On the record
The conspicuous dignity awakens the sentiment of reverence, and men, often very undignified, seize the occasion to govern by means of it.
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Walter Bagehot
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gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “The conspicuous dignity awakens the sentiment of reverence, and men, often very undignified, seize the occasion to…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot discusses how the dignity of institutions can influence governance, even by less dignified individuals.
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More from Walter Bagehot
The Parliament, the laws, the press were human institutions; but the Monarchy was a Divine institution.
There is no ELASTIC element, everything is rigid, specified, dated.
The United States could not have become monarchical, even if the Constitutional Convention had decreed it, even if the component States had ratified it.
No doubt this momentary gain is bought at a ruinous after-cost.
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