Quote#Freedom
If you suffer the liberty of speech to be wrested from you, you will…
Quote byCharles James Fox · 1749–1806
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Speech in the House of Commons against the Treason Bill and Seditious Practices Bill (25 November 1795), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable Charles James Fox, in the House of Commons. Vol. VI (1815), p. 45.
English (original)
If you suffer the liberty of speech to be wrested from you, you will then have lost the freedom, the energy, the boldness of the British character.
— Charles James Fox
More from Charles James Fox
Kings, Sir, govern by means of popular assemblies, only because they cannot do without them; to suppose a king fond of that mode of governing, is to suppose a chimera.
Gentlemen, the malicious and groundless Reports which have been spread, make it necessary for me to assure you, that notwithstanding all that has been said, I never have supported, nor ever will support, any Measure which can by any Means …
What acquaintance have the people at large with the arcana of political rectitude, with the connections of kingdoms, the resources of national strength, the abilities of ministers, or even with their own dispositions? ... I pay no regard …
Religion was best understood when least talked of.
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 than I.
It is intolerable that it should be in the power of one blockhead to do so much mischief.