E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Ras’selas.
Prince of Abyssinia, in Dr. Johnson’s romance so called.
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“‘Rasselas’ is a mass of sense, and its moral precepts are certainly conveyed in striking and happy language. The mad astronomer who imagined that he possessed the regulation of the weather and the distribution of the seasons, is an original character in romance; and the happy valley in which Rasselas resides is sketched with poetical feeling.”—Young.
