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The bounds of knowledge marks, and points the
To pathless wastes, where wilder'd sages stray;
Where, like a farthing link-boy, Jenyns stands,
And the dim torch drops from his feeble hands.

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Impressive truth, in splendid fiction drest',
Checks the vain wish, and calms the troubled breast;
O'er the dark mind a light celestial throws,
And soothes the angry passions to repose:
As oil effused illumes and smooths the deep,
When round the bark the swelling surges sweep.—
With various stores of erudition fraught,

The lively image, the deep-searching thought,
Slept in repose ;-but when the moment press'd,
The bright ideas stood at once confess'd3;
Instant his genius sped its vigorous rays,
And o'er the letter'd world diffused a blaze:
As womb'd with fire the cloud electrick flies,
And calmly o'er the horizon seems to rise;
Touch'd by the pointed steel, the lightning flows,
And all the expanse with rich effulgence glows.
Soft-eyed compassion with a look benign,
His fervent vows he offer'd at thy shrine;
To guilt, to woe, the sacred debt was paid*,
And helpless females bless'd his pious aid;

See that sublime and beautiful tale, "The Prince of Abyssinia," and "Th Rambler," No. 65, 204, &c. &c.—COURTENAY.

2 "The world is disposed to call this a discovery of Dr. Franklin's (from his pa inserted in the "Philosophical Transactions,") but in this they are much mistake Pliny, Plutarch, and other naturalists were acquainted with it.-“Ea natura est ut lucem afferat, ac tranquillat omnia, etiam mare, quo non aliud elementum in cabilius." Memoirs of the Society of Manchester.-COURTENAY.

3 Dr. Johnson's extraordinary facility of composition is well known from many cumstances. He wrote forty pages of the "Life of Savage" in one night. He ar posed seventy lines of his "Imitation of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal," and wrote the down from memory, without altering a word. In the prologue on opening Drury. theatre, he changed but one word, and that in compliment to Mr. Garrick. Some his "Ramblers" were written while the printer's messenger was waiting to carry copy to the press. Many of the "Idlers" were written at Oxford; Dr. Johnson c began his task only just in time not to miss the post, and sent away the reading it over.-COURTENAY.

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paper 4 The dignified and affecting letter written by him to the king in the name of Dodd, after his condemnation, is justly and, I believe, universally admired. His nevolence, indeed, was uniform and unbounded. I have been assured, that he often been so much affected by the sight of several unfortunate women, whom he seen almost perishing in the streets, that he has taken them to his own house; them attended with care and tenderness; and, on their recovery, clothed, and pise them in a way of life to earn their bread by honest industry.-COURTENAY. ante, vol. v. p. 219. Such a circumstance may have happened once, but it is abs to represent it as habitual as Mr. Courtenay has done. Dr. Johnson's house pe was without the superintendence of a respectable lady, who, of course, would not har tolerated any frequent practice of such irregular charity.-ED.]

Snatch'd from disease, and want's abandon'd crew,
Despair and anguish from their victims flew :
Hope's soothing balm into their bosoms stole,
And tears of penitence restored the soul.

But hark, he sings! the strain even Pope admires;
Indignant Virtue her own bard inspires;
Sublime as Juvenal, he pours his lays ',
And with the Roman shares congenial praise :-
In glowing numbers now he fires the age,
And Shakspeare's sun relumes the clouded stage.
So full his mind with images was fraught,

The rapid strains scarce claim'd a second thought;
And with like ease his vivid lines assume
The garb and dignity of ancient Rome.-
Let college versemen flat conceits express,
Trick'd out in splendid shreds of Virgil's dress;
From playful Ovid cull the tinsel phrase,
And vapid notions hitch in pilfer'd lays;
Then with mosaick art the piece combine,
And boast the glitter of each dulcet line:
Johnson adventured boldly to transfuse
His vigorous sense into the Latian muse;
Aspired to shine by unreflected light,

And with a Roman's ardour think and write.
He felt the tuneful Nine his breast inspire,
And, like a master, waked the soothing 3 lyre:
Horatian strains a grateful heart proclaim,

While Sky's wild rocks resound his Thralia's name.—
Hesperia's plant, in some less skilful hands,
To bloom a while, factitious heat demands;
Though glowing Maro a faint warmth supplies,
The sickly blossom in the hot-house dies:
By Johnson's genial culture, art, and toil,
Its root strikes deep, and owns the fostering soil;
Imbibes our sun through all its swelling veins,
And grows a native of Britannia's plains.

