I owe the
gentlemen
who
compose it-my most -humble service in everything.
compose it-my most -humble service in everything.
Edmund Burke
The completeness of the legislative authority of Parliament over this kingdom is
not questioned; and yet many things indubitably included in the abstract idea of that power, and which
carry no absolute injustice in themselves, yet being
contrary to the opinions and feelings of the people,
can as little be exercised as if Parliament in that
case had been possessed of no right at all. I see no
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abstract'reason, which can be given, why the same
power which made and repealed the High Commission Court and the Star-Chamber might not revive
them again; and these courts, warned by their former fate, might possibly exercise their powers with
some degree of justice. But the madness would be
as unquestionable as the competence of that Parliament which should attempt such things. If anything can be supposed out of the power of human legislature, it is religion; I admit, however, that the
established religion of this country has been three or
four times altered by act of Parliament, and therefore that a, statute binds even in that case. But we
may very safely affirm, that, notwithstanding this apparent omnipotence, it would be now found as impossible for King and Parliament to alter the established religion of this country as it was to King James
alone, when he attempted to make such an alteration without a Parliament. In effect, to follow, not
to force, the public inclination, -- to give a direction, a
form, a technical dress, and a specific sanction, to the
general sense of the community, is the true end of
legislature.
It is so. with regard to the exercise of all the powers which our Constitution knows in any of its parts,
and indeed to the substantial existence of any of the
parts themselves. The king's negative to bills is one
of the most indisputed of the royal prerogatives; and
it extends to all cases whatsoever. I am far from
certain, that if several laws, which I know, had fallen
under. the stroke of that sceptre, that the public
would have had a very heavy loss. But it is not the,
propriety of the exercise which is in question. The
exercise itself is wisely forborne. Its repose may be.
VOL. II. 15
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the preservation of its existence; and its existence
may be the means of saving the Constitution itself, on
an occasion worthy of bringing it forth.
As the disputants whose accurate and logical reasonings have brought us into our present condition
think it absurd that powers or members of any constitution should exist, rarely, if ever, to be exercised,
I hope I shall be excused in mentioning another instance that is material. We know that the Convocation of the Clergy had formerly been called, and sat
with nearly as much regularity to business as Parliament itself. It is now called for form only. It sits for
the purpose of making some polite ecclesiastical compliments to the king, and, when that grace is said, retires and is heard of no more. It is, however, apart of the Constitution, and may be called out into act and
energy, whenever there is occasion, and whenever
those who conjure up that spirit will choose to abide
the consequences. It is wise to permit its legal existence: it is much wiser to continue it a legal existence
only. So truly has prudence (constituted as the god of
this lower world) the entire dominion over every exercise of power committed into its hands! And yet I
have lived to see prudence and conformity to circumstances wholly set at nought in our late controversies,
and treated as if they were the most contemptible and
irrational of all things. I have heard it an hundred
times very gravely alleged, that, in order to keep
power in wind, it was necessary, by preference, to
exert it in those very points in which it was most
likely to be resisted and the least likely to be productive of any advantage.
These were the considerations, Gentlemen, which
led me early to think, that, in the comprehensive
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dominion which the Divine Providence had' put into
our hands, instead of troubling our understandings
with speculations concerning the unity of empire
and the identity or distinction of legislative powers,
and inflaming our passions with'the heat and pride
of controversy, it was our duty, in all soberness, to
conform our government to the character and circumstances of the several people who composed this
mighty and strangely diversified mass. I never was
wild enough to conceive that one method would serve
for the whole, that the natives of Hindostan and those
of Virginia could be ordered in the same manner,
or that the Cutchery'court and the grand jury of
Salem. could be regulated on a similar plan. I was
persuaded that government was a practical thing,
made for the happiness of mankind, and not to furnish
out a spectacle of uniformity to gratify. the schemes
of visionary politicians. Our business was to rule,
not to wrangle; and it would' have been a poor compensation that we had triumphed in a dispute, whilst
we lost an empire.
If there be one fact in the world perfectly clear, it
is this, --" that the disposition of the people of America is wholly averse to any other than a free government"; and this is indication enough to any honest statesman how he onght to adapt whatever power he
finds in his hands -to their case. If any ask me what
a free government is, I answer, that, for any practical purpose, it is what the people think so,- and that
they, and not I, are the natural, lawful, and competent judges of this matter. If they practically'allow
me a greater degree of authority over them than is
consistent with any correct ideas of perfect freedom,
I ought to thank them for so great a trust, and not to
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endeavor to prove from thence that they have reasoned amiss, and that, having gone so far, by analogy they must hereafter have no enjoyment but by my
pleasure.
If we had seen this done by any others, we should
have concluded them far gone in madness. It is melancholy, as well as ridiculous, to observe the kind of reasoning with which the public has been amused, in
order to divert our minds from the common sense of
our American policy. There are people who have
split and anatomized the doctrine of free government,
as if it were an abstract question concerning metaphysical liberty and necessity; and not a matter of moral prudence and natural feeling. They have disputed whether liberty be a positive or a negative idea; whether it does not consist in being governed by laws,
without considering what are the laws, or who are the
makers; whether man has any rights by Nature; and
whether all the property he enjoys be not the alms of
his' government, and his life itself their favor and indulgence. 'Others, corrupting religion as these have perverted'philosophy, contend that Christians are redeemed into captivity, and the blood of the Saviour of mankind has been shed to make them the slaves
of a few proud and insolent sinners. These shocking
extremes provoking to extremes of another kind, speculations are let loose as destructive to all authority as the former' are to all freedom; and every government is called tyranny and usurpation which is not formed on their fancies. In this manner the stirrersup of this contention, not satisfied with distracting
our dependencies and filling' them with blood and
slaughter, are corrupting our understandings: they
are endeavoring to tear up, along with practical lib
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erty, all the foundations of human society, all equity
and justice, religion and order.
Civil freedom, Gentlemen, is not, as many have
endeavored to persuade you, a thing that lies hid in
the depth of abstruse science. It is a blessing and a
benefit, not an abstract speculation; and all the just
reasoning that can be upon it is of so coarse a texture as perfectly to suit the ordinary capacities of
those who are to enjoy, and of those who are to defend it. Far from any resemblance to those propositions in geometry and metaphysics whiich admit no medium, but must be true or false in all their latitude, social and civil freedom, like all other things in
common life, are variously mixed and modified, enjoyed in very different degrees, and shaped into an
infinite diversity of forms, according to the temper
and circumstances of every community. The extreme
of liberty (which is its abstract perfection, but its real
fault) obtains nowhere, nor ought to obtain anywhere;
because extremes, as we all know, in every point which
relates either to our duties or satisfactions in life, are
destructive both to virtue and enjoyment. Liberty,
too, must be limited in order to be possessed. The
degree of restraint it is impossible in any case to settle precisely. But it ought to be the constant aim of
every wise public counsel to find out by cautious experiments, and rational, cool endeavors, with how little, not how much, of this restraint the community can subsist: for liberty is a good to be improved, and
not an evil to be lessened. It is not only a private
blessing of the first order, but the vital spring and
energy of the state itself, which has just so much life
and vigor as there is liberty in it. But whether liberty be advantageous or not, (for I know it is a fash
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ion to decry the very principle,) none will dispute
that peace is a blessing; and peace must, in the
course of human affairs, be frequently bought by
some indulgence and toleration at least to liberty:
for, as the Sabbath (though of divine institution) was
made for man, not man for the Sabbath, government,
which can claim no higher origin or authority, in its
exercise at least, ought to conform to the exigencies
of the time, and the temper and character of the people with whom it is concerned, and not always to attempt violently to bend the people to their theories of subjection. The bulk of mankind, on their part,
are not excessively curious concerning any theories
whilst they are really happy; and one sure symptom
of an ill-conducted state is the propensity of the people to resort to them.
But when subjects, by a long course of such ill
conduct, are once thoroughly inflamed, and the state
itself violently distempered, the people must have
some satisfaction to their feelings more solid than a
sophistical speculation on law and government. Such
was our situation: and such a satisfaction was necessary to prevent recourse to arms; it was necessary
towards laying them down; it will be necessary to
prevent the taking them up again and again. Of
what nature this satisfaction ought to be I wish it
had been the disposition of Parliament seriously to
consider. It was certainly a deliberation that called
for the exertion of all their wisdom.
