ADVERTISEMENT. TWENTY years have elapsed since the death of Dr. Johnson, during which his character and talents have been scrutinized with a severity unprecedented in literary biography. There never, indeed, was a human being of whom more may be known by those who have had no opportunity of personal acquaintance, and perhaps never a man whose failings, after having been exposed by imprudence or exaggerated by malice, were sooner forgotten in the esteem excited by his superior talents, and steady virtues. Besides many impressions of his individual pieces, three large editions of his collected works have been bought up by the public, and a fourth, which has been loudly called for, is now completed. What Lord Chesterfield said of Swift, may be as truly applied to this author, "Whoever in the three kingdoms has any books at all, has Johnson." In this edition, I have taken the liberty to omit " Ce bes Table, or the Picture of Human Life." By what |