Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1841-11-02
quotations.

wv L IO4NS.
Small scribblers in newspapers, contri
butors of paragraphs about public rejoi-
cings, private festivities, and other local
matters. seem to find quotations particu
larly indispensable, their intelligence being
generally so trivial and vapid as to be I'M
fit to stand by itself In apublic rejoicing,
the bells are always sure to {" ring out
merry peal" and the crowds OF people to
be '' thick as leaves in Vallambrosa. p
In the case Of a ball, the "light fantastic
toe" comes finely in; in that of dinner,
the night invariably drives on WI sangs
and clatter," and the company would take
scorn to separate before the wee short
hour ayont the twal." If the undue inter-
ference Of a magistrate be commented on,
then TO be sure, we have the unhappy
Shakespeare dragged in to administer cen
sure
Oh man, vain man,
Dressed in little brief authority" &c.
In fact, these tags of old authors serve as
points to the blunt and aimless sentences
Of the moderns. We, w-a-days, have
all of the epigram but the sting, and that
We aIC OOliSCu W UOIION HUN Oul plCuC-
cessors. Who ever speaks Of obscure ge-
MUS, but he sezes upon some such recon-
dlte passage as,
Full many flower is bon to blush unseen,
And waste IFS sweetness on the desert air?'
Who ever describes elegant writing, with
out bringing in our old friend
"Thoug hts that breathe and words that burn?"
Who ever indicates the variety Of styles in
any particular writer, or in his own COM
positions, without gong
From gay 10 grave from lively to severe?'
Or who ever writes sententious account
Of an unfortunate wretch, but concludes
with the pithy remark, that he was only
suited to
"Pomt moral or adorn q tale?'
And above all, who ever tells US in print Of
the rarity ofthe appearances Of any object,
animate or inanimate, without taking vast
deal Of pains to mention that they were
@ Like angels visits, few and far between?
Oh, these angels and their visits will sure
ly some day be the death of us.
Can any one think Of teacher, but he
must draw upon Thompson for
Delightful task" &c.
or upon Lord Brougham, for his still more
celebrated declaration, that "the school
master is abroad"-a phrase now absolute
ly nauscous from frequency Of repetition.
When fine new colony is spoken Of, it is
and honey" even although bees should not
have yet found ;heir way TO the country.
and COWS are so scarce lowing TO their ha-
wing TO be carried eight or ten thousand
miles, that they sell at sixty pounds each,
and only can be had by the people of first
rate fortune. When population is happy
in an old country, every man sits under
his own vine and fig tree" though it is
more likely, that, while some enjoy them
selves in their dining-rooms beside a coal
fire, others frequent the neighborng ale
houses during the first three days Of the
week, being able 10 make enough to live
upon, by working during the remainder.
A slight inapplcability, however, is MOTH
ing in a quotation, provided only that it
give a kind of sense and expression to
sentence which would otherwise be void Of
both. Thus, description of an Island
may be rather tame, the object being itself
perhaps rather SO; but if by hook or by
crook it can be
PLACED far amid the melancholy main,'
Though possibly only two miles from
Shore then does il catch grace from an
other and more poetical mind, and passes
off we'll enough. On the same principle,
we will wish for
- lodge in some vast wilderness,
Some bo1ndless contiguity of shade;'
though, in reality, walk in some neigh
boring plantation, upon which we are for
hidden to intrude by man-traps, and spring
gun, would satisfy us to our hearts con-
tent
To be serions: Modern English writer's
act very Silly in introducing so many quo
tations from the works Of former authors.
Such practice indicates not only wan.
of taste, but want of the power of origi-
nal thinking, or, at the least, a want Of
confidence in these powers. We are Of
opinion that every writer should stand on
his own merits alone, The sentiments TO