All the actions of life are to be submitted to a single rule for a single object; that gradually created the 'hereditary drill' which science teaches to be essential, and which the early instinct of men saw to be essential too.
Walter Bagehot: “All the actions of life are to be submitted to a single rule for a single object; that gradually created the 'hereditary…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot argues for the necessity of a single rule governing all actions in life to establish order.
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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.
I own that I do not entirely sympathise with the horror of these anomalies which haunts some of our best critics.
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.
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.





