Abstract right, deserving as it is of the profound reverence of every ruler over men, is yet not the principle which must guide and govern his conduct; and whoever undertakes to make it exclusively his guide will soon find in the community a resistance that will overrule him and his principles.
Quincy argues that abstract principles alone cannot guide a ruler's actions without considering the community's response.
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Adams replied: "I well know this; but labor I shall not refuse so long as my hands, my eyes, and my brain, do not desert me.
If we were bound to do it, we were bound to do it avowedly and above-board.
But, if we go to war, what must be the effect of the peace that follows?
Adams remarked: "He has all the contracted prejudices of that political sect; his whole system of government is comprised in the maxim of leaving money in the pockets of the people.
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