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Anglo-Canadian Toryism and Anglo-American : A Dialogue with Roger Scruton RON DART University of the Fraser Valley

Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.ufv.ca/politicalscience/faculty-and-staff/dart-ron.htm

If Lockean is the conservatism of the on conservatism, The Meaning of Conservatism(1980) and English-speaking peoples, what was there in British How to Be a Conservative (2014) position him well to speak conservatism that was not present in the bourgeois about such a . It was, therefore, with much delight thought of Hamilton and Madison? If there was noth- and anticipation that I received Scruton’s most recent com- ing, then the acts of the Loyalists are deprived of all pact missive, Conservatism: An Introduction to the Great moral substance. Many of the American were Tradition (2018), to review—needless to say, there is much Anglicans and knew well that in opposing the revolu- to ponder in such a fast moving overview of conservatism. tion they were opposing Locke. They appealed to the Conservatism: An Introduction to the Great Tradition older political of Richard Hooker. They is certainly not Scruton’s first attempt to summarize, in a were not, as liberal Canadian historians have often compact and thoughtful manner, the history, principles 59 described them, a mixture of selfish and unfortunate and content of the stages and seasons of the conservative men who chose the wrong side. If there was nothing vision of the good life. In fact, each of Scruton’s multiple valuable in the founders of English-speaking Canada, publications, in either an implicit or explicit manner, delve what makes it valuable for Canadians to continue as a into the conservative way (and what we have lost by ignor- nation today? ing, caricaturing or distorting such a time worthy heritage). – George Grant, Lament for a Nation: The Defeat of The all too sad litany of forgetfulness of the past as a result + TAXIS COSMOS Canadian Nationalism of a progressive notion of human history has clear cut the forest of centuries of wisdom and time tried insight—such It was the rise of Puritanism in late Elizabethan Eng- a reality is, rightly so, called memoricide. We legitimately land, the advancing tide of Calvinist theology and lament the clear cutting of our forests but a much deeper in the last two decades of the 16th century, lament should accompany the clear cutting of the past (and not the Renaissance of the early and middle decades the implications of such a short sighted approach to culture of the century, that marked the real rupture with the and civilization). But, let us turn to Conservatism to get a medieval culture. fix and feel for what Scruton thinks we need to conserve – C. S. Lewis, English Literature in the Sixteenth and who are the saints and worthies of such an ethos and Century, Excluding Drama heritage. Conservatism is divided into the Preface (which sets Roger Scruton is one of the most published, articulate and the stage for the historic drama of sorts), chapter 1. “Pre- probing conservatives in the last few decades. The telling History”, 2. “The Birth of Philosophical Conservatism”, 3. points he raises cannot be ignored and many of the arrows “ and France”, 4. “Cultural Con- he shoots hits the bull’s eye well and wisely. There is always servatism”, 5. “The Impact of ”, 6. “Conservatism a need for thoughtful conservatives to counter variations Now” and a handy primer of a reading list and bibliography of trendy liberalism (of various and varied colours, shapes of sorts. The “Pre-History” chapter is, in fact, more modern and sizes) and Scruton speaks his speech well on such a history (mostly 17th century and forward) and the Anglo- stage. The role that Scruton played in the founding and ed- American connection (more Anglo than American) that iting of (1982-2001) and his two books makes for a must read to connect essential dots between

Anglo-Canadian Toryism and Anglo-American Conservatism: A Dialogue with Roger Scruton ------eco laissez-faire were suspicious a too centralized of were Scrutondoes linger long,though, inhis “The chapter on itics contra down top politics? This sortdualismof not is really worthy good a of conservative less much a historic both Needless say, to andTory. the state much have contributeto and both their have limitations. But, let us move on. Birth Philosophical of Conservatism” Smith’s on Sinai like revelation the of “invisible hand”, the Austrian school of in an age and ethos in which human and natural resources are commodities but be to bartered, trucked and traded on the loss. profit ledgerdoubtand of no ScrutonThere is is acutely aware this of troubling and trying dilemma as he astutely observes: “belief in a free and economy free trade inevitably clashes with local attachments and community The language 4). of liberty (p. protection” and freedom, as conservatives understandit, must