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and executing vast designs — from the Romans to the English — have been governed by aristocratic institutions. Nor will this be a subject of wonder when we recollect that nothing in the world has so absolute a fixity of purpose as an aristocracy. The mass of the people may be led astray by ignorance or passion ; the mind of a king may be biased, and his perseverance in his designs may be shaken — beside which a king is not immortal ; but an aristocratic body is too numerous to be led astray by the blandishments of intrigue, and yet not numerous enough to yield readily to the intoxicating influence of unreflecting passion : it has the energy of a firm and enlightened individual, added to the power which it derives from its perpetuity.
