provement of young minds that has appeared in any language; and to this meritorious work Johnson furnished "The Preface," containing a general sketch of the book, with a short and perspicuous recommendation of each article; as also, "The Vision of Theodore, the Hermit, found in his Cell,"* beautiful allegory of human life, under the figure of ascending the mountain of Existence. The Bishop of Dromore heard Dr. Johnson say, that he thought this was the best thing he ever wrote. (1)

a most

IN January, 1749, he published "THE VANITY. OF HUMAN WISHES, being the Tenth Satire of Juvenal imitated."* He, I believe, composed it the preceding year. (2) Mrs. Johnson, for the sake of country air, had lodgings at Hampstead, to which he resorted occasionally, and there the greatest part, if not the whole, of this Imitation was written. The fervid rapidity with which it was produced, is scarcely credible. I have heard him say, that he composed seventy lines of it in one day, without putting one of them upon paper till they were finished. (3) I remember when I once regretted to him that he had not given us more of Juvenal's

(1) [The bishop told me, that Johnson composed it, in one night, after finishing an evening at Holborn. TYERS.]

(2) Sir John Hawkins, with solemn inaccuracy, represents this poem as a consequence of the indifferent reception of his tragedy. But the fact is, that the poem was published on the 9th of January, and the tragedy was not acted till the 6th of the February following.

(3) This was Johnson's general habit of composing: his defect of sight rendered writing and written corrections troublesome, and he therefore exercised his memory where others would have employed pen and paper. - CROKER.

Satires, he said he probably should give more, for he had them all in his head: by which I understood, that he had the originals and correspondent allusions floating in his mind, which he could, when he pleased, embody and render permanent without much labour. (1) Some of them, however, he observed, were too gross for imitation.

The profits of a single poem, however excellent, appear to have been very small in the last reign, compared with what a publication of the same size has since been known to yield. I have mentioned, upon Johnson's own authority, that for his "London" he had only ten guineas; and now, after his fame was established, he got for his " Vanity of Human Wishes" but five guineas more, as is proved by an authentic document in my possession. (2)

It will be observed, that he reserves to himself the right of printing one edition of this satire, which was his practice upon occasion of the sale of all his writings; it being his fixed intention to publish at

(1) [Johnson knew Juvenal well. "His peculiarity," he says, "is a mixture of gaiety and stateliness, of pointed sentences and declamatory grandeur." A good idea of it may be formed from Johnson's own beautiful Imitation of the Third Satire. His Imitation of the Tenth (still more beautiful as a poem) has scarcely a trait of the author's manner; — that is to say, of that "mixture of gaiety and stateliness," which, according to his own definition, constitutes the "peculiarity of Juvenal." The "Vanity of Human Wishes" is uniformly stately and severe, and without those light and popular strokes of sarcasm, which abound so much in the "London."-GIFFORD'S Juvenal, vol. i. p. lxxiii.]

(2) "Nov. 25. 1748, I received of Mr. Dodsley fifteen guineas, for which I assign to him the right of copy of an Imitation of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal, written by me, reserving to myself the right of printing one edition. SAM. JOHNSON."

some period, for his own profit, a complete collection of his works.

His "Vanity of Human Wishes" has less of common life, but more of a philosophic dignity, than his "London." More readers, therefore, will be delighted with the pointed spirit of "London,” than with the profound reflection of "The Vanity of Human Wishes." (1) Garrick, for instance, observed, in his sprightly manner, with more vivacity than regard to just discrimination, as is usual with wits, "When Johnson lived much with the Herveys, and saw a good deal of what was passing in life, he wrote his 'London,' which is lively and easy: when he became more retired he gave us his 'Vanity of Human Wishes,' which is as hard as Greek: had he gone on to imitate another satire, it would have been as hard as Hebrew.""(2)

(1) [Jan. 9. 1821. Read Johnson's "Vanity of Human Wishes," -all the examples and mode of giving them sublime, as well as the latter part, with the exception of an occasional couplet. I do not so much admire the opening. I remember an observation of Sharp's* (the Conversationist, as he was called in London, and a very clever man), that the first line of this poem was superfluous, and that Pope would have begun at

once :

"Survey mankind from China to Peru."

The former line, "Let observation," &c. is certainly heavy and useless. But 'tis a grand poem. and so true!-true as the Tenth of Juvenal himself. The lapse of ages changes all things-time-language. the earth-the bounds of the sea -the stars of the sky, and every thing "about, around, and underneath" man, except man himself. The infinite variety of lives conduct but to death, and the infinity of wishes lead but to disappointment.- BYRON, vol. v. p. 66.]

