1^-^ 4 LIBRARY OP THE Theological Seminary, PRINCETON, N. J. - Case, ciZ:? V^^-rOivisio n . , . Shelf, f (J / ^"-^e-GtioP, BooJc, ^ i ^'^ No.... THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL. D. COMPREHENDING AN ACCOUNT OF HIS STUDIES, AND NUMEROUS WORKS, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER; A SERIES OF HIS EPISTOLARY CORRESPONDENCE AND CONVERSATIONS WITH MANY EMINENT PERSONS ; AND VARIOUS ORIGINAL PIECES OF HIS COMPOSITION, NEl'ER BEPORM PUBLISHED : THE WHOLE EXHIBITING A VIEW OF LITERATURE AND LITERARY MEN IN GREAT-BRITAIN, FOR NEAR HALF A CENTURY DURING WHICH HE FLOURISHED. BY JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. Quo Jit ut OMNIS yotiva pateat •veluti descripta tabella Vita senis Horat. FIRST AMERICAN FROM THE FIFTH LONDON EDITION, IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. II. BOSTON : PUBLISHED BY AV. ANDREWS AND L. BLAKE. OtLHEHOUGll AND STBBBINS, PRWTERS. 1807- THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL. D. IN 1779 Dr. Johnson was altogether quiescent as an authour ; but it will be found, from the various evidences which I shall bring together, that his mind was acute, lively and vigorous. " TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. " DEAR SIR, " Be pleased to send to Mr. Banks, whose place of residence I do not know, this note, which 1 have sent open, that, if you please, you may read it. " When you send it, do not use your own seal. " I am. Sir, " Your most humble servant, '^ Feb. 27, 1772. " Sam. Johnson." " TO JOSEPH BANKS, ESQ. " Perpcfua amhitd bis terra prcemia lactis " Hcec habet altrici Capra secunda Jovis."'^ " SIR, " I RETURN thanks to you and to Dr. Solander for the pleasure which I received in yesterday's conversa- tion. I could not recollect a motto for your Goat, but ♦ Thus translated by a friend : " In fame scarce second to the nurse of Jove, " This Goat, who twice the world had traversed round, " Deserving both her master's care and love, '^ Basp and perpetual pasture now has found." 4- THE LIFE OF 1772. have given her one. You, Sir, may perhaps have an ^^ epick poem from some happier pen than, Sir, 63. ' " Your most humble servant, " Sam. Johnson." " Johnson' S'Court^ Fleet-street^ Februanj 27, 1772." " to dr. JOHNSON. ^' MY DEAR SIR, " It is hard that I cannot prevail on you to write to me oftener. But I am convinced that it is in vain to expect from you a private correspondence with any regularity, 1 must, therefore, look upon you as a foun- tain of wisdom, from whence few rills are communicated to a distance, and which must be approached at its source, to partake fully of its virtues. ^ TV ^ ^ ^ TV '•' I am coming to London soon, and am to appear in an appeal from the Court of Session in the House of Lords. K schoolmaster in Scotland was, by a court of inferior jurisdiction, deprived of his office, for being somewhat severe in the chastisement of his scholars. The court of Session considering it to be dangerous to the interest of learning and education, to lessen the dig- nity of teachers, and make them afraid of too indulgent parents, instigated by the complaints of their children, restored him. His enemies have appealed to the House of Lords, though the salary is only twenty pounds a year. I was Counsel for him here. I hope there will be little fear of a reversal ; but I must beg to have your aid in my plan of supporting the decree. It is a general question, and not a point of particular law. ****** " I am, &c. •* James Boswell," " to james boswell, esq. *' DEAR SIR, " That you are coming so soon to town I am very glad ; and still more glad that you are coming as an ad- vocate- I think nothing more likely to make your life DR. JOHNSON. O pass happily away, than that consciousness of your own i772. value, which eminence in your profession will certainly yj/tat. confer. If I can give you any collateral help, 1 hope 03 . you do not suspect that it will be wanting. My kind- ness for you has neither the merit of singular virtue, nor the reproach of singular prejudice. Whether to love you be right or wrong, 1 have many on my side : Mrs. Thraie loves you, and Mrs. Williams loves you, and what would have inclined me to love you, if I had been neutral before, you are a great favourite of Dr. Beattie. " Of Dr. Beattie I should have thought much, but that his lady puts him out of my head ; she is a very lovely woman. " The ejection which you come hither to oppose, appears very cruel, unreasonable, and oppressive. I should think there could not be much doubt of your success. " My health grows better, yet I am not fully recov- ered. 1 believe it is held, that men do not recover very fast after threescore. 1 hope yet to see Beattie's Col- lege : and have not given up the western voyage. But however all this may be or not, let us try to make each other happy when we meet, and not refer our pleasure to distant times or distant places. " How comes it that you tell me nothing of your la- dy I I hope to see her some time, and till then shall be glad to hear of her. " I am, dear Sir, &c. ''March 15, 1772. " Sam. Johnson." " TO BENNET LANGTON, ESQ. NEAR SPILSBY, LIN- COLNSHIRE. ■' DEAR SIR, " I CONGRATULATE you and Lady Rothes* on your little man, and hope you will all be many years happy together. • [Mr. Langton married, May 24, 1770, Jane, the daughter of — — Lloyd, Esq., and widow of John Earl of Rothes, many years Commander in Chief of the For- ces is Ireland, who died in 1767. M.] THE LIFE OF 1772. ^« Poor Miss Langton can have little part in the joy ^^ of her family. She this day called her aunt Langton 63. ' to receive the sacrament with her ; and made me talk yesterday on such subjects as suit her condition. It will probably be her viaticum. I surely need not men- tion again that she wishes to see her mother. I am, Sir, " Your most humble servant, " March 14, 1772. " Sam. Johnson." On the 21st of March, I was happy to find myself again in my friend's study, and was glad to see my old acquaintance, Mr. Francis Barber, who was now re- turned home. Dr. Johnson received me with a hearty welcome ; saying, " 1 am glad you are come, and glad you are come upon such an errand :" (alluding to the cause of the schoolmaster.) Boswell. " 1 hope. Sir, he will be in no danger. It is a very delicate matter to interfere between a master and his scholars : nor do I see how you can fix the degree of severity that a mas- ter may use." Johnson. " Why, Sir, till you can fix the degree of obstinacy and negligence of the schol- ars, you cannot fix the degree of severity of the master. Severity must be continued until obstinacy be subdued, and negligence be cured." He mentioned the severity of Hunter, his own master. " Sir, (said I,) Hunter is a Scotch name : so it should seem this schoolmaster who beat you so severely, was a Scotchman. I can now account for your prejudice against the Scotch." Johnson. " Sir, he was not Scotch ; and, abating his brutality, he was a very good master." We talked of his two political pamphlets, " The False Alarm," and "Thoughts concerning Falkland's Islands.'* Johnson. " Well, Sir, which of them did you think the best?" Bos WELL. " I liked the second best." Johnson. " Why, Sir, I liked the first best ; and Beat- tie liked the first best. Sir, there is a subtlety of disquisition in the first, that is worth all the fire of the , second." Boswell. " Pray, Sir, is it true that Lord North paid you a visit, and that you got two hundred a year in addition to your pension ?" Johnson. " No, Sir. Except what 1 had from the bookseller, I did not DR. JOHNSON. 7 get a farthing by them. And, between you and me, '772. 1 believe Lord North is no friend to me." Boswell. JJ^ " How so, Sir?" Johnson. " Why, Sir, you cannot 03. account for the fancies of men. — Well, how does l^ord Eiihank ? and how does Lord Monboddo !" Boswell. " \ ery well, Sir. Lord Monboddo still maintains the superiority of the savage life." Johnson. " What strange narrowness of mind now is that, to think the things we have not known, are better than the things which we have known." Boswell. " Why, Sir, that is a common prejudice." Johnson. " Yes, Sir, but a common prejudice should not be found in one whose trade it is to rectify errour." A gentleman having come in who was to go as a Mate in the ship along with Mr. Banks and Dr. Solan- der. Dr. Johnson asked what were the names of the ships destined for the expedition. The gentleman an- swered, they were once to be called the Drake and the Ralegh, but now they were to be called the Resolution and the Adventure. Johnson. " Much better ; for had the Ralegh returned without going round the world, it would have been ridiculous. To give them the names of the Drake and the Ralegh was laying a trap for satire." Boswell. " Had not you some desire to go upon this expedition, Sir!" Johnson. " Why yes, but 1 soon laid it aside. Sir, there is very little of in- tellectual, in the course. Besides, I see but at a small distance. So it was not worth my while to go to see birds fly, which I should not have seen fly ; and fishes swim, which I should not have seen swim." The gentleman being gone, and Dr. Johnson having left the roonn^for some time, a debate arose between the Reverend Mr. Stockdale and Mrs. Desmoulins, whether Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander were entitled to any share of glory from their expedition. When Dv. Johnson re- turned to us, 1 told him the subject of their dispute. Johnson. " Why, Sir, it was properly for botany that they went out : 1 believe they thought only of culling of simples " I thanked him for showing civilities to Beattie. " Sir. (said he,) I should thank f/on. We all love Beattie. 8 THE LIFE OF 1772. Mrs. Thrale says, if ever she has another husband, she'il ^J^ have Beattie. He sunk upon us^ that he was married ; 63. else we should have shown his lady more civilities. She is a very fine woman. But how can you show ci- vilities to a non-entity l I did not think he had been married. Nay, I did not think about it one way or other ; but he did not tell us of his lady till late." He then spoke of St. Kilda, the most remote of the Hebrides. I told him I thought of buying it. John- son. " Pray do. Sir. We will go and pass a winter amid the blasts there. We shall have fine fish, and we will take some dried tongues with us, and some books. We will have a strong built vessel, and some Orkney men to navigate her. We must build a tolerable house : but we may carry with us a wooden house ready made, and requiring nothing but to be put up. Consider, Sir, by buying St. Kilda, you may keep the people from falling into worse hands. We must give them a cler- gyman, and he shall be one of Beattie's choosing. He shall be educated at Marischal College. Fll be your Lord Chancellor, or what you please." Boswell. " Are you serious, Sir, in advising me to buy St. Kii- ' " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. "^ MY DEAR SIR, " Edinburgh, May 3, 1792. •" As I suppose your great work will soon be reprinted, I beg leave to trou- ble you with a remark on a passage of it, in which I am a little misrepresented. Be not alarmed ; the misrepresentation is not imputable to you. Not having the book at hand, I cannot specify the page, but I suppose you will easily find it. Dr. Johnson says, speaking of Mrs. Thrale's family, " Dr. Beattie sunk upon us that he was married, or words to that purpose." I am not sure tiiat 1 understand sunk up- on us, which is a very uncommon phrase : but it seems to me to imply, (and otiiers, 1 find, have understood it in the same sense,) studiously concealed from us his beh-g mar- ried. Now, Sir, this was by no means the case. I could have no motive to con- ceal a circumstance of which I never was nor caxi be ashamed ; and of which Dr. Johnson seemed to think, when he afterwards became acquai^|ed with Mrs. Beat- tie, that 1 had, as was true, reason to be proud. So tar wui 1 from concealing her, that my wife had at that time almost as numerous an acquaintance in London as I had myself ; and was, not very long after, kindly invited and elegantly entertained at Streatham by Mr. and Mrs. Thrale. " My request, therefore is, that you would rectify this matter in your new edi- tion. You are at liberty to make what use you please of this letter. " My best wishes ever attend you and your family. Believe me to be, with the Utmost regard and esteem, dear Sir, " Your obliged and affectionate humble servant, " J. Beattie." I have, from my respect for my friend Dr. Beattie, and rej^ard to his extreme sensibility, inserted the foregoing letter, though I cannot but wonder at his consid- ering as any imputation a phrase commonly used among the best ffiends. / DR. JOHNSON. i da! for if you should advise me to go to Japan, I be- 1772. lieve I should do it." Johnson. " Why yes, Sir, 1 ^J^ am serious." Boswell. " Why then Pll see what can 63. be done." I gave him an account of the two parties in the churcli of Scotland, those for supporting the rights of patrons, independent of the people, and those against it. Johnson. " It should be settled one way or other. I cannot wish well to a popular election of the clergy, when 1 consider that it occasions such animosities, such unworthy courting of the people, such slanders between the contending parties, and other disadvan- tages. It is enough to allow the people to remonstrate against the nomination of a minister for solid reasons.^' (I suppose he meant heresy or immorality.) He was engaged to dine abroad, and asked me to return to him in the evening, at nine, which I accord- ingly did. We drank tea with Mrs. Williams, who told us a story of second sight, which happened in Wales where she was born. — He listened to it very attentively, and said he should be glad to have some instances of thai, faculty well authenticated. His elevated wish for more and more evidence for spirit, in opposition to the groveling belief of materialism, led him to a love of such mysterious disquisitions. He again justly observed, that we could have no certainty of the truth of super- natural appearances, unless something was told us which we could not know by ordinary means, or some- thing done which could not be done but by supernatu- ral power ; that Pharaoh in reason and justice required such evidence from Moses ; nay, that our Saviour said, " If I had not done amoni? them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin." He had said in in the morning, that " Macaulay^s History of St. Kilda" was very well written, except some foppery about lib- erty and slavery. I mentioned to him that Macaulay told me, he was advised to leave out of his book the wonderful story that upon the approach of a stranger all the inhabitants catch cold :^ but that it had been so ' See Vol. I. p. 42S. VOL. II. 2 10 ' THE UFE OF 1772. well authenticated, be determined to retain it. John-^ ^^ SON. " Sir, to leave things out of a book, merely be- 63. * cause people tell you they will not be believed, is meanness. Macaulay acted with more magnanimity." We talked of the Roman Cathohck religion, and how little difference there was in essential matters between ours and it. Johnson. "True, Sir; all denominations of Christians have really little difference in point of doctrine, though they may differ widely in external forms. There is a prodigious difference between the external form of one of your Presbyterian churches in "^ , Scotland, and a church in Italy ; yet the doctrine taught / is essentially the same." I mentioned the petition to Parliament for removing the subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles. Johnson. " It was soon thrown out. Sir, they talk of not making boys at the University subscribe to what they do not understand ; but they ought to consider, that our Uni- versities were founded to bring up members for the church of England, and we must not supply our ene- mies with arms from our arsenal. No, Sir, the meaning of subscribing is, not that they fully understand all the articles, but that they will adhere to the Church of England. Now take it in this way, and suppose that they should only subscribe their adherence to the Church of England, there would be still the same dif- ficulty ; for still the young men would be subscribing to what they do not understand. For if you should ask them, what do you mean by the Church of Eng- land ? Do you know in what it differs from the Pres- byterian Church l from the Romish Church ? from the Greek Church ] from the Coptick Church ? they could not tell you. So, Sir, it comes to the same thing." BoswELL. " But, would it not be sufficient to sub- scribe the Bible ?" Johnson. "Why no. Sir; for all sects will subscribe the Bible ; nay, the Mahometans will subscribe the Bible ; for the Mahometans acknowl- edge Jesus Christ, as well as Moses, but maintain that God sent Mahomet as a still greater prophet than either. I mentioned the motion which had been made in the House of Commons, to abolish the fast of the 30th of ■fJP^ DR. JOHNSON. ^HH^ II January. Johnson. " W hy, Sir, 1 could have wished 'TTS. that it had been a temporary act, perhaps, to have ex- ^^ pired witli the century. 1 am against ahohshiu^^ it ; 63. because that would be declaring it wrong to establish it ; but 1 should have no objection to make an act, continuing it for another century, and then letting it expire." He disapproved of the Royal Marriage Bill ; " Be- cause (said he) 1 would not have the people think that the validity of marriage depends on the will of man, or that the right of a King depends on the will of man. I should not have been against making the marriage of any of the royal family without the approbation of King and Parliament, highly criminal." In the morning we had talked of old families, and the respect due to them. Johnson. " Sir, you have a right to that kind of respect, and are arguing for your- self. I am for supporting the principle, and am disin- terested in doing it, as l have no such right." Bos- well. " Why, Sir, it is one more incitement to a man to do well." Johnson. " Yes, Sir, and it is a matter of opinion, very necessary to keep society together. What is it but opinion, by which we have a respect for authority, that prevents us, who are the rabble, from rising up and pulling down you who are gentlemen from your places, and saying ' We will be gentlemen in our turn V Now, Sir, that respect for authority is much more easily granted to a man whose father has had it, than to an upstart, and so Society is more easily sup- ported." Bos WELL. " Perhaps, Sir, it might be done by the respect belonging to office, as among the Ro- mans, wheie the dress, the foga^ inspired reverence." Johnson. " Why, we know very little about the Ro- mans. But, surely, it is much easier to respect a man who has always had respect, than to respect a man who we know was last year no better than ourselves, and will be no better next year. In republicks there is no respect for authority, but a fear of power." Boswell. " At present, Sir, 1 think riches seem to gain most re- spect." Johnson. " No, Sir, riches do not gain hearty respect ; they only procure external attention. A very 12 THE LIFE 01- 1772. rich man, from low beginnings, may buy his election ^^ in a borough ; but cceteris paribus^ a man of family will 63. be preferred. People will prefer a man for whose fa- ther their fathers have voted, though they should get no more money, or even less. That shows that the re- spect for family is not merely fanciful, but has an actu- al operation. If gentlemen of family would allow the rich upstarts to spend their money profusely, which they are ready enough to do, and not vie with them in expence, the upstarts would soon be at an end, and the gentlemen would remain ; but if the gentlemen will vie in expence with the upstarts, which is very foolish, they must be ruined." I gave him an account of the excellent mimickry of a friend of mine in Scotland ; observing, at the same time, that some people thought it a very mean thing. Johnson. " Why, Sir, it is making a very mean use of ^ man's powers. But to be a good mimick, requires ) great powers ; great acuteness of observation, great re- tention of what is observed, and great pliancy of organs, to represent what is observed. 1 remember a lady of quality in this town. Lady , who was a wonderful mimick, and used to make me laugh immod- erately. I have heard she is now gone mad.'' Bos- well. " It is amazing how a mimick can not only give you the gestures and voice of a person whom he repre- sents ; but even what a person would say on any partic- ular subject." Johnson. " Why, Sir, you are to con- sider that the manner and some particular phrases of a person do much to impress you with an idea of him, and you are not sure that he would say what the mim- ick says in his character." Boswell. " I don't think Foote a good mimick. Sir." Johnson. "No, Sir; his imitations are not like. He gives you something differ- ent from himself, but not the character which he means to assume. He goes out of himself, without going into other people. He cannot take off any person unless he is strongly marked, such as George Faulkner. He is like a painter who can draw the portrait of a man who has a wen upon his face, and who therefore is easily known. If a man hops upon one leg, Foote can hop upon one DR. JOHNSON. 13 leg. But he has not that nice discrimination which 1772. your friend seems to possess. Foote is, however, very ^tat! entertaining with a kind of conversation between wit 63. and buHbonery." On Monday, March 2J, I found him busy, preparing a fourth edition of his foho Dictionary. Mr. Peyton, one of his original amanuenses, was writing for him. I put him in mind of a meaning of the word side^ which he had omitted, viz. relationship ; as father's side, mo- ther's side. He inserted it. I asked him if humiliating was a good word. He said, he had seen it frequently used, but he did not know it to be legitimate English. He would not admit civilization^ but only civility. With great deference to him 1 thought civilization^ from to civilize^ better in the sense opposed to barbaritif, than civility ; as it is better to have a distinct word for each sense, than one word with two senses, which civility is, in his way of usinsr it. Pie seemed also to be intent on some sort of chymical operation. I was entertained by observing how he contrived to send Mr. Peyton on an errand, without seeming to degrade him, " Mr. Peyton, — Mr. Peyton, will you be so good as to take a walk to Temple-Bar ? You will there see a chymist's shop, at which you will be pleased to buy for me an ounce of oil of vitriol ; not spirit of vitriol, but oil of vitriol. It will cost three half-pence." Peyton immediately went, and returned with it, and told him it cost but a penny. I then reminded him of the schoolmaster's cause, and proposed to read to him the printed papers con- cerning it. *' No, Sir, (said he,) I can read quicker than I can hear." So he read them to himself. After he had read for some time, we were interrupt- ed by the entrance of Mr. Kristrom, a Swede, who was tutor to some young gentlemen in the city. He told me, that there was a very good History of Sweden, by Dalinc. Having at that time an intention of writing the history of that country, I asked Dr. Johnson wheth- er one might write a history of Sweden, without going thither. '- Yes, Sir, (said he,) one for common use." r 14 THE LIFE OF 1772. We talked of languages. Johnson observed that 2J^ Leibnitz had made some progress in a work, tracing all 63, * languages up to the Hebrew. "> Why, Sir, (said he,) you would not imagine that the French yo?^r, day, is de- rived from the Latin dies, and yet nothing is more cer- tain ; and the intermediate steps are very clear. From c/ies, comes diurnus. Diu is, by inaccurate ears, or in- accurate pronunciation, easily confounded with gui ; then the Italians form a substantive of the ablative of an adjective, and thence giurno, or, as they make it giorno : which is readily contracted mlct giour, ox jour ^^ He observed, that the Bohemian language, was true Sclavonick. The Swede said, it had some similarity with the German. Johnson. " Why, Sir, to be sure, such parts of Sclavonia as confine with Germany, will borrow German words ; and such parts as confine with Tartary will borrow Tartar words.^' He said, he never had it properly ascertained that the Scotch Highlanders and the Irish understood each other. I told him that my Cousin Colonel Graham, of the Royal Highlanders, whom 1 met at Drogheda, told me they did. Johnson. " Sir, if the Highlanders un- derstood Irish, why translate the New Testament into Erse, as was lately done at Edinburgh, when there is an Irish translation ?" Bosavell. " Although the Erse and Irish are both dialects of the same language, there may be a good deal of diversity between them, as between the different dialects in Italy." — The Swede went away, and Mr. Johnson continued his reading of the papers. I said, " I am afraid. Sir, it is troublesome." " Why, Sir, (said he,) I do not take much delight in it ; but FU go through it." We went to the Mitre, and dined in the room where he and I first supped together. He gave me great hopes of my cause. " Sir, (said he,) the governmeiit of a schoolmaster is somewhat of the nature of military government ; that is to say, it must be arbitrary, it must be exercised by the will of one man, according to par- ticular circumstances. You must shew some learning upon this occasion. You must shew, that a schoolmas- ter has a prescriptive right to beat ; and that an action DR. JOHNSON. \5 of assault and battery cannot be admitted against him, 1772. unless there is some great excess, some barbarity. This ^^ man has maimed none of his boys. They are all left 63. with the full exercise of their corporeal faculties. In our schools in Luigland, many boys have been maimed ; yet 1 never heard of an action against a schoolmaster on that account. Putiendorff, 1 think, maintains the right of a schoolmaster to beat his scholars." On Saturday, March 27, I introduced to him Sir Alexander Macdonald, with whom he had expressed a wish to be acquainted. He received him very cour- teously. Sir Alexander observed, that the Ch ancellors in Eng- land are chosen from views much inferiour to the of- fice, being chosen from temporary political views. Johnson. " Why, Sir, in such a government as ours, no man is appointed to an office because he is the fit- test for it, nor hardly in any other government ; because there are so many connections and dependencies to be studied. A despotick prince may choose a man to an office, merely because he is the fittest for it. The King of Prussia may do it." Sir A. " I think, Sir, almost all great lawyers, such at least as have written upon law, have known only law, and nothing else." John-*- soN. " Why no, Sir ; Judge Hale was a great lawyer, and wrote upon law ; and yet he knew a great many other things, and has written upon other things. Sel- den too." Sir A. " Very true, Sir ; and Lord Bacon. But was not Lord Coke a mere lawyer ?" Johnson. " Why, I am afraid he was ; but he would have taken it very ill if you had told him so. He would have prosecuted you for scandal." Boswell. " Lord Mans- field is not a mere lawyer." Johnson. " No, Sir, I never was in Lord Mansfield's company ; but Lord Mansfield was distinguished at the University. Lord Mansfield, when he first came to town, ' drank cham- pagne with the wits,' as Prior says. He was the friend of Pope." Sir A. "Barristers, I believe, are not so abusive now as they were formerly. 1 fancy they had less law long ago, and so were obliged to take to abuse, to fill up the time. Now they have such a number of 16 THE LIFE OF 1772. precedents, the^ have no occasion for abuse." JoHX' 2gJ^ SON. " Nay, Sir, they had more law long ago than they ()3. ' have now. As to precedents, to be sure they will in- crease in course of time ; but the more precedents there are, the less occasion is there for law ; that is to say, the less occasion is there for investigating principles." Sir a. " I have been correcting several Scotch accents in my friend Boswell. I doubt, Sir, if any Scotchman ever attains to a perfect English pronunciation." John- son. " Why, Sir, few of them do, because they do not persevere after acquiring a certain degree of it. But. Sir, there can be no doubt that they may attain to a per- fect English pronunciation, if they will. We find how- near they come to it ; and certainly, a man who' con- quers nineteen parts of the Scottish accent, may con- quer the twentieth. But, Sir, when a man has got the better of nine tenths he grows weary, he relaxes his diligence, he finds he has corrected his accent so far as not to be disagreeable, and he no longer desires his friends to tell him when he is wrong ; nor does he choose to be told. Sir, when people watch me narrow- ly, and 1 do not watch myself, they will find me out to be of a particular county. In the same manner, Dunning may be found out to be a Devonshire man. So most Scotchmen may be found out. But, Sir, little aberra- tions are of no disadvantage. I never catched Mallet in a Scotch accent ; and yet Mallet, I suppose, was past iive-and-twenty before he came to London." Upon another occasion I talked to him on this subject, having myself taken some pains to improve my pro- nunciation, by the aid of the late Mr. Love, of Drury- lane theatre, when he was a player at Edinburgh, and also of old Mr. Sheridan. Johnson said to me, " Sir, your pronunciation is not oflTensivc." With this con- cession I was pretty well satisfied ; and let me give my countrymen of North-Britain an advice not to aim at absolute perfection in this respect ; not to speak High English, as we are apt to call what is far removed from the Scotch, but which is by no means good English, and makes, " the fools who use it," truly ridiculous. Good English is plain, easy, and smooth in the mouth DR. JOHNSON. 17 of an unaffected English Gentleman. A studied and 1 772. factitious pronunciation, which requires perpetual atten- ^^^[ tion, and imposes perpetual constraint, is exceedingly 6y. disgusting. A small intermixture of provincial pecu- liarities may, perhaps, have an aoreeahle etfect, as the notes of different birds concur in the harmony of the grove, and please more than if they were all exactly alike. I could name some gentlemen of Ireland, to whom a slight proportion of the accent and recitative of that country is an advantage. The same observation will apply to the gentlemen of Scotland. 1 do not mean that we should speak as broad as a certain prosperous member of Parliament from that country ; though it has been well observed, that " it has been of no small use to him ; as it rouses the attention of the House by its uncommonness : and is equal to tropes and figures in a good English speaker." I would give as an instance of what 1 mean to recommend to my countrymen, the pronunciation of the late Sir Gilbert Elliot ; and may I presume to add that of the present Earl of Marcli- mont, who told me, with great good humour, that the master of a shop in London, where he was not known, said to him, " 1 suppose, Sir, you are an American." " Why so. Sir?" (said his Lordship.) " Ikcause, Sir, (replied the shopkeeper,) you speak neither English nor Scotch, but something ditferent from both, which I con- clude is the language of America." BoswELL. " It may be of use. Sir, to have a Dic- tionary to ascertain the pronunciation." Johnson. "Why, Sir, my Dictionary shows you the accent of words, if you can but remember them." Boswell. " But, Sir, we want marks to ascertain the pronuncia- tion of the vowels. Sheridan, I believe, has finished such a work." Johnson. " Why, Sir, consider how] much easier it is to learn a language by the ear, than by^' any marks. Sheridan's Dictionary may do very well ; but you cannot always carry it about with you : and, when you want the word, you have not the Dictionary. It is like a man who has a sword that will not draw. Jt is an admirable sword, to be sure : but while your en- emy is cuttinii' vour throat, vou nvp unable to use it. VOL. II. :5 18 THE LIFE OF 1772. Besides, Sir, what entitles Sheridan to fix the pronun- '^^ ciation of English ? He has, in the first place, the dis- 63. advantage of being an Irishman : and if he says he will fix it after the example of the best company, why they differ among themselves. I remember an instance : when 1 published the Plan for my Dictionary, Lord Chesterfield told me that the word great should be pro- nounced so as to rhyme to state; and Sir William . Yonge sent me word that it should be pronounced so as to rhyme to seat, and that none but an Irishman would pronounce \tgrait. Now here were two men of the highest rank, the one, the best speaker in the House of Lords, the other, the best speaker in the House of Commons, differing entirely.'' I again visited him at night. Finding him in a very good humour, I ventured to lead him to the subject of our situation in a future state, having much curiosity to know his notions on that point. Johnson. " VVhy, Sir, tlie happiness of an unembodied spirit will consist in a consciousness of the favour of God, in the contem- plation of truth, and in the possession of felicitating* ideas." Boswell. " But, Sir, is there any harm in our forming to ourselves conjectures as to the particulars of our happiness, though the scripture has said but very little on the subject ! ' We know not what we shall be." Johnson. " Sir, there is no harm. What phi- losophy suggests to us on this topick is probable : what scripture tells us is certain. Dr. Henry More has car- ried it as far as philosophy can. You may buy both his theological and philosophical works in two volumes folio, for about eight shiUings." Boswell. " One of the most pleasing thoughts is, that we shall see our friends again." 5 Johnson. '' Yes, Sir ; but you must consider, that when we are become purely ration- al, many of our friendships will be cut off. Many friendships are formed by a community of sensual pleasures : all these will be cut off. We form many friendships^ with bad men, because they have agree- able qualities, and they can be uscfid to us ; but, ' [Bishop Hall, in his Epistle, " discoursing of the different degrees of heavenly glory, and of our mutual knowledge of each other above," (Dec. iii. c, (>,) holds the affirmative on both these questions. M.] J)R. JOHNSON. 19 alter deatlt, they <'an no longer be of use lo us. We 1772. rbrni many (Viendsliijjs by mistake, imagining people to ^j^ be dillen lit {Vom vvliat they really are. After death, 63. we shall see every one in a true light. Then, Sir, they talk of our meelincc our relations : but then all relation- ship is dissolved ; and we shall have no regard for one person more than another, but for their real value. However, we shall either have the satisfaction of meet- ing our friends, or be satisfied without meeting them." BoswKLL. " Yet, Sir, we see in scripture, that Dives still retained an anxious concern about his brethren." Johnson. " Why, Sir, we must either suppose that passage to be metaphorical, or hold with many divines, and ail the Purgatorians, that departed souls do not all at once arrive at the utmost perfection of which they are capable." Boswell. " 1 think. Sir, that is a very rational supposition." Johnson. "Why yes, Sir; but we do not know it is a true one. There is no harm in believing it : but you must not compel others to make Jt an article of faith ; for it is not revealed." Bosavell. •' Do you think. Sir, it is wrong in a man who holds the doctrine of Purgatory, to pray for the souls of his deceased friends." Johnson. " Why no, Sir." Bos- well. " J have been told, that in the Liturgy of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, there was a form of prayer for the dead." Johnson. " Sir, it is not in the Liturgy which Laud framed for the Episcopal Church of Scotland : if there is a liturgy older than that, I should be glad to see it." Boswell. " As to our em- ployment in a future state, the sacred writings say little. . The Revelation, however, of St. John gives us many ideas, and particularly mentions musick." Johnson. " Why, Sir, ideas must be given you by means of some- thing which you know : and as to musick there are some philosophers and divines who have maintained that we shall not be spiritualized to such a degree, but that something of matter, very much refined, will re- main. In that case, musick may make a part of our fu- ture felicity." Boswell. " I do not know whether there are any well-attested stories of the appearance of ghosts. \ou 20 THE LIFE OF 1772. know there is a famous story of the appearance of ^JJ^ Mrs. Veal, prefixed to ' Drehncourt on Death." John- 63. SON. " 1 beheve, Sir, that is given up. I beheve the woman declared upon her death-bed that it was a lie."' BoswELL. " This objection is made against the truth of ghosts appearing: that if they are in a state of hap- piness, it would be a punishment to them to return to this world ; and if they are in a state of misery, it would be giving them a respite." Johnson. " Why, Sir, as the happiness or misery of embodied spirits does not depend upon place, but is intellectual, we cannot say that they are less happy or less miserable by appearing upon earth." We went down between twelve and one to Mrs. Williams's room, and drank tea. 1 mentioned that we were to have the remains of Mr. Gray, in prose and verse, published by Mr. Mason. Johnson. " 1 think we have had enough of Gray. I see they have pub- lished a splendid edition of Akenside's works. One bad ode may be suffered ; but a number of them to- gether makes one sick." BoswELL. " Akenside's dis- tinguished poem is his ' Pleasures of Imagination :* but for my part, I never could admire it so much as most people do." Johnson. " Sir, 1 could not read it through." BoswELL. " I have read it through ; but I did not find any great power in it." I mentioned Elwal, the heretick, whose trial Sir John Pringle had given me to read. Johnson. " Sir, Mr. Elwal was, 1 think, an ironmonger at Wolver- hampton ; and he had a mind to make himself famous, by being the founder of a new sect, which he wished much should be called .Eheallians. He held, that ev- ery thing in the Old Testament that was not typical, was to be of perpetual observance : and so he wore a ribband in the plaits of his coat, and he also wore a beard. 1 remember I had the honour of dining in com- pany with Mr. Elwal. There was one Barter, a miller, who wrote against him ; and you had the controversy ' [This fiction is known to have been invented by Daniel Defoe, and was added to the second edition of the English translation of Drelin court's work, to make it sell. The first edition had it not. M.l DR. JOHNSON. 21 between ^\r. Elwal and Mr. Bari kr. To try to i772. make liiniself distinguished he wrote a letter to Iving ^^ George, the Second, challenging him to dispute with (i3. him, in which he said, ' George, if you be afraid to come by yourself", to dispute with a poor old man, 3 ou may bring a thousand of your b/ack-gwdtds with you ; and if you should still be afraid, you may bring a thou- sand of your /W-guards.' The letter had something of the impudence of Junius to our present King. But the men of VV^olverhampton were not so inflammable as the Common-Council of London ; so Mr. Elwal failed in his scheme of making himself a man of great conse- quence." On Tuesday, March :31, he and I dined at General Paoli's. A question was started whether the state of marriage was natural to man. Johnson. " Sir, it is so far from being natural for a man and woman to live in a state of marriage, that we find all the motives which they have for remaining in that connection, and the re- straints which civilized society imposes to prevent sep- aration, are hardly sufficient to keep them together." The General said, that in a state of nature a man and woman uniting together, would form a strong and con- stant affection, by the mutual pleasure each would re- ceive ; and that the same causes of dissension would not arise between them, as occur between husband and wife in a civilized state. Johnson. " Sir, they would have dissensions enough, though of another kind. One would choose to go a hunting in this wood, the other in that ; one would choose to go a fishing in this lake, the other in that ; or, perhaps, one would choose to go a hunting, when the other would choose to go a fishing ; and so they would part. Besides, Sir, a sav^- age man and a savage woman meet by chance : and when the man sees another woman that pleases him better, he will leave the first." We then fell into a disquisition whether there is any beauty independent of utility. The General maintain- ed there was not. Dr. Johnson maintained that there was ; and he instanced a cofJ'ee cup which he held in his hand, the painting of which was of no real use, as 22 THE LIFE OF 1772. the cup would hold the coffee equally well if plain ; "^^ yet the painting was beautiful. 63. * We talked of the strange custom of swearing in con- versation. The General said, that all barbarous nations swore from a certain violence of temper, that could not be confined to earth, but was always reaching at the powers above. He said, too, that there was greater va- riety of swearing, in proportion as there was a greater variety of religious ceremonies. Dr. Johnson went home with me to my lodgings in Conduit-street and drank tea, previous to our going to the Pantheon, which neither of us had seen before. He said, " Goldsmith's life of Parnell is poor ; not that it is poorly written, but that he had poor materials ; for nobody can write the life of a man, but those who I have eat and drunk and lived in social intercourse with him.^' I said, that if it was not troublesome and presuming too much, 1 would request him to tell me all the little circumstances of his life ; v^diat schools he attended, when he came to Oxford, when he came to London, &c. &c. He did not disapprove of my curiosity as to these particulars ; but said, " They'll come out by de- grees, as we talk together." He censured RufFhead's Life of Pope ; and said, "he knew nothing of Pope, and nothing of poetry." He praised Dr. Joseph Warton's Essay on Pope ; but said, " he supposed we should have no more of it, as the authour had not been able to persuade the world to think of Pope as he did." Boswell. " Why, Sir, should that prevent him from continuing his work ! He is an ingenious Counsel, who has made the most of his cause : he is not obliged to gain it." Johnson. " But, Sir, there is a difference, when the cause is of a man's own making." We talked of the proper use of riches. Johnson. " If I were a man of a great estate, 1 would drive all the rascals whom I did not like out of the county at an election." I asked him, how far he thought wealth should be employed in hospitality. Johnson. " You are to con- DR. JOHNSON. S3 sider that ancient hospitality, of which \vc hear so »77a. much, was in an uncoinmevcial country, when men be- ^^ ing idle, were glad to be entertained at rich men's ta- 63. bles. But in a commercial country, a busy country, time becomes precious, and therefore hospitality is not so much valued. No doubt there is still room for a certain degree of it ; and a man has a satisfaction in seeing his friends eating and drinking around him. Hut promiscuous hospitality is not the way to gain real influence. You must help some people at table before others ; you must ask some people how they like their wine oftener than others. You therefore offend more people than you please. You are like the French statesman, who said, when he granted a favour, ' J\n ftiit clix mccontents et un iiigratJ' Besides, Sir, being entertained ever so well at a man's table, impresses no lasting regard or esteem. No, Sir, the way to make sure of power and influence is, by lending money confi- dentially to your neighbours at a small interest, or per- haps at no interest at all, and having their bonds in your possession." Boswell. " May not a man, Sir, employ his riches to advantage, in educating young men of merit ?" Johnson. " Yes, Sir, if they fall in your way ; but if it be understood that you patronize young men of merit, you will be harassed with solicitations. You will have numbers forced upon you, who have no merit; some will force them upon you from mistaken partiality ; and some from downright interested mo- tives, without scruple ; and you will be disgraced." "Were I a rich man, I would propagate all kinds of trees that will grow in the open air. A green-house is childish. I would introduce foreign animals into the country ; for instance, the rein-deer."^ The conversation now turned on critical subjects, Johnson. " Bayes, in 'The Rehearsal,' is a mighty silly character. If it was intended to be like a particu- lar man, it could only be diverting while that man was remembered. But 1 question whether it was meant ^ This project has since been realized. Sir Henry Liddel, who made a spirited tour into Lapland, brought two rein-deer to his estate in Northumberland, where they bred : but the race has unfortunately perished. 24 THE LIFE OF 1772. for Dr^'den, as has been reported ; for we know some "^^^ of the passages said to be ridiculed, were written since 63. the Rehearsal ; at least a passage mentioned in the Preface^ is of a later date." 1 maintained that it had merit as a general satire on the self-importance of dra- matick authours. But even in this light he held it very cheap. We then walked to the Pantheon. The first view of it did not strike us so much as Ranelagh, of which he said, the " coup d'oeii was the finest thing he had ever seen." The truth is, Ranelagh is of a more beautiful form ; more of it, or rather indeed the whole rotunda, appears at once, and it is better lighted. However, as Johnson observed, we saw the Pantheon in time of mourning, when there was a dull uniformity ; whereas we had seen Ranelagh, when the view was enlivened with a gay profusion of colours. Mrs. Bosville, of Gun- thwait, in Yorkshire, joined us, and entered into con- versation with us. Johnson said to me afterwards, " Sir, this is a mighty intelligent lady." I said there was not half a guinea's worth of pleasure in seeing this place. Johnson. " But, Sir, there is half a guinea's worth of inferiority to other people in not having seen it." Bos well. " I doubt. Sir, whether there are many happy people here." Johnson. " Yes, Sir, there are many happy people here. There are many people here who are watching hundreds, and who think hundreds arewatchino- them." Happening to meet Sir Adam Ferguson, I presented him to Dr. Johnson. Sir Adam expressed some appre- hension that the Pantheon would encourage luxury. "Sir, (said Johnson,) I am a great friend to publick amusements ; for they keep people from vice. You now (addressing himself to me,) would have been with ^ [There is no Preface to " The Rehearsal," as originally published. Dr. John- son seems to have meant the Address to the Reader with a Key subjoined to it ; which have been prefixed to the modern editions of that play. He did not know, it appears, that several additions were made to " The Rehearsal" after the first edi- tion. The ridicule on tlie passages here alluded to is found among those additions. They therefore furnish no ground for the doubt here suggested. Unquestionably Bayes was meant to be the representative of Dryden, wijose famiUar phrases in his ordimrv conversation arc frequently introduced in this piece. M.] DR. JOHNSON. 2j ii wench, had you not been here. — O ! I forgot you were •772. married." £^x^. Sir Adam suggested, that luxury corrupts a people, o;). and destroys the spirit of hberty. Johnson. " Sir, that is all visionary. I would not give half a guinea to live under one form of Government rather than another. It is of no moment to the happiness of an individual. Sir, the danger of the abuse of power is nothing to a pri- vate man. What Frenchman is prevented from passing his life as he pleases?" Sir Adam. " But, Sir, in the British constitution it is surely of importance to keep up a spirit in the people, so as to preserve a balance against the crown." Johnson. " Sir, I perceive you are a vile Whig. — Why all this childish jealousy of the power of the crown ? The crown has not power enough. When I say that all governments are alike, I consider that in no government power can be abused long. ^Jan- kind will not bear it. If a sovereign oppresses his peo- ple to a great degree, they will rise and cut off his head. There is a remedy in human nature against tyrannyA that will keep us safe under every form of government. J Had not the people of France thought themselves hon- oured in sharing in the brilliant actions of Louis XIV. they woilld not have endured him ; and we may say the same of the King of Prussia's people." Sir Adam introduced the ancient Greeks and Romans. John- son. " Sir, the mass of both of them were barbarians. The mass of every people must be barbarous where there is no printing, and consequently knowledge is not generally diffused. Knowledge is diffused among our people by the news-papers." Sir Adam mentioned the orators, poets and artists of Greece. Johnson. " Sir, 1 am talking of the mass of the people. We see even •what the boasted Athenians were. The little effect which Demosthenes's orations had upon them, shews that they were barbarians." Sir Adam was unlucky in his topicks ; for he sug- gested a doubt of the propriety of Bishops having seats in the House of Lords. Johnson. " How so. Sir ] Who is more proper for having the dignity of a peer, than a Bishop, provided a Bishop be what he ought to VOL. II. 4j 2b THE LIFE OF 1772. be ; and if improper Bishops be made, that is not the ^1^^ fault of the Bishops, but of those who make them/' 63. On Sunday, April 5, after attending divine service at St. Paul's church, I found him alone. Of a school- master of his acquaintance, a native of Scotland, he said, " He has a great deal of good about him ; but he is also very defective in some respects. His inner part is good, but his outer part is mighty aukward. You in Scotland do not attain that nice critical skill in languages, which we get in our schools in England. I would not put a boy to him, whom 1 intended for a man of learning. But for the sons of citizejis, who are to learn a little, get good morals, and then go to trade, he may do very well.'' I mentioned a cause in which I had appeared as counsel at the bar of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, where a Probationer^ (as one li- censed to preach, but not yet ordained, is called,) was opposed in his application to be inducted, because it was alledged that he had been guilty of fornication five years before. Johnson. " Why, Sir, if he has repent- ed, it is not a sufficient objection. A man who is good enough to go to heaven, is good enough to be a clergy- man." This was a humane and liberal sentiment. But the character of a clergyman is more sacred than that of an ordinary christian. As he is to instruct with authority, he should be regarded with reverence, as one upon whom divine truth has had the effect to set him above such transgressions, as men, less exalted by spir- itual habits and yet upon the whole not to be excluded from heaven, have been betrayed into by the predom- inance of passion. That clergymen may be considered as sinners in general, as all men are, cannot be denied ; but this reflection will not counteract their good pre- cepts so much, as the absolute knowledge of their hav- ing been guilty of certain specifick immoral acts. 1 told him, th^t by the rules of the Church of Scotland, in their " Book of Discipline," if a scum/a/, as it is called, is not prosecuted for five years, it cannot afterwards be proceeded upon, " unless it be of a hfinous nature^ or again become tlagrant ;" and that hence a question UR. JOHNSON. 37 arose, whether fornication was a sin of a heinous na- 1772. ture ; and that 1 had maintained, that it did not deserve ^rT' that epithet, in as much as it was not one of those sins 6,3_ ' which argue very great depravity of heart : in short, was not, in the general acceptation of mankind, a hein- ous sin. Johnson. "No, Sir, it is not a heinous sin. A heinous sin is that for which a man is punished with (ieath or banishment." Boswell. " But, Sir, after I had argued that it was not a heinous sin, an old clergy- man rose up, and repeating the text of scripture denouncing judgment against whoremongers, asked, whether, considering this, there could he any doubt of fornication being a heinous sin. Johnson. " Why, Sir, observe the word z'vhoremonger. Every sin, if per- sisted in, will become heinous. Whoremonger is a dealer in whores, as ironmonger is a dealer in iron. But as you don't call a man an ironmonger for buying and selling a pen-knife ; so you don't call a man a f whoremonger for getting one wench with child."* v^ I spoke of the inequality of the livings of the clergy in England, and the scanty provisions of some of the Curates. Johnson. " Why yes, Sir ; but it cannot be helped. You must consider, that the revenues of the clergy are not at the disposal of the state, like the pay of the army. Different men have founded differ- ent churches ; and some are better endowed, some worse. The state cannot interfere and make an equal division of what has been particularly appropriated. Now when a clergyman has but a small living, or even two small livings, he can afford very little to the Cu- . rate." He said, he went more frequently to church when there were prayers only, than when there was also a sermon, as the people required more an example for the one than the other ; it being much easier for them to hear a sermon, than to fix their minds on prayer. On Monday, April 6, 1 dined with him at Sir Alex- ander Macdonald's, where was a young officer in the ■I It must not be presumed that Dr. Johnson meant to give any countenance to licentiousness, though in the character of an Advocate he made a just and subtle distinction between occasional and liabitual transgression. 38 THE LIFE OF 1772. regimentals of the Scots Royal, who talked with a vi- ^gj^ vacity, fluency, and precision so uncommon, that he 63. attracted particular attention. He proved to be the Honourable Thomas Erskine, youngest brother to the Earl of Buchan, who has since risen into such brilliant reputation at the bar in Westminster-hall. Fielding being mentioned, Johnson exclaimed, " he was a blockhead ;" and upon my expressing my aston- ishment at so strange an assertion, he said, " What I mean by his being a blockhead is, that he was a barren rascal." Boswell. " Will you not allow, Sir, that he draws very natural pictures of human life?" Johnson. " Why, Sir, it is of very low life. Richardson used to say, that had he not known who Fielding was, he should have believed he was an ostler. Sir, there is more knowledge of the heart in one letter of Richard- son's, than in all 'Tom Jones.' ^ i^ indeed, never read ' Joseph Andrews." Erskine. " Surely, Sir, Richardson is very tedious." Johnson. " Why, Sir, if you were to read Richardson for the story, your impa- tience would be so much fretted that you would hang yourself. But you must read him for the sentiment, and consider the story as only giving occasion to the sentiment."—! have already given my opinion of Field- ing ; but I cannot refrain from repeating here my won- der at Johnson's excessive and unaccountable depre- ciation of one of the best writers that England has pro- duced. " Tom Jones" has stood the test of publick opinion with such success, as to have established its great merit, both for the story, the sentiments, and the manners, and also the varieties of diction, so as to leave no doubt of its having an animated truth of execution throughout, A book of travels, lately published under the title of Coriat Junior^ and written by Mr. Paterson,^ was ^ [Johnson's severity against Fielding did not arise from any viciousness in his style, but from his loose life, and the profligacy of almost all his male characters. Who would venture to read one of his novels aloud to modest women ? His nov- els are male amusements, and very amusing they certainly are. — Fielding's conver- sation was coarse, and so tinctured with the rank weeds of t'ui Gardai, that it would now be thought only fit for a brothel. iJ.] ^ Mr. Samuel Paterson, eniinent for his knowledge of books DR. JOHNSON. 29 mentioned. Jolinson said, tliis book was in imitation ^772. of Sterne, ^ and not of Coiiat, whose name i^^iterson ^^'^ had chosen as a whimsical one. " Tom Coiiat, (saitl 53. he,) was a humourist about the Court of James the First, lie had a mixture of learning, of wit, and of budoonery. He first travelled through Europe, and published his travels. He afterwards travelled on foot through Asia, and had made many remarks ; but he died at Mandoa and his remarks were lost." We talked of gaming, and animadverted on it with severity. Johnson. " Nay, gentlemen, let us not ag- gravate the matter. It is not roguery to play with a man who is ignorant of the game, while you are master of it, and so win his money ; for he thinks he can play better than you, as you think you can play better than he; and the superiour skill carries it." Erskine. "He is a fool, but you are not a rogue." Johnson. "That's much about the truth, Sir. It must be considered, that a man who only does what every one of the soci- ety to which he belongs would do, is not a dishonest man. In the republick of Sparta, it was agreed, that stealing was not dishonourable, if not discovered. 1 do not commend a society where there is an agreement that what would not otherwise be fair, shall be fair ; but I maintain, that an individual of any society, who practices what is allowed, is not a dishonest man." BoswELL. " So then, Sir, you do not think ill of a man who wins perhaps forty thousand pounds in a winter I" Johnson. " Sir, I do not call a gamester a dishonest man ; but I call him an unsocial man, an unprofitable man. Gaming is a mode of transferring property with- out producing any intermediate good. Trade gives employment to numbers, and so produces intermediate good." Mr. Erskine told us, that when he was in the island of Minorca, he not only read prayers, but preached two .sermons to the regiment. He seemed to object to the passage in scripture, where we are told that the angel 3f the Lord smote in one night forty thousand Assyri- " Mr. Paterson, in a pamphlet, produced some evidence to shew that his work was written before Sterne's ' Sentimental Journey' appeared. 30 THE LIFE 01 1779. ans.* " Sir, (said Johnson,) you should recollect that 2^ there was a supernatural interposition ; they were de- 63. stroyed by pestilence. You are not to suppose that , the angel of the Lord went about and stabbed each of them with a dagger, or knocked them on the head, man by man/' After Mr. Erskine was gone, a discussion took place, whether the present Earl of Buchan, when Lord Car- dross, did right to refuse to go Secretary of the Embassy to Spain, when Sir James Gray, a man of inferiour rank, went Ambassadour. Dr. Johnson said, that perhaps in point of interest he did wrong ; but in point of dignity he did well. Sir Alexander insisted that he was wrong ; and said that Mr. Pitt intended it as an advantageous thing for him. " Why, Sir, (said Johnson,) Mr. Pitt might think it an advantageous thing for him to make him a vintner, and get him all the Portugal trade ; but he would have demeaned himself strangely had he ac- cepted of such a situation. Sir, had he gone Secretary while his inferiour was Ambassadour, he would have been a traitor to his rank and family." I talked of the little attachment which subsisted be- tween near relations in London. " Sir, (said Johnson,) in a country so commercial as ours, where every man can do for himself, there is not so much occasion for that attachment. No man is thought the worse of here, whose brother was hanged, in uncommercial countries, many of the branches of a family must de- pend on the stock ; so, in order to make the head of the family take care of them, they are represented as con- nected with his reputation, that, self-love being inter- ested, he may exert himself to promote their interest. You have first large circles, or clans ; as commerce in- creases, the connection is confined to families ; by de- grees, that too goes off, as having become unnecessary, and there being few opportunities of intercourse. One brother is a merchant in the city, and another is an offi- cer in the guards ; how little intercourse can these two have !" » [One hundred and eighty-five thousand- See Isaiah, xxxvii. '.i6, and 2 Kings, lix. S5. M.] DR. JOHNSON. 31 1 argued warmly for the old feudal system. Sir Al- 1772. exander opposed it, and talked of the pleasure of seeing ^J^ ail men free and independent. Johnson. " I agree 63. with Mr. liosvvell, that there must be high satisfartion in being a feudal Lord ; but we are to consider, that We ought not to wish to have a number of men unhappy fur the satisfaction of one." — I maintained that num- bers, namely, the vassals or followers, were not un- happy ; for that there was a reciprocal satisfactirui be- tween the Lord and them : he being kind in his au- thority over them ; they being respectful and faithful to him. On Thursday, April 9, I called on him to beg he would go and dine with me at the Mitre tavern. He had resolved not to dine at all this day, I know not for what reason ; and 1 was so unwilling to be deprived of his company, that 1 was content to submit to suffer a want, which was at first somewhat painful, but he soon made me forget it ; and a man is always pleased with himself, when he finds his intellectual inclinations predominate. He observed, that to reason philosophically on the nature of prayer, was very unprofitable. Talking of ghosts, he said, he knew one friend, who was an honest man and a sensible man, who told him he had seen a ghost ; old Mr. Edward Cave, the printer at St. John's Gate. He said, Mr. Cave did not like to talk of it, and seemed to be in great horrour whenever it was mentioned. Boswell. " Pray, Sir, what did he say was the appearance?'' Johnson. "Why, Sir, something of a shadowy being." 1 mentioned witches, and asked him what they prop- erly meant. Johnson. " Why, Sir, they properly mean those who make use of the aid of evil spirits." Hos- W£LL. " There is no doubt. Sir, a general report and belief of their having existed." Johnson. " You liave not only the general report and belief, but you have many voluntary solemn confessions." He did not af- firm any thing positively upon a subject which it is the fashion of the times to lau^h at as a matter of absurd credulity. He only seemed willing, as a candid en- 32 THE LIFE or 1772. quirer after truth, however strange and inexplicable, to shew that he understood what might be urged for it.^ On Friday, April 10, I dined with him at General Oglethorpe's, where we found Dr. Goldsmith. Armorial bearings having been mentioned, Johnson said they were as ancient as the siege of Thebes, which he proved by a passage in one of the tragedies of Eu- ripides. ' I started the question, whether dueUing was consist- ent with moral duty. The brave old General fired at this, and said, with a lofty air, " Undoubtedly a man has a right to defend his honour." Goldsmith, (turn- ing to me,) " I ask you first, Sir, what would you do if you were affronted ]" 1 answered, I should think it necessary to fight. " Why then, (replied Goldsmith,) that solves the question." Johnson. " No, Sir, it does not solve the question. It does not follow, that what a man would do is therefore right." 1 said, I wished to have it settled, whether duelling was contrary to the laws of Christianity. Johnson immediately entered on the subject, and treated it in a masterly manner ; and so far as I have been able to recollect, his thoughts were these : " Sir, as men become in a high degree refined, various causes of offence arise ; which are considered to be of such importance, that life must be staked to atone for them, though in reality they are not so. A body that has received a very fine polish may be easily hurt. Before men arrive at this artificial refinement, if one tells his neighbour — he lies, his neighbour tells him — he lies ; if one gives his neighbour a blow, his neighbour gives him a blow : but in a state of highly polished society, an affront is held to be a serious inju- ry. It must, therefore, be resented, or rather a duel must be fought upon it ; as nien have agreed to banish from their society one who puts up with an affront with- ' See this curious question treated by him with most acute ability, " Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides," 3d edit. p. 33. ' [The passage to which Johnson alluded, is to be found (as I conjecture) in the PH^ENISSiE. 1. 1120. Kai Tfira f/.iv TTpoir'iyi; k. r. A.. 'O Twr y.viiayov IlapBivoTiTjOf (Kyovof, Eni2HM, e^av OUCEION tv f/jo-u It is remarkable that Lord Monhoddo, whom, on account of his resembling Dr. Johnson in some particulars, Footc called an Elzevir edition of him, has, by co- incidence, made the very same remark. Origin and Progress of Language, vol. iii. 2d edit. p. 219. DR. JOHNSON. 41 which the Christian world has appropriated to the com- 1772. memoration of the mysteries of our redemption, and j^^'^ during which, whatever embers of rehii,ion are in our G3, breasts, will be kindled into pious warmth. I paid him short visits both on Friday and Saturday, and seeing his large folio Greek Testament before him, beheld him with a reverential awe, and would not in- trude upon his time. While he was thus employed to such good purpose, and while his friends in their inter- course with him constantly found a vigorous intellect and a lively imagination, it is melancholy to read in his private register, " INIy mind is unsettled and my mem- ory confused. I have of late turned my thoughts with a very useless earnestness upon past incidents. 1 have yet got no command over my thoughts ; an unpleasing incident is almost certain to hinder my rest."^ What philosophick heroism was it in him to appear with such manly fortitude to the world, while he was inwardly so distressed ! We may surely believe that the mysterious principle of being " made perfect through suffering," was to be strongly exemplified in him. On Sunday, April 19, being Easter-day, General Pa- oli and 1 paid him a visit before dinner. We talked of the notion that blind persons can distinguish colours by the touch. Johnson said, that Professor Sanderson mentions his having attempted to do it, but that he found he was aiming at an impossibility ; that to be sure a difference in the surface makes the difference of colours ; but that did'erence is so fine, that it is not sensible to the touch ilie General mentioned jug- glers and fraudulent gamesters, who could know cards by the touch. Dr. Johnson said, " the cards used by such persons must be less polished than ours common- ly are." We talked of sounds. The General said, there was no beauty in a simple sound, but only in an harmonious composition of sounds. 1 presumed to differ from this opinion, and mentioned the soft and sweet soimd of a fine woman's voice. Johnson. " No, Sir, if a serpent ^ Prayers and Meditations, p. 111. VOL. II. 6 C7 4a THE LIFE OF 1772. or a toad uttered it, you would think it ugly." Bos- ^i^ WELL. " So you would think, Sir, were a beautiful tune 63. to be uttered by one of those animals.'^ Johnson. " No, Sir, it would be admired. We have seen fine fiddlers whom we hked as little as toads." (laughing.) Talking on the subject of taste in the arts, he said, that ditference of taste was in truth, difference of skill. BoswELL. " But, Sir, is there not a quality called taste, which consists merely in perception or in liking : For instance, we find people difier much as to what is the best style of English composition. Some think Swift's the best ; others prefer a fuller and grander way of writing." Johnson. " Sir, you must first define what you mean by style, before you can judge who has a good taste in style, and who has a bad. The two classes of persons whom you have mentioned, don't suffer as to good and bad. They both agree that Swift has a good neat style ; but one loves a neat style, another loves a style of more splendour. In like man- ner, one loves a plain coat, another loves a laced coat ; but neither will deny that each is good in its kind." While 1 remained in London this spring, I was with him at several other times, both by himself and in com- pany. I dined with him one day at the Crown and Anchor tavern, in the Strand, with Lord Elibank, JNlr. Langton, and Dr. Yansittart of Oxford. Without spe- cifying each particular day, 1 have preserved the follow- ing memorable things. 1 regretted the reflection in his preface to Shakspeare against Garrick, to whom we cannot but apply the fol- lowing passage : " I collated such copies as I could procure, and wished for more, but have not found the collectors of these rarities very communicative." I told him, that Garrick had complained to me of it, and had vindicated himself by assuring me, that Johnson was made welcome to the full use of his collection, and that iie left the key of it with a servant, with orders to have a fire and every convenience for him. 1 found Johnson's notion was, that Garrick wanted to be court- ed \'or them, and that, c-n the contrary, Garrick should have courted him, and sent him the plays of his own DR. JOHNSON. 4S accord. But, indeed, considering the slovenly and ni'i' careless manner in wliicli books were treated by .lolin- JtaT son, it could not be expected that scarce and valuable 63. editions should have been lent to him. A "gentleman having to some of the usual arguments for drinking added this: " Vou know, Sir, drinking drives away care, and makes us forget whatever is disa- s^reeable. Would not you allow a man to drink for that reason ?" Johnson. " Yes, Sir, if he sat next //on." 1 expressed a liking for Mr. Francis Osborne's works, and asked him what he thought of that writer. He answered, " A conceited fellow. Were a man to write so now, the boys would throw stones at him.'* He, however, did not alter my opinion of a favourite au- thour, to whom 1 was first directed by his being quoted in " rhe Spectator," and in whom 1 have found much shrewd and lively sense, expressed indeed in a style somewhat quaint, which, however, 1 do not dislike. His book has an air of originality. We figure to our- selves an ancient gentleman talking to us. When one of his friends endeavoured to maintain that a country gentleman might contrive to pass his life very agreeably, " Sir, (said he,) you cannot give me an instance of any man who is permitted to lay out his own time, contriving not to have tedious hours." This ob- servation, however, is equally applicable to gentlemen who live in cities, and are of no profession. He said, " there is no permanent national charac- ter ; it varies according to circumstances. Alexander the Great swept India : now the Turks sweep Greece." A learned gentleman who in the course of conver- sation wished to inform us of this simple fact, that the Counsel upon the circuit at Shrewsbury were much bitten by fleas, took, I suppose seven or eight minutes in relating it circumstantially. He in a plenitude of phrase told us, that large bales of woollen cloth were lodged in the town-hall ; — that by reason of this, fleas nestled there in prodigious numbers ; that the lodg- ings of the counsel were near the town-hall ; — and that those little animals moved from place to place \a itli wonderful agility. Johnson sat in great impatience till 44 THE LIFE OF 177^2. iEtcit. 63. .x^ the gentleman had finished his tedious narrative, and then burst out (playfully however,) " It is a pity, Sir, that you have not seen a lion ; for a flea has taken you such a time, that a lion must have served you a twelve- month."^ He would not allow Scotland to derive any credit from Lord Mansfield ; for he was educated in England. " Pvluch (said he,) may be made of a Scotchman, if he { be caupi^ht young." ~"^ Talking of a modern historian and a modern moralist, he said, " Ihere is more thought in the moralist than in the historian. There is but a shallow stream of , thought in history. ' Boswell. " But surely, Sir, an I historian has reflection." Johnson. "Why yes, Sir; and so has a cat when she catches a mouse for her kit- , ten. But she cannot write like ******* ; neither can He said, " I am very unwilling to read the manu- scripts of authours, and give them my opinion. If the authours who apply to me have money, I bid them boldly print without a name ; if they have written in order to get money, I tell them to go to the booksellers and make the best bargain they can." Boswell, " But, Sir, if a bookseller should bring you a manu- script to look at." Johnson. " Why, Sir, I would de- sire the bookseller to take it away." I mentioned a friend of mine who had resided long in Spain, and was unwilling to return to Britain. John- son. " Sir, he is attached to some woman." Boswell. " i rather believe, Sir, it is the fine climate which keeps him there." Johnson. " Nay, Sir, how can you talk so? What is c//»?«^e to happiness ? Place me in the heart of Asia, should I not be exiled \ What proportion does climate bear to the complex system of human life \ You may advise me to go to live at Bologna to eat sausages. The sausages there, are the best in the world ; they lose much by being carried." On Saturday, May 9, Mr. Dempster and I had agreed to dine by ourselves at the British Coffee-house. John- ^ Mrs. Piozzi, to whom I told this anecdote, has related it, as if the g^ilemar ijad given " the natural history of the mouse" Anecdotes, p. l**!. DR. JOHNSON. 46 aon, on whom 1 happened to call in the morning, said, 1772. he would join us, which he did, and we spent a very ^tat! agreeable day, though 1 recollect but httle of what 63. passed. He said, " Walpole was a minister given by the f King to the people : Pitt was a minister given by the v people to the King, — as an adjunct." '* The misfortune of Goldsmith in conversation is this : he goes on without knowing how he is to get off. His genius is great, but his knowledge is small. As they say of a generous man, it is a pity he is not rich, we may say of Goldsmith, it is a pity he is not know- ing. He would not keep his knowledge to himself." Before leaving London this year, 1 consulted him upon a question purely of Scotch law. It was held of old, and continued for a long period, to be an estab- lished principle in that law, that whoever intermeddled with the effects of a person deceased, without the in- terposition of legal authority to guard against embezzle- ment, should be subjected to pay all the debts of the deceased, as having been guilty of what was technically called vicious intromission. The Court of Session had gradually relaxed the strictness of this principle, where the interference proved had been inconsiderable. In a case* which came before that Court the preceding win- ter, I had laboured to persuade the Judge to return to the ancient law. It was my own sincere opinion, that they ought to adhere to it ; but 1 had exhausted all my powers of reasoning in vain. Johnson thought as I did ; and in order to assist me in my application to the Court for a revision and alteration of the judgement, he dictated to me the following argument : " This, we are told, is a law which has its force only from the long practice of the Court : and may, there- fore, be suspended or modified as the Court shall think proper. " Concerning the power of the Court to make or to suspend a law, we have no intention to enquire. It is sufficient for our purpose that every just law is dictated ' Wilson against Smith and Armour. 46 THE LIFE OF 1772. by reason ; and that the practice of every legal Courtis ^J^ regulated by equity. It is the quality of reason to be 63. invariable and constant ; and of equit}^ to give to one man what, in the same case, is given to another. The advantage which humanity derives from law is this : that the law gives every man a rule of action, and pre- scribes a mode of conduct which shall entitle him to the support and protection of society. That the law may be a rule of action, it is necessary that it be known ; it is necessary that it be permanent and stable. The law is the measure of civil right : but if the measure be changeable, the extent of the thing measured never can be settled. " To permit a law to be modified at discretion, is to leave the community without law. It is to withdraw the direction of that publick wisdom, by which the de- ficiencies of private understanding are to be supplied. It is to suffer the rash and ignorant to act at discretion, and then to depend for the legality of that action on the sentence of the Judge. He that is thus governed, lives not by law, but by opinion : not by a certain rule to which he can apply his intention before he acts, but by an uncertain and variable opinion, which he can never know but after he has committed the act on which that opinion shall be passed. He lives by a law, (if a law it be,) which he can never know before he has offended it. To this case may be justly applied that important principle, misera est seroitus ubijus est aut incognifmu auf vagum. If Intromission be not criminal till it ex- ceeds a certain point, and that point be unsettled, and consequently different in ditferent minds, the right of Intromission, and the right of the Creditor arising from it, are dWjura vago, and, by consequence, m'eju?-a hi- cognita ; and the result can be no other than a imseru servitus^ an uncertainty concerning the event of action, a servile dejiendence on private opinion. " It may be urged, and with great plausibility, that there may be Intromission without fraud ; which how- ever true, will b}^ no means justify an occasional and arbitrary relaxation of the law. The end of law is pro- tection as well as vengeance. Indeed, vens^eance is DR. JOHNSON. 47 never used but to strengthen protection. That society >77«. only is well governed, where life is freed from danger ^^^^ and from suspicion ; where possession is so sheltered 63. by salutary prohibitions, that violation is prevented more frequently than punished. Such a prohibition was this, while it operated with its original force. The creditor of the deceased was not only without loss, but without ft ar. He was not to seek a remedy for an injury suf- fered ; for, injury was wardcxl off. " As the law has been sometimes administered, it lavs us open to wounds, because it is imagined to have the power of healing. To punish fraud when it is de- tected, is the proper art of vindictive justice ; but to prevent frauds, and make punishment unnecessary, is the great employment of legislative wisdom. To per- mit Intromission, and to punish fraud, is to make law no better than a pitfall. To tread upon the brink is safe ; but to come a step further is destruction. But, surely, it is better to enclose the gulf, and hinder all access, than by encouraging us to advance a little, to entice us after- wards a little further, and let us perceive our folly only by our destruction. " As law supplies the weak with adventitious strength, it likewise enlightens the ignorant with extrinsick un- derstanding. Law teaches us to know when we com- mit injury, and when we suffer it. It fixes certain marks upon actions, by which we are admonished to do or to forbear them. Qui sibi bene temper at in Ileitis^ says one. of the fathers, minquam cadet in ilUcita. He who never intromits at all, will never intromit with fraudulent in- tentions. " The relaxation of the law against vicious intromis- sion has been very favourably represented by a great master of jurisprudence,* whose words have been ex- hibited with unnecessary pomp, and seem to be consid- ered as irresistibly decisive. The great moment of his authority makes it necessary to examine his position. ' Some ages ago, (says he,) before the ferocity of the in- habitants of this part of the island was subdued, the ut- ' L«rd Kames, ia his " Historical Law Tracts.' 48 THE LIFE OF 1772. most severity of the civil law was necessary, to restrain ^^ individuals from plundering each other. Thus, the man 63. * who intermeddled irregularly with the moveables of a person deceased, was subjected to all the debts of the deceased without limitation. This makes a branch of the law of Scotland, known by the name of vicious intromis- sion ; and so rigidly was this regulation applied in our Courts of Law, that the most trifling moveable abstract- ed mala Jjde, subjected the intermeddler to the forego- ing consequences, which proved in many instances a most rigorous punishment. But this severity was ne- cessary, in order to subdue the undisciplined nature of our people. It is extremely remarkable, that in pro- portion to our improvement in manners, this regulation has been gradually softened, and applied by our sove- reign Court with a sparing hand.^ " I find myself under a necessity of observing, that this learned and judicious writer has not accurately dis- tinguished the deficiencies and demands of the different conditions of human life, which, from a degree of sav- ageness and independence, in which all laws are vain, passes or may pass, by innumerable gradations, to a state of reciprocal benignity, in which laws shall be no longer necessary. Men are first wild and unsocial, living each man to himself, taking from the weak, and losing to the strong. In their first coalitions of society, much of this original savageness is retained. Of general happiness, the product of general confidence, there is yet no thought. Men continue to prosecute their own advan- tages by the nearest way ; and the utmost severity of the civil law is necessary to restrain individuals from plundering each other. The restraints then necessary, are restraints from plunder, from acts of publick vio- lence, and undisguised oppression. The ferocity of our ancestors, as of all other nations, produced not fraud, but rapine. They had not yet learned to cheat, and at- tempted only to rob. As manners grow more polished, with the knowledge of good, men attain likewise dex- terity in evil. Open rapine becomes less frequent, and violence gives way to cunning. Those who before in- vaded pastures and stormed houses, now begin to en- DR. JOHNSON. 49 nch themselves by unequal contracts and fraudulent 1772. intromissions. It is not against the violence of ferocity, Jj!^ but the circumventions of deceit, that this law was 63. framed ; and 1 am afraid the increase of commerce, and the incessant struggle for riches which commerce ex- cites, give us no prospect of an end speedily to be ex- pected of artifice and fraud. It therefore seems to be no very conclusive reasoning, which connects those two propositions ; — •' the nation is become less ferocious, and therefore the laws against fraud and covin shall be relaxed.' " Whatever reason may have influenced the Judges to a relaxation of the law, it was not that the nation was grown less fierce ; and, 1 am afraid, it cannot be affirm- ed, that it is grown less fraudulent. " Since this law has been represented as rigorously and unreasonably penal, it seems not improper to con- sider what are the conditions and qualities that make the justice or propriety of a penal law. " To make a penal law reasonable and just, two conditions are necessary, and two proper. It is neces- sary that the law should be adequate to its end ; that, if it be observed, it shall prevent the evil against which it is directed. It is, secondly, necessary that the end of the law be of such importance, as to deserve the se- curity of a penal sanction. The other conditions of a penal law, which though not absolutely necessary, are to a very high degree fit, are, that to the moral violation of the law there are many temptations, and that of the physical observance there is great facility. " All these conditions apparently concur to justify the law which we are now considering. Its end is the security of property ; and property very often of great value. The method by which it effects the security is efficacious, because it admits, in its original rigour, no gradations of injury ; but keeps guilt and innocence apart, by a distinct and definite limitation. He that in- . tromits, is criminal ; he that intromits not, is innocent. Of the two secondary considerations it cannot be deni- ed that both are in our favour. The temptation to in- tromit is frequent and strong : so strong and so fre- VOL. ir. 7 50 THE LIFE OF 1772. quent, as to require the utmost activity of justice, and ^^ vigilance of caution, to withstand its prevalence ; and 63. the method by which a man may entitle himself to legal intromission, is so open and so facile, that to neglect it is a proof of fraudulent intention ; for why should a man omit to do (but for reasons which he will not con- fess,) that which he can do so easily, and that which he knows to be required by the law ? If temptation were rare, a penal law might be deemed unnecessary. If the duty enjoined by the law were of diihcult perform- ance, omission, though it could not be justified, might be pitied. But in the present case, neither equity nor compassion operate against it. A useful, a necessary law is broken, not only without a reasonable motive, but with all the inducements to obedience that can be de- rived from safety and facility. " 1 therefore return to my original position, that a law, to have its effects, must be permanent and stable. It may be said, in the language of the schools. Lex non recipit majus et minus, — we may have a law, or we may have no law, but we cannot have half a law. AVe must either have a rule of action, or be permitted to act by discretion and by chance. Deviations from the law must be uniformly punished, or no man can be certain when he shall be safe. " That from the rigour of the original institution this Court has sometimes departed, cannot be denied. But, as it is evident that such deviations, as they make law uncertain, make life unsafe, I hope, that of departing from it there will now be an end ; that the wisdom of our ancestors will be treated with due reverence ; and that consistent and steady decisions will furnish the people vvith a rule of action, and leave fraud and fraud- ulent intromissions no future hope of impunity or es- cape.^^ With such comprehension of mind, and such clear- ness of penetration, did he thus treat a subject altogeth- er new to him, without any other preparation than my having stated to him the arguments which had been used on each side of the question. His intellectual OR. JOHNSON. dl }>ovvcis appeared with peculiar lustre, when tried against >773. those of a writer of such fame as Lord Karnes, and that ^i^ too in his Lordsliip's own department. cy.i. This masterly argument, after being i)refaced anil concluded with some sentences of my own, and gar- nislutl with the usual formularies, was actually printed and laid before the J^ords of Session, but without suc- cess. My respected friend Lord Hailes, however, one of that honourable body, had critical sagacity enough to discover a more than ordinary hand in the Fefif'ton. I told him Dr. Johnson had favoured, me with his pen. liis l^ordship, with wonderful acumen^ pointed out ex- actly where his composition began, and where it ended. But that 1 may do impartial justice, and conform to the great rule of Courts, Smun cuiqiie tribuito^ 1 must add, that their Lordships in general, though they were pleas- ed to call this " a well-drawn paper," preferred the former very inferiour petition which I had written ; thus confirmincr the truth of an observation made to me by one of their number, in a merry mood : " My dear Sir, give yourself no trouble in the composition of the papers you present to us ; for, indeed, it is casting- pearls before svvine.^^ I renewed my solicitations that Dr. Johnson would this year accomplish his long-intended visit to Scotland. " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " The regret has not been little wnth which I have missed a journey so pregnant with pleasing expecta- tions, as that in which I could promise myself not only the gratification of curiosity, both rational and fanciful, but the delight of seeing those whom 1 love and esteem. *****♦#**** |],j|^ such has been the course of things, that I could not come ; and such has been, [ am afraid, the state of my body, that it would not well have seconded my inclination. My body, 1 think, grows better, and I refer my hopes to another year ; for 1 am very sincere in my design to pay the visit, and take thp ramble. In the mean time, do not omit any 52 THE LIFE OF 1772. Opportunity of keeping up a favourable opinion of me ^^ in the minds of any of my friends. Beattie's book is, I 63. believe, every day more liked ; at least, I like it more, as I look more upon it. " 1 am glad if you got credit by your cause, and am yet of opinion that our cause was good, and that the determination ought to have been in your favour. Poor Hastie, I think, had but his deserts. " You promised to get me a little Pindar, you may add to it a little Anacreon. '' The leisure which I cannot enjoy, it will be a pleasure to hear that you employ upon the antiquities of the feudal establishment. The whole system of an- cient tenures is gradually passing away ; and I wish to have the knowledge of it preserved adequate and com- plete. For such an institution makes a very important part of the history of mankind. Do not forget a design so worthy of a scholar who studies the law of his coun- try, and of a gentleman who may naturally be curious to know the condition of his own ancestors. I am, dear Sir, " Your's with great affection, ''August 31, 1772. " Sam. Johnson." " TO DR. JOHNSON. '^ MY DEAR SIR, Edinburgh^ Dec. 25, 1772. " I WAS much disappointed that you did not come to Scotland last autumn. However, I must own that your letter prevents me from complaining; not only because I am sensible that the state of your health was but too good an excuse, but because you w^rite in a strain which shews that you have agreeable views of the scheme which we have so long proposed. ****** *' I communicated to Beattie what you said of his book in your last letter to me. He writes to me thus ; ' You judge very rightly in supposing that Dr. John- son's favourable opinion of my book must give me great delight, indeed it is impossible for mo to say how »3R. JOHNSON. 53 much I am gratified by it ; for there is not a man upon i773. earth whose good opinion 1 would be more ambitious to ^^ cultivate. His talents and his virtues I reverence more Q4, ' than any words can express. I'he extraordinary civili- ties (the paternal attentions 1 should rather say,) and the many instructions 1 have had the honour to receive from him, will to me be a perpetual source of pleasure in the recollection, ' Dum meinor ipse mei, dum spiritiis hos reget artus.^ ' I had still some thoughts, while the summer lasted, of being obliged to go to London on some little busi- ness ; otherwise 1 should certainly have troubled him with a letter several months ago, and given some vent to my gratitude and admiration. This I intend to do, as soon as I am left a little at leisure. Mean time, if you have occasion to write to him, I beg you will offet him my most respectful compliments, and assure him of the sincerity of my attachment and the warmth of my gratitude." ****** " I am, &c. " James Hoswell." In 1773, his only publication was an edition of his folio Dictionary, with additions and corrections ; nor did he, so far as is known, furnish any productions of his fertile pen to any of his numerous friends or de- pendants, except the Preface*' to his old amanuensis Macbean's " Dictionary of ancient Geography." His Shakspeare, indeed, which had been received with high approbation by the publick, and gone through several editions, was this year re-published by George Stee- vens, Esq. a gentleman not only deeply skilled in an- cient learning, and of very extensive reading in English literature, especially the early writers, but at the same ' He, however, wrote, or partly wrote, an Epitaph on Mrs. Bell, wife of his friend John Bell, Esq. brother of the Rev. Dr. Bell, Prebendary of Westminster, which is printed in his works. It is in English prose, and has so little of his man- ner, that I did not believe he had any hai^d in it, till I Was satisfied of the fact by :he authority of Mr. Bell. 54 THE LIFE OF 1773. time of acute discernment and elegant taste. It is al- 2J^ most unnecessary to say, that by his great and valuable 64. additions to Dr. Johnson's work, he justly obtained considerable reputation : " Divisum imperium cum Jove Ccesar habet." " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " I HAVE read your kind letter much more than the elegant Pindar which it accompanied. I am al- ways glad to find myself not forgotten ; and to be for- gotten by you would give me great uneasiness. My northern friends have never been unkind to me : I have from you, dear Sir, testimonies of affection, which I have not often been able to excite ; and Dr. Beattie rates the testimony which I was desirous of paying to his merit, much higher than I should have thought it rea- sonable to expect. " I have heard of your masquerade.^ What says your synod to such innovations ? I am not studiously scrupulous, nor do I think a masquerade either evil in itself, or very likely to be the occasion of evil ; yet as the world thinks it a very licentious relaxation of man- ners,! would not have been one oii\\G.Jirst masquers in a country where no masquerade had ever been before. ^ " A new edition of my great Dictionary is printed, from a copy which I was persuaded to revise ; but hav- ing made no preparation, I was able to do very little. Some superfluities 1 have expunged, and some faults I have corrected, and here and there have scattered a re- mark ; but the main fabrick of the work remains as it was. I had looked very little into it since I wrote it, and, I think, I found it full as often better, as worse, than I expected. "Baretti and Davies have had afurious quarrel ; aquar- rel,Ithink,irreconcileable. Dr.Goldsmithhas a new com- edy, which is expected in the spring. No name is yet * Given by a lady at Edinburgh. ' There had been masquerades in Scotland ; but not for a very long time. DR. JOHNSON. 55 given it. The chief diversion arises from a stratagem ^773. by which a lover is made to mistake his future father- ^^ in-la\v's house for an inn. This, you see, borders upon G4. farce. The dialogue is quick and gay, and the inci- dents are so prepared as not to seem improbable. '•' I am sorry that you lost your cause of Intromis- sion, because 1 yet think the arguments on your side unanswerable. But you seem, 1 think, to say that you gained reputation even by your defeat ; and reputation you will daily gain, if you keep Lord Auchinleck's pre- cept in your mind, and endeavour to consolidate in your mind a firm and regular system of law, instead of picking up occasional fragments. " My health seems in general to improve ; but I have been troubled for many weeks with a vexatious catarrh, which is sometimes sufficiently distressful. I have not found any great effects from bleeding and physick ; and am afraid, that I must expect help from brighter days and softer air. " Write to me now and then ; and whenever any good befalls you, make haste to let me know it, for no one will rejoice at it more than, dear Sir, " Your most humble servant, " London, Feb. 22, 1773. " Sam. Johnson." " You continue to stand very high in the favour of Mrs. Thrale." While a former edition of my work was passing through the press, I was unexpectedly favoured with a packet from Philadelphia, from Mr. James Abercrom- bie, a gentleman of that country, who is pleased to honour me with very high praise of my " Life of Dr. Johnson." To have the fame of my illustrious friend, and his faithful biographer, echoed from the New World is extremely flattering ; and my grateful acknowledge- ments shall be wafted across the Atlantick. Mr. Aber- crombie has politely conferred on me a considerable ad- • ditional obligation, by transmitting to me copies of two letters from Dr. Johnson to American gentlemen. " Gladly, Sir, (says he,) would I have sent you the originals : but being the only relicks of the kind in 6b THE LIFE OF 1773. Ameriica, they are considered by the possessors of such ^g^ inestimable value, that no possible consideration would 64. ' induce them to part with them. In some future pub- lication of your^s relative to that great and good man, they may perhaps be thought worthy of insertion." " TO MR. B D.* " SIR, " That in the hurry of a sudden departure you should yet find leisure to consult my convenience, is a degree of kindness, and an instance of regard, not only beyond my claims, but above my expectation. You are not mistaken in supposing that 1 set a high value on my American friends, and that you should confer a very valuable favour upon me by giving me an oppor- tunity of keeping myself in their memory. " I have taken the liberty of troubling you with a packet, to which I wish a safe and speedy conveyance, because I wish a safe and speedy voyage to him that conveys it. I am, Sir, " Your most humble servant, " Sam. Johnson. '^ " London, Johnson's-court^ Fleet-street, March 4, 177.'^-'' " TO THE REVEREND MR. WHITE. ^ " DEAR SIR, " Your kindnessforyour friends accompanies you across the Atlantick. It was long since observed by Horace, that no ship could leave care behind : you have been attended in your voyage by other powers, — by benevolence and constancy ; and I hope care did not often shew her face in their company. " I received the copy of Rasselas. The impression is not magnificent, but it flatters an authour, because the * This gentleman, who now resides in America in a publick character of con- siderable dignity, desired that his name might not be transcribed at full length. ^ Now Doctor White, and Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Pennsylvania. During his first visit to England in 1771, as a candidate for holy orders, he was several times in company with Dr. Johnson, who expressed a wish fo see the edi- tion of Rasselas, which Dr. White told him had been printed in x\merica. Dr. White, on hi? return, iaunediately sent him a copy. DR. JOHNSON. 67 printer seems to have expected that it would be scat- •773. tered among the people. The little book has been well ^^ received, and is translated into Italian, French, German, 04. and Dutch. It has now one honour more by an Amer- ican edition. " 1 know not that much has happened since your de- parture that can engage your curiosity. Of all publick transactions the whole world is now informed by the news-papers. Opposition seems to despond ; and the dissenters, though they have taken advantage of unset- tled times, and a government much enfeebled, seem not likely to gain any immunities. " Dr. Goldsmitli has a new comedy in rehearsal at Covent-Garden, to which the manager predicts ill suc- cess. I hope he will be mistaken. 1 think it deserves a very kind reception. " 1 shall soon publish a new edition of my large Dic- tionary ; I have been persuaded to revise it, and have mended some faults, but added little to its usefulness. " No book has been published since your departure, of which much notice is taken. Faction only fills the town with pamphlets, and greater subjects are forgotten in the noise of discord. " Thus have 1 written, only to tell you how little I have to tell. Of myself I can only add, that having been afflicted many weeks with a very troublesome cough, 1 am now recovered. " 1 take the liberty which you give me of troubling you with a letter, of which you will please to fill up the direction. I am, Sir, " Your most humble servant, " Sam. Johnson." '• Johnsoji's-court^ Fleet-streef^Londoti^ March 4, 1773." On Saturday, April 3, the day after my arrival in London this year, I went to his house late in the even- ing, and sat with Mrs. Williams till he came home. I found in the London Chronicle, Dr. Goldsmith's apol- ogy to the publick for beating Evans, a bookseller, on account of a paragraph^ in a newspaper published by ' [The offence given, was a long abusive letter in the London Packet. A par- ticular account of this transaction, and Goldsmith's Vindication, (for such it wis, VOL. n. 8 38 THE LIFE OF f 773. him, which Goldsmith thought impertinent to him and ^^ to a lady of his acquaintance. The apology was writ- 64. ten so much in Dr. Johnson's manner, that both Mrs. Williams and I supposed it to be his ; but when he came home, he soon undeceived us. When he said to Mrs. Williams, " Well, Dr. Goldsmith's manifesto has got into your paper ;" I asked him if Dr. Goldsmith had written it, with an air that made him see I suspect- ed it was his, though subscribed by Goldsmith. John- son. " Sir, Dr. Goldsmith would no more have asked me to write such a thing as that for him, than he would have asked me to feed him with a spoon, or to do any thing else that denoted his imbecility. I as much be- lieve that he wrote it, as if I had seen him do it. Sir, had he shown it to any one friend, he would not have been allowed to publish it. He has, indeed, done it very well ; but it is a foolish thing well done. I sup- pose he has been so much elated with the success of his new comedy, that he has thought every thing that concerned him must be of importance to the publick.'' BoswELL. " 1 fancy. Sir, this is the first time that he has been engaged in such an adventure.'' Johnson. " Why, Sir, 1 believe it is the first time he has beaf : he may have been beaten before. This, Sir, is a new plume to him." I mentioned Sir John Dalrymple's " Memoirs of Great-Britain and Ireland," and his discoveries to the prejudice of Lord Russel and Algernon Sydney. John- son. " Why, Sir, every body who had just notions of Government thought them rascals before. It is well that all mankind now see them to be rascals." Bos- well. " But, Sir, may not those discoveries be true without their being rascals!" Johnson. "Consider, Sir ; would any of them have been willing to have had it known that they intrigued with France \ Depend up- ( on it. Sir, he who does what he is afraid should be V known, has something rotten about him. This Dalrym- ^le seems to be an honest fellow ; for he tells equally what makes against both sides. Rut nolhmg can be rather than an Apology,) may ba found in the new I-ife of tfiat Poet, prefixed t(.» his Miscellaiieous Works in 4 vols. 8vo. pp. IOj— 108, M.] DR. JOHNSON. .59 poorer than his mode of writing, it is the mere bonne- V773. ing of a school-boy : Great lie ! ^ but greater She ! and ^(^ such stuti"." (j4. 1 could not agree with him in this criticism ; for though Sir John Dalrymple's style is not regularly formed in any respect, and one cannot help smiling sometimes at his atiected grautliloqiieitce^ there is in his writing a pointed vivacity, and much of a gentlemanly spirit. At Mr. Thrale's, in the evening, he repeated his usual paradoxical declamation against action in publick speaking. " Action can have no effect upon reasona- ble minds. It may augment noise, but it never can enforce argument. If you speak to a dog, you use ac- tion ; you hold up your hand thus, because he is a brute ; and in proportion as men are removed from brutes, action will have the less influence upon them." "^ Mrs. Thrale. " What then, Sir, becomes of Demost- henes's saying ^ 'Action, action, action!" Johnson. " Demosthenes, Madam, spoke to an assembly of brutes ; to a barbarous people." I thought it extraordinary, that he should deny the power of rhetorical action upon human nature, when it is proved by innumerable facts in all stages of society. Reasonable beings are not solely reasonable. They have fancies which may be pleased, passions which ma}'' be roused. Lord Chesterfield being mentioned, Johnson remark- ed, that almost all of that celebrated nobleman's witty sayings were puns. He, however, allowed the merit of good wit to his Lordship's saying of Lord Tyrawley and himself, when both very old and infirm : " Ty- | ravvley and I have been dead these two years ; but we 1 don't choose to have it known.'* He talked with an approbation of an intended edition of" The Spectator," with notes ; two volumes of whicf\ had been prepared by a gentleman eminent in the lit- erary world, and the materials which he had collected for the remainder had been transferred tn another hand. ' [A bombastick ode of Oldliam's on Ben Jonson, begins dius : " Great thou I" which perhaps his namesake remembered. M.] 60 THE LIFE OF 1773. He observed, that all works which describe manners, /Etat^ leqiiire notes in sixty or seventy years, or less ; and 64. told us, he had communicated all he knew that could throw light upon " The Spectator." He said, " Addi- son had made his Sir Andrew Freeport a true Whig, arguing against giving charity to beggars, and throwing out other such ungracious sentiments ; but that he had thought better, and made amends by making him found an hospital for decayed farmers." He called for the volume of " The Spectator," in which that account is contained, and read it aloud to us. He read so well, that every thing acquired additional weight and grace from his utterance. The conversation having turned on modern imita- tions of ancient ballads, and some one having praised their simplicity, he treated them with that ridicule which he always displayed when that subject was men- tioned. He disapproved of introducing scripture phrases into secular discourse. This seemed to me a question of some difficulty. A scripture expression may be used, like a highly classical phrase, to produce an instanta- neous strong impression ; and it may be done without being at all improper. Yet 1 own there is danger, that applying the language of our sacred book to ordinary subjects may tend to lessen our reverence for it. If therefore it be introduced at all, it should be with very great caution. On i'hursday, April 8, I sat a good part of the even- ing with him, but he was very silent. He said, " Bur- net's * History of his own times,^ is very entertaining. The style, indeed, is mere chit-chat. 1 do not believe that Burnet intentionally lyed ; but he was so much prejudiced, that he took no pains to find out the truth. He was like a man who resolves to regulate his time by a certain watch ; but will not enquire whether the watch is right or not." Though he was not disposed to talk, he was unwill- ing that I should leave him ; and when 1 looked at my watch, and told him it was twelve o'clock, he cried, ^' What's that to you and me ?" and ordered Frank to DR. JOHNSON. 61 tell Mrs. Williams that we were coming to drink tea 1773. with liir, which we did. It was settled that we should ^^ go to church together next day. 64. On the 9th of April, being (lood Friday, 1 breakfast- ed with him on tea and cross-buns ; Doctor Levet as Frank called him, making the tea. He carried me with him to the church of St. Clement Danes, where he had his seat ; and his behaviour was, as I had imaged to myself, solemnly devout. 1 never shall forget the trem- ulous earnestness with which he pronounced the awe- ful petition in the Litany : " In the hour of death, and at the day of judgement, good'LoRo deliver us.'' We went to church both in the morning and evening. In the interval between the two services we did not dine ; but he read in the Greek New Testament, and I turned over several of his books. In Archbishop Laud's Diary, I found the following passage, which I read to Dr. Johnson : " 1623. February 1, Sunday, i stood by the most illustrious Prince Charles, ^ at dinner. He was then very merry, and talked occasionally of many things with his attendants. Among other things, he said, that if he were necessitated to take any particular profession of life, he could not be a lawyer, adding his reasons : ' I cannot, (saith he,) defend a bad, nor yield in a good cause." Johnson. " Sir, this is false reasoning ; be- cause every cause has a bad side : and a lawyer is not overcome, though the cause which he has endeavoured to support be determined against him." I told him that Goldsmith had said to me a few days before, " As 1 take my shoes from the shoemaker, and my coat from the taylor, so I take my religion from the priest." 1 regretted this loose way of talking. John- son. " Sir, he knows nothing ; he has made up his mind about nothing." To my great surprize he asked me to dine with him on Easter-day. I never supposed that he had a dinner at his house ; for 1 had not then heard of any one of his friends having been entertained at his table. He told me, " I generally have a meat pye on Sunday : it Afterwards Ch^xles I 62 THE LIFE OF 1773. is baked at a publick oven, which is very properly al- StaT ^o^^^» because one man can attend it ; and thus the 64. advantage is obtained of not keeping servants from church to dress dinners." April 11, being Easter-Sunday, after having attended Divine Service at St. Paul's, 1 repaired to Dr. Johnson's. I had gratified my curiosity much in dining with Jean Jaques Rousseau, while he lived in the wilds of Neuf- chatel : I had as great a curiosity to dine with Dr. Samuel Johnson, in the dusky recess of a court in Fleet-street. I supposed we should scarcely have knives and forks, and only some strange, uncouth, ill- drest dish : but I found every thing m very good order. We had no other company but Mrs. Williams and a young woman whom I did not know. As a dinner here was considered as a singular phenomenon, and as I was frequently interrogated on the subject, my readers may perhaps be desirous to know our bill of fare. Foote, I remember, in allusion to Francis, the tiegro, was will- ing to suppose that our repast was biack broth. But the fact was, that we had a very good soup, a boiled leg of lamb and spinach, a veal pye, and a rice pudding. Of Dr. John Campbell, the authour, he said, " He is a very inquisitive and a very able man, and a man of good religious principles, though 1 am afraid he has been deficient in practice. Campbell is radically right ; and we may hope, that in time there will be good prac- tice." He owned that he thought Hawkesworth was one of his imitators, but he did not think Goldsmith was. Goldsmith, he said, had great merit. Boswell. "But, Sir, he is much indebted to you for his getting so high in the publick estimation." Johnson. " Why, Sir, he has perhaps, got sooner to it, by his intimacy with me." Goldsmith, though his vanity often excited him to oc- casional competition, had a very high regard for John- son, which he had at this time expressed in the strong- est manner in the Dedication of his Comedy, entitled, " She Stoops to Conquer."' « " By iHscribing this slight performance to you, I do not mean so much to com- pliment you as myself. It may do me some honour to inform the publick, that ! DR. JOHNSON. 