Familiar Quotations A Collection Of Passages Phrases And Prover
Chapter 30
[385-2] Usually quoted "even tenor of their way."
[385-3] See Chaucer, page 3.
[386-1] See Walton, page 208.
[387-1] This was intended to be introduced in the "Alliance of Education and Government."--_Mason's edition of Gray, vol. iii. p. 114._
DAVID GARRICK. 1716-1779.
Corrupted freemen are the worst of slaves.
_Prologue to the Gamesters._
Their cause I plead,--plead it in heart and mind; A fellow-feeling makes one wondrous kind.[387-2]
_Prologue on Quitting the Stage in 1776._
Prologues like compliments are loss of time; 'T is penning bows and making legs in rhyme.
_Prologue to Crisp's Tragedy of Virginia._
Let others hail the rising sun: I bow to that whose course is run.[387-3]
_On the Death of Mr. Pelham._
This scholar, rake, Christian, dupe, gamester, and poet.
_Jupiter and Mercury._
Hearts of oak are our ships, Hearts of oak are our men.[388-1]
_Hearts of Oak._
Here lies James Quinn. Deign, reader, to be taught, Whate'er thy strength of body, force of thought, In Nature's happiest mould however cast, To this complexion thou must come at last.
_Epitaph on Quinn. Murphy's Life of Garrick, Vol. ii. p. 38._
Are these the choice dishes the Doctor has sent us? Is this the great poet whose works so content us? This Goldsmith's fine feast, who has written fine books? Heaven sends us good meat, but the Devil sends cooks?[388-2]
_Epigram on Goldsmith's Retaliation. Vol. ii. p. 157._
Here lies Nolly Goldsmith, for shortness called Noll, Who wrote like an angel, and talk'd like poor Poll.
_Impromptu Epitaph on Goldsmith._
FOOTNOTES:
[387-2] See Burton, page 185.
[387-3] Pompey bade Sylla recollect that more worshipped the rising than the setting sun.--PLUTARCH: _Life of Pompey._
[388-1] Our ships were British oak, And hearts of oak our men.
S. J. ARNOLD: _Death of Nelson._
[388-2] See Tusser, page 20.
WILLIAM B. RHODES. _Circa_ 1790.
Who dares this pair of boots displace, Must meet Bombastes face to face.[388-3]
_Bombastes Furioso. Act i. Sc. 4._
_Bom._ So have I heard on Afric's burning shore A hungry lion give a grievous roar; The grievous roar echoed along the shore.
_Artax._ So have I heard on Afric's burning shore Another lion give a grievous roar; And the first lion thought the last a bore.
_Bombastes Furioso. Act i. Sc. 4._
FOOTNOTES:
[388-3] Let none but he these arms displace, Who dares Orlando's fury face.
CERVANTES: _Don Quixote, part ii. chap. lxvi._
RAY: _Proverbs._ THOMAS: _English Prose Romance, page 85._
MRS. GREVILLE.[389-1] _Circa_ 1793.
Nor peace nor ease the heart can know Which, like the needle true, Turns at the touch of joy or woe, But turning, trembles too.
_A Prayer for Indifference._
FOOTNOTES:
[389-1] The pretty Fanny Macartney.--WALPOLE: _Memoirs._
HORACE WALPOLE. 1717-1797.
Harry Vane, Pulteney's toad-eater,
_Letter to Sir Horace Mann, 1742._
The world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those who feel.
_Letter to Sir Horace Mann, 1770._
A careless song, with a little nonsense in it now and then, does not misbecome a monarch.[389-2]
_Letter to Sir Horace Mann, 1774._
The whole [Scotch] nation hitherto has been void of wit and humour, and even incapable of relishing it.[389-3]
_Letter to Sir Horace Mann, 1778._
FOOTNOTES:
[389-2] A little nonsense now and then Is relished by the wisest men.
ANONYMOUS.
[389-3] It requires a surgical operation to get a joke well into a Scotch understanding.--SYDNEY SMITH: _Lady Holland's Memoir, vol i. p. 15._
WILLIAM COLLINS. 1720-1756.
In numbers warmly pure and sweetly strong.
_Ode to Simplicity._
Well may your hearts believe the truths I tell: 'T is virtue makes the bliss, where'er we dwell.[389-4]
_Oriental Eclogues. 1, Line 5._
How sleep the brave who sink to rest By all their country's wishes bless'd!
_Ode written in the year 1746._
By fairy hands their knell is rung;[389-5] By forms unseen their dirge is sung; There Honour comes, a pilgrim gray, To bless the turf that wraps their clay; And Freedom shall awhile repair, To dwell a weeping hermit there!
_Ode written in the year 1746._
When Music, heavenly maid, was young, While yet in early Greece she sung.
_The Passions. Line 1._
Fill'd with fury, rapt, inspired.
_The Passions. Line 10._
'T was sad by fits, by starts 't was wild.
_The Passions. Line 28._
In notes by distance made more sweet.[390-1]
_The Passions. Line 60._
In hollow murmurs died away.
_The Passions. Line 68._
O Music! sphere-descended maid, Friend of Pleasure, Wisdom's aid!
_The Passions. Line 95._
In yonder grave a Druid lies.
_Death of Thomson._
Too nicely Jonson knew the critic's part; Nature in him was almost lost in Art.
_To Sir Thomas Hammer on his Edition of Shakespeare._
Each lonely scene shall thee restore; For thee the tear be duly shed, Belov'd till life can charm no more, And mourn'd till Pity's self be dead.
_Dirge in Cymbeline._
FOOTNOTES:
[389-4] See Pope, page 320.
[389-5] _Var._ By hands unseen the knell is rung; By fairy forms their dirge is sung.
[390-1] Sweetest melodies Are those that are by distance made more sweet.
WORDSWORTH: _Personal Talk, stanza 2._
JAMES MERRICK. 1720-1769.
Not what we wish, but what we want, Oh, let thy grace supply![390-2]
_Hymn._
Oft has it been my lot to mark A proud, conceited, talking spark.
_The Chameleon._
FOOTNOTES:
[390-2] Me moi genoith' a boulom' all' a sympherei (Let not that happen which I wish, but that which is right).--MENANDER: _Fragment._
SAMUEL FOOTE. 1720-1777.
He made him a hut, wherein he did put The carcass of Robinson Crusoe. O poor Robinson Crusoe!
_The Mayor of Garratt. Act i. Sc. 1._
Born in a cellar, and living in a garret.[391-1]
_The Author. Act ii._
FOOTNOTES:
[391-1] See Congreve, page 294.
Born in the garret, in the kitchen bred.--BYRON: _A Sketch._
JAMES FORDYCE. 1720-1796.
Henceforth the majesty of God revere; Fear Him, and you have nothing else to fear.[391-2]
_Answer to a Gentleman who apologized to the Author for Swearing._
FOOTNOTES:
[391-2] Je crains Dieu, cher Abner, et n'ai point d'autre crainte (I fear God, dear Abner, and I have no other fear).--RACINE: _Athalie, act i. sc. 1_ (1639-1699).
