Empire and Community
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Edmlrnd B u r k S \Vritings and Speeches
on In terncltioncr EDITED BY
David P. Fid AND
Jennifer M. Welsh
A Member of the Perseus Books Croup
f3~rmirsions "I-ke edited selections frorxr Burke's writings a.td spee~lzesin this book 4Edrrifdrzd Rz~rke,g n . ed, are taken frorrr 77~eWriti~tgsand ,C;pccct~e~ f3aul 1,angford (Ox&>rd:Czlarendorr Ress, 1981- ) and are repri~zred Iy g>ermissiu~.t of Clxford Ltniltersicy fjress.
NO part of A11 rights reservecl. 13rrinredin the U~ziredStates c~FAix~eri~a. this publical.ion may be rcprotliuced or rrarlsrxrirred in any forrrr or by any fneans, elecrror~icor ~necl~nical, inclttdir~gphorocopy recorditzg, r i o ~ ~nrrd recrietral system, wittlout pcrrrrissiorl in or airy i ~ ~ f o r ~ n asmrage writing from tlre puhlis!~er. Czupyright 8 1999 by Wesrview Press, A itlemher of tlre lhrseus B o o t Chup 13tublished in 1999 in the Urrited S~acesclEArrreri~~3 bj7 Wesrviw 13ress, 5500 Cer~tralAvenue, Koi~lder,CaltlraJo 80301-2877, and i n r1re United Kingdom by Wesrvicrvu I'rress, 12 Hid" Copse Road, Curx~nor Hill, Ox&>rJ (1x2 31J
Find us cm the World Wide Web at \wvv.tl~esrvitr;vpress.~o~xr 1,ibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-13tuL~li~a~io~~ Data Burke, Edtmund, 1723-1 797 [Selections, t 3991 Empire and cornrr~unit).:kimund Wurke's wrici~lgsand speeches on international relaticions / edited by David I? Fidler, fe~tniferM. Welslr. p. cm, I~~cturles bibtiograplrica1 references and index, ISBN 0-8133-6830-8 (!K). ---XSRN 0-8 133-6829-4 (pbk.) 1729-1 797t hcernol.iorla1relations. 2. Hurke2 Ed~l~ilglid, C:o~.ttrihrrl.ionsin ir-trernarional relations. 3. Burke, Edmund, 1729-1737. Reflections or1 the Revo1utior.t itz France. I, Fidler. Ljavid l? XI. Welsh, Jennifer M. III. -1ltle. 1x1345.11487 1993
.
327.4 '009'(233-dc21
39-34902 CIP
"I-kepaper used in this publication meets rlre requiremer~csofthe hmerican rjariorlol Starldard for I'ermanet~ce of Paper for 13rrinted t ibrary Materials 7239.48- 1084,
Dauid Fidter would like to dedicdte this book to his wife, SShari, who sapports his ~nd~dvors with a patieience that is sublime dnd bedutiful. Jennifer Welsh would like to dedicate this book to her "link platoon" ofstlppo rt--the Welshfamily.
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Contents
part I introdiuct ion l
Burkc arzd Internarional ReLariol~s
2
Bnrkek Life and International Mfairs Bnrkek Prereparliantentary Years, $ B~~rke's P~arliamerrearyCareer, 7
[rid I;bLiry: CathoIicizrrs and E~zde,K Americd: E~giishCivil Wgr; 13 Ittdin: The t~t h Ha~i~tgs ~ Impeachment>18 The Crusde Rg~zinszthe Frenck~fivultkhri?, 29
3
Brirke and the Theory of International Relatiorzs Brirke as an f r~ternationalReIations Theorist? 37 B~lrkeand rile Three Tradirions, 38 The Gotdcrz Mcan, 39 Strrverkgnp a ~ W d ~ T40; The B~zliznceuf Pawer; 42
I$zte~nntionnIP"olitz'cnI Ecorzovg 42 1ttterzal;r'onalLaw and iWoraIi~44 ""Urrity of Spirit, Diversicy of Qperacions,'"45 Bzlrke rind Erpire, 46 ;rhe CJnmmunweaLth ofEt~rope,47 intervention, 49 I~zterlrentionto Mai~~taI'r~ the BaltZnce of P ~ w ~50 P; Ittterue~tiona ~ Civd d Wiz& 50 VLTil"~ip and Ne1;9/1&~houd,51 Burkck PPtacc in Irzterlzatiol~alRelations Theory 5 1
4
Burke's Relevance Burke During and Aker rile Cold War; 57 Burkc, Culture, arzd Corztcmyorary Irzterlzatiol~alRelations, 53 Concl~~siorz, 67
Part 2
Wrllings and Spetxf lcs: Selections Two Lettcrs on the Trade uf lrclarzd (17781, 72 Letter to Sir I-IercuXes Larigrishe (17922, 79
Speech a n h r e r i m n Taxation (17'741, 100 Speech an Concltiarion -with hzierica (17751, 1 18 Letter to the Sherifk of Bristol (177";7, 147
Speech an Fox's Irzdia Bill (1783), 170 Speech on Opening of Impeachment (17881,203 8
On the French RevoIution Tho~tghtsun Frcncl~Mfairs ( f 7911, 236 Heads far Corzsideraric>nor3 the Present State of Mfairs (17921, 254 Renrarks 0x1 the Policy a f t h e Allies (1793), 264 First Lctter a n a Regicide Peacc (17961, 287
Editors' N o t e s
Note on.the Selectians Given the cxrarxnous amount o f material availaMc to Burkc scholars, any selection o f relevant writings and speeclles inevitably leaves ortt marry ia~portantwi>rk.;,For exainpie, pieces, such as &we have not inctuded in this coliectiorr some o f Burkc's most fa~~tclrts flcction.s an the RE~ohtionin Fr~zprceor An Appeakfiom the New to dr("Oid Wk~Zgs.Although tficsc tracts xnarkcd scrrrirzal momcrzts in Burkc+oKliciclal career arid ixrtctlcctual developmerit, they are riot rrecessarily the most illustrative of his thinking {-ininternational relations, Tnstead, we have chosen a few of Bt~rke'slesser-knowrr writings and speeches, such as Two Let~ersnn the Edde of freh~zdand IXoughts nn Frel-zchAfar'rs, wwfiich kctter reveal the key aspects of his international t b e r ~ rNonetheless, ~. Part l frequeritiy cites and discuss= key works not included in this collection and refers to personal correspondence and parliamentary defnatcs. For those wishing to pclrsuc Brtrkchthinking in greater detait, we invite tlzern to delve into these additional stlrtrces. Much more Burke awaits tlze eager ~riind, WC:have provided sornc exptanrztory xzutcs, as wet! as xnosr of Burkck ppubliskcd xzutcs, to help the reader better urrderstartd refererices to people and evertts arrd other allusit>rts Burke nrade in his writings and speeches. We tried to keep these notes to a nrinirziuxri in order not to distract the reader Goin Burkc"srg~tmexrts.
Bibliographic AbbreGations Cnrr.
Pr"trL Htst. Works
WSEB
The Correpnnde~zrrofEdmnnd Burke, ed. T. W. Copeland, f O VCI~S., Clricago, 1958-1 978. The ParIidmenticy History of EngInndfiom the Earlieft Per2OCZ tn the Enr 1803, ed. W. Cobbett, 36 VCI~S., London, f 806-1820. TEe Works ofthe R&d~tH a ~ ~ ~ ~ rEdmund r ; t b h Burke, 6 vols. fifahn's Britisfi Classics), Lolrdorz, 1854-1 856. The Wrilri~~gs aad Sjttet'cht"f of Edmu~ldBgrke, gen. ed. I? Lairgfc-ird, Oxford, 1981- (Ctarendon Press series, vols. 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 3 puMished to date).
Xr the scleetiolrs of Burke's writings and syccehcs, we have uscd ellipsis paints (. . . ) to show that we have left material out of a seIiteIice or paragraph. The syrnhol m indicates that we haw onriered an errtire paragraph or nrore.
We worlld like to tlzank Tim Duniie, hzdrew Hurrell, Adain Roberts, and Paul Larigfard for all the advice and support they have given us in our labors on this project. We have also been sustained in our efforts by the encouragement m initially received fiom the tare Jobrz Vincclzt, who first brought our mutual interests in Brtrkc together and gave us m c m n t u m that helped cafry us through to the end. We aiso express our grarittrde to a host of people at the Indiana tiniversiv Schoot of Law-Bloon~ington for L7elF);ngin so xnany ways: fenxzifer Bryri~z,Hermine Gohell, Bebbic Eads, Maric Edwards, h 1 p h Gacbler, leanine f fuiinger, Rose Seror, Lama WnninglrofZ.;and Magorie Uorlng. Oxf;.)rcl University Press has been wry accomnrodatirlg in allowing us rrt use material horn its Writirtgs and Speeches ofEdmzlndBgi.ke scries. Fixtally, we would like to achowlcdgc Leo Wiegnrlari and his staff at Westview Press for gllidirlg us through the pul>licationprocess.
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Chrono Burke's Li and Ti Xs born to filicl~ardand Mary Brtrkc in Dut?tin, Ireland Attcrzds Quaker tloarding school in County Kldarc Artends and gradllates from 3inity CoHege, Dt~blin EnroXls as law student at Middle Trrzzple in London Gives up lcgat sttldics to pclrsuc a litera-y careclSever1 Years" War bervveerl Britain arzd France begins Marries Sane Nugent and publishes first book, A WndiriztJon of Ndtgratl
Sociieg Publishes A Ph!lilogopl;icnIInqaiy into the Origi~to f o u r I&& nfthc S~blirnearid Ben~~tafik achieves fanre in British literary and ixztellccrt~aicircles; collaborates with William Burkc on publiatian OF Accuzant ~fi'heEzfrt)ped.rtnSettIemsn~sin ArneGcd Birth af son, Kchard Begirzs work on the Annunll Regr'st-er and Abridgment of EngIis/~Histoy and becornes private secretary to Williarrt Harniltc->ri,1UP far bntefracc Acconrpalzies Hamilton to Dublin Wc>rksfor Hamiltorz arid writes (but does riot publisil) Zncts &/aging to pope^ Laws Seven Years' War ends, lcning Britain in control of North Anrerica Acct>mparziesHamiltorz to Dublin Parliatrrent passes the Sugar Act, ilrlposing taxes a n the Anrericsln cololzies for the first time Starts ""tie Club""with Joshua Reynolds arid Dr. Samuel Johnson Parlianrent passes the Scanrg Act, ]eying taxes on the Arzzerican colonies Leaves the employment of Hamilton and is frustrated at9out his carccr; is e m p l ~ > ~as e dprivate secretary to Lad R~3ckinghan1,who fornts his first gavernnrent; is elected ro krlianzent for Wendover in Decenrhrr Erztcrs Parlianrent and plays kcy role ixz Rockingham governmexzt's repeal of the Starnp Act arzd passage of the Declaratory Act Rockinghanr nriniscy dissotvcs in June Publishes Short Accoz-tnt of Late Short Admirtrctstrdtion
Parliament again imposes tares on the Arllerican coionirs O~osm d l Ibiits to rehrrn the East India Company Purchases Beacorlsfield estate irz Buckingtlam:zhire Pariiamenr repeals all taxes oil the Arnerican colonies except for the tax on tea ~ ~aLLate I I Z S$t?te ofthe Nation Ptllllislles O ~ S C T V &UIZ Publishes Thoughts on the Cawe ofthe Prercwt Dimnrenrs, in which he dehnds ttic Ruckirzghanl government's r i r c d Lord North forms his adntinistration Serves as the New York Assenrbly's agent to the British governmerrr: Boston %a Party Wekvers Speech on Arnericn~Tmacinn; elected MP for Bristol Uelivers Speccl? on Conkligtiavt with AmeTl~klin ~Vard~ Arllerican rebelliorl hegins in April in 1Massachusete Adam Snlith elected to "the Club'" Begirls to study East India G,mpany r e a d s Greets American Declaration of Independence with pessinlisnl about British imperial poIicy PLdarrl Smith i,)uhlishes WeaLth ufNaLinns Publishes Let~erto the Sherzfi ofBrz'srolon the war in America and z g P&ok Milticf,. suggests his artitnde delivers Speech on k ~ t u r i ~ Luld toward the East flldia Grjirrpany has changed Writes Two Letttfi on the Fa& of'1reiand to Brisd constituetrrs With Williarn Burkc., pubtislles PuIicy on h4dki~zgCunrggestsfir &c M;ahonze&ns criticizing behavior of the East India Company Iliocs in Londorl ovcr proposed easing of oppressive frish laws Kthdmvvs horn reclection for Bristol scat ixz Parliarnelzt in controversy over his views or1 Ireland; elected MP b r Malton War in Anzerica effecliveIy ends with British defeat at Vorkrorvn W o r h orz the select cornmittcc investigating thc activities of the East India Company; autt~orsthe Nind and Eleuerrd Reports ~ftbeSelect
C~mmi~tee f oitzs the secctrzd lXockingliam governxsrcrzt as paymat;tel- of the Eorces; Rockingt~mdies DcIivtlrs Sptrech on Fox: India Bill Fox-North coditiorz dissolves; Williarr-r Pitt forms ilevv govcmment and wins general election Delivers Speech on the Nabob ofArcoti Debts begins to formulate strategy to impeach VVarren Hastiilgs Begins process of impeaching Hastings in the House of Commons Succccds in having the Mouse of-'Comrnons impeach Hasrings Trial of Hastings before the Housc of Lords begins with Burkc's Speech on
Openi~~g of Impeachment French Rcvoiutictn begins; f"rerrcf.3royat falllily capt~lredat Rrsailles in October
s his opposition to &c French Revolution; Warns fellow W ~ i g of publishes Reflectiom nn the I&volutir;z'onin France Publicly break";his frieridship and collaboration with Cllarks Fox over 1792 Fox's support for the French Revolution; publishes An Appe:~z/$omthe New to the OM Wh@ arzd Letter to n Member ofthe niiational Assembh; and writes Thnughts uvr Frenc13llffiiirs to challengr: the Pitt governments handling of revnlutinnary France Francc declares war un Austri'at and Prussia; Frerzch XXepubtic cstablisbcd after c.>vertlzrc>wof the morzarchy; Frer1cf-i ar~niesdefeat Prussiari forces at Vatnry Writcs Lette to Sir Hercules Lnngrishe on Xrish affairs arzd Hends@r Cunsi&rdtion on the Present State ofAfnirs "son the situatiorl with revolutionary Frazce Louis WI executed; France declares war on Britain; Reign of Terror bcgirzs in France Writes RemnrXts on the &iivof the:Allies to convince the Pitt gtlvernment to intervene against revolutionary France Retires from Parliament and rnorlrns the dcath uf his son, &chard 1794 House of Lords acquirs Hastings 1795 Writes Tb~~rqg;i;e and Details on Scarriliy h r the Pitr government W i t c s Lette to n Noble Lord 1796 Stornrts prevent. Frerich forces from laridirlg at Bantry Bay, Irelarid 1796--.173"7rites LetGers orz a Regicide Peace criticizing Pirt governnrent's tlandling of the war with revolutionary Frarzcc Dies at Beacorisfieid on Jufy 9 1797 1790
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Empire and Community
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PART ONE
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CHAPTER ONE
Burke and
Edmund Burkc poscs a great chatlc~zgcto those who aypmach his genius. Burkc's potitical thirzking has rcmaixzed relevant larzg after his contcmpararics rccognlzed iiiin~as anc of the greatest politicians of his age. Althoilgh cc~miderableartention has been focused 0x1 Btrrke, his views on il~rer~lational relations haw not attracted substantial discussion, Vixicent songht to redress this paucity uf analysis t9ceausc kc krzew "of nu treatmerzt of Burke"stieory of ir~terrlatiorzalrelations except as inciderztal to his attittlde to the Frericlz kvolurion, or to America or to any other of the great issues on which he oaifpied himself."' This neglect is curit~usbecause four c,f the most impartarzt issues Brlrke addressed in his political career were largely inter~iatioizal:Britis11 policy in Ireland, the treatrrrent of the Arlzericall colonies, British iittperiai activity in Trtdia, and the French Rcvolufion.2 In his irzvolvernerit with these issues, Burkc handled ntarzy aspects certtral to the study of internatiorzal relaticlns. This book provides studerlts both of Burke arzd of internation2 relations with a resowce for mderstanding Burkc's thinking on international relarions, Exptainirzg Bu&c$ perspective on interlzatiol~alrelations poscs a nurnt9cr of protltcms, The first is logistical. Burke produced a trernenrfotrs body of speeches, writings, artd correspo xldence, which TtPi ncent described as Burke's ""gear n~ine.'" Lookirlg at orlily part of such a vast array shortchanges the qitaliry and texturc of Burke's ideas, which is why our efforts are only a hegir11ii11g.4 A sccond difficutry. concerrls whether to categorize Burkc as a political philosopher at all. Bttrkc's disdailz for abstract thinking, his skepticisnl abotlt the power uF reasan, arzd his partisan involvement in the politics of his day caution agailzst ~ ~ 1 6 3a 1label. As Vincent observed, "Brrrke did not coklnt hinzseff a ttlenrist.""~clt even if we take the most extrclxzc vicw uf Burke as antitheorist, we arc obliged to accept this stance as a political thet>ry:""8rkeH position is itself a theory of politics which exalts practice above every other thing.'" This pmt9tern, however, does xzut make unraveting But-ke's pcrspcctivc an interlzatiol~alrclatians impassible; it requires that we explain his outlook carefully. Bmke's contemporaries recognized his pericfiarit for inft~singdisatssion of pditical issues with a search for and explanation ofgtriding principles*His mind was interested not xncrely in the cut and tl~rustuF parliarnexztary politics; his thottght, dccply versed in the
4
Burke and JnterirlcdtiongLReLatiitj0ns
circumsranccs and historical dcvelognrent of any issue, trarrxended the epherllera of curre-clrttafFiirs,' The object of Burh's scorn was thinking devoid of historical scnsibitity and fourtded on specr~lativereason alone.8 His aversion to &tract thinkixtg resulted ffom his belief in the practical m d theoretical inrportance of what Montesquieu, whom Burkc revered, catlcd "die entpirc of circumstancc,"~urkewrote that ""jircumsrances (wliich with some gentlemen pass for ricntlzing) give in reality to every political principle its distingltidring coloul; a d Ijiscriminating effect. The circuntsrances are what sender every civil and paiiticd scheme t9crzcficial or noxious to ma~tkrtd.'"~ Burke" empliasis or1 circr~mstance,however, creates arrother challenge: the curreiit relevance of Burke's ideas. Qtte scholar stated ttrat "[bly his insistence on the intgorrance of circuntsrances Burkc ruled Iiintsctf out of court far the lace mentieth celttury."fWc address tlte problern of Burke"se1evance regardirlg corrtemporary international relations in Cllapter 4. Yet another problenr is that Burkc has beet1 cIairzred as a representative of different sclroots of political rhouglic and practice.'2 Depending uporr what source is handy, Btirke cart be placed within either tlze Britisit entpiricist or the natural law traditions. Burke has also beerr called bodr a prophet of liberalisrlt and the hcher of modern conservative thought. He has t9cert described as an apostle uf moderation and as the high pricst of crusadi11g holy war. Csbharr even claimed that "tlzere is only orie scttc>olof politia for mftich Burlre can be icgitinrately clainred, and that is the school of Burke."l3 For our prtrpctscs, this sccrning chaos in c&ical commentary posts di&cuirics kccausc Burkc's ixttcrnrztionrzt tlzinking forms part of his political pliiilosophy. Otlr airrt is not to resolve these coxltroversies but to sfrow that a grasp of Burkek perspective un ixttcrnrztiunrzt relations is critical to urtdcl-sta~tdinj= his political thinking. I-firtts about this li11k appear in sorne contntentaries.14 Macpherson, for exanrple, rroted that "[RJQone was nrore aware ttran Btrrke that national policies needed to be franted in tire liglrt of tlic intcrnatioxtal situatioxt."fi Similarly, Hantpsher-Monk cornntertted that '"it]hrough the causes to whidz Bwkc addressed himself drrring his career-tlle governrnenr of heland, tlre relationship with America, the adn~inistrarianof India, the reform of the Crowrz"s firtaxtces, the defe~tceof free trade within the empitre-tl~~~~ runs the theme of ernpke artd hc>wto accommodate it to h e s t i c politics."" " i l d i s argued tlrat "[olne of the greatest onrissio~tsin schc>larshipon Btrrke has been the failure to coxrsider the vitat posiriolt of the law OF llatiofts in his paiiticd philusophy.*"7 Afthougir rrrlrch pronlising territory ;-trrivaitsin Burkc's conrnrentary on inter~lafionalrelations, we hope to m i d constrairtinf:fzis thought by the conventions of internalional relations study. Our appmach worlld BC sterile if we argued that Burkc was defirtitively a rerelatiolts scfz~larshave observed, aspects alist, rationalist, or revslutionist. As i~~ternatioiial of all three traditions appear in Burke's intenrational thotrght.lfi Our task is to c ~ l i c a t as e muck as possiltlc the fill range and power uf Edrr~tlndBurkc 0x1 international relations,
m C H A P T E R TWO
Burke9sLife and International Affairs As a first step, we present Burke's biography to show how deeply he involved himself in international issues. This overview serves as a prelude to Chapter 3, where we develop a theoretical framework for Burke's ideas on international relations. Burke's Preparliamentary Years Burke was born, reared, and educated an Irishman.19 He was born in 1729 in Dublin to Richard Burke, a Protestant attorney, and Mary Burke, a Catholic. According to Ayling, "That the marriage of Burke's parents was in this religious sense mixed was to be of the highest importance in influencing his adult opinions and sentiments, especially concerning those two linked issues never absent from the politics of his adult years, the Catholic question and the governing of Ireland."20 If O'Brien is correct that Richard Burke was Protestant by conversion rather than by birth, the pressures of religious politics in eighteenth-century Ireland scarred the Burke household.21 Significant to the formation of Burke's thinking was the oppressive English colonial rule over Ireland. Burke's Irish roots shaped his political thinking in two ways: (1) Mitigation of Irish suffering under English colonial rule became a priority in his political career, and (2) EngIish policy toward Irish Catholics and Irish trade provided material for his overall ideas about British imperial policy. Burke's Irish background also affected his personal political fortunes: He never heId a position of cabinet rank in the administrations he joined, despite his talent.22 The frustration he encountered as an alien or "Irish adventurer" among the British establishment is revealed in one of his last works, Letter to a Nobh Lord (1796),where he contrasted how the duke of Bedford (who had criticized the granting of a state pension to Burke) had been "swaddled, and rocked, and dandled into a Legislator" while "[alt every step of my progress in life (for in every step was I traversed and opposed), and at every turnpike I met, f was obfiged to shew my passport, and again and again to prove my sole title to the honour of being useful to my Country, by a proof that I was not wholly unacquainted with it's laws, and the whole s i e m of it's interests both abroad and at home."23
Btrrke atcerrded a Qt~akerboarding school in Couxlty Kildare ( 2 741-1 744)and then studied at %inicy College, Dublin (1744-1748). His activities at Trinity College showed that he was already following potiricat affairs. With some Trinity College frierzds, Burke which includes ""rerrzarkablc outbtlrsts'" on produced a weekly paper cat led T ' JR'~rnzer, the topic of British trcatrncrzt uf the Irish: He saw, and resenred, the worse than colonial sraiixs ro \vinillich the hulk of rl~epopulation of Ireland was reduced by the hcavity aristocratic establishment, He was deeply angered by the brurd poverty in ivhich the peasanrr)i were, as hc saw ir, kept by the dccadcxzt arisrucratic rich, who made ntl ef.fc)rt to manage their estates efticlendy and did nothing to encourage . . . their tenants beconling irtriustriurrs yeomen.24 Atrrke was not, however; an Irish radical harboring aspirarians h r a fiee and independent Ireland, He expressed in these early writings no revoiutionav proh~ositionsas ra the redistrit9ution of wealth in Irctand or the dcpcndcnt srattts of Ireland as a cojony. If Burkc "was nterciless at that time towards the idle rich he was by no ntearis a leveller.""" He valued rile security of prapery and beliwed that 0wner.s had a duty "to inzprove their properties so as to ir~crcasethe wealth of the rzation far the t9cxzefit of at1 classes,'"t He saw the suffering and economic waste produced in Irelarid by a sterile conceptic-rn of properry- embraced by corrupt, ruthless, or abserieec British landowners. Sinritarly, scroxlg sugestions about the ftlture of Burkcas attitude olz British ixnpcrial policy appear in his calzclusiun that incfependerrce would be fatal tc:, IreIarzd.z7 After gradczating from Einity Cotfcgc, Burke rctuctantty kcgan legal studies in London at Middie Temple irx 1750. It was clear, however, that lie had his heart set otz a literary career arid forlrzd studying for ttle bar lit& to his iikistg." Ay 1755 he had given up his Iegaf studies,~~ Yet Burkck five years at ~tliddleTentpie mixed with other aspects of his educaticln. First, Burke3s emphasis o n tradirion, custmn, arzd precedelzt in his martlre political thought echoes the Englislz coxrznron law, which Btlirke would have absorbed at Middle Temgle.30 Secorid, his legat studies gave hirn detailed appreciatiort of tlle British constitutioit, another great theme of his later politicd1 thinking. Third, dllring his time at Middle Tent* A~lrttemay have developed his penchant for exrractitlg principles born the play of circurnstagzces, Brtrkchwn character appcars in his later description uf the l egafly educated ' h t e r i c a n colc~nialleaders &to ""anticipate the evif arzd judge of the pressure of the rrrevance by rhe badness of the principle'hartd who "augur misgovernment at a distatrce; and srzuffthc approach uf yruzny in every painted breczc."'sl Finally, Biirkek legal studies yrovided hi111 with experieszce from wlzicfs he could develop his opiniorts about the nature and pwpo" of law in a nation and an empire, With thc p~iblic;3ti011ufA f i n d i ~ d t h ofNdtura/Sociep ~ (1756) and A J;"hibs~phicalJtzquiry irlw the 0rQS;inof Our Idens (the SaktIimru and Benzltzyal (1757),Brrrke achieved success aartd recogniti~n.32For our purposes, Vindication arzd Philosophicnl hqutry stand urtt as exanrples of rhc way in which BurkeS thortghc was developing. Irr botli works, Burke exhibited his skepticisnt about tlze power of human reasolt in shaping h u m 1 experience. Such skcpticistn plays a central role in B~lrke'sapproach ro political ri-teory and practice.
Burk~iI,$ and ~~;rte~zats"onaiAfnifs
7
On the heels of Phihsoplticczl I~zquirq:Burke began two other projects. First, he contracted to write as1 Abridpzent ~fEagLishHisto3 declaring that he would adhere to the iiiistaricdl approach of ~tlor1tesquiert.'s In Abridgme~fBurke used history not orzly to narrate but also to dismver guiding principles, He wanred ro show "that b e h i d tile complexity of events he was describing, there had been a steadGat love of libcrry in the rzation, wilich. had been a ~rni$irtg &)force,ntoulding in its own fashiori rlot only illcidental events, but also the character and institutiolls of the naeion,'"4 For Burke, history was not a parade of horrors; it was instead the crucible of a people5 potiriml, moral, and spiritual essence. The second project Burke ~1rzdertot3kin 1758 was editing the Annual Register) which repoiirical, liccrary?and social everres.3 Interest in such a pubticatioxl viewed the year's ~natfor directly related to Engtarzd7sparticipatiolz irtr the Seven Years7War (1756-1763) with France over c ~ l z t r ~off Canada. Accsrdirlg to Osborn, ""Ptth stirring appeal to the patristisin of his countrynteri and Itis spectacular success in the conduct of tile war caused the average Englishman fo express a desire to understand nlore ciearly the significance of events as Ear as they cal~cerlzedErzdand's imperial affairs."% "Britain was eritering a new era of inter~iatioi1alpower, and Burke, serisitive to issues of empire and dontestic potitics, decided to play a role in educatirlg rile public about Britain's contenlporary affairs,17 Not lcmg aher he becante editor of the AnnualRegister, Burke took his first steps in the pc>litical world in 1759 as assist..a~zt to William Hantilton, tnentber of Parliament (MP) fbr Ponrefract in Yorlcshire, It is not clear if Burke$ employnlent by H d t o n marked a change of direction for Burkc"?;career, Xndced, some evidence indicates that he still warztcd to bc a xnaxz of letters. Horace Wdpde wrote in 1761 that "young Mr Burk . . . thir~ksthere is tierhing so charrzring as writers and ro be one,'"a Furthex; the eventual break with Harnilton in 1765 came after he acc~lsedBurkc of urzkkrindness in rejecting iiiis oEer of no re pernlanent employmeizt, a prospect Burkte fourid irltolerable for a "gentlentan, a freeinan, a tnasz of educrtrion, and one pretending to lirerature,"B Other crvidence, iiiowcvex; suggats that a passiolz for the politial was overrakng BurkcHitcrary m~bitioiz.m y , after all, woutd a man who had wan the praise of strcl-1leading lights as Afiarn Smith, David Garrick, Joshua Rey~io1&, and Sanruel Johflson toil h r nearly six years as a personal assistarrt to an jVP? lVo~eover, Burke arzgled for a xtlore suk~sra~ztiat political past rzot long after Hamiltolz rerkned his services: ln 1'759 Ite attempted to solicit the influence: of Elizabeth Msiitagu witit the Elder Pitt in mtal-ion m Burlicthppiicarion Ibr the consulship in Madrid.4" Burke's break wit11 Hainiltorz in 1'765 left birn hitter arzd frrrstrated: "Pjix of the best n t every pt~rsuit.. of literary reputaticjn or of irrtproventerit of years of my life he t0~3kf r ~ ~me nry hrtu~le.. . . Xn all this tinre you nray easily conceiw how nrucfn I felt at seeing nryself lek bctlind by almost all my cnntcmporarics."~Wisefforts at securing aIterrzative emplc5yment follrzdered."" Bttrke was at this rirzle rhireysix, and nearly terr years had passed since he had published the works that brought him recognition. At this personal crossroads, he searched for an opportunity to satisfy his talents arzd ambitions, As Macpherson put It, '"is future seemed gloomy, hur his tnerirs were tiot L I ~ ~ ~ K ~ Q W I ~ . " * ~
In 1765 Kxzg George IXI dissolved the admixlistration led t9y George Grcnville and asked Lord Rockingham to form a new governnrrnt. Rockirigham needed a reliat>le and skilled
persona1 secretary, Upcm advice from parliamentary- supporters Lord Cavendish and Wiltiam Ftczherbcrt, he hired Burkc. Quick on the heels of hccornixzg private secretary to the prirne nrinister, the Wlxig magrlate Lord Verney returtied Burkc as MP for Wendover in Btrckinghanzshire, His initial speech to Parliamerrt in January 1766 brought hinr adnriration from fellow MPS and society figures, Burkek successf~llstart as an MP was fitting for a man &lose irivc>lverneritin the ntajcjr issues facing Britain at home and abroad would permeate political and parliamentary history far more thalz thirty years. Iri order to argaxzizc Burkck parliarnelztary career as it rciates to his perspective on internaticlnd relatior~s,we corlcerttrate on four issues: Ireland, Anrerica, Irzdia, and the Frerrch Revolution.
Irish I""o1iq: Catholicism and Zdde Xrelaxzd colzstitutcd one uF Burkck lasting calzcerlzs throughout his pc~bliclife. It is a xneasure of the mar1 that he "wislzed to alleviate tlze coridition of his countrynterfiven at the risk of political credibility and, at one point, life and limb," Neverdieless, his efforts should not be considered as blind low f.br his native land. fie proceeded on frish policy within a framework that rcpxselzted his pcrspcctive on ixnpcrial policy: toleration of thc colony; traditions, customs, arid cuitt~re;recognition of ernpire as a unity of purpclse 2nd interest; the importance of irnperial free trade; the effect on English liberties of imperial activiy; and the nlilirary arzd strategic dangers trtrkir~gin disgrttrzttcd cotonies. The concern Btlrke had demonstrated at Trinity College abtrrrt British r d e in Ireland contirltled as his political career developed. B~~rke's tinie with Harzzilton allowed hirzr to focus again alz Ireland. Hamilton was appoint" chief secretary to Lord MaLigz, the lard iieuterranr in Ireland; so Burke accontpartied Hamilrorl tc:, DuMin from 1761 to 1762 artd a p i n bemeen 1763 arzd 1764. During this cime Btrrke drafred sonze fragments on &c impact OF alzti-CatI~oliclegisfatioiz in Xrelarzd, which were published after his death under the tide Pacts &Iating C(I Popery Ldws.45 Afier otftlifling the natrtre of Britisl-r r d e in h e a n d , Burke declared that this "s).stem . . . is urrjusc, impolitick, arzd inefficacious; that it has the most urzliappy ixzfluerzce a n the p m s p c r i ~ the , xnorals, and the safety of that conntryer,""6 B~lrkeobjected to the popery laws because they were wrong in their "erronenus principle": The). were lakvs "against the majority of the peopte" &at represent 'hot particular injustice, but gcrzerat opyxssiun,""" The leritisil riatior.lk love of liberty that Burke discerrled in Abridgment paled against British oppression in Ireland. Burke was defiar~t:The British "have no right to rnake a Law prejudicial to the whole conrmuniry,'"~ Orle reasor1 for the harsh anti-Catholic laws was Britair2s fcar that Ireland, dartgerousty prcwimate to Britairi, would serve as a springkczard for renewed efbrts by Cattiotic absolutists to strangle British liberties. Such reatyofirik reasoxling left Burke cold and indigrzalzt: ""Noarguments of policy, rcasalz uf State, ur pracrvdtion of the Constitution, can t9c pleaded in favour of such a practice.""."iVI-Te sttbjected British fnxign policy in heland to an exacting standard: '"he principle of a superior Law. , . the will of-Him wtio gave us oclr rzaturc, and in giving impressed an invari'ablc Law upon it."50 This appeal to divine principle strgcsts that Bcrrke's attitude to enrpire errcompasses not only self-interest and political pmdcnce but also a transcedent moratity And the morafity that Burkc fiinted at in the Fncts is one that carznot be confined by particutar divisions
Burk~iI,$ and ~~;rte~zats"onaiAfnifs
9
in Christiatnir-y. He dismissed the British excuse that it was proper to force Cattlolics to realize the errors aF their religion and colzforrn to the Protesrant faith t9ceausc the Engtislimargs "pretending to determine . . . tlle happiness of another" 2nd "claiming a right to use what means he thinks proper in ordcr to bring him to a sense of it" is "the ordinary and trite sophisnl OF oppxssion,"~h r k c instead referred to "our conlnlolr Christianity;" &us invc~kinga set of moral values and heritage that s h o d llrlite Christian nations rather than lead one to oppress ailother.51 Burkc's first significant Xrish activity aker he Iefi Harniltods scrvtcc canle ixr 1773, wbexr he objected tc:, a proposal to grmt the Drliblirr pariianterit pawer tc:, tax abseritee Britisil landlords, In a letcer to the Irish IMP Sir Charles Bingham, Burke spelled out his position.53 Burkc apposed the tax t9ceausc he saw ernpire as a urzil-y, as a singic socicty rather than a set of disparate societies csrrnected by the tenuorts borids of subrrtissiori 2nd dsminatit~rr.~"roponents of the tax claimed that absentee larldlords drained away Ireland5 wealth for enjoymerrt in Britain. Burke did not quarrel with the observation tt-tat nroney flowed from the colorrics to "&c xnctropolis"";n $act, he said this was rzatural and unavsidable.5: Btrrke objected to think;ing about the British E~trpireirr any way that treated Britain like ""a foreign country'"& He apposcd the pax kc~altscit was 'a renunciation . . . of the principle of common ~atzkmLimtion,wjlich rttiis througir this whole empire'hnd arz attack on "the llriion of the whc11c Empire."" Burkc-tsemphasis on the conlnlon texctire of inrgerial sociccy nrust be coxrsidered in relation to his other vicws on inrgerial policy. Xf freland was rzat to view Bricain as ""a foreign courztry,'\then neither stlontd Brirairi oppress Ireland. But as Burkc saw it, oppressioir is exactly-what the Britisil rneted t:,nt to the Irish. Btzrke returned to Xrish policy in the late 17'70s, when he sotlght to tooseri restrictions on Irish tride and mitig~tethe diseriminatiorz against Cathotics. 1x1 t 778 Lord NortKs administration moved to preenrpt any Irish versiorl of the h e r k a n rebetliurl by proposing hills to ease restrictions on Irish trade, Burlce, wlio now represented Bristol in krtiament, supported the lit^tc~"alimtion of Irish trade dcspire oppositialz by powcrhf Bristol xnerciilants. Although frierlds began to wc:,rry about his political prospects in Bristol, Burke never wavered. He was being true to his word, for he had told his new Bristol constituents after his election in 17% that ""jtJ1ar~Repmentativc awes you, not his industry oirfy, but his ~CIC~~CIIXICLZ~; and he t9ctrays, ixrsread of serving you, if ire sacrifices it to your opinion,'"B As with his opposition to the absenree landlord tax, B~lrkebuilt his slrpporc for lheralizing Irish trade on sonre fundaxnentaf principles, most in~portarithis t9clicf in imperial free trade. Burke was a keen student of political econonty. 111a speecfi befbre the 17% Bristol parlianre~ltaryelleccion, Burkc told his audience that coxrrnrerce was a principal soklrce of Britisti power arzd "has evcr bcerz a very particr~larand a very favortritc abject of my stttdy.""'" Btrrke was so conversailt in matters of political economy &at the leading political economist of the age, M m Smith, once d e c l a d char Bwke was the only man who 011 his aw11 exrdeav~rstho~ightabout ecolromic xnattcrs exactly as he did," It csrnes as no surprise, then, to find Burke supporting measures on Irish trade arid even r~rgirtgfurther liberalization two years aker the prtblicatian of S~tlithkmdlt/~ ~fNagions(1 776). In his support for the relief of Irish tradc, Burkc ernphasizcd again the in~parranceof viewing the ernpire as a single entity, arid he colrpled his notion of the British imperid society with a scrong bdief in the mutual benefirs to be gained from a more libzrat trading regime, In letters to Bristol constituexrts, Brtrkc wrote:
Indeed, Sir, E~iglandand Ireland may flouris11 together. The wctrfd is large enough for rrs both. 1,c.r ic be our care nor ta make ourselves coo little for it, . . . f kxiow3that it is but too riarural for us cu see our own ccrtaz'n ruin, in tfic possible prospcriry of other peopte, ft is hard to persuade us, that every thing which is gut by another is not &ken from ourselves, . . . liade Is not a limited riling; as iftl-reobjects of nlurual dentand and consun~prioncorxtd not stretch beyond chc bounds of our Jtatau~ies,~" The second effort Burkc xnade far Ireland in the late 1770s was his continkling uppasition to the t~arshanti-Cathoiic laws. B ~ ~ r khad e renrained fit-rrr in his call fr,r religious to& eration in freland since the Faca. Etis belief in religious tolerarinn &mon his views of religiorz as thc basis uf civil society and the vatuc to a society in the preservation of ancielzt arid hsrzcnred religiclns traditiori. Such toleration, of course, ntearit that the Britislz. Errtpire would nor be homogeneous in religiot~spractices; Burke, hclwever, saw graver threats to the urric;v of the empire if tile British attempted to destroy somthing frxrzdamerllal to the moral, political, arzd economic stability uf colonial regions, His picas for religious toleration, tl-terefctre,welit beyorid cc~mpassionfor suffering Catholics to address the cohesion of British ilrrperial sociery For thcsc views, Burkc and his fellow %igs bccaine targets of a Protcsta~zt-inspird rnob that rioted tlzrc>ughoutLclrzdon in Jllrie 1'780, The violence had beet1 set off by Sir George Savile's a c ~to repeal a 1699 statute that prohibited Cathotics f;om bequeathing property arzd t9anxzed Carbolic schooling and Cattlolic ~Vass.Burkc reviled the 1639 statute. &er the ntob destroyed Savile"szouse, Burke ernptied fiis owri lz.onteof its boc~ks, paper" and filrtlilure; dismissed Flle solniers gtlading it; and then "spent pare of the day ixz the strccr amid this wild assctnt9ly into whosc harrds I dctivered nlyself ir-tforxnixzgthern who f was*'"Z Bristol did not rctltrn Burke as MP in the 1780 gerzeral election largely bccausc uF his support for likcralizing Irish trade arrd his urging toteratiorz of &c Catholic religio~z.In a preeiectiort speech at the Bristd g~~ildhall in September f 780, Burke addressed the issues that had mused his standing in Bristol to suffer, dwelling on frish trade and relief of Irish Catholics." Burke" ccorzdemiiation of Britis11 pr~licyand attitudes toward freiarid was sweeping, arid the speech reflects s(>rneof the personal ariguislz. Burke feit because of the religious stress in his bitiily and upbringing.64 Afrer the r~tillappyevents at Bristol, Lord Rackingharrt ananged for Brrrke to be returned to Westrrtinster as PVPfor Maltan. Twci years Later, after the Bririslz debacle in Anrerica, Parlia~rzentgratlted nrany of the derrzallds being made by Protestant leaders in the Dublin partiamerzt, wfiich reduced British control over Irish legislation arrd the judiciary. Burlce wrote to the duke of Pc)rtlatzd, t1zen lord lieutenantl that "k]very thing asked or even tlinted at fro111 Ireland has been yielded in the fullest Irzeaure and with the conrptcatcst urzanimity. . . . Xf rfiings are prz~dcntlymanqcd, Xrclarzd wilt bccosnc a great country by degrees."" Ayling, however, ~locedtilar Burkeh sslipport fbr the Irish measures of 1782 was "hskcwarnr . . . and tte accepted only with nrisgivings the concessions to the Xrisfi.'""Ghat csrtld explain this attitude? Bwke migt-tt have been tlrteasy about the mraalres for mci reassns. For one, Parliament gra~lredconcessions to Ireland out of fkar arrd weakness hllowing the loss of Alnerica, hpcriat xnisgovernmcrzt, as Burke had luizg bctieved, was lading to imperial disintcgratiolz.
Burk~iI,$ and ~~;rte~zats"onaiAfnifs
II
The "union'" of thr empire was fraying badly Anzerica was now 'h Cbreign courrrry,'hafld the xzew measures gave Ireland more politid irzdependence than it had erzjjayed for a very lorzg time. Burke rnay have specdated that the cancessions sigrlaled the begirtr~ingof Ireia~id's wilhdrawaf from the imperial mciery Second, the measura of 1782 had done nothing to anzeliorarc thc sufferings of rhc Irish Catholics, Tlze reforms sotidificd the power of the "Protestant asandanq'hnrf prtvided ricj abaterrterlt of retigiclus persecurioii.6Urelarid was dr-ifting 6om the irnperiai socictp with all the evils bequeatired by British oppression, Bwke xni&t have ccjnsidcred this the worst of all possible circumstances for his native couxztv. But the coricessions did riot settle Irislz aff-airs. Early in his ministry, Williairz Pitt "prepropositions, fbr putting Angle-kish pared in 1784 air daborare plarr, set attt in cct~~~nrerciai econanzic relations on a satiscactory basis,"bVPitt's plan coiztained m explicit karg~irz:Trade bemeer1 Britaixi and Ireland w d d be iiberalized if Iseland agreed to make a3ntriburinns to the defense of the entpire. Burlce strc3ndy opposed Pith csmrrzercid proposals in hrtiamerit. Girillg Burke's penchmc b r h e trade and desire to have T~landwithin the empire, MeDowell attributed his apposition to his membership irz "a party which was recently smartix~g r~rtderits reaIlt loss of office and severe defeat-at the polls+"6' 1VcDowefl clainred that Burke "attacked in misleading detail the prnvisions retatir-rg to tire defense contrib~~tistrr, and . , . dwelt 0x1 the darzger of exposing British irldustry to compctition."Tc) In sllort, McDowefl portrayed Bwke as a protectionist ptrliticn pl;iying loose with the facts. Burke's opposition to Pitr's cjanrnrercial propositions, trowever, was consistent with his pmspative an the inzpcriaf sociey AS ft~rtherelalwratcd in Chapter 3, Burke did xzat reflexivefy support tlze pririciple of free trade. For hirrt, political coritext-not abstract: principle-was crucial. Simibr to his misgivings about the Irish refarnzs of 1782, Btrrke J r d mnccrns that tiberdizing Irish trade would weaken the tixlks af thc imperial socicy by xnakng Iretaiid a "foreign cortrit~y"krke"s~smrrzeritsin his Nay 1785 STpeech on Irish Commercial Proposk~ionsabout the effect of Pirc's proposals on mannbcturing in Britain sfrottld be interpreted in light of his vision of cmpire,""urke saw Britain and Irelarld as parts of a greater vvflde, each with its role to play.72 He stared that Britain should bear tlre responsibiliy fir outfitting fleets for inzperial defense aird tllat "it strottld be tire business of Ireland to assist her in arzother way; and it was astolzishirrg iiiow mk;tch the latter might do t y pursuing a rigid p h i of ecctnom~"'"3As indicared earficr, Atlrke worked to liberalix those aspects of Irish trade chat would allow Ireland to prosper within tlre inrperial sociey. Second, Brtrkc opposed the commerciat propositiolzs kccausc they were conditional: Btlrke conzprirred Pitc's liberalized trade in return for contributions to ixrrperid defen~e.~4 policy to the tragic effort to exact revenue fbr imperial deknse in America,'j Burke puts the issue aF imperial defcnsc in pcrspcetive; Engtarzd done, hc said, nlust: bear rfic weight and burdcn of empire; shc alone rnust: pour our rfie ocean of weatrtz neccssay Ebr the defcrzse af ir; Ireland and orher parrs mi&r empty rfieir little urns ra swell rhe tide; they might widd their little puny tridents; but the great trident: that was to move the world, nlusr be grasped by England alone and dearly ir cosr her to hold ia.7" Burke believed that the subordinarc parrs of the inzperiai societ-y would contribute more to the secwiry ofthe enrpire if given the opporrufricy to prosper econonrically. Such contributions wcl-c:indirect, urzlikc the attempts to raise revelzuc in Anerica arzd Irctarzd, but
in Burke's mind more powerful because they arose from rile dceperrirzg of comnron interests within the ernpire. In BurkeUast phase of Irisli endeavors, he warned about the danger posed to disgruntled coloxlies by hostile states and forces in rile incer~lationalsystenr, 7n 1790 Thonras Hussey solicited Burkek srtpport ixz wilzning Catholics the right to vote ixz Ireland. H~tsscy ~neritiorleda danger that had dready registered in Rurkek nrind: The disaffected Gatt1o)ic rnajority in Ireland might emitlate rhe French Rcvolutiorr ~tnless&c burdens of British oppression wcl-c: erzscd further. Burke dispatched his sotz, &chard, to act as his agcrzt ixz working with the CattioIic Committee in D~tbiin.In 1792 B-tlrkewmte a lengthy letter to Sir Hercrtfes Langrishe, an Irish MR77 717 this letter, intended for general publicariorr, Rwke ~trgcdimmediate erzf.i.anchiscmcrzt for Cathotics, Chara~teristicalE~, Burkels argklinertts work at differerit levels. Brirke appealed to the principles tauglt~tby history: '"No natioiz in the world has ever beer1 known to exclude so great a body of men frrot born slaves) from the civil state, and all rhe benefits ofrhe constitutiun."'"We appealed to the ""uriiorfiof the irrlperiai society: "If they are not: satisfied, you have t-~lromiliiolts of subjects in your hosont, h i i of uneasiness . . . because yon wit1 rlor suffer them ro enjoy the anciexzt, fuxldatrrerrtaf, tried adva~ltagesof a British constitution."7"1e argrled agaiainst tlie dangers of intdera~icc:and arrr>gance:"It: is impc)sibbte that such a state of things . . . nztlst not produce alienation 1x7 m e side, azd pride artd insolerrce on the octler.'""ozd Burkc wartzed uf the prospect uf coloxzial diseolztelzt with the ""Fench diser;lse" in the air: IFrwa parrs Catholic bc driven inru a close confcldsracy with half rhc third parr of Procesra~~rs, wit11 a view ro a changc in chc consrirurior-rix-rchurcfi or srare, or barh; and you rest chc ivl~ole of their security on a kandfttl of gentlemen, ciergy and their dependents; compute the strength yatL /?due iilt lreh~zd,to oppose to grounded discontent; to capricious innovation; ro blind popular fury, and ru ambirious turbulent i~~trigue'g! Burkek efforts on behalf of the Catholics had t9y 1792 borne rzo fruit in Dublin or London. the outbreak of war ~ ~ C ~ C Francc C I Z and Brirairl in 1792, iiiowcver, thc statrtre of Burkek views-not: only on France hut also on Ireland-rose. Plurke used his influence with the Pict rrriniscry to pronrore new rrreasures for rile enzancipation of Irish Catholics. Xr 1793 the Catholic Relief Act lifted most uF the rcrnainlrzg disat9itities on CathoIics, except the right to sit in the Irish T)arliainent.sl-Althoirgll Burke had long urged this result, tle had no illusions about the heafing p o m r of this nleasure, which was taken with a fearfill eye toward Francc. British policy irk Xrcla~zdrzow had to contcrzd with an ixzcrer;lsingly restless Catholic majority, Prstestarzt minorirry, artd the infectious Jacobirt virus. The hitterlless errgerrdered by British oppressirtrz, rhe rrrisgovernmerrt by 7rish Protestaxz ts, and ~ t l e radicdism of sonze Iris11 Catholics converged to speH travail for Burke"sarive tarzd. As first grief at his brother" and son's deaths and then sicltrless racked Burkck body and mind after 1734, Treiandh h t e became parr of the sorrow rllat acrompatlied him to his grave. i n late 1794, wherz Pitt appointed as viccroy uf Ireland Earl Fir~williani,over wbonz Xjurkc held great sway on Iris11 afbirs, it seemed as if Burkek irtfluerice on Irish policy fzad reacfied its peak. Burke hoped to wield that influence to Qisnzantle the renraining proilibition on Catholi~ssitting in the Xrish hrtiaincrzt. Burkc and Fic~william,however, soolz discovered
Burk~iI,$ and ~~;rte~zats"onaiAfnifs
13
that Pitr 'bevel- had arzy intention of allowing Fitzwilliam any scope in Ireland, to walk his Burkan way."s4 Whcrt Pitt recaffed Fir~williainin February 1795, Burkck iiopcs for Ireland received another devastating bl(3w.84 Fiawilliam's recall stirred thi- passions of the already angry Catllolic majority in Ireland, Rct9ctlians feeling was ixt the air, aggravated by the exainple of the Frcrtciz ftevolution. B u r k had lc~ngfeared tlzis coriseqrrence of irnperial misgovernmerit. He lzad tlzroughout his pubtic career rricd to build a society between the British and Irish on the basis of the British constittltiun. As hc became a ""helpless spectator" in XrisIl afhirs, Brtrke expressed in a letter to Thornas Hussey in late 1736 syrrtpathywith tlze Irisit Catholic rebels and exasperation at the coxltinuance of British oppression,R4 Burke distinguished the rebellious passions of the Irish Catholics, which we= based an "Pe~lruryand irritation, front scorncd lo.~~dty, and rejected Alegiancel" front "hcobinisnt, mfzicl~is Speculative in its Origin, and wl~ictiarises front Wantonness and frltiness of bread."% The confluence of Irish Catholic defiance, which Bilrkc thought jt~srifiable,and French Jacobinism, which he toatlied, caused iiint tormcnt.87 Revolutioiiary France was a nteriace to the csrnmontwedtlz of Europe, Catholic rebels in Ireiaiid were a threat to the imperial society, artd British fear of facobinisnr in Irefand was a source of conlintred oppression Cor the people of his native tand,8"1n his firial days, Burtct: could see for Ireland ""oizly a bitter futr~re,and to the end it caused hirrl arigry grieEWg"
A sccalzd major interlzarional issue that Burke focuscd on during his partiarncrttary career was Britisll policy tc3ward the Anterican coloriies, His ideas or1 the proper furictioning of rhe Britis11 intgerial sociey strongly appear in his cllinking on Anrerica. Burke's thoughts on Brirish imperial policy towad America, however, differ somewf~at&on1 those on Irish policy. htericafz af-iairs did xtut ixtvotvc the bloody history of Engjish conqrtest and uppressioiz of a Cattlotic people. BurkeGraise for the British csrzstitution and his attempts ro ilzctude the Catholic Irish within its principles and institutions atways remained in terrsiorz with iiis disgust at the apprcssiolz of Irish Catholics, The h t e r i a n colonies, ixz colttrast, were English and Prc>testarit.The societat ties between Britail1 arid Anterica were so organic and direct that Burke viewed viofe~ltstrtlggle bewccn the home country and i t s Anterican colortics as notlling less than civil war t9cween Erzdishmexz. Brzrke" iillterest in tlze h e r i c ~ t r colonies i predates his parliameritary career. Althouglz Burke never visited Anrerica, he displayed a keen interest i ~ it t dtxri~lgrhe 1750s. Apparerttly, Burkc upset his $ither by proposing to go to Allle~icafbr a visit during his sttldies at Iriryni~,Rurkc: wrote Middle Temple."""After publiclltiorr of Knckica~ionand Pl;ilos~plriii.~l ro his childhood friend Rjchard Shackleton in 1357 of his desire "shortly, please God, ro t9c in America."% That Burke would wish to leave his newly wort literary recognitisrz for a taste of colorzi;zl life seents curious. He may have formed this desire drrring his collaboration with his close friend Wllialn Elrrrke orr the pubfication of Arirorlnt gthe Egr~pr/ki.z Sa~ttlewaentsin Aljvze~icn( 17 5 7)'32 As private secretary ro the grime ~rrinisterLord Rockingham and as a new 161R Burke qklickly put to use hi5 knowledge of rfle h e r i c a n sic\ration.p4ibckinghanrb shorc adrnlnistratian (1765-1766) repealed the Stantp Act and lihcralizcd trade uppo~rtnitiesfbr the
colonies, As Burke's %arc Arrorlrzt of'&Late S h ~ rAdvziniSgraGio~ t (1766) makes clear, he considered t90th acts to t9c achievements, t9ccausc the repcal of the Sramp Act conlposed tlze ""T)stractiorzsof the British Entpire" and the liberaiizatiorz of trade with Anerica set America "free f ; o n ~injtldicious and ruinous Tnrpositions'hatrd exteclded its commerce "with hrcign Gartrrtries,'"4 Both policies also fit within Burkck overall conception of Iraw tlze British imperial society shortid furicticrri. Partranrent inrgosed the Scanrg Act in 1765 on the groulids ri-tar:rile cofonisl~s""stloutd contrit9utc towards the nlilirary defcnce of an Enzpirc from whiciii they derived sakty and beriefit.'"5 The Seven YearsWar with France erilarged the Britislr Empire and Britaink 6~iancialdebts. War and inrperial expansion, however, errcouraged E~rglishpoliticians to stray Eram one of the ancient prirzciplcs of the British calzstitution: no taxation without repseserztatioiz. Burkels oppositiori to the Stamp Act arid to all s~lbsequeritschentes for raisirlg revenrte &(,mAmerica rested on his fundamentat attacfirnerit to the wisdom af Mlowing the British constitution in imperial policy, a helief evident when he urged Britaiiz to allow the Irish "to enjoy the ancient, fundarncrrtal, tried advalztages of a British colzstitutioiz.""")hz his writings on Anrerica, this rl~erzzereceived nrajor entpha"~. Btrrke also opposed the Stanrp Act because it contravened a historical principle enrbedded ixz ixnpcrial relations with knerica: Britain liad always asscrted (and the hcricalzs acknowledged) its right to regulate h e r i c m trade, hut never---until the mid-1760s-had Parliatrzent- sought to raise revenue in Arirerica."" Thdrcanlp Act, in Burkc's eyes, represcrztcd a failure of Britisfi politicians to graurzd ixnpcrial policy ixr a thorough urzderstanding of British constitutioiial pririciples arid tlie valuable lessoris of historicd1 experience. B ~ ~ r kcoilceded e Britaink abstract right to tax rile colonies found in the Declaratory Act of 1766, but he was convinced of the political falty of brixiging that: abstraction to life. As fbr easing the commercial regulations on the AInerican cdonies, Brrrke again nroved within his belief of the ~rzlltualbetrefirs ro be gained fronr a freer trade within the imgerid society. Burke krzcw that Brirain had long reglzlarcd Anzerican trade, and he did not quesriori its right: to do so. What Burke qrrestioried was " h e miscftief and folly of a plari of indiscril~tiizaterestraint.""" He believed cllac lieavy regulatiot~of Arncrican trade would rzegatively affect British commercial power: "VIGtbout some such schcnle of c~zlargcmexzt, it was obvii->usthat ariy beriefit we could expect front tlzese colorlies nttlst be extremely limired.'"Wurkc"ssupport for liberalizing Arzerican trade in 1766 sjiiaws his adherence to Montcsqrticu"s bclicf in the bcxzeficial economic, social, and politicat calzscqucnccs of the '"pisit of commerce.'""" As 1Wontesquiei1 believed chat commrce contrihilted ro more geacehl relatio~zsbetween states, so Burke saw comrrzercc as a way to strerrgthen rile stability arzd pmspcrity of rfic impcrid socicy. Burkc partook of the Erzlightcnmcrrt t9cticfin tlze virtues of contnterce. Cllaracteristicl, he did riot embrace the abstract principle hut insrcad soirght evidence in Brilisli imperial history ro jusri@ his acfwcacy of the practical principtc of freer tradc wirhixz the empirc. "The .America11 policy of tlle stlort Rockitrgl~amadntinistratioiz, tzowever, did ~ i oglline t sttbwquent minisfries. The year after the FAH of the bckinghanz ministry Lord Chatham's governrnexzt t9rougirt the abstraction of rhe Declaratory Act to life t9y inlyoslrzg duties on goods imported into Anterica.Io1 Contintied ilnrcst in Axrzerica over such inrgerial rmation spawn4 another rolfrld of Britidi hand-wrirzgiitg in 1769 when Parliament repeated five of rhc six duties imposed in 1767. The renlaining duty applied to tea. k ~ itdwas this
Burk~iI,$ and ~~;rte~zats"onaiAfnifs
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duty a~sgmemccfby the Tea Act of 1773, that provoked the Bosron Tea Party of 1773 and the Axierican colonial tea ernt9argc9. VVlrexz Burkc rose ixz the House of Commolzs to deliver his famorts Speech orz America8 Tmats'orz (1774),he described the time sirlce the repeal of the Stamp Act as nine years during which "we have been lashed roilnd and round this nliscrtlt9te circle of occasional arguxncrzts arzd temporary expcdicxzts, I am sure our heads must turn arzd our storrrachs rlauseate with therrt. . . . [Bjut obstinacy is rlot yet co~lqt~ered."lQ2 Burkc's Speech on Americnn T h d t i ~ ncombined historictll arzd political analysis in criticizing the "wr:,efill variety of scl~ernes"adopted to tax hrrericans, His historical rlarrative demonsrrared the long-statrding Brirish practice rowad h e r i c a of regulalirlg trade b t ~ t xzot sccking c= revctzucs. Burkc saw the tuatian fetish of many parliainexztari.atrzs as foolish flirtation with abstract questioiis of legal right. American Tmdtiorz iftr~strateshis procedural conservarisnz, which describes the proper disposition arzd attitude of statesrrtert toward rile nraking of hreign poiicl~.]" Burkc urged his fellow MPS to recover " p u r old, your strofzg, yortr terzabjc positior;;) and to usc "die anclexzt paticy and practice of the empire, as a rampart against the speculations of innovators . . . arld p u will stand on great, manly, and sure grouxld,"""" Burke coiztinued: Again, and again, revert ro your old principles-seek peace and ensue it-leave Anlerica . . . to tax herselE 1 am not here going into the distinc~ivnsof right+$., . , I do nor enrer inro these meraphysical distincrions; X hate tile very souxid OF them. Leave rhc Americax-rs as they antiendy stood, and these ctistinctic>ns,born of our t~nhapflycontest, witl ctie along with It. They, and we, and their and our ancestors, have been happy under rhar systen1.1()5 Btrrke firrther ptlrsued rile absrract qltestion ofthe right of Parliarlrenr ro tax &c h r e r icatr colonies, expounding his "idea of the constitution of the British Empire."l06 Sincc he played a major rote in the passage of the Declaratory Act of 1766, Burkc rzecded to make clear his position on the respectivt: rights and priviieges of Parlianterit and the Arrrerican colonies, Burke argued that Parliarrrent had an ""iperial chardc~ceIlfin which it: "sf~perintcxzds a11 the scveral inferior Lcgislaturcs, and guides, arid controfs t h a n all without anrziMating ar~y.'""" Parliament had "to coerce the ~leg)igcm,to restrairl the violent, arrd to aid 111e weak and deficient, by the over-rtlli~lgplenitude of her power.'"oV~tlorder to fulfil1 its imycrid role, Parlianrent's "powers xn~tstt9c bonndlcss.""]' But this csr~ceptior~ of ""boundless" ppower had to he seen withit1 the context of empire as a society; not as a relationship ofdonrirrarion and subrrrission, Thus, Parlia~nerre"is never to intrude into the place of the others, whilst they are equal to the common cxzds of their institucion."1") Under tl-tis coriception, Btirke saw irnperial rights of Great Britain, and the privileges which the Cofonists ought to errjoy under rt-tese rights, to be just the n-tost reconcileable things in the worfd."l l llrt America~zEaatiola Btnrke also displayed an awareness of the illterdependence of imperial poficy. He observed that rile An-terican tea embarp threatened ro destroy the strategy devised in 1773 to save tfic: East Xrrdia Cornpany horn fi~za~zcial collapse, As a way for the compas~yto shore up its finances, Pariiament alowed it tc:, export tea to Anerica witllout paying duties, The Aniericatr en-tbar-goon tea left, in Rurke's words, "Ten Mitlions of pounds of this cornriiodity . . . locked up by the operation of axz ixzjudicious Tdx, and rot-
ting in the warehouses of the Conrpany."llT?-"he stratep of usilrg the Axrrerican rrrarker to attow the East India Company to crawl out of its uwar finaxzcial Inorass was in serious trouble, meaning that Parliainent might have to bear the entire ht~rdrnof the companfs debt. "It is throcrgh the Anrerican trade ofTea," Burke noted, ""ll~atyour East India conquests arc to be pxvented &urn crushing you with their burtfrxcrz,"f13Misgovertzmerzt in one part of the empire detrinterttalty affected efkrts in artother part. Burke contnterited bitterty: "It is the sanre Foliy that has last p u ar once the benefit ofthe West aird of the East,'"14 Burkei cEons to put the ship of imperid sociey on arz even keel, kowwer, were xzot kceping pace with the speed of everits in Anerica or Britain. m e l t Burke gave his Speech Qn Americgn Taata'orz, Parlianrent had at ready passed pulritive nr easures against Boston and the colorzy of Massacbctsctts, Such legslation stoked the fires of hnericaiz urziy; Inore arzd nrore the hnericarrs begair to kel iike and want to he "a &reign muntry." Yet Bwke remained drterlnined to prevent a rupture. In march 1775 Burkce gave orie of his ntost famous speeches, Speech nn Coprcikz'acinn wit!~RmeYjCd,in which he clearly staced rhe dificuly of rile task before the rzation: "To restore order arzd reposc to an Empire so great and so distracted as ours, is, merely in the attenrpt, an nnderraking that wcmld exinohlc the flights ctf the highest gerrius, aird obtain pardon For the efforts of the meanest ilndersranding."l15 Burke proposed "kdce . . . sitnple Peace.""We clairned that his plan was rtot "new artd captivating" arid rested or1 the "idea of conciliation,"~"7~~1rkc told the House of Conrrrrons that Britain had to offer coxrcessioxls to the colonists to restore the "rmer zlmuspecd;l'~gconjdence ofthe C o l o ~ hin the Mother Coz~ntry"ll~ He tlrerr rentirlded his COLleagues about the importance of America to Britain's comntercial and political power. This inrporraxrce, he admitted, was not lost on nrafry Engltshen, who helievcd Anrerica was ""arz ubjeet wcll worth fightixzg for.""-or his part, Burke rejected the use of force to preserve the imperial society. Burlce thortd~tfarce a ""feeble instrrtntent" for the task at hartcl because its effects were terllparary fi% nation is not governed, which is pelperually to be conqrtercd"") runcerrain ("klerror is rzot always the effect of force; arzd arz arxnamexzt is not a victory^'), counterproductive ("[tjle thing you fought far is . . . drpreciated, suxtk, wasted, and consunred in the coxrtest'"), aird historically unrested ("we have no sort of experience ixz 6avour of force as arz ixzsrl-nment in the rule uf our Galarzies'"),12"Oc) reir~force and Charncwr" of the folly cif resorting to f;.trce, Brlrke prwided an arralpis of the '"mper the Americans, who as descendants of free Englislrmert had dewloped into an energetic pm"pe ixz which ""a fierce spirit of tikcry'%ad growar up.uWurke serrsed the power of the Annerica~rspirit and rejected as "desperate" notions of changing or breaking tlGs spilir.121 The opcnixzg uf Co~zciIinthnreads like a tll~untpiece uf realisnr as Burkc emphasized Briraink self-interest in holding unto Anerica wfiile warxzixzg uf the trc~~icndous oksracles of t r y i to ~ do so by force. Burke changed the torte of his argllnterit as he preserited his vision of the ur-rity ofche Brilislr imperial sociev. He first criricized hlse notions about tire ixnpwial rclationshiy kcmeerz the ""cammo~zhead" and the ""snbordinate parts.""""."lurke "car1 scarcely cortceive airy thing more contpleatly imprrtdent, than far the Head of the E~npireto insist, tfrar, if any privilege is pleaded against his will, or his acts, that his whote autfro~ityis derzicd; insta~ztlyto proctainr rebetlion, to kcat to arms, and to put the offeiiding prc>viricesunder the ban."lr-i Empire was a nrore conrpiicated relationship tlrm sinrpte authority and subsel-vie~rce,particularly when it invotved Engtislrnrerr on both sidcs, As Burkc noted, the h~icricansfirst comptaint was ""Eat thcy iiiave rzat the charac-
Burk~iI,$ and ~~;rte~zats"onaiAfnifs
17
teristic Mark and Seal of British Freedom* . . . [Tlhey are taxed in a krlianrent, in which they arc not rcprcsc~ztcd,"~"25~trkc again candcm~zedthe sterility of abstract thinkirzg about the imperial relationsilip: "The questiclrt with me is, riot mflether you have a right to rcnder your people miserabfe; but whettler it is not your interest to nrake then1 jlaPPY
?I'
E6
As wirh Irish policy, Burke urged "the ahsaltrte rtecessity of keeping rrp the concord of this empire by a Unity of Spirit, rhocsgh in a diversicy of ogeratincls+"'z7For Bcsrke, the unity of spirit for the Britisiii imperial society found its strerzgth and pr~rposein 'the principles of Freedom.'"'qhe remedy for the h e r i c a s ~distemper, he arg~red,coltid he found where English keedoms were enshrined: the British constitution. "My idea," Bwke anxzounccd, "is t~ ndw~itthe peopk ofour CoLoylies irzto an i ~ k r e s irz t the c o ~ s t i t a t i 0 ~ ~He ,"~2~ provided historical precedent for this idea in the history of Englisl~exparisiori in the British isles: ""Eglish authority and Errdisli liberties had exactly the sarne b o u n d a r i e s , " ~ ~ Burkc proposed the sanle uiziy of power arzd tibcrty in the imperial tics kcmeerz Brit-aixz and America. To the proccdurai conservatism in Thdtion and the stark rcalisnl at- the kcginrling of Guncililttion, Burke added a sahstmtive vision of an ixnperid sociery based m1 liberty: My hold of the C:otcznies is in rl~eclose affecrion which grow from contnlon names, from kindred blood, fiom similar privileges, and rquat protection, 'l'tiese are ties \vinillich, rhoirgh light as air, are as strong as tix&s OF iron, . . . As long as you have rfic wisdom ra keep the sovereigrr anthority of this county as the smctuary of liberty the sacred temple consecrated to our a m nlon faith, wherever rl~echosen race and sons of E11gland wrship freedom, they will turn rl~eir fixes rawards you."l
Burkc's etoquencc and vision corltd rzot stow the rapid dcsccnt in the relations ~ ~ C ~ C C Britalxz and America, XXcAccring on the xzcws of Brtrzkcr Hill, Burke in arz August 1775 lctter expressed his sense that dekat or victory in America mearit tragedy for ESritain.132 Bclrke greeted the Dcctaration of Xndcpcndc~zcein July 1776 with a sintilar sense of gloom, as lie t9cfictd the spectacle of fellow Englishmexz unfurling the bloody ba~zxzcrsof civil war.';-+ In 1777 Bcsrke cailed this the "6taI Aera" when ""Rfitish blood was spilld by British llands."134 Burlre's fater writings on America, particularly his Letter tn the Shcrzfi nfRT.istoL ( 17771, coritain another tlzeme in his international tlzinking: the irnpact on the British consritution of imperial nrisgovernmenr and oppressive behavior abroad. Btlrlie denounced in Addres to the King (1777) and Letter to the Sherzfi of Bristol the govertzmerzt's ecmployxnexzt of Gerrrtarz ntercenaries arrd encouragement of Indian attacks on the rebellious h~ericans,';s Suck acts were symptoms of what B ~ ~ r scrzscd kc worltd kc a more dcadly effect of the civil war. 'Xiberry," h r k c wrote ixz Letter to the S h r t f i nfRrtrstol, "is ixz danger of tlcing xnade tlnpopdx to Erlgtishmen."""scThe great virtues ofthe British constirrttian and the British people &at Burke admired seemed porerrtial V~CI:~IZISof the A~nericanwar.'-37 Altllough the final defeat of British forces was still to corne, by 1778 Brtrke"s3rearn of a harmolzious Britis11 empire lirzked rattler than divided by the Atlantic" was completely biowrr away138 In 1782, after the 1781 British defeat at Varktowrz, Lord Rockingham, led t9y Burke, xnade America1 indepcrzdc~zcea prccolzditio~zof formixzg a new administration to reptacc
I Z
Lord N o r t h 1rriniary.139ironically>the Irzati who had labored so hard to prevent tlre fragmcrztatiolz of the British Ernyire forced Gearge IIX to recognize Amcrican indcyencfence.'40 For Burke, preserviilg empire at all costs was not tlze ttftirnate objective. His notion of the inrperial saciey rested on deeper political principles at the hean of the British constitution-principles that Burke L9cticved British imperial policy had debascd. Burkc sought to preserve Britain"~relatiorrsirip with Anterica riot: for the sake of entpire itself hut rather becllrlse he wallted empire to embody a comnrunicy sharing the h i t s of freedom. Atthougii hc tried to reconcitc the ideas of ernpire arzd freedom, whcrz British policy forced a choice between those ideas, Burkc supported freedonz.
[ad;&:The Pr"tctlt to the Ha5ti;l;g~Iwpeachment At tire end of his politicat career, Btrrke considered his efforts otr behalf of h d i a to be his most imyortaxzt: "Let: my endeavours to Save the Matiorz from that Shame and guilt, bc xny monument; "The only one f ever will have. Let every t t ~ i r ~ I ghave done, said, or written be forgotten but this."la Birr-kespent more tinre and e n e r u on TIzdia than any other issue he addressed in Parliament, As a result, these efforts constitute a nrajor aspect of his international political pcrspcctive, yet they ""have Lxxrz retativeIy ignored L9y students of his polirical tho~tght.?'l*2 The early part of Burkc's life and parliarncrztary ctlrecl- reveats no burrling interest in British. activities ixz Xrzdia. 1x1 het, the contrast bcwcclz Burkck speeches un the East Irldia Contpariy in the late 1760s and early f 770s and his later pursuit of Warren Hastings, governor-gcr~eratof Bengat, in tire 1780s is dratrzatic, Btrrke's path to tire Hastings impmchmcxzt reqitires careful analysis to avoid simytistic conctusions about the teansforrxlatiori iil his thsrrghit on Iridia. His perspectives on India contain tile full rlchrless arid complexit-).of his overat political atrd moral thought. TB Burke's "great minc-,'"ndia is unc uf the richest veins, "The extent of Burke's knowledge about fndix before he entered Pariiament ixt f7GS is unclear. TB a speech in 1773, he admitted tlrat he felt no nrastey or^ the sttbject,'""~ Burke was xzut conrpl~telyigrluratzt uf India whexz lie entered hrtiamerzt. According to NarAail, Burkc "rflront earty in his life . . . appears to have beer1 ari avid reader of travel ac~ouxits.""~Further, shortly after L9ccorning arz Mjt;: he was ixzvolvcd with his brother &chard Burkc and clasc fricxzd Willianr Burkc in ""a hidily arnL9itlous and irzirially successful specrtlation in East Iildia stcick,"~45 Beweerz 1767 and 1773, govenzxncrzt and Parliament faced growing concerns about atlcgcd xnisgovernment, fi~zalzcialdifficrtlties, and carruptioxz in the East India Company. Drliring this period, Btlrke opposed refornt of the East India Company. When Lord Ctive faced investigation by a select garliamenray conrnzirtee and [lien a f1.111Comrrzons debate un East Irzdia Gomparzy activities in 1773, Burke apparerztly was Iiiappy that C1ive won the sirowcfown.""" Sirrzilarly, Burke attacked all East i~idiaConrpany reform bills between 1767 and 1774. He did so once, in the words of the Geneml Euenirtg Post, "vvirh a vcheU ~ C C ~ ~ I IaIXlOflgSt E ~ Q ~ ~ our xnodcrr~Orators,"1fl B~trkekopposition to East India f~rerlic~ Csrrrpany rehrnt, therefore, was neither passive risr tirnid, Dissecting the nrorives behind Burke's opposition is a conrpticated Irzatrer. A standard ixztcrprecatiun is that he believed ixz the East Xndia Cornyarzyk imperial activities and saw
reform proposals oniy tllrorrgh the prism of domestic, partisan politics.14"xn Febr~lary 1769 Burke referred to the Indian ernpirc By saying that the "orient sun xzcvcr laid xnorc glofit~usexpeaatians before us" aird that ""Erope wiil envy, the East will envy: I hope we shall rerrrain an errvied Peopte,"le He also praised the East India Conrpany as "qreat, a glorious Cornyar~y.'"m On het, in June 1773 Burkc stated char the cornyany iiiad xzot bcerz improperly mallaged. "1 Evidence that Burke saw the East India Cot-rrpaxly as a doxrrestic political issue also abourzds in his spceches arzd letters of this time. As Langford wrote, ""Xidian problems, so far as he was csrrcerrled with them at this time, were seen primarily as additiorial symptonrs of [he coxlstitutional disease at honre.'"'r"Burke feared that the refornr proposals were praexts fbr the Crowrr and the govcrnmerrt to gain contrai of the wealth arzd patronagr_:opportuirities in the growing Indian empire.153 Such & a s afe echoed in Burke's ntajor political writings of this period, Obssrua~kns?son a Ldte i-etal.e c?ft.he Natz'orz (1769) and Tb~~gg/rlli mz the Prang D ~ P Z I : C ( 1 771)). ~ Y Ein~ which S he devetoped his theory of party and argued the ixnyortancc uf parry ixz thc struggle against the Grown" atternpts to ellcroach on the pc~werand independerice of Pariianterit,'~" Arhougli this srandard explaxzariolz uf Burkck opposition to Easr Irtdia Cornyar~yrcform t9cmcerz 1767 and 1774 does Iravc merit, other considcratiolzs deserve exploration. A tllente in Burkehpeeches of this period relates to iss~lesof poliricd1 economy.ls5 I11 his earliest recorded speech on Ir-tdia,delivered in May 1767, Burke attacked Lord Chathanrk East India Dividexzd Bill kceausc it reyrcsclztcd govcrrznrental ixztcrfcrencc in cornrnercial affairs.1" hrke's free nrarket p~dilectionsshotle fbrth in &is speech, as he argued that the bill threatened "m orakc a most inrportant Revatrttion indeed in the whofe Policy of this Gortrztry with regard to its Laws[,] its Commerce and its Crcdit'"kc~ausc ir restricted "by a positive arbitrary Regulation the entjoymerit of the protits which shotlid be rnade in Conrmerce" and did so by taking profit from the East India Conrpanp even though "it sinlzed agairrsr no mle prescribed by Laur,'957 Burkc likewise had little time for the assertion that regulation was rieeded t~:,prevent falls in East India Csmparry stock prices. Irt his February 1769 Spercll on Emt hdia ,fPttIemrml; Bwke told East India Company shareiiiatders to ""profit from p r l r prosperiry; and kcar like nren your adversity,"'"s"rt the Decemlxr f 772 Speech N E East. Irzdia Restrai~iagBilk, Bmke blamed government ixtterference for ha~lkruptingthe conrpany througl~""plt~nder'"and "extorting T\Rloney."f59Ser~timerrt~ suck as these cast Burke ""a a friend of the company" in the early 1770s.fiO Arlorller therne in Burke's speeches at the tinre i s the qktestion of rights. A,.; iirdicated by his opposition to government regulation of the East India Company, Bwke defended ""chartered, yroy~rtiedrights against the ixzcursians of a corrupt and avaricious govenzment.""lu h his April 1773 %?eeeh on North E k t IrtdZ~kResolzilinm, Btlrlie arracked the governnrent's clainr that it had a right to the territories acquired by the East Irtdia Conrpally. Xn keeping with his distaste far abstract rights, Bwkc argtred that a "rkht im$ed sontething settled, arrd establistred by certain know11 rules and maxirns; it implied, in short, a Iegaldecz'siorr; for to talk o f a right where no legal decision had been obtained, was to talk of a non-cntity."lGz Btirke also claimed that the government's alleged right was imaginary becatrse it was riot based on ariy ""maxim of law or equity."N3 He thus coildemned the proh~oscdresofutions as imyollicic, ~rnwise,"and entirely repugrlant to the letter as wet! as the spirit uf tlrc taws, the tibcrtics, arzd the calzstitutiorz of this cou~ztry."lGh
For Burke, the East Trrdia Company rehrms threatened rmt only &c donrestic politicat balance of power but also the principtcs of thc British. constitr.ttion. Burkek praise for tire East India Cornpany arzd lzis opposition to reforrn seern to contradict Iris sensitive perspective on errzpire developed in his Irish atzd Axzrerican writings. The whole story however, is yet to t9e told. In the same speech in which he cxtalled tfic: '"glorious ex-pectaticns'\of empire in fndia and the '"reat, glorious Company" he made a rzrore sober atzd anrbiguous statement: ""You are plunged into Empire in the east, You have farmed a great t9ody of pawcl; you nrust abidc by the conscqrterzcc."~"sararkcr concerns shape the sentirnerit in tlzese wclrds. His Speech QnNorth? Eat India &soli;ltions csrzfimted that Burke had such worries, He argued that the East India Cc~rnpanytied about their [the gc3vemment"s ministers"] necks, would, Like a mill-stone, drag them cic~wninto an t~nfathonlableabyss; that it was wefl If it dragged not this naeion dong with them, For rim, for his [RurkeH] part, he always had had h i s Fears, and would riow verzrurc to prophecy his apprchensiaris, tfiar this cursed Cumpax-rywu~lldat latst, viper, be the destructicln of the county which fostered it in her bosum."""
C;raritttrs expectaticxzs were now weigilts that could plt~rzgeBritain into the depths; the great and glorious East India Company had became a viper portending the ruin of the couxrtr)z;Xn the sanre speech, B~lrkeused a the~zrehe enrptoyed with Ireland aid Anrerica: that imperialism could pose a direct threat to the spirit arzd constitutiolz ofthe British people. He argued that the East fndia Company affair had already encorlraged a '"oral warzt of principles . , . atnongst ati ranks and degrees of peogle'\lrar made them 'a nrosr servile degenerate herd, destitute of capacity to distinguish, or virtue to relish, what was pod.""T B~lrkepreferred to sec the East Xndia Conrpany "fat1 to ruin about his ears, than have tire base of the English Gnstimliorz ~nde~rrrined nr.a silrgke pillar w/rirh contributed tu $hesapport ofso excellent a structzrre receive the sl&"ratfiacture, or d&nced irc the minatest part."'"" Btrrke's Apri;1 1773 speech sltggesa that his opposiiiorl to East India Company regulation was neither as conrplacent nor ill conceived as sonre have clairzred,lcfi Not alt the strarzds of El~rrtcekthonght outlined above ruiz togcther coherently. Pmhaps he scrzscd this corzfusinn. As Marsh& noted, '"4 t least frnnr the rnid-W70's, he began a prolonged irnrnersion in the copious records of the East India Company, as his papers show, raking rzotcs of much that he rcad,"'m That Burke began irrtensive study of the India qtlestiorz in~inecfiatel~ after his initial irrw3lvernent ( I 767-1 7'74)irrcficates that somethirrg abortt the question tsiggc~dhis intellectual and nroral energies, When India rrexr appeared on tire rzational agclzda, Burke was in arz erztirety diffcrcnt franre of xnixzd, This new attitude first displayed itself in 1777 in the Lord Pigot affair. fn 1773 tlze rrawab of the Cal-natic deposed tlre raja of Tanjore with the help of East Xndia Company troops, Lord Ptgot was scrzt to Madras in 1776 as the nLw governor-general with orders to restore the raj8 to tlze throrze. Lord Pigatk s~lbordinatesin Madra, hc)we\rc;r,arrested l-iirrt and &re\*.him into prison after he had reinstarcd the raja, Those in collrlsion with tire Madras subordinates kegan iot9bying ixz Londoxz to have Taizjarc rcturtzed to the xzawab. William Btlrke acted as a London agerzt for the raja, and Burlre himseif becarxre irrvolved in tlris affair hy protesting aginst the insubordination in Madras and dre English-inspired violence against Tarzjorc.
Burk~iI,$ and ~~;rte~zats"onaiAfnifs
2f
In his Sgeech on Resmi~lgLord P&QL,delivered in May 1777,Btlrlie explained his opposition to the previous attempts to regulate the East Irldia Company as a case uf wishing "to see the Conrtparip free from Cor*rtii-pgrncc"that it might always be tlrzder pgblicXr GBicrok"w7"Elie admitted that clre East India Company could be regulated by public hv-as tong as that regulation did not threaten thc balance aF power witl~ixzthe British constitutisrrat system. To Burke the insubordii~ationof the East Ir~diaCnmparzy employees in Madras in arresting and inrprisoning Lard Pigor coilsticuted a fitrrdmenrat challenge to Britisfr principtcs af governmelrt.~7~ He addressed this theme in his Arncricalr spccchcs, ntaking explicit reference to the similariy oF imperial p'obIems in hterica and fncfiaa1V Burke also knew that the Anrerican rebellion and that in 1UacSrs fuxldarrrerreatiy differed. The Anzericans rose up t9ceausc the British governmelrt and Partiarncrzt reft~scdto apply the wisdorrt of the constitution to colc~ntds,""f If the people rebel," h r k e said, "it ntay be from a serise of grievdncc" arid all government is subordinate to them,"""* Such a people's rebetiion 'hudy be right,'%ut "the rehelliotr of subordinate office against the superior never can t9c so fbr they derive xzu artthority but from iili111."'~5 The spectade of Britisil subordinates o v e r t L ~ r i i their r duly appointed superior marked a dangerous nlrn in imperial acrivity. Tf: the claditions and principles of good governance at home were questiuncd througii private avarice in the dist-ant imperial realms, then ernpire would t~cconre a rotten, corrupt erideavor, This would beconte orre of the great themes of Burkck later pwmh of Hastings. The Tarrjarc controversy altowcd Burkc to theorize further un the proper governance uf a fc-ireigripeopte. An article in the Novenlber f 778 Annul figister condemned the invasion of Ta~joreas cruel arrd unjust.17h AI; part of the fokt3ying carnpaigtr f-br the raja of Tdrrjare, Burke collaborated with Ktliarn Burke an a pamphlet called 1301;~nfMnkir~g Conyucstsfnr the IWckhometans (1773).1?' athough the pamphlet mostly eQages in a duel of quotations from East India Company records hclcween the pro- and antiraja positinfrs, some passages touch an deeper principles. regard co Xridia, Burkc was dcalirrg with a part of the Britis11 Ernpire that was rieitiler crtXturatty or religiously sirrlitar nor populated by Englishn~en.Tlae vision of the imperial society he had applied to Ireland and Amrica did xzut fit the circurnsr-anccsuF the ernpire ixz India. Xri PoIicj of Mdkzrig Congzkests, Burkc took his first steps in dcrveloping principles abnrtt handling intperial power over a racially, religiously, arrd cdturally &%rent people. Burkc attacked the supporters uf the nawab because they "confine their attention solcty to Prir~ces,and to the rights of f"l:inces.'"78 He complained &at the L'wretcl-iedpeopke are no part of whatsoever of thrir ~oilsideration.'"~VTItccrucial point in havilrg a native governrnelrt bcwccn the East India Cornparly and the people is that such govcrrznrent shorlld be "conge~iixito the native inhabitants, corrrspt>ndeirtto their manners, arzd scmhirtg to tireir prejiudices,"l~~ Using British kayolrets to forcc a Muslirr~dcsyot on the Hindu pcoplc uf T~njorewas not the kind af scnsiciviy to existing Xridiaxr sociccy that Burkc kclicved necessary fc)r good irr~perialr d e in India. Burke was aware that problerzzs would arise when a technotogically superior cr~dture canre in contact with a less advalrccd culture. But with superiority came not only power but alsc3 respt>nsibility.'711:was our dr~ty,"h r k e wrt:,te, "in order tc:, make sorne sort of conlperisarinn fbr the mischiefs insepnrable from a foreign md comn~el-cialsuperiority to keep a tlatance af justice and proportion in the scvcral powers that were subordinate to
rts,'"m f~nsread,the East fndia Company suppofied the violent aggraodizenrent of the rzawab, who rz~erclyacted to increase his owrz tyranny and his patronage from the British. Burke argued that "our evident duty, arid our dearest interest, was to ernploy those Elrropean] arts and that [Ellropean] discipline, arrd the power that grew our of them, to nreiiorate the condiriaxz of the sut9jcct and the d e p e n d c n t . " ~ ~ ~ In short, Burke believed that the East India Coimparry had a duty ts> improve tlze lot of fadians through mucnally beorfictal inrcrcoulse wit11 Britain wicllarrt datroyirlg cite indigenotrs society: Irzdia, then, would be parr not of rhc ernpire of liberty urzder the British. constitution but of an ernpire of preservatiorl and imprc>veatent. fa the Poliry of Maki~tgConqnests, Rurke called fir irtvestiption of the evils the Easr Xndia Camyany had inflicted on Tarzjore.I~W~urkc t9ccarnc a k y frgrtre in thc inqniry mfren in 1781 he was made a rnernher of a padiamentary select committee ctrarged with considering in relation ta India how "the greatest Secttrity arid Acfv'mtage to this Country, and . . . the Mappiless of"the Native Inhabitants may best be promored,"""e"Ttlc select conrnrittcc laoked into the erztirc relationship kctween Britain and Xndia and produced eleven reports bemeen 1782 and 1783. Brtrkc played a substantid role ori the continittee and auhored &c fafnotls Nintlr and Eleverzllr, Reports 4 t h e Scler~C;jtrrrmittee.'85 "The Ninth Report explained in detail " h e Principks of Policy, arid the Cc>urseof Conduct, by which the Natives of afi Ranks arid Orders have been reduced to their present State of Depression atrd Miser)r.'"a 111kecping with Burkck iinccresl: in political ccononry, much. o f the Ninth R6pol-t.disctzsscd the ccononric poticies arzd ixnpact of the East Xrzdia Csrnpany, Burke condernried both the csrnpanyi owri trade policies and its approach toward narive trade. fa his view>all the East India Conrpanyk "kgulations rratlnrally tended to wcakclz, ixz the very original Caxzstitutiolz of thc Company, the nrain Sprirrg of the Commercial Machine, tlze Prirtc@les of Profil n d L a . ""8' Ru rke catalogud t be ecorrotlzic trardships mered out to narive Tndians in the company$ policy ofmonopolirirrg "every Article of Trade, Foreigr~a d Domcstic.'"'xWe also analyzed the contpanfi sy.stem of governing India.'" A d he charged the conlpalry in fadia with rnatrifrst insubordination and disobedience toward, tire conrt~anfscourt of directors and Parlia~nent.Hastings drew The governor-general Hastings much of Burkc"sre in this part of the Ninth Repo~%!go sintilarly played tlze ceiitral role in tlze analysis o f East India C~ntpariycorruption that B ~ ~ r kdetailed e in the Eieventh Reporc. The Nirtth arzd EIeeenth Reports allowcd Burke to reveal the misdeeds Aawing from E a r India Contpany coriduct in India. But as always, Brsrke was irlterested in deeper principles. PerItapacFte nrost inrportant principle was respect for fadia's traditions, conrnrerce, and pm"pes. Burke wrote in the Ninth Rqort: ""Bforc any renredial Law can have its just Operation, the Mfairs of India ntust be restored to tlzeir natural Order. The Prosperity of the Natives must be previousty secured, before any Profit from them whatsoever is artenrpted.""Vor Burke, suclz a principle represented riot softheaded sytnpathy for a strarige arid ctlrior~speople but a realistic sense that inlperial power firids secrtriy ordy in rnarching selGinterest bemeen tlre hreigner atrd the native, In Rurke's v i m such a rnarch could occur only if imperial activity wcl-c:restricted and preserved as much as possible the riative society. Eatpire shorlld lirnit itself to prodt~cirlgthe circrtrnstarlces for tlze developrnenr of trade and commerce in keeping with the proper principles of political economy, Arzy social, moral, arzd political charzgcs stroutd bc encour%cd only for the good of the nrz-
Burk~iI,$ and ~~;rte~zats"onaiAfnifs
2.3
tive society. As ~blarshallobserved, Burke tt-tougttt that ""British interference shor~ldbe kept to a miniinurn, and India11 society skontd kc left done to recover througli its own inherent stre11grh."lg2 Burkei efforts on the select conrnrittce coxlvinced hinr that Parlianrent had to refornr the East Irldia Company. As a resutt, tzc played a major role in drafting and fighting for what became k ~ ~ o wasnFox-"sndia Bill. In his Speec/3 on F ~ x jIndia . Bilt (17831, Br.lrlie introduced the refornrs in Foxk proposed legistation, most ir11 porranc shiftitlg power &on1 the East Irldia Gomparzfs court of directors to an indcpctzderzt coinrnissiolz accorlntable to Parliament arld the Crown. Whelan noted that Fox's bill was % relatively radical legto islative proposal" &at derrzonstrated Burke's willingness ""r support radical sollutio~~s problems wlzelz more moderate approaches appeared futile," The speecll detailed the sufferings imposed or1 India by the East Iildia G~)mparly,but BL&C also appeaIed to the grarlder &ernes that give his perspeaive on the Indian empire o r i g i i ~ a l and i ~ power. Eady in the speech, he argued that a rertledy b r the evils propagated by the East India Company "is denlanded from us t9y iilumarzity, by justicc, arzd by every principle of true pc31iq" arid he attacked the "'total silence" of his fellow PVPS"corlcernilig rhe ir~tefescand well-being of the people of India.'"% Brtrke ehibited a scnsitivity about xzative Indian socicy t9y erzcouragir~ghrliarnelzt and the nation to scc Irldians not as "gai~gsof savages""but as "a people for ages civilized and cultivated; cdrivated by all tile arts ofpofished fife, whilst we were yet in the w00&."195 Although very diffefcrrt horn European civilization, Indiaiz society sparked in Burkc a sense of cornrnon huxnarzity. Burke compared Iildia wit11 the Germarl ernpire so that ""fddia migllt be approximated to our urrderstandings, and if possible to our kelings; in order to awaken somerl-ringo f q m pathy Ear the unfarrunate natives.""6 Bt.r.rke3sappreciatio~~ of India served as the foundation for his argunxnt that ""jsrice'" demanded action against the East llrtdia Company Btrrke worked his claim 0x1 w o levels, Ftrsr, he madc the casc that the coinpany's abusive t9cfiavior mcailt that its charter, granted by Parliairrer~tin trust, had been broken. There is also the sense that Britairi had violated the trust given it by providence in the form of technological sttperioriry over &c Illdial1 peoples. Govcmmcxzt and empire, in Brtrkehoyixzion, are retationships of accountability: ''WJll politicdI power wliich is set over meri . . . ought to he sorrre way or otl-ter exercised ultimarely for their benefit,'"v Burke detailed how &c powcr exercised by &c East Irzdia Cornpany worked at every tevcl against the benefit of Irldialzs, Tlze lack of accorlntability of tile East India Cc:,n~panymeant that ""re cries of India are giver1 to the seas arid winds, to be blown ahour, in ever)" breaking up of &c monsoon, over a remote and ~trrheal-ing ocean,"Wg The reforrrts in Foxandia Bill sougllt tc:, make tlze East India Gontpany accountaMc t s Parliantenr. Second, Burke clainled that h x S bili corrsritrlted "'the M ~ g n aChlzr1:a of Fti~)cfostm''by promising to ttlrlz Iridianshxzatrtral rights, which the East India Cornpalzy abused, into "the cllatered rights of xnen."l'~Vwkeappealed to a con~n~olr form of just treatnrenl fbr the different peoples of rhe eatb. Under this conception, inrperial contact outside the imperial society remained intirnatcfy attached to urziversal canccptions of Erurnan jtlsticc.2QO BurLe sor~ghtto Erse Fox's bill to nrake concrete the rights Ir-tdianspossessed under natural law, just as the Magna Carta in England had trclnsfo'orrzred natural rights into prescriptive rigiits.2c)l
fa his speech on Fox's bill, Burke again took up therlzes of proper imperial policy. Echoing his realist tactic in Conciiigtkn, Burkc uutlined the econarnic arzd strategic importance of India to Britain. Despite this importance, Burkc rioted the ""rtraf silence" horn Mk "concerning the inreresr which this rlarion has in the conrmercc and revenues ofthat countrye3'2" Bttrke repeated thc argumcrzts xnade ixz the NZ~zthRqort thar East India Cornpany governnterit and contnterciatl policy had s~lcceededin alierlating the Iildilltn people, prodtrcirlg vidence and suffering and wasting a society and econonry thar, properly dealt with, could prospcr to the bcncfit of Britain. Sctf-irztcrcst, in parallcl with tlumanirarian interests, called for reform of the East India Company. Under the r-xiscing regime, Bwke believed that '"here is rloching before the eyes of tile rzatives but arz erzdless, hopctcss pmspcct uf new Ai&ts uf birds of prey and passage, wirh appetites continually reriewillg f'lr a &3od that is continually wasting."zm The head M coner o f this rapacious flock, in Bnrkek mind, was Warren Hastings, who again caurr under fire from Brlrke fnr his '"espotic accs."2" hi this spccdt Burkc nladc Hastirzgs a syrnbot uF the evil tlcing pc~pctratedin India. This speeclz slzc~wsas well Brtrkck serisitivity to the dangers for the British constittltion lurkirlg in the oppressiof? of India, Btrrke reftlted the accusatians tilar Fox's hiIf wodd alter the constitutional kalaricc of pawcl- t9y xnate~ialjyincreasing or decrer;lsirzg the inAuencc of the Cr~zwo.Still, althoi~gfihe had opposed earlier refnrm efforts, B d r e stared that if expm& ing the power of lfle Crown would bring relief co sirffering T~ldians,then he was ready to cfnbracc such inl-luencc.20' Given his vigilar?ce toward the British c ~ n s r i t u t i ~ this n, cllange of heart ntight seem like the triuinph of sympathy over principle. But such a perceyrion would be rrzistakerr, because Btrrke had by 17883 coxrze to believe thar the continited cxcrcisc of arbitrary power t9y the East Xridia Conlpany poscd a greater threat to the British constitutior? than reform proposds. He stated early in his speech, "1 ant certairz that every nlems, effectual to preserve indiat (%omoppression, is a guard to preserve the British colzstitution from its worst corruption,"206 Btrrke, howevcr, pusfled the relationsllip o f enlpire and constitution fi~rrher:Althoi~gl~ tle betieved that the demands of constirutiorral pot irics and c-nlidlcened imperial policy cotlld be reconciled, lie argued that if such a rccolzciliatiolz were xzot possible, Bricain would have to disengage f r m its Inrlian empire: "[Ilf we are not ahle to cantrive some rnethod of govrrning India we//, which wit1 not of necessity beconle the means of governing Great Brimin i&, a ground is laid for their etc~rzalseparation; but rzane far sacrificing the people of that country to our coristitution.""7 Despite Burkc's efforts on the Fox bill, it f:ailcd, arzd its Failure largely p"-clc$itated the fiat1 of dzc Fox-North coalition in 17234,")a William Pitt formed a new administration and won the general election of 1784 with firzancial help fr-orn the East llldia Conrpar~y.Tkese developments tefi Burkc clistraughr, G\lt his arremprs to change t17e course of llldi;;\npolicy produced olzly a xzew administration, carricd to pawcl- throt~glithe dcfcat uf Fox"stlit1 and the morzey of the East India Company Although Burkeh)wri pojitical fclrtt~rleswere at a low point and he perceived himself srrrrnrlnded by potiricai enemies, such worries couid rzat shake his dcternlirlation to help shape Irzdian policy.209 Btrrlce demonstrated this determination in his Fehrrlary 1785 Speec/~an Ndl;nB RJ-Arcat-5 DeBa."Q Tlze i s s ~ ~atchand was the governmexztk pyl-oasat to pay frorn putllie funds debts owed by the nrzttlot? of k c o t to private ixzdividuals, most of wtzorn were East India Corn-
Burk~iI,$ and ~~;rte~zats"onaiAfnifs
25
pany scwants. Elie attenrpted to expose the debts as fraudtxlent, and he accused Pits's aadxnirzistration of cotlr~dingwith the corrupt figures ixz the East India Goi~zparzy;2~ Corztrary to the suggestions of some colnmentators, what prcmpted Burke to issue this '"reat philippic'v" was fess his general political hustration than his incredulity that Che govemxncrrt wanted to conlpensate East India Gomparzy scrvarzts for destroying Xr~dia.""-iThis pmposai was all the more outragemis to Burkc because He~iryD~i~zdas, chairman of the secret coxrrrrritsec tt-tat had uxlcovered so ~rrlrchevit perpetrated by the East Trtdia Conrgany in India, was the main nlover uf chc goverrzmcntk p&c)r.t'4 Burke sertsed in the proposal, in Pundas's clrarzge of attitude, artd in the alleged collusio~zbetween the pvcrnnrent and the East India Company the danger to the British nation that he always saw irr irxrpcriai misgovernment. Hc charged that this unsccmly episode revealed that British rapacity in Isldia rnay "have dulled, if not extinguisl~ed,the honotlr, the candour, the genrrosit)., the good-nature, which used Eormerly ta ckar:actcrize t17e people of El~gland.'915"Mrr tlnnattrral injection, a pcstilcrrtial taint fcnnerzting in the colzstitutiorz of society;" said Burkc, had polluted the glory of Britain arzd its ernpire so that "instead of what was hut just riow the delight and boast of tire creation, there wit1 he cast out in the face o f the sun, a bloated, putrid, noiso~rrecarcass, full of stench and poiSOIT, an offexzce, a horror, a lcssolz to the wartd.""2""lze ferocity of Burkek rhetoric in the Speech on Nabob ofArcot5 Debts revealed that he had not lost his passion for helping India, despite the enilriry and pohicaf frlrscrariun that it brought tlirn,a7 Sirice he cc~rrldnot as a member of a fragrnerzted appc~sitionenact refcrrmirig Icgislatioiz, Bt~rkedecided ra initiate an impeachment against Hastings.2lqnrlrke had no illusions about succcssf;rlt)i impeaching Eliastings, f;tr he wrote in correspondence that he was interested olzly ixz "what will acquit arzd justifjr myself to thusc few pcrsolzs arzd to those distarit times, wirich may take a cortcerrt in these affairs arid the Actors in thent.""2(~Sonre have suggcsed that this srasenrenr nreanc Burke was concerned ~rrai~lly with his own xramc.2J" But l~oweverntt~chBurke wclrried ahorlt his rept~tatisn,the statentertt sirorlfd ntore accurately be seen as an indicatisrz of Brirke's desire to preserve for posterity tlrc p"ir7ciples he had tried to silpporr in his Indian efforts. Burkc laurrched his caiizpaign against Hastings in February 1786, wbexz lie called for East India Gonlparzy records tc:, he trarzded over to Parlianterit as part of an investigation leading to the illrpeachnrent o f the pvcrnor-general.t21 To Burke"ssurprisc, the Hortsc uF Cnmmons and the govertzment bvorably received his speccl arzd motions,"z Obtaining East Isldia Comparzy records arzd starting a partiamerttary investigation ntearzt that Burke, for reasons of proccdrlrd jtrsrice, ceded to draw up and present impeachent c h q e s , Workirzg with sympathetic friclzds and MPS, Brtrkc presented to the Housc of Cornmolls wenty-wo articles of charge of high crilnes and misdemeanors during April and May 1786. X n keepirlg with his desire to teach a lesson Cbr posterity$ sake, Btrrke fornzulatcd the charges rzat in proper legal tcrrns but in a marzner cornprctzensiblc to the puklic."z-'t Ircjrzicall5 rfiis tactic later backfired when Burke actually succeeded in bringing Hastings before a trial o f inrpeachnrent in the Eliouse of Lords. Hastillgs helped Burkck cause by. pmviding the House with a defensc of his actions that seented to cortfirrrt Burkcls acct~satiorzs,The monteritunt for i~npeactrmerttin the House grew s t m ~ rOn . June 1, 1786, Bwke fc?rmally opetzed the articles of charge with a speech on the first charge, coizcc~~zi~zg the Xbhilla war."d In this speech, Burke rnade clear that his
puTme in pt1rs""ing Hasti~rgswas not personal but an exposition atrd afhmacio~lof the fundatiicrztal principles upon whicli imperial poticy in Ixidia should t9c foi~xzded.""s~urke uutlirzed the strtlcttlre of imperid justice that he rnore &tly develc~pedin his opening speech of the inrgeachnrent trial in khrtlary 1788. For Btrrlce, the nrisdeeds of the East India Conrpany were a qctl~estionufjt4stii.t.at the individual, xzationrzi, and urziversal levels. Burke accrtsed Hastings of basing his behaviijr iri f r~diaon the prirlciples of avarice, corruptio~',and bribey Frxrther, Hastings allegedly errzbraced these yri~rciplesfor personaf gain ar the cxyerzsc of the East Irzdia Coxnpany, Britairz, and the Irzdian people. Burke argrred that the "fpiriifnfA~arI'ce"'prevaited so strongly in Hastirlgs that he resorted even to war to sariace tile appetite of individual corruption."G This appetite, a c c d i n g to Burke, could xzut resist the tempting spoils af the Rahitlaas"1uuxuri.atrzt garderz."z" "I prccipicating rfiis war, Harings used his avarice "as a sword of vrngeairce, cruelty, and rnu~der!"2" Rtlzough the impeachmerit was not "personal," hrkeXocrts on the triumph of irzdividud greed shows his concern about the importance ofhoirorable and exacrirrg personal behaviar in tands Ear from borne, in which moral weakness can lead to human cat;tstrophe. The Englishnian coilld riot leave his virtue behind when !.re went fi3rtfi into empire. Hasrings's defcnse &at his actions were jtnstiiied because ""re history of Asia is ~~othirrg more. &an precedents to pmvc thc invariabie cxcrcise of arbitrary power"""" suggested that Hastings believed that a different irldividual arid natioiral mclraliry prevailed in India, In the Rohilla twr speech, Btxrke was scathing about Hastingis ctaini beausc ir direcrty contradicted proper rzotia~zsuf virtue as wet1 as tlcdrock principles of Britistl governmexzt. Hastingskxercise of arbitrary power rept~tsedBrtrlce as an attempt: ""rpugriant ro any pririciples of gaver~~ment . . . and most especially whcre the constitution ofthe slrperirrterrding governmellr at home was frec."a@Hastings had ctaimed that Briristr imperial servants, though ulrirnarely responsible to f)arlianieszt,conid ignore the pinciples of gc>verrzinenterishrirzed in the Brirish constirution. Ilt was in such attitudes cllac Btrrlce saw daqers to the British constitution Emm imperid activities. Burke, tzowever, h ~ e wthat the servants af the East India Gonipany "could rtot he expected . . . [to] practise M a p a Charm."'2-$1So Burke added a third t a ~ of r j ustice fbr imperial tilinking: nraxinrs of international and uniwrsal j uslice. Burke asertcd that Hastings and his cohorts should have relicd an "the taw ofrzature arzd Izations, the great: arzd furidanentd riisms on wtliclr every farm of societry was b~i1t.""232 Although the House af Commons rejected the article af charge agairzst Hstings on the Rohilta war, thc House eventually accepted seven af the charges against Hastings arzd in Nay 1787 vclred to irripeaclz hirn. Burke had wcjrr a great persoriai arzd political achieveErrerre in ~rrovingthe inrpeachnrent successfufIy t1-trougt.l the House. Eliis political credihtticy lrad recovc~edsincc its xzadir afrcr the defeat uf FoxHndia Bill."-"s Nr~wcame the firial arid niclst difficult test in Burke's strateg to resurrect proper prirlciples of imperial policy.: the impeahment trial before the House of Lords. The trial began on February IT, 1788. Burkc's opening speech kccame thc ccnteryiecc of tlzis urzusuai b i ~ tsalerrtn political theater. This speech lasted four days, during which Bt~rkeattenlptd tro conderrse his knowledge of Irrdia and East h d i a Conrpany affiairs and his upiniolzs un the principtcs that should infornr Britisii~policy in Xrzdia. Burke moved t9cmeen tlse details of Hastings$ actions in fndirr to the principles guiding tlze spirit of the impexhmenr. Within this massive effort lives the refined wisdonr of Burkc's thought about ixnpcrial policy in Xrzdia.
Burk~iI,$ and ~~;rte~zats"onaiAfnifs
27
The thenre iryon whicll all the details about Hastings and his subordinates bt~ildis the etevatiun uf the lrtdian peoples to a xnorat and social cql~alitywith European civitization. Burtct: created a conception of a world commurlity irrlbued with cultr~ralserisitiviry and conrrlron principles of taw and justice, And he hmiy irtclrtded respect fir this conrmuniry as a critical element not only of British self-interest Gut also konor and virtue. On the first day of the speech, Burkc declared that the issue of Hastings2 guilt was subordinace to the questioxl "whettler ~rrillionsof nranki~rdstlall be ~rradenriscrabte or Iliappy."Z" The arzswcr to this qncstiun would decide "&c credit and iiianorlr of the Britisfz nation itseiEn"t5 Burke expressed his belief that the British constitution "is deeply irlvslved in the everrr: of this Cause" and his tlope that rile Eliousc of Lords proved capable of approaching the EatefuI. qitestio~z"tlpon solid p~irzclpfcsof Scatc morality," mferring to xzu ""rles mftatever except those of natural, immt~tablearld substantial justitce,"""G hticipating the stratee of legal technicalities plarlrted by Hastings$ counsel, Burke urged the lords ro think in terms of ""imperial justice" rather than ""municipal maxims'" because "yotr try the C a ~ ~&Asia sc i r ~the prcserzce of Europc."L-i"The first step in reriderirtg imperiaf justice, according ta Brrrke, was "to erilarge the circle of justice to the necessities o f the Empire that we have o b t a i n e d . " ~Burkc's ~~ xncssagc is that the justice uf imperial and foreigil policy could not t9c deter~ninedsolely by reference to the xzarrow confirles of nationd taw. Justice could be reridered tc:, the Irislz Catholics arid the American colonists by exterldirlg the British coclstitrltiorr to them; justice f;)rTrtdians required a different conception. In the second day of the spcech, Burkc uscd the Britisft col~sticutiorlas the kridgc to the overarching doctrine of imperial jtrstice for India. He cortterlded that Hstir~gs to gove"err upon British principles, nor by British farms," WfiiCh consist of athat spirit of eguity, that spirit of jnstiec, that spirit of safety, that spirit uf protection, [and] that spirit uf lenity."aY He argued that Hastingis cfainr rhar arbitrary power was the pofitiat moraliy in T~ldiashodd be rejected, Btrrke found [fie Tndiall peoples deserving of the nroralirp of British principles for w o reasons, First, the spirit uf tbcsc prirlciptcs re-clAected a greater mc,raify and law: "We are alI hor1i irt suhjectiorl,-all born equally, high arid low, g(:,vernors and governed, in subjection ro one great, inrnrrrtable, pre-existerre law, prior ro all our devices, arzd prior to all o ~ t contri~aizces, r para~~ro~tizt to our very being itself$k9y which we are knit arid connected in the eternal frante of the universe, orrt of which we cartrtot stir.'"tWastings's conccptior~of "Geographical morality"' violated this Irighcr law."[ Secorid, Burke argued that tlze fndiaii peoples have an equal place t~rlderthis law with Eurspearis. This is what Burke ntearlt on the first day of the irr~peachmeritspeech wheri he said there was a ""iw of conrnron justice whicli cenrents them to us and us ro rherzr,'"4" Despite tlze cultural, religious, arld political differerices bemeeri the Britist-r arld Indiari peoples, Burke believed that a csrrrrnort l~untariityhourtd them. Iildiarls deserved as mud1 respect and concern as did Englishmen in t e r m ofrhc nroralirp of power and goVCrllmeM. Bu&c was aware uF the prejudices held by his contemporaries tcrvvad India; as we have seen, in the speech on Fox2 India Bill he tried to ntakc India contprehensible tc:, the rnoral sensibilities of British peopte. Eliis purpose in his operring i~npeachmentspeech was ro denrol~stratethat Xrldial~morality did rzat embrace arbitrary power adasrings cctaimed. Burke spent. a great deal of time expiairling tc:, tlze House of Lords the history, culture, taws, and society of tile people who suffered dirring Hastingis regime. F-ie attempted to bring to life the divel-sity, compt~xiry~ traditions, and beauty of Indian society: ""]e, if WC
rrzlrst govern such a Country," urged Btrrke, ""must govern thenr ~rpof-~ their own principles and xnzinrs arzd rzat up011 ot~rs,that we xn~lstizut think to force them to our rzarrow ideas, but extend ours to take in theirs."a3 Burke devoted an intportar~t.part of his speech on the second day to denroxlstraring that llrtdians held rulers responsible to the law aiid to the wet6arc uF the people.24 Burkek study of Indiart society led lzint to a cortciusiorl that ricn doubt raised the eyebrows of his connmpowies: '7 assert that their moraliy is equal to ours as regards the moralicly of Govertzars, fiiithe~s~ superiors; and X ctiallcngc the wortd to shew, ixz any modern Europearl book, rnore true rnorality and wisdont tlzan is to be fctur~din the writings of Asiatic nren in high trusts, and who have beerr Counsellors to Princes."t44 He rloted that Brirain gained ernpire ixz India at a time wfien the E~rtttrzesof Europe wcl-c: kctter than tlzose of Asia-but tlzat conquest by a surgirig European power did not alter the ntorai artd political equaliry the Iildiarl peogla held urtder tlze great common law and the exainpie of their ~rrliquecivilizarion.24(> Accading to Burke, Hastings5 I-tigli crinles and miscfemeanors grew out of itisrespect for law or1 ail levels: the law of cczmntcln huirza~~ity emarlating from the divine, the principtcs a d laws of Britain, m d tile taws and principtes of llndia.247 Burke provided detailed accusatiorzs of tlcrvv Hasting's disrespect for the virt~teof imperial justice pmduced in Indian sclciety destruction of a most thoro~t$i and cruel kind, Burke accrtsed Hastings of dispos""~";"g tandowners from their property, forcing people to lose their traditional castes, and torturing indiscriminatcty thc poor and powcrlcss. B~lrkcc~~zsidercd that British amrice in India had in its rapacity despoiled traditiond, rtative fornts of gclvernrrzerrt, econonric relations, and sociatl stability Burkci conception of imperial justice in relation to Xrzdia conlbines arlciexzt and xnodcrn aspec". Tht: appeal to rrniversai, binding pririciples and laws reflects Roman idras.aWn1ike the Ronrans, who believed in extending Roman citizerrstlip to conquered peoples, however, Burke rejcctcd tracfitionrzl images of non-European peoples arzd devoted iiiimscIf to ccjnvincing lzis conterrrporariesthat justice bewee11digerent peapla required not assimilatioi~of the weaker to the smrrger but the praemation of difFere11ce. This cansewative pewpectiw parallels Bu~keiefforts to impress upon the Housc uFCammons thc in~portanceufrccog~rizirrg Irish or hnerican characteristic.^ artd tolerating such rlational traits. In this sense, Burlce;~ perspective on ilzternationaf relations is colisistent with his strong attachnreflr to the donrestic traditions arzd custonls that provided the liber of thc British canstitutiund system, The spirit of Burke"scsnwption of ixnperial justice is a tolerartt consermtism, wfiictl finds virtue in artachmenr to a conrrlzon hunra~iiy.Toward the end of the opening impeachment speech, Burke inlpfured thc 10rds to ackiz~wf~dge ""rat the sun ixz his txxzeiiicent progress round &c world does rtot behold a more glcrriclus sight than that of men, separated froin a rentate people by the rrzateriat bottrlds and barriers of nature, united by the hund oFa social aiid nrorat comm~;tnity,dl the Gornmons of Elzgiand resenting as their own, the indigrzities and cruelties that are oEered to ail the people of India."24') Xr was this spirit that maintailled Burke in the lcrzgtliiy impeachmcrzt process, which did rzat finis11 until 1'735. The nlornexztttrn Burke had gathcred k9y 1788, however, disappeared as the impeachment trial dragged on, As Burke hacl suspected, Hastings" ccormsei rnounted a defet~sebased on legal rechnidities, Meanwhile, Hastings conducecd a press campaign seeking to bring Burkc into disrepute for his atracks un the British Empire,
Burk~iI,$ and ~~;rte~zats"onaiAfnifs
29
Etastingis press canzpaign struck respoxlsive chords in the British pubtic, as the 1790s witxzcsscd increasiizg pride in the British India11 cmyire."~ Athorzgb. Hastings's acquit1-al kccame a folpgc~~~e conclusion, Bt~rkebught until the hitter end ictr his conception of imperial justice, At the cjose of his jik, however; Burke put t17is "failure" into perspective against his long poIitical carecl-.2s1He walzted his Indian erzdcavors to t9e his "only xnonuntent." His spirit of solidarity with a people he had never seer1 but had r~srzethelesscome to hoxlor never Faltered,
The last arzd most fanzous of Burke"?;ixztcrnationrzl concerns was his reaction arzd fierce apposition t~ the French Revolrrtion. Althortgh Burkc: wanted to be rentembered fitr his work on relieving the suflferirzgs of India, he ~(3nsideredthe Jacohinism released by the Fre~~ch Revolrltion as ?he greatest evil" he had encouncescd in his lifetime.'% Irzded, fififiting&c cfEects uf the Frencll Revolutiolz krouglzt him the greatest Mame and pmisc after: his death. The ntarz mflo would eventudty lead the call for a war of interverition and aiznifiilatinii against the Fretlch Revolution fomd himselFstlrprised and fasciizari.d by the happenings in Frailrcc in Jc~ly1783. Irz August 1789 Burke wrote to the earl aF Charlcmont: "h to us here otlr tbougi~tsof every thing at home are suspended, by our astonishment at the wonderful Spectacle which is exhibited irz a Neighboring m d rival Cowtry-what Spectatol-5, and wlzat actors! Engjand gxzing with asto~zishmerztat a Frcncl~strt~g$e far Liberty arzd rzot krlovvillg whetlier to blarrte or to appIaud!"""3 Even in these early days, however, we find &c seeds ofworry and doubt about the Elarure o f the pofitical upheaval in France that later grcw into Burkc"srusadc againsr Jacabinism, First, as lie wrote to Charlemorzt, Burke feared that if the revolutioiz in Frarzce "sliould be character rather than accident, then that peopte are not fit for Liberty, and nrusr have a Strong harid like that- of their Eor~..rler xnstcrs to cacrcc thcm."Z4 He suspected that the revslutisrz wc>rtltlnot yield arzy liberty to the French hut merely deliver up a new fomt of tyranny, Second, the rapid Irrovement from order to ctlaos in revoIutio~zaryFratzce troubled Burkc because of the potcrztially desrabilizirrg consequclzccs for the European balarzcc of power. "I siiotlfd certainly widl to see France," wrote Burke to Ead Firmilliant, "circtmscribed within nroderarc homds. The inrerest of this Cor-tntry frquires, perllaps the Interests af ma~zkiizdrequire, that she stioutd rzot be in a condition despotically to give the Law to Eurspe."85 TXzird, Burkc hinted at what later becanre a prevailing thenre in his anti-Jacobin crtlsade: the novel threat posed by the revofution to Britain and the rest o f Europe. Unlike the military xncrzacc France repxselztcd at the tlcginning aF the ei$iteerzth century, revolutionary Fraizce threate~iedthe very rzature of the political, social, arzd moral order in Europe, through i r s pl-clclanration and viotent pursuit of the "rights of nzan."in Noveinbcr: 1783 Burkek response to a letter from Charles-Jearz-Frdilr~oisDepont pl-clvicws the ReJke~tiorzson the Revolzttlon in France in its sharp critique of tile revoiutic>naryattempt to destroy the ancien rdgime institittiofls of property, religion, nobility, monarchy, and lavv,"b Fnrthermore, the letter entpiiiasized the transriational cfiallerige of the revolutionpclamatians that recognized no settled border. ary idec>logq;reflected in its u~~iversalist As Burke's privarc correspodence suggests, he had by the c-nd of 1789 'hmacfe up his xnind, in a decidedly xzcgativc way, about the character and probable future coursc uf the
Frerrch Revolution,'"2' 11-1early 1730 he voiced this opposition pubticly through his parliarncrztary duties arzd literary endcavors. In Jarzuary 1790 Burke received direct provocation that igrlited his spirit agaillst the revolution in France artd csrzfimted his fear that the would inkct and cornrpt other societies in Europe, particularty philosophy it pro~~~ulgated Britain. The chaltcrzgc came Eram a scrrnon delivered by Dr. fijchard Price to the Rcvotution Socierry of Britain in November 1789, in mflich Price weicorrted the Frerrcfi Revc>lr~tion and errcor~ragcdthe adoption of irs ideas in Brieain, Xr February 1790, in respolzsc to Price's sermon, Burkc: proctairr-1ed ixz Parliamelzt ""his urtcomprornising and csrrrpreherrsive hostility to the Frerrcfi Revolution, and his fears of British friendship towads it.'"% Mme signit;canc, Burke was filing s a h s across the bows of fclltiw VVlrigs, particrttarty Charles Fox, who wcrc sympathetic tcrvvad thc revutution. Brirke made it clear that the prirlciples at stake were so fundamental that he would sever his hard-wcln corzriections wit11 the Whig party arzd wirli his friends in Pariiarnent."""' Events were to prove that ire was xzot kluffixzg. Burkc: reinfarccd his partian~entaryefforts to wart1 of thc dangers inlirercnt ixz thc French S work, Rejcctinrrs on the Reun/at-ic71?:iuz France, Revolution with his ntwt ~ O L I literarypublished in November 1790,"0 Broadfy speakring, &$ections addrcsscd the rzaturc and conscqrterzces of poIicical change, Burke set out in the first section of rhe Rejections to dcstrny the paralieis Plice had drawn between Englana Glorious Rt.lvtlluriiin of 1688 artd the French Revolution, Burke argued that the Glorious Revollttion was made to preserve our aallieli'l:jndispu~ablelaws and liberties, and rhat nnrt'clirt consritueion of gc3vemmenr: which is our only securifli for law and tibetry, . , . We wished at the period of o~~&r(i;fathers. thc Revolution, and do now wish, ra derive all we possess as an in/?critcancefi~~z . . . ALL the rcformatic>nswe have hitherto made, have proceeded tipon the principle of reference ro an~iquiy~?""
According to Btrrke, the Glorious Revolution proceeded nor: only on the basis of the principle of rekrensc to antiquity hut also itpon the "prinsiples of conservatio~zand correctior? that allowed Britain to rcgc~zerate""tze deficicrzt part" without dissolving "drc whole fabric" of the courztry.z~~ The spirit arzd principles of &c Frerzch Revolution, by contrast, ma~zifesrcda differerzt typmf yaliticd changc."There was rii) hint of or refererrce to antiquiry; History, culture, who chose to act arid prejudice counted for rtothirtg in the passiorz of the revc>lr~riortaries, as if they "had rrever been moulded into civil society, and had every thing to begin anew."264 ~Ptloreover,there was no evidertce of Burke's cf~erishedprirtciple of conservation: " k u r c~~zstitution, it is true, . . . sufkred waste arzd dilapidatiorz; but you possessed in some pares the wails and, in all, the bmrdatincls of a noble arzd venerable castle. 'tiou might. have repaired those walls; you might have built upon those old fortndatians, Yortr colzstitutiotz was susperrded before it was perfected."x5 Firrally, Bt~rkcattacked the revolutionaries for rejectirlg the pri~rcipleof correction: 'Xagc and phrenv will prfi down more in haif an hour, than prudence, dctibcration, arzd Eorcsiglrt can build up in an hurzdrcd years.'"Gb The Reflecciuns dealt with not only how the revolutionaria effected pohicat change but also the stthstancc of the change intended. Burke attacked the French Revolittion for SWaging the anclclzt instittltions of monarchy religion, property, arzd chivalry-pillars of the
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commonwealth of Europe-in order to ~t-aiixean abstract hrnr of denrocracy and egalitarianism. Such a progratxr of "levelling," Burke kclieved, "&strayed all the t9alarzces and counterpoises mflictz serve to fix the state, and to give it a steady directicji~"a1d rneited ""down the whole in to one incongrtlous, ill-coxlnected nrass.'"G7 Trtto this poticicat and social vacurtm, he prcdictcd, would rush xnilitary despot ism.^^^ In the erzd, the dangerous ideolohy of the French Revolution wordd spread not only by exarryle but atso by the sword , Burkc warxzcd that the supposed new dawn for iiiuma~zkii~d ixzaugurated ixz Frarlrcc was rtot novel at ail. It was nterely another liist~ricdntisery "brought t ~ p the ~ ~wc>rld n by pride, anrhttion, avarice, revenge, lust, sedition, hypocrisy, uxxgoverned zeal, and att the train of disardcrty appatites, wfiich shake thc public with the sarnc kroublous storxns tI~att0ssll"l.l~ private state, and rerrder life unweet.""""" The "rkhts of man," BrtrErc: srlggsted, represented only the latest >retext" of the evil lurking in h w a n nature. 'Wickedness," he okserved, was in this c i e just "a little Irrore inventive."27(] The &Peclinm became internarionally controversial, provoking sympattzizers oE the French Rewlrttion to artswer his hallenge.2" After publiation of the Reflec~inm,Burke directed his energies toward w o nrain enemies: those wntribucing to the spread of jacabirzisnl ixz Britain and tliosc within the British govertzmerzt wfio rcft~scdto couxztelzalzcc a cortriterrevslutio~~ary war against Fratrce. The 11zost celehracrd episode in Burke's efforts to protect. the British constitution fronr the ""Fcrzcb disease" was his quarrel with the Whig party leader, Charles Fox, in 1791. Fox sympathized with the Frertcfl Revolt~tionboth as ari event. arid as an example for Britain. Trt krtianrent on April 15, 1731, Fox proctainred his adtlrriratio~rfor "the new coxlstirutio~r of Fra~zce,calzsidered altogether, as the most stupcxzdous and glorious edifice aF libcrry, which had beerr erected on the faurrdarion of tlumat~integrity in any time or coi~ntrp""~z As Q9ricn polrztcd ant, Fox must have realized that aker the publication aF the Re$c.cti~ns,such a public embracc aF the French Revol~.ttionwould co~zstitt.ttea grave provocation to Burkc.273 The final break bemeen the w o nren canre in the Eliousc of Conrnroxls in May 1731, when Burke ended his menty-plus-year filendship and collahoratio~rwith Fox. Brtrke cast aside iiiis conrzections with the m i g party and its leader hecause he felt hirnself engaged in "";\trmgglc, nor to support any man, or set oE men, hut a strlrggie to support the British coxrstitution.'""' He ixzsistcd that he held ""his duty far bcyolzd any friendship, any fame, ar any other consideration'hnd txe wottld-despite the loss of frierids, party, and rept~tatiort-"tell all the world that the constitution was in danger.""25 In the cases OF Xrclrsnd, h r e n c a , and Xrzdia, Brtrke saw the Britisfi calzstitutiolz thrcaterzcd from within t9y ixnpcrial misgovcrrzancc. Tlzc Frcrzcb X3cvolution, however, constituted a triple threat to the British constittltion, vvorking throrrgfi external as well as internat eternenrs, For one, &c principles of rhe sewfurion found bvor wit11 British politicliarrs and radicals,z" He opposed such syrrrpathtzers in Parlianterit and with his peri.2" Burtct: corisidered m y cry for reform of political, religious, and social i~lstitutiorrsin Britairz as evidence of a larger Jacohin conspiracy, Further, the French Revnlution threarened to undernlinc the greater historical and cutrurd frarncwork of the cammalzwcalth af Europe, of syntpathies which the British constitution formed a part. Success in stiflirzg rew>lt~tiorrary at honre would ultimately be llollow if the rest of the conrirlent broke with its shared European iiieritagc to embrace the "rights aF mall." h r k e contcrzdcd that foreign politics arc
"foreign only in name; Cbr they are not onfy colrnected with our domestic b i i t i a , but tlze don~esticPolitics arc actualty inctudcd in them.'"m Hence, in contrast to Pirt's governmerit, he could riot view the rev(>tutionin France as an event front wlzich the British constitution was isolated or indeed neutral, However uxziqrze the British coxzstirutict~z,ic was embedded in a larger potiticat, social, arzd moral order-tlzc sccuriry. of which directly implicated its fate. The third danger inherent in the Frerrcls, Revolution was nrore traditional. British national scctzrity and its interests both on the Europcan colztixzent a116 with its cotunlcs faced seri~usdanger front the spread of the influence of revolutioi~ar~ France. Burke beliemd the ""rigzts of man" were nzerely a pretext for nzore ancient and tess noble passions. T-fis prediction that Frazce would eventudly &!l ixzto the grip uf military despotism indicated his concern that Frartce would upset the balarlce of power in Europe arid jeopardize Britain"!;traditiorzal interests, partlcrllarly in tlze Low Countries. Such threats had beer1 a constatrt feature of Anglo-French relatiorls before tlze French Revo1utictn.i~~ T'hc strategic and xnitirary challenges from rcvolurionary Fmrzce, however, pmmiscd to disturb xzut only tlze traditional E~uropearlbalance of power but also the erttire trarisrlatiorlal order in Europe on whch the balance depended. The ~ M partern ~ X of European intertlatio~zaiireiations, Burkc fo~cctlst,would kc fbrever altered ky the s~lccessof thc revoI~tiofzaricsin France. Btrrke's perception of the natltre of the domestic and intmatictrral threats posed by the Frcrzcb Revolution led iiiinl to ga beyond opposing British syn~parhizcrsof rbc revolution. Not long after the ReJkectz'o~s,Burkc adv(3cated that Britairt lead or participate in a war of intcrvcrrtion against revolutionary Fra~zce,In January 1791 Burke wrote in a letter to tlze con~tcsscde Mont~o-ond,a French dmigrd, that ""bomething nlust be done. Vot~have an armed Tyrariny to deal with; arid riotlzing "nt aruts car1 pufi it dc1wri."'"" h r k e was convinced that whatever counterrevolutict~zwas rrrounted, onfy one ~itilizirzgthe conrbined farces of the commolzwcalth of Europc would st~fficc."l Btrrke did not reserve his intervetltionar). rhetoric for private correspondence. XR his Lmer $0 /n Member BJrtlie N~srrinrzalAssumh~ (17911, Rrtrke argned that it was in the coltective ixztercst of the Europcan powers to ixztervenc t9y armed force to prcscrve the carnmortwealtln of Europe befcjre the rew>lutionexported its theories by the point of a hay(>rlet.2" lt is importarzt to rzutc that Burkc tlcgan his dctcrn~inedeffort for intervention b4w it t9ccan1e apparcrzt from events in France that the rcvoiuriori contained a tyrannicat ct-laracter.At a time wlzeri the revolt~tionwas in an osterlsibty staMc period of constitutionrnakint;, Burke predicted in Lmer to LZ Mrrrber the execution of Louis W1and Marie Antolrzcttc and the rise to power of a vioferrt 6actioili within the xvotutionary movemerzt. The urtsuccessful escape of the Frerlcfl king and qrreerl in June 1791 corzfiruteb the revolution& descent illto extrel-rzism, So confide~ztwas B ~ ~ r kofe his analysis of the French Revofurion that he had drahed far Pirt's gaovcrrznlent t9cfirrc the Juize 1791 escape attempt an aidcrndmaire ' b t ~ i c hwoutd he a pciiminary to the I3reaking aff of diplomatic relations bemeen Britain and France."B3 As he expected, Btirke came trrlder attack for his positions on the Frerlcfl Revolt~tion. Fox and his VIJhig suppar""" criticized Bmlre fnr incartsistertcy with his previnrrs parliarrrerieary endeavors and with liberat %ig principles in general, This charge had beerr very conlnlolz sirzcc the publication of Reyections.14iom;zs Pailze in The Rights -sfiMan marveted
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at Burke's "'change of principles," azd Thonzas Jefferson remarked after readirtg the Rgect i ~ n that s "hJihc Rewlution in France does rzat astonish me so xnuck as the Xkvolutiolz of Mr. Btlrke."""e" B~lrke"sppedlfiom the New to t h Clkd ~ WG~ipf,published anonymoi~sf~ iri Allgust 1791, anrained his defensc against rile cfharge of incmsisccn*y."Ai T r t this work Burke dcinonstratcd the cohc~erzceof his views un the British constitution, the Arncricarz Revolt~tion,and the French Rew:,Iuti~)r~. 111 each case he had set ont to csrnhat the rise and exercise of arbhrary power. An Appml, therefore, provides irzsigl.tt into the entire texcure of Burke's political thirzkirzg and shows haw his principles worked within the diffcrerzt calltexts of the irnperial society and commt:,riwealtlz of Europe. Btnrke's cat1 ro arnis, howcver, was ignored in Britain and anioxig France's contilzental xicighbars. Burkc referred to the gerzeral inaction of the xnajar powers as the ""btindrzess uF the States of Europe."28qn the suntiner o f 1791, Cilarles-AexancSer de Galcmrie, military adviser to tlze exiled pririce de C ~ n d dvisited , London to ask far British support for interventio~zin Fra~zce.Calonne sought out Burke when the bitr governnient proved ~lnsynipatizctic. Aker this xncctixzg Burke scrit his son, &chard, to Kobtcrzz to assist ixi building a nlititafy brce among the liimigris.2R' The drnigds rc-spondcd by appointing thi- Chevalier de ta Bintinaye as a representative ""auprksde 161. B~~rke," a qaquasi-diplo~rzaticarrangement that anlazed Bul-kc's cantcmporarics."R" Indeed, Sir Gilbert Elliot wrote that "Burke is in hirnself a sort ofpo-ulcr in the State. Ic is even riot ton much to say that he is a sort ofpower i n Egr~pe,""29 In Septentber 1791 Burke began a coricerted effctrt to persuade the Pitt gc)vernment.to abandon its neutralicy and support arrned interventic~~. In doing so, he ct:,ridernned the governnrent's policy of trying ro stop Jacobi~zisnionly witfiin Britain: "Very little can be dorie a t home in my upilzl~fz.. . . [Tlihc root of rhc Evil is abroad arzd the way to scctzre L I at ~ hums is to deprive mischeivs~tsfactiorls of t h e ' ailiances."2'"7 Bwke Fouxid the moment propitious h r Britain to lead tlie cnlsade against revol~ttionar)rFrance: '2411 [Etlrope"] powers are, with an urzalzimil-y without example, indisposed to this Frerzcb System. A few morzths may charlge a situation arid dispositions so rarely found and cc~nibined."~'jl Frustrated t9y the refitsat of the Pitt governmcxzt to change its yoIicy, Burke in Decemt9cr 1791 prepared a meinorandurn for the goverxixncrzt on the xieed for intervention, which was publisl~edpostl-tun~ousl~ as Thoughts on French Afairs."")2llrt tliis ~rzerrzorandunr he explored the poticy options open ro Britain (that is, recagllicion of the French rewIutiunary regimuers~lsarrncd ixztervention to reverse the revolution) arzd argited that the Frerich Revolutisrz required a differerit approaclz tc:, traditisrlal foreign-policy mking: ""The cond~fctwhich prudence ought to dictate to Great Britain will not depend . . . ~lyoxi xncreiy external rciatiuns; k9nt, in a great measure also upon the system wfiich. we m;ly think it right to adopt fnr the irzterrlal goverriment of our country.'""(l3TB other words, a poticy decision taken abroad had the potentid to affect the fate of the British constitution, For Burke, the Fates o f a11 rnembcrs of the conlinonwealtfrx uf Eumpe were no less implicated. fn 7"hougha he coritrasted tlze Glorious Revoiutic:,n in England, wlzicli "&id izcnt extend beyond its territory,'kwitfi the French Revolution, which ""is a Re~ol~~tiovz ofdoctrine nl-zdtheoretick dogrtn" not urilike the religious upheaval of tbc XXcformatioxz.~~~ As with the religiotrs wars of the seventeenth centnry, the French hvoltrrion had the power to "i~ttrodgrc. ogher inti.r~st$i ~ l o a// corlntrk, thdn thus6 WC,ic/9 arosefiorrr their /ocdz/ip and rznl;@~d~/ cimzclrastal-zcesS"29~ Burke warned that the "spirit of proselytisnt""burrled as strorigly in the
hearts of the French re.r.oltrtionarics as it nid h r the religious hctiorzs of the Rehrnrariun: ""Tie intention of the scveral actors in the ckarzgc ixz Fraizce, is xzut a xnattcr of da~tbt.It is very opexily professed."""^ Given this characterization of the French revdutiunal-y zeal, Btlrke advised the government that an internal courzterrevulutior~in France was unlikcly to occur. Moreover, he predicted ""that the longer tlie present T t e m exists, the greater will he it's strer7gtlz."297 I-(e concluded that the only effective policy option to &c nowt challenge of the French Revulutiotz was arrncd intervention: " h i n d up in a full conviction within my owrz breast . . . tlzat the state of Frarice is tile first consideratiorz in the politicks of Europe, and of each state, exrernafly as well as internatty considered."""3R Thoughaon French Afnjirs did not succccd isz shifting the Pirt govcrtzmerzt from its neutraiity.2"" Ever~tsirz 1792, however, began to demonstrate that the Frertcll Rclvdution did indeed possess the dark and vicitcnt interitions Burke 1.12~3sertsed as early as 1790. In Aprif 1792 the French National Assenrbly declared war 0x1 Austria and Prussia, and the leader uf the dominant faction in the assembly hailed the cornixzg war as a ""universal crusade for berry.""-"" response, Btrrke intensified his campaigrr to persuade the Pict goverlznzent to abandon the potiqv of rronintemntiorz. T-Ie began as well to afrack the hreign policies of Prussia and Actstria for viewing their war with Francc in rcalpotirik rather than courzter~fA#nirs~writtert in revott~tionar~ terms. fn Head f i r Gonst'demti'on Qnthe Present Novenrber 1792, Burke criticized the Prussians and Austrians For "admitting, that they had xzothitzg to do with the interions arrarzgements uf F r a x ~ c c , " ~For ) ~ Bnrke, the war against France c o d d nor be waged on lilllited views of stratem or sectlrity; for the entire Fabric of Europek pofitical, social, and nroraf order was ilnder malignant stress from its revotrttiun. Burke had the same lzxslz criricisnt for Britain, After Prrrssi& defeat at Valrny, Burkc asserted that there is no "rational hope of nraking an ilzlpression on France by any Corztirzental Powers, if Engjand is xzut a part, is xzut the directing parr, is rzat the soul, of the whole confederacy qainst it.'"m Although Bt~rkespiced arguments for intervention with traditionaf appeals to Britain's self-interest, his ~riajorconcern at this t h e was the apparent ambivalcrzcc of the Pitt govcrnmerzt to Britain" socictal hesirage with Europe: 'Ihc Ministers by rfieir r-reurratity. . . had brokexz rfie continuiv and chain of their connexians with the conrir-rcnr;arid of course rfierc. was nu sort of reciyrr~calconfidence ar communieation between this C:our-r and any other in Europe. An universd weakness appeared to me to be the result of rhar nerrrraliry, which by taking away the connexion w i d ~Great Britain, rook away the cemcxir which. hcld cugecflcr all orhcr states,^"^
For Brtrkc, srate interests and the traditiorzal sysrern uf interstate relations made scnsc only ixz the cotztext uf a broader European framework. Thc Fre~zcliRevoluriolz, irr his view, tlzreaterled riot only irzdividuai Europeari nations but also this deeper histclrical, reiigic~us, and ct~lturlirlEuropean socie~y.304 "The opexiirzg of rhe trid fcrr treason of In~rrisXVI in December f 732 ~narkcdthe begillrtirig of the fuitillment of BurkeGrediction of regicide. Burke lzad dready forecast the seizure of p o m r of "a new generation of revrtltrtionaries, harder and more purposefillmm5 arid revolutionary Frasicehilitary expat~siorzism.With tlze Frericfi ntonarcl& execuriorl in
Burk~iI,$ and ~~;rte~zats"onaiAfnifs
35
January 1793, only the dramxic rise of Napoleon was lefi to fealize Burke's prophecy that the revo~rttionwould dcsccnd into xnilitary despo"sm. Sot3n aker the execution of Louis XV1, Britain broke off dipjtlntatic reiatioiss arzd presented a set of-ultimat\lms to the French, who ignored the denra~idsand proceeded to declare war an Britain, B~trkc'slonely eEorts to warn of thc peril uf the French Rmolution were vindicated-but the peril was now far stronger and the task al~eadntare arducnus than mfseiz Bcrrke first soclnded the alarrii in 1790. Bcllk-e succeeded in splintering the Wxig party in 1793 when Earl Fir~wiHiarnand the d u b of Portland brakc with Fox to form the Portlaxsd m i g s . This ~ S C I Lwc~ked I~ arzd voted "kt favour of the war arid of measures of repressiois agaainsr Jacohin propaganda" in both T-foetsesof Parlianrent,-loh Pia, so long cool to Burkek warr~ingsarzd advice, xzow coissultcd Burke: uis the urzfotdirzg Europearl crisis.30' Despite this tacit alliarice with Pitt's governinerit, Brrrke reinairzed skepticd abortt: the prirne minister$ commitment to the struggle agai~istr ~ o l u t i o n a rFrance.-l" ~ "1 particuto wage a counterrevolutionary war in the heart of lar, he qcrescioned Pitt's selc~cta~lce French territory in cooperation with royalist arzd drrtigrci forces.309 In addition, he criticized British fighting strafe@, which remained predonrinatitiy colonial and naval, as Pirr's attctnpts to negotiate a pcacc with France bc"inert, passive and overly dcfe~xsive.'"~~ ginning ixs auturnn 1795 confirmed Burkc's suspicirtns about the prinze xninister7scornntirment to counterrevolutior.1arzd prowtked Burkeuast literary effctrt against the Frerzcfl kvottlrion, the Four L e ~ e non n Regicide Pence,,Sf 211 those Ietters, Dxlrke pollred scorn on the argument of the peace proponexsts that Frasce had L9ccrz ""tamed" aaxsd had returxzcd to the traditiond modes of donrtestic and irsterrlatiorzal politics. ""The word France," wrt3te Bnrke, "'is slipped in just as if che government stood exactly as behre rlzat revottlciocl which has asronished, terrified, and ain~ostaverpowered Europc."'-?l2h r k c was stunned that: P i t t h i r ~ i s t r ycsrsternpiated riegotiatirig with the Frerzch regirne as if the revslution and its doccrines had never existed. Retk-trning to a thenre he argued often in rile past, Burke concluded, "We arc at war with a system, which, L7yi it5 essence, is ir~i~nieal to all other Governments, . . . It is with ari armed Actrirre, that we are at war."3lJ As a result, Burke rejected any possibility of accomr71odation or compromise. In dealings with the ""AxnL9assadors uf In&amy,""-54he wrote, all tfse traditiorzal diplomatic discorlrse arzd tc3ols of foreign policy are ineffective: "To talk of die balance of power to the governors of such a countr;y,was a jargon which they coutd not underscaxsd even rtzrougtt an ineerpreter,""""s Burke predicted a long and blnody "Hctly Wa,rWaagairlsr the rcr/olutionary reginre, He chastised Pirt and his colleagues for failifig to grasp that the war against revoiutio~iar~ France was really "2 ciliil wm.. . between the partimns of the ancient, civil, nloral, arsd potiticat order of Europc agairzst a sect uf 6~r~atical and ambitious atheists which xtlcans to change them alt."jlWore inlporrantt it was a struggle in which the "manners and principles" and ""riode of civilized war" could RO longer be p r a c t i c e d , ~Througliaut ~ the Letters nn n Regicide Pedce, he rerained this urzcampmmising position: [Tjhar rhis new system af robbery in Frar~ce,cannot be rendered safe by any arc; tliat it must be destroyed, ar tliat it will destroy all Etlrrjpc; tliar ra destrijy tliar ex-rerny,by some mear-rsor other, the force opposed to it should he made to hear some analoa and resenriblance to the force and spirit which rl~atsysreni aerrs, , . , In one tuord, with this Repubtick nothing independer~rcan co-cxisr. $18
The Directory in Paris rejected Piu's peace initiative in fa11 1736, and rile war contin~ted.And as Burke predicted, it contixiued for a larig wfiile, At the tinle of Pirti failed peace initiative, n~trkehad less than a p a r ra live. The struggie wirh rcr/olatioi~aryFrance cast dark shadows across the last ~rronthsof his life. llrt January 1797 Btrrke learned that storms had thwarted thc laxzding of a Frcrzch army in Bantry Bay; Irelaxzd, Dttrirlg the same month, a pro-Jacobin nroh stoned a school for the sons of French reftlgerzes fourided by Btrrke near Beaconsfield. Burke's pemon"f strt~ggleagainst &c French Revollitian was rzearirig an erici as his healriii deteriorated duririg 1737. Hc rccogrzizcd, however, that this war worlld ilot erid upon his death. Three days before dying, on July 9, 1797, Burkc requested to be btlricd "txnk110wt1, the spot unmal-ked aird separate from his son,wife, and Sfiould the commonwealth. of Europe Brother on nccount ofthe French R~volutio~zists,'"Jy crurnhle and jacohirlisnz prevail in Britain, B u r k wanted tc:, deny his l~atedb e s the opportrlniry- to desecrate his grave arld thus dernearl arid degrade what he had It~ngand passionately believed: ri-tar:the Ft-err& Rewlution was a nrocfern incarnation of anciexlr: evil deadly to Eumpcan civitizatioxz.
THREE
Burke and he Theory
Rurke as an International Relations Theorist? Having inrroduced the tnain international themes that Ertmund Brlrke addressed d ~ ~ r i r l g his garlianzentar). career, we now turn to Burke as a theorist of international relations. Such analysis niay seen1 groblenracic giver1 B~~rke's career as arz active politician and his coiltempt for abstract theorizing. Noncthetcss, thc previous clzapecr's overview of Burkc's career denrtonstrates that he grappled with nrtarly o f the classic arzd perennid tsstxes of internatio~zalrelations: war, diplomacy, trade, international law, and the balance of power, Wight, for example, remarked that the "only potiricr-ll philosopher who has turned vvlzolly from political theory tc:, internatic>naitheory is B u r k e . " ~ ~ A serious challenge ixz addressing Burke as a theorist of intcrr~ationalrelations relaccs to thc i s s ~ ~ofc ""ccxtual" intcrprecatioxi. Scholars ssllch as Skixzxzcr iilave asserted that an endeavc>rsuctz as ours, the andysis of a classical tlzinker in retation to modern-d;ly issues and deharzs, is methoddogidly flawed and tair-rced with partiatiy. According to Skinner, our treatment of Burke ixz relatioii to tracfitions of intermrztiond theory or ""yrenxzial questions'" of interrzatitrnal relaticjns threateris to overlocik t l ~ e"clxrvvhelming elernerit of conrint;t.~zcf that acconrganies BurkehT?tings and syceches,3lq~ycoiztrr-lst,SXcinlzets "contextud" appmach treats classical works as hisroriml events, happcrzirzg within a panic~ltasocial, yalitical, and irztellectud corztext that f~w s c h o l a ~today can fzope to recc>~istruct.~~~ Athougli we share SknncP's conccrrz f-or flisrorieal context and have tried in Chapter 2 to sitr.tate Buke firmly within his historical era, we contest Skinrier's suggestion that Burtct: or other classical thinkers have rlothir~gtc:, add tc:, current debates abont ttzeory and practice of intertlarionaii relatinfzs.'?J Thc specific intmtions of a grcat thinker are only part of thc picture; there is also arz objective dinzerzsion to historical texts that takc on a life of their own as s~lcceedinggenerations explore political, social, and economic problerrzs.-l~
38
iYLk~Rft"and the Tlimry ofI~te~ncdtionnI ReLations
vertciun, and the role of culture, Atthouf;t~Bwke's analysis of these topics is iizffuertced by cightccrzth-ccxztury tanguagc arzd colzccpts, it is grounded in principles arzd ideas tllat arc still recognizable and relevant in our owri time. Burkehreatmerlt of tlle great issues of his day cliaftengcs us to questiorr the very ~latureof international order and society and the traditionrzt distinction kctwecrz dorncstic and ixztcrnational patiria. Burke ;and h e Three T~a&tions As nterttiorted earlier, few cornntentators lzave systematically atterrtpted to provide a frarnewctsk throrrgb which to mdersrand Burke's views on irzternationat relations. And several o f those who have addressed the intcrrzatiolzal dir~zcnsionof his thinking have terlded to do so with a particdar agenda in rnind.3" Our goal is to provide a more general exrainination of Burke"sdeas on interrzatiorlat relatiorls and the implications of those ideas for crrrrenr debares and theories. This is the focus of CElapters 3 arzcl 4. Before we kegixz this arzalysis, we ixztroduce some ixnyortarzt conccpts from ixztcrnationrzt relaticlns theory. We often contpare BurkeGdeas tc:, realism, rationatisrrt, and rew>lutior~isnz-the three main traditions of ix-tternational relations theory formulated by Martin Wighr."b Our use of these three traditiotzs does riot irnply that other tlzeories or schools of international relations tlzeory do not exist, but we believe tlzat Wigfithraditions are a powedui malycical too/ in connectiun with assessing Burke's place in international relations theory. First, these tradiriorls have frequently beer1 employed by sctzalars vvorking witl-zirzthe socalled English School of international relations theofy, which is also referred to as the interlzational society tradition.32' Inter~iatiotzairelations artalysis of Burkc to date has conte largely from scholars within tlze Ellglish Sctzoo1, such as Wght, Vincex~t,arid Welstz, which suggests that the three traditions have become inzgortant in explaining Burke. Second, use of thc three traditions gc~zerallyshows an appreciation for "&c interplay of the tlzeory arid practice of the states system," wlzicli is an appreci;ztiotz ctose to Burke's dislike for abstract theory and enzptlasis 0x1 practical statesnranship.32" Tllird, the richness of Rurkc5 tlzinking sugests that the traditions are perrneabtc and not absr>lrrtecategories becartse lze displays aspects of dt three. Finally, the three traditions are convenienr and emcicnt devices 6 s analyzing Bltrke becarisc other rheoretic'al appmaches to ixzternationrzl relations oftexz use thcn~as departure points for their arzatysis, xnaking thc traditior~sirrtpartartt background ntaterial even for nor~traditisndapprc~aclles.-~~~ Realism, rationatisrn, and revalutioxzism each rcprcscrzt a distinct approach to explaining interrzatiorzal retations, Realism describes the thinhng of ""lose who emphasize in international relations the elentertt of anarchy, of power-politics, and of warfare."MO Realists focus ""onthe actual, what is, rather than the ideal, or what ought to be; on Facts rather thaxz obtigatiaizs,"~-d" Niccoli> ~tlacfziavetli, Ttlornas Habbes, Jeari-Jacques Rortsseau, E. H. Carr, Harts &4orgentlzau,and Hertry Kissirzger at1 are placed in the realist cainp. htionalists differ fronr realists because they ""concentrateon, and believe in the value of, the elemerzt of ixzterrzationd intercorlrsc ixz a condiriorz predominantly of intcrnationrzt anarchy."Bi htionalism shares with realism a focus orr rhc srate as the prilnary ur-ric of analpis and the acceprance ofrhe condition of interstate anal-cby. Ratiorzalism differs fionr reatisrn by pasitlrzg that througli rcasaized accommodation of national interests states can
create rules, institutions, and values that bring some order and nroraliv to inter~larional relations, Hugo Grotius, Emcr de Vattcit, Thcjmas Jcffersan, Woodrow Vltitson, Martin Wight, and Hedley Bull are gerteratlr cortsidered to be ratisnatists. Revhol~ttionisr-nemanates from ""chose who believe so passionately in tile rnoral mity of the society of states, or ixzterlzatianal society, that they idcntiq thernsctves with it, and therefore they both claim to speak in the rzante of this unity, and experie~icean overriding obligatioll to give effect to it, as the first aim of their incernatiofral poIicies.'"M3 RevnIutionisrn is a L9ro-oadtradition L9ceausc it clzcompasscs thinkers as diverse as the Freizcb rcvolutiorraries, Intntartttel Kant, arid Karl Narx. Revslutionism rejects realisin"sisdain for tile idral arrd rationalism's acceptance ofthc lzafhay lzouse of a mere society of stares. As Wiglit observed, "It is characteristic uf Revolutionism . . . to dcny its past, to try to start from scratcth to jtlnrp o ~ of~ historyt arid begin again."334
The Golden Mem Critical to uxlderscandlng Burke's international ti-tinking is tile notion of prudence-what iiie referred to as the ""firs rfVirtrtes" azd "the God of this Iowcr world,""35 For Bztrke, iiiarxnony and stability arc set arlr as the srandards uf virtue, whereas excess arzd discord arc considered the esserzces of evil. Burke$ ideal statesperson is one mflo car1 carve out the gotden mean betweecl polar positions: "[Fie] forms the hest judgment of all nroral disquisicions wfio has the greatest xzumber arzd variety of considerations in alze L9cforc him, and can take them in with the best possible consideratiorr of the middle results of ali."336 In xnuck uf his writirzg, Burke champioxzed this colzscrvativc ideal uf the via media.3-37 He was quick tc:, csrrdemn thinkers stlclt as Rc>usseart,whom Brtrkc saw as prone to extrernism: "wc>usseau]seldom car1 discover that precise point in wlzic3r exceilerzce consists, where to exceed is alnrost as bad as to fal! short, and which every step you p beyond, 1 2 ~ ) grow worse azd wor,~e."3-i8Bwke, by contra';t, injected pc~riticalthought and action with a spirit of balance, coriciliation, and ntoderation. In Reflectiorzs he described hirnself as orre who "when tile equipoise ofrhe vessel itz which he sails, may be endangered bp overloading it up011 alze side, is desirous OF carrying the snralt weight OF his reasons to that whicl~ ntay preserve its equipoise."^^ 1r.t Burke's ggcrzcrd politicd theory9this te~zdencyto conciliate call be scclz most ctcarty in his writings on the British constitution. For him, the British constit.tttiolzernbodied the goldert mean. frs particular>he praised its ability to balance nronarchical, aristocratic, and popular p"-;"ciples of government, 'The whole sctleme of our nrixed cornsriturion," Burke explained, "is to pl-clvelzt any one of its principles fronr kcing carried as far, as, taken by itit would go."*" self, arzd thetlretic~1i~~ Burkc's desire to straddle a xniddlc line is also cvidcnt ixz iiiis treatmerzt of humaxz rzaturc. His theory of tiumaxz rzature represents a conrpromise L9ctwcclz yartictzlarism and urziversalism.3" Alrhouf;l-1he acknow1edged che discincrions arrrong individuals resillting from geograptty culture, history and religion, he obsewed that hunran Ilature remains in sonre KSpCCtS constant.'" Frc:,mn a ntorat point of view*l~urna~r rtature is fixed: ft has potential arrd social institutions can, lzowever, be constructed to far gocd as welt as evil.""oiiricat alter the m o u n t of that good or evil. If human beings c m never be perket, neither are they wfiotly kcyolzd redemption.
