Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (; 16 September 1678 – 12 December 1751) was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

, and supported the Church of England politically despite his

antireligious Antireligion is opposition to religion. It involves opposition to organized religion, religious practices or religious institutions. The term ''antireligion'' has also been used to describe opposition to specific forms of supernatural worship ...

views and opposition to

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

.See e.g., Henry St. John Viscount Bolingbroke, "Letters or Essays Addressed to Alexander Pope: Introduction"
''The Works of Lord Bolingbroke: With a Life, Prepared Expressly for This Edition, Containing Additional Information Relative to His Personal and Public Character,''
(Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1841) Vol 3, pp. 40–64. Also available on Project Gutenberg as "Letter to Alexander Pope" i
''Letters to Sir William Windham and Mr. Pope''
D'Holbach, Baron

paragraph 206 He supported the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 which sought to overthrow the new king George I. Escaping to France he became foreign minister for the Pretender. He was

attainted In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and heredit ...

for treason, but reversed course and was allowed to return to England in 1723. According to Ruth Mack, "Bolingbroke is best known for his party politics, including the ideological history he disseminated in '' The Craftsman'' (1726–1735) by adopting the formerly Whig theory of the Ancient Constitution and giving it new life as an anti-Walpole Tory principle."

Early life

Henry St John was most probably born at Lydiard Tregoze, the family seat in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershir ...

, and christened in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batte ...

. St John was the son of Sir Henry St John, 4th Baronet later 1st Viscount St John, and Lady Mary Rich, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Warwick. Although it has been asserted that St John was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and Christ Church, Oxford, his name does not appear on registers for either institution and there is no evidence to support either claim. It is possible he was educated at a

Dissenting academy The dissenting academies were schools, colleges and seminaries (often institutions with aspects of all three) run by English Dissenters, that is, those who did not conform to the Church of England. They formed a significant part of England's edu ...

. He travelled to France, Switzerland and Italy during 1698 and 1699 and acquired an exceptional knowledge of French. St John made friends with the Whigs James Stanhope and Edward Hopkins and corresponded with the Tory Sir

William Trumball Sir William Trumbull (8 September 163914 December 1716) was an English statesman who held high office as a member of the First Whig Junto. Early life Trumbull was born at Easthampstead Park in Berkshire and baptised on 11 September 1639. He ...

, who advised him: "There appears indeed amongst us n Englanda strong disposition to liberty, but neither honesty nor virtue enough to support it".

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel '' The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem '' The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his ...

reported that he had been seen to "run naked through the park in a state of intoxication".

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, ...

, his intimate friend, said that he wanted to be thought the

Alcibiades Alcibiades ( ; grc-gre, Ἀλκιβιάδης; 450 – 404 BC) was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last of the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in ...

Petronius Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter"
Henry Winchcombe of Bucklebury,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

, but this made little difference to his lifestyle.

Early career

He became a Member of Parliament in 1701, representing the family borough of Wootton Bassett in

, as a Tory. His seat was Lydiard Park at Lydiard Tregoze, now in the

Borough of Swindon The Borough of Swindon is a local government authority in South West England, centred on the urban area and town of Swindon and forming part of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Wiltshire. History In 1974 the Thamesdown ...

. He attached himself to Robert Harley (afterwards Lord Oxford), then Speaker of the House of Commons, and distinguished himself by his eloquence in debate, eclipsing his schoolfellow, Robert Walpole, and gaining an extraordinary ascendancy over the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. In May, he had charge of the bill for securing the Protestant succession; he took part in the impeachment of the Whig lords for their conduct concerning the Partition treaties, and opposed the oath of loyalty against the " Old Pretender". In March 1702, he was chosen commissioner for taking the public accounts. After Queen Anne's accession, St John supported the bills in 1702 and 1704 against occasional conformity, and took a leading part in the disputes which arose between the two Houses. In 1704, St John took office with Harley as

secretary at war The Secretary at War was a political position in the English and later British government, with some responsibility over the administration and organization of the Army, but not over military policy. The Secretary at War ran the War Office. Aft ...

