Burke (1729–1797)

Abstract

Edmund Burke is especially remembered for his counterrevolutionary Reflections on the Revolution in France, which he published in 1790. That work is widely regarded as the classic conservative statement in defence of the traditions and institutional framework of a hierarchical society. In his Reflections Burke argued that customary constitutional practices, inherited liberties, an established monarchy, an established church, and a privileged aristocracy were all integral to a society’s prosperity and ordered civility. In England, said Burke, ‘We fear God; we look up with awe to kings; with affection to Parliaments; with duty to magistrates; with reverence to priests and with respect to nobility’ (Burke, 1968, p. 182). To Burke these were all ‘natural’ sentiments, which were in keeping with the features of social life, the manners characterising and informing communication and morality, which, in turn, reflected and kept vibrant the ancient wisdom that made Britain a great society. To Burke these sentiments and manners were what the French revolutionaries were rejecting. Furthermore, Burke proclaimed, ‘all the good things’ conveyed by these manners rested upon ‘two principles’: ‘the spirit of a gentleman, and the spirit of religion’ (ibid., p. 173). These two, he believed, the revolutionaries could not abide.