On the record
Nothing can so completely ruin any of the old governments, ours in particular, as the acknowledgment, directly or by implication, of any kind of superiority in this new power.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “Nothing can so completely ruin any of the old governments, ours in particular, as the acknowledgment, directly or by…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke warns that acknowledging superiority of a new power could lead to the downfall of established governments.
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More from Edmund Burke
Jan 1, 1790
The House of Lords, for instance, is not morally competent to dissolve the House of Commons,--no, nor even to dissolve itself, nor to abdicate, if it would, its portion in the legislature of the kingdom.
Jan 1, 1790
A few years ago I should be ashamed to overload a matter so capable of supporting itself by the then unnecessary support of any argument; but this seditious, unconstitutional doctrine is now publicly taught, avowed, and printed.
Jan 1, 1790
Governments must be abused and deranged indeed, before it can be thought of; and the prospect of the future must be as bad as the experience of the past.
Jan 1, 1790
But the king of Great Britain obeys no other person; all other persons are individually, and collectively too, under him, and owe to him a legal obedience.
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