The Gauls derided the hairy and gigantic savages of the North; their rustic manners, dissonant joy, voracious appetite, and their horrid appearance, equally disgusting to the sight and to the smell.

Agriculture is the foundation of manufactures; since the productions of nature are the materials of art. Under the Roman empire, the labour of an industrious and ingenious people was variously, but incessantly employed, in the service of the rich. In their dress, their table, their houses, and their furniture, the favourites of fortune united every refinement of conveniency, of elegance, and of splendour, whatever could soothe their pride or gratify their sensuality.

[Every] hour of delay abates the fame and force of the invader, and multiplies the resources of defensive war.

In the field of controversy I always pity the moderate party, who stand on the open middle ground exposed to the fire of both sides.

As long as the same passions and interests subsist among mankind, the questions of war and peace, of justice and policy, which were debated in the councils of antiquity, will frequently present themselves as the subject of modern deliberation.

It is the common calamity of old age to lose whatever might have rendered it desirable.

Yet the civilians have always respected the natural right of a citizen to dispose of his life . . .