Page:An Essay on the Life and Genius of Samuel Johnson.djvu/162

154 Epilogue, we are told, in a late publication, was written by Sir William Young. This is a new discovery, but by no means probable. When the appendages to a Dramatic Performance are not assigned to a friend, or an unknown hand, or a person of fashion, they are always supposed to be written by the author of the Play. It is to be wished, however, that the Epilogue, in question, could be transferred to any other writer. It isthe worst Jeu d'Esprit that ever fell from Johnson's pen.

An account of the various pieces contained in this edition, such asmiscellaneous tracts, and philological dissertations, would lead beyond the intended limits of this essay. It will suffice to say, that they are the productions of a man, who never wanted decorations of language, and always taught his reader to think. The life of the late king of Prussia, as far as it extends, is a model of the biographical style. The review of was, perhaps, written with asperity; but the angry epitaph which it provoked from, was an ill-timed resentment, unworthy of the genius of that amiable author.