On the record
But now comes the farther question: If fixity is an invariable ingredient in early civilisations, how then did any civilisation become unfixed?
Said by
Walter Bagehot
Source
gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “But now comes the farther question: If fixity is an invariable ingredient in early civilisations, how then did any…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot raises the question of how civilizations that were once stable became unstable over time.
Share
More from Walter Bagehot
Just so the lines of our Constitution were framed in old eras of sparse population, few wants, and simple habits; and we adhere in seeming to their shape, though civilisation has come with its dangers, complications, and enjoyments.
These anomalies, in a hundred instances, mark the old boundaries of a constitutional struggle.
But it is natural also that persons used to analyse political institutions should look at these anomalies with a little tenderness and a little interest.
I cannot, therefore, join in the full cry against anomalies; in my judgment it may quickly overrun the scent, and so miss what we should be glad to find.
Other voices in this conversation
