“Without the uses of History everything goes to the bottom. It is a
most interesting study when you know something about it.”
“Oliver Cromwell was a man who was put into prison for his
interference in Ireland. When he was in prison he wrote ‘The
Pilgrim’s Progress,’ and married a lady called Mrs. O’Shea.”
“Wolsey was a famous General who fought in the Crimean war, and who,
after being decapitated several times, said to Cromwell, ‘Ah, if I
had only served you as you have served me, I would not have been
deserted in my old age.’ He was the founder of the Wesleyan Chapel,
and was afterwards called Lord Wellington. A monument was erected to
him in Hyde Park, but it has been taken down lately.”
“Perkin Warbeck raised a rebellion in the reign of Henry VIII.
He said he was the son of a Prince, but he was really the son of
respectable people.”
Which do you consider the greater General, Cæsar or Hannibal? “If we
consider who Cæsar and Hannibal were, the age in which they lived,
and the kind of men they commanded, and then ask ourselves which was
the greater, we shall be obliged to reply in the affirmative.”
Why was it that his great discovery was not properly appreciated
until after Columbus was dead? “Because he did not advertise.”
What were the slaves and servants of the King called in England?
“Serfs, vassals, and vaselines.”