On the record
The charter, and the other favorable acts, the scaffolding of his ambition, when he saw the structure raised, he threw down and contemned.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “The charter, and the other favorable acts, the scaffolding of his ambition, when he saw the structure raised, he threw…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke reflects on the downfall of a prince who undermined his own ambitions by rejecting supportive measures.
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More from Edmund Burke
Jan 1, 1790
By adhering in this manner and on those principles to our forefathers, we are guided, not by the superstition of antiquarians, but by the spirit of philosophic analogy.
Jan 1, 1790
But the king of Great Britain obeys no other person; all other persons are individually, and collectively too, under him, and owe to him a legal obedience.
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
Who could doubt but that, at any expense to the state, of which they understood nothing, they must pursue their private interests, which they understood but too well?
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