be definedby something deeper than free merely un-historic a-historic or individu als entering contractual relationships that are disconnected from the legal and communal be to equated prejudices (not withbeing the of prejudiced) past. There is, in short,pub lic customs, social institutions, membership, law, family, religion and many other associations that shape and clar ify what freedom and liberty mean in mature a more way and Scruton, manner. doubt no There is rightly so, is com mitted the to liberty of notion and freedom is wary but of such languagehow has become distorted and emptied of any meaningful There is content. obviousan juggling act and impressive work some ballsat are kept in thoughtful There is, . though, again and again, a certain sus the of statepicion that Scruton brings the to in a nega fore tive way-this either-or tendency can be rather troubling. Is necessaryit society pit to against the state, bottom pol up atomistic individuals with little sense no or community, of history, ethos, customs, and a common law— “small and otherBurke’s platoon” such point metaphors the a grass to way roots and bottom approach of way up ing and living a meaningful life. There is,of course, some thing quite admirablebeing of such about a way and anar chists the on left and libertarianson the right share some theseof worthy tendencies. Scruton the went extra mile to highlight Jefferson how in USA the and those pennedwho FederalistThe Papers , a commitment hence decentralize to levels of freedomauthority of a notion Such when fur and power. ther extended can and oftendoes lead to nomics, lightertaxes, competitive market and minimala state. there Needless are serioussay, to that tensions exist when trying preserve to stable and historic communities ------traverseshistoric much and contem is a fox likeis a fox the to approach conser Conservatism Conservatism

I mentioned above that above I mentioned Scruton points Locke, to Smith, The question The never that fails to me when interest books What,though, is this that Scruton Tradition” “Great so with the state. Thisdoesmean not suchthat thinkers were Burke, and Hume clan as seed planters conservatism. of The languageof liberty such for thinkers factorssignificant in such a tradition and liberty such of a notion can collide reflecton whether the tale can told be otherin ways while holding high conservatism. of the Tradition” “Great served and And, why? are there others ways interpreting of thepathways the of conservative ethos and history? But, let us heed and hear Scruton how does the deed, then can we but a few ideologies a few but is what mean people do such terms by andthe use such language? of Since this is booka about conservatism, what is meant the by term, what is being con are written and published conservatism, on liberalism, so cial , democratic socialism, socialism, commu nism,populism, nationalism, fascismand Nazism name to to theto illness memoricide and of amnesia, is it good medi cine take to and inwardly mix digest a metaphor). (to lodes can be found—such are the pointers in the bibliogra So, phy. vativeand way should be read as such and, as correctivea book—those looking depth for will be disappointed in such a general the overview,but obvious purpose the of primer is point to such to places the where deep wells and mother the name the of intellectual a certainprobes but breadth is missing. porary landscape and this is the and bounty the of like books that terrain much cover and dignot do deep, and can much be learned is from this them (such missive). There are, also,hedgehog books in whichmuch depth is that Scruton like is more the than proverbial fox hedge in hog this fast moving overview conservatism, of then and But, thisnow. be should seen not as a fault. There fox- are ing the knee a trendy to and politically correct liberalism in the culture wars? I must admit, a brief of comment, way by ably and nimbly describes from within the historic Eng lish, American, and French German contexts and are there otherinterpretingways of without such Tradition a bow ings, widens the reach sense and the stretch of Scruton’s of conservativebroader tale epic the of Tradition”. “Great eralismand be to equated not with socialism variations or The scamperingcommunism). of across the landscapeof Germany and France,ever mining conservative for lean whatmight be called generation liberalism 2nd (Locke, Smith, Hume,Burke and tribe) and the 3rd of emergence generation liberalism call what we (or welfare social or lib VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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Hayek and clan ( not the state is the finest and and the brittle and distortions of the French best way forward) and Burke’s support of the American . Needless to say, it is impossible to be a minimal Revolution contra the (Burke being a conservative and ignore the essential role of religion. The