Walter Bagehot: “In passing from Bacon to Addison, from Shakespeare to Pope, we seem to pass into a new world.”

The whole history of civilisation, is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards.

We have thus a whole group of ancient republics of non-Aryan race, and one which, being more ancient than the classical republics, could not have borrowed from or imitated them.

They are solely concerned with his attractiveness as a candidate; they need not regard his efficiency as a ruler.

There is no ELASTIC element, everything is rigid, specified, dated.