Journal of a Voyage to Greenland, in the Year 1821: With Graphic Illustrations (1823)

Reader! didst thou ever misspend a few hours at a debating society? If so, then hast thou seen pitiful ambition in all its infinite varieties, and almost every stage and degree of folly, froth, and fatuity. How didst thou preserve thy serenity? Thou mightst have looked, indeed, with calm, contemplative benevolence on some piece of leadenheaded ignorance, who, after a week’s cogitation, gravely and seriously set about building up a reputation by announcing that virtue was its own and best reward,