You will smile here at the consistency of those democratists who, when they are not on their guard, treat the humbler part of the community with the greatest contempt, whilst, at the same time, they pretend to make them the depositories of all power.
Burke criticizes the perceived inconsistency of certain proponents of democracy who express contempt for the common people while claiming to empower them.
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More from Edmund Burke
They look upon the legal hereditary succession of their crown as among their rights, not as among their wrongs,--as a benefit, not as a grievance,--as a security for their liberty, not as a badge of servitude.
A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation.
The speculative line of demarcation, where obedience ought to end and resistance must begin, is faint, obscure, and not easily definable.
Their trust for the future preservation of the Constitution was not in future revolutions.
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