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Article COMMENTS ON STERNE. ← Page 7 of 9 →
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Comments On Sterne.
Mercy , says Bp . Hall , becomes well tbe heart of any man , but most cf a Levite . He that had helped to offer so many sacrifices to God for the multitude of every Israelite ' s sins , saw how proportionable it was , that man should not hold one sin unpardonable . He had served at the altar to no purpose , if he ( whose trade was to sue for mercy ) bad not at & ll learned to practise it . It were needless to the parallel .
pursue Sterne ' s twelfth Sermon , on the Forgiveness of Injuries , is merely st . dilated Commentary on the beautiful conclusion of the Contemplation ' of Joseph . ' The sixteenth Sermon contains a more striking imitation . "There * ' is no small degree of malicious craft in fixing upon a Season to " give a mark of enmity and ill-will;—a worda lookwhichat
, , , " one time , would make no impression , —at another time , wounds "the heart ; ancl , like a shaft flying with the wind ,, pierces deep , " which , with its own natural force , would scarce have reached the " object aimed at . " This is little varied from the original : There is no small cruelty in the , picking out of a time for mischief ; that word would scarce gaK at
mte season , which at another killeth . The same shaft flying with the wind pierces deep , which against it , can hardly find strength to stick upright * . In Sterne ' s fifth Sermon , the Contemplation of Elijah with the Sareptan , is closely followed . Witness this passage out . of others : " ¦' ¦ The het follows the call of his God the hand which
Prop : — same " ¦ brought him to the gate of the city , had led also the poor widow *' out of her doors , oppressed with sorrow f . " Tbe Prophet follows the call of his God ; the same band that brought Mm to tbe gate ofSarepta , led also this poor widow out of ber doorst
The succeeding passages which correspond are too long for insertion . Sterne has acknowledged his acquaintance with this book , by the aisingenuity of two ludicrous quotations in Tristram Shand ylj . What assistance the writings of Voltaire and Rousseau afforded Sterne , I omit to enquire . The former was the first author of this agewho introduced the terms and operations of the modern art of
, . war into works of entertainment ; but Sterne ' s military ardour seems to have been inspired by the prolix details of honest Tindal . Voltaire himself reviewed the first volumes of Tristram Shand y , in one of the foreign Journals , and did not charge their author with the imitation of any persons but Rabelais and Swift . He was probably not very jealous of the reputation of a modern English writer .
Such are the casual notes , with tbe collection of which I have sometimes diverted a vacant half-hour . They leave Sterne in possession of every praise but that of curious erudition , to which he had
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Comments On Sterne.
Mercy , says Bp . Hall , becomes well tbe heart of any man , but most cf a Levite . He that had helped to offer so many sacrifices to God for the multitude of every Israelite ' s sins , saw how proportionable it was , that man should not hold one sin unpardonable . He had served at the altar to no purpose , if he ( whose trade was to sue for mercy ) bad not at & ll learned to practise it . It were needless to the parallel .
pursue Sterne ' s twelfth Sermon , on the Forgiveness of Injuries , is merely st . dilated Commentary on the beautiful conclusion of the Contemplation ' of Joseph . ' The sixteenth Sermon contains a more striking imitation . "There * ' is no small degree of malicious craft in fixing upon a Season to " give a mark of enmity and ill-will;—a worda lookwhichat
, , , " one time , would make no impression , —at another time , wounds "the heart ; ancl , like a shaft flying with the wind ,, pierces deep , " which , with its own natural force , would scarce have reached the " object aimed at . " This is little varied from the original : There is no small cruelty in the , picking out of a time for mischief ; that word would scarce gaK at
mte season , which at another killeth . The same shaft flying with the wind pierces deep , which against it , can hardly find strength to stick upright * . In Sterne ' s fifth Sermon , the Contemplation of Elijah with the Sareptan , is closely followed . Witness this passage out . of others : " ¦' ¦ The het follows the call of his God the hand which
Prop : — same " ¦ brought him to the gate of the city , had led also the poor widow *' out of her doors , oppressed with sorrow f . " Tbe Prophet follows the call of his God ; the same band that brought Mm to tbe gate ofSarepta , led also this poor widow out of ber doorst
The succeeding passages which correspond are too long for insertion . Sterne has acknowledged his acquaintance with this book , by the aisingenuity of two ludicrous quotations in Tristram Shand ylj . What assistance the writings of Voltaire and Rousseau afforded Sterne , I omit to enquire . The former was the first author of this agewho introduced the terms and operations of the modern art of
, . war into works of entertainment ; but Sterne ' s military ardour seems to have been inspired by the prolix details of honest Tindal . Voltaire himself reviewed the first volumes of Tristram Shand y , in one of the foreign Journals , and did not charge their author with the imitation of any persons but Rabelais and Swift . He was probably not very jealous of the reputation of a modern English writer .
Such are the casual notes , with tbe collection of which I have sometimes diverted a vacant half-hour . They leave Sterne in possession of every praise but that of curious erudition , to which he had