The Vicar of Wakefield

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D. Appleton and Company, 1884 - Abduction - 308 pages

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Page 1 - I WAS ever of opinion that the honest man who married and brought up a large family did more service than he who continued single and only talked of population.
Page 49 - Alas ! the joys that fortune brings Are trifling and decay; And those who prize the paltry things, More trifling still than they. " And what is friendship but a name, A charm that lulls to sleep; A shade that follows wealth or fame, But leaves the wretch to weep?
Page 153 - I had some knowledge of music, with a tolerable voice : I now turned what was once my amusement into a present means of subsistence. I passed among the harmless peasants of Flanders, and among such of the French as were poor enough to be very merry ; for I ever found them sprightly in proportion to their wants. Whenever I approached a peasant's house towards nightfall, I played one of my most merry tunes, and that procured me not only a lodging, but subsistence for the next day.
Page 78 - not silver, the rims not silver !" " No," cried I, '• no more silver than your saucepan."—" And so," returned she, " we have parted with the colt, and have only got a gross of green spectacles, with copper rims and shagreen cases ! A murrain take such trumpery. The blockhead has been imposed upon, and should have known his company better." '• There. my dear," cried I, " you are wrong, he should not have known them at all...
Page 51 - Each hour a mercenary crowd With richest proffers strove ; Amongst the rest young Edwin bow'd, But never talk'd of love. " In humble, simplest habit clad/ No wealth nor power had he ; Wisdom and worth were all he had, But these were all to me. " And, when beside me in the dale He caroll'd lays of love, His breath lent fragrance to the gale, And music to the grove.
Page 52 - No, never from this hour to part, We'll live and love so true : The sigh that rends thy constant heart Shall break thy Edwin's too.
Page 113 - And in that town a dog was found, As many dogs there be, Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound, And curs of low degree. This dog and man at first were friends ; But when a pique began, The dog, to gain some private ends, Went mad, and bit the man.
Page 22 - THE place of our retreat was in a little neighbourhood, consisting of farmers, who tilled their own grounds, and were equal strangers to opulence and poverty.
Page 185 - When lovely woman stoops to folly, And finds too late that men betray, What charm can soothe her melancholy ? What art can wash her guilt away ? The only art her guilt to cover, To hide her shame from every eye, To give repentance to her lover, And wring his bosom, is — to die.
Page 2 - However, my wife always insisted that as they were the same flesh and blood, they should sit with us at the same table. So that if we had not very rich, we generally had very happy friends about us; for this remark will hold good through life, that the poorer the guest, the better pleased he ever is with...

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