Rockingham Whig). The troika of Smith, Burke and Hayek brutal assault on the Roman Catholic Church in the French tend to dominate and set the agenda as the pater familias of Revolution distinguishes such an ideology as the worst the conservative way in this birthing chapter of conserva- form of secular liberalism and, legitimately so, Chateaubri- tives, such conservatives, as mentioned above, 2nd genera- and and de Maistre opposed such a single vision and one tion liberals, 1st generation liberalism being the protestant dimensional way of interpreting public life and the forward versions within the reformation (as C. S. Lewis noted in the march of history. quote that opened this review). Scruton is right, of course, I found the chapter on “” of much when he pits and juxtaposes the cultural, economic and re- interest for the simple reason that many cultural conserva- ligious conservatism against the, increasingly so, aggres- tives raise serious and sustained questions about sive and hard secular liberalism of Rousseau (more a nu- as the workshop of the world, the market economy, capital- anced and tamed civil religion), the French Revolution and ism and the dimming of a higher and fuller vision of what . There is an obvious sense in which the anti- it means to be human. Coleridge had little patience for the religious and command economy tradition of the French “catechism of commerce” and Blake was appalled by the Revolution anticipates Marx and the Russian Revolution, “dark satanic mills” of industry. Many of the cultural con- and when Smith, Locke, Burke, Hume, Johnson and Hayek servatives are often at odds with the economic and religious are compared to such an extreme left of centre ideology, conservatives of the 16th-17th centuries (and their ideolog- they are very much conserving an older tradition. But, we ical commitments which often had Calvinist and puri- might add, is there something older to ponder in the “Great tan leanings, Locke and Hobbes emerging from such his- 61 Tradition” than an enshrining of 17th century 2nd generation toric contexts). What is worth the conserving, we might liberalism? ask, in some older ideals, principles and content that pre- I found, as I have most of Scruton’s hasty fox-like chap- date the Reformation of the 16th century and the outwork- ters, his section on German and French conservatism, of ing of it in the 17th century? There is, in fact, an older vi- some interest. Hegel is featured as the conservative contra sion worthy of conserving that we find, in different ways, COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS Kant, Hegel being truer to the dialectic of historic commu- in Coleridge (and the High Romantics such as Wordsworth nities, blending the tensions of the individual and commu- and Southey), Ruskin, Arnold, Eliot, Leavis and the South- nity in a way Kant does not. It would have been of some ern Agrarians in the USA. The cultural conservatives do, value to ponder, within the German Enlightenment, the in many important and significant ways, collide with those perennial insights of Goethe, Lessing and Schelling, al- who seek to conserve the market and some of the damaging though Scruton, to his credit, lands lightly on Herder later implications of it for culture, society and civilization. in the book. The merging and blending in this chapter of I should mention, before I venture yet further, that many Smith’s “invisible hand”, Burke’s “prejudice” and Hegel’s of the magisterial reformers of the 16th century had a high “cunning of reason” serve and suit well the unfolding ar- view of either the city state or . gument of Scruton. The turn to three French conservatives was Lord Chancellor of England, wrote many a of different hues reveal the layered nature of conservatism: tract to the monarchs of his time, Hooker held high the role Chateaubriand, Maistre and Tocqueville illuminate differ- of the state and Luther/Calvin recognized a needful tension ent directions conservatism went in the French experience existed between church and government—such was the vi- of the revolutionary era. The more reactionary conserva- sion of the magisterial reformers. Those who tend to de- tism of de Maistre must be seen and understood within the mean the state and elevate society are more indebted to the context of the excessively anti-religious and violent French Anabaptist-Mennonite way than the magisterial reformers revolution—one extreme often begets another (such is the of the 16th century. But, let us turn to those Scruton gives pendulum theory of politics). The more liberal conserva- the nod to as cultural conservatives. tive approach of de Tocqueville and his affinities with as- I mentioned above that Coleridge had many a suspi- pects of the American journey make him a bridge building cion of the captains of industry and the impact of their conservative. Chateaubriad, as Scruton rightly notes, was a “catechism of commerce” on society. Scruton’s insights superb apologist for the restoration of the Christian vision on Coleridge, his doubts about the market, the role of the

