 |
[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, canto iv. stanza 177.
[418-2] Servi peregrini, ut primum Galliae fines penetraverint eodem momento liberi sunt (Foreign slaves, as soon as they come within the limits of Gaul, that moment they are free).—BODINUS: Liber i. c. 5.
Lord Campbell ("Lives of the Chief Justices," vol. ii. p. 418) says that "Lord Mansfield first established the grand doctrine that the air of England is too pure to be breathed by a slave." The words attributed to Lord Mansfield, however, are not found in his judgment. They are in Hargrave's argument, May 14, 1772, where he speaks of England as "a soil whose air is deemed too pure for slaves to breathe in."—LOFFT: Reports, p. 2.
[418-3] See Churchill, page 413.
[419-1] See Dryden, page 277.
[419-2] No pleasure endures unseasoned by variety—PUB. SYRUS: Maxim 406.
[419-3] He has spent all his life in letting down buckets into empty wells; and he is frittering away his age in trying to draw them up again.—Lady Holland's Memoir of Sydney Smith, vol. i. p. 259.
[420-1] See Bishop Berkeley, page 312.
[420-2] See Thomson, page 356.
[421-1] It was Cowper who gave this now common name to the mignonette.
[421-2] No hammers fell, no ponderous axes rung; Like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung.
HEBER: Palestine.
So that there was neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building.—1 Kings vi. 7.
[422-1] Write the vision, and make it plain, upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.—Habakkuk ii. 2.
He that runs may read.—TENNYSON: The Flower.
[423-1] See Young, page 312.
[423-2] Var. How he esteems your merit.
[424-1] Keep the golden mean.—PUBLIUS SYRUS: Maxim 1072.
[424-2] See Beaumont and Fletcher, page 199.
ERASMUS DARWIN. 1731-1802.
Soon shall thy arm, unconquer'd steam! afar Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car; Or on wide-waving wings expanded bear The flying chariot through the field of air.
The Botanic Garden. Part i. Canto i. Line 289.
No radiant pearl which crested Fortune wears, No gem that twinkling hangs from Beauty's ears, Not the bright stars which Night's blue arch adorn, Nor rising suns that gild the vernal morn, Shine with such lustre as the tear that flows Down Virtue's manly cheek for others' woes.
The Botanic Garden. Part ii. Canto iii. Line 459.
BEILBY PORTEUS. 1731-1808.
In sober state, Through the sequestered vale of rural life, The venerable patriarch guileless held The tenor of his way.[425-1]
Death. Line 108.
One murder made a villain, Millions a hero. Princes were privileged To kill, and numbers sanctified the crime.[425-2]
Death. Line 154.
War its thousands slays, Peace its ten thousands.
Death. Line 178.
Teach him how to live, And, oh still harder lesson! how to die.[425-3]
Death. Line 316.
FOOTNOTES:
[425-1] See Gray, page 385.
[425-2] See Young, page 311.
[425-3] See Tickell, page 313.
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 1732-1799.
Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire,—conscience.
Rule from the Copy-book of Washington when a schoolboy.
To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.[425-4]
Speech to both Houses of Congress, Jan. 8, 1790.
'T is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.
His Farewell Address.
FOOTNOTES:
[425-4] Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum (Who would desire peace should be prepared for war).—VEGETIUS: Rei Militari 3, Prolog.
In pace, ut sapiens, aptarit idonea bello (In peace, as a wise man, he should make suitable preparation for war).—HORACE: Book ii. satire ii.
LORD THURLOW. 1732-1806.
The accident of an accident.
Speech in Reply to the Duke of Grafton. Butler's Reminiscences, vol. i. p. 142.
When I forget my sovereign, may my God forget me.[426-1]
27 Parliamentary History, 680; Annual Register, 1789.
FOOTNOTES:
[426-1] Whereupon Wilkes is reported to have said, somewhat coarsely, but not unhappily it must be allowed, "Forget you! He'll see you d——d first." Burke also exclaimed, "The best thing that could happen to you!"—BROUGHAM: Statesman of the Time of George III. (Thurlow.)
JOHN DICKINSON. 1732-1808.
Then join in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall.
The Liberty Song (1768).
Our cause is just, our union is perfect.
Declaration on taking up Arms in 1775.[426-2]
FOOTNOTES:
[426-2] From the original manuscript draft in Dickinson's handwriting, which has given rise to the belief that he, not Jefferson (as formerly claimed), is the real author of this sentence.
W. J. MICKLE. 1734-1788.
The dews of summer nights did fall, The moon, sweet regent of the sky,[426-3] Silvered the walls of Cumnor Hall And many an oak that grew thereby.
Cumnor Hall.
For there 's nae luck about the house, There 's nae luck at a'; There 's little pleasure in the house When our gudeman 's awa'.
The Mariner's Wife.[427-1]
His very foot has music in 't As he comes up the stairs.
The Mariner's Wife.
FOOTNOTES:
[426-3] Jove, thou regent of the skies.—POPE: The Odyssey, book ii. line 42.
Now Cynthia, named fair regent of the night.—GAY: Trivia, book iii.
And hail their queen, fair regent of the night.—DARWIN: The Botanic Garden, part i. canto ii. line 90.
[427-1] "The Mariner's Wife" is now given "by common consent," says Sarah Tytler, to Jean Adam (1710-1765).
JOHN LANGHORNE. 1735-1779.
Cold on Canadian hills or Minden's plain, Perhaps that parent mourned her soldier slain; Bent o'er her babe, her eye dissolved in dew, The big drops mingling with the milk he drew Gave the sad presage of his future years,— The child of misery, baptized in tears.[427-2]
The Country Justice. Part i.
FOOTNOTES:
[427-2] This allusion to the dead soldier and his widow on the field of battle was made the subject of a print by Bunbury, under which were engraved the pathetic lines of Langhorne. Sir Walter Scott has mentioned that the only time he saw Burns this picture was in the room. Burns shed tears over it; and Scott, then a lad of fifteen, was the only person present who could tell him where the lines were to be found.—LOCKHART: Life of Scott, vol. i. chap. iv.
ISAAC BICKERSTAFF. 1735-1787.
Hope! thou nurse of young desire.
Love in a Village. Act i. Sc. 1.
There was a jolly miller once, Lived on the river Dee; He worked and sung from morn till night: No lark more blithe than he.
Love in a Village. Act i. Sc. 2.
And this the burden of his song Forever used to be,— I care for nobody, no, not I, If no one cares for me.[427-3]
Love in a Village. Act i. Sc. 2.
Young fellows will be young fellows.
Love in a Village. Act ii. Sc. 2.
Ay, do despise me! I 'm the prouder for it; I like to be despised.
The Hypocrite. Act v. Sc. 1.
FOOTNOTES:
[427-3] If naebody care for me, I 'll care for naebody.
BURNS: I hae a Wife o' my Ain.
JAMES BEATTIE. 1735-1803.
Ah, who can tell how hard it is to climb The steep where Fame's proud temple shines afar?
The Minstrel. Book i. Stanza 1.
Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free; Patient of toil, serene amidst alarms; Inflexible in faith, invincible in arms.
The Minstrel. Book i. Stanza 11.
Old age comes on apace to ravage all the clime.
The Minstrel. Book i. Stanza 25.
Mine be the breezy hill that skirts the down, Where a green grassy turf is all I crave, With here and there a violet bestrewn, Fast by a brook or fountain's murmuring wave; And many an evening sun shine sweetly on my grave!
The Minstrel. Book ii. Stanza 17.
At the close of the day when the hamlet is still, And mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove, When naught but the torrent is heard on the hill, And naught but the nightingale's song in the grove.
The Hermit.
He thought as a sage, though he felt as a man.
The Hermit.
But when shall spring visit the mouldering urn? Oh when shall it dawn on the night of the grave?
The Hermit.
By the glare of false science betray'd, That leads to bewilder, and dazzles to blind.
The Hermit.
And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb.
The Hermit.
JOHN ADAMS. 1735-1826.
Yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, that those United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.
Letter to Mrs. Adams, July 3, 1776.
The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore.
Letter to Mrs. Adams, July 3, 1776.
PATRICK HENRY. 1736-1799.
Caesar had his Brutus; Charles the First, his Cromwell; and George the Third ["Treason!" cried the Speaker]—may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it.
Speech in the Virginia Convention, 1765.
I am not a Virginian, but an American.[428-1]
Speech in the Virginia Convention. September, 1774.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judging of the future but by the past.[428-2]
Speech in the Virginia Convention. March, 1775.
Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!
Speech in the Virginia Convention. March, 1775.
FOOTNOTES:
[428-1] I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American!—WEBSTER: Speech, July 17, 1850.
[428-2] See Burke, page 411.
EDWARD GIBBON. 1737-1794.
