It comes, not from one set, but from many opposite sets of witnesses, who all agree in nothing else: witnesses of the gravest and most unexceptionable character, and who confirm what they say, in the surest manner, by their conduct.
Burke notes the consensus among diverse witnesses, highlighting the credibility of their testimonies.
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More from Edmund Burke
The speculative line of demarcation, where obedience ought to end and resistance must begin, is faint, obscure, and not easily definable.
A few years ago I should be ashamed to overload a matter so capable of supporting itself by the then unnecessary support of any argument; but this seditious, unconstitutional doctrine is now publicly taught, avowed, and printed.
The engagement and pact of society, which generally goes by the name of the Constitution, forbids such invasion and such surrender.
They have little regard to the obvious consequences of their doctrine, though they may see that it leaves positive authority in very few of the positive institutions of this country.
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