Nick wrote:

snip


"I hate the idea of causes, and if I had to choose between betraying my country
and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.
Such a choice may scandalise the modern reader, and he may stretch out his
patriotic hand to the telephone and ring up the police. It would not have
shocked Dante, though. Dante placed Brutus and Cassius in the lowest circle
of Hell because they had chosen to betray their friend Julius Caesar rather
than their country Rome."
--E.M. Forster ('Two Cheers for Democracy')

--Nick

Ach! I've always felt uncomfortable with the French insult 'England-
perfidious'. I'd wager Mr. Forster affected suede shoes..