On the record
Their grand object being now, as in his brother's time, at any rate to destroy the higher orders, they think he cannot compass this end, as certainly he cannot, without elevating the lower.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “Their grand object being now, as in his brother's time, at any rate to destroy the higher orders, they think he cannot…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke warns that attempts to destroy the higher orders will ultimately fail without elevating the lower orders.
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More from Edmund Burke
Jan 1, 1790
The ceremony of cashiering kings, of which these gentlemen talk so much at their ease, can rarely, if ever, be performed without force.
Jan 1, 1790
A few years ago I should be ashamed to overload a matter so capable of supporting itself by the then unnecessary support of any argument; but this seditious, unconstitutional doctrine is now publicly taught, avowed, and printed.
Jan 1, 1790
The House of Lords, for instance, is not morally competent to dissolve the House of Commons,--no, nor even to dissolve itself, nor to abdicate, if it would, its portion in the legislature of the kingdom.
Jan 1, 1790
The speculative line of demarcation, where obedience ought to end and resistance must begin, is faint, obscure, and not easily definable.
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