But The Desire Of Obtaining

Extreme Distress, Which Unites The Virtue Of A Free People, Imbitters The Factions Of A Declining Monarchy.

I Have But One Lamp By Which My Feet Are Guided, And That Is The Lamp Of Experience. I Know No Way Of Judging Of The Future But By The Past.

It Was Among The Ruins Of The Capitol That I First Conceived The Idea Of A Work Which Has Amused And Exercised Nearly Twenty Years Of My Life.

The Dark Cloud, Which Had Been Cleared By The Phoenician Discoveries, And Finally Dispelled By The Arms Of Caesar, Again Settled On The Shores Of The Atlantic, And A Roman Province [britain] Was Again Lost Among The Fabulous Islands Of The Ocean.

Such Was The Unhappy Condition Of The Roman Emperors, That, Whatever Might Be Their Conduct, Their Fate Was Commonly The Same. A Life Of Pleasure Or Virtue, Of Severity Or Mildness, Of Indolence Or Glory, Alike Led To An Untimely Grave; And Almost Every Reign Is Closed By The Same Disgusting Repetition Of Treason And Murder.