NOTES CONCILIATION WITH THE AMERICAN COLONIES BURKE Bibliography. Prior, Life of Burke; John Morley, Burke, in the English Men of Letters Series, and in the Encyclopædia Britannica; William Hazlitt, "The Character of Burke," in his Essays, pp. 408426; Boswell, Life of Johnson (see Index); Leslie Stephen, History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century, Vol. II; Green, Short History of the English People; Buckle, History of Civilization in England, Vol. I, pp. 326-338; Fiske, The American Revolution, Vol. I, Chaps. I, II. To the article on Burke in the Dictionary of National Biography a valuable bibliography is appended. Chronology of More Noteworthy Writings and Speeches. 1756 — A Vindication of Natural Society; Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful; Hints on the Drama; An Abridgment of the History of England; and An Account of the European Settlements. 1759 — A thirty-years connection with the Annual Register began. 1766 — Speech on the Repeal of the Stamp Act. 1770-Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents. 1774-Speech on American Taxation. 1775-Speech on Conciliation with the American Colonies. 1777 Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol on the Affairs of America. 1785-Speech on the Nabob of Arcot's Debts. 1788 - The Impeachment of Warren Hastings. 1790Reflections on the Revolution in France. 1794- Letter to a Noble Lord. In the study of this speech, whatever may be the method of approach by the individual student or teacher, some time, certainly, should be devoted to the argumentative structure. And although a laborious and time-taking process, the best way for the student to get a thorough grasp of the argument as a whole is to write a brief of it. The preferred form of a brief has the following characteristics: Each heading is in the form of a complete sentence and contains but a single argument. The main arguments are stated in a series of propositions which read as reasons for the conclusion to be reached, or the main proposition. Then under each proposition of the first rank are such subheadings as support such proposition. These subheadings may themselves be supported by sub-subheadings, and so on. Every subhead must always read as a reason for the heading under which it stands. All subheadings of the same rank should be regularly indented, so that the reader may see at a glance the place of any heading in the argument. Below is a skeleton brief of the speech as a whole (a few minor arguments being omitted). The main arguments- the propositions of first rank -are given, but most of the arguments in support of the main propositions are left for the student to discover and insert. Bear in mind that each heading should be stated in the form of a complete sentence. Use Burke's own words, wherever practicable. In many of the paragraphs will be found a key-sentence which contains the gist of the whole paragraph; in all such cases, simply copy such key-sentences for the required heading. The arabic numerals in parentheses are paragraph-references. INTRODUCTION I. By the return of the Grand Penal Bill from the House of Lords, we are now in a position to determine de novo upon a definite policy regarding the American colonies. (1) II. Having studied the subject, I have arrived at certain fixed conclusions. (2, 3) III. My attitude toward America has not changed, while Parliament has pursued a policy of shifting experiments. (4) IV. The policy that I desire to urge must stand or fall solely on its merits. (5) V. My proposition is to remove the grounds of difference between England and the colonies and thereby establish permanent peace. (6, 7) VI. My plan has certain presumptions in its favor, because A. By accepting Lord North's plan, the House has conceded that the idea of conciliation is admissible. (8) B. The House has declared conciliation admissible previous to any submission on the part of America. (9) C. The House has admitted that the colonists' complaints VII. The proposal of conciliation should come from us (10), for, B. The concessions of the weak are the concessions of fear. (10) VIII. The two main issues are: First, Ought you to concede? Second, What ought your concession to be? (11) ARGUMENT I. Circumstances in the American colonies demand conciliation (11), for A. (12, 13)-[Put the gist of paragraphs 12 and 13 in a single sentence, making it read as a reason for the above proposition. Follow this same plan in filling out all the succeeding blank headings.] B. (14-25) C. (26) D. (27) II. The temper and character of the Americans demand conciliation (28), for, A. (29), for, B. (32) III. Our experiments in governing the colonists have proved unsuc cessful (34, 35), for, A. (35) IV. Of the three proposed plans (37) for governing the colonies, we must adopt that of conciliation, for, V. The measures for conciliation should satisfy the colonists' complaint regarding taxation, for, A. (52) VI. The argument that the grievance of taxation extends to all legislation, and that by conceding this grievance the supremacy of Parliament would be threatened, cannot stand (58), for, A. (59) B. (60) D. (62) VII. My plan for conciliating the colonies is better than Lord North's (63), for, A. (64) B. (65), for, CONCLUSION I. The American colonists must be governed, not by arbitrary laws, but by their interest in the British Constitution. (77) II. Magnanimity in dealing with the colonies is the truest wisdom. (79) III. English privileges have made America what it is; English privileges alone will make it all it can be. (79) 111 austerity of the Chair: the dignity and impartiality of the speaker. Hazlitt says that "most of Burke's speeches have a sort of parliamentary preamble; there is an air of affected modesty and ostentatious trifling in them." Does the criticism apply to this speech?-8 grand penal bill: this bill, which originated with Lord North, was passed by the House of Commons in 1775. It restricted the trade of the New England colonies to England and her dependencies, and practically prohibited those colonies from the use of the Newfoundland fisheries. The Lords returned the bill with a savage amendment making it apply to all the American colonies. The amendment was afterwards withdrawn. 12 19 At that period: the repeal of the Stamp Act, in 1766. The vote stood 275 for repeal to 161 against. Burke made a strong speech in favor of the repeal, he having entered Parliament the previous year. -34 continual agitation: for a period of nearly one hundred years the affairs of the colonies had been intrusted to a standing committee called "The Lords of 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 colonies 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. Everything administered as remedy the Tea-tax, Boston Port Bill, Massachusetts Colony Bill, Transportation Act, and Quebec Act. Note the "shifting experiments" argument in the word-expression throughout this paragraph. 141 unsuspecting confidence: a term used by the Philadelphia Congress in 1774 to express the state of feeling in the colonies after the repeal of the Stamp Act.-17 the project: (not to be confused with the "grand penal bill") is referred to in the Introduction to this speech. On February 27, 1775, the House passed resolutions brought in by Lord North, entitled “Propositions for Conciliating the Differences with America," which provided that any colony which voluntarily contributed its proportionate share for the common defense and support |