'
1777: AETAT. 68.]--In 1777, it appears from his Prayers and Meditations,
that Johnson suffered much from a state of mind 'unsettled and
perplexed,' and from that constitutional gloom, which, together with his
extreme humility and anxiety with regard to his religious state, made
him contemplate himself through too dark and unfavourable a medium. It
may be said of him, that he 'saw GOD in clouds.' Certain we may be of
his injustice to himself in the following lamentable paragraph, which it
is painful to think came from the contrite heart of this great man,
to whose labours the world is so much indebted: 'When I survey my past
life, I discover nothing but a barren waste of time with some disorders
of body, and disturbances of the mind, very near to madness, which I
hope He that made me will suffer to extenuate many faults, and excuse
many deficiencies.' But we find his devotions in this year eminently
fervent; and we are comforted by observing intervals of quiet,
composure, and gladness.
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