Quotes · Quote card
Quotation from Essays, Moral and Political (selection) by David Hume
“We are, therefore, to look upon all the vast apparatus of our government, as having ultimately no other object or purpose but the distribution of justice, or, in other words, the support of the twelve judges.”
Essays, Moral and Political (selection), Of the Origin of Government (John Long selection (London, early 20th century), Project Gutenberg text)
Hume reduces kings, parliaments, fleets and armies to the service of justice, embodied in the twelve judges of England.
Citation: "We are, therefore, to look upon all the vast apparatus of our government, as having ultimately no other object or purpose but the distribution of justice, or, in other words, the support of the twelve judges." — David Hume, Essays, Moral and Political (selection), Of the Origin of Government (John Long selection (London, early 20th century), Project Gutenberg text). (id hume-political-essays-q4)
Portrait: David Hume, Allan Ramsay, Public domain.
