It enables men to see what is good; it gives them intellect enough for sufficient perception; but it does not make men all intellect; it does not' sickly them o'er with the pale cast of thought;' it enables them to do the good things they see to be good, as well as to see that they are good.
Bagehot explains how a certain quality enables individuals to perceive and act upon good, without overwhelming them with excessive thought.
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I own that I do not entirely sympathise with the horror of these anomalies which haunts some of our best critics.
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.
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.
The lessons are good where its primitive assumptions hold, but may be false where those assumptions fail.
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