England

"The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture, and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings."

"Q. What is the chief end of man? A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever."

"This England never did, nor never shall, Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror, But when it first did help to wound itself. Now these her princes are come home again, Come the three corners of the world in arms, And we shall shock them. Nought shall make us rue, If England to itself do rest but true."

"Our fathers have vanquished forreine Princes: and shall not wee fight for our owne Prince? Our fathers have conquered other Realmes: and shall not wee defend our owne Realme? Our fathers have been Lords of other Countries: and shall we be slaves in our owne Countrie? What an alteration (or rather degeneration) would this bee in us? how dishonourable to the English name and Nation? ... [L]et us link togither in one mind, in one faith, in one force, let us sticke togither, fight togither, die togither, like men, like Englishmen, like true-harted Englishmen. ... Wherein if we joyne all, our hartes, armes, and forces togither, like true and faithful subjects, I am fully perswaded our, forrein invadors, whensoever they come, shall find England the hotest country that ever they set foote in: We are likely inough to measure their Spanish Cassocks with our English bowes."

"I have left there a true Englishman's hand."

"With lantern jaws, and cooking guy, See how the half-starved Frenchmen strut, And call us English dogs! But soon we'll teach these bragging foes, That beef and beer give heavier blows, Than soup and roasted frogs."

"England is a nation of shopkeepers."

"For even our enemies hold our nation resolute and valiant, which though they will not outwardly show, they invariably know."

"The courage of bull-dogs and game-cocks seems peculiar to England."

"Let Pitt then boast of his victory to his nation of shopkeepers—(Nation Boutiquiere)."

"I have studied History and seen most of the Republics of Europe, and I do not hesitate to affirm that there is, or has been, no Government upon Earth where the property, and especially the person, of the Subject, is by far so secure as it is [in England]."

"Non seulement l'Angleterre, mais chaque Anglais est une ile."

"England is a prison for men, a paradise for women, a purgatory for servants, a hell for horses."

"When poor England stood alone, and had not the access of another kingdom, and yet had more and as potent enemies as now it hath, and yet the King of England prevailed."

"I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm."

"The trewe processe of Englysh polycye Of utterwarde to kepe thys regne in rest Of oure England, that no man may denye Ner say of soth but it is one the best, Is thys, as who seith, south, north, est and west Cheryshe marchandyse, kepe thamyralte, That we bee maysteres of the narowe see."

"Dieu et mon droit."

"England is a paradise for women, and hell for horses: Italy is a paradise for horses, hell for women."

"An Englishman's home is his castle."

"[L]et those malignant spirites confesse the renowned value of our nation in the olde time, and grant...that we are the sonnes of those our Fathers, whose strength and courage in martiall acitivite neither Scots, French, nor Spanyards, were able to resist... [T]he olde English valiancy is not so extinguished in the English nation through long securitie, and corrupt idleness, but it is soone stirred up to a double force, when it hath acquainted it selfe with the exercise in the field."

"Blessed mother, handmaiden of old To Arthur, Edward, Henry, by whose deeds Of valour could their strength of faith be told."

"I hope to render the English name as great and formidable as ever the Roman was."

"Sir, there was never, since England was England, such a stratagem and mask made to deceive England withal as this of the treaty of peace."

"Anglica gens est optima flens et pessima ridens."

"I know an Englishman. Being flattered, is a lamb; threatened, a lion."

"England, which is like a huge Fortress or Garrisoned Town, fenced not only with strong Works, her Port-Towns, with a wide and deep Ditch the Sea, but guarded also with excellent Out-Works, the strongest and best-built Ships of War in the World; then so furnisht within with Men and Horse, with Victuals and Ammunition, with Clothes and Money, that if all the Potentates of Europe should conspire (which God forbid) they could hardly distress it."

"You are, and have beene feared over all, England's an Isle, of stoute and hardie men: Be stronge in faith, your foes downe right shall fall, For one of you, in armes shall vanquish ten."

"They are powerful in the field, successful against their enemies, impatient of anything like slavery; vastly fond of great noises that fill the ear, such as the firing of cannon, drums, and the ringing of bells."

"Lords and Commons of England, consider what Nation it is whereof ye are, and whereof ye are the governors: a Nation not slow and dull, but of quick, ingenious, and piercing spirit, acute to invent, suttle and sinewy to discours, not beneath the reach of any point the highest that humane capacity can soar to."

"God is English."

"Ils s'amusaient tristement selon la coutume de leur pays."

"This, the most celebrated of islands, formerly called Albion, later Britain, and now England."

