Just come on this, from the beginning of Edmund Burke's "Thoughts on the
Causes of the Present Discontents" (1770). It seemed somehow ... apposite:
"It is an undertaking of some degree of delicacy to examine into the cause
of public disorders. If a man happens not to succeed in such an inquiry, he
will be thought weak and visionary; if he touches the true grievance, there
is a danger that he may come near to persons of weight and consequence, who
will rather be exasperated at the discovery of their errors, than thankful
for the occasion of correcting them. If he should be obliged to blame the
favourites of the people, he will be considered as the tool of power; if he
censures those in power, he will be looked on as an instrument of faction.
But in all exertions of duty something is to be hazarded. In cases of tumult
and disorder, our law has invested every man, in some sort, with the
authority of a magistrate. When the affairs of the nation are distracted,
private people are, by the spirit of that law, justified in stepping a
little out of their ordinary sphere. They enjoy a privilege, of somewhat
more dignity and effect, than that of idle lamentation over the calamities
of their country. They may look into them narrowly; they may reason upon
them liberally; and if they should be so fortunate as to discover the true
source of the mischief, and to suggest any probable method of removing it,
though they may displease the rulers of the day, they are certainly of
service to the cause of government."
Robin
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