Why, lest this old woman (who is not his mother, and with whom he had no other tie of blood) should not be made mistress of himself and the whole country!
Edmund Burke: “Why, lest this old woman (who is not his mother, and with whom he had no other tie of blood) should not be made mistress…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke critiques the influence of an unworthy individual over a country, emphasizing the dangers of misplaced authority.
Share
More from Edmund Burke
Let us add, if we please, but let us preserve what they have left; and standing on the firm ground of the British Constitution, let us be satisfied to admire, rather than attempt to follow in their desperate flights, the aëronauts of…
But when the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service.
Whatever they are, I wish my countrymen rather to recommend to our neighbors the example of the British Constitution than to take models from them for the improvement of our own.
They will become flatterers instead of legislators,--the instruments, not the guides of the people.





