How well Johnson himself could have executed a
translation of this philosophical poet, we may judge from the following
specimen which he has given in the _Rambler_: (_Motto to No. 7_.)
'O qui perpetua mundum ratione gubernas,
Terrarum caelique sator!
Disjice terrenae nebulas et pondera molis,
Atque tuo splendore mica! Tu namque serenum,
Tu requies tranquilla piis. Te cernere finis,
Principium, vector, dux, semita, terminus, idem.'
'O thou whose power o'er moving worlds presides,
Whose voice created, and whose wisdom guides,
On darkling man in pure effulgence shine,
And cheer the clouded mind with light divine.
'Tis thine alone to calm the pious breast,
With silent confidence and holy rest;
From thee, great God! we spring, to thee we tend,
Path, motive, guide, original, and end!'
[Page 140: Abridgments. A.D. 1739.]
[Page 141: Marmor Norfolciensc. AEtat 30.]
In 1739, beside the assistance which he gave to the Parliamentary
Debates, his writings in the _Gentleman's Magazine_[394] were, 'The Life
of Boerhaave,'[*] in which it is to be observed, that he discovers that
love of chymistry[395] which never forsook him; 'An Appeal to the publick
in behalf of the Editor;'[dagger] 'An Address to the Reader;'[dagger]
'An Epigram both in Greek and Latin to Eliza[396],'[*] and also English
verses to her[397];[*] and, 'A Greek Epigram to Dr. Birch[398].
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