The king of early days, in vigorous nations, was not absolute as despots now are; there was then no standing army to repress rebellion, no organised ESPIONAGE to spy out discontent, no skilled bureaucracy to smooth the ruts of obedient life.
He contrasts the nature of early kingship with modern despotism, highlighting the absence of oppressive structures.
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More from Walter Bagehot
There is no ELASTIC element, everything is rigid, specified, dated.
That a House of Commons may work well it must perform, as we saw, five functions well: it must elect a Ministry well, legislate well, teach the nation well, express the nation's will well, bring matters to the nation's attention well.
He could have found the truth as a statesman just as he found it when a judge; but he never did find it.
But the Jewish advantage never did so; beginning in religion, contrary to a thousand analogies, it remained religious.
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