In that very short space of time they had completely pulled down to the ground their monarchy, their church, their nobility, their law, their revenue, their army, their navy, their commerce, their arts, and their manufactures.
Edmund Burke: “In that very short space of time they had completely pulled down to the ground their monarchy, their church, their…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke lists the various institutions and structures that the French Revolution dismantled in a short time.
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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.
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