strongly, that, the moment they are read, they bring conviction to every thinking mind. That of the scholar' must have depressed the too sanguine expectations of many an ambitious student.2 That of the warrior, Charles of Sweden, is, I think, as highly finished a picture as can possibly be conceived.

Were all the other excellencies of this poem annihilated, it must ever have our grateful reverence from its noble conclusion; in which we are consoled with the assurance that happiness may be attained, if we "apply our hearts" to piety:

:

Still raise for good the supplicating voice,
But leave to Heaven the measure and the choice.
Safe in His hand, whose eye discerns afar
The secret ambush of a specious prayer;
Implore His aid, in His decisions rest,
Secure, whate'er He gives, He gives the best:
Yet when the sense of sacred presence fires,
And strong devotion to the skies aspires,
Pour forth thy fervours for a healthful mind,
Obedient passions, and a will resign'd;
For love, which scarce collective man can fill;
For patience, sovereign o'er transmuted ill;
For faith, which panting for a happier seat,
Counts death kind Nature's signal for retreat:

1 When Dr. Johnson, one day, read his own satire, in which the life of a scholar is painted, with the various obstructions thrown in his way to fortune and to fame, he burst into a passion of tears: Mr. Thrale's family and Mr. Scott only were present, who, in a jocose way, clapped him on the back, and said, "What's all this, my dear sir? Why you, and I, and Hercules, you know, were all troubled with melancholy." He was a very large man, and made out the triumvirate with Johnson and Hercules comically enough! — Piozzi. This was in allusion to the madness of Hercules on Mount Oeta. George Lewis Scott, F R.S., an amiable and learned man, formerly sub-preceptor to George the Third, and afterwards a Commissioner of Excise, whom it seems Johnson did not now reckon as "one of the lowest of all human beings." See antè, p. 5. n. 3.- CROKER.

2 In this poem one of the instances mentioned of unfortunate learned men is Lydiat:

"Hear Lydiat's life, and Galileo's end."

The history of Lydiat being little known, the following account of him may be acceptable to many of my readers. It appeared as a note in the Supplement to the Gentleman's Magazine for 1748, in which some passages extracted from Johnson's poem were inserted, and it should have been added in the subsequent editions:

"A very learned divine and mathematician, Fellow of New College, Oxon, and Rector of Okerton, near Banbury. He wrote, among many others, a Latin treatise De natura cæli, &c., in which he attacked the sentiments of Scaliger and Aristotle, not bearing to hear it urged, that some things are true in philosophy, and false in divinity. He made above 600 Sermons on the harmony of the Evangelists. Being unsuccessful in publishing his works, he lay in the prison of Bocardo, at Oxford, and in the King's Bench, till Bishop Usher, Dr. Laud, Sir William Boswell, and Dr. Pink, released him by paying his debts. He petitioned King Charles I. to be sent into Ethiopia, &c. to procure MSS. Having spoken in favour of monarchy and bishops, he was plundered by the parliament forces, and twice carried away prisoner from his rectory; and afterwards had not a shirt to shift

These goods for man the laws of Heaven ordain, These goods He grants, who grants the power to gain;

With these celestial wisdom calms the mind, And makes the happiness she does not find."3

Garrick being now vested with theatrical power by being manager of Drury Lane theatre, he kindly and generously made use of it to bring out Johnson's tragedy, which had been long kept back for want of encouragement. But in this benevolent purpose he met with no small difficulty from the temper of Johnson, which could not brook that a drama which he had formed with much study, and had been obliged to keep more than the nine years of Horace, should be revised and altered at the pleasure of an actor. Yet Garrick knew well, that without some alterations it would not be fit for the stage. A violent dispute having ensued between them, Garrick applied to the Reverend Dr. Taylor to interpose. Johnson was at first very obstinate. Sir," said he, "the fellow wants me to make Mahomet run mad, that he may have an opportunity of tossing his hands and kicking his heels." He was, however, at last, with difficulty, prevailed on to comply with Garrick's wishes, so as to allow of some changes; but still there were not enough.

