On the recordJanuary 1, 1790
They cannot raise supplies; but they can raise mobs.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgThey cannot raise supplies; but they can raise mobs.
Burke critically observes that the French revolutionaries are incapable of generating revenue but are adept at mobilizing crowds.
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They come from one who has been no tool of power, no flatterer of greatness, and who in his last acts does not wish to belie the tenor of his life.
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.
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.