Critical and historical essays |
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Page 2
... scarcely conceive that any person could have read the Paradise Lost without suspecting him of the former ; nor do we think that any reader , acquainted with the history of his life , ought to be much startled at the latter . The ...
... scarcely conceive that any person could have read the Paradise Lost without suspecting him of the former ; nor do we think that any reader , acquainted with the history of his life , ought to be much startled at the latter . The ...
Page 4
... scarcely be able to conceive the effect which poetry produced on their rudet ancestors , the agony , the ecstasy , the plenitude of belief . The Greek Rhap- sodist , according to Plato , could scarce recite Homer without falling into ...
... scarcely be able to conceive the effect which poetry produced on their rudet ancestors , the agony , the ecstasy , the plenitude of belief . The Greek Rhap- sodist , according to Plato , could scarce recite Homer without falling into ...
Page 6
... scarcely any pas- sages in the poems of Milton are more generally known or more frequently repeated than those which are little more than muster - rolls of names . They are not always more appropriate or more melodious than other names ...
... scarcely any pas- sages in the poems of Milton are more generally known or more frequently repeated than those which are little more than muster - rolls of names . They are not always more appropriate or more melodious than other names ...
Page 8
... scarcely ever mentioned except as an instance of the blindness of the parental affection which men of letters bear towards the offspring of their intellects . That Milton was mistaken in preferring this work , excellent as it is , to ...
... scarcely ever mentioned except as an instance of the blindness of the parental affection which men of letters bear towards the offspring of their intellects . That Milton was mistaken in preferring this work , excellent as it is , to ...
Page 28
... scarcely tear ourselves away from the subject . The days immediately following the publication of this relic of Milton appear to be peculiarly set apart , and consecrated to his memory . And we shall scarcely be censured if , on this ...
... scarcely tear ourselves away from the subject . The days immediately following the publication of this relic of Milton appear to be peculiarly set apart , and consecrated to his memory . And we shall scarcely be censured if , on this ...
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absurd admiration appeared army authority Bacon believe Bengal Catholic century character Charles Christian Church Church of England Church of Rome Clive conduct Council Court Crown defend doctrines Dupleix eminent enemies England English Europe evil favour feeling France French Gladstone Hampden Hastings honour House of Bourbon House of Commons human hundred India interest judge King letters liberty lived Long Parliament Lord Lord Byron manner means ment mind minister moral Nabob nation nature never noble Novum Organum Nuncomar Omichund opinion Parliament party passed persecuted person philosophy Pitt poet poetry political Prince principles produced Protestant Protestantism reason reform reign religion religious respect Revolution Rome scarcely seems Sir James Mackintosh society Southey sovereign Spain spirit statesman strong talents temper Temple thing thought thousand tion took Tories truth Walpole Whigs whole writer
Popular passages
Page 538 - Antioch, when idols were still worshipped in the temple of Mecca. And she may still exist in undiminished vigour when some traveller from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's.
Page 21 - The difference between the greatest and the meanest of mankind seemed to vanish, when compared with the boundless interval which separated the whole race from him on whom their own eyes were constantly fixed.
Page 22 - Events which short-sighted politicians ascribed to earthly causes, had been ordained on his account. For his sake empires had risen, and flourished, and decayed. For his sake the Almighty had proclaimed his will by the pen of the Evangelist, and the harp of the prophet. He had been wrested by no common deliverer from the grasp of no common foe. He had been ransomed by the sweat of no vulgar agony, by the blood of no earthly sacrifice. It was for him that the sun had been darkened, that the rocks...
Page 351 - No man ever spoke more neatly, more pressly, more weightily, or suffered less emptiness, less idleness, in what he uttered. No member of his speech but consisted of his own graces. His hearers could not cough or look aside from him without loss. He commanded where he spoke, and had his judges angry and pleased at his devotion. No man had their affections more in his power. The fear of every man that heard him was lest he should make an end.
Page 184 - The style of Bunyan is delightful to every reader, and invaluable as a study to every person who wishes to obtain a wide command over the English language. The vocabulary is the vocabulary of the common people. There is not an expression, if we except a few technical terms of theology, which would puzzle the rudest peasant. We have observed several pages which do not contain a single word of more than two syllables. Yet no writer has said more exactly what he meant to say.
Page 396 - ... knots an hour against the wind. These are but a part of its fruits, and of its first fruits. For it is a philosophy which never rests, which has never attained, which is never perfect. Its law is progress. A point which yesterday was invisible is its goal to-day, and will be its starting-post to-morrow.
Page 511 - England by lofty halls and by the constant waving of fans. The number of the prisoners was one hundred and forty-six. When they were ordered to enter the cell, they imagined that the soldiers were joking ; and, being in high spirits on account of the promise of the Nabob to spare their lives, they laughed and jested at the absurdity of the notion. They soon discovered their mistake. They expostulated ; they entreated ; but in vain. The guards threatened to cut down all who hesitated. The captives...
Page 21 - The Puritans were men whose minds had derived a peculiar character from the daily contemplation of superior beings and eternal interests. Not content with acknowledging, in general terms, an overruling Providence, they habitually ascribed every event to the will of the Great Being for whose power nothing was too vast, for whose inspection nothing was too minute.
Page 4 - By poetry we mean the art of employing words in such a manner as to produce an illusion on the imagination, the art of doing by means of words what the painter does by means of colors.
Page 22 - If their names were not found in the registers of heralds, they were recorded in the Book of Life. If their steps were not accompanied by a splendid train of menials, legions of ministering angels had charge over them.