Lilburne, so contentious that ...

It was said of John Lilburne (1614 - 1657) the infamous agitator of the period of the Commonwealth in English history, that if there were no one else around with whom to argue, "John" would argue with "Lilburne."

Not an uncommon personality trait, alas, though sometimes it becomes so severe as to produce grudging admiration in bystanders. Indeed, someone in Lilburne's day wrote a poem about it.

John Lilburne

Is John departed? and is Lilburne gone?
Farewell to both -- to Lilburne and to John.
Yet, being gone, take this advice from me:
Let them not both in one grave buried be.
Here lay ye John, lay Lilburne thereabout;
For if they both should meet, they would fall out.

So let's spend a moment or two today holding Lilburne in our thoughts, because with that kind of personality, he should be the patron saint of bloggers everywhere, of every stripe of opinion.