Charles James Fox Quote

... the question now was... whether that beautiful fabric [the English constitution]... was to be maintained in that freedom... for which blood had been spilt; or whether we were to submit to that system of despotism, which had so many advocates in this country.

Speech in the House of Commons (24 April 1780), reprinted in J. Wright (ed.), The Speeches of the Rt. Hon. C. J. Fox in the House of Commons. Volume I (1815), p. 261.