The charge that he supported the Revolution in America and deserted it in France is without meaning; for in the one there is no word that can honorably be twisted to support the other.
Harold J. Laski: “The charge that he supported the Revolution in America and deserted it in France is without meaning; for in the one…”
Editor's note · Context
Laski argues against the notion that Burke's support for the American Revolution contradicts his stance on the French Revolution.
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He is able, accordingly, to indulge in the twofold luxury not only of preserving his own authority, but also of assisting the persons attacked to enter, if they so choose, the way of truth.
Ultimately, that denial is always made upon the same ground: it is insisted that the doctrines or practices attacked are subversive of the civil order.
It has been the historic character of persecution always to degrade the persecutor and to strengthen the persecuted by drawing attention to their claims.
Each age finds that the incidence of freedom is significant at some special point, and there, once more, the lesson of freedom has to be learned.





