Secondly, though the leaders of party no longer have the vast patronage of the last century with which to bribe, they can coerce by a threat far more potent than any allurement--they can dissolve.
Here, Bagehot highlights the coercive power of party leaders in parliamentary politics.
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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.
I own that I do not entirely sympathise with the horror of these anomalies which haunts some of our best critics.
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.
The casual line was traced according to the strength of deceased combatants; succeeding generations fought elsewhere; and the hesitating line of a half-drawn battle was left to stand for a perpetual limit.
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