"حياة ومراسلات اللواء السير جون مالكوم، قائد فرسان وسام الطُهر، المبعوث السابق إلى بلاد فارس وحاكم بومباي؛ من رسائل ومذكرات غير منشورة. في مجلّدين. المجلد II." [‎٥‎٦‎٣] (٦٥٤/٥٨٠)

ANTI-EEFOEM.
563
Refoim; but that, to be saf©, should be very moderate and very
gradual. Time, we are told, is an innovator. This is true ; but
he is an old and a slow man. If we march with him, we are safe •
but if we outstrip him, we rush upon danger if not upon ruin. If
not satisfied with the proud and glorious position in which our
country stands—if discontented because there is partial distress,
though less, comparatively, than any nation ever knew—if, in the
vanity of our knowledge, we cast away all the benefits and bless
ings which have descended from our forefathers—if that reverence
for established order, that regard to vested rights, that reluctance
to lay a rude and unhallowed hand upon the venerable fabric of
our constitution prevails, all those conservative principles which
have hitherto bound us together will be abandoned, and new ties
and a new order of things must be established,—I deprecate such
sweeping demolition. I expect nothing from such destruction, ex
cept that it will be long remembered as an awful instance of the
truth of that sacred text which says, ( God maketh the wisdom of
men folly.' The consequences my experience leads me to
anticipate may not be immediate, but they are, in my mind,
certain; and the option appears to be between our fighting the
battle or leaving a sad inheritance of a deteriorated and broken
constitution to our children. My practical education makes me
an unbeliever in these new political lights. I cannot think that
the mantle of Francis Bacon lias descended upon Jeremy Bentham.
I would not consult men in a fever on their own case." ....
April 28, 1831.—"I send you copies of my speech as taken
from the Mirror of Parliament It was well received and
cheered by the House. I shall, however, speak seldom, reserving
myself for Indian affairs. But these, like everything else, if
Reform, in its present shape, continue, will be carried by petitions
from men who want something but they know not what—by
mobs of meetings. By the blessing of God, however, a stout
stand will be made for the rich inheritance of the constitution
which our fathers have transmitted to us, and which, with all its
defects, is the best in the known world. I shall never forget our
revered father when this rage for change was abroad thirty-six
years ago. ' I was well,' he said, quoting an old Greek proverb—
'I desired to be better; I took physic—and I died.' I have
his warm blood in my veins, and I will do my best to stem the
torrent."
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