object of solitary meditation. A constant residence amidst noise and pleasure, inevitably obliterates the impressions of piety; and a frequent abstraction of ourselves into a state where this life, like the next, operates only upon the reason, will reinstate religion in its just authority, even without those irradiations from above, the hope of which I have no intention to withdraw from the sincere and the diligent.

"This is that conquest of the world and of ourselves which has been always considered as the perfection of human nature ; and this is only to be obtained by fervent prayer, steady resolutions, and frequent retirement from folly and vanity; from the cares of avarice, and the joys of intemperance; from the dulling sounds of deceitful flattery, and the tempting sight of prosperous wickedness."

Another valuable Paper is No. 11, in which the folly of anger is finely illustrated, and its effects displayed. Here he directs his censure against a domestic evil, and one which for its pernicious consequences, was well worthy the consideration

sideration of Johnson. Whether he was peculiarly conscious of this, or whether he wrote merely the natural suggestions of his own mind, I know not, but he has manifested against it sa noble indignation and contempt; and has shewn with much force and novelty, how despicable it renders the man who indulges it; and the calamity which it is ever liable to produce. His arguments are all of them just and apposite; and they are valuable on account of their relation to common life, and of their general use. They may, indeed, be applied upon innumer able occasions, and I am willing to believe, that if applied properly, they would not be without effect; for they must recommend themselves by their truth. The meanness of passion is well described in the following passage:

"Those sudden bursts of rage generally break out upon small occasions; for life, unhappy as it is, cannot supply great evils as frequently as the man of fire thinks fit to be enraged; therefore, the first reflection upon his violence must shew him that he is mean enough

to

to be driven from his post by every petty incident, that he is the mere slave of casualty, and that his reason and virtue are in the power of the wind."

Who can read the subsequent delineation of its effects without a sigh; and without confessing almost with tears, the melancholy truth? For who is there, that has not, in a greater or less degree, felt so extensive is the influence of this

it ;

dreadful vice.

"When a man has once suffered his mind to be thus vitiated, he becomes one of the most hateful and unhappy beings. He can give no security, to himself that he shall not at the next interview alienate, by some sudden transport, his dearest friend, or break out, upon some slight contradiction, into such terms of rudeness, as can never be perfectly forgotten. Whoever converses with him, lives with the suspicion and solicitude of a man that plays with a tame tiger, always under a necessity of watching the moment in which the capricious savage shall begin to growl."

The miseries of the old age of a passionate

sionate man is depicted in the most affecting colours, and with an accuracy of judgment, which surpasses all commendation. It is, indeed, a picture such as the mind of Johnson only could have drawn ; a picture at once vigorous, comprehensive, and faithful.

"Nothing is more despicable or more miserable than the old age of a passionate man. When the vigour of youth fails him, and his amusements pall with frequent repetition, his occasional rage sinks, by decay of strength, into peevishness; that peevishness, for want of novelty and variety, becomes habitual; the world falls off from around him, and he is left, as Homer expresses it, to devour his own heart in solitude and contempt."

The allegories of Johnson, tho' not numerous, are, I think, always just; and I know not whether they may not be preferred to those of Addison for strength and invention. The principal allegories of the Rambler are, those of Criticism, No. 3; of Hope, No. 67; the Voyage of Life, No. and that of Wit and Learning, No. 22; which last exceeds any.

102;

that

;

It exhibits

all the powers of invention in the most charming combination of wit replete with delicacy, and of Learning guided by judgment. The allegory is in itself so complete, that I know nothing which could be added or taken away without injury; and the language is at the same time so pure and nervous, that praise is lost in admiration and delight. This alone would have conferred the title of poet upon Johnson, had his imitations of Juvenal never been written; and I doubt whether he does not rather merit it from this and his other allegories than from all the rhymes he ever published. This, indeed, was the opinion of his friend and contemporary, Dr. Goldsmith, who observed he was more a poet in his prose than in his imitations, and his authority must be allowed to have some weight even though my own opinions should be rejected. It is not merely the cadence of the syllables, or the final jingle of the words which constitute a poet; for these are trifling and mechanical; but it is that power of invention, that strength of imagery,