If without, as in case of the fabrication of a new commonwealth, I will hear the learned arguing what promises to be expedient; but if we are to judge of a commonwealth actually existing, the first thing I inquire is, What has been found expedient or inexpedient?
Burke emphasizes the necessity of assessing existing commonwealths based on their historical expedience rather than theoretical arguments.
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Rome, under her emperors, united the evils of both systems; and this unnatural combination was one great cause of her ruin.
If any of them should happen to propose a scheme of liberty soberly limited, and defined with proper qualifications, he will be immediately outbid by his competitors, who will produce something more splendidly popular.
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