On the record
It has been observed that the reigns of weak princes are times favorable to liberty; but the wisest and bravest of all the English princes is the father of their freedom.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “It has been observed that the reigns of weak princes are times favorable to liberty; but the wisest and bravest of all…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke comments on the paradox of weak rulers fostering liberty.
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Jan 1, 1790
I think our happy situation owing to our Constitution,--but owing to the whole of it, and not to any part singly,--owing in a great measure to what we have left standing in our several reviews and reformations, as well as to what we have…
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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.
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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.
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Let us imitate their caution, if we wish to deserve their fortune or to retain their bequests.
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