The Jeff Younger Show presents Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. Burke’s classic critique of the French Revolution defends traditionalism and hierarchy. His rejection of Enlightenment rationalism and his defense of cultural and societal continuity appeals to those who value the preservation of ancient structures and oppose revolutionary or progressive change.
In this preface to Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke explains how the work originated from a private correspondence with a young man in Paris, seeking his thoughts on the unfolding revolution. Burke initially wrote a letter expressing his concerns but delayed sending it due to prudential considerations. Pressed for a fuller explanation of his views, Burke wrote a more detailed analysis, which eventually became this published work.
Burke addresses the misconceptions that some people, particularly in England, might assume he supports the French [00:01:00] Revolution because of its endorsement by certain London clubs, like the Constitutional and Revolution Societies. He clarifies that he values Britain’s constitutional monarchy and is deeply concerned about how these societies have uncritically supported France’s revolutionary events without proper regard for their long-term consequences.
He criticizes the Revolution Society, which he believes is attempting to draw parallels between the French Revolution and Britain's Glorious Revolution of 1688, a comparison Burke finds inappropriate. For him, the French Revolution represents chaos, where new power is in untested hands. He argues that while liberty is generally a good, it can be dangerous when not properly combined with institutions like government, religion, and social order.
Burke is skeptical about congratulating France on its new liberty without knowing how it will handle power, warning that abstract ideals like freedom and [00:02:00] equality may lead to unforeseen dangers if they are not grounded in practical realities. He calls for caution, suggesting that the wild excitement over the Revolution overlooks its potential to bring disorder and destruction.
REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE, AND ON THE PROCEEDINGS IN CERTAIN SOCIETIES IN LONDON RELATIVE TO THAT EVENT: IN A LETTER INTENDED TO HAVE BEEN SENT TO A GENTLEMAN IN PARIS. 1790.
Read from The Works of the Right Honorable Edmund Burke in Twelve Volumes. John C. Nimmo. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
It may not be unnecessary to inform the reader that the following Reflections had their origin in a correspondence between the author and a very young gentleman at Paris, who did him the honor of desiring his opinion upon the important transactions which then, and ever since have, so much occupied the attention of all men. An answer was [00:03:00] written some time in the month of October, 1789; but it was kept back upon prudential considerations. That letter is alluded to in the beginning of the following sheets. It has been since forwarded to the person to whom it was addressed. The reasons for the delay in sending it were assigned in a short letter to the same gentleman. This produced on his part a new and pressing application for the author's sentiments.
The author began a second and more full discussion on the subject. This he had some thoughts of publishing early in the last spring; but the matter gaining upon him, he found that what he had undertaken not only far exceeded the measure of a letter, but that its importance required rather a more detailed consideration than at that time he had any leisure to bestow upon it. However, having thrown down his first thoughts in the form of a letter, and, indeed, when he sat down to write, having intended it for a private letter, he found it difficult to [00:04:00] change the form of address, when his sentiments had grown into a greater extent and had received another direction. A different plan, he is sensible, might be more favorable to a commodious division and distribution of his matter.
REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE.
Dear Sir,—You are pleased to call again, and with some earnestness, for my thoughts on the late proceedings in France. I will not give you reason to imagine that I think my sentiments of such value as to wish myself to be solicited about them. They are of too little consequence to be very anxiously either communicated or withheld. It was from attention to you, and to you only, that I hesitated at the time when you first desired to receive them. In the first letter I had the honor to write to you, and which at length I send, I wrote neither for nor from any description of men; nor shall I in this. My errors, if any, are my own. My reputation alone is to answer for them.
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