The reign of Antoninus is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history, which is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.[430-1]
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776). Chap. iii.
Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive.
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776). Chap. xi.
Amiable weaknesses of human nature.[430-2]
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776). Chap. xiv.
In every deed of mischief he had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.[430-3]
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776). Chap. xlviii.
Our sympathy is cold to the relation of distant misery.
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776). Chap. xlix.
The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.[430-4]
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776). Chap. lxviii.
Vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries empires and cities in a common grave.
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776). Chap. lxxi.
All that is human must retrograde if it do not advance.
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776). Chap. lxxi.
I saw and loved.[430-5]
Memoirs. Vol. i. p. 106.
On the approach of spring I withdraw without reluctance from the noisy and extensive scene of crowds without company, and dissipation without pleasure.
Memoirs. Vol. i. p. 116.
I was never less alone than when by myself.[431-1]
Memoirs. Vol. i. p. 117.
FOOTNOTES:
[430-1] L'histoire n'est que le tableau des crimes et des malheurs (History is but the record of crimes and misfortunes).—VOLTAIRE: L' Ingenu, chap. x.
[430-2] See Fielding, page 364.
[430-3] See Clarendon, page 255.
[430-4] On dit que Dieu est toujours pour les gros bataillons (It is said that God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions).—VOLTAIRE: Letter to M. le Riche. 1770.
J'ai toujours vu Dieu du cote des gros bataillons (I have always noticed that God is on the side of the heaviest battalions).—De la Ferte to Anne of Austria.
[430-5] See Chapman, page 35.
[431-1] Never less alone than when alone.—ROGERS: Human Life.
THOMAS PAINE. 1737-1809.
And the final event to himself [Mr. Burke] has been, that, as he rose like a rocket, he fell like the stick.
Letter to the Addressers.
These are the times that try men's souls.
The American Crisis. No. 1.
The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related, that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime makes the ridiculous, and one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again.[431-2]
Age of Reason. Part ii. note.
FOOTNOTES:
[431-2] Probably this is the original of Napoleon's celebrated mot, "Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas" (From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step).
JOHN WOLCOT. 1738-1819.
What rage for fame attends both great and small! Better be damned than mentioned not at all.
To the Royal Academicians.
No, let the monarch's bags and others hold The flattering, mighty, nay, al-mighty gold.[431-3]
To Kien Long. Ode iv.
Care to our coffin adds a nail, no doubt, And every grin so merry draws one out.
Expostulatory Odes. Ode xv.
A fellow in a market town, Most musical, cried razors up and down.
Farewell Odes. Ode iii.
FOOTNOTES:
[431-3] See Jonson, page 178.
MRS. THRALE. 1739-1821.
The tree of deepest root is found Least willing still to quit the ground: 'T was therefore said by ancient sages, That love of life increased with years So much, that in our latter stages, When pain grows sharp and sickness rages, The greatest love of life appears.
Three Warnings.
CHARLES MORRIS. 1739-1832.
Solid men of Boston, banish long potations! Solid men of Boston, make no long orations![432-1]
Pitt and Dundas's Return to London from Wimbledon. American Song. From Lyra Urbanica.
O give me the sweet shady side of Pall Mall!
Town and Country.
FOOTNOTES:
[432-1] Solid men of Boston, make no long orations! Solid men of Boston, banish strong potations!
Billy Pitt and the Farmer. From Debrett's Asylum for Fugitive Pieces, vol. ii. p. 250.
A. M. TOPLADY. 1740-1778.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee.
Salvation through Christ.
THOMAS MOSS. 1740-1808.
Pity the sorrows of a poor old man, Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door, Whose days are dwindled to the shortest span; Oh give relief, and Heaven will bless your store.
The Beggar.
A pampered menial drove me from the door.[433-1]
The Beggar.
FOOTNOTES:
[433-1] This line stood originally, "A liveried servant," etc., and was altered as above by Goldsmith.—FORSTER: Life of Goldsmith, vol. i. p. 215 (fifth edition, 1871).
MRS. BARBAULD. 1743-1825.
Man is the nobler growth our realms supply, And souls are ripened in our northern sky.
The Invitation.
This dead of midnight is the noon of thought, And Wisdom mounts her zenith with the stars.
A Summer's Evening Meditation.
It is to hope, though hope were lost.[433-2]
Come here, Fond Youth.
Life! we 've been long together Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; 'T is hard to part when friends are dear,— Perhaps 't will cost a sigh, a tear; Then steal away, give little warning, Choose thine own time; Say not "Good night," but in some brighter clime Bid me "Good morning."
Life.
So fades a summer cloud away; So sinks the gale when storms are o'er; So gently shuts the eye of day;[434-1] So dies a wave along the shore.
The Death of the Virtuous.
Child of mortality, whence comest thou? Why is thy countenance sad, and why are thine eyes red with weeping?
Hymns in Prose. xiii.
FOOTNOTES:
[433-2] Who against hope believed in hope.—Romans iv. 18.
Hope against hope, and ask till ye receive.—MONTGOMERY: The World before the Flood.
[434-1] See Chaucer, page 6.
THOMAS JEFFERSON. 1743-1826.
The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.
Summary View of the Rights of British America.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God[434-2] entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
Declaration of Independence.
We hold these truths to be self-evident,—that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights;[434-3] that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Declaration of Independence.
We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour.
Declaration of Independence.
Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.
First Inaugural Address. March 4, 1801.
Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations,—entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigour, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; . . . freedom of religion; freedom of the press; freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected,—these principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation.
First Inaugural Address. March 4, 1801.
In the full tide of successful experiment.
First Inaugural Address. March 4, 1801.
Of the various executive abilities, no one excited more anxious concern than that of placing the interests of our fellow-citizens in the hands of honest men, with understanding sufficient for their stations.[435-1] No duty is at the same time more difficult to fulfil. The knowledge of character possessed by a single individual is of necessity limited. To seek out the best through the whole Union, we must resort to the information which from the best of men, acting disinterestedly and with the purest motives, is sometimes incorrect.
Letter to Elias Shipman and others of New Haven, July 12, 1801.
If a due participation of office is a matter of right, how are vacancies to be obtained? Those by death are few; by resignation, none.[435-2]
Letter to Elias Shipman and others of New Haven, July 12, 1801.
When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property.[436-1]
Life of Jefferson (Rayner), p. 356.
Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.
Notes on Virginia. Query xviii. Manners.
FOOTNOTES:
[434-2] See Bolingbroke, page 304.
[434-3] All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights.—Constitution of Massachusetts.
[435-1] This passage is thus paraphrased by John B. McMaster in his "History of the People of the United States" (ii. 586): "One sentence will undoubtedly be remembered till our republic ceases to exist. 'No duty the Executive had to perform was so trying,' he observed, 'as to put the right man in the right place.'"
[435-2] Usually quoted, "Few die and none resign."
[436-1] See Appendix, page 859.
JOSIAH QUINCY, JR. 1744-1775.
Blandishments will not fascinate us, nor will threats of a "halter" intimidate. For, under God, we are determined that wheresoever, whensoever, or howsoever we shall be called to make our exit, we will die free men.
Observations on the Boston Port Bill, 1774.
CHARLES DIBDIN. 1745-1814.
There 's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, To keep watch for the life of poor Jack.
Poor Jack.
Did you ever hear of Captain Wattle? He was all for love, and a little for the bottle.
Captain Wattle and Miss Roe.
His form was of the manliest beauty, His heart was kind and soft; Faithful below he did his duty, But now he 's gone aloft.
Tom Bowling.
For though his body 's under hatches, His soul has gone aloft.
Tom Bowling.
Spanking Jack was so comely, so pleasant, so jolly, Though winds blew great guns, still he 'd whistle and sing; Jack loved his friend, and was true to his Molly, And if honour gives greatness, was great as a king.
The Sailor's Consolation.[436-2]
FOOTNOTES:
[436-2] A song with this title, beginning, "One night came on a hurricane," was written by William Pitt, of Malta, who died in 1840.
HANNAH MORE. 1745-1833.
To those who know thee not, no words can paint! And those who know thee, know all words are faint!
Sensibility.
Since trifles make the sum of human things, And half our misery from our foibles springs.
Sensibility.
In men this blunder still you find,— All think their little set mankind.
Florio. Part i.
Small habits well pursued betimes May reach the dignity of crimes.
Florio. Part i.
LORD STOWELL. 1745-1836.
A dinner lubricates business.
Life of Johnson (Boswell). Vol. viii. p. 67, note.
The elegant simplicity of the three per cents.[437-1]
Lives of the Lord Chancellors (Campbell). Vol. x. Chap. 212.
FOOTNOTES:
[437-1] The sweet simplicity of the three per cents.—DISRAELI (Earl Beaconsfield): Endymion.
