Her chief disputes must ever be with France; and if England shows herself indifferent and unconcerned, when these powers are combined against the enterprises of France, she is to look with certainty for the same indifference on the part of these powers, when she may be at war with that nation.
Burke warns that England's indifference to European alliances could lead to mutual indifference in times of conflict.
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More from Edmund Burke
The prattling about the rights of men will not be accepted in payment of a biscuit or a pound of gunpowder.
Our people will find employment enough for a truly patriotic, free, and independent spirit, in guarding what they possess from violation.
The body of the people must not find the principles of natural subordination by art rooted out of their minds.
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.
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