63 Johnson observed, that there were very few books ^11^- printed in Scotland before the Union, He had seen a^j'^ complete collection of them in the possession of the 64. Hon. Archibald Campbell, a non-juring Bishop.' I wish this collection had been kept entire. Many of them are in the library of the Faculty of Advocates at Kdinburgh. 1 told Dr. Johnson that 1 had some inten- tion to write the life of the learned and worthy Thomas lluddiman. He said, " 1 should take pleasure in help- ing you to do honour to him. But his farewell letter to the faculty of Advocates, when he resigned the of- fice of their Librarian, should have been in Latin." I put a question to him upon a fact in common life, which he could not answer, nor have 1 found any one else who could. What is the reason that women ser- vants, though obliged to be at the expence of purchas- ing their own clothes, have much lower wages than men servants, to whom a great proportion of that article is furnished, and when in fact our female house servants work much harder than the male?- He told me that he had twelve or fourteen times at- tempted to keep a journal of his life, but never could persevere. He advised me to do it. " The great thing to be recorded, (said he,) is the state of your own mind ; and you should write down every thing that you re- member, for you cannot judge at first what is good or bad ; and write immediately while the impression is fresh, for it will not be the same a week afterwards." 1 again solicited him to communicate to me the par- ticulars of his early life. He said, " You shall have them all for two-pence. I hope you shall know a great deal more of me before you write my Life." He men- tioned to me this day many circumstances, which I wrote down when I went home, and have interwoven in the former part of this narrative. Iiave lived many years in intimacy with you. It may serve the interest of maa-i kind also to inform them, that the greatest wit may be found in a character, with- out impairing the most unaffected piety." ' See an account of this learned and respectable gentleman, and of his curious work on the AiidJU Stat:, " Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides," 3d edit. p. 371. J [There is a greater variety of emplojonents for men, than for women : there- fore the demand raiscj the price. K.] 64 THE LIFE OF 1773. On Tuesday, April 13, he and Dr. Goldsmith and I ^J^ dined at General Oglethorpe's. Goldsmith expatiated 64. on the common topick, that the race of our people was degenerated, and that this was owing to luxur}^ John- son. " Sir, in the first place, 1 doubt the fact. 1 be- lieve there are as many tall men in England now, as ever there were. But, secondly, supposing the stature of our people to be diminished, that is not owing to luxury ; for, Sir, consider to how very small a propor- tion of our people luxury can reach. Our soldiery, surely, are not luxurious, who live on six-pence a day ; and the same remark will apply to almost all the other classes. Luxury, so far as it reaches the poor, will do good to the race of people ; it will strengthen and mul- tiply them. Sir, no nation was ever hurt by luxury ; for, as I said before, it can reach but to a very few. I admit that the great increase of commerce and manu- factures hurts the military spirit of a people ; because it produces a competition for something else than mar- tial honours, — a competition for riches. It also hurts the bodies of the people ; for you will observe, there is no man who works at any particular trade, but you may know him from his appearance to do so. One part or the other of his body being more used than the rest, he is in some degree deformed : but, Sir, that is not luxu- ry. A tailor sits cross-legged ; but that is not luxury.^' Goldsmith. " Come, you're just going to the same place by another road." Johnson. " Nay, Sir, I say that is not luxury. Let us take a walk from Charing- cross to White-chapel, through, I suppose, the great- est series of shops in the world, what is there in any of these shops, (if you except gin-shops,) that can do any human being any harm ?" Goldsmith. " Well, Sir, I'll accept your challenge. The very next shop to North- umberland-house is a pickle-shop." Johnson. "Well, Sir ; do we not know that a maid can in one afternoon make pickles sutlicient to serve a whole family for a year ? nay, that five pickle-shops can serve all the king- dom ? Besides, Sir, there is no harm done to any body- by the making of pickles, or the eating of pickles." DR. JOHNSON. 65 We drank tea with the ladies ; and Goldsmith sung 1773. Tony Lumpkin's song in his comedy, " She Stoops to ^^^^ Conquer/' and a very pretty one, to an Irish tunc,' G4. which he had designed tor Miss Hardcastle ! but as Mrs. Bulkeley, who played the part, could not sing, it was left out. He afterwards wrote it down for me, by which means it was preserved, and now appears amongst his poems. Dr. Johnson, in his way home, stopped at my lodgings in Piccadilly, and sat with me, drinking tea a second time, till a late hour. I told him that Mrs. Macaulay said, she wondered how he could reconcile his political principles with his moral ; his notions of inequality and subordination with wishing well to the happiness of all mankind, who might live so agreeably, had they all their portions of land, and none to domineer over another. Johnson. " Why, Sir, I reconcile my principles very well, because man- kind are happier in a state of inequality and subordina- tion. Were they to be in this pretty state of equality, they would soon degenerate into brutes ; — they would become Monboddo's nation ; — their tails would grow. Sir, all would be losers, were all to work for all : — they would have no intellectual improvement. All intellec- tual improvement arises from leisure : all leisure arises from one working for another." Talking of the family of Stuart, he said, " It should seem that the family at present on the throne has now established as good a right as the former family, by the long consent of the people ; and that to disturb this right might be considered as culpable. At the same time 1 own, that it is a very difficult question, when considered with respect to the house of Stuart. To oblige people to take oaths as to the disputed right, is wrong. I know not whether I could take them : but I do not blame those who do." So conscientious and so delicate was he upon this subject, which has occasion- ed so much clamour against him. Talking of law cases, he said, " The English reports, in general, are very poor : only the half of what has ■ The humours of Ballamagairy. VOL. ir. 9 65 TBE LIFE OF J 773. been said is taken down ; and of that half, much is mis- iEtaT t^l^^n. Whereas, in Scotland, the arguments on each 64. * side are deliberately put in writing, to be considered by the court. 1 think a collection of your cases upon sub- jects of importance, with the opinions of the Judges upon them, would be valuable." On Thursday, April 15, 1 dined with him and Dr. Goldsmith at General Paoli's. We found here Signor MartineHi, of Florence, authour of a History of England in Italian, printed at London. I spoke of Allan Ramsay's " Gentle Shepherd," in the Scottish dialect, as the best pastoral that had ever been written ; not only abounding with beautiful rural imagery, and just and pleasing sentiments, but being a real picture of manners ; and 1 offered to teach Dr. Johnson to understand it. " No, Sir, (said he,) 1 won't learn it. You shall retain your superiority by my not knowing it." This brought on a question whether one man is les- sened by another's acquiring an equal degree of knowl- edge with him. Johnson asserted the affirmative. I maintained that the position might be true in those kinds of knowledge which produce wisdom, power, and force, so as to enable one man to have the government of others ; but that a man is not in any degree lessened by others knowing as well as he what ends in mere pleasure : — eating fine fruits, drinking delicious wines, reading exquisite poetry." The General observed, that MartineHi was a Whig. Johnson. " I am sorry for it. It shews the spirit of the times : he is obhged to temporise." Boswell. " I rather think, Sir, that Toryism prevails in this reign." Johnson. " 1 know not why you should think so. Sir. You see your friend Lord Lyttelton, a nobleman, is obliged in his History to write the most vulgar Whigorisin." An animated debate took place whether MartineHi should continue his History of England to the present day. Goi.DSMiTH. " To be sure he should." John- son. " No, Sir ; he would give great offence. He would have to tell of almost all the living great what DR. JOHNSON. 67 they do not wish told.*' GoldSiMITh. " It may, per- 1/73. haps, be necessary for a native to be more cautious ; ^[^ but a foreigner who comes among us without prejudice, 64. may be considered as holding the place of a Judge, and may speak his mind freely." Johnson. " Sir, a for- eigner, when he sends a work from the press, ought to be on his guard against catching the errour and mistak- en enthusiasm of the people among whom he happens t^ be." Goldsmith. " Sir, he wants only to sell his history, and to tell truth ; one an honest, the other a laudable motive." Johnson. " Sir, they are both laud- able motives. It is laudable in a man to wish to live by his labours ; but he should write so as he may /ive by them, not so as he may be knocked on the head. I would advise him to be at Calais before he publishes his history of the present ^e. A foreigner who attach- es himself to a political party in this country, is in the w^orst state that can be imagined : he is looked upon as a mere intermeddler. A native may do it from interest." BoswELL. " Or principle." Goldsimith. "There are people who tell a hundred political lies every day, and are not hurt by it. Surely, then, one may tell truth with safety." Johnson. " Why, Sir, in the first place, he who tells a hundred lies has disarmed the force of his lies. But besides ; a man had rather have a hun- dred lies toldof him, than one truth which he does not wish should be told." Goldsmith. " For my part, Fd tell truth, and shame the devil." Johnson. " Yes, Sir ; but the devil will be angry. I wish to shame the devil as much as you do, but 1 should choose to be out of the reach of his claws." Goldsmith. " His claws can do you no harm, when you have the shield of truth." It having been observed that there was little hospital- ity in London ; Johnson. " Nay, Sir, any man who has a name, or who has the power of pleasing, will be very generally invited in London. The man, Sterne, I have been told, has had engagements for three months." Goldsmith. " And a very dull fellow." Johnson. " Why, no, Sir." 68 THE LIFE OF 1773. Martinelli told us, that for several years he lived ^^ much with Charles Townshend, and that he ventured 64. to tell him he was a bad joker. Johnson. "Why, Sir, thus much I can say upon the subject. One day he and a few more agreed to go and dine in the coun- try, and each of them was to bring a friend in his car- riage with him. Charles Townshend asked Fitzherbert to go with him, but told him, " You must find some- body to bring you back : 1 can only carry you there." Fitzherbert did not much like this arrangement. He however, consented, observing sarcastically, ' It will do very well ; for then the same jokes will serve you in re- turning as in going." An eminent publick character being mentioned ; — Johnson. " 1 remember being present when he shewed himself to be so corrupted, or at least something so dif- ferent from what I think right, as to maintain, that a member of parliament should go along with his party right or wrong. Now, Sir, this is so remote from na- tive virtue, from scholastick virtue, that a good man must hav^e undergone a great change before he can reconcile himself to such a doctrine. It is maintaining: that you may lie to the publick ; for you lie when you call that right which you think wrong, or the reverse. A friend of ours, who is too much an echo of that gen- tleman, observed, that a man who does not stick uni- formly to a party, is only waiting to be bought. Why then, said I, he is only waiting to be what that gentle- man is already." We talked of the King's coming to see Goldsmith's new play. — " I wish he would," said Goldsmith ; add- ing, however, with an affected indifterence, " Not that it would do me the least good." Johnson. " Well then. Sir, let us say it would do him good, (laughing.) No, Sir, this affectation will not pass; — it is mighty idle. In such a state as ours, who would not wish to please the Chief Magistrate !" Goldsmith. " I do wish to please him, 1 remember a line in Dryden, ' And every poet is the monarch's friend.' It ought to be reversed." Johnson. "Nay, there are ^ner lines in Dryden on this subject : DR. JOHNSON. 69 ' For colleges on bounteous Kings depend, 1773. * And never rebel was lo arts a friend." ^^J^ General Paoli observed, that successful rebels might. 64. Mautinelli. " Happy rebellions." Goldsmith. " We have no such phrase." General Paoli. " But have you not the thing /" Goldsmith. " Yes ; all our fuippif revolutions. Ihey have hurt our constitu- tion, and will hurt it, till we mend it by another hap- py REVOLUTION." — I Hcver before discovered that my friend Goldsmith had so much of the old prejudice in him. General Paoli, talking of Goldsmith's new play, said, " // a fait un compliment trhs gracieux d une certaine grande (lame ;" meaning a Duchess of the first rank. 1 expressed a doubt whether Goldsmith intended it, in order that I might hear the truth from himself. It, perhaps, was n(U quite fair to endeavour to bring him to a confession, as he might not wish to avow positively his taking part against the Court. He smiled and hes- itated. The General at once relieved him, by this beautiful imaofe : " Monsieur Goldsmith est comme la w trate to tolerate those wlio preach against the doctrine 1773. of the Trinity ? Johnson was highly odendeci, and JTi"^ said, " I wonder, Sir, how a gentleman of your piety 64. can introduce this subject in a mixed comi)any." lie told me afterwards, that the impropriety was, that per- haps some of the company might have talked on the subject in such terms as might have shocked him ; or he might have been forced to appear in their eyes a narrow-minded man. The gentleman, with submissive deference, said, he had only hinted at the question from a desire to hear Dr. Johnson's opinion u|)on it. John- son. " Why then, Sir, 1 think that permitting men to preach any opinion contrary to the doctrine of the established church, tends in a certain degree, to lessen the authority of the church, and consequently, to lessen the influence of religion." " It may be considered, (said the gentleman,) whether it would not be politick to tolerate in such a case." Johnson. "Sir, we have been talking of t'ig/ii : this is another question. I think it is not politick to tolerate in such a case." l hough he did not think it fit that so aweful a sub- ject should be introduced in a mixed company, and therefore at this time waved the theological question ; yet his own orthodox belief in the sacred mystery of the Trinity is evinced beyond doubt, by the follow- ing passage in his private devotions : " O Lord, hear my prayer, for Jesus Christ's sake ; to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost, l/iree persons and one God, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen."* BoswELL. " Pray, Mr. Dilly, how does Dr. Leland's 'History of Ireland sell ?" Johnson, (bursting forth with a generous indignation,) " The Irish are in a most unnatural state ; for we see there the minority prevail- ing over the majority. There is no instance, even in the ten persecutions, of such severity as that which the protestants of Ireland have exercised against the Catho- Jicks. Did we tell them we have conquered them, it would be above board : to punish them by confiscation and other penalties, as rebels, was monstrous injustice, ' Prayera and Meditations, p. -10. ^6 THE LIFE OF 1773. King William was not their lawful sovereign : he had 2^ not been acknowledged by the Parliament of Ireland, 64. * when they appeared in arms against him." 1 here suggested something favourable of the Roman Cathoiicks. Toplady. " Does not their invocation of saints suppose omnipresence in the saints?" John- son. " No, Sir ; it supposes only pluri-presence ; and when spirits are divested of matter, it seems probable that they should see with more extent than when in an embodied state. There is, therefore, no approach to an invasion of any of the divine attributes, in the invoca- tion of saints. But I think it is will worship, and pre- sumption. I see no command for it, and therefore think it is safer not to practise it." He and Mr. Langton and I went together to the Club, where we found JNlr. Burke, Mr. Garrick, and some other members, and amongst them our friend Goldsmith, who sat silently brooding over Johnson's reprimand to him after dinner. Johnson perceived this, and said aside to some of us, " I'll make Goldsmith forgive me ;" and then called to him in a loud voice, "Dr. Goldsmith, — something passed to-day where you and I dined ; 1 ask your pardon." Goldsmith answered placidly, " It must be much from you. Sir, that I take ill." And so at once the difference was over, and they were on as easy terms as ever, and Goldsmith rattled away as usual. In our way to the club to-night, when I regretted that Goldsmith would, upon every occasion, endeavour to shine, by which he often exposed himself, Mr. Lang- ton observed, that he was not like Addison, who was content with the fame of his writings, and did not aim also at excellency in conversation, for which he found himself unfit ; and that he said to a lady who com- plained of his having talked little in company, " Mad- am, I have but nine-pence in ready money, but I can draw for a thousand pounds." 1 observed, that Gold- smith had a great deal of Gold in his cabinet, but, not content with that, was always taking out his purse. Johnson. '* Yes, Sir, and that so often an empty purse I" DR. JOHNSON. 97 Goldsmith's incessant desire of being conspicuous in i/'^- company, was the occasion of his sometimes appearing J,.^ to such disadvantage as one should hardly have sup- G4. posed possible in a man of his genius. When his lit- erary reputation had risen deservedly high, and his so- ciety was much courted, he became very jealous of the extraordinary attention which was every where paid to Johnson. One evening, in a circle of wits, he found fault with me for talking of Johnson as entitled to the honour of unquestionable superiority. " Sir, (said he,) you are for making a monarchy of what should be a republick." He was still more mortified, when talking in a com- pany with fluent vivacity, and, as he flattered himself, to the admiration of all who were present ; a German who sat next him, and perceived Johnson roUjug^Jiim- self, as if about to speak, suddenly stopped him, say- Trig, " Stay, stay, — Toctor Shonson is going to sayi something." This was, no dcmbt, very provoking, es- pecially to one so irritable as Goldsmith, who frequently mentioned it with strong expressions of indignaticm. It may also be observed, that Goldsmith was some- times content to be treated with an easy familiarity, but upon occasions, w^ould be consequential and important. An instance of this occurred in a small particular. Johnson had a way of contracting the names of his friends: as Beauclerk, Beau; Boswell, Bozzy ; Lang- ton, Lanky; Murphy, Mur ; Sheridan, Sherry. 1 re- member one day, when Tom Davies was telling that Dr. Johnson said, " We are all in labour for a name to Gol(/if\s play," Goldsmith seemed displeased that such a liberty should be taken with his name, and said, " 1 have often desired him not to call me G'/ldy" I'om was remarkably attentive to the most minute circum- stance about Johnson. I recollect his telling me once, on my arrival in London, " Sir, our great friend has made an iujprovement on his appellation of old JNlr. Sheridan. He calls him now S/ierr// derri/" '^OL. ir. 13 98 THE LIFE OF 1773. ^-.^ " TO THE REVEREND MR. BAGSHAW, AT BROMLEY.^ JEtat. 64. " SIR, " I RETURN you my sincere thanks for your addi- tions to my Dictionary ; but the new edition has been published some time, and therefore 1 cannot now make use of them. Whether I shall ever revise it more, I know not. If many readers had been as judicious, as diligent, and as communicative as yourself, my work had been better. The world must at present take it as it is. I am, Sir, ' " Your most obliged " And most humble servant, " Mat/ 8, 1773. " Sam. Johnson.' j> On Sunday, May 8, I dined with Johnson at Mr. Langton's with Dr. Beattie and some other company. He descanted on the subject of liiterary Property. " There seems (said he,) to be in authours a stronger right of property than that by occupancy ; a metaphys- ical right, a right, as it were, of creation, which should from its nature be perpetual ; but the consent of na- tions is against it ; and indeed reason and the interests of learning are against it ; for were it to be perpetual, no book, however useful, could be universally diffused amongst mankind, should the proprietor take it into his head to restrain its circulation. iSo book could have the advantas:e of beino- edited with notes, however nee- essary to its elucidation, should the proprietor per- versely oppose it. For the general good of the world, therefore, whatever valuable work has once been creat- * The Reverend Thomas Bagshaw, M. A. who died on November 20, 1787, in the seventy-seventh year of liis age. Chaplain of Bromley College, in Kent, and Rector of Southfleet. He had resigned the cure of Bromley Parish some time be- fore his death. For this, and another letter from Dr. Johnson in 1784, to the same truly respectable man, I am indebted to Dr. John Loveday, of the Commons, a son of the late learned and pious John Loveday, Esq. of Caveisham in Berkshire, who obligingly transcribed them for me from the originals in his possession. This worthy gentleman, having retired from business, now lives in Warwickshire. The world has beui lately obliged to him as the Editor of the late Rev. Dr. Townson's excellent work, modestly entitled " A Discourse on the Evangelical History, from the Interment to the Ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ;" to wliich is prefixed, a truly interesting and pleasing account of the authour, by the Reverend Air. Ralph Churton. DR. JOHNSON. 99 od bv an authour, and issued nut bv bim, should be>77;<. understood as no longer in his |)OW(3r, but as belonginijf ^tnt. to the publick ; at the same time the authour is entitled G4 to an adequate reward. I his he should have by an exclusive right to his work for a considerable number of years." lie attacked Lord Monboddo's strange speculation on the primitive state of human nature ; observing, '^' Sir, it is all conjecture about a thing useless, even were it known to be true. Knowledge of all kinds is good. Conjecture, as to things useful, is good ; but conjecture as to what it would be useless to know, such as whether men went upon all four, is very idle.^* On Monday, May 9, as I was to set out on my re- turn to Scotland next morning, 1 was desirous to see as much of Dr. Johnson as 1 could. But 1 first called on Goldsmith to take leave of him. The jealousy and envv which, though possessed of many most amiable qualities, he frankly avowed, broke out violently at this interview. Upon another occasion, when Goldsmith confessed himself to be of an envious disposition, f contended with Johnson that we ought not to be angry with him, he was so candid in owning it. " Nay, Sir, (said Johnson,) we must be angry that a man has such a superabundance of an odious quality, that he cannot keep it within his own breast, but it boils over." In ray opinion, however. Goldsmith had not more of it than other people have, but only talked of it freely. He now seemed very angry that Johnson was going to be a traveller ; said '* he would be a dead weight for me to carry, and that I should never be able to lug him along through the Highlands and Hebrides." Nor would he patiently allow me to enlarge upon Johnson's wonderful abilities ; but exclaimed, " Is he like Burke, who winds into a subject like a serpent ?" '* But, (said I,) Johnson is the Hercules who strangled serpents in his cradle." 1 dined with Dr. Johnson at General Paoli's. J fe was obliged, by indisposition, to leave the company ear- ly ; he appointed me, however, to meet him in the ev- ening at Mr. (now Sir Robert) Chambers's in the Tern- 100 THE LIFE OF 1773. pie, where he accordingly came, though he continued ^lat. ^^^ ^^ ^'^^y *'^- Chambers, as is common on such occa- 64. sions, prescribed various remedies to him. Johnson. (fretted by pain,) " Pr'ythee don't teaze me. Stay till 1 am well, and then you shall tell me how to cure my- self." He grew better, and talked with a noble enthu- siasm of keeping up the representation of respectable families. His zeal on this subject was a circumstance in his character exceedingly remarkable, when it is considered that he himself had no pretensions to blood. 1 heard him once say, '" I have great merit in being zealous for subordination and the honours of birth ; for I can hardly tell who was my grandfather." He main- tained the dignity and propriety of male succession, in opposition to the opinion of one of our friends, who had that day employed Mr. Chambers to draw his will, de- vising his estate to his three sisters, in preference to a remote heir male. Johnson called them " three dozv- dies" and said, with as high a spirit as the boldest Baron in the most perfect days of the feudal system, " An ancient estate should always go to males. It is mighty foolish to let a stranger have it because he mar- ries your daughter, and takes your name. As for an estate newly acquired by trade, you may give it, if you will, to the dog Tozosef\ and let him keep his ozv?i name.'' 1 have known him at times exceedingly diverted at what seemed to others a very small sport. He now laughed immoderately, without any reason that we could perceive, at our friend's making his will ; called him the testator^ and added, " 1 dare sa}' he thinks he has done a mighty thing. He won't stay till he gets home to his seat in the country, to produce this won- derful deed : he'll call up the landlord of the first inn on the road ; and, after a suitable preface upon mortal- ity and the uncertainty of life, will tell him that he should not delay making his will ; and here. Sir, will he say, is my will, which I have just made, with the assist- ance of one of the ablest lawyers in the kingdom ; and he will read it to him, (laughing all the time.) He be- lieves he has made this will ; but he did not make it : you, Chambers, made it for him. I trust you have had DR. JOHNSON. 10^ more conscience than to make liim say, ' bcin^ of sound 1773. understanding ;' lia, ha, ha ! I liope he has left me a leg- ^^"^ acv. rd lime his will turned into verse, like a ballad." 64. In this playful manner did he run on, exulting in his own pleasantry, which certainly was not such as might be expected from the authour of " The Rambler," but which is here preserved, that my readers may be ac- quainted even with the Slightest occasional character- isticks of so eminent a man. Mr. Chambers did not by any means relish this jocu- larity upon a matter of which pars magna Juit, and seemed impatient till he got rid of us. Johnson could not stop his merriment, but continued it all the way till he got without the Temple-gate. He then burst into such a fit of laughter, that he appeared to be almost in a convulsion ; and, in order to support himself, laid hold of one of the posts at the side of the foot pavement, and sent forth peals so loud, that in the silence of the night his voice seemed to resound from Temple-bar to Tleet-ditch. This most ludicrous exhibition of the aweful, melan- choly, and venerable Johnson, happened well to coun- teract the feelings of sadness which 1 used to experience when parting with him for a considerable time. 1 ac- companied him to his door, where he gave me his bless- ing. He records of himself this year, " Between Easter and Whitsuntide, having always considered that time as pro- pitious to study, I attempted to learn the Low Dutch language."^ It is to be observed, that he here admits an opinion of the human mind being influenced by sea- sons, which he ridicules in his writings. His progress, he says, was interrupted by a fever, " which, by the imprudent use of a small print, left an inflammation in his useful eye." We cannot but admire his spirit when we know, that amidst a complication of bodily and men- tal distress, he was still animated with the desire of in- tellectual improvement. ^ Various notes of his studies ' Prayers and Meditations, p. 129. ' [Not six months before his death, he wished me to teach him the Scale of Mu- 8ick ; — "■ Dr. Burney, teafh me at least the alphabet of your language." B.] 102 THE LIFE OF 1773. appear on different days, in his manuscript diary of this ^^ year ; such as, " Inchoavia lectionem Pentateuchi — Fi- 64. nwi lectionem Conf. Fab. Burdonum. — Legi primum ac- tum Troadum. — Legi Dissertationem Clerici postremam de Pent. — 2 of Clark^s Sermons. — L. Appolonii pugnum Betriciam. — L. centum versus Homeri.^^ Let this serve as a specimen of what accessions of literature he was perpetually infusing into his mind, while he charged himself with idleness. This year died Mrs. Salusbury, (mother of Mrs. Thrale,) a lady whom he appears to have esteemed much, and whose memory he honoured with an Epi- taph.» In a letter from Edinburgh, dated the 29th of May, I pressed him to persevere in his resolution to make this year the projected visit to the Hebrides, of which he and I had talked for many years, and which I was confident would afford us much entertainment. " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " When your letter came to me, I was so dark- ened by an inflammation in my eye that I could not for some time read it. 1 can now write without trouble, and can read large prints. My eye is gradually grow- ing stronger ; and 1 hope will be able to take some de- light in the survey of a Caledonian loch. " Chambers is going a Judge, with six thousand a year, to Bengal. He and i shall come down together as far as Newcastle, and thence 1 shall easily get to Ed- inburgh. Let me know the exact time when your Courts intermit. I must conform a little to Chambers's occasions, and he must conform a little to mine. The time which you shall fix, must be the common point to which we will come as near as we can. Except this eye, I am very well. " Beattie is so caressed, and invited, and treated, and liked, and flattered, by the great, that I can see nothing of him. 1 am in great hope that he will be * Mrs. Piozzi's Anecdotes of Johnson, p. 131. DR. JOHNSON. 103 well provided for, and then we will live upon him as 1773. the Marischal College, without pity or modesty. MuX. " left the town without taking leave of me, 04. and is e^one in deep dudgeon to . Is not this very childish .' Where is now my legacy I " 1 hope your dear lady and her dear baby are both well. 1 shall see them too when i come ; and 1 have that opinion of your choice, as to suspect that when I have seen Mrs. Boswell, 1 shall be less willing to go away. 1 am, dear Sir, " Your affectionate humble servant, " Sam. Johnson." •' Johnson* s-court^ Fleet-street^ July 5, 1773." " Write to me as soon as you can. Chambers is now at Oxford." I again wrote to him, informing him that the Court of Session rose on the twelfth of August, hoping to see him before that time, and expressing, perhaps in too extravagant terms, my admiration of him, and my ex- pectation of pleasure from our intended tour. *' TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " I SHALL set out from London on Friday the sixth of this month, and purpose not to loiter much by the way. Which day I shall be at Edinburgh, 1 cannot exactly tell. 1 suppose 1 must drive to an inn, and send a porter to find you. " I am afraid Beattie will not be at his College soon enough for us, and 1 shall be sorry to miss him ; but there is no staying for the concurrence of all convenien- ces. We will do as well as we can. I am. Sir, " Your most humble servant, " August 3, 1773. " Sam. Johnson." TO THE SAME. " DEAR SIR, " Not being at Mr. Thrale's when your letter came, I had written the inclosed paper and sealed it ; 104 THE LIFE OF 1773. bringing it hither for a frank, I found your's. If an}' ^^ thing could repress my ardour, it xvould be such a let- 64. ter as yours. To disappoint a friend is unpleasing : and he that forms expectations like yours, must be disap- pointed. Think only when you see me, that you see a man who loves you, and is proud and glad that you love him. 1 am. Sir, " Your most affectionate, •' August 3, 1773. " Sam. Johnson." TO THE SAME. " DEAR SIR, " Newcastle^ Aug. 11, 1773. " I CAME hither last night, and hope, but do not absolutely promise to be in Edinburgh on Saturday, Beattie will not come so soon. I am. Sir, " Your most humble servant, "Sam. Johnson.'^ " My compliments to your lady.' » TO THE SAME. " Mr. Johnson sends his comphments to Mr. Bos- well, being just arrived at Boyd's." " Saturday Night.'* His stay in Scotland was from the 18th of August, on which day he arrived, till the 22d of November, when he set out on his return to London ; and i be- lieve ninety-four days were never passed by any man in a more vigorous exertion. He came by the way of Berwick upon Tweed to Edinburgh, where he remained a few days, and then went by St. Andrew, Aberdeen, Inverness, and Fort Augustus, to the Hebrides, to visit which was the prin- cipal object he had in view. He visited the isles of Sky, Rasay, Col, Mull, Inchkenneth, and Icolmkill. He travelled through Argyleshire by Inverary, and from thence by Lochlomond and Dunbarton to Glas- gow, then by Loudon to Auchinleck in Ayrshire, the seat of my family, and then by Hamilton, back to Edin- burgh, where he again spent some time. He thus saw DR. JOHNSON. 105 the four Univei"sities of Scotland, its three principal I77n, cities, and as much of the Highland and insular life as ^^ was sufficient for his j)hilos(iphical contemplation. I (j4_ ' had the pleasure of accouipaii\ iug- hiui diuiugthe whole of his journey. He was respccttully entertained by the great, the learned, and the elegant, wherever he went ; nor was he less delighted with the hospitality which he experienced in humbler life. liis various adventures, and the force and vivacity of his mind, as exercised during this peregrination, upon innumerable topicks, have been faithfully, and to the best of my abilities, displayed in my " Journal of a four to the Hebrides," to which, as the publick has been pleased to honour it by a very extensive circulation, I beg leave to refer, as to a separate and remarkable por- tion of his life,' which may be there seen in detail, and which exhibits as strikmg a view of his powers in con- versation, us his works do of his excellence in writing. Nor can 1 deny to myself the very flattering gratifica- tion of inserting here the character which my friend Mr. Courtenay has been pleased to give of that work ; " AVith Reynolds' pencil, vivid, bold, and true, " So fervent Boswell gives him to our view : *' In every trait we see his mind expand ; " The master rises by the pupil's hand ; " We love the wTiter, praise his happy vein, " Grac'd with the naivete of the sage Monlagne. " Hence not alone are brighter parts displayed, " But e'en the specks of character pourtray'd : " We see the Rambler with fastidious smile *' Mark the lone tree, and note the heath-clad isle ; " But when th' heroick tale of Flora's^ charms, " Deck'd in a kilt, he wields a chieftain's arms : '[The authoiir was not a small gainer by this extraordinary Journey; for Dr- Johnson thus writes to Mrs. Thrale, Nov. ^, 1773 • " Boswell will praise my reso- lution and perseverance, and I shall in return celebrate his good humour and per- ' petual cheenulness. He has better faculties than I had imagined ; more justness of discernment, and more fecundity of images. It is very convenient to travel w ith him ; for there is no house where he is net received with kindness and rcspec:."' Let. 90, to Mrs. Thrale. M.] - " The celebrated Flora Macdonald." See Boswell s Tc.v. vor. ir. 14 106 THE LIFE OF 1773. " Xhe tuneful piper sounds a martial strain. je[^^ " And Samuel sings, ' The King shall have his ain.^^ 64. ' During his stay at Edinburgh, after his return from the Hebrides, he was at great pains to obtain informa- tion concerning Scotland ; and it will appear from his subsequent letters, that he was not less solicitous for intelligence on this subject after his return to London. " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, "1 CAME home last night, without any incom- modity, danger, or weariness, and am ready to begin a new journey. 1 shall go to Oxford on Monday. I know Mrs. Boswell wished me well to go ;^ her wishes have not been disappointed. Mrs. Williams has received Sir A.'s* letter. " Make my compliments to all those to whom my J compliments may be welcome. " Let the box^ be sent as soon as it can, and let me know when to expect it. " Enquire, if you can, the order of the Clans : Mac- donald is first, Maclean second ; further 1 cannot go. Quicken Dr. Webster.^ I am. Sir, " Your's affectionately, " Nov, 27, 1773. " Sam. Johnson." 5 In this he shewed a very acute penetration. IVIy wife paid him the most assid- uous and respectful attention, while he was our guest ; so that I wonder how he discovered her wishing for liis departure. The truth is, that his irregular hours and uncouth habits, such as turning the candles with their heads downwards, when they did not burn bright enough, and letting the wax drop upon the carpet, could not but be disagreeable to a lady. Besides, she had not that high admiration ot him which was felt by most of those who knew him ; and what was very natural to a female mind, she thought he had too much influence over her husband. She once in a little warmth, made, with more point than justice, this remark upon that , subject : " I have seen many a bear led by a man ; but 1 never before saw a many led by a bear." • •^ Sir Alexander Gordon, one of the Professors at Aberdeen. ■•This was a box containing a number of curious things which he had picked up in Scotland, particularly some horn spoons. ' The Reverend Dr. Alexander Webster, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, a man of distinguished abilities, who had promised him information concerning tlie Highlands and Islands of Scotland. h DR. JOHNSON. 107 " MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. '^'^^* " Eilinburgit, Dec. 2, 1773. ^}^^' '' You shall have what information 1 can procure as to the order of the Clans. A gentleman of the name o{ Grant tells me, that there is no settled order among them ; and he says, that the Macdonalds were not placed upon the right of the army at Culloden ; the Stuarts were. 1 shall, however, examine witnesses of every name that 1 can find here. Dr. Webster shall be quickened too. i like your little memorandums ; thev are symptoms of your being in earnest with your book of northern travels. " Your box shall be sent next week by sea. You will find in it some pieces of the broom bush, which you saw growing on the old castle of Auchinleck. The wood has a curious appearance when sawn across. You may either have a little writing-standish made of it, or get it formed into boards for a treatise on witchcraft, by way of a suitable binding." ****** " MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. " Edinburgh, Dec. 18, 1773. ***** '^* *' You promised me an inscription for a print to be taken from an historical picture of Mary Queen of Scots being forced to resign her crown, which Mr. Ham- ilton at Rome has painted for me. The two following have been sent to me : ' Maria Scotorum Regina meUori seculo digna^jus re~ gium civibus seditiosis invita resignat.' * Cives seditiosi Mariam Scotorum Reginam sese mu- neri abdicare invitam cogunt? " Be so good as to read the passage in Robertson, and see if you cannot give me a better inscription. 1 must have it both in Latin and English ; so if you 108 THE LIFE OF J 774. should not give me another Latin one, you will at least "^^ choose the best of these two, and send a translation 65. of It. ****** His humane forgiving disposition was put to a pretty strong test on his return to London, by a liberty which Mr. Thomas Davies had taken with him in his absence, which was, to publish two volumes entitled, " Miscel- laneous and Fugitive Pieces," which he advertised in the news-papers, " By the Authour of the Rambler." In this collection, several of Dr. Johnson's acknowl- edged writings, several of his anonymous performances, and some which he had written for others, were insert- ed ; but there were also some in which he had no con- cern whatever. He was at first very angry, as he had good reason to be. But, upon consideration of his poor friend^s narrow circumstances, and that he had only a little profit in view and meant no harm, he soon relent- ed, and continued his kindness to him as formerly. In the course of his self-examination with retrospect to this year, he seems to have been much dejected ; for he says, January 1, 1774, ^' This year has passed with so little improvement, that I doubt whether I have not rather impaired than increased my learning :"^ and yet we have seen how he read^ and we know how he talked during that period. He was now seriously engaged in writing an account of our travels in the Hebrides, in consequence of which I had the pleasure of a more frequent correspondence with him. " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAK SIR, " My operations have been hindered by a cough , at least I flatter myself, that if my cough had not come, 1 should have been further advanced. But 1 have had no intelligence from Dr. W , [Webster,] nor from the Excise-office, nor from you. No account of the ' Prayers and Meditations, p. 129, UR. JOHNSON. 109 little borough.* Nothing^ of the Erse language. I 1774. have yet heard nothing ot ujy box. ^^ " YoM must make haste and gather me all you can, 65. and do it (juickly, or I will and shall do without it. " Make my compliments to Mrs. Boswell, and tell her that 1 do not love her the less for wishing me away. 1 gave her trouble enough, and shall be glad in recom- pence, to give her any pleasure. " 1 would send some porter into the Hebrides, if I knew which way it could be got to my kind friends there. Enquire, and let me know. " Make my compliments to all the Doctors of Edin- burgh, and to all my friends, from one end of Scotland to the other. " Write to me, and send me what intelligence you can : and if any thing is too bulky for the post, let me have it by the carrier. 1 do not like trusting winds and waves. 1 am, dear Sir, " Your most, &c. " Ja>i. 29, 1774. " Sam. Johnson." TO THE SAME. " DEAR SIR, " In adav or two after I had written the last dis- contented letter, I received my box, which was very welcome. But still 1 must entreat you to hasten Dr. Webster, and continue to pick up what you can that may be useful. " ^Ir. Oglethorpe was with me this morning, you know his errand. He was not unwelcome. " Tell Mrs. Boswell that my good intentions towards her still continue. 1 should be glad to do any thing that would either benefit or please her. " Chambers is not yet gone, but so hurried, or so negligent, or so proud, that I rarely see him. I have indeed, for some weeks past, been very ill of a cold and cough, and have been at Mrs. Thrale/s, that 1 might be taken care of. I am much better ; nnvte redeunt in pra'lia vires ; but 1 am yet tender, and easily disorder- ^ The ancient Burgh of Prestick, in Ayrshire. ilO IHE LIFE OF 1774. ed. How happy it was that neither of us were ill in ^^ the Hebrides. 65. ' " The question of Literary Property is this day be- fore the Lords. Murphy drew up the Appellant's case, that is, the plea against the perpetual right. 1 have not seen it, nor heard the decision. I would not have the right perpetual. " 1 will write to you as any thing occurs, and do you send me something about my Scottish friends. I have very great kindness for them. Let me know likewise how fees come in, and when we are to see you. I am. Sir, " Yours affectionately, " London^ Feb. 7, 1774-. " Sam. Johnson." He at this time wrote the following letters to Mr. Steevens, his able associate in editing Shakspeare : " TO GEORGE STEEVENS, ESQ. IN HAMPSTEAD. '* SIR, " If I am asked when I have seen Mr. Steevens, you know what answer I must give ; if I am asked when 1 shall see him, I wish you would tell me what to say. " If you have ' Lesley's History of Scotland,' or any other book about Scotland, except Boetius and Buchan- an, it will be a kindness if you send them to. Sir, " Your humble servant, " Feb. 7, 1774. " Sam. Johnson." TO THE SAME. " SIR, " We are thinking to augment our club, and lam - desirous of nominating you, if you care to stand the ballot, and can attend on Friday nights at least twice in five weeks : less than this is too little, and rather more will be expected. Be pleased to let me know before Friday. I am, Sir, " Your most, &c. " Feb. 21, 1774. " Sam. Johnson. >j DR. JOHNSON. . Ill 1774. TO THE SAME. v-*-.-w ,, ^tat. SIR' 65. " Last night you became a member of the club ; if you call on me on Friday, 1 will introduce you. A gentleman, proposed after you, was rejected. " I thank you for Neander, but wish he were not so fine. 1 will take care of him. 1 am, Sir, " Your humble servant, " March j, 1774. "Sam. Johnson." " TO JAMES BOSWLLL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " Dr. Webster's informations were much less exact and much less determinate than I expected : they are, indeed, much less positive than, if he can trust his own book' which he laid before me, he is able to give. But 1 believe it will always be found, that he who calls much for information will advance his work but slowly. " 1 am, however, obliged to you, dear Sir, for your endeavours to help me, and hope, that between us something will some time be done, if not on this on some occasion. " Chambers is either married, or almost married, to Miss Wilton, a girl sixteen, exquisitely beautiful, whom he has with his lawyer's tongue, persuaded to take her chance with him in the East. "We have added to the club, Charles Fox, Sir Charles Bunbury, Dr. Fordyce, and Mr. Steevens. " Ileturn my thanks to Dr. Webster. Tell Dr. Rob- ertson 1 have not much to reply to his censure of my negligence ; and tell Dr. Blair, that since he has writ- ten hither what 1 said to him, we must now consider ourselves as even, forgive one another, and begin again, I care not how soon, for he is a very pleasing man. Pay my compliments to all my friends, and remind Lord Elibank of his promise to give me all his works. ' A manuscript account drawn by Dr. Webster of all the parishes in Scotland- ascertaining their length, breadth, number of inhabitants, and distinguishing Prot- estants and Roman Catholicks. T!iis book had been tr.ansmitted to governments and Dr. Johnson saw a copy of it io Dr. Webster's possessian^ 112 THE LIFE OF 1774. " I hope Mrs. Boswell and little Miss are well.— ^£^ When shall I see them again ? She is a sweet lady, only f)5. * she was so glad to see me go, that I have almost a mind to come again, that she may again have the same pleasure. " Enquire if it be practicable to send a small present of a cask of porter to Dunvegan, Rasay, and Col. I would not wish to be thought forgetful of civilities. I am, Sir, " Your humble servant, « March 5, 1774-. " Sam. Johnson.'' On the 5th of March I wrote to him, requesting his counsel whether 1 should this spring come to London. I stated to him on the one hand some pecuniary em- barrassments, which, together with my wife's situation at that time, made me hesitate ; and, on the other, the pleasure and improvement which my annual visit to the metropolis always afforded me ; and particularly mentioned a peculiar satisfaction which I experienced in celebrating the festival of Easter in St. Paul's cathe- dral ; that to my fancy it appeared like going up to Je- rusalem at the feast of the Passover ; and that the strong devotion which I felt on that occasion diffused its influence on my mind through the rest of the year. " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. ct r\r^ kT> CTT> [^°'- *^^*^<^' ^^^ written about DEAR SIR, the 15th of March.] " I AM ashamed to think that since I received your letter I have passed so many days without answer- ing it. " I think there is no great difficulty in resolving your doubts. The reasons for which you are inclined to visit London, are, 1 think, not of sufficient strength to answer the objections. That you should delight to come once a year to the fountain of intelligence and pleasure, is very natural ; but both information and pleasure must be regulated by propriety. Pleasure, which cannot be obtained but by unseasonable or un- suitable cxpence, must always end in pain ; and pleas- DR. JOHNSON. 113 ure, which must be enjoyed at the expence of another's 1774. pain, can never be such as a worthy mind can fully de- ^^'^ light in. 0.1. ' " \V hat improvement you might gain by coming to London, ynii may easily supply or easily compensate, by enjoining yourself some particular study at iiome, or opening some new avenue to information. Edin- burgh is not yet exhausted ; and I am sure you will find no pleasure here which can deserve either that you should anticipate any part of your future fortune, or that you should condemn yourself and your lady to pe- nurious frugality for the rest of the year. " I need not tell you what regard you owe to Mrs. Boswell's entreaties ; or how much you ought to study the happiness of her who studies yours with so much diligence, and of whose kindness you enjoy such good effects. Life cannot subsist in society but by recipro- cal concessions. She permitted you to ramble last year, you must permit her now to keep you at home. " Your last reason is so serious, that I am unwilling to oppose it. Yet you must remember, that your im- age of worshipping once a year in a certain place, in im- itation of the Jews, is but a comparison ; and simile nou est idem; if the annual resort to Jerusalem was a duty to the Jews, it was a duty because it was com- manded ; and you have no such command, therefore no such duty. It may be dangerous to receive too readily, and indulge too fondly, opinions, from which, perhaps, no pious mind is wholly disengaged, of local sanctity and local devotion. You know what strange effects they have produced over a great part of the Christian world. I am now writing, and you, when you read this, are reading under the eye of Omnipres- ence. " To what degree fancy is to be admitted into relig- ious offices, it would require much deliberation to de- termine. I am far from intending totally to exclude it. Fancy is a faculty bestowed by our Creator, and it is reasonable that all his gifts should be used to his glo- ry, that all our faculties should co-operate in his wor- ship ; but they are to co-operate according to the will VOL. It. \5 il4 THE LIFE OF i774. of him that gave them, according to the order which ^^ his wisdom has estabhshed. As ceremonies pruden- 65. tial or convenient are less obligatory than positive ordi- nances, as bodily worship is only the token to others or ourselves of mental adoration, so Fancy is always to act in subordination to Reason. We may take Fancy for a companion, but must follow Reason as our guide. We may allow Fancy to suggest certain ideas in certain places ; but Reason must always be heard, when she tells us, that those ideas and those places have no nat- ural or necessary relation. When we enter a church we habitually recall to mind the duty of adoration, but we must not omit adoration for want of a temple ; be- cause we know, and ought to remember, that the Uni- versal Lord is every where present ; and that, there- fore, to come to Jona, or to Jerusalem, though it may be useful, cannot be necessary. " Thus I have answered your letter, and have not answered it negligently. I love you too well to be careless when you are serious. " 1 think I shall be very diligent next week about our travels, which I have too long neglected. 1 am, dear Sir, " Your most, &c. " Sam. Johnson." " Compliments to Madam and Miss." TO THE SAME. " DEAR SIR, " The lady who delivers this has a lawsuit, in which she desires to make use of your skill and elo- quence, and she seems to think that she shall have something more of both for a recommendation from me ; which, though I know how little you want any exter- nal incitement to your duty, I could not refuse her, because 1 know that at least it will not hurt her, to tell you that I wish her well. 1 am. Sir, " Your most humble servant, " 3% 10, 1774. " SaxM. Johnson." DR. JOHNSON. 115 '' MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. >774. " Edinburgh, Maij 12, 1774. S"^ "Lord IIailes has begged of me to offer you 1'5. his best respects, and to transmit to you specimens of ' Annals of Scotland, from the Accession of Malcolm Kenmorc to the Death of James V.' in drawing up which, his Lordship has been engaged for some time. His Lordship writes to me thus : ' If 1 could procure Dr. Johnson's criticisms, they would be of great use to me in the prosecution of my work, as they would be judicious and true. I have no right to ask that favour of him. If you could, it would highly oblige me.' " Dr. Blair requests you may be assured that he did not write to London what you said to him, and that neither by word nor letter has he made the least com- plaint of you; but on the contrary has a high respect for you, and loves you much more since he saw you in Scotland. It would both divert and please you to see his eagerness about this matter." " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, Streatham, June 12, 1774. " Yesterday I put the first sheet of the ' Jour- ney to the Hebrides' to the press. I have endeavour- ed to do you some justice in the first paragraph. It will be one volume in octavo, not thick. " It will be proper to make some presents in Scotland. You shall tell me to whom I shall give ; and I have stipulated twenty-five for you to give in your own name. Some will take the present better from me, others bet- ter from you. In this, you who are to live in the place ought to direct. Consider it. Whatever you can get for my purpose send me ; and make my compliments to your lady and both the young ones. •' 1 am, Sir, your, &c. " Sam. Johnson." *' mr. boswell to dr. johnson. " Edinburgh, June Q A, 1774. " You do not acknowledge the receipt of the vari- ous packets which 1 have sent to you. Neither can 1 116 THE LIFE OF 1774. prevail with you to answer my letters, though you hon- our me with returns. You have said nothing to me about poor Goldsmith,' nothing about Langton. " 1 have received for you, from the Society for prop- agating Christian Knowledge in Scotland, the following Erse books : — ' The New Testament ;' — ' Baxter's Call ;' — ' The Confession of Faith of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster ;' — ' The Mother's Catechism ;' — ' A Gaelick and English Vocabulary."^ " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. '' DEAR SIR, " 1 WISH you could have looked over my book be- fore the printer, but it could not easily be. I suspect some mistakes ; but as 1 deal, perhaps, more in notions than in facts, the matter is not great, and the second edition will be mended, if any such there be. The press will go on slowly for a time, because I am going into VV^ales to-morrow. " I should be very sorry if I appeared to treat such a character as Lord Hailes otherwise than with high re- spect. I return the sheets, ^ to which 1 have done what mischief 1 could ; and finding it so little, thought not much of sending them. The narrative is clear,' lively, and short. " 1 have done worse to Lord Hailes than by neglect- ing his sheets : 1 have run him in debt. Dr. Home, the President of Magdalen College in Oxford, wrote to me about three months ago, that he purposed to reprint Walton's Lives, and desired me to contribute to the work : my answer was, that Lord Hailes intended the same publication ; and Dr. Home has resigned it to him. His Lordship must now think seriously about it. " Of poor dear Dr. Goldsmith there is little to be told, more than the papers have made publick. He di- ' Dr. Goldsmith died April 4, this year. 2 These books Dr. Johnson presented to the Bodleian Library. ^ On the cover enclosing them, Dr. Johnson wrote, " If my delay has given any reason for supposing that I have not a very deep sense of the honour done me by asking my judgement, I am very sorry." DK. JOHNSON. I i; ed of a fever, made, I am afraid, more violent by unea- i774. siness of mind. His debts began to be heavy, and all '^^^ his resources were exhausted. Sir Joshua is of opinion 6.5. that he owed not less than two thousand pounds. Was ever poet so trusted before ] " You may, if you please, put the inscription thus : ' j\Jaria Scoiornm Regina tiutu 1 J — , u suis in exilium iirtu \5 — , ab hospitd neci data 15 — .' You must find the years. " Of your second daughter you certainly gave the ac- count yourself, though you have forgotten it. While Mrs. Hoswell is well, never doubt of a boy. Mrs. Thrale brought, I think, five girls running, but while I was with you she had a boy. " 1 am obliged to you for all your pamphlets, and of the last 1 hope to make some use. 1 made some of the former. " I am, dear Sir, " Your most affectionate servant, " Julij 4, 1774. " Sam. Johnson." " My comphments to all the three ladies." " TO BENNET LANGTON, ESQ. AT LANGTON, NEAR SPILSBY, LINCOLNSHIRE. " DEAR SIR, " You have reason to reproach me that I have left your last letter so long unanswered, but 1 had nothing particular to say. Chambers, you find, is gone far, and poor Goldsmith is gone much further. He died of a fever, exasperated, as I believe, by the fear of distress. He had raised money and squandered it, by every arti- fice of acquisition and folly of expence. But let not his frailties be remembered ; he was a very great man. *' I have just begun to print my Journey to the He- brides, and am leaving the press to take another jour- ney into Wales, whither Mr. Thrale is going, to take possession of, at least, five hundred a year, fallen to his lady. All atStreatham, that are alive, are well. "I have never recovered from the last dreadful ill- ness, but flatter myself that I grow gradnally better ; much, however, yet remains to mend. Kyf/e iumov. 1 18 THE LIFE OF 1774. " If you have the Latin version of Busij^ curious, ^^^^ thirsty ji.tj ^ be so kind as to transcribe and send it ; but you need not be in haste, for I shall be I know not where, for at least five weeks. I wrote the following tetrastick on poor Goldsmith : *' Tov Toctpov uaofxa.^ toy OKi&a^ioio, Kovim A9f5(rt ^w ae^KW, —t/ye. Troiitrji ttcctu' " OTai jUif^yi>^i (pv^t^, f/Xr^ciy X^?"'^ ^^1°^ ttolkoliw *' KhaitTi TTomryw, hrofiKov, (pvaiKov, " Please to make my most respectful comphments to all the ladies, and remember me to young George and his sisters. I reckon George begins to shew a pair of heels. " Do not be sullen now, but let me find a letter when 1 come back. I am, dear Sir, " Your affectionate, humble servant, " Ju^i/ 6, 177^. " Sam. Johnson/^ " TO MR. ROBERT LEVET. ''^ Llezvenny, iti Denbighshire, August 16, 1774. " DEAR SIR, " Mr. Thrale's affairs have kept him here a great while, nor do I know exactly when we shall come hence. I have sent you a bill upon Mr. Strahan. " I have made nothing of the Ipecacuanha, but have taken abundance of pills, and hope that they have done me good. " Wales, so far as I have yet seen of it, is a very beautiful and rich country, all enclosed, and planted. Denbigh is not a mean town. Make my compliments to all my friends, and tell Frank I hope he remembers my advice. When his money is out, let him have more. I am, Sir, "Your humble servant, "Sam. Johnson." " mr. bosavell to dr. johnson. ''Edinburgh, Aug. 30, 1774. " You have given me an inscription for a portrait of Mary Queen of Scots, in which you, in a short and DR. JOHNSON. 119 Striking manner, point out her hard fate. But you wiil i774. be pleased to keep in mind, that my picture is a repre- ^^ sentation ot'a particular scene in her history; herljeing t;-,. forced to resign her crown, while she was imprisoned in the castle of Lochle\ in. 1 must, therefore, beg that you will be kind enough to give uie an inscription suit- ed to that particular scene; or determine which of the two formerly transmitted to you is the best ; and at any rale, favour me with an English translation. It will be doubly kind if you comply with ray request speedily. " Your critical notes on the specimen of Lord Hailes's ' Annals of Scotland,' are excellent. I agreed with you on every one of them. He himself objected only to the alteration oi free to bruie^ in the passage where he says that Edward ' departed with the glory due to the conqueror of a free people.' He says, to call the Scots brave would only add to the o^lorv of their conquerour. You will make allowance for the national zeal of our annalist. I now send a few more leaves of the Annals, which I hope you will peruse, and return with observations, as you did upon the former occasion. Lord Hailes writes to me thus : ' Mr. Bos- well will be pleased to express the grateful sense which Sir David Dalrymple has of Dr. Johnson's attention to his little specimen. The further specimen will show, that * Even in an Edward he can see desert/ " It gives me much pleasure to hear that a republica- tion of Isaac Walton's Lives is intended. You have been in a mistake in thinking that Lord Hailes had it in view. I remember one morning, while he sat with you in my house, he said, that there should be a new^ edi- tion of Walton's Lives ; and you said that ' they should be benoted a little.' This was all that passed on that subject. You must, therefore, inform Dr. Home, that he may resume his plan. 1 enclose a note concerning it; and if Dr. Home will write to me, all the atten- tion that 1 can give shall be cheerfully bestowed, upon what 1 think a pious work, the preservation and eluci- dation of Walton, by whose writings I have been most pleasingly edified. 120 THE LIFE OF 1774. " MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. " Edinburgh, Sept. 16, 1774. " Wales has probably detained you longer than I supposed. You will have become quite a mountaineer, by visiting Scotland one year and Wales another. You must next go to Switzerland. Cambria will complain, if you do not honour her also with some remarks. And I find concessere colunmte, the book- sellers expect another book. I am impatient to see your ' Tour to Scotland and the Hebrides.' Might you not send me a copy by the post as soon as it is printed off?" 5^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ tIf " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " Y^ESTERDAY I returned from my Welsh journey, I was sorry to leave my book suspended so long ; but having an opportunity of seeing, with so much conve- nience, a new part of the island, I could not reject it. I have been in five of the six counties of North Wales ; and have seen St. Asaph and Bangor, the two seats of their Bishops; have been upon Fenmanmaur and Snowden, and passed over into Anglesea. But V\^ales is so little different from England, that it offers nothing to the speculation of the traveller. " When 1 came home, I found several of your pa- pers, with some pages of Lord Hailes's Annals, which I will consider. 1 am in haste to give you some ac- count of myself, lest you should suspect me of negli*- gence in the pressing business which I find recom- mended to my care, and which I knew nothing of till now, when all care is vain.' " In the distribution of my books I purpose to fol- low your advice, adding such as shall occur to me. I am not pleased with your notes of remembrance added to your names, for I hope I shall not easily forget them. ' I had written to him, to request his interposition in behalf of a convict, who I thought was very unjustly condemned. 1)H. JOHNSON. IS I "' I have received four Erse books, without any direc- 1774. tion, and suspect that they are intended for the Oxford ^^ library. If that is the intention, I think it will be prop- fi.^. er to add the metrical psalms, and whatever else is printed in Erse, that the present may be complete. The donor's name should be told. " 1 wish you could have read the book before it was printed, but our distance does not easily permit it. " 1 am sorry Lord llailes does not intend to publish Walton ; 1 am afraid it will not be done so well, if it be done at all. " I purpose now to drive the book forward. Make my compliments to Mrs. Hoswell, and let me hear often from you. 1 am, dear Sir, " Your affectionate humble servant, "' London^ Oct. 1, 1774. " Sam. Johnson." This tour to Wales, which was made in company with Mr. and Mrs. Thrale, though it no doubt contrib- uted to his health and amusement, did not give an oc- casion to such a discursive exercise of his mind as our tour to the Hebrides. I do not find that he kept any journal or notes of what he saw there. All that 1 heard him say of it was, that, " instead of bleak and barren mountains, there were green and fertile ones ; and that one of the castles in Wales would contain all the castles that he had seen in Scotland." " Parliament having been dissolved, and his friend Mr. Thrale, who was a steady supporter of government, having again to encounter the storm of a contested elec- tion, he wrote a short political pamphlet, entitled " The Patriot,"* addressed to the electors of Great-Britain ; a title which, to factious men, who consider a patriot on- ly as an opposer of the measures of government, will appear strangely misapplied. It was, however written with energetick vivacity ; and, except those passages in which it endeavours to vindicate the glaring outrage of the House of Commons in the case of the Middle- sex election, and to justify the attempt to reduce our fellow-subjects in America to unconditional submission, it contained an admirable display of the properties of a VOL. II. 16 12f THE LIFE OP 1774. real patriot, in the original and genuine sense ; — a sm^ ^taT ^^''65 steady, rational, and unbiassed friend to the inter- 60. ests and prosperity of iiis King and country. It must be acknowledged, however, that both in this and his two former pamphlets, there was, amidst many power- ful arguments, not only a considerable portion of soph- istry, but a contemptuous ridicule of his opponentSj which was very provoking. " TO MR. PEEKIKS.^ " SIR, " You may do me a very great favour. Mrs. Williams, a gentlewoman whom you may have seen at Mr. Thrale's, is a petitioner for Mr. Hetherington's char- ity : petitions are this day issued at Christ's Hospital. " 1 am a bad manager of business in a crowd ; and if I should send a mean man, he may be put avv^ay with- out his errand. 1 must therefore entreat that you will go, and ask for a petition for Anna Williams, whose pa- per of enquiries was delivered with answers at the counting-house of the hospital on Thursday the 20th. My servant will attend you thither, and bring the peti- tion home when you have it. " The petition, which they are to give us, is a form which they deliver to every petitioner, and which the petitioner is aftervi^ards to fiUup, and return to them again. This we must have, or we cannot proceed acr cording to their directions. You need, I believe, only ask for a petition ; if they enquire for whom you ask, you can tell them. " I beg pardon for giving you this trouble ; but it is a matter of great importance. I am. Sir, " Your most humble servant, " October 25, 1774. " Sam. Johnson." ^ Mr. Perkins was for a number of years the worthy superintpndant of Mr. Thrale's great brewery, and after his death became one of the proprietors of it ; and now resides in Air. Thrale's house in Southwark, which was the scene of so many literary meetings, and in which he continues the liberal hospitality for which it was eminent. Dr. Johnson esteemed him much. He hung up in the counting- house a fine proof of the admirable mezzotinto of Dr. Johnson, by Doughty ; and when Mrs. Thrale asked him somewhat flippantly, " Why do you put him up in the counting-house ?" He answered, " Because, Madam, 1 wish to have one wise man there." " Sir, (said Johnson,) I tliank you. It is a very handsome compliment, and I believe you speak sincerely." DR. JOHNSON. 12^ " TO JAMES BOS WELL, ESQ. * ^JJ^ *' DEAR SIR, ^j5 " There has appeared lately in the papers an zlc- count of a boat overset between Mull and Ulva, in which many passengers were lost, and among them Maclean of Col. We, you know, were once drown- ed ;» I hope, therefore, that the story is either wantonly or erroneously told. Pray satisfy me by the next post. " 1 have printed two hundred and forty pages. 1 am able to do nothing much worth doing to dear Lord Hailes's book. I will, however, send back the sheets ; and hope, by degrees, to answer all your reasonable expectations. *' Mr. Thrale has happily surmounted a very violent and acrimonious opposition ; but all joys have their abatement : Mrs. Thrale has fallen from her horse, and hurt herself very much. The rest of our friends, 1 be- lieve, are well. My compliments to Mrs. Bos well. I am, Sir, " Your most affectionate servant, " London, Octob. 27, 177^. " Sam. Johnson.^^ This letter, which shews his tender concern for an amiable young gentleman to whom he had been very much obliged in the Hebrides, 1 have inserted accord- ing to its date, though before receiving it 1 had inform- ed him of the melancholy event that the young Laird Qf Col was unfortunately drowned. " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " Last night I corrected the last page of our ' Journey to the Hebrides.' The printer has detained it all this time, for 1 had, before I went into Hales, written all except two sheets. ' The Patriot' was call- ed for by my political friends on Friday, was written on Saturday, and 1 have heard little of it. So vague are ' In the news-paper'. 124 IHE LIFE OF 1774. conjectures at a distance.' As soon as 1 can, I will ^^ take care that copies be sent to you, for I would wish 65. * that they might be given before they are bought ; but I am afraid that Mr. Strahan will send to you and to the booksellers at the same time. Trade is as diligent as courtesy. I have mentioned all that you recommend- ed. Pray make my compliments to Mrs. Boswell and the younglings. The club has, I think, not yet met. " Tell me, and tell me honestly, what you think and what others say of our travels. Shall we touch the continent l"^ 1 am, dear Sir, " Your most humble servant, " Nov. 26, 1774. " Sam. Johnson." In his manuscript diary of this year, there is the fol- lowing entry : " Nov. 27. Advent Sunday. I considered that this day, being the beginning of the ecclesiastical year, was a proper time for a new course of life. 1 began to read the Greek Testament regularly at I60 verses every Sunday. This day 1 began the Acts. " In this week I read Virgil's Pastorals. I learned to repeat the Pollio and Gallus. 1 read carelessly the first Georgick." Such evidences of his unceasing ardour, both for " divine and human lore," when advanced into his six- ty-fifth year, and notwithstanding his many disturbances . from disease, must make us at once honour his spirit, and lament that it should be so grievously clogged by- its material tegument. It is remarkable, that he was very fond of the precision which calculation produces. Thus we find in one of his manuscript diaries, " 12 pages in 4to Gr. Test, and 30 pages in Beza's folio, com- prize the whole in 40 days." ' Alluding to a passage in a letter of mine, where speaking of his " Journey t» the Hebrides," I say " But has not ' The Patriot' been an interruption, by the time taken to write it, and the time luxuriously spent in listening to its applauses ?" ^ We had projected a voyage together up the Baltick, and talked of visiting some of the more northern regions. DR. JOHNSON. 195 1775. " DR. JOHNSON TO JOHN HOOLE, ESQ. ^^^ " DEAR SIR, " I HAVE returned your play,' which you will find underscored with red, where there was a Word which 1 did not like. The red will be washed off with a little water. " The plot is so well framed, the intricacy so artful, and the disentanglement so easy, the suspense so af- fecting, and the passionate parts so properly interposed, that I have no doubt of its success. " 1 am. Sir, " Your most humble servant, " December 19, 1774. " Samuel Johnson." The first effort of his pen in 177o, was, " Proposals for publishing the Works of Mrs. Charlotte Lenox,"f in three volumes quarto. In his diary, January 2, I find this entry : " Wrote Charlotte's Proposals." But, indeed, the internal evidence would have been quite sufficient. Her claim to the favour of the publick was thus enforced : " Most of the pieces, as they appeared singly, have been read with approbation, perhaps above their merits, but of no great advantage to the writer. She hopes, therefore, that she shall not be considered as too indul- gent to vajiity, or too studious of interest, if from that labour which has hitherto been chiefly gainful to oth- ers, she endeavours to obtain at last some profit to her- self and her children. She cannot decently enforce her claim by the praise of her own performances : nor can she suppose, that, by the most artful and laboured address, any additional notice could be procured to a publication, of which Her Majesty has condescended to be the patroness." He this year also wrote the Preface to Baretti's " Easy Lessons in Italian and English ."t ' « deonice." 126 THE LIFE OF 1775. ^tat, 66. "to JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " You never did ask for a book by the post till now, and I did not think on it. You see now it is done. I sent one to the King, and 1 hear he hkes it. " I shall send a parcel into Scotland for presents, and intend to give to many of my friends. In your cata- logue you left out Lord Auchinleck. " Let me know, as fast as you read it, how you like it ; and let me know if any mistake is committed, or any thing important left out. I wish you could have seen the sheets. My compliments to Mrs. Boswell, and to Veronica, and to all my friends. 1 am, Sir, " Your most humble servant, ^'-January 14,1775. '^ Sam. Johnson. *' " MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. " Edinburgh^ Januarif 19, 177<5. " Be pleased to accept of my best thanks for your ' journey to the Hebrides,' which came to me by last night's post. 1 did really ask the favour twice ; but you have been even with me by granting it so speedi- ly. Bis dat qui cito dat. Though ill of a bad cold, you kept me up the greatest part of the last night : for 1 did not stop till 1 had read every word of your book. I looked back to our first talking of a visit to the He- brides, which was many years ago, when sitting by our- selves in the Mitre tavern, in London, I think about witching time o' night : and then exulted in contem- plating our scheme fulfilled, and 2t.monumentum perenne of it erected by your superiour abilities. I shall only say, that your book has afforded me a high gratification. I shall afterwards give you my thoughts on particular passages, in the mean time, I hasten to tell you of your having mistaken two names, which you will cor- rect in London, as 1 shall do here, that the gentlemen who deserve the valuable compliments which you have paid them, may enjoy their honours. In page 106, for DR. JOHNSON. 127 Gordon read Murchiwn ; and in page .357, foi Maclean 1775. read Macleod. aTiCT ****** ,,,.''^' 00. " But I am now to apply to you for immediate aid in my profession, which you have never refused to grant when 1 requested it. I enclose you a petition for Dr. Memis, a physician at Aberdeen, in which Sir John Dalrymple has exerted his talents, and which 1 am to answer as Coimsel for the managers of the Royal In- firmary in that city. Mr. Jopp, the Provost, who de- livered to you your freedom, is one of niy clients, and, as a citizen of Aberdeen^ you will support him. " The fact is shortly this. In a translation of the charter of the Infirmary from Latin into English, made under the authority of the managers, the same phrase in the original is in one place rendered Phijsician^ but when applied to Dr. Memis is rendered Doctor of Medicine. Dr. Memis complained of this before the translation was printed, but was not indulged with having it altered ; and he has brought an action for damages, on account of a supposed injury, as if the de- signation given to him was an inferior one, tending to make it be supposed he is not a Fhtfsician^ and, conse- quently to hurt his practice. My father has dismissed the action as groundless, and qow he has appealed to the whole Court." ^ " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. '* DEAR SIR, " 1 LONG to hear how you like the book ; it is, I think, much liked here. But Macpherson is ver\^ furious ; can you give me any more intelligence about him, or his Fingal \ Do what you can, and do it quickly. Is Lord Hailes on our side \ " Pray let me know what I owed you when I left you, that I may send it to you. 2 In the Court of Session of Scotland an action is first tried by one of the Judges, who is called the Lord Ordinary ; and if either party is dissatisfied, he may ap- peal to the whole Court, consisting of fifteen, the Lord President and fourteeu other Judges, who have both in and out of Court the title of Lords, from the name pi their estates : as, Lord Auchinleck, Lord Monboddo, &Cv iSS IHE LIFE OF 1775. " I am going to write about the Americans. If you ^^^ have picked up any hints among your lawyers, who are 66. * great masters of the law of nations, or if your own mind suggest any thing, let me know. But mum, it is a secret. " I will send your parcel of books as soon as I can ; but I cannot do as I wish. However, you find every thing mentioned in the book which you recommended. " Langton is here ; we are all that ever we were. He is a worthy fellow, without malice, though not with- out resentment. " Poor Beauclerk is so ill, that his life is thought to be in danger. Lady Di nurses him with very great assiduity. " Reynolds has taken too much to strong liquor, ^ and seems to delight in his new character. " This is all the news that I have ; but as you love verses, I will send you a few which I made upon Inch- kenneth ;* but remember the condition, you shall not shew them, except to Lord Hailes whom 1 love better than any man whom I know so little. If he asks you to transcribe them for him, you may do it, but I think he must promise not to let them be copied again, nor to show them as mine. " I have at last sent back Lord Hailes's sheets. I never think about returning them, because I alter nothing. You will see that I might as well have kept them. However, I am ashamed of my delay ; and if I have the honour of receiving any more, promise punctually to return them by the next post. Make my compliments to dear Mrs. Boswell, and to Miss V^eronica. " I am, dear Sir, " Yours most faithfully, "'• Jan. 1, 177^. " Sam. Johnson." ^ it sliould be recollected, that this fanciful description of his friend was given by Johnson after he himself had become a water-drinker. " See them in " Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides," 3d edit. p. 337. - He now sent me a Latin inscription for my historical picture Mary Queen of Scots, and afterwards favoured me with an English translation. Mr. Alderman Boydell, that eminent Patron of the Arts, has subjoined them to the engraving from my picture. DR. JOHNSON. 199 1775. " MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. v-^.-w/ ^ .. . T , .^ iEtat. " Edinburgh, Jan. 27, 1775. gg. " You rate our lawyers here too high, when you call them great masters of the law of nations. " As for myself, I am ashamed to say I have read little and thought little on the subject of America. I • will be much obliged to you, if you will direct me where 1 shall find the best information of what is to be said on both sides. It is a subject vast in its present extent and future consequences. The imperfect hints which now float in my mind, tend rather to the forma- tion of an opinion that our government has been pre- cipitant and severe in the resolutions taken against the Bostonians. Well do you know that 1 have no kind- ness for that race. But nations, or bodies of men, should, as well as individuals, have a fair trial, and not be condemned on character alone. Have we not ex- press contracts with our colonies, which afifbrd a more certain foundation of judgement, than general political speculations on the mutual rights of States and their provinces or colonies \ Pray let me know immediately what to read, and 1 shall diligently endeavour to gather for you any thing that I can find. Is Burke's speech on American taxation published by himself ? Is it au- thentick ? 1 remember to have heard you say, that you had never considered East-Indian affairs : though, sure- " Maria Scotorum Regina, " Hominum seditiosorum " Contumeliis lassata, " Minii territa, clamoribus "vida, " Libello, per quern " Regno cedit, " Lacrimant trepidansqiii " Nomen apponit. " Mary Queen of Scots, Harassed, terrified, and overpowered By the insults, menaces, And clamours Of her rebeUious subjects, Sets her hand. With tears and confusion. To a resignation of the kingdom."' VOT. IT. 17 13 0 THE LIFE OF 1775. ly, they are of much importance to Great-Britain, ^r^ Under the recollection of this, 1 shelter myself from gg. the reproach of ignorance about the Americans. If you write upon the subject, I shall certainly understand it. But, since you seem to expect that I should know something of it, without your instruction, and that my own mind should suggest something, 1 trust you will put me in the way. '**#*♦♦ " What does Becket mean by the Originals of Fin- gal and other poems of Ossian, which he advertises to have lain in his shop ? ****** " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " You sent me a case to consider, in which I have no facts but what are against us, nor any principles on which to reason. It is vain to try to write thus with- out materials. The fact seems to be against you ; at least I cannot know nor say any thing to the contrary. I am glad that you like the book so well. I hear no more of Macpherson. 1 shall long to know what Lord Hailes says of it. Lend it him privately. 1 shall send the parcel as soon as I can. Make my compliments t» Mrs. Boswell. I am, Sir, &c. " Jan, ^8, 1775. " Sam. Johnson." " MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. " Edinburgh, Feb. 2, 1775. ****** " As to Macpherson, I am anxious to have from yourself a full and pointed account of what has passed between you and him. It is confidently told here, that before your book came out he sent to you, to let you know that he understood you mfeant to deny the authenticity of Ossian's poems ; that the originals were in his possession ; that you might have inspection of them, and might take the evidence of people skill- DR. JOHNSON. 131 ed in the Erse language ; and that he hoped, after this i775. fair otfer, you would not be so uncandid as to assert ^^"^ that he had refused reasonable proof. That you paid og. no regard to his message, but published your strong at- tack upon him ; and then he wrote a letter to you, in such terms as he thought suited to one who had not acted as a man of veracity. You may believe it gives me pain to hear your conduct represented as unfavour- able, while 1 can only deny what is said, on the ground that your character refutes it, without having any in- formation to oppose. Let me, 1 beg it of you, be fur- nished with a sufficient answer to any calumny upon this occasion. " Lord Hailes writes to me, (for we correspond more than we talk together,) ' As to Fingal, 1 see a contro- versy arising, and purpose to keep out of its wa3^ There is no doubt that 1 might mention some circum- stances ; but 1 do not chuse to commit them to paper.'* What his opinion, is, 1 do not know. He says, ' 1 am singularly obliged to Dr. Johnson for his accurate and useful criticisms. Had he given some strictures on the general plan of the work, it would have added much to his favours.' He is charmed with your verses on Inch- ken neth, says they are very elegant, but bids me tell you he doubts whether ' Legit imas fuciunt pectora pura preces^ be according to the rubrick : but that is your concern ; for, you know, he is a Presbyterian." " TO DR. LAWRENCE.* " SIR, Feb. 7, 1775. " One of the Scotch physicians is now prosecuting a corporation that in some publick instrument have stiled him Doctor of Medicine instead of Flujsiciun. ' [His Lordship, notwithstanding his resolution, did commit his sentiments to pa- per, and in one of his notes affixed to his Collection of Old Scottish Poetry, he says, that " to doubt the authenticity of those poems is a refinement in Scepticism indeed." I. B.] ^ The learned and worthy Dr. Lawrence, whom Dr. Johaton respected and loved as his physiciaa and friend. 132 THE LIFE OF 1775. Boswell desires, being advocate for the corporation, to ^^ know whether Doctor of Medicine is not a legitimate 66. title, and whether it may be considered as a disad- vantageous distinction. 1 am to write to-night ; be pleased to tell me. 1 am, Sir, your most, &c. " Sam. Johnson.'' " james boswell, esq. " my dear boswell, " I AM surprised that, knowing as you do the disposition of your countrymen to tell lies in favour of each other, ^ you can be at all affected by any reports that circulate among them. Macpherson never in his life offered me a sight of any original or of any evidence of any kind ; but thought only of intimidating me by noise and threats, till my last answer, — -that I would not be deterred from detecting what I thought a cheat, by the menaces of a ruffian — put an end to our corres- pondence. " The state of the question is this. He, and Dr. Blair, whom 1 consider as deceived, say, that he copied the poem from old manuscripts ? His copies, if he had them, and I believe him to have none, are nothing. Where are the manuscripts ? They can be shown if they exist, but they were never shown. De non exist- entibus et non apparentibus^ says our law, eadem est ratio. No man has a claim to credit upon his own word, when better evidence, if he had it, may be easily produced. But, so far as we can find, the Erse language was never written till very lately for the purposes of religion. A nation that cannot write, or a language that was never written, has no manuscripts. " But whatever he has he never offered to show. If old manuscripts should now be mentioned, I should, unless there were more evidence than can be easily had, suppose them another proof of Scotch conspiracy in national falsehood. ' My friend has, in this letter, relied upon my testimony, with a confidence, of which the ground has escaped my recollection, DR. JOHNSON. 133 "' Do not censure the expression ; you know it to 1775. be true. ^Etat! " Ur. Memis's question is so narrow as to allow no (m, speculation ; and I have no facts before me but those which his advocate has produced against you. '• I consulted this morning the President of the London College of Physicians, who says, that with us. Doctor of F/ii/sick (we do not say Doctor of Medicine) is the highest title that a practiser of physick can have ; that Doctor implies not only F/ii/siciafi^ but teacher of physick ; that every Doctor is legally a F//(/siciun ; but no man, not a Doctor^ can practise physick but by licence particularly granted. The Doctorate is a licence of itself. It seems to us a very slender cause of prose- cution. # # * « # ^ " I am now engaged, but in a little time I hope to do all you would have. JNly compliments to Madam' and Veronica. 1 am, Sir, " Your most humble servant, " Tehruary 7, 177'5. " Sam. Johnson.^^ What words were used by Mr. Macpherson in his letter to the venerable Sage, I have never heard ; but t»hey are generally said to have been of a nature very different from the language of literary contest. Dr. Johnson^s answer appeared in the news-papers of the day, and has since been frequently re-published ; but not with perfect accuracy. 1 give it as dictated to me by himself, written down in his presence, and authen- ticated by a note in his own hand writing, " Tliis^ I think, is a true copy" * " MR. JAMES MACPHERSON, " I RECEIVED your foolish and impudent letter. A»y violence offered me 1 shall do my best to repel ; and what I cannot do for myself, the law shall do for me. I hope 1 shall never be deterred from detecting what I think a cheat, by the menaces of a ruffian. ' I have deposited it in tlie Britibh Museum. 134 THE LIFE OF 1775. " What would you have me retract ! I thought your ^■^ book an imposture ; 1 think it an imposture still. For 66. this opinion I have given my reasons to the publick, which 1 here dare you to refute. Your rage 1 defy. Your abilities, since your Homer, are not so formida- ble ; and what I hear of your morals inclines me to pay regard not to what you shall say, but to what you shall prove. You may print this if you will. " Sam. Johnson." Mr. Macpherson little knew the character of Dr. Johnson, if he supposed that he could be easily intim- idated ; for no man was ever more remarkable for per- sonal courage. He had, indeed, an awful dread of death, or rather, " of something after death ;" and what rational man, who seriously thinks of quitting all that he has ever known, and going into a new and un- known state of being, can be without that dread? But his fear was from reflection ; his courage natural. His fear, in that one instance, was the result of philosoph- ical and religious consideration. He feared death, but he feared nothing else, not even what might occasion death. Many instances of his resolution may be men- tioned. One day, at Mr. Beauclerk's house in the country, when two large dogs were fighting, he went up to them, and beat them till they separated ; and at another time, when told of the danger there was that a gun might burst if charged with many balls, he put in six or seven, and fired it off against a wall. Mr. Langton told me, that when they were swimming to- gether near Oxford, he cautioned Dr. Johnson against a pool, which was reckoned particularly dangerous ; upon which Johnson directly swam into it. He told me himself that one night he was attacked in the street by four men, to whom he would not yield, but kept them all at bay, till the watch came up, and carried both him and them to the round-house. In the play- house at Lichfield, as Mr. Garrick informed me, John- son having for a moment quitted a chair which was placed for him between the side-scenes, a gentleman took possession of it, and when Johnson on his return DR. JOHNSON. 135 civilly demanded his scat, rudely refused to give it up ; >775. upon which Johnson laid hold of it, and tossed him ^^ and the chair into the pit. Foote, who su successfully 60. revived the old comedy, by exiiibiting living characiers, had resolved to imitate Johnson on the stage, expecting great profits from his ridicule of so celebrated a man. Johnson being informed of his intention, and being at dinner at Mr. Thomas Davies's the bookseller, from whom I had the story, he asked Mr. Davies " what was the common price of an oak stick ;" and being an- swered six-pence, " Why then. Sir, (said he,) give me leave to send your servant to purchase me a shilling one. I'll have a double quantity ; for I am told Fooie means to fake ?ne off\ as he calls it, and 1 am determin- ed the fellow shall not do it with impunity." Davies took care to acquaint Foote of this, which effectually checked the wantonness of the mimick. Mr. JSlac- pherson's menaces made Johnson provide himself with the same implement of defence ; and had he been at- tacked, I have no doubt that, old as he was, he would have made his corporal prowess be felt as much as his intellectual. His " Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland,"* is a most valuable performance. It abounds in exten- sive philosophical views of society, and in ingenious sentiment and lively description. A considerable part of it, indeed, consists of speculations, which many- years before he saw the wdd regions which we visited together, probably had employed his attention, though the actual sight of those scenes undoubtedly quickened and augmented them. Mr. Orme, the very able his- torian, agreed with me in this opinion, which he thus strongly expressed : — " There are in that book thoughts, which, by long revolution in the great mind of John- son, have been formed and polished like pebbles rolled in the ocean !" That he was to some degree of excess a true-born EngHahmau^ so as to have entertained an undue preju- dice against both the country and the people of Scot- land, must be allowed. But it was a prejudice of the head, and not of the heart. He had no ill will to the 136 XHE LIFE OF 1775. Scotch ; for, if he had been conscious of that, he ne- ^rr ver would have thrown himself into the bosom of theit 66. ' country, and trusted to the protection of its remote in- habitants with a fearless confidence. His remark upon the nakedness of the country, fi-om its being denuded of trees, was made after having travelled two hundred miles along the Eastern coast, where certainly trees are not to be found near the road ; and he said it was " a map of the road" which he gave. His disbelief of the authenticity of the poems ascribed to Ossian, a High- land bard, was confirmed in the course of his journey, by a very strict examination of the evidence offered for it ; and although their authenticity was made too much a national point by the Scotch, there were many re- spectable persons in that country, who did not concur in this ; so that his judgement upon the question ought not to be decried, even by those who differ from him. As to myself, 1 can only say, upon a subject now be- come very uninteresting, that when the fragments of Highland poetry first came out, 1 was much pleased with their wild peculiarity, and was one of those who subscribed to enable their editor, Mr. Macpherson, then a young man, to make a search in the Highlands and Hebrides for a long poem in the Erse language, which was reported to be preserved somewhere in those re- gions. But when there came forth an Epick Poem in six books, with all the common circumstances of former compositions of that nature ; and when, upon an at- tentive examination of it, there was found a perpetual recurrence of the same images which appear in the fragments ; and when no ancient manuscript, to au- thenticate the work, was deposited in any publick li- brary, though that was insisted on as a reasonable proof, :i)ho could forbear to doubt ? Johnson's grateful acknowledgements of kindness received in the course of this tour, completely refute the brutal reflections which have been thrown out against him, as if he had made an ungrateful return; and his delicacy in sparing in his book those who we find from his letters to iNIrs. Thrale, were just objects of censure, is much to be admired. His candour and DR. JOHNSON. 13T amiable disposition is conspicuous from his conduct, 1775. when int'onni'd by Mr. Macleod, of Kasay, that he J^^ had committed a mistake, which gave that gentleman g6. some uneasiness. He wrote him a coinleous and kind letter, and inserted in the news-papers an advertisement, correcting the mistake. ^ The observations of my friend Mr. Dempster in a let- ter written to me, soon after he had read Dr. Johnson's book, are so just and liberal, that they cannot be too often repeated : " There is nothing in the book, from beginning to end, that a Scotchman need to take amiss. What he says of the country is true ; and his observations on the people are what must naturally occur to a sensible, ob- serving, and reflecting inhabitant of a convenient me- tropolis, where a man on thirty pounds a 3'ear may be better accommodated with all the little wants of life, than Col or Sir Allan. " I am charmed with his researches concerning the Erse language, and the antiquity of their manuscripts. I am quite convinced ; and 1 shall rank Ossian and his Fingals and Oscars, amongst the nursery tales, not the true history of our country, in all time to come. " Upon the whole, the book cannot displease, for it has no pretensions. The authour neither says, he is a geographer, nor an antiquarian, nor very learned in the history of Scotland, nor a naturalist, nor a fossilist. The manners of the people, and the face of the coun- try, are all he attempts to describe, or seems to have thought of. Much were it to be wished, that they who have travelled into more remote, and of course more curious regions, had all possessed his good sense. Of the state of learning, his observations on Glasgow Uni- versity show he has formed a very sound judgement. He understands our climate too ; and he has accurately observed the changes, however slow aiid imperceptible to us, which Scotland has undergone, in consequence of the blessings of liberty and internal peace/' 2 Sec « Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides," 3d edit. p. ."SSO. VOL. u. 18 138 THE LIFE OF 1775, ****** jg^'^ Mr. Knox^ another native of Scotland, who has 66. since made the same tour, and pubHshed an account of it, is equally liberal. " I have read (says he,) his book ajjain and ag^ain, travelled with him from Berwick to Glenelg, through countries with which I am well ac- quainted ; sailed with him from Glenelg to Rasy, Sky, Kum, Col, Mull, and Icolmkill, but have not been able to correct him in any matter of consequence. I have often admired the accuracy, the precision, and the justness of what he advances, respecting both the coun- try and the people. '' The Doctor has every where delivered his senti- ments with freedom, and in many instances with a seeming regard for the benefit of the inhabitants, and the ornament of the country. His remarks on the want of trees and hedges for shade, as well as for shel- ter to the cattle, are well founded, and merit the thanks, not the illiberal censure of the natives. He also felt for the distresses of the Highlanders, and explodes with great propriety the bad management of the grounds, and the neglect of timber in the Hebrides." Having quoted Johnson's just compliments on the Rasy family, he says, " On the other hand, 1 found this family equally lavish in their encomiums upon the Doctor's conversation, and his subsequent civilities to a young gentleman of that country, who, upon wait- ing upon him at London, was well received, and expe- rienced all the attention and regard that a warm friend could bestow. Mr. Macleod having also been in Lon- don, waited upon the Doctor, who provided a magnifi- cent and expensive entertainment in honour of his old Hebridean acquaintance." And, talking of the military road by Fort Augustus, he says, " By this road, though one of the most rug- ged in Great Britain, the celebrated Dr. Johnson pass- ed from Inverness to the Hebride Isles. His observa- tions on the country and people are extremely correct, judicious, and instructive."^ ' Page 105, DR. JOHNSON. \Cj9 Mr. Tytler, the acute and able viiitlicator of Mary i??^. Queen of Scots, in one of his letters to Mr. Jaims ^^ KIphinstone, pubhshed in that gentleman's " Forty oo'. Years' Correspondence," says, " 1 read Dr. Johnson's Tour witli very great pleasure. Some few errours he has fallen into, but of no great importance, and those arc lost in the numberless beauties of his work. " If 1 had leisure, I could perhaps point out the most exceptionable places ; but at present 1 am in the country, and have not his book at hand. It is plain he meant to speak well of Scotland ; and he has in my apprehension done us great honour in the most capital article, the character of the inhabitants." His private letters to Mrs. Thrale, written during the course of his journey, which therefore may be sup- posed to convey his genuine feelings at the time, abound in such benignant sentiments towards the peo- ple who showed him civilities, that no man whose tem- per is not very harsh and sour, can retain a doubt of the goodness of his heart. It is painful to recollect with what rancour he was assailed by numbers of shallow irritable North Britons, on account of his supposed injurious treatment of their country and countrymen, in his " Journey." Had there been any just ground for such a charge, would the virtuous and candid Dempster have given his opin- ion of the book, in the terms in which 1 have quoted ? Would the patriotick Knox* have spoken of it as he has done ? Would Mr. Tytler, surely " a Scoij if ever Scot there were,"' have expressed himself thus? x\nd let me add, that, citizen of the world, as I hold myself to be, I have that degree of predilection for my natcde solum^ nay, I have that just sense of the merit of an ancient nation, which has been ever renowned for its valour, which in former . times maintained its independence against a powerful neighbour, and in modern times has been equally dis- •* I observed with much regret, while the first edition of this work was passing through the press, (August 1790,) tliat this ingenious gentleman was dead. 14y THE LIFE OF 1775. tinguished for its ingenuity and industry in civilized life, ^^ that i should have felt a generous indignation at any in^- 66. justice done to it. Johnson treated Scotland novvorse than he did even his best friends, whose characters he used to give as they appeared to him, both in light and shade. Some people, who had not exercised their minds sufficiently, condemned him for censuring hi$ friends. But Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose philosophic- al penetration and justness of thinking were not less known to those who lived with him, than his genius in his art is admired by the world, explained his conduct thus ; " He was fond of discrimination, which he could not show without pointing out the bad as well as the good in every character ; and as his friends were those whose characters he knew best, they afforded him the best opportunity for showing the aciiteness of his judge- ment." He expressed to his friend Mr. Windharri of Nor- folk, his wonder at the extreme jealousy of the Scotch^ and their resentment at having their country described by him as it really was ; when, to say that it was a country as good as England, would have been a gros$ falsehood, ^' None of us, (said he,) would be offiend- ed if a foreigner who has travelled here should say, that vines and olives don't grow in England.'' And &g to his prejudice against the Scotch, which I always ascrib- ed to that nationality which he observed in them^ he said to the same gentleman, " When 1 find a Scotch- man, to whom an Englishman is as a Scotchman, that Scotchman shall he as an Englishman to me." His in- timacy with many gentlemen of Scotland, and his em- ploying so many natives of that country as his amanu- enses, prove that his prejudice was not virulent; and I have deposited in the British Museum, amongst other pieces of his writing, the following note in answer to one from me, asking if he would meet me at dinner at the Mitre, though a friend of mine, a Scotchman, was to be there : " Mr. Johnson does not see why Mr. Bos well should suppose a Scotchman less acceptable than any other man. He will be at the Mitre." DE. JOHNSON. 14) My much-valued friend Dr. Barnard, now Bishop of 1775. Killajoe, having once expressed to him an apprehension, ^^ that if he should visit Ireland he might treat the people oG. of that country more unfavourably than he had done the Scotch, he answered, with strong pointed double- edged wit, " Sir, you have no reason to be afraid of me. The Irish are not in a conspiracy to cheat the world by false representations of the merits of their countrymen. No, Sir ; the Irish are a fair people ;— »- they never speak well of one another." Johnson told me of an instance of Scottish nationr ality, which made a very unfavourable impression upon his mind. A Scotchman of some consideration in London, solicited him to recommend by the weight of his learned authority, to be master of an English school, a person of whom he who recommended him confessed he knew no more but that he was his countryman. Johnson was shocked at this unconscientious conduct. All the miserable cavillings against his "• Journey," in news-papers, magazines, and other fugitive publi- cations, I can speak from certain knowledge, only fur- nished him with sport. At last there came out a scurrilous volume, larger than Johnson's own, filled with malignant abuse, under a name, real or fictitious, of some low man in an obscure corner of Scotland, though supposed to be the work of another Scotchman, who has found means to make himself well known both in Scotland and England. The effect which it had upon Johnson was, to produce this pleasant observa- tion to Mr. Seward, to whom he lent the book : " This fellow must be a blockhead. They don't know how to go about their abuse. Who will read a five shilling book agains*t me ? No, Sir, if they had wit, they should have kept pelting me with pamphlets." " MR, BOSWELL JO DR. JOHNSON. " Edinburgh^ 18, I77J- " You would have been very well pleased if you had dined with me to-day. 1 had for my guests, Mac- quharrie, young Maclean of Col, the successor of our friend, 9. very amiable man, though not marked with 14*3 THE LIFE OP 1775. such active qualities as his brother ; Mr. Maclean of ^j^ Torloisk in Mull, a gentleman of Sir Allan's family ; 66. and two of the clan Grant ; so that the Highland and Hebridean genius reigned. We had a great deal of conversation about you, and drank your health in a bumper. The toast was not proposed by me, which is a circumstance to be remarked, for 1 am now so con- nected with you, that any thing that I can say or do to your honour has not the value of an additional compli- ment. It is only giving you a guinea out of that treasure of admiration which already belongs to you, and which is no hidden treasure ; for 1 suppose my admiration of you is co-existent with the knowledge of my character. " I find that the Highlanders and Hebrideans in general are much fonder of your ' Journey,' than the low-country or /nt her Scots. One of the Grants said to-day, that he was sure you were a man of a good heart, and a candid man, and seemed to hope he should be able to convince you of the antiquity of a good pro- portion of the poems of Ossian. After all that has passed, I think the matter is capable of being proved to a certain degree. I am told that Macpherson got one old Erse MS. from Clanranald, for the restitution of vi^hich he executed a formal obligation ; and it is affirmed, that the Gaelick (call it Erse or call it Irish,) has been written in the Highlands and Hebrides for many centuries. It is reasonable to suppose, that such of the inhabitants as acquired any learning, possessed the art of writing as well as their Irish neighbours, and Celtick cousins ; and the question is, can sufficient evidence be shewn of this ? '^ Those who are skilled in ancient writings can de- termine the age of MSS. or at least can ascertain the century in which they w^ere written ; and if men of veracity, who are so skilled, shall tell us that MSS. in the possession of families in the Highlands and isles, are the works of a remote age, I think we should be convinced by their testimony. " There is now come to this city, Ranald Macdonald from the Isle of Egg, who has several MSS. of Erse DR. JOHNSON. 14'i poetry, which he wishes to pubHsh by subscription. I 1775. have engaged to take three copies of the book, the ^J^ price of which is to be six shillings, as 1 would sub- (jg, scribe for all the Erse that can be printed be it old or new, that the language may be preserved. This man says, that some of his manuscripts are ancient ; and, to be sure, one of them which was shewn to me does ap- pear to have the duskyness of antiqiwty. W ^ ^ ^ ^F ^ " The enquiry is not yet quite hopeless, and 1 should think that the exact truth may be discovered, if proper means be used. 1 am, &c. " James Boswell.^' " to james boswell, esq. " DEAR SIR, " I AM sorry that I could get no books for my friends in Scotland. Mr. Strahan has at last promised to send two dozen to you. If they come, put the name of my friends into them ; you may cut them out, 5 and paste them with a little starch in the book. " You then are going wild about Ossian. Why do you think any part can be proved ? The dusky manu- script of Egg is probably not fifty years old ; if it be an hundred, it proves nothing. The tale of Clanranald is no proof. Has Clanranald told it ? Can he prove it ? There are, 1 believe, no Erse manuscripts. None of the old families had a single letter in Erse that we heard of. You say it is likely that they could write. The learned, if any learned there were, could ; but knowing by that learning, some written language, in that language they wrote, as letters had never been ap- plied to their own. If there are manuscripts, let them be shewn, with some proof that they are not forged for the occasion. You say many can remember parts of Ossian. 1 believe all those parts are versions of the English ; at least there is no proof of their antiquity. " Macpherson is said to have made some translations himself; and having taught a boy to write it, ordered '• From a list in his hand-writbg. 