son by those who feel a profound reverence for his virtues, and a respect approaching to admiration for his intellectual powers, without adopting his prejudices, or being insensible to his defects. (Memoirs of Sir James Mackintosh, 1835, vol. ii. p. 166.)

698. Johnson's Epitaph on Mr. Thrale.

Of his departed friend (says Dr. Anderson), Johnson has given a true character in a Latin epitaph, inscribed on his monument in Streatham church. Besides the example of affecting gratitude which it records, it is preserved here as an instance of the facility with which the heart of a friend finds topics of praise, to endear a worthy man to posterity, without falsehood or adulation. The morality of the conclusion is striking and instructive :—

"In the same tomb lie interred his father, Ralph Thrale, a man of vigour and activity, and his only son, Henry, who died before his father, aged ten years. Thus a happy and opulent family, raised by the grandfather, and augmented by the father, became extinguished with the grandson. Go, reader; and, reflecting on the vicissitudes of all human affairs, meditate on eternity!"

Hic conditur quod reliquum est

HENRICI THRALE,

Qui res seu civiles, seu domesticas, ita egit,
Ut vitam illi longiorem multi optarent;
Ita sacras,

Ut quam brevem esset habiturus præscire videretur;
Simplex, apertus, sibique semper similis,
Nihil ostentavit aut arte fictum aut cura
Elaboratum.

Consortes tumuli habit Rodolphum patrem, strenuum
Fortemque virum, et Henricum filium unicum,

Quem spei parentum 'mors inopina decennem præripuit.

Ita

Domus felix et opulenta, quam erexit
Avus, auxitque pater, cum nepote decidit.
Abi Viator!

Et vicibus rerum humanarum perspectis,
Æternitatem cogita!

699. Johnson's Epitaph on his Father, Mother, and Brother.

A few days before his death Johnson composed the following epitaph for his father, mother, and brother; and wrote to Mr. Green, of Lichfield, desiring that it might be "engraved on a stone, deep, massy, and hard," laid on the exact place of interment, in the middle aisle of St. Michael's church; and hoped "it might be done while he was yet alive."

H. S. E.

MICHAEL JOHNSON,

Vir impavidus, constans, animosus, periculorum immemor, laborum patientissimus ; fiducia christiana fortis, fervidusque, pater-familias apprime strenuus; bibliopola admodum peritus; mente et libris et negotiis exculta; animo ita firmo, ut, rebus adversis diu conflicatus, 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 1656. Obiit 1731.

Apposita est Sara, conjux.

Antiqua FORDORUM gente oriunda; quam domi sedulam, foris paucis notam; nulli molestam, mentis acumine et judicii subtilitate præcelentem; aliis multum, sibi parum indulgentem: Eternitati semper attentam, omne fere virtutis nomen commendavit.

Nata Nortoniæ Regis, in agro Varvicensi, Anno 1669;
Obiit 1759.

Cum NATHANAELE illorum filio, qui natus 1712, cum vires et animi, et corporis multa pollicerentur, Anno 1737, vitam brevem pia morte finivit.

700. Busts of Johnson and Garrick in Lichfield Cathedral.

In the Dean's consistory court, adjoining the south transept of the cathedral church of Lichfield, a bust has been erected, with the following inscription :

The Friends of SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.,
A native of Lichfield,

Erected this Monument

As a tribute of respect to the memory of
A man of extensive learning,

A distinguished moral writer, and a sincere Christian.
He died the 13th of December, 1784, aged 75 years.

Near it is a similar bust of Garrick, erected by his relict, after a design of the same artists, Wyatt, architect, and Westmacott, sculptor, with the following inscription, combining the desiderium chari conjugis with Johnson's emphatic eulogy on the dramatic talents of his deceased friend :

EVA MARIA, relict of DAVID GArrick, Esq.
caused this monument to be erected to the memory
of her beloved husband;

who died the 20th of January, 1779, aged 63 years.
He had not only the amiable qualities of private life,
but such astonishing dramatic talents,

as too well verified the observation of his friend,
"His death eclipsed the gaiety of nations,
and impoverished the public stock of harmless pleasure."

701. Johnson's Parents.

Of Michael Johnson little is generally known, beyond the fact that he was a tradesman at Lichfield; and no attempt has hitherto been made to bring into one point the few particulars concerning him that lie scattered through various volumes. Yet this would appear to be a mark of respect due, if not to his own merit, to that of his admirable son; and in the hope that it may incite some one to undertake a more finished composition, the subjoined outline of a memoir has been compiled.

He was a native of Derbyshire; but of origin so obscure, that Dr. Johnson once said to Boswell, "I have