The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 02 (of 12)Burke, Edmund
Philosophy
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 02 (of 12)
Burke, Edmund
Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1760-1820; Political science -- Early works to 1800
Such, Sir, is my idea of the Constitution of the British Empire, as
distinguished from the Constitution of Britain; and on these grounds I
think subordination and liberty may be sufficiently reconciled through
the whole,--whether to serve a refining speculatist or a factious
demagogue I know not, but enough surely for the ease and happiness of
man.
Sir, whilst we hold this happy course, we drew more from the colonies
than all the impotent violence of despotism ever could extort from them.
We did this abundantly in the last war; it has never been once denied;
and what reason have we to imagine that the colonies would not have
proceeded in supplying government as liberally, if you had not stepped
in and hindered them from contributing, by interrupting the channel in
which their liberality flowed with so strong a course,--by attempting to
take, instead of being satisfied to receive? Sir William Temple says,
that Holland has loaded itself with ten times the impositions which it
revolted from Spain rather than submit to. He says true. Tyranny is a
poor provider. It knows neither how to accumulate nor how to extract.
I charge, therefore, to this new and unfortunate system the loss not
only of peace, of union, and of commerce, but even of revenue, which its
friends are contending for. It is morally certain that we have lost at
least a million of free grants since the peace. I think we have lost a
great deal more; and that those who look for a revenue from the
provinces never could have pursued, even in that light, a course more
directly repugnant to their purposes.
Now, Sir, I trust I have shown, first on that narrow ground which the
honorable gentleman measured, that you are like to lose nothing by
complying with the motion, except what you have lost already. I have
shown afterwards, that in time of peace you flourished in commerce, and,
when war required it, had sufficient aid from the colonies, while you
pursued your ancient policy; that you threw everything into confusion,
when you made the Stamp Act; and that you restored everything to peace
and order, when you repealed it. I have shown that the revival of the
system of taxation has produced the very worst effects; and that the
partial repeal has produced, not partial good, but universal evil. Let
these considerations, founded on facts, not one of which can be denied,
bring us back to our reason by the road of our experience.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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