SIR WILLIAM JONES. 1746-1794.
Than all Bocara's vaunted gold, Than all the gems of Samarcand.
A Persian Song of Hafiz.
Go boldly forth, my simple lay, Whose accents flow with artless ease, Like orient pearls at random strung.[437-2]
A Persian Song of Hafiz.
On parent knees, a naked new-born child, Weeping thou sat'st while all around thee smiled; So live, that sinking in thy last long sleep, Calm thou mayst smile, while all around thee weep.
From the Persian.
What constitutes a state? . . . . . . . Men who their duties know, But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain. . . . . . . . And sovereign law, that state's collected will, O'er thrones and globes elate, Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill.[438-1]
Ode in Imitation of Alcaeus.
Seven hours to law, to soothing slumber seven, Ten to the world allot, and all to heaven.[438-2]
FOOTNOTES:
[437-2] 'T was he that ranged the words at random flung, Pierced the fair pearls and them together strung.
EASTWICK: Anvari Suhaili. (Translated from Firdousi.)
[438-1] Neither walls, theatres, porches, nor senseless equipage, make states, but men who are able to rely upon themselves.—ARISTIDES: Orations (Jebb's edition), vol. i. (trans. by A. W. Austin).
By Themistocles alone, or with very few others, does this saying appear to be approved, which, though Alcaeus formerly had produced, many afterwards claimed: "Not stones, nor wood, nor the art of artisans, make a state; but where men are who know how to take care of themselves, these are cities and walls."—Ibid. vol. ii.
[438-2] See Coke, page 24.
JOHN LOGAN. 1748-1788.
Thou hast no sorrow in thy song, No winter in thy year.
To the Cuckoo.
Oh could I fly, I 'd fly with thee! We 'd make with joyful wing Our annual visit o'er the globe, Companions of the spring.
To the Cuckoo.
JONATHAN M. SEWALL. 1748-1808.
No pent-up Utica contracts your powers, But the whole boundless continent is yours.
Epilogue to Cato.[439-1]
FOOTNOTES:
[439-1] Written for the Bow Street Theatre, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
JOHN EDWIN. 1749-1790.
A man's ingress into the world is naked and bare, His progress through the world is trouble and care; And lastly, his egress out of the world, is nobody knows where. If we do well here, we shall do well there: I can tell you no more if I preach a whole year.[439-2]
The Eccentricities of John Edwin (second edition), vol. i. p. 74. London, 1791.
FOOTNOTES:
[439-2] These lines Edwin offers as heads of a "sermon." Longfellow places them in the mouth of "The Cobbler of Hagenau," as a "familiar tune." See "The Wayside Inn, part ii. The Student's Tale."
JOHN TRUMBULL. 1750-1831.
But optics sharp it needs, I ween, To see what is not to be seen.
M^cFingal. Canto i. Line 67.
But as some muskets so contrive it As oft to miss the mark they drive at, And though well aimed at duck or plover, Bear wide, and kick their owners over.
M^cFingal. Canto i. Line 93.
As though there were a tie And obligation to posterity. We get them, bear them, breed, and nurse: What has posterity done for us That we, lest they their rights should lose, Should trust our necks to gripe of noose?
M^cFingal. Canto ii. Line 121.
No man e'er felt the halter draw, With good opinion of the law.
M^cFingal. Canto iii. Line 489.
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN. 1751-1816.
Illiterate him, I say, quite from your memory.
The Rivals. Act i. Sc. 2.
'T is safest in matrimony to begin with a little aversion.
The Rivals. Act i. Sc. 2.
A progeny of learning.
The Rivals. Act i. Sc. 2.
A circulating library in a town is as an evergreen tree of diabolical knowledge.
The Rivals. Act iii. Sc. 1.
He is the very pine-apple of politeness!
The Rivals. Act iii. Sc. 3.
If I reprehend anything in this world, it is the use of my oracular tongue, and a nice derangement of epitaphs!
The Rivals. Act iii. Sc. 3.
As headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile.
The Rivals. Act iii. Sc. 3.
Too civil by half.
The Rivals. Act iii. Sc. 4.
Our ancestors are very good kind of folks; but they are the last people I should choose to have a visiting acquaintance with.
The Rivals. Act iv. Sc. 1.
No caparisons, miss, if you please. Caparisons don't become a young woman.
The Rivals. Act iv. Sc. 2.
We will not anticipate the past; so mind, young people,—our retrospection will be all to the future.
The Rivals. Act iv. Sc. 2.
You are not like Cerberus, three gentlemen at once, are you?
The Rivals. Act iv. Sc. 2.
The quarrel is a very pretty quarrel as it stands; we should only spoil it by trying to explain it.
The Rivals. Act iv. Sc. 3.
You 're our enemy; lead the way, and we 'll precede.
The Rivals. Act v. Sc. 1.
There 's nothing like being used to a thing.[441-1]
The Rivals. Act v. Sc. 3.
As there are three of us come on purpose for the game, you won't be so cantankerous as to spoil the party by sitting out.
The Rivals. Act v. Sc. 3.
My valour is certainly going! it is sneaking off! I feel it oozing out, as it were, at the palm of my hands!
The Rivals. Act v. Sc. 3.
I own the soft impeachment.
The Rivals. Act v. Sc. 3.
Steal! to be sure they may; and, egad, serve your best thoughts as gypsies do stolen children,—disfigure them to make 'em pass for their own.[441-2]
The Critic. Act i. Sc. 1.
The newspapers! Sir, they are the most villanous, licentious, abominable, infernal— Not that I ever read them! No, I make it a rule never to look into a newspaper.
The Critic. Act i. Sc. 2.
Egad, I think the interpreter is the hardest to be understood of the two!
The Critic. Act i. Sc. 2.
Sheer necessity,—the proper parent of an art so nearly allied to invention.
The Critic. Act i. Sc. 2.
No scandal about Queen Elizabeth, I hope?
The Critic. Act ii. Sc. 1.
Certainly nothing is unnatural that is not physically impossible.
The Critic. Act ii. Sc. 1.
Where they do agree on the stage, their unanimity is wonderful.
The Critic. Act ii. Sc. 2.
Inconsolable to the minuet in Ariadne.
The Critic. Act ii. Sc. 2.
The Spanish fleet thou canst not see, because—it is not yet in sight!
The Critic. Act ii. Sc. 2.
An oyster may be crossed in love.
The Critic. Act iii. Sc. 1.
You shall see them on a beautiful quarto page, where a neat rivulet of text shall meander through a meadow of margin.
School for Scandal. Act i. Sc. 1.
Here is the whole set! a character dead at every word.
School for Scandal. Act ii. Sc. 2.
I leave my character behind me.
School for Scandal. Act ii. Sc. 2.
Here 's to the maiden of bashful fifteen; Here 's to the widow of fifty; Here 's to the flaunting, extravagant quean, And here 's to the housewife that 's thrifty! Let the toast pass; Drink to the lass; I 'll warrant she 'll prove an excuse for the glass.
School for Scandal. Act iii. Sc. 3.
An unforgiving eye, and a damned disinheriting countenance.
School for Scandal. Act v. Sc. 1.
It was an amiable weakness.[442-1]
School for Scandal. Act v. Sc. 1.
I ne'er could any lustre see In eyes that would not look on me; I ne'er saw nectar on a lip But where my own did hope to sip.
The Duenna. Act i. Sc. 2.
Had I a heart for falsehood framed, I ne'er could injure you.
The Duenna. Act i. Sc. 5.
Conscience has no more to do with gallantry than it has with politics.
The Duenna. Act ii. Sc. 4.
While his off-heel, insidiously aside. Provokes the caper which he seems to chide.
Pizarro. The Prologue.
Such protection as vultures give to lambs.
Pizarro. Act ii. Sc. 2.
A life spent worthily should be measured by a nobler line,—by deeds, not years.[443-1]
Pizarro. Act iv. Sc. 1.
The Right Honorable gentleman is indebted to his memory for his jests, and to his imagination for his facts.[443-2]
Speech in Reply to Mr. Dundas. Sheridaniana.
You write with ease to show your breeding, But easy writing 's curst hard reading.
Clio's Protest. Life of Sheridan (Moore). Vol. i. p. 155.
FOOTNOTES:
[441-1] 'T is nothing when you are used to it.—SWIFT: Polite Conversation, iii.
[441-2] See Churchill, page 413.
[442-1] See Fielding, page 364.
[443-1] He who grown aged in this world of woe, In deeds, not years, piercing the depths of life, So that no wonder waits him.
BYRON: Childe Harold, canto iii. stanza 5.
We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths.—BAILEY: Festus. A Country Town.
