a something of regret; a something of
in progress; from these, some derivations will come.
usages / mainly as found in a project, barely started and abandoned in December 2017
dictionaries / some instances therein
somethings of melancholy / for tudo isto é triste
pendings / some links not yet pursued
Jane Austen / a something of, in works by
afterword / about this project
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a sneer, a something of a witty stroke of contempt. It happened 1756
O TEMPORA! O mores! O! the profligacy the luxury, the venality of this age! cried the unvenal Misanthes, who sold out declamations on virtue, honour, and patriotism, for bread and cheese; and he wrote, and wrote, and wrote, till he had persuaded himself that all the rants of his abusive and injurious pen were precepts of equal authority with those of the twelve tables; he dealt about him, he thundered like a little God of this nether world, and all in the cause of greatness of soul. Nay, I would not swear that there were not certain moments of enthusiastic rapture, when he really mistook the elevated situation of his garret, for a station superior to that of the vile nobility whom he so particularly honoured with his distinctions. Then there was a certain house, a certain rendezvous, near the palace which even raised his humorous contempt. O! the wretches that haunt it are one and all infamous scoundrels thinks Misanthes, and gives them a sneer, a something of a witty stroke of contempt. It happened that a certain very profligate frequenter of that certain house, a great man, had some business with Misanthes, and appointed him to attend on the morrow at his hotel. At the very moment of appointment, he appeared at the noble’s study door. And behold Misanthes!...
ex Maxims, Characters, and Reflections, critical, satyrical, and moral. (London, 1756) : 153 : link
authored by Fulke Greville (1717-1806), landowner, known as “a gambler and a dandy,” diplomat a something of absurdity 1794 He who has studied the philosophy of mind, and been accustomed to view objects through another medium than the magic colourings of passion and of fancy, readily perceives a something of absurdity in ascribing such wisdom to plants and animals.
ex “The Instructive Naturalist, No. V. : Of integumation, and irritability,” in An Historical Miscellany of the Curiosities and Rarities in Nature and Art. Comprising new and entertaining descriptions of the most surprising volcanos, caverns, cataracts, whirlpools, water falls, earthquakes, thunder, lightning, and other wonderful and stupendous phenomena of nature... Volume the second (London, 1794) : 171 : link
a something of which running water 1796
But even these uses of running water, confined as they are to a few situations *, are ill adapted to public roads ex chapter 4, on “Roads,” in
The rural economy of the Midland counties; including the management of livestock, in Leicestershire and its environs: together with minutes on agriculture and planting in the district of the Midland Station. By Mr. Marshall. v. 1 (of 2) (London, 1796) : 43 : link (U California)
aware of a something of the same nature, since 1807
But, we are aware of a magnitude in whatever concerns India, which does not admit of a sudden opinion : inferences hastily drawn, are exceedingly dangerous; and, indeed, we presume, that both these writers are aware of a something of the same nature, since they have thought proper to publish their sentiments, at a considerable distance of time before the expiration of the present agreement between the India Company and the nation.
ex “Considerations upon the Trade with India,” being an essay-length review of two recent books on continuation of the East India Company’s monopoly in India, in The Literary Panorama vol. 2 (London; July 1807) : 808 : link
yet a something of consistency with received fable 1808
...are already the property of the poet; and may be mingled, with little impropriety, in new series of invention. Yet a something of consistency with received fable is even here desirable : the desperate lion-hearted theme, the idol of an age of chivalry, was at no period of his live such a lover as Reginald de Brune...
a review of Francis Lathom, his The Fatal Vow; or, St. Michael’s Monastery (1807) in The Annual Review, and History of Literature; for 1807. Arthur Aikin, editor. Vol. 6 (London, 1808) : 666 : link
Francis Lathom (1774-1832), playright, novelist (historical fiction, Gothic, satirical) still a something of the day 1815
Perchance she died in youth: it may be... ex Canto IV, 102-103 of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” in The Works of the Right Hon. Lord Byron, vol. 2 (of 2); (London, 1815) : 54 : link
a something of wholeness and connection seems wanting 1816
An Appendix contains Letters on Sumatra, which are nine in number; and some tables of the thermometer and barometer, as observed in different parts of Hindostan. a review, with extracts of, Tracts, Historical and Statistical, on India; with journals of several Tours though various Parts of the Peninsula: also an Account of Sumatra, in a Series of Letters. By Benjamin Heyne. there is a something of hospitality 1817 In your reception at a western Pennsylvania tavern, there is a something of hospitality combined with the mercantile feelings of your host.
do you mean a something of... do you mean a sort of inward light? 1820 2. By religion do you mean a mere outward obedience to certain rules and regulations of an ecclesiastical nature? Do you mean a something of a political kind? Do you mean a sort of inward light? Or, do you mean the practice of virtue? Do you mean an influence, which prevents men from committing extortionate, cruel, and tyrannical acts; that will not suffer them to oppress the poor, to imprison or or kill men on false charges, or under false pretences?
ex “Letter II to Mr. Canning,” Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register 35:5 (London, Saturday, April 15, 1820) : 311 : link
over the whole surface of his composition a something of 1822
And withal, there was diffused over the whole surface of his composition a something of opulent and luxurious and stately, which was well calculated to inspire lofty hopes, and to lend even to visible defects the appearance of so many pledges of future excellence.
ex review (not wholly positive) of [The Rev. H. H.] Milman’s The Martyr of Antioch : A Dramatic Poem, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine 42:11 (March 1822) : 267 : link of mind; and a something of 1822
In his whole deportment, however, there was visible a certain dignity of mind; and a something of conscious superiority, which could not at all times be suppressed or wholly withdrawn from observation.
Charles Symmons, The Life of John Milton (London, 1822) : 435 : link
and that a something of deception 1824
It must, however, be admitted, that originality of thought, grandeur of design, and the inculcation of moral feeling, are but seldom discoverable in the productions of modern genius; and that a something of deception resembling the juggler, who while he waves the box in the air, is endeavouring to take advantage of the senses and pockets of his audience, is substituted in their stead.
ex “Observations on the Modern Drama” in The Literary Magnet of the Belles Lettres, Science, and the Fine Arts vol 1 (1824) : 194-194 : link
wikipedia on The Literary Magnet : link, and without a something of a certain kind 1824
The testimonies of a first cause of all beings, namely God, from the light of nature. The Theological Reasoner, or The mysteries of Divinity Explained, by a Christian Friend to Truth. (Liverpool, 1824) : 11 : link interesting errata : link — a very dexterous kind of doctrine — a something of a special plea 1826 Ministers have, in fact, sheltered themselves under a very dexterous kind of doctrine — a something of a special plea, by thus thrusting forward the charter of the Bank; and I do not feel at all surprised that the Bank, however unwilling they may be to carry such a measure into execution, have granted their consent, rather than see, living as they do in the middle of the city, all their own friends and connexions mouldering to pieces around them, for want of that aid which the Government alone should have afforded them...
Speech by Mr. Tierney, re: the “Paper Currency and Commercial Distress” in Parliamentary History and Review : Containing Reports of the two houses of Parliament during the session of 1826: — 7 Geo. IV. (London, 1826) : 294 : link
probably George Tierney (1761-1830), “Irish Whig politician” a something of solemnity 1828 The sight of an execution is not always terrible to other criminals, because to brave death is not rarer than to fear it. But this sight has, for its certain and infallible consequence, either to diminish the hatred of murder, by teaching men to look calmly at violent death, inflicted in cold blood, and taking something from the infamy of the criminal, by inspiring pity for his sufferings. It even gives, to the last moments of the culprit, a something of solemnity, which, while he is exposed, almost changes public feeling, and gives him, like a martyr, a title to admiration.
