On the recordJanuary 1, 1790
They are always at issue with governments, not on a question of abuse, but a question of competency and a question of title.
Said by
Edmund Burke
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gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “They are always at issue with governments, not on a question of abuse, but a question of competency and a question of…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke explains that French revolutionaries challenge the very legitimacy and authority of governments, not merely their specific actions.
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They have little regard to the obvious consequences of their doctrine, though they may see that it leaves positive authority in very few of the positive institutions of this country.
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A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation.
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