gives us no revenue. No! But it does; for it secures to the subject the
power or refusal, the first of all revenues. Experience is a cheat, and
fact a liar, if this power in the subject of proportioning his grant, or
of not granting at all, has not been found the richest mine of revenue
ever discovered by the skill or by the fortune of man. It does not
indeed vote you L152,750 11s. 23/4d, nor any other paltry limited sum;
but it gives the strong box itself, the fund, the bank--from whence only
revenues can arise amongst a people sensible of freedom. Posita luditur
arca. [Footnote: 68] Cannot you, in England--cannot you, at this time
of day--cannot you, a House of Commons, trust to the principle which has
raised so mighty a revenue, and accumulated a debt of near 140,000,000
in this country? Is this principle to be true in England, and false
everywhere else? Is it not true in Ireland? Has it not hitherto been
true in the Colonies? Why should you presume that, in any country, a
body duly constituted for any function will neglect to perform its
duty and abdicate its trust? Such a presumption [Footnote: 69] would
go against all governments in all modes. But, in truth, this dread of
penury of supply from a free assembly has no foundation in nature; for
first, observe that, besides the desire which all men have naturally of
supporting the honor of their own government, that sense of dignity and
that security to property which ever attends freedom has a tendency to
increase the stock of the free community. Most may be taken where most
is accumulated. And what is the soil or climate where experience has not
uniformly proved that the voluntary flow of heaped-up plenty, bursting
from the weight of its own rich luxuriance, has ever run with a more
copious stream of revenue than could be squeezed from the dry husks of
oppressed indigence by the straining of all the politic machinery in the
world? [Footnote: 70]
Next, we know that parties must ever exist in a free country. We know,
too, that the emulations of such parties--their contradictions, their
reciprocal necessities, their hopes, and their fears--must send them all
in their turns to him that holds the balance of the State. The parties
are the gamesters; but Government keeps the table, and is sure to be the
winner in the end. When this game is played, I really think it is more
to be feared that the people will be exhausted, than that Government
will not be supplied; whereas, whatever is got by acts of absolute
power ill obeyed, because odious, or by contracts ill kept, because
constrained, will be narrow, feeble, uncertain, and precarious.
"Ease would retract Vows made in pain, as violent and void."
I, for one, protest against compounding our demands. I declare against
compounding, for a poor limited sum, the immense, ever-growing, eternal
debt which is due to generous government from protected freedom. And so
may I speed in the great object I propose to you, as I think it would
not only be an act of injustice, but would be the worst economy in the
world, to compel the Colonies to a sum certain, either in the way of
ransom or in the way of compulsory compact.
But to clear up my ideas on this subject: a revenue from America
transmitted hither--do not delude yourselves--you never can receive it;
no, not a shilling. We have experience that from remote countries it
is not to be expected. If, when you attempted to extract revenue
from Bengal, you were obliged to return in loan what you had taken in
imposition, what can you expect from North America? For certainly, if
ever there was a country qualified to produce wealth, it is India; or
an institution fit for the transmission, it is the East India Company.
America has none of these aptitudes. If America gives you taxable
objects on which you lay your duties here, and gives you, at the same
time, a surplus by a foreign sale of her commodities to pay the duties
on these objects which you tax at home, she has performed her part to
the British revenue. But with regard to her own internal establishments,
she may, I doubt not she will, contribute in moderation. I say in
moderation, for she ought not to be permitted to exhaust herself. She
ought to be reserved to a war, the weight of which, with the enemies
[Footnote: 71] that we are most likely to have, must be considerable
in her quarter of the globe. There she may serve you, and serve you
essentially.
For that service--for all service, whether of revenue, trade, or
empire--my trust is in her interest in the British Constitution. My hold
of the Colonies is in the close affection which grows from common names,
from kindred blood, from similar privileges, and equal protection. These
are ties which, though light as air, [Footnote: 72] are as strong as
links of iron. Let the Colonists always keep the idea of their civil
rights associated with your government,--they will cling and grapple to
you, [Footnote: 73] and no force under heaven will be of power to tear
them from their allegiance. But let it be once understood that your
government may be one thing, and their privileges another, that these
two things may exist without any mutual relation, the cement is gone
[Footnote: 74]--the cohesion is loosened--and everything hastens to
decay and dissolution. As long as you have the wisdom to keep the
sovereign authority of this country as the sanctuary of liberty, the
sacred temple consecrated to our common faith, wherever the chosen race
and sons of England worship freedom, they will turn their faces towards
you. The more they multiply, the more friends you will have; the more
ardently they love liberty, the more perfect will be their obedience.
