I verily believe he was a man of good intentions, and rather debauched by that amazing flood of iniquity which prevailed at that time, or hurried and carried away with it.
Edmund Burke: “I verily believe he was a man of good intentions, and rather debauched by that amazing flood of iniquity which prevailed…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke expresses his belief in the inherent goodness of a man despite the corrupting influences of his environment.
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We procure reverence to our civil institutions on the principle upon which Nature teaches us to revere individual men: on account of their age, and on account of those from whom they are descended.
Who could flatter himself that these men, suddenly, and as it were by enchantment, snatched from the humblest rank of subordination, would not be intoxicated with their unprepared greatness?
Their objects would be enlarged with their elevation; but their disposition, and habits, and mode of accomplishing their designs must remain the same.
The speculative line of demarcation, where obedience ought to end and resistance must begin, is faint, obscure, and not easily definable.





