Edmund Burke, in his Reflections on the French Revolution, claimed that the Revolution will go on a terrible course. According to some sources, he predicted the Reign of Terror and the other atrocities attributed (rightly or wrongly) to the spirit of the French Revolution.
Thomas Paine's highly positive understanding of the Revolution seems to have been discredited by history — after all, the Revolution didn't necessarily produce a stable American-style republic but rather a republic that bore elements very similar to modern totalitarianism — the Reign of Terror and the other elements, for example.
So, was Edmund Burke's view right and confirmed by history, that the French Revolution was a deadly and ghastly mistake that has made us worse off? Or was he right to some degree, with Paine's positive view being ultimately confirmed in the long run?
I have written an essay about the two. Yes, Burke was very pessimistic about the French Revolution because he thought the destruction of the Aristocracy and after that the Clergy destroyed two of the three power fundamentals of the French state (next to the military). The new all citizen parliaments didn't had the legitimacy (much like Max Webers traditional legitimacy) and the experience to rule a country. Their lack of power becomes obvious as they needed the military to collect taxes from the French people because of their lack of power to collect it on their own.
This lead to a problem, because of the destruction of the other two stands the military becomes the only real power in the state and it was only a question of time until the military realizes its power and abolishes the parliaments and vote, just in the new democratic spirit, themselves a new Soldier King.
I think Burke did give a good analysis of the French power structure but it was also clear to see that for him the only legitimacy for power is the traditional legitimacy so even if his analysis of the French revolution was right he underestimates that a reformation movement which would legitimize themselves with Rational-legal legitimacy could actually overcome traditional legitimized authority.
Paine on the other hand was much more optimistic about the revolution and even if he himself was put in a death-cell by Robespierre (which he survived) he was still right that the traditional legitimacy of the absolute monarchy was so damaged through the revolution that there was no way in going back and having an absolute Monarch again and that the new idea of Democracy will become the new system in the long run. The experience of the Terror of the French Revolution also made Paine a bit more cautious with the democracy and he become positive to the idea to have a Senate to check and balance the parliaments. However, he still was very much for a grassroots democracy.