Who well lives, long lives; for this age of ours Should not be numbered by years, daies, and hours.
DU BARTAS: Days and Weekes. Fourth Day. Book ii.
[443-2] On peut dire que son esprit brille aux depens de sa memoire (One may say that his wit shines by the help of his memory).—LE SAGE: Gil Blas, livre iii. chap. xi.
PHILIP FRENEAU. 1752-1832.
The hunter and the deer a shade.[443-3]
The Indian Burying-Ground.
Then rushed to meet the insulting foe; They took the spear, but left the shield.[443-4]
To the Memory of the Americans who fell at Eutaw.
FOOTNOTES:
[443-3] This line was appropriated by Campbell in "O'Connor's Child."
[443-4] When Prussia hurried to the field, And snatched the spear, but left the shield.
SCOTT: Marmion, Introduction to canto iii.
GEORGE CRABBE. 1754-1832.
Oh, rather give me commentators plain, Who with no deep researches vex the brain; Who from the dark and doubtful love to run, And hold their glimmering tapers to the sun.[443-5]
The Parish Register. Part i. Introduction.
Her air, her manners, all who saw admir'd; Courteous though coy, and gentle though retir'd; The joy of youth and health her eyes display'd, And ease of heart her every look convey'd.
The Parish Register. Part ii. Marriages.
In this fool's paradise he drank delight.[444-1]
The Borough. Letter xii. Players.
Books cannot always please, however good; Minds are not ever craving for their food.
The Borough. Letter xxiv. Schools.
In idle wishes fools supinely stay; Be there a will, and wisdom finds a way.
The Birth of Flattery.
Cut and come again.
Tales. Tale vii. The Widow's Tale.
Better to love amiss than nothing to have loved.[444-2]
Tales. Tale xiv. The Struggles of Conscience.
But 't was a maxim he had often tried, That right was right, and there he would abide.[444-3]
Tales. Tale xv. The Squire and the Priest.
'T was good advice, and meant, my son, Be good.
Tales. Tale xxi. The Learned Boy.
He tried the luxury of doing good.[444-4]
Tales of the Hall. Book iii. Boys at School.
To sigh, yet not recede; to grieve, yet not repent.[444-5]
Tales of the Hall. Book iii. Boys at School.
And took for truth the test of ridicule.[444-6]
Tales of the Hall. Book viii. The Sisters.
Time has touched me gently in his race, And left no odious furrows in my face.[445-1]
Tales of the Hall. Book xvii. The Widow.
FOOTNOTES:
[443-5] See Young, page 311.
[444-1] See Appendix, page 858.
[444-2] 'T is better to have loved and lost, Than never to have loved at all.
TENNYSON: In Memoriam, xxvii.
[444-3] For right is right, since God is God.—FABER: The Right must win.
[444-4] See Goldsmith, page 394.
[444-5] To sigh, yet feel no pain.—MOORE: The Blue Stocking.
[444-6] See Appendix, page 394.
[445-1] Touch us gently, Time.—B. W. PROCTER: Touch us gently, Time.
Time has laid his hand Upon my heart, gently.
LONGFELLOW: The Golden Legend, iv.
GEORGE BARRINGTON. 1755- ——.
True patriots all; for be it understood We left our country for our country's good.[445-2]
Prologue written for the Opening of the Play-house at New South Wales, Jan. 16, 1796.
FOOTNOTES:
[445-2] See Farquhar, page 305.
HENRY LEE. 1756-1816.
To the memory of the Man, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.
Memoirs of Lee. Eulogy on Washington, Dec. 26, 1799.[445-3]
FOOTNOTES:
[445-3] To the memory of the Man, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow-citizens.—Resolutions presented to the United States' House of Representatives, on the Death of Washington, December, 1799.
The eulogy was delivered a week later. Marshall, in his "Life of Washington," vol. v. p. 767, says in a note that these resolutions were prepared by Colonel Henry Lee, who was then not in his place to read them. General Robert E. Lee, in the Life of his father (1869), prefixed to the Report of his father's "Memoirs of the War of the Revolution," gives (p. 5) the expression "fellow-citizens;" but on p. 52 he says: "But there is a line, a single line, in the Works of Lee which would hand him over to immortality, though he had never written another: 'First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen' will last while language lasts."
J. P. KEMBLE. 1757-1823.
Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love, But—why did you kick me down stairs?[445-4]
The Panel. Act i. Sc. 1.
FOOTNOTES:
[445-4] Altered from Bickerstaff's "'T is Well 't is no Worse." The lines are also found in Debrett's "Asylum for Fugitive Pieces," vol. i. p. 15.
HORATIO NELSON. 1758-1805.
In the battle off Cape St. Vincent, Nelson gave orders for boarding the "San Josef," exclaiming "Westminster Abbey, or victory!"
Life of Nelson (Southey). Vol. i. p. 93.
England expects every man to do his duty.[446-1]
Life of Nelson (Southey). Vol. ii. p. 131.
FOOTNOTES:
[446-1] This famous sentence is thus first reported: "Say to the fleet, England confides that every man will do his duty." Captain Pasco, Nelson's flag-lieutenant, suggested to substitute "expects" for "confides," which was adopted. Captain Blackwood, who commanded the "Euryalis," says that the correction suggested was from "Nelson expects" to "England expects."
ROBERT BURNS. 1759-1796.
Auld Nature swears the lovely dears Her noblest work she classes, O; Her 'prentice han' she tried on man, And then she made the lasses, O![446-2]
Green grow the Rashes.
Some books are lies frae end to end.
Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Some wee short hours ayont the twal.
Death and Dr. Hornbook.
The best laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft a-gley; And leave us naught but grief and pain For promised joy.
To a Mouse.
When chill November's surly blast Made fields and forests bare.
Man was made to Mourn.
Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn.
Man was made to Mourn.
Gars auld claes look amaist as weel 's the new.
The Cotter's Saturday Night.
Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the evening gale.
The Cotter's Saturday Night.
He wales a portion with judicious care; And "Let us worship God," he says with solemn air.
The Cotter's Saturday Night.
Perhaps Dundee's wild-warbling measures rise, Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name.
The Cotter's Saturday Night.
From scenes like these old Scotia's grandeur springs, That makes her loved at home, revered abroad: Princes and lords are but the breath of kings, "An honest man 's the noblest work of God."[447-1]
The Cotter's Saturday Night.
For a' that, and a' that, And twice as muckle 's a' that.
The Jolly Beggars.
O Life! how pleasant is thy morning, Young Fancy's rays the hills adorning! Cold-pausing Caution's lesson scorning, We frisk away, Like schoolboys at th' expected warning, To joy and play.
Epistle to James Smith.
Misled by fancy's meteor ray, By passion driven; But yet the light that led astray Was light from heaven.
The Vision.
And like a passing thought, she fled In light away.
The Vision.
Affliction's sons are brothers in distress; A brother to relieve,—how exquisite the bliss!
A Winter Night.
His locked, lettered, braw brass collar Showed him the gentleman and scholar.
The Twa Dogs.
And there began a lang digression About the lords o' the creation.
The Twa Dogs.
Oh wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursel's as others see us! It wad frae monie a blunder free us, And foolish notion.
To a Louse.
Then gently scan your brother man, Still gentler sister woman; Though they may gang a kennin' wrang, To step aside is human.[448-1]
Address to the Unco Guid.
What 's done we partly may compute, But know not what 's resisted.
Address to the Unco Guid.
Stern Ruin's ploughshare drives elate Full on thy bloom.[448-2]
To a Mountain Daisy.
O life! thou art a galling load, Along a rough, a weary road, To wretches such as I!
Despondency.
Perhaps it may turn out a sang, Perhaps turn out a sermon.
Epistle to a Young Friend.
I waive the quantum o' the sin, The hazard of concealing; But, och! it hardens a' within, And petrifies the feeling!
Epistle to a Young Friend.
The fear o' hell 's a hangman's whip To haud the wretch in order;[448-3] But where ye feel your honour grip, Let that aye be your border.
Epistle to a Young Friend.
An atheist's laugh 's a poor exchange For Deity offended!
Epistle to a Young Friend.
And may you better reck the rede,[448-4] Than ever did the adviser!
Epistle to a Young Friend.
Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes; Flow gently, I 'll sing thee a song in thy praise.
Flow gently, sweet Afton.
Oh whistle, and I 'll come to ye, my lad.[449-1]
Whistle, and I 'll come to ye.
If naebody care for me, I 'll care for naebody.[449-2]
I hae a Wife o' my Ain.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days o' lang syne?
Auld Lang Syne.
We twa hae run about the braes, And pu'd the gowans fine.
Auld Lang Syne.
Dweller in yon dungeon dark, Hangman of creation, mark! Who in widow weeds appears, Laden with unhonoured years, Noosing with care a bursting purse, Baited with many a deadly curse?
