But, my Lords, we all know that there has been arbitrary power in India,--that tyrants have usurped it,--and that, in some instances, princes otherwise meritorious have violated the liberties of the people, and have been lawfully deposed for such violation.
Burke acknowledges the historical presence of arbitrary power in India and the rightful deposition of tyrants.
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More from Edmund Burke
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.
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.
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.
I would not exclude alteration neither; but even when I changed, it should be to preserve.
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