He remained with his friends, and employed himself in
refuting [Footnote: Observations on the Present State of the Nation] the charges
of the former minister, George Grenville, who wrote a pamphlet accusing his
successors of gross neglect of public duties.
At this point in his life comes the much-discussed matter of Beaconsfield. How
Burke became rich enough to purchase such expensive property is a question that
has never been answered by his friends or enemies. There are mysterious hints of
successful speculation in East India stock, of money borrowed, and Burke
himself, in a letter to Shackleton, speaks of aid from his friends and "all [the
money] he could collect of his own." However much we may regret the air of
mystery surrounding the matter, and the opportunity given those ever ready to
smirch a great man's character, it is not probable that any one ever really
doubted Burke's integrity in this or any other transaction. Perhaps the true
explanation of his seemingly reckless extravagance (if any explanation is
needed) is that the conventional standards of his time forced it upon him; and
it may be that Burke himself sympathized to some extent with these standards,
and felt a certain satisfaction in maintaining a proper attitude before the
public.
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