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Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797

"The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 04 (of 12)"

We do not here forget the maxim established in
our preliminaries, that it does not belong to nations to usurp the power
of being judges of each other. In particular cases, liable to the least
doubt, it ought to be supposed that each of the parties may have some
right; and the injustice of that which has committed the injury may
proceed from error, and not from a general contempt of justice. _But if,
by constant maxims, and by a continued conduct_, one nation shows that
it has evidently this pernicious disposition, and that it considers no
right as sacred, the safety of the human race requires that it should be
suppressed. To form and support an unjust pretension is to do an injury
_not only to him who is interested in this pretension, but to mock at
justice in general, and to injure all nations_."--Ibid. ch. v. Sec. 70.
[Sidenote: To succor against tyranny.]
[Sidenote: Case of English Revolution.]
[Sidenote: An odious tyrant.]
[Sidenote: Rebellious people.]
[Sidenote: Case of civil war.]
[Sidenote: Sovereign and his people, when distinct powers.


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