They are remarkably quick at
discerning and appreciating whatever is manly and honourable. They
are, by nature and habit, methodical and orderly; and they feel the
value of all that is regular and respectable. They may occasionally be
deceived by sophistry, and excited into turbulence by public
distresses and the misrepresentations of designing men; but open their
eyes, and they will eventually rally round the landmarks of steady
truth and deliberate good sense. They are fond of established customs;
they are fond of long-established names; and that love of order and
quiet which characterizes the nation, gives a vast influence to the
descendants of the old families, whose forefathers have been lords of
the soil from time immemorial.
It is when the rich and well-educated and highly-privileged classes
neglect their duties, when they neglect to study the interests, and
conciliate the affections, and instruct the opinions, and champion the
rights of the people, that the latter become discontented and
turbulent, and fall into the hands of demagogues: the demagogue always
steps in, where the patriot is wanting. There is a common high-handed
cant among the high-feeding, and, as they fancy themselves,
high-minded men, about putting down the mob; but all true physicians
know that it is better to sweeten the blood than attack the tumour, to
apply the emollient rather than the cautery.
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