I am, and ever have been, deeply sensible of the
difficulty of reconciling the. strong presiding power,
that is so useful towards the conservation of a vast,
disconnected, infinitely diversified empire, with that
liberty and safety of the provinces which they must
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enjoy, (in opinion and practice at least,) or they will
not be provinces at all. I know, and have long felt,
the difficulty of reconciling the unwieldy haughtiness
of a great ruling nation, habituated to command, pampered by enormous wealth, and confident from a long
course of prosperity and victory, to the high spirit of
free dependencies, animated with the first glow and
activity of juvenile heat, and assuming to themselves,
as their birthright, some part of that very pride which
oppresses them. They who perceive no difficulty in
reconciling these tempers (which, however, to make
peace, must: some way or other be reconciled) are
much above my capacity, or much below the magnitude of the business. Of one thing I am perfectly
clear: that it is not by deciding the suit, but by compromising the difference, that peace can be restored
or kept. They who would put an end to such quarrels by declaring roundly in favor of the whole demands of either party have mistaken, in my humble opinion, the office of a mediator.
The war is now of full two years' standing: the
controversy of many more. In different periods of
the dispute, different methods of reconciliation were
to be pursued. I mean to trouble you with a short
state of things at the most important of these periods,
i'i order to give you a more distinct idea of our policy with regard to' this most delicate of all objects.
The colonies were from the beginning subject to the
legislature of Great Britain on principles which they
never examined; and we permitted to them many
local privileges, without asking how they agreed with
that legislative authority. Modes of administration
were formed in an insensible and very unsystematic
manner. But they gradually adapted themselves to
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the varying condition of things. What was first a sin.
gle kingdom stretched into an empire; and an imperial superintendency, of some kind or other, became
necessary. Parliament, from a mere representative of
the people, and a guardian of popular privileges for its
own immediate constituents, grew into a mighty sovereign. Instead of being a control on the crown on
its own behalf, it communicated a sort of strength to
the royal authority, which was wanted for the conservation of a new object, but which could not be safely
trusted to the crown alone. On the other hand, the
colonies, advancing by equal steps, and governed by
the same necessity, had formed within themselves,
either by royal instruction or royal charter, assemblies so exceedingly resembling a parliament, in all
their forms, functions, and powers, that it was impossible they should not imbibe some opinion of a similar authority.
At the first designation of these assemblies, they
were probably not intended for anything more (nor
perhaps did they think themselves much higher)
than the municipal corporations within this island, to
which some at present love to compare them. But
nothing in progression can rest on its original plan.
We may as well think of rocking a grown man in the
cradle of an infant. Therefore, as the colonies prospered and increased to a numerous and mighty people, spreading over a very great tract of the globe,
it was natural that they should attribute to assemblies so respectable in their formal constitution some
part of the dignity of the great nations which they
represented. No longer tied to by-laws, these assemblies made acts of all sorts and in all cases whatsoever. They levied money, not for parochial purposes,
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE' SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 233
-but upon regular grants to the crown, following all
the rules and principles of a parliament, to which
they approached every day more and more neariy.
Those who think themselves wiser than Previdence
and stronger than the course of Nature' may complain of all this variation, on the one side or the
other, as their several humors and prejudices may
lead them. But things could not be otherwise; and
English colonies must be had on these terms, or not
had at all. In the mean time neither party felt any
inconvenience from this double legislature, to which
they had been formed by imperceptible habits, and
old custom, the great support of all the governments
in the world. Though these two legislatures were
sometimes found perhaps performing the very same
functions, they did not very grossly or systematically
clash. In all likelihood this arose from mere neglect,
possibly from the natural operation of things, which,
left to themselves, generally fall into their proper
order. But whatever was the cause, it is certain
that a regular revenue, by the authority of Parliament, for the support of civil and'military establishments, seems not to have been thought of until the colonies were too proud to submit, too strong to be
forced, too enlightened not to see all the consequences which must arise from such a system.
If ever this scheme of taxation was to be pushed
against the inclinations of the people, it was evident
that discussions must arise, which would let loose all
the elements that composed this double constitution,
would show how much each of their members had
departed from its original principles, and would discover contradictions in each legislature, as well to its
own first principles as to its relation to the other,
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very difficult, if not absolutely impossible, to be rec.
onciled. :Therefore, at the first fatal opening of this contest,
the wisest course seemed to be to put an end as soon
as possible' to the immediate causes of the dispute,
and to quiet a discussion, not easily settled upon
clear principles, and arising from claims which pride
would permit neither party to abandon, by resorting
as nearly as possible to the old, successful course. A
mere repeal of the obnoxious tax, with a declaration
of the legislative authority of this kingdom, was then
fully sufficient to procure peace to both sides. Man
is a creature of habit, and, the first breach being of
very short continuance, the colonies fell back exactly
into their ancient state. The Congress has used an
expression with regard to this pacification which
appears to me truly significant. After'the repeal of
the Stamp Act, " the colonies fell," says this assembly, "' into their ancient state of unsuspecting confidence in the mother country. " This unsuspecting confidence is the true centre of gravity amongst mankind, about which all the parts are at rest. It is this unsuspecting confidence that removes all difficulties,
and reconciles all the contradictions which occur in
the complexity of all ancient puzzled political establishments. Happy are the rulers which have the
secret of preserving it!
The whole empire has reason to remember with
eternal gratitude the wisdom and temper of that
man and his excellent associates, who, to recover this
confidence, formed a plan of pacification in 1766.
That plan, being built upon the nature of man, and
the circumstances and habits of the two countries, and
not on any visionary speculations, perfectly answered
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 235
its end, as long as it was thought proper to -adhere to
it. Without giving a rude shock to the dignity (well
or ill understood) of this Parliament, they gave perfect content to our dependencies. IHad it not been for the mediatorial spirit and talents of that great
man between such clashing pretensions and passions,
we should then have rushed headlong (I know what
I say) into the calamities of that civil war in which,
by departing from his system, we are at length involved; and we should have been precipitated into that war at a time when circumstances both at home
and abroad were far, very far, more unfavorable unto
us than they were at the breaking out of the present
troubles.
I had the happiness of giving my first votes in
Parliament for that pacification. I was one of those
almost unanimous members who, in the necessary
concessions of Parliament, would as much as possible
have preserved its authority and respected its honor.
I could not at once tear from my heart prejudices
which were dear to me, and which bore a resemblance to virtue. I had then, and I have still, my partialities. What Parliament gave up I wished to
be given as of grace and favor and affection, and not
as a restitution of stolen goods. High dignity reilented as it was soothed; and a benignity from old acknowledged greatness had its full effect on our
dependencies. Our unlimited declaration of legislative authority produced not a single murmur. If this undefined power has become odious since that
time, and full of horror to the colonies, it is because
the un. ! suspicious confidence is lost, and the parental
affection, in the bosom of whose boundless authority
they reposed their privileges, is become estranged
and hostile.
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It will' be asked, if such was then my opinion of
the mode of pacification, how I came to be the very
person who moved, not only for a repeal of all the
late coercive statutes, but for mutilating, by a positive law, the entireness of the legislative power of
Parliament, and cutting off from it the whole right
of taxation. I answer, Because a different state of
things requires a different conduct. When the dispute had gone to these last extremities, (which no
man labored more to prevent than I did,) the concessions which had satisfied in the beginning could satisfy no longer; because the violation\ of tacit faith required explicit security. The same cause which
has introduced all formal compacts and covenants
among men made it necessary: I mean habits of
soreness, jealousy, and distrust. I parted with it as
with a limb, but as a limb to save the body: and I
would have parted with more, if more had been necessary; anything rather than a fruitless, hopeless,
unnatural civil war. This mode of yielding would,
it is said, give way to independency without a war.
I am persuaded, from the nature of things, and from
every information, that it would have had a directly
contrary effect. But if it had this effect, I confess
that I should prefer independency without war to
independency with it; and. I have so much trust
in the inclinations and prejudices of mankind, and
so little in anything else, that I should expect ten
times more benefit to this kingdom from the affection
of America, though under a separate establishment,
than from her perfect submission to the crown and
Parliament, accompanied with her terror, disgust,
and abhorrence. Bodies tied together by so unnatural" a bond of union as mutual hatred are only
connected to their ruin.
