Microcosm. General index |
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Page 3
This is a harmless recreation at least . My only aim is , that my leisure moments
may in some respects be amusing , and I hope in some degree instructive to
others , as well as myself . - Personal reputation cannot be my object ; as the
voice ...
This is a harmless recreation at least . My only aim is , that my leisure moments
may in some respects be amusing , and I hope in some degree instructive to
others , as well as myself . - Personal reputation cannot be my object ; as the
voice ...
Page 33
But to exercise the speculative powers of the mind , is to me at least a more
pleasing employment , especially , if forming our judgment from the past events of
antiquity , and asserting , what is surely no extravagant assertion , that similar ...
But to exercise the speculative powers of the mind , is to me at least a more
pleasing employment , especially , if forming our judgment from the past events of
antiquity , and asserting , what is surely no extravagant assertion , that similar ...
Page 78
Pliny was overawed by the terrors of despotism , and dared not to venture on '
topics which might rouse the anger of his Sovereign ; but that Juvenal and
Tacitus adorned this period , must uncontestibly be the effect of at least some
degree of ...
Pliny was overawed by the terrors of despotism , and dared not to venture on '
topics which might rouse the anger of his Sovereign ; but that Juvenal and
Tacitus adorned this period , must uncontestibly be the effect of at least some
degree of ...
Page 175
... or kindle one spark of that laudable ambition , which is the source of all great
actions ; if any of the future great shall acknowledge , that he is the least indebted
to the assistance and instructions of GREGORY GRIFFIN , my labours N° 23 .
... or kindle one spark of that laudable ambition , which is the source of all great
actions ; if any of the future great shall acknowledge , that he is the least indebted
to the assistance and instructions of GREGORY GRIFFIN , my labours N° 23 .
Page 186
But let that man with better sense advise , That to the world least part to vs is red :
And daily how through hardy enterprize , Many great regions are discouered ,
Which to late age were never mentioned . Who euer heard of the Indian Peru ?
But let that man with better sense advise , That to the world least part to vs is red :
And daily how through hardy enterprize , Many great regions are discouered ,
Which to late age were never mentioned . Who euer heard of the Indian Peru ?
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Popular passages
Page 249 - 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 249 - His prose is the model of the middle style ; on grave subjects not formal, on light occasions not grovelling ; pure without scrupulosity, and exact without apparent elaboration ; always equable and always easy, without glowing words or pointed sentences.
Page 169 - Let others better mould the running mass Of metals, and inform the breathing brass, And soften into flesh, a marble face ; Plead better at the bar ; describe the skies, And when the stars descend, and when they rise.
Page 85 - All on a summer's day." I cannot leave this line without remarking that one of the Scribleri, a descendant of the famous Martinus, has expressed his suspicions of the text being corrupted here, and proposes instead of " all on " reading " alone ", alleging, in favour of this alteration, the effect of solitude in raising the passions.
Page 184 - Yet all these were, when no man did them know; Yet have from wisest ages hidden beene: And later times things more unknowne shall show. Why then should witlesse man so much misweene That nothing is, but that which he hath scene?
Page 135 - With dust dishonour'd, and deform'd with gore. As the young olive, in some sylvan scene, Crown'd by fresh fountains with eternal green, Lifts the gay head, in snowy flowrets fair, And plays and dances to the gentle air; When lo ! a whirlwind from high heaven invades The tender plant, and...
Page 68 - I saw them under a green mantling vine That crawls along the side of yon small hill, Plucking ripe clusters from the tender shoots ; Their port was more than human, as they stood : I took it for a...
Page 81 - I too am not entirely destitute of abilities of this kind ; but that by possessing a decent share of critical discernment, and critical jargon, I am capable of becoming a very tolerable commentator. For the proof of which, I shall rather prefer calling the attention of my readers to an object, as yet untreated of by any of my immediate predecessors, than venture to throw in my observations on any work which has before passed the ordeal of frequent examination. And this I shall do for two reasons...
Page 81 - I to take occasion to shew that I too am not entirely destitute of abilities of this kind; but that by possessing a decent share of critical discernment, and critical jargon, I am capable of becoming a very tolerable commentator. For the proof of which, I shall rather prefer calling the attention of my readers to an ob°ject, as yet untreated of by any of my immediate...
Page 91 - Thus have I industriously gone through the several parts of this wonderful work ; and clearly proved it, in .every one of these parts, and in .all of them together, to be a due and proper epic poem ; and to have as good a right to that title, from its adherence to prescribed rules, as any of the celebrated master-pieces of antiquity. And here I cannot help again lamenting, that by not knowing the name of the author, I am unable to twine...
Bibliographic information
| Title | Microcosm. General index Volume 45 of The British Essayists: With Prefaces, Historical and Critical, Lionel Thomas Berguer |
| Author | Lionel Thomas Berguer |
| Publisher | T. and J. Allman, 1823 |
| Original from | the New York Public Library |
| Digitized | 5 Mar 2007 |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |