On the record
Parliament and the nation have pretty well settled who shall have the first places; but they have not discriminated with the same accuracy which man shall have which place.
Said by
Walter Bagehot
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gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “Parliament and the nation have pretty well settled who shall have the first places; but they have not discriminated with…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot notes that while Parliament decides leadership roles, it does not specify individuals for those roles.
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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.
These anomalies, in a hundred instances, mark the old boundaries of a constitutional struggle.
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.
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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