Well try'd, through many a varying year,

See Levet to the grave descend,
Officious, innocent, sincére,

Of ev'ry friendless name the friend.

Yet still he fills affection's eye,

Obscurely wise, and coarsely kind;
Nor, letter'd arrogance, deny

Thy praise to merit unrefined.

When fainting nature call'd for aid,

And hov'ring death prepar'd the blow,
His vig'rous remedy display'd

The pow'r of art, without the show.

In mis’ry's darkest cavern known,

His useful care was ever nigh,
Where hopeless anguish pour'd his groan,

And lonely want retir'd to die.

No summons, mock'd by chill delay,

No petty gain, disdain'd by pride;
The modest wants of ev'ry day

The toil of ev'ry day supply'd.

His virtues walk'd their narrow round,

Nor made a pause, nor left a void;
And sure the eternal master found

The single talent well-employ'd.

The busy day--the peaceful night,

Unfelt, uncounted, glided by;
His frame was firm—his pow’rs were bright,

Though now his eightieth year was nigh.

in London. Humanity, rather than desire of gain, seems to have actuated this single hearted and amiable being; and never were the virtues of charity recorded in more touching strains. " I a am acquainted,” says Dr, Drake, “with nothing superior to them in the productions of the moral muse.” See Drake's Literary Life of Johnson; and Boswell, i, ii, iii. iv.-Ev.

Then, with no fiery throbbing pain,

No cold gradations of decay,
Death broke, at once, the vital chain,

And freed his soul the nearest way.

EPITAPH ON CLAUDE PHILLIPS,

AN ITINERANT MUSICIAN!.

Phillips! whose touch harmonious could remove
The pangs of guilty pow'r, and hapless love,
Rest here, distress'd by poverty no more,
Find here that calm thou gav'st so oft before ;
Sleep, undisturb’d, within this peaceful shrine,
Till angels wake thee, with a note like thine.

EPITAPHIUMm

IN

THOMAM HANMER, BARONETTUM.

Honorabilis admodum THOMAS HANMER,

Baronnettus,

These lines are among Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies : they are, nevertheless, recognised as Johnson's, in a memorandum of his handwriting, and were probably written at her request. This Phillips was a fiddler, who travelled up and down Wales, and was much celebrated for his skill. The above epitaph, according to Mr. Boswell, won the applause of lord Kames, prejudiced against Johnson as he was. It was published in Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies, and was, at first, ascribed to Garrick, from its appearing with the signature G.– Garrick, however, related, that they were composed, almost impromptu, by Johnson, on hearing some lines on the subject, by Dr. Wilkes, which he disapprored. See Boswell, i. 126, where is, likewise, preserved an epigram, by Johnson, op Colley Cibber and George the second, whose illiberal treatment of artists and learned men was a constant theme of his execration. As it has not yet been inserted among Johnson's works, we will present it to the readers of the present edition, in this note.

Augustus still survives in Maro's strain,
And Spenser's verse prolongs Eliza's reign;
Great George's acts let tuneful Cibber sing;
For nature formed the poet for the king.

ED. m At Hanmer church, in Flintshire.

Wilhelmi Hanmer armigeri, e Peregrina Henrici

North De Mildenhall, in Com. Suffolciæ, baronetti sorore

et hærede,

Filius;
Johannis Hanmer de Hanmer baronetti

Hæres patruelis
Antiquo gentis suæ et titulo et patrimonio successit.

Duas uxores sortitus est;
Alteram Isabellam, honore a patre derivato, de

Arlington comitissam,
de celsissimi principis, ducis de Grafton, viduam

dotariam : Alteram Elizabetham, Thomæ Foulkes de Barton, in

Com. Suff. armigeri

Filiam et hæredem. Inter humanitatis studia feliciter enutritus, Omnes liberalium artium disciplinas avide arripuit, Quas morum suavitate haud leviter ornavit.

