And indeed how is it possible? when those who are to make the laws, to guard, to enforce, or to obey them, are, by a tacit confederacy of manners, indisposed to the spirit of all generous and noble institutions.
Edmund Burke: “And indeed how is it possible? when those who are to make the laws, to guard, to enforce, or to obey them, are, by a…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke questions the feasibility of noble governance when lawmakers and enforcers lack the spirit of generosity and integrity.
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No experience has taught us that in any other course or method than that of an hereditary crown our liberties can be regularly perpetuated and preserved sacred as our hereditary right.
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The speculative line of demarcation, where obedience ought to end and resistance must begin, is faint, obscure, and not easily definable.
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