You are sensible that I do not differ from you in
many things; and most certainly I do not dissent
from the main of your doctrine concerning the heresy of depending upon contingencies.
many things; and most certainly I do not dissent
from the main of your doctrine concerning the heresy of depending upon contingencies.
Edmund Burke
?
NO TE.
FROM authentic documents found with the copy of this Letter
among Mr. Burke's papers, it appears that in the year 1773 a
project of imposing a tax upon all proprietors of landed estates
in Ireland, whose ordinary residence should be in Great Britain,
had been adopted and avowed by his Majesty's ministers at that
time. A remonstrance against this measure, as highly unjust
and impolitic, was presented to the ministers by several of the
principal Irish absentees, and the project was subsequently abandoned.
? ? ? ? LETTER.
DEAR SIR, --I am much flattered by your very
obliging letter, and the rather because it promises an opening to our future correspondence. This
may be my only indemnification for very great losses.
One of the most odious parts of the proposed Absentee Tax is its tendency to separate friends, and
to make as ugly breaches in private society as it
must make in the unity of the greal political body.
I am sure that much of the satisfaction of some circles in London will be lost by it. Do you think that
our friend Mrs. Vesey will suffer her husband to
vote for a tax that is to destroy the evenings at Bolton Row? I trust we shall have other. supporters
of the same sex, equally powerful, and equally deserving to be so, who will not abandon the common
cause of their own liberties and our satisfactions.
We shall be barbarized on both sides of the water,
if we do not see one another now and then. We
shall sink into surly, brutish Johns, and you will degenerate into wild Irish. It is impossible that we
should be the wiser or the more agreeable, certainly
we shall not love one another the better, for this
forced separation, which our ministers, who have already done so much for the dissolution of every other sort of good connection, are now meditating for the further improvement of this too well united empire.
Their next step will be to encourage all the colonies,
? ? ? ? 124 LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM.
about thirty separate governments, to keep their people from all intercourse with each other and with the
mother country. A gentleman of New York or Barbadoes will be as much gazed at as a strange animal
from Nova Zembla or Otaheite; and those rogues,
the travellers, will tell us what stories they please
about poor old Ireland.
In all seriousness, (though I am a great deal more
than half serious in what I have been saying,) I
look upon this projected tax in a very evil light; I
think it is not advisable; I am sure it is not necessary; and as it is not a mere matter of finance, but
involves a political question of much importance, I
consider the principle and precedent as far worse
than the thing itself. You are too kind in imagining
I can suggest anything new upon the subject. The
objections to it are very glaring, and must strike the
eyes of all those who have not their reasons for shutting them against evident truth. I have no feelings
or opinions on this subject which I do not partake
with all the sensible and informed people that I meet
with. At first I could scarcely meet with any one
who could believe that this scheme originated from
the English government. They considered it not only
as absurd, but as something monstrous and unnatural. In the first instance, it strikes at the power of
this country; in the end, at the union of the whole
empire. I do not mean to express, most certainly I
do not entertain in my mind, anything invidious concerning the superintending authority of Great Britain. But if it be true that the several bodies which make up this complicated mass are to be preserved
as one empire, an authority sufficient to preserve
that unity, and by its equal weight and pressure
? ? ? ? LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM. 125
to consolidate the various parts that compose it,
must reside somewhere: that somewhere can only
be in Engcland. Possibly any one member, distinctly taken, might decide in favor of that residence
within itself; but certainly no member would give
its voice for any other except this. So that I look
upon the residence of the supreme power to be settled here: not by force, or tyranny, or even by mere
long usage, but by the very nature of things, and the
joint consent of the whole body.
If all this be admitted, then without question this
country must have the sole right to the imperial
legislation: by which I mean that law which regulates the polity and economy of the several parts, as
they relate to one another and to the whole. But if
any of the parts, which' (not for oppression, but for
order) are placed in a subordinate situation, will assume to themselves the power of hindering or checking the resort of their municipal subjects to the centre, or even to any other part of the empire, they arrogate to themselves the imperial rights, which do
not, which cannot, belong to them, and, so far as
in them lies, destroy the happy arrangement of the
entire empire.
A free communication by discretionary residence is
necessary to all the other purposes of communication. For what purpose are the Irish and Plantation
laws sent hither, but as means of preserving this sovereign constitution? Whether such a constitution
was originally right or wrong this is not the time of
day to dispute. If any evils arise from it, let us not
strip it of what may be useful in it. By taking the
English Privy Council into your legislature, you obtain a new, a further, and possibly a more liberal con
? ? ? ? 126 LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM.
sideration of all your acts. If a local legislature shall
by oblique means tend to deprive any of the people
of this benefit, and shall make it penal to them to follow into England the laws which may affect them, then the English Privy Council will have to decide
upon your acts without those lights that may enable
them to judge upon what grounds you made them, or
how far they ought to be modified, received, or rejected.
To what end is the ultimate appeal in judicature
lodged in this kingdom, if men may be disabled from
following their suits here, and may be taxed into an
absolute denial of justice? You observe, my dear
Sir, that I do not assert that in all cases two shillings
will necessarily cut off this means of correcting legislative and judicial mistakes, and thus amount to
a denial of justice. I might, indeed, state cases in
which this very quantum of tax would be fillly sufficient to defeat this right. But I argue not on the case, but on the principle, and I am sure the principle implies it. They who may restrain may prohibit; they who may impose two shillings may impose ten
shillings in the pound; and those who may condition the tax to six months' annual absence may carry that condition to six weeks, or even to six days, and
thereby totally defeat the wise means which have been
provided for extensive and impartial justice, and for
orderly, well-poised, and well-connected government.
What is taxing the resort to and residence in any
place, but declaring that your connection with that
place is a grievance? Is not such an Irish tax as is
now proposed a virtual declaration that England is
a foreign country, and a renunciation on your part
of the principle of comnzon naturalization, which runs
through this whole empire?
? ? ? ? LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM. 127
Do you, or does any Irish gentleman, think it a
mean privilege, that, the moment he sets his foot
upon this ground, he is to all intents and purposes
an Englishman? You will not be pleased with a law
which by its operation tends to disqualify you from a
seat in this Parliament; and if your own virtue or
fortune, or if that of your children, should carry you
or them to it, should you like to be excluded from
the possibility of a peerage in this kingdom? If in
Ireland we lay it down as. a maxim, that a residence
in Great Britain is a political evil, and to be discouraged by penal taxes, you must necessarily reject all the privileges and benefits which are connected with
such a residence.
I can easily conceive that a citizen of Dublin, who
looks no further than his counter, may think that
Ireland will be repaid for such a loss by any small
diminution of taxes, or any increase in the circulation of money that may be laid out in the purchase
of claret or groceries in his corporation. In such a
man an error of that kind, as it would be natural,
would be excusable. But I cannot think that any
educated man, any man who looks with an enlightened eye on the interest of Ireland, can believe that it is not highly for the advantage of Ireland, that this
Parliament, which, whether right or wrong, whether
we will or not, will make some laws to bind Ireland,
should always have in it some persons who by connection, by property, or by early prepossessions and affections, are attached to the welfare of that coun --
try. I am so clear upon this point, not only from
the clear reason of the thing, but from the constant
course of my observation, by now having sat eight
sessions in Parliament, that I declare it to you as my
? ? ? ? 128 LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM.
sincere opinion, that (if you must do either the one
or the other) it would be wiser by far, and far better
for Ireland, that some new privileges should attend the
estates of Irishmen, members of the two Houses here,
than that their characters should be stained by penal
impositions, and their properties loaded by unequal
and unheard-of modes of taxation. I do really trust,
that, when the matter comes a little to be considered,
a majority of our gentlemen will never consent to
establish such a principle. of disqualification against
themselves and their posterity, and, for the sake of
gratifying the schemes of a transitory administration
of the cockpit or the castle, or in compliance with
the lightest part of the most vulgar and transient
popularity, fix so irreparable an injury on the permanent interest of their country.