66

Dr. Adams was present the first night of the representation of IRENE, and gave me the following account: "Before the curtain drew up, there were catcalls whistling, which alarmed Johnson's friends. The Prologue, which was written by himself in a manly strain, soothed the audience 5, and the play went off tolerably,

him in three months, without he borrowed it, and died very poor in 1646."--BOSWELL.

51.

In 1609 Lydiat accompanied Usher into Ireland, and obtained (probably by his interest) the office of chapel-reader in Trinity College, Dublin, at a salary of 31. 6s. 8d. per quarter he was resident there about two years: and in March, 1612, it appears that he had from the College, to furnish him for his journey to England." The remembrance of Lydiat was traditionally preserved in Dublth College; and I recollect to have heard, about 1796, that, in some ancient buildings, just then removed, Lydiat had resided — evidence, either that he had left a high reputation behind him, or, more probably, that Johnson's mention of him had revived the memory of his sojourn in that university.— CROKER.

3 In this poem, a line in which the danger attending on female beauty is mentioned, has very generally, I believe, been misunderstood:

"Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty spring, And Sedley curs'd the form that pleas'd a king."

The lady mentioned in the first of these verses, was not the celebrated Lady Vane, whose Memoirs were given to the public by Dr. Smollett, but Ann Vane, who was mistress to Frederick, Prince of Wales, and died in 1736, not long before Johnson settled in London. Some account of this lady was published, under the title of "The Secret History of Vanella, 8vo. 1732. See also, "Vanella in the Straw," 4:0. 1732. BOSWELL. See post, Aug. 17. 1773, some observations on these lines. - CROKER.

4 Mahomet was in fact played by Mr. Barry, and Demetrius by Mr. Garrick but probably at this time the parts were not yet cast. BOSWELL. Garrick originally intended to have played Mahomet, but yielded it to Barry to propitiate him in the author's favour. It was first acted on Monday the 6th of February, under the title of Mahomet and Irene.CROKER.

5 The expression used by Dr. Adams was "soothed." I should rather think the audience was awed by the extraordinary spirit and dignity of the following lines: -

1

till it came to the conclusion, when Mrs. Pritchard, the heroine of the piece, was to be strangled upon the stage, and was to speak two lines with the bowstring round her neck. The audience cried out 'Murder! murder!' She several times attempted to speak; but in vain. At last she was obliged to go off the stage alive." This passage was afterwards struck out, and she was carried off to be put to death behind the scenes, as the play now has it. The Epilogue, as Johnson informed me, was written by Sir William Yonge. I know not how his play came to be thus graced by the pen of a person then so eminent in the political world.3 Notwithstanding all the support of such performers as Garrick, Barry, Mrs. Cibber, Mrs. Pritchard, and every advantage of dress and decoration, the tragedy of Irene did not please the public.+ Mr. Garrick's zeal carried it through for nine nights, so that the author had his three nights' profit; and from a receipt signed by him, now in the hands of Mr. James Dodsley, it appears that his friend, Mr. Robert Dodsley, gave him one hundred pounds for the copy, with his usual reservation of the right of one edition.5

IRENE, considered as a poem, is entitled to the praise of superior excellence. Analysed into parts, it will furnish a rich store of noble sentiments, fine imagery, and beautiful language; but it is deficient in pathos, in that delicate power of touching the human feelings, which is the principal end of the drama.6 Indeed, Garrick has complained to me, that John

"Be this at least his praise, be this his pride,
To force applause no modern arts are tried:
Should partial catcalls all his hopes confound,
He bids no trumpet quell the fatal sound;
Should welcome sleep relieve the weary wit,
He rolls no thunders o'er the drowsy pit:
No snares to captivate the judgment spreads,
Nor bribes your eyes, to prejudice your heads.
Unmov'd, though witlings sneer and rivals rail,
Studious to please, yet not asham'd to fail,
He scorns the meek address, the suppliant strain,
With merit needless, and without it vain;
In Reason, Nature, Truth, he dares to trust:
Ye fops, be silent, and ye wits, be just!"- Boswell.