From Piety, whose soul sincere Fears God, and knows no other fear.
W. SMYTH: _Ode for the Installation of the Duke of Gloucester as Chancellor of Cambridge._
MARK AKENSIDE. 1721-1770.
Such and so various are the tastes of men.
_Pleasures of the Imagination. Book iii. Line 567._
Than Timoleon's arms require, And Tully's curule chair, and Milton's golden lyre.
_Ode. On a Sermon against Glory. Stanza ii._
The man forget not, though in rags he lies, And know the mortal through a crown's disguise.
_Epistle to Curio._
Seeks painted trifles and fantastic toys, And eagerly pursues imaginary joys.
_The Virtuoso. Stanza x._
TOBIAS SMOLLETT. 1721-1771.
Thy spirit, Independence, let me share; Lord of the lion heart and eagle eye, Thy steps I follow with my bosom bare, Nor heed the storm that howls along the sky.
_Ode to Independence._
Thy fatal shafts unerring move, I bow before thine altar, Love!
_Roderick Random. Chap. xl._
Facts are stubborn things.[392-1]
_Translation of Gil Blas. Book x. Chap. 1._
FOOTNOTES:
[392-1] Facts are stubborn things.--ELLIOT: _Essay on Field Husbandry, p. 35_ (1747).
SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTONE. 1723-1780.
The royal navy of England hath ever been its greatest defence and ornament; it is its ancient and natural strength,--the floating bulwark of our island.
_Commentaries. Vol. i. Book i. Chap. xiii. Sec. 418._
Time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary.
_Commentaries. Vol. i. Book i. Chap. xviii. Sec. 472._
JOHN HOME. 1724-1808.
In the first days Of my distracting grief, I found myself As women wish to be who love their lords.
_Douglas. Act i. Sc. 1._
I 'll woo her as the lion wooes his brides.
_Douglas. Act i. Sc. 1._
My name is Norval; on the Grampian hills My father feeds his flocks; a frugal swain, Whose constant cares were to increase his store, And keep his only son, myself, at home.
_Douglas. Act ii. Sc. 1._
A rude and boisterous captain of the sea.
_Douglas. Act iv. Sc. 1._
Like Douglas conquer, or like Douglas die.
_Douglas. Act v. Sc. 1._
WILLIAM MASON. 1725-1797.
The fattest hog in Epicurus' sty.[393-1]
_Heroic Epistle._
FOOTNOTES:
[393-1] Me pinguem et nitidum bene curata cute vises, . . . Epicuri de grege porcum
(You may see me, fat and shining, with well-cared for hide,-- . . . a hog from Epicurus' herd).--HORACE: _Epistolae, lib. i. iv. 15, 16._
RICHARD GIFFORD. 1725-1807.
Verse sweetens toil, however rude the sound; She feels no biting pang the while she sings; Nor, as she turns the giddy wheel around,[393-2] Revolves the sad vicissitudes of things.[393-3]
_Contemplation._
FOOTNOTES:
[393-2] Thus altered by Johnson,--
All at her work the village maiden sings, Nor, while she turns the giddy wheel around.
[393-3] See Sterne, page 379.
ARTHUR MURPHY. 1727-1805.
Thus far we run before the wind.
_The Apprentice. Act v. Sc. 1._
Above the vulgar flight of common souls.
_Zenobia. Act v._
Picked up his crumbs.
_The Upholsterer. Act i._
JANE ELLIOTT. 1727-1805.
The flowers of the forest are a' wide awae.[393-4]
_The Flowers of the Forest._
FOOTNOTES:
[393-4] This line appears in the "Flowers of the Forest," part second, a later poem by Mrs. Cockburn. See Dyce's "Specimens of British Poetesses," p. 374.
OLIVER GOLDSMITH. 1728-1774.
Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow, Or by the lazy Scheld or wandering Po.
_The Traveller. Line 1._
Where'er I roam, whatever realms to see, My heart untravell'd fondly turns to thee; Still to my brother turns with ceaseless pain, And drags at each remove a lengthening chain.
_The Traveller. Line 7._
And learn the luxury of doing good.[394-1]
_The Traveller. Line 22._
Some fleeting good, that mocks me with the view.
_The Traveller. Line 26._
These little things are great to little man.
_The Traveller. Line 42._
Creation's heir, the world, the world is mine!
_The Traveller. Line 50._
Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam,-- His first, best country ever is at home.
_The Traveller. Line 73._
Where wealth and freedom reign contentment fails, And honour sinks where commerce long prevails.
_The Traveller. Line 91._
Man seems the only growth that dwindles here.
_The Traveller. Line 126._
The canvas glow'd beyond ev'n Nature warm, The pregnant quarry teem'd with human form.[394-2]
_The Traveller. Line 137._
By sports like these are all their cares beguil'd; The sports of children satisfy the child.
_The Traveller. Line 153._
But winter lingering chills the lap of May.
_The Traveller. Line 172._
Cheerful at morn, he wakes from short repose, Breasts the keen air, and carols as he goes.
_The Traveller. Line 185._
So the loud torrent and the whirlwind's roar But bind him to his native mountains more.
_The Traveller. Line 217._
Alike all ages. Dames of ancient days Have led their children through the mirthful maze, And the gay grandsire, skill'd in gestic lore, Has frisk'd beneath the burden of threescore.
_The Traveller. Line 251._
They please, are pleas'd; they give to get esteem, Till seeming blest, they grow to what they seem.[395-1]
_The Traveller. Line 266._
Embosom'd in the deep where Holland lies. Methinks her patient sons before me stand, Where the broad ocean leans against the land.
_The Traveller. Line 282._
Pride in their port, defiance in their eye, I see the lords of humankind pass by.[395-2]
_The Traveller. Line 327._
The land of scholars and the nurse of arms.
_The Traveller. Line 356._
For just experience tells, in every soil, That those that think must govern those that toil.
_The Traveller. Line 372._
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
_The Traveller. Line 386._
Forc'd from their homes, a melancholy train, To traverse climes beyond the western main; Where wild Oswego spreads her swamps around, And Niagara stuns with thundering sound.
_The Traveller. Line 409._
Vain, very vain, my weary search to find That bliss which only centres in the mind.
_The Traveller. Line 423._
Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel.[395-3]
_The Traveller. Line 436._
Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain.
_The Deserted Village. Line 1._
The hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade, For talking age and whispering lovers made.
_The Deserted Village. Line 13._
The bashful virgin's sidelong looks of love.
_The Deserted Village. Line 29._
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates, and men decay. Princes and lords may flourish or may fade,-- A breath can make them, as a breath has made;[396-1] But a bold peasantry, their country's pride, When once destroy'd, can never be supplied.
_The Deserted Village. Line 51._
His best companions, innocence and health; And his best riches, ignorance of wealth.
_The Deserted Village. Line 61._
How blest is he who crowns in shades like these A youth of labour with an age of ease!
_The Deserted Village. Line 99._
While Resignation gently slopes away, And all his prospects brightening to the last, His heaven commences ere the world be past.