~
40
iYLk~Rft"and the Tlimry ofI~te~ncdtionnI ReLations
At the heart of Btrrke's theory of hunran rrature is a belief in tlre basic social impulseur sociability-of human t7eixzgs, which rcsernbles the Grotiai~pcrspective.-14~Xn fact, Brirke was a critic of social corltract tlzeorists and their depictioiz of hurrza~zbeings in an inragilrary state of rrature, "The stare of civil society'qre wrote ""isa state of rrature; and much xnorc truly so thaxz a savage and ixzcoherent xnode of life."3fi B13rtrke"sataloguc of individual rights does riot irlclude abstract or "pesocial" "liberties, such as rehellioii. Instead, his ttrinking gives proxrrinence to ""social righes,'\uch as the ri&t to property by desccrrt, the right to cdueatiori, and the riglit to due proccss.3""Thcsc civil rights, he contcrzdcd, constitute the "red riglzts of rrten.-94' Finally, Btlrke's theorizing orr tlre origins of tire state follows his search for &c golden mean. At tinzes he accepted rather thalz accounted for the existence uf yaliticd a u t h u r i ~ , clairnirrg that there is a "sacred veil to he drawn over the beginrrings of all governmerits.""sWeverthetcss, althok~ghBtlrkc suggested ttrat government ultimately emanates fronr God's wilt, he also sought to endow it with a hunran dimension, His aversio~zto tire puru'hesis of "divine right" I c ~him to adopt the coiztractaria~zlanguage of eightecrzthcerltury political discsrtrse.349 Burke did not accept, iiiowever, the revolutio~~ary inzplicarions of such Entigliiccrzme~zt coiztract theories, espccidty tfic xzotion h a t government is arz act of legal agreement or arbirrotiun that each irrdividual must detrary cfioice. He denotniced John Lc~cke"sevc>lt~tic>nar~ cide anewl fro171 an imllginary "state of nantrc.,'hwhethcr to accept rtlr social contrtlct. Suclr arz idea, he argued, ""slyposes in any strclizg cambirzation of men a power and right ofalvvays disssfving the stzcid t~nion,"rerrdering them "a mere tniconnected ntulritude.""Jr" As Cabban argued, Btrrke transformed clre social contract from its Lockean form as a basis of raisFor Burke, the state was a prescriptive and tzistoric tancc ixrro a ""butwark of coizservatbxn."~;3"' as well as a divine iristitntion, ft had to be treated with cautioli and reverence. Rtrrke also challenged the corntractaria~zartempt to define the nation in pr~reIyterrirorial terms, Hc described the xzatian as a "moral cssclzce, xzut a geographical arrangcmexzt, or a denomination of the nomericlator."~5~ Thus, he argued that the '"eat" France-the pre-1789 society and cuiruri., though stripped of territorial possession by the rwoirrtiuns t q e in the evolt~tion aries-still cxisted,'rs In this sense, Burtct: occupies an i~lter~nediar~ of ideas a b u t nationhood occtlrring in the late eiglizteenth centory. His depiction of the rratio~zas a historical conrnrrrniry places hirzi between wbar Hinslcy called a territorial and ixzsritutiond colzcept of nation, which grew out of coiltract theory; arzd the later ronza~ztic idea of the natiorz as a cultural arrd etlzrzic community-ls" Xri Burkck thinking, a sratc (or rzatiorz) is "rzlot arz idea only of local cxtcrzt, arzd ixzdividt idca of continuity, which cxtcrzds ixz time as wet1 as ~talxnomentary aggregation," h ~ ""az in n~tnrbers,and in space.'"% in Rr$ectiorl~ he depicted the social contract as a "partnership nor: only betryeerr ttrose who are living, hut betryeerr those who are living, those who arc dcad, and thosc who arc to bc t9onz.'"% h4ooreover, each separate social partnerslzip was but "aclause in the great prirneval cantract of eternal sociey which holds alI physical and att nroral rratures, each in tlrelr appointed ptace,'"5;
So~ere@npand Wzr Burkds beiief in the state as a historic contract and as part of a larger '"hain of being'" led trirzi to place less irziportance 0x1 the absolutc exercise of stare atzcoxronry and indepen-
dence. Tn keepirtg with his preference for balance a r d nroderation, he insisted that a iiiealthy socicy was one with some zEleans of rcstrainirrg the excrcisc uf libcrry; For him, absolute freedom was the "greatest of all possible evils."""g In corttrast to mariy of his Enlightenmenr peers, who w r e convinced that the pursuit of individual happiness did 11ot colzAict with the goats of society at large, Burke stressed the rzeed to balance liberty with other i~igredie~its of social order. The kind of liberty he advariced is not ""solitary" or ""uiicoxlnected,'%hut a "social frcedo~rr'"in which "flliherty . . . nrrrst be linritcd in order to be passessed."fi~In this way, ixzdividual action is xru longer ra~rdomor isolated but part uF a greater, interdepedmt sociaf matrix. As Vincent ~iored,ttiis qualified dehtiition of individual liberty parallels a weak conception of state sovereignq."(j Just as Burkc rek~sedto assunle the at7solr1teErclledctxn uf individt~als,so he refrrsed to assume the absrjltlte autonomy of states, h we argue later in the chapter, Burke viewed Europeari states not as isolated ertclaves but as partners in a larger interdependent society-die ""comnronrvealrhof Ertl-ope.'Within this grmer whole, states xnttst k1lClill thcir duties as well as exel-cisc thcir rights and xnttst bdarrce thcir individual objectives agajrist the larger ol..l)ectiveof Etlropean order. Since he conceived of individuals, groups, a i d states as part of a wider "chain of being,'"nurlic: claimed h a t it was pernrissible to takc action within the sovereigrz realm of another sratc, "A xnore mischicwcts idea carzxrat exist," he wrote, "tllan that any degee of wickdness, violence, and oppressim may p r e ~ k l in a County, that the nrost abominabfc, nrurderous and exterrzrinatory Rebellions may rage in it, or the alost atrc>ciousand bloody ryrarrny may clornineer, and that no xrei$t9ourinf= power can take a3gnizance of either, or afford SUCCOEITto the Miserat)/(:Su@erers."";~ Burkc's urzderstanding of sovereign9 directly affects his attitude toward the use of force in interrzatiorzal rc1atians.J" At first glance, he appears to be a realist, clainting that wars are ""inevitable in every state of htrntart nature" and accepting force as "the sole rneans of justice anrong ~ations.'"b3 Nonetheless, he added that thc causcs arzd effects of war shorlld t9e tcrnpcred thron$i legal arzd moral regulation. "Dt] is one uf the greatest objects uf t~uinaizwisdont," he wrote, "at >mitigatethose evils mfzich we are t~nahleto rent~ove."~'* Burkc's charactcrizatiolz of war as a xrcccssary evil rescrnbtcs the positiorz uF rationdists suck as Grutirts and Vattel,j" FFoilowing these irrter~ratiotzatlawyers, he argr~edthat war siror~ldbe waged only for specific and just causes arid "never erttered into without mature deliberation."3~~~~ In addition to distinguisbixig bemeerr just and unjtlsr wars, Brtrkc ukcyed the legal precepts of jw t~ beIIo by suggesting that " h e rights of war were rzut urrlimired."'jWTherefore, during the rupture betweecl Holland and Britain over the isiand of St. Eustatitrs in 1781 , lie cotidenrned Brirrain's vioiation of neutrality and confiscation of propwry as ""contrary to thc law of nations,"'sGg He atsto pleaded for ntoderation durillg Britain" c~~liflict with hterica, criticidng British use of Germall merceriaries arid Native h e r i c a n tribes in the figtlcirig md instnrctirlg the Britidi governnrenr to inflict: pmishxncrrt in proportion to the cri111c.369 Tn short, Burke's outlook on war finds a via ~rzediasomewhere bemecn yacifisnr and nrilitarisrrr, Althclttglrt he believed some forrzrs of war are outlawed in international sociec)r other kinds may t7c sa~zctionedby it, Furtkcrnlore, prudence arzd moderation were virtt~esto be practiced in war artd peace. Sirnply becartse the strtlcttlre of tlie irrternationd systent is anarchical, leading to c h h e s anrong its nrernbers, does not mean this sphere lacks nrora-al and legal rules. War forixlcd pan of Burkehmix of clernents that colztribrttcs to the maixztcx~arrce of internationd order, an objective he cc~risideredcriticd to the moral fiber of huntanfcind.
iYLk~Rft"and the Tlimry ofI~te~ncdtionnI ReLations
As show11 iri his reflectic~rison India, America, and frelarid, Brsrke feared the abuse of power, Througl~outhis writings and speectles, he discussed how to control, direct, and bdance power so that it served as a sourcc of stability rather tlrarz i~zsrat9ility3~0 111 the domestic arena, a ntixed corzstitutiosz would lead t~:,a balance of pt3wer. In tlle international arena, a single Emion's power was to be tamed though the balairce of power arrrong ail nations-that ""irzuwrz cornmon law of Eumpc at all rimes, and by at1 powerse1'371 Burke rioted that wlzereas other civili;5'atioriscrrtntbled becat~seof their ilnperial antbilions, Europe owed its survival and superiority to its sysrerrz of balancing power,-17VF-Sddescribcd this overall cq~~ilibrirlrn in Europe as t~ascdon four regional kalaxlces: (1) the great middle balance of Brirain, Frarzce, and Spain; (2) the balance of the north; (3) the internal bafarice between Ar~striaarid hussia; arid (4) the balarice of Itaty, Frarzce was tlze Iinchpin of this forltzuia-a "izatural guardian'hf Ewopean stabiliryY-17Wencc,even at the height of his connterrevaiutionary campaigrz, Burkc insisted that the Frencll statc rernain a player in the European balance of power.374 Burkck portrayal of the kalarzcc of power as part of the ""puklic law of Europe" renders his intcrprctatioxz ratiundist rather thalz r ~ a 1 i s t . JAS ~ ~he saw it, the balance in Europe was more than a lzaphazard outcsrrre of uncoordinated efbrts or an expedierit rule tc:, be fotlowed by ilzdividuai states.-17Wurkealsa did not believe, as sornc rcalists do, that a t9alancc S kcing automatically as an inherent Ecatrtre of a systcrn of scares. Inuf power C Q ~ T ~ Cinto sread, it is a cdectivt: or social good, requiring constant attention h n r ail European sovereigns, ""The same principles that nrake i t incunrberrt upan the patriotic nrenrber of a repubtic to watch with the strictest attention the nrotiorzs and dcsigrzs of his powerfill fellow citizens," hsrke stated, "slzould equally operate upon tlze different states in such a cont~zrunicy;. as Europe."""' As Wight dcseribcd it, Brtrkc saw the kalaxzcc uf power as a "rxloral uk~jeetive"ratllcr than "an objective relatiorzshiy uf Eorccs.""-5"" Despite Rurke's verreration fbr the balance of power as an institution, be arknowledgecl that it bad also been "the original of innurnrabic and fruitiess wars" arzd has kequentty bcelz "made arz cxzgi:~xzesubservient to the desigrzs uF intcrcstcd arzd ambitious persorzs, and perhaps thereby beer1 producrive of some unnecessary wars."j7g Burke expressed tllese sentinrents in his critiqrre of the 1772 partition of Poland, at1 event be described as "the first very great t9rcaeh in the modern political systenr of Europc.""-5@ Ftrr Burke, the balance of power was to serve not as a pretext for state aggrandizmrent but as arr instrllnrent for the European powers to express their unity against potential hegemalzs or disintegrating fc>rccs.'" He counseled the guardiaiis of tlzis balance to practice restraint arzd ntoderation, with an eye to both their separate political illterests arzd the tlealrtl of international society at large.
Prudcnce and xnodcration arc alsa apparcrzt in Burkck aapproacl~to econonric ixztcreourse betweell states.-?gJAs Coniff pointed out, the popdar view nf Burke i s chat he was a staunch advocate of laissez-faire in econonric nracrers.3" Tlzis case for Burkc as a laisscz$&irepotiticdt economist rests on three nz;tjor points, First, ixz writings suck as Speech on
Economicnl Refirm ( 178C))and Thncr;gjClrrand DetgiLs on Sc~zrcz'p( 1 795) Btrrke argued for restrictir~ggovernmelzt expcrsditures and intervention in the marketplacc.~~4 T!zclz, too, as rtoted hefbre, Burke stror~g!~ advocated for free trade between Britain and its Irish and h e r i c a n colonies. Accoding to Barriflgron, Btrrke "was the first great Engiish sraesman to preach Free Trade."385 And firsdly, Plurkc's relationship with and adrniratiol~for Adam Srrtith erihance his credentids as a free ntarketeer.3" Wlxat these laissez-faire crederttials mean in terms ofBurke3sperspective on ir~ter~raciorral political economy is, however, more campla than any. tabct suggests, One ctue that Bttrtct:sisortfd riot be cortsidered fully within the liberal perspective on inrernatioitlal political econonry is rt-tar he did not conrpletefy ascribe to the liberal notion that trade and cornmercc krecd ycacc within the ixzterrsationd sysrcm.-1" B~zrkc,for example, defended the use of restActions on trade k>r reasoris of imperial defense. In Ameri c d ~Tmati0i.l he did not cartdemi the restrictive Navigation Acts as measrlres improperly resr-ricting kee rrade between Britain and the Alnerican cotoclies. Although he Fhvored xnorc oyclz tradc with the calorsies, Burkc was not dogmatic about the free trade prir~ciple. He recognized that strategic and security cortcerrts were as ilnportarit in trade p(3Iicy as strictly econoxrric questio~ls.Sinrilarty*Bwke did nor: advocate reptacing the East X~dia Company n~ol~apoly with a trade systenl open to at! British merchants. Nor is there any suggestion that he believed in allowing foreigrl merchants to compete with the British in Tndian trade.38 Further, in arguing that the other members of the cornrnorzweaith of Ecrroyc should intcrvclze n~ilirarilyto quell the French XXevotrttion, he never suggested that ecoriomic intercourse offered an alternative path tc>wardpeace. Free trade was nrost irslporrant to Burke in relation to his conception of the imperial society clzcornyassing Britain, America, and Irclaild. Within the irzrpcrial society, Burlsc opposed marly of tlze restrictions imposed front Londc>i~ on the grortrtd that they fostered the p a c q t i o n that Britain's colonjal possessio~lswere Iforeign coilntries." Freer rrade, irr Burkc"siew, would gcrscrate an attitude of ixr~perialurzil-y, a feclilzg of salidaritlv; a true sertse of society, In this way, Burkebvision of the imperial sclcierry reflects marly of the liberal argtrrtlents about the power of conrmerce in the internarinnal system. Burke's writings and speeches or1 Irldia, however, dcrnonstratc that the irxrperial society was lixnitcd. Whereas liberal tlzinkers such as Kant cortstdered trade as a way of facilitating the spread of democracy globally, Bwke showed no ~II~CTC-"SI in carrfing the Britistl consrirrltiorl ro India on the sails of Brirish n~erchantsships, Burke's perspective on internaticlnd political ecorlomy has four main elenrterits, each relating ro a different historical and political context, To begin with, Burke showed concern about ymtccting British commercial and strategic intercsrs against foreign erscmies in his srtppclrt of the Navigation Acts artd the British morlopoly on Incfinrt trade. Second, Burtct: conceived of trade and commerce d i f f e ~ d gwithin the imperial society, not onty as a source of natior-ral power against compctixlg stares but also as a n~ethodof buildirzg camntt~rliryaround the ceiitrai values represerited in tlze Britisis constitution, Third, Burke viewed crade among nlembers of the comn1oxlweallb of Europe as a reflection and a vital camponalt of the historicat heriragc that gave life to the canccpt of Euroyc. Arsd last, he believed that ecor~omiccoritact between Britairr artd cultures outside the iniperiai society and the conrmonwealrtl of Europe should he c o n h e d to linliccd contact h r prlrposes of xniltttal xnaterial excha~zge.This more con~ptexinterpxtation of Burkck irrtcrrsationd cca-
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rronric tfrinkiltg s u ~ e s t that s the images of Burke as a classical laisscz-faire economist are ixzcomptetc and misleading.3Xy As with otl~erareas of 121Irke"shorrgfit, the pnrdentid, contextud approach to international pofitical ecoxronry contains strong moral sentinrent, We have already nrentio~zed Burkck attitude toward Bricaids econot~iicpoticy ixz Ireland, We have reviewed as wet1 Burkds rnarly pleas for Britain to ctzange its trade artd taxation pojicies toward America, ~bloralicyled Burke to oppose tire East h d i a Cot-rrpany's conrnrerciaf policies in Xndia. Burkc also forxnulated a code to regulate and yhasc arlt the interrzatiorzal slave trade.390 As his efforts on Illdia arid the slave trade dernoristrate, he did not shy away front advocating ""broad and positive govemnrerrt accio~zin sonre areas of social and econonric conccr~z."391 Burkek strong moral sentinlent yxventcd him from bccorning dogxnaric otz abstract p i n ciples and gave hirn flexibitiv to shape iris ecoricnmic thinking qainst historical, political, cultural., and ntorat circuntstarzces. Atihouglr Burke echoed &&rent scfroofs of chortght and yet belonged to none, his ectccticism is xzeither incohcrc~ztxzur empty. Burkc's ycrspscctivc on intcrlzatiol~alpofitial economy is procedk~rall~ and s~lbstantivel~ conservative: ft takes a prudential approach t(> fosnring political arzd moral developnrem tfrrortgh economic relations without eroding the stability provided by thdistoricait wisdorn and heritage af different cornmurzitics in tlze ir~ternationajssystern.3"t
Irzternatr'onnl Law a ~ Moraliq d As did nzany conservative thixzkrs, B~trkcaccorded law a critical role ixz restraining excess ~iattlrallaw artd legal regulation are h&arid achieving sociai tzarmony, In his ttlir~ki~tg, rnenral conzporrerrts of international as well as domesric order, I-fence, in the opening speech in tlre Hastings impeachment, Btlrke rekrred to 'bone great, immutable, pm-existent laww"".33Accc>rdirzgto Btuke, the law of rtatiorls derived from the attempt to apply these imperatives of natural law to the red circumstarlces of ir1dividuais and riations.3") Thouglr Ire adxrrit~edthat "&here was rro positive law of nations . . . established like the laws of Britain irz black letter, by statute and reco~d,'%e insisted that "there was a taw of natioxzs as firm, as cleal; as obligatory, as ir~disper~sable":
[l'lhere were certain Limlrcd and defined rights of war recognized by civilised stares, and practised In enlightened Europe. . . . [llhey were established by reason, in which they had their origin . , . by rhe convenrion of parries , . , by rl~earrrhoriries of writers, who took the laws and rnaxirns . . . from rftc cor-rsexztar-rci sense of ages; and lastly, from the tvicfcxzcc of precedcr~r. As Davidson poirzted ant, this reliance un custonz as a source for interrzational taw is yet another insrancc uf Burkc's sscarch far the vi'a media, this time between rzaturatisnz and positivism.396 Most of Burkc"shoughts an interrzatiorzal law are restricted to thc norms and rules that upcrated within E~~ropeaxz c i v i l i ~ t i ~ nAttl-zough . 3 ~ ~ he believed in a universal natural. law, he idei~titieda particular ""public law of Europe" tto regulate retatiorls amorig the ntentbers of Ellropean internatio~zalsociery Burke called this customary internationat taw tire ""great ligament of tnatzkind,"-i" and he r~sualiyhad this in mind when usirzg the tern "law of na-
tions,'Wonetbeless, he believed &at wider principles of justice SC7ould gowrn all political action, whether withixz the t~ouxzdaricsof Europe or outside. This vicw, as noted earlier, ixzfornrted his attack or1 Hastings5 doctrir~eof "ge(3graphical ntc)raliv." Eliis Faith in overarching statrdards of law and morality fuefed Brrrke's contempt for the realist doctrine of mbon &?tat, de~crit9ed~arcasticdflyin his Kndicatkn nfNntzkral!SOCIep.jgVt was callorls devstiorz to individual irlterest arid aggrandizentent that he h u n d so distastei;rf in policies such as the partition of Poland. Bul-h's critique of-realist ai~~oraliry did xzut, howcver, trarzslate into the revolutionisr dream of a siizgle world community, with its ntclrat irrlperative reqrriring "all nteri tc:,work for htrmarl brsttzerhoc:,d.""4 For him, the sovereign state mmained a mediating moral inAuence. BuE-kek greater concern was to inftisc the exercise of stare power with caution, humitiry; and sensitivity Commenting on British tijreigg~policy dilring the French Revdutioiz, he wrote: "An~ongpreci"utiic,x~sagainst arnl3ition, it may not he amiss to take one precautisrz against our own,. . . X dread our uwrz power, and our own anrbition; X dread our being too xnuck dreaded."""~fn additiori, he rejected the view that the mordity applicable to policym&ers in the conduct of foreigrl relatiorzs was somehow different front that observed by citizens in their donzestic relationships, Eliis betief in prudence and traturai law prodrtces a certain ""ethical temper" tthar cxzcouragcs leaders to sec the moral caiztcxt of heir political of moral standards will strengthen both doaction and to recognize that the upt~ofdir~g nrestic and international sociery.4c)" Burke's understanding of iriternaticlnal morality, therefore, is focused prirrlarily on individual sovereigns rather than states. This is eviderit in his docrrirle of political tmsteehip, in which tfzose who pvcrn become stewards or trtlstees for their constituents and for fkture gencrariolzs.rn3 Burke acted or1 this principle as an MP wlzeri he refused to succumb to the v ~ a A e sof pt~blicopinion. fn Burke's internationd theory, he extrapolated the notion of rrusteeship: Duties are owed rrot only hy each government to its subjects but also t9y orlie goverrlnient and people to arzather.-,"l04 Xn sum,Burkc5 writings on inrernarional afFairs rread a middle path bervveen realism, which depicts internatiofzal retarions as a state of war, and revolutionism, whicli views intcrrzatioxzal rclrsriolzs as the cbrpalis far a pcaccl;'ul cammurziry of huinarlkind. His xnorc ratioizalist position coriceives of a European ir~ternaticlnalsociety ct-laracterized by both cooperalion and conflict and regulated by moral and legal maxinls, This society enrbraces sovereign states in a larger whotc and endaws them with collectivc duties as wet1 as rights. Beyond the cammoriwealth of E u r o p ~Brrrke"sthinking retairls its ratioiialist hue ixt his appeal to natural law and his efforts to reform Britih imperial behavior in India,
"Unity of Spirit, Diversir~uof Operations" Burkc's appeal to the larger collective in international relatiorls has led some scholars to characterize hinr as a ""medieval" "inker."" 111 het, his iiiistorical and political works freqr~crztlyrefcr to the xnodel of Westertz Christcxzdam. Burke was artractcd to the xncdieval coriceptisrz of social order because it achieved a lzealthy baiarice bemeeri t~rlityand diversity. Athough rlzedieval socieries pernritfed a certain degree of dece~irrali~~rion and autotromy, they insisted on a care of cuirural arzd yoliticd t~nifartxiity.-,"l(~~
iYLk~Rft"and the Tlimry ofI~te~ncdtionnI ReLations
Bakrke and Empire As discussed in Chapter 2, diversity arid devolt~tiorzfigured pro~ninent.1~ in Burkck app r o d 1 to imperial policy Burke did not conceive of the British Empire as nronolithic.")7 Ncvcrthclcss, his efforts on Xreland and Anrerica reveal a differelzt notiolz uf cmpil-c:than do his Indiarz endeavors.
The Iweriill Sociery;
As etabrtrand before, Burke incorporated Britain, I ~ t a n d and , Anerica into arz imperial society characterized by a rcspcct for diverse traditions, a tolcration of local autsrzcnmy, and an aversiorz to heay-l~arided central csrztrol. The imperiai society was an ""aggregateof nrany Stares under one conrnron head" in which the "subordinate parts have many local privileges and imcnunitics.""""W&rhougb Burkc+radivity for diversity arid dew3tntion in the intperid sociey stenrtrned frc~ntpractical corisiderations, such as the irzrnrense ocean expanse betrvecrr Britain and Anrerica, his obedience to the ""ctcrnd Law3uF extclzsive and detached Enzpire" arose f-rorn his gerzeral preference for dilured authority.409 Wirhin &c imperial society, Rurke accepted the theoretical premise that Britain's powers were "boundtess," but he rejected any attenipt to implement that premise and to nrakc thc relationship bemeen the colonies arzd the metropolis xnerely one of dornination arzd subrnission. Whenever British imperial policy demanded stthrrlission rarher tlzan fostered conrmrtrziry, Brtrke was sympathetic rowad the grievances of thc coloxzists. Tlzis was denralzstrared in his everitual support for Americari independerice arid his syntpathy for rebelliousness anrong Irish Catholics in the 1790s. Burke's imperial sociey was not indivisible; ilzrperiat misgovernmexzt coiltd ymvidc the grounds for a just rebellion, Relationships wlrhixz the intperid society always operated in a context gt~vernedby furzdamerttal BritisEz prir~ciples of polirical and nroral actio~l.As demonstrared earlier, Burke inclllded narllrai law as p a t uf the goverrzing framework of the imperial socicy. Wherz the honreland ignored fundameritat principles, all that rernained was its exercise of superior, arbitrary power. Burke de~lok~nced. this exercise of power, whether in Ireland or Anrerica, and he warned that in tlze iorzg rurz it was corrosive both to the operation of natural law arzd to xzational prirzciples in Britain, As shc~wnlater in the cfzaptel; Burkek reiiai~ceon commorz principles arid values within the imperial society parallels his colr~eptio~l of order in international society
Empire of Preservation and Improvement, Burke5 rtotiort of an ""itperial society," tzowever, did not i~lctudeBritain's imperial retationstzip with India, 11-1contrast to the sense uf commk~niryBurke attcrnpted to fastcr among Britain, Xrctarzd, arzd h r e n c a , lie conceived of empire in India in a very Iirrlited sense. For Burke, Britain"~ernpire in India was to serve o d y m o purposes: ( I l) to generate ecotlonric wealth fbr Britain and India through tradc and (2) to deny such ecolzarnic wealriii to rival great powers, namely, France, His proposals tirr refnrming the East India Company attentpred to preserve this trading mo11opo.E~ (7ffrBritain in India. Burke fi~rrherqualified this limited scrzsc uf ernyirc by ixzsisring that Britairz"~ ~nonupoly operate in conformity with strict principles drawn from the British csrzstitution, natural law, and the c~~stoms, lam, and values o h h e Indian peop'tcs, Even though Burke dirt not desire to give the Xrldian peoples an interest in the British constitution, British imperiaj
coxlduct was to be based on sound principles-not raw force. The British Indian empire, theri, was to be a commercial endcavor col~ductcdaccording to col~stitutiol~al rr~lesand pririciples of a coniirzori huirzanity, Only in this way wcluld the confluence of the Bririsli and Indian crrlt~~res preserve the traditions and values of the weaker party and inipmve the xnaterial wealth uf both. Burkc thus conceived of empil-c:between two different cultttrcs witfliri a societal rmilieu: Imperial coriduct s h o ~ ~reflect ld the higlsest starldards of the metroh~oiisand respect ttle periphery as an equal nieniber of the coxrrrrron huxrranicy, Buke's reforxn proposals for the East India Company arzd his pursuit of Hastirzgs wcrc desigrled tri coritain Britisli imperid power in Iildia within the temperirig horlds of the hitisll constitution, respect for Indian culture, and ~tniverstlfjustice. If such temperirlg could xiut bc achieved, then Bclrkc advocated the termination ufthc imperial relationship. There is a vmmetry between this saltimerit corlcernixlg imperial nrisgc>verr~aient in India and Burke~erspectiveon just rebeltioii within the ilnperial society. Burke ackr1~3wledged tllat Britair] might have to lose the strategic advantage of enipire vis-h-vis other great powers and thus rejected any realist prcniisc for having ernpirc xncrely as arz aspcct uf great power politics.
Origins of em pi^ and the Threat to the Gonstdtutian. As with his view on the origins of rtle state, Btlrke drew a '"sacred vei1" over the beginnings (of the Britifh Ersrpire.d"O11this case, tloweryer, his reliance on the veil lacks a certain historical scrrsibtliey. The British Empire was, in canteast to the British rzation-state, a recent historical developme~zt.141c imperial veil was less opaque arid the rnists of time less dense wlzerl Burkc was dealing with empire. Rather than challengirlg thc legiriitiacy of empire, Burke hcused on niaking the xnanrzgement of that cmpil-c:compatible with Britis11 constitutiolzal principles, the culture and spirit of the colcjr~ialpeoptes, and tlze riorms of ~.iatr~rd law. He found ernpire illegitimate when iniperiai poticy failed to live up to these statrdards. Art-xougii Burkc iri gcricrd relied on this sacred veil in proceeding with his casc for imperial refornt, his argumerits revealed a disquiet about the estabtisEimerit of empire in Ireland and India. Etis disgtrst at the nature of British rule in Irelancl seeped &rnugh his attachment to the rzutioll of an irnycriat soclcry. Similarly, his efflorts oll India suggested concerns about the corlsequerices of uncor~trsllecfand arbitrary action on the parr of a chartered trading conigany. Burkc's discomfort about the origin uf parts of the British Enzpirc relates rzat only to the suffering5 of colonial peoples but atso to the threat to the Britislz constitution. Oceari expanses served as no deknse to the conragion of the abuse of power Mmillg fro171 inzperial arrogarzcc back into the halts of Westmirzster arzd the vaults ufthc City of Lorido~i,Xri this sense, Burke? iirlkage of domestic arid irlterrlaticznai politics puslzed beycond staridard analyses of enipil-e, which concentrate on the impact in the coionies, to war.n about the xnaligrzant dangers to the nietropalis &urn yosscssior~of empire.
The Commonwealth ofEt4r;rpe Bl,lrke"srl;iougt?tson diversiryl arid unity a>mrtogether most -vividly in his visiorl of Europeall internalionaf sociey, what he called the commonwealth of Eumpe.aathough Burke achc~wlcdgedthe strength of "rzzatianal charactci' in Enrc~pc,he believed this autoizoiny arzd
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di\rersicy was rnade posihfe becaltsc of an mderlying sense of comnruniv amorlg European sratcs and a collective commitment to xnaintatrzirzg order, As Vincent observed, "pK'l~esystexn worked witilin a societ).; plurdism worked because of a deeper solidariyW"42 Ftrr Burke, a ft~nda~zental social, political, and cultural i-romoger-rciryextending across sovereign frontiers srlsraincd order arnong the nlcnlkcrs of European international socicy. In his Lcrtters on a kgicide Peace, he portrayed Europe as "virtually one great state" marked ~ ~ zlocal s esby &c "same basis of general l2w; wit11 some diversiy of provincial c ~ ~ s t oai3d tablisbmclzts.""4"3orc specifically, he acecxztuated the conlinon European dedication to the Christiari religion, rnonarcizical principre of governlnextt, Rornan law t~erirage,and feudal cusr-anr.4fi This consensus was capped ofF by a lorrg tradition of trade and ecorzarnic ixztcrtlction, Irz contrast to f2_ansscau,who criticized thc ixzcreasi~zgeconomic ties arnc,ng European states, Btrrke belicived t l ~ eindividtlai members of European international society could be strerlgtllerted by econornic interdeperlder1ce.4fi Atthough this political, icgat, and ecolzarnic calzvergclzce is critical to Burkc+icturc of Europea~zirttcrrzational socicy, he gave greater wei$it to the cuttural xno~es,ur "rxzani~ers~" shared by Eclropean pwopla.416 i t is this "ancient system of opinion and senrirneizt,'"~ argtred, that accounted i-br Europe's preponda-atrce and distingtrished it fronr other pars of the wortd.41"3~&~rtntanners,which grew out of the feudal traditions of rtobitity arid cl~ivalry,""softerled, blended, artd harlnorlized the colours of the whole," "providing a deeper bundation h r taws and instititrions, "The law touches 11s but here and there,'" Burkc ren~arkcd,but xnanrzers "arc what vex ur sooth . . . t9arbarizc ur rcfirle us, by a constant steady; unii;.trnrt, irlsertsibie operation, like that of the air we breathe in."&TThe conrrnon ystcnr of education Cbr Europearrs pevewse"Ihis conzmn set of ~fzmners,AS a result, lie conctuded, "no citize~zuf Etlrope could be altogether an exile in arzy part of it. . . . When a mar1 travelled or resided fc:,r health, pleasure, business or necessity, frt>rnhis cowtry, he r~everfelt himself quite ahroad."4~~ h B u r k saw it, Europe had cultural and historicd csr~notationsthat trariscended physical or legal barriers. fn spite of the lack o f m y formal or binding ccompact uniting the rnemhers of the comnzcrnwealth, a deep affection arose from their historim1 experience of cocxisrexzce. This cmyt~asison cuttrtrc-as opposed to more irzstitutior~alfactors-is crucial tc:, appreciating Burkehapproach to international order: In the iritercoursc between nations, we are apt to rely tot>much on the Il~srrunientatpart. . . . Men are not tied to one another by papers and seats. 'Ihey are tect to associate by resemblances, by confor~iries,by sympathies. It is wirh narions as with irtdividuds. Nothing is so srrijng a tie of axtill)p ~ C ~ W C G natioti IZ and x-rariarias corrc.spundcxzcc in laws, customs, xnanncrs, and hatoits of life. "l'hq have more than the force of rreaties In themseitves, 'lhey arc obligations writeen in rhe heart, . . . 7 h e secret, unseen, bur irrefragixble bond of llabitual incercoursr holds rfiexn ragerher, even ivl1cr-r rfieir pcrverse and litigious x-rarure sets them ro cguivocarc, scufie, and fight, about the terms of their mitten obli@tic>ns.410
Aithorrgh Burke5 carlceptiorl of international order invtokes all of tile traditional procedures for maintailling stabiliy m o n g Etzopean sates-the balance of p(:,wer, trade, incernationd law and dipionracy-of greater significnnce is an underlying cultural homogeneir;?r,He admitted that culruraf solidanry among Europearz sratcs would rzot clirninrztc confiict, but he
was mnfident that their 'ko~zfornricyand analog , . . has a srmng teizdency to faciliate accornmodatiolz, arzd to prod~~ce a generous oblivion of rhe rancour of their quarrer'ts.""41 Burke's coriceptiorz of iriterrlational order, wlzich had a. strong cultural fortr~datic:,n,disringtrishes him from more "pturaiist" "&tecrrrh-century i~temafionalthinkers, such as Vattci,"z Tlic ylurdists conccivcd of Europe first ixz tcrr.r.1~ af its scyaratiolz into sovereigrz states arrd orzly secorzd as a voluritary arrd csnsensud association of hose states irrro an inrernatiorral society. The development of a positive international taw ro codi6y intersrare retarions arzd acl-ritvean external order arnong sovereign unirs reflected this emphais an division. Bnrke$ ccorzcern for z'ntrzrnnl as well as external order more closely approxi~nates rho= rnedieval philosophers who wrote about Che "right ordering of Christendom'" or later peace theorists suck as the kbbci de Saint Pierre, whose pmjeets sought to guaralztee Europeari moriarchs riot nierely a territoriatl equilibrium. hut also a poiiticd and social status quc:, within their frontiers.4223 Xn the end, atrtrough Btrrke often coxrsulted the works of contempararies~particular-ly Vartei, his nation of the conrmonwealrh of Emope drew iiieaviiy on the Middle k e s for inspiration.
Burkc's views or1 the riature of order in Eurspeari irzterrlatiorrat sclciety irzforlned his perspective on a r e of the rrzosr inrporralzt rrornrs of that society: rlonirzrewention. As Wigbr suggested, the xzotion aF irztcrvention has been a promincrzt fcatrtre of Wtcstertz ideas callcerning international relations."d O n one side are persons who exah the right and duty of intervention as a wag of p ~ x r vorder i ~ jll the interrlational system or of reforming that systern arzd ensfirinirzg den~ocraticar othcr political principles witfiin its camyonclzt state~.~25 On the other side are those who accord a nroral value to sovereignty arzd therefore deny the right of intervention except in excrerlle cases of self-presemtion.4tG Burlre advanced a kind of csnservative intervrntionisin.""7 Alrhougb he permitted diversity wirhin the comrriclrrwealth of Europe, his theory of internatiorzal order could not roterate hererogeneit-y r e p d i n g the f~rndanremalsocial, political, and cdrrlral pKceprs of European civiitizdtion. Irz athcr words, Burkc"st-heory pasirs arz imparrant ixzterretationship bemeer1 a hornogeneorts arrd stable international society arid the preservaticln of a domestic status quo, Conseql~nCly,he asserted &at f-brcigrr states have nor only a right bar ""an indisperzsatllc duty?"to monitor changes occurring eisewhcre in Europe. During Brtrkck career the greatest threat to the scllidarity arid stabiiit-y in the csrnmoriweafth of Etmpe mtne irz the fornr of the French Revolution. h1 contrast ro the Pitt govenzment's rzertteal and nolzintcrventionary posture, Burke perceived the revolution as a threat to the fc?rrn&tions of order in Europe because it cl-rallenged established religion, p m ~ r t yand ~ dynastic legitimacy The rrovel lamed doctrine'hf the Jacobins reached the xninds of humaxz t?cings, whatever state they inhabited.48 For Burke, this "vic:,lerit breach in the community of Europe" Murred the traditicriial tines of internationat politics and demanded suspension of the ordinary rtlles of the game.49 Interspersed in Burkehritings and qeecfies are three theoreticd argumerits tc:, ratiorialize irzterverition in the affairs of the Frericfi state: ( l ) the pretext of premntive war, derived fro171his ilnderstanding of the balarzce ofpowec ((2) the rights of intewenrion in civil calzflict, take11 from his reading of intcrrzatioxzal law; arzd (3) the right af "vicinage,'kex-
51)
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trapolatcd fronz the Roman civil taw notions of vicinity aid neighhorhood. VVe explore each of these ixz the sectiolzs t9clowW
Burlrek porr~xicxzof iritervention agairist revc:,l~ttionaryFrance was an exrension of his views on tile balance of power. h fact, many eighteenth-century thinkers and scatemen colzsidcrcd ixzterventiorz to be arze r~ieai~s uf nz;ti~lirai~zixzg the balance uf power, despite recagnitioiz of the merirs of nclrzinterference.430 This 1zieral:chicalrelationship bemeen the balance of p o m r and the principle of nonintewenrion reflected the conviction that an cquifibrium anzalzg Eumpcan states was sornethilzg that skantd actively be sought, as apposed to a pheriorrtenori that spontaneortsly occurred.4-$1As sl~ownin ortr earlier refererlces tc3 Pc>larld, Burke adopted this rationalist rather than realist approach tc:, the balance of p o w e ~cdiirig on the prrdcnt and "urrrenricting attention" of European statemen to disturbing developments in any part of Etlropc.i3V~ndeed,he argued that cases of intervention on behalf of the halance of power "fill half the pages of history" referring in partiatlar to the treaties of guarantee to the Protestam Succession in England.433 But Burkre went a step further, He asserted that pruderit balance of power palirics may req ~ ~ iinterventioxi re in the face of the threat of irn~ninentattack as well as de facto agression. Xn his nrind, the facobi~znrenace was not prirrrarily ~rriliraqbut ideological, based on subversive and contagiolts pnrzciylcs. He exr-cxzdcdVattct? legal interpretatloll to encompass yolitical arid social as well as ntilitary ttzreats, and he coricluded that internatiorid law diowed for such precmptive action in cases of ""hstile intenrion,'"34 For Burke, the '"pernicious maxims"" uf the Frcncb rmolutionrzries were eqrdty tfrxreatcrzing as thc ""f.;rnzidabtcforces"" of a mobilized army,"s" France "by the very condition of its exisfence" a i d "by its essential consritrttion'kas alr-eady "in a state of ilostiliry with us, and with all civilked peoplc.'"+b 1~zl.erverztl'oraand Cz'stil Wgr
Brrrke"r;reatment of interwxltion also drew on V;tttet's ideas on aining the just side in a civil war.4'7 Extrapolating from Vattei, E~owever,Bltrke algued that rhe taw of naciorls permitted '$3neighhow to support arty of the parries according to his c h o i c r . " ~ In~other ~ words, he did only in tcrnls of the farces of retrtellion but exr-cxzded the right af ixzrzot define the " j t ~side" t tervention to the berlefit of the aricien rigirne, In resparise to his rioninterventior.iist critics in the House of Commons, such as Fox, Burke contended that this policy of aiding the mydist a u s c was colzsistent with historicd and legal prcccdent, Fox arzd his compatriots, he explained, conhsed the law of rzations by failing to differerztiate between WC:,kinds of interference: stirring up dissension in another county and taking part in a civil war already cornmcnced. ""I1 the first Casc there is undau"uedly more difficulty than in the sccond," Brrrke stated, '"in which there is clearly no difficulty at all.'""-? Although inrerkrence in civil collAicts always required "great prudence and circtlnrspection," h r k e concltrded, there was rzo "atlsrract principle uF public taw, forbidding such interference."440 This endeavor to deition~tratethe legality ofintewention in France within the ternis of the existing law of nations reflects Brtrke's wnservative respect for "escablistled wisdom," Nevcrthcicss, he moved keyolzd colzventiond interpretations whcrz arguing his case far in-
rewention against the French Revolution. Btrrke conceived arnred action by rile E u r o ~ ~ e a ~ l powers agaiszst the facobitzs not as a war against the Frcnch stdte but as a crt~sadeagalrzst a revslutior~ar~fictini"~ threatening tc:, tear apart tlze comntor~wealthof Europe. He insisted that such inrervention should nor be portrayed as foreign as sttch; rather, it was part of a larger, Europeaxz civil war.44J ?he forces of the sratus qito in all parts uF Europe had to join forces to deknd tile historical pillars of European order.
e r argunrent that the Frerrch revolutionaries igrlitcd a civil war in ErrTo develop f ~ ~ r r hhis rope, Burkc tltrned to the IXoman law principles of vicinity and xzcighborliood, This rcliarlce on civil law reflected his atlxiety over tlze survival of rbe comntonwealth of Europe and his frustration with tlze noninterveritionist approacti of his fellow partiamentarians, The law of vicinity, as Btrrke porrrayed it, was esscrrtiatly the circunrstar~ceof coxlnectedxless. Proxin~iryand haBirtlaI interconrsc carried ccrtain rights and rcsponsibilitics."~ As we have shown, Bttrke frequently higl~ligirtedthis phennmenon of vicinage for the tnembers of his European eomnronwealth, who were joined together by kctol-5 of geography, politics, e c o n o n ~ i ~religio~z, s, a d cufture and who took arz interest in devetopn~entsuccurrirtg in ariy part. The law of vicinity also factored into Burkck attitude toward Irelarld as parr of the imperial society. The partxzer of riiie law of vicinlry is the law of 11eight9orhood:the right of a ncighbor to protest wlzeri lze ""sees a azew erection, in the nature of a nrtisance, set up at lzis dc>or."*43 Burkc applkd this pxcept of civil taw to the retations among Europeaxz states: Now where there is no consrieuted judge, as berween it~depm"dntstates rl~ereis not, the vicinag"tsetF is the natural judge, It is, prevenrively, rl~eassereor of its own rights; or remedidly, their averigcr. . . . This prir-rciplt, ivhich, tike the rest, is as true of s-rariilns,as of ir-rdivicfuat men, has bestowed on the grand vicinage
In his mind, the ""nuisance" created by the colztagious prirzciplcs uf the French X3cvoIutiolz activated the right of irltcrventioxz for all of Frarzcc's ncighbors in Europe. To concfnde, Burke corlceived the problern of international order as involving both external and ix-rternal elements. Efis inter~lationalrt-tinking did not posit stare sovereignty as an absolute value ur as the guiding prir-zciple of order. Illstead, he hetd to a weak axzd qr~alificd idea of sovereignty, which balarlces the needs of ilzterrlatior1at society as a whole against rile absolute tiberty and independence of i t s individtraii members. T-fence, Lti. was pryarcd to override the pluralist doctrine of reciprocd noninterfcre-clrzce if the more f~txzdamental componerits of European order were tlzreatened.
Sonre international refatinns schoIars have already st~ownrile &'f;ctrlcy of pigeonhoting Burkc in arzy one of Wigirt's thrcc traditions of realism, rarionalisxn, and revottltionism.~~
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iYLk~Rft"and the Tlimry ofI~te~ncdtionnI ReLations
Though Burke snpponed some of tile tenets of realism, he contested its porrrayal of the ixztcrnrztionrzt systcnz as a state of war, its ruthless interpretation uf the tlatance uf power, arid its teridency tc:, downplay the role of international mc:,raliy.""becond, if Brirke shared the rationalists' illrerest in the nature of international sociery, his ti-teory denrands Irrore homogeneity and solidarity than do rationalists wfia stress the institutiolzal featrtrcs of inter~iationalreiations.447 Burke saw the ""obligations writtert in tlze heart" as asntre reliable than the "Formality of treaties and conrpacts.'"4"R~\j'onetheless,his vision of internationaf society, based on ctzlrural sixnititudc, stops st~ortof thc camplctc doctrind urzifornziry advc~catedby the revc:,lutionists. The ciiosest Burke's thinking comes to forltliizg part of any theoretical clltb is what has bccrz rcfcrred to as the English Schaot uf inte~rzationalrelations theory, ur the interrzational society tradition."Vn many ways, Bull$ ddennition of internationd sclciety as "a group of states, conscious of certairi comrrtcln illterests arid commorz values . . . that conceive thenzsetves to be hound by a conrnroxl set of rules in their relations with one another, and skarc ixz the working of common institr.ttians"captures nzuch of Burkc's ixztcrnatiunrzt tlzinking.40 indeed, his account of internatiofzal sociccy sparks some of the most iiztercsting dehates within this tradition. Burke "forces US to coizsider whether order is fartrzded oil the 'instrumexztal parthf irzterriationd sociev-its procedural rttles and iristitutioizs-or on its deeper "correspondence in cnslnms, manners, and habits of life.""" Mare specifically, his writings draw our atccrztion to those political, social, arzd culrurat values that lie wittzin the realm of the doxncstic but are risnethelas iridispertsabie for the maintenance: of an iriterr~atiorid""equipoise." As Vincent pointed out, Burke treated ilzternacional policies as a branch of all politics, His nrain point "is tffiat wc xnrtst grasp what it is that is cc9mmon to all Europearz societies t9cfore we a n gain a11 appreciariorl of the reiations among thern."ei' The sajtle encompassing policial perspective appears in Burke's efforts to improve British inlperial policy in Ireland, h e r i m , and Xridia. He showed deep interest in rzot only tfic extcmrzl featt~resofcmpirc but dsa its ixzterrid political, ewrismic, and ntord aspects in core artd periphery dike. Lookirzg at Burke throttgtl the internalionai sociccy lens helps illumirzate aspects of his thixzking as welt as difficult qrtestiarzs his tliouglit raises for the coxzccpts of order arzd society in internationd reiatic:,ns. Witlziri the internatiorzal sclciety tradition, at least WC:,distinct attitudes exist: the insritrrtiorral (or pluraiisc) approach and the culcural (or solidarist) pwspxtivc. Tlze pluralist conception of internationd society is truzscultural: It highlidits the procedural. artd institutional features of the iriternationat systern that are not crtlturatly specific, such as the excllangc aird treatnrcnt of diplomats, trcacy law, the requiremenr of rcciprociry; and the prirzciplc of nonintcrvexztion.453 ft is tlzis set of prillciples and iristitutions, pluralists argue, that maintairls order in an otherwise anarcfzicd system of states. This pluralist perspective 0x1 international sociey does #lot exclude states and equivafe~lt cxztities horn participation un the basis uF religion, ctzlrurc, or ideolag. But the pturalist approach also maintains that iriternatiorzaf iristitutions and principles of interrlatiorlal law represent social uables airlong slates and provide a framework for implementing them intertzationalty.454 For the pluralists, then, interrlatiorlal sclciety furlctiorts as a praglnatic clyriainic that accommodates cultural diEerence. The soIidarist persp~ctiveon international society hct~seson a shared poliricai, ecorzamic, religious, arzd social heritage arnong peoples-and xzut jtzst states-that affects the
way in which sates interact. ""Nothing is so scrong a tie of anliry bet~veertnation and nation," wmte Burkc, ""a ccorrespolzdencc in laws, CUS~OXEIS, marzners, and habits uf life."455 The contntclrz values in Brrrkc's ccontntclrzwealrh of Europe-a crtlturatly based international society4iffer from the interstate values of the pluralist model of interrratioczal society bccausc those values exist transrzationdly. at the substate level, Moreover, this deeper colisensus at a substate level is what makes possible the iriterstate rules arid institutions of pluralism, Without a strong cuitural coizsensrrs, solida~.istsargue, the efficacy of che instrumerzts uf state retations will rest Q I I ! ~on the convergcrzcc of interests, which is a weaker basis for inter~iatiorzaiorder.fi6 A number of issues a r k h m the solidarist conception of iizternational society The first conccrlls the xzatlrre of sovereigr~ry.As wc have shown, Brrrke's cornmonwcaltlr of Europe was a strtlrig international sociew rooted in the sf~aredmanners, customs, and practices of European peapla. The trartsrlatit>~ial link csriseq~leritiyqudified and weakerled the savereigr~ty of the state.457 Far Burke, sovereigrlry w s not a value in itself but becatlzc subordiiiate to thc contixluation uf a shared cultrrral I-ieritagc. X n tfic pluralist perspective of internatiolzat society, sovereignty is a legal srattls tl-ratgives tneaning to the rdes and institutions of state cclexistence, Sovereign.lrl~ a ~ z n obe t qualified to the extent that it is under solidarisnz, 6 s the veq foundation uf Interrzational taw and instirutioizs is state cc9nscnt. As a result, pluralisxn yields scncierry than salidarisnt. a weaker serise of iriterriatit>~ial Burlict's emphasis on solidariv and culture also has implications h r sefrirtg the boundaries of ixztcrnational society; For Burke, intertzatiorzal society was an inlierently lirr~ircd csrlcept because tlle type of crtltural l1ornogeneit)j.that he idealized did not extend throu$~out the international system. Btrrfi-e contendedt Tctr example, char Europck "ancient: systent of opinion and sclztirnelzt'Aistinguiskcd it from other parts of the worfd.dS&Hence, he hinted that the "dolly hiatic" Ott~ntaizErrtpire remained outside the bounds of Etlrspea~z irrtcrrrational society and the balancc of powcr.459 The pluratist view of international society, by contrast, has thc poterztial to expand glot9alty bccausc it concelztratcs un the sovereign state and relations antong states, without reference to the cultural cortrlectic>~is anrong tfiem.4~~" The solidarist perspective or1 internatic>nalsacieq therefore, raises the questiorl of the ""otf1ers-those who belorlg ten diff-erent:cultural traditions, Burke corifroiited this prtnbfent of the "other'" in his efforts to reform British in-iperial policy in hdia. F-le did not refer to the staxzdards of the commoizwealth uf Erlrope to ccjndcmn the prxtices uf the East Xrzdia Cornpaiy, rtor did he construct obiigatioizs on the basis of ari institutional.view of ari interrlatiorlal society between Britail] and the Indian provinces, h noted earlier, Burke reprded Xndia as outside the area where the ""lw uf rlations" applied because his cc9izceptioxl of international law was influerlced by the contmon ct~iturall~eritagcof Europe. Burkce appealed instead to notiorzs of u n i ~ r s ajustice l and natural law in criticizing British inlperial policy in India. Further rc-clAectiunun Brrrkc's ideas, howcver, suggests that the distinction bcmeerz pluralism and solidarism ntay be a false one, What Burke helps us see is that the pluralist perspective is not culture-xzeutral. It, too, is cnlttlrally borrnd because it: arose fronr the particular cireumstarzccs wirfiixz post-Renaissance Europe. The "expansion uf international society'" to non-Ewopean areas was a crtltural expansion, rtot just an expansion of pragmatic, .value-neutral interstate insricutioczs of dipjomacy and comnrercc.4" The world today reflects the expansion of the institutiorzs uf post-Renaissance Europe-states, sover-
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iYLk~Rft"and the Tlimry ofI~te~ncdtionnI ReLations
eipty, diplomaq trade, and interstare war-into areas wirh cufttrres vastly different fronr those ixz Europe. In the Xatc wentieth century formalistic pluralism coiizcides with shatlow solidariry. "This state of affairs creates, in I(ingshrrry's -words, "the problem of reactling ~lornrativejudgments in a heterogeneous world while simultaneously acconrnrodatiizg deep cutrural, social, and religious differe1iccs."4~~ Burke's scltidarist conception of international sclciety has different implications for each of Wigbr's three rradirions, Firs, it rejects realisnr's rigid hcus on the state arzd disirlteresr ixz marters kcrzcath the state that might afkcr intcrnationd relations, Solidarisn~iiielps explain the srlccess of international law arzd organizations amorig like-minded states, as 11oted by current scholars anaiyzing the special international political dyna~nicsanzong 1ibcr;at statcs.4" Second, solidarism iiniits the porelztial of ratiandism uursidc the context of culrrrral tzomogeneity. Arzd EirlaIlp the importance of cdtrlral solidarity calls into questiori practically and morally the uriiversal aspiraticjns of revc>lutionisuf. The sotidarist perspective in Burke's tl~inkingalso raises questions fir so-cdled new approaches to irrterrzatiorzal relations theory. According to Smith, a comnlalz fearrtre uF approaches that have developed since tlze 1970s is tlzat tlzey are ""postpositivist"; they reject some or all ofihe assunrptions made by mainaream theoretical approaches, sltcll as reatisin arzd Libcralism.464 Smith i~icludedin these postpositivist approacfzes normative theory, feininist tlzeory, critical theory, t~isroricaisocioloo, and past'nodernism,*~"rIie nature of international societ-y represents an inrporrant issue b r each of these ttlenries. Re:rek7irth of normative theory has bcen a kcy development in ixztcrrzationd theory since the late 1980s."' Accolding to Brown, nornrarive theory "addrases che n r o d diitzensio~~s of international ].eXati~nsand . . . the ethical nature of the relations bemeen conrnrunitieslstates, whether in the context of the utd agenda, which focused uiz violence and war, or the ncwter) ageda, wlzicl-1 nrixes these traditional ccincem wirh tbt: nrodern dema~zdfitr intematicmd distributive j~~stice,"~~;J The: xnain foci for contcxrrporary xzormarive tficuv-statc autonomy, the ethics of the use of fcjrcc, and inrernationd justice4"-are also key- issues h r the interriationd sociery tradition, and Burke tzimsetf addressed each of them in his writings and speeches. 1Vore specificaily, Burkc's per-spectiveon internation4 society relates m a prnnzirlent "ttiiortgh debate: ixz rzarmative theory txctlveen casmopati~~rzism and cammnnir-a~iarzisnlz~rirasisn1.4~~ Burkc: appeded to a universal riaturd law applicable to humariicy, his einpllasis on culrrtraii sinrititude as an tinderpinning for international societ-y (yarricularfy in Europe) parallels communitaritunsm as a xzorxnarive a p p r o d ro international relarions. Fentinist theozy, too, grapples wish the rde of culture in inrernationd relatioizs, Feminists see the donrestic and the internaciond as fundamenvalty connected, a. link realism denies. Feinixzist theorisrs argue that realism denies women a role ixz international relations k9ccausc it associates &rrrirziniy wit11 the reaim of the domestic, Sirnitarly, ger~derissues historicaiiy of rationalism, namely international taw tlav-e been orttstde the p m i w of the insrn~nze~rrs arzd orgaizi-~rions.With the EFeatlElCXlt of wainen cfoscjy intertwined with cultural mores and traditioizs, feminist interrzationd rdaticllis theorists echo Burkc: in hrealcirzg dclwn tfre disriilctioitl bemecn donrestic "private space'hnd inrernariollat ""public space.'" Burkek emphasis olz custarns, xnarzrzers, and xnores as pitlars uF interrzatiorzal order made his attitudes tc>wardwomen part of his inrertiational thinking, Of ccotrrse, feminists do not agree with how Burke connected gender and international order: Burke's bmous anger about the trcarmexzt of the kcgrtins (yrixzccsscs) of Oudti and other Indian woinciz t,y the
East Xndia Conrgany and Marie Antoinetre by the French revolutionaries has caught the critical eye of fenzinist arzalysis.470 A~ccordingto Zcritti, ""TIC figure of a lady in distress is ari all too contntclrz trope in Burkc" writings artd speeches."47'"The clzivalric rlatrtre of Burkek prose in che Anroi~rettepassage stems largely from his veneration of airtiquicy, especially the Middle Ages.4" In defending the bcgums OF Ondh, Bu&e iili$lligllted the ""rverer~ceof 'easterr? people for wclrrren and the powerftll influerlce that certain worner1 exercise in such societies. The Begums of Oudh were such women and shouicl have been treated with proper revel-e~zcet9y the East India Company.'"7$ Kram~zickrzated the parallet in Burkek writings on womert in tlze Frer~clzartd lndiart corztexts, observirlg that "[tlhe treatment of these Ilndialrl princesses becomes the grand mefaphor for all tllat India reprcscrztcd for Burke just as tile trcarmexzt of Marie Ar~toinctte. . . would symt9oIizc the passing of chivalry and tl-te old ~rder."~~~"though not feminist, the crtftural four~datior~s of Burke"snternationd thirtking do raise many issues at the heart of feminist approacfzes to international relations. The inhence of culture in the gccldc-ring of social and political structures and interactions forms part of fernixzist analysis. In addition, mud1 OF the xzorntative farce of fentinist theory seeks to liberate worner1 from male-deternrtirred culrure.475 Like normative theory, critical theory sccks "m improve human existcrzce by aBolishing injustice" by sti~n~tlatitzg ""ater~zativevisions of world order.""'"ccording to critical theor)r, the existirtg structrtre of sovereign states causes injustice. Brit there is poter~tialfor change inrnranerrt in crlrrent political, ecoxlomic, and social dynamics.4"7 Irz exanlining the statkls qno, criticid theorists foct~son xnuftiplc forms of powcl- and opprasion, xzot just: illterstate relations, in order "tct take account of tlze fult irnpact of modernity, especially 11102~stnlcernl-es fnrltled and srrsrained ttrrder processes of globaliaation,"Qg The utcirnatc goal of critical theory is to facilirate ""Le possibility of ovcrcomir~gthe sovereign stare and inat~gwatingpost-sovereign wodd politics."47" How culttlre factors ixzto critical theory is a conzplicated xnattcI: To a critical theorist, Burke is the qr~intesscntiat""problem solver," "the type OF theorist who cakes the existing strtrctures as givens and nzerely ti~nkerswith specific prohlerns tlzat arise witlrirt them.48o Nothixzg exempIifies this as xnilch as Burke's attachn~erztto cultrrral similitude, Critical thcorists, by coiztrast, aim to emancipate iilumarzity, xzot xnerely to rearrange existing injustices. Emancipatiott on a global scale "involves the e ~ l u t i o r of t more inclmit>nar)iless parricutaristic, fontzs of political association.""" Critical theory seeks a farm of global politics that is urziversal in scope arzd democratic in process, yet sensitive to diversiv in practice. Athoudf this sortrids like Brxrke"s'ur1iy of spirit, diversiy of operatic>ns7\corlcept, it is fundmzentally different, T-fisconcept was based on cr~ltllralsimilicudr and is r-xclusionary 6om a critical theorist's poirzt of view, H ~ ~ n z acmaxzcipatioxz n xnust also involve enzancipatiolz fram cdtural practices that r e i h r c e the oppressive artd ur~fairsystenr of sc>vereignstate politics, TB fact, it seelcs a tirriversal culrrlre that liberares penplc from their exdusionary traditions. m e t h e r this "fibcl-atioxz cidture" is renziniscent of abstract radicalism or is a ncccssary precondition for progress in a globalized w(>rldreinains an open qttestion. Cuiture features promkentiy in historical sociology as an approach to international relations. Historical sociologists arc interested ""rn the ways in which societies develop thmugh history."*g""?n terms familiar to &c stltdent o f Burke, they attempt to ""show that there can be no simple distinction betrveccr international and donrestic societics'haxld ""rat the state is crcarcd t9y ixztcrnation;~fand donze~tlcforces, arzd that the i~ztcrnationatis itself
56
iYLk~Rft"and the Tlimry ofI~te~ncdtionnI ReLations
a deter~irinantof the nature of the state."""Thre is nruch in B ~ ~ r ktoe support hiaorimt sociotogixs' claim that "b]ocietics arc strrtcturcd primarily by erztwincd ideological, ecoriontic, ntititary, arid political poower."&8 Fro1n the Burkcan perspective, cultr~reis at the center of the historical process that shapes doniestic aid international societies, and culture is in turn shaped by nrztiunrzt arzd traszsnatianal forces. Postmodernisin asserts that riothirlg can be established as true orttside a particular discourse.485 For postnrodernists, it would seenr, cr~lcureis nrerety a "truth regime.'"% Acco~dirrgto thesc thco~ists,cultural clashes in internatiurzal rc-cltariansare ixztersubjectivc contests bemeeri regirrles of truth for which there is no arbiter. Domirzatiori arid oppression exist as these different mgimes rise and fall through history Burke's use of natklral law to deferid Xsrdialz culture horn Britisiii impcriajtisrn was simply arz exparration uf a Europearl "trrsth regiute"; it represerited Er~ropeandomination, riot moral sensitivity. Solidarism, as edribited in Burke's perspective on internationd society, similarty has no ohjective value. Thus, what for Burke was the source of stability in ioternationaf relations postmodenzism sccks to desrabilizc. A tirial "ricw approach"" that grapples wirli crtltural iss~lesrelated to iriternaticlnal ssllciety is sociaX constructivisnr, The essence of this theory is captured in Wendt's argurrrerit ttrat "arzarchy is what statcs make of it."487 The basic thrust: of social coristructivists is that the selfish, often violerit hehavic~rof states is riot a riatr~ral,predetermined, or fixed orttconte of a structural condition of interstate anarchy (as realists would have us believe). T~istead, the typc OF anarchy witlzesscd in interlzatio~zalrelations is colzstructed ky sratcs theniselves tlzrough their habitual i~iteraction.State actors heconte ""socialized" "through the international systenr to act in ways that preclude deeper coflaboration, Social constrrtctivism sccms to yardlel rationalism and its plurdlistic approach to ixztcrnar i o d sc~cieytc highligllts the impartance of the state and the irzterstate syr;teIn simultaneously. Moreovcx; it recognizes the need and opporrurriy for reconstmcting state inresacs and dccpenixzg thc sense uF society. through internatianrzl politics, Wendr dcvcitoped his social coristructivist approacfi ""on behalf of the liberal ctaint that interriationd institutions car1 transform slate iderltities and interests,'"% N we have showri, this appr~achto kclllding ixztcrrzationrzl societ-y is incomplete Emm thc BurkLlan perspective. Burkek t h o q h t stressed CUIrural homogeneiy inore prominently tllan the ""istrumeiital parts""of internatiorid relations valued by social constn~crivists.The power of incernatinnal insrin~tinnsdepends, claimed Burke, un culturdl lifce-mindedrzcss, not merely thc existence uf yroccdrtres such as intcrnational 1aw. Burkean sotidarism, ttterefore, poses challenges for social consrructivism because it drills ~rroredecply into the rransnationat, national, and subnatioliat aspects of crllcure that ixzflucncc peoples, statcs, and intcrrzationrzl institutiuns-for bettcr ur worse. Our use of Btlrkek solidarisin to explore the internatiorial sclciety traditiori and riew theoretical approaches does not exhaust the ways his ttiiliking might. help iitunrinate crlrrerrt dek9atcs in tlrc discipline of Intcrnrztiunrzl relations, Qur modest objeetivc was to show that the Burkcan perspective on intertiatisnal relations provides food for thsuglit for both tradirionaf and nontraditional intemacionai relations ttreorists. Iln other words, Burke's wricings and spcechcs iiiave not kccome thearctically soggy in the 200-plus years since iiiis death. f-fis coriti~irringtheoretical clispness fcrrrrrs part ofhis sustairzed relevance for thinking about contenigorary international relations, to which we now ttlr~iin more detail,
CHAPTER FOUR
Burke9sRe
Ednzlrrld Btrrkek eightecntl1-century coiltemporaries recognized the great expanse of his political thinking and oratorical and literary povvers. O n a day when he was feeling undcr the wcathcr arzd Burkc bceanzc the topic of disc~zssion,Sanzucl Johnsolz remarked: "That felltiw calh forth all my powers. Were f to see Burke now3 it would kilt nte,""s"3 Georgc Caxzning sumnzed up Burkek sstattlrc by writing upon the day of Burkcueath: "There is but one event, but it is arz cvexzt for the worfd, Brtrke is dcad."4% Even if his critics sometimes outrtunrbered his ad~nirers,Burkchpeievance to the great affairs of his rime camot be qirestioned. Rur how does Rurke's thinking live for us roday? This question, like so magzy. others in Burkc studies, has bcelz calztroversial. A?; discussed in the previcius chapter, Burkc's solidaristic perspective on irttcr~tatici~tal society renzains relevant to the discipline of ixzrernatio~zalrelations. The debate about the xzature oaf irlterrzatiorzal sacicy as either pluralist or solidarist coizti~lu~s to kc ixnportalzt. W believe h a t Burke's cc~ntrihutionto this debate s h o d also he briefly higlilightrd in connection wit11 specific problems on rbe current landscape of world politics, Although scbotars suck as Macphersan find no prcscnt-d;ty valuc irk Burkchthanght, others argue that: he ought rtot tc:, he forgotten.*g")le aim ro establish a relevance for Btrrke that is deeper than his constatzt appropriation and reappropriation by the potiricat left, rigtir, arzd cciztcr,@z Laski aptly- captured Bnrke" importarice to today? policylnakers and scholars: "There is rio wise ntarl in politics, with ail irrrportarzt decision to make, who wotttd not do well to refresh his mind by discussiorl with BrrrkeS n1ind."495
Rurke During ;and After h e Cold WM Arnericarl scholars and conservatives led a rerlaissarice in Burke studies in the 1950s as they searched his cmsading counrerrevolutionary writings to support the tenets of anricomnrunism. As O'Bricn poinced out, enlisting Burke in the anti-Cnmnrunist effort often produced distortions and abuses ixz the prcscntation of Burkek political phiiosopliy.4~~ One such distortion is that Dkrrke is relevatlt only for counterrevolrttionary purposes, which the wllapse of conltllunism atld the e d of the cold war have now drained of urgency and significance.
As Brrttotr obset-ved, "The problem niany h e r i c a t r ] foreign policy analyrs have today is that our 'French IXevolutiori probleni is over,'"g5 In the tare IC)C)Os, ""Instead uf the bri$rt distirictiorls arid clear battles to fight, we now have to face the ambiguities that B ~ ~ r understood ke so well in contexts as disparate as colonial Axrzerica, inlperiat India, and rzeighbofing Irelaxzd."4~~u~ufke's ""urzderstaxzding of the impoftancc of circ~tinstanccsin setting policy, his emphasis or1 pruderice arid 'rational, cool endeavors" aird his devotiori to pmcticality over abstraction" "make his pragrtlatism a fitti17g nrodel for Ainerican foreign-policy makitig in the era uf globatization.*"rorom this perspective, B~lrkek co~itinuedresoriarice Ac>ws t'rtirn tlze pruderitiat approach to politics he rigc)rc>t~st upheld as a niodel f i r one of the leading great powers of the eightecntll century, In his fight to temper the exereisc uf British miglkt, he advocated a poticy that meldcd self-intcrcsr, niord respon~tbitit~, arid a corlcept of common humanity, Burkek pruderitial approach to politics is partic~~iarty appropriate for the United States as the world's nrilitary* economic, and cr~iruralhegenron because i t would not only shield the United Srarcs from doginatism but also protect its f-irrc-cligizand dorncstic interests. Brirkek warning to Britair1 in Remarks OR t h P~o i i ~~ftheAlLies is strikingly gernrtane far the United States today: Among precautions against ambition, it may not be antiss ro rake one precaurion against our cn-un. 1 nlrrsr hirily say, I dread our owrz power and our own ambition; I dread our being too xnuc1-zdreaded. It is ridiculo~lscu say WC arc. rlut men; and char, as mcxz, WC shall nwer wish ro agrandize ourselves in some way or other, Can we say9that even at this very hour we are not invidiczrrsty aarandized? We are already irt possession of almost aIt the conlnterce of the world, . . . fE we sl-zould come ro bc in a condiriori x-rar onty to have all this asce~idanrin coxnmcrcc, hut to be absolutely able, without the least controul, to hold the ulmmerce of all other Marions tocalty dependmt upon our good pfeaure, tur may say that we shalt not abuse this ascunisl-zing,and hitherto uxihcard of power. But every ottlcr Nation wit1 think we shalt abuse it. Ir is impossible but that sooner or tatcr, this state of thirigs must prt~ducea conibiriation against us which may end in our ruin.498 The virtue of prudence h t h e r prevents the conduct of fbreign policy from corrupting donrestic principles and ideals. A central rherlle of our rrearrllent of Bllrkeb throry of interrzational rctatioxzs is the importance uF thc British constitutioxz and the threat to it created by Britislz imperial behavior. His csrrstant appeals to the Britisii cs~istittltiorrreflected a belief that intt-rnational relatiorrs are nor a separate branch of poI;rics but are intimarejy co~rncctcdwith afjt politics. Eaccs of this Burkeaxr xncssage caxz be fauxzd in menticthcentury tlzi~~lrers such as George Kernan, who warned against the degradation of AInericari donrestic constitutional principles throrgh corrupt and advrr~rltristichfeign policies, X n the casts of Iretatrd, Amcrica, and India, Burke was dismaycd that Britain acted as if its ~iationalprirrciplcs arid character charged the moment its s h i p left British shores. As we tlave shown, For Btxke the nation was a ""moral essence, nor a gei.oglaptlical rtrrangement'" it could XZQF change that csscncc whcxr it exercised power txyond its borders without clrdangering the domestic politic2 arid moral ordel-"This "'corrstitutional" pperspective on 61-cign policy i~en"tive to dangers ro constitutional d e r lurking in the conduct of foreip aEairs. Burkc was always vigilant about &c proper balance of power bctwecrr the Home uf C O ~ I -
mans and the Crown, and he believed, especially in the case of India, thar hreign policy pmvidcd a dangerous xncaizs for the Crown to gain the upper iiiand on the Co~~lmolzs. Thc struggidfrzemeeri the U.S. executive and legislative brartches for azritrcd over foreigr~affairs, present si~rcethe creation of the A~irericanrepubtic, echoes Btrrlce's constitutiond insight,
Bmh, Culture, and G n t e m p o r v Internationat Relations Athortgh Burke's discussion uf power-and how to bdancc it-is interesting far intertzationat relations today, it is ultirrlately a procedural. rather than a substantive issue. What is more imponant, we beljcvc, is Burke's solidarist conception of incemarional society based on ctzlrctral homogeneity. We rzeed to explore the relevance uf this ccxztral aspect of Burke's thouglrt to tlrlderstarid more Mly his contribution ta cantemporary debates. The Brirkeari perspective on iriternatiorral society heiglrens our serisitivity to the cultural landscape of international relations. Further, his conservative solidarisnr draws our attention to the Fate of traditions, ctzstoms, manners, and xnorcs arzd their importarzce ixz coritentporary irtternaticlnd affairs. ~tlucllscholarty arid popt~lardiscourse today certters on the qwstion whether etllturai heterogcneicy is a positive or negative hrce in internatiolzal relations, Some commexztarors, such as Httiztir~gto~i, have yxdicrcd thar civilizationat differences will he the focal point for future warfare in the iriter~iationalsystent.4ao Others, such as the ympolzents of "hian vatucs," insist that the uniqtterzess ofhiarz culture cxylairzs why sonre societies have enjoyed ccolzomic success without the social ills SUEfered in Western nations."l indeed, sonre critics of globalizatincl kar thar its processes are homogenizing (or Americar-rixing) crnltlrre around rbt world to Fhe detrirr~entof nonWestern cutturcs. Barber argued, far example, that: cutturat homogenization arzd renewed ethrtic tensions are occrtrring simulrarieo~sl~ in a dialectical "jiihad vel-sus iQcWorld.""s"2 If; ixz Zakaria's words, "cufture is ixZ))for thc sttldy of inter~zatiofza~ rclatlorzs, what does the Brtrkearz perspective have to add to contemporary discoursc?j0JIn lirlkirtg Burke's observations about cultural similitude to t~cia~hvvorlrf, a furldanterttat questiczrt ernerges. W ~ a poter~tial t exists for deepening solidarir;v.in an intcmationat systern characteriired by culrttral heterogeneity?This qncstiun drives to the Izeart of both Burke's tizixzking and its relevarice for contemporary international affairs. We have shown that Burke believed that international order and justice depended 0x1 the existelzce uf deep ctzltural sotidariy among sratcs and peoples, This solidarity in the ilnperiai society flowed from the British constitution arid the rofe it played in British society, at home and abroad, The conrnronwcattfi of Europe rested on the foundation of a shared potiticat, economic, legal, and religious heritage. Outside these WO co~ztexts,whatever solidarity existed bemeen Britail1 and India depertded on the concept: of natural taw3 a nrllch tess solid fowndation. Despite the massive chitnges in irxernatirrnal relatims since Burke's tinre, his focus on the rzecd for solidarlry rcnralxzs relevant. Much uf the det9atc kcmeeri solidarisin arid pluralisin in international relations thet>ryinvolves a coritinutng desire to establish international order and justice on fo~lrldationsGrrirer than what Burke called "payers and seats." This dcsirc can even t9c scc~zarilmating the thiriking uf key theorists of the English School, such as Hedley Bull, Wheeler and Duniie dernortstrated how Bull strtlggled to recoxlcile pturalisxir and solidarisnr in his own thinking.5"q~n The Annrchi;cal S o c k 3 Brtt! conduded:
'I'he future of inreanationat society is likety to he deternlined , , . by the preservation and extension of a cosmopolitan culture, ernbracing burh coxnmon ideas and coxllrnon values, and rooted in socieries in gerzerat as we11 as in their elires, that can providc the world international society of today with the kind of underpinning enjoyed by the geographically smaller and ~ ~ 1 1 turdfly ntore homogeneous irtrernariond societies of the past.505 Bltrliek emphasis on the constitrttio~lalprinciples of otre great power and the cultwai heritage uf a particular geographic regio~ztoday seem inappropriate as paradigms far cstaMistiing cosrnc>pslitarisolidarity. In contemporary internationd agairs, liberatisnt is the leading candidate h r fostering solidarisrlz among scates and peoples fhrctugh the creation of transnational liberat values. Scholars such as Doylc and Fukuyarna believe that the urzique relatiorzs liberal states enjoy with each other carry tl-te pc~teritilrito promote rnore order arid justice dornestidly arid i n t e r r t t i t Urr l ike Burlcean consewat ism, t iheral ism has rt nivers'dl potential as well, actdressing rhe need for w1iat Btdl called a "msmopotitaal ct~itt~re," m e t h e r tllreratisn~really ctlrz create dccpcr sotidarity in this culturally hcterogcrzcous world relnai~lscoritrt>versialfor many reas~:,ns,~a~ We focus here on coxlcerns raised from within rile Burkean perspective to de~ironstrateits continued retevajlce. First, the uxlique rzature of the "liberal peace" can be seen to s t c n ~from rzot only philosapkical tikcrnindedrzess but alsc:, cultural similitude. Est-ablislsed liberal states are, by arid large, coclnectcd clirectty ro tile ct~ltrrralh e r i t w Burke identified as thp core of the comrnonwealth of Europc. The special nartlre of interlibcral state retarions is, therefore, rzat solely the product of ct~lturallyflcterogerieaus riations2ecficating themselves to abstract propo"tions concerning democracy, rile rule ot' taw econollzic interdependence, and human rights. Guttttrat similitude stiIf hctors strongly into the syceiat, ptacc libcralisrn holds in coritemporary international affairs. Second, the resurgerice of interest in culture as a Fdccor in international relations reveats great friction ixz the don~inanceof Liberal values and interests in irztcrnatiunrzt institutions, Soine of this reseritntent represents suspicion and opposition to liberal institutions arid values in non-Western socierics,5"N But the friction also reflects fear about tibcralismi patential to transhrm traditional ctzltrtres in the in~ageof VVCsterrz societies.5~)9Part of tlle anigst over the prominerice of liberalism is driven by liberal stateshse of ir~terrlatioriallaw and institutions as instmments of tiberal solidarism. Embedding &c liberal objectives of d~rnocracy~ the rt~leof law, free trade, and h u n ~ a nrights ixzto international law and the dyriainics of interrlatiorial institutions chariges the instrurnerits of pluralistic ratiorialism into potential weapons of revolutio~iarysolidarism, Finally, Burke"sonccptiun of ittterrzational society erzcourages us to question the substantive reality of any errtergirlg liberal cosnrtclpolitan culture. Liberal coricepts such as democracy, capitalistn, the r d e of law, atid hnmac! rights often find sllallofnr e x p ~ s i o nin rzanlibcral cuttures, suggesting that liberal ""solidarity" is iszut so deep, In $act, it can appear rernarkahly t'ragile. Commentators have used terrns such as "pseudo-capitalism"" a i d "lowintensity derrzocracy"" to describe the thin liberal veneer apptied in Iirany #Ionliberalcuttures,slo fn addition, it is clear that liberal values are riot pentetrati~lgat equal speeds. Narket reforms ofcext occur r e a d y , whereas political reforlns lag far behind, reinforcing existing problems within the society in question. indeed, the advocates of ""Asian values'" maintained that Asian countries could t9c capitalistic wirtlout the political or social aspects
of liberali~itl,~" Seen through a Btlrkean lens, today's vision of deeper sdidarity though tiberalisrn remairzs at tlcst a dist-ant drearn. As a cultural mattel; intertzationat sociey is currently lumpy; it has pockets of deep homogeneity atnid ge~ieralheterngeneiy Fronr the Burkean perspective, the ""liberal peace" thesis rerzzains cutrurally bounded, as wcrc Burkc.5 concepts of the imycrid society and the cornrnonwealth of Europe. In nzany ways the special riature of the relatiorls arnortg liberal states rests on cultural. solidariyconrnron politicat, econonric, legat, religious, and socia) values and practices, To paraphrase Brtrke, wficrz a cltizciz uF a tibcral state travels ur resides for iizealttz, ple;rsurc, business, or rlecessity within ariy country wirllirz the liberal alliance, he or she never feels quite abroad, The lirllieed scope of Bttrkealt soiidaristll better explains the "iiheral peace" than does the cosmopolitan ambitio~zof liberal solidarism. Therc is perhaps no mare string example of this than the European Union, the modern-day expressiorz of sc:, much of what Burke fcturld important about the comrrtclnwealth of Europe. As with the commorzwealth of Europe, the pillars of the European Union are shared concepts of political legitimacy; xn~lt~tat scctzri~calzcenzs, comnzalz culture, ecolzomic ixztcrcoursc, and geographical proximity* Althotrgli the shared view o f political legirimacy has changed dranrtatically sirtce Burke's day, Bwrrkcan sotidarisrn can help explai~zthe extraordinary stattls the Euroh~ea~z Union has in ixztcrnrztiunal relations, Two paticular aspects of the liberal agenda reirlforce Bmliean skepticism abotlt the potential of liberalism to fbster deeper solidarity in irzrer~lationalrelations: Iluman rights and ecolzarnic ixztcrdcpcrzderzcc. The liberal attachnzent to iiiunzatz riglzts continues to create cultural terlstorl in internaticlnd society. Hurrtarl riglirs enthedded in international law are proclaimed to be universal, but nrany countries alzd conrnrerieators continue to reject the universality of "WcsterrT"' conceptions uf human rights in the namc of cutturat retativism.5" 2 AsVincent argued, " [ w h a t the doctrine ofculturai relativity allows in practice is a surrender to what John Stuarr Mill called the %espocisnz of custom,""""" Burke's attacks on Hastings~cographicalmorality ixzdiatc that he rejected cultt~ralrclativisin in favor of a uriiversal sense of justice that gc:,vernments (and norzstate actors) csttld not vislate in their policies. BurkeS use of natural law to a f i m the tegicitnacy of Tndiar ct~lture skantd not kc stretched to claim that he placed Xr1di;flz goverIznicxzts beyond the pale uF criticism for the treatmerit of rlicir subjects. Characteristically, Burke found naturd law reflected in the specific religious and political laws that developed in Tnbia. As he stated in Speech on Opening ofI~zpenchment,hc "wroutd as willingly iiiave him [Hastings] tried up011 the Law of the Kc~ran,or the Irtstitutes of Tamerlane, as tlport the C~ntinortLaw or the Statute Law of this Kingc(onr,'"M Today's ctzkural relativist critics of irlte~~zatiotzal huniatz rights law oftclz use cultttrc to shield the arbitrary, unrestrairzed application uf gavenzxncrzt pc~werfuom tra~isnationalscrt~tin)i~'i This is a practice that Burkean thinking does not support. 2 we have s h m n , Bttrke's weak: sense of sovereignty and belief that states hrmed part of a grcatcr "rzleghborhood""provide sufficient grourzd on which to challenge a governnterit for mistreating its citizeris. He in fact argued that states car1 irtterverle t(7 ""rtffctrd srrccour to the miserable Sufferers" who live ilnder "atrocious and bloody cpranny.'"l" Burke's appeal to natural law does riot, lzowever, rnean his thinking tlplzolds universajism in coritentporary huntari rights. Burke's interest in cortcrete circuinstances and lzis respect fir Eim nat~lraflaw is differently reflected in diverse cnlntres raise questions far the universal aspiratiolzs uf today's kumaxz riglzts discourse. Thc protection of humatz rights
becanre at] issue in international law after Wortd War TT because states canre to believe that. a governmexzt's treatnlent of its citi'~(lr~zs was a nlatter of coizcerrz for ix~tcr~zatiai~af pcacc arid order. Burkek soppositiorz to the Frerrcli Revoiutiotz was based on the belief that the tyrannical behavior of the facohins theatened international peace and security Like contemporary P"-0po£l€"tSof hunlan rights law3he drew a connectiorz bctlivccn the donlestic arid the interrrational. But central tc3 Bt~rke'sreactiotz to the F ~ n c Rew>lutit>tz l~ was his concept of the commonwealti1 of Etlrope, an entiry t11at was culntrally specific. TB ad&tion, his opposition to the French RevoIutiun was based rzat on how the Jacokins were ~nistrearingthe French "people" but rather on the Jacobiri ttxeat to monarchy, religion, and properv-the pillars of national and international order, His ideas on pernzeable sovereignty and intervcxztiolz stcinmed from a deeper coizfideizcc in a definable set uf coinInon valr~esand practices arnong Eurclpean states. In the French context, "[hjis Intervrntion is in the rlaute of tegitintisut rather than progressivism,"^sl' Burkc's view thus does not champion an energetic doctrine of hltrnarritarian intervention. Burkck conservative solidarisrn is interesting today givclz the controversies surronndixzg tlze pt~rlisizmerltof ir-rdividualsurtder internariorzal law for violating htrntart rights. The detention and extradirion proceedings aginst former CI-ti)eatldictator Augtrsco Pinoclhet iiz 1938.--1933Brought this issue to promixzencc. Marzy ixzciudirzg rzongovertzmerztal organizatiorls srlcll as Amrtesty fnternatiorial and Humari Rigfits Watch, have urged that Pinochcir be exwadired aird punisited h r the human rights viotations committed ttnder his regime in Ghilc. This position stands firmly on the unive~satismof hunlan rights, parricularly the corrcept of uiiiversal jurisdiction of perpetratc3rs of huntart rights abuses.5" 0 t h ers, such as Bolton, believe &at those seeking to prosecute persons accused ofviolaring internatialzat human rights rzurxns have irz tiiieir ""utopia11zeal" last sight of the political Perhaps revealirtg his Burkean s ppathies, Bolton has argued context of sr,lch violati~ns,~Vj char "[nleitkr the 'one size fits all" prosecutorid scrrtteg$ nor a rtnihrnr preferace for amnesty. or soinc xzon-juridical altcrrzative in every casc, worlld be justit-zrabte. Gircrtmstarlces differ, and circumstartces marter."^s~* Two cases horn Burkc's writings a~zdspeeches are particularly instrr~ctivein this context: (1) his coinmexzts on the appropriate harzdiixzg of pwsolzs associated with the rewlutionary atrociries in France and (2) his belief, expressed in tlze Hastirigs impeachntent, that individuals are accoilntable h r comrtlitting atrocities.i21 lrz the case of prinishing the Frerzch revututiunaries, Burke's forernosr concern was the restorarian of the arzcicrz rdgi~ncarzd the returti of France to its rigl~tfulplace in the c~)rnm~>rtwedtlz of Europe and Europearl bdance at- power. Qncc the recovery of Francc was complete, retribution could kc PCI~SLE& but ixz a very particular way. Burkt: first disclaimed "the interference of foreign powers in a business that properly beloxlgs to the Gover~inrentwhich W have declared lega1.'"22 Later "n remarked that "Lam rzat for a tocat indein~ziry,xzur a gencrd puizishmexzt'hand proceeded to arzalyzc tlze corttexts in whicli arnilestry sltonld be grartted or punishmerrt warranted.52-j He charast.et.ist.icatlysirzgled out 6 s punishmetrt irrdividrtafs guilty of regicide atrd desrrmction of properry. arzd religion akcr the conduct of fair trials.5zqurke contbtned the rleed for both social stabiliry and jt~stice,hut with a clear emplzasis on restoratic>nof order. fa colrnection with his pursuit of Hasrings, Bwke's oven-iding goal was to hold the East Xrzdia Coinpany and its offickats accorlntable far their atrocities in Xndia. Even thougli he
knew from the earliest days of his campaign that I-fastingswodd be acquitted, Burke conceived OF his task less as prtizishmerzt than ixzstruction fix posterity. In this casc Burke serves as an ally for those w l ~ obelieve the task of exyosirzg atrocities and calling people into account for them has vdue whether or not the wrongdoers are ever actually punished, Burke's thinking in these m o cases re~~zirzds US OF the searcfz to kalarzce doxnestic ordcr and justice througll truth and recoriciliation processes that marly corttitries have undertaken during transitiotrs fronr dictatorships to democracies. Alrhougll many human rights activists dislike these pmcesses t9ceausc pcrpctrators of atrocities somctiincs escape punisfintent, Burke's emphasis or1 order and stability as a prilnary objective sklpports these attempa to balarzce order and justice and to expose accountabiliry h r evil acts. 'The decisiocl to punish should, uizder the Burkcan vicw, bbc tcft in the haxzds of the legitinlate goverxzntertt arid sl~ouldnot be the brrsirless of orher countries. Taking all these observations on Dmlre's solidarism into accorrnt, the challenge with internatio~zalhrrman rights law is that it is a ctrtruraXIy inspired project on a global rather than rcgiond scale. As suck, it confronts deep ctzlrural heterogeneity around the world. From the Burkean perspective, the extensive use of internationaj taw to prescribe human rights represems lots of "papers and seals" absent the all-important "robfigations written in the heart," The weakness OF contenlporary interrzational iiiumarz rights taw is not a fuxzction of we& institutions (e.g., ricn adequate enforcement mechanisnts) but of cultr~raldissollance. As a result, &is body of taw does not yet signal growing cosmopolitan solidalicy anlolzg sratcs or pcoptes. The secortd aspect of the liberal agertda for cosmopolirari solidariy-ecc1ric31nic interdependence-trigcrs Btlrkean concerns as well. With the end of the cotd wal; internationd ecolzamic and cammcrclat iss~~es acetzpy. a xnorc pro~nincxztplace in interxzatiol~al relations, The failure of ct>ntmunistnas ari ecor~cnmictheory and a political systent has precipitated the giohal ascendance of liherai, economic thinking, both within states and in internatiorzal taw and organizatior-ts.515A driving force behind the globalization of markets is liberal. and rteotibcral econorrric thortdzt and policy, reflected in s~lctiirzstittltiol~sas the World Trade Organization, World Bank, and llrtternational 1Glorzecary Fund, The growing titcratrtre and controversy about globalizttiorz reveals thc discqitict at9out this rise of iibcral thinking, attl~orlgbglobalization is much more than an econonric phenonrrnon, the globalizacion of markers for goods, services, and capital has m p t w d the lionh share of attention in current analyses. h Walkcr and Fox argued, ""TIC key feature wkictz U I Z ~ C P ~ ~the CS coricept of globalization . . . is the erosioii and irrelevarlce of national boundaries in ntarkets which can trdy be described as global,'"2" Burke's rlante does not iristaritty come to mind in the globalization debate. After all, the of the era of glokalization, with tile growing influerice of new inhistorical circ~~mstarices fornration technologies arzd new "wrritories"' of conrpetition in cyherspacc, seem far rexnoved from ci$itccrzth-century Europe. Brtrke's thixzking, however, is surprisilzgly helpful in understanding tile ctisco~trsrabout the globalizatinn of mafkets. His weak conceptir-rn of sovereignty is a handy reference fbt. tilose who exF)ress concern about globali~~lion's corrosive effect on statehood, As rzated ixz Chapter 3,Burke conceived of the state and sovereign~ as less than absczlt~teand pernrteable to aft kinds of political, econorrric, and inoral influences, I-fe collstantty renrinded his audiences of tile interdependen*lf between &c doxncstic arzd intcrnationd, wfiicb is a ).ccy theme in globalization litemrure.
Then, too, Duke's pragmatic rattler than ideologiGat support for free trade connects with xnoder~zcornplaints about the ideotugicat impositiorz of liberal ecolzomics un states arld within internatioiid regimes.527 Mayrles wrote, fir example, that the "fundatnentai truth'" that open ecanonzies yerfol-rtz better than closed ecorronries. ""was transformed durixzg the 1330s into an ixzcrer;lsingty rigid i d e o t o ~that kptinded otherwise ixztelligerzt people to solne of tfre inherent shortct>mingsof a free market."%B In Burkc-like langtrage, ~tlaynes suggested that "[clhe new [liber4 orthodoxy's command of economics was better than its conznzand of patitics; [ar~d]it overestimated the power of logic while urzdercstirnatirzg the power of psycht,loo.""52Vurkek writirlgs ancl speeches on her trade teach us ahotrt the need for prudence and scrrsieivity to context when applying ecoxloxrzis tt1eor)z;43Whovcall, his approach frowns upon thc pencharzt to prcscribc akpstract liberal ecolzarnic theory as the cure-all far every riatioiial arzd gk~balecorzornic problern. Third, Burkehiews on free trade and ntarltet: ecoriontics coritained a social elernerit that speaks to ctlrrent angst about glohaiization, The "'marker" f;tr Burke was nor nzerely a place to exeharzgc goods arzd rcsanrces; it was the very sttlff of social relations, Throngh ecorzomic behavior people exercised their liberty and fctr~nedthe ""little platoons" that provided a buffer hemeen the state and the individual. A siitlilar conceptim of rhe market pwrncates his intcrrzationai thixzkilzg. In keeping with his pragmatic approach to econurnics, Brirke saw trade as an ir~strurneritof social cohesiorz witllirl and across borders. For example, central to Rt~rke'ssupport for liberalized trade with Irelarrd arid America was his bclicf that commerce would serve the greater causc of reinforcing bonds among the peoples within the irrlperial society Bnrkek ideas are therefore relevant to c01icer11s that the giobalization of nzarkts is weakening social relations within and among natioris, fncreasing aggregate world wcatth throtlgh free trade and the globalization of markcts wilt ultimately prove sterile or daiigerons if the scxiat aspects of such economic activities are ignored. Firrally, Bttrke"sfforrs olz lridia denzolzstrate that he posscsscd moral scrzsibility ixz conriectiorz wirlz. ecorzornic intercourse ainorig peoples of different cult~lres.His writings on fadia wudd make relevant reading for those struggling with the fare of developing coilntries, Atiiiangh Burkc ackrzawtcdged that trade and carnrncrce tralzslate into power, he also knew that economicaily p(~werf~tl states ran the risk of abrlsiiig their power throtlgh either kar or arrogance. Rurke's writings on America and fretand are gcrr-tzane for those who view intertzational ecolzomic discourse, particutarly anzolzg ixzdustrializcd dcmocracies, as a zero-stmr game, WitL~ina continmiity of lib-minded states, economic power fluctuates, Brit die point often overlooked is that the fluetnations benefit at1 memiters of lfle commt;tniry ixz the ling run provided that other bascs uf social cohcsian rcrnain stralzg. As Brirke understood, to look beyond slrort-term trerids in ecoriorrtic relatioiis takes historical perspecrive and oficrr enl igh terred set Cinteresr. Ar~uthcraspect of moral responsibility in Burke's economic thinking ariscs when the strorzg i~lteractwttlz. the weak in a context of cultural differerice. Burke's writings on India send the nressage that nraterial inequality anroxlg peoples does nor tra~lslateinto morak ixzeqnaliry; Even thou& Irzdia was uutsidc the ixnperial society arzd the commonwealth of Europe, he strug&d to erisrlre that economic relations between Britain a d fnrfia retained nroral sensitivity Suweying the posr+old war ""bourgeois triunrptlalism," AAl~zrond wrotc:
Burke surety tvo~ildhave considered the subordination of all policy to rl~eselfish interests of individuals as nor just shorr-sigzred ixr the cxrrcsne, bur as the derrial a f rhe proper rdlt of sraresman and xnercharrr. The ir-rrerpenerrarion a f dlires, post-cosnmurrisr and post-Burkean, across the northern hemisphere is not prodt~cirlgthe ~$1-ordered socieqr and econtlmy advocated by Rurlce.531 Burke's reSpeCt f i r the Indian peoples, culture, arzd society srands as a warrling against affltlcrrce-irzspised arrogance and hubris in the dynarnics of the global economic system. This message is much needed in a time when the d e v h p i n g wortd is being transformed from a battleground in a strategic arzd ideological struggle into a new playing field h r the rich arzd powerft~lirr the searctz for global ccononric competitive advalztagc, Brlrke? wrath against Warren Hastings and the East India Company shotrid also inform t l ~ ebehavior of individ~lalsand private companies in tl-re condtlct of gk)bai busirress. Burke set out to expax not only oflicial Britid1 paticy but also the imnroml artiviries of nonstate actors. He was dctcrnrirzed to scc the East Xndia Campany held yuMicly accountable for i e actions, "The exposwe by nongovesrrmental organimtions that Western nrultinatinnai corporations (MNGs) are eirgaging in various forms of econonzic c-xploitacion and erlvironnzental dcgradatioiz in duetoying ccjuntries echoes Burke"sirelesss camyalgrz ag~ixzstthe rapdcious acts of she servarlts of the East fsldta Cornparty and attempts to hr~ldthem accorttitaMe, In addition, Btrrke's involvenrent with India draws attention to the issue of govemnrental complicity axzd corrrtptiolz in dlowing such at9~tsato occur arzd contixzuc, His a l l for British t9chavior in India to be infornted riot only by Britisll law but also the spirit of British principles of fairness and justice trarlsccnds the Gontexl ofthe eighteenth c e n t u y It speaks to personal, corporate, arrd governmcntai colzduct in the era of globdi.mtiolz. Burkearl skcpticism about the potential of liberalism to build deeper solidarity in international relatio~zsalso contailzs the nrore gcrreral posicion that deeper solictariey in a ctrlturalty iiictcrogclzeous world is arz ill~lsorygoal. This doubt can be read as a virtue and a vice in csrznection with csrztetnporasy irrter~iatirtiialaffairs. The virtue is that it produces taterancc ofcutnlrat differences among srates in the internationat ystcnr. Burke's strt~ggle to reform British imperial policy in Ireland, America, and India was largely about getting the British gt)verrtment to respect diversity, whetl~erin the forrn of tile htericart riatior~al character, Irish Cathoficism, or traditional Xndiatr culture, The vicc is that for nrany scholars ixz the interrrational socict)i traditiolz it Fails to provide a sufficient rnoral vision for irrternatior~alsczciery,rjt For tt-tose within tt-tis tradition who are disilt~~siox-ted with pluralisrrr and arc seeking to advance sotidarisnr globatly? Bttrkc's pcrspcctive sccrns to offer lirtle hcly. IF ctzlrural fncterogcrrcity continues to throw internatior~alsociety back toward pluralisin, then the ntcrral coritrikutior~of the society of states to both international order arzd jtlstice nray be uxlderrrrined in the long run. Irzdeed, for modcrrr-day interlzatiorzal rclatiorzs scholars, Bttrkc's conccption of interlzatiorzal society provides a weak faundatiorl for plurdisnt; any rrtles of coexistence bemeen culturally heterogeneous stares simply reflect &c temporary convergence of selfish irrrt-reas or the vqttHencts of natural law. How difkrcrrt, it m;ly t9c asked, is this conception franr thc weakest farms of rationdisin or even realism? The inrporcance of Burkeac! skepticism about the poteirrial for cosmopolitan solidarity is not, however, dirnixzishcd because it moves ag~instthe nor~~lative trends in the illtcrl~ati~nal
society tradition. X>bate, the search Cbr cosmopolitan solidarirfr has not proved v e q successhl practially or theoretically. X11 Fact, arr interesting feature of recent writing in &c ixzternational strciey tradition serves to tlfrdersc~rethe csntiriuing power of the Burkeair view. Within "critical international society theary,'hrhe presswe for cosrtlopolirafr sotidar-ism coi~resnot fmm starcs hut from civil society n~obilizccitransxzationrzily.53-S As m c d c r and Duiine observed, "The lirnitatioirs of gc3verrzments as agents of huntaniy lead critics of tile sociery of states to invest heir hopes in non-gowrnmenenI agcncies a i d the conscience of wartd public opinion.'"54 This position reflects a rejcctioil of the distinction t9cmcen dothat was already furidarnentd ttc) Burkce's thinkrnestic arid i n t e r ~ i a t i o ~p~~dl i t i a something , ing,"5 Nonetheless, there is no guaralltee that the developnrent of giobal society will be any less ""clirist'\t-han the ctzrrent socicrcf,of spates. 1x1 Bt~rke"?;in~cit was less sigxzificant that thosc who erijoyed the beriefits of transirationdism belonged to a sntdl sliver of the Eurclpea~rpopulatiori. For todayt;u;critical internationat society tl-teorists, ht>wever,an elitist: glcrbd civil society falls far shorc of the kind of cosmopolitan solidariv they seek. Froin a Burkean pc~-spxtivc,what may bc more signifimnt tharr either states or nongovernmental organizations pusiring solidaristic prc~jectsis tlre crtlrurd hontclgenizarion being fostered below rhe state by the processes of globalization, especially in the ecoirctmic context. As we noted earlier, globalization is accctertlting the blurring of tllc dorncstic and tire internaticlnd and may be h~steringa globaiized culture by allclwing Western ways of lift. to pencstz-ate deeply into non-Westrrn societies. Because private as welt as puhtic forces drive gtokalization, its cultural rainifictltions have t9ccn prot1rixzcxzt. "The diicrnina that ernerged right across tlre worid," wrote Murden, "was the extent to which erigagi~igwith the world nrar-ket econanry threatened existirrg patterns of cdnlre a i d social order.'"i"" Witf glnbaii.~ariorrlay the groilndwork for the deep, transcutnrral solifixism that states arid nr,ngovernmentd organizations have fctllrrd so dificult to create? Btrrke's tfiiszkirig on cutcure sugcsrs a negative atrswer to this question. A l t h o ~ ~ gBurke h stressed the sociatl context of economic activity, his s e n s i t i v i ~to cultt~ratdiffc~e~zces ixz conrzectian with ecoriontic intercourse suggests that he saw limits to tlre ""cornmuniy-buiIdi1ig3' potential of conrnrerce. To produce "obligations wricteri 0x1 the tlearr'hn a truly globat scale will require more thalz inculcatirzg non-Western peoptcs with consumerism. Cultural solidarity for Burke involved a, complex set of historicrtl, political, legat, ecoriomic, ntclrat, arid retigiorts bctors &at globalimtion by itself cannot replicate. Mare imporrant for Bu~ke'stheory are colzservative concerns about the culture-destroying poteirtid of globdization. h we have shown, Brtrlce mairitained that tile Britisis had mord responsihiliry in their encoullters with a poorer, less technotogically powerful peopte that cncornpasscd both respectixrg wl~atexisted in India and addirlg to its cuttrtrd stock t h r o q h peaceful contnterciatl i~itercoursewith Britain. Burkek rkretorical questic~risin Speech on Ndbnh 8Ji4rcob:c& b ~ ,about British behavior in fndia, remain iniporrant as:we consider the cffccts of chc process= of dokali'~=atioxz olz dewlopixzg countries today: What are thc articlcs OF coxllrnerce, ar tfic brariches of manufaccnrc ivhicf~those gerirlemen [of the East India Company] have carried hes-rce to enrich fx-rdia?Mrar are the sciences they hemed out to enlighten it? VVhat are the arts they Intrtzduccd to ches and adczrn it? What are the religious, what rhe moral insriturions rl~eyhave rarrghf anlong that people as a guide to life, ar as a consotatian when life is ta be ria more . . . ?F'7
Wiether the processes of globalization enrich, enlighten, clleer, adorn, teach, or console teaditiollal ctzltttrcs in the devetopixzg world renlains very mud1 oyclz to dct9ate. m e t h e r globalization helputraisforrn the '"papers and seais" bketweeri states irlto '2otlligatioiis written in the heal-rs'hof culturally herera~;cneortspeoples constitutes one of the great but erzignlatic questions Ear the xzew millennirtm.
Conclusion
Looking back into the wisitorn of history arid the thinking of Bmlie may not, in the erid, help its meet fircure challenges tllat await stares and peoples. So nlilcfl of what is shaping the wortd coday was rzat forcsccrz cven fifteen years ago, lct alone ixz the cc91litext of Burke's age. Burkc himself recagniwd the h i t s of history as a guide for future action. Reflecting on the Frericfl Revoiutic>n,he wrote: But these things history and bor~ksof specu1atic)n . . . ctid nor teach nien to foresee, and of course to resist. NOWthat they are no longer a niattcr of sqacity, It would be t~njrxstifiahteto go hack to the records of ofher rimes, to irtstrtxcr us to nlanage what they never enabled rrs to foresee.558
Tlzese cautial~arysentiments about kistorfs wisdorn can also apply to how we usc Burke in the future. Burke erzdeavored in "other times" tto improve enlpire and tluild comrn~lniry~ arid we car1 learn ntt~chfront his thinking, wlzictl remains highly relevant to this day. But he would haw been the first to chastise chase who coxlf~~se his theoretical and historical relevance for sut9starztivc yoIicy ixz the world of current circurnsta~zces,Such coizJFUsion, he ntight have observed, wcluid riot be pr~tdent.
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PART T W O
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CHAPTER FIVE
IntrodtuctorfrNote to Tar0 I;eters on the Eade cfIekdnd (1778)
Burke sent Two Letters on the Trade of Trcla~ldtu merchana in his Bristol cunstitztenq to npzswer concerns nbout his s q port irz Parliarne~tf ; l limited meaures t27 liberdlize Irish trade. These measgres were propod nfier B1*ltain hdd szkfered setbdck irk the war in the Amcrietzn culunles, izclzidi ~ thet w~zr ~ on the ing the egty uf Fr~z~lce side of the Americnl-U,Bgrke ased the American crjsis to point otlt thdt iiberdlizi~g trade was n small, inromplete step @ w a d healing the relatkvas betureen Britnin and '?hose~ Q T L .S . . whiCk) are stiII Mntent to be go~errzedhpl our rounciLs,'"Burke toid irzs carzstitzdents thnt the 'kvih" thnt nrme fiom the Americda policy MRUMhe a a n ~ d t e dby the rdecti~nnJld?eIrish tr~znlemuinsrlres, As the Awzericr;~l-zcrists destroyed Brlde; vi;sLol.z of the crdnsatr%lnticim~erialso&& his sapport of the Irish tnzde measurn resglted in pdrt fiorrz hts desire to pTaerve what remai~eclofthe imperial sociep Althoggh the rt.voLarion in America weigh& ht.izzii4 on Bzlrkei mind in reldtion to the Irish trdde measzares, Two Letters on the Trade of freland d i n mrztdined h r k r i strong 6elr;efin the ben&ts ofinperidlfiee trade.
As cldn be sensedfiom the d4ensi~epos~i re c?f&esr two htters, Burkei attachment to t h ~ presurvgtion ofthe Britjfjl i ~ ~ p e r i~ucieq nl arzd his beIi4irtfiee tr& wit hi^ sgch sociep did lzut win him many fiiejkzd in BristoL. r iris setzt in Bristol in dre ekction of Ilcgrke h 1780, nl-zd he nt~ibutedh&p w b h with his constit~snal.o h;is eforts on behdfoffiee trade whh Irekand arzd reIieJ? uf Irish Cdthoiics. h QOilea commented "Heput fie6 ~ d pl-k.rzc+/es, e irt rebtion to trde betweerz I r e h d nrkd Bitlzin, &he& 4&rcper.cleived i~zte~ests of his most pou/e$dl constit~cnts.""" Burke cor(rclgdedthe Jrst oftbe two lettern wit/] his creed ghat the elecl-ed hader '@enksthe hl-zgu-rtgeoftrgth rind 3%ce-ip; and thdt hc is rzut ready to take zp or inzy &wpl m ge~ztpnlz'tic~-zl ystemfir the mvtmierrce ofthe hoktr; t h t he G ipz pdrkidrraent cn sappo~"~ his qizi,,n ofth~pgblicg o d nnd does wnt@rm lris opininn ir(" order to get into parlinme~t,or to continge irc it. "
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IC01lc rnol1c11 after he wrote Iiuu Letters on the 7kde ofIrehnd Btn-kr:vigorously srtppolted mesrtres to relax the 13enal 1,atvs ~ a i n s Irish r Cbdrolics, mensures rhar became rhe Cdt)tt?li~ Reliefhr of 1778. See Burke's discussion of iris c&>rts on bcMfof Iris11 fret trade and ttic Irish Gatholi~sin his l780 Spe~chat Bristui l~r~z~ious to the Election, KfSEB, iii,620464. ZO'Brien, jlht f i r ~ g rMcIod3 71.
First Letter
Sir,
f arn lzsnoured with your letter of the 13th, in answer to nr ine, which acconrgarried the resof~ttio~rs of the Housc relative to the trade of Ireland.
The fault I find in the scheme is,-that it falls exrret-rrely stlort of that liberatity in the commercial system, which, I trust, will one day he adopted. If f lrad not considered the present resolutions, nrerely as prqwat<9ry to bater things, and as a rnearis of sizewing e~perimeritatl~, that justice to others is 11ot always fidly to oursetvcs, X should have contented mysetf wirh receiving them in a cold and silent acquiescence. Separately considered, they are matrcrs of xro very great ixnporrarrcc. But they airn, however tmperfcctty, at: a rigfit principle, I subnrie to the restrairzt to appcasqrcjudice: I accept tlic enlargernenr, so far as it gc>es,as the result of reason atrd of sound policy. We carnot be irrscnsiblc of rhc calamities which have beer1 brougirt u p i n this 11ation by an obstinate adherence to narrow and restrictive plans of governmelrt. I confess, f cannot: prevail or1 myself to takc thenr up, precisely at a time, when the most decisive cxperiencc has taught the rest of the world to fay them down. The propositions in question did not originate from me, or horn my particrtlar fricrrds.
But wlzerl things are so right in themselves, I ho'td it nry duty, not to enquire from what hands they come. X opposed tlic America11 measures upon the very same principle on which II support those that relate to Ireland, X was co~rvi~~ced, that the evils which have arise11 frt>mnthe adoption of the f'ornrer, wouiid he ififinitefy aggravated by. the rejection of the latter. Perhaps Geritleineir are not yet fully aware of the situation oftheir country*and what its exigencies absolutely require, X firld that we are still disposed to talk at our ease, and as if all things were to be regulated by our good pleasure. I should consider it as a farat ,,yntptont, if, in ortr present distressed and advcrse circunrsrances, we shorlld persist in the errors wfiich arc natural onty to prosperity; One cannot indeed suff"1cienrly ta~zrenrthe continuatrce of that spirit of delusion, by which, for a long time past, we have tlzougirt fit to nreasure our necessities by our inctjnatians, Moderation, pruderrcc, and cq~tity? are far more srlitahle to our conditions, than lof-iiness, and confidence, and rigotlr, We arc threatened by clrenries of na small magnitude, mflonr, if we think fir, we rnay despise, as we have despised others; but they arc errcmies who car1 o~rlyccasc to t9c truly formidable, by our elrteftaining a dui. respect f i r their power, Otrr danger will not be lcsscxred by our shutting orlr eyes to it; nor will our farce abroad be encreased by rendering ourselves feeble, and divided at home. There is a dreadful sclzisut in the British nacion. Since W are 11otable to reunite the empire, it is our bttsirress to give all possible vigorlr and sourldness to those parrs of it which are stifi content to he governed by our conrrcils. Sir, it is proper to inforxn yorr, that orrr nreasrlres mwst be healfing. Such a degree ofso-ength must be communicated to all the xncrnbers of tile state, as
nray enable then3 to defend thenrselves, and to co-operate in the dcfencc of the whsfe. Their teinper too must he magiaged, and their good dfeccions cnltivated. They nzay then bc disposed to L9car the load with ct-zearfulrtess,as a contribution towards what rrray be catied with truth and pmpriety arzd xzot by an empty form of words, a common cause. Tc30 little dependence canrtlot be had, at this tinre of day, on xzarncs and prejudices. The eyes of ntarlkind are opened; artd contmuriities nttlst be held together by ari evident and solid interest. God forbid, that our conduct sfio~llddc~~zox~strate to the world, that Great Britain can, in rto irlstartce whatsoever, be brottgtx to a sense of ratioxzat and equirable policy, but L9y coercion and force of arms! X wish you to recoflect, with what powers of colzccssion, relatively to commerce, as wetl as to Icgislatisrz, his M;tjesry's Cornnrissioners to the United Colonies have saitcd fro~zzErzgland withirz this wcek.3 m e t h e r these powers arc sufficient for their purposes, it is not now nry business to examine. But wc ail know, that our resolutions in favour of Ireland are triflirlg and insignificant, when coxrrpared with the colzcessions to the Amcricaxzs. At s~lch a juncture, f would implore every mail, who frcairzs tire least spark of regard to the yet renzairring honour arzd security of this country, not to contpel others to ari irnitation of their conduct; or by pasion and violencc, to fircc thenz to seek in the tcrritories of the separation, that freedsnt, arid those advantages, which they are nor to look for whilst they rcnzaln undcr the wirtgs af their a~lcientg(3vernmenr. "I"ar1iamrnr aucbori~kdKing f;ct>rge 111 in March
1778 tct appoint commissioners to negotiate wirh the Arrreri~ans.The cornrnissiorlerssailed L.;r tlre colorlies in April 1 778,
After all, what are the rnatters we dispute with so nzuch warnzth? Do we io tficsc rcsolutioxzs best~wany thing upoxz frelarid? Not: a shittirrg, We only conserit to Leave to them, in two or three iostanccs, the use of thc xzaturat 6actzlrics which God has given tc3 tlzern, and to aft mallkind. Is Xrefand united to the crown of Great Britain far xzo other purpose, thalz that we slzotrld corrriteract the borrrtty- of P r ~ v i dence in her bvour? Aud in proportion as that L3ounty has been liberat, that wc arc to is to be ntet with regard ir as ari evil, mf~icl~ in every sort of corrective? To say that Ireland ixztcrfcres with LE,and therefore rmtst be checked, is, in my opiniorz, a very mistaken, and a very da~lgerousprinciple. X must beg leave to rcpcat, wfiat I took the b e r r y of suggesting to you in my last letter, that Xretand is a countr)l; in the sanze climate, and of the same xzaturat qualities arid productions, with this; and has corisequmdy no orher means of growing wealthy ixz herself, or, in other words, of being usefrl to us, hut by doing tlre very sanre tfrings which we do, I"or the same purposes. I hope that in Great Brirain we shall always pursue, withotrt: exception, ever- nzeans of prosperity; ard of course, that Xrcland wiII inrcrkre with US in sometlzirtg or other; fix either, in order tc:, iirnit her, we must res~rtzinottrselves, or we frrust 6atl into that shocking cond~tsian,that we are to keep our yet remaining dependericy, under a getlerat and iodiscrirrrinatc restrairzt, for the nzerc purpose of apprcssion. Indeed, Sir, England arid Irelartd may Rourish togelher, The world is large cxzaugh for us both, Let it kc our care, rzot tc3 make orlrselves too little for it. X know it is said, that the peopte of Ireland do xzot pay the sanze taxes, and therefore ought not in equity to erijo~ythe same benefits with this, X had hopes, that the ~tizhappyphalztonz of a compulsory eqzddi
tnxn$i.l;olahad haunted us long errough. I do assrlrc you, that ufltif it is exrtirely tltznislied from our irnaginatisrrs, . . . we shall tievcr cease to do ourselves the nrost substantial ixzjuries. To that argumelrt of equal taxation, I car1 orily say,-that Irelarld pays as Irrany taxes, as those who are the best judges of tier powers, arc of opixrioxr she car1 bear. Tb bear ntore she ntust have more ability; and in the order of nature, the advantage xnust precede the charge, This disposition of tflirigs, being the law of God, rteither yort not: f can alter it. So tlzat if p u will have more help fronr Ireland, you must p~ezthushsupply lzcr with xnorc means. I believe it will be fot~nd,that if men are suffered fieety to ctlttivate their rzatrtral advantages, a virtuat equality. of contribution will come in its owrt tirne, and will Now by an easy descent, throt.lgb its own proper and xzarural cllanxrcts. An attempt to disturb that course, artd to force rratklre, will only bring on ~tniversal discante~rt,distress and confilsion. You tell me, Sir, that you prefer an uniori with Iretaitld to the little regulations which are proposed in parliaxnent. ?'%lisunion is a great questicji~of state, t(3 which, when it comes properly before me in my parliamentary mpaciv, X shdl give ari honest arid uxzprejrtdiced csnsideratiori. However, it is a settled rule with nre, to ~rrakethe nrost of my nctzkalsitzkntion; and xzot to refuse to do a proper thing, becat~sethere is samething else nrore proper, which. I anr not able to do. This union is a kusirzcss of difficulty; letter, a husiand on the principles of #lessinrpracticable, Urrrcif it can be nrattlred ixrto a feasible and desiraMe scheme, I wish to have as close an utiion of interest and affection with Ireland, as X can haw; and thar, X am sure, is a far ~ ~ C E I C Ithing . tharr any tismind r~rtiurlof gc3verrzinent. France, and indeed ~rrostexterrsive errzpircs, which by varions desig~rsarrd for-
trlrles have grow11 into one great mass, contailr Irrarly Provi~rcesthat are very different fronr each otiiier in privileges arrd modes of governmerit; and ther raise tlzeir slipplies in different ways; in differem proportions; and under differe~ztauthorities; yet rtorte of tlzern are far this reasori, curtailed of their natillnl rights; but they carry a n trade and xnanufactures with perfect equality. In sorne way or other the true balance i s foltnd; arrd all of them are properly poisd and harmonised. How mrtch have you lost by the particiyatiorl of Sctjtland in all your c ~ n r n r e ~The c ~ ? external tradc of Erlglaxrd has nrore than doubled sirice tlzat period;Gnd I believe your interrrall (which is the nrasr advantageous) has keen artgmentcd at least four-fold. Since virtue there is in liberality of seriti) ~ grown richer even by nrent, that 1 2 ~ have the part~zershipof yovery, If yorl think, that tlzis participatioi~was a loss, conrnrerci;zliy coilsidered, but that it has kccn cornpcrzsated t9y rhc share which Scotland has taken in defraying the public charge-I believe you have not very care~S, ftdty Looked at the put9lic ~ C C Q L ~ I Z Xrcland, Sir; pays a great deal tnore tlzar~Scotland; and is perhaps as nruch, and as effecrually united ro Errdand as Scorfarzd is. But if Scotland, instead of payirlg lirtk, had paid 11othingat all, wc: should be gainers, rrot losers t9y acquiriirg the hear9 cooperation of an active inteltigerlt people, towards the increse of the conrnron stock; instead of ant- tlcing emplayed in watchirzg and cortnteractirig them, and their beirig e~rrptoyedin watching and counteracting us, with the pcevish and churlish jcafortsy of rivats and erternies or1 both sides. I anr sure, Sir, tt-tac the conrnrercial expcricncc of the nrerdlalrts of Bristol, wilt "ngIa#.td and Scorlafld were united under rhe rrarne "Great Bricairr" in 1707.
soon disabuse then1 of the prejudice, tlrat they can tradc xzo longer, if couiztries nrare lightly taxed, are permitted to deal in the sanre conrnraditics at the sanre rrzarkets. You know, that in fact you trade very largely where p u are met I.?); the gwds of all nations, You even pay high duties, on the import of your goods, and afterwards r~iidersellnations less taxed, at their owri markers; and where goods of h e sanre kind arc not charged at all, If it were 0therwise, you could trade very little, Yc3u fCI~ow,that the price of all stlrts of ntarirtfacture is not a great deal inhanced, (except to the dosncstic cansumcr) by any taxes paid in this country. This I might very easily prove, The same consideration will relieve you from the apprehensiorz yon express, with relation to sugars, atrd rhe difkmnce of the duties paid here and in Trelarzd. Those duties af-lfct the interior consunter only; arid for obvious reasons, relative to the interest of revenue itsclf, they xnust kc praportioned tc7 his ability of payment; but in all cases io wlrich sugar can be an ~ b j e r otf commerce, and therefore (in this view) of rivalsl~ip,you are sensible, that yon are at least on a par wich Tretand, As to p u r apprdiensiolzs conccrrzing the more advantageous sir~~atinn of Ireland, for some branches of coxrzrrzerce, . . . T trust you will xzat find thern xnorc serious. Milhrd Haven, which is at your door, rnay serve to shew p u , that the rrzere a d ~ a ~ aoft ports ;~ is xzat the thing which shifts the seat of contnterce front osre part of the world to tire orher, Xf X thought you irrciirted to take UP this xnatter on local cansidcrations, I should state to you, that I do not know any part of the kingdonr so wetl situated Ear an advaxztageons coinincrcc with Irclard as Bristol; and that rrorle wonld be so likely to profit of its prosperity as our city But yor~rprofit and theirs xnust concur,
Beggary and bankruptcy are not the circunrstaxrces which invite to an intercourse with that OF with arzy courztry; and I: bclieve it will he fcturrd invariably true, that the superttuitia of a rich rratio~rfurnish a better object of trade thalz the xzccessities of a pc~or01163. ft is the interest of rile comrrzerciat world that wealth s h u t d be found every where.
havc written this l~rzgfetter, in Q S ~ C Pto give all possible satisfactiorl to nty constituents wich regard to the part I have taker1 ixz this afhir. It gave mc ixzexprcssible corrcerrl to find, that nty corlduct had bees1 a cause of t~neasinessto atry of therrz*Nexr to xny honortr and conscierzcc, I havc ricntlzing so near and dear to me as their approbation. However, X trad nruch rather run the risque of displeasing thaxz of injtlring them;--if I am driver1 to make such an option. k u obligingly lament, that you are not to havc me for your advocate; but if f lzad beerr capable of acting as an advocate irr oppositiolr to a plan so perfectly consonant to nry ~ I I O V V Iprinciples, I arzd to the opirziorrs I had pt1Micly declared or1 an t r u n d ~ d~ccasions,T sfi~uldtidy disgrace myselg without supporting with the smallest degree of credit or effect, the cause you wished rne to ~lndertake.T shok~ldhave lost the alzly thing which ca~znrakc suck abilities as mine of aily use to the world now or trereafter; I rrzean tlrat authority which is derived from arz opinion, that a me~nbcr speaks the language of truth and sincerity; and that he is rrot ready to take up or lay down a great potiticat systcnr Ear the callverrience of tlze hour; that he is in padiarnenr to support his opinion of the public good, arzd docs not Ectrxn his oyix~ionixz order to get into parliarneizt, or to continkle in ic, It is in a great measisre fir p t t r sake, that I wish to prcscrve this charactc~:
Without it, I an1 sure, X sfrould be it! able to discharge, by any service, thc smallest part of that debt of gratitude and affection, which X owe you for the great and honourable trust you have reposed in me. f am, wirh the highest regard and esteem, Sir, Your most abcdictzt Arid huntbie Servarrt E.B. Benco~s$e~
23dAprd 1 7723
Second Letter Gentlemen
Xr gives xnc the most sensible Coizccrrz to find, that nty Vote or1 the Resolutic>nsreiative to the Yrade of Xrelatzd, has not been fortuxzarc exzuugh to meet with your approbation. I have explained at large the Grourrds of nry Conduct on that occasio~z ixz my Letters to the LVerctlants Hall. But my very sislcere regard arrd Esteem for you will nor: perrzrit: nre to let the rzratter pass without arz explanation, which is particuiar to yc>ursetves,arrd which f hope, will prove satis6a:atctovto you,
The reason, Gentlemen, for taking this step, at- this time, is but too uklvious, arzd too tlrgenr. I carinot imagine, that you forger "re great War, which has beerr carried un with so little success (and as I thought wirh so little Policy) in Anterica; or that you are rrot aware of the other great Wars, which arc impending. Xrdaxzd has bee11 called upon, to repel the attacks of Exleirries of rro small power, broughl upon hPr by Gottrzcits, in wfiich she has had xzu share.
The very purpose arrd declared object of ttrat Original War, which has brought other Wars, and other Enemies an Ircland,s was not very Aatteri~zgto her dignir-y;tier Enterest, or to the very principle uF her Liberty Yet she subntitted patierltiy to the Evils she to~your e suffered fionr an atcenrpr, to ~ z l b d ~ abcdiexzce, Gauntries, whose very Cammerce was not open to her, h e r i c a was to be conquered, in order that Ireland should not Trade thither; whilst thc rxziserable Trade, which she is perntitted to carry on to other placess,has beer1 torn to pieces in the s t r ~ 1 ~ 1Xne .this sicuarion, are W neither, to suffer her to have any real Xrrterest ixz our qrrarrel; or to be flatter3 with the lmpe of any fixture nreans of hearirzg the Btrrthens, whidi she is to incurr in defending iiierself against Enernies which we have brought upon her? X canlzot sct ~'XIYfacc qai~zstsuch Asg2meizts. Is ir qtlite fair to suppose, that I have no other Motive for yielding to them, but a desire of actixzg ngdt'mt.my Constituents? Itis for you, and JIP. your Interest, as a dear, cherished, and mpected partCI of a v a l u d e whole, that I iiiave taken xny share ixz this qrrestion. You do not; you anriot suffer by it, If Y-lonesv be true policy with ~t-gdrdto the transient Interest uf Irzdividuals; it is mtrch more certainly so wirh regard to the p m m m n r interests of comnzunities, I h o w *that it is k9ctt too xzatural for us to scc our owri c8rtd.rtii.zruin, in the pusfz'bke prosperity of other people. Xt is hard to persuade us, that every thing which is gat by arzothcr is not tdken froin ourselves. But it is fit, that we shodd get the bercer of these Sqgesti~fls,which come from what is not the kcst and souridest part of <>usNature; and that S B ~ r isk ~refcrritrg ro rhc war with rhc h~lcrican cotonists tkar protiuccd the French-America1 alliance in March 1778, which crated n state of war between Britain and Frarxe.
we shotifd fornr to ourselves a way of thi~rking, xnore r~;ttiorraj, nrore j~lst,and nrore religious. Xade is rtot a limired thing; as if the objects of nrrrtk~aXdcnrand and coxlsunrption, could not stretch beyond the bouxzds of our jealousies, God has giwrz the Earth to the Children of Man; and tre has undot1t9tedlf~, ixz giving it to thein, given them wllat is abundantly sufficient. for at1 tlzeir Exigencies; not a scantp but a rrrost tiberal provision far thein all, The author uf our Nature has writterl it strcjrrgly in that: Nature, arzd has promulgated the same Law in his written Word, that Man shall ear Iris Bread by his Lat9our; arzd I am persuaded, that no nian, artd nc:, cr:,mkiriation of Men, for their own Xdeas of their particrrlar prof;c, can, w i t h o ~ great ~ t impiety uxzdcrtakc to say, that: he shatl azot do so; that tiley Jtrave no sort: of right, either to prevent the Labout; or to wirhhofd the Bread. Xreland having received no compmsntion, directly c:,r indirectly, fur any restraints on their Trade, ought not, in Jusricc ur comnron holzesy, be rnade sut3ject to such restr~r~ts, f do riot: mean to inrpeach the Kght of the Parliaxnent of Great Britain to make Laws for the Trade of Ireland. I: only ?;peakof what. Laws it is right fbr krlianrenr to make. It is rzathixzg to an opyxsscd people, to say, that in part they are protected at our Chargc. The Military hrce, which shail be kept up in order to cramp the rzatural faculties of a people, arid to prevent. their arrival to their utrnost prosperilrl~~ is the instrumerzt of their Servitude, xzut the xnealzs of their protectiorr. To protect Nerz is to forward, and rrot to restraitl, their impmvement. Else what. is it: more than to av(:,w to them arid to the wclrld, thart that: you guard them t;om others, only to make thcin a prcy to yourself. Tlris furzdamcntd Nart~reof protection does not befong to free, but to all Governnrents; and is as valid in Turkey as in Great Britain, No
G~~vernnrexit ought to own it exists for the p " " ~ p o aof checking the prosperity of its people; or that there is such a principle ixzvc:,lved in its policy. Under che irtvression of these Sentimcxzts, . . . X voted for thesc Bills which give you s s niuch trouble. f voted for them, not as doing conrgleat Jtistice to Xreland; t9uc as tlcing sorncthing less unjtlst, than the gerteral prohibition wlziclz has tritherto prevailed. X trear sonre discourse, as it; in unc ur ma paltry duties un Marerials, Irelartd had a preference; artd that those who set thenrse1ves agai~rstthis Act uF scan9 justice, asert that they arc olzly contending Eor an eyzmlit-y.What Equality? Do they forget., that tire whole Wuotlen Manu6acture of Xrela~zd,the nrast exterzsive arzd profitable of any, arzd the rratlrral Staple of tfrar Kingdnm, has been in a xnanncr so destroyed by restrictive Laws of oars, arzd (at our persuasion, and on our pronrisesf by restrictive Laws of their own, that ixz a few years, it i s pmkabie, they will riot be able to wear a Coat: of their orvrr Fabrick? Xs this Eq~~afity? Do Gentlemcxz forget, that the understood faith, upon mflicll tlzey were persuaded to such an u~rnaruralAct, has rrot been kept; but a Lirzen ManuEacturc has kcen set up arzd hi$ily encorrraged against tlzern? fs this Equality? Do they hrger, the State of thc Trade of Ircland it1 Beer, so great arz Article of consnmptitzn, arid which n(:,w s~andsin so nrischievous a position with regard to their Revcnue, their Ma~z~fiacrme, and their cSigric~~iture? Do they find any equality in all this? Yet if tire least step is taken towards doing the conrsnon justice in tlie figtlttest htictes b r the niost lirnited Markers, a Cry is raised as if we were going to kc ruixzed t9y partiatity to Ireland. Gerztiemen, f know, that the deficierz~y in these Argunrencs, is n r d e tip (not by you but by others) by thc usual resource un such
occasions, tlre confidence in ~blilitar)rforce and superior powers. But that grourzd of confidence, mfiich at ricj time was perfectly just, or the avowal of if: toterabty decent, i s at this time very unreasor~abte.Late cxpcrierrce has ahewii, that it canriot he altogether ret ied upon; and nrany if not all otlr present difficulties have ariserz from putting our Trust in what may possibly fail; arid if it shoutd fail, leaves those who are hurt by such a reliance, withotlt Pity. VVlrcreas Hoiiesv, and justice, Reason and equity, go a very great way in securing prosperity to those who use thenr; and in case of failure, sccurc the best retreat and the xnost honorable consslations, Xt is very unfortuxrate, tlrat we stroutd colzsidcr thosc as Evals, wbonl we ougbt to regard as felf~wlahotlrers in a contntori Cause. Ireland tras Irever ~rzadea si~lgle step in its progress towards prosperity* irz which y o ~ thave riot had a share and pertraps the greatest Share in the Benefit. That progress has bee11 chiefly owing to her own riatural advaritages, and her own Efforts; which) affer a long time, m d by stow degrees, iiiave prevailed in some xncasure over the Niscl~eivonsSystems, mfiidz travc been adopted, Far errough she is still from having arrived even at an ordinary stare of perfection; and if orrr Jeaiorrsies were to be converted into Politicks as systematically as some would have them, the Trade of Ireland vvorrld variish out of the Systcrzz of Coxizrrzercre. But betieve Irze, if XreIand is beneficial to you, it is so, rzot front the parts in which it is restrained; but Fronr those in which it i s left free, though not unrivalled. The greater its freedom the greater must be ycjrtr advantage. Tf p u shoutd lose in one way? you will gain in wclzty: Whilst 1 remairi t~rrderthis t~nalterahle and powerhl cotrviction, p u will not wondcr at the dect'&d part I take. It is my
custont so to do, when f see nty way cleady before me; and when T know that X am nor misled by any passion OF arzy personal Interest; which in this Case, I am very sure, T anz not. X find clrat disagreeable ttrings are circulated arnong xny Gorzsrituents; and X wish nty Sentiments, whicli fcrrmn my justificatinn, #nay be equally general with the Cixulation agairzst me. I have the holzaur to he with the greatest regard and Esteent Gcnttemelz your ntost Obedient. atid Htixrzble Servant
Errrva BUKKE WesmtirzsmMdy 2d 1778 To Mrtssrs Irln$~rd OuLes & Co. Bris~oL.
fntmductory Mate to Lemr to Sir Hercules L a ~ p i s h e ( 1732)
Bgrke wrote his Letter to Sir Hcrculcs Langristle irz 4 e midt ofa cnmpnig~C(I wirt the fianrhire f i r I r . 3 Cntholics, and nmrdirrg to 6 Brie~z,it rqresented Bgrke? jrst nzdjor p~dblicstntemezt on Irish &fain." LanFisbe, wbo ad~ocdtedkimi1:ed Catholic rmlznc$stion short of enfienchisemen2; nppdrentb i 1791 to get his wrntc B a d e i ~Deceiif~bu view$ on proposed measures to ease restrir" tiom nn Cathalics, Burke wed the opportzaB@ lit nqgrpwerfalbfir CathoSc enfinnchifemerzl; In Letter to Sir Hercnles Langrishc, Burke gstemndcalb attncktd the various rd-
tk'onlzh wed to jwtzh the exclusian ~ f t h e Irish Cdtholicsfiam the fi..al-zchhe and the fluit benejts uf the British ctomtitzdtiun. His ronception ofi7 c~krgnt,iy~"perM1 mC2I"y between Britdiiz nnd Irelal-zd comes throagh cIearly in his ctonderandtion ofirl~ibi$ho~prej$inn nJlta'3e GthoIics and his m~pi7ssionfir the Cdthalic desire tto pnrtake of the adgantages +the British co~stituti~~n. AIthozigb he cundeerrrnm! the pwirzg r~zn'imiisrrr it^ elements toyboth the Protestant al-zd Catholic conzmurzi5-t'esin IreInnd Burke azoted that such rndicali~mhad its soiram in i3ritish impar-kal m i ~ g ~ w m m and e n ~rrrirtreat~le-~1t of the Irish. The Letter to Sir Hercules Larzgrishe 2 interesting as welI becagse in it Burke wedues togeti~erIreland Alraerica, I'ndi~, and the French &uoktbtiun-dllk the stmnd clf8~irke;il.srrr~aLic7nal thinkirzg T%eiettef; tofizline, tspernarih nbout Bzkrkei d e q hatred of the B1-l'tish treatment of the Irish Catt'mtia arzd his fnnc(urr2f i r $he hmIth nf the British i ~ p e r i asociep. l Bzkrke explicit4 li't'nked what w d ~happeni~tgin Ireland with Britakj. humiIiagir~g/@ss@America. &rke nlso CQH neted his eforbfs on Irlfh cdthokic cmanc$asinn with his continuing endcavnrs nn behav of the peqle of India, whom Bzlrke rrrferred to ns other distressed peapie, inj~rcdby &me who h d 2 ~zrnnq~i~ked them, or stolerz a do mini^)"^ over them," Enalb B u r h expressed his al-zxiety that the c n n t i ~ u doppression of the h l f h Catholics wog& drive tj~ern,arm in arm wid radical Irish Protestant fictionst ~ Y Z errabrdci~g ~ O the tenets ofthe French Remlzttian, Burke wrote the Letter to Sir I-Iercdes Langrishe close& na the heels of Thoughts on French AfFairs (December I73l), i n which he urged the ELLpvernmmt t;o ijrztrrvene militdrily ngdi~strewi~tionn~.y Fral-zm, nnd the k m r demonstz-ates that the French threat weighed /~ei7uihUYZ his mind in connecl-ion w i d Irelandjfgture, -.
Letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe (17E)Z)
You see by the paper I take ttrat I: ant likely to be long, with nrallice prepense. You trav-e brought undcr xny view, a sul~jeet,always difficult, at present. critical.-It has filled my ttrouglrts, wflicfr f wish to lay open to you with the cfearness and simpticicy which your friendship demands from xnc. . . . The case upon which your letter of the 10th o f December turns, i s hardly before me with precision enougI.1, to enable xnc to form any very certain bdgrnent upon it. It seems to he sotne plan of fitrther indrtlgcr~ccproposed fcrr Catholics of frelarrd.7 . . . 111nry present state o f irzrperfecc in farmatioxz, you will pardoxz the errors into which I ntay easily fall. The prirrciples you lay down are, "ttrat the Ronran Catholics shorlld erzjay every thing un&r the state, but shc~uldrtot be the state i t s e y Ard YOU add, "that when you excltide thenr fronr being n part ofthe state, you rather cunforrn to the spirit of the age, than to any abstract docerine;'%bue you coxlsider the constitutialz as already established--that our state is Prc3testant. . . . As ro rhe plan ro which these nraxinrs arc applied, I callnot speak, as I told you, positively about it. Because, rieither from your letter, nor fronr any infarnration II have kcerz able to cutlcct, do I find any thing settled, either on tile part of the 7Burke is alluding ro rlzc 13cccmbcr 1791 petitions frorn the Irish Catholic Cornmittee to the Britislr 1'aarliamer.tr h r furrl.ter relief of the Irish C:athc>li~,includitlg limited franchise.
Ronran Catholics therrzselves, or on that of any persons who may wish to corzduct their affairs irz Parliament. But if I have leave to conjecture, sonrething is in agiration towards admitting them, uxzder cmtaz'n yudlz$'ckll.ions to have some s h a in ~ the election of nrenrbers of parliament, . . . . . . You, who have looked deeply ixzto tlze spirit of the Pc3pery laws, ntust he perFccrly sensible, that. a great parr of the prescxzt mischief, which WC abhor in commof~ . . . has ariserr fromn them. Their declared object was to reduce the Catholics of Ireland to a nriserable pop~tlace,without properry; wirhuut estimation, without education, The professed object was to deprive the few men who, in spite of those laws, miglit iiiold or obtain any property mcmgst therm of all sort o f iriflrlerzce or authority over tire rest. They divided the rzatiolz into two distinct bodies, without commorz interest, sympathy or coniiexion; one of which bodies was to possess all rhe franchises, nl"l the propcrt~;nU the cducaticm: Tlre other was tu be cornposed of drawers of water and cuttcrs of turf' for them. Are wc to bc astonisIied that whexz, by the efbrts of sc3 much vii->lencein conquest, and so nruch policy in regutatioxl, continued without irztermissiolz for near ari lzundred years, we had reduced tlzern to a ~rzob;that wherrever they canre to act at atj, xnany of them would act exactly like a rnoh without temper, measure, or foresight? Surely it ~rzighrbe just now a nratter uf ternperarc discussion, whether you ought riot apply a remedy to tlze real catlse of the evil. if the disorder you speak of be rcat arzd calzsider;nt9te you ouglit to raise arz aristocratic interest; that is, an interest of property and educacioxl anrongst them: and to strcngtherz t9y every prudent means, tlze authority and influence of ntert of that description. Xt will deserve your best thoughts, to exanrinc whether this can kc
dsrte wirhstrt giving such persons the nreans of detr~oxlstratingto the rest, that something more is to t9c got by their ternperate coriduct, than can be expected front the wild and senseless projects of those, who do xzot belong ta thcir t9ody; who lzave rio interest: in tlzeir well heirig, and tidy wish to nrake them the dupes of their ttlrbulent ambition. If the absurd persoris you ntentiorr find no way of providing h r lihertb but by overturning this happy constitution, and introducing a frantic democracy, let us take care how we prevent better people from any rational expcctations of partakas it ing in the beriefirs of that cmzstit~~tiorr stgnds, The nraxims you establish cut the nratter short. Tlzey have xzu sort of conncxion with tlze gc~cldor ill behaviciur of the pemonmho seek relief, or with the proper or ixnpropcr nrealzs by which they scck it. They form a perpetual bar to all pleas arrd to all expectations, Yort begin by asscl-ting that ""lcxcbry ought to enjoy ail things u ~ d e rthe state, but that tireg ought not to be the sgal~.'' A position which, I hctieve, in the kartcl: part of it, and in the latitude there expressed, no ntan of comnron sense has ever thought proper to dispute: t9ccartsc the colztrary iinplies, that the state ought to be in them excItcsz've~, But before plt have finislred the line, plt exprcs~oursclfrts if the other xncmber of your prspositinn, namety, that "they audit nor to be n of the state," were necessarily included in yortr first-mereas I corrceive it to be as differerit, as a part is fioxrz the whole; that is just as different as passible. X h o w indced that it is comnron with those who tatk very differeizt front p u , that is with heat and animosity3 to colzfc>nndthose tkixzgs, afzd to argue the admissicin of the Catholics irito any, however nrintlte and subordinate parrs of the sratc, as a surrender ixzto thcir haxzds uF thc
only implies a lower arid degraded state of whole government of the kingdom. To citizenship; such is . . . the co~ldiriorrof all them X have rzothing at all to say Wishing to proceed with a deliberative countries, in which an ijiercditary nobility possess the exclusive rrtie. This ntay be no spirit and tenrper in so very serious a question, I shall attenrpt to anrztyze, as wet1 as I bad mode of goverrirrzent; provided that the personrzt authariy OF individual nobles can, the principles you lay dowri, in order be kept in due botrnds, that their cabals to fit them for the grasp of an ilndersrandirzg so little conryrchensivc as xnincand hctiorrs are gtrarded aginst with a severe vigilance, arzd that the people, (who 'State'-'Protestant~2evolutisrhhese have no share in grarlting ttzek own are tcrnrs, which, if not welil explained, xnay lead rts irzto xnany errors-In the rrzone).) are subjected to bur light. inrposiword State, I coriceive there is much arrtbitioxzs, and arc otherwise treated with atterrtion, artd with irldufgertce to their hugt~ity.The state is sometimes used to signify the whale camvron-wealth, coxrzprerrzours and prejudices, ijicxrding all its ardcrs, with the several privileges belonging to each. Sometirrtes it sigrrifies onfy the higher and r g l i ~ pg a of ~ ~ Xn all consider;ztiorrs which turrr upon the the cornmon-wcafth; whictt we cornmoniy qua"'on of vcstlllg or coiztinuing tfrc state call the Goue~nmenl:11.1the first serise, tc:, solely artd exc1~1siveIyin some orie description of citil-cnsr pr~~denr be under the state, but not the state itselc Iegislarors will consider>how fix the generdfirm a~zd;ol.l~c@les nor any part of it, is a situatioxz perfectXy intelligible: hut to those wlzc:, fill that situoftheir cnmmn-wealth re~deriafi to he c a t ation, not very pleaant, when it is under~ B Mnpl nligadiczl shape, nr ~r, rerrrdjn a/stood. Xr is a state of c t ' d servt'tlade t9y the wdys irc it. We krrow that the government of very force of the definitic>n. . . . This Ireland (the sante as the British) is riot in its servitude, which nrakcs rrzen szkbjeet to a constitution wholly Ariaocratiml; aird as it is rzot such in its form, so rzetr-bcr is it in its state without being citize~s,xnay t9c more or less tulerable from rnarty circumspirit. If it had been invetrerately aristocratistances: but these circunrstaxrces, more or caX, exclusions nright be nrore patiently subless favourable, da not alrcr the rzatrtrc of mitted to. Tlic lot of one plebciarr would bc the thing. The ntildrless by which ahthe lot of all; artd an habitual. reverence arid sotutc rrzasters exercise their dotrzinion, abmiration of cercain fanrilies, nright make the pcoyte colztelzt to see governmcrrt leaves then1 masters still. We may talk a wholly in trartds to wlirm it seemed natulittle presently of the manrler in whiclz tlze majority of the people of Ireland ( h e rally to belong, Brit ortr constitution has a Catfiolics) are affected by this situatioxz; plebeirtn nzenzber, which forms an essential which at present undoubtedfy is theirs, integrait part of it, A pleheiarl oligarchy is a and wt~iclryou are of opinion, ought. to rnonstcr in i e e E and no people, not abcontirzuc far ever. solutety domestic or yrcdial slaves, will lalzg In the other serise of the word Stdli.; by endure ir. The Prt>testantsof Irelartd are not which is uxlderstood the Supreme Gouern&inn&sufficiently the people to forrrz a democracy; and they arc too nzcmerow to ment oniy, I xn~lstobserve tIris upon the questistr: that to exclude wlzole ciasses of answer the er& and purposes (of nn aristocmen ertrirefy from this part of governmenr, racy. h i r a t i o n , that first s0urc.e of obedicannot bc considered as nbsolute shvey. Xt crrcc, caxz be alzky the claim or the irnyo-
sture of the few. I llold it to be absolutely impossible for two xnillions uf picbcians, composing certainly, a very clear arld decided nrajoriry in ttlat class, to becanre so .tain love with six or severz hrtndrcd thousand of rfzeir felto~w-citizem(to all ouward appearance plebeians like themselves, and many of tfrem tradesmen, scrvaxzts, and otherwise inferior to solme of them) as to see with satisfactiotl, or even with patience, an cxdusive powcr vested irz them, t9y mfzich cunstit'uti~nn14they become the absolute masters; arld by the manners derived FTQEII their circulnstanccs, must be capable uf exercisixzg upon tllcm, daily and iiiourly, an irzsuiting and vexatious superiority, Neither are the nrajoriy of rEre Xrish inderzrnificd (airz SO~'XICarisrocracies) for this state of humifiatirtg vassalage . . . by having the lower walks of industv wllutly abandoned to them. TEzey are rivdlcd, to say tfie teast of the ntatter, in eve17 laborious artd lucrative course: of life: while every kanchise, every honour, every trust, mery place down to the very iowest arid least csrzfideritiat (besides whole pmlcssions), is resewed b r the master cast. Our cc~nstitutionis rtot made for great, general, and proscriptive exclusions; sooner ur later, it wilt destroy them, or they will destroy the corzstirutisrz. In our constitution there has always been a difference made kcrwecrz npdncbise and an o@ce, arzd between the capacity for the orze and for the other. Franchises were supposed to beloxzg to the su6ectf crs n subject, ard xzut ns n member ~ jthe ' p ~ m i n part g of the stzzte. The policy of Government has considered thcrn as things very different: for whilst Partiament excluded by the test actsqa~ld T h i s Icgislation datcci back tct 17Q"iid ~equireci
dl officeholdcrs in Irelarrd to receive Holy Corxrmunion from rhc Prorcsrailr Church of lrelmd within rhrce rnrmrl~sof rllcir appoinrm~nr.
for a while these test acts were nor a dead Iettcr, as now they arc ixz Etzdand) Pmtmtarlt disseizters frorn all civil arld rrtilitary em ploymen ts, they ncucr tu~cbedtheir r&d_rg of wtirig @T menzbers of Parliament, nr sitirk either Hou~t?; a poirzt I state, not as approving or conderrrning, with regard to them, the xnc;;l~ureuf cxcl~~sion from ernpioyment.s, but to prove that the distinction has beerr adnrirted in legislature, as, in truth, it is fou~zdcdin reason. I wit1 no~rhere examine, whether the priricigies of the Britis11 corzstirution, be wise or or, I nrrrst assunre that they are; and that those who partake the franchises which make it, partake of a beizefit. They who are excluded fsonr votes . . . are excluded, not from the static, but froin the British cn~stiezdtiz'un.They cannot by arty poshiticy, whilst they hear its praises continually rung in their cars, and are prescnt at the declaration wi~icfris so gerzerdly arld so bravely made by those who possess the privilege-that the kcst Mood ixz their veirzs ougllt to be shed, to preserve their share in it; thczy, the disfra~lchisedpart caxlnot, X say, think thcmsclves in arl hnppy state, to t9c utterly excluded from all its direct and all its conseq~rentialadvantages, The popular parr of the coizstitution mk;tst be to them, by car the ntost odious part of ir. To them it is not an IZCLUZ~, and, i f p s i h e , stilt less a ttirtaczl repxsetztation. It is ixzdecd the direct coiltrary. It is power t~niimited,placed in tlze hands of an &verse description, bec~zgseit is an ndverse descriptina, And if they who contpose tlre privileged body have nor an interest, they nrust but too frequendy have motives of pride, passion, petulance, pccvisll jealousy, or ~ r a n n i csuspicion, to urge ttlenr to treat the excluded people with contempt and ripur. This is not a mere theory; though whilst nren are nren, it i s a theory that cannot be false, I do rzat desire to rcvivc 41 the par-
ticulars in ~rzynrenrary; X wish ttlenr to steep for ever; but it is impossible X should wholly forget, wl~athapperted in some parts of Xrefand, with very few and short intermissions, fraxn the year 1761 to the year 1766, hot11 inclusive.9 in a courttry of miserable police, passing from the extre~xicsof kaxiry to the cxtrcrncs of rigot~r, among a riegected, and therefore disarderty poprtlacc-if any disti~rba~lcc or scditiolz, froin arzy grievance red or imagirtary lzapperled to arise, it was presently perverted from its true rtature (often criminat enough in itself to draw upon it a scvere appropriaw ppunishmcxtt), it was ntetarrtorphosed into a corispiracy against the state, and prosecuted as such. Arzzongs~ the Catholics, as being, by br, the mast nrtnterous arid tlze most wretched, all sorts of offenders against the laws Irztrst conrxnonfy t9c found. The punishmertt of IOW people for the offences usual amongst 1c>w pmfle, would w'drranr no itlferencc against any descriptions of religion OF of politicks. Nerl of csnsideraticln fr-ont their age, their profession, or their clraracrer; xncn of proprietary landed estates, sukstantial renters, oprtterit mercl~a~~ts, phystciatns, and titular bishops, could lot easily t9c suspected of riot in open day; OF of nocturrial asserrthlies for tlze purprlse of pulling down hedges, nrakilzg breaches in park walls, Grir~gkarxzs, maixning cattle, artd outrages of a similar natrxre, which characceriire the disoders of ail oppressed OF a licentious populace. But when the CVidertce giver1 on the trial for s~lcllntisdenreanours, qualified thertz as overt acts of high treason, and whcxt wlt~zesstswere found (such witrtesses as tlzey were) to de'"Burke has in mind rllc '"hire 130>yndisrurbances in Ireland, which Protestant gentry in Trelanci clairned were itzspired by brance (with wlri~hBritaitz \vc= at \v;lr until 1763) and thus seditious.
pose to the taking of oaths of allegiance by the rioters to the king of France, to heir being paid t9y his moxzcy, arzd embodicd arid exercised ~ ~ i i d his e r officers, to overturn the state fbr the prrrposes of that potentate; ixt that ctlsc, the rioters might (if tlze witness was beliemd) be supposed only the troops, and persons more reputable, the leaders arzd commaxzders in such a rebellion, All classes in tlte obnoxious desa-ip"m, ~ 1 7 codd 0 lot be suspected of the 10wcr crime of riot, might kc invoIved in the odiurrt, in tlze suspiciorl, arld stlmetimes in the punishnrent, of a higher and 6ar more crimind species of ofkncc, Thesc proceedings did riot arise front arly one of the Popery laws since repealed, hut fioiti this circumstance, that whe~zit answcrcd the ptrrpases of ari electiort party, or a ~rzatevolentperson of influence to forge such plots, the pmp1c had rzo protection. Tlre people of tlzat descriptiorl have rio 11old on the getlltlenrerl who aspire to be populx rfcprcscrttativcs. Ttie caxzdidates rieither lt>ve,rtor respect, rtor fear them frtdividually or coflectively, X do not think this evil (an evil amoizgst a thousarzd others) at this day eritirely over; for I csr~ceive X have lately seen some indication of a disposition perfectly similar to the old one; that is, a disposttioi~to carry the imputation of crimes franr persons to dcscriptioxzs, and whofly to after the character arzd quality of the offences tlzernselves. This ~rniversatexcfusio~tsccrzzs to Irze a scrious evil-because xnany cattatcral appressions, besides what I have just rtow stated, have arisen fro111 it. . . . They who considcr also the State of ad sorts of rradesmen, sl~opkeepers,and particularly publicans in towns, nrust soon discern the disadvantages under which those tabour who have no votes. It: cartrlot be otherwise, whilst the spirit of elections, and the terrdcltcics of humaxz rzaturc continli~cas they
are. rf propfiy be artificially separated from franchisc, thc franchise mk;tst ixz sonre way or other, and in sorrie proportion, Rat~lraflyattract propery to it. 1b:fany are the coltarcrat disadvantal;cls, amongst a pl.l'viIeged people, which rnust attend those who have no privileges. Anrong the rich, each ixzdividual, with or without a franchise, is of importance; the poor and the nliddling are no otherwise so, than as they obtain sonre cotlective capacity*and car1 kc aggregated to sclrne corps. If tegat ways are riot found, illegal wilt be resorted to; arid seditious cI~lbsand coxlfederacies, such as no man living holds in greater horror thalz I do, will grow arzd flourish, in spite, 1 am afiaid, of arzp thing which can be done to prevent the evil, Lawfill enjoymcrzt is the surest rrtetl~odto prevent unlawful gratification. W ~ e r ethere is property, there will be less theft; where there is marriage, there wilt atways be less fctrnicaticln. X have said enough of the quesrioxl of state, ns it nfects the people, mere4 ns such, But it is complicated with a political question relative to religion, ro which it is very rzecessary I should say something; t9ccausc which you apply, is the term Protest&~t> too general fbr the conctusions which o~ze of your accrlratc understanding worlld wislz. to draw front it; arid because a great deal of asgunrent will deyerrd on the Else that is made of that term. ft is ~zuta furzdamerztal part of the settlenrent at the revolution,lo that thc state should bc protestant without n ~ r qan/$cily tiorz c?fthe term. With a qualificatisrz it is ~lnquestio~zably true; not in all its latitude. With the qrtalification, it was true before the revclintion. Orlr predecessc>rsin legislation were not so irrational (not to say irrrlt)BRurteei s referling to the constitutional aici legislarive acts taken after the C;lnrious ftevolttriorr of 1688 i t z E~lglanJ,
pious) as to fctrmn an opersse ecclesiastical estabtishnrent, and even to render the state itself in some degree subservient to it, wl~entheir reiigiein (if such it might he called) was nothing but a nrere negdgion of some other-withant any positive idea either of doctrine, discipline, worsilip, or nrorals, in the scllserrre which they professed tiiicmsetvcs, and which they imposed uporz others, even t~iiderpeszaltics and incapacities-No! No! This never corltd ii~avet9ce~zdone evcxz t9y re;;~~onabfe Attzeists, They who think religion of no ilzrporrance to the state have abandoned it to the conscicrzcc, or caprice of the is-tdividud; they m&c no provisiorz for it whatsoever, b t ~ tleave every club to ~rrake,or not, a voluxztary cuntribr~tiontowards it suppmt9 aaccording to their fancies. This would be consistent, The other always appeared to xnc to kc a xnonstcr af contradiction and absurdity. . . . There riever has been a religion ofthe state , . . but that of the epbcopnl charcl? of EngLd~dthc episcopal church of England, before the refornriation, connected with the See of Ronre, sirlcc thexz, discanncctcd and protesting against some of her clioctrirzes, arzd a g a k t the whole of her authority, as bincfing in our national church: xzor did the fuxidamerztal laws of this kislgdom (in Ireland it has been the same) ever know? at any period, any otlxr church ns an object ofestdbIz'shmenl;" or in that liglrr, ariy other Protestant religion. . . . So Iittte idea had they at the revot ution of establkht'rzg Pratcstaxztisrn ir~defisiitel~ that they did rzot irzdetiniteIy g~lcrrageit ~ ~ n d that e r narrre, T do not nrean to praise that strictness, where rzothing more than rrtereiy religious toleratiori is concerned. Toleration being a part of m o d arzd political prudence, aught to t9c teszder arzd Large. A tolerant government ought lot ro be too scrupufous in its investigations; but may bear without t9tarnc,
not onfy very ill-grouxlded doctrines, but even maxry thixzgs that arc positively vices, where they are ad%/&erpracttnlih," The good of the conrmon-wealth is the rule wlrich rides over the rest; a~rdto this every other must contpletely suhntit.
As tc3 the coronation oath, to which you allude as opposite to adnritting a Roxrzan Catholic to the usc uf arry franchise whatsoever, I cannot think that the kirlg wouid be perjured if he gave lzis asserit to arty regularion which Partiamer-rt nriglt think fit to xnake, with rcgard t<9 that affair. The king is bourrd by law; as clearly specified in several acts of hrtianrenc, ro be in coxrzxnrlnlon with the church uf England. Ir is a part of the terture by mflich he lzolds lzis crown; and though no provisioitr was nrade tit! the rcvotution, wfiich could be called positive and vatid in law*to ascertain this great principle; T have always coxrsidered it as in 6act fuxzdamcxztal, that the king uf Ertgland sl~orlldbe of the Christiari religioxl, according to the national legal church for the time being. I curzccive it was so before the refc3rntatlon. Sir-ice the reforrrzation it: becanre doubly rlecessary; bccausc tfrc king is the head uf that clzurch; in sonte sort an ecclesiastical persoil; and it would be incongruous and absurd, to have the head of the church uf one faith, and the members of another. The king nray inherit the crown as a Pmgestgnt, tlrtt he canxzot hold it according to lawI withant being a Protestant. ofthe church of'
E~ll;znd. Before we take it for grrantcd, that the king is borttid by his cororratioii oath, not ro adnrit any of his Catholic subjcccs to the rights and liberties, wbiclr ought to t7clong to them as Eriglishnterr (not as reli-
gic~trists)or to settle the cortditic:,rts or proportions of such adnrission by an act of Parfiamcxzt; I wish you to ptacc t9cfot-c your eyes that oath itself, as it is settled in the act of Willianr and Mary. "Will you to the utmost uF your power maintain-The laws of God, the true Prsfcssion of the gospel-and The protestant rcforxncd religion m- it is established by iaut.-h~d will you preserve unto btfhops and clerg>r;and the churches conrnriered to their charge, alt such rights and privilcgcs as by law do, or shall appertain tc:,them, or any of &em.-AI this T pronzise to do.'' Hcrc arc the coronation engagcmexzts uf the King. In them t do riot firid orte word to preclude his Majesty fronr consenting to any arrtmgement which hrtiarncrzt xnay rnake with regard to the civil privileges of any part of his subjects.
There is no nran on earth, T believe, nrore willing tharz X arn to lay it dovvlz as a fkxrdantental of the constitrttion, that the church of England shodd be ltnited and even idcxztified with it: but allowing this, X cartrrot allow that all laws c?fregstkation, rnade from rime to rime, in support ofthat fuxzdamcxztal lawI arc, of conrsc, equally furtdarneirtai and equally- unchangeable. This would be to coxlfo~~ndaXI the brarzches of legislation and of jurisyrrtderice.-The Crown and the persorral safety of the rrzonarch are fgndamerztdk irt our constitution: Yet, X hope that rzo mall regrets, that the rabble of statutes got together during rhe reign of Henry the Eighth, by which treasons arc nrrtttiplied witlr so politic an enerf;y;have been all repeated in a body; alttiough they were all, ur nrost of them, made iri support of tlzings truly furrdamerttal in our constitution. , , . None of this species of seco~ddg.y rind subfidinlyy Idt;uf have bcelz iiield Eunda-
rrze~ltal,They have yietded to circunrstances; particuiarty where they wcre thought, even in their consequences, or obliquely, to affect other fundarnentalls. How much more, cerraixzly, or& thcy to give way, when, as in our case, ther effect, riot here and there, in some particular point, or in their C C ~ I ~ S C ~ IkI9C~ IurzivertZ~C, salty, collecrively3aarid directly, tlze f~lndarnenral franchises of a people equal to the whole inhak9irants uf scvcral respectabte kingdoms artd states; eqrral to the subjects of the kings (of Sardinia or Denmark; eqrral to those of the United Nectlerlands; and morc than are to be forrxld in all the states of Swirzerland. This way of proscribing rrzeri by whote nations, as it were, from all the bcncGts uf the colzstirution to which tlzey were born, f riever can believe tc:, be pofitic or expedient, rrzllctl less necessary for the existencc uf arry state or cllurch ixz tlze wodd. Wzenever I shall he coriviriced, which witt be late and reluccantty, tirat the safety of the church is utterly inconsistent with all the civil rights rntzatsoever of the far larger part of the iotlabirants of our couiztry, I shall be extremely sorry for it; because f shalt think the churcli to he truly in danger. It is p~~tcing things into the position of an ugly dternativc, into which, I hope in God, they never will be put.
