On the record
In our legislative capacity, we are, in most instances, esteemed a very wise body; in our judicial, we have no credit, no character at all.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “In our legislative capacity, we are, in most instances, esteemed a very wise body; in our judicial, we have no credit…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke contrasts the perceived wisdom of the legislative body with its lack of credibility in judicial matters.
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More from Edmund Burke
Jan 1, 1790
When such an unwarrantable maxim is once established, that no throne is lawful but the elective, no one act of the princes who preceded this era of fictitious election can be valid.
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
But an absurd theory on one side of a question forms no justification for alleging a false fact or promulgating mischievous maxims on the other.
Jan 1, 1790
Though a king may abdicate for his own person, he cannot abdicate for the monarchy.
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