Where hopeless anguish pour'd his groan, No summons mock'd by chill delay, The toil of ev'ry day supply'd. His virtues walk'd their narrow round, The busy day-the peaceful night, His frame was firm-his powers were bright, Then, with no fiery throbbing pain, 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 * These lines are among Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies: they are nevertheless recognised as Johnson's in a memorandum of his hand-writing, and were probably written at her request. Phillips was a travelling fiddler up and down Wales, and was greatly celebrated for his performance. EPITAPHIUM* IN "HOMAM HANMER, BARONETTUM. Conorabilis admodum THOMAS HANMER, Baronettus, elmi Hanmer armigeri, e Peregrina Henrici North ildenhall in Com. Suffolciæ Baronetti sorore et hærede, Filius; ohannis Hanmer de Hanmer Baronetti Hæres patruelis o gentis suæ et titulo et patrimonio successit. Duas uxores fortitus est; eram Isabellam, honore a patre derivato, de Arlington comitissam, - celsissimi principis ducis de Grafton viduam dotariam: n Elizabetham Thomæ Foulkes de Barton in Com. Suff. armigeri Filiam et hæredem. ter humanitates studia feliciter enutritus, liberalium artium disciplinas avide arripuit, uas morum suavitate haud leviter ornavit. Postquam excessit ex ephebis, tinuo inter populares suos fama eminens, nitatus sui legatus ad Parliamentum missus, rdua regni negotia per annos prope triginta se accinxit: ue apud illos amplissimorum virorum ordines minus integritatis quam eloquentiæ laude *At Hanmer church, in Flintshire, L 2 Annoque demum M.DCC.XIII. regnante Anna, Communi Senatus universi voce designatus est: Cum nullo tempore non difficile, Et variis et lubricis et implicatis difficillimum, Honores alios, et omnia quæ sibi in lucrum cederent Ut rei totus inserviret publicæ; Et fide in patriam incorrupta notus. Ubi omnibus, quæ virum civemque bonum decent, officiis satisfecisset, Paulatim se a publicis consiliis in otium recipiens, Inter literarum amoenitates, Inter ante-actæ vitæ haud insuaves recordationes, Et bonis omnibus, quibus charissimus vixit, Hic, juxta cineres avi, suos condi voluit, et curavit PARAPHRAISE 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; * 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. His various worth through varied life attend, In business dex'trous, 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 hail'd him Speaker with united voice. Illustrious age! how bright thy glories shone, When HANMER fill'd 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. eye, This task perform'd-he sought no gainful post, Age call'd, at length, his active mind to rest, PLAYING ON THE SPINNET. BRIGHT Stella, form'd for universal reign, But when your musick soothes the raging pain, When old Timotheus struck the vocal string, PARAPHRASE OF PROVERBS, CHAP. VI. Verses 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. "Go to the Ant, thou Sluggard+.” TURN on the prudent ant thy heedful eyes, * These lines, which have been communicated by Dr. Turton son to Mrs. Turton, the Lady to whom they are addressed by her maiden name of Hickman, must have been written at least as early as the year 1734, as that was the year of her marriage: at how much earlier a period of Dr. Johnson's life they may have been written, is not known. + In Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies, but now printed from the ori ginal in Dr. Johnson's own hand-writing. |