as it originally commenced, was a task which might be executed by the most inferior writers; and consequently, Tatlers, addressed rather to the eye than to the understanding, inundated the press; to catch, however, the spirit which

so abundantly animated the greater, and especially the latter, portion of this work, was an achievement beyond their strength, and, of course, the public soon justly consigned such imitators to oblivion.

"

A

BOUT two months after

this address to Mr. Urban, the poetical powers of Johnson were exhibited to the world in all their strength, by the publication of his London, a poem in imitation of the third satire of Juvenal. It appeared on the same morning with Pope's satire, intituled intituled "1738," and immediately attracted so many readers, that a second edition was required in the course of a week, Dodsley purchased the entire property of this poem for ten guineas, a sum certainly disproportioned to the merit of the work; but if the author's pecuniary reward was not great, the reputation which he acquired by the effort, must have equalled his most sanguine expectations. It was praised wherever it was read; and, what more particularly must have delighted Johnson, it was praised by Pope, who, having for some time in vain solicitously endea voured to discover the new poet, is said to have declared, that "whoever he was, he would soon "be deterré."

an uninterrupted consideration of his compositions in this branch, and to a discussion of his general character as a POET; and this plan I shall pursue with regard to the other numerous departments of literature in which he excelled, and according to the order in which the first in merit, of a class, shall in succession rise to view; persuaded that, by this mode, the monotony arising from a stricter chronological detail of his various writings, the arrangement hitherto adopted by his biographers, may, in a great measure, be obviated.

Of the three imitators of the third satire of the Roman poet, Boileau, Oldham and Johnson, the latter is, by many degrees, the most vigorous and poetical. No man, indeed, was better calculated to transfuse the stern invective, the sublime philosophy, and nervous painting of Juvenal, than our author; and his London, whilst it rivals the original in these respects, is, at the same time, greatly superior to it in purity of illustration, and harmony of versification. The felicity with which he has adapted the imagery and allusions of the Latin poem to modern manners, vices, and events; and the richness and depth of thought which

he

he exhibits when the hint is merely taken from the Roman bard, or when he chooses altogether to desert him, are such as to render this satire the noblest moral poem in our language.

At the period when Johnson wrote his London, he must, from his peculiar circumstances, have been prone to imbibe all the warmth and indignation of the ancient satirist, who depicts in the boldest colors the unmerited treat ment to which indigence is subjected, and the multiform oppres sions arising from tyranny and illacquired wealth. He was, indeed, at this time, "steeped up to the "lips in poverty," and was likewise a zealous opponent of what he deemed a corrupt administration. It is impossible to read the following passage, one of the finest in the poem, and especially its concluding line, which the author distinguished by capitals, without deeply entering into, and severely sympathising with the feelings and sufferings of the writer.

The next poem of distinguished merit which Johnson produced, was the Prologue for the opening of Drury-lane Theatre in 1747. His friend, and former pupil, David Garrick, had this year obtained the office of joint patentee and manager of Drory-lane; and the prologue of Johnson, whilst it traced with skill the varied fortunes of the stage, and of dramatic taste, was intended as a compliment to the new manager, under whose direction it was predicted that the reign

of Nature and of Sense would revive. The commencement of these verses, which delineates the genius of Shakspeare, is, in point of invention and enthusiasm, the first that poetry had produced upon the subject; the tribute of Gray does not exceed it. In prose, the por trait of our great dramatist, by Dryden was unrivalled, until Mr. Morgan, in his "Essay on the dramatic character of Sir John Falstaff," produced a delineation, the vivacity and discrimination of which demand almost unqualified praise. With what a vivid spirit

of

of animation, has he clothed the following prediction, alluding to Voltaire, who, in the arrogance of criticism, had termed the immortal poet a barbarian! He exclaims, "Whatever may be the neglect of some, or the censure of others, there are those who firmly believe that this wild and uncultivated Barbarian has not obtained one half of his fame.-When the hand of time shall have brushed off his present editors and commentators, and when the very name of Voltaire, and even the memory of the language in which he has written, shall be no more, the Apalachian mountains, the banks of the Ohio, and the plains of Sciola, shall resound with the accents of this Barbarian. In his native tongue he shall roll the genuine passions of nature; nor shall the griefs of Lear be alleviated, or the charms and wit of Rosalind be abated, by time."

In the commencement of the year 1749, nearly eleven years after the production of his "London," our author published his second imitation of the Roman Satirist, entituled The Vanity of Human Wishes, being the tenth satire of Juvenal imitated. For this poem, though his literary fame had considerably increased in the space which had elapsed between the two performances, he received from Dodsley but fifteen guineas. If with this sum, for a piece of no great length, he was satisfied, he certainly was not, and had no rea son to be, with the general remuneration of his labours; and in the poem before us, he has drawn in one line, and in his strongest manner, the usual fate of literary la bour :

1809.

The Vanity of Human Wishes,' the subject of which is in a great degree founded on the Alcibiades of Plato, possesses not the point and fire which animates the "London." It breathes, however, a strain of calm and dignified philosophy, much more pleasing to the mind, and certainly much more consonant to truth, than the party exaggeration of the prior satire. The poet's choice of modern examples, in place of those brought forward by the ancient bard, is happy and judicious; and he has every where availed himself, and in a style the most impressive, of the solemnity, the pathos, and sublime morality of the christian code. In consequence of this substitution of a purer system of ethics, and of a striking selection of characters, among which that of Charles of Sweden is conspicuously eminent, the whole has the air of an original, and, to be understood, requires not to be collated with its prototype.

To enter into competition with the tenth satire of Juvenal, which is, without doubt, the most perfect composition of its author, was a daring and a hazardous attempt. Dryden had led the way, and though occasionally successful, has failed to equal the general merit of the Latin poem. The imitation of Johnson, on the contrary, may be said to vie with the Roman in every line, and in some instances to surpass the original; particularly in the sketch of Charles, and

great reluctance by the author, te the alterations which Garrick, from his knowledge of stage effect, had very properly suggested. Yet, though the whole force of the theatre was employed on the occa sion, and no direct interruption was given to the representation, it was tolerated but nine nights, and then vanished from the theatre for ever.

It is somewhat singular, that Johnson, who has pointed out with so much judgment and precision the defects of Addison's Cato, and, in his Prologue on the opening of Drury-lane Theatre, has censured the dramatic poetry of the eighteenth century, as substituting a declamation for passion, should have himself produced a tragedy more frigid and declamatory, than the English stage. Irene can boast perhaps any drama in the annals of of a strict adherence to the unities; of harmonious versification: of

diction vigorous and splendid; of sentiment morally correct and philosophically beautiful; but its fable is without interest, its characters without discrimination, and neither terror nor pity is excited.

If it fail, however, as a drama, in delineating the ebullitions of passions, it will, as a series of ethic dialogues, replete with striking observations on human conduct, and rich in poetic expression, be long studied and admired in the closet. No one of the productions of Johnson, indeed, was more carefully elaborated than his Irene; and, though commenced at an early period of life, no one more evidently discovers his exclusive love of moral philosophy, and his ample store of nervous and emphatic language.

Of the numerous passages which illustrate this remark, and which, for their moral excellence, should dwell upon the memory, I shall in