. . . I . . . come to what seerns tc3 be a serious coxlsideration io your rlzi~zd;I nrean the dread you express of: ""rviewing, for the ptlrpose of altering, thepP;i~c+liofthe Reuolgicion.'TThis is an interesti~zgtopic; un wfiich X wilt, as f~lltyas your leisure arzd mine permits, lay befbre you the ideas I have formed, First, X cannot possibly confound in my mind aft the things which were dorte at the Revolution, with the piSln~il)l%Sof tlle k v ulution. As in most grcat changes xnany
thirlgs were done front the rlecesslrics of tile time, well or ill unde~tood,from passion ur from vcngcaxzce, which wcre rzot only, riot: perfectly agreeable to its principles, hrtt in the most direct cnntradictiorl to them, I sflall nor think that the dql.tvntion ~fsornemilliom ofpe~pleofrzl! the rghb @the citizens, and all interest in the cow& tgtiort, irz and to which they were bor~.z,was a thing conformable to the decLareckprz'i.zcipb of the Revolution. This I m sure is true re-cllativclyto England (where the opcratiorl of these an~i-pl.inc+lescomparatively were of little exrent), and sonre of our late laws, in repealing acts xnade immediately after the Revolr~tion, adrnit that sorne tilings then done w r e not done in the true spirit of the 13cvolutiolz. But the Ikvolution operated differently in Englarid artd Iretand, in nrany, and these esscrrtiaf particulars. Supposing thc principles to have heell altogether the same in botli kingdonrs, by the apptication of those principles to very different objects, the whole spirit of rhe system was cfianged, riot to say reversed, In England it was the strugle of the gent b 0 4 of the people for the establishment of their liberties, agairlst tlze efh r t s of a very small&ctio~z, who would have oppxsscd them. In frcland it was the establishmerit of the power of tl-te sntaller nunrher, at the experrce of the civil liberties and properris uuF the far greater part; and at the expertce of the potiticd liberties of the whole, Ir: was, to say the truth, not a revoIution, brtt a conqrtest, which is not to say a p a t deal in its favour. 3% irlsist on every thing done in Ireland at the Revolution, would be to ixzsist un the scv~reand jealous policy of a csrlquersr, in the crrtde sectfement of his new aquisitinn, as a p e p mdnelitt r ~ ~ for l e its future govcrxzxncnt, This3 no pc~wer,in no couritry tlzat ever I heard oC has dune or pro'cssed to do---except in Ireland; where it is dolze, arzd pos-
catic~rtswere ntade in the rtorther~iparts, upon grorlrlds of piors and conspiracies, rzever proved upon their supposed authors. The war of chicarze succeeded to the war of arms aird of hostile statures; and a regtrlar series of operations were carried on . . . ixz the ordinary courts of justice, arzd by special conrmissions and inquisitions; first, ~trzderyxterzce uF rcxzures, and then of titles in tlre crown, for the purpose of the total extirpation of the iirterest of tile natives in their own soil-until this syecics uf subtilie ravage, being carried to the last excess of o p p ~ s " ; 0 "and irlsolerlce under Lord Strafford," it kindled at length the flames of that rehetlion whicfr broke out in 1641. By tile issue of char: war, by the turn which the Earl uf Glarcrzdon15 gave to tlrirzgs at the restoration, and by the total reduction of the kingdonr of Ireland io l691 ;'G the rrtirl of the native Irish, arzd in a great measure too, of the first races of the English, was conrk?tetclg acconrk?tished. The nLw Engjisfi interest was sctttcd with as solid a stability. as arty thing in human affairs can took fir, All tile penal taws of that unparalleled code of uyprcssian, mflich were ntade after the last event, were rnanifesrly the effects of national. hatred and scorxz towards a conquered people.; whom the victors delighted to trantple upon, and were nor at all akaid to provoke, Thcy wcre rzut t l ~ ceffect of tiircir fears but of their secrtriy. They who carried on this systcnr, looked to the irre-
sibly by some people will be professed. Time has, by degrees, ixz all other ytaccs arzd periods, Mcrtded and codited the conqrrered with the coxlqrrerors, . . . For a much longer period tiiiaxz that which had sufkred tc:, bierid the Rc>rnaris with the natio~zto which of ail others they wcre the xnost adverse, the Protestants scttled in Ireland, considered therrtsetves in no other tight &an that of a sort of a coloxziaf garrison, to keep the natives in subjection to tlre other state of Great Britain. The whole spirit of the revc:,lt~tiorzin Ireland, was that of nor the rrrildcst conqueror. ln trttth, tiiie spirit of those proceenings did not comtnence at that aera, nor was religion of any kind their primary object, Vlthat was doxzc, was not in the spirit of a contest between two religious factions; but between two adverse rlations, Tlze stattlres of Kilkcnrzyl2 sshew, that the spirit of rhe popery laws, and some even of ttzeir actual, provisions, as applied between Engjishry and Irishry, had existed in that harassed country before the words Prstesrant and Papist were heard of in the wortd. If we read Baron Fingl;is, Spcrzscr, arzd Sir Jolzn Davis,lhe cannot miss the true ge&us and policy of the English gorrernnrenr there before the rev01utiufz, as well as during the whole reign of Qtteen Elizabeth. Sir John Davis boasts of the benefits reccived by tiiic xzativcs, by extending to them the Eliglish law artd tt~rnirzgthe whole kingdonr into shire grour-rd. Bur the appearancc of thixzgs alone was changed, The originat sclzeine was rtever deviated horn fir a single hour, Unheard of confis-
"fl'l-rurnas Wennnioith, first earl rtf Srrafforci a i d governor of frelanJ fro11116.33 to 1641,
"Tl-resc were meastires passed in 1366 that atrempced ro separate rile Eslglish and Irish races in Ire-
'5Ecfbvard Hyde, firsr car1 of GIarendrsn, who wrote the i'i-ue IIistr,ric~a/N a r m t i ~of the Rebellion iarzd G u i l W2rs it( i"itzgh~iI?: wfrich was published in
land.
1702- t 704.
"Patrick FingI;ws, Edmunci Spenser, arici S i l John llavis wrote cm Xrefarld in the sixteentlz and sevenreentb ce~lruries.
l%aurL is referring to the destructive dtermath rtf rhe Eslglish defeat cif the Irish C a r h o l i ~under lames I1 by rhe forces of Willia~x~ of Orange itz 1630,
sistibtc force of Great Britain for their support in their acts of pawcl: They were qrtite certairi that no complairits of tlze riatives would be heard 0x1 this side of the water, with any arlier sentiments thajz those of corlterript and indignation, Their cries sewed only ro atrgnrent their torture, Machines which could answer their purposes S C ~wefl, rnrlst be of an excellent contrivance. indeed at chat rime in England, the double xzame of the complainants, Irish arid Papists (it wcluld he hard tt7 say, singly, wtricir was the most: odisrts) shut: up the l ~ e a r aof every one against chenr, Whilst that ternper prevailed, and it prevailed ixz all its force to a time within our nieinory, every nreasure was pleasirrg and popular, just i~zproportion as it tended to harass arid ruin a set of people, wk1c9 were lookcd upon as eneniies to God aid Irzatl; and indeed as a race of bigorred savages who were a disgrace to huirzan rlature itself. However, as the Eliigtish in llreland began to t9e dornicifiatcd, they t9cgan also to recoIlect that they had a csjuntry, The Ertglish irtl-e~estat first by faint and a!most insensible dcgrws, ttlitt at Itngth opcrzly and avowedly, becanie an in&pendent Irish izterest; full as independent as ir coirfd ever have been, ifir had contixzucd in the persons of the native Irish; and it was maintained with more skill, and rrzore consistency than probably it worlld have bee11 in theirs. With tfzeir views* the hgh-Irish changed their maxinrs-it was necessary to demonstrate to the whotc pcoplc, that there was somctlzing at least, of a comrrion interest, corribined with the independenc~which was to beconre the object of conlinolz exerriolzs. Tlre mildness of gc~vernnientproduced the first relaxation cowards the Irish; the ~ecessicies,and, ixz paruoo, the tenlpcr h a t predominated at this great change>produced the secc~id m d the most i~zrportantof these relaxations. E~zglishgovernment, arzd Irish lcgis-
lature felt jointly the propriet). of this measure, The Iris11 parliarnerrr: and nation became ixzdeyendent.
Great Britain Eindixzg the Anglo-Irish lzighty arlilnated wirh a spirit, which had indeed shewn itself bebre, though wirh little erzero, and magzy. interruptions, and therefore suffered a nitrltitude of unifornrt precedents ro be estabtished against it:, acted in xny apiniorz, with the greatest terrtperarlce and wisdom, She saw that the disposition of rile ieariCingpasc of cbe nation, worlld not pcrxnit: them to act arzy longer tlre part of a gdrrisnn. She savv, that true pofiq did not require that they ever should have appeared ixz that chamctcr; or if it had done so G~rmerly,tlze reasoris had now ceased ro operate. She saw chat the Irish of her racc, wcrc resolved, to t9uild their constitution and their p ~ l i t i a UPC)II , another boctoxiz, W t h chose things t~lnder her view, she instantly complied wirh the whole of dernarids, withortt any reservation whatsoever. She surrexldercd that kouszdlcss supcriori~,for the prcscrvarion of which, and the acquisitiorz, she had supported the Eirglish colonies in llretand for so long a time, a116 at so vast an expencc . . . of her blood and treasure. When we bring before us the matter which hisrory affords for our sctectian, it is not: irnproper to examine the spirit of the several prcccdents, which are candidates fbr ortr choice. Might it rzot be as weIf for your stacesrrten, or1 the other side of the water, to cake an exa~rzptefronr this latter, arzd surely xnorc conciliatory rcvolutisrz, as a pattern fbr your corzdtlct tc9wards your own fellow-citizens, than from that of 1688, wheiz a paramount sovereignty over botlz yort and therri, was nrore loftily ctainred, and more sterrrly exerted, than at any former*or at any. subsc-
qrrerrt period? Great Britain in 1782, rose above the v~ilgarideas of-'policy, the ardinary jealousies of state, arid atf tlze sentinrents of llational pride and national atrzt9ition.17 Xf she had kcerz xnore disposed than, f tharik Gad fc)r it, she was, to listen ro the suggestions of passion, than to the dictates of prtrdcncc; she might iiiave t~rgedthe principles, the ntaxirrts, the policy, the practice of the rewtution, against tiiie demands of the leading description ixr Ireland, with full as rnt1cl-1 plausibility, arid fir[l as good a grace, as any arnsrrgst rhetrz can possibly do, against the sirpplicatlolls of so vast axld exrensive a description of their own people. A good deal tcm, if-' the spirit of domination and exclusion iiiad prevailed ixz Exzgland, might kc excepted against some of the means then enrt~loyedin Xrciland, whilst her claims were in agitation; thcy were, at least, as ntuch out of ordinary course, as tllose which are ~ l c t wobjected against adt~ritclng your pcoplc to any of the benefits of an Erzglish corrstitrttisrr.
Csntpare what was dsrze in 1782, wit11 what is wished in 1792; consider the spirit of what has been done at the scvcral periods of refc3rntation; arid weigh matt~rely, whether it be exactly true, char cotlciliatory concessions, are of-'good policy only in discussisrzs betweerr nations; but that anrong descriptions in the same natioxl, they xn~lstatways be irrational and dailgerorrs. What have ycxr suffered in your peace, your prosperity, or, in what ought ever to t9c dear to a rzatioiz, your giory, by the fast act by wlziclz you took tlze prop"In 1782 the British Padiia~lenrrcpeaied the lrish Drtlaratoi y Act rtf 1719 that p~oclairnedB ~ i t a i n i legislative suprerzlncy over Irelalld, thus givif~gthe Irisfx 17arliarnenr more jegislative auraElclmy.
erty of that people t~rzderthe protection of the lam? What reason have you to dread the conscqrterrces of admitting the people possessing that properry to some share in the protecciolr of the colasgimti~rz? X do xrot nrealz to tratlbtc you with any tlzirlg tc:, rernove the ot>jections,f will riot calt them arguments, against this meastrre, taken from a ferocious hatred to all that riurnerous description of Christians. It would be to pay a poor coxrzpliment to your understaxzdirzg or your heart. Neither your religion, nor your politics consist: "in odd perverse airtipathies,'Xru are #lot resolved to ycrscvere in proscribing from the constitution, so ntarzy millitzrls of your couxltrynren, because, in contradlctio~zro experience arzd to canrrnon scnsc, you tlzirlk proper to imagine, that their principles are subversive of conrnron hunran society To that X shall only say, that whoever has a temper, mflicll car1 be gratified by indulging kimselEin t h e e good-natured h a cks, ~ t t g h to t do a great deal more. For arz exdusion fromn the privileges of British subjcccs, is not a cure for so terrible a distenrper of the iiiumarz xnind, as thcy arc pleased to suppose in their csrtritryrnen. f rather conceive a participacioxl io those privileges to t9e itself a remedy for soinc rner~taIdisorders. h little shall T detain 1 2 ~ with ) ~ nratters that carz as little abtalrr adrr~issioninto a rnind like y(:,nrs; such as the fear, or pretence of fear, that in spire of p u r own powtx, arzd the triflixzg power of Great Britain, you may be corzquered by the Pope; or char this coxrznrodious bugbear (who is of infinitely xnorc use to tl~oscwho preterld to fear, than to tll~psewhr:, love him) will absolve his ~blajesty'ssubjcccs from tiiieir atlcgiarzcc, arzd send over the cardind of York to rule you as his viceroy; or that, by the plenitude of his power, he will t&c that fierce tyrant, the krzg of the
French, out of his jail," and arnr that xiation (which un all occasiuns treats his Holiness so very politely) with his bt~llsand pardons, to illvade poor old Xrelatld, ro reduce you to popcry and slavery, and to force the freeborn, naked feet of your peopie into rtie wooden shoes OF rhat arbitrary monarch. X do rzat t9eiicvc that disconrscs of this kind are held, or that any thing tike therrz will be lield, by any who walk about without a kccpcr. Vet, X confess, that ulz occasions of this nattlre, f ant the most afraid of the weakest reasor~ings;because they discover the strongest passioxis. . . . But X know, and am sure, that such ideas as no ntarl will distinctly produce to anothel; or hardly venture to bring in any plain shape to his owl1 mind-he will utter in obscrtre, ill explained dot~hts,jealousies, sltmrises, &as, and appreherrsiotrs; and that in such a fog, they will appcar to have a good deal of size, arid will make an impression; when, if they were clearly brought fbrtiii and d e & ~ ~ cthey d , worlld rneet wit11 rtothing but scorn and derision. There is another way of raking an objxtion to this C C ~ ~ C C Swfiich S ~ Q ~1Tadmit , t(3 be sclrnetlzing ntore plausible, and worthy of a nrore attentive exanrination. It is, that this rzumcrotls ciass uf pcoplc is mutiriorrs, disorderly; prone to sedition, artd easy ro be wrought upon by the insidious arts of wicked and deslgrring mcrz; that conscic>nsof this, the sober, ratioi~ai,and weatrhy parr OF rhat body, who are totally uf anuthcr cliaracter, do by rza nleans desire arly participatio11 for tlzernselves, or for any one else of their description, in the franchiscs of thc British constitution. f have great doubt of the exactrless of any parr of this observation. But let its 'NBurkc means Louis X\'X, king o f France, who rlrac time lreld captive by the French revoluti~~la~ie~.
was ar
adrrtit that the body of the Catlzcllics are proneto sedition (of which, as X have said, 1 entertain much d0Clk9t), is ir posslbfc, that any fair observer or fair reasoner, car1 think of confining rtiis description to thenr alzly? I kclieve it to t9c possible for men to he mutirlous arid sedirior~swho feel no grievance: but X believe no Irrari will assert scriausly, that when peopfc are uf a turbulent spirit, the best way to keep them in order, is ro f~~rnish ttienr with sonrething substantial to conlplain uf, separate very properly the sober, rational, and substantial parr of their descriptkll froin the rest, YOLIgive, as you aught to d~3,weigllt only to the former, V7ha.t.f have always thought of the nratrer is this-that the xnost poof; illitcrate, and uizixzfi>rmed creatures up011 eatlr, are judges of a practical oppression. Xt is a marrer of feeling; and as such persons generally ii~avefelt most uf it, and are not: of an over-lively sensibility, they are the best jt~dgesof i t . Btlt for the real G G I U S ~ us , the nppr~pl.lrirterev~edj,they ougllt never to he catled into cour1cil about the one or the odier. They ot~&lrtto be tocd.lly shut out; t9e~ausetheir reasorr is weak; hecatrse when once rortsed, their passions are ilngoverned; because 117ey want inhrmation; because thc snldlness of the proptlzey possess, renerty which i~idividuatl~ ders ttienr less attentive to the consequence of rhe xneasures they adapt in aEairs af moment. When I find a great cry arnorigst the people, who speculate lirrle, T &ink nryself called scriousty to examine into it, and to sepxate the real crtuse from the ill effects of the pasion it nray excite; and the bad use which anhi nlexl xnay xnakc of arz irritation of the popular mind. Here we nttlst be aided by persons of a contrary character; we mk;tst not listen to the desycrate ar the furious; but it is therefore riecessaly for us to distinguisl~who are the re~zlhindigetit, and the redl& intempcrate, . . .
The object pursued by the Catholia is, I wnderscand, and have all along reasoxled as if it were so, in some degree or measrtre to be again adtnitred to the franchises of the constitution. Men are considered as ~lrlder some derangexxrcnt of their intctlects, when they see good arid evil in a differerit tight fiam other moll; wherr t h y choose xzauscozts and unwbotesome bod; and reject such as to ttze rest: of the world seerns pleasarit, arid is known to be riutritive. I have always considered the British coxlstitution, xzot to be a thing in itsctf so vitious, as that none but men of deranged understanding, and ttlrb~~lent terrzpers could desire a share in it: on the contrary, I should think very indifferently of the understanding and temper of any body of men, who did rzat wish to partake uF this grcat arzd aclcnowledgd bhenefir. I cannot think quite so favourably either of the sense or temper uf tbosc, if axzy such there are, wfio worlld volurttarily pers~ladetheir brethren that the object is not fit for them, or t h y for the object. . . .
It: is known, X bclicvc, that the greater, as well as the sortnder part of ortr excludcd countrymen, have not adopted the wild ideas, and wilder erzgagcments, wfiich have bee11 held orrt: to them; but: have rather chosen to hope snratl and safe concessions from tire legal powcl; than kourzdtcss objects front trouble artd confusiori. This mode of accion seenrs to nre to nrark nren of sobncty, and to distixzguisfi them from those who are intemperate, from circrtntstance or fro111 nat11re. But why do they xzot irzstarztly disctalrn and disavow thosc who makc s~lclzadvarlces tc:, thent? fn this too, in nry opilzio~r,they sfiew thenrsetvcs xzu less sober arzd circumspect. Xn the pres-
ent moment, nothing stzort of insartity could iodi~cettlenr to takc such a step. Pray considcl-the circumscanccs. Disclaim, says somebody, ail urliort with the Dissenters;-right-But, when this your injunction is obeyed, stlall I obtaixz the ubject whiclz f solicit from yew?-Oh, 110-nothing at all like it!-But, in punishing us t9y an exctrzsion from the constitutiorl throrlgh the great gate, for having beerr invited to enter into it by a postern, wil) yort pulzish by. deprivation of their privileges; or ntulct in any c:,tlzer way, those who have tenrpted us?-Far fronr it-we meal1 to pxserve at1 their liberties and immt~iiities,as Q B life ~ blood. We meart to cultivate the^^, as brethretr whom we love and respect-with you, we have no fellowship. We car1 bear, with patie~ice,their eri1rrir-yto ourselves; but their friendship with you, we will rzot erzdurc. But xnark it well! All our qrrarrels with them, are always to be revenged upon you, hrnrerly it is ~cttoriuus, that we should have reselztcd with the highrsr innlgnation, your presltmirlg to shew any ill-wilt to thenr. You nrust flat suffcr them, xzutnj; to skew arzy good-will to you. Know-arid takc it once for all-that it: is, and ever has been, atid ever wiff be, a fuxrdamental maxim in our politics, that you are riot to have any part, or siiadc~w,or #lame of interest whatever, in our state. That we look upon you, as urzdcl- arr irreversible outlawry frt>mnour coristirutiortas pa'petual and wnatliabte aliens.
Observe, on ttlese principles, the difference kctwecrz the procedure of the Partiamerit and the Dissenters, tc:,wards the peopie in question. One e~izpioyscourtship, the other force. The Disselztcrs offer bribes, the Parlianteiit rlothirlg but: the front ~regadBwof a stern and forbidding authority. A man may bc very wraizg in his
ideas of what is good for him, But 1-m rnan affrolzts xnc, xzor can thercf-ore justi@ my affrsrrting him, by offering to ntake me as tlappy as himself, according to his own idcas of happixzess. This thc Disscrztcrs do tc:, the Catholics. You are on the different extremes. The Dissemers offer, with regard to constitutioxzal rights and civil advantages of df scxts, ewr;tr thi~kg-yo~ refuse euery thing. W t h them, rtrere is boundless, tho' xzot very assured lrape; with you, a very sure arzd very uriqualified despair. The terms of alliance, from the Dissenters, offer a represerrtation of ttre Conrnrans, cIzoselz out of tbc people by the hcad. This is absrlrcfiy artd dangerorrsly large, in nty opinion; and ttiar scheme of electiotr is known to have been, at at! tirnes, perfectly odious to nte, But I carinot think it right of course, ro punish ttre Xrish Roman Catholics by an uxzivcrsal exclusion, kecatlse otlzers, mfront you would not pt~rzisii at all, propose arz universal dnzission, . . . I am rzot at all. cnamortred, as I have told you, with this plan of representation; as tictte do X relish any bandings or asociations for pmcurirzg it. But if the qt~cstiorz was to be put: to yen artd me-universdl popu11ar representation, or nnnt at aLifhr %S nnd ou~s-we should firzd orlrseitvcs in a very awtcvvard pr>sition. I don't like this kind of dile~rzrrzas,especiatlly when they are practical. Then, since our oldest furtdarnerztal laws fottow>or rather couple, frc;lchold with franchise; sirzce rza principle of the X3evoIuticm shakes these liberties; since tlzc oldest and one of ttre best nronurrzents of the constitrztioxz, demands for the Xristi the p r i v i l e ~wbich tlley suppiicate; since the p".ncipirs of the Revolution coirlcide with the declarations of the Great Charter; since tlze practice of the Revslution, in this point, did ~rorcoxrtradict its pri~cipfes; since, froin that event, twcxzty-five years
lzad elapsed, before a domineering party, on a party principle, trad ventured to disfra~zchise,without arzy proof whatsoever of ahuse, the greater part of the cornmaniry; since clre King's coronation oath does not srand in his way to the pc~l^org.r~ancc of his duty to all his subjects; sirzce you have given ro all other Dissenters these privilcgcs withorlt: limit, which are hitherto withheld, without arzy lintitation dratsoever; from the Cathotics; since rro rration in the world has ever keen krzawn to exclude sc:, great: a body of nzert (n(:,t borrz slaves) fro111ttre civil state, and all the benefits of its consritution; the wfiolc question comes befc:,re Partianzent, as a rnatter for its prudence. X do rror: put the rtring on a qucstioxz of right, . . . Supptic~ntmorlgfit not t~3appear too ntucll in tlze character of litigants. If rhr subject chirzks so higl-rly arzd rcvererztly of the sovereigrz authority, as not to claim any thing of right, so that it nray seem to be iodependent of the power arzd Ercc choice of its goverxzmexzt: arrd if tlze sovereigti, on lzis parr, comiders the advantages of the subjects as their riglit, arzd at1 tlreir reasonable wisfres as so marzy clainzs; in the fctrturzate csrrjunction of these muataf dispositions are hid the fr~u~zdations of a happy arzd prospcrorls commonwealth. For my own part, desiring of all clrings rirar the authoriy of the lcgistature under which I was bor~z,arzd wtriciii I cherish, not: only witlz a dutiful awe, but with a partial arzd cordial affection, to be maintained ixz the utrnosr possible respect, I rzever will suffer rnysetf t~:, suppox, that, at bottoxrz, their discretion will be Eourzd to kc at variance with their justice. The whole being at discrerioxr, I beg leave just to suggest some xnattcrs far your consideratic)zt-Wbetfrer the government in ctrltrch or state is likely to be nrore secrlrc by continuirzg causes of grortnded
discoxltent, to a very great n ~ ~ n r b e(say r m o millions) uf the sulajects? or, m e t h e r the constitutiorr, cornbined arid bdarrced as it is, will be rerrdered nrore sotid, by deprivirrg so large a part af the people af at1 c011cer11, or interest, or share, in its representation, actual or rrt'rtunl?1 Exre Irzean to lay an emphasis un the word uirtaai. Virtual represeritation is that in which there is a conrnr~rrlionof interests, and a syrzrpathy in feelirlgs and desires bcmeerz those who act in the rtaine of any descriptiorr of peopie, artd the people in whose riarrte they act, ttlough the trustees are not acttlalty choscrz by them. This is virtual rcprescntation. Such a represeritation I thirzlc to be, in nrany cases, even better than the accnal, It possesses xnost of its advantages, and is free from mariy of its inconveniences: it corrects the irregutariries in the literal reprcscrztation, wherz the shifting current uf human affairs, or the aaing of public interests in different ways, can-y it obliquely from its first line af direction, Tlze people ntay err in their choice; but: contntclrr interest and conrnran serlti~rrentare rarely xnistaken. Brtt this sort af virtuat rcprcscntatisn cartrtot have a long or srlrc existerrce, if it has not a strbstraru~rzin the actual. The member xnust have some relation to the constittlent. As thirrgs starid, the Cathofic, as a Cattlolic and helonging to a description, has rza I/Irbf~dalrclatiofz to the representative; hut the cmtrarpl, l-here is a rcfarioxl in ~rztrtualobligacioxl, Gratitude xnay rzat atways kave a very tasting power; but the frequent rectlrreircy for favorrrs will revive and refresh it, and will Ilecessarily produce some degree af nrutual attention, It will produce, at least, acquaintancc; tfie several descriptioxls of people will XIOFbe kept so xnueb apart as they xzow are, as if they were rtot only separate ria[ions, hut separate species. The stigrrza and reproach, the hideo~tsmask will l9e take11
off, artd melt will see each other as they are. Sure T anr, that there have been thousands irz Xretand, who iiiave ncver conversed with a Rontan Catlzolic in their whote lives, wnfcss they happened to talk to their gardincr's workmen, ar to ask their way, &ten tlzey had lost is, in tlzeir sports; or, at best, who had known ttlenr only as faotmerz, or other dof'~restlcsuf the sccand arid third order: arid so averse were they, sonre tirzre ago, to have thelrz near their perwns, that tlxcy would xzot employ even those who c<;)uldiiever firzcf their way heyond the stable, X welt renrenrber a great, and, ixz many respects, a good man, who advertised for a biacksrrtittl; but, at the sanre time, added, he nrust be a Protestant. Xr is impossible that suck a statc uf things, t h o ~ ~ gnatural h gc)c)drtess in marry perssrrs would wrldoubtedly nrake exccptioxls, must: rzat produce dicrration un one side, arid pride and irlsolertce on the other, Reduced to a question of discretion, and that discretion cxcrcised solely upon what will appear hest for the conservatioir of the state 0x1 its present basis, T shoutd rcconrmcrzd it to your serious thonghts, whetl-ler the nafrowing oE the fc~tlndation is always the best way to secnre the building? The body af disfranchised xncrz will riot be perfectly satisfied to rentail1 always in that state. Tf they are not satisfied, 1 2 ~ ) have two nriltions a f subjects in your bosoin, full of uneasiness; rtot that they canrtlot overturn the act of settlemeklt, and put themselves arzd you urzder an arbitrary master; or, tlzat tiley are rrot per~nittedto spawn an llyclra of wild republics, otr principles a f a pretcxzded xzatrtrai equality irz man; but, because you will not suffcr them to enjoy the a~lcient,f";nda~tzentat,tried advantages uf a Bririsli constitt~tion:that you will not permit tlzern to profit of the protection of a coxrznrorl farfier, or the freedom of cornrnon citizens: and that the
~
only reason which can be assigned for this disfianchiscment, has a tcrzderzcy more deeply to ulcerate their mirzds than the act of exclusiorr itself, W i a t &c comcquence uf such feelings must t9c, it is fbr you to look to. To warn, is not to menace. X ant fir fiom asserting, that men will rzat excite disttlrbaxzces withorlt just causc, f krzow that such an assertion is not true. But, neither is it true that disc~irbanccs have xzcvcr just comylaixzts for their origixz. f am sure that it is hardly prrtdertt to furriislz them with such causes of contplaint, as every nran who thinks the British constitutioxz a t?cnetlt, xnay think, at least, colourable arid plausible.
Think, wlzetfrer this be the way to prevent, or dissolve factious conrbinations against the church, or thc state. Reflect seriously on the possible consequences of kceping, in the heart of your country a hank of discontent, every hour accumtllating, upon which every description of seditiorts men Irzay draw at pleasure. The5 whose pri~iciptcs uF Eactiolz would dispose them to the establishmerlt of an arbitrary monarctzy, will find a 11ationof nren who have no sort uf interest in freedom; but who will hwe ail interest in that equality of justice or favour, with which a wise despot nrusrvicw all his sul3jects who do xzut attack the foundatiorzs of his pcwer. Love of liberty itself may, in such nren, heconze the Irzeans uf estat7lishirzg an arbitrary domirzatian. On the other ttand, they who wish for a democratic repubtic, will find a set of nreri who have no choice t9ctwcerz civil servitude, arid the entire ruin of a mixed constitution. Si~ppos~tiiie people uf Irctaxzd divided into three parts; of these (I speak withi11 conrpass) m o are Catholic, OF the rerrzaining third, uxzc half is composed of Dis-
senters. There is no rtaturat union bemeen those descriptions. Xr may he produced. Xf the two parts Catholic be driven into a close confederacy with lzaif the third parr of Protestants, with a vicw to a c h a n ~in the constitiltiorz in church ur state, ur both; arid you rest the whole of their secrtrity otl a handful of genrlemc-n,clergy and their dependants; compute the strength yoza hnve in 1reIai"~dto oppoe et3 grrnurtded discontent; to capricious innovation; to blind popular fury, and to ambitious turbulent intrigr~e.. . .
I believe, nay,f ain sure, that the people of Great Britain, with or witfiok~tan uxlion, might t9e depc~zdedupoiz, ixz cascs uf any real danger, to aid the goverriment of Ireland with the sajne cordialiv % they would support their uwn agalxzst any wicked attempts to shake the security of the happy constitution in churc11 and state. Btnt, beb r e Great Britain engages in arzy qrtarret, the came ~fthedi~putewould certainly he a part of her consideratiorr. rf conf~~sions should arise in that kingdom, frorn too steady an attachnterit to a proscriptive ntc)nopoliziirg systenr, m d fronr the resollttion of regarding the Franchise, and, in it the secilrity of the subject, as belonging rather to religious opinions than to civil quaiificatioxz and civil coxzduct, X doubt whether you might quite certaillly reckon on ohtainisrg an aid of force fronr hence, for the support of that systcm. We might exrerzd your distracriorzs to this country, by taking part in thenr, England wilt be indisposed, X suspect, to send an ar1'11yfor the conqrtest of Ireland. What was done in 1782 is a decisive proof of her serztinzents of justice and moderation. Shc will rzat be fo~zdof xnakirzg another Anterica11war in Ireland. The princi~3lesof such a war would but too mueh rcscmble thc former one. The wcll-
disposed and the ill-disposed in England, would (for differcrzt reasons perhaps) Be equally averse to suclz an enterprize. The confiscations, the public auctions, the grivate grants, the ptantations, the transplantations, mfiicfi fctrnterly ariimated so mariy adventurers, even anzong sober citizens, to such Irish expcditioxzs, arzd wtzidi possibly ntiglit have arzinzated sclrne of thein to the Anrerican, can have no existence in the case that we srlppc9sc. Let us fornt a suppositicln (no foolislz or t~iigroundedsupposition) that in ari age, when nzen are iirf;ncely niore disposed to iiieat tiiiernsclvcs with political than retigious controversies, the hrrner s h o d entirety prevail, as we sec that in sonre ptaces tiiiey have prevailed, aver the latter: arzd that the Catholics of Ireland, from the courtship paid tEleni on the one hand, and tiiie high tone of refusal a n the other, sizould, in order to eriter into all the rigits of subjects, all becoxzre Protesta~ltDissenters; arzd as the othcrs do, take all your oaths. They would all obtain their civil objects, and the change; fbr any thing I know to tlze contrary (in the dark as X arn at9out the Prcltestant Dissenting tenets) might be of use to the health of their souls. But, what securiy our colzstitution, ixz church or state, could derive front tl-rat event, I cannot possibly discern, Deperrd upon it, it is as trUC as xzature is true, that if you force tlzern out of the religioxz of habit, educatio~ior opinio~i,it is not to PUTS they will ever go, Shal\.cn in their minds, they wilt go to that wlzere the dogmas are fewest; where they are the nrost uncertain; where they lead thenr the lcast to a consideratiori of wlzat they have abandoned. They will go to that uniformly deniocracic system, to whose first xnovesncnts tiiicy owed their errtancipation, I recontmerzd you seriously to turn this in your nrind, Believe that it requires your t9cst arzd ma-
turcst tlzo~t$its, Take what course you gtease-union or no ~lnion;whether the people remain Catholics, ar kccomc Protcstarit Dissenters, sure it is, that the preserzt scate of monopoly3cannot continue, If Endand were animated, as I r-bixzk she is riot, with her fc>rmerspirit of dsrniriation, and with the strong theological hatred which she once dicrishcd for that dcscription of her fellow-chAstians and feflowsubjects; I an1 yet convinced, that, after the fullest success in a rr~inousstruggle, you wclrtld be obliged finally to abandon that ~rronopoty,We w r e obliged to do this, even wfien every thixzg promised srlccess in the hnerican businas, If slzould make this experi~rzentat last, under the pressure of arzy rzeccssity, you never a n do it wctl. But if, instead of falling irzto a passic~ri,the leading gcnclemen of the country heniselves slionld urzdertake the t9usirzcss clieerfirlly, and with hearty affection towards it, great advajltagcs would follow. !%%atis forced, cajznot be modified; but here, you Dray rneasure your coricessic>ris.
"There is another advaritage in taking up this busi~zess,singly and by an arrangemexzt far tlzc single object. It is, that you Inay proceed hy degrees. We rnmt all obey the great law of change, it is the ~lrostpawcrftrl taw af nature, and the means perhaps of its coriservation. &l we car1 do, arzd that tlunran wisdoni can do, is to provide that the clia~zgcsflall proceed by ixzsensiblc degrees. This has all the berzetits mfiich ntay be in change, withotrt any of the inconverzicnccs a f mrrtatian. Every thing is pruvided for as it arrives. This mode will, or1 the one tland, prevent tile u~zjxing~ / irtd terests nt once; a thing wfiich is apt to breed a black arid srlllerz discontent, in those who are at once dispossessed ofall their influence and carzsideration, This gradual
course, on ttze other side, will prevent men, Long under depression, horn being intoxicated with a large nYa~lghtof I I ~ W power, which they atways abuse with a liccrrtious insolexzce, But, wishing, as I do, the change to be gradual and cautious, I would, in nry first steps, lea11 rather to the side of crrlargcmcrrt thaxz restriction, ft is one excellerlce of our c01istitltti0l1, that all our righe of provincial election regard rather pmperty than person. Xt is another, that the rights mflich approacfi ntore nearly to the personal, are most of them corporate, and suppose a restrained and strict education of seven years in some uscfuL occupatic>n. In both cases the practice rnay lzave slid from the principle. The standard of quaiificatioll ixr both ctlscs xnay be so low, or not so judicic>nsly chosen, as in some degree to frustrate the end. But all this is for your prudence in the case t9cforc you. You ntay rise, a step or two,the qrralification of the Cathofic voters. But if you were, tornorrow to put the Catholic freeholder on the focjting of the ntost favoured Forty shilling Protestant Uissellter, you know that, such is the actual state of Xrelarid, this would not ntatce a serisihle alteration in alnrost any one election in the kingdorn. The effect in their hvour, even defensively, wcjuld be iritiriitety slow. Brit it would be healing; it woutd be satisfactory and protecting. The stigma would t9c removed. Ilry acfnritting settled permanent substancc in lieu of the n~znrbers,you would avoid the great danger of our time, that of setting up nuntber against propeny. The nunrbers ought never to be rzeglccted; because, (besides what is due to them as men) cc>llectivdy; though not individt~ally~ they have great property: they ortght to have therefore protection: they ought to have security: they ought to have even consideratio~l:but they ought not to predominate.
My dear Sir, I have nearty done; I rneant to write you a long letter; I have written a lo~zgdissertation. I xnight have donc it early and better. I mighr have been more forcibte and nrore clear, if [I had rzot been interrupted as I have kccrr; and this obliges me riot to write to you in my own hand. Though rrzy hand but signs it, nry heart goes with what I have writterr. Since I corrld think at all, those have beerr my thoughts. You krzc-tw that thirq-mo years ago they were as ftllly xnatrtred ixz my mind as they are now. A letter of mine to Lord Ketlrrzare, though not by nry desire, and f i l l of lesser xnistakcs, has kccrr printed in Dublin. It was writteri ten or twelve years ago, at the tiKEe when I began the enrploymcnt, which I ijzavc rzot yet filtistled, in favorrr of another distressed people, injured by those who have vanqrrished thenr, or stolcn a don~inionover thern. It contained my serltinierlts then; you will see how Far they accord with my serztirzrents now. Time has morc and more confirmed me in them all. The present. circuirzstances fix thern deeper in nry nrind, I voted last scssian, if a particular vote could he distinguished, in t~nanimity,far an estabtistznrent of the Church of England corqoirct& with thc establishment whicli was ntade sorne years before by act of partianrent, of the Romatz Catholic, in the French conqrtered corlntry of Calzada. At the time of tnaking this Endis11 ecctesiasticaf estabtishmerrt, we did not ttzink it necessary for its safety, to destroy the former Gallicari cliurcir settlentent. In orrr first act W settled a government altogether malzarclzical, or nearly so, Xn that system, the Cariadiari Catholics were far front being deprived of the advantages of distinctions, of any kii~d,which they errjoycd under their fornter ntonarchy. It is true, that sonre peoptc, and amongst ttzenr one ernincxzt divine, prcdictcd at that timc,
that by this step we shoutd lose our doxninions in hxzerica. He foretold that the Pope would sesid tzis induigences thitlizer; that the Ca~ladiaxlswould Call in with Fralzce; would declare ixzdepcrzderzce, and draw or force our colonies into the same design. The indeperlderlce tlapperled according to his prediction; but in directly the reverse order. A l our E~tglisLzPrcjtesrant colonies revolted, They joined tt-tenzselves to Frarzce; and it so hapycrzcd that Popish Caszada was tlze only place whiclz preserved its fidelity; the only place in which France got no footirzg; the onty peopled colony which rzaw rcmains to Great Brirain. V ~ i nare all the prognostia takert from ideas and passions, which survive the statc uf ttzings which give rise to them. When last year we gave a popular representation to the sanze Canada, by the choice uf the landholders, arzd an aristocratic representation, at the dzoice of the crown, nelrkier was the ctloice of tlle crown, xzur thc cicctiorz of the tandholdcrs, lirrrited by a corzsideration of religion. We had no dread h r the Protesta~ltc h ~ r c h , which we settled there, t9ceausc we pern~itted the Frerzch Catholics, in the utmost latitude of the description, to be free subjects. They are good subjects, I havc xzo doubt; but I wil not allow that any Fresiclr Ca~ladianCathofics are better men or bectcr citizcizs than the Xrish of the same cornmt~nioxz.&sing front the extremity of the west, to the extrenlity ahrost of the east; I iiiave t9ccrz many years (now entering ixzto the welf'th) errtployed in supporting the rights, privileges, laws and inrmtrrlities of a very rcmotc peoptc. I Izave not as yet been able to firrislz my task. I have struggled through nzuch discouragenze~ltand xnuch apposition; much obloquy; much caluntny, for people with whont I have no tie, b t ~ the t conznzoxl boxld of tnankind, T r t this I iiiave xzot bcen left alone. We did xzut
fly from our urzdcrtakixzg, because the peaple were Mahonretans or Pagans, and that a great majority uF the Christians amolzgst tlzem were Papists*Sonte gerttlenrtert in Ireland, T dare say, have good reasons h r what they rxzay do, which do rzat occur to ~z me. I do not: presume t(3 c ~ ~ t d e mthem; but, cllinking and acting, as I have done, towards thesc rcrnotc rzations, X shoutd rzat know how to sizew nty fzce, here or in Ireland, if f should say that at1 the Pagans, all the Mussulrrrexz, and even al) the Papists (since they must form the higr.lest sage in the ciinrax of evil) are worthy of a liberal and iiiolzarlrablc condition, except thosc uF one of the descriptisrzs, whiclz forms the ~rrajoricy;. of the inhabicatzts OF the country ixz wfiich you arzd X wcl-c:t9ortz. IF suck arc the Catholia of Irelarid; ill-natured artd unjust people, from our own dala, may be ixzclixzcd xzot to thixzk better of the Protestants of a soil, which is supposed to irzfuse into its sects a kind of venonz unknown in other ptaccs. You hated the old systent as early as f did. Yo~lrfksr jr~venile lance was broken against that giant. I thixzk you were evexz tlze first who attacked the grirrr plzalztom. You havc an exceeding good uxlderstandixzg, very good humour, and the best hcart in the wc>rld.The dicrates of that tentper and that heart, as welil as the policy pointed out by. that undcrstarzding, led you to ablror the old code. You abhorred it, as T did, for its viciorrs perfection. For T must do it justice: it was a complete system, full of collerertce arzd consistency; well digested and welt conrposed in at1 its parts. It was a machine of wise and etaborate contrivance; arid as welt fitted for the oppression, irrrpoverishnzent and degradation uf a pcoplc, and the dekascmcrzt, in tlzem, of hurnari nature itself, as ever proceeded from the perverted ingen~tityof maxz. Xr is a thing hurnitiating enougli, that
we are doubtful of the effect of the nredicincs we camponrrd, We arc sure af our poisons, My opinion ever was (irr which I: l~ear~ily agreed with those that adnrircd thc atd code) that it was so constructed, that if there was once a breach in any esscrreial parr of i t ; the ruin of the whofe, or rrearly of the whoIe, was, at sornc time or other, a certainty. For that reasor1 I: hsrrour, and shall for ever honour and love you, and thosc wlio first causcd it to sragger, crack, arid gape.-Others map finisl-1; tire hegiririers have the glory; and, take what part you please at this hour, . . . your first scrviccs wilt rrever t 9 ~forgoteelr t9y a
grateful coniitry, A d i e ~ ~Present ! my hest regards to those I: know; and as nrany as I: know in our country, I iiionour. Thcrc never was so nruch ability, or, f believe, virtue, in i t , They have a task worthy of both. I doubt rrot they wilt perform it, for the stability of t31e cttt~rchand state, arid fbr the ~lnionand the separarioxl of the people: for the urrion of the honcsr arrd peaceable of at1 sects; fc)r their separation fronr all that is ill-iotcncioned and seditious in any of them, Beaconsfield, January 3, 1732
Cl-llAPWR SIX
On
erica
conmverq ~ r k r hy d &c, Bostiln Z a f i r 5 h a &bnte on /n vrrolkon to repedl lkxe dup on tea Bgrke set ozat to destroy the nrgfaments made by supporl;ers of the d u p i n From his earliest days in Pnrkiarvaent, Burke order.tcl hone irr nn tht.J;nPkdnmeirzml issue a$ w a ~nctiveb irzvolved with the Jl'onnuhtio~z stake: the legisLa tive sz~premacyof I3cs:rli&laf Blitnini poalir;v &ward Amere'ca, Burkc men& as estdbli~hedby the Declnrd~ryAct, wtzs instrzkmeiurGal t'uz the repal ofthe I,f~nmp o w Britain2 imperial domin6nn~.AS a key Act, which wds imrraenseb unpopuldr i n jgz~reirc the repeal ofthe S ~ m Act p nnd the AmeGcn, and the pdssage c?ftheDechrrlmry pasdge ~ f e h eDcclara"rrY Act, B ~ ~ r had k e to recofz&ie htlxe poliry of repedling tnxes with Act, both in 1766 dul-kng the shrfiliued Ruehirigham rrairctstry, PdrLidmel-zt ngdir~atPdrlinmel-zti reht to impose then^, &rn,ptecl" to raise revenge i ~ America i in Bzlrke did ro tty showing that l~iStBriCdll3/ Britgin r ~ g u h t e dAmuicdrz trade bbul 1767 by imposi~rgsix dtdties on good imported into America, Americdn opposition avoided raising tax revenue in Amert'cd. to these lzew tmes led PzrIinment irr 1769 to Speech on Anterica11 Taxation i~corporci!trrd Rgrke: pmcedt4mL and slabstnntiua repeal aII But one of tbe dulies i ~ p o s e dtwo yems earliier. The on4 dgy thdt remnined conserzlat;islrzcrs he nduisetal Britdin to fillow wrtf Qn ten, which ewntzknl& pmvoked the hi~toricdlexperience and to reeog;titize the Boston ELZPar9 ofl773. T%isact ofdejArrrer;;r/rn /n~t&chvi PE L to fgnd~zmmt~zl nl-zce k;za,the Americans brought to n head h e British pl*I'rzc@Zesoffieedom. In such nn npyuesti-t'un about the natt4r.e a ~ practice d pmach, Parliament woz~tdmercise szdpreme of power. iur:a d e c e ~ z t r i e dwny that reprrted BrBtz'sh irnperialpolicy in Araerien, Syccch an Arrrcrican Exatioxt reprethe chdracter nnd teRper ofthe d o m i ~ i u n smted Bark82 first m40r respo~seto the pmples. Speech an Anzericglz Taagi.an ( I 774)
Speech on erican mxation ( 1 774)
X Agree with the Honor~rabteGeritlleman C new wfia spoke last, that this S U ~ ~ ~ CisCxiut in this House. Very disagreeably to this House, very uxrfortunacely to this Natcion, and to the peace and prosperity of this mflofe Empire, no topic has beer1 ntore fa~rziliarto irs. For nine long years, session after session, we have been lashed round arid rourid this niiserable circle of occasiorrat arguxrzents and temporary expediclits. I am sure our iiieads mk;tsr ttlrn, arzd our stoinaclns rrarlseate with them. We trave had then3 in every shape; we have luokcd at thern in every point uf view. Xnveiition is exhausted; reasorr is fatigued; experience has given judt;erizerre; but obscirzacy is not yet conqrtered,
VVlrcri X"artiament repealed the Stainp Act in the year 1766, I: afGrm, first* that the Anierica~isdid not in conscqrrence of this measure call upon you to give up the former partiamerrtary reveriue wlnich subsisted in drat County; or even any one of the artictcs which coniposc it, X afGrm also, tlzat wheri, departing front the ntaxinis of that repeal, p r revived ~ the schenie uf t-axation, and thercl3y fitted the minds of the Colorlists with new jealousy, arrd all sorts of apprehensiorrs, then it was that they qitarreted with the old taxes, as well as the new; then it was, arrd riot tilt then, that. they questioned all the pxcs of your legislative power; and by the battery of such questions have stnakeri the solid structure of this Empire to its deepest fouiidations,
The Act of 1767, which gralizts this tea duty, sets forth in its preamble, tlzat it was expedient to raise a reventle io Anierica, fbr the support of tlrc civil govcrxlment there, as well as for purposes still ntore extensive, To this support clre Act =signs six branches of duties. About w o years akcr this Act passed, tlze Ministry, I: nieari the present Ministy,] thought it expcdi~r~t to repeal five of the duties, arrd to leave (for reasons best kiiown to therriselves) only the sixth scaxiding. Suppose any person, at. thc time of that repcat, had thus addressed tine Minister, "Concleinning, as you do, the repeal of the Stamp Act, Why do you venture to repcal the duties upon glass, paper, arrd paillters colours? Let your pretence h r the repeal be what. it will, are you not thoroughly convinced, that your concessioris will prodrrce, rrot satisfaction, hut insolence in the Aniericans; and that the giving up thcsc taxes will necessitate the givirig up of all tlze rest?" This objection was as palgable then as it is now; and it was as good Far pracrvifig the five duties as for rctairrirrg the sixth, Besides, the Minister will recollect, that the repeal of the Scainp Act had but just preceded his repeal; arid tlze ill policy of that rneasure . . . , arid the misctriefs it produced, were quite recclit. Uyan the principtcs therefore of the Hon. Gentlentan, upon the principles of tire Minister himself, the Minister has xiathing at at1 to answer. Hc stands condernried by tnimself, arid by all inis associates old arid new, as a destroyer, in the first trust of finance, of the revenues; a116 in tlie first rank of honour, as a betrayer of the digniv of Iris Country
"urke is referring to rlre gc3vcrnment led by 1 ~ r J North, rlre grime miniser.
But I hear it rung coritistudly in my ears, now atrd fornrerly,-"the Prcanrble! what will become of the Preamble, if you repeal this Tax?"-T ain sorry to be compelled so often to expose the calanrities and disgraces of Parliament. The preanrbte of this law, starzdi~lgas it now starids, has the lie direct giver1 to it by the provisionary parr: of the Act; if that can he catled provisionary which rnakes no provision. I: slmcluld be afraid to express ntyseff in this malzszer, especially in Fhe face of such a formidable array of ability as is now draw11 up before nte, contposed of the arttierzt housel~sld troops of that side o f the I-Io~tse,atrd the xrcw recruits from this, if the xnattcr wcl-c: not clear and indisputable. Notiling hut truth corltd give me this flirmness; but plain truth and clcar evidence car1 be beat dt>wriby no ability The Clerk will he so good as to turn to the Acc, and to read this Eavortritc preamble: Whereas it is expedierzt that a revenge s l l o ~ Mbe raked z ' ywr ~ N19espi Dnminiu~zs irc IsXrnericd>f i r making n more ccrtalxz and adequate prnuicinrz fnr cF@ayir,g the charge uftt~eadnminisrrarion of jrxrice, and support of civil govertznrcrrt, in such Provt'rzw
whrrw it shall he fitrnd necessary; and mwnrd f~rrtherdefraying the expcnfus ufdefeirding, protecting, and securing the said Pontinicrsts, khu have heard this pompous perbrxnance, Now whcrc is the revelzuc whicli is to do atl these Inigtlty things? Five sixths repealed-aha~rdoned-sunk-gone-lost for ever. Does the poor solitary tea duty sklpport the purposes of this preamble? 1s not Fbe supply tlzere stated as effecrtlafly abandorzed as if the tea duty had pcrishcd ixt the general wreck? Here, Mr. Speaker, is a precious nrockery-a preanrble wiet-tok~t arz act-taxes granted in ordcr to t9c re-
pealed--and the reasons of the grant still carefillly kept up! This is raisirlg a revenue ixr Anrerica! This is preserving digsrity irz Englarzd! If you repeal this tax in compliance with the motio~r,T readily admit that you lose this Eair prcanrble. Estinrare your loss in it. The object of rhe act is gone aiready; md ail you suEer is tlze purging the Statrttc-book of thc opprobrium of arz ernpty absurd, and false recital.
Sir, it is not a pleasant constderatiorz; but rrorhing in the world can read so awht and so instructive a lesson, as the conduct of Ministry in this bt~siness,upart the misclzief of not having large and liberal ideas ixz the maxzagemerrt of great afhirs. Never have the servarits of rite state looked at the whole o f your conrgticated interests in one connected vicw. They have ~akerzthings, by bits and scraps, sonte at one tirrle and one prererrce, and sonre at another, just as they p r e s d , wihout any sort of regard to their relations or dependerzcies. They riever had m y kind o f system, right or wrong; birt only invented oceasiondiy some miserable tale fr>r the day, in order nreanly to sneak out of difficulties, into which Fhep had pmudty struttcd. h d they wcrc put to d1 these slrifrs arid devices, full of rnearzrzess and full o f nrischieg in order to pilfer picccrncal a repcal of arz act, which they had not the generous courage, when they found and felt tlzeir error, honourably and 6airly to disdaim, By such xnarragcmcnt, by the irresistible operation of feeble councils, so paltry a sunr as three-pence in the eyes of a fi~zarrcier,so insipificmr an article as tea in tile eyes of a philosopher, have shaken the pillars o f a Gomrtrercial Empire that circtcd the whale gtot9c. Do you forget that, in the very last year, you stood on the precipice o f gerreral bankruptcy? Your danger was indced great, You
were distressed in the affairs of the East Xrzdia Cornyalry; and you wcifl krrow what sort of ttrings are i1-1~~3ived i1-1the csmprell&ve enerw of that significanr appellation. . . . The molzopoly of the xnost tucrative trades, and the possessit>liof imperial revenues, had bmlrght you to the verge of bcg~r;vand ruin. Such was your represcntation-sucfr, in sonte measure, was your case. Tlze vent of Ten Millions of pot~ndsof this cornmodiry, rzow toclccd up t9y thc aperation of m injudicious T a , arrd rotting in the warelzottses of the Csrrtpany, would llave prevented aXf this distress, and all that series of desperate measnres which you thought yourselves obliged to take in consequalc"eof it, America would h a w fnrrzisficd that vent, which rzo other part of the world cart furrxislz but hterica; where Tea is next to a necessav of fik; and where lfie denrand grows upon the supply . . . Xt is thmugh the h r i c a n trade of E a that your East India conqrresrs are to be prevexrted from crushixrg you with their ktathen. They are ponderous indeed; and they ~rzusthaw that great country to lean upon, or they tt~nrkleupon your head, It is the saine folly that has lost yc~uat once the benefit of the West and of fhe East, This fofly has throw~ropen folditzg-doors to contraband; artd will be the rnearts of givi~tgthe profits of the trade of p u r Colonies, to every rzacion but yo~~rscfves. Never did a peaple suEer so ntuch for the entpty words of a preamble. It must be given up. For on what principle docs it srazrd? This hmous reverrue srarzds, at this hour, on ali the debate, as a description af revenue nor: as yet know11 in all thc comyrcfie~zsive(but too comprehensive!) vc~cahularyof finarrce-a preambukzry tnx. It is indeed a tax of sophisay a tax of p c d a i z t ~a~tax of disyutatiori, a tax of war and rebelfiori, a tax for any thing btrr benefit to the imposers, or satisfaction to the subject.
Cot~ldany thing k9c a sut9jcct of more just alarut ts7 Anerica, tllarr to see you go out of the plain high mad of hance, and give up your most certain r~venuesand yotlr clearest interests, ntereiy for tlze sakc of insulting your Colonies? No nran ever doubted that the commodity aFTca could hear arz irnpc~sit ton of three-pence. But rio conrnzodicy will bear a three-pence, or wiff kcar a yclrxzy, when ~ I I Cge~zerafEcetings of merr are irritated, and twt~millioris of people are resolved not to pay. . . It is the wci$ic of that prcanrklc, of wtiich you are so fotid, arid not the weight of the duty, that the Arrzericans are Ernable and unrviliing to bear. Et is their, Sir, upori the pl"kl~c+kof tills nreasure, and nothing else, that we are at issnc. It is a yrirlciple of political expediency, Your act of 1767 asserts, that it is expedient to raise a reverrue i1-1 hrerica; your act of 1769, wlzich takes away that rmenue, csntradicts the act of 1767; and, by something nrucfi stronger than words, asserts, that it is rzat expedient. It is a rcflcxion uporr your wisdont to persist: in a solemn par'tiameirrary declararion of the expedieny of any object, for which, at the same time, you make no sort of provisiclir. A i d pray, Sir, let Ilor this circunrstance escape p t ~ it; is very xnaterial; that thc preanrbte of this act, whidl we wish to repeal, is ris~tdeciarat ~ r y8/'a r&I.s, as sonre geizrlenzen seenr to argue it; it is oizty a reciraI of thc eh-pedhq of a certairr exercise of a rigizt suppased alr e i y to have been asserted; an exercise you are xzaw colztcrzding for by ways and mcarzs, which you confess, though they were obeyed, to be utterly insufficient for their purpose. You are therefore at this xnoixicnt in the a u h a r d situation of fighting for a ptlanronr; a qrriddity; a thing that wants, not alzty a substance, but me11 a xza~ne;b r a +
rtring; which is neittrer abstract right, nor pmfitabtc cnjoy~nent. They tell yclrt, Sir, that yonr digniy is ricd ro it. T know not trow it happerrs, but this dig~rityof yours is a terrible incumbrarrce to you; for it has of fate been ever at war with your interest, your eqrricy, and every idea of p u r policy. Sfiew the thing yort cortterrd for to be reason; slzew it to be coxrrrrron sense; sfrew it ro be the nreans of attaixring surnc uscful end; arrd then I am conteirt to allow it what: dignity you please. But what digxtity is derived fiotn rtre perseverance in absirrdiy is nrore rtran ever X could disccrrz. . . .
If this digizity, wvvkh is to stand in the place of just: policy arrd common sense, had been coxrsirtted, there was a tirrre for prcseming it, and for reconciling it with arry concession. If in the session of 1768, rtrac session of idle terror and enrpty nrenaces, you had, as you were ofierz pxsscd to do, repealed these taxes; tlzerr your strorig operations woutd have conre justified and exrforccd, irr case your currccssioxrs had been returned by ontrages. Rut, preposterously, yrtu hegm with violewe; and b e h c terrors could have any effect, either good or had, p r t r rnirtisters immediately begged pardon, and proxrrised that repeal to the obstinate Arncricaxrs which they had rcfused in an easy, gcicld-iiatured, cornplying British Parlianrenr, The asserrzblics which had been pc~Mictyand avowedly dissolved for their contumacy, are called tagethr to receive yo~krsubnrissi~xr.your nrilris~eril~l directors blustered like tragic yrants herc; arrd then went rnurnping with a fore leg in Anrerim, ca~rting,and whining, and conrplairring of Eactio~r,which rcprcselrtcd thein as friends to a revenue from the Cotanies, T hope nobody io this Eliouse wilt ficreaftc~have the impudence to
defend Americarr taxes in the riame of ~bliniscry.+ + +
Btrr still it sticks in our throats, if we go so &r, the hxiericans will go farther.-WC du r i o t know that. We ougllt, from experierice, rather to presunre the coxrtrrzry, Do we rrot know for ccrtaiiz, that the h r e r i caris are gciing on as fast as possible, wlzitst we refuse to gratie &em? can rhcy do more, or car they do worse, ifwe yictci this point? 1 think this corrcession will ratlzer fix a tt~rrvikero prevrjnr their frlrtlrer progress. It is impossible to answer fcrr bodies of nteri. But f ant sure the natural effect of fidelity, clerrrency, kindness io govertrars, is pcacc, good-will, order, and esteerrt, on the part of tire governed, f would certainly, ac least, give these fair prixrciptes a fair trial; which, since the rnaking af this act to tlGs how, they riever have had.
Permit nre rtren, Sir, to lead your attentict~r very &r back; back to thc act of navigation;hhe corner-stone of the poticy of this country wiclr regard to its coloxries, Sir, that policy was, horn the beginning, purety contmercial; artd the cominercial system was wholly restrictive. Tt was the systexn of a monopoly. No tradc was let loclse from that constraint, hut nterely to errable clre Cotonist:~to dispose of what, in the curtrsc of your tradc, you curtld not take; or to ertable tlzern to dispose of sucfr articles as we forced upoxr rhetrr, and for which, witborlr sainc degree uf liberty, tlzey could riot pay. Hence all your specific and detailed enunrerations: herrce the inT h e "act o f n,~\rigarion" refers to B~irishlegisfariorl r h a regulared commerce bervcieen I3ricair1 and rhe Arxrericarl colonies for rlre bene6c of Britain.
~lurrzerable ctlecks and counter-checks: herrce that infinite variety of paper chaixzs by which you bind tcrgether this cornpficared s)JStCnlof the colonies. Thk principlc of conrnrercial nrolzapoly rurzs througlz tio less than twenty-nine Acts of PariiaIrzerrt, fionr the year 1660 to the unforrurzatc period of 1764. fn all those acts the ,,ystem of commerce is established, as that, from whence aXotre you proposcd to nrake the Colonies contribute . . . to the strengrh of the ernpire. I: venrure to say, that during that wllole perio& a partiamentary revenrte from thence was xrcver once in contcmpIrstiolz. . . . The scfrente of a Colony reverirte by British authority appeared therefore to the Americans ixz the light of a great innovation; the wclrds of Governor Bernardhiinth Letter, writterr in Nov. 17G5,3 state this idea very strongly; "it rnust,'hays he, ""hav bcerz s"pposd> such nn innnuarion n pnrIinmentgry taxation, would cause a great nldrm, and xncct with much opposition irr tnost p a t s of America; it was qntte nett) to the people, afld had no visilllie I/-ognnissec to it." After statirzg the weaklzess of government there, he says, "was this a time to introduce so g!tt a noi4teky as a par1ianrentary inland twatiolz in Amcrica?" "atever the right ntight have tbeen, this mode of using it was absolutety new in policy and practice. Sir, ther mflo are frierids to the scfiernes of Anrerican reverrue sa)l;that the comrrzerciajt restralxzt is full as hard a taw for hzicrica to live under. I tiiirrk so too. I think it, if unconrperrsated, to be a condition of as rigorous servitude as men can t9c subject to. But Ainerica bore it front the funda~rzentalact of ~lavigatioxlurltil 1764,m y ? Beeausc nrerr do bear the ixzevitable 'Fr~lr~cis Berr\arJ was gc3vcrnor of the Masaclrusetts Bay Coiony
corzstitutic~riof their original nature with all its infirrnicies. The act of navigation atrcxzded the Coloxzles horn their inbncy, grew with their grc>wth,and strengtirened with their strength. T h y were confirmed in obedience to it, evexz more t9y usage than by law. They scarcely had rcinembered a time when they were not subject to such restraint. Besides, thcy were indcmnified for it by a pect~rziarycontpensatton, Their nronopatist tlappened to be one of the richest mcrz in the world, By ills ixnmerise capital (primarily ernplcryed, not: for their benefit, but his own) they were enabled to proceed with their fisficries, their agric~tlture,their ship-huildixlg (and their trade too withi13 the limits), io such a nranlzer as get far the start of tllc slow )angtrid operation of unassisted nature, This capital was a hot-bed to therrz, Nothilzg in the Illstory of xnankitld is like thcir progress, For nty part, I: riever cast ari eye on their flourishing conrmerce, and their cultivated and commodious tifc, but thcy seern to me rather antient tiations grcjwI1 to perfection through a long series of fortrtiratc events, arzd a train of successfut industry, accumulating wealth in mariy centuries, than the Colo~liesof yesterday; than a set of rnlserable out-casts, a few years ago, mrt SO much sent as thrown out, o n the bleak and barren shore of a desolate wilderxrcss three thortsand miles fronr att civilized intescortrse. AIX this was done by England, whilst Errgland pursued trade, and forgot revenue. h u not only acquired contmerce, but you actuallly created the very objects of trade in hziel-ica; and by that creation you raised the trade of this kingdom at least four-fold. America had the compensation of your capiral, which nrade her t m r her servitude. She had arzother csmperzsaticrn, which you are now going to take away frarn hel: She had, cxccpc the commerc-ciaj
restraint, every ctlaracteristic ~rrarkof a free pwpIe in all her intcrrzal concerns, She had the image of the British constitution. She had the substance. She was taxed by her awn representatives. She chase most of her own magistrates. Slze paid therrt all. She had in effect the sole disposal of her own ixzterrzd governmcrxt. This whole state of commercial servitude arld civil liberty, taken togcrher, is certainly not perfect Erecdom; but cornparirzg it wirh the ardirtary circurrtstarices of ht~rrtartriature, it was an happy and a liberal condition.
W ~ e t h e you r were right. or wroxlg in establisiiing the Gotonics an the princiylcs uf cammcrclat monopoly*rather than an that of remnue, is at this day a prohlent of rrtere specnlatict~r.Nlu caxrnor have both by the same authority. Tu join togctliicr the rcstraints of an urtiversat interrtd and external monopoly3 with atr uxliversal incerrral and external taxation, is arz unxzat~;tral t~niorr;perfect t~rlcsmperlsatedslavery. You have long since decided for yourself and them; and you and they have prospered exceedingly under that decision. This ~lation,Sir, never thought of departixxg from that choicc until the period i~nrrtediatel~ on the close of the last war.4 Then a scheme uf governmcxzt rzew in xnany things sccnled to have Bcen adopted. . . . Ar: that pericld the rtecessiry was estabtished of keeping ~ t pno less &an rvvcnty xxcw rcgimexzts, with twenty coloxzets ctlpable of seats in this House. This scfzeine was adaped with very general applarlse from all sidcs, at the very rirnc that, ky your conques""in America, yc>tlr danger from forcign arrcnrpts in char parr of the world was muck lesscncd, or indeed rather prtirc 47"his was the Seven Years" War wirlr France, which. took place from 1756 to 1763.
over. When this huge encrease of military establishnrent was resolved 0x1, a revenue was to bc Eourzd to support so great a burthen. Cstriitry gentlenten, tile great patrons of aecononry, and the great resisters uf a standirzg ar~.x~ed brcc, would rzot have erttered wirh much alacrity into the vote for so large m d so expeclsive atr army, if they had bcerx very surc that they wcrc to corttirlue to pay for it. But hopes of another kind were held out to tt-terri; and in particular, I well rcmcmbcr, that Mr. Tovvnsl~end,~ in a brilliallt hara~lgueon this sut.lject:, did dazzle them, by playing before their eyes the image of a revcizuc to be raised in hterica. Here began to dawn the first glimmerixzgs OF this xxcw Colorxy systcrn. . . .
After the war, and in the last years uf it, the trade of Anerica had encreased far beyc~nd the specuIatio~lsof l l e mmt smguim imagixzation. It swelled out on every side. It filled ail its proper clx;ulriels to the brirn. It overI2or;ved wirh a rich r-edu~ldance,and breakixzg its t9;tlzks on the right and un the left, it spread out t~ponsorrte placess,where it was indeed improper, upon ortlers where it was only irregular, It is ttrc nature of at1 greatness not: to be exact; artd great: trade will always be attended with considerable abt~ses, The contraband will always keep pace i r i some rneasure with the fair trade. It should scalld as- a f~~ndanreneal nrainr, that no vulgar precarttioiz ought to t9e employed ixr the cure of evils, which are closely corinected with the cattse of otrr prosperity. , . . The bolzds of the act of ~zavigationwere strairerted so much, that: Anterica was on tile point of having no trade, either concraband SGharles rro\v~iskend,who was responsible as clrdncellor of the excl~equerfor the duties itnposed on rhe Arrreri~ancolonies iitz 1767.
or legitimate, T h y found, itrrder tlre o n struction arzd execution then used, the act 110 longer tyirtg but actuaiiy srrangIing theizr*Al t this wming with rrew ennmeratiolzs of commadities; with rcgulatioxzs which in a ntanrier put a stop to the mutud coasriw intercourse of the Colorries; with the appoint~ncntuf courts aF adtniralry urzder varlrlrts intproper circuntstarices; with a sudderr extinction of the gaper curre~~cies; with a compulsory provislolz for the quartering of sr>ldiers;the people of h e r ica tholrght themselves prc3ceeded against as delinquen~,or at best as people irrrder suspicion af deli~~qrtenq; arzd irr such a manner, as they imagined, their recertt services in the war did nor: ar aXi nrerit. h y of these innumcrabte regulations, perhaps, worttd not have darnred done; some might be ttrougtte reasonable; the rzruttieude struck them with terror, But the grand rnarioeuvre in that busirress o h w regulating clre Colonies, was the 15th act aF the fourth of George TIT.;" which, besides containing several of tire rzrarrers to wfiich T have just alluded, opened a new principle: and here properly begaxz the second period of the policy of this country wit11 regard to the Cofonies; by which the scheme of a regular plarztatiun partiamental7 reveizue was artc~ptedin theory, artd set~ledin practice, A reverrue not substituted ixz the place of, but srtpcradcfcd to, a moriopaly; which monopoly was en61rced at the srzjne tinre with addition4 stricrness, arzd the execution put irrto mititary haxzds, This act, Sir, had for the first time the title of ""granting d~itiesin the Colonies and Plantations uf America;" a1d for the first tirrte it was asserted in the preamble, ""rzat it was just a i d rrec6JsaP.y that a reven tle should be raised thc~e.'Thencame the tecbrzical "I-he Sugar Act CIF 1754 that imposed duties or1 the A n r e r i w ~colonies for chc first rime.
words of "giving and granting;" and thus a complete An~ericanrevenue act was n r d e in all the forms, arzd with a hit avowal uf the right, equitlv; policy, artd even nemssity of taxing the Colonies, witfrout any forrzral consent of theirs. T'hcre art: colztained atso in tlze preainbie to tlzat act tlzese very renrarkable words-the Colfzr~zrons,&C.'"hctrzg dcsirous to m & ~some provisioxz in the pment Session of Parliament towrtrds raising the said revcriue,'Xy these words it appared to the Colonies, that this act was hut a heginning of sr>rr(>ws;that every session was to produce sonrething of the sanre kind; that we were to go un from day to day, in cfiarging them with such taxes as we pleased, 631 suctr a military force as we shorlld think proper. Had this plan been p~lrsued,it was evident that the provincial assemblies, in whtclr the Americans felt all their portion of importance, and beheld their sole ixnage of freedom, were $snficl;o atrnihilared. This ill prospect behre them sccn~edto be kouxzdless in extent, arzd endless in duration, Sir, they were rtot mistaken. The Ministry valued thetzrselvcs wfrexz this act passed, and when thcy gave rzotice of the Stantp k r , 7 that both of the dirties came very short of their ideas of h~eli-icantwtio~z.Great was the appiause of this measure here. In England we cried out for new taxes on Arzrerica, whilst they cried uut that t h y were rzearly crrlshcd with those wlzich the war and their rmn grarzts had brollghe irgon them. Sir, it has bcelz said ixz the debate, that when tlze first Anerica11 revenue act (the act in 1764, inrposi~lgthe port duties) passed, tlic Arncrlcaxzs did rzut abject to tile principle. . . .
. . . Xt is said, that no conjecture could be xnadc uf the dislike of the Colonies to the principle, This is . . . uiztrue. . . . Aft-er the resolutioxl of the House, and before the passirzg uf the sta~np-act,the Caiunics of ~Massac11uset"sa~ artd New York did send rentonstrances, oL3jecting to this ntode of' parliarnelztary taxation. m a t was the consequence?They were suppressed; they were put under the tabte; notwithstanding an order uf cauxzcit to the contrary, by t:he ntinistry wlzicl~a3mpased the very csurzcll that lzad made the order; and thus the Eliouse proceeded to its business of taxing, without the Icast regitlar howtcdgc of the objections which were ntade tc:, it. But to give that House its due, it was #lotover desirous to receive inf'orixlation, ur to iiicar rentonstrance, On tile 15th of February, 1765, whilst the stamp-act was uxlder detil~eration,they refused with scorn men so ntuclt as to receive four petitiorts presertted front so respectable Colonies as Connecticut, mtode Island, Virgixzia, arzd Carolixia; besides one from the traders of Jarnaica. As to thc Colonies, they had no attemativc:left to them, but to disokcy; ur to pay the racs itrtposed by that Pariiarrtent mfzicft was not: suffered, or did not suffer itseff, even to hear them rcrnonstratc upon the sut9jcet. This was the state of the Colonies before his Majesty th0ugJ1t GC to change his ministers. It stands upon rza artthority of minc. It is proved by urtcorztrovertible records. The Hon.. Gentlenran has desired sonre of us to lay our hands upon our iiicarts, and ariswer to his queries t~porztile histvrlcal px"'t"fhis considerarion; and by his manxzcr (as well as my eyes could discern it) hc seerned to address hitrtself to me. Sir, I will answer him as ctearly as X am able, arzd with great opcrzxzess: I have 110thing to conceal. In the year sixty-five, being in a very private stario~t,hr enough from arzy tir-re uf bnsincss, and xzot having the
hotzortr of a seat in this House, it was my fortune, unlrtlrruling and ur-rknown to the thcn xninistry, by the ir~tcrventionuf a cominorz friend, to become connected with a very noble personl and at the head uf rhc Eeasury dcpartmelzt.8 . . . Sir, Lord Rockinghanr very early in that strnrnrer received a strong reprcscntatiolz fro111 nlany weigl~tyEnglish merchants arzd nran~tfaccurers, from g o v e r ~ w sof provinces and commanders uf iner-,of war, against aln~ast the whole of the Antericart cominercial regulations; and particularly wit11 regard to the coral ruirt which was threatened to the Spalzlstl trade." believe, Sir, the rzohle Lr~rdsoorz saw his way in this business. But he did 11ot rashly derernrine against acts wfiicb it mi$it t9c srlppased wcrc the result of ~nucltdeliberation, However, Sir, he scarcely began to open the ground, when the wkolc veteran body of office took the alarm. A violerit outcry of all (except those who knew and felt the ~zrischief) was raised against arzy alteration. Or1 orte hand, his attempt: was a direct violation of treaties and pubtic law.-On the other, the Act of Navigation and all talc corps of trade laws were drawn up in array against it.
811 the concfusion of this busilzess of the Syanish trade, the nLws of the troubles, on accorriit of the stamp-act, arrived in Etzgland. . . , No soofler had the sound of that xnlghty tcrnpcst reached us ir-r England, than the wliole of the then opposi-
Charles Wcltsotl Wcnl-r;voucIr, second marquess of Rock tigharn. '3urke is referriilg cu cuncerils of British mcrchants rhac icleasuues aimed at restricting chc ilIegcl! commerce hervveen the Spanish possessions in the Americas and sire Rritislr Wesr 11.rdies-tvc3nId dversely agecr British rradie in the Caribbear3.
tion, irrstead of feeliirg h ~ ~ m b l eby d the ~tnhappyissue of their measures, sec~ncd tc3 be ir~fixlitelyelated, and cried out, that the nrinistr)~,from errvy to tire gfory of their predecessors, were p r v a r d to repeal the starrtp-act. . . . The first of ctre m o considerations was, whctficr the rcpmhhould be total, or whether only partial; taking out every thirrg burthensome and productive, and reserving ulzly arz cni y ty acklzuwledgernent, such as a starnp on cards or dice. Tlre other question was, O n what principle tire act should be repealed? On this head atso two principles were started. Ogle, that the legislative rightuof this country, with regard to America, were not entire, but had certain restrictions and kimirations, Tlre other principle was, that taxes of this kind were contrary to the ftrndamental principles of coniniercc un wfiictl the Csioriies were founded; arid corltrary to every idea of pollitical equity; by which cquiry. we are bound, as mud1 as possible to exterid the spirit arid beriefit of the Britis11 constitution to every part of the British domixzions, . . .
Sir, a partial repcat, or, as thc 60n ton uf the court then was, a mudz$cndon, would travc satisfied a tinrid, uxrsystenratic;, procrastinating xninistry, as such a mcasrlrc has sirrce done such a ministry. A modification is the constant resource ofweak undeciding minds, To repcai k9y a denial uf this our right to tax in the preamble too did not want advisers), would have cut, in the iiieroie style, the Gordian krzat with a sword. Either nteasure wc>uid have cost ~ r onrore tiran a day's debate, But when the total r c p m h a s adopted; and adopted or1 prirrciples of p&7, of equity, and of coxirnrerce; tifris plan nrade it: Irecessary to erztcr into xnariy arid dif5cult mea-
sures, It becaiine rlecessary to open a very large field of eviderrce commensurate to these extensive views. But then this labour did knigi~tsservice. ft opened the eyes of several to the true state of the Anrerica~raffairs; it enlarged thcir ideas; it removed prejudices; and it corlcitiated the opiniorls and affections of men, . . . I ehilrk the enquiry tasted in tlic Conirnittce fbr six weeks;'O and at its conctusion this House, by an indepcrzdcnt, rzuble, spirited, and uriexpected ntajoriry; by a ntajority that will redeerrt ail tire acts ever done by ntajorities io Parliaxrrent; in tire teeth of all the old ~ ' ~ i e r c c ~Swiss ~ a r yof state, in despite and atlgurs of politiof ail the speculatc->rs cal events, in defiance of the whole embatttcd legion uf veteran pcrzsiuncrs and practised instruntents of a court, gave a total repeal to the stamp-act, and (if it trad been so permittdd) a lasting peace to this wbote empire.
Sir; this act of suprelne magnanimiy has beerr represcrrted, as if i c had been a nreasure of ari admilzistration, that, having xza sclleme of their own, tc->oka middle line, pilfered a bit fronr one side and a bit from the othcf: Sir, they took no niiddle kirles. They differed furidameritally from the schemes of both parries; but they prescwed the objects of bath. They preserved the authority of Great Britain. They preserved tire eqtliry of Great Brirain, They made the declaratory act;' ther repealed the starrtp act. They did both ' / h ; because the declaratory act was wa'thn~~ q~nI$':ztz'o~z;md """A parIiamentciry committee healcl evidence a t the begir~ningof t 766 on the ir~lpacrin the A r ~ ~ e r i ~ a r j colonies of clre Starnp Act of 1765. Ui"X'I-re Declaratory Act o f 1766 that proclaimed f'arlirz1~1enr"sle@?;lacivepower and sl~premd~y over d ~ e Ar~lerica~~ colonies,
the repeal of the srmzp act mtal. This h e y did ixr the situatioxz X have described. N o w Sir, what will the adversary say to both these acts? Xf the priizciple of the dectxatory act was not good, the principle wc are mntending for this day is nronstrons. tf the principle of the repeal was not good, why are we rzot at war for a reat sut9st;urtid ef-fectivereverrrte?If hstlz were bad; why has this nrinistry inctlrred aft the iocotlvexzicnccs of both arzd of all scbcrncs? have ther enacted, repealed, errfc>rced, yielded, and now attempt to errforce again? Sir, X chink X nray as well now as at any other time, spcak to a certain nlatter of fact riot wholly-urrretated to the qt~estionurider your consideration. We, who would persuade you to revert to the antient policy of this kingdoin, labour t~iiderthe effect of this shorr currelrt phrase, which the court leaders have givcn out to all their corps, in order to take away the credit of those who would pxvent p n from that frantic war you are going to wage upon your Colonies. Their cant is this; "At the disturbances in America have been created by thuepeal of the Stamp Act." hupprcss for a nlomexrt nty irtdigr:natiorr at the fdselzood, baseness, and a b s u r d l ~of this nrost audacious assertioxz. Irzstcad of rcmarkil~gun the motives arrd character of those mflo have issued it for circtllaeion, X wiH clearly Iay before you the state of Anlerica, arzteccdcntty to that repeal; after the repeal; and sirice the renewall of rzhe schenres of Anrerican taxation. It is said, that the disturbances, if there were any, before the repeal, were slight; and without difficulty or inconvenience xnight have been supprm"~"ciFor an arzswer to this assertior~Z will serid you to the g ~ author x and patron of the Starlrp kcr,12 whc3 certainly meaning well to the 'ZGeorgc: Grenville, prime mirrriscer w1rer.r 17arliarnerlr passed the Stamp ALI of 1765.
authority of this Country, and fully apprix"dor the state of that, made, before a repeal was so rnt~chas agitated in this House, the nrorio~rwhich is on your Jourrzals; and which . . . I will xzow read to you. tt was for an antendmerrt. to the address of the 17rh of Decenrber 1765: To evress nur jast reserztpzent nnd ind&azati~nat the outrageous tuntults arid insurrections which have beerz excited and cdrried nn in North Amere'cn; nnd at the reststa~cegive% by open and rebellious J1Orce to the execzgtion ofthe h w f in tr'~~tpnrt ofh& M++?$ domt'niuns, And to assure /!is Mnjesg, thnt his fiithful C'ommons, nnimated with the warmest dgy and nttachment t'o lris royal penon arzd pvernmea, will $?m4 nnd efectualb szpport hts Majesp ii.z all szach measures as shnlI be secrssdry/;lr prestrui~gand sgppnrl;;rzg ttle legtzl Jepel-zddnce ofthe Colonks on the Mother Countr~&c. &c. Here was cerrainlg a disturbance preceding the repeal; such a dist~;trbanceas Mr. Grenviile thought: riecessary to qudif--y by the name of an insurrecl-iuvz, and the epithet of a rebelLious force: terms xnuch strong= ttzari any, by which, those who then supporred his ~rzotion,have ever since thorlght propcr to distinguish the subscquerit disturbarices in Americd, They- were distr~rbanceswhich seenred to hill1 aild his friends to justify as strorzg a prornisc of support, as hath beer1 t~sualto give in the begirtrrirzg of a war with the 111ostpowerful and declared enemies. . . .
Xt is remarkable, Sir, that the persons who fctrrnerly trumpeted forth the most Ic~udlg, the violent resolutions of assenrblies; the ~tnivcrsal insurrections; the seizing and bnrning the sramped papers; tl-re forcing stamp of6ccrs to resign their comorissio~rs ~trzdcl-the gafluws; the rifling and pc~lllng
down of the houses of magistrates; and the expulsion from their cauxztry uf all who dared to write or speak a single word in defence of the powers of parliament; these very t r ~ n ~ y e t eare r s xzow the xncrz that represent the wtiole as a ntere trifle; artd choose to date at! the disturba~rcesfronr the repeat of the stanrp act, which put arz end to them. Hear your officers abroad, and let therrz refiite this shali-relless fatsehood, who, in all their corrcspoxzdencc, state the disturbances as owing to their true causes, tlze discoritent of tlze people, fronr tire taxes, You have this evidence in your own archives-and it will give you cornpleat satisfactior~;if you are rrot so far lost to all parlamentary ideas of infbrrtlation, as rather to credit the lye uf the day, tlzar~the records of your owri House. Sir, this verlnin of court reporters, when they arc forced into day upon ogle paint, are sure to burrow in another; but they shalt haw rro rehtge: X will make drenr bolt out of all their holes. . . . They say, that the opposition rnade in parliantertt to the stanrp act at the tirz-re of its passing, encouraged thc Anrerica~lrsto their rcsistarzcc, . . . But tlris assertiort too, just like tlze rest, is blse. Xn all the papers which haw loaded your cable; in all the vast crowd of verbal wirriesses that appeared at your bar, witrresses which were indiscri~zrinatefYproduecd horn both sides of the House; rzot the least hint of such a cause of disturbancc has ever appeared. . . . There was but one division in the whole progress uf tlze bill; arid the rninority did riot reach to rrzore than 33 or 40, Xn the House of Lords X do not recotlcct that there was arzy dcbate or division at all. I ain sure there was rtc) protest. 111 Fact, the affair passed with so very, very little rzuisc, that ir-r town they scarcely krrew tire riature of what yort were doing. The opposition to the bit1 in England xzcver could have doxle this mischiet;
because tlzere scarcely ever was less of ~1ppo4iron to a bill of consequence. Sir, the agcrzts and distributors uF hlselzoc)bs lzave, with their t~sualindustry, circulated another lye of the same rrature with the farnrer, It is this, that the distrtrbarrces arose front the account. which l z d been received in Alrrerica of the change in the xninistry. No longer awed, it scerns, with the spirit of the fornrter rulers, they thought themselves a nratch for what our caluxnrriators choose to qualify by the rrante of so feeble a ntintstry as succeeded. Feeble in one sense these nren certainly nray kc called; for with all their efforts, and they have rnacfe many, they lzave not been able to resist the distenrpered vigour, and insalzc alacrity with which you arc rushing to your ruin, But it does so hayp m , that the falsity ofthis circulation is (like the rest) demonstrated t9y indisputable dates arrd records.
T h t ~ sare blown away the insect: race of courtly htsehoods! thus perish the miserable ir-rvexztioxzs of the wretched rrtnxlcrs for a wretched cause, which they have fly+blovvlr into every weak and rotrerr p a t of the courztry, in vain iiiopcs that wfien their maggots had taken wing, their importtlnate burning rrzigtte sound sonrething like the public voice! Sir, I lzave troubled you s~lfficierttlywith the state of Anrerica behre the repeal, Mow I turn to the Hoiz. Gentleman wfio so storttiy cllatferrges L I ~to, tell, whetlzer, after the repeal, tire Provinces were quiet? This is conrirtg home to the pairzt. Here I meet hirrl directly; and arrswer ntost readily, They were quiet, And X, io nry turrr, chatlc~zgchim to prove wfie~z,and where, and by whom, artd in what riumhers, artd with whac violence, the other laws of trade, as gcrztlerncrz aserr, were violated in
coxrsequence of your cotrcessioxr? or tirat evexz yortr ather revenue laws wcrc attacked? But I: quit the varztage ground on which X stand, and where I: nrigtrr leave the t9rtrthcn uf the proof upon him: X walk down upon the open plain, artd t~rzdertake to shewf that they w r e rot only quiet, but shcwcd xnany unequivocr-ll marks uf acknc3wledgement and gratitude. . . .
. . . Airnosr: every . . . part of America in various ways demoristsated their gratitude. X anr bold to say, clrat so sudden a calm recovered after so violent a storxn is withorlt parallel in tlistory. . . . But as far as appearanccs went, by the judicious sacrifice of orze law3you procured arz acqrticsccnce in all that remained. After this experience, nobody shall persuade nre, when an whole pm"pe arc cunccrxred, that acts OF lenity are not: ntearzs of conciliation. I: have dorte wit11 the third period of your policy; that ofyorx repeal; and &c return of F u r ancicrzt systcm, and your ancient trartquiifity artd concord. Sir, this period was rot as long as it was happy. Another sccne was apcrzcd, and uthcr actors appeared on the stqe. The state, in the condition X have described it, was delivered into the haxzds uf Lord Charham---a great arid celebrated name; a riame that keeps the nanre of this courrtry respectable in every atlrer un the g l o b ~ . .~.j. . . . For a wise ntan, he seented to me at that time, to be governed too nr~tchby general maims, X speak with the frcllcdom of history, artd I hope witborlt offerice. 0115 or two of these maxirns, flowing from an upiniurz nor the most ixzdulgent to our "William I'iirr (the Oifer),grime minister when I'aslia~lcnrimpcsscd duties on Aillcrica in 1767,
urzt~appyspecies, arid surely a little too general, led tririr into Irreasures that wcre greatly rtlischic\ious to himsel6 and for that reasori, arnorig others, perhaps fatal to his couxrtv; nreasures, tire eficts of which, X am afraid, arc far ever ixzcurak>ic, He made an adn~irtistration,so checkered arzd speckle& he put together a piece of joinery, so crossly irzdexzted and whimsicalty dovetailed; a cabinet: so variousjYinlaid; suc'it a piece of diversified Mosaic; such a tesselaced pavenlerzt without cement; iiicrc a bit of black stone, and there a bit of white; patriots and courciers, kings frierrds and Kpubtictlns; whigs arzd torlcs; treacl~erorts frierzds artd open eriemies: that it was indeed a very curious show; but utterly E H ~ safe to touch, and unsrtre to stand 011. . . . Sir, in consequerice of this arrangement, travirlg put so nzucir the larger part of his cxzenlies and upposer"xzto power, the coilfusion was such, that his own principles could not possibly have any effect or inRucncc in the corzdnct uf affairs. If ever hc feif into a fir of the gout, ar if arzy other cause withdrew him from publick cares, pririciples directly the corztrary were sure to predominate. Wfieri he had executed Iris plan, he h d not an inch of gmt-tnct to stand upon. VVlregz he had accomylisfied his scheme of administration, he was n0 longer a ~rriniacr. Whcn his &cc was hid k9ltt far a xnomerit, his whole vstent was on a wide sea, witfro~rthart or conrpass. The gentkc~rrerr, his particr~larfric~zds,who, with tfre flames of various departnterzts of ntinistry, were admitted, to seem, as if they acted a parr rtizder him, with a modesty that beconles all men, and with a confidence in him, wlzicfr was justified even in its excravagancc t9y his s~lpcriorabilities, had xzcver, in arty instance, presunted upon any opinion of [heir own, Deprived of his guiding inflncncc, they wcrc wffzirled about, the
112
sparr of every gust, and easily driven into any port; and as those who joined with them in manning the vessel were the most directly opposite to his opinions, measures, arzd character, and Ear the most artful arid most powerf'lll of the set, they easily prevailed, so as to seize upon the vacant, urzaccrzpied, and dcrctict xnixzds of his friends; arid instantly they tr~rnedthe vessel wholty out of tile cotdirse of his policy. As if it were to ixzs~1tas well as to betray hirn, even iortg befbre the close of the first sessiorz of his admirzistratiorz, when every thing was pt~blickfytransacced, and with great parade ixz his rzame, they xnade ari act, declaring it highly just arid cxpedierrt to raise a revenue in America, For everr thexz, Sir, even t9cforc this splendid orb was er~tirelyset, and while the Wester11horizo~i was in a blaze with his desccrrding glory, orz the opposite quarter of the heavens arose another I~rmirzar~, and, far his hortr, becanre lord of the ascendant. This tight too is passed and set for ever. Ubu t~szderstarid,to be sure, that I speak of Charles Totvnst~end, off:cially the rcpmducer of this fiiittal scheme; wliom X canriot even now rentember without some degree of scrrsibitioy, 111truth, Sir, he was the deliglit and ornanlcxzt of this house, and the charm of every private society whicfz he tlonoured with his presence. k h a p s there rzcver arose ixz this cortiztey, rzor ixz any cortrit~y,a ntarz of a ntore pointed arzd finished wit; and (where his pasions w r e not coizccli-ized)of a nlore refined, exquisite, and perletrating a judgment. . . . f hcg pardon, Sir, if when f speak of this arzd of other great men, I appear to digress in saying smetl-ting of their characters. fn this everrtfu'ul history of the revolutions of Anicria, &c characters of srtch xnen are of rnucfz importanw. Grcat rnert are the guideposts and land-nrarks in the state. The credit of such men at court, or in the xza-
tion, is the sale a u s e of all the p~lbiicknteasures, It would be an invidiot~sthing, . . . to remark the errors into which rhc aur-borit-1, of gwat names has brought the nation, without doing justice at the same time to the grclat qualities, whencc that authority arose. . . . That fear of displeasirlg those who ought nlosr to bc ptcaed, betrayed f~inr'4sometirzres into the other extrenre, Elie had voted, and in the year 1765, ii~adbcen an advocate for the Stantp Act. Things and the dispositiorz of nterls ntirlds were changed. 111short, the Sranrp Act began to he no favortritc in this iiiortsc, He thcreforc atte~idedat the private meeting, in which the resolutions nroved by a Rjght Hon. Gentlenlan wcre setttcd; resolutions leading to the repeal. The next day he wred for that repeal; and he would tlave spoken for it too, if arz illness, (not as was then given out a politic20 but to my knowledge, a very real illness, had ~ i o preverrted t it, Tlze very xzext session, as the fasibiorz of this world psserh away, the repeal began to be in as bad an odour in this house as the Stamp Act had bcen in the session before. To conform to the ternper wllicti begarz to prevail, and to prevail nrostfy anrongst those most ixz power, he declared, very early in tlie Winter, that a revenue rnust be 112143 out of Anreria, frzstantty he was tied down to fiis engagemexzts t9y some, who had xzo objection to such cxperirnerzts, wlzerz ntade at the cost of persons for whonr they had no particular regard, The whote body of corlrtiers drove him ~lzward,They always talked as if the king stood in a sort of t ~ u nlitiated state, until something of the kind sllouid be done. Eliere this extraordinary nran, then Chancctlor of the Exchequer, found himsetf in great straits. To ptease t~rziversally
was the object of his life; but to tax and to please, rzo more tiiiarz to lovc arzd to be wise, is not gives1 to nteri. Howe\rc;r he atterizpted it. To render the tax palatable to the partizans of Aniericai~ revenue, he ntade a preamble stating the necessity of such a reverrue, To close with the Anrericar1 disti~ictio£l,this r e v e ~ r uwas ~ exterl-zal or port-duy; hut again, to sofren it to tlze other parcF it was a duty of reapply. To gratiEy the coloylrists, it was laid un British manufactures; to satisfy the merchn~rhof' BI.z'taizin, the duty was trivial, arid (except that. on tea, which touched only the devoted East India Cainpany) a n rzurze uf the grarld objects of contnterce. To connterwork the Anrerican coxltraba~ld, tile duty un tea was redneed from a shilling to three-peizce. But to secure the favour of those who woutd tax Anrerica, the scene of collectiorz was changed, and, with the rcst, it was levied in the Goloiiies. What need I say nrore? This fine-spun scherize had rhe usual Fate uf at! exquisite policy. But the original plan of tlze duties, and the mode of executing that plan, both arose singly and sotety froin a love of ortr applause, Hc was truly the chitd of the lzouse. He never tt-tougf-tt,did, or said any thing but. with a view to you, He every day adapted hirnsclf to your disposicisn; and adjusted himself before it, as at. a looking-glass.
Elience arose this uxlforru~lateact, the subject of this day5 debate; from a disposition which, after mllkirtg an American revenne to please one, repealed it to please others, and again revived i t in hopes OF pleasing a tlzird, arid of catcizlng something in the ideas of all. This revenue act uf 1767, forxncd the fourth period of htericaiz poticy Ht)w we haw fared since tllerr-what woefd variety of schemes iiiave kccn adopted; what en-
forcing, arld what repealing; what hrrllying, and what submitring; what doing, and unclairzg; what strairzixzg, and what relaxing; what assernbtia dissotved fnr riot obeying, and called agailz without obedience; what troops sent out to qrtell resisrance, arid an rneetirlg that resistarice, recalled; what shiftings, and changes, and jur-nblings of all kinds of men at iiiomc, which iefi xzo passibility of order, corisistency, vigt>ur,or even so nruch as a decent wniv of colour in any one put9lic measure. . . . After at! tlzese chariges arid agirations, your inrnrediate situation upon the question an your papcr is at lerigh brouglit to this, You have an act of parliament, stating that "it is expedient to raise a reveilue in America." By a partial rcpcat you anrzihilated tl-re greatest part of that reveizue, wtlich this preanzble dectares to be so expeclient, You iizave sut9stitutcd no other in the place of it. A secretary of state has disclaimed, in the king's llame, all rhot~&tsof sudi a substitutiorz in f1it~re.I~ The principle of this disctairner goes to what has been Iefr, as wlt as what has been repealed. The tax which lingers after its companions, (under a premrble declaring an America.11 revenue t-xpedient, and for tlze sole p u ~ o s e uF supporting thc theory of that prearnMc) rnititates with the assurarice autheizticatly coxlvcyed to the Colonies; and is an exharatless source of jealousy arid arzimosity. On this state, which I: take to he a fair one; rrot being able to disccr~iany groilnds of honour, advantage, peace, or power, for adhering, eirlzer to the act or to the prearnMe, f shall w t e Cbr the question which leads to the repeal uF both. If yc~udo not fall in wttlz this ntotiorz, then secrrre something to fight. far, consisl5"Rrke i s lefelling to a circufar letter rtf May 1769 wricrcrl by X ~ r dFiillsbc>rouglr,seLrecxry of state Eclr rlre ~olonies,
tent in theory and valuable in practice. Tf you xn~lsternptoy your strerzgth, ernptoy it to uphold yon in sonte horzouraMc right, or some profitable wrotrg. Tf you are appr&hesivc that the canccssian recoinrnerided to p ~ t thougb , proper, stlonld he a nreans of drawing on you f'urttzer b t ~ Ernt rcasonat9le claims,-why tlicn ernptoy ycltrr force in supporting that reasorzable concession against those wnreasoxlable demands. You wilt employ it with nlorc grace; with better effect; artd with great probable corzcurrerzce of all the quiet and rational people in the provinces; who are rzaw uirited with, arzd hurried away by, the vitzlerzt; having indeed difirent dispositions, hut a conlrllon interest. Tf you appreherrd that on a concession you shall bc pushed by ntetaphysicd process to the extreme lines, aid argued out of your whole authority> xny advice is this; when you have recovered your old, your strong, yonr tenable position, then face about-stop short-do nothixrg more-rcasorz not at all-oppose tlze ancient. policy arid practice of the enrpire, as a ranrgarr against the syecutarions of innovators on both sides of tlze question; and you will starzd on great, ~rranty,and sure ground. 011this sotid basis fix your machines, and they wilt draw wclrids towards you. Your ~ninisters,in their own and his Majesty" xramc, have atready adopted the Antericaiz distincticln of irlterr~dand exter11all duties, it is a distinction, whatever merit it xnay iiiave, that was originally rntwed by the Antericaizs tllenrtselws; arid I: think they wilf aquiesce in it, if they are rzat puslied with too xn~lchlogic and too little sense, in alt the consequences. That is, if external, taxation be uxldersroad, as they and you undcrsrand it when you please, to be riot: a distinction of geography, but of policy; that it is a po.cver f;tr regulating trade, and xrot for supporting establish-
ments. The distinction, mfzicfl is as risthing with regard to right, is of most weighty colzsidcrarioxz in practice, Recover your old ground, arid your old tranquillity-try it-X anr persuaded the Americans will compromise with you. m e n confidelzcc is once restored, the odious and suspicisus samrrrgm jgs will perish of course. The spirit of practicabifity, of modcmtio~z,and mutual cc)rzverzience, will never call in geonretrical exactness as the arbitrator of an amicable settle~tlcnt,Consult and follow your experience. Let not the long story with which T have exercised your patience, prove fruittcss to your ixztcrcsts.
Let us, Sir, embrace some systern or other before we end this sessicin. Do yort rneart to tax America, and to draw a productive reverzue from tiiie~zce?Xf you do, speak out: nante, fix, ascertaill this revenrte; settle its q u a ~ t i y d; e h e s its objects; provide for its cot!ection; and then figlzt when you iiiavc samething to fight far. f f you nturder-rob! Tf you kill, take possession; and do not appear in the char~cterof madx.r.zcrr,as we11 as assassins, violent, vindictive, bloody, artd tyra~lnical,without an object. But may kcttcr caunsets guide you! Again, artd again, revert to your old principles-seek peace and ensue it-leave A ~ ~ e r i c if a , she has taxable nlarter in iiier, to tax herself. I ant rtot here goixlg into the discinceioxzs of rights, nor attcnrpting to nlark their Bouirdaries. X do xrot enter into these ntetaphysical distinctions; I: hate the very sound of them, Leave the Axrrericans as they arrtiently stood, arzd thesc distinctions, born of ortr unhappy contest, will die along with it. They, and W, and their arzd our ancestors, have beelz iiiappy uirdcr that vstem, Let the ntentory of all actiorzs, in coxlcradiction to that good 016 mode, olz tmth sidcs, be extinguished for ever. Be
coxlterrt to bind Anrerica by laws of trade; you Ezavc alvvays done it. Let this be your reasori for binding their trade. Do riot burthen then] by taxes; you were ~lor:used to do so Goin the t9cginnixzg. Let this be your reasori fbr not tuing. These are tlze arguments of sr-aces and kingdoms, Leave the rest to the schools; for there only they may be discussed with safery, But if, internperarely, wwisely, htdiy, you sophisticate and poimn the very sourcc of governmexzt, by urgillg subtle deductions, artd consequences odious to those you govern, from the ~rnliniitcd and ilIlrzritahte nature of supreme sovereignty you will teach them by these nrearis to call that s(>vereigmryitself in qttestion. When you drive him iiiard, the boar will surely trtrrz upon the hunters. If that sovereignty artd their freedo111caIlnot be reconcited, which wit! they take? They will cast yonr sovereignty in your face. No body will be argued into sfavery. Sir, let the ~;eritlerzierron the other side cdi forth d1 their ability; let the best of thein ger: up, and tell me, wliat one ctlaractcr of l iberry the Anrerlcans have, and what one brand of slavery they arc frec front, if ttzey are borlrld in their property and indtxscv, by all the restraints you can irxragixle olz coinnzcrcc, arzd at the samc time are made pack-horses of every tax you choose to impose, without the feast share iri granting them? Wlien they bear thc burtherls of unliniited rrtonopol;v,will you bring then] to bear the blrrtlzens of ttntimiced revenue too? Tlic Eriglishrnan in Americd will feel tlzat this slavery-that it is Iegal slavery, will be no cotlipensation, either to his feelixzgs or his urzderstanding. A Noble Lr~rd,who spoke some tlrne ago, . . . has said, that the Americans are our children; and iiiow can they revolt against their parerit? He says, that if tlzey are not bee irz their present state, England is not frec; k3ccausc Manchester, and other
corlsiderable places, are rtot represented. So then, because sonre towrzs in England are rzat represented, h~icricais to iiiave xzo representative at all. They are "our chitdrerr;'%bue when childrerr ask for bread, we are rzot to give a stoize. IS it bccartse the riatural resisrarlce of things, arid tlze various mutations of time, binders our govcrnmcxzt, or arzy schcrnc of government, fronr being an): more than a sort of approximation to the right, is it ttlercfore that the Coloizies are to recedc from it ixzfinitely?Wheri this clzild of ours wisfzes to assinrifare to its parent, and to reflect with a true filial rescnzbXance the kcautcaus couteizarice of Britisli liberty are we to turn to ttlcnr the sliamehl parts of our constitution? arc we to give them our weakiiess for their srrength; our opprobrium For their glory; and the slough of slavery, wfiich wc arc not able to work off, to serve them for their freedom? I f this be the case, ask yourselves this quation, will they k9c contcrzt in such a state of slavery? ff not, look to the corisequerrces, Reflect haw you are to gover11a pmplc, who think they ought to be frce, arid think they are not. Your scfzente yields ~ l orevenue; i t yields nothing but Qiscoxltent, disorder, disobedience; and such is the state of h e r i c a , that &er wadirlg up to your eyes in btood you could only end just wfierc you kcgrtlz; that is, to tax where ricn revertrte is to be found, to-nty voice faitits nre; ~riyinclinatio~zindeed carries nre rza further-all is colzfusion beyond ir. W&, Sir, I Izave recovered a little, arld before 1 sit down 1 must say sonzething to anothcr point with which gentlemeiz urge us*What is to become of the declaratory act assertirzg the entirerress of British legislative authority, if we at9andon thc practice of tzarion? For nry part X look tryon the rights stared in that act, exactly ixz the maxzncr in
which T viewed rhenr on its very first proposition, and which X ii~aveofiert take11 the liberty, with great htrmilitry, tc:, lay before you, T took, T say, on the irtverial. rights of Great Britaixt, and the priviteges which the Cotonists ought: to enjoy under these rights, to be just the rrrost reconcitcabte tfzings ir-r the world. The Parliament of Great Britairt sits at the lzead of Iter exterrsive empire in lnrlro capaciries: one as the lacaf lcgisiaturc of this island, providillg far all tlzings at lzorrte, in~ntediatei~, arid by no otlzer instrurnerit than the exec~rtivepower,-The other, and X think tter rtablcr capacity3is what: I call her imperhi chdmcter; in wizich, as front tlze throne of tteawn, she superillrends all the several inferior legistatitres, artd guides, artd controls them ail withsitt arirtihitatirtg ariy, As all these provincial legisf atures are oxtty coordinate to each other, they uugitt all to bc subordinate to her; else they cart rieither preserve rrrutuat peace, nor hope for mutual justice, nor effectually afford xn~ltual assistance. It is necessary to coerce the negligent, ro restrain the violent, and ro aid the weak artd dcficicnt, t9y the over-ri~lilig pteriittlde of her power. She is riever to intrude into [lie place of the others, whilst they arc cquat to tltc comrnon ends of their institution. But in order to eitable partianre~ttro answer all tttese e~tdsof provident and kcneficcnt s ~pcrirtte~tdartce, l her powers nttlst be bo~lndless.The gmtlernen who think the powers of pal-limtent linzired, may please thcxnselvcs to talk uf requisitions, Bnt sklppose the requisittorts are rtor obeyed? What! Shall there be no reserved power irt the empire, to supply a deficie~iqwhich rnay weaken, divide, and dissipate the whote? We are engaged io war-the Secretary uf State calls upoil the Colorlies to corttributesorne would do it, X rhtnk most woulid chearfully fi~rnish wfiatever is dcmartded+9nc ur mo, sup-
pose, harig hack, arid, easing tlzemselves, let ttie stress of the draft tie on ttte 0theresurcly it: is proper, that some authority might legdiy say-"Tax yoitrselves for the conrnroxt supply, or partianrent witt do it b r you,'' This t9achardr-resswas, as I arn told, actually the case of Pennsy1varti;z far some short time towards the begi~tningof the last war, owing to soinc intcrltat dissentiorts in tlze Csiony. But, whetlzer the face were so, or otherwise, ttte case is equally to kc provided for by a contpetcltt s(3vereign pmver. But then this ougbt to he no ordinary power; nor ever used in the first insta~tce,This is wfiat X xneant, when I lzave said at various tirnes, that f cortsider the power of taxing in parlimrtt as an instruntent uf cmpire, and not as a nteans of "p pi).. SucXt, Sir, is rrry idea of tlte constitution of the British Enzpire, as distinguished front the constitittic3n of Britain; and on these grok~ndsX rttink subordixtarion and liberty xnay be sufficiently reconciled tbrougi~tlze whole; whether to serve a refining specufatisc, or a faccims dcmagogite, X know rtat; kilt ertoi~ghs~lrctyfor the ease and lzappirless of man. Sir, whilst W held this happy course, we drcw ntore front the Colonies than d)the impoteilt violerice of despotisat ever csutd extort from thern*We did this abundantly in the last war, It itas never t9cen once denied-and what reasort have we to irrtqine char the Colonies would nor: have proceeded in su p plyklg goverltntent as libcrally, if lzad not stepped in and hindered thenr from conrrihing, by inrernapting the chartxtet in which their tili3er;rliry flowed with so strortg a coitrse; by atteatpting to take, irlsread of bekg satisfied to receive, Sir Vi"illiaiz1 Ternp tc says, that Holland iiias loaded itself with ten times the irrtpositioits which it revolted front Spain, rather tttan is a poor sutlmir to, He says trite. Tyr~~trty
provider. Xt knows neither how to accunrulate, rzor how to cxtrAct. I clzarge therefore tc:, tlzis new arid unfartur-ratc systejzr the iass 13ot only of pmcc, of uxzion, and of commerce, tlut ever1 of revenue, mfzich its frierlds are contending fir,-Ir is morally certain, chat W have lost at lcast a nzitliarz of free grants since the peace. I think W have lost a great deal more; and that those who look for a revenue from the Provinces, xzevcr cortld have p~~rsued, even in that ligbt, a corlrse mcxe directly repugxlant to their purposes, Now, Sir, X trust X have shewn, first an that xzarrow gmurzd which the Hon. Gcntlenrtan me~sured,that yort. are like to lc~se nothing by conrplying with the ~rrotion,exccpt what you have lust already. X have shewn aftemards, that in time cif peace ycx.1 flourished in conrnrerce, and when war required it, had sufficic~zt aid horn the Cc>tonies,wlziie you pursued your antielit policy; cllac p t threw ~ every thi~zginto confusiolz when you xnade the sramp act; and that you rest~redevery thing to peace and order when you repealed it. X have shewn that the revivai uF the systcm uf vaxation has produced tlze very worst effects; arld tlzat the partial repeat has produced, not partial good, But univers"a1 mil. Let these consideraticins, founded on fzcrs, riot one of which can be denied, bring W back to your rcllson t9y the raad af your experience. I cannot, as I have said, answer for ntixed nreaures; but surely this nrixrtlre of lenity would give the whole a better cltancc uf succrss. Wt-ren you once again regain confidence, the way will be clear before you, Tlzen you xnay elzfarcc the act of navigation when it ought to he enforced. YCIU will yourselves open ir where it otdi&lrtt still further to be opened. Proceed ixz what you do, wlzatever you do, fic~mp~Iicy,ancl not froin rancour. Let us act like Irren, let us act like statesmen. Let us hold some sort of consis-
tent conduct-It is agreed that a revelnue is 13ot to he had i n America, If we lose the profit, let us get rid of the odium, O n this b.tlsiriess of h e r i c a I confe~sI am serious, even to sadness. I have had but one upinion concemirzg it sincc X sat, arzd before I sat, in Partiament. . . . I honestiy and solerzznly decfare, X t~avein all seasons adhered to the systenz of 1766, for rzo other reason, than that I diirtk it laid deep in yciur trtlest interests-and that, by limiti~zgthe cxcrcise, it fixes on the firnzest faurzdation, a real, consistent, well-grounded a~~tlzclrity i n parlianrent. Until you conre back to that system, there will be no peace fbr England.
Xntroducta~y. Mate to
Speech on Colzciliatiozz wi& A ~ ~ e r i m (177751 Relations becweerz Briieaz'n and tire Avlzerica~z collo~zkscarztinued to detertomte nfier Bgrkei Speeclz on Anterica11 Taxation (37741, At the end @Speech on American Taxation, Burke sktched the outljipzes of his solation to the American twzlbles. h Speech on Conciliation with Arzrerica, BsirRe p r ~ p ( l ~ eI~ij. d pldn f i r '%estol*l'ngthe firvter u~szsuspectiag c o ~ j d c n c e~fthe colonies icn the mother rognty " &s&e urgged thnzr cartciIz'atbn and compwrraise by Britn:r'rz was the on4 ratiunnl option open to r t s t o peace ~ w i d the AmsriCirZPZ coloyEir's1~. 78e heal*t of Bzkrkej.plal-z f i r carzct'liat;ion with &c. America~sechoed a
[email protected] of& ITjSh tirinking: 70d v ~ ithe t people of our colnnks irzto npz interest i n the constitution. " Flew we see Brsrke dgaipt attemp";i~tgm builld &p i~puriCksocz'eq tire fRilln&tz'on ofthe Briti~hconstittltion, Bzlrke cap-
tgred his uz'si~n~ f t h eBritisUmpirr. in irb stdltcrrraent that the erpire shoatd be nnimated b2 '2~Pljp ofspirit" bat. be chdrdcterized by ";7: diversig of operatioas," Burke conte~zdedthat the 7me1zt" "and ':"cohesion" c?fthe imperinl s n c i q depended 6tpon the Americnns>~doying prlaileges ~f power within the inperiaIfia;%tzrzk"ork. Burke? conciIint09 rmi~tz'onswere hedui4 defiated Park2gnzerzl; Four weeks btec Concod,Mdssdchwetts, hostilities betweel-z the Americans and the British began, r-
Speech on Conciliation with erica ( 1 775) f f-fl313~,Sir, that, nonnrithstazdilig the austerity of the Chair, your gt~cld-naturewill incline you to some degree of indutgetzce towards hurnan frailty. You will rzot &ink it uniiatural, tlzat those who have an object depending, which stronglly engages their hopcs and fears, should be somewhat inclirted to superstitiorz. As I came into the tlousc full ofanxiey about the event of rzzy motioxz, I found to my infinitc surprizc, that the grand pend Bill, by which we had gassed sentence on the trade and sustenance ufhzcrica, is to be returned to us fmm the otlzer House.'" do coxzfcss, X could not help looking on this event as a forrt~nate ' W r e A L ro ~ restrain the 'Jkdc and Carxrrnerce CIF the Proviclces of Masaclruxrk Bay and Mew Harngshire, anci Colorties of Connecticrtt anci Rhi>de Island, aici I'rovidence Flant;ltion, in Wolth h e r i m , to Crear Britain, Ireland, and cite Bxicislr Islands in the West Indies; and to prohibit srrch I'rovinces and Colonies horn arry-.ing on dry Eiskry on the Banks o f Wcwfonncilanci, anci other places therein mentioned, i~ndercertain C:ontJlrions and I,i~nirations, [Burke's i1c1te.l
omen. f look u p c ~ iti as a sort of providerztial bww; by which W arc put once more in possession of our deliberative capaeity~, upon a busilzess so very qt~estionablein its nature, so very uncertain in its isue. By the rcturxz of this Bill, which secnzeci to have taken its ifi$zt. far ever, we are at this vezy ilzstant nearly as free to chuse a plan for our hzerimn Govcrnmcnt, as we were uiz the first day of the Session, If, Sit; we irzclirze to the side of coxzciliation, we are not at aff ernbarrasscd (wztess we please to nztzkc ourmixttlre o f selves M)) t3y any incangr~~ous coercion and restraint. We are therefore called upon, as it were by a superior ATI ITirzg voice, again to atteizd to hterica; to attend to the whole of it together; and to review the suk>jcct with arz unrtsual degree uf care and calmness. Surely it is an awful subject; or there is none so on this side of the grAve. m e r z I first had the hortour of a seat in this House, the affairs of that Continent pressed themselves upon ~ts,as the most importaxzt and most delicate object of parliainenta~yatteiztion, ivy little share in this great deliberation oppressed me, X fourzci myself a partaker in a very high trust; arzd having r l o sort of reason to rely on the srrcngth of my natural abilities far the propcr exectztion uF that trust, I was obliged to take more than conrnron pains, to instr~~cc ~zzysclfin every thing which relates to our Colonies. I was n(>t less under the necessity of fc3rnrtirtg some fixed ideas, concerning the general policy uF the British Empire. Sornctlling uF this sort seemed to be irmdisperisahle; in order, amidst so vast a flncttrrttinf~of psiolzs and opix~iolzs, to conccntcr my thortdzts; to bdlast: my csnduct; to preserve nre fronr being blown about by every wind of Eastliolzable doctrine. I rcaljy did rzut think it safe, or ntaniy, to have k s h principles to seek upon every fresh Inail Whiefl should arrive horn Anerica.
Ac that period, T had the forairre to find xnysclf ixz perfect ct9ncurrcncc with a large ntajoriry in this House. Bc3wing unrfer that high authority, and perletrated with the sharpness and strength of that early impression, I lzave coritinned ever since, without the least deviation, in nry original sentixnelzts, %ether this t9c owirzg to an obstinate perseverance in error, or to a religiclus adherence to what appears to nre truth and reasorz, it is in your cql~ityto j~dgc. Sir; Parliamerit lzavirig an erilarged view of abjects, made, dtlring this inrervaI, more hequent changes in their sentinrerrts and their conduct, tkarz could bc justified in a particular person upon the contracted scale of private information. But citomgli I do not hward arzy thixzg approaching to a cerisnre o n the rnotives of forsner pariiatnrents to all those alterations, one fact is urzdoutlted; that urzder thern the state of America llas beer1 kcpt in csrztinuai agitation. Every thing dnrtnistered as remedy to the ~LIBIIcc o ~ ~ ~ p l aifi r it~ tdid , xzut produce, was at least fotlt3wed by, an heigltening of the distenrper; until, by a variety of expcrixncnts, that irztportant Country has beer1 brought into her present situation;-a situation, which T will 11ot nriscall, which X dare rzut name; which I scarcely k11ow !low to c ~ m p r e h e ~in~ d tlze terms of airy description,
To restore order and repose to at1 Empire so great and so distracted as ours, is, nterely in the attempt, an ~111dertaking that would ennoble the flights of the highest: gerzius, and obtairz pardon for the efforts of the nteanest understanding. Struggiirig a good while with these thoughts, by degrrccs 1 felt myself m o firm. ~ ~I derived, at lerrgth, some confidence front what in other circunrsrances ~lsually produces timidity. X grcw less anxia~ts,even from the
idea of my own insignificance. For, judging of what you are, hy what you ought to bc, I persuaded xnyscf-F,that you wonld not reject a reasortabie propositiorz, because it had nothing but irs reason to recomrrrerrd it. Qrz the other harzd, being totally dcsritute of all shadc3w of influence, rtaturat or adventitious, X was very sure, that, if nry pmposi6on were E U E ~ ~OP C darzgcrous; if it were weakly conceived, or improperly timed, there was 11othingexterior to it, of power to awe, daatc, ur delude you, Vot~ wit1 see it just as it is; and yort will treat it just as it deserves. The proposition is Peace, Not Peacc tlzrough the rnedi~~nt of War; riot Peace to be hllnted through the labyrinth of intricate arzd e~rdlcssncgociatians; xzat Pc"acc to arise out of urliversai discord, fonteizted, fronz principle, in all pars of the Empire; rzat Pcacc to depend on the Juridictll DCterntinatiort of yerptexing questioris; or the precise nrarking the s h a d o ~ bok~ndaries of a cornptcx Covernmelzt. Zr is simpie Peace; sougtrt in its natural course, and irs ordinar). 11aunts.-lt is Peace sought in the Spirit uf Pcacc; arzd laid ixz principles purely pacific, I propose, hy removing the Grtluxld of the difference, and by restoring the fi rlrzer unflas;oect.t.r~g CC)njdence of the Coionz'es irk the Molikrer Cozknti~to give perIrzallent satisfaccioxl to your peopfc; and (far Eram a scherne uf ruling by discord) to reconcile them to each otlzer in the same act, and by the bond of the very sanre interest, which rccorzcilcs thcrn to Briristl Gtlvernnterit , 1Vy idea is rrothiq mare. Refined policy ever has bcerz the pal-crzt of confusiolz; arid ever wit1 be so, as long as the wortd errdnres. Plain good interreion, which is as easily discovered at the first view, as fraud is surely detected at last, is, let nte say, of 11o nrean farce in the Governnrent of Mankirzd, Genuixzc Sinzpliciry of lieart is
an healing and cenrenting principle. My Plan, therefore, being formed upon the most sirnple grounds intaginable, may disappoiizt sonre peopte, when they hear it. Tt has rzothixzg to rccornmexzd it to the pruriericy of crrrious ears. There is norhing at all rrew and captivating in it, Tt has nothing of the Splcndar of the Project, wtrxicfi has beerr lately laid trparr ycltrr Table by the Noble Lord in the Blue Ribbalzd.17 It does rzot proposc to fill your Lobby with squabbling Colcrriy bents, mfro wilt require the interpositioir of your ~tlace,at: eve17 instant, to keep the peace anroxzgst thenr. It does rzut institrttc a xnagnificcnt Auctiolz uf Finance, where capti~atedprovirlces come to general ransonr by bidding against each other, until you h o c k down the hammer, arid deterntirte a proportioir of paymerrts, beyond all rlle powers ofAIgehra to ecjirafiz arzd settic. The plarr, which I shajf prealme to "gg e s ~derives, however, one great advantage from the proposition arzd registry of that Noble Lord5 Prclject. The idea of ctmciliation is adnzissibte, First, the Eliouse, in accepting the resolurialz moved by the Noble Lctrd, has admitted, riorvvttlzstandirig the rnenacing front of our Addless, nowithstandirzg our heavy Bit1 of Pains and Penalties-that we do not tlzink ourselves precluded fironr all ideas of free Grace and Bounry; The House has gtlrre farther; it has declared conciliation adt~rissible,previous to any s~lbnlissiorzun the part of America. It has evert shot a good deal beyond that rrrark, and has admitted, that the conrplaints of orlr fomler mode uf exerting the Right of Taxatiort were not whnfiy unFo~~nded. That right thus exerted i s ai''fmrd North, tlre prime m i n i s ~ r The . "'Rtue Ribband" refers ro the (Jrdcr of the Garter bestowed on Woitk by King <;eolge 111 in f 772.
lowed to have had something reprehensible in it; sonrething tinwise, or sonrething grievous: since, in the midst uf our heat artd reseirtntent, we, of ~trrselves,have proposed a capital alteration; and, in order to get rid uf what sccrncd so very exceptionable, have instituted a ntode that is altogether new; one that. is, indeed, wholly atierz from all the ancient methods arzd fornts of Parliament. The princ+le of this pmceediltg is large enough for xny purpose. . . . I meall to give peace. Peace implies reconciliation; artd where there has been a rrraterial dispute, reconciliatiolz does in a xnarzncr always imply coricessiciri or1 the one part or on the other. in this state of things T nrake no dif ficulty in &firling, h a t the proposd ought to originate frcm us. Great and acknowledged force is not iitzpai~d,either in effect or in opiniolz, by a11 ux~wilfingizes~ to exert itself. The superior power ntay oEer peace with tlanour and with safety. Such an offer from such a power will be attributed to magtianimity. But the concessiorrs of the weak are the concessions of fear. wlien such a one is disarxned, he is wholly at thc mercy of his superior; arrd he loses for ever that tinre and those cliances, which, as they happen to ail xncn, arc the scrcrzgtfl arzd resources of all inferior power. The capital feading qtlestions 0x1 which you mtlst this day decide, arc thcsc two, First, wllether you ought to coricede; artd secondly3what your coxzcession ought to kc, Or1 the first of these qrtestior~sWC have gained (as I have just takcrr the liberty of obsewi~igto you) sonre ground, But T anr scnsibtc that a good deal xnorc is still to t9c ~ deterdone. Irtdeed, Sir, to errable L I to nri~zeboth on the one and the other of these great q~~cstiorzs with a firm arzd yrecise judgernerrr, f think it may be rtecessary to coxrsider discinctty the true nature and the peculizr circuxnstarzccs of the object
which we have before us, Because aker ail our struggle, whether we will or rzut, we must goverrri America, according to that n a r ~ ~ r and e , to those circunrsta~rces;and xrat accordir-rg to otlr OWII irnagix-rations; rtot according to abstract ideas of right; by no nreans according to nrere general cheories of goverrrmcnt, the resort to wliicb aypears to me, in our present situatisr~,no better than arrant trifling. X hall therehre endeavour, with your leave, to lay kcforc yort sonte of the most ntateriat of these circumstarices in as full and as clear a marlrter as X anr able to state therri* Tlze first thing that we iiiave to colzsider with regard to the riature of che object is-the rrumber of people in the Colonies. X iiiavc takcn fbr some years a good deal of pains on that point, I: can by no calcula[ion jusci@ myself in placing tlre number t9ctow Two Millions of inhabitarrts uf our own European blood and colour; besides at least 500,0110 others, who form no incolzsidemt9te part OF tbc strcrzgth arzd opulertce of the mflole. This, Sir, is, I befievel about the true nunrber. There is no occasiorz to eraggcratc, where pplaixz truth is of so ntuch weigllt arid importance, But whether X put the prcsent nunrbers too iiiigh ur too lawI is a nlatter uf litttc xnontent. Such is the strength with whicl~ population shoots in tlrat part of the worid, that sratc the xrumbcrs as high as we will, whilst the dispt~tecontinues, the exaggcm"lo~ends. m i i s x we are discussing any given xnagrzittlde, they arc grown to it. Whilst we sperid cnlr tirrle in deliberating on the mode of governing Tkvo Miijions, we sbafl find we have Millions xnorc to manage. Vour ckldreri do not grtlw faster fronr inEancy to nranhood, than they spread from families to commurzitics, and from villageuo nations. X put this considerarjo~zof tire present and the growing xrumt9crs in the front of
our deliberation; becar~se,Sir, this csnsiderarion will nrake it evident to a blunter disccrxrxncrzt than yotlrs, that xro partial, riarrow, contracted, pinclled, occasional system will be at all suitable ta such at] or>jeer. It will sfzcw y011, that it is not to kc corlstdered as one of those Mi~z'mn: which are out of the eye and consideration of the law; xrut a paltry excrescence uf the state; riot a mean dependant, who may be negIected with little darr-ragc, and provoked with little danger. It will prove, that some degree of care arid caution is required in the harrdling such at] object; it will sfrew> that you urtght rzut, in reason, to trifle with so large a mass of the interests and feelings of the human race. k i t could at rzu time do sa without guilt; arzd kc assured you wili rtor be able to do it long with irmpuniy. But the population OF this courztry, the great and growing population, thotrgh a very important consideration, will lose much of its weight, if not conlbincd with other circumstances. The contmerce of p u r Colonies is out of all proportion heyond the xrumbcrs of die people. . . . I have in my hand twt) aGourits; one a comparative state of tire export trade of England to its Colonies, as it stood in the year 1704, arid as it stood in the year 1772. The orher a state of the export trade of h i s courztry to its Colonies alone, as it stood ixz 1772, compared wit11 the whole trade of E~igland to all parts of the worfd ftfre Gotoizics ixzcluded) in the year 1704. . . .
Fronl Five Hurrdrcd and odd Tho~tsand,it has grtlwn to Six iVittions, It has illcreased rro less ttran mclve-fold, This is the scare of the Go10xry trade, as cornpal-cd with itself at these two periods, witlrirl this century;-atzd this is nratter for rr-reditatioxr. But this is rzat ail, Exanline my sccolzd ac-
cerned in the exports front England. If I were to derail rile inrports, X could sb-rerv how Inarly enjoyrnents t h y procure, wfiich deceive the hurtheri of life; how maEty materials which invigorate the springs of national ixzdustry, and extend arzd aninlate every part of our &,reign and donrestic The trade with Arrierica aloxle is rlow within less thaxi 500,0001. of being equal to conrnrerce. This would be a curious subject what this great cominercial natiorz, Enindeed-but X must prescribe kouxzds to myself in a matter so vast and variotts. gland, carried on at the beginning of this 1 pass therehre to the Calonjes in ancentury with thc whole world! If I had other point of view their agricutturc. Tlzis taken the largest year of tiiose on your table, it would rather have exceeded. But, it will they have prosectlited with such a spirir, be said, is not this A ~ l e r i a l ltrade an wnthat, besides keding plentihrlly their own growing muttittlde, their annuat export of rzatttral prott~bcraizcc,that has draw11 the juices from the rest of the body? The rcgrain, contprehending rice, has sonte years ago exceded a Million in value, Of their verse, Xt is the very food that has nourished every other part ixzto its prescnt xnagnitudc. last harvest, I arn persuaded, they wilt exOtlir getleral trade has been greatly augport ntt~chm r e . At the &ginning of the rriented; and augmented nrore or less in aicenruv, soxrie of these Coloxlies in1ported most every part to which it ever extc~zded; corn Erorn the mother courztry. For sornc time past, tlze old wodd has beer1 fed front but with this ntaterial digererzce; that of the the new. The scarciey which you have felt Six ~blillio~ls which in the beginning of the wotltd have been a desotatixzg hmir-re; if century colzstltutcd the whole nrass of our this child of your old age, with a true filial export a>mmerce,the Goloriy trade was hut one melfth parr; it is now (as a part of Sixpiey, with a Roman charity had riot put teen Millions) considerably more thajz a the fuli breast of its yotlthful exubcrancc to third of rl~ewh<>le,This is the relative prothe mouth of its ed~austedparerit. portion of the iniporrance of the Colonies As ro the wealth which the Coto~lieshaw at these two paiods: and all reasoning condrawn from the sea by their fisficries, you had ail that rnatter f1llly operled at your bar. cerning orrr mode of treating tllem nttlst surely thought those acquisitions of have this proportion as its basis; or it is a value; for they seemed men to excite your reasorling we&, rottcrz, and sophisticd. erivy; and yet the spirit, t3y which tl~ateizterprizing enrgloynrerir: has been exercised, X choose, Sir, to enter into thcsc xninrtte ought r ~ t h in ~ rxny ~ opiniolz, to have raised arid particu1ar detaits; because generalities, your esteent and adrn~iratioiz.And pray; Sir, what in the world is equal ro it? kiss by the which in all other cases are apt ro heighterr and raise the sut9ject, have kcrc a t~e~zdency other parts, and took at the mailrxler in to sink it. When we speak of the contwhich the people of NLW E11y;iand have of late carried on the Whale Fisfiery. Wrilsr rnerce with our Colonies, fiction tags after wc follow thein among thc tumt-tting truth; inventiolz is urzfruithl, and inzagimottt~tainsof ice, and behold them perierlatiorz cold and barren. S o far, Sir, as ro the iriiparraxlce of the crating into the deepest frozen reccesscs of ot9ject in the view of its cof'~~mcree, as conHudsonk Bay, and Davis"s~rrcighc, wbitsr count. See tlow the export trade to the Galoxlies dune ixz 1772 stood in the other point of view, tlzat is, as compared to the whole trade of England in 1704.
we are looking for them beneath the Arctic circle, we hear that thcy have pierced into t l ~ eopposite region of polar cold, that thep are at the Axltipodes, and errgaged under the fkozerr serpent of the south.18 klkland IsSand, mtzicfz seemed tc->c:, rerrrote and rc->manric an object h r the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and restirrg ptacc in the progress of their victariorls industry Nor is the eqllinoctid heat nrare disc our;^^;ing to them, tharr the acctzmulatcd winter of both the poles, We know that whilst sorrre of ttrern draw the line and strike the harpoon on rhe coast of Africa, others run the longitttde, and pursue their gigantic ganre along the cowt of Brazil. No sea but what. is vexed by their fisheries, No climate that is not witness to their toits. Neitiiicr thc perseverance of Holtald, risr tire activiy of France, nor the dextrous and firm sagaci~y of English. errteryk~e,mer carried this most perilous mode of hardy iridrrstry to the extent to which it 11% been gushed Ey , this recclzt people; a peaplc who arc still, as it were, but in the gristle, and rist yet hardened into the boile of ~rrantlood,When T contenrplatc thcsc thirrgs; whcrr X know that the Colonies in general (->welittle or nothing to any care of ours, and that t17ey m xrut sqiteezcd into this iiiappy form by the constraints of watchfi1;l and suspicic->us governnrent, but that ttlmug11 a wise a i d salrttary rzeglecr, a generam nrztuE-c:has t3een suffered tc) take her own way to perfection: when T r-cflecr:r t p n these eEects, when I see iiiow prc~fitabtcthey have bcen to us, I feet all the pride of power sink, and att presunrption io the wisdonr of htznran contrivances mctr, arzd die away within xne. M y rigour relents. I pafdon sometlrir~gto the spirit of Liberry. "The curistellation E-fydrus, visible in the Sorrrhern Hemisphere near h c a r ~ r i and a represenred 13.r a serpent in ascronorxrbr.
I ant serisihle, Sir, that all mfzicl~f have asserted in nry detail, is admitted in the grass; but that quite a different conctusiolr is draw11 frorn it. Arnerica, (;errtiemen say, is a noble object. Xt is an object weff worth fighting for. Certainty it is, if figtiring a people be the best way of gaining them. Gentlenren in this respect wilt be led to thcir choice of means by. thcir camp texions and their l~abirs.Tlrsse wlro understand the nrititar). art, wiff of cotlrse have some prcdilcctioxz for it. Those who wield the thurider of the state, may have nrorc coilfidence in the efficacy of arnrs. But I colrfcss, possibly fbr Mi'airt of this knowitedge, my opinion is much more in favour of pm""dnt management, than of brce; considering force rzat as an odious, but a feeble instrument., fbr preservillg a people SO n ~ ~ n r e r o SO ~ s active, , so growing, so spirited as this, in a profiraMc arzd subordinate csrrnexion with us. First, Sir, pernrit rrre to observe, that the ttsc of force dune is t9ut tempomP.y. Xt xnay subdue for a morrrent; but it. does rist remove the necessity of stlbdtlirrg again: and a nation is not govcrrred, wbicti is perpetually to be conquered. 1Vy next objection is its urzcertaz'ng Terror is rzat always thc e&ct of force; arzd arz armainerit is riot a victc~ry.ff ysrt do not succeed, you are wichot~tresource; h r , cancitiatioxz hiling, force remains; t?ut, force failing, rio further hope of reconciliation is left. Power and auttlorirry are sometimes baugiit t9y kindness; hut thcy car1 never be begged as aims, by an impwerisbed and defeated violcrrce. A ftrrrhcr objection to forcc is, that you impair the object by your very erideavours to preserve it. The thing you fbughr for, is rzat the thing wfiich. you rccovcr; but depreciated, sunk, wasted, arid corisunted in the coiltest, Nothing less wit/ content nre, than whole Ame~;ic~;f. I da not clxoosc to
consunre its strength along with our own; bccausc ixz d l parts it is the British stre~zgtlii that I consnrrte. I: do not cl~uoseto be caught by a fbreigtr e~lerizyat the errd of this ehausting confiict; arid still less in thc midst of it, 1 ntay escape; but I car1 ntakc rlo i~zsuranceagainst such at1 everit, Let nre add, that X do xzot choosc wbotiy to t9reak tlze Anericarz spirit, hecause it is tlze spirit that has nrade the country. Lastly; we have rza sort uf everr'ence ixz favour of force as an iristrrtnterit in the rule of our Colonies, Their g~~"wtI"1 and their ~ltilityhas been owing to nrethods attogether difirent, Our arzcicnt indulgence has heerz said to be pt~rsuedto a fault. It rnay be so. But we know>if feeling is evide~zcc,that our bult was xnore tolerable tlza~zour attempt to merzd it; arid our sin Far more salutaly than our penitence, ?"hest, Sir, arc my rcasoris far rzat entertainirig tlzat high opinion of rlrntried force, by which nrany Gexrtteme~l,for whose scrztirncrzts ixz other particulars I kavc great respect, seem to he so greatly captivated. But there is stitl behilzd a tllird consideration concerlzing this object, which serves to deterlnine nty opinie~non the sort of policy which ought to be pursiled in the managcrncrzt uf Arxrerica, evcxz xnorc thaxz its PoptJatic)~zarzd its Contnterce, I: rnean its Emper a~zdChardc~er, X n this Gharacrcr of thc Americans, a love of Freedom is the predominating feature, which nrarks and distingrlisEies the wfiotc: arzd as ari arderzt is always a jcrnluus afkctisn, your Cslr->niesheconte suspicious, restive, and ~lntractable,whenever thcy see the least attcxnpt to wrest from them by force, or shuffle fromn them by chicane, what tlzey think the only advantage worth living for. This fierce spirit of Liberty is stronger in the English Colclriies pro"bahly than irz any other people of the earth; and this from a great variety of pow-
erf~i1causes; which, to understarzd the true tenrper of their nrinds, and the direction which this spirit takes, it will flat k9e amiss to fay open somewhat more largely. First, the people of tile Calotries are descendents af Ei~glishmcn.England, Sir, is a nation, which stilt I hope respects, arzd b r nzerly d a r e d , ller freedom. Zze Colon ists ernigratcd frarn you, when this part OE your character was ntost predominant; arzd they took this biass and direction the rrzonient they parted from your haxzds. Tlzey are therefore riot only devoted to Liberty, but to Liberry according to English ideas, and an Engjisk principles. Abstract Liberty, like other ntere abstractioizs, is riot to be fouxld. Liberty inheres in sonre sensible abject; and every nation has farrx~edto ity self sorrte faw3nrite point, which by w ~ of e~izinencebecoxrzes the criterioxl of their kappinss. It hayperzed, you know, Sir, that tlze great contests for frecdoin in this connlr-y were fronr the earliest times chiefly upon the question of Taxing. Most of tile contests in the arzcicrzt contmonweaichs turned primarily on the right of election of magistrates; ur an the balance arnorig t'ile several orders of the state. The question of nroney was not with tilenr so immediate, But in England it was athcrwise. O n this point of Taxes the ablest pals, and nrost eloquent toxlgues, have keen exercised; the greatest spirits iiiave acted arid suffered. In order to give the fullest salisbccion concerniizg the importance uf this point, it was xzut only nceess r y far ttiose who in argrlmerit defended the excellence of the E~xglishconstitution, to insist ail this privilege of granting moriey as a dry poirtt of fact, arzd to prove, that the right had been acknowledged in arzcicrzt parchments, arzd blind usages, to reside in a certairt body called ari House of Conrnrons. They went nrrrch f'ur~tler;they attempted to prove, and they succeeded,
ttrat in theor). it ought to be so, fionr the particular rzaturc of a House of Cornmons, as an irnmediate represerltative of the people; whether tire old records had delivered this oracle or not. Tlrey took infinite pains to inculcate, as a fundamental principle, ttrat, in ail ~rzonarcbies,the people rntlst in effect thcnlselvcs mcdiatcty or immediately possess the power of grarrtirlg their own nzoney or no shadow of liberty could subsist, The Colonies draw horn you as with their life-bloc>d,these ideas arrd principles, Their love of liberty, as with you, fixed and attached on ttris specific point of tzing. Liberty xnight bc safe, or mi&t bc eildarrgered in twerlty other particulars, witilour: their being ~rzuch pleased or alarmed, Here they felt its pulse; arzd as they found tlzat heat, they thortdlt themselves sick or sound, X do nor: say whether they were right or wrong ixz applying your general argltnterits to tlieir own case. it is not easy illdeed to ~rzakea nranopoty of theorcnls arzd corollaries. The $act is, that tlzep did thus apply tlzose general argtlnrents; and your nrode of governing ttrenr, whcther through lexzity or ixzdolcnce, tlirougli wisdoin or mistake, corrtirmed ttrenr in the inragination, clrat they, as well as you, had an interest in these conlnlan principles. They were hlrther c0nf;rmc.d irr this pleasing error t9y the form of their provincial legislative assemblies. Tlreir governnrents are popular in an high degree; some arc merely popular; in all, the popular representative is the most weighty; arrd this share of the people in their ordinary goverxrmcrzt ncvcr fails to ixzspire tliern witlz lofty sentimei~ts,and with a strrlng aversio~zfronr whatever terrds to deprive ttrerrr of rbcir chief importance. X arip thing were warltirzg to this necessary operation of the form of government, Religion worlld have givcxz it a complete
effect. Religion, always a principle of energy in this new peopte, is no way worrr out or impaired; arzd their mode of professing it is also one main cause of this free spirit, The people are protesrants; and of that kii~d,wfiich is the xnost advcrsc to all implicit subrrtissiorz of mirrd and opinioi~. This is a pmuasim nor o d y fawurable to liberty, but built upon it. X do xzot think, Sir, that the reasor1 of this averseriess in the dissenting cllurches fionr all that looks like absolute Govcrxrmcnt is so nl~tchto be sotrght in their- religious tenets, as in their history, Every oEze knows, that the Roxrzan Catiilolick religion is at least cucval with Inost of the governments where it prevails; ttrttr it has generally gone hand in hand with them; and received great favour arzd every kind of sklpport from authclrity. The Church of England too was hrmed from her cradle under tlze xzursing care of regular g o v e r m t ~ s But . tlze dissenting interests have sprung try in direct oppositio~rto at1 the ordinary pawcl-s of tlzc world; arzd could justify that opposition only oil a strong cfainr to ~raturalliberty. Their very existence depended on the powcrf~~l and urrrernitted assertiorl of that clairn. All prorestaxztisxrz, even the nrost cold and passive, is a sort of disscnt. But the religion most prevalerit in our Norther11 Cc~lonies is a refinemo~rton the principle of resistance; it is the dissidence of dissent; and the protestaiitisnt of tlze protestant relig i o ~This . religion, under a variety of derzomixzatiarzs, agreeing in xzothirzg but in tlze communion of the spirit of fiberty is predonri~lant io ~rzost of the Northerrr provinces; wficrc the Churclz of Englarzd, ricnmitlistarrdinr; its legal rights, is in reality no more than a sort of private sect, not composi~zgmost pmkably the tenth of the people. . . . Sir, I can perceive by their nranner, that sornc Gcnttcmelz object to the latittlde of
this description; because in the Souttler~l Goiunics the Ghudz of England forms a large body, arid has a regular establishIrrerrt, Xt is certainly true, There is t~oweryer a clrcuxnstarzcc attcndixzg these culonics, which in my opinion, fully counterbalances this difference, and makes che spirit uf jiberty still xnorc high and hauglity than in those to the Northward. It is that in Virginia and the Carotirzas, they have a vast xn~lttitudeof slaves, m e r e this is thc case in any part of the world, those who are free, are by far the most: prortd arld jealous of their fieedonz, Frecdonr is to thenr rzat only an erzjoymcrrt, but a kind of rank arid privilege. Nat seeing there, that freedonr, as in countries where it is a coxrrnron blessing, and as broad and gerzeral as the air, may be uriited with ntuch abject toil, with great nzisery>wit11 at1 the exterior of servitude, Lil9crty looks amongst them, like something that is more noble arid liberal, X do not Irrean, S~P; to conznzend the supmior xnorality of this sentiment, which has at least as rnuclz pride as virtue in it; but X cannot alter the Ilature of man, The $act is so; and these pcoylc of the Sot~therrz Cofonies are mrtch rnore strongly, arld with an higtlel: and Irrore stubborn spirit, attixchcd to lihcrty than those to the Northward. . . . In such a people the hauglitiness of donriftation combines with the spirit of frecdom, fortifies ih and re~rdersit ixzvincible. Permit me, Sir, to add another circuxrrstance in our Cotonics, wfiich contributes rio mearl part towards the grciwrh and efFccr of t-his untractatzle spirit. X mean their education. Irl no cotliztry ycrhaps in thc world is the law sci gerzeral a study. Tlre profession itsetf i s Iltlnzerous and powerfirt; and ixz most provinces it takes the lead. The greater riuinber of the Deputies sent to the Congress w r e Lawyers. Btnt all who rcad, and most do rcad, cxzdeavanr to ob-
tain sorne sntattering in that science. I have been told hy an enrilzent Booheller, that ir-r rzo tlranch of iiiis t9usincss, aftcr tracts of popular devsticln, were so ntariy books as those on the Law exparred to the Plantations, Thc Colorzists have now fallen into the way cif printing thein for their own use. T hear that they have sold nearly as maxzy uf Btackstorze's Commentaries in America as in Erigland. . . . This strldy renders nzen acute, inquisitive, dexrrot-ts, prornyt ixz attack, ready in defence, full of resources. fn other countries, the people, nrore sinrple and of a less ~rrercurialcast, jtldgc of an ill principle ir-r govcrxrment only by ari actual grievance; here they anticipate the evil, and judge of the pressure of the grievance by the tladness of tlic principle. They al.lgrrr misgavernment at a distance; m d snuff the apprroach of tyranny in every taintcd t9reezc. The last: catlse of this disobedierit spirit in the Caionies is hardly less powerful than thc rest, as it is rzot xncrcly moral, but laid deep in the riatural constitution cif things. T h e e thot-tsand nriles of ocean lie between you arzd thcrn, No contrivance car1 prevent the effect of this distance, in weakeniog Goverrrnrent. Seas roil, and nrolzths pass, kctwecn the order and the execution; and the want cif a speedy explanation of a single point is enot-tgtlto defeat an whole system. You iiiave, indccd, winged ministers cif vengeance, mfio carry p u r bolts in their youllces to the renrotest verge of tfnc sca. But tbcre a power steps in, that Ii~i~its the anogance of raging passions and furious etenzents, and says, ""S far shalt tliort go, and rzu farther." W11o arc you, that should fret and rage, and bite the chains of Nature?-Nothing worse happens to you, than does to ail Nations, wfio have exterlsive Empire; arid it happeris in all the farrrrs into which Enrpire can be thrown. Xr large t9odics, the clrcutatiun of
power xrzlrst be less vigorous at the extrenritics. Nature has said it. . . . This is the ixnntt~tablecondition; the eterrial Law, of exrerrsive and detached Empire, Tlzexz, Sir, from these six capital sources; of Descent; of Forin of Government; of Religioxl io the Northern Provinces; of Manners in the Southcrrz; of Education; of the Remoteness of Sittlatiorz from tlze First: Mover of Governnrent, fronr all these ctluscs a fierce Spirit of Liberty has growar up, fr lzas growrt with tile growth of the people in your Colonies, artd ei-tcreased with the encrease of rheir wealth; a Spirit, that urzhaypily xnccting with an exercise of Power in England, whiclb however lawf;ri, is not recanciieabte to any ideas oFLiberty, much less with theirs, has kirzdled this flame, that is ready to csr-tsume us, II do not mean to conrnrerld either the Spirit in this excess, or the moral causes which produce it. Perizags a more srnooth and accomnrodatirzg Spirit of Freedonz in them woukd bc more aaeccptablc to us. Perhap"iAc.as of Liberty ntight be desir-ed, more reconcileable with an arbitrary and t9ouxrdlcss authority. Perfiaps we might wts1z the Cc~Lorziststo be persuaded, that rt-teir Liberty is rrzore secrlre when held in trust for thcn-t by us (as thcir guardiaxzs drrrirzg a perpetual minoriy) than with arty px"'t"ft in their own hands. But &c qtlestion is, not whetfier thcir spirit deserves praise or blame;-what, in the name of God, shall we do with it? You have before you the abject; sudi as it is, with att its glories, with all its irrrperfccriurzs on its head. kbu see the magnirude; che importance; the temper; the habits; the disorders. By at1 these considerations, we are strongly nrged ro deternrine soxrzerhing concerning it, We are catled upon to fix some rule and line for our futnre cc>ndrlct,which Inay give a littk stabitiy to our politics, and prevent the return uf such unhappy dclibcratioxzs as the
present. Every such returri wttf bring the r-tzatter befose e w s in a still nrore untraceable farm. For, what astonishixzg and ixzcrcdible things have we not seen already What rnonsters have not been generated fronr this uxrxrat~tralcontcrztion? Whilst evcry prirzcigle of authority artd resistartce has been pushed, tryon both sides, as far as it would go, there is rzothing so solid and ccrtain, either in reassrzirtg or in practice, that has not been sfzaken. Until very lard5 all artthority in Allerica sccmcd to be xrothing but ari einariation front yotrrs. Even the popdar past of the Colony Constitution derived all its activity, and its first vital moverrtei-tt, front the pleasure of tlze Crown. We thought, Sir, chat the utnrost which the discantcrzted Golanists could do, was to disturb authority; we rtever dreanrt they could of tfienrselves supply it; knowirzg ixz gcxzerat what an aperosc business it is, to establish a Government absolutely new. Btrr having, fir our pwposes ixz this contention, resolved, that none but ari obedient. krjsernbiy should sit, the htrrnours of the people there, finding all passage throngh the legal cllanncl stopped, with great violerzce brcllre out: arzother way, Sonre provinces have cried their exyerimcnt, as wc have tried ours; and theirs ii~as succeeded. Tlzey have formed a Gclvernrnent sufficient h r its purposes, without the t9ttstte OF a Revolution, ur the troublesome formaliry of an Elecriur-t. Evident. necessity, and tacit cotlsent, have done the busirrcss ill an instaizt, So WCII they have done it, that: Lord Dunntclre1"l . . celts you, chat rt-te new institution is infinitely bctrcr ubcycd thaiz the anticrzt Guvernment ever was in its most forrunate periods, Obedience is what nrakes Government, and rzut the rzames by which it is "ohn Mtxrray fourth earl of Dunmclre and gclvernor of Virginia,
called: nor rile Ilajrze of Governor, as formerly; or Committee, as at prescszt, This new Government has originated directly from the people; ai\d was nor rransnritted througli any of clic ordinary artificial media of a positive corrstitution. It was rtot a ~rzanuFactureready fornred, and exported to them in that condition from Englarzd. The evil arising from hence is this; that tfie Colonists having once fbund the possibility of enjoying the advantages of order, in the midst of a straggle for Libcry, such stri~ggles will rtot henceforward seern so terrible to the settted and sober parr: of nrankind, as they had appeared bchrc the trial. Pursuing the same pian (of prrnishing disorders by rile denial of Governmerrt) to stiti grcatcr tcngths, we wholly abrogated the aritient Governmeirt of ~tlassachuset. We w r e coilfident, tllat 111e first feeli~~g, if rzot the vcry prospcct of anarchy, wvvorlld ir~staritl~ ertforce a cornpleat submission. The experinrerrt was tried. A new, strange, itizcxyected face of things appcared, Anarchy is found tolerable, A vast prc3vince has 110wsubsisted, and subsisted in a considerable degree of health arzd vigour, for near a meLve-ntonth, witfzont Governor, withortt pubtic Couflci!, without Judges, without cxecutivc Magistrates. How tulzg it will contintre in this state, or what ntay arise out of this unheard-of-situatictn, how can the wisest of us conjecture? Our tatc expcriertce has taught us, that many of those hlndamental principles, formerly believed ixzfallible, arc either rzat of the isnporta~zce they were irrlagined to be; or that we have nor at all dverted ro soilre other far more ixnpormrzt, arzd Ear nrorc powcrfu:UI pririciptes, mfzicl~eritirely over-rule those we had considered as omnipotent, T an1 nruch against arzy further experiments, which tend to put to the proof any ntore of these allowed opinions, lyVhiCh co~ltribweSO much to the public tranquillity. In effect,
we suffcr as ntt~chat l~onte,by this loc>sening of all ties, and this corlcttssiotl of all estaMIshed opinions, as we do abroad. For, in order to prcwe, that the Antericans have no right to their Liberties, we are every day endcavourixlg to subvcrt the maxitns, wl~ichpreserve the wide Spirit of our own, To prove that rhe Axrzericans ought not to t9e free, we arc ot9liged to depreciate the value of Freedoin itselt", and we never seen1 ro gain a paltry adva~lcageover ctlenr in debate, without atmcking sonre of ttiose principles, or deridirtg swte of those feelings, for wllich our ancestors have shed their blood. But, Sir, in wishing to put ari eild to pernicious experinrerrts, X do not nrean ro prcciudc the ftdlcst enquiry. Far from it. Far front decidirtg on a sudden or partial view, X would patiently go round and ronnd the sut9ject, and survey it minutcfy in every possible aspect. Sir, if l were capable of engaging you to an equal attention, I worlld state, that, as Ear as I am capat9te of discerning, there are brtt three ways o f promeding relative to this stubborn Spirit, whiclr prevails in your Colo~zies,and distr~rbsyorrr Governmeirt. Tlrese are-Tb change chat Spirit, as inconvenient, by renrovixzg the Causes, To prosecute it as criminal. Or, to cornply with it as riecessay. I wodd nor be gltihy of an imperkct enumeration; I can think of hut tiiicsc three. Another has indeed bee11 started, chat of t?;ivingup the Colonies; bar it met so stight a rcccption, that X do rzat think myself obkged to dwell a great while upon it. Tr is ~lothingbut a little sally of arrgcr; likc tiiic frowardrzess of peevish children; who, when they cannot get all they wc>rtXd have, are resolved ro take nothing. The first of these plans, to change the Spirit as inconvenieirt, by removing the causes, T think is the nrost like a qsterrratic proceeding. It is radical in its principle; but
it is attended with great difficulties, some of them little short, as I cconccive, of impossibilitie~~ This will appear by exainirlirlg into the Plans which haw been proposed. As the growirzg populatioxz in the C~lorziesis evideritly one cause of their resistance, it was last session ~rzentionedin t9otk Houses, by xnc~zof weiglit, and received not wittnrlrtt applause, that, in order to check this evil, it would be proper b r the crown to makc no further gralizts uf land. But tc:, tlzis scherrte, there are W Oobjections, The first, that there is already so nrrrch unsettled land in private hands, as to afford room fbr all inlmerzse future popt~lation,alttlough the crc)wrl riot or1l-y withheld its grants, but annihilated its soil, If this be the case, then the only effect of this amrice of desolatiori, this hoarding of a royal wilderness, woutd be to raise the vaiue uf the possessions in the iiialzds uf the great private monopolists, without any adeqkrate check to the growing atrd alar~zzing xnischief of population. Brtt, if yorr stopped your grants, what would be the consequence? The people would occupy without graxzts, They iiiave already so occupied in mariy places. You cannot station garrisons in every part of these deserts. EE you drive the people from one place, tlley wit1 carry on their anriuai till at;^, atrd renrove wit11 their Aociis and iiierds to arzuther. Marry of thc people ixr the hack settlemerits are already little attactzed to particular situations, Alrcady they have topped the Apalachian xnourztarns. From thence they hellold before therrz an imnrense plain, one vast, rich, level xncadow; a square uE five iiiurzdrcd ntites. Over this tlzey would wander, without a possibility of restraint; they would change their xnagzrzcrs with the habits uf their life; wotrld soon Eorget a governmentl by which they were disowned; woutd become Hordes of Eriglish Tartars; and,
pouring dc)w11upori your t~nfortifiedfrom tiers a fierce and irresistible cavalry, become xnastcrs of your Governors arzd your Counsellors, yorrr collectors arid comptrollers, and of all the Slaves that adhered to them. Such woutd, and, irz xro lorzg time, must he, the effect of attempting to forbid as a crime, and to suppress as an evil, the Gomnland arzd Btcssirzg of Provicferice, ""Eicrease arid Multiply." "cir would be the tiappy result of an errdeavour to kccp as a lair of beasts, that earth, which God, by an express Charter, has giver1 to the childreti of men. Far different, and surcty nluch wiser, has been urtr policy hitherto. Hitherto we have irzvited our people by every kind of bouncy, to fixed cstat9tishmcnts. We iiiave ixrvitecf the husbandman, tc:, look to auttrority far his title, We tzave taught hinr piot~slyto believe in thc mysterious virtue uf wax and parchmerit. We have thrt:,wri each tract of lairid, as it was pmopled, ioto districts; that the ruling power shou"l nncver kc wholly out of sight. We have settled all we could; and we have careftttly attended every settlement with govertzmerrt. Adhering, Sir, as I do, EO this policy, as well as for the reasons E have jllsr given, X thirzk this rzcw project of hcdgirzg-in papulatit:,~ito he rieitller pruderit rzor practicable. To impoverish the Colonies in general, and ixz parrictzlar ra arrest the noble cak;trsc of their marine enterprizes, worrld he a Irzore easy task. E freely confess it. We tzave shewxz a disposition to a system of this kind; a disposition even tc:, corztinue the restraint after the offence; looking on ourselves as rivals to onr Gotonies, and perslladcd that of course we must gain alt that they shall lose. Much mischief we nray certainly do, Ttie power inadcquatc to at1 other things is often more than sufficient for tt-tis. X do not look 0x1 the direct and immediate power of the G~fonicsto resist
our violence, as very forrrzidabte. Xn this however, I may k9e r'~iist:ake~z. But wfien I consider, that: we have Colonies for rio purpose but to be serviccahle to us, it secrns to xny poor understanding a little preposterous, to rnake them unserviceabfe, in order to keep chenr obedient, Xt is, in truth, notlling xnorc than the old, and, as I thought, expfoded problern of tyranny, which proposes to beggar ifs subjects into sut9mission. But, rcmemt-tcr, when you have cornpleated your systent of impcwerisilment, that Nature still proceeds in her ordix-rary course; that discontent will encrease with xniscry; and that there arc cnticai montenrs in the fbrtune of all states, when they, who are coo w a k to contribute to your prasperiy, may t9c strong enougii to c~ntpleteyour ruin, . . . The cerrzper and character which prevail ixz orlr Cotonies, arc, X am afraid, unatterable by any lmntarl art. We cannot, f fear, falsift the pedigree of this fierce people, and pmsuadc them that they arc rzot sprurlg frt>mna riatior~,in wlzose veins the blood of f ~ e d o mcircuiates. The larrguv in which t h y would hear you tekl them this tale, would detect the imposition; your speech would betray you. An Englishnla~zis the urzfittcst pcrsalz on earth, to argue another EngIisflmarl into slavery. X think it is nearly as little in our power to change tlieir rcpuklican XXetEg'rion, as their free descent; or to substitute the Ronran Catholick, as a penalty; or the Church of England, as an imyroveme~zt. "The nrode o f inquisitiot~arid Aragc)i>ning, is goiilg our of fashim] in the old world; and I should rzot confide muck to their efficacy in the new. The educatiori of the Anrericaxls is also on the same ~lnalterable bottanl with their religion. Uorl canxzot pers~ladethem to burn their boclks of curious sciexlce; to banish their lawyers fionr the 1 ights their corlrts of law; or to qi~e~zch
to choose of their asse~nbiies,by refilsi~~g chose persons who are best read in their privitcgcs. It would kc no less impracticahie to think of wholly arlrtihilating the popular assenrbties, in which these lawyers sit. The army by wfiich we must: govertz in their place, would be far ntore chargeable to us; not quite so effectk-tal; and perhaps, in the end, futj as difficult to be kcpt in obedience. With regard to the high aristocratic spirit of Virginia and the Southerr1 Colonies, it lias been proposed, f know, to redrrce it, by declaring a general eni-ranci-tisenrentof their slaves. This project iiias iiiad its advocates arid paneorists; yet I rlever could argue myself into any opinion of it. Slaves are ofte~zxnucli attactled to their xnastcrs. A general wild offer of liherv, would rlot always be accepted. F-iisrov firrnishes few instances of it. It is sornctinles as hard to yersuade slaves to be free, as it is to campet h e m e n to be staves; and in this auspicious scheme, we should have both these plesing talks on our liarids at: once. But when we calk of enfra~~chisenrent do we not perceive that the Amcricar~master nlay enfranchise too; arid arm servtte hands in defence of frcedonr? A I-treasure to wllich other people have ii~adrecourse xnore r-baxi olzce, and rzot withortt success, in a desperate situation of their af"%airs, Slaves as these urzfi>rttlnrztcblack people are, arid dull as all men are fromn slavery, must they not a little suspect the offer of frecdoxn from that very nation wfiich has s(>ldtlsern to their present masters? Frclnt chat xlation, one of whose causes of quarrel with those xna_sters, is their rcjFu~alto dcat arty ntore in that: inilurnari traffick? An offer of freedor11 fronr England, would come rather oddity, shiypd to then1 ixz an Africari vessel, which is reft~sedari entry into the ports of Virginia or Carolina, with a cargo of three hrtrzdred Angota ncgroes.