conclusion of “Inquiry into the Right or Justice of the Punishment of Death,” The Oriental Herald 16:51 (March 1828) : 421-429 : link
happy production, a something of this truth 1829 However variously the dominion of gifted minds over the faculty of imagination may be exercised, one grand two-fold division will embrace the operation of the whole. The first and the most important of these departments, comprises that plastic species of intellect, which may be termed the assumptive, or more properly still, the assimilative. Like the dervise in the Persian tale, it can make excursions at will, and almost instinctively animate any assignable modification of humanity, or even of conceivable existence. The second not unfrequently includes an equal portion of mental vigour, but being more deeply tinged with thought, and imbued with the feelings and convictions of the individual, may not inaptly take the name of the self-emanative or reflective. Proceeding a little further in the way of analysis, the former seems to imply a tendency to deal with perceptions chiefly as materiel for conceptions, and the latter, to indicate a proneness to ponder over them, with a view to conclusions, or opinions. A little consideration of these habitudes might lead à priori to a conviction, that the creative or combinative principle, at least as to an able dealing with sensible images and impressions, must be much more active in the one class of mind, than the other, the possessors of which almost involuntarily fall into prevalent trains of idea, so as gradually to become slaves to them. Such indeed is felt to be the fact as regards works of imagination in general, but particularly those of the dramatist and novelist, and public approbation has for a long time past been awarded accordingly. review of Devereux in The Westminster Review, Vol. 11 (October 1829) : 490-494 (490) : link
The novel was by Edward Bulwer Lytton (1803-1873) extract a something, of 1830
Pondered the subjects of four tragedies to be written (life and circumstances permitting), to wit [Sardanapalus, Cain, Francesca of Rimini, Tiberius]... I think that I could extract a something, of my tragic, at least, out of the gloomy sequestration and old age of the tyrant — and even out of his sojourn at Caprea — by softening the details, and exhibiting the despair which must have led to those very vicious pleasures. For none but a powerful and gloomy mind overthrown would have had recourse to such solitary horrors, — being also, at the same time, old, and the master of the world. entry for January 28, 1821, in Letters and Journals of Lord Byron : With Notices of His Life, by Thomas Moore. Complete in one volume. (Paris, 1831) : 371 : link
a something of obscurity 1830 It includes much useful information, and many valuable precepts; but there is a something of obscurity in the arrangement, which, it is likely, will render it in some measure a sealed book to those who have not the advantage of a teacher.
from a review of Gabriel Surenne, his The Pocket French Grammatical and Critical Dictionary (1830), in The Imperial Magazine; or, Compendium of Religious, Moral & Philosophical Knowledge (December 1830) :
1138-1140 (1139) : link
a something of self in all their speculations 1831
“Lovers may, and, indeed, generally are enemies, but they never can be friends; because there must always be a spice of jealousy and a something of self in all their speculations. ex letter dated November 10, 1822, in Letters and Journals of Lord Byron : With Notices of His Life, By Thomas Moore (complete in one volume; Paris, 1831) : 441 : link
a something of which 1831 Far from adopting this idea, space, like time, to me appears actually to be in itself a something positive, a something created, a something of which the being or the not being makes a prodigious difference, independent of that of the attributes more late and partial again made to appear within it: a something of which, as of time, in a dreamless sleep, we may have no perception, while when awake and receiving sensations, we may of it have a positive consciousness, even though we actually have not yet a consciousness of any thing else more definite and distinct contained in it; since of space as of time we may perceive portions different from and larger or smaller than others, and since whatever may be compared with something else, and have of a peculiar condition a greater or a less quantity, must in so far needs exist and be perceptible.
Thomas Hope, An Essay on the Origin and Prospects of Man, Vol. 1 (of 3); (London, 1831) : 95 : link Ye who value words more than things, look not with contempt upon this scene of what may pass in your minds for misapplied heroism! Learn that the very fundamental organisation of the janissaries renders the vessel, in which are cooked their daily rations, the rallying point of each regiment — the token whose loss casts a lasting dishonour upon those to whom it belonged: and that, provided the common soldier has a something of which he connects the defence with his individual fame, it signifies little whether it be a copper vessel, or a piece of painted silk; an eagle or a flesh-pot. Thomas Hope, Anastasius, or Memoirs of a Greek; written at the close of the Eighteenth Century. By Thomas Hope, Esq. Vol. 2 (of 2); (1819; this printing, Paris, 1831) : 68 : link
Thomas Hope (1769-1831), “Dutch-British interior and Regency designer, traveler, author, philosopher, art collector, and partner in the banking firm Hope & Co.” and a something of gloom 1832
And a something of gloom on his spirit weigh’d, last quatrain of “Nature’s Farewell,” in Mrs. Hemans, The Poetical Works of vol 1 (Philadelphia, 1832) : 120 : link
Felicia Hemans (1793-1835), “Regarded as the leading female poet of her day, Hemans was immensely popular during her lifetime in both England and the United States” there was a troubled pleasure in her air; a something of regret 1834
— but even while she spurned his prayer, ex The Rival Sisters; With other poems (London, 1834) : 19 : link The passage quoted does not appear in other volumes containing a poem of the same title, by Mary Russell Mitford; indeed, the passage appears nowhere else (in a google books search). and sweet (though with a something of severe) 1834 ...It is on account of these merits that we have thought it most worthy to be extracted, not as a specimen, — for that would be to raise too sanguine expectations concerning its excellence, — but as the master-piece of the supernatural in the “Pilgrims of the Rhine.”
...For the power of that shape could vanquish even them. It was the form of a female, with golden hair, crowned with a chaplet of withered leaves; her bosoms, of an exceeding beauty, lay bare to the wind, and an infant was clasped between them, hushed into a sleep so still, that neither the roar of the thunder, nor the livid lightning flashing from cloud to cloud, could even ruffle, much less arouse, the slumberer. And the face of the female was so unutterably calm and sweet (though with a something of severe); there was no line or wrinkled, in her hueless brow; care never wrote its defacing characters upon that everlasting beauty...
ex essay-length review of “The Pilgrims of the Rhine — by the Author of Pelham, Eugene, Aram, &c.” [Edward Bulwer Lytton (1803-1873)] in The American Monthly Magazine 3:3 (May 1, 1834) : 145-152 (148) : 148 romance, a something of 1834 / 193 With the single exception of the incomparable Scott, no writer of the present age has occupied the public mind for so long a period, or met so large a measure of applause, as Maria Edgeworth. It is true that, within a few years, two different schools have arisen, both perhaps of a higher order than that, which has received much of its lustre from the subject of the present article; the historical... and the imaginative... Both these schools are of a higher order than that in which Miss Edgeworth has been so admirably happy. There is, indeed, in the historical romance, a something of epic majesty; success in this department must rely, not only on shrewdness, knowledge of human nature, quick tact, and fluent language; but on details of antiquarian lore, on the comprehensive grasp of history, deep research into the chronicles of by-gone ages, and on the rare and glorious power of embodying all these in living characters, and, with a painter’s skill, of depicting events as though they were actually passing before the reader’s eye...
ex a review of Maria Edgeworth, her Helen — A Tale [1834], in The American Monthly Magazine 3:3 (May 1, 1834) : 193-198 : link
There was a something of that restlessness, which looks forward to the endurance even of pain, as to a relief from more intolerable suspense — of that eagerness which would rush at once to the vessel, that is to separate the exiled spirit forever from its native shores, rather than undergo the apprehensions which are undoubtedly, and in every case, far more terrible than the most terrible anxiety. But amongst all this —
ex “Passages from the Life of Mary Stuart,” The American Monthly Magazine 6:3 (August 1, 1834) : 373-382 : (377)
Not so my thought, when young and bright ex stanza 2 (of 15) in the poem “The Ruin” by “Linus” a something of bitterness 1836
There was also a greater sympathy between them since her misfortunes: a something of bitterness felt and expressed, formed a part of her character now; whereas, when he had first been of her intimacy, prosperity alone for her had gilt the wheels of Time; she was then too far above him; her brightness dazzled, but he dared not assimilate himself to her. ex The Devoted, by the authoress of “The Disinherited,” “Flirtation,” &c. vol. 3 of 3 (London, 1836) : 246 : link
Charlotte Bury (1775-1861), “made various contributions to light literature; some of her novels were very popular, although now almost forgotten” to conclude a something of six feet 1836
What, therefore, should hinder me, likewise, while I am reading the works of Lucilius, from inquiring whether it is his genius, or the difficult nature of his subject, that will not suffer his verses to be more finished, and to run more smoothly, than if any one, thinking it sufficient (attending to this only) to conclude a something of six feet, be fond of writing two hundred verses before he eats, and as many after supper!
