They become complete and most dangerous instruments in the hands of the governing power, which, in the midst of a cause, or on the prospect of it, may wholly change the rule of decision.
In his critique of the French Revolution, Burke warns that judges subservient to the governing power become dangerous instruments capable of altering legal principles arbitrarily.
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More from Edmund Burke
The improvements of the National Assembly are superficial, their errors fundamental.
It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.
Rome, under her emperors, united the evils of both systems; and this unnatural combination was one great cause of her ruin.
Those who know what virtuous liberty is cannot bear to see it disgraced by incapable heads, on account of their having high-sounding words in their mouths.
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