As in the Scriptural phrase, doing what is of evil omen is 'like one that letteth out water.' He cannot tell what are the consequences of his act, who will share them, or how they can be prevented.
He uses a biblical analogy to explain the unpredictability of the consequences of one's actions.
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More from Walter Bagehot
Savages waste away before modern civilisation; they seem to have held their ground before the ancient.
He could have found the truth as a statesman just as he found it when a judge; but he never did find it.
They have given what I may call a CONFIDENCE IN THE UNIVERSE.
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.
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