ex The works of Horace, translated literally into English prose, for the use of those who are desirous of acquiring or recovering a competent knowledge of the Latin Language. By C. Smart. Vol 2 (of 2); (Philadelphia, 1836) : 101 : link
have always lost a something of their freshness 1836
Military services in the East rarely obtain that notice to which they are justly entitled. The scene in which they are acted is remote; and the laurels of our brave men from India have always lost a something of their freshness before we gaze on them at home. Moreover, it is an effort of the imagination to realize the aspect of Asiatic warfare, and to many readers such efforts are at once painful and vain. Military Memoirs of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington, by Captain Moyle Sherer. Vol 1 (of 2); (Philadelphia, 1836) : 13 : blank
a something of truth 1836
In reference to my change of sentiments, I would just, for the satisfaction of some, and perhaps it may be for the improvement of others, give a very concise epitome of the process through which my mind has passed. As far back as I can recollect, since I began to exercise my intellect, and to think for myself, I have been inclined to read the books or become acquainted with the opinions of those who may differ from me; believing that truth is not confined to any sect in particular, and that with every portion of error there is mixed a something of truth. During my collegiate course, therefore, I adopted a system of reading, which embraced the sentiments and opinions of those who might differ from me on many material points; and the first work on the Unitarian side of the question which struck my attention, and gave me a more favourable opinion of that system of faith, [63] was some of the sermons of Dr. Channing; and I must now express myself, as I have done before, deeply obliged for the views of rational and scriptural piety, with those sermons develope...
“Speech of the Rev. J. Taylor,” in The Bible Christian : “Designed to advocate the sufficiency of Scripture, and the right of private judgment, in matters of faith” 1:1 (Belfast; February 1836) : 61-65 (63) 62 : link
of purpose, but the face wants a something of the intelligence and expansive views [hazlitt] 1836 Thus, nothing can be nobler or more characteristic than the figure of the prophet Jeremiah. It is not abstracted, but symbolical of the history and functions of the individual. The whole figure bends and droops, under a weight of woe, like a large willow tree surcharged with showers. Yet there is no peculiar expression of grief in one part more than another; the head hangs down despondingly indeed, but so do the hands, the clothes, and every other part seems to labor under and be [301] involved in a complication of distress. Again, the prophet Ezra is represented reading, in a striking attitude of attention, and with the book held. close to him as if to lose no part of its contents in empty space: — all this is finely imagined and designed, but then the book reflects back none of its pregnant, hieroglyphic meaning on the face, which, though large and stately, is an ordinary unimpassioned, and even unideal one. Daniel, again, is meant for a face of inward thought and musing, but it might seem as if the compression of the features were produced by external force as much as by involuntary perplexity. I might extend these remarks to this artist’s other works; for instance, to the Moses, of which the form and attitude express the utmost dignity and energy of purpose, but the face wants a something of the intelligence and expansive views of the Hebrew legislator. It is cut from the same block, and by the same bold sweeping hand, as the sandals or the drapery.
William Hazlitt, "The Vatican," in Literary Remains of the late William Hazlitt. With a ntoice of his life, by his son. And thoughts on his genius and writings, by E. L. Bulwer and Sergeant Talfourd. (New York, 1836) : 301 : link
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) a something of reality to their pretensions 1838
The third lady present at this secret council was the Princess Waldberg, a beautiful little creature of very illustrious birth, and even royally allied, whose right to take her place among the very first in any circle in Europe could not be questioned, any more than her consciousness of such right. But neither her dignity, nor her value for it, could rob her regular and most delicate features of their feminine softness or their youthful charm; and though her round lip would have been curled in very pretty scorn, had any want of etiquette led her to suspect that her rank was forgotten, the natural sweetness of her nature made her sparkle without dazzling, and would have given to the ermine, had she worn it, all the softened grace of dignity without its stiffness or its weight. That this lady should have been elected of the conclave of “La Crême,” was a proof of very judicious ambition in the electors; and her having (together with one or two others, whose claims to distinction were likewise unquestionable,) consented to enrol herself among them, gave a something of reality to their pretensions, which softened if it could not altogether remove the ridicule attached to the clique.
Frances Trollope. A romance of Vienna. Vol. 1 (of 3); (London, 1838) : 164 : link
a something of the undying mind, the kakoetheia scribendi, the non monis moriar 1839 Publication was fenced around with forms, licences, and delays. The argus eye of censors, who wielded the fatal shears, watched the escape of truth, and checked the least expression of a searching spirit of philosophical inquiry; — hence the tenuity of thought, the molenism of Spanish literature. In this thanklessness, hazard, and difficulty of publication, thought, and the desire of recording thought, of leaving behind a something of the undying mind, the ‘κακοήθεια scribendi,’ the ‘non omnis moriar,’ which flickered in hall and convent, found a vent in the private composition of works which were never destined to see the day. The libraries of Spain teem with these still-born manuscripts, cast by their authors like bread upon the waters.
ex review essay on History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic of Spain. By William H. Prescott. In The Quarterly Review (London), 64 (June 1839) : 1-58 (3) : link
— cacoethes scribendi insatiable desire to write Cacoēthes[1] “bad habit”, or medically, “malignant disease” is a borrowing of Greek kakóēthes.[2] wikipedia : list of Latin phrases : link a something of personal feeling 1839
That we must deny ourselves, if we would benefit others.
It is a most certain truth, that if people wish to save souls, they must endeavour to win hearts. The example of St. Paul in this respect, is very forcible, but it is alas much forgotten! We should learn from him to study to meet the prejudices, and consult the feelings of others, to the utmost extent we can possibly go with a safe conscience towards God. But how commonly do men follow a line of conduct the very opposite to this. The unessential peculiarities of party feeling are too often just the very things most warmly contended for, and matters of the smallest importance are made the grounds of angry contention to the great and evident hindrance of the Gospel. The cause of this must be found in St. Paul’s melancholy declaration, “All seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” (Phil. ii. 21.) It is a something of personal feeling, a standing up each for his own honour, which causes party zeal. St. Paul on the contrary consulted, not what was most for his own honour, but what was best for the saving of souls. He was willing even to be thought weak, that he might save the weak. But alas! who will follow him to such lengths? Who can thus hold cheap the opinions of this world?
her commentary on 1. Corinthians, 9, ver. 19-21, in St. Paul’s first Epistle to the Corinthians explained in simple and familiar language. By G. B. (London, 1839) : 116 : link
G. B. : Gracilla Boddington (1801-87), author of several religious books, listed at there was a something of expression 1842
Black eyes are not a thousandth part so pretty as blue in a woman (in my mind); but Fanny Wilding’s eyes, for black ones, were not disagreeable; there was a something of expression which she gave to them that added to their lustre, and caught the fancies of those men who no farther than a feature for happiness, and fancy delight to be centred in personal charms. ex Theodore Hook, his The Man of Sorrow; A Novel (New edition, vol 1 of 3; London, 1842) : 192 : link
Theodore Edward Hook (1788-1841), man of letters (novels, memoirs), practical joker, receiver of the first postcard, who “during the scrutiny of the audit board... lived obscurely and maintained himself by writing for magazines and newspapers.” a something of stiffness and inutility to censure there, and a something of aptness, grace, and convenience to applaud In one of his papers on Milton’s prose, he is so carried away by the magic of novelty as to proclaim Milton’s poetry a very inferior species of manufacture. But he is somewhat cooled when he says to Southey a few weeks later : ex review of A Memoir of the Life and Writings of the late William Taylor, of Norwich, containing the Correspondence of many years with the late Robert Southey, Esq., &c. By J. W. Robberds... (London, 1843), in The Quarterly Review 73 (December 1843) : 27-68 (42) :link a something of religion born with them 1847
Prevented from coming to the true God by the slowness of their spiritual apprehension, men cannot fail to wander in vanities of their own; and it is the knowledge of the true God which dispels these, as the sun disperses the darkness. All have naturally a something of religion born with them,ⁱ but owing to the blindness and stupidity, as well as the weakness of our minds, the apprehension which we conceive of God is immediately depraved. Religion is thus the beginning of all superstitions, not in its own nature, but through the darkness which has settled down upon the minds of men, and which prevents them from distinguishing between idols and the true God.