14^ THE LIFE Ot 1775. him to say that he had learned it of his gfandmother. ^■^ The boy, when he grew up, told the story. This Mrs. m. ' Wilhams heard at Mr. Strahan's table. Don't be cred- ulous ; you know how little a Highlander can be trust- ed. Macpherson is, so far as 1 know, very quiet. Is not that proof enough 1 Every thing is against him. No visible manuscript : no inscription in the language : no correspondence among friends : no transaction of business, of which a single scrap remains in the ancient families. Macpherson's pretence is, that the character was Saxon. If he had not talked unskilfully of manu- scripts^ he might have fought with oral tradition much longer. As to Mr. Grant's information, I suppose he knows much less of the matter than ourselves. " In the mean time, the bookseller says that the sale^ is sufficiently quick. They printed four thousand. Correct your copy wherever it is wrong, and bring it up. Your friends will all be glad to see you. I think of going myself into the country about May. " 1 am sorrv that I have not managed to send thfe book sooner. I have left four for you, and do not re-' strict you absolutely to follow my directions in the dis- tribution. You must use your own discretion. " Make my compliments to Mrs. Bos well : I sup- pose she is now beginning to forgive me. 1 am, dear Sir, your humble servant, " ¥eb. ^5, 1775. " Sam. Johnson." On Tuesday, March 91^ I arrived in London ; and on repairing to Dr. Johnson's before dinner, found him in his study, sitting with Mr. Peter Garrick, the elder brother of David, strongly resembling him in counte* nance and voice, but of more sedate and placid manners. Johnson informed me, that though Mr. Beauclerk was in great pain, it was hoped he was not in danger, and that he now wished to consult Dr. Heberden, to try the effect of a " ncic understanding.'*^ Both at this in- terview, and in the evening at Mr. Thrale's, where he and Mr. Peter Garrick and 1 met again, he was vehe- ♦ Of his " Journey to the Wpstcm If!and« of Scotlanrt." DR. JOHNSON. 1 I J meiu on the subject of the Ossian controversy ; oh- '773. serving, *' VVe do not know that there are any ancient ^,'^, Erse maniisciipts ; and we have no other reason to (lis- (j(k beheve that tlRie are men with three heads, but that we do not know that there are any such men." He also was outrageous, upon his supposition that my countrvmen " loved Scotland better than truth," say- ing, " All of them, — nay not all, — but droves of them, would come up, and attest any thing for the honour of Scotland." He also persevered in his wild allegation, that he questioned if there was a tree between Edin- burgh and the English border older than himself. I assured him he was mistaken, and suggested that the proper punishment would be that he should receive a stripe at every tree above a hundred years old, that was found within that space. He laughed, and said, " 1 be- lieve I might submit to it for a baubee.''' The doubts which, in my correspondence with him, I had ventured to state as to the justice and wisdom of the conduct of Great-Britain towards the American colonies, while I at the same time requested that he would enable me to inform myself upon that moment- ous subject, he had altogether disregarded ; and had recently published a pamphlet, entitled, " Taxation no Tyranny ; an answer to the Resolutions and Address of the American Congress.*" He had long before indulged most unfavourable sen- timents of our fellow-subjects in America, For, as early as 1769, 1 was told by Dr. John Campbell, that he had said of them, " Sir, they are a race of convicts , and ought to be thankful for any thing we allow them ^ short of hanging." Of this performance I avoided to talk with him ; for I had now formed a clear and settled opinion, that the people of America were well warranted to resist a claim that their fellow-subjects in the mother-country should have the entire command of their fortunes, by taxing them without their own consent ; and the extreme vi- olence which it breathed, appeared to me so unsuitable to the mildness of a christian philosopher, and so direct- ly opposite to the principles of peace which he had so VOL. II. 19 146 THE LIFE OF 1775. beautifully recommended in his pamphlet respectm^ ^t^^ Falkland's Islands, that 1 was sorry to see him appear in 06, SO unfavourable a light. Besides, I could not perceive in it that ability of argument, or that felicity of expression, for which he was, upon other occasions, so eminent. Positive assertion, sarcastical severity, and extravagant ridicule, which he himself reprobated as a test of truth, were united in this rhapsody. That this pamphlet was written at the desire of those who were then in power, 1 have no doubt ; and, indeed, he owned to me, that it had been revised and curtailed by some of them. He told me, that they had struck out one passage, which was to this effect : "That the Colo- nists could with no solidity argue from their not having been taxed while in their infancy, that they should not now be taxed. We do not put a calf into the plow ; we wait till he is an ox." He said, " They struck it out either critically as too ludicrous, or politically as too exasperating. 1 care not which. It was their bu- siness. If an architect says, 1 will build five stories^ and the man who employs him says, I will have only three, the employer is to decide." " Yes, Sir, (said I,) in ordinary cases. But should it be so when the archi- tect gives his skill and labour gratis /" Unfavourable as I am constrained to say my opinion of this pamphlet was, yet, since it was congenial with the sentiments of numbers at that time, and as every thing relating to the writings of Dr. Johnson is of im- portance in literary history, I shall therefore insert some passages which were struck out, it does not appear wh}^ either by himself or those who revised it. They appear printed in a few proof leaves of it in my posses- sion, marked with corrections in his own hand-writing, I shall distinguish them by Italicks. In the paragraph where he says, the Americans were incited to resistance by European Intelligence from "men whom they thought their friends, but who were friends only to themselves," there followed, — " (ind made hij their selfishness^ the enemies of their coitntrt/.'^ And the next paragraph ran thus : " On the original contrivers of mischief, rather than on those whom the^ DR. JOHNSON. 147' have deludecL let an insulted nation pour out its von- '775. geance. ^Ctat. The paragraph which came next was in those words : 06. " Vnhappif is that conntn/ in ic//ich men c(/n hope for ad- vuNcemeiit bif J'avonring its enemies. The iraiKjuilUfij of stable government is not ulicaifs eosi/t/ preserved against the machinations oj' single innovators ; but zvhut can be the hope of quiet ^ ic'henj'actions hostile to the legislature can be openltj J'ormed and openhj avowed !" After the paragraph which now concludes the pam- phlet, there followed this, in which he certainly means the great Earl of Chatham, and glances at a certain pop- ular Lord Chancellor. " If by the fortune of war, theij drive us utterhj away, what they ivill do next can only be conjectured. If a new monarchy is erected, they will icant a King. He whofrst takes into his hand the sceptre of America, should have a name of good omen. William has been knoion both a conquerour and deliverer ; and perhaps England, however contemned, might yet suppltf them with A N OT H E R W I L L I A M . Wh igs, indeed, at e not ivilling to be governed ; and it is possible that King William may be strongly inclined to guide their measures : but Whigs have been cheated like other mortals, and sneer- ed their leader to become their tyrant, under the name of their Protector. What more they ivill receive from England, no man can tell. In their rudiments of empire they maij want a Chancellor." Then came this paragraph : " Their numbers are, at present not quite sufficient for the greatness which, in some form of government or oth- er, is to rival the ancient monarchies ; but bij Dr. Frank- lin''s rule of progression, they will, in a century and a quar- ter, be more than equal to the inhabitants of Europe. When the Whigs of America are thus multiplied, let the Princes of the earth tremble in their palaces. If theif should continue to double and to double, their own hemis- phere would not contain them. But let not our boldest op- pugners of author it ij look forward with delight to thi^ futurity of Whig g ism. '^ 148 THE LIFE OF '775. How it ended I know not, as it is cut off abruptly at ^^ the foot of the last of these proof pages. 66. His pamphlets in support of the measures of admin- istration were published on his own account, and he afterwards collected them into a volume, with the title of" Political Tracts, by the Authour of the Rambler/^ with this motto : " Fallitur egregio quisguis sub Principe credit " Servitium ; nunquam libertas gratior extat *' Quam sub Rege pio" Claudianus. These pamphlets drew upon him numerous attacks. Against the common weapons of literary warfare he was hardened ; but there were two instances of ani- madversion which 1 communicated to him, and from what I could judge, both from his silence and his looks^ appeared to me to impress him much. One was, " A Letter to Dr. Samuel Johnson, occa- sioned by his late political Publications." It appeared previous to his " Taxation no Tyranny," and was writ- ten by Dr. Joseph Towers. In that performance. Dr. Johnson was treated with the respect due to so emi- nent a man, while his conduct as a political writer was boldly and pointedly arraigned, as inconsistent with the character of one, who, if he did employ his pen upon politicks, " it might reasonably be expected should dis- tinguish himself, not by party violence and rancour, but by moderation and by wisdom " It concluded thus : " 1 would, however, wish you to remember, should you again address the publick under the character of a political writer, that luxuriance of im- agination or energy of language, will ill compensate for the want of candour, of justice, and of truth. And I shall only add, that should I hereafter be disposed to read, as I heretofore have done, the most excellent of all your performances, ' The Rambler,' the pleasure which 1 have been accustomed to find in it, will be much diminished by the reflection that the writer of so moral, so elegant, and so valuable a work, was capable of prostituting his talents in such productions as 'The DB. JOHNSON. IS*) False Alarm,' the ' Thoughts on the Transactions re- 1775. specting Falkland's Islands/ and ' The Patriot." ^^ 1 am willing to do justice to the merit of Dr. Tow- (jg. crs, ot'whoui 1 will say, that although 1 abhor his Whig- gish deniocratical notions and propensities, (for 1 will not call them principles,) I esteem him as an ingenious, knowing, and very convivial man. The other instance was a paragraph of a letter to me, from my old and most intimate friend the Heverend Mr. Temple, who wrote the character of Giay, which has had the honour to be adopted both by Mr. Mason and Dr. Johnson in their accounts of that poet. The words were, "" How can your great, 1 will not say your pious^ but your moral friend, support the barbarous measures of administration, which they have not the face to ask even their infidel pensioner Hume to de- fend." However confident of the rectitude of his own mind, Johnson may have felt sincere uneasiness that his con- duct should be erroneously imputed to unworthy mo- tives, by good men ; and that the influence of his val- uable writings should on that account be in any degree obstructed or lessened. He complained to a Right Honourable friend of dis- tinguished talents and very elegant manners, with whom he maintained a long intimacy, and whose generosity towards him will afterwards appear, that his pension having been given to him as a literary character, he had been applied to by administration to write political pamphlets ; and he was even so much irritated, that he declared his resolution to resign his pension. His friend showed him the impropriety of such a measure, and he afterwards expressed his gratitude, and said he had re- ceived good advice. To that friend he once signified a wish to have his pension secured to him for his life ; but he neither asked nor received from government any reward whatsoever for his political labours. On Friday, March 24, 1 met him at the Literary Club, where were Mr. Beauclerk, Mr. Langton, Mr. Colman, Dr. Percy, Mr. Vesey, Sir Charles Hunbury, Dr. George Fordyce, Mr. Steevens, and Mr. Charles 150 THE LIFE OP 1775. Fox. Before he came in, we talked of his " Journey ^j'^to the Western Islands," and of his coming awav, 66. '" willing to believe the second sight,"' which seemed to excite some ridicule. I was then so impressed with the truth of many of the stories of which 1 had been told, that 1 avowed my conviction, saying, " He is only willing to believe : I do believe. The'evidence is enough for me, though not for his great mind. What will not fill a quart bottle will fill a pint bottle. 1 am filled with belief." " Are you ? (said Colman,) then cork it up." " 1 found his " Journey" the common topick of conversation in London at this time, wherever 1 hap- pened to be. At one of Lord Mansfield^s formal Sun- day evening conversations, strangely called Levees^ his Lordship addressed me, " We have all been reading your travels, Mr. Boswell." 1 answered, " 1 was but the humble attendant of Dr. Johnson." The Chief Justice replied, with that air and manner which none, who ever saw and heard him, can forget, " He speaks ill of nobody but Ossian." Johnson was in high spirits this evening at the club, a^nd talked with great animation and success. He at- tacked Swift, as he used to do upon all occasions. " The ' Tale of a Tub' is so much superiour to his other writings, that one can hardly believe he was the authour of it :^ " there is in it such a vigour of mind, such a swarm of thoughts, so much of nature, and art, " Johnson's " Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland," edit. 1785, p. 256. « This doubt has been much agitated on both sides, I think without good reason. See Addison's " Freeholder," May 4, 1714; An Apology for the Tale of a Tub ;— . Dr. Hawkesworth's Preface to Swift's Works, and Swift's Letter to Tooke the Printer, and Tooke's Answer in that collection : — Sheridan's Life of Swift ; — Mr. Courtenay's note on p. 3 of his " Poetical Review of the Literary and Moral Char- acter of Dr. Johnson ;" and Mr. Cooksey's " Essay on the Life and Character of John Lord Somers, Baron of Evesham." Dr. Johnson here speaks only to the internal evidence. I take leave to differ from him, having a very high estimation of the powers of Dr. Swift. His " Senti- ments of a Church-of-Englandman ;" his " Sermon on the Trinity," and other serious pieces, prove his learning as well as his acuteness in logick and nietaphys- icks ;" and his various compositions of a different cast exhibit not only wit, hu<( raour, and ridicule ; but a knowledge " of nature, and art, and life :" a combination therefore of those powers, when (as the " Apology" says,) " the authour was youngj his invention at the heighth, and his reading fresh in his head," might sarely prot duce « The Tale of a Tubr DR. JOHNSON. iJl and life." I wondered to hear him Say of ' Gulliver's 1775. Travels/ " When once you have thought of })\^ men '^^'^ and little men, it is very easy to do all the rest.'^ 1 (jg. ' endeavoured to make a stand for Swift, and tried to rouse those who were much more able to defend him ; but in vain. Johnson at last, of his own accord, allowed very great merit to the inventory of articles found in the pocket of " the Man Mountain," partic- ularly the description of his watch, which it was con- jectured was his God, as he consulted it upon all occasions. He observed, that " Swift put his name to but two things, (after he had a name to put,) ' The Plan for the Improvement of the Enghsh language,' and the last ' Drapier's Letter." From Swift, there was an easy transition to Mr. Thomas Sheridan.-— Johnson. " Sheridan is a wonder- ful admirer of the tragedy of Douglas, and presented its authour with a gold medal. Some years ago, at a coffee-house in Oxford, 1 called to him, ' Mr. Sheri- dan, Mr. Sheridan, how came you to give a gold medal to Home, for writing that foolish play V This, you see, was wanton and insolent ; but 1 meant to be wanton and insolent. A medal has no value but as a stamp of merit. And was Sheridan to assume to himself the right of giving that stamp \ If Sheridan was magnifi- cent enough to bestow a gold medal as an honorary reward of dramatick excellence, he should have re- quested one of the Universities to choose the person on whom it should be conferred. Sheridan had no right to give a stamp of merit: it was counterfeiting Apollo's coin." On Monday, March 27, I breakfasted with him at Mr. Strahan's. He told us, that he was engaged to go that evening to Mrs. Abington's benefit. " She was visiting some ladies whom 1 was visiting, and beg- ged that 1 would come to her benefit. 1 told her I could not hear : but she insisted so much on my com- ing, that it would have been brutal to have refused her.^ This was a speech quite characteristical. He loved to bring forward his having been in the gay circles of life ; and he was, perhaps, a little vain of the solicitations of 152 IHK LIFE OB" 1775. this elegant and fashionable actress. He told us, the play was to be " The Hypocrite," altered from Cibber's " Nonjuror," so as to satirize the Methodists. *' 1 do not think (said he,) the character of the Hypocrite just- ly applicable to the Methodists, but it was very apph- cable to the Nonjurors. 1 once said to Dr. Madan, a clergyman of Ireland, who was a great Whig, that per- haps a Nonjuror would have been less criminal in taking the oaths imposed by the ruhng power, than refusing them ; because refusing them, necessarily laid him under almost an irresistible temptation to be more criminal ; for, a man must live, and if he precludes himself from the support furnished by the establish- ment, will probably be reduced to very wicked shifts to maintain himself."^ Boswell. " 1 should think, Sir, that a man who took the oaths contrary to his princi- ples, was a determined wicked man, because he was sure he was committing perjury, whereas a Nonjuror might be insensibly led to do what was wrong, without being so directly conscious of it." Johnson. " Why, Sir, a man who goes to bed to his patron's wife is pretty sure that he is committing wickedness." Bos- well. " Did the nonjuring clergymen do so, Sir ?" Johnson. " 1 am afraid many of them did." ' This was not merely a cursory remark ; for in his Life of Fenton he observes, " With many other wise and virtuous men, who at that time of discord and de- bate [about the beginning of this century,] consulted conscience well or ill inform- ed, more than interest, he doubted the legahty of the government ; and refusing to qualify himself for publick employment, by taking the oaths required, left the University without a degree." Tliis conduct Johnson calls " perverseness of integ- rity." The question concerning the morality of taking oaths, of whatever kind, impos- ed by the prevailing power at the time, rather than to be excluded from all con- sequence, or even any considerable usefulness in society, has been agitated with all the acuteness of casuistry. It is related, that he who devised the oath of abjura- tation, profligately boasted, that he had framed a test which should " damn one half of the nation, and starve the other." Upon minds not exalted to inflexible rec- titude, or minds in which zeal for a party is predominant to excess, taking that oath aji-ainst conviction, may have been palliated under the plea of necessity, or ventured upon in heat, as upon the whole producing more good than evil. At a county election in Scotland, many years ago, when there was a warm con- test between the friends of the Hanoverian succession, and those against it, the oatli of abjuration having been demanded, the freeholders upon one side rose to go away. Upon which a very sanguine geiuleman, ,>ne of their number, ran to the door to stop them, calling out with much earnestness, " Stay, stay, my friends, and '.et us swear the rogues out of it !" DR. JOHNSON. 153 ! was startled at this argument, and could by no i775. means think it convincing. Had not his own father J^^ complied with the requisition of government, (as to (,h. which he once observed to me, when 1 pressed him upon it, " That^ Sir, he was to settle with himself,") he would probably have thought more unfavourably of a Jacobite who took the oaths : « had he not resembled " My father as he swore. Mr. Strahan talked of launching into the great ocean of London, in order to have a chance for rising into eminence ; and, observing that many men were kept back from trying their fortunes there, because they were born to a competency, said, " Small certainties are the bane of men of talents ;" which Johnson con- firmed. Mr. Strahan put Johnson in mind of a remark whicW he had made to him ; " There are few ways in \ which a man can be more innocently employed than in | getting money." " The more one thinks of this, (said/ Strahan,) the juster it will appear." Mr. Strahan had taken a poor boy from the country as an apprentice, upon Johnson's recommendation. Johnson having enquired after him, said, " Mr. Stra- han, let me have five guineas on account, and Fil give this boy one. Nay, if a man recommends a boy, and does nothing for him, it is sad work. Call him down." 1 followed him into the court-yard, behind Mr. Stra- ban's house ; and there I had a proof of what 1 had heard him profess, that he talked alike to all. " Some people tell you that they let themselves down to the capacity of their hearers. 1 never do that. 1 speak uniformly, in as intelligible a manner as I can." " Well, my boy, how do you go on I" — " Pretty well. Sir ; but they are afraid 1 an't strong enough for some parts of the business." Johnson. " Why, 1 shall be sorry for it ; for when you consider with how little mental power and corporeal labour a printer can get a guinea a week, it is a very desirable occupation for you. Do you hear, — tase all the pains you can ; and if this does not do, we must think of some other vvay of hfe for you. There's a guinea." VOL. II. ?0 154 THE LIFE OP 1775. Here was one of the many, many instances of his Suu ^cti^'^ benevolence. At the same time, the slow and fi6. sonorous solemnity with which, while he bent himself down, he addressed a little thick short-legged boy, contrasted with the boy's aukwardness and awe, could not but excite some ludicrous emotions. 1 met him at Drury-lane play-house in the evening. Sir Joshua Reynolds, at Mrs. Abington's request, had promised to bring a body of wits to her benefit ; and having secured forty places in the front boxes, had done me the honour to put me in the group. John- son sat on the seat directly behind me ; and as he could neither see nor hear at such a distance from the stage, he was wrapped up in grave abstraction, and seemed quite a cloud, amidst all the sunshine of glitter and gaiety. I wondered at his patience in sitting out a play of five acts, and a farce of two. He said very httle ; but after the prologue to " Bon Ton" had been spoken, which he could hear pretty well from the more slow and distinct utterance, he talked on prologue-writ- ing, and observed, " Dryden has written prologues superiour to any that David Garrick has written ; but David Garrick has written more good prologues than. Dryden has done. It is wonderful that he has been able to write such variety of them." At xMr. Beauclerk's, where 1 supped, was Mr. Gar- rick, whom 1 made happy with Johnson's praise of his prologues ; and 1 suppose, in gratitude to him, he took up one of his favourite topicks the nationahty of the Scotch, which he maintained in a pleasant manner, with the aid of a little poetical fiction. " Come, come, don't deny it : they are really national. Why, now, the Adams are as liberal-minded men as any in the world : but, I don't know how it is, all their workmen are Scotch. You are, to be sure, wonderfully free from that nationality : but so it happens, that you employ the only Scotch shoe-black in London." He imitated the manner of his old master with ludicrous exaggera- tion ; repeating, with pauses and hait-whistiings inter- jected, (j(j. nR. JOHNSON. lo.^ *' Os Itomini sublime dcdit^ — ca'Jninqne tncri \11^- " Juss'it^ — et erectos ad sidcra — tollcre vuitus." ^i.^T looking downwards all the time, and, while pronounc- ing the tour last words, absolutely touching the ground \vith a kind of contorted gesticulation. Garrick, however, when he pleased, could imitate Johnson very exactly ; for that great actor, with his distinguished powers of expression which were so uni- versally admired, possessed also an admirable talent of mimickry. He was always jealous that Johnson spoke lightly of him. 1 recollect his exhibiting him to me one day, as if saying " Davy has some convivial pleas- antry about him, but 'tis a futile fellow ;" which lie uttered perfectly with the tone and air of Johnson. 1 cannot too frequently request of my readers, while they peruse my account of Johnson's conversation, to endeavour to keep in mind his deliberate and strong ut- terance. His mode of speaking was indeed very im- pressive;' and 1 wish it could be preserved as musick is written, according to the very ingenious method of Mr. Steele, "^ who has shown how the recitation of Mr. Garrick, and other eminent speakers, might be trans- mitted to posterity in score. ^ Next day 1 dined with Johnson at Mr. Thrale's. He attacked Gray, calling him " a dull fellow." Bos well. ' My noble friend Lord Pembroke said once to me at Wilton, with a happy pleasantry and some truth, that, " Dr. Joiinson's sayings would not appear so ex- traordinary, were it not for his l>o-:v--zvoiv-zvjy." The sayingfs themselves arc u^en- erally of sterhng merit ; but, doubtless, his manner wsi^ an addition to their eflcct ; and therefore should be attended to as much as may be. It is necesiarj', however, to guard those who were not acquainted with him, against overcharged imitarions or caricatures of his manner, which arc frequently attempted, and many of which are second-hand copies from the late Mr. Henderson the actor, who, though a good mimick of some persons, did not represent Johnson correctly. ■ See " Prosodia Rationalis ; or, an Essay towards establishing the Melodv and Measure of Speech, to be expressed and perpetuated by peculiar Symbols." Lpn- jjon, 1779. ' I use the phrase in score, as Dr. Johnson has explained it in his Dictionary. " A jonj^ in Score, the words with the musical notes of a song annexed." But I understand that in scientifick propriety it means all the ))arts of a musical compo- sition noted down in the characters by wliich it is exhibited to the eye of the skilful. [It was diclamation that Steele pretended to reduce to notation by new charac- ters. This he called the melody of speech, not the harmony, wliich the term in rsr: implies. B.] 155 THE LIFE OP 1775. " I understand he was reserved, and might appear dull ^^ in company ; but surely he was not dull in poetry/' 66. Johnson. " Sir, he was dull in company, dull in his closet, dull every where. He was dull in a new way, and that made many people think him great. He was a mechanical poet.^^ He then repeated some lu* dicrous lines, which have escaped my memory, and said, " Is not that great, hke his Odes?" Mrs. Thrale maintained that his Odes were melodious ; upon which he exclaimed, " Weave the warp, and weave the woof ;"— I added, in a solemn tone, " The winding-sheet of Edward's race. There is a good line." — " Ay, (said he), and the next line is a good one," (pronouncing it contemptuously ;) " Give ample verge and room enough," — " No, Sir, there are but two stanzas in Gray's poetry, which are in his ' Elegy in a Country Church-yard." He then repeated the stanza, " For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey," &c. mistaking one word ; for instead of precincts he said confines. He added, * The other stanza 1 forget." A young lady who had married a man much her in- feriour in rank being mentioned, a question arose how a woman's relations should behave to her in such a sit- uation ; and, while 1 recapitulate the debate, and re- collect what has since happened, I cannot but be struck in a manner that delicacy forbids me to express. While I contended that she ought to be treated with an in- flexible steadiness of displeasure, Mrs. Ihrale was all for mildness and forgiveness, and, according to the vul- gar phrase, " making the best of a bad bargain." — .Johnson. " Madam, we must distinguish. Were I a man of rank, 1 would not let a dausrhter starve who had made a mean marriage ; but having voluntarily de- graded herself from the station which she was original- ly entitled to hold, I would support her only in that DR. JOHNSON. lo7 which she herself had chosen ; and would not put her ^775. on a level with my other daughters. You are to con- ^^\ sider, Madam, that it is our duty to maintiiin the sub- c6. ordination of civilized society ; and when there is a gross and shameful deviation from rank, it should be punish- ed so as to deter others from the same perversion." After frequently considering this subject, 1 am more and more confirmed in what I then meant to express, and which was sanctioned by the authority, and illus- trated by the wisdom, of Johnson ; and 1 think it of the utmost consequence to the happiness of Society, to which subordination is absolutely necessary. It is weak, and contemptible, and unworthy, in a parent to relax in such a case. It is sacrificing general advantage to private feelings. And let it be considered, that the claim of a daughter who has acted thus, to be restored to her former situation, is either fantastical or unjust. If there be no value in the distinction of rank, what does she suffer by being kept in the situation to which she has descended ? If there be a value in that distinc- tion, it ought to be steadily maintained. If indulgence be shown to such conduct, and the offenders know that in a longer or shorter time they shall be received as well as if they had not contaminated their blood by a base alliance, the great check upon that inordinate caprice which generally occasions low marriages, will be re- moved, and the fair and comfortable order of improved life will be miserably disturbed. Lord Chesterfield's letters being mentioned, Jolinson said, " It was not to be wondered at that they had so great a sale, considering that they were the letters of a statesman, a wn^ one who had been so much in the mouths of mankind, one long accustomed virum voli- fare per ora^^ On Friday, March 31, 1 supped with him and some friends at a tavern. One of the company attempted, with too much forwardness, to rally him on his late ap- pearance at the theatre ; but had reason to repent of his temerity. " Why, Sir, did you go to Mrs. Abington's benefit? Did you see?" Johnson. "No, Sir." "Did you hear?" Johnson. " No, Sir," " Why thep, Sir, loS THE LIFE OF 1775. did you go?" Johnson. " Because, Sir, she is a fa- ^J^ vourite of the pubhck ; and when the pubhck cares the 66. thousandth part for you that it does for her, 1 will go to your benefit too." Next morning I won a small bet from lady Diana Beauclerk, by asking him as to one of his particulari- ties, which her Ladyship laid I durst not do. It seems he had been frequently observed at the Club to put in- to his pocket the Seville oranges, after he had squeezed the juice of them into the drink which he made for himself. Beauclerk and Garrick talked of it to me, and seemed to think that he had a strange unwillingness to be discovered. We could not divine what he did with them ; and this was the bold question to be put. I saw on his table the spoils of the preceding night, some fresh peels nicely scraped and cut into pieces. " O, Sir, (said 1,) I now partly see what you do with the squeezed oranges which you put into your pocket at the Club." Johnson. " 1 have a great love for them." Boswell. " And pray. Sir, what do you do with them] You scrape them it seems, very neatly, and what next?" Johnson. " Let them dry. Sir." Boswell. " And what next?" Johnson. "Nay, Sir, you shall know their fate no further." Boswell. " Then the world must be left in the dark. It must be said (assuming a mock solemnity,) he scraped them, and let them dry, but what he did with them next, he never could be pre- vailed upon to tell." Johnson. " Nay, Sir, you should say it more emphatically : — he could not be pre- vailed upon, even by his dearest friends, to tell." He had this morning received his Diploma as Doctor of Laws from the University of Oxford. He did not vaunt of his new dignity, but I understood he was highly pleased with it. I shall here insert the progress and completion of that high academical h(mour, in the same manner as 1 have traced his obtaining that of Master of Arts. DR. JOHNSON. 159 To the Reverend Dr. Fotiiergill, Vice-ChanrrJlor '"''^" of the Vitiversitii oj' Oxtorcl, to be commumcdted to A'A-aX. the Heads oj^ Houses, and proposed in Convocation. t^t>- " MR. VICE-CHANCELLOR AND GENTLEMEN, " THE honour of the degree of M. A. hy diplo- ma, formerly conferred upon Mr. Samuel Johnson, in consequence of his having eminently distinguished himself by the publication of a series of Essays, excel- lently calculated to form the manners of the people, and in which the cause of religion and morality has been maintained and recommended by the strongest powers of argument and elegance of language, reflected an equal degree of lustre upon the University itself. *' The many learned labours which have since that time employed the attention and displayed the abilities of that great man, so much to the advancement of lit- erature and the benefit of the community, render him worthy of more distinguished honours in the Repub- lick of letters : and 1 persuade myself, that 1 shall act agreeably to the sentiments of the whole University, in desiring that it may be proposed in Convocation to con- fer on him the degree of Doctor in Civil Law by diplo- ma, to which i readily give my consent; and am, " Mr. Vice-Chancellor and Gentlemen, " Your affectionate friend and servant, " NORTH."'*^ " Dozmiing'Street, March 23, 177^." Diploma. « CANCELLARIUS, Magistri, et Scholares Univer- sitatis Oxoniensis ouinihiis ad quos presentes Literce pervenerint, salutem in Domino Senipiternam. " SciATis, viriim illustrem^ Samuelem Johnson, in omni humaniorum literarum genere eruditum^ otnnium- que scientiurum comprehensionefelicissimum, scriptis su- is, ad popularium mores J'orrnandos sumnid verborum el- egantid uc sententiurum gravitate compositis, ita olini in- * Extracted from the Convocation Register, Oxford!. l60 THE LIFE OF 1775. clarmsse^ ut dignus videretur cuiab Academid sua exim^ ^^ id qucedam Umdis prcemia deferentur^ quique venerabilem 6"g. Magistrorum Ordinem summd cum digmtate cooptaretur : " Ciird verb eimdem clarissimum virum tot posted tan- tique labor es^ in patrid prcesertim lingud ornandd et sta- hiliendd feliciter impensi^ ita insigniverint, ut in Litera- rum Republicd PRiNCEPsy«^« et PRiMARius^Mre ha- beatur ; JVos, Cancellarius, Magistri, et Scholares Universitatis Oxoniensis, qiih talis viri merita pari honO' ris remuneratione excequentur^ et perpetuum suce simul iaiidis^ nostrceque ergd literas propensissimte voluntatis extet monumentiim, in solenni Convocatione Doctorum et Magistrorum Regentium, et non Kegentium, prcedictum Samuelem Johnson Doctorem in Jure Civili renun' ciavimus et constituimus^ eumque virtute prcesentis Di- plomatis singulis jiiribus^ priviiegiis et hondribus, ad ist» um gradum qndqud pertinentibus, Jrui et gaudere jussi" mus. In cujus rei testimonium commune Universitatis Oxoniensis sigillum prcesentibus apponi f'ecimus. " Datum in Domo nostrte Convocatioms die tricesimo Mensis Martii, Anno Domini Millesimo septingentesimOf septuagesimo quinto." ^ " Viro Reverendo Thom^ Fothergill, S. T. P, Universitatis Oxoniensis Vice-Cancellario. S.P.D. " Sam. Johnson. '■'■ 3IULTIS non est opus, ut testimonium quo, te prccside, Oxonienses nojnen meum posteris commenddrunt, 4 The original is in my possession. He shewed me the Diploma, and allowed me to read it, but would not consent to my taking a copy of it, fearing perhaps that I should blaee it abroad in his life-time. His objection to this appears from his 99th letter to Mrs. Thrale, whom in letter he thus scolds for the grossness of her flattery of him. — " The other Oxford news is, that they have sent me a degree of Doctor of Laws, with such praises in the Diploma as perhaps ought to make me ashamed : they are very like your praises. I wonder whether I shall ever shew it to you." It is remarkable that he never, so far as I know, assumed his title of Doctor, but called himself Mr. Johnson, as appears from many of his cards or notes to myself, and I have seen many from him to other persons, in which he uniformly takes that designation. — I once observed on his table a letter directed to him with the addition of Esquire, and objected to it as being a designation inferiour to that of Doctor ; but he checked me, and seemed pleased with it, because, as I conjectured, he liked to be sometimes taken out of the class of literary mcDj and to be merely genf.'-'/,—rtr> q;enf''lhi>'nmt! comfn; im n'tUe. 1 DR. JOHNSON. 161 ffuali animo acceper'nn compertum fuciam. Nemo .9/7;/ 1/75. plucens non hatatur; nemo sibinon placet^ qui lohis, lif~ ^/.^ erarnni urlntns^ placere potnit. Hoc tumen hubel in- OG. commodi iaiitnm benefkium^ quod mihi nunqnam post hue sine vestrtK famce detrimento vel labi liceat vel cessare ; semperqne sit timendum^ ne quod mi/ii tarn exiniice laudi rst^-cobis aliquando fiat approbrio. Vaie."^ " 7. Jd. Apr. 177^ " He revised some sheets of Lord Hailes's " Annals of Scotland," and wrote a few notes on the margin with red ink, which he hade me tell his Lordship did not sink into the paper, and might be wiped oil' with a wet sponge, so that he did not spoil his manuscript. — I ob- served to him that there were very few of his fi iends so accurate as that 1 could venture to put down in writing what they told me as his sayings. Johnson. " Why should you write down )?if/ sayings I" Boswell. " I write them when they are good." Johnson. " Nay, you may as well write down the sayings of any one else that are good." But zcbere, 1 might with great propriety have added, can 1 find such I 1 visited him by appointment in the evening, and we drank tea with Mrs. Williams. He told me that he had been in the company of a gentleman whose extra- ordinary travels had been much the subject of conver- sation. But 1 found he had not listened to him with that full confidence, without which there is little satis- faction in the society of travellers. 1 was curious to hear what opinion so able a judge as Johnson had form- ed of his abilities, and 1 asked if he was not a man of sense. Johnson. " W'hy, Sir, he is not a distinct re- later ; and 1 should say, he is neither abounding nor deficient in sense. 1 did not perceive any superiority of understanding." Boswell. " But will you not al- low him a nobleness of resolution, in penetrating into distant regions ?" Johnson. " rhat, Sir, is not to the present purpose : We are talking of sense. A fighting cock has a nobleness of resolution." * " The original is in the hands of Dr. FotJicrgill, then Vice-ChanccUor, who made this transcript." T. Warton. VOL. II. ^l Ibi^ THE LIFE Off '775. Next day, Sunday, April 2, I dined with him at Mr. 2^ Hoole's. We talked of Pope. Johnson. " He wrote C)6. his * Diinciad' for fame. That was his primary motive. Had it not been for that, the dunces might have railed against him till they were weary, without his troubling himself about them. He delighted to vex them, no doubt ; but he had more delight in seeing how well he could vex them." The " Odes to Obscurity and Oblivion," in ridicule of " cool Mason and warm Gray," being mentioned, Johnson said, " They are Colman's best things." Up- on its beinof observed that it was believed these Odes were made by Colman and Lloyd jointly ; — Johnson. " Nay, Sir, how can two people make an Ode ? Per- haps one made one of them, and one the other." I observed that two people had made a play, and quoted the anecdote of Beaumont and Fletcher, who were brought under suspicion of treason, because while con- certing the plan of a tragedy when sitting together at a tavern, one of them was overheard saying to the other, " ril kill the King." Johnson. '' The first of these Odes is the best ; but they are both good. They ex- posed a verN'^ bad kind of writing." Boswell. " Sure- ly, Sir, Mr. Mason's ' Elfrida' is a fine Poem : at least you will allow there are some good passages in it." Johnson. " There are now and then some good imi- tations of Milton's bad manner." i often wondered at his low estimation of the writ- ings of Gray and Mason. Of Gray's poetry 1 have in a former part of this work, expressed my high opinion ; and for that of Mr. Mason 1 have ever entertained a warm admiration. His " lilfrida" is exquisite, both in poetical description and moral sentiment; and his " Caractacus" is a noble drama. Nor can 1 omit pay- ing my tribute of praise to some of his smaller poems, which I have read with pleasure, and which no criti- cism shall persuade me not to like. If 1 wondered at Johnson's not tasting the works of Mason and Gray, still more have 1 wondered at their not tasting his works : that thev should be insensible to his eners^y of diction, to his splendour of images, and comprehension DR. JOHNSON. 16J of thouo^ht. Tastes may ihiYer as to the violin, tlie flute, '775. the hautl)oy, in short all the lesser instruments : but ^,'^^ who can he insensible to the powerful inijM'essions of (jij. the majesliek organ I His " Taxation no Tyranny" being mentioned, he said, " I think I have not been attacked enough for it. Attack is the re-action ; I never think 1 have hit hard, unless it re-bounds." Boswell. '* 1 don't know, Sir, what you would be at. Five or six shots of small arms in every newspaper, and repeated cannonading- in pam- phlets, might, 1 think, satisfy you. But, Sir, you'll never make out this match, of which we have talked, with a certain political lady, since you are so severe against her principles." Johnson. " Nay, Sir, I have the better chance for that. She is like the Amazons of old ; she must be courted by the sword. But I have not been severe upon her." Boswell. " Yes, Sir, you have made her ridiculous." Johnson. " That was , already done. Sir. To endeavour to make her ridicu- \ lous, is like blacking the chimney." 1 put him in mind that the landlord at Ellon in Scot- land said, that he heard he was the greatest man in England, — next to Lord Mansfield. " Ay, Sir, (said he,) the exception defined the idea. A Scotchman could go no farther : ' The force of Nature could no farther go." Lady Miller's collection of verses by fashionable peo- ple, which were put into her vase at Batheaston villa, near Bath, in competition for honorary prizes, being mentioned, he held them very cheap : " Bouts rimes (said he,) is a mere conceit, and an old conceit uoiv ; I wonder how people were persuaded to write in that manner for this lady." 1 named a gentleman of his acquaintance who wrote for the Vase. Johnson. " He was a blockhead for his pains." Boswell. " The Duchessof Northumberland wrote." Johnson. "Sir, the Duchess of Northumberland may do what she pleases : nobody will say any thing to a lady of her high rank. But 1 should be apt to throw ******'s verses in his face." 164 THE LIFE OF 1775. I talked of the cheerfulness of Fleet-street, owing to ^'^ the constant quick succession of people which we per- 66. ceive passing through it. Johnson. " Why, Sir, Fleet- street has a very animated appearance ; but I think the full tide of human existence is at Charing-cross." He made the common remark on the un happiness which men who have led a busy life experience, when the}^ retire in expectation of enjoying themselves at ease, and that they generally languish for want of their habitual occupation, and wish to return to it. He men- tioned as strong an instance of this as can well be im- agined. " An eminent tallow-chandler in London, who had acquired a considerable fortune, gave up the trade in favour of his foreman, and went to live at a country- house near town. He soon grew w^eary, and paid fre- quent visits to his old shop, where he desired they might let him know their melting-days, and he would , come and assist them ; which he accordingly did. Here, Sir, was a man, to whom the most disgusting cir- cumstances in the business to which he had been used, was a relief from idleness." On Wednesday, April 5, I dined with him at Mes- sieurs Dilly^s, with Mr. John Scott of Amvvell, the Quaker, Mr. Langton, Mr. Miller, (now Sir John,) and Dr. Thomas Campbell, an Irish Clergyman, whom I took the liberty of inviting to JSIr. Dilly's table, having seen him at Mr. Thrale's, and been told that he had come to England chiefly with a view to see Dr. John- son, for whom he entertained the highest veneration. He has since published " A Philosophical Survey of the South of Ireland," a very entertaining book, which has, however, one fault : — that it assumes the fictitious character of an Englishman. We talked of publick speaking. — Johnson. " We must not estimate a man's powers by his being able or not able to deliver his sentiments in publick. Isaac Hawkins Browne, one of the first wits of this country, got into Parliament, and never opened his mouth. For my own part, 1 think it is more disgraceful never to try to speak, than to try it, and fail ; iis it is more disgrace- ful not to fight, than to fight and be beaten." This DR. JOHNSON. iGo argument appeared to me fallacious; for it a man has 1775. not spoken, it may be said that he would have done ^j,^ very well if he had tried ; whereas, if he has tried and (;o\ failed, tlure is nothing to be said for him. " \\ hy then, (I asked,) is it thought disgraceful for a man not to fight, and not disgraceful not to speak in publick ?" Johnson. " 13ecaus«^ there may be other reasons for a man's not speaking in publick than want of resolution : he may have nothing to say, (laughing.) Whereas, Sir, you know courage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues ; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other." He observed, that " the statutes against bribery were intended to prevent upstarts with money from getting into Parliament ;" adding, that " if he were a gentle- man of landed property, he would turn out all Ijis ten- ants who did not vote for the candidate whom he sup- ported." Langton. " Would not that, Sir, be check- ing the freedom of election V Johnson. " Sir, the law does not mean that the privilege of voting should be independent of old family interest ; of the permanent property of the country." On Thursday, April 6, I dined with him at Mr. Thomas Davies^s, with Mr. Hicky the painter, and my old acquaintance Mr. Moody, the player. Dr. Johnson, as usual, spoke contemptuously of Colley Gibber. " It is wonderful that a man, who for fort}' years had lived with the great and the witty, should have acquired so ill the talents of conversation : and he had but half to furnish ; for one half of what he said was oaths." He, however, allowed considerable merit to some of his comedies, and said there was no reason to believe that the " Careless Husband" was not written by himself. Davies said, he was the first dramatick writer who introduced genteel ladies upon the stage. Johnson refuted his observation by in- stancing several such characters in comedies before his time. Davies. (trying todefend himself from a charge of ignorance,) " 1 mean genteel moral characters." " { think (said Hicky,) gentility and morality are insepara- ble," BoswELL, '• By no means, Sir. Thegenteelestchar-: 166 THE LIFE OF 1775. acters are often the most immoral. Does not Lord Ches- terfield give precepts for uniting wickedness and the graces I A man, indeed, is not genteel when he gets drunk ; but most vices may be committed very gen- teelly : a man may debauch his friend's wife genteelly : he may cheat at cards genteelly/' " Hicky. ''1 do not think t/tat is genteel." Boswell. " Sir, it may not be like a gentleman, but it may be genteel." Johnson. " You are meaning two different things. One means exteriour grace ; the other honour. It is certain that a man may be very immoral with exteriour grace. Lovelace, in ' Clarissa,' is a very genteel and a very wicked character. Tom Hervey, who died t'other day, though a vicious man, was one of the genteelest men that ever lived." Tom Davies instanced Charles the Second. Johnson, (taking fire at any attack upon that Prince, for whom he had an extraordinary partial- ity,) " Charles the Second was licentious in his prac- tice ; but he always had a reverence for what was good. Charles the Second knew his people, and re- warded merit. The Church was at no time better filled than in his reign. He was the best King we have had from his time till the reign of his present Majesty, except James the Second, who was a very good King, but unhappily believed that it was neces- sary for the salvation of his subjects that they should be Roman Catholicks. He had the merit of endeav- ouring to do what he thought was for the salvation of the souls of his subjects, till he lost a great Empire. We, who thought that we should not be saved if we were Roman Catholicks, had the merit of maintaining our religion, at the expence of submitting ourselves to the government of King William, (for it could not be done otherwise,) — to the government of one of the most worthless scoundrels that ever existed. No ; Charles the Second was not such a man as , (naming another King.) He did not destroy his fa- ther's will. He took money, indeed, from France : but he did not betray those over whom he ruled : He did not let the French fleet pass ours. George the First knew nothing, and desired to know nothing ; did DR. JOHNSON. 167 nothing, and desired to do nothing ; and the only good i775. thing that is told of hinn is, that he wished to restore ^taT the crown to its hereditary successor.'" He roared fifi. with prodigious violence against George the Second. When he ceased, M. this beinja: mentioned to Mr. Fitzherbert, he (>i>servL'd, " It is not every man that cun cam/ a 6ott-wo/.'' On Monday, April 10, 1 dined with him at General Oglethorpe's, with Mr. Langton and the Irish Dr. Campbell, whom the General had obligingly given me leave to bring with me. 'I'his learned gentleman was thus gratified with a very high intellectual feast, by not only being in company with Dr. Johnson, but with General Oglethorpe, who had been so long a celebra- ted name both at home and abroad. ^ I must, again and again, intreat of my readers not to suppose that my imperfect record of conversation contains the whole of what was said by vlohnson, or other eminent persons who lived with him. What 1 have preserved, however, has the value of the most perfect authenticity. He this day enlarged upon Pope's melancholy re- mark, " Man never /V, but always /o he blest." He asserted, that f/te present was never a happy state to any human being; but that, as every part of life, of which we are conscious, was at some point of time a period yet to come, in which felicity was expected, there was some happiness produced by hope, lieing pressed upon this subject, and asked if he really was i Let me here be allowed to pay my tribute of most sincere platitude lo tit- memory of that excellent person, my intimacy with whom was the more valuable to me, because my first acquaintance with him was unexpected and unsolicited. Soon after the publication of my " Account of Corsica," he did me the honour to call on me, and approaching me with a frank courteous air, said, " My name, Sir, is Oglethorpe, and I wish to be acquainted with you." I was not a little flattered to be thus addressed by an eminent man, of whom I had read in Pope, from «iy early years, " Or, driven by strong benevolence of soul, " Will fly, like Oglethorpe, from pole to pole." ( was fortunate enough to bo found worthy of his good opinion, insomuch, that i not only was invited to make one in the many respectable companies whom he en- tertained at his table, but had a cover at his hospitahle board every day when I happened to be disengaged ; and in his society I never failed to enjoy learned and animated conversation, seasoned ^^^th genuin,e sentiments of virtue and religioa 174 THE LIFE OF 1775. of opinion, that though, in general, happiness was very '^ rare in human life, a man was not sometimes happy in the moment that was present, he answered, " Never, but when he is drunk." He urged General Oglethorpe to give the world his Life. He said, " I know no man whose Life would be ijide interesting. If 1 were furnished with materials, I should be very glad to write it."^ Mr, Scott of Amwell's Elegies were lying in the room. Dr. Johnson observed " They are very well ; but such as twenty people might write." Upon this I took occasion to controvert Horace's maxim, mediocrihus esse poetis I '' Non Di, non homines, non concessere colamnce^* foi here, (I observed,) was a very middle-rate poet, wko pleased many readers, and therefore poetry of a middle sort was entitled to some esteem ; nor could I see why poetry should not, like every thing else, have different gradations of excellence, and consequently of value. Johnson repeated the common remark, that " as there is no necessity for our having poetry at all, it being merely a luxury, an instrument of pleasure, it can have no value, unless when exquisite in its kind." I declared myself not satisfied. "Why, then. Sir, (said Be,) Horace and you must settle it." He was not much in the humour of talking. No more of his conversation for some days appears in my journal, except that when a gentleman told him he had bought a suit of lace for his lady, he said, " Well, Sir, you have done a good thing and a wise thing." " 1 have done a good thing, (said the gentleman,) but I do not know that 1 have done a wise thing." John- son. " Yes, Sir ; no money is better spent than what is laid out for domestick satisfaction. K man is pleased ' The General seemed unwilling to enter upon it at this time ; but upon a sub- setjucnt occasion he communicated to me a number of particulars, which I Jiave committed to writing ; but I was not sufficiently diligent in obtaining more from lum, not apprehending that his friends were so soon to lose him ; for notwithstand- ing his great age, lie was very healthy and vigorous, and was at last carried off by a riolent fever, which is often fatal at any period of life. DR. JOHNSON. 175 that liis wife is drest as well as other people ; and a wife 1775. is pleased that she is drest." ^EiaT. On Friday, April It, being Good-lMiday, I repaired (io;. to him in the morning, according to my usual custom on that day, and breakfasted with him. 1 observed that he fasted so very strictly, that he did not even taste bread, and took no milk with his tea; 1 suppose he- cause it is a kind of animal food. He entered upon the state of the nation, and thus discoursed : " Sir, the great misfortune now is, that gov- ' ernment has too little power. All that it has to bestow must of necessity be given to support itself; so that it cannot reward merit. No man, for instance, can now be made a Bishop for his learning and piety ;^ his only chance for promotion is his being connected with some- body who has parliamentary interest. Our several min- isters in this reign have out-bid each other in conces- sions to the people. Jjord Bute, though a very hon- ourable man, — a man who meant well, — a man who had his blood full of prerogative, — was a theoretical statesman, — a book-minister, — and thought this coun- try could be governed by the influence of the Crown alone. Then, Sir, he gave up a great deal. He advis- ed the King to agree that the Judges should hold their places for life, instead of losing them at the accession of a new King. Lord Bute, \ suppose, thought to make the King popular by this concession ; but the people never minded it; and it was a most impolitick measure. There is no reason why a Judge should hold his office for life, more than any other person in pub- lick trust. A Judge may be partial otherwise than to the Crown : we have seen Judges partial to the popu- lace. A Judge may become corrupt, and yet there may not be legal evidence against him. A Judge may become froward from age. A Judge may grow unfit for his office in many ways. It was desirable that there should be a possibility of being delivered from him by a new King. That is now gone by an act of Parlia- ment ex gralid of the Crown. Lord Bute advised the ' From this too just observation thwe are 5ome eminent exception?. 176 THE LIFE US 1775. King to give up a very large sum of money,* for which ^j^ nobody thanked him. It vi^as of consequence to the 66. King, but nothing to the pubhck, among whom it was divided. When 1 say Lord Bute advised, 1 mean, that Huch acts were done when he was minister, and we are to suppose that he advised them. — Lord Bute shewed an undue partiahty to Scotchmen. He turned out Dr. Ts'ichols,, a very eminent man, from being physician to the King, to make room for one of his countrym^-n, a man very low in his profession. He had ********** and **** to go on errands for him. He had occasion for people to go on errands for him ; but he should not have had Scotchmen ; and, certainly, he should not have suffered them to have access to him before the first people in England.'* I told him, that the admission of one of them before the first people in England, which had given the great- est otfence, was no more than what happens at every minister's levee, where those who attend are admitted in the order that they have come, which is better than admitting them according to their rank ; for if t^at were to be the rule, a man who has waited all the morning might have the mortification to see a peer, newly come, go in before him, and keep him waiting still. John- son. " True, Sir ; but **** should not have come to I he levee, to be in the way of people of consequence. He saw Lord Bute at all times; and could have said whatM^e had to say at any time, as well as at the levee. There is now no Prime Minister : there is only an agent for government in the House of Commons. We are governed by the Cabinet : but there is no one head there since Sir Robert Walpole's time." Boswell. ^ The money arising from the property of the prizes taken before the declara- tion of war, which were given to his Majesty by the peace of Paris, and amounted to upwards of 700,0001. and from the lands in the ceded islands, which were estimated at 200,0001. more. Surely, there was a noble munificence in this gift from a Mon- arch to his people. And let it be remembered, that during the Earl of Bute's ad- ministration, the King was graciously pleased to give up the hereditar}- refenues of the Crown, and to accept, instead of them, of the limited sum of 8'X),000l. a year ; upon which Blackstone observes, that " The hereditary revenues, being put under the same management as the other branches of the publick patrimony, wilJ produce more, and be better collected than heretofore ; and the publick is a gainer of upwards of 100,0001. fer annum, bv this disinterested boiuity of his Majesty. Book I. Chap. viii. p, ftO." DR. JOHNSON. 177 ** What then, Sir, is the use of Parliament?" John- >775. SON. " Why, Sir, ParHament is a large council to the '^^ King; and the advantage of such a council is, having 'otj.' a great number of men of property concerned in the legislature, who, for their own interest, will not con- sent to bad laws. And you must have observed, Sir, the administration is feeble and timid, and cannot act with that authority and resolution which is necessary. Were 1 in power, I would turn out every man who dared to oppose me. Government has the distribution of offices, that it may be enabled to maintain its au- thority." " Lord Bute (he added,) took down too fast, with- out building up something new." Boswell. " Be- cause, Sir, he found a rotten building. The political coach was drawn by a set of bad horses ; it was neces- sary to change them." Johnson. " But he should have changed them one by one." I told him that 1 had been informed by Mr. Orme, that many parts of the East-Indies were better mapped than the Highlands of Scotland. Johnson. " That a country may be mapped, it must be travelled over." ** Nay, (said I, meaning to laugh with him at one of his prejudices,) can't you saj^ it is not zaort/i mapping!" As we walked to St. Clement's church, and saw several shops open upon this most solemn fast-day of the Christian world, 1 remarked, that one disadvan- tage arising from the immensity of London, was, that nobody was heeded by his neighbour ; there was no fear of censure for not observing Good-Friday, as it ought to be kept, and as it is kept in country-towns. He said, it was, upon the whole, very well observed even in London. He however, owned, that London was too large ; but added, " It is nonsense to say the head is too big for the body. It would be as much too big, though the body were ever so large ; that is to say, though the country were ever so extensive. It has no similarity to a head connected with a body." Dr. Wetherell, Master of University College, Ox- ford, accompanied us home from church ; and after he was gone, there came two other gentlemen, Qne af VO| . IT. -2'} 17S THE LIFE OP 1775. whom uttered the common-place complaints, that by the increase of taxes, labour would be dear, other na- tions would undersell us, and our commerce would be ruined. Johnson, (smiling.) " Never fear, Sir. Our commerce is in a very good state ; and suppose we had no commerce at all, we could live very well on the produce of our own country." I cannot omit to mention, that I never knew any man who was less disposed to be querulous than Johnson. Whether the subject was his own situation, or the state of the publick, or the state of human nature in general, though he saw the evils, his mind was turned to reso- lution, and never to whining or complaint. We went again to St. Clement's in the afternoon. He had found fault with the preacher in the morning for not choosing a text adapted to the day. The preacher in the afternoon had chosen one extremely proper : " It is finished." After the evening service, he said, " Come, you shall go home with me, and sit just an hour." But he was better than hi;* word ; for after we had drunk tea with Mrs. Williams, he asked me to go up to his study with him, where we sat a long while together in a serene undisturbed frame of mind, sometimes in silence, and sometimes conversing, as we felt ourselves inclined, or more properly speaking, as he was inclin- ed ; for during all the course of my long intimacy with him, my respectful attention never abated, and my wish to hear him was such, that I constantly watched every dawning of communication front that ffreat and illuminated mind. o He observed, " All knowledge is of itself of some value. I'here is nothing so minute or inconsiderable, that 1 would not rather know it than not. In the same manner, all power, of whatever sort, is of itself desirable. A man would not submit to learn to hem a ruffle, of his wife, or his wife's maid ; but if a mere wish could attain it he would rather wish to be able to iiem a ruffle." He again advised me to keep a journal fully and minutely, but not to mention such trifles as, that meat DR. JOHNSON. 17') was too much or too little done, or that the weather i77>- was fair or rainy. He had, till very near his death, a ^(^ contempt for the notion that the weather affects the (its. human frame. 1 told him that our friend Goldsmith had said to me that he had come too late into the world, for that Pope and other poets had taken up the places in the Temple of Fame ; so that as but a few at any period can possess poetical reputation, a man of genius can now hardly acquire it. Johnson. " That is one of the most sensible things I have ever heard of Gold- smith. It is difficult to get literary fiime, and it is every day growing more difficult. Ah, Sir, that should ' make a man think of securing happiness in another world, which all who try sincerely for it may attain. In comparison of that, how little are all other things ! The belief of immortality is impressed upon all men, and all men act under an impression of it, however they may talk, and though, perhaps, they may be scarcely sensible of it." 1 said, it appeared to me that some people had not the least notion of immortality ; and I mentioned a distinguished gentleman of our ac- quaintance. Johnson. " Sir, if it were not for the notion of immortality, he would cut a throat to fill his pockets." When 1 quoted this to Beauclerk, who knew much more of the gentleman than we did, he said, in his acid manner, " He would cut a throat to fill his pockets, if it were not for fear of being hang- ed." Dr. Johnson proceeded : " Sir, there is a great cry about infidelity : but there are, in reality, very few infidels. 1 have heard a person, originally a Quaker, but now, I am afraid, a Deist, say, that he did not be- lieve there were, in all England, above two hundred infidels." He was pleased to say, " If you come to settle.; here, we will have one day in the week on which wo will meet by ourselves. That is the happiest conver- \ sation where there is no competition, no vanity, but -dj calm quiet interchange of sentiments." In his pri-^ — ' vate register this evening is thus marked, " IJoswell ISU THE LIFE OF 1775. sat with me till night ; we had some serious talk/^^ ^^ It also appears from the same record, that after 1 left CO. him he was occupied in religious duties, in " giving Francis, his servant, some directions for preparation to communicate ; in reviewing his life, and resolving on better conduct." The humility and piety which he discovers on such occasions, is truely edifying. No saint, however, in the course of his religious warfare, was more sensible of the unhappy failure of pious re- solves, than Johnson. He said one day, talking to an acquaintance on this subject, " Sir, Hell is paved with good intentions."' On Sunday, April 16, being Easter-day, after having^ attended the solemn service at St. Paul's, 1 dined with Dr. Johnson and Mrs. Williams. I maintained that Horace was wrong in placing happiness in Nii ad?mran, for that I thought admiration one of the most agreeable of all our feelings ; and I regretted that 1 had lost much of my disposition to admire, which people generall}^ do as they advance in life. Johnsox. " Sir, as a man ad- vances in life, begets what is better than admiration, — • judgement, to estimate things at their true value." I still insisted that admiration was more pleasing than Judgement, as love is more pleasing than friendship. rFhe feeling of friendship is like that of being comforta- A bly filled with roasted beef; love, like being enlivened Svith champagne. Johnson. " No, Sir ; admiration and love are like being intoxicated with champagne ; judgement and friendship like being enlivened. Wall- er has hit upon the same thought with you :* but I don't believe you have borrowed from Waller. I wish you would enable yourself to borrow more." 'Prayers and Meditations, p. 138. ' [This is a proverbial sentence. " Hell (says Herbert) is full of good meaning* and -vvishings." Jacula Prddenti'm, p. 11. edit. 1651. M.] 2 " Amcret ! as sweet and good " As the most delicious food ; " Which but tasted does impart " Life and gladness to the heart. " Sacharissa's beauty's wine, " Which to madness does incline ; " Such a hijour as no brain ' That is mortal can sustain."" DR. JOHNSON. IS I He then took occasion to enlarge on the advantages ^775. of reading, and combated the idle superficial notion, ^^^ that knowledge enough may be acquired in conversa- gg. tion. " The foundation (said he) must be laid by read- ins:. General principles must be had from books, which, however, must be brought to the test of real life. In conversation you never get a system. What is said upon a subject is to be gathered from a hundred people. The parts of a truth, which a man gets thus, are at such a distance from each other that he never at- tains to a full view." " TO BENNET LANGTON, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " I HAVE enquired more minutely about the med- icine for the rheumatism, which 1 am sorry to hear that you still want. The receipt is this : " Take equal quantities of flour of sulphur, and^^our of mustard-seed, make them an electuary with honey or treacle ; and take a bolus as big as a nutmeg several times a day, as you can bear it : drinking after it a quarter of a pint of the infusion of the root of Lovage. " Lovage, in Ray's ' Nomenclature,' is Levisticum : perhaps the Botanists may know the Latin name. " Of this medicine 1 pretend not to judge. There is all the appearance of its efficacy, which a single in- stance can afford : the patient was very old, the pain very violent, and the relief, 1 think speedy and lasting. " My opinon of alterative medicine is not high, but quid tentasse nocebii ! if it does harm, or does no good, it may be omitted ; but that it may do good, you have, I hope, reason to think is desired by, Sir, your most af- fectionate, •' Humble servant, " April 17, 1775. " Sam. Johnson." On Tuesday, April 11, he and I were engaged to go with Sir Joshua Reynolds to dine with Mr. Cambridge, at his beautiful villa on the banks of the Thames, near Twickenham. Dr. Johnson's tardiness was such, that 182 THE LIFE OF 1775. Sir Joshua, who had an appointment at Richmond, ear- ^^ ly in the day, was obhged to go by himself on horse- 66. back, leaving his coach to Johnson and me. Johnson was in such good spirits, that every thing seemed to please him as we drove along. Our conversation turned on a variety of subjects. He thought portrait-painting an improper employment 1 for a Avoman. " Publick practice of any art, (he ob- 1 served,) and staring in men's faces, is very indelicate in ' a female." I happened to start a question, whether when a man knows that some of his intimate friends are invited to the house of another friend, with whom they are all equally intimate, he may join them without an invitation, Johnson. " No, Sir ; he is not to go when he is not invited. They may be invited on pur- pose to abuse him." (smiling). As a curious instance how little a man knows, or wishes to know, his own character in the world, or, rather as a convincing proof that Johnson's roughness was only external, and did not proceed from his heart, I insert the following dialogue. Johnson. " It is won- derful. Sir, how rare a quality good humour is in life. We meet with very few good humoured men." I men- tioned four of our friends, none of whom he would al- low to be good humoured. One was acid, another was muddij, and to the others he had objections which have escaped me. Then, shaking his head and stretching himself at ease in the coach, and smiling with much complacency, he turned to me and said, " I look upon myself 2i% a good humoured fellow." The epithety^- low, applied to the great Lexicographer, the stately Mo- ralist, the masterl}'^ Critick, as if he had been Sam Johnson, a mere pleasant companion, was highly di- verting ; and this light notion of himself struck me with wonder. I answered, also smiling, " No, no. Sir ; that will not do. You are good natured, but not good hu- moured : you are irascible. You have not patience with folly and absurdity. 1 believe you would pardon them, if there were time to deprecate your vengeance ; but punishment follows so quick after sentence, that they cannot escape." DR. JOHNSON. 183 I had brought with me a great bundle of Scotch mag- > 775. azines and news-papers, in which his " Journey to the J^^ M^estern Islands" was attacked in every mode ; and 1 oo". read a great part of them to him, knowing they would aflford him entertainment. I wish the writers of them had been present : they would have been sulficiently vexed. One ludicrous imitation of his style, by Mr. Maclaurin, now one of the Scotch Judges, with the ti- tle of Lord Dreghorn, was distinguished by him from the rude mass. " This (said he,) is the best. But I could caricature my own style much better myself." He defended his remark upon the general insutticiency of education in Scotland ; and confirmed to me the au- , thenticity of his witty saying on the learning of the \ Scotch ; — " Their learning is like bread in a besieged • town : every man gets a little, but no man gets a full meal." " There is, (said he,) in Scotland a diffusion of learning, a certain portion of it widely and thinly spread. A merchant has as much learning as one of their clergy." He talked of Isaac Walton's Lives, which was one of his most favourite books. Dr. Donne's Life, he said, was the most perfect of them. He observed, that " it was wonderful that Walton, who was in a very low situation in life, should have been familiarly received by so many great men, and that at a time when the ranks of society were kept more separate than they are now." He supposed that Walton had then given up his business as a linen-draper and sempster, and was only an authour;^ and added, "that he was a great panegyrist." Boswell. " No quality will get a man more friends than a disposition to admire the qualities of others. 1 do not mean flattery, but a sincere admi- ration." Johnson. " Nay, Sir, flattery pleases very generally. In the first place, the flatterer may think what he says to be true : but, in the second place, ^ [Johnson's conjecture was erroneous. Walton did not retire from buisness till 1643. But in 16G4 Dr. King, Bishop of Chichester, in a letter prefixed to his Lives, mentions his having been familiarly acquainted witli him for forty years : and in 1631 he was so intimaie with Dr. Donne, that he was one of the friends who attended him on his death bed. J. B.— O.j 184 fHE LIFE Oif 1775. whether he thinks so or not, he certainly thinks those whom he flatters of consequen'ce enough to be flat- tered." No sooner had we made our bow to Mr. Cambridge, in his library, than Johnson ran eagerly to one side of the room, intent on poring over the backs of the books.* Sir Joshua observed, (aside,) " He runs to the books as I do to the pictures : but 1 have the advantage. I can see much more of the pictures than he can of the books." Mr. Cambridge, upon this, politely said, " Dr. Johnson, 1 am going, with your pardon, to ac- cuse myself, for 1 have the same custom which I per- ceive you have. But it seems odd that one should have such a desire to look at the backs of books." Johnson, ever ready for contest, instantly started from his reve- rie, wheeled about and answered, " Sir, the reason is very plain. Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find in- formation upon it. When we enquire into any subject, the first thing we have to do is to know what books have treated of it. This leads us to look at catalogues, and the backs of books in libraries. Sir Joshua observ- ed to me the extraordinary promptitude with which Johnson flew upon an argument. " Yes, (said 1,) he has no formal preparation, no flourishing with his sword ; he is through your body in an instant." Johnson was here solaced with an elegant entertain- ment, a very accomplished family and much good com- pany ; among whom was Mr. Harris of Salisbury, who paid him many compliments on his " Journey to the Western Islands." The common remark as to the utility of reading his- tory being made; — Johnson. "We must consider how very little history there is ; I mean real authentick history. That certain Kings reigned, and certain bat- tles were fought, we can depend upon as true ; but all ■• [The first time he dined with me, he was shewn into my book room, and in- stantly pored over the lettering of each volume within his reach. My collection of book? is very miscellaneous, and I feared there might be some among them that he would not like. But seeing the number of volumes very considerable, he said, " You are an hoaejt mao, to have formed so great an accumulation «f knowledge." DR. JOHNSO!*. 186 the colourinc:, all the philosophy of history is conjee- i775. ture." HoswELL. " Then, Sir, you would reduce nil ^{^ history to no better than an almanack, a mere chrono- ' ij,]_ logical series of remarkable events." Mr. (Jibbon, who nuist at that time have been employed upon his histo- ry, of which he published the first volume in the fol- lowing year, was present ; but did not step forth in de- fence of that species of writing. He probably did not like to frttsf himself with Johnson U Johnson observed, that the force of our early habits was so great, that though reason approved, nay, though ' our senses relished a ditlerent course, almost every man, returned to them. 1 do not believe there is any observ- ation upon human nature better founded than this ; and in many cases, it is a very painful truth ; for where ear- ly habits have been mean and wretched, the joy and elevation resulting from better modes of life, must be damped by the gloomy consciousness of being under an almost inevitable doom to sink back into a situation which we recollect with disgust. It surely may be pre- vented, by constant attention and unremitting exertion to establish contrary habits of superiour efficacy. " The Beggar's Opera," and the common question, whether it was pernicious in its effects, having been in- troduced ; — Johnson. " As to this matter, which has been very much contested, 1 myself am of opinion, that more influence has been ascribed to ' The Beggar's Opera,' than it in reality ever had ; for I do not believe that any man was ever made a rogue by being present at its representation. At the same time I do not deny that it may have some influence, by making the charac- ter of a rogue familiar, and in some degree pleasing.""^' •> See p. 171. * A very eminent physician, whose discernment is a6 acute and penetrating: in judging of the human character as it is in liis own profession, remarked once at a club where I was, tiiat a lively young man, fond of pleasure, and without money, would hardly resist a soHcitation from his mistress to go upon the highway, imme- diately after being present at the representation of " The Beggar's Opera." i have been told of an ingenious observation by Mr. Gibbon, that " The Beggar's Opera may, perhaps, have sometimes increased the number of highwaymen ; but that it has had a beneficial efTect in refining that class of men, making them less ferocious, more poHte, in short, more like gentlemen." Upon this Mr. Cotirtenay said, that " Gay was the Orpheus of highwaymen." VOL. II. 9 + 186 THE LIFE OF 1775. Then collecting himself, as it were, to give a heavy ^[^ stroke : " There is in it such a labefactation of all prin- 66. ciples, as may be injurious to morality." V¥hile he pronounced this response, we sat in a com- ical sort of restraint, smothering a laugh, which we were afraid might burst out. In his life of Gay, he has been still more decisive as to the inefficiency of " The Beggar's Opera" in corrupting society. But I have ever thought somewhat differentl}^ ; for, indeed, not only are the gaiety and heroism of a highwayman very captivating to a youthful imagination, but the argu- ments for adventurous depredation are so plausible, the allusions so lively, and the contrasts with the ordinary and more painful modes of acquiring property are so artfully displayed, that it requires a cool and strong judgement to resist so imposing an aggregate : yet, I own, i should be very sorry to have " The Beggar's Op- era'^ suppressed ; for there is in it so much of real Lon- don life, so much brilliant wit, and such a variety of airs, which, from early association of ideas, engage, soothe, and enliven the mind, that no performance which the theatre exhibits, delights me more. The late " zcorthij''^ Duke of Queensberry, as Thom- son, in his " Seasons,'^ justly characterizes him, told me, that when Gay shewed him " The Beggar's Ope- ra,'^ his Grace's observation was, " This is a very odd thing, Gay ; I am satisfied that it is either a very good thing, or a very bad thing." It proved the former, be- yond the warmest expectations of the authour or his friends. Mr. Cambridge, however shewed us to-day, that there was good reason enough to doubt concerning its success. He was told by Quin, that during the first night of its appearance it was long in a very dubi- ous state ; that there was a disposition to damn it, and that it was saved by the song, " Oh ponder well ! be not severe ?" the audience being much affected by the innocent looks of Polly, when she came to those two lines, which ex- hibit at once a painful and ridiculous image, DR. JOHNSON. 187 " For on the rope that liangs my Dear, 177-3. " Depentls poor Folly's life.'' ^•'^' (Hi. Qiiin himself had so bad an opinion of it, that he refus- ed the part of Captain Alacheath, and gave it to AVaik- er, who acciuired great celebrity by his grave yet animat- ed performance of it. We talked of a young gentleman's marriage with an eminent singer, and his determination that she siiould no longer sing in publick, though his father was very earnest she should, because her talents would be libe- rally rewarded, so as to make her a good fortune. It was questioned whether the young gentleman who had not a shilling: in the world, but was blest with very un- common talents, was not foolishly delicate, or foolishly proud, and his father truly rational without being mean. Johnson, with all the high spirit of a Uoman senator, exclaimed, " He resolved wisely and nobly to be sure. He is a brave man. Would not a gentleman be disgrac- ed by having his wife singing publickly for hire ? No, Sir, there can be no doubt here. 1 know not if 1 should not prepare myself for a publick singer, as readily as let my wife be one." Johnson arraigned the modern politicks of this coun- try, as entirely devoid of all principle of whatever kind. " Politicks (said he) are now nothing more than means of rising in the world. With this sole view do men engage in politicks, and their whole conduct pro- ceeds upon it. How different in that respect is the state of the nation now from what it was in the time of Charles the First, during the Usurpation, and after the Restoration, in the time of Charles the Second. JIu- dibras affords a strong proof how much hold political principles had then upon the minds of men. There is in Hudibras a great deal of bullion which will always last. But to be sure the brightest strokes of his wit owed their force to the impression of the characters, which was upon men's minds at the time ; to their knowing them, at table and in the street ; in short, be- ing familiar with them ; and above all, to his satire be- ing directed against those whom a little while before iSS THE LIFE OP 1775. they had hated and feared. The nation in general has ^^'^ ever been loyal, has been at all times attached to the 66. * monarch, though a few daring rebels have been wonder- fully powerful for a time. The murder of Charles the First was undoubtedly not committed with the appro- bation or consent of the people. Had that been the case, Parliament would not have ventured to consign the regicides to their deserved punishment. And we know what exuberance of joy there was when Charles the Second was restored. If Charles the Second had bent all his mind to it, had made it his sole object, he might have been as absolute as Louis the Fourteenih.^^ A gentleman observed he would have done no harm if he had. Johnson. '^ Why, Sir, absolute princes sel- dom do any harm. But they who are governed by them are governed by chance. There is no security for good government." Cambridge. " There have been many sad victims to absolute governujent." Johnson. " So, Sir, have there been to popular factions." Bos- well. " The question is, which is worst, one wild beast or many ?" Johnson praised " The Spectator," particularly the character of Sir Roger de Coverley. lie said, " Sir Eoger did not die a violent death, as has been generally fancied. He was not killed ; he died only because others were to die, and because his death atforded an opportunity to Addison for some very fine writing. We have the example of Cervantes making Uon Quix- ote die. — I never could see why Sir Roger is represent- ed as a little cracked. It appears to me that the story of the widow was intended to have something superin- duced upon it ; but the superstructure did not come." Somebody found fault with writing verses in a dead language, maintaining that they were merely arrange- ments of so many words, and laughed at the Universi- ties of Oxford and Cambridge, for sending forth collec- tions of them not only in Greek and Latin, but even in Syriack, Arabick, and other more unknown tongues. Johnson. " I would have as many of these as possi- ble ; I would have verses in every language that there are the means of acquiring. Isobody imagines that an DR. JOHNSON, 1S9 University is to have at once two hundred poets; hut '775. it should be able to shew two hundred scholars. Pie- resc's death was lamented, I think, in forty languages. And 1 would have had at every coronation, and every death of a king, every Guudium^ and every Lucius^ Uni- versity-verses, in as many languages as can be acquired. 1 would have the world to be thus told, '- Here is a school where every thing may be learnt." Having set out next day on a visit to the Earl of* Pembroke, at Wilton, and to my friend, Mr. Temple,' at Mamhead, in Devonshire, and not having returned to town till the second of Ma}^ I did not see Dr. John- son for a considerable time, and during the remaining part of my stay in London, kept very imperfect notes of his conversation, which had 1 according to my usual custom written out at large soon after the time, much might have been preserved, which is now irretrievably lost. 1 can now only record some particular scenes, and a few fragments of his memorahiliu. But to make some amends for my relaxation of diligence in one re- spect, 1 have to present my readers with arguments upon two law cases, with which he favoured me. On Saturday, the sixth of May, we dined by our- selves at the Mitre, and he dictated to me what follows, to obviate the complaint already mentioned, » which had been made in the form of an action in the Court of Session, by Dr. Memis, of Aberdeen, that in the same translation of a charter in which physicians were men- tioned, he was called Doctor oj' Medicine. " There are but two reasons for which a physician can decline the title of Doctor of Medicine^ because he supposes himself disgraced by the doctorship, or sup- poses the doctorship disgraced by himself. To be dis- graced by a title which he shares in common with every illustrious name of his profession, with Boerhaave, with Arbuthnot, and with Cullen, can surely diminish no man's reputation. It is, 1 suppose, to the doctorate, from which he shrinks, that he owes his right of prac- tising physick. A doctor of Medicine is a physician ' Page 149. " Page J 27. 190 THE LIFE OF *775. under the protection of the laws, and by the stamp of Sat! ^^ithority. The physician who is not a Doctor, usurps m. a profession, and is authorized only by himself to decide upon health and sickness, and life and death. That this gentleman is a Doctor, his diploma makes evident ; a diploma not obtruded upon him, but obtained by so- Hcitation, and for which fees were paid. With what countenance any man can refuse the title which he has either begged or bought, is not easily discovered. " All verbal injury must comprise in it either some false position, or some unnecessary declaration of de- famatory truth. That in calling him Doctor, a false ap- pellation was given him, he himself will not pretend, Avho at the same time that he complains of the title, would be offended if we supposed him to be not a Doc- tor. If the title of Doctor be a defamatory truth, it is time to dissolve our colleges ; for why should the publick give salaries to men whose approbation is reproach ? It may likewise deserve the notice of the publick to con- sider what help can be given to the professors of physick, who all share with this unhappy gentleman the igno- minious appellation, and of whom the very boys in the street are not afraid to say. There goes the Doctor. " What is implied by the term Doctor is well known. It distinguishes him to whom it is granted, as a man who has attained such knowledge of his profession as qualifies him to instruct others. A Doctor of Laws is a man who can form lawyers by his precepts. A Doctor of Medicine is a man who can teach the art of curing diseases. This is an old axiom which no man has yet thought fit to deny. Nil dat quod non hahet. Upon this principle to be Doctor implies skill, for nemo docet quod non didicit. In England, whoever practises physick, not being a Doctor, must practise by a licence : but the doctorate conveys a licence in itself. " By what accident it happened that he and the oth- er physicians were mentioned in diftbrent terms, where the terms themselves were equivalent, or where in etfect that which was applied to him was the most honoura- ble, perhaps they who wrote the paper cannot now re- member. Had they expected a lawsuit to have been DR. JOHNSON. 19 1 the consequence of such petty variation, I hope they 1775. would have avoided it.' But, probably, as they meant ^j^J^* no ill, they suspected no danger, and, therefore, con- uG. suited only what appeared to them propriety or con- venience." A few days afterwards, ! consulted him upon a cause, Patersoit ami ot/icrs against Alexander and others^ which had been decided by a casting vote in the Court of Session, determining that the Corporation of Stirhng was corrupt, and setting aside the election of some of their otticers, because it was proved that three of their leading men who influenced the majority, had entered into an unjustifiable compact, of which, however, the majority were ignorant. He dictated to me, after a little consideration, the following sentences upon the subject : *' There is a difference between majority and supe- riority ; majority is applied to number, and superiority to power ; and power like many other things, is to be estimated non nnmero sed pondere. Now though the greater number is not corrupt, the greater weight is cor- rupt, so that corruption predominates in the borough, taken coUectivehj^ tliough, perhaps, taken numericalhfy the greater part may be uncorrupt. That borough, which is so constituted as to act corruptly, is in the eye of reason corrupt, whether it be by the uncontrollable power of a few, or by an accidental pravity of the mul- titude. The objection, in which is urged the injustice of making the innocent suffer with the guilty, is an ob- jection not only against society, but against the possi- bility of society. All societies, great and small, subsist upon this condition ; that as the individuals derive ad- vantages from union, they may likewise suffer incon- veniences; that as those who do nothing, and some- times those who do ill, will have the honours and emol- uments of general virtue and general prosperity, so those likewise who do nothing, or perhaps do well, ' In justice to Dr. Memis, though I was against him as an Advocate, I must mention, that he objected to the variation verv earnestly before the translation was printed off. 192 THE LIFE OF 1775. must be involved in the consequences of predominant corruption." This in my opinion was a very nice case ; but the decision was affirmed in the House of Lords* On Monday, May 8, we went together and visited the mansions of Bedlam. I had been informed that he had once been there before with Mr. Wedderburne, (now Lord Loughborough,) Mr. Murphy, and Mr. Foote ; and I had heard Foote give a very entertain- ing account of Johnson's happening to have his atten- tion arrested by a man who was very furious, and who, while beating his straw, supposed it was William Duke of Cumberland, whom he was punishing for his cruel- ties in Scotland, in 1746.' There was nothing pecu- liarly remarkable this day ; but the general contem- plation of insanity was very affecting. I accompanied him home, and dined and drank tea with him. Talking of an acquaintance of ours, distinguished for knowing an uncommon variety of miscellaneous articles both in antiquities and polite literature, he ob- served, " You know, Sir, he runs about with little weight upon his mind." And talking of another very ingenious gentleman, who from the warmth of his tem- per was at variance with many of his acquaintance, and wished to avoid them, he said, " Sir, he leads the life of an outlaw." On Friday, May 12, as he had been so good as to assign me a room in his house, where I might sleep occasionally, when I happened to sit with him to a late hour, L took possession of it this night, found every thing in excellent order, and was attended by honest Francis with a most civil assiduity. 1 asked Johnson whether I might go to a consultation with an- other lavi^yer upon Sunday, as that appeared to me to be doinsf work as much in mv wav, as if an artizan should work on the day appropriated for religious rest. Johnson. " Why, Sir, when you are of consequence enough to oppose the practice of consulting upon Sun- ' My very honourable friend General Sir George Ho\n-ard, who served in the Duke of Cumberland's army, has assured mc that the cruelties were not imputikle to his Rnyal Higlmess. DR. JOHNSON. 19:] day, you should do it : but you may go now. It is 1775. not criminal, though it is not what one should do, who ^7,',^ is anxious tor the preservation and increase of piety, to titi. * whicli a peculiar observance of Sunday is a great help. The distinction is clear between what is of moral and what is of ritual obligation." On Saturday, May 1:3, I breakfasted with him by invitation, accompanied by Mr. Andrew Crosbie, a Scotch Advocate, whom he had seen at Edinburgh, and the Hon. Colonel (now General) Edward Stop- ford, brother to Lord Courtown, who was desirous of being introduced to him. His tea and rolls and but- ter, and whole breakfast apparatus were all in such decorum, and his behaviour was so courteous, that Colonel Stopford was quite surprized, and wondered at his having heard so much said of Johnson's sloven- hness and roughness. 1 have preserved nothing of what passed, except that Crosbie pleased him much by talking learnedly of alchymy, as to which Johnson was not a positive unbeliever, but rather delighted in considering what progress had actually been made in the transmutation of metals, what near approaches there had been to the making of gold ; and told us that it was affirmed, that a person in the Russian do- minions had discovered the secret, but died without revealing it, as imagining it would be prejudicial to so- ciety. He added, that it was not impossible but it might in time be generally known. It being asked whether it was reasonable for a man to be angry at another whom a woman had preferred to him ? — Johnson. " 1 do not see. Sir, that it is rea- .sonable for a man to be angry at another, whom a wo- man has preferred to him ; but angry he is, no doubt ; and he is loath to be angry at himself." Before setting out for Scotland on the 23d, I was frequently in his company at different places, but tlur- ing this period have recorded only two remarks : one concerning Garrick : " He has not Latin enough. He iinds out the Latin by the meaning rather than the meaning by the Latin." And another concerning- VOL. IT. 3i 194' THE LIFE OF 1 775. writers of travels, who, he observed, " were more de- ^^ fective than any other writers." 66. * I passed many hours with him on the 17th, of which 1 find all my memorial is, " much laughing.^ It should seem he had that day been in a humour for jocularity and merriment, and upon such occasions I never knew a man laugh more heartily. We may sup- pose, that the high relish of a state so different from his habitual gloom, produced more than ordinary exer- tions of that distinguishing faculty of man, which has puzzled philosophers so much to explain. Johnson's laugh was as remarkable as any circumstance in his manner. It was a kind of good humoured growl. Tom Davies described it droUy enough : " He laughs like a rhinoceros." " TO BENNET LANGTON, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " 1 HAVE an old amanuensis in great distress. I have given what I think I can give, and begged till I cannot tell where to beg again. I put into his hands this morning four guineas. If you could collect three guineas more, it would clear him from his present dif- ficulty. I am, Sir, " Your most humble servant, Maij 21, 177^. " Sam. Johnson." (( "to JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " I MAKE no doubt but you are now safely lodg- ed in your own habitation, and have told all your adventures to Mrs. Boswell and Miss Veronica. Praj teach Veronica to love me. Bid her not mind mamma. " Mrs. Thrale has taken cold, and been very much disordered, but I hope is grown well. Mr. Langton went yesterday to Lincolnshire, and has invited Nicol- aida* to follow him. Beauclerk talks of going to Bath. I am to set out on Monday ; so there is nothing but dispersion. ^ A learned Greek. DR. JOHNSON. 19.'l " I have returned Lord Hailes's entertaining sheets, '775. but must stay till I come back for more, because it J^ will be inconvenient to send them after me in my gh. vagrant state. " I promised Mrs. Macaiilay^ that I would try to serve her son at Oxford. 1 ijave not forgotten it, nor am unwilling to perform it. If they desire to give him an English education, it should be considered whether they cannot send him for a year or two to an English school. If he comes immediately from Scot- land, he can make no figure in our Universities. The schools in the north, I believe, are cheap ; and when 1 was a young man, were eminently good. " There are two little books published by the Foul- is, Telemachus and Collins's Poems, each a shilling ; I would be glad to have them. " Make my compliments to Mrs. Boswell, though she does not love me. You see what perverse things ladies are, and how little fit to be trusted vviji fuedal estates. When she mends and loves me, there may be more hope of her daughters. " I will not send compliments to my friends by name, because I would be loath to leave any out in the enumeration. Tell them, as you see them, how well I speak of Scotch politeness, and Scotch hospi- tality, and Scotch beauty, and of every thing Scotch, but Scotch oat-cakes, and Scotch prejudices. " Let me know the answer of Rasay, and the decis- ion relating to Sir Allan.* I am, my dearest Sir, with great affection, " Your most obliged, and " Most humble servant, " Maif 27, 1775. " Sam. Johnson." After my return to Scotland, I wrote three letters to him, from which 1 extract the following passages : " I have seen Lord Hailes since 1 came down. He thinks it wonderful that you are pleased to take so ' Wife of the Reverend Mr. Kenneth Macaulay, authour of " The History of St. Kilda." " A law-suit carried on by Sir Allan Maclean, Chief of liii Clan, to recover cer- tain parts of bis family estates from the Dvke «f Argyle. 1^6 ' THE LIFE OF 1775. much pains 111 revising his ' Annals.' I told him that M\^ you said you were well rewarded by the entertain- 66, * ment which you had in reading them." " There has been a numerous flight of Hebrideans in Edinburgh this summer, whom 1 have been happy to entertain at my house. Mr. Donald Macqueen' and Lord Monboddo supped with me one evening. They joined in controverting your proposition, that the Gaelick of the Highlands and Isles of Scotland was not written till of late." " My mind has been somewhat dark this summer. I have need of your warming and vivifying rays ; and I hope I shall have them frequently. I am going t© pass some time with my father at Auchinleck." " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " 1 AM returned from the annual ramble into the middle counties. Having seen nothing 1 had not seen before, I have nothing to relate. Time has left that part of the island few antiquities ; and commerce has left the people no singularities. I was glad to go abroad, and, perhaps, glad to come home ; which is, in other words, I was, 1 am afraid, weary of being at home, and weary of being abroad. Is not this the state of life ? J3ut, if we confess this weariness let us not lament it ; for all the wise a.nd all the good say, that we may cure it. " For the black fumes which rise in your mind, I can prescribe nothing but that you disperse them by honest business or innocent pleasure, and by rea(hng, sometimes easy and sometimes serious. Change of place is useful ; and 1 hope that your residence at Au- chinleck will have many good effects. tF tF If! t(F TV ^ " That I should have given pain to Rasay, I am sin- cerely sorry ; and am therefore very much pleased that he is no longer uneasy. He still thinks that 1 have ^ A very learned minister in the Isle of Sky, whom both Dr. Johnson and I have mentioned with regard. DR. JOHNSON. 197 lepresented his as personally giving up the Chief- 1775. tainship. 1 meant only that it was no longer contested ^^^ between the two houses, and supposed it settled, per- qq ' haps, bv the cession of some remote generation, in the house of Dunvegan. 1 am sorry the advertisement was not continued for three or four times in the paper. " That Lord Monboddo and Mr. Macqueen should controvert a position contrary to the imaginary interest of literary or national prejudice, might be easily ima- gined ; but of a standing fact there ought to be no controversy ; if there are men with tails, catch an homo Cauda f us ; if there was writing of old in the Highlands or Hebrides, in the Erse language, produce the manuscripts. Where men write they will write to one another, and some of their letters, in families stu- dious of their ancestry, will be kept. In Wales there are many manuscripts. " 1 have now three parcels of Lord Hailes's history, which 1 purpose to return all the next week : that his respect for my little observations should keep his work in suspense, makes one of the evils of my journey. It is in our language, 1 think, a new mode of history which tells all that is wanted, and, 1 suppose, all that is known, without laboured splendour of language, or affected subtilty of conjecture. The exactness of his dates raises my wonder. He seems to have the close- ness of Henault without his constraint. " Mrs. Thrale was so entertained with your * Jour- nal,'* that she almost read herself blind. She has a great regard for you. " Of Mrs. Boswell, though she knows in her heart that she does not love me, 1 am always glad to hear any good, and hope that she and the little dear ladies will have neither sickness nor any other affliction. But she knows that she does not care what becomes of me, and for that she may be sure that I think her very much to blame. " Never, my dear Sir, do you take it into your head to think that 1 do not love you ; you may settle your- * My " Journal of a Tonr t« the Hebriden," whidi that lady read in the onginal ■aanascript 198 THE LIFE OP 1775. self in full confidence both of my love and my esteem ; J^J^ 1 love you as a kind man, 1 value you as a worthy man, 66. and hope in time to reverence you as a man of exem- plary piety. I hold you as Hamlet has it ' in my heart of hearts/ and therefore, it is little to say, that 1 am, Sir, " Your affectionate humble servant, " London, August 27, 1775. " bAM. Johnson/^ TO THE SAME. " SIR, " If in these papers,^ there is little alteration at- tempted, do not suppose me negligent. 1 have read them perhaps more closely than the rest ; but I find nothing worthy of an objection. " Write to me soon, and write often, and tell me all your honest heart. " I am. Sir, " Your's affectionately, " August 30, 1775. " Sam. Johnson.*^ TO THE same. " MY DEAR SIR, " I NOW write to you, lest in some of your freaks and humours you should fancy yourself neglected. Such fancies I must entreat you never to admit, at least never to indulge ; for my regard for you is so radicated and fixed, that it is become part of my mind and cannot be effaced but by some cause uncommonly violent ; therefore whether I write or not, set your thoughts at pest. I now write to tell you that 1 shall not very soon write again, for I am to set out to-morrow on another journey. " Your friends are all well at Streatham, and in Leicester-fields. * Make my compliments to Mrs. Bos- well, if she is in good humour with me. " 1 am. Sir, &c. " September U, 177^. " Sam. Johnson.*' ' Another parcel of Lord Hailes's " Annals tf Scctland," « Where Sir Joshua Reynolds lived. DR. JOHNSON. 199 What he mentions in such light terms as, " I am to 1775. set out to-morrow on another journey," I soon after- ^!^ wards disrovered was no less than a tour to France with ao. Mr. and Mrs. Thrale. Ihis was the only time in his life that he went upon the Continent. " TO MR. ROBERT LEVET. " DEAR SIR, Sejjf. IS, 177«5, Calais. " We are here in France, after a very pleasing pas- sage of no more than six hours. 1 know not when I shall write again, and therefore I write now, though you cannot suppose that 1 have much to say. You have seen France yourself. From this place we are going to Rouen, and from Rouen to Paris, where Mr. 1 hrale designs to stay about five or six weeks. We have a regular recommendation to the English resident, so we shall not be taken for vagabonds. We think to go one way and return another, and for as much as we can, I will try to speak a little F'rench ; I tried hitherto but lit- tle, but 1 spoke sometimes. If 1 heard better, 1 sup- pose 1 should learn faster. I am, Sir, " Your humble servant, " Sam. Johnson." TO THE same. " DEAR SIR, Paris, Oct. 22, 177^." " We are still here, commonly very busy in look- ing about us. We have been to-day at Versailles. You have seen it, and 1 shall not describe it. We came yesterday from Fontainbleau, where the Court is now. We went to see the King and Queen at dinner, and the Queen was so impressed by Miss,' that she sent one of the Gentlemen to enquire who she was. I find all true that you have ever told me at Paris. Mr. Thrale is very liberal, and keeps us two coaches, and a very fine table ; but 1 think our cookery very bad. Mrs. Thrale got into a convent of English nuns, and I talk- ed with her through the grate, and 1 am very kindly 9 Mis« Thndc. 200 XHE LIFE Oe i77S. osed by the English Benedictine friars. But upon the ^J^ whole I cannot make much acquaintance here ; and §6. though the churches, palaces, and some private houses are very magnificent, there is no very great pleasure af- ter having seen many, in seeing more ; at least the pleas- ure, whatever it be, must some time have an end, and we are beginning to think when we shall come home. Mr. Thrale calculates that as we left Streatham on the fifteenth of September, we shall see it again about the fifteenth of November. " 1 think I had not been on this side of the sea five days before 1 found a sensible improvement in my health. I ran a race in the rain this day, and beat Ba- retti. Baretti is a fine fellow, and speaks French, I think, quite as well as English. " Make my compliments to Mrs. Williams ; and give my love to Francis : and tell my friends that I am not lost. 1 am, dear Sir, " Your affectionate humble, &c. " Sam. Johnson.*^ " to dr. samuel johnson. " MY DEAR SIR, Edinburgh, Oct. 24, 1775. " If I had not been informed that you were at Paris, you should have had a letter from me by the ear- liest opportunity, announcing the birth of my son, on the 9th instant ; 1 have named him Alexander, after my father. 1 now write, as 1 suppose your fellow-trav- eller, Mr. Thrale, will return to London this week, to attend his duty in Parliament, and that you will not stay behind him. " I send another parcel of Lord Hailes's ' Annals.' I have undertaken to solicit you for a favour to him, which he thus requests in a letter to me : ' I intend soon to give you " The Life of Robert Bruce," which you will be pleased to transmit to Dr. Johnson. I wish that you could assist me in a fancy which I have taken, of getting Dr. Johnson to draw a character of Robert Bruce, from the account that I give of that prince. If he finds materials for it ia my work, it will DR. JOHNSON. <;o be a proof that I have been fortunate in selecting the i//.* most striking incidents.' " I snp|)oso by ' T/ie Life of Robrit Bruce,' liis Lordship means tliat part of his ' Annals' which relates the history of that prince, and not a separate work. " Shall we have ' A Journeij to Puri^^ from you in the winter \ You will, 1 hope, at any rate be kind enough to give me some account of your French trav- els very soon, for I am very impatient. What a diiier- ent scene have you viewed this autumn, from that which you viewed in autumn 177J ! 1 ever am, my dear Sir, " Your much obliged and " Affectionate humble servant, " James Boswell." " to JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " I AM glad that the young Laird is born, and au end, as I hope, put to the only difference that you can ever have with Mrs. Boswell.' 1 know that she does not love me ; but I intend to persist in wishing her well till 1 get the better of her. " Paris is, indeed, a place very different from the Hebrides, but it is to a hasty traveller not so fertile of novelty, nor affords so many opportunities of remark. I cannot pretend to tell the publick an}' thing of a place better known to many of my readers than to myself. We can talk of it when we meet. " I shall go next week to Streatham, from whence I purpose to send a parcel of the ' History' every post. Concerning the character of Bruce, I can only say, that I do not see any great reason for writing it ; but ] shall not easily deny what Lord Hailes and you concur in desiring. " I have been remarkably healthy all the journey, and hope you and your family have known only that trouble and danger which has so happily terminated. ' This alludes to my old feudal principle of prcferrinjj mals to female tuccepsicic. VOL. II. 26 ?02 THE LIFE OF 1775. Among all the congratulations that you may receive, EtaT 1 h<^P6 you believe none more warm or sincere, than 6§. those of, dear Sir, " Your most affectionate, " November 16, 177>5. " Sam. Johnson." " TO MRS. LUCY PORTER, IN LICHFIELD.