State Attorney Hoyne learned that the Democractic administration was planning a raid, he made ready for his own raid to steal  the thunder of the administration. On January 1, state and local officials swooped down in Chicago in 300 separate raids, picking up 200 prisoners. Hoyne complained that they would have had more prisoners except that the Department of Justice tipped off the radicals that the state was raiding.”

from The Palmer Raids 1919-1920: An Attempt to Suppress Dissent by Edwin R. Hoyt

The actual 4th Amendment reads:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

The new 4th Amendment reads like this:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures may not be suspended except to protect public welfare. Any place or conveyance shall be subject to search by law enforcement forces of any political entity, and any such places or conveyances, or any property within them, may be confiscated without judicial proceeding if believed to be used in a manner contrary to law. “