We heartily welcome a very pleasant-looking edition of Dr. Johnson's
Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (Sampson Low and Co.), to which the Rev. W. Webb has prefixed a readable introduction. We hope, though we do not feel confident, that the younger generation will have the sense to
appreciate a book which is now probably strange to most of them. Dr. Johnson was never more happy than in the style of this little romance, never more vigorous, and, except, perhaps in some of the lives of the poets, never more free from pomposity. What could be better than this passage, which the editor, whose criticism is very judicious, wisely quotes ?—" See the common process of marriage. A youth and maiden meeting by chance, or brought together by artifice, exchange glances, reciprocate civilities, go home and dream of one another. Having little to divert attention or diversify thought, they find themselves uneasy when they are apart, and therefore conclude that they shall be happy together." We should think well of the "head and heart" of a young man, or young woman, who could appreciate Dr. Johnson.
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