It is the business of Art first to choose some determinate end and purpose, and then to select those parts of Nature, and those only, which conduce to that end, avoiding with most religious exactness the intermixture of anything which would contradict it.
Burke argues that art must have a clear purpose and should avoid elements that contradict its intended message.
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Rome, under her emperors, united the evils of both systems; and this unnatural combination was one great cause of her ruin.
To establish a current circulating credit upon any land-bank, under any circumstances whatsoever, has hitherto proved difficult at the very least.
I would not exclude alteration neither; but even when I changed, it should be to preserve.
This is the result of all the delusions held out to engage a miserable people in rebellion, murder, and sacrilege, and to make them prompt and zealous instruments in the ruin of their country!
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