Beacon Lights of History, Volume 09: European Statesmen — John Shaqi
Beacon Lights of History, Volume 09: European StatesmenLord, John
History
Beacon Lights of History, Volume 09: European Statesmen
Lord, John
History
Dumont's Recollections of Mirabeau; Carlyle's French Revolution;
Carlyle's article on Mirabeau in his Miscellanies; Von Sybel's French
Revolution; Thiers' French Revolution; Mignet's French Revolution;
Croker's Essays on the French Revolution; Life of Lafayette; Loustalot's
Révolution de Paris; Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution;
Carlyle's article on Danton; Mallet du Pau's Considérations sur la
Révolution Française; Biographie Universelle; A. Lameth's Histoire de
l'Assemblée Constituante; Alison's History of the French Revolution;
Lamartine's History of the Girondists; Lacretelle's History of France;
Montigny's Mémoires sur Mirabeau; Peuchet's Mémoires sur Mirabeau;
Madame de Staël's Considérations sur la Révolution Française; Macaulay's
Essay on Dumont's Recollections of Mirabeau.
EDMUND BURKE.
A. D. 1729-1797.
POLITICAL MORALITY.
It would be difficult to select an example of a more lofty and
irreproachable character among the great statesmen of England than
Edmund Burke. He is not a puzzle, like Oliver Cromwell, although there
are inconsistencies in the opinions he advanced from time to time. He
takes very much the same place in the parliamentary history of his
country as Cicero took in the Roman senate. Like that greatest of Roman
orators and statesmen, Burke was upright, conscientious, conservative,
religious, and profound. Like him, he lifted up his earnest voice
against corruption in the government, against great state criminals,
against demagogues, against rash innovations. Whatever diverse opinions
may exist as to his political philosophy, there is only one opinion as
to his character, which commands universal respect. Although he was the
most conservative of statesmen, clinging to the Constitution, and to
consecrated traditions and associations both in Church and State, still
his name is associated with the most important and salutary reforms
which England made for half a century. He seems to have been sent to
instruct and guide legislators in a venal and corrupt age. To my mind
Burke looms up, after the lapse of a century, as a prodigy of thought
and knowledge, devoted to the good of his country; an unselfish and
disinterested patriot, as wise and sagacious as he was honest; a sage
whose moral wisdom shines brighter and brighter, since it was based on
the immutable principles of justice and morality. One can extract more
profound and striking epigrams from his speeches and writings than from
any prose writer that England has produced, if we except Francis Bacon.
And these writings and speeches are still valued as among the most
precious legacies of former generations; they form a thesaurus of
political wisdom which statesmen can never exhaust. Burke has left an
example which all statesmen will do well to follow. He was not a popular
favorite, like Fox and Pitt; he was not born to greatness, like North
and Newcastle; he was not liked by the king or the nobility; he was
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