a something of’s
in progress.
the shorter passages alone (save for year of publication) are listed at 2724a.
usages / of the expression “a something of”
dictionaries / some instances therein
somethings of melancholy / for tudo isto é triste
pendings / some links not yet pursued
afterword / about this project
Ngram viewer / a something of (1800-2008)
▌ bar at left returns to top of page.
- a something of some few dimensions, a span-long,
and yet this is but a tanquam nihil...To a blemisht or a deluded eye (and such a one is a mortall eye) my age may be something; a something of some few dimensions, a span-long, and yet this is but a tanquam nihil, a tanquam nihil, unto man, too; as nothing before him: but to thee; to thy eyes (which are brighter then those beames, which dazzle mine) those eyes, substantia mea, purè nihil; no tanquam, there; mine age is nothing; purely nothing, there. Nothing? why? universa vanitas omnis homo, every man is vanity; such a vanity as is stol’n-by; or els, now going; as, yesterday; or, as a watch in the night. And, these have their tanquam nihil, too; are as nothing before thee; so truly nothing, that they make not up an Age, or, a day, but some few houres; enough to make vp the watch of a night; no more.
tanquam nihil : as if nothing
ex The Royall Passing-Bell : Or Davids Summons to the Grave. A Sermon preached (lately) in the Parish-Church of Orchard-Portman in Sommerset. At the Funerall of the most hopefull, and truly-noble, Sr. Hugh Portman, Baronet; the great losse and sorrow both of his name and countrie.
By Humphrey Sydenham... (London, 1630) : 16 : linkHumphrey Sydenham (1591-1650), “royalist divine, famous for his sermons”
wikipedia : link- The one made as rare a something, of nothing, as ever I heard... Well may these plashes of water, be held
The truth is, I extreamly admire them both, though I honour them not at all: The one made as rare a something, of nothing, as ever I heard. The other for his skill in Sophistry, is (I confess) a Non-such. Both may be rare Preachers for ought I know; but as he said of one little learned, and lesse modest; who usurped all discourse at the Table: I never heard learning make such a noise: So I never heard a solid Preacher, deliver so many words, for so little matter; so much Oratory, for so little Divinity.
Well may these plashes of water, be held by some deep Divines: but I presume you may gage their Divinity with one of your fingers. As for their Sermons, (for so men call them; though no otherwise then the Heathen Images are called gods: Nor are they more like Sermons, than Michaels image of goats hair was like David.) I may fitly liken them to a plume of feathers, for which some will give any thing, others just nothing. Or, if I compare them to a Nightingale tongue pye, (as being far more elaborate and costly, than profitable or nourishing;) it is a great Hyperbole.
Indeed as a Reverend Divine speaks; if I had no other Mistresse then Nature, I would with no other Master then such a Seneca, Cicero, or Demosthenes: but being a Christian, I go not to hear the rarities of human Eloquence, but the eternal Word of God; and more to profit my soul, than to please my senses. A wise man should (yea, a good Christian will) propound to himself some end, some good end of his going to hear: (for he that in his actions, proposeth no mark, or main end to himself; is like a Ship that aimeth at no Harbour; and no wind makes for him, that hath no intended Port to sail unto, neither can he expect any Voyage of advantage.)from The People’s Impartial, and Compassionate Monitor; about hearing of Sermons, or, The Worlds Preachers and Proselites lively painted out, for a person of quality, upon occasion of hearing two famous Divines, whose transcendent Wit, oratorie, and Elegancy, made many at their wits end with admiration! Being a rare discovery to Undeceive the Deceived. By R. Younge of Roxwell in Essex. (London, 1653).
contained in
A Christian Library; Or, A Pleasant and Plentiful Paradise of Practical Divinity in ten Treatises, of sundry and select subjects, purposely composed to pluck Sinners out of Satans snares, and allure them into the glorious Liberty of the Gospel. By R(ichard). Young, of Roxwell in Essex, Florilegus. (London, 1655) : link
—
Richard Younge (fl 1640-70), “Calvinist tract writer”
wikipedia : link- she is at least aliquid ipsius, a something of that
that very same, tho not the same it selfNox & amor, vinumque, nihil moderabile suadent,
Illa pudore vacat, Liber amorque metu. Ovid. Am. 1. 1. El.6.
Night, Love, and Wine, no moderation bear,
Night knows no shame, and Wine and Love no fear.Often in our Love to her, our Love to God is swallowed and postposited. For indeed, Man loves Woman as he ought to love God: With all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength. Whether it be from the secret sweetness that gratifie and indulciate all his Spirits at once in his Conversation with her; whether it be from the sense of the fruition and possession of so excellent, and so rational a Creature without himself; or whether it be from the Honour he receives from her by her help of Propagation, whereby even his body weak and corruptible by lengthned successions, draws out toward Immortality; or whether it be from the parity of Natural Union, the being formed at first of the Rib of Man, wherein the Schools observe, there was both Bone, and Flesh, and blood, and Nerves; so that if she be not Idem, she is at least aliquid ipsius, a something of that [324] that very same, tho not the same it self.
on St. Luke, 14. 20., in Owen Felltham, his Resolves : Divine, Moral, Political. With several new additions both in prose and verse, not extant in the former impressions. In this Eleventh Edition, references are made to the poetical citations, heretofore much wanted. (London, 1696) : 323-324 : link
Owen Feltham (1602-68)
wikipedia : link- but Art’s too mean a Name,
’t must be a Something of superior Frame.Surprizing Art! but Art’s too mean a Name,
’t must be a Something of superior Frame.
Art may Decays of Nature much restore,
But to make Nature, must be something more;
For Art’s ty’d down to Method, and to Rules,
By Nature works, as Blacksmiths work by Tools :
Nor is’t inspir’d, for then ’twould be compleat,
And all the Organick Hindrances defeat:
The Soul would talk, scorn the reluctant Ear,
And by internal Operations hear.
And yet ’tis done, the Supernat’ral’s found,
They’re taught to form the Words, who know no Sound ;
They’re taught to speak, who, tho’ they may believe
They form a Voice, cannot of Voice conceive.
Strange Power of Art, which thus supplies the Ear,
And imitates the Sound it cannot hear!from [Daniel Defoe], “On the Deaf and Dumb being taught to Speak,” in Mere Nature Delineated : or, a Body without a Soul. Being observations upon the young forester lately brought to town from Germany. With suitable applications. Also, a brief dissertation upon the usefulness and necessity of Fools, whether political or natural. (London, 1726) : 46-53 (48) : link
—
The “young forester lately brought to town from Germany” would be Peter the Wild Boy (ca1713-1785; wikipedia)
On the poem extracted above, see the treatment of “The virtues of dumbness and deafness” in Mihaela Culea, “Addressing the Age-old Question of Human Perfectibility in Daniel Defoe’s Mere Nature Delineated: Or, a Body without a Soul.” Brno Studies in English (2013), at pp 203-204 : link (pdf, via academia.edu)
- a sneer, a something of a witty stroke of contempt. It happened
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
wikipedia : link
his wife Frances Greville (née Macartney; c. 1724-89) may have contributed to the volume
wikipedia : link- MOMENTAˊNEOUS or MOˊMENTARY (A.) something of very
MOMENTAˊNEOUS or MOˊMENTARY (A.) something of very short duration, or that lasts a very small time.
ex Thomas Dyche, A new general English dictionary; Peculiarly calculated for the use and improvement of such as are unacquainted with the learned language. Wherein the difficult words, and technical terms... (London, 1760) : link
—
Thomas Dyche (d c1733), “schoolmaster and lexicographer”
wikipedia : link- with a something of additional colour
“You really think then, passing her arm through his, with a smile of intire approbation, that he has not done me justice? on some occasions, I do not know any body that can distinguish better than yourself, and I confess you have corrected my first hasty opinion, for I now think it might have admitted of some alteration, and if Sir Joshua had made my arms a little fuller, my eyes rather more open, my skin whiter, with a something of additional colour in my cheeks, and the vermillion of my lips a little heightened, it would have been still more masterly, and the likeness better preserved.”
