There has been much eloquence expended in explaining how the rough genius of the English people, even in the middle ages, when it was especially rude, carried into life and practice that elaborate division of functions which philosophers had suggested on paper, but which they had hardly hoped to see except on paper.
Bagehot reflects on the eloquence used to explain the practical application of the English Constitution's division of functions throughout history.
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No doubt this momentary gain is bought at a ruinous after-cost.
And, to the effectual maintenance of such a separation, the exclusion of the President's Ministers from the legislature is essential.
And again, in political matters, how quickly a leading statesman can change the tone of the community!
He could have found the truth as a statesman just as he found it when a judge; but he never did find it.
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