We have not considered as we ought the dreadful energy of a state in which the property has nothing to do with the government Reflect, my dear Sir, reflect again and again, on a government in which the property is in complete subjection, and where nothing roles but the mind of desperate men.
Burke warns of the dangers of a government where property is completely subjugated to the will of desperate individuals.
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If any of them should happen to propose a scheme of liberty soberly limited, and defined with proper qualifications, he will be immediately outbid by his competitors, who will produce something more splendidly popular.
I would not exclude alteration neither; but even when I changed, it should be to preserve.
They will become flatterers instead of legislators,--the instruments, not the guides of the people.
Let us imitate their caution, if we wish to deserve their fortune or to retain their bequests.
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