A thousand years hence, those who shall live in America or France, will look back with contemplative pride on the origin of their government, and say, This was the work of our glorious ancestors!
From "Rights of Man," this passage expresses optimism that future generations in America and France will proudly view their governments' revolutionary origins.
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It was Government dethroning Government; and the old one, by attempting to make a new one, made a chasm.
It was a sort of new form of government that insensibly served to put the old one out of sight and to unhinge it from the superstitious authority of antiquity.