564
PARTISAN REVIEW
conclusion that it was prudent to support American independence because
the political trust between Britain and the American colonies-what he
called "the unsuspecting confidence that removes all difficulties"-had
been completely dissipated and could never be restored.
Though Burke's support for American independence sets
him
apart
from "conservatives" such as Johnson, his view of religion was a complex
mixture of conservative and liberal elements. In 1772, he opposed a petition
on the part of some Anglican clergymen to be allowed to take an oath sup–
porting the Bible rather than the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican
Church. Burke thought the request was absurd. If the petitioners do not
want to subscribe to the doctrine of the Church of England, "they have free
liberty to assemble a congregation of their own.. .." He thought it was
politically imprudent to tamper with the traditional practices of the estab–
lished church unless there was "intolerable abuse," and in this case there was
no such abuse. According to Burke, any criticism of the practices of the
established Church of England constituted an attack on England's consti–
tutional order. An established church, Burke' argued, made it less likely that
religious differences would lead to civil discord. "I think it [the Church of
England] is better calculated...for keeping peace amongst the different sects,
and of affording to them a reasonable protection, than any other System.
Being something
in
a middle, it is better disposed to moderate."
At the same time, Burke took the "liberal" position of favoring toler–
ation for most religious sects, including non-Christians. In a letter written
in 1775, he says: "I would give a full civil protection,
in
which I include an
immunity, from all disturbance of their publick religious worship, and a
power of teaching in schools, as well as Temples, to Jews, Mahometans and
even Pagans; especially
if
they are already possessed of any of those advan–
tages by long and prescriptive usage; which is as sacred in this exercise of
Rights, as in any other." Burke was disturbed that many Protestants did not
support toleration for Catholics. He told a leading figure in the Scottish
Presbyterian church that "I wish, along with you, that we may not be so far
Presbyterians, or Episcopals, as to forget that we are Christians... ."
Burke was not interested in weighing the truth of any particular reli–
gious doctrine; he was concerned only with the effect a change in traditional
religious practice might have on political stability. The only ground for refus–
ing to tolerate a religious sect is a civil one. "In my opinion, ...a magistrate,
whenever he goes to put any restraint upon religious freedom, can only do
it upon this ground,-that the person dissenting [does so] .. .in order to raise
a faction in the state...and to destroy the peace of his country."
The main threat to civil society, Burke argued, came from atheists,
Disturbed by the atheism of the
philosophes,
many of whom he met while
on a short trip to France in 1773, Burke says that " the most horrid and
