Supposing, in my old house, for example, I discover the dry-rot beginning in the timbers, or that my foundation is settling a little, or perhaps my neighbor is setting up a business that affects the purity of the air. . . . What am I to do then? Must I be conservative here too? The true conservative policy in such a case is not submission, but reform--something that will restore to me the advantages of my old way of life; something that will prevent me suffering by a most unpleasant change.--Speech of Charles Francis Adams to the Republican National Convention, 1860