Slavery they can have anywhere--it is a weed that grows in every soil.
They may have it from Spain; they may have it from Prussia. But, until
you become lost to all feeling of your true interest and your natural
dignity, freedom they can have from none but you. This is the commodity
of price of which you have the monopoly. This is the true Act of
Navigation which binds to you the commerce of the Colonies, and
through them secures to you the wealth of the world. Deny them this
participation of freedom, and you break that sole bond which originally
made, and must still preserve, the unity of the Empire. Do not entertain
so weak an imagination as that your registers and your bonds, your
affidavits and your sufferances, your cockets and your clearances, are
what form the great securities of your commerce. Do not dream that your
letters of office, and your instructions, and your suspending clauses,
are the things that hold together the great contexture of the mysterious
whole. These things do not make your government. Dead instruments,
passive tools as they are, it is the spirit of the English communion
that gives all their life and efficacy to them. It is the spirit of the
English Constitution which, infused through the mighty mass, pervades,
feeds, unites, invigorates, vivifies every part of the Empire, even down
to the minutest member.
Is it not the same virtue which does everything for us here in England?
Do you imagine, then, that it is the Land Tax Act which raises your
revenue? that it is the annual vote in the Committee of Supply which
gives you your army? or that it is the Mutiny Bill which inspires
it with bravery and discipline? No! surely no! It is the love of the
people; it is their attachment to their government, from the sense of
the deep stake they have in such a glorious institution, which gives you
your army and your navy, and infuses into both that liberal obedience
without which your army would be a base rabble, and your navy nothing
but rotten timber.
All this, I know well enough, will sound wild and chimerical to the
profane herd [Footnote: 75] of those vulgar and mechanical politicians
who have no place among us; a sort of people who think that nothing
exists but what is gross and material, and who, therefore, far from
being qualified to be directors of the great movement of empire, are
not fit to turn a wheel in the machine. But to men truly initiated and
rightly taught, these ruling and master principles which, in the opinion
of such men as I have mentioned, have no substantial existence, are in
truth everything, and all in all. Magnanimity [Footnote: 76] in politics
is not seldom the truest wisdom; and a great empire and little minds go
ill together. If we are conscious of our station, and glow with zeal
to fill our places as becomes our situation and ourselves, we ought to
auspicate [Footnote: 77] all our public proceedings on America with
the old warning of the church, Sursum corda! [Footnote: 78] We ought to
elevate our minds to the greatness of that trust to which the order
of providence has called us. By adverting to the dignity of this high
calling our ancestors have turned a savage wilderness into a glorious
empire, and have made the most extensive and the only honorable
conquests--not by destroying, but by promoting the wealth, the number,
the happiness, of the human race. Let us get an American revenue as we
have got an American empire. English privileges have made it all that it
is; English privileges alone will make it all it can be.
In full confidence of this unalterable truth, I now, quod felix
faustumque sit, [Footnote: 79] lay the first stone of the Temple of
Peace; and I move you--
"That the Colonies and Plantations of Great Britain in North America,
consisting of fourteen separate governments, and containing two millions
and upwards of free inhabitants, have not had the liberty and privilege
of electing and sending any Knights and Burgesses, or others, to
represent them in the High Court of Parliament."
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote: 1. grand penal bill. This bill originated with Lord North.
It restricted the trade of the New England colonies to England and her
dependencies. It also placed serious limitations upon the Newfoundland
fisheries. The House of Lords was dissatisfied with the measure because
it did not include all the colonies.]
[Footnote: 2. When I first had the honor. Burke was first elected
to Parliament Dec. 26, 1765. He was at the time secretary to Lord
Rockingham, Prime Minister. Previous to this he had made himself
thoroughly familiar with England's policy in dealing with her
dependencies--notably Ireland.]
[Footnote: 3. my original sentiments. After many demonstrations both in
America and England the Stamp Act became a law in 1765. One of the first
tasks the Rockingham ministry set itself was to bring about a repeal of
this act. Burke made his first speech in support of his party. He argued
that the abstract and theoretical rights claimed by England in matters
of government should be set aside when they were unfavorable to the
happiness and prosperity of her colonies and herself. His speech was
complimented by Pitt, and Dr. Johnson wrote that no new member had ever
before attracted such attention.]
