Explanation: If anything were wanting to this necessary operation of the form of government, religion would have given it a complete effect.
Answer: The lines occur in Burke's "Speech on Conciliation with America", an unforgettable piece in the tradition of British parliamentary speeches. Here Burke traces the cause of the fierce love of liberty and freedom among the American people.
In the "Speech on Conciliation with America" Burke categorically points out that the American people possessed fierce love of freedom and liberty. He also traces the powerful factors contributing to this strong love of liberty. One of the causes is the existence of popular governments in the colonies. This character of freedom and liberty was encouraged by Britain's benign neglect, which helped to establish American traditions of ordered liberty. The colonists were allowed to form popular assemblies. These assemblies, operating for decades, gave the people habits of self-government and self-taxation, and the acceptance of these developments by Britain was taken by Americans to be a recognition of the right to enjoy them. Religion also contributed to the formation of the temper and character of the American people. The people of the northern colonies were Protestants. The Puritan religions of the northern colonies inculcated a particular love of liberty among the inhabitants there - "The people are Protestants; and of that kind which is the most adverse to all implicit submission of mind and opinion." Differing from one another in many details, Dissenters and Puritans shared a history of struggle and persecution. They have always protested against all forms of excesses either in religion or in civil governments. This spirit of protest is very active among the colonists. Burke comments that the political institutions - the popular governments - which grew up in America were sufficient to produce a spirit of independence in the minds of its people. But, if anything more was needed for the growth of this spirit it was supplied by religion. Burke's understanding of the character of the American people is conspicuous here.
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