This law seems, therefore, to me to go directly
against the fundamental points of the legislative and
judicial constitution of these kingdoms, and against:the happy communion of their privileges. But there is another matter in the tax proposed, that contra-;dicts as essentially a very great principle necessary for preserving the union of the various parts of a
state; because it does, in effect, discountenance mutual intermarriage and inheritance, things that bind countries more closely together than any laws or constitutions whatsoever. Is it right that a woman who marries into Ireland, and perhaps well purchases her
jointure or her dower there, should not after her
husband's death have it in her choice to return to
her country and her friends without being taxed for
it? If an Irish heiress should marry into an English
family, and that great property in both countries
should thereby come to be united in this common
? ? ? ? LETTER''O SIR CHARLES BINGHAMI. 129
issue, shall the descendant of that marriage abandon
his natural connection, his family interests, his public
and his private duties, and be compelled to take up
his residence in Ireland? Is there any sense or any
justice in it, unless you affirm that there should be
no such intermarriage and no such mutual inheritance between the natives? Is there a shadow of
reason, that, because a Lord Rockingham, a Duke of
Devonshire, a Sir George Savile, possess property in
Ireland, which has descended to them without any
act of theirs, they should abandon their duty in Parliament, and spend the winters in Dublin? or, having spent the session in Westminster, must they abandon their seats and all their family interests
in Yorkshire and Derbyshire, and pass the rest of
the year in Wicklow, in Cork, or Tyrone?
See what the consequence must be from a municipal legislature considering itself as an unconnected
body, and attempting to enforce a partial residence.
A man may have property in more parts than two
of this empire. He may have property in Jamaica
and in North America, as well as in England and
Ireland. I know some that have property in all of
them. What shall we say to this case? After the
poor distracted citizen of the whole empire has, in
compliance with your partial law, removed his family,
bid adieu to his connections, and settled himself
quietly and snug in a pretty box by the Liffey, he
hears that the Parliament of Great Britain is of
opinion that all English estates ought to be spent
in England, and that they will tax him double, if he
does not return. Suppose him then (if the nature
of the two laws will permit it) providing a flying
camp, and dividing his year as well as he can between
VOL. VI. 9
? ? ? ? 130 LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM.
England and Ireland, and at the charge of two townhouses and two country-houses in both kingdoms; in this situation he receives an account, that a law is
transmitted from Jamaica, and another from Pennsylvania, to tax absentees from these provinces, which are impoverished by the European residence of the
possessors of their lands. How is he to escape this
ricochet cross-firing of so many opposite batteries of
police and regulation? If he attempts to comply, he
is likely to be more a citizen of the Atlantic Ocean
and the Irish Sea than of any of these countries. The
matter is absurd and ridiculous, and, while ever the
idea of mutual marriages, inheritances, purchases,
and privileges subsist, call never be carried into execution with common sense or common justice.
I do not know how gentlemen of Ireland reconcile
such anl idea to their own liberties, or to the natural
use and enjoyment of their estates. If any of their
children should be left in a minority, and a guardian
should think, as many do, (it matters not whether
properly or no,) that his ward had better be educated
in a school or university here than in Ireland, is he
sure that he can justify the bringing a tax of ten per
cent, perhaps twenty, on his pupil's estate, by giving
what in his opinion is the best education in general,
or the best for that pupil's particular character and
circumstances? Can he justify his sending him to
travel, a necessary part of the higher style of education, and, notwithstanding what some narrow writers have said, of great benefit to all countries, but very
particularly so to Ireland? Suppose a guardian,
under the authority or pretence of such a tax of
police, had prevented our dear friend, Lord Charlemont, from going abroad, would he have lost no
? ? ? ? LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM. 131
satisfaction? would his friends have lost nothing in
the companion? would his country have lost nothing in the cultivated taste with which he has adorned
it in so many ways? His natural elegance of mind
would undoubtedly do a great deal; but I will venture to assert, without the danger of being contradicted, that he adorns his present residence in Ireland much the more for having resided a long time out of
it. Will Mr. Flood himself think he ought to have
been driven by taxes into Ireland, whilst he prepared
himself by an English education to understand and
to defend the rights of the subject in Ireland, or to
support the dignity of government there, according
as his opinions, or the situation of things, may lead
him to take either part, upon respectable principles?
I hope it is not forgot that an Irish act of Parliament
sends its youth to England for the study of the law,
and compels a residence in the inns of court here
for some years. Will you send out with one breath
and recall with another? This act plainly provides
for that intercourse which supposes the strictest union
in laws and policy, in both which the intended tax
supposes an entire separation.
It would be endless to go into all the inconveniences this tax will lead to, in the conduct of private
life, and the use of property. How many infirm
people are obliged to change their climate, whose
life depends upon that change! How many families
straitened in their circumstances are there, who, from
the shame, sometimes from the utter impossibility
otherwise of retrenching, are obliged to remove from
their country, in order to preserve their estates in
their families! You begin, then, to burden these
people precisely at the time when their circumstances
? ? ? ? 132 LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BING HAM
of health and fortune render them rather objects of
relief and commiseration.
I know very well that a great proportion of the
money of every subordinate country will flow towards the metropolis. This is unavoidable. Other inconveniences, too, will result to particular parts:
and why? Why, because they are particular parts,
- each a member of a greater, and not an whole
within itself. But those members are to consider
whether these inconveniences are not fully balanced,
perhaps more than balanced, by the united strength
of a great and compact body. I am sensible, too,
of a difficulty that will be started against the application of some of the principles which I reason upon to the case of Ireland. It will be said, that Ireland,
in many particulars, is not bound to consider itself
as a part of the British body; because this country,
in many instances, is mistaken enough to treat you
as foreigners, and draws away your money by absentees, without suffering you to enjoy your natural advantages in trade and commerce. No man living
loves restrictive regulations of any kind less than
myself; at best, nine times in ten, they are little
better than laborious and vexatious follies. Often,
as in your case, they are great oppressions, as well as
great absurdities. But still an injury is not always
a reason for retaliation; nor is the folly of others
with regard to us a reason for imitating it with regard to them. Before we attempt to retort, we ought to consider whether we may not injure ourselves even
more than our adversary; since, in the contest who
shall go the greatest length in absurdity, the victor
is generally the greatest sufferer. Besides, when
there is an unfortunate emulation in restraints and
? ? ? ? LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM. 133
oppressions, the question of strength is of the highest
importance. It little becomes the feeble to be unjust.
Justice is the shield of the weak; and when they
choose to lay this down, and fight naked in the contest of mere power, the event will be what must be
expected from such imprudence.
I ought to beg your pardon for running into this
length. You want no arguments to convince you
on this subject, and you want no resources of matter
to convince others. I ought, too, to ask pardon for
having delayed my answer so long; but I received
your letter on Tuesday, in town, and I was obliged
to come to the country on business. From the country I write at present; but this day I shall go to town
again. I shall see Lord Rockingham, who has spared
neither time lior trouble in making a vigorous opposition to this inconsiderate measure. I hope to be
able to send you the papers which will give you information of the steps he has taken. He has pursued
this business with the foresight, diligence, and good
sense with which he generally resists unconstitutional
attempts of government. A life of disinterestedness,
generosity, and public spirit are his titles to have it
believed that the effect which the tax may have upon
his private property is not the sole nor the principal
motive to his exertions. I know he is of opinion that
the opposition in Ireland ought to be carried on with
that spirit as if no aid was expected from this country, and here as if nothing would be done in Ireland: many things have been lost by not acting in this manner.
I am told that you are not likely to be alone in the
generous stand you are to make against this unnatural monster of court popularity. It is said, Mr. Ilus
? ? ? ? 134 LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM.
sey, who is so very considerable at present, and who
is everything in expectation, will give you his assistance. I rejoice to see (that very rare spectacle) a good mind, a great genius, and public activity united
together, and united so early in life. By not running into every popular humor, he may depend upon it, the popularity of his character will wear the better.
