Edmund Burke of Beaconsfield

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University of Delaware Press, 2003 - 212 pages
"This portrait of the private Burke is based upon the largely unpublished correspondence of his wife Jane Nugent Burke and other family members, the published and unpublished correspondence of those who knew him, relevant public records, and local lore. Since Burke was an Irishman living in England and an outsider making his way between the English aristocracy and Whig peers, his domestic and private lives are important factors in his success. Private friendships had to do for Burke what family connections did for English public officials. In essence, the dynamic interrelationship between Burke's private life and public identity is a key to understanding his politics."--BOOK JACKET.

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Contents

Becoming Burke of Beaconsfield
21
Burke of Beaconsfield
44
Curmudgeons Domestics and the Fireside Group
65
Make My House Your Inn
95
Unhappy and Unmanaged
133
The World from Beaconsfield
162
Epilogue
180
Notes
181
Bibliography
202
Index
207
Copyright

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Page 112 - But, his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living.
Page 145 - His praise, ye Winds, that from four quarters blow, Breathe soft or loud ; and, wave your tops, ye Pines, With every plant, in sign of worship wave.
Page 154 - At every step of my progress in life, (for in every step was I traversed and opposed,) and at every turnpike I met, I was obliged to show my passport, and again and again to prove my sole title to the...
Page 60 - I have made a push, with all I could collect of my own, and the aid of my friends, to cast a little root in this country. I have purchased a house, with an estate of about six hundred acres of land, in Buckinghamshire, twenty-four miles from London, where I now am*. It is a place exceedingly pleasant; and I propose (God willing) to become a farmer in good earnest.
Page 162 - I would rather sleep in the southern corner of a little country churchyard, than in the tomb of the Capulets.
Page 63 - ... municipal country in which I was born, and for all descriptions and denominations in it. Mine was to support, with unrelaxing vigilance, every right, every privilege, every franchise, in this my adopted, my dearer, and more comprehensive country ; and not only to preserve those rights in this chief seat of empire, but in every nation, in every land, in every climate, language, and religion in the vast domain that still is under the protection, and the larger that was once under the protection,...
Page 27 - ... with no public direction in what course to pursue his inquiries ; no private assistance to remove the distresses and difficulties which will always embarrass a beginner. In this situation he is expected to sequester himself from the world, and by a tedious, lonely process to extract the theory of law from a mass of undigested learning ; or else, by an assiduous attendance on the courts, to pick up theory and practice together, sufficient to qualify him for the ordinary run of business.
Page 92 - ... who will cultivate his memory, and, I trust, follow his example ; for of all the men I have seen in any situation, I really think he is the person I should wish myself, or any one I greatly loved, the most to resemble. This I do not say from the impression of my immediate feeling, but from my best judgment, — having seen him at various times of my life, from my infancy to the last year, having known him very well, and knowing a little (by too long habits) of mankind at large. In truth, my dear...

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