Ode on Mrs. Oswald.
To make a happy fireside clime To weans and wife,— That 's the true pathos and sublime Of human life.
Epistle to Dr. Blacklock.
If there 's a hole in a' your coats, I rede ye tent it; A chiel 's amang ye takin' notes, And, faith, he 'll prent it.
On Captain Grose's Peregrinations through Scotland.
John Anderson my jo, John, When we were first acquent, Your locks were like the raven, Your bonny brow was brent.
John Anderson.
My heart 's in the Highlands, my heart is not here; My heart 's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer.[450-1]
My Heart 's in the Highlands.
She is a winsome wee thing, She is a handsome wee thing, She is a bonny wee thing, This sweet wee wife o' mine.
My Wife 's a Winsome Wee Thing.
The golden hours on angel wings Flew o'er me and my dearie; For dear to me as light and life Was my sweet Highland Mary.
Highland Mary.
But, oh! fell death's untimely frost That nipt my flower sae early.
Highland Mary.
It 's guid to be merry and wise,[450-2] It 's guid to be honest and true, It 's guid to support Caledonia's cause, And bide by the buff and the blue.
Here 's a Health to Them that 's Awa'.
Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled, Scots, wham Bruce has aften led, Welcome to your gory bed, Or to victory! Now 's the day and now 's the hour; See the front o' battle lour.
Bannockburn.
Liberty 's in every blow! Let us do or die.[450-3]
Bannockburn.
In durance vile[450-4] here must I wake and weep, And all my frowsy couch in sorrow steep.
Epistle from Esopus to Maria.
Oh, my luve 's like a red, red rose, That 's newly sprung in June; Oh, my luve 's like the melodie That 's sweetly played in tune.
A Red, Red Rose.
Contented wi' little, and cantie wi' mair.
Contented wi' Little.
Where sits our sulky, sullen dame, Gathering her brows like gathering storm, Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.
Tam o' Shanter.
Ah, gentle dames! it gars me greet To think how monie counsels sweet, How monie lengthened sage advices, The husband frae the wife despises.
Tam o' Shanter.
His ancient, trusty, drouthy crony; Tam lo'ed him like a vera brither,— They had been fou for weeks thegither.
Tam o' Shanter.
The landlady and Tam grew gracious Wi' favours secret, sweet, and precious.
Tam o' Shanter.
The landlord's laugh was ready chorus.
Tam o' Shanter.
Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious, O'er a' the ills o' life victorious.
Tam o' Shanter.
But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flower, its bloom is shed; Or, like the snow-fall in the river, A moment white, then melts forever.
Tam o' Shanter.
Nae man can tether time or tide.[451-1]
Tam o' Shanter.
That hour, o' night's black arch the keystane.
Tam o' Shanter.
Inspiring, bold John Barleycorn, What dangers thou canst make us scorn!
Tam o' Shanter.
As Tammie glow'red, amazed and curious, The mirth and fun grew fast and furious.
Tam o' Shanter.
But to see her was to love her,[452-1] Love but her, and love forever.
Ae Fond Kiss.
Had we never loved sae kindly, Had we never loved sae blindly, Never met or never parted, We had ne'er been broken-hearted!
Ae Fond Kiss.
To see her is to love her, And love but her forever; For Nature made her what she is, And never made anither!
Bonny Lesley.
Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon, How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair? How can ye chant, ye little birds, And I sae weary fu' o' care?
The Banks of Doon.
Chords that vibrate sweetest pleasure Thrill the deepest notes of woe.
Sweet Sensibility.
The rank is but the guinea's stamp, The man 's the gowd for a' that.[452-2]
For a' that and a' that.
A prince can make a belted knight, A marquis, duke, and a' that; But an honest man 's aboon his might, Guid faith, he maunna fa' that.[452-3]
For a' that and a' that.
'T is sweeter for thee despairing Than aught in the world beside,—Jessy!
Jessy.
Some hae meat and canna eat, And some would eat that want it; But we hae meat, and we can eat, Sae let the Lord be thankit.
Grace before Meat.
It was a' for our rightfu' King We left fair Scotland's strand.
A' for our Rightfu' King.[452-4]
Now a' is done that men can do, And a' is done in vain.
A' for our Rightfu' King.
He turn'd him right and round about Upon the Irish shore, And gae his bridle reins a shake, With, "Adieu for evermore, my dear, And adieu for evermore."[453-1]
A' for our Rightfu' King.
FOOTNOTES:
[446-2] Man was made when Nature was But an apprentice, but woman when she Was a skilful mistress of her art.
Cupid's Whirligig (1607).
[447-1] See Fletcher, page 183.
[448-1] See Pope, page 325.
[448-2] See Young, page 309.
[448-3] See Burton, page 193.
[448-4] See Shakespeare, page 129.
[449-1] See Beaumont and Fletcher, page 198.
[449-2] See Bickerstaff, page 427.
[450-1] These lines from an old song, entitled "The Strong Walls of Derry," Burns made a basis for his own beautiful ditty.
[450-2] See Heywood, page 9.
[450-3] See Fletcher, page 183.
[450-4] Durance vile.—W. KENRICK (1766): Falstaff's Wedding, act i. sc. 2. BURKE: The Present Discontents.
[451-1] See Heywood, page 10.
[452-1] To know her was to love her.—ROGERS: Jacqueline, stanza 1.
[452-2] I weigh the man, not his title; 't is not the king's stamp can make the metal better.—WYCHERLEY: The Plaindealer, act. i. sc. 1.
[452-3] See Southerne, page 282.
[452-4] This ballad first appeared in Johnson's "Museum," 1796. Sir Walter Scott was never tired of hearing it sung.
[453-1] Under the impression that this stanza is ancient, Scott has made very free use of it, first in "Rokeby" (1813), and then in the "Monastery" (1816). In "Rokeby" he thus introduces the verse:—
He turn'd his charger as he spake, Upon the river shore, He gave his bridle reins a shake, Said, "Adieu for evermore, my love, And adieu for evermore."
WILLIAM PITT. 1759-1806.
Necessity is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.[453-2]
Speech on the India Bill, November, 1783.
Prostrate the beauteous ruin lies; and all That shared its shelter perish in its fall.
The Poetry of the Anti-Jacobin. No. xxxvi.
FOOTNOTES:
[453-2] See Milton, page 232.
ANDREW CHERRY. 1762-1812.
Loud roared the dreadful thunder, The rain a deluge showers.
The Bay of Biscay.
As she lay, on that day, In the bay of Biscay, O!
The Bay of Biscay.
GEORGE COLMAN, THE YOUNGER. 1762-1836.
On their own merits modest men are dumb.
Epilogue to the Heir at Law.
And what 's impossible can't be, And never, never comes to pass.
The Maid of the Moor.
Three stories high, long, dull, and old, As great lords' stories often are.
The Maid of the Moor.
Like two single gentlemen rolled into one.
Lodgings for Single Gentlemen.
But when ill indeed, E'en dismissing the doctor don't always succeed.
Lodgings for Single Gentlemen.
When taken, To be well shaken.
The Newcastle Apothecary.
Thank you, good sir, I owe you one.
The Poor Gentleman. Act i. Sc. 2.
O Miss Bailey! Unfortunate Miss Bailey!
Love laughs at Locksmiths. Act ii. Song.
'T is a very fine thing to be father-in-law To a very magnificent three-tailed Bashaw!
Blue Beard. Act ii. Sc. 5.
I had a soul above buttons.
Sylvester Daggerwood, or New Hay at the Old Market. Sc. 1.
Mynheer Vandunck, though he never was drunk, Sipped brandy and water gayly.
Mynheer Vandunck.
JAMES HURDIS. 1763-1801.
Rise with the lark, and with the lark to bed.[454-1]
The Village Curate.
FOOTNOTES:
[454-1] To rise with the lark, and go to bed with the lamb.—BRETON: Court and Country (1618; reprint, p. 183).
SAMUEL ROGERS. 1763-1855.
Sweet Memory! wafted by thy gentle gale, Oft up the stream of Time I turn my sail.
The Pleasures of Memory. Part ii. i.
She was good as she was fair, None—none on earth above her! As pure in thought as angels are: To know her was to love her.[455-1]
Jacqueline. Stanza 1.
The good are better made by ill, As odours crushed are sweeter still.[455-2]
Jacqueline. Stanza 3.
A guardian angel o'er his life presiding, Doubling his pleasures, and his cares dividing.
Human Life.
Fireside happiness, to hours of ease Blest with that charm, the certainty to please.
Human Life.
The soul of music slumbers in the shell Till waked and kindled by the master's spell; And feeling hearts, touch them but rightly, pour A thousand melodies unheard before!
Human Life.