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One hundred and ten respectable members of Parliament voted for that concession. Many not present
Vhen the motion was made were of tile sentiments of
those who voted. I knew it would then have made
peace. I am not without hopes that it would do so at
present, if it were adopted. No benefit, no revenue,
could be:lost by it; something might possibly be
gained by its consequences. For be fully assured,
that, of all the phantoms that ever deluded the fond
hopes of a credulous world, a Parliamentary revenue
in the colonies is the most perfectly chimerical. Your
breaking them to any subjection, far from relieving
your burdens, (the pretext for this war,) will never
pay that military force which will be kept up to the
destruction of their liberties and yours. I risk nothing in this prophecy.
Gentlemen, you have my opinions on the present
state of public affairs. Mean as they may be in themselves, your partiality has made them of some importance. Without troubling myself to inquire whether I am under a formal obligation to it, I have a pleasure-in accounting for my conduct to my constituents.
I feel warmly on this subject, and I express myself as
I feel. If I presume to blame any public proceeding,
I:cannot be supposed to be personal. Would to God
I could be suspected of it! My fault might be greater, but the public calamity would be less extensive.
If my conduct has not been able to make any impression on the warm part of that ancient and powerful
party with whose support I was not honored at my
election, on my side, my respect, regard, and duty to
them is not at all lessened.
I owe the gentlemen who
compose it-my most -humble service in everything.
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I hope that whenever any of them were pleased to
command me, that they found me perfectly equal in
my obedience. But flattery and friendship are very
different things; and to mislead is not to serve them.
I cannot purchase the favor of any man by concealing
from him what I think his ruin.
By the favor of my fellow-citizens, I am the representative of an honest, well-ordered, virtuous city, -
of a people who preserve more of the original English
simplicity and purity of manners than perhaps any
other. You possess among you several men and
magistrates of large and cultivated understandings,
fit for any employment in any sphere. I do, to the
best of my power, act so as to make myself worthy of
so honorable a choice. If I were ready, on any call
of my own vanity or interest, or to answer any election purpose, to forsake principles (whatever they
are) which I had formed at a mature age, on full reflection, and which had been confirmed by long experience, I should forfeit the only thing which makes you pardon so many errors and imperfections in me.
Not that I think it fit for any one to rely too much
on his own understanding, or to be filled with a presumption not becoming a Christian man in his own
personal stability and rectitude. I hope I am far
from that vain confidence which almost always fails
in trial. I know my weakness in all respects, as
much at least as any enemy I have; and I attempt
to take security against it. The only method which
has ever been found effectual to preserve any man
against the corruption of nature and example is an
habit of life and communication of councils with the
most virtuous and public-spirited men of the age you
live in. Such a society cannot be kept without ad
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF MB1ISTOL. 239
vantage, or deserted without shame. For this rule
of conduct I may be called in reproach a party
man; but I am little affected with such aspersions.
In the way which they call party I worship the Constitution of your fathers; and I shall never blush
for my political company. All reverence to honor,
all idea of what it is, will be lost out of the world,
before it can be imputed as a fault to any man, that
he has been closely connected with those incomparable persons, living and dead, with whom for eleven years I have constantly thought and acted. If I have wandered out of the paths of rectitude into those
of interested faction, it was in company with the Saviles, the Dowdeswells, the Wentworths, the Bentincks;
with the Lenoxes, the Manchesters, the Keppels, the
Saunderses; with the temperate, permanent, hereditary virtue of the whole house of Cavendish: names,
among which, some have extended your fame and
empire iln arms, and all have fought the battle of your
liberties in fields not less glorious. These, and many
more like these, grafting public principles on private
honor, have redeemed the present age, and would
have adorned the most splendid period in your history. Where could any man, conscious of his own
inability to act alone, and. willing to act as he ought
to )do, have arranged himself better? If any one
thinks this kind of society to be taken up as the best
method of gratifying low personal pride or ambitious
interest, he is mistaken, and knows nothing of the
world.
Preferring this connection, I do not mean to detract
in the slightest degree from others. There are some
of those whom I admire at something of a greater
distance, with whom I have had the happiness also
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perfectly to agree, in almost all the particulars in
which I have differed with some successive administrations; and they are such as it never can be reputable to any government to reckon among its enemies. I hope there are none of you corrupted with the
doctrine taught by wicked men for the worst purposes, and received by the malignant credulity of envy
and ignorance, which is, that the men who act upon
the public stage are all alike, all equally corrupt, all
influenced by no other views than the sordid lure of
salary and pension. The thing I know by experience
to be false. Never expecting to find perfection in
men, and not looking for divine attributes in created
beings, in my commerce with my contemporaries I
have found much human virtue. I have seen not a
little public spirit, a real subordination of interest to
duty, and a decent and regulated sensibility to honest fame and reputation. The age unquestionably
produces (whether in a greater or less number than
former times I know not) daring profligates and insidious hypocrites. What then? Am I not to avail
myself of whatever good is to be found in the world,
because of the mixture of evil that will always be in
it? The smallness of the quantity in currency only
heightens the value. They who raise suspicions on
the good on account of the behavior of ill men are
of the party of the latter. The common cant is no
justification for taking this party. I have been deceived, say they, by Titius and Macevius; I have been
the dupe of this pretender or- of that mountebank;
and I can trust appearances no longer. But my credulity and want of discernment cannot, as I conceive,
amount to a fair presumption against any man's integrity. A conscientious person would rather doubt
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 241
his own judgment than condemn his species. He
would say, "I have observed without attention, or
judged upon erroneous maxims; I trusted to profession, when I ought to have attended to conduct. "
Such a man will grow wise, not malignant, by his acquaintance with the world. But he that accuses all mankind of corruption ought to remember that he is
sure to convict only one. In truth, I should much
rather admit those whom at any time I have disrelk
ished the most to be patterns of perfection than seek
a consolation to my own unworthiness in a general
communion of depravity with all about me.
That this ill-natured doctrine should be preached
by the missionaries of a court I do not wonder. It
answers their purpose. But that it should be heard
among those'who pretend to be strong assertors of
liberty is not only surprising, but hardly natural.
This moral levelling is a servile principle. It leads to
practical passive obedience far better than all the doctrines which the pliant accommodation of theology to power has ever produced. ' It cuts up by the roots,
not only all idea of forcible resistance, but even of
civil opposition. It disposes men to an abject submission, not by opinion, which may be shaken by argument or altered by passion, but by the strong ties.
of public and private interest. - For, if all men who act
in A public situation are equally selfish, corrupt, and
venal, what reason can be given for desiring any sort
of change, which, besides the evils which must attend
all changes, can be productive of no possible advantage? The active men in the state are true samples
of the mass. If they are universally depraved, the
commonwealth itself is not sound. We may amuse
ourselves with talking as much as we please of the
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virtue, of middle or humble life; that is, we may
place our confidence in the virtue of those who have
never been tried. But if the persons who are continually emerging out of that sphere be no better than those whom birth has placed above it, what hopes are
there. in the remainder of the body which is to furnish the perpetual succession of the state? All who
have ever written on government are unanimous,
that among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot
long exist. And, indeed, how is it possible, when
those who are to make the laws, to guard, to enforce,
or to obey them, are, by a tacit confederacy of manners, indisposed to the spirit of all generous and noble institutions?
I am aware that the age is not what we all wish.
But I am sure that the only means of checking its
precipitate degeneracy is heartily to concur with
whatever is the best in our time, and to have some
more correct standard of judging what that best is
than the transient and uncertain favor of a court. If
once we are able to find, and can prevail on ourselves
to strengthen an union of such men, whatever accidentally becomes indisposed to ill-exercised power, even by the ordinary operation of human passions, must
join with that society, and cannot long be joined
without in some degree assimilating to it. Virtue
will catch as well as vice by contact; and the public
stock of honest, manly principle will daily accumulate. We are not too nicely to scrutinize motives as
long as action is irreproachable. It is enough (and
for a worthy man perhaps too much) to deal out its
infamy to convicted guilt and declared apostasy.
