We have in a great community like England crowds of people scarcely more civilised than the majority of two thousand years ago; we have others, even more numerous, such as the best people were a thousand years since.
Bagehot comments on the varying levels of civilization in England, comparing contemporary society to that of two thousand years ago.
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Savages waste away before modern civilisation; they seem to have held their ground before the ancient.
No doubt this momentary gain is bought at a ruinous after-cost.
And again, in political matters, how quickly a leading statesman can change the tone of the community!
Thirdly, we see why so few nations have made rapid advance, and how many have become stationary.
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