It is undoubtedly the business of ministers very much to consult the inclinations of the people, but they ought to take great care that they do not receive that inclination from the few persons who may happen to approach them.
Burke warns that ministers should be cautious not to be influenced by a small group rather than the general public.
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More from Edmund Burke
As he is not to obey us, but we are to obey the law in him, our Constitution has made no sort of provision towards rendering him, as a servant, in any degree responsible.
An irregular, convulsive movement may be necessary to throw off an irregular, convulsive disease.
The speculative line of demarcation, where obedience ought to end and resistance must begin, is faint, obscure, and not easily definable.
But the course of succession is the healthy habit of the British Constitution.
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