Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 1. No 1, June 1850Various
General
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 1. No 1, June 1850
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
The author writes freely, and with great power; he argues ably, and
discusses liberally all the points of religious controversy, and a very
delightful volume is the result of his labors. It must do good, it must
please and improve the mind, as well as delight the heart of all who
read it. Indeed, no one not equal to the work could have ventured upon
it without lasting disgrace had he failed in it; a dissertation upon the
faith and morals of a man whose fame has so long filled the world, and
in whose writings so much of his religious feelings are displayed, and
so much of his spiritual life is unvailed, must be admirably written to
receive any favor from the public; and we think that the author has so
ably done what he undertook to do, that that full measure of praise will
be awarded to him, which in our judgment he deserves.
A perusal of this excellent work reminds us of the recent sale of some
letters and documents of Dr. Johnson from Mr. Linnecar's collection. The
edifying example of this good and great man, so well set forth in the
present volume, is fully borne out in an admirable prayer composed by
Dr. Johnson, a few months before his death, the original copy of which
was here disposed of. For the gratification of the reader, we may be
allowed to give the following brief abstract of the contents of these
papers:
"To DAVID GARRICK.
"Streatham, December 13, 1771.
"I have thought upon your epitaph, but without much effect; an
epitaph is no easy thing. Of your three stanzas, the third is
utterly unworthy of you. The first and third together give no
discriminative character. If the first alone were to stand,
Hogarth would not be distinguished from any other man of
intellectual eminence. Suppose you worked upon something like
this:
"The hand of Art here torpid lies,
That traced th' essential form of grace,
Here death has clos'd the curious eyes
That saw the manners in the face.
If genius warm thee, Reader, stay,
If merit touch thee, shed a tear,
Be Vice and Dullness far away,
Great Hogarth's honor'd dust is here."
"To DR. FARMER.
"Bolt Court, July 22d, 1777.
"The booksellers of London have undertaken a kind of body of
English Poetry, excluding generally the dramas, and I have
undertaken to put before each author's works a sketch of his
life, and a character of his writings. Of some, however, I know
very little, and am afraid I shall not easily supply my
deficiencies. Be pleased to inform me whether among Mr. Burke's
manuscripts, or any where else at Cambridge any materials are to
be found."
"To OZIAS HUMPHREY.
"May 31st, 1784.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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