Critical Recovery, c.1860–1880

This chapter examines the work of a younger generation of Liberal men of letters published between 1860 and 1880. These collected reviews, periodical articles, and monographs demonstrate a renewed interest in Burke, the eighteenth century, and the history of thought more generally. Examination of the work of ‘advanced’ Liberals such as John Morley, Leslie Stephen, and James Fitzjames Stephen reveals that the ‘liberal utilitarian’ label is simplistic and misleading when applied to their characterization of Burke’s thought. It shows instead how these writers and their texts made a rather different contribution, one which is frequently overlooked: Morley and the Stephens were forced to conclude that Burke was an insufficient guide for modern Liberals. Both Leslie Stephen and Morley were also instrumental in linking Burke’s thought to increasingly popular notions of organic development.