Thy gentle flows of guiltless joys
On fools and villains ne'er descend;
In vain for thee the tyrant sighs,
And hugs a flatterer for a friend.
Directress of the brave and just,
O guide us through life's darksome way!
And let the tortures of mistrust
On selfish bosoms only prey.
Nor shall thine ardours cease to glow,
When souls to blissful climes remove;
What rais'd our virtue here below,
Shall aid our happiness above.'
[Page 159: Dr. James and Dr. Mead. AEtat 34.]
Johnson had now an opportunity of obliging his schoolfellow Dr. James,
of whom he once observed, 'no man brings more mind to his
profession.[462]' James published this year his _Medicinal Dictionary_, in
three volumes folio. Johnson, as I understood from him, had written, or
assisted in writing, the proposals for this work; and being very fond of
the study of physick, in which James was his master, he furnished some
of the articles[463]. He, however, certainly wrote for it the Dedication
to Dr. Mead,[dagger] which is conceived with great address, to
conciliate the patronage of that very eminent man[464].
[Page 160: Dr. Birch. A.D. 1743.]
It has been circulated, I know not with what authenticity, that Johnson
considered Dr. Birch as a dull writer, and said of him, 'Tom Birch is as
brisk as a bee in conversation; but no sooner does he take a pen in his
hand, than it becomes a torpedo to him, and benumbs all his
faculties[465].
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