During my research for a previous post, I came across Edmund
Burke. He is a name that I have heard before but knew very little about the man.
I decided to research him and discover who he was and what contributions he
made to history. Edmund Burke was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political
theorist and philosopher. He served as a member of parliament (MP) from 1766 to
1794 in the House of Commons with the Whig Party. In the 20th
century, he is widely regarded as the philosophical founder of modern British conservatism.
Burke was born in Dublin, Ireland on January 29, 1729 to
Mary (nee Nagle) and Richard Burke. His mother was Roman Catholic and his
father was a member of the Church of Ireland. Burke adhered to his father’s
faith and remained a practicing Anglican throughout his life. He would be
educated at a Quaker school in Ballitore, County Kildare. He started Trinity
College Dublin in 1744. On March 12, 1757 he would marry Jane Mary Nugent
(1734-1812). Burke was first elected to the House of Commons in December 1765
representing the region of Wendover. He argued strongly against unrestrained
royal power and thought that the role of the political parties was to maintain
a principled opposition to prevent abuses by the king and the government. He
would leave the House of Commons in 1780. He would retreat to his country
estate where he died July 9, 1797.
He became a proponent of underpinning (solid foundation)
virtues with manners in society and of the importance of religious institutions
for the moral stability and good of the state (A Vindication of Natural Society, 1756). He criticized the British
treatment of the American colonies. He also supported the rights of the
colonists to resist authority; however, he opposed the attempts for
independence. He urged to make peace with the colonies and to avoid war. He
also supported Catholic Emancipation which called for the reducing and removing
many restrictions on Roman Catholics in the UK. His support of the Catholic
Emancipation and other unpopular causes cost him is seat in 1780. He also supported
the impeachment of Warren Hastings for corruption. Hastings was an Englishman
who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal) and
the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, effectively being the first
Governor-General of India from 1773-1785.
Most scholars agree that Burke had a gift for deep analysis;
however, his work was controversial. Supporters like poet William Wordsworth
would call Burke “the most sagacious politician of his age.” Opponents, like
Karl Marx, would call him a bourgeois stooge of the English ruling class. Burke’s
legacy in contained in his extensive writings. He explained a coherent system
of ideas about the nature of man, the organic state, the benefits of prejudice,
the dangers of government by secret consensus and the role of political
parties. With the nature of man, Burke condemned the idea that social harmony
can be achieved once differences of race, nationality, culture, gender and
ability are removed. He would say that humans are not abstract but “distinctive
identities, that we love our kin above strangers and that this must affect the
type of society we create. It is not morally bad, it is simply the way we are.”
He would also call equality a “monstrous fiction.” According to Andrew Webster,
“At worst, ambitious elites use equality as a pretext to reallocate resources
to themselves. At best, well-intentioned people see equality as no more than a
benign aspiration. They think it would be just in theory but of course not when
applied to themselves in practice, lest this endanger their own privileges.
This is perhaps the greater error. "Abstract principles, however
appealing, cannot be applied directly to solve real political problems. Any
attempt to do so will have futile or harmful results.”
In conclusion, Edmund Burke was a man whose importance can
be seen today. Reading some of his writings, I was surprised how well he
described the future with the political thought of the time. I can see what he
warned about in the political climate of today. He acknowledged that humans are
unique and cannot be expected to behave in a certain way. Humans nature will
always surprise us. Just think about how we are surprised when someone can to
horrible things to another human being or when someone does amazing acts of
heroism or charity for strangers. I am interested in reading further about
Edmund Burke as this post only briefly touches on the man, his ideals and his
legacy.
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