Edmund Burke

Born January 12, 1729
Dublin, Ireland
Died July 9, 1797
Beaconsfield Estate, Buckinghamshire, England

Politician, political thinker, writer, public speaker

Edmund Burke was the most widely respected British political thinker and speech writer of his time. As a politician and speaker, however, he lacked the ability to lead or bring men together. His ideas continue to find favor today, especially with conservatives who wish to preserve society's existing institutions. He is widely admired for his defense of those who are too weak to defend themselves.

Edmund Burke was born into a middle-class family in Dublin, Ireland, on January 12, 1729. He had a difficult relationship with his father, a Protestant attorney, but was close to his Roman Catholic mother who, he once reported, suffered from "a cruel nervous disorder."

Burke was a sickly child. In 1735, when he was six, his parents sent him away from the big city to live with his mother's brother, Patrick Nagle, in Ballyduff, Ireland. For the sake of his health, he lived there for five years and attended the local school. In 1741, at age twelve, he went to boarding school in County Kildare, Ireland.

Burke entered Dublin's famed Trinity College in 1744. He did well at his studies and founded a debating club there. Burke went to England in 1750 to study law. But his heart was not in becoming a lawyer and he made little progress in his legal studies. Not much is known about his activities during the first nine years he spent in England following his graduation from college. It is known that he remained undecided about what to do with his life.

Early books praised

In 1756, when Burke was in his mid-twenties, he published two books on topics in philosophy. In the first, A Vindication of Natural Society, he declared that it was a mistake for rationalists to demand a logical justification for why moral and social institutions, such as rule by kings, should exist in society. Rationalists are people who accept reason as the only authority in determining one's opinions or actions. This is as opposed to people who accept other sources as authoritative, for example, the word of God in the Bible. Burke argued that the king and other authorities ruled in a society because it was the will of God.

Burke's second work was A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. In this book, Burke wrote about his views on the theory of fine arts and peoples' responses to them.

Historical works

Burke followed in 1757 with a history he wrote with his friend William Burke (no relation) titled An Account of European Settlement in America. That same year he thought seriously about moving to America, but his father objected so strongly that Burke dropped the idea.

Parts of The Early Abridgement of the History of England also appeared in 1757. The book, though not published until after Burke's death, was his account of the early history of England. In the late 1750s Burke also began writing the first of a series of yearly articles on political events in England for a publication he founded and edited called the Annual Register. According to historian Mark M. Boatner III, "Few Englishmen had so profound a knowledge of colonial affairs [in America] as did Burke. His Annual Register articles were … [very] observant, and warmly sympathetic" to America. They were so well respected that many writers on American politics and history borrowed from them shamelessly.

Burke's early works gained him recognition among London's writers and thinkers. He was invited to become a member of "The Club," an organization that included a number of prominent Englishmen of the time and was founded by famed English writer and critic Dr. Samuel Johnson.

Marries, moves to Ireland

Burke, who had not experienced family unity as a boy, made it a vital part of his adult life. In 1757 he married Irish Catholic Jane Nugent, the daughter of his personal physician. He settled into a comfortable family life with his new in-laws, his brother, and his friend William Burke. This core of people provided a sense of family harmony that he had never before experienced. Burke's son, Richard, was born in early 1745. His second son, Christopher, was born in 1758 and died in infancy.

In 1759 Burke became an assistant to William Gerard Hamilton, a well-known Member of Parliament (the British lawmaking body). He went to Ireland as Hamilton's private secretary, serving from 1761 until 1764.

During 1761 Burke worked on a paper about how Catholics in Ireland were discriminated against because of their religion. At that time, they were not fully protected by the laws, as Protestants were, and they could not hold public office. The piece was never completed or printed, but it showed Burke's deep concern with the issue and his determination to do what he could to change matters through his involvement with politics.

Early political career

Burke's political career began in 1765 when he became the private secretary of Charles Watson Wentworth, second Marquis of Rockingham, who was then serving a brief term as Great Britain's prime minister. Burke kept his position with Rockingham until 1782. Burke had inherited little from his family and suffered from financial problems, so he had to find other ways to make money. In December 1765, he entered Parliament as a representative of Buckinghamshire.

Burke was by nature an extremely emotional and sometimes unbalanced man. For the next sixteen years, his political career was bound up with that of Rockingham and his supporters, who served as the opposition party. The opposition is the minority political party in Great Britain. It has fewer numbers than the majority party and serves as a check on the majority party's power. Burke's alliance with Rockingham provided him with stability, independence, and a secure income.

