Whilst we were masters of the sea, embodied with America, and in alliance with half the powers of the Continent, we might, perhaps, in that remote corner of Europe, afford to tyrannize with impunity.
Burke reflects on the historical context of British dominance and the potential for tyranny in Europe.
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But the course of succession is the healthy habit of the British Constitution.
Though a king may abdicate for his own person, he cannot abdicate for the monarchy.
If all the absurd theories of lawyers and divines were to vitiate the objects in which they are conversant, we should have no law and no religion left in the world.
Ill would our ancestors at the Revolution have deserved their fame for wisdom, if they had found no security for their freedom, but in rendering their government feeble in its operations and precarious in its tenure,--if they had been able…
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