ut any sort of reference to the antecedent state of things,
or to consequences which result from the change,--without any
consideration whether under its ancient rule a country was to a
considerable degree flourishing and populous, highly cultivated and
highly commercial, and whether, under that domination, though personal
liberty had been precarious and insecure, property at least was ever
violated. They cannot take the moral sympathies of the human mind along
with them, in abstractions separated from the good or evil condition of
the state, from the quality of actions, and the character of the actors.
None of us love absolute and uncontrolled monarchy; but we could not
rejoice at the sufferings of a Marcus Aurelius or a Trajan, who were
absolute monarchs, as we do when Nero is condemned by the Senate to be
punished _more majorum_; nor, when that monster was obliged to fly with
his wife Sporus, and to drink puddle, were men affected in the same
manner as when the venerable Galba, with all his faults and errors, was
murdered by a revolted mercenary soldiery. With such things before our
eyes, our feelings contradict our theories; and when this is the case,
the feelings are true, and the theory is false. What I contend for is,
that, in commending the destruction of an absolute monarchy, _all the
circumstances_ ought not to be wholly overlooked, as "considerations fit
only for shallow and superficial minds." (The words of Mr. Fox, or to
that effect.)

The subversion of a government, to deserve any praise, must be
considered but as a step preparatory to the formation of something
better, either in the scheme of the government itself, or in the persons
who administer it, or in both. These events cannot in reason be
separated. For instance, when we praise our Revolution of 1688, though
the nation in that act was on the defensive, and was justified in
incurring all the evils of a defensive war, we do not rest there. We
always combine with the subversion of the old government the happy
settlement which followed. When we estimate that Revolution, we mean to
comprehend in our calculation both the value of the thing parted with
and the value of the thing received in exchange.

The burden of proof lies heavily on those who tear to pieces the whole
frame and contexture of their country, that they could find no other way
of settling a government fit to obtain its rational ends, except that
which they have pursued by means unfavorabl