Striving Against Opposition

One of Conservatism's Founding Fathers: Benjamin Disraeli

(via Burkean Canuck)

Russ, at Burkean Canuck has one of the more thoughtful blogs I've stumbled across, directed me towards an excellent article in the Weekly Standard on Benjamin Disraeli. Edmund Burke was clearly the philosophical father of the movement, but for all intents and purposes theory was put into practice under Disraeli. His interpretation of Conservatism is one which clearly affects us today and serves as the basis from which most Conservatives operate. Hence we could all do with a bit more knowledge into the life and works of Disraeli.

THUS DISRAELI FOUND HIMSELF in a position to rebuild the Tory party. How did he go about it? Reverence for tradition was central to Toryism and to Disraeli's own personality. He wanted his new-style Tory party to embody respect for tradition--wanted it to be new and old, to be a modern setting for ancient gems, a new crown displaying old jewels. This was a popular idea in 19th-century Britain, where "the future" and "the past" were both discovered, simultaneously.
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The result was wildly successful, one of history's greatest public buildings. Disraeli aimed to accomplish something similar for the Tory party. His underlying thought, which defined Disraeli-type Toryism and reshaped conservatism for all time, was that the Conservative party was the national party. Sounds simple and is. But everything else followed. If you understood "national" properly, then (on the one hand) the Tories must be a democratic, "universal," progressive party that cared about the poor and working classes--since the party was national it must care for the whole nation, for all classes. But the Tories must also be a patriotic party that revered ancient traditions and institutions, again inasmuch as they were the national--and therefore honored profoundly the nation's heritage and distinctive character.

He put it like this:

In a progressive country change is constant; and the great question is not whether you should resist change which is inevitable, but whether that change should be carried out in deference to the manners, the customs, the laws and the traditions of a people, or whether it should be carried out in deference to abstract principles, and arbitrary and general doctrines.

posted by Chris @ 2/11/2005 11:01:00 p.m.