The English Humorists of the Eighteenth Century

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Ginn and Company, 1911 - 285 pages
 

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Page 228 - At church, with meek and unaffected grace, His looks adorn'd the venerable place ; Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway, And fools, who came to scoff, remain'd to pray.
Page 78 - And nightly to the listening earth Repeats the story of her birth ; Whilst all the stars that round her burn, And all the planets in their turn, Confirm the tidings, as they roll And spread the truth from pole to pole.
Page 154 - And so obliging that he ne'er obliged; Like Cato, give his little senate laws, And sit attentive to his own applause ; While wits and templars every sentence raise, And wonder with a foolish face of praise— Who but must laugh if such a man there be ? Who would not weep, if Atticus were he ? What though my name stood rubric on the walls, Or plaster'd posts, with claps, in capitals ? Or smoking forth, a hundred hawkers...
Page 238 - Amidst these humble bowers to lay me down ; To husband out life's taper at the close, And keep the flame from wasting by repose ; I still had hopes, for pride attends us still, Amidst the swains to show my...
Page 238 - In all my wanderings round this world of care, In all my griefs — and God has given my share — I still had hopes my latest hours to crown, Amidst these humble bowers to lay me down; To husband out life's taper at the close, And keep the flame from wasting by repose.
Page 154 - Peace to all such! but were there one whose fires True genius kindles, and fair fame inspires; Blest with each talent, and each art to please, And born to write, converse, and live with ease; Should such a man, too fond to rule alone, Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne...
Page 112 - When I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind.
Page 125 - Yes, every poet is a fool ; By demonstration Ned can show it ; Happy could Ned's inverted rule Prove every fool to be a poet.
Page 24 - A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish...
Page 137 - We were all, at the first night of it, in great uncertainty of the event ; till we were very much encouraged by overhearing the Duke of Argyle, who sat in the next box to us, say, ' It will do — it must do ! I see it in the eyes of them.

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