"The very idea of true patriotism is lost, and the term has been prostituted to the very worst of purposes. A patriot, sir! Why, patriots spring up like mushrooms!"

Robert Walpole laments the corruption and debasement of the notion of patriotism. He suggests that the authentic ideal of loving and serving one’s country has been forsaken; instead, the name of patriotism is appropriated for ignoble or self-serving objectives. His use of the word “prostituted” reveals his contempt for how the term has been abused and dragged through ignominy, deployed to cover or excuse actions that are, in fact, against the true spirit of national loyalty and public good. He accuses individuals of using patriotism as a façade for personal or political gain, not genuine devotion to country.

The exclamation “A patriot, sir!” is laced with irony and skepticism. Walpole’s rhetorical strategy is to call into question the very sincerity of those who so readily proclaim themselves patriots. By comparing these supposed patriots to mushrooms, which appear overnight in abundance and sometimes decay just as quickly, Walpole drives home the idea that claims to patriotism have become cheapened and commonplace. There is no longer any rarity or depth to such claims, they proliferate easily and lack substance. Mushrooms, which can be both nourishing and poisonous, subtly evoke an ambiguity; some of these patriots may appear wholesome but are potentially toxic to the state.

Underlying Walpole’s statement is a deeper critique of political opportunism. In his era, marked by intense parliamentary rivalries and frequent accusations of corruption, public figures would often clothe their factions’ interests in the language of patriotism to garner support or inflict damage upon opponents. Walpole, as a seasoned politician and the first de facto Prime Minister, had observed how such tactics undermined trust and the common good. His words warn against credulous acceptance of anyone professing patriotic motives; instead, he urges discernment, suggesting that true allegiance to country is a rare virtue, easily imitated but seldom genuinely enacted.