Tt would be ctrriot~sto see the Guilrea captairz atrcrnpting at the sarnc irzstant to publisl~his proclantatiorz of liberty, and tcz adverrise his sale of staves. But let us supposc at! thesc moral difficulties got over. Tile Oceari remains. You canjlot pump this dry; and as long as it calztinucs in its prcscnt bed, so long all the causes which weaken authority by distarice wilt continue. "kgods, annihilate but spacc and time, arzd nrakc two lovers happyYLwas a pious and passie~nate prayer;-but just as reasonable, as mariy of the serious wishes of very grave and solerrzn pof iticians. If then, Sir, it seents almost desperate to rtzink of any aiterarive course, for charlging the m a d cartscs (and rzot quite easy to rcntove the natt~rat)which prcsdr~ceprejudices irrecanciteabte to the iace exercise of our authoriy; but that the spirit infidtlibly will contirzue; and, contintring, will produce st~cfleffecrs, as now errzbarrass ws; the sccand xnodc urzdcr curzsidcrtltioxz is, to prosectlte that spirit in its overt-acts, as
criminnl. At this pr~posirion,X xnttst pause a mament. The thing seems a great deal too big far my ideas of jurisprudence. Tt & o d d sccm, to xny way uF colzceivirzg such xnarters, that there is a very wide difference in reason and policy between the nrocle of pmca&i~rgon the irregular conduct uf scattered individuals, or even of harzds of men, who disturb order within the stare, and the civil disscnsiolzs wfiich m* horn time to time, on great questions, agitate rtze several conrnrrrnities which canrpose a great Empirc. Xr laoks to me to t9c xzarrow arzd pedantic, to apply the ordinary ideas of criminal justice to this great public contest, X do xzot h o w the method ufdrawirzg up an indictment against-an whcj1e people. T cannot insult arrd ridicule tlze feelings of Millions uF xny fellow-crcarr~rcs,. . . I am
not ripe to pass serzterzce on the gravest public bodies, entrusted with nragistracies uF great authority and digniy, aarzd charged with the safety of their feilow-citizens, tryon the very sanre title rhar T anr, T really thirtk, that far wise men, tliis is not fudicious; for sober nten, not decent; for ~rrindstilrccurecl with huxrratlicy, not nrild and merciful, krhaps, Sir, I am mistafceri in my idea of an Empire, as distinguished fro111a single Scare or Kingdoxn. But my idea of it is this; that an Empire is the aggregate of Irrany States, trrlder one conrmon head; wfierher this head t9c a xnonrzrch, or a prcsiding repuhlick. It does, in such consrittltinns, frrqwrttty happen (and nothing but the disnraI, cold, dead unifol-xniry.of scrvitude can prevent its happeiririg) that the subordinate parts have Irrally local privilcgcs and ixnmurzitics, Bcmccn thesc privileges, and tlre supreme conrmnn authoricy, the lirre nray be extremely nice. Of coursc dispkltcs, often too, very t9itter disputes, arzd much ill blood, will arise. But thot~glzevery privilege is an exenr gtion (in the case) konr the ordinary exercise uf the suprente autf1(>rit)7;it is 110deriial of ir, The clairzl of a privilege seems rather . . . to imply a superior power. For to talk of the privileges of a State or of a person, who has 11o superior, is hardly any better than speaking nonscrzsc. Mow, ixz such urzfartunate quarrels, ammg the component parts of a great potiricat ttrlion of conrmrtnities, X call scr-lrccty conccivc arzy thing mare compleatly irnpruderit, than ibr the Head of che Empire to insist, that, if arry privilege is pleaded agairzsr fiis will, or his acts, that his whole auttroriry is denied; instantly to proclai~zlrebellion, to beat to arms, and to put the offerldlng provinccs urtder the bari. WiII not this, Sir, very soc)rr tcactz the provinccs to nrake no distinctioxzs on their parr? Will it nor teach them
that the Governnrent, against which a claim uf Liberty is tantamount to hightreason, is a Government to which sub~rrissionis equivalent to stavery? Ir: nray ~zot atways kc qrtitc convenient to imyxss dependerit contmunities with such a r ~idea. We are, indeed, in all disputes wicfz the Golo~zics,L9y the nccessity of things, the judge. ft is true, Sir. But, T confess, that the character of judge in nzy own came, is a thing that frightens me. Xrzstcad of filling me with pride, f am exceedingly huinhled by it. I: carinot proceed with a stern, assured, judicial confidence, until T find myself irz something more like a jtldiciaf character. f must have these hesirations as long as E am conrpelted to recollect, chat., in nry little reading upon such c~91litest:sas thesc, the sertse of mankind has, at least, as often decided against the superior as the subordinate power. Sir, let me add too, that the o@ioiz of rrry having some abstract right in nzy favour, woufd not put me much at my case in passing scrztcrzce; urzless I could be sure, that there were no rights wlzich, in their exercise under certain circunrscances, were not the most odia~lsof aft wrongs, arid the most vexatious of all injustice. Sir, these corlsideratiorls tzttve great. weight with xnc, when I find things sa circuxnstanced; that I: see the sarne party, at orzce a civil litigant against me in a point of right; arzd a culprit bcfure me, wfiile X sit as a crinrinirf judge, on acts o f his, whose ~rroralquality is to be decided upon the merits uf that very litigation. Mcrz are every rzow aizd then put, by the csrnplexity of human affairs, into strange sitt~ations; but jusricc is the same, let the Judge be in what situation he will.
fn this situaticln, let us serior~styarid coolly ponder, What is it we have got by all OUT melzaccs, which have keen nzany arzd fero-
cisus? What advaiitage have we derived frorlz the penal laws we tzave passed, a d which, for the time, have L9ccrz scverc arzd numersrts? What advartces have we made cowards our object, by ctze sending of a force, which, by la~zdarzd sca, is no contenrtprible strength? Has the disorder abated? N~otfzingless.-Wzen X sec things in this situatior~,after such carzfident hopes, bold promises, arzd active exertions, T cannot, for my life, avoid a suspicion, that the plan itsctf is not correctty right. If thert the renrrovat of the causes of this Spirit of Anresican Liberty be, far the greater part, or rather clztircly, impracticable; if the ideas of Crirninal Process he inapplicable, or, if applicable, arc in the highest degree inexycdierzt, what way yet remairzs? No way is open, but: the third and last-to conrplg with the American Spirit: as xzeccssary; or, if you please, to submit to it, as a rtecessary Evif. If we adopt: this mode; if we mean to conciliate and colzcede; let ~ t sscc uf what rzature the csrzcessiort ought to he? To ascertain the Izature of our coxlcession, we m~;tstlook at tficir complaint. The Colonies csmplain, that they have riot the characreriscic 1Vark and Seal of Britis11 Freedom. They camplaidin, that tficy art: ~axcd a k r liament, in which they are rtot represeizted. Tf you mean to saris@them at all, you nrua satis6 then1 with regard tu this comptaint. If you rneart to ple~searty people, you must give thetrr the booxl whicfz they ask; ~zot what you nzay think Bcttcr for them, but of a kind totally- differerzt. Such an act may be a wise regulation, but it is no concession: whereas our prescizt thcrne is the nzode uf givhg satisfactic>n. Sir, X think you nrust perceive, thac T anr resolved this day to have rzotlling at at1 to do with the question of the right of t x a it: is cion. Sonre gencllet-rren startle-but true: I put i ~ o ~ a Iout l y of the q~~estioiz. It is
less than nodling in my consideration. X do xzut ixzdccd woizder, nor will yo~t?Sir, that gerrtlernerr of profcrund learrring are fond of displaying it on this profound subject, But xny consideratioxz is rzarrclw* confined, and wjldfy lirrlited to the Policy of the question. X do xlot exanline, whether the giving away a man? smoncy kc a powcr excepted arzd reserved c:,nt o f tlze general trust of Gcwernnrerrt; and how far all rrratlktnd, in at1 Eorxns OF Patity; arc ixztitled to an exercise of that Rigllt by the Charter of Nature. Or wlzether, or1 the contrary, a Kght of Taxation is xlecessarily involved in the general pAnciple of: Legislation, and inscparablc frc-zin tlze ordinay Supreme Power? These are deep questions, where great rlanres milltatc against each ather; where reason is perplexed; artd an appeal to autlzorities only tt-tickens the confusion. For high and reverend authorities lift up their heads an bath sides; and there is no sure footing in the middle, This point is the great Serbunian bog betu~ixtBdmktg nnd Mount Casius, Q&
where a r m k w h ~ haue b sg~k.lOX do riot
iotend to be ovewhetnred in that bog, thougi~ixz such respcctat7le comparzy; Tlre questiorz with me is, rtot wfretlrer you have a right to rerrder your people nriserable; b t ~ t whctlzcr it is xzut yortr ixztcrest to nrakc thein happy? It is not, what a l a y e r tefts me, I mny do; but what tlumaniry, reaon, arzd justice, tell me, I oltght to do. Xs a poiitic act tlre worse fix being a generous one? Xs no concession proper, but that which is nrade Emm your want of right to kcep what you gratzt? Or does it lesser1 the grace or (fjgClit)rof relaxing in the exercise of arz adiorls daim, kcctlusc you have your evidence-room full of Titles, and your n t q azines stuffed with arms to enforce them? %at signifi" dI those titles, and all those arnts? Of what avail are they, when the sea-
son of rlze thing tells me, that the assertioir of my tide is the loss of my suit; and that X could do xzothixzg but wound mysclf by the use of my ow11 weapc)~is? Such is stedhstly my opinion of rtlr absolute ncccssiry of kccpixzg LIPthe cor~cord of rlzis empire by a llnity of Spirit, thotrgil in a diversiy of operations, that, if X were sure the Goloxzists had, at their leavixzg this country, sealed a regt~larantpact of semittlde; thac they tlad solerrrnly abjured all the rights uf citi~cns;that they had nracic a vow tc:, renonrzce ati Ideas of Liberty for them and their p o s t e r i ~to all generations; yet X should hold mysctf oMiged to coizfornr to the ternper f found t~rtiversatlyprevdent in rny own day, and to govern rvvo nrillion of men, imyatient of Servitude, un the yrinciples of Freedom. f a n not deternrtini~~g a point of law; X am restoring tsanquilir-y;and the general character arzd situation of a yeoplc nttlst deterlnirte what sort of governrnent is fitted for &em. Thar point nothing else car1 or uuglit to determine. My idea therek3re, without cortstderislg whether we yield as matter of right, or grant as nratter of fiavour, is to ndmit the p q l e of oar CoIunk i~ktoaa interest i ~the l corzstit~ltjlon;and, by recording that adnr issiun in the Journals of Parliamexzt, to give them as strc:,~tgan assnraficc: as the Iiature of the thing wil aclnrir, that we mem fbr ever to adhere to that soternn declaearialz of systematic inbuigence. Sonre years ago, rhe repeal of a retrenue act,zl upon its urzderstood principle, might have served to shew that: we intended an unconditional abacerrzent of the cxercisc uf a Taxixzg Pawcl: Such a xncasrlrc was tlzeri sufficient to rernove all suspiciorr; and to give perfect content, But ~tnfbrturzate evexzts, sincc that tinre, xnay xnakc z"7"he 1766 reged cif the Stamp Act of 1765 by rhe Roskinglram adrniniswarion.
sorlzethirtg firrther necessary; and #lot more necessary for the satisfaction uf the Colonies, than for tlze digrzity arid corisistency of our own filtttre proceedings. X have taken a very incorrect measure of tlze disposition of the House, if this progosat in irxlf would be received with disiikc. X thixzk, Sir, wc have f ~ w Anzerica~zFirianciers. But our mishrtnne is, we are tot) acute; we are too exqlrisliee in our conjectures of the future, for men oppressed wit11 such great arid present evils. The more moderate among the opposers of ParhaIrrentary Concession freely confess, that they hope rzo good from Tmtion; but they apprel~end tlze Colorlists have further views, and if this goirzt were conceded, thcy would instantly attack the Xadelaws." These Gentlenrerl are convinced, that this was the intention (%amtile beginrzing; arzd the quarrel uf thc Americans wirh Taxation was rio ntore than a cloke and cover to this design. . . . II am, however, Sir, xzot a little susprized at this kind of discorrrse, wheizever I hear it; arid I am the Irrore surprized, on account of the arguments which I colzstantty find in coinyarzy with it, and wlzich are ofken urged froin. tlze same ~ r r o ~ t hasi,d on the same day. For instance, when WC altedge, that it is against reason to tax a people under s s Irrany restraints in trade as the Anrericans, the Nabte Lord in the blue ribband shall tell you, that: the restraints on trade are futile and ~rscless;of no &vantage to us, and uf no burtherz to those an whonz they arc intposed; that the trade to Anterica is riot sectlred by the acts of ~lavigation,but by the rzaturai and irrescible a d v a n t a ~of a commerci;zl preference. Such is the merit of the trade laws io this posture uf the debatc, But wl-rexz ZL'l'fre legislation regulating the Lomrxlerce of the A~nericancolonies for the benefit of ZSrirain,
strong internal circumstarlces are urged against the taxes; when the scherzze is dissected; wherz cxycriencc and the rzartlrc of things are hrougli~tto prove, and do pmve, the utter impossibiliv of obtaining an effcctive rcvexzue from the Colonies; when these things are pressed, or rather press thenrsetves, so as to drive tile advocates of Calony taxes to a clear admission of tlzc futility of the scheme; then, Sir, rlle steeping trade laws revive from their trance; and this usetess taxation is to t9c kcpt sacred, not for its own sake, but: as a counterguard and sec~rriryof the laws of trade. Then, Sir, you kecy up the revenite laws w11icft are mischievc)r~s,in order to preserve trade laws that are useless. Such is the wisdon1 ufaur ptatz in both ics xnembers. Thcy are separately given up as of no value; and yct one is always to be defended for the sake of the ather. But I carznot agree with thc Noble Lord, nor with the pamphlet front whence he seetrrs to have borrowed these ideas,2kc)ncerningtlle inlttility of the trade laws. For witltotrt idolizing them, I arn sure they are dll, in nrany ways, of great use to us; and in former times, they have bee11 of the greatest. l-hey do a n h e , arid they do greatly Ilarrow? tile market h r the Americans, But my pcrkct colzvictio~zof this, does riot help me in the least to discern how tile revenue laws forrzr any securiy whatsoever to the cc9mmcrcial regztatiuns; or that these contntercial regulations are the true ground of the quarrel; or, that the giving way in any alze ixzstance of authoriy, is to lwe all that may remairl una3riceded. Orie fact is ciear and indisputable. The putltic and avowed origirz of this quarrel,
23Bui-ke i.; probably referring ro Jo.;ialz Tuckcr's l;i7~rZtzi^r~(-ts> Egether with I b g ,Yenno~z,, an Political aipld Cilm~nercialS t i b j ~ c tkpubfisheii ~ in 1774, in wl-lich "Iircker acta~kedrhe rrade labvs specificdlly and mer~anrilismas a wade p o l i g~ n~e r a l l ~
was 0x1 taxation. This quarrel has indeed t9rought on xrew disputes olz rzew qr~estiolzs; but wrtairrly the least bitter, and the fewesc of all, on the trade laws. To judge which of the two bc the reat radical cause of qt~sret, we have to see wl~etherthe csmnterciai dispute did, in order of time, precede the dispc~teon taxation?There is rzot a shadow of clvidertce for it. Next, to ertahie us to judge whether at this nronrent a dislike to the Trade Laws bc the real carts@of quarrel, it is absr>lt~tei~ giecessary to put tlre taxes out of the quesciorz t3y a repeal, See how the Anerica~rsact in this posicion, and tlren you will t9c able to discern correctIy what is the true object of the coritrc>versy,or whether ariy controversy at all will rerrzain? Unless you consent to remove this cause of difference, it is impossible, with decerrcy, to assert: that the dispute is not upon what it: is avowed to t9e. Ard X woufd, Sir, recommend to your serious cor~sideratisn,whether it he prudent to form a rule for pz~nisttilrggeopte, xrot on their own acts, t9ctt on your cor~jectures? Surely it is preposterous at tlre very best. Tr is not justi+ing your ant;cr, by their xnisconduct; but it is convertixig your illwill into their deliriquen~. Bttt the Colorrics will go firrtfrel--Alas! alas! wlzerr wilt this syecutatixlg agalxzst &act artd reasorz end? What wilt quiet these panic fern which we entertain of the hostile effect uf a colzcltiatory conduct? Ts it true, that n0 case cart exist, in which ir. is proper for the sovereigtr to accede to &c desires uf his discurztcnted subjects? Is there any thing peculiar in this case, to make a rule For itself3 Ts all aurhority of canrsc lost, whe~zit is xrut pclshed to the extreme? Is it a certailt ntaxirn, that, the fewer carzses of dissatisfaction are left by govertzmerrt, the morc the subject wilf be inclined to resist arzd rebel? A l these objectiolls being irr fact no xnorc than suspiciorrs, calzjectures, divina-
tion~;forrned in defiance of fact arzd experience; tlrey did nor, Sir, discourage me from erztertaining thc idea of a conciliatory c~rtcessiorz,founded 011 the prirrciples which T lrave just stated. Irz forming a plan for this purpose, X exzdeavoured to put rnyself in that frame of ~rzind,which was the nrost natural, and the most reasonable; and whiictl was certaixzly the nrost probable nreans of sec~aringme fronr all error, T set out with a perfect distrust of my own abilities; a tocat renunciation of every specrtlation of my own; arzd wit11 a profound revcrerrce for the wisdonr uF our ancestors, who have lek us the ixzheritarzce of so l~appya csr~stirutic>n, arzd so Rortrishirtg an empire, and what is a thorrsagzd cirncs morc valuabtc, the treasury of the maxims and principles which fornred tire one, and obtained the other, . . . But, Sir, I ain surc that I shall not bc misled, when, in a case of constitutional diffictrtty, T consult the genius of the English constitution. Co~zsu1tingat tfrat oracle (it was with all due huirzility and piety) f found four capital exar1zples in a similar case t9eforc me: those of Xrcland, Wales, Chester, artd Durflarn. Ireland, before the E~~glish cotrquest, though never goverrred by a despotic power, had no Parliament. flow far the English hrliatrrent itself was at that tinre ~rzodelied accordilzg to the present form, is dispelred m o n g antiqtlarians. But we have all the reasoIr in the world to be assured, tirat a farm of Parliament, such as England then ertjoyed, size instarztty corrrmt~nicated to freland; and we are equally surc that alnrast every succcssivc improvement ixz consritutional liberty, as fast as it was made here, was transmitted ttr itfrer. The feudal Baronage, a~rdthe feudd K~iighthood,the roots of orlr primitive cor~sticution,were early transplanted into tlrat soil; and grew and floe~rishedthere. Magna Charm, if it did
kin&orn that it is; and fron1 a disgrace and a krtrthen intolerable to this xzatian, iiias renhred her a principal part of our strertgrh and ornanrent. This county allnot be said to have ever formally taxed iiie~~ . . . Your Irish perisioners would starve, if they had no other h n d 10 live of1 than taxes grarlted by English authority. Tbnz your eyes to those pop~ttargralts from wfleizce ail your great supplies are come; and learn to respect that only sortrcc of public wealth in the Britistl empire. kMy next exantpie is Wales. This csurltry was said to be reduced by Henry the Third, It was said nzore truly to he so by Edward the First. But: tholrgh then coquered, it was not looked upon as any part o f t b e realm of England. Its old constitution, whatever that migl~thave been, was destroyed; and no good one was substituted in its place. The care of thar tract was put irzts the hands of Lords Marchers-a fornt of Governnrent of a vwy singular kind; a straizge iiieterogcxzeous xnonstcl; something between Hostility and Governmeizt; perhaps it has a sort of fitsenrblance, according to the modes of thosc times, to that of contntarlder in chief at present, to mflont all civil power is granted as seconday The nzanxzers of the Welsh nrztioxz EotIowcd the Geiiius of the Government: The people were Ferocious, restive, savage, and uncuttivatcd; somctimcs composed, xzevcr pacified. Wales witllill itself was in perpetual disorder; and it kept the Froxltier of Ellgland ixz perpetual alarm. Benefits from it to the state, there were none. Wales was only known to Endand, by incursio~land invasioxz. 24Aurhol- of L3i~c~t)~rjC ofthe 7nte Causes Wihji IreSil, during that state of things, Parkaiarzd Was Nezier Epztir~hSubdued "(ilatil the Bagir~tzi~lcy nrent was not idle, They atcenrgted to subo/'NZc h4aje~tiriHgppy Reig~,published in 1612. due thc fierce spirit of the Welsh by all '"The Endisll C;Iorious 1ievofucion o f 1688, dursorts of rigorous laws. They prol~ibitedby ing which the pmtestanr WiUim o f Orange ww instatute tile sending dl sorts of arms into vited ro take rlre rlrrorle CIFEllgland ro save Englar~d Wales, as yort prohibit by proctamatian fro111 rhe iimposicio~lof C:arhoIicisrxr by Jnrrles If.
rrot give us originally the House of Commons, gave us at least arz House of Cornmoris of weigl~tand consequence. But your ailCeStoSS did nor: churtislrly sir down alone to the fe~stof Magna Charta. Ircsland was made imntediately a partder. This benefit II confess, was of E~lgtishlaws and tiberrie~~ rzor at first extended to nll Iretaizd. Mark the conseqtteizce. English attthorilry and E~lgtish liberrics Etad exactly the sanre hok~ndaries, Your standard could never tx advanced arz inch befiire p u r privileges, Sir John DavisZ" shews beyond a doubt, that the refusal of a gerleral conznlurli~acionof these rights, was the true cause why Irelatzd was five tl~irzdred years in subduing; and afier the vain projccrs of a Military Gove~rrnrent,attempted ixz the reigrz of Quecrz Eli~abcth,it: was sooiz discc->vered,that ricnthirtg could make that county English, in civilicy and allegiance, but your laws and your fornzs of Iegislature. It was not Eqlisil arms, but tile ExtgliSh constitution, that conquered Trelartld. Fronr that time, Ireland has ever iiiad a general Parliarrtent, as she Izad before a pastid Parlianrenr, You chzrxlged the peopte; you altered thc religion; but you rzever touched the fornr or the vital substance of free goterrrnrerrt in that kingdom, You deposed kings; you restored them; you altered the succession to tfzeir~~ as we11 as to your owii crown; but you #leveraltered their constitution; thc pri~zcipleof which was respected by usurpatiori; restored with the restoration of Monarchyi; and established, II trust, far cvex; by the gtorious Itevolutiorz." This has ~nadeIrelatid the great and flourishing
. . . the sending arrrzs to America, They disarrxled the Welsh by statute, as you attesnpted . . . to disarnri New Elzglarrd by an instruction.. They nrade an act to drag offerzders froin Wales into Englaxzd for trial, as yort have done . . . with regard to Anerica. By another act, where one of the parties was an Erzglishmarz, thcy ordained, that his trial sizor~tdbe always by English. They made acts to restrain trade, as you do; and they pxvelzted the Welsh from the use of fairs arid markets, as you do the Anriericaris from fisfreries arid foreign po~ts.[Inshort, whet1 the stature-hook was xzot quite so xnrlck swelled as it is now, you find no less than fifteen acts of perral regulation on the subject oFWales, Hcrc we r r ~ bour hand+A firzc body of precedents for the authority of Parliamesit and the use of it!-X admit it f ~ ~ l l and y; priy add likewise to thcsc precedents, that all the while, Wales rid this kingdon1 like an incubzas;26 that it was an unpmfirab1c arzd oppressive t9urtke~z;arzd that an Englisl-tman travellirlg iri that catmtry, codd not go six yards from the high road without tlcing mudered. TLre niarcl~of the Et~1rna1-tmind is slc>w. Sir, it was ~xot,until after Tko Elirrndred years, discavercd, that by an eterxzal Law, Providence had decreed vexatiorr to violence; and poverty to rapine. N ~ u ratrcestors did however at length open their eyes to the ill husbandry of injustice. They found that the tyranny of a kee people could of all yra~znicsthe least bc clzdurcd; and that l w s made against an whole nation were not tt-te nrost effectual nrethods for sccurirzg its obedience. Accordixzgty, in the Tweirty-sevent11 year of Heriry VIII. the course was entirely altered. W t h a preanrMc statirzg the entire and pcrfcct rights of the crown of England, it gave tu the Z%n oppressive nighrrxrare.
Welslz. ail the rights and privijeges of English subjects. A political order was established; rhc nrilitary power gave way to the civil; the marches were turned into c ~ ~ ~ t t i ties, Btrt that a nation shoutd have a right to English liberties, and yet no share at dI in the fundameirtal security of these liberties, the grant of their own propertr; scemed a thing so ixicangritous; that Eight years after, that is, in the n i r y - f i k h of that rciw, a compfere and not ill-proportioned rcprcsexztation ky corlnties and korortghs was hestciwed upori Wales, by act of hriiaI-trent, Fronr cl-tat nronrenr, as by a charm, the tumulrs suksidcd; okedic~zccwas restored; peace, order, and civilization, foLlowcd in the train of liberty-Wl~en the day-star of the English constitution had arise11 in their hearts, ail was harmorry within and without, . . . The very same year the counry patatixze of Chester received the sanie relief from its oppressions, and the sanre rcnredy to its disorders, Before this tin-te Chester was little less disterripered than Wales, The irihabitanrs, without rights tt-tenrsclves, were the fittest to destroy the rights of others; and from therice Richard 11. drew the standi~ig arrzry of Archers, with which for a time he oppressed England. The people of Chcster applied to Parliament in a perition, . . . What did Parlianrenr with this audacious address?-reject it as a til-tcl?Treat it as ari affirorit to gt>vernnient?Spurri it as a derogatiofl from &c rights of legislature? Did tlzcy toss it over the table? Did thcy burr1 it by the hands of the comaioii tlangnran!-Tlxy took the petition of gricvarzcc, all rrtggcd as it was, withortt softerring o r temperament, llnp~~rged of the original bitterness and indignalion of complaint; they xnade it the very prcamble to their act of redress; arrd corrsecrated its pinciple to all ages in the sanctuary of lcgislatiolz.
Here is nry third exa~nple.Xt was attcarded with the success of the two former. Chester, civilized as well as Wales, has de~rronstratedthat frecdonr and not servitude is the cure af anarchy; as religion, arzd riot atheism, is the true remedy for superstitiorr. Sir; &is pattern of CIiester was hllowed irz the reign a f Charles 11. wirh regard to the cortnty palatine of Durhant, which is nry fourth example. This county had long lain out of the pafc uF free tcgislation. So scrupulously was the exainpte of Chester follc>wed,that the s$e of the preanrlde is rrearly the sanre with tfrat of the Chester act; arrd without affecting the abstract extent of the authoriy ~7fParliantent, it recctgnizes the equity of not suffering airy colzsidcrablc district ixr which thc British subjects ntay act: as a body, to be taxed without their own voice in the gratrt. Now if tiiic doctrines uf poticy cantained in ttrese preainbles, and the force of tfzese exanrples in the acts of h l i a m n t , avail any thing, what can be said against applyi"g them with regard tr.1 Arnwica? Are rrot the people of America as nruch Englishme~zas thc Welsh? T h c prcamt-tte of the act of Heriry VfII. says, the WeI& speak a Ianguage rro way resenrbting that uf his Majesty's English sut9jeets. Are the Americaiis riot as numerous? If we ntay trust the learned atid accurate Judge Barringto"1~acconrzta f North W;xalcs,27 arid take that as a standard to measure the rest, there is rro conrparison, The people cannot amorlrzt to ~ b 200,000; ~ v rzut ~ a tcrztiii part of the rit~inberin the Colonies. Is Arrzerica io rcbefliotr? Wales was hardly ever free froan it, Have you attenrptcd to goverrl Anterica by peiial statutes? YOLI rnadc Fifteerr far Wales. Btrt your legisla-
tive authority is perfect: wirh regard to Anrerica; was it Iess perfect in Wales, Chester, arzd Xl)urfiam? But Ai~lericais virtr~altyrepreserited. What! does ttre etectric force of virtual reyresenratiori rrrore easily pass aver the Atlantic, than pervade Waf cs, which lies iri your neighhourhood; or thari Chester and Durhanr, surrounded by abuxzdarzce of representation that is actual arid palpable? But, Sir, your aricestors thought this sort of virtual representation, howcver ample, to k 9 ~totally insufficient for the freedom of the irlhabitants of territories that are so near, and conrparatively so inconsiderable. How then c m X think it sufficierit for those which are i n f i ~ z i t e l ~ g r a " ~ " aird r infinitely nrore renrote? You will xraw, Sir, perhaps imqirze, that I a n on the point of pfi)po&ng to you a scherne for a representation of rhe Colonies in X"ar1iamcxzt. Perllaps I miglit t9e incll~red to entertain some sudr thooght; but a great Aood stops rrre in nry course. . . . X cannot remove the eternal barriers a f the crcatiolz. %''he thirig in that mode, I do not know to be possible. As X nreddle with rro tfreory X do not at9soluteIy asscrt the impracticability of such a representation. But E do not see nry way to it; and those who have been mare ccalzfidcnt, have not been more SWcessfixl. Hclvvever, the arm of public benevolence is rrot shonened; and there are often swerat mcarrs to the sanre end. What xzature has disjoined in one way, wiscfsmn ntay unite in another. %en we ca~rnocgive the kcxzefit as we woutd wish, let us rzot reftsc it altogetlier. If we caririot give ttre principal, let us find a substitute. Bur how-here? %at sut9stitutc2 Fc.rrturiately I arn not obliged for the ways and rrreans of this substitute to tax my owai urrproductive invention. I am not even obliged to go to the rich treasury of the fertile f i a m r s of inraginar). conrrrron wcalths; xrut to the Republick of Plato, not
ro the Utopia of Morc; rrot to the Oceana of E-tarringtolz." It is before me-Tt is at nty feet, and the rude swdjin treads ddib orz it with /!is ckoated~h~a~z,L(I T onfy wish you to recognize, for tiiie tiiicary, the ancierit c o r i s t i t i t i a policy of this kici~igdomwith regard to representation, a that policy has t9ccrz dcctarcd ixz acts of parliarncrzt; arzd, as to tile practice, to returri to that mode which an uniforitz experience has nrarked out to you, as best; and irz which you walked with security, advantage, arrd honour, t~rrtilthe year 1763.30 My resolutions thcrcfore xnean to estat9lisfi the equity and justice of a taxation of America, by gdnl arid rtot by imposil-z'olz. To nrark the Ieg~zl competency of the Colony asscrnblics for the support of thcir goverxtinent in peace, arid far pubkc aids in rime of war, To acknowledge that this legal competency has had a dz4tzygl &nu( benejcini exercise; arrd that experience: has s h e w the benejc 4thrrir gra~atf,and the fgtP'1it-y of pariialrzentary tdxdtion ns n me.thotA(njr$~ppb. These solid rr~ttrsconzpose six fundaxncrztal propositions, Therc arc three n~ore resolutions coroilary to tlzese. f f you admit rtre first set, you can hardly reject the 0thers, B ~ r if t you admit the first, I shall Be Ear from sotlicitous whether you accept or refuse the last. X think ttrese six nrassive pillars will be of strength sufficient to suyport the ternpie of Britisiz concord. f have ""Plato, 2 7 7 ~12e;oubiir (c. 375 B.c.); Sir Thornas More, tlt'upia (15 16); anci James Harr ington, Tkw di7mmnn-1ii~~z/tI'1 r>f'Qc<&~trn ( f 656).
W!f.'rrn Jol~tlMillon's I;:orntt~rJ 1637). "I"'l"frac y e a rr~arkedthe eerltJ of the Seven Years' War between Brirnin and France for controfol o f h r t b hllerica, wlrich Britain folfowd with ?;chemcsro tax the Ame~icancolonies. It: first put these plms iritct practice wiclr rlxe Sugar A L of ~ 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765.
ricn ntore doubt than I: eiztertaill of nty existcnce, ttrat, if you adnrirted these, you would conlnland an immediate p m a ; arzd witlz. but tolerable future managentent, a lating obedierzce in Anrerica. T an1 rrot arrogant in this confidcxzt assurancc. The propositions are all mere ntatters of fact: and if they are suctr facts as draw irrestihle conctusiolzs even ixz the stating, this is the power of truth, arid riot arry ntanagement of nrine. Sir, I slxall open the whole plan to p i 1 together, witiz suciz observations on the rrzotiorrs as nray tcnd ro illustrate ttrenr whcrc they may waizt explanation. The first is a resc3lutio1z-""Tbat the Colorzies and Pianrations of Great Britain in North America, consisting of Fourteen separate Gvernments, arrd contiriuing Two Millions and rxpwards of free inhabitants, have rzat had the liberty and privilege of electing artd sertding aiiy Krrights arid B~~rgcsses, or others to represent therrz in the high Court of Partiamexzt3'-Tlzis is a plain ntatter of fact, rtecessary to be laid down, and (excepting the description) it is laid down in the language of the colzstitution; it is taken rreariy verbatim from acts of krliaiment. The second is like urzto the first-"That the said Colonies arrd Piarttations have been liable to, and bounden h p several sut9sidies, yaymerzts, rates, arzd EAXCS, give11 arrd grarrted by Parliarrtent, though the said Colonies and Plantacioxrs have not thcir Knights and Burgesses, in tiiic said high Court of Parliantent, of their own election, ro represent the condition of their conntry; by lack whereof they ijiave beert ofterrtimes touched artd grieved by subsidies given, granted, and asserreed to, ixz the said court, in a nlanncr prejudicial to the cornntorr wealth, quietness, rest, m d peace of the subjects irttlabitirrg within the same."
Xs this description too tlot, or too cold, too strong, or too weak? Does it arrogate tc3o much tc:, the suprerne legislature? Does it: lean too nrrsch to rile cfaints of rhe pesplc? If it runs into arzy of thcse errors, thc fadt is rlot tnine. It is t l ~ elanguage of yoclnr own ancient acts of Partiaxrient. . . . Xt is the genuine prodr~ccof the arzcicrzt rustic, rnarzly homebred serise of this country-2 did not dare to rub off a particle of the vcxzerable rust that rather adorns arzd preserves, than dcstroys the metal. It would be a profarlatiorl to touch with a tc301 the stones which construct the sacred altar of peace. I would xtot violate with modern poIish the ingenwus arld tioble rotlgliliess of these rruty conscitutiorlal nrarcrials. Above all thixzgs, X was resolved not to kc guilty of tampering, tile odious vice of restless and mstable minds. X put my foot in the tracks of our forcfatfiers; where I cart neither warder rtor sttlrrtbie. Determining to six articfes of peace, X was resolved xtot to be wise beyond what was writteri; I was resolved to use nothing else than the fornz of souxld words, to let others abouxtd ixt their own scrtsc; artd carcf ~ l Lto l ~ abstairl front all expressic:,ris of my own, 'VVhar the law has said, I say Xn all thixzgs else I am silent. I have xto organ but for her wcjrds. This, if it be not ingenious, X anr sure is safe,
The Ilext proposition is-""That,
fro111the distaxzcc of the said Colonies, and from other circumstances, nr:, ntethsd bath tliil~errobeen devised fbr procuring a regrcser-rtatioxt ir-r Parliament for the said Csionies," This is an assertic:,rt of a fact. I: go no firrther oil the paper; tflorrgh in my private judgcmcnt, an useft11 rcyrcserztatiort is impossible; I: am sure it is rlor desired by them; xlol- ought. it perhaps by us; but I abstain from opinions,
The fourth resc:,l~~rion is-"That each of the said Colonies tlatti within itsetfa body, chosen in part, or ir-r the wholc, by the freemen, freeholders, or ottter free inhabitallts rf-tereoc coirirrionly caXIed rhe General Asscmt-tly, or General Court, with powers legally tc:, raise, levy, and assess, according to the several usage of such Cotolzies, duties arzd taxcs towards defraying all sorts of public services." This conrperence in the Cofony assenrHies is cc~tain.Ir is proved by the whole tertotlr of their acts of supply in all the assenrblies, io which the COIlStallt style of grantirzg is, ""a aid to his LVajesty;" artd acts granting to the Crc:,wn have regularIy for near a ccrrtrlly passed the prrblic offices wititant dispute. Those who have been pleased paradoxically to deny this right, holding that none but the Britis11 partiament can grant to the Crawaz, art: wished to look to what: is done, not ordy in the Colonies, but in Xreland, in one uxlifornr urtbrokcst tcnorlr every session, Sir, I arn surprized, that this doctrine sllould conte from sonre of the law servants of the Crowal. I say; that if the Cmwn could t9c resp(:,risible, his ~tlajesty-but certairzly the nrinisters, and even these law officers thcmsctvcs, through whose iiialzds the acts pas, bieiinialty in Ireland, or anrluallr in the Coloxlies, are in an habitual course of committing irnpcachable offences, %at l~abituatoffenders have been ail Pre8berits of the Cot~ncil,aXI Secretaries of State, all First Lords of "fi-ade, all Attorxtics and atI Solticitors Geizeral! However, they are safe; as no one impeaches rhertz; and there is no grourtd of charge against them, except in their own t~nhurldedtheories. The fifth resolution is also a resolution of Fact-"That the said General Assemblies, General Courts, or other bodies legally quaiified as ahresaid, have at sundry tisncs freely gralitted scvcral large
subsidies and pubtic aids for his Majcsy's service, according to their abilities, when required tlzerets hy letter from one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State; and that their right t<9 grant the samc, and their clzeasfulness and sufficierlcy in the said grants, have been at sundry titlles achowlcdgcd by Parliamexzt." To say xzorhing of their great expelices in the Indian wars; and 11ot to take their exertio~zin foreigz ancs, so iiiigh as the supplies in the year 1695; not to go back to their public contribt~tionsin tlze year 1720;-+1T shall begirl to travel only where the Journals give me lidit; resolving to deal ixz rzathixzg but fact, ar~therlticatedby parliamerttary record; and to build nrysetfwholly on that solid basis.
Sir, iiicre is the repeated ack~zowledgcmexzt of Parliamerit, that the Colonies riot only gave, but gave to satiety, This natioxl has formally acknowledged two things; first, that the Cc~Lonieshad gorle beycnnd tlzeir abilities, Parliament having thou&t it necessary to rcirnt3urse them; secofzdf y that they had acted legdly and laudably in their grants of rzzoney, and their nraintena~zceof traaps, since the coinpensation is expressly given as reward arid encourageinertt. Reward is rlor bescowd fir acts that are unlawhl; and encour;lgcmcnt is not held out to things that deserve reprelzeizsicin. My resolution therefore does rlothing more than collect into one proposition, what is scattered thri,ugh your Journals. I give you nothing but your own; and you callnor:
a"t3urke is referring ro rhe Arllericarl colonists" participation in the Seven krtrs" Wi, the Nine Years" War (168S16V7) against Frncc, and the Wax of the Spanish Sriccessioct (1 70 1-1 713), also a g i n s t the French, British and American forces crtprured Parr Royal from rhe Frenclr irr 1710.
refrtse in the gross, what you have so ofter? acknowfed~din detail. The ahissiotr of this, wliich will be SO honouratllc to thcnz and to you, will, indeed, be mortal to ail the rniscratztc stories, by which the passions of the mispided pcople have bccrz engaged in an u111zagpy system, The people head, indeed, from rhe beginning of thee d isputes, one thing continuafly dinned in their ears, that reason and justice demanded, that the Anrericans, who paid no Taxes, shouId be campclled to coiztribrttc, . . . We see the sense of the Crnvvn, arid the sense of Parliament, on t11e prodtlcti~rlaturc of a lZewnue by Grnnt, Now scarch the saine journals for the produce of the Repenue by Irrposition-mere is it?-let EIS know the votrline and thc page?-mat is the gross, what is the nett produce?-to what service is it apptied?-how have p u appmpriated its surpt~ts2-What, car1 xzolze of the ntany skilhl Inda-nt&ers, that we are now emplrt).ing, h d any trace of it?Well, let them and that rest together,-Brtt are the Jolrrnals, which say nothing of the Reverrue, as silent on the discontent?-Oh rzof a child nzay firzd it. It is the rarclancholy burttxn and blot of every page. T think then X am, froor those Journals, justified in the sixth arzd last rcsatution, which is-"That it: hattz beer1 found by experience, that the rzratlner of granting the said supplies and aids, t9y the said General Assemblies, llath been rnore agreeable to the said Gotonies, and nrore beneficial, and colzducivc to thc public scrvicc, thalz the mode of givirtg and grarlting aids in Parlianre~lt,to be raised and paid io the said Colonies," This makes thc whole of the hndamental part of the plari. The conclusioxl is irrestible. You canjlot say, that you we= drivel1 t9y any xzcccssity to an exercise of rhe utmost Rights of Legislature, You ca,znor assert, tt-tat plt took on yaursetvcs the task of inzposi~zgColony
lzis teriets. It is true that Lord Chathantj-" considered tlicse preambles as dcclarir~g strongly iri favt>urof his cpitiions, He was a no less powerfnl advocate for the privileges of the Americ;tlzs, Ought I xzut froin lzerice to presurrze, that these preairzhles are as favourabte as possible to both, when property uxzderstood; favanrat7lc both to tile rights of Pariianterit, arid to the privilege of the depecldectcies of h i s crown? Brtt sir, the object of grievance in my resalutiorz, I have not taken from the Chester, hut from the Durham act, which c ~ ~ ~ f i t ~ e s the hardship of warlr of regresentatinfz, to the casc of subsidies; and which therefore fails in exactly- with the case of the Here, Sir, I sharlld close; but that X plaixzly Colonies. But whether the uxlrepresenred pwceive sornc uk3jeetions remaixz, whictl I counties were de &re, or de ficto, kouizd, the preambles dr:, riot acct~ratelydistinought, if possible, to rernt3ve. The first will be, that, in resorting to the doctrine of our g~lish;nor indeed was it rlecessary; far, ancestors, as contained in the preamble to whetlter d8jat.e or deficto, the Legislature thongl~ttlze exercise of tlze power of taxtlze Chester act, f prove too much; that the grievance fronz a want of representatio~~, ing, as of right, or as of fact without right, equally a grievarzce and equally oppressive, stated in that preambtc, goes to the whole that the Colonies have, of Legislation as w& as to Taxation, And I do riot krrr~w~ that tlie Colonies grourlding rhelrisetves in any general way, or in any cool hour, ~ t p o nthat dactrixie, will apply it to all gorze much beyond the dcrnaxzd of irrim~;tparts of Legislative Authority. nity in relation to taxes, It is riot fair to To this objection, with all possible judge of rhc temper or disposicinns of any man, us any set of I ~ C I wherz defcrencc and humility, and wishing as titZ, they are tle as any man living to impaiu the smallcomposed arid at rest, h m their conduct, or their expressions, in a state of disturest pxricle of our supreme authority, T bance and irritation. It is besides a very answcl; that the w~rd ;.W the words oS;23argreat mistake to imagine, that rnarlkirid Iinment, and mine; arid, that all false fo)Iow up practicatiy my specttlarive prinand inconclilsive inferences, drawn fronr ciple, either uf government or of freedom, them, are rzot mine; for X heartily disclaim ariy such infererzce, f have chosen as far as it wifl go in argument and logicaI the words of an acf: of Parlianrent, which illation, VC"e Englishmen, stop very short of the prir~ciplesupan which wc support any Mr. f;rcnvillc,jz surely a tolerably zealous arid very judicious advocate for the sovergiven part of our constitution; or even the eignty of Parlianreclt, formerly rnoved ro whole of it togcthcl: T coclld easily, i f X fiad have read at p r l r table, ixz contirmatiolz uf not atready tired you, give you very striking
Taxes, from tile want of another legal body, that is cornyetent to the pclrpase uf supplying the Exigences of the State without wounding rile prejudices of the people. Ncirhcr is it true that thc tmdy so qualified, arid lzaving that corrzpetence, had neglected the drrty. The quatiolz xzow, olz at1 this ~ C C ~ Z X E I U lated matter, is;-whether yon will chtrse to abide by a profirable experic~lce,or a misctlievous theory; whether you ch~tscto build on intagination or fact; whetlzer you prefer erljoynterlt or hope; satisfaction in your subjects, or discontent?
'Geurge Grenville, grime minister when f3arlidrnenr passed the Srarnp A L CIF ~ 1765.
"IWiifiam 17itr the Elder, grime minister wlrerl f3arlirz1x~enrimposed duties c m America in 1767.
and convincing instances of it. This is xruthing but what is xratural and prop". &l governnrrnt, i n k e d every hrtntan bertefir and enjoynrent, every virtue, and every pmddct act, is founded a n conrpronrise arzd barter. We balance irtcoriveniences; we give arrd take; we renrit sonre rights, that we xnay erzjoy others; arzd, we chusc rather to he happy cirizeizs, than subtfe disputants. h we II~IISCgive akvay sonre natural libcry, to e~zjoycivil advantagm; so we nttlst sacrifice some civil liberties, for the advanrages to be derived froin the communion and fellowship of a great enrpire. But in all $air dealings the thing bought mk;tst bear sclrne proportion to the purchase paid. None wit1 barrer away the ilrrnrediate jewel of his soul. Thorigh a great house is apt to ntake slaves l z a u d ~ tyet ~ , it is pt~rchasirtga px"'t"fhe arrificial importame of a great ernpire too dcar, to pay for it all essential rights, and all the irltri~lsicdigrzity of hunran nattlre. None of us who would nor: risqrte his life, rather than fall undcl- a governntent gurety arbitrary But, afthorrgh there are soxrze anrongst EIS who think our constitution waxzts many impmvemelzts, to ntatcc it a contplete system of liberty perhaps none who are of that opinion, would thixzk it right to aim at such irr~provemeirt, by disnlrbing his corriitry, a d risquirzg every thing ttlat: is dear to him. 11-1every arduous enterprize, we calzsidc~what we art: to lose, as well as what we are to gain; artd the nrore and better stake of liberty every pmple possess, the less thcy wilt kaz~rdill a vain attempt to make it more. These are thf ror& ofman. Man acts fronr adequate motives relative to his intcrcst; and rzut on ntetaphysical speculations. Aristotle, the g"" IMSI"' of reasoning, calltinns us, and with great weight and propriety, against this species of delusive geometrical accuracy in moral argr-rnrenrs,as the nrosr hltacious of all sophistry.
The Antericaris will lzave no irzterest contrary to the grandeur and glofy of Engtarrd, whcrr they arc not upprcssed t9y the weight of it; arzd they wilt rather be inclined to respect the acts oFa strperi~rterrding Iegislarrtrc, whcn they sec them the acts of that power, which is itself tire security, not the rival, of their secoxldary inrparrancc X n this assnralzce, xny xnirzd nrost perfectly acquiesces; and I confess, I feel ~lor:the least atarm, froxrz the disconrerrts wfiich are to arise, from puttirzg people at tlzeir ease; nor do f appreherid the destruction of this mpire, frctnr giving, by an act uf frec grace and induigcnce, to two millions of my fellow citizens, sonte share of those rights, upon which I have always bcelz taught to value xnysctf. I t is said indeed, that this pc~werof grm"Eing vested in Anrerican assenrbties, wottld dissolve tfie unity af the empire; which was preserved, entire, although Wales, and Chester, and Dtlrha~n,were added to it. Truly, Mr. Speaker, I do not kiiow what this t~iiitymeans; rtor has it ever been heard of, that I know, in the constitutionat p o k y uf this couirtry. The very idea of subordinatic>n of parts, excl~tdesthis #lotionof sinzpie arrd Emdivided rtirir_v.Engtarrd is the head; t9ut she is rzat tlze liead arid tire ntentbers too. Iretarzd has ever had from the begirxli~rga separare, but xrot arz indcpendcnt, tegistature; mflich, far front distracting, promoted the union of the whole. Every thing was sweetly arzd harmoniously disposed tlzrough botir Islarzds for tlze conservatiorz of English donrinion, and the conrnrrrnication uf Englisti liberties. X do not see that the same principles might rzot be carried into twenty Islands, and with the sarnc good effect, This is xny xnodet with regard to .America, as far as the internd circunrstances of rile w o countries are the same. I know rza other uniry of this enrpirc
than X can draw from its exantple during these periods, whcrt it sccrned to my poor understancting more united tlzatr it is now3 or than it is likely to he by the present methods.
. . . I have indccd tired you t9y a tong discourse; hut this is tlze ntisforturie of tllrlse to whose influence nothing will he conceded, arzd who mtlsr win every inch of their ground by argment. Ycru have head me with goodness. May you decide with wisdom! For my part, T kel nzy mind greatly disburtlzcncd, by wfiat X have done tc:,-day, I: have beer1 the less fearftlt of trying your patience, because 0x1 this subject 1 meal1 to sparc it altogether irz future. 1 have this comf'orr, that in every stage of the Antericao affairs, X have steadily opposed the xneasures that have produced the confusion, arld inay bring on the destruction, of this errzpire, X now go so far as to risque a proposal of my own. If X canrzac give peace to my country; I give it to my conscience.
But wliat (sdys the Ffna~zcier)is peace to us wirhout mc:,ney? Your plan give us no Revenue. Not Btrt it does-Far it secures to the sut~jectthe power OF RE~USAI,; the first of all Reveriues. Experience is a cheat, and fact a liar, if &is power in the subject uf proportioizing his gralzt, ur uf rzut grarlting at all, has not been fourid the richest nrine of Revenue ever discovered by the skill or by the fortune of mart, It dacs riot: indeed vote yorr XIS2,750: 11: 2 3/4chs, nor any other paltry lilzzired sum.-Bnc it gives the strong box itself, tlze fund, the harrk, front wherice only reverrues can arise antoxlgst a people sensible uf heedam. . . . Canxzuc you in England; carlrlot you at this tinte of day; canriot you, an F-lot~scof Conrnzons, rrusr ro the principle which has raised so xnig11c)i a rev-
enue, artd acc~~mulated a debt of near 140 nrillions in this counry? Xs this principle to be true irz England arzd false every where else? 1s it rlot true in Iretartd? Has it not hitherto beet1 true io the Colonies? Why should you presume that, in any country, a hodr duly constiruted fbr arty fu~lcciun,will neglect ro perfitrnt its dury, arzd abdicate its trust? Such a prcsr~nrption wodd go ag"inst alt govertinrent in alf ntodes. But, in tntth, this dread of penury of supply, froin a free asstinbly, has no fouridation in nattlre. For first ohserve, that, besides the desire which aff nren have naturally of supporting the honour uE their own gtlvernntent.; tlzat sense of dignirp and chat s e c u r i ~to proper-ry, which ever attcrtds frecdom, has a tcrtdeltcy to increase the stock of the free contmuiiity. Most may be taken where nrost is accunrulated. A~zdwhat is the soil at- clirilatc where experierlce has not t~iiifc>rntl~ p r o d C 1that , the vrtlunrar). flow of heapedup plenty, bursting froin the weight uf its own rich luxuriarice, has ever run with a nton- copious slreanr of revenue, tflan could be sqiteczcd from the dry husks of oppressed indigence, by the strairllng of all the politic ~rzachineryin the world. Next we knowI that partics must ever exist in a free country. We know tot:,, that the enruiations of such parries, their contradictions, their reciprocal ncccssiries, their hopes, artd their fears, ntust send thetrz in aXI their turns to him that tiolds the tlatance OF the state, The parties arc the Gamesters; but Governmeirt keeps the tabie, and is sure to be the winner in rile end. Whcrt this garnc is played, I really think it is ntore tc:, he feared, that the people will he exhausted, than ri-tat Government will not t9e supplied. mere;;^^^ wfiatever is got by acts of absolute power ill obeyed, hccattse odious, or by contracts it! kept, kcetlusc constralxted; will bc narrow
feeble uncertain, and precarious. "Ease would r'etrdct vows made in pnin, CIS violent
and mid 9 4 X, for one, protect against conrgounding our dema~tds:1 declare against compounding, for a pc~orlimited surn, the immense, evergrowing, eternal Debt, which is due to gexrcrorls Govcrnxncnt horn protected Freedom. And so may f speed in tile object X propose to you, as X think it would not only kc an act of injustice, t9ut wo~rldbc the worst oecononty in the world, to contpel tlze Colorzies to a surn certain, either in the way of raxlsom, or in the way of conrpulsary cornpact. But to clear up my ideas on this subject-a revenue froor America transmitted iizithcr-da xtot detude yorrrselves-you rtever can receive it--No, riot a shilling. We have experience that fronr rexrrotc courztries it is rzat to t7e expected. If, whe~t you attentpted to extract reveliue from Bengal, you were obtigcd to return in loan what you iiiad taken in imposirion;.si what cart you expect from North hterica? for certainty, if ever there was a countr). qualified to pmducc wealth, it is Ixtdia; or art institution fit for tlze transrrtission, it is the East-Irzdia company. Anterica has none of these aptitudes. XE Anerica gives you taxaMe objects, on wflicl~you Jay p u s duties here, and gives p u , at the satrze time, a surplus by a Eorcigxz sate of her commodities to pay the duties on these objects which you tax. at home, she has perfornted her part to the British rcwcnue, But with regard to lter own internal establishments; she may* X doubt not she will, contribute in xnodcratian, I say in moderation; for she %horn John itlitcnlr"~ f%rddit~1,ur.t j l 667). 3strzrd G1larfn;lm's administration imyascd raxes the East India Company in f 767, whiclr trigered a financial crisis in the company pror~lpcirlga !oar1 frtxn tlre gclvernrrlenr in 1773. rtri
o u d ~ rtot t to be perntitted to exhat~st:herselE She ought to be reserved to a war; the wcigfit of which, with the exte~n3esthat we are rntxst likely to have, rnust be considerable in her quarter of the globe. There she may serve you, artd serve you esscntialiy. Fcxr that service, for all service, wlzether of revenue, trade, or ertzpire, my trust is in her intercsr ixt thc British constitr.ttion,My hold of the Colonies is in the clrrse affixtion w/1ict1 grows fronr cmtmon nantes, froin kindred blood, from similar privileges, arid equal protection. These are ties, which, though light as air, are as strong as links uf iron, Lct the Colonies atways kccp tlze idea of rheir civil rights associated vvittt your Goverrrrrrent;-they will cling and grapple to you; and rza force under hcavext wiIL be of power to tear them frt>mntheir allegiance. But let it be once understood, that p r l r Governmextt may t9c one thing, arid their Privileges another; that these m o things may exist wirhout any nrrrtuat relation; thc cement is gone; the cohesion is loosened; and every thing hastens to decay and dissolution. As long as you have the wisdom to keep the sovereigrz authority uF tlzis country as the sartctuary of liberty, the sacred tenrpte consecrated to our conrnroxl gairh, wherever the cboscrt race artd sons uF Er~glandworship freedom, they will t r ~ r ~ i their faces towards you. The nrare they multiply, the more friends you will have; the ntore ardeiztty they love liberty, the rnore perfect wi t l be their obedience. Slavery they can have any where. It is a weed tlzat grc>wsin every soil. They may have it front Spain, they nray have it front Prussia. But until you bccornc tosr to all feelixzg uF your true interest and your natural. dignitry; frecdonr they can have fro111none but you. This is the cornmodiry of price, of whiclz yotr have the ntonopoty. This is the true ast of' navigation, which hirzds to you the carnmercc of the Catonics, and through
then3 secures to you the weafttr of the world. Der-ry tlicnz this participation of freedom, and you break that sole bond, whicli origigraXly nzade, and nrrrst still preserve, the unity of the empire. Do not erztertain so weak an itnaginarion, as that your registers and p n r h o d s , )raw affidavits and your sufferances, your cockcts36 arid yorrr clearaiices, are what form the great sccrtrities of your conzmerce. Do rrot dream that your letters of office, and yorlr instructions, arid your susperidtng ctauses, are the things that hold togetf~erthe great contexture of this nrysrerious whole. These things do xzot make yartr govcrx-rment, Dead irrstr~~tneizts, passive tools as they are, it is the spirit of English commilnion that gives ati their life and efficacy to them. It is the spirit of the Englislz constitutinfz, which, inhsed through the nrighy mass, pervades, feeds, unites, invigorates, vivifies, every past of the empire, even down to clre rr-rinutest nrenrber. Xs it not tlic sarnc virtrze which does every thing for us here in Er~glanb?Do you imagine then, that it is the land tax act wfiich raises your revenue?that it is tfie anrit~alvote in the cornntittee of supply, which gives you your a r ~ z ~ or y ? that it is the ~VutinyBill which ir-rspircs it with bravery arid discipline? No! surely no! It is the love of the people; it is their attachmexzt to their govertz~~zerzt Eram the scfzse of the deep stafcc they have in such a glorious institution, which gives you your army and your rzavy* and intigscs into bath that liberal obedience, without whicl~your arnry would be a base rabble, and your rzavy notaling but rotterz timber. Atl this, I know well enough, will sound wild and chimericat to the profane hercl of those vulgar and xncchajzical politicians,
wl1c3 have no place antong us; a sort of peop1m"h think that norhirzg exists but what is grass and xnaterial; arzd wtia therefore, far frc->i-nbeing qualified to he directors of the great rr-rovement of empire, are not fit to turn a wheel in the machine. But to nrrn truly initiated and rightly taught, these ruling and rr-rasrer principles, which, in the oyixzion uf such xnexz as X have mentioned, have no substantial existence, are in truth every thing, and ail in all. ~blagnanimity ixz paiiticks is rzat seXdam the truest wisdom; arid a great einptre arid little nziizds go ill together, If we are conscious of our situation, and glow with zcat to filf our place as hecontes our station and ourselves, we ought to auspicate ail our public procccdix-rgs on Arncrica, with thc old warriing of the chwch, S:lnum c 0 r h ! 3 ~ We urtght to elevate urtr minds to the greatness uf that trust to wliich the order of Provlderrce has called us. By adverting to the dignity of &is high cailing, our ancestors have turned a savage wilderrzess irlto a gIsrinr,ls empire; arid have made the nrost extensive, and the only hoxrourable conquests; xzut t9y destroying, but by promoting, the wealth, the ntlmber, the haypiness, of the human race. Let us get m American revenue as we have got an Anericari empire. Er~glisliprivileges have nrade it all that it is; Eitrglish privileges aloxze will xnake it all it carz be.
'"L>ocrrments certi6ing the pajrme~lrof cust0111s duties.
"142f,ifiup your hearts,"
The ahdndonmmt c7fche appronch aduocated by Rurke led the i"3rit.i;i~natiorz d"nwrz a dal-zgerouspath: ""eontendi~g@r nn imnginary power, uie begin to a c q ~ i wthe spirjt of In Spcccb on Anlerican Taxation (17.74) domirragioa, and to h e the relish of'kronesg and Speech on C~nciiiationwith h t e r i c a eqzddlip Not on+ W&$ the i ~ p e r i asociety l between the British and Americdns dead cxs n (1 775),Rgrke l-ridin vain m head o f a muk of British i~periglpoli~;v~ B~,LLdre nart4ptzal.e between the Americnn colonies nl-zd Great Britain, W r i ~ e afier n iele oatbreak of tzd re of civil society in Britain itseF was in Anger, the America~zrevolgtion, Letter to the Slleriffs of Bristol completes BgB5E.eS Awzericdn thinklag by e x p m i ~ ghis thngghts on the cnn.sequmces of' che Engiish civil war i n Letter to America. Brdrke wrote Lcttcr to &c Sherifk of Bristhe Sheriffs of Bristol roi rcl.justz& his p o l i ~ufabstentionfiom Par( 1 777) /Zame?zt dgri~zge a 4 J 777. AL dre Cjme B g r k wrote the letter (ilpril 3$ 3,7776the , British appcnred to be winnirlg the Awre,.icn.n mmpa&n decasi~eba~zdBzlrke BeIieved that his X E~AVEthc lionour of sclzding you the W O presel-zce irc Pr"trkiammt wog& be '"2iinir1nnd last acts wfiick~have bccrz passed with regard to the trorrhies in America,sR These fiiuoLous. l n his tetter Bztrke criLigued two acts are sinrifar to all rile rest which have Parliamentay a m directed agaias1 t/7e Amer~ C ~ P Z in J ; which he Sound eviclence that the been made on thc Same sut~ject.Thcy oppalieies thatpmdtcced the wnr and the war iterate by the same principle; and they are s e f w r e mrrgptL'ng the Jlritirh c ~ r z s t i ~ ~ k t i nderived ~ from the very same poticy X think nl-zd the chdracter ofthe British peopk This they complcte the rzumber of this sort of statutes to nine. It affords no matter for theme o f h e s t i c corruption of@rzddmentaI very pleasing reRecti~n,IQ obscrve, that principles a~zdm/t~zpael:cBy i~t.zp~~~iaI lirlispuernmeat appegn ns weII irz B@r;E.ej-Irish and our sut9jeets dirr~inish,as our taws cncwase, If f have the ~nisfortt~ine of d i f k i n g Indian w r i t i ~ gdnd speeches. Burke ryected the clgim $/rat the /~ars.sh with some of nzy fellow-citizens on this (dnd in Burkei mil-zd uncarzstitlationaI)nzeggreat and arduous sut?jcct, it is no srrlatl saws ndopred by ParIiame~tdrring the war consolation to nte, that I do not differ werejgsgz$ed by the Americans' rebellion, Hi fronr you, With you, X am perfectly nrglded thdt the British provoked the rebel~trzited.WC arc heartily agreed in our delinlz throagh unmise and ~ppressiwpnlidcrr. testatisrz of a civil war. We have ever expressed the nzosc urrqrraiified disapprobaD i u m i y irr % n i p WLZSa cerztrdl concept of tion of at! the steps which have lcd to it, Burkei noltz'opz of imperhi society. Iit Bidrke) view, the British abnndoned their arid of all tlzose which terid r o prdong it. bristo?.lcalprgde~zce toward America fir a last And I have no doubt that we fccl exactly to mnke ml Pnrliamentj. theoreticgk k g i ~ h - the Same ernotiolzs of grief arzd sharnc 011 five supremacy B@rke lamented t h t the Britisl~/?ad 3 " l . g in a dispzkte3 wlrjht we hst nn enpire. Introductory- Note to Leger m I~;GJL" Sberzfi @fBrislot! ( 1777)
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all its nriscrabte conseqtlelzccs; whettzer they appear, on the alze side or the athcl; in the shape of victories or defeats; of captures nrade fro111 the English on the contirzent, or from the Erzdish in thcsc islaxzds; of legislative regulations whjch subvert the liberties of our brethren, or which underlTlIXlC OUT UWIZ,
Of the first: of these statutes (that for the letter of marque) I stzaiii say iittle. Exceptionable as it: xnay t ? ~a~zd , as I thirzk it is iri some parrticrdars, it seents the natural, perhaps rzecessary result of the measures we lzave eaken, and the situation we are in. The other (fora partial srtspcxzsioii of h e Hdberzs Co~;t"gs)appears tc:, me of a ~nuclideeper ~rzalliwi.ry,During its progress througlz the Housc of Gornmons, it has txen amexzded, so as to express rnore cfistirlctly tflari at first it did, the avowed serrtimen~of chose wlio framed it: and h e main ground of my excepticxn to it is, because it does express, arid does carry illto execution, purposes which a p p a N o me so contradictory to all the principles, not: orily of the constitutic~rial poticy of Great Britain, but even of that spccics of hosrile jnsticc, which xza asperity of war wholly extinguislies in the minds of a civilized people, Xr sccnls to l~aveixz view two capital objects; the first, to erzable admir1istratit)rz to confine, as long as it shall chink proper, (within the duratioxz of the act) those, wliont that act is pleased to quaiif')rby the Izajrze of Pimtes, Those so qualified, I Erndcrstand to kc, the commanders and rnari~tersof such privateers arid ships of war betonging to the colonies, as io the course of this urziiiappy contcst may btl irzto the liands of the crown. They are therefore to he dctatned in prison, under the crinrind description of piracy, to a future triai and ignomirzious punisliment, whenever circunrstances shall ~rzakeit convcizie~ztto execute veizg~a~zcc a n them,
under tlie colour of that odious arid infanrous offence. To this first purpose of the law* I have no small dislike. Because the act does not (as- all taws, and at! equitable transactions aught to do) fairly. descritlc its object. The persons, wlzs:, make a naval war tlpcln us, in consequence of the preserre troubles, may kc rebeh; But to calj and treat them as pircltes>is confounding, rzot only the natural discinctiorz of things, b t ~ tthe order of crimes; which, whether by putting them from a higfier part of the scale to the lower, or from the lower to the higher, is never dolze without dangerously disordering the whole frame o f jurispructence. Thok~ghpiracy nray he, in the eye of the law, a less offence than trcasolz; yet as both are, in effect, puriished with the same death, the same forfeiture, and the saxrze corruptioxz of Blood, X rzever would takc front any fellc)w-creaturemllatever, arzy sort of advantage, which he nzay derive to his safe7 from the pity of mtuzkcind, or to iiiis reprttatisrz front their gerzeral feelings, by degrading tlis offence, when I cannot soften his pufii&fimerzt. The gerzeral sense of marikincf tells nte, that those oft-ences, which may possibly arise from nriscakcn virtue, are xzot in the class of in6ar~zous actions. . . . The act prepares a sort of nrasyued proceeding, not honourable to the justice of the kingdom, and By rza nleans necessaly for its safety. . . .
The secorid professed purps~seof the act is to detain in England tbr trial, tlzose who shdl commit high trcasolz in hzcrica.
I takc it for grarztcd, gerztlemcn, that we sympathize in a proper horror of all punishmerre further than as it serves for an example. 7"swfiam then does the example OF
troubles, in my opinion we shall exl~ibitto an execmion in England for this Anzerican the worid as indecent a piece of iqustice as rcbctlioxz apply? Remember, you arc told every day, that the present is a contest beever civil fury has produced. IF rhe prisalzers who have been exctzanged have rlot by tween the w o cok~ntries;and that we in England are at war for nzcr own digrzity the exchange beell virtuai& paud~lzed the agairist our rebellious chitdren. Is this true? cartel (wtlethcr avowed ur urzderstood) is a cruel fraud: for you have received the life Tf it be, ir is surety anroclg such rebellious of a man; and you ought to retwn a life children that examples for disobcdierzcc far it, or there is xzu parity of f~irizessin the silorlfd be made. For who ever tlzougllt of trarisactiot~. instructing parents in their duty by an exanrple from the punisfinrent uF a disobcdiIf, on the other hand, we admit, that they, who are actually excllanged arc parertt sori? As well rnigllt the execrttion of a doiied, but: conterid that we may justly fugitive riegrc:, in the plaritatisns, be considered as a lesson to teach nrasters hrrreserve for vengcallce, those who ret-rzain xnanity to tiircir slaves, Such exccutiorzs ~tlzexcbangcd;thexz this unpleasant and ntay indeed satiate our revenge; tlley may urihanbsonte conseqtlerlce will follow; harden our hearts: and puff us up with that you judge of rk d e i i n q ~ ~ e nofymen pride and arrogance, Alas! this is not ixzmerely t9y the time of their guilt, and rzot structior~. by the l~eir~ousness of it; arid you ntake Tf any thing can be drawn from sucll afortuxle and accidents, and not the nraraX amples by a parity of the case, it is to s h ~ qudliries ~ ~ of humalz action, the rule of how deep their crirne, and how l~eavytheir your justice. These strange incongruities must ever punisllrrzent will be, who shall at any tinre dare to resist a distarzt power actually perplex thosc, who cc91lifa~1nd the urzhappiriess of civil disseritior~,with the crime of disposing of their property, wtthortt their treason. Whenever a rebellion realty and voice or cof-~sentto the disposition; and truly exists, . . . govcrnxncrzt has xzot cnoverntrning their franchises withuut charge or l~earing, Gsd forbid, that Engla~id tered irtto such ntilitary converitions; but should ever read this lesson wrirterr in the has ever declined at1 ioterrrzediatc treaty, Mood of nry of her off-spring! which should put rebcts in posscssiolz of War is at present carried on, between the law of nations wirh regard to war. the king's natural and hreigfl troops," on Conrnranders would receive rlo berrefirs at their hands, t9cetlusc they carlld nrake xzu one side, and the English in America, un the other, upon the usual fc~otingof other returti for them. %o has ever tieard of cawars; arid accordingly an exchange of prispitnlalion, and prirroie of honour, and exoners has tlccn regularly xnade from the change of prisolzers, in the late rebetlions beginning. If, rlotwirhstandirlg this llitllin this k i n g h ? "The answer to all cleerto equal procedure, upon sonre prospect rnands of that sort was, "We can engage for of exzdirig the war wirh success (which rzuthixzg; you arc at the king's pleasure." We orrght to reateinher, that if our prehowever may be delusive), administration sent enenries be, in reality and truth, prepares to act against those as tr~zitarswho rcrnain in their harzds at the end of the rct9cts, the kin+ gclzerals have no right to release them upon any conditiclns whatsoever; and they are ttlemsetves answerable WBriwin \vas usir~gGermall mercenary troops itz to the law, and as xnuch in want uf a parrlre war agaitzsr the A~nericanrebeb.
starilte Habeas G v w , (the sole semities either for liberty or justice,) with regad to all thosc who iiiave t9een ortt of the rcdrn Lawyers, 1 fo1c3w3canriot ntakc tlze disor on the high seas, witbin a giver1 tinre, tinction, fir wliich T contend; because they have their strict rule to go by But legislators The rest of rhe peopie, as T understand, are to cofztinuc as they stood t9cforc. ouglrt to d~7what lawyers cannot; for tlxy I confess, geritiemeir, that this appears lzave no other nltes to bind thenr, but the grcat principles of re;;~~oiz and equity, arzd to nre, as bad io the principk, and far the general sense of nrankind. These they worsc ixz its consequence, than an universal suspeirsisn of the Habens C~rpusact; are botlnd to obey and follow; and rather to atrd the timiting qualificarion, insread of cxztargc and cnlightcxz law by the liberality taking out the sting, does ixr my humble of legislative reason, tl~anto fetter artd bind their t.righer capacity by the tiarrcjw conopinion slzarpert artd eirverront it to a @eater degree Liberty, if l mdersland it at structions of subordinate artificial justice. Tf all, is a generdl principle, and the clear we had advertcd to this, we XZCVCP cc9rtfd consider the convulsir>nsof a great ernpire, right of all the subjects within the redrrt, 11ot disturbed by a Iittfe dissenrinated facor of none, Partial freedonr seents to be a tion, but divided t9y whole comrn~~rzities nrost invidious mode of slavery. But, unarid pmvirrces, arzd entim legal represenmfortt~natel~, it is the kind of slavery the nrost easily adnritted in tinres of civil distives of a people, as fit nratter of discussion cord, For parries arc but too apt to brgct rtrzdcr a commission of oyer and ternliner. ft is as opposite to reasort arzd prudence, as their own future safety in their desire of it is to hunraniy and justice. sacrificing their enemies, People without This act, prucccdixzg on tiiiesc princinruch di&culry admit the entrailce of that ples, that is, preparing to erid the present injustice of wtliclr they are n(7t to be tlze troubtes by a trial of one sorr of izostility> i~llrrzediatevictinrs, l17 ti~rtesof high pmcecdirzg, it is never the $action of the prertirdcr the name of piracy, and of another dontinant pc~werthat is in danger; for tio bp the t i m e of treason, arid executing the tyranny chastises its own instrunrents. lt is ast of I-fenry the eighth according to a new the obnoxious arzd the suspected who and unconstitutional irrterprccation, I iiiave want the protectiorz of law; artd there is tlzouglrt evil and dangerous, even tlzougli nothing to bridle the partiaf viotencc of the instrtrnlents of effecrirtg such prrrposes state Factions, krtt this great, steady, urzihad t9ccrr xncrety of a rzeutral qrtatiry. form principle; "that whenever an act is But it really appears to me, that the nrade for a cessation of law and jtzstice, the Irzeans which this act enrptoys are, at least, as exceptionable as the end. Pcrmir me to whole people shortld t9c universally subopen myself upon tlzis subject, because it jected to tlze sante susperzsian of their franis of importaxrce to nre, when T am obliged chises," The alartzl of s ~ ~ ac hproceedi~zg to s~~bxnit to the power witharlt acquiescwould thexz bc univcrsat. It would operate as a sort of cat2 ofdrr antinpt. ft woulrl being in the reason af an act of legislature, that l stzor~ldjustiQ nry dissent, by such conre every nran's inrnrediare and insra~lt cc911cer11, to kc made very scnsitlle of the arguments as may t9c supposed to have abgohte necesst'p of this total eclipse of tibweight with a soher man. The main operative regulation of the erry, They would Irzore carehlly advert to every re-clrzewat,and more powertillly resist act is to susyelzd the common law, and the don fir doing so, as the rebels whoxrz they
release.
it. These great deternr i11ed rrreasures arc xrot carnmonly so dangerous to freedam. They are ntarked wit11 too strorrg lirres to stide into use. No plea of pretence of mere inconvenience or evil exdv~ple. . . can kc acttnitted as a reason f7?r such migtzy operations. Btrt tlre true danger is, wherr liberty is nibbled away for expedients, and by parts. The Hab8n.f Corpzas act supprlses (contrary to the gertius of rrlost other laws) that the lawful magistrate may sec particular men with a mdignant eye; arrd it provides for that ideirtical case. But wlrerr men, ~ n d eparz-Jcglnr r de~crip~inm, mnded nut by the nzdgistrate hiruzseg arc dclivcred over by partiament to this possible majignity, it is nor tlre FJnbr/ks Covaks that is occasionatjty suspcrrdcd, but its spirit that is ntistaken, arrd its principle that is subverted, Xndecd nothing is security to any individud but the comnron interest aF all. This act, therefore, Eras this distinguished evil in it, that it is the first p~zrz-inl suspcnsiorz uf the Hdbeds Corpus which has beerr made. The precedent, which is always of very great importance, is now establislred. For the first time a distinction is ntade arnorzg the people witlzin this realrrt. Before &is act, every nran purring his faor on English grortird, every stranger owing orrly a focal arrd temporary allegiance, even a rregro slave, who had beet1 sold in the catonics arzd uxrder arz act aF partiarncnt, became as free as every other mar1 who breathed tlre sanre air with him, Now a tine is drdwrz, which xnay t7c advarrccd farther arrd farther at pleasure, or1 the sarne asgunrent of rrrere expedience, on which it was first described. There is no equality amorig us; we are not fellow-citi~e~is, if the nrariner who 1afrds on the quay does rror: rcst an as firm tcgal ground, as the xncrchant who sits in his conrptinghotrse. O t t ~ e rlaws nray injure the conrnrunity; this telrds to dissolve it, Xr destroys eggal-
JP which is the esserzce of contntunity. As things now stand, every nran in the West Xr~dics,every one inhatpicant af rhrcc unoffeiidirrg provinces on the coritinerit , every person m " ' ; d r o m the East Tncties, every gcrrt1cmai.1who has travelled Ear fiis fiealrh or education, every rnarlrler who lzas navigated the seas, is, for rro other offence, ~tirdera temporary proscription. Let arzy of tlzese facts (n(>wbecome presuntptions of guilt) be proved against him, and the bare suspiciorr of the crown puts him out of the law. It is even by no rneans clear to me, whether the negative proof does nat lie upon the persorz apyreherzded a n suspicitjrz, to the subversion of all justice. X have nor: debated agairrrsr this bill in its progress throrlgh the House; kccartsc it wcluld have beerr vain to oppose, and impossible to correct it. Xr is sonre tinre since X have beell dcarty convinced, that in the present state of things, all opprlsition to any nreasures proposed by nr inisrers, whcrc the rzamc of America appears, is vain arzd frivolous. . . . . . . XR declining rrry usual strict attendance, I do not in the least calzdenrn the spirit of those gentlemen, who, with a just confidence in their abilities, . . . were of upiniolr that their exertions in this dcsperate case might be of sorne service, They thotfgtx, that hy contracting the sphere of its applieatiorr, they might tesscrz the rnaligr~ityoE an evil principle. Perhaps they were in the right. But when rrry opinion was so very clearly to the contrary for the reasorzs I lzave just stated, I ain sure my attendance would have been ridicutous. I nrrtst add, in further exylar~ationof: my corrduct, that, far front softening the featt~resof m1511 a principle, and thereby rcrnoving any part uf the popular udiunr or rzatrtrd terrors atterzdixlg it, I stzorrld he sorry &at any thing framed in contradictioxz to the spirit of our constitution did
13ot-instantly produce in fact, the grossest uf the evils, with wliich it was pregszarzt ixz its nattlre. It is by lying dorrnant a long time, or being at first very rarefy exer-cised, that arbitrary power stcaIs upon a people, O n the riext unconstitutional act, all the fashionable world will be ready to sayYour prophecies arc ridiculous, your fears are vain, yort see how little of the mischiefs which you hrtrrerfy foreboded are come to pass. Thus, t9y degrees, that artful sokening of ali arbitrary power, the alledged infrequerzcy or narrow extent of its operation, will be received as a sort of aphorism-and Mr. Hum40 will not: be singular in teiling us, &at the felicity of ~rrankindis no nrore disturbed by it, than by earthquakes, or thtlrzder, or the uthcr rnore urtrtsuat accidents of nature. The act of which X have said so nruch is anrang the fruits of the Arncricarr war; a war, in nty htrntbte opinion, productive of Irrany nrischiefs of a kind, which distinguish it- from all others. Not oizly our policy is deranged, and our empire distracted, but our laws arrd our legislative spirit are ixz dangcr of being totally perverted by it. We have rnade war on ortr C~forries,not by arnzs only, bbrzt by laws. A?; hostility atrd law arc xzot very colzcordant ideas, every step we have taken irr this business, has beerr nrade by rranrpting on some nraxi~rt uf justice, or sonre capital prir~cipleof wise governnterit. %at precedertts were established, and what principles overturned, (l. wil) not say of Etzglish privilege, but of gerzeral justice), in the Buston Port, the ~b:SassachusersCtiarter, the IWititary Bill, and all that Lorzg array of iiiostitc acts of parliament, by which the war with America has been begtlxl and supported? Eliad the principles uf any of these acts been first "9't)avid Hume, rhe S~orrislrphilosopher and conretnporary of Burke,
ri
planted on English ground, they would probably have expired as soon as they touched it. Brtt by k7eirzg rcsnoved frasn our persons, they have rooted in our laws; atrd the latest poaeriv will tasre the fruits of them. Nar is it the worst effect of this rlstriatural contention, that our l a w arc corrupted Whilst mnrzners remain entire, they will correct the vices of law, arid sofien it at- lengch to their own temper. Brtt wc have to lament, that in most uf the late proceedirtgs we see very few traces of that generosity, humanity* and dignity of mind, which formerly characterized this nation. War stlspertds the rules of moral obligation; atrd what is long suspended is in dangcr of being totally abrogated, Civil wars strike deepest of all into the manrters of a people, They vitlate their poliiticus; they corrupt their xnords; they pervert evert the riatural taste arzd relish of equiy atrd justice, By reachilrg 11s ro consider our fellow-citizens irz an t~ostile tight, the whole body of our riation becontes gradually less dear to 11s. The very Ilanres of affectiaiz artd kndred, wfiich were the bonds of charity wlzilst we agreed, become new incentives to hatred and rage, when the comrnuxzion of our cauxztry is dissolved. We may flatter ourselves that we shall not fall into this nrisfartuxle. But we have 11o charter of exemption, that I krzaw o&from the ordinary frailities of our nature. Wrat but that blindness of heart which arises from the phrenzy of civil cuntentiorr, could have made arty persarts conceive the present sitilation of the British affairs as an ubjcct of rriizmph in thernselves, or of carigratulation tc:, their sovereign? Nothing surely could be nrore lamentak9lc to those who rcnrenrl9cr the flourishing d a p of this kingdom, than to see the insane joy of several ~lrlhappypeople, amidst the sad spcctaclc wliich our af-
fairs and cox-rdtxct exhibit: to the scorn of Europe. We behold (and it scerns some peopte rejoice in behoiding) our native land, which used ro fit the envied arbiter of a11 her rzeight9ours, reduccd to a servile deperldertce on their mercy; acqutescirtg in assurances of friendship which she does xzut trust; camplaixzing of hostilities wlrich site dares riot resent; deficient to her allies; lofv to her subjects; and subnrissive ro her erzcmies; whilst the tibcral govertzmenr of this free riatic3n is supparted by the h e l i n g swnrd of German boors and m s sals; and three nrillions of rt-re subjects of Great-Brirain arc scckix~gfor protection to Englisil privileges in the arms of France!
Indeed our affairs are in a bad condition. I do assure those Gentlenren who have pr~yedfor war, arzd obtained the t9lessir~g tlrey have sought, that they are at this instant in very great straits, The abused wcatth of this cauxztry corztixiucs a little longer to feed its distemper. As yet thep and ftieir Gernran allies of m e n y hireling states, have col~tcndedoniy with the uizprepared strer~gth of our own infznt colonies. But Axrrerica is not si~bd~red. NOI: one urzattacked village, which was origirtaIIy adverse, thm~tgi~or~r that vast continent, has yet submitted fronr love or rerrox: Vot~have the grouizd you encanrp un; and p n have no more. The cai1tc)rtinents of your troops and your dominio~lsare exactly of the same extent, Uau spread dcvastation, but yort do not enlarge the splzere of authority*
There are Irrany circuxrrscances in the gresent zeal for civil war, which sccrn to discover but little of reat magnariintity. The adrfresxrs offer their own persons; and they arc satisfied wirk hiring Germans.
They promise their private fortunes, and they Irrortgagc their country They have all the rxlerit of' ~ol~~iztcers, without risque uF person or charge of contdbution; artd when the Ernfeeling arnr of a breign soldicry pours our their kixzdred blood like water, they exult arid triuntph, as if tlzey tf-renlselves t-rad perhrmed some notahte exploit, I am reatly asf-rarncd uf the &ashionable language which has beer1 held for sonre tinre past; which, to say rt-re best of it, is full oEleviy. Uart krzow, that I aflude t(3 the general cry agairlst the cowardice of the Axrrericans, as if we despised tlterrz for rzut nraking the King's soldiery purchase the advarltages they have obtained, at a dearer rate, Xt is not, Gentfemexr, it is 13ot to respect the dispcrzsatiorzs uf Providerzcc, riot to provide ariy decent retreat in the ~rrtrtabilityof hunran affairs, XE leaves ~-ro medium kcmeerz insolent victory and ixzfzntous defeat. It tends to alie11ate our ~rri~rds hrtl-rer and hrther fronr our natttral regards, and to xnakc arz eternal rent and schisnt in the British riation. Those who do nor wish for such a separation, would xzut dissolve that cenrent uf reclprocat esteem and regard, which, cart alone bind together the parts of this great fibrick. Ir ought to kc our wish, as it is our duty, riot ortly to forbear this style of orttrage oursetves, but to ~rrakcevery ox-re as scrzsiltlc as wc can uf the impropriety and unwortlziness of the tempers wlzich gave rise to it, and which desigr-ri~rg8rrer-r are labourir~gwit11 such xnalig~antixzdustry to difuse arnongst us. It is orrr busirless to countt-racr &em, if possible; if possible to awakerz our natttral regards; arzd to revive the old partia1ir;v to the Engiish name. Wirl-rout sonreking of &is kind T do 81ot sec how it is ever practicah1e really to rcconcite with those, whose affections, after all, nrilst be the swesr hold of otrr p v e m mcxzt; and which arc a thortsa~zdtimes
rrzore worth to EIS,than the nrercenary zeal uf all the circles of Germany. f cart well conceive a a>uritrycontpletely over-run, and rrriserabty wasted, without approaching in the least to scttlemerrt. Xrz rny apprehension, as hng as Engtish gmernment is atternp~"dobe supported over Erzgtislimcn by the sward alone, things wit1 thus continue, f artticipate in nty mirtd the rnomenr of the final trirrnrph of foreig~r milirary force. m e n that hour arrives, (Ear it ntay arrive) thert it is, that: all this ntass of weakness arid violence will appear in its full light. If we shotlld be expeled h m h e r i a , thc delusioiz of die partizarrs uf ~~litirr-iry goverriirnextt rnight still contintle. They rni&r still Fced their ilnaginariorrs with rtlr passible good conscquclzces which nlight have atterlded sucess. Nobocly could prove the contray by hcts. Btlt in case the sword sfiould do all that the sword can do, the success of heir arnts and the defeat of their policy wiH be one and the sanre thing. You will rzever see any revenue from America. Sclnte irlcrease of the mealls of cr)rruption, without any ease of the pt~blicbultilens, is s it for this the very best that a n happen. X that: we are at war; and in such a war? A s to the difkulties of laying once more the foundations uf rhat govcrrrment, which, for the sake o f conqwring what was our own, has beet1 votunrarily and wantonly pulled down by a court fiactiarz here, I trernble to look at thent. Has any of these Geritlerrien, who are so eager to goverr3 all xnankind, shcwcd himsclf possessed of the first qllalificatiorl tc3wards governrrzerit, sonre knc-twtedg of the object, and uf the difficulties which occur in the casks tlzey have undertaken? I assure you, that 0x1 the rrrost prosperurts issue of your arxns, you will not be mfrere you stood, whert you called in war to supply the defects of your political establistimcrzt, Nor would any disorder or
disobedience EO government, which could arise fronr the nrost abject concession on our part, ever equal those which will be felt after the ntost triumpllartt violence. 'tiou haw got all the inrermediare evils of war into thc bargaixz. I think f know Anterica. ff I do not, nty ignorance is incurabte, For X have spared no pains to undcrsrand it; arzd I do most s(>lemrllyassklre those of nty cortstiruerlts who put a n p m of confidence in my industry and integrity, that every thing that has beer1 done there has arisen from a total nriscoxlception of the object: thac our nleans uf originally iiialdirrg America, that our rnearls of reconciling with it after quanV"),of recoverirzg i t after separarion, or keeping it after victory, did depcxrd, and must depend, in their several stages arid periods, upon a total renunciation of that urzcolzditional s~lbnlissiorzwhich has cakcn sucti possessicin of the ntinds of violent nren. The whole of those maxims, upon which we iiiave made and continued this war, must be abaridoned. Nothing irtdeed . . . can gtace EIS in our former situation. That hoyc must t9c laid aside, But thcre is a difference bemeer1 bad and the worst of all. Terms relative to the cause of the war ought to kc offered t9y the autiiiorlty uf parliament. An arrartgernerlt at home pronrising some securiy For them ought to kc made. By doing this, without the least impairing of our strength, we add to the credit of our rrzoderarion, which, in itself, is alvvays strength mare or less. I kriow many have-beer1 taught to think, that nroderatiotl, in a case like this, is a sort of treason: and rhat at1 arLprncxztsfor it arc sufficiently answered t,y raitirtg at rebeis and rebellion, and by charging a1l the gresent or future miseries wfiich we Inay suffer, on the resistartce of our hretIirci~.But I would wish tt-terri, in this grave nratrer, and if peace is rzot whot!y rernoved from their
hearts, to consider seriously, first,-that to crirnirzatc and rccrixninatc rzcver yet was the road to recr)~rcili;ztt~n, in any difference anzongst men. TR tire next place, it woutd k9c right to refiect, that thc h~iericdnEnglish . . . can, as t h i ~ ~ now g s stand, neither be provoked at our railing, or bettered by our irzstructiun. All coinmurzicatioxz is ctzt off between us. But this we know with certainty; ttrat thok~gh we calrfrot recIailzr tiiiem, WC xnay reform uursclves, If measures of peace are necessary, they mtlsr: begin sontewllere; arld a coriciliatory tentper nmlfst precede and prepare every plan of rccolzciliatiun. Nor da X calzceivc that wc suffer any thing by thus regtllating our own nrinds. We are not disarmed by being disencumt9cred uf atlr passions. Dectalrning on Rebeltion never added a bapnet, or a charge of powder, to your military force; t9ut X am afraid that it has been the means of taking up many a tmsket against:you. This okztragcous language, which has t9cc1.zerzcouraged and kept alive t9y every art, has already dorze incredible mischief, For a long tirzre, even a~nidsrthe desotatiuns of war, and the ixzsults of hostile kaws daily acct~mulatedon one another, the Anretican leaders seem to trave Izad ttre grCdtCSt: difhculty irz bringing up their people tcz a declaratiorr of tcxal independerice. But tire Court Gazette acconrgtished what the abettors uf indcpcndcncc had attentpted in vain.41 m e n that disingcrruorls compilation, and strange nxdley o f rallixig and Rattcry, was adduced, as a proof of rfze tlnited sentiments of tile people of Great Britairn, tbere was a great change throughout at! America. The tide of popular affection, mfticl~had still set tczwards ttre parent couxrtr)z; began inzrrzedi""'X'he Lorzdun Cimtte publisheii a number o f addresses presenred in lace 177%ro rhe king w~pporring rlre Bririsll hard-! ir~eAmericar2 policy,
ately to turn; and to flow with great rapidity in a contrary course. Far from concealixzg thesc wild declarations OF exznzity, the author of the celebrated pantphier: wiiiicft prepared the nrinds o f the people b r indepe~zdencc,insists largely on the multittlde arid the spirit: of these Addresses; and he draws an argumenr fronz them, which (if the Facts wcl-c:as he supposes) nzust be irresistible.42 For X never knew a writer on the theory of governxncrzt, sa partial to authority, as riot to allow, that the hostile mirtdof the rulers to their people, did fully jufiif;y a change of government, Nor can any reason whatever be givcn, why one people should voluntarily yield arry degree o f p~-eminenceto anothcl; hut on a supposition of great affection arzd kcncvolerrce towards them. Unforttxrlately yc>ur rulers, trusting to other things, took ~ r o rzaticc of this great principle of conncxion. Frorn the beginning of this affair, they trave done all they could to alienate your mixzds horn your own kindred; and if they could excite hatred enougll in one of the parties towards the other, they seenled to be of upiniorz that they had gorze half way tczwards recorlcitirlg the quarrel. T know it: is said, tirat your kiridxress is only alienated on accc9uxzt of their rcsistance; and therefore if the colc>niessurrender at discr-ctiorr all sort of regard, and even mud1 ixzdutgcncc, is xneant towards them in hture. Bt~tcar1 those who are partizarls for corrtirz~~irzg a war to enfnrce such a surrcrzder, he responsible (after all that has passed) fbr sucll a future use of a power, that is bouxrd by ~ r oconrtlacts, and restrained t9y xzu terrors! Will they tell us what they a l l indrdgences? Do they riot at this instant call the present war and all its horrc~rs,a lenient arzd meli-cifut pmcccding? 'QBurke is referring to '1"homas f'airrre and his G"ow~~non .C~nsp11776).
No conqueror, that I ever heard OF, has pro$sseu( to make a cruel, harsh, and insolent use of his conquest. No! The ntari of the nrost declared pride, scarcely dares to trust his own heart, with this dreadful secret of ainbition. But it wit1 appear in its time; and no mac! who professes to reduce another to the insole~rtmercy of a farcig~z arm, ever had arzy sort of good-will towards him. The profession of kiridness, with that sword in his iiiand, and that dernarid of surrerider, is one of the ntost provc>kingacts of this hostility I shalt be told, that all this is lenicrrt, as against rebellious adversaries. But are the leaders of their EXtion more lenient to those who submit? Lord Howe and Genera! I3owe have powers undcr arz Act of Parliament, to rcstorc to the Kingk peace arzd to free trade arzy Irrerr, or district, which shall subnrie. Is this dorzc? We havc t9ccrz uvcr arzd over infctr~nedby the at~thorisedGazette, that the city of New York and the countries of Staterz and Long Island iiiave submitted vc>lt~rztarily and ctleerf~iLly,arzd that rnany in these places are full even of zeal to the cause uf Administration. Were they. instarztty restored to trade? Are they yet restored to it? . . . Brit we can see wefl clzarlgh to what the whole leads, The trade of Ameria is to be dealt out in p r i ~ n ~i e~ d~kences/kndgcarres;ttzat is, in jobbs to secunrpence the ixzccxzdiaries of war. They will be inf;-rrmedo f the proper tirne in which to send out their nrercha~ldise. Fronr a rzatiorzal, the America~z tradc is to t9c turned into a persari;li ntonopoty; arzd orie set of ~Glerchantsare to be rewarded for the p r a c r ~ d ~zcaj, d of which another set arc the dupes; arzd thus betweerr craft arid creduliey; the voice of reason is stifled; and at! the r'~lisco~liduct, all the calanrities ofttie war are covered arid continued. If I had not lived lorrg enough to be t t tle surprized at arzy thing, X should iiiave
been in some degree astc>r~ished at the contintled rage of several Cenllenren, who, not satisfied with carryi~lgfire and sword into Anerica, are arzirrlated neady wit11 tlre same flu-y against those neighbours of theirs, whose only crixxte it is, that thcy have charitably and l~untarzef~wished them to entertain more reasonable sentiments, arzd rzat atways to sacrifice their interest to their pasion. All h i s rage against uxlresisting dissetlt, coxlvi~rcesnre, that at kottonr they arc far from satisfied they arc in the right. Fnr h a t is it they would have? A war? They certainly have at this nramelzt the blessing of sonrething that is very like one; and if the war they enjoy at present be not sufiicnrly hot and extensive, thcy may shortly iiiavc it as warm and as spreading as their hearts car1 desire. Is it the force of the Kingdonr they call for? They have it already; arzd if rhey cboosc to fight their battles in their own persori, nobody prevcrrts their sertirlg sail to Anrerica in the rzexr transports, Do they think, that the service is stinted for want of likerat supplies? Indeed they conrplain wittzoue reason. The table uf the House uf Coinmoris wilt ghr thent, let their appetite for experlce be never so keen. And I assure thein further, that those who thirik with them in the Hcmse of Comntorzs are full as easy in the controt, as they are Iiberaf in the vote uf tlzese cxpcnccs. IF this be xzut supply- or confiderlce sufficierit, let: them open their own private purse-strings, and give fronr what is left to thern, as Largcly and wit11 as little care as they think proper. Totcrated in ttzelr passions, Ict them learn not to pcrsecutc the xnoderation uf their feilc>w-citizens.If alf the world joined tl~ent in a frill cry against rebellion, and were as hotly in8a1ned agaiizst the \vhotc theory arzd erij~>y~neiit of freedom, as those who are the nrost factious for servitude, it cot~lcinot in my opinion arzwer any one end whatsower
in clris contest. The leaders of this war coi~td xrot hire . . . ogle Gcrnran more, thaxi thcy ds; or inspire him with less feeling &>S the pwmn"~or less value for rlre privileges, of their revolted brethrc~z.If we all adopted their seritirnents to a man, tlzeir allies tlze savap Indiafrs43 corlld nor be more ferocio~tsthan they are: They cautd rzot xnurdcr one more helpless woman or child, or with more exquisite refinerrients of cruelty corxnent to death one more of their English flesh and blood, ttrart they do already, The public monr;r is given to purchase this alliance;-a~r d they have their bargain*
Wherz arzy canrmuxriry is sukordinatcty canrzectcd with another, the great danger of the corinexiori is the extrerne pride and self-conrplace~~cy of the superior*which in all matters of controversy will prot9aMy dccide in its own favc~ur.It is a powerful ccxrective to sirctr a very ratio~raicause of fear, if the infcrior body car1 be xnadc to t9cticve, that the party irrcIir~atiortor political views of several in the principal state, witt induce them in sonre degree to curtnteract this blind and tyraniiic partiality, There is no danger than any one acqrriring coxrsideration or power in the presiding state sfrould carry this learrirtg to tlze inferior tcr~rfar. The fault of human nature is nor of that sort, Power in whatever hands is rarely guilty of too strict li~rrit;tlinnson itself. But one great advantage to the support of authority attends suclr ari arnictlble and pro) tecting coniiexioii, that those w l ~ have coxrferred favours obrain influexrcc; and from the foresigirt of fi~tureevents car1 pcrsuade meri w l ~ ohave received obligations ""Uirrish force3 arrempred ro use Indian tribes ag3inst the h e r i c , ~lrbcls aici settlers. Such placrices angered Ktlrke, See dso GQecr~i~ on the TPw o f b dia~ic,WSEB>iii, 354-367,
sontetirnes to rettlril thein. Tlrus, by the ~rzcdiationof those heating principles, . . . trouklesomc discussions arc t9ronght to some sort of adjustntent; arid every hot controversy is not a civil war. But, ifrfic Colonies . . . cc9utd scc, that ixz Grcat Britain tlse rnass of the people is ~rzdtedillto its Govemnrenr, and that eveq dispc~tcwith the Milristry xnrtst of neccssi~ be always a quarrel with the natisri; tlzey can stand no longer in the equal and friendly relation of fellow-citizc~zsto the sllhjects of &is Kingdom. Hambie as this retatioxr nray appear to soxrzc, when it is once t9roken, a strviig tie is disolved, Other sort of czorinexit~riswill be saugllt. Ftrs, there are very few in the world, who will nor prefer an usehi ally. to an ixisolent xnasrcr, Such discord has beer1 tire effect of the ~rrraniniiryinto which so nrany lrave of late bcerz seduced or krtllicd, or into the aypearance of which they have srlrtk throudr Irzere despair, They liave been totd chat their disserzt from violent mcasrlres is arz ericouragentem to rebejfion. ~tleriof great presunrgtio~rand little knowledge will hold a laxzguage which is contradicted by the whole course of tristory, General rebelli(>lis aird revolts of an whole people newr w r e el-zcouraged, xrow or at any time. Tficy arc always pmvnked. But if this dzeard-of doctrine of the encouragement of rebellion wcrc true, if i t were ErLlC, that arz assurance of the frieridship of rlurnbers in this country cowards the colonies, could beconre air cncurtragerncnt to thcrn to break off all corinexiori with it, what is the inference? Does any body seriously nraincain, that, charged with my styare of the pc~bfjiccouircils, f am obliged not to resist projects which I chi~ikfrzischievo~s,lest nren who sutifer shorltd bc cncour;lged to resist! The v e ~ yte~rdeli~y of sucfr pr~>jectsttr produce rebelliotl is oae of the chief reasons aigainst them. Shall that reasorr rzot t9c givc~z?Is it
then a rtlle, that no nran in this ration sfrall u p a h i s mouth ixz favour uf the Colonies, shall deferid their rights, or complain of their suffcrings? Or, when war finally breaks out, no man shall express his desires of peace? Has this beer1 the law of our past, or is it to ~rrakethe terms of our filture, conncxion? Even tookirzg no further rlzaxz ourselves, car1 it be true loyalty to arry goverrrrrrent, or true gatriotisnz towards any courztry; to degrade their solernlz courzcils into servile drawing-roclms, to Batter their pride artd passions, rather than to enlighten their reason, and to prevent therzr from being cautioned agairzst violence, lest others slloutd be enccjuraged to resistance! By such ~ C ~ L L ~ ~ S Cgreat C ~ G Kings C and mighty rzatiorzs have L3eerz undone; arzd if ariy are at this day in a perilous situatioii fronr rejectilzg trt~th,and listening to flattery, it wort'id rather kccornc thcrtl to rcform the errors under whiclz. they suffer, than ro reproact3 those who have farewarrzcd them uf their danger. But the rebels loclked for assistarice fronr this couxrtv. They did so in the beginning of this controversy xnosr certaixzly; arid they sotlght it by earxtesr supplications to Goverrrrrre~rr,which dignity rejected, and by a s~lspensianuf commerce, which the wealth of this natiorz eizabtecf yort to despise. VC7hen they fc~undFhar neither prayers rzur xncnaccs had any sort of weight, but that a firin resolrrtion was taken ro reduce therrr to ~rncondirioiral ukcdiexzce L9y a xnilirary force, they came to the last extrcatiry. Despairing of us, they trusted in rhenrsetves, Not stroxrg cxzorlgh theinsctvcs, they sought succour ixz h proportion as all ellcourageFrarz~e.4~ *fidBurkc probably had in mind Bcnjamin FranMiris diplomatic mission to Paris in the winter of t 776-1777. The Asrrericans evenrualiy ct3ll;~ludedan dlidrlce witlr France in 1778,
nrent here lessened, their dista~rccfronr this cortfztry etzc~cascd.The cncauragemerrt is over; the alienation is cornpleat. T r t order ro produce this favourite wnanimiry in delusion, arzd to prevent all possibility of a returri to our arttient happy concod, xgrzments for our contirlnance in this course arc: Brawn froin the wretched situatiorr itself into which we have beerr betrayed. Xt is said, that being at war wicfr the Colonies, whatcver our selztixxrcxzts miglst have beerr before, all ties bemeen us are riow dissolved; artd all the pr>licywe have left is to strerrgtben che hands of Gaverrzmcnt to red~lcethem. On the p i n ciple of this argurnerit, the ntore mischiefs we suffer frotrr any adnriniscration, the more our trust ixz it is to be confirmed. Lct thein but once get us irrto a war, their power is t17en safe, and an act of oblivion past far all their misconduct. But is it really true, that Gtlverrlntertt is always ro be strengthened with clre instrunzents of war, k9ut never ftirnisii~edwith the mearrs of peace? . . . W ~ e r Tr was anrongst nry constituenrs at the last Summer Assizes,& 1 renternber that mert of all descripticlns did thert express a very sn-ong desire fbr peace, and no slight h o p s of atraixzing it from the coinmission sertt out by my lord Hawe, A i d it is rrot a little remarkable, char in proportion as every person sfzewcd a zeal for the court measures, 1z.ewas at that time earnat in circulating an opiniorr of die extent of the supposd p o w m o f that commission. When f told thein that lc~rdHowe had no poweruo treat, or to promise satishccion on any poirrt whatsocvcr uf the colztroversy, f was hardly credited; so strong arrd general was the desire of terminaring this "hassize w'ts a session held peliodicallp in ajl Etldislr and Welsh ct3unries where civil and crilinindl jttsrice \vc= adminisered,
war by the mehod of accomnrodacion, As Ear as I could discover, this was the ternper then prevdent throug11 the kingdont. . . . ff such powers of treaty were to be wished, whilst success was very doubthl; how came they to be less so, since his Najest)l."srnts have been crowned with Irzany considerable advantages? Have these successes induced rrs to alter OLIS mind, as thinkirlg the season of victory not &C time for t~eatillg with hortour or advarttage?. . . Ail the atterrtpts ntade this sessieln to give fuller powers o f peace to the cornnranders io America, were stified by the fatal confidence of victory, arzd the wild hopes of unconditional suhntissiori. There was a moment, kvourable to the king's arms, when if ajzy powers of concession had existed, on the other side of the Atlantick, even aker all our errors, peace in all probability migl~tiiiave keen restored, But calantiry is u n t ~ a p p ithe t ~ usual seasort of reflexion; and the prick of men will nor oken suffer reason to have arzy scope urztil it can be no longer of service. T have atways wished, that as tlre dispute iiiad its apparerzt origin frorn things done in Parliament, and as the acts passed there had provoked the war, that the four-rdations of peacc should be paid in Partiantertt also. I have been astonisired to find, tlrat tlrase whose zeal for the digrrity of our t9ody was so hot, as to light up the flames of civil war, sirotlld even publickdy declare, that these delicate poi~ztsought to be wholty lcfr to the Gmwn. h o r l y as X may be thuugtlt afkcted to the authority of Parlianre~rt,T shalt, never admit that our corzstitutionat rights can ever became a ntatter of ministeAaf riegociatiorr. I am charged with being an Axrzerican, If warxn af-fectiorz, towards those over wlzom I claim ariy share of artthority; he a crime, T am guilty of this charge. But T do assure you . . . that if ever one xnart lived,
more zealous than ariother, for the suprenracy of Partianrent, and the rights of this imperial Crawrz, it was myself. Many others irtdeed migllr be more knowing in the extent, or in the foundation of these rights. X do xtat prctcrtd to t9e arz Antiquary, or a l a y e r , or qt~alifredfar the chair of Professor in Metaphysics. X never verttured to put your solid interests upon spealtarive grow&. My having constaritly declined to do so has been attributed to my incayaciy f i r such disquisitions; and I am irlctined to believe it is partly the cattse. II never shall be ashalrzed to confess, that wlzcrc I am ignoratzt X am diffidertt. X ant indeed not very sotlicitous to ctear myself of this imputed incapacity; because men, even less corzversant thalz I am, irz this kind of subtleties, arid placed in statio~tsto which T ought not to aspire, have, by the mere farce OF civil discretiort, oftert corldrrcted the affairs of great rtations with distirrguished feliciey and glory %en I first cxrrc into a prtblick trust, X fourid your Parliantent in possession of an ~lnlimitedlegisliative pawer over tire Colonies, X could rzat apex1 the Statute-Book, without seeing the actual exercise of it, more or less, in all cases wharsoever. . . . I iiiad irtdccd very carrtest wishes to k c p the wiiic3le body of this ar~thorltyperfect and eritire as T found it, and to keep it so, rzot for our advantage solely, t9ut principally for the sake of those, on those account all just authority exists; T mean, the people to be goverrzed. Far X thauglit I saw, that marly cases ntigllt well happen, in which tlre exercise of every power; cornprehcrtdcd in the tlroadest idea of legislature, rnigbt beconte, in its time artd circuntsrances, not a little expedient for the peace arzd urzion of the Colonies arnongst themselves, as well as for their perfect harmoriy with Great-Britain. Thinking so, (perhaps erroneously) krtt kcing iiiorzcstly of that
opinion, X was at the same tillre very sure, that the authority uf which X was so jealous, conld not, urtder the actr~atcircumstances of our Plantarions, be at all preserved in any uf its xncmbcrs, but by the greatest reserve in its application; particularly in those delicate points, in which the feelings uf mankrind arc the most irritaMc. They who tfloudlt otherwise, have found a few nrore difficufties in their work, than (X hope) they we= thoroughly aware of, when they ur~dertookthe present l~usirzas. I ntust beg leave to observe, that it is rlor: onfy the invidious branch of taxatio~l that will kc rcsistcd, but that rzo utl~cr givert part of legislative rights car1 be safely exercised, wittrout regard to the general upiniorz uf those who are to t9c goverlzed. That general opinion is the vehicle, arid o r p n of legislativcr onrnipotmce. Witl~out this, the extent uf legislative pawcr xnay be a ttieory- to erltertai~lthe mind, but it is rrotbilrg in the direction of affairs. The con~pleatncssOF the legislative authority uf Pariiamei~touer thks kz'zgdom is rtot questioned; and yet there are many ttlings indubitably irrct~ldedin the abstract idea uf that power, arid wlricf~carry no absotute injustice in themselws, which, being contrary to the apirzions and fccitings uuf the people, car1 as little he exercised, as if Parlianrerlt in such cases had been possessed uf nu right at all. . . . Xrz effect, to fa;r>f!ow, not to force the p~rblickir~clirlatiort;to give a direction, a forrzr, a technical dress and a spccifick sanctioxz, to the general serise of the community, is the true end of legisfaeure. When it goes b e p n d this, its authoriry will bc yrccarious, let its right kc what they will. Xt is so with regard to the exercise of all the powers, which our constit~tlonknows in any of its parts, and irldeed to the substantial existerrce of any of the parts therrrsclves, rlXze King" rzegative to kills is alze uf
the ntost irtdisputed of the royal prersetrves; and it extends to aXI cases whatsoever, I arn 6ar h r n certain, that if scveral laws, which f know, had falien under the stroke of that sceptre, that the publick would have fiad a very iiieavy loss. But it is xzut the propriep of the exercise which is in question. The exercise itself is wisely forborne. Its repose xnay kc the prcscrvatioxz of its existence; artd its existei~centay be the nreans of saving the constitution itself, on arz uceasiun warthy OF bringirzg it forth. As the disputarits, wlzose accurate artd logicat reasonings have brought us into our present condition, think it absurd that powers, or merrthers of arty constitution should exist, rarely if ever to be exercised, 1 hope. I shaff bc excuscd in xnelztioning another instarlce that is material. We kriow, that the Convocation of the Clergy had formerly keen caljed and sat with rzearly as much regularity to business as Pariianterit itself":Xr: is now called for form only. Xt sits for the pclrposc of m&ing some polite ccclesiastical cornpiirnerits to the King; artd when that grace is said, retires and is heard of xro xnorc. It is however npdrt ofthe Consl.itwl.z'on, artd may he catled orrt irtto act and energy, whenever there is occasioxl; arzd whcrzever those, wfio conjtlrc up that spirit, will choose to abide the consequences. Xr is wise to gernril: its legal exish to co~ztinueit a tcncc; i t is n ~ ~ t cwiser legal existerlce only So truly has Prudence (constituted as the God of this lower worlcf) the erztire doininion aver evcry exercise of power, contntitted into its hands; and yet X have lived to see pruderrce and conformity to circumstances, wholly set at rlaugirt in out late controversies, and treated as if they were the rrzost contcxnptibic and irratioxzal af all things, X have fteard it a hundred times very gravely afledged, that in order to keep power in wind, it was xzeccssary, by preference, to
exert it in those very points in which it was xnost likely to be resisted, and the least likely to be prc>dr~ctive of any advantage. These were tire considerations, Gentlexncrz, which tcd me early to think, that in tlze comprelzerrsive dominie~nwhich the divine Providence trad put into our trands, irzstcad of traut9iing our ulzderstandixzgs with specrtlations csrrcerrzing the unity of enrpire, and the identity or distinction of legislative powers, and inAaming our passions with the heat and pride of corrtroversy, it was our duty, in ail st,berrzess, to coxlfornr our Gover~lnrentto the cbaraccer and circr~mstanccsof the several people wtta compose this miglrty and strarrgely diversified mass, T rrever was wild enough to conceive, that- ogle xnethod would serve for the mtioie; I coltid never cortceive that tire natives of Hindm1;ril~zand ttrose of Ergin& coltfd t9c ordered irz the same manaild the ner; or that the CutcherY C~)t1rt46 grand fury of S~zIern47colttd be regulated on a sirxtilar ptan. I was persuaded that Government was a practicd thing, made for the happirress of mankind, and nor to furxzish out a spectacle of uniforxnity, to gratilj. the schenres o f visionary poljticians, Our business was, to rule, rrot to wrangle; arzd it would have bce~za poor comperisatiorr that we 1 z d triuinphed in a dispute, whilst W lost an empire. If tiiierc t9c olze fact irz the world perfectly cIear, it is tlzis, "That the disptl>sition of the penpie of Alrrerica is wholly averse to any other than a free Governmcrzt;" and this kne3wri character of the people is indication enough to any honest sratesnran, iiiaw he ought to adapt whatever power he firids in his tlarids to their case, ff any ask nre what a free Governnrenr is? T answeb
"A Hindu, corrrthorrse with public. seating, 4iSaferx1, in the colony o f Massachusecrs.
tlzat, for arry practicd purpose, it is &tat the people think so; and ttrat they and rrot X, arc the rzatural, lavvft~l,arzd cornpctcnt judges of this matter. ff they practically allow nre a greater degree of authority over thenr than is colzsistexzt with any correct ideas of perfect freedom, f srtght to tharrk thenr for so great a trtrsr, and not to endeavour to prove from thence, that they have reasoned arrtiss, arrd that having gorre so fa&by atralof5y; they must hereafter have rza enjoyment but by my pleasum. If we lrad seen this done by any others, we nrust trave coxrcltrded thenr far gone in madness. It is nrelanchaly as well as ridiculous, to observe the kind of reasoning with which ttre pubfic tras been anrused, io order to divert our xninds from the comrnort sertse of our American policy. There are people, who have split and anaconrised the doctrine of free Governmcrzt, as if it were an abstract: questiorr concerning rrretaphysicaX liberry and rrecessiy; and not a xnattcr of moral prudence arzd natural feeling. They have disputed, whetller liberty be a positive or a negative idea; whetlzer it does not consist in being goverrred by laws, wtthotlt considering wlzat are the Iam or who are the nrakers; they havc qucstiolzed whcthcr man has any riglzts by nature; and whetlzer aft the progerty he enjuys, be not the alms of his govcrrzment, arzd his life itsclftheir gavour arzd indulgence. Others csrrupti~lgreligion, as these have perverted philosopbp conrerid, that Christians arc redeemed into captivity; arrd the blood of tlze Saviour of rrratlkind tras been sfred to nrake then3 the slaves of a few proud and ixzsolerzt sirzncrs, "These stlocking ex-tremer; prc3voking to extremes of another kind, speculations are let loose as destructive to all authority, as tlze former are to ail freedom, In this manrrer &c stirrers up of this conrcntion, rrot satisfied with distracting our dcpcl~dencies
and filiing them with blood and slaughtcl; arc corrrtptixzg our undcrstarzdings: thcy are ertdeavourirtg tu tear up, along with practical iibercy, all the faundatioxrs of hunlan society, d l equity and justice, rcligic~rrarrd order. Civil freedom, gentlemen, is not, as many iiiavc cxzdeavorlred to persuade you, a thing that lies hid in tlze depths of abstruse science. TE is a blessing and a benefit, not alz abstract speculation; arzd all tlic just reasoning that can he npon it, is o f so coarse a texture, as perfectly tc:, suit the ordinary capacities of those who are to enjoy, and of tkuse who are to dcfcnd it. Far Eram ariy reseinblarice to those proposirions in Geonretry and Metagtrysics, which admit rza xncdium, but must be true or hlse in all their latitude, social and civil freedom, like all other things in common life, are variously mixed and modified, erzjoyed in very different degrees, and shaped into an infirrite diversity of forms, accordir~gto the ternper arzd cireumstaxzccs of every community, The cxtrems of liberty (wlltich is its abstract perfection, but its real hult) obtairzs no where, xzur oltglit to obtain any where. Because extremes, as we all know, in every point which relates either to our duties or satisEdctions in tife, arc destrucLiberty tive both to virtue and erijo~yrnent.. too rrztrsr be limited io order to he posscsscd. The dcgrcc uf restraixzt it is impossible in arty case t~:,settle precisely. But it ought to be the constant aim of every wise put9tick cor~rzseI,to find out by cautiorts experiments, arrd rational, c o ~ feirdeavours, with how little, not how nruch of this restraint, the community can sut9sist. For liberty is a g w d to be imprc:,ved, and rror: an evil to be lesserred. Tt is nor: only a private t9lcssirzg uf thc first order, but the vital spring arid e n e r e of the state itselc whiefz has just SO nruch life and vigour as there is liberty in it. But wtiether tibcrry Bc
advairtageotls or not, . . . none will cfispt~te that peace is a blessing; and peace rrzlrst in the course OF human affairs t9c fregrtexztty hougtltt luy sonrr indu1gence and taieration at leasr to liberty. For as the Sabbath (though of divine institutioxz) was made for nran, not rnalr for the Sahhath, governnrent, which can claim 110 triglrer origin or authority, in its cxcrcisc ar least, orlght to c o r t h m to the ex-igencies of the time artd the temper and characrer of the people) with whonl it is colzcenzed; and xzut always to attempt viijlently to bertd the people to their theories of subjection. The bulk of nlankir~don their part arc xzut exccssivety ct~riousconcerning arry theories, whilst they are really happy; and one sure synrptom uf arz ill corzductcd sratc, is tlic propertstty of rlle people to resort to thent. But when subjects, by a long course of such ill cofzduct, arc oncc thororlghly inflamed, arrd the state itself violently distenrpered, the people rrzust have sonre satisfaction to their f~eli~zgs~ xnorc solid tlian a s(:,pfristical speculation or1 law and goveranrent, Such was our situation; a i d suctr a satishetion was rzecessary to pxvent rccortrse to arnrrs; it was rrecessary towards laying thenr down; it will be necessary to prevent the taking them up agairz arzd again. Of what natr.lre this satisfactiarr ought to he, T wish it had been tire disposition of Partiamerzt seriously to consider. It was certainly a deliberation that called for the exertion of att their wisdonr, I am, and ever have kccn, deeply scnsihle, of the diffrcdty o f recorrciling the srrong presding power, that is so useful towards the conservation of a vast, disconnected, irlfirtitely diversified empire, with that liberty ant( safety of the provinces, which they nlust erzjoy; . . . or thcy wilt not be provirrces at all. T know, and have long felt, thP clifictllty of reconciliflg cite urzwicldy haughtixzess of a grear rr~lirlgm-
rion, lrabituated to coxrzrzzand, ganrpered t9y exror~nouswealth, and confident frarn a long conrw of prosperity and victor^ to the high spirit of free dependencies, anixnated with the first glow and activity of juvenile heat, and assurnirig to thenrtsetves as their bircfr-riglrr, sonre part of that very pride which uyprcsscs them. Thcy who perceive ricj difficulty in recorlciling tlzese rerrzpers . . . are nrucfi above nry capacity, or xn~lchbelow the nlagrritude uf the business. Of orte thing 1 am perfectly clear, that it is riot by decidilig the suit, but by coxzzproxrzisirug the difference, char peace can kc rcsrorcd ur kept, Thcy who would put ari ertd to such quarrels, by declaring roundly in favour of the whole denrands of either parry iiiave xnisvakcn, in xny hrtrnt9lc opinion, the office of a mediatc->r. The war is now of full m o years standing; the controversy OF nlany more. Irr different periods of the dispute, different methods of reconciliation were to be pnrsued, I nlealz to trouble you with a shon state of tlrings at the most important of rtrese periods, in order ro give ) " ~ L a Inrore distinct idea OF our policy with regard to this most delicate of all objects. The Cotonies were fronr clre begirtning suhjecc to the legidative uF Grcat-Britaixr, an y rinciples which tlzey riever exainined; and we pernritccd to them nrany local privileges, withorlt asking how they agrccd with that legislative wthorirv, Modes of ahinistrarion were hrnred io an iosensible, and very unsystcmatick manxrer, But they gradllally actapred tllemsetvtls to the varying condition of things.-What was first a sing!" kirrgdoln srretched into an empire; arrd an i~nperiaisuperintendericy of same kind or other becanre rrecessary. Parliaxncnt, fram a mere reprcscrrtacive uf the people, and a guardiarr of popular privitegedfnr its own immediate consrititenrs, grew into a mighty sovcreig~z.Ir~stcaduf
being a coritrol on tlze Crown or1 its own behalf-;it comnrunicated a sort of strength to the Royal authority; wfzich was wanted for the coriservatiot~of a new object, but which could not be safely rrt~stcdro ttre Growlz alanc, O n the ather harzd, the Colonies advancing by equal steps, and govmned by rhe sanre necessity, had fornled within thernsctves, either by royal instructicjt~,or royal charter, assemblies so exceedirrgly reserzzbling a garlianrenr, in all their Eorxns, functions, and powers, that it was inrpussible they should not i~nbibe some opirzbcl o f a sinrgar- autlroriy At the first dcsigrratiolz uf these assemblies, they were probably not irlterlded for anything rzzore, . . . ttran the rzztrrricipall corporations within this Isla~zd,to whictl sonre at present love to compare them. But rrothing in progressio~lcan rest on its origixral plan. We xnay as wet! think of rocking a growrt man in the cradle of an infant. Therebre, as the Coloflies prospmd and cxrcrcascd to a numerous and mighry. ycopie, spreadi~lgover a very great tract of the globe; it was rratural rtrat rtrey should attribute to assemblies, so respcctabte irz tlzeir fornrtat c~)r~sti'~utiotl, sonre part of the dignity of the great rrations wlrich they rcprcserzted. No Longer tied to bye-taws, tlzese assenrtbiies ntade acts of ail sorts arrd in aXt cases whatsoever, They levied rzzoney, rzot for parochid purposes, hut upon regular grants to the Crrjwn, fcttlc.rwing all the rules and pritzciples of a Parlianrent, to which they approached every day xtlorc arid ntore nearly. Those mflo think themselves wiser than Providerrce and stronger than the course of Irature, may comptairr of alj tlzis vaAarion, on the one side or the ottrer, as ctreir several hulzzours and prejrzdices may lead them. But things could rzot be otherwise; arrd English Colonies must be had on these cernrs, or not liad at aff, Xn thc mcaxz time xreither party fctt arzy in-
convenience from this dotrble legislature, to wbich they fiad beell formed by imycrceptible habits, artd old custont, the great support of all the governments in the world, Thongh these two legislatures were sometirrles found perhaps perfctr~nirigthe very same filr-rctions, they did nor very grossly or systematically ctash. In all likelyhood this arose frt>rnmere rieglect: possioperarim of chings, bly from &c ~~arllral which, left to themselves, generally gall into their proper order. But whatever was tlze cause, it is certain, that a regular revenue by the authority of Parlianrent, for the support uf civil and xnilitary cstablislimerits, seerns riot to have keen tlzouglit of until the Coloxlies w r e too proud ro submit, too strong to t9e forced, too e~rfighteried not to see all the consequerices wlztclr ~rrustarise froor sircfi a systenr, Xf ever this schenle of taxation was to be puslred agairist tile inclinatic,ns of tlle peopie, i t was evident, that discussions nrust arise, which wo~tldlet loose all the elemerits that cornposed this double csnstitution; would shew how nruch each of their mcmt-tcrs iitad departed horn its original principles; and would discover contradictions in each legistarure, as welt to its own first pri~rcipIes.as to its relatio~rto the otlzer, very difficult if riot abs(>lutelyimpossible to be recoxlciled. Therefore at tfie first fatal opening of this contest, tire wisest csurse seerrred CO he, to put an end as soon as possible to the inznrediatc causcs of rhc dispute; and to quiet a discussiorr, riot easily settfed ~1por1clear principles, and arising fronr claims, which pride would permit rretther party to abarzdon, by resorting as neariy as possible to the old successfu~cot~rse.A ~rrererepeal of the ut9rroxiocts tax, with a declaration uF tfic tegislative authoriy of this kingd(>m,was then hllly suficierrt ro procure peace ro bad sides. Man is a creature uf habit; and the
first breach being of very stzort co~rtinuatrce, the Coloxlies fell back exactly into their antient state. The Congress has used an expression with regard to this pacification wbich appears ro be truly significant, After the rcpcal uf thc Sran~pAct, "the Colonies fell" says this assentbfy, "into their ;M~ in the antienr stare of U I Z $ ~ ~ P T G rn~jde~zce Mather Caur-ztley." This urrs~tspcctingconfidence is the true cerlter of graviy mzongst nrankind, about which all the parrs are at ca~$&nce that rerest. It is this uns~pecti~zg moves all difticufties, and reconciles ail the contradictions which occur in the complexiry of all arztient puzzled paiiticat csrrtl?listlmeizts. Happy are the rulers wlzich have the secret of prcsewing it!
X LtaJ the tlappiness of giving my first votes in Parliarncnt for that pacifiearion, X was one of those alntost unarrirrlsus ntenrtbers, who, in the Ilecessar). concessions of Parlizrme~rt,would as much as possible have preserved its authority, artd respected its honour, X could not at once tear Fronr nry heart prejudices which were dear to me, and which bore a resernhlarrce to virtues. I had then, and X have still, nry partialities. m a t Parliament gave up X wisfreci to t9e givei~,as of grace, and favsrtr, and affection, and not as a r ~ ~ t i t u t i oof n stolen goods. High dignity relented as it was soothed; and arz act of beriignity from old acknowledged greatness had its full effect on our depcxrdencies. O r ~ urrlimited r declararion of legislative authority pro&ced not a sirrgle nrur-nrnr. Tf this undefined pawcr has bccorne odious sincc that time, and full of horror to the Colonies, it is because the unsa.;piciogs C O Y Z ~ ~ ~ PisZ Clost; P arrd the parcrrtat affection, in the t9osorn of whose bourtdless authority they repr~sed their privileges, is becoxlre estranged and hostile.
IIt will be asked, if such was ttlen nry opinion of the mode of yacificatioxz, how I came to be tile very person who ntoved, not only for a repeat of all the late coercive states, but far mutilating, by a positive law, the erttirerless of tire legislative power of Parliament, and cutting off from it the whole right of raation? I arzswer, kceausc a different state of things reqt~iresa dityerent conduct. W i m the dispute had gone to the last extrernitics (which no man tabortrcd ntore to prevent than I: did) the csncessic>ns which had satisfied in the beginning, could satis@no longer; the violation of tacit faith required explicit security. The same cause, wlzictl has introduced all formal compacts and covenants anrong men, ~rradeit necessary: X mean, habits of soreness, jealousy, arid distrust. f parted wit11 it, as with a limb: b t ~ as t with a limb to save the body; arzd I worlld have parted with morc, if ntore lzad been necessary. hrything rather than a kzlitfess, hopeless, ~tnnaturalcivil war. This nzodc uf yielding wortld, it is said, give way to independency, witflout a war. II anr persuaded fronr the natklre of thixzgs, arzd from every ixzformatiorz, that it would lzave had a directly corttrary effect. But if it had this effect, II co~~fess, that 1 should prefer indeycrzdcncy without war, to indepertdertcy with it; artd I lzave so nrtrch trtlst in the inclinations and prejudices uF mankind, and so iirtlc in anyrhing else, that I: slzould expect ten tintes ntore benefit to this f(ingdofr1 from the affection of hnerica, thougli under a separate establishtnent, than from lzer perfect suhmissicin to the Crorvn and Parliaxrrenc, acconrpaxzied with iiier tcrrox; disgust, and abhorrence, Bodies tied together by so t~nriaturd a bond of unioxz, as nrutual hatred, are only connected to their ruin. One lsurldred arid ten respectable Nenrtbers of Partiarnent voted for that concession. ~Var~y; not yxscnt whcrz the nzotion
was made, were of tile sentirnerits of those who voted. II knew it would then have made peace. I arn not without hopes that it wcluld so at present, if it were adopted. No begrefit, no reverrue, could be lost by it. For t9c frrtly. asured, that, of all the yhantoms that ever deluded tile foizd hopes of a credulok~sworld, a parlianrentar). revenue in the Golo~ziesis the xnost perfectly chimericd. Ytmr bre&ing them to any subjection, far fiotn relieving yow btrrthens (the yracxt fc~rthis was,) will never pay that mifitary force which will be kept up to the destructioitl of their liberties and yours. X risque nothixzg in this ymphce;v;
X am aware that the age is xzot wfiat we dI wislz, But f ant sure, that the oriiy mealzs of checking its precipitate degeneracb is heartily. to coizct~rwith whatever is the best in our time; artd to have sonte more correct srandard of judging what the best is, than the transiexzt arzd urzccrtalrz 6avour of a court. ff orice we are able to find, and can prevail on ourselves to strenghen an unioll uf such mel.1, whatever aceiderztalty t9ccornes indisposed to il-exercised power, even by the ordinary operation of huxrrarl yas"1~ns~xn~stjoin with that socicty; arzd crtnrist long be joined, without in some degree asGimilating to it. Virtue will carcfi as welt as vice by contact; and the puMic stock of hortest marlly prirlciple will daily accu~rrulate.We are not too nicely to scrutinize motives as lung as action is irreproachable. ft is enou&, . . . to deal out its infanty to convicted guilt and declared aposcacjs; To act un the yrirrciptes uF the cc9nstit.ution, with tlze best ntert the tinte affords, has been 6unr the beginning the r ~ ~of l enzy colzduct; arzd X Ixzcarz to cc91liti11ueit, as iafzg as suctl a hody as f have described, cart by any posibility be kept together. Far X should thixzk ir the nzost drcadhl of all 05-
fences, rrot only towards the present generation but to dl tiiic fi~turc,if I were tu do any thirig &rich could make the ntinutest breach in this great consermrory of free principles. Thcjsc who perhaps have the same intentions, hut are separated by some l irrle yolitial aninzosiries, wilt, X hope, discern ar last, 11ow little cc9nducive it is to any ratiorrat purpose, tc:, lower its reputation. Ftrr my part, Gentlemen, from nrucll experie~rce,from no little thinking, arrd from comparing a great variety of tllings, I am thorc:,u&ly persuaded, that the last: hopes of presewing the spirit of the English Conscitution, ur of re-unitixrg the digsipated mcmbers of the Er~glishrace r~porra contntclrr plan of tranquilify and liberty does entirely dcpcx~dun the firm arzd lasting union uf such men; and above alt mr their keeping thenrselves from that despair, which is so very apt to fall all those, whom a violence of clzaracter, arrd a ntixturc of arrthiriorrs views, do not support through a long, painhl, and unsuceessfui struggfe. There never, Gentienten, was a period in which the stedfastness of sonre rrzeri has been put EO SO sore a trial. It is rzur very difficult for well-formed minds tc:, abarrdon their interest; but tlie separation of game and virtue is an harsh divorce, Liberty is in danger of l~etngrnade unpopular to Englishnre~l.contending for an inragirzat-y power, wc kcgirz to acquire the spirit of dsntinatisn, artd to lose the relish of tlonest equaliv,The principla of our forefathers become suspecrcd to us, bccr-lust we see thent a~rirnatirtgthe present opposition of our children. The faults which grow our of the luxnria~rceof freedom, appear much ntore sllockirig to us, tlzari the base vices which are generated fronr the rankness uf servitude. Accordingly the least resistartce to power appears more inexcuseable in our eyes than the greatest abuses of authority. All dread af a standing
military force is looked upon as a superstitious panick. Atl shame of calling in foreigrrcrs and savages irz a civil corztcst is worrl off: We grow indiffererit to the consequences inwirabIe to olfrseItres from the plan of rt~lirigbatf the cmpil-c:by a xncrccnary word, VVt: are taught to believe, that a desire of donrineering over our countrymen, is love to our cauxztry; that those who hate civil war abet reheltiori; arid that the amiable and coxlciliatory virtues of lenity, moderation, and tcndcrncss to the privileges of those who deperrd o n this kingitom, are a sort of treason to the scare, It is irnyossit9le thar we stzorlld remain long in a situatiorr, which breeds such notions and dispositions, without sonre great alrerarion ixz the rzatiolzal cbaracte~:Those ingenuous and feeling minds, who are SO fortified agairzsl all other things, and so uxzarmcci to whatever approaches irz tlic shape o f disgrace, hcting the principles, which they considered as sure nreans of honour, to be growrr irrro disrepute, will retire distneaftened arrd disgt~sred.Those of a nrore robust nrake, the bold, able, anrbitious mcxr, who pay s o m q a ~ uf tlleir corrrt to power tilr~ughthe people, arid srrbsrirute the voice of trmsrcnr opirrion in the place af true glory, will give into the gerreral mode. The superior understandings, which ought. to correct vulgar prejudice, will cc9rzfirm a~rdaggravate its errors. Many thillgs have been long operating towards a gradual change in our principjes. Brtt this hxrcrican war has doxze more ixr a very few years thart all the other carlses could have effected in a century. Tt is therefore rzat an its awn separate accaurzt, hut because of its attendant circuirzstarrces, that X cox~siderits coxltinuaizce, or its ending in any way but that of an honourable and liberal accomrrtcldation, as the greatest evils which can befa1 us, For that reson T have troubled you with this long letter. For
rtrac reason X inerear: you again and again, xzeithcr to be perswaded, shamed, or frighted out: of the prlr~ciplesthat have ftitherro led so Irrany of you rct abhor the war, i t s cause, and its conscquclzces, Let US rtot be antangst the first &I(:, rerionnce the nraxi~ztsof our forefathers.
I htzw the hclnaur ta be, GEPJTZ'EMEN, Er,r must obedient, /nnd&il-lfgl birrmblr. Sarztrdnt,
PS. You rnay csrnrnurticate this Letter in any Irranner you think groper ro nry Constituerzts.
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CHAPTER SEVEN
IntrodtuctorfrNote to
speech on Fox%lizdi~Bill (1783) h irrdic~tcdk &!art1, aurk& inLerest irk the
refirm clfnrici~d?imperd policy i~1hdia took time to devebp. He initin/&opposed 4 $IT& t~ reform the E a t M i a Gompnny in the /an6760s and_I"ormost njrlllle 1770s. h the I ~ t e1770s, Barbe$ attitude townrd B1-itish polz'q and the behdvhr &the E a t India Cow~panygnderwmt a dramlic tran$omntion k3urke becdme a hadi~zgjgurc i~ the parIinmenl;dry select: conzmitke charged wirdr investig~zsi~zg thr E a t Indiia Compdgp nnd he wrote the fimogs Ninth aad Eleventh Repc~rtsof the Select Cornnri t~ee.Burkei involwmerzt wit!? the cowlmime ncted ns n cntabst fir hts g o w i ~ gnppusicinn to the practices of the E a t Indin Cnmp~z~ily and fizrliamerzt$ acqzkkscenee i~ suchpractices. In 1783 n codLirion headed by ChfirLes Fix nad Lord N~rti~firmed aa administr&tiorzt/?&cwgnded to take action wit/? r e g ~ dto Indi~.As the crtaLif:io~zj. ieadi~gexpert on Iradia, &rke hecame the eplgiine of lr~dinnr4~rv1 by drn@ing /fy;islatJonk n o w ns Fox? Indid Bill to make the East India
Compday accozkntable to Pariidment. HisSpeech on FOX'S Lr~diaBill wits the j n t ma&rpnrliamentav d r e s s in wdricdr Burke chd~aphnedr&orrn ofthe Eat I n d i ~Cornpan_r nnd Bt~itz'shimperial'poliq il~India; it rprf:~entt'd $he cghinnlinn ofhis awdyfiom his earber npposigiuuz to r4ln0rm. ;rl!ctheme of Speech axr FCIX'SIndia. Bilt, broggb~tto h$ throqb~tti~iddetaib and infirnzntion nbout the nbwi~epmct.im nfthe East I ~ d i aG q n n j inciwule the u~dermizilzg qf Parlinme~ztiauthorip the corrzsption of thc British co~zstitatio~z enge~zderedby the in the ill"i~zstrz-lment ~finJ(t~ence"$~gnd gotte~zfiflgnes ofthe m m p a ~ j agentS, i nnd the nppticatian oft~niztersdlnotio~sofhgnznn jZkstil:e to British imprriaipoliq Fox: bill wm defiated irr Parliamen~ which phyed n major wle in the fill ofthe Fox-North coa/itl;on irr 1784. Wil/iam P ~ w WOB the gerzeral eieccion $/?&L year with the $nnncial b~zcki~g ofthe East hdid Comp a q and its sapport-ers:Al~hugghthis tlm @ern& lefi &C&PdjStr~zz~g/~t hec&weit rejected the power nf those reqonsible j6r the dcstr:z-uctionof India, U~.lrke?d-eterminati~~n t-o h ~ +$ice e fir the Indian peoples gdzthered new s@en@hirc thefice ofre;lection, 6-
Speech on Fox%India BiIX ( 1 783)
X thank you for pointing to nre. X really wished m~;tcbto cxzgage your "t"1tion ixz an early stage of the debate. I have been long very deepty, though perhaps ineffccttzally engaged in the yreltnzinary cnqutries, wlzicb have corttirlrled with<)utintertrlission for some years.' TThougli I have felt, with soinc degree uf stx~sibility~ the riaturai and lllevitable impressioiis of the severaf Irratcers of Fact, as they have beerr successively disctuscd, X have rzut at any time attempted to trouble you or1 the merits of die subject; and very little on any of the points wfiicb incidentally arosc ixz the course of orrr proceedings. But I shotrld be sorry to be found totally silerrt tryon this day. Our cxzqr~iriesarc xzuw come to their final issue:-It is now to be deterlnined whether the three years of laborious parliamcrztary rescarch,%hether the twenty years o f paticnt indian sal'fering,' are to produce a substantiatl rehrnr in our Easterrz ad~ni~liistratiofz; or wfiether our k~zowledge of the grievances has abated our zeal for the correction of tt-tenr, and whether our very enqr~iryinto the evil was only a 'Burke is grolrably referring to Iris participdriorl on rhe parlia11enra~)rselect commirree rhar invesrig a ~ dBritish pracricm in lndia in the early 17805. A separate secret committee conciucted inqr~lriesas well. He may in additior~be dludillg to the study of the East India Ckmpdny Ire began in the mid-1770s.
TZ'be work of the paliamerira~yselect aici secret c o m m i r ~ e scarred s in t 78 1. ~Burlnewas daring r&s suffering from rhe expansion of Britislr power in Inciia after the British military vicmries over ildti~eIxrdidrl forces at I"asey in t 757 and fluxar in 1764.
pretext to elude the rernedy which is denranded fi-om us by humaniy, by juslice, arzd by every principle of true policy. Depend upon it, this busirtess cariiicnt he indifferent to our fanre. It will turn out a nratter uf great disgrace ur great gfary to the wlzole Bricish nation. We are on a consptcuok~sstage, and the world nrarks our demea~zour, E ain therefore a little csr-tcerrled to perceive the spirit and temper in which the deL9ate has bee11 all alang pursud, upon one side of he House. The deciainaticln of the Geizttexrre~zwho oppose the bill has keen abttndant and vehement, but they have been reserved and ever1 silent about the fitness or nnfirness of the plan to anain the direct object it has in view. By some gentleiner1 it: is taker1 up . . . as a point of law on a questio~lof private propery, and corpora" hanchisc; by others it is regarded as the pettry intrigue of a faction at court, and argued nrerely as it terrds to Set this xnan a little higher, ur that a little lower it1 situatiorz arid priwer. Ail the void has been filled up with invectives agaizsr coalitioxz;4 with allr~sicinstu the loss of Anerica; with the activity artd irlactiviry ~7f nriizisters, The total silence of these gentlemen curzccrnirrg the interest and wellbeirlg of the people of India, and concerning the i~zrerestwhich this nation has in C revelrues uf that counthe C Q ~ I ' X I C ~ Carzd try, is a srrong indication o f the value which tt-tey set upon these ol~jccts.
For nry parr, X have tt-toughenryself hound, wherz a nrarter of this exrraordirzary wci$it came before me, not: to cortsider (as sorrte Gentkernerr are so h n d of doing) whether the kilX origixzatcd froin a Secretary of Scatc 47"he coalition aciminiscrarion overseer2 by Charles Fox and XAWJ North.
for clre Ironre departnrent,4 or fro111 a Secretary for the foreigiz;G from a r~iirzistcrof influerice or a mirlister of tlze people; from Jacob or from Esau. X asked nryselc and X asked myself nothing else, what part it was fit fcir a rnember of partiaatent, who has supplied a ~rrediocrityof talents by the extrcrnc of diligence, and who has thought hintself obliged, by tlze researcl1 of years, ro wind IrirzrselF into the ioxrrost recesses arzd labyrirlths of the Irldian detail, what part, f say, it became such a ntentber of parliamertt to take, wl~ena ntinister of state, in coxlformicy to a recanrnrendacion Erorn the throne, has brought L9cforc us a systenr fcir the berrer goverment of the territory and conrnrercc of the East. 111this tight, and ixz this only, X will trouL3te you with nty seritinterits. Xt is not onfy agreed but demanded, by the Right Hoizourabte gerztteman,7 and by those who act with hirn, tlzat a whoie vsrenr oughr to be produced; that it oughr xzut to be an hdqmensure; that it aught ta be no pailz'i~tz'vcr;bttt a Icgisiative prc>vision, vigorous, sltlzstantiaI, and effective,-X believe that rzu nzalz who understands the subject car1 dstrbt for a moment; that 117ose ~rrustbe the conditions of any thing descrvtng the xzarne of a rcforxn in tlzc Indian government; that any tlzirig short of rtrenr would not oxrty be delusive, but, in this xnatrer which admits no mcdirtm, noxious in tlze extrerne.
But: though there are no direct, yet there are various collateral objections made; ob-
'Willian Pirt (the Yctunger), whct was ar rkis time rlre Mouse of Commclr>sleader of rlre opposition ro rlre Fox-Norrh ~ o d l i t i o ~ ~ .
jectiorzs from the effects, which this plan of refornr far X~idianadministration nray have un the privileges uf great pubtic bodies in England; from its probable illfluerrce on the constitutionat rights, or on the freedon1 arzd iritcgriy uF the scveral L9ranches of rl~elegislature. Before I answer these objections X ~rrust bcg leave to utrscrve, that- if wc arc xzut able to contrive st,me method of governing Xndia we//, which wit1 not of necessity became the nzeans uf governing Great Britain ill, a ~ R I L "is" laid " ~ for their eternal separation; btrr none For sacrifici~zgthe people of that courztry to our constitutialz. f am however far from being persuaded that any such incompatihifity of interest does at d l exist. Qrz the contrary I arn ccrtairi that every means, effectual to preserve Xndia bonr oppression, is a guard ro preserve the British constitution horn its wclrst corruption. To sizew this, f will ccxisider the objections, which X think are four. 1st. That the bill is an attack on the clrartered rights of men. 2dly. That it incrcascs the influcxzcc uf tlze crc>w~z. 3dly That it does nog increase, but diminishes, the influence uf the crown, irr order to prornote the interests of certain ~rrinistersand ttreir parry, 4dzty. That it deeply affects the rzatiol~al crecfir. As ro the first of these objections; X must abscrve that the phrase of "the chartered rights ~ f m e ~ , ' ? sfill1 of affcctatiotz; and very urrusiral in the discussion of privileges calzferrcd by charters uF the prescrzt description. But it is riot difficult to discover what end that alirbigrtotls mode of cxyrcssiun, so often reiterated, is xncant to ariswer. Tlle rights of men, chat is to say, tlre narttral rights OF mankind, arc ixzdeecf sacred
things; and if any public measure is proved mischievously to affect them, the objection ought to be fatal to that measure, even if no charter at all could be set up against it. If these natural rights are hrther affirmed and declared by express covenants, if they are clearly defined and secured against chicane, against power, and authority, by written instruments and positive engagements, they are in a still better condition: they partake not o d y of the sanctity of the object so secured, but of that solemn public faith itself, which secures an object of such importance. Indeed this formal recognition, by the sovereign power, of an original right in the subject, can never be subverted, but by rooting up the holding radical principles of government, and even of society itself. The charters, which we call by distinction great, are public instruments of this nature; I mean the charters of King John and King Henry the Third.8 The things secured by these instruments may, without any deceithl ambiguity, be very fitly called the cbczrtered rights of men. These charters have made the very name of a charter dear to the heart of every Englishman-But, Sir, there may be, and there are charters, not only different in nature, but formed on principles the very rwewe of those of the great charter. Of this kind is the charter of the East India Company. Magna charra is a charter to restrain power, and to destroy monopoly. The East India charter is a charter to establish monopoly, and to create power. Political power and commercial monopoly are not the rights of men; and the rights to them derived from charters, it is fallacious and sophistical to call "the chartered rights of men." These chartered rights, . . do at least suspend the natural
.
8The Magna Carta, accepted by King John in 1215 and reissued by King Henry E11 in 1216, 1217, 1225, and 1264.
rights of mankind at large; and in their very frame and constitution are liable to fall into a direct violation of them. It is a charter of this latter description (that is to say a charter of power and monopoly) which is affected by the bill before you. The bill, Sir, does, without question, affect it; it does affect it essentially and substantially. But, having stated to you of what description the chartered rights are which this bill touches, I feel no difficulty at all in acknowledging the existence of those chartered rights, in their fullest extent. They belong to the Company in the surest manner; and they are secured to that body by every sort of public sanction. They are stamped by the faith of the King; they are stamped by the faith of Parliament; they have been bought for money, for money honestly and fairly paid; they have been bought for valuable consideration, over and over again. I therefore freely adinit to the East India Company their claim to exclude their fellow-subjects from the commerce of half the globe. I admit their claim to administer an annual territorial revenue of seven millions sterling, to command an army of sixty thousand men; and to dispose, (under the control of a sovereign imperial discretion, and with the due observance of the natural and local law) of the lives and fortunes of thirty millions of their fellowcreatures. All this they possess by charter and by acts of parliament, (in my opinion) without a shadow of controversy. Those who carry the rights and claims of the Company the hrthest do not contend for more than this; and all this I freely grant. But granting all this, they must grant to me in my turn, that ail political power which is set over men, and that all privilege claimed or exercised in exclusion of them, being wholly artificial, and for so much, a derogation from the
nat~lral equality of nrankind at large, ought to t9c some way ur other exercised t~ltimarelyfor their benefit. Tf this is true wi& regard to every species uf political domixiion, and every descAption of continerciaf privilege, rtorte of wiiich can be original self-derived rights, ur gralzts for the xncrc private kcnefit of dle holders, thert such rights, or privileges, or whatever else you ctioose to cat1 thern, arc at1 ixz the strictest sense a trgst; arrd it is of the very esserrce of every trust to be rendered accsunl;dble; arid even totally to cerzse, when it: substantiatiy varies from the purposes for which afunc it could have a lawful existence. This II conceive, Sir, to be true of trkxsts of powcr vesrcd Irz the tiighcst iiiands, and of sucfz as seent to hold of no huina~rcreature. But about the applicatioxi of this principle to subordinatc derivlntive trusts, I do riot see how a corrtrc3versy can be ntainrained. To whoxri then would II nrake the East Xridia Cornparzy accountable?%y, to Parliarrterit to be sure; to Parliamerit, from whom their trust was derived; to Parliaxncnt, wfiicb alonc is capable uf comprehendirtg the mag~iitudeof its object, ancl its abuse; and atone capable of an effectual legislative remedy. The very cbartcr, which is held ortt to exclude Parlianterit from csrrccting nralversatiori with regard to the iiiigh trust vcstcd in rhc Company, is the very thing which at once gives a title arid inrgoses a dirty on us to interfere with effcct, wherever power and a~~thority origirtatillg from orlrselves are perverted frorn their pulposes, and become insrnlments of wrong arrd vialcxzce, If Parliament, Sir, had notbing to do with this charter, we ~riigttehave sonre sort of Epicurean excuse to sta~zdalaof, ixzdiE ferent spectators of what passes in the Conrganfs natrie in T~ldiaand in London, But if we arc the very causc of the evil, we
are in a specid rnarirrer erigqed to the redress; and for us passively to bear with oppxssiuns cornrnittcd under the salzction uf our owri autflc>rit)7;is in truth and reasorr fir this Mouse to be atr active acconrplice ixz the abrtsc. That the power ~iotoriousl~, gmssiy, abused has been bought from us is very certain, But this circnmstaxzcc, which is urged against the bill, becornes an additio~ral~riotivefar our i~lterference;lest we should be thought to have sold the blood of rniiliorts of rrteri, for the base consideration of nroney, We sold, T adnrit, at1 that we had to sell; that is our authority, xzot our csrrtroul. We had not: a right to rnake a ~riarketof our duties. I ground nlysclf therefore un this principle-that if the abuse is proved, the coritract is broken; and we re-enter into all our rights; that is, into the exercise of all our duties. Our owrt authority is irrdeed as ~rrlrcha trust originallly, as the Conrgany"~ authority is a trust derivatively; arzd it is the use we ntake of the resunted power that nrrrst justl@ or condenrn us in the resunlptiofz of it. Whe~zwe have perfected the ptart laid before us by the Right Moriourable ~riover,%hc world will then sce wfiat it is WC d~stroy~ arzd what it is we crcate. By that test we starrd or fall; arrd by that test X trust that it will be CIound in the issue, that we arc going to supersede a charter abused to the full extent of all the powers which it could abuse, and exercised in the plcnirrzde of despotism, tyraizgzy, arid corruptiorr; artd that, in one and the sanre platr, we provide a real chartered security far the r&ha ofmen crr~eltyviolated urtder that charter. This bill, and those conrtiected with it, arc intexzded to form the Magn72n Chdr.ltauf Hinctclstan. Whatever the treaty of West-
phalia'o is to the liberty of the princes and free cities of the ernpire," and to the thrcc religiorzs there professed-Warever the great charter, the starute of tdage, the petition of right, and the declaration of right," are to Great Britain, these bills are to the people of India. Of this benefit, X arn certain, their condition is capable; arzd when I know that they are capabte of rrrore, rrry vote shall tnost assuredly be far our giving to the f i l l exrclzt of their capacit). of receiving; and no charter of drtminiorz sirall stand as a bar in my way to their charter of safety and protection. The strc>ngadmission X have madc of thc Contpariy$ rights . . . binds me to do a great deat. X do not presilfrre to condemn those who argue npl.l;ori, against the propnery af leaving such extensive political pawers in the harrds of a conrpany of mer1 I i o w rnucti is, and ntucfi ntare chaxz~.~j may he said against snct-r a systent. Btrt, with nry particutar ideas and sentiments, X carzrzat go that w y to work, X feel an insuperable reluctance in giving my hazd to destroy any established instinttiorr of government, upan a thmry, koweve~plausible it rnay he. ivy experierzce in life teaches me rrothing clear upon Fhe snbject. X have known xnerchants with the sentinzcnts and the abilities of great statesrneri; and 1 have seen persons in rhe rank of statesmen, with the conceptiolzs and ch.aracte~-of pedlars, f r~deed,my observation lias furnislied me '""I'he treaty cif Wesrphalia cif 1648 settled the Tltirry Yeaxs" %%r in Europe and prol~idedthe foundation for the modem inre~nationalsystem rtfsovereign states. ir&
wirh nothing that is to he found in any habits of life or edtxcation, which te~rds wholly to disquali& nrexz for the functiolzs of g t > v e r n m b but tl~at,hy wliich the power of exclrcisirzg rhose fwctions is wry freqt~e~ztly obtained, X mean, a spirit and liabits of few cabal and intrigue; which f have never, in one instance, seen united with a ayaciry for sound and xnaizty policy. To justiG us in taking the adininistration oftheir affairs out of the tzands of the East Irzdia Company, on xny yrinciplcs, X must see several conditions. 1st. The object affected by the abuse shotlfd be great and important, 2d, The abuse affecting this great object aught to be a great abuse. 3d. Tr: ought to be tzabitual, and nor: accidental, 4th. It ou&t to bc uttcrty ixzcurablc irz the hody as it: now stands constituted. Alf this ought to be nrade as visible to rrre as the light of the s~tfz,kcfore I should strike off an atont of their charter. A Qhr Honourable gentlenranl4 has said, arzd said I think but once, and that very slightiy . . . that ""rrerc are abt~sesin the ContpanyH pvcrnnrent," i f that w r e all, the sehenre of the xnover of this bill, the schcrne of his learned friend," rand his own scheme of reCormation (if he has miv) are all eqtlally needless. There are, aarzd nrust be, abuscs in all governments, It: amourits to rio more than a rruprory proposition. But before X colzsidcr of what xzaturc thesc atnt~scsare, of wllliclr the gentleman speaks st:, very lightly, permit nre to recall to your recollection ttze nrap of thc cuuxztry which this at9tistd cfiartered right: afft;cts.This I: shall do, that you rrray judge whether in ttzar nrap X can diseaver any thing like the first of my coil-
Holy 1iornan Empire,
'ZMagz~aCarta (22151, Srarr~rxrof "lallage /IZ97), Rririon of k&c / I G23), a13d Bill of Rights (1 680). 13IZurlee may have had in mind here Adam Srnirh's oppusirion to the E a r India Cornpally and i t s cornrner~inland other activities.
"SHeil~)"Dundas, who chaired the parliamencarj. secret committee that investigateci the East India C ~ m p d tabled n ~ an Easr lndia Company refrtrrzl bill i t z April 1783.
ditions; that is, W ~ e t h e the r object affected t9y the abuse uf the East Xrrdia Canrpany."~ power be of irriportance sufficient to jr~stiq the measure and rneans of sefornr applied to it in this bill. With very f m 9and those irzcor~siderable incervajs, the British donrinion, either in the Company" xzamc, ur in the nanics of prirlces a b s c ~ l i ~ t deperiderlt el~ upon tlze Conrpany, extends fiom the mountains that separate India from Ertary; to Cape Contorin, that is, orie-and-me~itydegrees of latitude! Tli the norrberrr parts it is a solid mass of land, about eight hurzdred xnitcs in tcrzgtk, and h n r or five huridred broad. As you go soutfiward, it beconres Ilarrorver for a spacc. Xt afterwards dilates; t9ut narrower or broader, you possess tlze whole easterrl and ~lorth-easterncoast of that vast country, qititc from thc borders of Pegit,.----Bengal, Bahas>and Orissa, with Beriares (~iow unforturrarely irr our immediate possession) mcasrlrc 1G f ,378 square English, ntiles; a territory csr~siderahf~ larger than the wlzole kirlgdoln of France. Oude, with its dcpc~rderztprovinces, is 53,286 square mifes, not a great deal less than England. The Carnatic, with T a ~ j o u rand the Circars, is 65,948 sqitare miles, very calrsiderably larger than England; and tlze whole of the Conrpanfs donrinion coxrrprehendi~rg Bombay arrd Salsette, amounts to 281,4 12 square miles; mfricl~fornts a territory larger than any Erzropean donrinion, R~~ssia and Titrkcy exceptcd. Ttrrough all that vast cxtent of country there is not a rnan mfro eats a nrouthfitl of rice but by permission of the East India Company; So far with regard to the extent. The population of this great empire is riot easy to be caiculated, VVhegr the con~ztrics,uf which it is composed, came into our possession, they were all enrinently peopted, and eniincrztty productive; though at that
tirne corisiderably declirled fromrz their antient prosperity But since they are conre into our h a n d s ! ! However if we take the before period of our estirriate irr~ntediatel~ the utter desolation of the Carnatic, and if we allow far the havoc which our gover~rmerit had ever? then made in these regic~ils, W caIlnot, in ~rryopinion, race the popuiation at mueh less than thirty niiltiolrs uf souls; more than four tinzes the riuirzher of persons in the islatld of Great Britain. My rrexr enqitiry to that uf the xzumbcr, is the quality arid description of the inhahitancs, This nrutticude of IrreI? does 13ot cofrsist of an al3ject and barbarous populace; much less of garigs of savages, like the Guaranies and Chiquirros, who wander ox? the waste tmrders of the river of Amazolrs, or the Plate; hut a people for ages civilized and cultivated; cultivated by all the arts of polished life, whilst we were yet in the woods, There, have heeri (arid still the skcletotrs rernai~~) princes once of great dignity>authority, and opulence. Tilere, are to be fourid the chiefs of tribes and riatio~ls,There is to be found an antient and vexrcrat9lc priesthood, the depository of tlzeir laws, learning, and history, the guides of the peopte whilst living, and their consolation in death; a xzut9ility of great antiquity arid reriown; a rnultirude of cities, riot exceeded in population and trade by those uf thc first class ixz Europe; mel-cbants and bankers, tridividual houses of vvlzom have once vied in capital with the Bank of England; wfiose credit iiad often srlpparred a tc3ttering state, and preserved their gc3verr.iIrrerrts in the nridsc ofwar and desolati~~l; millions of ingeniorts manu6actitrers and mechanicks; milliczris of the most diligent, and not the least intelligent, tillers of the earth. Hcre arc to be Ecturzd alniost at! the reiigiorls professed by nten, the Brairzincal, the JMttssutnrerr, the Eastern and the WestCFIZ Christiai~s.
ff I: were to take the whole aggKgate of our possessions there, I should contparc it, as the riearest parallel I: can find, with the empire of Gernrany, Oiir immediarc possessions I sfiottld coinpare with the Austrian dontinions, and they woutd riot: suffer in tfie conrparison. The Nabob of Qudc might srand for the King of Prmsia, the Matlob of Arcot I: would compare, as superior in territory, and eqrral in reverrue, to the Elector uF Saxolzy Cheyrc Sing, the Rajaft of Beriares, might well rank with the Prince of Hesse at least; and the Raj& of Tanjore (hough hardly eqrmal in excent of domi~liorz,supmior in revenue) to the Elector of Bavaria. The Polygars and the ~lorthcrn Zemindars, and other great clziefs, rni$lt well class with the rcst uF the Princes, Dukes, C ~ r ~ i i t~tlarquisses, s, arzd Bishops in &c empire; all of whom t mention to honoux; arzd surety without disparagentent to any or all of those ntost: respectable princes and grandees. Ail this vast mass, composed of so ntalzy orders arid classes of nten, is again infi11iccfy diversified by Itzanners, by religio~r, by hereditary cmploymcnt, throrlgh all their possible contbinatiorzs. This renders the handling of h d i a a nratcer in arr high dcgrcc critical and deticatc. But oh! it has beer1 l~atzdledrudely indeed. Even sclrne of the reforrtlers seem to have forgot that they had any thing to da but to regulate the terzarzts of a manor, or the shopkeepers of the next counv town. Xt is an empire uf this extent, uf this complicated natrxre, of this digrzity and iniporcaxrce, that I hame conrgared to Germany and thc Gcrxnaxz governmcrzt; xrot for an exact resemblance, hut as a sort of a ~tziddleternr, by which Itrdia nrighe be approxin~atcdto our undcrstandixrgs, arzd if possible to our feelings; in order to awaken something of sympathy for the unfortunate xracivcs, OF which I am afraid we arc
not perfectly susceptible, mfzilst we look at this very rertzote object through a false and cloudy xnedium, sec(xid c~izditio~z, fzecessary to justify Itre in touching the charter, is, Wl~etlilcrthe Company's abuse of their trust, with regard to this great object, be atr abuse of great arrociry. f shalt beg your pcrntission to consider thcir conduct in WC:,lights; first ttre political, and then the comnrercial. Their political conduct ( h r distinctness) X divide again into m a heads; the external, in rntziclr I: rnean to contpreherid their cond~rcr:in their federal capacity, as it rclatcs to powers and states indcpendent, or that riot Icmg since were such; the other internal, 11altzelytheir conducc to the cou~ztrieseither immediatcty subject to the Csmparzy, or to those who, under the appal-ent pvemment of native sovereigns, arc in a state much lowcl; and much more miserable, tllan continor1 subjectioiz.
