I, however, cannot but observe, and
I observe it to his credit, that this learned gentleman has himself
caught no mean degree of the expansion and harmony, which, independent
of all other circumstances, characterise the sentences of Johnson. Thus,
in the Preface to the volume in which his Essay appears, we find,--
'If it be said that in societies of this sort, too much attention is
frequently bestowed on subjects barren and speculative, it may be
answered, that no one science is so little connected with the rest, as
not to afford many principles whose use may extend considerably beyond
the science to which they primarily belong; and that no proposition is
so purely theoretical as to be totally incapable of being applied to
practical purposes. There is no apparent connection between duration and
the cycloidal arch, the properties of which duly attended to, have
furnished us with our best regulated methods of measuring time: and he
who has made himself master of the nature and affections of the
logarithmick curve, is not aware that he has advanced considerably
towards ascertaining the proportionable density of the air at its
various distances from the surface of the earth.
Pages:
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498