The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: Essay on the life and genius of Dr. Johnson [by Arthur Murphy]. Poems, and tales

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W. Pickering, 1825
 

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Page xxxv - Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind ; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it.
Page lvi - Ay, but to die, and go we know not where ; To lie in cold obstruction, and to rot; This sensible warm motion to become A kneaded clod...
Page xxvi - ... devout prayer to that eternal Spirit who can enrich with all utterance and knowledge, and sends out his seraphim, with the hallowed fire of his altar, to touch and purify the lips of whom he pleases...
Page lxxvii - Ay, sir ; to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand. Pol. ' That's very true, my lord. Ham. For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a god kissing carrion — 'Have you a daughter ? Pol. I have, my lord. Ham. Let her not walk i' the sun : conception is a blessing ; but not as your daughter may conceive.
Page 15 - Speak thou, whose thoughts at humble peace repine, Shall Wolsey's wealth, with Wolsey's end, be thine? Or liv'st thou now, with safer pride content, The wisest justice on the banks of Trent? For, why did Wolsey, near the steeps of fate, On weak foundations raise th
Page 18 - But did not chance at length her error mend? Did no subverted empire mark his end? Did rival monarchs give the fatal wound? Or hostile millions press him to the ground? His fall was destined to a barren strand, A petty fortress, and a dubious hand; He left the name at which the world grew pale, To point a moral, or adorn a tale.
Page 22 - For patience, sovereign o'er transmuted ill; For faith, that, panting for a happier seat. Counts death kind Nature's signal of retreat. These goods for man the laws of Heaven ordain, These goods He grants, who grants the power to gain ; With these celestial Wisdom calms the mind, And makes the happiness she does not find.
Page 200 - From the mountains on every side rivulets descended that filled all the valley with verdure and fertility, and formed a lake in the middle, inhabited by fish of every species, and frequented by every fowl whom nature has taught to dip the wing in water. This lake discharged its superfluities by a stream which entered a dark cleft of the mountain on the northern side, and fell with dreadful noise from precipice to precipice till it was heard no more.
Page 255 - ... or vicious delights. They act as beings under the constant sense of some known inferiority, that fills their minds with rancour and their tongues with censure. They are peevish at home, and malevolent abroad; and, as the outlaws of human nature, make it their business and their pleasure to disturb that society which debars them from its privileges. To live without feeling or exciting sympathy, to be fortunate without adding to the felicity of others or afflicted without tasting the balm of pity,...
Page 16 - See nations slowly wise, and meanly just, To buried merit raise the tardy bust. If dreams yet flatter, once again attend, Hear Lydiat's life, and Galileo's end.

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