Francis Atterbury Quotes
Few consider how much we are indebted to government, because few can represent how wretched mankind would be without it.
Atterbury, Francis. Sermons and Discourses on Several Subjects and Occasions. Printed for T. Woodward, 1723.
Even in democracies, governments sometimes adopt programs or policies which are not those preferred by a majority of the people. Frequently, a program which has initial public support losses that support yet the government “stays the course”. Legislative and Constitutional complexities sometimes will allow minorities to dictate practices and policies that do not have majority support. In pseudo-democracies and authoritarian regimes the people have little to say in government activities. The result is that there is often a distinction between a society and its government. In many cases foreign opinion of a government and its people are different. America is the classic example, where Americans and American society is much more popular in many nations than is the United States government.
The term “magistrates” refers to chief executives such as Governors, Mayors, Kings, etc. and not members of a judicial branch per se. For example the President of the United States is sometimes referred to as the Chief Magistrate of the Nation.”
Francis Atterbury was an English man of letters, politician and bishop. A High Church Tory and Jacobite, he gained patronage under Queen Anne, but was mistrusted by the Hanoverian Whig ministries, and banished for communicating with the Old Pretender. He was a noted wit and a gifted preacher.
