This shows the difference between the policy of Louis the Fourteenth, who built a wall of brass about his kingdom, and that of Joseph the Second, who premeditatedly uncovered his whole frontier.
Burke contrasts the defensive strategies of two historical figures, highlighting differing approaches to national security.
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To keep a balance between the power of acquisition on the part of the subject and the demands he is to answer on the part of the state is the fundamental part of the skill of a true politician.
In all this procedure I can discern neither the solid sense of plain dealing nor the subtle dexterity of ingenious fraud.
It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.
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.
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