Letters on Literature, Taste, and Composition: Addressed to His Son, Volume 1Phillips, 1808 - Books and reading |
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Page 44
... seem dry and tedious , he has contrived to make it interesting . All the heroes of the time , the King , the Black Prince , Sir Walter Manny , Sir Bertrand de Gueschlin , & c . & c . become our intimate acquaintances ; we see all their ...
... seem dry and tedious , he has contrived to make it interesting . All the heroes of the time , the King , the Black Prince , Sir Walter Manny , Sir Bertrand de Gueschlin , & c . & c . become our intimate acquaintances ; we see all their ...
Page 49
... seems very just →→→ " Yet Burnet's page may lasting glory hope , " Howe'er insulted by the spleen of Pope . " Though his rough language haste and warmth denote , " With ardent honesty of soul he wrote ; " Though critic censures on ...
... seems very just →→→ " Yet Burnet's page may lasting glory hope , " Howe'er insulted by the spleen of Pope . " Though his rough language haste and warmth denote , " With ardent honesty of soul he wrote ; " Though critic censures on ...
Page 53
... seems to have been strictly-- " Nullius addictus in verba jurare magistri . " " Sworn to no master , of no sect am I. " His record of their sayings is lively and plea- sant , and may be considered as a repository of the serious wit of ...
... seems to have been strictly-- " Nullius addictus in verba jurare magistri . " " Sworn to no master , of no sect am I. " His record of their sayings is lively and plea- sant , and may be considered as a repository of the serious wit of ...
Page 63
... seem to want somewhat of that spirit which a writer who de- scribes scenes in which he had been personally conversant would have infused into them . The simple tale of the illustrious Cook I relish better . Among our principal ...
... seem to want somewhat of that spirit which a writer who de- scribes scenes in which he had been personally conversant would have infused into them . The simple tale of the illustrious Cook I relish better . Among our principal ...
Page 72
... seems a hasty performance , and is inferior to the other two , though the character of Justice Thrasher may class with any that has been drawn by the hand of this exquisite master . Smollett , though not equal to Fielding , is yet ...
... seems a hasty performance , and is inferior to the other two , though the character of Justice Thrasher may class with any that has been drawn by the hand of this exquisite master . Smollett , though not equal to Fielding , is yet ...
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Popular passages
Page 65 - WE were now treading that illustrious Island, which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge, and the blessings of religion. To abstract the mind from all local emotion would be impossible, if it were endeavoured, and would be foolish, if it were possible.
Page 167 - Who wickedly is wise, or madly brave, Is but the more a fool, the more a knave. Who noble ends by noble means obtains, Or failing, smiles in exile or in chains, Like good Aurelius let him reign, or bleed Like Socrates, that man is great indeed. What's fame? a fancied life in others' breath, A thing beyond us, ev'n before our death.
Page 90 - AWAKE, my St John ! leave all meaner things To low ambition, and the pride of kings. Let us (since life can little more supply Than just to look about us and to die...
Page 105 - O thou, that, with surpassing glory crown'd, Look'st from thy sole dominion, like the god Of this new world; at whose sight all the stars Hide their diminish'd heads ; to thee I call, But with no friendly voice, and add thy name, 0 sun ! to tell thee how I hate thy beams, That bring to my remembrance from what state 1 fell, how glorious once above thy sphere...
Page 166 - I'll tell you, friend! a wise man and a fool. You'll find, if once the monarch acts the monk, Or, cobbler-like, the parson will be drunk, Worth makes the man, and want of it, the fellow; The rest is all but leather or prunella.
Page 57 - His studies had been so various, that I am not able to name a man of equal knowledge. His acquaintance with books was great; and what he did not immediately know, he could at least tell where to find.
Page 166 - Go ! if your ancient, but ignoble blood Has crept through scoundrels ever since the flood, Go ! and pretend your family is young, Nor own your fathers have been fools so long. What can ennoble sots, or slaves, or cowards ? Alas ! not all the blood of all the Howards. Look next on greatness : say where greatness lies, Where, but among the heroes and the wise...
Page 168 - Csesar with a senate at his heels. In Parts superior what advantage lies? Tell (for You can) what is it to be wise? 'Tis but to know how little can be known; To see all others...
Page 167 - Is hung on high, to poison half mankind. All fame is foreign but of true desert, Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart : One...
Page 195 - Full many a gem of purest ray serene The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear : Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. Some village- Hampden, that, with dauntless breast, The little tyrant of his fields withstood, Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest, Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood. Th...