_The Deserted Village. Line 110._
The watch-dog's voice that bay'd the whispering wind, And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind.
_The Deserted Village. Line 121._
A man he was to all the country dear, And passing rich with forty pounds a year.
_The Deserted Village. Line 141._
Wept o'er his wounds, or tales of sorrow done, Shoulder'd his crutch, and shew'd how fields were won.
_The Deserted Village. Line 157._
Careless their merits or their faults to scan, His pity gave ere charity began. Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride, And even his failings lean'd to Virtue's side.
_The Deserted Village. Line 161._
And as a bird each fond endearment tries To tempt its new-fledg'd offspring to the skies, He tried each art, reprov'd each dull delay, Allur'd to brighter worlds, and led the way.
_The Deserted Village. Line 167._
Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway, And fools who came to scoff, remain'd to pray.[397-1]
_The Deserted Village. Line 179._
Even children follow'd with endearing wile, And pluck'd his gown, to share the good man's smile.
_The Deserted Village. Line 183._
As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,-- Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head.
_The Deserted Village. Line 189._
Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace The day's disasters in his morning face; Full well they laugh'd with counterfeited glee At all his jokes, for many a joke had he; Full well the busy whisper circling round Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frown'd. Yet was he kind, or if severe in aught, The love he bore to learning was in fault; The village all declar'd how much he knew, 'T was certain he could write and cipher too.
_The Deserted Village. Line 199._
In arguing too, the parson own'd his skill, For e'en though vanquish'd he could argue still; While words of learned length and thundering sound Amaz'd the gazing rustics rang'd around; And still they gaz'd, and still the wonder grew That one small head could carry all he knew.
_The Deserted Village. Line 209._
Where village statesmen talk'd with looks profound, And news much older than their ale went round.
_The Deserted Village. Line 223._
The whitewash'd wall, the nicely sanded floor, The varnish'd clock that click'd behind the door; The chest, contriv'd a double debt to pay,-- A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day.[397-2]
_The Deserted Village. Line 227._
The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose.[398-1]
_The Deserted Village. Line 232._
To me more dear, congenial to my heart, One native charm, than all the gloss of art.
_The Deserted Village. Line 253._
And e'en while fashion's brightest arts decoy, The heart distrusting asks if this be joy.
_The Deserted Village. Line 263._
Her modest looks the cottage might adorn, Sweet as the primrose peeps beneath the thorn.
_The Deserted Village. Line 329._
Through torrid tracts with fainting steps they go, Where wild Altama murmurs to their woe.
_The Deserted Village. Line 344._
In all the silent manliness of grief.
_The Deserted Village. Line 384._
O Luxury! thou curst by Heaven's decree!
_The Deserted Village. Line 385._
Thou source of all my bliss and all my woe, That found'st me poor at first, and keep'st me so.
_The Deserted Village. Line 413._
Such dainties to them, their health it might hurt; It 's like sending them ruffles when wanting a shirt.[398-2]
_The Haunch of Venison._
As aromatic plants bestow No spicy fragrance while they grow; But crush'd or trodden to the ground, Diffuse their balmy sweets around.[398-3]
_The Captivity. Act i._
To the last moment of his breath, On hope the wretch relies; And even the pang preceding death Bids expectation rise.[398-4]
_The Captivity. Act ii._
Hope, like the gleaming taper's light, Adorns and cheers our way;[399-1] And still, as darker grows the night, Emits a brighter ray.
_The Captivity. Act ii._
Our Garrick 's a salad; for in him we see Oil, vinegar, sugar, and saltness agree!
_Retaliation. Line 11._
Who mix'd reason with pleasure, and wisdom with mirth: If he had any faults, he has left us in doubt.
_Retaliation. Line 24._
Who, born for the universe, narrow'd his mind, And to party gave up what was meant for mankind; Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat To persuade Tommy Townshend to lend him a vote. Who too deep for his hearers still went on refining, And thought of convincing while they thought of dining: Though equal to all things, for all things unfit; Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit.
_Retaliation. Line 31._
His conduct still right, with his argument wrong.
_Retaliation. Line 46._
A flattering painter, who made it his care To draw men as they ought to be, not as they are.
_Retaliation. Line 63._
Here lies David Garrick, describe me who can, An abridgment of all that was pleasant in man.
_Retaliation. Line 93._
As a wit, if not first, in the very first line.
_Retaliation. Line 96._
On the stage he was natural, simple, affecting; 'T was only that when he was off he was acting.
_Retaliation. Line 101._
He cast off his friends as a huntsman his pack, For he knew when he pleas'd he could whistle them back.
_Retaliation. Line 107._
Who pepper'd the highest was surest to please.
_Retaliation. Line 112._
When they talk'd of their Raphaels, Correggios, and stuff, He shifted his trumpet and only took snuff.
_Retaliation. Line 145._
The best-humour'd man, with the worst-humour'd Muse.[400-1]
_Postscript._
Good people all, with one accord, Lament for Madam Blaize, Who never wanted a good word From those who spoke her praise.
_Elegy on Mrs. Mary Blaize._[400-2]
The king himself has followed her When she has walk'd before.
_Elegy on Mrs. Mary Blaize._
A kind and gentle heart he had, To comfort friends and foes; The naked every day he clad When he put on his clothes.
_Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog._
And in that town a dog was found, As many dogs there be, Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound, And curs of low degree.
_Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog._
The dog, to gain his private ends, Went mad, and bit the man.
_Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog._
The man recovered of the bite, The dog it was that died.[400-3]
_Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog._
A night-cap deck'd his brows instead of bay,-- A cap by night, a stocking all the day.[401-1]
_Description of an Author's Bed-chamber._
This same philosophy is a good horse in the stable, but an arrant jade on a journey.[401-2]
_The Good-Natured Man. Act i._
All his faults are such that one loves him still the better for them.
_The Good-Natured Man. Act i._
Silence gives consent.[401-3]
_The Good-Natured Man. Act ii._
Measures, not men, have always been my mark.[401-4]
_The Good-Natured Man. Act ii._
I love everything that 's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine.[401-5]
_She Stoops to Conquer. Act i._
The very pink of perfection.
_She Stoops to Conquer. Act i._
The genteel thing is the genteel thing any time, if as be that a gentleman bees in a concatenation accordingly.
_She Stoops to Conquer. Act i._
I 'll be with you in the squeezing of a lemon.
_She Stoops to Conquer. Act i._
Ask me no questions, and I 'll tell you no fibs.
_She Stoops to Conquer. Act iii._
We sometimes had those little rubs which Providence sends to enhance the value of its favours.
_Vicar of Wakefield. Chap. i._
Handsome is that handsome does.[401-6]
_Vicar of Wakefield. Chap. i._
The premises being thus settled, I proceed to observe that the concatenation of self-existence, proceeding in a reciprocal duplicate ratio, naturally produces a problematical dialogism, which in some measure proves that the essence of spirituality may be referred to the second predicable.
_Vicar of Wakefield. Chap. vii._
I find you want me to furnish you with argument and intellect too.