, thus being brought into intimate relations with

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S.) was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reign ...

, by whom he was treated with favour. In 1708, he left office with Harley on the failure of the latter's intrigue, and retired to the country till 1710, when he became a

privy counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

and secretary of state in Harley's new ministry, representing

in parliament. He supported the bill for requiring a real property qualification for a seat in parliament. In 1711 he founded the Brothers' Club, a society of Tory politicians and men of letters, and the same year witnessed the failure of the two expeditions to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...

and to Canada promoted by him. In 1712, he was the author of the bill taxing newspapers. The refusal of the Whigs to make peace with France in 1706, and again in 1709 when

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ve ...

offered to yield every point for which the allies professed to be fighting, showed that the war was not being continued in the national interest, and the queen, Parliament and the people supported the ministry in its wish to terminate hostilities. Because of the diversity of aims among the allies, St John was induced to enter into separate and secret negotiations with France for the security of English interests. In May 1712, he ordered the Duke of Ormonde, who had succeeded Marlborough in command, to refrain from any further engagement. These instructions were communicated to the French, though not to the allies, Louis putting

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label= French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.de Torcy, on the French victory over Prince Eugene at

Denain Denain (; pcd, Dnain) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Denain had a population of 19,877, on a land area of 11.52 km² (4.448 sq mi). It is the largest of 47 communes which comprise the Communauté d'agglomératio ...

(24 July 1712). In June 1712, St John's commercial treaty with France, establishing free trade with that country, was rejected by the House of Commons. The treaty was presented in the Commons by Arthur Moore as St John had been created Viscount Bolingbroke earlier that year. A major campaign was waged against its approval under the slogan "

No Peace Without Spain No Peace Without Spain was a popular British political slogan of the early eighteenth century. It referred to the ongoing War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) in which Britain was a leading participant. It implied that no peace treaty cou ...

". At least 40 from the Tories voted to reject the treaty. In August 1712, Bolingbroke went to France and signed an armistice between England and France for four months. Finally, the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne of ...

was signed in March 1713 by all the allies except the emperor. The first production of Addison's '' Cato'' was made by the Whigs the occasion of a great demonstration of indignation against the peace, and by Bolingbroke for presenting the actor

Barton Booth Barton Booth (168210 May 1733) was one of the most famous dramatic actors of the first part of the 18th century. Early life Booth was the son of The Hon and Very Revd Dr Robert Booth, Dean of Bristol, by his first wife and distant cousin Ann ...

with a purse of fifty guineas for "defending the cause of liberty against a perpetual dictator". Meanwhile, the friendship between Bolingbroke and Harley, the basis of the whole Tory administration, had been gradually dissolved. In March 1711, when the Marquis de Guiscard made an attempt on Harley's life, Bolingbroke assumed temporary leadership of the ministry's affairs. His difficulty in controlling the Tory back-benchers, however, only made Harley's absence the more noticeable. In May, Harley obtained the

earldom of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. ...

and became lord treasurer, while in July, St John was greatly disappointed at receiving only his viscountcy instead of the earldom lately extinct in his family, and at being passed over for the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the Georg ...

. In September 1713

came to London and made a final vain attempt to reconcile his two friends. But now a further cause of difference had arisen. The queen's health was visibly breaking, and the Tory ministers anticipated their downfall on the accession of the Elector of Hanover. During Bolingbroke's diplomatic mission to France he had incurred blame for remaining at the opera while the Pretender was present, and according to the

Mackintosh The Mackintosh or raincoat (abbreviated as mac) is a form of waterproof raincoat, first sold in 1824, made of rubberised fabric. The Mackintosh is named after its Scottish inventor Charles Macintosh, although many writers added a letter ''k ...

