EDMUND BURKE.

SPEECH AT BRISTOL.

DURING his first and second Parliaments, Burke sat as member for Wendover. At the dissolution of 1774 he lost his seat because the friend who owned the borough, and who had given him the election, was now in need of money, and must sell the seat to some one who could pay for it. Burke was proposed for a little borough in Yorkshire, and his election was actually secured, when there appeared on the scene a deputation from Bristol, the second city in the kingdom, urging him to "stand" for them. The honor and the opportunity were too great to be neglected. Burke waived his election at Malton, hurried to Bristol, and after an exciting canvass was elected as one of the two representatives of that city. In thanking his constituents after the election, Burke's colleague promised strictly to obey their wishes in all his parliamentary action. With characteristic independence, Burke took a different view of the relation between a representative and his constituents. "Their wishes," said he, "ought to have great weight with him; their opinions, high respect; their business, unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasure, his satisfactions to theirs; and, above all, ever and in all cases to prefer their interest to his own. But his unbiassed opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion. Government and legislation are matters of reason and judgment, and not of inclination; and what sort of reason is that in which the determination precedes the dis

...

cussion, in which one set of men deliberate and another decide, and where those who form the conclusion are perhaps three hundred miles distant from those who hear the arguments?"

For six years the proud merchants of Bristol were content to be served by a man of this sort. But upon the sudden dissolution of Parliament in 1780, Burke came down to Bristol to find an active canvass against him already in progress. Calling a meeting of the Mayor and prominent citizens, he rendered an account of his stewardship in the speech we are now considering. Its simplicity, its directness, and the calm dignity of its tone, are finely suited to the audience and the occasion, and are in marked contrast with the splendid rhetoric and the magnificent movement of the speech on Conciliation with America. But in devotion to principle, in lofty patriotism, in manly courage, in all that makes the difference between the statesman and the adroit politician, Burke is the same in both. As a noble defence of his own conduct on the part of a public servant, this speech is unsurpassed.

Burke's arguments presuppose a somewhat broad acquaintance with the history of that eventful time, and especially with England's part in it, whether at home or in America, Ireland, France, and the East Indies. The materials for such a synoptic view may be found in Green's Short History of the English People, chapter X., sections ii., iii., iv., supplemented by topical readings from other standard works, especially Lecky's England in the Eighteenth Century.

TEXTUAL NOTES.

PAGE 89, 13, 14. the means of honorable service his election to a seat in Parliament.

19. For the general conduct of elections, see note on the House of Commons, p. 320. In the United States all elections are "contested;" i.e., are brought to the test of actual voting. In England such is not always the case. Where there is no hope of carrying the election, or of gain from agitation, the weaker party often saves itself trouble and expense either by putting forward no candidates at all, or by withdrawing them after the canvass has progressed far enough to demonstrate its futility. In such

cases, if there are no more candidates than there are seats to fill, the proper officer "returns" those candidates certifies that they are duly elected · without actually calling for the votes. Such would seem to have been the case in this election see note upon the conclusion of this speech. For vivid portrayals of the excitements and strain of a contested election in England, the student should consult George Eliot's Middlemarch and Charles Reade's Put Yourself in His Place.

PAGE 91, 20-30. The student can hardly fail to note the striking application which Burke's utterances often have to present conditions in our own politics and public life. Cf. pp. 92–93, 103, et passim. This is due to his habit of fixing his attention upon the principles involved, rather than upon the passing forms of life and thought.

PAGE 92, 24 ff. The most shameless intrigues and bribery were resorted to under George III., to enable him to control the legislation and policy of the realm, that he might rule as well as reign. See Green's Short History, X. ii., the House of Commons and the Crown. Burke himself has left a startling picture of this state of affairs in his Thoughts on the Present Discontents. A court party in English politics seems happily now no longer possible. The initial step towards reform Burke had already been urging with characteristic energy in the session just ended (see p. 96, 1. 2 ff). It was not unlike our own Civil Service Reform an attempt to cut short the means for bribery by greatly curtailing the lucrative offices within the gift of the Crown. (Cf. Burke's speech on Economical Reform, delivered Feb. 11, 1780.) The final steps in this same reform were the redistricting of the realm and the extension of the franchise in such a way as to make the House of Commons a body really representing the people. See Macaulay's speech on the Reform Bill, p. 252 ff. of this volume.