_Vicar of Wakefield. Chap. vii._
Turn, gentle Hermit of the Dale, And guide my lonely way To where yon taper cheers the vale With hospitable ray.
_The Hermit. Chap. viii. Stanza 1._
Taught by that Power that pities me, I learn to pity them.[402-1]
_The Hermit. Chap. viii. Stanza 6._
Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long.[402-2]
_The Hermit. Chap. viii. Stanza 8._
And what is friendship but a name, A charm that lulls to sleep, A shade that follows wealth or fame, And leaves the wretch to weep?
_The Hermit. Chap. viii. Stanza 19._
The sigh that rends thy constant heart Shall break thy Edwin's too.
_The Hermit. Chap. viii. Stanza 33._
By the living jingo, she was all of a muck of sweat.
_The Hermit. Chap. ix._
They would talk of nothing but high life, and high-lived company, with other fashionable topics, such as pictures, taste, Shakespeare, and the musical glasses.
_The Hermit. Chap. ix._
It has been a thousand times observed, and I must observe it once more, that the hours we pass with happy prospects in view are more pleasing than those crowned with fruition.[402-3]
_The Hermit. Chap. x._
To what happy accident[402-4] is it that we owe so unexpected a visit?
_The Hermit. Chap. xix._
When lovely woman stoops to folly, And finds too late that men betray, What charm can soothe her melancholy? What art can wash her guilt away?
_The Hermit. On Woman. Chap. xxiv._
The only art her guilt to cover, To hide her shame from every eye, To give repentance to her lover, And wring his bosom, is--to die.
_The Hermit. On Woman. Chap. xxiv._
To what fortuitous occurrence do we not owe every pleasure and convenience of our lives.
_The Hermit. On Woman. Chap. xxi._
For he who fights and runs away May live to fight another day; But he who is in battle slain Can never rise and fight again.[403-1]
_The Art of Poetry on a New Plan_ (1761). _Vol. ii. p. 147._
One writer, for instance, excels at a plan or a title-page, another works away the body of the book, and a third is a dab at an index.[403-2]
_The Bee. No. 1, Oct. 6, 1759._
The true use of speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them.[403-3]
_The Bee. No. iii. Oct. 20, 1759._
FOOTNOTES:
[394-1] See Garth, page 295.
CRABBE: _Tales of the Hall, book iii._ GRAVES: _The Epicure._
[394-2] See Pope, page 329.
[395-1] The character of the French.
[395-2] See Dryden, page 277.
[395-3] When Davies asked for an explanation of "Luke's iron crown," Goldsmith referred him to a book called "Geographie Curieuse," and added that by "Damien's bed of steel" he meant the rack.--GRANGER: _Letters_, (1805), _p. 52._
[396-1] See Pope, page 329.
C'est un verre qui luit, Qu'un souffle peut detruire, et qu'un souffle a produit
(It is a shining glass, which a breath may destroy, and which a breath has produced).--DE CAUX (comparing the world to his hour-glass).
[397-1] See Dryden, page 269.
[397-2] A cap by night, a stocking all the day--GOLDSMITH: _A Description of an Author's Bed-Chamber._
[398-1] The twelve good rules were ascribed to King Charles I.: 1. Urge no healths. 2. Profane no divine ordinances. 3. Touch no state matters. 4. Reveal no secrets. 5. Pick no quarrels. 6. Make no comparisons. 7. Maintain no ill opinions. 8. Keep no bad company. 9. Encourage no vice. 10. Make no long meals. 11. Repeat no grievances. 12. Lay no wagers.
[398-2] See Tom Brown, page 286.
[398-3] See Bacon, page 165.
[398-4] The wretch condemn'd with life to part Still, still on hope relies; And every pang that rends the heart Bid expectation rise.
_Original MS._
[399-1] Hope, like the taper's gleamy light, Adorns the wretch's way.
_Original MS._
[400-1] See Rochester, page 279.
[400-2] Written in imitation of "Chanson sur le fameux La Palisse," which is attributed to Bernard de la Monnoye:--
On dit que dans ses amours Il fut caresse des belles, Qui le suivirent toujours, Tant qu'il marcha devant elles
(They say that in his love affairs he was petted by beauties, who always followed him as long as he walked before them).
[400-3] While Fell was reposing himself in the hay, A reptile concealed bit his leg as he lay; But, all venom himself, of the wound he made light, And got well, while the scorpion died of the bite.
LESSING: _Paraphrase of a Greek Epigram by Demodocus._
[401-1] See page 397.
[401-2] Philosophy triumphs easily over past evils and future evils, but present evils triumph over it.--ROCHEFOUCAULD: _Maxim 22._
[401-3] RAY: _Proverbs._ FULLER: _Wise Sentences._ Auto de to sigan omologountos esti sou.--EURIPIDES: _Iph. Aul., 1142._
[401-4] Measures, not men.--CHESTERFIELD: _Letter, Mar. 6, 1742._ Not men, but measures.--BURKE: _Present Discontents._
[401-5] See Bacon, page 171.
[401-6] See Chaucer, page 4.
[402-1] See Burton, page 185.
[402-2] See Young, page 308.
[402-3] An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit.--PLINY THE YOUNGER: _Letters, book ii. letter xv. 1._
[402-4] See Middleton, page 174.
[403-1] See Butler, pages 215, 216.
[403-2] There are two things which I am confident I can do very well: one is an introduction to any literary work, stating what it is to contain, and how it should be executed in the most perfect manner.
BOSWELL: _Life of Johnson, An. 1775._
[403-3] See Young, page 310.
THOMAS WARTON. 1728-1790.
All human race, from China to Peru,[403-4] Pleasure, howe'er disguis'd by art, pursue.
_Universal Love of Pleasure._
Nor rough, nor barren, are the winding ways Of hoar antiquity, but strewn with flowers.
_Written on a Blank Leaf of Dugdale's Monasticon._
FOOTNOTES:
[403-4] See Johnson, page 365.
THOMAS PERCY. 1728-1811.
Every white will have its blacke, And every sweet its soure.
_Reliques of Ancient Poetry. Sir Cauline._
Late, late yestreen I saw the new moone, Wi' the auld moon in hir arme.[404-1]
_Sir Patrick Spens._
He that had neyther been kith nor kin Might have seen a full fayre sight.
_Guy of Gisborne._
Have you not heard these many years ago Jeptha was judge of Israel? He had one only daughter and no mo, The which he loved passing well; And as by lott, God wot, It so came to pass, As God's will was.[404-2]
_Jepthah, Judge of Israel._
A Robyn, Jolly Robyn, Tell me how thy leman does.[404-3]
_A Robyn, Jolly Robyn._
Where gripinge grefes the hart wounde, And dolefulle dumps the mynde oppresse, There music with her silver sound[404-4] With spede is wont to send redresse.