With regard therefore to the abuse of the external federal trust, f engage myself to you to make good these thrcc positions:First, I: say, that from h4ouiit Irnaus, (or whatever else you call that large range of ntourrtains that walls the northcrrr frontier of India) mfzere it tortches us in the latitude of twenr).-nine, to Cape Comorirl, in the latitude of eight, that there is xrot a strzgle prince, state, or potentate, great or snrafl, io India, with whonr they have come into contact, whom they have not sstd. I say soid though sometimes they have not becrr able to deliver according to thcir t9argain.-Secoirdiy, I say, that there is not a si~zgIetretzty they have ever made, which they have not broken-Thirdly? I: say, that there is xrot a sirrgle prince ur state, wlzc:, eves p t ~ any t trust in the Gontpally who is 11ot utcerty ruined; atrd that none arc in any degree scctzrc or Aourish-
iog, but in the exact proportion to their scttted distrust arzd irreconcileable enmiry. to tlzis nation. These assertions are universal, X say in tlic fidk serrse uniuarsdl. They regard the exterrtai arzd political trust only; but I slzatl produce others f ~ ~ fequivatc~lt, ty in the intcrrral, For the pl-clselzt, 1: shall content myself with explairtir~gmy meanixlg; arzd if I an1 c d e d o~zh proofwhilst rizese hills are depending . . . I wilt put my finger un the Apperzdixes to tlze Reports, or on papers of record in the Hottse, or the Committees, which X have distinctly present ro nry xncmory, and which X think X car1 lay t9cfore you at half an lzourbarnirtg. The first poterltatc sold by the Company for money was thc Great Mogulthe descenclaizt of Tamedarze.'G This high personage, as high as tzunran veneration can look at, is by every account amialltc in his manners, respectal3lc for his piety according to his ~rrode,and ac~oxrrplishedin all tlze Qricntal iitertlrurc. Alt this, arzd the title derived urtder lzis chdr~er,to all tlzat we hold in Irzdia, could 11otsave tzim fioxrr the general sale. ~hufoncyis coined in his narrte; fn lzis riame justice is admir~istered; Fie is prayed Fir in every temple throu& the corlntrics WC ~ ~ S S C S S - BheUwas ~ sold. It is impassible, Mr. Speaker, rtot to pause here fbr a nromenr, to mfiecr on &c inconstancy of human greatness, arzd r-hc stupendous revolt~tiorts that have happmed in our age o f w o d e r ~Could it be t9clicved, whcn I entered into cxistcncc, or wlzerz you, a youriger ntan, were born, that 0x1 this day, in this House, we should he employed in discussing the colzduct uf those Britlsll sut3jects who had disposed of
the power and persnrz of the Grand Mogul? This is na idle specuiation. Awf;ll tsrisons are taught t9y it, and by uthcr events, o f mflicfz it i s rtot yet too late to protit. This is hardly a digression; but X returll to the sale o f the Mogul. Two districts, Csrafi and Allahabad, . . . were reserved as a royal denresne ro the donor of a kingdom, and the rightkl rutcl: of so many rzarions.--i\fter wirhhrrlding the rrit3tite of &260,000a year; which the Canrpany was, by the charger they had received from this prince," under the nrosr: solenrn obligation to pay-.these districts were said ro his chief mirlistcr Sujah ut Duwlah.'" . . . The descendant of Tarrrerlane now stands in need alnrost of the conrnroxz Ilecessities of fife; arzd in this situatiorz we do riot even allow him, as bounty, tlse sntatlest portion ofwhac we owe hi111 in justice, The next sale was that of the whole rzaticm of the Rohiltas, which the grarid sdesIrratz,Iy without a pretcxzce of quarrel, arzd contrary to his owlz declared scrzsc of duty and rectitude, sold to the sante SujaZz ul Dowlah." He sold the peoptc to utter ex-. tz'rpation, for the sum o f four hundred tlzousarid pounds. Faittzfully was the bargain pwfornred upon our side. F-iafiz fiarnct, the most cmixzent uF their chiefs, one of the bravest rnerz of his time, arzd as Famous throughout h e East far rhe elegance of his litcr~ture,and the spirit of his poetical compositions (by which he supported the nanre of Hafiz) as far his courage, was invaded with an army of agz hundred tlzousarzd men, arid an Eizglish
"Tancrfanc ("Xmur rhc Lame*) csrabIi?;I~cd empire in the fourtcenrl~century that stlrtched from Mo~~golia to the Meciiterranean and included Persia and Ixrdia.
1773.
17'l"1~e 'lieat_).of AIlahabad of 1765, under which. rhe East liildia Coillpany got control of Bellgal, 18HSoldby Warren Mastirrrgs, gc)verr\or of Benga;ali,in ""FIatings. %I 1774.
brigade, This man, at the head of inferior forces, was slain valiantly Gghtir~gfor his cortritry. His head was cut off; and delivered for nraney to a barbarian. His wife and clrildren, persons of tliiat rank, were seen begging arl handful of rice througl~ the E~lglishcanrp. The whole nation, with ixzconsidcrablc exceptions, was slaughtered or bariistted. The corrntry was laid waste with fire and sword; atrd that land diainguished above most others3by the chearful face of paternal government and pmtected labour, the chosen seat of cultivation and pfe~ltyis now alnrost tihrougl~outa dreary dcsart, covered with rushes and briars, arzd jungles full of wild beasts. The British officer who conrnranded in the delivery of the people thus sotd, felt some corrtpunctiori at: his employmerit. He represented these erlarnrous excesses to the president of flcngd, for whidi iiic received a severe reprimarid from the civil gcivernor; and I nrucls, doubt whether the breach cartscd by the confiict, txwcen the COXEI~;-LSsion of tlie m i l i t a ~and ~ the firmnss of the civil governor; be ctosed at this tlortr. XEI Bengal, Seraja Dowta was sold to ~Vir jaffier; Mir Jaffier was s(>ldto Mir Csssirn; and Mir Cossirzr was sold to lVir Jaf6er agair-r, The succession to Mir faffier was sold tc>his eldest:son;-ariother s(>rtof ~Vlir Jafher, IMobarectl ul DowIa, was sotd to his step-m~ther-The Maratta empire was sold to Ragc>ba;arid Ragoba was s(dd and delivered to the Peishwa of the Marattas, Both Ragoba and the Peistiwa of: the Narattas were offcred to sale to the Rajall of Berar, Scindia, the chief of MaIva, was offered to sale to the sarnc Rajah; and the Suball of the Decarl was sold to the great trader Mahonret: Ati, Nabob of Arcot. To the same Natpak of Arcot they sold E-fydcr Ali and the kirtgdrtrrt of Mysore, To ~ t l a tloirrer Ali they mice sold the kingdo~rrof Enjore, To the same ~MaiiiomctAli they
sold at least twelve sovereign princes, called the Polygars, But to keep things even, the territory uf Tirinivclly; belolzgirzg to their Nabob, they would have sold to the Dutch; and to conclude the account: of sales, their great customer, the NabuIa of Arcot hintself, and his lawful s ~ c c e s s i ~ ~ t , has been sofd ro his second soil, Anrir ill Omrah, wfiase character, views, and conduct, are in the acctjunts t~porryour table. Ir: remains with you whether they shall 6ndly perfect this tast kargain.2"
My secorld assertiorl is, that the C~ntparty never has nrade a treaty which they have not brokerr, This position is so conrtlected with that of the sales uf provinces arzd kingdoms, with the nrgotiation of universal distraction in every parr of India, that a very n ~ i n i ~ dctail rc may well t9c spared un this point. ft has rlot yet been contended, by any erlenry to the refornr, that they have observed any. public agreerncrzt, When f hear that they have dolie so in arty one instance . . . I shall speak to the particular treaty, The govcrx-ror gcxrcrai has even antt~sedhintself arid the Court of Directors" irr a very singular letter to that board, in which he admits hc has rzat been very delicate with regard to public faith; atrd he goes so h r as to stare a regular estimate of the sums which the Cornpally would have lost, or riever acquired, if the rigid ideas of pllhlic hittl entertained by his culteagues iiiad been obscrvcd. The learrled geirtlentari over against me" 312s
2"Tlrcsc sales and resales of rider and rerrirories took place between f 757 and 1783. ZZOFrhe E a r I ~ ~ dCorxrpal~y ia The court of direcrors was chc Lomdon-bascd organ rcspnnsiblc &r operaririg rhe cornpnnp
indeed saved rrze nrtsch tso~sb~e, On a forxncr uceasiun he obtairied xzo snrall credit, for tlle clear and forcible rnanrzer in which he stated what we have riot forgot, and T iiiop&e kas not brgor, that urziversal systeinatic breach of treaties which had made tire British faith proverbial in tire East,
self not only justified hut bourzd to declare against those chartered rights which produce so many wro~zgs.X sfloufd deenr myself tlze wtckedest of rnxeir, if arzy vote of rrrine could contribute to the conti~ruajlce uF so great an evil. Now, Sirl accmcfing to the plan f pmposed, X shall take rlotice of the Conrpany"~ ixztcrizaf governmcrzt, as it is exercised first on the deperident. provinces, and rhert as it My third assertioxl, relative to the abuse affects those under the direct and immedixnade uf the right uf war arzd pcacc is, that ate authority uf that body. And hcrc, Sir, there are norre who l~aveever cortfided in us who have rzot bee11 utterly r ~ ~ i n e d . before I erzter into the spirit of their interior government, per~zzitnre to observe to , . . There is proof itlore tiran enough in the colzdirion uf the Mogul; in the slavery you, upon a fcw of the nrany tincs uf differeiice mflich are to he found bemeeii the and indigerice of the Nabob of Oude; tlze exile of the Rajah of Benares; the beggar). vices of the Gonrpanyls governnrent, and of rhe Nabob of Berzgal; the urzdonc arzd thosc of rhe calzqucrors who preceded us captive corrditiosz of tlze Rajah arid kingin India; that we may he ertabled a little donr of Tanjour; the destruceiorr of the the better to sec our way in an attenlpt to the xzecessary reformation. Palygars; and tastlli, in the d~structiofzof Tlre several irruptions of Arabs, Tartars, tlze Nabob of Arcot hirnself, who when and Persians, i~zcoIndia were, fbr the his donrinions werc invaded was h n n d greater part, ferocious, t?toody, arzd wasteexztirely destitute uf troops, provisiolzs, stores, arzd (as l ~ asserts) e of rnoney, being ful in the extreme: our eritrarice into tlze a nriliiorr in debt to the Company, and donrioion of that cok~ntrywas, as genera l [ ~ wirk , fctr~rxnillions to otllers: the xnany millions snralt comparative effusion of blood; being i~itroducecfby-various frauds which he had extorted front so rnariy extirpated pri~rcesand their desolated counand delusions, and by takilzg advantap of tries having (as be has freql~erztlyIzirzted) the ixzcurabte, t?lind, arzd scrzsctess animosbeen exgerzded for the grortnd-rent. of his ity, which the several country powers bear towards each other, rather than by open nransion-fiok~sein an attey in the suburbs of Madras, Compare the colzdirion of all force, But the difference in Favour uf the these princes with the power arid autlzorfirst conquerors is this; the Asiatic conity of all the 1Mar;ltta states; with the indequerors very soan abated of their ferocity, pazdencc and dignity of the Saklt9ak of bccausc they xnade the calzquercd corlntry tlzeir owri. They rose or fell with the rise or the Decan; arrd the mighty strength, the rcsonrces, and the rnanly struggle of fall of tire territory they lived in. Fathers Hyder Ali; arzd therz the Honsc will disthere deposited the hopes of rhcir posterc ~ v e rtlze effects, on every power in India, ity; and cllitdrerz tlzere beheld the ntonurrzerrts of tireir fathers. Here their lot was of an easy confidence, or of a rooted distrust in the Faith uf the Campany. firzatly cast; and it is the rzatt~ralwish of all, These are sorne of my reasons, tlzat their lot shortlct riot be cast in a bad grounded on the abuse of tlle exter~lalpolaird. Poverry, steritiy, and desotation, are tidcaj trust of dzat body, for thinking myrzut a recreating p m s p m " ~ othe cyc of
rrran; and there are very few who can bear to grow old arnong the curses of a whole people. If their passion or their avarice drove the Tartar lords to accs of rapacity or tyranny there was time erzuugfi, evexz in the silort life of rriari, to bring rourtd tlre ill effects of an abuse of power upon the power itscLE Xf hoards were made by vialerlce arid tyranily, ther were still domestic lloards; and domestic profusion, or the rapine of a more powerful and prodigal hand, restored tlrem to the people. With rnarty disorders, artd with few political checks upon power, Hacure had still Fair play; the sonrccs uf acquisition were XZOE dried up; and therefore the trade, the man~~faccures, and the coxrznrerce of the country flourished. Even avarice and usury itself operated, both for the preservation md the employment of r~atiorrafwealth. The husba~zdma~z arzd ma1zu6actrlrcr paid heavy interest, but then tlzey augtnextted the hrnd from whence they were again to borrow, Their resortrccs wtrc dcarly bougjrt, but they were sure; artd the general stock of the community grew by the gcrzeral effort. But urtder the Englisl~government. all this order is reversed, The Tartar invasio~l was mischievous; but it is our protcctiolz that destroys India. It was their enniiry, but it is our friendship. Our conquest there, after twcrzty years, is as crude as it was the first day. The riatives scarcelyknow wliat it is to sec the grey head of an Englisfirnan, Vouxzg men (boys atmost) govern there, without stlcierry, and without synrgact~ywith the rlatixs. They have no more social habits with the p t o p l ~than if ther still resided in Engla~ld;rtor indeed any species of intercortlse hrrt that which is rzeccssal-y to making a suddeli fortu~ze, with a view to a renriote settlemei~t.h i mated with all the avarice of age, and all the impetuosity of youth, they roll in alze
after another; wave after wave; and there is nothing before the eyes of the nalives but an endless, hopeless prospect uE rzcw fights of birds of prey and passage, with appetites cantinualiy renewing For a bod that is contin~~ally wasting. Every rupce of profit made by ari Englishrnari is lost for ever to Xndia. With us are rlo retributory superstitioxzs, by which a hu~zdationuf cl-rarity cclmpensates, though ages, to the poor, fix the rapine atid injt~sticeof a day. With us no pride erects statcty monumerlts whicii repair the mischiegs which pride had produced, and which adorn a country9out. of its own spoils, Erzdarzd has erected no churct~es,no hospitals, no palaces, rlo sctloofs; England has built rlo bridges, made rza iiligkl roads, cut rza xzavigations, dug out no reservoirs. Every other cmqrreror of every other description has left surnc xnoxzumcnt, either of state ur berleficer~ce,behirid hirn. Were we to be driven out of Xndia this day, rlothing would remaixz, to tell that it had bcerz possessed, dl~rirngthe inglorious period of our donrinion, by any thing better than the auran-outang or tht tiger. There is riotlzing in the btip we serld to India worse than the boys whonr we are whipping at schuol, or that we see trailing a pike, or bertding over a desk at home. But as English youth in Irzdla drink the intoxicatixzg draught of authority and dominior1 befbre their heads are able to bear it, and as they are full grown in fortune laxzg bcforc they arc ripc in principle, neither nature risr reasor1 have any opportunity to exert tt-tenrsclves for reniedy of the excesses uf their prcmaturc power, The consequertces of their conduct, which in good minds, . . . nright grodtlce penitence or amcndxr~ent,arc urzabte to pursue the rapidity of their flight. Tlieir prey is lodged in England; and thi- cries of Xndia are givcn to seas arzd winds, to be blown
about, in every breaking try of the nronsoon, over a rernote and urzhearixig occarz, In India all the vices operate by wlzich sudden fortune if acqrriretf; in Ertgtarld are often displayed, by tbc same pcrsans, the virtues which disperise hereditary wealth. Arrived in England, the destro)rer-sof the xzobility and gentry of a whole kingdoin will firid the best comparzy in this nation, ac a board of etega~iccand tzospitality. Here the rnanu6acturcr arzd husbandtnan will Mcss the just and punctual hand, that in Iildia has tor11 the cloth from ttze toont, or wrested the scanty porrion of rise and salt from the peasalzt of Bengal, or wrurzg from him the very opium in wlzich 1z.efargot his oppressions and tzis oppressor. They marry into your families; they enter intc:, your seriate; they ease your estates by loans; they raise their value by denrand; they cherish and yrotccr yonr reiatiorzs whiclz. lie heavy on your patronage; and there is scarcely an house in the kingdoxrr that docs not feel sornc concerrz arzd interest that: ntakes all reform of our easterr1 gavemnrent a p p a ~ f f i ~ i o and u s disgusting; and, on the whole, a nrast diseouraging attempt. 111 such an attentpt you hurt ttzose who are able to returll kindness OF to resent injury, If you succccd, you save ttzose who cannot so much as give you thanks. A.11 these things slievv the difficult;i. of the work we have on hand: but they sizew its riecessity tc:,ti. Our Iildiall government is in its best state a grieva~ice.It is xzecessary that the carrectivcs should be tlncommonly vigorous; and r t x wwork of nren sanguine, warnr, and even impassioned ixz the ca~tse,But it is arz arduous thing to plead against atlrrses of rt power wtzich origirtales from your own coulitr): and affects those whom we are used to corisider as strangers. I shall cerrainty endeavour to nrodtxtate xnysctf to this tcmycr; though I arn scrzsi-
bie that a cold scyLe of describing actiorzs which appear to nre in a very affecting light, is equally caiztrary to the justicc duc tc3 the people, arid to all genrtine human feelings &out them. I ask pardon of truth and xzaturc far this campliarzcc. But I shall be very sparirlg of epithets either to persons or things. Tt has been said (and, with regard to one of: tliicm, with rrrtth) that Tacitus arid Mrtchiatvel,L4 by their cold way of relating cxzarrnous crimes, ii~aveixz sonre sort appeared not to disapprove thent; that they seem a sort of professors of the art of ryranrtzy* and that they corrupt the nrilzds of their rcadcl-s by rzat expressing the detestation arid horror that naturdly belc~ng to horrible and detestable proceedings, Brtt we arc in general, Sir3 so little acquainted with Indian details; the instrurnenrs of oppression ur-rdcr which the peaplc suffer are sa hard to be urzderstood; and evert the very rlantes of the sufferers are so trncouth and strange to our ears, that it is very diffietzlt for our sympathy to fix r1pc3n these objects. I ant sure that some of rxs have conre down stairs fronr the committec-roorn, with impxssions on our minds, which to us were the irtevitable results of our discoveries, yet if we stzould ventrtre to express oursefv~sin the propcr language of our sentiments, to other gentlenren not at aff prepared to enter into the cause of them, norating could appear xnorc harsh arid dissonant., more violent. and uriaccountable, ttzan our language and behaviortr. AI these circunrsrances arc rzat, X confess, very fav(:,nrable tc:, the idea of our astcnrpting to govern India at all. But
~4'Jh~itus. a KornalE public clfficial and 1risrorial.t wIlo wrote about rllc Roman Empire in his P.lictorit"s (c. 109) and Annak (c, 117); and Niccofb Machiavelli, Etorentine public, ufGcia1 and writer, whose mclsr fainclus works are 1% f3rirzcr (2 5 13 ) an J 126cn~nrrrs(1 5 17).
there we arc; there we are placed by the Sovercigzr Disyoscr: and we r'~1rtstdo the best we car1 in our situatic:,n. The situatioii of man is the preceptor of his duty. Upon the plan which I laid dowr-t, arrd to which I beg leave to return, f was considering the conduct of the Conrpany to those rratiolrs wfrich. are indirectly subject tc:, tlzeir authority. The enost corlsiderable of the dependent princes is the Nabob of Qudc. . . . 111 the year 1779 the Nabob of O d e represented, throrlgh the British resident at his court, that the ~lurrrberof Conrpairyk troops stationed ixz his doininions was a enain cause of his distress; and tlzat at1 those which he was not bound by treary to nlaintain shorlld be withdrawn, as they had greatly diminished his revenue, artd inrpoveristted his country, . . .
Xr was now to be seen what steps the govcrrzur general and council took for the relief of rlzis distressed country, long labouring under the vexations of men, and now stricken by the hand of God. The case uF a general famille is krlowrt tc:, relax tlze severity even of the most rigorous governmcrrt,-Mr. Hastings docs xzat deny* or shew the least doubt of the fact. The representation is ht~nrbte,and atnrost abject. Qrz this represciztation from a great prince, of the distress of his sabjects, Mr. Hastirzgf Falls irrto a violent passion; such as [it seems) worlld kc unjustifiable in any one mflo speaks of any part of his cconduct. He declares ""rat the demnrzds, the icon6 io E wfrich. they wcl-c:asserted, arzd the S ~ O in which they were ntade, are all equally atarnring, and appear to him to require an adequate degree uf firm~ressixz this board, in opposibun to them." He proceeds to deal out very uxlreserved language, on the person arrd character of the Nabob arrd his
ministers. He declares, that in a divisisrl bemeen hirzr and the Nabob, 'the str~agesg mast decide. "With regard to the urgent artd instarzt necessity, frczln the fzilure of the crops, he says ""cat perlraps expedicrits mny be fiurzd for affardixlg a grdd~ltdLrelief from the hurtlzert of which he so heavily conrgtains, and it shall be ~rryendemour to scck them aut:'hand, lest he stzoutd be suspected (7f tot? much traste to atieviate suffering~,and ro retrrove violence, he says, ""Eat these mk;tst kc grddwal4 applied, and IG; ttzeir contplete efirt may be ~ ~ S ~ / Z P artd this f conceive is all tze can claim of right,'" Tlzis con~pletceffect OF his lcnlry is distant indeed. Rejecting this dentarzd (as he calls the Nabob's abject supplication) he attritlrlrcs it, as he rtsuatly docs uf all things of the kind, to tlze division in their governnrent; and says, "this is a powerful nrotive with me (L-rowcverinclined I might t9c, zapon, anj other occdshn, to yield tc3 some pirzrt of his de~rrand)to give thenr atz absolcite nnd unconditional refzksal upon the hml"~ preZll" a d even t0 bbP.i?tgf ~ ~ ~ ~ t i ~ if my influe-~lct.can prodtdce thrlt e f e c ~t h ~ s e
incenl;l&ricfswho htzw el-zdedvouredto mnke thenzseIves the i~zstranzerza~fdivisiola between gs. "
Hcre, Sir, is mu& heat and passiorr; but no ntore consideration of the distress of the coklntry, from a failure of the nreans of subsistcxzce, arrd (if possiMc) the worse evil of an t~selessartd liceritious soldiery, than if they were the nrost coxltenrprible of at1 triAcs. A letter is writtell in conscqrtexzce, in sudr a style of tofly despotisnt, as 1 believe has hitherto been wrlexa~npleda d urrlreard of in thc rccords of the East, Ttic troops were contintled. l-he gadgnl relief, whose effect was to be so distant, has never kcen substantially and kcncl"tcialty applied-and the corlrttry is ruined.
The invariable cotrrse of thp Cornpan$ policy is this: Either they set up some prince too odious to maintail1 himsetf without the rleccssiry of their assistance; or they soon rc~zdcrhim udions, by nzaking him the instrt~nterrtof their governntent. In that case troops x e bountifillly sent to him to xnaintain his art&orir_y;That he should iizave no want of assistance, a civil gentleman, catled a Resident, is kept at his cotlrr, who, urzder pretelzce uf providirzg dtdy fbr the pay of these trocips, gets assignments axr the reveizue into his hands. ttrzder his prc>ide~it nranagenrerit, debts soon accunrutate; new assignments are made far these dcbrs; untit, step by step, the mfzofe revenue, arid with it the wtiote power of the country, is delivered into his hands. Ttzc military da rzot kchotd without a virtuous entuiatioii the ntoderate gains of the civil deparlrnent. They &cl thar, in a courztry driven to habitud rebellion by the GiviI government, tlxe miiitar)r is necessary; and they will 110s permit: their sewices to go unrewarded. Tracts of courztry are delivered over to their discretiori. Then it is fottnd proper to corrwrt their comxnanding officers into Ear~~lers of revenue. Thus, bemeeri the wdl paid civil, and well rewarded nrilitary establistmrent, the siruation of the natives may be easily conjectured. "I")zeat~thoriryof the regular arrd lawful government is ever). where and in every point cxtirzguistrcd, Disorders arzd violences arise; they are repressed by other disorders and other violerices, Wherever the collectors uf the revenue, and the 6arxning colonels and majors move, ruin is abortt the;trz, rebellion before and betlind the;tzz, The pmuple in crowds Ay out of the counby Ii~zesof try; and the frsrrtier ts g~~arded troops, nos to exclude an enenrF but to prevent the escape uf rhe inhabitants, By these ntearis, in tile course of not: more tt-tan four or five years, this once opulent arzd flourishing country, which, by.
the accourrts given in the Berigal consultations, yielded more than three crore of Sicca rupees, that is, at9ove threc nziltiolzs sterling, annuaily, is reduced, as far as f mn discoveb in a nratter purposely involved in the UCX'XICISE perplexity, to less than one million three htrrtdred thousand pounds, and that exacted by e v q mode of rigour that ca11 be devised. To coinpI~tethe business, most of the wretched remrtants of this revenue are rrzorrgaged, and delivered illto the hands of the usercrs at Bcnarcs . . . at arz interest of near thiryper ccnl-. pm anrz2~m. The revenues io this rrzallner failirzg, they scizcd upon the esratcs of every pcrson of eminerzce in the corriitry, and, under the name of m~mptiog,canfixated their property, X wish, Sir, to t9e uxzderstood universally and literally, when f assert, that &ere is not lefi: one man of property and substance for his rank, in the whole of these provinces, in provinces w11ich are nearly the extent of Ellgland and Wales taken together. Not unc tandholder, not one hanker, riot orte merchant, rrot one even of tllose who ustlaily perish last, the zdltimamz nzorie~zsin a ruined state, rio orte far~nerof revenrte. One country fbr a while renrained, which stood as an islarzd ixz the xnidst of the grarrd waste of the Contpariy"s dominion. 1My Rj&t Honoul-able friend, in his admirable spcech on nzaving the bill, just touctxed the situation, the offences, artd the pt~nishxrzent,of a native prince, called Fizizita Khiln. This man, by policy and force, had protected himsetf front the general extlrpatioxl of the Rohilla chiefs. Me was sccurcd (if that were any scctzrir_v)by a treaty It was stated to yort, as it was stated hy the ertenlies of thar unhrtunare rnan"&at the wfiofe of his cc9untry what the mfzole country of the Rohiflas wns, culrivated like a garderi, wicfiout one rleglected spot in it."-Alzotiiicr accuser says,
"moofah Khan cllough a bad soldier [that is tLzc true sotlrce of his misforturzc) Iras appr(3ved izimseff a good armrif; having, it is supposed, in the course of a k w ycars, at least doubled" the population, arzd revexzuc of his country."-fn ariother part of the corresponde~lcehe is charged with ~rraki~rg his couxztry an asyluxn for thc oppressed peasalits, wtro fly from the territories of Bude, The inri?rovcnre~ltof his revenue, arising from this single crime, (wfiich Mr. Hastings corlsiders as tarztantourlr to treasorl) is stated at ari hundred arid fifty thousand pounds a year: Dr. Swift23 ssntewhere says, that ire mflo could ntatcc W Oblades of gras grow where but one g m before, was a grealcr bcxzefactor to the huma~zrace than all the politicians that ever existed. This prince, wlzo would t~ttvcbee11 deified by antiq~tity,. . . was, for those very merits, t9y riaine attacked by the Csmparzyhc)vernIlleElt, as a cheat, a robber, a traitor. ]inthe same breath in wl~fchhe was accused as a rebel, he was ordered at once to furrzish 5,000 horse. Orz delay* or (according to the tcchrzical phrase, wherz any rcmonstrarice is made to them) ""on ez,clsio~," he was declared a violator of treaties, and every thing lie had was to be taken from him-Not one word, however, of fzorse in this treaty. The territory uf this Fiztzlla Khan, Mr. Speakcr, is less tlrari the corlrity of Norfolk. XE is an irltand couxltv, ftdl scvcrr huxldred miles froin any sea port, and not distixrguished for any one corzsiderable branch of manufacture whatsoever, Froxrr this territory several very co~rsidcrabfeskims had at several times beer1 paid to the British Residerre, The derrrand of cavalry, without a shadow ur dccclzt prctcxt uf right, ~ s J o i ~ a rSwift, l ~ a ~ author ~ of
(1 726).
antourlted to three hurldred thuusarld a year more, at the lowest conrgurarion; and it is stated, by the last person scrzt to rzegotiate, as a demand of little use, if it could be coxrrplied with; but that the conrptiance was irxtpossibte, as it arnountcd to xnorc than his territories cortld supply, if there had been no other denra~ldupon himthree liulzdrcd thousand portlzds a year f f o ~ nan inland country rlot so large as Norfol kl
After a variety of extorrio~zsand vexations, too Eatiguixzg to you, too disgusting to xnc, to go thrrc~ughwith, they found ""rzat they ought ro be in a better state ro warrant forcible xncans;" they therefore contented ttremselves wirh a gross suin of 15O3OffCf pounds, for their present denrand, They offcred him indccd arz indc~nnityfroin their exactions it1 fbture, fbr three htrndred thousand poltnds more. But he refttsed to krty tiiicir securities; pleading (probat9ly wirh truth) his prlverty: but if the plea were lot h r ~ n d e d ,ill nry opi~rionvery wisely; not choosing to deal any more in that dangerous cominodity o f the Cnmpan+ faith; and rhinkirrg it better to oppose distress arzd uxzarrncd obstinacy to uncoioured exaction, ttzarl to s~lhjecthintself' ro be coxlsidered as a cheat, if he should make a treay ixz the least beneficial to himset' Thus they executed ari exentplary punishrent on Fizulla KhSn for rile cultt~reof his country. But, calzscious that the prevmrion of evils is the great object of all good regulation, tlley deprived hinr of the nreans of erzcreasirrg that crimind cuttivation in ftltr~re,by exhausting his coffers; aid, that the population of his conntry should rza more be a standirzg repmach and libel on the C~ntpanykgovernmeizt, Cttitit~rriI i ~ z ~ t i s they bourld him, by a positive engagement, rzat to afford arzy shelter whatsoever
to the Fdrnzers and labourers who should seek reftlge ixz his te~-ritorics,from the exactions of tlze Britistz Residents in Oude. When they had done a l this effectually, they gave him a full and cornptcte acquittarrce front all charges of rebellion, or of any intentiorl to rebel, or of Iris having originally had any interest ir-r, or any ntearrs of rebellioiz. These inrerrded rebellions are one of the Coxnpanyk standix-rg resortrces, Wllen ntclrrey has beert thc~udltto he heaped up any where, its owners are t~iiiversatl~ acctlsed of frbellion, until they x e aquicted of rhcir molzey and their treasolzs at once. The ntorrey orrce taken, all accusatic>n, trial, and punishnrent ends. Xt is so settled a resource, that I rather wonder how it contes to be ontitred in the Directors account; but X take it for granted this o~rrissiorz will kc supplied ixz their rzexr edition, The Contparry stretched this resortrce to tire full extent, wherr they accused two old wornexz,z6 in the rentotest corrler of India (wl~c:,corlld have no possible view or mc7tive to raise disturbaxrces) of being engaged ir-r rebellion, with an intexzt to drive out the Ertgtish nation in whose protection, purctrased by nroney and secured try treat5 rested the sotc hope of their cxisrcncc, But the Cornparry wanted ntclrrey, and the old wonren mu$$he guilry ofa plot. T h y were accused of rcbcllion, arzd thcy were convicted of weatth, Twice had great sums been exrorred fro111ttrenr, and as ofterr had the British &irh guaranteed the remainder, A body of British troops, wit11 one of the nritirary farmers general at ttreir head, was scrzt to seize upon rhe castle ixz which these helpless womerr resided. Tlreir chief eunuchs, who were their agents, their guardians, protectors, persons of high raxzk according to the Eastern Inanliers and o f
great trust, were thrc7wn into dungeons, to ~rrakethenz discover their hidden tresures; and there they lie at present. The lands assigrled for the nzairlterrarrce of the women were seized and confiscated, Their jewels and effects were taken, and set up to a pretertded ar~ctisrrin arz obsct~replace, artd bought at such a price as the genclenre~r thortght proper to give, No account has ever been trarismitted of the articles or produce of this sate, Wrat Irroney was obtained is unknown, or what terxns were stipulated for the ntai~lterrartceof these despoiled and Cbrlorn creattrres; for by some particulars it appears as if an cxzgagemerzt of the kind was made. Let nre here renrark, oncc for all, that thorlgh the act of 177327 reqrrires that an accsrtrtt of all proceedings sl~ouldbe diligentjy transnrirtcd, that this, like aff tire other injurzctions of the faw, is totally despised; arrd that hatf at least of the most irnporrant papers are intentiolratly withheld, I wish you, Sir-, to advert partictzlarly; in this transaction, to the quality artd the rrltnzbers of the persons spoiled, ancl the ixzstrument by whorn that spoil was xnade. These ancient matrons called the Begums or Princesses, were of the first birth and quatiry. in Xndia, the one xnother, the other wife, of the late Nabob of Oude, Sujah Dowlah, a prince possessed of extensive and flourishing dorninioxzs, arzd the second man in the ~tlogtrt empire. This prince (suspicious, and not ~rrljustfysuspicious, of his son and successor) at his death contmitted his treasrlrcs artd his Fanrily to the British faith, That fanlily and hortschald, consisted o f two thozcsdrzd women; tu whiciz were added two other seraglios of near kindred, and said to be cxtrerncIy rzumerous, arzd (as X am weII in~'"I"11eRegulacirzg Act c l f I775 adopted ro reform the E a r Xtldia Gmparty's operations.
formed) of about fourscore of the Nabob's clzildren, with all the citrzuchs, the ancient servants, arid a rnt~ltirtldeof the dependants of his spte~ididcourr. These were all to be provided, for prestrzt niaintenaxzcc arid future establishmerit, front the larids assigned as dower3 arid frollz the treasilres wfiich he left to these matrons, ixz trust far the whole fantity, So 61-as to rhc ohjecrs of the spoil, The irzstrument clzaselz by Mr. Hastings to desps~itthe relict of SujaZi Dowlah was her own $012, the reigrriilg Nahob of Otlde. It was the pious hand of a son that was selected to tear from his mother arzd gra~zdmother the provisie?n of their age, the ~rraintenanceof his brethren, arid of all the ancient hortsehotd uf his father. [Here a laugh frmn some ptlrig mernbersl-The laugh is reas~ndbkand the occasion decent and proper. By tile last advices soinething of the sun1 exrorted reniained unpaid, The womexz in despair rcl;'usc. to deliver morc, uriless their larids are restored arid their ~rrin~isrers reteased froni prison: but Mr. Hastings and ills courzcil, steady to their paint, arid consistent to tile last in their conduct, write to tlie Resident to stinrulate the son to aceoinptisii the filial acts he bad brought so near to their perfection.-"We desire," say they in their lercer to tlze Resident (writtcxz so late as March last) "diat you will irzforln us if any, arid what mearis, have been taken for recovering the balarice due from the Begum [priizcess] at Flzat9ad; arid that, if necessary, you rrnrnmsnd it to the Vizier to enforce gi?e most efecgunl rraenns for that purpose,'$ What tlieir effecotat mearis af enfi-ircing demands otr women of high rank and conditiolz arc, I shalk shcw you, Sir, in a few minutes; wlzeri I represent. to you ariother of these plots and rebeltons, which akwnys, ixz Irzdia, though so mreh any. where else,
are the of&prirzg of an easy conclition, arid hoarded riches, Bcxzares is the capital city uf the Irzdian relil;Siori. It is regarded as lioly by a particular and distir-tgnished sa~ictity;and the Gentas in general think thernsclvcs as much obliged to visit it orice in tlieir lives as the Mahomerans to perforrxr their pilgrimagc to Mecca, By this means that city grew great in contmerce and opulence; and so effectually was i t secured by the pious vexzeration OF that people, that in all wars arid in all violerices of power, there was so sure m asylum, both for poverty arzd wealth, (as it were under a divine protection) that the wisest laws and hest assured free constitution could not better provide for the relief of the anc, or the safety of the other; arid this tranqutlitry inAuenced to the greatest degree the prosperity OF all the country arzd the territory of which it was the capital. The interest of nioney there was nor nlore than half the usual rate in which it stood in all other places. The reports liave fully iriforrned you of tlie Irreans and of the tcrnrs in which this city and the territory called Gazipour, of which it was the liead, came under the sovereignty of the East h d i a Coinpany. If ever tliere was a subordillate dsmirzion pleasantly circulrzstanced to the superior powcl; it was this; a large rent ur tribute, to the antount of two huridred arid sixty thousa~idpounds a year, was paid in molzrhty instalments with. the purzctualiry of a dividerid at the Barik. If ever there was a prince who could ~ i o have t an interest in disttlrbarzce, it was its sovereign, the Ibjah Cheit Sing. He was in possessiori of the capital of his religion, m d a witting revenue W;ZS paid t9y the devout pcaptc wfia resclrted to him fromn all parts. His sovereignty and his iodepende~ice,except his trihtrce, was sccrzred by every tie. His terri-
tory was not r~rlfchless than half of Xreland, and displayed ixr all parts a dcgree of cultivation, ease, arzd plenty, urider his frugat and pater~lairrzanai;erzzent, which left iiiixrr rzutIiirzg to desire, either for honour or satisfaction. This was the light in which this couxltv apparc"dto almost every eye, But Mr. Hastings beheld it askance. ~tlr.Hastirigs tells us that it was reported of this Cheit Sing, that iiiis father left liim a million sterling, and that he made annual accessions to the hoard. Nothing catlld be so obnoxious to indigetlt power. So rrztrch wealth could rzot be innuccnt. . . . Mr, Hastings, hsm wbsm f take the doctrine, endeavours to prove that Cheit Sing was no sovereign prince; but a mere Zentindar or contmon subject, l-rolding land by rent. Xf this be gratlted to hinr, it is xzcxt to be sccn uizdcr what terms he is of opinion such a land-holder, that is a hitish sut7ject, holds his lift: and properry under the Gsnrpanyk government, It is proper tc:, understand well the doctrirles of the person whose administratio~rhas lately received such distinguished approbation from the Gontpany. His doctrirle is-""rat: the Company, or the p e r m delegn~edby it, iiiatds nn nbsolzkte authority over such Zcntindarsr-that: he [such a subject] owes an implicit m d unresuued obedience to its authority, at the $rfiirgre even uf his I$ arid proper@ at the alscRE:rioN of those who held orfa/& represented the sovcrcign artthority;-and that thae rights are &l4 delegated t.o him Mr. Hastings."' Such is a British governor's idea of the curzdition af a grcat Zemindar haldir~g ~1r1dera Britisli autht~riy;artd this kind of authority he supposes ftrily delegated to him; thougli no such dcjegatioxz appcars in any contntissior~,instructiot~,or act of parlianrent. At his discretiovz he nray demand, of rhc substa~zccuf any Zenlindar over and
above liis rent or tribute, evert what lie pleases, with a sovereign authority; and if hc does xzot yield an t'nzplictt anreserved obedience tc:, all liis contntarzds, lie forfeits his lands, his fife, and his property, at 1Mr. Hastirzgs:s"sdi3cretial.z. . . . But supposirzg the Raj:th of Beriares to be a nrere subject, arrd that subject a criminal of the higfiest Eorxn; Ict us see what course was taken by an upright English magistrate. Did he cite &is cr.rlprit before his tribuizal? Did iiie make a charge? Did he produce wirnesses?These are riot forrns; they are parts of substantial and eternal justice. No, xzot a word uf all this, Mr. flastirzgs concludes hirn, in hiz own mii"ld to be guilty; he makes this coxlclusion 0x1 rcports, un hear-says, an aypcaralzccs, on rr.imc>t~rs~ 011 col~jectures,011 presumptio~rs;and even these never once hinted to the party, xzar publicly to arzy humail being, tit1 the mflole business was done, But: the governor tells you his rrzotive far this exrraordixiary proceeding, so coiltrary to every ntode of justice towards either a prince or a subject, fairly and without disguise; arzd he puts into your fiarzds the key of his whole conduct:-""fill suppose, for a nroxrzent, tt-tac f have acted with urzwarrantat9fe rigour towards Cheit Sing, and even wirh injustice.-Let my M C Y ~ he I ~consulted. X left Calcutta, impressed wit11 a belief that extrnordinary medns were riecessary, artd tliuse exerted with a ste~zdyhdnc;l, to preserve &c Campany's t'ntmsts~om skkipag under the ncctcmuIatciAl Zoekhe whi& oppressed them. I saw a pulil.il-,rl i.zecprsig for curbing the ol,rr.. grown power af a great xncmi-tcr of their do mini or^, and for mdkil.~git curztribzak to the religaf td~eirpressin;y exqt.ncies,"'"Phis is plalrz speaking; after this, it is rzo wonder that the hjal2s wealth and his offence, the rreci-ssities of the judge, arrd the oplllertce uf the dclinquexrt, arc rzevcr separated,
througl~the whole of Mr. Hastingsk apology. "The justice and policy of exacting n iargr pecuniary m u h " T h e resolution " m drawfiom his guilt t he means ofreligto the Cor~pdnyj.distresses." His dcterminatioxz "to make hirrl p q Large& for his pardon, or to execute a severe vengeance for past dctinqucncy." That ""as his wedlth wns great, and the Compn~yiex@ncies pressing, he thought it a measure of justice ancl policy to exact from him a large pecurziary sum (says rnulct: for their relie$"-"The Mr. Wheler," Rearing evidence, at his desire, to his intentions) to which the goverrzur dectared his rcsolutioxz to extend his fine; was forty or f i f i lacks, that &four or five hrcndred thogsandpouad; m d that i f he refrlscd, be was to be rernoved from his zentindary entirely; or by taking possession of his forts, to obtain, ozk~Rf-the t m ~ 1 deposited 4 ~ in their, the above sun1 &or the Cc>nrparly." Crimes so conveniexlt, crinres so politic;, crinles so necessary, crinles so alleviating of distress, car1 never he wanting to those who use no process, and who produce no proofs. But there is artother serious part . . . in this affair. Let us atpposc char tile power, far which Mr. Hastings contelzds, a power which rio sovereign ever did, or ever can vest in any of his subjects, namely, his own sovereign authority; to be conveyed by the act of parliantent to any man or body of IrreIl whatsoever; it certai~llywas never give11 to ~ l r Hastings. , The powers givelz by the act of 1773 were fornrtal and sfficial; they were giverr, lot to the governor gcncral, but to tlic xn;llor vote of the
""Ecfbvard Whclcr, a member of chc Supreme Council of Benpi. Tlte cotrilcil had rcspcsnsibilicics fur controlling the E,xst India Compariy"s operations in Benga). Hastings was also a member of the ~ourlcit as governor-gnera1 cif Rerypl.
hoard, as a board, on itiscussion mongst thenrselves, in their public ctlaraccer and capacity; and their acts in that character artd capacity were to be ascertained by records and nri11~1tesof council. The despotic acrs exercised by Mr. Hastirtgs were done merely in his pTiga~echaracter; and, if they had been nroderate and just, would still t9e the acts uf agz usurped authority, and withortt any orte of the legal nrades of proceeding which could give him compctelzcc for the nlost trivial exertiorl of power. There was no proposition or deliberation whatsoever in council, ~ l o nlirlrltc un record, by circtzlation or arherwise, to atrthofize his proceedings. No delegation of power to jlflpose a fine* or to take any step to deprivc tlic XXajah uf Bei~aresof his government, his property, or his liberty. The nrinutes of coxlsulcarion assign to his jortrncy a totally. different ut9ject, duty, and destination. Mr. Wheler, at his desire, tells us long after, tt-tar he had a confiderztial conversation with him an varit>rlssubjects, of which this was the prirr~ipal, in which Mc Hastings rroti6ed to hiln his secret intelztiuns; ""azd that he bepoke his support of the rneasures which he intended to pursue torvards t l i ~ r l (the Xbrtjah)." This coxzfidential discourse, and bespeaki~gof support, could give hinr no power, in ok~positionto an express act of partiaxncrzt, arzd the wfiatc telzor OF the arders of the Court of Directors. llrt what nranrler the powers thus ~lsurped were employed, is known to the whole world. Ail the House knows, that the desig~l on the Rajah proved as unfruichtrt, as it was violent, The unhappy prince was expctled, and his more t~rlfiappycourttry was enslaved and ruined; b t ~ tnot a rupee was acquired. Xnstcad of treasure to recruit the Contpanfs fina~lces,wasted t7.y their wanton wars and corrupt jobbs, they were plunged into a nLw war, wfiich shook their
power in Trrdia to its foundation; and, to use the governorH awn happy simile, ntiglzt have disdved it like a magic structure, if the tallisnran had been broken.
But here, Sir, nrark the effect of all these extrnordi~mryymeans, of all this policy arzd justice. The revenues which had been hitherto paid with such astonishing p11nctuatity, fell into arrear, The rzcw prirzcc gt~arrtianwas deposed without cererncmy; artd with as little, cast into prison. Tlre governnrelrt of that once happy country iiias keen in the utmost conftisiorz ever sirrce s~lcllgood order was taker1 about it. But, to conrplete the contunrely offered to this undone people, and to make them feel their servitude in ali its degrarfatiort, a r d afi its bitterness, the governnrenc of their sacred city, the goverxzxncnt of that Iferrarcs which had bee11 so respected by Persian arzd Tartar coquerors, chough of the Mussnlman pcrsuasioxz, that, even in the pleizitude of their pride, pc~wer,arrd bigotry no magistrate of that sect entered thc place, was xzow delivered aver by English hands to a ~vlalzometan;arid an Ali lbrahinr Khhn was introduced, under the Coxnpany's authority, with power of life artd death, into the saiictuary of the Gentfi religion. . . . Xt rernains alzly to skew, thro~lglithe coriduct in this business, the spirit of tlze Conrk?an$ governnrenc, and the respect they pay towards other prejudices rzot Less regarded in the East tlzari those of religion; I: lrrean tlre reverence paid to tlre female sex in gclzeral, and particularly to wonlerz of high rarik and condition. Durirrg the general confusio~zof the country of Gazypore, Panna, the mother of Ghcir Sixzg, was lodged with her trairr in a castle called Bidgd Cur, in whictr were likewise deposited a large portion af the treasures of
her son, or more probably her owrr. To whonrsocver they beiongcd was indifferent; for, thougli no charge of rebellion was rnade on this wornart (which was rather singular, as it would have cost nothing) they wcl-c: resolved to sccurc iiier with her fortune, The castle was besieged by h4ajor bpham, . . . The Gomparzfs first civil magistrate discc~veredthe greatest uneasiness lest the wonren should haw any thing preserved to them. Erxns, tending to put sarne restraint on military vicilence, were grarited. He writes a letter to Mr. Popham, referring to some letter written before to the same effect, which I: do riot rerrtentber to lzave seen, but it shews his anxicy on this subject. Hear iizimsetf:-""Xhink evey derna~zdsize has ntade on you, except that of safety arrd respect to her person, is urrreasonablc, If the reports t9rought to xnc arc true, your rejecting lzer ofkrs, or lay negotial.z'on, would soon obtain you the fort upon yortr owl1 terms. I apprehend she will attempt to defiaad the cdptors ofn considerable part @their b ~ o gby bkrtgfclfered to retire without exnmiantion, But this is your corzcern, not ntine. I shorlld be very sorry that yor-tr oficclrs and soldiers lost any part of the reward to which tficy are so well entitled; but you must be the hest jrldgc of the prwunised irrddgence to the hnrzy: what you iiiavc engaged .For I will certainly- ratilji.; but as to suffering the Ranny to hold the purguxrna of E-furlich, or any athcr zcmixzdary, withont t9cirrg subject to tl-te authnriq of the Zeinindar, nr nay In~dswlilags~e~er, or indeed ~rrillCjlllj nrzy condition with her for a provirsr'on, I wif l 1ze21erconsent." Here your governor sti~lllflatesa rapacious and ticcrztious soldiery to thc pcrsortal search of wc)merr, lest: these urilzappy creattlrcs should avail tlrenrselves of the protmtion of their sex to secure arzy s~tpply
ject of tlze piety arid policy- of the priests for their ~lecessicies;and he posirively orders that no stipulation should be xnadc atrd lulers of the Gentl"r religion. This ubjcct required a command uE for any provision fc)r them, . . . l: say, Sir, moriey; arrd tlzere was no hllam, or castie, this ailtient lady was conrpetled to quit her which in the happy days of the Carnatic hortsc with threc kurzdred hetptess ~ O L ~ C I Z , was without some hoard of treasure, ky arrd a ntultitude of chitdreri in her train; which the g(>vernorswere enabled to combut the tower sort in the canrp it seenrs bat with the irregularity of the seasons, could rzat kc restrained, They did xzut forarrd to resist or to buy off the invasiorr of get the good lessoris of the gc)verncnr genan eriemy. fn all the cities were multitudes eral, They were unwilling "to be dekauded of nrerchants atrd bankers, for ail occaions uf a considerable part of their booty, by of nlorzicd assistance; and on the othcr suffering thein to pass without examinalzarid, the rrative prirtces were in condition tion."-They emntined them, Sir, with a to obtain credit fronr them, The ~rzatlufacvengeance, and the sacred protection of that awful characteh Mr. Hstingsk rmaitrc EtlrCr was paid by the rctrtrxz of commadities, or by irnported rrtoney, and not, as at dxotel, could riot secrtre them front insult present, in the taxes that had been origiand plunder, . . . nally exacted frarn his industry. Irz aid o f casual distress, the courttry was full of choultries, which were inns and hospitals, Xr is only to conrplete the view T proposed where the traveller and the poor were rcuf the conduct of the Company, with rclieved. All rarrks of people had their place gard to the depertderrt provinces, tlzat I: in the public concern, and their share in shall say a y thing at ail of the Carnatic, stock and c o n l m ~ ~ prosperr the CQ~'X~I'XIOL~ which is the scene, if possible, of greater , the ity; but the chnrterreb rights U f m e ~and disorder tharr tlre rrortherri provinces. . . . This couxltv, in all its de~lonrinations, right which it was thought proper to set is about 46,000 square miles, It may bc afup in the Nabob of Arcot, irztroduccd a firmed universally>that rrot orre person of new vstem, It was their policy tc> corisider substancc or property, landed, conrmerhoards ofnroncy as crimes; to regad moderate re-clrrtsas frauds on the sovereign; and ciat, ur xnorzied, excepting rwa ur three to view, in the lesser princes, any ciaint of bankers, wlzcj are rtecessary deposits artd exenrption from more than settfed tribute, distributors of the general spoil, is !eft in as arr act uf rebellion. Accordingly all the at! that rcgioxz, Irt that country the moistme, the ho~tntyaf Heaven, is givrrr hut at casties were, one after the otlzer, pturtdered and destroyed. The ~lativeprinccs were a certain season. Before the aera or our inAuencc, the industry of rxtagr careftllly husexpelled; the hospitals felt to ruin; tlic banded that gift of God. The Gentas p e reservoirs of water went to decay; the ntersewed, with a provident and religiot~scare, chants, bankers, and nranufaccurers disapthe precious deposit of the periodical rain peared; and sterility, indigence, arzd dcin reservoirs, malry of tlzern works of royal population, overspread the face of these grandew; and &on1 t17ese, as o a a ~ i o ~der olrce flourishing provirtfes, manded, thcy fructified the whole caurztry. Tb ntai~ltainthese reservoirs, and to keep E I an ~ annual advance to the cultivators, The Eliousc perceives tt-tat the livery of the Company's government is uniforrxl. I have far sccd arrd cattle, Ectrxned a principal ob-
described the coxldition of the countries irzdirectty, k9~ttZEIOSEsubstantiatly, uxzdcr the Companfs autfrc>rit)r,Alzd n(>wI ask, whether, with this nrap of misgovernment t9eforc xnc, I c m sklppase mysclf bound by nty vote to continue, t~pcxiany principles of pretellded plrhlic faith, the managexncizt of these corlntrics in those harlids. If I: kept suclr a faitlz . . . with what is called the Conrpany, X ~rzustbreak the faith, the covenant, the solemn, original, indispensable oath, in which I: am hound, by the etertid fiarxre and constitutic~nof things, to the whole hunran race, As X iiiave dwelt so long on these who are indirectly t~iiderthe Gontpany's adnrinistration, X will endeawur to be a little shorter upon tlic countries inrmcdiatcty t~rtderthis charter governmei1t.-Thest: are the Bengal provinces. . . . I: sfiall scare to you, as shortly as I arn able, the conduct of the Gontpany;-1 st, towards the landed ioterescs;-x-rext, the corrznrercial incerests;-3dly, the xzative gove~rzmexzt;-ar~rd lastly, m their own govertiment. Bengal, and the provi~rcesthat are united to it, are larger thaxz the kirtgdoxn of Frarlicc; artd once contained, as France does contain, a great. and indeperidenc taxzded interest, coinposed af princes, of great lords, of a rzunterous rtobiliry and geiztry, of freeholders, of lower tenants, of retigiorts mnrmunicics, and pubtic fourzdations. So early as 1763, the Companfs servants perceived the decay into which these pmvinces hacl hllen ttrrder English administration, arzd they made a strortg representation upon this decay, and what they apprehended to be the =uses of it. Soolz after Mr. Hastings t9ceanre pxsident of Bengal. ts~sreadof adtninisterif~ga remedy; upon the heels of a dreadful Faininc, ixz the year 1772, the sueconr which the new presiderit arid the corlrzcil lent to this
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of a whale kingdom, of a kingdom ra be conrgared to France, was set up to public artctiolz! Thcy set up (Mr. Hastings sct up) rlre whole nohilir)., ge~zt~y, and freeholders, to the tlighest bidder. No preference was giver1 to the ancient proprietors. Thcy mi;tst bid agairist every userer, every tentporary &venturer, every jobber and schemer, every scrvarzt OF every European, or they were obliged to corttertt themselves, in lieu of their extensive domains, with their tlouse, arzd such a pension as the state auctiorzecrs tlzought fit to assig11. . . . Another refornrt tlas slncc come ttpon the hack of the h; arzd a pcrzsion having bccrz assigized to these urit-rappypersons, in tier1 of their hereditary lands, a new sctienre of oecollanry has taken place, arzd deprived riiicm of that pension. The merzial servarzts of Englishmen, p w m n d t a use the emphacicai phrase of a ruined and patient Eastern chief) '"whose fithen thq wouU not have set with the dogs oftbez'rjork, " entered into their pacrimorzial tands. Mr. Hastixzgs's t9aniarz2%vvas, after this auction, fcturzd possessed of territories yiclniilg a rent of one twnctred and forty thousal14 pourzds a year, Such an t~iiiversalproscription, upon m y pretence, has k w examples, Such a proscription, without even a prctcxzcc of delinquency, has risrze. It startds by itself, It stands as a nranunrent to astonish the imaginatioxz, to coilif;3uxzd thc reasoili of marikind. f confess to you, wherz I: first came to know ttliirs bt~silressin its true ~laturc and extent, my surprise did a little suspertd my indignation. I was in a rnarzrter scilpieied by the desperate boldness ofa few ot9scurc young men, who having abrained, by ways which they could riot cornpretlend, a power of w/~ic/lthey saw neither the pi~rpascsxzor the limits, tossed about, Z~f-fasritlgs'sgersondl steward, Krishna Kanra Ndn J>r,
subverted, and tore to pieces, as if it were in the gambots of a boyish urziuckincss and rndice, the most established rights, and the ~rzostaiicient and ~rzostrevered institutions, uf ages and rzations. Sir, X wifl rzot xzow trouble you with any detail with regard to what they have since done with these sajne lands arzd larzd-hotdcrs; only to inform you, that r~sthinghas heeri suffered to settle fi,r two seasons togcther upon any basis; arzd that the levity arzd inconstancy uf these xnock legislators were not the least aff-licting parts of tlre oppressions suffered under their ~rsurpation;nor will any thing give stability to the property uf the xzatives, bitt arz adrnirzistratit:,~iin E~lglarzdat orice protecting and stable, The country sustains, alxrzost every year, the xniseries of a rwolution. Alt: present, all is uncertainty, misery, and csnfusion. . . . X shall rzaw say a word ur two on thc Gonrtpany:~care of the a:,mmercial interest of those kingdonrs. h it appears in the Reports, that pcrsalzs in the hi&cst stations ixz Dellgal have adopted, as a fixed plan of policy, the destruction of all intermediate dealers ktlctliveerz the G~x~lpany and thc xnanufacturer, native nterdlarlts have disappeared of course. The spoil of the revenues is the sole capital which p~ircbasesthe producc and manufactures; and through three or four foreign coxrzpanies transnrits the official gains of individuals to Europc. No other corrlmere has an existeizce in Bengal. The transport of its pllinder is the only c& fie of the ccjuntry. . . . As to the native gt:,verrznterit and the ad~rzinisrratioxlof j l f t i c ~ ,it subsisted i11 a poor tottering manrzer fbr some years, Xrz the year 1781, a totat revoltltion took piace in that estabtishnrent, X11 one of the rtsual freaks of legislatioxz of the council uf Bengal, the wlzole crirnirlal jurisdiction of these courts, called the Phoujdar). Judicature, exercised till thexz by thc prixzcipal
Muss~llmen,was in one day without 110tice, without coxlsultarion with the nragisEratCS or the pcopic there, and wlthortt contmunication with the directors or ministers here, totally subverted, A new institt~tiofztook place, by which this jr~risdictioil was divided bemeen certain English servants of the Conrpany and the Gentii Zcmindars of the curtntry, the latter uf wl~sntrzever petitiorzed for it, nor, for ought that appears, ever desired this boon. Brtt its nantral rlsc was xnadc uf it; it was made a pretence far rlevv extortior~sof nr oney.
An establisfinrerrt of English govcrnnrerlt for civil justice, and for thc collecti~fzof revenrte, was planrzed arzd executed by the president and cok~ncit,of Bengal, subject to the pleasure of the Directors, in the year 1772. Accordirzg to this plan, the country was divided into six great districrs, or provinces, In each uf thcsc was established a provincial council, which ad~~tinistered the reverrue; and of that council one nrenrkcr, by nlanthly rotatiun, presided irz the corlrts of civil resort; with an appeal tc:, the cor-tnfiiof the proviilce, arzd thence to Cafcutta, In this sysrcm (whether, ixz otlzcr respects, g~t:,dor evif) there were sonte capital advantages. There was in the very nunlbcr uf persons in each provirzciat corri~cil,authority, commt~i~ication, ntutual ctleck, and controul. They were obliged, on their mixzutcs of colzsultarion, to eriter their reasorzs arzd dissents; so that a Irzari of diligcrrce, of research, and tolerable sagacity; sitting in London, xnigtlr, from these materials, be erzahled tc:, fornrt some judplent of the spirit, of what was going un 0x1 thc furthest banks uf tlic Ganges arzd Burrampiiter. The Court of Directors so Far ratified this estat9~ishmc1zt,(which was colzsonaxzt
erlollgtl to their general plan of governxncrzt) that they gave precise orders, that no alteration shortld be made in it, without their consent. So far franz being apprised uf arzy dcsign agairzsr this colzstitution, they had reasori to corzceive that on trial it had been nrore arzd rrzore approved by their curtlzcil gencral, at least by the govertior generai, who had parliied it. At the time of the revolution, the council general was xzurninatly in w o ycrsans, virtt~allyin one.30 At that time measures of an arduotrs and critical rlattlre ougilt t(3 have been forborne, even i6 to the ft'lrllest caurzcil, this syecific xncasrlrc bad xzut kccrz prohibited by the superior authority. It was in this very situation, that one nran iiiad the iiiardiness to curzccivc, and the tenrterity to execute, a total revolution in the h r m arzd &c persons composing the goverlzmerzt of a great kingdom. Without arzy previous step, at one stroke, the mflole consrirutinn of Bengal, civil and crirninat, was swept away, The courzscllors werc rccalled from their provinces. Upwards of fifty of the prirtcipai officers of goverlrxncrzt werc turlzed out of cmptoy, arzd rcndered deperzderlt on Mr. Hastings for their imnrediatc sltbsistence, and for ail hope of future provision. The chief uf each conncil, and one Europearl collector of revenue, was left in each province. But hcre, Sir, you xnay inraginc a xzew governnrrnt, of some perrnanrnt description, was established in the place of that which iiiad bcetz thus sriddenly ovcrturxzcd. No such thing, Lest these clzief5; withsrtt councils sbok~tdbe conceived to fornz the ground plaxz uf sarne htrzrc governmelzt, it was publicty declared, that their cor~tinuance was only tenrporary arzd pernrissive. The wfialc su bardinate British adxninistra1781 Hastings ;sal.rd Wheler were the only members of rhe Suprerxre C~uncilof Rengiri.
tiorz of revelitle was then vested in a conrnricree in Calcutta, all creatures of the governor gcrzcrd; and the provirlcial maxzagernent, trnder the permissive chief, was delivered over to 13ati-e officers. But, that the rcvotution, and the prirposes of the revolution, night be con+ plece, to this coxrznritcee were delegated, rzat only the ftlnctiuns of all the inferior, but, what will susprize the House, those of the suprcnre admirziscratior~of revenue also. Hitlierto the goverrzur gcncral and courzcil had, in their reverzrte department, administered the tirlanccs of those kingdarns. By thc ncw S C ~ C I ' Xthey ~ ~ arc detcgated to this comrrtittee, who are only to nport their proceedings for approbation. The key to thc whole transaction is given in one of rile instrrtctiorzs to the cornrrzittee, "that it is not necessary that they shoutd clztcr dissents." By this means the ancierlt plan of the Comparzy"s administration was d e s r r u ~ d ;hut the pian of concealment was pmkcted, To that xnoment the aaounts of the re\lc;nueswere tolerably clear; or at last nreans were fur~lishedfor enquiries, by which they might bc rcndered satisfactory. In the obscrtre arzd stlerzt gt-lfph of rzhis comnrictec every thing is now buried, Thc thickest shades of night surrortnd all their trarisactions. Nc3 effectual rneans of dececrirlg fiaud, nrismanagemenr, ur misrcprescntatioxz, exist, Tlrc Directors, who have dared to tatk wirh such c~rzfiderlce on their revenues, know rlothing about them. %at used to fill volumes is riow comprised li~rlctera few dry i~eadsor1 a sheer of paper. The rlalives, a peopfe habirtally made to corzccalrr~crzt,arc the cIzief Inanagers of the revenue tbrougizclnt the provinces. I mean by natives, such wretches as your rctlers sefcct out of them as xnost fitted for their purposes. . . . As the whole reverrue and civil admil~istration was th~tssut?verrcd, arzd a clarzdes-
tine goverllrrzent substituted in the place uf it, tIzc jcldiclat ixrstitution urzderwcnt a like revolution. In 1772 there had been six cowts hrmed out of rhe six provirzcial courzcils. Eightcell xzcw ones are appointed in their place, with each a judge, takein fronr the j U r ~ i ~scwanls r of the Compan)~. To nlaintalrz these eighteen courts, a tax is levied on the sunts in litigation, of 2 112 per cent. on the great, and of Sper ceerz. oan tlze less. Tliis money is at1 drawn from the prc3vinces tc3 Calcutta. The chief justicej" (the sanre who stays in defiance of a vote of this House, and of His ~blajestysrecal) is appoint" at oncc the trcasurcr and disposer of these taxes, levied, wtthstrt arty sorr of authoriey; froxrz the Company, fronr the Crawrz, or from Partiamerzt. fn effect, Sir, every legal regular authority in matters of revenue, of politkal admixristration, uf crinlinat law, of civil law* in ntariy of the most essentid parts of rnilitary discipline, is laid [eve1 with the sound; and an oppressiv~irregular, capricious, uristeady rapacious, and peculatirrg despotisnr, with a direct disavowal of obedieiicc to any artthoriry at iiiomc, and without arry fixed ntaxirn, principle, or rule ofpwceeding, to guide rhertr in hclia, is at p x ~ ~ the n t state uf your chartergovernnterit over great kingdonts. As the Conrpany "Rs made this use of their trust, X should ill discharge xninc, i f 1 refused to give my most chearfui vote for the redress of these abrrses, by putting the affairs of so large and vdrvabte a part of tiiie irrterests of this riation artd of mankind, illto sonre steady hands, possessi~zgthe confiderzce, arzd asst~reduf the support uf this House, urttil they car1 be restored to regularity, order, and consistericy, I have touched the hcads of same uf the grievances of the people, arrd the abuses of
goveriiment. But I lzope and trllst, you will give me credit, when Il faithfl~lly=sure you, that I have xzut mentioned unc fourth part ohwhat has cmne to nry knowledge in your conrnrittee; and further, X have full reason to believe, that- xzot one fourth parr of the ahuses are come to rny knwledge, by that or by any other IrzeaIrs, Pray consider what X: have said only as arz index to direct you in your enquiries. Ilf this therr, Sir, has beerr the Erse ~rzade of the trust of political powcrs intcrrzal and external, giver1 by you in the clzarter, the next t h k g to be seen is the conduct of the Conlpany with rcgard to the com~'~icrcial trust. Artd lzere I: will ntakc a fair offer:-ff it can be proved that they have acted wisely prndently, arzd frugally, as mcrchants, f slzdl pass by the whole rnass of their enornrities as staresnrell, That they have rzot dorze this tl-rcir preselzt condition is proclf stlfficient. Their distresses are said to be owiilg to their wars, This is nor wkotiy true. But if it were, is rzot that readiness to engage in wars whicll distinguishes them, and for which the Committee of Sccrccy has so kra~zdedtheir politics, fbundecf on the faisest: prillciples of mercantile speculation? l"tie pri~~ciplc of bctying cheap and selling dear is the first, tlze great fonndatioxr of nrercancile dealing. Have they ever actcx~dcdto this prix~cipte?May, For years lzave they riot actually authorized in their servants a total indifference as ta the prices they were to pay? A great deal of strictrress in driving bargains for whatever we contract, is another of the principles uf mercantile policy Try the Csntpariy by that test! Lr~oiirat the coiltracts tllat are ~rzadefbr thenr. Xs the Cornpany so nlucfi as a good cornrnissary to their own arnrties? . . . Ic is a third proprty of trading men, to sec that their clerks do xzut divert the ded-
caritile dealing; arid heirce is the deepest ings of the master to their own benefit, Tr and nraruresr wisdotrr of Partianrenr dewas the other day alrly, wbexr their govcrmanded, and the twst rcsorlrccs of rhis rtor and council taxed tlie Csrnpariy"s inkirrgdsnt must be strained, to restore vestrrrerlt with a sunr of fifty thousand poufrds, as an irrducemcxrt to persuade therrz; that is, to restore the countries destroyed by. the xnisconduct af the Cornorrly seven mentbers of their board of trade pariy, arid to restore the Cornparry itself, ro give their honour that they w o ~ ~ abld stain from s~cIrprofits ~ t p o ~that z ixzvcstr~tinedby rhe consevences of their plans for destroying what thcy wcrc kortnd to ntertt as they rnust have vicllated their o a k preserve, if they had made at all, It is a Eotlrth qudir;~. of a, xncrchaxzt to t9c T required, if you remerrzber, at nry oi~rset exact in his accounts. %at wilt be dzoudit, a proof that thcsc abttsa wcre habitual. But wfren you have fully before you the ntode of surety rhis is rtot rrecessary for me to conaccounting made use of iir the treasury of sider as a separate head; because T trust [I Bengal? . . . A rrcw principle of account have niade it evident t7eyond a doutx, in t~p(xihorro~trseems to be regularty estaba3risidering the abuses tl~emselves,that theylished in rheir dealings and rheir treasury, are regular, pernranent, and qscenratiml. which ixr reality arnounts to arz errtire anniI ain now come to xny last colrdition, withorlt wfrich, fbr one, f will never readily hilation of dre pririciple of AI accotnits. Tt is a fifth property of a ~rrerctlant,who lend nry tland to the destrtlccion of any esdoes xzot mediate a fraudulcrzt k~airkrr~ptcy~ tablished government; whidi is, That ixr its to calculate his probable profits upon the present. state, tlie governntent of the East nroney he rakes up ro vest in btlsiness. Did Xndia Conrgany is absolutely incorrigible, the Company, wherr thcy bought goods on Of this great truth I think thcrc can kc little doubt, after all that has appeared in bonds bearing 8 per cent. inrerest, at text and even rrvency per cent, discouxlt, even this House. Xt is so very clear, rhac T ~rrust ask themsctves a qitestion colrcerxzixrg the consider the leaving any power in their possibilrty of ahantage from deaing on hands, arid the determined resolution to these ternrs? contiilr~eand councenancc every nrode Ttic last quality of a merchant I shal) and every degree of peculation, apprcsadvert to, is the rakirzg care to be properly sion, artd tryrariny, to be orre and the salile prepared, in cash or goods, in the ordinary thing, T look upon that body incorrigible, from thc ft~tlcstconsidcratiolr both of their curtrse of sale, fbr the bilts which are drawxi on them. Nc3w I ask, wlzether tliey unifc3rmn conduct, and their present real and virtual constitution, have ever calculated rile clear prod~zceof If they had not constantly kcerr apairy given sales, to make tiiie~ntatjy with the four ntiZfiorr of bilts which are come prized of all the extormities continitted in and conrirrg itpun thenr, so as at tlie Xndia under their authority; if this state of things had t9ccn as much a discovery to proper periods to e~zablcthe one to liquithein as it was to marry of us; we might date the other? No, they have riot. They are now obliged ro borrow nroney of their Aatcer ourselves that the detection of the own scrvalrts to purchase their ixzvesrmexrt. abuscs would lead to their rcformation. X . . . fsldeed no trace of equitable governwil) go ftlrttier: If the Corrrr of Dkectors ment is folrrrd in their politics; not one had nor unifornrly condenrned every act teacc of commercial prirzclpfe in their r~rer- which this House or airy. of its Commit-
tees had condenzned; if the languap io wiiich they expressed their disayprokatiolz against: erlornrtities and their auttrors tiad ~lor:been nr uch more veherzrerrr: and indigrzant than any ever used in this Housc, I should erltertain sclrne hopes. If they had ~loc,an the ather hand, as uxlifornrty coxrrmended all thcir servaxzts who had done tlzeir duty and obeyed their orders, as they had hewily censured those who rebelled; T miglit say TIicse people have keen irz arz error, and when tlzey are serlsible of it they wilt mend. But mfien f reflect or1 the uniformity of their support to the objects of their uniform ccxzsurc; and the state af insignificance arid disgrace to wtzich all of ttlose have been redtxced whoxrr they approved; and that even utter ruin and prcrnature death have been amorlg the ff~lits of their favour; T nzust be convinced, that in this case, as in at! others, hypocrisy is tlze only vice that never can be cured. Atterrd, T pray you, to the situation and prosperity of Bcnfictd,JWf-[tirlings, and others of that sort. The last of these has been treated by the conrpaxly with at1 aspcrity af rcprchclzsiorz that has rzo parallcl. They lament, %at the power o f ctisposing of their prapery h r pelpetuiry, should faII c~I~ into such iiiands." Yet 5;3r E c ) L ~ ~ E years, with Little interruption, he has gt>vernedail their affairs, of e v q description, with ail absoitttc sway He has had himself the rneans o f heaping up immense wajth; and, dwritzg that whole period, the fart~trzcsof hurzdreds have depcrzded an his srniles and frowns, He himself tells you he is incunrbered with two tlundred and fify yauxzg gerztterncn, some of them uf the best families in England, all of wlzorrt aim -iAI%aui Benfieid, a pronliilcilr and conrr~>versiaI empfoyee rtF the Fkst Inciia C:csmp,my Btrrkc: tazgered t3el.tfield in his c9i~ecehon Nabob nf'Arenti IJchtl,
Wk$EB8 v, 478-61 7.
at returning with vast Eortrlnes to Errrope in the prime of life. He has then two hundred and fifty of your children as his hostages for yciur good behaviour; and loaded for years, as he has been, with the execrations of the natives, with the ccrisures of the Court of Directc.rrs, and struck and blared with resolutions of this Hause, he stitl rtlaintairzs the most despotic power ever krlowrl in India, He domi~leerswirh at1 ovelbearing sway irr the assemblies of his prccclzded xnastcrs; and it is tfrougizt in a degree rash to veriture to name his offences in this House, even a grounds of a legidative remedy.
Worsc, far worse, iiias keen the gate aF the pc~orcreatrtres, the riatives of India, wlzorrt the hypouisy of the Conrpaoy has betrayed into carnplaixzt of oppressioxz, and discovery of peculation. . . . . . . So that there is none who hears nre, that is rzut as certain as X am, that the Gontpany, in the sense in which it was fornrerly understood, has no existence. The qucstian is not, what injtlry you xnay do to the proprietors of India stock; for there are no such nren to be injured. . . . The vote is not to protect the stock, but the stock is bougtltt to acquire the vc.rte; 2nd the erld of the vote is to cover and support, against justicc, some nzan aF power who has made an obnoxious fortune in India; or to maintain in power those who are actually enrployi~tgir ixz the acquisition af suck a fortrtne; and to avail ttzemselves in returrl of his patronage, thac he nray shower the spoils uf the East, ""t-tal-Baric pearl arzd gold" oorz them, their families, and dependents. So that att the relations of the Conzpany are rzat only charzgcd, but inverted. The servants in f ndia are riot appointed by the Directors, but the Directors are chosen by them. The trade is carried un wirh their
capitals, To therrz the reventles of the cortlztry arc xnortgaged. The scat of the stlprerne pclwer is in Catc~~tta, The house in Leadenfiall Street is 11othingnrore than a chalzgc for their agerzts, factors, and deprtties to meet in, to take care of their affairs, and support their intereas; and this so avowedly, that we sec the krzawrz agexrts of the delinqr~erltservarits ntarshalling arid disciplining their forces, and the prime spokesmcrr in all their assemblies. Every ttlirig has followed in this order, and according to the natt~ral train of events, T wit1 close what X have to say on the irzcorrigibte conditioxz of the Company, by statir~gto you a few facts, that will leave no doubt ofthe obstirlacy ofthat carporatiolz, and of their strerrgth too, in resisting the refctrmatioi~of their servarlts. By these facts 1 2 ~ will ) ~ be enabled to discover the sate grortnds upon whidi they arc terlacious of their charter. fr is flaw more than two years &at, upon account of the gross abuses arzd rt~inorlssituatiolz of the Compariy's affairs, . . . that we instituted two Conrnrictees to errquire into the xnismarragements L9y which the Company's affairs had beert brought to the tlrirlk of ruin, These enq~~iries had been pk~rsued with unremitting diligence; and a great body of facts was collected artd printed for general information. T r t the resula: of those enquiries, althongh the Committees consisted of very different. descriptions, ther were ~inatlimous.They joined in cerrsuring the conduct of the Xrzdiaxz administration, and erlfctrcirlg the responsibiliv upon twt) men, whonr this House, in consequence of these reports, declared it to L9c the duty of the Directors to rernove from their stations, and recslf to Great Britain, "becatise thq hadnctcd in n PzzPzPzer 1.eptAgBnnt to the
hurzozar andpol'i~ofthis B I Z ~ ~ ~aO E~,therebj d Brozkgdrt gmc c~z~arnities on I~dia> &Pm! e ~ s r mous epencrrs on the Eat. Ipzdia C"ovpn~y "
Here was no attentpt on the charter. Here was 11oquestiorr of their privileges, To virzdicarc their owrz honour, to support their own interests, to erlforce obedience to their own orders; these were the sole object of the monitory resatutioxz of this House, But as soon as the general cotrrt could assenrbte, they assenrbled to denranstrase wfio thcy really were, XXegardless of the proceedings of this House, they ordered the Directors not to carry into effect any resolution they xniglit corne to b r the re~noval of Mr. Hastirlgs arid Mr. Horriby..,-13The Directors, still retaining some shadow of respat to this House, ixrstitutcd alz enqr~iry thentselves, whidl corttirtued front Juiie to Octobef; and afrer an a t r e n t i ~perusal and full colzsideration of papers, resolved to i g persans who take steps h r e m ~ v i ~ the had becrr the objects of our resolutictrl; b t ~ t rzat witharlt a violent strrtggle against evidence. Severt Directors went SO far as to enter a protest against the vote of their court, Upon this the ge~zcralcortrt takes the alarm; it re-assentbles; it orders the Pirectors to rescind their resolution, that. is, rzat to recal Mr. Hastirzgs and Mr. Hornby, arid to despise the resolution of the House of Comnrons. Without so nruch as the pretence of looking irzto a single paper, without the formality of irlstituting arty cornorittee of e~rqtlirpthey superseded all the lalrtours of their own Directors, arzd of this Hortse. Tr: wiff ndtllrally occur to ask, how it was po~siirtlethat thcy shortld not attempt sorne sort of examination intc:, facts, as a colour for their resis~anceto a public atzthoriry, proceeding so very detiberatety; arid exerted, apparently at least, in favour of their own? The ans-tveb and the onfy answer which can kc give~r,is, that they were afraid that their true rciatiort should be 33Williarn Hrtmbli gclvernclr of Bombay,
mistaken. They were afraid that their patrons arrd nlastcrs ixz India should attribrtte their support of them, to an opiniorl of their cause, and nor: to an attachment to their powcl: They were afraid it should be suspected, that they did not meal1 biirtdly to support them irz the use they ~lzadeof that pawcl: Tliey determined to shew that tlzey at least were set agairlst reformatioi~; that rt-teywere firnrfy resolved ro bring the territories, the trade, and the stock of the Company, to rtlirl, ratlzer thar~be wartting in fidelity to tlzeir r1omir1ai servarits and reat nrasrers, in the ways they took ro rt-teir private fortunes. Even since the beginning clf this session, the sanre act of audacity was repeated, with the Same circumstances of colztcmpt of atl the decorr~inof enquiry2 on their part, m h d a1111 the proceedings of this Housc, They again made it a request to their favonrite, and your culprit, to keep his post; and rhallked and applauded hirzr, without calling far a paper wlltictl could afford ligIit into the nterir or denrerir of the tratlsaction, and w i t h o ~ giving r tt-fenrseIves a xnoment3s time to curzsider, ur evcn to uriderstand, the articles of the ~tlaratta peace. The h c t is, that for a long rime there was a struggle, a faint ulzc indced, bemeen the Csrnpany and their servants. But it is a strl~ggleno longer, For sonre time the superiority has kcerr dccidcd. The irlterests abroad are become the settled preponderating weight both in the Courr uf Pro-opricto~s~ and the Court of Directors. Even the atrernpt you have made to ellquire iota their practices and to rei-brm abuses, has raised and piqued them to a fir Inore regular and steady support. The Company has nrade a conrnron cause, atrd identified thernstlves, with thc destroyers of India. They have taker1 on tlzemselves all that mass of enormity; h e y are supporting what you have rcyrobated; those
yorr condemn they apptarxd; those you order hoxrze ro atrswer for their conduct, they rcqucst to stay; arzd therek3y ellcourage to proceed in their practices. Thus the servants ofthe East Trtdia Conrpany triuxrzptl, and tlic rcyrescntatives uf the peopie uE Great Britair1 are defeated. I rherefo~conclude, what you all conclude, that this body, being totally. perverted from the purposes of its irrstirutiori, is utterly incorrigible; and because they are inco~rigitate,k90tfi in corrdtlct and colzstitu~ Ibe taken out of their tioi~,power O L I ~ to hands; just on the srzjne principles on which kavc been xnadc all the just changes and rwollltions of g(>verrrinentthat have taken place since Fhe beginning of the world, I will flow say. a few words to the gmerat prirtciple of the piart which is set up against that of nry Right Elio~lourable friclzd. It is to re-commit the governmelzt of India to the Court of Directors. Those who would conrnrit the reforrrzation of Irtdia to the destroyers OF it, arc the erremies to that refc~rinatiori.They would nrake a distinction between Directors and Pmpricto~s~ which, in the pxsent state of things, does not, cannot exist. But a f-tiglrt Hoxlourabte genttenran34 says, lie wortld keep the preserzt goverxlxncnt uf Xndia in the Court of Directors; and vvortld, to curb thenr, provide salutary regulations;-wonderft~l!That is, kc would appoint thc atd offenders to correct the old offences; artd he would render rt-te vicious and the footish wisc arzd virtuous, by salutary rcgulations. He would appairlt the wolf as guardian of the sheep; but he has invcrrted a ctzriaus muzzle, t7y which this protecting wolf shalt rlot be able to open his jaws above an inch or m o at the utnrost. Thus his work is finisfied. But X tell the filight Honotrrabie gentleman, that controrrled M"R1rk.e
is probably referritzg m I'iirx
depravity is not innocence; and that it is xzot the labour of delinquerzcy ixz chains, that will correct abuses. Will these gentlemen of the directllo~lanirzradvert on the partnms s f their own guilr? Never did a scrious p a n of arnencting of any old tyrannical establtshnrent propose the authors and abettors of the abuses as the reforxncrs of them. If the t~iidonepeople of India see their otd oppressors in confirnred power, even by the refarxnatiun, they will cxycct rtothing but what tiley will certainly feel, a continuance, or rattier an aggravation, of all their forrrrer sufferings, They look to the scat OF power, and to the persons wfio fiil it; and they despise those gentleme& regulations as nrrrch as the gcrrtfenzen do who talk uF them.
If the goverrzmexlt of Xridia wants no rcformation; hut gentlemen are anrusing themsetves with a theory, conc~ivinga more dcrnocratic ar aristocratic mode of governnterit for these dependances, or if they are in a dispute only about patronage; the dis~ L I ~ is E "with xne of so little concerrz, that I should riot take the pains to utter an affirnrative or rlegative to any proposition in it, IF it t9c only far a tlieorctical altluserncnt that they are to propose a bitl; the thing is at best frivolous and tinnecessary Btxr if the Gonzpany"~government is not only hll of abuse, but is one of the ntost corrupt artd destructive tyrannies, that probably ever existed in the worfd (as I arrl sure it is) wfiat a cruel mockery would it be in me, and in tt-tose who think like rrze, to propose this k n d of rcmedy far this kind uf evil! I: ric)w come to the third ot>jection,That this bill will increase the inAtxence of the Grawrz, . . . But as to this bill, whether it ellcreases the irlftuertce of the Crown, or not, is a questio~zX shotifd be ashamed to ask. If I am not able to correct a systcm of
oppression and tyraniiy, that: goes to the titter rtlilr of thirty rrzillions of 11zy fellowcreatures and Eellow-sut9jects, but by sonle increase to the i11Auertce of the Crc>wri, f am ready here to declare, that X, who have been active to reduce it, shall kc at teait as active arid strerluclils to restore it again. I: anr no lover of rlanres; I: contcrrcf for the substancc uF good and protectirzg govcrrzment, let it come from what qrrarter it witl. Bur T am not obliged to have recourse to this expcdier-tt.Much, very xnucb the cam trary. I: ain sure that the i~ifluerlceof the Crown will by no nzeans aid a reformation uf this kind; which can rzcither he arigiriated nor supported, but by the uncorrupt public virtue of the representatives of the people of England. Let it ancc get into the ordinary course of ad mini strati or^, arid to rne all llopes of rehrmation are gonc. X am b r frortl knowing or bcticvi~zg,that tliis bill will ertcrease the inftuei~ceof the Crown. We all know, that the Crown has ever had soinc inflrtcrzcc in thc Cortrt of Directors; and that it has beer1 extremely increased by the acts of 1T h n d 1780. The gcrztlerncrz who, as part of their rcformation, propose, ""a. more active controill on the part of the Crown," wwhh is to put thc Directors under a Secretary of State, specially rlamed for that purpose, ntust know, that their project wilt increase it further. But that atd iizAucnce has iiiad, and the new will have, irlct~rahle inconverliences, which cannot happetl under the parliame~ztaryestatrtlish~x~cnt proposed in this bill. . . . Ministers must be wholly removed fiom the management ofrhc affairs uF India, ur they will have axz ixzfiucrzcc in its patronage. The thing is inevitable. Their scheme of a new Secretay of Stare, "with a more vigorous control," is rsut rnucfz better tllarl a repetition of rhe measure which we know by experience will 11ot do. Sirzce the year 1773 and the year 1780,
the Company has been ~rrrderthe control uf ttic Secretary of Scare's office, and we had then three Secretaries of State. ff atclre than this is done, then they anrtrihilate the directiolz which they pretelzd to support; arid they augrrtent the influeilce of the Crolvn, of whose growth they affect so great arz iiiarror. . . . But, Sir, there is one kind of influerice Far greater than that of the nominarion to uffice, This gentlerncrz ixz upposition iiiave tota,liy overlooiced, althcluglz it ncrvv exists in its full vigour; and it will do so, upon their scheme, in at least as ~rzuctrforcc as it does now. That infiuerzcc this kill cuts up by the roots; I mean the i~kjueraccufprotec. tiorz. II shall explain 111ysetf:-The off2ce given to a yourzg xnarz going to Xndia is uf trifling consequertce. B L Ihe ~ that goes out an insigrrificant boy in a few y e w s e w u s a great Nabob. Mr. Hastings says hc has two hurtdred and fifty of that kirid of raw ~rzateriats,who expect to be speedily InanitEactured into the xnerchanta"ue quality I meiltisii. Orxe of these gentleixen, suppose, returns hither, loaded with odiunr and with riches. When hc comes to England he cornes as to a prisarl or as to a sanctuar).; and either are ready for hinr, accordirlg to iiiis demcarzar. What is the ixzfluerlce in the grmt. of ariy place in India, to that which is acqrrired by the protectio~z ur cornpromise with such guilt, and with the contmarid of such riches, urtdcr the dolrrirliorl of the hopes and fears which powcr is able to hoId out to every nlarz ixz that conditionflhat m a d whole forturie, traiif a ntiltion perhaps, becontes an insrrrrmcrzt uf influence, wlthortt a shilling of cllarge to the Civil List; and the irxflux of forruxres which stand in need of this protectiorz is colztinual. It works both ways; it influences the delinquerit, arid it may corr u p n h e minister, Compare tile infltrertce acquired by appoi~ztingfor insr-arzcceven a
govtrrno~general, and that obtained by protwting him. II shall push this no further. But I wish gerztlcmexz to rot! it a tirtte in their owri minds, The bill before plt cuts off this sotrrce of influcxzce, Xrs dcsigrz arzd malrz scope is tc., regrrlate the administration of frsdia upon the principtcs of a Got-tr-rof Judicature; and to exclude, as Ear as iiiunlan pruderlce car1 exclr~de,all possibility of a corrupt parciafiey, in appointing to office or suyportin"6n office, or covering horn enquiry artd punishment, arty person who has abused or slraXI abuse his authoricy At the t9oarci, as appointed arzd rcgittared by this hill, reward and punishment. caririot be shifted arzd reversed by a whisper. That cornmissian t9cconles fatal to cabal, to intrigue, arid to secret represeritation, those instrunrents of the ruin of Trzdia. Elie that cuts off thc mcans uf prcrnartlre f.irrturzc, artd the power o f protecting it when acquired, strikes a deadly blow at the great furzd, the Bank, the capital stack uf Iridian influence, which cartrl(3t be vested ariy where, or in any hands, without xrzosr: dangerous calzsequcnccs to the plttllic. The third and cont.radictorYobjection, is, That this bill does nor: increase the in fluence of the Gruwaz. Qn the colztrary; That the just power of the Crowri will he lessened, and transferred to the use ofa parry by giving the patronage of India to a commission rtominated by pariiainent., and independectt of the Gowtl. The contradictiorz is glaring, and it iiias keen too welt exprlsed to ntake it riecessary fir nte to insist uyoxl it, But passing the co~ztr;~dicrio~z, arzd taking it without arzy retarion, of al! objections that is the most extraordinary. Do Iror gentlemen kriow, that the Crown has xzut at preselzt the gratzt of a single uffice under the Gs>mpany;:civif or military, at home or abroad? So far as the Crown is conccmcd, it is ccrralrzly rather a gaincr;
which it could not procure payrnent; no charter should protect the nrisrtzanagcmcxtt from correction, and such pubtic grievarlces front redress. f f the ciry of LmiTlte fourth and last ot9jcction is, Tltat the don had rhe nteans and will of-destroying an empire, and of err~ellyoppressing and bit1 will hurt public credit. I dc7 not know tyrarirlidng over milliclns of men as good whether this requires an answer. Btrt if i t as themselves, the charter of the c i ~ yof docs, laok to your for~ndations,Ttic sinking frrrtd is the pillar of credit in this connLofzdo~zshould prove rza sanction to such tyranrly and s ~ l coppressiolr. l~ Charters are try; and let it: nor he fnrgot, that the distrcsscs, owing to the xnisnrartagc~n~~~t of keyr, when their purposes are nratntained: the East India Cc~ntpariy,have already they art: violated wbcxt the privilege is suptatcc11a rntlliort frcm tfiar fur~dby the nonported against its ertd and its object. paynxnt of duties. ?-he bilfs drawn upon NOW,Sir, X have hished all X proposed the Company, which arc about fotu nrilto say; as my reasalzs for givi~zgnry vote to liciiis, canriot be accepted without the conthis Bill. If X ant wrong, it: is not b r want sent of the treasury. The treasury, acrirzg of pains to know what is right. This undcr a parliarncxttary trust arzd authority, pledge, at least, of xny rccritudc X have giver1 to nty country. pledges the p~tblicfor these millions, ff they pledge the public, the public nrust And now, t~avi~zg done ~rzydury to the Bill, let me say a word to the artrtiar. X iiiave a security in its hands for the managentent cif this interest, or the riationaf shorlld leave hint to his own noble seriticredit is gone. For orhemise it is 11ot only Irzents, if the unworthy and iltiberaf lanthe East India Gomparzy which is a great guage with which he has bee11 treated, t9cyond all example of parliamerttary liberty interest, that is undo~re,but, dinging to the security of all your firilds, it drags did not make a fkrv wads necesgav; not so down thc rest, and the wlzole Fabric ycrmud1 in jrlsticc to him, as to my own feelishes in orre rrttn. If this hill does riot proings. I must say then, that it will he a &Svide a dir-ection of integrity and of ability tinction honourable to the age, cllac the rescue of the greatest xtumtlc~of the iiiunra~z conrpacxzt to that trust, the ot7jectiolz is race that ever were so gric;vously oppressed, fatal. Tf it does, public credir must depertd on tlte sirpport of the bill. front the greatest tyranny that was ever exercised, iiias Gallcn to thc lot of abilities arzd It has been said, if you violate this charter, wl~atsecurity has tire charter of tlte dispositions equal to the task; that it has Bank, in which public credit is so deeply Fallen to one who has &c enlargcnlent to conccmcci, and even the chartcr of Loncomprchcnd, the spirit to undertake, and , a meadon, in wirich the rights cif sc:, many subthe eloqueirce to s ~ ~ p p c ~SOr tgreat jects are invofvcd? T answer, Xrt the like case sure of hamrdous benevolence, . . . thcy iiiave xto scctzrity ar atj-----No-no scI iiiave syokc~twfiar I thixtk, and what X curity at ail. If the Bark should, by every feel, cif rlle ntclver of this Bill. . . . For my own part X am happy that T have lived to species of nrismanagemem, fall into a srare sintilar to thar of the East India Cornyany; sec this day; I feel xnysctf averpaid for the if it should be oppressed with demarlds it: labours of eighteen years, when, at tltis late could 11ot answer, engagetrzents which it: period, T ant able to take nry share, by one cortld xtor yerform, and with bills for hunrbtc vale, in dcstrayi~iga tyrarzxty that for the vacallt offices in the new coxrznrission are to be filted up by the Kng.
exists to rlre disgrace of' this rrariotr, and the dest-rucrion of so targc a part of the htrmarr species.
befire the Howse of lords, where the impeadlme~tisme wouu he decided. Spccch on Openir-rg of Xrr~yeachmcnt
wta B r ~ r k e r peech nc the start nf&e Hnstirigs's hrial Be$w $he h u s r f l u & . This mmskue efort is too long to 1.epwda;cein its entirep ~ Y this Z t~olume,so we have sdected rnairerial priv~drihfiowrr d e j r s t nnd sec@& &ys ofthe speech, On thejrst daj Bt4rke set Introductory Nare to out to broaden the conception ~fjusticehe beiierred applied lo dre Hdsti~zgcase, imphring the House ofLords not to try Hastings on Izarruw mzlnic$nl concclptl;.)rzs~fjgsticebut IFZhis Speech on Natbob oFArcotYsDebts (I785), Barke reconjrwzed his camrraitnzent undr a more ~niversalro~sqtiiunof-jtrstice to improving the lot ofthe Indidn peoples, be$tgi~zg n gredt erpire. Burhe nlso trrzced the history ~f the E a t Indig C;rmpa~yand Legisldcz'on tu refirm the East I~dtn:Cumpany wdzs nut nn u p h n fiIIowing Pitti vkprovided an nnabsic ufthe indkerrow prot o y in the gel-zeml ehtion v i c t o ~of I 784 pll.s nl-zd sockties o f l ~ d i n . S ~ c hhdckground i~zfirmationset zap the hemnse n u d e was a mem6eil" of a Fagm e n d uppositio~z.&crh decided to pulsue rnnjor objectkm of the sr"~~rzd day of Ihe jasticefir India by hanchkr~gn cdrnpdip to speech: to show how the East I~dkdG m paay systematimI4 cFestmyed I ~ d i n nsnciep impwch Warren Hnsti~tgs.IIE filed his moo ~ ~greed , tiorz f i r papers o12 Hasti~~gs irr fihrz~rlr~y tj~rnz1ghtreacherj c ~ r r ~ p t i and I786 as thejrst step tow&&nl-z hvest&ati;ln and t-cl conurPlran the pl*l'nc$les under whkh his acGinrzs in India. The Hasei~tgsjz~stz~ed of H a ~ i ~ tpe7;$rmd gi ace asgouernor-general red meat f i p e e c h on O p e n i ~of fnrofBengl~I.35Tb~ePitt minhpy did nob oppme pcachme~ztis fizand i~zBztrkei rgection of BgB5E.e) motion. ID April and Mny 1786, Burke Alivered tu the House of Gmmans what he called H/tsriuzg~i "Gogr~~phicai tu/erzy-mu aPt;~Lesuf ch~z7*ge8J'high crime rnortzlig " Pgrt oJ"FIrastings$defi~tsewrl~t h a ~ nnd rraisderraednors. Hasgi~zgsofered a dehe exercbed nrbitrary pourer in I ~ d i nbecause that wrtf the rukirzgprinciplrp ofAsiatic f i ~ s eto the Home of Cornmum tkfdtphjed rigj~tin& Rgrkd hmds: HdsGirzgs nsserted governments. Burke cortdemraed the idea thdt n great part ofthe Britt'sj~E r p i e hns that he wds beyond reproach nnd r;l.ctedon the princ$ies of gnvmmenc prcridlcnr irr. b e c ~p u m d withn~cadheren~eto or WAsia, A@er the exami~~alion 8/'wit~tzcses,the spm@r Brili:Fhprirrc$les ofgoverrament He drgzked thnt nctio~zsiin Asia nnd Ewrope Hozkse of Commons debated nnd voted on bedr the same moral yzkalil-z'~.sand that cnch article C?f charge. By M n j 178.7 the FJbc4se uf-Covrrmons had voted to impead Hnst;"~zgs'snotion that whrzt wouId never. stand in Engjdnd is ncceptnble nnd prdiseHdsti~zgs oa seven chdrges, BgB5E.e had achteueu!il gent vic;or$ perhaps ~ ~ t h i z k a b l e worthy ilz IB& shnzlu be r4ected nzltrkhl; Burke appmled to B u n i m a l morc*.lfinuneB S;.W years earlic4 &Per the defiat uf Fox: I ~ d i aBiIL The aext test fir Bzlrke woultzl br work that if one ofthe most interesti~gnspeca c?fhis thinkirtg on Indin, @Speech on Opening of fnrThe LPZ~GI pcachn~entfireshadowed the Ilo~zg-drdwn-
uut battle thdt the iv~peachmenttrP'iaI becgmr. From 1788 anti/ 1735,Bz~rketoil64 increilsii"zg4 on his own, IPJ the pmceedi~p. The Ifnrlse ufLurds ncqnitted Hdsci~gsof all c h a ~ e irz s 1795. Althozlgh Bude did not bet!i't'cr~e that the House ofLords ~kl0~4hL euer rub against Hnstdngs, he never wav6rt.d i n bb determirzati~nto see jzastice h n e in Indid, Speech on Opening o f It-npeaclrment Errrai~tsa pirfLar irr RurRei 'inor2umentnofhts 'kndeavours to save the Nation from the Shdrne and pilt" crcnted by da treatment of the I~dz'd~r pcnl*Ies.
Speech on Opening of impeachment ( 1 788)
~ t l yLords, the Gentlenter1 mfro have is in coxz-rnrand to support the Xnrpeachrnent against L V ~Hstings, , late Governor General of Bengal, have directed rrte t s open a general view of the grounds upoil which the Coxnmons havc procccdcd ir-r thcir charge against: him; to open a genera view of the extent, the mag'l;rude, the nature, the tendeszcy arzd effect uf rhc crimes with which they have cl~argedhim; and they have also directed nre to give such at] explanation, as with their aid, X may t9c enabled to give of such circumsta11ces preceding or coxlconrirant with tfie crimes with which they charge him, as may tcszd to explain whatever ntay be hutid obscure in the charges as they stand, And they havc further comnra~zdedmc arzd elzablcd xnc, I hopaizd tr~tst,to give to yo~trLn&lzips such an explanatiorr of m y thing in the laws, cnstoins, upixlions and nranncrs uf
the people concerned, arid who are the subjects o f the crinles with which they charge iiiim, as xnay tend to remove all dstrbt arld arnbigtlity front the minds of your Lordships upon these subjects. . . . My Lords, I confcss that in this business f csrrre before your Lordships with a considerable degree of anilllationl because f think it is a most auspiciorts circrtmsra~~ce in a prssecutiorl like this, in wfrich the horrour of this Kingc?om and tllas of many rzatiolzs is involved, that from thc coinmericement of our preliminary process to the hour of this solen-rrltrial, nor the snratlesc differe~zceuf opinion has arise~zbetween the two Houses. h4y Lords, tllere were persons who, looki~lgrasher upan what was to tie fortnd in the Journals of Parlianterzt, or what was to be expected from the frr~blic justice of ifarliamenr, have formed iiiopcs consolatory to thcxn, and hi$zly favourable to us; there were persolis who enrereained hopes that the corruptions uf India should have esmped anrongst the dissensic>nsof Parliament, bus they are disappointed: ehey will be disappointed in all thc rest uf their expectatioxzs which they had fc~rmedupor1 everytl-ling except the rz-rericso f the cause. The Conrn-ronswill not have the xnelancholy and urzsocial dory uf having acted a right part in a11 inzperfect work. W ~ a the t grearest fnqtlest of the Nation has kcgun, its highest Elbunal will accontplish. Justice will be done to India. It is true your Lordships will have your full share irr this great and gluriorts work; but we shall always corlsider that ariy hc>rzsrtr that is divided witfi. your Lordships wiff be morc tharz doubled to ourselves. My Lords, I ntmt csrzfess that, amc>ngt ail tl-tese encouragirzg prospects, the Conrmans do rzut approach your Lordships' Bar wtthorlt sorrre considerable degree of anxiety. f hope and trust that the nragnitrtdc uf the interests which we have ir-r
hand witt reconcile sonre degree of solicitrzdc for the event with the undoubtix~g corlfiderlce with which we inipase orrrselves upon your Lordsfiips" justice, For we arc so made, my Lords, that it is xzot olzly the grearnefs of the danger but the value of the stake that excites our concerrz in every ~tndertaking,and X do assure yortr Lordships, for 1 ant at~thorizedto say it, that no standard is suficicrrr: to estimate the value wfiich the Comnrolzs sct upan the fate of the Case which they IIC~Whrirtg before you. . . . The qzrestion is, not solely mflether the prisoner at the Bar be Found innocent or be fourzd guilty, krtt whether xnittians of rnankirzd slldl be miserable or lzappy. You do not decide the Case only; you fix the rntc, For your Lordships will undauktedty see in the course of this Case, that there is not only a long, coxlnected, systernatic, carlrse of misdemeanors, But a11 equally connected systent of nzaxilns and principles invented to justify thenr, upox1 wfzich yortr Lordships must judge, Xt is acct>rdirigto the Judgmei~tthat you slzall p m m m c e upon the past transactions of Xndia, conncctcd with those principles, that the whole rrtle, tenure, tendericy and character of our f-iittlrc government in Xndia is to t9c Einatjy decidcd, My Lords, it wttf take its course arid work its whole i~rzpression fronz h e busbess of this honr, My Lords, it. is xzot onfy thc ixztcrcst of a great Esnpire which is concerned, which is now a nzost coxlsiderable part of the British Empirc; t?rtt, my Lords, the credit arid honorrr of the British riatic>n will itself be decided by this decision, My Lords, thcy will stand or fdj thereby, WC are to decide by the case of this gentleman whether the crimes of individuals are to be tunzed into public guilt and xzational ignorniriy, or whetller this nation will convert these ofknces, which have throwrz a transicrzt sliadc on its glory, into
a jr~ctgmelltthat will reflect a permanent lustre on the honok~r,justice and htzrrranicy of this Kingdarn, My Lords, there is another consideration which has caused solicitude to the Coinmons, equal to those other m a grcat iriterests tlzat are affected. I mean the interest of orlr Empire in fndia, and the inECrCSt of the nationd character; soincthixzg that if possible contes more home to the hems and keiings of every Englishmatr, T nrean the xzaturc of our consticr.ttian itsclf, wiilicll is deeply involved in the event of this Cause. For the coxlseqrrence and purparr of an Inzpeachmelzt for High Grimcs arid Misdemeariours before the Peers of this Kingdom, upon a charge of the Coinmons, will very much bc decided t9y your decision. For, nty Lords, if tllis tribuxlal should be found, as T hope it will atways be Eotind, too great for trifling and petty causes; if it slzould at tlze sane tinte be for~rrditl~onlpetentto one of rhe greatest which call carnc bcforc yon; if the lesser from their smallness escapqort, arid the greatest from their nragnitude oppress you, it is irnpossit9te that the high crzd of this Jrtdisature car1 be answered. hfy Lords, 1 do not know whether it is owing to thc pafisfl of o ~ t rtimes, less fcrtile perhaps in great offences than those that have gone before us, or whether it is from a sluggish apathy which has dulled arid eriervatecf public justice, I am not called upon to dererrrzine; but whatever the cause is, it is xzow G3 years sincc any inrpeachment, gmwded on an &use o f authority and ~rrisctemeanourin office, has kccn t9rouglzc bcforc this tribuizal, Thc last that I recollect is that of Lord Macclesfietd in the year 1725. So that the oldest process krzown to the Gonstitutiol~of this cauiztry lzas now t~poliits revivaf s(>meappeararlce of n~velty;and at this time, when aXI Europcis perhaps in a state of great agitation;
when antiquity has last all its effect and reverellcc on the minds OF 1nc11, and wherz riovelty stilt retailis tile suspiciorzs that alwe have ways wiii be arcached to nave,-l~y t9ccrz very anxious irzdced, irz a business like this, so to conduct: orrrseives that notllirlg in the revival of this great Parliaxncrztary process shorlld afford an excusc for its frlture disuse. Whatever does not starrd with credit cannot statzd Iotrg; and if the corzstirrztioxz shoutd be deprived (I ntearl riot irz farm, but virtually) of rhis resortrce, we slzould certainly he deprivcd of all its other valuable parrs; because this is the ccrncnt whiclr binds it al) together, This is the indlvidrlating principle thar nrakes England whar England is, This it is by which rhe Magistracy and a11 otiiicr things are directed, arid must he tried arid coxltrolled, Tc is by this tribunal that Statesnlerz who abusc clzcir power arc tried before Sratesmeri and by Statesmen, upon solid principles of Srate moratity ft is here that thosc who by an abusc of power hmc pr~llrttedrlze spirit of ail laws car1 riever hope for ch least: prorectiorr ham arzy of its forms. It is iiierc that those wfia have rcfused to conform themselves tcz the protection of law can never hope ro escape througli any of its defects. Your Lordships have great arid pleriary pclwer. You do not supersede, you $a not arznihilate, any subordinate jurisdiction. Qrz the contrary, you are atrxiliary and supplenterital tcz them all. Eliere it is that no subject in any parr of the Enzyirc can be rcfrlscd justice. Hcre it is that we provide For that which is h e great, substantiat, excellence of our Conscirution. I nlean that grcat clrcrtlation of responsibility, by which, excepting the Supreme power, no r1za1-1i~ any condition can escape iiiis rcsponsibiiity to the laws of his C ~ t ~ n t r y .
My Lords, we say that, wirh very few interruptions indeed, the afF~irsof lndia have constantly engaged the attentiolz aF the House of Commons for more than fourteen years. We say that we tried every method aF tcgistative provislolz t9cforc wc had recotuse to any thing that was a rnode of punishment. . . . But d e n we f o ~ ~ n d that our Laws, when we found that our adnrsnittons, were despised, that enormities were increased in proh~orrionrct what was to be cffeetcd; wkcrz we found that legal at~thorityseemed to skrrlk arid conceal its head iike outlawed guilt; when we fourzd that thosc who were appointed t9y Parliament to assert the authoriry o f this Kingdom were the nzast fnrvvard and mast active ixz apposition to thein; the11 it was time far the justice of the Natiorz to exert itself. "lit have forborne airy longer would rzut have kcerz patience, but iltusiorz-a participatiorl in guilt and alntosc party witfi the Cri~zrinal,. . .
lGly Lords, . . . with respect ro the crime which we cbusc, we cbusc unc which WC contemplated in its nature, wit11 all its circunrstaxzces, with all its exrenuations, and with all its aggravations; arzd 0x1 that rcview we arc bold ro say that the crirnes wit11 which W cllarge the Prisoner ar the Bar are suk9starztial crirrzes; thar they arc xzu errors or mistakes, such as wise and good rnen might possibly fall into, They are crimes, my Lords, trdy arzd proycdy and errtphaticaily, crimes, The Gsrnnlc>rls are too liberal not to ailow for the difficulties uf a grcat and arduorts public situation. They know too well that drtmirieering riecessities will frequently occrlr in all great affairs. Tlzey know that the exigerzclcs uF a great occasioiz, in its precipitate career, do riot give rirzre ro have recourse to fixed principles, krtt that they oblige xncrz fie-
querrtfy to decide in a nranner that cal~zrer reason worlld certairzty have rejected. We krlow that, as we are to be served by nteri, the p a s o n w " h serve us nrrrst be tried as mcrz, and that there is a very large atlowance indeed due to human irlfirntiry and hurrran error, This, nry Lords, we knew arzd had wcighcd t9cforc wc canze to your Lordships' Bar. But the crirnes which we charge in these Articles are not the layscs arzd dcfects and errors uf cornrnolz htrmarl nature and frailty, such as we klow arid feel, arid can allow for, They are crimes which have their rise in the wicked dispositions uF men. They arc crimes that have their rise in avarice, rapacity, pride, cruelty, ferocity, nralignity of ternper, haugtitixrms, insolexzce. In sliort, my Lords, in everytlzing that marlifests a heart blackened to the very blackesc, a heart dyed dcep in blackness, a heart corrupted, vitiated and gartgrerled tc:, the very core. If we do not plant the crimes in that we charge thosc viccs wfiicb the breast of rxiaxz is made to abhor arid its laws to protect against, W desire no loxrger to be heard oan this occasion. Lct evcrythir~gbc pleaded that can be pleaded on the score of error and inl-irnrity; we give up the whofe. We stand on crirnes that wcrc crirnes uf dcliberation. We charge hirn with nothing that tle did not comrrrit uyoxr deliberation, that he did xzut cornmit against remonstrarzce, We charge hirn with nothing that he did rrot corlznrit against conrmarrd. We charge him with xzuthirzg tfrat he did xzat cornmit contrary tc3 the advice, coritrary to the adrrroni~ionand reprirzrand of those who were a~ttfiorizcdt9y the taws to repmve arzd reprirr~artdhirn. They were crimes, riot against forms, but against chose eternal laws OF justicc wfiich you asse~nbledhere tc3 assert, which fornts are made tc3 support and not to supersede in any ilzstarlce whatever. They wcre, xzut in formal arzd tecbrzi-
cal language? hut in red and absolute efl feet, High Criitzes and MisJctl7eatlou1-s. So Ear as to tfrc crimes, Now as to the Criminal. We have not chosen to bring before ).on a poor, puny, trcmbtirtg delinquent, misled perfiays by thc example of those who ought to have kept hinr in awe, and aftemads oppressed hy their power in ardcr to nzakc his punishmcrzt the nzeans of screening the greater offences of those that w r e above him, We have #rotbrought kcforc your Lordships one uf those poor, obscrtre, offenders, in an inferior situation, who, when his insignificance and weakness is weighed against the power of the prosecution, gives ever1 to public justice sonrething of tlie appearance of oppression, No, xny Lords, we have t9ror~glitt9cfore your Lorcfsllips the first ntart in rank, authority and station; W have brought beb r e you the head, the chief, the captaingerlerai in iniquiy; one in whsnt all the frauds, a11 the peculacions, ail the violence, all the tyranny in Iridia are embodied, discipiirled arid arrayed. This is the person, nry Lords, that we bring before you. Then, if we have krorlght t9cfirrc you such a persori, if you strike at him you wilt not have need of a great nrany nrore exa~rrples:you strilte at the whole corps if you strike at the head. lhfy Lords, so far as to the crinre, and so far as to the Criminal. Now xny Lords, I shatl say a few words relative to the evidence that we have to bring to support such a charge, and which we think wiIl t9e equal to the charge itself, And we say that the evidence that we have detcrnrined to bring tlcforc you is cvidcnce of rccord, of weighty ofGcial, autherttic record, arid signed by the hand of the criminal himself in magzy. ixzstanccs. WChave to bring bcfore yort his own letters, autlzeriticated by his own hard, We shall bring behre you CS, also nunzbcrs uf oral living ~ ~ E X T ~ S Scorn-
peterre to speak to the points to which they are bronght, This, my Lords, we arc ready to hrirtg before you, and I trust that the evidence will be h u n d such as carlnot leave the least doubt ixz your xninds of the facts; artd wlzcrl you corlsider thent, when tile facts are proved, T believe, fronr tlleir xzaturc and effects you can iiiave no doubt of their crirnir~alit~ My Lords, when we coxlsider the late erzornraus power of thc prisoner; wiien we consider the criminal anci i~ldefati~able assiduity in tl-re destrr~ctiorlof evidence; when W consider the power that he had over all testimony, X Xkclicve your Lordships, arld f believe the wclrid, will be astonished that so nruch, so clear, so sotid, and so conclusive a body of evidelzce has been obtained against l~irn.My Lsrds, this T say, that T havc no doubt that in nine instaxzccs arlt of ten it would satis6 the narrc>wprecisicln wlzich is supposed to prevail, and which really does prevail to a degree, in all subordinate and delegated jnrisdictions. But: your Lordsilips will maintain, what we assrrt and c f a h as the right of I b e suk3jects of Grcat Britain, that you arc xzot bound by any rrttes whatever except those of natural, inrnrrrtable and substantial justicc, God forbid that tlic Gommoxzs should corne before your Lrlrdsl~ipsand desire that anything sfiould be received as pmof which is not in its owl1 nature adapted to prove the ntatter in question. God forbid that they shoutd do so; For they would then averturlz the very prirzcipies of that justice which they resort: to your Lodships to obtain in hvour of-their constitrterzts, arzd in favour of the pcople of India. They would he giving an evil exa~npte,that woutd redound to their orvn injury and bring nrischicf upon the heads of ttlemselves and all their posterity, God forbid, on the ottler hand, that your Lordships should ever rcjcct evidc~zcca n any
preter~dednicetry, which I ant sure you will not. T have too nruclls coxlfidence in the learxzixzg with which you will t9c adviscd, artd the liberality arld the riobieriess of the sencimerlts with which you were barn, T havc too much confidence to suspect, in the smallest degree, that you wooid, by any abuse of the forrris and technical coursc of the proceedings, dcrzy justice to so great a part of the world that ctaitns it at your hand, For your Lordships always had a borlndicss pawcl-; X mcaxz, atways within the limits of justice. k u r Lt~rdslripsalways had a boundless power and wnfinrited jurisdictiaxz. You kavc now a bourzdless okject. It is rtot front this Courltry or the other, fro111 this district or the other, that rcjicf is applkd for, but from whotc tribes of suffering riations, varirjtrs descriptions of nren, differing in language, in manners and ixz rights, xncn separated by every rnearls front you, However, by the providence of God, they are conre here to supplicate jtlsticc at your Lordships' Bar; arzd 1 hope arld trust that tlzere will be no rule, Formed upan nrilnicipal maxims, which wilt prevent thc Irr~periafjustice wiiich you owe to the people that call to you frorn. all p m s of a great disjninced empire, Situated as this Kingdom is-an abject, tiiraxzk God, of envy to the rest of the world for its greatrzess and i t s power-its coxldtxcc, io that very elevated situatioxz to which it has arisen, wit1 undouhtediy be scrutinized. It is wll kt~ownthac great wealth has pok~red ixzto this courztry franr Irldia; and it is xzo deri>gationto us to sllppose the possibiliy of being corrupted by that by which great Empires have k3ecrz corruptedj and by which assernhlies afntost as respectable and as venerable as your Lordsf-tigsViave heerr know11 to t9e ixzdirectty shakexz. My Lsrds, when I say that forty mitlions of nroxley have conre fioxri India to Erzdand, we ouglit to takc great carc that
corruption does nor follow, and we nray ~ t to sccrzrc a vcfztltre to say that the k 9 ~ way mar<$ reputation is, rtot by a prorld defiance of pr~blicopirzion, but by guiding one" actions in such a way as that ptlblic opinion may afterwards and rmt previously be defied, in such a situation, it is rzecessary that nothing ixz your Lordships" proceedings slzotrld appear to have the stighresr- trace, the hintest odour, of c&cam. God forbid that, wherz you try tiiie Cause of Asia in the preseizce of Europe, tlzere slzould he the feast suspiciorz that the Carlse of Asia is not as good with you, because the abusc is conzrnitred by a Britisli subject; that it slzuuld be supposed that that narrow partiality, so desrnretivc: of justice, should guide 11s; that a British subjccr in power sfnc~uldhave rights rntzicll are denied to our hunrble allies, to our detached dcpcndcnts, to those who at such a distarlce depertd upon tlze breath of British justice, and have deprived ttlenrsetves of every other resource urzdcr heaven. My Lords, I do not say this froin any fear, dorlbr or tlesiearion, as to whac your Lordships will do, none in the world. God forbid I shonfd, Bt~tI say it on tlze accorlilt of what you afX kizow, what is dissenrinated abroad anzalzg the public, that those who caniicnt defend thentselves t~politheir merits and their actioxls nray defend ttlenrselves behind those fences and ir-rtrcnchmerits that are rnade tc3 secrtre the liberty of rhe people; that power and &c abtrses of POW" should cover tiiicnzsetvcs by tiizose things which were ntade tc:, secure liberty. But Gad hrbid it shot~ldbe bruitcd abroad that the laws of Endarzd arc for the rich and the powerful; but: that for the poor, the nziscrabie, and defenceless they afford xzo resortrcc at al). God forbid it slzoutd he said titat we in this kingdom know how to confer the most extravagant and inordirzate power upon public minis-
ters; arid that we are poc:,r, helpless, deficient and inlpoter~rin the nleatt-rsof cafiing them to account for ir, God forbid it should be said that rio rlatiort under heaven equals the Britis11 in substantial violcrzce and irif~rxnatjustice. Xr shatt never he said, a i d I trust that this Cat~sewill p t ~ t an end ro all conjectures of that kind, which have k9ccrz disseminated with so mrlcll irldrlstry tlrmugit h i s kingnoin a i d through foreign nations too, rt-tac, in order to cover our conr~iva~zce and participation in guilt, arid our common share in the plunder of the East, we have invented a set of schotasric distinctions abhorrent to the general serttimerlts of ntarikinb, by mfzich we are to deny ourselves the knowledge of all that the rest of the world knows, and what so great a part of ttw world both knows and feels, Gob hrbid that appararzcc of dzat kind shouid happen. X do not deprecate it froin ariy suspiciori of the House; but X deprecale it fionr knowirtg that tlitherto we tiave mavcd wittiin tiiic circle of ntt~rticipaljustice. I ain afraid of nzwing within that circle. it may be atspectcd that wc shorlld clzdeavarlr to force nature intc:, that, and ricnt erldeavortr to enlarge the circle of justice to &c necessities of the Empire that we have oktairzcd. This is the only thing which does create any d o ~ ~ or b cdifficulty upon the ~zrindsof the pmple. But if such a thing should kappen, in my huntkle opinion it would be better a rt-tousaxld tinzes ro give the sfiorc arzswcr the Dcy of Algiers gave to a British Antbassador, rcpreseizting the rest of the British Mercha~lts,""My friend7'$says he, . . . ""ct not yarl know tiiiat xny sui3jects are a hard of Robbers and that f arn their Captain"; better far it would be, a Fhousarzd times more nzanly than an hypocritical process mtziclz, urtder a pretertdecf reverencc to purlceifious ccrenronies and observances of law, abandons mankix-rd
withor~thelp and resorlrce to all the desolacing corzsequexzccs of arbitrary power, N a , nty Lords, f liave rtot the least suspicion that such a thing will or can prevail in this Hortse, xzur prevail in this Kingdom. b r ~ Lordships r will exercise the great pienary powers with whicli you are invested in a manrzer that will do horzuur to your justice, to the porecting jtlstice of this Kingdom, to tile great people who are subj ~ t to d it. It sfiall xzat be sqitared By any rrties, hut by their necessities, and by that law of ct>inntt>rzjustice which cernerzts ti-tenr to us and us to therrz, . . .
~A4-yLords, the powcl-s which Mr. Hastiizgs is charged with havirzg atluscd are the pr>wersdelegated to liim by the East India Conrpany. The East India Go~rzpanyitself acts ulzder two sorts of powers, derived front two st>urces.The first source of its power is wrrder a Charter which the Crown was authorized by Act of Partiantertt to grarzt it." The nexr is from several grants and Charters indeed, as wll as ti-tar great ftzxzdamcntal Charter, by scvcral grants arzd charters whidi it derived from the Emperor of the Moguls, the person with whose donlains they are chiefly conversant, particrtlarty the great Charter by which they acquired tile High Stewardship of the Kingdoins of Bengal, Bahar and Orissa in 1765.37 U~iderti-tose m o Charters they act. As to the first, it: is fronr thar Charter tiiiat they derive the capaciry by wlzicfz they can be corzsidered as a public body ar all, or capable of any public ftrnctiun; it is from thclzce they acquire the capacity to take any other Charter, to acquire any other offices, or to hold any 361'arIiamenr began ?;ant;rioiling rlze Easr lnrfia Compariy's royal charters in 1698.
other possessions, This beirig the root and origin of their power, rrzakes therrz responsible to the party from wfiom that power is derived. As they have emanated frt>mnthe supreme power of his kingdom, they themselves arc rcspansible, their body as a corporate body, tliernselves as individuals, and the whole body and train of their servarits are respoizsiltlc to the high justice uf tfiis kingdom. fn delegating great power to the llndia Co~rzpanythis kingdonr has rrot released its sovereig~zty:On the corztrary, its resp~risihilit~ is increased by the greatrress and sacredness of the power given. Far this power they are and nlust k9e responsible; and I liope this day your Lordships wit{ shew that this rratio~zrrcver did give a powcr witborlt imposing a prayortionable degree of re~ponsihilit~ As to tile other power, which they derived from the Mogul Enipire by varioc~s Charters front that Crown, and particularly by the Charter of 1765, by which thcy obtained tiiie offices uf Lord Higti Steward (as I said) Dewaiz or Dewaiznee of the Kingdoms of Bengal, BAar and Qrissa; by thar Gbarrer they kourzd themselves, and hourtd inciusively at1 rheir servagzts, to perforrlz all the dlrtics belonging to that xzcw uffice. And by the ties k9c101iging to that new retarion they were bound to observe the taws, rights, usages and cmtoms of rlze Nativcs, arzd to pursue their benefit in all things3wlzic3z was the riature, ir?srittrtion and purpose, of the office which thcy reccivcd. If the power uf the Sovereigri from wtiom they derived these powers should be by any nrisfortune io huxnan afEairs annihilated or suspeizded, the duty to tile people below, which they acquired wrrder this Charter, is nor suspc~zded,is not arzrzitzitatcd, but re~naixzsin all its force; and, for the rcsp~nsibilir~, ttrey are thrown back upon ti-tar country frain whence tiiicir original power, and
along with it ttieir responsibiliy, both errzact. For whexz anated ixz olze arzd the SB~TI'TIC tlze C~mpariyacquired that oftice in India, an English Corporation becanre an integral part of the Mogul Empire, Whcrz Great Britain assented to that grant virtually, and a'rclwards took advanrage of it, Great Britalxz made a virtual act of urziorz with that coniitry, by which tlzey bortnd thenrsetves as sectlrities for their subjects, to preserve the people ir-r all rights, laws arid liberties, whiclz ttreir riaturat original Sovereign was bound to enforce, if he had beerr in a condition to errforce it, So that the two duties Aowing Goin w o different sources are riow united in one, and come to have justice called for ttienr at the Bar of this Housc, kcforc the Suprcrnc Royal justice of this Kingdont, front whertce origi~iallyttieir powers were derived.
Your Lordships will recollect that the India Company, and therefore 1 shall syare you a long tzistory of that, hopirlg and trusting that your Lordships wifl think ir is ~ i o tto ixzform you, but to revive circumsta~zccsixz your memory that I: eriter into this detail. Your Lordships will recollect the East India Conrpa~zyhad its origin about the tatter end of the reign of ELizaheth, a period when all sorts of Companies, inventions and nrolzopaiies were in fashioiz.38 And at that tirrle the Csmpariy was sent our with large extmsive powers f;>rincreasing the coinmcrce arzd the honour of this Country. For to iricrease its comnterce withortt increasing irs tioxiour and reputation would have kccrz thought at that time, allid will bc thought now, a bad I3argain fclr the C o n try. But their powers were under that Charter confirzed xnerely to commerciaj afhirs. '"'lhe Easr India Car~lpanybegan through a royal charter granred in 1600.
By degrees, as the theatre of the operation was distant, as its intercourse was wit11 many great, sornc barbarous, and all of thent armed nations, where riot only tlze Sovereign but the Subjecs were also arnred in ail places, it was fortrzd xzecessary to elllarge their powers. The first power ther obtained was a power of ~lavaldisciplining their siiips-a power which has since dropped. The next was a pc~werof Law Martial, The next was a power of civil, and to a degree of criminal, Jurisdiction within their own Factory, witfiin ttreir settternerrts, over their own people and their own scrvans, The rzcxt was (and there was a stretci-i indeed) the powers of Peace arid War; those great, high prerogatives of Sovereignty, which xzcver were known bcforc to he parted with to any Subjects, but those high sovereigrr powers were given to the Easr India Company, So that when it had acquired them all, which it did about the end of the reign of Charles tlie Second, tile East India Company did rzot seem to be merely a Csmparry formed for the extension of the British conrnrerce, but in reality a delegation of the whole power allid sovereigslty. of rhis kingdont sent into the East, 11-1that liglir the Company began undoubtedly to t9c considered, and ought to be coilsidered, as a subordillate savereigrr power; tliat is, sovereign with regard to the objects which it touched, subordirzate with regard to the power fitorn whence this great trust was derived. Whcrz the East Xndia Company once appeared in that light, tlsings happerred to it totally different from what has happcrzcd ir-r all atlicr ordinary afGdirs, arzd h n t what has hagperled in all the renxste nrysteries of politicians, or been drea~~red of in the world. For in all other Courztries, a political body that acts as a Contmonwealth is first settfcd, and trade follows as a ncccssary colzsequencc of the protection
21 1
obtailred by political power, Btrr there the affair was reversed. The constitution of the C~ntpartybegart in commerce arzd elided in Empire. A~rdwhere powers of peace and war are given, it waxzts but time and circurnstarzce to make this supersede every other and the affairs of conrnrerce Fi1:nli into tiiieir proper rank arzd situation. And acc~rdinglyit did tzappeli tlzat the possession and poww of assefl;m of these gr-eat authorities coir-rcidir-rgwith the inrproved state of Europe, with tlze imprc3ved state of arts artd the improved state of laws, arid (what is nruch more nratcrial) the improvd state uf nlilicary discipline; that coinciding with the ge~ieralfall of Asia, and the relaxation and dissolution of its governmexzts, with the &!l uF its warlike spirit, arzd tlze total disuse atmost of ail parts of nrititary discipline. Those two coinciding, the India Cornpany t9ceanre to kc what it is, a g ~ a Ernpire t carryiq on srthordinately (under the public authority), a great cammcrcc. Xt became that thing wfiich was suppr>sed by the Rosriarz Law so r~iisuitable, the sanre power was a Trader, tlze sanre power was a Lord, In this situation, the India Cornparzy however still preserved traces of its original xncrcr-rxztite character; and the whoIe extcrior order of its service is still carried on upon a nrercancile plan and nrercancile pritlciples, Irr fact, it is a State ixz disguise of a h4erchant, a great public office in disguise of a Coilntinghouse. . . .
iVy Lords, X rrrust remark, before X go further that tfzere is sornethirzg pcculiar in the service of the East fs~diaCoinparty, and difl feretrt fionr that. of any other nation that has ever trarzsferrcd its power from one Countv to another, The East India Company in Xndia is not the Britis11 Nation, V%CXTthe Tartars erztered ixzto China and
into Hindoostan, wlzerz all the Gsths and Vandals entered into Europe, when the Nsrarans a m c ixzto England, t h y came as a Nation. The Cornparty irz lrldia does not exist as a Nation. Nobody can go there tlzat does not go ixz its Service. Therefore the Endish Natioir in fs~diais nothing brtt a seininary for the succession of Officers. They arc a Nation of ptaccmexz. Tlrcy arc a Republic, a Commorzwealth wirl~outa people, They are a State nradc up wholly of magistratcs. Thc canseqrtencc uf which is that there is ricj people to control, to watch, to balance against the power of office. The power of ofGcc, so far as the Eizgtisb Natiolz is coricesrzed, is the sale power in tlre Csuntry There is no corrective: upon it wllatever* The colzsequexzce of which is that, kctng a Kingdom of Magistrates, the Esprit dtk cops is strolrg in it-the spirit of the body by which they consider thcmsclva as bavtrzg a comrrtcln interest, arid a comrrtclrz interest separated both from the County that sent them out arzd frorn the Go~;tntvin which they are; and where there is no control by persans who urrders~and their language, who urzdcrstand thcir xnaxzncrs, or cajz apply their conduct to tire Laws of the Country Sk~ctzcotrtrol does rrot exist in Xndia. Thcrehrc canfcderacy is easy, and had been general arnorig them; and therefore your Lordhips are rror to expect that that stiould happen in such a tlody wfiich riever happened in the wartcl in any body or Corporation, that they should ever be a proper check and control upon themselves; it is rtot in the riature of things, There is a rrronopoty with an fipril: du c o p at lionre, cdfed thc India Compaxzy; there is arz Esprit eilw toys abroad; artd hstll those spterrts are ~lnitedinto oxre body, aninrated with the samc spirit, that is, with the corporate spirit, which never was a spirit which csrrccred itself in my time or cii~unrscancein the world, and which is s~tcha thing as has
212 lot tlappetled to the Moors, to the Portug=rzcsc,to the Xbmans (to go to arry old or riew emmples). It has rtot happerted in arty one tinre or circunrstance in the World, except in this. And out of that has issued a species of abuses, at the head of which ~ t l r , Hastings has gut hinrseff against the authority of the East Ixldia Goxnpany at homc and every at~thoriryin this Countv. 1bly Lords, the next circunrscance is-and tfiat the emolttmcnts of office do not in ally degree carrespond with the trust. For urrder the riante ofJuniur ~blerchantand Senior JVerchant and Writer, arrd those other little flames of a C~ufztirrg house, yc>uhave gl-cat Magistrates; ptr have the adnrinistrarors of revenues truly royal; you have Judges civil, and ixz a great degree crinrinal, whs pass judgrnextts upon the greatest properties of the Counts~p.You have df these uxzdcr these names; and the cmoturnertts that: belong to thein are so we&, sc) inadequate to the dignity of the character that it is iarpossibte . . . for the suk~ordirzate parts of ir to exist, to hope to exist, as Engtishnren who look at their home as their rtltinlatc resource, to exist ixz a state of incorruptiorr, In that: service the rule that pr-evaits in nrany other Countries is reversed, Iln utticr Countries of-rcxz the greatcst situations are attended wit11 but little einolumertts becarlsc g l o q imily mprtratiorr, rhe Iove, the tears of joy* the hoxzcst applause, of their Co~~rrtry, pay those gwat and ntigbty labours which in grat situations are sonretimes required from the Cammanwealtti; but all other csuntries pay in ntoriq what cangrot be yaid in fame and mprtratiorr, Btu it is the reverse with the Xrrdia Carnpar~y,&l the subordinate parts of the gradation are Offict-rs, who, nacvllithsrandiq tlze might arrd imyorta~zccof the offices and digiritics intrusted to them, are miserably provided for; and, the heads, the chiefs, have great cmoiumcrzts, securing them against every
mode of temptation. And this is the thing Mr. Hastings has abused, He was at the head of rhe Service. He has corrupted his hands and suiiied his gwerrxntent with bribes, He has used oppression and tyranny in the placc uf tegat goverxzment; arzd instead of errdeavortring to find honest, horiourable, and adquate rewads for the pessons who served the pitbfic, lie has left thein to prey upon it withortt the smallest degree of conlr-ot. Y-Ie has ~leirflersupplied nor taken care to supply9wit11 that unbouxzded license which he used over the public revenues, to provide an honest sale of enrolunlents suited to the vastness of the power given to the Contpartfs Selvice. He has rtot employed rhe prrhlic revenue fbr cllac pt-tspose; but has tefi then1 at large to prey upon tile Count.r)r,arrd find themselves einolunrents as they cot~ld.
ivy Lords, it is necessary for you, cllac you nlay the better judge oftbc abuse Mr. Hastvested in him, ings has made of tile p~~wers to know who the people are over whonz he has abused those powcrs. This is a little out of the way but. it will be riecessary for me to explain it, and I shall explain it with as mk;tcf-rt9revity as is consistcxzt with the distinctness, with which I ntearr to bring the whole before ).our Lordshiys, . . .
Then, ~rzyLords, there are two distinct peoptc ixr Irrdia, totally distinct from cactr other in d~aracters,lives and mariners, for both of whom ~blr.Hastings was bound to provide eqrtallp agreeable to the terms uf the Charter the Cornparty received front the lawftrl governi~lgpower of the Country, whicll it had reclceivcd at its owiz solicitation, whicll was rtot forced upori it: by a superior power, but given at the immediate solicitation of the principal servarzt kclolzgitrg to the
Company; accepted by the Conrgany and t9y it, I am very sorry to say, little regarded, or at least by its prirlcipal selvants. The first set a f people who are sltbjected virtually to tiiic British Ernpire tiiirorrgh those medirtnts which 1 have described to you, are the original inhabitants of Hindoostan, who havc inhabited in all time, arid heyt>rid all the eras mflicl~we use . . . have lived and been proprietors arrd inhabitants of that country, with n~ani~ers, relig h 1 , c u s t m s arid usages, appropriate to themselves and no ways resembling those of the rest of nrankind. Tliose persons are comn~oxztycalled Gerztoos. The systenls arid prirlciple of that Government is local; their laws, their Irzanners, their religion are tocd, Their legislator, whoever he was (for that. is lost in the nrists of a very obscure antiquity) had it as the grcat leading principle of his policy to connect the people with their soil, And aecorcfin&, by one of those anun~alicswhich time daily discovers, arid which perhaps reflection would explairz in the 1iatttr.r of man, these people who arc the softest ixr their xnanncrs, ayproaching airnosr:to feminine, who are the most benewlent, arrd of a larger circle of t9c1rcvotcizce thalz our morals take in, who exterid their beizevoierice to tlze whale animal creation; these people are the nrasr: unalliable to any other part of the crcation. They cannot, the lzigl~est:orders of tt-tenr, touch that boxld which is the bond of life, and which by suppo~ti~zg the ixrdividuai t~rtitesthem, in other cases-1 nteart conviviaficy That bond of life carlnoc be iiiad with these people. And there arc some circurrtstances, relative to them, that exclude the111 still more than 1 have mentioned hain all immediate conlinercc with this nation; naineiy, that that very eternerit which, white appearing to disconnect, unites maxzkirrd-I nrcan the sea-the sca
is to tlzerrt a forbidder1 element.. Norte of their high castes can without great danger to his situation . . . ever pass the sea. If it codd be truly said that a great gulf is fixed between you and rhenr, ir is that gulf creatcd by manxzcrs, opiniuxzs and laws, radicated in the very giature of the people, and which you can never efface from them. This forbids far ever at! irr~mediate comrrtt~riicatioribemeen that country arid this. And that, nry Lords, nrakes it ten tin~esxnorc xrcccssary b r us to kccp a strict eye upon all persorts who go here, ancl so to conduct ourselves in our proceedings wirk regard to the knowledge of that country arid ail its affairs as ntay he ~ ~ 1 1 1 formable to their necessicics and not to our inventions, that we2 if we must goverrz such a Country, must gtlvern therrt upon their own principles and nraxirrrs arrd ~ i o t ~rponours, that we must rzot think to forcc tlzem to our riarrow ideas, but extertd ours to take in theirs; because to say that that people shall change their maxims, lltvcs arid opinions, is what canriot he. We krtow tflat empire of opillion is, 1 tlad altliost said, iiiumaxz narlrre irsclE It. is however the strorigest part of hurna11 nature; artd more of the happiness and unhappiness of-' mankit~dresides in opinion than in all other exterrtai circurrtstarices wtiatever. And, if it resides in us in opinio~r,nruch mare docs it rcsidc in then1 in opinion. For sometilnes orrr laws of reiigion differ fronr our laws of the land; sonretimes our laws of the land differ from urrr taws of honour. But in that Cc~untrythe laws of religion, the laws of the land and the laws uf Izox~our,arc d1 uiritcd arzd consolidated in one, arid bind a mar1 eterrrally to the rules of what is catted tiis cirzste. I tiiiink it xreccssary to statc to your Lr~rdslzipswhat a cage is. These people fronr the oldest tirzre have beerr distributed into the various urdcrs, all iilcredirary?
which are caf fed castes. These castes are the fuxrdamcrital part uf the constitution of that Csntmnnweatth, both in their Churcti and in rheir State. Yc3ur Lordships arc born to iiieredirary horionrs in the chief of yclur Houses; the rest rliix with tile peopte, But in the case of the Hindoos tiiiosc who were born rioble cart riever fail irrto ariy sectxid rarik. They are divided i13to four orders-the Brafimans, the GI~ehtrecs,the Vissyas, arid the Sooders." They are divided irito four Commonweaitt~s."The higtxr cannot pass into the lower; the lower canrtiot rise into the higher. They have ail their appmpriate rank, place arid situatioti, arid their appropriate religion too, which, though they all go under ogle dcfinltion of religion, yet is dif-ftrent in its rites artd ceremoriies in each of those castes, And if a nran who is in that caste whicj~at once unites what we should call the dig~iityof the Peerage in this Country and the sanctity of Episcopacy the Brahmans, Falls out of it, iiie does riot fat1 into the rtext order, the Chet-rtrees,the Vissyas, or the Sooders, but he falls out of all ranks uf society, is excluded, ari out cast, the most illfan~susof all ntankind. These people, bound by all laws, human arid divine, to thosc principles uf caste arid which inveterate usage has grafted in them, in a manner in which no kriown prejudice in tiiic world has kceri kriowrt to exist, these people are affected in their caste, not o~rlyby the crimes, the voi~trrtarycrirncs t9y wfiich they xnay lose it, but: fikcwise by certain irtw3luntary s~lfkrings and invofuntary disgraces, ~Itterfyout uf clrcir own power, whicti do affect the111 in tl~eircaste which is their everything. For speak to an India81 of his caste, and you speak to iiiinl of his all; whexi they lose that '%I rnodern spelling, the h u r castes, or z~arna~, are Brahmins, Ksatriyas, Vaisyas, and Suclr,rs,
caste they- lose everything. "The loss, as I said, is ~ i o only t by vofuntary crimes, but by the acts of other peopte, So that these miserable castes give orte pledge rnore tc:, hrtune than any other ~iationwas ever kriown to do. They arc bound t9y xrcw ties. Tyranny oppresses upon them. And, accordingly, those who have wished to oppress thcm, thosc who have stood imyrisonment, those who have stood wl~ips, those who tiave stood tortures, those who have stood the nlenaccs of death itself, and they without arty impression, have insra~ittygiven way when i t has been attempted to krir~gupon thcm any uf those pc3Ilutions by-mflich they lose caste. This shews EIS in what nranner we ought. to iiiandle people so delicate iri these rcspects, Now we shall shevv you that ~ t l r . Hasrings made the full use, through several uf iiiis wicked and abomlxiable instrumerits in that couiitry, choseii from the Natives tbenrsetves, of not only all the wiclccd nleans uf oppressing and abusing them, but strilci~igat that which goes beyond life, which seeffis to affect thcnr in other Worlds; which they c~nceiveto thentselves t~nknown,this power has been used to the destrltctio~rof that peopte. I shdl prove that he has put his uwaz nlerrlat dornestic Servarit, a wretch dependarit, a wretch ignorant, a wretch vicious and corruptI the i ~ r s t r u x n of ~ ~his ~ t briberies, lie has put hirrl into that seat of Ecclesiastical Jtrrisdiction which was to decide wyoxi the Castes uf at1 these people, which calitaincd their rank, their family artd horiour, their happines here and their salvatioxi tiereafter. WC put his own Servant to judgc over thent, arid to get a riew hold by which he brought the peopte under his tyranny and that xrobody dare complain uf him. k c cordindy he says: W ~ Ccomplains > of nte? Who dare conrglain of nre? No, your nreniat. Servarit has my caste in iiiis power. X
shall not trouble your Lordships with xncntioning others. It was enough that (;eiztabczcn,d0 arid other riarnes to which your Lordships are to be: fanriliarized hereafter; it is enough that thesc persons had the Caste arid cfzaracter of the people in tt-teir hands; arrd by this nreans Mr. Hastings has taken care effectrtal!y that these people sllall rtever contptain. 1My Lords, X anr to nrention to you circumstances relative to thesc people. They were the original people of Hindsstaii. They are still infinitely more riuinerous; I take for granted, wenty to one. The Musselmaxzs are rzatlring like tiiiein. They are the old inhahitar~tsof the Corriitry, and still nrore nunrerous. Whatever fault they xnay iiiave, God forbid we should go to pass jtldgment upxt people who fc3rmed tt-teirLaws and Institutions prior to our insect origins uf yesterday: That we shotlld pass judgnterit upon them. They have twt) great principles which ought to he respcctd, that is to say, great force arzd stabiiity and great, gioriorls and exccller~teffects. Their stability has been proved by their holdixrg on for a time arzd duration cornntertsurate to ail the E~npireswhich Efistory has ~zzadeus acquainted with. And still they exist in a grcelz ufd age, with ail the remrerice of antiquity and with all tlze affection to their own i~zsti~utiox?~ that other pcopte have to rzovetry. arzd chalzge. And accordingly they have stood h n r in their own Corrrltry and cast their roots deep ixz their native soil, bccausc they cast tlzein nowilere else than in their native soif, and fixed their opinions in their #?ativc soil, arzd bound thein together, Their religion has ntade no Corzverts; their donrinlon no conquests; and in proportion as they wcl-c: conccntrcd within and hirzdc~cd "%~-tastings%personal steward, Krishna Kanta
Na~.rJ>r,
from spreading abroad, they have growl1 to double farce and have existed against B ~ ~ c ~ Eagaiirst P Y ; ycrsc~t~tiofz, agaixzst all the fury of Foreign Conquests, arid almost apinsr the fury arrd avarice of tlle English Dominiorz established among them.
[ h r k e then reviews the history of Iadiafiorn the time befire the Lkmir knud,rions '>illthe
[email protected] ofl756;"where he clclses the first. day of his p d .Eds.1
16 February 17888
Having tilerefore wifhed your Lodstlips to keep steadity io your nri~zdthese circuxnstanccs of distinction-f shatl beg leave to proceed to that period at which f closed-ttle great and ~zzenrorableperiod wfiich iiias giver? ucmian to the Busir~css of [this/ day--a day whicir I hope will shine with distinguished Lustre in the annals of thc Britisfi J~tstice. My Lords tc:, obtain empire has been a comnron thing-to govern it welt has beerr more rare-but to chastise the guilt of tlzose who have abused the power of rile Coulltry by its superintending justice is X hopc a glory xnorc pceutiarly reserved to this Nation, to &is time, artd to this House. The year 1756 is a ~zzerrzorableaera in the iiiisrory uF the world-It introduced a new power, with rtew manners, new custoxzzs, new opinions, new laws, into the Bosonr of the East. And it wotlld not ofzly have been mentorable as wcluld have bee11 for the history of Great Britai~zif it has shcwvn its virtue upon this occasion to kc altogether equal to its fc3rtnne. My Lords, that part of the Country which ii~adits xzativc govemmexzt t9rokcn up
wfzict~11ad fallen into a scene of conhsion from kctng the prey arzd sport uf the irrferrid arnhitiart of its own grarzdees, if at that time a star had risen fronr the West that worlld havc progizusticated urdcr, peace, happiness arid securiy to the Natives of that Country. And indeed sonre thing might havc been expected of rke kirrd. For when it was to csme frctin a learrled artd enlightened part of Europe, in the most enlightened period uf its time; when it was to come front a Nation the rnost erzligllterted of the enligl~tenedpart of Europe, it would 11av-ebeen a great deaf to say that tlley came from the kosorn of a free Cortrztry which carried with it at least t(3 a Gouirtry w120 11ad not the benefit of its forms, all tlze advantage of tfic liberty arzd spirit: of a British constitutic>n,ft would have been glorbus to this Country and would havc saved the trc>ubleof this day, in son~cmeasure at least, ft would have been doritlus to t ~ stoo, h a t in an enligllrened state of the world, posscssing a religion arz inlyroved part uf the religiorr of the World--1 mean the reformed religion-that we had done horror to Europe, to our Cansc, to our religiolz, dorte horzor to all the circrtntstartces of which W boast and pride ourselves at the momcrzt of rhar revotution. rXy Lords, it has happeried otherwise; it is IIW for EIS to think 11ow WC are to repair it, And thercforc rcst~n~ing where I broke off, wirh yonr induigerrce t(3 nty wekness yesterday, I shalt beg leave to restate to p u that Srtjah Dowtah who was the adopted grandson of Aly Cawri, a cruel arzd ferocious tyrant, the manner ofwhose acqttisition of power I have starcd.41 He came t(3~) young arid inexperieiiced to that throne of Elsurpation. It was a ~lsurpationyet grecrr al-13)auIa inherited the throne rtf Bmgd fro111h i s grat~dhther,AIivdrdi Khan, who ruled Bengali from 1740 unril Iris death in 1756.
in the Cc~untry;the Country felt uneasy under it. It Ltad not the advantage of that prescriptive usage, that invetcrate habit and opinion, mflicfl a long sptent of ariy governrrzerit secures to it, The only security thar it had was the security of arz army, The prince of the Cstriitry had endeavored to slipply the weakness of his government by the greatness of his purse and ainassed treasures. But with all the more treasures they emassed, the more they felt the effects of poverty. For putting the mortey in the place of force, the coiisequences were that their arnries were unpaid, arzd bcing unpaid ur weakly paid, were undiscipiined, disorderly arzd t ~ i i hithfi~l,Tn this siluarion a p u n g prince, confiding xnorc ixz the appearances than in the reality of things* t~rzdertookfi.c>mm<>tives which the blouse of Conrnrons, wit11 all their ixzdustry to discover the circrtmstarzces of them, fourtd sonte difficuttry in nraking out, to attack a litcte ~rziserable trading Fort thar WC had erected at Galcutta." He succeeded in that atcerrzpt, because success in that attenlpt was easy; and thcrc tzappcrzed, in consequence of it, an imprisorrment, not owing, I believe, to the direct will of the Prince, but what will atways Iraypcrz wherz the will of the Prince is hut too mucl1 tlze law, that there was arz abtrse, a gross abuse, of his power by his lawcst servants, by which 120 or more of yonr Got~ntrymerz perished rniserahly in a d~lngeoxlin that place, by a story too tragical for me to tctt, too well known for xnc to need rrtention." W ~ e nthe event happened, there happened at the same tirzie a concurrelzce of other cvexzts which, ixz the midst of that weakiiess, displayed the
*"LTltearrack occurred in 1756,
4'Siraj
""Hrke is referring ro rlre British deaths iin the itrfar~lottsBlack Hole of Calcurra.
strcrrgth of great Rrirtain in Asia. For some years before, upon the Coast uf Corornandel, the French and Englistl Troc>psbegart ro exhibit the power, force and efficacy of Eurupearz discipline in that part uf the World; and, as we daily loclked for a war with France," h e Couxztry was to a degree armcd there, and accordingly My Lord Pigot,45 the Preserver artd the Vicrirzr""f the Britisfz donrminioxl in Asia, detached a strolzg brcc, such of the Cornpanies force as could he collected and s~lctl of his Majesty's ships on that station, to the assistance o h h a t place and accordingly, to make short uf this history, the d a ~ i n garid commanding genius c~f a Cllive," the patient, firm abiliv uf a Warsolz,^Sgthe treacllery of Mcre Jafier,49 arid the batrle of Plassey, gave rrs the patronage of a Kingdonr and the coxrrrrrarzd of at1 its treasures. WC rzcgociatcd with MCCPC faffer, tile Vice Ray, for the ttirone of his Master, upon which rhroxle we seated iiiim, arzd obtained inlnlediatcly ixnrnensc sLlms of money, a ntilliort sterling for tlze C l c ~ n r p mup\var.cfs ~ of a million L230,110(f Ear individuals: in the whole, a suxn uf 44'l"he Sever1Yeas' War with France began itz 1756. 6sf;eorgc I'igc:or, wtlo defended Madras against rhc French in the Seven UearsV'xr* ""Eftrice is referri~lgro Lord Pigori return ro India in 1776 as golrcrnor of Madras, when he was irrrprisrtneci bp subordinates of the East India Compaxiy who clpposed his reforms of the company t'igor died duritzg his imprisonment. I'igot's treatmerlt angred Burkc. Sec Sperc-h ups l&storii?g idrd iJigot, WSEB, v,
3 5-40, 4iKoberr Clive, cor~lmarlderclF British for~esduring the recapture of t:alcurra and ar rhc batrtr of Plassey in 1757. 4Charles Wacson, rear admiral itz tlre Royal Navy> who co)~~irna~ded British naval forces in the recapcure rtf Cakrrtta.
about two Millions, i230,000, fc)r varior~s purposes, fronr the Prince of that Country. We obtained too the Town of Calcutta rnorc cornpiearly than We had it and the lnrlrcrrty four districts adjoining, which was the first sxnal1 scnlinial prix~ciptcuE the great territorial acquisitit>rtswe since rnade in Trzdia. Matzy circumstances of rhis acquisiriolz f pass by; There is a secret veil to be drawn over the begilrlzirzgs of all governments. They had their origin, as the tlcginnixzg uf all sucfl tlzings have l~ad,in sclrne ntatters that had as goad be covered by obscuriy. Time in thc origin uf most governrncrzts has throwri this ntysterious veil over them. Prudence and discretion ~rrakeit necessary to throw something of that veil uvcr a btrslness in which otl~erwisetlze fortune, the genius, the talents and nrititar). virtue uF this Nation never shone morc conspictzously. But a wise nation, whert it has ntade a revnlurion itselt; and upon irs own principles, there rests, The first step is rcvolutiori to give it power; the rtext is goad laws, goad order, to give ir stabitity. T anr sorrow to say that the yrir~cipleuyolz which the Gerltlemert in India acted at that time was such as tended to nrake rbe new govcrrrmcnt as urzstabte as possit9le. For by. the vast surrzs of rnortey acquired by irtbividuats upon this occasion, the imnrense, suddclz, prodigious Eorturzes, it was discovered that a revc>iution in Bengai was a ntine ~rrtrchnrore easily worked and infirzitely morc productive than the xninc uf h t o s i arid Mexico. But they found that the work was not oxzty very lucretive, but not at all difficrtlr. While Clivc forded a deep water u p m an unknowri bottorn, he lcft a bridge for his successors over which the lame conld hobble and the blind might grope their way, Tlzerc was not at that time a knot of Clerks in a Comti~rghouse, there was xzoc a Captain of a band of raggcd
topassis,~Qhar looked h r any thing less that1 the deposition of SoubabsSl and the sale of b g d o m s , Accordingly, h i s revolution that ought. to have precluded other revolutiolzs unfortrtrzately Bccorne fruitful of them; arid wherr my Lord Ctive returned to Europe to errjoy his hnle and fortune in this Coi~rlitrly;there arose another set of people, who thought a revolution ~fpof-~ that revolutio~r111ight.be nrade as lucrative to [them) as tiiiis was to the first pajectors. Arid accordingly, scarce was this Meere jaffier seated upurt this throne than they imnrediatcty, or io a short time, projected arzather revoltltion, a revaltttlarr which was to t~iisettfeail the forrrzer revolution, to ~rrakeway for new wars and disturba~zccs,and for that teain of peculation wliich ever sirice has vexed and oppressed that Country.
abzksi~ilthe Eat I~diaCo~npn~y wds a$er k jr5t acq~iredsubst~zi.zcickkpuwerd f i ~ rthe bgttle ofPldssey d~zdto devrzoa~trntethnt Hnstings wn5 a parLic$nnt in this ~ s l . ~ t r z a corbc rgpdm and &baseeven as a j ~ n i a rD@C~I in thc Eat. hdia Covpnny Eh.]
But the Conrpany hearing of all these chaxzgcs, hearing of such an ir-rcrcdible body of perfidy, kncwing that there was a general nrarket nrade of the Country and of the Company that thc flame of war spread front prcwince tc7 province, that: in proportion as it: spread the Aanre kindiecl, arzd that the rapacity which arigixzally gave rise to it was followi~tgit in all its progress, the Conrpanp nry Lords, alarmed test their very being should t9c destroyed, and finding tbemselves sinking by every victory they obtained, thought it Ilecessary to cainc to some settternent, After having contpused their differences with Lord [Bzkrke describes in delzzik wrilt he cd~kis$he Ciive, they sent him out of that Country$ '>econd"d~zd'2bird'>ezrolsitions efected by about the year 1765, in order t,y his name, the East I~diaCo~npn~y in Bezg(izl. The "seccredit, arid authority and weight in that Country to rectie the innumerable ahuses oad" rc.voLacinn invoLved, fi1"51, (*: plot hetween the East I'ndid Cor~pdnynnd the which prevailed iiz it, and particularly that nnhoh nf Be~galto m~rderthe empemr of abuse which is tfie filridaineritat one of the the abuse of presents. Fcllr all these the M o g ~ m l ~ p i and r ~ s w z d the g s ~ 1 ~ ~whole, t h n ofthe Habob ofdi"engdk3throne by the bribes, all these rewads, had nut the name Ertst I~zdt'lilC a m p d ~ ~which ; i~lstnlled&C of conditions or stipulatiorrs, but of presents, They were grat~lities,given afterrgcIrIe;rs (*:adcruek nabob: son-in-k~zwon the wards to the parties. They may give them tl~rone&$er the nzyskrio~sJenth of the nabobi son. 2% gef the thmnil, the new nnbok? what rtames they please, and ycmr Li~rdsurrendered ghree sogthem provinces to the ships will think of them what yrtu picase. Brtt they wcl-c: the donations OF nliscry to control of the East IBA;& Copyday [B the ""thrd" revolsgtio~,the East li~adiaCompn~y p(~wer,the gifts (of wretchetlness to the opwen.$ $Q wrtr agninst the nabob id in~tizIIed p r e s o ~ ,and conseq~tentlgleft neither property nor security ir-r permaizcncc to nnd P"eans~rtcdthe orknal Habob on the thmne ~f' t;llc by then truncated Bengab any persoris in the Coittitry. BurRr asici.ll'spd;~ to show how corrtdpt and t new covclnants, Lord CIive writ o i ~with He werzt out to p11t '£2 elzd to the practice uf receivirlg presents. fle hitnseff had been a '"Mixed-mce Indiari soldiers. large receiver of thenr, Yet as it was in the nlarxzent of a rcvotution, the Cornpany ""'Ytibt~k~s were provitzces of clre Mogul empire
would haw no rizore o f it. They sent hinr out to rehrrn, %ether hey diosc well or ill, does not sigrri+, I think upon ttw wllolr they chose well; bemuse his name, auttioricy and weight would do a great deal. Thy scnt hint out tc? reform the grievarlces of that Coi~ntrywith such atizazing powers as rlo servarzt of the Company ever had kcfore. ~ t l yLords, I: would riot be tniderstood here in nry own character, nruch less in rizy delegated d~aractcr,to stazd up foe any Inan in the totality of his condt~ct.I tlzink that sonte of the measures which Lord Clive took were injudicious, and that soxire of thein arrnot t9e defended. But X do say that the plan wliich he Laid down, and tile csul-se which he pursued w r e in general great and well imagined, that iiic settled great foundations, if ther tiad beer1 adhered to, For he first took strung measures below to p ~ t tan erzd to a great many of the atxses that prcviled in the C o u n t ~Arrd . the11he went up and did far a nrilirary nran an act wtlich will mcr have great civil and political merit. He put a bound to the aspiring spirit of the Conrpany He limited its conqrrescs, and praaibcd bonnds to its ambition. Qttict, says he, the minds of the Country, and what you haw obcained regulate within; rizake it hewn to the Courztry that you resolve to acquire rio more. Accordingly he settled every Prince that was concerned in a happy and easy scttlemcnt, He settled the Sortl~afrdar of Oude, rnfzo had heer1 driven fi.c->m-n his donrinions by the nrilitary arnrs and the great milirary merit of the British Comntander. He with a gerierssicy that astonished at! Asia reinstated this errenry of his country pcaccat9ly upon his r-brown, which niA more towards quieting tlie tninds af the pmpte o f Asia than any act that had been ever done by the English before. For the Mogttl, the head of the Mussulman religion there and likewise of the Enrpire, a head iiionoured and esrcemcd even in its ruins, hc
obt~rredrea3fritniticzii by all the persons that were concerned. Me got korn him the Dewance, wfiich is the great graizcf period uf the comtitntional eiitraice of the Coinpariy into the affairs o f Irzdia-sW~cqt~ietcdthe rninds of the people. He gave to the settiernent of Bengal a constitutional fonn, and a icgd right, achowtedgcd and rccognizcd ric?w for the first time by all the Princes of the C o u n t r ~because given by the Charter uf &c Sovereign. He took a r e uF Butwant Sir~g,the Rajah of Besiares, d.ro had taker1 ortr part in the War.
Xn this Iizanner he settled all the powers o f Hixzdostarz with which wc wcrc colzccrlzed and gave the courztey peace and form. . . .
