I would rather sleep in the southern corner of a little country churchyard, than in the tomb of the Capulets.1 Letter to Matthew Smith. It has all the contortions of the sibyl, without the inspiration.2 From Prior's Life of Burke. He was not merely a chip of the old block, but the old block itself. On Pitt's first Speech, Feb. 26, 1781. From Wraxall's Memoirs, 1st Series, Vol. i. p. 342. BEILBY PORTEUS. 1731-1808. In sober state, Through the sequester'd vale of rural life, The tenor of his way. Death. Line 108. One murder made a villain, Millions a hero. Princes were privileged 1 Family vault of "all the Capulets." - Reflections on the Revolution in France, Vol. iii. p. 349. 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's Life of Burke. 3 See Proverbial Expressions. ♦ Compare Gray, Elegy, Stanza 19. Compare Young, ante, p. 283. War its thousands slays, Peace its ten thousands. Death. Line 178. Teach him how to live, And oh! still harder lesson, how to die.1 Ibid. Line 316. 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 themIbid. Line 961. selves.2 Who to patch up his fame, or fill his purse, Still pilfers wretched plans, and makes them worse; 8 Like gypsies, lest the stolen brat be known, With curious art the brain, too finely wrought, 1 Compare Tickell, On the Death of Addison. 2 Si vis me flere, dolendum est Primum ipsi tibi. Horace, Ars Poetica, 102. 8 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. 1. Churchill.-Bickerstaff. Apt alliteration's artful aid. 387 The Prophecy of Famine. Line 233. Men the most infamous are fond of fame, And those who fear not guilt, yet start at shame. Be England what she will, The Author. Line 86. With all her faults she is my country still.' The Farewell. Line 27. ISAAC BICKERSTAFF. Circa 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 work'd and sung from morn till night. No lark more blithe than he. Ibid. Act i. Sc. 2. And this the burthen of his song For ever used to be: I care for nobody, no, not I, If no one cares for me.2 Ibid. Act i. Sc. 2. 1 England, with all thy faults I love thee still. Cowper, The Task, Book ii. Line 206. 2 If naebody care for me, I'll care for naebody. Burns, I hae a Wife o' my Ain. 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. EDWARD GIBBON. 1737-1794. History, which is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.1 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Ch. iii. (1776). Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive. Ibid. Ch. xi. Amiable weaknesses of human nature, Ibid. Ch. xiv. In every deed of mischief he had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.2 Ibid. Ch. xlviii. Our sympathy is cold to the relation of distant misery. Ibid. Ch. xlix. The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators. Ibid. Ch. lxviii. 1 L'histoire n'est que le tableau des crimes et des mal heurs. Voltaire, L'Ingénu, Ch. x. (1767). 2 Compare Clarendon, ante, p. 170. 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. Ch. lxxi. All that is human must retrograde if it do not advance. Ibid. Ch. lxxi. On the approach, of spring, I withdraw without reluctance from the noisy and extensive scene of crowds without company, and dissipation without pleasure. Memoir. Vol. i. p. 116. I was never less alone than when by myself.1 Ibid. p. 117. LORD THURLOW. 1732 - 1806. The accident of an accident. Speech in Reply to the Duke of Grafton. When I forget my sovereign, may my God forget me.2 27 Parl. Hist. 680; Ann. Reg. 1789. 1 Never less alone than when alone. Rogers, Human Life." 2 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." - Brougham, Statesmen of the Time of Geo. III. Thurlow. Burke also exclaimed, "The best thing that could happen to you." |