ⁱ “Les hommes ont naturellement quelque religion,” &c. — Fr.
ex commentary on the passage Confounded be all those who serve graven images, Psalm 97, in Commentary on The Book of Psalms by John Calvin, translated from the original Latin, and collated with the author's French version, by the Rev. James Anderson. Vol. 4 (Edibburgh, 1847) : : 63 : link
There was a something, of solemnity and holiness 1847
And then came the great and important change in her own opinions, or, to speak more correctly, in her own feelings. There was a something, of solemnity and holiness, connected with the religion of her father, which mixed with all her earliest recollections concerning him; and the total absence of all such feelings on the part of her mother, and the almost ostentatious display of this, far from weakening the reverential feelings of her daughter, had very decidedly tended to increase them.
Father Eustace : A Tale of the Jesuits, by Mrs. Trollope. vol 3 (of 3); (London, 1847) : 103 : link
Frances Milton (Mrs.) Trollope (1779-1863)
wikipedia : link
catching from its look a something of religion, and sometimes, not 1849
MARHAM. ex William Mountford, Euthanasy : Or, Happy Talk Towards the End of Life (1849) : 168 : link
for something on Mountford, see entry for his >Thorpe : A Quiet English Town, and Human Life Therein (1852) : link
a something of incongruity 1849
“This is my little daughter, Ethel, Mr. Oglevie. You did not know I had a daughter, did you?” Mrs. Trollope, The Lottery of Marriage : A Novel. Vol. 1 (of 3); (London, 1849) : 110 : link
a something of reverence 1850
When Lucia, timidly, and yet with inconceivable tenderness, took the master’s hand, she was startled by the earnestness of his look. It spoke a sudden awakening to the power of her beauty, a something of reverence for the woman, mingled with affection towards the child.
Petticoat Government : A Novel, By Mrs. Trollope. (Paris, 1850) : 233 : link
petticoat government — a something of love 1851
Of such elements a something approaching to hatred is sometimes, alas! engendered. Despair of exciting the sentiments they so wish to inspire drives some men to a kind of frenzied attempt to excite emotion, be it of any sort; and, powerless to bestow happiness, they take refuge in the infliction of pain. Ravenscliffe. By the author of “Emilia Wyndham,” “The Wilmingtons,” etc. (Paris, 1851) : 144 : link
Anne Marsh-Caldwell (née Caldwell; 1791-1874), “recognised as didactic in character, her books were published anonymously and mainly describe life in the upper middle class and the lower ranks of the aristocracy” a something of solemnity from the long, long past 1852
Martin May sat in the minister’s pew, with Mrs. Lingard. And when he left the chapel, he carried away the conclusion of the sermon, not in his memory only, but also in some hasty notes which he took. William Mountford. Thorpe : A Quiet English Town, and Human Life Therein (Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1852) : 386 : link
William Mountford (1816-85) : Unitarian preacher and writer; English, who would later remove to Boston area; seems to have gotten into “spiritualism” later in his career (suggested by the passage above). a something of regret in her voice, as if another thought was in her mind 1854
“I think it must be a fortunate thing for Mr. Leigh that he has a friend like you,” Clare said, with perfect simplicity, and with a something of regret in her voice, as if another thought was in her mind. Edward Willoughby : A Tale, by the author of “The Discipline of Life,” “Clare Abbey,” &c, &c. Vol. 1 (of 2); (London, 1854) : 118 : link
Lady Emily Charlotte Mary Ponsonby (1817-1877), “wrote a number of novels telling tales set in the upper classes. These romances were published anonymously.” It took me some searching to find who the author was, during which search I encountered her aunt, Lady Caroline Lamb (née Ponsonby; 1785-1828), perhaps best known for her affair with Byron, but certainly interesting beyond that. I wonder if that pedigree might have steeled Emily Ponsonby to write as she saw fit; the prose quoted above is of an intelligent order, I think; and I will dig further. Emily Ponsonby is not the interesting painter bearing the same name : link
a something of that resolution and firmness 1860
...And though the expression of his large mouth was vulpine, yet with the ferocity was a something of that resolution and firmness which are such great elements of courage. ex Hope Evermore; or, Something to Do, by the author of “Left to Themselves,” A Tale of Arab Life in London. Vol. 2 (of 2); (London, 1860) : 323 : link
Mrs. Smythies (Harriet Smythies); (1813-83) Montague Summers, “Mrs. Gordon Smythies,” in Modern Language Notes 60:6 (June 1945) : 359-364 a something of life and spirit. I cannot follow you here. 1862
...You further say you would “appeal to the Volunteers with good-will and confidence as men who had shown a something of life and spirit.” I cannot follow you here. No one, probably, has a much higher respect than I have for a man arming himself when his country is wrongfully assailed, and all her ordinary means of defense are insufficient, but my own experience in this matter leads me to conclusions very different from yours...
ex “Volunteers against Patriotism,” in The Free Press ("Journal of the Foreign Affairs Committees") 10:8 (London; August 6, 1862) : 84 : link
a something of rapture in that earlier dream 1865 But she had once loved her cousin. Yes, truly it was so. In her thoughts she did not now deny it. She had loved him, and was tormented by a feeling that she had had a more full delight in that love than in this other that had sprung up subsequently. She had told herself that this had come of her youth; that love at twenty was sweeter than it could be afterwards. There had been a something of rapture in that earlier dream which could never be repeated, — which could never live, indeed, except in a dream. Now, now that she was older and perhaps wiser, love meant a partnership, in which each partner would be honest to the other, in which each would wish and strive for the other’s welfare, so that thus their joint welfare might be insured. Then, in those early girlish days, it had meant a total abnegation of self. The one was of earth, and therefore possible. The other had been a ray from heaven, — and impossible, except in a dream.
Anthony Trollope. Can You Forgive Her? Vo. 1 (of 3); (Leipzig: Tauchnitz, 1865) : 30 : link
And at last she recurred to that matter as to which she had been so anxious when she first opened her lover’s letter. It will be remembered how assured she had expressed herself that Mr. Grey would not condescend to object to her travelling with her cousin. He had not so condescended. He had written on the matter with a pleasant joke, like a gentleman as he was, disdaining to allude to the past passages in the life of her whom he loved, abstaining even from expressing anything that might be taken as a permission on his part. There had been in Alice’s words, as she told him of their proposed plan, a something that had betrayed a tremor in her thoughts. She had studiously striven so to frame her phrases that her tale might be told as any other simple statement, as though there had been no trembling in her mind as she wrote. But she had failed, and she knew that she had failed. She had failed; and he had read all her effort and all her failure. That, as regarded her and George Vavasor, was over. But, nevertheless, there had been a something of romance during those days in Switzerland which she feared she would regret when she found herself settled at Nethercoats. She envied Kate. Kate could, as his sister, attach herself on to George's political career, and obtain from it all that excitement of life which Alice desired for herself. a something of doubtful futurity 1867
“Anton Trendellsohn-a Jew,” she said, at last. [Anthony Trollope], Nina Balatka : The Story of a Maiden of Prague [by A. Trollope]. Vol. 1 (of 2); (London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1867) : 51 : link
a something of unexpressed and inexpressible relief 1867
It was indeed a relief. Her brother-in-law dead, and he also who had so lately been her suitor! These two men whom she had so lately seen in lusty health, — proud with all the pride of outward life, — had both, by a stroke of the winds, been turned into nothing. A terrible retribution had fallen upon her enemy, — for as her enemy she had ever regarded Hugh Clavering since her husband's death. She took no joy in this retribution. There was no feeling of triumph at her heart in that he had perished. She did not tell herself that she was glad, — either for her own sake or for her sister’s. But mingled with the awe she felt there was a something of unexpressed and inexpressible relief. Her present life was very grievous to her, and now had occurred that which would open to her new hopes and a new mode of living.