My Lr~rds,the fault in this settieineiit (whicti rizakes a~locherperiod in our history) was, that Lord CIive did not stay iosrg enot~giiin that Coc~ntryto give coilsisteiicy to the settfeinerlt that lie made. And the men that followed . . . had riot weight enough to kccp down and poizc the country, Corlsequeritly ntarly grievances arose: not sirch grievances as the sale and cxtirpatiorz of: a people; not such grievarlces as entirely suibvertirtg great and mcient hnrilies; not such, grievances as cliangirzg instantly the scttlemerzts of thc people; riot tlze settirtg to farm the whole landed interest ofa country; none of these. Bitt certainly such grievances as niade it riecessary for the Cornpany to serid ortt a Comnrission in 1769, conrposed o f Mr. Vansittart, Mr. Ford arzd Mr Scraftolz. The unftlrtunate eiid of that cornntissiori is known to aXI ttie world.?+Brtt X nierrtiorz it
""'Henry Vaf~siccarr, Francis Forde, and 1,uke Scraf-
ran -were lost at sea en roura to India,
in order to state the grievances which therr prevailed ixr Xndia, to state that the great order tfiey gave the supervisors, with a view to give a hrcr to the Service, was that they shortld upon xro accortnt whatever take presents. As soon as that Comrrtissioiz rtnfortlrnatety perished . . , the Company was p ~ p r i n gto scnd atlt another camrnission for the rectification of these grievances, btzt Parliaimerrr: thought it rlecessary to supcrscdc thar Cornmissian, to take the rnatter into their own l~arlds,artd to appaint anotfter Comatissisn in a Parliarnenrary way-of which Mr. Hasings was uxze-for the better govcrxrmcnt of that cortntry. Mr. Hastings, on accourtt of his locd knowledf=e,on account of the rlumber uf friclzds he had here . . . went out to f ndia with great pc~werindeed. When this Governnrenr was settled, Moorshcdaibad stit! colztin~edthe scat of the Native Governmerit and of all the Collections, Here the Conrgany was rlar satisfied with pc~ttinga Resident at the Durbar, which was the first step to our assoming the Goverrrrzrent io that Country. These steps nlrtst be traced t9y your Lordships. For I slitytdd never have given you this tmt-thle, if it was not rlecessary to possess you clearly uf the several progressive steps by which the Csntparly's Goveriimeizt canre to be established and to supersede the Native, The rlext step that was ntade was the appointment of Strpervisors in every Province, to averscc the Native Cotlccto~. Tlre third was to establish a General Council of Reveriue at Moorshedabad, to supmintelzd the Grcar Steward Mahomed Reza Cawrl. Irz 1772 that council by N r Hastings was over turned, and the whole rcvcxzue t9ronght to Calcutta. LVahamcd Reza Cawrt, by ordcrs of tlle Csntpany, was turrred out of all his Offices, and trzrncd out for reasoxzs arzd principles
w l ~ i c lyour ~ Lordships wilt hereafter see. Axld at I a r the Dewanee was entirely taken out uf the Native hands and sctttcd in the Suprerne Csr~rzcitarid Presidency itself in Cafcutta, And so i t renrairzed uxztit the year 1781, when L V ~I-tastil-lgs . made arzuthcr revolution, took it out of the l~aridsof the Council in which the orders of the Conrpaxzy an Act OF Parliamelzt, and their uwn Act had vested it, arzd put it into a subordinatc Corrncil; that is, i t was entirely vested in himsctf. Now yotrr Lsrdsirips see the whole of the revotutions. X have stated therzr-X trust with perspicuity; stated the grannds artd principles upon which they were nrade; stared the abuses that grew upon them, and rhar every rcwottltion produced its abuse. You saw the Native Goverrrntent vanish away by degrees, until it is reduced to a situatioxz fit for xrarhing t9ut to t9econte a private perquisite, as it has been to Mr Hastings to be granted to whonr he pleased. The Errgiisk Governxncrzt succeeded. Mr Hastings was appointed to it by an Act of Parlianrent, having beecl appainted to the Presiderrcy betarc: to reform abuses." And in those w o periods of his Presidency and his appointmem by Act of Parliament were those crimes canlnlittcd of which he rlow stands accused. All this history is nrereliy by way of illusrrarioxl, His crir-rzinatian bcgirzs with his nomixration to the Presidericy, and his subsequerit nonr ir-tation by Parlianrerrt, The trortt9Ic.d period bctwccn the year 1756 and the settlerrteizt made in the year 1774 bbe-tg passed, 1Vr Hastings having the Goverxrxncrzt in his hands, we are to corisider how l ~ ecomported himself in it. Y7'he Ease India Company appoinred Hastings tjuver rior rtf Bengal in 1772, The Regulating Act o f
1773 prc3mored him to gc3vcrnor-gerlern) o f Bengal in 1774,
221
My Lords, Fhe first thing in mnsirfering the character of any Goverxzor is to have some test by which it may he tried. And we conceive here char when a British Governor is scrzr abroad, he is sent to pursue the good of rhe people as mucl-r as possible in rhe spirit of the Laws of &is Countly, which ir-rtend in all respects their cunservariaxz, their happiness, and their prosperiy. These are the principles upon which Mr Hastings was bound to govern, arzd upon which he is to account fir his conduct here. The rule upon which you are to try lrim is this: what should a British Governor in such a situation do, or forbcar to do? X f he has done aiid if he lras forbcsrrle in the nranner in which a British Governor oztglxt to do arzd to forbear, he has done his duty, aiid he is honourably acquirted. He resorts to other pril-rciples and to other xnaxixns; but this Country will forcc him to he tried by its laws. The taw of this Cok~ntryrecognizes tt-tat wll kr-rown crinre called miscondrtct ixz Qfficc. It is a head of the Law of Englarid and, so far as inferior Cok~rrsare coxrrpetenr to try it, it nray be tried there. Here your Lordships arc cornpetent to every thing, and as you are conipererrt in the power you are co~lrpetenl:in the krrowtcdge of the offc~zcc.And here I am horlrld to state to your Lordships, by the directions of those whose directions I am korlnd to follow, the principles upon wt7ich kMr Hastings declares t ~ ehas conducted his Governmerrt, which principles he declares, first in scvcral ketrcrs writrexz to the East India Cornpaiiy, next in a papemf defence defivc-red to the House of Carnrnolzs explicitly; arzd more explicitiy, in his defence before your Lordships, I atrr directed first to clear the way of all thosc grourzds and principles upon which he frames his defence. For if those grourids are good and valid, they carry o E a gear deal at teasr, if not cxztirely, the fortrzdatiorz
of our charge. i"\lfyLords, we cc)~ztelidtlrat lGlr Hastings, as a British Governor, ought to govern upon British principles, xzat by British farms. God forbid. For if ever these was a case in which the letter kills and the spirit gives life, it would bc an atrcxnpt to introduce British fctr~nsarid the substance of despotic prir-rciples together into any Gaurztry, No. WCcall for that spirit of cquiry, that spirit of justice, that spirit of safety, that spirit of pronction, that spirit of icrziry, which ought to characterise every Britislr subject in power; arid upor1 tlrese and ttzese principles only, tte will be tried. But hc has told your Lordships in his deferice, that actiorls in Asia do not bear the sanre nraral qualities as the sanre actioxzs would bear in Europe. My Lords, WC positively derly that principle. I am authorized and catted upon to deny it, And havixzg stated at large what he nreaxzs by saying that the same actions have not the sanie qualities in Asia and in Erzrope, we are to ict your Lordships know that these Gentlemen have- fomied a plan of Geographical ~rrorafity,by which rlze duties of men io pubtic and in privare situatiorzs are xzat to be gt3verned by their relations to the Great Governor of the tirriverse, or by their refatians to mcrz, t9ur by climates, degrees of longitude arid latittrde, paratlels not of life b t ~ tof latitudes. As il-; when you have crosscd the eqrtinoctial lirze all the virtues die, as they say some arlirnals die wl~en they cross the line, as if there were a kind of baprism, liitc that practised by scamexz, by which they t~rlbaptizethemselves of all ttlar they learrred io Europe, and conrmexzcc a rzew order and sysrexn of things, This Geographical tnoraliry we do protest against. Mr Etasting shall lot screen iilirnstlf under it. And I hope and trust not a great tnaizy words will he tiecessary to saris6 your Lordships. But we think it necessary in justificarian of our-
selves ro declare that the laws of nroraliy are the same every where, and that there is r10 action which would pass for an actioiz of extortion, of peculation, of bribery arzd uf o p p ~ s i o nin England, that is rzut arz act of extortion, of peculatioiz, of bribery and of opprclssion in Etlrope, Asia, Africa, and ail the world over. This I contclzd for, rlot in tlze k~rnrtsof it, but f csrzterid fix it in the substance. Mr Hastings comes k9cfore your Lordships not as a British Governor, answering to a Britisfl Tribunal, but as a Soubahdar; as a Bashw of rl-tree tails.55 He says: I had an arbitrary power to exercise; I exercised it. Slaves I: found the people; staves they are, They are so by rt-teir Constitution; and if they are, X did not make it far them. I was t~nfc~rtunatel~ bound to exercise this arbitrary power, and accordingly T did exercise it, Xt was disagrceat9te to xnc, k9~tI did exercise it, a i d no other power can toe exercised io that Country. This, if it be true, is a plea in Bar. Brtt I trust arzd hope your Lordships will not judge by Laws and inscitutioxrs, which you do nor know, agaixzst those Laws and institutiorzs which you do know*and under whose power and atzthoricy lGlr E-lastings went out ro Tr-tdia. Can your Lordships patiently hear what we have heard with indignalion enough, and &at, if h e r e were nothing else, would call actions wfiich arc jtlstified upan suc1-1principles to your Lordstlips Bar, that it: may be known whether the Peers of Ellgland do xzot sympathize with the Cornrnoris in their detestatioiz of S L L Cd~>ctrine? ~ Think of an English Governor tried before you as a British subject, arzd yet declaring tlzat he governed upori the principies of arbitrary power. This plea is, that he did 'A ~ u b a h d xwas a p~ovinciafruler in the Mugrrl empire, and d; pasha was a provincial gclvernclr in the Otsc>~na~t Empire.
gc)verli there uporz arbitrary and despotic, and, as he supposes, Oriental principles, And as his plea is boldly avowed arzd mairitairled arid as, no doubt, all lzis conduct was perfectly correspondent to rt-tese principles, these principles and that conduct ntust be tried together. Tf your Lordships will pernit me, I: will sratc ogle of thc many places in wfiich he lzas avowed these pririciples as the basis and foundation of all his conduct. "The sovereigrzry which they asurncd, it kll to my lot, very urzexpectedly to exert; aiid whether or ~rocsuch p o m r or powers of that rzature were dctegated to xnc by any provisions of any Act o f hrliarneizt. I con&ss myself too lirele of a lawyer to pronouizcc, I olzly k11uw that the acceptance of tfie sovereigrity of Benares, &c is r ~ sact knowledged or adnritced by any Act of hrtiamcrzt; and yet, k9y the particular interference of tlze majority of the Council the Conrkoany is clearly and indisputably seized uf that Sovereigrzty." So that this Gentlenrtari, because he is not a lawyer rlsr clothed with rt-tose robes which distinguish and well distinguish tlic learning of this Cortntry, is not to know arzything of his d~ity;arzd whether he was bouxrd by any, or what Act uf T3artiamerzt, is a thing hc is not l a y e r enortdl to k~iow.Now, if your Lordships will suffer the laws to be broken by those that arc rzot oftfie lung robe, I ain afraid those of the long robe will have none to punish but rt-tose of their own professiolz, Mr Hastings thercforc goes to a law wlzich he knows better, tlzat is, the law of arbitray power and hrce, if it deserves to k9e called by arzy such name. ""X tEfrcrefore", says he, "the sovereignty. of Benares, as ccded to 11s by the Vizier, have any rights what ever anrzexed to it, and he not a nrere empty word without meaning, those rights nrlist be suct-t as are held, corlntenanccd and estaMished by the law,
22.3 ctlstol~zand usage, of the Mogd Eltipire, arzd xzut by the provisions of arzy British Act of Parliament. l~itl~erto enacted. These rights, and none other, II have been the invoIurztary instrumerzt uf erzforcing. Azd if arty future Act: of Parliarnerzt slzatl pr~sitively, or by inrptication, terrd to annihitate these very rights ur their exertion, as I havc exerted them, I rnuch fear that the boasted sovereignty of Benares, . , , will be b u d a t9urthcn instead of a benefit, a heavy clog rather than a preciorts getn to its present. prlssessors; . . . The Hindoos, W ~ I C never ) incorporated with their conquerors, were kept in order only by the strolzg hand of pc~wer.The constant rlecessity of similar exertions woutd increase at once their energy and extent; so that rcbctlion itself is the parent arid promrjter of despotism. Sovereignty in T~idia, i~zzplies nothing e t s c f o r I ltrzuw xzut how wc car1 form arz estimate of its powers but: from its visible effects-a~ld these are every where the sarnc from Gak9oot to Assam, Thc wholc history of Asia is nothing more than precedents to prove the invariable r-xercise of arbitrary power. . . . '" i v y Lc~rds,yort. have now l~eardthe principles upon which Mr Etastings governs the parmf Asia subjeetcd ta the British Empire. kfou have heard his opiniorz of "dte rneari and depraved state'hf those who are subject to it. You have heard his lecture upon arbitrary pclwer, which he states to be the constitution of Asia. You hear the appliation that bc makes of it.; arzd you fi~;.irthe practices whidz he employs to justify it, and who the persans were the atzthority of whose emmplcs he profess= to foltow. Do yollr Lc~rdshipsreally think that the riation would bear, that any htrnra~zcreattlre woutd bear, to hear an Engjislx Governor dcferzd hirrzsetf upon such principles? Fcx, if he cart defend himself upon such principles, no xnarz has arzy sccuriy for anything but by
being tc->tallyindeperldent of tlze British Governrrzent, Ellere he has declared his upixzion that he is a despotic prince, that he is to use arbitrary pc~wer,artd of collrse ail his acts are covered with. that shield. X know, says he, the coizstitution uf Asia only horn its practices. W~tlyour Lc~rdshipsever l~ear the corrupt practices of rzzankind made the principles uF Gaverrzment? It wilt be your pride arld g1cr1-y to teach rnert that they are to conform heir practices to priizcipics, and rzot to draw their principtcs from the corrupt practices of any mart whatever. Was there ever heard, or could it be conceived, that a nzan would dare to nzexztion the practices of ail tile villains, aU tlze niad usurpers, all the thieves and robbers in h i a , that he sfiauld gathcr thcnz all up, and form thc whole map of abuses into one code, and call it. the d u y of a British Governor? X believe that titl this time so audaciarts a thing was riever attempted t3y mankind. He have arbitrary power. 1 % ~ Lords, the East India Coxnpajzy have rzut arbitrary power to give hirn; the King has no arbitrary power to give him; your Lordstlips havc rzut, rzur the Gommorzs, xzor the whole Legislature. We have nr:, arbitrary power to give, because Arbitray power is a thing wfiich rzeither arzy mall can hotd xzur ariy ntarl can give away. No mar1 car1 gt~vern hii1zself by his own will, nrtrch less can he t9c governed t9y the will of others, We are ail born in s~tbjection,ail born equally, high and tow, pvcrnors and governed, in subjcctioxz to ufze grcat, irxrmtltabte, prcexistent. law, prior tc3 all our devices, arld prior to ail our contrivances, paranrouxlt to our very being itscl6 by which wc arc knit arid conriected in the eternal frame of the ~zniverse,out of which we cangzot stir. This grcat law dues xzut arise Eram our conventions or compacts. Or1 the contrary, it: gives to our conventions and conrgacts at1 tile brcc 2nd saxzction they can havc. It
does not arise fronr our vain institutions, Every good gift is of Gad; all power is uf God; and He who has given the power and from whom it alone originates, will never suffer the exercisc uf it to k9e practised upon any less solid foundatisrz than the power itself,Therefore, will it be imagined, ifrhis be true, that He will suEer this great gift of Gt1verrimeizt, the greatest, the hest that was ever given by God to nrankind, to be the play thing and the sport of the feeble will of a man, who, by a blaspheinous, absurd, arid petulant. usurpatisrz, worlld place his own feebte, conte~rrptible,ridiculous will in the ptacc uf the Divirrc wisdom and justice? No. lGly Lords, it is not to be had by conqrtest; far by conqrtest, which is a xnorc irnatediate desigrlatiort of the hand of God, the cotlqueror only succeeds ro at1 the pairrfut duties and subordirzation to tlze power of God &rich belonged tc:, the Sovereign that held the cortnrl-y bebre, He canlzot have it t9y succession; far rzo mall cart s~lcceedto frartd, rapine artd vicllerice; ~leitherby conrpact, coverrajit or subnrissian, xzur hy arzy other nzeans can arbitrary power be coiiveyecf to arty rnari. Those who give and those who receive arbitrary powm arc alikc criminal, and therc is xzu rnari brtt is hourtd to resist it to tlze best of his power wherever it sfiall shew its face to the world. Nothing but atlsotutc i m p terlce c;ln justify men in not resisting it to the best of their power. Law arzd arbitrary power arc at eternal erimity, Name me a ~llagistrate,and I will name property. Name Irre power, and X wilt name pmtectian, It is a colztradictiolz in ternts, it is btaspherny in religicin, it is wickedness in politics to say that any Irrati can have arbitrary power, fudges arc grri&d and gc:,verned by the eternal law; of justice to which we are all subject, We may bite our chains if we will, but we shall kc
made to know ourselves, and be taught char: Irran is born to be governed by law; arzd he that will substitute will in the place of it is an enerny to God, This idea of arbitrary power has arisen from a gross colzf.'Usialz and pcrversioiz of ideas, wtricl~yorrr Lordsl~iyswill kiiow how to distinguish and ro separate, Xr does so bappcrz k9y the xzcccssity of the case that the Suprerne power in every Country is not legally and in any ordinary way subject to a penal prosecution for any uf its actions. fr is unaccountable. Arld it is rmt merely so in this Couxitry or rt-tac country krtt in ail counties. The King in this Country is uridoubtedty urtaccourttable for his accions. The Eliouse of Lords, if it shuuld ever exercise (Cod f-i)rt?idI sfloutd suspect it worlld ever do what it has rlever done), bar if i t should ever abuse its judicial power and give such a judg~ne~zt as it ongirt not, whether frorn fear of popular cIainour on the one hand or predilection to the pris~izerun the other, if they st~outd abuse their judgntents tlzere is no calling thenr ro an account for it. And so if the Coinrnons shuuld abuse their power, nay, if they shortid have beer1 so greatly delinquent n o t t o have prosecuted this o f fender, they could xzot t9e accourztat9le for it-there is rio purlistzi~lgthein &3r their acts, because they exercise a part of the Suprenze power, But are thcy less crimind, less rebellious against the Divine kvlajesry? Are they less hatehl to mar, whose opinions thcy ought to ctzlrivate as far as thcy are just? No. Tiff s(:,ciety fall int.~:,a state of dissolurion, they canjlot be accountable for their acts. But it is from colzfonnding the urlaccourttable character inherent to the Suprenre power with arbitrary power that all this confr~siorzof ideas has arisen. If my Lords you were to suppose ari arbitrary power, which X deny rotafly and your Lordsiiiips will kc the first and proud-
esr to deny it, when absolute, suprenre doxniniun was never given xrur conferred and delegated from you. But if you srlppuse such a thing, X will venture ro say that an ir-rtcrl~diatcartrtitrary power', whme the people betcm are subject tc:, its possessor, but: he is irrespoxzsible to the power above, is a mollstcr that xrever existed cxccyt ixr the wild imagination of sonte theorist. It cannot be, because it is a perversion of rhe pAinciple that that power which is given for the protectiort of the peopfe below siror~ldbe resporlsible to the power above. Xt is to suppose that the people shall have xru laws with regard to him, yet, wfien he comes tc3 be tried, he shalt claim the secrtriry of rhose laws that are nrade ro secrlre the people from his violcrzce; that iiic shall claim a fair Trial, an equitable hearing, every abanrage of Counsel (God forbid iiic sfiorlld xrot have them), yet that the people ttrtder hirn slzalf have ricnrie of tfrose advajztages, My Lords, X wit! venture to say uf the Gsvernnterzts of Asia that none of them ever had an xbitrary po-rver. And if any Goverr~menthad arr arbitrary power, they caiiriot detegate it to any persons urtder rt-tenr; that is they cannot so delegate it as xrot to leave them accorl~ztableupon the prirtciples ttpori which it was given. As this is a coxltradictio~rin terms, a gross absurdity as well as a xnonstrous wickedness, let nte say for the hortour of human natrtre, rt-tac although undoubtedly W nray speak it with the pride of England, that we have better irzstitutic~rtsfor the preservation of 117e rights of men [flan any other Conrrtr). in the W r l d , yet I will vexztttre to say that nr:, courltry Eras wholly meant, or ever nreant, ro give E I this ~ power, I am to speak of Orierltd Governmcxzts, and I d~7irisfst upart it that Oriental Governments know nothing af this arbitrary power. I have taken as muck pains as I can
tc3 examille into the coristitutic>nsof them. X have been e~zdeawrtringto inform nryself at d l times to a c~rvaindegree; of late my duty has led me tc3 a ntore rninute inspection af them, and X do chatienge rile whole race of man to show me any of the Oriental Governors claiming to thernselves a rigfit ro act by arbitrary witt. My Lords, the greatest part uf Asia is urider Mahometar~6c)vernments. To rtarne a 1Mahomet:aitl Governnre~ztis to name a Gaverr~rnexztby law. It is a law enforced ky stronger sarictions than ariy law that car1 bind atr European Sovereign, exclusive of the Grand Seigrzior.5qrl"helaw is given by God, artd it has the double sarlctiorl of taw and o f religion, with which the Prince is no morc to dispense than any une etsc, k r d , if arty ntarl will produce the Khoran to me, and will but shew me one test in it cllac aut h o r ? ~ixz, ~arzy ~ degree an arbitrary power ixz the Gsverrinterit, I wit1 declare that I have read that book and been conversant in the affiairs of Asia to a degrec ixz vain. "I'here is riot such a syllable in it; but or1 the contrary, against oppressors by nanre every letter of that law is f.'ulminatcd. T'herc are Interpreters to explain that law. f meart that great pricsehood established throughout all Asia, whom they call men nfthe hur. Tlrcsc meri are Conservators of the law and, to enable rhenr to preserve it ro perkccion, they arc scctzrcd frorn the rcscntment of the Sovereign; fbr be cannot: totrcfi them. A man of the law is secured and i~ldemnified against the Sovereign, acrirzg, executive pcwer. My Lords, to bring this p o i ~ ~at :little rzerzreli- home, since we arc chatlcngcd thus, since we are led into Asia, sirtce we are called upon ro nrake out aur Case an the prirzciptcs of rhc Governments there rather tlrart of those here (whictt I: trust your """Sultan of the 0rrorxrar.t Empire.
tt~tion.Arid that ?Magistrate who is the Lordships will oblige Mr Etastings finally & T C - " ~ E " " C X ~ G ~ I C ~power V~ aiz-long then1 is the to be governed t9y, puffed up as he is with the irtsr>lenceof Asia), the nearest to t ~ of s pcrsorz who is t9y the cc9nstit~ttianuf the couritry the rnost fettered by 1aw. the Governnrerrts he appeals to is the GovCorruption is the true cattse of the loss crnmcxzt of the Grand Scigrzior, the Enzof a!) the bcrzcfits uf the constitution uf peror of the Turks. He ari arbitrary power? that country. The practices of Asia, as the Why he has not the srrpreme power of his Genttenran at your Bar has thok~glitfit to Gourztry Everyone knows that the Grand say>is what he holds to; the colzstitution Seigrlior is exalted higiiz in titles, as our prelze flies away front. Urzdorrbtedly rnt~ch rogative L a v e r s exatt an abstract saverblood, nrurder, false i n r p r i m m ~ a xnruch ~ cign, arzd they calzrzot exalt hinz too high ixz pccutation, crr~elryand robbery arc to t9c our books. But f say he rnisses the first cltaracter of Sovereigrl power. He car~r~ot folrrtd in Asia: and if, instead of gt~ingto the sacred laws of the c o u n t y , Mr Etastlay a tax upon his people. The next parr in which he misses of a sovereigrz power is ings chooses to go to the inlqrtitous practices of ir, artd practices autlzorized only by that he cannot dispose of the life, of the public tufr~~flt, contention, war and riot, property or of rhi. liberty, of arly of his sttbhe will find as clear an acquittal in the jects, but by what is called the Ferfa or senterlce of the law. He carinot declare peace practices, as he would find coridemnation or war without the sanre sentence of the in the institutions. But if he disputes, as he law; so nrrtcfi is he more than Eurapcaxz does, the artthority uf an Act of Partiasovereigns a subject of strict law, that he ment, let hirn state to me that law to cannot declare war or peacc without it, which he Irreans to be subject, or any law which he knows that will justify his acThen, if he can xzeitlicr touclz life xzur proyerty, if he carlrtot lay a tax upor1 his s ~ ~ b - tions. I ant not autlzczrized to say that I jects",r declare peace or War, X leave it to shall even in that. case give up what is not your Lordships to say whether iile can kc in me to give up, because X represent an authority of which f ntust startd in awe. called, accarding to the principles of that But, for nrysetC X shaff confess that f anr constitution, an arbitray power, A Turkish sovereign, if he should be judged by the brought to public shame and am rzat fit to body of that law to have acted agairlst its manage the great irtterests cominitted to nry charge before p u s Lordsl~ips,X thereprinciptes (uxltess he happerrs to be secured fore say. ofrhat Governmcrzt which we best by a hctioxz uf t h sotdicry), is liable to be deposed t~ponthe serttelice of that Law; and know, which has been corzstiruted more in obedience to the laws of Mafionred than his successor conres in under the strict timitarions of the arzcient taw of that Gauntry. arzy other, thar the Sovereign cr-tlznot agreeNeittler car1 lze tzold lzis place, dispose of ably to that constitution, exercise arty arbitrary power whatever, his succession, or take any one step whatever, without being tlound t9y taw. So far f The rzext point for us to colzsider is say, when Geiztlenten talk of the afiirs of wlzether or no the csnstitution of India auAsia, as to the nearest of Asiatic sovereips; t~lorizesthar power. The Gentlenrttn at your and iilc is xnore Asiatic than European. He Lordships3ar has thought propcr to say is a kvldzometan Sovereign; and no Mathat it will be happy far India (tfzoudz soon tlonretan is born who can exercise any arbiafier he tells you it is a happiness they can never enjoy) "wtle~zthe despotic Irzstitutes trary power at at1 agreeable to their consti-
of Genghiz Khan, or Tamerlane, &all give place to the libcrd spirit ofa British Legislature; and", says he, ""1slzalt be antply satisfied in my present prosecution, if it shall terzd to haste11 the approach of axz event so berieficirill to tlle geat interests of mankincf"". iVy Lords, you have seer1 what he says abot~r an Act of PaLiamcnt. Do not you rzow think it rather a11 extraordinary thing that arzy British subject shot~ldin vindication of the authoriy whiclz he Izas exe~isedqttate hcre the r i a n a arid Institutes, as be cdtlfs tliern, of those nter1 wlzo were the scourges of nzankjnd, whose power was a power which t h y held by great force? As tc:, the Institutes of Gengiziz Khan, which he catts arbitrary Xrtstitures, X never saw thcm. XF hc has that book hc will oblige the public by producirig it. t tzwe seer1 a book existing catled Vassa of Gcrzghiz Khan, The otlricr I never saw. IF there be any part of it tc3 justiflY arbitrary powel; he will produce it, &rt if we may judge by tiiiose ten precepts uf Gcrzghiz ICIiar1 that we have, there is riot a shadow of arbitrary power to be found in any one of them-----lxzstitrztes of arbitrary power, Why if there is arbitrary power, there car1 be no Ir-tscitutes. . . . With regard to the Institutes uf Tamerlane, here the); arc in their original, and here is a tratzslario~z.X have carehlly read mery part of thosd~11~tlttttcs, and if arzy one sizews nte one wcxd in ttzent in which the Prince claims in himself arbitrary power, I shall for my uwrz part confess I havc brortght ntyseif to great sha~ne,There is no book in the world, X believe, whicl~confains xzoMcr*more just, more xnaxzly, more pious, principles of Governmeizt tharz this book called the Xnstitutions of Tanrerfane, Nor is tiiierc one word of arbitrary power in it, ntucfz less of that arbitrary power which Mr. Hastings supposed hitl-tself justified by xzamety, a dclcgared, sut9ordinrztc, arbitrary
power. S Cfar ~ are those great princes from permitting this gross, violent, arbitrary power, that I will venture to say the chief thing by whicll they have recontnteizded thenzselves to posterity was a ~riostdirect declaration of all thc wrath, ixzdignatiorz and powers of ttze Government against it.
Btrt it is #lot here only that X must do justice to the East. X rzsscrt that- their morality is equal to ours as regards the ntoratiry of Gwernors, fathers, atperiors; and X chaiilenge the world to shewI in arzy xnoderrz Europeari boc:,k, more true morality arid wisdom than is to be fonrrd in the writings uf Asiatic mcxz in high trusts, and who have beer1 Counsellors to Princes, This is to be sec agaiizst char gographical maraliy to which I havc rekrrcd.
Thus nzucb co~zcer~zixzg the laws uf Asia: tlzat the people of Asia havc: no laws, rights or liberties, is a doccrirze thac is ro be disscmixzated wickcdLy througli this country: But every Nd~ontedaiiGovernntent, as I before scated, is by its principles a Government of taw. I shall now statc that it does riot and cannot, from what: is known of he Gover~~~rienc of India, delegate (as Mr. Hastings li~asfrequently declared) the whole t ~ him. If the of its powers arzd a t ~ t h o r i to Governnrents are absolute, as they must be, ixz the supreme power, t h y uugbr to be abitra1-y in norie. They were, howwer, riever absolute in any of their subordinate parrs; arzd X will prove it by the hewn provincial corzstitutic>nsof Hindoostm, which sizews that their power is never delegated by the proof that they are at! descended of Ma-
tlonredans, under a law as clear, as explicit, Mahomeran lawf yet if they do not agree with him the Cause is removed. It is transarzd as learned, as ours. The first faundaticln of tlzeir law is the k r e d to the general assembly, that is, the Korarz. The next part is the F e t h or adwhole legat body united, consisting of all judged cases by proper authority, wet1 the men of faw in the Kingdom. Tlzere arc also, I: will verlture to say, other divisiorls kr1owl-1there. The riext is the writterl interand subdivisions, For there are the Kanonprac"ion of the principles of jlzr-isprugoes in the country9who hold their places dencc; and thcir books arc as nuxnerorts for life, to be the Conservators of tire upon tlze prirlciples of jnrispruderice as in Canoxls, custoxrzs and goad usages in the m y cotrntry in Europe. The next part of Country, All these, as well as the h d i a116 their law is what they call the Kanon, the ~tlufti,hold their places and situations, &rich is equivalerit to Acts of hrliamellt, being the law of the several powers of the not h i n g tlze warlton pleasure o f the Prince, hut upon permanent and fixed Countr)~,taken from the Greek word wfiich was k9rougi1t into their courztry; arzd tcrrns far life. These pclwers of ntagistracy, re\rc;nueand it is welt known. The riext is the Rage ul ~blulk,the Conrmon Law or Cusrorrz of law are all diff2trent and conseqtlerrtly are the Kngdom, equivalent to ortr CQIT~XEIQIZ not dcleg~tcdin the whotc to any one. I say Law. Therefore ther have laws frc~ntntore therefore that Mr. Hastings has no refuge there. Let him run from taw to taw; let him sources than W have, exactly in the same Ay Eronr the Conrrnon Law arzd the sacred order, grourzded upon the sanre authority, fixed to he adinirlistered to f~lnctantentalt~ institrttions of the Cc~untryin which he the people upan these principfes. was born; let him fly fronz Acts of h l a merzt, from which his powcl- originated; lct The xzcxt thing to shew is, that, having lzim plead his iporance of them or fly in this l w , they have stlbdelegated their the face of ttlem, Will he fly to the Mapower by parcels, and have not delegated the whole of it to any onc Inan, who therehometarz taw? That condernns iiiixn. Wiitl lze fly to the high magistracy of Asia tcl defore carinot exercise it. IEI every Provillce the first person is the Sortbahdar or fend the takiilg of presents? Pad SI-rasg and the Sulraz would condemn him to a cruet Viccroy. He has the military power and tlze administration of crirnirlal justice only. death. Will he fly to the Soptris,4" ro the laws of Persia, or to the pracrice of rllose Then there is the Dewan or Fliigh Steward. monarchs? Oh, I canrzot say the unutterHe has the X&venuc arzd all Exchcqucr abfe tlzings that would happerl to hirrl if he Causes urlder hirn to be governed accsrdwas to gorrern there, Let hilt1 fly where 37e ing to the Laws and Customs and instituwill; from law to law. Law thank God tions of the Kingdom, The law of Inheritances, Successie?ns, meets lzim eves~llere;arld the practice of the ~rzostinrpious tyrants which he quotes and every thing that relates to ttlenr, is cannot jusriQ fiis co~zduct.X would as will~tizdcrthe Kadi, who judges in his court, but there there is arlother subdivision; that ingly lzave him tried upon the law of the is to say the Kadi cannot judge witfzout Koran, or rile llnstitures of Tanrertane, as having w o MuStisi7 along with hirn. A i d i*I%dighdh2a I'ersian tern1 for '"imperid ruler. * tlzough there is no appeal properly is1 the 5*"SafitjiPersian , rulers in tlre sixreenrh and seventeenrh centuries,
upon the Conrnron Law or the Statute Law of this Kingdom, ~ t l yLords, tlle rtext qrrestiorl is, wlzetlzer tile Gentoo Laws jtxsci+ arbitrary power; arzd if Mr. Hastixlgs finds arzy sanctuary there, he shall take sarzctrtary with the cc)w in the Papda. The Gentoos have a law accurarcty written, positively proscribirzg ixz ~tlagistratesany idea of will; a law witlz which, or rather with extracts of which, that gcntlerna~zhas liixnself funzishcd us. These people are gc~ver~ied, not: by the arbitrary power of any one, but by laws arid institutions in which there is the substance of a whole tlody of cq~tity,diversified by the marlrlers and cillstorrrs of the people, but having io it that which nrakes law good for arzything, a substantial tmdy of equity artd great principles of jurispr~ldence, both civil and criminal, X anz ready to say that therc are very few t900kS, if we were to take them by a srndl body of extracts, that would exceed that book. X have givexz your Lordships sornc instances of Tamerlane"sntde of prsceecfilig; but every thing chat 1611.. Hastings has done, X believe, would t9c as scverefy punisfled as it is directly proscribed by tire law of Tamerlane. 11-1sfiort, follow hi111 where plt wiff; let hixn have Eastern or Western Law; you find everyhere arbitrary power and pecrtlation of Governors proscribed and horridly puizished; m o ~ cso than I should ever wish to purlislz arly hrrmarl creature. Xf this then is the case, as X hope and trust it wiH be proved to your Lordships, that there is law in tlzese Countries, that there is no delegatio~zof power which exernpts a Gavernor from the law*the11 X say. at any rate a British Gtlvernor is to answer for his conduct, and cannot be justified 'hy wicked examples arzd t9ad practices, Axlotller thing that W. Hasting says is that he was lek to hinlself to govern himself by. his own practice: that is to say, when
he had takcn one bribe, he ntight take ariother; when he had robbed one Inarl of his property, he might rob another; wfiexz lie had imprisorted one mar1 arbitrarily artd extorted Irroney fronr him, he nright do so by arzothex: Hc resorts at first to the pricrice of barbarians artd usurpers; at last he conres to his own, Now if your Lordships will try him upon those maxims and principles, he is clear, for there is rlo ntanrter of doubt chat there is nothing he has practised once which lie has not practised again; arzd then the repetition of crimes becomes the Irreans of his indemnity, But, my Lords, he has givexz another softening to this bnsiness, He says, artd with a kind of triunrph, thar the Ministry of this Country liave great legal asistarzce, tlze lights of the continerce of the greatest conrnrercial City in the world; the greatest Generals arzd Qfficcrs to guide and direct thein in ntilitary affairs, whereas f a pour Irran, was sent atnrost a sctloolboy frctnr Erzdand, or at lcasr little kcttcr, to find my way in that new world as well as I: c ~ u l d . Such a declaration woutd in sonre nreasure suit persons who had acted xnuck otherwise than Mt: Hastings. When a man pleads ignorance io justification of his conduct, it onght to kc an humkte, modest, unpresuming, ignorance, an igrlorance which nray have made him lax and timid ixz the exercise of his duty. But a botd, prcs w i n g , d o p a r i c , ferocious, active, ignorance is itself a crime; and the ignorance rtpolz which ir is fctuxzdeci aggravates the cririze. N r Hastings, if by ignorance he left sonre of the Directors' orders ~rnexectrted because he did not understand them, might well say, I was an ignorant man, and these things were above nry capacity. But when he understands them, and wherz lie declares lze will not obey thein, positively and dogmatically, when he says, as he has said, and we shall prove it, thar he never
succeeds better than when he acts in an Ltttcr defiance of these orders, X k9clicve this will rzot be tl-tcluglrt the langr~ageo f an igrzoranr man, But T beg your Lordships parclan; it is the larzguage of all ignorant maxz. For rio mar1 who was not full of a bt:,ld, detcrnrined, wicked, ignora~zce,could ever think of such a systcm of det-i?~zcc.He quttted Westlntnster Sctlool almost a bcly. We have reason to regret that he did rzot finish his education in that serninary which has giver1 so mariy lights to the Church artd orilaments to the State. Greatly have we to lamerre that he did rzot go to ogle uf the Urriversitics (where arbitrary power will f hope riever be heard of; but the true principles of religiorr, of libcrry3 aand taw wifl ever be incuietltcd) instead of stunying in the Scl~oolof Cossim Af ty Cawn .Go ff Ize had lived wit11 us, he would have quclted the example of Gicero" "1 his Goverrrnrent, he would tzave quoted severa1 of the sacred arzd iiiaty prophets, arzd rnade tlzein iris exantple, But: he quotes every #lame of barbarism, tyranny and ~tsurpation,that is to be found; and Eranr these, 11e says, front the practice of one part of Asia or other, have II taken nry rtlle. But your Lordships will skew him that ixz Asia as we11 as in Europe the same Law of Nations prevails, the same principjes are continually resorted to, and tile same m=irns sacredly lxA,i artd strerzuously ntaintained; and however disobeyed, no rrran suffers from the breach of them, that claes riot know how to complain of tllat breach; that Asia is enlightened in ttzat respect as well as Europe; but if it was totally blirzded, tbat Erlglartd would sertd out ""Alivadi Khan, tlre "crrtel a12J ferocious tjrra~r'" 1740 to L 756,
of Bengat frnnl
"Faarnorts Roman statesman, Iawyer, and oratar krlawn for h i s elaynei.t~eaand wisdarn.
Governors to teach them better; arid that he rnighr jusri+ hirnself to the piety, cite truth, the Fiith, of Erzdand, arzd not justi+ 11imself by havirrg recourse to the barbarous tyranny of Asia, or arry other parr of the world.
There is arzather topic which Mr. Hastings takes up rnore seriously, arid as a gerzerat rebutter to the charge. Says he: Aker a great xnarly of tliesc practices, with wfiich I ain charged, Parliament appoillted me tc:, nry trust, and conseqrrenrly has acquitted me. Has it, xny Lords! I am bald tu say tbat the Gommc,ns are whoily guiltlas of this charge. Tf they had re-appointed him to a great public trust, after thcy had krzowrt of his eizorinities, after they had had thenr before thenr, they would have participated in the guilt with him, and the public wclrtld have great reasorz to reprobate their condrrcc; and X admit ttzat if chat wcrc the case there worlld k9e an indecorunt in prosecutillg him. But the House of Commons stand befcrre your Lordships wirhour sharnc; kccausc thcy know that these crimes rtever were hrougt~t a i d proved before thenr, No, They lay buried in the rccords uf the Company. Perhaps if we had examirzed them strictly, as we ought, Mr. Hastings w d d not have been re-appointed to that trust. Brtt if arzy unc will sfiew arzy part of the charge proved before the House of Comnrons we witt take that part of the shame. ~ t l yLords, at the time Mr. Hatirtgs was reappointed we had nat any knowiedgc: of thcsc transactions, Sirzce they canre to our kr~owled~e we never ceased to attack, to condemn and prosecute ttzenr, and, as far as legal power was ixz us, to call him hornc to answer for therrt. Therefore we are as free from indecoruxrr as from breach of duty irr appoirrtixrg such a persorz, Brtt
even if that which he states were true, it: docs not rebut the greatest part of this cllarge. For a great riuinber of these enornr i ties and wickednesses were conrnr itted since his last appaintmcrzt. But supposlrzg it were true, tllirlk of the audacity of a ntart who will fly in the Face of his Coulltry and say: You trusted xnc when you o~ightxzot, tlzerefore you are obliged to carry me rt-trougtt rt-tis nratreb it being ).our own act, No, We rctrtrxz it upon iizirzz and say: It is rtot our own act; the wickedness was yortrs, the trust was yours. Artd if we, in a nronrent of inadvertence, or even from a t9rcach of aur duty, by rzedect, appointed you, that ought to have beer1 a lesson to you ro forbear fronr these crirzies on accauizt of our tcrrity: But xzo, Hc has nzadc use of that: trust to redouble all tlzose crirzies and offences firtnr the nronrent of ills appoirztmcrzt to the nzarncnt of quitting that: Country, as X hope we shall be able to prove hIty be6r.r p u r Lordship. ~A4-yLords, we have rzaw gone through most of the general topics, Brtt Mr. flastings says he has had the thanks and approt9atioxz of the India Company for his scrvices, We know too well here, f trust tlze world knows, and you will always assert, that a pardoxz from thc crawrz calrrzat bar the Intpeaclirnerit of tile Commor~s,much less a pardon of the East Xndia Company; thorlgh it may iiivolvc thcnz ixz guilt, wliicfr might induce us to pt~rlishthem for such a pardon, 771e East Ixrdia Gomparzy it is true iiiave thanked lzim. They ought riot: to have done it, and it is reflection upon their character that they did it, But if yarl come to this gentlernd actions, they are all, every one, censured one by one as they arise, I: do nor recollect any one tr;tnsactiolz, few there are, I: m sure, in the wflole body of rhat trairi of crinres*which is now brot~glltbefore p u for your jndgme~zt, in wfiich the Irldia
Conrtparly have not: ensured him. Then if fur any fresh reaons they come and say We thank you Sir for all your scrviccs; to that X answer, Yes, arid I woutd tlzank hirn for lzis services too if X knew rhenr, But X do not; perkzaps they do, Lct thern thank him for those services. I: ain ordered to prosectlte tlinz for these crimes. Here, therefore, we arc upon a katajzcc with the Xndia Company artd yotrr Lordships ntay perhaps think it sonre ddition ro his crimes that he has fortrzd mcans to obtain the thaxzks for tlze India C~mparlyfor the whole of lzis conduct, at the same tinre thaf their records arc Eutt of cansr-ant, urziforril, cerzsure arzd reprobatiorl of every orie of those acts fbr wfzich he now stands accused.
lh4y Lords, rt-tese are X believe the general graurzds of our chargc. I have now dosed completely, and I: hope to your Lordships" sacisfactio~z,tile whole body of history of wfiich X wished to put your Lordships in passessie~n.I do not meart that you will 110s know it more perfectly by your own inquiries, that xnany of your Lordships may riot: lzave krrt~wriit ntore perfectly by your own previot~sinquiries, Btrr bringixzg to your rcmcrnt9rance the sratc of the circrtntstances of tlze persoris with whom he acted, the persons and power he has abrtscd, X iizavc gone to the principles hc maintains, the precedertts he quotes, the laws and authorities which he refuses to abide by arzd thosc on which lie relics; and at last I: have refuted all tllose pleas in bar upon which he depends, and for tile efkct of which he prcsrlnzes on the indulgence arid patiertce of this Co~~ntry, or the corrup"i~n of some persons in it, And herc X close what X have to say upon tlhis s d j e c t , wishing and hoping cllac when X open the Clrse before yourLordships more particulady, so as to state
232 rather a plan of rile proceedirtg than the direct proof of the crimes, your Lordships wili hear me with the same goodness arzd indutgencc that X have tlitherto expericxzced; that you will considcl- if X have detained you long, it was not with a view of exhausting nry own strength, or purging your patience t<9 too severe a triaf; but from the serlse 1 feel that it is the most difficult and the ~rrostcoxirplicaced cause that was ever brought kcforc any hunlan trib u d . Therefore I was resojved to bring before you. Arld the whr~lesuhsta~ltiall~ #row>if your Lordships will permit me, I, will scatc the method of my ftttrtrc proceeding arid the frlture proceeding of the gcntlenren assiaing me, X nlean first to bring before you the crimes as they are ctassed, and which are of the same species and gcrrus, and shew how they mutualty arosc from one another. I shall first shew that Mr. Hastings5 crimes had root in cllac which is the root of all evil, X nlean avarice; that avaricc arzd rapacity were the grtnuridwark arld foundation of all his other viciot~ssysterrz; that he shewed it ixz settixsg to sale the xzative Gavemmenr of the Cortntry; in setting tc3 safe the mfiale landed interest of the County; in sating to sate the British Govcrrzmexzt arzd his own fe1Ic:,w semaits to the basest and wickedest of nrankind. X shall tileiz shew your Lodships that when, in coissequcrzcc of such a and peculation, he body of corr~~ptiorz justly dreaded the vengeance and indignation of the laws of his gaunt^^ in o~d-dcrto raise l~irnsetfa faction ernbodied by the sanre guilt and rewarded in the same manrzex; he has with a nlost abarzdolzed pro&sion thrown away the revenues of the County to fornr such a ('action here, X shall ncxt shew your Lordships that, having ed~austedthe Couritry and brortght it to extrenre difficutties within, he has looked to his extcl-nal resources, as he calls
them, He has gone up into the Countv. I will shew that he has plundered, or attcnlpted to pluizder, every person depcrzdent upon, coniiected or alIied with this Country X shalt shew what infinire nrischief has followed Erurn it in the Case of Ber~ares, upon which he first laid his ha~zds;riext in tile Case of rhe Begiinrs of Oude, I shalt thcgz lay bcfore you thc wicked sptein by mfiich he endeavoured to oppress that Cot~ntryfirst by Residents, Ilext by spies urzdcr the nrzmc of Britistr XXesidcnts. And, lastly, that, prlrsui~lghis way up to tfie nrounvains, he has found out one nriserable chief, whose crimes were the prospcriy of his Country, and l~inthe erideavs>uredtc:, torrtlre atid destroy; X do not nrean in his body, but by ehartsting the treasures wfiich he kept for the heisefir of his people. My Lords, rbis is the plan 0x1 which X nlean to go, If X should xzot t9c able to execute the mfiole of it (as f fear that f shall nor), X shalt go at least ro the root of it, and so prepare it that the othcr gcxlttemcrz, wit11 ten thousarid rirnes ntore ability tllarl X, will be able to take up the parr where I, leave of6 just whe~zyou find it proper* X sl~allsl~ewyour Lordships that Mr. Hastings's prir~cipleis, that 110 nran who is urzdcr his power is safe from his arbitrary will; that rio ntan, within or withc>:)~~t, friend, ally, rival, anything, has been safe froin him. Thcl-cfirre Z xncarz to bring the case to that point: to sl~ewyour Lordships the syscenr ofcorrupt.ion which Mr. T-fastings adopted, and the wicked, villanons, perfidious, means, rnflich he calls exterrrat resources, of which he made use, And then, if 1 am xzoc abtc ixz my own person inlmediately to go up into the Country atid shew the ranrificatio~isof rile sysrenr . . . , some othcr gcntlemarz will take up each part in its proper order. . . . The point X nrean to bri~rgbehre yow Lordships first is the carl-rtpcion of Mr.
Etasting, the sptcnr of peculation and tlribcry upon whicll Ire went; arzd to skcvv your Lordslzips the horrid consequerlces which frsillted fronr it. Far though at the first view brltlery and peculation do not seein to be S C horrid ~ a matter, but may seem to he oniy transferring a little rnoney out of one pocket into another, X shall sizew tlzat by such a systerrt of bribery tlze Goi~ntryis ~rndone, I shalt iriform yonr Lordships in the best manrler I car1 arid afterwards subrrtit the whole, as f do wit11 a cheerful heart and with an easy and assured security to that jtlstice which is the scctzrity far all the other justice in the Kingdom,
Dn
the $ h i d day ofthe speech, B ~ r k pde. votes his nttention ircitidlb to the allegntion that all Hastings; high crimc7s and misdemanors /?adtz rammon snarce: peccckniary corrz-kptionand nudl.tce. " He detdils the ystern of &be? a ~ ctlrrzpcinn d tr'jrdt Hasgi~gs cnntmlIed and iporz nuhicl? /hbased and exercised his power. Therenfier, Burke enten into a graphic descr$tion c?fcrzlra/fa'esand atrucitip.~committed bilj dgena nf the Eizst I$zdia Covpnny irc JCltn~zacn ~orthern&istrict nfBcylgal, Rgrke describes scenes +hop.. rif;c m r t ~ r e ,rfzpe, and m~giliztinnmrriC"d nut by those in the enploy nfthe Edst [adid C o m p a ~ pR ~ r k attempts e m place the blame fir sacb i~twcitiessquare4 &I thefir-$nfF11k-stings; systm ofliribey &l-zdcorruption, Bzlrrhe contir~zaeswith the &z@ur saga i r k the fiurth da:y n f t i ~ rspeecl~apzd &Ives firther irzto the ystem nf carraption irc the colleccinn ~f' reuepzue i n Rengizl. This excerpt picks @p with &C jrtfzlpassages o f t h e f i ~ r t h dny ofthe speech, E&./
TB the name of the Gomrnons of England, I charge all this villarzy upon W;xarrerz Hast-
ings in tlzis last monterit of my applicatiorz to you, My Lords, what is it that we want iiicrc to a great act of ~iationatjustice? Do we want a cause, nry Lords? You have the cause of opprmsd drinccs, of undone worneiz of the first rank, of desc3lated Proviilces and of wasted Kingdo~ris, Do you want a crixnirial, xny Lords? Wheri was tlzere so nttlclz illiquity ever laid to the charge of any one? No. 1Vy Lords, you mtlst rzot look to punish arzy delinq ~ ~ aini tIndia more. Warren Hasting has not left substance enough in India to rzourisk such arzothe~delinqncrzt. My Lords, is it a Prosecutor that yorr want? You have before you the Conrnroxls of Great Britairz as Prosecutors; and I kclieve, my Lords, that the sun in his heneficerrt progress round the world does riot behold a more glorious sight than that of: men, separated front a remote peopte by the nrateriat bounds and barriers of nattlre, rtrzitcd by the bond of a social and moral comrrtt~ntry,all the Gomrrtclns of Englarid reserrting as their own, the indignities and crueltics that are offered to ail the people of India. Do you want a tribunal? iVy Lords, no cxarnplc of antiqrtiry; rzothixzg in thc xnodern world, nothing in tlze range of hrlman inragillation can supply us with a Tribuxlal likc this. My Lords, h c ~ cwe scc virtually; in the mind's eye, that sacred rnajesty of the Crown, under whose authority you sir and whose pawcl- you exereisc, We sec ixz tlzat irzvisiblc at~thorit~, what: we all feel in reality and life, the beneficent powers and pmtmting justice of His Majesty. WCii~ave here the Heir Apparerit to the Grawn) slrcll as the fond wishes of the people of Englatzd wish arz Heir Apparcrzt of the Growl1 to he. We have here alt the brarlclles of the Royal Farriily, in a situation kcmccrz Majesry and sut9jcctian, kc-
ween the Crown and the subject, offering a pledge in that situariolz for the support of the rights of the Crown and the liberties of the people, both which extremities they touch. My Lords, we ii~avea great iizercditary Peerage here; those wlzcj have their own honour, the hoxzaur of their ancestors and uf their posterity, to guard, and who wilt justiq* as they have always justified, that provision in the constinlsion of vvhici.1 justice is nzadc an hereditary ufficc. My Lords, we have here a new ricnbility, who have risen arzd exalted thentselves by various ~rierits,by great nzititary services which have extended the fame of this Gouxztry from the risilrg to the setting sun. We have those who, by various civil frierits, and various civil talents, have L9ccrz crafted to a situation which they well deserve, arid in which they wifl jrzsti$ the favour of their Sovereigrz and the good apixzion of their fellow subjects, and inake them rejoice to sec those virtuous characters, that were the urher day upon a tevet with them, now exalted above them in rank but feelirlg with therzi in synrpartzy what they felt in coxrimon before. We have persoils exalted from the practice of the law, front the place in which they admioiscered high, though suL9ordinare, justicc, to a scat here, to elllighter1 with their kiiowledgr and to stretllgrhen with their votes those principles which have distinguisflcd thc Corlrts in which they have presided. xVy Lorcts, p u have before p u the lights uF our religion; you have the Bishops of Ellgland. My Lc~rds,you have that true image of the prirrrittw Church in its ancient form, ixz its arzcie~ztardinarzccs, purified fro111 the soyerstirions and the vices wtzich a lorig succession of ages will bring upan the best ixzstitutions, You have the represe~~rarives of that religi11n which says that God is Love, thac the very vital spirit of its institution is chanty; a religion which so mueh hates op-
pression, that, when the Gsd wtzom we adore appeal-cd in hllmarr Fonn, he did nor appear in a form of greatness and majesy, hut in syrnpathy with the lowest o f the people, arzd therelry made it a firm and ding principle char their wcjf2re was the okject of ail Gclvernment, since the person who was 1118 xVster of Nature chose to appear iiiinrscitf in a subordinate situation. These are the csrzsiderations which irzfluence them, which arzirnate thenz, and will anirzratc them agairzst al) oppression; hiowing that He who is called fiat among thern, and first arnotzg us all, horh of the Aock that is fed arzd uf those who feed it, made Hirnself The Se~varztof Al. iVy Lords, these are the securities that we have in all the c~nstit~tent parts of the L3ody of this House; we h o w ttlent, we reckon, we rest upon them, and colnmir safety the interests uf Xndia arzd of huma~zityinto their ha~zds,Therefore it is with cc~rifiderzce that, ordered by the Conznions, I impeach Warren Hastings, Esquire, OF High Crimes arzd Misdemeanortrs, II impeach him in &c name of rlze Conrnzolzs of Great Britain ir-r ParIiarncnt assembled, whose parliamentary trust he has betrayed. I inzpach hirzr in the xzamc of at! the Gontntons of Great Britain &lose national character he has dishonoured. I impeach iiiinr ixz the xzaine of the people of India, whose laws, rights arzd liberties tze has subverted, whose properties tze has destroyed, whose Coc~ntryhe iiias laid waste and desolate. II irzrpeactz tzi~zr in the Ranre and by virtrtc of those etcrrzal laws of justice which he has violated. II irzrpeacti hirzr in the nanze of hunzan nature itself', which iiic iiias crrtctly outraged, iqured and oppressed, in both sexes, io every age, rank, situation and condirion of Iifc.
CHAPTER EIGHT
he French Revolu
The Frenc/~Revolzll.z'on of 1789 and the princ@les ostenst'bh behind it occzkpied Barke fur mwch of his wmaini~lg/z$. He considered the French Reuol~dl.iuvz'thegeddest evil" h hhnd cor$ronted, nnd he res p o ~ d e d wirh a bndy of writings and peeches $had Gib~jin~tes his histurical r q ~ d t a t i o ~ Barkelf . m o s t f i ~ z o ~work, s Reflections on the Kevolt~rionin France (I790), wns his r S respnnP tu the even$$ i n Frdnce i n 1789. AAhozagh Rcf.lections emmined the root caf~sesandprinciph of the French Revulzklinrz fiom primnrib m domestic perspective, Thoughts on French Affairs curztnt'ns a more explicit treatment:of the thmtposed bpi the Freach Kervolggiun to the secgrie nl-zd ciuil s ~ c i e poS;Edropenn international sclcieliy at hrge. Bgrkcr nurote TTttougl~csan French Affairs ns n memorandwlra to the Pitt ministry to s p ~ rBrit&& nad other Egroprtt~pnUicrs tn inter~ewernilitariily apinst the EFW Fre~dr regime. I'n particra1n.r Bzkrke nna&zed the ~ n i q f k enature of the drtrrger of the new
r e m e ii"~ France, which whns cunstitateu! by prirtca(l1es rdtirer t h a ~asrrries* He pwceeded ta shotnil how s ~ c h'Zoctri~eand theoretick indclpn" harms a c o u n q much thro~~gh t e m d i n f i c h n and mr-rrdplj;on-"h .fort $" dry rot"-&S through miiitaq threats nnd am of war, Blarke t h c ~went thruf-~gh the rnaj~rstates a~dprinc+alttirs ilz Egrope QEnbzi~zgtheir vulnerdbiliy t r ~the F~enchdiseae. His dcscr+tions t ~ u r the d e ~ ofthe d 4 Condom mrzd p i a c uf the '22;Piunz~cy'" B r k t indicated that Burke fiarer;l that the destrz~ctinnby the re-;vokzdtion~ries ofibe mnnners, mores, ard t ~ d i h of~Eu:rope1~rz s stdtes was the most seriow mennce tt4n.t had ever befilbn the commonwealth ofEz~rope. Ik Thok~ghrson French Affairs, therz, Bgrke nttevcpted ta ob1!itmk trndionnl not h ~ of s thinki~tgseparidteb (IBOIIL d ~ mLiC a and inerrraainvz~zipc)Iitf'csSf-le expressed his "l/ conviction that the gedrtest Irsszcefic-tizg both thefc~reigz(I& c(nmesl-icpn/icZe~ &very ~ randition and aeiEgropean sgntc" W L Z$he tgde qfFrance. Burke did not. explicit& ddvocdte miIitnry i~zterumtionil~T h o u d ~ t sbat ~ dre re1~Ar(;. lep i p l nu h u b t tIrnt Bzcrkej soZt4;kifc~zto the Fre~zchprobhwzwozlk be mcopnpeing & the threat itse& "
6-
Thoughts on French. Affarirs (1791) fn ail our transactiorzs with France, and at at1 periods, we have treated with that State un the foorirrg of a Monarchy; Monarctly was corisidered in all the external reiatioizs of char kngdom with every Pomr in Europe as it's tcgal and canstitutiolzat Government., arzd that in which alorie it's federal capacity was vested. Xt is nor yet a year since Monsieur de Montmorirz, forr.r.lafly,and with as littfe respect as car1 he irnagined, to the Kng, and to all crowned heads, announced a roral revolution in that country, He has infctr~nedthe Britis11 iUir1istt.y that itk frame of i(l;ovcrnnrent is whofly altered; that he is ulzc of the Ministers uf the xzew systern; arid in effect, that the King is no longer his Irrascer (nor does he even call hi~risuch) but the '9rst of the Minisj;ters" in the xzcw system. The second notification was that of the King's acccptarzcc of the rzcw Canstitution; accomparziecf with fanfaronades in the ~rrodernstyle of the Frenctz bureaus, thixzgs whictl have xn~lchInore thc air arzd cl~aracterof the saucy declamations of their clubs, than the tone of regular oKce. Xr has not t9ccrz very usual to xzutifi to foreign Courts, any thing corzcerriirig the internal arrangenienrs of any State. In the of these two preselzt cast, the circ~~~lsvarzce riotifications, wit11 the observatioris with which they are atcerrded, does not leave ir ixz the dioicc of the Sovcrcigizs uf Christendorn to appear ignorant either of this French Revolution, or (what is more imp~rmrzt)of it's prirzciples.
In this state of tiling5 (that is in the case of a divided kingd~nz)by the law of nations,' Great Britain, like every other Pawer, is free to take atzy pare stze pleases. SIX may decline, wIt1.r. Z E I O ~ Cor less fc~rmafity,accordixlg to her discreticiz, to acknowledge this new sysrenr; or she may recognize it as a Government de ficto, setting aside all discrtssiorz of it5 (original legality, and considerirrg the ancient Monarchy as at an end. Thc law uF rzatiorzs leaves our Gortrt open to it's choice. We I-rave ricn direction hut what is found in the well-~~nderstor~d poticy of the King and the kirrgdonr, This Declaration of a new species of Cavernmerit, or1 rievv principles ( s ~ ~ cithprofesses irsetfto be) is a real crisis in the polliticks of Europe. The curzducr which prrtderice o u d ~tcr t dictate to Great Britain, will not depend (as hitherto our connexion or qrtarret with other Scates has for some time depended) t~porzmerely externrtl relations; but, in a great nreaurc also tipon the systern which we xnay think it right to adopt for the internal gc)vernmerit of our own c o u n t v If it t9c our poIicy to =sirnitate our Gsvernmetzt to that af France, we ought to p r e p r e I"or this change, by encowaging the scherncs of authority established there. We ougllr: to wirik at the captivity arzd depo"iron o f a Prince, with whom, if' not in clusc alliance, we were in friendship. WC ought to fzll in with the ideas of Moris. Montrzzorin's circular Manifesto; and to do business uf coursc with the fuxzctianarics who act under the rievv power, by wtzich that King ro whom his Majcsy's Minister has bccrz scrzt to reside, has Bcetz deposed arid imprisoned. On that idea we orrght also ro wieh-hold att sorts of direct or in&"cc Varrel, b. ii, c, 4, sccr. 56, and b. iii, c. 18, secr, 2%. IBurkds non.]
rect coulltenance from those who are treating ixz Gcr~xlanyfor the re-cstaMishinent of the FrertcIt Monarchy artd the aricient Orders of chat Scate.2 This conduct is suitaMe to this p0119. The question is, whetl~erthis policy be suitable to the ixzterests ofthe Crown and sut~jcctsof Grcat Britain. Lct us therefore a little cortsider the true nature artd probable eff"t:cts of the Revolution which, in such ;l very uxzusuat xnanncr, has keen twice diplomaticdlly anrlourlced to his Najestry; There have beer1 rnany irlterrlal revolutions in the Governnrent of couxltries, but as to persons and fbrrns, ixr which the neighbortrirtg States have had little or no concern. Whatever the Governnrent nright k9e with respect to those persons and those forms, the stationary iilterests of the nation concerned, have most cotrznronly ir-rfiuenccd the rzcw Goverx-rments in the same ntartrler in which they influenced the otd; and the Revolution, t~lrrri~zg on xnatter of local grievance or of local accommodation, did rtot exterid beyond it's territory. The present IXm~t~rtion in Frarzcc sccrns to me to be qrrite of arlotl~ercliaracter artd dexription; and to bear litcle resenrhlance or a n r z l o ~to any of tliose which have been brougi~tabout in Europe, uport principla merely potitical, Id is n Revoitdtiaa ofciloctrine nnd theoretick /logr~;la,Xt has a xnucb greater resenlbiance to those clianges wliich haw been ~rzadeupon religious grounds, in which a spirit of proseIytis~nmakes an esseiztiai part. The last Revolution of doctrine and theory which has iiiappclzed in Eurayc, is the Refnrmaticlr1, It is not far my purpose to take any notice here of the ~rzeritsof LFrench ropIisr dmit.yCs in Germany who were seeking support t o restore the Freilcl~monarchy
that Revolution, hut to state one orzly of it's effects. That effect was ta irctrod~ce‘ether irztercsts irkto all countries, thnn those which arose f i n m their lor/~Liyarzd nat-ur~zlcirrumstl-tl-zm,The pri~zcipfeof thc Reforxnatiolz was such, as by it$ essence, corlld not he local or coilfined to the country in which it had it's origin. For ixzstance, the doctrine of "Jtlstification by Faith or by Works," which was the original basis of tile Reformation, could not have one of it's attenzatives true as to Gerntany, and false as to every other coklntry. Neither are questions of theoretick truth arzd hlschood govenzed by circ~~mstarices ariy rnore than by places. On that occasion, therefore, the spirit, of pmsclytis~nexparzded itself with great elasticity nporz all sides; and great divisitrns w r e every where the result, These divisions however, ixz ayp caralzcc merely- dsgntatick, soon became mixed with the political; and their effects were rcrzdered nluch xnorc intense froin this combination. Europe was for a long time divided into W O great Fdcrions, ilnder the rzamc of Catfrolick and Protesrant, whictl riot only often alieriated State from State, but also divided alxrzost every State within itself. Thc warnz parties in each Stare were more affectionately attached tu those of their own doctrilzal iilterest in sonre other country thalz to their fellow citizens, or to their natural Government, when they or either of them bapperred to be of a different persuasion. Tlzesc Eactions, wberevcr they prevailed, if they did not ahsolrttety destrop at least wcakelled and distracted the locality of patriotism. The publick affectiorzs came to have other ntotives and other ties, It would be to repcat the history of rhc two last certturies to exemplifj7 the effects of this Revolution,
Althoug11 the principles to which it gave rise, did xzot operate with a perfect regitlarity and constaricy, they never wfzolly ceased to operare, Few wars w r e made, and few treaties were entered into ixz which they did riot come in for s m e part. They gave a cotour, a character, and directio~zto all the potitich of Europe. These principles of internal, as well as exrer~raldivisirt~zand coalition, are but just rzuw extinguisfied, But they who will examirte into the true clzaracter and genius of some late events, ntust he satisfied tlzat orher soclrccs of bcrion, co~zrbiningparties arnolzg tlic ixzhabicarzts uf different courztries irtto one connexion, are opened, and that fmnz these sources are likely to arise effects full as important as thosc which had formerjy arisen from the jafrirlg interests of rlie religious sects. The interrrioll of the several actors in the charzgc in Frr-irzce, is riot a matter of doubt. It is very openly professed. X n the modern world, before this time, tlzere has heert ricn irtstarlce of this spirit of general pcnliticai faction, separarcd b t n religion, pwvading sevcral courztrics, and forming a principle of tlninn kemeen the partirans in each. But the thing is #lot less in huxnarz nature. The antient world has filrnislzed a strong and strikirlg instance of sttcb a ground for facrion, fill1 as powerful and full as xnischievous as our spirit uf religious systenr hacl ever been, exciting in all the States of Greece Ruropmn arzd hiatick) the most vioierit a~zimosities,and the most cruel artd bloody persecutions md proscripcions. These ancient hcriofrs in each camrnonwcaltiii uf Greece, canriected tlzernselves wirh those of the same descriprion in sonre other States; and secret cab& arzd publick alliances were carried c m arid made, not upon a conformity of general potitical interests, but for che
support arid aggraridizerrterzt of the two leading Scares which t~eadedthe Aristocratick arzd Democratick Factions,' Ftrr, as in later times, the King of Spain was at che head uf a CathoIick, and the King of Sweden of a Protestarit interest, France, (though Cattlolick, acting subordinarely to the latter,) in the like manner the Lacedcmonianshere every mfzere at the head of the Aristocrarick interests, and the Atherriarzs uf the Democrarick. Tlze two leadixzg Powers kept alive a coristmt cabal artd conspiracy in every State, artd the politicat dogmas concernirlg the constkutiorl of a XkpubIick, were the great ixzstruincrzts t9y which these leading States chose to agrandize themselves, Their choice was not uxlwise; bccausc the ixztercst in upiniolzs . . . wlzen once they take stroiig lzulct of the nliizd, become the most operative of all intercsts, arzd irrdeed very often supcrccdc every other.
The political dognta, which t~ponthe new French sysrerrr, is to ~ j l i t ethe factions of diffcrerzt nrztions, is this, ""That the xnajority tc3ld, by the head, of tile t m b l e people in every coc~n~ry, is the perpetual, nattlral, unceasing, irldcfcasiMc sovereign; that this majclrity is perfectly master of the form, as we11 as the &ministration ofthe state, and that the magistrates, under whatwer flames they are called, are only &iictionaries to obey the orders, (gcrleral as laws or particular as decrees) which that majority may make; that this is the only natural governnrent; that all others are tyranny and us~rpation.'"
% u r L i s referring to the Peloporinesian W&- betRseen Sparta and Athens and their ressye~tiveallies,
llrt order to reduce this dogrrra into practice, the X3cpuBlicarzs ixz France, and their associates in other countries, make it always their business, and often their pubtick profession., to destroy all traces uf antierit estahlistzments, and to farm a new coxrrrrronwatth in each county, upon the basis of the French I?&ht~~jlrMen.O n the principle of these rights, they ntearl to instirute in every couxrtry, and as it: w r e , the germc uf the whole, parochial governnteiits, for the purpose of what they call equal representation. From them is to grow* by some ~rredia,a general council and representative af all the parochial governments. In that: represerztative is to he vested the whole national power; totally abolishing fiercditary nrzrnc and office, tcvelling all coriditic~izsof rrten, (except where money musr make a difference) breaking all conrzcxiorz t9cmce1z territory and dignity, and abolisl~ingevery species of nobiticy, prrrr).,and c11urch establishnrems; ail their priwrs, and all thcir xnagistrates being only creatures of election, and pensirt~zersat will, Knowirzg how apposite a pcrxnancnt larded interest is to that scfierne, they have resolved, and it: is the great drift of aft their regulations, to reduce that description of nteri to a mere peasantry, for the sustenance of the towns, and to place the true effective govertzmerzt in cities, among the tradesmen, bankers, and vc>lt~ntaryclubs of bold, pres~~rrri~rg young persons;-adVOCAECS, attornies, rzotarics, managers uf newspapers, and those cabals of literary men, called academies. Their Republick is to have a first functiorzary, (as they call hirn) under the rlame of King, or not, as they think fit, This office& when such an officer is permitted, is iiiowever, neither in fact nor narrte, to be csrzsidered as sovereign, nor the people as his subjects. The
very use of these appdlations is offensive to their ears. This system, as it has first t9celz realized, dogmatically as well as practically, in France, nrakcs France the ~lattlralhead of ail Factions formed a n a siniilar principle, wherever they ntay prevail, as rnt~clzas Atherrs was the head and settkd ally of all dcrnocratick factions, wherever they existed. The other systein. has no head. This systerrz has very Irrany partizans in every courztry in Europe, b ~ tparticularly t in England, where they we drea+ formed into a body conzprebending ~lrostof the dissenters af the three leading derzuminatitrns; to these are readily agregated all who are dissenters in character, temper, and disposition, though not belonging to any uF their csngregation,-tt~at is, all tlze resdess people who resenzble cllenr, of all ranks and at1 partics-Wl~igs, and evexz Tories-the whole race of l~alf-bredspeculators;-all the Atheists, Deists, and Socinians;-all those who hacc the Clergy, arzd erzvy thc Not>ility---a good rnatry among the ~rroniedpeople;-ttle East X~diansalmost to a xnaxz.,who carzizor bear to find that their present irnpormnce does not: txa a proportion to their walth.5 . . .
%at: direction the Frerzch spirit of yrosclytism is likely to take, and in what order it is likely to prevail in the several parts of Europe, i t is not easy to deternrine, The sccds are sown almost every where, chicfly by newspaper circulations, infinitely ntore efficacious and extensive than ever they were. And they are a xnorc importarzt instrurnerit than generally is intagind. Theyare a part of the reading of ail, they are the SiMen who made thcir fortunes through rhe E a r India Company
under Irnperial constitutions, grants artd whole of the reading of the far greater concessions of Soverciws, bnlily conrpacts rzumbcr. There are thirty of them in Paris alone. The language diffuses t h a n more arzd public treaties, xnade urzder thc sanctioiz, and sonte of thein guarartteed by the widely than the English, tt-tough the English too arc xnuch read. The writers of Sovereign Powers of other nacions, and particularly the old Governmcrzt of France, the these papers indeed, for the greater part, artd natural support of the treary of t are either ~lnknownor in contenrpt, b ~ ~ autt~or Westpbat ia.' they arc tikc a battery in wfiich the stroke of ariy one hall produces no great effect, In sl~ort,the Germarzick body is a vast nrass of heterogeneous States, held tobut the atrroklnt of coxztinual repetition is decisive. Let us olzly sufkr any person to gcthcr by that hetcrogcrzcous body of atd principles whiclz fc>rmed the publick law tell us his story, rnorning and evexiing, but for one t-\it.elvemorzth,arid he will become positive arid doctrinal. The ntodern laws and liberties which the new power in our nraster. All those countries in which several Francc proposed ta introduce into GerStates are contprehenbed urtder sonte genmany, arid to support with all it$ force, of eral ~;eogrrzphicaXdescription, and loosely inrrigue and of arnrs, is of a very different nature, utterly irreconcileable with the itizited by sonre fedcral constitution; couiztries of which the rnembers are small, and the remrse first, and irzdeed ft~rzdamentall~ of It: I rrrem the R&/7l;~nad Liberties oftk~e greatly cliwrsikd in their fomrs of governMnn, the Droit de Z2Namme.That this docmelzt, arzd in the titles t9y which they are trine has ntade an antazing progress in held-these countries, as it ntigi~the well Gerrrzany, there cannot be a shadow of expected, are the principaf objects of their dortkt, They arc infected t9y it along the hopes and machitzatiorzs. Of these, the chief are Germany and Switzerlarid: after whole course of the sine, the ~tlaese,the Moselle, and in the greater p a t of Suabia thenr, Italy has it's place as in circunrarzd Francolzia. It is particularly prcvatcizt stances sonrewhat similar. As to Gcrntany . . . it appears to me to be arnongst all the lower people, churchmen from several circumstances, internal and exand lairy, in the dominions of the Ecclesiternal, in a very critical sicr.tatioxz, arzd the astical Electors.s.8 It is not eahi c(> find or to cortceive Governmerzt.s ntore ntitd arid inlaws and liberties of the Entpirc;" are by rlo d~lfgefltthan these Church Sovereignties; rneatrs secure from the contagion of the but good governrnelzt is as xzothing when Frerzch doctrirzes and the effect of Frcnch intrigues; or from the use which two of the the Rights of :Mar1 take possessitlrt of the greater German powers may m a k ofa gennrind. Ilx-tdecd the loose rein tietd over the eral derangement, to the generd detrimcxzt, peoptc in these provinces, xnrlst he considf do rist say that the Frericfz do rist rneart to ered as one catlse of the facility with mfzich bestow on tt-tese Ger~rranStates, liberties they lend tt-terrzsclvesto any scherrzes of inarzd taws too, dies their xnodc; txtt those are novation, by inducirzg t h e i ' ~to ~ think rist what have l~itl~erto been urzderstsod as lightly of their governinerits, and to judge the laws and liberties of the Elxrpire. These exist and have always existed under the 'Of 1648, wfri~her~dedthe "I-kirty YearsTar in Europe and pri>vicfcd rllc foundacioil &r the moderll principles of feodd terzrtre arid succession, inrernationaf sptem o f sovereign stares. WHy Rolnan Empire.
of grievances not by keliilg, but by imagiXzatlOLz, It is in these Electorates that the first irtlpreskos o f France are likely to be xnade, and if they succccd, it is over with the Ger~nariickbody as it starlds at present. A great revaturion is preparilrg in Gerxnany; and a revolution, in xny oyinioxz, likely to be rnore decisive upon the general fatc of nations ttian that of France itselfi other than as ixz Francc is to be Eouxzd the first source of att the principles wlzicll are in ariy way likely to distillguish tlze trortblsri and convulsrons o f our age, If Eumpe does rzat conceive the ixzdepcrzderzce, and the eqrrilibriunt of the Errtpire to be in tlze very esselice of the system o f balanced power in Europe, and if the schemc of publick law, or mass of laws upon which that indeyendencc and eqr~ilibriu~rz are Eourzded, bc of no leading conscqucrzce as they are preserved or destroyed, all the politicks of Europe for more than two centuries have bcclz xniscrably erroneous. If the WC:,great leading Powers of Gernranyuo not regard this danger (as apparently they do not) in rfic light in wl~ichit preserits itself sr:, natt~rall~, it is because they are powers too g r a " ~ ohave a social interest. That sort af ixltercst t9ctongs only to those, wlzose state of weakness or rnediocriry is such, as to give therrz greater cause of apprckcnsion fronr what may dcsrroy ttzein, &an of hope f f o ~ nany thing by which they may be aggrandized, As long as those WO Prlilccs arc at variance, sc, lorig the iiberties of Gerntany are safe, But if ever they should so far understand one arzathcr as to kc persuaded that they have a rnore direct and £norecertairtly defined interest in a proportioned mutual aggraxzdizcmexzt than in a reciprocal rcduction, that is, if they come to think that
tlzey are ntore likely tc:,he eririched by a division of spoit, than to be rerrdered secure by kecping tct the old policy of preventing others ffom being spoiled by either of thenr, fionr that nronrent the liberties of Germally arc rza mart. That a juslctisri o f W O in such a scheme is ~ieitherimpossible nor improbable, is cvidcxzt fronr the partition a f b l a n d in 1773, which was effected by such a jui~ctinn as ~rzacfcthe interposition of other natioxzs to prwent it, not easy,T'ficir circumstarices at that time l~inderedariy other three States, or indeed any two, fionr taking mcasurcs in comrnon to prevent it, thor~gllFrance was at that: time an existillg power, and had not yet learned to act rtpon a systmn of politic& of her owaz ixzvention. The geograpflical positiori of b f a n d was a great obstacle to any ~rzovements of Fra~zccixz apposition to this, at that tirne rlrlparaileled league. To my certairr knowtedge, if Great Brirai~rhad at that time keen willing to cr9xzcur in prcventing the execrtticln of a project so dangerous in the exanzple, even exhausted as Francc thcrz was by the preceding war,lo and under a lazy and unenterprizing Pririce," die wortld ijiavc at every risquc takclz an active part in this business. But a languor with regard to so remote a1 interest, atzd the principles and passions which we= then stralzgly at work at fiomc, wcrc the carlses why Great Britain would riot give Fra~zceany encouragement in such at] cntcrprix. At that time, however, and with regard to that otject, in my opinion, Great Britain and France had a conrnroxi ixztcrest.
"S~\~CII UearsTar, f 756- 1763. 'IPrtussia and rlre Ausrrim ernpire
1 Inx~isXV.
to one or tlze other of the two g m t GerFratzce, the author of the treaty of Westman Powers. They do not take into conpkalia, is the natrtral guardian of the ixzdesiderat-iarz that- the nlealzs which they enpertdence arid balarzce of Germany, Great coorage, a.; leading to the event they Britai~z. . . has a serious inrerest in preserving it; but, except throngh the power desire, will with certainty not only ravage of France, lachag zqon the common, ~lcl arzd destroy the Empire, but if thcy should for a mornerit seent to agrandise the WC> prir~cipkrvsofStagepoIZg in the case we have supposed, she has no sort uf rncans ufsupgreat houses, will also establish principiss, arzd confirm tcrnpcrs amongst the pcoptc, porting that ixzterest. It is always tile interwhictz will preclude the two Sovereigns est of Great Britai~zthat the power of France should t9c kept within the t9ourzds fronr the possibility of holding what they acquire, or even the domixlions which thcy of moderatisn. It is n(3t her interest that have inherited, It is on the side of the Ecthat power should he wflolly arzrzihilated clesiastical Electorates that the dykes, in the syscer-n of Europe. Thongh at. one time throngh France the indepcndcrzcc uf raised to support the German libcrty first will give way. Europe was elidaligered, it is and ever was ttlrough her aloxze that the conrnron iibThe French have begtln their general erty of Gernlany caxz be secured against apcratialzs by seizing upon those tcrriraries of the Pope, the situatioiz of wfzich was the single o r the conlbirzed ambition of any other power. Xn trtlth, within this centhe ~zrostinvitillg to the eklterpri~e.'~ Tlzeir tury the aggrandizement uf othcr Sovernlethod uf doixzg it was by exciting sedition artd spreading ntassacre arid desolaeign f-for~seshas beer1 st,rch that there has tion ttlro' these ~lnfortunaceplaces, and been a greac change in the whole stare ofEurope, and other nations as well as thcxz urzder arz idea OF kirzdxlcss arzd protection, brirtging forward an antiquated Frarice ntay become objects of jealousy and apprehension, title of the Crown of France and annexing h i g n u n and the two cities uf the Corntar Xr this state of things, a xzew principle uf with their territory to the French Repuballiances and wars is opened. The treaty of lick. They have made an asrenrk?r on Westphalia is, with France, an antiquated Geneva, ixz wfiich they very xzarrowty failed bt9le. The rights and tibcrties site was of success, It is knc3wii that ther hold out bourtd to rnaintatrz are n(3w a systerrt of fionr tinre to tirzre the idea of ~lnitingat1 wroxzg and tyranny which she is bound to the athcr provinces of which Gaul was dest~oy.Hcr good and ill disyositiorzs arc anticntly composed, including Savoy on shewn by the same means, X? commwnical.e the other side, and on this side bok~ncting peaceably the rights of men is the true mode of her shewing hcr fiiendsh+; to thcmsctves by tlrc I&ine. t those rights is force Sovereigns to ~ g b m ito her mode of host-iltq, So that either as frierzd or foc her whole scheme has been Switzerlaxzd arzd Germany arc the first ut9and is, t(3 throw the Empire into confujects of the new Frertch politicians. When sion: and those Statesmen, who follow the I contemplate what they have done at uld routine of pollricks, xnay see ir-r this hoinc, which is ixz effect lirrlc less than an gerzeral ctniifusian, arid in the dartger of the kf~serPrinces, an occasion as protectors "France sei~ecithe papal territories of Avignon ur cxzemies, uf conrzecting their territories and Czumrat Venaissin i t z September 1791.
fore the settlerrreizt of the Bourbon Dynasy, amazing conqtl~;itwrotlghr. by a cflallge of opinion, in a great part (to t 9 ~sure Ear thac body tlas beer3 sy.jtemarimlly lowered, and rendercd ixzcapable by exclusion, and from altogetiter) very sudden, f callnot for inapacity exclt~dedh r r z affairs. . . . hetp letting ~zryt h o ~ ~ g hrun t s along with their dcsigxzs, and wittlout attcrzding to gcographical order, to consider the other ft is a ntelanchoiy reflection tirat the spirit States of Eumpe so far as they may be any of nzetioracion which has beerr p i n g on in way affected by this astonisfling Revotuthat part o f Europe, xnorc or less during tisrz. If early steps are not taker1 in sorne this century, arid the various schernes very way or other to prevent the spreading of this inAuencc, X scarcely think any of them lately on foot For further advancenrerrt are perfectly secure. ail put a stop to at once, Reforrrzation ccrtatnly is rleariy- conr~ectedwit11 innovaItaly is divided, as Germally and Switzerland into nrany snraller States, and with tion-and where that latter conres in for too large a share, those who urzdertakc to sonze colzsidcrat9fr: diversity as to Eornzs o f Government; but as these divisioris and vaimprove their courltry rnay risque their rieties in Xtaly are ~locso considerable, so own safety. In times where the correctio~z, xzeitker do I thirzk the darzger altogether so wfiich includes thc confession of an abusc, irr~inir~ertt there as in Germally and Swirzeris tr~rrledto crirrlirlate the authority which land, Savoy X know that the Frerrch conhas long suffered it, mher tilan to horrour sidcr as in a very hoyck~!way, arzd I bdiew those who would amend it (which is thc rtot at all wittzout reason, They view it as an spirit of this mdignant French distemper) old ~zlerrzberof the Kingdom of France every step out of the conznzoil course hewhich xnay he easily rcurzitcd in the manconzes criticid, and rerzders it a cask fidl of perif for Brir~cesof rnoderate taterits to eriner, and or1 the principles o f the re-union of Avigtlon. This county ~ O n ~ 8 ~ 1 ~with n i ~ ; ~ tgagc e ~ in great uxlderrakings. At present the only safety of Spain is the old rzatiol~alhaPiedmont; and as the King of Sardinia2 dontiniorts were lcmg the key of Italy, artd as tred to the French. How far that car1 be such long regarded by France, whilst France depended upon, if any great ferments should he excited, it is impossible to say. acted on her ofd mtunms, and with viws on Italy; so in this rlew Frenclr entpire of sedition, if once she gees that key into her Denmark arzd Norway do xzot appear to iiia~zds,she ctlrz easily lay opcxz the barrier f~lrntsfiarty of the materials of a derrtocratwhich Liirlders the erttrartce in her present politic& into that i~zviringregio~z,Milan, I ick revolution, or the dispositions to it, Denmark ctln orzly be co~zsequential&afam sure, xzourishes great disquiets-axzd if ~tlitansf~ouidstir, no part of Lombardy is fected by any tiring done in France; but of secure to the: present possessors-whether Swede11I think quite achewise. The present power in Sweden is too rzew a system, the Vc~zctiaizor the Atzstriaiz, Genoa is arid roo green and too sore from it's late ctc~setyconnected with F ~ ~ I C I Z . Reuolutim, to be coclsidcred as perfectly assured. Tlzc King" by his astonishing acAs to Spain, it is a nervdess CC)LIII~V.ft, does tivity, his boldness, his decisicln, iris ready nor possess the use, ir orrly suffers the abuse of a rzot~ility:Far some time, arzd men bc-
On thc krench RevoEz~tian
vetsatility, and by rou7ing and employi~lg the old inilitary spirit of Sweden, keeps up the top with co~ltinnalagitation and lashing. T h e moment it ceases to spin, the Royalty is a dead bit of box. Whenever Sweden is quiet externally for some tirne, there is great danger rhar all the republican elcnlerits she contains will be aninlated by the new Frellch spirit, and of this I believe the King is very sensible. T h e Iiussiar~Governrncnt is of all others the most liable to he subverted by inilitary seditions, by Court conspiracies a i ~ d sontetirnes by headlong rebelliotls of rhe people, such as the rurbi~laring~ n o v c n ~ e n t of I'ugatchef.14 It is nor quire so probable thar in ally of rhese changes the spirit of systcrrl inay rrlirlglc in rhe rriar~rlerit has done in France. 'The Muscovites are n o I should not much great speculators-But rely on their uninquisitive disposirion, if any of their ordinary motives to sedition should arise. T h e little catechism of the llights of Men is soon learned; a11d the inferences are in the passions. Poland, from one cause or another, is always unquiet. The new Co~tstitutioilonly serves to supply that restless people with new means, at least new tnodes, of cherishing their turbulent disposition. T h e boct o m of the character is the same. It is a great question, whether rhe joining that Crown with the Electorate of Saxony, will contribute most to strengthen the Royal authority of Poland, or to shake the Ducal in Saxo~~y. T h e Elector is a Catholick; the people of Saxony are, six seventl~sat the 17eryleast, Protesranrs. I Ie mwt continue a Catholick according to the Polish law, if he accepts that Crown. T h e pride of the Saxons, forn~crlyflattered by having a Crown in rhc House of their Prince, though at1
Ilonour whicll cost them dear; the German probity, fidelity and loyalty; the weight of thc Coxlsritutioil of the Errlpire u~lderthe 'f'reaty of Westphalia; the good temper and good nature of the Princes of the F-Iouse of Saxony; had forrrierly rcrrioved frorn the people all apprehension with regard to their religion, and kept them perfectly quiet, obedient, and eve11affcctionatc. 'The seven years war made some change in the minds of the Saxons. They did not, I helieve, rcgrcr the loss of wl~acnight be co11sidered almost as the succession to the Crown of Poland, the possession ofwhich, by atlrlcxir~gthen1 to a foreign interest, had often obliged them to act an arduous part, towards the support of which rhar foreign interest afforded n o proportiortable strength. In this very delicate sitiiation of their political interests, the speculations of the French and German Oeconovl'zists,and the cabals, and the secret, as well as public docrrines of the I hvzinrrtcnordcns and Fwc Mrlsons," have inade considerable progress in that country; and a turbulent spirit under colour of religion, but in reality arising from the French Rights of Man, has already sllew11 itself, and is ready on every occasion to blaze out.
'+k:rnelyan I'ugachev led an uprising in 1773-1774 againsr (bthcrine 11.
tSSecret sodetirb believed to be promoting radical ide.is.
With regard to I-Iolland and the ruling party rhere, I d o not think it at all rainted, or likely to be so except by fear; or that it is likely to be misled tlnless ii~directlyalld circuitot~sly.But rhe predorni~~ant party in Holland is riot Holland. 'i'he suppressed Faction, though suppressed, exists. Under the ashes, the embers of the late corntnotions are still warm. This Anti-Orange party has frorn rhe day of it's origin been French, though :halicrtatcd in some degree
for some cirrre, throtrgh the pride and folly of Louis the Fourtcetzth. Xt will ever hanker after a Frerich connexisn; and flaw that the ioternal Governnrent in Francc has been assirnilatcd in so coizsiderab1e a degree to that which the immoderate Republicans began so very lately to introd~~ce irzto Holland, their conncxian, as still ntore natural, will he rnore desired, . . . These Provinces in which the French game is so well played, t h y consider as part of the Old Frerlclt Empire: certairtly they were mongst the d&st parts of it. These they think very welt siruated, as their party is well-disposed to a rc-urzion. As to the greater riations, they do riot aim at making a direct mnquesr of thenr, but by disnlrbirzg thcnz throttgti a propagatio~liuf their principles3they hope to weakri, as they will weaken thenr, and keep ttlenr in perpetual alarm and agitation, arzd thus render alt tlteir efforts agaixlst them utterly imgracticable, wfiifst they extend the donrinion of their sovereign arliarchy on all sides. A?; to Endand, tlzere may he sclrne apprel~ensionfrom vicinity, from cotrstant cammurzication, and from the very xzame of Litnertlj; whicfz, as it ought to be very dear to us, in it's worst abuses carries something seductive. It is the abuse of &c first arld best of rhe objects which we clterish. X know that nrany who strfficientty dislike the systenz of Frazce, have yet rzo appreherisions of it's prevalerlce here. I say nothing to &c ground of this secrlrity in the attachnzent ofthe people to their Constitutiorz, arld their satisfactiorz in tlze discreet portion of liberry whicli i t nreasures out to them, Upon this I have said all I have to say, in the Appeai I: have published," That security is something, arzd
#lot inconsiderable, Btnt if a scornr arises X should not much rely upon it. There are other views of things which nzay be ~nsedto give us a perfect (txhougl~in my opinion a deiusive) assurance of our owri security. The first of these is front the weakness and rlcketry EIatLlre of the new systcnz ixz the ptacc uF it's first for~.x~atian, It is thstrght that the ntorlster of a Cont~rzoxlwealthcannot possibly live-that at any rate the ill contrivance of their fabrick will make it fail in pieces of itself-that tlze Assernhly must be bankrupt, arid that this bankruptcy will totally destroy that system, from the coiltagion aF which appreherisiorls are entertained. For nry part X have long tt~oughtthat uxze great cause of the stability of this wretcfliecf scheme of things in Frarice was an opinion that it could #lot stand; and, therefore, that at1 external measures to destroy it were wholly t~seless. As to the bankruptcy; that event has Ilappencd long ago, as xnuch as it is cwer likely to happeiz. S Csot>~i ~ as a rlatiorl c~lnpelsa creditor to take paper currency irt discharge uf his debt, there is a kanhuptcy. . . .
Xn my opinion tiiicrc rzever was scclz so strorlg a gtlvernntent irzterrlally as that of the French iVunicipaiiries. Tf ever any Kbcllion can arise agalx~stthe present system, it m s t hegin, where the Revolution which gave birth to it did, at the Capital. Paris is the olzly place ixz which there is the least freedoin of intercourse. But even there, so nrany servants as any nran has, so maxzy spies, and irreconcileabtc donzestick eriemies. Bltr that place being the chief seat of the power and ixztclligcncc uf the ruling faction, and the place of occasioizai resort: fc)r their fiercrst spirits, even there a revolutioxz is xzut likely to have any thing to feed
it. The leaders of the aristocratick party have bccn drawn out of the kirzgdom by order of the Princes, or1 the hopes held ortt by the Enzgeror and the King of Prussia at Pilxzirz,i7 arzd as to the denlocratick factions in Paris, amc7ngt thent there are no leaders possessed of an influence for any other purpose but that of rnaintaixzing the present state of things. The moment they are seen ro warp, they are reduced to 110thing. Thcy iiiavc xzo attached army-lzo party that is at all persorzal. ft is not to be intagiioed because a political system is, under cerrain aspects, very rtnwisc ixz it's cantrivaxzcc, arzd very misct-zievousin it2 effects, that it therefore car1 have na long duration. Tt's very defects may terzd to it" ssrak9ility, kccausc t h q arc agreeable ta ithiatwe. The very faults in the coxzstitution of Poland rrrade it last; the veto which destroyed all it's c n e r g preserved itk life.18 What can be coxzceived so rnoxlsr-rous as the Republick ofAlgiers?lg arid that no less strange Reprtblick of the Msmurarukes in Eupt?" They are of the worst form imaginable, and exercised in the worst manner, yet they have existed as a nuisarice on the earth for several hundred years. From alt these corzsideratioxzs, and rnarty more, that crtlud up1111 me, three coxlctusiox1s have toxlg since arisen in nry mixzd-
'7Ar Pillllit~in August 1701, rhe Ausrrian emperor and king of kussia requested or1ler European powers ro help them restore the king of France. 'XIrj the Polish legislarrtre, any rnemher cor~ldmercise the lih~rjtmtj~toand stop any piece of IegisIation.
'"Igiers was the home of Barbary pirates, who teruori-ad Medirerrmcm sl~ipping.
sultans in Egypt zoA reference to semiaur~~lclrnous who beca~neasociaed wiclr I~artrbaricrule,
First, that no counter-revf>1~1tit)11 is to be expected in Francc fronr ioternaf causes solely. Secondly, that the longer the present vsten1 exists, rhe greater will be it's strength; the greatcr itbow" to d e s a q discontents at home, and to resist d l farekg11attentpts in hvour of these discontents. Thirdly, that as long as it exists in France, it will be the interest of the managem there, and it is in t11e very essence of their plan, to disttlrb and distract all other gc)verliments, and their eridless successior1 of restless politicians will contirtually srimulatc them to rzcw attempts. Princes are generdty serlsible that this is their: conrnron cause; and two of thenr have n~adea publick declaration of their opinion to this effect. k a i n s t this cornnzon danger, some of ttlenr, such as the King of Spaitz, thc King of Sardinia, and the Republiclr of Berne, are very diligent in using dckrtsive nreasures. If thcy wcrc to guard agairzst an invr-tsion from France, the merirs of this p h i of a nzerely defensive resiwance nright be supported by plauslk9le topicks; klut as tlic attack does not operate against these csuntries exrernally, but by an inrer11aXcorruption (a sort of dry rot); thcy who pursue this merely defensive plan, against a danger which the plan itself alpposes ro be serious, cannot possik9ly ewapciir. For it is in the riature of all defensive nteasures to be sharp and vigorous under the impressions of the first alarm, and to relax by dcgrccs; until at length the danger, by not: operating instantly>conzes ro appear as a false afarnr; so xnuch so that the rzext mexzacing apycararlce will l(1c7k less formidable, and wit1 be less provided against. Btrr ro those who are olz the offensive it is rzot xzecessary to bc always alert. Pc>ssiblyit is ntore their interest nor to be so, For their ~lnfctresccriattacks colztributc to their success.
Iln rile Irzeaxl tirne a systcnr of French corzspiracy is gaining gronrzd irz every country. This systent lzappening to he founded on principles the most delltsivc: indeed, but the nzost Aattcring to the xzatmat properties of the urithinking ntultirude, arzd to rile speculations of all those who thinkl witku~ttthinki~zgvery profoundly, rnust daily extend it's ir-rflueiice.A predonrinant incfinacion towards it appears irz all tiizosc who iiiave xzo rcligiorz, when otherwise their disposition leads them to be advocates even for despotism, . . . Boldness for~zzerlywas not the character of Atheists as such. They weri evcxz of a clzxacter rieariy the reverse; tlzey were . . . rather an uxlenrerprizing race. But of tare they arc grown active, designing, turbulclzt arld seditious, They are sworn erienties to Kings3Nobiftty and Priesthood, We have scerz all the Acadcmiciarzs at Paris, with Csndorcet,fi the friend and correspondent to I)riestley,22 at- their head, the most furious of the extravagant Rcyut9licarzs. The late Assembly, afier the last captivity o f t h e King, had actually chosen this Condorcet by a majc9riry un tlie ballot, for Preceptor tc:, tlze Dauphin, who was to be taken out of the hands arzd direction of his parents, and to be delivered over to this $ariatick Atheist, arid furious democratick Republican. W is uncractahili ty ro these leaders, and his figure in the Club uf facobins, which at that tirne they wished t s bring under, alone prewnted that part of the arrange""& and others ixz the same style, from being carried into execution. W ~ i l s he t was ca~ldidatefor this office, he pmduced his title to it by prornufgating the foilowing ideas of the tide of his rcyd 2"'Xhe inaryuis de Carldor~erwas a leading figure allong clrc French revolurioilarirs.
2Wr. ioseyh Priestley, a British cleric and sciel.ttist who \tvelcc>~nedtlre Frel.t~hRew lurion.
pupil to the cr~>w~z. 111 a paper writteti by him, and published with his nanze, against the re-estabIishnrerzt, even of the appeararlce of monarchy t~riderariy qualificatio~zs,He says, "bjntij. now they (the Natioxzai Assembly) have prcjudgcd nothing. Reservirlg to thetnselves a right to appoint a Preceptor ro the Dauphin, they did not dcclarc that this chikd wds to reign; but only that possibh tlze Cc~nstitutisnmi&t descine him to it: they willed that white education should efFace from his mind all tlze prejudices arising h n t the cFekz;tsionsof the gi~rone respecting his pretended birthright, it should afsu tcach iiiinz not to forget, tltat it isfionz thepeople lze is to receive the title of King, and that gheprople do not cwnpofses the ~ i g hofgiutrzg t ap the&
potaer tn t d k itfiom Aim. They wilted that this education should rc-clrzderhim worthy by his krzowiedgc, and by iris virtues, botlz to receive with submission the dangerous burden of a crown, md to m@ it with phnsuw into the hands uf his bretbreri; that he slzould be csr~scic>ns char the tlasccning of that moment when he is to be only a conzrnon citizcrz, constitutes the duty and the glory of a King of a free peopte. They willed that- the weiessness o h King the necessiy o f seeking means to estabIish something in lien of apnwesfigraded on kC lsj.fi;ons,shor~ldt9c unc of the first truths uffired to his reason; the obiigation ~ f c o n -
firrrri~ghimself& this, thejrst ~ f h i unnv~zl f &%ties;n~zdthe desire of no tonger beirzgfieed @urn theyhe ~ f t h etaut, by an inj~riogsinviolabilip thejrst a d chief sentiment ofhis heart. They are rzot ignorarzt that irz the presetit monterit tlze object is less tc3 form a King tllan to teach him thnt ire should know how to wish H Q tonger to br sgch." Such are tlze setitinterits of the ntari wlzc:, has occasirt~zallyfitled the chair of the National Assemt-tlyl who is their perpetrtal
secretay, h e i r only statrding offker, and the xnosr important t9y far. He leads thenr to peace or war. He is the great theme of the Rt-publica;\tzhctinn in England. These ideas of M. Condorcet, arc the principles of those to whom Kirzgs are to entrust their successors, and the interests of their succession. This xnan wortld be ready to plunge the paigrtard in the heart o f his pupil, or to wtlec tlre axe fbr his neck. Of all men, the xnost dangerurts is a warxn, hot-headed, zealous Atheist. This sort of rnari aints at dominion, arrd his rneans are, the words Ire always has in this nrauttr, "Cdgalitd rzatrtrclte dcs Hornmcs, et la Souveraintd du Peuple."LJ Ail former attempts gronndcd on thesc Rights of Men, had proved unfurturzatc, Tlre success of this last: ntakes a mighty difference in the effect of the doctrine. Herc is a prirzclylc of nature, to the xnuttirude, the most seductive, always exist-ing before heir eyes, as a thilzgfiibb in prartice. After so nrany Failums, such an enterprize previous to the French experimer~t, carried ruin to the contrivers, on the face uf it; arzd if any enthusiasr was so wild as to wish to engage in the scheme of that nature, it was not easy h r him to find fal)ewers: Mow there is a parry almost in all countries, ready ntade, animated with SWcess, with a sure Alty in the very center of Europe. Thcrc is no cabal so obscure irz ariy place, that they do riot protect, ctlerish, Foster, and endeavour to raise it into ixnpormrzce at honre a116 abroad. Frorn the lowest, this intrigue will creep up to the triglrest, Axrrbirion, as well as enthusiats-m, may find it" aaccouizt in the party arzd in tlze principle.
z?""l"herlartrral equality of iner>,and the sovereignr)l of the people,'"
In this state of gerierd rattextiless arxrong subjects, and of delusiorr and htse potiticks in Princes, conres a rzew cxyerirnelzt. crhe King of France is in the h d s of the Chiefs of che kgicide Faction, the Barnvacs, Lamctihs, Fayettcs, krigords, Dupc~rts,Robespierrek, Gamusk &c. &c. &c. They who had inrprisoned, suspended, and candirioxzalky dcposcd him, arc his confidential counsellc.rrs.The next desperate of tire desperate rebels, cat t then3selves the Modemte Parry. "They arc the Chiefs of the first AssemM21;wlzc:, are csrzfederated to support tireir power during their suspension from the prcsclzt, and to govern the existent. body with as sovereigrz a sway as they had done the last, They have, for tire greater part, succeeded; and they iiiave many advaritages towards procuring their success in hture. Just before tire close of their regular powcr, they k9cstowcd some appearance of prerogatives on the King, which in their first plans they had refused to him; particularly the mischievons, and in his situation, dl:eadfcll prerogative of a &to, This prerogative (whictr they hold as their kit in the mouth uF the National Assembly for the time being) without the direct assistance of their Club, it was irzrpassible for the King to shcw even the desire of exerti~lgwith the sntallest effect, or even with safety to his person. However, by playing throrlgh this Kto, the Assembly against the King, artd the King agairlst the hscrrzbly, they have ~rradettrenrsetves masters of Both. XEI this sit~fatiofz,iiavlng destroyed the old Governmerlt by their sedition, theywoufd pressrve as nruch of ordcr as is necessary for the support of their own usurpation. Ilt is believed that tiris, by far the worst party uf thc miscreants of Frai~cc,has rcceived direct ertcouragerneizt from the coi~nscllorswho betray the Emperor, Thus strerzgthelzed by the possession of the cap-
tive King (~iowcaptive in his ~rzindas well as in body) and by a good iiiapc afthc Einperor, they irtterid to serid their ~tlinisters to every Court in Euroh~e;having sent befare thern such a dc~zurzciationof terror artd superiority to every rtatiorl without exception, as has no exanrpfe in the diploxnatick world. Hitherto the ~Vinistcrsto foreign Courts had beer1 of the appointment ofthe Sovereign of Frmcep~viazrsto the Retrolzktion; a i d either from inclination, duty or decorrtm, most of tllent were conterited with a merely passive obecfierice to the new power, At present the King being entirely in the haizds of his jailors, arzd his ntirld broke11 to his situation, cart send none hut the enthtlsiasts of the system. . . . Thesc Ministers will be so many spies and incendiaries; so marly active emissaries of Derzzocracy, Their houses will becoxrze places of re~zdczvoushere, as every where else, arid cerlters of cabal fczr whatever is nrischievous and nralignanr in this country; particularly arnong those of P"BII~and fasllie~n.As the Minister of the National Asscnrbty will be adnrit~edat this Court, at least with his usual rank, and as entertairtmeilts will he rlaturally giver1 and received by the King's own Ministers, any attempt to discarlrztcrzancc the resort of other people to that Minister would be ineffectual, and indeed absurd, and full of curztradiction, The woincrz who eorrlc with these Anthassadors will assist in fomenting factious anroungst ours, which cannot fail of extending the evil, Sonle of them I: hear are already arrived, There is rio doubr: they will do as nrllctt nrischief as they can, Whilst the publick ~tlinistersare received under the general law of the conrxnunication betweexi nations, the carrcsportderices bemeen the factious clubs in France and ours, will be, as they rlow are, kept up: but this prctcizded enlbrtssy will
be a cltzser, rnore steady and more effectr~al link beween tile partizans of the new system an both sidcs of the water. I da not Inearl that these h g o - G a l l i c k cit~txin Loxldo~l,~blanchesrer,&c. are #lot dangcrous in a high degree. Tlze appaintmerzt of festive anrliversaries has ever in the serise of rrzankiitld beet1 held the best rrretilod of keeping dive the spirit of any institution. We have orte settled in London; arid at the last of therrz, that of the 14th of July, the strong discarlntcrza~zccof Govcrxzxncnt, the unfavourable rime of the year, and the then uxlcerrainty of the disposition of fareign Pc~wers,did not tiinder the meeting of at teast rlirie hundred people, witlii good coats on their backs, who could afford to pay hdf a gulxzea a head to shcw their zeal for the new principles. They were witit great difGculty, and all possible address, hindered .from irzvitlrzg the French Amkassadsr. His real indisposition, besides the fear of offending any parry,sent hint out of town. Brtt when our Court shdt have rccognized a Goveriimeizt in France, fourlded on the principles anrtlounced in Montmorink Letter, iiiow can the French Ambassador be frowned upurt for an attendance on those rrzeerings wherein the establishment of the Govcrrzment he rcpreserits is celebrated?An everit hagperled a few days ago, which ill many particulars was very ridiculous; yet even from the ridicde and ak:sr,lrdiry of the proceenings, it nzarks the rnore strongly rhie spirit ofche French Assemb1y. I mean the rcccptioxz they have givert to the Frith-Street Atliance. ThisI tllouglf the dclirirlnz of a t o y drunken atehouse-clnt7, they have pc~MicIy arlrlourtced as a forrnal alliartce with the people of h g l m d , as such ordered it to be prmaxed to their King, and to t9c published in every province in Fraiice. This leads rrzore directly and with rrrllch greater forcc tharz arzy proceeding with a regular
and rational appearance, to w o very material considerations. First, it shews thar they are of opiniorz that tlze crtrrerit opinions of the English have the greatest illfluerice an the xninds of rhc peopic of Francc, arzd indeed of ail the people in Europe, since they catch with suctr astoxiishing eagerness at every the most trifling shew of srtch opinions in their favour. Next, arid what appears to nre to be ftdi as irziportant, it shews that they arc willirig puhlickly to countenance arzd even to adopt every factions csrzspiracy that car1 be fomted in this ~iatio~z, hc>wever low and base in itselg in urdcr to excite in the most miserable wretches here, an idea of their OWII sovereign inrportance, and to encourage them to look up to France, whcxzever they nray bc rnatured irrto somedzirlg of more force, for asistance in the subversion af their donrestick Gavemmcxzt. Tliis address of the dchouse club was actually proposed and accepted by the Assenrbly as an akIZ~znce. The procedure was ixz xny opinion a ki$i misdemearzor in tlzese who acted tlzus in England, if they were not so wry tovv and so very brtsc, that rzo acts of theirs car1 be cdied high, even as a description of crimi1ia1ity-y; and the kscmbly in accepting, proclalnrirzg and publishing this forged alliance, lras been g d y of a plaixl aggression, wtrich would justiS our Court in dernandixzg a direct disavowat, if our poticy should riot lead us to wink at it. Whilst I look over this paper ro traw it copied, I sec a Marrifesta of the Assembly, as a preliminary to a declaration of war against rl-te Gerrzian Princes an the Rhine. This Maizifesto contains thc whole subsrarzce of the French pokticks with regard to foreigrl States. They have ordered it to be circtzlatcd arnongst the people in every country of Europe-even previclusty to it's accepeance by the King and his new Privy Council, . . . Therefore, as a surnmary uf
their policy avowed by themselves, let: us consider sonre of the circunrstances attcrrdixzg that piece, as well as the spirit arrd tentper of the piece itself. It was preceded by a speech fictnr Brissot,24 full of uriexampled insolence towads ad the Sovereip States of (;emlazy, if nut of Europe. Tlze Assembly, to express their satisfaction in the sentirnerits which it coxztained, ordered it to be printed. This Brissat had kccrr in the lowest and basest errtploy urider the deposed ~clonarciry;a sort of thief-taker, or spy of police, in which ctraraccer he acted after the Irratlner of pcrsurzs in that descriptioxz. He had been employed by his master, the Lieuterrant de Police, for a coxisiderable ri~rzein Lolldon, in the sarnc or sornc such honourable occrtpation. The Revolution wlzich has brouglrr frtrwad alt merit of that kind, raised him, with urhcrs uf a sinrilar class arid disposition, to fame arid emirzeizce, On the Revolution tre becanre a publisher of an inhrnous rzewspapw, which lie stilt continues. He is cl~arged,arid I: believe justly as the first nr~verof: the troubles in Hispaniola.25 There is no wickedness, if f ant rightly inforsned, in which he is not versed, and af wfricfr he is ~ i o tperfectly capable, His quality of xrews-writer, xrow an einplormerit of the first: digriiry in Francc, and his practices and principles, procured lris ctectioxz into the Assemt9Iy, where he is orie of the leadillg nternbers.Mr. Condarcet produced an the same day a draft of a Declaration to the King, which the Asserrthly published before it was presented.
24Jean-Pierre Brissor, who was a leading advocate of wdr arnong the French revolutionaries. fikrissot founded and served as a1 ofiiiiter fol the Arnis 3es Noirs, a so~ietjrpromclring the riglrrs and itztlerescs of biacks itz rhe West Indies.
251 Condorcet . . . is a nran of another sort of birth, fashioxr, and occupation from Brissot, but in every principle, and in every disposition to the lowest as well as the highest and most dcterxnineci villainies, fully his equal. He secorzds Brissot: in tire Assembly and is at once his coadjutor and his rival in a nLrivspapcI; which in his owri rlame and as successor to Mr. Garat, a Menrber also of the hscrrzbly, he iiias just set up in that Empire of Gz~cttes. Csndorcet was ctroseri to draw the first Declaration preserited by tlte Assenrtbly to the King, as a threac to the Elector of Trcvcs, and the other Princes a n the Rhine. In that piece, . . . they declared pubtickly, and nrost proudly and insolently, the yrir~clplean which they mean to proceed in their future disp~rteswith any of the Sovereigns of Ewope, for they say "That it is xrat with fire arrd sword they ntearz to attack their territories, but by what will be more dre~tdfglto therrz, the ir-rtroduction of li herty."4 have not the paper by me to give ttre exact words-but II believe they are nearly as II state therr-r, Breddj4l indeed will be thcir hostility, if: they sirorlld be able tc:, carry it on according to tire exanrpie oftheir nrodes of introduclxzg libcrry; They have skewn a perfect model of tbeir whole &sign, very complert, though in little. This gang of nrwdercrs and savages have wtially laid waste and utterly ruined the heautift~iand lrappy country of the Conrtar Qnatssin and the city af Avignon. Tlris cruel and treachcro ~ t soutrage the Sovereigris of Eumpe, in my opinion, with a great nrisrake oftheir iiiananr and interest, have pcrnrittsd even without a rcatorlstrarice to be carried to the desired point, on the principles on which they arc now thernsctvcs thrcatcxrcd in their own States; arid this, becat~se,according to the poor and narrow spirit now in fashioxz, their brother Sovereign, wtiase
subjects have beer1 thus trairerously arid inhunranly treated in violation of the law uF narltrc and of nations, iiias a xraine somewhat dif'fererit from theirs, and instead of being sty1cd King or Duke, or L a n d g r a ~ , is usuatjty catled h y c . The Electors of Treves arid ~tleritzwere friglrtened with the menacc of a similar mode o f war, Ttzc Assembly, howcver, rrat thinking that the Electors af Treves and l v ' k r m had dotre enough under their first terror, have again kronght forward Condorcet, preceded by Brissot, as f have just stated, The Declaration which they have urdcred xraw to be circulated in all courrtries, is in substarice the same as the first, but stitl rr-rore insolent, because rrrore fuII uf dctail. There they have the imyuderzcc tc3 state that tlzey airn at no conquest; insintlarirzg that all the old lawfill Powers of the Wortci had each xnadc a constant opcrz profession o f a desigrl of sobduing his rreighbours. They add, that if they are provokcd, their war will k9c directed afzly agairlst those who assume to be Masters. But to the People they will bring peacc, law? liberty, &c. &c. Therc is not the least hint that they corlsider those mfzont tlzey cat1 persons 'k~sumingto be Ma~gen,'' to be the lawful Goverx~xncntof thcir country, o r persorls to be treated with the least rr-ratragcnreritor respect, They regard them as usurpers arrci enstavers uF the people. If I do not mistake tlzey are described by the rranre of tyrants in Condorcet's first draft. X am sure they arc so in Brissotk sspccch, ordered by ttre Assembly tc:, he pririted at the same tin-re and fir the san-re purposes, Tlrc whole is in the same strair-r, fuil of: false philosoplzy arid fdse shetorick, both lrowever calculated to captivate and influclzcc the vulgar mind, arzd to excite scditicm in the countries in which it is ordered to be circulated, Indeed it is suctr, that if any of the lawful acknawtcdgcd Sovereigrzs
252 of Europe had prtbliGkly ordercd such a manifesto to t9c circulated ixz the dominiorls of ariother, the Antf;,assador of that power would instantly be ordered to quit every Court without arz audience. The pc~wersOF Europe have a pretext for corrceating rheir fears, by saying that this tarzguagc is not used by the King; tlzough they will know that there is in effect no such person, that the A s e d l g is ixr rcalir;ir, and by that King is acknawtedged to he the IWdsger) tlzat what he does is but rnatter for formality, and that lze can neither cause nor hinder; accelerate or retard any nleasurc whatsoever, rzar add to or softer1 tlze ntanifesto which the Assernbly has directed to be published, with the dcctared purpose OF exciting mtltii~yand rebetiic>trin the several cortntAes goveriled by these powers. By the generaliry also of the xncnaccs corztair-red ixr this paper (though infinitely aggravating the outrage) they hope to remove from each power s y a r x d y the idea uf a distinct affrsiit, The persons first pointed at by the Irrenace are cerrainly the Princes of Germany, wfia iiiarbour thc pcrsccutcd Hok~sc of Bourbon artd the Nobility of France; the dectarasioxl, liowever, is general, and goes to every statc wick whicfi they nlay have a cause of quarrel. But the terror of France has fallen upon all nations. A few months sincc all Sovercigrzs sccrncd disposed to unite agairist her, at present they all sccrzi to conrbine in her favour. At no period has tlic powcr uf Frajzcc ever appeared with so fijrmidable ari aspect. In particular rile libertics of the Empire can have rzathing nlarc than an existcncc the most: totterirlg arld precarious, whilst France exists with a great power of famenting rebellion, arzd the grrcatcst in the weakest; hut with rieitlzer prxver nor disposition to support the smaller stares in
their indeperrdence against the attentprs of the Irrore pctwerfut, X: wind up alt in a Eult conviction within my own breast, arid the substartce of which I IIIUSC repeat over and over again, that- the state uf France is the first consideration in the politicb of Europe, arid of each state, erernally as well as internally considcrcd. Most: of the toptcks I lzave used are drawn from fear and appret~msion.Topicks derived Erorn Eear or addressed to it, are, I well know, of drtubtfrll appeararice. To be sure, hope is in general the incieement to action. Alaern sornc men-you do not drive tlzent t(3 provide for their secrtrity; you put ri-tenr to a stand; plt ind~tce them not to take xncasilrcs to prevent the approach of danger; hut tc:, reint:,ve so unpleasant an idea ffonr rheir mirtcls; you persuade them to rcnlain as they arc, fiuin a n w fear that their activity may bring on the apprehended nrischief before it's time. I confess Erecty that this evil sometirncs lzappens frorn. an overdone precaution; hut it is when rile nreasures are rash, ilt chosen, or ill carnbincd, and the effects rather OF hliild terror tlzan of enliglltened foresi$~t. But rhe few ro whonr X wish to submit nry thoughts, arc uF a character wfiich will enable them to see danger wihortt astonishnrenr, and ro provide against it wirlloue perplexity: To what lerigtizs tlzis ntetlzod of circulating ~llutirlot~s manifestos, and of keeping enlisfarics of sedition in every Court uizdcr the riante of Anthassadsrs, to propagate the same principles a d to hllow the practices, will go, and iiiaw soolz they will aperate, it is hard to saY-btlt go on it will--nrore or less rapidly, according ro events, and to the buxnortr of thc tirnc, Thc Princes nterlaced wtrll the revc~ltof their subjects, at the same rime ri-tat they have
obseq~~iouslg obeyed the sovereign mandate of the rzcw Roman Serzate, have rcceived with distinction, in a pt~bfickcharacter, Anrbassadors fiom those who in the same act had circulated thc manifesto uf seditiorz in their dontinions, This was the only thing wa~itingto the dclgradation and disgrace of the Gcrmanick Body. The Ambassadors frc~mnthe Rights of Man, and their admission into the diploxnarick system, I hold to bc a rzew acra in this business. ft will he the most intportant step yet taker1 to affect: the exisrelice of Sovereigtls, and the higber classes of lit;-I do rzot xnean to exclude irk effects upon all classes-hut the first blow is ainted at the nrore proxrzi~lentparts in the ancient order OF tliilirigs. What is to be done? Tt would be presunrption in me to do xnorc thajz to make a case, Ma~zythilzgs occur. But as they, like all pr7liticaf measures, depend on dispositioxls, tempers, xncans, and external circumstances, for ail their effect, rtot being we11 assured of these, T do not know how to let loose any speculations uf mine a n the subject. The evil is stated in nty opinion as it exists. The renredy must be where power, wisdom and inhrmatioxz, I hopc are xnorc united with good intentions than they cart he with me. T have done wit11 this subject, I believe for ever. Is has given xnc many anxiorls montertts for the two last: years, If a great chatlge is to be nrade in hunran affairs, the xninds of men will be fitted to it; the general opinions and feelings will draw that way. Every fear, every hope, will forward it; and then they who persist in apposirzg this mighv w e n t in human affairs, will appear rather to resist the decrees of Providence itself3 than tlic mere designs uf nten. They will not be resolute and firm, but perverse and obstinate.
In~oduetovNote to
HeaASQr Consi&rkttion on the Presezg S-tizge ofAf11:ir.s ( 1792) Burkei wdrnir~gsaborlt $he miIitnrisric and expdnsianist pa tentinl of the revulz~tionnry French regime begna to rirg true irr /;;"522, Frgnce deckred war urz Austria and Prussi~z irz Aprii 1792, and its arwzies nchieved n dec2fZ'~e t~ictoryover the Austrian and Prtassian armies BC k l m y in September 1792. Rtlrkr wr.ote Heads for Cox;lsidcration on the Present State of Afkirs ~gizinsrthis backp t l n d of Fre~zchsi?lccesSand expdnsio~z,AS he d d in Tlzougilts on FrencIi Mfairs, he wrote Heads for Cr>nsideratic>nii.z order 1.8 inflzkelzce the Pitt ministry 60 li.zke actiz"orz ngdi~zstthejlacobin regime &l-zdto counter the azunilzrrervenl;onzffstance c?fChrhs Fox. Iu Elieads for Consideratio~i,Bark6 acted rzs the qzdi~tessentinlfire&npolicy nd~iscl; oferip~gsugeshinm o~ miliil~~ry strat.6~and criticizing the A11sti"ian a~zdPrnssian ge~zernb OH their tnctics lendi~zgto the Elmy dehdcle. He a h cou~~eled Gredt Brit.airr, adrrisi~zg it tu aIb ggickb with %fi)nin60 preserw some hope of mnz'ntnz'rzirzgn baldnce ofpraurcr againfi Fre~lchamhirin~sand to f i h w its ancierjt trndz'lrion of upposing h c h nttcnplts to give the Inw to Eurqe, He adt~ocnteu!nn ofensige allia~cedesiped not to corztdin French power but to czlt orlr '2hz'~eviI in the hed~"rtnfE@ro?pe.I~zdeed:he argued t h a ~Britdin mwt. he tr'jrc had power and the mrll of"the ofensi~e/~Ikz'a~%re. Heads for Cansideratiolz irc mnBy ways cumtil.uced Lhephnj~ractinn agdimt Fraace that- Barke decLined I%,provide at the rpm( of Thoughts ulz French Affairs, There is in Heads for Cc>nsideratic.znan urger2cy that r
from lire P;N mi~lkgrythin did Thoughts un French Affairs,(-*
Heads far Consideration on the Present State of Aflaiiirs ( 1 792) That Frarzce, by i t h t e r e geograplzical position, independently of every other ckcunrstaxlce, ~rrustaffect ewry Srate of Europe; sosnc of tiiicnl immcdiatcty, all of them thraugb meditlms riot very rem~>te. That rile standing policy of this kingdon1 ever has txcrr to watch. over the external proceedixlgs of France (whatever form the interi~urGovernment of that kingdom might take) arzd to prevent the exrcxrsiolz of it's domirziorz or it5 ruling influence, over other States. That, there is notlling ixz the present int e r ~ &state / of things iri France, which a/ters tlre ~latio~lal policy with regard to the cxteriour relations uF that courztry. That there are, o n the corztrary, rnarzy thirrgs in the irrternaf circumstances of Frarzcc (and perhaps uf this courztry too) which tend tc3 fortifr the principles of that fundamentat policy; and which rerrdc-r the active assertion of those principles more pressing at this, than at any tirrmer time. That, by a chang effected in about three weeks, Frajzcc has keen able to pelletrate into tlre lzeart of Germarty; to make an absolute conquest of Savoy; ro nrenace an immediate ixzvr-tsionuftiiic Ncthcrla~zds;and to awe and overbear tile whole Helvetick Body," w k h . is in a nlost perilous situation. The great histocratick Carztons having, perhaps, as ntt~ct-lor more to dread
Cram heir own people wflorlr chey arnr, but do xrot G ~ L ~ SorC dare to employ as from the foreign enrmy2 which against Rll puhliclc hith has butchered their troops, sewing by treaty in Frarzcc." To this picture, it is lzardty riecessary to add, tlze rnearzs by which France has beerr erlabled to effect all this, nrzmcty the apparelztly entire destruction of c:,sze of the largest, and certairily the highest disciplined, and best appointed arnly ever seen, headed by the first military S(3vereign in Europe, with a Captairi trnder him of the grwest: renowll; arzd that withour a btow given or received on any side.28 %"hisstate of rhings seems to me, m r z if it went no furtiler, truly seriaus, Circunrstaxlces have enabled France to do all this by had: Qrz the other e~esnexzt she has hegrlsi to exert herself; arzd she nrust succeed in her designs, if erlenries very diffcrcrzt from those she has iiiitherto lzad to encounter, do rzot resist her, She has fitted our a naval force, now actually at sea, by which she is enabled to give law to the mflole Mediterranean, It is known as a fact (a*tldif not so known, it is in tiiie nature of things highly probatlle) that she proposes the ravage of the Ecclesiastical Stare,2Qarrd the pillage uF Rome, as her first abject; that rzcxt she xncans to bombard Naples; to awe, to lzurnble, arzd tlzus to conrnrand all Tralty-to force it to a nonlixral ncrttrality; krtt to a real dependence-tc:, contpel the Itatiari Princes and Reprrblicks ro adnrit the fiee entrance of the French commerce, arz apclz intercourse, artd tlze sure concomitarit of that interz7Hundreds of Swiss aoops gt~ardirlgrlre Fren~h royal hrnily were killed i n Augrtrt 1792 when the p J x e rtF the 'Iittlerics was stoirned. zVrer>cIr artnies defeated li'russian forces corn-
mmded by C~harIcs11, d r l l of Bruilswick, a€ Vdmy in Septrtrnber 1792,
course, the a@/iateki, societies, in a nzmner similar to those skc has csrabllsficd at h i gnon, the Cointat, Charnherry, Londmz, Manchester, &c. &c. which are so nrally colonies ptarzted in all thcsc countries, for exteriding the influence, arid securing the dornirlion of the Frrncfn kpublick. That there never has t9ccrz Lzitherto a pcriod in which this kingdom woufd have suffered a French fleet to donlineer in the Mediterranean, and to brce ITAI-Y to subntit t(3 such terms as France worlld think fit to irnpose-to say nothing of what has been done upcm land in support of the sarnc system. The great objecr for which we preserved Minorca, whilst we coutd keep it, and for which we sril retain Gibraltar, both at a great cxpencc, was, and is, to prevent the precfomirlarlce of France over the Mediterranean, Tlrzrts 6ar as to the ccrraixl and immcdiate effect of that arutarrterit upon the Itatian States. Ttre probable effect which thar armamcrzt, and the orfier armaments preparing at Toitfon, and other ports may have upon SPAIN, a n the side of the Medircrranean, is worthy of the serious atterition of the British councils. That it is ~rrostgrobabfc, we nzay say9in a xnanlzer certaixz, that if rherc should be a rrtpture bemeer1 Frarlce and Spain, Frarice will not confine her offensive piratical operatiorzs against Spain, to her eFlorts in the ~tleditcrrariean;on which side, however, she may grievously affect Spain, especially if she excites Morocco arzd Ngicrs, which itndoubtedly she will, to fail uparl that power, That she will fit out armamelzts upon the ocean, by which the flota itself rrtay be interccpted,3" and thus the treaurcs of all "%urkc is referring to the Spanish ships transportirlg goods to and from Spair>'$colarrial possessions in tlre Americas.
Europe, as well as the largest and surest resources of the Spanish. monarchy*nzay kc conveyed into France, and become powerfill insrruxrrencs for the annoyance of all her rzei$bours, That she makes ricn secret of her desigrzs. That, if the inward and ok~trvardbound Aata should escape, still Fraircc has nzorc arid better rnearls of disseverirlg ntarly of the province"n die West aild East Indies, from the state of Syaixz, than Hotjarrd had die11 she succeeded in the sante attempt. The French ntarirle resembles riot: a little the otd arrrralnerlts of the Flibusrriers,-l~ which about a centrtry hack, in cor~junction with pirates of our tiati<~ii, braughr such calatrriries upon the Spaxlish colloxlies, They differ only in this, that thc prcscrzt piraticat force is, out of all measrlre and conrparison, greater; one hundred and fifty ships of the lilze, and frigates being ready built, most of them in a nzarlrler rrew, and all applicable in diEercrrr ways to that service, Privateers arzd Moorisk corsaires possess not the best seainanship, and very little discipline, and indeed can ~rrake rza figitre in regular service, but in dcsperate adventures, and arii~naredwith a lust of plunder, they are truly formidable. That the lard forces of Frarzcc arc well adapted to concur with their ntarine in conjunct expeditions of this Ilarure. lln such cxpcditiorzs, entcrprizc supplies thc want of discipline, arid perhaps rnore than supplies it. Both for this, and far other service . . . orze arm is extrerncfy good, the Engineering and Artillery brarich. The old officer corps in both being conzpoad for the grcatcr part of those who were rzot gentlerrrrn, or gentlerneri newly such, few haw abaxldoned the service, atzd the Irreri arc veterans welt cxzarlgh disciplined, and very expert. In this piratical way they must 3V17irares operaring
itz
the Caribbean
~izakewar with good advantage, They must do so, even on the side of Flanders, eirfier offensively or defensively This sfiews the difference between the policy of Louis the XIVth, who built a wall of brass about his kingdom; and that of Joseph the Second, who prcnreditatedly uncovered his wliate frontier. That Spain froin tlze actual and expected prwaience of French power, is in a most pmilo~tssituation; perfectly deperzderit o n the mercy of that Rep~rblick.If Austria is broken, or ever1 hunthled, she will not dare to dispute it's nrandates. Xrz thc prese~ztstate of thixzgs, we have ricnthing at all to dread front the pclwer of Spain bp sea, or by land, or fionr any rivdry in cornmcrce. That we have mucl1 to dread front the con~lexioxls into which Spain nray be farccd, From the circrtntstarlces of lzer territclrid possessions, of her resources, and the whole of her civil and political state, we rnay be authorized safely, and with undorlbted confidence to affirm, that Spdz'r~is not n subst&ntiz,ePowe~: That she rntlst lean on France, or o n Ellgland, That it is as xnuch for the irztcrest of Great Britairi to prevent the predrtminarlcy of a French interest in that kingdom, as if Spain were a province of tlic Crown of l~ Great Britain, or a State a c t r ~ a l dependent on it; full as much so as ever Portugal was reputed to be. This is a depcrzdc~zcyof mucl1 greater value: arid it"sestruction, or it's being carried to any other dependenc~ uf muck xnorc scrious misfortune. One of these two things rmst happen. Either Spain nrust subnrit to circunrstances, arzd take such condirioxzs as Frarice wilf impose; or she mtrst engage in tiostilicies along with the Emperor, and the King of Sardinia.
If Spairi siiould be fbrced or awed into a treaty wirh the Reprrbtick of France, she niust open her ports arzd her commerce, as well as the larld cornmurlicatiorl for the Fretlcii labourers, who were accustoxized arzxzuatjy to gather in the iiiarvest in Spain. Illdeed she ntust grarit a free contntunication for travellers and ~radersthrough her whole cauiztry. 111 that casc it is not conjectural, it is certain, tlze Clubs will give law in the Provinces; Bourgoing,."hr sornc such miscreant, will give law at illadrid. In this Englarid may acquiesce if she pleases; and France will conciude a triumphant pcacc, wirh Spalrz undcr her at9solute dependence, with a broad higlway inro that, and irxo every State of Ewope. Sfie actually invites Grcat Bricain to divide with her the spoils of the riew wodd, arid to make a partition of the Spanish iVonarchy. Clearly it is better to do so, than to suffer Frarice to possess tlzose spoils, arid that territory atone; which, without doubt, urzresistcd t9y US,she is altogether as abtc, as slie is willing to do. This gtan is proposed by the French, in the way in which they propose all their plans; and in the only way in which indeed they can grohlose them, where there is xzu regular communication betwecrz his Majesty arid their Repubtick. W%at they propose is aplan, XE is aplgn also to resist their predatory ymjecr. remain quiet, arid to suffer them to ntake their m n use of a naval power before our face, so as to awe and bully Spalxz into a submissive peace, or to drive them irzto a ruinous war, without any nreasure on our part, I fear is xzu plan at all. H ~ w e v e rif~ the ptarl of co-operation which Fratlce desires, and which her afitiated societies here ardently wish and arc Q'l3aronde I3ourgoing, diplar~latsenr i n the spring of t 732 to represenr Erance iin Spain.
coxlstantly writi~rg up, should nor be adopted, arzd the war betwecrz the Emperorjhand France should continue, I think it nor: at all likely tt-tat Spain should xzut t9e drawn into the qitarref. 111that case, the neutraliy of England wit1 he a tllirtg absolutely impossible. The tinre is oxlty the subjjeer aF deliberation. Then the question will be, whetl~erwe are to defer putting ourselves into a pasture for the C O X E I ~ Odcfe~zce, ~T either by arntament, or negotiation, or both, t~rttil Spain is actually attacked; that: is, whetlrer our Cnrtrt will take at decidcd part for Spain, wbifst Spaixz an her side, is yet ixz a condition to act with whatever degree of vigour she nray havc; whitsc that vigour is yet unexhaustcd;-or whcther we shall conrtect ourselves with her broker1 fortunes; after she shall have received rrraterial t9tows, and when we sfrall have the wfiolc slow length of that aiways ~lnwield~, and ill coxlstructed, and then wounded atrd crippled body to drag after us, rather than to aid us. Whilst our disposition is t~ncertairi, Spain wili 11otdare to put herself in such at state of deferzce as will niake her hosritiry. fornrttdaMe, or her rteutrality respectable. Tf the decision is suct-~as the solution of this qt~cstiorz. . . conducts to-rza time is to he lost. But the nteasures though pronrpr, ought not to be rash and indigestcd. They ought to kc well choselz, well cornbirled arzd well pursued. Tlre systein R I L L S he ~ general; but it nrust be executed, xzut successivety, ar with interruptiofz, t9ut all together . . . in one melting, and Qrte nrould, For this purpose, we ZEIUSC put Europe before us, whicti plaillly is, just ric)w, in all it's parts, in a state of disnray, derangemer-rr and confusion; arzd very possibly arnongst al) it"(;~vereigns, fill1 o f secret heartl3urn-Of clre Austrian empire.
ing, distrust, and ntt~tualaccusation. Perhaps it may labour urlder worse evils, Therc is xzu vigour arry where, except the distempered vigour and e n e r g of Frmce. That coklntry has but too ~rruchlife in it, wfien every thing around is so disposd to tamerless artd Languor. Tlre very vices of the French system at home tend to give furcc to foreig~zcxertioxzs. The Gerzcrals must join the armies. They must lead them to enterprize, or they are likely to perish by their harzds. Thus without law ar governrnertt of her own, Frarice gives law tc:, all the Govcrrrnrents in Erzrope.
There seenr i~rdeedto havc beet1 several mistakes in the political prixrciples 0x1 &rich the War was entered into, as well as in the plans upon which it was coxlducted; sornc uf them very Eundamerztal, and rzat only visibly; hut I ntay say, pdpaMy erroIleokls; atrd T think him to havc less than the disccnzxncrzt uF a very ordinary Statesman, wlzc:, c<:,uIdriot foresee front the very begirtrr ing, unpleasant consequences &on1 those plans, though rzat the ttnparatlelcd disgraces arid disasters wbicfl really did attend them: fbr they w r e , both principles and xneasures, wholly rzew and out uf rhc comrrtclrz course, wirl~outany ttrirrg apparerrely very grrztrd in the concep~ion~ to justi@ this t o d departure from ail rule. For, in the first place, the uriired Sovereigns very nruch injured their cause by &mitting, that they had rzothing to do with the interiour an-angenrents af Fratrce; in coxltradiccion to the whole tenour of the put9lick Law of Europe, and to the correspondent practice of dl it's Statess,fmm the time we have my history of them, Trt this particular$ the mu Gcrman Got;trrss%seem to have as little csnsulted tire Publicists of j"iT"russia and Austria,
Germany as their own true interests, atid and those of all the Sovercigris of Ger~.x~arzy Eilrope. This adrnissiori of a false principle in the Law of Nations, brought tlleni into an apparent colztradictiolz, whcxz they ixzsisted oil t l ~ ere-ataktistiment of the Royd Aurhoriry in France, But this conf-ixsed and coiztradictory proceeding gave rise to a practicd error of wc3rse corisequenw, It was derived from one and the srzjne root; ~aniely, that the pcrsori of the Monarch. OF France was every thing; arid the ~tlonardly,and t l ~ e intermediate orders of the State, by wfiicji the Monarchy was uptleXd, were ~lottling. So that, if the urzited Potcrztatcs had succeeded so far, as to re-establisl~the at~thorirry of that King, and that tle shortld he so illadvised as to colzfirxn all the cc9nfiseations, arid to recognize as a lavvft~lbody, arid to class hirnsdl with, rhar rabble of nrt~rderers . . . there was rzothing in the principle, or ixi the proceeding of the United hwers, to grevenr: such an arrangenrent. AI cxpcdiriolz to free a brother Sovereigri from prison, was undout3tedly, a generous and chivalrous ~lnderraking.But the spirit and gcxzerosity would not havc t9celz less, if the policy Zzad been more profound, and nrore comprehensive; rhar is, if it had takcn in those considerations, and those perssris, by mfiorn, arid in sonte nteasure, for whoxrr, Monarclly exists. This would bcconie a kottoni fbr a SY;SCCL~of solid and perntarierit policy, arid of operaticlns conformable ro that system, The same fruitfill error was thc cause mfiy ricntlzing was dorie tc3 irr~pressthe people of France . . . with an idea that the Governmerit was ever to t9e rc-clallyFrench, or indeed ariy thing else thari the nominal governnrent of a Matlarch, a Monarch absolurc as aver them, but wfiosc sole support was to arise from foreign Puteritates, and who was to he kept on his throne by Germa~zbrces; in short, that the King uf
France was tc3 be a Viceroy to the Emperor atid rhe King of Prussia. It was the first time that Eorcign Powers interfering in the concerns of a riatiori divided into parties, havc thougilt groper ro thrust wholly urtt uf their cortncils, to postpo~ie,to disc~u~itenance, to reject, and in a nranner to disgrace the party ~, whoni thosc Powcl-s ca~ncto S U ~ J U O PThe sirzgle person of a !&kgcarinot he a party. Woe to &c Kllg who is himselfllis party! The Royal party with the K n g or his Represeritatives at it's head, is tlze Ruynl cause Foreign Powers have tlitherto chosen to giw to such wars as this, the appcaratzce of a civij contest, arid riot that of an lzostiie invasio~i.%en the Spaniards, in the sixtcclzth cclztury, sclzt aids to the clziefs of the teagr,~e,they appeared as Allies to that League, and to the inlprisoned King (the Cardillal dc Bourbolz) which that League lzad set up.35 Wren rile Gernrans caxrre ro the aid of the Protesra~ltPrir-tces, in rhe same series OF civil wars, they came as Atlies, When the English came to tlze aid of Henry the h u r r h , they appeared as Allies to that Prir1cc.36 SOdid the French always wtieri they intermeddled in the affairs of Gernrany, They canre to aid a parry there, m e n the Endlsh arzd Dutch intcrxncddied in the successiori of Spain, tlzey appearedas Allies to the Eniperor Charles the Sixth.37 In siiort, the poticy has beer1 as uniform as it's principles were obvious tc3 ati ordinary eye. isRurke i s referring to Spanish support for the
Holy cstlroli~Ixdgtle cltiring the French civil wdr bemeeil I)"rotestasltand Catholic fbrces in tlre Idre sixrccnrh ceiltury. '%ngIa#.td supported the f'rocestant Henry IV during tlre Fren~lrcivil \tv;rr, i-Buring the Wars of the Spaxiish Succession (1 701-1 7131, Er~glancSdrltJ Holla~lJisupported the ctairn clFGharIcs VE of Austria to the thrur.te of Spain.
Accordi~zgto all the old principies of taw and policy, a regerzcy urtght to havc been appoillted by tile French Princes of the Blood, Nobles, and Paslianrents, and therz recognized by the cornbi~zedPowcl-s. Ft~tidamentallaw artd antiertr usage, as we11 as the clear reason of the thing, havc atways ordained it during alz irxrprisolzntertt of the Kirrg of France; as in the case of John, and of Francis the First." A Monarchy ought not to kc left a nlamcxzt witjzont. a Represeritative, havillg an interest in the succession. The orders of the Stare, ought also to have been recognimd in thusc amongst whom dune they existed in frcedont, that is, in the Emigrants. Thus laying down a firnr foundation on the recugnicion uf the authorities uf riiie Kingdom of France, according to rlattlre and ro it's f~~ndanrental Iaws, and nor: according to the xzovei and ir-rcansiderate prirlciples of the t~surpatiorlwhich the United Porvers were coxr-re to extirpate, Tlze King of Prttssia and the En-rpcror, as Allies of the antient Kir~gdrtntof France, would have proceeded with dignit)., first, to free the Monarch, if possible; if not, to secure the Morlarct~yas principal in the design; and in order to avoid att risques to that great o17jcct . . . they would of course avoid poceedirzg with more haste, or in a different nranner than what the nature of such arz ubject required. Adopting this, the orily ratiot~aisystent, 117e ratiorral nlode of proceeding upon it, was to cornrncrzcc with an effective siegc of Lisle, which tile Frertch Gei~eratsmust have seen taken before their faces, or be forced to fight, A plcntifill curtntry uf friends, from wl~enceto draw supplies, wotttd have been behind rilem; a plentiful "John 11 and Francis I were held captive duririg portions cif rlreir reigns as king cif Frame in the fourreenclr and fifteenrh centuries, respectively,
country of eriemies, from whertce to force supplies, would have been before thenr. Good towns were atways within reach to deposit their hospitals and magx~ines.The lGlarcb from Lisle to Paris, is through a less dcferzsibte curtntry, arzd the distance is haray so great as front L a n to~ Paris. IF the uhd polirick and nrititary ideas had governed, the advanced gttard would havc beer1 fornrted of those mflo best knew the county and had soxr-re interest in it, supported by. sumc of the best light troops and light afrillery, whilst the grarld solid body of an army disciplined ro perfcctiorr, proceeded keisrlrety, and in closc connexion wirh ail it's stores, provisions, artd heavy cannon, ro support the expedite body i r ~case of misadventure, or to irnprove and cornpleat ttk success. The direct contray of all tllis was put in practice 111 conscqucxzce uf the original sir1 of this project, the army of the French Princes was every where thrown into the rear, and rza part of it 19rot~glitfarwad to the last mnntent, the tirne of the contrnencement of rlle secret negotiation. This rzatrtrtllly made arz ill impression on the people, and furnished an occasioi~fbr the rebels at k r i s to give out rt-tat.the faithfk~l subjccts of the King were distrusted, cicspisecf, arid abhorred by his allies. The rr-rarch was directed through a skirt of Lorraine, and thence into a part of Charnpagne, the Dtrke of Brunswick leaving all the strongest places behind him; leaving also bebind him, the strength of his artillery; and by ttsis nteans giving a superiority to the French, in the onIy way io wfiich the preselzt Fratlcc is able to oyyosc a Germat1 force. Tn conseqwrtce of the actoption of those 6alse politicks, which turrzcd every thing on the King" sole artd single person, the whale plan of che war was redused to rzathixzg by a c o ~ pde mnz'n, ixz urdcr to scr
that Prince at liberty. Xf rtrat failed, every thixzg was to t9e given up. TEte sctrente of a c n q Ri;. mniiz, rnigbr (under favourable circuxrrsvances) be very fit fcrr a partizalz at the head of a light corps, by whose failure riotlzing ntateriai would be deratrged. But for a ropt arnry uf eighty thoufarzd mcrz, headed by a King in person, wlzo was to march an hundred and fifty ~rrilesttrrough at1 enerrzfs country-surely this was a plan urzhcard of. Altltough this plan was not well ciloseri, arid proceeded upon principles altogether it! judged and inrpotitick, the superiority uf the milicary force, mi$it in a great degree have supplied the defects, arrd fur~risbeda corrective ro the ~rrisrakes,The greater probability was that thc Duke of Bruriswick wortld make itis way to Paris, over the helliies of the rabble of drunkards, robbcrs, assassirzs, rioters, mutirteers, and half-grown boys, t~rider the ill-obeyed conrma~rdof a theatrical, vapouring, reduecd Captain uf cavalry,3%11(:, opposed that great Csntmaiider arid great arrny. But . . . [hjc began to treat, ttre winds blew, arzd the rains bcat, the house fellbecause it was built upon sand-and great was the fgli thereof-,. . .
Xr is singular, and indeed, a thing, under all it2 circuxnstarzccs, inconccivablc, that every thing should by the Emperor be aba~rdonedto the King of Prnssia. That Morzarch was cansidcred as prirlcipal. In tlze nature of things, as well as in itis position with regard to the war, he was only an atjy; arzd a rzew ally, with crossing ixztcrests in marry particulars, and of a pcdicy rather ~lncercain,At best, and supposing him to act with the greatest fidelity; the Emperor, '"Chdrles-Fral.tc;t~isdtr 17Prier L)umouriez, comindr~derof French forces at the battle of Vatmbr.
and tlze Errtpire, to hirn rnust be but: secondary objects.. Countries out of Germarzy; xnklst affect iiiirn in a still nrorc remote manner. France, other than front the fear of ir's doctrillal principles, c m to him kc xzo ubjccr at all, Accordingly; the Miinc, Sardinia, artd the Swiss, are left to their fate. The King of Prtlssia has no direct and irnnrediate conccrxl with France; consequmtz'nl&, to be sure, a great deal; hut the Emperor tok~clresFratrce dim$& in Irrany parrs: he is a xzcar xzcight9our to Sardirzia, by iris Milanese territories; fie borders on Switzerland; Cologne, possessed by his uxzcle, is bctweer~Mentz and Trcvcs, the King of Prrrssiai territories on the Lower Rhine. The Eitrrperor is the ~raturaf guardiaiz of Italy and Germany; the rzaturai balarice against tile ambitic>n of Fra~rce,whether Republican or Monarctrical, His Ministers and his Gexzertlls, thcrefore, ought tc:, have had their full share in every nrareriat consultation, which X SUSpcct they had not. f E lie has no Minister capable of plans of policy; which corrtpreherrd the superintendancy of a war, or 110 Generat with the least of a potiricat head, things have beer1 as they rnust be. HQWever, in all rtre parts of this strange procccdirzg, thcre must: t9c a sccrct. It is probably knowri to Ministers. I d(7 nor mean to penetrate inro it. lh4y speculations on this head mtlst be only canjcctaral. If the King af Prussia, tlrrder the pretext, or on the realiry of sonre irtfornrarion relative to ill practice on the part of the Cotrrt of Vieriria, takes advarrtage of his being admitted into the hearc of the Empcror's dcfaminiolzs in the cIzaractcr uf an ally, afterwards to join the comntorr elrerrry, and to enable France to seize the Mctherlands, and to reduce and huxnbie the Empire, I caniicnt conceive, upon every primiple, any thing nrore alarr-tringCbr this conrztry, scparatetr; and as a part of tfic
generat systenr." After all, we may be tooking ixz vain in the regiorzs of politicks, for what is only the operation of ternper and character Ergon accidental circunrs t a n c c s B u t I rzcvcr kncw accidc~ztsto decide the wholc of any great business; arid II never knew Eenlper to act, but rhac some system of patiticks, agrceablc to it's peculiar spirit, was btended with it, strengthened it, and got strength from it, Therefore the politicks can hardly be put out of the questiorz. Great: mistakes lzave heerz comrrtitted; at: least T hope so. If there have been none, the case ixz jFUturc is desperate. I have erzdeavoured tu pr~irzt orrt sorne of those which tlavc occurred to me, and ~rrostof thern very early. Whatever may be the catlse of the present state of things, on a full and nzatktre view and cornparison of rbc historical matter, of the trarisactions that: have passed before o w eyes, and of the I;rrul-e prospect, II think I arn authorized to farrtr an opixzion witjzont the least hesitation. That there never was, nor is, nor ever will t9c, or wer all t9c, thc least rational hope of ntakirig ari impression on France by ariy Cc~ntinentaiPmvers, if England is not a part, is rzut thc directing part, is xzot the sotri, of dze wlzole cont;rcilerasy against it. This, so far as it i s an arzticipario~loffuture, is grourzded on the wfiaic telzarlr of fornrter history-In speculation it is to be accounted for on two plain principles. First, That Great Britairz is likely to take a ntore fair arid equal part in the alliance, than the orher Powers, as having kss of crossing intcrest, or perplcxcd discussion with arzy of tlzern. Secondly, B~ecarrseFra~lcecannot have to dcat with arzy of these contincxztal Sov4LJ13urkeis referring to Russia's effilrrs ro Lorxre ro rerrrrs with France after rlrr defeat at Vakny.
ereigns, without their feeling that nation, as a ~rraririnzePower, greatly sirpwiouno them at1 put together; a forcc which is only tc:, he kept iri check hy England. England, except drrring the excentrick abc~ratioxzuf Charles the Second,"] lzas always considered it: as her duty and interest, to takc her place in such a confederacy. Her chief disp~rtesrntlst ever he with France, aird if Eilglarzd shews herself indiffcrcrzt arzd unconcerned when these Powers are corrtbirlecf against the enterprizes of Frarice, size is to loc)k with certairity for the sanre irrdifference on the parr of these Pawcl-S,wfien she m;ly be at war with that riation. This will tend totally to disc~rznect this kingdom fioxrr rtre systerrz of Europe, ixz which, if she ouglit xzut rashly to meddle, she orrght rtever wholly to wittldraw tlersetf fronr it. If tlicxz Englaxzd is put ixz xnotion, whether by a consideration oE the general safety, or of the influence of France upon Spain, or by thc probatlle uperations of this rzevv systein o n the Netlzerlarids, it ~rrlrstenlbrace in it's project the whole as much as possible, and the part it takcs ought: to he as ntt~chas possible a leadillg and presiding parr, I therefore keg )cave to suggest, First, That a Minister sizorlld forthwith be sent ro Spain, to encourage rhar Courr to pmseverc in the xncasurcs they have adopted against France; tc:, rnake a ctose alliance and guarantee of possesj-ions, as agai~rstFrancc, with that power, and whilst tlze formality of the treaty is pending, to assure them of our protecrio~l,poscpotling any Icascr dlsputcs to another occasion. Secoridly, To assure the Court of Vienria, of our desire to enter into our atztient con91Rt1rke has in mind rhe 'Iiienty of Dover of 1670, i~lrderwhich. E~rgtar~d became a Fierl~hdly in return; Eclr subsidy pajrmenrs.
rrcxions with her, and to support her effectually in the war which Frarzce fias declared against her. Thirdly, To atzimare the Swiss, and the King OF Sardinia, to take a part, as the iatter orzce did or1 the prirtciples of the Grarid Alliance.42 Fourthly, Tn pc~tarz end to our disputes with Russia, artd n t u t t ~ a i to l ~ forget the past, T believe if she is satisfied of this oblivion, she will returxz to her old scrztimerits, with regard to this G o ~ ~ rarzd r , will take a rnore forward part in this husirtess than any other Power. Fifrl~ly,Xf what has happen" to the Kirtg of Prussia is only in coriseqrrence of a sorr of panick or oftevicy, and an indisposi tian to persevere long ixz one design-tlzc support arzd conctlrrerzce of Russia will tend to steady him, and ro give hill1 resoiutioxz. IF lie t9c ill disposed, with that power on his back, arid withorlt one ally in Europe, T conceive he will not be easily led to dcrai~gcthe ptan. Sixthiy, To use the joint irttlltertce of our Court, and of our tlren Allied Powers, with Holland, to arrn as fully as she car1 ky sca, arid to ntatcc sorne addition by land. Severrrhiy To acknowkdge tlre King of France's next k9rothcr (assisted by such a Gourtcil arzd such Representatives of the Ki~rgdollzof Francc, as stiall he thought proper) X3cgcnt OF France, arzd to send that Prirzce a small supply of ntoney, arms, ctoathing and artitley Eiditllly, Tc) givc force to E ~ C S Crzegociaticms, an instartt naval arutarrtent ought to be adopted; orre sqriadr-on for the Mediterranean; another for the Ghalznct. The sca-
*&21>uring ehc Wzs o f the Spanish Suaession, clrc Grand Alliance, composed rtf Endanci, Atrstria, arici Holland, opposed Ilauis XIV's sarnbirio~lsro mpdnct French power in Europe.
sori is convenient., ntost of our trade being, as T take it, at home. After spcakirzg of a ptal.1 forxncd upon the arztieizt policy arzd practice of Great Britain and of Europe; to which this is exactly canforxnat9lc in every respcct, with no deviation whatsoever, arid which is, I conceive nruch rfzore strongly catled for by the prmmt c i r ~ ~ ~ ~ n s t a nthan c c s , by any forrner, I must take rzotice of artother which T hear, but canrtrot persuade nryeff to believc, is in agitation. This p1axz is grorriided tlparz the very same view of things which is here stared, na~nely,the danger to all Sovereigns, and old Reput?licks, from the prevalertce of Frerzcfz power and influence. It is to farm a Gaizgress of all the European p(lwers, for the purpose of a gerteral defe~rsiveallia~rce,rhe objects of which should be, First, The recognitiorz of this new hp"blick fwhictr they well know is fnrnred a n the principles, and for the dcclarcd purpose of the destruction of all Kings), and whenever rtre lieads of this rrew Republick shalt conscrzt to release the Royal Captives, to rnake Peace wit11 them, Secondly, To defetrd therrzselves with their jairzt farces against the apclz aggressitlrts or the secret practices, intrigues artd writings, which are used ro proElagate rtre Frencl~principlm". It is easy to discover front wlzose shop this conrmodicy comes. Tt is so perfectly absurd, that if- that., or arzy thing iiiie it, meets with a serious eritertainment. in arty Cabinet, T should tlii~ikit the effect of what is called a jr~dlcialMindxzess, the certain forerunner of the destruction of ail Crowns and Mingdonrs. An ofin3ige alliance, ixz wfiich urziorz is preserved, by commorz efforts in contnton dangers, against a conrnroxr active erremy, may pracrve it's consistexzc).; arzd m;ly pro-
duce for a giver1 rinre, soxrze considerable effect; though this is rzot easy, and for any very iortg period, can hardly be expected. But a defi~sivealliance, formed of long diseordarzt interests, with ir~numcrablcdiscussic,ns existing, l~avingno one poirited object to which it is directed, which is to k9c iiield together with an unrcmittcd vigilance, as watclzfrii in peace as in war, is so evidently im possi bfe, is suct-t a chimera, is so cufztrary to iiiuman nature, arzd the course of ht~rnartaffairs, that f ant persuaded rio person in his senses, except rt-tose whose Country, Religion and Sovcreigrz, arc deposited in the French ftlrzds, could dream of it. There is not the slightest perry borlndary suic, no difference &twcerl a 6amity arrangcmcxzt, xza sort uf misundrrstanding, or cross purpose bermerr the pride ard etiquerte of Courts, that would not clztire)y disjoint this sort of alliance, and rertder it as futile in it's effects, as it is feeble in it's pri~lciple,Bur whcrz we consider that thc nlain drift uf that: defensive alliartce must he to prevent the operarioxl of intrigue, mischievous doctrine and evil example, in thc sucecss of unprovc>kedrebellion, regicide, and vsrenratick assassinatioxl and nrassacre, the absurdity uf such a scherne kccomes qrtite lamentable. Oper-t the communication with France, and rt-te rest follows of course. How 6ar the intcriour circun~srancesof this csrtrttry support what is said with regard ro it5 foreign pditicks, must be left to k9cttct- judgments, X ain sure the Frcrzch faction here is infi1titeIy strengtl~enedby the succcss of the assassins on the other side uF the water.-This evil in the heart of Eurspe must be extirpated from that cenrer, or no pare of the circumference can be free from the mischief wtiich radiates from it, arid mf~icl~ will spread circle heyt>ridcircle, in spite of all the little defensive p c cautioxzs which c m be ernptoyed against it.
I do m t put my name to these hints subnricred to the coxlsideration of reflecting xncn. Xt is aF too little inzyortancc to suppose the r-tame of the writer corlld add any wight to the state of things contained ixz this paper. Thar state of things presses irresistibly on rny judgment, and it lies, and has long lain, with an heavy weight rtpon my mind. X cannut think that what is dor-te in France, is beneficial to the t-tunzall race. Tf it wwc, the Ellglish Constitution ought no more to staizd againsr it than the antient Constitution of the kingdom in which the new syscerrz prevails. f thought it the duty of a maxz, xzut urzcolzcerrted for the publick, and who is a faithful sirbject to the King, respectfully to submit this stare of fiacts at this rzew step irz the progress of the Frer-tcfl arms arid politicks, ro his ~blajesty~ to his confideit~tial servants, and t<9 those persoxzs who, tlzougll not in office, by their birth, their rank, their fortune, their character and their reputation for wisdorn, SCCXEI to xnc to have a large stakr: in the stabilir). of the anrient order of things.
Bath, Novembcr 5,f 732.
