Brian Eshleman’s Reviews > Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence > Status Update

Brian Eshleman
Brian Eshleman is 85% done
"Historical reviews of great statesmen," indicts Greg Weiner perceptively in Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence, "almost never account for whether their statesmanship was calibrated to their times: The assumption is that greatness finds its place in achieving change. But this measure, which assumes changes always warranted and necessarily good has no place for prudence.
Feb 28, 2020 12:48PM
Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence

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Brian Eshleman
Brian Eshleman is 85% done
Greg Weiner writes of Lincoln in Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence, "Having risen from very low estate, he knew this savagery that lies close beneath the skin of man, and he saw that most men are law-abiding only out of obedience to routine custom and convention.
Feb 28, 2020 12:39PM
Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence


Brian Eshleman
Brian Eshleman is 85% done
Greg Weiner writes of Lincoln in Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence, "Having risen from very low estate, he knew this savagery that lies close beneath the skin of man, and he saw that most men are law-abiding only out of obedience to routine custom and convention. The self-righteous Abolitionist and the reckless Fire-eater were abhorrent to him; yet he took the middle path between them."
Feb 28, 2020 12:38PM
Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence


Brian Eshleman
Brian Eshleman is 85% done
Greg Weiner in his Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence holds out the hope, "Even if we cannot always instill the capacity for prudence, we can teach its elements. We can show it by example through genuine instruction in the unapologetic histories of great and prudent statesmanship."
Feb 28, 2020 12:33PM
Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence


Brian Eshleman
Brian Eshleman is 85% done
"The statesman who averts great danger and the one who confronts it," allows Greg Weiner in Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence, "may be equally prudent depending on the circumstances each faces; so may be the one who achieves change and the one who inhibits or does not seek it."
Feb 28, 2020 06:36AM
Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence


Brian Eshleman
Brian Eshleman is 81% done
"Gratuitous change was worse than reflexive conservation," compares Greg Weiner in Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence, summarizing Burke.
Feb 28, 2020 06:24AM
Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence


Brian Eshleman
Brian Eshleman is 67% done
"Laws," Greg Weiner brings Burke to bear in his Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence, "must instruct and improve customs."
Feb 28, 2020 06:09AM
Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence


Brian Eshleman
Brian Eshleman is 67% done
"Like Burke, Lincoln was," Greg Weiner in Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence juxtaposes his two title subjects, "not eager to declare all issues to be ultimate, but he knew would ultimate issue when he saw one."

That's well developed discernment for the Christian. Either we become so fond of the pride and stubbornness to declare all issues ultimate, or we don't take a stand on anything.
Feb 28, 2020 05:48AM
Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence


Brian Eshleman
Brian Eshleman is 63% done
Greg Weiner in Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence quotes Edmund Burke's faith "that justice 'defies all mutation' and that God had placed it in every human heart to guide us with respect to ourselves and others."
Feb 28, 2020 05:32AM
Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence


Brian Eshleman
Brian Eshleman is 54% done
Summarizing Edmund Burke's sense of balance, Greg Weiner in Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, in the Politics of Prudence positions, "Duties operated alongside limits to impart meaning to liberty."
Feb 27, 2020 05:07PM
Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence


Brian Eshleman
Brian Eshleman is 54% done
Of Lincoln's theology, Greg Weiner reflects in Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence, "He used it as often to chasten as to inspire."

I think we might be logged into either/or.
Feb 27, 2020 02:53PM
Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence


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