Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/463

BURKE 457 cek-brat'ed bills for regulating the household, the army, navy, and pension pay offices, ord- nance, the mint, the exchequer, &c. ; these he commended in a speech on "Economical Reform," which is almost without a parallel in the records of parliamentary eloquence. But his talents did not reconcile the electors of Bristol to his politics, and declining a reelec- tion, he was returned for Malton, which borough he continued to represent during the remainder of his public career. The Rockingham party again coming into power in March, 1782, Burke became a privy councillor and paymaster gen- eral of the forces ; but, not possessing an aris- tocratic family connection, he was not allowed a seat in the cabinet. No office in the gift of the government was more lucrative than that of paymaster ; yet Burke's first act was to in- troduce a bill for its reorganization, which ma- terially lessened his own emoluments. In that department alone he was said to have effected an annual saving of 47,000. On the death of the marquis of Rockingham, Burke retired for a time ; but the ministry of the duke of Portland in 1783 restored him to his former place. In that year he began his labors on East Indian aifairs, with his voluminous reports on the administration of justice in Bengal and other provinces ; and for several years he was absorbed in the investigations and trials which arose out of the subject. During this time he conducted the impeachment of Warren Hastings for maladministration of the government of India. His great speech, shortly after the opening of the session of 1786, on presenting the articles of impeachment, is a masterpiece of eloquence. He regarded this impeachment as the crowning act, and destined to be the glory or shame, of his public life. It is now acknowledged to have been its crowning glory. When the French revolution broke out, Burke undertook to oppose its principles and in- fluence. In 1790 appeared his "Reflections on the Revolution of France," a letter to a French gentleman, of which 30,000 copies were at once sold, and which was translated into French by Dupont. It was an eloquent production, and gave rise to many sharp con- troversies, leading to an open rupture with Fox, who had been associated with him in the impeachment of Hastings, and was now the whig leader in the house of commons. Their formal separation was an affecting scene. Fox paid a warm tribute to the character and genius of hia old friend, now his opponent. Burke was henceforth isolated from his former polit- ical friends, but continued his activity, publish- ing his " Appeal from the Now to the Old Whigs" (1791), "Letters to Sir Hercules Lan- grishe " (1792), " Thoughts on French Affairs," " Remarks on the Policy of the Allies " (1793), and many other pamphlets. He retired from the house of commons June 20, 1794. In the following August he was deeply affected by the death of Richard Burke, his only surviving son, but he still retained his cheerfulness and activ- ity. In 1795 he received a pension of 1,200 from the civil list, and soon after another of 2,500 from the 4J per cent. fund. In his retire- ment his pen was still busy, and in a " Letter to a Noble Lord," and " Two Letters on the Pro- posal for a Regicide Peace," he showed all his original power. Not long before his death he founded a school for the children of French emigrants. He retained his faculties to the last, and had Addison's essay on the immortality of the soul read to him on his deathbed. Mr. Fox, in proposing his interment in Westminster abbey, drew tears from almost every one pres- ent in the house of commons. Burke's genius has been extolled by Sir Robert Peel, Earl Russell, and other eminent men. Macaulay regarded him, in aptitude of comprehension and richness of imagination, as above every orator, ancient or modern ; and Wilhelm von Schlegel in his " Lectures on Literature " awards him high praise for having been to England and to all Europe, and especially to Germany, a new light of political wisdom and moral experience. His conversational power was as remarkable as were his oratorical efforts and his written works. The authorship of the letters of Junius was at one time ascribed to Burke, and it was at all events believed that he knew who the author was, but he never made any disclosures on the subject. The pres- ent representative of the family of Burke is his grand-nephew Thomas Haviland Burke, a London lawyer, and son of Lieut. Col. Thomas Haviland by Mary French, a daughter of Burke's sister Juliana. Earl Fitzwilliam, in conjunction with Lieut. Gen. Sir Richard Bourke, a relative of Burke, edited the cor- respondence of Edmund Burke, 1744-'97 (4 vols., London, 1826-'44), reprinted in the new edition of Burke's works and correspondence (8 vols., 1852). James Prior wrote " Memoirs of the Life and Character of Burke " (2 vols., London, 1824) ; the Rev. George Croly, " Me- moir of the Political Life of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke " (2 vols., 1840) ; Peter Burke, " The Public and Domestic Life of Edmund Burke" (1853); and Thomas Macknight, the "Life and Times of Burke " (3 vols., 1858-'61). An excellent edition of his works, edited by George Nichols, was published at Boston in 1865-7, 12 vols. 8vo (12 vols. 16mo, 1869). BURKE, Sir John Bernard, an English geneal- ogist, born in London in 1815. His father, John Burke, who died in 1848, was cadet of an ancient family in Ireland, and became at- tached as reporter and editor to the London press. He originated many literary specula- tions, among others the "Standard Novels," a series of cheap republications, with new intro- ductions by the authors. He was the founder and first editor (subsequently assisted by his two sons) of "Burke's Peerage and Baronetage," the most complete and accurate work of its kind, a new edition being published each year (34th ed., 1872). In May, 1857, the copyright of this work was sold for a large sum, although