"Prior to revolution 'France was an old nation,' in that it had "a preexisting government, a preexisting..."

Question

"Prior to revolution 'France was an old nation,' in that it had "a preexisting government, a preexisting king, and preexisting prejudices."

Does anyone know who could have written this?
AP European History...

Answer 1

I found only one online reference to the quote: a quiz with 11 quotes and 10 quoters: Danton, Louis XVI, Marat, Metternich, Mirabeau, Napoleon, Olympe de Gouges, Robespierre, Sieyes, and Talleyrand.

I took those quotes and narrowed down all the ones I knew:
#1 is Louis XVI, #2 and #4 is Napolean, #3 is Robespierre, #5 is Sieyes, #6 is Talleyrand (though he was not the first), #8 is Danton, #11 is de Gouges.

That leaves Marat, Metternich, and Mirabeau. Marat and Mirabeau died soon after the Revolution, and the quote suggests that it's from a non-Frenchman. Thus, your answer is Metternich (full name: Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg-Beilstein.