cute observation; but it leaves us room to think, that the author
was transcribing from his own apprehensions. The discourse on the nature
of the soul, gives us all that philosophy knows, not without a tincture
of superstition. It is remarkable, that the vanity of human pursuits
was, about the same time, the subject that employed both Johnson and
Voltaire; but Candide is the work of a lively imagination; and Rasselas,
with all its splendour of eloquence, exhibits a gloomy picture. It
should, however, be remembered, that the world has known the weeping, as
well as the laughing philosopher.

The Dictionary does not properly fall within the province of this essay.
The preface, however, will be found in this edition. He who reads the
close of it, without acknowledging the force of the pathethic and
sublime, must have more insensibility in his composition, than usually
falls to the share of a man. The work itself, though, in some instances,
abuse has been loud, and, in others, malice has endeavoured to undermine
its fame, still remains the MOUNT ATLAS of English literature.

"Though storms and tempests thunder on its brow,
And oceans break their billows at its feet,
It stands unmov'd, and glories in its height."

That Johnson was eminently qualified for the office of a commentator on
Shakespeare, no man can doubt; but it was an office which he never
cordially embraced. The public expected more than he had diligence to
perform; and yet his edition has been the ground, on which every
subsequent commentator has chosen to build. One note, for its
singularity, may be thought worthy of notice in this place. Hamlet says,
"For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a god-kissing
carrion." In this Warburton discovered the origin of evil. Hamlet, he
says, breaks off in the middle of the sentence; but the learned
commentator knows what he was going to say, and, being unwilling to keep
the secret, he goes on in a train of philosophical reasoning, that
leaves the reader in astonishment. Johnson, with true piety, adopts the
fanciful hypothesis, declaring it to be a noble emendation, which almost
sets the critic on a level with the author. The general observations at
the end of the several plays, and the preface, will be found in this
edition. The former, with great elegance and precision, give a summary
view of each drama. The preface is a tract of great erudition and
philosophical criticism.

Johnson's political pamphlet