is said to have translated the book into French with his own hand.

Catherine of Russia, Voltaire's adored Semiramis of the North, the benefactress of Diderot, the ready helper of the philosophic party, pressed her congratulations on the great pontiff of the old order, who now thundered anathema against the philosophers and all their works.
It is important to remember the stage which the Revolution had reached, when Burke was composing his attack upon it.

The year 1790 was precisely the time when the hopes of the best men in France shone most brightly, and seemed most reasonable.

There had been disorders, and Paris still had ferocity in her mien.

But Robespierre was an obscure figure on the back benches of the Assembly.