fractiousness

Updated: August 25, 2026

The treason of Russell is to be attributed partly to fractiousness; the treason of Godolphin is to be attributed altogether to timidity; the treason of Marlborough was the treason of a man of great genius and boundless ambition. It may be thought strange that Russell should have been out of humour.

Baron Thomas Babington Macaulay Macaulay - The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 4