EPITAPH ON CLAUDE PHILLIPS,

AN ITINERANT MUSICIAN*.

PHILLIPS! whose touch harmonious could remove
The pangs of guilty pow'r, and hapless love,
Rest here, distrest by poverty no more,
Find here that calm thou gav'st so oft before;
Sleep undisturb'd within this peaceful shrine,
Till angels wake thee with a note like thine.

EPITAPHIUM+

IN

THOMAM HANMER, BARONETTUM.

Honorabilis admodum THOMAS HANMER,
Baronettus,

Wilhelmi Hanmer armigeri, è Pereginâ Henrici
North

De Mildenhall in Com. Suffolciæ Baronetti sorore

et hærede,
Filius;

Johannis Hanmer de Hanmer Baronetti
Hæres patruelis

Antiquo gentis suæ et titulo et patrimonio successit.

These lines are among Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies: they are nevertheless recognised as Johnson's in a memorandum of his hand-writing, and were probably written at her request. Phillips was a travelling fiddler up and down Wales, and was greatly celebrated for his performance.

+ At Hanmer church, in Flintshire.

Duas uxores sortitus est;

Alteram Isabellam, honore à patre derivato, de Arlington comitissam,

Deindè celsissimi principis ducis de Grafton viduam dotariam:

Alteram Elizabetham Thomæ Foulkes de Barton in Com. Suff. armigeri

Filiam et hæredem.

Inter humanitatis studia felicitèr enutritus, Omnes liberalium artium disciplinas avidè arripuit, Quas morum suavitate haud leviter ornavit. Postquam excessit ex ephebis,

Continuò inter populares suos famâ eminens, Et comitatûs sui legatus ad Parliamentum missus, Ad ardua regni negotia per annos prope triginta se accinxit:

Cumque apud illos amplissimorum virorum ordines
Solent nihil temerè effutire,

Sed probè perpensa dissertè expromere,
Orator gravis et pressus

Non minus integritatis quàm eloquentiæ laude
commendatus,

Equè omnium, utcunque inter se alioqui dissidentium,
Aures atque animos attraxit.

Annoque demum M.DCC.XIII, regnante Annâ,
Felicissimæ florentissimæque memoriæ reginâ,
Ad Prolocutoris cathedram

Communi Senatûs universi voce designatus est:
Quod munus,

Cum nullo tempore non difficile,
Tum illo certè, negotiis

Et variis et lubricis et implicatis difficillimum,
Cum dignitate sustinuit.

Honores alios, et omnia quæ sibi in lucrum cederent

munera,

Sedulò detrectavit,

Ut rei totus inserviret publicæ;
Justi rectique tenax,

Et fide in patriam incorruptâ notus. Ubi omnibus, quæ virum civemque bonum decent, officiis satisfecisset,

Paulatim se à publicis consiliis in otium recipiens, Inter literarum amoenitates,

Inter ante-actæ vitæ haud insuaves recordationes,
Inter amicorum convictus et amplexus,
Honorificè consenuit ;

Et bonis omnibus, quibus charissimus vixit,
Desideratissimus obiit.

Hic juxta cineres avi, suos condi voluit, et curavit
Gulielmus Bunbury Bttus nepos et hæres.

PARAPHRASE OF THE ABOVE EPITAPH.
BY DR. JOHNSON*.

THOU who survey'st these walls with curious eye,
Pause at the tomb where HANMER'S ashes lie;
His various worth through varied life attend,
And learn his virtues while thou mourn'st his end.
His force of genius burn'd in early youth,
With thirst of knowledge, and with love of truth;
His learning, join'd with each endearing art,
Charm'd ev'ry ear, and gain'd on ev'ry heart.

This Paraphrase is inserted in Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies. The Latin is there said to be written by Dr. Freind. Of the person whose memory it celebrates, a copious account may be seen in the Appendix to the Supplement to the Biographia Britannica.

Thus early wise, th' endanger'd realm to aid,
His country call'd him from the studious shade;
In life's first bloom his publick toils began,
At once commenc'd the senator and man.

In business dext'rous, weighty in debate, Thrice ten long years he labour'd for the State; In ev'ry speech persuasive wisdom flow'd, In ev'ry act refulgent virtue glow'd: Suspended faction ceas'd from rage and strife, To hear his eloquence, and praise his life. Resistless merit fix'd the Senate's choice, Who hail'd him Speaker with united voice. Illustrious age! how bright thy glories shone, When HANMER fill'd the chair-and ANNE the

throne !

Then when dark arts obscur'd each fierce debate, When mutual frauds perplex'd the maze of state, The moderator firmly mild appear'd

Beheld with love-with veneration heard.

This task perform'd--he sought no gainful post,
Nor wish'd to glitter at his country's cost:
Strict on the right he fix'd his steadfast eye,
With temperate zeal and wise anxiety;
Nor e'er from Virtue's paths was lur'd aside,
To pluck the flowr's of pleasure, or of pride.
Her gifts despis'd, Corruption blush'd and fled,
And Fame pursu'd him where Conviction led.

Age call'd, at length, his active mind to rest,
With honour sated, and with cares opprest;
To letter'd ease retir'd, and honest mirth,
To rural grandeur and domestic worth:
Delighted still to please mankind, or mend,
The patriot's fire yet sparkled in the friend.

Calm Conscience, then, his former life survey'd,
And recollected toils endear'd the shade,

Till Nature call'd him to the gen'ral doom,
And Virtue's sorrow dignified his tomb.

TO MISS HICKMAN*,

PLAYING ON THE SPINNET.

BRIGHT Stella, form'd for universal reign,
Too well you know to keep the slaves you gain;
When in your eyes resistless lightnings play,
Aw'd into love our conquer'd hearts obey,
And yield reluctant to despotic sway:
But when your musick soothes the raging pain,
We bid propitious Heav'n prolong your reign,
We bless the tyrant, and we hug the chain.

When old Timotheus struck the vocal string,
Ambition's fury fir'd the Grecian king:
Unbounded projects lab'ring in his mind,
He pants for room in one poor world confin'd.
Thus wak'd to rage, by musick's dreadful pow'r,
He bids the sword destroy, the flame devour.
Had Stella's gentle touches mov'd the lyre,
Soon had the monarch felt a nobler fire;
No more delighted with destructive war,
Ambitious only now to please the fair;
Resign'd his thirst of empire to her charms,
And found a thousand worlds in Stella's arms.

*These lines, which have been communicated by Dr. Turton, son to Mrs. Turton, the lady to whom they are addressed by her maiden name of Hickman, must have been written at least as early as 1734, as that was the year of her marriage: at how much earlier a period of Dr. Johnson's life they may have been written, is not known.