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Article ON THE FALSE LEARNING OF THE PRESENT AGE. ← Page 3 of 5 →
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On The False Learning Of The Present Age.
farthing with a hole in the middle , to one that has no such ^ pretensions to notice . I do not love to let myself loose in unqualified censure ; and yet I cannot in this place help feeling a temptation to declare , that , in the long course of my observation of human nature , I have never discovered much real knowledge in your indefatigable book-collectors ;
and am often put in mind , when I am led in triumph to their libraries , which I am to consider as bearing testimony to their learning , of our common friend Mr . Patence , who , in a note to his advertisement , in which the afflicted are more particularly instructed how to find out his house , tells us , " that his abilities are to be known by the blue lamps at his door . "
Lucian is very pleasantly-severe upon the illiterate book-hunter , and enforces a sensible strain of ridicule with this story among others . '" A man of respectable quality , wdiose name was Evangelus , had " conceived a mig hty rage for gaining a victory at the Pythian Games . " As his personal deficiencies precluded all excellence in running or " wrestlinghe bethought himself of his skill in playing on the harp ,
, " which had been so magnified by some treacherous flatterers , that " he resolved to try the success of this fancied accomplishment . To " Delphi then he came in great splendour , with a crown of laurel " ornamented with gold and emeralds . Nothing could exceed the " beauty and richness of his harp , which was decorated with jewels " and gems of great costliness , and on which the figures of Apollo ,
"Orpheus , and the Muses , were admirably sculptured . When the " day of celebration arrived , three candidates presented themselves ; " but Evangelus drew upon himself the admiration of all the spec" t-ators , arrayed as he was in a purple robe , and shining all over , " with diamonds of the finest lustre . Thespis , the Theban , came " first into the lists , and exhibited no inconsiderable talent ; but he
" could hardly prevent the impatience of his auditors from breaking " forth , so great were their expectations of the skill of Evangelus . " At length the Theban harper finished ; and now stepped forth , " with a countenance betiding a confident security , the favourite of " the public : a respectful silence prevailed , expectation had charmed " every tongueand every man was preparing himself to feel
sen-, " sations he had never proved before ; when , after a variety of flou" rishes and gestures on the part of the performer , a wretched un" musical strain assaulted their ears , accompanied with the snapping " of the chords , which were not able to sustain the rudeness of his " blows . The surprise of the assembly held them for some time in " this silence , so flattering to the deluded Evangelus ; till at length
" the performance became so intolerable , that the judges , enraged " with their disappointment , and conceiving themselves in a manner ( C insulted , ordered him to be turned out of the theatre , and well dis-( C cip lined for his ignorant assurance . As soon as he was dismissed , ee an Elean , whose name was Eumelus , came modestly forward , whose ( c whole appointment was scarcely worth ten drachmas : his harp " was old and crazy , and furnished with wooden pegs . The man ' s
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The False Learning Of The Present Age.
farthing with a hole in the middle , to one that has no such ^ pretensions to notice . I do not love to let myself loose in unqualified censure ; and yet I cannot in this place help feeling a temptation to declare , that , in the long course of my observation of human nature , I have never discovered much real knowledge in your indefatigable book-collectors ;
and am often put in mind , when I am led in triumph to their libraries , which I am to consider as bearing testimony to their learning , of our common friend Mr . Patence , who , in a note to his advertisement , in which the afflicted are more particularly instructed how to find out his house , tells us , " that his abilities are to be known by the blue lamps at his door . "
Lucian is very pleasantly-severe upon the illiterate book-hunter , and enforces a sensible strain of ridicule with this story among others . '" A man of respectable quality , wdiose name was Evangelus , had " conceived a mig hty rage for gaining a victory at the Pythian Games . " As his personal deficiencies precluded all excellence in running or " wrestlinghe bethought himself of his skill in playing on the harp ,
, " which had been so magnified by some treacherous flatterers , that " he resolved to try the success of this fancied accomplishment . To " Delphi then he came in great splendour , with a crown of laurel " ornamented with gold and emeralds . Nothing could exceed the " beauty and richness of his harp , which was decorated with jewels " and gems of great costliness , and on which the figures of Apollo ,
"Orpheus , and the Muses , were admirably sculptured . When the " day of celebration arrived , three candidates presented themselves ; " but Evangelus drew upon himself the admiration of all the spec" t-ators , arrayed as he was in a purple robe , and shining all over , " with diamonds of the finest lustre . Thespis , the Theban , came " first into the lists , and exhibited no inconsiderable talent ; but he
" could hardly prevent the impatience of his auditors from breaking " forth , so great were their expectations of the skill of Evangelus . " At length the Theban harper finished ; and now stepped forth , " with a countenance betiding a confident security , the favourite of " the public : a respectful silence prevailed , expectation had charmed " every tongueand every man was preparing himself to feel
sen-, " sations he had never proved before ; when , after a variety of flou" rishes and gestures on the part of the performer , a wretched un" musical strain assaulted their ears , accompanied with the snapping " of the chords , which were not able to sustain the rudeness of his " blows . The surprise of the assembly held them for some time in " this silence , so flattering to the deluded Evangelus ; till at length
" the performance became so intolerable , that the judges , enraged " with their disappointment , and conceiving themselves in a manner ( C insulted , ordered him to be turned out of the theatre , and well dis-( C cip lined for his ignorant assurance . As soon as he was dismissed , ee an Elean , whose name was Eumelus , came modestly forward , whose ( c whole appointment was scarcely worth ten drachmas : his harp " was old and crazy , and furnished with wooden pegs . The man ' s