Of course the nation we are supposing must keep the virtues of its first stage as it passes into the after stage, else it will be trodden out; it will have lost the savage virtues in getting the beginning of the civilised virtues; and the savage virtues which tend to war are the daily bread of human nature.
Bagehot discusses the necessity for a nation to retain its foundational virtues while evolving into a more civilized state.
Share
More from Walter Bagehot
It is natural that those who by special and admirable culture have come to look at all things upon the artistic side, should start back from these queer peculiarities.
These anomalies, in a hundred instances, mark the old boundaries of a constitutional struggle.
The casual line was traced according to the strength of deceased combatants; succeeding generations fought elsewhere; and the hesitating line of a half-drawn battle was left to stand for a perpetual limit.
I own that I do not entirely sympathise with the horror of these anomalies which haunts some of our best critics.
Other voices in this conversation
