...A daring pilot in extremity; Pleas'd with the danger when the wave went high, He sought the ttorm ; but for a calm unfit, Would steer too nigh the sands to boast his wit." After the fall of Clarendon, who, though not untainted by sordid vices, was too good a man for his...

...pretend to deny that there may be some foundation for Dryden's celebrated dictum — ' Great wit is sure to madness near allied, And thin partitions do their bounds divide ;' and we shall by and by have occasion to touch on that interesting subject ; here we are only observing...

...expression of passion more dangerous than thai of* clamour and confusion, bringing up iho rear. Ho sought the storms ; but, for a calm unfit, Would steer too nigh the sands to boast his wit. Great wits arc sure to madness near allied, And thin partitions do their bounds divide ; Else why should he, with...

...up the rear. He sought the storms ; hut, for a calm unfit, Would steer too nigh the sands to hoast his wit. Great wits are sure to madness near allied, And thin partitions do their hounds divide ; Else why should he, with wealth and honour hlest, Refuse his age tho needful hours...

...not wonderful, that in beholding the general infatuation, he, too, should become beside himself. " Great wits are, sure, to madness near allied, And thin partitions do their bounds divide,'* Ratllbun— his fall. His own schemes of ambition were boundless, and, besides, he had the visionary...

...'great wits to madness near allied.' And again— Pleased with the danger when the waves went high, He sought the storms; but, for a calm unfit, Would steer too nigh the sauds to boast his wit.'* 'A daring pilot in extremity, The dates of the two poems will, we think,...

...that in beholding the general infatuation, he, too, should become beside himself. " Great wits arc, sure, to madness near allied, And thin partitions do their bounds divide," Rathbun — his fall. His own schemes of ambition were boundless, and, besides, he had the visionary...

...the tenement of clay. A daring pilot in extremity ; Pleased with the danger when the waves went high, He sought the storms ; but, for a calm unfit, Would steer too rrigh the sands to boast his wit. Great wits are sure to madness near allied, And thin partitions do...

...again— " A daring pilot in extremity, Pleased with the danger when the waves went high, He'sought the storms; but for a calm unfit, • Would steer too nigh the sands to boast his wit."* * It has never, we believe, been remarked, that two of the most striking lines in the description of...

...intellect are not only unimpaired, but frequently of the highest and brightest order. ' Great wit is sure to madness near allied, And thin partitions do their bounds divide.' So sang Dryden ; and a long list of illustrious eccentrics might be produced to support his theory....