The ſtate itself [New York] is penetrated by a large navigable river for more than fifty leagues. The great emporium of its commerce, the great reſervoir of its wealth, lies every moment at the mercy of events, and may almoſt be regarded as a hoſtage for ignominious compliances with the dictates of a foreign enemy, or even with the rapacious demands of pirates and barbarians.

I was so excited I could smell my own musk.

He had the uncanny ability to demolish his opponents with ease and make mincemeat out of them.

Diplomacy as we know it today is essentially a function of the modern state: its relations with other states, with the institutionalized alliances and groupings which it or other states may form, and with omnilateral or general organizations like the United Nations.