Anglo-Canadian Toryism and Anglo-American Conservatism: A Dialogue with Roger Scruton ------, “Conservatism Now”, : “Disraeli in almost to Conservatism Conservatism The The final chapter in The The sectionof “TheImpact of Socialism”, legitimatelyso, and Samuel Huntington are into the welcomed embracing as is fold the thinker, French Pierre Manent and Scrutonhimself. The final few pages dealwith thepoten tial and actual threat Islam, of Islam, Scruton suggesting, having “pre-political loyalty” that transcends both national boundaries and the state. is quite It pertinent point to out that this is an and issue most major minor for religions as they seek negotiate to the precarious balance between the ismin this suggestive though, chapter, that leads towards society, the to either-or approach a problematic economy, civic life, associations and the state. The free market ide is alized as the path forward the on liberty loving path and socialist traditions are portrayedas and oppressive totali tarian which there is obvious some (of truth). But, are there onlytwo options choose to from: market command or societythe or economy, state, diverse associations cen or tralized mature authority? conservatives Surely, are more nuanced and refined in their thinking thanideologi such calconstructs—such was the many of way cultural con servatives I might (and, add, political and religious con mightservatives). been It have valuable in such a chapter if Scruton had landed andlingered the at political traditions Denmark Sweden, I lived a time), for Norwayof (where and Switzerland I also (where lived when younger)—-some valuable discussions from such countries are the delicate interplay and dance sorts of state of and society. lights down the on conservatism the of School London of Economics as embodied in the life and writings Michael of Oakeshott, and Bauer Peter , Maurice Cowlingfrom receiving Peterhouse an ample hearing and audience. The American conservatives,William Buckley, proach andproach those suspicious such tendencies of and conser vatives a higher have who view the of state and those wary it. I cannotof this conclude but help section with another passage from Nisbet’s tal agreement with his revered Coleridge, expressed his ha sorttred ‘a spinning of of machine kind jenny, nation’. of With reason, much the at the of end century, G. B. Shaw fiercer many much conservative how commented on criti cismscapitalism of than were those were Marxian of social ists.reason The apparent.is The Marxians at least accepted the technical framework capitalism of their for coming so cialism. conservatives For in many instances, that was the loathsome part all” it of 65). (p. goes after the misuses abusesand of a and com mand in economy various states. There is anotherdual

------, states, , published in 1807, , published in 1807, Conservatism Letters from England

It is to Scruton’s credit that is has Scruton’s he to It highlighted the ten Scruton, rightlyArnold so, on touches and the emerg sions withinsions conservatism between the market driven ap Northern urban secularism and, again, mobile mar a more ket economy. lack religiousof this tendencies (in sense quite modern) hisbut the inroads south into the Tradition”, “Great ern Agrarians in the States United taking a stand against certainly Lockean-Hobbsean-Smithian-Burkean no liber Scruton hisals). completed tour cultural of conservatives withLeavis and the American Agrarians, noting Leavis’ and utilitarian dominated Scruton the mentioned day. S. Eliot inT. his section cultural on conservatives, also, and Eliot had the a fondness for Caroline Divines were (who produce thoughtfulproduce citizens. , like the Lake District Poets, all saw so clearly the dimming and dimin ishing beauty of and the , as only the useful, pragmatic ter in personal, family, religious and public life.led The loss, profit and of ger likenotionsof liberty and freedom, deeperhad have to roots if civic and public life to were ing students of formed and up were who shaped, their at best, internalize to and live forth an ennobling vision of character formation and the such virtuous of role charac ing merchant class calls he the “philistines”.of role The Mattheweducation for Arnold and his father was the rais poets and political philosophers conservative were in a way the Manchester school economics of was not. So, was who the real conservative? ment of the of illsment England upon brought the by factory sys tem and the hideously congested towns and cities resulting from this There can doubt no be the system”. Lake District , in his beauty a book, of in“Southey, his reads like a late nineteenth-century socialist in his indict many ways, as a “tearing, rending and shattering” his of toric communities and parish life does need be