^ '' DEAR MADAM, " This week I came home from Paris. I have brought you a little box, which I thought pretty ; but I know not whether it is properly a snuff box, or a box for some other use. I will send it, when I can find an opportunity. I have been through the whole journey remarkably well. My fellow-travellers were the same whom you saw at Lichfield, only we took Baretti with us. Paris is not so fine a place as you would expect. The palaces and churches, however, are very splendid and magnificent ; and what would please you, there are many very fine pictures ; but 1 do not think their way of life commodious or pleasant. " Let me know how your health has been all this while. I hope the fine summer has given you strength sufficient to encounter the winter, " Make my compliments to all my friends ; and, if your fingers will let you, write to me, or let your maid write, if it be troublesome to you. I am, dear Madam, " Your most affectionate humble servant, " Nov. 16, 177^. " Sam. Johnson." TO THE SAME. " DEAR MADAM, " Some weeks ago I wrote to you, to tell you that I was just come home from a ramble, and hoped that I should have heard from you. I am afraid winter has laid hold on your fingers, and hinders you from writ- - There can be no doubt that many years previous to 1 775, he corresponded with tliis lady, who was his step-daughter, but none of his earlier letters to her have been preserved. [Since the death of the authour, several of Johnson's letters to Mrs. laicy Por- ter, written before 1775, were obligingly communicated by the Rev. Dr. Vyse, ta Mr. Malone, and are printed in the present edition, M.] DR. JOHNSON. 20:3 ing. However, letsomebody write, it you cannot, and ni-'i- tell me how you do, and a little of what has happened ^^'^ at Liehfield among our friends. 1 hope you are all c,[i_ well. " When I was in France, I thought myself growing young, but am afraid that cold weather will take part ut my new vigour from me. Let us, however, take care of ourselves, and lose no part of our health by negligence. *' 1 never knew whether you received the Commen- tary on the New Testament, and the Travels, and the glasses. " Do, my dear love, write to me ; and do not let us forget each other. This is the season of good wishes, and I wish you all good. 1 have not lately seen Mr. Porter, 3 nor heard of him. Is he with you ? " Be pleased to make my compliments to Mrs. Adey. and Mrs. Cobb, and all my friends ; and when I can do any good, let me know. 1 am, dear Madam, " Yours most atfectionately, " Decc?nber, 177«5. " Sam. Johnson." It is to be regretted, that he did not write an account of his travels in France ; for as he is reported to have once said, that " he could write the Life of a Broom- stick," so, notwithstanding so many former travellers have exhausted almost every subject for remark in that great kingdom, his very accurate observation, and pe- culiar vigour of thought and illustration, would have produced a valuable work. During his visit to it, which lasted but about two months, he wrote notes or minutes of what he saw. He promised to shew me them, but I neglected to put him in mind of it ; and the greatest part of them has been lost, or perhaps, destroyed in a precipitate burning of his papers a few days before his death, which must ever be lamented : One small paper- book, however, entitled " France \l." has been pre- served, and is in my possession. It is a diurnal regis- ter of his life and observations, from the 1 0th of October ^ Sj)n of Mrs. Jolinsou, by her first husband. 204 THE LIFE OF 1775. to the 4th of November, inclusive, being twenty -six '^^[ days, and shows an extraordinary attention to various ()(). minute particulars. Being the only memorial of this tour that remains, my readers, I am confident, will pe- ruse it with pleasure, though his notes are very short, and evidently written only to assist his own recollection » " Oct, 10. Tuesday. We saw the Ecole Militaire^ ill which one hundred and fifty young boys are edu- cated for the army. They have arms of dififerent sizes, according to the age ;— flints of wood. The building ^s very large, but nothing fine except the council-room. The French have large sc|uares in the windows ; — they make good iron palisades. Their meals are gross. " We visited the Observatory, a large building of a great heights The upper stones of the parapet very large, but not cramped with iron. The flat on the top is very extensive ; but on the insulated part there is no parapet. Though it was broad enough, I did not care to go upon it. Maps were printing in one of the rooms. " We walked to a small convent of the Fathers of the Oratory. In the reading-desk of the refectory lay the lives of the Saints, " Oct. 11. Wednesday. We went to see H6tel de Chatlois^ a house not very large, but very elegant. One of the rooms was gilt to a degree that 1 never saw before. The upper part for servants and their masters was pretty. " Thence we went to Mr. Monville's, a house di- vided into small apartments, furnished with effeminate and minute elegance.— Porphyry. '' Thence we went to St. lloque's church, whicn is very large ;— the lower part of the pillars incrusted with marble. — Three chapels behind the high altar ; ■ — the last a mass of low arches. — Altars, I believe aH round. " We passed through Place de Veiiddme, a fine square, about as big as Hanover-square. — Inhabited by the high families, — Lewis XIV. on horse-back in the middle. DK. JOHNSON. 20^ *' Monville is the son of a farmer-general, lu the 1775. house of Chatlois is a room fmnishcd witii japan, fit- J^^ ted up in luirope. m, " We dined with Boccage, the Marquis Blanchetti, and his lady. — The sweetmeats taken by the Mar- chioness Blanchetti, after observing that they were dear. Mr. Le Hoy, Count Manucci, the Abbe, the J'rior, and Father Wilson, who staid with me, till \ took him home in the coach. '' Bathiani is gone. " The French have no laws for the maintenance of their poor. — Monk not necessarily a priest. — Benedic- tines rise at four ; — are at church an hour and half ; at church again half an hour before, half an hour after, dinner ; and again from half an hour after seven to eight. They may sleep eight hours. — Bodily labour wanted in monasteries. *' The poor taken to hospitals, and miserably kept. — Monks in the convent fifteen : — accounted poor." " Oct. 12. Thursday. We went to the Gobelins. — Tapestry makes a good picture ; — imitates flesh ex- actly.— One piece with a gold ground ; — the birds not exactly coloured. — Thence we went to the King's cab- inet ; — very neat, not, perhaps, perfect. — Gold ore. — Candles of the candle-tree. — Seeds. — Woods. Thence to Gagnier's house, where 1 saw rooms nine, furnished with a profusion of wealth and elegance which 1 never had seen before. — Vases. — Pictures. — The dragon china. — The lustre said to be of crystal, and to have cost, 3,500l. — The whole furniture said to have cost 12o,000l. — Damask hangings covered with pictures. — Porphyry. — This house struck me. — Then we waited on the ladies to Monville's. — Captain Irwin with us.* — Spain. County towns all beggars. — At Dijon he could not find the way to Orleans. — Cross roads of F>ance very bad. — Five soldiers. — Woman. — Soldiers escaped. — The Colonel would not lose five men for the death of one woman. — The magistrate cannot seize a soldier but by the Colonel's permission, — Good inn at "' The rest of this paragraph appears to be a minute of what was told by Cap- cain Irwin. 206 THE LIFE OF 5 775. Nismes. — Moors of Barbary fond of Englishmen.- — ^^J^ Gibraltar eminently health}^ ; — it has beef from Bar- 66. bary. — There is a large garden. — Soldiers sometimes fall from the rock. " Oct. 13. Friday. I staid at home all day, only went to find the prior, who was not at home. — I read something in (Janus. ^ Nee admiror^ nee multimi laudo. '• Oct. 14. Saturday. We went to the house of . Mr. Argenson, which was almost wainscotted with looking-glasses, and covered with gold. — The ladies' closet wainscotted with large squares of glass over painted paper. They always place mirrours to reflect their rooms. " Then we went to Julien's, the Treasurer of the Clergy : — 30,0001. a year. — The house has no very large room, but is set with mirrours, and covered with gold. — Books of wood here, and in another library. " At D********'s I looked into the books in the lady's closet, and, in contempt, shewed them to Mr. T. — Prmce titi ; Bihl. des Fees^ and other books. — She was offended, and shut up, as we heard after- wards, her apartment. " Then we went to Julien Le Roy, the King's watch-maker, a man of character in his business, who shewed a small clock made to find the longitude^ — A decent man. " Afterwards we saw the Palais Marchand^ and the Courts of Justice, civil and criminal. — Queries on the Sellette. — This building has the old Gothick passages, and a great appearance of antiquity. — Three hundred prisoners sometimes in the gaol. " Much disturbed ; hope no ill will be. ^ " In the afternoon I visited Mr. Freron the journal- ist. He spoke Latin very scantily, but seemed to un- derstand me. — His house not splendid, but of com- modious size. — His family, wife, son, and daughter, not elevated but decent. — I was pleased with my re- * Melchior Caniis, a celebrated Spanish Dominican, who died at Toledo, in 1560. He wrote a treatise Dd Lods Tlndogicis, in twelve books. '■ This passage, wliich so many think superstitious, reminds me of Archbisbbp Laud's DJary. DR. JOHNSON. 807 oeption. — He is to translate my books, which I am to ^7'5. send him with notes. ^t'^. "• Oct. IJ. Sunday. At Choisi, a royal palace on (iti. the hanks of the Seine, about 7 m. from Paris. — The terrace noble along the river. — The rooms numerous and grand, but not discriminated from other palaces. — The chapel beautiful, but small. — China globes. — In- laid tables. — Labyrinth. — Sinking table. — Toilet tables. " Oct. 16. Monday. The Palais Royal very grand, large, and lofty. — A very great collection of pictures. — Three of Raphael. — Two Holy Family. — One small piece of M. Angelo. — One room of Rubens. — I thought the pictures of Raphael fine. " The Thuilleries. — Statues. — \enus. — /En. and Anchises in his arms. — Nilus. — INlany more. The walks not open to mean persons. — Chairs at night hir- ed for two sous a piece. — Pont tournant. " Austin Nuns. — Grate. — Mrs. Permor, Abbess. — She knew Pope, and thought him disagreeable. — Mrs. has many books ; — has seen life. — Their frontlet disagreeable. — Their hood. — Their hfe easy. — Rise about five ; hour and half in chapel. — Dine at ten. — Another hour and half at chapel ; half an hour about three, and half an hour more at seven : — four hours in chapel. — A large garden. — Thirteen pensioners. — Teacher complained. " At the Boulevards saw nothing, yet was glad to be there. — Rope-dancing and farce. — Egg dance. " N. [Note.] Near Paris, whether on week-days or Sundays, the roads empty. " Oct. 17- Tuesday. At the Palais Marchand I bought A snuff-box, 24 L. 6 Table book 15 Scissars 3 p [pair] 1 8 63—2 12 6 " We heard the lawyers plead. — N. As many kil- led at Paris as there are days in the year. — Chambre de 'i08 THE LIFE OF 1775. question. — Tounieile at the Palais Marchand.— An old ^^ venerable building. 66. ' " The Palais Bourbon, belonging to the Prince of Conde. Only one small wing shewn ; — lofty ;— splendid ; — gold and glass.- — The battles of the great Conde are painted in one of the rooms. The present Prince a grandsire at thirty-nine. " The sight of palaces, and other great buildings, leaves no very distinct images, unless to those who talk of them. As I entered, my wife was in my mind :' she would have been pleased. Having now nobody to please, I am little pleased. " N. In France there is no middle rank. *' So many shops open, that Sunday is little distin- guished at Paris. — The palaces of Louvre and Thuil- leries granted out in lodgings. " In the Palais de Bourbon, gilt globes of metal at the fire place. " The French beds commended.— -Much of the marble, only paste. " The Colosseum a mere wooden building, at least much of it. " Oct. 18. Wednesday. We went to Fontaine- bleau, which we found a large mean town, crouded with people. — The forest thick with woods, very ex- tensive.— Manucci secured us lodgings.— The appear- ance of the country pleasant. — No hills, few streams, only one hedge. — I remember no chapels nor crosses on the road. — Pavement still, and rows of trees. " N. Nobody but mean people walk in Paris. " Oct. 19. Thursday. At Court, we saw the apart- ments ; — the King's bed-chamber and council-cham- ber extremely splendid. — Persons of all ranks in the external rooms through which the family passes ; — ser- vants and masters. — Brunet with us the second time. " The introductor came to us ; — civil to me. — Pre- senting.— I had scruples. — Not necessary. — We went and saw the King and Queen at dinner. — We saw the other ladies at dinner — Madam Elizabeth, with the His tender afFection for his departed wife, of which there are many evidences in his " Prayers and Meditations," appears very feelingly in this passage. DR. JOHNSON- $09 Princess of Guimene. — At night we went to a come- I775. dy. 1 neither saw nor heard. — Drunken women. — ^t.^ Mrs. Th. preferred one to the other. oq^ ' *' Oct. 20. Friday. We saw the Queen mount in the forest. — Hrown habit ; rode aside : one lady rode aside. — The Queen's horse hght grey ; — martingale. — • She galloped. — We then went to the apartments, and admired them. — Then wandered through the palace. — In the passages, stalls and shops. — Painting in Pres('o by a great master, worn out. — We saw the King's horses and dogs. — The dogs almost all English. — De- generate. *' The horses not much commended. — The stables cool ; the kennel filthy. " At night the ladies went to the opera. I refused, but should have been welcome. " The King fed himself with his left hand as we. " Saturday, 91. In the night 1 got round. — We came home to Paris. — I think we did not see the chapel. — Tree broken by the wind. — The French chairs made all of boards painted. " N. Soldiers at the court of justice. — Soldiers not amenable to the magistrates. — Dijon woman. ^ " Faggots in the palace. — Every thing slovenly, ex- cept in the chief rooms. — Trees in the roads, some tall, none old, many very young and small. " Women's saddles seem ill made. — Queen's bridle woven with silver. — Tags to strike the horse. " Sunday, Oct. 22. To Versailles, a mean town. Carriages of business passing. — Mean shops against the wall. — Our way lay through Seve, where the China manufacture. — Wooden bridge at Seve, in the way to A'^ersailles. — The palace of great extent. — The front long ; I saw it not perfectly. — The Menagerie. Cyg- nets dark ; their black feet ; on the ground ; tame. — Halcyons, or gulls. — Stag and hind, young. — Aviary, very large : the net, wire. — Black stag of China, small. — Rhinoceros, the horn broken and pared away, which, I suppose, will grow ; the basis, 1 think, four inches 'cross ; the skin folds like loose cloth doubled over liis ' Sec p. 205. VOL. IT. 27 210 THE LIFE OF 1775. body, and cross his hips ; a vast animal, though young ; ^^ as big, perhaps, as four oxen. — The young elephant, 66. with his tusks just appearing. — The brown bear put out his paws ; — all very tame. — The lion. — The tigers I did not well view. — The camel, or dromedary with two bunches called the Huguin,^' taller than any horse. — Two camels with one bunch. — Among the birds was a pelican, who being let out, went to a fountain, and swam about to catch fish. His feet well webbed : he dipped his head, and turned his long bill sidewise. He caught two or three fish, but did not eat them. — " Trianon is a kind of retreat appendant to Versailles. It has an open portico ; the pavement, and 1 think, the pillars, of marble. — There are many rooms, which I do not distinctly remember — A table of porphyry, about five feet long, and between two and three broad, given to Louis XIV. by the Venetian State. — In the coun- cil-room almost all that was not door or window, was, I think, looking-glass. — Little Trianon is a small palace like a gentleman's house. — The upper floor paved with brick. — Little Vienne. — The court is ill paved. — The fooms at the top are small, fit to sooth the imagination with privacy. In the front of Versailles are small ba- sons of w^ater on the terrace, and, other basons, 1 think, below them. There are little courts. — The great galle- ry is wainscotted with mirrours, not very large, but joined by frames. I suppose the large plates were not yet made. — The play-house was very large. — The chap- el I do not remember if we saw — We saw one chapel, but 1 am not certain whether there or at Trianon. — The foreign office paved with bricks. — The dinner half a Louis each, and, I think, a Louis over. — Money given at Menagerie, three livres ; at palace, six livres. " Oct. 23. Monday. Last night I wrote to Levet. We went to see the looking-glasses wrought. They come from Normandy in cast plates, perhaps the third of an inch thick. At Paris they are ground upon a marble table, by rubbing one plate upon another with grit between them. The various sands, of which there are said to be five, I could not learn. The handle, by ' This cpUhet should be applied to this animal with one bunch. DR. JOHNSON. 91 I which the upper glass is moved, has the form of a '775. wheel, whicli may be moved in all directions. "I he ^|.^ piat(\s are sent up with their surfaces, ground, but not (Jo. polished, and so continue till they are bespoken, lest time should spoil the surfoce, as we were told. Those that are to be polished, are laid on a table covered with several thick cloths, hard strained, that the resistance may be equal ; they are then rubbed with a hand rub- ber, held down hard by a contrivance which I did not well understand. The powder which is used last seem- ed to me to be iron dissolved in aqua fortis : they called it, as Baretti said, marc cle V eaujurfe^ which he thought was dregs. They mentioned vitriol and saltpetre. The cannon ball swam in the quicksilver. To silver them, a leaf of beaten tin is laid, and rubbed with quicksil- ver, to which it unites. Then more quicksilver is poured upon it, which, by its mutual [attraction] rises very high. Then a paper is laid at the nearest end of the plate, over which the glass isslidedtill it lies upon the plate, having driven much of the quicksilver before it. It is then, 1 think, pressed upon cloth, and then set sloping to drop the superfluous mercury; the slope is daily heightened towards a perpendicular. " In the way I saw the Greve, the mayor's house, and the Bastile. " We then went to Sans-terre, a brewer. ' He brews with about as much malt as Mr. Thrale, and sells his beer at the same price, though he pays no duty for malt, and little more than half as much for beer. Beer is sold retail at 6d. a bottle. He brews 4,000 barrels a year. There are seventeen brewers in Paris, of whom none is supposed to brew more than he ; — reckoning them at 3,000 each, they make 51,000 a year. — They make their malt, for malting is here no trade. " The moat of the Bastile is dry. " Oct. 24. Tuesday. We visited the King's library — 1 saw the Speculum humance Salvationist rudely printed, with ink, sometimes pale, sometimes black ; part supposed to be with wooden types, and part with ■ [The detestable niffian, who afterwards conducted Louis the Sixteenth to the scaffold, aad commanded the troops that guarded it, during his murder, M.] 212 IHE LIFE OF 1775. pages cut in boards. — The Bible, supposed to be older ^J^ than that of Mentz, in 62 ; it has no date ; it is sup- 66, ' posed to have been printed with wooden types. — I am in doubt ; the print is large and fair, in two folios. — Another book was shewn me, supposed to have been printed with wooden types ; — I think, Diircmdi Sane- tuariiim in 58. This is inferred from the difference of form sometimes seen in the same letter, which might be struck with different puncheons.^ — The regular simil- itude of most letters proves better that they are metal. — I saw nothing but the Speculum which I had not seen, I think, before. " Thence to the Sorbonne. — The library very large, not in lattices like the King's. Marbone and Durandi, q. collection 14 vol. Scriptores de rebus Gallicis^ ma- ny folios.^ — Histoire Geneologique of France^ 9 vol. — - GalUa Christiana^ the first edition, 4to. the last, f. 12 Tol. — The Prior and Librarian dined [with us] : — I wait- ed on them home. — Their garden pretty, with covered walks, but small ; yet may hold many students. — The Doctors of the Sorbonne are all equal ; — choose those who succeed to vacancies. — Profit little. " Oct. 25. Wednesday. I went with the Prior to St. Cloud, to see Dr. Hooke. — We walked round the palace, and had some talk. — I dined with our whole company at the Monastery. — ^In the library, Beroald^ — Cijuion^ — Titus ^ from Boccace. — O ratio Proverbialis to the Virgin, from Petrarch ; Falkland to Sandys ; — Dry- den's Preface to the third vol. of Miscellanies.- " Oct. 26. Thursday. We saw the china at Seve, cut, glazed, painted. Bellevue, a pleasing house, not great : fine prospect. — Meudon, an old palace.— Alex- ander, in Porphyry : hollow between eyes and nose, thin cheeks. — Plato and Aristotle — Noble terrace over- looks the town—St. Cloud. — Gallery not very high, nor grand, but pleasing. — In the rooms, Michael An- gelo, drawn by himself, Sir Thomas More, Des Cartes, Bochart, Naudaeus, Mazarine. — Gilded wainscot, so common that it is not minded. — Gough and Keene. — - Ho means, I suppose, that Jk' vtid these different pi<'ce?, wh'!f he r,eniaiued in the library. DR. JOHNSON. fl'ii Hooke came to us at the inn. — A message from Drum- 1775. gold- , £t^ " Oct. 27. Friday. I staid at home. — Gough and g6. Keene, and Mrs. S 's friend dined with us. — This day we began to have a fire. — The weather is grown very cold, and 1 fear, has a bad effect upon my breath, which has grown much more free and easy in this country. " Sat. Oct. 28. I visited the Grand Chartruex built by St. Louis. — It is built for forty, but contains only twenty-four, and will not maintain more. — ^The friar that spoke to us had a pretty apartment. — Mr. Baretti says four rooms ; I remember but three. — His books seemed to be French. — His garden was neat ; he gave me grapes. — We saw the Place de Victoire, with the statues of the King, and the captive nations. " We saw the palace and gardens of Luxembourg, but the gallery was shut. — We climbed to the top stairs. — I dined with Colbrooke, who had much com- pany : — Foote, Sir George Rodney, Motteux, Udson, Taaf. — Called on the Prior, and found him in bed. " Hotel — a guinea a day. — Coach, three guineas a week. — V^alet de place, three 1. a day. — Avantcoureur, a guinea a week. Ordinary dinner, six 1. a head. — Our ordinary seems to be about five guineas a day. — Our extraordinary expences, as diversions, gratuities, clothes, 1 cannot reckon. — Our travelling is ten guineas a day. " White stockings, 181.^ Wig. — Hat. " Sunday, Oct. 29, We saw the boarding-school. — The Enfans troiivh. — A room with about eighty-six children in cradles, as sweet as a parlour. — They lose a third ; take in to perhaps more than seven [years old] ; put them to trades ; pin to them the papers sent with them. — Want nurses. — Saw their chapel. " Went to St. Eustatia ; saw an innumerable compa- ny of girls catechised, in many bodies, perhaps 100 to a catechist. — Boys taught at one time, girls at another. — The sermon ; the preacher wears a cap, which he 5 [i. e. 18 livrn. Two pair of white silk stockingft were probably purchased, M.l fl4 THE LIFE OF 1775. takes off at the name : — his action uniform, not very ^J^ violent. 66. * " Oct. 30. Monday. We saw the library of St. Germain. — A very noble collection. — Codex Divinojnim Officiorum, 1459 : — a letter, square like that of the Of- JiceSy perhaps the same. — The Codex, by Fust and Gernsheym. — Meursius, 12 v. fol. — Amadis. in French, 3 V. fol. — Catholicon sine colophone, but of 1460. — Two other editions,* one by Augustin. de Civitate Dei, without name, date, or place but of Fust's square letter as it seems. " I dined with Col. Drumgold ; had a pleasing after- noon. " Some of the books of St. Germain's stand in presses from the wall, like those at Oxford. "Oct. 31. Tuesday. I lived at the Benedictines ; meagre day; soup meagre, herrings, eels, both with sauce ; fried fish ; lentils, tasteless in themselves. In the library ; where I found Wlaffeus's de His tor id Indi- cd : Promo7itorium flectere, to double the Cape. I part- ed very tenderly from the Prior and Friar Wilkes. Maitre des Arts, 2 y. — Baca. Theol. 3 y. — Licen- tiate, 2 y. — Doctor Th. 2 y. in all nine years. — For the Doctorate three disputations, Major, Minor, Sorbonica. — Several colleges suppressed, and transferred to that which was the Jesuit's College. "Nov. 1. Wednesday. We left Paris. — St. Denis, a large town ; the church not very large, but the middle isle is very lofty and aweful. — On the left are chapels built beyond the line of the wall, which destroy the symmetry of the sides. The organ is higher above the pavement than any I have ever seen. — The gates are 0^ brass. — On the middle gate is the history of our Lord. — The painted windows are historical, and said to be eminently beautiful. — We were at another church •» I have looked in vain into De Bure, Meerman, Mattaire, and other typograph- ical books, for the tviro editions of the " Catholicon" which Dr. Johnson mentions here, with names which I cannot make out. I read " one by Lat'mlus, one by Bot- dinus." I have deposited the original MS. in the British Museum, where the curi- ous may see it. My grateful acknowledgements are due to Mr. Pkuita for the trouble be was pleased to take ya aiding my researches. DR. JOHNSON. 2^6 rs^ belonging to n convent, of which the portal is a dome ; ^775 we could not enter further, and it was almost dark. ^^ " Nov. '2. Thursday. We came this day to Chan- Gu tilly, a seat belonging to the Prince of Conde. — This place is eminently beautified by all varieties of waters starting up in fountains, falling in cascades, running in streams, and spread in lakes. — The water seems to be too near the house. — All this water is brought from a source or river three leagues off, by an artificial canal, which for one league is carried under ground. — The house is magnificent. — The cabinet seems well stocked ; what 1 remember was, the jaws of a hippopotamus, and a young hippopotamus preserved, which, however, is so small, that 1 doubt its reality. — It seems too hairy for an abortion, and too small for a mature birth. — Nothing was in spirits ; all was dry. — The dog ; the deer ; the ant-bear with long snout. — The toucan, long broad beak. — The stables were of very great length. — The kennel had no scents. — There was a mockery of a village. — The Menagerie had few animals.' — Two faussans,^ or Brasilian weasels, spotted, very wild. — There is a forest, and, I think, a park. — 1 walked till 1 was very w^eary, and next morning felt my feet batter- ed, and with pains in the toes. " Nov. 3. Friday. We came to Compeigne, a very large town, with a royal palace built round a pentag- onal court. — The court is raised upon vaults, and has, I suppose, an entry on one side by a gentle rise. — Talk of painting. — The church is not very large, but very elegant and splendid. — I had at first great diffi- culty to walk, but motion grew continually easier. — At night we came to Noyon, an episcopal city. — The cathedral is very beautiful, the pillars alternately Go- ' The writing is so bad here, that the names of several of the animals could not Ife decyphered wthout much more acquaintance with natural history than I pos- sess.— Dr. Blagden, with his usual politeness, most obligingly examined the M.S. ' To that gentleman, and to Dr. Gray, of the British Museum, who also very readily assisted me, I beg leave to express my best thanks. ' It is thus written by Johnson, from the French pronunciation of fossanc. It should be observed, that the person who shewed this Menagerie was mistaken in supposing the fossanc and the Brasilian weasel to be the same, the fossane being a different animal, and a native of Madagascar". I find them, however, upon one plate in Pennant's " Synopsis of Quadrupeds." 216 THE LIFE OP 1775. thick and Corinthian.— We entered a very noble paro- ~ chial church. — Noyon is walled, and is said to be three miles round. " Nov. 4. Saturday. We rose very early, and came through St. Quintin to Cambray, not long after three. — We went to an English nunnery, to give a letter to Father Welch, the confessor, who came to visit us in the ev^ening. " Nov. 5. Sunday. We saw the cathedral. — It is very beautiful, with chapels on each side. — The choir splendid. — .The balustrade in one part brass. — The NefF very high and grand. The altar silver as far as it is seen. — The vestments very splendid. — At the Bene- dictines church " Here his Journal^ ends abruptly. Whether he wrote any more after this time, I know not ; but prob- ably not much, as he arrived in England about the 12th of November. These short notes of his tour, though they may seem minute taken singly, make to- gether a considerable mass of information, and exhibit such an ardour of enquiry and acuteness of examina- tion, as, I believe, are found in but few travellers, especially at an advanced age. They completely refute the idle notion which has been propagated, that he could not see ; and, if he had taken the trouble to re- vise and digest them, he undoubtedly could have ex- panded them into a very entertaining narrative. When 1 met him in London the following year, the account which he gave me of his French tour, was, Sir, I have seen all the visibilities of Paris, and around it ; but to have formed an acquaintance with the people there, would have required more time than I could stay. \ was just beginning to creep into ac- quaintance by means of Colonel Drumgold, a very high man, Sir, head of UEcole Milituire^ a most com- plete character, for he had first been a professor of rhetorick, and then became a soldier. And, Sir, 1 was / My wortliy and ingenious friend, Mr. Andrew Lumisden, by his accurate ac- quaintance with France, enabled me to make out many proper names wlxich Dr. Johnson had written indistinctly, and sometimes spelt «rroneou»ly- DR. JOHNSON. ?17 very kindly treated by the Enj^^lisii J3encdictines, and '77.'^. have a cell appropriated to me in their convent." j^\^ Me observed, " The great in l^'rance live very mag- ocj. nifieentiy, but the rest very miserably. I here is no happy middle state as in England. Tlie shops of Paris are mean ; the meat in the markets is such as would be sent to a gaol in England ; and Mr. Thrale justly observed, that the cookery of the French was forced upon them by necessity ; for they could not eat their meat, unless they added some taste to it. The French are an indelicate people ; they will spit upon any place. At Madame 's, a literary lady of rank, the foot- man took the sugar in his fing(^rs, and threw it into my cotiee. I was going to put it aside ; but hearing it was made on purpose for me, 1 e'en tasted Tom's fingers. The same lady would needs make tea ^ /^A/i- gloise. The spout of the tea-pot did not pour freely ; she bad the footman blow into it. France is worse than Scotland in every thing but climate. Nature has done more for the French ; but they have done less for themselves than the Scotch have done." It happened that Foote was at Paris at the same time with Dr. Johnson, and his description of my friend while there, was abundantly ludicrous. He told me, that the French were quite astonished at his figure and manner, and at his dress, which he obstinately continued exactly as in London ;^ — his brown clothes, black stockings, and plain shirt. He mentioned, that an Irish gentleman said to Johnson, " vSir, you have not seen the best French players." Johnson. " Plav- err. Sir ! I look on them as no U:;tter than creatures set upon tables and joint-stools to make faces and produce laughter, like dancing dogs." — " But, Sir, you will ' [Mr. Foote seems to have embellished a little in saying that Johnson did not al- ter his dress at Paris ; as in his Journal is a memorancum about wliitc stcickings, wig, and hiio In another place we are told that " during his travels m France he was fumishod with a French-made wig of handsome cor;'ruction." That John- son was not inattentive to his appearance is certain, from a circumstance related by Mr. Steevens, and inserted by Mr. Boswell, in vol. iii. between June 15 and June 2^?, 1784. I. B.'| Mr. Blakeway's observation is further confirmed by a note in Johnson's diary (quoted by Sir John Hawkins, Life of folnson, p. 517,) by which it appears, that he laid out thiity pounds in cloths for his French journey. M.] VOL. IT. 2S t>18 . THE LIFE OF >775. allow that some players are better than others]" ^!^ Johnson. " Yes, Sir, as some dogs dance better than 66. othei^." While Johnson was in France, he was generally very resolute in speaking Latin. It was a maxim with him that a man should not let himself down, by speaking a language which he speaks imperfectly. Indeed, we must have often observed how inferiour, how much like a child a man appears, who speaks a broken tongue. When Sir Joshua Reynolds, at one of the dinners of the Royal Academy, presented him to a Frenchman of great distinction, he would not deign to speak French, but talked Latin, though his Excellency did not under- stand it, owing, perhaps, to Johnson's English pronun- ciation : yet upon another occasion he was observed to speak French to a Frenchman of high rank, who spoke English, and being asked the reason, with some ex- pression of surprise, — he answered, " because I think my French is as good as his English." Though John- son understood French perfectly, he could not speak it readily, as I have observed at his first interview with General Faoli, in 17^9 ; yet he wrote it, I imagine, pretty well, as appears from some of his letters in Mrs. Fiozzi's collection, of which I shall transcribe one : " A Madame La Comtesse de . " July 16, 1775. " Oui, Madame^ le moment est arrive^ et il faut que je parte. Mais pour quoi faut il partir / Est ce que je m'^ennuye / Je m^ennuijerai ailleurs. Est ce que je cherche ou quelque plaisir, on quelque soulagement / Je ne cherche rien^je ri'espere rien. Aller voir ce quef ai vii, etre un pen rejouc^ im pen degoute^ me resouvenir que la vie se passe en vain^ me plaindre dc moi^ m^endur- crr aux dehors; void le tout de ce qu^on compte pour les delices de Pannee. Que Dieu vous donne^ Madame^ tous les agremens de la vie^ avec un esprit qui peut en jouir sans s'y livrcr trop." Here let me not forget a curious anecdote, as related to me by Mr. Beauclerk, which I shall endeavour to 1)K. JOHNSON. 219 exhibit as well as 1 can in that gentleman's lively man- >77."> ner ; and in justice to him it is proper to add, that Di\ J^ .loiinson told me 1 might rely both to the correctness (ii;. of Ins memory, and the fidelity of his narrative. " Wlien Madame de Boufflers was first in England, (said Beau- clerk,) she was desirous to see Johnson. 1 accordingly went with her to his chambers in the Temple, where she was entertained with his conversation for some time. When our visit was over, she and 1 left him. and were got into Inner Temple-lane, when all at once I heard a noise like thunder. This was occasioned by .lohnson, who it seems, upon a little recollection, had laken it into his head that he ought to have done the honours of his literary residence to a foreign lady of quality, and eager to show himself a man of gallantry, was hurrying down the stair-case in violent agitation. He overtook us before we reached the Temple-gate, and brushing in between me and Madame de J3oufHers, seized her hand, and conducted her to her coach. IJis dress was a rusty brown morning suit, a pair of old shoes by way of slippers, a little shrivelled wig sticking on the top of his head, and the sleeves of his shirt and the knees of his breeches hanging loose. A consider- able crowd of people gathered round, and were not a little struck by this singular appearance.^' He spoke Latin with wonderful fluency and ele- gance. When Pere Boscovich was in England, John- son dined in company with him at Sir Joshua Rey- nolds's, and at Dr. Douglas's, now Bishop of Salisbury. Upon both occasions that celebrated foreigner express- ed his astonishment at Johnson's Latin conversation. AVhen at Paris, Johnson thus characterised Voltaire to Freron the Journalist : " Vir est acerrpm ingenii et paiicunim liieraium" " TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. " MY DEAR SIR, Rdhihurgk^ Dec. .5, 177o- " Mr. Alexander Maclean, the young Laird of Col, being to set out to-morrow for London, 1 give him this letter to introduce him to your acquaintance. The kindness which you and 1 experienced from his 2?0 THE LIFE OF i775. brother, whose unfortunate death we sincerely lament, ^,]^ wiJ! make us always desirous to show attention to any 66. branch of the family. Indeed, you have so much of the true Highland cordiality, that 1 am sure you would have thought me to blame if 1 had neglected to recom- mend to you this Hebridean prince, in whose island we were hospitably entertained. 1 ever am with respect- ful attachment, my dear Sir, " Your most obliged " And most humble servant, " James Bos well." Mr. Maclean returned with the most agreeable ac- jcounts of the polite attention with which he was re- ceived by Dr. Johnson. In the course of this year Dr. Burney informs me that " he very frequently met Dr. Johnson at Mr. Thrale's, at Streatham, where they had many long con- versations, often sitting up as long as the fire and can- dles lasted, and much longer than the patience of the servants subsisted." A few of Johnson's sayings, which that gentleman recollects, shall here be inserted. " I never take a nap after dinner but when I have had a bad night, and then the nap takes me." " The writer of an epitaph should not be considered as saying nothing but what is strictly true. Allowance must be made for some degree of exaggerated praise. In lapidary inscriptions a man is not upon oath." " There is now less flogging in our great schools than formerl}', but then less is learned there ; so that what the boys get at one end they lose at the other." " More is learned in publick than in private schools, from emulation ; there is the collision of mind with mind, or the radiation of many minds pointing to one centre. Though few boys make their own exercises, yet if a good exercise is given up, out of a great num- ber of boys, it is made by somebody." " I hate by-roads in education. Education is as well known, and has long been as well known, as ever it can be. Endeavouring to make children prematurely DR. JOHNSON. 221 wise is useless labour. Suppose they have moie knowl- J775. edge at five or six years old than other children, what ^Jrj^ use can be made ot" it ? It will be lost before it is want- (,(>. ed, and the waste of so much time and labour of the teacher can never be rei)aid. Too much is expected from precocity, and too little performed. Miss was an instance of early cultivation, but in what did it terminate I In marrying a little Presbyterian parson, who keeps an infant boardins^-school, so that all her employment now is, * To suckle fools, and chronicle small-beer.' She tells the children, ' This is a cat, and that is a dog, with four legs and a tail ; see there ! you are much bet- ter than a cat or a dog, for you can speak.' If I had be- stowed such an education on a daughter, and had dis- covered that she thought of marrying such a fellow, I would have sent her to the Com^-ress" " After having talked slightingly of musick, he was observed to listen very attentively while Miss Thrale played on the harpsichord, and with eagerness he called to her, ' Why don^t you dash away like Burney V Dr. Burney upon this said to him, ' I believe. Sir, we shall make a musician of you at last.^ Johnson with candid complacency replied, ' Sir, I shall be glad to have a new sense given to me." " He had come down one morning to the breakfast- room, and been a considerable time by himself before any body appeared. When on a subsequent day he was twitted by Mrs. Thrale for being very late, which he generally was, he defended himself by alluding to the extraordinary morning, when he had been too early. ' Madam, I do not like to come down to vacuittf.^^ " Dr. Burney having remarked that Mr. Garrick was beginning to look old, he said, " Why, Sir, you are not / to wonder at that ; no man's face has had more wear V. and tear." Not having heard from him for a longer time than I supposed he would be silent, 1 wrote to him December 18, not in good spirits. " Sometimes I have been afraid 222 THE LIFE OF 1775. that the cold which has gone over Europe this year hke ^^J^ a sort of pestilence has seized you severely : sometimes 66. my imagination, which is upon occasions prolifick of evil, hath figured that you may have somehow taken offence at some part of my conduct." " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. '' DEAR SIR, " Never dream of any offence. How should you offend me? I consider your friendship as a possession, which I intend to hold till you take it from me, and to lament if ever by my fault I should lose it. However, when such suspicions find their way into your mind, always give them vent ; I shall make haste to disperse them ; but hinder their first ingress if you can. Con- sider such thoughts as morbid. " Such illness as may excuse my omission to Lord Hailes, I cannot honestly plead. I have been hindered, I know not how, by a succession of petty obstructions. I hope to mend immediately, and to send next post to his Lordship. Mr. Thrale would have written to you if 1 had omitted ; he sends his compliments and wishes to see you. " You and your lady will now have no more wrang- ling about feudal inheritance. How does the young Laird of Auchinleck ? I suppose Miss Veronica is grown a reader and discourser. " I have just now got a cough, but it has never yet hindered me from sleeping ; 1 have had quieter nights than are common with me. " I cannot but rejoice that Joseph ^ has had the wit to find the way back. He is a fine fellow, and one of the best travellers in the world. " Young Col brought me your letter. He is a very pleasing youth. 1 took him two days ago to the Mitre, and we dined together. I was as civil as I had the means of being. ' Josepli Ritter a Boliemian, who was in my service many years, and attended Dr. Johnson and me in our Tour to the Htb: ides. After having left mc for somo time, he had now returned to mc. DR. JOHNSON. 223 " I liave had a letter from Rassy, acknowledging, i77(>. with great appearance of satisfaction, the insertion in ^[^ the Edinburgh paper. I am very glad that it was done. 07.' " My couiphments to Mrs. Uoswcll, wlio does not love me ; and of all the rest, 1 need only send them to those that do; and 1 am afraid it will give you very little trouble to distribute them, lam, my dear, dear Sir, " Your affectionate humble servant, " December 23, \77o. '• Sam. Johnson." In 1776, Johnson wrote, so far as I can discover, nothing for the publick : but that his mind was still ardent, and fraught with generous wishes to attain to still higher degrees of literary excellence, is proved by his private notes of this year, which 1 shall insert in their proper place. " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " I HAVE at last sent you all Lord Hailes's papers. While I was in France, I looked very often into \{q- nault ; but Lord Hailes, in my opinion, leaves him far and far behind. Why 1 did not dispatch so short a pe- rusal sooner, when 1 look back, 1 am utterly unable to discover : but human moments are stolen away by a thousand petty impediments which leave no trace be- hind them. I have been afflicted, through the whole Christmas, with the general disorder, of which the worst effect was a cough, which is now much mitigated, though the country, on which I look from a window at Streatham, is now covered with a deep snow. iNIrs. Williams is very ill : every body else is as usual. " Among the papers, I found a letter to you, which I think you had not opened ; and a paper for ' The Chronicle,' which I suppose is not necessary now to insert. I return them both. " I have, within these few days, had the honour of receiving Lord Hailes's first volume, for which 1 return my most respectful thanks. 224 IHK LIFE OF 1776. " I wish you, my clearest friend, and your haughty ^^^ lady, (for 1 know she does not love me,) and the young 67. ladies, and the young Laird, ail happiness. Teach the young gentleman, in spite of his mamma, to think and speak well of, Sir, " Your affectionate humble servant, " Jan. 10, 1776. " Sam. Johnson." At this time was in agitation a matter of great con- sequence to me and my family, which I should not obtrude upon the world, were it not that the part which Dr. Johnson's friendship for me made him take in it, was the occasion of an exertion of his abilities, which it would be injustice to conceal. That what he wrote upon the subject may be understood, it is necessary to give a state of the question, which 1 shall do as briefly as a I can. In the year 1504, the barony or manour of Auchin- leck, (pronounced AJfieck^ in Aryshire, which be- longed to a familv of the same name with the lands, having fallen to the Crown by forfeiture, James the Fourth, King of Scotland, granted it to Thomas Bos- well, a branch of an ancient family in the county of Fife, stiling him in the charter, " dilecto familiari nos- fro ;" and assigning, as the cause of the grant, pro bono etjideli servitio nobis prcestito." Thomas Boswell was slain in battle, fighting along with his Sovereign, at the fatal field of Floddon, in 1513. From this very honourablefounder of our family, the estate was transmitted, in a direct series of heirs male, to David Boswell, my father's great grand uncle, who had no sons, but four daughters, who were all respect- ably married, the eldest to Lord Cathcart. David Boswell, being resolute in the military feudal principle of continuing the male succession, passed by his daughters, and settled the estate on his nephew by his next brother, who approved of the deed, and re- nounced any pretensions which he might possibly have, in preference to his son. But the estate having been bur- thened with large portions to the daughters, and other debts, it was necessary for the nephew to sell a consid- DH. JOHNSON. 9'2^ crahlo part of it, and what remained was still much en- i/?!). cumbered. zEtaT. The fruG^ality of the nephew preserved, and, in some G7. degree, relieved the estate. His son, my grandfather, an eminent lawyer, not only re-purchased a great part of what had been sold, but acquired other lands ; and mv father, who was one of the Judges of Scotland, and had added considerably to the estate, now signified his inclination to take the privilege allowed by our law,' to secure it to his family in perpetuity by an entail, which, on account of his marriage articles, could not be done without my consent. In the plan of entailing the estate,! heartily concurred with him, though I was the first to be restrained by it ; but we unhappily differed as to the series of heirs wliich should be established, or in the language of our law, called to the succession. My father had declared a predilection for heirs general, that is, males and fe- males indiscriminately. He was willing, however, that all males descending from his grandfather, should be preferred to females ; but would not extend that privi- lege to males deriving their descent from a higher source. I, on the other hand, had a zealous partiality for heirs male, however remote, which I maintained by arguments which appeared to me to have consider- able weight.^ And in the particular case of our family, ' Acts of Parliament of Scotland, 1 685, Cap. 22. ^ As first, the opinion of some distinguished naturalists, tliat our speties is trans- mitted through males only, the female being all along no more than a ;//Vi//, or nurse, as Mother Earth is to plants of every sort ; which notion seems to be con- firmed by that text of scripture, " He was yet in the loins of Lis faiher when Mel- chisedeck met him ;" (Heb. vii. 10.) and consequently, that a man's grandson by a. daughter, instead of being his surest descendant, as is vulgarly said, has, in reality, no connection whatever with his blood. — And secondly, independent of this theo- ry, (which, if true, should completely exclude heirs general,) that if the preference of a male to a female, without regard to primogeniture, (as a son, though much younger, nay, even a grandson by a son, to a daughter,) be once admitted, as it uni- versally is, it must be equally reasonable and proper in the most remote degree of descent from an original proprietor of an estate, as in the nearest -, because, — however distant from the representative at the time, — that remote heir male, upon the failure of tliose nearer to the original prcfrietor than he is, becomes in fact the nearest male to bim, and is, therefore, preferable as his representative, to a female descendant. — A little extension of mind will enable us easily to perceive that a son's son, in continuation to whatever length of time, is preferable to a son's daughter, in the succession to an ancient inheritance; in which regard should be had to the representation of the original proprietor, and not to that of one of his descendants. VOL. II. 29 296 THE LIFE OF i77fi. I apprehended that we were under an imphed obliga- SaT ^^^^"' ^" honour and good faith, to transmit the estate 67, by the same tenure which we held it, which was as heirs male, excluding nearer females. I therefore, as 1 thought conscientiously, objected to my father's scheme. My opposition was very displeasing to my father, who was entitled to great respect and deference ; and I had reason to apprehend disagreeable consequences from my non-compliance with his wishes. After much perplexity and uneasiness, I wrote to Dr. Johnson, stating the case, with all its difficulties, at full length, and earnestly requesting that he would consider it at leisure, and favour me with his friendly opinion and advice. " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " I WAS much impressed by yovu* letter, and if 1 can form upon your case any resolution satisfactory to myself, will very gladly impart it : but whether I am equal to it, I do not know. It is a case compounded of law and justice, and requires a mind versed in jurid- ical disquisitions. Could not you tell your whole mind to Lord Hailes ? He is, you know, both a Chris- tian and a Lawyer. I suppose he is above partiality, and above loquacity : and, I believe, he will not think the time lost in which he may quiet a disturbed, or settle a wavering mind. Write to me, as any thing occurs to you ; and if 1 find myself stopped by want of facts necessary to be known, 1 will make enquiries of you as my doubts arise. " If your former resolutions should be found only fanciful, you decide rightly in judging that your father's fancies may claim the preference ; but whether they I am aware of Blackstone's admirable demonstration of the reasonableness of the legal succession, upon the principle of there being- the greatest probability that the nearest heir of the person who last dies proprietor of an estate, is of the blood of the first purchaser. But supposing a pedigree to be carefully authenti- cated through all its branches, instead of mere piubability there will be a certainty that the nearest bar maU, at zukate-ver period, has the samc right of blood with the first heir male, namely, tbt original purchaser s eldest so/;. DR. JOHNSON. 237 are tanciful or raliona!, is the (luestion. 1 really think '77*''- Lord llailes coiikl help us. ^.ua. " iNIake my compliments to clear Mrs. lioswell ; uy. and tell her, tiiat 1 hope to be wantin^^ in nothing that 1 can contribute to bring you all out of your troubles. I am, dear Sir, most aftectionately, " Your humble servant, •' London, Jan. lo, 1776. " Sam. Johnson." TO THE SAME. " DK.SR SIR, " 1 AM going to write upon a question which re- quires more knowledge of local law, and more ac- quaintance with the general rules of inheritance, than 1 can claim ; but I write, because you request it. " Land is, like any other possession, by natural right wholly in the power of its present owner ; and may be sold, given, or bequeathed, absolutely or con- ditionally, as judgement shall direct, or passion incite. " But natural right would avail little without the protection of law ; and the primary notion of law is restraint in the exercise of natural ri^ht. A man is therefore, in society, not fully master of what he calls his own, but he still retains all the power which law does not take from him. " In the exercise of the right which law either leaves or gives, regard is to be paid to moral obliga- tions. " Of the estate which we are now considering, your father still retains such possession, with such power over it, that he can sell it, and do with the money what he will, without any legal impediment. But when he extends his power beyond his own life, by settling the order of succession, the law makes your consent neces- sary. " Let us suppose that he sells the land to risk the money in some specious adventure, and in that adven- ture loses the whole ; his posterity would be disap- pointed ; but they could not think themselves injured or robbed. If he spent it upon vice or pleasure, his successors could only call him vicious and voluptu- 228 THE LIFE OF J 776. ous ; they could not say that he was injurious or unjust. ^^ " He that may do more may do less. He that, by 67. ' selling, or squandering, may disinherit a whole family, may certainly disinherit part, by a partial settlement, "• Laws are formed by the manners and exigencies of particular times, and it is but accidental that they last longer than their causes : the limitation of feudal succession to the male arose from the obligation of the tenant to attend his chief in war. " As times and opinions are always changing, I know not whether it be not usurpation to prescribe rules to posterity, by presuming to judge of what we cannot know • and I know not whether 1 fully approve either your design or your father's, to limit that suc- cession which descended to you unlimited. If we are to leave sartum tectum to posterity, what we have without any merit of our own received from our ances- tors, should not choice and free-will be kept unviolat- ed I Is land to be treated with more reverence than liberty ? — If this consideration should restrain your father from disinheriting some of the males, does it Jeaveyou the power of disinheriting all the females? " Can the possessor of a feudal estate make any will ? Can he appoint, out of the inheritance, any por- tions to his daughter ? There seems to be a very shadowy difference between the power of leaving land, and of leaving money to be raised from land ; between leaving an estate to females, and leaving the male heir, in etfect, only their steward. " Suppose at one time a law that allowed only males to inherit, and during the continuance of this law many estates to have descended, passing by the females, to remoter heirs. Suppose afterwards the law repealed in correspondence with a change of manners, and women made capable of inheritance ; would not then the tenure of estates be changed ? Could the women have no benefit from a law made in their fa- vour ? Must they be passed by upon moral principles for ever, because they were once excluded by a legal prohibition ! Or may that whi^h passed only to maleg ])y one law, pass likewise to females by another ? DR. JOHNSON. 229 " You mention your resolution to maintain the right '776. of your brother :^ 1 do not see how any of their rights ^[^ are invaded. G?, " As your whole difficulty arises from the act of your ancestor, who diverted the succession from the females, you enquire, very properly, what were his motives, and what was his intention ; for you certainly are not bound by his act more than he intended to bind you, nor hold your land on harder or stricter terms than those on which it was granted. " Intentions must be gathered from acts. When he left the estate to his nephew, by excluding his daugh- ters, was it, or was it not, in his power to have perpet- uated the succession to the males ? If he could have done it, he seems to have shewn, by omitting it, that he did not desire it to be done, and, upon your own principles, you will not easily prove your right to de- stroy that capacity of succession which your ancestors have left. " If your ancestor had not the power of making a perpetual settlement ; and if, therefore, we cannot judge distinctly of his intentions, yet his act can only be considered as an example ; it makes not an obliga- tion. And, as you observe, he set no example of rigor- ous adherence to the line of succession. He that overlooked a brother, would not wonder that little re- gard is shewn to remote relations. *' As the rules of succession are, in a great part, purely legal, no man can be supposed to bequeath any- thing, but upon legal terms ; he can grant no power which the law denies ; and if he makes no special and definite limitation, he confers all the power which the law allows. " Your ancestor, for some reason, disinherited his daughters ; but it no more follows that he intended this act as a rule for posterity, than the disinheriting of his brother. " If therefore, you ask by what right your father admits daughters to inheritance, ask yourself, first, by what right you require them to be excluded ? Which term I applied to all the heirs male. 230 THE LIFE OF i77fi. " It appears, upon reflection, that your father ex- ^fy eludes nobody ; he only admits nearer females to in- (17. * herit before males more remote ; and the exclusion is purely consequential. " These, dear Sir, are my thoughts, immethodical and deliberative ; but, perhaps, you may find in them some glimmering of evidence. " I cannot, however, but again recommend to you a conference with Lord Hailes, whom you know to be both a Lawyer and a Christian. " Make my compliments to Mrs. Boswell, though she does not love me. I am. Sir, "Your affectionate servant, " Feb. 3, 1776. " Sam. Johnson." I had followed his recommendation and consulted Lord Hailes, who upon this subject had a firm opinion contrary to mine. His Lordship obligingly took the trouble to write me a letter, in which he discussed with legal and historical learning, the points in which I saw much difficulty, maintaining that " the succession of heirs general was the succession, by the law of Scot- land, from the throne to the cottage, as far as we can learn it by record ;" observing that the estate of our family had not been limited to heirs male : and that though an heir male had in one instance been chosen in preference to nearer females, that had been an arbi- trary act, which had seemed to be best in the embar- rassed state of affairs at that time ; and the fact was, that upon a fair computation of the value of land and money at the time, applied to the estate and the bur- thens upon it, there was nothing given the heir male but the skeleton of an estate. " The plea of conscience (said his Lordship,) which you put, is a most respect- able one, especially when conscience and self are on different sides. But I think that conscience is not well informed, and that self and she ought on this occasion to be of a side." This letter, which had considerable influence upon my mind, 1 sent to Dr. Johnson, begging to hear from him again, upon this interesting question. DR. JOHNSON. 2:il ''!>. " TO JAMES HOSWELL, ESQ. v^,-^ • DEAR SIR, 4i7. " IIavinc not any acquaintance with the laws ov customs of Scotland, 1 cndcavourctl to consider your qucstiou upon general priuciplcs, and found nothing oi' much validity that 1 could oppose to this position: *• lie wiio inherits a fief unlimited by his ancestors, in- herits the power of limitin;;- it according to his own judgement or opinion/ If this be true, you may join with your father. " Further consideration produces another conclu- sion : ' He who receives a fief unlimited by his ances- tors, gives his heirs some reason to complain, if he does not transmit it unlimited to posterity. For why should he make the state of others worse than his own, with- out a reason !' If this be true, though neither you nor your father are about to do what is quite right, but as your father violates (I think) the legal succession least, he seems to be nearer the right than yourself. " It cannot but occur that ' Women have natural and equitable claims as well as men, and these claims are not to be capriciously or lightly superseded or infring- ed.^ When fiefs implied military service, it is easily discerned why females could not inherit them ; but that reason is now at an end. As manners make laws, man- ners likewise repeal them. " These are the general conclusions which I have at- tained. None of them are very favourable to your scheme of entail, nor perhaps to any scheme. My ob- servation, that only he who acquires an estate may be- queath it capriciously,-^ if it contains any conviction, includes this position likewise, that only he who ac- quires an estate may entail it capriciously. But 1 think it may be safely presumed, that ' he who inherits an estate, inherits all the power legally concomitant ;' and that ' He who gives or leaves unlimited an estate legal- ly limitable, must be presumed to give that power of limitation which he omitted to take away, and to com- mit future contingencies to future prudence.' In these " I had reminded him of his observation mentioned, p. lOO. 232 IHE LIFE OP 1776. two positions 1 believe Lord Hailes will advise you to ^^ rest ; every other notion of possession seems to me full 67. of difficulties, and embarrassed with scruples. " If these axioms be allowed, you have arrived now at full liberty without the help of particular circum- stances, which, however, have in your case great weight. You very, rightly observe, that he who passing by his brother gave the inheritance to his nephew, could lim- it no more than he gave ; and by Lord Hailes's esti- mate of fourteen years' purchase, what he gave was no more than you may easily entail according to your own opinion, if that opinion should finally prevail. " Lord Hailes's suspicion that entails are encroach- ments on the dominion of Providence, may be extend- ed to all hereditary privileges and all permanent insti- tutions ; I do not see why it may not be extended to any provision for the present hour, since all care about futurity proceeds upon a supposition, that we know at least in some degree what will be future. Of the fu- ture we certainly know nothing ; but we may form con- jectures from the past ; and the power of forming con- jectures, includes, in my opinion, the duty of acting in conformity to that probability which we discover. Providence gives the power, of which reason teaches the use. I am, dear Sir, " Your most faithful servant, " Feb. 9, 1776. " Sam. JohxXson.^' " I hope I shall get some ground now with Mrs. Boswell ; make my compliments to her, and to the lit- tle people. " Don't burn papers ; they may be safe enough in your own box, — you will wish to see them hereafter." TO THE SAME. " DEAR SIR, " To the letters which I have written about your great (question I have nothing to add. If your con- science is satisfied, you have now only your prudence to consult. I long for a letter, that 1 may know how DR. JOHNSON. fS.1 this troublesome and vexatious question is at last de- 177^^". cided.' 1 hope that it will at last end well. J^<^''<^' ^iT^"^ Hailos's letter was very friendly, and very seasonable, (,7/ but I think his aversion from entails has somethin<^ in it like superstition. Providence is not counteracted by anv means which i^rovidence puts into our power. Ihe continuance and propagation of families makes a j^reat part of the Jewish law, and is by no means prohibited in the Christian institution, though the necessity of it continues no longer. Hereditary tenures are establish- ed in all civilized countries, and are accompanied in most with hereditary authority. Sir William Temple considers our constitution as defective, that there is not an unalienable estate in land connected with a peerage : and Lord Bacon mentions as a proof that the Turks are Barbarians, their want of Stirpes^ as he calls them, or hereditary rank. Do not let your mind, when it is freed from the supposed necessity of a rigorous entail, be en- tangled with contrary objections, and think all entails unlawful, till you have cogent arguments, which 1 be- lieve you will never find. 1 am afraid of scniplcs. " 1 have now sent all Lord llaile's papers; part I found hidden in a drawer in which I had laid them for security, and had forgotten them. Part of these are written twice ; 1 have returned both the copies. Part I had read before. " Be so kind as to return Lord Ilailes my most res- pectful thanks for his first volume : his accuracy strikes me with wonder; his narrative is far superiour to that of Henault, as 1 have formerly mentioned. " I am afraid that the trouble, which my irregularity and delay has cost him, is greater, far greater, than any good that I can do him will ever recompense ; but if I have any more copy, 1 will try to do better. » The entail framed by my father with various judicious clauses, was settled by him and me, settling the estate upon the heirs male of his grandfather, which I found had been already done by my grandfather, imperfectly, but so as to be de- feated only by selling the lands. I was freed by Dr. Johnson from scruples of conscientious obligation, and could, therefore, gratify my father. But my opinion and partiaUty for male succession, in its full extent, remained unshaken. Yet let me not be thought harsh or unkind to daughters : for my notion is, that they should be treated with great affection and tenderness, and always participnte of 'he prosperity of the famih^ VOT,. IT, ."iO 23'h THE LIFE OF 1776. " Pray let me know if Mrs. Bosvvell is friends with ^^ me, and pay my respects to Veronica, and Euphemia, 67. and Alexander. 1 am, Sir, " Your most humble servant, " February 15, 1776. " Sam. Johnson." " MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. " Edinburgh, Feb. 20, 1776. ****** " You have illuminated my mind, and relieved me from imaginary shackles of conscientious obligation. Were it necessary, I could immediately join in an en- tail upon the series of heirs approved by my father ; but it is better not to act too suddenly." " DR. JOHNSON TO MR. BOSWELL. " DEAR SIR, " I AM glad that what I could think or say has at all contributed to quiet your thoughts. Your reso- lution not to act, till your opinion is confirmed by more deliberation, is very just. If you have been scrupulous, do not be rash. I hope that as you think more, and take opportunities of talking with men intel- ligent in questions of property, you will be able to free yourself from every difficulty. " When I wrote last, 1 sent, I think, ten packets. Did you receive them all ? " You must tell Mrs. Bosvvell that I suspected her to have written without your knowledge,^ and there- ^ fore did not return any answer, lest a clandestine cor- respondence should have been perniciously discovered. I will write to her soon. ***** *^ " 1 am, dear Sir, " Most affectionately yours, " Feb. 24, 1776. " Sam. Johnson." Having communicated to Lord Hailes what Dr. Johnson wrote concerning the question which per- * A letter to liim on Uie interesting subject of the family settlement, which I liad read. DR. JOHNSON. 233 plexed me so much, his Lordship wrote to me ; " Your W76. scruples have proihiced uiore fruit thau I ever expected ^^^ from them ; an excellcut dissertation on general princi- (j;. pies of morals and law," I wrote to Dr. Johnson on the 20th of February, complaining of melancholy, and expressing a strong desire to be with him ; informing him that the ten packets came all safe ; that Lord llailes was much obliged to him, and said he had almost wholly remov- ed his scruples against entails. " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " I HAVE not had your letter half an hour : as you lay so much weight upon my notions, 1 should think it not just to delay my answer. " I am very sorry that your melancholy should re- turn, and should be sorry likewise if it could have no relief but from my company. My counsel you may have when you are pleased to require it ; but of my company you cannot in the next month have much, for Mr. Thrale will take me to Italy, he says, on the first of Apiil. " Let me warn you very earnestly against scruples. I am glad that you are reconciled to your settlement, and think it a great honour to have shaken Lord Hailes's opinion of entails. Do not, however, hope wholly to reason away your troubles ; do not feed them with attention, and they will die imperceptibly away. Fix your thoughts upon your business, fill vour intervals with company, and sunshine will again break in upon your mind. If you will come to me, you must come very quickly ; and even then I know not but we may scour the country together, for 1 have a mind to see Oxford and Lichfield, before I set out on this long journey. To this I can only add that I am, dear Sir, " Your most affectionate humble servant, " March o, 177(). " Sam. Johnson." 236 THE LIFE OF 1776. TO THE SAME. " DEAR SIR, " Very early in April we leave England, and in the beginning of the next week I shall leave London for a short time ; of this I think it necessary to inform you, that you may not be disappointed in any of your enterprises. 1 had not fully resolved to go into the country before this day. " Please to make my compliments to Lord Hailes ; and mention very particularly to Mrs. Boswell my hope that she is reconciled to, Sir, " Your faithful servant, " March 12, 1776. " Sam. Johnson." Above thirty years ago, the heirs of Lord Chancel- lor Clarendon presented the University of Oxford with the continuation of his History, and such other of his Lordship's manuscripts as had not been published, on condition that the profits arising from their publication should be applied to the establishment of a Manage, in the University. The gift was accepted in full convo- cation. A person being novt^ recommended to Dr. Johnson, as fit to superintend this proposed riding- school, he exerted himself with that zeal for which he was remarkable upon every similar occasion. But, on enquiry into the matter, he found that the scheme was not likely to be soon carried into execution ; the profits arising from the Clarendon press being, from some mis- management, very scanty. This having been explain- ed to him by a respectable dignitary of the church, who had good means of knowing it, he wrote a letter upon the subject, which at once exhibits his extraor- dinary precision and acuteness, and his warm attach- ment to his Alma Mater. ^' TO the reverend dr. wetherell, master of UNIVERSITY-COLLEGE, OXFORD. "•' DEAR SIR, " Few things are more unpleasant than the trans- action of business with men who are above knowing or DR. JOHNSON. 937 caring what they have to do ; such as the trustees for 1776. Lord Cornbury's institution will, perliaps, appear, ^^^ when you have read Dr. *******'s letter. G7. " Tiie last part of the Doctor's letter is of great importance. The complaint^ which he makes 1 have heard long; ago, and did not know but it was redressed. It is unhappy that a practice so erroneous has not been altered ; for altered it must be, or our press will be useless with all its privileges. The booksellers, who, like all other men, have strong prejudices in their own favour, are enough inclined to think the practice of printing and selling books by any but themselves, an encroachment on the rights of their fraternity ; and have need of stronger inducements to circulate academ- ical publications than those of another ; for, of that mutual co-operation by which the general trade is car- ried on, the University can bear no part. Of those whom he neither loves nor fears, and from whom he expects no reciprocation of good offices, why should any man promote the interest but for profit ? 1 suppose, with all our scholastick ignorance of mankind, we are still too knowing to expect that the booksellers will erect themselves into patrons, and buy and sell under the influence of a disinterested zeal for the promotion of learning. " To the booksellers, if we look for either honour or profit from our press, not only their common profit, but something more must be allowed ; and if books, printed at Oxford, are expected to be rated at a high price, that price must be levied on the publick, and paid by the ultimate purchaser, not by the intermedi- ate agents. What price shall be set upon the book, is, to the booksellers, wholly indifl'erent, provided that they gain a proportionate profit by negociating the sale. " Why books printed at Oxford should be particu- larly dear, I am, however, unable to find. We pay no rent ; we inherit many of our instruments and mate- rials ; lodging and victuals are cheaper than at Lou:- ' 1 suppose the complaint was, that the trustees of the Oxford press did not aU 'low the Londpo bookseUert a sufficient profit upon vending their publication''. 23S THE LIFE OF 177G. don ; and, therefore, workmanship ought, at least, not ^^^ to be dearer. Our expences are naturally less than 67. those of booksellers ; and in most cases, communities are content with less profit than individuals. " It is, perhaps, not considered through how many hands a book often passes, before it comes into those of the reader ; or what part of the profit each hand must retain, as a motive for transmitting it to the next. " We will call our primary agent in London, Mr. Cadell, who receives our books from us, gives them room in his warehouse, and issues them on demand ; by him they are sold to Mr. Dilly, a wholesale book- seller, who sends them into the country ; and the last seller is the country bookseller. Here are three prof- its to be paid between the printer and the reader, or in the style of commerce, between the manufacturer and the consumer ; and if any of these profits is too penu- riously distributed, the process of commerce is inter- rupted. " We are now come to the practical question, what is to be done ? You will tell me, with reason, that I have said nothing, till I declare how much, according to my opinion, of the ultimate price ought to be dis- tributed through the whole succession of sale. " The deduction, 1 am afraid, will appear very great : but let it be considered before it is refused. We must allow, for profit, between thirty and thirty- five per cent, between six and seven shillings in the pound ; that is, for every book which costs the last buyer twenty shillings, we must charge Mr. Cadell with something less than fourteen. We must set the copies at fourteen shilling each, and superadd what is called the quarterly book, or for every hundred books so charged we must deliver an hundred and four. " The profits will then stand thus : " Mr. Cadell, who runs no hazard, and gives no credit, will be paid for warehouse room and attendance by a shilling profit on each book, and his chance of the quarterly-book. " Mr. Dilly, who buys the book for fifteen shillings, and who will expect the quarterly-book if he takes DR. JOHNSON. 2J9 Hve and twenty, will send it to his country-customer J77(>. at sixteen and sixpence, by which, at the hazard of ^j^ loss, and the certainty of long credit, he gains the reg- 07. ular profit of ten per cent, which is expected in the wholesale trade. " The country bookseller, buying at sixteen and six- pence, and commonly trusting a considerable time, gains but three and sixpence, and if he trusts a year, not much more than two and sixpence ; otherwise than as he may, perhaps, take as long credit as he gives. " With less profit than this, and more you see he cannot have, the country bookseller cannot live ; for his receipts are small, and his debts sometimes bad. " Thus, dear Sir, I have been incited by Dr. *******'s letter to give you a detail of the circulation of books, which, perhaps, every man has not had op- portunity of knowing ; and which those who know it, do not, perhaps, always distinctly consider. " 1 am, &c. " March 12, 1776. " Sam. Johnson." « Having arrived in London late on Friday, the L-^th of March, I hastened next morning to wait on Dr. Johnson, at his house ; but found he was removed from Johnson's-court, No. 7, to Bolt-court, No. 8, still keeping to his favourite Fleet-street. My reflection at the time upon this change as marked in my Journal, is as follows : " I felt a foolish regret that he had left a court which bore his name ;9 but it was not foolish to be affected with some tenderness of regard for a place in which I had seen him a great deal, from whence I had often issued a better and a happier man than when I went in, and which had often appeared to my imagination while 1 trod its pavement, in the solemn darkness of the night, to be sacred to wisdom and ^ I am happy in giving this full and clear statement to the publick, to vindicate, by the autlionty of the greatest authour of his age, that respectable body of men, the Booksellers of London, from vulgar reflections, as if their profits were exorbi- tant, when, in truth, Dr. Johnson has here allowed them more than they usually demand. ' He said, when in Scotland, that he was Johmon of that Hi. 24^0 THE LIFE OF >776. piety." Being informed that he was at Mr. Thrale's, ^J^ in the Borough, I hastened thither, and found Mrs. 67. Thrale and him at breakfast. I was kindly welcomed. In a moment he was in a full glow of conversation, and I felt myself elevated as if brought into another state of being. Mrs. Thrale and I looked to each other while he talked, and our looks expressed our congenial admiration and affection for him. I shall ever recollect this scene with great pleasure. I ex- claimed to her, " I am now, intellectually, Hermippus redivivtis^^ I am quite restored by him, by transfusion of mind.^^ " There are many (she replied) who ad- mire and respect Mr. Johnson ; but you and 1 love him." He seemed very happy in the near prospect of going to Italy with Mr. and Mrs. Thrale. " But, (said he,) before leaving England I am to take a jaunt to Ox- ford, Birmingham, my native city Lichfield, and my old friend, Dr. Taylor's, at Ashbourne, in Derbyshire, I shall go in a few days, and you, Boswell, shall go vvith me." I was ready to accompany him ; being willing even to leave London to have the pleasure of his con- versation. I mentioned with much regret the extravagance of the representative of a great family in Scotland, by which there was danger of its being ruined ; and as Johnson respected it for its antiquity, he joined with me in thinking it would be happy if this person should die. Mrs. Thrale seemed shocked at this, as feudal barbarity ; and said, " I do not understand this prefer- ence of the estate to its owner ; of the land to the man who walks upon that land." Johnson. " Nay, Mad- am, it is not a preference of the land to its owner ; it is the preference of a family to an individual. Here is an establishment in a country, which is of importance for ages, not only to the chief but to his people ; an estab- lishment which extends upwards and downwards ; that this should be destroyed by one idle fellow is a sad thino." ' See vol. I. p. 327. DR. JOHNSON. 9i\ He said, " Entails arc good, because it is good to '/Tf*. preserve in a country, serieses of men, to whom the ^^'^ people are accustomed to l(X)k up as to their hiaders. aj. But 1 am tor leaving a quantity of land in commerce, to excite industry, and keep money in the country ; for if no land were to he bought in tlie country, there would he no encouragement to acquire wealth, because a family could not be founded there ; or if it were ac- quired, it must be carried away to another country where land may be bought. And although the land in every country will remain the same, and be as fertile where there is no money, as where there is, yet all that portion of the happiness of civil life, which is produced by money circulating in a country, would be lost." BoswELL. " Then, Sir, would it be for the a'dvantage of a country that all its lands were sold at once!" Johnson. " So far, Sir, as money produces good, it would be an advantage ; ,for, then that country would have as much money circulating in it as it is worth. But to be sure this would be counterbalanced by disad- vantages attending a total change of proprietors." I expressed my opinion that the power of entailing should be limited thus: "That there should be one third, or perhaps one half of the land of a country kept free for commerce ; that the proportion allowed to he entailed, should be parcelled out so that no family could entail above a certain quantity, l^et a fiunily, accord- ing to the abilities of its representatives, be richer or poorer in different generations, or always rich if its rep- resentatives be always wise : but let its absolute perma- nency be moderate. In this way we should be certain of there being always a number of established roots; and as in the course of nature, there is in every age an extinction of some families, there would be continual openings for men ambitious of perpetuity, to plant a stock in the entailed ground."* Johnson. " Why, Sir, -The privilege of perpetuating in a family an estate and amis indifeaully from generation to generation, is enjoyed by none of his Majesty's subjects exct-pt in Scotland, where the legal fiction oi fine and recovery is unknown. It is a privilege so proud, that I should think it would be proper to have the exercise of it depend- ent on the royal prerogative. It seems absurd to permit the power of perpetua- ting their representation, to men, who having had no eminent merit, have truly VOL. II. 31 •242 THE LIFE or '776. mankind will be better able to regulate the system of ^^ entails, when the evil of too much land being locked (57. " up by them is felt, than we can do at present when it is not felt." I mentioned Dr. Adam Smith's book on " The Wealth of Nations," which was just published, and that Sir John Pringle had observed to me, that Dr. Smith, who had never been in trade, could not be ex- pected to write well on that subject any more than a lawyer upon physick. Johnson. " He is mistaken, Sir : a man who has never been engaged in trade him- self may undoubtedly write well upon trade, and there is nothing which requires more to be illustrated by phi- losophy than trade does. As to mere wealth, that is to say, money, it is clear that one nation or one individual cannot increase its store but by making another poorer : but trade procures what is more valuable, the recipro- cation of the peculiar advantages of different countries. A merchant seldom thinks but of his own particular trade. To write a good book upon it, a man must have extensive views. It is not necessary to have practised, to write well upon a subject." 1 mentioned law as a sub- ject on which no man could write well without prac- tice. Johnson. " Why, Sir, in England, where so much money is to be got by the practice of the law, most of our writers upon it have been in practice ; though Blackstone had not been much in practice when ' he published his ' Commentaries.' But upon the Con- tinent, the great writers on law have not all been in practice: Grotius, indeed was; but Puffendorf was not, Burlamaqui was not." When we had talked of the great consequence which a man acquired by being employed in his profession, I suggested a doubt of the justice of the general opinion, that it is improper in a lawyer to solicit employment ; for why, 1 urged, should it not be equally allowable to solicit that as the means of consequence, as it is to so- licit votes to be elected a member of Parliament ? Mr. Strahan had told me that a countryman of his and no name. The King, as the impartial father of his people, would never refuse t» grant the privilege to those who deserved it. DR. JOHNSON. S43 mine, who had risen to eminence in the law, had, when i77<>. first making his way, sohcited him to get him omployed ^^^ in city causes. Johnson. " Sir, it is wrong- to stir up 07. ' law-suits ; but when once it is certain that a law-suit is to go on, there is nothing wrong in a lawyer's endeav- ouring that he shall have the benefit, rather than anoth- er." BoswELL. " You would not solicit employment, Sir; if you were a lawyer." Johnson. " No, Sir ; but not because 1 should think it wrong, but because I should disdain it." This was a good distinction, which will be felt by men of just pride. He proceeded: " However, 1 would not have a lawyer to be wanting to himself in using fair means. I would have him to inject a little hint now and then, to prevent his being overlooked." Lord Mountstuart's bill for a Scotch Militia, in sup- porting which his Lordship had made an able speech in the House of Commons, was now a pretty general top- ick of conversation. — Johnson. " As Scotland contrib- utes so little land-tax towards the general support of the nation, it ought not to have a militia paid out of the general fund, unless it should be thought for the gen- eral interest, that Scotland should be protected from an invasion, which no man can think will happen ; for what enemy would invade Scotland, where there is nothing to be got ? No, Sir ; now that the Scotch have not the pay of English soldiers spent among them, as so many troops are sent abroad, they are trying to get money another way, by having a militia paid. If they are afraid, and seriously desire to have an armed force to defend them, they should pay for it. Your scheme is to retain a part of your land-tax, by making us pay and clothe your militia." Boswell. " You should not talk of z0e and i/ou, Sir : there is now an Union." Johnson. " There must be a distinction of interest, while the pro- portions of land-tax are so unequal. If Yorkshire should say, ' Instead of paying our land-tax, we will keep a greater number of inilitia,' it would be unreasonable." In this argument my friend was certainly in the wrong. The land-tax is as unequally proportioned be- tween different parts of England, as between England 344) THE LIFE OF i?76. and Scotland ; nay, it is considerably unequal in Scot- land itself. But the land-tax is but a small part of the numerous branches of publick revenue, all of which Scotland pays precisely as England does. A French invasion made in Scotland would soon penetrate into England. He thus discoursed upon supposed obligation in settling estates : — " V¥here a man gets the unlimited property of an estate, there is no obligation upon him m justice to leave it to one person rather than to another. There is a motive of preference from kindness, and this kindness is generally entertained for the nearest rela- tion. If I oi&e a particular man a sum of money, I am obliged to let that man have the next money I get, and cannot in justice let another have it : but if I owe money to no man, I may dispose of what I get as I please. There is not a dehitum justitice to a man^s next heir ; there is only a dehitum, caritatis. It is plain, then, that I have morally a choice, according to my liking. If I have a brother in want, he has a claim from affec- tion to my assistance ; but if I have also a brother m want, whom 1 like better, he has a preferable claim. The right of an heir at law is only this, that he is to have the succession to an estate, in case no other per- son is appointed to it by the owner. His right is merely preferable to that of the King." We got into a boat to cross over to Black-friars ; and as we moved along the Thames, I talked to him of a little volume, which, altogether unknown to him, was advertised to be published in a few days, under the title of " Johnsoniima, or Bon-mots of Dr. Johnson." John- son. " Sir, it is a mighty impudent thing." Boswell. " Pray, Sir, could you have no redress if you were to prosecute a publisher for bringing out, under your name, what you never said, and ascribing tq you dull stupid nonsense, or making you swear profanely, as many ignorant relaters of your bon-mots dol'^ Johnson. " No, Sir ; there will always be some truth mixed with the falsehood, and how can it be ascertained how much is true and how much is false \ Besides, Sir, what dam- ages would a jury give me for having been represented DR. JOHNSON. 245 as swearing!" Boswell. " I think, Sir, you should at ''776. least disavow such a publication, because the world and ^^ posterity might with much plausible foundation say, Gy. * Here is a volume which was publickly advertised and came out in Dr. Johnson^s own time, and, by his si- lence, was admitted by him to be genuine." Johnson. " 1 shall give myself no trouble about the matter." He was, perhaps, above suffering from such spurious publications ; but 1 could not help thinking, that many men would be much injured in their reputation, by having absurd and vicious sayings imputed to them ; and that redress ought in such cases to be given. He said, " The value of every story depends on its being true. A story is a picture either of an individual or of human nature in general : if it be false, it is a pic- ture of nothing. For instance: suppose a man should tell that Johnson, before setting out for Italy, as he had to cross the Alps, sat down to make himself wings. This many people would believe ; but it would be a picture of nothing. ******* (naming a worthy friend of ours,) used to think a story, a story, till 1 shewed him that truth was essential to it." 1 observed, that Foote en- tertained us with stories which were not true ; but that, indeed, it was properly not as narratives that Foote's stories pleased us, but as collections of ludicrous ima- ges. Johnson. " Foote is quite impartial, for he tells lies of every body." The importance of strict and scrupulous veracity cannot be too often inculcated. Johnson was known to be so rigidly attentive to it, that even in his com- mon conversation the slightest circumstance was men- tioned with exact precision. The knowledge of his having such a principle and habit made his friends have a perfect reliance on the truth of every thing that he told, however it might have been doubted if told by many others. As an instance of this, I may mention an odd incident which he related as having happened to him one night in Fleet-street. " A gentlewoman (said he) begged I would give her my arm to assist her in crossing the street, which I accordingly did ; upon which she offered me a shilling, supposing me to be 246 THE LIFE OF 1776. the watchman. I perceived that she was somewhat in ^(^ liquor." This, if told by most people, would have 67. been thought an invention ; when told by Johnson, it was believed by his friends as much as if they had seen Avhat passed. We landed at the Temple-stairs, where we parted. I found him in the evening in Mrs. Williams's room. We talked of religious orders. He said, " It is as un- reasonable for a man to go into a Carthusian convent ^ for fear of being immoral, as for a man to cut off his hands for fear he should steal. There is, indeed, great resolution in the immediate act of dismembering him- self ; but when that is once done, he has no longer any merit : for though it is out of his power to steal, yet he may all his life be a thief in his heart. So when a man has once become a Carthusian, he is obliged to continue so, whether he chooses it or not. Their silence, too, is absurd. We read in the Gospel of the apostles being sent to preach, but not to hold their tongues. All severity that does not tend to increase ' good, or prevent evil, is idle. I said to the Lady Ab- bess of a convent, ' Madam, you are here, not for the love of virtue, but the fear of vice.' She said, ' She should remember this as long as she lived.'' 1 thought it hard to give her this view of her situation, when she could not help it ; and, indeed, I wondered at the whole of what he now said ; because, both in his " Rambler" and " Idler," he treats religious austerities with much solemnity of respect. Finding him still persevering in his abstinence from wine, 1 ventured to speak to him of it. — Johnson. " Sir, 1 have no objection to a man's drinking wine, if he can do it in moderation. I found myself apt to go to excess in it, and therefore, after having been for some time without it, on account of illness, I thought it better not to return to it. Every man is to judge for himself, according to the etFects which he experiences. One of the fathers tells us, he found fasting made him so peevish that he did not practise it." Though he often enlarged upon the evil of intoxi- cation, he was bv no means harsh and unforijivinor to DR. JOHNSON. 247 those who indulged in occasional excess in wine. 1776. One of his friends, 1 well remember, came to sup at a ^^^ tavern with him and some other gentltmon, and too 07. plainly discovered that he had drunk too much at din- ner. When one who loved mischief, thinking to pro- duce a severe censure, asked Johnson, a few days afterwards, " Well, Sir, what did your friend say to you, as an apology for being in such a situation ?" Johnson answered, " Sir, he said all that a man sliould say : he said he was sorry for it." 1 heard him once give a very judicious practical advice upon this subject : " A man who has been drinking wine at all freely, should never go into a new company. With those who have partaken of wine with him, he may be pretty well in unison ; but he will probably be offensive, or appear ridiculous, to other people." He allowed very great influence to education. " I do not deny. Sir, but there is some original difference in minds ; but it is nothing in comparison of what is form- ed by education. We may instance the science of mini' bers^ which all minds are equally capable of attaining : yet we find a prodigious difference in the powers of dif- ferent men, in that respect, after they are grown up, be- cause their minds have been more or less exercised in it : and 1 think the same cause will explain the differ- ence of excellence in other things, gradations admitting always some difference in the first principles." This is a difficult subject ; but it is best to hope that diligence may do a great deal. We are sure of what it can do, in increasing our mechanical force and dexterit3^ I again visited him on Monday. He took occasion to enlarge, as he often did, upon the wretchedness of a sea-life. " A ship is worse than a gaol. There is, in a gaol, better air, better company, better conveniency of every kind ; and a ship has the additional disadvantage of being in danger. When men come to like a sea-life, they are not fit to live on land." — " Then (said I) it would be cruel in a father to breed his son to the sea." Johnson. " It would be cruel in a father who thinks as I do. Men go to sea, before they know the unhap- 248 THE LIFE OF 1770. piness of that way of life ; and when they have come to ^f^ know it, they cannot escape from it, because it is then 67. ' too late to choose another profession ; as indeed is gen- erally the case with men, when they have once engag- ed in any particular way of life." On Tuesday, March 19, which was fixed for our pro- posed jaunt, we met in the morning at the Somerset coffee-house in the Strand, where we were taken up by the Oxford coach. He was accompanied by Mr. Gvvyn, the architect ; and a gentleman of Merton College, whom we did not know, had the fourth seat. We soon got into conversation ; for it was very remarkable of Johnson, that the presence of a stranger had no restraint upon his talk. I observed that Garrick, who was about to quit the stage, would soon have an easier life. Johnson. " 1 doubt that, Sir." Boswell. "Why, Sir, he will be Atlas with the burthen off his back." Johnson. " But I know not. Sir, if he will be so steady without his load. However he should never play any more, but be entirel}'^ the gentleman, and not partly the player : he should no longer subject himself to be hiss- ed by a mob, or to be insolently treated by performers, whom he used to rule with a high hand, and who would gladly retaliate." Boswell. " 1 think he should play once a year for the benefit of decayed actors, as it has been said he means to do." Johnson. " Alas, Sir ! he will soon be a decayed actor himself." Johnson expressed his disapprobation of ornamental architecture, such as magnificent columns supporting a portico, or expensive pilasters supporting merely their own capitals, " because it consumes labour dispropor- tionate to its utility." For the same reason he satyrised i statuary. " Painting (said he) consumes labour not dis- proportionate to its effect ; but a fellow will hack half a year at a block of marble to make something in stone that hardly resembles a man. The value of statuary is owing to its difficulty. You would not value the finest head cut upon a carrot." Here he seemed to me to be strangel}^ deficient in taste ; for surely statuary is a no- ble art of imitation, and preserves a wonderful expres- sion of the varieties of the human frame ; and although DR. JOHNSON. 349 It must be allowed that the circumstances of difficulty i77fi. enhance the value of a marble head, we should consid- ^^ er, that if it requires a long time in the performance, it (jy. has a proportionate value in durability. (Jwyn was a fine lively rattling fellow. Dr. Johnson kept him in subjection, but with a kindly authority. The spirit of the artist, however, rose against what he thought a Gothick attack, and he made a brisk defence. " What, Sir, will you allow no value to beauty in archi- tecture or in statuary I Why should we allow it then in writing I Why do you take the trouble to give us so many fine allusions, and bright images, and elegant phrases ! You might convey all your instruction with- out these ornaments." Johnson smiled with compla- cency ; but said, " Why, Sir, all these ornaments are useful, because they obtain an easier reception for truth ; but a building is not at all more convenient for being decorated with superfluous carved work." Gwyn at last was lucky enough to make one reply to Dr. Johnson, which he allowed to be excellent. John- son censured him for taking down a church which might have stood many years, and building a new one at a different place, for no other reason but that there might be a direct road to a new bridge ; and his expres- sion was, "You are taking a church out of the way, that the people may go in a straight line to the bridge." — " No, Sir, (said Gwyn,) I am putting the church iu the way, that the people may not go out of the liuufT Johnson, (with a hearty loud laugh of approbation,) " Speak no more. Rest your colloquial fame upon this.'^ Upon our arrival at Oxford, Dr. Johnson and I went directly to University College, but were disappointed on finding that one of the fellows, his friend Mr. Scott, who accompanied him from Newcastle to Edinburgh, was gone to the country. We put up at the Angel inn, and passed the evening by ourselves in easy and familiar conversation. Talking of constitutional mel- ancholy, he observed, " A man so afflicted. Sir, must divert distressing thoughts, and not combat with them." BoswELL. " May not he think them down, Sir ?" voT.. TT. ;«2 '^JO THE LIFE OF 1776. Johnson. " No, Sir. To attempt to t/mik tJiem down is madness. He should have a lamp constantly burn- ing in his bed-chamber during the night, and if wake- fully disturbed, take a book, and read, and compose himself to rest. To have the management of the mind is a great art, and it may be attained in a considerable degree by experience and habitual exercise." Hos- WELL. " Should not he provide amusements for him- self ? Would it not, for instance, be right for him to take a course of chymistry ]" Johnson. " Let him take a course of chymistry, or a course of rope-dancing, or a course of any thing to which he is inclined at the time. Let him contrive to have as many retreats for his mind as he can, as many things to which it can fly from itself. Burton's ' Anatomy of Melancholy' is a valuable work. It is, perhaps, overloaded with quotation. But there is a great spirit and great power in what Burton says, when he writes from his own mind," Next morning we visited Dr. Wetherell, Master of University College, with whom Dr. Johnson conferred on the most advantageous mode of disposing of the books printed at the Clarendon press, on which sub- ject his letter has been inserted in a former page. I often had occasion to remark, Johnson loved business, loved to have his wisdom actually operate on real life. Dr. VV^etherell and 1 talked of him without reserve in his own presence. Wetherell. " I would have given him a hundred guineas if he would have written a preface to his ' Political Tracts,' by way of a Dis- course on the British Constitution." Boswell. " Dr. Johnson, though in his writings, and upon all occa- sions a great friend to the constitution both in church and state, has never written expressly in support of either. There is really a claim upon him for both. I am sure he could give a volume of no great bulk upon each, which would comprise all the substance, and with his spirit would effectually maintain them. He sliould erect a fort on the confines of each." I could perceive that he was displeased with this dialogue. He burst out, "Why should /be always writing!" 1 hoped DR. JOHNSON. 2.31 lie was conscious that the del>t was just, and meant to i77fi. discharge it, though he (hsliked being ilunned. l^iTT We then went to IVnihroke College, and waited on (i;. his old friend Dr. Adams, the master of it, whom I found to lie a most polite, pleasing, communicative man. 15efore his advancement to the headship of his college, 1 had intended to go and visit him at Shrews- bury, where he was rector of wSt. Chad's, in order to get from him what i)articulars he could recollect of John- son's academical life. He now obligingly gave me part of that authentick information, which, with what 1 af- terwards owed to his kindness, will be found incorpora- ted in its proper place in this work. Dr. Adams had distinguished himself by an able answer to David Hume's " Essay on Miracles." He told me he had once dined in company with Hume in London : that Hume shook hands with him, and said, " You have treated me much better than 1 deserve ;" and that they exchanged visits. 1 took the liberty to object to treating an infidel writer with smooth civility. Where there is a controversy concerning a passage in a classick authour, or concerning a question in antiqui- ties, or any other subject in which human happiness is not deeply interested, a man may treat his antagonist with politeness and even respect. But where the con- troversy is concerning the truth of religion, it is of such vast importance to him who maintains it, to obtain the victory, that the person of an opponent ought not to be spared. If a man firmly believes that religion is an in- valuable treasure, he will consider a writer who endeav- ours to deprive mankind of it as a robber ; he will look upon him as odious^ though the infidel might think him- self in the right. A robber who reasons as the gang do in the " Beggar's Opera," who call themselves practical philosophers, and may have as much sincerity as per- nicious speculative philosophers, is not the less an object of just indignation. An abandoned profligate may think that it is not wrong to debauch my wite ? but shall I, therefore, not detest him \ And if I catch him in making an attempt, shall 1 treat him with politeness ? No. I will kick him down stairs, or run him through the 35^ THE LIFE OF 1776. body ; that is, if I really love my wife, or have a true ^J^ rational notion of honour. An Infidel then shall not 67, be treated handsomely by a Christian, merely because he endeavours to rob with ingenuity. I do declare • however, that I am exceedingly unvvilhng to be pro- voked to anger, and could 1 be persuaded that truth would not suffer from a cool moderation in its defend- ers, I should wish to preserve good humour, at least, in every controversy ; nor, indeed, do I see why a man should lose his temper while he does all he can to re- fute an opponent. I think ridicule may be fairly used against an infidel ; for instance, if he be an ugly fellow, and yet absurdly vain of his person, we may contrast his appearance with Cicero's beautiful image of virtue, could she be seen. Johnson coincided with me and said, " when a man vohmtarily engages in an impor- tant controversy, he is to do all he can to lessen his an- tagonist, because authority from personal respect has much weight with most people, and often more than reasoning. If my antagonist writes bad language, though that may not be essential to the question, I will attack him for his bad language." Adams. " You would not jostle a chimney-sweeper." Johnson. " Yes, Sir, if it were necessary to jostle him dozai." Dr. Adams told us, that in some of the Colleges at Oxford, the fellows had excluded the students from social intercourse with them in the common room. Johnson. " They are in the right, Sir : there can be no real conversation, no fair exertion of mind amongst them, if the young men are by ; for a man who has a character does not choose to stake it in their presence." Bos WELL. " But, Sir, may there not be very good con- versation without a contest for superiority ?" Johnson. *' No animated conversation, Sir, for it cannot be but one or other will come off superiour. I do not mean that the victor must have the better of the argument, for he may take the weak side ; but his superiority ol parts and knowledge will necessarily appear : and he to whom he thus shews himself superiour is lessened in the eyes of the young men. You know it was said. * Mallem cum Scaligero crrare quaw cum Clai-io revte DR. JOHNSON. 2j3 sapere.' In the same manner take 13cntley's and Jason 1776. de Nores' Comments upon Horace, you will admire ^^ Bentley more when wrong, than Jason when right/' f.y. We walked with Dr. Adams into the master's gar- den, and into the common room. Johnson, (after a reverie of meditation,) " Av ! Here 1 used to play at draughts with Phil. Jones and Fluyder. Jones loved beer, and did not get very forward in the church. Fiuyder turned out a scoundrel, a Whig, and said he was ashamed of having been bred at Oxford. He had a hving at Putney, and got under the eye of some re- tainers to the court at that time, and so became a vio- lent Whig : but he had been a scoundrel all along to be sure." BoswELL. " Was he a scoundrel. Sir, in any other way than that of being a political scoundrel ? Did he cheat at draughts ? Johnson. " Sir, we never played for mojieij." He then carried me to visit Dr. Bentham, Canon of Christ-Church, and Divinity professor, with whose learned and lively conversation we were much pleased. He gave us an invitation to dinner, which Dr. John- son told me was a high honour. " Sir, it is a great thing to dine with the Canons of Christ-Church." We could not accept his invitation, as we were engaged to dine at University College. We had an excellent din- ner there, with the Masters and Fellows, it being St. Cuthbert's day, which is kept by them as a festival, as he was a saint of Durham, with which this college is much connected. We drank tea with Dr. Home, late President of ]Magdalen College, and Bishop of Norwich, of whose abilities, in different respects, the publick has had emi- nent proofs, and the esteem annexed to whose chavar- ler was increased by knowing him personally. He had talked of publishing an edition of Walton's Lives, bur had laid aside that design, upon Dr. Johnson's ulliny, him, from mistake, that Lord Hailes intended to i\o it. 1 had wished to negociate between Lord Hailes and him, that one or other should perform so good a work. Johnson. " In order to do it well, it will be necessary to collect all the editions of AValton's Lives. By way 254 THE LIFE OF 1776. of adapting the book to the taste of the present age, ^^ they have, in a late edition, left out a vision which he 67. relates Dr. Donne had, but it should be restored ; and there should be a critical catalogue given of the works of the different persons whose lives were written by Walton, and therefore, their works must be carefully read by the editor/* We then went to Trinity College, where he intro- duced me to Mr. Thomas Warton, with whom we pass- ed a part of the evening. We talked of Biography. — Johnson. " It is rarely well executed. They only who live with a man can write his life with any genu- ine exactness and discrimination ; and few people who have lived with a man know what to remark about him. The chaplain of a late Bishop, whom I was to assist in writing some memoirs of his Lordship, could tell me scarcely any thing." ^ I said, Mr. Robert Dodsley's life should be written, as he had been so much connected with the wits of his time, and by his literary merit had raised himself from the station of a footman. Mr. Warton said, he had published a little volume under the title of " The Muse in Livery." Johnson. " 1 doubt whether Dodsley's brother would thank a man who should write his life ; yet Dodsley himself was not unwilling that his original low condition should be recollected. When Lord Lyttelton's ' Dialogues of the Dead' came out, one of which is between Apicius, an ancient epi- cure, and Dartineuf, a modern epicure, Dodsley said to me, ' I knew Dartineuf well, for I was once his foot- man." Biography led us to speak of Dr. John Campbell, who had written a considerable part of the " JJiogra- phia Britannica" Johnson, though he valued him highly, was of opinion that there was not so much in his great work, " A Political Survey of Great-Britain," '- It has been mentioned to me by an accurate English friend, that Dr. Johnstm could never have used the phrase almost nothing, as not being English ; and there- fore I have put another in its place. At the same time, 1 am not quite convinced it is not good English. For the best writers use this phrase " litilt or nothing ;" i. o. a:lmOst so little as to be nothing. DR. JOHNSON. So J as the world had been taught to expect ;* and had i77^. said to me, that he beheved Campbell's disappoint- "^^^ ment on account of the bad success of that work, had C7. killed him. lie this evening observed of it, " That work was his death." Mr. Warton, not adverting to his meaning, answered, " 1 believe so ; from the great attention he bestowed on it." .Iohnson. " Nay, Sir, he died of i.an/ of attention, if he died at all by that book." We talked of a work much in vogue at that time, written in a very mellifluous style, but which, under pretext of another subject, contained much artful infi- delity. 1 said it was not fair to attack us unexpected- ly ; he should have warned us of our danger, before we entered his garden of flowery eloquence, by adver- tising, " Spring-guns and men-traps set here." The authour had been an Oxonian, and was remembered there for having " turned Papist." 