Readings in English Prose of the Eighteenth CenturyRaymond Macdonald Alden Houghton Mifflin, 1911 - 724 pages |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 86
Page 2
... actions magni- fied , as their evil actions covered . But King William , who has already won praise by the steps of dangerous virtue , seems re- served for some actions which are above the touch of 2 DANIEL DEFOE.
... actions magni- fied , as their evil actions covered . But King William , who has already won praise by the steps of dangerous virtue , seems re- served for some actions which are above the touch of 2 DANIEL DEFOE.
Page 3
Raymond Macdonald Alden. served for some actions which are above the touch of flattery , whose praise is in themselves . And such would this be ; and because I am speaking of a work which seems to be proper only for the hand of the King ...
Raymond Macdonald Alden. served for some actions which are above the touch of flattery , whose praise is in themselves . And such would this be ; and because I am speaking of a work which seems to be proper only for the hand of the King ...
Page 77
... actions , their discourses , and their writings . However , I know not how , whether from the affectation of sin- gularity , or the perverseness of human nature , but so it unhap- pily falls out , that I cannot be entirely of this ...
... actions , their discourses , and their writings . However , I know not how , whether from the affectation of sin- gularity , or the perverseness of human nature , but so it unhap- pily falls out , that I cannot be entirely of this ...
Page 78
... actions . To offer at the restor- ing of that , would indeed be a wild project ; it would be to dig up foundations ; to destroy , at one blow , all the wit , and half the learning , of the kingdom ; to break the entire frame and con ...
... actions . To offer at the restor- ing of that , would indeed be a wild project ; it would be to dig up foundations ; to destroy , at one blow , all the wit , and half the learning , of the kingdom ; to break the entire frame and con ...
Page 79
... action , a very high strain of absolute power . Little can be said in excuse for the general ; perhaps he was afraid it might give offense to the allies , among whom , for aught we know , it may be the cus- tom of the country to believe ...
... action , a very high strain of absolute power . Little can be said in excuse for the general ; perhaps he was afraid it might give offense to the allies , among whom , for aught we know , it may be the cus- tom of the country to believe ...
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Common terms and phrases
acquaintance admiration Æneid affected ancient appear Bargrave beauty believe called character Church Church of England COLLEY CIBBER consider Coriolanus cried criticism death Dryden Duke of Bedford edition endeavor England English entertainment essay eyes fancy genius gentleman give hand heart honor hope HORACE WALPOLE House of Hanover human Hylas idea Iliad imagination JAMES MACPHERSON Johnson kind king lady language learning Leslie Stephen letters live look Lord Lord Chesterfield mankind manner ment mind nation nature never observed occasion opinion passion perceived perhaps person Philonous pleasure poem poet poetry political Pope present pretend principles reader reason religion Samuel Johnson seems sense sensible sentiments Shakespeare spirit suppose taste tell things thou thought tion told Torman tragedy true truth Veal virtue Whig whole words writing
Popular passages
Page 588 - ... little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fallen upon her in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers. I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators, has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished for ever.
Page 636 - Is not a patron, my Lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help ? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind: but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it.
Page 545 - It was at Rome, on the 15th of October 1764, as I sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, while the barefooted friars were singing vespers in the temple of Jupiter,* that the idea of writing the decline and fall of the city first started to my mind.
Page 46 - Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night ; nor for the arrow that flieth by day ; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness ; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day.
Page 546 - It was on the day, or rather night, of the 27th of June 1787, between the hours of eleven and twelve, that I wrote the last lines of the last page in a summer-house in my garden.
Page 362 - Dictionary was written with little assistance of the learned, and without any patronage of the great; not in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academic bowers, but amidst inconvenience and distraction, in sickness and in sorrow...
Page 370 - Shakespeare is, above all writers, at least above all modern writers, the poet of nature; the poet that holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and of life. His characters are not modified by the customs of particular places, unpractised by the rest of the world; by the peculiarities of studies or professions, which can operate but upon small numbers; or by the accidents of transient fashions or temporary opinions: they are the genuine progeny of common humanity, such as the world will...
Page 46 - I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Page 193 - As I looked upon him he applied it to his lips, and began to play upon it. The sound of it was exceeding sweet, and wrought into a variety of tunes that were inexpressibly melodious, and altogether different from any thing I had ever heard. They put me in mind of those heavenly airs that are played to the departed souls of good men upon their first arrival in Paradise, to wear out the impressions of their last agonies, and qualify them for the pleasures of that happy place.
Page 406 - Of genius, that power which constitutes a poet; that quality without which judgment is cold, and knowledge is inert; that energy which collects, combines, amplifies, and animates; the superiority must, with some hesitation, be allowed to Dryden.