to noted. as an essential medium doing of Thisso. formof is a con servatism that does unduly not dismiss the state as an agent .of The fact that Coleridge viewed commerce, in of parishof life, they anti-statist. but not were In fact, Disraeli disciple in sorts of his(a Coleridge), of political attempt to the disparityovercome the of two nations, viewed the state to spend time at Coleridge’s residences at Nether Stowey, spendto time residences Nether at Coleridge’s Stowey, at Keswick and Highgate—he, like the other Lake District Po ets, certainly had their commitments the to small platoon “clerisy” and hiscommitment the to establishedchurch are well known (although many literary types ignore to tend religiousbeen have I fortunateColeridge’s commitments). VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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Ultimate, Pen-Ultimate and Ante-penultimate. More’s by Scruton had been done on the points of convergence but much heralded statement when confronting Henry VIII also divergence between Hooker and Locke (and the differ- points to such a portal between time and eternity: “The ence it makes in theology, philosophy, liturgy, ecclesial and King’s good servant but God’s first”. There are, of course, public-political life). extremist Muslims just as there are extremist Jews and Second, there was not much of a serious or sustained dis- Christians: Secular and right of centre Orthodox Jewish Zi- cussion of global warming, environmental, ecological is- onists can be just as violent as jihadist Muslims and the un- sues in Conservatism, and the ecology-economy dialogue critical support by many American conservative evangeli- was lacking. I know Scruton has written on the topic (Green cals of President Trump has many an affinity with hawkish Philosophy) but I’d be interested to know how a conserva- Muslims. tive like Scruton might agree or part paths (and why) with I find, when I walk the walk with Scruton, in this timely an obvious conservative like Prince Charles, who has, obvi- missive on the Great Tradition, a certain shrinkage of ously, made green politics an essential part of his classical thought, space and time occurs—there is something quite (?) ethos, way of life and vision. How might Green Phi- protestant about the “Great Tradition” as articulated by losophy and Harmony (Prince Charles) walk the same path Scruton, a tradition that only seems to emerge, in any seri- and where diverge on the trail?—certainly a must ponder ous way, after Cromwell. Surely, the “Great Tradition” has issue of meaningful conservatives as we ever trek into the much to do with a deeper appreciation of Classical civili- future. zation, the Patristic synthesis of such an ethos from the 2nd Third, I would have been most interested, given the fact to 7th centuries CE and the Medieval-Renaissance fleshing that religion and Christianity is so central to the Western out of such a way of being cultured and civilized. There is, and Great Tradition to have heard something from Scru- in short, a sort of what Lewis called a “chronological snob- ton about the Radical Orthodox that was launched by John 63 bery” in Scruton’s read of history (not as crude, though, as Milbank in the early 1990s and remains a way of reclaim- many cause de jour liberals), something most protestant ing and recovering the Great Tradition. Milbank and the and lacking a catholic ambience, palette and way of think- Radical Orthodox tribe track and trace the Great Tradition ing and being. Scruton is right, of course, in seeing secu- in a much more historic and profound way and manner lar forms of liberalism as problematic, some aspects of so- than Scruton, and it would have been valuable to read Scru- COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS cialism as worrisome, trendy politically correct ideology ton’s read on a view of Christianity and that is as narrow and violent forms of jihadism as not acceptable. more catholic and antedates the 16th and 17th centuries ver- But, if the protestant synthesis of the 16th-17th centuries is sion of what is being conserved. The Radical Orthodox dig the foundation stones of the “Great Tradition” there is a much deeper and more historic in their theological, phil- decided lack of greatness to it. There is, in fact, something osophical, ecclesial and liturgical probes than Scruton, but older and deeper to be conserved than simply freezing a when such approaches shift to political theory and praxis, read of a moment in the Western Tradition and calling it there seem to be many affinities—the publication of Phillip the “Great Tradition”. Blond’s : How Left and Right Have Broken Britain and We Can Fix It (2010) does have overlap with Scruton. There are, by way of conclusion, a few questions worth The railings of Blond against both multinational corpora- the raising as I end this review. tions and the managerial and social welfare