transcripts he had several secret interviews with him. Regular communications were kept up subsequently. In March 1714, Herville, the French envoy in London, sent to de Torcy, the French foreign minister, the substance of two long conversations with Bolingbroke in which the latter advised patience till after the accession of George I, when a great reaction was to be expected in favour of the Pretender. At the same time, he spoke of the treachery of Marlborough and Berwick, and of one Other (presumably Oxford) whom he refused to name, all of whom were in communication with Hanover. Both Oxford and Bolingbroke warned James Stuart that he could have little chance of success unless he changed his religion, but the latter's refusal does not appear to have stopped the communications. Bolingbroke gradually superseded Oxford in the leadership. Lady Masham, the queen's favourite, quarrelled with Oxford and identified herself with Bolingbroke's interests. The harsh treatment of the Hanoverian demands was inspired by him, and won favour with the queen, while Oxford's influence declined; and by his support of the Schism Bill in May 1714, an aggressive Tory measure forbidding all education by dissenters by making an episcopal licence obligatory for schoolmasters, he probably intended to compel Oxford to give up the game. Finally, a charge of corruption brought by Oxford in July against Bolingbroke and Lady Masham, in connexion with the commercial treaty with Spain, failed, and the lord treasurer was dismissed or retired on 27 July 1714. The Queen died four days later, after appointing

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'S ...

to the lord treasurership. Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke

Exile

On the accession of George I the illuminations and bonfire at Lord Bolingbroke's house in Golden Square were "particularly fine and remarkable", but he was immediately dismissed from office. The new king had been close to the Whigs but he was willing to bring in Tories. The Tories however refused to serve and gambled everything on an election, which they lost. The triumphant Whigs systematically removed the Tories from most of the posts nationally and regionally. Bolingbroke followed an erratic course that baffled his contemporaries and historians. He retired to Bucklebury and is said to have now written the answer to the ''Secret History of the White Staff'' accusing him of being a

Jacobite Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometimes ...

. In March 1715, he in vain attempted to defend the late ministry in the new parliament; and on the announcement of Walpole's intended attack upon the authors of the

he gave up. Bolingbroke fled in disguise to Paris—a major blunder. In an even greater blunder he joined the Pretender, was made

Earl of Bolingbroke The title Earl of Bolingbroke has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Jacobite Peerage. The creation in the Peerage of England occurred on 28 December 1624, when Oliver St John, 4th Baron St John of Bletso, was crea ...

in the Jacobite Peerage, and took charge of foreign affairs in the Stuart court. The uprising of 1715 was badly botched and the death of Louis XIV meant the Pretender had lost his major sponsor; King Louis XV wanted peace with Britain and refused to endorse any further schemes. In March 1716, Bolingbroke switched sides again. He had lost his titles and property when Parliament voted a bill of attainder for treason. He hoped to recover the good graces of King George, and indeed managed to do so in a few years. He wrote his ''Reflexions upon Exile'', and in 1717, his letter to Sir William Wyndham in explanation of his position, generally considered one of his finest compositions, but not published till 1753 after his death. The same year, he formed a liaison with a widow Marie Claire Deschamps de Marcilly, whom he married in 1720, two years after his first wife's death. He bought and resided at the estate of La Source near

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

, who expressed unbounded admiration for his learning and politeness. Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (1678-1751)

Pardon and return

In 1723, through the medium of the king's mistress, Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal and Munster, he received a pardon and returned to London. Walpole reluctantly accepted his return. In 1725, Parliament enabled him to hold real estate but without power of alienating it. But this had been effected in consequence of a peremptory order of the king, against Walpole's wishes, who succeeded in maintaining his exclusion from the House of Lords. He now bought an estate at

Dawley Dawley ( ) is a constituent town and civil parish in Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It was originally, in 1963, going to be the main centre of the 'Dawley New Town' plan before it was decided in 1968 to name the new town as 'Telford ...

, near

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...

