How Long Shall Public Men Boast of Conduct Which Would Disgrace a Private Individual?

Palmerston Addresses the House of Commons 1863

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I see those pretended politicians who place all in their subtlety, and who think they serve their country best, in circumventing those with whom they treat, interpreting the conditions of a treaty in such a manner, that all the advantage results to their own country. Far from blushing at conduct so contrary to equity, to right, and to national honesty, they boast of their dexterity, and pretend that they deserve the name of great negotiators. How long shall public men boast of conduct which would disgrace a private individual?

- Lord Henry J.T. Palmerston, address to Parliament, July 16, 1832

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