"London," a Satire, and "The Vanity of Human Wishes," are both imitated om Juvenal. On the publication of "London" in 1738, Mr. Pope was so much ruck by it, that he desired Mr. Dodsley, his bookseller, to find out the author. odsley having sought him in vain for some time, Mr. Pope said he would very soon deterré. Afterwards Mr. Richardson, the painter, found out Mr. Johnson, and Mr. ope recommended him to Lord Gower.-COURTENAY.

See the prologue spoken by Mr. Garrick in 1747, on the opening of Drury-lane eatre. COURTENAY.

3 Inter ignota strepitus loquela." Ode to Mrs. Thrale.-COURTENAY. [See nte, vol. ii. p. 388.-ED.]

How few distinguish'd of the studious train
At the gay board their empire can maintain !
In their own books intomb'd their wisdom lies;
Too dull for talk, their slow conceptions rise:
Yet the mute author, of his writings proud,
For wit unshown claims homage from the crowd;
As thread-bare misers, by mean avarice school'd,
Expect obeisance from their hidden gold.—
In converse quick, impetuous Johnson press'd
His weighty logick, or sarcastick jest:
Strong in the chase, and nimble in the turns',
For victory still his fervid spirit burns ;
Subtle when wrong, invincible when right,
Arm'd at all points, and glorying in his might,
Gladiator-like, he traverses the field,

And strength and skill compel the foe to yield.--
Yet have I seen him, with a milder air,
Encircled by the witty and the fair,

Even in old age with placid mien rejoice
At beauty's smile, and beauty's flattering voice.-
With Reynolds' pencil, vivid, bold, and true,
So fervent Boswell gives him to our view.

In

every trait we see his mind expand;
The master rises by the pupil's hand;
We love the writer, praise his happy vein,
Graced with the naiveté of the sage Montaigne.
Hence not alone are brighter parts display'd,
But even the specks of character portray'd:
We see the Rambler with fastidious smile
Mark the lone tree, and note the heath-clad isle ;
But when the heroick tale of Flora charms 2,
Deck'd in a kilt, he wields a chieftain's arms:

The tuneful piper sounds a martial strain,

And Samuel sings, "The king shall have his ain:"
Two Georges in his loyal zeal are slurr'd3,

A gracious pension only saves the third !—

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"A good continued speech (says Bacon in his Essays') without a good speech of interlocution, shows slowness; and a good reply, or second speech, without a good settled speech, showeth shallowness and weakness. As we see in beasts, that those th are weakest in the course, are yet nimblest in their turn; as it is betwixt the greyhe and the hare." If this observation be just, Dr. Johnson is an exception to the ru for he was certainly as strong "in the course, as nimble in the turn;" as ready "reply," as in "C a settled speech."-COURTENAY. [See ante, vol. ii. p. 127. Lord St. Helens has since informed the editor, that his father, Mr. Fitzherbert, bai confirmed to him the account of Johnson's failure at the Society of Arts.-ED.] The celebrated Flora Macdonald. See Boswell's Tour.-COURTENAY. 3 See note 1, p. 450.-COURTENAY.

By nature's gifts ordain'd mankind to rule,
He, like a Titian, form'd his brilliant school;
And taught congenial spirits to excel,
While from his lips impressive wisdom fell.
Our boasted Goldsmith felt the sovereign sway;
To him we owe his sweet yet nervous lay.

To fame's proud cliff he bade our Raphael rise;
Hence Reynolds' pen with Reynolds' pencil vies.
With Johnson's flame melodious Burney glows',
While the grand strain in smoother cadence flows.
And thou, Malone, to critic learning dear,
Correct and elegant, refined, though clear,
By studying him, first form'd that classick taste,
Which high in Shakspeare's fane thy statue placed.
Near Johnson, Steevens stands, on scenick ground,
Acute, laborious, fertile, and profound.

Ingenious Hawkesworth to this school we owe,
And scarce the pupil from the tutor know.

