Nothing, except what flows from the heart, can render even external manners truly pleasing.

True gentleness is founded on a sense of what we owe to him who made us and to the common nature which we all share. It arises from reflection on our own failings and wants, and from just views of the condition and duty of man. It is native feeling heightened and improved by principle.

In the eye of that Supreme Being to whom our whole internal frame is uncovered, dispositions hold the place of actions.

Exercise is the chief source of improvement in our faculties.

Gentleness corrects whatever is offensive in our manner.

The spirit of true religion breathes gentleness and affability; it gives a native, unaffected ease to the behavior; it is social, kind, cheerful; far removed from the cloudy and illiberal disposition which clouds the brow, sharpens the temper, and dejects the spirit.

As the primary end of History is to record truth, impartiality, fidelity and accuracy are the fundamental qualities of an Historian.