1848年，麦考莱在《英国史》中写道：“从一开始，我们的民主制度就是世界上最具贵族色彩的，我们的贵族制度则是世界上最具民主精神的。这种独特性一直持续至今，并由此产生了许多重大的道德和政治影响。”

「 our democracy was, from an early period, the most aristocratic, and our aristocracy the most democratic in the world; a peculiarity which has lasted down to the present day, and which has produced many important moral and political effects. 」p.46