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rick, one of his pupils and afterward the great actor, as his companion, in search of literary work. After reaching London and finding employment, the pen scarcely left his hand for twenty-six years. During much of this time he wrote for the Gentleman's Magazine.

His first claim to literary fame was established by his poem London, written in imitation of Juvenal. For this poem he received ten guineas, and it served also to make him a favorite with the booksellers. In 1744 he wrote the Life of Richard Savage, one of the best of biographies; and three years later he published a satire entitled the Vanity of Human Wishes. It was in this year also that he began the preparation of his Dictionary of the English Language, which occupied his time and attention for eight years, and for which he was to receive fifteen hundred and seventy-five pounds. During these years he also carried on a semi-weekly paper called The Rambler, modeled somewhat after The Spectator. The Rambler, which was issued from 1750 to 1752, was followed by The Idler, a more readable sheet, which also was issued for two years.

In 1759, Johnson published his only novel, Russelas, c Tale of Abyssinia. His Journey to the Hebrides was written about 1773, and in 1781 The Lives of the Poets, the last of his important works, appeared.

His style has been spoken of as Johnsonese. He rarely used a simple word when a ponderous classic one coula be substituted. It is said that he would sometimes even correct himself in conversation and translate his oral sentences into more classic style. Goldsmith characterized him truthfully when he said to Johnson, "If you were to write a fable about little fishes, doctor, you would make the little fishes talk like whales."

Johnson's old age was made happy by an annual pension of three hundred pounds, settled on him by

the King in 1762. He died in December, 1784, and was buried in Westminster Abbey with the eminent poets of whom he had been the biographer.

CRITICISM ("CHAMBERS'S CYCLOPÆDIA"). No prose-writer of that day escaped the contagion of Johnson's peculiar style. He banished for a long period the naked simplicity of Swift and the idiomatic graces of Addison; he depressed the literature and poetry of imagination, while he elevated that of the understanding; he based criticism on strong sense and solid judgment, not on scholastic subtleties and refinement; and, though some of the higher qualities and attributes of genius eluded his grasp and observation, the withering scorn and invective with which he assailed all affected sentimentalism, immorality, and licentiousness introduced a pure and healthful and invigorating atmosphere into the crowded walks of literature. . . . . As a man, Johnson was an admirable representative of the Englishman; as an author, his course was singularly pure, high-minded, and independent. He could boast, with more truth than Burke, that "he had no arts but manly arts." At every step in his progress his passport was talent and virtue; and when the royal countenance and favor were at length extended to him, it was but a ratification by the sovereign of the wishes and opinions entertained by the best and wisest of the nation.

THE VOYAGE OF LIFE.

NOTE. The following selection, written by Dr. Johnson, is taken from The Rambler.

"LIFE," says Seneca, "is a voyage, in the progress of which we are perpetually changing our scenes: we first ANALYSIS.-1. voyage. What figure? 2. Meaning of scenes?

leave childhood behind us, then youth, then the years of ripened manhood, then the better and more pleasing part of old age." The perusal of this passage having 5 incited in me a train of reflections on the state of man, the incessant fluctuation of his wishes, the gradual change of his disposition to all external objects, and the thoughtlessness with which he floats along the Stream of Time, I sank into a slumber amidst my med- 10 itations, and on a sudden found my ears filled with the tumult of labor, the shouts of alacrity, the shrieks of alarm, the whistle of winds, and the dash of waters.

My astonishment for a time repressed my curiosity; but soon recovering myself so far as to inquire whither 15 we were going, and what was the cause of such clamor and confusion, I was told that they were launching out into the Ocean of Life; that we had already passed the Straits of Infancy, in which multitudes had perished, some by the weakness and fragility of their vessels, and 20 more by the folly, perverseness, or negligence of those who undertook to steer them; and that we were now on the main sea, abandoned to the winds and billows, without any other means of security than the care of the pilot, whom it was always in our power to choose 25

ANALYSIS.-5. perusal. Give grammatical construction.

9. thoughtlessness. Give grammatical construction.

10. Stream of Time. What figure?

11 on a sudden. Substitute a single word.

filled. Give the grammatical construction.

13. whistle of winds,

15. recovering, etc. 18. Ocean of Life.

and the dash of waters. Point out the figure
What does the phrase modify?
Name the figure,

19. Point out the figure in the line. 20. Explain the figure in this line. 23. main sea. What figure?

23. Point out another figure in the line.

21, 25. the care of the pilot. What figure?

among great numbers that offered their direction and assistance.

I then looked round with anxious eagerness, and, first turning my eyes behind me, saw a stream flowing through flowery islands, which every one that sailed 30 along seemed to behold with pleasure, but no sooner touched than the current, which, though not noisy or turbulent, was yet irresistible, bore him away. Beyond these islands, all was darkness; nor could any of the passengers describe the shore at which he first em-35 barked.

Before me, and on each side, was an expanse of waters violently agitated, and covered with so thick a mist that the most perspicacious eye could see but a little way. It appeared to be full of rocks and whirl- 40 pools; for many sank unexpectedly while they were courting the gale with full sails, and insulting those whom they had left behind. So numerous, indeed, were the dangers, and so thick the darkness, that no caution could confer security. Yet there were many 45 who, by false intelligence, betrayed their followers into whirlpools, or, by violence, pushed those whom they found in their way against the rocks.

The current was invariable and insurmountable; but though it was impossible to sail against it, or to return 50 to the place that was once passed, yet it was not so violent as to allow no opportunities for dexterity or cour

ANALYSIS.-29. turning, etc. What does the phrase modify?
30. Name the figures in the line.

31. Parse along.

What figure in the line?

32. touched, etc. What is the subject?

39. Meaning of perspicacious? Parse but.

42. courting the gale. What figure?

43. Give grammatical construction of the word behi

49 Explain the figure on current.

age, since, though none could retreat back from danger, yet they might often avoid it by oblique direction.

It was, however, not very common to steer with much 55 care or prudence; for, by some universal infatuation, every man appeared to think himself safe, though he saw his consorts every moment sinking round him; and no sooner had the waves closed over them than their fate and misconduct were forgotten; the voyage was 60 pursued with the same jocund confidence: every man congratulated himself upon the soundness of his vessel, and believed himself able to stem the whirlpool in which his friend was swallowed, or glide over the rocks on which he was dashed. Nor was it often observed 65 that the sight of a wreck made any man change his course if he turned aside for a moment, he soon forgot the rudder, and left himself again to the disposal of chance.

This negligence did not proceed from indifference, or 70 from weariness of their present condition; for not one of those who thus rushed upon destruction failed, when he was sinking, to call loudly upon his associates for that help which could not now be given him; and many spent their last moments in cautioning others 75 against the folly by which they were intercepted in the midst of their course. Their benevolence was someimes praised; but their admonitions were unregarded.

ANALYSIS.-53. retreat back. Criticise.

53, 54. Point out the figure in these lines.

55. Give the meaning of this line.

57. Dispose of the word safe.

61-65. every man, etc.
63. stem the whirlpool.
64. glide over the rocks.

Explain the meaning of these lines.
What figure?

What figure?

65, 66. Point out the figure in these lines.

68. What figure in the line?

72. rushed upon destruction. What figure?

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