[Footnote: 4. America has been kept in agitation. For a period of nearly
one hundred years the affairs of the colonies had been intrusted to a
standing committee appointed by Parliament. This committee was called
"The Lords of Trade." From its members came many if not the majority of
the propositions for the regulation of the American trade. To them the
colonial governors, who were appointed by the king, gave full accounts
of the proceedings of the colonial legislatures. These reports, often
colored by personal prejudice, did not always represent the colonists in
the best light. It was mainly through the influence of one of the former
Lords of Trade, Charles Townshend, who afterwards became the leading
voice in the Pitt ministry, that the Stamp Act was passed.]
[Footnote: 5. a worthy member. Mr. Rose Fuller.]
[Footnote: 6. former methods. Condense the thought in this paragraph.
Are such "methods" practised nowadays?]
[Footnote: 7. paper government. Burke possibly had in mind the
constitution prepared for the Carolinas by John Locke and Earl of
Shaftesbury. The scheme was utterly impracticable and gave cause for
endless dissatisfaction.]
[Footnote: 8. Refined policy. After a careful reading of the paragraph
determine what Burke means by "refined policy."]
[Footnote: 9. the project. The bill referred to had been passed by the
House on Feb. 27. It provided that those colonies which voluntarily
voted contributions for the common defence and support of the English
government, and in addition made provision for the administration of
their own civil affairs, should be exempt from taxation, except such as
was necessary for the regulation of trade. It has been declared by some
that the measure was meant in good faith and that its recognition and
acceptance by the colonies would have brought good results. Burke, along
with others of the opposition, argued that the intention of the bill was
to cause dissension and division among the colonies. Compare 7, 11-12.
State your opinion and give reasons.]
[Footnote: 10. the noble lord in the blue ribbon Lord North (1732-1792)
He entered Parliament at the age of twenty-two, served as Lord of the
Treasury, 1759; was removed by Rockingham, 1765; was again appointed
by Pitt to the office of Joint Paymaster of the Forces, became Prime
Minister, 1770, and resigned, 1781 Lord North is described both by
his contemporaries and later histonaus as an easy-going, indolent man,
short-sighted and rather stupid, though obstinate and courageous. He
was the willing servant of George III, and believed in the principle of
authority as opposed to that of conciliation. The blue ribbon was the
badge of the Order of the Garter instituted by Edward III Lord North
was made a Knight of the Garter, 1772. Burke often mentions the "blue
ribbon" in speaking of the Prime Minister. Why?]
[Footnote: 11. Colony agents. It was customary for colonies to select
some one to represent them in important matters of legislation. Burke
himself served as the agent of New York. Do you think this tact accounts
in any way for his attitude in this speech?]
[Footnote: 12. our address Parliament had prepared an address to the
king some months previous, in which Massachusetts was declared to be in
a state of rebellion. The immediate cause of this address was the
Boston Tea Party. The lives and fortunes of his Majesty's subjects were
represented as being in danger, and he was asked to deal vigorously not
only with Massachusetts but with her sympathizers.]
[Footnote: 13. those chances. Suggested perhaps by lines in Julius
Caesar, IV., iii., 216-219:--
"There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries."]
[Footnote: 14. according to that nature and to those circumstances.
Compare with 8. Point out the connection between the thought here
expressed and Burke's idea of "expediency."]
[Footnote: 15. great consideration. This paragraph has been censured
for its too florid style. It may be rather gorgeous and rhetorical when
considered as part of an argument, yet it is very characteristic of
Burke as a writer. In no other passage of the speech is there such vivid
clear-cut imagery. Note the picturesque quality of the lines and detect
if you can any confusion in figures.]
[Footnote: 16. It is good for us to be here. Burke's favorite books were
Shakespeare, Milton, and the Bible. Trace the above sentence to one of
these.]
[Footnote: 17.
"Facta parentun
Jam legere et quae sit poteris cognoscere virtus."
--VIRGIL'S Eclogues, IV., 26, 27]
Notice the alteration. Already old enough to study the deeds of his
father and to know what virtue is.
[Footnote: 18. before you taste of death. Compare 16.]
[Footnote: 19. Roman charity. This suggests the more famous "Ancient
Roman honor" (Merchant of Venice, III., 11, 291). The incident referred
to by Burke is told by several writers. A father condemned to death by
starvation is visited in prison by his daughter, who secretly nourishes
him with milk from her breasts.]
