Abstract

Edmund Burke and George Grant shared similar concerns about the threat of modernity, the decline of traditional values in religion and society, and an anti-imperialist mindset. This chapter argues that Grant scholars should use Burke’s anti-imperialist, traditionalist vision to foreground Grant’s anti-modern, pro-British, anti-imperialist views. Yet, the chapter also contends that “Tory” writers such as Grant, Donald Creighton, and W.L. Morton used Burke selectively, ignoring Burke’s long history of writings in the “classical liberal” and “localist” traditions. Thus, the chapter enters into a dialogue with “Tory” writers like Grant to show the similarities and differences between conservative Toryism and classical liberalism and “localism.” The chapter concludes by proposing a new synthesis between liberalism and conservatism, using Burke and Grant’s ideas as a basis for this unity of ideologies.