s
in full play, and the full orbit of his genius forever clear and
unclouded.

[Transcriber's Footnote 1: coruscations: flashes of light.]

And then, the stores of his mind were inexhaustible. He had commenced life
with an attention so vigilant that nothing had escaped his observation;
and a judgment so solid that every incident was turned to advantage. His
youth had not been wasted in idleness, nor overcast by intemperance. He
had been, all his life, a close and deep reader, as well as thinker; and
by the force of his own powers, had wrought up the raw materials which he
had gathered from books, with such exquisite skill and felicity, that he
has added a hundred fold to their original value, and justly made them his
own.

NOTES.--Benjamin Franklin (b. 1706, d. 1790) was one of the most prominent
men in the struggle of the American colonies for liberty. He was renowned
as a statesman, and, although not an author by profession, was a very
prolific writer. His "Autobiography," which was first printed in France,
is now a household volume in America. See page 431.

Boswell, James, (b. 1740, d. 1795,) was a Scotch lawyer, and is chiefly
known as the biographer of Dr. Johnson, of whom he was the intimate friend
and companion.

Johnson, Samuel. See biographical notice, page 78.

CV. THE DREAM OF CLARENCE. (368)

SCENE--Room in the Tower of London. Enter CLARENCE and BRAKENBURY.

Brak. Why looks your grace so heavily to-day?
Clar. O, I have passed a miserable night,
So full of ugly sights, of ghastly dreams,
That, as I am a Christian, faithful man,
I would not spend another such a night,
Though 't were to buy a world of happy days,
So full of dismal terror was the time!
Brak. What was your dream? I long to hear you tell it.
Clar. Methoughts, that I had broken from the Tower,
And was embarked to cross to Burgundy;
And, in my company, my brother Gloster;
Who, from my cabin, tempted me to walk
Upon the hatches; thence we looked toward England,
And cited up a thousand fearful times,
During the wars of York and Lancaster,
That had befallen us. As we paced along
Upon the giddy footing of the hatches,
Methought that Gloster stumbled; and, in falling,
Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard,
Into the tumbling billows of the main.
Oh, then, methought, what pain it was to drown!
What dreadful noise of wat