Works, Volume 10W. Durell, 1811 |
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Page 17
... fortune is wanting to make a great name , that single exception can never pass upon the best judges and most equita- ble observers of mankind ; and when the time comes for the world to spare their pity , we may justly enlarge our ...
... fortune is wanting to make a great name , that single exception can never pass upon the best judges and most equita- ble observers of mankind ; and when the time comes for the world to spare their pity , we may justly enlarge our ...
Page 23
... fortune of the stage , with the story of lady Jane Grey . It is not unlikely that his experience of the inefficacy and incredibility of a mythological tale might determine him to choose an action from the English history , at no great ...
... fortune of the stage , with the story of lady Jane Grey . It is not unlikely that his experience of the inefficacy and incredibility of a mythological tale might determine him to choose an action from the English history , at no great ...
Page 26
... fortune ; and wondered why he was suffered to be poor , when Addison was caressed and preferred ; nor would a very little have contented him ; for he estimated his wants at six hundrd pounds a year . In his course of reading , it was ...
... fortune ; and wondered why he was suffered to be poor , when Addison was caressed and preferred ; nor would a very little have contented him ; for he estimated his wants at six hundrd pounds a year . In his course of reading , it was ...
Page 32
... fortune . In 1688 , the same year in which he was madę mas- ter of arts , he published a confutation of Varillas's ac- count of Wickliffe ; and engaging in the study of the * This appears by his " Adversaria , " printed in his works ...
... fortune . In 1688 , the same year in which he was madę mas- ter of arts , he published a confutation of Varillas's ac- count of Wickliffe ; and engaging in the study of the * This appears by his " Adversaria , " printed in his works ...
Page 49
... fortune , which , however , was in no great need of improvement . Parnell , who did not want ambition or vanity , was de- sirous to make himself conspicuous , and to shew how worthy he was of high preferment . As he thought him- self ...
... fortune , which , however , was in no great need of improvement . Parnell , who did not want ambition or vanity , was de- sirous to make himself conspicuous , and to shew how worthy he was of high preferment . As he thought him- self ...
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Common terms and phrases
acquaintance Addison afterwards appeared battle of Ramillies Beggar's Opera Cato censure character Congreve considered contempt court criticism death declared delight diligence Dryden duke earl elegant endeavoured excellence favour fortune friends genius honour house of Hanover imagined Juba justly kind king William lady letter likewise lines lived lord Landsdown lord Tyrconnel mankind ment mentioned merit mind nature neglect ness never observed obtained occasion once opinion panegyric passion performance perhaps Pindaric play pleased pleasure poem poet poetical poetry Pope pounds praise present Prior published queen reason received regard remarkable Savage Savage's says seems seldom Sempronius sent shew shewn Siege of Damascus sir Robert Walpole solicited sometimes Spectator Spence Steele sufficient supposed Syphax Tatler Theophilus Cibber thought Tickell tion told tragedy Tyrconnel verses virtue whigs write written wrote
Popular passages
Page 130 - What he attempted, he performed ; he is never feeble, and he did not wish to be energetic ; he is never rapid, and he never stagnates. His sentences have neither studied amplitude, nor affected brevity ; his periods, though not diligently rounded, are voluble and easy. Whoever wishes to attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison, HUGHES.
Page 27 - He was of an advanced age, and I was only not a boy; yet he never received my notions with contempt. He was a Whig, with all the virulence and malevolence of his party; yet difference of opinion did not keep us apart. I honoured him, and he endured me. He had mingled with the gay world without exemption from its vices or its follies, but had never neglected the cultivation of his mind ; his belief of Revelation was unshaken ; his learning preserved his principles : he grew first regular, and then...
Page 176 - The cause of Congreve was not tenable: whatever glosses he might use for the defence or palliation of single passages, the general tenour and tendency of his plays must always be condemned. It is acknowledged, with universal conviction, that the perusal of his works will make no man better ; and that their ultimate effect is to represent pleasure in alliance with vice, and to relax those obligations by which life ought to be regulated.
Page 105 - ... truth. He has dissipated the prejudice that had long connected gaiety with vice, and easiness of manners with laxity of principles. He has restored virtue to its dignity, and taught innocence not to be ashamed. This is an elevation of literary character, " above all Greek, above all Roman fame.
Page 27 - 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 180 - Looking tranquillity ! it strikes an awe And terror on my aching sight ; the tombs And monumental caves of death look cold, And shoot a chillness to my trembling heart. Give me thy hand, and let me hear thy voice, Nay, quickly speak to me, and let me hear Thy voice — my own affrights me with its echoes.
Page 129 - outsteps the modesty of nature," nor raises merriment or wonder by the violation of truth. His figures neither divert by distortion nor amaze by aggravation. He copies life with so much fidelity that he can be hardly said to invent; yet his exhibitions have an air so much original, that it is difficult to suppose them not merely the product of imagination.
Page 127 - That general knowledge which now circulates in common talk, was in his time rarely to be found. Men not professing learning were not ashamed of ignorance ; and, in the female world, any acquaintance with books was distinguished only to be censured.
Page 83 - The irregularities in sir Roger's conduct seem not so much the effects of a mind deviating from the beaten track of life, by the perpetual pressure of some overwhelming idea, as of habitual rusticity, and that negligence which solitary grandeur naturally generates. The variable weather of the mind, the flying vapours of incipient madness, which from time to time cloud reason, without eclipsing it, it requires so much nicety to exhibit, that Addison seems to have been deterred from prosecuting his...
Page 103 - It is said that when Addison had suffered any vexation from the countess, he withdrew the company from Button's house. From the coffee-house he went again to a tavern, where he often sat late, and drank too much wine.