_A Song to the Lute in Musicke._
The blinded boy that shootes so trim, From heaven downe did hie.[405-1]
_King Cophetua and the Beggar-maid._
"What is thy name, faire maid?" quoth he. "Penelophon, O King!" quoth she.[405-2]
_King Cophetua and the Beggar-maid._
And how should I know your true love From many another one? Oh, by his cockle hat and staff, And by his sandal shoone.
_The Friar of Orders Gray._
O Lady, he is dead and gone! Lady, he 's dead and gone! And at his head a green grass turfe, And at his heels a stone.[405-3]
_The Friar of Orders Gray._
Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more! Men were deceivers ever; One foot in sea and one on shore, To one thing constant never.[405-4]
_The Friar of Orders Gray._
Weep no more, lady, weep no more, Thy sorrowe is in vaine; For violets pluckt, the sweetest showers Will ne'er make grow againe.[405-5]
_The Friar of Orders Gray._
He that would not when he might, He shall not when he wolda.[405-6]
_The Friar of Orders Gray._
We 'll shine in more substantial honours, And to be noble we 'll be good.[406-1]
_Winifreda_ (1720).
And when with envy Time, transported, Shall think to rob us of our joys, You 'll in your girls again be courted, And I 'll go wooing in my boys.
_Winifreda_ (1720).
King Stephen was a worthy peere, His breeches cost him but a croune; He held them sixpence all too deere, Therefore he call'd the taylor loune.
He was a wight of high renowne, And those but of a low degree; Itt 's pride that putts the countrye doune, Then take thine old cloake about thee.[406-2]
_Take thy old Cloak about Thee._
A poore soule sat sighing under a sycamore tree; Oh willow, willow, willow! With his hand on his bosom, his head on his knee, Oh willow, willow, willow![406-3]
_Willow, willow, willow._
When Arthur first in court began, And was approved king.[406-4]
_Sir Launcelot du Lake._
Shall I bid her goe? What if I doe? Shall I bid her goe and spare not? Oh no, no, no! I dare not.[406-5]
_Corydon's Farewell to Phillis._
But in vayne shee did conjure him To depart her presence soe; Having a thousand tongues to allure him, And but one to bid him goe.
_Dulcina._
FOOTNOTES:
[404-1] I saw the new moon late yestreen, Wi' the auld moon in her arm.
_From Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border._
[404-2] "As by lot, God wot;" and then you know, "It came to pass, as most like it was."--SHAKESPEARE: _Hamlet, act ii. sc. 2._
[404-3] Hey, Robin, Jolly Robin, Tell me how thy lady does.
SHAKESPEARE: _Twelfth Night, act iv. sc. 2._
[404-4] When griping grief heart doth wound, And doleful dumps the mind oppress, Then music with her silver sound.
SHAKESPEARE: _Romeo and Juliet, act iv. sc. 5._
[405-1] Young Adam Cupid, he that shot so trim, When King Cophetua loved the beggar-maid!
SHAKESPEARE: _Romeo and Juliet, act ii. sc. 1._
[405-2] Shakespeare, who alludes to this ballad in "Love's Labour's Lost," act iv. sc. 1, gives the beggar's name Zenelophon. The story of the king and the beggar is also alluded to in "King Richard II.," act v. sc. 3.
[405-3] Quoted in "Hamlet," act iv. sc. 3.
[405-4] See Shakespeare, page 51.
[405-5] See John Fletcher, page 183.
[405-6] See Heywood, page 9.
He that will not when he may, When he would, he should have nay.
CERVANTES: _Don Quixote, part i. book iii. chap. iv._
[406-1] See Chapman, page 37.
Nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus (Nobility is the one only virtue).--JUVENAL: _Satire viii. line 20._
[406-2] The first stanza is quoted in full, and the last line of the second, by Shakespeare in "Othello," act ii. sc. 3.
[406-3] The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree, Sing all a green willow; Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee, Sing willow, willow, willow.
_Othello, act iv. sc. 3._
[406-4] Quoted by Shakespeare in Second Part of "Henry IV.," act ii. sc. 4.
[406-5] Quoted by Shakespeare in "Twelfth Night," act ii. sc. 3.
EDMUND BURKE. 1729-1797.
The writers against religion, whilst they oppose every system, are wisely careful never to set up any of their own.
_A Vindication of Natural Society._[407-1] _Preface, vol. i. p. 7._
"War," says Machiavel, "ought to be the only study of a prince;" and by a prince he means every sort of state, however constituted. "He ought," says this great political doctor, "to consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes ability to execute military plans." A meditation on the conduct of political societies made old Hobbes imagine that war was the state of nature.
_A Vindication of Natural Society. Vol. i. p. 15._
I am convinced that we have a degree of delight, and that no small one, in the real misfortunes and pains of others.[407-2]
_On the Sublime and Beautiful. Sect. xiv. vol. 1. p. 118._
Custom reconciles us to everything.
_On the Sublime and Beautiful. Sect. xviii. vol. i. p. 231._
There is, however, a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue.
_Observations on a Late Publication on the Present State of the Nation. Vol. i. p. 273._
The wisdom of our ancestors.[407-3]
_Observations on a Late Publication on the Present State of the Nation. Vol. i. p. 516. Also in the Discussion on the Traitorous Correspondence Bill, 1793._
Illustrious predecessor.[408-1]
_Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents. Vol. i. p. 456._
In such a strait the wisest may well be perplexed and the boldest staggered.
_Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents. Vol. i. p. 516._
When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
_Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents. Vol. i. p. 526._
Of this stamp is the cant of, Not men, but measures.[408-2]
_Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents. Vol. i. p. 531._
The concessions of the weak are the concessions of fear.
_Speech on the Conciliation of America. Vol. ii. p. 108._
There is America, which at this day serves for little more than to amuse you with stories of savage men and uncouth manners, yet shall, before you taste of death, show itself equal to the whole of that commerce which now attracts the envy of the world.
_Speech on the Conciliation of America. Vol. ii. p. 115._
Fiction lags after truth, invention is unfruitful, and imagination cold and barren.
_Speech on the Conciliation of America. Vol. ii. p. 116._
A people who are still, as it were, but in the gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone of manhood.
_Speech on the Conciliation of America. Vol. ii. p. 117._
A wise and salutary neglect.
_Speech on the Conciliation of America. Vol. ii. p. 117._
My vigour relents,--I pardon something to the spirit of liberty.
_Speech on the Conciliation of America. Vol. ii. p. 118._
The religion most prevalent in our northern colonies is a refinement on the principles of resistance: it is the dissidence of dissent, and the protestantism of the Protestant religion.
_Speech on the Conciliation of America. Vol. ii. p. 123._
I do not know the method of drawing up an indictment against a whole people.
_Speech on the Conciliation of America. Vol. ii. p. 136._
The march of the human mind is slow.[408-3]
_Speech on the Conciliation of America. Vol. ii. p. 149._
All government,--indeed, every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act,--is founded on compromise and barter.
_Speech on the Conciliation of America. Vol. ii. p. 169._
The worthy gentleman who has been snatched from us at the moment of the election, and in the middle of the contest, whilst his desires were as warm and his hopes as eager as ours, has feelingly told us what shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue.