• This critique being decisively established, without a further reference to the judgment of her husband, they returned to her Ladyship’s dressing-room, she convinced that there might have been a more advantageous likeness, and he, that there was no likeness at all....from the novel under review, Mrs. Gunning her Anecdotes of the Delborough Family; A Novel (1792), in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged, Vol. 8 (July 1792) : 316-321 (319) : link
Susannah Gunning (1740?-1800), novelist, famed also for a scandal involving her daughter...
wikipedia : link- a something of absurdity
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 constraint and confusion in many passages
The last letter Mary received, was from Milan; Lord Auberry had then been absent fix months, — it breathed the same tenderness, the same ardency of passion as usual; yet there was a something of constraint and confusion in many passages, that did not escape my observation, though I made it in silence, because I would not be the first to sow the envenomed seeds of suspicion in a bosom where tranquillity and confidence had taken up their abode.
ex Mrs. Gunning, Memoirs of Mary, A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 5) (Third edition. London, 1794) : 180 : link
- a something of which running water
But even these uses of running water, confined as they are to a few situations *, are ill adapted to public roads
* 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...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
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
...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)
wikipedia : link
an interesting figure, unknown to me until now.
the book itself (U California copy/scan, via hathitrust) link- a something of diffuseness and protraction may be
These volumes are an honour and an ornament to British literature: a something of diffuseness and protraction may be forgiven, for information so complete, and instruction so sound.-(A. R.)
from an extended review of Malcolm Laing, his The History of Scotland (2nd edn, 4 vols), in The Monthly Repertory of English Literature, Arts, Sciences, etc. 16:4 (July 1808) : 373 : link
- a something of the same nature whenever
She was a little surprised that he could spend so many hours with Miss Crawford, and not see more of the sort of fault which he already observed and of which she was almost always reminded by a something of the same nature whenever she was in her company; but so it was.
Jane Austen, 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. ..
vol 3, p 39 : link- but also a something of personal malice. It is unworthy
He then dutifully congratulates Hanover on the restoration of its old illustrious line — speaks a word of comfort to the injured Hollanders — and ends with an anticipation of restoration and peace.
[In all this there appears to us not only a good deal of party bitterness, but also a something of personal malice. It is unworthy of both parties. Why, says Dugald Stewart, do not men of superior talents learn, for the honour of the arts which they love, to conceal their ignoble enmities from the malignity of those whom mortified pride and conscious incapacity have leagued together as the covenanted foes of worth and genius From the Eclectic Review, a very unequal work, but occasionally displaying much ability, we have extracted the following article, which, while it is marked by good sense and taste, breathes a spirit of candour not to be found in the Edinburgh oriticism.]a laudatory review of Carmen Triumphale, for the commencement of the year 1814. By Robert Southey, Esq. Poet Laureat., and attack on the vituperative and sarcastic criticism of certain “Edinburgh Revewers”
in The Analectic Magazine, “containing selections from foreign reviews and magazines of such articles as are most valuable, curious, or entertaining” 4 (Philadelphia; July 1814) : 19-24 (20) : link—
Analectic Magazine
wikipedia : link- still a something of the day
Perchance she died in youth: it may be...
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...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
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.
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.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.
in The Monthly Review. Vol. 79 (March 1816) : 311-320 : link- a something of resentment
a something of pleasing connectionHarriet expressed herself very much, as might be supposed, without reproaches, or apparent sense of ill usage; and yet Emma fancied there as a something of resentment, a something bordering on it in her style, which increased the desireableness of their being separate. — It might be only her own consciousness; but it seemed as if an angel only could have been quite without resentment under such a stroke.
Jane Austen, 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...
vol 2, p 245 : link- there is a something of hospitality
In your reception at a western Pennsylvania tavern, there is a something of hospitality combined with the mercantile feelings of your host.
ex 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)
- an air of reproof in this remark; a something of asperity, that Cornelia could not understand
“Not ask his name!” repeated Cornelia, looking down upon the deathly face on her lap; “what has he done to be ashamed of it?”
Louis turned almost of the same ashy hue: “do men never seek concealment but from infamy?”
“I would not think so ill of any man you could love;” replied she, “and certainly not of this;” her eye again falling on the finely composed features before her; “for here the finger of heaven seems to have written true nobleness.”
“Cornelia;” returned he, “when we obey the commands of Him who told of the Samaritan binding up the wounds of the stranger, and bade us do likewise; he did not say, inquire of his virtues first; but behold his misery, and relieve it!”
There was an air of reproof in this remark; a something of asperity, that Cornelia could not understand; and instead of its raising doubts in her mind relative to the character of the stranger, she cast down her eyes in silence, to conjecture what she had done to merit such unusual harshness from the unerring candour of her beloved cousin. The features her meditating gaze dwelt on, were to her an unimpeachable witness of good within. But what would she have felt, could she have been told at that moment, that the object of Louis’s distracted thoughts, and her own then unqualified pity and admiration, was the delusive, treacherous, and out-lawed Duke Wharton!ex The Pastor’s Fire-Side, A Novel, in Four volumes. By Miss Jane Porter, author of Thaddeus of Warsaw, Sidney’s Aphorisms, and the Scottish Chiefs. Vol. 4. (London, 1817) : 347 : link (Bodleian copy/scan)
U California copy/scan (via hathitrust) : link—
Jane Porter (1776-1850)
wikipedia : link- Catherine’s mind was greatly eased by this information, yet a something of solicitude remained, from which sprang the following question, thoroughly artless in itself, though rather distressing to the gentleman: — “But, Mr. Tilney, why were you less generous than your sister? If she felt such confidence in my good intentions, and could suppose it only a mistake, why should you be so ready to take offence?”
“Me! — I take offence!”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.
Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey (published together with Persuasion in 1818) vol 2 (of 4) : 52 : link
- They were in Union-street, when a quicker step behind, a something of familiar sound, gave her two moments preparation for the sight of Captain Wentworth. He joined them; but, as if irresolute whether to join or pass on, said nothing — only looked. Anne could command herself enough to receive that look, and not repulsively. The cheeks which had been pale now glowed, and the movements which had hesitated were decided. He walked by her side.
Jane Austen, Persuasion (1818) : 278 : link
[aside : what music in those sentences !, commas as if bars, measures ]
- There is a something of distrust and overniceness in it; but this may wear off
There are two new singers here, Miss TREE from Bath, and Mr. PHILIPPS who has returned from America, Miss TREE is an acquisition to the theatre. If she is not of the first class of singers, she is one of the very first of the second rate; and we suspect that in a room, her vocal powers would show themselves in a still higher and plea santer shape, to those who prefer feeling and execution. This will shew our readers wirat kind of a singer we think her. What she wants as a stage singer is power, both of execution and voice. In the former she is uneasy and forced; and the latter she does not seem able to throw out to any great distance. It is not to be thought however what is generally understood as a weak voice. She cannot pour it forth in a continued stream till it fills a large theatre, nor dart it out in that triumphant manner like lightning, as CATALANI used to do. But it is not thin and feeble in itself. If it is no great traveller, it is an excellent solid homester. The lower tones sometimes strike one as too rich, but the middle ones are to our ears perfect, natural, and delicious; and she seems quite at home in songs that hold a middle place between the ballad and the scientific. Miss Stephens manages both these extremes better; but Miss Tree would be a most valuable fellow-performer with her, taking the instance the parts which though somewhat inferior in singing, are superior in rank of character, — as that of a lady, where the other might act the country girl: for besides being a genteel singer in the best sense of the word, she has a greater air of polite life in her manners. — People will differ about her looks, in respect to handsomeness. Those who think the late Miss RAY (Mrs. HORN) beautiful, will perhaps think Miss TREE so. The expression of her face when quiescent does not appear to us handsome. There is a something of distrust and overniceness in it; but this may wear off, with the uneasiness of a first appearance. When her features are in motion, there is a very different look in them, mixed up of a languour in the eyes and good-natured vivacity about the mouth. She is also a graceful figure, slender but not thin.
We wish we could speak as well of Mr. Phillips...ex “The Theatrical Examiner, No. 376,” performances at Covent Garden, in The Examiner No. 612 (London; Sunday, September 19, 1819) : 603 : link
- do you mean a something of... do you mean a sort of inward light?
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
- and a something of interest
Lady Courteney, who was a woman of grave composed manners, of austere morals, and of strict religious principles, possessed no relish for this gay and bustling scene; she would much rather have held with those holy men of her creed, who promulgate and explain the Gospels, social conversation, which oscillating between the upper and nether world, would alternately take into consideration the conversion of the unbelievers here on earth and the bliss of the elect in heaven. But such as these sought not nor found admission in such tumultuary scenes; occasionally employed therefore on the contemplation of her own pious thoughts, to which she made, in defiance of the gay crowd, faithful and frequent recurrence, she sat in the temple where the refreshments were spread, and which overlooked the sprightly scene, a tranquil but indifferent spectator. Yet strange to tell, the natural apathy of her character seemed for an instant to abandon her, as she beheld major Blandford lead Miss Courteney to join the dancers at the commencement of the third set; and a something of interest gave a new-born expression of animation to her cold features, while she inquired of a lady who sat next her concerning the gentleman’s character and expectations. Whatever might have been the information which lady Courteney received on this occasion, it had, after some minutes of deep meditation, a most happy effect in relaxing into a kind of smiling complaisance her usually grave countenance. She appeared to observe with pleasure the major’s polite attention to her daughter, and when on a summons to supper, the company withdrew from the gardens into the house, she committed, with an affable and frank confidence, the young lady to his protection.
