Edmund Burke: “It was not of that sort of war that I was amongst the least considerable, but amongst the most zealous advisers; and it…”

The engagement and pact of society, which generally goes by the name of the Constitution, forbids such invasion and such surrender.

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?

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.

This idea of a liberal descent inspires us with a sense of habitual native dignity, which prevents that upstart insolence almost inevitably adhering to and disgracing those who are the first acquirers of any distinction.