1 This shows how ready modern audiences are to condemn in a new play what they have frequently endured very quietly in an old one. Rowe has made Moneses, in TamerLane, die by the bowstring, without offence. MALONE. Davies tells us, in his "Life of Garrick," vol. i. p. 128., that the strangling Irene, contrary to Horace's rule, coram populo, was suggested by Garrick. - CROKER.

* Dr. Anderson says in his Life, that "Mr. Boswell ascribes this epilogue to Sir W. Yonge on no good foundation:" yet Mr. Boswell, who in his first edition had simply stated the fact, added in the second, "as Johnson informed me." Mr. Murphy too asserts (Life, p. 154.), that the epilogue was always supposed to be Johnson's, and that Mr. Boswell's account is a "new discovery, and by no means probable ;" and he adds, that "it were to be wished that the epilogue could be transferred to any other writer, it being the worst jeu d'esprit which ever fell from Johnson's pen.' John Taylor also informed me that Murphy subsequently repeated to him that Johnson was the author of the epilogue. The first fourteen lines certainly deserve Murphy's censure, and could hardly have been written by the pen of Johnson; but the last ten lines are much better, and it may be suspected that these Johnson added to or altered from the original copy.-CROKER.

Mr.

The Right Honourable Sir William Yonge, Secretary at War, in Sir Robert Walpole's administration, and a distinguished parliamentary Speaker. He was the father of Sir George Yonge, who was Secretary at War under Mr. Pitt. Johnson must, before this, have had some communication with Sir W. Yonge, who told him that great should be pro

son not only had not the faculty of producing the impressions of tragedy, but that he had not the sensibility to perceive them. His great friend Mr. Walmesley's prediction, that he would "turn out a fine tragedy writer," was, therefore, ill-founded. Johnson was wise enough to be convinced that he had not the talents necessary to write successfully for the stage, and never made another attempt in that species of composition.

When asked how he felt upon the ill success of his tragedy, he replied, "Like the Monument;" meaning that he continued firm and unmoved as that column. And let it be remembered, as an admonition to the genus irritabile of dramatic writers, that this great man, instead of previously complaining of the bad taste of the town, submitted to its decision without a murmur. He had, indeed, upon all occasions, a great deference for the general opinion: "A man," said he, "who writes a book, thinks himself wiser or wittier than the rest of mankind; he supposes that he can instruct or amuse them, and the public to whom he appeals must, after all, be the judges of his pretensions."

On occasion of this play being brought upon the stage, Johnson had a fancy that, as a dramatic author, his dress should be more gay than what he ordinarily wore: he therefore appeared behind the scenes, and even in one of the side boxes, in a scarlet waistcoat, with rich gold lace, and a gold-laced hat. He humorously observed to Mr. Langton, "that

nounced so as to rhyme with seat, while Lord Chesterfield thought it should rhyme to state. (See antè, p. 57. n. 1, and post, 27th March, 1772.) - CROKER.

4 I know not what Sir John Hawkins means by the cold reception of Irene. I was at the first representation, and most of the subsequent. It was much applauded the first night, particularly the speech on to-morrow. It ran nine nights at least. It did not, indeed, become a stock-play; but there was not the least opposition during the representation, except the first night, in the last act, where Irene was to be strangled on the stage, which John [Bull] could not bear, though a dramatic poet may stab or slay by hundreds. The bowstring was not a Christian nor an ancient Greek or Roman death. But this offence was removed after the first night, and Irene went off the stage to be strangled. Many stories were circulated at the time, of the author's being observed at the representation to be dissatisfied with some of the speeches and conduct of the play, himself; and, like La Fontaine, expressing his disapprobation aloud. - BURNEY.-That the reception was cold is generally admitted, but by Garrick's zeal it was played oftener than stated by Boswell or even Burney, who, however, says guardedly, nights at least." It seems to have been acted from Monday, 6th February, to Monday, 20th February, inclusive. Gent. Mag., 1749, p. 76. Account of English Stage, vol. iv. p. 266. -CROKER.

