The Spectator, Volume 3

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J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper, 1753 - English essays - 313 pages

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Page 41 - The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me : And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness and it clothed me : My judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
Page 63 - To justify this assertion, I shall put my reader in mind of Horace, the greatest wit and critic in the Augustan age ; and of Boileau, the most correct poet among the moderns : not to mention La Fontaine, who, by this way of writing, is come more into vogue than any other author of our times.
Page 306 - And if I give thee honour due, Mirth, admit me of thy crew, To live with her, and live with thee In unreprove'd pleasures free...
Page 105 - ... under an ill habit of body, and had taken abundance of remedies to no purpose. At length, says the fable, a physician cured him by the following method.
Page 208 - It is not perhaps much thought of, but it is certainly a very important lesson, to learn how to enjoy ordinary life, and to be able to relish your being without the transport of some passion, or gratification of some appetite. For want of this capacity, the world is filled with whetters, tipplers, cutters, sippers, and all the numerous train of those who, for want of thinking, are forced to be ever exercising their feeling, or tasting.
Page 244 - Andrew, labour and rest, recommend each other. They take their turns with so quick a vicissitude, that neither becomes a habit, or takes possession of the whole man ; nor is it possible he should be surfeited with either. I often see him at our club in good humour, and yet...
Page 222 - ... and majesty, despotic command, and divine love, are at once seated in His celestial aspect. The figures of the eleven apostles are all in the same passion of admiration, but discover it differently according to their characters. Peter receives his Master's orders on his knees with an admiration mixed with a more...
Page 283 - ... nay, one who died several ages ago, raises a secret fondness and benevolence for him in our minds when we read his story; nay, what is still more, one who has been the enemy of our country, provided his wars were regulated by justice...
Page 41 - If my step hath turned out of the way, And mine heart walked after mine eyes, And if any blot...
Page 305 - And it is very remarkable that, notwithstanding we fall short at present of the ancients in poetry, painting, oratory, history, architecture, and all the noble arts and sciences which depend more upon genius than experience, we exceed them as much in doggerel humour, burlesque, and all the trivial arts of ridicule.

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