On the record
If a political agitator were to lecture to the peasants of Dorsetshire, and try to excite political dissatisfaction, it is much more likely that he would be pelted than that he would succeed.
Said by
Walter Bagehot
Source
gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “If a political agitator were to lecture to the peasants of Dorsetshire, and try to excite political dissatisfaction, it…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot suggests that political agitation is unlikely to succeed among the unpoliticized rural population.
Share
More from Walter Bagehot
Subject to this saving remark, however, I not only admit, but maintain, that our Constitution is full of curious oddities, which are impeding and mischievous, and ought to be struck out.
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.
Political philosophy is still more imperfect; it has been framed from observations taken upon regular specimens of politics and States; as to these its teaching is most valuable.
At last it strikes you that they grew up, house by house, on the devious tracks of the old green lanes; and if you follow on to the existing fields, you may often find the change half complete.
Other voices in this conversation
