In this political text, Burke offers a passionate criticism of the French Revolution, based on a few key concepts. The first is a conservative belief that change must occur gradually over a long period of time, if it is to be successful. For this reason, he disagrees with the French Revolution, which is based on the idea of quick and immediate change. He believes that this kind of change can only result in chaos, disagreement and violence. He argues that society is "organic” and exists like a living organism that grows and changes over time.
Another concept Burke refers to is the idea that experience is essential in governance. He is critical of a government founded upon theory, arguing that the leaders of the French Revolution have no practical experience in running a country. As such, he believed that the leaders of the revolution were essentially leading the country into the unknown, with no clear plan about how to govern.
In this text Burke uses imagery and rhetorical devices to create a sense of fear in his readers. He presents his reader with an image of what France would look like after the revolution, concluding that there would be "nothing but the gallows." He calls the ideology the revolution is based on a "barbarous philosophy, which is the offspring of cold hearts and muddy understandings," saying in a post-revolution society laws would be "supported only be their own terrors." Burke also describes a scene where "a band of cruel ruffians" attack the King of France, and afterwards "reeking with his blood, rushed into the chamber of the queen". Afterwards, he describes the palace as "swimming in blood, polluted by massacre and strewed with scattered limbs and mutilated carcasses."
