The Works of Samuel Johnson in Nine Volumes | Page 9

among the gifts of nature to the poppy, "which is scattered,"
says he, "over the fields of corn, that all the needs of man may be easily
satisfied, and that bread and sleep may be found together."
Si quis invisum Cereri benignæ Me putat germen, vehementer errat;
Illa me in partem recipit libenter Fertilis agri.
Meque frumentumque simul per omnes Consulens mundo Dea spargit
oras; Crescite, O! dixit, duo magna sustentaculu vitæ,
Carpe, mortalis, mea dona lætus, Carpe, nec plantas alias require, Sed
satur panis, satur et soporis, Cætera sperue,
He wildly errs who thinks I yield Precedence in the well-cloth'd field,
Tho' mix'd with wheat I grow: Indulgent Ceres knew my worth, And to
adorn the teeming earth, She bade the Poppy blow.
Nor vainly gay the sight to please, But blest with pow'r mankind to ease,
The goddess saw me rise: "Thrive with the life-supporting grain," She
cried, "the solace of the swain, The cordial of his eyes.
Seize, happy mortal, seize the good; My hand supplies thy sleep and
food, And makes thee truly blest: With plenteous meals enjoy the day,

In slumbers pass the night away, And leave to fate the rest." C. B.
Sleep, therefore, as the chief of all earthly blessings, is justly
appropriated to induustry and temperance; the refreshing rest, and the
peaceful night, are the portion only of him who lies down weary with
honest labour, and free from the fumes of indigested luxury; it is the
just doom of laziness and gluttony, to be inactive without ease, and
drowsy without tranquillity.
Sleep has been often mentioned as the image of death[1]; "so like it,"
says Sir Thomas Brown, "that I dare not trust it without my prayers:"
their resemblance is, indeed, apparent and striking; they both, when
they seize the body, leave the soul at liberty: and wise is he that
remembers of both, that they can be safe and happy only by virtue.
[1] Lovely sleep! thou beautiful image of terrible death, Be thou my
pillow-companion, my angel of rest! Come, O sleep! for thine are the
joys of living and dying: Life without sorrow, and death with no
anguish, no pain. From the German of Schmidt

No. 41. TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1753.
--_Si mutabile pectus Est tibi, consiliis, non curribus, utere nostris;
Dum potes, et solidis etiamnum sedibus adstas, Dumque male optatos
nondum premis inscius axes._ OVID. Met. ii. 143.
--Th' attempt forsake, And not my chariot but my counsel take; While
yet securely on the earth you stand; Nor touch the horses with too rash
a hand. ADDISON.
TO THE ADVENTURER.
Sir, Fleet, March 24.
I now send you the sequel of my story, which had not been so long
delayed, if I could have brought myself to imagine, that any real
impatience was felt for the fate of Misargyrus; who has travelled no
unbeaten track to misery, and consequently can present the reader only
with such incidents as occur in daily life. You have seen me, Sir, in the
zenith of my glory, not dispensing the kindly warmth of an all-cheering
sun: but, like another Phaeton, scorching and blasting every thing round
me. I shall proceed, therefore, to finish my career, and pass as rapidly
as possible through the remaining vicissitudes of my life.
When I first began to be in want of money, I made no doubt of an
immediate supply. The newspapers were perpetually offering directions

to men, who seemed to have no other business than to gather heaps of
gold for those who place their supreme felicity in scattering it. I posted
away, therefore, to one of these advertisers, who by his proposals
seemed to deal in thousands; and was not a little chagrined to find, that
this general benefactor would have nothing to do with any larger sum
than thirty pounds, nor would venture that without a joint note from
myself and a reputable housekeeper, or for a longer time than three
months.
It was not yet so bad with me, as that I needed to solicit surety for thirty
pounds: yet partly from the greediness that extravagance always
produces, and partly from a desire of seeing the humour of a petty
usurer, a character of which I had hitherto lived in ignorance, I
condescended to listen to his terms. He proceeded to inform me of my
great felicity in not falling into the hands of an extortioner; and assured
me, that I should find him extremely moderate in his demands: he was
not, indeed, certain that he could furnish me with the whole sum, for
people were at this particular time extremely pressing and importunate
for money: yet, as I had the appearance of a gentleman, he would try
what he could do, and give me his answer in three days.
At the