Free trade, one of the greatest blessings which a government can confer on a people, is in almost every country unpopular.

There were gentlemen and there were seamen in the navy of Charles the Second. But the seamen were not gentlemen; and the gentlemen were not seamen.

If ever Shakespeare rants, it is not when his imagination is hurrying him along, but when he is hurrying his imagination along.

History distinguishes what is accidental and transitory in human nature from what is essential and immutable.

And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods?

There was, it is said, a criminal in Italy who was suffered to make his choice between Guicciardini and the galleys. He chose the history. But the war of Pisa was too much for him; he changed his mind, and went to the oars.

She thoroughly understands what no other Church has ever understood, how to deal with enthusiasts.