Historians say that if Burke had been willing to abandon Rockingham, he might have had a much more successful political career. But loyalty to Rockingham was an important principle to him. Burke once said, "I believe [that] in any body of men in England I [would] have been in the minority. I have always been in the minority."

In 1770 Burke produced Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents, a pamphlet in which he sharply criticized what he saw as corruption within the British government. He also criticized England's King George III see entry for ignoring his formal government advisers; instead, the king ruled through private advisers and servants.

Discontents was Burke's major discussion of the role of political parties. He defined a political party as "a body of men united in public principle, which could act as a constitutional link between king and parliament, providing consistency and strength in administration, or principled criticism in opposition." His views have influenced how political parties function in Great Britain, the United States, and other countries.

Calls for compromise with colonists

In 1774 Burke became a Member of Parliament from Bristol, a more politically important district than his former district, Wendover. This position was a big step forward in his career and he served in it for six years.

Burke believed that changes in society and government should take place in an orderly manner. In his 1774 paper On American Taxation, Burke called on Great Britain to compromise with the American rebels, who were protesting taxes the British had imposed on the colonies to help pay off war debts. According to historian Russell Kirk, Burke believed that the tax on tea, which Americans especially hated, had to be repealed by England for the sake of restoring tolerable relations with the colonists. Burke thought that taxation should only be imposed by force if the colonists refused to contribute money that was needed to defend the British Empire.

Still, Burke believed that it was the right of the British Parliament to retain rule over the colonies. When the disagreements between Great Britain and the colonies came to blows with the outbreak of the Revolutionary War (1775–83), Burke had a difficult time dealing with it. He did not support American independence, but neither did he look forward to the prospect of a British victory. In August 1776 he wrote, "I do not know how to wish success to those whose victory is to separate us from a large and noble part of our empire. Still less do I wish success to injustice, oppression, and absurdity.… No good cancome of any event in this war to any virtuous interest."

Burke's qualities

As a politician, Burke's strongest tendency was to engage in argument. But he also displayed persistence, courage, energy, and concentration. Possessing "many of the qualities of leadership, he lacked the sensitivity to gauge and respect the feelings and opinions of others," writers in the Encyclopedia of World Biography noted. "Hence his political life was a series of negative crusades—against the [Revolutionary War] … [and] the French Revolution—and his reputation as a statesman rests on his wisdom in opposition, not on his achievements in office." In other words, it was the intelligence of his ideas and the skillful way he expressed them in Parliament as a member of the minority party, rather than any actions on his part, that gained him great respect.

Though Burke held strong opinions, and he had a vast knowledge of political matters and a great gift for written expression of his thoughts, his delivery of speeches was awkward. Some of them ran longer than eight hours, causing listeners gradually to flee.

Defends Irish Catholics

Burke's homeland of Ireland was part of the British Empire. Although Ireland had its own Protestant parliament, the body had limited powers; its lawmaking activities

required the approval of a British Protestant council. He sympathized with the Roman Catholics, who were being persecuted there by Protestants (the religion of those in power). According to biographer Stanley Ayling, as a result of laws that were passed in the early eighteenth century, "at least three Irishmen in every four had as Catholics been excluded from trades and professions, from public office and from juries, and had been barred from buying freehold land," or land that could be held through life with the right to pass it on through inheritance.

Burke said he regretted that the Irish Catholics were "reduced to beasts of burden" by Irish and English Protestants. He pointed out that all subjects of the king should be able to expect justice. He spoke out for the need for fairness in Britain's policies, specifically with the Irish Catholics. He also pointed out that it would be better for England to deal with the issue of starving people in Ireland than to spend a lot of time debating about the situation.

In the spring of 1778, Burke helped to bring about the first measures in Parliament to ease up on criminal penalties against Irish Catholics. But this position was unpopular, as was his support for relaxing restriction on trade between Ireland and Great Britain, and his stand may well have cost him the election to Parliament in 1780.

Opinions on American colonies, India

While serving in Parliament, Burke had written a series of brilliant papers protesting against government efforts to force the American colonists to obey its will, particularly in regard to matters of taxing them. But the British government was determined to show the colonies who was boss, and Burke could not convince it otherwise.

In 1781 Burke became a leading member of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs and a champion for the rights of the people of India (part of the British Empire). In that position, he helped to pass a bill asserting rights for citizens of India. His concerns about the Indian people would continue for many years.