[Footnote: 20. complexions. "Mislike me not for my COMPLEXION."--M. V.
Is the word used in the same sense by Burke?]
[Footnote: 21. the thunder of the state. What is the classical
allusion?]
[Footnote: 22. a nation is not governed.
"Who overcomes By force hath overcome but half his foe"
--Paradise Lost, 1, 648, 649.]
[Footnote: 23. Our ancient indulgence. "The wise and salutary neglect,"
which Burke has just mentioned, was the result of (a) the struggle of
Charles I. with Parliament, (b) the confusion and readjustment at the
Restoration, (c) the Revolution of 1688, (d) the attitude of France
in favoring the cause of the Stuarts, (e) the ascendency of the Whigs.
England had her hands full in attending to affairs at home. As a result
of this the colonies were practically their own masters in matters of
government. Also the political party known as the Whigs had its origin
shortly before William and Mary ascended the throne. This party favored
the colonies and respected their ideas of liberty and government.]
[Footnote: 24. great contests. One instance of this is Magna Charta.
Suggest others.]
[Footnote: 25. Freedom is to them Such keen analysis and subtle
reasoning is characteristic of Burke It is this tendency that justifies
some of his admirers in calling him "Philosopher Statesman". Consider
his thought attentively and determine whether or not his argument is
entirely sound. Is he correct in speaking of our Gothic ancestors?]
[Footnote: 26. Abeunt studia in mores. Studies become a part of
character.]
[Footnote: 27. winged ministers of vengeance. A figure suggested perhaps
by Horace, Odes, Bk. IV., 4: "Ministrum fulmims alitem"--the thunder's
winged messenger.]
[Footnote: 28. the circulation. The Conciliation, as all of Burke's
writings, is rich in such figurative expressions. In every instance
the student should discover the source of the figure and determine
definitely whether or not his author is accurate and suggestive.]
[Footnote: 29. its imperfections.
"But sent to my account
With all my imperfections upon my head."
--Hamlet, I, v, 78, 79.]
[Footnote: 30. same plan. The act referred to, known as the Regulating
Act, became a law May 10, 1774. It provided (a) that the council, or the
higher branch of the legislature, should be appointed by the Crown (the
popular assemblies had previously selected the members of the council);
(b) that officers of the common courts should be chosen by the royal
governors, and (c) that public meetings (except for elections) should
not be held without the sanction of the king. These measures were
practically ignored. By means of circular letters the colonies were
fully instructed through their representatives. As a direct result of
the Regulating Act, along with other high-handed proceedings of the same
sort, delegates were secretly appointed for the Continental Congress on
Sept. 1 at Philadelphia. The delegates from Massachusetts were Samuel
Adams, John Adams, Robert Paine, and Thomas Cushing.]
[Footnote: 31. their liberties. Compare 24]
[Footnote: 32. sudden or partial view. Goodrich, in his Select British
Eloquence, speaking of Burke's comprehensiveness in discussing his
subject, compares him to one standing upon an eminence, taking a large
and rounded view of it on every side. The justice of this observation is
seen in such instances as the above. It is this breadth and clearness of
vision more than anything else that distinguishes Burke so sharply from
his contemporaries.]
[Footnote: 33. three ways. How does the first differ from the third?]
[Footnote: 34. Spoliatis arma supersunt. Though plundered their arms
still remain.]
[Footnote: 35. your speech would betray you. "Thy speech bewrayeth
thee"--Matt. xxvi 73. There is much justice in the observation that
Burke is often verbose, yet such paragraphs as this prove how well he
knew to condense and prune his expression. It is an excellent plan to
select from day to day passages of this sort and commit them to memory
for recitation when the speech has been finished.]
[Footnote: 36. to persuade slaves. Does this suggest one of Byron's
poems?]
[Footnote: 37. causes of quarrel. The Assembly of Virginia in 1770
attempted to restrict the slave trade. Other colonies made the same
effort, but Parliament vetoed these measures, accompanying its action
with the blunt statement that the slave trade was profitable to England.
Observe how effectively Burke uses his wide knowledge of history.]
[Footnote: 38. ex vi termini. From the force of the word.]
[Footnote: 39. abstract right. Compare with 14; also 8. Point out
connection in thought.]