This, Gentlemen, has been from the beginning the
rule of my conduct; and I mean to continue it, as
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 243
long as such a body as I have described can by any
possibility be kept together; for I should think it the
most dreadful of all offences, not only towards the
present generation, but to all the future, if I were to
do anything which could make the minutest breach in
this great conservatory of free principles. Those who
perhaps have the same intentions, but are separated
by some little political animosities, will, I hope, discern at last how little conducive it is to any rational
purpose to lower its reputation. For my part, Gentlemen, from much experience, from no little thinking,
and from comparing a great variety of things, I am
thoroughly persuaded that the last hopes of preserving the spirit of the English Constitution, or of reuniting the dissipated members of the English race upon a common plan of tranquillity and liberty, does entirely depend on their firm and lasting union, and
above all on their keeping themselves from that despair which is so very apt to fall on those whom
a violence of character and a mixture of ambitious
views do not support through a longs painful, and
unsuccessful struggle:
There never, Gentlemen, was a period in which the
steadfastness of some men has been put to so sore a
trial. It is not very difficult for well-formed minds
to abandon their interest; but the separation of fame
and virtue is an harsh divorce. Liberty is in danger
of being made unpopular to Englishmen. Contending for an imaginary power, we begin to acquire the
spirit of domination, and to lose the relish of honest
equality. The principles of our forefathers become
suspected to us, because we see them animating the
present opposition of our children. . The faults which
grow out of the luxuriance of freedom appear much.
? ? ? ? 244 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF. BRISTOL.
more shocking to us than the base vices which are generated from the rankness of servitude. Accordingly, the least resistance to power appears more inexcusable in our eyes than the greatest abuses of authority. All dread of a standing military force is looked upon
as a superstitious panic. All shame of calling in foreigners and savages in a civil contest is worn off. We grow indifferent to the consequences inevitable to ourselves from the plan of ruling half the empire by a mercenary sword. We are taught to believe that a
desire of domineering over our countrymen is love to
our country, that those who hate civil war abet rebellion, and that the amiable and conciliatory virtues of lenity, moderation, and tenderness to the privileges
of those who depend on this kingdom are a sort of
treason to the state.
It is impossible that we should remain long in a
situation which breeds such notions and dispositions
without some great alteration in the national character. Those ingenuous and feeling minds who are so fortified against all other things, and so unarmed to
whatever approaches in the shape of disgrace, finding
these principles, which they considered as sure means
of honor, to be grown into disrepute, will retire disheartened and disgusted. Those of a more robust
make, the bold, able, ambitious men, who pay some
of their court to power through the people, and substitute the voice of transient opinion in the place of true glory, will give into the general mode; and those
superior understandings which ought to correct vulgar prejudice will confirm and aggravate its errors. Many things have been long operating towards a
gradual change in our principles; but this American war has done more in a very few years than all
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 245
the other causes could have effected in a century. It
is therefore not on its own separate account, but because of its attendant circumstances, that I consider its continuance, or its ending in any way but that of
an honorable and liberal accommodation, as the greatest evils which can befall us. For that reason I have troubled you with this long letter. For that reason
I entreat you, again and again, neither to be persuaded,
shamed, or frighted out of the principles that have
hitherto led so many of you to abhor the war, its
cause, and its consequences. Let us not be amongst
the first who renounce the maxims of our forefathers.
I have the honor to be,
Gentlemen,
Your most obedient and faithful humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
BEACONSFIELD, April 3, 1777.
P. S. You may communicate this letter in any
manner you think proper to my constituents.
? ? ? ? TWO LETTERS
TO
GENTLEMEN IN THE CITY OF BRISTOL,
ON THE
BILLS DEPENDING IN PARLIAMENT RELATIVE TO THE TRADE OF IRELAND.
778.
? ? ? ? LETTERS.
TO SAMUEL SPAN, EsQ. ,. MASTER OF THE SOCIETY OF MERCHANTS ADVENTURERS OF BRISTOL.
SIR, -I am honored with your letter of the 13th,
k in answer to mine, which accompanied the resolutions of the House relative to the trade of Ireland.
You will be so good as to present my best respects
to the Society, and to assure them that it was altogether unnecessary to remind me of the interest of
the constituents. I have never regarded anything
else since I had a seat in Parliament. Having frequently and maturely considered that interest, and
stated it to myself in almost every point of view, I
am persuaded, that, under the present circumstances,
I cannot more effectually pursue it than by giving
all the support in my power to the propositions which
I lately transmitted to the Hall.
The fault I find in the scheme is, that it falls
extremely short of that liberality in the commercial
system which I trust will one day be adopted. If
I had not considered the present resolutions merely
as preparatory to better things, and as a means of
showing, experimentally, that justice to others is not
always folly to ourselves, I should have contented myself with receiving them in a cold and silent acquiescence. Separately considered, they are matters of no very great importance. But they aim, howeve.
imperfectly, at a right principle. I submit to the re
? ? ? ? 250 TWO LETTERS TO GENTLEMEN IN BRISTOL. straint to appease prejudice; I accept the enlarge. ment, so far as it goes, as the result of reason and of sound policy.
We cannot be insensible of the calamities which
have been brought upon this nation by an obstinate
adherence to narrow and restrictive plans of government. I confess, I cannot prevail on myself to take them up precisely at a time when the most decisive
experience has taught the rest of the world to lay
them down. The propositions in question did not
originate from me, or from my particular friends.
But when things are so right in themselves, I hold it
my duty not to inquire from what hands they come.
I opposed the American measures upon the very same
principle on which I: support those that relate to Ireland. I was convinced that the evils which have arisen from the adoption of the former would be infinitely aggravated by the rejection of the latter. Perhaps gentlemen are not yet fully aware of the
situation of their country, and what its exigencies
absolutely require. I find 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 fatal symptom, if, in our present distressed
and adverse circumstances, we should persist in the
errors which are natural only to prosperity. One
cannot, indeed, sufficiently lament the continuance
of that spirit of delusion, by which, for a long time
past, we have thought fit to measure our necessities by
our inclinations. Moderation, prudence, and equity
are far more suitable to our condition than loftiness,
and confidence, and rigor. We are threatened by
enemies of no small magnitude, whom, if we think fit,
we may despise, as we have despised others; but they
? ? ? ? TWO LETTERS TO GENTLEMEN IN BRISTOL. 251
are enemies who can only cease to be truly formidable by our entertaining a due respect for their power.
Our danger will not be lessened by our shutting our
eyes to it; nor will our force abroad be increased by
rendering ourselves feeble and divided at home.
There is a dreadful schism in the British nation.
Since we are not able to reunite the empire, it is our
business to give all possible vigor and soundness to
those parts of it which are still content to be governed
by our councils. Sir, it is proper to inform you that
our measures must be healing. Such a degree of
strength must be communicated to all the members
of the state as may enable them to defend themselves, and to cooperate in the defence of the whole.
Their temper, too, must be managed, and their good
affections cultivated. They may then be disposed to
bear the load with cheerfulness, as a contribution
towards what may be called with truth and propriety, and not by an empty form of words, a common
cause. Too little dependence cannot be had, at this
time of day, on names and prejudices. The eyes of
mankind are opened, and communities must be held
together by an evident and solid interest. God forbid that our conduct should demonstrate to the
world that Great Britain can in no instance whatsoever be brought to a sense of rational and equitable policy but by coercion and force of arms! I wish you to recollect with what powers of conces
sion, relatively to commerce, as well as to legislation,
his Majesty's commissioners to the United Colonies
have sailed from England within this week. Whether
these powers are sufficient for their purposes it is not
now my business to examine. But we all know that
our resolutions in favor of Ireland are trifling and
? ? ? ? 25~2. TWO LETTERS TO GENTLEMEN IN BRISTOL. insignificant, when compared with the concessions to the Americans. At such a juncture, I would implore every man, who retains the least spark of regard to the yet remaining honor and security of this country, not to compel others to an imitation of their conduct, or by passion and violence to force them to seek in the territories of the separation that freedom and those'advantages.
not questioned; and yet many things indubitably included in the abstract idea of that power, and which
carry no absolute injustice in themselves, yet being
contrary to the opinions and feelings of the people,
can as little be exercised as if Parliament in that
case had been possessed of no right at all. I see no
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 225
abstract'reason, which can be given, why the same
power which made and repealed the High Commission Court and the Star-Chamber might not revive
them again; and these courts, warned by their former fate, might possibly exercise their powers with
some degree of justice. But the madness would be
as unquestionable as the competence of that Parliament which should attempt such things. If anything can be supposed out of the power of human legislature, it is religion; I admit, however, that the
established religion of this country has been three or
four times altered by act of Parliament, and therefore that a, statute binds even in that case. But we
may very safely affirm, that, notwithstanding this apparent omnipotence, it would be now found as impossible for King and Parliament to alter the established religion of this country as it was to King James
alone, when he attempted to make such an alteration without a Parliament. In effect, to follow, not
to force, the public inclination, -- to give a direction, a
form, a technical dress, and a specific sanction, to the
general sense of the community, is the true end of
legislature.
