When he
had found that out, he was quite sure that it would meet the
approval of Connecticut. That in general has been in my judgment
absolutely and literally true of Massachusetts. It has required
no courage for any representative of hers to do what he thought
was right. She is apt to select to speak for her, certainly
those she sends to the United States Senate, in whose choice
the whole Commonwealth has a part, men who are in general
of the same way of thinking, and governed by the same principles
as are the majority of her people. When she has chosen them
she expects them to act according to their best judgement,
and not to be thinking about popularity. She likes independence
better than obsequiousness. The one thing the people of Massachusetts
will not forgive in a public servant is that he should act
against his own honest judgment to please them. I am speaking
of her sober, second thought. Her people, like the rest of
mankind, are liable to waves of emotion and of prejudice.
This is true the world over. It is as true of good men as
of bad men, of educated as of ignorant men, whenever they
are to act in large masses.
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