The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 1: Miscellaneous ProseLamb, Charles
General
The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 1: Miscellaneous Prose
Lamb, Charles
English literature
_Conversation._--"Seeing we are civilized Englishmen, let us not be
naked savages in our talk."
_Wounded Soldier._--"Halting is the stateliest march of a soldier; and
'tis a brave sight to see the flesh of an ancient as torn as his
colours."
_Wat Tyler._--"A _misogrammatist_; if a good Greek word may be given to
so barbarous a rebel."
_Heralds._--"Heralds new mould men's names,--taking from them, adding
to them, melting out all the liquid letters, torturing mutes to make
them speak, and making vowels dumb,--to bring it to a fallacious
_homonomy_ at the last, that their names may be the same with those
noble houses they pretend to."
_Antiquarian Diligence._--"It is most worthy observation, with what
diligence he [Camden] enquired after ancient places, making hue and cry
after many a city which was run away, and by certain marks and tokens
pursuing to find it; as by the situation on the Roman highways, by just
distance from other ancient cities, by some affinity of name, by
tradition of the inhabitants, by Roman coins digged up, and by some
appearance of ruins. A broken urn is a whole evidence; or an old gate
still surviving, out of which the city is run out. Besides, commonly
some new spruce town not far off is grown out of the ashes thereof,
which yet hath so much natural affection as dutifully to own those
reverend ruins for her mother."
_Henry de Essex._--"He is too well known in our English Chronicles,
being Baron of Raleigh, in Essex, and Hereditary Standard Bearer of
England. It happened in the reign of this king [Henry II.] there was a
fierce battle fought in Flintshire, at Coleshall, between the English
and Welsh, wherein this Henry de Essex _animum et signum simul abjecit_,
betwixt traitor and coward, cast away both his courage and banner
together, occasioning a great overthrow of English. But he that had the
baseness to do, had the boldness to deny the doing of so foul a fact;
until he was challenged in combat by Robert de Momford, a knight,
eye-witness thereof, and by him overcome in a duel. Whereupon his large
inheritance was confiscated to the king, and he himself, _partly thrust,
partly going into a convent, hid his head in a cowl, under which,
betwixt shame and sanctity, he blushed out the remainder of his
life_."[20]--_Worthies. Article, Bedfordshire._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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