(2) From Mr. Langton. BOSWELL. Garrick's criticism (if it deserves the name) and his facts are both unfounded.

[Richard Sharp, Esq., author of "Letters and Essays, in Prose and Verse." Moxon, 1834.]

But "The Vanity of Human Wishes" is, in the opinion of the best judges, as high an effort of ethic poetry as any language can show. The instances of variety of disappointment are chosen so judiciously, and painted so strongly, that, the moment they are read, they bring conviction to every thinking mind. That of the scholar (1) must have depressed the too

"The Vanity of Human Wishes" is in a graver and higher tone than the "London," but not harder to be understood. On the contrary, some classical allusions, inconsistent with modern manners, obscure passages of the latter; while all the illustrations, sentiments, and expressions of the former are, though wonderfully noble and dignified, yet perfectly intelligible, and almost familiar. Moreover, we have seen that when Johnson wrote "London," he was not living the gay and fashionable life which Mr. Garrick is represented as mentioning. Alas! he was starving in obscure lodgings on eight-pence, and sometimes even four-pence a day (see antè, p. 112.); and there is, in "London," nothing to show any intimacy with the great or fashionable world. As to the Herveys, it may be here observed contrary to Mr. Boswell's (as well as Mr. Garrick's) supposition that he was intimate with that family previous to the publication of "London: "- that the sneer in that poem at "Clodio's jest," stood, in the first edition, "Hy's jest," and was probably aimed at Lord Hervey, who was a favourite theme of satire with the opposition writers of the day. - CROKER.

(1) When Dr. Johnson, one day, read his own Satire, in which the life of a scholar is painted, with the various obstructions thrown in his way to fortune and to fame, he burst into a passion of tears: Mr. Thrale's family and Mr. Scott* only were present, who, in a jocose way, clapped him on the back, and said, "What's all this, my dear sir? Why you, and I, and Hercules †, you know, were all troubled with melancholy." He was a very large man, and made out the triumvirate with Johnson and Hercules comically enough. - Piozzi,

*George Lewis Scott, F. R.S., an amiable and learned man, formerly sub-preceptor to George the Third, and afterwards a Commissioner of Ezcise, whom it seems Johnson did not now reckon as "one of the lowest of all human beings." See antè, p. 31. — CROKER.

+ In allusion to the madness of Hercules on Mount Oeta. —CROKER.

sanguine expectations of many an ambitious student. (1) That of the warrior, Charles of Sweden, is, I think, as highly finished a picture as can possibly be conceived.

Were all the other excellencies of this poem annihilated, it must ever have our grateful reverence from its noble conclusion; in which we are consoled with the assurance that happiness may be attained, if we "apply our hearts" to piety :—

(1) In this poem one of the instances mentioned of unfortunate learned men is Lydiat:

"Hear Lydiat's life, and Galileo's end."

The history of Lydiat being little known, the following account of him may be acceptable to many of my readers. It appeared as a note in the Supplement to the Gentleman's Magazine for 1748, in which some passages extracted from Johnson's poem were inserted, and it should have been added in the subsequent editions:

"A very learned divine and mathematician, Fellow of New College, Oxon, and Rector of Okerton, near Banbury. He wrote, among many others, a Latin treatise De natura cæli, &c.' in which he attacked the sentiments of Scaliger and Aristotle, not bearing to hear it urged, that some things are true in philosophy, and false in divinity. He made above 600 Sermons on the harmony of the Evangelists. Being unsuccessful in publishing his works, he lay in the prison of Bocardo at Oxford, and in the King's Bench, till Bishop Usher, Dr. Laud, Sir William Boswell, and Dr. Pink, released him by paying his debts. He petitioned King Charles I. to be sent into Ethiopia, &c. to procure MSS. Having spoken in favour of monarchy and bishops, he was plundered by the parliament forces, and twice carried away prisoner from his rectory; and afterwards had not a shirt to shift him in three months, without he borrowed it, and died very poor in 1646.". BOSWELL.

In 1609 Lydiat accompanied Usher into Ireland, and obtained (probably by his interest) the office of chapel-reader in Trinity College, Dublin, at a salary of 3l. 6s. 8d. per quarter: he was resident there about two years: and in March, 1612, it appears, that he had from the college, "51. to furnish him for his journey to England."The remembrance of Lydiat was traditionally preserved in Dublin College; and I recollect to have heard, about 1797, that, in some ancient buildings, then recently removed, Lydiat had resided-evidence, either that he had left a high reputation behind him, or, more probably, that Johnson's mention of him had revived the memory of his sojourn in that university.CROKER.