The real rulers are secreted in second-rate carriages; no one cares for them or asks about them, but they are obeyed implicitly and unconsciously by reason of the splendour of those who eclipsed and preceded them.
Bagehot points out that the true power lies with those who remain unnoticed, despite the grandeur of their public counterparts.
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And again, in political matters, how quickly a leading statesman can change the tone of the community!
The nation then selected the English policy, but the Crown chose the English Ministers.
In early society, originality in life was forbidden and repressed by the fixed rule of life.
The whole history of civilisation, is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards.
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