On the record
On the contrary, he was the slave of his own imagination; there was a kind of mystic enchantment in vicinity to the monarch which divested him of his ordinary nature.
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Walter Bagehot
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gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “On the contrary, he was the slave of his own imagination; there was a kind of mystic enchantment in vicinity to the…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot describes the psychological effects of proximity to monarchy on a statesman's behavior and decision-making.
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More from Walter Bagehot
I cannot, therefore, join in the full cry against anomalies; in my judgment it may quickly overrun the scent, and so miss what we should be glad to find.
At last it strikes you that they grew up, house by house, on the devious tracks of the old green lanes; and if you follow on to the existing fields, you may often find the change half complete.
Subject to this saving remark, however, I not only admit, but maintain, that our Constitution is full of curious oddities, which are impeding and mischievous, and ought to be struck out.
I own that I do not entirely sympathise with the horror of these anomalies which haunts some of our best critics.
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