The nation had no instinct and no productive power that emancipated it from the customs of its forefathers. Every appeal against oppression was to th… - John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton

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The nation had no instinct and no productive power that emancipated it from the customs of its forefathers. Every appeal against oppression was to the hereditary rights; the only protection which the Englishman knew was in the traditional laws of his country. By means of this perpetual recurrence to old principles, and of the gradual contrivance of new forms in which to secure their action, the English people conquered their freedom. The intensity of their conservatism was an impulse as well as a guide of their progress.