, where he renewed his intimacy with

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT ...

and Voltaire, took part in Pope's literary squabbles, and wrote the philosophy for Pope's ''An Essay on Man'' (1734), which, at Epistle I, begins: "To Henry St. John, Lord Bolingbroke: On the first occasion which offered itself, that of Pulteney's rupture with Walpole in 1726, he endeavoured to organize an opposition in conjunction with the former and Wyndham; and in 1727, began his celebrated series of letters to '' The Craftsman'', attacking the Walpoles, signed "an Occasional Writer". He won over the Duchess of Kendal with a bribe of £11,000 from his wife's estates, and with Walpole's approval obtained an audience with the king. His success was imminent, and it was thought his appointment as chief minister was assured. In Walpole's own words, "as St John had the duchess entirely on his side I need not add what must or might in time have been the consequence", and he prepared for his dismissal. But once more Bolingbroke's "fortune turned rotten at the very moment it grew ripe", and his projects and hopes were ruined by the king's death in June. Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (1678)

Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (1678)

He wrote additional essays signed "John Trot" that appeared in the ''Craftsman'' in 1728, and in 1730 followed ''Remarks on the History of England'' by Humphrey Oldcastle, attacking Walpole's policy. Comment prompted by Bolingbroke was continued in the House of Commons by Wyndham, and great efforts were made to establish the alliance between the Tories and the Opposition Whigs. The

Excise Bill The Excise Bill of 1733 was a proposal by the British government of Robert Walpole to impose an excise tax on a variety of products. This would have allowed Customs officers to search private dwellings to look for contraband untaxed goods. The p ...

in 1733 and the Septennial Bill in 1734 offered opportunities for further attacks on the government, which Bolingbroke supported by a new series of papers in the ''Craftsman'' styled "A Dissertation on Parties"; but the whole movement collapsed after the new elections, which returned Walpole to power in 1735 with a large majority. Bolingbroke retired baffled and disappointed from the fray to France in June, residing principally at the château of Argeville near

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...

. He now wrote his ''Letters on the Study of History'' (printed privately before his death and published in 1752), and the ''True Use of Retirement''. In 1738, he visited England, became one of the leading friends and advisers of

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fat ...

, who now headed the opposition, and wrote for the occasion ''The Patriot King'', which together with a previous essay, ''The Spirit of Patriotism'', and ''The State of Parties at the Accession of George I'', were entrusted to

and not published. Having failed, however, to obtain any share in politics, he returned to France in 1739, and subsequently sold Dawley. In 1742 and 1743, he again visited England and quarrelled with Warburton. In 1744, he settled finally at

with his friend Hugh Hume, 3rd Earl of Marchmont, and was present at Pope's death in May. The discovery that the poet had printed secretly 1,500 copies of ''The Patriot King'', caused him to publish a correct version in 1749, and stirred up a further altercation with Warburton, who defended his friend against Bolingbroke's bitter aspersions, the latter, whose conduct was generally reprehended, publishing a ''Familiar Epistle to the most Impudent Man Living''.

Death

In 1744, he had been very busy assisting in the negotiations for the establishment of the new "broad bottom" administration, and showed no sympathy for the Jacobite expedition in 1745. He recommended the tutor for Prince George, afterwards

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. About 1749, he wrote the ''Present State of the Nation'', an unfinished pamphlet.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, (22 September 169424 March 1773) was a British statesman, diplomat, and man of letters, and an acclaimed wit of his time. Early life He was born in London to Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Che ...

records the last words heard from him: "God who placed me here will do what He pleases with me hereafter and He knows best what to do". He died on 12 December 1751, aged 73, his second wife having predeceased him by one year. They were both buried in St Mary's, the parish church at

, where a monument with medallions and inscriptions composed by Bolingbroke was erected to their memory. The monument was sculpted by Roubiliac. He was succeeded in the title as 2nd

Viscount Bolingbroke Viscount Bolingbroke is a current title in the Peerage of Great Britain created in 1712 for Henry St John. He was simultaneously made Baron St John, of Lydiard Tregoze in the County of Wilts. Since 1751, the titles are merged with the titles ...

, according to the

special remainder In property law of the United Kingdom and the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person (who is referred to as the transferee or remainderman) that is capable of becoming possessory upon th ...

, by his half-nephew Frederick St John, 3rd Viscount St John (a title granted to Bolingbroke's father in 1716), from whom the title has descended. Frederick was the son of the 1st Viscount's half-brother John St John, by his father's second wife Angelica Magdalena Pelissary.