"nine

5 Mr. Murphy supposed that the amount of the three benefit nights was not very considerable, as the profit, that stimulating motive, never invited the author to another dramatic attempt. But it appears, by a MS. note, in Mr. Isaac Reed's copy of Murphy's Life, that the receipts of the third, sixth, and ninth nights, after deducting sixty guineas a night for the expenses of the house, amounted to 1957. 17s.: Johnson cleared, therefore, with the copyright, very nearly 300Z. -a large sum to him at that time. CROKER.

Aaron Hill (vol. ii. p 355.), in a letter to Mr. Mallet, gives the following account of" Irene: "-"I was at the anomalous Mr. Johnson's benefit, and found the play his proper representative; strong sense, ungraced by sweetness or decorum."- BOSWELL.

7 Or, if the anecdote be true, perhaps more modestly, that he felt no more than the Monument could feel; but it may be presumed, from the number of nights it ran and the sum it produced, that Johnson was far from thinking that his tragedy had failed; and in truth it had not.— CROKER.

when in that dress he could not treat people with the same ease as when in his usual plain clothes." Dress, indeed, we must allow, has more effect, even upon strong minds, than one should suppose, without having had the experience of it. His necessary attendance while his play was in rehearsal, and during its performance, brought him acquainted with many of the performers of both sexes, which produced a more favourable opinion of their profession, than he had harshly expressed in his Life of Savage. With some of them he kept up an acquaintance as long as he and they lived, and was ever ready to show them acts of kindness. He, for a considerable time, used to frequent the Green-Room, and seemed to take delight in dissipating his gloom, by mixing in the sprightly chit-chat of the motley circle then to be found there. Mr. David Hume related to me from Mr. Garrick, that Johnson at last denied himself this amusement, from considerations of rigid virtue; saying, "I'll come no more behind your scenes, David; for the silk stockings and white bosoms of your actresses excite my amorous propensities."

[JOHNSON TO MISS PORTER."

"Goff Square, July 12. 1749.

"DEAR MISS, — I am extremely obliged to you for your letter, which I would have answered last post, but that illness prevented me. I have been often out of order of late, and have very much neglected my affairs. You have acted very prudently with regard to Levett's affairs, which will, I think, not at all embarrass me, for you may promise him, that the mortgage shall be taken up at Michaelmas, or, at least, some time between that and Christmas; and if he requires to have it done sooner, I will endeavour it. I make no doubt, by that time, of either doing it myself, or persuading some of my friends to do it for me.

"Please to acquaint him with it, and let me know if he be satisfied. When he once called on me, his name was mistaken, and therefore I did not see him; but, finding the mistake, wrote to him the same day, but never heard more of him, though I entreated him to let me know where to wait on him. You frighted me, you little gipsy, with your black wafer, for I had forgot you were in mourning, and was afraid your letter had brought me ill news of my mother, whose death is one of the few calamities on which I think with terror. I long to know how she does, and how you all do. Your poor mamma is come home, but very weak; yet I hope she will grow better, else she shall go into the country. She is now up stairs,