state seem to have definite convergences with Scruton, although their First, and this might be too much of an academic and too understanding of the Great Tradition would part paths in detailed question of sorts, but given the fact Locke is of- some important ways. But, a discussion of Scruton in di- ten quoted in a positive way in the book and Hooker men- alogue with the Radical Orthodox and Blond would be of tioned as somewhat dated, how reliable is Locke’s varied much worth and note. I might add that Blond’s language of quotes from Hooker in his Second Treatise of Government? Red Tory does pilfer from the historic Canadian context, Hooker is not necessarily dated, when read from a certain and this leads to my next point of interest. perspective (I teach Hooker in my upper level political the- Fourth, I mentioned above a couple of times Robert Nis- ory courses), but Locke and Hooker (as Grant noted in the bet’s Conservatism: Dream and Reality, first published in initial quote in this review) are tracking a different trail. It 1986. Nisbet’s primer on the topic is broken down into four would have been valuable if some more substantive analysis sections: 1) Sources of Conservatism, 2) Dogmatics of Con-

Anglo-Canadian Toryism and Anglo-American Conservatism: A Dialogue with Roger Scruton ------(1943) took (1943) WhileThere The UnsolvedThe Riddle Philosophy in the Mass Lament for a Nation: The (1965) is, probably, one of of one is, probably, (1965) reflectedon both good the problematic and was published in the late 1950s, and in this most read I willI also briefly mention Grant.George Grant stood Leacock his at Canadian best—- Tory Socialof Justice nature both of the market Lea and command economy. cock argued state and society together needed work to with the goods they can contribute the to common good the of people—this was right no ideological left or diatribe—this was Canadian balanced it at Toryism and via media best. WWII the brought and state into the more more publicdo main, funding forthcoming more than in the strain the of years. depression Leacock’s of One final books, Is The Time: CaseAgainst Social Catastrophe the best read Canadian political manifestos from a Cana perspectivedian Tory that begins with Pearson (Liberal) defeatingDiefenbaker in (Conservative) the Federal 1963 genuflectingelection, Pearson’s Kennedyto Grant’s and theat horror sight Canada of bowing and to beingcom pliant with American goals and aims. When Grant died 30 years since died he in (it’s this 1988 year and years 100 since was he was he recognized born), the as of one most —he was quite critical both of ideologies. But, washe also an not uncritical fan the of market economy versus the state—much too reactionary him. a position for Leacock mention I the for reason simple that Canadian To ryism has been nuanced somewhat more than Anglo- much American conservatism, and such a position is often miss ing in books those by like Scruton and Nisbet. very in much tradition the unique Tory that Leacock lived, and moved had his being from. Grant, than more most Ca nadians, was the of one most guests prominent the on Ca nadian Broadcasting Corporation in the decades (CBC) fol lowing WWII. first Grant’s book, Age a book, of able explained he the how modern project was intobeing brought the by merging the of Calvinist puritan theology to approach and economics,the transfer such of an ideology the to founding the of and USA the secular ization such a liberal of project.USA, for The therefiore, Grant, became the embodiment the of modern liberal proj ect in which will-liberty-power came dominate to the day— his was romanticno attachment the to emerging American publicationempire. The of Grant’s Defeat Canadian of Nationalism the position that just as thestate had minimally intervened and contributed in the years, depression so in more the war years, the state and had role a responsibility contribute to to varietya social of programs in the post WW II years—this did mean not Leacock fawned the at shrine socialism of or

------Sun both up century and The UnsolvedThe Arcadian Ad th was Leacock at century both were An th (1912) and (1912) century. Both dipped men th (1914) he became he the one leading (1914) . . Leacock his had done PhD Uni at centuries conservatism. form of is It th half the of 20 and 17 Sunshine Sketches a Little of Town nd th Conservatism Arcadian Adventures the of Idle Rich

