Jesse Norman’s biography of Edmund Burke is superb in many
ways. While the writing is not as colourful or robust as Burke’s (that would be
asking too much), still there is a wonderful flow to the prose. In the first
half of the book the journey is enjoyable and fascinating as we are taken
through Burke’s life. The second half is perhaps even more important as Norman
drills into what Burke’s political thinking, even philosophy, amounts to, and how
relevant his stance is today.
If only David Cameron had listened to Burke, the UK would
today be healthier.
Burke would have been appalled at the idea of a referendum
on such an important issue as Europe, implying that there is some sort of will
of the people out there that should be obeyed. For Burke this was the noxious
doctrine of the Jacobins, inspired by the loathsome Rousseau, who sent his own
off spring to a certain death. Norman tells us that when Burke was sent by Bristol
to be their MP he bluntly told them that he was not going to parliament to
represent their views. He was going there to serve the national interest. That
was his job. Cameron did not listen and now he will forever stand in history as
the man who betrayed the sovereignty of parliament.
Norman shows us that at the heart of Burke’s thinking is the
insistence on the importance of the social order. People are social, and each
generation inherits wisdom from their elders, and they have a duty to pass on a
working social order to their children. That does not mean resisting all change;
it means bringing about necessary change with respect for the social order. Because
of the importance of social order Burke is vehemently hostile to abstract
theories and rules, any idea that some sort of science can be applied to
something as complicated and intricate as a human society.
Again Cameron did not listen and so went ahead and abolished
traditional marriage, an institute that has served Britain well for many
generations. It is very likely that Burke would have predicted – as he predicted
the terror of the French Revolution – the confusion that would follow from
this. See here for an adaption of his ‘Reflections on the French Revolution’ to
the LGBT revolution.
https://sternfieldthoughts.blogspot.com/2023/10/a-review-of-edmund-burkes-reflections.html
Norman tells us that Gladstone – a great prime-minister –
read Burke nearly every day. Our country would be a lot safer if our present
and future prime-ministers followed Gladstone’s example.
Norman’s book is excellent. However there is one regrettable
omission. There is nothing about Burke’s Christian faith. We are told that he abhors
atheism, that he is an Anglican, and that he believes in the providence of God.
But we are not told how, if at all, his Christian faith impacted his thinking.
We are left guessing that probably Burke’s belief in the fall of man meant that
it was very dangerous to think that there could ever be heaven on earth. We are
left guessing that it was probably the Bible’s insistence on the importance of
personal morality that made Burke so hostile to a revolution born out of murder
and theft.
Nor are we told anything about Burke’s personal faith. Again
we are left guessing. We have to assume Burke went to church, but which one?
Did he hold any office there – a sideman, a church warden, a lay reader? Did he
hold family prayers? Burke was a contemporary of John Wesley and George
Whitfield. Does he make any comment about their revivalist preaching?
It is possible that Burke was wholly opaque regarding the
importance of his faith. But we are not told this. And given that Norman has
read so much about Burke, he would be in an excellent position to give us some
insight on the relationship of the Christian faith to Burke’s massive
contribution to political thinking. Alas, it’s not in this book.
Perhaps if there is another edition, Norman can include
another chapter.
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