ABSTRACT
In the Thoughts, the people, through the Middlesex constituency, show themselves to be deficient by selecting John Wilkes as their remedy for the present discontents. This chapter reviews Burke's treatment of remedies for the present discontents. The subtle relation of party to necessity can be found in this passage at the end of the Thoughts: There is a time for all things. If a regular supply of lesser virtue is considered more important than the best virtue, infrequently seen, then states should do away with the necessity of conspiracy by good men, in times of critical exigency, since conspiracy requires remarkable men. Party enables honest men to act in the light, anticipating the task of remarkable men, who act in all degrees of light and dark. Party brings clarity to the gray shadows, natural and artificial, of conspiracy, making (so far as is possible) honest men clever, and clever men honest.