Non ponebat enim rumores ante salutem;
Ergo postque magisque viri nunc gloria claret.
Adieu, my dear Sir. Give my best respects to
Lady Bingham; and believe me, with great truth
and esteem,
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
EDM. BURKE.
BEACONSFIELD, 30th October, 1773.
To SIR CHARLES BINGHAM.
? ? ? ? A
LETTER
TO
THE HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX, ON THE AMERICAN WAR. OCTOBER 8, 1777.
? ? ? ? LETTER.
MY DEAR CHARLES, --I am, on many accounts, exceedingly pleased with your journey
to Ireland. I do not think it was possible to dispose
better of the interval between this and the meeting
of Parliament. I told you as much, in the same general terms, by the post. My opinion of the infidelity
of that conveyance hindered me from being particular.
I now sit down with malice prepense to kill you with
a very long letter, and must take my chance for some
safe method of conveying the dose. Before I say anything to you of the place you are in, or the business of it, on which, by the way, a great deal might be
said, I will turn myself to the concluding part of
your letter from Chatsworth.
You are sensible that I do not differ from you in
many things; and most certainly I do not dissent
from the main of your doctrine concerning the heresy of depending upon contingencies. You must recollect how uniform my sentiments have been on
that subject. I have ever wished a settled plan of
our own, founded in the very essence of the American business, wholly unconnected with the events of the war, and framed in such a manner as to keep
up our credit and maintain our system at home, in
spite of anything which may happen abroad. I am
now convinced, by a long and somewhat vexatious
experience, that such a plan is absolutely imprac
? ? ? ? 138 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
ticable. I think with you, that some faults in the
constitution of those whom we must love and trust
are among the causes of this impracticability; they
are faults, too, that one can hardly wish them perfectly cured of, as I am afraid they are intimately
connected with honest, disinterested intentions, plentiful fortunes, assured rank, and quiet homes. A
great deal of activity and enterprise can scarcely
ever be expected from such men, unless some horrible calamity is just over their heads, or unless they
suffer some gross personal insults from power, the
resentment of which may be as unquiet and stimulating a principle in their minds as ambition is in
those of a different complexion. To say the truth,
I cannot greatly blame them. We live at a time
when men are not repaid in fame for what they
sacrifice in interest or repose.
On the whole, when I consider of what discordant, and particularly of what fleeting materials the
opposition has been all along composed, and at the
same time review what Lord Rockingham has done,
with that and with his own shattered constitution,
for these last twelve years, I confess I am rather surprised that he has done so much and persevered so
long, than that he has felt now and then some cold
fits, and that he grows somewhat languid and desponding at last. I know that he, and those who
are much prevalent with him, though they are not
thought so much devoted to popularity as others, do
very much look to the people, and more than I think
is wise in them, who do so little to guide and direct the public opinion. Without this they act, indeed; but they act as it were from compulsion, and because it is impossible, in their situation, to avoid
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 139
taking some part. All this it is impossible to change,
and to no purpose to complain of.
As to that popular humor which is the medium
we float in, if I can discern anything at all of its
present state, it is far worse than I have ever known
or could ever imagine it. The faults of the people
are not popular vices; at least, they are not such as
grow out of what we used to take to be the English
temper and character. The greatest number have a
sort of an heavy, lumpish acquiescence in government, without much respect or esteem for those that compose it. I really cannot avoid making some very
unpleasant prognostics from this disposition of the
people. I think that many of the symptoms must
have struck you: I will mention one or two that are
to me very remarkable. You must know that at Bristol we grow, as an election interest, and even as a party interest, rather stronger than we were when I
was chosen. We have just now a majority in the corporation. In this state of matters, what, think you, have they done? They have voted their freedom to
Lord Sandwich and Lord Suffolk! -to the first, at
the very moment when the American privateers were
domineering in the Irish Sea, and taking the Bristol
traders in the Bristol Channel; --to the latter, when
his remonstrances on the subject of captures were
the jest of Paris and of Europe. This fine step was
taken, it seems, in honor of the zeal of these two
profound statesmen in the prosecution of John the
Painter: so totally negligent are they of everything essential, and so long and so deeply affected
with trash the most low and contemptible; just as
if they thought the merit of Sir John Fielding was
the most shining point in the character of great min
? ? ? ? 140 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
isters, in the most critical of all times, and, of all
others, the most deeply interesting to the commercial world! My best friends in the corporation had
no other doubts on the occasion than whether it did
not belong to me, by right of my representative capacity, to be the bearer of this auspicious compliment. In addition to this, if it could receive any addition, they now employ me to solicit, as a favor
of no small magnitude, that, after the example of
Newcastle, they may be suffered to arm vessels for
their own defence in the Channel. Their memorial,
under the seal of Merchants' Hall, is now lying on
the table before me. Not a soul has the least sensibility, on finding themselves, now for the first time,
obliged to act as if the community were dissolved,
and, after enormous payments towards the common
protection, each part was to defend itself, as if it
were a separate state.
I don't mention Bristol as if that were the part
furthest gone in this mortification. Far from it: I
know that there is, rather, a little more life in us than
in any other place. In Liverpool they are literally
almost ruined by this American war; but they love
it as they suffer from it. In short, from whatever
I see, and from whatever quarter I hear, I am convinced that everything that is not absolute stagnation
is evidently a party-spirit very adverse to our politics,
and to the principles from whence they arise. There
are manifest marks of the resurrection of the Tory
party. They no longer criticize, as all disengaged
people in the world will, on the acts of government;
but they are silent under every evil, and hide and
cover up every ministerial blunder and misfortune,
with the officious zeal of men who think they have a
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 141
party of their own to support in power. The Tories
do universally think their power and consequence
involved in the success of this American business.
The clergy are astonishingly warm in it; and what
the Tories are, when embodied and united with their
natural head, the crown, and animated by their clergy, no man knows better than yourself. As to the
Whigs, I think them far from extinct. They are,
what they always were, (except by the able use of
opportunities,) by far the weakest party in this country. They have not yet learned the application of
their principles to the present state of things; and
as -to the Dissenters, the main effective part of the
Whig strength, they are, to use a favorite expression
of our American campaign style, " not all in force. "
They will do very little, and, as far as I can discern,
are rather intimidated than provoked at the denunciations of the court in the Archbishop of York's sermon. I thought that sermon rather imprudent, when I first saw it; but it seems to have done its business.
In this temper of the people, I do not wholly wonder that our Northern friends look a little towards
events. In war, particularly, I am afraid it must be
so. There is something so weighty and decisive in
the events of war, something that so completely overpowers the imagination of the vulgar, that all counsels must in a great degree be subordinate to and attendant on them. I am sure it was so in the last
war, very eminently. So that, on the whole, what
with the temper of the people, the temper of our own
friends, and the domineering necessities of war, we
must quietly give up all ideas of any settled, preconcerted plan. We. shall be lucky enough, if, keeping
ourselves attentive and alert, we can contrive to profit
? ? ? ? 142 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
of the occasions as they arise: though I am sensible that those who are best provided with a general scheme are fittest to take advantage of all contingencies. However, to act with any people with the least degree of comfort, I believe we must contrive
a little to assimilate to their character. We must
gravitate towards them, if we would keep in the
same system, or expect that they should approach
towards us. They are, indeed, worthy of much
concession and management. I am quite convinced
that they are the honestest public men that ever appeared in this country, and I am sure that they are the wisest, by far, of those who appear in it at present.
