This isn’t a Libertarian account.
Here’s why.
On the state
Libertarian: as small as possible — ideally none.
Old Whig: limited, but real. Defence, justice, and the rule of law are non-negotiable.
On rights
Libertarian: derived from abstract first principles, built from scratch.
Old Whig: confirmed by history — Magna Carta, Habeas Corpus, the Bill of Rights. Inherited, not invented.
On reform
Libertarian: tear down and rebuild on pure logic.
Old Whig: improve what exists, one generation at a time.
On rights vs duties
Libertarian: rights are the whole story.
Old Whig: rights and duties are two sides of one coin — self-help, civic duty, jury service, not just abstract theory.
On markets
Libertarian: a neutral mechanism — strip away morality and it still works.
Old Whig: Smith built his economics on sympathy, not self-interest alone. A market of strangers who trust no one and owe nothing to each other isn’t the system he described — it’s the one he warned could emerge without virtue underneath it.
Same destination — liberty, prosperity, limited government.
Different roads to get there.