The power of the Crown, almost dead and rotten as Prerogative, has grown
up anew, with much more strength, and far less odium, under the name
of Influence. An influence, which operated without noise and without
violence; an influence which converted the very antagonist into the
instrument of power; which contained in itself a perpetual principle of
growth and renovation; and which the distresses and the prosperity of
the country equally tend to augment, was an admirable substitute for a
prerogative, that, being only the offspring of antiquated prejudices,
had moulded into its original stamina irresistible principles of decay
and dissolution. The ignorance of the people is a bottom but for
a temporary system; the interest of active men in the state is a
foundation perpetual and infallible.