natural to every man of any imagination, who has no family sepulchre in which he can be laid with his fathers. Accordingly, upon Monday, December 20, his remains were deposited in that noble and renowned edifice and over his grave was placed a large blue flagstone with this inscription; 'SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. M. DCC. LXXXIV. Etatis suæ LXXV.' His funeral was attended by a respectable number of his friends, particularly such of the members of the Literary Club as were then in town; and was also honoured with the presence of several of the Reverend Chapter of Westminster. Mr. Burke, Sir Joseph Banks, Mr. Windham, Mr. Langton, Sir Charles Bunbury, and Mr. Coleman, bore his pall. His schoolfellow, Dr. Taylor, performed the mournful office of reading the burial service. I trust I shall not be accused of affectation, when I declare that I find myself unable to express all that I felt upon the loss of such a 'Guide, Philosopher, and Friend.' I shall, therefore, not say one 1 On the subject of Johnson I may adopt the words of Sir John Harrington, concerning his venerable tutor and diocesan, Dr. John Still, Bishop of Bath and Wells; 'who hath given me some helps, more hopes, all encouragements in my best studies: to whom I never came but I grew more religious: from whom I never went, but I parted better instructed. Of him therefore, my acquaintance, my friend, my instructor, if I speak much, it were not to be marvelled; if I speak frankly, it is not to be blamed; and though I speak partially, it were to be pardoned.'- Nugæ Antiquæ, vol. i. p. 136. There is one circumstance in Sir John's character of Bishop Still, which is peculiarly applicable to Johnson; 'He became so famous a disputer, that the learnedest were even afraid to dispute with him; and he finding his own strength, could not stick to warn them in their arguments to take 1 word of my own, but adopt those of an eminent friend, which he uttered with an abrupt felicity, superior to all studied compositions:-'He has made a chasm, which not only nothing can fill up, but which nothing has a tendency to fill up.-Johnson is dead. Let us go to the next best :-there is nobody; no man can be said to put you in mind of Johnson.' As Johnson had abundant homage paid to him during his life, so no writer in this nation ever had heed to their answers, like a perfect fencer that will tell aforehand in which button he will give the venue, or like a cunning chess-player that will appoint aforehand with which pawn and in what place he will give the mate.'-Ibid. 1 [The late Right Hon. William Gerard Hamilton, who had been intimately acquainted with Dr. Johnson near thirty years. He died in London, July 16, 1796, in his sixty-ninth or seventieth year.-M.] 2 Beside the Dedications to him by Dr. Goldsmith, the Reverend Dr. Franklin, and the Reverend Mr. Wilson, which I have mentioned according to their dates, there was one by a lady, of a versification of Aningait and Ajut, and one by the ingenious Mr. Walker, of his Rhetorical Grammar. I have introduced into this work several compliments paid to him in the writings of his contemporaries; but the number of them is so great, that we may fairly say that there was almost a general tribute. Let me not be forgetful of the honour done to him by Colonel Myddleton, of Gwaynynog, near Denbigh who, on the banks of a rivulet in his park, where Johnson delighted to stand and repeat verses, erected an urn with the following inscription: 'This spot was often dignified by the presence of Whose moral writings, exactly conformable to the precepts of Christianity, Gave ardour to Virtue and confidence to Truth.' As no inconsiderable circumstance of his fame, we must reckon the extraordinary zeal of the artists to extend and perpetuate his image. I can enumerate a bust by Mr. Nollekens, and the many casts which are made from it; several pictures by Sir Joshua Reynolds, from one of which, in the possession of the Duke of Dorset, Mr. Humphry executed a beautiful miniature in enamel; one by Mrs. Frances Rey. nolds, Sir Joshua's sister one by Mr. Zoffanij: and one by Mr. Opie; and the following engravings of his portrait: 1. One by Cooke, from Sir Joshua, for the Proprietors' edition of his folio Dictionary.-2. One from ditto, by ditto, for their quarto edition.-3. One from Opie, by Heath, for Harrison's edition of his Dictionary.-4. One from such an accumulation of literary honours after his death. A sermon upon that event was preached in St. Mary's Church, Oxford, before the University, by the Reverend Mr. Agutter, of Magdalen College. The Lives, the Memoirs, the Essays, both in prose and verse, which have been published concerning him, would make many volumes. The numerous attacks, too, upon him, I consider as part of his consequence, upon the principle which he himself so well knew and asserted. Many who trembled at his presence, were forward in assault, when they no longer apprehended danger. When one of his little pragmatical foes was Nollekens' bust of him, by Bartolozzi, for Fielding's quarto edition of his Dictionary.-5. One small, from Harding, by Trotter, for his Beauties.-6. One small, from Sir Joshua, by Trotter, for his Lives of the Poets.-7. One small, from Sir Joshua, by Hall, for the Rambler. -8. One small, from an original drawing, in the possession of Mr. John Simco, etched by Trotter, for another edition of his Lives of the Poets.