Friday, May 27, 2011

AN ENGLISHMAN'S HOME

“The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail, its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storm may enter, the rain may enter — but the King of England cannot enter; all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!” —William Pitt the elder

Just try pulling this off in the good old USA in the age of the Patriot Act. Anybody gets a chance to ask a question of a "pub; ask 'em what William Pitt said about an Englishman's home and the forces of the Crown. Ok, so theory and actual practice probably didn't always match up, but at least the Prime Minister of England was on the record. He became Lord North and his son William the younger became the youngest Prime Minister of England in history. He was about twenty four at the time. Couldn't even get elected to OUR lamentable house of representatives.

2 comments:

Lisa :-] said...

What has got into us these days that we are willing to hand over our freedoms without much more than a squeak....?

JACKIE said...

Because we'll be safer? Ben Franklin had a quote for that.