The British Constitution
Posts in The Copybook tagged ‘The British Constitution’
Edmund Burke would not congratulate the French revolutionaries on their ‘liberty’ until he knew what they would do with it.
In 1789, the French Parliament relieved King Louis XVI of his constitutional privileges, and amidst chaotic scenes proclaimed that henceforth ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’ would define their Government. Some believed that France was becoming more like England, and that Louis would be retained to add, like England’s George III, regal pomp to a liberal democracy. Edmund Burke wasn’t convinced.
Edmund Burke tore into the directors of the East India Company, accusing them of doing less for the country than India’s mediaeval conquerors.
In 1783, Edmund Burke urged the House of Commons to strip the East India Company of its administration of India, arguing that the Mughal Emperors and other foreign conquerors had done more for the people than the Company seemed likely to do. His blistering attack on the Company’s record repays reading, as it applies just as well to modern aid programmes, interventions and regime changes.
French essayist Voltaire provoked the wrath of his government by explaining how England was superior to every European state including the Roman Empire.
François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778) spent the years 1726 to 1729 in England. In 1733, he published a series of essays under the name ‘Voltaire’ sharing his observations on English life, chiefly on matters of religion and politics. He had noticed that English people often tried to compare their country with ancient Rome, which he thought rather absurd, especially as in one respect England was much better.
Edmund Burke told the House of Commons that the American colonies’ refusal to be dictated to by Westminster was the very spirit that had made the Empire great.
In 1766, Parliament truculently reasserted the right to tax and regulate Britain’s thirteen American colonies. The Americans were allowed no MPs in the Commons, but they had many friends, and barely a month before those first shots rang out in Lexington on April 19th, 1775, Edmund Burke warned the Government not to try to crush the manly English spirit that made Americans so independent.
Lord Halifax tacks gratefully into the Winds of Liberty, though he trims his sails to avoid being blown into republicanism.
Following the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660, opponents of George Savile, Marquess of Halifax, dubbed him ‘the Trimmer’ for charting a nice course between the King’s claims on power and Parliament’s defence of liberties. Halifax gleefully embraced the label, and privately circulated The Character of a Trimmer (1685) to champion a liberal constitution years ahead of its time.
Following the Restoration of King Charles II, the country charted a well-planned course between the extremes of civil licence and Government control.
George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, won for himself the nickname of ‘the Trimmer’ for his ability to sail a course between political extremes. It was intended as a snub, but he wore the badge with pride, maintaining that we needed both Charles II’s strong government and also Parliament’s vigorous defence of civil liberties in order for our country to prosper.