The

IN 1750 Johnson came forth in the character for which he was eminently qualified, a majestic teacher of moral and religious wisdom. The vehicle which he chose was that of a periodical paper, which he knew had been, upon former occasions, employed with great success. Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian, were the last of the kind published in England, which had stood the test of a long trial; and such an interval had now elapsed since their publication, as made him justly think that, to many of his readers, this form of instruction would, in some degree, have the advantage of novelty. A few days before the first of his Essays came out, there started another competitor for fame in the same form, under the title of "The Tatler Revived,” which, I believe, was "born but to die." Johnson was, I think, not very happy in the choice of his title, "The Rambler;' which certainly is not suited to a series of grave and moral discourses; which the Italians have literally, but ludicrously, translated by Il Vagabondo; and which has been lately assumed as the denomination of a vehicle of licentious tales, "The Rambler's Magazine." He gave Sir Joshua Reynolds the following account of its getting this name: "What must be done, sir, will be done. When I was to begin publishing that paper, I was at a loss how to name it. I sat down at night upon my bedside, and resolved that I would not go to sleep till I had fixed its title. The Rambler seemed the best that occurred, and I took it."4

Robert Dodsley's with the late Mr. Moore, and several of his friends, considering what should be the name of the periodical paper which Moore had undertaken. Garrick proposed the Salad, which, by a curious coincidence, was afterwards applied to himself by Goldsmith:

"Our Garrick's a salad, for in him we see
Oil, vinegar, sugar, and saltness agree!"

At last, the company having separated, without any thing of which they approved having been offered, Dodsley himself thought of The World. - BosWELL.

without whose help all labour is ineffectual, and without whose grace all wisdom is folly: grant, I beseech Thee, that in this undertaking thy Holy Spirit may not be withheld from me, but that I may promote thy glory, and the salvation [both] of myself and others: grant this, O Lord, for the sake of thy Son, JESUS CHRIST. Amen." (Pr. and Med. p. 9.)

The first paper of the Rambler was published on Tuesday the 20th of March, 1749-50; and its author was enabled to continue it, without interruption, every Tuesday and Saturday, till Saturday the 17th of March, 1752, on which day it closed. This is a strong confirmation of the truth of a remark of his, which I have had occasion to quote elsewhere [Aug. 16. 1773], that a man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it;" for, notwithstanding his constitutional indolence, his depression of spirits, and his labour in carrying on his Dictionary, he answered the stated calls of the press twice a week from the stores of his mind during all that time; having received no assistance, except four billets in No. 10., by Miss Mulso, now Mrs. Chapone; No. 30., by Mrs. Catherine Talbot; No. 97., by Mr. Samuel Richardson, whom he describes in an introductory note, as "an author who has enlarged the knowledge of human nature, and taught the passions to move at the command of virtue;"2 and Numbers 44. and 100., by Mrs. Elizabeth Carter.3

Posterity will be astonished when they are told, upon the authority of Johnson himself, that many of these discourses, which we should suppose had been laboured with all the slow attention of literary leisure, were written in haste as the moment pressed, without even being read over by him before they were printed. It can be accounted for only in this way; that, by reading and meditation, and a very close inspection of life, he had accumulated a great fund of miscellaneous knowledge, which, by a peculiar promptitude of mind, was ever ready at his call, and which he had constantly accus

This was a misdate of the original paper. Saturday was the 14th March, the real date of the last Rambler. This circumstance, though at first sight of very little importance, is worth notice, for Mrs. Johnson died on the 17th, [Old Style, ie. 28th, N. S.]- MALONE.

2 Lady Bradshaigh, one of Mr. Richardson's female sycophants, thus addresses him on the subject of this letter:-"A few days ago I was pleased with hearing a very sensible lady greatly pleased with the Rambler, No. 97. She happened to be in town when it was published; and I asked if she knew who was the author? She said, it was supposed to be one who was concerned in the Spectators, it being much better written than any of the Ramblers. I wanted to say who was really the author, but durst not without your permission."— Rich. Cor., vol. vi. p. 108. It was probably on some such authority that Mr. Payne told Mr. Chalmers (Brit. Ess. vol. xix. p. 14.), that No. 97. was "the only paper which had a prosperous sale, and was popular." The flatteries which Richardson's coterie lavished on him and all his works were quite extravagant: the paper is rather a poor one. CROKER.

