He could not be said to be a stayed
man, nor so to have adjusted in his mind the balance of reason and
passion, as to give occasion to say what may be observed of some men,
that all they do is just, fit, and right.' [Hawkins's _Johnson_, p.
409.] Yet a judicious friend well suggests, 'It might, however, have
been added, that such men are often merely just, and rigidly correct,
while their hearts are cold and unfeeling; and that Johnson's virtues
were of a much higher tone than those of the _stayed, orderly man_, here
described.' BOSWELL.
[1147] 'Lich, a dead carcase; whence Lichfield, the field of the dead, a
city in Staffordshire, so named from martyred Christians. _Salve magna
parens.'_ It is curious that in the Abridgment of the _Dictionary_ he
struck out this salutation, though he left the rest of the article.
_Salve magna parens_, (Hail, mighty parent) is from Virgil's _Georgics_,
ii. 173. The Rev. T. Twining, when at Lichfield in 1797, says:--'I
visited the famous large old willow-tree, which Johnson, they say, used
to kiss when he came to Lichfield.' _Recreations and Studies of a
Country Clergyman of the XVIII Century_, p.
Pages:
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935