Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: Passing from the civil creating and the civil cementing principles of this Constitution to the National Assembly, which…

On the recordJanuary 1, 1790
Passing from the civil creating and the civil cementing principles of this Constitution to the National Assembly, which is to appear and act as sovereign, we see a body in its constitution with every possible power and no possible external control.
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Shifting his critique to the French National Assembly, Burke describes it as a sovereign body endowed with absolute power and entirely devoid of external checks or controls.

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