"On the other side, the English troops, assembled from all parts of the neighbourhood, took post at a place which was anciently called Senlac, many of them personally devoted to the cause of Harold, and all to that of their country, which they were resolved to defend against the foreigners... The English, on their side, made a stout resistance, each man straining his powers to the utmost... At length the indomitable bravery of the English threw the Bretons...into confusion... Towards the evening, the English finding that their king and the chief nobles of the realm, with a great part of their army, had fallen...they had recourse to flight as expeditiously as they could... There the flower of the youth and nobility of England covered the ground far and near stained with blood."

"Be favourable and gracious O Lord to this thy English Sion... O Lord we thy Servants humbly beseeche thee, to bless and prosper not only our Sea causes, but also all our land service, her Majesty's most honourable General, Marshal, Captains, Officers, and English soldiers whatsoever, strengthen them with courage and manliness, that they may suppress the slights of Antichrist, with all the force and power of foreign enemies, and papistical practices, that dare pre­sume to attempt any harm or hurt to her royal Majesty, their honours, her English people, or to this noble Realm of England."

"The Parliament of England...is that whereupon the very essence of all Government within this Kingdom doth depend; it is even the body of the whole Realm; it consisteth of the King, and of all that within the Land are subject unto him."

"The whole [English] nation, beyond all other mortal men is most given to banquetting and feasts."

"Be England what she will, With all her faults, she is my country still."

"The Scot, Pict, Britain, Roman, Dane, submit, And with the English-Saxon all Unite: And these the mixture have so close pursu'd, The very Name and Memory's subdu'd: No Roman now, no Britain does remain; Wales strove to separate, but strove in Vain: The silent Nations undistinguish'd fall, And Englishman’s the common Name for all. Fate jumbled them together, God knows how; What e'er they were they're True-Born English now... A True-Born Englishman’s a Contradiction, In Speech an Irony, in Fact a Fiction."

"England is a well goodland; in the stead best Set in the one end of the world, and reigneth west. The sea goeth him all about, he stint as an yle."

"I hope for nothing in this world so ardently as once again to see that paradise called England. I long to embrace again all my old friends there."

"I have the principles of an Englishman, and I utter them without apprehension or reserve...this is not the language of faction; let it be tried by that criterion, by which alone we can distinguish what is factious, from what is not—by the principles of the English constitution. I have been bred up in these principles, and I know that when the liberty of the subject is invaded, and all redress denied him, resistance is justifiable... The constitution has its political Bible, by which if it be fairly consulted, every political question may, and ought to be determined. Magna Charta, the Petition of Rights and the Bill of Rights, form that code which I call the Bible of the English constitution. Had some of His Majesty's unhappy predecessors trusted less to the commentary of their Ministers, and been better read in the text itself, the Glorious Revolution might have remained only possible in theory, and their fate would not now have stood upon record, a formidable example to all their successors."

"An Englishman is the unfittest person on Earth to argue another Englishman into slavery."

"The Pleasures of the Table in this happy Nation, may be put in the same Rank with the ordinary, every one is accustom'd to good eating. It consist chiefly in a variety of Puddings, Golden-Pippins, which is an excellent kind of Apples, delicious green Oysters, and Roast-Beef, which is the favourite Dish as well at the King's Table as at a Tradesman's; 'tis common to see one of these Pieces weigh from twenty to thirty Pound, and from thirty to forty: And this may be said to be (as it were) the Emblem of the Prosperity and Plenty of the English."

"Their Dogs are, I believe, the boldest in the World... They neither bark nor bite; they fight to Death without any Noise. One may see some of these Creatures dragging along a broken Leg, and returning to the Charge. I am assur'd that one of them, in King Charles II's time, kill'd a Lion, and that it has been proved by Experience, that such as are of a true breed will suffer their Legs to be cut off, one after another, without letting go their hold. If I durst, I would readily say, that there's a strong Resemblance in many things between the English and their Dogs. Both are silent, head-strong, lazy, unfit for Fatigue, no way quarrelsome, intrepid, eager in fight, insensible of blows, and incapable of parting."

"Froth at the top, dregs at bottom, but the middle excellent."

"Well of all dogs it stands confess'd, Your English bull dogs are the best"

"To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a nation of customers may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers, but extremely fit for a nation whose government is influenced by shopkeepers."

"When Britain first at Heaven's command, Arose from out the azure main, This was the charter of the land, And guardian angels sung this strain; "Rule Britannia! rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves.""

"A shopkeeper will never get the more custom by beating his customers, and what is true of a shopkeeper is true of a shopkeeping nation."

"We I hope shall be left free to avail ourselves of the advantages of neutrality: and yet much I fear the English, or rather their stupid king, will force us out of it. (...) Common sense dictates therefore that they should let us remain neuter: ergo they will not let us remain neuter. I never yet found any other general rule for foretelling what they will do, but that of examining what they ought not to do."