On this page
-
Text (1)
-
28 Vicissitudesof a Lecture.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Vicissitudesof A Lecture;
immeasurably grave , earnest , and emphatical , and as if every syllable he uttered was commissioned to maintain the united dignity of the poetical and reciting characters .
But now comes , not only the cheerfulness , but the catastrophe . _" Great wits have short memories , " said somebody ; probably because he had one himself . Ned however was at all
events a brother instance ; for after getting through the " Graces / ' and _" Aurora , " and the " fresh-blown roses , " and " quips and cranks , " & c , with
the most extraordinary solemnity ( and it was no great distance to get ) he stuck fast at the very spot where he was bound to proceed in his happiest manner ; to wit , upon the line ,
" Come and trip it , as you go . " He remembered " Come and trip it ; ' * but he could not , for the life of him , conjure up " if you go . The head behind the screen M as now heard , _promptings" Come and trip it , as you go . " But Ned , it turned out , was unfortunately deaf , and the words were lost upon him . *• Come and trip it , as you go "
said the voice , still in a whisper , but with greater emphasis . In vain . —Ned bent Ins again to catch the words , again they were repeated emphasis still greater , but al ways in a whisper" Come and trip it , as you go In vain again . —Once more Ned bent his head , with all its head and with _t
Vicissitudesof A Lecture;
painstaking and powder ; and again the words were sent forth , in a sort of whisper in a rage ;
" Come and trip it , AS YOU GO . " " Good God ! " the whisper seemed to say , Will you never hear me ? " The reader must imagine the audience all this time , hearing what the lecturer could not hear , as plainly as their own words , and ready to burst .
At length he does catch the words ; and with an irresistible air of hilarity and self-satisfaction ( as if the little obstacle were removed from between him and his triumphs ) resumes his stately
wav" Come—and trip it—as you go—On the light ( " light" very heavy ) fantastic-toe ( " fantastic , " imperious )
And—in thy—right hand—lead—with tliee The mountain—nympli—sweet—liberty And—if I—give thee—honour—due—Mirth , —admit me—of- —thy crew *—To live—with her—and live—with thce In—un—reproved—pleasures—free . "
Alas ! while in the act of arriving at these pleasures , and little thinking that he was about to disclose what they were , he unfortunately kept stepping
backwarder and backwarder , till in a moment he bolted against the screen , and down it went —exhibiting , —besides the enraged individual to whom the voice belonged , —what do you think ?
A bottle of wine and some cakes ? No .
28 Vicissitudesof A Lecture.
28 Vicissitudesof a Lecture .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 1, 1837, page 28, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/mrp_01071837/page/26/
-