But as we have much more reason to fear their feeble lenity than any blamable rigor, we ought, in my opinion, to leave the matter to themselves.
Edmund Burke: “But as we have much more reason to fear their feeble lenity than any blamable rigor, we ought, in my opinion, to leave…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke suggests that fear of leniency is greater than fear of harshness, advocating for self-governance.
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They look on the frame of their commonwealth, such as it stands, to be of inestimable value; and they conceive the undisturbed succession of the crown to be a pledge of the stability and perpetuity of all the other members of our…
Their objects would be enlarged with their elevation; but their disposition, and habits, and mode of accomplishing their designs must remain the same.
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