None of those who are continually complaining of
them, but are themselves just as chargeable with all
their faults, and have a decent stock of their own
into the bargain. They (our friends) are, I admit,
as you very truly represent them, but indifferently qualified for storming a citadel. After all, God knows whether this citadel is to be stormed by them,
or by anybody else, by the means they use, or by
any means. I know that as they are, abstractedly
speaking, to blame, so there are those who cry out
against them for it, not with a friendly complaint,
as we do, but with the bitterness of enemies. But I
know, too, that those who blame them for want of
enterprise have shown no activity at all against the
common enemy: all their skill and all their spirit
have been shown only in weakening, dividing, and
indeed destroying their allies. What they are and
what we are is now pretty evidently experienced;
and it is certain, that, partly by our common faults,
but much more by the difficulties of our situation,
and some circumstances of unavoidable misfortune,
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 143
we are in little better than a sort of cul-de-sac. For
my part, I do all I can to give ease to my mind in
this strange position. I remember, some years ago,
when I was pressing some points with great eagerness and anxiety, and complaining with great vexation to the Duke of Richmond of the little progress I make, he told me kindly, and I believe very truly,
that, though he was far from thinking so himself,
other people could not be persuaded I had not
some latent private interest in pushing these matters, which I urged with an earnestness so extreme,
and so much approaching to passion. He was certainly in the right. I am thoroughly resolved to
give, both to myself and to my friends, less vexation,
on these subjects than hitherto I have done, - much:
less, indeed.
If you should grow too earnest, you will be still
more inexcusable than I was. Your having entered
into affairs so much younger ought to make them too
familiar to you to be the cause of much agitation, and
you have much more before you for your work. Do
not be in haste. Lay your foundations deep in public opinion. Though (as you are sensible) I have
never given you the least hint of advice about joining yourself in a declared connection with our party,
nor do I now, yet, as I love that party very well, and
am clear that you are better able to serve them than
any man I know, I wish that things should be so
kept as to leave you mutually very open to one another in all changes and contingencies; and I wish
this the rather, because, in order to be very great, as
I am anxious that you should be, (always presuming
that you are disposed to make a good use of power,)
you will certainly want some better support than.
? ? ? ? 144 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
merely that of the crown. For I much doubt, whether, with all your parts, you are the mail formed for acquiring real interior favor in this court, or in any;
I therefore wish you a firm ground in the country;
and I do not know so firm and so sound a bottom to
build on as our party. - Well, I have done with this
matter; and you think I ought to have finished it
long ago. Now I turn to Ireland.
Observe, that I have not heard a word of any news
relative to it, from thence or from London; so that I
am oily going to state to you my conjectures as to
facts, and to speculate again on these conjectures. I
have a strong notion that the lateness of our meeting
is owing to the previous arrangements intended in
Ireland. I suspect they mean that Ireland should
take a sort of lead, and act an efficient part in this
war, both with men and money. It will sound well,
when we meet, to tell us of the active zeal and loyalty of the people of' Ireland, and contrast it with the rebellious spirit of America. It will be a popular topic, -the perfect confidence of Ireland in the power of the British Parliament. From thence they
will argue the little danger which any dependency
of the crown has to apprehend from the enforcement
of that authority. It will be, too, somewhat flattering to the country gentlemen, who might otherwise begin to be sullen, to hold out that the burden is not
wholly to rest upon them; and it will pique our
pride to be told that Ireland has cheerfully stepped
forward: and when a dependant of this kingdom has
already engaged itself in another year's war, merely
for our dignity, how can we, who are principals in
the quarrel, hold off? This scheme of policy seems
to me so very obvious, and is likely to be of so much
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 145
service to the present system, that I cannot conceive
it possible they should neglect it, or something like it.
They have already put the people of Ireland to the
proof. Have they not borne the Earl of Buckinghamshire, the person who was employed to move the
fiery committee in the House of Lords in order to
stimulate the ministry to this war, who was in the
chair, and who moved the resolutions?
It is within a few days of eleven years since I was
in Ireland, and then after an absence of two. Those
who have been absent from any scene for even a
much shorter time generally lose the true practical
notion of the country, and of what may or may not
be done in it. When I knew Ireland, it was very
different from the state of England, where government is a vast deal, the public something, but individuals comparatively very little. But if Ireland bears any resemblance to what it was some years
ago, neither government nor public opinion can do
a great deal; almost the whole is in the hands of a
few leading people. The populace of Dublin, and
some parts in the North, are in some sort an exception. But the Primate, Lord Hillsborough, and Lord
IHertford have great sway in the latter; and the former may be considerable or not, pretty much as the
Duke of Leinster pleases. On the whole, the success
of government usually depended on the bargain made
with a very few men. The resident lieutenancy may
have made some change, and given a strength to government, which formerly, I know, it had not; still,
however, I am of opinion, the former state, though
in other hands perhaps, and in another manner, still
continues. The house you are connected with is
grown into a much greater degree of power than it
VOL. VI. 10
? ? ? ? 146 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
had, though it was very considerable, at the period I
speak of. If the D. of L. takes a popular part, he is
sure of the city of Dublin, and he has a young man
attached to him who stands very forward in Parliament and inll profession, and, by what I hear, with more good-will and less envy than usually attends so
rapid a progress. The movement of one or two principal men, if they manage the little popular strength which is to be found in Dublin and Ulster, may do a
great deal, especially when money is to be saved and
taxes to be kept off. I confess I should despair of
your succeeding with any of them, if they cannot be
satisfied that every job which they can look for on account of carrying this measure would be just as sure to them for their ordinary support of government.
They are essential to government, which at this time
must not be disturbed, and their neutrality will be
purchased at as high a price as their alliance offensive and defensive. Now, as by supporting they may get as much as by betraying their country, it must
be a great leaning to turpitude that can make them
take a part in this war. I am satisfied, that, if the
Duke of Leinster and Lord Shannon would act together, this business could not go on; or if either of
them took part with Ponsonby, it would have no better success. Hutchinson's situation is much altered since I saw you. To please Tisdall, he had been in
a manner laid aside at the Castle. It is now to be
seen whether he prefers the gratification of his resentment and his appetite for popularity, both of
which are strong enough in him, to the advantages
which his independence gives him, of making a new
bargain, and accumulating new offices on his heap.
Pray do not be asleep in this scene of action, --at
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 147
this time, if I am right, the principal. The Protestants of Ireland will be, I think, in general, backward: they form infinitely the greatest part of the landed and the moneyed interests; and they will not
like to pay. The Papists are reduced to beasts of
burden: they will give all they have, their shoulders, readily enough, if they are flattered. Surely
the state of Ireland ought forever to teach parties
moderation in their victories. People crushed by law
have no hopes but from power. If laws are their
enemies, they will be enemies to laws; and those
who have much to hope and nothing to lose will always be dangerous, more or less. But this is not
our present business. If all this should prove a
dream, however, let it not hinder you from writing
to me and telling me so. You will easily refute, in
your conversation, the little topics which they will set
afloat: such as, that Ireland is a boat, and must go
with the ship; that, if the Americans contended only
for their liberties, it would be different, - but since
they have declared independence, and so forth
You are happy in enjoying Townshend's company.
Remember me to him. How does he like his private
situation in a country where he was the son of the
sovereign? -Mrs. Burke and the two Richards salute you cordially.
E. B.
BEACONSFIELD, October 8th, 1777.
? ? ? ? A
LETTER
TO
THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM,
WITH
ADDRESSES TO THE KING,
AND
THE BRITISH COLONISTS IN NORTH AMERICA,
IN RELATION TO
THE MEASURES OF GOVERNMENT IN THE AMERICAN CONTEST, AND A PROPOSED SECESSION OF
THE OPPOSITION FROM PARLIAMENT.
JANUARY, 1777.
? ? ? ? NOTE.
THIS Letter, with the two Addresses which follow it, was written upon occasion of a proposed' secession from Parliament of the members in both Houses who had opposed the measures of government, in the contest between this country and the colonies in North America, from the time of the repeal of the Stamp Act.
It appears, from an indorsement written by Mr. Burke on the
manuscript, that he warmly recommended the measure, but (for
what reasons is not stated) it was not adopted.
? ? ? ? LETTER
TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM.
MY DEAR LORD, --I am afraid that I ought
rather to beg your pardon for troubling you
at all in this season of repose, than to apologize for
having been so long silent on the approaching business. It comes upon us, not indeed in the most agreeable manner, but it does come upon us; and
I believe your friends in general are in expectation
of finding your Lordship resolved in what way you
are to meet it. The deliberation is full of difficulties; but the determination is necessary.