In 1782 Lord Rockingham became Prime Minister of England and he appointed Burke paymaster general, responsible for paying wages to government employees. But Burke's good fortune quickly ended. Rockingham died after being in office for only three months. Burke had already begun to experience mental imbalance, and his condition was aggravated by the loss of his longtime patron.

In the late 1780s Burke gave a series of unpopular speeches that shocked his associates in Parliament. Burke spoke out in favor of punishing corrupt British officials in India who were mistreating the Indian people and using their official positions to enrich themselves. He felt that making an example of them might prevent others from committing similar abuses. In one instance he mounted an extreme attack against Warren Hastings, the governor general of Bengal, India. Burke portrayed Hastings as a monster. But his language was so violent that his comrades were convinced that he had become a political liability and that associating with him would damage their own careers.

Views on revolution

During the last part of the eighteenth century, Burke was one of the first to recognize the significance of the French Revolution (1789–99). A year after the revolution broke out he published Reflections on the Revolution in France and on the Proceedings of Certain Societies in London, in which he lamented the end of the French monarchy (the French royal family and people with connections to them were murdered [see Louis XVI entry]) and warned of the spread of revolutionary ideas in England. The book was read widely throughout Europe. It caused American patriot Thomas Paine see entry to write Rights of Man, a vigorous defense of the right of people to construct whatever kind of government they choose.

Achieves distinction in retirement

In 1794 Burke began to represent the district of Malton in Parliament. He planned to retire later in the year and hoped that his son Richard would be named his successor. Burke's plan was not to be. Richard Burke died in 1794 from a lung ailment, leaving his parents grief-stricken.

Edmund Burke enjoyed a unique international status during the last five years of his life. Although he held no official position, European royalty corresponded with him, and Catholics in Ireland honored him as their champion. To recognize his status, King George III offered to make Burke a member of the nobility. But Burke was depressed from the death of his beloved son and said that he much preferred simply to receive money.

Burke spent most of his retirement at his Beaconsfield estate. He tended to his farm, interested himself in the lives of his poor neighbors, and did some writing. His final project was to establish a school for the refugee sons of dead French royalists who had supported the King of France. On the last day of his life, Burke again spoke of his hatred for the revolutionary spirit in France. He believed that for the good of humanity England should declare war against France to put down the French Revolution. Burke died from a stomach ailment on July 9, 1797, with his wife at his side. He was buried at his local parish church.

American patriot Thomas Paine summed up Burke's life by remarking, "As he rose like a rocket, he fell like a stick." But the famed English poet William Wordsworth called Burke "by far the greatest man of his age."

For More Information

Ayling, Stanley. Edmund Burke: His Life and Opinions. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988.

Bourgoin, Suzanne M., and Paula K. Byers, eds. "Burke, Edmund." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 1998, pp. 138-41.

Kirk, Russell. Edmund Burke: A Genius Reconsidered. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1967.

Web Sites

"Edmund Burke." Bjorn's Guide to Philosophy. [Online] Available http://www.knuten.liu.se/~bjoch509/philosophers/bur.html (accessed on 9/23/99).

"Edmund Burke." The History Guide: Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History. [Online] Available http://www.pagesz.net/~stevek/intellect/burke.html (accessed on 9/23/99).

"Edmund Burke." Mallow Famous People. Copyright Aardvark 1997 [Online] Available http://www.mallow.ie/tourist/e-b.html (accessed on 9/23/99).

Smeenge, J.H. "A Biography of Edmund Burke (1729-1797.)" The American Revolution-an .HTML project. [Online] Available http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/eburke/burke.htm (accessed on 9/23/99).

Burke's Views on Conservatism

Many people have the strong desire to keep things the way they are in order to maintain an orderly and stable society. Edmund Burke was one of the first political writers to outline the principles of this way of thinking, which is called conservatism.

The term conservatism was first introduced during the French Revolution (1789-99), which rejected not only rule by royalty but also the very traditions and institutions that had existed throughout Europe for centuries. Widespread violence accompanied this rejection, causing thinkers like Edmund Burke to call for the return of traditional ways and values.

Burke called society "a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born." Conservatism represented the continuation of tradition within society. Burke supported keeping the democratic traditions of Great Britain. He claimed this would be accomplished by upholding such British institutions as king, nobility, church, and parliament. Burke argued that within this stable framework, gradual change could take place for the benefit of all citizens.