3 Mrs. Piozzi says, "the papers contributed by Mrs. Carter had much of Johnson's esteem, though he always blamed me for preferring the letter signed Chariessa (No. 100.) to the allegory (No. 45.) where religion and superstition are, indeed, most masterly delineated." adds that, "the fine Rambler on Procrastination [No. 134.] was hastily composed in Sir Joshua Reynolds's parlour, while

She

tomed himself to clothe in the most apt and energetic expression. Sir Joshua Reynolds once asked him, by what means he had attained his extraordinary accuracy and flow of language. He told him, that he had early laid it down as a fixed rule to do his best on every occasion, and in every company to impart whatever he knew in the most forcible language he could put it in; and that by constant practice, and never suffering any careless expression to escape him, or attempting to deliver his thoughts without arranging them in the clearest manner, it became habitual to him.+

Yet, he was not altogether unprepared as a periodical writer: for I have in my possession a small duodecimo volume, in which he has written, in the form of Mr. Locke's CommonPlace Book, a variety of hints for essays on different subjects. He has marked upon the first blank leaf of it, "To the 128th page, collections for the RAMBLER;" and in another place, "In fifty-two there were seventeen provided; in 97-21; in 190-25." At a subsequent period (probably after the work was finished) he added, "In all, taken of provided materials, 30."5

Sir John Hawkins, who is unlucky upon all occasions, tells us, that "this method of accumulating intelligence had been practised by Mr. Addison, and is humorously described in one of the Spectators [No. 46.], wherein he feigns to have dropped his paper of notanda, consisting of a diverting medley of broken sentences and loose hints, which he tells us he had collected, and meant to make use of. Much of the same kind is Johnson's Adversaria."6 But the truth is, that there is no resemblance at all between them. Addison's note was a fiction, in which unconnected fragments of his lucubrations were purposely jumbled together, in as odd a manner as he could, in order to produce a laughable effect: whereas, Johnson's abbreviations are all distinct, and applicable to each subject of which the head is

mentioned.

the boy waited to carry it to the press, and numberless are the instances of his writing under the immediate pressure of importunity or distress." But this must be a mistake; Johnson and Reynolds were not acquainted till after the conclusion of the Rambler. (See post, p.79. n. 2.) It may have been some paper in the Idler. - CROKER.

4 The rule which Dr. Johnson observed is sanctioned by the authority of two great writers of antiquity: "Ne id quidem tacendum est, quod eidem Ciceroni placet, nullum nostrum usquam negligentem esse sermonem: quicquid loquemur, ubicunque, sit pro sua scilicet, portione perfectum.” Quinctil. x. 7.-MALONE. We know that Johnson most elaborately revised and extensively corrected the Rambler when he collected them into volumes; but this does not disprove Mr. Boswell's account of the celerity and ease with which they were originally written. - CROKER.

5 This, no doubt, means that, of the first 52 Ramblers, 17 had been prepared, and so on, till, at the completion of the whole 208 numbers, he found that only 30 had been formed of materials previously provided. CROKER.

6 In this instance Mr. Boswell is more unlucky than Hawkins, whose account is by no means incorrect. He knew very well, and distinctly states, that Addison's published " Notanda" were a mere pleasantry, consisting of topics drolly selected and arranged; but he infers, rationally enough, that Addison had taken the idea from his own real practice of collecting notanda; and he is quite justified in adding, “much of the same kind are Johnson's Adversaria."- CROKER.

men:

Youth's Entry, &c.

"Baxter's account of things in which he had changed his mind as he grew up. Voluminous.No wonder. If every man was to tell, or mark, on how many subjects he has changed, it would make vols. but the changes not always observed by From pleasure to bus. [business] to quiet; from thoughtfulness to reflect. to piety; from dissipation to domestic. by impercept. gradat. but the change is certain. Dial non progredi, progress. esse conspicimus. Look back, consider what was thought at some dist. period.

man's self.

