Nor do I discern the character of a government that has been on the whole so oppressive, or so corrupt, or so negligent, as to be utterly unfit for all reformation.
Edmund Burke: “Nor do I discern the character of a government that has been on the whole so oppressive, or so corrupt, or so negligent…”
Editor's note · Context
In his critique of the French Revolution, Burke argues that the pre-revolutionary French government, despite its flaws, was not so corrupt or oppressive as to preclude all possibility of reform.
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But when the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service.
Not being illuminated with the light of which the gentlemen of France tell us they have got so abundant a share, they acted under a strong impression of the ignorance and fallibility of mankind.
They come from one who has been no tool of power, no flatterer of greatness, and who in his last acts does not wish to belie the tenor of his life.
Let us add, if we please, but let us preserve what they have left; and standing on the firm ground of the British Constitution, let us be satisfied to admire, rather than attempt to follow in their desperate flights, the aëronauts of…





