"Bigotry and intolerance, silenced by argument, endeavors to silence by persecution, in old days by fire and sword, in modern days by the tongue"
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Bigotry rarely retires; it just changes tactics. Simmons frames intolerance as a sore loser in the marketplace of ideas: when it cannot win by argument, it tries to win by force. The line works because it treats persecution not as a spontaneous eruption of hatred but as a strategic pivot, a deliberate plan B. That’s a sharper accusation than calling bigots “ignorant.” It calls them political.
The structure is a neat historical hinge: “old days by fire and sword” evokes the blunt instruments of state violence and religious war, then “modern days by the tongue” lands like a quiet, contemporary indictment. The subtext is that progress hasn’t eliminated persecution; it has civilized its methods. Instead of literal flames, you get reputational arson: slander, denunciation, scapegoating, the public tongue as a weapon that can still cost someone a job, safety, citizenship, or standing. Simmons is also hinting at institutional complicity. Fire and sword require authorities; so does the “tongue” when it’s amplified by parties, papers, pulpits, or parliamentary privilege.
As a politician writing in a century marked by propaganda, mass media, and ideological purges, Simmons is warning that modern democracies have their own forms of coercion. Argument may “silence” bigotry in the sense of refuting it, but refutation doesn’t neutralize the desire to dominate. The line’s intent is prophylactic: don’t confuse a calmer surface with moral improvement. Watch how power speaks when it’s losing.
The structure is a neat historical hinge: “old days by fire and sword” evokes the blunt instruments of state violence and religious war, then “modern days by the tongue” lands like a quiet, contemporary indictment. The subtext is that progress hasn’t eliminated persecution; it has civilized its methods. Instead of literal flames, you get reputational arson: slander, denunciation, scapegoating, the public tongue as a weapon that can still cost someone a job, safety, citizenship, or standing. Simmons is also hinting at institutional complicity. Fire and sword require authorities; so does the “tongue” when it’s amplified by parties, papers, pulpits, or parliamentary privilege.
As a politician writing in a century marked by propaganda, mass media, and ideological purges, Simmons is warning that modern democracies have their own forms of coercion. Argument may “silence” bigotry in the sense of refuting it, but refutation doesn’t neutralize the desire to dominate. The line’s intent is prophylactic: don’t confuse a calmer surface with moral improvement. Watch how power speaks when it’s losing.
Quote Details
| Topic | Freedom |
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