Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time.
Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time.
In this country [England] it is good to kill an admiral from time to time, to encourage the others. The reference is to Admiral John Byng, who was executed in 1757 for failing to prevent the French from taking Minorca.
