ABSTRACT
Either this is the right course, or there' s no such thing on earth. Here we have the equal representation of free people on both sides, both taking the same share in conducting the affairs of state and exercising the same care in the common effort. And could there be any persuasive argument against these arrangements that I want to see put in pI ace based on the inequality [ofthe two kingdoms]? Granted that one side may be more prosperous. Let them say then,
ifthey can, that the English are wiser or stronger, more adept, and more able in body and mind to take on all the offices of peace and war. Above aIl, as I have said time and again, it is crucial that neither side look down on the other, and surely then the thoughts and feelings on all sides need to be expressed and by compromise brought to a fair resolution. On one side, it might seem that the personalities may be lively and excitable; on the other, subtle and perhaps more reflective.3 Thus the council, taken as a whole, may weIl be wiser and better than the individuals who make it up. [Therefore] be silent, ye naysayers! Acknowledge the gross incapacity ofyour judgement or the perverse malignity of your character, and your fierce iniquity which I beg you to disavow and correcl.