It is so. with regard to the exercise of all the powers which our Constitution knows in any of its parts,
and indeed to the substantial existence of any of the
parts themselves. The king's negative to bills is one
of the most indisputed of the royal prerogatives; and
it extends to all cases whatsoever. I am far from
certain, that if several laws, which I know, had fallen
under. the stroke of that sceptre, that the public
would have had a very heavy loss. But it is not the,
propriety of the exercise which is in question. The
exercise itself is wisely forborne. Its repose may be.
VOL. II. 15
? ? ? ? 226 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
the preservation of its existence; and its existence
may be the means of saving the Constitution itself, on
an occasion worthy of bringing it forth.
As the disputants whose accurate and logical reasonings have brought us into our present condition
think it absurd that powers or members of any constitution should exist, rarely, if ever, to be exercised,
I hope I shall be excused in mentioning another instance that is material. We know that the Convocation of the Clergy had formerly been called, and sat
with nearly as much regularity to business as Parliament itself. It is now called for form only. It sits for
the purpose of making some polite ecclesiastical compliments to the king, and, when that grace is said, retires and is heard of no more. It is, however, apart of the Constitution, and may be called out into act and
energy, whenever there is occasion, and whenever
those who conjure up that spirit will choose to abide
the consequences. It is wise to permit its legal existence: it is much wiser to continue it a legal existence
only. So truly has prudence (constituted as the god of
this lower world) the entire dominion over every exercise of power committed into its hands! And yet I
have lived to see prudence and conformity to circumstances wholly set at nought in our late controversies,
and treated as if they were the most contemptible and
irrational of all things. I have heard it an hundred
times very gravely alleged, that, in order to keep
power in wind, it was necessary, by preference, to
exert it in those very points in which it was most
likely to be resisted and the least likely to be productive of any advantage.
These were the considerations, Gentlemen, which
led me early to think, that, in the comprehensive
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 227
dominion which the Divine Providence had' put into
our hands, instead of troubling our understandings
with speculations concerning the unity of empire
and the identity or distinction of legislative powers,
and inflaming our passions with'the heat and pride
of controversy, it was our duty, in all soberness, to
conform our government to the character and circumstances of the several people who composed this
mighty and strangely diversified mass. I never was
wild enough to conceive that one method would serve
for the whole, that the natives of Hindostan and those
of Virginia could be ordered in the same manner,
or that the Cutchery'court and the grand jury of
Salem. could be regulated on a similar plan. I was
persuaded that government was a practical thing,
made for the happiness of mankind, and not to furnish
out a spectacle of uniformity to gratify. the schemes
of visionary politicians. Our business was to rule,
not to wrangle; and it would' have been a poor compensation that we had triumphed in a dispute, whilst
we lost an empire.
If there be one fact in the world perfectly clear, it
is this, --" that the disposition of the people of America is wholly averse to any other than a free government"; and this is indication enough to any honest statesman how he onght to adapt whatever power he
finds in his hands -to their case. If any ask me what
a free government is, I answer, that, for any practical purpose, it is what the people think so,- and that
they, and not I, are the natural, lawful, and competent judges of this matter. If they practically'allow
me a greater degree of authority over them than is
consistent with any correct ideas of perfect freedom,
I ought to thank them for so great a trust, and not to
? ? ? ? 228 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
endeavor to prove from thence that they have reasoned amiss, and that, having gone so far, by analogy they must hereafter have no enjoyment but by my
pleasure.
If we had seen this done by any others, we should
have concluded them far gone in madness. It is melancholy, as well as ridiculous, to observe the kind of reasoning with which the public has been amused, in
order to divert our minds from the common sense of
our American policy. There are people who have
split and anatomized the doctrine of free government,
as if it were an abstract question concerning metaphysical liberty and necessity; and not a matter of moral prudence and natural feeling. They have disputed whether liberty be a positive or a negative idea; whether it does not consist in being governed by laws,
without considering what are the laws, or who are the
makers; whether man has any rights by Nature; and
whether all the property he enjoys be not the alms of
his' government, and his life itself their favor and indulgence. 'Others, corrupting religion as these have perverted'philosophy, contend that Christians are redeemed into captivity, and the blood of the Saviour of mankind has been shed to make them the slaves
of a few proud and insolent sinners. These shocking
extremes provoking to extremes of another kind, speculations are let loose as destructive to all authority as the former' are to all freedom; and every government is called tyranny and usurpation which is not formed on their fancies. In this manner the stirrersup of this contention, not satisfied with distracting
our dependencies and filling' them with blood and
slaughter, are corrupting our understandings: they
are endeavoring to tear up, along with practical lib
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 229
erty, all the foundations of human society, all equity
and justice, religion and order.
Civil freedom, Gentlemen, is not, as many have
endeavored to persuade you, a thing that lies hid in
the depth of abstruse science. It is a blessing and a
benefit, not an abstract speculation; and all the just
reasoning that can be upon it is of so coarse a texture as perfectly to suit the ordinary capacities of
those who are to enjoy, and of those who are to defend it. Far from any resemblance to those propositions in geometry and metaphysics whiich admit no medium, but must be true or false in all their latitude, social and civil freedom, like all other things in
common life, are variously mixed and modified, enjoyed in very different degrees, and shaped into an
infinite diversity of forms, according to the temper
and circumstances of every community. The extreme
of liberty (which is its abstract perfection, but its real
fault) obtains nowhere, nor ought to obtain anywhere;
because extremes, as we all know, in every point which
relates either to our duties or satisfactions in life, are
destructive both to virtue and enjoyment. Liberty,
too, must be limited in order to be possessed. The
degree of restraint it is impossible in any case to settle precisely. But it ought to be the constant aim of
every wise public counsel to find out by cautious experiments, and rational, cool endeavors, with how little, not how much, of this restraint the community can subsist: for liberty is a good to be improved, and
not an evil to be lessened. It is not only a private
blessing of the first order, but the vital spring and
energy of the state itself, which has just so much life
and vigor as there is liberty in it. But whether liberty be advantageous or not, (for I know it is a fash
? ? ? ? 230 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
ion to decry the very principle,) none will dispute
that peace is a blessing; and peace must, in the
course of human affairs, be frequently bought by
some indulgence and toleration at least to liberty:
for, as the Sabbath (though of divine institution) was
made for man, not man for the Sabbath, government,
which can claim no higher origin or authority, in its
exercise at least, ought to conform to the exigencies
of the time, and the temper and character of the people with whom it is concerned, and not always to attempt violently to bend the people to their theories of subjection. The bulk of mankind, on their part,
are not excessively curious concerning any theories
whilst they are really happy; and one sure symptom
of an ill-conducted state is the propensity of the people to resort to them.
But when subjects, by a long course of such ill
conduct, are once thoroughly inflamed, and the state
itself violently distempered, the people must have
some satisfaction to their feelings more solid than a
sophistical speculation on law and government. Such
was our situation: and such a satisfaction was necessary to prevent recourse to arms; it was necessary
towards laying them down; it will be necessary to
prevent the taking them up again and again. Of
what nature this satisfaction ought to be I wish it
had been the disposition of Parliament seriously to
consider. It was certainly a deliberation that called
for the exertion of all their wisdom.