Geraldine, disciplined for the last eight years in the severe school of rigorous self-denial, could no otherwise account for this extraordinary condescension in her frigid mamma towards major Blandford, but by supposing that gentleman endued with superlative perfections.ex Mrs. Kelly [author of The Matron of Erin &c.], The Fatalists; or, Records of 1814 and 1815. A Novel. Vol. 1 (of five); (London, 1821) : 24 : link
Bodleian copy
vol 4-5 (via google books) : linkthese links provided to ensure I can find these vols again —
BL copy/scan (vols 1-3), via google books : link BL copy/scan (vols 4-5), via google books : linkBodleian copy —
vols 1-3 : link (pdf)
vols 4-5 : link (pdf)—
Her The Matron of Erin : A National Tale (London, 1816) : link
I am confused about the author; the title page describes Mrs. Kelly as author of The Matron of Erin which is known to be authored by Isabella Kelly (or at least is thus catalogued at the Bodleian : permalink). If Isabella, this would be Isabella Kelly (née Fordyce, later Hedgeland), ca 1759-1857 : link (bio at Eighteenth Century Women Poets: An Oxford Anthology), and
wikipedia : link
but none of this is clear.Isabella Kelly is known as a Gothic novelist.
I have no access to Yael Shapira, “Beyond the Radcliffe Formula: Isabella Kelly and the Gothic Troubles of the Married Heroine” in Women's Writing 26:3 (2019) : 245-263 : link
abstract —
Though largely forgotten today, Isabella Kelly (c.1759–1857) was a successful Gothic novelist who published regularly with William Lane’s Minerva Press and was given a prominent place in the press’s publicity materials. One plausible reason why contemporary criticism has overlooked Kelly is that writers of her publishing profile tend to be dismissed as mere “imitators” of their famous contemporary Ann Radcliffe. This essay attempts to challenge that belief by demonstrating Kelly’s suggestive divergence from the Radcliffe Gothic pattern with regard to one central plot element: marriage. Recognizing women’s vulnerability in marriage, Radcliffe’s novels seem to promise that a particular kind of woman can avoid the Gothic potential of wedlock. Kelly, by contrast, seems to have far fewer illusions about the ability of any woman to avoid marital suffering, and presents instead a recurrent narrative in which the heroine’s own marriage devolves into Gothic hostility and violence, and then sets itself to rights again. As the essay argues, the changing critical notion of a “female Gothic” may gain further nuance by factoring in popular women writers like Kelly, whom Radcliffe’s “canonization” has relegated to the ignored margins of the Gothic phenomenon.Yael Shapira’s publications : link
—
She may also be Elizabeth Kelly, wife of Dennis Kelly, born and educated in Ireland, a pastor and writer, whose Posthumous Sermons (1867) contains a dedication by one Elizabeth Kelly. link
over the whole surface of his composition a something of
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
Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868, wikipedia)- of mind; and a something of
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
- which anticipates in these sounds a something of moment to come
. . . For these reasons, not even a short strain, consisting of the same sound, can be melodious. I consider, then, more than a single sound in succession to be essential to melody. I have, it is true, in all the instances I have yet brought, adduced examples connected with words, and consequently with definite ideas. If we take passages of repeated single sounds — such as are to be found in Haydn’s symphonies for instance — we shall perceive they are agreeable principally as they tend to rouse expectation. They are made interesting, as it were, by the anticipation of what they announce. In themselves, as melody, they are nothing. The simple question then to be solved is, whether melody can be made of one single sound, and it appears to me that it cannot. Etymology sometimes helps us out of a difficulty of this kind. The Greek word μέλος is translated carmen modulatum — modulated song; which word modulated, I apprehend, implies variety of inflexion, and if so, sets all doubt at rest.
Let us now proceed to consider the effect of more than one interval. As the least removed from a single sound, I shall instance the chromatic opening of the symphony to the recitative, “For behold darkness shall cover the earth,” in Handel’s Messiah. This passage is constructed chiefly upon two sounds. If it cannot be said to be absolutely pleasing, it rouses and prepares and interests the mind, which anticipates in these sounds a something of moment to come. Here, however, the effect of rhythm is palpable.“To the Editor; On the philosophy of musical composition, No. 6.” In The Quarterly Musical Magazine and Review 5:18 (1823) : 145-152 (150) : link
- and that a something of deception
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 (London, 1824) : 194-194 : link
wikipedia on The Literary Magnet : link, and
on its co-founder (with his son Egerton Anthony Brydges), Egerton Brydges (1762-1837) : link- without a something of a certain kind
The testimonies of a first cause of all beings, namely God, from the light of nature.
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.The Theological Reasoner, or The mysteries of Divinity Explained, by a Christian Friend to Truth. (Liverpool, 1824) : 11 : link
Bodleian copy/scan : permalinkinteresting errata : link —
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.- a something of more tenderness
“There are cold hearted beings in the world, who, could they see my manner of expressing myself, would think it overwrought: you are not among the number. I do not trouble myself while I write with what others may think, but with what I think myself: it is this which guides my pen. I express my feelings; they may be strong, but I trust I shall never be ashamed of them.”
Eliza dwelt upon these expressions with much pleasure. The liveliness of Miss Rochford’s feelings could not fail in a heart such as Eliza’s to excite a similarity of sentiment. She was very grateful for this lavish fondness, yet if the truth must be owned, she was somewhat overpowered by its energy. Towards Mrs. De Lisle her feelings assumed a something of more tenderness : it might be the ill health of Mrs. De Lisle that softened her heart, but the language of those few short letters which she received was more in unison with the state of her own mind. Or was it that Mrs. De Lisle was the cousin of Major Douglas, and that her friendship seemed a remnant of the past? However it might be, there was more congeniality between them.ex Massenburg. A tale; in Three Volumes (vol 2). [By Mrs. C. M. Cadell.] (London, 1825) : 129 : link (BL copy/scan)
Bodleian : permalink (and access to pdf)—
Cecilia Caddell (1814-77), Catholic; wrote fiction, also about Lourdes, missions, etc.
wikipedia : linkWild Times (1877) : Bodleian : permalink
A History of the Missions in Japan and Paraguay (London, 1856) : link
- but there is a something of a heat of mind, or an irritation
I reside in the county of Longford, and in the discharge of my duties, and in the discharge of the duties of the inferior clergy who are under my direction, I consider it right to cooperate with the magistrates of the country in endeavouring to maintain the tranquillity of the country, and to secure obedience to the laws, and I have always been tolerably successful in having it so; I always believed it a matter of the utmost necessity; and whenever I have found in the diocese committed to my care, that there was not that kind of harmony between the magistrates and the Roman Catholic clergy, I think, in the same proportion, in general that neighbourhood was not tranquil. And in the discharge of that portion of my duty, I have always met with the active and zealous co-operation of the magistrates of the country. I have met with it in the county of Fermanagh, where I was first placed, in the county of Leitrim, and in the county of Longford, and no part of the country I was ever placed in, was disturbed. I was fortunate in that respect, for it is scarcely possible to describe the effect it produces on the public mind, when they see men of both religions, in public situations, go hand in hand with each other. And I have no doubt, that the magistracy of the county of Longford attribute the tranquillity of the county, in a very considerable degree, to the cordial co-operation which exists between the Justices of the peace and the Roman Catholic clergy. I do believe it is a general feeling. I think I get more credit myself perhaps than I deserve, but it is a general feeling; much credit is due to Lord Forbes. Generally speaking, there is no open hos- [282] tility between the two sects, in the county of Longford; but there is a something of a heat of mind, or an irritation, but nothing of a violent nature, which I attribute to party feelings of Orangemen and Ribbonmen, and the question of Catholic Emancipation, with the feelings of hope on one side, accompanied with some fear perhaps, and apprehesion on the other side; there are two parties, and they are kept at that kind of distance, arising from a variety of causes, that I am not able to describe.
Having alluded to Catholic Emancipation, I would also add, that a strong feeling of anxiety upon that subject, exists amongst the bulk of the peasantry. I know if they were asked what emancipation meant, they perhaps would not be able to define it; but they have a feeling that they are belonging to an excluded cast, and that they are not treated like other subjects; that there is something wrong with them, and they are very anxious to be relieved from this kind of slavery, which they are not able to explain; and I think a great deal of the misfortunes of Ireland arise from the disrespect of the lower orders to the laws. They are of opinion, that the laws were not made for their protection; they know no parts of them, except the penal and punishing parts; and I can easily conceive that in their little meetings on winter nights, they have amongst themseves many traditionary stories regarding the sufferings of their ancestors...ex A Digest of the Evidence in the Second Report of the Select Committee on the State of Ireland; by George White, Clerk to the Committee (London, 1825) : 282 : link
- a certain softness, a something of easy satisfaction
The ladies there were allowed occasionally to mix more in the world, under the care of their friends, than at Whitelands. This gave the ladies at Alsop House more of that ease which, when wanting, the brightest accomplishments are lost, and never appear to that advantage, as when blended with a certain softness, a something of easy satisfaction, which is so natural to those who possess it.
