ss of men will talk no
more of Johnson's malignity. The last apology for Milton is, that he
acted according to his principles. But Johnson thought those principles
detestable; pernicious to the constitution, in church and state,
destructive of the peace of society, and hostile to the great fabric of
civil policy, which the wisdom of ages has taught every Briton to
revere, to love, and cherish. He reckoned Milton in that class of men,
of whom the Roman historian says, when they want, by a sudden
convulsion, to overturn the government, they roar and clamour for
liberty; if they succeed, they destroy liberty itself: "Ut imperium
evertant, libertatem praeferunt; si perverterint, libertatem ipsam
aggredientur." Such were the sentiments of Dr. Johnson; and it may be
asked, in the language of Bolingbroke, "Are these sentiments, which any
man, who is born a Briton, in any circumstances, in any situation, ought
to be ashamed, or afraid to avow?" Johnson has done ample justice to
Milton's poetry: the criticism on Paradise Lost is a sublime
composition. Had he thought the author as good and pious a citizen as
Dr. Watts, he would have been ready, notwithstanding his nonconformity,
to do equal honour to the memory of the man.

It is now time to close this essay, which the author fears has been
drawn too much into length. In the progress of the work, feeble as it
may be, he thought himself performing the last human office to the
memory of a friend, whom he loved, esteemed, and honoured:

"His saltern accumulem donis, et fungar inani
Munere."--

The author of these memoirs has been anxious to give the features of the
man, and the true character of the author. He has not suffered the hand
of partiality to colour his excellencies with too much warmth; nor has
he endeavoured to throw his singularities too much into the shade. Dr.
Johnson's failings may well be forgiven, for the sake of his virtues.
His defects were spots in the sun. His piety, his kind affections, and
the goodness of his heart, present an example worthy of imitation. His
works still remain a monument of genius and of learning. Had he written
nothing but what is contained in this edition, the quantity shows a life
spent in study and meditation. If to this be added, the labour of his
Dictionary, and other various productions, it may be fairly allowed, as
he used to say of himself, that he has written his share. In the volumes
here presented to the public the reader