Walter Bagehot: “So long as war is the main business of nations, temporary despotism--despotism during the campaign--is indispensable.”

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.

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.

Our law very often reminds one of those outskirts of cities where you cannot for a long time tell how the streets come to wind about in so capricious and serpent-like a manner.