The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. I.

The Works of the Right
Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol.
I.

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Edmund
Burke, Vol. I. (of 12), by Edmund Burke This eBook is for the use of
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Title: The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. I. (of
12)
Author: Edmund Burke
Release Date: February 14, 2005 [EBook #15043]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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BURKE, VOL. I. ***

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BURKE'S WRITINGS AND SPEECHES

VOLUME THE FIRST
[Illustration: EDMUND BURKE.]

THE WORKS
OF
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
EDMUND BURKE
IN TWELVE VOLUMES
VOLUME THE FIRST
London JOHN C. NIMMO 14, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND,
W.C. MDCCCLXXXVII

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER, PREFIXED TO THE FIRST
OCTAVO EDITION v
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND OCTAVO EDITION xvii
A VINDICATION OF NATURAL SOCIETY: OR, A VIEW OF THE
MISERIES AND EVILS ARISING TO MANKIND FROM EVERY
SPECIES OF ARTIFICIAL SOCIETY 1
A PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN OF OUR
IDEAS OF THE SUBLIME AND BEAUTIFUL; WITH AN
INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE CONCERNING TASTE 67
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF A LATE SHORT ADMINISTRATION
263
OBSERVATIONS ON A LATE PUBLICATION, INTITULED, "THE
PRESENT STATE OF THE NATION" 269
THOUGHTS ON THE CAUSE OF THE PRESENT DISCONTENTS
433

ADVERTISEMENT
TO THE READER.[1]
The late Mr. Burke, from a principle of unaffected humility, which they
who were the most intimately acquainted with his character best know
to have been in his estimation one of the most important moral duties,

never himself made any collection of the various publications with
which, during a period of forty years, he adorned and enriched the
literature of this country. When, however, the rapid and unexampled
demand for his "Reflections on the Revolution in France" had
unequivocally testified his celebrity as a writer, some of his friends so
far prevailed upon him, that he permitted them to put forth a regular
edition of his works. Accordingly, three volumes in quarto appeared
under that title in 1792, printed for the late Mr. Dodsley. That edition,
therefore, has been made the foundation of the present, for which a
form has been chosen better adapted to public convenience. Such errors
of the press as have been discovered in it are here rectified: in other
respects it is faithfully followed, except that in one instance an accident
of little moment has occasioned a slight deviation from the strict
chronological arrangement, and that, on the other hand, a speech of
conspicuous excellence, on his declining the poll at Bristol, in 1780, is
here, for the first time, inserted in its proper place.
As the activity of the author's mind, and the lively interest which he
took in the welfare of his country, ceased only with his life, many
subsequent productions issued from his pen, which were received in a
manner corresponding with his distinguished reputation. He wrote also
various tracts, of a less popular description, which he designed for
private circulation in quarters where he supposed they might produce
most benefit to the community, but which, with some other papers,
have been printed since his death, from copies which he left behind him
fairly transcribed, and most of them corrected as for the press. All these,
now first collected together, form the contents of the last two
volumes.[2] They are disposed in chronological order, with the
exception of the "Preface to Brissot's Address," which having appeared
in the author's lifetime, and from delicacy not being avowed by him,
did not come within the plan of this edition, but has been placed at the
end of the last volume, on its being found deficient in its just bulk.
The several posthumous publications, as they from time to time made
their appearance, were accompanied by appropriate prefaces. These,
however, as they were principally intended for temporary purposes,
have been omitted. Some few explanations only, which they contained,
seem here to be necessary.
The "Observations on the Conduct of the Minority" in the Session of

1793 had been written and sent by Mr. Burke as a paper entirely and
strictly confidential; but it crept surreptitiously into the world, through
the fraud and treachery of the man whom he had employed to
transcribe it, and, as usually happens in such cases, came forth in a very
mangled state, under a false title, and without the introductory letter.
The friends of the author,