Miss Agassiz had been established there under the special patronage of the Duchess of Gordon, and her talents and morals did honour to her patroness. Almost all the ladies there, were of that family, or some relatives or friends of theirs. The number was nine, and therefore, was capable of embracing every advantage with comfort and ease. I had been about three months in this abode, and I felt happy in the society of my friends, when an attachment commenced between myself and some of the eldest and most particular young ladies there, of a durable nature. During that time, Mr. A—, whom I sometimes met at Mrs. Shafford’s, used to visit us in his elegant curricle. He introduced his sisters shortly after to me, and his calls became frequent, and his attentions too pointed to be mistaken. They were great, also, to Miss Agassiz, and being a man of high character and elegant manners, Miss Agassiz consulted Mr. Monk upon the propriety of allowing his calls. Mr. Monk, however, would not controul me, as I intended to make Mr. A— my banker...ex Memoirs of Miss C. E. Cary, (Written by Herself) who was Retained in the Service of the Late Queen Caroline, to fill the situation in Her Majesty’s Household Next to Lady Ann Hamilton; containing interesting anecdotes of some of the first persons in this country, and an Exposition of the Recrimination intended to have been brought forward by the late Queen’s Party, but which was prevented by Miss Cary; with Proofs and Documents in support of the Facts. (London, 1825) : 291 : link
same (U Michigan copy/scan), 3 vols in 1, via hathitrust : link—
Catherine E. Cary, no information at hand; her book concerns scandals around Queen Caroline — Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (Caroline Amelia Elizabeth; 1768-1821), Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Queen of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until her death in 1821 as the estranged wife of King George IV....
wikipedia : link- a very dexterous kind of doctrine — a something of a special plea
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”
wikipedia : link- a something, of the essence of which we know nothing
This “plan of business,” it should seem, was not found sufficiently determinate and precise to confine the speculations of the members within due bounds. We perceive accordingly, that at a meeting holden in the course of the same year, the “Academy having taken into consideration the inconveniencies resulting from the want of general principles, which might be taken for granted in all physical inquiries, and from the free and unrestrained introduction of metaphysical points, on which the members, either from the strength of speculative or practical habits, or the abstract nature of the subjects themselves, can never come to an agreement, judged it expedient to adopt the following principles, reserving to themselves the power of altering or modifying them as experience shall dictate :
“1. Mind exists — a something, of the essence of which we know nothing, but the existence of which we must suppose, on account of the effect which it produces; that is, the modification of which we are conscious.
“2. Matter exists — a something, of the essence of which we are entirely ignorant, but the existence of which we necessarily believe, in consequence of the effects which it produces; that is, the sensations and perceptions which we receive by means of the organs of sense...”extract from Account of the Life and Writings of Thomas Brown, M.D. late Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. By the Rev. David Welsh... (1825), in
The Museum of Foreign Literature and Science (January 1826) : 38-42 (39) : link—
Thomas Brown (1778-1820), physician, philosopher, poet; “renowned as a physician for his structured thinking, diagnostic skills, and prodigious memory;” Chair of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh University from 1810 to 1820
wikipedia : link- and that curative agency is resolvable into a something of change
In instances like this, then, — and something like it is constantly occurring, — we are compelled to give up the doctrine of excitement, or stimulation, and adopt, in a sort of empirical or confused way, the conclusions of those men who talked about the humours of the body, or who conceived that in the blood and fluids was to be found the essence of disease, as well as the principle of life, and that curative agency is resolvable into a something of change brought about in them.
But that the humoral doctrines of medicine are themselves also fallible, may be proved by a variety of examples. Who shall say what is added to, or abstracted from, any of the body’s fluids, when in a moment mere mental impulse shall so change the whole man, that from a healthy or sane, he plunges at once into a diseased or insane state; his thoughts and his feelings, and his actions and his countenance, being at complete variance with his former self; and withal, having some of the secretions of his body, which before were without any offensive odour, now offensive in the extreme?David Uwins, A Treatise on those Diseases which Are Either Directly or Indirectly Connected with Indigestion : Comprising a Commentary on the Principal Ailments of Children (London, 1827) : 36 : link
David Uwins (c.1780–1837), also authored A Treatise on those Disorders of the Brain and Nervous System which are usually considered and called Mental (1833)
wikipedia : link- a something of solemnity
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
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.
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.review of Devereux in The Westminster Review, Vol. 11 (October 1829) : 490-494 (490) : link
The novel was by Edward Bulwer Lytton (1803-1873)
wikipedia : link
wikipedia page devoted to the novel : link- wants what is much easier to feel, than describe, a something of order and the result of cultivated perceptions
Beyond this growing village [Little Falls], you enter the far famed settlement of the German Flats, so noted for their fertility, and their place in the history of the Canadian and Indian wars, and so finely sketched by Mrs. Grant and others. Herkimer is a considerable village in this alluvial tract. But the country, rich and delightful as it is, wants the Connecticut river villages, wants the neatness and taste of Yankee establishments, wants what is much easier to feel, than describe, a something of order and the result of cultivated perceptions, certainly found in higher perfection in New-England, than in any other portion of our country. But the eye traces, in new villages, neat houses, and establishments strongly contrasting with the old outre ‘residenter’ buildings, that New-England is gradually making its way among the Dutch villages in this direction. Canals, like turnpikes, taking directions from convenience and locality, are not often seen passing through the villages, and showing most habitancy and cultivation. This accounts for less show of villages and houses: along the canal, than might otherwise be expected. Thirty years hence, the banks of the canal will be a continued village.
ex Timothy Flint, “A Tour” in The Western Monthly Review Vol. 2 (October 1828) : 249-263 (252) : link
Timothy Flint (1780-1840)
brief sketch at The Dead Poets of Massachusetts : link- extract a something, of
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.
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.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
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 care, and a something less taxes
The blind would give something a something to see,
A deaf man give something to come and hear me;
The lame would give something to run, but in vain,
The old would give something to grow young again;
The lawyer wants something, that something’s a fee,
And gives something — advice — but advice take from me,
For the something you give, you a something will get,
That something will be empty pockets to let.
That something we love, &c.
The soldier wants something who gloriously bled,
But the something he next wants may chance be his head;
The king wants by something his people to ease,
The something he wishes is plenty and peace.
The people want something their trade to renew,
That something’s a ministry upright and true;
For something we need when our commerce relaxes,
A something of care, and a something less taxes.
This something we love, &c.
Take nothing from nothing there’s nothing remain,
Take something from something and something you gain...from “Something.” An Original Comic Song, by W. J. Freeman. Tune — Nothing. in The Apollo: A Collection of the Most Popular Songs, Recitations, Duets, Glees, Choruses, &c. &c.; Intermixed with many originals, and some of the most favorite of Dibdin, Hudson, W. H. Freeman, &c. Vol. III. (London, 1830) : 260-263 : link
all three volumes, U California copy/scan (via hathitrust) : link
- a something of self in all their speculations
“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.
“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.”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
a something of which he connectsFar 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
NYPL copy/scanYe 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.
My division had suffered the least in our defeat.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.”
wikipedia : link- tar, a something of light heart
There is, in a British tar, a something of light heart, which keeps him above water in the storm, and exhilarates his spirits in the calm, more especially when enjoying the comforts of dry land, and indulging in the delights of home and native shore.
ex “The Foundling of Liverpool,” by the author of the Hermit in London, in The Ladies’ Museum “New and improved series” 1:1 (London; January 1831) : 1 : link
same story appears (under different title : “The Family Violin”) in Blackwood's Lady’s Magazine and Gazette (“Improved series enlarged”); (London; December 1845) : 241-248 (242) : link
—
The author of the The Hermit in London; or, Sketches of English Manners would be Felix M’Donogh (1768?-1836). The book appeared in 1819 (five volumes).
