If any
measure was in the abstract better than another, it was to call the
States: _ea visa salus morientibus una_. Certainly it had the
appearance. But see the consequences of not attending to critical
moments, of not regarding the symptoms which discriminate diseases, and
which distinguish constitutions, complexions, and humors.
Mox erat hoc ipsum exitio; furiisque refecti
Ardebant; ipsique suos, jam morte sub aegra,
Discissos nudis laniabant dentibus artus.
Thus the potion which was given to strengthen the Constitution, to heal
divisions, and to compose the minds of men, became the source of
debility, frenzy, discord, and utter dissolution.
In this, perhaps, I have answered, I think, another of your
questions,--Whether the British Constitution is adapted to your
circumstances? When I praised the British Constitution, and wished it to
be well studied, I did not mean that its exterior form and positive
arrangement should become a model for you or for any people servilely to
copy. I meant to recommend the _principles_ from which it has grown, and
the policy on which it has been progressively improved out of elements
common to you and to us.
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