Chapter 21, “Is She Mad?” in Anthony Trollope, The Claverings, with sixteen illustrations by M. Ellen Edwards; Vol. 2 (of 2); (London, 1867) : 260 : link
Mary Ellen Edwards (1838-1934) a something of wrong 1872
“Are you suffering much pain, darling?” said her mother, leaning over her. Mrs. Henry B. Paull, “The Fate of Beethoven’s Sonata,” in The Greatest is Charity : A Series of Eight Stories on the Attributes of Charity, described in the 4th, 5th, and 7th verses of the Thirteenth Chapter of St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians. (London, 1872) : 139-151 (151) : link
Susanna Mary Paull (1812–1888), “author and translator who published under the name Mrs. H. B. Paull” on literature or something of that kind 1890 “Well, there was, anyhow,” said Miss Phyllis. “And I and two other girls went to a course of lectures at the Town Hall on literature or something of that kind. We used to have shilling given us for our tickets.”
Anthony Hope, The Dolly Dialogues (Chicago; ca 1894?) :
(1890) : 146 : link
Anthony Hope (1863-1933), a something of wrong 1901
Passing over the suggestion in reply that it is equally inequitable as to both the above classes that a certain other creditor gets the 100 per cent he has innocently collected during the same period, the real answer is found in the suggestions that, historically considered, fraud has always had a something of wrong in it, even the conventional fraud which men have called a preference, and that, while, as Judge McKenna observes, “the true object of a bankruptcy act, so far as creditors are concerned, is to secure equality of distribution,” [misplaced quotation mark corrected] he omitted to add that this distribution must be made as of a certain day and only of property vested either in law or in equity in the bankrupt on that day. Apply this principle to the arguments of the preferentialists and the fallacy of their position will appear. However, more of this later.
ex William H. Hotchkiss, "Bankruptcy and Preferences a la Mode," in The Rand McNally Bankers’ Monthly 22:4 (Chicago, October 1901) : 349-353 (351) : link
A. something of that sort. Q. And you wanted to stop these complaints? — A. Something of that sort. Testimony by John S. Skinner, labour agent for the Canadian Pacific Railway (Montreal, July 21, 1904), in dictionaries
definition of “Authentic,” in The word hero is synonimous with Demi-God, a something of the mule kind betwixt God and man. It is also used for a person of great valour.
ex definition of “hero,” in An Archaeological Dictionary; or, Classical Antiquities of the Jews, Greeks, and Romans, Alphabetically Arranged: Containing an account of their manners, customs, diversions, religious rites, philosophy, festivals, oracles, laws, arts, engines of war, weights, measures, money, medals, computation and division of time, chronological terms, heresies in the primitive church, &. &. The Second Edition, with Considerable Additions. (London, 1793) : link
sense 6 for — but more a note on nuance of — the word “stubborn” instances under sense 5 for the word “something,” here with article or demonstrative pronoun, or in plural. — A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles ; founded mainly on the materials collected by The Philological Society. Vol 9. Part 1. SI-ST (Oxford, 1919) : link
instance 26, under the head “bravery — courage — fortitude,” thus —
His blade is bared; in him there is an air ex John T. Watson, M.D., A Dictionary of Poetical Quotations : Consisting of Elegant Extracts on Every Subject. From various authors, and arranged under appropriate heads. (Philadelphia, 1847) : 99 : link
aside — Ewigkeit, f. [in poetry pl. -en] 1) time or duration, whose beginning is not remembered, or cannot be traced and ascertained. Von — her, from time immemorial or from time out of mind. Fig. a) something of which there will be no end, a perpetuity...
ex A Dictionary of the English and German, and the German and English Language. Cheaper Edition. German and English. Part I. A-K. (Carlsruh, 1857) : 334 : link
extract supporting sense 3 of the word “Germanism,” Affectation of what is German; a disposition to adopt German modes of thought or expression. — somethings of melancholy — It was while on a visit in the Highlands that I first met Jane and Agnes Tracey, and dearly did I soon love those high-born and beautiful orphans. Jane was the elder, and her beauty was of the same noble and majestic character as her mind. Never have I seen such eyes, such bright starlike-eyes; and her hair was black as the darkest feathers in the raven. Her betrothed husband, Lord William Graham, was with the sisters; and how fond he used to look on his promised bride! She was, indeed, a glorious creature; and yet I never gazed upon her face without experiencing a thrill of melancholy feeling. Her beautiful but hectic bloom, and those painfully bright eyes, seemed to say to me that Jane Tracey was not long to be a dweller upon earth. But for Agnes — my light-hearted, smiling Agnes — I had no such gloomy fears. How often have I sat and watched her with delight, as she bounded over the heath like a creature of the skies. Never did I look upon such cherub beauty. I seem to see her now before me, with that long golden hair floating on the wind, and those cloudless eyes smiling on me in their innocent gladness. It was in autumn that I parted with the sisters, and in a few weeks the noble Jane was to become a bride. [anon.], “The Sisters. — A Sketch.” La Belle Assemblée : Or, Court and Fashionable Magazine (June 1826) : 256-257 : link
on La Belle Assemblée, see wikipedia : link
same in Ladies’ Miscellany 1:2 (Salem, Massachusetts; January 6, 1829) : 5 : link
The individual, whose opportune arrival had, as we have noted at the conclusion of the preceding chapter, so successfully aided in disembarrassing Julia and her sister from the presence of her rough intruder, was a young man, who was just entering upon his first career of ambition. His features, without possessing those precise lines, which connoisseurs affirm to be essentially requisite to merit the appellation of handsome, had, nevertheless, by a rare combination, so much spirit and expression, as to be rendered [68] eminently pleasing. There was a something of melancholy, too, on his countenance, which, as we rarely see it on the flushed and animated features of youth, added greatly, and at first sight, to the interest, which you had already taken in his behalf. It was not that melancholy, which is common to the close observer, and which is assumed by various persons, and with various views, but which, nevertheless, is still assumed. It was not the look of sanctity, which the libertine hypocrite can at times so masterly express, when he goes forth, in conscious power, to seduce and to betray. It was not the pale sickly hue, which the man of fashion will frequently put on to invite your curiosity or purchase your sympathy. It was no artificial melancholy — it was an expression, which conveyed a meaning that could not be mal-construed — it was, in him, a passion of the heart. Yet, if there were ornaments, which Nature, in her forgetfulness, had neglected to bestow upon his visage, she had never, probably, formed a nobler figure or fashioned more distinguished graces. Having thus lightly remarked upon a character, which will hold a position somewhat conspicuous in our story, we shall resume our narrative, from which we have briefly but necessarily digressed.
ex Chapter 4, [anon.], The Duel in High Life: or, De La Macy and Emily Clifforde : A Romantic Tale. Vol. 1 (of 2); (London, 1839) : 68 : link
but — Marco Visconti was about forty-five years of age, and the fire and freshness of youth had long been worn off by the storms of his troubled life; to the expression of joy and confidence, which animated his countenance at the period spoken of in our last chapter, had succeeded a gravity, firm without sternness, a something of melancholy, which betokened the habitual sadness of his thoughts, but mixed with no shade of bitter feeling or abject despondency. His figure was tall, handsome, and powerful; his features well-formed and regular, and, when lighted up by the fire of the spirit within, were singularly prepossessing. But whoever had seen him in his fierce and angry mood-his eyes flashing fire from beneath his bent brows — his forehead furrowed with a heavy frown — his cheek blanched to a deadly paleness — would have been reminded of the calm surface of some lake, suddenly lashed into fierce and threatening waves by the blast of the rushing tempest.
