Portable Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College. A lifelong member of Parliament, Burke was the author of A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful, A Vindication of Natural Society, and Reflections on the Revolution in France.Isaac Kramnick was born in 1938 and educated at Harvard University, where he received a B.A. degree in 1959 and a Ph.D. in 1965, and at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He has taught at Harvard, Brandeis, Yale and Cornell, where he is now Professor of Government. He is married to Miriam Brody Kramnick and lives in Ithaca, New York. Among his publications are Bolingbroke and His Circle, The Rage of Edmund Burke and numerous articles on eighteenth century topics. He has edited William Godwin’s Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, The Federalist Papers by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay and, with Michael Foot, The Thomas Paine Reader for the Penguin Classics. Most recently he is the author, with Barry Sheerman, MP, of Laski: A Lift on the Left.

• IntroductionSuggestions for Further ReadingA Note on the SelectionsI. CULTURE AND HISTORYThe ReformerA Notebook of Edmund BurkeA Vindication of Natural SocietyA Philosophical Inquiry into the Origins of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the BeautifulFragment—An Essay Towards an History of the Laws of EnglandBook Reviews in the Annual RegisterSpeech on the Repeal of the Marriage ActSpeeches on Religious Establishment and TolerationII. POLITICS AND SOCIETYThoughts on the Present DiscontentsSpeech on the Middlesex ElectionsSpeech at Mr. Burke's Arrival in BristolSpeech on Economical ReformSpeech on a Bill for Shortening the Duration of ParliamentsSpeech on a Committee to Inquire into the State of the Representation of the Commons in ParliamentSketch of a Negro CodeThoughts and Details on ScarcityA Letter to a Noble LordIII. AMERICA AND REVOLUTIONAn Account of the European Settlements in AmericaObservations on a Late Publication Entitled "The Present State of the Nation"Speech on American TaxationSpeech on Conciliation with the ColoniesAddress to the British Colonists in North AmericaA Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol on the Affairs of AmericaIV. IRELAND AND CATHOLICISMTract on the Popery LawsAddress at Bristol on the Gordon Riots and the Catholic QuestionA Letter to a Peer of Ireland on the Penal Laws Against Irish CatholicsLetter to Sir Hercules LangrisheA Letter to Richard Burke, Esq., on Protestant Ascendancy in IrelandA Letter to William Smith, Esq., on the Subject of Catholic EmancipationV. INDIA AND COLONIALISMSpeech on Mr. Fox's East India BillSpeech on the Nabob of Arcot's DebtSpeeches on the Impeachment of Warren HastingsVI. THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONSpeech on the Army EstimatesReflections on the Revolution in FranceAn Appeal from the New to the Old WhigsThoughts on French AffairsLetter to a Member of the National AssemblyLetters on a Regicide PeaceVII. SELECTED LETTERSTo the Duke of RichmondTo William Burgh, Esq.To the Marquis of RockinghamTo Mons. DupontTo Philip Francis, Esq.To Captain MercerTo Chevalier de la BintinnayeTo William Weddell, Esq.,To William Elliot