[Footnote: 40. Act of Henry the Eighth. Burke alludes to this in his
letter to the sheriffs of Bristol in the following terms: "To try a man
under this Act is to condemn him unheard. A person is brought hither in
the dungeon of a ship hold; thence he is vomited into a dungeon on land,
loaded with irons, unfurnished with money, unsupported by friends, three
thousand miles from all means of calling upon or confronting evidence,
where no one local circumstance that tends to detect perjury can
possibly be judged of;--such a person may be executed according to form,
but he can never be tried according to justice."]
[Footnote: 41. correctly right. Explain.]
[Footnote: 42. Paradise Lost, II., 392-394.]
[Footnote: 43. This passage should be carefully studied. Burke's theory
of government is given in the Conciliation by just such lines as these.
Refer to other instances of principles which he considers fundamental in
matters of government.]
[Footnote: 44. exquisite. Exact meaning?]
[Footnote: 45. trade laws. What would have been the nature of a change
beneficial to the colonies?]
[Footnote: 46. English conquest. At Henry II.'s accession, 1154, Ireland
had fallen from the civilization which had once flourished upon her soil
and which had been introduced by her missionaries into England during
the seventh century. Henry II. obtained the sanction of the Pope,
invaded the island, and partially subdued the inhabitants. For an
interesting account of England's relations to Ireland the student should
consult Green's Short History of the English People.]
[Footnote: 47. You deposed kings. What English kings have been deposed?]
[Footnote: 48. Lords Marchers. March, boundary. These lords were given
permission by the English kings to take from the Welsh as much land as
they could. They built their castles on the boundary line between the
two countries, and when they were not quarrelling among themselves waged
a guerilla warfare against the Welsh. The Lords Marchers, because of
special privileges and the peculiar circumstances of their life, were
virtually kings--petty kings, of course.]
[Footnote: 49. "When the clear star has shone upon the sailors, the
troubled water flows down from the rocks, the winds fall, the clouds
fade away, and, since they (Castor and Pollux) have so willed it, the
threatening waves settle on the deep."--HORACE, Odes, I., 12, 27-32.]
[Footnote: 50. Opposuit natura. Nature opposed.]
[Footnote: 51. no theory. Select other instances of Burke's impatience
with fine-spun theories in statescraft]
[Footnote: 52. Republic of Plato Utopia of More Ideal states Consult the Century Dictionary]
[Footnote: 53. "And the DULL swain
Treads daily on it with his clouted shoon"
--MILTON'S Comus, 6, 34, 35.]
[Footnote: 54. the year 1763 The date marks the beginning of the active
struggle between England and the American colonies. The Stamp Act was
the first definite step taken by the English Parliament in the attempt
to tax the colonies without their consent.]
[Footnote: 55. legal competency. This had been practically recognized by
Parliament prior to the passage of the Stamp Act. In Massachusetts the
Colonial Assembly had made grants from year to year to the governor,
both for his salary and the incidental expenses of his office.
Notwithstanding the fact that he was appointed (in most cases) by the
Crown, and invariably had the ear of the Lords of Trade, the colonies
generally had things their own way and enjoyed a political freedom
greater, perhaps, than did the people of England.]
[Footnote: 56. This is not my doctrine, but that of Ofellus; a rustic,
yet unusually wise]
[Footnote: 57. Compare in point of style with 43, 22-25; 44, 1-6 In what
way do such passages differ from Burke's prevailng style? What is the
central thought in each paragraph?]
[Footnote: 58. misguided people. There is little doubt that the
colonists m many instances were misrepresented by the Lords of Trade and
by the royal governors. See an interesting account of this in Fiske's
American Revolution.]
[Footnote: 59. an Act. Passed in 1767. It provided for a duty on
imports, including tea, glass, and paper.]
[Footnote: 60 An Act. Boston Post Bill.]
[Footnote: 61. impartial administration of justice. This provided that
if any person in Massachusetts were charged with murder, or any other
capital offence, he should be tried either in some other colony or in
Great Britain]
[Footnote: 62. An Act for the better regulating See 87, 23. ]
[Footnote: 63. Trial of Treasons See 50, 20.]
[Footnote: 64. de jure. According to law. de facto. According to fact.]
[Footnote: 65. jewel of his soul.
"Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls"
--Othello, III, iii, 155,156.]
[Footnote: 66. proposition of a ransom. See 8, 13.]
[Footnote: 67. An experiment upon something of no value.]
[Footnote: 68. They stake their fortune and play.]