The affairs of America seem to be drawing towards
a crisis.
FROM authentic documents found with the copy of this Letter
among Mr. Burke's papers, it appears that in the year 1773 a
project of imposing a tax upon all proprietors of landed estates
in Ireland, whose ordinary residence should be in Great Britain,
had been adopted and avowed by his Majesty's ministers at that
time. A remonstrance against this measure, as highly unjust
and impolitic, was presented to the ministers by several of the
principal Irish absentees, and the project was subsequently abandoned.
? ? ? ? LETTER.
DEAR SIR, --I am much flattered by your very
obliging letter, and the rather because it promises an opening to our future correspondence. This
may be my only indemnification for very great losses.
One of the most odious parts of the proposed Absentee Tax is its tendency to separate friends, and
to make as ugly breaches in private society as it
must make in the unity of the greal political body.
I am sure that much of the satisfaction of some circles in London will be lost by it. Do you think that
our friend Mrs. Vesey will suffer her husband to
vote for a tax that is to destroy the evenings at Bolton Row? I trust we shall have other. supporters
of the same sex, equally powerful, and equally deserving to be so, who will not abandon the common
cause of their own liberties and our satisfactions.
We shall be barbarized on both sides of the water,
if we do not see one another now and then. We
shall sink into surly, brutish Johns, and you will degenerate into wild Irish. It is impossible that we
should be the wiser or the more agreeable, certainly
we shall not love one another the better, for this
forced separation, which our ministers, who have already done so much for the dissolution of every other sort of good connection, are now meditating for the further improvement of this too well united empire.
Their next step will be to encourage all the colonies,
? ? ? ? 124 LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM.
about thirty separate governments, to keep their people from all intercourse with each other and with the
mother country. A gentleman of New York or Barbadoes will be as much gazed at as a strange animal
from Nova Zembla or Otaheite; and those rogues,
the travellers, will tell us what stories they please
about poor old Ireland.
In all seriousness, (though I am a great deal more
than half serious in what I have been saying,) I
look upon this projected tax in a very evil light; I
think it is not advisable; I am sure it is not necessary; and as it is not a mere matter of finance, but
involves a political question of much importance, I
consider the principle and precedent as far worse
than the thing itself. You are too kind in imagining
I can suggest anything new upon the subject. The
objections to it are very glaring, and must strike the
eyes of all those who have not their reasons for shutting them against evident truth. I have no feelings
or opinions on this subject which I do not partake
with all the sensible and informed people that I meet
with. At first I could scarcely meet with any one
who could believe that this scheme originated from
the English government. They considered it not only
as absurd, but as something monstrous and unnatural. In the first instance, it strikes at the power of
this country; in the end, at the union of the whole
empire. I do not mean to express, most certainly I
do not entertain in my mind, anything invidious concerning the superintending authority of Great Britain. But if it be true that the several bodies which make up this complicated mass are to be preserved
as one empire, an authority sufficient to preserve
that unity, and by its equal weight and pressure
? ? ? ? LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM. 125
to consolidate the various parts that compose it,
must reside somewhere: that somewhere can only
be in Engcland. Possibly any one member, distinctly taken, might decide in favor of that residence
within itself; but certainly no member would give
its voice for any other except this. So that I look
upon the residence of the supreme power to be settled here: not by force, or tyranny, or even by mere
long usage, but by the very nature of things, and the
joint consent of the whole body.
If all this be admitted, then without question this
country must have the sole right to the imperial
legislation: by which I mean that law which regulates the polity and economy of the several parts, as
they relate to one another and to the whole. But if
any of the parts, which' (not for oppression, but for
order) are placed in a subordinate situation, will assume to themselves the power of hindering or checking the resort of their municipal subjects to the centre, or even to any other part of the empire, they arrogate to themselves the imperial rights, which do
not, which cannot, belong to them, and, so far as
in them lies, destroy the happy arrangement of the
entire empire.
A free communication by discretionary residence is
necessary to all the other purposes of communication. For what purpose are the Irish and Plantation
laws sent hither, but as means of preserving this sovereign constitution? Whether such a constitution
was originally right or wrong this is not the time of
day to dispute. If any evils arise from it, let us not
strip it of what may be useful in it. By taking the
English Privy Council into your legislature, you obtain a new, a further, and possibly a more liberal con
? ? ? ? 126 LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM.
sideration of all your acts. If a local legislature shall
by oblique means tend to deprive any of the people
of this benefit, and shall make it penal to them to follow into England the laws which may affect them, then the English Privy Council will have to decide
upon your acts without those lights that may enable
them to judge upon what grounds you made them, or
how far they ought to be modified, received, or rejected.
To what end is the ultimate appeal in judicature
lodged in this kingdom, if men may be disabled from
following their suits here, and may be taxed into an
absolute denial of justice? You observe, my dear
Sir, that I do not assert that in all cases two shillings
will necessarily cut off this means of correcting legislative and judicial mistakes, and thus amount to
a denial of justice. I might, indeed, state cases in
which this very quantum of tax would be fillly sufficient to defeat this right. But I argue not on the case, but on the principle, and I am sure the principle implies it. They who may restrain may prohibit; they who may impose two shillings may impose ten
shillings in the pound; and those who may condition the tax to six months' annual absence may carry that condition to six weeks, or even to six days, and
thereby totally defeat the wise means which have been
provided for extensive and impartial justice, and for
orderly, well-poised, and well-connected government.
What is taxing the resort to and residence in any
place, but declaring that your connection with that
place is a grievance? Is not such an Irish tax as is
now proposed a virtual declaration that England is
a foreign country, and a renunciation on your part
of the principle of comnzon naturalization, which runs
through this whole empire?
? ? ? ? LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM. 127
Do you, or does any Irish gentleman, think it a
mean privilege, that, the moment he sets his foot
upon this ground, he is to all intents and purposes
an Englishman? You will not be pleased with a law
which by its operation tends to disqualify you from a
seat in this Parliament; and if your own virtue or
fortune, or if that of your children, should carry you
or them to it, should you like to be excluded from
the possibility of a peerage in this kingdom? If in
Ireland we lay it down as. a maxim, that a residence
in Great Britain is a political evil, and to be discouraged by penal taxes, you must necessarily reject all the privileges and benefits which are connected with
such a residence.
I can easily conceive that a citizen of Dublin, who
looks no further than his counter, may think that
Ireland will be repaid for such a loss by any small
diminution of taxes, or any increase in the circulation of money that may be laid out in the purchase
of claret or groceries in his corporation. In such a
man an error of that kind, as it would be natural,
would be excusable. But I cannot think that any
educated man, any man who looks with an enlightened eye on the interest of Ireland, can believe that it is not highly for the advantage of Ireland, that this
Parliament, which, whether right or wrong, whether
we will or not, will make some laws to bind Ireland,
should always have in it some persons who by connection, by property, or by early prepossessions and affections, are attached to the welfare of that coun --
try. I am so clear upon this point, not only from
the clear reason of the thing, but from the constant
course of my observation, by now having sat eight
sessions in Parliament, that I declare it to you as my
? ? ? ? 128 LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM.
sincere opinion, that (if you must do either the one
or the other) it would be wiser by far, and far better
for Ireland, that some new privileges should attend the
estates of Irishmen, members of the two Houses here,
than that their characters should be stained by penal
impositions, and their properties loaded by unequal
and unheard-of modes of taxation. I do really trust,
that, when the matter comes a little to be considered,
a majority of our gentlemen will never consent to
establish such a principle. of disqualification against
themselves and their posterity, and, for the sake of
gratifying the schemes of a transitory administration
of the cockpit or the castle, or in compliance with
the lightest part of the most vulgar and transient
popularity, fix so irreparable an injury on the permanent interest of their country.
