That is the title of this excellent essay published in 1876, the first page of which is pictured below, by the great English essayist Walter Bagehot. (I serendipitously stumbled upon this work via the late David Winch.) Although this text is relatively short — just 40 paragraphs spanning across 25 pages — it is full of so many original insights that I have decided to write up a paragraph-by-paragraph review of Bagehot’s beautiful essay, starting next week. Stay tuned!