Whatever the apparent cause of any riots may be, the real one
is always want of happiness. It shows that something is wrong in the
system of government that injures the felicity by which society is
to be preserved.
But as a fact is superior to reasoning, the instance of America
presents itself to confirm these observations. If there is a country
in the world where concord, according to common calculation, would
be least expected, it is America. Made up as it is of people from
different nations,*[16] accustomed to different forms and habits of
government, speaking different languages, and more different in
their modes of worship, it would appear that the union of such a
people was impracticable; but by the simple operation of
constructing government on the principles of society and the rights of
man, every difficulty retires, and all the parts are brought into
cordial unison. There the poor are not oppressed, the rich are not
privileged. Industry is not mortified by the splendid extravagance
of a court rioting at its expense. Their taxes are few, because
their government is just: and as there is nothing to render them
wretched, there is nothing to engender riots and tumults.
A metaphysical man, like Mr. Burke, would have tortured his
invention to discover how such a people could be governed.
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