"Look to France before the period of her revolution. Was it the facility of public meetings, or the freedom of discussion granted to the subject, that tended to produce that great change? On the contrary, was it not the absolute prerogative of the king? Was it not the arbitrary power lodged in ministers? Was it not the oppressive privilege of issuing Lettres de Cachet against all who dared to utter their sentiments, and complain of existing grievances, that excited the indignation of the people and accelerated the downfall of the monarchy? If, therefore, one view on which the present measure is held out to your acceptance, be in order to prevent the troubles arising from the frequency of popular assemblies, on that very ground ought the friends of peace and of order to resist the adoption of the measure."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
AbolitionistsMembers of the Parliament of Great BritainPeople from LondonWhig (British political party) politiciansSecretaries of State for Foreign Affairs of Great Britain and the United Kingdom
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Charles James Fox
1749 – 1806
englischer Staatsmann und Rhetoriker
99 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Charles James Fox →
Related Quotes
"What is that fat gentleman in such a passion about?"
"[Fox] exhibited two pictures of this country; the one representing her at the end of the last glorious war, the other…"
"[T]he question now was, whether the British constitution, "that beautiful fabric, raised by the steadiness of our anc…"
"The war of the Americans is a war of passion; it is of such a nature as to be supported by the most powerful virtues,…"
"...against which we should direct all our force, the navy of France: in the destruction of her marine we might see so…"
"There is no man who hates the power of the crown more, or who has a worse opinion of the Person to whom it belongs th…"
"Kings, Sir, govern by means of popular assemblies, only because they cannot do without them; to suppose a king fond o…"
"Gentlemen, the malicious and groundless Reports which have been spread, make it necessary for me to assure you, that …"
"It is intolerable that it should be in the power of one blockhead to do so much mischief."
"[H]e thought one of the most splendid triumphs of Christianity was, its having caused slavery to be so generally abol…"