I am, and ever have been, deeply sensible of the
difficulty of reconciling the. strong presiding power,
that is so useful towards the conservation of a vast,
disconnected, infinitely diversified empire, with that
liberty and safety of the provinces which they must
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THIE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 231
enjoy, (in opinion and practice at least,) or they will
not be provinces at all. I know, and have long felt,
the difficulty of reconciling the unwieldy haughtiness
of a great ruling nation, habituated to command, pampered by enormous wealth, and confident from a long
course of prosperity and victory, to the high spirit of
free dependencies, animated with the first glow and
activity of juvenile heat, and assuming to themselves,
as their birthright, some part of that very pride which
oppresses them. They who perceive no difficulty in
reconciling these tempers (which, however, to make
peace, must: some way or other be reconciled) are
much above my capacity, or much below the magnitude of the business. Of one thing I am perfectly
clear: that it is not by deciding the suit, but by compromising the difference, that peace can be restored
or kept. They who would put an end to such quarrels by declaring roundly in favor of the whole demands of either party have mistaken, in my humble opinion, the office of a mediator.
The war is now of full two years' standing: the
controversy of many more. In different periods of
the dispute, different methods of reconciliation were
to be pursued. I mean to trouble you with a short
state of things at the most important of these periods,
i'i order to give you a more distinct idea of our policy with regard to' this most delicate of all objects.
The colonies were from the beginning subject to the
legislature of Great Britain on principles which they
never examined; and we permitted to them many
local privileges, without asking how they agreed with
that legislative authority. Modes of administration
were formed in an insensible and very unsystematic
manner. But they gradually adapted themselves to
? ? ? ? 232 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
the varying condition of things. What was first a sin.
gle kingdom stretched into an empire; and an imperial superintendency, of some kind or other, became
necessary. Parliament, from a mere representative of
the people, and a guardian of popular privileges for its
own immediate constituents, grew into a mighty sovereign. Instead of being a control on the crown on
its own behalf, it communicated a sort of strength to
the royal authority, which was wanted for the conservation of a new object, but which could not be safely
trusted to the crown alone. On the other hand, the
colonies, advancing by equal steps, and governed by
the same necessity, had formed within themselves,
either by royal instruction or royal charter, assemblies so exceedingly resembling a parliament, in all
their forms, functions, and powers, that it was impossible they should not imbibe some opinion of a similar authority.
At the first designation of these assemblies, they
were probably not intended for anything more (nor
perhaps did they think themselves much higher)
than the municipal corporations within this island, to
which some at present love to compare them. But
nothing in progression can rest on its original plan.
We may as well think of rocking a grown man in the
cradle of an infant. Therefore, as the colonies prospered and increased to a numerous and mighty people, spreading over a very great tract of the globe,
it was natural that they should attribute to assemblies so respectable in their formal constitution some
part of the dignity of the great nations which they
represented. No longer tied to by-laws, these assemblies made acts of all sorts and in all cases whatsoever. They levied money, not for parochial purposes,
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE' SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 233
-but upon regular grants to the crown, following all
the rules and principles of a parliament, to which
they approached every day more and more neariy.
Those who think themselves wiser than Previdence
and stronger than the course of Nature' may complain of all this variation, on the one side or the
other, as their several humors and prejudices may
lead them. But things could not be otherwise; and
English colonies must be had on these terms, or not
had at all. In the mean time neither party felt any
inconvenience from this double legislature, to which
they had been formed by imperceptible habits, and
old custom, the great support of all the governments
in the world. Though these two legislatures were
sometimes found perhaps performing the very same
functions, they did not very grossly or systematically
clash. In all likelihood this arose from mere neglect,
possibly from the natural operation of things, which,
left to themselves, generally fall into their proper
order. But whatever was the cause, it is certain
that a regular revenue, by the authority of Parliament, for the support of civil and'military establishments, seems not to have been thought of until the colonies were too proud to submit, too strong to be
forced, too enlightened not to see all the consequences which must arise from such a system.
If ever this scheme of taxation was to be pushed
against the inclinations of the people, it was evident
that discussions must arise, which would let loose all
the elements that composed this double constitution,
would show how much each of their members had
departed from its original principles, and would discover contradictions in each legislature, as well to its
own first principles as to its relation to the other,
? ? ? ? 234 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
very difficult, if not absolutely impossible, to be rec.
onciled. :Therefore, at the first fatal opening of this contest,
the wisest course seemed to be to put an end as soon
as possible' to the immediate causes of the dispute,
and to quiet a discussion, not easily settled upon
clear principles, and arising from claims which pride
would permit neither party to abandon, by resorting
as nearly as possible to the old, successful course. A
mere repeal of the obnoxious tax, with a declaration
of the legislative authority of this kingdom, was then
fully sufficient to procure peace to both sides. Man
is a creature of habit, and, the first breach being of
very short continuance, the colonies fell back exactly
into their ancient state. The Congress has used an
expression with regard to this pacification which
appears to me truly significant. After'the repeal of
the Stamp Act, " the colonies fell," says this assembly, "' into their ancient state of unsuspecting confidence in the mother country. " This unsuspecting confidence is the true centre of gravity amongst mankind, about which all the parts are at rest. It is this unsuspecting confidence that removes all difficulties,
and reconciles all the contradictions which occur in
the complexity of all ancient puzzled political establishments. Happy are the rulers which have the
secret of preserving it!
The whole empire has reason to remember with
eternal gratitude the wisdom and temper of that
man and his excellent associates, who, to recover this
confidence, formed a plan of pacification in 1766.
That plan, being built upon the nature of man, and
the circumstances and habits of the two countries, and
not on any visionary speculations, perfectly answered
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 235
its end, as long as it was thought proper to -adhere to
it. Without giving a rude shock to the dignity (well
or ill understood) of this Parliament, they gave perfect content to our dependencies. IHad it not been for the mediatorial spirit and talents of that great
man between such clashing pretensions and passions,
we should then have rushed headlong (I know what
I say) into the calamities of that civil war in which,
by departing from his system, we are at length involved; and we should have been precipitated into that war at a time when circumstances both at home
and abroad were far, very far, more unfavorable unto
us than they were at the breaking out of the present
troubles.
I had the happiness of giving my first votes in
Parliament for that pacification. I was one of those
almost unanimous members who, in the necessary
concessions of Parliament, would as much as possible
have preserved its authority and respected its honor.
I could not at once tear from my heart prejudices
which were dear to me, and which bore a resemblance to virtue. I had then, and I have still, my partialities. What Parliament gave up I wished to
be given as of grace and favor and affection, and not
as a restitution of stolen goods. High dignity reilented as it was soothed; and a benignity from old acknowledged greatness had its full effect on our
dependencies. Our unlimited declaration of legislative authority produced not a single murmur. If this undefined power has become odious since that
time, and full of horror to the colonies, it is because
the un. ! suspicious confidence is lost, and the parental
affection, in the bosom of whose boundless authority
they reposed their privileges, is become estranged
and hostile.
? ? ? ? 236 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
It will' be asked, if such was then my opinion of
the mode of pacification, how I came to be the very
person who moved, not only for a repeal of all the
late coercive statutes, but for mutilating, by a positive law, the entireness of the legislative power of
Parliament, and cutting off from it the whole right
of taxation. I answer, Because a different state of
things requires a different conduct. When the dispute had gone to these last extremities, (which no
man labored more to prevent than I did,) the concessions which had satisfied in the beginning could satisfy no longer; because the violation\ of tacit faith required explicit security. The same cause which
has introduced all formal compacts and covenants
among men made it necessary: I mean habits of
soreness, jealousy, and distrust. I parted with it as
with a limb, but as a limb to save the body: and I
would have parted with more, if more had been necessary; anything rather than a fruitless, hopeless,
unnatural civil war. This mode of yielding would,
it is said, give way to independency without a war.
I am persuaded, from the nature of things, and from
every information, that it would have had a directly
contrary effect. But if it had this effect, I confess
that I should prefer independency without war to
independency with it; and. I have so much trust
in the inclinations and prejudices of mankind, and
so little in anything else, that I should expect ten
times more benefit to this kingdom from the affection
of America, though under a separate establishment,
than from her perfect submission to the crown and
Parliament, accompanied with her terror, disgust,
and abhorrence. Bodies tied together by so unnatural" a bond of union as mutual hatred are only
connected to their ruin.
