Walter Bagehot: “It should be observed, too, in fairness to the unroyal species of Cabinet government, that it is exempt from one of the…”

I own that I do not entirely sympathise with the horror of these anomalies which haunts some of our best critics.

Just so the lines of our Constitution were framed in old eras of sparse population, few wants, and simple habits; and we adhere in seeming to their shape, though civilisation has come with its dangers, complications, and enjoyments.

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.

But it is natural also that persons used to analyse political institutions should look at these anomalies with a little tenderness and a little interest.