| Citation |
MG-A(G.754.018
27 Jun 1754:11,12,13 (477)
From a late Westminster Journal. . . [1 lines in Latin from
Phaedrus]
It is impossible to think of any subject in nature that
more unavoidably leads a writer into triteness and common
place, than the consideration of our mortality; and yet it
is never improper, never unseasonable, nor it is ever
unnecessary seeing most men lead their lives in such a
manner, as if they thought, that either their bodies were
immortal in this world . . . [1/2 column]
Hence it is, that the most despicable of all despicable
amusements, even the Italian Burlettas find an audience: . .
. [4 lines] Hence, finally it is, that acting, dancing,
fiddling, dressing, gaming, mimicking, whoring, drinking,
and some kinds of preaching, have banished virtue, religion,
and common sense from the triumphant majority of an
abandoned world. . . [4 lines] How affecting he is at that
time [Death's arrival], we have a fine description in
Shakespear's Measure for Measure.
Aye, but to die . . . [14 lines, 10 lines of prose]
. . . as he is drawn by Dr. Garth.
'Tis to the vulgar death too harsh appears:
The ill we feel is only in our fears:
To die is landing on some silent shore,
Where billows never break, nor tempests roar:
. . . [7 lines, then another column text.]
It would be well perhaps, if there was something of this
nature at Vauxhall, where too many folks go merely to be
fiddled out of their reflections, and to drown their sorrows
in champaign. . . [21 lines]
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