1 observed, that as he had chans-ed several times — from the Church of England to the Church of Rome, — from the Church of Rome to infidelity, — I did not despair yet of seeing him a methodist preacher. Johnson, (laughing.) "It is said, that his range has been more extensive, and that he has once been Mahometan. However, now that he has published his infidelity, he will probably persist in it." Boswell. " 1 am not quite sure of that, Sir." I mentioned Sir Richard Steele having published his " Christian Hero," with the avowed purpose of oblig- ing himself to lead a religious life ; yet, that his con- duct was by no means strictly suitable." Johnson. " Steele, I believe, practised the lighter vices." Mr. Warton, being engaged, could not sup with us at our inn ; we had therefore another evening by our- selves. I asked Johnson, whether a man's being for- . ward to make himself known to eminent people, and seeing as much of life, and getting as much informa- tion as he could in every way, was not yet lessening himself bv his forwardness. Johnson. "No, Sir; a ■' Vet surely it is a very useful work, and of wonderful research and labour for one man to have executed. '256 THE LIFE OF 1776. man always makes himself greater as he increases his ^knowledge." 67. I censured some ludicrous fantastick dialogues be- tween two coach-horses and other such stuff, which Ba- retti had lately published. He joined with me, and said, *' Nothing odd will do long. ' Tristram Shandy^ did not last.^' I expressed a desire to be acquainted with a lady who had been much talked of, and universally celebrated for extraordinary address and insinuation. Johnson. " Never believe extraordinary characters which you hear of people. Depend upon it, Sir, the}?^ are exaggerated. You do not see one man shoot a ;. great deal higher than another." I mentioned Mr. \ Burke. Johnson. " Yes ; Burke is an extraordinary man. His stream of mind is perpetual." It is very pleasing to me to record, that Johnson's high estima- tion of talents of this gentleman was uniform from their early acquaintance. Sir Joshua Reynolds informs me, that when Mr. Bnrke was first elected a member of Par- liament, and Sir John Hawkins expressed a wonder at his attaining a seat, Johnson said, " Now we who know Mr. Burke, know, that he will be one of the first men in the country." And once, when Johnson was ill, and unable to exert himself as much as usual without fatigue, Mr. Burke having been mentioned, he said " That fellow calls forth all my powers. Were 1 to see Burke now it would kill me." So much was he accus- tomed to consider conversation as a contest, and such was his notion of Burke as an opponent. Next morning, Thursday, March 21, we set out in a post-chaise to pursue our ramble. It was a delightful day, and we rode through Blenheim park. When I looked at the magnificent bridge built by John Duke of Marlborough, over a small rivulet, and recollected the Epigram made upon it — " The lofty arch his high ambition shows, " The stream, an emblem of his bounty flows :" and saw that now, by the genius of Brown, a magnifi- cent body of water was collected, I said, " They have droii^ned the Epigram." I observed to him, wliile in DR. JOHNSON. 2o7 the midst of the noble scene around us, " You and I, i??*^ Sir, have, I think, seen together the extremes of what '^^f^^ can be seen in Ihitain — the wild rough ishmd of Mull, 07. and IJlenheim park." We (lined at an excellent inn at Chapel-house, where he expatiated on the felicity of England in its taverns and inns, and triumphed over the French for not having, in any perfection, the tavern life. " There is no pri- vate house, (said he,) in which people can enjoy them- selves so well, as at a t^apital tavern. Let there be ever so great plenty of good things, ever so much grandeur, ever so much elegance, ever so much desire that every body should be easy ; in the nature of things it cannot be : there must always be some degree of care and anx- iety. The master of the house is anxious to entertain his guests ; the guests are anxious to be agreeable to him : and no man, but a very impudent dog indeed, can as freely command what is in another man's house, as if it were his own. Whereas, at a tavern, there is a general freedom from anxiety. You are sure you are welcome : and the more noise you make, the more trouble you give, the more good things you call for, the wclcomer you are. No servants will attend you with the alacrity which waiters do, who are incited by the prospect of an immediate reward in proportion as they please. No, Sir; there is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is pro- duced as by a good tavern or inn."^ He then repeat- ed, with great emotion, Shenstone's lines : " Whoe'er has travell'd life's dull round, " Where'er his stages may have been, - sir John Hawkins has preserved very few Memorabilia of Johnson. There is, however, to be found, in liis bulky tome, a very excellent one upon this subject. " In contradiction to those, who, having a wife and children, prefer domestick en- joyments to those which a tavern affords, I have heard him assert, that a tavern •Jjair luji the thrune of human felicity. — ' As soon (said he) as I enter the door of a tavern, I experience an oblivion of care, and a freedom from solicitude : when I am seated, I find the master courteous, and the servants obsequious to my call ; anxious to know and ready to supply my wants : wine there exhilarates my spir- its, and prompts me to free conversation and an interchange of discourse with those whom I most love : I dogmatise and am contradicted, and in this conflict gf 'Opinion and sentiments I find delight." VOL. IT. 3.3 258 THE LIFE OF iTTfi. " May sigh to think he still has found " The warmest welcome at an inn."® My illustrious friend, I thought, did not sufficiently admire Shenstone. That ingenious and elegant gentle- man's opinion of Johnson appears in one of his letters to Mr. Greaves, dated Feb. 9, 1760. " I have lately been reading one or two volumes of the Rambler ; who, excepting against some few hardnesses' in his manner, and the want of more examples to enliven, is one of the most nervous, most perspicuous, most concise, most harmonious prose writers I know. A learned diction improves by time." In the afternoon, as we were driven rapidly along in the post chaise, he said to me " Life has not many things better than this." We stopped at Stratford-upon-Avon, and drank tea and coffee ; and it pleased me to be with him upon the classick ground of Shakspeare's native place. He spoke slightingly of " Dyer's Fleece." — " The subject, Sir, cannot be made poetical. How can a man write poetically of serges and druggets ! Yet you will hear many people talk to you gravely of that excellent poem, " The Fleece." Having talked of Grainger's " Sugar-Cane," I mentioned to him Mr. Langton's having told me, that this poem, when read in manu- script at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, had made all the assem- bled wits burst into a laugh, when, after much blank- verse pomp, the poet began a new paragraph thus : " Now, Muse, let's sing of r«/^." And what increased the ridicule was, that one of the company, who slily overlooked the reader, perceived f' We happened to lie this night at the inn at Henley, where Shenstone wrote these lines.* * I give them as they are found in the corrected edition of his Works, pubh'shed iifter his death. In Dodsley's collection the stanza ran thus : " Whoe'er has travell'd life's dull round, " Whate'er his various tour has been, " May sigh to think hjiv oft he found " His wannest welcome at an hm." " " He too often makes use of the abitrad for the concreti." DR. JOHNSON. 9.59 that the word had been orig^inally mice^ and had been i77f). altered to /v/Av, as more dignified. « ^^'^ This passage does not appear in the printed work. c?. Dr. (Jrainger, or some of his friends, it should seem, having become sensible that introducing even Rats, in a grave poem, might be liable to banter. He, however, could not bring himself to relinquish the idea ; for they are thus, in a still more ludicrous manner, periphrast- ically exhibited in his poem as it now stands : *' Nor with less waste the whiskerM vermin race " A countless clan despoil the lowland cane." Johnson said, that Dr. Grainger was an agreeable man ; a man who would do any good that was in his power. His translation of Tibullus, he thought, was very well done ; but " The Sugar-Cane, a poem," did not please him ;' for, he exclaimed, " What could he make of a sugar-cane ? One might as well write the ' Parsley-bed, a Poem ;' or ' The Cabbage-garden, a Poem." BoswELL. " You must ihen j)ickle your cab- bage with the sal atticum" Johnson. " You know there is already ' The Hop-Garden, a Poem :' and, I think, one could say a great deal about cabbage. The poem might begin with the advantages of civilized soci- ety over a rude state, exemplified by the Scotch, who had no cabbages till Oliver Cromwell's soldiers intro- ^ Such is this little laughable incident, which has been often related Dr. Percy, the Bishop of Dromore, who was an intimate friend of Dr. Grainger, and has a particular regard for his memory, has communicated to me the following explana- tion : " The passage in question was originally not liable to such a perversion ; for the authour having occasion in that part of his work to mention the havock made by rats and mice, had introduced the subject in a kind of mock heroick, and a parody of Homer's battle of the frogs and mice, invoking the Muse of the old Grecian bard in an elegant and well-turned manner. In that state 1 had seen it ; but af- terwards, unknown to me and other friends, he had been persuaded, contrary to his own better judgement, to alter it, so as to produce the unlucky cfFect above- mentioned." The above was written by the Bishop when he had not the Poem itself to recur to ; and though the account given was true of it at one period, yet as Dr. Grain- ger afterwards altered the p.issage in question ; the remarks in the text do not now apply to the printed poem. The bishop gives this character of Dr. Grainger; — " He was not only a man of genius and learning, but had many excellent virtues ; being one of the most gene- rous, friendly, and benevolent men I ever knew." ' Dr. Johnson said to me, " Percy, Sir, was angry with me for laughing at the Sugar-cane : for he had a mind to make a groat thing of Graingei's cats." 260 THE LIFE OF 1776. diiced them ; and one might thus shew how arts are SaT propagated by conquest, as they were by the Roman 67. arms/' He seemed to be much diverted with the fer- tihty of his own fancy. I told him, that I heard Dr. Percy was writing the history of the wolf in Great-Britain. Johnson. " The wolf. Sir ! why the wolf! Why does he not write of the bear, which we had formerly I Nay, it is said we had the beaver. Or why does he not write of the grey rat, the Hanover rat, as it is called, because it is said to have come into this country about the time that the family of Hanover came ? I should like to see ' TZ/e History of the Grey Rat^ by Thomas Percy, D. I). Chaplaifi in Ordinary to His Majestif^^ (laughing im- moderately.) BoswELL. " I am afraid a court chaplain could not decently write of the grey rat." Johnson. *' Sir, he need not give it the name of the Hanover rat." Thus could he indulge a luxuriant sportive im- agination, when talking of a friend whom he loved and esteemed. He mentioned to me the singular history of an in- genious acquaintance. " He had practised physick in various situations with no great emolument. A West- India gentleman, whom he delighted by his conversa- tion, gave him a bond for a handsome annuity during his life, on the condition of his accompanying him to the West-Indies, and living with him there for two years. He accordingly embarked with the gentleman ; but upon the voyage fell in love with a young woman who happened to be one of the passengers, and married the wench. From the imprudence of his disposition he quarrelled with the gentleman, and declared he would have no connection with him. So he forfeited the annuity. He settled as a physician in one of the Leeward Islands. A man was sent out to him merely to compound his medicines. This fellow set up as rival to him in his practice of physick, and got so much tiu^ better of him in the opinion of the people of the island, that he carried away all the business, upon which h(- returned to England, and soon after died." I DR. JOHNSON. 261 On Friday, March 2^, having set out early from ^776. Henley, where we had lain the preceding night, we '^^ arrived at Birmingham about nine o'clock, and, after oy. breakfast, went to call on his old schoolfellow Mr. Hec- tor. A very stupid maid, who opened the door, told us, that, " her master was gone out ; he was gone to the country ; she could not tell when he would return." In short, she gave us a miserable reception ; and John- son observed, " She would have behaved no better to people who wanted him in the way of his profession." He said to her, " My name is Johnson ; tell him 1 call- ed. Will you remember the name!" She answered with rustick simplicity, in the Warwickshire pronunci- ation, " I don^t understand you, Sir." — " Blockhead, (said he,) I'll write." I never heard the word blockhead applied to a woman before, though 1 do not see why it should not, when there is evident occasion for it. ' He, however, made another attempt to make her understand him, and roared loud in her ear, " Johnson,^'' and then she catched the sound. We next called on Mr. Lloyd, one of the people called Quakers. He too was not at home, but Mrs. Lloyd was, and received us courteously, and asked us to dinner. Johnson said to me, " After the uncer- tainty of all human things at Hector^s, this invitation came very well." We walked about the town, and he was pleased to see it increasing. I talked of legitimation by subsequent marriage, which obtained in the Roman law, and still obtains in the law of Scotland. Johnson. " I think it a bad thing ; because the chastity of women being of the utmost importance, as all property depends upon it, they who forfeit it should not have any possibility of being restored to good character ; nor should the chil- dren, by an illicit connection, attain the full right of ' My worthy friend Mr. Langton, to whom I am under innumerable obhgations in the course of my Johnsonian History, has furnished me with a droll illustration of this question. An honest carpenter, after giving some anecdote, in his presence, of the ill treatment which he had received from a clerg^'man's wife, who was a noted termagant, and whom he accused of unjust dealing m some transaction with him, added, " I took care to let her know what I thought of her." And being ask- ed, " What did you say ?" ajuwcrcd, " \ told her she was a scoundrel." 262 THE LIFE OF 1776. lawful children, by the posteriour consent of the of- fending parties." His opinion upon this subject de- serves consideration. Upon his principle there may, at times, be a hardship, and seemingly a strange one, upon individuals ; but the general good of society is better secured. And, after all, it is unreasonable in an individual to repine that he has not the advantage of a state which is made different from his own, by the social institution under w^iich he is born. A woman does not complain that her brother, who is younger than her, gets their common father's estate. Why then should a natural son complain that a younger brother, by the same parents lawfully begotten, gets it! The operation of law is similar in both cases. Besides, an illegitimate son, who has a younger legitimate broth- er by the same father and mother, has no stronger claim to the father's estate, than if that legitimate broth- er had only the same father, from whom alone the estate descends. Mr. Lloyd joined us in the street ; and in a little while we met Friend Hector^ as Mr. Lloyd called him. It gave me pleasure to observe the joy which Johnson and he expressed on seeing each other again. Mr. Lloyd and I left them together, while he obligingly shewed me some of the manufactures of this very curious assemblage of artificers. We all met at dinner at Mr. Lloyd's, where we were entertained with great hospitality. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd had been married the same year with their Majesties, and like them, had been blessed with a numerous familv of fine children, their numbers being exactly the same. Johnson said, " Marriage is the best state for a man in general ; and every man is a worse man, in proportion as he is unfit for the married state." I have always loved the simplicity of manners, and the spiritual-mindedness of the Quakers ; and talking with Mr. Lloyd, I observed, that the essential part of religion was piety, a devout intercourse with the Divin- ity ; and that many a man was a Quaker without knowing it. DR. JOHNSON. 263 As Dr. Johnson had said to me in the morning, n/t>. while we walked together, that he liked individuals ^^^ among the Cx^iiakers, but not the sect ; when we were 07. at Mr. Lloyd's, 1 kept clear of introducing any ques- tions concerning the peculiarities of their faith, lUit 1 havins" asked to look at Haskerville's edition of " Bar- clay's Apology," Johnson laid hold of it ; and the chapter on baptism happening to open, Johnson re- marked, " He says there is neither precept nor practice for baptism, in the scriptures ; that is false." Here he was the aggressor, by no means in a gentle manner ; and the good Quakers had the advantage of him ; for he had read negligently, and had not observed that Barclay speaks of infant baptism ; which they calmly made him perceive. Mr. Lloyd, however, was in a great mistake ; for when insisting that the rite of bap- tism by water was to cease, when the ^y;/W//W admin- istration of Christ began, he maintained, that John the Baptist said, " My baptism shall decrease, but his shall increase." Whereas the words are, " He must increase, but I must decrease."* One of them having objected to the " observance of days, and months, and years," Johnson answered, " The Church does not superstitiously observe days, merely as days, but as memorials of important facts. Christmas might be kept as well upon one day of the year as another ; but there should be a stated day for commemorating the birth of our Saviour, because there is danger that what may be done on any day, will be neglected." He said to me at another time, " Sir, the holidays observed by our church are of great use in religion." There can be no doubt of this, in a limited sense, I mean if the number of such consecrated portions of time be not too extensive. The excellent Mr. Nelson^s " Festivals and Fasts," which has, I understand, the greatest sale of any book ever printed in England, ex- cept the Bible, is a most valuable help to devotion ; and in addition to it 1 would recommend two sermons on the same subject, by Mr. Pott, Archdeacon of St. -■ John iii. 30. 264 THE LIFE OF 177R. Albans, equally distinguished for piety and elegance, ^(y I am sorry to have it to say, that Scotland is the only 67. * Christian country, CathoUck or Protestant, where the great events of our religion are not solemnly commem- orated by its ecclesiastical establishment, on days set apart for the purpose. '" Mr. Hector was so good as to accompany me to see the great works of Mr. Bolton, at a place which he has called Soho, about two miles from Birmingham, which the very ingenious proprietor shewed me himself to the best advantage. I wished Johnson had been with us : for it was a scene which I should have been glad to contemplate by his light. The vastness and the con- trivance of some of the machinery would have " match- ed his mighty mind." I shall never forget Mr. Bolton^s expression to me " I sell here. Sir, what ail the world desires to have. — Power," He had about seven hun- dred people at work. I contemplated him as an i?^ou chieftain., and he seemed to be a father to his tribe. One of them came to him, complaining grievously of his landlord for having distrained his goods." " Your landlord is in the right, Smith, (said Bolton.) But Pll tell you what : find you a friend who will lay down one half of your rent, and Pll lay down the other half; and you shall have your goods again." From Mr. Hector 1 now learnt many particulars of Dr. Johnson's early life, which, with others that he gave me at different times since, have contributed to the formation of this work. Dr. Johnson said to me in the morning, " You will see. Sir, at Mr. Hector's, his sister, Mrs. Careless, a clergyman's widow. She was the first woman with whom I was in love. It dropt out of my head imper- ceptibly ; but she and I shall always have a kindness for each other." He laughed at the notion that a man can never be really in love but once, and considered it as a mere romantick fancy. On our return from Mr. Bolton's, Mr. Hector took me to his house, where we found Johnson sitting plac- idly at tea with h\sjirsf love ; who though now advanc- ed in years, was a genteel woman, very agreeable and well bred. I DR. JOHNSON. Q65 Johnson lamented to Mr. Hector the state of one of 1776. their Kchiiol-follows, Mr. Charles Cougreve, a (;lc«gy- 2t^ man, which he thus described : "He obtained,! be- 67. lieve, considerable preferment in Ireland, but now lives in London, quite as a valetudinarian, afraid to go into anv house but his own. He takes a short airing in his post-chaise every day. He has an elderly woman, wliom he calls cousin, who lives with him, and jogs his elbow, when his glass has stood too long empty, and encourages him in drinking, in wliich he is very willing to be encouraged ; not that he gets drunk, for he is a very pious man, but he is always muddy. He confess- es to one bottle of port every day, and he probably drinks more. He is quite unsocial ; his conversation is quite monosyllabical ; and when, at my last visit, I asked him what o'clock it was ? that signal of my de- parture had so pleasing an effect on him, that he sprung up to look at his watch, like a greyhound bounding at a hare." When Johnson took leave of Mr. Hector, he said, " Don't grow like Congreve ; nor let me grow like him, when you are near me." When he again talked of Mrs. Careless to-night, he seemed to have had his affection revived ; for he said, " If I had married her, it might have been as happy for me." BoswELL. " Pray, Sir, do you not suppose that there are fifty women in the world, with any one of whom a man may be as happy, as with any one woman in particular." Johnson. " Ay, Sir, fifty thousand." BoswELL. " Then, Sir, you are not of opinion with some who imagine that certain men and certain women are made for each other ; and that they cannot be happy if they miss their counterparts," Johnson. " To be sure not. Sir. I believe marriages would in general be as happy, and often more so, if they were all made by the Lord Chancellor, upon a due consideration of the characters and circumstances, without the parties hav- ing any choice in the matter." 1 wished to have staid at Birmingham to-night, to liave talked more with Mr. Hector ; but my friend was impatient to reach his native city ; so we drove on that stage in the dark, and were long pensive and silent. VOL. JI. .^i 966 THE LIFE OF 1776. When we came within the focus of the Lichfield 27^ l^iiipsi " Now (said he,) we are getting out of a state 67. of death." We put up at the Three Crowns, not one of the great inns, but a good old fashioned one, which was kept by Mr. Wilkins, and was the very next house to that in which Johnson was born and brought up, and which was still his own property. ^ We had a com- fortable supper, and got into high spirits. 1 felt all my Toryism glow in this old capital of Staffordshire. 1 could have offered incense geriio loci ; and I indulged in libations of that ale, which Boniface, in " The Beaux Stratagem," recommends with such an eloquent jollity. Next morning he introduced me to Mrs. Lucy Por- ter, his step-daughter. She was now an old maid, with much simplicity of manner. She had never been in London. Her brother, a Captain in the navy, had left her a fortune of ten thousand pounds ; about a third of which she laid out in building a stately house, and making a handsome garden, in an elevated situation in Lichfield. Johnson, when here by himself, used to live at her house. She reverenced him, and he had a parental tenderness for her. We then visited Mr. Peter Garrick, who had that morning received a letter from his brother David, an- nouncing our coming to Lichfield. He was engaged to dinner, but asked us to tea, and to sleep at his house. Johnson, however, would not quit his old acquaintance Wilkins, of the Three Crowns. The family likeness of the Garricks was very striking ; and Johnson thought that David's vivacity was not so peculiar to himself as was supposed. " Sir, (said he,) I don't know but if Peter had cultivated all the arts of gaiety as much as David has done, he might have been as brisk and lively. Depend upon it. Sir, vivacity is much an art, and de- pends greatly on habit." I believe there is a good deal of truth in this, notwithstanding a ludicrous story told me by a lady abroad, of a heavy German baron, who ' I went through the house where my illustrious friend was born, with a rever- ence with which it doubtless will long be visited. An engraved view of it, with the adjacent buildings, i« in "The Gentleman's Magazine" tor February, 1785. DR. JOHNSON. 267 had lived much with the young Enghsh at Geneva, and ITTG. was ambitious to be as hvely as they ; with which ^^ view, he, witli assiduous exertion, was jumping over (J7. the tables and chairs in his lodgings ; and when the people of the house ran in and asked, with surprize, what was the matter, he answered, " .S7/' upprens fetrefifr We dined at our inn, and had with us a Mr. Jack- son, one of Johnson's school-fellows, whom he treated with much kindness, though he seemed to be a low man, dull and untaught. He had a coarse grey coat, black waistcoat, greasy leather breeches, and a yellow uncurled wig ; and his countenance had the ruddiness which betokens one who is in no haste to " leave his can." He drank only ale. He had tried to be a cut- ler at Birmingham, but had not succeeded ; and now he lived poorly at home, and had some scheme of dressing leather in a better manner than common ; to his indistinct account of which, Dr. Johnson listened with patient attention, that he might assist him with his advice. Here was an instance of genuine human- ity and real kindness in this great man, who has been most unjustly represented as altogether harsh and des- titute of tenderness. A thousand such instances might have been recorded in the course of his long- life ; though that his temper was warm and hasty, and his manner often rough, cannot be denied. I saw here, for the first time, oat ale ; and oat cakes, not hard as in Scotland, but soft like a Yorkshire cake, were served at breakfast. It was pleasant to me to find, that " Oafs" the " food of horses" were so much used as the food of the people in Dr. Johnson's own town. He expatiated in praise of Lichfield and its inhabitants, who, he said, were " the most sober, decent people in England, the genteelest in proportion to their wealth, and spoke the purest English." I doubted as to the last article of this eulogy : for they had several provincial sounds ; as there^ pronounced likey^ffr, instead of likeya;>; once pronounced wooiise^ instead oi zc-unse, or iconse. Johnson himself never got entirely free of those provincial accents. Garrick 968 THE LIFE OF 1776. sometimes used to take him off, squeezing a Lemon SaT ^"'-^ ^ punch-bowl, with uncouth gesticulations, look- 67. ' ing round the company, and calling out, " Who's for poonsh /"* Very little business appeared to be going forward in Lichfield. I found however two strange manufac- tures for so inland a place, sail-cloth and streamers for ships ; and 1 observed them making some saddle- cloths, and dressing sheepskins : but upon the whole, the busy hand of industry seemed to be quite slack- ened. " Surely, Sir, (said 1,) you are an idle set of people." " Sir, (said Johnson,) we are a city of phi- losophers, we work with our heads, and make the boobies of Birmingham work for us with their hands." There was at this time a company of players perform- ing at Lichfield. The manager, Mr. Stanton, sent his compliments, and begged leave to wait on Dr. John- son. Johnson received him very courteously, and he drank a glass of wine with us. He was a plain decent well-behaved man, and expressed his gratitude to Dr. Johnson for having once got him permission from Dr. Taylor at Ashbourne to play there upon moderate terms. Garrick's name was soon introduced. John- son. " Garrick's conversation is gay and grotesque. It is a dish of all sorts, but all good things. There is no solid meat in it : there is a want of sentiment in it. Not but that he has sentiment sometimes, and senti- ment too very powerful and very pleasing : but it has not its full proportion in his conversation." When we were by ourselves he told me, " Forty years ago, Sir, I was in love with an actress here, Mrs. Emmet, who acted Flora, in * Flob in the Well." What merit this lady had as an actress, or what was her figure, or her manner, I have not been informed ; but, if we may believe Mr. Garrick, his old master's taste in theatrical merit was by no means refined ; he was not an elegcms formarum spectator. Garrick used * [Garrick himself, like the I jclifitldians, always said — ihupnin^y, dufnykr. B.] [This is still the vulgar "pronunciation of Ireland , where the pronunciation ol th« English language is doubtless that which generiilly p: ovai'.ci' \v. r;n;;lajul \\\ the time of Queen Elizabeth. M.] ' DR. JOHNSON. 265 to tell, that Johnson said of an actor, who played Sir >776. Harry Wiklair at Lichfield, " There is a courtly vivac- ^[^ jty about the fellow ;" when in fact according to Gar- 67. rick's account, " he was the most vulgar ruffian that ever went upon boards" AVe had promised Mr. Stanton to be at his theatre on Monday. Dr. Johnson jocularly proposed me to write a Prologue for the occasion : " A Prologue, by James Boswell, Esq. from the Hebrides." I was really inclined to take the hint. Methought, " Pro- logue, spoken before Dr. Samuel Johnson, at Lich- field, 177() ;" would have sounded as well as, " Pro- logue spoken before the Duke of York, at Oxford," in Charles the Second's time. Much might have been said of what Lichfield had done for Shakspeare, by producing Johnson and Garrick. But I found he was averse to it. We went and viewed the museum of Mr. Richard Green, apothecary here, who told me he was proud of being a relation of Dr. Johnson's. It was, truely, a wonderful collection, both of antiquities and natural curiosities, and ingenious works of art. He had all the articles accurately arranged, with their names upon labels, printed at his own little press ; and on the staircase leading to it was a board, with the names of contributors marked in gold letters. A printed cata- logue of the collection was to be had at a bookseller's. Johnson expressed his admiration of the activity and diligence and good fortune of Mr. Green, in getting to- gether, in his situation, so great a variety of things ; and Mr. Green told me that Johnson once said to him, " Sir, I should as soon have thought of building a man of war, as of collecting such a museum." Mr. Green's obliging alacrity in shewing it was very pleas- ing. His engraved portrait, with which he has favour- ed me, has a motto truely characteristical of his dispo- . sition, " Nemo sibi vhat." A physician being mentioned who had lost his practice, because his whimsically changing his religion had made people distrustful of him, 1 maintained that this was unreasonable, as religion is unconnected with 270 THE LIFE OF 1776. medical skill. Johnson. " Sir, it is not unreasonable ; ^^ for when people see a man absurd in what they under- 67. ' stand, they may conclude the same of him in what they do not understand. If a physician were to take to eating of horse-flesh, nobody would employ him ; though one may eat horse-flesh, and be a very skilful physician. If a man were educated in an absurd relig- ion, his continuing to profess it would not hurt him, though his changing to it would." ^ We drank tea and coffee at Mr. Peter Garrick's, where was Mrs. Aston, one of the maiden sisters of Mrs. Walmsley, wife of Johnson's first friend, and sister also of the lady of whom Johnson used to speak with the warmest admiration, by the name of Molly Aston, who was afterwards married to Captain Brodie of the navy. On Sunday, March 24, we breakfasted with Mrs. Cobb, a widow lady, who lived in an agreeable seques- tered place close by the town, called the Friary, it hav- ing been formerly a religious house. She and her niece. Miss Adey, were great admirers of Dr. Johnson ; and he behaved to them with a kindness and easy pleasantry, such as we see between old and intimate acquaintance. He accompanied Mrs. Cobb to St. Mary's church, and I went to the cathedral, where I was very much de- lighted with the musick, finding it to be peculiarly sol- emn, and accordant with the words of the service. We dined at Mr. Peter Garrick's, who was in a very lively humour, and verified Johnson's saying, that if he had cultivated gaiety as much as his brother David, he might have equally excelled in it. He was to day quite a London narrator, telling us a variety of anecdotes with that earnestness and attempt at mimickry which we usually find in the wits of the metropolis. Dr. John- son went with me to the cathedral in the afternoon, ft was grand and pleasing to contemplate this illustrious writer, now full of fame, worshipping in " the solemn temple" of his native cit3^ =■ [Fothergill a Quaker, and Scliomberg a Jew, had the greatest practice of any two pJiysicians of their time. B.] DR. JOHNSON. 271 1 returned to tea and coffee at Mr. Peter Garrick's, i77f>. and then found Dr. Johnson at the Reverend Mr. Sew- "J^ ard's, Canon Kosidentiary, who inhabited the l^isliop's G7. palace, in which Mr. Walmsley lived, and which liad been the scene of many happy hours in Johnson's early life. Mr. Seward had, with ecclesiastical hospitality and politeness, asked me in the morning, merely as a stranger, to dine with him; and in the afternoon, when I was introduced to him, he asked Dr. Johnson and me to spend the evening and sup with him. He was a gen- teel well-bred dignified clergyman, had travelled with Lord Charles Fitzroy, uncle of the present Duke of Grafton, who died when abroad, and he had lived much in the great world. He was an ingenious and literary- man, had published an edition of Beaumont and Fletch- er, and written verses in Dodsley's collection. His la- dy was the daughter of Mr. Hunter, Johnson's first schoolmaster. And now, for the first time, I had the pleasure of seeing his celebrated daughter, Miss Anna Seward, to whom 1 have since been indebted for manv . . . . "^ civilities, as well as some obliging communications con- cerning Johnson. Mr. Seward mentioned to us the observations which he had made upon the strata of earth in volcanos, from which it appeared, that they were so very different in depth at different periods, that no calculation whatever could be made as to the time required for their forma- tion. This fully refuted an antimosaical remark intro- duced into Captain Brydone's entertaining tour, I hope heedlessly, from a kind of vanity which is too common in those who have not sufficiently studied the most im- poitant of all subjects. Dr. Johnson, indeed had said before, independent of this observation, " Shall all the accumulated evidence of the history of the world; — shall the authority of what is unquestionably the most ancient writing, be overturned by an uncertain remark such as this^' On Monday, ^larch 2o, we breakfasted at Mrs. Lucy Porter's. Johnson had sent an express to Dr. Taylor's, acquainting him of our being at Lichfield, and Taylor had returned an answer that his post-chaise should come 272 THE LIFE Ot 1776. for us this day. While we sat at breakfast, Dr. Jolin^ ^^eJ^T ^^" received a letter by the post, which seemed to agi- 67. tate him very much. When he had read it, he exclaim- ed, " One of the most dreadful things that has happen- ed in my time." The phrase mt/ time, like the word age, is usually understood to refer to an event of a pub- lick or general nature. I imagined something like an assassination of the King — -like a gunpowder plot carried into execution — or like another fire of London. When asked, " What is it, Sir ]" he answered, " Mr. Thrale has lost his only son !" This was, no doubt, a very great affliction to Mr. and Mrs. Thrale, which their friends would consider accordingly ; but from the manner in which the intelligence of it was communicated by John- son, it appeared for the moment to be comparative!}' small. I, however, soon felt a sincere concern, and was curious to observe, how Dr. Johnson would be affect- ed. He said, " This is a total extinction to their family, as much as if they were sold into captivity." Upon my mentioning that Mr. Thrale had daughters, who might inherit his wealth ; — " Daughters, (said Johnson, warm- ly,) he'll no more value his daughters than — " I was going to speak. — " Sir, (said he,) don't you know how you yourself think ? Sir, he wishes to propagate his name." In short, I saw male succession strong in his mind, even where there was no name, no family of any long standing. I said, it was lucky he was not present when this misfortune happened. Johnson. " It is lucky for me. People in distress never think that you feel enough." Boswell. " And, Sir, they will have the hope of seeing you, which will be a relief in the mean time ; and when you get to them, the pain will be so far abated, that they will be capable of being con- soled by you, which, in the first violence of it, I be- lieve, would not be the case." Johnson. " No, Sir ; violent pain of mind, like violent pain of body, m?isl be severely felt." Boswell. " I own. Sir, I have not so much feeling for the distress of others, as some peo- ple have, or pretend to have : but I know this, that I would do all in my power to relieve them." Johnson. " Sir, it is affectation to pretend to feel the distress of DR. JOHNSON. 973 Others, as much as they do themselves. It is equally 1*7(3. so, as if one should pretend to feel as much pain while ^^.^ a friend's leg is cutting off, as he does. No, Sir; you 67. have expressed the rational and just nature of sympa- thy. I would have gone to the extremity of the earth to have preserved this boy." lie was soon quite calm. The letter was from Mr. Thrale's clerk, and concluded, " I need not say how much they wish to see you in London." He said, " We shall hasten back from Tavlor's." Mrs. Lucy Porter and some other ladies of the place talked a great deal of him when he was out of the room, not only with veneration but affection. It pleased me to find that he was so much beloved in his native city. Mrs. Aston, whom 1 had seen the preceding night, and her sister, Mrs. Gastrel, a widow lady, had each a house and garden, and pleasure-ground, prettily situ- ated upon Stowhill, a gentle eminence, adjoining to Lichfield. Johnson walked away to dinner there, leav- ing me by myself without any apology ; 1 wondered at this want of that facility of manners, from which a man has no difficulty in carrying a friend to a house where he is intimate ; 1 felt it very unpleasant to be thus left in solitude in a country town, where I was an entire stran- ger, and began to think myself unkindly deserted : but I was soon relieved, and convinced that my friend, in- stead of being deficient in delicacy, had conducted the matter with perfect propriety, for I received the follow- ing note in is hand-writing : " Mrs. Gastrel, at the lower house on Stowhill, desires Mr. Boswell's company to dinner at two." I accepted of the invitation, and had here another proof how amiable his character was in the opinion of those who knew him best. I was not informed, till afterwards, that Mrs. Gastrel's husband was the clergyman who, while he lived at Stratford-up- on-Avon, where he was proprietor of Shakspeare's gar- den, with Gothick barbarity cut down his mulberry- tree,'^ and, as Dr. Johnson told me, did it to vex his * S€e an accurate and animated statement of Mr. Gastrel's barbarity, by Mr. Malone, in a note on " Some account of the Life of William Shakspeare," prefix«d to his admirable edition of that Poet's worlc*, VeU I. p. 1 1 5. VOL. IT. :^}') 974 THE LIFE OF 1776. neighbours. His lady, I have reason to believe, on the ^^j^^ same authority, participated in the guilt of what the en- 67. thusiasts of our immortal bard deem almost a species of sacrilege. After dinner Dr. Johnson wrote a letter to Mrs. Thrale, on the death of her son. I said it would be very distressing to Thrale, but she would soon forget it, as she had so many things to think of. Johnson. " No, Sir, Thrale will forget it first. She has many things that she matj think of. He has many things that he must think of." This was a very just remark upon the differ- ent effects of those light pursuits which occupy a vacant and easy mind, and those serious engagements which arrest attention, and keep us from brooding over grief. He observed of Lord Bute, " it was said of Augustus, that it would have been better for Rome that he had never been born, or had never died. So it would have been better for this nation if Lord Bute had never been minister, or had never resigned." In the evening we went to the Town-hall, which was converted into a temporary theatre, and saw " The- odosius," with " The Stratford Jubilee." I was happy to see Dr. Johnson sitting in a conspicuous part of the pit, and receiving affectionate homage from all his ac- quaintance. We were quite gay and merry. I after- wards mentioned to him that I condemned myself for being so, when poor Mr. and Mrs. Thrale were in such distress. Johnson. " You are wrong. Sir ; twenty years hence Mr. and Mrs. Thrale will not suffer much pain from the death of their son. Now, Sir, you are to consider, that distance of place, as well as distance of time, operates upon the human feelings. I would not have you be gay in the presence of the distressed, be- cause it would shock them ; but you may be gay at a distance. Pain for the loss of a friend, or of a relation whom we love, is occasioned by the want which we feel. Li time the vacuity is filled with something else ; or sometimes the vacuity closes up of itself." Mr. Seward and Mr. Pearson, another clergyman here, supped with us at our inn, and after they left us, we sat up late as we used to do in London. DR. JOHNSON. $75 Here I shall record some fragments of my friend's i??'*. conversation during this jaunt. ^uT " Marriage, Sir, is much more necessary to a man than 67. to a woman : for he is much less able to supply himself with domestick comforts. You will recollect my say- ing to some ladies the other day, that I had often won- dered why young women should marry, as they have so much more freedom, and so much more attention paid to them while unmarried, than when married. 1 indeed did not mention the 6iron({ reason for their mar- rying — ilie mecliunical reason." Boswell. " Why that /a- a strong one. But does not imagination make it much more important than it is in reality ! Is it not, to a certain degree, a delusion in us as well as in women V* Johnson. " Why yes, Sir ; but it is a delusion that is always beginning again." Boswell. " I don't know but there is upon the whole more misery than happi- ness produced by that passion." Johnson. " 1 don't think so. Sir." " Never speak of a man in his own presence. It is always indelicate, and may be olTensive." " Questioning is not the mode of conversation among gentlemen. It is assuming a superiority, and it is par- ticularly wrong to question a man concerning himself. There may be parts of his former life which he may not wish to be made known to other persons, or even brought to his own recollection." " A man should be careful never to tell tales of him- _ self to his own disadvantage. People may be amused and laugh at the time, but they will be remembered and brought out against him upon some subsequent oc- casion." " ]SIuch maybe done if a man puts his whole mind to a particular object. By doing so, Norton ^ has made himself the great lawyer that he is allowed to be." I mentioned an acquaintance of mine, a sectary, who was a very religious man, who not only attended regu- larly on publick worship with those of his communion, but made a particular study of the Scriptures, and even " [sir Fletcher Norton, afterwards Speaker of tlie House of Commons, and in 1782 created Barou Grantley. M.j 276 THE LIFE OP 1776. wrote a commentary on some parts of them, yet wa&^ ]JJ^ known to be very licentious in indulging himself with 67. ' women ; maintaining that men are to be saved by faith alone, and that the Christian religion had not prescrib- ed an}' fixed rule for the intercourse between the sexes. Johnson. " Sir, there is no trusting to that crazy piety.^' I observed that it was strange how well Scotchmen were known to one another in their own country, though born in very distant counties; for we do not find that the gentlemen of neighbouring counties in England are mutually known to each other. Johnson, with his usu- al acuteness, at once saw and explained the reason of this ; " Why, Sir, you have Edinburgh, where the gen- tlemen from all your counties meet, and which is not so large but they are all known. There is no such com- mon place of collection in England, except London, where from its great size and diffusion, many of those who reside in contiguous counties of England, may long remain unknown to each other." On Tuesday, March 26, there came for us an equi- page properly suited to a wealthy well-beneficed clergy- man : Dr. Taylor's large, roomy post-chaise, drawn by four stout plump horses, and driven by two steady jolly postillions, which conveyed us to Ashbourne ; where i found my friend's schoolfellow living upon an estab- lishment perfectly corresponding with his substantial creditable equipage : his house, garden, pleasure- grounds, table, in short every thing good, and no scant- iness appearing. Every man should form such a plan of living as he can execute completely. Let him not draw an outline wider than he can fill up. 1 have seen many skeletons of shew and magnificence which excite at once ridicule and pity. Dr. Taylor had a good estate of his own, and good preferment in the church, being a prebendary of Westminster, and rector of Bosworth. He was a diligent justice of the peace, and presided over the town of Ashbourne, to the inhabitants of which I was told he was very liberal ; and as a proof of this il ivas mentioned to me, he had the preceding winter, dis- tributed two hundred pounds among such of them as DR. JOHNSON, 277 Stood in need of his assistance. He had consequently *776. a considerable pohtical interest in the county of Derby, ^^^ which he employed to support the Devonshire family ; 67. for though the schoolfellow and friend of Johnson, he was a Whig. I could not perceive in his character much congeniality of any sort with that of Johnson, who, however said to me, " Sir, he has a very strong understanding." His size, and figure, and countenance, and manner, were that of a hearty English 'Squire, with the parson super-induced : and I took particular notice of his upper-servant, Mr. Peters, a decent grave man, in purple clothes, and a large white wig, like the butler or major domo of a bishop. Dr. Johnson and Dr. Taylor met with great cordial- ity ; and Johnson soon gave him the same sad account of their schoolfellow, Congreve, that he had given to Mr. Hector ; adding a remark of such moment to the rational conduct of a man in the decline of life, that deserves to be imprinted upon every mind : " There is nothing against which an old man should be so much upon his guard as putting himself to nurse." Innumer- able have been the melancholy instances of men once distinguished for firmness, resolution, and spirit, who in their latter days have been governed like children, by interested female artifice. Dr. Taylor commended a physician who was known to him and Dr. Johnson, and said, " I fight many bat- tles for him, as many people in the country dislike him." Johnson. " But you should consider. Sir, that by every one of your victories he is a loser ; for, every man of whom you get the better, will be very angry, and resolve not to employ him ; whereas if people get the better of you in argument about him, they'll think, ' We'll send for Dr. ***** nevertheless." This was an observation deep and sure in human nature. Next day we talked of a book in which an eminent judge was arraigned before the bar of the publick, as having pronounced an unjust decision in a great cause. Dr. Johnson maintained that this pubhcation would not give any uneasiness to the judge. " For, (said he,) either he act«d honestly, or be meant t^ do injustice. 278 THE LIFE OF 1776. If he acted honestly, his own consciousness will pro- tect him ; if he meant to do injustice, he will be glad to see the man who attacks him, so much vexed." Next day, as Dr. Johnson had acquainted Dr. Tay- lor of the reason for his returning speedily to London, it was resolved that we should set out after dinner. A few of Dr. Taylor's neighbours were his guests that day. Dr. Johnson talked with approbation of one who had attained to the state of the philosophical wise man, that is, to have no want of any thing. " Then, Sir, (said I,) the savage is a wise man." " Sir, (said he,) I do not mean simply being without, — but not having a ■want." I maintained, against this proposition, that it was better to have fine clothes, for instance, than not to feel the want of them. Johnson. " No, Sir ; fine clothes are good only as they supply the want of other means of procuring respect. Was Charles the Twelfth, think you, less respected for his coarse blue coat and black stock? And you find the King of Prussia dresses plain, because the dignity of his character is sufficient." I here brought myself into a scrape, for I heedlessly said, " Would not you^ Sir, be the better for velvet embroidery !" Johnson. " Sir, you put an end to all argument when you introduce your opponent himself. Have you no better manners? There is your zcaut.^' I apologised by saying, 1 had mentioned him as an in- stance of one who wanted as little as any man in the world, and yet, perhaps, might receive some additional lustre from dress. Having left Ashbourne in the evening, we stopped to change horses at Derby, and availed ourselves of a moment to enjoy the conversation of my countryman, Dr. Butter, then physician there. He was in great indignation because Lord Mountstuart's bill for a Scotch militia had been lost. Dr. Johnson was as vio- lent against it. " 1 am glad, (said he,) that Parlia- ment has had the spirit to throw it out. You wanted to take advantage of the timidity of our scoundrels ;" (meaning, 1 suppose, the ministry.) It may be observ- ed, that he used the epithet scoundrel, very commonly, not quite in the sense in which it is generally under- DR. JOHNSON. 279 Stood, but as a strong term of disapprobation ; as when i776. he abruptly answered Mrs. Thrale, who had askt^d liiui J^^ how he did, " Heady to become a scoundrel, Madam ; c?. with a httle more spoiling you will, 1 think, make me a complete rascal :"' — he meant, easy to become a capricious and selt'-indulgent valetudinarian ; a charac- ter for which I have heard him express great disgust. Johnson had with him upon this jaunt, " // i-*w/- merino tl'IiighUlerra^'^ a romance praised by Cervan- tes ; but did not like it much. He said, he read it for the lauij^uage, by way of preparation for his Italian ex- pedition.— We lay this night at Loughborough. On Thursday, March 28, we pursued our journey. I mentioned that old Mr. Sheridan complained of the ingratitude of Mr. Wedderburne and General Fraser, who had been much obliged to him when they were young Scotchmen entering upon life in England. Johnson. " Why, Sir, a man is very apt to complain of the ingratitude of those who have risen far above him. A man when he gets into a higher sphere, into other habits of life, cannot keep up all his former con- nections. Then, Sir, those who knew him formerly \ upon a level with themselves, may think that they ouoht still to be treated as on a level, which cannot be ; and an acquaintance in a former situation may bring out things which it would be very disagreeable to have mentioned before higher company, though, perhaps, every body knows of them." He placed this subject in a new light to me, and showed, that a man who has risen in the world, must not be condemned too harshly, for being distant to former acquaintance, even though he may have been much obliged to them. It is, no doubt, to be wished, that a proper degree of attention should be shewn by great men to their early friends. But if either from obtuse insensibility to dif- ference of situation, or presumptuous forwardness, which will not submit even to an exteriour observance of it, the dignity of high place cannot be preserved, when they are admitted into the company of those raised above the state in which they once were, en- ■ Anecdotes of Johoson, p. 176. S80 THE LIFE OF J77^. croachment must be repelled, and the kinder feelings sacrificed. To one of the very fortunate persons whom I have mentioned, namely, Mr. Wedderburne, now Lord Loughborough, I must do the justice to relate, that I have been assured by another early acquaint- ance of his, old Mr. Macklin, who assisted in improv- ing his pronunciation, that he found him very grateful. Macklin, I suppose, had not pressed upon his elevation with so much eagerness, as the gentleman who com- plained of him. Dr. Johnson's remark as to the jeal- ousy entertained of our friends who rise far above us, is certainly very just. By this was withered the early friendship between Charles Townshend and Akenside; and many similar instances might be adduced. He said, " It is commonly a weak man, who marries f for love." We then talked of marrying women of for- tune ; and 1 mentioned a common remark, that a man may be, upon the whole, richer by marrying a woman with a very small portion, because a woman of fortune will be proportionally expensive ; whereas a woman who brings none will be very moderate in expenses. Johnson. " Depend upon it. Sir, this is not true. A woman of fortune being used to the handling of money, spends it judiciously : but a woman who gets the com- mand of money for the first time upon her marriage, has such a gust in spending it, that she throws it away with great profusion." He praised the ladies of the present age, insisting that they were more faithful to their husbands, and more virtuous in every respect, than in former times, because their understandings were better cultivated. It was an undoubted proof of his good sense and good disposition, that he was never querulous, never prone to inveigh against the present times, as is so common when superficial minds are on the fret. On the con- trary, he was willing to speak favourably of his own age ; and, indeed, maintained its superiority in every respect, except in its reverence for government ; the relaxation of which he imputed, as its grand cause, to the shock which our monarchy received at the Revo- lution, though necessary ; and secondly, to the timid DR. JOHNSON. 98i concessions made to faction by successive administra- '770. tions in the reign of his present Majesty. 1 am happy ^^ to think, that he lived to see the Crown at last recover 67. * its just influence. At Leicester we read in the news-paper that Dr. James was dead. I thought that the death of an old school-fellow, and one with whom he had lived a good deal in London, would have affected my fellow-travel- ler much : but he only said, " Ah ! poor Jamy." Afterwards, however, when we were in the chaise, he said, with more tenderness, " Since I set out on this jaunt, I have lost an old friend and a young one ; — Dr. James, and poor Harry," (meaning Mr. Thrale's son.) Having lain at St. Alban's, on Thursday, March 28, we breakfasted the next morning at Barnet. 1 ex- pressed to him a weakness of mind which 1 could not help ; an uneasy apprehension that my wife and chil- dren, who were at a great distance from me, might, perhaps, be ill. " Sir, (said he,) consider how fool- ish you would think it in ikem to be apprehensive that i/ou are ill." This sudden turn relieved me for the moment ; but 1 afterwards perceived it to be an ingenious fallacy.- I might, to be sure, be satisfied that they had no reason to be apprehensive about me, because I knezi) that I myself was well : but we might have a mutual anxiety, without the charge of folly ; because each was, in some degree, uncertain as to the condition of the other. I enjoyed the luxury of our approach to London, that metropolis which we both loved so much, for the high and varied intellectual pleasure which it furnishes. I experienced immediate happiness while whirled along with such a companion, and said to him, " Sir, you observed one day at General Oglethorpe^s, that a man is never happy for the present, but when he is drunk. ' [Surely it is no fallacy, but a sound and rational argument He who is per- fectly well, and apprehensive concerning the state of another at a distance from liim, inoivi to a certainty that the fears of that person concerning ih health are imaginary and delusive ; and hence has a rational ground for supposing that hi» «twn apprehensions concerning his absent wife or friend, are equally unfounded. M.l VOL. T{ "ifi !^83 THE LIFE OF 1776. Will you not add, — or when driving rapidly in a post- ^^ chaise ?" Johnson. " No, Sir, you are driving rapidly 67. from something, or to something.^^ Talking of melancholy, he said, " Some men, and very thinking men too, have not those vexing thoughts. ^ Sir Joshua Reynolds is the same all the year round. Beauclerk, except when ill and in pain, is the same. But I believe most men have them in the degree in which they are capable of having them. If 1 were in the country, and were distressed by that malady, I would force myself to take a book ; and every time I did it 1 should find it the easier. Melancholy, indeed, should be diverted by every means but drinking." We stopped at Messieurs Dillys, booksellers in the Poultry ; from whence he hurried away, in a hackney coach, to Mr. Thrale's in the Borough. 1 called at his house in the evening, having promised to acquaint Mrs. Williams of his safe return ; when, to my surprize, I found him sitting with her at tea, and, as I thought, not in a very good humour : for, it seems, when he had got ' to Mr. Thrale's, he found the coach was at the door waiting to carry Mrs. and Miss Thrale, and Signor Ba- retti, their Italian master, to Bath. This was not showing the attention which might have been expect- ed to the " Guide, Philosopher, and Friend ;" the Imlac who had hastened from the country to console a distressed mother, who he understood was very anx- ious for his return. They had, I found, without cere- mony, proceeded on their intended journey. I was srlad to understand from him that it was still resolved that his tour to Italy with Mr. and Mrs. Thrale should ' The phrase " vexing thoughts," is, I think, very expressive. It has been fa- miliar to me from my cliildhood ; for it is to be found in the " Psalms in Metre," used in the churches (I believe I should say kirks) of Scotland, Psal. xliii. v. 5. " Why art thou then cast down, my soul ? " What should discourage thee ? " And why with vexing thoughts art thou " Disquieted in me ?" Some allowance must no doubt be made for early prepossession. But at a matur- er period of life, after looking at various metrical versions of the Psalms, I am well satisfied that the version used in Scotland, is, upon the whole, the best ; and that it is vain to think of having a better. It has in genera! a simplicity ;ind unction of sacred Poesy ; and in many parts its transfusion is admirable. DR. JOHNSON. 283 lake place, of which he had entertained some doubt, on 1776. account of the loss which they had suffered ; and his ^[^ doubts afterwards appeared to be well-founded. Jle c?. observed, indeed very justly, that " their loss was an additional reason for their going abroad ; and if it had not been fixed that he should have been one of the party, he would force them out ; but he would not advise them unless his advice was asked, lest they might suspect that he recommended what he wished on his own account." I was not pleased that his inti- macy with Mr. Thrale's family, though it no doubt contributed much to his comfort and enjoyment, was not without some degree of restraint : Not, as has been grossly suggested, that it was required of him as a task to talk for the entertainment of them and their com- pany ; but that he was not quite at his ease ; which, however, might partly be owing to his own honest pride — that dignity of mind which is always jealous of appearing too compliant. On Sunday, March 31, I called on him, and showed him as a curiosity which 1 had discovered, his " Trans- lation of Lobo's Account of Abyssinia," which Sir John Pringle had lent me, it being then little known as one of his works. He said, " Take no notice of it," or " don't talk of it." He seemed to think it beneath him, though done at six-and-twenty. 1 said to him, " Your style, Sir, is much improved since you translated this." He answered with a sort of triumphant smile, " Sir, I hope it is." On Wednesday, April 3, in the morning I found him very busy putting his books in order, and as they were generally very old ones, clouds of dust were flying around him. He had on a pair of large gloves such as hedgers use. His present appearance put me in mind of my uncle, Dr. BoswelPs description of him, " A robust ge- nius, born to grapple with whole libraries." 1 gave him an account of a conversation which had passed between me and Captain Cook, the day before, at dinner at Sir John Pringle's ; and he was much pleas- ed with the conscientious accuracy of that celebrated circumnavigator, who set me right as to many of the §84 THE LIFE OF 1776. exaggerated accounts given by Dr. Hawkesworth of his ^J^ Voyages. I told him that while I was with the Cap- 67. ' tain, 1 catched the enthusiasm of curiosity and adven- ture, and felt a strong inchnation to go with him on his next voyage. Johnson. " Why, Sir, a man does feel so, till he considers how very little he can learn from such voyages." Bos well. " But one is carried away with the general grand and indistinct notion of A Voyage round the World." Johnson. " Yes, Sir, but a man is to guard himself against taking a thing in general." I said I was certain that a great part of what we are told by the travellers to the South Sea must be conjecture, because they had not enough of the language of those countries to understand so much as they have related. Objects falling under the observ- ation of the senses might be clearly known ; but every thing intellectual, every thing abstract — politicks, mor- als, and religion, must be darkly guessed. Dr. John- son was of the same opinion. He upon another occa- sion, when a friend mentioned to him several extraor- dinary facts, as communicated to him by the circum- navigators, slily observed, " Sir, I never before knew how much I was respected by these gentlemen ; they told me none of these things." He had been in company with Omai, a native of one of the South Sea Islands, after he had been some time in this country. He was struck with the elegance of his behaviour, and accounted for it thus : " Sir, he had passed his time, while in England, only in the best com- pany ; so that all that he had acquired of our manners was genteel. As a proof of this, Sir, Lord Mulgrave and he dined one day at Streatham ; they sat with their backs to the light fronting me, so that 1 could not see distinctly ; and there was so little of the savage in Omai, that I was afraid to speak to either, lest 1 should mis- take one for the other." We agreed to dine to-day at the Mitre-tavern, after the rising of the House of Lords, where a branch of the litigation concerning the Douglas Estate, in which 1 was one of the counsel, was to come on, I brought ■with me Mr. Myrray, Solicitor-General of Scotland, DR. JOHNSON. 986 now one of the Judges of the Court of Session, with '77C the title of Lord Hendorland. I mentioned Mr. ^o- JTt'!^ hcitor's relation, Lord Charles Hay, with whom 1 knew 07. Dr. Johnson had been acquainted. Johnson. " I wrote something for Lord Charles ; and 1 thought he had nothing to fear from a court-martial. 1 suffered a great loss when he died ; he was a mighty pleasing man in conversation, and a reading man. The character of a soldier is high. They who stand forth the foremost in danger, for the community, have the respect of man- kind. An officer is much more respected than any other man who has as little money. In a commercial country, money will always purchase respect. But you find, an officer, who has, properly speaking, no money, is every where well received and treated with attention. The character of a soldier always stands him in stead." Bos- well. " Yet, Sir, I think that common soldiers are worse thought of than other men in the same rank of life; such as labourers." Johnson. " Why, Sir, a com- mon soldier is usually a very gross man, and any qual- ity which procures respect may be overwhelmed by grossness. A man of learning may be so vicious or so ridiculous that you cannot respect him. A common soldier too, generally eats more than he can pay for. But when a common soldier is civil in his quarters, his red coat procures him a degree of respect." The pe- culiar respect paid to the military character in France was mentioned. Boswell. " I should think that where military men are so numerous, they would be less val- ued as not being rare." Johnson. " Nay, Sir, wherev- er a particular character or profession is high in the estimation of a people, those who are of it will be val- ued above other men. We value an Englishman high in this country, and yet Englishmen are not rare in it." Mr. Murray praised the ancient philosophers for the candour and good humour with which those of differ- ent sects disputed with each other. Johnson. " Sir, they disputed with good humour, because they were not in earnest as to religion. Had the ancients been serious in their belief, we should not have had their Gods exhibited in the manner we find them represent- 286 THE LIFE OF 1776. ed ill the Poets. The people would not have suftered ^J^ it. They disputed with good humour upon the fanciful 67. ' theories, because they were not interested in the truth of them : when a man has nothing to lose, he may be in good humour with his opponent. Accordingly you see in Lucian, the Epicurean, who argues only nega- tively, keeps his temper ; the Stoick, who has some- thing positive to preserve, grows angry. Being angry with one who controverts an opinion which you value, is a necessary consequence of the uneasiness which you feel. Every man who attacks my belief, diminishes ' in some degree my confidence in it, and therefore makes me uneasy ; and I am angry with him who makes me uneasy. Those only who believed in revelation have been angry at having their faith called in question ; be- cause they only had something upon which they could rest as matter of fact." Murray. " It seems to me that we are not angry at a man for controverting an opinion which we believe and value ; we rather pity him." Johnson. " Why, Sir ; to be sure when you wish a man to have that belief which you think is of infinite advantage, you wish well to him ; but your primaiy consideration is your own quiet. If a madman were to come into this room with a stick in his hand, no doubt we should pity the state of his mind ; but our primary consideration would be to take care of ourselves. We should knock him down first, and pity him afterwards. No, Sir; every man will dispute with great good hu- mour upon a subject in which he is not interested. I will dispute very calmly upon the probability of an- other man's son being hanged ; but if a man zealously enforces the probability that my own son will be hang- ed, I shall certainly not be in a very good humour with him." I added this illustration, " If a man endeavours to convince me that my wife, whom I love very much, and in whom I place great confidence, is a disagreeable woman, and is even unfaithful to me, 1 shall be very angry, for he is putting me in fear of being unhappy." Murray. " But, Sir, truth will always bear an exam- ination." Johnson. " Yes, Sir, but it is; painful to be forced to defend it. Consider, Sir, how should you DR. JOHNSON. 287 like, though conscious of your innocence, to be tried 177^. before a jury for a capital crime, once a week I" UtaT We talked of education at great schools ; the advan- ()7. tages and disadvantages of which Johnson displayed in a luminous manner ; but his arguments preponderate so much in favour of the benefit which a boy of good parts might receive at one of them, that 1 have reason to be- lieve Mr. Murray was very much influenced by what he had heard to-day, in his determination to send his own son to Westminster school. — 1 have acted in the same manner with regard to my own two sons ; having placed the eldest at Eton, and the second at Westmin- ster. I cannot say which is best. But in justice to both those noble seminaries, I with high satisfaction declare, that my boys have derived from them a great deal of good, and no evil : and I trust they will, like Horace, be grateful to their father for giving them so valuable an education. I introduced the topick, which is often ignoiantly urged, that the Universities of England are too rich ;* so that learning does not flourish in them as it would do, if those who teach had smaller salaries, and de- pended on their assiduity for a great part of their in- come. Johnson. " Sir, the very reverse of this is the truth ; the English Universities are not rich enough. ' Our fellowships are only sufficient to support a man during his studies to fit him for the world, and accord- ingly in general they are held no longer than till an opportunity offers of getting away. Now and then, perhaps, there is a fellow who grows old in his college ; but this is against his will, unless he be a man very indo- lent indeed. A hundred a year is reckoned a good fellowship, and that is no more than is necessary to keep a man decently as a scholar. We do not allow our fellows to marry, because we consider academical institutions as preparatory to a settlement in the world. It is only by being employed as a tutor, that a fellow can obtain any thing more than a livelihood. To be " Dr. Adam Smith, who was for some time a professor in the University of Glas- gow, has uttered, in his " Wealth of Nations," some reflections upon this subject which are certainly not well founded, and seem to be invidiou*. 28S THE LIFE OF 1776. sure a man, who has enough without teaching, will ^^ probably not teach ; for we would all be idle if we 67. could. In the same manner, a man who is to get nothing by teaching, will not exert himself. Greshani- College was intended as a place of instruction for Lon- don ; able professors were to read lectures gratis, they contrived to have no scholars ; whereas, if they had been allowed to receive but sixpence a lecture from each scholar, they would have been emulous to have had many scholars. Every body will agree that it should be the interest of those who teach to have scholars ; and this is the case in our Universities. That they are too rich is certainly not true ; for they have nothing good enough to keep a man of eminent learning with them for his life. In the foreign Uni- versities a professorship is a high thing. It is as much almost as a man can make by his learning ; and there- fore we find the most learned men abroad are in the Universities. It is not so with us. Our Universities are impoverished of learning, by the penury of their provisions, I wish there were many places of a thou- sand a year at Oxford, to keep first-rate men of learn- ing from quitting the University.'' Undoubtedly if this were the case, Literature would have a still greater dignity and splendour at Oxford, and there would be grander living sources of instruction. 1 mentioned Mr. Maclaurin's uneasiness on account of a desrree of ridicule carelessly thrown on his deceas- ed father, in Goldsmith's " History of Animated Na- ture," in which that celebrated mathematician is rep- resented as being subject to fits of yawning so violent as to render him incapable of proceeding in his lecture ; a story altogether unfounded, but for the publication of which the law would give no reparation.^ This led us to agitate the question, whether legal redress could be obtained, even when a man's deceased relation was calumniated in a publication. Mr. Murray maintained ' Dr. Goldsmith was dead before Mr. Maclaurin discovered the ludicrous errour. But Mr. Nourse, the bool seller, who was the proprietor of the work, upon being appHed to by Sir John Pnngle, agreed very handsomely to have the leaf on whicfc it was contained, cancelled, and re-printed without it, at his own expencp. DR. JOHNSON. 98f) there should be reparation, unless the authour could i77<>. justify himself by proving the fact. Johnson. " Sir, ^tj^ it is of so much more consequence that truth should be G7. told, than that individuals should not be made uneasy, that it is much better that the law does not restrain writing freely concerning the characters of the dead. Damaiies will be oriven to a man who is calumniated in his life time, because he may be hurt in his worldly in- terest, or at least hurt in his mind : but the law does not regard that uneasiness which a man feels on having his ancestor calumniated. That is too nice. Let him deny what is said, and let the matter have a fair chance by discussion. But if a man could say nothing against a character but what he can prove, history could not be written ; for a great deal is known of men of which proof cannot be brought. A minister may be noto- riously known to take bribes, and yet you may not be able to prove it." Mr. Murray suggested, that the au- thour should be obliged to show some sort of evidence, though he would not require a strict legal proof : but Johnson firmly and resolutely opposed any restraint whatever, as adverse to a free investigation of the char- acters of mankind.** '■ XA'hat Dr. Johnson has here said, is undoubtedly good sense : yet I am afraid that law, though defined by Lord Coke " the perfection of reason," is not ahogether •with Ij'im ; for it is held in the books, that an attack on the reputation even of a dead man, may be punished as a libel, because tending to a breach of the peace. There is, however, I believe, no modern decided case to that effect. In the Kijig's Bench, Trinity Term, 1790, the question occurred on occasion of an indictment, The King V. Topham, who, as a proprietor of a news-paper entitled " The World," was found guilty of a libel against Earl Cowpcr, deceased, because certain injurious charges against his Lordship were published in that paper. An arrest of judge- ment having been moved for, the case was afterwards solemnly argued. My friend Mr. Const, whom I delight in having an opportunity to praise, not only for his abilities but his manners ; a gentleman whose ancient German blood has been mellowed in England, and who may be truly said to unite the Baron and the Bar^ rijter, was one of the Counsel for Mr. Topham. He displayed much learning and ingenuity upon the general question ; which, however was not decided, as the Court granted an arrest chiefly on the informality of the indictment. No man lia» a higher reverence for the law of England than I have ; but, with all deference I cannot help thinking, that prosecution by indictment, if a defendant is never to be allowed to justify, must often be very oppressive, xmless Juries, whom I am more and more confirmed in holding to be judges of law as well as of fact, resolutely in- terpose. Of late .in act of Parliament has passed declaratory of their full right to one as well ai the other, in matter of libel ; and the bill having been brought in by a popular gentleman, many of his party have in most extravagant terms de- claimed on the wonderful acquisition to the liberty of the press. For my own part I ever was clearly of opinion that this rijht was inhereD' in the very constitu* vnj.. ir, 37 290 THE LIFE OP i77fi. On Thursday, April 4, having called on Dr. John- ^^ son, I said, it was a pity that truth was not so firm as 67. to bid defiance to all attacks, so that it might be shot at as much as people chose to attempt, and yet remain unhurt. Johnson. " Then, Sir, it would not be shot at. Nobody attempts to dispute that two and two make four : but with contests concerning moral truth, human passions are generally mixed, and therefore it must ever be liable to assault and misrepresentation." On Friday, April 5, being Good Friday, after having attended the morning service at St. Clement's church, I walked home with Johnson. We talked of the Ro- man Catholick religion. Johnson. " In the barbarous ages, Sir, priests and people were equally deceived ; but afterwards there were gross corruptions introduced by the clergy, such as indulgences to priests to have con- cubines, and the worship of images, not, indeed, incul- cated, but knowingly permitted." He strongly censur- ed the licensed stews at Rome. Boswell. *' So then, Sir, you would allow of no irregular intercourse what- ever between the sexes 1" Johnson. " Vo be sure I would not. Sir. 1 would punish it much more than it is done, and so restrain it. In all countries there has been fornication, as in all countries there has been theft ; but there may be more or less of the one, as well as of the other, in proportion to the force of law. All men will naturally commit fornication, as all men will naturally steal. And, Sir, it is very absurd to argue, tion of a Jury, and indeed in sense and reason inseparable from their important function. To establish it, therefore, by statute, is, I think, narrowing its founda- tion, which is the broad and deep basis of Common Law. Would it not rather weaken the right of primo-geniture, or any other old and universally-acknowl- edged right, should the legislature pass an act in favour of it. hi my "■ Letter to the People of Scotland, against diminisliing the number of the Lords of Session," published in 1785, there is the following passage, which, as a concise, and I hope, a fair and rational state of the matter, 1 presume to quote : " The Juries of Eng- land are Judges of /azv as well as of fordsliip, smiling,) / kept back" ' There is an account of him in Sir John Hawkins's Life of Johnson, p. 244. [Mr. Thomas Ballow was authour of an excellent Treatise of Eqi'ity, printed anonymously in 1742, and lately republished with very valuable additions, by John Fonblanque, Esq. Mr. I3allow died suddenly in London, July 26, 1782, aged seventy-five, and is mentioned in the Gentleman's Magazine for that year as " a great Greek Scholar, and famous for his knowledge of the old philosophy." M.] ^ I have in vain endeavoured to find out what parts Johnson wrote for Dr. James. Perhaps medical men may. DR. JOHNSON. 2yi packet was broiip^ht to him from the post-office, said to i776. have come from Lisbon, and it was charged seven pounds ^^^ ten sliillimrs. lie would not receive it, supposing it to g?. be some trick, nor did he even look at it. But upon enquiry afterwards he found that it was a real packet for liim, from that very friend in the East-Indies of whom he had been speaking ; and the ship which car- ried it having come to Portugal, this packet, with others, had been put into the post-office at Lisbon. 1 mentioned a new gaming-club, of which Mr. Beau- clerk had given me an account, where the members played to a desperate extent. Johnson. " Depend upon it, Sir, this is mere talk. Who is ruined by gam- ing ? You will not find six instances in an age. There is a strange rout made about deep play : whereas you have many more people ruined by adventurous trade, and yet we do not hear such an outcry against it." Thrale. " There may be few people absolutely ruined by deep play ; but very many are much hurt in their circumstances by it." Johnson. " Yes, Sir, and so are very many by other kinds of expence." 1 had heard him talk once before in the same manner; and at Ox- ford he said, " he wished he had learned to play at cards." The truth, however, is, that he loved to dis- play his ingenuity in argument ; and therefore would sometimes in conversation maintain opinions which he was sensible were wrong, but in supporting which, his reasoning and wit would be most conspicuous. He would begin thus : " Why, Sir, as to the good or evil of card-playing — " " Now, (said Garrick,) he is think- ing which side he shall take." He appeared to have a pleasure in contradiction, especially when any opinion whatever was delivered with an air of confidence ; so that there was hardly any topick, if not one of the great truths of Religion and Morality, that he might not have been incited to argue, either for or against. Lord Eli- bank^ had the highest admiration of his powers. He once observed to me, " Whatever opinion Johnson maintains, i will not say that he convinces me ; but he ^ Patrick, LorJ Elibaak, who died iu 1778. 296 THE LIFE OF i77f>. never fails to shew me, that he has good reasons for it/* ^^^ i have heard Johnson pay his Lordship this high com- 67, ' phment : " I never was in Lord Ehbank's cotnpany without learning something." We sat together till it was too late for the afternoon service. Thrale said, he had come with intention to go to church with us. We went at seven to evening pray- ers at St. Clement's church, after having drank coffee ; an indulgence, which 1 understood Johnson yielded to on this occasion, in compliment to Thrale. On Sunday, April 7, Easter-day, after having been at St. Paul's cathedral, I came to Dr. Johnson, according to my usual custom. It seemed to me, that there was always something peculiarly mild and placid in his man- ner upon this holy festival, the commemoration of the most joyful event in the history of our world, the resur- rection of our Lord and Saviour, who, having tri- umphed over death and the grave, proclaimed immor- tality to mankind. I repeated to him an argument of a lady of my ac- quaintance, who maintained, that her husband's having been guilty of numberless infidelities, released her from conjugal obligations, because they were reciprocal. Johnson. " This is miserable stuff. Sir. To the con- tract of marriage, besides the man and wife, there is a third party — Society ; and if it be considered as a vow — God : and, therefore, it cannot be dissolved by their consent alone. Laws are not made for particular cases, but for men in general. A woman may be unhappy with her husband ; but she cannot be freed from him without the approbation of the civil and ecclesiastical power. A man may be unhappy, because he is not so rich as another ; but he is not to seize upon another's property with his own hand." Boswell. " But, Sir, this lady does not want that the contract should be dis- solved ; she only argues that she may indulge herself in I gallantries with equal freedom as her husband does, provided she takes care not to introduce a spurious is- sue into his family. You know, Sir, what Macrobius 1 DR. JOHNSON. 997 has tol(i of Julia."* Johnson. " This hidy of yours, i77<). Sir, I think, is very fit for a brothel." Ifi^. ISlr. Maeheaii, autliour of the " Dictionary of An- 07.* cient Cie()L,Taphy," cauie in. He mentioned that he had been forty years absent from Scotland. " Ah, Bosvvell ! (said .loiirison, smiling,) what would you give to be forty years from Scotland !" 1 said, " 1 should not like to be so long absent from the seat of my ancestors." This gentleman, Mrs. Williams, and Mr. Levet, dined with us. Dr. Johnson made a remark, which both Mr. Mac- bean and 1 thought new. It was this: that " the law against usury is for the protection of creditors as well as debtors ; for if there were no such check, people would be apt, from the temptation of great interest, to lend to desperate persons, by whom they would lose their money. Accordingly there are instances of ladies being ruined, by having injudiciously sunk their for- tunes for high annuities, which, after a few years, ceas- ed to be paid, in consequence of the ruined circum- stances of the borrower." Mrs. Williams was very peevish : and I wondered at Johnson's patience with her now, as I had often done on similar occasions. The truth is, that his humane consideration of the forlorn and indigent state in which this lady was left by her father, induced him to treat her with the utmost tenderness, and even to be desirous of procuring her amusement, so as sometimes to incom- mode many of his friends, by carrying her with him to their houses, where, from her manner of eating, in con- sequence of her blindness, she could not but offend the delicacy of persons of nice sensations. After coffee, we went to afternoon service in St. Cle- ment's church. Observing some beggars in the street as we walked along, 1 said to him 1 supposed there was no civilized country in the world, where the misery of want in the lowest classes of the people was prevented. Johnson. " I believe, Sir, there is not ; but it is better that some should be unhappy, than that none should •• " Nunquarn enim nisi navi plena tollo vtclciem." Lib. iu C. n. VOL. If. 38 298 ' THE LIFE OF 1776. be happy, which would be the case in a general state S'^ of equality/' 67. When the service was ended, I went home with him, and we sat quietly by ourselves. He recommended Dr. Cheyne's books. I said, 1 thought Cheyne had been reckoned whimsical. — " So he was, (said he,) in some things ; but there is no end of objections. There are few books to which some objection or other may not be made." He added, " 1 would not have you read any thing else of Cheyne, but his book on Health, and his ' English Malady." Upon the question whether a man who had been guilty of vicious actions would do well to force himself into solitude and sadness? Johnson. " No, Sir, unless it prevent him from being vicious again. With some people, gloomy penitence is only madness turned up- \ side down. A man may be gloomy, till, in order to be relieved from gloom, he has recourse again to criminal induloencies." On Wednesday, April 10, I dined with him at Mr. Thrale's where were Mr. Murphy and some other com- pany. Before dinner, Dr. Johnson and 1 passed some time by ourselves. 1 was sorry to find it was now re- solved that the proposed journey to Italy should not take place this year. He said, " I am disappointed, to be sure ; but it is not a great disappointment." 1 won- dered to see him bear, with a philosophical calmness, what would have made most people peevish and fretful. I perceived, however, that he had so warmly cherished the hopt^ of enjoying classical scenes, that he could not easily part with the scheme ; for he said, " 1 shall prob- ably contrive to get to Italy some other way. But I won't mention it to Mr. and Mrs. Thrale, as it might vex them." 1 suggested, that going to Italy might have done Mr. and Mrs. Thrale good. vTohnson. " 1 rather believe not. Sir. While grief is fresh, every at- tempt to divert only irritates. You must wait till grief be digested, and then amusement will dissipate the re- mains of it." At dinner, Mr. Murphy entertained us with the his- tory of Mr. Joseph Simpson, a schoolfellow of Dr DR. JOHNSON. 991) Johnson's, a banister at law, of good parts, but who fell 177G. into a (iissipateii course of life, incompatible with that ^(^ success in his profession whicii he once had, and would c;-. otherwise have deservedly maintained ; yet he still pre- served a diunity in his deportment. He wrote a tragedy on the story of J^eonidas, entitled " The Patriot." lie read it to a company of lawyers, who found so many faults that he wrote it over again : so then there were two tragedies on the same subject and with the same ti- tle. Dr. Johnson told us, that one of them was still in his possession. This very piece was, after his death, published by some person who had been about him, and, for the sake of a little hasty profit, was fallaciously ad- vertised, so as to make it be believed to have been writ- ten by Johnson himself. I said, 1 disliked the custom which some people had of bringino^ their children into company, because it in a manner forced us to pay foolish compliments to please their parents. Johnson. " You are right, Sir. We maybe excused for not caring much about other peo- ple's children, for there are many who care very little about their own children. It may be observed, that men, who from being engaged in business, or from their course of life in whatever vvay, seldom see their chil- dren, do not care much about them. I myself should not have had much fondness for a child of my own.'" JMrs. Thrale. "Nay, Sir, how can you talk so?" Johnson. " At least, 1 never wished to have a child." Mr. INIurphy mentioned Dr. Johnson's having a de- sign to publish an edition of Cowley. Johnson said, he did not know but he should ; and he expressed his dis- approbation of Dr. Hurd, for having published a muti- lated edition under the title of " Select Works of Abra- ham Cowley." Mr. Murphy thought it a bad prece- dent ; observing, that any authour might be used in the same manner ; and that it was pleasing to see the variety of an authour's compositions, at different periods. We talked of Flatman's Poems ; and Mrs. Thrale observed, that Pope had partly borrowed from him, " The dying Christian to his Soul.'' Johnson repeated 300 THE LIFE OF 1776. Rochester's verses upon Flatman, which, 1 think, by ^j^ much too severe : ^' " Nor that slovi^ drudge in swift Pindarick strains, ~^ " Flatman, who Cowley imitates with pains, ^ " And rides a jaded Muse, whipt with loose reins." J I like to recollect all the passages that I heard Johnson repeat : it stamps a value on them. He told us, that the book entitled " The Lives of the Poets, by Mr. Cibber," was entirely compiled by Mr. Shiels,' a Scotchman, one of his amanuenses. "The ' In the Monthly Review for May, 1792, there is such a correction of tlie above passage, as I should think myself very culpable not to subjoin. " This account is very inaccurate. The following statement of facts we know to be true, in every material circumstance ; — Shiels was the principal collector and digester of the ma- terials for the work : but as he was very raw in authourship, an indifferent writer in prose, and his language full of Scotticisms, Gibber, who was a clever, lively fellow, and then soliciting employment among the booksellers, was engaged to cor- rect the style and diction of the whole work, then intended to make only four vol- umes, with power to alter, expunge, or add, as he Uked. He was also to supply Kotes, occasionally, especially concerning those dramatick poets with whom he had been chiefly conversant. He also engaged to write several of the Lives ; which, (as we are told,) he, accordingly, performed. He was farther useful in striking out the Jacobitical and Tory sentiments, which Shiels had industriously interspersed wherever he could bring them in : — and as the success of the work appeared, af- ter all, very doubtful, he was content with twenty-one pounds for his labour be- sides a few sets of the books, to disperse among his friends. — Shiels had nearly seventy pounds, beside the advantage of many of the best Lives in the work be- ing communicated by friends to the undertaking ; and for which Mr. Shiels had the same consideration as for the rest, being paid by the sheet, for the whole. He was, however, so angry with his Whiggish supervisor, (The. like his father, being a violent stickler for the political principles which prevailed in the reign of George the Second,) for so unmercifully mutilating his copy, and scouting his pohticks, that he wrote Gibber a challenge : but was prevented from sending it, by the publisher who fairly laughed him out of his fury. The proprietors, too, were discontented, in the end, on account of Mr. Gibber's unexpected industry ; for his corrections and alterations in the proof-sheets were so numerous and con- siderable, that the printer made for them a grievous addition to his bill ; and, in fine, all parties were dissatisfied. On the whole, tiie work was productive of no profit to the undertakers, who had agreed, in case of success, to make Gibber a present of some addition to the twenty guineas which he had received, and for which his receipt is now in the booksellers' hands. We are farther assured, that he actually obtained an additional sum ; when he, soon after, (in the year 175S.) unfortunately embarked for Dublin, on an engagement for one of the theatres there : but the ship was cast away, and every person on board perished. 'I'hore were about sixty passengers, among whom was the Earl of Drogheda, witli many other persons of consequence and property. " As to the alledged design of making the compliment pass for the work of old Mr. Gibber, the charges seem to have been founded on a soniewhnt luich.-iiitahle construction. We are assured that the thought was not harboured by some of the proprietors, who are all still living ; and we hope that it did not occur to the first designer of {he work, who was alto the printer of it, and who bore a respectable, ^har^cter. ijR. JOHNSON. .JUl booksellers (said he,) gave Theophilus Cibber, who was 1776. then ill prison, ten guineas, to allow Mr. Cibber to be ]^^ put upt»n the title-page, as the authour ; by this, a (jy. douhK imposition was intended : in the fust place, that it was the work of a Cibber at all ; and, in the second place, that it was the work of old Cibber." Mr. Murphy said, that " The Memoirs of Gray's Life set him much higher in his estimation than his po- ems did ; for you there saw a man constantly at work in literature." .Johnson acquiesced in this; but depre- ciated the book, 1 thought very unreasonably. For he said, " 1 forced myself to read it, only because it was a comnjoi) topick of conversation. 1 found it mighty dull ; and, as to the style, it is fit for the second table." Why he thought so 1 was at a loss to conceive. He now gave it as his opinion, that " Akenside was a supe- riour poet both to Gray and Mason." Talking of the Reviews, Johnson said, " I think them very impartial : I do not know an instance of partiality," He mentioned what had passed upon the subject of the Monthly and Critical Reviews, in the conversation with which his INlajesty had honoured him. He expatiated a little more on them this evening. " The Monthly Reviewers, (said he) are not Deists ; but they are Chris- tians with as little Christianity as ma}' be ; and are for pulling down all establishments. The Critical Review- ers are for supporting the constitution both in church " We have been induced to enter thus circumstantially into tlie foregoing de- tail of facts relating to the 1-ives of tlie Poets, compiled by Messrs. Cibber and Shicis, from a sincere regard to that sacred principle of Truth, to which Dr. John- son so rigidly adhered, according to tlie best of his knowledge ; and which, we be- lieve, m erinsidirtitioii would have prevailed on him to violate. In regard to the matter, which we now dismiss, he had, no doubt, been misled by partial and wrong information ; Shiels was tlie Doctor's amanuensis ; he had quarelled with Cibber ; it is natural to suppose that he told his story in his own way ; and it is certain that be was not "a very sturdy moralist." This explanation appears to me very satisfactory. It is, however, to be obser\'ed, that the storj'^ told by Johnson doe* not rest solely upon mv record of his conversation ; for he himself has published it in his life (if Hammond, where he says, " the manuscript of Shiels is now in mv, possession." Very jirobably he liad trusted to Shield's word, and never looked ;ii; it so as to compare it with " The Lives of the Poets," as j^ublishcd under Mr. Gib- ber's name. What became of that manuscript I know not. 1 should have liked much to examine it. I suppose it was thrown into the fire in that impetuous com- bustion of papers, whicii Johnson I think rashlv executed, wiien moril'undus. 305 THE LIFE OF 1776. and state.* The Critical Reviewers, I believe, often "^^ review without reading the books through ; but lay §7. hold of a topick, and write chiefly from their own minds. The Monthly Reviewers are duller men, and are glad to read the books through." He talked of Lord Lyttelton's extreme anxiety as an authour ; observing, that " he was thirty years in pre- paring his History, and that he employed a man to point it for him ; as if (laughing) another man could point his sense better than himself." Mr. Murphy said, he understood his history vi^as kept back several years for fear of Smollett. Johnson. " This seems strange to Murphy and me, who never felt that anxiety, but sent what we wrote to the press, and let it take its chance." Mrs. Thrale. " The time has been. Sir, when you felt it." Johnson. " Why really. Madam, I do not recollect a time when that was the case." Talking of " The Spectator," he said, " It is won- derful that there is such a proportion of bad papers, in the half of the work which was not written by Addi- son ; for there was all the world to write that half, yet not a half of that half is good. One of the finest pieces , in the English language is the paper on Novelty, yet we do not hear it talked of. It was written by Grove, a dissenting teacher." He would not, I perceived, call him a cie/gijman, though he was candid enough to al- low very great merit to his composition. Mr. INIurphy said, he remembered when there were several people alive in London, who enjoyed a considerable reputation merely from having written a paper in " The Specta- tor." He mentioned particularly Mr. Ince, who used to frequent Tom's coffee-house. " But (said Johnson,) you must consider how highly Steele speaks of Mr. Ince." He would not allow that the paper on carrying a boy to travel, signed Philip Homebred, which was reported to be written by the Lord Chancellor Hard- wicke, had merit. He said, " it was quite vulgar, and had nothing luminous." * [Johnson's opinions concerning the Monthly and Critical Reviews would not be accurate now [1 803.] B.] DR. JOHNSON. 303 Johnson mentioned Dr. Carry's ' System of Physick. i776. " He was a man (said he,) who had acquired a high ^J^ reputation in Dublin, came over to England, and 07. brought his reputation with him, l)Ut had not great success. His notion was, that pulsation occasions death by attrition ; and that, therefore, the way to pre- serve life is to retard pulsation. But we know that pulsation is strongest in infants, and that we increase in growth while it operates in its regular course ; so it cannot be the cause of destruction." Soon after this, he said something very flattering to Mrs. Thrale, which I do not recollect ; but it concluded with wish- ing her long life. " Sir, (said 1,) if Dr. Barry's system be true, vou have now shortened Mrs. Thrale's life, perhaps, some minutes, by accelerating her pulsation." On Thursday, April 11, 1 dined with him at Gener- al Paoli's, in whose house I now resided, and where I had ever afterwards the honour of being entertained with the kindest attention as his constant guest, while I was in London, till 1 had a house of my own there. I mentioned my having that morning introduced to Mr. Garrick, Count Neni, a Flemish Nobleman of great rank and fortune, to whom Garrick talked of Abel Drugger as a small part ; and related, with pleasant vanity, that a Frenchman who had seen him in one of his low characters, exclaimed, " Comment ! je ne le crois pas. Ce 11 est pas Monsieur Garrick, ce Grand Homme /" Garrick added, with an appearance of grave recollection, '■ If I were to begin life again, I think 1 should not play those low characters." LTpon which I observed, " Sir, you would be in the wrong ; for your great excellence is your variety of playing, your representing so well, characters so very different." Johnson. " Garrick, Sir, was not in earnest in what he said ; for, to be sure, his peculiar excellence is his variety ; and, perhaps, there is not any one character which has not been as well acted by somebody else, as. he could do it." Boswell. " Why then. Sir, did he talk so ?" Johnson. " Why, Sir, to make you answer as you did." Boswell. " I don't know, Sir ; he ' Sir Edward Barrjr, Baronet. 304 THE LIFE OP 1776. seemed to dip deep into his mind for the reflection." 2J^ Johnson. " He had not far to dip, Sir : he had said the 67. same thing, probably, twenty times before/^ Of a nobleman raised at a very early period to high office, he said, " His parts, Sir, are pretty well for a Lord ; but would not be distinguished in a man who had nothing else but his parts." A. journey to Italy was still in his thoughts. He said, " A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see. The grand ob- ject of travelling is to see the shores of the Mediterra- nean. On those shores were the four great Empires of the world ; the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman. — All our religion, almost all our law, almost all our arts, almost all that sets us above sav- ages, has come to us from the shores of the Mediter- ranean." The General observed, that " The Medi- terranean would be a noble subject for a poem." We talked of translation. 1 said, I could not define it, nor could I think of a similitude to illustrate it ; but that it appeared to me the translation of poetry could be only imitation. Johnson. " You may trans- late books of science exactly. You may also translate history, in so far as it is not embellished with oratory, which is poetical. Poetry, indeed cannot be translated ; ' and, therefore, it is the poets that preserve languages ; for we would not be at the trouble to learn a language, if we could have all that is written in it just as well in a translation. But as the beauties of poetry cannot be preserved in any language except that in which it was originally written, we learn the language." A gentleman maintained that the art of printing had hurt real learning, by disseminating idle writings. — Johnson. " Sir, if it had not been for the art of print- ing, we should now have no learning at all ; for books * would have perished faster than they could have been transcribed." This observation seems not just, con- sidering for how many ages books were preserved by writing alone.* ^ [The authour did not recollect tliat of the books preserved (and an infinite number was lost) all were confined to two languages. In modern times and mod- DR. JOHNSON. 305 The same gentleman maintained, that a general dif- 1776. Fusion of knowledge among a people was a disadvan- ^^'.^ tage ; for it made the vulgar rise above their humble aj. sphere. Johnson. " Sir, while knowledge is a dis- tinction, those who are possessed of it will naturally rise above those who arc not. Merely to read and write was a distinction at first ; but we see when read- ing and writing have become general, the common people keep their stations. And so, were higher at- tainments to become general, the effect would be the same." " Cloldsmith (he said,) referred every thing to vanity ; his virtues, and his vices too were from that motive. He was not a social man. He never exchanged mind with you." We spent the evening at Mr. Hoole's. Mr. Mickle, the excellent translator of " The Lusiad," was there. I have preserved little of the conversation of this eve- ning. Dr. Johnson said, " Thomson had a true poet- ical genius, the power of viewing every thing in a poetical light. His fault is such a cloud of words sometimes, that the sense can hardly peep through. Shiels, who compiled ' Gibber's Lives of the Poets,'' was one day sitting with me. 1 took down Thomson, and read aloud a large portion of him, and then asked, — Is not this fine I Shiels having expressed the highest admiration. Well, Sir, (said 1,) 1 have omitted every. other line." I related a dispute between Goldsmith and Mr. Robert Dodsley, one day when they and 1 were dining at Tom Davies's, in 1762. Goldsmith asserted, that there was no poetry produced in this age. Dodsley appealed to his own Collection, and maintained, that though you could not find a palace like Dryden's "Ode on St. Cecilia's Day," you had villages composed of very pretty houses : and he mentioned particularly " The Spleen." Johnson. " I think Dodsley gave up ern languae;es, France and Italy alone produce more books in a given time than Greece and Rome ; put England, Spain, Germany, and the Northern kingdoms out f'f the question. B.] ■> See ante Note, p. 300, &c. VOr,. TT. ,jO 306 THE LIFE OF '77^- the question. He and Goldsmith said the same thing ; JJ^ only he said it in a softer manner than Goldsmith did ; 67. for he acknowledged that there was no poetry, nothing that towered above the common mark. You may find wit and humour in verse, and yet no poetry. ' Hudi- bras' has a profusion of these ; yet it is not to be reckoned a poem. ' The Spleen,' in Dodsley's collec- tion, on which you say he chiefly rested, is not poetry." BoswELL. " Does not Gray's poetry, Sir, tower above the common mark ?" Johnson. " Yes, Sir ; but we must attend to the difference between what men in general cannot do if they would, and what every man may do if he would. Sixteen-string Jack' towered above the common mark." Boswell. " Then Sir, what is poetry V Johnson. " Why, Sir, it is much ^ easier to say what it is not. We all know what light is ; but it is not easy to teii what it is." On Friday, April 12, I dined with him at our friend Tom Davies's, where we met Mr. Cradock, of Leices- tersliiie, authour of " Zobeide," a tragedy ; a very pleasing gentleman, to whom my friend Dr. Farmer's very excellent Essay on the Learning of Shakspeare is addressed ; and Dr. Harwood, who has written and published various works ; particularly a fantastical translation of the New Testament, in modern phrase, and with a Socinian twist. 1 introduced Aristotle's doctrine in his " Art of Poetry," of " the xoSa^irti; tuv 7ra.h{ji.ctTuv , the purging of the passions," as the purpose of tragedy.^ " But how are the passions to be purged by terrour and pity !" (said I, with an assumed air of ignorance, to incite him to talk, for which it was often necessary to employ some address.) Johnson. " Why, Sir, you are to consider what is the meaning of purging in the original sense. It is to expel impurities from the human body. The mind is subject to the same imperfection. The pas- sions are the great movers of human actions ; but they > A noted highwayman, who after having been several times tried and acquitted, was at last hanged. He was remarkable for foppery in his dress, and particularly for wearing a bunch of sixteen strings at the knees of his breeches. •^ See an ingenious Essay on this subject by the late Dr. Moor, Greek professcr at Glasgow. DR. JOHNSON. 307 are mixed with such impurities, that it is necessary •77*»- tliey shoulil be purged or refined by means of terrour^,'^ and pity. For instance, ambition is a noble passion ; 67. but by seeing' upon the stage, that a man who is so excessively ambitious as to raise himself by injustice, is punished, w(^ are terrified at the fatal consequences of such a passion. In the same manner a certain de- gree of resentment is necessary ; but if we see that a man carries it too far, we pity the object of it, and are taught to moderate that passion." My record upon this occasion does great injustice to Johnson's expres- sion, which was so forcible and brilhant, that Mr. Cradock wliispered me, " O that his words were writ- ten in a book !" 1 observed the great defect of the tragedy of " Othel- lo" was, that it had not a moral ; for that no man could resist the circumstances of suspicion which were art- fully suggested to Othello's mind. Johnson. " In the first place. Sir, we learn from Othello this very useful moral, not to make an unequal match ; in the second place, we learn not to yield too readily to suspicion. The handkerchief is merely a trick, though a very pretty trick ; but there are no other circumstances of reasonable suspicion, except what is related by lago of Cassio's warm expressions concerning Desdemona in his sleep ; and that depended entirely upon the asser- tion of one man. No, Sir, 1 think Othello has more moral than almost any play." Talking of a penurious gentleman of our acquaint- ance, Johnson said, " Sir, he is narrow, not so much from avarice, as from impotence to spend his n^oney. He cannot find in his heart to pour out a bottle of wine ; but he would not much care if it should sour." He said, he wished to see " John Dennis's Critical Works" collected. Davies said they would not sell. Dr. Johnson seemed to think otherwise. Davies said of a well known dramatick authour, that " he lived upon potted stories^ and that he made his way as Hannibal did, by vinegar ; having begun by at- tacking people ; |)articularly the players." 308 THE LIFE OF 1776. He reminded Dr. Johnson of Mr. Murphy's having 21at^ paid him the highest comphment that ever was paid to 67. * a layman, by asking his pardon for repeating some oaths in the course of telling a story. Johnson and 1 supped this evening at the Crown and Anchor tavern, in company with Sir Joshua Rey- nolds, Mr. Langton, Mr. Nairne, now one of the Scotch Judges, with the title of Lord Dunsinan, and my very worthy friend, Sir William Forbes, of Pitsligo. We discussed the question whether drinking im- proved conversation and benevolence. Sir Joshua maintained it did. Johnson. " No, Sir : before din- ner men meet with great inequality of understanding ; and those who are conscious of their inferiority, have the modesty not to talk. When they have drunk wine, every man feels himself happy, and loses that modesty, and grows impudent and vociferous : but he is not improved : he is only not sensible of his defects." Sir Joshua said the Doctor was talking of the effects of excess in wine ; but that a moderate glass enlivened the mind, by giving a proper circulation to the blood. " I am (said he,) in very good spirits, when 1 get up in the morning. By dinner-time 1 am exhausted ; wine puts me in the same state as when 1 got up ; and 1 am sure that moderate drinking makes people talk better." Johnson. " No, Sir ; wine gives'" not light, gay, ideal, hilarity ; but tumultuous, noisy, clamorous merriment. 