_Speech at Bristol on Declining the Poll. Vol. ii. p. 420._
They made and recorded a sort of institute and digest of anarchy, called the Rights of Man.
_On the Army Estimates. Vol iii. p. 221._
People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.
_Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 274._
You had that action and counteraction which, in the natural and in the political world, from the reciprocal struggle of discordant powers draws out the harmony of the universe.[409-1]
_Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 277._
It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the Queen of France, then the Dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she just began to move in,--glittering like the morning star full of life and splendour and joy. . . . 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 honour 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.
_Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 331._
The unbought grace of life, the cheap defence of nations, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise is gone.
_Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 331._
That chastity of honour which felt a stain like a wound.
_Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 332._
Vice itself lost half its evil by losing all its grossness.
_Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 332._
Kings will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels from principle.
_Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 334._
Learning will be cast into the mire and trodden down under the hoofs of a swinish multitude.[410-1]
_Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 335._
Because half-a-dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the field ring with their importunate chink, whilst thousands of great cattle, reposed beneath the shadow of the British oak, chew the cud and are silent, pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field; that of course they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little shrivelled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome insects of the hour.
_Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 344._
In their nomination to office they will not appoint to the exercise of authority as to a pitiful job, but as to a holy function.
_Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 356._
The men of England,--the men, I mean, of light and leading in England.
_Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 365._
He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.
_Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 453._
To execute laws is a royal office; to execute orders is not to be a king. However, a political executive magistracy, though merely such, is a great trust.[411-1]
_Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 497._
You can never plan the future by the past.[411-2]
_Letter to a Member of the National Assembly. Vol. iv. p. 55._
The cold neutrality of an impartial judge.
_Preface to Brissot's Address. Vol. v. p. 67._
And having looked to Government for bread, on the very first scarcity they will turn and bite the hand that fed them.[411-3]
_Thoughts and Details on Scarcity. Vol. v. p. 156._
All men that are ruined, are ruined on the side of their natural propensities.
_Letter i. On a Regicide Peace. Vol. v. p. 286._
All those instances to be found in history, whether real or fabulous, of a doubtful public spirit, at which morality is perplexed, reason is staggered, and from which affrighted Nature recoils, are their chosen and almost sole examples for the instruction of their youth.
_Letter i. On a Regicide Peace. Vol. v. p. 311._
Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other.
_Letter i. On a Regicide Peace. Vol. v. p. 331._
Early and provident fear is the mother of safety.
_Speech on the Petition of the Unitarians. Vol. vii. p. 50._
There never was a bad man that had ability for good service.
_Speech in opening the Impeachment of Warren Hastings. Third Day. Vol. x. p. 54._
The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.
_Speech at County Meeting of Bucks, 1784._
I would rather sleep in the southern corner of a little country churchyard than in the tomb of the Capulets.[412-1]
_Letter to Matthew Smith._
It has all the contortions of the sibyl without the inspiration.[412-2]
_Prior's Life of Burke._[412-3]
He was not merely a chip of the old block, but the old block itself.[412-4]
_On Pitt's First Speech, Feb. 26, 1781. From Wraxall's Memoirs, First Series, vol. i. p. 342._
FOOTNOTES:
[407-1] Boston edition. 1865-1867.
[407-2] In the adversity of our best friends we always find something which is not wholly displeasing to us.--ROCHEFOUCAULD: _Reflections, xv._
[407-3] Lord Brougham says of Bacon, "He it was who first employed the well-known phrase of 'the wisdom of our ancestors.'"
SYDNEY SMITH: _Plymley's Letters, letter v._ LORD ELDON: _On Sir Samuel Romilly's Bill, 1815._ CICERO: _De Legibus, ii. 2, 3._
[408-1] See Fielding, page 364.
[408-2] See Goldsmith, page 401.
[408-3] The march of intellect.--SOUTHEY: _Progress and Prospects of Society, vol. ii. p. 360._
[409-1] Quid velit et possit rerum concordia discors (What the discordant harmony of circumstances would and could effect).--HORACE: _Epistle i. 12, 19._
Mr. Breen, in his "Modern English Literature," says: "This remarkable thought Alison the historian has turned to good account; it occurs so often in his disquisitions that he seems to have made it the staple of all wisdom and the basis of every truth."
[410-1] This expression was tortured to mean that he actually thought the people no better than swine; and the phrase "the swinish multitude" was bruited about in every form of speech and writing, in order to excite popular indignation.
[411-1] See Appendix, page 859.
[411-2] I know no way of judging of the future but by the past.--PATRICK HENRY: _Speech in the Virginia Convention, March, 1775._
[411-3] We set ourselves to bite the hand that feeds us.--_Cause of the Present Discontents, vol. i. p. 439._
[412-1] Family vault of "all the Capulets."--_Reflections on the Revolution in France, vol. iii. p. 349._
[412-2] When Croft's "Life of Dr. Young" was spoken of as a good imitation of Dr. Johnson's style, "No, no," said he, "it is not a good imitation of Johnson; it has all his pomp without his force; it has all the nodosities of the oak, without its strength; it has all the contortions of the sibyl, without the inspiration."--PRIOR: _Life of Burke._
The gloomy comparisons of a disturbed imagination, the melancholy madness of poetry without the inspiration.--JUNIUS: _Letter No. viii. To Sir W. Draper._
[412-3] At the conclusion of one of Mr. Burke's eloquent harangues, Mr. Cruger, finding nothing to add, or perhaps as he thought to add with effect, exclaimed earnestly, in the language of the counting-house, "I say ditto to Mr. Burke! I say ditto to Mr. Burke!"--PRIOR: _Life of Burke, p. 152._
[412-4] See Sir Thomas Browne, page 219.
CHARLES CHURCHILL. 1731-1764.
He mouths a sentence as curs mouth a bone.
_The Rosciad. Line 322._
But, spite of all the criticising elves, Those who would make us feel--must feel themselves.[412-5]
_The Rosciad. Line 961._
Who to patch up his fame, or fill his purse, Still pilfers wretched plans, and makes them worse; Like gypsies, lest the stolen brat be known, Defacing first, then claiming for his own.[413-1]
_The Apology. Line 232._
No statesman e'er will find it worth his pains To tax our labours and excise our brains.
_Night. Line 271._
Apt alliteration 's artful aid.
_The Prophecy of Famine. Line 86._
There webs were spread of more than common size, And half-starved spiders prey'd on half-starved flies.
_The Prophecy of Famine. Line 327._
With curious art the brain, too finely wrought, Preys on herself, and is destroyed by thought.
_Epistle to William Hogarth. Line 645._
Men the most infamous are fond of fame, And those who fear not guilt yet start at shame.
_The Author. Line 233._
Be England what she will, With all her faults she is my country still.[413-2]
_The Farewell. Line 27._
Wherever waves can roll, and winds can blow.[413-3]
_The Farewell. Line 38._
FOOTNOTES:
[412-5] Si vis me flere, dolendum est Primum ipsi tibi
(If you wish me to weep, you yourself must first feel grief).
