Book Description

Excerpt from Forgotten Truths: Selections From the Speeches and Writings of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke; With Biographical Sketch The object of this book is to pave the way to a more extended study of the works of Edmund 'burke, and the compiler has no desire to claim for it anything in the nature of a complete exposition of the subject. He has endeavoured to place before the reader such passages from Burke's writings and speeches as appear to him to give a clear idea of the political and economic principles which the great statesman taught. Burke's compositions - both literary and oratorical - are, how ever, such models of symmetrical construction, that it is extremely difficult to give detached passages without destroying the effect pro duced by the harmonious whole nevertheless, the compiler hopes that he has to some extent achieved his purpose. At all events, the present time seems to him a fitting one for making the attempt. The principles which Burke advocated, and which were afterwards embodied in the emancipating legislation of the Liberal party during two generations, have fallen into sad discredit and oblivion. We want a Burke to remind us that the truths he enunciated were not for an age, but for all time; and since the present generation of statesmen appears to have discarded his precepts, we cannot do better than turn for inspiration to the words of the Master himself. The year 1897 saw the centenary of Edmund Burke's death, and the compiler of this book offers it as a humble tribute to his memory. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.