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Article LONDON PLATITUDES. Page 1 of 13 →
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London Platitudes.
LONDON PLATITUDES .
BY HARGRAVE JENNINGS .
PLATITUDE THE FIEST . WHEN new opinions are of so flimsy a texture that they are scarcely worth the wearing , we do right in falling back upon the old , and in sporting those ancient garments which , at all events , have the gloss of antiquity . We forget which
reverend philosopher it was of the older day , who propounded that quiet and comfortable axiom , that to be asleep was better than to lie down , to lie down was better than to stand upright , that to stand upright was preferable to walking , that walking was to be chosen before running , and that as to no exertion at allwhy that that was the best of all !
, Agreeably to this amiable and do-nothing way of settlingthings , we ought strictly to refrain , and no more to profane an unoffending goose-quill than we would pluck wisdom from the bird of knowledge itself . We have all our lives had a high idea of idleness . There is a dignity about it which we in vain look for amidst the busy and restless . Kings are idle ;
the earth takes his time about his journey round the sun , and he is no more to be hurried out of his j > ace than Saturn is in the twisting off his belts . All honour to Idleness ! Well , indeed , might Thomson bestow a Castle upon his Indolence . The keys sleep in drowsy locks ; they turn , but only turn on the other side .
Wreaths of poppy to thy brows , thou Mighty Mother , nursing so many craving younglings , famished for sleep , in thy soporific lap ! Blessed peace surround thee ; dozy clouds sleep out their light around thy resting form J Pillows of cloud roll beneath thy head , and be all the points of the lihtning drawn out of those clouds which thou selectest for
g the supports to thy sinking shoulders ! Amaranth , mandragora , and nepenthe , all the double-distilled blooms winking into subsidence on " Lethe ' s Wharf ; " all the night-flowers that do hang their heads , " thyrsusses dropping with laudanum , not dew , cluster to grace thy decadence , thou Sister of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
London Platitudes.
LONDON PLATITUDES .
BY HARGRAVE JENNINGS .
PLATITUDE THE FIEST . WHEN new opinions are of so flimsy a texture that they are scarcely worth the wearing , we do right in falling back upon the old , and in sporting those ancient garments which , at all events , have the gloss of antiquity . We forget which
reverend philosopher it was of the older day , who propounded that quiet and comfortable axiom , that to be asleep was better than to lie down , to lie down was better than to stand upright , that to stand upright was preferable to walking , that walking was to be chosen before running , and that as to no exertion at allwhy that that was the best of all !
, Agreeably to this amiable and do-nothing way of settlingthings , we ought strictly to refrain , and no more to profane an unoffending goose-quill than we would pluck wisdom from the bird of knowledge itself . We have all our lives had a high idea of idleness . There is a dignity about it which we in vain look for amidst the busy and restless . Kings are idle ;
the earth takes his time about his journey round the sun , and he is no more to be hurried out of his j > ace than Saturn is in the twisting off his belts . All honour to Idleness ! Well , indeed , might Thomson bestow a Castle upon his Indolence . The keys sleep in drowsy locks ; they turn , but only turn on the other side .
Wreaths of poppy to thy brows , thou Mighty Mother , nursing so many craving younglings , famished for sleep , in thy soporific lap ! Blessed peace surround thee ; dozy clouds sleep out their light around thy resting form J Pillows of cloud roll beneath thy head , and be all the points of the lihtning drawn out of those clouds which thou selectest for
g the supports to thy sinking shoulders ! Amaranth , mandragora , and nepenthe , all the double-distilled blooms winking into subsidence on " Lethe ' s Wharf ; " all the night-flowers that do hang their heads , " thyrsusses dropping with laudanum , not dew , cluster to grace thy decadence , thou Sister of