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The effect of Rasselas, and of Johnson's other moral tales, is thus beautifully illustrated by Mr. Courtenay in his Poetical Review.'

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 effus'd illumes and smooths the deep,
When round the bark the swelling surges sweep.

As a political writer, his productions are more distinguished by a subtlety of disquisition, poignancy of satire and energy of style, than by truth, equity or candour. In perusing his representation of those who differed from him in political subjects, we are sometimes inclined to assent to a proposition of his own, that there is no credit due to a rhetorician's account, either of good or evil. Many positions are laid down in admirable language, and in highly polished periods, which are inconsistent with the British constitution, and repugnant to the common rights of mankind. In apology for him, it may be admitted, that he was attached to Tory principles, and that most of what he wrote on political subjects was conformable to his real sentiments. Mr. Murphy observes that Johnson's political pamphlets, whatever was his motive for writing them, whether gratitude for his pension, or the solicitation of men in power, did not support the cause for which they were undertaken. They are written in a style truly harmonious, and with his usual dignity of language. When it is said that he advanced positions repugnant to the common rights of mankind, the violence of party may be suspected. It is perhaps true, that in the clamour

raised throughout the kingdom, Johnson overheated his mind; but he was a friend to the rights of man, and he was greatly superior to the littleness of spirit that might induce him to advance what he did not think and firmly believe.'

The style of Johnson's prosaic writings has been censured, applauded, and imitated to extremes equally dangerous to the purity of the English language. He has no doubt innovated upon our language by his adoption of Latin derivatives; but the danger from his innovation would be trifling, if those alone would copy him who can think with equal precision; for few passages can be pointed out from his works, in which his meaning could be accurately expressed by such words as are in more familiar use. His com

prehension of mind was the mould for his language. Had his comprehension been narrower, his expression would have been easier. And it is to be remembered that while he has added harmony and dignity to our language, he has neither violated it by the insertion of foreign idioms, nor the affectation of anomaly in the construction of his sentences; upon the whole it is certain that his example has given a general elevation to the language of his country, for some of our best writers have approached very near to him. This circumstance is well described by Mr. Courtenay in his Poetical Review,' in the following lines.

'By nature's gifts ordain'd mankind to rule,
He has like Titian form'd his brilliant school,
And taught congenial spirits to excel,
While from his lips impressive wisdom fell.'

E

As a poet, the merit of Johnson, though considera. able, yet falls short of that which he has displayed in in those provinces of literature in which we have already surveyed him. Ratiocination prevailed in Johnson more than sensibility. He has no daring sublimities nor gentle graces, he never glows with the fire of enthusiasm, or kindles a smpathetic emotion in the bosoms of his readers. His poems are the plain and sensible effusions of a mind never hurried beyond itself, to which the use of rhyme adds no beauty, and from which the use of prose would detract no force. His versification is smooth, flowing, and unrestrained, but his pauses are not sufficiently varied to rescue him from the imputation of monotony. He seems never at a loss for rhyme, or destitute of a proper expression; and the manner of his verse appears admirably adapted to didactic or satiric poetry, for which his powers were equally and perhaps alone qualified.

Mr. Murphy, in his estimate of the literary character of Johnson, observes that his English poetry is such as leaves room to think if he devoted himself to the muses, that he would have been the rival of Pope. His first production of this kind was London, a poem in imitation of the third satire of Juvenal. The vices of the metropolis are placed in the room of ancient manners. The author has heated his mind with the ardour of Juvenal, and having the skill to polish his numbers, he became a sharp accuser of the times. The Vanity of Human Wishes, is an imitation of the tenth satire of the same author. Though it is translated by Dryden, Johnson's imitation approaches nearest to the original.

It is generally admitted, that of Johnson's poetical compositions, the imitations of Juvenal are the best;

they are perhaps the noblest imitations to be found in any language. It has been remarked with nice discrimination, that if Johnson's imitations of Juvenal are not so close as those done by Pope from Horace; they are infinitely more spirited and energetic. In Pope the most peculiar images of Roman Life are adapted with singular address to our own times. In Johnson, the similitude is only in general passages, suitable to every age, in which refinement has degenerated into depravity.

For the characters which Juvenal has chosen to illustrate his doctrine, Johnson has substituted others from modern history: for Sejanus he gives Cardinal Wolsey, and Buckingham, stabbed by Felton, for Demosthenes and Cicero, Lidiat, Galileo, and Laud; for Hannibal, Charles XII. of Sweden; and to shew the consequences of long life, he says,

From Marlb'rough's eyes the streams of dotage flow,

And Swift expires a driv❜ller and a show.'/

He has preserved all the beauties of the original moral of the Roman poet, but stripped it with infinite art, from all appearance of Epicurean infidelity, and filled it with precepts worthy a philosopher, and wishes becoming a Chrisian.

The diction of his tragedy of Irene is nervous, rich, and elegant; but splendid language and melodious numbers will make a fine poem, not a tragedy. There is not throughout the play, a single situation to excite curiosity, or raise a conflict of the passions. The sentiments are just and always moral, but seldom appropriated to the character, and generally too philosophic. Irene may be added to some other plays in our language, which have lost their place in

the theatre, but continue to please in the closet. Mr. Murphy very pertinently observes that what Johnson has said of the tragedy of Cato may be applied to Irene. 'It is rather a poem in dialogue than a drama; rather a succession of just sentiments in elegant language, than a representation of natural affections. Nothing excites or assuages emotion. The events are expected without solicitude, and remembered without joy or sorrow. Of the agents we have no care, we consider not what they are doing, nor what they are suffering; we wish only to know what they have to say. It is unaffecting elegance and chill philosophy.' The prologue, Mr. Murphy says, is written with elegance, and in a peculiar strain shews the literary pride and lofty spirit of the author.

The faults and foibles of Johnson, whatever they were, are now descended with him to the grave, but his virtues should be the object of our imitation. His works, with all their defects, are a most valuable and important accession to the literature of England. His political writings will probably be little read on any other account than for the dignity and energy of his style; but his Dictionary, his moral essays, and his productions in polite literature, will convey useful instruction, and elegant entertainment, as long as the language in which they are written shall be understood, and give him a just claim to a distinguished rank among the best and ablest writers that England has produced.

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