HORACE: _Ars Poetica, v. 102._
[413-1] Steal! to be sure they may; and, egad, serve your best thoughts as gypsies do stolen children,--disguise them to make 'em pass for their own.--SHERIDAN: _The Critic, act. i. sc. i._
[413-2] England, with all thy faults I love thee still, My country!
COWPER: _The Task, book ii. The Timepiece, line 206._
[413-3] Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam.--BYRON: _The Corsair, canto i. stanza 1._
WILLIAM COWPER. 1731-1800.
Is base in kind, and born to be a slave.
_Table Talk. Line 28._
As if the world and they were hand and glove.
_Table Talk. Line 173._
Happiness depends, as Nature shows, Less on exterior things than most suppose.
_Table Talk. Line 246._
Freedom has a thousand charms to show, That slaves, howe'er contented, never know.
_Table Talk. Line 260._
Manner is all in all, whate'er is writ, The substitute for genius, sense, and wit.
_Table Talk. Line 542._
Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appear'd, And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard: To carry nature lengths unknown before, To give a Milton birth, ask'd ages more.
_Table Talk. Line 556._
Elegant as simplicity, and warm As ecstasy.
_Table Talk. Line 588._
Low ambition and the thirst of praise.[414-1]
_Table Talk. Line 591._
Made poetry a mere mechanic art.
_Table Talk. Line 654._
Nature, exerting an unwearied power, Forms, opens, and gives scent to every flower; Spreads the fresh verdure of the field, and leads The dancing Naiads through the dewy meads.
_Table Talk. Line 690._
Lights of the world, and stars of human race.
_The Progress of Error. Line 97._
How much a dunce that has been sent to roam Excels a dunce that has been kept at home!
_The Progress of Error. Line 415._
Just knows, and knows no more, her Bible true,-- A truth the brilliant Frenchman never knew.
_Truth. Line 327._
The sounding jargon of the schools.[414-2]
_Truth. Line 367._
When one that holds communion with the skies Has fill'd his urn where these pure waters rise, And once more mingles with us meaner things, 'T is e'en as if an angel shook his wings.
_Charity. Line 435._
A fool must now and then be right by chance.
_Conversation. Line 96._
He would not, with a peremptory tone, Assert the nose upon his face his own.
_Conversation. Line 121._
A moral, sensible, and well-bred man Will not affront me,--and no other can.
_Conversation. Line 193._
Pernicious weed! whose scent the fair annoys, Unfriendly to society's chief joys: Thy worst effect is banishing for hours The sex whose presence civilizes ours.
_Conversation. Line 251._
I cannot talk with civet in the room, A fine puss-gentleman that 's all perfume.
_Conversation. Line 283._
The solemn fop; significant and budge; A fool with judges, amongst fools a judge.[415-1]
_Conversation. Line 299._
His wit invites you by his looks to come, But when you knock, it never is at home.[415-2]
_Conversation. Line 303._
Our wasted oil unprofitably burns, Like hidden lamps in old sepulchral urns.[415-3]
_Conversation. Line 357._
That good diffused may more abundant grow.
_Conversation. Line 443._
A business with an income at its heels Furnishes always oil for its own wheels.
_Retirement. Line 614._
Absence of occupation is not rest, A mind quite vacant is a mind distress'd.
_Retirement. Line 623._
An idler is a watch that wants both hands, As useless if it goes as if it stands.
_Retirement. Line 681._
Built God a church, and laugh'd his word to scorn.
_Retirement. Line 688._
Philologists, who chase A panting syllable through time and space, Start it at home, and hunt it in the dark To Gaul, to Greece, and into Noah's ark.
_Retirement. Line 691._
I praise the Frenchman,[416-1] his remark was shrewd,-- How sweet, how passing sweet, is solitude! But grant me still a friend in my retreat, Whom I may whisper, Solitude is sweet.
_Retirement. Line 739._
A kick that scarce would move a horse May kill a sound divine.
_The Yearly Distress._
I am monarch of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute.
_Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk._
O Solitude! where are the charms That sages have seen in thy face?
_Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk._
But the sound of the church-going bell These valleys and rocks never heard; Ne'er sigh'd at the sound of a knell, Or smiled when a Sabbath appear'd.
_Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk._
How fleet is a glance of the mind! Compared with the speed of its flight The tempest itself lags behind, And the swift-winged, arrows of light.
_Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk._
There goes the parson, O illustrious spark! And there, scarce less illustrious, goes the clerk.
_On observing some Names of Little Note._
But oars alone can ne'er prevail To reach the distant coast; The breath of heaven must swell the sail, Or all the toil is lost.
_Human Frailty._
And the tear that is wiped with a little address, May be follow'd perhaps by a smile.
_The Rose._
'T is Providence alone secures In every change both mine and yours.
_A Fable. Moral._
I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau If birds confabulate or no.
_Pairing Time Anticipated._
Misses! the tale that I relate This lesson seems to carry,-- Choose not alone a proper mate, But proper time to marry.
_Pairing Time Anticipated._
That though on pleasure she was bent, She had a frugal mind.
_History of John Gilpin._
A hat not much the worse for wear.
_History of John Gilpin._
Now let us sing, Long live the king! And Gilpin, Long live he! And when he next doth ride abroad, May I be there to see!
_History of John Gilpin._
The path of sorrow, and that path alone, Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown.
_To an Afflicted Protestant Lady._
United yet divided, twain at once: So sit two kings of Brentford on one throne.[417-1]
_The Task. Book i. The Sofa. Line 77._
Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds, Exhilarate the spirit, and restore The tone of languid nature.
_The Task. Book i. The Sofa. Line 181._
The earth was made so various, that the mind Of desultory man, studious of change And pleased with novelty, might be indulged.
_The Task. Book i. The Sofa. Line 506._
Doing good, Disinterested good, is not our trade.
_The Task. Book i. The Sofa. Line 673._
God made the country, and man made the town.[417-2]
_The Task. Book i. The Sofa. Line 749._
Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness,[418-1] Some boundless contiguity of shade, Where rumour of oppression and deceit, Of unsuccessful or successful war, Might never reach me more.
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 1._
Mountains interposed Make enemies of nations who had else, Like kindred drops, been mingled into one.
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 17._
I would not have a slave to till my ground, To carry me, to fan me while I sleep And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth That sinews bought and sold have ever earn'd.
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 29._
Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs Receive our air, that moment they are free! They touch our country, and their shackles fall.[418-2]
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 40._
Fast-anchor'd isle.
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 151._
England, with all thy faults I love thee still, My country![418-3]
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 206._
Presume to lay their hand upon the ark Of her magnificent and awful cause.
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 231._
Praise enough To fill the ambition of a private man, That Chatham's language was his mother tongue.
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 235._
There is a pleasure in poetic pains Which only poets know.[419-1]
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 285._
Transforms old print To zigzag manuscript, and cheats the eyes Of gallery critics by a thousand arts.
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 363._
Reading what they never wrote, Just fifteen minutes, huddle up their work, And with a well-bred whisper close the scene.
