'Tis beauty calls, and glory shows the way.1 Alexander the Great. Act iv. Sc. 2. Man, false man, smiling, destructive man. JOHN NORRIS. 1657-1711. How fading are the joys we dote upon! Like angels' visits, short and bright,2 The Parting. THOMAS SOUTHERNE. 1660-1746. Pity 's akin to love. Oroonoka. Act ii. Sc. 1. 1 'leads the way,' in the stage editions, which contain various interpolations, among them "See the conquering hero comes, Sound the trumpet, beat the drums," which was first used by Handel in Joshua, afterwards transferred to Judas Maccabæus. The text of both oratorios was written by Dr. Thomas Morell, a clergy man. 2 Like those of angels, short and far between. Blair, The Grave, Line 588. Campbell, Pleasures of Hope, Part ii. Line 378. 3 Compare Beaumont and Fletcher, ante, p. 157. JOHN DENNIS. 1657-1734. A man who could make so vile a pun would not scruple to pick a pocket.1 They will not let my play run; and yet they steal my thunder.2 JOHN POMFRET. 1667-1703. We bear it calmly, though a ponderous woe, And still adore the hand that gives the blow.3 Verses to his Friend under Affliction. Heaven is not always angry when he strikes, But most chastises those whom most he likes. Ibid. 1 This on the authority of The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. li. p. 324. 2 Our author, for the advantage of this play [Appius and Virginia], had invented a new species of thunder, which was approved of by the actors, and is the very sort that at present is used in the theatre. The tragedy, however, was coldly received notwithstanding such assistance, and was acted but a short time. Some nights after, Mr. Dennis being in the pit, at the representation of Macbeth, heard his own thunder made use of; upon which he rose in a violent passion, and exclaimed, with an oath, that it was his thunder. "See," said he, "how the rascals use me! They will not let my play run; and yet they steal my thunder." - Biog. Britannica, Vol. v. p. 103. Bless the hand that gave the blow. Dryden, The Spanish Friar, Act ii. Sc. 1. Defoe. Bentley. - Brown. 255 DANIEL DEFOE. 1663-1731. 1 Wherever God erects a house of prayer, The True-Born Englishman. Part i. Line 1. who. RICHARD BENTLEY. 1662-1742. It is a maxim with me that no man was ever written out of reputation but by himself. Monk's Life of Bentley. p. 90. I do not love thee, Doctor Fell, I do not love thee, Doctor Fell.2 1 See Proverbial Expressions. 2 A slightly different version is found in Brown's Works collected and published after his death. Non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare; Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te. Martial, Ep. 1. xxxiii. Je ne vous aime pas, Hylas ; Bussy, Comte de Rabutin, Epistle 33, Book i MATTHEW PRIOR. 1664–1721. All jargon of the schools. On Exodus iii. 14. Be to her virtues very kind; Be to her faults a little blind. An English Padlock. Abra was ready ere I call'd her name; And, though I call'd another, Abra came. Solomon on the Vanity of the World. Book ii. Line 364. For hope is but the dream of those that wake.1 Ibid. Book iii. Line 102. Who breathes, must suffer, and who thinks, must mourn; And he alone is bless'd who ne'er was born. Till their own dreams at length deceive 'em, This thought is ascribed to Aristotle by Diogenes Laertius, Lib. v. § 18. Ερωτηθεὶς τί ἐστιν ἐλπίς ; Εγρηγορότος, εἶπεν, ἐνύπνιον. Menage, in his Observations upon Laertius, says that Stobæus (Serm. cix.) ascribes it to Pindar, whilst Ælian (Var. Hist. xiii. 29) refers it to Plato: 'Eλɛyev ó 11λúrwv, τὰς ἐλπίδας ἐγρηγορότων ἀνθρώπων ὀνείρους εἶναι. Now fitted the halter, now travers'd the cart, And thought the nation ne'er would thrive. Paulo Purganti. Nobles and heralds, by your leave, Here lies what once was Matthew Prior; The son of Adam and of Eve: Can Bourbon or Nassau claim higher? 2 Epitaph on Himself. Odds life! must one swear to the truth of a song? A Better Answer. That air and harmony of shape express, Fine by degrees, and beautifully less.3 Henry and Emma. 1 As men that be lothe to departe do often take their leff. John Clerk to Wolsey. — Ellis's Letters, Third series, i. 262. See Tarl A loth to depart was the common term for a song, or a tune played, on taking leave of friends. ton's News out of Purgatory (about 1689); Chapman's Widow's Tears; Middleton's, The Old Law, Act iv. Sc. 1; Beaumont and Fletcher's Wit at several Weapons, Act ii. Sc. 2. The following epitaph was written long before the time of Prior : Johnnie Carnegie lais heer. Descendit of Adam and Eve, Gif ony con gang hieher, Ise willing give him leve. Fine by defect, and delicately weak. -- Pope, Moral Essays, Epistle ii. Line 43. |