This law seems, therefore, to me to go directly
against the fundamental points of the legislative and
judicial constitution of these kingdoms, and against:the happy communion of their privileges. But there is another matter in the tax proposed, that contra-;dicts as essentially a very great principle necessary for preserving the union of the various parts of a
state; because it does, in effect, discountenance mutual intermarriage and inheritance, things that bind countries more closely together than any laws or constitutions whatsoever. Is it right that a woman who marries into Ireland, and perhaps well purchases her
jointure or her dower there, should not after her
husband's death have it in her choice to return to
her country and her friends without being taxed for
it? If an Irish heiress should marry into an English
family, and that great property in both countries
should thereby come to be united in this common
? ? ? ? LETTER''O SIR CHARLES BINGHAMI. 129
issue, shall the descendant of that marriage abandon
his natural connection, his family interests, his public
and his private duties, and be compelled to take up
his residence in Ireland? Is there any sense or any
justice in it, unless you affirm that there should be
no such intermarriage and no such mutual inheritance between the natives? Is there a shadow of
reason, that, because a Lord Rockingham, a Duke of
Devonshire, a Sir George Savile, possess property in
Ireland, which has descended to them without any
act of theirs, they should abandon their duty in Parliament, and spend the winters in Dublin? or, having spent the session in Westminster, must they abandon their seats and all their family interests
in Yorkshire and Derbyshire, and pass the rest of
the year in Wicklow, in Cork, or Tyrone?
See what the consequence must be from a municipal legislature considering itself as an unconnected
body, and attempting to enforce a partial residence.
A man may have property in more parts than two
of this empire. He may have property in Jamaica
and in North America, as well as in England and
Ireland. I know some that have property in all of
them. What shall we say to this case? After the
poor distracted citizen of the whole empire has, in
compliance with your partial law, removed his family,
bid adieu to his connections, and settled himself
quietly and snug in a pretty box by the Liffey, he
hears that the Parliament of Great Britain is of
opinion that all English estates ought to be spent
in England, and that they will tax him double, if he
does not return. Suppose him then (if the nature
of the two laws will permit it) providing a flying
camp, and dividing his year as well as he can between
VOL. VI. 9
? ? ? ? 130 LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM.
England and Ireland, and at the charge of two townhouses and two country-houses in both kingdoms; in this situation he receives an account, that a law is
transmitted from Jamaica, and another from Pennsylvania, to tax absentees from these provinces, which are impoverished by the European residence of the
possessors of their lands. How is he to escape this
ricochet cross-firing of so many opposite batteries of
police and regulation? If he attempts to comply, he
is likely to be more a citizen of the Atlantic Ocean
and the Irish Sea than of any of these countries. The
matter is absurd and ridiculous, and, while ever the
idea of mutual marriages, inheritances, purchases,
and privileges subsist, call never be carried into execution with common sense or common justice.
I do not know how gentlemen of Ireland reconcile
such anl idea to their own liberties, or to the natural
use and enjoyment of their estates. If any of their
children should be left in a minority, and a guardian
should think, as many do, (it matters not whether
properly or no,) that his ward had better be educated
in a school or university here than in Ireland, is he
sure that he can justify the bringing a tax of ten per
cent, perhaps twenty, on his pupil's estate, by giving
what in his opinion is the best education in general,
or the best for that pupil's particular character and
circumstances? Can he justify his sending him to
travel, a necessary part of the higher style of education, and, notwithstanding what some narrow writers have said, of great benefit to all countries, but very
particularly so to Ireland? Suppose a guardian,
under the authority or pretence of such a tax of
police, had prevented our dear friend, Lord Charlemont, from going abroad, would he have lost no
? ? ? ? LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM. 131
satisfaction? would his friends have lost nothing in
the companion? would his country have lost nothing in the cultivated taste with which he has adorned
it in so many ways? His natural elegance of mind
would undoubtedly do a great deal; but I will venture to assert, without the danger of being contradicted, that he adorns his present residence in Ireland much the more for having resided a long time out of
it. Will Mr. Flood himself think he ought to have
been driven by taxes into Ireland, whilst he prepared
himself by an English education to understand and
to defend the rights of the subject in Ireland, or to
support the dignity of government there, according
as his opinions, or the situation of things, may lead
him to take either part, upon respectable principles?
I hope it is not forgot that an Irish act of Parliament
sends its youth to England for the study of the law,
and compels a residence in the inns of court here
for some years. Will you send out with one breath
and recall with another? This act plainly provides
for that intercourse which supposes the strictest union
in laws and policy, in both which the intended tax
supposes an entire separation.
It would be endless to go into all the inconveniences this tax will lead to, in the conduct of private
life, and the use of property. How many infirm
people are obliged to change their climate, whose
life depends upon that change! How many families
straitened in their circumstances are there, who, from
the shame, sometimes from the utter impossibility
otherwise of retrenching, are obliged to remove from
their country, in order to preserve their estates in
their families! You begin, then, to burden these
people precisely at the time when their circumstances
? ? ? ? 132 LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BING HAM
of health and fortune render them rather objects of
relief and commiseration.
I know very well that a great proportion of the
money of every subordinate country will flow towards the metropolis. This is unavoidable. Other inconveniences, too, will result to particular parts:
and why? Why, because they are particular parts,
- each a member of a greater, and not an whole
within itself. But those members are to consider
whether these inconveniences are not fully balanced,
perhaps more than balanced, by the united strength
of a great and compact body. I am sensible, too,
of a difficulty that will be started against the application of some of the principles which I reason upon to the case of Ireland. It will be said, that Ireland,
in many particulars, is not bound to consider itself
as a part of the British body; because this country,
in many instances, is mistaken enough to treat you
as foreigners, and draws away your money by absentees, without suffering you to enjoy your natural advantages in trade and commerce. No man living
loves restrictive regulations of any kind less than
myself; at best, nine times in ten, they are little
better than laborious and vexatious follies. Often,
as in your case, they are great oppressions, as well as
great absurdities. But still an injury is not always
a reason for retaliation; nor is the folly of others
with regard to us a reason for imitating it with regard to them. Before we attempt to retort, we ought to consider whether we may not injure ourselves even
more than our adversary; since, in the contest who
shall go the greatest length in absurdity, the victor
is generally the greatest sufferer. Besides, when
there is an unfortunate emulation in restraints and
? ? ? ? LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM. 133
oppressions, the question of strength is of the highest
importance. It little becomes the feeble to be unjust.
Justice is the shield of the weak; and when they
choose to lay this down, and fight naked in the contest of mere power, the event will be what must be
expected from such imprudence.
I ought to beg your pardon for running into this
length. You want no arguments to convince you
on this subject, and you want no resources of matter
to convince others. I ought, too, to ask pardon for
having delayed my answer so long; but I received
your letter on Tuesday, in town, and I was obliged
to come to the country on business. From the country I write at present; but this day I shall go to town
again. I shall see Lord Rockingham, who has spared
neither time lior trouble in making a vigorous opposition to this inconsiderate measure. I hope to be
able to send you the papers which will give you information of the steps he has taken. He has pursued
this business with the foresight, diligence, and good
sense with which he generally resists unconstitutional
attempts of government. A life of disinterestedness,
generosity, and public spirit are his titles to have it
believed that the effect which the tax may have upon
his private property is not the sole nor the principal
motive to his exertions. I know he is of opinion that
the opposition in Ireland ought to be carried on with
that spirit as if no aid was expected from this country, and here as if nothing would be done in Ireland: many things have been lost by not acting in this manner.
I am told that you are not likely to be alone in the
generous stand you are to make against this unnatural monster of court popularity. It is said, Mr. Ilus
? ? ? ? 134 LETTER TO SIR CHARLES BINGHAM.
sey, who is so very considerable at present, and who
is everything in expectation, will give you his assistance. I rejoice to see (that very rare spectacle) a good mind, a great genius, and public activity united
together, and united so early in life. By not running into every popular humor, he may depend upon it, the popularity of his character will wear the better.
Non ponebat enim rumores ante salutem;
Ergo postque magisque viri nunc gloria claret.
