Some of these nations the people of France are jealous of: such are the English and the Spaniards;--others they despise: such are the Italians;--others they hate and dread: such are the German and Danubian powers.
Burke outlines the complex feelings of the French towards various nations, revealing their political landscape.
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They look on the frame of their commonwealth, such as it stands, to be of inestimable value; and they conceive the undisturbed succession of the crown to be a pledge of the stability and perpetuity of all the other members of our…
This idea of a liberal descent inspires us with a sense of habitual native dignity, which prevents that upstart insolence almost inevitably adhering to and disgracing those who are the first acquirers of any distinction.
The engagement and pact of society, which generally goes by the name of the Constitution, forbids such invasion and such surrender.
Who could doubt but that, at any expense to the state, of which they understood nothing, they must pursue their private interests, which they understood but too well?
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