Impact

Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke by Jonathan Richardson

Bolingbroke, Georgia Bolingbroke, founded in 1867, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Monroe County, Georgia, United States. It lies just north of Macon, between Interstates 475 and 75. The community is part of the Macon Metropolit ...

, was named after him.

Republicanism in America

In the late 20th century, Bolingbroke was rediscovered by historians as a major influence on

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

, and on the American patriots

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the nati ...

and

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

. Adams said that he had read all of Bolingbroke's works at least five times; indeed, Bolingbroke's works were widely read in the American colonies, where they helped provide the foundation for the emerging nation's devotion to

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...

. His vision of history as cycles of birth, growth, decline and death of a republic was influential in the colonies, as was his contention on liberty: that one is "free not from the law, but by the law".

Influence in Britain

Bute Bute or BUTE may refer to: People * Marquess of Bute, a title in the Peerage of Great Britain; includes lists of baronets, earls and marquesses of Bute * Lord of Bute, a title in medieval Scotland, including a list of lords * Lucian Bute (born ...

and

derived their political ideas from ''The Patriot King''.

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January New Style">NS/nowiki> 1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish people">Anglo-Irish Politician">statesman, economist, and philosopher. Born in Dublin, Burke served as a member of Parliament (MP) between 1766 and 1794 ...

wrote his ''Vindication of Natural Society'' in imitation of Bolingbroke's style, but in refutation of his principles; and in the '' Reflections on the French Revolution'' he exclaims, "Who now reads Bolingbroke, who ever read him through?" Burke denied that Bolingbroke's words left "any permanent impression on his mind". Benjamin Disraeli lionized Bolingbroke as the "Founder of Modern Toryism", eradicating its "absurd and odious doctrines", and establishing its mission to subvert "Whig attempts to transform the English Constitution into an oligarchy". The loss of Bolingbroke's great speeches was regretted by William Pitt more than that of the missing books of

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

and

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

. By the early 20th century, the writings and career of Bolingbroke would make a weaker impression than they made on contemporaries. He was thought by the author in his biography in '' A Short Biographical Dictionary of English'' (1910) to be a man of brilliant and versatile talents, but selfish, insincere and intriguing, defects of character which arguably led to his political ruin; and his writings were described as glittering, artificial and lacking philosophical merit. Philip Chesney Yorke, his biographer in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' 11th Edition, commented that his abilities were exercised upon ephemeral objects, and not inspired by lasting or universal ideas.

Enlightenment philosophy

Bolingbroke held certain views of opposition to church and theological teachings that may have had influence during the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

. The atheist antireligious French-German philosopher

Baron d'Holbach Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach (; 8 December 1723 – 21 January 1789), was a French-German philosopher, encyclopedist, writer, and prominent figure in the French Enlightenment. He was born Paul Heinrich Dietrich in Edesheim, near L ...

quotes Bolingbroke in his

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

work ''Good Sense'', in reference to Bolingbroke's statements against religion.

Country Party

Bolingbroke was especially influential in stating the need and outlining the machinery of a systematic

parliamentary opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

. Such an opposition he called a " country party" which he opposed to the court party. Country parties had been formed before, for instance after the king's speech to Parliament in November 1685, but Bolingbroke was the first to state the need for a continual opposition to the government. To his mind the spirit of liberty was threatened by the court party's lust for power. Liberty could only be safeguarded by an opposition party that used "constitutional methods and a legal course of opposition to the excesses of legal and ministerial power" (''On the Idea of a Patriot King'' p. 117). He instructed the opposition party to "Wrest the power of government, if you can, out of the hands that employed it weakly and wickedly" (''On the Spirit of Patriotism'' p. 42). This work could be done only by a homogeneous party "because such a party alone will submit to a drudgery of this kind" (''On the idea of a Patriot King'' p. 170). It was not enough to be eager to speak, keen to act. "They who affect to head an opposition ... must be equal, at least, to those whom they oppose" (''On the Spirit of Patriotism'' p. 58). The opposition had to be of a permanent nature to make sure that it would be looked at as a part of daily politics. It had on every occasion to confront the government (''On the Spirit of Patriotism'' p. 61). He considered a party that systematically opposed the government to be more appealing than a party that did so occasionally (''On the Spirit of Patriotism'' pp. 62, 63). This opposition had to prepare itself to control government (''On the Spirit of Patriotism'' p. 61).

