Governors, we know very well, cannot with their own hands be continually receiving bribes,--for then they must have as many hands as one of the idols in an Indian temple, in order to receive all the bribes which a Governor-General may receive,--but they have them vicariously.
Burke uses a metaphor to illustrate the overwhelming nature of corruption faced by Governors, suggesting they cannot manage it alone.
Share
More from Edmund Burke
Their trust for the future preservation of the Constitution was not in future revolutions.
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.
Those who are servants in name, as well as in effect, do not like to be told of their situation, their duty, and their obligations.
We procure reverence to our civil institutions on the principle upon which Nature teaches us to revere individual men: on account of their age, and on account of those from whom they are descended.
Other voices in this conversation
