1820 Feb. 19

Radicalism not dangerous

III. Experience

II. Ireland

Radicalism - its origin

Factitious dignity

20

9

This immense mass of the instruments of felicity thus poured into his coffers is it so much as professed /pretended/, that it has for its object the rendering him any better than he would be without it? No: this is not so much as pretended. He is, even without it he is already as good as any man can be: better than any other man be who is not thus pampered: to render him such his power, his power is of itself sufficient: what the money is of use for what the money is necessary for is to cause him to be deemed to be - deemed to be by the people in general - by the people who are thus […?] to pamper him deemed to be as good as he really is: or at any deemed to be as near to that mark as by such means they can be brought to believe him to be.

Oh silly people! such of you as really are thus deluded how long will you suffer yourselves to be thus deluded? /so to be?/

It has been proved - proved beyond all power of contestation - that by every particle of the matter with which he is thus pampered a man /man/ in that situation is rendered so much the worse. Yet in the making this application of the money, the object is - to produce and keep up in your minds the pernicion[?] that by every particle of it he is either rendered so much the better, or at any rate rendered the more able being already so fearfully[?] working to render your condition better than it would be otherwise. Such is the object: and alas! such has hitherto been the effect.