Works

* Lashmore-Davies, Adrian C., ed. "The Correspondence of Henry St. John and Sir William Trumbull, 1698–1710", ''Eighteenth-Century Life'' 32, no. 3 (2008), pp. 23–179. * Parke, G., ed. ''The Letters and Correspondence of Henry St John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke.'' 4 vols. 1798. * Dickinson, H. T., ed. "The Letters of Henry St. John to the Earl of Orrery, 1709–1711" ''Camden Miscellany, vol. XXVI. Camden Fourth Series. Volume 14'' (London: The Royal Historical Society, 1975), pp. 137–199. * H. T. Dickinson (ed.). "Letters of Bolingbroke to the Earl of Orrery, 1712–13", ''Camden Miscellany, Vol. XXXI. Camden Fourth Series. Volume 44'' (London: The Royal Historical Society, 1992), pp. 349–371.
''The works of the late Right Honourable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke''
new ed., Vol. 1 (London, 1809).
''The works of the late Right Honourable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke''
new ed., Vol. 2 (London, 1809).
''The works of the late Right Honourable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke''
new ed., Vol. 3 (London, 1809).
''The works of the late Right Honourable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke''
new ed., Vol. 4 (London, 1809).
''The works of the late Right Honourable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke''
new ed., Vol. 5 (London, 1809).
''The works of the late Right Honourable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke''
new ed., Vol. 6 (London, 1809).
''The works of the late Right Honourable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke''
new ed., Vol. 7 (London, 1809).
''The works of the late Right Honourable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke''
new ed., Vol. 8 (London, 1809). * ''The Works of Lord Bolingbroke, Vol 1.'' University Press of the Pacific, 2001. * Armitage, David, ed. ''Bolingbroke: Political Writings'' (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought). Cambridge University Press, 1997. * ''The Philosophical Works of the Late Right Honourable Henry St John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke'', 3 vol. 1776, reprint 2005. * Jackman, S. W., ed. ''The Idea of a Patriot King.'' Indianapolis, 1965. * ''The Works of the Late Right Honorable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke'' was first published in March 1754 in five quarto volumes, and it was made popular by its controversial outlooks on religion. A decade later, the highly successful London bookseller

Andrew Millar Andrew Millar (17058 June 1768) was a British publisher in the eighteenth century. Biography In 1725, as a twenty-year-old bookseller apprentice, he evaded Edinburgh city printing restrictions by going to Leith to print, which was considered be ...

was still selling the ''Works'' for a considerable fortune, setting the price at three guineas (three pounds and three shillings), a clear indication of the importance and value of the text. In a letter to Dr. Cadell in July 1765, Millar wrote "I never sold a Bolingbroke in quarto under 3 guineas ... Wren paid so and I can't now alter the price".

Notes

References

* *

Primary sources

* ''The works of Lord Bolingbroke'', 4 vols. (1969) * H. St John, Viscount Bolingbroke, ''The idea of a patriot king'', ed. S. W. Jackman (Indianapolis, 1965) * ''Lord Bolingbroke: historical writings'', ed. I. Kramnick (Chicago, 1972) * ''Lord Bolingbroke: contributions to The Craftsman'', ed. S. Varey (1982) * ''Bolingbroke: political writings'', ed. D. Armitage (1997) * ''Bolingbroke's political writings: the conservative Enlightenment'', ed. B. Cottret (1997)

External links

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Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
* *

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolingbroke, Henry Saint John, 1st Viscount 1678 births 1751 deaths People from Bucklebury People from Battersea British Secretaries of State Lord-Lieutenants of Essex Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Berkshire British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 Viscounts in the Peerage of Great Britain Peers of Great Britain created by Queen Anne Recipients of British royal pardons Fellows of the Royal Society English Jacobites Henry English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 Earls in the Jacobite peerage British political philosophers Toryism