Adieu, my dear Sir. Give my best respects to
Lady Bingham; and believe me, with great truth
and esteem,
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
EDM. BURKE.
BEACONSFIELD, 30th October, 1773.
To SIR CHARLES BINGHAM.
? ? ? ? A
LETTER
TO
THE HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX, ON THE AMERICAN WAR. OCTOBER 8, 1777.
? ? ? ? LETTER.
MY DEAR CHARLES, --I am, on many accounts, exceedingly pleased with your journey
to Ireland. I do not think it was possible to dispose
better of the interval between this and the meeting
of Parliament. I told you as much, in the same general terms, by the post. My opinion of the infidelity
of that conveyance hindered me from being particular.
I now sit down with malice prepense to kill you with
a very long letter, and must take my chance for some
safe method of conveying the dose. Before I say anything to you of the place you are in, or the business of it, on which, by the way, a great deal might be
said, I will turn myself to the concluding part of
your letter from Chatsworth.
You are sensible that I do not differ from you in
many things; and most certainly I do not dissent
from the main of your doctrine concerning the heresy of depending upon contingencies. You must recollect how uniform my sentiments have been on
that subject. I have ever wished a settled plan of
our own, founded in the very essence of the American business, wholly unconnected with the events of the war, and framed in such a manner as to keep
up our credit and maintain our system at home, in
spite of anything which may happen abroad. I am
now convinced, by a long and somewhat vexatious
experience, that such a plan is absolutely imprac
? ? ? ? 138 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
ticable. I think with you, that some faults in the
constitution of those whom we must love and trust
are among the causes of this impracticability; they
are faults, too, that one can hardly wish them perfectly cured of, as I am afraid they are intimately
connected with honest, disinterested intentions, plentiful fortunes, assured rank, and quiet homes. A
great deal of activity and enterprise can scarcely
ever be expected from such men, unless some horrible calamity is just over their heads, or unless they
suffer some gross personal insults from power, the
resentment of which may be as unquiet and stimulating a principle in their minds as ambition is in
those of a different complexion. To say the truth,
I cannot greatly blame them. We live at a time
when men are not repaid in fame for what they
sacrifice in interest or repose.
On the whole, when I consider of what discordant, and particularly of what fleeting materials the
opposition has been all along composed, and at the
same time review what Lord Rockingham has done,
with that and with his own shattered constitution,
for these last twelve years, I confess I am rather surprised that he has done so much and persevered so
long, than that he has felt now and then some cold
fits, and that he grows somewhat languid and desponding at last. I know that he, and those who
are much prevalent with him, though they are not
thought so much devoted to popularity as others, do
very much look to the people, and more than I think
is wise in them, who do so little to guide and direct the public opinion. Without this they act, indeed; but they act as it were from compulsion, and because it is impossible, in their situation, to avoid
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 139
taking some part. All this it is impossible to change,
and to no purpose to complain of.
As to that popular humor which is the medium
we float in, if I can discern anything at all of its
present state, it is far worse than I have ever known
or could ever imagine it. The faults of the people
are not popular vices; at least, they are not such as
grow out of what we used to take to be the English
temper and character. The greatest number have a
sort of an heavy, lumpish acquiescence in government, without much respect or esteem for those that compose it. I really cannot avoid making some very
unpleasant prognostics from this disposition of the
people. I think that many of the symptoms must
have struck you: I will mention one or two that are
to me very remarkable. You must know that at Bristol we grow, as an election interest, and even as a party interest, rather stronger than we were when I
was chosen. We have just now a majority in the corporation. In this state of matters, what, think you, have they done? They have voted their freedom to
Lord Sandwich and Lord Suffolk! -to the first, at
the very moment when the American privateers were
domineering in the Irish Sea, and taking the Bristol
traders in the Bristol Channel; --to the latter, when
his remonstrances on the subject of captures were
the jest of Paris and of Europe. This fine step was
taken, it seems, in honor of the zeal of these two
profound statesmen in the prosecution of John the
Painter: so totally negligent are they of everything essential, and so long and so deeply affected
with trash the most low and contemptible; just as
if they thought the merit of Sir John Fielding was
the most shining point in the character of great min
? ? ? ? 140 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
isters, in the most critical of all times, and, of all
others, the most deeply interesting to the commercial world! My best friends in the corporation had
no other doubts on the occasion than whether it did
not belong to me, by right of my representative capacity, to be the bearer of this auspicious compliment. In addition to this, if it could receive any addition, they now employ me to solicit, as a favor
of no small magnitude, that, after the example of
Newcastle, they may be suffered to arm vessels for
their own defence in the Channel. Their memorial,
under the seal of Merchants' Hall, is now lying on
the table before me. Not a soul has the least sensibility, on finding themselves, now for the first time,
obliged to act as if the community were dissolved,
and, after enormous payments towards the common
protection, each part was to defend itself, as if it
were a separate state.
I don't mention Bristol as if that were the part
furthest gone in this mortification. Far from it: I
know that there is, rather, a little more life in us than
in any other place. In Liverpool they are literally
almost ruined by this American war; but they love
it as they suffer from it. In short, from whatever
I see, and from whatever quarter I hear, I am convinced that everything that is not absolute stagnation
is evidently a party-spirit very adverse to our politics,
and to the principles from whence they arise. There
are manifest marks of the resurrection of the Tory
party. They no longer criticize, as all disengaged
people in the world will, on the acts of government;
but they are silent under every evil, and hide and
cover up every ministerial blunder and misfortune,
with the officious zeal of men who think they have a
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 141
party of their own to support in power. The Tories
do universally think their power and consequence
involved in the success of this American business.
The clergy are astonishingly warm in it; and what
the Tories are, when embodied and united with their
natural head, the crown, and animated by their clergy, no man knows better than yourself. As to the
Whigs, I think them far from extinct. They are,
what they always were, (except by the able use of
opportunities,) by far the weakest party in this country. They have not yet learned the application of
their principles to the present state of things; and
as -to the Dissenters, the main effective part of the
Whig strength, they are, to use a favorite expression
of our American campaign style, " not all in force. "
They will do very little, and, as far as I can discern,
are rather intimidated than provoked at the denunciations of the court in the Archbishop of York's sermon. I thought that sermon rather imprudent, when I first saw it; but it seems to have done its business.
In this temper of the people, I do not wholly wonder that our Northern friends look a little towards
events. In war, particularly, I am afraid it must be
so. There is something so weighty and decisive in
the events of war, something that so completely overpowers the imagination of the vulgar, that all counsels must in a great degree be subordinate to and attendant on them. I am sure it was so in the last
war, very eminently. So that, on the whole, what
with the temper of the people, the temper of our own
friends, and the domineering necessities of war, we
must quietly give up all ideas of any settled, preconcerted plan. We. shall be lucky enough, if, keeping
ourselves attentive and alert, we can contrive to profit
? ? ? ? 142 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
of the occasions as they arise: though I am sensible that those who are best provided with a general scheme are fittest to take advantage of all contingencies. However, to act with any people with the least degree of comfort, I believe we must contrive
a little to assimilate to their character. We must
gravitate towards them, if we would keep in the
same system, or expect that they should approach
towards us. They are, indeed, worthy of much
concession and management. I am quite convinced
that they are the honestest public men that ever appeared in this country, and I am sure that they are the wisest, by far, of those who appear in it at present.
