Elegant epistles: a copious selection of instructive, moral, and entertaining letters [selected by V. Knox].1812 |
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Page 21
... poem ; of which one rule generally re- ceived is , that the exordium should be simple , and should promise little . Begin your new course of life with the least show , and the least expense pos- sible ; you may at pleasure increase both ...
... poem ; of which one rule generally re- ceived is , that the exordium should be simple , and should promise little . Begin your new course of life with the least show , and the least expense pos- sible ; you may at pleasure increase both ...
Page 44
... poem , to expose to ridi- cule ( what is indeed ridiculous enough ) the child- ish prattlement of pastoral compositions , as if Ly- cidas was the prototype and pattern of them all . The liveliness of the description , the sweetness of ...
... poem , to expose to ridi- cule ( what is indeed ridiculous enough ) the child- ish prattlement of pastoral compositions , as if Ly- cidas was the prototype and pattern of them all . The liveliness of the description , the sweetness of ...
Page 47
... poets , and writers of essays . Mine is a harmless fluid , and guilty of no deceptions , but such as may prevail , without the least injury , to the person imposed on . I draw mountains , valleys , woods , and streams , and ducks , and ...
... poets , and writers of essays . Mine is a harmless fluid , and guilty of no deceptions , but such as may prevail , without the least injury , to the person imposed on . I draw mountains , valleys , woods , and streams , and ducks , and ...
Page 99
... poets . The General and I , having broken the ice , are upon the most comfortable terms of correspon- dence . He writes very affectionately to me , and I say every thing to him that comes uppermost . I could not write frequently to any ...
... poets . The General and I , having broken the ice , are upon the most comfortable terms of correspon- dence . He writes very affectionately to me , and I say every thing to him that comes uppermost . I could not write frequently to any ...
Page 119
... poem , and a poem with which I make no doubt the author took as much pains as with any he ever wrote . Making allow- ance ( and Dryden perhaps , in his " Absalom and Achitophel , " stands in need of the same indulgence ) for an ...
... poem , and a poem with which I make no doubt the author took as much pains as with any he ever wrote . Making allow- ance ( and Dryden perhaps , in his " Absalom and Achitophel , " stands in need of the same indulgence ) for an ...
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Common terms and phrases
acquaintance Adieu Æneid affection agreeable amuse ANNA SEWARD Anne's Hill appears attention Aulus Gellius beautiful believe BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER C. J. FOX character Cicero comfort DEAR FRIEND dear sir dearest cousin death delight EDWARD GIBBON elegant entertained expect favour feel friendship genius GIBBON give happy hear heart Homer honour hope hour human Iliad imagination JAMES MACPHERSON Johnson Julius Cæsar kind labour LADY HESKETH Lausanne least less LETTER Lichfield live lord Lucretius madam manner mean melancholy ment mention mind morning nature never obliged Olney Ovid perhaps person Pict pleased pleasure poem poet poetic poetry present reason received remember rusal sensible sent servant speak spirit suffered suppose sure taste tell ther thing thought Thurcaston tion truth UNWIN verse Virgil virtue WAKEFIELD WILLIAM COWPER wish write
Popular passages
Page 5 - I have been lately informed by the proprietor of ' The World,' that two papers, in which my ' Dictionary ' is recommended to the public, were written by your lordship. To be so distinguished, is an honour, which, being very little accustomed to favours from the great, I know not well how to receive, or in what terms to acknowledge. " When, upon some slight encouragement, I first visited your lordship, I was overpowered, like the rest of mankind, by the enchantment of your address, and...
Page 6 - I had done all that I could; and no man is well pleased to have his all neglected, be it ever so little. Seven years, my Lord, have now passed since I waited in your outward rooms or was repulsed from your door...
Page 23 - I was alarmed, and prayed God, that however he might afflict my body, he would spare my understanding. This prayer, that I might try the integrity of my faculties, I made in Latin verse. The lines were not very good, but I knew them not to be very good: I made them easily, and concluded myself to be unimpaired in my faculties.
Page 6 - 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. I hope it is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received, or to be unwilling that the public should consider me as owing that to a patron which Providence has enabled me to do for myself.
Page 6 - 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 5 - Dictionary is recommended to the public, were written by your lordship. To be so distinguished, is an honour, which, being very little accustomed to favours from the great, I know not well how to receive, or in what terms to acknowledge. When, upon some slight encouragement, I first visited your lordship, I was over-powered, like the rest of mankind, by the enchantment of your address, and could not forbear to wish that I might boast myself...
Page 23 - I put myself into violent motion, and I think repeated it; but all was vain. I then went to bed, and, strange as it may seem, I think slept. When I saw light, it was time to contrive what I should do. Though God stopped my speech, he left me my hand : I enjoyed a mercy which was not granted to my dear friend Lawrence, who now perhaps overlooks me as I am writing, and rejoices that I have what he wanted. My first note was necessarily to my servant, who came in talking, and could not immediately comprehend...
Page 5 - When upon some slight encouragement I first visited your Lordship, I was overpowered like the rest of mankind by the enchantment of your address, and could not forbear to wish that I might boast myself le vainqueur du vainqueur de la terre...
Page 48 - So long as I am pleased with an employment, I am capable of unwearied application, because my feelings are all of the intense kind. I never received a little pleasure from any thing in my life; if I am delighted, it is in the extreme.
Page 101 - ... either side of you, you shall see on the right hand a box of my making. It is the box in which have been lodged all my hares, and in which lodges Puss at present ; but he, poor fellow, is worn out with age, and promises to die before you can see him. On the right hand stands a cupboard, the work of the same author ; it was once a dove-cage, but I transformed it. Opposite to you stands a table, which I also made ; but a merciless servant having scrubbed it...