He can but be an average man to begin with; sometimes he will be clever, but sometimes he will be stupid; in the long run he will be neither clever nor stupid; he will be the simple, common man who plods the plain routine of life from the cradle to the grave.
Bagehot describes the average nature of hereditary monarchs and their lack of exceptional qualities.
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But, above all things, they were frightened of 'the world;' the spectacle of nature filled them with awe and dread.
There is no ELASTIC element, everything is rigid, specified, dated.
No doubt this momentary gain is bought at a ruinous after-cost.
Thirdly, we see why so few nations have made rapid advance, and how many have become stationary.
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