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL-. 237
One hundred and ten respectable members of Parliament voted for that concession. Many not present
Vhen the motion was made were of tile sentiments of
those who voted. I knew it would then have made
peace. I am not without hopes that it would do so at
present, if it were adopted. No benefit, no revenue,
could be:lost by it; something might possibly be
gained by its consequences. For be fully assured,
that, of all the phantoms that ever deluded the fond
hopes of a credulous world, a Parliamentary revenue
in the colonies is the most perfectly chimerical. Your
breaking them to any subjection, far from relieving
your burdens, (the pretext for this war,) will never
pay that military force which will be kept up to the
destruction of their liberties and yours. I risk nothing in this prophecy.
Gentlemen, you have my opinions on the present
state of public affairs. Mean as they may be in themselves, your partiality has made them of some importance. Without troubling myself to inquire whether I am under a formal obligation to it, I have a pleasure-in accounting for my conduct to my constituents.
I feel warmly on this subject, and I express myself as
I feel. If I presume to blame any public proceeding,
I:cannot be supposed to be personal. Would to God
I could be suspected of it! My fault might be greater, but the public calamity would be less extensive.
If my conduct has not been able to make any impression on the warm part of that ancient and powerful
party with whose support I was not honored at my
election, on my side, my respect, regard, and duty to
them is not at all lessened.
I owe the gentlemen who
compose it-my most -humble service in everything.
? ? ? ? 238 LETTER- TO- THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL'.
I hope that whenever any of them were pleased to
command me, that they found me perfectly equal in
my obedience. But flattery and friendship are very
different things; and to mislead is not to serve them.
I cannot purchase the favor of any man by concealing
from him what I think his ruin.
By the favor of my fellow-citizens, I am the representative of an honest, well-ordered, virtuous city, -
of a people who preserve more of the original English
simplicity and purity of manners than perhaps any
other. You possess among you several men and
magistrates of large and cultivated understandings,
fit for any employment in any sphere. I do, to the
best of my power, act so as to make myself worthy of
so honorable a choice. If I were ready, on any call
of my own vanity or interest, or to answer any election purpose, to forsake principles (whatever they
are) which I had formed at a mature age, on full reflection, and which had been confirmed by long experience, I should forfeit the only thing which makes you pardon so many errors and imperfections in me.
Not that I think it fit for any one to rely too much
on his own understanding, or to be filled with a presumption not becoming a Christian man in his own
personal stability and rectitude. I hope I am far
from that vain confidence which almost always fails
in trial. I know my weakness in all respects, as
much at least as any enemy I have; and I attempt
to take security against it. The only method which
has ever been found effectual to preserve any man
against the corruption of nature and example is an
habit of life and communication of councils with the
most virtuous and public-spirited men of the age you
live in. Such a society cannot be kept without ad
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF MB1ISTOL. 239
vantage, or deserted without shame. For this rule
of conduct I may be called in reproach a party
man; but I am little affected with such aspersions.
In the way which they call party I worship the Constitution of your fathers; and I shall never blush
for my political company. All reverence to honor,
all idea of what it is, will be lost out of the world,
before it can be imputed as a fault to any man, that
he has been closely connected with those incomparable persons, living and dead, with whom for eleven years I have constantly thought and acted. If I have wandered out of the paths of rectitude into those
of interested faction, it was in company with the Saviles, the Dowdeswells, the Wentworths, the Bentincks;
with the Lenoxes, the Manchesters, the Keppels, the
Saunderses; with the temperate, permanent, hereditary virtue of the whole house of Cavendish: names,
among which, some have extended your fame and
empire iln arms, and all have fought the battle of your
liberties in fields not less glorious. These, and many
more like these, grafting public principles on private
honor, have redeemed the present age, and would
have adorned the most splendid period in your history. Where could any man, conscious of his own
inability to act alone, and. willing to act as he ought
to )do, have arranged himself better? If any one
thinks this kind of society to be taken up as the best
method of gratifying low personal pride or ambitious
interest, he is mistaken, and knows nothing of the
world.
Preferring this connection, I do not mean to detract
in the slightest degree from others. There are some
of those whom I admire at something of a greater
distance, with whom I have had the happiness also
? ? ? ? 240 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
perfectly to agree, in almost all the particulars in
which I have differed with some successive administrations; and they are such as it never can be reputable to any government to reckon among its enemies. I hope there are none of you corrupted with the
doctrine taught by wicked men for the worst purposes, and received by the malignant credulity of envy
and ignorance, which is, that the men who act upon
the public stage are all alike, all equally corrupt, all
influenced by no other views than the sordid lure of
salary and pension. The thing I know by experience
to be false. Never expecting to find perfection in
men, and not looking for divine attributes in created
beings, in my commerce with my contemporaries I
have found much human virtue. I have seen not a
little public spirit, a real subordination of interest to
duty, and a decent and regulated sensibility to honest fame and reputation. The age unquestionably
produces (whether in a greater or less number than
former times I know not) daring profligates and insidious hypocrites. What then? Am I not to avail
myself of whatever good is to be found in the world,
because of the mixture of evil that will always be in
it? The smallness of the quantity in currency only
heightens the value. They who raise suspicions on
the good on account of the behavior of ill men are
of the party of the latter. The common cant is no
justification for taking this party. I have been deceived, say they, by Titius and Macevius; I have been
the dupe of this pretender or- of that mountebank;
and I can trust appearances no longer. But my credulity and want of discernment cannot, as I conceive,
amount to a fair presumption against any man's integrity. A conscientious person would rather doubt
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 241
his own judgment than condemn his species. He
would say, "I have observed without attention, or
judged upon erroneous maxims; I trusted to profession, when I ought to have attended to conduct. "
Such a man will grow wise, not malignant, by his acquaintance with the world. But he that accuses all mankind of corruption ought to remember that he is
sure to convict only one. In truth, I should much
rather admit those whom at any time I have disrelk
ished the most to be patterns of perfection than seek
a consolation to my own unworthiness in a general
communion of depravity with all about me.
That this ill-natured doctrine should be preached
by the missionaries of a court I do not wonder. It
answers their purpose. But that it should be heard
among those'who pretend to be strong assertors of
liberty is not only surprising, but hardly natural.
This moral levelling is a servile principle. It leads to
practical passive obedience far better than all the doctrines which the pliant accommodation of theology to power has ever produced. ' It cuts up by the roots,
not only all idea of forcible resistance, but even of
civil opposition. It disposes men to an abject submission, not by opinion, which may be shaken by argument or altered by passion, but by the strong ties.
of public and private interest. - For, if all men who act
in A public situation are equally selfish, corrupt, and
venal, what reason can be given for desiring any sort
of change, which, besides the evils which must attend
all changes, can be productive of no possible advantage? The active men in the state are true samples
of the mass. If they are universally depraved, the
commonwealth itself is not sound. We may amuse
ourselves with talking as much as we please of the
VOL. TI. 16
? ? ? ? 242 LETTER TO. THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. ,
virtue, of middle or humble life; that is, we may
place our confidence in the virtue of those who have
never been tried. But if the persons who are continually emerging out of that sphere be no better than those whom birth has placed above it, what hopes are
there. in the remainder of the body which is to furnish the perpetual succession of the state? All who
have ever written on government are unanimous,
that among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot
long exist. And, indeed, how is it possible, when
those who are to make the laws, to guard, to enforce,
or to obey them, are, by a tacit confederacy of manners, indisposed to the spirit of all generous and noble institutions?
I am aware that the age is not what we all wish.
But I am sure that the only means of checking its
precipitate degeneracy is heartily to concur with
whatever is the best in our time, and to have some
more correct standard of judging what that best is
than the transient and uncertain favor of a court. If
once we are able to find, and can prevail on ourselves
to strengthen an union of such men, whatever accidentally becomes indisposed to ill-exercised power, even by the ordinary operation of human passions, must
join with that society, and cannot long be joined
without in some degree assimilating to it. Virtue
will catch as well as vice by contact; and the public
stock of honest, manly principle will daily accumulate. We are not too nicely to scrutinize motives as
long as action is irreproachable. It is enough (and
for a worthy man perhaps too much) to deal out its
infamy to convicted guilt and declared apostasy.
