Open to all, true only to thyself, Thou know'st those arts, which blast with envious praise, Which aggravate a fault, with feign'd excuses, And drive discountenanc'd virtue from the throne; BURLESQUE OF THE MODERN VERSIFICATIONS OF ANCIENT LEGENDARY TALES. AN IMPROMPTU. THE tender infant, meek and mild, Fell down upon the stone: The nurse took up the squealing child, FRIENDSHIP; AN ODE. FRIENDSHIP, peculiar boon of heaven, To men and angels only given, To all the lower world deny'd. While love, unknown among the blest, Parent of thousand wild desires", Torments alike with raging fires*; This ode originally appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1743. See Boswell's Life of Johnson, under that year. It was afterwards printed in Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies, in 1766, with several variations, which are pointed out, below.-J. B. "Parent of rage and hot desires.-Mrs. W. * Inflames alike with equal fires. With bright, but oft destructive, gleam, Thy gentle flows of guiltless joys Directress of the brave and just", O! guide us through life's darksome way! On selfish bosoms only prey. Nor shall thine ardours cease to glow, ON SEEING A BUST OF MRS. MONTAGUE. HAD this fair figure, which this frame displays, grace, y In vain for thee the monarch sighs. z This stanza is omitted in Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies, and instead of it, we have the following, which may be suspected, from internal evidence, not to have been Johnson's: When virtues, kindred virtues meet, a O! shall thy flames then cease to glow. Should the guardian friend, or mother EPITAPHS. AT LICHFIELD. H. S. E. MICHAEL JOHNSON, VIR impavidus, constans, animosus, periculorum immemor, laborum patientissimus; fiducia christiana fortis, fervidusque; paterfamilias apprime strenuus; bibliopola admodum peritus; mente et libris et negotiis exculta; animo ita firmo, ut, rebus adversis diu conflictatus, nec sibi nec suis defuerit; lingua sic temperata, ut ei nihil quod aures vel pias vel castas læsisset, aut dolor vel voluptas unquam expresserit. Natus Cubleiæ, in agro Derbiensi, anno MDCLVI; obijt MDCCXXXI. Apposita est SARA, conjux, Antiqua FORDORUM gente oriunda; quam domi sedulam, foris paucis notam; nulli molestam, mentis acumine et judicii subtilitate præcellentem; aliis multum, sibi parum indulgentem: æternitati semper attentam, omne fere virtutis nomen commendavit. Nata Nortoniæ Regis, in agro Varvicensi, anno MDCLXIX; obijt MDCCLIX. Cum NATHANAELE, illorum filio, qui natus MDCCXII. cum vires et animi et corporis multa pollicerentur, anno MDCCXXXVII. vitam brevem pia morte finivit. IN BROMLEY CHURCH. Hic conduntur reliquiæ ELIZABETHÆ Antiqua JARVISIORUM gente Peatlinga, apud Leicestrenses, ortæ ; Formosa, cultæ, ingeniosæ, piæ; Obijt Londini, mense Mart. IN WATFORD CHURCH. IN the vault below are deposited the remains of who, in the fifty-third year of her age, surrounded with many worldly blessings, heard, with fortitude and composure truly great, the horrible malady, which had, for some time, begun to afflict her, pronounced incurable; and for more than three years, endured with patience, and concealed with decency, the daily tortures of gradual death; continued to divide the hours not allotted to devotion, between the cares of her family, and the converse of her friends; rewarded the attendance of duty, and acknowledged the offices of affection; and, while she endeavoured to alleviate by cheerfulness. her husband's sufferings and sorrows, increased them by her gratitude for his care, and her solicitude for his quiet. To the testimony of these virtues, more highly honoured, as more familiarly known, She died in October, 1771. |