Thoughts on the Present Discontents, and SpeechesBurke, Edmund
General
Thoughts on the Present Discontents, and Speeches
Burke, Edmund
Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1760-1789
It may appear somewhat affected, that in so much discourse upon this
extraordinary party, I should say so little of the Earl of Bute, who is
the supposed head of it. But this was neither owing to affectation nor
inadvertence. I have carefully avoided the introduction of personal
reflections of any kind. Much the greater part of the topics which have
been used to blacken this nobleman are either unjust or frivolous. At
best, they have a tendency to give the resentment of this bitter calamity
a wrong direction, and to turn a public grievance into a mean personal,
or a dangerous national, quarrel. Where there is a regular scheme of
operations carried on, it is the system, and not any individual person
who acts in it, that is truly dangerous. This system has not risen
solely from the ambition of Lord Bute, but from the circumstances which
favoured it, and from an indifference to the constitution which had been
for some time growing among our gentry. We should have been tried with
it, if the Earl of Bute had never existed; and it will want neither a
contriving head nor active members, when the Earl of Bute exists no
longer. It is not, therefore, to rail at Lord Bute, but firmly to embody
against this Court party and its practices, which can afford us any
prospect of relief in our present condition.
Another motive induces me to put the personal consideration of Lord Bute
wholly out of the question. He communicates very little in a direct
manner with the greater part of our men of business. This has never been
his custom. It is enough for him that he surrounds them with his
creatures. Several imagine, therefore, that they have a very good excuse
for doing all the work of this faction, when they have no personal
connection with Lord Bute. But whoever becomes a party to an
Administration, composed of insulated individuals, without faith
plighted, tie, or common principle; an Administration constitutionally
impotent, because supported by no party in the nation; he who contributes
to destroy the connections of men and their trust in one another, or in
any sort to throw the dependence of public counsels upon private will and
favour, possibly may have nothing to do with the Earl of Bute. It
matters little whether he be the friend or the enemy of that particular
person. But let him be who or what he will, he abets a faction that is
driving hard to the ruin of his country. He is sapping the foundation of
its liberty, disturbing the sources of its domestic tranquillity,
weakening its government over its dependencies, degrading it from all its
importance in the system of Europe.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account