ex Chapter 8, of Marco Visconti : A story of the Fourteenth Century — Translated from the Italian of Tommaso Grossi, by Hougomont. In The Literary Garland (“A montly magazine, of tales, sketches, poetry, music, engravings, &c. &c.”) 1:4 (Montreal; April 1843) : 169 : link
in notes, to Part III, Thomas Richard Whitney his The Ambuscade : An Historical Poem (New York, 1845) : 80 link Thomas Richard Whitney (1807-58), “jeweler, engraver and watchmaker before turning to journalism and politics,” member of Know Nothing party, congressman (briefly) John Pomeroy. A Double Secret and Golden Pippin. Vol. 1 (of 3); (London, 1870) : 272 : link
Anne Denn Pollard (1831–1893) ex Chapter 11, “Record of Conversations,” in The Life of Sir Charles J. F. Bunbury, Bart. Edited by his sister-in-law Mrs. Henry Lyell. Vol. 2 (London, 1906) : 310 : link
The Outcasts : Being Certain Strange Passages in the Life of a Clergyman (1888; this edition Leipzig, Tauchnitz Vol 2573, 1889) : 66 : link
Rev. Albert Eubule Evans (1839–1896) ex W. H. Hudson, Idle Days in Patagonia (1893; New York, 1917) : 40 : link
William Henry Hudson (1841-1922), born and until 1874 lived in Argentina; thereafter, England; naturalist, ornithologist pendings a something of vulgarity 1817 a something of utility / The American Monthly Magazine 1834 : 296
had lost a something of its roundness, such a majesty in her still brilliant eyes / The American Monthly Magazine 1834 : 311
a something of meagre and of vapid 1835 all from Jane Austen — Northanger Abbey (published together with Persuasion in 1818), vol 1 (of 4) : 216 : link
A something of languid indifference, or of that boasted absence of mind which Catherine had never heard of before, would occasionally come across her; but had nothing worse appeared, that might only have spread a new grace and inspired a warmer interest. But when Catherine saw her in public, admitting Captain Tilney’s attentions as readily as they were offered, and allowing him almost an equal share with James in her notice and smiles, the alteration became too positive to be past over. What could be meant by such unsteady conduct, what her friend could be at, was beyond her comprehension. Persuasion (1818) : 278 : link
[aside : what music in those sentences !, commas as if bars, measures ]
Mansfield Park (1814) : vol 1, p 135 : link
Here was again a want of delicacy and regard... Here was again a something of the same
Mr. Crawford who she had so reprobated before. .. Emma (1816) : vol 3, p 290 : link
...and how much more might have been said but for the restraints of propriety. — The charm of her own name was not wanting. Miss Woodhouse appeared more than once, and never without a something of pleasing connection...
afterword... subtext A set of “a something of” phrases (in a document dated 13 December 2017) resurfaced not long ago. I had forgotten that project; it was a line I did not pursue, at a time of upheaval. Near those collected phrases, I had written “bored with my own methods. the same old.” Maybe that was it. I don’t work this way now — work scarely any way or how, for whom or what, now. No matter, now is January 2025, and I pick up the threads. Some are short, or dead-end links; and I’ve added a few new finds, too. I wonder where this leads. — This is not quite “a something of” nor “a something of nothing,” but it had turned up initially, and it is too good too leave it out. It is one of many such passages in Henry Needler, The Works of (1724):
...But the Argument here brought to prove this, is far from being Conclusive. I find little on Needler (1690-1718), save for — some consideration of the senses and nuances of “a something of” phrases will follow; one of its uses seems to be to keep things vague, unnamed... a rhetorical device... 20250120
wikipedia : link
his wife Frances Greville (née Macartney; c. 1724-89) may have contributed to the volume
wikipedia : link
* With respect to the idea held out, that every soil and situation affords “a something,” of which running water will make a road, it is much too wild to give chace to...
wikipedia : link
an interesting figure, unknown to me until now.
the book itself (U California copy/scan, via hathitrust) link
Perchance she died in age — surviving all,
Chars, kindred, children — with the silver grey
On her long tresses, which might yet recal,
It may be, still a something of the day
When they were braided, and her proud array
And lovely form were envied, praised, and eyed
By Rome — But wither would Conjecture stray?
Thus much alone we know — Metella died...
This handsome work is illustrated by maps, by coloured plates, and by various views of the objects described. If it is more replete with instruction than with amusement, consults more the useful than the agreeable, and aspires to be serviceable rather than to supply entertainment, we hope that these considerations will operate as additional motives with purchasers to patronize so meritorious an effort. The portions of the volume were composed progressively at distant times and places; and they are not arranged in strict chronological order, nor grouped according to their contents: so that a something of wholeness and connection seems wanting. All its parts, however, display a completeness of information, and a soundness of judgment, which place the author high among the writers of travels., Still, we think that the old method, of putting down observations when and where they occur, is more conducive to a lively interest, than this subsequent classification and condensation of them into distinct dissertations. We have here a box of pearls, but the string seems wanting which should give them cohesion, and unite them in one conspicuous ornament. The traveller should not lose that character. in the duties of the geographer, and commix the notices of others with his own: his local details delight as steps of a progress in which the reader is become interested for its own sake: but, as parts of a statistical survey, they are often insufficiently important.
in The Monthly Review. Vol. 79 (March 1816) : 311-320 : link
Morris Birkbeck, Notes on a Journey in America : From the Coast of Virginia to the Territory of Illinois. With proposals for the establishment of a colony of English. (Philadelphia, 1817) : 43 link
Morris Birkbeck (1724-1865) : wikipedia : link (quite a story here)
Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868, wikipedia)
on its co-founder (with his son Egerton Anthony Brydges), Egerton Brydges (1762-1837) : link
First, — The existence of all beings in their respective kinds, denote that there must be a being who produced them into existence; for all evidencies [sic] of the most minute sort declare, that nothing must produce nothing; hence, without a something of a certain kind, nothing of that kind can remain: there can be no branch without a stock or stem; no fruit without a tree; no stream without a fountain; no effect without a cause.
Bodleian copy/scan : permalink
Page 40, Last word in the second line from the bottom, read in life.
Page 252, Last word in the second line from the bottom, read contentious.
wikipedia : link
The foregoing remarks have been rendered prefatory to a brief notice of another novel by the author of Pelham, partly because as a writer of considerable power, feeling, and literary aptitude, he stands among the foremost of the prose fictionists of the hour, and partly because he forms a conspicuous example of the truth of the specified theory. For instance, while possessed of most of the secondary attributes in an eminent degree, he is anything but spontaneously or felicitously inventive. A choice of subject singularly adapted to the writer’s taste, associations, and experience, might, so far as regards Pelham, have inspired a doubt of this fact; but even in that very happy production, a something of this truth was discernible, and the “Disowned” and “Devereux,” have put the real state of the case beyond question.
wikipedia : link
wikipedia page devoted to the novel : link
Memoranda.
What is Poetry? — The feeling of a Former world and Future.
Thought Second.
Why, at the very height of desire and human pleasure, — wordly, social, amorous, ambitious, or even avaricious, does there mingle a certain sense of doubt and sorrow — a fear of what is to come — a doubt of what is — a retrospect to the past, leading to a prognostication of the future.
“Indeed, I rather look upon love altogether as a sort of hostile transaction, very necessary to make or to break matches, and keep the world going, but by no means a sinecure to the parties concerned.”
a something of which he connects 1831
NYPL copy/scan
My division had suffered the least in our defeat.
wikipedia : link
As he caught the last sounds of his native shade;
But he knew not, till many a bright spell broke,
How deep were the oracles nature spoke!
wikipedia : link
There was a troubled pleasure in her air;
A something of regret, that left him scope
To cherish secret, though forbidden, hope.
Bodleian : permalink
Mary Russell Mitford (1787-1855), essayist, novelist, poet and dramatist
link
It is there our opinion that we do Miss Edgeworth no dishonor in assigning to her a station at the very head of that branch of literature which she has undertaken to adorn, even when we place that branch somewhat lower down the stem of the great tree of learning than those of her male competitors.
Of the familiar novel Miss Edgeworth is indeed the Queen...
Thy hope was like thy cheek;
A something of the heaven’s own light,
Which words could never speak.
Then did I sink they willing slave,
My heart, and each affection gave,
Nor deem’d the service weak —
Nor had a wish to break the twine,
That bound they maiden thought to mine.
The American Monthly Magazine 6:3 (August 1, 1834) 383-386 : (383)
wikipedia : link
They content themselves with considering that the enemies in India are black. They draw some distinction, indeed, between the black of Africa and of Asia; but, so far as bodily power and personal prowess are concerned, it is in favor of the former. The Asiatic is thought an effeminate and silken slave, whose nerves tremble at the report of a cannon, and whose prancing horses are only used for security or flight. This is no fancy picture; Englishmen accounted intelligent thus spoke of India fifty short years ago; and to this hour, except among those interested in Indian affairs by the course of their studies, by connexion with the services or commerce of that country, or by that large and active spirit of inquiry which an attachment to the cause of schools and missions has awakened, a like ignorance obtains, and a like apathy in the concerns of India is always manifest.
wikipedia : link
κακοήθης scribendi
The phrase is derived from a line in the Satires of Juvenal: Tenet insanabile multos scribendi cacoethes, or “the incurable desire (or itch) for writing affects many”. See hypergraphia.
