I am convinced that with the perfidy and rapine of Bonaparte no peace could be made, that the struggle with him was a struggle for the independence of all nations against the firmed and disciplined hordes of a conqueror as cruel and as barbarous as Attila. The outward mask of civilisation Bonaparte wore, and he could use political and social ideas for the purposes of his ambition as dexterously as cannon; but in character he was a Corsican and as savage as any bandit of his isle. If utter selfishness, if the reckless sacrifice of humanity to your own interest and passions be vileness, history has no viler name. I can look with pride upon the fortitude and constancy which England displayed in the contest with the universal tyrant.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I am convinced that with the perfidy and rapine of Bonaparte no peace could be made, that the struggle with him was a struggle for the independence of all nations against the firmed and disciplined hordes of a conqueror as cruel and as barbarous as Attila. The outward mask of civilisation Bonaparte wore, and he could use political and social ideas for the purposes of his ambition as dexterously as cannon; but in character he was a Corsican and as savage as any bandit of his isle. If utter selfishness, if the reckless sacrifice of humanity to your own interest and passions be vileness, history has no viler name. I can look with pride upon the fortitude and constancy which England displayed in the contest with the universal tyrant." in the context of "Three English Statesmen: A Course of Lectures on the Political History of England (1867), pp. 313-314" to mean that wisdom is timeless.