1 have heard none of those drunken, — nay, drunken is a coarse word, — none of those vinous flights." Sir Joshua. " Because you have sat by, quite sober, and felt an envy of the happiness of those •who were drinking." Johnson. " Perhaps, contempt. — And, Sir, it is not necessary to be drunk one's self, to relish the wit of drunkenness. Do we not judge of the drunken wit, of the dialogue between lago and Cassio, the most excellent in its kind, when we are quite sober ? Wit is wit, by whatever means it is pro- duced ; and, if good, will appear so at all times. I admit that the spirits are raised by drinking, as by the common participation of any pleasure : cock-iight- jng, or bear-baiting, will raise the spirits of a companVj DR. JOHNSON. 309 US drinkinc^ does, though surely they will not improve '•776. conversation. 1 also admit, that there are some «hig- ^t^ ifish men who are improved by drinking ; as there are (17. fruits which are not good till they are rotten. There are such men, but they are medlars. 1 indeed allow that there have been a very few men of talents who were improved by drinking ; but 1 maintain that I am right as to the effects of drinking in general : and let it be considered, that there is no position, however false in its universality, which is not true of some particular man." Sir William I'orbes said, " Might not a man warmed with wine be like a bottle of beer, which is made brisker by being set before the fire ]" " Nay, (said Johnson laughing,) I cannot answer that : that is too much for me.'' I observed, that wine did some people harm, by in- flaming, confusing, and irritating their minds ; but that the experience of mankind had declared in favour of moderate drinking. Johnson. " Sir, 1 do not say it is wrong to produce self complacency by drinking ; 1 only deny that it improves the mind. When 1 drank wine, I scorned to drink it w hen in company. 1 have drunk many a bottle by myself; in the first place, because I had need of it to raise my spirits ; in the second place, be- cause I would have nobody to witness its effects upon me." He told us, " almost all his Ramblers were written just as they were wanted for the press ; that he sent a certain portion of the copy of an essay, and wrote the remainder, while the former part of it was printing. When it was wanted, and he had fairly sat down to it, he was sure it would be done." He said, that for general improvement, a man should read whatever his immediate inclination prompts him to ; though to be sure, if a man has a science to learn, he must regularly and resolutely advance. He added, " what we read with inclination makes a much stronger impression. If we read without inclination, half the mind is employed in fixing the attention ; so there is but one half to be employed on what we read." He told us, he read Fielding's " Amelia" through without stop- :310 THE LIFE OF 1776. ping. 3 He said, " If a man begins to read in the mid- jg^ die of a book, and feels an inclination to go on, let him 67. not quit it, to go to the beginning. He may perhaps not feel again the inclination." Sir Joshua mentioned Mr. Cumberland's Odes, which were just published. Johnson. " Why, Sir, they would have been thought as good as Odes commonly are, if Cumberland had not put his name to them ; but a name immediately draws censure, unless it be a name that bears down every thing before it. . Nay, Cumberland has made his Odes subsidiary to the fame of another man.* They might have run well enough by them- selves ; but he has not only loaded them with a name, Vjut has made them carry double." We talked of the Reviews, and Dr. Johnson spoke of them as he did at Thrale's,^ Sir Joshua said, what I have often thought, that he wondered to fmd so much good writing employed in them, when the authours were to remain unknown, and so could not have the motive of fame. Johnson. " Nay, Sir, those who write in them, write well in order to be paid well." Soon after this day, he went to Bath with Mr. and Mrs. Thrale. I had never seen that beautiful city, and wished to take the opportunity of visiting it, while Johnson was there. Having written to him, I received the following answer. " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " Why do you talk of neglect ? When did I neg- lect you ? If you will come to Bath, we shall all be glad to see you. Come, therefore, as soon as you can. " But I have a little business for you at London. Bid Francis look in the paper drawer of the chest of drawers in my bed-chamber, for two cases ; one for the ' We have here an involuntary testimony to the excellence of this admirable writer, to wliom we have seen that Dr. Johnson directly allowed so httle mtrit. " Mr. Romney, the painter, who has now deservedly established a high reputa- tion. ' Page 301 of this volume. DR. JOHNSON. 311 Attorney-General, and one for the Solicitor-General. 1776. They lie, 1 think, at the top of my papt-rs ; otherwise J^|,^ they are somewhere else, and will give ine more trouble. 07. " Please to write to me immediately, if they can be found. Make my compliments to all our friends round the world, and to Mrs. Williams at home. " 1 am, Sir, your, &c. " Sam. Johnson." " Search for the papers as soon as you can, that, if it is necessary, 1 may write to you again before you come down." On the 26th of April, I went to Bath ; and on my arrival at the Pelican inn, found lying for me an oblig- ing invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Thrale, by whom I was agreeably entertained almost constantly during my stay. They were gone to the rooms ; but there was a kind note from Dr. Johnson, that he should sit at home all the evening. I went to him directly, and before Mr. and Mrs. Thrale returned, we had by ourselves some hours of tea-drinking and talk. 1 shall group together such of his sayings as I pre- served during the few days that I was at Bath. Of a person who differed from him in politicks, he said, " In private life he is a very honest gentleman ; but 1 will not allow him to be so in publick life. Peo- ple nmij be honest, though they are doing wrong : that is, between their Maker and them. But we^ who are suf- fering by their pernicious conduct, are to destroy them. We are sure that acts from interest. We know what his genuine principles were. They who allow their passions to confound the distinctions between '^ right and wrong, are criminal. They may be convinced ; but they have not come honestly by their conviction." It having been mentioned, 1 know not with what truth, that a certain female political writer, whose doc- trines he disliked, had of late become very fond of dress, sat hours together at her toilet, and even put on rouge : — Johnson. " She is better employed at her toilet, than using her pen. It is better she should be redden- ing her own cheeks, than blackening other people's characters." } 312 THE LIFE OF i77f). He told us that " Addison wrote BugdelPs papers in ]£^ the Spectator, at least mended them so much, that he f)7. made them almost his own ; and that Draper, Tonson's partner, assured Mrs. Johnson, that the much admired Epilogue to ' The Distressed Mother,' which came out in BugdelPs name, was in reality written by Addison." " The mode of government by one may be ill adapt- ed to a small society, but is best for a great nation. The characteristick of our government at present is im- becility. The magistrates dare not call the guards for fear of being hanged. The guards will not come for fear of being given up to the bhnd rage of popular ju- ries." Of the father of one of our friends, he observed, " He never clarified his notions, by filtrating them through other minds. He had a canal upon his estate, where at one place the bank was too low. — ^I dug the canal deeper," said he. He told me that, " so long ago as 1748 he had read * The Grave, a Poem,'^ but did not like it much." I differed from him ; for though it is not equal through- out, and is seldom elegantly correct, it abounds in sol- emn thought, and poetical imagery beyond the common reach. The world has differed from him ; for the poem has passed through many editions, and is still much read by people of a serious cast of mind. A. literary lady of large fortune was mentioned, as one who did good to many, but by no means " by stealth," and instead of " blushing to find it fame," acted evidently from vanity. Johnson. " 1 have seen no beings who do as much good from benevolence, as she does from whatever motive. If there are such un- der the earth, or in the clouds, I wish they would come up, or come down. What Soame Jenyns says upon this subject is not to be minded ; he is a wit. No, Sir ; '' I am sorry tliat there are no memoirs of the Reverend Robert Blair, the au- thour of this poem. He was the representative of the ancient family of Blair, of Blair, in Ayrshire, but the estate had descended to a female, and afterwards passed to the son of her husband by another marriage. He was minister of the parish of Athelstaneford, where Mr. John Home was his successor ; so that it may truly he called classick ground. His son, who is of the same name, and a man eminent for talents and learning, is now, with universal approbation, Solicitor-general of Scot- land. DR. JOHNSON. 315 to act from pure benevolence is not possible for finite i??*^' beings. Human benevolence is mingled with vanity, ^ , interest, or some other motive." He would not allow me to praise a lady then at Rath ; observing, " She does not gain upon me, Sir ; 1 think her empty-headed." He was, indeed, astern critick upon characters and manners. Even ^Irs. Thrale did not escape his friendly animadversion at times. When he and 1 were oneday endeavouring to ascertain article by article, how one of our friends could possibly spend as much money in his family as he told us he did, she interrupted us by a lively extravagant sally, on the ex- pence of clothing his children, describing it in a very ludicrous and fanciful manner. Johnson looked a little angry, and said, " Nay, Madam, when you are declaim- ing, declaim ; and when you are calculating, calculate." At another time, when she said, perhaps affectedly, " I don't like to fly." Johnson. " With t/our wings, Madam, you tnust fly : but have a care, there are c/ijj' pers abroad." How very well was this said, and how fully has experience proved the truth of it ! But have they not clipped rather rude/i/, and gone a great deal closer than was necessary ! A gentleman expressed a wish to go and live three years at Otaheite, or New Zealand, in order to obtain a full acquaintance with people, so totally different from all that we have ever known, and be satisfied what pure nature can do for man. Johnson. *' What could you learn, Sir ? What can savages tell, but what they themselves have seen \ Of the past, or the invisible, they can tell nothing. The inhabitants of Otaheite and New Zealand are not in a state of pure nature ; for it is plain they broke off from some other people. Had they grown out of the ground, you might have judged of a state of pure nature. Fanciful people may talk of a mythology being amongst them ; but it must be in- vention. They have once had religion, which has been gradually debased. And what account of their religion can you suppose to be learnt from savages \ Only con- sider, Sir, our own state: our religion is in a book ; we have an order of men whose duty it is to teach it, we ^'oi , Ti. 40 314 THE LIFE OF 1776. have one day in the week set apart for it, and this is ^^ in general pretty well observed : Yet ask the first ten 67. gross men you meet, and hear what they can tell of their religion." On Monday, April 29, he and I made an excursion to Bristol, where 1 was entertained with seeing him en- quire upon the spot, into the authenticity of " Rowleifs Poetry," as I had seen him enquire upon the spot into the authenticity of " Ossian^s Poetry." George Cat- cot, the pewterer, who was as zealous for Rowley, as Hugh Blair was for Os.sicm, (1 trust my Reverend friend will excuse the comparison,) attended us at our inn, and with a triumphant air of lively simplicity called out, " I'll make Dr. Johnson a convert." Dr. Johnson, at his desire, read aloud some of Chatterton's fabricated verses, while Catcot stood at the back of his chair, mov- ing himself like a pendulum, and beating time with his feet, and now and then looking into Dr. Johnson's face, wondering that he was not yet convinced. We called on Mr. Barret, the surgeon, and saw some of the origin- als as they were called, which were executed very arti- ficially ; but from a careful inspection of them, and a consideration of the circumstances with which they were attended, we were quite satisfied of the imposture, which, indeed, has been clearly demonstrated from in- ternal evidence, by several able criticks.^ Honest Catcot seemed to pay no attention whatever to any objections, but insisted, as an end of all contro- versy, that we should go with him to the tower of the church of St. Mary, Redcliff, and view ivith our own eyes the ancient chest in which the manuscripts were found. To this. Dr. Johnson good-naturedly agreed ; and though troubled with a shortness of breathing, laboured up a long flight of steps, till we came to the place where the wonderous chest stood. " There^ (said Catcot, with a bouncing confident credulity,) there is the very chest itself." After this ocular demonstration^ there was no more to be said. He brought to my recollection a Scotch Highlander, a man of learning too, and who had Mr. Tyrwhitt, Mr. Warton, Mr. Malone. DR. JOHNSON. 3l'J seen the world, attesting, and at the same tnne giving i77o\ his reasons for the authenticity of Fingal : — " 1 have ^^^ heard all that poem w hen 1 was young." — "' Have you, 07, Sir I Pray what have you heard !" — "■ 1 have heard Os- sian, Oscar, and evet-i/ one of them.'* Johnson said of Chatterton, " This is the most extra- ordinary young man that has encountered my knowl- edge. It is wonderful how the whelp has written such things." We were by no means pleased with our inn at Bris- tol. " Let us see now, (said 1,) how we should de- scribe it." Johnson was ready with his raillery. " De- scribe it, Sir ? — \V hy, it was so bad that Boswell wished to be in Scotland !" After Dr. Johnson's return to London, I was several times with him at his house, where I occasionally slept, in the room that had been assigned for me. J dined with him at Dr. Taylor's, at General Oglethorpe's, and at General Paoli's, To avoid a tedious minuteness, I shall group together what I have preserved of his conversation during this period also, without specifying each scene where it passed, except one, which will be found so remarkable as certainly to deserve a very par- ticular relation. Where the place or the persons do not contribute to the zest of the conversation, it is un- necessary to encumber my page with mentioning them. To know of what vintage our wine is, enables us to judge of its value, and to drink it with more relish : but to have the produce of each vine of one vineyard, in the same year, kept separate, would serve no purpose. To know that our wine, (to use an advertising phrase,) is '• of the stock of an Ambassadour lately deceased," heightens its flavour : but it signifies nothing to know the bin where each bottle was once deposited. " Garrick, (he observed,) does not play the part of Archer in * The Beaux Stratagem' well. The gentle- man should break out through the footman, which is . not the case as he does it." " Where there is no education, as in savage coun- tries, men will have the upper hand of women. Bodi- ly strength, no doubt contributes to this ; but it would 11 6 THE LIFE OF 76. he so, exclusive of that ; for it is mind that always aT 8<^'V€'^ii'5' When it comes to dry understanding, man 07. has the better." " The little volumes entitled ' Respuhlicce^ which are very well done, were a bookseller's work. " There is much talk of the misery which we cause to the brute creation ; but they are recompensed by ex- istence. If they were not useful to man, and there- fore protected by him, they would not be nearly so nu- merous." This argument is to be found in the able and benignant Hutchinson's " Moral Philosophy." But the question is, whether the animals who endure such sufferings of various kinds, for the service and enter- tainment of man, would accept of existence upon the terms on vi^hich they have it. Madame Sevigne, who, though she had many enjoyments, felt with delicate sensibility the prevalence of misery, complains of the task of existence having been imposed upon her with- out her consent. " That man is never happy for the present is so true, that all his relief from unhappiness is only forgetting himself for a little while. Life is a progress from want to want, not from enjoyment to enjoyment." - '^ Though many men are nominally entrusted with the administration of hospitals and other publick insti- tutions, almost all the good is done by one man, by whom the rest are driven on ; owing to confidence in him, and indolence in them." " Lord Chesterfield's Letters to his son, I think, might be made a very pretty book. Take out the im- morality, and it should be put in the hands of every young gentleman. An elegant manner and easiness of behaviour are acquired gradually and imperceptibly. No man can say ' I'll be genteel.' There are ten gen- teel women for one genteel man, because they are more restrained. A man without some degree of re- straint is insufferable ; but we are all less restrained than women. Were a woman sitting in company to ^ put out her legs before her as most men do, we should be tempted to kick them in." No man wns a more ■attentive and nice observer of behaviour in tho:ie in DR. JOHNSON. J 17 whose company he happened to be, than Johnson ; or i77G. however strange it may seem to many, had a higher ^^ estimation of its refinements. Lord Eliot informs me, (J7. that one day when Johnson and he were at dinner in a gentleman^s house in London, upon Lord Chester- field's Letters being mentioned, Johnson surprized the company by this sentence : " Every man of any edu- cation would rather be called a rascal, than accused of deficiency in f/ie graces" Mr. Gibbon, who was pres- ent, turned to a lady who knew Johnson well, and lived much with him, and in his quaint manner, tap- ping his box, addressed her thus : *' Don't j'ou think. Madam, (looking towards Johnson,) that among a/l your acquaintance you could find one exception." The lady smiled, and seemed to acquiesce. " 1 read (said he,) Sharpe's letters on Italy over again, when I was at Bath. There is a great deal of matter in them.'' " Mrs. Williams was angry that Thrale's family did not send regularly to her every time they heard from me while I was in the Hebrides. Little people are apt to be jealous : but they should not be jealous ; for they ought to consider, that superiour attention will necessarily be paid to superiour fortune or rank. Two persons may have equal merit, and on that account may have an equal claim to attention ; but one of them may have also fortune and rank, and so may have a double claim." Talking of his notes on Shakspeare, he said, " I despise those who do not see that I am right in the passage where as is repeated, and ' asses of great charge' introduced. That on ' To be, or not to be,' is disputable."^ A gentleman, whom I found sitting with him one morninr,', said, that in his opinion the character of an infidel was more detestable than that of a man notori- ' ously guilty of an atrocious crime. I differed from ' It may be f)bscrved, that Mr. Malone, in his very valuable edition of Shak- speare, has fully vindicated Dr. Johnson from the idle censures which the first of these notes has given rise to. The interpretation of the other passage, which ^r. J almson allows to be dhfataiU, he has clearly shcnvn to be erroneoMs. 318 THE LIFE OF 1776. him, because we are surer of the odiousness of the one, ^tat! ^^^^" ^^ ^^^^ errour of the other. Johnson. " Sir, I 67. agree with him ; for the infidel would be guilty of any crime if he were inchned to it." " Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. One of these is the cry against the evil of luxury. Now the truth is, that luxury produces much good. Take the luxury of buildings in London. Does it not produce real advantage in the conveniency and elegance of ac- commodation, and this all from the exertion of industry ? People will tell you, with a melancholy face, how many builders are in gaol. It is plain they are in gaol, not for building ; for rents are not fallen. — A man gives half a guinea for a dish of green peas. How much gardening does this occasion ? how many labourers must the competition to have such things early in the market keep in employment ? You will hear it said, very gravely, ' Why was not the half-guinea, thus spent in luxury, given to the poor ! To how many might it have afforded a good meal. Alas ! has it not gone to the industrious poor, whom it is better to support than the idle poor .' You are much surer that you are doing good when you pay money to those who work, as the recompence of their labour, than when you give money merely in charity. Suppose the ancient luxury of a dish of peacock's brains were to be revived, how many carcases would be left to the poor at a cheap rate : and as to the rout that is made about people who are ruined by extravagance, it is no matter to the nation that some individuals suffer. When so much general productive exertion is the consequence of luxury, the nation does not care tliough there are debtors in gaol : nay they would not care though their creditors were there too." The uncommon vivacity of General Oglethorpe's mind, and variety of knowledge, having sometimes made his conversation seem too desultory, Johnson ebserved, " Oglethorpe, Sir, never completes what he has to say." He on the same account made a similar remark on Patrick Lord Eli bank : " Sir, there is nothing conclu- sive in his talk." DR. JOHNSON. 319 When I complained of having dined at a splendid >77fi. table without hearing one sentence of conversation ^[^ worthy of being remembered, he said, " Sir, there (\~, seldom is any such conversation." Boswell. " Wliy then meet at table ?" Johnson. " Why to oat and drink together, and to promote kindness ; and, Sir, this is better done when there is no solid conversa- tion ; for when there is, people ditier in opinion, and get into bad humour, or some of the company who are not capable of such conversation, are left out, and feel themselves uneasy. It was for this reason, Sir( ^ ^ Robert Walpole said, he always talked bawdy at his ' ^ - table, because in that all could join." Being irritated by hearing a gentleman ask Mr. Levet a variety of questions concerning him, when he was sitting by, he broke out, " Sir, you have but two topicks, yourself and me. I am sick of both." " A man, (said he,) should not talk of himself, nor much of any particular person. He should take care not to be made a proverb ; and, therefore, should avoid hav- ing any one topick of which people can say, ' We shall hear him upon it.^ There was a Dr. Oldfield, who was always talking of the Duke of Marlborough. He came into a coftee house one day, and told that his Grace had spoken in the House of Lords for half an hour. ' Did he indeed speak for half an hour V (said Belchier, the surgeon,) — ' Yes.' — ' And what did he say of Dr. Oldfield V—' Nothing.'—' Why then. Sir, he was very ungrateful ; for Dr. Oldfield could not have spoken for a quarter of an hour, without saying- something of him." " Every man is to take existence on the terms on which it is given to him. To some men it is given on condition of not taking liberties, which other men may take without much harm. One may drink wine, and be nothing the worse for it ; on another, wine may have effects so inflammatory as to injure him both in. body and mind, and perhaps, make him commit some- thing for which he may deserve to be hanged." " Lord Hailes's ' Annals of Scotland' have not that painted form which is the taste of this age ; but it is a 320 THE LIFE OF 1776. book which will always sell, it has such a stability of ^^^ dates, such a certainty of facts, and such a punctuality 67. ' of citation. I never before read Scotch history with certainty." 1 asked him whether he would advise me to read the , Bible with a commentary, and what commentaries he / would recommend. Johnson. " To be sure. Sir, I f would have you read the Bible with a commentary ; and I would recommend Lowth and Patrick on the Old Testament, and Hammond on the New." During my stay in London this spring, I solicited his attention to another law case, in which I was en- gaged. In the course of a contested election for the Borough of Dumfermhne, which I attended as one of my friend Colonel (afterwards Sir Archibald) Camp- bell's counsel ; one of his political agents, who was charged with having been unfaithful to his employer, and having deserted to the opposite party for a pecu- niary reward — attacked very rudely in a news-paper the Reverend Mr. James Thomson, one of the minis- ters of that place, on account of a supposed allusion to him in one of his sermons. Upon this the minister, on a subsequent Sunday, arraigned him by name from the pulpit with some severity ; and the agent, after the Sermon was over, rose up and asked the minister aloud, " What bribe he had received for telling so many lies from the chair of verity." 1 was present at this very extraordinary scene. The person arraigned, and his father and brother, who also had a share both of the reproof from the pulpit, and in the retaliation, brought an action against Mr. Thomson, in the Court of Ses- sion, for defamation and damages, and I was one of the counsel for the reverend defendant. The Libertij of the Pulpit was our great ground of defence : but we argued also on the provocation of the previous attack, and on the instant retaliation. The Court of Session, however — the fifteen Judges, who are at the same time the Jury, decided against the minister, contrary to my humble opinion ; and several of them expressed them- selves with indignation against him. He was an aged gentleman, formerly a military chaplain^ and a man of I DR. JOHNSON. 3^1 high spirit and honour. Johnson was satisfied that i//^. the judgement was wrong, and dictated to me the fol- ^,.^ lowing argtunent in confutation of it : 07. " Of the censure pronounced from the pulpit, our determination Aiust be formed, as in other cases, by a consideration of the act itself, and the particular cir- cumstances with which it is invested. *' The right of censure and rebuke seems necessarily appendant to the pastoral office. He, to whom the care of a conurcijation is entrusted, is considered as the shepherd of a flock, as the teacher of a school, as the father of a family. iVs a shepherd tending not his own sheep but those of his master, he is answerable for those that stray, and that lose themselves by straying. But no man can be answerable for losses which he has not power to prevent, or for vagrancy which he has not authority to restrain. " As a teacher giving instruction for wages, and lia- ble to reproach, if those whom he undertakes to inform make no proficiency, he must have the power of enforc- ing attendance, of awakening negligence, and repressing contradiction. " As a father, he possesses the paternal authority of admonition, rebuke, and punishment. He cannot, without reducing his office to an empty name, be hin- dered from the exercise of any practice necessary to stimulate the idle, to reform the vicious, to check the petulant, and correct the stubborn. " If we enquire into the practice of the primitive church, we shall, I believe, find the ministers of the word, exercising the whole authority of this complicat- ed character. We shall find them not only encourag- ing the good by exhortation, but terrifying the wicked by reproof and denunciation. In the earliest ages of the Church, while n^ligion was yet pure from secular ad- vantages, the punishment of sinners was publick censure, and open penance ; penalties inflicted merely by eccle- siastical authority, at a time while the church had yet no help from the civil power; while the hand of the magistrate lifted only the rod of persecution ; and when governours were ready to afford a refuge to all those who fled from clerical authority, vor.. ir. 41 352 THE LIFE OP !77<>. "That the Church, therefore, had once a power of ^^^ publick censure is evident, because that power was fre- 67, quently exercised. That it borrowed not its power from the civil authority, is hkewise certain, because civil authority was at that time its enemy. " The hour came at length, when after three hun- dred years of struggle and distress. Truth took posses- sion of imperial power, and the civil laws lent their aid to the ecclesiastical constitutions. The magistrate from that time co-operated with the priest, and clerical sen- tences were made efficacious by secular force. But the State, when it came to the assistance of the church, had no intention to diminish its authority. Those rebukes and those censures which were lawful before, were law- ful stil!. But they had hitherto operated only upon voluntary submission. The refractory and contemptu- ous were at first in no danger of temporal severities, ex- cept what they might suffer from the reproaches of conscience, or the detestation of their fellow Chris- tians. When religion obtained the support of law, if admonitions and censures had no effect, they were se- conded by the magistrates with coercion and punish- ment. " It therefore appears from ecclesiastical history, that the right of inflicting shame by publick censure has been always considered as inherent in the Church ; and that this right was not conferred by the civil pow- er ; for it was exercised when the civil power operated against it. By the civil power it was never taken away ; for the Christian magistrate interposed his of- fice, not to rescue sinners from censure, but to supply more powerful means of reformation ; to add pain where shame was insufficient ; and when men were proclaimed unworthy of the society of the faithful, to restrain them by imprisonment, from spreading abroad the contagion of wickedness. " It is not improbable that from this acknowledged power of publick censure, grew in time the practice of ' auricular confession. Those who dreaded the blast of publick reprehension, were willing to submit them- selves to the priest, by a private accusation of them- I DR. JOHNSON. 39.i selves ; and to obtain a reconciliation witli the Church i77<>. by a kind of chindesiine absolution and invisible pen- J^,'^ ance ; conditions with which the jDriest would in times 07. of ignorance and corruption, easily com|)ly, as they in- creased liis influence, by adding the knowledge of se- cret sins to that of notorious ofi'ences, and enlarged his authority, by making him the sole arbiter of the terms of reconcilement. " From this bondage the Reformation set us Wee. The minister has no longer power to press into the retirements of conscience, to torture us by interrogato- ries, or put himself in possession of our secrets and our lives. But though we have thus controlled his usur- pations ; his just and original power remains unimpair- ed. He may still see, though he may not pry : he may yet hear, though he may not question. And that knowledge which his eyes and ears force upon him it is still his duty to use, for the benefit of his flock. A fa- ther who lives near a wicked neighbour, may foibid a son to frequent his company. A minister who has in his congregation a man of open and scandalous wicked- ness, may warn his parishioners to shun his conversation. To warn them is not only lawful, but not to warn them would be criminal. He may warn them one by one in friendly converse, or by a parochial visitation. But if he may warn each man singly, what shall forbid him to warn them altogether ! Of that which is to be made known to all, how is there any difference whether it be communicated to each singly, or to all together ? What is known to all, must necessarily be publick. Wheth- er it shall be publick at once, or publick by degrees, is the only question. And of a sudden and solemn publication the impression is deeper, and the warning more effectual. " It may easily be urged, if a minister be thus left at liberty to delate sinners from the pulpit, and to pub- lish at will the crimes of a parishioner, he may often blast the innocent, and distress the timorous. He may be suspicious, and condemn without evidence ; he may be rash, and judge without examination ; he may be se- vere, and treat slight offences with too much harshness; 324 THE LIFE OF 1776. he may be malignant and partial, and gratify his private 2iat! interest or resentment under the shelter of his pastoral 67. character. " Of all this there is possibility, and of all this there is danger. But if possibility of evil be to exclude good, no good ever can be done. If nothing is to be at- tempted in which there is danger, we must all sink into hopeless inactivity. The evils that may be feared from this practice arise not from any defect in the institution, but from the infirmities of human nature. Power, in whatever hands it is placed, will be sometimes improp- erly exerted ; yet courts of law must judge, though they will sometimes judge amiss. A father must instruct his children, though he himself may often want instruc- tion. A minister must censure sinners, though his cen- sure may be sometimes erroneous by want of judge- ment, and sometimes unjust by want of honesty. " If we examine the circumstances of the present case, we shall find the sentence neither erroneous nor unjust ; we shall find no breach of private confidence, no intrusion into secret transactions. The fact was no- torious and indubitable ; so easy to be proved, that no proof was desired. The act was base and treacherous, the perpetration insolent and open, and the example naturally mischievous. The minister, however, being- retired and recluse, had not yet heard what was pub- lickly known throughout the parish ; and on occasion of a publick election, warned his people, according to his duty, against the crimes which publick elections frequently produce. His w^arning was felt by one of his parishioners, as pointed particularly at himself. But instead of producing, as might be wished, private compunction and immediate reformation, it kindled only rage and resentment. He charged his minister, in a publick paper, with scandal, defamation, and false- hood. The minister, thus reproached, had his own character to vindicate, upon which his pastoral author- ity must necessarily depend. To be charged with a de- famatory lie is an injury which no man patiently en- dures in common life. To be charged with polluting the pastoral office with scandal and falsehood, was a I DR. JOHNSON. .i25 violation of character still more atrocious, as it aftVcted ''776. not only his personal hut his clerical veracity. His in- ]^^'^ dignation naturally rose in proportion to his honesty, a;. and with all the fortitude of injured honesty, he dared this calumniator in the church, and at once exonerated himself from censure, and rescued his flock from de- ception and from danger. The man whom he accuses })retendsnot to be innocent; or at least only pretends ; for he declines a trial. The crime of which he is ac- cused has frequent opportunities and strong tempta- tions. It has already spread far, with much deprava- tion of private morals, and much injury to publick happiness. To warn the people, therefore, against it was not wanton and olhcious, but necessary and pas- toral. " VV'hat then is the fault with which this worthy minister is charged ? He has usurped no dominion over conscience. He has exerted no authority in support of doubtful and controverted opinions. He has not dragged into light a bashful and corrigible sinner. His censure was directed against a breach of morality, against an act which no man justifies. The man who appropriated this censure to himself, is evidently and notoriously guilty. His consciousness of his own wickedness incited him to attack his faithful reprover with open insolence and printed accusations. Such an attack made defence necessary ; and we hope it will be at last decided that the means of defence were just and lawful." When I read this to Mr. Burke, he was highly pleas- ed, and exclaimed, " Well ; he does his work in a workman-like manner." » Mr. Thomson wished to bring the cause by appeal before the House of Lords, but was dissuaded by the advice of the noble person who lately presided so ably in that Most Honourable House, and who was then ^ As a proof of Dr. Johnson's extraordinary powers of composition, it appear.^ from the original manuscript of this excellent dissertation, of which he dictated the first eight paragraphs on the 10th of May, and tlic remainder on the 13th, that there are in the whole only seven corrections, or rather variations, and those not coDaidcrabl?. Sucii were at once the vigorous and accurate emanations of his mind. 326 THE LIFE OF 1776. Attorney-General. As my readers will no doubt be ^g^ glad also to read the opinion of this eminent man upon 67. the same subject, 1 shall here insert it. Case. " There is herewith laid before you, " 1. Petition for the Reverend Mr. James Thom- son, minister of Dumfermline. " 2. Answers thereto. " 3. Copy of the judgement of the Court of Ses- sion upon both. " 4. Notes of the opinions of the Judges, being the reasons upon which their decree is ground- ed. " These papers you will please to peruse, and give your opinion, " Whether there is a probability of the above de- cree of the Court of Session's being reversed, if Mr. Thomson should appeal from the same?" " I don't think the appeal adviseable : not only because the value of the judgement is in no degree ade- quate to the expence ; but because there are many chances, that upon the general complexion of the case, the impression will be taken to the disadvantage of the appellant. " It is impossible to approve the style of that ser- mon. But the complaint was not less ungracious from that man, who had behaved so ill by his original libel, and, at the time, when he received the reproach he complains of. In the last article, all the plaintiffs are equally concerned. It struck me also with some won- der, that the Judges should think so much fervour apposite to the occasion of reproving the defendant for a little excess. " Upon the matter, however, I agree with them in condemning the behaviour of the minister ; and in thinking it a subject fit for ecclesiastical censure ; and even for an action, if any individual could qualify a ' It is curious to observe that Lord Thurlow tias here, perhaps in complinient to North Britain, made use of a term of the Scotch Law, wliich to an English reader may require exphmation. To qualify a wrong, is to point out and establish it. I OK. JOHNSON. tV27 wrong, and a damage arising from it. But this I doubt. i77fi. The circuuistance of publishing the reproach in a pul- _^^]^ pit, though extremely indecent, and culpable in anoth- (,7. er view, does not constitute a dillerent sort of wrong, or any other rule of law, than would have obtained, if the same words had been pronounced elsewhere. 1 don't know, whether there be any ditference in the law of Scotland, in the detinition of slander, before the Commissaries, or the Court of Session. Ihe common law of England does not give way to actions for every reproachful word. An action cannot be brought for general damages, upon any words which im|>ort less than an offence cognisable by law ; consequently no action could have been brought here for the words in question. Both laws admit the truth to be a justifica- tion in action Jor zaords ; and the law of England does the same in actions for libels. '1 he judgement, there- fore, seems to me to have been wrong, in that the Court repelled that defence. " E. Thurlow." I am now to record a very curious incident in Dr. Johnson's Life, which fell under my own observation ; of which pars magna fui^ and which 1 am persuaded will, with the liberal-minded, be much to his credit. My desire of being acquainted with celebrated men of every description, had made me, much about the same time, obtain an introduction to Dr. SamuelJohn- son and to John Wilkes, Esq. Two men more differ- ent could perhaps not be selected out of all mankind. They had even attacked one another with some asperity in their writings ; yet 1 lived in habits of friendship with both. 1 could fully relish the excellence of each ; for I have ever delighted in that intellectual chymistr}^ which can separate good qualities from evil in the same person. Sir John Pringle, "mine own friend and my Fa- ther's friend," between whom and Dr. Johnson I in vain wished to establish an acquaintance, as I respected and lived in intimacy with both of them, observed to me once, very ingeniously, " It is not in friendship as 328 THE LIFE OF 5 77f>. in matliematicks, where two things, each equal to a third, are equal between themselves. You agree with Johnson as a middle quality, and you agree with me as a middle quality ; but Johnson and I should not agree/' Sir John was not sufficiently flexible ; so I desisted ; knowing, indeed, that the repulsion was equally strong on the part of Johnson ; who, 1 know not from what cause, unless his being a Scotchman, had formed a very erroneous opinion of Sir John. But I conceived an ir- resistible wish, if possible, to bring Dr. Johnson and Mr. Wilkes together. How to manage it, was a nice and difficult matter. My worthy booksellers and friends, Messieurs Dilly in the Poultry, at whose hospitable and well-covered table I have seen a greater number of literary men, than at any other, except that of Sir Joshua Reynolds, had invited me to meet Mr. Wilkes and some more gentlemen on Wednesday, May lo. " Pray (said 1,) let us have Dr. Johnson.^^ — " What with Mr. Wilkes ? not for the world, (said Mr. Edward Dilly :) Dr. Johnson would never forgive me." — " Come, (said I,) if you'll let me negociate for you, I will be answerable that all shall go well." Dilly. " Nay, if you will take it upon you, I am sure 1 shall be very happy to see them both here." Notwithstanding the high veneration which I enter- tained for Dr. Johnson, i was sensible that he was sometimes a little actuated by the spirit of contradic- tion, and by means of that I hoped 1 should gain my point. I was persuaded that if I had come upon him with a direct proposal, " Sir, will you dine in company with Jack Wilkes ?" he would have flown into a pas- sion, and would probably have answered, " Dine with Jack Wilkes, Sir ! Pd as soon dine with Jack Ketch. "^ I therefore, while we were sitting quietly by ourselves at his house in an evening, took occasion to open my plans thus : — " Mr. Dilly, vSir, sends his respectful compliments to you, and would be happy if you would do him the honour to dine with him on Wednesday •^ This has been circulated as if actually said by Joimsoii ; when tlic trutli is, i*: was only supposed by me. DR. JOHNSON. 329 next along with me, as I must soon go to Scotland.*' '776- Johnson. " Sir, I am obliged to Mr. Dilly. 1 will '^^ wait upon him — " Hoswkll. " Provided, Sir, 1 sup- (jy. poso, that the company which he is to have, is agreea- ble to you." Johnson. " What do you mean, Sir ? What do you take me for? Do you think 1 am so ign<»rant of the world, as to imagine that i am to pre- scribe to a gentleman what company he is to have at his table !" Boswell. " 1 beg your pardon, Sir, for wishing to prevent you from meeting people whom you might not like. Perhaps he may have some of what he calls his patriotick friends with him." Johnson. " W\*ll, Sir, and what then ? What care / for his j)air i- otick friends ! Poh !" Boswell. "1 should not be surprized to find Jack Wilkes there." Johnson. *' And if Jack Wilkes should be there, what is that to me^ Sir .' My dear friend let us have no more of this. I am sorry to be angry with vou ; but really it is treating me strangely to talk to me as if I could not meet any company whatever, occasionally." Bos- well. " Pray forgive me. Sir : I meant well. But you shall meet whoever comes, for me." Thus I se- cured him, and told Dilly that he would find him very well pleased to be one of his guests on the day ap- pointed. Upon the much-expected Wednesday, I called on him about half an hour before dinner, as I often did when we were to dine out together, to see that he was ready in time, and to accompany him. I found him buffeting his books, as upon a former occasion, ^ cover- ed with dust, and making no preparation for going abroad. " How is this. Sir ? (said I.) Don't you recollect that you are to dine at Mr. Dilly's ?" John- son. " Sir, I did not think of going to Dilly's : it went out of my head. 1 have ordered dinner at home with Mrs. Williams." Boswell. " But, my dear Sir, you know you were engaged to Mr. Dilly, and 1 told him . so. He will expect you, and will be much disap- = See pag^ 283 of this volume VOL. ir. 49 330 THE LIFE OF 1776. pointed if you don't come." Johnson. "You must talk to Mrs. Williams about this." Here was a sad dilemma. 1 feared that what I was so confident 1 had secured, would yet be frustrated. He had accustomed himself to shew Mrs. Williams such a degree of humane attention, as frequently imposed some restraint upon him ; and I knew that if she should be obstinate, he woidd not stir. I hastened down stairs to the blind lady's room, and told her I was in great uneasiness, for Dr. Johnson had engaged to me to dine this day at Mr. Dilly's, but that he had told me he had forgotten his engagement, and had or- dered dinner at home. " Yes, Sir, (said she, pretty peevishly,) Dr. Johnson is to dine at home." — " Mad- am, (said i,) his respect for you is such, that I know- he will not leave you, unless you absolutely desire it. But as you have so much of his company, 1 hope you will be good enough to forego it for a day ; as Mr. Dilly is a very worthy man, has frequently had agreea- ble parties at his house for Dr. Johnson, and will be vexed if the Doctor neglects him to-day. And then, Madam, be pleased to consider my situation ; I carried the message, and I assured Mr. Dilly that Dr. John- son was to come ; and no doubt he has made a dinner, and invited a company, and boasted of the honour he expected to have. 1 shall be quite disgraced if the Doctor is not there." She gradually softened to my solicitations, which were certainly as earnest as most entreaties to ladies upon any occasion, and was gra- ciously pleased to empower me to tell Dr. Johnson, " That all things considered, she thought he should Certainly go." 1 flew back to him, still in dust, and careless of what should be the event, " indifferent in his choice to go or stay ;" but as soon as 1 had an- nounced to him Mrs. Williams's consent, he roared, •' Frank, a clean shirt," and was very soon drest. When I had him fairly seated in a hackney-coach with me, 1 exulted as much as a fortune-hunter who has got an heiress into a post-chaise with him to set out for Gretna-Green. I DR. JOHNSON. 3:31 When we entered Mr. Dilly's drawing* room, lie 1776- found himself in the midst of a company he did not ^j^ know. 1 ko|)t myself snug and silent, watching how (>7. he would conduct himself 1 observed him whispering to Mr. Dilly, '' Who is that gentleman, Sir!" — " Mr. Arthur Lee." — Johnson. " Too, too, too," (under his breath,) which was one of his habitual mutterings. Mr. Arthur Lee could not but be very obnoxious to Johnson, for he was not only a patriot but an Anicricau. Fie was afterwards minister from the United States at the court of Madrid. " And who is the gentleman in lace? — " Mr. Wilkes, Sir." This information confound- ed him still more ; he had some dilticulty to restrain himself, and taking up a book, sat down upon a win- dow-seat and read, or at least kept his eye upon it in- tently for some time, till he composed himself. His feelings, I dare say, were auk ward enough. But he no doubt recollected his having rated me for supposing that he could be at all disconcerted by any company, and he, therefore, resolutely set himself to behave quite as an easy man of the world, who could adapt himself at once to the disposition and manners of those whom he might chance to meet. The cheering sound of " Dinner is upon the table," dissolved his reverie, and we all sat down without any symptom of ill humour. There were present, beside Mr. Wilkes, and Mr. Arthur Lee, who was an old companion of mine when he studied physick at Edin- burgh, Mr. (now Sir John) Miller, Dr. Lettsom, and Mr. Slater the druggist. Mr. Wilkes placed himself next to Dr. Johnson, and behaved to him with so much attention and politeness, that he gained upon him in- sensibly. No man eat more heartily than Johnson, or loved better what was nice and delicate. Mr. Wilkes was very assiduous in helping him to some fine veal. " Pray give me leave. Sir ; — It is better here — A little of the brown — Some fat, Sir — A little of the stuffing — Some gravy — Let me have the pleasure of giving you some butter — Allow me to recommend a squeeze of this orange ; — or the lemon, perhaps, may have more ^est," — "Sir; Sir, I am obliged to you, Sir," cried 332 THE LIFE OF 1776. Johnson, bowing, and turning his head to him with a ^^ look for some time of " surly virtue,"* but, in a short 67. while, of complacency. Foote being mentioned, Johnson said, " He is not a good mimick." One of the company added, " A mer- ry Andrew, a buffoon." Johnson. " But he has wit too, and is not deficient in ideas, or in fertility and va- riety of imagery, and not empty of reading ; he has knowledge enough to fill up his part. One species of wit he has in an eminent degree, that of escape. You drive him into a corner with both hands ; but he's gone, Sir, when you think you have got him — like an animal that jumps over your head. Then he has a great range for wit ; he never lets truth stand between him and a jest, and he is sometimes mighty coarse. Garrick is under many restraints from which Foote is free." Wilkes. " Garrick's wit is more like Lord Chester- field's." Johnson. " The first time I was in company with Foote was at Fitzherbert's. Having no good opin- ion of the fellow, I was resolved not to be pleased ; and it is very difficult to please a man against his will. I went on eating my dinner pretty sullenly, affecting not to mind him. But the dog was so very comical, that I was obliged to lay down my knife and fork, throw my- self back upon my chair, and fairly laugh it out. No, Sir, he was irresistible. ^ He upon one occasion expe- rienced, in an extraordinary degree, the efficacy of his powers of entertaining. Amongst the many and va- rious modes which he tried of getting money, he be- came a partner with a small-beer brewer, and he was to have a share of the profits for procuring customers amongst his numerous acquaintance. Fitzherbert was one who took his small-beer ; but it was so bad that the servants resolved not to drink it. They were at some loss how to notify their resolution, being afraid of offending their master, who they knew liked Foote much as a companion. At last they fixed upon a little black boy, who was rather a favourite, to be their dep- '' Johnson's " London, a Poem," v. 145. ^ Foote told me, that Johnson said of him " For loud obstreperous broad-faced nurth, I know not his equal" DR. JOHNSON. iJ3J uty, and deliver their remonstrance; and having in- '77^- vested him with the whole authority of the kitchen, he j^'^ was to inform Mr. Fitzherbert, i[i all their names, upon ^7. a certain day, that they would drink Footc's small-beer no longer. On that day Foote happened to dine at Fitzherbert's, and this boy served at table ; he was so delighted with Footers stories, and merriment, and grimace, that when he went down stairs, he told them, '' This is the finest man 1 have ever seen. I will not deliver your message. 1 will drink his small-beer." Somebody observed that Garrick could not have done this. Wilkes. " Garrick would have made the small- beer still smaller. He is now leaving the stage ; but he will play Sc}'nb all his life." 1 knew that Johnson would let nobody attack Garrick but himself, as Garrick said to me, and 1 had heard him praise his liberality ; so to bring out his commendation of his celebrated pu- pil, I said, loudly, " 1 have heard Garrick is liberal." .loHNSON. " Yes, Sir, I know that Garrick has given away more money than any man in England that I am acquainted with, and that not from ostentatious views. Garrick was very poor when he began life ; so when he came to have money, he probably was very unskilful in giving away, and saved wdien he should not. But Garrick began to be liberal as soon as he could ; and 1 am of opinion, the reputation of avarice which he has had, has been very lucky for him, and prevented his having many enemies. You despise a man for avarice, but do not hate him. Garrick might have been much better attacked for living with more splendour than is suitable to a player: if they had had the wit to have assaulted him in that quarter, they might have galled Jiim more. But they have kept clamouring about his avarice, which has rescued him from much obloquy and envy." Talking of the great difficulty of obtaining au- thentick information for biography, Johnson told us, . ■' When 1 was a young fellow I wanted to write the • Life of Dryden,^ and in order to get materials, 1 ap- plied to the only two persons then alive who had seen liim : these were old Swinney, and old Gibber. Swin- .3.34 THE LIFE OP ^776. ney's information was no more than this, ' That at Sat^ WilPs coffee-house Dryden had a particular chair for 67, himself, which was set by the fire in winter, and was then called his winter-chair ; and that it was carried out for him to the balcony in summer, and was then called his summer-chair/ Gibber could tell no more but ' That he remembered him a decent old man, arbiter of critical disputes at Will's/ You are to con- sider that Gibber was then at a great distance from Dryden, had perhaps one leg only in the room, and durst not draw in the other." Boswell. " Yet Gib- ber was a man of observation ?" Johnson. " 1 think not." Boswell. " You will allow his ' Apology^ to be well done." Johnson. " Very well done, to be sure, Sir. That book is a striking proof of the justice of Pope's remark : " Each might his several province well command, " Would all but stoop to what they understand." Boswell. " And his plays are good." Johnson. " Yes ; but that was his trade ; Vesprit dii corps ; he had been all his life among players and play-writers. I wondered that he had so little to say in conversation, for he had kept the best company, and learnt all that can be got by the ear. He abused Pindar to me, and then shewed me an ode of his own, with an absurd couplet, making a linnet soar on an eagle's wing.^ I told him that when the ancients made a similie, they always made it like something real." Mr. Wilkes remarked, that " among all the bold flights of Shakspeare's imagination, the boldest was making Birnam-wood march to Dunsinane ; creating a wood where there never was a shrub ; a wood in Scot- land ! ha I ha ! ha !" And he also observed, that " the clannish slavery of the Highlands of Scotland was the single exception to Milton's remark of ' The Mountain Nymph, sweet Liberty,' being worshipped in all hilly countries." — " When I was at Inverary (said he,) on a visit to my old friend, Archibald, Duke » See page 316 of Vol. I. DR. JOHNSON. 330 of Argyle, his dependents congratulated inc on bring '77fi. such a tavourite of his Grace. 1 said, ' It is then, ^J^ gentlemen, truly lucky for me ; for if 1 had displeasc'd (17. the Duke, and he had wished it, there is not a Camp- bell among you but would have been ready to bring John Wilkes's head to him in a charger. It would have been only * Off with his head ! So much for Aijlesbury.^ I was then member for Aylesbury." Dr. Johnson and Mr. Wilkes talked of the contest- ed passage in Horace's Art of I'oetry, " D'lf/icile est proprit! communia dicere" Mr. Wilkes, according to my note, gave the interpretation thus : " It is difficult to speak with propriety of common things ; as, if a poet had to speak of Queen Caroline drinking tea, he must endeavour to avoid the vulgarity' of cups and sau- cers." But upon reading my note, he tells me that he meant to say, that " the word communia being a Roman law-term, signifies here things communis juris^ that is to say, what have never yet been treated by any body ; and this appears clearly from what followed, •Tuqice ' Recfius Iliacum carmen deducis in actus • Qudin si proferres ignota indictaque primus.' You will easier make a tragedy out of the Iliad than on any subject not handled before."' Johnson. " He ' My very pleasant friend himself, as well as others •who remember old stories, will no doubt be surprised, when I observe that yolni Wilkes here shews himself to be of the Warburtonian School. It is nevertheless true, as appears from Dr. Hurd the Bishop of Worcester's very elegant commentary and notes on the " Epistola ad Piscnes. It is necessary to a fair consideration of the question, that the whole passage in which the words occur should be kept in view : " Si quid inexpertum sceine committis, et audes " Personam former e novam, servetur adimum " Glial is ah incepto proccsserit, et sibi const et. " Difficile est proprie communia dicere : tuque " Rectiui Iliacum carmen deducis in actus, " Quam si proferres ignota indictaque primus. " Publica materies privali juris erit, si " A'c// circa iiilem patulumque moraberis orbem, " iVt; -verbuni verba curabis rcddere Jidus " Interpres ; nee desilies imitator in artum " Und: pedtm proferre piidor vitat aut operis lex." 3:36 THE LIFE OF 1776. means that it is difficult to appropriate to particular >Sat! persons qualities which are common to all mankind, ()7. as Homer has done/^ The " Commentary" thus illustrates it : " But the formation of quite nnu charac- ters in a work of great difficulty and hazard. For here there is no generally re- ceived and fixed archetype to work after, but every one judges of conrmon right, ac- cording to the extent and comprehension of his own idea ; therefore he advises to labour and refit old characters and subjects, particularly those made known and au- thorized by the practice of Homer and the Epic writers." The " Note" is " Dijjicile EST PRopRiE coMMUNiA DicERE." Lambin's Comment is " Communia hoc loco appdlat Horatius argumenta fabularum a nulla adhuc Iractata : et ifa, que cuiws exposita sunt ct in medio quadammodo posita, quasi "vacua et a nemine occupata^^ And that this is the true meaning of communia is evidently fixed by the words ignota in- dictaque, which are explanatory of it ; so that the sense given it in the commentary, is unquestionably the right one. Yet, notwithstanding the clearness of the case, a 'ate critick has this strange passage : " Diffcik quidem esse proprii communia dicere, hoc est, fnatcriam njulgarem, notam ct e medio peiitam, ita immutare atque exornare, ut 110- •vd et scriptori propria mdeatiir, ultra conccdimus ; et maximi procul duhio ponderis ista est obscrvatio. Sed omnibus utrinque collatis, et turn dijjicilis turn -vcnusti, tam judicii quam I'ly^nii ratione habita, major videtur esse gloria fabuiam formare penitus no-vam, quam -jc t;rcm, ntcunque mutatam, de novo exhibere^ (Poet. Prjel. V. ii. p. 164.) Where having first put a wrong construction on the woi^d communia, he employs it to introduce an impertinent criticism. For where does the poet prefer the glory of refitting old subiects to that of inventing new ones ? The contrary is implied in what he urges about the superiour difficulty of the latter, from which he dissuades his coun- trymen, only in respect of their abilities and inexperience in these matters ; and in order te cultivate in them, which is the main view of the Epistle, a spirit of cor- rectness, by sending them to the old subjects, treated by the Greek writers." For my own part (with all deference for Dr. Hurd, who thinks the case clear^ I consider the passage, " Diffcile est proprii communia dicere" to be a crux for the crit- icks on Horace. The explication which My Lord of Worcester treats with so much contempt, is nevertheless countenanced by authority which I find quoted by the learned Bax- ter in his edition of Horace, " Diffcile est proprii communia dicere, h, e. res vulgares disertis verbis enarrare, vel humile thema cum dignitate tractare. DiJJicile est com- munes res propriis explicare -verbis. Vet, Schol." I was much disappointed to find that the great critick. Dr. Bentley, has no note upon this very difficult passage, as from his vigorous and illuminate mind I should have expected to receive more satisfaction than I have yet had. Sanadon thus treats of it. " Proprii communia dicere ; cest a dire, quil n est pas aisi dc former a ces personnages d^ imagination, des caracteres particuliers et cependant "vraisem- blahles. Comme Von a etc le maitrc de les former ids quon a -voulu, les fautes que I on fail en ccla sont mains pardonnables. Cest pourquoi Horace conseille de prendre toujaurs d:s sujets conniis tels que sont par exemple ceux que fon peut tirer des poemes d' Homere, And Dacier observes upon it, Apres avoir marque les deux qualites quil faut doniier avx personnages qu^on ir,vente, il conseille aux Poetes tragiques, de n user pas tropf:cilement de cette liberie quils ont d^cn inventer, car il est trcs diddle de reussir dans ces nouveaux car- acteres. II est malaise, dit Horace, de traiter proprement, cest a dire convenablement des sujets COmmuns ; c^est a dire, des sujets in-jentes, et qui nont aucun fondement ni dans V Histoire ni dans la Fable ; et il les appelle C0mmuns,^^Mt encounter, wlio rhooics a DR. JOHNSON. 337 Wilkes. " We have no City- Poet now : that is nn >776. office which has gone into disuse. The last was Klka- ^^^^ nah Settle. There is somethins^ in names which one 07. cannot help teehng. Now Klkunah Settle^ sounds so queei\ who can expect much from that name ? We should have no hesitation to give it for John Dryden, in preference to Elkanah Settle, from the names only, without knowing their different merits." Johnson. " I suppose, Sir, Settle did as well for Aldermen in his time, as John Jtlome could do now. Where did Beckford and Trecothick learn Enc;lish !" Mr. Arthur Lee mentioned some Scotch who had taken possession of a barren part of America, and won- dered why they should choose it. Johnson. " Why, Sir, all barrenness is comparative. The Scotch would not know it to be barren." Boswell. " Come, come, he is flattering the English. You have now been in Scotland, Sir, and say if you did not see meat and drink enough there." Johnson. " Why yes, Sir ; meat and drink enough to give the inhabitants suffi- cient strength to run away from home." All these quick and lively sallies were said sportively, quite in jest, and with a smile, which showed that he meant only wit. Upon this topick he and Mr. Wilkes could perfectly assimilate ; here was a bond of union be- tween them, and I was conscious that as both of them had visited Caledonia, both were fully satisfied of the strange narrow ignorance of those who imagine that it is a land of famine. But they amused themselves with persevering in the old jokes. When 1 claimed a supe- riority for Scotland over England in one respect, tliat no man can be arrested there for a debt merely because new subject ; in which case it must be uncertain wliich of tlie various explanations is the true one, and every reader has a right to decide as it may strike his own fancy. And even should the words be understood as they generally arc, to be con- nected both with what goes before and what comes after, the exact sense cannot be absolutely ascertained ; for instance, whether propric is meant to signify in an apprapr'iatid manner^ as Dr. Johnson here understands it, or, as it is often used by. Cicero, tvitb propriety^ or elegantly. In short, it is a rare instance of a defect in per- spicuity in an admirable writer, who with almost every species of excellence, is pe- culiarly remarkable for that quality. The length of this note perhaps requires an apology. Many of my readers, I doubt not, will admit that a critical discussion of a passage in a favourite classick is very engaging. VOL. II. 4 '3 ^3S THE LIFE OF 1776. another swears it against him ; but there must first be .EtaT ^^^ judgement of a court of law ascertaining its justice ; 6'7. and that a seizure of the person, before judgement is obtained, can take place only, if his creditor should swear that he is about to fly from the country, or, as it is technically expressed, is in meditatione fugce : Wilkes. " That, I should think, may be safely sworn of all the Scotch nation/' Johnson, (to Mr. Wilkes) " You must know, Sir, I lately took my friend Bos- well and shewed him genuine civilized life in an En- glish provincial town. I turned him loose at Lichfield, my native city, that he might see for once real civility : for you know he lives among savages in Scotland, and among rakes in London." Wilkes. " Except when he is with grave, sober, decent people, like you and me." Johnson, (smiling) " And we ashamed of him." They were quite frank and easy. Johnson told the story of his asking Mrs. Macaulay to allow her foot- man to sit down with them, to prove the ridiculousness of the argument for the equality of mankind ; and he said to me afterwards, with a nod of satisfaction, " You saw Mr. Wilkes acquiesced." Wilkes talked with all imaginable freedom of the ludicrous title given to the Attorney-General, Diabolus Regis ; adding, " I have reason to know something about that officer ; for I was prosecuted for a libel." Johnson, who many people would have supposed must have been furiously angry at hearing this talked of so hghtly, said not a word. He was now, indeed^ " a good-humoured fellow." After dinner we had an accession of Mrs. Knowles, the Quaker lady, well known for her various talents, and of Mr. Alderman Lee. Amidst some patriotick groans, somebody, (I think the Alderman) said, " Poor old England is lost." Johnson. " Sir, it is not so much to be lamented that Old England is lost, as that the Scotch have found it."^ Wilkes. " Had Lord Bute governed Scotland only, I should not have taken tlie trouble to write his eulogy, and dedicate ' Mor- timer' to him." " It would not become me to expatiate on this strong and pointed remark, in which a very great deal of meaning is condensed. DR. JOHNSON. 339 Mr. Wilkes held a candle to shew a fine print of a '77*>. beautiful female figure which hung in the room, and jr,J7. pointed out tiie elegant contour of the bosom with tlu^ 07. finger of an arch connoisseur. He afterwards in a con- versation with me waggishly insisted, that all the time Johnson shewed visible signs of a fervent admiration of the corresponding charms of the fair Quaker. This record, though by no means so perfect as I could wish, will serve to give a notion of a very cu- rious interview, which was not only pleasing at the time, but had the agreeable and benignant efibct of reconciling any animosity, and sweetening any acidity, which in the various bustle of political contest, had been produced in the minds of two men, who though widely different, had so many things in common — classical learning, modern literature, wit and humour, and ready repartee — that it would have been much to be regretted if they had been for ever at a distance from each other. Mr. Burke gave me much credit for this successful negociat'ion ; and pleasantly said, " that there Avas noth- ing equal to it in the whole history of the Corps Di- plomatique." 1 attended Dr. Johnson home, and had the satisfac- tion to hear him tell Mrs. Williams how much he had been pleased with Mr. Wilkes's company, and what an agreeable day he had passed. I talked a good deal to him of the celebrated Mar- garet Caroline Rudd, whom 1 had visited, induced by the fame of her talents, address, and irresistible power of fascination. To a lady who disapproved of my vis- ' iting her, he said on a former occasion, " Nay, Mad- am, Boswell is in the right ; 1 should have visited her myself, were it not that they have now a trick of put- ting every thing into the news-papers." This evening he exclaimed, " I envy him his acquaintance with Mrs. Rudd." I mentioned a scheme which I had of making a tour to the Isle of Man, and j>iving a full account of it ; and that Mr. Burke had playfully suggested as a motto, " The proper study of mankind is Man." 340 THE LIFE OF 1776. Johnson. " Sir, you will get more by the book than Sat! ^^^^ jaunt will cost you ; so you will have your diversion 67. for nothing, and add to your reputation." On the evening of the next day 1 took leave of him, being to set out for Scotland. 1 thanked him with great warmth for all his kindness. " Sir, (said he,) you are very welcome. Nobody repays it with more." How very false is the notion that has gone round the world of the rough, and passionate, and harsh manners of this great and good man. That he had occasional sallies of heat of temper, and that he was sometimes, perhaps, too " easily provoked" by absurdity and folly, and sometimes too desirous of triumph in colloquial contest, must be allowed. The quickness both of his perception and sensibility disposed him to sudden ex- plosions of satire ; to which his extraordinary readiness of wit was a strong and almost irresistible incitement. To adopt one of the finest images in Mr. Homers " Douglas," " On each glance of thought " Decision followed, as the thunderbolt " Pursues the flash !" I admit that the beadle within him was often so eager to apply the lash, that the Judge had not time to con- sider the case with sufficient deliberation. That he was occasionally remarkable for violence of temper may be granted : but let us ascertain the degree, and not let it be supposed that he was in a perpetual rage, and never without a club in his hand to knock down every one who approached him. On the contra- ry, the truth is, that by much the greatest part of his time he was civil, obliging, nay, polite in the true sense of the word ; so much so, that many gentlemen who were long acquainted with him never received, or even heard a strong expression from him. The following letters concerning an Epitaph which he wrote for the monument of Dr. Goldsmith, in West- minster-Abbey, afibrd at once aproof of his unaffected modesty, his carelessness as to his own writings, and of the great respect which he entertained for the taste and DR. JOHNSON. 341 judgement of the excellent and eminent person to '776. whom they are addressed : ^tat. 67.' " TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. " DEAR SIR, " I HAVE been kept away from you, I know not well how, and of these vexatious hindrances 1 know not when there will be an end. I therefore send you the poor dear Doctor^s epitaph. Read it first yourself; and if you then think it right, show it to the Club. I am, you know, willing to be corrected. If you think any thing much amiss, keep it to yourself, till we come together. I have sent two copies, but prefer the card. The dates must be settled by Dr. Percy. I am, Sir, " Your most humble servant, " May 16, 1776. " Sam. Johnson." TO THE SAME. " SIR, " Miss Reynolds has a mind to send the Epi- taph to Dr. Beattie : 1 am very willing, but having no copy, cannot immediately recollect it. She tells me you have lost it. Try to recollect, and put down as much as you retain ; you perhaps may have kept what 1 have dropped. The lines for which I am at a loss are something of rerum civilium siv} nafuraUum.^ It was a sorry trick to lose it ; help me if you can. I am. Sir, " Your most humble servant, " June 29, 1776. " Sam. Johnson.'' " The gout grows better but slowly." It was, I think, after I had left London in this year, that this Epitaph gave occasion to a Remonstrance to the Monarch of Literature, for an account of which I am indebted to Sir William Forbes, of Pitsligo. That my readers may have the subject more fully and clearly before them, 1 shall first insert the Epitaph. ' These words muit have t /t> \ rft'/'// /■/■i)/!// //■///'/// y /'//// n _^' fff/ , /.>.//r//i'/i//,>, ///>/ ^A// //i /r/i ir /ffV// ff// ///r r.r/fr/////.j //■///(// ^ A . /i>// ^/.if/i' /,' ( 'ti//rr/'/i •"/ ^ ////v//^ f/. ^^ Ij ('^//f<''(y/f'f<' .Af^fV/f f/r/f'ir ///■/' /f //A > ■ Af/nrfi>/' ///yyi ///////'. A// //f/'rYy'^'fVf///-.>f.///Yr/ '//I' //'fur///rfi:X^/i.>/ //■/// //c V/v///// f>/ rr/u)/ ////'//, (^' f>/ uufA/^^/^/ ■ A/r// ^f^u/////>//,) a ///■/ a////yr//tt//.> ri.) //f . j//// /////////• /Z/i'/f I/-, ////f>/f tt /tf /■////'/' // /'/ji/f /•fZ.t i>/i /• '/f /^t//ri ■ ///r// //'/'///f/. ///,//// /f> /'f ■>(> //^f.i////^/ aynyCZ/rfft A/ft /f/ . //'///f/f /rr ^^ ■ >//j'. f/i/r / fif/Y^/ — » — »- 1^- .^., ,./.^- „/-7/ 'ffl i .'''>>:■>'.'>,. _ /^/,,/„■/ /■'.. ' 1 1, //:...,. ( /„,/, / _ /..,.,../' ^M/i. ^/. iiT ^w;/^/.,/v»j^. jSo^. DR. JOHNSON. 343 drew up an address to Dr. Johnson on the occasion, re- i776. plete with wit and humour, but which it was feared the J^^ Doctor might think treated the subject with too much g?. levity. Mr. Burke then proposed the address as it stands in the paper in writing, to which 1 had the hon- our to officiate as clerk. "Sir Joshua agreed to carry it to Dr. Johnson, who received it with much good humour,^ and desired Sir Joshua to tell the gentlemen, that he would alter the Epitaph in any manner they pleased, as to the sense of it ; hut /ie would never consetit to disgrace the walls of Westminster Abheij^ ivith an English inscription. " I consider this Round Robin as a species of literary curiosity worth preserving, as it marks, in a certain de- gree, Dr. Johnson's character." My readers are presented with a faithful transcript of a paper, which I doubt not of their being desirous to see. Sir William Forbes's observation is very just. The anecdote now related proves, in the strongest manner, the reverence and awe with which Johnson was regard- ed, by some of the most eminent men of his time, in various departments, and even by such of them as lived ^ He however, upon seeing Dr. Warton's name to the suggestion, that the Epi- taph should be in English, observed to Sir Joshua, " I wonder that Joe Warton, a scholar by profession, should be such a fool." He said too, " I should have thought Mund Burke would have had more sense." Mr. Langton, who was one of the company at Sir Joshua's, like a sturdy scholar, resolutely refused to sign the Round Robin. The Epitaph is engraved upon Dr. Goldsmith's monument \A'ithout any alteration. At another time, when somebody endeavoured to argue in favour of its being in English, Johnson said, " The language of the country of which a learn- ed man was a native, is not the language fit for his epitaph, which should be in an- cient and permanent language. Consider, Sir ; how you should feel, were you to find at Rotterdam an epitaph upon Erasmus in Dutch .'" — For my own part 1 think it would be best to have Epitaphs written both in a learned language, and in the language of the country ; so that they might have the advantage of being more universally understood, and at the same time be secured of classical stability. I cannot, however, but be of opinion, that it is not sufficientlv di^criminalive. Ap- plying to Goldsmith equally the epithets of " Pocta, Histerici, Physici" is surely not right ; for as to his claim to the last of those epithets, I have heard Johnson himself say, " Goldsmith, Sir, will give us a very fine book upon the subject ; but if he can distinguish a cow from a horse, that, I believe, mav be the extent of his knowledge of natural history." His book is indeed an excellent performance, though in some instances he appears to have trusted too much to Buffon, who, with all his theo- retical ingenuity and extraordinary eloquence, I suspect had little actual informa- tion in the science on which he wrote so admirably. For instance, he tells us that the CIV sheds her horns every two years ; a most palpable errour, which Gold- smith has faithfully transferred into his booL It is wonderful that BulTon, who lived so much in the country, at his noble seat, should have fallen into such a blunder. I suppose he has confounded the co-w with the dctr. 344 THE LIFE OP i77f>. most with him ; while it also confirms what I have ^^J^ again and again inculcated, that he was by no means 67. of that ferocious and irascible character which has been ignorantly imagined. This hasty composition is also to be remarked as one of the thousand instances which evince the extraordi- nary promptitude of Mr. Burke ; who while he is equal to the greatest things, can adorn the least ; can, with equal facility, embrace the vast and complicated spec- ulations of politicks, or the ingenious topicks of hterary investigation. ^ " DR. JOHNSON TO MRS. BOSWELL. " MADAM, " You must not think me uncivil in omitting to answer the letter with which you favoured me some time ago. I imagined it to have been written without Mr. Boswell's knowledge, and therefore supposed the answer to require, what 1 could not find, a private con- veyance. " The difference with Lord Auchinleck is now over ; and since young Alexander has appeared, I hope no more difficulties will arise among you ; for I sincerely wish you all happy. Do not teach the young ones to dislike me, as you dislike me yourself; but let me at least have Veronica's kindness, because she is my ac- quaintance. " You will now have Mr. Boswell home ; it is well that you have him ; he has led a wild fife. 1 have tak- en him to Lichfield, and he has followed Mr. Thrale to Bath. Pray take care of him, and tame him. The only thing in which 1 have the honour to agree with you is, in loving him ; and while we are so much of a mind in a matter of so much importance, our other quarrels, will, 1 hope, produce no great bitterness. I am, Madam, " Your most humble servant, " Maij 16, 1776. *' Sam. Johnson. a 3 Besides thU Latin Epitaph, Johnson honoured the memory of his friend Gold- smith with a short one in GreeL See p. 118 of this volume. DR. JOHNSON. 845 *' MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. l]J^' " Edinburgh, June 2o, 1776. ^g^^' " You have formerly complained that my letters Were too long-. There is no danger of that complaint being made at present; for 1 find it difficult for me to write to you at all. [Here an account of having been afflicted with a return of melancholy or bad spirits.] " The boxes of books* which you sent to me are ar- rived ; but 1 have not yet examined the contents. " I send you Mr. Maclaurin's paper for the negro, who claims his freedom in the Court of Session." " DR. JOHNSON TO MR. BOSWELL. " DEAR SIR, " These black fits, of which you complain, per- haps hurt your memory as well as your imagination. When did 1 complain that your letters were too long?^ Your last letter, after a very long delay, brought very bad news. [Here a series of reflections upon melan- choly, and — what I could not help thinking strangely unreasonable in him who had suffered so much from it himself, — a good deal of severity and reproof, as if it were owing to my own fault, or that I was, perhaps, af* fecting it from a desire of distinction.] " Read Cheyne's ' English Malady ;' but do not let him teach you a foolish notion that melancholy is a proof of acuteness. * * ♦ * *^ " To hear that you have not opened your boxes of books is very offensive. The examination and arrange- ment of so many volumes might have afforded you an amusement very seasonable at present, and useful for the whole of life. I am, I confess, very angry that you manage yourself so ill. ♦****. * Upon a settlement of our account of expences on a Tour to the Hebrides, there was a balance due to me, which Dr. Johnson chose to discharge by sending books. • Baretti told rae that Johnson complained of my writing very long letters to him when I was upon the continent ; which was most rertaiply true ; but it scams my friend did not remember it. VOL. IT. 4V 346 THE LIFE OF 1776. " I do not now say any more, than that 1 am, with ^^ great kindness and sincerity, dear Sir, 57. " Your humble servant, " Julij 2, 1776. " Sam. Johnson." " It was last year determined by Lord Mansfield, in the Court of King's Bench, that a negro cannot be tak- en out of the kingdom without his own consent." " DR. JOHNSON TO MR. BOSWELL. " DEAR SIR, " I MAKE haste to write again, lest my last letter should give you too much pain. If you are really op- pressed with overpowering and involuntary melancholy, you are to be pitied rather than reproached. * * * *, " Now, my dear Bozzy, let us have done with quar- rels and with censure. Let me know whether I have not sent you a pretty library. There are, perhaps, many books among them which you never need read through ; but there are none which it is not proper for you to know, and sometimes to consult. Of these books, of which the use is only occasional, it is often sufficient to know the contents, that, when any question arises, you may know where to look for information. " Since 1 wrote, I have looked over Mr. Maclaurin's plea, and think it excellent. How is the suit carried on ? If by subscription, I commission you to contribute, in my name, what is proper. Let nothing be wanting in such a case. Dr. Drummond,^ I see, is superseded. His father would have grieved ; but he lived to obtain the pleasure of his son's election, and died before that pleasure was abated. " Langton's lady has brought him a girl, and both are well; I dined with him the other day. *****. " It vexes me to tell you, that on the evening of the 29th of May I was seized by the gout, and am not quite ' The son of Johnson's old friend, Mr. William Drummond. (See Vol. I. p. 410.) He was a young man of such distinguished merit, that he was nominated to one of the medical professorships in the College of Edinburgh, without sohcitation, while he was at Naples. Having other views, he did not accept of the honour, . and soon afterwards died. DR. JOHNSON. :J47 well. The pain lias not been violent, but the weakness 177<>. and tenderness were very troublesome, and what is said ^^ to be very uncommon, it has not alleviated my other G7. disorders. Make use of youth and health while you have tlicui ; make my compliments to Mrs. IJoswell. I am, my dear Sir, " Your most affectionate " Ju/// 16, 1776. " Sam. Johnson." " MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. " MY DEAR SIR, Edinburgh^ Jidij 18, 1776". " Your letter of the second of this month was rather a harsh medicine ; but 1 was delighted with that spontaneous tenderness, which, a few days afterwards, sent forth such balsam as your next brought me. I found myself for some time so ill that all I could do was to preserve a decent appearance, while all within was Aveakness and distress. Like a reduced garrison that has some spirit left, I hung out flags, and planted all the force 1 could muster, upon the walls. I am now much better, and 1 sincerely thank you for your kind atten- tion and friendly counsel." ****** " Count Manucci^ came here last week from travel- ling in Ireland. 1 have shown him what civilities I could on his own account, on your's, and on that of Mr. and Mrs. Thrale. He has had a fall from his horse, and been much hurt. I regret this unlucky ac- cident, for he seems to be a very amiable man." As the evidence of what I have mentioned at the beginning of this year, 1 select from his private regis- ter the following passage : " July 25, 1776. O God, who hast ordained that whatever is to be desired should be sought by labour, and who, by thy blessing, bringest honest labour to good effect, look with mercy upon my studies and en- deavours. Grant me, O Lord, to design only what is ' A Florentine noI)leman, mentioned by Johnson, in his " Notes of his Tour in France." 1 had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with liim ia London, in the spring of this year. 3A'S XHE LIFE OF 1776. lawful and right ; and afford me calmness of mind, and ^^ steadiness of purpose, that I may so do thy will in this {)7. short life, as to obtain happiness in the world to come, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."^ It appears from a note subjoined, that this was com- posed when he " purposed to apply vigorously to study, particularly of the Greek and Italian tongues." Such a purpose, so expressed, at the age of sixty- seven, is admirable and encouraging ; and it must im- press all the thinking part of my readers with a consol- atory confidence in habitual devotion, when they see a man of such enlarged intellectual powers as Johnson, thus in the genuine earnestnt-ss of secrecy, imploring the aid of that Supreme Being, " from whom cometh down every good and every perfect gift." " TO sip, JOSHUA REYNOLDS. " SIR, " A YOUNG man, whose name is Paterson, offers himself this evening to the Academy. He is the son of a man^ for whom I have long hatl a kindness, and who is now abroad in distress. I shall be glad that you will be pleased to show him any little countenance, or pay him any small distinction. How much it is in your power to favour or to forward a young man 1 do not know ; nor do I know how much this candidate deserves favour by his personal merit, or what hopes his proficiency may now give of future eminence. I recommend him as the son of my friend. Your char- acter and station enable you to give a young man great encouragement by very easy means. You have heard of a man who asked no other favour of Sir Robert Walpole, than that he would bow to him at his levee. " I am. Sir, " Your most humble servant, '• Aug, 3, 1776. ^' Sam. Johnson.' j> = Prayers and Meditations, p. 151. '[Samuel Paterson, formerly a bookseller, latterly an auctioneer, and well Ipiown for his skill in forming catalogues of books. He died in London, Octob«r 29, 1802. M.] DR. JOHNSON. 349 " MR. BOSWLLL TO 1)11. JOHNSON. U^ " Edinburgh, August 30, 177G. '^^^^• [After giving liim an account of my having examin- ed the chests of books which he had sent to me, and which contained wliat may be truly called a numerous and miscellaneous Stall Library, thrown together at random : — ] " Lord Hailes was against the decree in the case of my client, the minister ; not that he justified the min- ister, but because the parishioner both provoked and retorted. I sent his Lordship your able argument upon the case for his perusal. His observation upon it in a letter to me was, ' Dr. Johnson's Suasorium is pleas- antly and artfully composed. I suspect, however, that he has not convinced himself ; for, I believe that he is better read in ecclesiastical history, than to im- agine that a Bishop or a Presbyter has a right to begin censure or discipline ^ cathedra.''^ "^ " For the honour of Count Manucci, as well as to observe that exactness of truth which you have taught me, 1 must correct what I said in a former letter. He did not fall from his horse, which might have been an imputation on his skill as an officer of cavalry ; his horse fell with him. " I have, since I saw you, read every word of ' Granger's Biographical History.' It has entertained me exceedingly, and I do not think him the Whig that you supposed. Horace Walpole's being his pa- tron is, indeed, no good sign of his political principles. But he denied to Lord Mountstuart that he was a Whig, and said he had been accused by both parties of partiality. It seems he was like Pope, * While Tories call me Whig, and Whigs a Tory.' , Why his Lordship uses the epithet pleasantly, when speaking of a grave piece of reasoning, I cannot conceive. But different men have different notions of picas- • iintry. I happened to sit by a gentleman one evening at the Opera-house in Lon- don, who at the moment when Medea appeared to be in great agony at the thought t>f killing her children, turned to me with a smile, and said, ^^ funny enough." ^ Dr. Johnson afterwards told rae, that he was of opinion that a clergyman had this rijrht. 350 THE LIFE OF 1776. I wish you would look more into his book ; and as "^Q^ Lord Mountstuart wishes much to find a proper person 67. ' to continue the work upon Granger's plan, and has de- sired 1 would mention it to you ; if such a man occurs, please to let me know. His Lordship will give him generous encouragement." " TO MR. ROBERT LEVET. " DEAR SIR, " Having spent about six weeks at this place, we have at length resolved upon returning. I expect to see you all in Fleet-street on the 30th of this month. " I did not go into the sea till last Friday, but think to go most of this week, though I know not that it does me any good. My nights are very restless and tire- some, but I am otherwise well. " I have written word of my coming to Mrs. Wil- liams. Remember me kindly to Francis and Betsey.^ I am, Sir, " Your humble servant, ^' Brighthelmstone., Oc^. 21, 1776. " Sam. Johnson."* I again wrote to Dr. Johnson on the 91st of Octo- ber, informing him, that my father had, in the most liberal manner, paid a large debt for me, and that I had now the happiness of being upon very good terms with him ; to which he returned the following answer. TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " I HAD great pleasure in hearing that you are at last on good terms with your father. Cultivate his 3 [His female servant. M.] '' For this and Dr. Johnson's other letters to Mr. Levet, I am indebted to my old acquaintance Mr. Nathaniel Thomas, whose worth and ingenuity have been long known to a respectable thougli not a wide circle ; and whose collection of medals would do credit to persons of greater opulence. [Mr. Nathaniel Thomas, who was many years Editor of the St. James's Chroni- cle, died March 1, 1795. M.] DR. JOHKSON. 3o\ kindness by all honest and manly means. Lite is but 1770. short ; no time can be atforded but for the indulgence ^^^^ of real sorrow, or contests upon questions seriously (j;. momentous. I.t't us not throw away any of our days upon useless resentment, or contend who shall hold out longest in stubborn malignity. It is best not to be angry ; and best, in the next place, to be quickly rec- onciled. May you and your father pass the remainder of your time in reciprocal benevolence ! ****** " Do you ever hear from Mr. Langton ? I visit him sometimes but he does not talk. 1 do not like his scheme of life ; but as 1 am not permitted to under- stand it, I cannot set any thing right that is wrong. His children are sweet babies. " i hope my irreconcileable enemy, Mrs. Boswell, is well. Desire her not to transmit her malevolence to the young people. Let me have Alexander, and Veronica, and Euphemia, for my friends. " Mrs. Williams, whom you may reckon as one of your well-wishers, is in a feeble and languishing state, with little hopes of growing better. She went for some part of the autumn into the country, but is little benefitted ; and Dr. Lawrence confesses that his art is at an end. Death is, however, at a distance : and what more than that can we say of ourselves ? i am sorry for her pain, and more sorry for her decay. Mr. Levet is sound, wind and limb. " I was some weeks this autumn at Brighthelm- stone. The place was very dull, and 1 was not well ; the expedition to the Hebrides was the most pleasant journey that I ever made. Such an effort annually would give the world a little diversification. " Every year, however, we cannot wander, and must therefore endeavour to spend our time at home as well as we can. 1 believe it is best to throw life into a method, that every hour may bring its employ- ment, and every employment have its hour. Xeno- phon observes, in his ' Treatise on Oeconomy,^ that if every thing be kept in a certain place, when any thing- is worn out or consumed, the vacuity which it leaves 352 THE LIFE OP 1776. will shew what is wanting ; so if every part of time has ^^^ its duty, the hour will call into remembrance its proper 67. * engagement. " I have not practised all this prudence myself, but 1 have suffered much for want of it ; and I would have you, by timely recollection and steady resolution, escape from those evils which have lain heavy upon me. I am, my dearest Boswell, " Your most humble servant, " Bolt-court, Nov. 16, 1776. " Sam. Johnson." On the I6th of November 1 informed him that Mr, Strahan had sent me twelve copies of the " Journey to the Western Islands," handsomely bound, instead of the txoenti/ copies which were stipulated ; but which, I supposed, were to be only in sheets ; requested to know how they should be distributed : and mentioned that I had another son born to me, who was named David, and was a sickly infant. " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ* " DEAR SIR, " I HAVE been for some time ill of a cold, which, perhaps, 1 made an excuse to myself for not writing, when in reality I knew not what to say. " The books you must at last distribute as you think best, in my name, or your own, as you are in- clined, or as you judge most proper. Every body can- not be obliged ; but I wish that nobody may be offended. Do the best you can. ^ " I congratulate you on the increase of your family, and hope that little David is by this time well, and his mamma perfectly recovered. I am much pleased to hear of the re-establishment of kindness between you and your father. Cultivate his paternal tenderness as much as you can. To live at variance at all is uncom- fortable ; and variance with a father is still more un- comfortable. Besides that, in the whole dispute you have the wrong side ; at least you gave the first provo- cations, and some of them very offensive. Let it now DR. JOHNSON. 553 be all over. As you have no reason to think that your '776. new mother h;is shown you any loul play, treat her jT^'.^ with respect, and with some degree of contidonce ; this (>7. will secure your father. When once a discordant fam- ily has felt the pleasure of peace they will not willingly lose it. If Mrs. Boswell would but be friends with me, we might now shut the temple of Janus. '• \Vhat came of Dr. Memis's cause I Is the quest- ion about the negro determined ? Has Sir Allan any reasonable hopes ! What is become of poor Macquar- ry I Let me know the event of all these litigations. 1 wish particularly well to the negro and Sir Allan. " Mrs. Williams has been much out of order ; and though she is something better, is likely, in her phy- sician's opinion, to endure her malady for life, though she may, perhaps, die of some other. Mrs. Thrale is] big, and fancies that she carries a boy ; if it were very { reasonable to wish much about it, 1 should wish her] not to be disappointed. The desire of male heirs is not appendant only to feudal tenures. A son is almost necessary to the continuance of Thrale's fortune ; for what can misses do with a brewhouse I Lands are fitter for daughters than trades. " Baretti went away from Thrale's in some whimsi- cal fit of disgust, or ill-nature, without taking an}' leave. It is well if he finds in any other place as good an hab- itation, and as many conveniences. He has got five- and-twenty guineas by translating Sir Joshua's Dis- courses into Italian, and Mr. Thrale gave him an hun- dred in the spring ; so that he is yet in no difficulties. " Colman has bought Foote's patent, and is to allow Foote for life sixteen hundred pounds a year, as Rey- nolds told me, and to allow him to play so often on such terms that he may gain four hundred pounds more. What Colman can get by this bargain, ^ but trouble and hazard, I do not see. I am, dear Sir, " Your humble servant, " Df?c. 21, 1776. " Sam. Johnson." * [It turned out, however, a very fortunate bargain, for Foote, though not then fifty-six, died at an inn in Dover, in less than a year- Oct. 21, 1777, M.] VOL. IT. 45 So-i THE LIFE OP 1777. The Reverend Dr. Hugh Blair, who had long been admired as a preacher at Edinburgh, thought now of diffusing his excellent sermons more extensively, and increasing his reputation, by publishing a collection of them. He transmitted the manuscript to Mr. Strahan, the printer, who after keeping it for some time, wrote a letter to him, discouraging the publication. Such at first was the unpropitious state of one of the most suc- cessful theological books that has ever appeared. Mr. Strahan, however, had sent one of the sermons to Dr. Johnson for his opinion : and after his unfavour- able letter to Dr. Blair had been sent off, he received from Johnson on Christmas-eve, a note in which was the following paragraph : " I have read over Dr. Blair's first sermon with more than approbation ; to say it is good, is to say too little." I believe Mr. Strahan had very soon after this time a conversation with Dr. Johnson concerning them ; and then he very candidly wrote again to Dr. Blair, enclos- ing Johnson's note, and agreeing to purchase the vol- ume, for which he and Mr. Cadell gave one hundred pounds. The sale was so rapid and extensive, and the approbation of the publick so high, that to their honour be it recorded, the proprietors made Dr. Blair a present first of one sum, and afterwards of another, of fifty pounds, thus voluntarily doubling the stipulated price ; and when he prepared another volume, they gave him at once three hundred pounds, being in all five hun- dred pounds, by an agreement to which I am a sub- scribing witness ; and now for a third octavo volume he has received no less than six hundred pounds. In 1777, it appears from his " Prayers and Medita- tions," that Johnson suffered much from a state of mind '* unsettled and perplexed," and from that con- stitutional 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 DR. JOHNSON. S55 his injustice to himsolf in the following lamentable i777. paragraph, which it is painful to think came from the ^,'J^ contrite heart of this groat man, to whose labours the (,«. world is so much indebted : " When 1 survey my past life, 1 discover nothing but a barren waste of time, with some disorders of body, and disturbances of the mind, very near to madness, which 1 hope He that made me will suffer to extenuate many faults, and excuse many deficiencies."^ But we find his devo- tions in this year eminently fervent ; and we are comforted by observing intervals of quiet, composure, and gladness. On Easter day we find the following emphatick prayer : " Almighty and most merciful Father, who seest all our miseries, and knowest all our necessities, look down upon me, and pity me. Defend me from the violent incursion of evil thoughts, and enable me to form and keep such resolutions as may conduce to the discharge of the duties which thy providence shall appoint me ; and so help me, by thy Holy Spirit, that my heart may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found, and that I may serve thee with pure affection and a cheerful mind. Have mercy upon me, O God, have mercy upon me ; years and infirmities oppress me, terrour and anxiety beset me. Have mercy upon me, my Creator and my Judge. In all perplexities relieve and free me ; and so help me by thy Holy Spirit, that I may now so commemorate the death of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, as that when this short and painful life shall have an end, I may, for his sake, be received to everlasting happiness. Amen.^" While he was at church, the agreeable impressions upon his mind are thus commemorated, " I was for some time distressed, but at last obtained, I hope from the God of Peace, more quiet than I have enjoyed for a long time. I had made no resolution, but as my heart grew lighter, my hopes revived, and my courage * Prayers and Meditations, p. 155. " Prayers and Meditations, p. 158. 356 THE LIFE OF 1777. increased ; and I wrote with my pencil in my Com- ^t.^^ mon Prayer Book, " Viia ordinanda. " Biblia legenda. *' Theologice opera dunda. " Set'viendum et Icetmidum" Mr. Steevens, whose generosity is well known, joined Dr. Johnson in kind assistance to a female relation of Dr. Goldsmith, and desired that on her return to Ire- land she would procure authentick particulars of the life of her celebrated relation. Concerning her is the following letter : " TO GEORGE STEEVENS, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " You will be glad to hear that from Mrs. Gold- smith, whom we lamented as drowned, I have received a letter full of gratitude to us all, with promise to make the enquiries which we recommended to her. " 1 would have had the honour of conveying this intelligence to Miss Caulfield, but that her letter is not at hand, and 1 know not the direction. You will tell the good news. I am. Sir, " Your most, &c. " February 25, 1777. " Sam. Johnson.''^ " MR. BOSWELL TQ DR. JOHNSON. " Edinburgh^ Feb. 14-, 1777. " MY DEAR SIR, " My state of epistolary accounts with you at present is extraordinary. The balance, as to number, is on your side. 1 am indebted to you for two letters ; one dated the l6th of November, upon which very day I wrote to you, so that our letters were exactly ex- changed, and one dated the 21st of December last. " My heart was warmed with gratitude by the truly kind contents of both of them ; and it is amazing and vexing that 1 have allowed so much time to olapso DR. JOHNSON. 357 Without writing to you. But delay is inherent in me, i777. by nature or by bad habit. 1 waited till I should have ^^ an opportunity of paying you my compliments on a cg. new year. 1 have procrastinated till the year is no longer new. #♦♦♦*♦ " Dr. Memis's cause was determined against him, with 401. costs. The Lord President, and two other of the Judges, dissented from the majority, upon this ground ; that although there may have been no inten- tion to injure him by calling him Doctor of Medicine, instead of P/ii/siciun, yet, as he remonstrated against the designation before the charter was printed off, and represented that it was disagreeable, and even hurtful to him, it was illnatured to refuse to alter it, and let him have the designation to which he was certainly entitled. My own opinion is, that our court has judg- ed wrong. The defendants were in maid fide^ to per- sist in naming him in a way that he disliked. You remember poor Goldsmith, when he grew important, and wished to appear Doctor Major, could not bear your calling him Goldy. Would it not have been wrong to have named him so in your ' Preface to Shakspeare,' or in any serious permanent writing of any sort ? The difficulty is, whether an action should be allowed on such petty wrongs. De minimis non curat lex. " The negro cause is not yet decided. A memo- rial is preparing on the side of slavery. I shall send you a copy as soon as it is printed. Maclaurin is made happy by your approbation of his memorial for the black. " Macquarry was here in the winter, and we passed an evening together. The sale of his estate cannot be prevented. " Sir Allan Maclean's suit against the Duke of Argyle, for recovering the ancient inheritance of his family, is now fairly before all our judges. I spoke for him yesterday, and Maclaurin to-day ; Crosbie spoke to-day against him. Three more counsel are to be heard, and next week the cause will be determined 35S THE LIFE OF 1777. I send you the Informations, or Cases, on each side, ^^j^ which I hope you will read. You said to me when 68. we were under Sir Allan's hospitable roof, ' I will help him with my pen/ You said it with a generous glow ; and though his Grace of Argyle did afterwards mount you upon an excellent horse, upon which ' you looked like a Bishop,' you must not swerve from your purpose at Inchkenneth. I wish you may understand the points at issue, amidst our Scotch law principles and phrases. [Here followed a full state of the case, in which I endeavoured to make it as clear as I could to an Eng- lishman who had no knowledge of the formularies and technical language of the law of Scotland.] " I shall inform you how the cause is decided here. But as it may be brought under the review of our Judg- es, and is certainly to be carried by appeal to the House of Lords, the assistance of such a mind as your's will be of consequence. Your paper on Vicious Intromission is a noble proof of what you can do even in Scotch law. 7^ *V|» Vp "J^ tfi " I have not yet distributed all your books. Lord Hailes and Lord Monboddo have each received one, and return you thanks. Monboddo dined with me lately, and having drank tea, we were a good while by ourselves, and as 1 knew that he had read the ' Journey' superficially, as he did not talk of it as I wished, I brought it to him, and read aloud several passages ; and then he talked so, that I told him he was to have a copy Jrom the authoiir. He begged that might be marked on it. ****** " I ever am, my dear Sir, " Your most faithful " And affectionate humble servant, " James Boswell." " sir alexander dick, to dr. samuel johnson. " SIR, Frestonfield, Feb. 17, 1777- " I HAD yesterday the honour of receiving your book of your ' Journeij to the Western Islands of Scot- DR. JOHNSON. 3J9 /o«777. I left her and my daughters and Alexander all well ^Q^^ yestertlay. 1 have taught Veronica to speak of you 08. thus ; — Dr. John^"(;«, not John.s7o«. I remain, my dear Sir, " Your most affectionate, " And obliged humble servant, " James Boswell." *' to james boswell, esq. " DEAE SIR, " The story of Mr. Thrale's death, as he had neither been sick nor in any other danger, made so httle impression upon me, that I never thought about obviating its effects on any body else. It is supposed to have been produced by the English custom of making April fools, that is, of sending one another on some foolish errand on the first of April. " Tell Mrs. Boswell that I shall taste her marma- lade cautiously at first. Timeo Danaos et domi feren- tcs. Beware, says the Italian proverb, of a reconciled enemy. But when I find it does me no harm, I shall then receive it and be thankful for it, as a pledge of firm, and, I hope, of unalterable kindness. She is, after all, a dear, dear lady. " Please to return Dr. Blair thanks for his sermons. The Scotch write English wonderfully well. " Your frequent visits to Auchinleck, and your short stay there, are very laudable and very judicious. Your present concord with your father gives me great pleasure ; it was all that you seemed to want. " My health is very bad, and my nights are very unquiet. What can I do to mend them ? I have for this summer nothing better in prospect than a journey into Staffordshire and Derbyshire, perhaps with Ox- . ford and Birmingham in my way. " Make my compliments to Miss Veronica ; I must leave it to her philosophy to comfort you for the loss of little David. You must remember, that to keep 366 THE LIFE OP 1777. three out of four is more than your share. Mrs. ^^ Thrale has but four out of eleven. C8. " 1 am engaged to write little Lives, and little Pre- faces, to a little edition of the English Poets. 1 think I have persuaded the booksellers to insert something of Thomson ; and if you could give me some informa- tion about him, for the life which we have is very scanty, I should be glad. 1 am, dear Sir, " Your most affectionate humble servant, " Maij 3, 1777. " Sam. Johnson." To those who delight in tracing the progress of works of hterature, it will be an entertainment to com- pare the limited design with the ample execution of that admirable performance, " The Lives of the En- glish Poets," which is the richest, most beautiful, and indeed most perfect, production of Johnson's pen. His notion of it at this time appears in the preceding letter. He has a memorandum in this year, " 29 May, Easter- Eve, I treated with booksellers on a bargain, but the time was not long."^ The bargain was concerning that undertaking ; but his tender conscience seems alarmed, lest it should have intruded too much on his devout preparation for the solemnity of the ensuing day. But, indeed, very little time was necessary for Johnson's concluding a treaty with the booksellers ; as he had, 1 believe, less attention to profit from his labours, than any man to whom literature has been a profession. I shall here insert from a letter to me from my late worthy friend Mr. Edward Dilly, though of a later date, an account of this plan so happily conceiv- ed ; since it was the occasion of procuring for us an elegant collection of the best biography and criticism of which our language can boast. " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. £C DEAR SIR, " Soiithhill^ Sept. S6, 1/77. " You will find by this letter, that I am still in the same calm retreat, from the noise and bustle of » Prayers and Meditations, p. 155. DR. JOHNSON. 367 London, as when I wrote to you last. I am bappy to '777. find you had such an agreeable meeting with your old ^|^ friend Dr. Johnson ; I have no doubt your stock is G8. much increased by the interview ; few men, nay 1 may say, scarcely any man, has got that funtl of knowl- edge and entertainment as Ur. .b)hnson in conversation. When he opens freely, every one is attentive to what he says, and cannot fail of improvement as well as pleasure. " The edition of the Poets, now printing, will do honour to the English press ; and a concise account of the lite of each authour, by Dr. Johnson, will be a very valuable addition, and stamp the reputation of this edition superiour to any thing that is gone before. The first cause that gave rise to this undertaking, I believe, was owing to the little trifling edition of the Poets, printing by the Martins at Edinburgh, and to be sold by Bell, in London. Upon examining the vol- umes which were printed, the type was found so ex- tremely small, that many persons could not read them; not only this inconvenience attended it, but the inac- curacy of the press was very conspicuous. These rea- sons, as well as the idea of an invasion of what we call our Literary Property, induced the London Book- sellers to print an elegant and accurate edition of all the English poets of reputation, from Chaucer to the present time. " Accordingly a select number of the most respecta- ble booksellers met on the occasion ; and, on consulting together, agreed, that all the proprietors of copy-right in the various Poets should be summoned together; • and when their opinions were given, to proceed imme- diately on the business. Accordingly a meeting was held, consisting of about forty of the most respectable booksellers of London, when it was agreed that an ele- gant and uniform edition of ' The English Poets' should be immediately printed, with a concise account of the life of each authour, by Dr. Samuel Johnson; and that three persons should be deputed to wait upon Dr. John- son, to solicit him to undertake the Lives, viz. T. Da- vies, Strahan, and Cadell. The Doctor very politely un- 368 THE LIFE OP 1777. dertook it, and seemed exceedingly pleased with the ]J^ proposal. As to the terms, it was left entirely to the 6«. Doctor to name his own ; he mentioned two hundred guineas;^ it was immediately agreed to; and a farther compliment, 1 believe, will be made him. A commit- tee was likewise appointed to engage the best engravers, viz. Bartolozzi, Sherwin, Hall, &c. Likewise another committee for giving directions about the paper, print- ing, &c. so that the whole will be conducted with spirit, and in the best manner, with respect to authourship, editorship, engravings, &c. &c. My brother will give you a list of the Poets we mean to give, many of which are within the time of the Act of Queen Anne, which Martin and Bell cannot give, as they have no property in them ; the proprietors are almost all the booksellers in London, of consequence. I am, dear Sir, " Ever your's, " Edward Dilly." I shall afterwards have occasion to consider the ex- tensive and varied range which Johnson took, when he was once led upon ground which he trod with a pecu- liar delight, having long been intimately acquainted with all the circumstances of it that could interest and please. " DR. JOHNSON TO CHARLES O^CONNOR, ESQ.' " SIR, " Having had the pleasure of conversing with Dr. Campbell about your character and your literary undertaking, I am resolved to gratify myself by renew- ' [Johnson's moderation in demanding so small a sum is extraordinary. Had he asked one thousand, or even fifteen hundred guineas, the booksellers, who knew the- value of his name, would doubtless have readily given it. They have probably got five thousand guineas by this work in the course of twenty-five years. M.] ' Mr. Joseph Cooper Walker, of the Treasury, Dublin, who obligingly commu- nicated to me this and a former letter from Dr. Johnson to the same gentleman, (for which see Vol. I. page 251) writes to me as follows : — " Perhaps it would grat- ify you to have some account of Mr. O'Connor. He is an amiable, learned, vene- rable old gentleman, of an independent fortune, who lives at Belanagar, in the county of Roscommon ; he is an admired writer, and Member of the Irish Acad- emy.