Bodleian : permalink- and a something of gloom
And a something of gloom on his spirit weigh’d,
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!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”
wikipedia : link- with grave politeness, and with a something of displeasure lurking
The gentlemen themselves arrived at length-they came on horseback, retired immediately into their apartments to dress, and in due time made their appearance in the drawing-room, where Mr. Hamilton, surrounded by his family, waited to receive them. Colonel Vavasour entered first. Compared with the common society at Newtown Hamilton, he might be termed an Apollo of Belvedere for beauty, and his manners were worthy of the court of Louis XIV. but judging by a more ordinary standard, the world at large — he was a plain, unaffected, gentleman-like looking man, somewhat set off by a military dress, and a less artificial cause, a military carriage. He paid his compliments to the whole party with grave politeness, and with a something of displeasure lurking in his countenance; as if the gain of good quarters was a poor compensation for the sacrifice of the ease and independence of the mess or an inn. Not so his companion: Major Stuart was, without the possibility of its being questioned, a handsome man — added to which, his very perfect features were animated by a most intelligent countenance; and his manners were not only good, but of that kind which bear the stamp of the world and of the best society; he could be agreeable as well as polished; and Geraldine also knew that beauty, intelligence, and pleasing manners, were not his only recommendations; and that within his noble exterior, was that which passeth show —a benevolent heart; for in Major Stuart she beheld the benefactor of Malony; one glance showed that their former interview was remembered, and that she needed not the introduction her father made between them.
Minutes in Ireland to Geraldine’s mind moved like hours, and a Newtown Hamilton evening was an age of ennui and melancholy. What a transformation did one man produce!ex Miss Macleod, Geraldine Hamilton; or, Self-guidance. A Tale. Vol. 1 (of two); (London, 1832) : 105 : link (National Library of Scotland copy/scan, via google books)
Bodleian : permalink—
author listed as E. H. McLeod; — E. H. P. “Late Miss McLeod, author of Tales of Tone, First, Second and Third Series, Principle, &c. &c.” thus ‐
Geraldine Murray. A Tale of Fashionable Life. (4 vols, London, 1826) : link
Tales of Ton (4 vols, London, 1821), Bodleian : permalink
Principle! (4 vols, London, 1824), Bodleian : permalink
Belmont’s Daughter (4 vols, London, 1830), Bodleian : permalink- there was a troubled pleasure in her air; a something of regret
— but even while she spurned his prayer,
There was a troubled pleasure in her air;
A something of regret, that left him scope
To cherish secret, though forbidden, hope.ex The Rival Sisters; With other poems (London, 1834) : 19 : link
Bodleian : permalinkThe 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).
Mary Russell Mitford (1787-1855), essayist, novelist, poet and dramatist
link
- and sweet (though with a something of severe)
...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
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...
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...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
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.ex stanza 2 (of 15) in the poem “The Ruin” by “Linus”
The American Monthly Magazine 6:3 (August 1, 1834) 383-386 : (383)- >a something of more than common interest, of even awful in the very sound of “The West”
From the Saturday Evening Post.
Mark Lee’s Narrative.
“Toward Heaven's descent had sloped
“His waftening wheel.”
Milton in Lycidas
An amiable youth, like thousands of others as young, as amiable, and as poor, was not many months since on the point of setting out for the Hesperia of the United States, or in plain English, “The Western Country.” This young man a few days before his departure, brought his Album to me, requesting the insertion of a piece as a remembrancer to a friend. I put the Album in the drawer of my desk, and in the silence and quiet of the evening, drew it forth and spread it open on my table.
The circumstances roused all my own recollections. There was a something of more than common interest, of even awful in the very sound of “The West” which signed to my heart in whispers of days, months and years, gone into the past. In the very first settlement of Western Pennsylvania, amongst the emigrants were several families, from the banks of Swatara, in the neighborhood of Hummelstown. Many of these were the intimate and cherished friends of my parents, who naturally sighed after their associates. Then, fifty-two years ago, “The Western” was not what it is now, a smiling and widening garden. Even ideas of distance were then very different from what they are now. It is a fact which may well excite a smile, that in my native neighbourhood, “Illinois” was used as a term to express in the simple minds of a primitive people, the utmost limit, the Neplus Ultra...ex Mark Bancroft, “Mark Lee’s Narrative” in Atkinson’s Casket; or Gems of Literature, Wit and Sentiment. 9:7 (Philadelphia; July 1834) : 301-310 (301) : link
the story first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post (May 24, 1834).—
Mark Bancroft was a pseudonym of William Darby (1775-1854), surveyor, geographer, author of travel guides and gazetteers, lecturer, writer of stories of “The Western Country” as it was in the early years of the nineteenth century (Louisiana, western Pennsylvania, &c.). Several of his stories appeared in the above (1834) volume of Casket.
I am glad to dug further, in wonder “Mark Lee’s Narrative.” See J. Gerald Kennedy, his The Astonished Traveler : William Darby, Frontier Geographer and Man of Letters (1981)
borrowable at archive.org : link
apparently the story draws on its author’s own life, and might be termed autobiographical.See also J. Gerald Kennedy his “Glimpses of the ‘Heroic Age’ : Willima Darby’s Letters to Lyman C. Draper,” Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine 63 (January 1980) : link (pdf)
- a something of bitterness
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”
wikipedia : link- to conclude a something of six feet
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
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.
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.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
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
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)
wikipedia : link
- and a something of attraction in the prospect of one more bachelor spring at a London hotel
...It was not till he was gone, and she could contrive to be, quite alone, that she allowed a free course to her solitary tears, and to her feeling that she was very miserable; not perhaps the less miserable that her hushand seemed to make so light of their separation.
The truth was, — but a truth of too ungracious a nature to disclose to Marian — that the regret he experienced in parting from his kind-hearted and loving little wife, was almost counterbalanced by his satisfaction at any pretext for prolonging her separation from the Robsey tribe, and the Jackishness of her father’s establishment. He fancied, too, that thus left alone with his family, they would insensibly amalgamate; that Marian would learn to respect his mother and love his sister, as he himself loved and respected them; while Marian’s better qualities could not fail to secure their affections in return. Perhaps, too, the occupation afforded by his new duties and a something of attraction in the prospect of one more bachelor spring at a London hotel tended to facilitate the sacrifice of Marian’s society.
He did not consider, and even Marian herself was at first scarcely aware, how wearily and slowly pass the days, every hour of which is devoted to an especial and distant object.ex Mrs. Armytage; or, Female domination. By the authoress of “Mothers and Daughters” (Brussels, 1836) : 108 : link
first (London) edition, several copies via hathitrust : linka wikipedia page provides a synopsis of this novel : link
Catherine Grace Frances Gore (1798-1861)
wikipedia : link- a something of reality to their pretensions
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
- With a something of joy and a something of care
XXVI.
Amid the gay revellers, the first of the throng,
The rovers are mingling in dance and in song,
As lightsome as fire-flies, when evening awakes
Their living effulgence on mountains and brakes.
The brilliant attire, and the sparkling black eyes,
And the manly cheeks glowing with sun and with skies,
Leave their image in many a fair maiden's breast,
When she flies to her couch as a dove to her nest;
There to fit through her dreams, and revive in her there
With a something of joy and a something of care:
Of joy, as she thinks of the flattering train, —
Of care, that she knows they shall meet not again.ex “The Rubi, A Tale of the Sea — in Six Cantos — Canto III — The Banquet” in The Dublin University Magazine 11 (May 1838) 564-574 (569) : link
U California (via hathitrust) : link
Bodleian : permalinkFrederick W. Mant (1809-93),
various writings, including Ballads and Lays Illustrative of Events in the Early English History, by the Rev. F. W. Mant, B. A., Vicar of Stanford and Tottington (London, 1857) : link- a something of a darkish appearance presented itself; a clap of thunder, which soon died away
Case.
It is that of an officer of artillery in the British service who, during the peninsular war, was attached to a portion of that corps which was engaged, almost every day in succession, with the enemy, for a considerable period. He was close to the guns during the firing, which generally lasted, with but short intermissions, for the whole day. The noise was extremely shrill and sharp, and of a ringing description, such as is well known to those who have been habituated to the firing of brass guns. The result was, that he became nearly completely deaf on one side, and very dull of hearing on the other. He so remained for a long time, without the cause being discovered, when a sort of itching, at times very disagreeable and almost insufferable, took place. On examining the ear in which this feeling was most troublesome, a something of a darkish appearance presented itself, and, by means of a forceps, was at last drawn out through the external opening. The effect he described as like a clap of thunder, with a loud reverberating noise, which soon died away, when the deafness was found to be no way relieved; for a time no secretion appeared, the deafness still continued; and then he was advised to use a syringe, and have the part frequently syringed with a solution of soap in warm water, and a few drops of a thin emulsion of almond oil, with liquor potassæ, was dropped in. In less than a week the hearing was completely restored, and has remained perfect ever since.
