On the record
When they did not beget they ADOPTED; they solemnly made believe that new persons were descended from the old stock, though everybody knew that in flesh and blood they were not.
Said by
Walter Bagehot
Source
gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “When they did not beget they ADOPTED; they solemnly made believe that new persons were descended from the old stock…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot illustrates the practice of adoption in ancient societies as a means of creating lineage despite biological differences.
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More from Walter Bagehot
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.
I own that I do not entirely sympathise with the horror of these anomalies which haunts some of our best critics.
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.
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.
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