I once thought that the low estimation in which commerce was held in France might be reckoned among the causes of the late Revolution; and I am still of opinion that the exclusive spirit of the French nobility did irritate the wealthy of other classes.
Burke reflects on how perceptions of commerce contributed to the French Revolution and the tensions with the nobility.
Share
More from Edmund Burke
In some people I see great liberty, indeed; in many, if not in the most, an oppressive, degrading servitude.
They rob only to enable them to cheat; but in a very short time they defeat the ends both of the robbery and the fraud, by making out accounts for other purposes, which blow up their whole apparatus of force and of deception.
Our people will find employment enough for a truly patriotic, free, and independent spirit, in guarding what they possess from violation.
Other voices in this conversation