— The above Letter is alluded to in the Preface to the 2d edit, of his Dissert, p. 3." — Mr. O'Connor afterwards died at the age of eighty-two, July 1, 1791. See a well-drawn character of him in the Gentleman's Magazine for Aug^ist 1791- 1)R. JOHNSON. 369 ing a correspondence which began and ended a great i777. while ago, and ended, 1 am afraid, by my fault ; a tault ^^^^ which, if you have not forgotten it, you must now for- (jg. ' give. " If I have ever disappointed you, give me leave to tell you, that you have likewise disappointed me. I expected great discoveries in Irish antiquity, and Uirgc publications in the Irish language ; but the world still remains as it was, doubtful and ignorant. What the Irish language is in itself, and to what languages it has affinity, are very interesting questions, which every man wishes to see resolved that has any philological or his- torical curiosity. Dr. Leiand begins his history too iate : the ages which deserve an exact enquiry are those times (for such there were) when Ireland was the school of the west, the quiet habitation of sanctity and litera- ture. If you could give a history, though imperfect, of the Irish nation, from its conversion to Christianity to the invasion from England, you would amplify knowl- edge with new views and new objects. Set about it therefore, if you can : do what you can easily do with- out anxious exactness. Lay the foundation, and leave the superstructure to posterity. 1 am, Sir, " Your humble servant, " Ma^ 19, 1777. " Sam. Johnson." Early in this year came out, in two volumes quarto, the posthumous works of the learned Dr. Zachary Pearce, Bishop of Rochester ; being " A Commentary, with Notes, on the four Evangelists and the Acts of the Apostles," with other theological pieces. Johnson had now an opportunity of making a grateful return to that excellent prelate, who, we have seen, was the only person who gave him any assistance in the compilation of his dictionary. The Bishop had left some account of his life and character, written by himself. To this John- son made some valuable additions,-]" and also furnished to the editor, the Reverend Mr. Derby, a Dedication, f which I shall here insert, both because it will appear at this time with peculiar propriety ; and because it will tend to propagate and increase that " fervour of Loyal' VOL, ir. 47 370 THE LIFE OP 1777. /y," which in me, who boast of the name of Tory, is ^J^J^ not only a principle, but a passion. " TO THE KING. " SIR, " 1 PRESUME to lay before your Majesty the last labours of a learned Bishop, who died in the toils and duties of his calling. He is now beyond the reach of all earthly honours and rewards ; and only the hope of inciting others to imitate him, makes it now fit to be remembered, that he enjoyed in his life the favour of your Majesty. " The tumultuary life of Princes seldom permits them to survey the wide extent of national interest, Avithout losing sight of private merit ; to exhibit quali- ties which may be imitated by the highest and the humblest of mankind: and to be at once amiable and great. " Such characters, if now and then they appear in history, are contemplated with admiration. May it be the ambition of all your subjects to make haste with their tribute of reverence ; and as posterity may learn from your Majesty how Kings should live, may they learn likewise from your people how they should be honoured. I am, " May it please your Majesty, " With the most profound respect, " Your Majesty's " Most dutiful and devoted, " Subject and servant." In the summer he wrote a Prologue* which was spok- en before " A Word to the Wise," a comedy by Mr. Hugh Kelly, which had been brought upon the stage in 1770 ; but he being a writer for ministry in one of the news-papers, it fell a sacrifice to popular fury, and, in the play-house phrase, was damned. By the gene- rosity of Mr. Harris, the proprietor of Covent-Garden theatre, it was now exhibited for one night, for the ben- efit of the authour's widow and children. To conciliate the favour of the audience was the intention of John- DR. JOHNSON. 371 son's Prologue, which as it is not long, I shall here in- '777. sert, as a proof that his poetical talents were in no de- ^'^ gree impaired. Gb. " This night presents a play, which publick rage, " Or right or wrong, once hooted from the stage : " From zeal or malice, now no more we dread, " For English vengeance wars not with the dead. " A generous foe regards with pitying eye *' The man whom F'ate has laid where all must lie. *' To wit, reviving from its authour's dust, " Be kind, ye judges, or at least be just : " Let no renewed hostilities invade " Th' oblivious grave's inviolable shade. " Let one great payment every claim appease, " And him who cannot hurt, allow to please ; " To please by scenes, unconscious of offence, " By harmless merriment, or useful sense. " VVhere aught of bright or fair the piece displays, " Approve it only ; — 'tis too late to praise. " If want of skill or want of care appear, *' Forbear to hiss ; — the poet cannot hear. " But all, like him, must praise and blame be found, " At last, a Heeting gleam, or empty sound ; " Yet then shall calm reflection bless the night, " When liberal pity dignified delight; " When pleasure fir'd her torch at virtue's flame, And mirth was bounty with an humbler name." u A circumstance which could not fail to be very pleas- ing to Johnson, occurred this year. The tragedv of " Sir Thomas Overbury," written by his early compan- ion in London, Richard Savage, was brought up with alterations at Drury-lane theatre. The Prologue to it was written by Mr. Richard Brinsley Sheridan ; in which, after describing very pathetically the wretchedness of " Ill-fated Savage, at whose birth was giv'n " No parent but the Muse, no friend but Heav'n :'* he introduced an elegant compliment to Johnson on his Dictionary, that wonderful performance which cannot 379 THE LIFE OF 1777. be too often or too highly praised ; of which Mr. Har- ^^^^ ris, in his " Philological Inquiries,"^ justly and liberally 68. observes, " Such is its merit, that our language does not possess a more copious, learned, and valuable work." J'he concluding lines of this Prologue were these ; " So pleads the tale^ that gives to future times " The son's misfortunes and the parent's crimes ; " There shall his fame (if own'd to-night) survive, " Fix'd by THE HAND THAT BIDS OUR LANGUAGE LIVE." Mr. Sheridan here at once did honour to his taste and to his liberality of sentiment, by showing that he was ^,. not prejudiced from the unlucky difference which had taken place between his worthy father and Dr. John- son. 1 have already mentioned, that Johnson was very desirous of reconciliation with old Mr. Sheridan. It ■will, therefore, not seem at all surprizing that he was zealous in acknowledging the brilliant merit of his son. While it had as yet been displayed only in the drama, Johnson proposed him as a member of The Literary Club, observing, that " He who has written the two best comedies of his age, is surely a considerable man." And he had, accordingly, the honour to be elected ; for an honour it undoubtedly must be allowed to be, when it is considered of whom that society consists, and that a single black ball excludes a candidate. " MR. BOSWELL to dr. JOHNSON. " MY DEAR SIR, " Jullj 9, 1777. " For the health of my wife and children I have taken the Httle country-house at which you visited my uncle. Dr. Boswell, who, having lost his wife, is gone to live with his son. We took possession of our villa about a week ago ; we have a garden of three quarters of an acre, well stocked with fruit-trees and flowers, and gooseberries and currants, and pease and beans, and 8 Part First, Chap. 4. "> " jpife of Richard Savage, by Dr. Johnson." DR. JOHNSON. 378 cabbages, &c. &c. and my children are quite happy. i777. I now write to you in a httle study, from the window oi^^'^ which I see around mc a verdant grove, and beyond it tis. the lofty mountain called Arthur's Seat. " Your last letter, in which you desire me to send you some additional information concerning Thomson, reached me very fortunately just as 1 was going to La- nark, to put my wife's two nephews, the young Camp- bells to school there, under the care of Mr. Thomson, the master of it, whose wife is sister to the authour of * The Seasons.' She is an old woman ; but her mem- ory is very good ; and she will with pleasure give me for you every particular that you wish to know, and she can tell. Pray then take the trouble to send me such questions as may lead to biographical materials. You say that the Life which we have of Thomson is scanty. Since I received your letter, I have read his Life, pub- lished under the name of Cibber, but as you told me, really written by a Mr. Shiels ; ■ that written by Mr. Murdoch ; one prefixed to an edition of the " Seasons," published at Edinburgh, which is compounded of both, with the addition of an anecdote of Quin's relieving Thomson from prison ; the abridgement of Murdoch's account of him, in the ' Biographia Britannica,' and another abridgement of it in the ' Biographical Diction- ary,' enriched with Dr. Joseph Warton's critical pane- gyrick on the ' Seasons' in his ' Essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope :' from all these it appears to me that we have a pretty full account of this poet. How- ever, you will, 1 doubt not, shew me many blanks, and I shall do what can be done to have them filled up. As Thomson never returned to Scotland, (which you will think very wise,) his sister can speak from her own knowledge only ^ to the early part of his life. She has some letters from him, which may probably give light as to his more advanced progress, if she will let us see them, which 1 suppose she will. I believe George Lewis Scott- and Dr. Armstrong are now his only sur- ' See p. 300, of this volume. ^ [George Lewis Scott, Esq. F. R- S. an amiable and learned man, formerly Sub- preceptor to his present Majesty, and afterwards appointed a Commissioner of Exci»e. He died in 1780. M.] 374: THE LIFE OF 1777. viving companions, while he lived in and about Lon- ^tat^ don ; and they, I dare say, can tell more of him than is 68. yet known. My own notion is, that Thomson was a much coarser man than his friends are willing to ac- knowledge. His ' Seasons' are indeed full of elegant and pious sentiments : but a rank soil, nay a dunghill, will produce beautiful flowers. " Your edition 3 of the ' English Poets,' will be very valuable, on account of the ' Prefaces and Lives.' But I have seen a specimen of an edition of the Poets at the Apollo press, at Edinburgh, which, for excellence in printing and engraving, highly deserves a liberal en- couragement. " Most sincerely do I regret the bad health and bad rest with which you have been afflicted ; and 1 hope you are better. 1 cannot believe that the prologue which you generously gave to Mr. Kelly's widow and children the other day, is the effusion of one in sick- ness and in disquietude : but external circumstances are never sure indications of the state of man. 1 send you a letter which I wrote to you two years ago at Wilton ; and did not send it at the time, for fear of being reproved as indulging too much tenderness ; and one written to you at the tomb of Melancthon, which I kept back, lest I should appear at once too supersti- tious and too enthusiastick. I now imagine that per- haps they may please you. " You do not take the least notice of my proposal for our meeting at Carlisle.* Though 1 have merito- ' [Dr. Johnson was not the editor of this Collection of the English Poets ; he merely furnished the biographical prefaces with which it is enriched ; as is rightly stated in a subsequent page. He indeed, from a virtuous motive recommended the works of four or five poete (whom he has named) to be added to the collection ; but he is no otherwise an- swerable for any which are found there, or any which are omitted. — The poems of Goldsmith (whose life I know he intended to write, for I collected some materi- als for it by his desire,) were omitted, in consequence of a petty exclusive interest in some of them, vested in Mr. Carnan, a bookseller. M.] * Dr. Johnson had himself talked of our seeing Carlisle togetlier. High was a favourite word of his to denote a person of rank. He said to me, " Sir, I believe we may meet at the house of a Roman Catholick lady in Cumberland ; a high la- dy. Sir." I afterwards discovered that he meant Mrs. Strickland, sister of Charle* Townley, Esq. whose very noble collection of statues and pictures is not more to be admired, than his extraordinary and polite readiness in shewing it, which I and several of my friende have agreeably experienced. They who are possessed of UR. JOHNSON. 375 liously refrained from visiting London this year, I ask »777. you if it would not be wrong that 1 should be two Jj^ years without liaving the benefit of your conversation, gg. when, if you couie down as far as Derbyshire, we may meet at the expence of a few days journeying, and not many pounds. 1 wish you to see Carlisle, which made me mention that place. But if you have not a desire to complete your tour of the English cathedrals, 1 will take a larger share of the road between this place and Ashbourne. So tell me where you will fix for our passing a few days by ourselves. Now don't cry, * foolish fellow,' or ' idle dog.' Chain your humour, and let your kindness play. " You will rejoice to hear that Miss Macleod, of Rasay, is married to Colonel Mure Campbell, an ex- cellent man, with a pretty good estate of his own, and the prospect of having the Earl of Loudoun's fortune and honours. Is not this a noble lot for our fair He- bridean ! How happy am I that she is to be in Ayr- shire. We shall have the Laird of Rasay, and old Malcolm, and I know not how many gallant Macleods, and bagpipes, &c. &c. at Auchinleck. Perhaps you may meet them all there. " Without doubt you have read what is called ' The Life of David Hume,' written by himself, with the letter from Dr. Adam Smith subjoined to it. Is not this an age of daring effrontery ? My friend Mr. Anderson, Professor of Natural Philosophy at Glas- gow, at whose house you and 1 supped, and to vv'hose care Mr. Windham, of Norfolk, was entrusted at that University, paid me a visit lately ; and after we had talked with indignation and contempt of the poisonous productions with which this age is infested, he said there was now an excellent opportunity for Dr. John- son to step forth. I agreed with him that you might knock Hume's and Smith's heads together, and make vain and ostentatious infidelity exceedingly ridiculous. valuable stores of gratification to persons of taste, should exercise their benevolence in imparting the pleasure. Grateful acknowledgements are due to Welbore Ellis Agar, Esq. for the liberal access which he is pleased to allow to his exquisite col- lection of pictures. 376 THE LIFE OF 1777. Would it not be worth your while to crush such nox- ^^ ious weeds in the moral garden ? r)8. * " You have said nothing to me of Dr. Dodd. I know not how you think on that subject ; though the news-papers give us a saying of your^s in favour of mercy to him. But I own 1 am very desirous that the royal prerogative of remission of punishment, should be employed to exhibit an illustrious instance of the regard which GOD'S Vicegerent will ever shew to piety and virtue. If for ten righteous men the Al- mighty would have spared Sodom, shall not a thou- sand acts of goodness done by Dr. Dodd counterbalance one crime 1 Such an instance would do more to en- courage goodness, than his execution would do to deter from vice. I am not afraid of any bad conse- quence to society ; for who will persevere for a long course of years in a distinguished discharge of religious duties, with a view to commit a forgery with impunity? " Pray make my best compliments acceptable to Mr. and Mrs. Thrale, by assuring them of my hearty joy that the Master, as you call him, is alive. 1 hope 1 shall often taste his Champagne — soberly. " I have not heard from Langton for a long time. I suppose he is as usual, ' Studious the busy moments to deceive.' " I remain, my dear Sir, " Your most affectionate " And faithful humble servant, " James Boswell.'^ On the 23d of June, I again wrote to Dr. Johnson, enclosing a ship-master's receipt for a jar of orange- marmalade, and a large packet of Lord Hailes's "Annals of Scotland." "to JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " I HAVE just received your packet from Mr. Thrale's, but have not day-light enough to look much into it. I am glad that I have credit enough with DR. JOHNSON. 377 Lord Hailes to be trusted with more copy. 1 hope to '777. take more care of it than of the last. 1 return Mrs. "Jj^ Boswell my atTectionate thanks for her present, which <)<;. 1 value as a token of reconciliation. " Poor Dodd was put to death yesterday, in opposi- tion to the recommendation of the jury, — the petition of the city of London, — and a subsequent petition signed by three-and-twenty thousand hands. Surely the voice of the publick, when it calls so loudly, and calls only for mercy, ought to be heard. " The saying that was given me in the papers 1 never spoke ; but 1 wrote many of his petitions, and some of his letters. He applied to me very often. He was, 1 am afraid, long flattered with hopes of life ; but 1 had no part in the dreadful delusion ; for as soon as the King had signed his sentence, I obtained from Mr. Chamier an account of the disposition of the court towards him, with a declaration that there was no hope even of a respite. This letter immediately was laid before Dodd ; but he believed those whom he wished to be right, as it is thought, till withi^i three days of his end. He died with pious composure and resolution. 1 have just seen the Ordinary that attended him. His address to his fellow-convicts offended the Methodists ; but he had a Moravian with him much of his time. His moral character is very bad : I hope all is not true that is charged upon him. Of his be- haviour in prison an account will be published. " 1 give you joy of your country-house, and your pretty garden ; and hope some time to see you in your felicity. I was much pleased with your two letters that had been kept so long in store ;' and rejoice at Miss liasay's advancement, and wish Sir Allan success. * Since they have been so much honoured by Dr. Johoson, I shall here insert them : " TO MR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. " MY EVER DEAR AND MOCH-RESPECTED SIR, " You know my solemn enthusiasm of mind You love me for it, and I respect myself for it, because in so far I resemble Mr. Johnson. You will be agreeably surprized, when you learn the reason of my writing this letter. I am at Wittem- berg in Saxony. I am in the old church where the Reformation was first preached, and where some of the reformers lie interred. I rannot resist the seiiouD pleasure VOL. IT. 4S 37S THE LIFE Of 1777. " I hope to meet you somewhere towards the north, ^^ but am loath to come quite to Carlisle. Can we not 68. meet at Manchester 1 But we will settle it in some other letters. " Mr. Seward,^ a great favourite at Streatham, has been, 1 think, enkindled by our travels, with a curiosity to see the Highlands. 1 have given him letters to you and Beattie. He desires that a lodging may be taken for him at Edinburgh, against his arrival. He is just setting out. " Langton has been exercising the militia. Mrs. Williams is, 1 fear, declining. Dr. Lawrence says, he can do no more. She is gone to summer in the coun- try, with as many conveniencies about her as she can of writing to Mr. Johnson from the tomb of Melancthon. My paper rests upon the grave-stone of that great and good man, who was undoubtedly the worthiest of all the reformers. He wished to reform abuses which had been introduced into the Church ; but had no private resentment to gratify. So mild was he, that when his aged mother consulted him with anxiety on the perplexing disputes of the times, he advised her ' to keep to the old religion.' At this tomb, then, my ever dear and respected friend ! I vow to thee an eternal attachment. It shall be my study to do what I can to render your life happy : and if you die before me, I shall endeavour to do honour to your memory ; and, elevated by the remem- brance of you, persist in noble piety. May God, the father of all beings, ever bless you ! and may you continue to love " Your most affectionate friend, and devoted sei'vant, " Sunday, Sept. 30, 1764. " James Boswell." " TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. " MY DEAR SIR, " Wilton-Hoiise, April 22, 1775. " Every scene of my life confirms the truth of what you have told me, ' there is no certain happiness in this state of being.' — I am here, amidst all that you know is at Lord Pembroke's ; and yet I am weary and gloomy. I am just setting out for the house of an old friend in Devonshire, and shall not get back to London for a week yet. You said to me last Good-Friday, with a cordiality that warmed my heart, that if I came to settle in London we should have a day fixed ev- ery week, to meet by ourselves and talk freely. To be thought worthy of such a privilege cannot but exalt me. During my present absence from you, while, not- withstanding the gaiety which you allow me to possess, I am darkened by tempo- rary cleiuds, I beg to have a few Unes from you ; a few lines merely of kindness, as a ■viaticum till I see you again. In your ' Vanity of Human Wishes,' and in Par- uell's ' Contentment,' I find the only sure means of enjoying happiness ; or, at least, the hopes of happiness. I ever am, with reverence and affection. Most faithfully your's, " James Boswell." '' William Seward, Esq. F. R. S. editor of " Anecdotes of some distinguished per- sons,"&c. in four volumes, 8vo. well known to a numerous and valuable acquaint- ance for his literature, love of the line arts and social virtues. I am indebted to him for several communications concerning Johnson. [This gentleman, who was born in 1 747, and was educated at the Charter-House, and at Oxford, died in London, April 24, 1799. M.] DR. JOHNSON. 379 expect ; but I have no great hope. We must all die : 1777. may we all be prepared ! ^CtaT " 1 suppose Miss IJoswell reads her book, andyounj^ ok. Alexander takis to his learning. Let me hear about them ; tor every thing that belongs to you, belongs in a more remote degree, and not, 1 hope, very remote, to, dear Sir, vours affectionately, " June 28, 1777- " Sam. Johnson." TO THE SAME. " DEAR SIR, " This gentleman is a great favourite at Streat- ham, and therefore you will easily believe that he has very valuable qualities. Our narrative has kindled him with a desire of visiting the Highlands after having already seen a great part of Europe. You must receive him as a friend, and when you have directed him to the curiosities of Edinburgh, give him instructions and recommendations for the rest of his journey. I am, dear Sir, " Your most humble servant, " June 24, 1777. " Sam. Johnson." Johnson's benevolence to the unfortunate was, I am confident, as steady and active as that of any of those who have been most eminently distinguished for that virtue. Innumerable proofs of it 1 have no doubt will be for ever concealed from mortal eyes. We may, however, form some judgement of it, from the many and very various instances which have been discovered. One, which happened in the course of this summer, is remarkable from the name and connection of the per- son who was the object of it. The circumstance to which I allude is ascertained by two letters, one to Mr. Langton, and another to the Reverend Dr. \yse, rector of Lambeth, son of the respectable clergyman at Lichfield, who was contemporary with Johnson, and in whose father's family Johnson had the happiness of being kindly received in his early years. 330 THE LIFE OF 1777. « pjj JOHNSON TO BENNET LANGTON, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " I HAVE lately been much disordered by a diffi- culty of breathing, but am now better. I hope your house is well. " You know we have been talking lately of St. Cross, at Winchester ; 1 have an old acquaintance ■whose distress makes him very desirous of an hospital, and I am afraid I have not strength enough to get him into the Chartreux. He is a painter, who never rose higher than to get his immediate living, and from that, at eighty-three, he is disabled by a slight stroke of the palsy, such as does not make him at all helpless on common occasions, though his hand is not steady enough for his art. " My request is, that you will try to obtain a prom- ise of the next vacancy, from the Bishop of (Chester. It is not a great thing to ask, and I hope we shall obtain it. Dr. Warton has promised to favour him with his notice, and I hope he may end his days in peace. I am, Sir, " Your most humble servant, " Jmie 29, 1777. " Sam. Johnson." " TO THE REVEREND DR. VYSE, AT LAMBETH. " SIR, " I DOUBT not but you will readily forgive me for taking the liberty of requesting your assistance in rec- ommending an old friend to his Grace the iVrchbishop as Governour of the Charter-house. '' His name is De Groot ; he was born at Glouces- ter ; I have known him many years. He has all the cornmon claims to charity, being old, poor, and infirm in a great degree. He has likewise another claim, to which no scholar can refuse attention ; he is by sever- al descents the nephew of Hugo Grotius ; of him, from whoni perhaps every man of learning has learnt something. Let it not be said that in any lettered DR. JOHNSON. 381 rountry a nephew of Grotius asked a charity and was i???. refused. I am, reverend Sir, ^uit. " Your most humble servant, 68. " Ju/i/ 9, 1777. " ^AM. Johnston, ..- " ["to the reverend dr. VYSE, at LAMBETH. "If any notice should be taken of the recom- meiidation which I took the liberty of sending you, it will be necessary to know that Mr. De Groot is to be found at No. 8, in Pye-street, Westminster. This in- formation, when 1 wrote, 1 could not give you ; and being going soon to Lichfield, think it necessary to be left behind me. " More 1 will not say. You will want no persuasion to succour the nephew of Grotius. " 1 am, Sir, " Your most humble servant, - Juii/ 22, 1777. " Sam. Johnson.''] " the reverend dr. VYSE TO MR. BOSWELL. " SIR, Lambeth, June 9, 1787- " I HAVE searched in vain for the letter which 1 spoke of, and which 1 wished, at your desire, to com- municate to you. It was from Dr. Johnson, to return me thanks for my application ito Archbishop Corn- wallis in favour of poor De Groot. He rejoices at the success it met with, and is lavish in the praise he bestows upon his favourite, Hugo Grotius. 1 am really sorry that 1 cannot find this letter, as it is worthy of the writer. That which I send you enclosed,^ is at your service. It is very short, and will not perhaps be thought of any consequence, unless you should judge proper to consider it as a proof of the very humane part which Dr. Johnson took in behalf of a distressed and deserving person. I am. Sir, " Your most obedient humble servant, " W. Vyse."^ ■ Tlie preceding letter. • [Dr, Vyse, at my request, was so obliging as once mpre to endeavour to rccov- f r the letter of Johnson, to which h? alludes, but without success ; for April 20, 3S2 XHE LIFE OF 1777. a pjj JOHNSON TO MR. EDWARD DILLY. C8. ^^^\ " To the collection of English Poets I have rec- ommended the volume of Dr. Watts to be added ; his name has long been held by me in veneration, and I would not willingly be reduced to tell of him only that he was born and died. Yet of his life 1 know very little, and therefore must pass him in a manner very unworthy of his character, unless some of his friends will favour me with the necessary information ; many of them must be known to you ; and by your influence perhaps I may obtain some instruction : My plan does not exact much ; but 1 wish to distinguish Watts, a man who never wrote but for a good purpose. Be pleased to do for me what you can. 1 am, Sir, " Your humble servant, " Bolt-Court^ Fleet-street, " Sam. Johnson." Julif 7, 1777- " TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. " MY DEAR SIR, Edinburgh, Julif 15, 1777- " The fate of poor Dr. Dodd made a dismal im- pression upon my mind. tIp tIf t^ t^c ^^ t|F " I had sagacity enough to divine that you wrote his speech to the Recorder, before sentence was pronounc- ed. 1 am glad you have written so much for him ; and I hope to be favoured with an exact list of the several pieces, when we meet. " 1 received Mr. Seward as the friend of Mr. and Mrs. Thrale, and as a gentleman recommended by Dr. Johnson to my attention. 1 have introduced him to Lord Kames, Lord Monboddo, and Mr. Nairne. He is gone to the Highlands with Dr. Gregory ; when he re- turns, 1 shall do more for him. " Sir Allan Maclean has carried that branch of his 1800, he wrote to me thus : " I have again searched, hut in vain, for one of his let- ters, in which he speaks in his own nervous style of Hugo Grotius. — De Groot was clearly a descendant of the family of Grotius, and Archbishop Cornwallis willingly complied with Dr. Johnson's retjuest." M.] DR. JOHNSOX. 383 cause, of whicli we had good hopes : the President and 1777. one other Judge only were against hiui. 1 wish the ^^ House of Lords may do as well as the Court of Session tiiB. lias done. IJiit .Sir Allan has not the lands of Brulos quite cleared bv this judgement, till a long accoimt is nnide up of debts and interests on the one side, and rents on the other. 1 am, h«. * improve her health ; she is very ill. Matters have come so about, that she is in the country with very good ac- comnKMJation ; but age, and sickness, and pride, have made her so peevish that 1 was forced to bribe tlie maid to stay with her, by a secret stipulation of half a crown a week over her wages, " Our Club ended its session about six weeks ago. We now only meet to dine once a fortnight. Mr. Dun- ning, the great lawyer, is one of our members. The Thrales arc well. " 1 long to know how the Negro's cause will be de- cided. What is the opinion of Lord Auchinleck, or Lord Hailes, or Lord Monboddo I 1 am, dear Sir, " Your most affectionate, &c. " Juif/ 29, 1777. " Sam. Johnson. }j " DR. JOHNSOX, TO MRS. BOSWELL. " MADAM, " Though I am well enough pleased with the taste of sweetmeats, very little of the pleasure which I received at the arrival of your jar of marmalade arose from eating it. I received it as a token of friendship, as a proof of reconciliation, things much sweeter than sweetmeats, and upon this consideration 1 return you, dear Madam, my sincerest thanks. By having your kindness I think 1 have a double security for the con- tinuance of Mr. BoswelTs, which it is not to be expect- ed that any man can long keep, when the influence of a lady so highly and so justly valued operates against him. Mr. Boswell will tell you that I was always faith- ful to your interest, and always endeavoured to exalt » This very just remark I hope will be constantly held in remembrance by pa- rents, who are in general too apt to indulge their own fond feelings for their chil- dren at the expence of their friends. The common custom of introducing them after dinner is highly injudicious. It is agreeable enough that they bhould ap[iear at any other time ; but they should not be suffered to poison the moments ol les- tivity by attracting the attention of the company, and in a manner compelliflg them from politeness to say what they do not thisk. VOL. IT. %9 3S6 THE LIFE OF 1777. you in his estimation. You must now do the same for ^^ me. We must all help one another, and you must now 6ij. consider me as, dear Madam, " Your most obliged " And most humble servant, " July 22, 1777. " Sam. Johnson/' " MK. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. " MY DEAR SIR, Edinburgh^ July 28, 1777> " This is the day on which you were to leave Lon- don, and I have been amusing myself in the intervals of my law-drudgery, with figuring you in the Oxford post- coach. 1 doubt, however, if you have had so merry a journey as you and I had in that vehicle last year, when you made so much sport with Gwyn, the architect. Incidents upon a journey are recollected with peculiar ])Ieasure ; they are preserved in brisk spirits, and come up again in our minds, tinctured with that gaiety, or at least that animation with which we first perceived them.^^ ****** [1 added, that something had occurred, which I was afraid might prevent me from meeting him ; and that my wife had been affected with complaints which threat- ened a consumption, but was now better.] *' TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " Do not disturb yourself about our interviews ; I hope we shall have many ; nor think it any thing hard or unusual, that your design of meeting me is interrupt- ed. We have both endured greater evils, and have greater evils to expect. " Mrs. Bosvvell's illness makes a more serious dis- tress. Does the blood rise from her lungs or from her stomach ? From little vessels broken in the stomach there is no danger. Blood from the lungs is, 1 believe, always frothy, as mixed with wind. Your physicians know very well what is to be done. The loss of such a OR. JOHNSON. 387 lady would, indeed, be very afflictive, and I hope she is '777. in no danger. Take care to keep licr mind as easy as ^^[^ is possible. (jy. " 1 iia\ e left Langton in London. He has been down with the militia, and is again quiet at home, talking to his little people, as, 1 suppose you do sometimes. Make my compliments to Miss Veronica.' The rest are too young for ceremony. " 1 cannot but hope that you have taken your coun- try-house at a very seasonable time, and that it may conduce to restore or establish Mrs. BoswelTs health, as well as provide room and exercise for the young ones. That you and your lady may both be happy, and long enjoy your happiness, is the sincere and earnest wish of, dear Sir, " Your most, &c. '' Oxford, Aug. 4, 1777- "Sam. Johxson. )y " MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. [Informing him that my wife had continued to grow better, so that my alarming apprehensions were reliev- ed ; and that 1 hoped to disengage myself from the oth- er embarrassment which had occurred, and therefore requesting to know particularly when he intended to be at Ashbourne.] " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " 1 AM this day come to Ashbourne, and have on- ly to tell you, that Dr. Taylor says you shall be wel- come to him, and you know how welcome you will be to me. Make haste to let me know when you may be expected. " Make my compliments to Mrs. Boswell, and tell her, 1 hope we shall be at variance no more. 1 am, dear Sir, " Your most humble servant, " Aug. 30, 1777. " Sam. Johnson." ' [This young lady, the author's eldest daughter, and at this time about five years old, died in Londen, of a cunsumption, four piontht after her father, Sept. 26, 1795. M.] 3SS THE LIFE OF 1777. iEtat. 68. TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. (( DEAR SIR, " On Saturday I wrote a very short letter, imme- diately upon my arrival hither, to shew you that 1 am not less desirous of the interview than yourself. Life admits not of delays ; when pleasure can be had, it is fit to catch it : Every hour takes away part of the things that please us, and perhaps part of our disposition to be pleased. When 1 came to Lichfield, 1 found my old friend Harry Jackson dead. It was a loss, and a loss not to be repaired, as he was one of the companions of my childhood 1 hope we may long continue to gain friends ; but the friends which merit or usefulness can procure us, are not able to supply the place of old ac- quaintance, with whom the days of youth may be re- traced, and those images revived which gave the earliest delight. Jf you and 1 live to be much older, we shall take great delight in talking over the Hebridean Jour- ney. " In the mean time it may not be amiss to contrive some other little adventure, but what it can be 1 know not ; leave it, as Sidney says, ' To virtue, fortune, time, and woman's breast ;'- ^ [By an odd mistake, in the first three editions we find a reading in this line, to which Dr. Johnson would by no means have subscribed ; iv'me having been sub- stituted for time. That errour probably was a mistake in the transcript of John- son's original letter, his hand-writing being often very difficult to read. The other deviation in the beginning of the line (virtue instead of nature) must be at- tributed to his memory having deceived him ; and therefore has not been disturbed. The verse quoted, is the concluding line of a sonnet of Sidney's, of which the earliest copy, I believe, is found in Harrington's translation of Ariosto, 1591, in tlie notes on the eleventh book : — " And therefore," says he, " that excellent verse of Sir Philip Sidney in his first Arcadia, (which I know not by what mishap is left out in the printed booke,) [4to. 1590,] is in mine opinion woxthie to be praised and followed, to make a good and virtuous wife : " Who doth desire that chast his wife should bee, " First be he true, for truth doth truth deserve ; " Then be he such, as she his worth may see, " And, alwaies one, credit with her preserve ; " Not toying kynd, nor causelessly unkjTid, " Not stirring thoughts, nor yet denying right, " Not spying faults, nor in piaine errors blind, " Never hard hand, nor ever rayns [reins] too ligli^ ; DR. JOHNSON. 389 tbr I believe Mrs. Boswell must have some part in the 1777. consultation. ^lat! " One thing you will like. The Doctor, so far as 1 (is. can judge, is likely to leave us enough to ourselves. He was out to-day before 1 came down, and, 1 fancy, will stay out to dinner. 1 have brought the papers about poor Dodd, to show you, but you will soon have dispatched them. " Before 1 came away, I sent poor Mrs. Williams into the country, very ill of a pituitous defliixion, which wastes her gradually away, and which her physician de- clares himself unable to stop. 1 supplied her as far as could be desired, with all conveniences to make her ex- cursion and abode pleasant and useful. But I am afraid she can only linger a short time in a morbid state of weakness and pain. " The Thrales, little and great, are all well, and pur- pose to go to Brighthelmstone at Michaelmas. They will invite me to go with them, and perhaps 1 may go, but I hardly think I shall like to stay the whole time ; but of futurity we know but little. " Mrs. Porter is well ; but Mrs. Aston, one of the ladies at Stowhill, has been struck with a palsy, from which she is not likely ever to recover. How soon may such a stroke fall upon us ! " As far from want, as far from vaine expence, " Th' one doth enforce, the t'other doth entice : " Allow good companie, but drive from thence " All filthie mouths that glorie in their vice : " This done, thou hast no more but leave the rest " To nature, fortune, time, and woman's breast." I take this opportunity to add, that in England's Parnassus, a collection of poetry printed in 1 600, the second couplet of this soimet is tlius corruptly exhib- ited : " Then he be such as Le his ivords may see, " And alwaies one credit lubich her presei-ve : a variation, which I the rather mention, because the readings of that book have been triumphantly quoted, when they happened to coincide with the sophistica- tions of the SECOND Folio edition of Shakspeare's plays in lfi32, as adding I know . not what degree of authority and authenticity to the latter : as if the corruptions of one book (and that abounding with the grossest falsifications of the authours from whose works its extracts are made) could give any kind of support to another, which in every page is still more adulterated and unfaithful. M.j 390 THE LIFE OF 1777. « Write to me, and let us know when we may ex- ^JJ^ pect you. I am, dear Sir, 68. " Your most humble servant, " Ashbourne^ Sept. 1, 1777- " Sam. Johnson." " MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. " Ed'mburgh, Sept. 6, 1777. [After informing him that I was to set out next day, in order to meet him at Ashbourne : — ] " 1 have a present for you from Lord Hailes ; the fifth book of ' Lactantius,^ which he has published with Latin notes. He is also to give you a few anec- dotes for your ' Life of Thomson,' who I find was private tutor to the present Earl of Haddington, Lord Hailes's cousin, a circumstance not mentioned by Dr. Murdoch. 1 have keen expectations of delight from your edition of the English Poets. ^ " 1 am sorry for poor Mrs. Williams's situation. You will, however, have the comfort of reflecting on your kindness to her. Mr. Jackson's death, and Mrs. Aston's palsy, are gloomy circumstances. Yet surely we should be habituated to the uncertainty of life and health. When my mind is unclouded by melancholy, I consider the temporary distresses of this state of being, as " light afflictions," by stretching my mental view into that glorious after-existence, when they will appear to be as nothing. But present pleasures and present pains must be felt. 1 lately read ' llasselas' over again with great satisfaction. " Since you are desirous to hear about Macquarry's sale, I shall inform you particularly. The gentleman who purchased Ulva, is Mr. Campbell, of Auchnaba : our friend Macquarry was proprietor of two-thirds of it, of which the rent was I06I. os. l^d. This parcel was set up at 4,069l. 5s. id. but it sold for no less than 5,5401. The other third of Ulva, with the island of Staffa, belonged to Macquarry of Ormaig. its rent, including that of Staffa, 83l. 12s. Sid.— set up at 91781. •■ [Sec p. 374, n. M] DK. JOHNSON. ."^Ql l6s. 4(1. — sold for no less than 3, .3401. The Laird of 1 777. Col wished to purchase Ulva, but he thought the price ^j^ too high. There may, indexed, be great improvenunts (]8. made there, both in lishing and agriculture ; but the interest of the purchase-money exceeds the rent so very much, that I doubt if the bargain will be profita- ble. There is an island called J^ittle Colonsay, of lOl. yearly rent, which 1 am informed has belonged to the Macquarrys of L'lva for many ages, but which was lately claimed by the Presbyterian Synod of Argyll, in consequence of a grant made to them by Queen Anne. It is believed that their claim will be dismissed, and that Little Colonsay will also be sold for the advantage of iNIacquarry's creditors. What think you of purchas- ing this island, and endowing a school or college there, the master to be a clergyman of the Church of Eng- land I How venerable would such an institution make the name of Dr. Samuel Johnson, in the Hebrides ! I have, like yourself, a wonderful pleasure in recollect- ing our travels in those islands. The pleasure is, I think, greater than it reasonably should be, consider- ing that we had not much either of beauty or elegance to charm our imaginations, or of rude novelty to aston- ish. Let us, by all means, have another expedition. I shrink a little from our scheme of going up the Baltick.* 1 am sorry you have already been in Wales ; * It appears that Johnson, now in his sixty-eighth year, was seriously inclined to realize the project of our going up the Baltick, whicli I had started when we were in the isle of Sky ; for he thus writes to Mrs. Thrale ; Letters, Vol. I. page 366 : " Ashbourne, .Sept. 13, 1777. " BOSWELL, I believe, is coming. He talks of being here to-day : I shall he glad to see him : but he shrinks from the Baltick expedition, which, I think, is the best scheme in our power : what we shall substitute, I know not. He wants to see Wales ; but, except the woods of Bacbycraigb, what is there in Wales, that can fill the hunger of ignorance, or quench the thirst of curiosity ? We may, per- haps, form some scheme or other : but, in the phrase of HockUy in the Hole, it is pity he has not a better bottom." Such an ardour of mind, and vigour of enterprize, is admirable at any age : but more particularly ao at the advanced periotl at which Johnson was then arrived. I am sorry now that I did not iuiist on our executing that scheme. Besides the Other objects of curiosity and observation, to have seen my illustrious friend re- ceived, as he j)robably would have been, by a prince so eminently distinguished for his variety of talents and acquisitions as the late King of Sweden ; and by the Empress of Russia, whose extraordinarj' abilities, information, and magnanimity, astonish the world, would have afri)rded a noble subject for conttrnjilation and re- cord. This reflection may possibly be thought too visionary by the more sedate and cold-blooded part of my readers ; yet 1 own, I frequently iadulge it with an earnest, unavailing regret. 392 THE LIFE OF 1777. for I wish to see it. Shall we go to Ireland, of which ^l^ 1 have seen but little ? W^e shall try to strike out a fis. plan when we are at Ashbourne. I am ever " Your most faithful humble servant, " James Boswell." " to JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " I WRITE to be left at Carlisle, as you direct me ; but you cannot have it. Your letter, dated Sept. 6, was not at this place till this day, i hursday, Sept. 11 ; and I hope you will be here before this is at Carlisle. 5 However, what you have not going, you may have returning ; and as 1 believe I shall not love you less after our interview, it will then be as true as it is now, that 1 set a very high value upon your friendship, and count your kindness as one of the chief felicities of my life. Do not fancy that an intermis- "'' sion of writing is a decay of kindness. No man is always in a disposition to write ; nor has any man at all times something to say. " That distrust which intrudes so often on your mind is a mode of melancholy, which, if it be the business of a wise man to be happy, it is foolish to indulge ; and, if it be a duty to preserve our faculties entire for their proper use, it is criminal. Suspicion is very often an useless pain. From that, and all other pains, I wish you free and safe ; for I am, dear Sir, " Most affectionately yours, " Ashbourne, Sept. 11, 1777. *' Sam. Johnson.^-^ On Sunday evening, Sept. 14, I arrived at Ash- bourne, and drove directlv up to Dr. Taylor's door. Dr. Johnson and he appeared before I had got out of the post-chaise, and welcomed me cordially. I told them that I had travelled all the preceding night, and gone to bed at Leek in Staffordshire ; and that when I rose to go to church in the afternoon, I was informed there had been an earthquake, of which, ' It so happened. The letter was forwarded to my house at Edinburgh. DR. JOHNSON. 393 it seems, the shock had been felt in some degree, at 'T??- Ashbourne. Johnson. "Sir, it will be much exag- ^^'^ gcrated in popular talk : for, in the first place, the G8. common people do not accurately adapt their thoughts to the objects ; nor, secondly, do they accurately adapt their words to their thoughts : they do not mean to lie ; but, taking no pains to be exact, they give you very false accounts. A great part of their language is proverbial.^ If any thing rocks at all, they say if rocks like a crudle ; and in this way they go on." The subject of grief for the loss of relations and friends being introduced, L observed that it was strange to con- sider how soon it in general wears away. Dr. Taylor mentioned a gentleman of the neighbourhood as the only instance he had ever known of a person who had endeavoured to retain grief He told Dr. Taylor, that after his Lady's death, which affected him deeply, he re- solved iXvdi the grief, which he cherished with a kind of sacred fondness should be lasting; but that he found he could not keep it long. Johnson. " All grief for what cannot in the course of nature be helped, soon wears away ; in some sooner, indeed, in some later ; but it never continues very long, unless where there is madness, such as will make a man have pride so fixed in his mind, as to imagine himself a king ; or any other passion in an unreasonable way : for all unneces- sary grief is unwise, and therefore will not be long retained by a sound mind. If, indeed, the cause of our grief is occasioned by our own misconduct, if grief is mingled with remorse of conscience, it should be last- ing." BoswELL. " But, Sir, we do not approve of a man who very soon forgets the loss of a wife or a friend." Johnson. " Sir, we disapprove of him, not because he soon forgets his grief ; for the sooner it is forgotten the better, but because we suppose, that if he forgets his wife or his friend soon, he has not had much affection for them." 1 was somewhat disappointed in finding that the edition of the English Poets, for which he was to write Prefaces and Lives, was not an undertaking directed by him : but that he was to furnish a Preface and Life VOL. II. 50 394- THE LIFE 01; 1777. to any poet the booksellers pleased. 1 asked him if he would do this to any dunce's works, if they should ask him. Johnson. " Yes, Sir ; and say he was a dunce." My friend seemed now not much to relish talking of this edition. On Monday, September 15, Dr. Johnson observed, that every body commended such parts of his " Jour- ney to the Western Islands," as were in their own way. '•' For instance, (said he,) Mr. Jackson (the all-know- ing) told me there was more good sense upon trade in it, than he should hear in the House of Commons in a year, except from Burke. Jones commended the part which treats of language ; Burke that which describes the inhabitants of mountainous countries." After breakfast, Johnson carried me to see the gar- den belonging to the school of Ashbourne, which is very prettily formed upon a bank, rising gradually behind the house. The Reverend Mr. Langley, the head-master, accompanied us. While we sat basking in the sun upon a seat here, I introduced a common subject of complaint, the very small salaries which many curates have, and I main- tained, that no man should be invested with the character of a clergyman, unless he has a security for such an income as will enable him to appear respect- able ; that, therefore, a clergyman should not be allowed to have a curate, unless he gives him a hun- dred pounds a year ; if he cannot do that, let him perform the duty himself. Johnson. " To be sure, Sir, it is wrong that any clergyman should be without a reasonable income ; but as the church revenues were sadly diminished at the Reformation, the clergy who have livings, cannot afford, in many instances, to give good salaries to curates, without leaving themselves too little ; and, if no curate were to be permitted unless he had a hundred pounds a year, their number would be very small, which would be a disadvantage, as then there would not be such choice in the nursery for the church, curates being candidates for the higher ecclesiastical offices, according to their merit and good behaviour," He explained the system of the English DR. JOHNSON. :5[)6 Hierarchy exceedingly well. " It is not thonglit tit >777- (said he) to trust a man with the care of a parish till ^^ he has ^^\\v\) proof as a curate that he shall deserve cs. such a trust." This is an excellent t//eon/ : and if the practice were according to it, the Church of Eng- land would be admirable indeed. However, as I have heard Dr. Johnson observe as to the Universities, bad practice does not infer that the constitution is bad. We had with us at dinner several of Dr. Taylor's neighbours, good civil gentlemen, who seemed to un- derstand Dr. Johnson very well, and not to consider him in the light that a certain person did, who being struck, or rather stunned by his voice and manner, when he was afterwards asked what he thought of him, answered, " He's a tremendous companion." Johnson told me, that " Taylor was a very sensible acute man, and had a strong mind ; that he had great activity in some respects, and yet such a sort of indo- lence, that if you should put a pebble upon his chim- ney-piece, you would find it there, in the same state, a year afterwards." And here is a proper place to give an account of Johnson's humane and zealous interference in behalf of the Reverend Dr. William Dodd, formerly Preben- dary of Brecon, and chaplain in ordinary to his Maj- esty ; celebrated as a very popular preacher, an en- courager of charitable institutions, and authour of a variety of works, chiefly theological. Having unhappily contracted expensive habits of living, partly occasioned by licentiousness of manners, he in an evil hour, when pressed by want of money, and dreading an exposure of his circumstances, forged a bond of which he at- tempted to avail himself to support his credit, flattering himself with hopes that he might be able to repay its amount without being delected. The person, whose name he thus rashly and criminally presumed to falsify, was the Earl of Chesterfield, to whom he had beeri tutor, and who, he perhaps, in the warmth of his feel- ings, flattered himself would have generously paid the money in case of an alarm being taken, rather than suffer him to fall a victim to the dreadful consequences 39^ J^HE LIFE OF '777. of Violating the law against forgery, the most dangerous SaT ^''^"^^ ^" ^ commercial country ; but the unfortunate 68. ° divine had the mortification to find that he was mis- taken. His noble pupil appeared against him, and he was capitally convicted. Johnson told me that Dr. Dodd was very little acquainted with him, having been but once in his company, many years previous to this period (which was precisely the state of my own acquaintance with Dodd ;) but in his distress he bethought himself of Johnson's persuasive power of writing, if haply it might avail to obtain for him the Royal Mercy. He did not apply to him directly, but, extraordinary as it may seem, through the late Countess of Harrington,^ who wrote a letter to Johnson, asking him to employ his pen in favour of Dodd. Mr. Allen, the printer, who was Johnson's landlord and next neighbour in Bolt-court, and for whom he had much kindness, was one of Dodd's friends, of whom, to the credit of humanity be it re- corded, that he had many who did not desert him, even after his infringement of the law had reduced him to the state of a man under sentence of death. Mr. Allen told me that he carried Lady Harrington's letter to Johnson, that Johnson read it walking up and down his chamber, and seemed much agitated, after which he said, " 1 will do what I can ; — " and certainly he did make extraordinary exertions. He this evening, as he had obligingly promised in one of his letters, put into my hands the whole series of his writings upon this melancholy occasion, and I shall present my readers with the abstract which 1 made from the collection ; in doing which 1 studied to avoid copying what had appeared in print, and now make part of the edition of " Johnson's Works," published by the Booksellers of London, but taking care to mark Johnson's variations in some of the pieces there exhib- ited. Dr. Johnson wrote in the first place, Dr. Dodd's '' Speech to the Recorder of London," at the Old- '^ [Caroline, eldest daughter of Charles Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton, and wife of \\*illiani, the Second Earl of Harrijigton. M.] DR. JOHNSON. * 397 Jkiley, when sentence ot death was about to be pro- 1777. noiinced upon him. ^^taT He wrote also *' The Convict's Address to his gg. unhappy Brethren," a Sermon dehvered by Dr. Dodd, in the chapel of Newgate. According to Johnson's manuscript it began thus after the text, JV/tat shall I do to be saved / — " Tliese were the words with which the keeper, to whose custody Paul and Sihis were committed by their prosecutors, addressed his prisoners, when he saw them freed from their bonds by the per- ceptible agency of divine favour, and was, therefore, irresistibly convinced that they were not offenders against the laws, but martyrs to the truth." Dr. Johnson was so good as to mark for me with his own hand, on a copy of this sermon which is now in my possession, such passages as were added by J)r. Dodd. They are not many : Whoever will take the trouble to look at the printed copy, and attend to what 1 mention^ will be satisfied of this. There is a short introduction by Dr. Dodd, and he also inserted this sentence, " You see with what con- fusion and dishonour 1 now stand before you ; — no more in the pulpit of instruction, but on this humble seat with yourselves." The notes are entirely Dodd's own, and Johnson's writing ends at the words, " the thief whom he pardoned on the cross." What follows was supplied by Dr. Dodd himself ■ The other pieces mentioned by Johnson in the above-mentioned collection, are two letters, one to the Lord Chancellor Bathurst, (not Lord North, as is erroneously supposed,) and one to Lord Mansfield ; — A Petition from Dr. Dodd to the King ; — A Petition from Mrs. Dodd to the Queen ; — Observations of some length inserted in the news-papers, on occasion of Earl Percy's having presented to his Majesty a petition for mercy to Dodd, signed by twenty-thousand people, but all in vain. He told me that he had also written a petition from the city of London ; " but (said he, M'ith a significant smile) they mended it."' ' Having unexpectedly, by the favour of Mr. Stone, of London Field, Hackney, seen the original in Johnson's haad-writing, of « The Petition of the City of Lon- 39S THE LIFE OF 1777. The last of these articles which Johnson wrote is ^J^J^ " Dr. Docld's last solemn Declaration," which he left 6s. ' with the sheriff at the place of execution. Here also my friend marked the variations on a copy of that piece now in my possession. Dodd inserted, " 1 never knew or attended to the calls of frugality, or the needful mi- nuteness of painful oeconomy ;" and in the next sen- tence he introduced the words which 1 distinguish by lialicks ; " My life for some few unhappif years past has been dreudfidly erroneous. ^^ Johnson's expression was hypocritical ; but his remark on the margin is " With this he said he could not charge himself." Having thus authentically settled what part of the " Occasional Papers," concerning Dr. Dodd's misera- ble situation, came from the pen of Johnson, 1 shall proceed to present my readers with my record of the unpublished writings relating to that extraordinary and interesting matter. 1 found a letter to Dr. Johnson from Dr. Dodd, May 23, 1777, in which, " The Convict's Address" seems clearly to be meant : " I am so penetrated, my ever dear Sir, with a sense of your extreme benevolence towards me, that I cannot find words equal to the sentiments of my heart. * * * * " You are too conversant in the world to need the slightest hint from me, of what infinite utility the don to Iiis Majesty, in favour of Dr. Dodd," I now present it to my readers, wtli such passages as were omitted, inclosed in crotchets, and the additions or variations marked in Italicks. " That William Dodd, Doctor of Laws, now lying under sentence of death in your Majesty's gaol of Netugate, for the crime of forgery, has for a great part of his life set a useful and laudable example of diligence in his calling, [and as we have reason to believe, has exercised his ministry with great fidelity and efficacy,] ■zi-hLb ia many instances, has produced the most happ-^ ^ff'^'^i- " That he has been the first institutor, [or] and a very earnest and active promo- ter of several modes of useful charity, and [that] therefore [he] may be considered as having been on many occasions a benefactor to the publick. " [That when they consider his past Ufe, they are willing to suppose liis late crime to have been not the consequence of habitual depravity, but the suggestion of some sudden and violent temptation.] [That] Tour Petitioners therefore considering his case, as in some of its circimi- Stances unprecedented and peculiar, and encouraged by your Majesty's knoivn clemency, [they] most humbly recommend the said Willinni Dodd to [his] your Majesty's most gracious consideration, in hopes that he will be found not altogether [unfit^ univorthy to stand an example of Royal Mercy." DR. JOHNSON. 399 Speech' on the aweful day has been to me. I expcri- i777. ence, every hour, some good effect from it. 1 am sure that effects still more salutary atKi important, must fol- low from iiour kind and intended J'uvuur. 1 will labour — God being my helper, — to do justice to it from the pulpit. 1 am sure, had I your sentiments constantly to deliver from thence, in all their mighty force and power, not a soul could be left unconvinced and unper- suaded." ******** He added, " May God Almighty bless and re- ward, with his choicest comforts your philanthropick actions, and enable me at all times to express what I feel of the high and uncommon obligations which 1 owe to i\\e first man in our times." On Sunday, June 22, he writes, begging Dr. John- son's assistance in framing a supplicatory letter to his Majesty : " If his Majesty could be moved of his royal clem- ency to spare me and my family the horrours and igno- miny of a publick deaths which the publick itself is so- licitous to wave, and to grant me in some silent distant corner of the globe to pass the remainder of my days in penitence and prayer, 1 would bless his clemency and be humbled." This letter was brought to Dr. Johnson when in church. He stooped down and read it, and wrote, when he went home, the following letter for Dr. Dodd to the King: " SIR, " May it not offend your Majesty, that the most miserable of men applies himself to your clemency, as his last hope and his last refuge ; that your mercy is most earnestly and humbly implored by a clergyman, whom your Laws and Judges have condemned to the. horrour and ignominy of a publick execution. . " I confess the crime, and own the enormity of its consequences, and the danger of its example. Nor have 1 the confidence to petition for impunity ; but ' His Speech at the Old Bjtiley, when found guilty. 400 THE LIFE OF 1777. humbly hope, that pubhck security may be estabhsbedj ^^J^ without the spectacle of a clergyman dragged through 68. the streets, to a death of infamy, amidst the derision of the profligate and profane ; and that justice maybe sat- isfied with irrevocable exile, perpetual disgrace, and hopeless penury. " My life, Sir, has not been useless to mankind. I have benefitted many. But my ofiences against God are numberless, and I have had little time for repent- ance. Preserve me. Sir, by your prerogative of mercy, from the necessity of appearing unprepared at that tri- bunal, before which Kings and Subjects must stand at iast together. Permit me to hide my guilt in some ob- scure corner of a foreign country, where, if I can ever attain confidence to hope that my prayers will be heard, they shall be poured with all the fervour of gratitude for the life and happiness of your Majesty. 1 am, Sir. " Your Majesty's, &c.''' Subjoined to ij was written as follows : " TO DR. DODD. " SIR, " 1 MOST seriously enjoin you not to let it be at all known that 1 have written this letter, and to return the copy to Mr. Allen in a cover to me. I hope I need not tell you, that 1 wish it success. — But do not indulge hope. — Fell nobody." it happened luckily that Mr. Allen was pitched on to assist in this melancholy office, for he was a great friend of Mr. Akerman, the keeper of Newgate. Dr. John- son never went to see Dr. Dodd. He said to me, " it would have done him more harm, than good to Dodd, who once expressed a desire to see him, but not ear- nestly." " Dr. Johnson, on the 20th of June, wrote the foU lowing letter: •' TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES JENKINSOK. '* SIR, " Since the conviction and condemnation of Dr. Dodd, I have had, by the intervention of a friend, some DR. JOHNSON. 401 intercourse \vi til liim, aiul I am sure 1 shall lose nothing '777. in your opinion by tenderness and commiseration, ^t'.^ Whatever be the crime, it is not easy to have any (>«. knowledge of the delim^uent, without a wish that his lite may be spared ; at least when nolifi* has been taken away by him. I will, therefore, take the liberty of sug- gesting some reasons for which I wish this unhappy being to escape the utmost rigour of his sentence. " He is, so far as I can recollect, the first clergyman of our church who has suliered publick execution for immorality ; and I know not whether it would not be more for the interests of religion to bury such an offend- er in the obscurity of perpetual exile, than to expose him in a cart, and on the gallows, to all who for any reason are enemies to the clergy. " The supreme power has, in all ages, paid some at- tention to the voice of the people ; and that voice does not least deserve to be heard, when it calls out for mer- cy. There is now a very general desire that Dodd's life should be spared. More is not wished ; and, perhaps, this is not too much to be granted. " If you. Sir, have any opportunity of enforcing these reasons, you may, perhaps, think them worthy of con- sideration : but whatever you determine, I most re- spectfully intreat that you will be pleased to pardon for this intrusion, Sir, " Your most obedient " And most humble servant, " Sam. Johnson." It has been confidently circulated, with invidious re- marks, that to this letter no attention whatever was paid by Mr. Jenkinson, (afterwards Earl of Liverpool ;) and that he did not even deign to shew the common civility of owning the receipt of it. I could not but wonder at such conduct in the noble Lord, whose own character and just elevation in life, I thought, must have impress- ed him with all due regard for great abilities and attain- ments. As the story had been much talked of, and apparently from good authority, I could not but have animadverted upon it in this work, had it been as was VOL. IT. .51 402 THE LIFE OF »777. alledged; but froQi my earnest love of truth, and hav- SaT ^^S found reason to think that there might be a mistake, 68. 1 presumed to write to his Lordship, requesting an ex- planation ; and it is with the sincerest pleasure that I am enabled to assure the world, that there is no foun- dation for it, the fact being, that owing to some neg- lect, or accident, Johnson's letter never came to Lord Hawkesbury's hands. I should have thought it strange indeed, if that noble Lord had undervalued my illustri- ous friend ; but instead of this being the case, his Lord- ship, in the very polite answer with which he was pleas- ed immediately to honour me, thus expresses himself: — " I have always respected the memory of Dr. Johnson, and admire his writings ; and I frequently read many parts of them with pleasure and great improvement." All applications for the Royal Mercy having failed. Dr. Dodd prepared himself for death ; and, with a warmth of gratitude, wrote to Dr. Johnson as follows: " June 25, Midnight. " Accept, thou great and good heart, my earnest and fervent thanks and prayers for all thy benevolent and kind efforts in my behalf. — Oh ! Dr. Johnson ! as I sought your knowledge at an early hour in life, would to heaven I had cultivated the love and acquaintance of so excellent a man ! — I pray God most sincerely to bless you with the highest transports — the infelt satis- faction of humane and benevolent exertions ! — And ad- mitted, as I trust 1 shall be, to the realms of bliss be- fore you, 1 shall hail your arrival there with transports, and rejoice to acknowledge that you was my Comfort- er, my Advocate and my Friend ! God be ever with you !" Dr, Johnson lastly wrote to Dr. Dodd this solemn and soothing letter: " TO THE REVEREND DR. DODD. " DEAR SIR, " That which is appointed to all men is now com- ing upon you. Outward circumstances, the eyes and DR. JOHNSON. 40M the thoughts of men, are below the notice of an immor- i//''. tal being abont to stand the trial for eternity, before the ^,.^ Supreme Judge of heaven and earth. IJe comforted : as. your crime, morally or religiously considered, has no very deep dye of turpitude. It corrupted no man's principles; it attacked no man's life. It involved only a temporary and reparable injury. Of this, and of all other sins, you are earnestly to repent ; and may God, who knovveth our frailty, and desireth not our death, accept your repentance, for the sake of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. " In requital of those well intended offices which you are pleased so emphatically to acknowledge, let me beg that you make in your devotions one petition for my eternal welfare. 1 am, dear Sir, " Your most affectionate servant, " Jui/e 26, 1777. " Sam. Johnson." Under the copy of this letter I found written, in Johnson's own hand, " Next day, June 27, he was ex- ecuted." To conclude this interesting episode with an useful application, let us now attend to the reflections of John- son at the end of the " Occasional Papers,'^ concerning the unfortunate Dr. Dodd. — " Such were the last thoughts of a man whom we have seen exulting in pop- ularity, and sunk in shame. For his reputation, which no man can give to himself, those who conferred it are to answer. Of his publick ministry the means of judg- ing were sufficiently attainable. He must be allowed to preach well, whose sermons strike his audience with forcible conviction. Of his life, those who thought it consistent with his doctrine, did not originally form false notions. He was at first what he endeavoured to make others ; but the world broke down his resolution, and he in time ceased to exemplify his own instructions. " Let those who are tempted to his faults, tremble at his punishment ; and those whom he impressed from the pulpit with religious sentiments, endeavour to con- firm them, by considering the regret and seif-abhoirence 404 THE LIFE OF 1777. with which he reviewed in prison his deviations from ^,2: rectitude."- . . ,. , fig. Johnson gave us this evenmg, in his happy discrimi- native manner, a portrait of the late Mr. Fitzherbert of Derbyshire. " There was (said he) no sparkle, no bril- liancy in Fitzherbert ; but 1 never knew a man who was so generally acceptable. He made every body quite easy, overpowered nobody by the superiority of his tal- ents, made no man think worse of himself by being his rival, seemed always to listen, did not oblige you to hear much from him, and did not oppose what you said. Every body liked him ; but he had no friend, as I un- derstand the word, nobody with whom he exchanged intimate thoughts. People were willing to think well of every thing about him. A gentleman was making an affected rant, as many people do, of great feelings about ' his dear son,^ who was at school near London ; how anxious he was lest he might be ill, and what he would give to see him. ' Can't you (said Fitzherbert,) take a post-chaise and go to him.^ This, to be sure, finished the affected man, but there was not much in ito' However, this was circulated as wit for a whole / winter, and I believe part of a summer too ; a proof that he was no very witty man. He was an instance of the I truth of the observation, that a man will please more upon the whole by negative qualities than by positive; by never ofl^ending, than by giving a great deal of de- light. In the first place, men hate more steadily than they love ; and if I have said something to hurt a man ! once, I shall not get the better of this, by saying many ^ things to please him." ^ ' [See Dr. Johnson's final opinion concerning Dr. Dodd, in vol. iii. under Apni J 8, 1783. M.] ' Dr. Gisborne, Physician to his Majesty's Household, has obligingly communi- cated to n^e a fuller account of this story than had reached Dr. Jolinson. The af- fected Gentleman was the late John Gilbert Cooper, Esq. authour of a Life of Socrates, and of some poems in Dodsley's collection. Mr. Fitzherbert found him one morning, apparently, in such violent agitation, on account of the indisposition of his son, as to seem beyond the power of comfort. At length, however, he ex- claimed, " I'll write an Elegy." Mr. Fitzherbert being satisfied, by this, of the sin- cerity of his emotions, slyly said, " Had not you better take a post-chaise and go and sec him .'" It wa* the shrewdness of tlie insiw^tion which made the story be circulated. DIl. JOHNSON. 'U)i Tuesday, September l6, Dr. Johnson having men- '777. tioned to me the extraordinary size and price of some ^^^ cattle reared by Dr. Taylor, I rode out with our host, (i8. surveyed his farm, and was shewn one cow which he had sold for a iiundred and twenty guineas, and another for which he iiad been otiered a hundred and thirty. Tayl(»r thus described to me his old schoolfellow and friend, Johnson : " He is a man of a very clear head, great power of words, and a very gay imagination ; but there is no disputing witli him. He will not hear you, and having a louder voice than you, must roar you down." In the afternoon I tried to get Dr. Johnson to hke the Poems of Mr. Hamilton of Bangour, which 1 had brought with me : 1 had been much pleased with them at a very earlv age : the impression still remained on my mind ; it was confirmed by the opinion of my friend the Honourable Andrew Erskine, himself both a good poet and a good critick, who thought Hatnilton as true a poet as ever wrote, and that his not having fame was unaccountable. Johnson, upon repeated occasions, while I was at Ashbourne, talked slightingly of Hamil- ton. He said there was no power of thinking in his verses, nothing that strikes one, nothing better than what you generally find in magazines ; and that the highest praise they deserved was, that they were very well for a gentleman to hand about among his friends. He said the imitation of Ne sit cmcillce tibi amoi\ ii^c. was too solemn ; he read part of it at the beginning. He read the beautiful pathetick song, " Ah the poor shepherd's mournful fate," and did not seem to give attention to what 1 had been used to think tender ele- gant strains, but laughed at the rhyme, in Scotch pro- nunciation, 'Ji'ishes and blushes, reading icus/tes — and there he stopped. He owned that the epitaph on Lord Newhall was pretty well done. He read the " Inscrip- tion in a Summer-house," and a little of the imitations of Horace's Epistles ; but said he found nothing to make him desire to read on. When 1 urged that there were some good poetical passages in the book, " M'here (said he,> will you find so large a collection without some?'* 406 THE LIFE OF 1777. I thought the description of Winter might obtain his ^Qt. approbation : 68. " " See Winter, from the frozen north *' Drives his iron chariot forth ! " His grisly hand in icy chains " Fair Tweeda's silver flood constrains," &c. He asked vi^hy an " iron chariot ?" and said " icy chains" was an old image. I was struck with the un- certainty of taste, and somewhat sorry that a poet whom I had long read with fondness, was not approved by Dr. Johnson. 1 comforted myself with thinking that the beauties were too delicate for his robust percep- tions. Garrick maintained that he had not a taste for the finest productions of genius : but I was sensible, that when he took the trouble to analyse critically, he generally convinced us that he was right. In the evening the Reverend Mr. Seward, of Lich- field, who was passing through Ashbourne in his way home, drank tea with us. Johnson described him thus ; — " Sir, his ambition is to be a fine talker ; so he goes to Buxton, and such places, where he may find companies to listen to him. And, Sir, he is a valetudi- narian, one of those who are always mending themselves. I do not know a more disagreeable character than a valetudinarian, who thinks he may do any thing that is for his ease, and indulges himself in the grossest free- doms : Sir, he brings himself to the state of a hog in a stye." Dr. Taylor's nose happening to bleed, he said, it was because he had omitted to have himself blooded four days after a quarter of a year's interval. Dr. Johnson, who was a great dabbler in physick, disapproved much of periodical bleeding. " For (said he) you accustom 3^ourself to an evacuation which Nature cannot perform of herself, and therefore she cannot help you, should you from forgetfulness or any other cause omit it ; so you may be suddenly suffocated. You may accustom yourself to other periodical evacuations, because^ should you omit them, Nature can supply the omission ; but DR. JOHNSON. 40? Nature cannot open a vein to blood you."- — " [ do >777. not like to take an enietick, (said Taylor,) for tear of^j.^ breaking- some small vessels." — "• Poll ! (said .lolin- ge. son,) if you have so many things that will break, yon j -^ had bettt^r break your neek at once, and tiu^re's an end I on't. "\()U will break no small vessels :" (blowing with high derision.) 1 mentioned to Dr. Jolnison, that David IJume's persisting in his infidelity, when he was ilying, shocked me much. Johnson. " Why should it shock you, Sir ? Hume owned he had never read the New Testa- ment with attention. Here then was a man who had been at no pains to enquire into the truth of religion, and had continually turned his mind the other way. It was not to be expected that the prospect of death would alter his way of thinking, unless Goo should send an angel to set him right." 1 said, I had reason to believe that the thought of annihilation gave Hume no pain. Johnson. " It was not so. Sir. He had a vanity in being thought easy. It is more probable that he should assume an appearance of ease, than so very improbable a thing should be, as a man not afraid of going (as, in spite of his delusive theory, he cannot be sure but he may go,) into an unknown state, and not being uneasy at leaving all he knew. And you are to consider, that upon his own principle of annihilation he had no motive to speak the truth." The horrour of death which I had always observed in Dr. Johnson, appeared strong to-night. I ventured to tell him, that 1 had been, for moments in my life, not afraid of death ; therefore I could suppose another man in that state of mind for a considerable space of time. He said, " he never had a moment in which death was not terrible to him." He added, that it had been observed, that scarce any man dies in publick, but with apparent resolution ; from that desire of praise which never quits us. 1 said. Dr. Dodd seemed to be willing to ^ die, and full of hopes of happiness. " Sir, (said he,) Dr. Dodd would have given both his hands and both - [Nature, however, may supply the evacuation by an hemorrhage. K.] 408 THE LIFE OF 1777. his legs to have lived. The better a man is, the more ^TTT afraid is he of death, having^ a clearer view of infinite 6«. purity. He owned, that our being in an unhappy uncertainty as to our salvation, was mysterious ; and said, " Ah ! we must wait till we are in another state of being, to have many things explained to us.^' Even the powerful mind of Johnson seemed foiled by futu- rity. Jjiit I thought, that the gloom of uncertainty in solemn religious speculation, being mingled with hope, was yet more consolatory than the emptiness of infi- delity. A man can live in thick air, but perishes in an exhausted receiver. Dr. Johnson was much pleased with a remark which I told him was made to me by General Paoli : — " That it is impossible not to be afraid of death ; and that those who at the time of dying are not afraid, are not thinking of death, but of applause, or something else, which keeps death out of their sight : so that all men are equally afraid of death when they see it ; only some have a power of turning their sight away from it better ,y than others." ^' On Wednesday, September 17, Dr. Butter, physi- cian at Derby, drank tea with us ; and it was settled that Dr. Johnson and I should go on Friday and dine with him. Johnson said, " I'm glad of this." He seemed weary of the uniformity of life at Dr. Taylor's. Talking of biography, I said, in writing a life, a ( man's peculiarities should be mentioned, because they mark his character. Johnson. " Sir, there is no doubt as to peculiarities : the question is, whether a man's vices should be mentioned ; for instance, whether it should be mentioned that Addison and Parnell drank too freely ; for people will probably J more easily indulge in drinking from knowing this ; so that more ill may be done by the example, than good bv telling the whole truth." Here was an instance of his varying from himself in talk ; for when Lord Hailes and he sat one morning calmly conversing in my house at Edinburgh, I well remember that Dr. Johnson main- tained, that " If a man is to write A Pancgijr'tck\ he may keep vices out of his sight ; but if he professes DR. JOHNSON. 40^ to write A Life^ he must represent it really as it was \^ \lll. and when I objected to the danger of telling that l*ar- ^'1pC\ nell drank to excess, he said, that " it would produce og. an instructive caution to avoid drinking, when it was Seen, that even the learning and genius of Parnell could be debased by it." And in the Hebrides he maintained, as appears from my " Journal,"^ that a tnan's intimate friend should mention his faults, if he writes his life. He had this evening, partly, I suppose, from the Spirit of contradiction to his Whig friend, a violent argument with Dr. Taylor, as to the inclinations of the people of England at this time tow^ards the Royal Fam- ily of Stuart. He grew so outrageous as to say, " that, if England were fairly polled, the present King would be sent away to-night, and his adherents hanged to^ morrow." Taylor, who was as violent a Whig as Johnson was a tory, was roused by this to a pitch of bellowing. He denied, loudly, what Johnson said ; and maintained, that there was an abhorrence against the Stuart family, though he admitted that the people were not much attached to the present King.* John- son. " Sir, the state of the country is this : the people knowing it to be agreed on all hands that this King has not the hereditary right to the crown, and there being no hope that he who has it can be restored, have grown cold and indifferent upon the subject of loyalty, and have no warm attachment to any King. They would not, therefore, risk any thing to restore the ex- iled family. They would not give twenty shillings a piece to bring it about. But if a mere vote could do it, there would be twenty to one ; at least, there would be a very great majority of voices for it. For, Sir, you are to consider, that all those who think a King has a right to his crown, as a man has to his estate, which is • J Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, 3d edit. p. 240. •• Dr. Taylor was very ready to make this admission, because the party with which he was connected was not in power. There was then some truth in it, ow- ing to the pertinacity of factious clamour. Had he lived till now, it would havr been impossible for him to deny that bis Majesty possesses the wanoett affpcrior of his people. VOL. ir. 59 UO THE LIFE OF ^777. the just opinion, would be for restoring the King who ^aT certainly has the hereditary right, could he be trusted 68. with it ; in which there would be no danger now, when laws and every thing else are so much advanced : and every King will govern by the laws. And you must also consider, Sir, that there is nothing on the other side to oppose to this ; for it is not alledged by any one that the present family has any inherent right : so that the Whigs could not have a contest between two rights." Dr. Taylor admitted, that if the question as to he- reditary right were to be tried by a poll of the people of England, to be sure tlie abstract doctrine would be given in favour of the family of Stuart ; but he said, the conduct of that family, which occasioned their ex- pulsion, was so fresh in the minds of the people, that they would not vote for a restoration. Dr. Johnson, I think, was contented with the admission as to the hereditary right, leaving the original point in dispute, viz. what the people upon the whole would do, taking in right and affection ; for he said, people were afraid of a change, even though they think it right. Dr. Taylor said something of the slight foundation of the hereditary right of the house of Stuart. " Sir, (said Johnson,) the house of Stuart succeeded to the full right of both the houses of York and Lancaster, whose common source had the undisputed right. A right to a throne is like a right to any thing else. Possession is sufficient, where no better right can be shown. This was the case with the Royal Family of England, as it is now with the King of France : for as to the first beginning of the right we are in the dark." Thursday, September 18. Last night Dr. Johnson had proposed that the crystal lustre, or chandelier, in Dr. Taylor's large room, should be lighted up some time or other. Taylor said, it should be lighted up next night. "That will do very well, (said 1,) for it is Dr. Johnson's birth-day." When we were in the Isle of Sky, Johnson had desired me not to mention his birth-day. He did not seem pleased at this time that DR. JOHNSON. 411 1 mentioned it, and said, (somewhat sternly) " he 1777- vould not liave the lustre lighted the next day." ^am Some ladies, who had been present yesterday when oy. 1 mentioned his hirth-tlay, came to dinner to-day, and plagued him unintentionally, by wishing him joy. 1 know not why he dishked having his birth-day men- tioned, unless it were that it reminded him of his approaching nearer to death, of which he had a con- stant dread. I mentioned to him a friend of mine who was for- merly gloomy from low spirits, and much distressed by the fear of death, but was now uniformly placid, and contemplated his dissolution without any perturbation. " Sir, (said Johnson,) this is only a disordered imagin- ) ation taking a ditierent turn." We talked of a collection being made of all the En- glish Poets who had published a volume of poems. Johnson told me " that a Mr. Coxeter, ^ whom he knew, had gone the greatest length towards this ; having collected, I think, about five hundred volumes of poets whose works were little known ; but that upon his death Tom Osborne bought them, and they were dispersed, which he thought a pity, as it was curious to see any series complete ; and in every vol- ume of poems something good may be found." He observed, that a gentleman of eminence in lite- rature had got into a bad style of poetry of late. " He puts (said he) a very common thing in a strange dress till he does not know it himself, and thinks other people do not know it." Boswell. " That is owing to his being so much versant in old English poetry." Johnson. " What is that to the purpose. Sir I If I / say a man is drunk, and you tell me it is owing to his \ taking much drink, the matter is not mended. No, Sir, has taken to an odd mode. For example ; he'd write thus ; ' [Thomas Coxcter, Esq. who had also made a large collection of old plays, and from whose manuscript notes the Lives of the English Poets, by Shiels and Gibber, were principally compiled, as should have been mentioned in a former page. See page 300 of this volume. Mr. Coxeter was bred at Trinity College, Oxford^ and died in London, April 17, 1747, in his fifty-ninth year. A particular account of him may be found in " The Gentlemaa's Magazine" for 1781, p. 173. M.] 412 THE LIFE OF 1777. " Hermit hoar, in solemn cell, ^'^ , " Wearing out life's evening gray." ' Gray evening is common enough ; but evening gray he'd think fine. — -Stay ;— -we'll make out the stanza : * Hermit hoar, in solemn cell, ' Wearing out life's evening gray : ' Smite thy bosom, sage, and tell, ' What is bliss ? and which the way !" BoswELL. " But why smite his bosom, Sir !" John- son. " Why to shew he was in earnest," (smiling.)— * He at an alter period added the following stanza : " Thus I spoke ; and speaking sigh'd ; " — Scarce repress'd the starting tear ; — " When the smiling sage reply'd-— " — Come, my lad, and drink some beer."^ I cannot help thinking the first stanza very good solemn poetry, as also the first three lines of the second. Its last line is an excellent burlesque surprize on gloomy sentimental enquirers. And, perhaps, the advice is as good as can be given to a low-spirited dissatisfied being : — " Don't trouble your head with sickly think- ing : take a cup, and be merry." Friday, September 19, after breakfast. Dr. Johnson and I set out in Dr. Taylor's chaise to go to Derby. The day was fine, and we resolved to go by Keddle- stone, the seat of Lord Scarsdale, that 1 might see his Lordship's fine house. I was struck with the magnifi- ' As some of my readers may be gratified by reading the progress of tliis little composition, I siiail insert it from my notes. " When Dr. Johnson and I were sitting tete-a-tete at the Mitre tavern, May 9, 1778, he said ' Where is bliss,' would be better. He then added a ludicrous stanza, but would not repeat it, lest I should take it down. It was somewhat as follows ; the last line I am sure I remember : ' While 1 thus cried, ' seer, * The hoary reply'd, ' Come, my lad, and drink some beer.' " In spring, 1779, when in better humour, he made the second stanza, as in the text. 'J'here was only one variation afterwards made on my suggestion, which was changing hoary in the third line to smiling, both to avoid a sameness with the epithet in the first line, and to describe the hermit in his pleasantry. He w^ then rery well pleased that I should preserve it." DR. JOHNSON. i l^j cencc of the. building ; and the extensive park, with >777. the finest verdure, covered witli deer, and cattle, and ^^^ sheep, delighted me. The number of old oaks, of an Gg. immense size, filled me with a sort of respectful admi- ration : for one of them sixty pounds was otT'ered. The excellent smooth gravel roads ; the large piece of water formed by his l^ordship from some small brooks, with a handsome barge upon it ; the venerable Gothick church, now the family chapel, just by the house; in short, the grand group of objects agitated and distended my mind in a most agreeable manner. " One should think (said 1) that the proprietor of all this mnsf be happy." — " Nay, Sir, (said Johnson,) all this excludes but one evil — poverty."' Our names were sent up, and a well-drest elderly housekeeper, a most distinct articulator, shewed us the house ; which 1 need not describe, as there is an account of it published in " Adams's Works in Architecture." Dr. Johnson thought better of it to-day, than when he saw it before ; for he had lately attacked it violentl}', saying, " It would do excellently for a town-hall. The large room with the pillars (said he) would do for the Judges to sit in at the assizes ; the circular room for a jury-chamber ; and the room above for prisoners." Still he thought the large room ill lighted, and of no use but for dancing in ; and the bed-chambers but in- different rooms ; and that the immense sum which it cost was injudiciously laid out. Dr. Taylor had put him in mind of his appearing pleased with the house. " But (said he) that was when Lord Scarsdale was present. Politeness obliges us to appear pleased with a man's works when he is present. No man will be so ill bred as to question you. You may therefore pay compliments without saying what is not true. I should ' When T mentioned Dr. Johnson's remark to a lady of admirable good sense •ind quickness of understanding, she observed, " It is true, ?.H this exchides onJy one evil ; but how much good does it let in ?" To this observation miicli praise has been justly given. Let me then now do myself the honour to mention that the lady who made it was the late Margaret Montgomerie, my very valua- ble wife, and the very affectionate mother of my children, who, if they inlicrit her good qualitipj, wiJl have no reason to complain of their lot. Dos magna pdiuituti -il4 THE LIFE OP 1777. say to Lord Scarsdale of his large room, ' My Lord, ^"^ this is the most costhj room that 1 ever saw ;' which is G8. ' true." Dr. Manningham, physician in London, who was visiting at Lord Scarsdale's, accompanied us through many of the rooms, and soon afterwards my Lord him- self, to whom Dr. Johnson was known, appeared, and did the honours of the house. We talked of Mr. Langton. Johnson, with a warm vehemence of affec- tionate regard, exclaimed, " The earth does not bear a Vv^orthier man than Bennet Langton." We saw a good many fine pictures, which 1 think are described in one of " Young^s Tours." There is a printed catalogue of them, which the housekeeper put into my hand ; I should like to view them at leisure. I was much struck with Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream, by Rembrandt — We were shown a pretty large library. In his Lordship's dressing-room lay Johnson's small Dictionary : he shewed it to me, with some eagerness, saying, ' Look'ye ! Qiice regio m terris nostri non plena iaboris.' He observed, also, Goldsmith's " Animated Nature ;" and said, " Here's our friend ! The poor Doctor would have been happy to hear of this." In our way, Johnson strongly expressed his love of driving fast in a post-chaise. " If (said he) I had no du- ties, and no reference to futurity, 1 would spend my life in driving briskly in a post-chaise with a pretty wo- man ; but she should be one who could understand me, and would add something to the conversation." 1 ob- served, that we were this day to stop just where the Highland army did in 1745. Johnson. " It was a no- ble attempt." Boswell. " 1 wish we could have an authentick history of it." Johnson. " If you were not an idle dog you might write it, by collecting from every body what they can tell, and putting down your au- thorities." Boswell. " But I could not have the ad- vantage of it in my life-time." Johnson. " You might have the satisfaction of its fame,'by printing it in Hol- land ; and as to profit, consider how long it was before writing came to be considered in a pecuniary view. DR. JOHNSON. 415 Baretti says, he is the first man that ever received copy- 1777. money in Italy." I said that 1 would endeavour to do ^JJ[^ what Dr. Johnson suggested ; and 1 thought that J ca. might write so as to venture to publish my " History of the Civil War in Great-Britain in 1745 and 1746," without being obliged to go to a foreign press. ^ ^Vhen we arrived at Derby, Dr. Butter accompanied us t(; see the manufactory of china there. 1 admired the ingenuity and delicate art with which a man fash- ioned clay into a cup, a saucer, or a tea-pot, while a boy turned round a wheel to give the mass rotundity. 1 tliought this as excellent in its species of power, as making good verses in its species. Yet 1 had no re- spect for this potter. Neither, indeed, has a man of any extent of thinking for a mere verse-maker, in whose numbers, however perfect, there is no poetry, no mind. The china was beautiful, but Dr. Johnson justly ob- served it was too dear ; for that he could have vessels of silver, of the«same size, as cheap as what were here made of porcelain. 1 felt a pleasure in walking about Derby, such as I always have in walking about any town to which 1 am not accustomed. There is an immediate sensation of novelty ; and one speculates on the way in which life is passed in it, which, although there is a sameness ev- ery where upon the whole, is yet minutely diversified. The minute diversities in every thing are wonderful. Talking of shaving the other night at Dr. Taylor's, Dr. Johnson said, " Sir, of a thousand shavers, two do not shave so much alike as not to be distinguished." I thought this not possible, till he specified so many of the varieties in shaving ; — holding the razor more or less perpendicular ; — drawing long or short strokes ; — be- ginning at the upper part of the face, or the under — at the right side or the left side. Indeed, when one con- siders what variety of sounds can be uttered by the wind-pipe, in the compass of a very small aperture, we. » I am now happy to understand that Mr. John Home, who was himself gal- lantly in the field for the reigning family, in that interesting warfare, but is gene- rous enough to do justice to the other side, is preparing an account of it for the press. 416 THE LIFE OP 1777. may be convinced how many degrees of difierence thefe ^'^ may be in the application of a razor. fis. We dined with Dr. Butter, 5> whose lady is daughter of my cousin Sir John Douglas, whose grandson is now presumptive heir of the noble family of Queensberry. .iohnson and he had a good deal of medical conversa- tion, Johnson said, he had somewhere or other given an account of Dr. Nichols's discourse " De Afzimd Me- dicd.^^ He told us " that whatever a man's distemper was. Dr. Nichols would not attend him as a physician, if his mind was not at ease ; for he believed that no medicines would have any influence. He once attend- ed a man in trade, upon whom he found none of the medicines he prescribed had any effect ; he asked the man's wife privately whether his affairs were not in a bad way? She said no. He continued his attendance some time, still without success. At length the man's wife told him, she had discovered that her husband's affairs were in a bad way. When Goldsmith was dying. Dr. Turton said to him, ' Your pulse is in greater dis- order than it should be, from the degree of fever which you have : is your mind at ease?' Goldsmith answered it was not." After dinner, Mrs. Butter went with me to see the silk-mill which Mr. John Lombe had' had a patent for, having brought away the contrivance from Italy. lam not very conversant with mechanicks ; but the simplici- ty of this machine, and its multiplied operations, struck me with an agreeable surprize. I had learnt from Dr. Johnson, during this interview, not to think with a de- jected indifference of the works of art, and the pleasures of life, because life is uncertain and short; but to con- sider such indifference as a failure of reason, a morbid- ness of mind ; for happiness should be cultivated as much as we can, and the objects which are instrumental to it should be steadily considered as of importance, ' [Dr. Butter was at this time a practising physician at Derby. He afterwards removed to London, where he died in his 79th year, March 22, 1805. He is au- thor of several medical tracts. M.] ' See Hutton's History of Derby, a book which is deservedly esteemed for its ihformation, accuracy, and good narrative. Indeed the age in which wc live is. eminently distinguished by topographical nceUence. DR. JOHNSON. 417 with a reference not only to ourselves, but to multitudes '777. in successive ages. Though it is proper to value suiall ^,',^ parts, as (is. " Sands make the mountain, moments make the year ;"* yet we must contemplate, collectively, to have a just estimation of objects. One moment's being uneasy or not, seems of no consequence; yet this may be thou'^ljt of the next, and the next, and so on, till there is a lar^'e portion of misery. In the same way one must think of happiness, of learning, of friendship. We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over ; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over. We must not divide objects of our attention into minute parts, and think separately of each part. It is by contem [bat- ing a large mass of human existence, that a man, while he sets a just value on his own life, does not tliink of his death as annihilating all that is great and pleasing in the world, as if actually coiituined in his mind^ according to 13erkeley's reverie. If his imagination be not sickly and feeble, it " wings its distant way" far beyond him- self, and views the world in unceasing activity of every sort. It must be acknowledged, however, that Pope's plaintive reflection, that all things would be as gay as ever, on the day of his death, is natural and common. We are apt to transfer to all around us our own gloom, without considering that at any given point of time th^re is, perhaps, as much youth and gaiety in the world as at another. Before I came into this life, in which [ have had so many pleasant scenes, have not thousands and ten thousands of deaths and funerals happened, and have not families been in grief for their nearest re- lations ? Hut have those dismal circumstances at all af- . fected me / Why then should the gloomy scenes which I expericmce, or which 1 know, affect others? Let us guard against imagining that there is an end of fV-lirity upon earth, when we ourselves grow old, or are unhappy. ^ Yonng-. vor. IT. .53 418 THE LIFE OF 1777. Dr. Johnson told us at tea, that when some of Dr. Dodd's pious friends were trying to console him by say- ing that he was going to leave " a wretched world," he had honesty enough not to join in the cant : — " No, no (said he,) it has been a very agreeable world to me." Johnson added, " I respect Dodd for thus speaking the truth ; for, to be sure, he had for several years enjoyed a life of great voluptuousness." He told us, that Dodd^s city friends stood by him so, that a thousand pounds were ready to be given to the gaoler, if he would let him escape. He added, that he knew a friend of Dodd's, who walked about Newgate for some time on the evening before the day of his ex- ecution, with five hundred pounds in his pocket, ready to be paid to any of the turnkeys who could get him out : but it was too late ; for he was watched with much circumspection He said, Dodd's friends had an image of him made of wax, which was to have been left in his place ; and he believed it was carried into the prison. Johnson disapproved of Dr. Dodd's leaving the world persuaded that " The Convict's Address to his unhappy Brethren," was of his own writing. " But, Sir, (said 1,) you contributed to the deception ; for when Mr. Sew- ard expressed a doubt to you that it was not Dodd's own, because it had a great deal more force of mind in it than any thing known to be his, you answered, — ' Why should you think so ! Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it con- centrates his mind wonderfully." Johnson. " Sir, as Dodd got it from me to pass as his own, while that could do him any good, that was an implied promise that I should not own it. To own it, therefore, would have been telling a lie, with the addition of breach of promise, which was worse than simply telling a lie to make it be believed it was Dodd's. Besides, Sir, I did not directlif tell a lie : I left the matter uncertain. Perhaps 1 thought that Seward would not believe it the less to be mine for what I said ; but 1 would not put it in his power to say 1 had owned it." DR. JOHNSON. 419 He praised Blair's sermons: " Yet," said he, (wil- i???. ling to let us see he was aware that fashionable fame, "^(^ however deserved, is not always the most lasting,) " per- 68. haps, they may not be re-printed after seven years ; at least not after Blair's death." He said, " Goldsmith was a plant that flowered late. There appeared nothing remarkable about him when he was young ; though when he had got high in fame, one of his friend's began to recollect something of his being distinguished at College. * Goldsmith in the same manner recollected more of that friend's early yeare, as he grew a greater man." 1 mentioned that Lord Monboddo told me, he awak- ed every morning at four, and then for his health got up and walked in his room naked, with the window open, which he called taking an air hath ; after which he went to bed again, and slept two hours more. Johnson, who was always ready to beat down any thing that seemed to be exhibited with disproportionate importance, thus observed : " 1 suppose, Sir, there is no more in it than this, he wakes at four, and cannot sleep till he chills himself, and makes the warmth of the bed a grateful sensation.'^ I talked of the difficulty of rising in the morning. Dr. Johnson told me, " that the learned Mrs. Carter, at that period when she was eager in study, did not awake as early as she wished, and she therefore had a contrivance, that, at a certain hour, her chamber-light should burn a string to which a heavy weight was sus- pended, which then fell with a strong sudden noise : this roused her from sleep, and then she had no diffi- culty in getting up." But 1 said that was my difficulty ; and wished there could be some medicine invented which would make one rise without pain, which 1 never did, unless after lying in bed a very long time. J*er- haps there may be something in the stores of Nature which could do this. 1 have thought of a pulley to raise me gradually ; but that would give me pain, as it would counteract my internal inclination. 1 would have ^ [He -was distinguished in college, as appears from a circumstance mentioned •by Dr. Kearney. See voL i. p. 322. M.] 420 THE LIFE OP • 777. something that can dissipate the vis inertice^ and give ^g^ elasticity to the muscles. As 1 imagine that the human ()S. body may be put, by the operation of other substances, into any state in which it has ever been ; and as 1 have experienced a state in which rising from bed was not dis- agreeable, but easy, nay, sometimes agreeable ; I sup- pose that this state may be produced, if we knew by what. We can heat the body, we can cool it ; we can give it tension or relaxation ; and surely it is possible to bring it into a state in which rising from bed will not be a pain. Johnson observed, that " a man should take a suf- ficient quantity of sleep, which Dr. Mead says is be- tween seven and nine hours." I told him, that Dr. Cullen said to me, that a man should not take more sleep than he can take at once. Johnson. " This rule, Sir, cannot hold in all cases ; for many people have their sleep broken by sickness ; and surely, Cul- len would not have a man to get up, after having slept but an hour. Such a regimen would soon end in a lonfi^ sleep. '^"^ Dr. Taylor remarked, 1 think very justly, that " a man who does not feel an inclination to sleep at the ordinary times, instead of being stronger than other people, must not be well ; for a man in health has all the natural inclinations to eat, drink, and sleep in a strong degree." Johnson advised me to-night not to refine in the education of my children. " Life, (said he) will not bear refinement : you must do as other people do." As we drove back to Ashbourne, Dr. Johnson rec- ommended to me, as he had often done, to drink water only : " For (said he) you are then sure not to get '' This regimen was, however, practised by Bishop Ken, of whom Hawkins fnot Sir John) in his Hfe of that venerable Prelate, page 4, tells us, " And that neither his study might be the aggressor on his hours of instruction, or what he judged his duty, prevent his improvements ; or both, his closet addresses to his God ; he strictly accustomed himself to but one sleep, which often obliged him to rise at one or two of the clock in the morning, and sometimes sooner ; and grew so habitual, that it continued with him almost till his last illness. And so lively and chearful was his temper, that he would be very facetious and entertaining to his friends in the evening, even when it was perceived that with difficulty he kept his eyes open ; and then seemed to go to rest with no other purpose than the re- fresiiing and enabling him with more vigour and chearfulncss to sing his morning hymn, as he then used to do to his lute before he put on his clothes. DR. JOHNSON. 481 drunk ; whereas, if you drink wine, you arc never '777. sure." I said, drinking wine was a pleasure which I ^^ was unwilling to give up. " Why, Sir, (said he,) there 68. is no doubt that not to drink wine is a great deduction from life : but it may be necessary." He however owned, that in his opinion a free use of wine did not shorten life ; and said, he would not give less for the life of a certain Scotch Lord (whom he named) cele- brated for hard drinking, than for that of a sober man. " Hut stay, (said he, with his usual intelligence, and accuracy of enquiry,) does it take much wine to make him drunk !" I answered, " a great deal either of wine or strong punch." — " rhen (said he) that is the worse." 1 presume to illustrate my friend's observation thus ; *' A fortress which soon surrenders has its walls less shattered, than when a long and obstinate resistance is made." I ventured to mention a person who was as violent a Scotchman as he was an Englishman ; and literally had the same contempt for an Englishman compared with a Scotchman, that he had for a Scotchman com- pared with an Englishman ; and that he would say of Dr. Johnson, " Damned rascal ! to talk as he does of the Scotch." This seemed, for a moment, " to give him pause." It, perhaps, presented his extreme pre- judice against the Scotch in a point of view somewhat new to him, by the effect of contrast. By the time when we returned to Ashbourne, Dr. Taylor was gone to bed. Johnson and 1 sat up a long time by ourselves. He was much diverted with an article which I shewed him in the " Critical Review" of this year, giving an account of a curious pubhcation, entitled, " A spiritual Diary and Soliloquies, by John Rutty, M. D." Dr. Rutt}^ was one the people called Quakers, a physician of some eminence in Dublin, and authour of several works. This Diary, which was kept from \75S to 177o, the year in which he died, and was now pub- lished in two volumes octavo, exhibited in the simplicity of his heart, a minute and honest register of the state of his mind ; which, though frequently laughable 422 THE LIFE OP 1777. enough, was not more so than the history of many ^^^ men would be, if recorded with equal fairness. 