Page:A Vindication of Natural Society - Burke (1756).djvu/60

 Manner; it's Succession is insensible; and every Man as he enters it, either has, or soon attains the Spirit of the whole Body. Never was it known, that an Aristocracy, which was haughty and tyrannical in one Century, became easy, and mild in the next. In Effect, the Yoke of this Species of Government is so galling, that whenever the People have got the least Power, they have shaken it off with the utmost Indignation, and established a Popular Form; and when they have not had Strength enough to support themselves, they have thrown themselves into the Arms of Despotism, as the more eligible of the two Evils. This latter was the Case of Denmark, who sought a Refuge from the Oppression of it's Nobility, in the strong Hold of Arbitrary Power. Poland has at present the Name of Republick, and it is one of the Aristocratick Form; but it is well known, that the little Finger of this Government, is heavier than the Loins of Arbitrary Power in most Nations.