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 411._
Whoe'er was edified, themselves were not.
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 444._
Variety 's the very spice of life.[419-2]
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 606._
She that asks Her dear five hundred friends.
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 642._
His head, Not yet by time completely silver'd o'er, Bespoke him past the bounds of freakish youth, But strong for service still, and unimpair'd.
_The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece. Line 702._
Domestic happiness, thou only bliss Of Paradise that has survived the fall!
_The Task. Book iii. The Garden. Line 41._
Great contest follows, and much learned dust.
_The Task. Book iii. The Garden. Line 161._
From reveries so airy, from the toil Of dropping buckets into empty wells, And growing old in drawing nothing up.[419-3]
_The Task. Book iii. The Garden. Line 188._
How various his employments whom the world Calls idle, and who justly in return Esteems that busy world an idler too!
_The Task. Book iii. The Garden. Line 352._
Who loves a garden loves a greenhouse too.
_The Task. Book iii. The Garden. Line 566._
I burn to set the imprison'd wranglers free, And give them voice and utterance once again. Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast, Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round, And while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn Throws up a steamy column, and the cups That cheer but not inebriate[420-1] wait on each, So let us welcome peaceful evening in.
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 34._
Which not even critics criticise.
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 51._
What is it but a map of busy life, Its fluctuations, and its vast concerns?
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 55._
And Katerfelto, with his hair on end At his own wonders, wondering for his bread. 'T is pleasant, through the loopholes of retreat, To peep at such a world,--to see the stir Of the great Babel, and not feel the crowd.
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 86._
While fancy, like the finger of a clock, Runs the great circuit, and is still at home.
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 118._
O Winter, ruler of the inverted year![420-2]
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 120._
With spots quadrangular of diamond form, Ensanguined hearts, clubs typical of strife, And spades, the emblems of untimely graves.
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 217._
In indolent vacuity of thought.
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 297._
It seems the part of wisdom.
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 336._
All learned, and all drunk!
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 478._
Gloriously drunk, obey the important call.
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening, Line 510._
Those golden times And those Arcadian scenes that Maro sings, And Sidney, warbler of poetic prose.
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 514._
The Frenchman's darling.[421-1]
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 765._
Some must be great. Great offices will have Great talents. And God gives to every man The virtue, temper, understanding, taste, That lifts him into life, and lets him fall Just in the niche he was ordain'd to fill.
_The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 788._
Silently as a dream the fabric rose, No sound of hammer or of saw was there.[421-2]
_The Task. Book v. The Winter Morning Walk. Line 144._
But war 's a game which were their subjects wise Kings would not play at.
_The Task. Book v. The Winter Morning Walk. Line 187._
The beggarly last doit.
_The Task. Book v. The Winter Morning Walk. Line 316._
As dreadful as the Manichean god, Adored through fear, strong only to destroy.
_The Task. Book v. The Winter Morning Walk. Line 444._
He is the freeman whom the truth makes free.
_The Task. Book v. The Winter Morning Walk. Line 733._
With filial confidence inspired, Can lift to Heaven an unpresumptuous eye, And smiling say, My Father made them all!
_The Task. Book v. The Winter Morning Walk. Line 745._
Give what thou canst, without Thee we are poor; And with Thee rich, take what Thou wilt away.
_The Task. Book v. The Winter Morning Walk. Line 905._
There is in souls a sympathy with sounds; And as the mind is pitch'd the ear is pleased. With melting airs or martial, brisk or grave; Some chord in unison with what we hear Is touch'd within us, and the heart replies. How soft the music of those village bells Falling at intervals upon the ear In cadence sweet!
_The Task. Book vi. Winter Walk at Noon. Line 1._
Here the heart May give a useful lesson to the head, And Learning wiser grow without his books.
_The Task. Book vi. Winter Walk at Noon. Line 85._
Knowledge is proud that he has learn'd so much; Wisdom is humble that he knows no more. Books are not seldom talismans and spells.
_The Task. Book vi. Winter Walk at Noon. Line 96._
Some to the fascination of a name Surrender judgment hoodwink'd.
_The Task. Book vi. Winter Walk at Noon. Line 101._
I would not enter on my list of friends (Though graced with polish'd manners and fine sense, Yet wanting sensibility) the man Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.
_The Task. Book vi. Winter Walk at Noon. Line 560._
An honest man, close-button'd to the chin, Broadcloth without, and a warm heart within.
_Epistle to Joseph Hill._
Shine by the side of every path we tread With such a lustre, he that runs may read.[422-1]
_Tirocinium. Line 79._
What peaceful hours I once enjoy'd! How sweet their memory still! But they have left an aching void The world can never fill.
_Walking with God._
And Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees.
_Exhortation to Prayer._
God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm.
_Light shining out of Darkness._
Behind a frowning providence He hides a shining face.
_Light shining out of Darkness._
Beware of desperate steps! The darkest day, Live till to-morrow, will have pass'd away.
_The Needless Alarm. Moral._
Oh that those lips had language! Life has pass'd With me but roughly since I heard thee last.
_On the Receipt of my Mother's Picture._
The son of parents pass'd into the skies.
_On the Receipt of my Mother's Picture._
The man that hails you Tom or Jack, And proves, by thumping on your back,[423-1] His sense of your great merit,[423-2] Is such a friend that one had need Be very much his friend indeed To pardon or to bear it.
_On Friendship._
A worm is in the bud of youth, And at the root of age.
_Stanzas subjoined to a Bill of Mortality._
Toll for the brave!-- The brave that are no more! All sunk beneath the wave, Fast by their native shore!
_On the Loss of the Royal George._
There is a bird who by his coat, And by the hoarseness of his note, Might be supposed a crow.
_The Jackdaw._ (Translation from Vincent Bourne.)
He sees that this great roundabout The world, with all its motley rout, Church, army, physic, law, Its customs and its businesses, Is no concern at all of his, And says--what says he?--Caw.
_The Jackdaw._ (Translation from Vincent Bourne.)
For 't is a truth well known to most, That whatsoever thing is lost, We seek it, ere it come to light, In every cranny but the right.
_The Retired Cat._
He that holds fast the golden mean,[424-1] And lives contentedly between The little and the great, Feels not the wants that pinch the poor, Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door.
_Translation of Horace. Book ii. Ode x._
But strive still to be a man before your mother.[424-2]
_Connoisseur. Motto of No. iii._
FOOTNOTES:
[414-1] See Pope, page 314.
[414-2] See Prior, page 287.
[415-1] See Pope, page 331.
[415-2] See Pope, page 336.
[415-3] See Butler, page 213.
The story of a lamp which was supposed to have burned about fifteen hundred years in the sepulchre of Tullia, the daughter of Cicero, is told by Pancirollus and others.
[416-1] La Bruyere.
[417-1] BUCKINGHAM: _The Rehearsal_ (the two Kings of Brentford).
[417-2] See Bacon, page 167.
[418-1] Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men!--_Jeremiah ix. 2._
Oh that the desert were my dwelling-place!--BYRON: _Childe Harold,