Now, if we examine this case attentively,An Essay on the Causes, Nature, and Treatment of Deafness, and the various diseases of the ear; to which is appendeded a list of cases, which have come under the professional notice of the author, showing the most satisfactory results from the plan of treatment adopted for the cure of this distressing disease. By D(enis). Cronin, Surgeon. (London, 1838) : 37 : link
- a something of the undying mind, the kakoetheia scribendi, the non monis moriar
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]
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.wikipedia : list of Latin phrases : link
- a something of personal feeling
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
Boddington family history : link (accessed 20250118)- Then the lowering fog was together brought,
And into a something of shape was wrought“What ails thee now ?” cried the Baron bold.
“Mark, Baron, me!” said a voice so cold,
So cold and calm, that the Baron thought
’Twas the Knight of Wildern’s voice he heard.
Then the lowering fog was together brought,
And into a something of shape was wrought;
[112] Till a high and shadowy form appear’d,
Till the billows of clouds took a likeness dim —
But no! it surely could not be HIM ! . . .ex “The Quaking Bog; A very awful and antique ballad,” in John Richard Digby Beste, Odious Comparisons, Or, The Cosmopolite in England, Vol. 1 (of 2); (London, 1839) : 111 : link
same (Bodleian) copy/scan : permalink—
on John Richard Digby Beste (1805-85), see
Richard Preston, “The travels and tribulations of an English Catholic: John Richard Beste (1805-85) of Botleigh Grange” (evidently December 2015)
via (search at) Southhampton Local History Centre : link
pdf : linka fascinating (and nicely written) account, which commences wonderfully thus :
John Richard Beste is a phenomenon of the nineteenth century: cosmopolite, writer, English Catholic, radical politician, political economist and candidate for the representation of Southampton in 1844/7 and 1856. His name evolved over the course of three decades from John Richard Best at baptism to John Richard Beste in the late 1830s and finally to John Richard Digby Beste in the 1860s.—
his publications listed in Frederick Boase, Modern English Biography Vol. 4 (A – C), (Truro, Netherton and WOrth, for the author, 1908) : 387 : link
Beste, John Richard Digby (son of Henry Digby-Beste of Mavis Enderby, Lincolnshire 1768-1836, originator of modern Tractarian doctrines). b. 26 April 1806; educ. Stonyhurst college; author of Trans-alpine memoirs: or anecdotes and observations, showing the actual state of Italy and the Italians. By an English catholic, 2 vols. 1826; Transrhenane memoirs 1828; Cuma: the warrior bard of Erin and other poems 1829; Satires and The beggar’s coin, a poem, 2 ed. 1831; Rondeaulx: from the French black letter 1838; Odious comparisons: or the cosmopolite in England, 2 vols. 1839; The Pope: a novel. By an old author in a new walk, 3 vols. 1840; Isidora: or the adventures of a Neapolitan. A novel. By the old author in a new walk, 3 vols. 1841; The beggar’s coin: or love in Italy 1845; The Wabash: or adventures of an English gentleman’s family in the interior of America, 2 vols. 1855; Modern society in Rome: a novel, 3 vols. 1856; Alcazar: or the dark ages: a novel, 3 vols. 1857; Nowadays: or courts, courtiers, churchmen, Garibaldians, lawyers and brigands at home and abroad, 2 vols. 1870. d. 1885. Gillow’s English Catholics (1885) 203; Kelly’s Handbook (1882) 230, (1887) 328.
- a something of a paralytic attack seemed to remind
...Ugly little brute! what was he good for but Homer and corduroys?
At college, he obtained still further advantages over me. He was beginning, indeed, to have the best of it everywhere. From the date of the abrogation of my curls, I was out of favor, even in the boudoir. Sir Lionel Dashwood had been unable to repress an ejaculation of “little horror!” on seeing me again; and by the time John was entered at college, a something of a paralytic attack seemed to remind my sweet mamma that the Right Honorable Lord Ormington was to survive in her elder son, when her noble spouse took up his rest in the family vault, instead of on the benches of St. Stephen’s.
Neither he, nor I, nor Dashwood, nor even Dash, were now admitted into the dressing-room. Matters were growing too serious there.ex Cecil: Or, The Adventures of a Coxcomb : A Novel; Vol. 1 (of two) (1841) : 12 : link
—
Catherine Gore (1798-1861)
wikipedia : linkThe novel has its own wikipedia page : link
- in the expression of the dark blue eyes, a something of care and anxiety never observed before
Oh, what a face and figure were there exhibited! If Louis had been struck by the improved appearance and beauty of Josephine, what must he have felt while looking on the noble Pauline? Josephine was symmetry; but there was a majesty about the person of the eldest, that seemed to display the fine proportions of the form in a far more imposing manner: and then the face! how could the painter have caught its highly intellectual expression? Her complexion was fine, the mouth and all the features perfect, as in the first blush of womanhood; but there was in the expression of the dark blue eyes, a something of care and anxiety never observed before, an expression of deep and intense feeling, that, although it did not detract from, but rather heightened the beauty of one of the finest faces ever exhibited on canvass, yet at once excited the sympathy of the gazer. Tears, unbidden, ran down the cheeks of Louis and Madam, while gazing on this portrait. The mother and sister had not seen her now for several years.
The Neutral French; Or, The Exiles of Nova Scotia. By Mrs. Williams. Second Edition, two volumes in one (Providence, 1841) : 73 : link
—
Catherine R. Williams (1787-1872), Rhode Island writer, suffragist
wikipedia : link- there was a something of expression
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.
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...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.”
wikipedia : link- still they show
A something of resemblance as when seen
For the first momentTo where the mountains merge into the plain,
He journeyed on ’mid many a stirring scene,
Such as one loves to recognize again.
Though years have perished, and the times between
The first and second meeting may have been
Spent in long toil and labour, still they show
A something of resemblance as when seen
For the first moment, and awake a glow
Of rapture or regret o’er Time’s relentless flow.Canto II, stanza 31, of James Henry Burke, Days in the East. A Poem by James Henry Burke, Esq., of Marble Hill: Lieutenant Bombay Engineers; Member of the Bombay Branch Royal Asiatic Society. (London, 1842) : 54 : link
A map of the Bombay region faces the title page.
from the preface —
In the following Cantos is attempted to be pourtrayed the departure from home, voyage to India, and subsequent career, of an officer in the East India Company's army. As far as India is concerned, the scene is laid in one or two, only, of its Western Provinces. The whole has been thrown into a style much resembling personal narrative, such an arrangement having been found convenient, if not indispensable; and was almost entirely composed upon the homeward voyage of the author from that peninsula. Ill health, contracted when actively employed in the jungles of that country, was the cause of his returning. Should this specimen please, he may perhaps be induced to continue and conclude the subject, in as condensed a manner as possible: should it not, too much has been already written.—
It appears that Burke would return to India; he authored also a pamphlet (of 31 pages) India Salt. Scinde versus Cheshire, Calcutta, and Bombay; with an illustrative map (London, 1847) : link
an excerpt of Burke’s poetry is included in Máire ní Fhlathúin, ed., The Poetry of British India, 1780–1905. Vol. 2 (2011) : 65-72
Bodleian permalinkwhere this profile is found —
James Burke was born into an Anglo-Irish family: his father, Colonel Sir John Burke, held an Irish baronetcy, and both his father and later his brother Thomas served as MP for the constituency of Galway. Days in the East was written during an interlude in this career: according to the work’s preface, he became ill while on active service in the Western Provinces of India, and turned to the writing of poetry to while away the homeward voyage, in April 1842. It was not his first attempt at poetry — an earlier work, Addiscombe: A Tale of our Times, had been published under the initials ‘J. H. B.’ — but it was the only one to attract any critical attention. One aspect of Burke’s personal experience, his Irish background, clearly informs his view of India. The opening of Canto II hails the success of the East India Company in ‘warding off interminable woe’ and conflict by forbidding the proselytizing of religious ‘fanatics’.- 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 :
“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.”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
- for there was a novelish sound in the first name, a something of Miss Owenson or Mrs. Opie
So little impression, meanwhile, had the amusements of the evening made upon Basil, that his first impulse, on returning home, was to take from his pocket the unsightly letter of A. 0., in order to ascertain, with greater accuracy, the name of the street to which he was to repair on the morrow. He searched first in one waistcoat-pocket, then in the other, and finally in those of his coat and great-coat, and all with the same infructuous result ! In his impatience, he flung down on the table his handkerchief and gloves, his opera-glass, and a small gold pencil-case he carried in his waistcoat-pocket. But this eagerness did not enable him to recover the lost treasure. Not a vestige of his letter !
Though certain of having received it in the hall, and thrust it into his pocket preparatory to leaving the house, he now in the perplexity of vexation, began to open his desk and dressing-box, in the hope of finding it there; though aware that he had not returned into his sitting-room after the arrival of the post. Still, the result was the same; and he was forced to end with the conclusion which had first presented itself, that his pocket had been picked in coming out of the theatre, and this document, valueless to any but himself, mistaken for higher game.
