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children her sad history. Wordsworth skilfully leaves us at the 
exact place where he first took us, even at Bolton Abbey. 
After the death of Emily, the white doe continued to go each 
Sabbath day to the Abbey to sit beside the grave of the Nortons. 
As the poet leaves this touching scene, he turns to take a last 
long look at the old Abbey, and with his mind and heart filled 
with the story of the ‘‘ White Doe of Rylstone, says :— 
«« And aye, methinks, this hoary pile, 
Subdued by outrage and decay, 
Looks down upon her with a smile, 
A gracious smile, that seems to say— 
‘Thou, thou art not a Child of Time, 
But Daughter of the Eternal Prime!’ ” 
One lesson of this splendid poem is to make us kind to the 
animal creation, another is to bear the ills of life bravely, and, 
trusting in God, to wait patiently for their removal; but if the 
‘* White Doe of Rylstone ” had no moral at all, it would be well 
worth carefully reading, for it is one of the finest poems in the 
English language. 
DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 
By J. S. BALFOUR, M.P. March 31st, 1891. 
In this paper Dr. Johnson was spoken of as one of the most 
remarkable literary men whom this conntry has produced, a man 
who in his own days was acknowledged as a literary dictator, a 
man whose writings are now, unfortunately, but little read, but 
who, thanks to a remarkable personality and to Boswell’s 
wonderful life, is still one of the most familiar figures in our 
literary annals. The life-struggles, the literary career, the 
strong opinions, and the friendships of Johnson were graphically 
sketched. Boswell’s life of the great writer was highly eulogised. 
and the paper thus closed :—We have had many greater writers 
in the past—we shall doubtless have many greater writers in the 
future—but I doubt if we ever have seen, or ever shall see, a 
nobler literary career or a life devoted to worthier aims. May 
England never lack such sons, or English literature such a 
follower. 
