haps, too apparent. It has, perhaps, too unwieldy, and too uniform a dignity. It has much of the harmony, and sometimes, perhaps, somewhat of the monotony of verse. Among the deviations from customary construction, may be reckoned the substitution of substantives for the other parts of speech, of the imperfect tense for the perfect participle, of the indicative for the subjunctive mood, the use of the plural verb with the disjunctive conjunction, and the omission of the ellipses of the pronoun. He seems to have been particularly studious of the glitter of an antithesis between the epithet and the substantive. This strikes while it is new; but to the more experienced reader, though it may seem sometimes forcible, yet it will often prove tiresome. It is remarkable, that his early performances bear few marks of the style which he adopted in the Rambler. In the Life of Savage, the style is elegant, but not ostentatious. His sentences are naturally arranged, and musical without artifice. He affects not the measuring of clauses and the balancing of periods; he aims not at splendid, glowing diction; he seeks not pointed phrases and elaborate contrasts. It is also worthy of remark, that he has altered, and perhaps improved his style, long after his reputation had been established, and the Rambler had appeared. The composition of this work differs, in some degree, from that of Rasselas, the Journey to the Western Islands, and the Lives of the Poets. The native vigour and peculiarity of feature are preserved; but they are polished to greater elegance, and taught to wear the appearance of a happier ease. In the Rambler his periods are longer, and his meaning more condensed; he is more fond of abstract terms, and ambitious of sesquipedalian words. But this work was written while he was occupied in collecting authorities for the English Dictionary; at a time when Browne and Hooker, Bacon and Hakewill, Raleigh and Knolles, were continually before him ; men whom it was difficult to read, and remain free from the temptation to imitate. In his latter productions, particularly the 1 Lives of the Poets, his sentences are shorter, their construction more simple, and the use of Latin derivatives less frequent. He has made his style, in a greater degree, elegant without constraint, dignified without ambitious ornament, strong without rigidity, and harmonious without elaboration. By a strict attention to verbal precision, the sedulous rejection of expletives and irregular combinations, and the melodious collocation of the sentences, he has refined our language to grammatical purity, and formed a style of English prose, perfectly original, and more correct, dignified, and harmonious, than that of any of the English writers, from Addison and Bolingbroke to Melmoth and Hume. At the same time, it must be confessed, that, except on topics of elevation and sublimity, the loss of the colloquial ease, sweetness, and simplicity which distinguish the writings of Addison, is scarcely compensated by the solidity of condensed conceptions, the harmony of artificial arrangement, and the pomp of sonorous phraseology. As Homer gave a peculiar lan guage to his gods, to express their divine conceptions, let us allow to Johnson, and to men like him, a style such as he has used; for we have as yet found none more rich, accurate, and majestic. It is certain that his example has given a general elevation and correctness to English composition; for scarcely any thing is written now that is not expressed with more precision and propriety than was usual before he appeared to lead the national taste. This circumstance is well described by Mr Courtenay, in the discriminative catalogue of his immediate disciples. "By Nature's gifts ordain'd mankind to rule, Among the "congenial spirits" who formed" the school of Johnson," he commemorates the respectable names of Goldsmith, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr Burney, Mr Malone, Mr Steevens, Dr Hawkesworth, Sir William Jones, and Mr Boswell; and concludes the tribute to his scholars, with a panegyric on the revolution produced by his example in English composition. "Nor was his energy confin'd alone To friends around his philosophic throne; Among the imitators of his style, whether intentionally, or by the imperceptible effect of its strength and animation, may be reckoned a great proportion of the most distinguished literary characters of the present reign. The writings of Dr Robertson, Dr Blair, Mr Burke, Mr Gibbon, Dr Leland, Dr Ferguson, Dr Paley, Dr Beattie, Dr Stuart, Dr Knox, Dr Parr, Dr Thomson, Dr Gillies, Dr Drake, Professor Richardson, Mrs Barbauld, Professor Stewart, Sir James Mackintosh, Mr Poetical Review, &c. |
