The general proposition is, that good
and evil are so little understood by mankind, that their wishes, when
granted, are always destructive. This is exemplified in a variety of
instances, such as riches, state-preferment, eloquence, military glory,
long life, and the advantages of form and beauty. Juvenal's conclusion
is worthy of a christian poet, and such a pen as Johnson's. "Let us," he
says, "leave it to the gods to judge what is fittest for us. Man is
dearer to his creator than to himself. If we must pray for special
favour, let it be for a sound mind in a sound body. Let us pray for
fortitude, that we may think the labours of Hercules, and all his
sufferings, preferable to a life of luxury, and the soft repose of
Sardanapalus. This is a blessing within the reach of every man; this we
can give ourselves. It is virtue, and virtue only, that can make us
happy." In the translation, the zeal of the christian conspired with the
warmth and energy of the poet; but Juvenal is not eclipsed. For the
various characters in the original, the reader is pleased, in the
English poem, to meet with cardinal Wolsey, Buckingham stabbed by
Felton, lord Strafford, Clarendon, Charles the twelfth of Sweden; and
for Tully and Demosthenes, Lydiat, Galileo, and archbishop Laud. It is
owing to Johnson's delight in biography, that the name of Lydiat is
called forth from obscurity.
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