Thread by @BillKristol

THREAD

1. Conscientious Republican members of Congress should take a few minutes this weekend, as they head home to be with their constituents, to read these lines from Edmund Burke's great Nov. 3, 1774, Speech to the Electors of Bristol.

2. "Certainly, gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness and glory of a representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him;...

3. "...their opinion, high respect; their business, unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs; and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own.

4. "But his unbiassed opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure; no, nor from the law and the constitution.

5. "They are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.

6. "My worthy colleague says, his will ought to be subservient to yours. If that be all, the thing is innocent. If government were a matter of will upon any side, yours, without question, ought to be superior.

7. "But government and legislation are matters of reason and judgment, and not of inclination; and what sort of reason is that, in which the determination precedes the discussion?"

8. You, members of Congress, have heard a thorough discussion. Everyone has had an opportunity to testify; both sides have had the chance to question. You now owe it to us to reason about the facts and to judge the evidence. You owe it to us to do your duty.

END