Boddington family history : link (accessed 20250118)
She was what the world calls an Animated girl : — she would pun, throw in a jest wherever she could, affect opinions different from all the world, talk upon abstruse subjects, quote Homer to an officer of the Guards, and talk of perpetual motion to an effeminate man of fashion.
Self-opinionated, with complete self-possession, a sarcastic sneer, and a bewitching smile, a good person, and many accomplishments, this young woman was known as a genius. She was a connoisseur in painting, an amateur in music, a perfect dancer, an exquisite performer on the piano, and a Billington in singing. She wrote tales and poems, published on wove paper and broad margins in Bond Street, made designs for furniture, dressed in the most outré costume to set fashions, and, in short, was a fine, dashing, animated girl — and a more horrible thing is there not upon earth! Modesty and diffidence are the attributes of woman: their silence is eloquence, and their timidity conquest.
Miss Wilding did not think so...
wikipedia : link
1843
“A. Aikin sent me the new edition of Milton’s Prose Works. Instead of meddling with Symmonds's biography, which was almost my whole duty, I have reviewed Milton's pamphlets one by one, as if they were new publications. It is pleasant to get out of the modern shrubberies in perpetual flower, into the stately yew-hedge walks, and vased and statued terraces, and fruitful walls and marble fountains, of the old school of oratory. Such things are not made without a greater expense of study and of brains than modern method requires; and yet there is a something of stiffness and inutility to censure there, and a something of aptness, grace, and convenience to applaud here.”
No doubt, men’s lives do live on in their descendants.
AUBIN.
In their flesh and blood, their beating hearts and pliant limbs; but so they do in other ways, and in other men. For every good deed of ours, the world will be the better always. And perhaps no day does a man walk down a street cheerfully, and like a child of God, without some passenger’s being brightened by his face, and, unknowingly to himself, catching from its look a something of religion, and sometimes, not impossibly, what just saves him from some wrong action.
MARHAM.
The stream of society is such, that often a pebble falling into it has altered its course. Many times, words lightly spoken have been carried against thrones, and been their upsetting. And many a little event has had in it what in its unfolding filled towns and countries, and men’s minds and ages. I say, that, under Providence, it has done this.
AUBIN.
An ark of bulrushes fetched from among the flags of the Nile was the saving of Moses, and the deliverance of the Israelites, and an event through which the Saviour of the world was born where he was.
“No indeed. I never before had the pleasure of seeing the young lady, or of hearing of her. I should think she must be very tall for her age.”
This was a very clumsy, and particularly mal-à-propos remark, and the only excuse for the speaker was, that there was a something of incongruity between the dress and appearance of Ethel Codrington which completely puzzled him, and threw him, as it were, off the balance by means of which he in general contrived to retain a tolerably graceful position in conversation, even if he did not completely comprehend it.
But the unluckiness of this remark was two-fold; for in the first place Ethel Codrington was rather short for her age, though wonderfully grown within the last six months; and in the next, anything, and everything, that referred in any way to the age of Ethel, was extremely disagreeable to her mamma.
She was in fact, as the reader, if blessed with a retentive memory, must be aware, considerably more at this time than sixteen years old; and though slightly made, and certainly shorter than most girls of her age, she was by no means of a stature to wear with propriety the trousers and short frock assigned to her; and, moreover, there was unluckily an expression of so much intellect, and of awakened intellect too, in her countenance, that the childish dress, and the childish epithets, bestowed upon her, were worse than ridiculous.
Her face was one which even the unphilosophical eye of Augustus Oglevie must have looked at with interest at least, if not with admiration, had he felt himself at liberty to examine it — but he did not; and the only impression that her form and features left upon him was, that she had something strange and unaccountable in her look; and if obliged to give a more definite judgment, he would have been quite as likely to declare that he thought her ugly as handsome.
And yet her face was one that no artist could look at once, without feeling almost passionately desirous of looking at it again.
wikipedia : link
The anger Mr. Langford at this moment felt against his son was in proportion to the secret extravagance of his affection, and his desire for revenge to the anguish he felt. There must be a something of love mingling with both, to produce either of these feelings in their present intense degree.
wikipedia : link
“We walk by the help of the same law of gravitation which the moon moves by. And when it is night, we see our way by the light of other worlds, the hosts of heaven. And our spiritual life is just as wonderful. We are living by mysterious ways, which we hardly think of; and we are aided by remoter helps than we always know. We are devout with the devoutness of ancient Psalms, — with the remorse, the repentance, the prayers, the trust, the hope, — with the heart of an old Hebrew king. And we are believers in the Father through words of eighteen hundred years ago. There is on us an impulse from what Moses was in Egypt, and Leonidas at Thermopyle. There is with us as our delight a poet whose person has been Stratford dust these two hundred years and more. And every day paradise is sung of, within our hearing, by the sweet voice of one who has himself vanished from sight long ago. There is on our souls, too, a something of beauty that is from ancient Greece, and a something of solemnity from the long, long past. When we speak, the words of our mouth are what they are from what the old Germans were in their forests, and from the manner in which the ancient Romans talked. And our own lives, from day to day, are the wiser and the calmer for the instruction which has come to us from hearts that are now beneath the turf.
“We are strangely related. Our souls are mysteriously connected. We are akin to the past, the ages of the past; and so we may well believe ourselves heirs of the future, — as indeed we are, — heirs to futurity and other worlds.”
wikipedia : link,
which is derived largely from
Russel L. Carpenter, his quite interesting memorial “William Mountford,” in The Unitarian Review 28:6 (December 1887) : 592-599 : link
NYPL copy/scan (via hathitrust) : link
“I think it is,” Ralph as simply replied; “I have none of Edward’s brains, but I have a cool head, and that is always at his service. I sometimes wish that I was wiser, that I might advise him better — and more stubborn, that I might hold my opinions, when they are good ones, more stoutly against his — but what can’t be done must be let alone, and what I can do I do.”
Clare liked this devotion to his friend: that she did might be read on her countenance. Ralph saw it, and answered it.
wikipedia : link
wikipedia on Lady Caroline Lamb : link
The waistcoat to which he owed his nickname of Stunning Steenie, and which had served him so well in so many capacities (until he was fitted out at Her Majesty's expense in good sailor toggery), had found its way, after many vicissitudes, to Rag Fair, where, though in the sere and yellow leaf, it was admired of all beholders, and was ultimately purchased as a wedding waistcoat by old Blarney, the dog-stealer, when at seventy he took to himself a third wife of twenty (lucky for her), blind, and not quite right in the head.
wikipedia : link
jstor : permalink
from which —
“Sebastapol, A Poem, Routledge, 1854, is not only tepid, but is sadly overballasted by more than fifty pages of annotation.” (p362)
a something that had betrayed a tremor in her thoughts (same, p32)
a something of romance during those days (same, p143)
32 : link
143 : link
“Yes, aunt; Anton Trendellsohn, the Jew. I am engaged to him as his wife.”
There was a something of doubtful futurity in the word engaged, which gave a slight feeling of relief to Madame Zamenoy, and taught her to entertain a hope that there might be yet room for escape. “Marry a Jew, Nina,” she said; “it cannot be possible!”
wikipedia : link
“Oh, yes, mamma; pain of mind as well as body.”
Mrs. Norton asked no further questions; but she felt sure that a something of wrong was implied in this remark. She turned to Edith, and placing her arm round her, she said, “God will bless you, my dear girl, for your loving care of my Eleanor.”
