Discuss Burke’s political wisdom as reflected in his “Speech on Conciliation with America”

Or,

What features of Burke’s political thinking are revealed in his “Speech on Conciliation with America”?

Or,

Comment on Burke’s political outlook and political consciousness as revealed in his “Speech on Conciliation with America”.

Answer: Burke was an active member of Dr. Johnson’s literary club and almost all his speeches or writings are concerned with contemporary political situations or issues. Burke’s political sagacity is superbly revealed in his “Speech on Conciliation with America”. Burke’s political outlook and his political consciousness are embedded very much in the speech that he delivered to the parliament with a view to winning the hearts of its members for his resolution of peace aiming at reconciliation with the American colonies.

In the “Speech on Conciliation with America,” Burke shows his generous political sensibility. He is not parochial minded and his principles are those of compromise, justice, fair play, and morality. In the speech, he makes his position clear:

“The question with me is, not whether you have a right to render your people miserable, but whether it is not your interest to make them happy. It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do, but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do. Is a political act the worse for being a generous one? Is no concession proper but that which is made from your want of right to keep what you grant?”

In fact, the speech on conciliation is a very fervent and sincere appeal to the members of the Parliament to be just and generous towards America. In his opinion ‘politics does not lose merit by being generous. He makes his observation that

“Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom, and a great empire and little minds go ill together.”

Burke was a practical politician; politics to him was an entirely pragmatic science. Therefore, whenever a problem presented itself to him, he studied facts and drew conclusions from them. He was always averse to theories. He was sharply distinguished from those politicians who looked down upon expediency in politics. Burke’s deep understanding of human nature is the basis for his ideology of expediency. He possesses a penetrating insight into a thinking politician and understands that self-interest is man’s motivator in action- “Man acts from adequate motives relative to his interest, metaphysical speculations.” He rightly understands that in the political sphere give and take principle exerts a dominant force. His political prudence is evident in the following lines –

“All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter. We balance inconveniences; we give and take; we remit some rights, that we may enjoy others; and we choose rather to be happy citizens than subtle disputants. As we must give away some natural liberty to enjoy civil advantages, so we must sacrifice some civil liberties for the advantages to be derived from the communion and fellowship of a great empire. But, in all fair dealings, the thing bought must bear some proportion to the purchase paid. None will barter away the immediate jewel of his soul.”

In the “Speech” Burke appears as a rationally selfish politician. His purpose is very clear. He wants peace and conciliation with America. He also does not want to see America in an impoverished condition. He argues for granting certain civil rights to the American people. In the speech, it appears that he is assiduously fighting for American causes. But, if we go a little deep we sense that it is the national interest that is the prime consideration for Burke. Though apparently, he is speaking in favor of the colonies, he is actually maintaining England’s good. The rationally selfish politician Burke comes to the forefront when he speaks-

“The thing you fought for is not the thing which you recover; but depreciated, sunk, wasted, and consumed in the contest. Nothing less will content me than WHOLE AMERICA. I do not choose to consume its strength along with our own, because in all parts it is the British strength that I consume.” 

Sympathetic recognition of other men’s standpoints constitutes a significant portion of Burke’s political wisdom. He is not the mercantile politician who is ready to sacrifice broader principles of equity, justice, and peace for ready gains and subtle victories. When replying to the objection that taxation on America is not oppressive, he remarks that the Americans are ‘touched and grieved’ because there is something other than the pecuniary loss in it. His analysis is comprehensive. He sees things from a humanitarian perspective. He says –

“Men may lose little in property by the act which takes away all their freedom. When a man is robbed of a trifle on the highway, it is not the two-pence lost that constitutes the capital outrage. This is not confined to privileges. Even ancient indulgences, withdrawn without offense on the part of those who enjoyed such favors, operate as grievances.”

As a politician, Burke possesses deep psychological insight into human nature. His in-depth analysis of America’s temper and character alludes to his profound scholarship regarding the matter. His profound psychological insight evokes admiration even from his enemies. That Burke’s understating was right is testified by the fact that America achieved her independence within a few years of Burke’s deliberation in the Parliament.

Burke believed in an imperial government that would protect the interest of the ruled. His model of the empire was the Roman one. Like Cicero, Burke saw it as his duty to protect the rights of the dependent peoples throughout the empire. Burke’s vision of an empire was that of a ‘great disjointed empire’. He says in his “Speech on Conciliation with America”:

“Perhaps, Sir, I am mistaken in my idea of an empire, as distinguished from a single state or kingdom. But my idea of it is this; that an empire is the aggregate of many states under one common head, whether this head be a monarch or a presiding republic.”

Burke’s conception of government is also important. He believes in a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. As a worldly-wise man, he knows that the real power of a government comes from the willing submission of the people. He remarks:

“Obedience is what makes government, and not the names by which it is called; not the name of the governor, as formerly, or committee, as at present. This new government has originated directly from the people, and was not transmitted through any of the ordinary artificial media of a positive constitution”

In the “Speech on Conciliation with America” Burke argues for peace and conciliation with America. He stands against using force against the colonies. His arguments are thought-provoking and bear testimony to his genius. The aspects of his political consciousness are varied manifestations of one and the same outlook, the outlook of a man of lofty vision, with the great head and noble heart of a generous poet who, in the amplitude of comprehension and richness of imagination, far outshines all the politicians of his age.