However, be that
matter as it may, what these old Whigs pretended to be Mr. Burke is.
This is enough for him.
I do, indeed, admit, that, though Mr. Burke has proved that his opinions
were those of the old Whig party, solemnly declared by one House, in
effect and substance by both Houses of Parliament, this testimony
standing by itself will form no proper defence for his opinions, if he
and the old Whigs were both of them in the wrong. But it is his present
concern, not to vindicate these old Whigs, but to show his agreement
with them. He appeals to them as judges: he does not vindicate them as
culprits. It is current that these old politicians knew little of the
rights of men,--that they lost their way by groping about in the dark,
and fumbling among rotten parchments and musty records. Great lights,
they say, are lately obtained in the world; and Mr. Burke, instead of
shrouding himself in exploded ignorance, ought to have taken advantage
of the blaze of illumination which has been spread about him. It may be
so. The enthusiasts of this time, it seems, like their predecessors in
another faction of fanaticism, deal in lights.
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