Many politicians are in the habit of laying down as self-evident the proposition that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use their freedom. This maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim. If men are to wait for liberty till they become wise and good in slavery, they may indeed wait forever.
¶ Edinburgh Review, "Milton" (Aug 1825)
Reprinted in Critical and Historical Essays (1843)
