-
Articles/Ads
Article TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. ← Page 3 of 3 Article DETACHED THOUGHTS ONBOOKS. Page 1 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor Of The Freemasons' Magazine.
know one of them who can make verses as fast as he can write them down , and who , through the medium of pocket-books , & c . has pestered the world with some thousands . , But it is not only in verse but also in prose that the Scribblers exert their talents . Among the ' various kinds of scribbled essays which L have seen I shah only notice one species , I mean such as pretend to
imitate Sterne , whose manner o ( writing is exactly calculated for the meridian of their genius , if I may so prostitute the name ; notbeiug ' ¦ able . lo think clearly so as to comprehend their subject , and treat it with ' , accuracy and precision , they find an admirable assistance in the broken and disjointed style which that whimsical author has chosen in touch some of tiie '' finest feelings of the heart : having then filled a ¦
page with a variety of affirmations exclamations , questions , answers , uotes of interrogation and admiration , -blank lines , & c . 8 rc . which may be . perused either backward or forward with the same degree of pleasure and information , ' they prefix to the top , in large letters , " A Frao-isiL'sit , after tiie Maiinerof Sterne , " and which bearsprettynear thesi-roe resemblance to the more exquisite pages of Yorrick , as , pardon
wethe simile , his dead ass does to the beautiful and pensive Maria . I hope , Mr . Editor , you will have the goodness ti insert this in your elegant ' miscellany , as it will really be doing an . essential service to the
public , •' . To cliecfc these heroes , and their laurels crop , To bring them back to reason and their shop . " And I hope , if i . should fall into the hands of any of those gentlemen it is intended for , that they will consider seriously what a difficult utideriafcingit is to write well , how few there are who succeed , and how
many have incurred the censure and contempt of the world by their attempt at authorship , particularly in ' poetry . " I had rather be a kitten , and cry Mew , Than one of lhese same metre-ballad-mongers ; I had rather hear a brazen candlestick turn'd , Or a dry wheel grate on the axle tree , And that would nothing set my teeth on edge , Nothing so much as mincing poetry ; 'Tis like the i ' oic'd gait of a shuffling nag . " Sunderland , Oct . 16 , 1795 . I remain , Sir , & c . ' . R ,
Detached Thoughts Onbooks.
DETACHED THOUGHTS ONBOOKS .
BOOKS , like friends , should be few and well chosen . Like friends , too , we should return to them again and againios ' , like true friends , they will never fail us—never cease to instruct —• never cloy . Maiiy books are read , but few attended to—fewer understood . Books are "bought from fashionmore than from judgment .
, li-ooks change their fashion , almost as much as apparel . A fashionable writer makes a fashionable book , and creates a number of fashionable readers—readers , " who pay more attention to the fa . hi-. rn of the writer , tli-. n to the fashion of the book .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor Of The Freemasons' Magazine.
know one of them who can make verses as fast as he can write them down , and who , through the medium of pocket-books , & c . has pestered the world with some thousands . , But it is not only in verse but also in prose that the Scribblers exert their talents . Among the ' various kinds of scribbled essays which L have seen I shah only notice one species , I mean such as pretend to
imitate Sterne , whose manner o ( writing is exactly calculated for the meridian of their genius , if I may so prostitute the name ; notbeiug ' ¦ able . lo think clearly so as to comprehend their subject , and treat it with ' , accuracy and precision , they find an admirable assistance in the broken and disjointed style which that whimsical author has chosen in touch some of tiie '' finest feelings of the heart : having then filled a ¦
page with a variety of affirmations exclamations , questions , answers , uotes of interrogation and admiration , -blank lines , & c . 8 rc . which may be . perused either backward or forward with the same degree of pleasure and information , ' they prefix to the top , in large letters , " A Frao-isiL'sit , after tiie Maiinerof Sterne , " and which bearsprettynear thesi-roe resemblance to the more exquisite pages of Yorrick , as , pardon
wethe simile , his dead ass does to the beautiful and pensive Maria . I hope , Mr . Editor , you will have the goodness ti insert this in your elegant ' miscellany , as it will really be doing an . essential service to the
public , •' . To cliecfc these heroes , and their laurels crop , To bring them back to reason and their shop . " And I hope , if i . should fall into the hands of any of those gentlemen it is intended for , that they will consider seriously what a difficult utideriafcingit is to write well , how few there are who succeed , and how
many have incurred the censure and contempt of the world by their attempt at authorship , particularly in ' poetry . " I had rather be a kitten , and cry Mew , Than one of lhese same metre-ballad-mongers ; I had rather hear a brazen candlestick turn'd , Or a dry wheel grate on the axle tree , And that would nothing set my teeth on edge , Nothing so much as mincing poetry ; 'Tis like the i ' oic'd gait of a shuffling nag . " Sunderland , Oct . 16 , 1795 . I remain , Sir , & c . ' . R ,
Detached Thoughts Onbooks.
DETACHED THOUGHTS ONBOOKS .
BOOKS , like friends , should be few and well chosen . Like friends , too , we should return to them again and againios ' , like true friends , they will never fail us—never cease to instruct —• never cloy . Maiiy books are read , but few attended to—fewer understood . Books are "bought from fashionmore than from judgment .
, li-ooks change their fashion , almost as much as apparel . A fashionable writer makes a fashionable book , and creates a number of fashionable readers—readers , " who pay more attention to the fa . hi-. rn of the writer , tli-. n to the fashion of the book .