How irritating ! — This trivial occurrence might be the means of deferring the promised interview for four-and-twenty-hours ! Nay, A. 0. might, perhaps, fancy himself hoaxed by a second application ; or, at all events, resent having his time thrown away by waiting at home for one who had no scruple in disappointing him, and refuse a second rendezvous ! — He had been told, only too often, that A. 0. was not a person to be trifled with ! —
He began, accordingly, to ransack his brain for reminiscences of the address contained in the letter. St. Agnes le Clare, Old Street Road, he perfectly remembered; for there was a novelish sound in the first name, a something of Miss Owenson or Mrs. Opie, — singularly discordant with the second: — and, by a memoria-technical process, the impression remained with him. But what was the name of the street? It was that of some noble family. It was not Howard, or Percy, or Paget. It was something connected with Wiltshire — he remembered it had brought Wiltshire into his mind. He would examine the Court Guide, and see whether any streets in the neighbourhood of Old Street Road, appeared to bear reference to Wiltshire.
But alas! the Court Guide disdained all mention of St. Agnes le Clare! — The Court Guide rejected A. 0. and all his parish; and poor Basil was launched once more upon his sea of troubles.
Of one thing he was certain. The interview was appointed at noon the following day; and the latest effort of his determination before he committed his head to a restless pillow, was to repair to Old Street Road, at an early hour next morning, and try whether, by exploring the neighbourhood, he might not accidentally touch the silent chord of memory.
It is not, however, a pleasant thing for a denizen of the West End, to arise from a warm bed at nine o’clock on a misty November morning, and after seeing the opposite shops opened by yawning shopboys, or damsels in curl-papers, and swallowing a hasty comfortless breakfast, for which the baker had not brought the rolls, or the newspaper boy the Morning Post, jumble off in a hackney coach towards the far East to be deposited, in a degree of bewilderment worthy of Robinson Crusoe, upon the Pavement of Finsbury.
It was the first time Basil Annesley had visited that terra incognita.ex The Money-Lender By Mrs. Gore, authoress of “Mothers and Daughters,” “The Man of Fortune,” etc. Vol. 1 (of three); (London, 1843) : 37 : link
U Illinois at Urbana-Champaign copy/scan (via hathitrust)The street name, btw, was “Paulet Street.”
- bearing in his hand a something of very mysterious ugliness of form
“Confound the fellow!” exclaimed Richard, having once again gone through the part, and the very next day being that fixed for the [422] dressed rehearsal. “He swore by all the gods that a carpenter could invoke that his confounded skip-jack should be here this morning.” These words were scarcely uttered when the only servant permitted to approach the theatrical premises, knocked at the door, and announced the arrival of the anxiously expected mechanist. He was ordered to appear, and did so instantly, bearing in his hand a something of very mysterious ugliness of form, which by the judicious use of a little cobler’s wax could be made to spring to a very considerable height. The first performance of the little monster was hailed with a perfect shriek of admiration and delight; and then the guilty Richard laid himself once more upon his restless couch, and bade the tormentor do his worst. Again the cobler’s wax was judiciously applied, and again the hideous little figure sprang into the air; but instead of perching on the breast of the conscience-stricken Richard, it bounded pretty nearly in the opposite direction.
“That won’t do, my good fellow!” cried the sleeper, starting up, “you could not have set it in the right direction.”“The Butt” (conclusion), by Mrs. Trollope, in The New Monthly Magazine [and Humorist] 70 (1844) : 415-430 (422) : link
collected in Mrs. Trollope, her Travels and Travellers. A Series of Sketches. Vol. 2 (of two); (1846) : 211-311 (283) : link
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aside —
that 1844 volume of The New Monthly Magazine comes with a beautifully composed index : 613-616 : linkThe New Monthly Magazine
thorough “about” at wikipedia : link- I calculate there’s a something of a string-halt in the bargain... I need hardly say
It is a most animated, and to a stranger, most amusing sight; but with all this bustling and noise, there is no confusion, and I saw no disorderly persons about. Who are those gaily-dressed men sitting astride upon cottonbales, and looking so composed, while discussing some serious question with each other? You can judge nothing from their countenances; they are so well schooled and tutored, that no one would imagine an important mercantile negotiation was in progress. That gentleman mounted on a molasses-cask, whistling, cutting up a stick, as if for the bare life, but in reality to prevent his countenance from betraying his feelings, is doing business with the man who is balancing himself on an empty barrel near him. The latter, with the eternal quid in the corner of his mouth, is clearly looking out “for the giraffe,”* and, after a while, he rises with great sang froid, with “Well, Sir, I calculate there’s a something of a string-halt in the bargain; it’s a horrid sight of money, Sir, you’re asking, and as I’m in a tarnation hurry to liquor, I’ll just put it off till next fall.” I need hardly say that this shrewd gentleman was recalled, and a bargain concluded. The process of liquoring is gone through several times before a bargain is struck.
This, the first specimen I saw of Americans, in their own country, struck me forcibly. It shewed me that those who, in dress, appearance, &c., are decidedly the gentlemen of the land, are so devoted to money making, as evidently to have neither time, nor many ideas to waste on other subjects. It convinced me, that though the contemplation of America as a nation, and at a distance, may, and indeed must be interesting, yet the investigation and survey of the people who compose that nation, must soon become wearying and monotonous. One may be amused for a time at the shrewdness with which they make their bargains, at the acuteness of their remarks, and the originality of their expressions; but once convinced, as I speedily became, that their every action proceeds from a love of amassing wealth, and you cease to become interested in individuals, whose conduct and whose pleasures are swayed by such an ignoble cause.
The Americans are accounted, and I believe justly so, a moral people, but even this merit is, I think, not so great a one in their case, as it is among other nations. Their love of wealth being all-powerful, and being to be gratified only by the strictest attention to business, it follows, necessarily, that the habits of their lives generally become quiet and restrained.*Anglicè, taking care he is not taken in.
ex Mrs. Houstoun, Texas and the Gulf of Mexico; or, Yachting in the New World (Philadelphia, 1845) : 76 : link
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am put in mind of Herman Melville, The Confidence Man : His Masquerade (1857)
Matilda Charlotte Houstoun (1811-92)
wikipedia : link- There stood the mansion, with its extent of deepest groves, possessing a something of almost ostentatious grandeur.
And then the view!
What a lordly expanse ! — like a picture of Claude’s, like a description of Milton’s —“Russet lawns and fallows gray,
Where the nibbing flocks do stray;
Mountains on whose barren breast
The hovering clouds do often rest;
Meadows trim with daisies pied,
Shallow brooks and rivers wide,
Towers and battlements it sees
Bosom’d high in tufted trees.”Milton, one should have thought, must have almost painted from the scene before us; to add to the beauty of which as if to leave nothing incomplete — massive woods were seen sweeping down from the nearer hills, reflected by a very large mere, or small lake, which lay sleeping in this day’s clear sunshine, at the foot of the ascent. There stood the mansion, with its extent of deepest groves, possessing a something of almost ostentatious grandeur.
It was very large, that house, built in a sort of corrupt half-eastern, half-mediaeval style of architecture — where forms were strangely jumbled together, and great offenses no doubt committed against correct taste; but it looked so rich — such a confusion and profusion of ornament was lavished upon it — there was so great an extent, such an endless succession of roofs and towers, and pinnacles, and oriel windows, and lancet windows — such a grand porch leading into such a noble hall, that the effect altogether was magnificent.
Then the stables, and the gardens, and the farm buildings, and all and every thing were upon such a scale!
An almost royal scale! And every thing kept with a precision and neatness which showed that this was no display of unreal wealththat this mighty flow of expense was maintained by a spring of proportional force.
But, to return to the shrubbery walks, the flowers, the birds, the lovely views, the birds singing as if in rivalry of each other, the cuckoo shouting, the sun shining, and the world of flowers of every hue around us.
Is this garden of Eden desolate, that no one appears to enjoy it?
Are its inhabitants all gone away to London at this loveliest season of the year, the two first weeks in May — and have they left this scene of beauty to be enjoyed by half a score of gardeners, and half a dozen household servants? — as is one part of the inexplicable arrangements of people belonging to the great world.
No, one should imagine not, for here come two figures along the walk that, as a kind of terrace, crowns the brow of the hill, winding amid the purple and crimson rhododendron, the waxen almias, the yellow and white azalias, the purple clusters of the lilacs and the streaming gold of the laburnums.Aubrey. By the author of “Castle Avon,” “Ravenscliffe,” “Time the Avenger,” “The Wilmingtons,” “Mordaunt Hall,” “Emilia Wyndham,” &c., &c., &c. (1845; New York, 1854) : 5 : link
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Anne Marsh-Caldwell (1791-1844)
wikipedia : link links to a good source of information on Anne Marsh-Caldwell at :
Historical biographies : Ancestors, Relatives & People of Interest to J.J. Heath-Caldwell : link- I traced, or fancied I could trace in its tiny features some vestige of the Brookes countenance — a something of Harriet
The kiss which, in my turn, I bestowed upon the babe, was inspired, however, by feelings, in which Mrs. Stanley had little share. I traced, or fancied I could trace in its tiny features some vestige of the Brookes countenance — a something of Harriet, which searched into the very depths of my heart.
