Persuasion is the resource of the feeble; and the feeble can seldom persuade . . .

A nation ignorant of the equal benefits of liberty and law, must be awed by the flashes of arbitrary power: the cruelty of a despot will assume the character of justice; his profusion, of liberality; his obstinacy, of firmness.

But the wisdom and authority of the legislator are seldom victorious in a contest with the vigilant dexterity of private interest.

According to the law of custom, and perhaps of reason, foreign travel completes the education of an English gentleman.

The progress of despotism tends to disappoint its own purpose.

The author himself is the best judge of his own performance; none has so deeply meditated on the subject; none is so sincerely interested in the event.

Since the primitive times, the wealth of the popes was exposed to envy, their powers to opposition, and their persons to violence.