"I cannot...think it inconsistent with true Conservative policy, that we should...be engaged in trying to efface the recollections of the exploits of both countries in war, or extracting from those recollections everything which savours of bitterness; that we should be trying to engage in a rivalry, not in exploits on the field of blood, but in an honourable competition for the advancement of commerce and civilization, and the improvement of the social condition of the people. It is not inconsistent with true Conservative policy, that we should increase the trade of the country by removing restrictions; nor is it inconsistent with sound Conservative policy, that we should reduce the taxation of the country whilst we increased its revenue. It is not, in my mind, inconsistent with true Conservative policy, that we have extinguished agitation and discouraged sedition, not by stringent coercive laws, but by encouraging the idea amongst the great body of the people, that we, the rich and powerful, are willing to take a more than ordinary share of the public burdens, and to remove those burdens from the people so far as it is possible. Sir, believe me, to conduct the Government of this country is a most arduous duty; I may say it without irreverence, that these ancient institutions, like our physical frames, are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Prime Ministers of the United KingdomPoliticians from EnglandAcademics from the United KingdomConservative Party (UK) politiciansPeople from Manchester
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Speech in the House of Commons (22 January 1846)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Peel
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834-1835) and twice as Home Secretary (1822–1827 and 1828–1830). He is regarded as the father of modern English policing, owing to hi
84 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Robert Peel →
Related Quotes
"For a quarter of a century, at least, he was without question the first public servant of England; not the first in p…"
"[W]hat was Peel really notable for? It was surely the perfection of what may be called “concessionary” Conservatism. …"
"[F]or God's sake, be sure, if the King is driven to the wall, of Peel. An appeal to him and his countrymen could not …"
"Whether he was a model of statesmanship may be doubted. Models of statesmanship are rare, if by a model of statesmans…"
"Peel is, in fact, the embodied reflex of the public mind of England."
"Peel's speech is, to me, the most affecting public event which I ever remember: no return of Cicero from exile, no tr…"
"[T]he right hon. Baronet at the head of the Government is a man of considerable capabilities as a legislator: he poss…"
"Lord Robert Cecil while at Oxford occasionally joined in the debates of the Union Society, taking the strong Tory sid…"
"[T]he people at large did care and enthusiastically care for the Conservative statesman who had sacrificed power to g…"
"He says no other Minister but Sir Robert Peel could have carried the repeal of the Corn Laws; that half the commercia…"