Then never less alone than when alone.[455-3]
Human Life.
Those that he loved so long and sees no more, Loved and still loves,—not dead, but gone before,[455-4]— He gathers round him.
Human Life.
Mine be a cot beside the hill; A beehive's hum shall soothe my ear; A willowy brook that turns a mill, With many a fall, shall linger near.
A Wish.
That very law which moulds a tear And bids it trickle from its source,— That law preserves the earth a sphere, And guides the planets in their course.
On a Tear.
Go! you may call it madness, folly; You shall not chase my gloom away! There 's such a charm in melancholy I would not if I could be gay.
To ——.
To vanish in the chinks that Time has made.[456-1]
Paestum.
Ward has no heart, they say, but I deny it: He has a heart, and gets his speeches by it.
Epigram.
FOOTNOTES:
[455-1] See Burns, page 452.
None knew thee but to love thee.—HALLECK: On the Death of Drake.
[455-2] See Bacon, page 165.
[455-3] See Gibbon, page 430.
Numquam se minus otiosum esse, quam quum otiosus, nec minus solum, quam quum solus esset (He is never less at leisure than when at leisure, nor less alone than when he is alone).—CICERO: De Officiis, liber iii. c. 1.
[455-4] This is literally from Seneca, Epistola lxiii. 16. See Matthew Henry, page 283.
[456-1] See Waller, page 221.
JOHN FERRIAR. 1764-1815.
The princeps copy, clad in blue and gold.
Illustrations of Sterne. Bibliomania. Line 6.
Now cheaply bought for thrice their weight in gold.
Illustrations of Sterne. Bibliomania. Line 65.
Torn from their destined page (unworthy meed Of knightly counsel and heroic deed).
Illustrations of Sterne. Bibliomania. Line 121.
How pure the joy, when first my hands unfold The small, rare volume, black with tarnished gold!
Illustrations of Sterne. Bibliomania. Line 137.
ANN RADCLIFFE. 1764-1823.
Fate sits on these dark battlements and frowns, And as the portal opens to receive me, A voice in hollow murmurs through the courts Tells of a nameless deed.[456-2]
FOOTNOTES:
[456-2] These lines form the motto to Mrs. Radcliffe's novel, "The Mysteries of Udolpho," and are presumably of her own composition.
ROBERT HALL. 1764-1831.
His [Burke's] imperial fancy has laid all Nature under tribute, and has collected riches from every scene of the creation and every walk of art.
Apology for the Freedom of the Press.
He [Kippis] might be a very clever man by nature for aught I know, but he laid so many books upon his head that his brains could not move.
Gregory's Life of Hall.
Call things by their right names. . . . Glass of brandy and water! That is the current but not the appropriate name: ask for a glass of liquid fire and distilled damnation.[457-1]
Gregory's Life of Hall.
FOOTNOTES:
[457-1] See Tourneur, page 34.
He calls drunkenness an expression identical with ruin.—DIOGENES LAERTIUS: Pythagoras, vi.
THOMAS MORTON. 1764-1838.
What will Mrs. Grundy say?
Speed the Plough. Act i. Sc. 1.
Push on,—keep moving.
A Cure for the Heartache. Act ii. Sc. 1.
Approbation from Sir Hubert Stanley is praise indeed.
A Cure for the Heartache. Act v. Sc. 2.
SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH. 1765-1832.
Diffused knowledge immortalizes itself.
Vindiciae Gallicae.
The Commons, faithful to their system, remained in a wise and masterly inactivity.
Vindiciae Gallicae.
Disciplined inaction.
Causes of the Revolution of 1688. Chap. vii.
The frivolous work of polished idleness.
Dissertation on Ethical Philosophy. Remarks on Thomas Brown.
LADY NAIRNE. 1766-1845.
There 's nae sorrow there, John, There 's neither cauld nor care, John, The day is aye fair, In the land o' the leal.
The Land o' the Leal.
Gude nicht, and joy be wi' you a'.
Gude Nicht, etc.[458-1]
Oh, we 're a' noddin', nid, nid, noddin'; Oh, we 're a' noddin' at our house at hame.
We 're a' Noddin'.
A penniless lass wi' a lang pedigree.
The Laird o' Cockpen.
FOOTNOTES:
[458-1] Sir Alexander Boswell composed a version of this song.
ANDREW JACKSON. 1767-1845.
Our Federal Union: it must be preserved.
Toast given on the Jefferson Birthday Celebration in 1830.
You are uneasy; you never sailed with me before, I see.[458-2]
Life of Jackson (Parton). Vol. iii. p. 493.
FOOTNOTES:
[458-2] A remark made to an elderly gentleman who was sailing with Jackson down Chesapeake Bay in an old steamboat, and who exhibited a little fear.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 1767-1848.
Think of your forefathers! Think of your posterity![458-3]
Speech at Plymouth, Dec. 22, 1802.
In charity to all mankind, bearing no malice or ill-will to any human being, and even compassionating those who hold in bondage their fellow-men, not knowing what they do.[458-4]
Letter to A. Bronson. July 30, 1838.
This hand, to tyrants ever sworn the foe, For Freedom only deals the deadly blow; Then sheathes in calm repose the vengeful blade, For gentle peace in Freedom's hallowed shade.[459-1]
Written in an Album, 1842.
This is the last of earth! I am content.
His Last Words, Feb. 21, 1848.
FOOTNOTES:
[458-3] Et majores vestros et posteros cogitate.—TACITUS: Agricola, c. 32. 31.
[458-4] With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right.—ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Second Inaugural Address.
[459-1] See Sidney, page 264.
DAVID EVERETT. 1769-1813.
You 'd scarce expect one of my age To speak in public on the stage; And if I chance to fall below Demosthenes or Cicero, Don't view me with a critic's eye, But pass my imperfections by. Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks from little acorns grow.[459-2]
Lines written for a School Declamation.
FOOTNOTES:
[459-2] The lofty oak from a small acorn grows.—LEWIS DUNCOMBE (1711-1730): De Minimis Maxima (translation).
SYDNEY SMITH. 1769-1845.
It requires a surgical operation to get a joke well into a Scotch understanding.[459-3]
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 15.
That knuckle-end of England,—that land of Calvin, oat-cakes, and sulphur.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 17.
No one minds what Jeffrey says: . . . it is not more than a week ago that I heard him speak disrespectfully of the equator.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 17.
We cultivate literature on a little oatmeal.[460-1]
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 23.
Truth is its [justice's] handmaid, freedom is its child, peace is its companion, safety walks in its steps, victory follows in its train; it is the brightest emanation from the Gospel; it is the attribute of God.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 29.
It is always right that a man should be able to render a reason for the faith that is within him.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 53.
Avoid shame, but do not seek glory,—nothing so expensive as glory.[460-2]
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 88.
Let every man be occupied, and occupied in the highest employment of which his nature is capable, and die with the consciousness that he has done his best.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 130.
Looked as if she had walked straight out of the ark.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 157.
The Smiths never had any arms, and have invariably sealed their letters with their thumbs.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 244.
Not body enough to cover his mind decently with; his intellect is improperly exposed.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 258.
He has spent all his life in letting down empty buckets into empty wells; and he is frittering away his age in trying to draw them up again.[460-3]
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 259.
You find people ready enough to do the Samaritan, without the oil and twopence.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 261.
Ah, you flavour everything; you are the vanilla of society.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 262.
My living in Yorkshire was so far out of the way, that it was actually twelve miles from a lemon.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 262.
As the French say, there are three sexes,—men, women, and clergymen.[461-1]
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 262.
To take Macaulay out of literature and society and put him in the House of Commons, is like taking the chief physician out of London during a pestilence.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 265.
Daniel Webster struck me much like a steam-engine in trousers.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 267.
"Heat, ma'am!" I said; "it was so dreadful here, that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones."
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 267.
Macaulay is like a book in breeches. . . . He has occasional flashes of silence, that make his conversation perfectly delightful.
Lady Holland's Memoir. Vol. i. p. 363.
Serenely full, the epicure would say, Fate cannot harm me,—I have dined to-day.[461-2]
Recipe for Salad. P. 374.
Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea?—how did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea.
Recipe for Salad. P. 383.
If you choose to represent the various parts in life by holes upon a table, of different shapes,—some circular, some triangular, some square, some oblong,—and the persons acting these parts by bits of wood of similar shapes, we shall generally find that the triangular person has got into the square hole, the oblong into the triangular, and a square person has squeezed himself into the round hole. The officer and the office, the doer and the thing done, seldom fit so exactly that we can say they were almost made for each other.[461-3]
Sketches of Moral Philosophy.
