On the record
We have no arbitrary power to give, because arbitrary power is a thing which neither any man can hold nor any man can give.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Burke asserts that arbitrary power cannot be granted or held by anyone.
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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
They look upon the legal hereditary succession of their crown as among their rights, not as among their wrongs,--as a benefit, not as a grievance,--as a security for their liberty, not as a badge of servitude.
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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