therefore eminently qualified for the task which he undertook.

Upon the whole, when a candid survey is taken of the life and writings of Johnson, we can scarcely fail to be convinced that few men have appeared who have done so much good, and, at the same time, so little evil in the world, as himself. His talents enriched the literature of his country, and his eloquence was uniformly exerted on the side of virtue ; and, even in politics, on the side of what we have reason to believe he accounted consistent with general utility. In his private life, he was beneficent and humane. His character was degraded by nothing that usually bears the name of vice, so that he never dishonoured the moral precepts that he taught. A certain degree of ine quality of temper, and of vehemence of passion, may be forgiven to a man of a powerful mind, who had struggled with misfortunes, and in whom therefore the culture of a portion of pride of spirit might be necessary to independence of character, and to perseverance in exertion. It is certainly, however, a melancholy truth, that notwithstanding all his virtues, and the distinction to which he attained, Johnson did not pass a happy or a prosperous life. Few would wish to identify themselves with Johnson, or consent to live the life that he lived. His body was diseased, and the disease reached his general temperament, and depressed his spirit. There is reason to suspect that he married, for a sum of money of no great importance, a woman of twice his age; and it is certain that he speedily lost the money which he thus obtained. He for years maintained a hard struggle to gain a pre

carious subsistence; and when a certain portion of wealth was obtained, a state of dependence accompanied it, which imposed upon him the necessity of hazarding his well-earned fame, while he undertook the drudgery of defending political measures. Even his best and happiest days were passed as a permanent guest, that is as a dependent in the house of a stranger. To the last, his hours were often embittered by gloomy apprehensions of that termination of our mortal existence, which nature enables the meanest peasant in his cottage to encounter with little alarm. Whatever superiority therefore Johnson possessed, renders him no object of envy, seeing it was so severely compensated by evil. We shall conclude these remarks with stating a summary of his character, which seems to have been given with sufficient candour and impartiality, by Dr Jones. "He "possessed extraordinary powers of understand"ing, which were much cultivated by study,

and still more by meditation and reflection. "His memory was remarkably retentive, his ima

gination uncommonly vigorous, and his judge"ment keen and penetrating. He had a strong "sense of the importance of religion; his piety "was sincere and sometimes ardent; and his zeal "for the interests of virtue was often manifested "in his conversation, and in his writings. The 68 same energy which was displayed in his literary

productions was exhibited also in his conversa❝tion, which was various, striking, and instruc "tive; and perhaps no man ever equalled him for "nervous and pointed repartees.

"The great originality which sometimes appeared in his conceptions, and the perspicuity "and force with which he delivered them, greatly "enhanced the value of his conversation; and the "remarks that he delivered received additional "weight from the strength of his voice, and the solemnity of his manner. He was conscious "of his own superiority; and, when, in company "with literary men, or with those with whom "there was any possibility of rivalship or com

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petition, this consciousness was too apparent. "With inferiors, and those who readily admitted "all his claims, he was often mild and agreeable; "but to others such was often the arrogance of "his manners, that the endurance of it required no ordinary degree of patience. He was very "dextrous at argumentation, and when his reasonings were not solid, they were at least art"ful and plausible. His retorts were so powerful, that his friends and acquaintance were generally cautious of entering the lists against him; and the ready acquiesence of those with "whom he associated, in his opinions and asser"tions, probably rendered him more dogmatic "than he might otherwise have been. With "these however with whom he lived, and with "whom he was familiar, he was sometimes cheer

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ful and sprightly, and sometimes indulged him"self in sallies of wit and pleasantry. He spent “much of his time, espescially his later years, in "conversation, and seems to have had such an ❝ aversion to being left without company as was "sometimes extraordinary in a man possessed of "such intellectual powers, and whose understand.

"ing had been so highly cultivated. He sometimes discovered much impetuosity of temper, "and was too ready to take offence at others ; "but when concessions were made, he was easily "appeased. For those from whom he had re"ceived kindness in the earlier part of his life, "he seemed ever to retain a particular regard, and "manifested much gratitude towards those by "whom he had at any time been benefited. He

was soon offended with pertness or ignorance, "but he sometimes seemed to be conscious of "having answered the questions of others with "too much roughness, and was then desirous to "discover more gentleness of temper, and to com"municate information with more suavity of man" ners. When not under the influence of personal "pique, of pride, or of religious or political pre"judices, he seems to have had great ardour of "benevolence; and, on some occasions, he gave

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equal proofs of generosity and humanity. He "was naturally melancholly, and his views of human life appear to have been naturally gloomy. "This appears from his Rasselas, and in many passages of his writings. It was also a striking part of the character of Johnson, that with powers of mind that did honour to human na"ture, he had weaknesess and prejudices that seemed "suited only to the lowest of the species. His "piety was strongly tinctured with superstition; " and we are astonished to find the author of the "Rambler expressing serious concern because he "had put milk into his tea on a good Friday. "His custom of praying for the dead, though un"supported by reason or by Scripture, was a less

"irrational superstition. Indeed, one of the great "features of Johnson's character was a degree of "bigotry, both in politics and in religion, which "is now seldom to be met with in persons of a “cultivated understanding. Few other men could "have been found in the present age, whose poli"tical bigotry would have led them to style the "celebrated John Hampden the zealot of re“bellion;' and the religious bigotry of the man “who, when at Edinburgh, would not go to hear "Dr Robertson preach, because he would not be present at a Presbyterian assembly, is not easily "to be paralleled in this age and in this country. "His habitual incredulity with respect to facts, of "which there was no reasonable ground for doubt, "as stated by Mrs Piozzi, and which was remarked by Hogarth, was also a singular trait of his character, and especially when compared to his su "perstitious credulity on other occasions. To "the close of his life he was not only occupied "in forming schemes of religious reformation, but " even to a very late period of it, he seems to "have been solicitous to apply himself to study "with renewed diligence and vigour. It is re"markable, that in his 64th year, he attempted "to learn the Low Dutch language, and in his "67th year he made a resolution to apply him"self vigorously to study particularly the Greek "and Italian tongues. The faults and the foibles "of Johnson, whatever they were, are now de"scended with him to the grave; but his virtues "should be the object of our imitation. His "works, with all their defects, are a most valu "able and important accession to the literature of

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