Four fifths of the French inhabitants would thankfully take protection from the emperor of Morocco, and would never trouble their heads about the abstract principles of the power by which they were snatched from imprisonment, robbery, and murder.
Burke reflects on the sentiments of the French people during a time of turmoil, emphasizing their desire for protection over abstract ideals.
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If any of them should happen to propose a scheme of liberty soberly limited, and defined with proper qualifications, he will be immediately outbid by his competitors, who will produce something more splendidly popular.
I think our happy situation owing to our Constitution,--but owing to the whole of it, and not to any part singly,--owing in a great measure to what we have left standing in our several reviews and reformations, as well as to what we have…
Let us imitate their caution, if we wish to deserve their fortune or to retain their bequests.
The improvements of the National Assembly are superficial, their errors fundamental.
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