On the record
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.
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Walter Bagehot
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gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “I cannot, therefore, join in the full cry against anomalies; in my judgment it may quickly overrun the scent, and so…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot expresses his reluctance to fully condemn political anomalies, suggesting they may lead to valuable discoveries.
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More from Walter Bagehot
These anomalies, in a hundred instances, mark the old boundaries of a constitutional struggle.
Subject to this saving remark, however, I not only admit, but maintain, that our Constitution is full of curious oddities, which are impeding and mischievous, and ought to be struck out.
Our law very often reminds one of those outskirts of cities where you cannot for a long time tell how the streets come to wind about in so capricious and serpent-like a manner.
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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