Through the revenue alone the body politic can act in its true genius and character; and therefore it will display just as much of its collective virtue, and as much of that virtue which may characterize those who move it, and are, as it were, its life and guiding principle, as it is possessed of a just revenue.
From his critique of the French Revolution, this passage asserts that a state's ability to act and display virtue is directly tied to its financial resources.
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