Edmund Burke, Speech on American Taxation, 19 April 1774

On Charles Townshend, chancellor of the exchequer 1766-1767:

"To please universally was the object of his life; but to tax and to please, no more than to love and to be wise, is not given to men."

NB The Townshend link will only work if you are a subscriber to the ODNB or affiliated to a subscribing library.

Snow...

...is all very well and good, but I have to get into Oxford to teach in two hours and the car is currently obscured by a white blanket of the cold sort. Time to get a move on.

Schneebedeckt

I expect that I've complained to people before about my self-destructive tendencies? Well, having cleared four inches of snow off the car, I decided to head off into Oxford to teach at 11, only for my car to get stuck on Upper Brook Hill, which it is currently blocking. I've cancelled the tutorial and am off to get a spade to see if I can manage to rescue my vehicle. Still the snow falls.

EDIT 10:54am Since I last posted, I've been up to rescue the car, only to find that someone has moved it to the side of the road so it isn't blocking traffic. It's possible for cars to get down the road, but not up. Apparently the A44 into Woodstock from the north-west was blocked this morning as traffic couldn't climb the other side of the hill.

EDIT 1:38pm I've taken narahttbbs's advice and been out and enjoyed the snow. Photos to follow. The car is still on Upper Brook Hill, and I'll rescue it before the light goes and the temperature drops. I don't think I was self-destructive, on reflection - just adventurous!

Photographs from a snowy Woodstock

The gallery.