The Miscellaneous Writings of Lord Macaulay

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Longmans, Green, 1865 - 395 pages

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Page 81 - Her power is, indeed, manifested at the bar, in the senate, in the field of battle, in the schools of philosophy. But these are not her glory. Wherever literature consoles sorrow, or assuages pain ; wherever it brings gladness to eyes which fail with wakefulness and tears, and ache for the dark house and the long sleep, — there is exhibited, in its noblest form, the immortal influence of Athens.
Page 217 - Let them be even as the grass growing upon the housetops, which withereth afore it be plucked up ; 7 Whereof the mower filleth not his hand, neither he that bindeth up the sheaves his bosom. 8 So that they who go by say not so much as, The LORD prosper you, we wish you good luck in the name of the LORD.
Page 98 - ... in the heavens above or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth.
Page 364 - And hark ! like the roar of the billows on the shore, The cry of battle rises along their charging line ! For God ! for the Cause ! for the Church ! for the Laws ! For Charles King of England, and Rupert of the Rhine! The furious German comes, with his clarions and his drums, His bravoes of Alsatia, and pages of Whitehall; They are bursting on our flanks. Grasp your pikes, close your ranks; For Rupert never comes but to conquer or to fall.
Page 88 - I am not afraid of anything; for I know it is but a play. And if it was really a ghost, it could do one no harm at such a distance, and in so much company; and yet if I was frightened, I am not the only person.
Page 102 - Some years before his death, Dryden altogether ceased to write for the stage. He had turned his powers in a new direction, with success the most splendid and decisive. His taste had gradually awakened his creative faculties. The first rank in poetry was beyond his reach ; but he challenged and secured the most honourable place in the second. His imagination resembled the wings" of an ostrich. It enabled him to run, though not to soar.
Page 364 - When a murmuring sound broke out, and swelled into a shout Among the godless horsemen upon the tyrant's right. And hark ! like the roar of the billows on the shore, The cry of battle rises along their charging line : For God ! for the Cause ! for the Church ! for the Laws ! For Charles, King of England, and Rupert of the Rhine!
Page 112 - Facts are the mere dross of history. It is from the abstract truth which interpenetrates them, and lies latent among them like gold in the ore, that the mass derives its whole value...
Page 129 - ... of man. He shows us the court, the camp, and the senate; but he shows us also the nation. He considers no anecdote, no peculiarity of manner, no familiar saying, as too insignificant for his notice, which is not too insignificant to illustrate the operation of laws, of religion, and of education, and to mark the progress of the human mind. Men will not merely be described, but will be made intimately known to us. The changes of manners will be indicated, not merely by a few general phrases, or...
Page 381 - Thine, when, through forests breathing death, thy way All night shall wind by many a tiger's lair ; " Thine most, when friends turn pale, when traitors fly, When, hard beset, thy spirit, justly proud, For truth, peace, freedom, mercy, dares defy A sullen priesthood and a raving crowd. " Amidst the din of all things fell and vile, Hate's yell, and envy's hiss, and folly's bray, Remember me ; and with an unforced smile See riches, baubles, flatterers pass away. " Yes : they will pass away ; nor deem...

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