Critical and Historical Essays Contributed to the Edinburgh ReviewAlbert Mason, 1875 - 850 pages |
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Page 3
... tion Johnson has thought fit to make him the butt of much clumsy ridicule . The poet , we believe , understood the nature of his art better than the critic . He knew that his poetical genius de- rived no advantage from the civilisa ...
... tion Johnson has thought fit to make him the butt of much clumsy ridicule . The poet , we believe , understood the nature of his art better than the critic . He knew that his poetical genius de- rived no advantage from the civilisa ...
Page 7
... tion of the seven Argive chiefs , by the cessful performances . They resemble principles of dramatic writing , we shall those pasteboard pictures invented by instantly condemn them as monstrous . the friend of children , Mr. Newbery ...
... tion of the seven Argive chiefs , by the cessful performances . They resemble principles of dramatic writing , we shall those pasteboard pictures invented by instantly condemn them as monstrous . the friend of children , Mr. Newbery ...
Page 12
... tion seems to depend on the knowledge which he possesses that he holds the fate of his torturer in his hands , and that the hour of his release will surely come . But Satan is a creature of ano- ther sphere . The might of his intel ...
... tion seems to depend on the knowledge which he possesses that he holds the fate of his torturer in his hands , and that the hour of his release will surely come . But Satan is a creature of ano- ther sphere . The might of his intel ...
Page 14
... tion of an English fireside . His poetry reminds us of the miracles of Alpine to be expected from a man of a spirit Nooks and dells , beautiful so high and of an intellect so power- of the most He lived at one scenery . as fairy land ...
... tion of an English fireside . His poetry reminds us of the miracles of Alpine to be expected from a man of a spirit Nooks and dells , beautiful so high and of an intellect so power- of the most He lived at one scenery . as fairy land ...
Page 19
... tion ; and , after wine has been for a few months their daily fare , they be- come more temperate than they had ever been in their own country . In the same manner , the final and permanent fruits of liberty are wisdom , modera- tion ...
... tion ; and , after wine has been for a few months their daily fare , they be- come more temperate than they had ever been in their own country . In the same manner , the final and permanent fruits of liberty are wisdom , modera- tion ...
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Popular passages
Page 413 - Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend.
Page 413 - Yet even in the Old Testament, if you listen to David's harp, you shall hear as many hearse-like airs as carols; and the pencil of the Holy Ghost hath laboured more in describing the afflictions of Job than the felicities of Solomon.
Page 29 - But there are a few characters which have stood the closest scrutiny and the severest tests, which have been tried in the furnace and have proved pure, which have been weighed in the balance and have not been found wanting, which have been declared sterling by the general consent of mankind, and which are visibly stamped with the image and superscription of the Most High.
Page 19 - We censure him for having violated the articles of the Petition of Right, after having, for good and valuable consideration, promised to observe them; and we are informed that he was accustomed to hear prayers at six o'clock in the morning! It is to such considerations as these, together with his Vandyke dress, his handsome face, and his peaked beard, that he owes, we verily believe, most of his popularity with the present generation. For ourselves, we own that we do not understand the common phrase,...
Page 135 - Every reader knows the straight and narrow path as well as he knows a road in which he has gone backward and forward a hundred times. This is the highest miracle of genius, that things which are not should be as though they were, that the imaginations of one mind should become the personal recollections of another. And this miracle the tinker has wrought. There is no ascent, no declivity, no resting-place, no turnstile, with which we are not perfectly acquainted. The...
Page 543 - Nor do we see any sign which indicates that the term of her long dominion is approaching. She saw the commencement of all the governments and of all the ecclesiastical establishments that now exist in the world; and we feel no assurance that she is not destined to see the end of them all.
Page 20 - Such a spirit is Liberty. At times she takes the form of a hateful reptile. She grovels, she hisses, she stings. But woe to those who in disgust shall venture to crush her! And happy are those who, having dared to receive her in her degraded and frightful shape, shall at length be rewarded by her in the time of her beauty and her glory!
Page 389 - My conceit of his person was never increased toward him by his place, or honours : but I have and do reverence him, for the greatness that was only proper to himself, in that he seemed to me ever, by his work, one of the greatest men, and most worthy of admiration, that had been in many ages. In his adversity I ever prayed, that God would give him strength ; for greatness he could not want. Neither could I condole in a word or syllable for him, as knowing no accident could do harm to virtue, but...
Page 414 - We see in needleworks and embroideries, it is more pleasing to have a lively work upon a sad and solemn ground, than to have a dark and melancholy work upon a lightsome ground : judge, therefore, of the pleasure of the heart by the pleasure of the eye. - Certainly virtue is like precious odours, most fragrant where they are incensed or crushed : for prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue.
Page 186 - Sir, that is all visionary. I would not give half a guinea to live under one form of government rather than another. It is of no moment to the happiness of an individual. Sir, the danger of the abuse of power is nothing to a private man. What Frenchman is prevented passing his life as he pleases?' SIR ADAM: 'But, sir, in the British constitution it is surely of importance to keep up a spirit in the people, so as to preserve a balance against the Crown.