The schoolboy whips his taxed top; the beardless youth manages his taxed horse with a taxed bridle on a taxed road; and the dying Englishman, pouring his medicine, which has paid seven per cent, into a spoon that has paid fifteen per cent, flings himself back upon his chintz bed which has paid twenty-two per cent, and expires in the arms of an apothecary who has paid a license of a hundred pounds for the privilege of putting him to death.
Review of Seybert's Annals of the United States, 1820.
In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book, or goes to an American play, or looks at an American picture or statue?
Review of Seybert's Annals of the United States, 1820.
Magnificent spectacle of human happiness.
America. Edinburgh Review, July, 1824.
In the midst of this sublime and terrible storm [at Sidmouth], Dame Partington, who lived upon the beach, was seen at the door of her house with mop and pattens, trundling her mop, squeezing out the sea-water, and vigorously pushing away the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic was roused; Mrs. Partington's spirit was up. But I need not tell you that the contest was unequal; the Atlantic Ocean beat Mrs. Partington.
Speech at Taunton, 1813.
Men who prefer any load of infamy, however great, to any pressure of taxation, however light.
On American Debts.
FOOTNOTES:
[459-3] See Walpole, page 389.
[460-1] Mr. Smith, with reference to the "Edinburgh Review," says: "The motto I proposed for the 'Review' was 'Tenui musam meditamur avena;' but this was too near the truth to be admitted; so we took our present grave motto from Publius Syrus, of whom none of us had, I am sure, read a single line."
[460-2] A favorite motto, which through life Mr. Smith inculcated on his family.
[460-3] See Cowper, page 419.
[461-1] Lord Wharncliffe says, "The well-known sentence, almost a proverb, that 'this world consists of men, women, and Herveys,' was originally Lady Montagu's."—Montagu Letters, vol. i. p. 64.
[461-2] See Dryden, p. 273.
[461-3] The right man to fill the right place.—LAYARD: Speech, Jan. 15, 1855.
J. HOOKHAM FRERE. 1769-1846.
And don't confound the language of the nation With long-tailed words in osity and ation.
The Monks and the Giants. Canto i. Line 6.
A sudden thought strikes me,—let us swear an eternal friendship.[462-1]
The Rovers. Act i. Sc. 1.
FOOTNOTES:
[462-1] See Otway, page 280.
My fair one, let us swear an eternal friendship.—MOLIERE: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, act iv. sc. 1.
DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 1769-1852.
Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.
Despatch, 1815.
It is very true that I have said that I considered Napoleon's presence in the field equal to forty thousand men in the balance. This is a very loose way of talking; but the idea is a very different one from that of his presence at a battle being equal to a reinforcement of forty thousand men.
Mem. by the Duke,[463-1] Sept. 18, 1836.
Circumstances over which I have no control.[463-2]
I never saw so many shocking bad hats in my life.[463-3]
Upon seeing the first Reformed Parliament.
There is no mistake; there has been no mistake; and there shall be no mistake.[463-4]
Letter to Mr. Huskisson.
FOOTNOTES:
[463-1] STANHOPE: Conversations with the Duke of Wellington, p. 81.
[463-2] This phrase was first used by the Duke of Wellington in a letter, about 1839 or 1840.—SALA: Echoes of the Week, in London Illustrated News, Aug. 23, 1884. Greville, Mem., ch. ii. (1823), gives an earlier instance.
[463-3] Sir William Fraser, in "Words on Wellington" (1889), p. 12, says this phrase originated with the Duke. Captain Gronow, in his "Recollections," says it originated with the Duke of York, second son of George III., about 1817.
[463-4] This gave rise to the slang expression, "And no mistake."—Words on Wellington, p. 122.
JOHN TOBIN. 1770-1804.
The man that lays his hand upon a woman, Save in the way of kindness, is a wretch Whom 't were gross flattery to name a coward.
The Honeymoon. Act ii. Sc. 1.
She 's adorned Amply that in her husband's eye looks lovely,— The truest mirror that an honest wife Can see her beauty in.
The Honeymoon. Act iii. Sc. 4.
GEORGE CANNING. 1770-1827.
Story! God bless you! I have none to tell, sir.
The Friend of Humanity and the Knife-Grinder.
I give thee sixpence! I will see thee damned first.
The Friend of Humanity and the Knife-Grinder.
So down thy hill, romantic Ashbourn, glides The Derby dilly, carrying three INSIDES.
The Loves of the Triangles. Line 178.
And finds, with keen, discriminating sight, Black 's not so black,—nor white so very white.
New Morality.
Give me the avowed, the erect, the manly foe, Bold I can meet,—perhaps may turn his blow! But of all plagues, good Heaven, thy wrath can send, Save, save, oh save me from the candid friend![464-1]
New Morality.
I called the New World into existence to redress the balance of the Old.
The King's Message, Dec. 12, 1826.
No, here 's to the pilot that weathered the storm!
The Pilot that weathered the Storm.
FOOTNOTES:
[464-1] "Defend me from my friends; I can defend myself from my enemies." The French Ana assign to Marechal Villars this aphorism when taking leave of Louis XIV.
WILLIAM ROBERT SPENCER. 1770-1834.
Too late I stayed,—forgive the crime! Unheeded flew the hours; How noiseless falls the foot of time[464-2] That only treads on flowers.
Lines to Lady A. Hamilton.
FOOTNOTES:
[464-2] See Shakespeare, page 74.
JOSEPH HOPKINSON. 1770-1842.
Hail, Columbia! happy land! Hail, ye heroes! heaven-born band! Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause, Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause, And when the storm of war was gone, Enjoyed the peace your valor won. Let independence be our boast, Ever mindful what it cost; Ever grateful for the prize, Let its altar reach the skies!
Hail, Columbia!
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.[465-1] 1770-1850.
Oh, be wiser thou! Instructed that true knowledge leads to love.
Lines left upon a Seat in a Yew-tree.
And homeless near a thousand homes I stood, And near a thousand tables pined and wanted food.
Guilt and Sorrow. Stanza 41.
Action is transitory,—a step, a blow; The motion of a muscle, this way or that.
The Borderers. Act iii.
Three sleepless nights I passed in sounding on, Through words and things, a dim and perilous way.[465-2]
The Borderers. Act iv. Sc. 2.
A simple child That lightly draws its breath, And feels its life in every limb, What should it know of death?
We are Seven.
O Reader! Had you in your mind Such stores as silent thought can bring, O gentle Reader! you would find A tale in everything.
Simon Lee.
I 've heard of hearts unkind, kind deeds With coldness still returning; Alas! the gratitude of men Hath oftener left me mourning.
Simon Lee.
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts Bring sad thoughts to the mind.
Lines written in Early Spring.
And 't is my faith, that every flower Enjoys the air it breathes.
Lines written in Early Spring.
Nor less I deem that there are Powers Which of themselves our minds impress; That we can feed this mind of ours In a wise passiveness.
Expostulation and Reply.
Up! up! my friend, and quit your books, Or surely you 'll grow double! Up! up! my friend, and clear your looks! Why all this toil and trouble?
The Tables Turned.
Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher.
The Tables Turned.
One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you more of man, Of moral evil and of good, Than all the sages can.
The Tables Turned.
The bane of all that dread the Devil.
The Idiot Boy.
Sensations sweet, Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart.
Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey.
That best portion of a good man's life,— His little, nameless, unremembered acts Of kindness and of love.
Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey.
That blessed mood, In which the burden of the mystery, In which the heavy and the weary weight Of all this unintelligible world, Is lightened.
Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey.
The fretful stir Unprofitable, and the fever of the world Have hung upon the beatings of my heart.
Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey.
The sounding cataract Haunted me like a passion; the tall rock, The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood, Their colours and their forms, were then to me An appetite,—a feeling and a love, That had no need of a remoter charm By thoughts supplied, nor any interest Unborrowed from the eye.
Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey.
But hearing oftentimes The still, sad music of humanity.
Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey.
A sense sublime Of something far more deeply interfused, Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, And the round ocean and the living air And the blue sky, and in the mind of man,— A motion and a spirit, that impels All thinking things, all objects of all thought, And rolls through all things.
Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey.
Knowing that Nature never did betray The heart that loved her.
Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey.
Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all The dreary intercourse of daily life.
Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey.
Men who can hear the Decalogue, and feel No self-reproach.
The Old Cumberland Beggar.
As in the eye of Nature he has lived, So in the eye of Nature let him die!
The Old Cumberland Beggar.
There 's something in a flying horse, There 's something in a huge balloon.
Peter Bell. Prologue. Stanza 1.
The common growth of Mother Earth Suffices me,—her tears, her mirth, Her humblest mirth and tears.
Peter Bell. Prologue. Stanza 27.
Full twenty times was Peter feared, For once that Peter was respected.
Peter Bell. Part i. Stanza 3.
A primrose by a river's brim A yellow primrose was to him, And it was nothing more.
