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  ...think that those who condemn her on the evidence which is now before the public are as rash as those who condemn her husband. We will not pronounce any judgment, we cannot, even in our own minds, form any judgment, on a transaction which is so imperfectly known to us. It would have been well if, at the time of the separation, all those who knew as little about the matter then as we know about it now, had shown that forbearance which, under such circumstances, is but common justice. We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodical fits of morality.   In general, elopements, divorces, and family quarrels, pass with little notice. We read the scandal, talk about it for a day, and forget it. But once in six or seven years our virtue becomes outrageous. We cannot suffer the laws of religion and decency to be violated. We must make a stand against vice. We must teach libertines that the English people appreciate the importance of domestic ties. Accordingly some unfortunate man, in no respect more depraved than hundreds whose offences...   Macaulay, Thomas B.

Source: On Moore's Life of Lord Byron · Excerpt from Critical and Historical Essays — Volume 2 · This quote is tagged Morality · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.

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