Essays on miscellaneous subjects Author:Oliver Goldsmith Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ing, it shall be advertised by some outlandish name in the newspapers. SiUNDiRS Mac Wild, President, Anthout Blewit, Vice-president, (his .). mark.) Wi... more »lliam TuapiN, Secretary. ESSAY II. SPECIMEN OF A MAGAZINE IN MINIATURE. W essayists, who are allowed but one subject at a time, are by no means so fortunate as the writers of magazines, who write upon several. If a magaziner be dull upon the Spanish war, he soon has us up again with the ghost in Cock-Lane; if the reader begins to doze upon that, he is quickly roused by an eastern tale; tales prepare us for poetry, and poetry for the meteorological history of the weather. It is the life and soul of a magazine, never to be long dull upon one subject; and the reader, like the sailor's horse, has at least the comfortable refreshment of having the spur often changed. As I see no reason why they should carry off all the rewards of genius, I have some thoughts for the future of making this essay a magazine in miniature: I shall hop from subject to subject; and, if properly encouraged, I intend in time to adorn my feuille volant with pictures. But to begin in the usual form, with A Modest Address to the Public, The public has been so often imposed upon by the nn performing promises of others, that it is with the utmost modesty we assure them of our inviolable design of ing the very best collection that ever astonished society. The public we honour and regard; and therefore tojn- struct and entertain them is our highest ambition, with labours calculated as well for the head as the heart. If four extraordinary pages of letter-press be any recommendation of our wit, we may at least boast the honour of vindicating our own abilities. To say more in favour of the Infernal Magazine, would be unworthy the public; to ...« less