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cially when provoked by obtrusive ignorance, or prefuming petulance; and allowance must be made for his uttering hafty and fatirical fallies, even against his best friends. And furely, when it is considered, that amidst fickness and forrow," he exerted his faculties in fo many works for the benefit of mankind, and particularly that he achieved the great and admirable Dictionary of our language, we must be astonished at his refolution. The folemn text of him to whom much is given, much will be required," seems to have been ever present to his mind in a rigorous fenfe, and to have made him diffatisfied with his labours and acts of goodness, however comparatively great; fo that the unavoidable conscioufnefs of his fuperiority was in that respect a cause of difquiet. He fuffered fo much from this, and from the gloom which perpetually haunted him, and made folitude frightful, that it may be faid

of him,

"If in this life only he had hope,

he was of all men most miferable." He

loved praise when it was brought to him;

but was too proud to seek for it. He was fomewhat fufceptible of flattery. As he was general and unconfined in his ftudies, he cannot be confidered as master of any one particular science; but he had accumulated a vaft and various collection of learning and knowledge, which was fo arranged in his mind, as to be ever in readiness to be brought forth. But his fuperiority over other learned men confifted chiefly in what may be called the art of thinking, the art of ufing his mind; a certain continual power of feizing the useful fubftance of all that he knew, and exhibiting it in a clear and forcible manner; fo that knowledge which we often see to be no better than lumber in men of dull understanding, was in him true, evident, and actual wifdom. His moral precepts are

practical; for they are drawn from an intimate acquaintance with human nature. His maxims carry conviction; for they are founded on the basis of common sense. His mind was fo full of imagery, that he might have been perpetually a poet; yet it is remarkable, that however rich his profe is in that respect, the poetical pieces which he wrote were in general not fo, but rather strong sentiment and acute obfervation, conveyed in good verfe, particularly in heroic couplets. Though ufually grave, and even awful in his deportment, he poffeffed uncommon and peculiar powers of wit and humour: he frequently indulged himfelf in colloquial pleasantry; and the heartiest merriment was often enjoyed in his company; with this great advantage, that as it was entirely free from any poisonous tincture of vice or impiety, it was falutary to those who shared in it. He had accuftomed himself to fuch accuracy in his com

mon conversation, that he at all times delivered himself with a force, choice, and elegance of expreffion, the effect of which was aided by his having a loud voice, and a flow and deliberate utterance. He united a moft logical head with a moft fertile imagination, which gave him an extraordinary advantage in arguing; for he could reafon close or wide, as he faw beft for the moment. Exulting in his intellectual ftrength and dexterity, he could, when he pleafed, be the greatest fophift that ever contended in the lifts of declamation; and from a spirit of contradiction, and a delight in fhowing his powers, he would often maintain the wrong fide with equal warmth and ingenuity: so that when there was an audience, his real opinions could feldom be gathered from his talk; though when he was in company with a fingle friend, he would discuss a fubject with genuine fairnefs. But he was too confcientious to make

error permanent and pernicious, by deliberately writing it; and in all his numerous works, he earneftly inculcated what appeared to him to be the truth. His piety was conftant, and was the ruling principle of all his conduct; and the more we confider his character, we fhall be the more difpofed to regard him with admiration

and reverence."

His character, as given by Mrs. Piozzi in her " Anecdotes," is drawn with spirit and propriety, though fomewhat lefs favourably.

"His ftature was remarkably high, and his limbs exceedingly large: his ftrength was more than common, I believe, and his activity had been greater, I have heard, than fuch a form gave one reafon to expect: his features were strongly marked, and his countenance particularly rugged; though the original complexion had certainly been fair, a circumstance fomewhat unusual, his fight