If, therefore, we are defeated here, we cannot plead for ourselves that we have done this from a sudden gust of passion, which sometimes agitates and sometimes misleads the most grave popular assemblies.
Burke emphasizes the careful deliberation behind the impeachment process, distancing it from impulsive actions often seen in popular assemblies.
Share
More from Edmund Burke
This is the spirit of our Constitution, not only in its settled course, but in all its revolutions.
But the course of succession is the healthy habit of the British Constitution.
But the king of Great Britain obeys no other person; all other persons are individually, and collectively too, under him, and owe to him a legal obedience.
The engagement and pact of society, which generally goes by the name of the Constitution, forbids such invasion and such surrender.
Other voices in this conversation
