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The Declaration of Right
The Magna Charta, or Magna Carta, was the “Great Charter” which King John and his barons agreed to in 1215. It guaranteed certain rights to English freemen and became a foundational part of the English constitution.
Magna Charta Quotes in Reflections on the Revolution in France
The Reflections on the Revolution in France quotes below are all either spoken by Magna Charta or refer to Magna Charta. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Section 5
Quotes
You will observe, that from Magna Charta to the Declaration of Right, it has been the uniform policy of our constitution to claim and assert our liberties, as an entailed inheritance derived to us from our forefathers, and to be transmitted to our posterity; as an estate specially belonging to the people of this kingdom without any reference whatever to any other more general or prior right. […] We have an inheritable crown; an inheritable peerage; and an house of commons and a people inheriting privileges, franchises, and liberties, from a long line of ancestors.
[…] A spirit of innovation is generally the result of a selfish temper and confined views. People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors. Besides, the people of England well know, that the idea of inheritance furnishes a sure principle of conservation, and a sure principle of transmission; without at all excluding a principle of improvement.
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Magna Charta Term Timeline in Reflections on the Revolution in France
The timeline below shows where the term Magna Charta appears in Reflections on the Revolution in France. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Section 5
Burke claims that England’s “oldest reformation is that of Magna Charta .” Even this document was “a re-affirmance of the still more antient standing law of...
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...too, was primarily concerned to secure long-held liberties that had recently been threatened. From the Magna Charta to the Declaration of Right, then, “it has been the uniform policy of our constitution”...
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