35. violate their consciences; e.g., by pledging absolute subserviency to the dictates of their constituents. This is the "infallible receipt" spoken of below.

PAGE 96, 31. This was in August, 1776, when Washington was obliged to abandon New York. The victory seemed so deci

sive that further resistance on the part of the Colonies was

thought to be impossible.

PAGE 98, 3. wounds

spearian touch.

9. state =

yet green; i.e., fresh- -a Shake

statement; a frequent use in Burke's time.

20 ff. For a full account of Irish affairs as touched upon in this section, consult Lecky's England in the Eighteenth Century. chapter xvii. The following sketch, adapted from Professor Goodrich, will serve to supplement and explain what is said in the speech:

Ireland at this time had a parliament of her own, but not Home Rule, since all legislation was really dictated by the British Ministry. Under the Navigation Laws almost no foreign trade was allowed her, save with England, and that was greatly restricted in order to protect English industries. At last the country was reduced to such distress that in 1778, and again in 1779, it was proposed to remove the restrictions, and allow her a considerable participation in the commerce of the world. Though this was vehemently opposed by Bristol, in common with other great commercial towns, Burke felt himself bound to support the measure. The ministry, however, became alarmed at the general outcry, and no effectual relief was secured in either session. The Irish, indignant at this treatment, copied the example of the Americans, and formed associations pledged to abstain from the use of all English manufactures. In August, 1779, the French and Spanish fleets swept the Channel without resistance, and threatened a descent upon Ireland. England, with her own coasts in danger, and her armies engaged in America and India, could spare no more troops. The Irish people flew to arms. With no commission or authority whatever, save that of the necessity of national defence, the celebrated corps of Irish Volunteers, consisting of over forty thousand men, was organized, armed, and officered within a few weeks. The Irish Parliament, meeting shortly after, approved the conduct of the Volunteers by a unanimous vote of thanks. With these troops at their command, they sent a significant Address to the King, declaring that "it was not by temporary expedients, but by a free trade that the nation was

to be saved from impending ruin.” To enforce this Address, they limited the "supply" they granted the Crown to the period of six months instead of the customary two years. It was now clear that Ireland would follow the American Colonies in rebellion, unless the Ministry yielded at once. Hence the instantaneous concessions so graphically described on page 100. Even the woollen trade,— the “sacred fleece,” — which the English had guarded with such jealous care, was thrown open to the Irish.

PAGE 100, 1. It was the Irish House of Commons which refused to make any new grant to the English Crown.

In

27, ff. After their experiences during the seventeenth century, Englishmen came to regard a standing army in the hands of the King as a standing menace to their liberties. By the Bill of Rights (1679) it was declared illegal to raise and maintain such an army except by consent of Parliament. Ever since that time the maintenance and discipline of the English army has been authorized each year anew - and for a single year- by a special Act of Parliament called, somewhat oddly, the Mutiny Act. the flush of success and of national enthusiasm at this time, the Irish denied the validity in Ireland of all Acts of the English Parliament, though they did not abate in the least their loyalty to the King of England, who was also their King. English Acts being thus inoperative, and the civil law alone being in force, it became impossible to maintain military discipline — not among the Volunteers, for their conduct was a matter of national pride but among the royal troops in Ireland. The Irish Parliament with great spirit seized the opportunity to prepare a Mutiny Act for Ireland, backed it by an overwhelming vote, and, in accordance with the regular procedure, sent it to the English Ministry for approval a challenge to acknowledge their independence. The Bill came back with no other change save the loss of those words which limited its action to a single year. At this counterchallenge a panic seized Parliament. It could not be rallied to restore the expunged words, and the Act passed in that form. The maintenance of royal troops in Ireland was thus to be made perpetual, and independent of control by either Parliament; a state of affairs fraught with danger to the liberties of both countries.