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He did not, indeed, flatter himself that as a writer he
could claim the approbation of men whose talents, in his judgment and in
the public judgment, approach to prodigies, if ever such persons should
be disposed to estimate the merit of a composition upon the standard of
their own ability.
In their critical censure, though Mr. Burke may find himself humbled by
it as a writer, as a man, and as an Englishman, he finds matter not only
of consolation, but of pride. He proposed to convey to a foreign people,
not his own ideas, but the prevalent opinions and sentiments of a
nation, renowned for wisdom, and celebrated in all ages for a
well-understood and well-regulated love of freedom. This was the avowed
purpose of the far greater part of his work. As that work has not been
ill received, and as his critics will not only admit, but contend, that
this reception could not be owing to any excellence in the composition
capable of perverting the public judgment, it is clear that he is not
disavowed by the nation whose sentiments he had undertaken to describe.


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