Page:Essays, Moral and Political - David Hume (1741).djvu/69

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Principles of Government.
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of Weight, why ought they not to express these Sentiments? The Question, then, is only concerning the Degrees of Weight, which ought to be plac'd on Instructions. But such is the Nature of Language, that 'tis impossible for it to express distinctly these different Degrees; and if Men will carry on a Controversy on this Head, it may well happen, that they may differ in their Language, and yet agree in their Sentiments; and differ in their Sentiments, and yet agree in their Language. Besides, how is it possible to fix these Degrees, considering the Variety of Affairs that come before the House, and the Variety of Places, which Members represent? Ought the Instructions of Totness to have the same Weight as those of London? Or Instructions, with regard to the Convention, which respected foreign Politics, to have the same Weight as those with regard to the Excise, which respected only our domestic Affairs?

ESSAY