The Wits and Beaus of Society, Volume 1Worthington Company, 1890 |
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Common terms and phrases
abbé admiration afterwards amusing Anne of Austria Bath Beau beauty called Cavaliers character Charles Charles II charms Chevalier club coach Congreve Countess court Cowley daughter death disgust dress Duchess Duchess of Buckingham Duke of Buckingham duke's Earl England English Evremond fair famous fashion father fool fortune France French gentleman George II George Villiers give grace Grammont Ham House handsome heart Hervey's honour Horace Walpole horse husband James's king king's Kit-kat Lady Mary laugh letters lived Lord Chesterfield Lord Hervey Lord Rochester Louis Madame Majesty Marquis marriage married Mary Fairfax Mazarin mind mistress mother Nash never Paris Pepys perhaps person play pleasure poet political poor Pope Prince Princess Caroline Queen Caroline Roundheads royal scarcely Scarron sent Shrewsbury society soon talk thought took Wharton whilst Whitehall wife Wits and Beaux woman write wrote York House young youth
Popular passages
Page 195 - A cherub's face, a reptile all the rest; Beauty that shocks you, parts that none will trust, Wit that can creep, and pride that licks the dust.
Page 86 - Here lies our Sovereign Lord the King, Whose word no man relies on ; Who never said a foolish thing, And never did a wise one.
Page 224 - The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind : but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it ; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it ; till I am known, and do not want it. I hope it is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received, or to be unwilling that the publick should consider me as owing that to a patron, which Providence has enabled me to do for myself.
Page 223 - Seven years, my lord, have now passed, since I waited in your outward rooms, or was repulsed from your door ; during which time I have been pushing on my work through difficulties, of which it is useless to complain, and have brought it, at last, to the verge of publication, without one act of assistance,1 one word of encouragement, or one smile of favour. Such treatment I did not expect, for I never had a patron before.
Page 195 - Half froth, half venom, spits himself abroad, In puns, or politics, or tales, or lies, Or spite, or smut, or rhymes, or blasphemies. His wit all see-saw, between that and this, Now high, now low, now master up, now miss, And he himself one vile antithesis.
Page 36 - Of mimic statesmen, and their merry king. No wit to flatter, left of all his store ! No fool to laugh at, which he valued more. There, victor of his health, of fortune, friends, And fame, this lord of useless thousands ends ! His grace's fate sage Cutler could foresee, And well (he thought) advised him,
Page 4 - A man so various, that he seemed to be Not one, but all mankind's epitome : Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong, Was everything by starts, and nothing long; But, in the course of one revolving moon, Was chemist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon ; Then all for women, painting, rhyming, drinking, Besides ten thousand freaks that died in thinking.
Page 147 - His passion still, to covet general praise, His life, to forfeit it a thousand ways; A constant bounty which no friend has made; An angel tongue, which no man can persuade; A fool, with more of wit than half mankind, Too rash for thought, for action too refined...
Page 36 - Shrewsbury and love ; Or just as gay, at Council, in a ring Of mimic statesmen, and their merry king, No wit to flatter, left of all his store ! No fool to laugh at, which he valued more. There, victor of his health, of fortune, friends, And fame, this lord of useless thousands ends.
Page 11 - Not one, but all mankind's epitome : Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong, Was everything by starts and nothing long ; But in the course of one revolving moon Was chemist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon ; Then all for women, painting, rhyming, drinking, Besides ten thousand freaks that died in thinking. Blest madman, who could every hour employ With something new to wish or to enjoy...