On the record
If it becomes not difference in opinion upon law, but a trial of spirit between parties, our courts of law are no longer the temple of justice, but the amphitheatre for gladiators.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “If it becomes not difference in opinion upon law, but a trial of spirit between parties, our courts of law are no longer…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke warns against the transformation of courts into battlegrounds rather than places of justice.
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More from Edmund Burke
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.
Jan 1, 1790
Not being illuminated with the light of which the gentlemen of France tell us they have got so abundant a share, they acted under a strong impression of the ignorance and fallibility of mankind.
Jan 1, 1790
They will become flatterers instead of legislators,--the instruments, not the guides of the people.
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.
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