Peter Bell. Part i. Stanza 12.
The soft blue sky did never melt Into his heart; he never felt The witchery of the soft blue sky!
Peter Bell. Part i. Stanza 15.
On a fair prospect some have looked, And felt, as I have heard them say, As if the moving time had been A thing as steadfast as the scene On which they gazed themselves away.
Peter Bell. Part i. Stanza 16.
As if the man had fixed his face, In many a solitary place, Against the wind and open sky!
Peter Bell. Part i. Stanza 26.[468-1]
One of those heavenly days that cannot die.
Nutting.
She dwelt among the untrodden ways Beside the springs of Dove,— A maid whom there were none to praise And very few to love.
She dwelt among the untrodden ways.
A violet by a mossy stone Half hidden from the eye; Fair as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky.
She dwelt among the untrodden ways.
She lived unknown, and few could know When Lucy ceased to be; But she is in her grave, and oh The difference to me!
She dwelt among the untrodden ways.
The stars of midnight shall be dear To her; and she shall lean her ear In many a secret place Where rivulets dance their wayward round, And beauty born of murmuring sound Shall pass into her face.
Three years she grew in Sun and Shower.
May no rude hand deface it, And its forlorn hic jacet!
Ellen Irwin.
She gave me eyes, she gave me ears; And humble cares, and delicate fears; A heart, the fountain of sweet tears; And love and thought and joy.
The Sparrow's Nest.
The child is father of the man.[469-1]
My heart leaps up when I behold.
The cattle are grazing, Their heads never raising; There are forty feeding like one!
The Cock is crowing.
Sweet childish days, that were as long As twenty days are now.
To a Butterfly. I 've watched you now a full half-hour.
Often have I sighed to measure By myself a lonely pleasure,— Sighed to think I read a book, Only read, perhaps, by me.
To the Small Celandine.
As high as we have mounted in delight, In our dejection do we sink as low.
Resolution and Independence. Stanza 4.
But how can he expect that others should Build for him, sow for him, and at his call Love him, who for himself will take no heed at all?
Resolution and Independence. Stanza 6.
I thought of Chatterton, the marvellous boy, The sleepless soul that perished in his pride; Of him who walked in glory and in joy, Following his plough, along the mountain-side. By our own spirits we are deified; We Poets in our youth begin in gladness, But thereof come in the end despondency and madness.
Resolution and Independence. Stanza 7.
That heareth not the loud winds when they call, And moveth all together, if it moves at all.
Resolution and Independence. Stanza 11.
Choice word and measured phrase above the reach Of ordinary men.
Resolution and Independence. Stanza 14.
And mighty poets in their misery dead.
Resolution and Independence. Stanza 17.
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! The river glideth at his own sweet will; Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; And all that mighty heart is lying still!
Earth has not anything to show more fair.
The holy time is quiet as a nun Breathless with adoration.
It is a beauteous Evening.
Men are we, and must grieve when even the shade Of that which once was great is passed away.
On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic.
Thou has left behind Powers that will work for thee,—air, earth, and skies! There 's not a breathing of the common wind That will forget thee; thou hast great allies; Thy friends are exultations, agonies, And love, and man's unconquerable mind.[471-1]
To Toussaint L' Ouverture.
One that would peep and botanize Upon his mother's grave.
A Poet's Epitaph. Stanza 5.
He murmurs near the running brooks A music sweeter than their own.
A Poet's Epitaph. Stanza 10.
And you must love him, ere to you He will seem worthy of your love.
A Poet's Epitaph. Stanza 11.
The harvest of a quiet eye, That broods and sleeps on his own heart.
A Poet's Epitaph. Stanza 13.
Yet sometimes, when the secret cup Of still and serious thought went round, It seemed as if he drank it up, He felt with spirit so profound.
Matthew.
My eyes are dim with childish tears, My heart is idly stirred, For the same sound is in my ears Which in those days I heard.
The Fountain.
A happy youth, and their old age Is beautiful and free.
The Fountain.
And often, glad no more, We wear a face of joy because We have been glad of yore.
The Fountain.
The sweetest thing that ever grew Beside a human door.
Lucy Gray. Stanza 2.
A youth to whom was given So much of earth, so much of heaven.
Ruth.
Until a man might travel twelve stout miles, Or reap an acre of his neighbor's corn.
The Brothers.
Something between a hindrance and a help.
Michael.
Drink, pretty creature, drink!
The Pet Lamb.
Lady of the Mere, Sole-sitting by the shores of old romance.
A narrow Girdle of rough Stones and Crags.
And he is oft the wisest man Who is not wise at all.
The Oak and the Broom.
"A jolly place," said he, "in times of old! But something ails it now: the spot is cursed."
Hart-leap Well. Part ii.
Hunt half a day for a forgotten dream.
Hart-leap Well. Part ii.
Never to blend our pleasure or our pride With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels.
Hart-leap Well. Part ii.
Plain living and high thinking are no more. The homely beauty of the good old cause Is gone; our peace, our fearful innocence, And pure religion breathing household laws.
O Friend! I know not which way I must look.
Milton! thou should'st be living at this hour: England hath need of thee! . . . . . . Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart: So didst thou travel on life's common way In cheerful godliness.
London, 1802.
We must be free or die who speak the tongue That Shakespeare spake, the faith and morals hold Which Milton held.
It is not to be thought of.
A noticeable man, with large gray eyes.
Stanzas written in Thomson's Castle of Indolence.
We meet thee, like a pleasant thought, When such are wanted.
To the Daisy.
The poet's darling.
To the Daisy.
Thou unassuming commonplace Of Nature.
To the same Flower.
Oft on the dappled turf at ease I sit, and play with similes, Loose type of things through all degrees.
To the same Flower.
Sweet Mercy! to the gates of heaven This minstrel lead, his sins forgiven; The rueful conflict, the heart riven With vain endeavour, And memory of Earth's bitter leaven Effaced forever.
Thoughts suggested on the Banks of the Nith.
The best of what we do and are, Just God, forgive!
Thoughts suggested on the Banks of the Nith.
For old, unhappy, far-off things, And battles long ago.
The Solitary Reaper.
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain That has been, and may be again.
The Solitary Reaper.
The music in my heart I bore Long after it was heard no more.
The Solitary Reaper.
Yon foaming flood seems motionless as ice; Its dizzy turbulence eludes the eye, Frozen by distance.
Address to Kilchurn Castle.
A famous man is Robin Hood, The English ballad-singer's joy.
Rob Roy's Grave.
Because the good old rule Sufficeth them,—the simple plan, That they should take who have the power, And they should keep who can.
Rob Roy's Grave.
The Eagle, he was lord above, And Rob was lord below.
Rob Roy's Grave.
A brotherhood of venerable trees.
Sonnet composed at —— Castle.
Let beeves and home-bred kine partake The sweets of Burn-mill meadow; The swan on still St. Mary's Lake Float double, swan and shadow!
Yarrow Unvisited.
Every gift of noble origin Is breathed upon by Hope's perpetual breath.
These Times strike Monied Worldlings.
A remnant of uneasy light.
The Matron of Jedborough.
Oh for a single hour of that Dundee Who on that day the word of onset gave![474-1]
Sonnet, in the Pass of Killicranky.
O Cuckoo! shall I call thee bird, Or but a wandering voice?
To the Cuckoo.
She was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight, A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment's ornament; Her eyes as stars of twilight fair, Like twilights too her dusky hair, But all things else about her drawn From May-time and the cheerful dawn.
She was a Phantom of Delight.
A creature not too bright or good For human nature's daily food; For transient sorrows, simple wiles, Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.
She was a Phantom of Delight.
The reason firm, the temperate will, Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill; A perfect woman, nobly planned, To warn, to comfort, and command.
She was a Phantom of Delight.
That inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude.
I wandered lonely.
To be a Prodigal's favourite,—then, worse truth, A Miser's pensioner,—behold our lot!
The Small Celandine.
Stern Daughter of the Voice of God![475-1]
Ode to Duty.
A light to guide, a rod To check the erring, and reprove.
Ode to Duty.
Give unto me, made lowly wise, The spirit of self-sacrifice; The confidence of reason give, And in the light of truth thy bondman let me live!
Ode to Duty.
The light that never was, on sea or land; The consecration, and the Poet's dream.
Suggested by a Picture of Peele Castle in a Storm. Stanza 4.
Shalt show us how divine a thing A woman may be made.
To a Young Lady. Dear Child of Nature.
But an old age serene and bright, And lovely as a Lapland night, Shall lead thee to thy grave.
To a Young Lady. Dear Child of Nature.
Where the statue stood Of Newton, with his prism and silent face, The marble index of a mind forever Voyaging through strange seas of thought alone. |
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