None of those who are continually complaining of
them, but are themselves just as chargeable with all
their faults, and have a decent stock of their own
into the bargain. They (our friends) are, I admit,
as you very truly represent them, but indifferently qualified for storming a citadel. After all, God knows whether this citadel is to be stormed by them,
or by anybody else, by the means they use, or by
any means. I know that as they are, abstractedly
speaking, to blame, so there are those who cry out
against them for it, not with a friendly complaint,
as we do, but with the bitterness of enemies. But I
know, too, that those who blame them for want of
enterprise have shown no activity at all against the
common enemy: all their skill and all their spirit
have been shown only in weakening, dividing, and
indeed destroying their allies. What they are and
what we are is now pretty evidently experienced;
and it is certain, that, partly by our common faults,
but much more by the difficulties of our situation,
and some circumstances of unavoidable misfortune,
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 143
we are in little better than a sort of cul-de-sac. For
my part, I do all I can to give ease to my mind in
this strange position. I remember, some years ago,
when I was pressing some points with great eagerness and anxiety, and complaining with great vexation to the Duke of Richmond of the little progress I make, he told me kindly, and I believe very truly,
that, though he was far from thinking so himself,
other people could not be persuaded I had not
some latent private interest in pushing these matters, which I urged with an earnestness so extreme,
and so much approaching to passion. He was certainly in the right. I am thoroughly resolved to
give, both to myself and to my friends, less vexation,
on these subjects than hitherto I have done, - much:
less, indeed.
If you should grow too earnest, you will be still
more inexcusable than I was. Your having entered
into affairs so much younger ought to make them too
familiar to you to be the cause of much agitation, and
you have much more before you for your work. Do
not be in haste. Lay your foundations deep in public opinion. Though (as you are sensible) I have
never given you the least hint of advice about joining yourself in a declared connection with our party,
nor do I now, yet, as I love that party very well, and
am clear that you are better able to serve them than
any man I know, I wish that things should be so
kept as to leave you mutually very open to one another in all changes and contingencies; and I wish
this the rather, because, in order to be very great, as
I am anxious that you should be, (always presuming
that you are disposed to make a good use of power,)
you will certainly want some better support than.
? ? ? ? 144 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
merely that of the crown. For I much doubt, whether, with all your parts, you are the mail formed for acquiring real interior favor in this court, or in any;
I therefore wish you a firm ground in the country;
and I do not know so firm and so sound a bottom to
build on as our party. - Well, I have done with this
matter; and you think I ought to have finished it
long ago. Now I turn to Ireland.
Observe, that I have not heard a word of any news
relative to it, from thence or from London; so that I
am oily going to state to you my conjectures as to
facts, and to speculate again on these conjectures. I
have a strong notion that the lateness of our meeting
is owing to the previous arrangements intended in
Ireland. I suspect they mean that Ireland should
take a sort of lead, and act an efficient part in this
war, both with men and money. It will sound well,
when we meet, to tell us of the active zeal and loyalty of the people of' Ireland, and contrast it with the rebellious spirit of America. It will be a popular topic, -the perfect confidence of Ireland in the power of the British Parliament. From thence they
will argue the little danger which any dependency
of the crown has to apprehend from the enforcement
of that authority. It will be, too, somewhat flattering to the country gentlemen, who might otherwise begin to be sullen, to hold out that the burden is not
wholly to rest upon them; and it will pique our
pride to be told that Ireland has cheerfully stepped
forward: and when a dependant of this kingdom has
already engaged itself in another year's war, merely
for our dignity, how can we, who are principals in
the quarrel, hold off? This scheme of policy seems
to me so very obvious, and is likely to be of so much
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 145
service to the present system, that I cannot conceive
it possible they should neglect it, or something like it.
They have already put the people of Ireland to the
proof. Have they not borne the Earl of Buckinghamshire, the person who was employed to move the
fiery committee in the House of Lords in order to
stimulate the ministry to this war, who was in the
chair, and who moved the resolutions?
It is within a few days of eleven years since I was
in Ireland, and then after an absence of two. Those
who have been absent from any scene for even a
much shorter time generally lose the true practical
notion of the country, and of what may or may not
be done in it. When I knew Ireland, it was very
different from the state of England, where government is a vast deal, the public something, but individuals comparatively very little. But if Ireland bears any resemblance to what it was some years
ago, neither government nor public opinion can do
a great deal; almost the whole is in the hands of a
few leading people. The populace of Dublin, and
some parts in the North, are in some sort an exception. But the Primate, Lord Hillsborough, and Lord
IHertford have great sway in the latter; and the former may be considerable or not, pretty much as the
Duke of Leinster pleases. On the whole, the success
of government usually depended on the bargain made
with a very few men. The resident lieutenancy may
have made some change, and given a strength to government, which formerly, I know, it had not; still,
however, I am of opinion, the former state, though
in other hands perhaps, and in another manner, still
continues. The house you are connected with is
grown into a much greater degree of power than it
VOL. VI. 10
? ? ? ? 146 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
had, though it was very considerable, at the period I
speak of. If the D. of L. takes a popular part, he is
sure of the city of Dublin, and he has a young man
attached to him who stands very forward in Parliament and inll profession, and, by what I hear, with more good-will and less envy than usually attends so
rapid a progress. The movement of one or two principal men, if they manage the little popular strength which is to be found in Dublin and Ulster, may do a
great deal, especially when money is to be saved and
taxes to be kept off. I confess I should despair of
your succeeding with any of them, if they cannot be
satisfied that every job which they can look for on account of carrying this measure would be just as sure to them for their ordinary support of government.
They are essential to government, which at this time
must not be disturbed, and their neutrality will be
purchased at as high a price as their alliance offensive and defensive. Now, as by supporting they may get as much as by betraying their country, it must
be a great leaning to turpitude that can make them
take a part in this war. I am satisfied, that, if the
Duke of Leinster and Lord Shannon would act together, this business could not go on; or if either of
them took part with Ponsonby, it would have no better success. Hutchinson's situation is much altered since I saw you. To please Tisdall, he had been in
a manner laid aside at the Castle. It is now to be
seen whether he prefers the gratification of his resentment and his appetite for popularity, both of
which are strong enough in him, to the advantages
which his independence gives him, of making a new
bargain, and accumulating new offices on his heap.
Pray do not be asleep in this scene of action, --at
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 147
this time, if I am right, the principal. The Protestants of Ireland will be, I think, in general, backward: they form infinitely the greatest part of the landed and the moneyed interests; and they will not
like to pay. The Papists are reduced to beasts of
burden: they will give all they have, their shoulders, readily enough, if they are flattered. Surely
the state of Ireland ought forever to teach parties
moderation in their victories. People crushed by law
have no hopes but from power. If laws are their
enemies, they will be enemies to laws; and those
who have much to hope and nothing to lose will always be dangerous, more or less. But this is not
our present business. If all this should prove a
dream, however, let it not hinder you from writing
to me and telling me so. You will easily refute, in
your conversation, the little topics which they will set
afloat: such as, that Ireland is a boat, and must go
with the ship; that, if the Americans contended only
for their liberties, it would be different, - but since
they have declared independence, and so forth
You are happy in enjoying Townshend's company.
Remember me to him. How does he like his private
situation in a country where he was the son of the
sovereign? -Mrs. Burke and the two Richards salute you cordially.
E. B.
BEACONSFIELD, October 8th, 1777.
? ? ? ? A
LETTER
TO
THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM,
WITH
ADDRESSES TO THE KING,
AND
THE BRITISH COLONISTS IN NORTH AMERICA,
IN RELATION TO
THE MEASURES OF GOVERNMENT IN THE AMERICAN CONTEST, AND A PROPOSED SECESSION OF
THE OPPOSITION FROM PARLIAMENT.
JANUARY, 1777.
? ? ? ? NOTE.
THIS Letter, with the two Addresses which follow it, was written upon occasion of a proposed' secession from Parliament of the members in both Houses who had opposed the measures of government, in the contest between this country and the colonies in North America, from the time of the repeal of the Stamp Act.
It appears, from an indorsement written by Mr. Burke on the
manuscript, that he warmly recommended the measure, but (for
what reasons is not stated) it was not adopted.
? ? ? ? LETTER
TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM.
MY DEAR LORD, --I am afraid that I ought
rather to beg your pardon for troubling you
at all in this season of repose, than to apologize for
having been so long silent on the approaching business. It comes upon us, not indeed in the most agreeable manner, but it does come upon us; and
I believe your friends in general are in expectation
of finding your Lordship resolved in what way you
are to meet it. The deliberation is full of difficulties; but the determination is necessary.
The affairs of America seem to be drawing towards
a crisis.
