"What tho' on hamely fare we dine,

Wear hodden gray, and a' that;

Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine

A man's a man for a' that.

For a' that, and a' that,

Their tinsel show, and a' that;

The honest man, though e'er sae poor,

Is king of men for a' that."

267. Love of Nature.- Nature, likewise, appears in a new relation. Instead of serving exclusively as a background for human interests, it is loved and studied for its own sake. Rural scenes and country life are frequently depicted. This tendency began, as we have seen, with Thomson's "Seasons." But his descriptions, though often minute and admirable, were too systematic and cold. He seems to have studied nature as a selfimposed task rather than from the drawings of a sympathetic love. In the "Minstrel" of James Beattie, published in 1771, we first meet with descriptions of nature in the spirit of Wordsworth and more recent writers. The minstrel boy "knew great Nature's charms to prize."

"And oft the craggy cliff he loved to climb,

When all in mist the world below was lost-
What dreadful pleasure! there to stand sublime,
Like shipwrecked mariner on desert coast,
And view the enormous waste of vapor, tossed
In billows, lengthening to the horizon round,

Now scooped in gulfs, with mountains now embossed,
And hear the voice of mirth and song rebound;

Flocks, herds, and waterfalls, along the hoar profound!"

The same love of nature, as we shall see, is found in Goldsmith, and Burns.

FOR FURTHER READING AND STUDY.

Social conditions in England, Green, "History of the English People," vol. iv., pp. 272–308. Nature of the Romantic movement, Phelps, "Beginning of the English Romantic Movement."

66

The plot of Sheridan's "School for Scandal." An analysis of Burke's Conciliation with the Colonies' (Syle's edition, Sibley & Co.). Gibbon's early love, Howell's edition of the "Autobiography," pp. 117-119. The concluding reflections of the "Autobiography." A comparison of the styles of Burke's 'Conciliation" and the first chapter of the "Decline and Fall," Painter's "Guide to Literary Criticism," Part II.

A study of Gray's poem, A Distant Prospect of Eton College." A critique of his "Elegy in a Country Churchyard." A study of Collins' Ode to Evening" and "Ode on the Passions." (For the last three subjects, consult Painter's "Guide to Literary Criticism," chs. vii-ix.) Graphic scenes from Cowper's "The Winter Evening" and "the Winter Morning Walk." The story of John Gilpin. A review of Macpherson's "Ossian." Romantic elements in Crabbe's The Village." A comparative study of the styles of the three great historians, Painter's "Guide to Literary Criticism."

66

Engraved by William Doughty after the painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, London. Published.

1793.

бито догадки

SAMUEL JOHNSON.

268. A Piece of Rugged Manhood. There is no other English author with whom we are so intimately acquainted. Through the hero-worship of his biographer Boswell, we are permitted to see and hear him as he appeared in the circle of his most intimate friends. We get close to the man as he actually was. We know his prejudices, foibles, and peculiarities; and strange to say, this minute acquaintance does not lessen, but increases our admiration and love. He was a piece of rugged Alpine manhood. But his towering greatness was softened by a benevolence that never failed to reach out a helping hand to the needy; and his brusqueness of manner was relieved by an integrity of character that scorned every form of hypocrisy. In the midst of so much pettiness and cant it is delightful to contemplate his sturdy uprightness and independence; as Carlyle said of Luther, “A true son of nature and fact, for whom these centuries, and many that are to come yet, will be thankful to Heaven."

269. Peculiarities. His peculiarities of person and manner are well known. He was ponderous in body as in intellect. A scrofulous affection, for which Queen Anne had laid royal hands upon him, had disfigured his face, and also tinged his mind, perhaps, with whim and melancholy. He had a rolling walk, and made it a habit to touch the posts as he passed. His appetite for tea was enormous; and he ate with an absorbing interest that might properly be called ravenous. His sight was defective; but when Reynolds painted him with a pen held close to his eye, he protested that he did not want to descend to posterity as "blinking Sam." He was singularly insensible to music; and when a musical performance was praised as being difficult, he simply said that he wished it had been impossible. After he had published his dictionary he was once with