For instance, among many others, it was in your power to leave to your king the right of peace and war.--What! to leave to the executive magistrate the most dangerous of all prerogatives?--I know none more dangerous; nor any one more necessary to be so trusted.
Discussing the powers of the executive, Burke argues that the prerogative of peace and war, though dangerous, is essential for effective governance.
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More from Edmund Burke
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.
The prattling about the rights of men will not be accepted in payment of a biscuit or a pound of gunpowder.
Let us imitate their caution, if we wish to deserve their fortune or to retain their bequests.
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