“I feel so ashamed now,” faltered the happy mother, fancying she could perceive by this tender embrace of her child that my friendship towards her was unchanged, “I feel so ashamed now of all I said to you a few weeks ago of my disgust and weariness of life. I had not then heard the cry of this little creature! — I did not then know what it was to have something belonging to one, something of one’s own, that one can clasp to one’s heart, without fear of coldness, or mockery, or ingratitude! — Oh, I know better now, than to say I am sick of life!”ex Men of Capital. By Mrs. Gore, authoress of “The Banker’s Wife,” “Peers and Parvenus,” etc. Vol. 1 (of three); (London, 1846) : 243 : link
a remarkable preface on the primogeniture rights to property, the moral costs of the —
“idolatry of Mammon pursued with least regard to self-respect or the rights of their fellow-creatures...” (vii)
“...the passions advantageous to a nation, may be injurious to an individual. Ambition and Money-love, if they tend to ennoble a country, reduce to insignificance the human particles of which the nation is composed...” (iv)—
Catherine Gore (1798-1861)
wikipedia : link- a something of religion born with them
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
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
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Frances Milton (Mrs.) Trollope (1779-1863)
wikipedia : link- a something of poetry in it when looked at geologically; a vastness of antiquity
At the annual meeting of the Manchester Geological Society, the following beautiful address was delivered by the Rev. Robert Vaughan, LL. D., Principal of the Lancashire Independent College, on his health being given by the Chairman, James Heywood, Esq., F. R. S. We are indebted for this excellent report to the Manchester Guardian.
“It is no more than we are accustomed to expect from science, that it should have disposed men to cultivate what are termed the courtesies of life; for science ought to give refinement, and to awaken in man a new feeling in the intelligent intercourse he may hold with his fellow-men. I feel that I owe my place with you to-day to the feeling which science has generated. It has brought me into the midst of a company of gentlemen to whom I am unknown; but I am here purely upon the assumption that the subjects which are interesting to your party are not uninteresting to me; and that though hitherto unknown to each other, here we may meet and recognize a tie of brotherhood. (Applause.) With respect to the science of geology, in common perhaps with some others, in particular connection with whom I stand, there have been seasons in my history when I was disposed to look upon it with considerable misgivings. I am free, however, to confess, and indeed very happy to confess, that the longer I live, the more I feel interested in it, because of what it is, and because of what it tends to. Even in the little smattering of knowledge I possess in respect to it, I must confess that I have found new sources of interest opened to me, in the contemplation of nature, of which I was before unconscious, and that even the very stone that I see a man breaking on the road, to give a pass to cartwheels, has a something of poetry in it when looked at geologically — (hear), — a look of vast antiquity, that element of the sublime inseparable from the thought of long duration; for it is older than the present generation; older than the present race, or probably than all the past races on our globe. (Hear.) There is a vastness of antiquity in that very pebble, that gives to it an interest which otherwise it could not possess...”
“Dr. Vaughan on Geology and the Bible,” in The Christian Reformer; or, Unitarian Magazine and Review 3:25 (London; January 1847) : 59-61 (59) : link
Robert Vaughan (1795-1868)
wikipedia : link- a something of pain, a thick and swelling sigh, fraught
Already was the poor girl happy. She was young, and youth wants little else to conjure happiness towards it. Nothing but sin can banish happiness, and she had made expiation. She was happy again; no thought of woe to come, of future pain, of death, — even the death of the dying man on whose breast her head rested, disturbed her bosom now. At this moment there was a sharp glitter above her head, and her husband strove, as she thought, to disengage himself from her. Ere she could look up, — a something of pain, a thick and swelling sigh, fraught with a soul, — and she lay dead in her husband's arms.
The cry was his; but who had heard it ? None. He was not himself conscious of it. Hush! -nought but the blackbird still singing in the hawthorn.ex Charles Whitehead, Smiles and Tears; or, the Romance of Life Vol. 3 (of three); (London, 1847) : 50 : link
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Charles Whitehead (1804-62)
wikipedia : link- catching from its look a something of religion, and sometimes, not
MARHAM.
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.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
“This is my little daughter, Ethel, Mr. Oglevie. You did not know I had a daughter, did you?”
“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.Mrs. Trollope, The Lottery of Marriage : A Novel. Vol. 1 (of 3); (London, 1849) : 110 : link
- a something of every known science... an orrery, an electrifying machine, a turning lathe, a theater (in the wash-house), a chemical apparatus, and, what he called a select library
With respect to learning, “the Curriculum,” as Mr. Veal loved to call it, was of prodigious extent and the young gentlemen in Hart-street might learn a something of every known science. The Rev. Mr. Veal had an orrery, an electrifying machine, a turning lathe, a theater (in the wash-house), a chemical apparatus, and, what he called a select library of all the works of the best authors of ancient and modern times and languages. He took the boys to the British Museum, and descanted upon the antiquities and the specimens of natural history there, so that audiences would gather round him as he spoke, and all Bloomsbury highly admired him as a prodigiously well informed man. And whenever he spoke (which he did almost always), he took care to produce the very finest and longest words of which the vocabulary gave him the use; rightly judging, that it was as cheap to employ a handsome, large, and sonorous epithet, as to use a little stingy one.
Thus he would say to George in school, “I observed, on my return home from taking the indulgence of an evening’s scientific conversation with my excellent friend Doctor Bulders a true archaeologian, gentlemen, a true archaeologian — that the windows of your venerated grandfather’s almost princely mansion in Russell-square were illuminated as if for the purposes of festivity. Am I right in my conjecture, that Mr. Osborne entertained a society of chosen spirits round his sumptuous board last night?”
Little Georgy, who had considerable humor, and used to mimic Mr. Veal to his face with great spirit and dexterity, would reply, that Mr. V. was quite correct in his surmise.
“Then those friends who had the honor of partaking of Mr. Osborne’s hospitality, gentlemen, had no reason, I will lay any wager, to complain of their repast. I myself have been more than once so favored. (By the way, Master Osborne, you came a little late this morning, and have been a defaulter in this respect more than once.) I myself, I say, gentlemen, humble as I am, humble as I am, have not been found unworthy to share Mr. Osborn'e elegant hospitality. And though I hae feasted with the great and noble of the world — for I presume that I may call my excellent friend and patron, the Right Honorable George Earl of Bareacres, as one of the number — yet I assure you that the board of the British merchant was to the full as richly served, and his reception as gratifying and noble. ‘Mr. Bluck, sir, we will resume, if you please, the passage of Eutropius, which was interrupted by the late arrival of Master Osborne.’”
To this great man George’s education was for some time intrusted. Amelia was bewildered by his phrases, but thought him a prodigy of learning. That poor widow made friends with Mrs. Veal, for reasons of her own. She liked to be in the house, and see Georgy coming to school there. She liked to be asked to Mrs. Veal’s conversazioni, which took place once a month (as you were informed on pink cards, with ΑΘΗNH engraved on them), and where the professor welcomed his pupils and their friends to weak tea and scientific conversation...ex William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair. A Novel without a Hero. with illustrations by the author (New York, 1849) : 272 : link
originally published in serial form, 1847-1848; wikipedia : linkWilliam Makepeace Thackeray (1811-63)
wikipedia : link- It seemed to unfold to me a something of the purpose and aim of life, of which I had been till then ignorant.
Brown had not left Lady Malfort when I returned to her room, so I had time to ponder on what I had heard. It seemed to unfold to me a something of the purpose and aim of life, of which I had been till then ignorant. Miss Malfort was going to be forced by her mother into the world, to be a great lady — I had a mother, who should also think of my interests. She did not think of them — should I, therefore, stupidly remain indifferent to them myself? I was tormenting myself with this question, when Brown came back from her lady.
I immediately told her the piece of news communicated by Miss Malfort. She replied quietly that Lady Malfort had informed her of the marriage a week ago.ex The Fortunes of Woman : Memoirs, Edited by Miss Lamont. Vol. 1 (of three); (London, 1849) : 23 : link
Bodleian : permalink—
Martha Macdonald Lamont (1803-78)
wikisource : linkalso a brief entry at At the Circulating Library : A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837—1901 : link
- The one made as rare a something, of nothing, as ever I heard... Well may these plashes of water, be held