It will be 100 years in 2019 (1919-2019) since Leacock willIt years (1919-2019) be 100 in 2019 the measure worth of hinging had who what. on This was his Swiftian-Dickensian best-wealth, corporations and the captainsindustry of with havoc spread small town, rural existence, large cities centres class of disparity and wealth, holds theholds beauty small of town Mariposa (small platoon) also but gently mocked and satirized its parochial tenden cies. ventures the of Idle Rich literary lights in Canada, England and the com broader monwealth. taught in McGill at the Depart University from 1903-1936 with but Political of ment the Economy, publishing of shine Sketches a Little of Town of Carlyle,of Cobbett, Coleridge and Leacock Oastlen). had a certain affinitymore centrist for a of read Smith that neededbe to balanced the by countercurrent clan. Leacock the insights Smith, of the extreme more and versions car icatures Smith of and the Countercurrent Smith to (Wil liamJohn Gray Thompson, Humanitarianand the School versity Chicago of “The on Doctrineof Laissez-Faire” and the thesis was Leacock in completed 1903. was very much a distinctive and in the thesis, , reflected he on published his judiciously thought through SocialRiddle Justice of such national interests that separates them, in many ways, from a weaker view the of state that has been argued in Scruton’s Grant the 2 their buckets in understanding of a way the commonweal and the commons and the the of role state in protecting dian public intellectuals the of 20 glican Leacock Stephen High and Tories: George Grant. Leacock dominated the first halfof the 20 tively different from the conservatismUnitedof States. the should be that noted It two the of most Cana prominent means Canadians conserve an ethos and tradition older than the 16 this perhaps, that Toryism makes older, Canada distinc of eitherof English American or conservatism. The fact that Canada severed never the historicumbilical with cord England and France in the same the way Americans did man conservatism. I, as a Canadian, Can where wonder ada fits such a into discussion. Canada seemsto quitebe invisible and yet Canadian conservatism is hardly an echo servatism, Consequences Conservatism of 3) Pros and 4) pects Conservatism. of is significant It Nisbet, that like Scruton, mostly English, French, covers American and Ger VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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prominent Canadian public intellectuals of a Tory bent, his tening and enquiring, rather than barking out orders commitment to the role of the state and society walking or reading from a sheet of a priori rules (Scruton 2018, arm and arm as an ever a modest proposal. I might add that pp. 112-113). for Grant, (who Scruton mentions) was his in- spirational Diotima. I have brought this review to an end with a few reflec- tions on Canada for two rather simple and obvious reasons: REFERENCES first, when conservatism is discussed, as mentioned above, England, France, Germany and the Americans (Can- Scruton, Roger. 2018. Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great ada is also in North America) are predictably highlighted Tradition. New York: St. Martin’s Press. and Canada is ignored. Why, I often ask myself, is this the case? Second, historic Canadian Toryism does not fit neatly into the procrustean bed of English, French, German and the forms and types of conservatism found in the United States. Canada can come, therefore, as a way and means of broadening the tent of the rather typical understanding of conservatism. I have mentioned Leacock and Grant as por- tals into such a fuller and more comprehensive approach to the Great Tradition. In conclusion, Roger Scruton’s Conservatism: An Invita- tion to the Great Tradition should be most welcomed as a fit 65 and fine fox-like ramble across the terrain of a certain type of conservatism. The ideas, names, places and overview make for a fine primer for those keen to know more. I’m not convinced, though, that the Great Tradition that conserva- tives seek to conserve can be reduced to the emergence of COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS 1st-2nd generation liberalism of the 16th & 17th centuries (and the working out of such a DNA and genetic code) into the 18th-19th-20th and 21st centuries. It is quite possible to raise serious questions about politically correct progressive liber- alism, jihadist Islam and socialism-communism from other places than the form of conservatism that Scruton and clan call home. It is not very liberal of a liberal not to critique liberalism, but most liberals (whether of the 1st-2nd-3rd or 4th seasons and phases) seem to lack the ability to do so. I think, in some ways, the gold mine of the Canadian High Tory way has yet much to offer and a meaningful dialogue on the issue has not really yet begun. Scruton’s reflections on Oakeshott are a needful way to end this review of book worth many a read:

Oakeshott advocated a politics of ‘intimations’— intuitive understandings of how things are and how they might be changed, which arise from such an ac- tive engagement in the political order and openness to conversations with others. The aims of political asso- ciations, Oakeshott insisted, are not imposed but dis- covered, and this means that politics is an of lis-

Anglo-Canadian Toryism and Anglo-American Conservatism: A Dialogue with Roger Scruton