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manifested the same zeal and perseverance, as he did in the service of charity, constantly adding to such bodies all the weight of his character, and all the popularity which he had so faithfully earned, to promote the general welfare, to teach mankind the solemn and imperious duties of christianity, to inforce and enlarge active benevolence, and to cultivate letters. Popularity he considered not in the light of personal aggrandizement, it was an engine only in his hands, for the accomplishment of great and solemn duties. Thus as his reputation enlarged, his services became more essential and effective. Popularity was only valued by him in proportion as it empowered him to enlarge the sphere of his usefulness. We have thus endeavoured, and we hope not entirely without effect, to collect some of the scattered rays that beamed from an orb, once brilliant and invigorating, until the shadows of death had gathered on its surface and extinguished its lustre forever.

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I PRAY thee check thy hasty pace,
Nor be intent to shun the morning,
And let me view thy roseate face
Till I with love and rapture trace

Those witching smiles that face adorning.

Oh stop and mark this rapid river,

Nor heed the breeze which makes thee shiver,

For in its current truth doth live.

Its rolling flood incessant winding

And hastening to the ocean's wave,
Impressive, constant, is reminding
Of the life which nature gave.

• The Missouri,

VOL. VI.

J.

Lo, Time keeps on his feathery pace,
While life's frail lamp continues burning;
He steals, relentless, many a grace,
But never thinks of once returning.

Then as we down his river glide,

And know so well his truant motion;
Let's snatch each pleasure e'er the tide,
Shall meet his current at the ocean.*
How dazzling is the frosted ground,
Glistening while Aurora's smiling;
And see the Prarie all around

Is white-while mounds of snow are piling.
Thus does cold Indifference shine,

When beauty decks the haughty fair,
Her charms with snow and frost combine,
To dim the eye and chill the air.
Dear Clara, keep thy bosom warm,
With bland affection for mankind;
Let Virtue shield thy beauteous form,
And Science oft expand thy mind.
And oh, if thou would'st deign to dwell
In yonder cottage near the hill;
There would I in soft raptures tell
The joys that oft my bosom fill.

Oh there we'll trim our social fire,

And gently press the stranger's stay;
Thy charms shall oft my heart inspire,
And love shall chace each care away.

Belle Fontaine, banks of the Missouri,
Dec. 16, 1810.

* Eternity.

ALEXIS.

EDITION OF

JOHNSON'S WORKS.

PROPOSALS,

BY J. & A. Y. HUMPHREYS, PHILADELPHIA,

FOR PUBLISHING BY SUBSCRIPTION,

THE WORKS OF

SAMUEL JOHNSON, L. L. D.

CONTAINING

A more complete collection of his writings, than has ever yet been published; together with a selection of the most meritorious publications, illustrative of his domestick and literary character:

BY JAMES ABERCROMBIE, D. D.

PROSPECTUS.

THE very high authority which the writings of Dr. Samuel Johnson possess in the Republick of Letters, has long rendered a complete collection of them, a desideratum in the library of every student,-of every man of literary taste, sound principles, or classical erudition. The moralist, the politician, the poet, the critick, and the sentimentalist, will

ever derive from the page of Johnson, instruction, entertainment, and delight. The acuteness and accuracy of his perception, the profundity of his thought, the solidity of his judgment, the fertility of his imagination, the capaciousness of his memory, and the vigour of his understanding, render the suggestions of his MIGHTY MIND inestimable: more especially, as they are conveyed in language comprehensive, as the range of his intellect; nervous, as the energy of his sentiments; pure, as the integrity of his principles; copious, as the resources of his learning; polished and sublime, as the splendour and elevation of his genius. Such, it may without temerity be asserted, was the activity of his mind, and such the versatility of his talents, that in the various characters of moralist, biographer, poet, bibliographer, essayist, philologer, novelist, commentator, politician, theologian, tourist, epistolary-writer, critick, and lexicographer, the productions of his pen have commanded the admiration and applause, and induced the imitation, of the best men, the best criticks, and the best writers of the present age.

That all the works of this great and good man should never yet have been collected by any of his editors, is, indeed, not less a subject of wonder, than a cause of regret. Such, however, is the fact. Mr. Drake, whose literary life of Dr. Johnson has lately been published in London, concludes that admirable specimen of criticism and biography with the following declaration. "Of the editions of the works of Johnson, the two principal are by Sir John Hawkins, and Mr. Murphy. Sir John's appeared in 1787, in eleven volumes, octavo; and four volumes more were at different periods subsequently added. The collection was hasty and indigested, and several pieces were included decidedly not the productions of Johnson. The life too was bulky, inelegant, and full of irrelevant matter.

"In consequence of these defects, another edition was brought forward in 1792, under the superintendence of

Arthur Murphy, Esq. which occupies twelve volumes in octavo, with the Essay on the Genius and Writings of Dr. Johnson prefixed. It has passed through the press several times, a proof that the public is satisfied with the arrangement and execution; the former of which is chronological, and the latter correct and elegant.

"We must, notwithstanding, declare, that no complete edition of the Works of Johnson has yet been published; not one in which his "Prayers and Meditations," his "Letters," and his "Sermons" are included. It is true that Mr. Murphy has given us a few of his Prayers, and a few of his Letters; but they ought, as best unfolding the heart of the man, to have been published entire: he has also omitted his "Fountains, a Fairy Tale."

"When these shall have been added, all that is necessary will probably have been done."

The Rev'd JAMES ABERCROMBIE, D. D. the editor of the proposed edition, from his early and profound respect for the character, and his admiration of the writings of Dr. Johnson, has, for many years past, spared neither pains nor expense to obtain whatever has been published, either by or in relation to that distinguished author. Through the activity of several kind friends, and the indulgent attention of James Boswell, Esq. with whom Dr. A. corresponded for some years before his death, he is now enabled to give to the world that complete collection of Dr. Johnson's writings, so long and so justly desired. To this collection will be added two or three volumes of the most meritorious publications, illustrative of his domestick and literary character; many of which are mentioned by his different biographers: such as ́"Courtenay's Poetical Character of Dr. Johnson," "Agutter's Funeral Sermon before the University of Oxford," Professor Young's unrivalled imitation of his style in "A Criticism on Gray's Elegy," &c. &c. The chronological arrangement of Mr. Murphy will be

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