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

The criminal penalties [for suicide] are the production of a later and darker age.

Corruption, the most infallible symptom of constitutional liberty.

Does there exist a single instance of a saint asserting that he himself possessed the gift of miracles?

If Julian had flattered himself that his personal connexion with the capital of the East would be productive of mutual satisfaction to the prince and people, he made a very false estimate of his own character, and of the manners of Antioch. The warmth of the climate disposed the natives to the most intemperate enjoyment of tranquillity and opulence; and the lively licentiousness of the Greeks was blended with the hereditary softness of the Syrians.

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

A state of skepticism and suspense may amuse a few inquisitive minds. But the practice of superstition is so congenial to the multitude that, if they are forcibly awakened, they still regret the loss of their pleasing vision.