Xntroducta~y. Mate to Remdrks on the Lnolicy ofthe Allies ( 11 733)
Remarks on the Poticy ofthe illlies wm the thirdprtmte me~~orandtkm Br&rkewro.ote betweea 1791 and f 793 t i try ~ to ~ Y @ U C E C the ~
rorrrsr 4RPciCish policy tnwuud Franrr. The stler-zce that Thoughts arz French Afiirs and Heads for Consideration or1 the Present Stare of Affairs receivd ipz ofickl cirrles ~ z d d eBade despondent, rind he chimed irz
privalr correspoadence thnt he wrn& Remarks un the Policy af the Allies 'h relieve m p g rather than to sggest n n j shiuzg to nthers.'%j T / J sabject ~ and mne ajr Remarks nre i n fict more nbstrrzct and speczatdtive than the prior tzun memoranda, as B ~ r k e discgsscrd what should be dorze w i d France nfier the a l h s h& d4eated theJacobins. Bzirkei predictinn of r@Cide came true wb~erzthe revoizl?tto~nries execgted Louts 274 irz earb 1733.Wdr betu~eenBritain nl-zd revolizdtianary France began short& thereaper, ge~rratingn h e a d debate over war aims. Pitti ini~inl poliq deJiraed iur April I793 was to gdin f i r Britain and its aliies szkficiel-ztsecznrity and some meagre of repardtion R u m of France. Pit8 did YEOLmake the 1%smrntio1;~ the French rraonnrcb n condition ofaegotirtiitzg and cuncL14dingn settiemerzt wiir;h the reunLzl?tio1;Earies,Nor did his decl~nzaiorlsngai~tst France lend any oficial sapport to the e"mig8.e" carrse. Rlcrkrz did not agree with J3)ittifC~rm~wdzr illvzs or its ncglecg 8/' lgtinn nf Britlzi~~i. the r~ynlistcczuse. Iils indicated by his annbsis 4 t h natz4l.e ~ ofthe Fre~zclrt h m s m Egropedn nr&r a d d ~ m e ~stabiliy t i ~ i n Thoughts an Fre~zdi Affairs and Heads for Consideration, Burke brlievlrn thnc Britain /?ad Bnth m right nnd dgty to intervene i n the nfdirs o f t h e French state. More spec@calb9 Burke arg~cfl that the royalist &migr&Ic ~ r n r n ~ ~ ckmi y$&triedthe people cdpdbk ofre$rt~~irg FIdl-z~ tu its m d i ~ i n ~ a l & ~ "ofgouemment ms and sor i e q and shuuu ttlmfirr be the condgitfir ozdtsi& intervel-ztion. Nevertheless, he cautioned that the work c?frestorntz'onmgst be FrenCh, fir the Frerzch &tithe work zenry wouU never nccept the imposition of d setdemcnt by fnrceig~powrs. Burhe drnon~grgted$he sapze se~zsibl'lipto diversip irz his push fir u n i p that he disp/dyeu! jla h& e f o m on Ireland n d A;Mz~T~c&. France W&
part of the commonwealth of E ~ r o p eand therefire existed ~zsp n r ~of a Feater mmrrz~1n i p But it:caz-tH not be mstored to this camm t k ~ i pwithoat Fre~lchpnrcic$nt;hon and ieadersh$. For Burke, nay postuldr settlement hnJ ~zot~ n & tu restore France3 domestic po/itz'~nl and sociizl institsll-ions bar also to preserve Fral-z&.ekwle ds n criticdl we&hg irc the Et~ropean balitnce of jower. In passags that ~deg~tim@/?$h ~ be"e ~1s.J'zalm the led~C$E"n att'rzg the Zeaty ofEl"sdiiie5 i n 1313, Brkrke warned that a settlement that h~miiililted Fr~zpzceand redgced its trgditionnl mle i~ inter~ationnlpolitics wogl"d on4 breeudfatzdre conflicl; Biarkcz thas returpitd the theme thag the balance h a w e r a fandament/zl tenet ofthe commonwealth of Eur~pe. Although he zarged the purszait of a restr~zinedpunisd~mentnfrevolf~tz'o~zaries based on the wisdom oS;tristoricnkeqerience, Bzlrke cunclr.iided Rentarks on the Policy of the Allies with a wdr~zingmhnut h e limia o f w i ~ t g history ns n guide. Histor3 wrote Brbrke, prepared no one j ~ the r French Reuoi~icion, arzd thus hisrory rrrtnnoL provide mmpIete gzlidnnce fir hrzndiing the &$emnth of chat ca~c4sm.
Remarks on the Policy of the Allies ( 1 783) As the proposed nlanifesto is, I undersranci, to proinutgatc to the world the gmera1 idea of a plan fix the regulation of a great ki~lgdonr,and through the rcgtitatioiz uf that kingdoin probabty to decide the fate of Europe for ever, riothlng requires a nrore serious deliberation with regard to the time uF rnakir~git, the circurn-
stances of those to whoxrz it is addressed, and the xnatter it is to contain.44 A?; to the time, . . . f have sclrne doubts whether it is not rather unfavourable ro the issuing any Marzifest~,with regard to the interlded governnteilt of France; arid for this reason, that it is, (upox1 the grincipal point uf our attack) a tirzzc of atarnity arld defeat. Nariifestoes of this riatrtre are coxrzrrzonly nrade when the arnry of some Sovercigri enters into the er re my."^ courztry in great force, and under the impclsing authority of that force entploys rnerlaces towards those whoxrz tle desires to awe; and xnakes ymmiscs to those wfiof'~~ he wishes to engage in his favotlr. As to a party, what has been done at Toulon leaves no doubt, that the party for wlzich we declare must be that mflich substantially declares for Royaly as the basis of tbc governrxic~zt-45
Speaking of this rlatiorl as part of a general conzbinacion of powers; are m quite swe, rt-tac others can beXieve us to be si~~cere, or that WC caz be cveiz fidly assured of our own sincerity in tile protectiorl of tizuse who shall risque their lives for the restoration of Monarchy in Fraizcc, wkexz thc wodd sees, that tlsose mflo are the natural, legal, constitutional represerrearives of that 4413urke is alluding to a proposed statelnelillr OF British policy toward the gmertzmenr of Francc after the defeat of the re\~oIution,~ries that t~entuaHynppeared in the declaration of King Gecsrge 111 on <)crobcr 2% ,793. "Blitish foices occupied 'foulon at the end of August 1793, after the city declared its supporr for the French monarchy. 'ICvo inonrlrs later, French republicaz hrces b e p z a ?;iegeof rhc cir): In Drrcenrbcr tlzc rcpublicaiz sddisrs rcgaicled control of'kulon when the British and Spanish evacuateci, Rurke wrote Remark$ aher the British occupation but befi>rs the republican siege nrxi recapture,
Noiiarchya if it has any, have not had their rlajrzes so nructl as rrretltioned in any one publick act; that in rzu way whatever arc their persons bronglit forward, that their rights have nor: been expressly or implicirly aljowed, and that thcy have not t9ccn ixz tlze least corisulted on the important interests they have at stake.""rr tile contrary they are kept in a state of obscurity arid contempt, and in a degree of indigence at times boarding un kcggary. Thcy arc irz fact, little less prisorlers in tlze village of Hanau,*7 than the Royal captives who are locked up io the torver of the Tenrk~le.48 What is this, according to the comrrton indicatiorls whicir guide tile judgrrtent of rnankind, but, urrder the pretext of protecting the crown of France, ixr reality to usurp it? I am also very appreherrsive, rt-tac there arc other circumsta~zccswfiich xnklst tend to weaken the force of our decfaratisns, No partiality to rile allied powers, can prevent grcat doubts on the ga-tirncssuF our interltiarls as supporters of tiie Crown of France, or of the true principles of legitimate Governmcxzt in upposition to Jacobinisin, wlzerl it is visible that the two leading orders of the Stare of France.-?" who are riow the victirns, and who nttlst always be tiie true arid sole supports of lGlorrarchy in rt-tac couxltv, are, at best, in some of their descriptions, considered only as objects of charity, arid otlzers are, wlzeri enrployed, enrployed only as nrercenary solders; that thcy are thrown back out uf all reputaMc service, are in a ntaniier dis+%wlrkem a n s rhe royalist Plnigrris. the terrirory of the L~ndgra~re Hesse-Kassel. +X"l"he'JPmple \vas rlre prison in 17arisin which rlre revoiucionarirs held the French royal farniIy caprivc after August 1792. +"I"keclergy and arismcr;lc)r.
owned, considered as nothing in their own cause, arzd never once consulted irr the concerns of their King, tlzeir country, their laws, tizeir reiigion, and their propery! We even affect to L9e ashamed uf them. In all our proceenings we carefully avsid the appearance of being of a party with them* Xn all our ideas of Treaty we do not regard tlzern as what they are, tlze two leadi~lgorders ofthe kingdom, Xf we do rrot consider them in that liglit, we xn~lstrecognize the savages by whont they have beer1 ruined, arid wht3 have declared war upon Europe, whilst they disgrace and persecute huxrratz rzatrtrc, and openly defy the God that made them, as real proprietors of Frarice. X an1 nructz afiaid, too, ttzar we shall scarcely be L9efieved hir supporters OF tawfill Monarchy agairlst Jacohinisnr, so lax~g as we continkle to nrake and to observe cartels with the Jacobixzs, and un fair terms excfzange prisoners with tlzerrt, whilst the Royafisrs, invited to our standard, and errzptoyed rtrzder arlr pc~btickFaith, agalxzsr the Jacobins, if taken by that savage faction, are given E I to~ the executioner without the least attcrnpt whatsoever at rcprisat. For this, we are to loc~kat the King of Prussia's conduct, compared with his manifestoes about a welvernonth ago, For this we are to look at the capitulations of lGlencz and Valenciennes, nrade in the course of the prescrzt campaign.""y these two capitulatiorzs, the Christiarz Royasiists were excluded from any participation in the cause uf the cornL9ined powers, They were cortsidered as tlze outlaws of Europe. Two arrlzies were in effect sent against them. One of those arrnies (that which surrertdered ~tleritz)was very near overpowe";"g tile Christialls of Poicou, and the other (that wfiicfr surrendered at Valenci""Waien~iennesand Mainr, fell ro dlied forces in July 1733.
ennes) has actually cr~~shecfthe people whoxrr oppressioxz and despair had driven to resistance at Lyorzs, has nlassacrcd scvera1 thousands of tlzern in cold blood, pitlaged the whole substa~zccof the place, arzd pursued their rage to the very iiiauscs, condernriing that rtoMe city to desolation, in the unheard of nranner we have seen it devoted. It is then plain by a conduct wl~ich overturns a thok~sanddeclarations, that we take the Roydists of France alzly as an instrument of sorrre csnvertie~icein a temporary hostility with the Jacobins, but that we regard thosc atheistick and xn~lrdcrous harbariarts as tlze b0n9 fide possessors of the soil af France, Xr appears at least, that we considcl- them as a 6air Gover~z~~lerzt de f i g t o , if not cFejgre; a resistarice to which irz favour of tile King of France, by any nzan who happeizd to be born within that country, migizt equitably be corlsidered by other ~rations,as the crilzze of treason.. Far xny part, I worlld sooner put my hand into the fire than sign an invitation to oppressed nzen to fight under nry standard, arzd then an every sinister event OF war, crrtejly give them up to be puriislzed as tile basest of traitors, as long as I had alze of the conlnlolz cxzemy in my harzds to he put: to death in order to secure those under nry protection, and to viizdicate tile common honurtr of Sovereigns. We hear nothing of this kind of sec~trityin favour of chose whom W irzvire to the support of our causc, Without it, I am rzat a little appret~erlsivethat the proclantations of the conrbined powers ~rrigtte(contrary to their intcrztioxz rzu doubt) be looked upon as frartds, arid cruel traps laid for their lives. So far as to the correspondence between arlr declarations and our conduct, let the declaratiorl be worded as it will, the con$EICC is the practical conrment by which, and which aturzc it can L9e undcrstood.
267 This cox~ductacting on the decfaratioxl, leaves a LVonarchy withortt a Morzarch; arzd without arzy represeiztative or trustee far the Monarch, and the Moflarctly It sllpposes a kingdom wittno~tstates arzd orders; a territory without proprietc:,rs; and faithful subjects, who are to be lefi to the fate of rebels and traitors. The affair of tlze establishineizt of a Govcrrznrent is a very diffic~rlrundertaking for forcigrz powers to act in as priric+nl~; though as auxitidP^ie~ a~ldmediat~rs~ it has been not: at ail unrtsual, and ntay be a measure full of policy and h~tmanity~ and true digGty. The first thing we ortgllt tc:, do, SLLPPOSiog us ~lorgiving the law as conquerors, t9ut acting as friendly powers applied to for counsel arzd assistance in the settlexnent of a distracted couxltry, is welt to consider the camposkion, rzaturc, and tenlper of its objects, arzd particularly of tlzose who actually do, or who ought to exercise power in that state. It is material to k~zowwho they are, arzd how coststittlted, mflont we consider &$ thepe~pLeof"Frn~~t.3 The next cansidcration is, tlirurtgib whorn our arrarzgernertts are tc3 be made, and on what principles the Goverrrnrent WC propose is to t9c established, The first question on the people is tlzis, Wlether we are to consider the individuals now nctunlh in France, ~zarraerr'cdl@ ~ k e r zand armnged into ]ae~l;in CIgbs, as the body potirick, constieuti~lgthe nation of France? or, Whether we corliside~the original irldividual proprietors of lands, expelled si~zcethe Revolutiaxl, and the states arzd thc bodies yolirick, sudz as the colleges of justice called parliameizts, the corporarions noble and nor nobe of balliages, and towrzs, arzd cities, the bishops arzd the ciergy; as tlze true cortstituertt parts of the nation, and fbrnzii~gthe legaliy orgarzizcd parts of the people of Frazce?
In this serious csrzcern it is very riecessary that we shuufd have the nrost distinct ideas arzxzcxcd to the ICPI'IIS we ernploy; kccarlse it is evident, that: an abuse of the term pe~pIe,tlas been the original fundamcxztai cause of those evils, t h cure ~ of which, by war and policy, is tlze present object of dj the states of Enrope. If we co~lisidc~ the acting powcr irz France in arzy legal consrrtrction of publick lawf as the people, the qltestion is decided ixz favour of the Republick ogle and indivisible. But we have decided for Monarchy. If so, we have a King and Suhects; and that King and Subjects have rights arzd privileges whiciz ought to be supported at t~ome;for I do not suppose that the G w crrznlent of that kngdotn can, or ouglit to be regulated, hy the arbitrary Mandare of a foreign Gorr kderasy, As to the hctiofz exercising power, to suppose that: ~tlorzarctlycan be srlpported by principled Regicides, Religion by professcd ALthctsts, Qrdcr t9y Ckrtbs of f xobins, Property by Committees of Proscription, and Jurisprude~lceby Revolutionary Tribunals, is to kc sa~zguincixz a degree of which f ain incapable. O n them f decide, for nrysett that these persons are ~lor:the legal Corporation of Frarlicc, and that it is riot with thent we a t 1 (if we wc:,uld) settle the Government of France. Since, then, we ijiavc decided fbr Monarchy in that kingdctm, we otrgt?t also to settle who is to be the Monarctl, who i s to be the Guardiaxz of a Minor, arzd how tlze Nostarcfl and Monarchy is to be modified and supported? if the Monarch is to be elected, who the EIectors are to be: if: hereditary, what order is establislzecf corresponding with an tlercditary ~blonarchy, and fitted to maintairz it? VKho arc to modify it in its exercise?Wh:, are to restrain its powers where they ought to be limited, to strcngtherz them where they arc to be sup-
posted, or to enlarge ttlenr, where the object, the time, and the circurnsta~zces,xnay dentarid their extension? These are things whicfi, ill the outfine, ought to be nrade distixzct and clear; for if they arc rzat (cspccially with regard to those g ~ a points, t who are the proprietors of the soil, and what is the corporation uf the kingdom) tlzere is rlothirlg to hinder the contpteat establishmrtt: of a Jacobin Rep&&&, (such as that forrtred in 1'730 arzd 2 791) urzcicr the riante of a Democracie Rcyale, f acobinism does not consist in the having or not llaving, a certain Pageant ~lrlderthe natrze uf a King, tmt "in taking the pcaptc as equal individuals, withortt any corporate Ilanre or description, without attention to property wirkuut division of POWCPS, arzd famling the gc>vernmeiztof dekgates from a ~lunrberof nren so constituted, in destroying ur confiscating propery, and t9ribing the pubiick creditors, or the poor, with the spoils, now of one part of the cornmurzity xzow of alzuther, witkorlt regard to prescriptiort or pc)ssessit>iz." X hope no one can be so very blind as to inragine that Manarcby can bc acknowledged and supported in Frarice uport any other basis than that of irs property, corporate rind irzdz'vt'dual, or that it can cxzjay a momentk perntarlertce or security upon any scheme of things, w11ich sets aside all the antient corporate capacities arzd distinctions of the krigdom, and subverts the whole fabrick of its ancient Iaws and Itsages, political, civil arzd religious, to introduce a sptern founded on the supposed R&/~t;cRJrtl~eM ~ Eand , the eqnaliy ofthe hulraal-z rdce. Unless, tiiicrcfore, we declare clearly arid distinctly in favc~urof the restor/zli;un of propertp and confide to thc hcrcdirary propcrty uf the kingdorn, the limitatiori arid qualifications o f its lleredivary ~blonarclly,the blood and treasure uF Europe is wasted far the cstabiisfi-
rneizt of faa3hinisnt in France, There is no dot~brthat Danton and Robesyierre, Chaunrette and Barrere, that Cc~ndorcet,that Thomas Paine, that La Fayette, artd tlze EXbisllop of AUCLICI, the Abbe Gregoire, with at1 the gang of the SyyesH, the Hcrzriots, 2nd the Santerres, if they could secure therrzsetves in the Fruits of their rebellion arzd ro-okbcry, worlld kc perfcctty indifferent, whether the rnost unlzappy of ail inFdnts, whoxrz by the lessons of the shoemaker, his goverrzour and guardian,sl they arc trailling up studiously and mettzodically to be an idiot, or what is worse, the nrost wicked and t9ase of mankind, colztinues to receive his civic education in the Tenrple OF the Thuilleries, whilst they, and suck as thq, realty govern tkc kingdom, It cannot be ton often arzd too strongly inculcated, that 1Monarcily and property mrtst, in Fraxzce, go together; ur xzelther can exist. Tc) think of the possibitiv of the existence of a perEr1aoenc md hereditary XXoyalty, where nothing e h ts hereditdry nr permapzer2t irr point ez'tI3er ~fprnonlzinr COP.pomge dignig is a rilninorrs chinlera wortl.rg of the Ahbd Syeyes and tkusc wicked FOO~S lzis Associates, &rt> usurped Power . . . artd who brought Forth the Monster which they called r)cmocracie XXc~yafe, ur the Gonstittltion. X believe that xrzost thilrking Irzen, would prefer ixzfinircly some sober arzd scnsilzle form of a Republick, in which there was no nremion at all of a King, but which k i d orlt sonre reasonable security to property, life, and gersc~ndfreedont, to a scllente of things like this Denrocracie Royale, founded un impicy, irnmarratity, fraudulent currencies, the corzfrscation of inn(>cent individuals, and the pretended Kghts of Marz; and which, ixz cRect, excluding tile ''In
Jt11-y 1793 the
dat~plrirltvas placed in the care
of A ~ ~ t o i nSirnor>, e a slzoer~lakerby trade,
whole body of the nobility clergy, and landed property of a great nation, threw every thing into the hands of a desperate set of obscure adventurers who led to every xnischief, a Mind and tlloody band of SalzsCulottes. At the head, or rather at the tail of this system, was a nriserable pageant as its astelzsible instruxncrzt, who was to be treated with every species of indigrziv, till the Irzoment, when he was conveyed froor tkc Palace of Contempt to the Drzngeon of Hc>rrour,and thence led by a Brewer of his Capital tthroud~the applauses of arz hired, frranrick, druxlken ~rztrltitude,to lose his head upon a sc;-lffold.SZ This is the Constitution, or Democr;zcic Royale; and tllis is what infallibly would be agairz set up in Fraxzcc to run exactly the sante rorriid, if the predaminarit power should so far be forced to submit as to reccivc tkc xzanre of a King, leaving it to tkc Jacobi~is,(that is, to those who have subverted RoyaXrr). and destroyed Property) to xnodi@ tkc a m , and to dlstribt~tcthe other as spt>il.. . . AS to any other party, rlorie exists in that unhappy country The Royalists (chose irz Poitou exccpccd) are banished and extinguished; and as to what they call the Constitutionalists, or Dernocrcza Rayn u , they ncver had an existence of the sntdlest degree of power, corisideratiori or autlroricy; nor, if they differ at afX froxrz the rest af the Atheistick Ba~zditti. . . were they ever other tllarl the tentporaly tools and insrrurrzents of the nrore deternrined, able, and systematick Regicides. . . . In an Address to France, in an attentpt to treat with it, QT ill considering any schenre at all relative to it, it is impossible we should ntearl the geographical, we must always mean the ~rzoraland pofiticaf co~dintvI be'2Burkc i s refelring tct X,ouis m1 and his exccurion i t z 1793."I"ke""8wer'bc1s jaseplr Sanrerre, who \vas in charge :cclFrhe kill@ execution.
lieve we slid be in a great errour if we act upon an idea that there exists in that country arzy arg~xzlzccfbody of nrexz who xnight be wiltirig to treat: on eqiritable terms, for the restoration of their Moxlarctly; but who are xzicc ixt brilarzcing those tcrnrs, and who would accept such as to thent appeared reasonable, but who would quietly subnrir to the prdomixzant power, if rhcy were xzot gratified in the fashion of some constirutioir which suited with their hncies, I take the state of Fraxzcc to t 9 totatjy ~ different. f fo1t3w of I ~ Osuch body, arld of 110such party So far fronr a combinatioxl of me~ztynren (always excepting Paitou) X never yet heard, that a sirtgIe mnn could he ~lanredof suffi-isie~ltforce or infitlerrce to answer b r allrolkc~r~iaxz,r~zrtchless for the srndlest district in the country, or for the Irzost incoxrzplete cotrzpany of soldiers io the army. We sec every xnaxz that the Jacobins cfiuse to appreherid, talteri up in his village, or in his tzouse, and conveyed to prison without the least sfiadow of resistance; nad this irtdzferent& whether !.re is suspected of Royalism or Federalisnr, Moderantism, Democracy Royal, or any other of the rlarrtes of factioir which they starr by the hour, What is ~rzlrchmore astolziskixzg, (and if we did not ctlrcfully atof tend to the genius and circ~~instarices this Revolutioxl, ~rztrst:indeed appear incredit9te) all their fTlC9St accredited military mexi, frsm a gerleralissilno to a c(>rporal, Irzay be arrested, (each in the midst of his camp, and covered with tkc laurels of accillmulated victories) tied rieck and l~eels, thrown into a carr, and sent to Paris to be disposcd of ar tkc p1e;rsrtrc of the X3cvolilticlnary Tribunals. As no individuals haw power and influence, so there arc rzo Gorparatioxzs, whether of L a y e r s or Brrrghers existing. The Assenrbfy caXied Constituent, destroyed all such institutions very early. . . .
The Srate of France is perfectly simple. Xt coxzsists of tmt two dcscriptio~zs-The Oppressors arzd the Oppressed. The first have the whole authority of the State in their hands, all the arms, all tlze reveriues of rile pt~blick,all tlze confiscations of individuals and corporacioxls. They have taken the lower sort from their occupations and have put: thein irzto pay1 that they nray form then1 into a body of Janisarics to overrule arzd awe propwry53 The lreads of tlzese wretches they rzever suffer to cool. They supply them with a food for fury varied by the day-besides the selzsuat state of intoxicatioxz front which they are rarely free, They have ntade the Priests and peopte fbrrnally abjure the Divinity; thcy have estranged them from every civil, moral, and social, or evert Rat~rraland ixistinctive sentiment, habit, and practice, arzd iiiavc re-clrzdercd them systematically sayages, to rnake it impossible for then1 to be the instrunrents of any sober and virtuotts arrarzgcmcnt, ur to kc rccorzcited to any state of rjrdfer, t~rzderarzy tiame whatsoever, The other description, the Oppressedare people of some property; they are the small ~liqtrcsof the persecuted Landed htcrest; hey are the Bur$zers and the Farmers. By the very circumstanw of tlreir being of some property, tlloirgh numerous in sonte points uf view, they caxznot be very consideratlie as a n&gpnber,fn cities the nat t ~ of e their occupations renders thein domestick and fectde; ixz the couiztry it confines them to their farnt for subsistenw. . . .
As to the oppressed individunlls; tlzey are Izzany; and as discontented as nren nrust be ~ t d e rthe ntoxzstro~sand complicated ""'A jairissary was a rnernber cif the 'Iirrkish infanrry itz rlte Otrorndrl Er~~pire.
tyraniiy of all sorts, with which they are crushed, They want 110stinzuIus to throw off this dreadftil yoke: but they do want (not Manifestoes, whiclz they have had even to surfeit, but) real protection, force arzd succour. The disputes and questiorts of rnerz at their ease, do not at all affect their nrinds, or ever can occupy the mixzds of rncn in their situation. These theories are long since goxle by; they have had their day, and have done their xnisctzieE The questioiz is not bemeer1 tlze Rabble of Sy-sterns, Fayetteism, Condorcecisnr, Monarchistzz, or Democratisnt or Federalism, on thc uxze side, and the ftlndanterital Laws of Frarzce on the other-r bcween all these systenrs arnoxzgst themselves. Xr is a controversy (weak indeed artd t~iiequalon tlze one part) bemeen the proprietor and the robber; kcmeen the prisoner and the jailor; between the rteck arid the guillotine. Frjrtrfifths of the French inhabitants would thankfully take protection front the Emperor of ~uloroccs,and t;crc)rtld never trouble their heads about the abstract pri~zciptes uf the power by which thcy wcrc srtatched fromn imprisonmei~t, robbery, and nrurder, B L Ithen ~ these nren can do lirtXe ur rzathixtg for thcmsclves, They have nn arms, nor nragazines, nor chieEs, nor union, nor the possibility of these things withixz thernsctvcs. On the wfiale thercforc I lay it down as a certainty, that in the Jacobins, no ctlangc of nrind is to be expected-axzd tliat xzo utfters ixz the territory of Frartce have an indepei~deiitand del i berative exisrerrce, The trr~riiiis, that France is out of irself-The ntorat France is separated front the geographical. The Izzascrr of the house is expelled, and the robbers arc in possesof sion. If we Look for tlze c~p"ir&tepeopIe France exiscirzg as corporate in the eye and intention uf public Law, (that corporate
people, I mean, who are fiee to deliberate and to decide, arzd who have a capacity to treat and conclude) they are in Flanders, and Germany in Switzerla~ld,Spain, Xtaty3 and England. There are d1 the Princes of the Blood, there are all the Orders of the Stare, there are all the krfiarnents of the kngdom, This being, as I conceive, the true state of France, as it exists gerricoriaL& arzd as it exists rnoralb the questioiz will be, with whom we are to csrzcert our arrangements; arid whom we are to use as our instruments in the redtrction, in the pacification, and ixz the settlcmeizt uf France, The work to be done rntlst iridicate the worltmeiz. Supposing 11s to have rario~lallobjects, we iiiave two prirzcipal, and urzc secondary. The first mo are so iritintately connected as not to be separated even in thought; the reest-at9tisfimcnt of Royalty, and the reestablishment of Property. One would think it: req~~ires not a great deat of arguxncnt to prove, that thc mast serious cndeavf>t~rsto restore Roydry, wilt be made by Royalists. Property wilX be nrost energetically rcstorcd t9y the antieizt pruyrierrors of that kingdom. Wren X speakof Rudists, I wish to be understood of rhose who were alvvays such from principte, Every arm lifted up for Royalty from the beginning, was the arm of a man so principted. I do xzot think there are teri exceptions, The principted Roy;llisr;s are certainty nor: of force to effect these objects by themselves. If they were, the operations of the present great Colrrbination would be wholty urzxzeccssary; F%%atX ccjntcnd for is, that ttzey should be a>risultedwith, treated with, and employed; and that no Foreigners whatsocvcr are either ixz interest so eng~ged, or in judgment and local knowledge so conrperent, to answer all these purposes as the nrztural proprietors of the cc9untv.
Their r~umberfor an exiled parry is also considerabte, Alnrost the whole body of the landed proprietors of France, ecclesiastical and civil, have been steadily devoted to the ~Monarcby,This body does nor: anzounr: to less than scvcxzty thortsand--a vcry great rlumber in the cornpasition of the respeccable classes in any society-I an1 sure, that if half that rzumbcr of the samc dcscription were taken out of dlis country, it would leave hardly any thing that X should call the pcople of Englaxld. On the 52th uf the Errtpernr'4 and the King of Prnssia, a body of ten thok~sandNobility on horseback, with the Kings mu brothers at thcir head, served with the K n g of Prussia in the catnpaign of 1792, and equipped themsclvcs with the last skilfixzg of thcir ruixzed fortcriies and exizar~stedcredit.45 Xt is not ~ ~ othew q~~estion how that great force came to be rendered useless arzd totally dissipated. I state it now, only to remark, that a grear part of the same brce exists, and would act if it were enabled. X am surc every thing l~assl~ewrzus that in this war with France, one Frenchnran is worth wenry foreipcl-s. . . . If we wish to nzake an impressie~no n the mirzds of any persotzs in France, or to pwssuade them to join our standard, it is intpossible that they sllortld not he more easijy led, and Irrorc readily fornred and disciplined, (civilly and xnartially disciplined) by tliose who speak their language,
55fSefore the revo1utior.t tlre French Noblesse were so reduced in numbers, char r h y did nor much ex-
ceed wenty thousmd, af: least of M 1 gown men. AS they have been velp cruelly fformeii into entire coips of soldiers, it is estimated, tlrdt by rhe sword, arjd disrempcrs in rllc field, they have not lost Icss rlran five rhousaild men; and if this course is pursued, ir is ro be feaieci, that tlre whole body of the French nobiliy may be exritzgt~islred.Swcratli Irundreds have also perished by hmitle arid various actiderrcs, [Eitrke's note]
272 who are acquainted with their Irrallners, wlio are conversant with thcir usages arzd habits oE thinking, arsd who have a local knawledge of their c o u n q , arzd sonre remains of antient credit arzd consideratioxz, than with a hody congregated frofir ail tofzgues and tribes. Where none of the respcctabfe native irtterests are seen in the transacticjir, it is impossible that any declarations caxz convince those ri-tat are within, ur those that are witbo~tt,that any thing else than some sort of trostility in the style of a coriqrreror is meant, At best it witi appear to such waverirtg persons, (if such there arc) wtrosn we xncarz to fix with us, at best a choice whether tlzey are to continue a prey ro doitrrestick banditti, or ro be fought for as a carrion carcass, arzd picked to the borle by all the crc>wsand vultures of the sky. They may rake proteccictn, (and they would X doubt not) but they can iiiavc neither alacrity nor reat zeal in such a cause. When ri-tey sec ~lothingb t ~ tbands uf Eszglish, Spaniards, Neapolitans, Sardinians, Prussians, Austrians, Hungariaiis, Bohemians, Sclavoxlians, Cruatians, dcting ns pr.i?pzc$nlis, it is impossible they should thirds we conte with a beneficeiit design. Many of those fierce aid barbal-ous people have already given proofs iisow little they regard any Frerich party mfratst>ever.Some of Fhese ~~atiofrs rile people of France are ja;itons of; such are the Erzglish, arzd the Spaniards-otlzers they despise; such are the Xtalians-ottlers they hate and dread; such are the Germaxz and Danubiar~powers. At best srlcti interpositiorr of aritient enerrzies excites apprehension; but irr ri-tis casc, iiiow can thcy sklppasc that we conre to maintain their legitimate Monarchy in a truly parer~lalFrench Governmerrt, to protect their privileges, their laws, tIleir retigic~ir,and their property, wlreri they see us m e person WllO has any make use of E ~ O
irrterest in thenrt, any knowledge of thenrt, or any the least zeal for thens? On rile contrary$they sec, that we do rzot suffer any of those wlrc:, have slrewrs a zed in that cause, which we sccrrz to nrake our own, ro conre frecty into arzy place in which the Allies obtain arsy focjting. TFwe wish to gain upocl any people, it is riglit to scc wliat it is thcy expect. WChave had a. proposal front the Royalists of h i t o u . They are welt iotitled, after a bloody war maintained for eight xnonths against ail the powers of arrarchy, to speak the scrztinrerrts of the Royalists of France. Do thcy desire us to exclude thcir Princes, their Clergy, their Nobility? The direct contrary They earnestly solicit that rrren of every one of thesc descriptions sfaontd be sent to thenrt, They drt riot call for English, Austrian, or Prtlssian officers, They call h r Frcncll esnigrant officers, They cdl for the exiled priests, They have demarlded the Conrtc d'krtois to appear at their head, These arc the demands, (quite rzatt~raldcmands) of tlzose who are ready to fottow the staxzdard of Monarchy. The great nreans the~cforeof rcstorixzg the Moriarcizy wiiricl~we have ntade the mairr: object f l t l ~ eWLZC is ro assist tile dignity, the rcligiorz, and the property uf France, to reprlssess tilemseives of the nreans of their nattlral influence. This aught to bc thc primary objcct of all our politiclis, arzd at1 our military operations, Ochemise every thing will nravc in a preposterous order, and nothing krtt canfusiori and destrrtctiorl will follow. II know that nrisfortuxle is not nrade ro wirz rcsyect from ardixzary xnixzds. X kriow that tlzere is a learrirsg to prosperity however obtained, and a prejudice io its favanr; X know there is a dispositioxz to hope something from the variety and inconstancy of viiiany, rather than franr the
tiresorrze ujlifnrmity of fixed principle. Thcre have been, X admit, situations in which a guiding person or parry might be gained over, and tlrtrougll him or them, the whole body of a rzation, For the hope of slrcli a cortversion, and of derivirlg advantage from enemies, it might be polirick for a while to throw yo~srfrieirds into the slzade. But examples drawn from history in occaions like the present will be found daxzgcrously to mislead LLS. Fra~zcehas rza resentblarice to other cs)~tritrieswlzich have tlrzdergonr troubles arid been purified by ttrenr, If Fra~lce,jacobi~zisedas it has been for four fill1 years, did contaixz any tlodics of authority arzd disptl>sicionto treat with you, (nrost assuredly she does #lot)such is the tcviy of those who have expelled every thing respectable in their country, such their ferocity, their arropnce, their mutixrotls spirit, thcir habits uf defyi~rgevery thing htrntarz and divine, that ric) engagement would hold with thenr far three xnontfis; nor indeed could they cohere together fnr any purpose of civiiized society, if left as now they are. There nrltst be a xncans rzot onfy uf breakilzg their strength witflirt thernsefves, but of ciuilizing thent; and these w o ttrings nrust ga together, before we G ~ I Ipossik91y treat with them, xrut only as a nation, but witli ariy cfivisiorr of them. Descriptions of men of their own race, but better ixz rafzk, s~periourixz property and decorrtnt, of honourable, decent. and orderly habits, are absotutely necessav to bring them to such a frame as to quali+ tlzein so ntucir as to come inta corztact with a civilized nation. A set of those ferocious savages with arms in their iiialzds, left to themselves in one part of the country, whilst you procced to another, would t9real-c farth ixzto outrages at least as t9ad as their farmer. They must, as fast as gained (if ever they are gained) be put ~rrlderthe
guide, directiorz and governinerit of better Frenchnren than thetrrsellves, or they will ixzstantly relapse into a fever of agravatcd Jacohinisnt.
2% adrnirzister the only cure fbr the unheard af disorders of that undone counrv, X think it ixzfi~zitctyhappy far us, that God has given into our hands, more effectt~al renredies than hrrrrzan cotltrivance could point out. We have in our t9osam, arzd in the bosomn of otlzer civilised states, rzearer forty than thirty thousand persons, providc~ztialtyprescrvcd xrut only from the cruelty arzd viofence, but front the cont.agiorr of the tiarrid practices, serlti~rrentsand language uf the Jacobins, and even sacredly guarded from the view of sucii abonrinabte scenes. Xf we should obtain in any considcratllc district, a footing irz Frarice, we possess an imntertse body of physicians and nraglstraces of the nrind, wfiarn we rzaw know to kc the xnosr discreet, gentle, well tempered, conciliatory, virtuous, and piot~spersons, who in any urdcr probably existed ixr the world. You wit1 have a missioner of peace artd order in every parish. Never was a wiser ~latioxlall ucconomy than in the charity of the English and of other corriitries. Never was Irzoney better experrded than in clre ~rzaintenrznce of this body of civil troops fbr reestahlisl~ingorder irt France, and for thtrs sectliring its civilization to Europe. This meaxzs, if properly used, is uf value ixrcstimable. Nor is this corps of instru~rzerrtsof civilizatiolz confirred to the first order uf that state, I rnean the clergy. The allied powers possess also, an exceedingly nunrerous, wet1 informed, serzsible, ingerrions, high prirtcipled arid spirited body of cavaliers in the expatriated landed interesc of France,
as well qualihd at teasr, as T, . . , ever expecrcd to sec irz the body uf arzy landed gerltlemerl and soldiers by their birth, France is welli winnowed and sifkd, Xes virtuous nlen arc, X Bcfievc, amongst thc nlost virttlc)trs, as its wicked are antoiigst the ~rzostabandoned upon earth. Whatever in the territory of Fralzcc may t9c bttrzd to kc in the ntiddlc bemeeri these, rnust be attracted to the better part. This will be compassed, when every gcrztlcman, every where being restored to his landed estate, each or1 his patrirrlsrlial ground, may join the Clergy in reanhating the loyalty, 6detity and religion of the people; that thesc gerttlerrtert proprietors of land, ntay sort that people according to the trust they severally merit, that thcy nlay arm the honest arid we11 affected, and disarm arid disable the factious and ill disposed. No hreigner can make this discrimirzation xzor t k s e arrarigernenm The ant.ient corporatior~sof B~~rglrters according to their several modes shoutd be restored; and placed, (as thcy o ~ ~ g to h tbe) in the hands of rmen of gravity and property in the cities or baitlages, according to the proper constirrztions o f the cornmons or third estate of France. They will restrain and regulate the seditious ratlblc there, as the genttemen will o n their own estates. 111 this vvap arid i~z this wny alone, the country (once broker1 in ttpon by Earcigrr force well directed) xnay be gairied and settled. It must be gained and settled hg it-self; and throtrgh the medium uf its own xzative dignity and property; It is not horiest, it is not decent., still less is it poiittck, for breigll pnmrs thcn~selvcsto atrexnpt any thing in this minute, internat, focal detail, in whicir they could st~ew~lothingbtrt ignorance, imkccitity, confusion arzd uppressioiz, As tcz tfie Prince who has a just claim tcz exercise the regency of France, like other nren
lie is riot wirhstrt liis fmlts artd his defects.5" But hults or defects . . . arc not what in any country destroy a legal title to Governnrent, These princes are kept in a poor utlsctzrc caurztry towrz of the King of Prussi;~;.Their rept~tationis erttirely at the nrercy of every catunrniator, They callnot shew thernsclvcs, thcy cannot explain tbernselves, as princes ought to do. After being well informed, as any nran here can kc, f do not find, that these klcrnishes in this eminent person, are at all considerable, or that they at all afkct a character, which is fdl of probity honoul; geflerosiy, and rcat goodness. Xn some points hc lias but too rnuch resernblarlce tcz liis unfortunate Brother; who with all his weakncsscs, had a good urzderstanding arzd maiiy parts of an excellerit ntan, and a good King. But Monsieur, without supposing the other dcffciclzt, (as he was not) excells him in general knowledge and in a sharp and keen observation, with sonrething uf a kctter address, arzd arz iiiappicr mode of speakirlg and o f writing, His conversarion is open, agreeable and infornred, his nlalzrzcrs gracious and princely. His brother the Cc~mtedXrtt>is srlstains still better the reyresentatio~lof his glace. He is eloquent, lively exzgaging in the highest degree, of a decided cliaracter, full o f energy and activity*XR a word he is a brave, honourable, and acconlp lishcd cavalier. Their bretiirert of Royalty, if they were true to their own cause and interest, instead of rclcgating thesc illustrious persons to ari obscure towri, worltd bring tllent forward i o their courts and canrps, and exhibit them to, what they would speedily obtain, tlie esteern, respect, arid affection of rzzankind . 7~i"hc cornre de I'rovence, who later became Louis
mr11.
I tiiiink I iiiave nrysclf strtdied France, as ntuclr as most of those whom the allied courts are likely to enrptoy in such a work. I have likewise uf myself as partial arid as vain as opinion as men cornmonly have of thenrselves, But if X could conrxna~zdthe wfiole nrilirary arm of Europc, I arn sure, that a bribe of the hest provi~lce in that kingdonr, woutd not telflpt me to intcrmcddle in thcir affairs, except ixz perc e concert with the fect c ~ t ~ c ~ t r r e nand naturat legal interests of the country, composed of the Ecclesiastical, thc Military, the several Corporate Bodies of ]usrice, and of Burghership, making under a Morzarch (1 rcpcat it again and again) the Frerzch Nnl;z'un,acmrdi~zgto its fgndamsnt d l G O Y Z S ~ ~NO ~U considerate ~ ~ O ~ . Statesxncrz would undertake to meddle wit11 it t~porzany otlzer corzdttion, The Cover~rmentof that kingdom is furzdanrentally Monarchical. The pc~blick law of Europe has riever recognized in it any other form of Gover~lrrzerrt.The POtcrztates of Europe have by that law a right, an interest, artd a drrty to klow with what governrrzent they arc to treat, and what they arc to admit into the fedcrativc Society, or in other words into the diplomatick Republick of Europe. This Rjghr is clear and ixzdisyutable, What other and further interferertce they have a right to in the interior of &c colzcerlzs of another people, is a nrattcr un which, as o n every political subject, no very definite or positive rule can well be laid dowaz, Our ncight9ours arc men; and who wilt atteinpt to dictate the laws, under which it is allowable or farbidderr to take a part in tiiic conccrxzs of men, whether tlzey arc corzsidercd irldividually or in a coll/ective capacity, whenever char-
ity t~ tiiem, or a care of my own safety, calts firth nzy arcivity Gircurnstances perpetrtally variable, directing a moral prrtdencc artd discretion, tlze generdl prirzciples of which never vary nrust atone prescribe a conduct fitting alz such uccasions. The )atest casuists of public law are ratlzer of a Republican cast, and in my ~rzind,by no means so averse as they arlght to t9c to a Right in tlie people (a wcjrd wfzicli ill defined is of the most dangerous use) to make changes at thcir pleasure ixz the furldantentat laws of their country, These writers, however, when a country is divided, leave abundant liberry. for a xzcigibour to srtpp(3rt arty of the parties according to his choice.5" This interfcrcnce must ixzdeed always t9c a Eght, whilst the privilege of doing good to others, arid of averting from them every sort ofevii, is a Right: Circumstances may render that XXight a Duty It depertds wholly on this, mfzether it be a bonajde charify to a party, and a prrldcnt precar~tianwith rcgard to yourself, or whether t~rtdertlze pretence of aiding orre of the parties in a nation, you act in such a nranxzcr as to aggravate its calamities, artd accornplistt its final destruccion. Xrt truth it is not the interfering ur kcping aloof, but iniquitous intcrmeddling, or treacirerorrs irlactisrt which is praised or blamed by the decision of an equitable judge. It will be a just and irresistible presumption against the fairness of the irlterposing power, that he takes with iiiini rzo party or descriptic>nof men in the divided state. It is #lot probable, that these parries stloutd all, and all alike, be more adverse to the true i~lterestsof their country, arid less capable of b m i n g a judgment u p o ~thern, tfiarz those who are absol~.ttcstrangers to
their affairs, and to the character of the actors in thern, and have k 9 ~ ta rcnrote, feeble, arid sec(11idar~~ ~ r r t p awith t l ~their ~ interest. Sonretirzres a calm and trealing arbiter xnay t9e ncccssary; but* he is to compose differerices, riot to give laws. It is impossible that any one shotrld rrot feel the full Eorcc uf that yresuxnption. Evexz people, whose pr>lirics for the supposed good of their own country lead them to take advarztage uf the disscntians uf a rieiglrhouring rlatisrl in order to ruin it, will not directly propose to exclude the rialives, but they will take ttlat rrzode of consulting and employing them which most riearly approaches to an exctusioi~.In some particulars ttrey propose what anzounts to that exctusioxz, irz uthcrs they do mtlcfi wclrse. They recontinerld to Ministry, ""rzat rro Frenctrnran who tras given a decided upinion, or acted a decided part irz tiiiis great Rewlution for or against it, sii~ouldbe countenanccb, brought Coward, trlrsttd or employed, even ixz the strictest subordination tc:, the Ministers of the allied pc~wers." Although one woutd chink that ttris advice would starzd corzdc~nned on the first proposition, yet as it has been rnade popular, and tras been proceeded upon practically, l think it right to give it a full consideratiori. And first, X have asked rrzysclfwho these Frerzcbmexz arc, that, in the state their own country has been in for these last five years, of all the people of Europe, have alone rzut tlccn able to form a decided opinion, or have been nnwilling to act a decided parr? Looking aver all the nanres I have ficrzrcf of in this great Revolution, in all htrman affairs, I find no rrzan of any distinction who has rcnraincd in that- marc than sto. ical apathy, but the Prince de C ~ n t iThis rnean, stllpid, selfish, swinish, and c m ardiy anirxral, urzivcrsalty knawn and de-
spised as such, has indeed, except in orie abortivc attcrrzpt to elope, been gerfecciy neutral, However his neutrality, which it seems would qudi+ him for trust, and on a coxrzpetieion nrust set a i d e the Prince de Coxzdd, can bc of 110 sort uf service. His moderatiorl itas not been aMc to keep lzirrr fionr a jail, The aljied powcrs rrzlist draw hirxt from that jaii, beforc they cajz have the full advaritage of the exertiorls of this g r a m w ~ t r aist.58 l Except: him, I do not recollect a ntari of rank or talerits, who by lris speeches or his votes, by his pen or by Iris sword, has not kccn active on this SCCIZC. The time indccd could adl~tit rieutrality in any person worthy of the natrze of man. . . . It is however, arlt of these, or of such as these, guilty and irrrpenitent, despising the experience of octrers, and their own, that some people t d c of chusing their Megociators with those Jacobiris, whc:, they suppose nray be recovered to a souxlder mind, They flatter tiiicmsctvcs, it scerns, that tiiic friendly habits fctr~neddurirlg their original partnership of iiriqtticy, a similariry of character, and a confor~~tity in the groundwork of their principles, miglrt facilitate their conversion, and gain thern over to sainc rccogrzitian uf IXoyalty. But surely this is tc3 read lrrtntari riature very ill. Tlre several Seccaries in this schisrrz of the Jacobirzs, arc the very last xnexz in the world to trust each otlser. Fellowship in Treason, is a bad ground of confidence, The last quarrels, arc the sorcst; arzd the i~zjuricsrcceived or offered by your own associates, are ever the nrost bitterly rescrited. . . . '"~urke is cornparing Louis-Eransois-Joseph dc Bourbon, gri~tcede Conci, with X,ouis-Juseph de Bourbon, prince dc C.hndk. Ar the time B u r k was writing Rrrnarkst Gonri was in prison in I'aris after ~rtulriingto France in 1792. Gun& was an tntcnrtig1:ri leader who was very hostile toward the Frel.tch revolurionaries.
The first description is that of the Christian RoyJists, men who as eanzestly wished for refcrrnrtation, as they opposed irrnovatioll in the fundali~entalparts of their Church and State, Their part has been uery decided Accc>rdinglythey are to be set aside in the restoration of Ghtzrch and State. It is arz odd kind ofdiscqitatilication d i e r e the restoration of Religion arid Monarchy is the q~testion.Xf England should (God forbid it should) Eatj into the same misfortune with France, arld that the Cstrrt of Vieniia should uridertake the restoration of our ~blonarchy,X ttli~lkit worlld be extraordinary to object to the admission of Mr. Pirt, of Lord Greriville, or Mr. D ~ ~ n d into a s any share in the nranagcmexzt of that L9usiness, because ixz a day of trial they have stood up firmly and nranfkllly, as X trust they always will do, and with distinguished powersI for the ~tlorlarchyand the legitimate C~ristitutiori oftheir country. X anr sure if X were to suppose xnysclf at Vicnxza at such a tixnc, 1 should, as a Man, as an EnglisZzman, arid as a Royalist, protest in that case, as X do in this, against a weak and ri~inousprirzciplc of proceeding, which car1 have no other teridency, than to nrake those who wish to support the Crown, meditate too prufoundly on the consequeirces of the part they take-and consider whether for their opcrz arrd forwad zeal in the Royal Ca~tsc, they ntay not be tlzrust: out from any sort of confidence and employment, where the interest of crowned heads is concerned, These are tlze firtie$. f have said, arid said trul;v,that X know of no ~leutrals.Bur as a general observation on this gexicral pririciple of cfiusirig rieutrais on sucfi occasions as the present, X have this to saythat it anlaurzts to xzcirher more xzor less thari this shockirig proposition-tlzat we ought to exclude nren of hoxlour and ability fmrn serving theirs and our causc; and
to p t ~the t dearest triterests of ourselves and our pos"e* into the hands of men of no dccidcd character, wlthoitt j t ~ d g r n ~ to l~t chtrse, and witho~ttcourage to profess any principt e whatsoever, Such xncn can serve no cause, for this plain reaso~i-they have rio cause at heart. They can at best work oxlly as Irzere nrercerzaries. Thcy have xzot kccn guilty of great crirnes; hut it is orrty because they have riot energy of mind to rise to any height of wickedrzess. Thcy are rzot hawks or kites; they we only rniserahte fowis whose flight is not above their dunghill or henroost. Brtt they trcrnbte before the authors of tlzese l~orrors,Zrey adinire them at a safe and respectful distance. There never was a meall and abject mind that did rzot adxrrirc an illtrepid arid dexterorls villain. In the bottonr of their hearts they believe such hardy miscreants to be the only nlen qualified fbr great affairs: if you set them to transact with such persons, they arc instantly st~bducd.Tlzey dare not so xnuck as look their ar1tagt)riist in the face. They are ~rzadeto be their subjects, not to be their arbiters or contro-otlers,
XEI ail that we do, whether in the struggle or after it, it is riecessary that we sizoutd constaxrtly have in our eye, the nature and character of the cxzerny we have to contend with. Tile Jacobin Revolution is carried on hy men of no rank, of no considerarion, of wild savage xninds, full of teviry, arrogarzcc and presumption, without morals, without probity, without prudence. What have they thexz to supply their innumerable defects, arid to ntake tlzem terrible even to the firmest nrinds? One thing, anit one thing only-but that one thing is wonh a tlzousand-they have enera, fn France, ail things being put into a universal fernrent, ixz the decompositialz of socicty, rzo xnagz
cmzes forward but by his spirit of enterprize and the vigour of his mind. IF we rneet this dreadful and portentous eneru, restrained by no consideratinf~of God or man, thar is alvvays vigilaxzt, atways an the attack, that allows itself r~t:,reposet arid suffers none ro rest an hour with impunity; if we meet this eslierg with poor comntorlptace proceeding, with trivial ~rzaxims,paltry otd saws, with doubts, fears arzd susyicioxzs, with a tajzguid, urzcertain hesitation, wtrh a fbrrrtaf, official spirit, wl~icflis turned aside by every ohs~aclefronr its purpose, and which never secs a difficrtlty t7nt to yield to it, or at t9cst tc3 evade it; down we g(:, tc:, the hottont of the abys-and ~lothingslrorr of Omnipotence can save 11s. We must meet a vicious arid distempered erieru with a manly and rational vigok~r,As virtue is limited in its resuurccs-we arc doubly bound to use all that, in the circle drawn about us by our ~rzorals,we are able to conrnrand. X do not calztelzd agalxzst the advalztages of distrrtst. IEI the world we live in it is but too neccssary. Sonre of old called it the very sin~rivsof discretion. But wfiat signie common-places, that always rrtrl parallel and equal? Distrust is good or it is bad, according t~ our positiolz a11d our purpose, Distrust is a deferisive principle, They who have ~rzuctlto lose have ~rzuchto fear. But in France we hold nothing. We arc to break in t~pona power in possessior~;we are ro carry every thing by srornr, or by surprize, ar by intctligcncc, ar by all, Adveriture therefore, arid rlot caution, is our policy Here to be too presurrzing is the better error. The wodd will judge of the spirit of our pmweding irz those places of France which may &allixzto our power, ky our conduct ixz those that are already in our hands. Our wisdanr should not be vulgar. Other rirzres, pwt~aysother measures: But in this awful
hour our poiiticlcs ought to be ntade up of nothilzg but courage, decision, ~rzanliness, arzd rectitude. We should iiiavc at! the magnanimiy of good faith. This is a royal and conrnzanding policy; and as Iong as we are true to it we may give the law. Never can we assuine this cornntarid if we will r~t:,t risque the consequences. For which reson wc ought to be laottonled enougli in principle riot to he carried away upon the first provecc of any sirlister advantage. For dcpend upon it, that if we oncc give way to a si~iisterdealing, we stlall teach others the ganre, and W shall be ournitred and overborne: the Spaniards, thc Pr~~ssians, God knows wlm, will put us under contribution at their pleasure; and instead of being the head ofa great confeder;lcy, allid the arbiters of Europe, we sl~all,by c:,nr ntistakes, break up a great design into a thousand lirtlc. selfish quarrels; tlic erzenly will rriurrtptl, arid we shall sir down urider the terrzzs of unsafe and dependent peace, weakened, mortified, and disgraced, wfiilst all Europe, Erliglarld irrciuded, is lefi: open and defenceless 0x1 every part, to jacobin principles, intrigues, and arms, . . .
My clear opixzion is, that Taulalz ought to he ntade, what we set orrt wirh, a royal French city. By the necessity of the case, it nlust be under the influcxzcc, civil a~zdmifirary, of the allies. But the ordy way of keeping that jealous and discordant nrass from tearing its cumponexzt parts to pieces, and hazarding the loss of the whole, is ro put the place into the nonrinal goverrzmcxzt of the regcrzt, his officers being approved by us. This, f say, is absolutely necessary for a poise amongst ourselves. OtLrcrwisc is it to t9c tlctieved thar the Sparliards, who flotd that place with us in a sort of partnership corltrary to orlr nlutuai interest, will sec us absolrltc mas-
ters of the Mediterranean, with Gibraltar side, as16 Toulon air the other, with a quiet arrd cornposed ntinb, whilst we do little less than declare chat we are to cake the whole West Xridics ir-rto our hands, leaving the vast, ~ ~ ~ t w i earid l d ~feeble , body of the Spanish donrinions in that part of the world, absolutely at our xncrcy, witbortt arry power to halarrce us in the sntallesc degree. Nothing is so btal to a nation as an extreme uf self-partiatity, and the total want of consideration of what otlners will rtatt~raltyhope or fear. Spain must tt-tink she sees, tt-tat we are taking advantage uf the currfusiorrs which reign in France, to disable that: couritry, arid of course every country from afhrdi~rtgher p m t ~ c t ~ rand r , in the end to turn the Sparrisiz Monarchy into a province. If sine saw things in a proper point of Itght, to be sure, shc worlld rrot currsidcr any otiiicr plarr of politicks as of the least ntoment in conrparison of the extinction of jacobinism, But her xninlsters (to say the t9est of them) are vdgar politicians. It is no wonder chat they shoutd postpone this great point, ur katancc it, t9y c~szsiderationsof the common politicks, that: is, the questions of power between 5tnl.e a~zds t ~ t e .IF we ~ ~ r a ~ r i f c errdeavour s~fy to destroy the balance, especially the nlaritirrle arrd contnrerciai balance, both in Europe and the West Irxdics, (the latter their sore arrd vulrterahie part) frorn fear of wlnat France may do h r Spain hereaftcl; is it to be wondered, that Spain, ir-rfir-titctyweaker tiiian we are, (weaker irrdeed that such a rnass of errrpire ever was,) shot~ldfeel tl-te sanre fears from our uncontroted pawcl; that wc give way to ourselves from a supposed resurrection of the ancient power of France under a Morral-chy? It signifies nothing whether we are wrorig or right in the abstract; b t ~ tio respect to our re1atiox-t to Spain, with sudr principles followed up in 011 uslie
practice, it is absr>l~~tel~ irrlpossible that any cordial alliance can subsist berwecrr the WO rzations, If Spalxr goes, Naples will speedily fctflow. Prussia is quite certain, artd thinks of norhing but rnaking a nrarket of thct p ~ sent confusions. Iraty is krokcn and divided; Swirzerlarid is jacobinized, f am afraid, conrptetely. I l-tave loc-tg seen with pain the progress of French principles in that contitry. Things canriot go o n t~purr the present bottonr. The possession of Tautun, which, well managed, miglit kc uF the greatest advantage, will be the greatest rrrisfortune chat ever happened to this nation. The more we multiply troops there, the more we sinall muitipty catlses arid rneans of quarrel amongst ourselves, I know but one way of avoidirrg it, which is to give a greater degree of s@licity to our politicks. Our situation does necessarily render rhcrn a good deal ixrvolved. And, to this evil, iristead of increasirig it, we ought. to appty att the renredies in our power.
Arzuther thing wfiich X cannot account for is, the sertding for the Bishop of Tclulon, and afterwards forbidding h i s entrance. This is as directly contrary to the dcclaration, as it is to the practice of the allied powers. The King of Prrrssia did better, Whcn he took Verduxz, hc actually reirrstated the Bishop and his Chapter. Whcrr he tt-toughehe should be the nraster uf Chalons, lie called the tlishop from Flanders, to put hint into possession. The Austrians have restored the clergy whercvcr they obtained possession, WC have proprised to restore Reiigiorr as welt as ~blonarchy;and in Toulon we have restored xzeither the one xzur the other. . . . If we give way to our Jacohirzs in this point, it is M l y and fairly putting the governmcxrt, civil and ecclesiastica[l, xzot iri the
King of France, to whom, as the protector and govertzor, and in substance the head of the Gatlican Chrrrch, the nomination to the bishopricks belonged, and who ~rrade the kishup of Touloxz; it does rzot leave it with hirn, or ever1 in tlie hands of the King of England, or the King of Spain; but in the t9ascsr facobixzs of a tow sea-port, to exercise, p ~ oceM.lpnre, the s~>vereigrity, If this point of religion is thus given up, the graxzd instrumerzt for reclaiming Fralzcc is abandoned. We cannot, if we wc)rtld, delude ourselves about the true state of this dreadful con test. It is B rei&iogg wal: Xt includes ixz its ubjcct undoubtedly every other interest: of society a well as this; but this is tile prirlcipal and leading feacrrre. Xt is through this destrr~ctionof religion that our erzerrties propose the accorrtplishment of at1 ti-teir other views, The French Revolution, impious at once and faxzaticd, had rio other plari for domestick power arid foreign empire, Look at all the proceedings uf the Natioxzal Assembly horn the first day of declxing itself srlcli in the year 1789, to this very hour, and you will find fill! half of their business to be directly olz this subject. In fact it is the spirit of the whole. The reliigious system, called the Goizstitutional Church, was olz the &cc uf the whore proceeding set up only as a mere temporary anrusenrerrt to the peopte, and so constantly stated in all their conversations, tilt the time sfiuuld conte, wliesz they ~rrigttewith safety cast off the very appearance of all religion whatsoever, and persecute christialiity tlirortghot~tEurope with fire and sword. . . . This rc-clti$ous war is xzut a colztroversy between sect arid sect as fornterly3but a war against all sects and all religions, The question is xzot whether you arc to overturn the cathulick, to set up the protestant, Such an idea in the present state of the world is too colztcmptibte. Qur busi-
rzess is to leave to the scfisols the discrtssion of the controverred points, abating as nlrtch as we can the acrinloxzy of disprrtaiits on all sides. It is for christiarz Sratcsme~l,as the world is now circumstarzccd, to secure thcir comnloxz Basis, arid rzot to risque the subversiorz of tire whole Fabrick by pursuing ti-tese distinctions with an ill-timed zed.Wc have in the present grarzd Alliance, all rnodes of Government as well as all Illodes of religion. Tn f;over1zxnc11t, we xncarz to restore that wliicli, riotwtthstariding our diversity of hmrs we are at i agl;eed in, as Cirndanrencai in Goverszmelzt. Thc same principle ouglit to guide us in the religious p a r ; cc:,nforrrring the nrode, not to our parricutar ideas . . . hut to wfiat witi k 9 ~ pronlote ~ t the great general erzds of the Aliance. As Statesmen we are to see which of those ~rrodesbest suits with the intcrests of such a Commoriwealth as we wisS-i to secrtre and pronrote. There can be no doubt, b t ~ that t the cathotick rcligiorz, wfiich is fi~rzdai~ielztal!y the religion of France, ntusr: go wttlii the Monarchy of France. . . .
Axlother political qrrestion arises about tile nlode of Gavcrrzment which uugkit to t9c established. I think the proctarnatiarz (which X read before X had proceeded far in this M e l ~ l ~ ~ i puts a l , ) it on the kcst footing, by postponing that arrangement tc:, a time of peace. Wherz our poliricks lead rts to clztcryrize a great, arid alrnost total political revsltttion in Europe, W ought to took seriousty into the consequences of what we are about to do. Some errtinerzt persons discover an apprehension that the ~blonarctly, if restored if1 Fraizcc, n ~ a ykc restored in too great strengrh for the liberty arzd lappiness ofthe ~latives,and Cbr the tranq~ritlity of other Scates, Tlzey arc thcrctorc of
opinion that ternrs ought ro be ~rradefor the xnodification OF that Monarctly; Thcy arc persons tot:, coilsidesable from the powerwf their m i d , and from their sitrtation, as well as froin the real respect I have for them, who seein to eirtertain rtrese appreherisions, ro let nre pass therrz t9y ~rrnoticcd. As to the pc~werof France, as a State, and in its exteriot~rrelations, I confess ~rry fears arc un the parr of its extreme rcduction. There is uridrtt~btediysonrething in the vicinity of Frarice, which rnakes it natwally and property an object of our watchl'ulncss and jcalot~sy,whatever form its Gsvernnrerit may take. But the difference is great bemccn a plan for our own security, and a scheme for the urtcr destructiorr of France. If rtrere were no other courltries in the potitical Irrap but these two, X adrriit that policy might justify a wish to lower our neigizbour to a standard which would even render her in sonre xncasure, if not wholly, aaur dcpendcxrt, But the systenrt of Europe is exterisive arid exrrenrety cotnplex, E-forvever farnridable to us as takctr in this unc relation, Frai~ce is riot equally dreadful to all other States. On the contrary*~rryclear opinion is, rtrat the Liberties uf Europe carrnot possibly bc preserved, but: by her reinaining a very great arrd preponderating power. The design at present evidently pursued by the combined htentates, o r of the tvvc:, who lead, is totally to destroy her as such a Powcr, For Great Britain resolvcs that she shall have nr:, Cslc->iiies,rio Cornnrerce, and no IVarine. Austria nreans ro rake away the whole frontier frorn the t9o~ders of Switzerland, to Dunkirk. It is their plan also to render the interiour Governrrrent tax arrd feeble, by prescribing t9y force of the arms of rival and jealous nations, arid withottt consuiting the nacural ititclrests of the kingdam; such arrangcmcirts as ixr thc
actr~atstate of Jaicobinism in France, arid the ~rnsettledstate in which prohlerry ~rrust rcmaixr for a larrg time, wilj inevirat9ty produce such distraction and debility in Governnrent, as to reduce it ro ~loching,or to throw it tlack into its atd colrfusion, Qrre cartriot conceive so frigfztful a state of a Nation, A ~rraricirnecountry, wichout a marine, arrd without commerce; a continental country without a frontier, arid for a thot~sandmiles surrounded with powerfill, wadike, arrd ambitious neighbours! It is possible, that she ntiglzt submit to lose tier coxrrrrrerce and tier colonies; her security she never can abandoxr. . . .
X arn wet! awarc how invidious a task it is to r,ppse any thing which tends to the apparent aggrandizemenr of our own cotdintry, Bttt I think no cortrrtr~car t9c aggralrdized whilst Frarice is facobirHsed, This post rerrzoved, it will be a serious question how b r hcr further reductioxr will cantribute to tlze gerterat safety which I always consider as included. Anrong precautions againsr ambition, it may not kc amiss to take one precautiort against our own, I: rnirst hirly say, l dlead our own power arrd our own arnt9ition; X dread our kcing too rnt~cirdreaded. It is ridict~lousto say we are nor ~rren;and ttittr, as nren, we sfiafl rrever wish to aggrandize oursctvcs in sonre way or otlzer. Car1 we say, tlzat even at tliis very hour we are nor: invidiously aggrandized? We are already in posscssiolr of almost all tlze comrrrerce of the wc>rld.Our E ~ n p iiin~India is an awful thing. E w e should come to tlc in a condition nor olrly to have all this ascendarit in conrmerce, but to he absolutely abte, without the least cantrout, to hold the cainmcrcc of at) other Natiorrs totally dependerit t1p0~1our good pleasure, we Irray say that we shall rrut abuse this astonistrirrg, and hitherto
2112 unheard of power. Rut every other Natiorz will thirlk we shall abitsc it. Ir is impossible but that sooner or later, this state of things Irrust produce a conrbinatioxl against 11s wfiich may end irz our ruin. As to France, f must observe that for a long time she has been statiorzary She has, during this whole centrtry, obtained b r less by corlquest or riegotiation than any of the three great continental Powers. Sonre parrof Lorraine excepted, X rccoltect rzothing she has gained; no not a vitlage. In truth, this Lorraine acquisitiorz does little Irrore char1 secure her Barrier, I11 effect and sut9starzcc it was her own kcforc. Howe\rc;r that ntay be, f csrzsider these things at present chiefly in one point of view, as obstrrtctioxzs to the war 0x1 facobirzisnt, which mwst starld as long as the Porvers think its exrirgatioxl but a seco n h y ot?jcct, and think of raking advani ~ setage urlder tire riaine of i ~ d e m nand czariy to make war upon the whole Natiorz of Frarice Royal, and Jacobin, for the aggrandizernerit of tile Allies on the ordinary principles of interesr, as if no Jacobinism existed in the world. So far is France frorn being fc3rmidable to its ~leighboul-s fnr its donrestick strength, that t: colzceive it will bc as rn~tck as all its rieigizbours can do by a steady guwraIltee, to keep that Monarchy at all ~tponits basis. Ir will t9c their business to rirlrse France, rlot to exhaust it. France, sttcb as it is, is indeed highly hrmidable, Not forxnidable, howcvcr, as a great RCpul3lick; hut as the most dreadful garzg of robbers and ~rrllrderersthat ever was embodied, But this distcnrpcrcd strength of France, wit1 be the cause of proportiorzable weakness on its recovery. Never was a country so corn p 1etel-y ruined; arzd they who calculate the resrtrrectisn of her power by fornrer exanzgtes, have not sufficicrztty calzside~cdwhat is the prcscrzt state
of tlrings. Witlzout detailing the inventory of what organs of Government have been desrroycd, together with the very xnatc~ials of which alorie they can be recornposed, 1 wish it to be considered what an aperose affair thc wbote systern of csation is in the old states of Europe. It is such as never could be ~rradebut io a long course of years. Irr Fraxzcc, al) taxes arc abolished. The present pr3wer-s resort to the capital; and to the capital in ki~zd.But a savage urzdisciplined peoptc suffer a robbey wit11 more patierice than an impusl; The for~ner is in their habits and their dispositions, They consider it as traxzsient, and as what, in their turri, they may exercise. But: the tcrrours of the praent power are such as no regular Governrncnt can possibly ernploy. They- wlzc:, enter into Frarice do rlot succeed to their resources, They have nor: a systern to rcforxn, t9ut a system to begin. The mfzole estate of Governinerit is to he re-acquired, What difficulties this wit1 mect with in a cortntry exizausted by tire taking of capital, and anrong a people, io a nranller new principled, teairzed, arzd actually disciplined to anarchy, rebellion, disorder, and impiev, may be conceived by those who know what Jacutlin Frarzcc is, and who rnay have occupied thernsetves by revolving in their thoughts, what they were to do if it fell to their lot to re-establish the affairs of France, What suppclrt, or what limitations the restored Monarchy must iiiave, nray kc a doubt, or how it wit1 pitch and settle at last: But one thing I conccive to be Far beyond a doubt: ttlat the scttleme~ztctlxznot bc irnxncdiatc; t9ut that it must be preceded by sonte sort of power, equal at feast in vigour, vigilar-rce, prornptitudc and decisloxz to a nrilirary Government, Fof such a pvaratory Government, 110dow-paced, methodical, formal, Lawyer-like system, stit! less that of a
shewy superficial, trifling, inrriguirtg Court, guided by catlats af fadies, ur uf ntert like ladies; least: of all, a philosophic, theoretic, dispr~tatiousschool of sophistry. Noxre af these ever will, or ever carr lay the fouridations of an order that car1 fast. Wroever cIainrs a right by birth to govern there, nrust find in his Breast, ar must conjure up in it, an e n e r e riot to be expected, pm'haps not always ro be wished h r , in well ordered States, The lawfuk Prince ntust lzave, in every thing but crime, the clzat-acter of an usurper. He is gone, if lze imagi~leshimself the quiet possesor of a tiiiranc. He is to cantcxrd for it as much after an apparertt csriqrrest as before. His task is ro win it; he rrillst leave posteriy to enjoy and to adorn it. No velvet ctzsliions for lzim. He is to be always (I speak riearly ro the letter) on horseback. This opinion is the result of muck patierrt thinking an the subject, wlzich I: conceive no event is likely ro atrer, A vatuaMc friend aF mixre, who X hope will csriduct tlzese affairs so far as they fall ro his share, with great ability, asked rne what X thought of acts aF general ixrdemrticy and o h h i o n , as means o f settling France, and recoxlciting it to Monarctly. Before I venturc -clupon any upiniolr of my own in this matter, I: totatly discfairn the irrtcrference of foreign powers in a busixzess that property belorzgs ta the Governntent wbicl-1 we have declared legal. That Govcrrinrent is likely to be the best judge of what is to kc doxze towards the security of that: krigdom, which it is their duty arid their interest to provide for by such rrieasilrcs aF jtlsticc ar of fc~iity,as at the time they should firrd best. But: if we weaken it, not only by arbitrary limitations of our own, klttt preserve such perwns in it as arc disposed to disturb its futi~repeace, as they have its g a t , II do not know how a nrol-e direct declaration can be made of a dispa-
siticln to perpetual lzosriliry against a Governnrerrt. The persons saved from the justice of the xzative Mqiscr;ttc, by foreigri authoriy, will (>werlothing to his demeirc)r He wilt, and must, look to cllose rct whonr he is indebted for the power he has af disperlsirig it. A Jacobin faction, constantly fostered with the nourishment of hreigrr protectioir, will be kept alive,
Xf however X were asked to give arr advice rnerely as suct-1-lzere are nty ideas. f am not for a total inderrinity, nor a general punishmexrt. And first, the body arrd nrass of the people never ought: to be treated as cri~riinal,Tliey nray beconre an objecf: of mare ur less constant watchftllxzess and suspicion, as their preservation ntay best require, but they can never beconre an object: OF pc~nishrerzt.This is one of &c fcw f~rndanteritatarid unalterabf e pr illciples of golliticks. To punish tiiiern capirat!y would be to rnake massacres. Massacres only increase the ferocity of men, and teach rt-terrr to regard their awn lives and those of others as of little value; wlzereas the great: policy of Governnrent is to reach the people to think tloth of great importancc ixr the eyes of God and the State, and never to be sacrificed or even tlazarded to gratifi their passions, ur for airy thing t9ut the duties prescribed by tire rules of ntorality, artd under the direction of pubtic law and public autiiiarity. To purzisb thcnr with fesser periaities worlld be tc:, debilitate the comrrioxlwealttl, and nrakc rile rlation miserable, wfiicb it is thc business uf Govcrrrrnerit to render happy and flourishing. h to crinres too, X would draw a strong line of limitation, For no one uffencc, poIlz'tiealb an ofence of rebellion, by council, contrivance, pe~lrasionor compuisincl, for rrurrc propcrly a rrailitgry @fence ofrebel-
Lion, or any thing done by open hostility in the field, skautd arzy xnan at all bc caXIcd ixz question; becatrse such seesns to he tlze propm and natural death of civil disscrztians. The offences of war are ot9titerated by peace. Arlother cfss will of course be included ixz the indemnity, rzamely, all those who by their activity in restoring tawfitt Gover~imerit shall obliterate their offekzces, The offence previousfy hc~wlz,the acceprance of service is a pardori for crimes. I fear that this class of men will riot be very rzrtmerous. So far as to isldenrnity, B L Iwhere ~ are the objects of justice, arzd of cxamylc, arzd of futt~resecurity to the public peace? They are nat~~raliy poi~ltedour, nor by their havirzg orttraged political and civil laws, rior tlseir tlavirig rebetlied against the state, as a State, but by their tlavillg rebelled agalxzst the law of nature, and outraged man, as rnatz. tn this list, all the regicides in general, ail those who laid sacrilegious hands on the Kxzg, who without aszy thing in their own rebellious mission to tile convention to justify ttlenr, brought him to iiiis triaj arzd unanimously voted him gitiity; aff those who had a share in the cruet nrurder of the Qt~een,and the detcstat9te yroceedirzgs with regard to the young King, and the unhappy Princeses; all those who conrnritccd cold-blooded murder any where, arzd particularly irz tlzeir revsluti~riar~ tribunals, d i e r e every idea of ~laturaljustice and of their w n declared XXigiErts of Masz, have tlecn trod urider foot: with tlze most insolent. mocker).; all nren coxzcer~ledin the btlrning and clernolition of houses or chul-cbcs, with audacious arzd marked acts of sacrilege arzd scorns offered to religiotr; in generd all the leaders of jacokin Ctut9s;---lzat one of tlzese should escape a punishment. suitable to the nacrrre, qktaliry and degree of their offence, by a steady but a measured justice,
In the first place, no gnarl otrgltit to be sisbject to any penalty*fronr tile highea to the fowest, but by a trial according to the corlrse of law, carried on with all that caution and deliberatio~zwhich has been trscd in the best tirncs arzd prcccdents of tile Frerzcfz jurisprudence, the criminal law of which country, faulty to be sure in sonre particutars, was iiiighly laudable and tcrzdcr of the lives of nteri. In restoring order arid justice, ever). thing like retaliation, ought. to be religiortsty avaidcd; arzd an exasnptc ought to be set of a total alienation fiton1 the Jacobin proceedings in their accursed revolt.ttionary tribunals, Every thing like llrntping rnerz in nrasses, arid o f fcrrnting tables of proscription ought to be avoided, Irz a11 these punishments, any thing which can he &edged in mitigation oE the offence should be fully considered, Mercy is not a thing opposed to jnsticc. It is an essentid part of it; as riecessary in critnillal cases, as in civil affairs equity i s to law. Xr i s only for tlic Jacobixzs xzever to pardoxz. They have riot: done it in a single instance. A cotrncil of mercy ought therebe to be appointed, with powers to report oil each case, tc3 s~fteszthe penalty, or esztirely tc:, remit it, according to circuxrzstances,
Tr: is extraordinary that as the wicked arts of this regicide and Tranrzaus 6actiarz increase in riuinber; varierry, arid atrocity, the desire of punisfling tile~izbeconres nrare arzd mare faint, arzd the talk of arz indcrnrzity towards them, every day stroriger arzd stronger, Our ideas of justice appear to be fairly conqrtered arzd overyawcred by guilt when it is growl1 gigantick. It is riot the point of view iR which we are in Fhe habit of viewing guilt. The crin~eswe every day punislz are really below the perzatties we infiict. The cri~rrirlalsare obscure and feeble, This is the view ixz whictz we sec ordinary
On the French RevoIatiola
crimes and criminals. But when guilt is seen, though but for a time, to be furnished with the arms and to be invested with the robes of power, it seems to assume another nature, and to get, as it were, out of our jurisdiction. This I fear is the case with many. But there is another cause full as powerful towards this security to enormous guilt, the desire which possesses people who have once obtained power, to enjoy it at their ease. It is not huntanity, but laziness and inertness of mind which produces the desire of this kind of indemnities. This description of men love general and short methods. If they punish, they make a promiscuous massacre; If they spare, they make a general act of oblivion. This is a want of disposition to proceed laboriously according to the cases, and according to the rules and principles of justice on each case; a want disposition to assort criminals, to discriminate the degrees and modes of guilt, to separare accomplices from principals, leaders from followers, seducers from the seduced, and then by following the same principles in the same detail, to class punishments, and to fit theni to the nature and kind of the delinquency. If that were once attempted, we should soon see that the task was neither infinite, nor the execution cruel. There would be deaths, but for the number of criminals, and the extent of France, not many. There would be cases of transportation; cases of labour to restore what has been wickedly destroyed; cases of imprisonment, and cases of mere exile. But be this as it may, I am sure that if justice is not done there, there can be neither peace or justice there, nor in any part of Europe.
Among the ornaments of their place which eminently distinguish them, few people are better acquainted with the history of their
own country than the illustrious Princes now in exile: but I caution them not to be led into errour by that which has been supposed to be the guide of life. I would give the same caution to all Princes. Not that I derogate from the use of history. It is a great improver of the understanding, by shewing both men and affairs in a great variety of views. From this source much political wisdom may be learned; that is, may be learned as habit, not as precept; and as an exercise ro strengthen the mind, as furnishing materials to enlarge and enrich it, not as a repertory of cases and precedents for a lawyer: if it were, a thousand times l dbe that a Statesman had better w o ~ ~ it never learned to read. . . . This method turns their understanding from the object before them, and from the present exigencies of the world, to comparisons with former times, of which after all, we can know very little and very imperfectly; and our guides, the historians, who are to give us their true interpretation, are often prejudiced, often ignorant, often fonder of system than of truth. Whereas if a man with reasonable good parts and natural sagacity, and not the leading-strings of any master, will look steadily on the business before him, without being diverted by retrospect and comparison, he may be capable of forming a reasonable good judgment of what is to be done. There are some firndamental points in which nature never changes-but they are few and obvious, and belong rather to morals than to politicks. But so far as regards political matter, the human mind and human affairs are susceptible of infinite modifications, and of combinations wholly new and unlooked for. Very few, for instance, could have imagined that property, which has been taken for natural dominion, should, through the whole of a vast kingdom, lose all its importance and even its influence.
This is what history or books of speculation could hardly have taught us. How rnarly could have thongllt, that the rnost conrplete and formidable Revotution in a great ernpire sfiortld be nrade by xncrr of letters, riot as subordinate instrrttnerlts and trllnrpeters of scditioxl, but as the chief contrivers and xnanagers, and in a short tirrle as the open admitlistrators and sovereigrl Rulers? Who could have imagined that Atheisnr cortld produce unc uf thc most violerltty operative priltciples of fariaticism? VVho could have irrlgined that, in a Conrnronrvcalth in a Irrarlner cradled in war, and in arr extensive and dreadful war, military contmanders silould be of lirtle or ~ l oaccount? That rhe Convention sfiould not colrtain one military nran of riame?That admirlistrative bodies in a state of the utrnost conhsion, and of but a nromelrtary duration, arrd cornposcd uF men with riot orte intposirlg part of character, sfiould be able to govern the country and its armies, with an autiiiority which the most settled Scriates, arid the most respected lMonarcbs scarcely ever had in the same dcgrcc? This, for one, I confess I did riot fitresee, t b o u d ~all the rest was preserlt to nre very early, and nor: out of my appreherrsion even far scverd years. f believe very few were able to ertter into the ef5ect.s of m r e li"rrour; as a principle rrat uniy for the support uF powcr irr give11 hands o r farms, but in ttzose things in which rhe soundest political Speculators were uF opinion, that the )cast appmrafrce of farce wsrrld be totally destr~~ctive,such is rhe ~rrarket,whether of nroney, provisiarr, ur commodities of any krrd. Vet for four years we have seert loaris nrade, treasuries supptied, and arnries levied and maintained, xnorc rrumcrorls than France ever shewed in the field, by the efects of' finr alone.
Here is a state of things (of which, in its totality, if history hrnishes any examples at all, they arc very rernotc arrd feebfe. X therefore am not so ready as sonre are, to tax with folly or cowardice, tt~osewho wcl-c: not pl-clparcd to xneet an evil uF this nature. Even now* after the events, all the causes nray be sonrewhat difficult to asccrtain. Very xnany arc iiowcve~traceable. But these things history and boc:,ks of specrtlation (as II have already said) did not teach mcn t<9 foresee, and of course to resist. Now that- they are no lat~gera matter of sagacity but of r-xperience, of recent expericlrce, of our uwrz expcriclrce, it would be unjustifiable tc:, go hack to the records of other rimes, to instrtlct EIS to nranage what they xrcver enrzbted ~ t to s forcscc.
By 1796 Credt Britairz had been at war with reuolgtl'onn;f.y Fr~zi.zi.rfirAreeyears. AL thoggh the Pig mr'ntstry t'ncls6ded i ~ t e r ~ e n tion ia the domestic corzstiicz4tion ~f wvultbtionary h c e in the declumtion of KCi~zg &rge 1'11of act-obrr 1793, PZtt clontz'rzulru! to keep che possibiLiq of coming t.cl terms with the French t.euolznrdonnriessThose British ministers and politicidiazs (such ns Charles Fox) who agreed with Piat$Pexibili y on ttle kssuv ofthe natgrc" ofthe FVtr~lch regime took encouragement?urn $hefill of IZobespierre irz j~ly1794, which sugested thad Frdnce mZgk~tbecowre more moderate irz its brhnuiop: The Pitt mirzist~begnn ZiVl hte 1795 to expiore the possibiLidc7s of aegotz'nting a settLement with France. T%isdeztekop-
merit corzslicuted the mt~zbst f i r the First Lctter a n a Regicide Pcacc. First Letter mz a Regicide Peace is opte r?f
Bgrke? riches$ wsiti~gsnn fiwig~z afdit.s. Not n n b did he mozGnt nn attinck against Pittj. o v e r t e p e e bat he nho dz's~zdssed the relations/?$ be~urrrzthe prople and Gkreir ledden in time of W/(ET;the hktorr'cdl& unique natt4P.e ofthe carwnt war and the raggle with wz~ol~linnurgir Frgnce; the thredt posed by France to thefgaAmental or&r nf Earopean civiliz;nt.io~;she existcncc @he cornmonweaigh of Ez~rope;the importd~ceill inmatinrz,zl r.crlrlti;ons o f n carrespon&ni.e nlrzong nations in custovts, mdnnen, and htbia c?fl$; the j%st$cntion for i~rteruencion iur the d~mesdiirafairs gaprother state; the mordl rather than geographicdl essence of the nal-k'on; and the role of the smrclsrnnn, The scope, detail, nnd rhetoric of First Letter on a Regicide Peace sggcsr that B ~ r k ei~rtendednnl on& m irguence the dim m t i o n ofBritt'sI7 policy toward Frnnce but also stl Ieavepmterip a tesc/rmentof his opporitiopz t-o &e Frerzrli. &ioo/~giorz, $ztt, ar the end of First Lctter alz a Regicide Peace, Bzlke stdted thnt what he had wl.z'tt.l?nwas "rPsl/kvnen8arymdnd /?ad the IjinceTiq q i n dyizg dechration. Less thal-z n year &$er its p ~ b h c a t i o ~Bzlrke , was dead h Budepredieted i n hi$ First Letter, the w m with Emnce W/(ESZ~ng nnd bloody, E ~ e nthe Ela~ger the tdrget ofthe First Letter on a Regicide Peace, did not live t~see the mminathn ofthe wnr sprked by the reztolation d-hnr Bzkrkc Jfierceb and mnsi.ztenl;ly misted fiaorn its heginni~gunril his own death. "
6-
First Letter an a Regicide Peace ( 1 7E)B)
Our last conversation, though not in the tone of absoirrce despmdencp was h r froin chcarftll. We curtld rzot easily accourtt fbr ssnte t~iipleasarztappearances. They w r e represented to EIS as indicating the scatc of thc popular mind; and they were not at all what we should have expected from our old ideas even of the 6autrs arzd vices of the English character. Tlre disastrorrs events, which have followed one upon another in a long wnbroken furzereal train, nloving in a proccssiolz, tlzat seerned to have ricn end, tlrese were riot the principal causes of our dejection. We fcarcci more from what threatexzed to $21 within, than what rnerzaced to oppress us fronr abroad, To a peopte who haw once bccn proud a~zdgreat, arzd great t9ccause tlzey were proud, a cllange in tlie riatioiial spirit is the most rerriblc of all revolutiorrs, I shdt rzot live to tlchold the unravelling of the i~ltrlcateplot, which sacfderts arzd perplexes the awful drama of Providence, rzow acting on the moral theatrcl of the world. m e t h e r for thought or for actiori, I: am at the end of ~zzyareer. You are in rhe middle of yours. Irz what part of it's orbit the riation, with which we are carried dc.>ng, ~zzovesat this instant, it is not easy ro conjecture. It may; perilaps, t9c far advarrced ixz its aphelion.-But when to rett~rrl? Not: ro tose ourselves in the infinite void of thc conjectural world, a ~ l b~~sincss r is with what is likely to he affected for the better or the worse, by the wisdonr or
weakness of our plans, Xn all specr~latio~ss rtpon men arsd human affairs, it is of xro small nroment to itistingrrish things of accident f.i-om permanent causes, and from effects that caxzxrot be altered. It is rzut every irregulariy in our ntovernerit that is a total deviation honr our course, X anr #rot quire of the nrind of those speculators, wh~7seem assured, that necessarily, arid by the coxrscittrtion of things, all States have the same periods uf inbncy* nralshood, arid decrepitude, tlzat are found in the individuals who contpose thent. krdlels of this sort rather furnish similittxdes to illustrate ur to adorxr, tiiiarz supply arzalogics from mfserzce to reason, The objects wlzicb are atremprcd to be forced into an analogy arc rzat found in the same classes of existence. ttldividrlals are physical I3eings, subject to laws urriversal and invariable, The immediate causc acting in thcse taws rnay be obscure: The gwn"ral results are subjects of certain calculation. But conrmonwcaltlrs arc rzot physical but nroral esserices. They are artificial contbinations; and in eheir proxi~rrateefiicient cause, the arbitrary productions of the iiiuman mixsd. We are not yet: acquairited with the laws which necessarily i~rfluerrcethe stability of that kind uf work nradc by that kind of agent. There is rtot in the ptrysical order . . . a distinct cattse by which any ofthose gabricks mk;tst necessarily grow, ftaurish, ur decay; nor, in my opinion, does the rnoral world produce any thing nrore deternrirzatc un that subject, than what Inay serve as an amusenterit . . . for specrtlative nteri. X doubt whether the history of ~rrankindis yet cornpleat errough, if ever it can bc so, to filrrtisll grounds for a sure theary on the intcrnaf causes which necessarily affect the farturze of a Statc. I am gar frorn denying tlze operatiorz of sucfr catlses: But they are infjnitety uncertain, and nrucls, more obscure, and much more difficult to trace,
than the foreign causes tlzat tertd to raise, to depress, and soxrretimes to ovemhellnr a cornmurrir_v. It is often impossible, in these political enq~~iries, to h d any propofiio~rbetween the apparent farcc OF any. moral causes we may assign and tlzeir known operation. We are therefore ob1ii;c.d to deliver up that operation to mere clrancc, or more piortsly (perhaps rnore rationally) to the occasionat interposition and irresistible hand of the Great Disposer. We have seers States uf considerahie duration, which filr ages have retrrained nearly as they have begun, and corltd hardly be said to ebb ur flow. Sornc appear to have spertt their vigorlr at tlzeir conrnrerrcement. So~rrehave blazed out in their glory a litde before their cxtirtctiun. The rneridiarz of sonte has been tlre ntost splendid, Others, and they the greatest nurnt9cr, have fluctuated, arrd cxye~-icrrced at differerit periods of their existeisce a great variety of brcnne, At the vcry nroment wfren some uF tlrcnr sccnred plurzgcd in unfathsntable abysses of disgrace arrd disaster, they have suddenly enrergcd, They have tlcgun a rzew course arsd upcrrcd a riew reckoning; arzd evert in the deptlls of their calanrity, and on the very ruins of their courrtry, have laid thc foundations of a tciwering arid durable greatness. Al this has trappened wicfrout any apparent previous change irz the gerzcral circumstances which had brotr&t on theiu distress. . . . Such, and often influenced by such cartscs, has canrrnonly been the .fate of Mortarclries of lmsg duration, They have their ebbs and their Aows, This has been ernincxstty the h t e of the Monarchy uf France. There have beer1 times in which ricn Power has ever been brought so low. Few have ever Rorlrishcd irz greater glory. By trtrrts elevated and depressed, that Power had been, on the whole, rather 0x1 the encrease; and it continued rzat only powerful
but farnridable to the hour of the total ruin of: the Monarchy, This fall uf the Monarchy was f;lT fitmt being preceded by any exterior synrptonrs of decline. The interior wcre not visible to every eye; and a thoitsand acciderits might have prevented the operation of &at the most clearsighted were xzot able to discern, xzur the ntclst providerit to divine. A very little time before its dreadhl catatropheythere was a kind of cxterior splcridour ixz the situation of the Cr~,>wn, which t ~ s ~ l aadds l l ~ to Government strength artd authority at home. The Crown sccrzzed then to have obtained some uf the nzast splendid objects uf state ambition. Narze of the Continental Powers of Ewoye were the enemies of France. They wcre all, either tacitly disyoscd to her, or publickly coniiected with tier; arid irr tllose who kept the ~rioscaloof, there was little appearalizce of jcalonsy; uf anintclsity there was no appeararlce at all. The British Nation, her great preponderating rival, she had humbled; to at1 appmmncc she had weakerled; cerratrlly had endarigered, hy cutting off a very large, and by Ear the xnosr growing part of her cgrzpire.59 llrt that it's acnrd of hunran prosperity and gxamw% in the high and patmy starc of the Moriarchy uf France, it fetl to tllc grclund wirhor~ta suuggk. It feil without any of those vices in the Monarch, which iiiave sornetinzes kccn the causcs of the &!l of kingdrtms, but which existed, without any visible effea on the m e , iiz the hi&CSt degree ixz nzany other Princes; arzd, Ear from destroyirtg tlieir power, had only left soxrie slight stains on their character, The financial diffictztties were olzly pretexts and instruments of those wl1c3 accomplished
'%ullie i s ~rferringto the role France phyed in rhe defeat cif Britain in i t s war with the rebeliious Arrreri~ancolonies.
the ruin of that Morzarchy. They were not the causes of i c, Deprived of thc old Gavcrrzment, dcprived in a manlier of ail Gclvernnzent, France fallen as a Monarchy? to conrnroxl spccuiators might iiiave appeared more liltely to be an object of pity or insult-.,according to &c d;sposition of the circumjacent powm" than to be the scortrgc and terror of them all: But out of the tomb of the nrurdered Monarctly in France, has arisen a vasr, trcmerzdous, urzformcd spectre, in a far more terrifrc guise than arty whicfi ever yet have overpowered the imagination, and subdued the fortitude uf man. C;oing straight forward to it? eizd, ~rnappallled by perit, Ernchecked by remorse, dcsyisixzg a11 cornmon xnaxinzs arzd all commorz means, that hideous pha~ztom overpowered those who could not believe it was possible she could at all exist, except on the principles, &rich l~abitrather than Ilature had persuaded thenr were necessary to their ow11 particular wethre and to their own ordinary modes of action. But the constitution of any political being, as well as that of any physicd being, ongt~tto kc knowri, before one car1 ventrtre to say what is fit for it's cof-rservation, or what is the proper nzeans of it-.Qoovver.The poison uf other States is the food of the new Republick. That bankruptcy, the very apprehcrrsiun of which is unc of the causcs assigned for the fall of the Monarchy, was the capital on which she opened her traffiick with the world. The Repttbiick of Regicide with an an~lihitatedrevenue, witfi defaced friallufactrtrcs, with a rilincd commerce, with arz uncultivated arid half depopulated coniit r p with a discontented, distressed, enslaved, arzd famished p e o p l ~passing with a rapid, eccerztrick, incalculable course, froxri the wildest anarchy to the stcrriest despotism, has actually curzquercd the
finest parrs of Europe, has diswsscd, dis~trzited,deranged, and t9roke to pieces all tlze rest; 2nd so sul3dued the minds of the rulers in every rlatio~z,that hardly any resource prescrzts itsetf to them, except that of erititling tlzernselves to a contentptuous rnercy by a display of their imbecility arzcl mcaizncss. Evexz in their greatest xnilitary eff;,rtsand the greatest &splay of their fartitude, they sccrrr not to hope, they do not cvcn appear to wish, the extinction of what s~lbsiststo their certain ruin. Their antbiriort is only to be adn~ittedto a ntore favoured class in the order of servitude ~trzderthat donrinccring power. This seents the ternper of the day. At first. the French force was too RIEZG~Idespised. Now i t is too xnuck drcadcd. As inconsiderate courage has giver1 way to irrational fear, so it rrray be hoped, that throngh tiiie xncdium uf deliberate sober apprehensior~,we rnay arrive at steady fortitude, Who knows whether indignation may rzat succeed to terror, and the revival of high ser~tirnent,spurning away the delitsion of a safety purchased at the exp a x e of glory, may xzot yet drive ~ t to s that generous despair, which has often subdued distempem in the State for which no remedy could t9e faund ixz the wisest courzcils, Other great States, having been without any regular certain course of clevatio~z,or decline, we xnay hope that the Britistl fortt~tientay fluctuate also; becar~sethe public ~rrind,which gready infiuerrces cllac fortu~zc,may have it's cchizges, We are therefore never autt~orizedt(7 abandon our country to it's fzte or to act or advise as if it had no resource, Tlzere is no reasoil to apprelzend, because ordiliary nteans threater1 to faif, that no others can spring up, Wlilst uur heart is whote, it wit1 find means, or make thein. The heart of the citizerl is a pwen~iialspring of erterg to the Srate. Because the pc~lsesccr-xss to intcrmit, we xnust
t(7 not presume that it wiff cease irzstar~tl~ beat, The publick rrrust never be regarded as inctzrable. . . . For one . . . f despair neither of the p"blick fbrtune rror of the pubiick mind, There is much to be doric urzdoubtedlyb and ntt~chto be retrieved, We must walk in new ways, or we can never ellcourlter our clzcmy in his devious march. WCarc not at an erid oE otlr stt.uggI", ~ i o rnear it. Let 11s not deceive ourselves, we are aaf the kcginizing uf great troubles. I readily acklic~wledgethat the state of ptlhlick affairs is infinitely more unyromising thatl at the period I have just now alluded to, and the posittor1 of all the Powers of Europe, in relation to us, and in relatio~zto each other, is more intricate and critical beyond all contparison. Difficult irldeed is our situation. In all sirtlatio~zsof difficuly nren wilt be ir-rfitlenced ir-r the part they take, not orily by the reasor1 of the case, but by the p~cufiarturn of their own cllaracter. The same ways to safety do not prescrzt thernselves t(7 all men, rtor to the sante meri in diEerent tempers. There is a courageons wisdom: tiiiere is atso a hlse reptile prudence, the result not of cat~tionbut of fear. Under nrisfortunes it: oftell happetls that C arc so rethe xzcrves of ~ I Z und~rsvaxrdi~ig laxed, the pressing peril of the hour s s completely confounds all the hculties, that xzu future danger can kc properly provided for, car1 be justly estimated, can be so xrruch as fd!y seen. The eye of the mind is dazzled and vanqrtisfied, Arz abject distrust of otlrselves, an extravagarit a b i r a tion of the enemy, present us with no hope but in a cornpromise with his pride, by a submissi(>rtto his wilt. This short ptart of policy is the only counsel which will obtain a hearing. We plurzge into a dark gutpti with all tlze rash precipitatic>n of fear. The natt.lre of courage is, without a question, to t9e convcrsa~~t with dallgcr;
but in the pipable night. of their termrs, xncn under consternation suppose, xrot that it is the danger, whicfi, by a sure instinct, calls out the courage to resist it, but that it is the courage which pmduccs the hnger. They therefore seek for a refuge frronnr their fears in the fears thenrselves, arzd corzsider a tcmporizirrg mcanxress as the only sclurce of safety, The rules and definitions of prudence can rarely kc exact; never urzivcrsal, I do not deny that in small truckling states a tintely compromise with pcwer has oken been the Irzeaxls, and the only nreans, of drawling out their puny existcncc: But a great state is too nttlcll envied, too nrtlctl dreaded, to find safety in tlunritiaeion. To t9c secure, it nlust t9c rcsyected. Power, and eminence, and ccmsiderarion, are things not to be begged, They nrust be conrxnandcd: arzd they who supp1icate for ntercy froin. others car1 riever Etape for justice thro' therzzsclves, What justice they are to obtain, as the alms of an encxny dcpertds upor1 iris ct-raracter; arid that they ought mit to know before they inrpiicitly calzfide. ~tlucbcsrltrc7versy there has beert in Partanrenrl and not a little aiilongst. us out of doors, about the instr~1mcnta1nrtcans of this riaticm towards the ntainteriarice of her dignity and the assertion of her ri&ts. On the rxrost elaborate and correct detail of facts, the result seems to be, that at no tirrle has the wealth and power of Great. Britain t9ccrz so considerakte as it is at this very perilous ntclrneilt, We have a vast irtterest to preserve, and we possess great means of prcsm'ving it: But it is to tic rcrncrnbercd that the artificer n t q be irlcumbered by Iris toots, and that resoklrces Inay be anrong impcdinients. X f wealth is the obedient arrd laborious slave of virtue and of publick l ~ o Roar, then wealth is in it's place, and has it's use: But if this ordcr is dianged, arrd hon-
our is to he sacrificed to the conservation of riches, riches which have ~leithereyes nor hands, nor any thing truly viral in them, callrtot lortg sun.& the being of their vivifjring powers, their legirimare mastas, and their potent protectors, If we cornmand our wealth, we shall he rich arid free: If our walth conrnzatlds us, we are poor indeed. We are bouglit by the enemy with the trcasore ffom our own coffers, Too great a sense of the value of a subordinate illrerest may k9e the very source of it's danger, as well as the certain ruin of irtterests of a superiour order: Often tlas a nran lost his all because he would not subnlit to ii~azarddl in defeilding it. A display of our wedth before robbers is nor: the way to restrain their boldtiess, or to lessen their rapacity. This display is ntacfe, I know, to persuade the people of England that thereby we &all awe the enemy, and in~provetlie ECPI'IIS of our capirnlation: it is made, rtot that we should 6ghr with more airirnation, but that we should supplicate with bettcr hopes, We are mistaken. We have an eilerny to deal witfi who never regarded our contest as a measurirlg and weighirrg of purses, Hc is the Gat11 that puts his sword into the scale.") He is more tempted with our wealth as booty, thaxz terrified with it as ptlwer. But let us be rich or poor, let us he either in what proportio~rW ~lzay,nature is 6Asc or this is true, that where the essential publick fbrce, ( c i f which ntorley is but a parr,) is in any degree upon a par in a conAict bcmcclz natioxzs, tkat srate which is resotved to hazard it's existence rather than to abaxldon it's objects, nrust have an infinite advaxztagc over that which is resolved to yield radrer than tt7 carry it's rreisstrtce be()?In an ctieiftltrefaced by clrc Izistoriaftl Liy, a Gallic chieftain placeci lris sword into the slates being used to weigh gold the rZor~ldr~s were givillg to the Gat~lsto get rhem to lift r"c siege.
yond a certain point, Hunranly speaking, that peoptmvvhieh bounds it5 e h r t s only with it? being, must give the law to that rlarion which will not p~~slh it5 opposition bcyorzd its corzvelzicrzce. if we look to notl-lir~gbut our domestick condition, the stare of the rlation i s full cvexz to ptethory; but if we imagine that this csrtritry can long rnairltain it's blood and it's food, as disjoined from the conrmurziy uf xnankind, such arz upiniolz docs riot deserve ref rtation as ahsnrd, br~tpity as insarze. X do not know ttzat such an improvident and stupid setfisfiness, dcscrves the discussion, which, perhaps, I ntay besttw up1111it 1zereal.l-el: We cannot ar-mtzge with our clzerny in the present conjurzct~trc,without abandoning the irlterest of mankind. If we look only to our own perry peculiitxm in the war, wc have had some advantages; advantages arnbigur~usin their nature, and dearly bouglzt. We have not it1 the sligtztest degree, irnpaircd the strength of the coinmorz erienrty, in any one of those points in &lid1 his pxtict~farforce corlsists; at the same time that new eneniies to ourselves, rzcw 4lies to tile Regicide Repr~blick,have been rnade out of the wrecks: and fragrtzc-ntsof the gerzeral cankderacy. So t"ar as to the selfish part. As composing a part of the comnzunicy of Europel and interested in it's &ate,it is xzut easy to conceive a state of things more doohrfd and perplexing. When Louis the XIVrh had made himself master of one uF the largest and nrost ime in portant provinces of Spain; wlzerl l ~ had a nranner over-run Loxtzbardy, and was thundcrix~gat the gates of Turin; vvliclz lie had ntastered almost ail Ger~nanyon this side the f i i n e ; when he was on the point uf rulrzixzg the august Fabrick of thc Ernpire; when with the Elector of Bavaria in his afliaxzce, tzardly any thing interposed bcweelz him and Vicxzna; when the f i r k
l~ungwith a rrtigllry force over the Empire on the other side; T do riot know that in the t9cgirznlrzg uF 1704 (that is in the third year of the rericnvated war with Louis the XIV) the stare of Europe was so truly dart~zing." To Engialid it certainly was nor, Holland (and Holland is a nratrer to Englaxzd uf value incstirnable) was then powerful, was ttzeri indeperzdarit, arid thoug/z grearly eidangexd, was then hrll of energ arzd spirit. Brtt the great resource of Europc was in England: Not in a sort of England detached from the rest of the work!, and anzusing herself with the puppet shcw of a naval powcr . . . but in that sort of England, wflc7 c~)rlstderedfzerseif as embodied with Europe; but in that sort of England, who, symparhetick with the adversity or the l~appinessof mankind, felt that rlothing iiz hunzan affairs was &reign to lier. We xtiay consider it as a srlrc =loin that, as on the one hallcl ricj confedera7 of tile least effect or &ration can exist againa France, of which Erigland is xzot ulzly a part, but the head, so neither car1 England pretend to cope with France but as connected with the body of Christcndom, Our accotnit of the war, a a war ofcornmu~invz,to the very point in which we began to throw out lures, ugiings, and glances for peace, was a war of disaster and of Iittlle eke. The independant advantages obtained by rts at tfic bcgirzizing of the war, and which were ntade at the expence of ghat conrnron cause, if they deceive us abottt our largest and our srlrcst iritcresc, arc to be reckoned antonigst: ortr heaviest Iwses. The allies, and Great Britain anrongst the rcst, ( a d perhaps amongst the foremc7st) have beer1 ntiserably deluded by this great fr~ndanrentalerror; that it was in our powcr to xnake peace witti this monster of "l3urk.e is recounrirrrg evenrs rlrac happened in the first three years of the Wars of the Spdrlish Su~cessiul.t.
a State, whenever we chose to forget the crimes that xnade. it great, and the designs that made it formidable. People imagined rt-tac their ceasing to resist was the sure way to be secure. This ""pal cast uf thought sicklied over all their eirterprizes and rtirrred all their politicks awry.'"z They coutd xzut, ur rather they would r~otread, in the most ur1equivocat declarations of the enenry, and in his uniforrrr conduct, that more safety was to be fouxzd irz the ntost arduous war, than in the friendstlip of that kind of being. It's hostile anrity can be obtained on rlo rernrs that do not imply an ixzabittty hcreal'rer to resist it's designs, This great prolif c error (X ntean that peace was always in our power) has been the cause that rendered the allies indifferent of the war; and perabout tile direc5.i~~ suaded them that they nright always risque a choice, arzd even a chaxzgc in it's ul3jects. They seldom improved any advantage; h q i n g that the enemy, affected by it, would xnake a proffer af pcacc. Hcrlc~it was, that all their earIy victories have heert followed almost irzrnrediately with the usual effects of a defeat; whilst all the advantages obtairted by the Regicides, have bee11 followed by the coxlseqtlerlces that were rzatural, The discomfitrtrcs, which the Republick of Assassins has suffered, have wnifurnrly called forth new exertions, which xzat only rcpaircd old lasses, but prepared new conquests. The losses of the allies, on the contrary, + . . have been followed by dcsertioxz, by dismay, by dist~niorr,hy a dereliction of their policy, by a Aie;ht from rhcir principles, by an admiration of rhe clzemy, by mutual accwatioxzs, by a distrust in every merrtber of the ai-
"hallusion to tines in the fanxol~ssoliloquy in Shakespeare$ f-?'/x~tlrt in which Hamlet ponders his indecision,
liartce of it"sellow, of itk cause, it's power, and irk coklragc, Great dimculrics in conscquclzcc of our erroneorts policy, as I have said, press t~porr every side of us. Far from dcsirinf: ro cornceal ar even to palliate the evil in the representation, I: wish to lay it down as my foundariok thar rrever greater existed. In a moincnt when sudde~zpa~zickis apprehended, it ntay he wise, fbr a while to coriceal sonre great publick disaster, or to reveal it by degrees, urztit the mixzds uf thc people have time tc:, be re-collected, that their understa~ldingnray have leisure to rally, arzd that xnorc steady car~~zclls nray prevent their doing something desperate under the firs impressions of rage or terror. But with regard to a g e n e ~ state l of things, growing out of events atid causes already known ixs the gross, there is rlo pi" in the fraud that covers irk true rzattlre; because nothing but erroneous resolutions can be rtie resuft of ktse representations. Thosc measures which ixz conrnrolz distress Inight be available, in greater, are rlo better than playing with the evil. That the effort xnay kcar a proyortioxz to the exigence, it is fit it should be known; known in it's quality, in itk exterrt, and in all the circunrstarzces which attend it, Great reverses of fortune, there have been, artd great enrbarrassxzrerrts in council: a principied Rcgicldc encrny possessed of the nrast important part of Europe and struggling for the rest: within oursetves a total relaxation uf all authority, wwfrilst a cry is raised agairtst it, as if it were the most Eerocicltrs of all despotism. A worse phacnomerzuxz;-our goverxrxncrzt disowned by. the most efficierit nternber of irk tribunals; ill supported by any of their constituent parts; and thc highest tribnnal uf all . . . deprived of ail that dignity and all that efficiency Wjlich rnight enforce, or regdare, ur if rkc case required it, nright supply the
want of every other COWL"?- )Public prosecutions arc kccornc little t9ctter tfzaxz sclzoc>lsfor treason; of no use but to improve the dexterity of criminals io the mystery uf evasion; or to skew with what compieat irnpuriity men may corispire against the Conrnronwealth; with what safety assassix-rs xnay attempt it's awful head." Every thing is secure, except what the laws have srrade sacred; every thing is tameness and la~zguurthat is xrut h r y arid faction. Wrilst the distempers of a relaxed fibre prognosticate arid prepare all the srrorbid force ofcoxlvulsion in the body of the State the steadiness uf the phpician is overpc3wered by the very aspect of the disease. The doctor of the Constitution, pretendirzg to under-rate what he is not able tt3 contend with, shrinlcs fromn lzis own operation. He doubts atzd questions the salutary but critical terrors OF the G B U E C P ~arid tlze knif'e. He takes a poor credit even from his defeat; and covers irzrpaterice under the mask of lenity Hc praises the moderation of the laws, as, in lzis lzarids, he sees them baffled atzd despised, Is aXt this, because in urtr day the statutes uf the kingdarn arc riot erigrossed in as firm a character, and iniprinted in as black atzd legible a type as ever? No! the taw is a ctcar, but it is a dead letter. Dead and putrid, it is irisufficient to saw the State, hut potent ro infect, and to kil. Living law? .Full of reason, and uf cquity and justice, (as it is, or it slzould riot exist) ought ro be severe and awful too; or the words of merracc, whether written alz tlze parchmerit rdl of Englat~d,or cut into the brazen tablet of Ronre, will excite "yi'his may be a1 oblique lefclrnce to the nquirtal of Warren Ha5rirrgs by rtre Hottse of X,orrls in April 1735. "*Burke is refclririg to the unsuc~essfulpmsecutions for rrz-ason clfleading radiiixfs that rook glace in
t 794.
notllirrg but contempt. How canles it, that in a11 the State prosecutions of magnitude, from the X3cvottltion to within these two or three years, tlze Grr3wi-n has scarcely ever retired disgraced and defeated from it's Courts! VVlrexzce this alarnring chaxzgc? By a csnnexion easily felt, and not impossible to be traced to it's cause, all the parrs ofri-te Scate have their corrcspolzdencc a116 consent. They wlzc:, bow tt3 the enemy abroad will not be of pctwer ro subdue the conspirator at hornc. Xt is in~possiblexrot to observe, that in proportion as we approxinrate ro rile poisonous jatvs of anarchy, rile hscinarion grows irresistible, Xn proportion as we are attracted tc3wards the focrts of illegality irreligion, a d desperate enterprize, all thc ve~liun~orts and bli$ting insects of the State arc awakerled into life. The pronrise of rhe year is blasted, and shrivcllcd, and kumcd up befbrc tiiicm. Our ntost salutary and most beautiful institutions yieiid nothing b t ~ tdust and smtlt: thc harvest of aur law is rzu nrorc than stubble. It is in tlze nature of these eruptive diseases in the Stare to sink in by fits and re-appcax: Brtt the fircl OF the xnalady renrtains; arid in my opinion is not in the snrallest degree nricigated in it's srraligniry, though it waits the bvonrat7lc momerlt of a freer commuriicatiori with tlze source of Regicide to exert atzd to encrease it"sorce. Is it that the people arc changed, that the Conrnronwealth cannot be protected by its laws? I hardly think it, 0x1the coiltrary, I cc~nceive,that these things happen because nrerz are slot changed, but remain alvvays what they alvvays were; they remain what the bulk of us must ever be, when abandoned to our vulgar prope~lsities, without guide, tcadcr or colztroul: That is, made to be ft~llcif a biirrd elevation in prosperity; to despise ~lntrieddangers; to be overpowered with uncxp~ctcdreverses; to
find no cfue in a labyrinth of difficulties; to get out of a presexzt inconvcniexzcc with any risque of future ruin; to follo~wand to bc~w ro fortune; ro adtrrirc successft~lthough wicked ei~tcrprize,arzd to imirate what we admire; to condernri the gciverrzment which announces danger horn sacrilege and regicide, whilst they are only in their irlfilliq allcl rheir stnrggie, but whicir finds nothing that can alarm in rheir adult: state and in the power and triumph of those destrrtctive principles. In a mass we cannot be left to ourselves. We must: have leaders. ff none wiI1 undertake to lead us right, we shalt find guides who will co~ztriveto condrrcr us to shaine arld ruin. We are in a war ofaprc-%liarnature. It is xzot with an ordixlary communiry; which is hostile or frierzdly as passion or as interest may veer about; not with a State which xnakcs war through wantonness, arzd abandons it through lassittlbe, We are at war with a system, which, t)r it's essence, is inirxtica! to af! other f;overnmerzts, and which ntakes peace or war, as peace and war nray best: cotrtrib~~te to rtreir subversion. It is with arz nrvted doctrirle, that wc are at war. It l~as,by it? essence, a faction of opinion, and of interest, and of enthusiasm, ixz every courztry. ?h rts it is a Galassrls which bestrides our channel. It has one foot on a foreigtr shore, the other upocr &c British soil. Tllr~sadvantaged if it can at all exist, it ntmt finail? prevail. Nothing car1 so complearly ruin any of rile old Governxncrzts, ours ixz parriculal; as the acknowtedgement, directly or by inrplicatisln, of any kind of superiority in this rrew power, This acknowtedgemcnt WC xnakc, if in a bad or doubtful situation of our affairs, we solicit peace; of if we yield to rhc rrroda of xzew humiliation, ir-r which alone shc is conteirt to give us ari hearing. By that: nreans the terms cannot be of our choosing; rza, not ixz any parr,
Xn ogle point we are lucky. The XXegicidc has received our advanas witli scslrn, We have an elrerrry, to whose virtues we can owe rzothing; but on this occasion wc are infinitely ohtiged to one of his vices. We owe rrrore to his ixisotence than to our own precaution. The iiiauglrriness t9y which thc proud repel us, 11s this of good in ir; that in rrraking 11s keep our d ~ ~ t a f lthey ~ e , rrrtrst keep their discmcc too. Xr1 h e present case, the pride of the Regicide ntay be our safety, He has given time for our reason ro operate; arzd for Britis11 c t i g ~ ~ to i y recover fmnr it's surprise. Front first: to last he has rejected ail our advances, Far as we have gone he has stilt tcfi a way open to our retreat. There is always an atlgury to be taken of what a peace is EikeXy ro be, fronr the preIir~rinal-ystcps that are xnadc to bring it about. We ntay gather somethirlg frsmn the tilrle in which tlre Grsr overtures are made; from the quarter wfiencc they corne; from the ntarlrzer in which they are received. These discover the ternper of the parties, If your cxzemy offers peacc in the xnomcnt of success, it irzdicates that: he is satisfied with sonrething. Ir: shows clrat there are limits to his arntlitian or his reselztrnexzt. IF he offers ricnthir~grlrzder ntisfortune, it is probable, that it is nrox painfirl to hinr to abandolr the prospect of advax~tagethan to endure calantity. If he rejects solicitatioir, arzd will rrot give even a rmd 10 the silppliants for peacc, until a cbaxzgc ixz the fortuxze of the war threateris hirrt with ruin, then I thirtk it evident, rhac he wishes nothirrg nrore thalz to disarrn his adversary to gain time. afrerwards a questioii arises, wl~icho f the parties is likely ro obtairr the greater advantages, t9y colztinuing disarnred arzd by the use of time. With rtrese few plain indications in our mir-rds, it will xzot be inrproper to re-
consider the conduct of the erlenry together with our own, from the day that a questic:,rl of peace has bees1 in agitation. In considering this part of the qrtesrion, T do rtat proceed on my own hypothesis. 1 suppose, for a ntoment, that this body of Regicide, calli~tgitself a Republick, is a poIitick person, with whoin sornethi~tgdeservillg the rlame of peace may be made. O R that supposition, let us exanrirre our own proceeding, Let us contputc the profit it has brought, arid the advantqe that it is likely re:, bring l~ereafter.A peace tc:,o eagcdy sought, is not atways the soaner obtaixted. The discovery of vetientent wisfies geiterally fr~~strates their attainntent; and your adversary has gained a great advantage over you whcrt he finds you impatient to conclude a treaty. There is in reserve, not only sonrething of digr-ricy,but a great deal of prudcxtce too, A sort of corlragc belongs to rlegotiatian as well as to opemtions of the field. A negotiator ~lrrtstofierl seem willing to hazard the whole issr~cof his treaty, if he wislles to secure any one ~rrateriatpoint. Thc Regicides were the Eirsr to declare war. We are the first re3 sue fc)r peace. In proportion to the hunriliry and perscverance we have shcwrz in our addresses, has been the obstinacy nftheir ansgance in rejectlrtg o w suit. Tfre patience of their pride scents to have kccn worrt arlt with the intporturlity of our courrsitip, Disgused as they are with a conduct so dffferent from at! the sentintents by which they are tlzesnselves tilled, ther thirzk to put an end to our vexatious sollicitation by redaubling thcir insults.
ln this intcrco~~rse, at least, there was ricnthing to promise a great deal of stlccess in our future advances, Whilst the fortulle of the field was wfiotly with tire Regicides,
nnthing was thorlght of but to fblltm where it Ied; and it led to every thing, Not so much as a talk of treaty. Laws wcl-c:laid dc:,wri with arrogrice. The most moderate politician in their clan was ctlosen as the argagt, rtat so xnrlch for prcscrit9ixtg lirr~irs to their clairns, as re3 ntark what, fbr the present, they are content to teave to others. They xnadc, nor laws, xtot Gonvexttions, not late possession, but physical nature, and political converrience, the sole foundation of tiiieir claims. The fiirte, tiiic Mediterranean, and the ocean were the bounds which, for the time, t11ey assigned to the Entpire of X&gicide, . . . Xn truth, wit11 these limits, arid their principle, they would not have left even the shadow of libcrty or safety to arty nation. Tltis plan OF empire was not taker1 up in the first intoxicatioxl of rtnexpectcd success, You nrusr rccoticct, thar is was pmjectd, just as the report has stated it, f r ~ mthe very first revolt of the factiorr against their Morrarchy; and it has kcerr unifarmly pursued, as a starldirlg ntaxim of natiortal prdicy, front that time to this, Tr: is, gcrrerally, in the season OF prosperity that nzcn discover their real tentper, principles, arid designs. But this principle sngested in their first scnlggles, f111ty avowed in their prosperity; has, in the ntosr: adverse state of their affairs, been te~laciouslyadhered to. The report, cornbixted with their conduct, forms an infallible criteriorl of the views of this Rep~~blick. In their fc~rtu~te there has kcerr sonte fluctuation. We are to see how their millds have been affected with a change, Snrne impression is ntade on them undoubtedly. It produced ssnte oblique rlotice of tire subfrrissions that were ntade by supptiarrt nations, The utrnosr they did, was to ntakc wrne of those cold, fbrnrat, general professions of a love of peace which no Power has ever reft~sedto make; t9ccausc they
mean little, and cost ~lothing.The first paper I have seen (the pi~Micatiolzat Hainburgh) makirrg a shew of that pacific disposition, discovered a rooted anitnosicy against this xzation, and an incurable ranc<>urs even rnore than any orte of their llosrile acts. Txl this E-fanrbtlrgh decfaration, tiiiey clioose to suppose, that the wax; an the part of En&nd, is a war of Cnv6rx~me% begun and cgrrieu! O M a@i@stthe sense nnd ir~terest~ ofthe people; thus sowir-tg ixz their very overtures towards peace, the seeds of trlnrult artd sedition: for they never have abandoned, and never witt they abandoxz, in peace, in war, in trcay, in any s i t ~ ~ a t i ~o ri i for , one instant, their old steady nraxirzr of separatirrg the people from their Governmelzt. Let me add-and it is wit11 unfeigned artxiety for the clzaracrer and credit of Ministers that T do addif our Governxncnt perseveres, in its as t~rtiforntcourse, of acting urtder ir1str~1nrents with such prcanrbies, it pleads guifty to the charges xnade t9y our erzcmies against it, both on it$ own part, arzd c>n the part of pxliammt iceif. The enenry xn~lstsucceed in his plan far looscrzixzg and disconnecring all the iriternal hsldixrgs of rile kingdoxrr, It was rzot clzaugh, that the Speech from the Throne in the opening of the sessit>rt in 1795, thrcrw otrt oglings and glances of tcrzderness. Lest this coqttet~i~rg should seem too cold and ambigt~ons,without waking for it's effect, the violent passion for a rctatiun to the Regicides, prodr~ceda direct Message from the Crc~wn,a d it's consequences from the two Houses of hliament. Qn the part of thc Regicides these declaratiorzs coitld riot be erttircly passed by w i t h ~ u norice: t but in that. notice they discovered still mare clearly the kottonz of their cl~aracter.The offer rnade to them by rile nressage to krfianrent was hinted at in their answer, but in arz obscure and
oblique marzrter as before. They accompanied their notice of the indications ~zranifested on our side, with every kirzd of insolent arzd taunting reflection. The Regicide Directory, on the day which, in their gipscy jargc>n,they call thc 5th uf Pluviosc, in returti for our advances, cllarge us with eluding our declarations under ""evasive forxnalities and frivolous pretexts." What tlzese pretexts and evastorzs were, they do 11ot say, and T have never heard. Btrt they do not rest there. Tlzey proceed to charge us, and, as it sirould seem, our atties in the rnass, with direct pe~$dy; they are so conciliatory in their la~zguageas to hirzt that tlzis pertidiuits clraracter is not rtew in our proceedings. E-forvever, norwichstanding this our habitual perfidy, they wijl ofkr peace "cln conditie?ns as moderate"-as what? as reason and as equity require? No! as moderate ""a arc suitat9le to their natiulzal" da'git2ip." Nati(>iial dlglztty in all treaties T do adnrir is an inrporrant coxlsidcratiun. They have given us arz useful hint on that subject: but digrzity, l~itl~erto, has belonged ro the nrode of proceeding, 11ot to the marter of a treaty. Never t~cforchas it beer1 mentioned as the staridarcf b r rating the conditions of peace; no, never by the xnost v i ~ l e rof ~ tcoizquerors. Ir~dem~rification is capable of some estintate; digrlity has no standard, TE is impossible to guess wfiat acquisitions pride and ambitiarz xnay thirzk fit for their dignip. But lest arty dorlht shotrld renrailr on what they think far their digniy, the Xkgieidcs in the xzcxt paragraph tell us "that they- will have no peace with their erremies, until they have reduced tiiienz to a state, which will put thenr under an impussibihg of prlrsuing their wretched projects;'\ct-tat is, in ptairr Frerzcb ur Engjish, uiztil they have accomplished our utter artd irretrievable ruin. This is their pncaFc language. T1 Aows f;om their urzalrerabIe principle irz wfiatcver lan-
guage they speak, or whatever steps they take, wliether of red war, ur of pretended pacification, They- have never, to do them justice, been at ~rzllcfitrouble in concealing their intentions. We were as ubstiriately resolved to think them not in earnest: but II confess jests of this sort, whatever their urbaizity xnay be, are rzut rnucfr to my taste. To this conciliatory and anricable publick commurziation, our sole answer, in effect, is this-"Gtizeri Regicides! wheriever you firtd y.ourselves in the huntortr, ~ O L mayI have a peace with zls. That is a p o h q o u ixz may al-ways command. We are consra~~tty attendance, and notfling you car1 d~7sl~all tlinder us fro111the renewal of our suppliations. You xnay trlrrz ~ t out s at the door; but we will juntp in at the wirtdow." To rt-tose, who do ~lor:love ro contemplate the fall of human greatness, I do not krsow a ntore morticing spectacle, than to sec the assenrbled majesty of the crowned heads of Europe waitirzg as patient suitors in the anti-charnber of Regicide. Theywait, it: seems, wnril the sanguinary tyrant Carnot," slnall have srlorted away the funtes of the irtdigested blood of his Srwereign. Then, when sunk on the down of ~tsurpedpomp, iiimsfiall have sufficiently h d d g e d his meditatiorls with what lGlonarc11 he sliafl next gtur his ravening maw, he may condescend to sigrziG that it his pleasure to be awake; arid that he is at leisure to r-cceive the proposals of his high and mighty clicx~tsfor the terms on which he rnay respite the executisrl of the sentence he has passed upon thexrz. At the opening of thasc doors, what a sight it rnust be to behold the plerlipsterttiaries of royal impotence, in the precedericy which ~ r L ~ ~ ~ r e - N i c o I a s . - M a r gGal ~ ~nut, r i t ea leading figtrre in the Erench republic who voted to execute X~uisXVX.
they wijf intrigrre to obtain, and vvbicb will be granted ro rttenr according to the seniority of their dcgradatiun, sr~eakinginto the Regicide presence, arid wirh the reliqum of the smile, which they had dressed up for the lcvec of their masters, still flickerir~gor1 their curted lips, presenting the tbded rcmains of their courtly graces, to xneer the scartzful, feraciotts, sardonic grirt af a bioody ruffian, wtlo, whilst he is receiving their homage, is nreasuring them with his eye, and firting to their size the slider of his Guillotirte! These antbassadors nray easily returll as p o d courricrs as they wcnt; k9ut caiz tiiicy ever rctrtrn f m r that degradi~~g residence, loyal and faithful subjects; or wldl any true affection to their xnster, or true attachxnent to the constitution, retigie~n,o r laws of their country? There is great danger rt-tar they who erzter srnifing into this Trophorzian Cave,"c will conre our of it: sad and serious conspirators; and such will contin~zeas long as they live, They will bccome true cortductors of contagic~iito every country, which has had rhe nrisfortu~le to send thein to the sourcc of that electricity. At hest they will hecome tcxally indiffererit to good and evil, ro one i~zstitutionor another. This species of irzdifferencc is krtt in those who too g a i ~ ' " ldistirlgrrishatlle t~ have been R I L I C ~ etlzptoyed in foreign Courts; but in the present case tlic evil must be aggravated withsrtt measure; for they go honr their country, not with the pride uF the old characte~;k9ut in a stare of the lowest degradation; artd what: rnrlst happen in their place of residence can have no effect in raising thern to the level uf ""lioplronius was the myrhicat bttilder of the " l ' k ~ ~ ~ofp lApcsllts e at Delphi. After his dcarfi, he was worshipcd as a god and had an oracle in a cave in Roeoria. It was believed that t11use who ente~edthe cave of the "Iit3phonian ornde would be filled wirh such awe that they tvc3i1Id irever srx~ileagain.
true dignity, or of cfrasre self estimation, either as men, or as rcprcscrztativcs of cr~>wtzed heads. Our early proceeding, which has produced these returtzs of affront, appeared to nte totally new, without being adapted ti:, the rrew circunrsta~rcesof affairs. X have called to xny mind the speeches and xnessage"i~1 former tirnes. f firid t~sthirlglike tirese. Nlu will look in tire journals to find whether xny xncrnory fails me. Before this time, never was a grortrld of peace laid, (as it were, in a parlianterltary record,) until it had beerr as good as concluded, This was a wisc homage paid to the discretiorz of the Cr11wo. It was known how tnuch a negotiacion rr~llstsuffer having any thing in the train towards it prcmatrtrely disclosed. declaratiorls But when those parlia~neritar~ were rrrade, not SO ~r~uctr as a step had been taken towards a xzcgotiation in any mode wlzatever. The measure was an unpleasaizt and ~lnseasonableQiscover)z; I conceive that arzather circumstance in that trarlsaction has been as littte ar~thsrised by any exa~rrple;and ttrat it: is as little prctdent ixz itself; l nzean the fornzal recognitisrz of the French Republick. Without enteri~zg,for tire present, irito a question on the goad kirk ma~zifestcdin that measure, or on it's ggeizeraf pr>licy,I: doubt, upon mere temporary considerations of pnddccc, whether it was perfectly adviseahle. It is not within the rules of dexterous coxrduct to nrake an acknowtedgexncrzt of a contested title i r ~your enemy, before ycxr arc tnorafly certairl that your recognition will secure his ffiendship, Otherwise ir is a xncasurc worse than thri)wri away. It: adds infinitely to the stretrgth, and consequently to the dexnands of the adverse party. He has gairzcd a fundamerltat point without an equivalent, XE has happerred as nrigtrt have been Eorcsec~z.No notice whatever was takc~zof
bJv'
this recognition. In fact, the Directory rrever gave the~rrsclvcsany coxrcern about it; arzd they rcccivcd our ackr1ovvled~;c3merit with perfect scorn. With them, it is rrot for the States of Ewctpe to judge of their title: The very reverse, Irl their eye the title of every other pr~werdeperlds wholly on tireir pleasure. Prelirnirzary dcctaratioxzs of this sort, thrown out at random, arld sown, as it w r e , broad-cast, were never to he foctrrnd in the xnodc of our proceeding with Francc and Spain, whilst the great Monarchies of France and Spain existed, X do nor: say, that a diplanzatick xncasure ought to bc, like a parliamentary or a judicial proceeding, according to strict precedent, X hope f anr far from that pdafitry: Brtt this l h o w , that a great state ought to have some regard to it's antient nraxims, especially where they indicate it's dcfigrzity;where they corzcur with the rules of prudence; arld above all, where the circr~nzslancesof the tinre require that a spirit of ir~rzovationsfrortld be resisted, rnfzicfz leads to the hurrtilivion of sovereigrz powers. . . . At this S C C O L ~stage ~ of h~milXatiarz,(1 meaiz the insulting declaration in corzsequerrce of the nressagc to both Houses of Parliament) it xnight xzot iiiave t9cerz anziss to pause; and not ttr squaiider away the furrd of our submissions, ~lncilwe know what finat purposes of put91ick interest tlzey might answer. The policy of subjecting owselves to hrchctr irzsutrs is rrot to me quite apparax. It was resolved however, to hazard a third trial. Citizeiz Barrhele1ni6~ had kcerz estat9listicd orz the part of the rzew Republick, at Baste; where, with his procorlsulate of Swirzertand and the adjacent pats of Cernrany, he was appointed as a sort of fdctor to deal in the degrada-
tion of the crowned heads of Europe. At Baste it was thortgibt proper, in order to keep others, f suppase, in countenance, that Great Britain should appear at this market, and kid with the rest, for the rnercy of the Plcopie-fing, On the 6th of IMarctz 17936 ~blr.Wickharn,"8 in consequence uf autiizority, was desired re3 sortrid France on her disposition towards a general pacificxion; to know wficthcr she would coizscnt to send Ministers tc7 a C~iigressat such a place as might be hereafter agreed upon; whether there would be a disposition to conrnrunicate the ge~zeralgrorlrzds uf a paciftcl-ttion such as France (the diplomatick name of the Regicide power) would be willing to propose, as a foundation fbr a xzegociatioxz for peace with his 1Vajestryand his alLies; or to suggest any other way of:arrivir-tg at the same errd ufa general pacifieatioxz; but he had no autlzority to enter into arzy negociatiori or discussion with Citizen Barthelenri upan these s~f>jects, 01-1 the part of Great Britain this measure was a voluntary act, wholly tincalled for on the part of Regicide. Suits uf this sort are at Least strorig irldic;ttiorzs of a desire fur acconrnrodation, Any other body of: men but the Directory would Be somewhat soothed wirh such advarices. They could not however begin their answer, which was E~ and cammk~nigive11 without Z E I ~ I dclay, cated on the 28th of the same month, wirhour a preamble of insuit and reproach. "They doubt thc sincerity uF the pacifick irzteiztions of this Court." She did not begin, say they$yet to "know her real intercsts,""s"stc did not seek peace with good fdigh." This, or son~etflirlgtc7 this effect, has been the constant preliminary obsenation, (now grown into a sort of office-forr11) oil "WiIIiax~ Wickham, British rniniscer ro Swimrland.
alf our overtures to this pciwer: a perpetr~al charge on the British Goverrrrrrent of fraud, evasioxz, and habitual perfidy.
This refufal uF trcating conjointly wirh the powers allied against this Repubtick, furnishes Irratter for a great deal of serious reAcxion. Thcy have hitherto constantly dcclirled arzy other than a treatry with a sirrgie power. By thus dissociatir-tg every State Goin every other, like deer separated froin the herd, each pawer is treated with, on the nrerir of his being a deserter fronr the cornmon cause, XEI that tight thc X3cgicide power finding each of them i n d t e d and unprotected, with great facility gives the law to them all. By this systcn-t for thc present, an irlcurabie distrust is sowri amorzgst cotlfederatcs; and in future all atliancc is rendered ixnpracticr-lt91c. It is thus they have treated with Prussta, with Spain, with Sardinia, wirh Bavaria, with the E~tcsiastical Srarc, with Saxony; arzd here we sec them refuse to treat with Great Britair1 in any other nrode. They nrusc be worse than blind wfia do not scc with what undcviating regularity of system, in this case arzd in all cases, they pllrsue their schenre h r the utter destruction of every independent pc~wer;especially the smaller, mflo cannot find any refuge whaleryes but in some conrZEIQ~Z cause, Renewing their taurlts arid rcftectiorzs, they tell Mr. Wicklzanr, ""rat their policy has no guides krrt opcrzrzess and good faith, and that their corlduct shall be conformable to these principles.'T"TIy say concerrzing their Governmcrzt, that ""ylctding to the ardent desire by which it is aninrated to procure peace for the French Republick, and for all xzations, it will rzotfidr to declitw i ~ e &llpelzb. Charged by the Constitution with the executio~lof the it cannot ~2dlE.eor Ii~tento arzy pro-
posal char would be contrary to rfiem. The constiritrional act does nor permit i t to consent ro any alieriatio~~ of that whidz, according to the exisring laws, constirures the territory of the Iiepublick. ""Wirl-1 respecr to tire cou~~tries occgpied by the Fre~chartrrra and which hnua 92nt been rr~titedto Frame, they as well as other illrerests political and commercial. map become the subject of a negociacion. which will present to the Directory the means of proving how rnuctl it desires to attain speedify to a happy pacification. That the Direcrory is ready rrt receive in rhis respect any overtures that shall hi. just, reasonable, and compariblr uiillr the dig?ripof'& Rpubkc-k." O n the bead of what is ant to be the subject of ~icgoriation,the Directory is clear and open. As to what may he a ntarrer of treaty, at1 rhis open dealing is gone. She rcrires into her shell. I here she expects overtures from yc~w-and you are to guess what she shall j u d g just, reasctnable, and abot.e: all, cunqatzbt~ P-
urith b?e~ dignzv.
In the records of pride rhere does not exist so irtsulrirlg a declaratiori. I t Is insolent in words, in manner, bttt in subsrar~ce it is nor only instilring btic alarming. It is a specinlerl of what ~r-raybe expected froitl the masters we are preparing for our tluinbled counrry. Their opmnes5 and candour cor~sisrin a dircct avowal of their despotism and ambitiorr. VVe know that their declared resolrtrion had been to siirrerldcr rlo object belonging co France previous to the \vac They had resolved, that the Republick was entire, and must rcmairt so. As to what she has conquered fro111 the allies and united to tire sarrle indivisible body, ic is of she same nature. That is, the allies are ro give up wIlatcvcr coriquescs they have made or may rrxakr upon Frar~ce,but all whicil she has violenriy ravisited fmm her ncigfibours and rhought fit to appropriate,
are not to become so iiluch as ohjccrs of t~egocidtioil. In this uttity and indivisibility of possession are sttllk ren imrner~seai~tiwealthy proviilces, full of stroilg, floririshil~gand opulent cities, (the klsrriarl NettlerLrlds,) die part of Europe the most rlecessary to between rhis preserve any cornmi~i~icarioti kirlgdoln and its narrtral allies, next to tioltarld the most interesting to this coutitry. and without which Elollatid nlust virtually ljelortg to Frarlce. Savoy artd Kicc, the keys of Italy, and the citadel in her hands to bridle Switzerland, are in thar consolidation. The irnporcant territory of Leige is torn otit of tile heart of the Empire. Ail these are inregrant parrs of the Ret~ublick,trot to he subject to any discnssion, or to be purchased by atly eqriivalent. Why? hecaitse there is a law which prevents it. What law? The law of nations? The ackrioxvlecigd public law of Europe? Treaties and conventions of parties? No! not A prercrtse of rtrc kind. It is a declaratioli iiot made in consequence of any prescription or1 her side, not on any cessioil or dereliction, actual or tacit, of other po\vt"rs. It is a declaratior~pertciente Iit&g in the middle of a war, one principal ohject of which was origiilaliy the defcrrxcc, arid has since bee11 the recovery of these very countries. * ", El his strarxge law is not made for a rrivia! object, nat for a sirlgle port, or for a single fortress; btlr for a great kingdom; for the religion, the mords, the laws, rhe Iiberrics, the lives and hrtunes of ~nilliotisof human creatures, who wirhout their consent, or rhat of rheir lawful government, are, by an d~hitrdryact of this regicide and homicide Government, which they call a law incorporated irlrtt their tyranriy.
Xn other words, their will is the law not ulzty at iiiornc, but as to the coizcerns of every nation. Who has made that law but the Regicide Repubick itself, whose laws . . . thcy cr-tlinot alter ur abrogate, or evexz so much as take into consideration? Without the Ieast ccrenrany or conrk?timent, they have sent out of the wortd whuk sets of laws and law-givers. They have swept away the very constitutions under which the Lcgistatrtres acted, and the Laws werc made. Even the f~lridaineritatsacred rights of mar1 they have nor scrupted to profaiie. They have set this holy code at nought with ignurniny arzd scorn. Thus they treat all their domestick laws and coristitutic>ns, and even what they had coxlsidered as a Law of Mature; but wfiatever they have put their seal on for the purpsses of their ainbition, and the ruin of their ~leighboilrs, this aloxze is ixzvulnertlble, ixnyassiMe, irnmortal. Assuming to be ntasters of every thing tlunran and divine, here, and here alarze, it scenls thcy are limited, ""cooped legarid Alined in;'hand this orn~~ipotent isfat~ircfinds itself whotly without the power of c~ercisi~zg it's Eavortrite artribitte, the love of peace. In other words, they are powmftll to usurp, impotent to restore; and cqitatjty by their power arzd their irnpaterlce they aggraridize ttheinseives, and weaken and impoverish you and all other rzations,
Here tiiicrcfore thcy arzd we werc fixed. Nothing was left to the British Ministry but "to PrOSeCUte a war just and necessary"---a war equally list as at thuirne uf our ellgaging in it-a war become teii tinzes more necessary by every thing which happe~zedafterwards, This rcsoluriun was soori, however, fc3rgot. It fett the heat of the season and ~rzelltedaway New hopes were cntertaixzcd horn suypticatian. No
expectations, indeed, were then forsned fronr renewing a direct application to the French Regicides through the k e n t General ti,r the humiliation o f Sovereigns. At length a step was taken in degradation which even went tower than all thc rest. , Deficierit in merits of our ( ~ w ~a iMediatc->r was to be sought-and we looked fir that Mediator at Berlin! Tlze King uf Prussia's merits in abandoning the general cause nzigI-rr haw obtairled for tlinl some sort of influexzce ixz favour uf rhosc wfiam hc had deserted;'a hut T have never heard that his Prussian Majesty had tatety discovered so n~arkcdaxz affection for the Court of St. James's, or for the C Q L of I ~Vierzna, ~ as to excite much hope of his interposing a wry pawerfill n~ediationto deliver them frorn tile distresses into which he had brort$lt
The cup of bitterness was not, t~owever, drained to the dregs, Basle and Berlin werc not sufficient..Afler sc:, mariy and so diversified replrlses, we were resolved to make another expcrimcnt, and to try another Mediator. h o n g the unhappy gentlemen in whose persaIls Royafty is insulted and degraded at the scar of plebeian pridc, and upstart irisc:,lence, there is a ntirtister fiont Dennrark at Paris. Without any previous encouragement to that-, any mare ttharz the other steps, we sertt tfiroilgh this turnpike to denranci a passport for a person who on our part was to solicit peacc irz thc xnctropolis, at the fctotstooi of Regicide itself. T1 was not to be r-xpecccd that any one of those degraded beings curtld have influence enongh to settle any p a t of the ternrs in favour of the candidates for fiirther degradation; t9csidcs, such intcrvcntian 7O"l"stxsria and France ?;igncda peace rrcary in April
1795.
would be a direct breach in their systerrr, which did xzot permit one sovereign power to utter a word in the concerns of his equal,-Allother repulse.-We were desired to apply directly in ortr persons.----We submitted and made the application. Tt rrzight be ttlought that here, at length, WC had touched the t9ottanr of huxniliation; orrr lead was hrougtlt up covered with xrzud. But " h the lowest deep, a lower deep"'"' was to open far us still more profourid abysses of disgrace and sirarne. Hc>wever,in we leaped. We cante forward io our own name. The passport, such a passport and safe conduct as would be granted to thieves, who might cmne in to betray tfiek accoxrzplices, and no better, was granted to Britisti supplicaioxz, To leave no doubt of it's spirit, as soon as tlze rutrzour of this act of coxldescension could get abroad, it was fc~rmallyannounced with ari explanatiorr front autlzoAty, containi~zgan invective agai~zstthe Ministry of Great Britain, their iiiabirual frartds, their proverbial, punz'ck perfidy. No such Stare Paper, as a prelinrinary to a negociation far pcace has ever yet appcarcd. Very few declaratiorrs of war have ever shewn so nrt~chand so unqualified animosiy. . . . I pass by dI &C i~~sole~zce and contumcty of the perfomtance, as ir comes from them, The present question is nor how we are to t9c aEectcd with it in regard to our dignity That is gone. f sllail say no rnore abtlut it, Light tie the earch on dle ashes of English pridc. I shall alzty observe upan it political& and as tilrnishing a directiorr for our o w l conduc~in this low bwiness, The very idea of a rzcgociation for peace, whatever the inward sentiments of the parties nray be, irtv)ies sonre confidence in their faith, sosnc dcgrcc of bclicf in the prc:,fessions which are ntade con'T~rtor~l John itlitcnlr"~f%rddit~1,ur.t ( l 667).
cerning it. A temporary arid occaslorlal credit, at least, is granted, Ortlemise Irzeri sttlnrbtc on the very threshold. I thcrcfirrc wish to ask wlzat hope we can have of their good hitlr, who, as the very basis of the rzcgociatian, assume the ill Faith and treacfiery of those tirey have tc:, deal wittr? The terms, as against us, nrust be such as imply a full security against a treacherous condrrct-that is, such terms as this Director). stated in it's first declaration, to place ~ t s"in an utter impassibility OF executislrg our wretched grc:,jects." This is the orneri, and the sole onren, under which we have conscrztcd to apcrz our treaty. The secorld observation I have to rnake upon it, f n l ~ ~ cconnected fi ~lldouhtedly with the first,) is, that they have ixzfornred you of the resrdt they propose front the kind of peace they nrean to grant you; that is to say9 the uxzion thcy propose ainong riations with the view* of rivalling our trade and destroying our nwal power: and this thcy supposc (and with good rcason tc3~))must be the inevitable effect of their peace. Tc fnrnrs one of their principal grouxzds fc~r suspecting ortr Ministers could riot be in good earilest in their prohmsic"in, They nrake no scruple bcfore hand to tell you the whole OF what they intend; and tlzis is what we call, in the ntodern style, the asceptance of a pmposition for peaccf In old language it worlld be d e d a most haughty, offensive, and insolerir: rejection of at1 treaty Tlrirdy, they tcit you what they cc9ncctve tc3 be the perfidious p(31iq wflich dictates your delusive offer; that is, the design of cheating xzot only hem, but thc pcople of England, against wlzose interest arid incli~lationthis war is supposed to he carried on, Ifwe proceed in this k9usixzess, uizder this pretiminary declaratisn, it seems to me, that W adnric, (now for the third tinre) by soinething a great deal strolzgcr tharz
words, the truth of the chargrs of every kind which they nlakc upon the Britistl Ministry, and the grounds of tiizose f o d imputations, The language used by us, which ixz other circumstances would nut bc exceptior~able,in this case tertds very strongly to confirm and realize the suspicion of our cxzemy. I nlean the declaration, that if we do rtot obtain such ternts of peace as sui~s our opinion of what our interests require, then, and in thdt casc, wc shall continue the war with vigour. This offer so reasoned, plainiy implies, that without it, our leaders thenrsetves e~ltcrtaingreat doubts of the upiniorr and good affections of the Britisis people; otherwise there does not appear any cause, why we should proceed under the scarzdalous constructiorr of our enerny, upon the &>rineroffer made by ~ t l rWick, tlanr, and on the new offer nrade directly at Paris. It is xrut, thcrefirrc, Erarn a sense uf dignity, but h m the darlger of radicating that fi2;rlsc sentinrent in the breasts of the cxzerny, that I think, urzdcr the auspices of tlzis declaration, we carinot, with the least t~opeof 2 good event, or, indeed, with any regard to the canlnlon safety, procccd in the train of this negotiation. I widr Ministry would seriously consider the inrportancc uf tfrcir sccnling to canfirxn thc erienrty in an opinion, that his frequertt use of appeals to the pcopte against their GoverrlrneXzt lzas xrot bcen without it's effect. If it puts an end to this war, it wilt rerider anoct-rer im yracticabte, VVlroevcr goes to the directorial prcserice under this passpt>rt, wit11 this offensive conrmem, and h u t exptanarion, goes, ixr the avowcd scrzsc uF the Court to which he is sent.; as the instrument. of a. GovernIrieIlt dissociated froxri the interests and wishes of the Nation, for the purpose uf ct-zeati~tg botlz the people of France and the people of E~tgtand,He goes out the dectarcd ernissary uf a hitklcss Ministry Hc
has perfidy far his credentids. He has national weakness h r his full powers. I yet doubt whether any one can bc h u n d to invest fzimself with that character. If there should, it would be pteasant to read his instrr~ctionsun the answer which he is to give to the Directory, in case they sizortlct repeat to him the substance of the Manifesto which lie carries with him in his portfolio. So nruch for the first Manifesto of the Xkgicidc Gaurt which went along with tlie passport. Lest this declaration sl~ouldseenrt the effect of haste, or a mere sudderi effirsion of pride arzd insolence, on full detiberatian, aborrt a week after cornes orrt a second, This ~rianifesto,is dated the fifth of Octot9cr, one day bcforc thc speech front the Throne, or1 the vigil of the festive day of arclid unanimity so happily celebrated by all parties ixz the British Parliament. In this piece the Regicides, ortr worthy friends, (X catt them by advance and by corlrtesy wfiat by law I shall be obliged to call thenrt hereafier) our worthy friends, I say, renew and enforce clre fornler declaration curzccrnir-rg our hirh and si~zccrity, which they pinned ro our passport. On three other points which run through att their declarations, they arc nlore explicit than eves. First, they more directly undertake to kc the rcat rcprescrrtatives uf the people of this kingdom: arid on a suppasitiori, in which they agree with our parliarrieritary rcformcrs, that thc House of Commons is not that Representative, the functiarl being vacant, they, as our true constitutional urgagz, inhrm his Majcsry and the world of the sense of the riatior~.They tell us that ""re English geopte see with regret his ~Vajcstyk Government squalzdcring away the frlrids &rich had been granted to him." This astonishing assumption of rhe puklick voicc of England, is hut a slight
foretaste of the rtsurpation which, on a peace, we may t9e assured they will make of ;ill tlre powers in all the parts of our vassal constitution, . . . Next they tell us as a conditiolz to our treary, that "this Government must: abjure the unjust hatred ic bears to thenr, and at last upcxz it's cars to the voice uf humanity,"-Truety this is, ever1 frorn therrt, ari extraordinary dellrand. Hitllerto it seerirs we have p~1twax ixzto our cars to shut them up against the tender, soorbing straixls, in the afittaoscl'bof hunraniry; warbled from the throats of Reubel, Carnot, Tallien, and the whutc cborns uF Confiscators, domicitliary Visitors, Cc~mniittee-inen of Research, Jurors and Presiderlts of Revotutioxzary Triburzals, X3@gicides, Assassins, ~tlassacrers,arid Septeinbrizers. fr is ncx difficult to discern what sort OF huxrrarlicy our Gavcrrzment is to learn from those syrcri singers. Our Government also, I adnric wit11 sonre reason, as a step towards the pmposed f r a t c r ~ ~isi ~req~~ircd _~, to abjure the urijust hatred wlnicl~it bears to this body of honour and virtue, X thank God T am rzeither a Minister nor a leader of Opposition, f protest I cariiicnt do what they desire. X could nor: do it if l w r e under the guillatir~e;or as they ixzgeniousty and pleasantly express it, "looking o i ~ of t the little natro~ralwindow.'"ven at t h f opening could receive rzone uF their light, I am firtified agairlst all such affecticlni; by the declaratio~rof the Governnrerrt, which X flrust yet cansidcr as lawf~~t, nladc un the 20th of October t 793, arld still rirlging in nry ears. This deciararion was transrzritred nor: only to all our comn~andersby sea and taxzd, but to our Mirlisters in every Cot~rtof Europe, Xt is the most efoqrtenr and highly finished irr the style, the most judicious irr the cfloice of topicks, the ntost orderly in the
arrangement, arid the most rich in the colouring, without ernployi~lgthe srnallest dcgrec uF exaggeration, of any statc paper that has ever yet appeared. An arlcieirt writer, Plutarctl, X think ic is, qrtotes sonre verses on thc ejogttelzcc uF Pcrictes, who is called "the only orator that left stings in the ~rrindsof his hearers." Like his, the etoquencc of the declaration, not colztradicting, but enforcing sentiments of the truest tlnmanity has lek stings that tlavc penetrated mare than skin-deep into my mind; and never can ther be extracted hy all the surgery of murder; never can the throbbing~they have created, kc assuaged by 41 the einollient cataplasrns of robbery arid confiscation. X c~zpznotlove the Repubtick. The third point which they have more clearky expressed than ever, is of equal irnporrance with the rest; and with thenr furrzishcs a carnpletc view of the Regicide system. For they dentarid as a corrdition, without which our a~nbassadorof obediclzcc cannot be received with any hope uF success, that he shall he "prt3vided with hll powers to negociatc a peace becvvcen the Frcrzck Republick and Grcat-Britain, and to corrcfude it dt$nitive& bemeer1 the -IVO p ~ w e r s . ' ~ ttheir h spear they draw a circle about 11s. They will hear nothirzg of a joint treaty. We rnt~strnake a peace separately fronr our allies. We nrust, as the very first arrd prelhiwary stcp, t9c guilty uF that pertidy towards our frierlds arid assockriltes,with wtrich they reproach us in our transacrions with them our enemies. We are called upon scandalously to befray the f~rndarnentalsecurities to ok~rselvesand to afl natio~rs,Xn my opinion, . . . if WC are meaxzky tlotd enouglz to send an ambassador such as this official flare of the errerny requires, we canrzut evcxz dispatcfi our emissary wittiout dariger of being ctlarged with a breach of our alliance. Government flow understands the f~rllnlcanirzg of tire passporr.
Xf the general disposition of the people kc, as I hear it is, for an immediate peace with Regicide, witfio~rso nrtrch as consideriszg urtr pubtick arzd solemn engagemcrzts to the party in Frartce whose cause we had espoused, or the ellgagenrerlts expressed in our gcrzeral alliances, xzut only wichout arz eriqrriry into the terms, but with a certain knowledge that none but the worst ternzs wilt bc offered, it is all over with 11s. It is strange, hot it rnay be true, that as the danger from Jacobinism is increased in my eyes and i1.t yours, the fear of it is lessclzed in the eyes of marzy people mfzo fczrmerly regarded it with horror, It sccrizs, they act ~tizderthe imyxssiun uF terrors uf another sort, which have frightened them out of their first apprehensions. But let their kars ur thcir iiiopes, or their desires, be what they will, they siror~ldrecollect, that they who would make peace withorzt a previous knuwlcdgc of the terms, make a surrcndcl: They are conquered. They do not treat; they receive the law. 1s this the dispositiorz uf the people of Endand? Then the pcople of Ertglarid are corzterttecf to seek in the kindness of a foreign systcnratick ellenry canibincd with a darzgerons faction at home, a security wl~icfrthcYcatznot find in their own pxriorisrzz and their own canrage. They arc willing to trust to thc syrrtpathy of Regicides, the guaraiitee of the British Monarchy. They are coxlterie to rest their religion un the picty uf atheists by establishntent. They are satisfied to seek in the clemency of practised murderers the security of their lives. They are plmxd to ccsrztide their property to the safeguad of those who are robbers by inctination, interest, habit, arzd system. XE this be our deliberate ntind, truly we deserve to lose, what it is irnpossibie we should long retaixz, thc name uf a rzation.
In matters of State, a constitutionat conrtlaence to act, is io nrany cases the sniallcst part of the qucstioxz. Withant disputirzg (God fcrrt~idI drorrld dispute) the sole conrpeterice of the King and the h r liamcnt, each in it's province, to decide un war arid peace, f veriture to say?no war can be long carried on against the wilt of the people. 'This war, in particulal; canrzat t9c carried on urzless they are erithtrsiastic~Xly in fawur of it. Acquiescence will nor do. Thcrc xn~lstbc zeal. Universal zeal in such a cause, arzd at sucfr a time as this is, cannot be looked for; ~eictleris it: necessary. Zeal in the larger part carries the brcc of the whole. Without this, no Gosvernnterit, cerratnty not our Governnrent, is capable of a great war. None of the arzcicrzt regular Governntents have wherewirhai to fight abroad with a foreign he, and at ho~zzero overcamc repining, relnctancc, arzd chicane. fc must be some portentous thing, like Regicide France, rt-tat can exhibit such a pradig-r, Vet evexz she, the xnothcr uf monsters . . . shews s p y t o m s of keirzg alnrost effete already; and she will he so, wnless the 6allow of a pcrzcc comes to recrt~it her fertility. But wl~ateverntay be represented collcerriing tile nrearrIless of the papc~larspirit, X, for one, do rzat think so desperately of the British natic>n. Our nrinds, as II said, are light, but they are nor depraved, We arc drcadftllly upcn to detusitlrt and to dejection; but we are capable of being animated and wndeceived. Xt canxzot kc concealed. We arc a divided people. But in divisions, where a part i s t o be taken, we are to make a nirtster of our strength. I have ofierz cndeavorlred to c ~ ~ n p uarzd t e to class tl~rsse who, in any political view, are rct be catied the pwpple. Without doing somctliing of this sort we rntlst proceed absurdly. We should nor be ~zzrtchwiser, if we prcrendcd to very great acetzracy in our estimate: But
T tirink, in the calculation T have nrade, the error cannot kc very material, Irz England arid Scstland, 1 contpute that tlzose of adult age, nor decfining in life, of tolerable teisclre for such discussiolzs, and of some ntearrs of information, more o r less, arid who are above nrenial dependence, (or what virtually is sucfr) may amouxzt to about four hurrdred tlzotrsand, Theer is such a tiring as a natural represenrative of the pcopte. This body is that reprcsclztative; and on this body, ntore than on tlze legal constituent, tlze wrif;cial representative depends, This is the British publick; and it is a put9lick very numcrurts. Thc rest, when feeble, are tlze objects of protection; when strong, the means of force. Tlzey wlia affect to consider that part of us in any other light, insult while they cajole us; they do nor want 11s for c~unseflorsin deiit9cration, k9ut to list US as sofdicrs for battle, Of hese hrtr hnndl-ed thousand politicat citizens, X took upon unc fifth, or about eighty tlzousarid, to be pure Jacobirls; t ~ t terly incapable of amedment; objects of eternrzl vigilance; arrd when they t9reak out, of legal constraint. On these, no reasori, ricn arguxrzenr, no example, rro venerable autiiioriry, caxz iiiavc the stightcst influerzcc. They desire a change; arid tiley will have it if they can. Tf they caxrnor: have it by English cabal, they will; rzrake rzo sort of scr~tple trf havirtg it by the cabal of France, into which already they are virtually incorporated. It is olzly their assured and confidetzt expectaricln of the advantages of French fraternity arrd the approarliing blessings of Rcgicidc intercourse, that skins uvcr their ntiscbievs>usdispositiorrs with a. momentary quiet. This xnixzority is great and formidable. I do riot knr>w whether if f aimed at tlze total overtlrrow of a kil~gdom,T should wish to be enct~n~bcred with a larger body.
of partizaris, They are ntore easily disciplir-ted and directed than if the rrurrzber werc greater. These, k9y their spirit of intrigue, and hy their restless agitating activity, are of a force fir silperior to their rrumbcrs; and if tixztes grew the least criticat, have the ntearrs of debauching or intintidating rrzarrp of those who are now forrnd, as weit as uE addixrg to tiiicir h r c c large bodies of the rnore passive part of the riatio~r.This nrinority is nunresous enoi~glrto make a xnighy cry for pcacc, ur for war, ur for arry object they are led vehernentiy to desire. By passing from place to place witb a vetocity incredible, and diversiQing their character arid descriptioir, ther are capable of ~rzinrickil~g the prreral voicc. We rrzust rzut always judge uf the ge~zeraiityof the opiniorr by the ricnise of the acclamation. The nrajority, the other h u r fifths, is pm'fcctty suuxzd; and of the kcst possible dispositic~irto religioii, to government, to the true and urrdivided i~ltercstof their courztry: Such men arc nat~trallydisposed to peace. They-mlzo are in possessiori of all they wish are languid and improvident. With this kult, (and l admit irk eexistcxzce in all it$ extent) ther worlfd riot eridure to hear of a peace that led to tire ruin of every thing for which peacc is dear to theal. Howe\rc;r, the desire of peace is esseritiallr the weak side of chat kind of nren, AI1 trzeri that arc ruixzed, arc ruixzed olz the side uf tlzeir rratural propenstcies, There they arc tlnguarded, Above all, good nren do not suspect that their desrructiorz is attempted tlzrc7ngh their virtues, This rlzeir erremies are perfectly aware OF: And accordingly, they; the nmst turbutcizt of ma~zkirrd,who riever ntade a scruple to slzake the tranquillity of their country to it's center, raise a continual cry for peacc witb France. Peace wit11 Regicide, arrd war with the rest of the world, is their nrurto. Fronr clre beginning, arzd even whilst the French gave
the blows, and we hardly opposed . . . thcir efforts, from that day to tiiiis hour, Mre importllrlate Guirtea-hwls cryir~gone rrotc day and night, they have called for pmce.