Postquam excessit ex ephebis, Continuo inter populares suos fama eminens, Et comitatus sui legatus ad parliamentum missus, Ad ardua regni negotia, per annos prope triginta,

se accinxit: Cumque, apud illos amplissimorum virorum ordines,

Solent nihil temere effutire,
Sed probe perpensa diserte expromere,

Orator gravis et pressus,
Non minus integritatis quam eloquentiæ laude

commendatus, Æque omnium, utcunque inter se alioqui dissidentium,

Aures atque animos attraxit.
Annoque demum M.DCC.XIII, regnante Anna,
Felicissimæ florentissimæque memoriæ regina,

Ad prolocutoris cathedram,
Communi senatus universi voce, designatus est:

Quod munus,
Cum nullo tempore non difficile,

Tum illo certe, negotiis
Et variis, et lubricis, et implicatis, difficillimum,

Cum dignitate sustinuit.
Hondres alios, et omnia quæ sibi in lucrum cederent

munera,
Sedulo detrectavit,
Ut rei totus inserviret publicæ;

Justi rectique tenax,
Et fide in patriam incorrupta notus.
Ubi omnibus, quæ virum civemque bonam decent,

officiis satisfecisset,
Paulatim se a publicis consiliis in otium recipiens,

Inter literarum amoenitates,
Inter ante-actæ vitæ haud insuaves recordationes,
Inter amicorum convictus et amplexus,

Honorifice consenuit;
Et bonis omnibus, quibus charissimus vixit,

Desideratissimus obiit.
Hic, juxta cineres avi, suos condi voluit, et curavit

Gulielmus Bunbury Btus, nepos et hæres.

PARAPHRASE OF THE ABOVE EPITAPH.

BY DR. JOHNSON".

Thou, who survey'st these walls with curious eye,
Pause at the tomb, where Hanmer's ashes lie;
His various worth, through vary'd life, attend,
And learn his virtues, while thou mourn'st his end.

His force of genius burn'd, in early youth,
With thirst of knowledge, and with love of truth;
His learning, join'd with each endearing art,
Charm'd ev'ry ear, and gain'd on ev'ry heart.

Thus early wise, th' endanger'd realm to aid, His country call'd him from the studious shade;

* This paraphrase is inserted in Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies. The Latin is there said to be written by Dr. Freind. Of the person whose memory it celebrates, a copious account may be seen in the appendix to the supplement to the Biographia Britannica.

In life's first bloom his publick toils began,
At once commenc'd the senator and man.

In bus'ness dextrous, weighty in debate,
Thrice ten long years he labour'd for the state;
In ev'ry speech persuasive wisdom flow'd,
In ev'ry act refulgent virtue glow'd :
Suspended faction ceas'd from rage and strife,
To hear his eloquence, and praise his life.

Resistless merit fix'd the senate's choice,
Who haild him speaker, with united voice.
Illustrious age! how bright thy glories shone,
When Hanmer filld the chair-and Anne the throne!

Then, when dark arts obscur'd each fierce debate,
When mutual frauds perplex'd the maze of state,
The moderator firmly mild appear’d-
Beheld with love with veneration heard.

This task perform'd-he sought no gainful post,
Nor wish'd to glitter, at his country's cost:
Strict on the right he fix'd his steadfast eye,
With temp’rate zeal and wise anxiety;
Nor e'er from virtue's paths was lur'd aside,
To pluck the flow'rs of pleasure, or of pride.
Her gifts despis’d, corruption blush'd, and fled,
And fame pursu'd him, where conviction led.

Age calld, at length, his active mind to rest,
With honour sated, and with cares oppress’d;
To letter'd ease retir'd, and honest mirth,
To rural grandeur and domestick worth;
Delighted still to please mankind, or mend,
The patriots fire yet sparkled in the friend.

Calm conscience, then, his former life survey'd,
And recollected toils endear'd the shade,
Till nature call'd him to the gen'ral doom,
And virtue's sorrow dignified his tomb.