This, Gentlemen, has been from the beginning the
rule of my conduct; and I mean to continue it, as
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 243
long as such a body as I have described can by any
possibility be kept together; for I should think it the
most dreadful of all offences, not only towards the
present generation, but to all the future, if I were to
do anything which could make the minutest breach in
this great conservatory of free principles. Those who
perhaps have the same intentions, but are separated
by some little political animosities, will, I hope, discern at last how little conducive it is to any rational
purpose to lower its reputation. For my part, Gentlemen, from much experience, from no little thinking,
and from comparing a great variety of things, I am
thoroughly persuaded that the last hopes of preserving the spirit of the English Constitution, or of reuniting the dissipated members of the English race upon a common plan of tranquillity and liberty, does entirely depend on their firm and lasting union, and
above all on their keeping themselves from that despair which is so very apt to fall on those whom
a violence of character and a mixture of ambitious
views do not support through a longs painful, and
unsuccessful struggle:
There never, Gentlemen, was a period in which the
steadfastness of some men has been put to so sore a
trial. It is not very difficult for well-formed minds
to abandon their interest; but the separation of fame
and virtue is an harsh divorce. Liberty is in danger
of being made unpopular to Englishmen. Contending for an imaginary power, we begin to acquire the
spirit of domination, and to lose the relish of honest
equality. The principles of our forefathers become
suspected to us, because we see them animating the
present opposition of our children. . The faults which
grow out of the luxuriance of freedom appear much.
? ? ? ? 244 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF. BRISTOL.
more shocking to us than the base vices which are generated from the rankness of servitude. Accordingly, the least resistance to power appears more inexcusable in our eyes than the greatest abuses of authority. All dread of a standing military force is looked upon
as a superstitious panic. All shame of calling in foreigners and savages in a civil contest is worn off. We grow indifferent to the consequences inevitable to ourselves from the plan of ruling half the empire by a mercenary sword. We are taught to believe that a
desire of domineering over our countrymen is love to
our country, that those who hate civil war abet rebellion, and that the amiable and conciliatory virtues of lenity, moderation, and tenderness to the privileges
of those who depend on this kingdom are a sort of
treason to the state.
It is impossible that we should remain long in a
situation which breeds such notions and dispositions
without some great alteration in the national character. Those ingenuous and feeling minds who are so fortified against all other things, and so unarmed to
whatever approaches in the shape of disgrace, finding
these principles, which they considered as sure means
of honor, to be grown into disrepute, will retire disheartened and disgusted. Those of a more robust
make, the bold, able, ambitious men, who pay some
of their court to power through the people, and substitute the voice of transient opinion in the place of true glory, will give into the general mode; and those
superior understandings which ought to correct vulgar prejudice will confirm and aggravate its errors. Many things have been long operating towards a
gradual change in our principles; but this American war has done more in a very few years than all
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 245
the other causes could have effected in a century. It
is therefore not on its own separate account, but because of its attendant circumstances, that I consider its continuance, or its ending in any way but that of
an honorable and liberal accommodation, as the greatest evils which can befall us. For that reason I have troubled you with this long letter. For that reason
I entreat you, again and again, neither to be persuaded,
shamed, or frighted out of the principles that have
hitherto led so many of you to abhor the war, its
cause, and its consequences. Let us not be amongst
the first who renounce the maxims of our forefathers.
I have the honor to be,
Gentlemen,
Your most obedient and faithful humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
BEACONSFIELD, April 3, 1777.
P. S. You may communicate this letter in any
manner you think proper to my constituents.
? ? ? ? TWO LETTERS
TO
GENTLEMEN IN THE CITY OF BRISTOL,
ON THE
BILLS DEPENDING IN PARLIAMENT RELATIVE TO THE TRADE OF IRELAND.
778.
? ? ? ? LETTERS.
TO SAMUEL SPAN, EsQ. ,. MASTER OF THE SOCIETY OF MERCHANTS ADVENTURERS OF BRISTOL.
SIR, -I am honored with your letter of the 13th,
k in answer to mine, which accompanied the resolutions of the House relative to the trade of Ireland.
You will be so good as to present my best respects
to the Society, and to assure them that it was altogether unnecessary to remind me of the interest of
the constituents. I have never regarded anything
else since I had a seat in Parliament. Having frequently and maturely considered that interest, and
stated it to myself in almost every point of view, I
am persuaded, that, under the present circumstances,
I cannot more effectually pursue it than by giving
all the support in my power to the propositions which
I lately transmitted to the Hall.
The fault I find in the scheme is, that it falls
extremely short of that liberality in the commercial
system which I trust will one day be adopted. If
I had not considered the present resolutions merely
as preparatory to better things, and as a means of
showing, experimentally, that justice to others is not
always folly to ourselves, I should have contented myself with receiving them in a cold and silent acquiescence. Separately considered, they are matters of no very great importance. But they aim, howeve.
imperfectly, at a right principle. I submit to the re
? ? ? ? 250 TWO LETTERS TO GENTLEMEN IN BRISTOL. straint to appease prejudice; I accept the enlarge. ment, so far as it goes, as the result of reason and of sound policy.
We cannot be insensible of the calamities which
have been brought upon this nation by an obstinate
adherence to narrow and restrictive plans of government. I confess, I cannot prevail on myself to take them up precisely at a time when the most decisive
experience has taught the rest of the world to lay
them down. The propositions in question did not
originate from me, or from my particular friends.
But when things are so right in themselves, I hold it
my duty not to inquire from what hands they come.
I opposed the American measures upon the very same
principle on which I: support those that relate to Ireland. I was convinced that the evils which have arisen from the adoption of the former would be infinitely aggravated by the rejection of the latter. Perhaps gentlemen are not yet fully aware of the
situation of their country, and what its exigencies
absolutely require. I find 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 fatal symptom, if, in our present distressed
and adverse circumstances, we should persist in the
errors which are natural only to prosperity. One
cannot, indeed, sufficiently lament the continuance
of that spirit of delusion, by which, for a long time
past, we have thought fit to measure our necessities by
our inclinations. Moderation, prudence, and equity
are far more suitable to our condition than loftiness,
and confidence, and rigor. We are threatened by
enemies of no small magnitude, whom, if we think fit,
we may despise, as we have despised others; but they
? ? ? ? TWO LETTERS TO GENTLEMEN IN BRISTOL. 251
are enemies who can only cease to be truly formidable by our entertaining a due respect for their power.
Our danger will not be lessened by our shutting our
eyes to it; nor will our force abroad be increased by
rendering ourselves feeble and divided at home.
There is a dreadful schism in the British nation.
Since we are not able to reunite the empire, it is our
business to give all possible vigor and soundness to
those parts of it which are still content to be governed
by our councils. Sir, it is proper to inform you that
our measures must be healing. Such a degree of
strength must be communicated to all the members
of the state as may enable them to defend themselves, and to cooperate in the defence of the whole.
Their temper, too, must be managed, and their good
affections cultivated. They may then be disposed to
bear the load with cheerfulness, as a contribution
towards what may be called with truth and propriety, and not by an empty form of words, a common
cause. Too little dependence cannot be had, at this
time of day, on names and prejudices. The eyes of
mankind are opened, and communities must be held
together by an evident and solid interest. God forbid that our conduct should demonstrate to the
world that Great Britain can in no instance whatsoever be brought to a sense of rational and equitable policy but by coercion and force of arms! I wish you to recollect with what powers of conces
sion, relatively to commerce, as well as to legislation,
his Majesty's commissioners to the United Colonies
have sailed from England within this week. Whether
these powers are sufficient for their purposes it is not
now my business to examine. But we all know that
our resolutions in favor of Ireland are trifling and
? ? ? ? 25~2. TWO LETTERS TO GENTLEMEN IN BRISTOL. insignificant, when compared with the concessions to the Americans. At such a juncture, I would implore every man, who retains the least spark of regard to the yet remaining honor and security of this country, not to compel others to an imitation of their conduct, or by passion and violence to force them to seek in the territories of the separation that freedom and those'advantages.
