Capital, being near to the grand Scene of political Contention, must ever be a ready and dangerous Engine in the Hands of Licentiousness and Faction.
But in a Nation like this, to make the Populace of the Capital a more successful Instrument of Sedition, a Degree of Art would be necessary. For it appears above, that the People of this Kingdom, and the Populace of its Cities, are of a Character essentially opposite to each other: That the one is collectively knowing and upright; the other, collectively ignorant and immoral.[1]—The first Step, therefore, that Faction would take, as the surest Method for Success, would be to confound the one with the other; and dignify "the Clamour of the Populace," by stiling it "the Voice of the People."
The Fury of such a Populace, thus awakened by Vanity, Vice, and Ignorance, would arise in a Variety of Shapes.
- ↑ See above, Sect. xiii.
