Page:Thoughts on civil liberty, on licentiousness and faction.djvu/118

 they at Times communicate; though they be subject to the common Failings of Men, and to the incidental Inroads of Licentiousness from higher and lower Life;—yet upon the Whole, and considered as one collective Body, they stand comparatively clear of many Temptations to Vice; and therefore must naturally be least exposed to the Influence of Licentiousness and Faction.

One Consequence, arising from their Dispersion, must not pass unnoticed. It not only prevents the general Depravation of their Manners and Principles, but likewise prevents their uniting in large Bodies, upon all slight Occasions. Hence, though they are apt to doubt, nay to be alarmed, on the factious Clamours of the Capital; yet they are not rowzed into Action, but on singular and important Emergencies.

To conclude: They are a great, but quiescent Power; on whose collective Knowledge and Integrity, the Freedom and Fate of this Nation must finally depend. In