And yet I will say, that that man, at the time of his inflicting the death-wound of that Parliament, produced at once the shortest and the grandest funeral oration that ever was or could be made upon the departure of a great court of magistracy.
Burke reflects on the impact of the Comte de Mirabeau on the Parliament's demise, highlighting the gravity of the moment.
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An irregular, convulsive movement may be necessary to throw off an irregular, convulsive disease.
We procure reverence to our civil institutions on the principle upon which Nature teaches us to revere individual men: on account of their age, and on account of those from whom they are descended.
This idea of a liberal descent inspires us with a sense of habitual native dignity, which prevents that upstart insolence almost inevitably adhering to and disgracing those who are the first acquirers of any distinction.
But the course of succession is the healthy habit of the British Constitution.
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