When it seems as though even the best of intentions and practice leave room for error and even the staunchest advocacy for political right will give rise to some partial wrong, one engages upon political speculation with considerable trepidation.
The author takes heart from and accounts himself sympathetic to Burke's exampling of himself as one "who would preserve consistency by varying his means to secure the unity of his end; and, when the equipoise of the vessel in which he sails, may be endangered by overloading it upon one side, is desirous of carrying the small weight of his reasons to that which may preserve its equipoise." However slight my reasons, however poor my means, I but offer them in hopes of lending weight to the language of liberty and securing the ballast of the republic. If I reach in excess, my aim is moderation--to temper the swirling antagonisms, to distill riotous democratic energies into a liberal republic. Let us keep a democratic republic's even keel even in the stormiest seas. With an eye to the stars, a footing for the waves, and an ear to the winds, let us steer our bark to ever-grander shores and glorious vistas. Let each crewman play his part, and even the fool shakes his tambourine before the mast.
Glaucon
Xenophon, Mem. 3.6
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