-9. One small, no painter's name, etched by Taylor, for his Johnsoniana.-10. One folio whole-length, with his oak-stick, as described in Boswell's Tour, drawn and etched by Trotter.-11. One large mezzotinto, from Sir Joshua, by Doughty.-12. One large Roman head, from Sir Joshua, by Marchi.-13. One octavo, holding a book to his eye, from Sir Joshua, by Hall, for his works.-14. One small, from a drawing from the life, and engraved by Trotter, for his Life published by Kearsley.-15. One large, from Opie, by Mr. Townley (brother of Mr. Townley, of the Commons), an ingenious artist, who resided some time in Berlin, and has the honour of being engraver to his Majesty the King of Prussia. This is one of the finest mezzotintos that ever was executed; and what renders it of extraordinary value, the plate was destroyed after four or five impressions only were taken off. One of them is in the possession of Sir William Scott. Mr. Townley has lately been prevailed with to execute and publish another of the same, that it may be more generally circulated among the admirers of Dr. Johnson. -16. One large, from Sir Joshua's first picture of him, by Heath, for this work, in quarto.-17. One octavo, by Baker, for the octavo edition. -18. And one for Lavater's Essays on Physiognomy, in which Johnson's countenance is analysed upon the principles of that fanciful writer. There are also several seals with his head cut on them, particularly a very fine one by that eminent artist, Edward Burch, Esq., R.A., in the possession of the younger Dr. Charles Burney. Let me add, as a proof of the popularity of his character, that there are copper pieces struck at Birmingham, with his head impressed on them, which pass current as half-pence there, and in the neighbouring parts of the country. invidiously snarling at his fame, at Sir Joshua Reynolds's table, Dr. Parr exclaimed with his usual animation, 'Ay, now that the old lion is dead, every ass thinks he may kick at him.' A monument for him, in Westminster Abbey, was resolved upon soon after his death, and was supported by a most respectable contribution; but the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's having come to a resolution of admitting monuments there, upon a liberal and magnificent plan, that cathedral was afterwards fixed on as the place in which a cenotaph should be erected to his memory and in the cathedral of his native city of Lichfield a smaller one is to be erected.1 To compose his epitaph could not but excite the warmest competition of genius. If laudari a laudato viro be praise, which is highly estimable, I should not forgive myself were I to omit the following sepulchral verses on the 1 [This monument has been since erected. It consists of a medallion, with a tablet beneath, on which is this inscription: 'The friends of SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. As a tribute of respect To the Memory of a man of extensive learning, The Reverend Dr. Parr, on being requested to undertake it, thus expressed himself in a letter to William Seward, Esq.: I leave this mighty task to some hardier and some abler writer. The variety and splendour of Johnson's attainments, the peculiarities of his character, his private virtues, and his literary publications, fill me with confusion and dismay, when I reflect upon the confined and difficult species of composition, in which alone they can be expressed, with propriety, upon his monument.' But I understand that this great scholar, and warm admirer of Johnson has yielded to repeated solicitations, and executed the very difficult undertaking. [Dr. Johnson's monument, consisting of a colossal figure leaning against a column (but not very strongly resembling him), has, since the death of our author, been placed in St. Paul's Cathedral, having been author of the English Dictionary, written by the Right Honourable Henry Flood: 1 'No need of Latin or of Greek to grace Our Johnson's memory, or inscribe his grave; The character of Samuel Johnson has, I trust, been so developed in the course of this work, that they who have honoured it with a perusal may be considered first opened to public view, Feb. 23, 1796. The Epitaph was written by the Rev. Dr. Parr, and is as follows: GRAMMATICO ET CRITICO SCRIPTORVM ANGLICORVM LITTERATE PERITO ET PONDERIBVS VERBORVM ADMIRABILI HOMINI OPTIMO ET SINGVLARIS EXEMPLI QVI VIXIT ANN LXXV. MENS. II. DIEB. XIIII HM FACIVND CVRAVER. On a scroll in his hand are the following words: ΕΝΜΑΚΑΡΕΣΣΙΟΝΩΝ ΑΝΥΠΑΙΟΣΙΕΗΑΜΟΙΒΗ On one side of the monument: FACIEBAT JOHANNES BACON, SCVLPTOR, ANN CHRIST M.DCC.LXXXXV. The subscription for this monument, which cost eleven hundred guineas, was begun by the Literary Club, and completed by the aid of Dr. Johnson's other friends and admirers.-M.] 1 To prevent any misconception on this subject, Mr. Malone, by whom these lines were obligingly communicated, requests me to add the following remark: In justice to the late Mr. Flood, now himself wanting, and highly meriting, an epitaph from his country, to which his transcendent talents did the highest honour, as well as the most important service, it should be observed that these lines were by no means intended as a regular monumental inscription for Dr. Johnson. Had he undertaken |