SOURCE: "Liberal Conservatives: Macaulay, Cooper, Tocqueville," in The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot, revised edition, Regnery Books, 1987, pp. 185-204.

In the following excerpt, Kirk discusses Cooper's political views, especially how his aristocratic sympathies shaped his views on democracy.

In Democracies there is a besetting disposition to make publick opinion stronger than the law. This is the particular form in which tyranny exhibits itself in a popular government; for wherever there is power, there will be found a disposition to abuse it. Whoever opposes the interests, or wishes of the publick, however right in principle, or justifiable by circumstances, finds little sympathy; for, in a democracy, resisting the wishes of the many, is resisting the sovereign, in his caprices. Every good citizen is bound to separate this influence of his private feelings from his publick duties, and to take heed that, while pretending to be struggling for liberty...