I Was Never Less Alone Than When

Discussing The Attempts Of Augustus' Generals To Add To The Extent Of The Roman Empire Early In His Reign: The Northern Countries Of Europe Scarcely Deserved The Expense And Labour Of Conquest. The Forests And Morasses Of Germany Were Filled With A Hardy Race Of Barbarians, Who Despised Life When It Was Separated From Freedom; And Though, On The First Attack, They Seemed To Yield To The Weight Of The Roman Power, They Soon, By A Signal Act Of Despair, Regained Their Independence, And Reminded Augustus Of The Vicissitude Of Fortune.

Greek Is A Musical And Prolific Language, That Gives A Soul To The Objects Of Sense, And A Body To The Abstractions Of Philosophy.

The Love Of Study, A Passion Which Derives Fresh Vigor From Enjoyment, Supplies Each Day, Each Hour, With A Perpetual Source Of Independent And Rational Pleasure.

The Ascent To Greatness, However Steep And Dangerous, May Entertain An Active Spirit With The Consciousness And Exercise Of Its Own Power: But The Possession Of A Throne Could Never Yet Afford A Lasting Satisfaction To An Ambitious Mind.

Inclined To Peace By His Temper And Situation, It Was Easy For [augustus] To Discover That Rome, In Her Present Exalted Situation, Had Much Less To Hope Than To Fear From The Chance Of Arms; And That, In The Prosecution Of Remote Wars, The Undertaking Became Every Day More Difficult, The Event More Doubtful, And The Possession More Precarious And Less Beneficial.