Woe to the country which would madly and impiously reject the service of the talents and virtues, civil, military, or religious, that are given to grace and to serve it; and would condemn to obscurity everything formed to diffuse lustre and glory around a state!
Burke issues a strong warning against any nation that would fail to utilize the talents and virtues of its citizens for the public good.
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Their trust for the future preservation of the Constitution was not in future revolutions.
Governments must be abused and deranged indeed, before it can be thought of; and the prospect of the future must be as bad as the experience of the past.
The speculative line of demarcation, where obedience ought to end and resistance must begin, is faint, obscure, and not easily definable.
This is the spirit of our Constitution, not only in its settled course, but in all its revolutions.
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