AN E S SAY ON THE LIFE, CHARACTER, AND WRITINGS, OF DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. [FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE YEAR 1786.] AN ES SAY, &c. HE attention of the public was never more excited, in confequence. of the death of any man, of literary celebrity, than by that of the late Dr. SAMUEL JOHNSON. Innumerable anecdotes have been publifhed of him, his moft minute fingularities have been re corded, corded, and his virtues, and even his weakneffes, laboriously displayed, by those who lived with him on terms of the most perfect intimacy. It is not my defign to give a regular or copious narration of the tranfactions of his life, or to communicate any new anecdotes of him : but as fo much has been written and published concerning Dr. Johnson, there may probably be fome, who may be defirous to form a rational eftimate of his character and of his writings, who would judge impartially of his excellencies and his defects; and it is with a view to contribute in fome degree to that end, that this Effay is now offered to the public. Ir is fcarcely poffible for any man, who has the least tafte for literary composition, tó peruse the writings of Johnfon, with out a full conviction, that he poffeffed uncommon powers of mind, and uncom mon mon energy of language. His perfonal character appears alfo to have been peculiar and extraordinary; and fuch as must excite the attention of thofe who are curious in their researches into human nature. As he attained to great eminence by his fuperior talents as a writer, fo as a man he was also distinguished by his virtues. But as he had great excellencies, he had alfo great weakneffes; and the latter appear fometimes to have been nearly as confpicuous as the former. ६ SOME of the friends of Dr. Johnson have been led, by the warmth of their attachment to him, to estimate too highly his moral and religious character. When Mrs. Piozzi tells us, that Dr. Johnson had a mind " good beyond all hope of "imitation from perishable beings," we can by no means affent to the truth of 66 Anecdotes of the late Dr. Samuel Johnson, p. 294. the |