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Quote by Edward Gibbon

“But the wisdom and authority of the legislator are seldom victorious in a contest with the vigilant dexterity of private interest.”

Quote by Edward Gibbon

Book:The Collected Works of Edward Gibbon: Historical Works, Autobiographical Writings and Private Letters, Including The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Work

The Collected Works of Edward Gibbon: Historical Works, Autobiographical Writings and Private Letters, Including The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

The Collected Works of Edward Gibbon encompasses a comprehensive selection of the renowned historian's works. It features his seminal historical study, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, as well as his personal reflections and correspondence. This compilation offers a deep insight into Gibbon's scholarly pursuits and personal life. more

Author

Edward Gibbon was an English historian renowned for his magnum opus, 'The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'. His work has had a profound impact on historical studies. more

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“[It] is the interest as well as duty of a sovereign to maintain the authority of the laws.”

Wells Law Interest Duty Authority Sovereign

Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Source: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

“A Locrian, who proposed any new law, stood forth in the assembly of the people with a cord round his neck, and if the law was rejected, the innovator was instantly strangled.”

People Ifs Law Rounds Necks Rejected Assembly Innovators Cords

Book:The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Edited and Abridged): Abridged Edition

Source: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Edited and Abridged): Abridged Edition

“A jurisdiction thus vague and arbitrary was exposed to the most dangerous abuse: the substance, as well as the form, of justice were often sacrificed to the prejudices of virtue, the bias of laudable affection, and the grosser seductions of interest or resentment.”

Wells Form Interest Justice Virtue Dangerous Abuse Prejudice Affection Substance Exposed Resentment Bias Vague Seduction Arbitrary Jurisdiction

Book:History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire V4: the History Focus

Source: History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire V4: the History Focus

“The science of the laws is the slow growth of time and experience.”

Law Growth Slow Growth

Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Source: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

“The books of jurisprudence were interesting to few, and entertaining to none: their value was connected with present use, and they sunk forever as soon as that use was superseded by the innovations of fashion, superior merit, or public authority.”

Book Use Values Interesting Forever Fashion Authority Innovation Connected Superiors Merit Entertaining Jurisprudence

Book:The Modern Library Essential World History 4-Book Bundle: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Abridged); Montcalm and Wolfe; History of the Conquest of Mexico; The Naval War of 1812

Source: The Modern Library Essential World History 4-Book Bundle: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Abridged); Montcalm and Wolfe; History of the Conquest of Mexico; The Naval War of 1812

“A sentence of death and infamy was often founded on the slight and suspicious evidence of a child or a servant: the guilt [of the defendant] was presumed by the judges [due to the nature of the charge], and paederasty became the crime of those to whom no crime could be imputed.”

Children Crime Judging Evidence Guilt Sentences Dues Servant Suspicious Infamy

Author:Edward Gibbon

“[The] discretion of the judge is the first engine of tyranny . . .”

Firsts Judging Tyranny Engines Discretion

Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Source: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

“But a law, however venerable be the sanction, cannot suddenly transform the temper of the times . . .”

Law Temper Sanctions

Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Source: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

“The law functions as formal embodiment of a moral code, not as free-standing substitute for it.”

Law Moral Standing Function Code Substitutes Formal Embodiment Moral Code

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“To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.”

Humans Law Term Natural Eternal Rooted Unjust Natural Law Unjust Laws St Thomas

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