A Literary History of the Middle Ages: Comprehending an Account of the State of Learning from the Close of the Reign of Augustus to Its Revival in the Fifteenth Century

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G. Routledge, 1883 - 469 pages
 

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Page 442 - have now reigned above fifty years in victory or peace : beloved by " my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. " Riches and honours, power and pleasure, have waited on my call, " nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my " felicity. In this situation I have diligently numbered the days of " pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot : they amount " to FOURTEEN : — O man ! place not thy confidence in this present
Page iii - Literary History of the Middle Ages ; comprehending an Account of the State of Learning from the Close of the Reign of Augustus to its Revival in the Fifteenth Century.
Page 168 - III and was never indeed totally discontinued in England. The pleadings in the supreme courts of judicature were in French: The deeds were often drawn in the same language: The laws were composed in that idiom...
Page 46 - perfection in taste and style has no sooner been reached than it has been abandoned, even by those who not only professed the warmest, but felt the sincerest admiration for the models which they forsook. The style of Virgil and Horace in poetry, and that of Caesar and Cicero in prose, continued to be admired and applauded through all the succeeding ages of Roman eloquence, as the true standards of taste and eloquence in writing. Yet no one ever attempted to imitate them ; though there is no reason...
Page 272 - The diction of this poem is generally pure, the periods round, and the numbers harmonious ; and on the whole, the structure of the versification approaches nearly to that of polished Latin poetry.
Page 221 - I'd just as lief — be buried, tomb'd and grass'd in. Every one by nature hath — a gift too, a dotation : I, when I make verses, do get the inspiration Of the very best of wine — that comes into the nation : It maketh sermons to abound — for edification. Just as liquor floweth good — floweth forth my lay so : But I must moreover eat — or I could not say so ; Nought it availeth inwardly — should I write all day so But with God's grace after meat — I beat Ovidius Naso.
Page 412 - One hundred years after his flight from Mecca, the arms and the reign of his successors extended from India to the Atlantic Ocean, over the various and distant provinces, which may be comprised under the names of, I. Persia; II. Syria; III. Egypt; IV. Africa; and, V. Spain.
Page 271 - Papa stupor mundi ! si dixero Papa Nocenti, Acephalum nomen tribuam tibi, si caput addani, Hostis erit nomen metri ; tibi vult similar!.
Page 220 - MIHI est propositum in taberna mori ; Vinum sit appositum morientis ori, Ut dicant, cum venerint, angelorum chori, Deus sit propitius huic potatori.
Page 24 - The greater part of the audience which is collected upon these occasions seat themselves in the ante-chambers; spend the time of the recitation in talk and send in every now and then to inquire whether the author is come in, whether he has read the preface, or whether he has almost finished the piece.

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