The xninority X speak of, is not susceptible of an impresstor1 frorn the topics of a r p rnenr, to be used to the iargcr part of the commk;tniry. I thcrefirrc do xzut addrcss to tlzern any part of what I have to say. Tlie Inore forcibly I h i v e my arguments against ctreir system, so as to nrakc an irzrpression where I wish to nrake it, the xnore strorlgly f rivet them in their sentiments, As Cbr us,who compose the br larger, and wliat X call the 6ar better part uf the people; let nte say, that we have not been quite fairly dealt with when called to tiris deliberation. The Jacobirz minority have t9cc1.z aburtdarttly supplied with stores and provisions of all kinds cowards their warhre. No sort of argurncntative materials, suited to their purposes, have heer1 withheld. False they are, uxrsound, sophisticat; but they are rcgular ixz their directioxz. ?"hey all bear one way; and tlxy all go to the sLtppc>rtof the substantial merits of their cause. The others have rzat had the ql~cstioxzso muck as fairly stated to them. There has not been in this centuv, any fareigxz peace or war, ixz it's origin, the fruit of popular desire; except the war that was rrzade with Spain in 1733.'$ Sir Robert Walpole was forced into the war by the people, wlzo were inftanted tc:,this nteasrlre '3Burke is referring to the so-ta!lcci Wai o f JenEns'Eal 11739-1741) betwen Britain and Spain that arose Eram A11glo-Spd)lishdifficulties in rlre Gaibbcan, Rolbcrc Icidcirrs, captain o f a British ?;hip, claimed before a Hause of Commoils conliclirrec that the captain of a Spanish Irvenuc ship had cut off his ear during a search cif tlre British vessel, 'This story helped infiarne public passions fur war agirisr Spain.
by tire rrzost leading poficicians, by tire first orators, and the greatest poets uf the time. For that war, Pope surtg his dying notes. For chat war, Johnson, in rrzore errergctic strains, employed the voice uf his early gcnins. For that war, Glover distinguisl~ed himselfin the way in which his rrzlrse was the most natural and iiiappy, The crowd readily follo~wedttre politiciarls in the cry far a war, which threatened litrte bloodshed, and which prorniscd victories that were attended with something rnore solid than glory A war with Spain was a war of plunder. h the present conflict with Regicide, L V ~Pirt . iiias rzut hitIlerto iiiad, rzur will perhaps for a few days have, maiiy prizes to hold out in tire lottery of war, to ECITkpt the ~owcrpart uf our character. Hc car1 only ntaintain it by an appeal tc:, tlze higher; and to hose, in w t m z that higher part is the nrost predoininant, iiic mtrsr look the ntost for his s~tpport:.Whilst: he holds out no inducenlents to the wise, rror bribes to the avaricious, he may bc forced by a vulgar cry into a peace ten tirrtes rnore ruinous than the nrost disastrous war, The wcaiccr he is in the furzd of rnotives wliich apply to our avarice, to our laziness, and to our lassitude, if Ire nreans to carry ctze war to arzy end at all, the stronger he uuglic to he in his addresses to our magnanimity and to our reason.
11-1nry opinion, ctre present Ministry are as far from doirzg full justice to thcir causc in this war, as Walpole was froin doing justice to the peace which at chat time he was willing to preserve. They throw the light or1 orie side only of their case; tho~tghit is irzrposstbte they should nor: observe, chat thc other side wfiich is kept irz the shade, has it's irrtportar1ce too. Tliey rnust know, chat France is formidable, not oxrty as she is Frarzcc, but as she is facobin Fra~zcc.
They knew fronr the beginning that the facobirz yarty was rzot confi~zedto that country. They knew, they felt, the strorig disposirion of the salne faction in both countrim to carnnluxzicatc and to cc9-0pcrate. For sorrte tirne past, these two points have been kept, arzcl even industriousfy kept, our of sight. France is colzsidered as merely a foreign Power; and the gditbus English only as a donrestick faction. The nrerits of the war with the former have been argued solely on pojiticd gr:rortrids, X ) prevent the ntischievc>usdrtctri~lesof the fatter, frorn. corruptrng our nrinds, nrarter and arguxncrzt have kccrz supplied at?undantly, and even to surfeit, on the excelteizcy o f our orvn govmnmenf. But nothing has been done to nlakc us feel in what nlanncr the safety of that Gsvernmeizt is coniiected with the principte anit with the issue of this war. For any thing, which in the late discussiorz has appeared, the war is entirely collateral to the state of Jacobinism; as truiy a foreign war to us and to all. o ~ r r horrte corzcerns, as the war with Spain in
1739..
+ +
Wherzever the adverse party has raix"d cry for peace with the Regicide, the answer has been little nrore than rhis, "that tlie Administration wished fbr such a pcacc, full as ntt~chas the Opposition; but that the tlnre was 11or convtizient for making it." " m r else has been said was xn~lch in the same spirit. Reasons of this kirzd never touched the substaxztiat nrerirs of the war. They were irr the rzaturc of dilatory pleas, exceptions of form, previous questions, Accordingly all the argujrrents against a conlpliancc wit11 wfiat was rcpreserzted as the poptrlar desire, (urged on with all possible vehetrrence and earnescxzess t7y the facobins) have appeared flat and languid, feeble arzd evasive. They appeared ro aim only at gaining rinre, They xzevcr entered into tlic peculiar and dis-
tinctive character of the war. They spoke 11either ro the understanding nor to the heart, Cold as ice tIlernsclves they xzevcr could kindje in our breasts a spark of that zeal, which is necessary to a conflict with an adverse zeal; xnuch Icsts were they xnade to irzfuse into our minds, that stuhhorri perscveri~zgspirit, which atone is capable of bearing up against those vicissitudes of fortune, which all probably occur, arid those hurtt-tens which nrusc be inevitably borne in a long war. I speak it cmphatically, and wit11 a desire that tr sizould be ~rrarked,in a lurzg war; becarnse, without such a war, rzo cxycricnce has yet told us, that a dangersrts power has ever been reduced to nreasure or to reason. I do not throw back xny view to thc kloponrzesiarz war of menty-sever1 years; rior to NO of the Punick wars, rile first of wcriey-four, the scco~zdof eighteen, rzor to the marc rrccent war coricluded by the treaty of Westphatia, which concin~ied, II think, fbr thirty. I go to what is but just 6allcn bchirzd living nterrtory, arid irnatediatefy touches our own coux1tr)z; Let the portion of our history from the year 1683 to 1723 be brsrtght before ~s~7-e shall find, that in all that period of twerrty-brtr years, there were hardly five that corlld bc called a seasorz of peace; and the interval between the two wars was in reajiq, nothing nrore than a very active preparation for renovated hostititiv, Duriizg that period, every one of the proposiriorrs of peace canre from the clzemy: The first, w h ~ they ~ z were accepted, at the peace of Ryswick; The second, where they w r e rejected at the congress at Gcrtruydcrzkurgi1; The last, whc~z the war erided by the treaty of Utrecl~t. Even then, a very greac part of the ~larion, and that wfiicb conrained by 6ir the nlast 7Ql)rrring rhis period EngIaf.td Filught rhe Nine VearsWar and rile Wars clfrl~eSpanish Succession.
intelligent statesxzzerr, was against the conclttsion of the war. X do xzut erztcr ixzto the rnerits of that question as between the parties, T onfy state the existence of that opinion as a faa, horn wbcxzcc you xnay draw such art inferertce as you think properly arises fro111it, Xt is far US at present to rec~I1ectwhat we have been; and to consider what, if we please, we may he stil, At the period of tllosc wars, atlr prix~cipat strcrzgth was fourtd in the rescilutic>nof the people; and of a part only of ttze tlzat in the rescil~~tior~ then whole, which bore no proportion to our existing mag~zitudc.Endarzd arzd Scotlarid were riot united at tlze hegirlrting of that ~rzighrystrugde. When, in the course uF thc coiltest, they wcre corzjaixzed, it was in a raw, an ill-cernentecl, ari unproductive ~rnioxl,'? . . IreLaiid, xzow so targc a sourcc uf the cof'~i1~10rli oplt1~1~cc and power, arzd which wisely martaged might: be ntade ~rzuctlnrore beneficial and nruch nrore effective, was tiiie~zthe iiieaviest of the burtlzens, hi army riot ntt~chless than forty thousand nren, was drawn from the general effort, to k c p that kingdoin in a poox; unfrrritf~~l, and resourceless subjection. Such was the state of h e enrpire. The state of our firlances was worse, if possible. Every brarlclz of tlze rcverttte hecarne less productive after the ~ e ~ o f u t i o.n. .. ~ ~ As to our commerce, the irxrports and exports of the nation, now six artd forty ~rzillion,did not then anrouxlt to terl, The inland trade, which is cammolzly passed by in this sort of estimates, but which, in part growing out of the f o ~ i g nand , conrzectcd with it, is ~TIOPC advantageous, arzd rnore substantially riutritive to the State, is lot onljy grorvn in a proportion of near 'SErrgland and Scortai~dwere united under r11c name *C;rear Bri~xin"in 1707. 7gJ"fre English G~OTIOUS ftevoIutio8~of f 088,
five to one as the foreign, but has been augmented, at least, in a teclhld proportion. . . . Qur ~zavatstrength in the tirnc of K n g Williambwar was rtearly matched by that of France; and t/~oughconjoined with Holland, the11a maritime Powcr hardly inferior to our owri, even with that farce we were 11or:atways victorious, Though 61zatty superior, the dlicd fleets expcricrzccd xnarzy unpleasant reverses on their owri elenrter~t, 111 two years three thousand vessels were taken frorn the Engtisli trade. Orz the continent we lost almost every battle we hught. Irz 1697, (it is rzut quire an hundred arrtidst years ago,) in tlzat state of tlli~tgs~ the gcrreral debasenrent of the coin, the fall of the ordinary revexzuc, the failure of aft the extraordinary supplies, the ruin of conrnzercc and the atnrost total exrillction of an inhnt credit, the Gha~zcclloruf the Exchequer himself. . . came forward to nrove a resol~rcion,fit1 of vigour, in which far from kcirzg disconraged by the gcncrally adverse fortune, arid the long continuance of the wal; the Comnrons agreed to address the Grown in the faliiowing manly, spirited, and truly anirnatillg style. "This is the E1t;f-x.rr-r year in wbictz your Majcsvk most dutiftrl and loyal subjects the Commons in Parliarrtertt assembled, have assisted your Majesyv with large supplies h r carrying alz a just and xzeccssary war, in defence of c>nr religion, and preservation of our taws, md vinclimtio~zof the rights and Iibcrties of the people of Engla~zd." Afterwards they proceed in this manner:-"To sherv to your lGlajesry and alt Christcndorn, that the Cammolzs of England wit1 not: be amzlsed or diverted front their firnz resolutions of: ohtainirzg by WAR,a safe and honourable peace, we cl(> in the riaine of thrjse we represerlt, renew our assuraIlccs to support your lMajesty arzd your Goverrzmcnt against 41 yonr en-
permarlent directior~to hear uport one errzies at home and abroad; and that we wilt effectually assist yort in carrying on point, without the itlfiuence of superior the war against Eraxice." authority; ur superior xnind. 'iris impuise ougbt, in my- opinion, to The amtrsenrelrt and diversion they speak of, was the suggestion of' a treaty tlaw been given in this war; and it ought proposed hy the enemp and art~~(:,llr~ced to have kec~zcontinued to it at every instant. It is ntade, if ever war was made, to from thr Throne. Thus the people of England felt in the ekhth, rzat in the fiarth touch all the great springs of action in the year of the war. No sighirlg or par~ting hunran breast. Xr aught xzut to ijiave t9ce~za had, in this war of apoloa. The iMi~lister~7 after negotiation; no motions ffonz the Oppositiorz to force the Ministry into a co~zflict,wfiercwitbal to gtory irz success; peace; no messages from Ministers to palsy to he consoled in adversiy; to hoid high and deaden the resoluticln of Parliainent or his prillcipfe iii all fctrtt~nes.ff it were riot the spirit of the r~ation.They did nor so given him to support the hlling edifice, he xnuch as advise the King to tisten to the uugtit to bury himsclf urzder the ruins uF propositiorrs of rile enerny, risr to seek for the civilized wclrld. A11 the art of Greece, peace but though the mediation o f a vigm d ail the pride and power of eastern orous war. Tliis address was nraved in arz Moxzarchs, ncvcr heap" upon their ashes hot, a divided, a factious, and in a great so grand a monrtnterit, part, disaffected House of Conrnzons, and There were days when his grcat nrind it was carried nerrairce carztrddicel-zte. was up to the crisis of the world he is called to act i d 8 His manly eloquence was equal to the elevated wisdorrz of such For what have I erztcred into all this dctait? scrztirnelzts. But the little have triumphed To what: purpose have I recalled your view over the great; ari uniiaturd, (as it sl~ould to the end of the last ~elitury?Tr: has been seenr) not an trn~~sual victory, I aIn sure you cr-tlznot forget with ijiow mu& uncasidone to shcw that the British Nation was then a great people-tc:, point out: how arid riess we heard iri conversation, the lanby what n r e a ~ ~they s canre to be exalted gtragc of rnore than o m gentleman at the at9ove the vrtlgar Ievcl, and to take that upenirzg OF this CC9I%tCSt:,""rat he was willlead which they zssunted arnor~gmarikinb. ing to try the war for a year or two, and if To qudifi us ktr that pre-etninence, we it did not succeed, then to vote for peace." had tftcxz an high mind, and a colzstarzcy As if war was a xnatter uf cxperimerzt! As if t~nconquerable;we were their inspired you could take it up or lay it dc~wrias an with no Aaslly passions; but such as were idle frolick! As if' the dire goddess that presides over it, with her mk~rderonsspear in dut-at9le as welt as warm; such as carresportdecf to the great i~iterestswe had at her hand, anrf her gmga~rat her breast, stake. This force of character was inspired, was a cocjtrette to be Rilted w i t h ? ' V e as d l suck spirit xnust ever bc, from above. urtgkrt widr reverellcc to approach that Goveriimeirt gave the irnprrjse. As well nray we fancy ttlat, of itself the sea will 'WiUim Pitt the Yctunger, the prirne minister. swell, arzd that withorlt wirzds the billows 7#Secthe l3ccl;uacion lof Cjctober 17331. 1 Burk's wilt insult the adverse shore, as that: the grosmmass of the people will be n z ~ w d , note] and elevated, arzd colztirzuc t9y a stcady and
trenre~ldousdivinity, ctlat loves courage, but cornmands counsct. War never leaves, where it found a nation. It is riever to be entered illto without a rfrature del iberatioxz; not a delibcratiolz terrgtiiicncd out into a perplexirtg indecision, hut a deliberation leading to a sure and fixed judgnlenr, m e n so taken up it i s n o t to fDm"bndsned witliout reasort as valid, as fully, and as extensively considered. Peace rrray be made as urzadviscdly as war. Nothi~zgis so rash as fear; arid the coniisels of pusillariimity very rarely put ofc whitst they are always sure to aggravate, the evrls from wfiich they would fly. 111 that great war carried o n against Louis the XIVrtlt for near eighteen years, Governmcrzt spared rza pairzs to satis+ the riatisn, that thort$l they were to be animated by a desire of glory glory was rmr their ultimate uhject: but that every thing dear to them, in religic~n,in law, in liberty every thitlg wllicll as freemen, as Englishmen, and as citizcizs of the great commanwealth of Ghristendont, ther had at heart, was the11 at stake, This was to know the true art uf gaining the affections and confidence of an high-minded people; this was to understand human nature, A danger to avert a danger-a prcscnt ixzconveriience artd suffering to prevent a foreseen fiiturc, and a worse catanriry-these are the motives that belong to arz anirxrat, who, in his constitution, is at once adventurous and provident; circumspect and daring; wborn his Gmatar has made, as the h e t says, "of large ctiscoursr, looking before and after."m But never can a vehcment arzd suscaineci spirit uf fortitrtde kc ki~ldledin a people by a war of calculation. Xt has rlothing chat can keep the nrind erect under the gusts uf adversity, Evc~z where men are willing, as s(>ntetimesthey
are, to barter their blood for lucre, to haza d their safety fbr the gratificarion of their avarice, the passion, wbictl arzill~~ates them to that sort of collflict, like all the sizortsighted passions nrust see its objects distinct and rzear at hand, The yassiolzs uf the lower order are hmgry and impatient. Spciculative pluflder; contingent spoil; h+cure,fong adjourned, urzcertairl booty; pitlage which ntust ertrlciz a late posterity and which possibfy nray nor reach to pastcrrty at all; these, for any tcizgth uf time, will never s~lpporta merceiiary war. The peopk are in Flle right, The calculation of profit ixz all suck wars is false. Orz balancing the account. of such wars, ten thousand hogsheads of sugar are pr~rchasedac ten thansand times their price. The tltood of man should riever be shed brtt to redeent the blood of nran. XE is well shed for our family, Ear urtr friends, Ectr urtr God, for our conntry, for our kind. The rest is vanity; the rest is crime.
Tf the war nrade to prevmt the mion of two crowrzs upon ogle head was a just war, this, which is made to prevent the tearing all crowns fro111 all heads which ought to wear them, arzd with the crowlzs to srnitc off the sacred beads themselves, this is a just war, If a war to pX2VC"t Lorlis the XXVth from irsrposing his relighl was just, a war to p x v m t the nl~rrderersof Louis the XVlrkt froin irxrposing thcir irreligion uport us is just; a war to prevent. the operation of a system, which nrakes life wichout digr~ityarzd death witharlt hope, is a just war. Tf to preserve political independence and civil freedom to xzatioxzs, was a just grourld of war; a war to preserve national independence, propert5 liberty, life, a d honour, from certain urziversat. havock, is a
war just, nmessary, nranly, pious; and we arc t9ourzd to persevere ixz it by every psinciple, divirie and human, as long as the system which Irrerlaces them ail, and all equally, has arz existexzce in the world. You, who have looked at this rnatter with as fair arzd iitzpartial an eye as can be urzited with a Eecting heart, you will not think it ari hardy assertion, whert f affirnt, tliac it were far bcrter to be conquered hy any uther rzation, thalz to have this faction for a neighborn. . . . They who are to live in tlze vicinity of tlzis riew fahrick, are tc:, preparc to live in perper~lalconspiracies and scdirions; arzd to erzd at last, in bcixzg coriqrrered, if rlot to lier dominion, tc3 her rcsenrbtance. But when we talk of conquest by uther nations, it is olzly to put a case. This is the only ps~werin Europe by which it is possible we stiould be conquered. To live undcl- the continli~aldscad of such irnmeasurabte evils is itseif a grievous calamiy To live without the dr-ead of thern is to turn the darzger into the disaster. The influerice of sucti a Frarice is equal to a war; itk exa~rrple,more wasting tlian an hostile irruption. The hostility wirh any other pc~weris separable arid accidental; this power, hy the very condition of i c i existexzcc, by it's very esscrztial constitution, is in a state of hostility with LIS,arid with all civilized people, A Governmexzt of the rzaturc uf that set LIP at our very door has rtever been liitlierto seen, or even irzragined, in Europe. What our rclation to it wilt kc canrzat be judged by other reIations, It is a serious thing to have a conrtlexion with a peopte, who live orlily U I Z ~ C Ppositive, arbitrary, arid cfiarigeable ir~stituticrns;arid those not: pedfeced 11or supplied, nor explained, by any camnzalz acknowtcdged rule of xnoral scieiice. . . . France, since her Revolution, is under the sway of a sect, whose leaders iiiavc deliberatcty, at one stroke, demol-
ished the mflole body c>fthat jurispruderice which France had pretty nearly in conrmon wirh other civiliz~dcountsies, In that jurisprrtdertce were corttairled tlie elemertts m d principies of Fhe law of natiotrs, che great Xigarncrzt uf marzkind, With the law they have of cortrse destroyed d l sentinaries in which jurispr~rdencewas taubt, as well as all the corporations estatrlished for it's a>riservatioiz.I liave rtot heard crf any csjuntry whether in Europe or Asia, or even in Ahica on this side of Maunt Atlas, which is wholly witliiout sorne such colleges arid such G O T P O T ~ E except ~ O ~France. S, No man, ixz a publick ur private concern, car1 divine by what rule or principle lier jtldgentertts are to be directed; nor is there to be found a profefsor in arzy University, ur a practitioner in ariy Court, who will ha~ardan opinitlli of what is or is 11ot law in France, in any case whatever. They have xzat uxzly anriulled at1 their old treaties; but: they have renounced the law of nations fronr witzegzcc trcatics have thcir Eorcc, With a fixed design they have outlawed thernsetves, and to their power outlawed all other rzations, Ir~steadof the religion arid the law I3y which they were ill a great p~Iitickconzmtlnioxz with the Christian world, they have coristructed tlzeir Republick or1 three bases, ail hndamerttatfy opposite to those un which the canznzunirics OF Eumpe arc built. It's foundation is laid in Regicide; in Jacohinisnr; and in Atheistrr; and it has joirred to thosc psinciptes, a tmdy of systematick manrters which secures their operacton. If I am asked, iiiaw I would t9e urzderstood in the use of these terms, RegiciA, Jatcobinisnr, Atheism, and a system of correspondent manxzcrs, and thcir esmt7tishmerit, I will tell you. I cat1 a conrnronwealrti Regicide, which lays it down as a fixed law af nature, and a
fundamentat right. of man, that all govrmmerzt, rzut t9ci~zg a democracy, is arz usurpation, That ail Kings, as sucli, are usurpers; and for being Kings, nzay and uugtit to he put to death, with their wives, fantilies, arid adherents. The comat~>riwealth which acts unifarnrly upon those principles; and which after at9olishiizg every festival of reiigic~tr,cfioclses the most flagrant act of a milmerot~sRegicide treason for a feast of eterlzai cornmcmoratioxz, arid wflich forces all her people to observe it--This t d l kgicide by e~tilbli~hment. Jacobinisnl is the revolt of rlae ertterprisixzg talents of a corlntry against it's property, Wheir private rnert form themselves into associations I"or the pwpose of clestroyi~lgthe px-existing taws and institutions of rlleir country; when they secure to ttienrselvcs an arnry by dividing anrangst the pmpPtmf no property, thc estates of tlze artciertt arid lawful proprietors; when a stare recognizes those acts; when it does rzot nlakc confiscations fbr crimes, but rnakes crlrnes fbr confiscations; wlie~iit has it's principal strength, and all it's resources in such a violation uf property; mfleir it: startds chiefly upon such a vic~lation; nrassacri~sgby jndgmerits, or otherwise, those who xnakc arzy struggle fur their old legat government, artd thek legal, tieredi~ary~ or acquired possessions-f call this Jdcobinism 4 E$t/irblishrne~t, f call it A;.hc.zsvn E7y Eftrtbli$hment,wlzeri any State, as sucti, sfiall nor: acknowledge the existctzce of God as a xnord Gsverrzur of the Wc>rtd;wlzert it shall of&r to Hirn ~ i oreligious or ~rzoraiworstlip;-wheri it shall abotish the Christian religion t9y a regular decree;--when it sl~alipersecute with a cold, uxiretenting, steady cruelty, by cvcry xnodc of confiscation, imyrisonmerit, exile, arid death, all it's mmrsters;when it shall generally stiut up, or pull down, churches; when the fcw buildings
whicli remairl of this krld sfzall be opened only fir the purpox of nraking a profane apotheosis uf monsters, whose viccs arzd crirnes have rio p"ral)el anrorigst men, arid whonr all other nzen consider as objects of general detcst-ation, and the severest arzimadversion of law. When, in tlze place of that religion of social benevolence, and of individuaf self-detzial, in xnockery uf all rcligion, they instirtlte impious, blasphenrous, indecent rtieatric rites, in hoxlour of their vitiated, perverted reason, and erect altars to tlze persorrification of their own corrupted and btoody Repubtick;-when schools and sexninarles are foulzded at publick expertce tc:, poison mankind, front generation ro generation, with the horrible nlaxims of this impiety;-when wearied out: with incessarit ntartyrdom, artd the cries of a people htzngcring and thirsting b r religio~i,they pcr~nitit, ofzly as a tofcrated evil-I call this Atheim E7y Establishmerzg. When to these cstablishincrzts of Regicide, of Jacohirtism, and of Atheism, you add &c rorrep~ndentytem O ~ ~ ~ B R P 1Y10J I doubt can bc icfi un thc mind of a thinking rnari, concernirrg their deterntined hostillity ro the hunran race. lGlanners are of rr-tore inlyortancc than laws. Upon them, in a great measure the laws &pend. The law roucties us but here and there, arzd xzuw and thcn. Manners are what vex or soclttl, corrupt or purik, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constalit, steady, uniform, inscrzsible operation, like that o f the air- we breathe in. They give their whole fornr and cofour to our lives. According to their qualiy, they aid m o d s , they supply tlzent, or they tc:,tally destroy them, Of this, the new Frencti Legislators wcrc aware; therefore, with thc same method, arid t~iidertile same authsrit)j; they settled a qstenr of nranners, the most licentious, prostitute, and abalzdoncd that
ever has been known, and at the sanre rinte the nrost coarse, rude, savage, and Ecrucions, Notlzing in tlze Revolution, 110, not ro a phrase or a gcsrtlre, not ro the fashion of a hat or a stloc, was tefi to accidexzt. Ail has beer1 the result of design; all has been nratrer of institution, . . .
The operation of dangerous arzd delusive first princiyics obliges us to have recourse to tile true ones. In the irltercourse bemeers nations, we are apt to relty tc->cintt~ch 0x1 the instrtlrrzental part, We lay too nruch weight upon the Eorxnality of treaties and compacts, We do not act: rnt~ch more wisely when we crust to the interests of xncrz as guararztecs of their engagemcrzts. The illterests frequerttly tear to pieces tlze engagenrents; and the passiorls tranlple upon bot11, Entirely to trust to either, is to disregard our owl1 safety or riot to klow nrankind, Men are 11ot tied ro one arzother t9y papers and scals. Tlzey arc led to associate by resentblances, by confc)rntities, by synrgathies, Tr: i s with nations as with individuals, Nothing is so strong a tic of ainiry. bervveers rlatic~rtarid riaticlrz as correspondence io laws, custonrs, Irzanners, and iiiabits uE life. They have more than the force of treaties in themselves. They are obligations writcers in the heart, They appmximate xncrz t~ mcn, without their knowledge, arid ssntetimes against their iorentions. The secret, unseen, but irrefragat9lc tlond uE iiiabitrzal intcrconrse, hoXds them tagether, ever1 when their perverse and litigious Ilature sets tfieIII to equivocate, scuffle, and Eight abortt the ternrts of their writtert obligations, As ro war, if it be the means of wrong and violence, it is the sole mearzs of justice amortgst nations. Nothing car1 batiish it from the world, They who say othemise, intcrzdirzg to impose upon its, do xzut im-
pose upon themselves. But it is one of the greatest objects of human wisdonz to mitigate thosc evils which we are unrzble to remove. The conforntity arid anatogy of which T speak, illcapable, like every thing etsc, of preserving ycrfcct trust and tearzqtlilliry antong men, has a strong terldency to facilitate accommodation, and to produce a gcxzerous oMivion of ttic rancour uf tlzeir quarrels. With this similitude, peace is nrore of peace, arzd war is less of war. f will go furthcr, Tlzere have beer1 periods uf tirrle in which c~ntirrunities,apparerltly in peace with each other, haw been more perfectly separarcd thaxz, in latcl: times, maxzy riations in Europe have becrt in the course of long and bloody wars, The cause ~rzust be sou&t ixz the similitude througlilaut Europe of religion, laws, artd ntanr-rers. At botconr, ttlese are all the same. The writers un publk law iiiave oficiz catted this &wegate of nariclns a Contmonweatth. "f'tre-y had reason. Tt is virtuatty one great scare havixzg the same tlasls of ge~zeratlaw; with sorrre diversity of provinciaf custc->ntsand local estafrlisllnrents. The 11atioxlsof Europdiave had the very same christian religion, agreeing irt the fundanteiztal parts, varying a licrte in the ceremonies and in the subordinate doctrines. The whole of the polity artd oecononty of every country in Europe has been derived froxrz the sanre sonrccs. It was drawn from the old Gcrrnarllc or Gstllic custumary; frcint the feudal institutions which must be considered as an enranrztioxz froin that custrtmary; arzd the wlzole has bhecrt improved and digested into system and discipline by the Ronratr law. Frunr iiie~zccarose the scverat orders, with or wtthstrt a iuonarch, (which are called States) in every Euroh~eancouxltry; the strolzg traces of which, wficre Monarchy predonrinated, were riever wholly extinguished or nrerged in desporisrrz, fn the few ptacewhcre Mortarcby was cast off,
the spirit of European 1Vonarctly was sill left. Those courztries still continued countries of States; tlrat is, of classes, orders, and distirrctions, such as had before subsisted, us rzearly so, Xrzdeed the force and f-i)r~is of the institution called States, corztinued in greater perfection in those republican co~zzmurzities thaxz under Monarchies, Frorn dI those sources arose a systern of marrrrers and of edkrcatio~zwhich was nearly sirzzilar ixz all this quartcr uf the globe; and wliich softened, blended, arid l~armonizedthe colours of the whole. There was little dig ference in the forrzr of tlre Urriversiries fir the education of their youth, whether with regard to faculties, to sciences, ar to tl-re rzzore liberal and elegant kinds of erudition, Frorn this rescmblancc ixz the nlodes uf intercourse, and in the mfzole fornt arrd fashion of life, rro citkeiz of Europe could be altogether an exile in any parr uf it. Tlzcrc was rsottiing more than a pleasing variety to recreate and irisrruct the rzzind; to enrich the irxragination; and to meliarate the heart. When a mar1 travelled or resided for trealth, pleasure, business or necessiv, fronr his own courztry he rzevcr felt himsetfquite abroad. The whole body of this new sctrenre of manners ixz support uF the new schenle uf politicks, I carisider as a strmzg afzd decisive proof of decernrinect anzbicion and systenlatick hostility: X dcEy tfic: most refining ingennity to irivmt arry other cause for the total departr-tre of the Sacohin Replrbtick from every one uf the ideas arzd Itsages, rciigious, legal, moral, or social, of this civilized worlct, and fctr her tearing hersetf from its cornmurzion with such studied violence, but from a formed resolution of keeping no ternzs wittr that world. Tr: has rzut bee~z,as has kcerz falsely and ixzsidiousty represerzted, that these ntiscreants trad only broke with their old Government. They madc a schism with the whole
universe; and that schism exterided to a!nrost every thing great and small. Far one, I wish, sincc it is gone thus Ear* that the breach had beer1 so cornpleat, as tc:, make all intercourse impracticable; b t ~ parcIy t by accident, partly by desigrz, partly from the resistance of the matter, enortgh is lefi tc:, preserve intercourse, whilst anrity is destroyed or corrupted in it's prirzciplc. This violent breach of the community of Europe, W nzltst a n d u d e to have been made, (even if they had not exprcssty dcctared it over arid over again) either to Corce nzankind irlco m adoption of their systern, or to livt: in ycryetrtat enmity with a cominuriity the most potent we have ever known. Can any person imagine, ttrat in offeritzg to xnankind this despcratt: atternative, there is ricn indicatioiz of a lrostite nrind, because nren in possessiuxr of the ruiing authority arc supposed to have a right to act witlrout coerciorz in their own territories? As to tire right of men to act any. where according to tlicir pteasnrc, without any rnoral tie, nt:, such right exists. Men are rrever in a stare of inkpendencc of each usher. It is rzot the condition of our riatrxre: nor is it conceivahie how any rzzarr can pursue a coxrsiderable course of acriarz wickout it" havirrg sonre effect upon others; or, of course, wtthsrtt producing some degree d responsihiiiry h r his conduct, The fituations irr wfiich nlen relatively staiid prodtlce the rules arid primiples of that responsibility, and af3;rt-d directioxzs to yruderzcc iri exacting it. Pistarice of place does riot extinguish the duties or the rights of men; but it often renders their exercise impracticable. The sarne circuinstarice of distance reriders the noxious effects of an evil systenr in any community less penzicious. But thert: arc situations where this difficulty does not occur; and in which, therefore, these $11ties art: ubiigatory; and these rights arc to
be asserted. Ir: has ever been the rrrethod of publick jtlrists to draw a great part of the ariitlogies on which they krnr the law of nations, from the principles of law wtlich prevail in civil commurzir_v.Civil taws are rtot alt of them rnereiy- positive. Those which are rather conctusions of legal reasoil, tharz xnatters of statt~tableprovision, belong to universal equity, and are universally applicable. . . . There is a Lnw of Ne&hbourhoodwfiich does nut leave a xnan perfect master on his own grortnd. When a neighbortr sees a lzew srec~:iorz,in the nature of a rl~tisatlce,set up at his door, he has a right to represent it to the judge; whtj, on his part, has a right to order the work to be staid; or if established, to be rexnoved. 011this head, the parerzt taw is express and clear; and has made many wise provisions, which, without destroyitrg, regulate and restrain the right of owner;.. sh+, I.?); tlze right o f vici~tnge.No t~lnnuntion is pernricted that rrzay redouxld, even secorzdarily, to the prejudice of a rzeiglibortr, The whole doctrine . . . is for~rlded 0x1 the principle, that rlo new use should t9c madc of a man" private liberty of operating upon his private property, from whence a detrixzierlt rrzay be justly appreiiiendcd by his ncight9our. Tlzis taw uf dcnuiiciation is prospective. It is to anticipate . . . a danrage justly apgreherrded but xzut actualty doxze. Evelz before it is clearly known, wtlether the innovation be darnageable or not, the judgc is coxrzperent to issue a prohilzition to innovate, urztil the point cart be determined. This prompt interference is grounded on principles hvourable to both parties. It is pl-clvelztivc of ntiscf~iefdif'ficult tc:, be repaired, artd of ilii blood difficult to be softerred. The rule of law, therefore, which comes before the evil, is amc7ngt the very hest parts of equity, and jt~stifiesthe protnptness of the rerncdy. . . . This right of denunciation
does rtot hold, when things continue, t~oweryerirzconveniently to the neighboilrhood, according to the nntient mode. For tlzere is a sort of presumption against rimelyv, drawn out of a deep consideration of hunlan natltre arzd humarz afFaili-s, . . . Such is the law of civil vicinity. Now where there is no constituted judge, as beween ixzdepclzdent states there is not, the vicinage itself is the narural judge. It is, preverrtively, the assertor of ir's own rights; ur remedially their avenger. Neighkortrs are presunted to take cog~tizariceof each other's acts. . . . This principle, which, like the rest, is as true of nations, as of individual men, has Iiestc3wed crn the gl-and vicirrage of Europe, a duty to know, and a right to ~ P C V Cany I Z ~capital , irzxzovatioxz which rnay amorriit to the erectiort of a dangerous nuisatlce.81 Of the in~partance uf that irzxzovatioxz, and the xnlschief of tlzat nrtisance, they are, to he sure, bourld to judge riot litigiot~sly:but it is in their canlpetazce to fudge, They have uniformly acted on this right, What in civil society is a grok~ndof action, in politick society is a ground of war. But the excrcisc of that competent jurisdictior~is a ntatter of nroral prudence. As suits in civil society, so war in the paliticd mr;tst ever he a matter of great deliberation. It is riot: tlzis or that particular proceeding, picked out here and there, as a subject of quarrel, that will do. There rnust be air aggregate of mischief, There nrust be rrzarks of deliberatioxz; there xnust kc traces of design; there rnust he indicatioi~sof malice; there rnust be tokens of anrbition. There nrust be 8I"'X'his state rtf things cannot exist in France wirhour itzvolving all clre surrounding powers in cme corn. mcsn danger, wi~houcgiving rtrtem the right, wirl~our impissing it on rhcnr as a dury, ro ?;topthe progress of an evil vvhiclr attacks the &~nci&rnent;ll prirtciptes by which mdr~kindis united in civil sociery." Declaration, 29th Clcr. 1733. [Rurke's nclrcr]
force in the body where they exist; there must t9c energy iri the mir-rd. Whcrz all these circurrtstarzces combine, or the important parts of tibenr, the duty of the viciniry calls for the exercise of its competence; arid the rules of pruderlce do rtot restrain, but demand it. Xn describing t11c rzuisarzce erected by so pestilential a manufactory, by the csnstruction of so infamous a brothei, by diging a rzight cellar for such thievcs, mrtrdercrs, and honse-breakers, as never infested the wclrld, I: am so far from agravating, that I: have falten infinitely shrr: of the evii, No maxz who has attcxzded to the partictzlars of what has been drtrte in France, and combined then1 with the principles there asserted, can possibly doubt it. TiXlherz I compare with this great cause of riatisrzs, the trifling points of honour, the still mare colztemptit9te paints of izztcrcsr, the light cereatoiiies, the uridefinabie punctilic~s, the disputes about precedency, the lowering or the hoisting of a sail, the dealing ixz a hundred or twt) of wild cat-skins or1 the other side of the Globe, which have ofterr kindled up the Aanles of war bctlivccn rzaticms, I stand astonished at those persoris, who do not feel a resentnrelzt, nor more rzatural tharz polirick, at the atrocio~tsixzsufts tl-rat this moristrous cornpound offers to the dignity of every nation, and who are rzat alarriled with what it thrcaterzs to their safety. f haw therefore been dc-Gidedly of opinion, with our declaration at Whitebdl, ixz the beginning of his war, that the vicirtage of Erzrope had not only a right, but an indispcnsible duty, arzd an exigent interest, to deiiunciate this new work before it had prodtlced the danger we have so sorely felt, and which. we shdl long feel. The exarnple of what is done by France is tot:, importarlt not to haw a vast and exrensive influence; and that example backed with it's power,
must bear with great force on tlzose who are near it; especially on those who sfzaft recogizizc the pretcndcd XXepublick on the principle rlpon which it rtow starids, ft is nor ail otd stnlceure which you haw fbnnd as it is, and are rzot to dispute of the arigirlat ertd artd design witiiz which it had beer1 so fashioned. It is a recent wrong, m d can plead no prcscriytian. Ir violates the rights upon which not ordy the contmunity of France, but those on wlzich all comniu~zitics are fourzdcd. The pri~zcipfeson which. they proceed are ge~eralprinciples, artd are as true in England as in any other c o u n q . They who (though with the purest ixztcntions) rcctngrtize the authority of these Regicides and robbers upon principle, justi@ their acts, and establish them as preccdents, ft is a questiorl rtot between Frarlce and England, IF is a questioxl between property and farec. The propcrty claims; and it5 claim has beert allowed. The property of the ~lationis the ~lation,They who massacre, plurzder, arzd expel the body of the proprietary, are murderers and robbers. The Stare, in it's essence, must be moral and just: arzd it may bc so, though a tyrant or usurper sl-rould be acciderltaiilr at the head of it, This is a thing to be tail-rented: but this n ~ w i t h s r a ~ z dthe i ~ ~body , of the commortwealth rnay remain in all it? iintegrity and be peri-ccriy sound in it's composition. Thc present case is different. Xr is not a revolution in gtlvernntent. Ir: is rtot the victory of parry over parE;V. k is a destruetioxz and dcconlposirioxz af the whole sociev; which ricver can be made of right by any hction, however powertill, nor witiiiout terrible colzseqrtenccs to all about it, both in the act and in the erainple, This p r e ~ n d e dRepublick is hunded in crimes, and exists by wrong and rabbcry; arzd wrorig and rob be^^ far frarrt a title to any thing, is war with mankind, To be at peace with robbcry is to t9c arz accornplicc with it.
Mere locality does not constitute a body potitick. . . . The body politick aF France existed in the ntajesty of it's tthrorie; in the dignicy of it's nobility; in the honour of it's gentry; ixz the sanctity uf it" clergy; ixz the reverelzce of ithnagistracy; in the weight and consideration due rct irk landed property in the several t9ailtiagcs; in the respect due to ithntveablc substar~cerepresented by the cmporatims of the kingdom. All these particular molecgke united, form the great mass of w11at is trt1l-y the body politick in ail cortritries, They are so ntarzy deposits and receptacles of justice; becattse they can only exist by justice. Nation is a ntorat esserice, not a geographical arrangement, or a denonrination of the nonrenclatox: France, thorlgh out uf her territorial possession, exists; because the sole possibie claimant, I Irzean the p r o p r i e t a ~and the government to which the proyricry adheres, exists and claims. . . . A n 1 to transfer to the intnlders, who nor content to turn you out rzakcd to the world, would rob you of your very riame, all the esteern and respect I owe rct you? The Regicides in France arc xzut France. Frarzce is our of her bounds, but the kingdoin is the saine.
. . . This exantple we shall give, if irlstead of adlteriilg rct our fe'ellows in a cause which is an honour to us all, we abandon the lawfill Government and lawful corporate body of France, rct hunt b r a sfianrefuhnd ruinous frarcrxziry, with this odious usurpation that disgraces civttizecf society and the humari race. And is therz example xzotkixzg?It is every thing, Example is the school of mankirld, and they wiIi learn at no other. This war is a war against that cxamyic. Xt is rzot a war fnf torris the Eigl~teenth,or even for the p m p r r ~virtue, fidelity of France, It is a war fbr Gcorgc the Third, for Fra~zcisthe
Second, arid fbr ail the diggiity, property, tlonour*virtue, and religion of Engimd, of Germa~zy,aarid of all nations,
Xr is xzu excuse at- ail far a r'~iixziste~; who at our desire, takes a rneasure corltrary ro our safety, that it is our own act. He who does rzut stay the baxzd uE suicide, is guitry aF murder. Ort our part I: say, that to be instructed, is not to be degraded or errslaved. Xrzformatiun is an advaritagc to us; and wc have a right to demand it. He that is bound to act in the dark cannot be said to act freciy. VVheri it appeas evident to our governors that our desires arzd orrr interests are at variance, they ought not to gratiljr the former at the expencc of: the latter, Statesmeri are placed on ari eminence, that they Irzay have a larger horizon than we cari possik9ly cornmand. Tlzey have a whoIe before thein, which we car1 contemplate only in the parts, and often without the rzeccssary rctariuns, Mirlistcrs arc rzot only our natural rrtiers but our riaturai guides. Reason clearly and nranfutty delivered, has ixz itself a rnidzcy brce: but reason in thc mouth of legal ar~thsrity,is, I: may fairly say, irresistibte, 1 adrnir that- rcason uf state will xzut, in maI1y circr~mstancespermit the disclosure of che true grotdifld of a pr~hlicproceeding. Xrz that casc silence is manly and it is wise. ft is fair to call for trust wlzer~the prirlciple of reasoil itself sltsperrds it's public use. I take the distinction to t9c this: rFhe ground of a particdar nrrasure, rnakirlg a part of a ph7, it is rarely proper CO divulge; all rhe broadcr grorlnds uf policy a n which the gerieral plarz is to he adopted, orrght as rarely to be concealed, They who have lot the whole causc before them, cal1 tiiienl politicians, call thein people, call them what you will, are no judges. The diff-rcdtics uf the case, as w ~ l las it's 6air side,
ought to be presented. This ought to be done: and it is at! that car1 t9e do~zc.m e 1 1 we have our true situation distirictly presented ro us, if then we resolve with a blind and headtong violcrzcc, to resist the adrnonitiorls of our friends, arid to cast oilrseives into the hands of orrr potent and irrecancileable foes, tiiien, and rzot till tlzeri, the ntirllsters stand acquitted hefore God and man, for whatever nray conre. Larncizting as X do, that the xnatter has riot had so full arid free a discussioi1 as it requires, I: nteari to omit none of the points whjcfi seen1 to me necessary fbr consideration, previarls to arz arrmgement which is for ever to decide the form and the fate of Europe. In the course, therefare, of what X shdl iiiavc the iiiolzaur to ad&ss to you, f propose the following questions to p k ~ serious r ttloughts. 1. Whether the prcse11t S~SCCI'XI, which stands for a Gtlverrznierit in France, be such as in peace and war affects rhe neighbouring Stares i n a maxzncr different from the internal Goverrlmerlt that formerly prevailed in that couxltr).? 2,Whether that systenr, supposing it" views hostile to other nations, possesses any mearls of being lzurtftrf to them
peculiar to itself? 3. Whether there lzas been lately suctl a change in France, as to alter the natrtrc of ichsystem, or it's eelcct upon other Pclwers? 4. m e t h e r ariy publick declarations or engagerzzenrs exist, on the part of the allied Powers, which stand in the way o f a treaty of peace, which supposes the right and confirms rile power of the lkgicide hction in Frarice? 5. What the state o f the other Powers of Europe wit1 be with respect ro each other, and thcir colaizics, on the c~91licIusianof a Rcgicide Peace? 6. Whether we are driven to the absolute ~lecessicyof nraking that kind of peace? These heads o f erlqutry wit1 eriable us to make the application of the swefaf nlatters of fact and topicks of argument, that occur in this vast discussit?n, to certairl fixed primiples, T do EIOC mean to confi~lemyself to thc order in which they staild. X shalt disct~ssthem in such a manlier as shall appear to nre the best adapted for shewing thcir nz~ttuattlcarlngs and rctations, Here then I: close the public rnatter of my Letter, . . .
N o t e s to
Part One
Chapter One f . R. f . Vincer-rt, "Edmur-rd Burke and tfic Theory af Xnterriariorial fic.larioris," Review o f l ~ t e r rzatiannl St~iludies10 ( 1 9841, 206, Tm ntore recenr rxan~inarionsof Burke's thinking on irteernarional relations can be found in J. M. \Vctsh, E d ~ ~ z LZurke d ~ d andIrttenzntional"&&ti;a~s:The Cornmonulertlth afEgrope arzd &c Grgsade Agairzst the French Revolzidon (New York, 1995), and f. M*
Welsh, "E,dmund Burke and the Commonwealth of Europe: "l'he Czulturaf Bases of Internationat Order," in inh~cficaiTheoria of Fnternntiontrl R~htio~w, ed, I, Clark and I, B. Neumann (London, 1996), 173. 2. Welsh, Ednzzdnd Burke and l~terzgtio~nL RcIations, I . 3, Vincent, "E~tmundBurke," "6. 4.E-lx~littcomnlenced that "to do him justice, ic would be necessay to quote all his works; the oniy specimen of Burke is, all ghat he wrote." I-la*lirt, Eioque~ceo f t i ? ~British Selzag, vol. 2 (L,oridon, 18081, 206. 5. Vincent, "Edmrrnd Rurke," 225. 6, Ibid. 7,Marthew Arnold believed rl~atRurke W;% greae ""because, almost alone in England, he brings thought to bear upon politics, be saturates politics with th~ught."Qk~otetrlin ibid. Aucrbzh also wrote: ''In spite af tfic Fact tfiat almost at1 of Uurke's writings were directed ta specific historical prol-tlems, they- are Interspersed with generajt form~datiunswhich can be put together to form a coherent idenlo&r)i."MM, Auerbach, The Gp~servgti~c I//ztslDn (New York, f %C)), 34. 8, A, C:obban, EdmzlndIIzkrhe andl;he RevoLtAgairzst the Eightcrctnth C~;~.nrzdry (140ndon,192")), 75. C). Burke regarded Monresquicu as " t f ~greatest ger-riusaF the age." A. M, Osborn, I;"op~,sseau and Barhe: A Stz~dyafthe Idea ofLiberg ill Eight.eent.h-Cent.ury p~l;t.i~izL Thozrgjtt (Oxford, l %4(, 7 , For a comparative study of the thought of Burke and Montesquieu, see C. 1).C:ourtney Rifnntesqzdiezk arzd Bzgrke (Oxhrtf, $963). 10, Rejectio~zs0% the JtevolatZ'o~~ EPE France, WSEB, viii, 58. f 1. C. B, Macphersar-r,Burhe (Oxford, 1%80), 74, 12. Welsh, Edm~ndBurktf nnd J~zccrnatiunal'lteIat.a'crns,1. f 3. Cobban, Edm~ndBurke and the Revolt AgdEnst the Eightrenth Centsfry 39. 14.Wetsht, Edmt~t~dZ Brrtrhe alzd J~zre~"~za2tiOnizi K~l'atiatzf,1 , f S. Macpherson, Burke# 73.
16. I, Hampsher-Monk, ""Trtroducrion," i i t 7Xe Polz'tic~zlPhilmopiy a$'Ed~~~ttnd Bzgrke, ed. I , Hampshcr-Monk (Lor-rdon, l98";r",15, 17- I? J , Stzmiis, Ed~iu~zd Bt4rkc: T?eE~ikhtennzentand Revdz~ti~n (New Brlmswick, WJ, 19% ),G, 18. Vix-rccrit, "Edr~~nnd Burke," "226; W;Pcfsh, ""EcImurid Burke arid the Commonwealth of Europe," "18384% In C:hap~er 3 we define the international relations tradirions of redisnt, rationdism, and re\.olutic>nisniIn ci>nnecric>nwirh analyzii~gBurke as an international relaticans theorist.
1C), Scc generally \V;", C)%ririen, Ednz~kndBsrke as an Irishman (Dubtix-r,2nd ed., 2 926); T. H . D, Mrthonejs Edmu~dNurke arzd Ireland (Cambridge3 MA,1%Q); and M. Fuchs, Ed~tundNurke, !reland gad the Fdshionl'frgofthc Scp(Oxford, 2 996). 20, S, i'ryling, Edmund Rz~rke:His Id@ alzd C$inlio~zs (Idondon,1 9881, 2, 2 1, See C. C:. OBrien, 7Xc G r e ~MeIod?: ~t A 7'h~mnticI$iograpFtg, nf Edmund Burke (L,ondon, 1")2), 5-14. 22, The only government post Burke bad was pvmasrer general of the forces, which he held ur-rdcr tfic second Xtockinghm admix-ristrarion (1 782) and tfic Fox-Norcl1 coalitiori (1783). 23. Letter to .r;, Nob& Lnrd, Wk5EB,ix, 160. 24. Macpherson, iYurke, 8-9, See also Fucfis, Ednz~kndBurkc, 45, 25, Macpherson, Uzkrhe, 9. 26. Ibid. 27. A. E? I, Santuets, Ear& L$$, (l;izrrcs~o~zdenec~ and Wril-z'ngfafEdrrtund Btirkt (Cambridge, 1923), 364. 28. Burke wrote ro a friend in his second year at Middle Temple that rl~e""W causes no difficulry to those who readily understand It, and to those who never will tlnderstand it; and fbr all between these extremes, God knows, they have a hard task of it." Quoted in P, Burke, Pziblic and Domestz'c L$ ofthe Itt. Hon, Edr~uradBgrke (I,r>ndon,18531, 13, Ikrhaps a key to Burke's frustratic>nat Micldle Temple may bc found ii-r a later speech on America, in vvlxich he said rhar law ""does more ra quicken and invigorate the understanding, than dl rl~eother kinds of fearning pur together; but it is x1ar apt . . . ra opcn and tiberalia the xnir-rd exacrty in the same proportion." Speech on Americdn 7kat;ina WSEB, ii, 432. 23. J. Morfey, Burkt (London, 18731, C), 30. E-lamphrr-Monk wrote that rl~e contnion taw wzi "an irtsritution \vinillich gives both. Legal and syr~~lnofic expression tc> custoni and precedent, and was one of the sources froni which Burke clearly hbsrracred" his political $ilosophy." Hanpsher-Mor-rk, "fntroducrion," 36. 31. SpeecI'?on C;"onciItntiunwit11America, KYEBp iii, 124. 32, A Kndication ofMat~raial&c&@ Works, i, 2-48; A PI7iIosophiml Inquz'v iinto the Origilz ofClur Idecaf ofthe Sghlimc and Beazkt.$t4 Worhs, i, 49-1 R I . 33. An Abridgment of English Historp Worksr"vi, 18 4 4 2 2 . 34, Osborn, I;"otk.$setzualzd N~rke,1 16-1 17. 35. C>n Burke's irivolven~entwith the Ai"liv~udlItegis~~, see Fuchs, Ed~zuradBurh? 245--264. 36. Osborn, httssetzu alzd Bzirke, 1 l 8, 37. Fuchs observed in the Annudlnlrgtscrr a tenlpered approach to fc>rcig;n&airs, as ""ithe thick af the Seven Years War repeated arremprs were nradc ra avoid f2nning the x-rarioriatprejudices of rfic English against the French or the Spmiards. . . . Esteem between nations, as bemeen Individtlats, has to be reciprocal." h c h s , Edm~nd6jLkrRft",251-252. 38. Quoted irt Ayt irtg, Edmgtzd Nurked 1 7, 3% Quoted iri ibid., 20,
Notes to Part One
323
40. Ibid., 17. 41. Quoted in ibid., 20. 42. Burke's efforts ro become the personal assisrant to the secrerary of war, Charles Townshend, and to become the London agent to a group of West Indian islands produced no results. Ibid., 42. 43. Macpherson, Burke, 11. 44. Hampsher-Monk, "Introduction," 26. 45. Eacts Relating to P o p q Laws, W E B , ix, 434482. 46. Ibid., 452. 47. Ibid., 453. 48. Ibid., 455. 49. Ibid. 50. Ibid. 51. Ibid., 463. 52. Ibid., 464, 53. Letter to Sir Charks Bingharn, W B , ix,487-495. 54. See O'Brien, The Great Melody. 70. 55. Letto to Sir Charles Bingbam, WSEB, ix, 493. 56. Ibid., 489-490. 57. Ibid., 490,488. 58. Speech at the Conclusion of the PO&WSEB, iii, 69. 59. Speech at Arrivalat Bristol, in ibid., 59-60. 60. R. Bisset, Life ofEdmund Burke (London, 2nd ed., 1800), ii, 429. Canavan has, however, raised questions about Bisset's recording of Smith's declaration. See E Canavan, The Political Economy of Edmund Burke (New York, 1995), 116-1 17. Nevertheless, Smith and Burke admired each other. After having read Philosophical Inquiry, Smith stared that Burke deserved a university chair. Ayling, E d m ~ n dBurke, f 5. Burke reviewed in the Annual Register of 1759 Smith's Theory of Moral Sentzkents and described it as "one of the most beautiful fabrics of moral theory that has perhaps ever appeared." Quoted in ibid., 16. Burke and Smith became personally acquainted when Smith was elected in 1775 to "the Club," which Joshua Reynolds and Dr. Johnson started in 1764 and that included Burlce as one of the original members. The next year Smith published Wealth ofNations (1776). For more on Smith and Burke, see D. Wecrer, "Adam Smith and Burke," Notes and Queries 174 (1938),310-31 1; W. C. Dunn, 'Mam Smirh and Edmund Burke: Complementary Concemporaries," Southern EconomicJournal 7 (1941),330-346; C. R. Fay, Burke andAdam Smith (Belfast, 1956);and R W McGee, "Fdmund Burke and Adam Smith: Pioneers in the Field of Law and k o nomics," Australian Law Journal 66 ( 1 992), 262-263. 61. Two Letters on the Trade of Ireland, WSEB, ix, 509-5 10,5 14-5 15. 62. Quoted in Ayling, Edmund Burke, 98. O'Brien wrote that Buurke's "life was threatened, on several occasions during the riots, and witnesses attested his courageous conduct." O'Brien, The Great Melod' 77. 63. Speech at Bristol Rwiotrr to the Election, WSEB, iii, 620-664. 64. See O'Brien, The Great Melody. 81-85. 65. Quoted in Ayling, Edmund Burke, 1 16. 66. Ibid., 1 1 7. McDowell similarly nored that "Burke did not play a conspicuous part" in the legislative debates on the proposals for granting independence to the Irish Parliament. McDowell, "Introduction," WSEB, k, 404. 67. Ayling, Edmund Burke, l 16-1 17. 68. McDowell, "Introduction," WSEB, ix, 405. 69. Ibid. 70. Ibid.
324
Notes $0 Pgrt One
7 1 , Speech an Irish Grnt~lercialI'roporitr'ons, WSEB, i X, 589-5 93. 72. The Mom% Herflu reported B u r k as sraring: ""'foconsult the interests of Er-rgland and Ireland, to unite and consolidate then1 in one, was a task wl~icfihe w u t d undertake," "Ibid., 593, 73, Ibict., 592-593. 74, Burke sraeed ""rat he shoirld be sorry it w r e to be so understood, that what wzi notv to he done fbr Ireland should he conditional." %Ihici. 75. Ibid,, 589. 76. Ibid,, 501. 77. C33rierz ivrote that rfie ""Lettrrto Sir Herczkles Langri~he~ by irselE constirutes most of that part of the (;reat Melocty which is directly about Ireland." Cl'Brien, 7 % Client ~ MeIodj 48 1. 78. Letter to Sir Herc~lJlrLangrishe, W S B , ix, 628. 79. Ibid,, 630.: 80. Ibid. 81, Ibicf,, 631 82, ClBrien, I%e <;reatMel~dj427. 83. Ibid,, 513. 84. ClBrien wrote that for BurG "firzw~itlia~~is recall was of course nothing Less than the reversal af almost all Burke's lhopes far Ireland." "Ibict., 5 16. 85. Ibid,, 525. 86, G r x , ix, 162. 87. The conNrxence of Irish C2athofic discontent and rhe expansicznist antbirions of revolutionary Frax-rcccame dar-rgerouslyclose in late 1796, as B u r k was ivridr-rgto Hussey, when a Frcr-rchWeer carrying an arnty of 14,000 failed ro land at Bantry Bay, Irdand, because of srornts. 88, "It Is digcutr to imagine a more painfully u~rnplexdilemma both of liead and hem, than Burke found himself in, w11iXe he hefpfessty contentplated the unfolding of the Irish tragedy, in r l ~ e Last months of his Life," O'Brien, 72~~ <;rear Metnd~1576, 89, Ayling, Edpz~kndRUT~CP, 28 2 , Burice did not jive ro see his sorrow far Irelandk future confirmed In the 1798 Irish rebellion. 'T'he dative freedonr gained by the Irish I%rtiment In the 1790s did nor last lor-rg, as British fears af potentid Irish compiiciry with Napoleon"s imperidisrn led Britain to brittg Xreland hack under Westntinsterb controI in the Act of Union of I ROQ, which created the Utiited I
ted In Mt~rley,Bz~rke~ 12, 92, His efforts vvirh Williax~ar-r Account ""aided Burke's ssubscqnent master-display af kr-rowledgc on the h ~ e r i c mquesric>n." Burke, 13arl;li;cand L)omat.ic L@ ofthe Rt. Hon. Edmand Uurkc; 34, 93, Burke's first speccl1 ix-r the House of Con-rmans was or1 America. See O%rien, The Great il/ieI04~107- X 08, 94, Sk~artAccount ofa Late Shop.tRdmz'nistrdtion,WSEB, ii, 54,55. 95. I-lampsher-Monk, ""ltltroduction," "-2 1. 96, Letter to Sir Hereula Ld~grishiu, ix, 630, 97. As Burke said in his Sjeccb opl American 7katio~7,"ia]I before rhls period stood on contmercid regulation and restraint. I'he scheme of a CoIony revenue by British authoriq appeacci rhereforc ro the hlericans in rhc tight of a great innovation." "etch on Americgn Evacio~,WSEB2ii, 428, 98. 06.st.rvdlrinrzson a Late ,%at6 oft176 Natiorz, Wk9EB,ii, 200. 99. Ibict. 100, See A. C), Hirschman, The Bzssio~irsarzd the lnpztercsts (Princeton, 19771, 77-8 l . 101. hlerican Revenue Act of 1'767,
102. S;ltecch alir Americlzfz Thatiun, W&f'EI-$, ii, 409, f 03. See Hanlpsher-MOII~,"Irrtroduction," 28 for the disrinctiot-r between s~~bstatitive conser-
vatism, which ""identifies a parricuiar society set of institutions and practices as right and proper," and procedural conservatism, which "is idcrltified with a disposition, and attitude towards the conduct of poiirics, rather than with any particuIar ntodel of the good sociery" 104. Speech un An~ericnraIhdtioa KSEB, ii, 456. 105. Ibid,, 458. 106, Ibid,, 4611. f 07. f bid. 108. Ibid. f 09. f bid. 110. Ibid, 12 1, fbid,, 459, 112. Ibid,, 41 6, 1 13. Ibid. 114. Ibid. 1 1 5, Speech an CAbncliidtiui.zwith Amcricd, WSEB, iii , 108. 126, Ibid. 117. Ibid., 109. f 28. fbid,, 108. 119. Ibid,, 1 18, 120. fbid,, 118-119, 12 X . Ibid., 1 19. 122, Ibid,, 131. 123. Ibid., 132, 124, Ibid,, 133. f 25. fbid,, 234-235, 126, Ibid,, 135. f 27. fbid,, 2 36. 128. Ibid, f 29. Ibid. 130. Ibid., 140, Burke nlade this srarenlenr when discussing the EngIislt conquest of Ireland. Burkeb usc of Ireland as an exmple of admitting u~lonialpeoples into an interest in the British consrirution rings false when considered against his Irish efforts, See CIBrien, The Gredt Metndj 151-1 52, f 3 1. ipee~hon cunciiiati@nzi~ithRmd2rE'catWSEB, iii, 164. 132. -Faward the end of 1775, he tried three more tinies to head offwar with the Americans, first ix-rpresenrix-rgKing Gcorge 1 1with 1 a petition fmrn Bristol merchax-rtswho opposed the war ivitlt the Antericans; second in another speech in the Hause of Commons in \vinillich he urged that Rrirain at least recogniz~the Corltinenrat Corigress; and third in seeking to encourage the lrisfi Partimler-rt to offer ro mediate the dispute or to withhold ntaeerial and personnel for use in Anterica. Ayling, Ednzund li"z~rke,85-86. X 33* Aurke wrote that he did ""nor know llovv to wish success to those whose vic~uryis to separate from w a large and noble parr of our Empire, Sritl Less do I wish success to Injustice, oj7pression, and absurdity. . . . No good cax-r come of at-ry wet-rt in this war ra any virtuous inrerest. Wi: have forgot or tl-rrown away all our mtient principles." Quoted In ibid., 86. f 34. Address t-a the King; WSEB, iii, 266. 135. Ibid., 258. f 36. Lc.tter tr, the Shrrzfl ofBristol, WSEB, iii, 328-329.
137. "We grow irtldifferent co the consequences inevieaMe to ourselves from the plan of ruling h J f the empire by a mercenary sword. We are rarlght ra believe, that a desire of domineering over our countrymen, is b e to our country; ghat those who hare civiI war aber rebellion; and that the antiable and conciliatoy virtues of Icxiity, rnodcratior-r, and tcriderness to tlic privileges of those who dcpend on this kingdont, are a sort oftreason to rl-re srare. Tr is impossible rl-tat we should reniain tczng in a situaticjn, which breeds such notions and disposiriclns, witlzout son;ie great alteration In the nationat character." Ibid., 329. 138. Aylir~g,Edm~rzdBgrke? 80. 139. O'Brier-r, T h Gredt Mciudb 225. 140, (>%Ben described the ""long battle of wills" between Burkc and C;eczrge 111 over Anrierican indcper-rdenceix-r ibid., 202-234. 141, Ct?m,ix, 62, 142, F*G. W ~ e l a nEdmupzd , Rurhc and Jfzdig: ~ a / i f i c d ~ ~ o randE~npire n~ip (Picrsburgl-r,19361, l . 143. Marshall, ""Itroduction," WSEB, v, l . Ar the end of rhe E-Iastiitlgs in-rpeachmenr, Rurke u>uldclair11 to he ""as ulnversant wirh the lllanners and ckistoms of the East as most persons whose business has not directly Ied rhent into rl~atcounrry." Quoted in Marshdt, ""Ttltroductirzn," WSEB, vi, 21. 144. Marshatl, "fntraducriori," W S B , vi, 20. 145, Aylir~g,Ed~z~rzd B~rke?30. 146. Ibid., 67. As Ayling wrote, Burke's "attitude to the Clive affair stands indeed in remarkable contrasr to r l ~ evendrtva purstied tarer by hinm . . . against Warren Edastings.'" Ihid,, 67-68, 147. Scc ,Veech on North Edst J~adidResolgtians, WSEliS, ii, 390. 148. See Ayling, Edrnutfd Burke, 68; O'Brien, The Getzc Me/@&)265--266; and Wltletan, Edmifa;nd
Ij~rkeand Indid, 43, 149. Speech OPZ Ekst I;rzd;;lrSettkmenlr, Wkf'EI-l? ii, 2-20. 150. Ibid., 221, 15 1. Speech opz East. Xndia Regukting BIII, W S B , ii, 395. 1%. Imgf;?trct, ""2rtt-rtzduction,""w5EB, ii, 23. 153. Burke wrote in correspor-rdcnce"that they oxily arcack the Cornpax-ry,in order ra trar-rsfertheir turatd-r and Xnfiuence ro the C:ourtr' m d that "no~hingkirther is ntranr, thm to vest the inrnlense patroriage of Office, r-raw in the hands of the Conlpany ittl d-rascaf the Crowr~."COTE, ii, 407, 399. 154, Ohsert~ntI"~~~ils an a Late Stnle afthe Nation, WSEB, ii, 102-2 1 9. T70ughaon the 12resentBisconte~its,KTEB, ii, 24 1-323. 155,.For discussion of Burkek early speecltes on India, see E-I. Furber, ""Enmund Burke and India," BepzgnI I%st a~zdJ3icsenc 76 (10571, Z 1-21; OBrien, lk <;reat MeIod~260-272; and Whelaxi, E d m ~ n diYurhc gnd 18d2'aI43. l 56.'Peech on East I@diaLli;~i&ndBiii W,fEIrZt ii, 64-67. 157. Ibid., 65. 158, S~eechOPZ East I;rzd;;lrSettkmenlr, Wkf'EI-l? ii, 221, 159, Speech opz East. India Rtstrarni~gBiLd WLf'EB, ii, 378, 379. 160. Wtlelan, Edmifa;ndUliarke and J~fdia,43, l'he East Xndia C:umpany even of"Eerc3d to have Burlce "chair a committee of supervisors that would go out to Calcutta and set things straight." Ibid. CjBrien conclrlded rl~atthis offer to so friendly a politician as Rurlce was intended to facilicaee "a whitewash" for the East India C:ompany, O'Brien, The (ireikt.MeIod) 264, 161. Imgt'orii, "Introduction," WSEB, ii, 23; Whelax-r, Ednzzdnd Barke dzd X~dia,43. 162, 'Peech oa North East Irzdi,kz ltc~nlzritz'c~rzs~ WSEB>Ii, 39 1 ,
163. Ibid. 164, Tbid, 165, Speech opz East. Xndia Se~kment,WSEB, ii, 220.
166, S;ltecch an Nort.h3 Ekt. Jadia Rf.wltktions>Wkf'EIlpii, 302. f 67, f bid,
168, Ibid., 39.3. 169. Marshdt suggested that Burke was complacent on frtdia prior to f 778. Marshatt, "Iritroduction," WSEl3, v, 4. Ayling conlnlented that Burke's oopposititsn was "both factiotis and illconceived," Ayjing, Ed~zandBurki~",69. Wl~elanargued that "b;ll a newcomer, Burke naturdlp followed his party and feared [f ,ordl North's partial controt of India affairs." Whetan, Edmund Bz6rke nnd India, 44,n. 40, f "7. Marshall fikrther coxnmer-rted that ""1r-r an age when many intellcctuds prided tficrnsefves on the Interest which they took in accounts of the 13eolT)te"of the world, Burke's sttidy o f India was probably Inore ix-rtensiveand more prrjlonged tfiari any study of a nor-r-Europear-rpeople undcrraken by any of ltis contentporaries."' Marshdl, "Inrroduction," WSEB, vi, 20. X "7 ,Peech on Restori~gLard Pigat, WL7EB*v, 36. 172. " G o u e n i as ~ ~Gc~vcnarnentwas imnlediatefy irtrerested in it. . . . &I its fundantenrd principles were at stake. Ir was just whether the szkbordinatewas to ctepose the szk~oiur-whether the Mi1r'mry was ro nlounr over €he C,livi/-mether a$reig~ prince was to dictate in Domestick Councils," Ibid., 39. f "7. ""Sore people [are) great lovers of uxiifarmiry-They are not satisfied with a rebelliar-rix-rthe West. 7'hey must lime one in the East: They arc not satisfied with tosing one Empire-thtr)~ must lose another-Lorcf Nforth] will weep tfiar ht has riot more worlds to lose." Ibid., 40. 174, Xbid. f 75,fbid, 176, Marshall, ""Ttleroduction," Kf'EIlp v, 8. 177. lJoLi9 of Mdklrag C;"ongzkestsfor the Mdh~nzetdpzs~ WLTE13,v, 4 1-1 24. 178, Ibid., 1 12-1 13. 179, Ibid., 113. f 80. f bid. 185, Ibid., r 13-1 14. 182, fbid,, 214. 183* Ibid, f 84. Quoted in Mxrshall, "Introduction," W S B , v, 18. A secret coxnnlirtee chaired by Henry t3undas was hrmed ae the sante time, 185. Mint-l?Rqnrt and ELevfrzrli Itepnrt of the ,FtIect C,'nnanzi~t~e are h u n d in WLTEB8v, 194--333 and
334-378, 186. Nr'nt-l?Repure, WSEB>v, 197. f 8 7 Ibid., 242. 188, lbid,, 246. f 89. "Titis System of Gavernmcxzt appears to Your Committee to be at least as r-rsucfi disordered, and as ntuch perverted front every good EJurpose, for \vinillich lawhi Rule is established, as the tradiltg Systern has been from every just Pririciple of Curnxneree." firbid., 306. 190, ""'The I3isobedience of Mr, Hastings has of late . . become unifornt and s)ilirentaticaS in I%ractice." "id., 3L 1, 191. fbid., 221. 132. Marshall, ""Ztrczdt~ction,""SE&, v? 20. f 93. W1-rc?lari,Edm~ndBurke dnd I~dia,44, 55. 134, b%eechus7 Fix2 I ~ d i aBiih W
.
328
Notes $0 Pgrr One
198. Ibid,, 403* 199. Ibid., 386, 384. 200, In this speech Burke svated that if he attowed East India C:ompany oppression ro continue, ""Inusr break rhe fairfi, the covenant, rhe solerns-r, arigirial, indispexisabfe oath, in which 1 am bound, by the eternal Franie and constitution ofrhings, ro the \vliole htrntan race." "id,, 425. 201. See B. I? Frohnen and C. J. KeiJ Jr,, ""liversir-)i in Western C:ansritutionalism: C:hartcrcd Rights, Federated Structure and Watural-14awReasoning in Rurke's Theory of Enipire," I%C$CI.nw Jour11nI 29 (19971, 27. 202, Speech opz Fo.1~4 l ~ d i dBilL WSEB, v, 381. 203, Ibid., 402, 204. Ibid,, 415, 205. "If I ant nor able to correct a sysrenl of oppression and tyranny, that goes to rl~eurrer ruin af thirry millions of my fellow-crearures and feIlow-subjecrs, but by sofile ix-rcreasero the influence of rl~eC:rownl I am ready liere to declare, rl~arI, \v110 have been active to reduce ir, shal-ttlbe ar leasr as active and strenuous to restore Ir ag&n." hid., 442. 206, Ibid,, 383* 207. Ibid. 208. Marshdl, "fntroducriari," WSB, v, 26. 209. Ibid., vi, I . 2 10, Speech on Nabob ofA;"cati Debts, WSEB, v, 4 7 8 4 2 7. 21 1 . "I believe, after this exposure offac~s,no ntan can entertain a doribc of the coltusion of ntinisrers with rlic corrupr inreresr of rhe delinquents ix-r Is-rdia." Ibid., 547. 21 2, Marshail, "Xnrroducrion," WSEB, v, 26. 21 3. Burke asked: ""fidia In debt to them! For what? , . . What are the articles of commerce, or rrhe branches of manufacture whicli rl~osegenttenten have carried hence ro mrich India? What are rl~e sciences they beamed out to enlighten it? %at are the arts they Intrczdt~ccdto chear and adurn it? W i a t are the religious, ivl~arrhe nloraf institutions rliey have raugtzr mlong thar people as a guide to lib, or as a u>nsolatic>nwhen life Is to be no more, that there Is an external deht, a deht "still paying, sriiti ra owe,ht.iictz snusr be bound on rhe present generariori in India, and ex-rrailed on their ntorrgagrd posterity forever?'?<*eech on Nabob afArcot3 Debtrs, WSEB, v, 494. 21 4. "He! rlic mover! the cllairman! the repurrer of rile Comrnirtec af Secrecy! He thar brou&r forrh in rl ~eutmost detail, in several vast printed FoIios, the niosr recondite parrs of the politics, rl~e miliraq the revenues of the British empire In India." "Ibid., 550. 21 5. Ibid., 548-549, 216. Ibid., 549, 217, 1x1 the fit.~altines af the spccch, Burke dcdicared himself to "fdIioever . . . shall ar any rime bring before you any thing towards the relief of our Jistressert fetlow-citizens in India, and towards a subversion of the preses-rr most corrupr and oppressive sysrcsn f i r its governsnent." hicl., 552. 21 8, Marshail wrote that "ply the \vineer of I785 Arrrke had decided that ntoves against Wasti n g ~shoutd rake the firm of iniriarir-rgan impeachsnent." Marshalf, ""I-rrroduction," WSEB, vi, 2. 210. fin., v, 243. 220, Marshdl, ""ttroductican," W,fEB>vi, I. 22 1 . Motion fir Papers ulir Hatirsrgs, WSEB, vi, 47-45. 222. Marshail, ""ttroductican," W,SEB, vi, 6, 223. Ibid,, 7. 224. 'Peech nn Rohilh War C,%arge, WSEB3vi, C) 1-1 13, 225. "In this business the question is riot ber1veex-r me arid Mr. Hlasrix-rgsl. . . . The question is about the Fundamenraj principles of the E~~glisfi Governnient, the expecrations of India and a Rule tu future Governors." Ibid., 93.
226, Ibid., 5%. 227. Ibid,, 1418, 228. Ibid,, 105. 22% ,Peech on 6 p c z i g ofImpcchme~t~ WSEB, vi, 348-349. 230. Qecch 011 K~hilbWar Ch~rge# WSEB, vi, 107. 231. Ibid., 109. 232. Ibid. This statentent echoes argunlenrs Burke made in his early Emts kvlating $0 I l c p e ~ Laws, Marshdl, "Introduction," M$EB>vi, 18, l'here Burke wrote of an Immutable, superior taw impressed on humas-r riarurc by rhc bes-revoles-rceaf C;od, See 5aca ReItltz'lzg to Popery L a w WSEB, Ix, $55. ' f i e iri~portanceof a u~nceprionof universal justice in imperid poticy alluded to In 1?dcts and rhc Rohilla war speech receives morc prominent rrearnles-rr further along the parli ru in-rpcachmenr. See, fo"arrxantple, ,J;3eechON Openirzg oftTtnpedeh~i"~~t~t, WSEB, vi, 550, 233. Mxrshall, ""Xtrijductior-t," WSEJ3, vi, 14-1 5, 234, Qecch on Opening uflt~~eachment~ WSEB3vi, 270, 23% Ibid., 271. 236. Ibid., 271, 272, 276. 237. Ibid., 277, 278. 238. Ibid,, 279. 239*Ibid,, 345. 240. Ibid,, 350, 241. Burke observed rl~ar"these Genrtenten have formed a plan of Geographicd nioraliry, by which tlic duties of mcxi in public and privare situations are riot to bc gavemed by tlicir rdariar-rs to the Great Governor of the Universe, or by their relations ro men, but by climates, degrees of Iongitude and latitude, parallels not of life but of Iatitudes. . . . This C;eczgraphic;J moralir). we do protest against," Ibid., 346, As Marshali observed, "[clenrral ro everything in rhis part of the speech i s Burke5 tot4 rejecticln of any kind of moral relativism." "id., 268. 242. Xbid,, 279, 243. Ibid., 302. 244. "My Lords, 1 wiII verirure to say af rhe Guvernmes-rrsof Asia tliar none of rliel-riever had an arbitrary power , . , that Clriental Governntenrs know notl-ting of rhis arbitrary power,'" Ibid., 352,
353. 245, Qecch upz C$ening ofl~zpenchmenl;Kf'ER, vvi, 361 . Iater in the speech on r l ~ esecond day, Burke atso stated "that in Asia as well as In Europe the same l a w of Natic>nsprevails, the same principles are conrixtuaiity resorted to, and r l ~ esante maxims sacredly held and screnuously ntaintained; and however disobeyed, no nlan suffers from the breach of tl~ern,tl~ardoes not know how and where ru cosnplaist of char breach; rhar Asia is ex-rlighreried in rhar respect as well as Eurijpc." Ik~bid,, 367, 246. "'-Tile title of cor-rqnestsn&es nu differcncc at all." Ibid., 350-35 1, 247, " X R ~ him Ny winillere he will; From law to law T,aw, thank God meets him everyf~ere.. , . I would as willingly have him cried by the law of the ICoras-r, ar tlic lnstirutes of Tm~erlane,as upon the C2omnton T,aw or the Stature I'aw of rl~isMingdont." "id., 365, 248, Marshall, "I~~rrodt~ctic~n,"" w$EB, vi, 28. 2-49,Qecch 011 Opening ufl~~peachment WSEB3vi, 4 5 7--45 8, 250, Marshall, "hrroduction," WSElJ, vi, 13. 25 1. <)'Brier1 s-roted tliar alrliouglnill Burke failed to in-rpcach Hastistgs, his efforts ar-r India had resonance and irnyxt &er his dearh when I'arliment again turned its attention to reform of rhe empi re in India. C)%rien, T4te Great Melodj 382-383. Kirk wrote rhar ""B~rkc'seloquence contribured nluclt ro the parrern of English inlperial adntinistration which endured-though vastly diminished-uxiril recent times. Stilt snore impurcas-rr, Burke expressed principles of justice, ur-riversat in
their applicarion, that have lost nothing w i d ~r l ~ epassing of years." R* Kirk, Edmutfd Bzirke: A Genius &considered (Wil~ningroxi,DE, rev. ed., 1C)")), 97. 252. Ct?m,viii, 254+ 253. Ibid,, vi, 10. 254, Ibid. 255. Ibid. 256. Burke wrote in this {efter, "I nnlusr delay my congratulaeions on ycmr acquisition of l,iherry. You may have made a Kevt)lution, but not a Reformation. You may have subverted Monarchy, but x-rar recover"d frccduxn." Ibid., 46. 257. OBBen, 7"hr C;regfMelnd~394. 258. Ibid., 397. Tlic srarice conflicted with the afficid policy of Priine Minister Picr's ggovernntent, which irtsisrecf on a noninterventionist approach ro the internal upheavals in France. For a discussion af Pirr's fureigxi policy in tficse years, see J. Ehrmax-r, irlie Younger Pi~t:7Ae ReZz~ctnnt5ansition (Stmford, 119883).'fl-re debate on Britis!] invcrIwment in rhe French Revolution can dso be followed in the House of C:ommons, See in particular the Dehnt-cc nrz the Army Estimntcs, I%rL Hist;., xwiii, 323--374,
259, See l'nrd. Hi&,m i i i , 3$&-357. 260. Rcfictiozs opz the X(evo/gtiolz in Frdnce, W S B , viii, 53-293. 261. Ibid., 81. 262. Ibid,, 72. Burke's ssyrnyathy ivirh tfie A~xsericancolonists dsu stcxnmcd from his beficf char what rhe Anirricans wanted was nor rhe abstract "rigltrs of man" but the ancienr rigl~tsand privileges af Englishxnen. His suggesriims for reform vvirh respect ra Xrdand and Axserica similarly conrain tfic prirtciptes of reverence for anriquiv, of conservation, and of correction, 263, For discussion of Burke's theory regarding rcbeflion, revolution, and refc~rmation,see M. Freeman, ""XJrke and the Theory of Revolution," Rtview of'lJolitics 6 ( 1 9781, 277-299. ZR France, W,TEilZ, viii, 86. 264. ltefleccicrrzs on the Rev~Ltdtio~ 265, Ibid., 85-86, 266, Ibid., 216, 267. See I"nrl, &Listt,mviii, 357, 358. 26 8. I?efictions upz the Kevoltkl.ion in Fralzce, WSEB, viii, 266, 269. Ibid,, 189-1 90. 270.. Ibid., 190. 271. See, b r warnpie, I'lromas I'&ne$ Righl.s nfMnn (1791) and Mary Wc)llstonecraft$ Vindicat i o ~afthe Jtgh~$~ M t l n( 1 7901. 272. l'ark, H i k , mix, 249. Fox's admiration for the republican ideals of 1789 led hini to oppose ariy proposals far British involvement in a counterrcvalurior1ar)iwar. I ~ c e rwhcxi , the war in Etlrope bad begrtn, Fc~xurged a fi3reign policy stance that w u t d f(3rmatty recognize the rcvr>lutionaqrcginie in France and cnrer inro peace negoriatioris wirh it. Sec &rL Hift,, mxS80-81. 273, C)%~rien,The Great MeIndp 4 l 5 , 274, Pad Hist,, mix, 384. 275. Ibid, 276. In particular, BurG singled out religic~usciissenters, domestic reform movements, and poliricat pannlphieteers supportive of the ideas of Thontas h i n e , See, for wantple, Rurlce's speech against the repeal of the C:orporatic>n and "tPst Acts, a piece of legislation that would have liked the ban on disserirers from holding public office. PnrL* Hift., xxviii, 432-443. Far a gcx-reral discussiox-r of tfic British government$ attempt to address popular turbulence and reform deniands during this period, see C. Emslcp British Sociey dnd the French Wars: l7YS1815 jX,undc?n, 1979);and X. Chrisrie, ,%ress arzd Stnhi;lzp in Lnte Eight.eent/~-C'encu~y NP"it6i~t:Ri$ecti~m on the NritiCkl Avoidance of'Rwol~tt'o7ir (Oxford, 1984).
277, See, h r irtsvance, Rurke's Observdtians on the C,'snc$unuftht Mi?zari~,% WSEB, viii, 402-4% . 278. Grr,, vii, 305, 279. Britain's concern over French absorption of rl~eAustrian Netherlands is rreaeed in *I:C:. W. Blanning, rite Clrigim oftbe French R'rvolutionnry Wars ftoxtdon, 1986). 280. CC2rz,vi, 21 1, 28 1, Burke wrote to Britain's foreign representative at "Grin,John "l'revur,that ""tannot persuade nlyself that any riling \vinillarsoever can be effected wititour a greae force front abroad," "Ibid., 217.. Burke believed that France's nneighbors had to ""act in concerc, with all their forces" to resttjrc the ancicn regime, Ibid,, 218, 282. Letter t7;1 n Menfber ofthe Nntio~~gi Ass~~nzb& WLTE13,viii, 234--335. 283. Brieri, The Grmg MeZodp 439. 284. Thonlas Jefferson, 7iCle 12apcnof7Ao~~~a~~Jefl~rsupz~ ed, J, E? Boy4 (Princeton, 19821, m, 3%. 28 5, An Rppenlfiom the New to the CM Vhi:r, Works, iii, 1-1 2 5. 286, (T:or~,vi, 242, 287. Burke bad wrinen to C:dt>nne to provide advice on the size, u>mpositic>n,and purpose of the French Cntigrd army. See ibid,, 2-57, 288. Ibid., 343. I'be French translates as "tto Mr. Burke." 289. Quoted in Marshall, "Xntroducriun," WSEB, viii, 44. Marshalt coxnmcnred rhat ""lt was not that what might he catled Burke's fforeiw policy bad failed that struck contemporaries. It was rathcr rhar a privare fxrnily should llave a foreign policy at all." bfbict., 45. Sec also C)'Brien, The C;rc~t Merlodg 467* 230. Grr,, vi, 421-422. 2%. Ibid., 422. 202. 7hk10ught~on Frc7zch Afnirs, W,fEB>viii, 338--386. 293. Ibid., 3411. 204, Ibid,, 341. 295. Ibid. 206. Ibid,, 342. 297, Ibid,, 368, 25% Ibid,, 384--385. Burke appealed to rile autfnillorifliofpronlinenr international lawyers such as Etxter dc Vxttet to prove [fie legality of such an inrerventior-ray poficy, See Clriapter 3. 299. OBrien recorded rhae ""Jx,rd Grenvitle, the Foreign Secretary, returned Thnughe on Freneh A&~PIT, 'with~)uta m r d of Observation" Pitr, who dso had a wpy, said nothing either. Burke was hurt, and very n~ucfidczne," "'Rrien, The Gredt MeIodp 454, See dso GP.,vii, 81, 300, Quoted in Cl%Brien, 7Re <;reatMe1043 485. 30 f . Heads fir Gnsialerg'dtionon the Pr"rs"nfSate of Afnirs, WSEB, viii, 392. 'Ihis work foltowcd the French victor). over l'rrussia at Valrny in Septenrrber 1792 and I%ussiayswillirlgness to negotiate with cfic revulutionaries, 302. Ibid., 399. 303. Grr,, vii, 309. 304. AS \ve show later, Rurke referred to the French Revolution as a "civil war in Europe." 305. O'Brien, The
Notes to Pgrr One
332
308, Burke retired froni rile E-louse of Commons in 1794, but he contintred ro be a leading figure in British ar-rd Eurrjpean affairs. For his part, Pitt could neither igr-rorc Burk riuw that the rwolueion had unfolded as Rurke predicted nor stomach the prospect of having Rurke's ideas control rile pdicy af his governmer-rt.Ett's recalf of Firzwilliarn from rfic viceroyafty in Irclaild strained the already tense relationship between I'irr and Burke, but Rurlce was coninlitred ro Pirt as tong as Pitie u~ntinuedto wage war with rcwluticlna~France, 309. Mirchell, ""Trtrroduceion," WSEB, viii, 513. For more on Burke's arguntents in stipport of the tri-rigrts, see Welsh, Edvzzand 1351rkeand IfltermtionnI Relgtiunh 150-1 5 1. 3 f 0. Cited in Sel'ected Lefen of E d m ~ ~ Burke, zd cd. H. C. MarrtsficXd Jr. (Clricago, f 9841, 356. 3 11. "I'he four Letters 0% a Regici& I1eacrct;are irin WSEB, ix: First Letter (1796), 187-264; S m r ~ d J1efer f l79G), 264-206; Third Letter (I797), 236-386; and Foarth Letter (l TSS), 44-1 1.9. 3 1 2, Fourth Letter OPZ a R~gicr'dePeace? WSEB, ix, 50, 3 13. First L,e~trron a Regicid Peace, WSEB, ix, 199. 3 14, Fourth Letter OPZ a R~gicr'dePeace? WSEB>ix, 75, 3 15. 7Rird Letter 0%n Regici& l'eacc, W.YEB>ix, 340, 3 1 G, Seco~zdI,etter on a Regicide I)eace, W&f'EB, ix, 267, 317, Lenccr to a Menfber ofZd7e Nafional'h~emh&~ WSEB3viii, 320. For more on Burke's depicticln af "Holy War," see Welsh, Ednz~kndBurke and Intemdtio~dlRc/dtions, 1 57-1 61. 318,S m n d Letter on n Itegicide Pence, WSEB, ix, 230, 3 19. Quoted in O%riexi, The C;1*tag MeZod~587.
Chzlpter Three 320, M, Wight, "Why Is %ere No Internaticlnd "l'heory?" iiin Dipkonaatic Irzvest@tions, ed, H, Burrerftdd and M. Wighr fLcmdon, 2960), 20, 'The number of references to Burkc in Wiglt's sectures s u g s s that WIght u~nslidercdBurke an important source in his own quest for internaticjnd theory, See I~temntiolzal'Theory: The Three Edditions, ed. G. Wi&t and B, f'ortcr f Leicester, 19%). 321. For a sunlntary of this position, see Q, Skinner, ""Meaning and Understanding in rile History of Ideas," in Medning and Context: Q~entinSkinner and His Critit~,cd. J, Tulfy (Cambridge, 1%S), 29-47. 322. Q. Skinner, l%ePotrnAli'uns of Modern 130/iticaI 7%ought,v d l, ((Cambridge, 19781, X. 323, See also Welsh, Ed~tundNzdrheand lnterrzntiand Rehtio~zi,12-1 9; and Bull, ""Martin Wghe and the 'l'heory of Internaticjnd Relations," in l%e l7~reeYiaditic~rzs,xix, 324. Kcocur referred ro rfiis objective mear-ringas the ""surplus mear-ring"of a text, Sec E Ilicocuur, Iflte~pretii?ticrri! Theory: Dr'sco~kr~~1 and the &5urpl%s of Mecknirzg (Fcm Worth, 'IX, 1976). 325, 1"hosesuch as Hark focus ar-r Burkc's Maxrticfiear-risnn and irs irzfluence on cold war ""images of the enemy" See V, Harle, " h r k e the Internaeiunai 'l'heorist-~r the War ofrhe Sons of Tight+and the Sons af Darhrtess," "1 Et..~ropean lirdlars in late~zational'ReI~ditjom,cd. V Harle (I,ar-rdan, IW")O), 58--79. Oifhers draw on Burke in order to devetap certain traditions of international rheory Bc~ucher,fix exanlple, cited Br~rkeas an archetype for his schooii of ""hstoricd reason." See D. Boircher, "*TheC2haracter of the History of rhe Philosophy of I~rternationalRelations and the C2ase of Edmund Burke," R ~ u k wofl~temdt-io~dl Stzbdies 17 ( I SISO), 127-1 48. Notable excet3tions arc Viriccrit, "Mdmnnd Burke and the '1"heory of Ir-rternationatRelations"";Welsh, J;Rm~kndBurke and International' Itehtinrzs; and Welsh, ""Emund Burke and the C:ommonweatth of Europe," 326. See W i g ~ t 7ke , Three 7kadtrions, 7-24. 327. See, for exantpie, 7: Dunne, k u e n t i ~ gI~l.ertzatilo~zal Sociq: A History u f t i ~ eErzgiish ,Sch001 (Lor-rdon, f 9%).
328. '5: Lhnne, "Myl3ologjr or Methodcztogy??IFaciitionsirt Ineernariond Theory," Review oflmterzationol Sit~die5I C) f lO93), 306. 329*Ibid., 307. 330. Wight, The Thrce 7kcldigions, I 5. 33 1. Ibid., 17. 332, Ibid., 13, 333. Thid., 8, 334. Ibicl,, 12, 335. Grr., vi, 48; Letter ro tile Sheriffs of Bristc~l,\Vi"SEB, iii, 326. See Welsh, Edm~ndRurheand I~ternntionalRelations, 25-26; and B, Frohnen, Virtrd4 and the 13runaiseof'~J"crnser~n:ti~~~: 1J&e Legdq ofRurke a ~ 76cq~eviLLc d f Iawrcnce, KS, I C)%), 76-80 fanaly~ingrhe imyorcax-rcc af pruder-rcc in Burke's rhinkir-rg), 336. Quoted in Courrr-rey Mantesql-rie~-eu and Rurke, 2 56. 337. Accordix~gto Auerbarl2, Burke's ernlphasis on balance and equilibrium derives front his aesthetic preference fbr "harmonious proportion." See Auerbach, l%eC,kvzserv&titreIllzisioc~rz,3% For h r rher discussicln of Rurke's aesthetic rl~eory,see C:, k i d , Edmzt~dBarhe rtnd the Practice ofPoLitical Writing (13ublir1, I OR 51, 34-50. 338. A n n ~ dRegister l (1 7621, 227. 339. R~~ectiuns on the Rruuigtrion in France, WSEB, viii, 2'13. 340. Appe~lfiomthe Mtfzdr tu the Old Whigs, works, iii, f 2 0. 34 1 . See Welsh, Edmzlnd Rzarhe and i~ternatiandRehtionr, 26-29. 342. B, T. \Vi"itkins, The Pmblenz of Burkci. P)olitiicn/IZhiIosop~y (Oxt'orcf, 2967), 91. 343. Burke beliwed rl~atpassion and eniorion ofien rake ronrroi of the rational &cutry. 'Men oficn act right from their feelings," he stated, "who akerwards reson but ilE on them from principle." P/vi/o-gophicg/i~quz'rjWorks, i,86, As a result, reason plays a subordinate parE ro sentiment and ernotican In Durkets political theory. 344. Ibid., 84-85, See C, Murphy, ""I"1zeGrorian Vision of World Orcfcr," R m ~ ~ r i r n o f X n ter~%dt;Onnl( Lam 76 (19821%483. 345. Quoted in C , Parkin, irlie Moral Bais ofX3urkej.Politi~dkTbatlght (Cambridge, f 9561, 22. 346, See Stanlis, Edmutfd Bzgrke, 45-46. 347. Refictions on the Revolation in Franclr, WSEB, viii, 2 09. 348, S;lteech on Opening ufI~~peachment, WSEB*vi, 3 1 6-3 1 7, 349. For Burkc's views on contract theory, see H. C. Mansfield Jr., ""fntroductic>n,"h ,I;ehctcdLlyt: ters ufEd~ip~#nc$ Barhe, 1 2-- 1 3. 350. Obse.rvra.tiow orz the CJ"crndct-ofthe Mirzorig5 W,fEIrZtviii, 439, 35 1. Cobbar-r, Edmttnd Bgrkc and thc Ret,olt Agairtst the E'ightee~thC;:ent~r~)(, 5 1. 352, First Le$&? on n l&gics'& 13ence; ix, 253, 353. "'I"1ze trurh is that Frarlce is out of itself-"Fbe xnoral Francc is separarcd from the geographical. The ntaster of rhe house is expelled, and the robtlers are in possession." Remdrks OPZ the lJolin Is more than territoriat or adrz-rinistrative, but Ir stops short of the romantic ideas associated widz the tarer doctrine of national selFcteterminatian. In particular, althoirgh he recognized that each nation possesses a certain ctistinguishable ""caractcr" "(IpeCti~~s on th Rruuil-rtiun in France> WSEB, viii, f 371, ir is r~ationality(as opposed to r~ationalism)that inRucriced his thinkir~g,For Burke, naticlnal character was the outcome of living under shared iristirutions and srxial practices rathcr than an objective ar preorcfair-red &cr. For morc on Burke's idea of nation and x-rariondiry;sec Welsh, Edmund Nurke alzd 1nter~dl;jo~al Rehtz'unr, 55-55; and C:obban, Edmund Nurke alzd the Revoli:Apifist th Eighteenth C2i.ztur3 1130.
334
$0 Pgrr
One
355. Quoted in Parkin, 7Ae Moral Basis aS;13zbrke..jPolitical "Ibordght, 59, We use t he terms "naric3n" ar~d""scare" hrcrcfiax-rgeabtysince Burke seems to have made lirtlc andyrical disrir-rcriox-rbetween them, 356, Repctiiolzs opz the Revolgtiulz in Frdnce, W S B , viii, 146-1 4'7. 357, Ibid., 147. 358, Ibid., 201, 35% Lmer to Sherifi of Bristol WSEB, iii, 3 1R, 360. Vii~cent,""I-jmund Burke," 212. See also Wefsh, E d m u d B ~ r k and e Interndriunal Relatio~.rs, 125-140. vii, 17C5177. 361. CAPE, 362. See Welsh, Edmzdnd Burke and X~iterngtionalReIatians, 32-34. 363. A ~ n u aRegister l (1 7721, 3; Pint Letter OPZ a Regicide Peace, WSEB, ;X, 248, 364. Ibid. 365. Wglir:, The Three Tinditiots, 206-207. 366, first Letter an n ltegicide Peace, WSEB, ix, 237. 367. I&rL Hist., xxii, 229. 368. Ibid., 228, 369. L e ~ e rto the Sherzfi oSi(jrist~4WSEB, iii, 301, 308. 370. See Welsh, Edir~zzzandLIurke and Intermtiondlf Rel&tiunzI 34-38, 371. 75ird Letter an a Regicz'dk.Peace, WSEB, iix, 338. l (1 7721, 2, Rurke noted that rl~esame balance of power had contribured to 372. A ~ n u aIZegster the "forrur-reax-rd glor)l""of ar-rcienr Greece,
373. Third Letter upz a Regicide Peace, Wi$EB, ix, 33") Thoztghks an French ABkin, WSEB, viii, 351-352. 374. "It is always rl~eir~teresrof C;rear Britain that rl~epower of France shoirld be kept within rl~e hounds of moderation. It is not her irlrerest that the power should be whollj~annihilated in the system of Etlropc." Rcmdrks on the PO/@ oftbc Allies>WSEB, viii, 352. 375. Here Br~rkewas fc>liowingVattel. See Hinsfey, NdtiondliSm and the Irzremnit-irrndl ,$s~m, 79-80. 376. For rl~edifirence between a "naturat" and "conrrivecf'" balance of power, see E. V, Gulick, Earopri Chfsical Bahnce of Power (New York, 1967), 35. 377. A ~ n u aRegister l (1 7721, 3. 378. M, Wight, ""7'he Balance of Ek~wer,''ir1 I%e 13~zsexufI~ter7.~ntio114I Ordfp,ed, A, Jarnes (lxmdon, t 9731,108. 37%Anliv~udlltegis~r(1760), 2; ibid., (17721, 3, 380, Ibid., 2. 38 1. Vii~cent,"Edmund Burb," 210, 382. See Welsh, Ednttnd Burke and l~terndtionalReIatians, 30-3 2. 383. f. ConifE "Bxxrke on Pc3liticd konomy: ' f i e Narixre and Exrenr of Stare Aurhoriy," Review 49 (l9871, 490-49 1; and J. Coniff, The Use$/ (:obb/el:. Edmund Burke and the J)O/iticsof ofXS"oliti~s Progess (Albany, NY,I 9 9 4 , 1t 4. Those who interpret Burke as a "marker: liberal" include D. E? M, Barrington, ""Edmrmd Bnrke as an Exont>mlst."EconumzZcr;l21 (l054), 252-258; F. lktretiia Jr., ""Entund Burke: A Liberal Pracrieioner of Political FLC)RO~I~," Moderpz Agt 8 (1 963--1064), 52-60: l? Srmfis, Edr~uradI$grk;bennd the Natural Ldw (Ann Arbor, MI, 1958); I. Kranlnick, Ibe Rage ufEdmttnd Btdrke (Mew York, l 9771; Macpherson, iYLkrRft; and G. Hi~nmclfarb,The Idea of Pove~g(New York, 1984).
384. Speech on Economiicdl Rcfirrsz, Workf*ii, 5 5- 2 26; 7i5oggbts and Dmilic on Sedrcig WSEB, ix, 119--145. 385. Barringon, ""Eiimux-rdBurke as an Ecunomisr," 252.
386. See Wecter, "Adam Srrrirh and ButEtemflunn5"Adam Smith and Edmund Burlce: C2ontplemet-rrary Corircmporaries"";Barrington, " M m u d Burke as Ecunamist," 252;arid ).'a5 iYLk~hednd
Adlzm Smith, 387. Welsh, Ednzzd~dBurke and l ~ t e ~ z d t i o RcIatians, ~&L 3l . 388, In rl-tis respect Rurke parted contpany with Smith, who recommended that the East India Companfs monopoly on trade be replaced with a system open to other foreign merchants. See
Ninth &port ofthe Sehct Committee, We(iEI-1,v, 96. 389, A s C:oniffwrote, ""l"l'lhough Burke usually favurcd free trade and a free economy, be ciid so as a xnacrer af pragnraric policy chaice x-rot one of abstract prit-rciple." ConiE, ""Brke an Pofirical kr~nomy,"494.See also Ckniff, The Uxefi1C,kbbler, I l 6 (argrtiny, that ""Utlrke t ~ s t ~ d favored ly free rradc and a free economy, but he did so as a tnarter of ucilirarian policy choice rather than absrract pri~~ciple"). 390. Sec Letm ta the Rt. HOQ.Herz, Dmdds with the 'Sketch of Negro Gde, Works, v, 521-544. 3%. Coniff, '"urke on Pc3liticd Fxonomp" 507, 392. A s Ckniff argued, I3urkcb "econt>mIcswas both sophisticated and consistent with his politics," (2aniff, The Oefil Cobbier, 236, 393. Speech? on Ope~i~zg ~fI~?zpedchmerzt, W,fEIrZt vi, 350. Athough this passage suggests Burke's adherct-rcero at-r idea of natural law, the specific riarurc of his appeals to char law slzould be clarified. In this regad, niany neoconservative irinterpretaric>nsof Llnrke as a ciisciple of -f'hon;iasAquinas read rao xnucfi into Burke5 texts. See, far example, Srar~tis,Ednttnd Bzarke and the r\baturdi LAW. \X%en Burlce appropriated naturat law vocabutary he was contributing to the secularization of the rerm, Tlzuugh he xnaiiltained tliat riarural taw was bindir-rg because it ulrimarety reflected God's sill, he discovered its conrenr through hunran cusronl and precedent-the ""wisdom of rhe species," more on the debate over Burke's attitude to natural jaw, see E OY;orman, Ednzund Uurkc-: His 1%/ i t i d PhiLo.rnl~hj1(I,~ndon,1973), 1 2-5 3; and Coni ff, Thzi e l fie$tI C,'86&br, 37-48, 394, f;lollowing C;rotius, Burke ciiverged from a purely positivist view of interntlticjnd taw as the sum of tl~oserules cxprc.ssly conset-rted cu by srares, See H. Bull, ""I"heItnportance of Gratius in the Study of International Itetations," irin Hago (;r~tiasddndInter7.~ntio114Ili)eIationz~ ed, H . Bull, IS. ICingsbury, and A. Roberrs (Oxford, 1990), 78-80, 395, [>ark Hist., mii, 228-229. 396. J. Davicfson, "Marural t a w at-rd Inrertiariorid Law in Burk," Review ofl""oLi$ics22 (X959), 485. In this sense, f3urlce W;% engaged in the same batancing act as his contemporaries, Wolff and Vattcl. Both created a w l u n t q Law of atio ions as a link bem~eennatural and positive Law, locating its conrent in rhe rules devised ro regulate Etxropem interstate relations. See Welsh, Edmzlnd Nurke nnd Irzternationdi Jtthti0~2$, 44-4 5. 397. h Scat-rlisivrore, ""lconsidering rhe it-rdivicfd differences and circumstances af mat-rkind at Large, India excepted, this common law of the klurczpean commonweatth Is the broadest franie of reference Burke ever made," Srantis, E d m ~ n d6jLk~heand the N;atgmt X,nw 89. 35% Fint Le~ernn R~gicidI2eaceJWSEB, ix, 240, 399. "dLivriters 01%rhe science of policy are agreed, and rhey agree with experies-rce, that all governnlents nlusr Frequently irthinge the rules of justice ro support tltemselves; rl-tat truth ntusr give way to dissimulation; honesty to convenience; and humaniv itself to the reigning interest," A WPZdicatiun ofNatfi~rctI S ~ c i e eWorh.f,i, 2 1 , 400. H. Butt, ""Martin Wight and the I'heory of Ii~ternaticlnalRelations," Ul"i$is/~J~~imdl( oflater~~gti0~7dt st~itdit~ 2 f r 9762,105. 40 l , i"tlcrndrksun the l ' o l i ~ofthe AlliesI WLTE13,ix, 490. 402. M. \VigEtr, 'Westerti Values in Xncernarias-ralRclarians," "1 Diplomntk l~av~stigr~~tions, ed, H, Bucrerfietd and M. Wghr (I,ondczn, l 9GO), 123. As W&r explained, "It follows that rhe w11ot-e conception of policy is broadexzed and capable of being suffused with nlorat vdtie. Political apedience
itself has to consulr the moral sense of the politician l ~ i m s e 'I'hus t~ it is softened into prudence, which is a xnoral virtue." "Ibicf., 128. 403. X i persons possessing any portion of power oirght to he strondy and awef-ixllyimpressed with ar-r idea rhar they act in trklst; and rhar they arc ra aaoklnt for their coxiducr in tfiar trust to the oxie great master, author and founder of society" R&eedions upz the Revolzklrian r'rz Fra~zce,m E B Jviii, 143. 404. On S4urke's theory of trusteeship, see C:oniff, 73e UsefidI C:obbtec 137-1 60. 405, Vincenr, "Mnmund Burlccs," 2205; and (:ohban, Edmund B a r k ntzd the Revolt Agdirzsmr the Eighteenth C:entrarj 256, For analysis on Burkc and mediedism, see Welsh, Edmurad Burktf nnd IT?-
terncdtionnlReigdoas, 49-69, 406. kcording to Misbet, a hndannental feature of the feudal political structure was its syilthesis af diversity ar-rd ux-riry This reconciliatias-r was achieved tfiron& a dissolution of power and a toleration for ineern~ediateinstitutions (cl~tlrch,hnlify, guild, etc.) and sources of auchori~fr,See R. Wisbet, Gonservd$iswj(Milton Keyncs, UM, 2986). In Burke2 theory it is ix-r tliese tatter arganizarias-rs""F-re little platoonsw-tl2at individuals first experience comntuniy: ""?bbe attached ro rhe little
suhdivisit>nis the lirst principle . . . of public aEecticln, It is the lirst fink in the series by which we proceed rowards a love to our country, and to ntankind*" R~jectiolzsopz the I?auolz$lrd'onill Franc& WSEB*viii, 97-98. 407. For analysis af Buffit's theory af empire, sec Frohrien ar-rd Rcict, "Diversity in Westerri Constitutionalism," 27. 408. Speech opz GanciIidtiun ~oitJ:Americn, W S B , iii, 2 32. 409. Ibid., t 25. 420, Curirrasr tfiis inrerpretatian of Burke wirh fiaussean"~claim tfiar empire gait-red by farce and deception reniains forever iltegiriina~e,See Fint Version ofthe Socli~ziContract, in J. J. Roussearr, ltozts'sen~k0% I ~ t ~ " r n n t i ~f?e"ldt;oiyzs, nal ed. S. HofTnrtmn and I). I? Fidler (Clxfc~rd,139l), 116. 41 1 . I"a'r.rtI.etter on a Regicide 13eace, Kf'EN, iix, 248. For a full rrearmenr ofthis Burkean concept, see Welsh, Edmund Uurke arad I~ternntir/nalIteht-ior~s~ 70-80, 4 t 2, Vir-rcer-rt,"Edtx-rnnd Burke,'222 1 . 4 1 3. First Letter an n l?egicide l3e&ce,WIFEBPix, 248, 4 2 4. Sranlis, Ednaislnd Barke, 65-66. 41 5, S. E-loffinann and D, E? Fidler, ""Xtroduction," in Ro~sscauon i~temntiunlilRehtio~w,xEvI. 426. See generally I. Crowc, "Edmus-rd Buffit on Manricrs," Motc$ernAge 3"3(1"37),389. 417..Refictions an the fivalltltion r'rz Fratzce, WSEN, viii, 127, In het, Kurke's atrenlpt ro distinguish the u>mmonwedthof Europe from the nt~n-Europeansocieties in Asia, the Mew Wc~rld,and the Otronlan fomms an integral part of the definition of the contmonwedrh* See MarshJt, ""fntrc>ductic>n," ui, 20, 41 8. First L e ~ e ron a Rrgicide Peace, WSEB, ix, 242, 419. Ibid., 249, 420, Ibid., 247. 421, Ibid., 248, 422, See El. Bull, ""The Grorian Coxiccpriori of fnrernational Society*" in DDi;;ul"omnticI~ave.fts"gr~~tiom ed, H.Butterfield and M. mght (I,ondon, 1960), 51-73, Cln V'a~relsee A. Hurrell, "Vattel: I'lturallism and Its L,imlrs," iri C,"Iassicdl 1Reories offnternntionallteht-ioiyzs, ed, I. Clark and I. B. Neuntann (I,ondczn, 1 W6),233* 423, Hiiisley NartiondIisnz and the Irztmnational' Syste~z~ 71. The peace project of Saint Pierre is discussed in F. H. Hinsley, IJower dnd the Pursuit of Peace (Cax-rbridge, 2 963), 33-45. 424. Wight, "Western Values in Internationd Kelations," "3. 425. See R. J. Viriccrit, r\boni~terve~tion and It~tc~naitz'ulzdl" Clrder (Princeton, f 9741, 69. 426, 'I'tiis noninrervenrionist stance most contntonIy derives from an analogy hewren the autonomy ar-rd equality of stares with tfie auronorny ar-rd equality of individuds, Afternatively, rianir-r-
terventionisn~can be r l ~ eproduct of a contractarian philosopl~y,In this case, the state is granted an aurar-rcrxllousmoral character by virtue of i t s rcde in safeguardir-rgtfie rights and tiberties of individuals, which have been transferred ro rl-te sovereign through the social contrxt. See C:. Beirz, PoIiticad Thk"0r3,and I~te~naitz'onal" RcIations f Princeran, 1"19), 75-77. 427, This position was also exempiified by r l ~ eAustrian chancellor Klrnlens von Metternicfi at the C:ongress of Vienna in 1815. See H. Kisslinger, A WorU Refmred (Londori, 1957). 428, Fint Lmer nn a ICgiciA 12edce, Wi$EB, ix, 199, 420, Ibid,, 249. 430. Sec M . S,Aridcrson, "Ei&recr-rth Cerirury 'Ihcories of the Balance af Power," in Stzitdtes in D$LoiipzntiL. Hislru~:Essays irt Mcmory ufD~vidctl3~~~1~ne Horn, ed. K. Hatton and M. S, Anderson (1,ondon, I970), 183-I%. 43 1 . E-linsf ey NagklraLism and the FtrtertratilonlziSystem, 82. 432, A n n ~ d Register / (1 7721,1 . 433* 7Aird Letter an n Regicid Peace, WSEB,ix, 306; and Grr., vii, 176. 434, See E. Vattcl, Le Droit ties gins, bk, 2, chap. 4, para. 53. Extracts from Vzttct5 Druit, cornplete with Rur1ce"sannotations, are incltidecl. as an appendix in an older edition of the 7'hotdgha on Frc~zchAfazrs. See ;I%~~zP Memnridh on Frelzc;h Afnirs Writte~in the EzP"~ 1791, 27.2 and 1733.t3j1 th Jkte Right Hon. Edwtand Burke f Lcmdon, 1797). 43 5, Aivmdix to l%reeMcmuriab (lacDruit dcs gerls, bk, 2, chap, 4, para. 70). 436. Fil-st L;c.tter an a Xiegicid Peace, WSEB, ix, 230. 437. iZlppendix ro Three Memoridb (Le Droit :l3 gens, bk, 2, chap. 4, para 56). In tetters to his son, Richarcl, Burke advised him to consr~frVatre13ssvorks ar-r tfie legality of armcd inremention, See (lkrr., vi, 317 , Burlce advanced the same arguntenr about rl~eIegdiy of intervention in civil conAict fifteen years earlier to justi@ French iriut~lvementin the Americm rebellion. 438, &marks opz the 1201iqofthe ALIie.r, KrSEN, viii, 47"i.emphasis added). 439, C;"or~, vii, 17'6, 440. fbid, 441, Heddsfir C>~zst&mli'un,KSEBI uiii, 394. Again, Uurke I n d e d historical precerfents for &is kr-rd of intervention: German assisrar-rccto tllc Protestant prir-rces, English support Eor E-Xer-rryIV of France, and Et-rdist-1and t31tch. intervention to supp~)rtClsarles V1 of Spain, 442, First L;&W on a Xiegicid Peace, K($EB, ix, 250. 443. Ibid, 444. Ibid., 251. 44% See, for example, Welsh, Edrriutzd Barhe alzd Interrzatio~znlKehl-ianj, 1 72- X 73+ 446. As !)avidson wtzre, what "saved Burke firon? a Hobbesian view of international aEairs was his belief irt tfic aisrence of a community beyond tfie nation capable of a moralizir-rg inBucricc." l3auidson, "Natural Law and Iiiternatic>nalLaw In Bnrkc," 411. 447. Wighr ilimself stated that if Burke is ""apparently r~~arcfiing sturdily along the road" of rationdisnl, eSllisnlovenlents are erratic." See Wigltt, The 7i"lree7iaditio1ils~15. 448. First Lett~ran a Xiegicik Peace, WSEB, ix, 247. 449, See generdly I)unne, Invenlrirzg Jtrtertratilo~ilaI&cif& 450, H . Bull, 2 %Anarchic&/ ~ It;'~ciev (Lmdon, 19771, 13, 45 1 . Welsh, Edmund B$irkealzd Jnterrzadonak Rehtions, 1 73 (cirit-rgFirst Lemer nn a Regicide Peace* WLTEB3ix, 247). 452. Vinccrir, "Edmur-rd Burke," 205. 453. See, fbr exmple, BuU, 7 %Anarehicdl ~ Socieg 13 -1 6. 454. Sec generally X. Neumar-rri ar-rd J. M, \;Wcfsh, """l"tzcYC)rher>in Europear-r Sd&Definirior-r:Ari Addendun1 to literature on Internation4 Socie~,"Review ofJl;l~errzntiandl Stztdia 17 (1 90 1), 327. 4%. First L;c.tter an a Regicide Peace, K(SEB, ix, 247.
Notes to Ptrrt One
338
456. The issue of "culitural bonding" can be seen in debates over Europem idenriv irt rl~econtext of the European U~tion,According to some scholars, the frontiers of ""ecortoxnic Europe" should be brought ntore into line with rlitose of "ctrlnlird 'if rl~eengine of European integration is to keep movir-rg. Sec W;"; Wallace, irlie Ean$o~mation ofWestem Europe (Lar-rdan, 1990). 457. Welsh,"Edmund Rurlce and rhe Gommonwedrh of Europe," 182. 458. See first Letlrr on LZ J?egicide 13cae, K$EBJ ix, 242-244, f:r)nnparison of Europe with other societies is furrtzer explored in Neumann and Welsh, "The Other' in European Self-Definiticjn." 453. IkrL Mist., mix, 76-78, 460. See generally H, Bull and A, Warson, eds., 7bcr hpansiolz oflrtternntionnl Socicp (Oxford, 1984). 461. S, Murdes-r, "Cultural Conflict in Irircr~iarianalRelations: '1"tze West ax-rd Islam," in inba GIohalizdt.i@naf WorB1201itzi.s, ed. J, Baylis and S. Smith (C)xford, l 9971, 378, 462. 13. Kingsbury, 'C~onfroritirzgDifference: '1%~Pum1ir-rgL2nrabitiv of Centili's Cosnbinatiori af Prqmatic PItrrdism and Normative Judgntenr," AmericanJour~rloflrit.erzzat.ionli1h w 92 (1 998), 723. 463. For analysis on liberajtism, see M. A, Zacher and K, A. hrlatthew~~ ""Ziberd Interiitationd 'Iheory: C:ontmon *l'hreads,Divergent Strands," in in~:onrmmei4eics irz I~l.erzzat;in~~aI Rchtiorrs The03 ed. C:. KegIey (New York, 1O S ) , 107; S, BurchilE, ""riberal Internationatism," in Theories ofhzterndriunal' Relgitiom, cd, S, Bt~rchilfand A. 1,inklarer ( i l ~ r ~ d oln<)C)G), , 28; and 'I", Dnnne, ""Liberalism," h-r The t in ibid., viii, 1 26- X 27. 471. L,, M . C;. Zerilli, S&nz$ing Wonznn: C=ult.~tra nnd (&%am~ P EJ(Uussea~,B~rktf,and MiII (Ithaca, 1%4), 60, 472, M , Freeman, Edvzzand Burke and the [,'riciqzde of Ido/icicaIRddicaIism (Oxford, 19801, 100. 473. E J. Marshall, f ntroductaty More," ta Euideacc apz the Ncgzkn~~ of 0dC1, WSEB, vi, 474. 474. Kra~ nick,777e Rage ufEd~~urad Burh; 137, 474. For nlore ort feminist international rdarions theory, see f. True, "Fernix-rism," in 7bcrories of Ilztemarional Relations, ed. S. Burchiit and A, I,irtklater (T,ondon, 19%G), 21 0--25 1 ; and J. J, Pcttman, "C;es-rder Issues," in 7 %GlobdItzt.tti~n ~ ofVGrld IjOfitI'cs, etd Bagis arid S. Smith (Oxford, 1 %c)),483--497. 476. K, llevetak, ""Critical 'Iheory" irin 7geories ofl~t-er~zati(~rzal Relations, ed, S. Burchiil and A, Idinklater(I,ondon, 1 C)%), 147, 15 1 , 477. Ibid., 155-1 56. 478. Ibid,, 156. 473. Ibid., 173. 480, Ibid,, f 50. 48 l , Ibid., 169, 482, Smitlt, "Mew Plpproachcs," "8. "
JJ.
483*Ibid., 179. 484. Ibid., 180 (citing M, Mar-rrl). 485. Ibid,, 183, C)n poscntodrmism see also R, L)everak, "fc~srmodernisnt,"irt 7Aeorie.saflrzgrnntionalRehtI'o~s,ed. S, Burchilt and A. Linklacer ftondon, 199G), 279-209. 486, Srttirh, "New Approaches," l8 1. 487. A. Wendt, ""Anarchy Is %at States Make of It: ' f i e Social C:onstructic>n of 130-wer l'olirics," kterrzadand CJrga~ziation46 (l 9921, 3%. 488. Ibid., 394.
483, Quoted in C)"Brien, 7Re <;reat Meiud~47. 490, Quoted in ibid., 590.. 4%. Macphersc~n,Ijgrke, 74. See, fbr example, I? f, Stanlis, ""Edmnd Burke in the -I'wentieth Century," irt %e Kekvance ofEdmgnd Nurke, ecf, P, J. Stantis (New York, 19641, 53; M. AInlond, ""Brke After the Ckld War: Bourgeois -Friumphalist or Cassmdra?" in Ed~zzandB~rke:His L@ snd Legacj etd. I. Crewe (Dublir-r, 1997;7),1GC); Frohxlcrz and Reid, "Diversiry in Western Constitucior-raiism," 2727;and J. McGuc, E d m u d Bzdrke and Qzsr 13rcyst.ntDi'scnntencs (London, 19C)7),9. 492. For a recent example af rhis k n d of debate, see T: Eagleton, "Saving B u r k from clie 'Ibries," Nezo S't~z2.es~~tgn 126 ffuly 4, 1991, 52 (argtiirtg rhar rhe !eft needs "to rectaid Bnrke front she conservative right). 4%. Address at pfriniryCollege, March 1947, 4% CI'Brien, Ibe Cireac MeIody Lxi, t"or a different treatrrlent of Llnrke's legacy as a crusader, see Welsh, Ed~tsgndRzirke arzd Irztert~at;in~~aI Reiati;O~ir~, 2 73-1 79. We1511 showed rbae Burke's rlzinkittg is relevant for understanding not only crusading anti-C:ommunists such as John Feaster l3ulles but also realists such as George fi;er-rrtarz. 495, J. R. Bolton, "'"I'he 1"rucient Irishman," Ndt;Unnl( I~tercst(llecember 1397), 74, 436, Ibid., 74. 497. Ibid, See also K* t3al3rendorE RePectio~ff 'son the I?avol$itbnirz Earojc (X,c~ndon,19W0), 164 (~waisingBurke's pruder-rce and moderation as guides far statecrak). 498, Remarks apz t h l'oliq aftbe AI12'eer3WSEB3viii, 4 % 4 9 1. $99. First. Le$&? on n Regicid;.13encc, WkI"EBIix, 253. 500. See S, Hunrixtgtan, ""Clash of Civilizarions?"F1~;areig~ A#kirs (Suntmer 19931, 22, 501, Murden, ""Cdturaf C:onflict," 378, 3102. B, R. Barber, .bhad vs. McWorld*f i w ~ h Phnet r Jf Bath Falliivzg @drt and Coming Together nnd Whdt It Meckn~,fnrDemuerckcy (New York, 1095). 503. F. Zakaria, ""Culture Is Descir-ry: A Conversation with Lee ICwn Yevv," Fort~ignAJj5nir.c (MarchlApril 1994), 125. 3104. N. J. Wheeler and "K Dunne, "F-ledtq Butt's Pluralism of the Ir-rtdlecrand Solidarism of the Will," I"lzt.emnti~nlilA#izin7 2 ( 1 9961, 91--107. 505. Bull, Y%e A~zarchicail " ; ~ ~3 17, ie~ 506, M, t3oyle, ""Kanr, 1,ilteral Ixgacies, and Foreign Affairs," PhiIo~o~~hj~ a~zd13r~blicAf~irs 12 (19831, 205, 323; and E Fukuyama, 72%Erzd u f H i ~ t u ynnd t h Last ~ Mdn (New York, 1992). 3107, Kngsbury has argued chat the constrr~ctionof ""a ur-riversat justification ar-r chc basis af the rectitude of the moral and political theory of the West . . . faces profound ~lornlativechallenges that have scarcely been considered, ter alone resolved, and in any case is far from mareridizing in pracrice," Kingsbury, LsConfrontingDifference," 7,2723. See also Dunne, ""Tiherdism," EO.--l62(pointing ta a crisis of liberalism in clie 1990s).
508, Murdm, "Cultural Conflict," 9 3 . 509. Ibid., 377-378. 5 1 C f . See, far example, S. Marks, "Guarding rhe Gates w i d ~'rwo Fices: Internaeiunal 1,aw and PoG ( l93")), 457-43 5. litical Reconsrruction,"I~2dt;iznaJournal of Cilobal Legdl ,$1ud2"1"3 5 1 1. Murdm, "Culnxrd C:onMict," 9 3 . 5 12. On the challenge of ci~lturalrelativism to bunian rights theory, see K, J. Vincent, Htdmnn Rights aalzd I~"1rc7rrzatio~znl Kelations (Cambridge, l %h), 37-57. See also C:. Brown, "Human Rgl~ts," in Thf (ilohiiattun c?fWorU 13ulitics, ed. J , Baylis and S. Snilth (Oxford, 1997), 479-480 (anafyzing cultural chaftengcs ru t/le urtiversalisr~~ of fitlmax-rrights). 5 l 3, Vincent, H ~ m a nRigh~sand IflterrntiondI l&LatiunzI 5 5. 5 14. Speech opz CJpenz'agofIw1penc/~nzcnt,WSEB, vi, 365, 5 1 5 , Brown, ""Huntan Rights,'" 480 (argtiirtg " i t itmy be that an apparently principle rejection of ur-riversalisrnis, in fact, x-ro more tfian a rationalimrinri for tyras-rr-ry"). 5 16, cur^, vii, 176-177. 5 17, Wetsh, Ednzund Burke and 1ntr;rndriunaIRehtiunx 139, 5 1 8, For a sracentent of the principle of universd jrrrisdicrion, see I, Brownlie, Pr)Yinc$le.s ufPgblic I~tcvrnnca'onalLaw (Oxford, 4th ed,, 1(39f)),304--305. 519. f . R. Button, ""Xhc Global Prosecurors: Hunring War Criminals in thc Name af Utopia," );orcv&~zAfntrs 78, 1 (1~3W),160, 520, Ibid., 162. 52 1 . C)n the first poinr, see firnarks upz the PoIiq ofthfA//)Yies,WSEB, ix, 4%-4%. See also Wetslt , Ealmttnd Rzlcrke and Internntioncdl R&tions, 2 65- 2 66. 522, Re~~tarks on the Poliq oftbe AlLies, WsYEi3,ix, 4%. 523, Ibid., $O$---$W, 524, Ibid,, 495, See also Welsh, Edmzlnd Barhe and i~pzterrznciantrlRchtions, 166, 525, K, "Iboze, ""lnternationaf Iic>litic4Ir'xont~myin an Age of C~lsbdization,""1 I%e (iLur"mlimt i ~ r?(-Wor& n hkita'cs, ed. f . Baylis and S, Smith (Oxford, I99"7), 226-227. $26. C;, R, Wdker and M. A. Fox, "Globalizaiticzn: An Analytic4 Framework," hdianaJozrrnnI of C;kol;lakLeg~lStudtes 3 (XWC)), 380. 527. See Ffctoze,"International Pc3liricttf Ecctnomp" Z2+227. 528. C, W;"; Ma)ines, ""Squandering Triurnyf~:The \Vest Borchcd rhe Posr-Cold War World," Foreig~A$kirs 78, 1 (l%9), 16. 523, Ibid., 16-1 7 , 530, These features of Burke"srhoughr, according to C)%&leil, make Burke a better guide ro economic cfevetopnient for developing uluntries than Marx. See 13, J. ONeil, "Edmund Burkc, b r l Agc 34 (1 9921, 349. Marx, and the Corttefi~purayTltird \Varld," MD&P"M 53 1. Almond, ""Brke After the Cold War," "9. 532. See N. f . W~edtr,"(2uardian Angel ar Global Gat-rgsrcr:A Review of rhe Erlticat Clain-rsof International S o c i e ~ 1J"OiiticaI ~" Stzkda'es 44 (l 9961, 123 (discussing rl~egrcwing importance of moral claims ra the ix-rtersiarianatsociety traciirion). 533. Ibid,, 127. 534, %eeler mct Ilunne, ""I-fedl~ BuFs I'luralisni of the Inrelect and ,%lidarism of the Wijl," "17, 535. Wlleeter, ""C;uardianAngel or Global Gangsrer," "8, 536, Murden, ""Cultural C:onfifict," 377, 537. Speech opz Nabob o f A ~ a t W e b t s WSEB, , v, 4%. 538. ltemarks orz the 1301ic?tclfthe Aliks, WSEB3viii, 499,
Primary Sourws Anlaud Register 1760, 1762, 1772. Burke, Edmuxid. The Chrrcspondence ofEdmund Bzlcrkc, 20 vots. Ed. 'I", W;"; Copejarid. Chicago, 1958-1 378. . SeIacted Letters ofEdmund Rzlcrkc, Ed. H. C. Mansfield Jr. Chicso, 1984, Three Memorz'n/s on French Afdr'rs Written in the Em I791, I792 sad f 733. By the Late Right Hon. E h t t n d Burke. I ~ n d t j n ,I 797. The Works ofthe Right Hanourabie EdmzlndNz6rke. G vols. Bohn's British Classics, London, 1854-1 856. The WF.z'tz'rzg5and3;cleechesofEdmifa;ndUliarke.Vols. 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 pubtished to date, Gen, ed. I? LnngG3rd. C>xfbrcI, f 981- . Cabberr, \V;",, td, 71~ePdrIiamentary Nbtov ofEngInndfiom the Earliest Period to the Enr I8U3. 36 vols. I,ondon, 1806-1 820.
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Almond, M. ""Brke After the Cold War: Bourgeois "Triumphatist or C;assandra?'?n Edmttnd Bzdrke: His L@ and Lt.gaqped, I, Crowe. IDrrblin, 1997, 159, Auerhach, M. 7 %(,70nservative ~ I//ztsbn, New Yorli, I 953. Barringtc~n,13. I? M. "Ectmund Ilr~rkeas an Econt~mlst."Ecoracmaica 21 (19541, 252, Botmri, f . R. ""'fhcPrudc~ir:Irishman." National Interest, Deccmbcr 2 997, 67, Boucher, L), ""The C'%aracter of the History of the I)hitosctpl..iyof Xnrernaeiunal Relations and the Case of Edr~xnndBurke," Reu2-e~ofl~tcrnntioncdlStgdics 2 7 ( I 990), 2 27.
(:anwan, E The PoliticdI Economy ofEdmzlnd Barhe. New York, 19%. (:obban, A. Edrrignd Barhe sad the Revolt Agni~tst.the Eighteen$/?C~;~.nrzdry Idondon,1929. Revkw ofPoliConiffl J, ""Blrke on Political Economy: 'X'be Natzire and k t e n t of Srate A~~tltoriry," tics 43 (19871, 430. . l%eUsefikl C,kbblec Edvzzand Burke and the I'otitics of 13rogress.Atbany, NNY, 1994. (:ourtfteji, (C:. E? Mi7nI:esqaiezb n~zdNurke, C)xford, 1963, Crt3we, I. "Edmus-rd Burkc on Mvlners." Mode~nAge 39 f l997), 380. I);l;vidson, f , "Natural 1,aw and Internaticand 1,aw in Burb." Review uf1301itics 21 (1950), 485. Ilunn, W. C:. "Adann Snilrh and Fdmund Burke: C:ornplementary Cc>ntennporaries,"Southern Emf l 94 I), 330. nu~~ticJoz-lr~al7 Eagleton, 'I: ""Svis-rg Burke from tfic 'Ibries." New Stdtesmnn 226 (July 4, 1997;7),32. Fa5 C. R. h r k e andAralam Smith. Belfast, 1956. Freeman, M. ""Burke and the 'I'heory of Rewlutic>n,"Reuieul oflJ~Litics6 (1978), 277. Edmund Nurke n~zdthe (IPPritr'que ofPolit.icalRddic&lism.Oxford, 1%Q, Frczhnen, B. Virtue a ~ $he d IJrumz"seoff;*onservdgissm:7 5 Lrglaq ~ of Bzbrk~and TacqcleviIIe. Lawrcs-rce, IC5, 1993. Frohnen, B, I?, and Reid, C:. J., Jr. ""liversiry in Western C:onstiruric>nalism: Chartered Rights, Federated Structure and Waturd-1,aw EPeasonitlg irt Burke's Theory of Empire," Pac$c Caul Jogrgai 29 (1W")7,27. Fucfis, M. Edmund Burk~,IreLand, and the Fashioning ofthe Seg Clxford, 1996. Furber, H, ""Emund Unrke and India." Berzg~l13nst and 13reserit 76 (19571, 11. Hampsher-Monk, I, ""Etroducrion." In The Politicnl PhiLosaphy ofEdmund Bgrke, ed, I, Hampsl~erMonk. I,ondon, 1987, 1, Harfe, ti'. '"Burke the Intcmational rrheurist-or the War of the Sons of T,i$~r and the Sons of Darkness, " In Eztropedn Valzses iky2 I~ternntionalRelat;urzs, ed, V Harle, Ixmdon, 1990, 58. Kirk, R. Edrt~ndZBzgrke: A C;enizks Recotzxidered- Rev. ed, Wlxnington, RE, 1997. Kramnick, I, The &ge ofEdrriund Barhe. New York, 1977, Lar-rgford,l? "Intri3dnction." h In5e Writis85 and Speeches ofEdmund 6jLkrRft",ii, td. E tax~gfard.Clxhrd, 1981, 1, Macpherson, .:C B, Burh. Oxford, 1980, Mrthonejs 'l: E-I, D. Ednzu~dBzgrke a~zdIreI~f~zd Cantbridge, M A , 1960, 5 R~lcrke,ed. H. C. Mansfidd Jr. Mmsfielcl, H. C,, fr. "Ix-rtroductios-r,"In ,SeIectfd l , ~ t t e ~ofEdmund C:hicago, 1984, "1 lh Writi~zgs and '5)eeches nf'Edvzzand Bz~rktf,v, ed. I? J. Marshdt. Marshdl, If. f , "~trczdt~ction," Clxford, 198 X , 1, . '~x-rtroducrion,"1x1 The Writings and Speeches of E d m ~ n dBurke, vi, td. P, f , Marshalt. Clxford, 1991, 1 . McCue, f , Edr~uradBzlrktf nnd Ozkr 13resencDisconte~iaI,r>ndon, 1997. Mct30wett, R, B. "Introduction," In Th Wra'drzgsand Speeches ofEdrrig~zdNz$rke, ix, rd. R, B. McDowcli. Clxt'orcf , 2 99 1, 2. McGee, K. \V;", "Edmus-rd Burke and Adaxn Smirft: Pioneers in tfic Field of Law and Ecor~omics+" AsastrdItdn LawJot4rndIG6 (19921, 262. Mirchell, I,, G, ""Ittrociuction." h Inhe Writingf and ,Speeche.f af Edr~tzdndNzdrke, viii, rd, E,. G , Mitchell. Chcford, 1089, 1 O%riexi, W;"; Ednttnd Burke ds an Irisi~nz72nn.2nd ed, Dnblix-r, 1926, O'CC;orrnan, E Edr~uradBurktf:His l'oliticdk l'hill~suphy I,r>ndon, 1973. CjWeil, R. 1, "Mdmnd durke, KarI Marx, and rhe Contemporary 'Ihircf World." Miderg Age 34 (1 9921, 349.
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ndex
Ak3stract ril,;bts, 19 Africa, 123, 222, 3 13 Algiers, 208,246,255 A~xserica,See Burke, Edmurid, hlerican policy, and A~xsxiesryf nrer~iatiar-ral,G2 Anroinette, Marie, 32, $5 Aristocracy, 8 1, 265 Aristotle, 143 Asia, 2G-27, 202, 208, 21 1, 217, 21 9, 221-223,225-226, 22g1 230,3 13 Atheisnl, 138, 286, 31 3-314 Athcisrs, 35, 84, 239, 244, 267, 306 Austria, m, 34, 42, 253, 256-258, 262, 28 1 Bdancc of potver, 37,42,48, 52-55 domestic, 20-2 1, 58 European, 29, 32, 62, 253, 264 Inremention and, 49-50 See izka RurIce, F>dn~und, bdance of power, views on
Barringtoxz, Judge Daines, 138 Barthdlerny, Fran~ois,299 Bexiares, 275-276, 179, 183, 286-1 8% 2229, 222--223, 232 Bexificld, Paul, 196 Bengid, 18, 145, 175, 177--1179, 181, 183, 188, 191-19.3, 195, 202-203, 200, 2 16-220, 230, 233 Bernard, C;owrnt>r Francis, 104 Bombay, 175, 297
Boston Ika 1)art)sxiv, 15, 99 Brissot, Jaccjues-Pierre, 23 5, 250--25 l Bristof, xiv, 9-10, 71-72, 74-75, 78 British constituric>n,6, 13-14, 17-21, 24, 26-27, 31-33,39,43,4&47, 58-59, 79, 82, 90-9l 93-94, 105, 108, 117, 145, 247, l G O t 272,216 British En~pire,9-1 0, 14, 17-1 8, 21, 28, 46-47, I 16, l 18, 136, 202, 204, 213, 223 Brunsx~ick,!Duke of, 254, 259-260 Burke, E11mund Abridpent rf E n H His11~)c~ xiii, 7 Recount ojfthc Europmn LSe~hwic~.nts in America, xiii, 13 R&ress ta the King, 2 7 as agent for New Vbrk Assembly, x Anrlerican policy, and, 13-1 8 An Appealpom the New to the OM Wi~igs, 1,
xv,
33
RnnudL Rcxister, xiii, 7 , 21 A Endicdborz of Nnkt~rnLf II;~~iep, xiii, 6 , 13, 45 bdance of power, view on, 42, See also Batar-rcca f power birch oK xiii, 5 break with C:hartes Fox, m, 31, See also Fox, C:hartes C:ommonweatrh of Europe, concept of, 47-49. See also C:ommo~-rwcaltizaF Europe
constitution and foreign affairs, relevance of Rurke's views an, 58-55) crusade against the French Revolution, 29-36. See dlsa Frcs-rch Revolutiors culrure and inteanationat relations, relevance of views to, 59-67 death 06 xv, 36 Eteuerzti~Report ofthe ,FtLect C,kmrnittcef 22 enlpire, views an, 46-49 empire, vietvs on origins of, 47 enlpire af preservation and improvemcxir, concept o6 4C547 exercise of powcr, relevar-rceaf views an, 318 Fii'rst. Letter OPZ a Regicide ije~zce,286-320 first speech in I%rlim?ent, 8 geogr;lphicai mordfiy, attack on, 27-28, 45, 61, 202, 221-222, 227-228 globdi~arios-r,relevar-rceaf Burke to, 6 3 4 5 . Sce nhu C;lobalization golden mean, and, 39-45
HeadsJGr Cotz.fiderdti~n UPZ the J2re$encState ofAfnirs, xv, 34, 253-264 human natixre, view on, 59-40 human rights, relevance of Burke to, 61--63. See nIm E-luman rights iri~peachmentof Hastings, and, 25-23 imperial society, concept of, 46. See d o imperial sociev, relcvar-rceaf concept today, 6 l , S'ee sho Xtlrperid society Indias-rpolicy, and, X 8-29 internationaj taw and ntordity, views on, 44-45. See also International law; Law of nations; M o r a I i ~ irlternatiorid political econoniy, relevance of views on, 63-65 irlternationd political econoniy, views on, 42-44, Stze ~ I S QFrce tracic intervention, views on, 49-5 1 Irish backgrous-rd, in-rporras-rccof.; 5 Irish policy* and, 8-13 taw of neighborhor~d,ulncept of, 5 1 taw of vicinify, concept oE 5 l as Iaw stncient, xiii, 6, ,Tee also Burke, Edmus-rd, legal studies, ixnporrancc af tegd studies, iri~porsanceof, G Letters on a Regicide Peace, xv, 35, 48
Letter to a Memb~rofthe Madand Assemhb, xv, 32
Letter to n Nobk Lord, xv, 5 L ~ t t to ~ rthe ,$herz@ afii$~i.ctok, xiv, f 7, 147-167 L ~ t t to ~ rSir Chnr/e.c Bin&m, 9 Letter to Sir He~ezkLesLit~zgishe,xv, 1 2, 78-98 liberty views on, 41. ,See aho Freedom; Liberty views on, 48. SCPd c o Manrlcrs marriage to fane Nugent, xiii mariners,
Motion f i r Pdpers OE Hgstings, 202 M P h r Bristol, xiv, c) MP for MaItor-r,xiv, 211 MP For Wendover, xiii, 8 neglect of as intcrnationd thinker, 3 new approaches ro infernational relations theory, and, 54-56 Ni;.zthReport; ofthe Sehct Chmmittee, 22 Ohservrzti-k'orzson a Ldliv ,%ate ~ f t k ~Natiorz, e xiv, f 9 origins of the state, views on, 40 parexits of.;xiii, 31 Partianlentary career c.6 7-36 as I%ayma,i.tcro f the Forces, xiv fiilosnphicab Ir2quii.y irz@ the Origin ufUzir ldcds ofilh ,SgbIi~~e and Benuttfil, xiiii,
6-7 place in irlternationd relaticlns theory, 31 1-56
1201i9of Making Gtfquesajirthe 2 1-22 Mdk7on~t~tans, pre-parliamentary prxrs OF, 5-7 private secretq to L,orJ Kc>clcirsgharn,xiiii,
8 private secretq to Wifliani Hmilton, xiii,
7 prudence, and, 39. Sec?nho 13ruJence at (2ukcr boarding school, xiii, 6 I?@ectio~fs on the Revnlution irz France, xv,
30-32, 363-40,235 I?#ir~ris;lpr,The, and, G rdevance of roday, 57-67 I?amark$~~ir the 1701;~fth:he A//ie$,m, 5 8, 263-286 reriren1cr-rt Eron1 Parliarncnr, xv Select C:ommittce, member of, xiv, 22, 169-1 70
Short.Aceounr ofa Late ,Short xiii, 14 Admi~~istrabon,
slave trade, code to terntinate, 44. See akso SIaver)i; Slaves sovgreignty, views on, 40--42. ,See aho Sovereignty Qecch at Bristol Previous $0 $heEhctiop~,7 1 Speech on Americrzra lkxdt-ion,xiv, l 5-1 6, C)+--l17, 14'7 Speech? on CAbnciiidtionwith Americd, xiv, 16-17, 217-147 Speech? on Eizsr I ~ d i Dividerad a li"i11, 19 ,Peec.h on East Jadia SettIrment, 13 Qecch an Eco~~omieaI R~Jtornz,4 2 4 3 ,Peech on FOX$Itzdl;;ltr'z'II, xiv, 23-24, 16 S202 Speech? on Irish CAbnznzerciaII3ropmil;Uns, 11 Qecch an Nahab ofArmti Dedics, 24-25, 66, 196 ,Peech an North? East Xndia Resokations, 19-20 ,Peech on Opczi~gafImpmchme~t,xiv, 26--2X,61, 202-234 ,Peec.h on Resitclri~gLard Pigat*xiv, 2 l , 2 17 Qecch an Kohilh Wnr Charge, 25-26 Speech on the Uxe ofI~zdiam, f 57 state of nature, views on, 40 theory, and, 3-4, 37-58 theory of internationat rdarians, and, 37-56 Thozzgha and Det-~ihon Scarcig, xv, 43 7A~gtgbaan the (I#kuseafthe f2refe~tDiscontmts, xiv 7A~gtghtsan French Afczin, m, 33-34> 79, 235-253, 263---264 three traditions, and, 38-39 lFdct;r rehcing to the 1jopep-yLdw, xiii, 8--(l at "Trinity College, Llnblin, xiii, 6 lk/u Letters nrz the 'fi-itdt cfIreInnA xiv, 9-10,72-78 war, views on, 40-42. See sho War Burke, Mary (!norher), xiii Burke, Richard (brother), 12, 18 Burke, Kichard (father), xiii, 4-5 Burke, Ricfiard (son), xiii, 12, 33 Burke, Willim?, xiii-xiv, 13, 18, 20-21 Calcutra, 19, 2 87, 192-1 94, 197, 216-21 7, 220 Calanne, CL-tarlcs-Alexander dc, 33 Canada, 7, 96-97
Canning, (George, 57 Carnor, l,.-N.-M., 298, 305 Carhotim, Irih, 5, %U, 27, 4 6 7 1 , 78--81, 83,87,90-92, 95-97 Charlentonr, Earf oK 21) Chztered rigl~ts,23, 171-172, 179, 190 Chael~am,I,ord, See Pirt, Wilfiam (the E.:tder) Chester, 135, 137-1 38, 142-144 China* 21 l Chivdry, 30, 48, 55 Chrisres-rdox-rs,45, 49, 236, 292, 320, 312 Christians, 89, 95, 97, 161 , 175, 266 Cicero, 230 Cfarendczn, Farl o6 87 Clerg> 12, 85, (14, 160, 239, 265, 267, 263, 272--274, 27") 3 31 9 Clive, I,orJ Kobert, 18, 217-219 Cold War, 57, 63-64 Cc>mmonwedth of Europe, 3 1, 33, 43, 4 5, 47-49, 53, 5%2,64,235,224, 287. See Rurke, Edmund, CumrnonwcalriI a f Europe, conccpc of Contmrrnism, 57, 63 Cc>mmunitarianlsn~, 54 CondP, I'rincc de, 33, 276 Cc>ndorcet,Marquis de, 235, 247-248, 250-251, 268 Cc>nservatisrn,17, 28, 60, 99 Cos-rrract tfieory, 40 Cosntopotitanism, 54 Critical rficory, 54-55 Culturd hererogeneiv, 59, 63, 65 Cultural homogeneity, 48, 53-54, 56, 59 Culrrxrd relativism, 61 Culture, 8, 21, 27, 38-40, 47--48, 51-56, 59-61, 65-66, Set3 Burke, Edmus-rd, cutawe and internatic>nd relations, releva~~ce of views to; Culturd hererogeneiry; C:uteurat homageneiv; Cutturat relativism Cyberspacc, 63 l3avis, Sir John, 87, 136 t3eciaration of Independence, xiv, 17 13ec!aratory Act of 1766, xiii, 14-1 5, 89, 99, 108, 115 l3ennocracy, 31, 43, 60, 80-81, 249, 263, 314 Denmark, 86, 243, 302 t3eponr, Charles-jean-Fransois, 21)
RipIomacy, 37, 48, 55-54, 235 Dissenters Protestant, 82, 91-92, 94-95 French Itevolution, and 239 Dnndas, Henry, 25, 174, 178,277 Runntore, Lord, 127 IDurhan?, 135, 138, 142-143 East Iridia Cosnpany, xiv, 2 5-1 6, 18-26, 43, 46-47, 53, 55, 62, 65, 102, 113, 145, 163-170, 172-175, 178, 186, 135-1 38, 201-202,209-212,217-22 1,223,232, 233,239 Egypt, 246 Eli~~bcth, Queen, 87, 136, 210 Ellic,t, Sir Gilbert, 33 Zmt8"is, 33, 35, 237, 265 Endtlish School, tlie, 38, 52, 59. See abo International society tradition Enlightenment, 14 Equality, 93, 147, 251, 166, 273,248, 268 o f Indian peopla with Europe, 27-28 lrdar~d,and, "7, 77, 94 Europem Union, 61 Fenlinlse theory, 54-55 Fingl:~ass,Patrick, 87 Firzwifliam, Earl, 12-13, 29, 35 Flanders, 256, 271, 279 Fox, Charles, xv, 169-1 71 Rur1ce"spraise for as author of India RiII, 20 l as sympathetic toward the Frer-rch Kevcrluriun, 30-3 1 Ser nho Unrke, Edmund, break with Charles Fox Fox-North coalition, xiv, 24, 169-1 71 France. See Burke, Edrriund, crusade against the Frcncl~R~vottition;French Revcrlrrt ion FranWiri, Benjan~iri,158 Freedom, 17-1 8, 41, 73, 78, 93-94., 99, 105-106, 111, 115, 124, 126-128, 130, 132-1 33, 142, 244-245, 150-1 5 1, 156, 161--162, 166, 171, 245, 259, 268, 312. SCCaho I-iherty Free trade, 1l , 43, 60, 64, l 56 within the imperial society, 4, 8--9, 64, 7 X Ser nho Unrke, Edolt~nd,Intcmaticand political ecos-romy views on
French Kevofurion, xiv-m, 3, 8, 12-11 3, 29--36, 43, 4'1, 51, 62, 67, 79, 235-236, 247, 264, 280,287, See nhn Burke, Fdmund, crusade against the French Kevdutic>n Garrick, t>avicf, 7 Gend~izKhan, 227 Geographical ntordiy See Burke, Edn~und, gec>graphicalmoralit~r,attack on C;eorge 111, 7, 18, 73, 106, f 20, 265, 286 (;ermany, 154, 176, 237, 240-243, 250, 252, 254,258,260,271,292,299,319 C;lobalization, 55, 58-59, 63-67, Sfe also Burb, Edmund, gtc>batizatic>n,rclevmce of Burke to Global socier?;: G6 Glorious 1XevoI~tios-r of 1688, 30, 84, 236, 32 0 God, 13,73-7477, 85-86,88-89, 127, 129, 149, 160, 182, 190, 207-2118, 21 5, 221, 223-225,228,234,266,273,277-278, 283, 298, 305--306, 3 12, 3 14, 320 Greae powers, 47, 58 Grenville, George, 7, 10% 1142, 277 Grotius, Hugo, 3% 41 Hamilton, \Villim, xiii, 7-63 Harringun, f arxres, 139 Hasrir-rgs,Warren, xiv-xv, 18, 22, 24-2g3 62-63,65, 177, 282, 184, 186-188, 191, 193, 196-1 97, 200, 202-203, 209, 21 2, 2 14-2 15, 2 1 8, 220--223, 226--234, 294 Hisrorics! s o c i o l o ~54-56 ~ Hobhes, Thontas, 38 Holtand, 41, 116, 123, 244--245, 255, 258, 262,232,301, 3 10 Hornb;v;William, 137 Housc o f Cc~mmons,xiv, 15-16, 25-26, 28, 31, 50, 58-50, 124-125, 136, 144, 148, 156, 171, 197, 202, 205, 216, 221, 230, 304, 308, 31(1--311 Housc o f Lords, xiv-xv, 25-27, 110, 202-203, 224,294 Husnanity, 23, 27-28, 47, 54-55, 58,6G, 131, 133, 149-150, 152, 270,204,234, 267,305
I-luman righrs, 60-63. ,See allso Burke, Edmund, human rights, relevance of Burk ro I-luman Rigltrs Watch, 62 I-lume, t3;wirl, 152 Hussey, 'Ihomas, 12-1 3 Im13erid society 9-14, 16-18, 21, 23, 33, 43, 46-47> 51, 59,6I,64,71,"7. Sera& Burke, Edmund, irrtperial society, concepnof; Burk, Edmund, Irriperid society, relevance of concept today India, See Burke, Edmuxid, Iridian policy, and Information technologies, 63 Interdependence between the ctomestic and internatic>nal, 63 economic, 48,GO-61 of in-rperid poficies, 15 International lawB37, 44--45, 48-50, 52, 54, 62-63. See aha Burke, Edmnnd, international law and niordfiy, vie\v-?on; I'aw of trations International Monetary Fund, 63 International orcter, 38, 4 2 , 4 8 4 9 , 5 1, 53-54, 59,62 Internaeional polirical economy, 37, 42-44. See also Burke, Edmund, internaricjnd pilfiricat tconoxny, refeva~iccof views on; Burke, Edmnnd, inremarionat political economy, views on International sr>cieqr,39, 41-42>44-42, 5 1-54, 56-57, 5 9 4 1 65-66> 235 International society rradirion, 38, 52, 54, 56, 65-66, See allso Engiish Schoot, the Internaticanal system, 41-44, 43, 52-53, 56, 59,6F, 174,240 Interventior-r, 32-34, 37-38,43, 49-52,G2, 107, 235, 264, 286287, 302, See akso Burke, Edmund, Intcrvenrican, views on Ireland. See Burke, Ectmund, lrisfz policy, and Iraly 42, 240, 243, 254-255, 260, 271, 279, 30 1
Jchnsc~n,Samuel, xiii, 7, 57, 308 Justice, 21, 23, 25, 27-28, 45, 5 9 4 0 , 62, 65, 72, 77-78, 87, 92,94, 97, 101, 1 12, 116, 131, 132-133, 133, 141,148-152, 158, 162, 170, 177, 188--189, 192, 201, 203-206,208-210,2 15,22l , 224, 227-228, 233--234$267,275,283-285, 2915 294,298,308,315, 319 distributive, 54 imperid, 26-29,207 universal, 26, 47, 53, 61, 169, 181, 187, 202, 20'7 war as the sole means of between R ~ F ~ U ~ S , 41 Kanr, Imntanue!, 39, 43 fi;er-rx-rsatc.,I,urd, 36 Kennan, George, 58 Ktkenx-rey Srarutes of, 87 Kissinger, I-lenry; 38 taw of xtariaris, 4, 44-45, 50, 149, 230, 236, 258, 301, 313, 317. Seeiziso Burke, Edmund, Internaticand taw and moralit~r, view on; Inteanationat Iaw Iaw of neighbarhood, See flurke, Edmund, Iaw of neigliborhood, concept of Iaw of viciniv See Burke, Fdnrund, taw of vicinity concepr of lawyers, 50, 226, 269 ineernaeional, 4 1 in the American colonies, 126, 130 I,iherdisnt, 4, 54, 60--G1 I,iberty, 7-8, 17, 22, 23-31, 41, 5 1, 64, 73, 76,80, 94, 103, 105, 115-1 16, 120, 123-128, 130-133, 135, 137, 130, 143, 145, 150-151, 161-162, IGG, 174, 188, 201, 208, 216, 226, 230, 242, 245, 251, 260,275,280,296,312, 317. See aha Burke, Edinund, liberty, views on; Frecdoxn I,r>cke,Jchn, 40 t,ouis XV?241 I,r>uisXVf, m, 32, 34-35, (30, 264, 269, 238 Macclesfield, Iard, 204 Machiavelli, Niccolb, 38, 181 Madras, 20-21, 1"7,21 '7 Mdgna C , ~ P C ~ 23,26, , 172-174
Manners, 21, 48, 52--54, 59, 82, 12% 136, 147, 152, 276-277, 185,203,207, 21 1-21 3,215,229,235,272,274,287, 3 2 3-3 2 6. See dso Burke, Edmus-rd, nlanners, views on Mam, b r l , 39 Mexico, 2 1 7 Mitl, John Stuart, 61 Mogul Empire, 185, 209-2 111, 2 18, 222-223 Mt>narchy,xv, 23-30, 62, 94, 96, 136, 23&237,247, 250, 255-256,258-259, 264--263, 27 1-272, 277, 279--283, 288-289, 296, 306,32 5-326 Montesquieu, 4, 7, 14 Mt~rafiry,8, 26-28, 37, 39, 44-45, 126, 202, 205, 222, 227, 283. ,See ako Burke, Fdmund, geographicat morality; attack on; Rurke, Edmurid, international law and morality, views on More, 'I"l-romas, 2 39 Mnltittationd companies, 65 Naples, 254, 270 Napaieon, 3% Natural taw, 23, 44-47, 53-54, 56, 59, 61, 65 Na~uraIrights, 23, 74, 172 Navigation acts, 43, 103-1 04, 134 Netherlands, 86, 254, 2661-261, 301 Neurraliq 33-34 41, 254, 257, 276 Nobility%2% 48, 81, 175, 181, 292, 234, 239, 243,247,252,269,271-272,319 NongavernmcxiraI orgas-rkrarians, 62, G6 Norntarive theory, 54-55 North, Lord, xiv, 100, 120, 169, 171 Norway, 243 Oligarchy, 81 Clrrosnan En~pire,53, 222, 225, 270 I%ine, "l'homas, 32, 155, 268 Pigor, Larcf George, xiv, 20-2 l , 2 17 Pittocher, Augusto, 62 Pitr, 1Villiam (the FAder), 7, 2 12, 142 Pitt, Wiltian-r (the Younger), xiv-xv, 11-13, 24, 33-3%49,79, 169, 171,174, 198,235, 253--254, 264, 277, 28C-287, 308, 3 l t 131assey battle of, 217 Plato, 139 131uraJism, 48, 53-54, 59, 65 Pluralist, 49, 51-53, 57
13c>land,50, 24 1, 244, 246 parition of, 42, 45 Posiri~risnt,44 Post-snodcrriis~~-r, 54, 56 Price, tJr, Kichard, 30 13riestlq, 1)r. foseph, 247 Prop"", 6, 10, 28, 311, 40-41, 49, 62, 80, 84, 89--90, 96, 115, 137, 144, 149, 161, 170, 183, 187-188, 1%O 292, 194-196, 218,224,226,229,266-274,281,285,
306, 312,314, 317-319 Protestants, 12, 81, 87, 04, 97, 125, 244 Prudence, 8,30, 33, 39,41-42,45, 50, 58, 64, 72, 84, 89, 92,96, 147, 150, 16O-l6E,200,217,236, 275,277,230, 2 9 6 239,3 1 6-3 18. See aEso Burke, Fdmund, pructence, and Prussia, xv, 34, 42, 245, 176, 241, 246, 253, 257-262,271,279,300,302 12arionalissn, 38, 51-52, 54, 56, GO, 65 Realissn, 16-1 7, 38, 45, 51, 54, 65 Rea&ola"tik,8, 34 Religion, 9-10, 29-30, 39, 48-43, 51-52, 62, 83-85> 87, 89, 95, 97, 125, 127, 130, 136, 138, 161-1 62,176, 186,189-190, 223-226,219,224-225,230,234,238, 244, 247, 263, 26C~267,272,274, 277, 270-280,284,2%,301,3U6-3U7,310,
312-315,319 Revalucioriissn, 38-3") 445, 51, 54 EPeynofds, Joshua, xiii, 7 Kigl-rts of man, 3 1-32, 240, 244, 253, 268, 284, 302 Kockin&arn, Ixrrd, xiii-xiv, 7-8, 10, 13 -1 4, 17,99, 107, 133 Konlan la\v, 48, 51, 211, 315 busseau, Jean-Jacques, 38-39, 48 Russia, 175, 262 Sxrcfinia, 86, 246, 256, 260, 262, 300 Savile, George, 10 Scotland, 74, 307, 310 Secret C:ornmitree, 25, 170, 174 Select C:ommittce, See Burb, Edmund, Sefect Committee, mcmbcr of Slavery>81, (30, 105, 115, 130, 132, 145, 150, 170, See dho Burke, Ectmund, slave trade, code ro ternlinage
Slaves, 81,%, 126, 129-130, 143, 149, 161, 222. See allso Burke, Edmund, stave trade, codc to terxnir-rare Smirk, Adam, xiv, 7, 9, 43 Social constructivisni, 56 Sotidarism, 53-54., 56, 59--63, 65-66 so tic far is^, 52--54, 57, 59 Sovercigr~ty,37, 40-41, 49, 5 1, 53-54, 61-63,88, 115,142,186,209-210, 222-223, 248, 280, See also Burke, Edmund, sovereignty, views on Spain, 42, 2 16, f 45, 238, 243, 246, 253, 255-258,262, 271,27%280,292, 23%3[)0, 308-309 ?;penser, Edmund, 87 Srantp Act of 1765, xiii, 13--15, 9%100, 106, 108-11 0, 212, f 27, 133, f 39, 142, 264 Strafford, I..c>rd, 87 Sweden, 238,243-244 Swifi, Jonathan, 184 Switwrland, 86, 240, 242-243, 254, 260, 271, 279, 28 1,29-301 Tacitus, f 8t Tm~erlane,61, 2 77, 227-229 Ihnjore, 20-22, 176, 178 pFownshend,CharIes, 105, t 12 Truth and reconciliation processes, 63 lurkcy, 77, 17 5
United Spates, 58-59 Vdrny, battle of, xv, 34,253-254,260-261 Vatrel, Emer de, 39, 41, 49-50, 236, 27%
Wales, 135-138, 143, 183 Walpolc, Horace, 7 Walpole, Kobert, 308 war ofjenkins" Ear, 308 Nine Years', 24 2,309 Seven Years', xxiii, 7, 14, 105, 13% 114, 217,242,244 of the Spanish Succession, 141, 258, 262, 292, 303 See akro Bu~ke,Edrtlund, war, views on; justice, war as thc sole xneans of kctween nations Watsor-r,Charles, f 07, 217 West Indies, 107, 118, 151, 250, 279 Westphdia, Trcaty of, f 73-1 74, 240, 242, 244, 309 WheIer, Edward, 188, 133 Wigssl110, 30, 32, 111, 239, 245 Wicham, William, 30(5,304 World Bank, 63 Worfd liade Organizaticln, 63
