No one had suggested that he should have said good things of a king which he did not believe to be true.

The question was whether it may not be well sometimes for us to hold our tongues.

An American literary man, here in England, would not lecture on the morals of Hamilton, on the manners of General Jackson, on the general amenities of President Johnson.
In 1857 Thackeray stood for Oxford, in the liberal interest, in opposition to Mr.Cardwell.He had been induced to do this by his old friend Charles Neate, who himself twice sat for Oxford, and died now not many months since.

He polled 1,017 votes, against 1,070 by Mr.Cardwell; and was thus again saved by his good fortune from attempting to fill a situation in which he would not have shone.

There are, no doubt, many to whom a seat in Parliament comes almost as the birthright of a well-born and well-to-do English gentleman.