[[File:Edmund Burke2 c.jpg|right|thumb|260px]]
'''Edmund Burke''' (born January 12, 1729, in [[Dublin]]; died July 9, 1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman, an orator, and an early leading [[conservative]] political theorist. He first coined the phrase "[[salutary neglect]]" to describe how [[Britain]] should be dealing with the [[America]]n colonies, a policy that [[King George III]] famously abandoned in a way that led to the [[American Revolution]]. In 1775 he urged fellow Brits to conciliate with the colonists, admiring how Americans "augur misgovernment at a distance, and snuff the approach of [[tyranny]] in every tainted breeze."<ref>https://wisc.pb.unizin.org/ps601/chapter/edmund-burke-on-conciliation-with-america/</ref> Burke was politically prophetic about both the American and French Revolutions, and Burke was an early opponent of [[slavery]].
Burke rallied Britain against the radicalism of the [[French Revolution]]. In the process he became one of the first to develop a coherent conservative [[political]] philosophy; his ideas continue to influence conservatives. Burke argued that a nation's institutions, customs and values were the long-term product of its experiences over the centuries, as small adjustments were made to fit changing needs and the cumulative effect was the current society. Writing before the [[Industrial Revolution]] had shown much impact, he thought change was always incremental and slow. Indeed, he argued that current observers were unlikely to fully appreciate the hidden gems of wisdom of the "ancient constitution"; efforts to impose radical changes based on visions rather than experience, such as the [[French Revolution]], were therefore doomed to failure. Keenly concerned with the fairness of the [[British Empire]], Burke opposed royal efforts to suppress the [[American Revolution]]; he called for more liberties for the people of [[India]] and his native [[Ireland]].
He was born in Dublin, [[Ireland]], the son of a [[Protestant]] lawyer and a [[Catholic]] mother. He was educated in classics at a [[Quaker]] boarding school and at Trinity College Dublin, he remained a committed [[Anglican]] the rest of his life. He considered a national established church a requirement for sound government. In 1750 he went to London to study law but soon left his course. In 1756 he published his first book anonymously ''A Vindication of Natural Society'', a satirical account of the rise of civilization and how it produces unhappiness and distress; it attacked the political rationalism and religious skepticism of Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke. In 1757 he anonymously published the ''Origin of Our Ideas on the Sublime and Beautiful'', his most philosophical work; it is a founding manifesto of Romanticism, which came to dominate European thought and sensibility after 1800.<ref>Byrne, William F. Byrne, "Burke's higher romanticism: politics and the sublime," ''Humanitas'' (2006) [http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-6661343/Burke-s-higher-romanticism-politics.html online]</ref> He founded the ''The Annual Register'', a record of contemporary political events. He was a member of the intellectual circle around [[Samuel Johnson]].
After serving as private secretary to several senior parliamentarians, Burke was given a seat in Parliament in 1765 and remained in Parliament for over thirty years. His success as an orator, political writer and party member for the [[Whig Party, Britain|Whigs]] was extensive although he was never given a particularly high office by his party when it took government, possibly because of his independent streak.
Burke is buried at St. Mary & All Saints Church in Beaconsfield, [[U.K.]]
Edmund Burke's famous quotes include:
*"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."<ref>Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770) Volume i, p. 526; this expression is often cited as a likely origin of other more famous assertions such as "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing" which are commonly attributed to Burke.[https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-edmund-burke-quote/fact-check-edmund-burke-did-not-say-evil-triumphs-when-good-men-do-nothing-idUSL1N2PG1EY]</ref>
*"A state without the means of change is without the means of its conservation."<ref>Quotes, ''Reflections on the Revolution in France'', 1790</ref>
*"The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts."<ref>Edmund Burke (2016). “[https://books.google.com/books/about/Delphi_Complete_Works_of_Edmund_Burke_Il.html?id=SFNADAAAQBAJ Delphi Complete Works of Edmund Burke (Illustrated)]”, p. 3631, Delphi Classics</ref>