A History of England in the Lives of Englishmen, Volume 6A. Fullarton, 1853 - Great Britain |
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acquaintance admiral afterwards Allan Cunningham appeared appointed attention became biographer Bishop BORN A. D. British Burke celebrated character church command commenced conduct death died distinguished Dr Johnson Dr Priestley duke duke of York earl Edinburgh edition effect eminent engaged England English entitled Essay father favour fortune French Garrick genius honour Horace Walpole house of commons Johnson king labours Lady learned letter literary lived London Lord Lord North Lord Thurlow lordship majesty manner ment merit mind nature never observed occasion opinion original Oxford parliament period person philosophical poem poet poetical poetry political possessed preached prince princess of Wales principles profession published reader received respect royal highness says sentiments sermons ships society soon spirit talents taste thought tion took university of Edinburgh university of Glasgow volume whig writings young
Popular passages
Page 54 - Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Page 82 - Where all the ruddy family around Laugh at the jests or pranks that never fail, Or sigh with pity at some mournful tale ; Or press the bashful stranger to his food, And learn the luxury of doing good.
Page 219 - It was at Rome, on the 15th of October, 1764, as I sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, while the bare-footed friars were singing vespers in the temple of Jupiter,* that the idea of writing the decline and fall of the city first started to my mind.
Page 100 - Perhaps he was the most learned man in Europe. He was equally acquainted with the elegant and profound parts of science, and that not superficially but thoroughly. He knew every branch of history, both natural and civil; had read all the original historians of England, France, and Italy; and was a great antiquarian. Criticism, metaphysics, morals, politics, made a principal part of his study; voyages and travels of all sorts were his favourite amusements ; and he had a fine taste in painting, prints,...
Page 218 - After a painful struggle I yielded to my fate : I sighed as a lover, I obeyed as a son ;* my wound was insensibly healed by time, absence, and the habits of a new life.
Page 82 - REMOTE, unfriended, melancholy, slow, Or by the lazy Scheld or wandering Po ; Or onward, where the rude Carinthian boor Against the houseless stranger shuts the door...
Page 227 - I had been for some days skulking from covert to covert, under all the terrors of a jail; as some ill-advised people had uncoupled the merciless pack of the law at my heels. I had taken the last farewell of my few friends; my chest was on the road to Greenock; I had composed the last song I should ever measure in Caledonia — "The gloomy night is gathering fast,
Page 224 - I was not so presumptuous as to imagine that I could make verses like printed ones, composed by men who had Greek and Latin; but my girl sung a song which was said to be composed by a small country laird's son, on one of his father's maids with whom he was in love; and I saw no reason why I might not rhyme as well as he; for, excepting that he could smear sheep, and cast peats, his father living in the moorlands, he had no more scholar-craft than myself. Thus with me began love and poetry, which...
Page 104 - I was assailed by one cry of reproach, disapprobation, and even detestation ; English, Scotch, and Irish, Whig and Tory, Churchman and sectary, freethinker and religionist, patriot and courtier, united in their rage against the man who had presumed to shed a generous tear for the fate of Charles I.
Page 220 - It was on the day, or rather night, of the 27th of June 1787, between the hours of eleven and twelve, that I wrote the last lines of the last page, in a summer-house in my garden. After laying down my pen I took several turns in a berceau, or covered walk of acacias, which commands a prospect of the country, the lake, and the mountains.