On the record
The passions are so powerful, force so eager, the social bond so weak, that the august spectacle of an all but unalterable law is necessary to preserve society.
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Walter Bagehot
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gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “The passions are so powerful, force so eager, the social bond so weak, that the august spectacle of an all but…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot argues that the power of passions and social bonds necessitates the existence of unchangeable laws for societal preservation.
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The lessons are good where its primitive assumptions hold, but may be false where those assumptions fail.
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.
I own that I do not entirely sympathise with the horror of these anomalies which haunts some of our best critics.
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.
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