From July 1741 to March 1744, Samuel Johnson composed speeches based on the actual debates in Parliament for publication in the Gentleman's Magazine. Because it was then illegal to print any account of parliamentary activities, the magazine published Johnson's contributions as the rather thinly disguised "Debates in the Senate of Magna Lilliputia." These three volumes present Johnson's entire debate project with accompanying critical notes and, for the first time, retain his original Lilliputian terminology.
From July 1741 to March 1744, Samuel Johnson composed speeches based on the actual debates in Parliament for publication in the Gentleman's Maga...
The plot is simple in the extreme. Rasselas, son of the King of Abyssinia, is shut up in a beautiful valley, "till the order of succession should call him to the throne." He grows weary of the factitious entertainments of the place, and after much brooding escapes with his sister Nekayah, her attendant Pekuah and his poet-friend Imlac. They are to see the world and search for happiness, but after some sojourn in Egypt, where they frequent various classes of society and undergo a few mild adventures, they perceive the futility of their search and abruptly return to Abyssinia.
The plot is simple in the extreme. Rasselas, son of the King of Abyssinia, is shut up in a beautiful valley, "till the order of succession should call...