Hope predom. in youth. Mind not willingly indulges unpleasing thoughts. The world lies all enamelled before him, as a distant prospect sungilt; inequalities only found by coming to it. Love is to be all joy—children excellent Fame to be constant caresses of the great-applauses of the learned - smiles of Beauty.

"Fear of disgrace · Bashfulness Finds things of less importance. Miscarriages forgot like excellencies; if remembered, of no import. Danger of sinking into negligence of reputation; - lest the fear of disgrace destroy activity.

Confidence in himself. Long tract of life before No thought of sickness. of affairs. Distraction of family. Public calaNo sense of the prevalence of bad habits. Negligent of time ready to undertake careless to pursue all changed by time.

mities.

"Confident of others unsuspecting as unexperienced-imagining himself secure against neglect, never imagines they will venture to treat him ill.

Ready to trust; expecting to be trusted. Convinced by time of the selfishness, the meanness, the cowardice, the treachery of men.

"Youth ambitious, as thinking honours easy to be had.

“Different kinds of praise pursued at different periods. Of the gay in youth. dang hurt, &c. despised.

"Of the fancy in manhood. Ambit. - stocks - bargains. Of the wise and sober in old age. seriousness-formality-maxims, but general only of the rich, otherwise age is happy — but at last every thing referred to riches -no having fame, honour, influence, without subjection to caprice.

"Horace.

His remarks just ;-man a social, not steady nature. Drawn to man by words, repelled by passions. Orb drawn by attraction, rep. [repelled] by centrifugal.

"Common danger unites by crushing other passions- but they return. Equality hinders compliance. Superiority produces insolence and envy. Too much regard in each to private interest; too little.

"The mischiefs of private and exclusive societies The fitness of social attraction diffused through the whole. The mischiefs of too partial love of our country. Contraction of moral duties. - oi piλo, ou piλos.

Of confederacy with superiors every one knows the inconvenience. With equals, no authority;— every man his own opinion-his own interest. Man and wife hardly united; -scarce ever without children. Computation, if two to one against two, how many against five? If confederacies were easy- useless;—many oppresses many. If possible only to some, dangerous. Principum amicitias."

Here we see the embryo of Number 45. of the Adventurer; and it is a confirmation of what I shall presently have occasion to mention, that the papers in that collection marked T. were written by Johnson.

essays

This scanty preparation of materials will not, however, much diminish our wonder at the extraordinary fertility of his mind; for the proportion which they bear to the number of which he wrote, is very small; and it is remarkable, that those for which he had made no preparation, are as rich and as highly finished, as those for which the hints were lying by him. It is also to be observed, that the papers formed from his hints are worked up with such strength and elegance, that we almost lose sight of the hints, which become like "drops in the bucket." Indeed, in several instances, he has made a very slender use of them, so that many of them remain still

age to

1 This most beautiful image of the enchanting delusion of youthful prospect has not been used in any of Johnson's essays. BOSWELL.

2 Lib. xii. 96. "In Tuccam æmulum omnium suorum studiorum."- MALONE.

3 Sir John Hawkins has selected from this little collection of materials, what he calls the "Rudiments of two of the papers of the Rambler." But he has not been able to read the manuscript distinctly. Thus he writes, p. 266, "Sailor's fate any mansion; " whereas the original is," Sailor's life my

aversion." He has also transcribed the unappropriated hints on Writers for bread, in which he decyphers these notable passages, one in Latin, fatui non fame, instead of fumi non fama; Johnson having in his mind what Thuanus says of the learned German antiquary and linguist, Xylander, who, he tells us, lived in such poverty, that he was supposed fami non fame scribere; and another in French, Degente de fatu et affamé d'argent, instead of Dégoûté de fame (an old word for renommée), et affamé d'argent. The manuscript, being written in an exceedingly small hand, is, indeed, very hard