The Correspondence of Samuel Richardson, Author of Pamela, Clarissa, and Sir Charles Grandison: Selected from the Original Manuscripts, Bequeathed by Him to His Family, to which are Prefixed, a Biographical Account of that Author, and Observations on His Writings, Volume 4

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Page 267 - Th' insulting tyrant, prancing o'er the field Strow'd with Rome's citizens, and drench'd in slaughter, His horse's hoofs wet with Patrician blood ! Oh, Portius ! is there not some chosen curse, Some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven, Red with uncommon wrath, to blast the man, Who owes his greatness to his country's ruin...
Page 291 - ... of seeing a lady whom he loves and honours : his eye always on the ladies ; if they have very large hoops, he looks down and supercilious, and as if he would be thought wise, but perhaps the sillier for that: as he approaches a lady, his eye is never fixed first upon her face, but upon her feet, and thence he raises it up, pretty quickly for a dull eye ; and one would think (if we thought him at all worthy of observation) that from her air and (the last beheld) her face, he sets her down in his...
Page 227 - Thus have I lost six sons (all my sons) and two daughters, every one of which, to answer your question, I parted with with the utmost regret. Other heavy deprivations of friends, very near, and very dear, have I also suffered. I am very susceptible, I will venture to say, of impressions of this nature. A father, an honest, a worthy father, I lost by the accident of a broken thigh, snapped by a sudden jirk, endeavouring to recover a slip passing through his own yard. My father, whom I attended in...
Page 181 - If you disappoint me, attend to my curse :—May the hatred of all the young, beautiful, and virtuous, for ever be your portion! and may your eyes never behold anything but age and deformity ! May you meet with applause only from envious old maids, surly bachelors, and tyrannical parents! May you be doomed to the company of such, and after death may their ugly souls haunt you ! " Now make Lovelace and Clarissa unhappy if you dare...
Page 282 - What in your opinion is the meaning of the word sentimental, so much in vogue among the polite. . . . Everything clever and agreeable is comprehended in that word. ... I am frequently astonished to hear such a one is a sentimental man; we were a sentimental party; I have been taking a sentimental walk.
Page 240 - Had you seen me I surely should have moved your pity. When alone in agonies would I lay down the book, take it up again, walk about the room, let fall a flood of tears, wipe my eyes, read again, perhaps not three lines, throw away the book, crying out: ' Excuse me, good Mr. Richardson, I cannot go on; it is your fault, you have done more than I can bear...
Page 192 - There is no inquisition in the grave," says the wise man, "whether we lived ten or a hundred years; and the day of death is better than the day of our birth.
Page 187 - Thy rate and price, and mark thee for a treasure, Hearken unto a Verser, who may chance Rhyme thee to good, and make a bait of pleasure : A verse may find him, who a Sermon flies, And turn delight into a Sacrifice.
Page 283 - ... clever and agreeable can be so common as this word. I am frequently astonished to hear such a one is a sentimental man; we were a sentimental party; I have been taking a sentimental walk. And that I might be reckoned a little in the fashion, and, as I thought, show them the proper use of the word, about six weeks ago, I declared I had just received a sentimental letter. Having often laughed at the word, and found fault with the application of it, and this being the first time I ventured to make...
Page 291 - ... would imagine, but observing all that stirs on either hand of him without moving his short neck; hardly ever turning back; of a light brown complexion; teeth not yet failing him...

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