On the record
It is not dirty shreds of worn-out parchments, the sweepings of Westminster Hall, that shall serve us in place of that justice upon, which the world stands.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “It is not dirty shreds of worn-out parchments, the sweepings of Westminster Hall, that shall serve us in place of that…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke argues that true justice cannot be represented by mere legal formalities or outdated documents.
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More from Edmund Burke
Jan 1, 1790
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…
Jan 1, 1790
I would not exclude alteration neither; but even when I changed, it should be to preserve.
Jan 1, 1790
Whatever they are, I wish my countrymen rather to recommend to our neighbors the example of the British Constitution than to take models from them for the improvement of our own.
Jan 1, 1790
They come from one who has been no tool of power, no flatterer of greatness, and who in his last acts does not wish to belie the tenor of his life.
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