The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton

[Born at Dublin, 1730. Died 1797. Aged 67.] Coleridge, speaking of Edmund Burke, has said that “he referred habitually to principles--he was a scientific statesman.” He is by far the most philosophic politician that ever dealt with public affairs in England. He takes rank with those who have applied their genius to the transactions of their own fleeting day, in order to extract from them truth, wisdom, and instruction for all ages. Gifted with gorgeous eloquence, he spake like a prophet. We read his words, which we are told fell as he uttered them upon dull insensate ears, and are astounded to find how nearly, under altered circumstances, they concern ourselves. Our descendants shall peruse the same syllables with the same living interest, desire, and benefit. Châteaubriand has asserted that when Fox spoke in the House of Commons, he and all strangers could not keep back their tears. When Burke rose, the act was a signal for general flight. We can understand the difference. Burke walked sublimely in advance of his contemporaries; Fox was abreast of them, sharing in their prejudices, and, it may be, inflaming their passions. Burke had great knowledge of men and books, an imagination rich to overflowing, and although a philosopher and a theorist, business-like habits. His genius was unmatched in the House of Commons, and his industry did not fall short of that of the most plodding member of that assembly. He was the son of a Dublin attorney, and in early life found favour with Lord Rockingham, who, bringing him into Parliament, allied him to the Whig interest. The connexion was subsequently broken off, when. Burke, in alarm at the frightful results and portents of the French Revolution, strove to preserve Liberty by holding her back from the too ardent embrace of her professed friends. His “Reflections on the French Revolution” was the most memorable treatise of the time; and it was followed by others as remarkable for splendid diction, as for the profoundest philosophical thought. When starting into life, Burke wrote his celebrated essay on “the Sublime and Beautiful,” and set on foot the “Annual Register,” the historical portion of which he wrote for many years. He would have been raised to the peerage but for the premature death of his only son, of whom he was very fond. His character has been variously estimated. There is no reason to doubt that he was as conscientious, as honest, and as sincere, as he was mighty in his high mental endowments. [By Christopher Moore, 1850.]