Date: 1779, 1781

"The man that sits down to suppose himself charged with treason or peculation, and heats his mind to an elaborate purgation of his character from crimes which he was never within the possibility of committing, differs only by the infrequency of his folly from him who praises beauty which he never...

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)

Date: 1779, 1781

"Still, however, it is the work of Cowley, of a mind capacious by nature, and replenished by study."

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)

Date: 1779, 1781

"Thus, comparing the shield of Satan to the orb of the Moon, he crowds the imagination with the discovery of the telescope and all the wonders which the telescope discovers"

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)

Date: 1779, 1781

"Whatever be his subject he never fails to fill the imagination."

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)