I say he is destitute of the first character of sovereign power: he cannot lay a tax upon his people.
Edmund Burke: “I say he is destitute of the first character of sovereign power: he cannot lay a tax upon his people.”
Editor's note · Context
Burke argues that a ruler lacking the power to tax cannot be considered a true sovereign, emphasizing the importance of fiscal authority.
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I think our happy situation owing to our Constitution,--but owing to the whole of it, and not to any part singly,--owing in a great measure to what we have left standing in our several reviews and reformations, as well as to what we have…
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