2

Here early parts accomplish'd Jones sublimes,
And science blends with Asia's lofty rhymes:
Harmonious Jones! who in his splendid strains
Sings Camdeo's sports on Agra's flowery plains;
In Hindu fictions while we fondly trace
Love and the Muses, deck'd with Attick grace3.
Amid these names can Boswell be forgot,
Scarce by North Britons now esteem'd a Scot?
Who to the sage devoted from his youth,
Imbibed from him the sacred love of truth;
The keen research, the exercise of mind,
And that best art, the art to know mankind.—
Nor was his energy confined alone

To friends around his philosophick throne;
Its influence wide improved our letter'd isle,

And lucid vigour mark'd the general style:

As Nile's proud waves, swol'n from their oozy bed,
First o'er the neighbouring meads majestick spread ;

1 Dr. Burney's "History of Musick" is equally distinguished for elegance and perspicuity of style, and for scientific knowledge.-COURTENAY.

Sir William Jones produced that learned and ingenious work, "Poeseos Asiaticæ Commentarii," at a very early age.-COURTENAY.

3 "The Hindu God, to whom the following poem is addressed, appears evidently the same with the Grecian Eros and the Roman Cupido. His favourite place of resort is a large tract of country round Agra, and principally the plains of Matra, where Krishen also and the nine Gopia, who are clearly the Apollo and Muses of the Greeks, usually spend the night with music and dance." Preface to the Hymn to Camdeo, translated from the Hindu language into Persian, and re-translated by Sir William Jones. There can be little doubt, considering the antiquity and early civilization of Hindostan, that both the philosophy and beautiful mythology of the Greeks were drawn from that part of Asia.-COURTENAY.

Till gathering force, they more and more expand,
And with new virtue fertilize the land.

Thus sings the Muse, to Johnson's memory just,
And scatters praise and censure o'er his dust;
For through each checker'd scene a contrast ran,
Too sad a proof, how great, how weak is man!
Though o'er his passions conscience held the rein,
He shook at dismal phantoms of the brain:
A boundless faith that noble mind debased,
By piercing wit, energic reason graced :
A generous Briton', yet he seem'd to hope
For James's grandson, and for James's Pope *:
Though proudly splenetick, yet idly vain,
Accepted flattery, and dealt disdain.-
E'en shades like these, to brilliancy allied,
May comfort fools, and curb the sage's pride.
Yet learning's sons, who o'er his foibles mourn,
To latest time shall fondly view his urn;
And wondering praise, to human frailties blind,
Talents and virtues of the brightest kind;
Revere the man, with various knowledge stored,
Who science, arts, and life's whole scheme explored;
Who firmly scorn'd, when in a lowly state,
To flatter vice, or court the vain and great';
Whose heart still felt a sympathetick glow,
Prompt to relieve man's variegated woe;
Who even shared his talents with his friends';
By noble means who aim'd at noble ends ';

1 When Dr. Johnson repeated to Mr. Boswell Goldsmith's beautiful eulogium on the English nation, his eyes filled with tears. See the Dissertation on the Bravery of the English common Soldiers, at the end of the "Idler."--COURTENAY.

[This imputation is very unjust. Dr. Johnson never seemed to hope" for the restoration of papal authority or the advance of the Roman catholic religion, though he very naturally and properly respected the latter, as one of the great classes of christianity. ED.]

3 It is observable, that Dr. Johnson did not prefix a dedication to any one of his various works. COURTENAY. ["His character lifted him into so much consequence, that it occasioned several respectable writers to dedicate their works to him. This was to receive more reverence than he paid." Tyers. Gent. Mag. Feb. 1785, p. 86. ED.]

The papers in the "Adventurer," signed with the letter T, are commonly attri buted to one of Dr. Johnson's earliest and most intimate friends, Mr. Bathurst; but there is good reason to believe that they were written by Dr. Johnson, and given by him to his friend. At that time Dr. Johnson was himself engaged in writing the "Rambler," and could ill afford to make a present of his labours. The various other pieces that he gave away have bestowed fame, and probably fortune, on several persons. To the great disgrace of some of his clerical friends, forty sermons, which he himself tells us he wrote, have not yet been deterrés.-COURTENAY. [See on both the points alluded to in this note ante, vol. i. p. 211; vol. iv. p. 531; vol. i. p. 307; and vol. iv. pp. 32 and 170.-ED.]

5 "Who noble ends by noble means obtains."---Pore.

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