“It was He who gave me presence of mind and sent me to the room in time to save her,” said Edith, softly.
wikipedia : link
wikipedia : link
A. something of that sort.
Q. On behalf of the C.P.R.? — A. Something of that sort.
in Appendix, Minutes of Evidence, ex Report of Royal Commission “Appointed to inquire into the immigration of Italian labourers to Montreal and the alleged fraudulent practices of employment agencies,” Sessional Paper No. 36b (Ottawa, 1905) : 21 : link
John Marchant, comp., A new complete English Dictionary, Peculiarly adapted to the Instruction and Improvement of those who have not had the Benefit of a learned or liberal education, or who have not leisure for reading a multitude of books... (London, 1760) : link (BL copy/scan)
Princeton copy/scan (via hathitrust) : link
In all its uses it commonly implies something of a bad quality, though Locke has catachrestically used it in a sense of praise.
A Dictionary of the English Language : In which the words are deduced from their originals... By Samuel Johnson, LL. D., Vol. 2 (of 2), The Eighth Edition; corrected and revised (London, 1799) : link
and a something of his own 1807 (1909)
under “b” : 1848 Thackeray Vanity Fair lvi, The young mentlemen . . might learn a something of every known science; and
under “c” : 1827 Scott Chron. Canongate vi, He . . had enjoyed legacies, and laid by a something of his own, upon which he now enjoys ease with dignity.
6. a. Something or other,...
As deep, but far too tranquil for despair;
A something of indifference, more than then
Becomes the bravest, if they feel for men.
Byron’s Lara.
interesting volume, whose preface commences thus :
In this book-making age, various are the causes which have induced men to become authors. With some, chill Penury has been the only stimulus; with others, Ambition, that spur to great and noble deeds as well as vices, has been the chief excitant. Some have been influenced by true Benevolence, and a sincere wish to ameliorate the condition of mankind; while others have written to gratify rapacious Avarice or fell Revenge. Science, with its occult truths, and the wonderful and gratifying disclosures it makes to its followers, has produced many authors; and another and quite numerous class has been generated by pure Ennui — an intolerable weariness at having nothing to do.
None of these potent causes has exercised much influence in the conception and execution of this Work: it may be said to have been the result of mere accident...
p. v link
1807 W. Taylor in Ann Rev * V. 507 A something of Germanism clings about the style of these first two cantos.
in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, Part 1. F (1901) : 132 : link
a something of melancholy foreboding
her beautiful but hectic bloom
The letters of the orphans displayed the same contrast that was visible in their characters and manners. Jane wrote in the lofty and dignified tone that became her queen-like bearing; but Agnes poured forth all the innocent overflowings of her young heart. The letters of Jane, perhaps, improved and schooled the understanding; those of Agnes inspired happiness and joy whenever they arrived. About the time that Jane became a wife, I thought she wrote with even a higher tone of religious feeling than formerly; occasionally I imagined I could perceive a something of melancholy foreboding in her expressions; and then again her mild sad eyes, and her beautiful but hectic bloom, rose upon my mind, and haunted me like spectres. Then she entirely ceased writing to me, and many painful fancies crowded on my thoughts; but from Agnes I regularly heard, and her letters still continued heralds of gladness...
Near yonder cave,
What lonely straggler looks along the wave ?
Byron.
J. R. W. Lomas, identified as author of earlier (London, 1834) edition : link
National Library of Scotland : permalink
a something of melancholy, which betokened the habitual sadness of his thoughts, but mixed
The extinguishment of a race of men from the face of the earth, hath about it a something of melancholy interest; hence it is that the North American Indians hold so completely the sympathies of the civilized world. In the contemplation of the probability of this one event, all else is forgotten. We then pause and remember that although savages, they are nevertheless men, possessed of feelings and affections like our own, and whatever may be peculiar in their character, we are willing to confess that they are as the Creator made them; and while we may condemn their cruelties, we are constrained to admit their grievances, admire their independence, and mourn their decay.
same (Princeton) copy/scan, via hathitrust : link
wikipedia : link
Thus Harrold’s energies and ingenuity bore fruit in Australia — the result of careful investigation, patience, and experience. There were hours of solitary toil, when far from human faces, and the voice of man, except a distant “cooee!” far off, perhaps, in the bush; and he had no letters to look for, nothing to expect when he returned home; yet a natural buoyancy of disposition made him keep looking onwards. He knew there was as good a Providence over him there as in old England, and he would not grow hopeless and cold, though he could never love again, he told himself, or care for woman’s ways, having lost his first affection, Sheridan Herbert. He could think of her with calm, passionless regret, not with repining or rebellious vexation, but as a tide of love gone outa flower which bloomed and passed away-an opportunity gone by; and if a something of melancholy did tinge his life, it gave a charm to it and to himself, subduing fiercer fervour, and bringing materials for happiness from all things surrounding him by a pure philosophy, which made him look for the bright side, and make the best of everything.
Bassett, Troy J. “Author: Anne Denn Pollard.” At the Circulating Library : A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837—1901 (31 December 2024) : link (accessed 20250116)
Friday, May 22nd [1874]. We went to the British Museum and saw the bronzes and gold ornaments of the Castellani collection — very interesting. The gold ornaments, necklaces, &c., are of most elaborate and exquisite workmanship, and in vast variety. The bronzes wonderfully fine: — I do not know that I have seen any like them except in the Naples Museum. Those I particularly remarked were : — A head of a goddess (Aphrodite ?) of extraordinary beauty and grandeur — in a grander style, it strikes me, than Aphrodite is commonly represented, with a something of melancholy in the expression. A strigil of bronze (for use in the bath), with a very beautiful naked figure of Aphrodite for its handle, she is represented holding a similar strigil. A beautiful figure called Orestes, taking refuge at the altar — I should have called it a warrior falling.
It was perhaps a good thing for Errington that this accident had happened. The physical shock seemed in some measure to counteract the effect of the moral shock which he had sustained just before. For some days he hovered between life and death, passing a good deal of the time in an unconscious or semi-unconscious state. It is certain that, but for the infusion of new life into his veins by the operation, he could not possibly have survived. As it was, his vitality remained for some time very low. In this state, impressions, feelings, reminiscences-all are dulled and deadened. Attenuated vitality, even in the young, means old age anticipated. If pleasures lose their zest, pains lose their poignancy. The realities of life no longer stand out sharp and clear, but melt into a kind of haze that blurs their outlines. The man lies passive, contemplative, regarding things from the outside, no longer feeling himself in vital relation to the events which circle round him. If there is in this a something of melancholy, it is the melancholy of dream-land, thin and bloodless. Nature always has her compensations; strength is necessary for suffering; and the poorer the life, the richer its exemptions.
So it was with Errington.
Bassett, Troy J. “Author: Rev. Albert Eubule Evans.” At the Circulating Library: A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837—1901 (31 December 2024) : link (accessed 20250116).
Beyond that fact I could not go: all efforts to know more, or to imagine more, ended in failure, as all such efforts must end. On another occasion, as I propose to show in a later chapter, the wished vision of the past came unsought and unexpectedly to me, and for a while I saw nature as the savage sees it, and as he saw it in that stone age I pondered over, only without the supernaturalism that has so large a place in his mind. By taking thought I am convinced that we can make no progress in this direction, simply because we cannot voluntarily escape from our own personality, our environment, our outlook on Nature.
Not only were my efforts idle, but merely to think on the subject sometimes had the effect of bringing a shadow, a something of melancholy, over my mind, the temper which is fatal to investigation, causing "all things to droop and languish."
wikipedia : link
a something of energy and dread 1832
a something of interesting and piquant 1835
a something of the high ambition 1838
“Me! — I take offence!”
Northanger Abbey (published together with Persuasion in 1818) vol 2 (of 4) : 52 : link
vol 3, p 39 : link
vol 2, p 245 : link
The Susbtance of the Argument is; Something is as distant from or opposite to Nothing, as Nothing to Something; therefore to make that, which is Something, Nothing, must needs be as difficult, as to make that which is Nothing, Something; But to make that which is Nothing, Something, requires an Act of infinite Power. Therefore to make that which is Something, Nothing, must likewise require an Act of infinite Power.
268 : (link)
Alfred Ridley Bax, “Henry Needler, A Forgotten Poet and Philosopher of Surrey,” in Surrey Archaeological Collections, Relating to the History and Antiquities of the County 25 (1912) : 101-115 : link