68. * The following specimens were extracted by the Re- viewers : " Tenth month, 17^3. " 23. Indulgence in bed an hour too long. / " Twelfth month, 17. An hypochondriack obnubila- tion from wind and indigestion. " Ninth month, 28. An over-dose of whisky. " 29- A dull, cross, cholerick day. " First month, 17^7 — 22. A httle swinish at dinner and repast. "31. Dogged on provocation. " Second month, 5. Very dogged or snappish. " 14. Snappish on fasting. " 26. Cursed snappishness to those under me, on a bodily indisposition. " Third month, 11. On a provocation, exercised a dumb resentment for two days, instead of scolding. " 22. Scolded too vehemently. " 23. Dogged again. " Fourth month, 29. Mechanically and sinfully dogged." Johnson laughed heartily at this good Quietist's self- condemning minutes ; particularly at his mentioning, with such a serious regret, occasional instances of " swinishness in eating, and doggedness of temper.*' He thought the observations of the Critical Reviewers upon the importance of a man to himself so ingenious and so well expressed, that I shall here introduce them. After observing, that " there are few writers who have gained any reputation by recording their own actions," they say, " We may reduce the egotists to four classes. In the j^W^ we have Julius Caesar : he relates his own transactions ; but he relates them with peculiar grace and dignity, and his narrative is supported by the greatness of his character and atchievements. In the y^cowfl? class we have Marcus Antoninus: this writer has ffiven us a series of reflections on his own life ; but his DR. JOHNSON. 423 sentiments are so noble, his morality so sublime, that i777. his meditations are universally admired. In the /////v/ J^^ class we have some others (jf tolerable credit, who have (,>;. given importance to their own private history by an in- termixture of literary anecdotes, and the occurrences of their own times : the celebrated Hnetius has pub- lished an entertaining volume upon this plan, ' De rcbu.s ad emu i>crtinentibns.^ In xhe.Jourth class we have the journalists, temporal and spiritual : Elias Ashmole, William Lilly, George Whitefield, John Wesley, and a thousand other old women and fanatick writers of memoirs and meditations." I mentioned to him that Dr. Hugh Blair, in his lec- tures on Rhetorick and Belles Lettres, which 1 heard him deliver at Edinburgh, had animadverted on the Johnsonian style as too pompous ; and attempted to imitate it, by giving a sentence of Addison in " The Spectator," No. 41 1, in the manner of Johnson. When treating of the utility of the pleasures of imagination in preserving us from vice, it is observed of those " who know not how to be idle and innocent," that " their very first step out of business is into vice or folly ;" which Dr. Blair supposed would have been expressed in " The Rambler,'^ thus : " their very first step out of the regions of business is into the perturbation of vice, or the vacuity of folly."^ Johnson. " Sir, these are not the words 1 should have used. No, Sir; the imitators of my style have not hit it. Miss Aikin has done it the best ; for she has imitated the sentiment as well as the diction." 1 intend, before this work is concluded, to exhibit specimens of imitation of my friend's style in various modes ; some caricaturing or mimicking it, and some formed upon it, whether intentionally or with a degree of similarity to it, of which, perhaps, the writers were not conscious. ■■ When Dr. Blair publiahed his " Lectures," he was invidiously attacked lyr liav- ing omitted his cen5ure on Johnson's style, and, on the contrary, praising ij hi.^hly. But before that time Johnion's " Lives of the Poets" had appeared, in which his style was considerably easier, t'lan when lie wrote " The Rambler." It would, therefore, have been uncandid in Blair, even suppo»inghis criticism to have been just, ta have preserved it. 424 THE LIFE OP 1777. In Baretti^s Review, which he published in Italy, un° ^'^ der the title of " Frusta Letter aria," it is observ- (jg. * ed, that Dr. Robertson the historian had formed his style upon that of " // celebre Samuele Johnson.^^ My friend himself was of that opinion ; for he once said to me, in a pleasant humour, " Sir, if Robertson's style be faulty, he owes it to me ; that is, having too many words, and those too big ones." I read to him a letter which Lord Monboddo had written to me, containing some critical remarks upon the style of his " Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland." His Lordship praised the very fine passage upon landing at Icolmkill;^ but his own style being exceedingly dry and hard, he disapproved of the rich- ness of Johnson's language, and of his frequent use of metaphorical expressions. Johnson. " Why, Sir, this criticism would be just, if in my style, superfluous words, or words too big for the thoughts, could be pointed out ; but this I do not believe can be done. For instance ; in the passage which Lord Monboddo admires, ' We were now treading that illustrious re- gion,' the word illustrious^ contributes nothing to the mere narration ; for the fact might be told without it : but it is not, therefore, superfluous ; for it wakes the mind to peculiar attention, where something of more than usual importance is to be presented. ' Illustri- ous !' — for what \ and then the sentence proceeds to expand the circumstances connected with lona. And, Sir, as to metaphorical expression, that is a great ex- * " WE were now treading that illustrious island, which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge, and the blessings of religion. To abstract the mind from all local emotion would be impossible, if it were endeavoured, and would be fool- ish if it were possible. Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses, whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future, predominate over the present, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings. Far from me, and from my friends, be such frigid philosophy, as may conduct us, indifferent and unmoved, over any ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravcrv, or virtue. The man is little to be envied, whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of lona." Had our Tour produced nothing else but this sublime passage, the world must have acknowledged that it was not made in vain. Sir Joseph Banks, the present respectable President of the Royal Society, told me, he was so much struck 00 reading it, that he clasped his hands together, and remained for some time in »a attitude pf silent admir%. mons left for publication by the Reverend John Tay- lor, LL. D." our conviction will be complete. 1, however, would not have it thought, that Dr. Taylor, though he could not write like Johnson, (as, indeed, who could ?) did not sometimes compose ser- mons as good as those which we generally have from very respectable divines. He shewed me one with notes on the margin in Johnson*s hand-writing ; and I was present when he read another to Johnson, that he might have his opinion of it, and Johnson said it was " very well." These, we may be sure, were not John- son's ; for he was above little arts, or tricks of decep- tion. Johnson was by no means of opinion, that every man of a learned profession should consider it as incumbent upon him, or as necessary to his credit, to appear as an authour. When in the ardour of ambition for literary fame, I regretted to him one day that an eminent Judge had nothing of it, and therefore would leave no perpet- ual monument of himself to posterity ; " Alas, Sir, (said Johnson) what a mass of confusion should we have, if every Bishop, and every Judge, every Lawyer, Physi- cian, and Divine, were to write books." I mentioned to Johnson a respectable person of a very strong mind, who had little of that tenderness which is common to human nature ; as an instance of which, when I suggested to him that he should invite his son, who had been settled ten years in foreign parts, to come home and pay him a visit, his answer was. " No, no, let him mind his business." Johnson. " 1 do not agree with him. Sir, in this. Getting money is not all a man's business : to cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life." In the evening, Johnson being in very good spirits, entertained us with several characteristical portraits, I regret that any of them escaped my retention and dili- gence. 1 found from experience, that to collect my friend's conversation so as to exhibit it with any degree 432 THE LIFE OF 1777. of its original flavour, it was necessary to write it down SaT ^v'thout delay. To record his sayings, after some dis- cs. * tanceof time, was like preserving or pickling long-kept and faded fruits, or other vegetables, which, when in that state, have little or nothing of their taste when Fresh. I shall present my readers with a series of what I gathered this evening from the Johnsonian garden. " My friend, the late Earl of Corke, had a great de- sire to maintain the literary character of his family : he was a genteel man, but did not keep up the dignity of his rank. He was so generally civil, that nobody thanked him for it.^' " Did we not hear so much said of Jack Wilkes, we should think more highly of his conversation. Jack has a great variety of talk. Jack is a scholar, and Jack has the manners of a gentleman. But after hearing his name sounded from pole to pole, as the phoenix of convivial felicity, we are disappointed in his company. He has always been at me : but I would do Jack a kindness, rather than not. The contest is now over." " Garrick's gaiety of conversation has delicacy and elegance : Foote makes you laugh more ; but Foote has the air of a buffoon paid for entertaining the com- pany. He, indeed, well deserves his hire." " Colley Cibber once consulted me as to one of his birth-day Odes, a long time before it was wanted. I objected very freely to several passages. Cibber lost patience, and would not read his Ode to an end. When we had done with criticism, we walked over to Rich- ardson's, the authour of ' Clarissa,* and I wondered to find Richardson displeased that 1 ' did not treat Cib- ber with more respect* Now, Sir, to talk of re^yy^t^ for a plaijer /" (smiling disdainfully.) Boswell. " There, Sir, you are always heretical : you never will allow merit to a player." Johnson. " Merit, Sir, what merit ! Do you respect a rope-dancer, or a bal- lad singer ?" Boswell. " No, Sir : but we respect a great player, as a man who can conceive lofty senti- ments, and can express them gracefully." Johnson. " What, Sir, a fellow who claps a bump on his back, DR. JOHNSON. 4.^'3 and a iLimj) on his leg, and cries, ' I am Richard the ^111' Thin/ /' Nay, Sir, a ballad-singer is a higher man, tor ^^^ he docs two things ; he repeats and he sings : there is cs. both recitation and niusick in his perlbrniance : the player only recites." Boswell. " My dear Sir ! yon may turn any thing into ridicule. 1 allow, that a player of farce is not entitled to respect ; he does a little thing : but he who can represent exalted charac- ters, and touch the noblest passions, has very respect- able powers ; and mankind have agreed in admiring great talents for the stage. We must consider, too, that a great player does what very few are capable to do : his art is a very rare faculty. Who can repeat Hamlet's soliloquy, ' To be, or not to be,' as Garrick does it ?" Johnson. " Any body may. Jemmy, there, (a boy about eight years old, who was in the room) will do it as well in a week." Bos well. '• No, no, Sir : and as a proof of the merit of great acting, and of the value which mankind set upon it, Glarrick has got a hundred thousand pounds." Johnson. " Is getting a hundred thousand pounds a proof of excel- lence I That has been done by a scoundrel commis- sary." This was most fallacious reasoning. I was sure, for once, that 1 had the best side of the argument. I boldly maintained the just distinction between a tra- gedian and a mere theatrical droll ; between those who rouse our terrour and pity, and those who only make us laugh. If (said i) Betterton and Foote were to walk into this room, you would respect Betterton much more than Foote." Johnson. " If Betterton were to walk into this room with Foote, Foote would soon drive him out of it. Foote, Sir, quutenics Foote, hay powers superiour to them all." On Monday, September 22, when at breakfast, I unguardedly said to Dr. Johnson, " I wish I saw you and Mrs. Macaulay together." He grew very angry ; and, after a pause, while a cloud gathered on his brow, he burst out, " No, Sir ; you would not see us quar- rel, to make you sport. Don't you know that it is very uncivil to pit two people against one another ?" VOL. II. 55 434 THE LIFE OF 5777. Then, checking himself, and wishing to be more gentle, ^^^ he added, " 1 do not say you should be hanged or 68. drowned for this ; but it is very uncivil." Dr. Taylor thought him in the wrong, and spoke to him privately of it ; but I afterwards acknowledged to Johnson that I was to blame, for I candidly owned, that 1 meant to express a desire to see a contest between Mrs. Macau- lay and him ; but then I knew how the contest would end ; so that I was to see him triumph. Johnson. " Sir, you cannot be sure how a contest will end ; and no man has a right to engage two people in a dispute by which their passions may be inflamed, and they may part with bitter resentment against each other. I would sooner keep company with a man from whom I must guard my pockets, than with a man who contrives to bring me into a dispute with somebody that he may hear it. This is the great fault of , (naming one of our friends) endeavouring to introduce a sub- ject upon which he knows two people in the company differ." Bos well. " But he told me, Sir, he does it for instruction." Johnson. " Whatever, the motive be, Sir, the man who does so, does very wrong. He has no more right to instruct himself at such risk, than he has to make two people fight a duel, that he may learn how to defend himself." He found great fault with a gentleman of our ac- quaintance for keeping a bad table. " Sir, (said he,) when a man is invited to dinner, he is disappointed if he does not get something good. I advised Mrs. Thrale, who has no card-parties at her house, to give sweet-meats, and such good things, in an evening, as are not commonly given, and she would find company enough come to her ; for every body loves to have things which please the palate put in their way, with- out trouble or preparation." Such was his attention to the m'mutue of life and manners. He thus characterised the Duke of Devonshire, grandfather of the present representative of that very respectable family : " He was not a man of superiour abilities, but he was a man strictly faithful to his word. If for instance, he had promised you an acorn, and none DR. JOHNSON. a:}.') had grown that year in his woods, he would not have 1777. contented himself with that excuse : he would have ^^^^ sent to Denmark for it. So unconditional was he in 6'8. keeping his word ; so high as to the point of honour." This was a liberal testimony from the Tory Johnson to the virtue of a great Whig nobleman. Mr. Burke's " letter to the Sherilis of Bristol, on thrt aft'airs of America," being mentioned, Johnson censur- ed the composition much, and he ridiculed the defini- tion of a free government, viz. " For any practical purpose, it is what the people think so."' — " I will let the King of France govern me on those conditions, (said he,) for it is to be governed just as 1 please." And when Dr. Taylor talked of a girl being sent to a parish workhouse, and asked how much she could be obliged to work I " Why, (said Johnson,) as much as is reasonable : and what is that I as much as she thinks reasonable." Dr. Johnson obligingly proposed to carry me to see Islam, a romantick scene, now belonging to a family of the name of Port, but formerly the seat of the Con- greves. I suppose it is well described in some of the Tours. Johnson described it distinctly and vividly, at which I could not but express to him my wonder ; because, though my eyes, as he observed, were better than his, I could not by any means equal him in rep- resenting visible objects. I said, the difference between us in this respect was as that between a man who has a bad instrument, but plays well on it, and a man who has a good instrument, on which he can play very im- perfectly. I recollect a very fine amphitheatre, surrounded with hills covered with woods, and walks neatly formed along the side of a rocky steep, on the quarter next the house, with recesses under projections of rock, overshadowed with trees ; in one of which recesses, we were told, Congreve wrote his " Old Bachelor." We viewed a remarkable natural curiosity at Jslam ; two rivers bursting near each other from the rock, not from immediate springs, but after having run for many * Edit. 2, p. 53. 436 THE LIFE OF 1777. miles under ground. Plott, in his " History of Stal- ^taT t<^J'dshire/'* gives an account of this curiosity ; but 68. Johnson would not behave it, though we had the attestation of the gardener, who said, he had put in corks, where the river Manyfold sinks into the ground, and had catched them in a net, placed before one of the openings where the water bursts out. Indeed, such subterraneous courses of water are found in va- rious parts of our globe.'' Talking of Dr. Johnson's unwillingness to believe extraordinary things, 1 ventured to say. Sir, you come near Hume's argument against miracles, " That it is more probable witnesses should lie, or be mistaken, than that they should happen.'^ Johnson. " Why, Sir, Hume, taking the proposition simply, is right. But the Christian revelation is not proved by the mir- acles alone, but as connected with prophecies, and with the doctrines in confirmation of which the miracles were wrought." iie re{>eated his observation, that the differences among Christians are really of no consequence. " For instance, (said he,) if a Protestant objects to a Papist, ' You worship images ;' the Papist can answer, ' 1 do not insist on your doing it ; you may be a very good Papist without it : 1 do it only as a help to my devo- tion." I said, the great article of Christianity is the revelation of immortality. Johnson admitted it was. In the evening, a gentleman-farmer, who was on a visit at Dr. Taylor's, attempted to dispute with John- son in favour of Mungo Campbell, who shot Alexan- der, Earl of Eglintoune, upon his having fallen, when retreating from his Lordship, who he believed was about to seize his gun, as he had threatened to do. He said, he should have done just as Campbell did. Johnson. " Whoever would do as Campbell did, de- serves to be hanged ; not that 1 could, as a juryman, have found him legally guilty of murder ; but 1 am glad they found means to convict him." The gentle- ^ Page 89. ' See Plott's " History of Staffordshire," p. S8, and the autliorities referred to by him. DR. JOHNSON. 4*37 man-farmer said, '' A poor man has as much honour »777. as a rich man ; and Campbell had that to defend." J^^ Johnson exclaimed, " A ])oor man has no honour." cs. The linglish yeoman, not dismayed, proceeded : " Lord Eghntoune was a damned fool to run on upon Camp- bell, after being warned that Campbell would shoot him if he did." Johnson, who could not Ix.nir any thing like swearing, angrily replied, " He was not a damned fool : he only thought too well of Campbell. lie did not believe Campbell would be such a damned scoundrel, as to do so damned a thing." His emphasis on damned^ accompanied with frowning looks, reproved his opponent's want of decorum in his presence. Talking of the danger of being mortified by rejection, when making approaches to the acquaintance of the great, 1 observed, " 1 am, however, generally for trying, * Nothing venture, nothing have." Johnson. " Very true, Sir ; but I have always been more afraid of failing, than hopeful of success." And, indeed, though he had all just respect for rank, no man ever less courted the favour of the great. During this interview at Ashbourne, Johnson seemed to be more uniformly social, cheerful, and alert, than I had almost ever seen him. He was prompt on great occasions and on small. Taylor, who praised every thing of his own to excess, in short, " whose geese were all swans," as the proverb says, expatiated on the excellence of his bull-dog, which he told us, was " per- fectly well shaped." Johnson, after examining the an- imal attentively, thus repressed the vain-glory of our host : — " No, Sir, he is not well shaped ; for there is not the quick transition from the thicknessof the fore-part, to the tenuitij — the thin part — behind, — which a bull- dog ought to have." This tenuity, was the only hard Tvord that 1 heard him use during this interview, and it will be observed, he instantly put another expression in its place. Taylor said, a small bull-dog was as good as a large one. Johnson. " No, Sir ; for, in proportion to his size, he has strength : and your argument would prove, that a good bull-dog may be as small as a mouse." It was amazing how he entered with perspicuity and 438 THE LIFE OF 1777. keenness upon every thing that occurred in convcrsa- ^^ tion. Most men, whom I know, would no more think Ss. ' of discussing a question about a bull-dog, than of at- tacking a bull. I cannot allow any fragment whatever that floats in my memory concerning the great subject of this work to be lost. Though a small particular may appear tri- fling to some, it will be relished by others ; while every \ little spark adds something to the general blaze : and to please the true, candid, warm admirers of Johnson, and in any degree increase the splendour of his reputation, I bid defiance to the shafts of ridicule, or even of ma- lignity. Showers of them have been discharged at my *' Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides;" yet it still sails unhurt along the stream of time, and as an attendant upon Johnson, " Pursues the triumph, and partakes the gale.'^ One morning after breakfast, when the sun shone bright, we walked out together, and " pored" for some time with placid indolence upon an artificial water-fall, which Dr. Taylor had made by building a strong dyke of stone across the river behind the garden. It was now somewhat obstructed by branches of trees and other rubbish, which had come down the river, and settled close to it. Johnson, partly from a desire to see it play more freely, and partly from that inclination to activity which will animate, at times, the most inert and slug- gish mortal, took a long pole which was lying on a bank, and pushed down several parcels of this wreck with painful assiduity, while 1 stood quietly by, wondering to behold the sage thus curiously employed, and smil- ing with an humorous satisfaction each time when he carried his point. He worked till he was quite out of breath ; and having found a large dead cat so heavy that he could not move it after several efforts, " Come," said he, (throwing down the pole,) " i/ou shall take it BOW ; which I accordingly did, and being a fresh man, soon made the cat tumble over the cascade. This may be laughed at as too trifling to record ; but it is a small characteristic trait in the Flemish picture which 1 give of my friend, and in which, therefore, 1 mark the most DR. JOHNSON. 439 minute particulars. And let it be remembered, that ^777. *' Asop at play" is one of the instructive apologues of JJ^ antiquity. (is. 1 mentioned an old gentleman of our acquaintance whose memory was beginning to fail. Johnson. *' There must be a diseased mind, where there is a fail- ure of memory at seventy. A man's head, Sir, must be morbid, if he fails so soon." My friend, being now himself sixty-eight, might think thus: but 1 imagine, that threescore and ten ^ the Psahiiist's period of sound human life in later ages, may have a failure, though there be no disease in the constitution. .Talking of Rochester's Poems, he said, he had given them to iSlr. Steevens to castrate^ for the edition of the poets, to which he was to write Prefaces. Dr. Taylor (the only time 1 ever heard him sav any thing witty) !> observed, that " if Rochester had been castrated him- self, his exceptionable poems would not have been written." 1 asked if Burnet had not given a good Life of Rochester. Johnson. " We have a good Death : there is not much Life." I asked whether Prior's po- ems were to be printed entire : Johnson said, they were. I mentioned Lord Plailes's censure of Prior, in his Pre- face to a collection of " Sacred Poems," by various hands, published by him at Edinburgh a great many years ago, where he mentions, " those impure tales which will be the eternal opprobrium of their ingenious authour." Johnson. " Sir, Lord Hailes has forgot. There is nothing in Prior that will excite to lewdness. If Lord Ilailes thinks there is, he must be more com- bustible than other people." I instanced the tale of " Paulo Purganti and his Wife." Johnson. " Sir, there is nothing there, but that his wife wanted to be kissed, when poor Paulo was out of pocket. No, Sir, Prior is a lady's book. No lady is ashamed to have it standing in her library." The hypochondriack disorder being mentioned, Dr. Johnson did not think it so common as 1 supposed. ' [This was unuecessary, for it had been done in the early part of the present century, by Jacob Tonsoa. M.] I am told, that Horace £arl of Orford had » coUcccioa of Bori'Motf by persODs whd never »aid but one. 440 THE LIFE OF 1777- " Dr. Taylor (said he) is the same one day as another, "^^ Burke and Reynolds are the same, Ijeauclerk, except 68. when in pain, is the same. I am not so myself; but this 1 do not mention commonly." I complained of a wretched changefulness, so that I. could not preserve, for any long continuance, the same views of any thing. It was most comfortable to me to experience, in Dr. Johnson's company, a relief from this uneasiness. His steady vigorous mind held firm before me those objects which my own feeble and trem- ulous imagination frequently presented, in such a wav- ering state, that my reason could not judge well of them. Dr. Johnson advised me to-day, to have as mapy books about me as 1 could ; that 1 might read upon any subject upon which I had a desire for instruction at the time. " What you read t/ien, (said he,) you will re- member ; but if you have not a book immediately ready, and the subject moulds in your mind, it is a chance if you have again a desire to study it." He added, " If a man never has an eager desire for instruction, he should prescribe a task for himself. But it is better when a man reads from immediate inclination." He repeated a good many lines of Horace's Odes, while we were in the chaise, I remember particularly the Ode " Kliciifagaces?^ He said, the dispute as to the comparative excellence of Homer or Virgil' was inaccurate. " We must con- sider (said he) whether Homer was not the greatest poet, though Virgil may have produced the finest po- em.^ Virgil was indebted to Homer for the whole in- vention of the structure of an epick poem, and for many of his beauties." He told me, that Bacon was a favourite authour with him ; but he had never read his works till he was com- piling the English Dictionary, in which he said, I might ' I am infonned by Mr. Langton, that a great many years ago he was present when this question was agitated between Dr. Johnson and Mr. Burke ; and, to use Johnson's phra.;e, they " talked their best ;" Johnson for Homer, Burke for Virgil. It may well be supposed to have been one of the ablest and most brilliant contests that ever was exhibited. How much must we regret that it has not been preserved. - [But where is the inaccuracy, if the admirers of Homer contend, that he was not only prior to Virgil in point of time, but superior in excelieace ? J. B. — O.] DR. JOHNSON. 441 see t^acon very often q noted. Mr. Seward recollects '777. his having mentioned, that a Dictionary of the English ^^^ Language miglit be compiled from liacon's writings (ig. alone, and that he had once an intention of giving an edition of Bacon, at least of his English works, and writing the Life of that great man. J lad he ex(>cnted this intention, there can be no doubt that he would have done it in a most masterly manner. JNIallet's l^ife of Bacon has no inconsiderable merit as an acute and ele- gant dissertation relative to its subject ; but Mallet's nnind was not comprehensive enough to embrace the vast extent of Lord Verulam's genius and research. Dr. Warburton therefore observed, with witty justness, " that Mallet in his Life of Bacon had forgotten that he was a philosopher ; and if he should write the Life of the Duke of ^larlborough, which he had undertaken to do, he would probably forget that he was a General." Wishing to be satisfied what degree of truth there was in a story which a friend of Johnson's and mine had told me to his disadvantage, 1 mentioned it to him in di- rect terms ; and it was to this effect : that a gentleman who had lived in great intimacy with him, shewn him much kindness, and even relieved him, from a spung- ing-house, having afterwards fallen into bad circum- stances, was one day, when Johnson was at dinner with him, seized for debt, and carried to prison ; that John- son sat still undisturbed, and went on eating and drink- ing; upon which the gentleman's sister, who was pres- ent, could not suppress her indignation : " What, Sir, (said she,) are you so unfeeling, as not even to offer to go to my brother in his distress ; you who have been so much obliged to him?" And that Johnson answered, " Madam, i owe him no obligation ; what he did for me he would have done for a dog." Johnson assured me, that the story was absolutely ^fiilse : but like a man conscious of being in the right, and desirous of completely vindicating himself from such a charge, he did not arrogantly rest on a mere de- nial, and on his general character, but proceeded thus: — " Sir, I was very intimate with that gentleman, and was once relieved by him from an arrest ; but 1 never VOL. II. 56 442 THE LIFE OF 1777. was present when he was arrested, never knew that he was arrested, and I beheve he never was in difficulties after the time when he reheved me. 1 loved him much : yet, in talking ot his general character, 1 may have said, though I do not remember that I ever did say so, that cis his generosity proceeded from no principle, but was a part of bis profusion, he would do for a dog what he would do for a friend : but I never applied this remark to any particular instance, and certainly not to his kindness to nie. If a profuse man, who does not value his money, and gives a large sum to a whore, gives half as much, or an equally large sum to relieve a friend, it cannot be esteemed as virtue. This was all that 1 could say of that gentleman ; and, if said at all, it must have been said alter his death. Sir, 1 would have gone to the world's end to relieve him. The remark about the dog, if made by me, was such a sally as might escape one when painting a man highly." On Tuesday, September 23, Johnson was remarka- bly cordial to me. It being necessary for me to return lo Scotland soon, I had fixed on the next day for my setting out, and I felt a tender concern at the thought of parting with him. He had, at this time, frankly com- municated to me many particulars, which are inserted in this work in their proper places ; and once, when I happened to mention that the expence of my jaunt would come to much more than 1 had computed, he said, " Why, Sir, if the expence were to be an incon- venience, you would have reason to regret it : but, if you have had the money to spend, I know not that you could have purchased as much pleasure with it in any other way." During this interview at Ashbourne, Johnson and 1 frequently talked with wonderful pleasure of mere trifles which had occurred in our tour to the Hebrides ; for it had left a most agreeable and lasting impression upon his mind. He found fault with me for using the phrase to make money. " Don't you see (said he) the impropriety of it l To make money is to coin it : you should say gef money" The phrase, liowever, is, 1 think, pretty cur- DR. JOHNSON, 44:i vent. Hut Johnson was at all times jcmIous ol intVac- '777 tions upon the genuine English Language, and prompt jTi^ to repress colloquial barbarisms; such as />/tv/:,>7///,' )iui- (is. selj' ioY nn(lcriige- nuas didich fideliter artes, asked Mr. Mackurin, with a face of flippant assurance, " Are these words your own ?" DR. JOHNSON. 457 the lawfulness of a sfatus^ which has been acknowledg:- 1777. ed ill all ages and countries, and that when freedom ^^'^ flourished, as in old Greece and Rome. 68. " TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. " DEAR SIR, " This is the time of the year in which all express their good wishes to their friends, and 1 send mine to you and your family. May your lives be long, happy, and good. 1 have been much out of order, but, 1 hope, do not grow worse. " The crime of the schoolmaster whom you are en- gaged to prosecute is very great, and may be suspected to be too common. In our law it would be a breach of the peace and a misdemeanour : that is, a kind of indef- inite crime, not capital, but punishable at the discretion of the Court. You cannot want matter : all that needs to be said will easily occur. " Mr. Shaw, the authour of the Gaelick Grammar, desires me to make a request for him to Lord Eglin- toune, that he may be appointed Chaplain to one of the new-raised regiments. " All our friends are as they were ; little has hap- pened to them of either good or bad. Mrs. Thrale raa a great black hair-dressing pin into her eye ; but by great evacuation she kept it from inflaming, and it is almost well. Miss Reynolds has been out of order, but is better. Mrs. Williams is in a very poor state of health. " If I should write on, I should, perhaps, write only complaints, and therefore I will content myself with telling you, that I love to think on you, and to hear from you ; and that I am, dear Sir, " Yours faithfully, " December 27, 1777. " Sam. Johnson.^' " to dr. SAMUEL JOHNSON. " DEAR SIR, Edinburgh, Jan. 8, 177^. " Your congratulations upon a new year are mixed with complaint : mine must be so too. 'My VOL. IT- .§S ^' 45S THE LIFE OF 1778. wife has for some time been very ill, having been con- JJ^ fined to the house these three months by a severe cold, 69. * attended with alarming symptoms. [Here 1 gave a particular account of the distress which the person, upon every account most dear to me, suffered ; and of the dismal state of apprehension in which I now was : adding that I never stood more in need of his consoling philosophy.] " Did you ever look at a book written by Wilson, a Scotchman, under the Latin name of Volusenus, ac- cording to the custom of literary men at a certain period. It is entitled " De Animi Tranquillitate" I earnestly desire tranquillity. Bona res (juies ; but I fear I shall never attain it : for, when unoccupied, I grow gloomy, and occupation agitates me to feverishness. ****** " I am, dear Sir, " Your most affectionate humble servant, " James Boswell." " to james boswell, esq. " DEAR SIR, "To a letter so interesting as your last, it is proper to return some answer, however little 1 may be disposed to write. " Your alarm at your lady's illness was reasonable, and not disproportionate to the appearance of the dis- order. I hope your physical friend's conjecture is now verified, and all fear of a consumption at an end : a little care and exercise will then restore her. London is a good air for ladies ; and if you bring her hither, I will do for her what she did for me — 1 will retire from my apartments for her accommodation. Behave kind- ly to her, and keep her cheerful. " You always seem to call for tenderness. Know then, that in the first month of the present year 1 very highly esteem and very cordially love you. 1 hope to tell you this at the beginning of every year as long as we live ; and why should we trouble ourselves to tell or hear it often er ? DR. JOHNSON. ^5[i " Tell Veronica, Euphemia, and Alexander, that I '778. wish them, as well as their parents, many happy years. ^^[ " You have ended the negro's cause much to my 69. mind. Lord Auchinleck and dear Lord liailes were on the side of liberty. Lord Hailes's name reproaches me ; but if he saw my languid neglect of ray own affairs, he would rather pity than resent my neglect of his. 1 hope to mend, ui ct mihi vivam et amicis. I am, dear Sir, " Yours affectionately, " Januarif 24, 177^. " Sam. .Iohnson." " My service to my fellow-traveller, Joseph." Johnson maintained a long and intimate friendship with Mr. Welch, who succeeded the celebrated Henry Fielding as one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for Westminster ; kept a regular office for the police of that great district ; and discharged his important trust, for many years, faithfully and ably. Johnson, who had an eager and unceasing curiosity to know human life in all its variety, told me, that he attended Mr. Welch in his office for a whole winter, to hear the examinations of the culprits ; but that he found an almost uniform tenor of misfortune, wretchedness and proffigacy. Mr. Welch's health being impaired, he was advised to try the effect of a warm climate ; and Johnson, by his interest with Mr. Chamier, procured him leave of absence to go to Italy, and a promise that the pension or salary of two hundred pounds a year, which Government allowed him, should not be dis- continued. Mr. Welch accordingly went abroad, ac- companied by his daughter Anne, a young lady of uncommon talents and literature. " TO SAUNDERS WELCH, ESQ. AT THE ENGLISH COFFEE- HOUSE, ROME. " DEAR SIR, " To have suffered one of my best and dearest friends to pass almost two years in foreign countries without a letter, has a very shameful appearance of in- attention. But the truth is, that there was no particu- 460 XHE LIFE OF ^78. lar time in which I had any thing particular to say ; ^^^ and general expressions of good will, 1 hope, our long 69. friendship is grown too solid to want. " Of publick affairs you have information from the news-papers wherever you go, for the English keep no secret ; and of other things, Mrs. NoUekens informs you. My intelligence could therefore be of no use ; and Miss Nancy's letters made it unnecessary to write to you for information : I was likewise for some time out of humour, to find that motion, and nearer ap- proaches to the sun, did not restore your health so fast as [ expected. Of your health, the accounts have lately been more pleasing ; and 1 have the gratification of imaging to myself a length of years which I hope you have gained, and of which the enjoyment will be improved by a vast accession of images and observations which your journies and various residence have enabled you to make and accumulate. You have travelled with this felicity, almost pecuhar to yourself, that your companion is not to part from you at your journey's end ; but you are to live on together, to help each other's recollection, and to supply each other's omis- sions. The world has few greater pleasures than that which two friends enjoy, in tracing back, at some dis- tant time, those transactions and events through which they have passed together. One of the old man's mis- eries is, that he cannot easily find a companion able to partake with him of the past. You and your fellow- traveller have this comfort in store, that your conversa- ^ tion will be not easily exhausted ; one will always be glad to say what the other will always be willing to hear. " That you may enjoy this pleasure long, your health must have your constant attention. I suppose you propose to return this year. There is no need of haste : do not come hither before the height of summer, that you may fall gradually into the inconveniences of your native clime. July seems to be the proper month. August and September will pre)>are you for the winter. After having travelled so far to find health, you must take care not to lose it at home; and 1 hope a little care will effectually preserve it. DR. JOHNSON. 461 '* Miss Nancy has doubtless kept a constant and i778. copious journal. She must not expect to be welcome ^^ when she returns, without a great mass ot" information. 69. Let her review her journal often, and set down what she finds herself to have omitted, that she may trust to memory as little as possible, for meniory is soon con- fused by a quick succession of things ; and she will grow every day less confident of the truth of her own narratives, unless she can recur to some written memo- rials. If she has satisfied herself with hints, instead of full representations, let her supply the deficiencies now while her memory is yet fresh, and while her father's memory may help her. If she observes this direction, she will not have travelled in vain ; for she will bring home a book with which she may entertain herself to the end of life. If it were not now too late, 1 would advise her to note the impression which the first sight of any thing new and wonderful made upon her mind. Let her now set her thoughts down as she can recol- lect them ; for faint as they may already be, they will grow every day fainter. " Perhaps I do not flatter myself unreasonably when I imagine that you may wish to know something of me. 1 can gratify your benevolence with no account of health. The hand of time, or of disease, is very heavy upon me. 1 pass restless and uneasy nights, harassed with convulsions of my breast, and flatulen- cies at my stomach ; and restless nights make heavy days. Biit nothing will be mended by complaints, and therefore I will make an end. When we meet, we will try to forget our cares and our maladies, and contribute, as we can, to the chearfulness of each other. If I had. gone with you, 1 believe I should have been better i but I do not know that it was in my power. 1 am, dear Sir, " Your most humble servant, . *' Feb. 3, 1778. " Sam. Johnson." This letter, while it gives admirable advice how to travel to the best advantage, and will therefore be of 4(i2 THE LIFE OP 1778. very general use, is another eminent proof of Johnson's ^J^ warm and affectionate heart. * 69. " " TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. " MY DEAR SIR, Edinburgh, Feb. 26, 1778. " Why 1 have delayed, for near a month to thank you for your last affectionate letter, I cannot say ; for my mind has been in better health these three weeks than for some years past. 1 believe 1 have evaded till I could send you a copy of Lord Hailes's opinion on the negro's cause, which he wishes you to read, and correct any errours that there may be in the language ; for, (says he,) ' we live in a critical, though not a learned age ; and I seek to screen myself under the shield of Ajax.' 1 communicated to him your apology for keeping the sheets of his ' Annals' so long. He says, ' 1 am sorry to see that Dr. Johnson is in a state of languor. Why should a sober Christian, neither an enthusiast nor a fanatick, be very merry or very sad V I envy his Lordship's comfortable constitution ; but well do 1 know that languor and dejection will afflict the best, however excellent their principles. 1 am in possession of Lord Hailes's opinion in his own hand- writing, and have had it for some time. My excuse then for procrastination must be, that I wanted to have it copied ; and 1 have now put that off so long, that it will be better to bring it with me than send it, as I shall probably get you to look at it sooner, when I solicit you in person. " My wife, who is, I thank God, a good deal better, is much obliged to you for your very polite and cour- teous offer of your apartment : but, if she goes to London, it will be best for her to have lodgings in the more airy vicinity of Hyde-Park. I, however, doubt much if 1 shall be able to prevail with her to accom- ' The friendship between Mr. Welch and him was unbroken. Mr. Welch died aot many months before him, and bequeathed him five guineas for a ring, wiiich Johnson received with tenderness, as a kind memorial. His regard was constant for his friend Mr. Welch's daughters ; of wht.m, Jane is married to Mr. Noilekens the statuary, whose merit is too well known to require any praise from me. DR. JOHNSON. 46.*i pany me to the metropolis ; for she is so different '778. from you and me, that she dishkes travelling ; and she ^^^ is so anxious about her children, that she thinks she 69. should be unhappy if at a distance from them. She therefore wishes rather to go to some country place in Scotland, where she can have them with her. " 1 pur[)ose being in London about the 20th of next month, as 1 think it creditable to appear in the House of Lords as one of Douglas's Counsel, in the great and last competition between Duke Hamilton and him. ****** " I am sorry poor Mrs. Williams is so ill : though her temper is unpleasant, she has always been polite and obliging to me. 1 wish many happy years to good Mr. Levet, who I suppose holds his usual place at your breakfast-table.^ " 1 ever am, my dear Sir, " Your affectionate humble servant, " James Boswell." to the same. " MY DEAR SIR, Edmhiirgh, Feb. 28, 1778. " You are at present busy amongst the English poets, preparing, for the publick instruction and enter- tainment. Prefaces, biographical and critical. It will not, therefore, be out of season to appeal to you for the decision of a controversy which has arisen between a lady and me concerning a passage in Parnell. That poet tells us, that his Hermit quitted his cell ' to know the world by sight, ' To find if books or swai?is report it right ; ' (For yet by szi^aifis alone the world he knew, ' Whose feet came wand'ring o'er the nightly dew.)' ■ * Dr. Percy, the Bishop of Dromore, humorously observed, that Levet used to breakfast on the crust of a roll, which Johnson, after tearing out the crumb for himself, threw to his humble friend. [Perhaps the word thrrw is here too strong. Dr. Johnson never treated Levet with contempt ; it i; clear indeed from various circumstances that he had great kindness for liim. I have often seen Johnson at brealdast, accompanied, or rather :)ttendedi by Levet, who had always the management of the tea-kettle. M.] 464 THE LIFE OF 1778. I maintain, that there is an inconsistency here ; for as ^^ the Hermit's notions of the world were formed from 69.* the reports both of books and swains^ he could not just- ly be said to know by swains alone. Be pleased to judge between us, and let us have your reasons. ^ " What do you say to ' Taxation no Tyranny' now, after Lord North's declaration, or confession, or what- ever else his conciliatory speech should be called ] I never differed from you in politicks but upon two points, — the Middlesex Election, and the Taxation of the Americans by the British Houses of Representa- fives. There is a charm in the word Parliament, so I avoid it. As I am a steady and a warm Tory, 1 regret that the King does not see it to be better for him to receive constitutional supplies from his American sub- jects by the voice of their own assemblies, where his Royal Person is represented, than through the medium of his British subjects. I am persuaded that the power of the Crown, which I wish to increase, would be greater when in contact with all its dominions, than if ' the rays of regal bounty'* were ' to shine' upon America, through that dense and troubled body, a modern British Parliament. But, enough of this sub- ject ; for your angry voice at Ashbourne upon it, still sounds aweful ' in my mind's ears.' I ever am, my dear Sir, " Your most affectionate humble servant, " James Boswell." to the same. "my dear sir, Edinburgh, March 19, 1778. " The alarm of your late illness distressed me but a few hours ; for on the evening of the day that it reached me, I found it contradicted in ' The London Chronicle,' which I could depend upon as authentick concerning you, Mr. Strahan being the printer of it. I 3 [ See this subject discussed in a subsequent page, under May 3, 1779. M.] ■• Alluding to a line in his " Vanity of Human Wishes," describing Cardinal ^'^''olsey in his state of elevation : " Through him the rays of regal bounty shine." DR. JOHNSON. 465 did not see the paper in which ' the approaching ex- 1778. tinction of a bright luminary' was announced. Sir J^^ William Forbes told me of it ; and he says he saw me (ig. so uneasy, that he did not give me the report in such strong terms as he read it. He afterwards sent me a letter from Mr. Langton to him, which relieved me much. 1 am, however, not quite easy, as I have not heard from you ; and now 1 shall not have that com- fort before 1 see you, for I set out for London to-mor- row before the post comes in. 1 hope to be with you on Wednesday morning ; and 1 ever am, with the highest veneration, my dear Sir, your most obliged, faithful, and affectionate, " Humble servant, " James Boswell." On Wednesday, March 18, I arrived in London, and was informed by good Mr. Francis, that his master was better, and was gone to Mr. Thrale's at Streat- ham, to which place 1 wrote to him, begging to know when he would be in town. He was not expected for some time ; but next day having called on Dr. Fay- lor, in Dean's-yard, Westminster, 1 found him there, and was told he had come to town for a few hours. He met me with his usual kindness, but instantly re- turned to the writing of something on which he was employed when I came in, and on which he seemed much intent. Finding him thus engaged, I made my visit very short, and had no more of his conversation, except his expressing a serious regret that a friend of ours was living at too much expence, considering how poor an appearance he made : " If (said he) a man has splendour from his expence, if he spends his money in pride or in pleasure, he has value : but if he lets others spend it for him, which is most commonly the case, he has no advantage from it." On Friday, March 20, I found him at his own house, sitting with Mrs. Williams, and was informed that the room formerly allotted to me was now appro- priated to a charitable purpose ; Mrs. Desmouiiiis,' ' Daughter of Dr. Swinfcn, Johnson's godfather, and widow of Mr. Dcsnioiilins, a writing-master. \'(M . I ! .39 466 THE LIFE OF '778. and I think her daughter, and a Miss Carmichael, ^g^ being all lodged in it. Such was his humanity, and 6g. such his generosity, that Mrs. Desmoulins herself told me, he allowed her half-a-guinea a week. Let it be remembered, that this was above a twelfth part of his pension. His liberality, indeed, was at all periods of his life very remarkable. Mr. Howard, of Lichfield, at whose father's house Johnson had in his early years been kindly received, told me, that when he was a boy at the Charter-house, his father wrote to him to go and pay a visit to Mr. Samuel Johnson, which he accord- ingly did, and found him in an upper room, of poor appearance. Johnson received him with much cour- teousness, and talked a great deal to him, as to a school-boy, of the course of his education, and other particulars. When he afterwards came to know and understand the high character of this great man, he recollected his condescension with wonder. He added, that when he was going away, Mr. Johnson presented him with half-a-guinea ; and this, said Mr. Howard, was at a time when he probably had not another. We retired from Mrs. Williams to another room. Tom Davies soon after joined us. He had now un- fortunately failed in his circumstances, and was much indebted to Dr. Johnson's kindness for obtaining for him many alleviations of his distress. After he went away, Johnson blamed his folly in quitting the stage, by which he and his wife got five hundred pounds a year. I said, I believed it was owing to Churchill's attack upon him, " He mouths a sentence, as curs mouth a bone.'* Johnson. " I believe so too. Sir. But what a man is he, who is to be driven from the stage by a line ? Another line would have driven him from his shop.'' I told him that 1 was engaged as Counsel at the bar of the House of Commons to oppose a road bill in the county of Stirling, and asked him what mode he would advise me to follow in addressing such an audience. Johnson, " Why, Sir, you must provide yourself with DK. JOHNSON. 467 a good deal of extraneous matter, whicli you are to ^776. produce occasionally, so as to fill up the time ; for you ^Q[ must consider, that they do not listen much. It you tuj. begin with the strength of your cause, it may be lost before they begin to listen. When you catch a mo- ment of attention, press the merits of the question upon them." He said, as to one point of the merits, that he thought, " it would be a wrong thing to deprive the small landholders of the privilege of assessing them- selves for making and repairing the high roads ; if ivas ilestroifiug a certain portion of liberty, xoitliout a good reason, which zcas ahvaifs a bad thmg.^' When I men- tioned this observation next day to Mr. Wilkes, he pleasantly said, " What ! does he talk of liberty '. Libert 1/ is as ridiculous in his mouth as Religion in mine." Mr. Wilkes's advice as to the best mode of speaking at the bar of the House of Commons, was not more respectful towards the senate, than that of Dr. Johnson. " Be as impudent as you can, as merry as you can, and say whatever comes uppermost. Jack Lee is the best heard there of any Counsel ; and he is the most impudent dog, and always abusing us." In my interview with Dr. Johnson this evening, 1 was quite easy, quite as his companion ; upon which I find in my Journal the following reflection : " So ready is my mind to suggest matter for dissatisfaction, that I felt a sort of regret that I was so easy. 1 missed that aweful reverence with which I used to contem- plate Mr. Samuel Johnson, in the complex magni- tude of his literary, moral, and religious character. J have a wonderful superstitious love oi mystery ; when, perhaps, the truth is, that it is owing to the cloudy darkness of my own mind. 1 should be glad that 1 am more advanced in my progress of being, so that I can view Dr. Johnson with a steadier and clearer eye. My dissatisfaction to-night was foolish. Would it not be foolish to regret that we shall have less mystery in a future state ? That ' we now see in a glass darkly,' but shall ' then see face to face V — This reflection, which I thus freelv communicate, will be valued by the 468 THE LIFE OF 1778. thinking part of my readers, who may have themselves iEtat experienced a similar state of mind. 69. He returned next day to Streatham, to Mr. Thrale^s ; where, as Mr. Strahan once complained to me, " he was in a great measure absorbed from the society of his old friends." 1 was kept in London by business, and wrote to him on the 27th, that a separation from him for a week, when we were so near, was equal to a separation for a year, when we were at four hundred miles distance. I went to Streatham on Monday, March 30. Before he appeared, Mrs. Thrale made a very characteristical remark : — " I do not know for certain what will please Dr. Johnson : but I know for certain that it will displease him to praise any thing, even what he likes, extravagantly.^^ At dinner he laughed at querulous declamations against the age, on account of luxury, — increase of London, — scarcity of provisions, — and other such top- icks. " Houses (said he) will be built till rents fall ; and corn is more plentiful now than ever it was." 1 had before dinner repeated a ridiculous story told me by an old man, who had been a passenger with me in the stage-coach to-day. Mrs. Thrale, having taken occasion to allude to it, in talking to me, called it " The story told you by the old zooman."—'-'' Now, Madam, (said I,) give me leave to catch you in the fact : it was not an old ii)oman, but an old man, whom 1 mentioned as having told me this." I presumed to take an op- portunity, in presence of Johnson, of shewing this lively lady how ready she was, unintentionall}', to devi- ate from exact authenticity of narration. " Thomas a Kempis (he observed) must be a good book, as the world has opened its arms to receive it. It is said to have been printed, in one language or other, as many times as there have been months since it first came out.*^ 1 always was struck with this sentence in it : ' Be not angry that you cannot make others as you ' [The first edition was in 1492. Between that period and 1792, according to this account, there were three thousand six hundred editions. But this is very im- probable. M.] DR. JOHNSON. 469 Wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as i778. you wish to be."^ ^taT He said, " I was angry with Hurd about Cowley, for eg. having published a selection of his works : but, upon better consideration, 1 think there is no impropriety in ;i man's publishing as much as he chooses of any authour, if he does not put the rest out of the way. A man, for instance, may print the Odes of Horace alone." He seemed to be in a more indulgent humour, than when this subject was discussed between him and Mr. Murphy. When we were at tea and coffee, there came in Lord Trimlestown, in whose family was an ancient Irish peerage, but it suffered by taking the generous side in the troubles of the last century^ He was a man of pleasing conversation, and was accompanied by a young gentleman, his son. i mentioned that I had in my possession the Life of Sir Robert Sibbald, the celebrated Scottish antiquary, and founder of the Royal College of Physicians at Ed- inburgh, in the original manuscript in his own hand writing ; and that it was, 1 believed, the most natural and candid account of himself that ever was given by any man. As an instance, he tells that the Duke of Perth, then Chancellor of Scotland, pressed him very much to come over to the Roman Catholick faith : that he resisted all his Grace's arguments for a considerable time, till one day he felt himself, as it were, instanta- neously convinced, and with tears in his eyes ran into the Duke's arms, and embraced the ancient religion ; that he continued very steady in it for some time, and accompanied his Grace to London one winter, and lived in his household ; that there he found the rigid fasting prescribed by the church very severe upon him ; that this disposed him to reconsider the controversy, and ' [The original passage is : Si non potes te talem facere, qualem vis, quomodo poteris alium ad tuum habere beneplacitum ? De Imit. Christ. Lib. i. Cap. xvi. J. B.— O.] ' [Since this was written, the attainder has been reversed ; and Nicholas Barne^ wall 13 now a peer of Ireland with this title. The person mentioned in the text had studied physick, and prescribed gratis to the poor. Hence aroic the subse- .quent conversation. M.] 470 THE LIFE OP 1778. having then seen that he was in the wrong, he return- ^J^ ed to Protestantism. I talked of some time or other 69. pubHshing this curious Hfe. Mrs. Thrale. " I think you had as well let alone that publication. To discov- er such weakness exposes a man when he is gone.^' Johnson. " Nay, it is an honest picture of human nature. How often are the primar}^ motives of our greatest actions as small as Sibbald's, for his re-conver- sion." Mrs. Thrale. " But mav they not as well be forgotten ?" Johnson. " No, Madam, a man loves to review his own mind. That is the use of a diary, or journal." Lord Trimlestown. " True, Sir. As the Jadies love to see themselves in a glass ; so a man likes to see himself in his journal." Boswell. " A very pretty allusion." Johnson. " Yes, indeed." Bos- well. " And as a lady adjusts her dress before a mir- rour, a man adjusts his character by looking at his jour- nal." 1 next year found the very same thought in At- terbury's " Funeral Sermon on Lady Cutts ;" where having mentioned her Diary, he says, " In this glass she every day dressed her mind." This is a proof of coincidence, and not of plagiarism ; for I had never read that sermon before. Next morning, while w^e were at breakfast, Johnson gave a very earnest recommendation of what he himself practised with the utmost conscientiousness : I mean a strict attention to truth, even in the most minute par- ticulars. " Accustom your children (said he) constant- ly to this ; if a thing happened at one window, and they, when relating it, say that it happened at another, do not let it pass, but instantly check them; you do not know where deviation from truth will end." Boswell. " It may come to the door : and when once an account is at all varied in one circumstance, it may by degrees be varied so as to be totally different from what really happened." Our lively hostess, whose fancy was im- patient of the reiii, fidgeted at this, and ventured to say, " Nay, this is too much. If Mr. Johnson should forbid me to drink tea, 1 would comply, as 1 should feel the restraint only twice a day ; but little variations in narrative must happen a thousand times a day, if \)H. JOHNSON. 47 I one is not perpetually watching." Johnson. " Well, '77». Madam, anil you unL{/t/ to be |Ki|)(tually watching. It ^gj^ is more hom carelessness about truth than from inten- G;>. tional lying, that there is so much falsehood in the world." In his review of Dr. Warton's " Essay on the Writ- ings and Genius of Pope," Johnson has given the fol- lowing salutary caution upon this subject : " Nothing but experience could evince the frequency of false information, or enable any man to conceive that so - many groundless reports should be propagated, as every man of eminence may hear of himself. Some men re- late what they think, as what they know ; some men of confused memories and habitual inaccuracy, ascribe to one man what belongs to another ; and some talk on, without thought or care. A few men are sufficient to broach falsehoods, which are afterwards innocently diffused by successive relators. "' H^d he lived to read what Sir John Hawkins and Mrs. Piozzi have re- lated concerning himself, how much would he have found his observation illustrated. He was indeed so much impressed with the prevalence of falsehood, vol- untary or unintentional, that I never knew any person who upon hearing an extraordinary circumstance told, discovered more of the incredulus odi. He would say with a significant look and decisive tone, " It is not so. Do not tell this again."' He inculcated upon all his friends the importance of perpetual vigilance against the slightest degrees of falsehood ; the effect of which, as Sir Joshua Reynolds observed to me, has been, that all who were of his school dixe distinguished for a love of truth and accuracy, which they would not have possessed in the same degree, if they had not been ac([uainted with Johnson. ' Literary Magazine, 1756", p. 37. ' Tlic following plausible hut over-prudent counsel on this suhject is given by ■xn Italian %vriter, quoted hy " Rhfdidc generaiUjiie Inscctartnnr with the epithet oj" ■' tini'ini jiottjr' " Semprc a quel "Vtr cb'ufiuc'ia dl menzorriia " Dee I'uom chiudi-re le labbra quanta ei puotc ; " Pfrl cbcz ztnzii n^pa f.i -argogiuP 4-72 THE LIFE OF 1778. Talking of ghosts, he said, " It is wonderful that five ^yy thousand years have now elapsed since the creation of (^g^ ' the world, and still it is undecided whether or not there has ever been an instance of the spirit of any person appearing after death. All argument is against it ; but all belief is for it." He said, " John Wesley's conversation is good, but he is never at leisure. He is always obliged to go at a certain hour. This is very disagreeable to a man who loves to fold his legs and have out his talk, as 1 do." On Friday, April 3, 1 dined with him in London, in a company where were present several eminent men, whom I shall not name, but distinguish their parts in the conversation by different letters. F. " I have been looking at this famous antique marble dog of Mr. Jennings, valued at a thousand guineas, said to be Alcibiades's dog." Johnsok. " His tail then must be docked. That was the mark of Alcibiades's dog." E. " A thousand guineas ! The representation of no animal whatever is worth so much. At this rate a dead dog would indeed be better than a living lion." Johnson. " Sir, it is not the worth of the thing, but of the skill in forming it which is so highly estimated. Every thing that enlarges the sphere of human powers, that shows man he can do what he thought he could not do, is valuable. The first man who balanced a straw upon his nose ; Johnson who rode upon three horses at a time ; in short, all such men deserved the applause of mankind, not on account of the use of what they did, but of the dexterity which the\^ exhibited." Boswell. " Yet a misapplication of time and assiduity is not to be encouraged. Addi- son, in one of his ' Spectators' commends the judge- ment of a King, who as a suitable reward to a man that by long perseverance had attained to the art of throwing a barley-corn through the eye of a needle, gave him a bushel of barley." Johnson. " He must have been a King of Scotland, where barley is scarce." F. " One of the most remarkable antique figures of an animal is the boar at Florence." Johnson. " The iirst boar that is well made in marble, should be pre- DR. JOHNSON. 47:3 served as a wonder. When men arrive at a facility of '778. making- boars well, then the workmanship is not of ^J^ such value, but they should however be preserved as 69. examples, and as a greater security for the restoration of the art, should it be lost." E. " We hear prodigious complaints at present of emigration. 1 am convinced that emigration makes a country more populous." J. " That sounds very much like a paradox." E. " Exportation of men, like exportation of all other commodities, makes more be produced." Johnson. " But there would be more people were there not emigration, provided there were food for more." E. " No ; leave a few breeders, and you'll have more people than if there were no emigra- tion." Johnson. " Nay, Sir, it is plain there will be more people, if there are more breeders. Thirty cows in good pasture will produce more calves than ten cows, provided they have good bulls." E. " There are bulls enough in Ireland." Johnson, (smiling.) " So, Sir, I should think from your argument." Boswell. " You said, exportation of men, like exportation of other commodities, makes more be produced. But a bounty is given to encourage the exportation of corn, and no bounty is given for the exportation of men : though, indeed, those who go, gain by it." R. " But the bounty on the exportation of corn is paid at home." E. " That's the same thing." Johnson. " No, Sir." R. " A man who stays at home, gains nothing by his neighbour's emigrating." Boswell. " I can under- stand that emigration may be the cause that more people may be produced in a country ; but the coun- try will not therefore be the more populous ; for the people issue from it. It can only be said that there is a flow of people. It is an encouragement to have children, to know that they can get a living by emi- gration." R. " Yes, if there were an emigration of children under six years of age. But they don't emi- grate till they could earn their livelihood in some way at home." C. " It is remarkable that the most un- healthy countries, where there are the most destructive diseases, such as Egypt and Bengal, are the most voj,. 11. 60 474 I'HE LIFE OF 1778. populous." Johnson. " Countries which are the ^^ most populous have the most destructive diseases. 6g. That is the true state of the proposition." C. " Hol- land is very unhealthy, yet it is exceedingly populous." Johnson. " I know not that Holland is unhealthy. But its populousness is owing to an influx of people from all other countries. Disease cannot be the cause of populousness, for it not only carries off a great pro- portion of the people ; but those who are left are weakened, and unfit for the purposes of increase." R. " Mr. £. I don't mean to flatter, but when pos- terity reads one of your speeches in parliament, it will be difficult to believe that you took so much pains, knowing with certainty that it could produce no effect, that not one vote would be gained by it." E. " Wav- ing your compliment to me, 1 shall say in general, that it is very well worth while for a man to take pains to speak well in parliament. A man, who has vanity, speaks to display his talents ; and if a man speaks well, he gradually establishes a certain reputation and consequence in the general opinion, which sooner or later will have its political reward. Besides, though not one vote is gained, a good speech has its effect. Though an act which has been ably opposed passes into a law, yet in its progress it is modelled, it is soft- ened in such a manner, that we see plainly the Minister has been told, that the members attached to him are so sensible of its injustice or absurdity from what they have heard, that it must be altered." Johnson. " And, Sir, there is a gratification of pride. Though we cannot out-vote them we will out-argue them. They shall not do wrong without its being shown both to themselves and to the world." E. " The House of Commons is a mixed body. (I except the Minority, which 1 hold to be pure, [smiling] but 1 take the whole House.) It is a mass by no means pure ; but neither is it wholly corrupt, though there is a large proportion of corruption in it. There are many mem- bers who generallv go with the minister, who will not go all lengths. There are many honest well-meaning country gentlemen who are in parliament only to keep DR. JOHNSON. 473 up the consequence of their famihes. Upon most of 'TTS. these a good speech will have influence." Johnson. ^^^ " We are all more or loss governed hy interest. Hut fig. interest will not make us do every thing. In a ease which admits of doubt, we try to tlunk on the side which is for our interest, and generally bring ourselves to act accordingly. Hut the subject must admit of diversity of colouring ; it must receive a colour on that side. In the House of Commons there are members enough who will not vote what is grossly unjust or absurd. No, Sir, there must always be right enough, or appearance of right, to keep wrong in countenance." BoswELL. " There is surely always a majority in par- liament who have places, or who want to have them, and who therefore will be generally ready to sup- port government without requiring any pretext.^' K. " True, Sir ; that majority will always follow ' Quo clamo7' uocut et tiirha JcwentiumJ'* BoswELL. " Well now, let us take the common phrase, Place-hunters. 1 thought they had hunted without regard to any thing, just as their huntsman, the Min- ister, leads, looking only to the prey."^ J. " But taking your meta|)hor, you know that in hunting there are few so desperately keen as to follow without re- serve. Some do not choose to leap ditches and hedges and risk their necks, or gallop over steeps, or even to dirty themselves in bogs and mire." Hoswell. " I am glad there are some good, quiet, moderate political hunters." E. " I believe in any body of men in Eng- land I should have been in the Minority ; 1 have always been in the Minority." P. " The House of Commons resembles a private company. How seldom is any man convinced by another's argument ; passion and pride rise against it." R. " What would be the consequence, if a Minister, sure of a majority in the House of Commons, should resolve that there should ^ Ix)rd Bolinbroke, wlio, however detestable as a metaphysician, must be allow- ed to have had admirable talents as a political writer, thus describes the House of Commons, in his " Letter to Sir William Wyndham ; — " You know the nature of that assembly ; they grow, like hounds, fond of the man who shews them game, and by whose halloo they are used to be encouraged." 476 THE LIFE OF 1778. be no speaking at all upon his side." E. " He must soon go out. That has been tried ; but it was found it would not do.'' E. " The Irish language is not primitive ; it is Teu- tonick, a mixture of the northern tongues ; it has much English in it." Johnson. " It may have been radic- ally Teutonick ; but English and High Dutch have no similarity to the eye, though radically the same. Once when looking into Low Dutch, 1 found, in a whole page, only one word similar to English ; stroem like stream^ and it signified tide.^^ E. " I remember hav- ing seen a Dutch Sonnet, in which I found this word, roeanopies. Nobody would at first think that this could be English ; but, when we enquire, we find roes^ rose, and nop'ie^ knob ; so we have rosehuds^^ Johnson. " 1 have been reading Thicknesse's Travels, which I think are entertaining." Boswell " What, Sir, a good book ?" Johnson. " Yes, Sir, to read once ; 1 do not say you are to make a study of it, find digest it ; and 1 believe it to be a true book in his intention. All travellers generally mean to tell truth ; though Thicknesse observes, upon Smollett's account of his alarming a whole town in France by firing a blunderbuss, and frightening a French nobleman till he made him tie on his portmantua, that he would be loth to say Smollett had told two lies in one page ; but he had found the only town in France where these things could have happened. Travellers must often be mis- taken. In every thing, except where mensuration can be applied, they may honestly diflfer. There has been, of late, a strange turn in travellers to be displeased." E. " From the experience which I have had, — and I have had a great deal, — 1 have learnt to think better ol mankind." Johnson, " From my experience I have found them worse in commercial dealings, more dis- posed to cheat, than 1 had any notion of; but more disposed to do one another good than 1 had conceived." J. " Less just and more beneficent." Johnson. "And realiy it is wonderful, considering how much attention is necessary for men to take care of themselves, and ward off immediate evils which press upon them, it is UK. JOHNSON. 477 wonderful how much they do for others. As it is said i778. of the greatest har, that he tells more truth than false- ^gj^ hood ; so it may be said of the worst man, that he does 69 more good than evil." Boswell. " Perhaps from ex- perience men may be found happier than we suppose." Johnson. "No, Sir; the more we enquire we shall find men the less happy." P. "As to thinking better or worse of mankind from experience, some cunning people will not be satisfied unless they have put men to the test, as they think. There is a very good story told of Sir Godfrey Kneller, in his character of a jus- tice of the peace. A gentleman brought his servant before him, upon an accusation of having stolen some money from him ; but it having come out that he had laid it purposely in the servant's way, in order to try f his honesty, Sir Godfrey sent the master to prison ."' '^ Johnson. " To resist temptation once, is not a suffi- cient proof of honesty. If a servant, indeed, were to resist the continued temptation of silver lying in a win- dow, as some people let it lye, when he is sure his master does not know how much there is of it, he would give a strong proof of honesty. But this is a proof to which you have no right to put a man. You know, humanly speaking, there is a certain degree of temptation, which will overcome any virtue. Now, in so far as you approach temptation to a man, you do him an injury ; and, if he is overcome, you share his guilt." P. " And, when once overcome, it is easier for him to be got the better of again." Boswell. " Yes, you are his seducer ; you have debauched him. 1 have known a man resolved to put friendship to the test, by asking a friend to lend him money, merely with that view, when he did not want it." Johnson. " That is very wrong, Sir. Your friend may be a narrow man, and yet have many good qualities : narrowness may be his only fault. Now you are trying his general char- Pope thus introduces this story : " Faith in such case if you should prosecute, " I think Sir Godfrey should decide the suit, " Who sent the thief who stole the cash away, " And punibh'd liim that put it in his way." Imitacioas of Horace, Book II. Epist. ii. 47b THE LIFE OF 1778. acteras a friend, by one particular singly, in which he ^^ happens to be defective, when, in truth, his character 6g. is composed of many particulars." E. " I understand the hogshead of claret, which this society was favoured with by our friend the Dean, is nearly out ; I think he should be written to, to send another of the same kind. Let the request be made with a happy ambiguity of expression, so that we may have the chance of his sending it also as a present." Johnson. " 1 am willing to offer my services as secre- tary on this occasion." P. " As many as are for Dr. Johnson being secretary hold up your hands. — Carried unanimously." Boswell. " He will be our Dictator." Johnson. " No, the company is to dictate to me. I am only to write for wine ; and 1 am quite disinterest- ed, as 1 drink none ; 1 shall not be suspected of having forged the application. I am no more than humble scribe" E. " Then you shall j^^/TScribe." Boswell. " Very well. The first play of words to-day." J. "No, no ; the buiis in Ireland." Johnson. " Were I your Dictator you should have no wine. It would be my business cavere ne quid detrimenti Respiihlica caperet^ and wine is dangerous. Rome was ruined by luxury," (smiling.) E. " If you allow no wine as Dictator, you shall not have me for your master of horse." On Saturday, April 4, I drank tea with Johnson at Dr. Taylor's, where he had dined. He entertained us with an account of a tragedy written by a Dr. Kennedy, (not the Lisbon physician.) " The catastrophe of it (said he) was, that a King, who was jealous of his Queen with his prime-minister, castrated himself.* This tragedy was actually shewn about in manuscript to several people, and, amongst others, to Mr. Fitzher- bert, who repeated to me two lines of the Prologue : 1 The reverse of the story of Comlabus, on which Mr. David Hume told Lord Macartney, that a friend of his had written a tragedy, it is, however, possible that I may have been inaccurate in my perception of what Dr. Johnson related, and that he may have been talking of the same ludicrous tragical subject that Mr. Hume had mentioned. [The story of Combabus, which was originally told by Lucian, may be found in Bayle's Dictionary. M.] im. JOHNSON. 4-79 1778. ' Our hero's fato we have but gently touch'd ; ' The fair mi^ht blame us, if it were less coucird.' '- It is hardly to be believed what absurd and indecent images men will intruiUice into their writings, without being sensible of the absurdity and indeceney. 1 re- member Lord Orrery told me, that there was a pam- phlet written against Sir Robert Walpole, the whole of which was an allegory on the phallick obscenity. The Duchess of Buckingham asked Lord Orrery zv/io this person was \ lie answered he did not know. She said, she would send to Mr. Pulteney, who, she sup- posed, could inform her. So then, to prevent her from making herself ridiculous, Lord Orrery sent her Grace a note, in which he gave her to understand what was meant." He was very silent this evening ; and read in a variety of books : suddenly throwing down one, and taking up another. He talked of going to Streatham that night. Tay- lor. " You'll be robbed, if you do : or you must shoot a highwayman. Now 1 would rather be robbed than do that ; 1 would not shoot a highwayman." John- son. " But I would rather shoot him in the instant when he is attempting to rob me, than afterwards swear against him at the Old Bailey, to take away his life, af- ter he has robbed me. I am surer I am right in the one case, than in the other. 1 may be mistaken as to the man when 1 swear : 1 cannot be mistaken, if I shoot him in the act. Besides, we feel less reluctance to take away a man's life, when we are heated by the in- jury, than to do it at a distance of time by an oath, af- ter we have cooled." Boswell. " So, Sir, you would rather act from the motive of private passion, than that of publick advantage." Johnson. "Nay, Sir, when 1 shoot the highwayman, I act from both." Boswell. " Xexy well, very well. — There is no catching him." Johnson. " At the same time, one does not know what to say. For perhaps one may, a year after, hang himself from uneasiness for having shot a highway- 480 THE LIFE OF 1778. man."^ Few minds are fit to be trusted with so great ^^ a thing." Boswell. "Then, Sir, you would not 69. shoot him I" Johnson. " But 1 might be vexed af- terwards for that too." Thrale's carriage not having come for him, as he ex- pected, 1 accompanied him some part of the way home to his own house. I told him, that I had talked of him to Mr. Dunning a few days before, and had said, that in his company we did not so much interchange conversation, as listen to him ; and that Dunning ob- served, upon this, " One is always willing to listen to Dr. Johnson :" to which 1 answered, " That is a great deal from you. Sir." — " Yes, Sir, (said Johnson,) a great deal indeed. Here is a man willing to hsten, to whom the world is listening all the rest of the year." Boswell. " 1 think, Sir, it is right to tell one man of such a handsome thinsf which has been said of him bv another. It tends to increase benevolence." John- son. " Undoubtedly it is right, Sir." On Tuesday, April 7, 1 breakfasted with him at his house. He said, " nobody was content." I mention- ed to him a respectable person in Scotland whom he knew ; and I asserted, that I really believed he was al- ways content. Johnson. "No, Sir, he is not content with the present ; he has always some new scheme, some new plantation, something which is future. You know he was not content as a widower ; for he married again." Boswell. " But he is not restless." John- son. " Sir, he is only locally at rest. A chymist is lo- cally at rest ; but his mind is hard at work. This gen- tleman has done with external exertions. It is too late for him to engage in distant projects." Boswell. " He seems to amuse himself quite well ; to have his •> The late Duke of Montrose was generally said to have been uneasy on that ac- count ; but I can contradict the report from his Grace's own authority. As he used to r.dmit me to very easy conversation with him, I took the liberty to intro- duce the subject. His Grace told me, that when riding one night near London, hj was attacked by two hipliwaymen on horseback, and that he instantly shot one of them, upon which the other gailopped off; that his servant, who was very well mounted, proposed to pursue him and take him, but that his Grace said, " No, we have had blood enough : I hope the maji may live to repent." His Grace, upon my presuming to put the question, assured me, that his mind was not at all cloud- ed by what he had thus done in self-defenri^. DR. JOHNSON. 481 attention fixed, and his tranquillity preserved by very '*778. small matters. 1 have tried this ; but it would not do ^^'^t'^ with me.'^ .Johnson, (laughing) "No, Sir; it must Gy. be born with a man to be contented to take up with little things. Women have a great advantage that they / may take up with little things, without disgracing themselves: a man cannot, except with fiddling. Had 1 learnt to fiddle, 1 should have done nothing else." lioswELL. " Fray, Sir, did you ever play on any mu- sical instrument?" Johnson. " No, Sir. I once bought me a flagelet ; but I never made out a tune." Bos- well. " A flagelet. Sir ! — so small an instrument ?* I should have liked to hear you play on the violoncello. That should have been ijour instrument." Johnson. " Sir, 1 might as well have played on the violoncello as another ; but 1 should have done nothing else. No, Sir ; a man would never undertake great things, could he be amused with small. 1 once tried knotting. Dempster's sister undertook to teach me ; but I could not learn it." Boswell. " So, Sir ! It will be related in pompous narrative, ' Once for his amusement he tried knotting ; nor did this Hercules disdain the dis- taff." Johnson. " Knitting of stockings is a good amusement. As a freeman of Aberdeen 1 should be a knitter of stockings." He asked me to go down with him and dine at Mr. Thrale's at Streatham, to which I agreed. 1 had lent him " An Account of Scotland, in 1702," written by a man of various enquiry, an English chaplain to a regiment stationed there. Johnson. " It is sad stuff, Sir, miserably written, as books in general then were. There is now an elegance of style univer- sally diffused. No man now writes so ill as Martin's Account of the Hebrides is written. A man could not write so ill, if he should try. Set a merchant's clerk now to write, and he'll do better." He talked to me with serious concern of a certain fe- male friend's " laxity of narration, and inattention to * When I told this to Miss Seward, she smiled, and repeated, with admirable •/eadiness, from " Acis and Galatea," " Bring me a hundred reeds of ample growth, " To make a pipe for my cAPAciors mohth," VOL. IT. ()] 48^ THE LIFE OF '778. truth.'' — "1 dill as much vexed (said he) at the ease ^£i^ with which she hears it mentioned to her, as at the C)Q. thing itself. 1 told her, ' Madam, you are contented to hear every day said to you, what the highest of man- kind have died for, rather than bear,' — You know, Sir, the highest of mankind have died rather than bear to be told they had uttered a falsehood. Do talk to her of it : I am weary." BoswELL. " Was not Dr. John Campbell a very in- accurate man in his narrative. Sir I He once told me, that he drank thirteen bottles of port at a sitting.'^' Johnson. " Why, Sir, I do not know that Campbell ever lied with pen and ink ; but 3'ou could not entirely depend on any thing he told you in conversation, if there was fact mixed with it. However, 1 loved Camp- bell : he was a solid orthodox man : he had a reverence for religion. Though defective in practice, he was re- ligious in principle ; and he did nothing grossly wrong- that 1 have heard." ^ I told him, that [ had been present the day before when Mrs. Montague, the literary lady, sat to Miss Reynolds for her picture ; and that she said, " she had bound up Mr. Gibbon's History without the last two offensive chapters ; for that she thougnt the book so far good, as it gave, in an elegant manner, the sub- stance, of the bad writers medii cev't^ which the late Lord Lyttelton advised her to read." Johnson. " Sir, she has not read them : she shews none of this impetu- osity to me : she does not know Greek, and, I fancy, knows little Latin. She is willing you should think " I^ord Macartney observes upon this passage, " 1 have heard him tell many things, which, though embeUishcd by their mode of narrative, liad their founda- tion in trutli ; hut I never remember any thing approachhig to this. If he had written it, I should have supposed some wag had put the figure of one before the three." — I am, however, absolutely certain that Dr. Campbell told me it, and I gave particular attention to it, being myself a lover of wine, and therefore curious to hear whatever is remarkable concerning drinking. There can be no doubt that some men can drink, without suffering any injury, such a quantity as to others ap- pears incredible. It is but fair to :idd, that Dr. Campbell told me, he took a very long time to this great potation ; and ! have heard Dr. Johnson say, " Sir, if a man drinks verv slowly, and lets one glas^ evaporate before he takes another, I know not how long lie may drink." Dr. Campbell mentioned a Colonel of Militia who sat wiJi him all the time, and drank equally." 8 [Dr. John Campbell died about two years before this conversation took place , Dec. 10, ITTG. M.I UK. JOHNSON. ' i8:i she knows them ; but she does not say she does/' i778. BoswELL. " Mr. Marris, who was present, agreed with ^^ her." Johnson. " Harris was lauohing at her, Sir. o^). Harris is a sound sullen scholar ; he does not lik(? in- terlopers. Harris, however, is a prig, and a bad prig.^ I looked into his book, and thought he did not under- stand his own system." Bos well. " He says plain things in a formal and abstract way, to be sure ; but his method is good : for to have clear notions upon any subject, we must have recourse to analytick ar- rangement." Johnson. " Sir, it is what every body- does, whether they will or no But sometimes things may be made darker by definition, 1 see a cow. 1 de- fine her, Animal quadrupes ruminans cornutum. But a goat ruminates, and a cow may have no horns. CW is plainer." Boswell. " I think Dr. Franklin's defi- nition of Man a good one — " A tool-making animal." Johnson. *' But many a man never made a tool : and suppose a man without arms, he could not make a tool." Talking of drinking wine, he said, " I did not leave off wine, because 1 could not bear it ; 1 have drunk three bottles of port without being the worse for it. University College has witnessed this." Boswell. " Why then. Sir, did you leave it off." Johnson. " Why, Sir, because it is so much better for a man to be sure that he is never to be intoxicated, never to lose the power over himself. I shall not begin to drink wine again till I grow old, and want it." Boswell. " I think. Sir, you once said to me, that not to drink wine was a o-reat deduction from life." Johnson. " It is a diminution of pleasure, to be sure ; but I do not say a diminution of happiness. There is more happi- ness in beinsT rational." Boswell. " But if we could o ' What my friend meant by tliese words concerning the amiable philosopher of Salisbury, I ani at a loss to understand. A friend suggests, that Johnson thought his manner as a writer afFected, while at the same time the matlcr did not compen- tate for that fault. In short, that he meant to make a remark quite diflerent from that which a cehbratcd gentleman made on a very eminent physician : He is a cox- comb, but a satisfactory coxcomb" [The celebrated gentleman here alluded to, was the late Right Honourable William Gerard Hamilton. M.] 48 4 THE LIFE OF 1778. have pleasure always, should not we be happy ? The Sia gi'€;atest part of men would compound for pleasure/' tig. Johnson. " Supposing we could have pleasure always, an intellectual man would not compound for it. The greatest part of men would compound, because the greatest part of men are gross." Bos well. " I allow there may be greater pleasure than from wine. 1 have had move pleasure from your conversation. 1 have indeed ; I assure you 1 have." Johnson. " When we talk of pleasure, we mean sensual pleasure. When a man says, he had pleasure with a woman, he does not mean conversation, but something of a very different nature. Philosophers tell you, that pleasure is contra- rij to happiness. Gross men prefer animal pleasure. So there are men who have preferred living among savages. Now what a wretch must he be, who is con- tent with such conversation as can be had among savages ! You may remember, an officer at Fort Au- gustus, who had served in America, told us of a woman whom they were obliged to bind, in order to get her back from savage life." Boswell. " She must have been an animal, a beast." Johnson. " Sir, she was a speaking cat." I mentioned to him that I had become very weary in a company where I heard not a single intellectual sentence, except that " a man who had been settled ten years in Minorca was become a much inferiour man to what he was in London, because a man's mind ' grows narrow in a narrow place." Johnson. " A man's mind grows narrow in a narrow place, whose mind is enlarged only because he has lived in a large place : but what is got by books and thinking is pre- served in a narrow"place as well as in a large place. A man cannot know modes of life as well in Minorca as in London ; but he may study mathematicks as well in Minorca." Boswell. " I don't know. Sir : if you had remained ten years in the Isle of Col, you would not have been the man that you now are." Johnson. " Yes, Sir, if I had been there from fifteen to twenty- five ; but not if from twenty-five to thirty-five." Bos- well. " I own. Sir, the spirits which 1 have in London DR. JOHNSON. 485 make me do every thing with more readiness and '778. vigour. I can talk twiee as much in London as any ^(^ where else." 69. Of Goldsmith, he said, " He was not an agreeable companion, for he talked always for fame. A man who does so, never can be pleasing. The man who talks to unburthen his mind, is the man to delight you. An eminent friend of ours is not so agreeable as the variety of his knowledge would otherwise make him, because he talks partly from ostentation." Soon after our arrival at Thrale's, I heard one of the maids calling eagerly on another, to go to Dr. Johnson. I wondered what this could mean. I afterwards learnt, that it was to give her a Bible, which he had brought from London as a present to her. He was for a considerable time occupied in reading, " Memoires de Fontenelle^'' leaning and swinging upon the low gate into the court, without his hat. I looked into Lord Kaimes's " Sketches of the History of Man ;" and mentioned to Dr. Johnson his censure of Charles the Fifth, for celebrating his funeral obsequies in his life-time, which, 1 told him, 1 had been used to think a solemn and affecting act. John- son. " AVhy, Sir, a man may dispose his mind to think so of that act of Charles ; but it is so liable to ridicule, that if one man out of ten thousand laughs at it, he'll make the other nine thousand nine hundred and nine- ty-nine laugh too." 1 could not agree with him in this. Sir John Pringle had expressed a wish that I would ask Dr. Johnson's opinion what were the best English sermons for style. I took an opportunity to-day of mentioning several to him. Attetburij / Johnson. " Yes, Sir, one of the best." Boswell. " Tillotson /" Johnson. " Why, not now. 1 should not advise a preacher at this day to imitate Tillotson's style ; though I don't know ; 1 should be cautious of objecting to what has been applauded by so many suffrages. — South is one of the best, if you except his peculiarities, and his violence, and sometimes coarseness of language. — Seed has a very fine style ; but he is not very theolog- 486 THE LIFE OF ^778. ical. — Jortm^s sermons are very elegant. — S/ierlock's ^J^ style too is very elegant, though he has not made it 69. his principal study. — And you may add Smailridge. All the latter preachers have a good style. Indeed, nobody now talks much of style : every body composes pretty well. There are no such inharmonious periods as there were a hundred years ago. I should recom- mend Dr. C/orA'e'^ sermons, were he orthodox. How- ever, it is very well known xvJwre he is not orthodox, which was upon the doctrine of the Trinity, as to which he is a condemned heretick ; so one is aware of it.^^ BoswELL. " I like Ogden's Sermons on Prayer very much, both for neatness of style and subtilty of reasoning." Johnson. " J should like to read all that Ogden has written." Boswell. " What I wish to know is, what sermons afford the best specimen of En- glish pulpit eloquence." Johnson. " We have no sermons addressed to the passions, that are good for any thing ; if you mean that kind of eloquence." A Clesgyman : (whose name 1 do not recollect.) " Were not Dodd's sermons addressed to the passions ?" i Johnson. " They were nothing. Sir, be they addressed to what they may." At dinner, Mrs. Thrale expressed a wish to go and see Scotland. Johnson. " Seeing Scotland, Madam, is only seeing a worse England. It is seeing the flower gradually fade away to the naked stalk. Seeing the Hebrides, indeed, is seeing quite a different scene." Our poor friend, Mr. Thomas Davies, was soon to have a benefit at Drury-lane theatre, as some relief to his unfortunate circumstances. We were all warmly interested for his success, and had contributed to it. However, we thought there was no harm in having our joke, when he could not be hurt by it. 1 proposed that he should be brought on to speak a Prologue upon the occasion ; and I began to mutter fragments of what it might be : as, that when now grown old, he was obliged to cry, " Poor Tom's a-colcl ," — that he owned he had b(?en driven from the stage by a Churchill, I)ut that this was no disgrace, for a Churchill had beat the French ; — that he had been satyrised as DR. JOHNSON. 4S7 * mouthing a sentence as curs mouth a bone/' but he 1778. was now glad of a bone to pick. — " Nay, (said John- ^^ son,) I would have him to say, C,<>. " Mad Tom is come to see the world again." He and 1 returned to town in the evening. Upon the road, I endeavoured to maintain, in argument, that a landed gentleman is not under any obligation to reside upon his estate ; and that by living in J^ondon he does no injury to his country. Johnson. " Why, Sir, he does no injury to his country in general, because the money which he draws from it gets back again in cir- culation ; but to his particular district, his particular parish, he does an injury. All that he has to give away is not given to those who have the first claim to it. And though I have said that the money circulates back, it is a long time before that happens. Then, Sir, a man of family and estate ought to consider himself as having the charge of a district, over which he is to dit}\ise civility and happiness."' Next day 1 found him at home in the morning. He praised Delany's " Observations on Swift ;" said that his book and Lord Orrery's might both be true, though one viewed Swift more, and the other less, favourably ; and that, between both, we might have a complete notion of Swift. Talking of a man's resolving to deny himself the use of wine, from moral and religious considerations, he said, " He must not doubt about it. When one doubts as to pleasure, we know what will be the conclusion. I now no more think of drinking wine, than a horse does. The wine upon the table is no more for me, than for the dog that is under the table." On Thursday, April 9, 1 dined with him at Sir Josh- ua Reynolds's, with the Bishop of St. Asaph, (Dr. Shipley,) Mr. Allan Ramsay, Mr. Gibbon, Mr. Cam- bridge, and Mr. Langton. Mr. Ramsay had lately returned from Italy, and entertained us with his obser- vations upon Horace's villa, which he had examined '^ ' [See, however, pp. 427 — 429, where his decision on this subject is raore favour- able to the absentee. M.I 488 THE LIFE OF 1778. with great care. I relished this muchj as it brought ^^ fresh into my mind what I had viewed with great 69. ' pleasure thirteen years before. The Bishop, Dr. John- son, and Mr. Cambridge, joined with Mr. Ramsay, in recollecting the various lines in Horace relating to the subject. Horace's journey to Brundusiuni being mentioned, Johnson observed, that the brook which he describes IS to be seen now, exactly as at that time ; and that he had often wondered how it happened, that small brooks, such as this, kept the same situation for ages, notwithstanding earthquakes, by which even mountains have been changed, and agriculture, which produces such a variation upon the surface of the earth. Cam- bridge. " A Spanish writer has this thought in a poetical conceit. After observing that most of the solid structures of Rome are totally perished, while the Tiber remains the same, he adds, " Lo que h'a Firme Jiuio solamente^ " Lo Fugiiivo permanece y dura." Johnson. " Sir, that is taken from Janus Vitalis : " immota labescunt ; " Et quce per pet uh sunt agitata manent" The Bishop said, it appeared from Horace's writings that he was a cheerful contented man. Johnson. '•' We have no reason to believe that, my Lord. Are we to think Pope was happy, because he says so in his writings ? We see in his writings what he wished the state of his mind to appear. Dr. Young, who pined for preferment, talks with contempt of it in his writ- ings, and affects to despise every thing that he did not despise.^^ Bishop of St. Asaph. " He was like other chaplains, looking for vacancies : but that is not pecu- liar to the cleroy. 1 remember when 1 was with the army, after the battle of Lafeldt, the officers seriously grumbled that no general was killed." Cambridge. '' We may believe Horace more, when he says, " Ronue Tibur amem. ventosus Tibure Romam : DR. JOHNSON. 489 than when he boasts of his consistency : *778. " Me coiistare mihi sets, et decedere tristem^ ^tat. " Quandocun(jue tralmnt invha negotia Romam." ^' BoswELL. " How hard is it that man can never be at rest." Ramsav. " It is not in his nature to be at rest. When he is at rest, he is in the worst state that he can be in ; for he has nothing to agitate him. He is then Hke the man in the Irish song, >' There hv'd a young man in BaUinacrazy, " Who wanted a wife for to make him unaisy" Goldsmith being mentioned, Johnson observed, that it was long before his merit came to be acknowledged : that he once complained to him, in ludicrous terms of distress, " Whenever 1 write any thing, the publick 7na/ie a point to know nothing about it :" but that his " Traveller"- brought him into high reputation. Lang- ton. " There is not one bad hne in that poem ; not one of Dryden's careless verses." Sir Joshua. " I was glad to hear Charles Fox say, it was one of the finest poems in the English language." Langton. " Why was you glad ? You surely had no doubt of this before." Johnson. " No ; the merit of ' The Traveller' is so well established, that Mr. Fox's praise cannot augment it, nor his censure diminish it." Sir Joshua. " But his friends may suspect they had too great a partiality for him." Johnson. " Nay, Sir, the partiality of his friends was always against him. It was with difficulty we could give him a hearing. Goldsmith had no settled notions upon any subject; so he talked always at random. It seemed to be his intention to blurt out whatever was in his mind, and see what would become of it. He was angry too, when catched in an absurdity ; but it did not prevent him from falling into another the next minute. 1 remember Chamier,^ after talking with him some time, said, ''■ [First published in 1765. M.] 2 [Anthony Chamier, Esq. a member of the Literary Club, and Under-Secre> rary of State. He died, Oct. 12, 1780. M.T VOX. II. 62 490 THE LIFE OF 1778. ' Well, I do believe he wrote this poem himself: and, ^taT '^^ ^^ ^^^' y^"' ^^^^ ^^ believing a great deal.' Cha- 09. mier once asked him, what he meant by sioin;, the last word in the first line of ' The Traveller,' ' Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow,' — Did he mean tardiness of locomotion ? Goldsmith, who would say something without consideration, answered, ' Yes.' I was sitting by, and said, ' No, Sir; you do not mean tardiness of locomotion ; you mean, that sluggishness of mind which comes upon a man in soli- tude.' Chamier believed then that I had written the line, as much as if he had seen me write it. Gold- smith, however, was a man, who, whatever he wrote, did it better than any other man could do. He de- served a place in Westminster-Abbey; and every year he lived, would have deserved it better. He had in- deed, been at no pains to fill his mind with knowledge. He transplanted it from one place to another ; and it did not settle in his mind ; so he could not tell what was in his own books." We talked of living in the country. Johnson. " No wise man will go to live in the country, unless he has something^ to do which can be better done in the country. For instance : if he is to shut himself up for a year to study a science, it is better to look out to the fields, than to an opposite wall. Then, if a man walks out in the country, there is nobody to keep him from walking in again ; but if a man walks out in London, he is not sure when he shall walk in again. A great city is, to be sure, the school for studying life ; and ' The proper study of mankind is man,' as Fope ob- .serves." Bos av ell. " I fancy London is the best place for society ; though 1 have heard that the very first so- ciety of Paris is still beyond any thing that we have here." Johnson. " Sir, I question if in Paris such a company as is sitting round this table could be got to- gether in less than half a year. They talk in France of the felicity of men and women living together : the truth is, that there the men are not higher than the women, thev know no more than the women do, and DH. JOHNSON. 11)1 they are not held down in their conversation by the '77«. presence of women." Ramsay. " Literature is upon j^^'^ the cjrowth, it is in its spring in l*>;\nce : here it is (>(), mthcr jxtssce.'' Johnson. " l^iterature was in i''rance long before we had it. Paris was the second city for the revival of letters : Italy had it first, to be sure. What have we done for literature, equal to what was done by the Stephani and others in France 1 Our lit- erature came to us through France. Caxton printed only two books, Chaucer, and Govver, that were not translations from the French ; and Chaucer, we know, took much from the Italians. No, Sir, if literature be in its spring in France, it is a second spring; it is after a winter. We are now before the French in literature ; but we had it long after them. In England, any man who wears a sword and a powdered wig, is ashamed to be illiterate. I believe it is not so in France. Yet there is, probably, a great deal of learning in France, because they have such a number of religious estab- lishments ; so many men who have nothing else to do but to study. I do UDt know this ; but I take it upon the common principles of chance. Where there are many shooters, some will hit." We talked of old age. Johnson (now in his seven- tieth year,) said, " It is a man's own fault, it is from want of use, if his mind grows torpid in old age." The Bishop asked, if an old man does not lose faster than he gets. Johnson. " I think not, my Lord, if he ex- erts himself." One of the company rashly observed, that he thought it was happy for an old man that in- sensibility comes upon him. Johnson : (with a iloble elevation and disdain,) " No, Sir, I should never be happy by being less rational." Bishop or St. Asaph. " Your wish then. Sir, is, yyifouryaiv ^/Wjio^tKOf." John- son. " Yes, my j^ord." His Lordship mentioned a charitable establishment in Wales, where people were maintained, and supplied with every thing, upon the condition of their contributing the weekly produce of their labour ; and he said, they grew quite torpid for want of property. Johnson. " They have no object 492 IHE LIFE OF 1778. for hope. Their condition cannot be better. It is row- ^J^ ing without a port." 6g. One of the company asked him the meaning of the expression in Juvenal, unius lacertce. Johnson. " I think it clear enough ; as much ground as one may have a chance to find a hzard upon." Commentators have differed as to the exact meaning of the expression by which the Poet intended to en- force the sentiment contained in the passage where these words occur. It is enough that they mean to de- note even a very small possession, provided it be a man's own : " B^st aliquidy quocunque loco qiwcunque recessu, " Unius sese dominumjecisse lacertce " This season, there was a whimsical fashion in the news-papers of applying Shakspeare's words to describe living persons well known in the world ; which was done under the title of " Modern Characters from Shakspeare ;^^ many of which were admirably adapted. The fancy took so much, that they were afterwards collected into a pamphlet. Somebody said to Johnson, across the table, that he had not been in those charac- ters. " Yes (said he) I have. I should have been sorry to be left out." He then repeated what had been applied to him, " You must borrow me Garagantua's mouth." Miss Reynolds not perceiving at once the meaning of this, he was obliged to explain it to her, which had something of an aukward and ludicrous effect. " Why, Madam, it has a reference to me, as using big words, which rtfjuire the mouth of a giant to pronounce them. Garagantua is the name of a giant in Rabelais." Bos- well. " But, Sir, there is another amongst them for you : ' He would not flatter Neptune for his trident, ' Or Jove for his power to thunder.' Johnson. " There is nothing marked in that. No, Sir, Garagantua is the best." Notwithstanding this ease and good humour, when I, a little while after- DR. JOHNSON. 49'i wards, repeated his sarcasm on Kenrick,* whicll was '778. received with applause, he asked, " W/to said that?" iEtaT and on my suddenly answering GarciJ^antua^ he looked 69. serious, which was a sufficient indication that he did not wish it to be kept up. When we went to the drawing-room, there was a rich assemblage. Besides the company who had been at dinner, there were Mr. Garrick, Mr. Harris ot Salis- bury, Dr. Percy, Dr. Burney, the Honourable Mrs. Cholmondeley, Miss Hannah More, &c. &c. After wandering about in a kind of pleasing distrac- tion for some time, 1 got into a corner, with Johnson, Garrick, and Harris. Garrick : (to Harris.) " Pray, Sir, have you read Potter's ^Eschylus?" Harris. " Yes; and think it pretty." Garrick. (to Johnson.) "And what think you, Sir, of it !" Johnson. "I thought what 1 read of it verbiage : but upon Mr. Har- ris's recommendation, I will read a play. (To Mr. Har- ris.) Don't prescribe two." Mr. Harris suggested one, I do not remember which. Johnson. " We must try its effect as an English poem ; that is the way to judge of the merit of a translation. Translations are, in gen- eral, for people who cannot read the original." I men- tioned the vulgar saying, that Pope's Homer was not a good representation of the original. Johnson. " Sir, it is the greatest work of the kind that has ever been produced." Boswell. " The truth is, it is impossible perfectly to translate poetry. In a differ- ent language it may be the same tune, but it has not the same tone. Homer plays it on a bassoon ; Pope on a flagelet." Harris. " 1 think heroick poetry is best in blank verse ; yet it appears that rhyme is essential to English poetry, from our deficiency in metrical quantities. In my opinion, the chief excel- lence of our language is numerous prose." Johnson. " Sir William 'I'emple was the first writer who gave cadence to English prose. = Before his time they were ' See Vol. I. p. 388. '- [The authour in Vol. 1. p, 175, says, that Johnson once told him, " that he had formed his style upon that of Sir William Temple, and upon Chambers's Proposal 49-i' THE LIFE OF '778. careless of arrangement, and did not mind whether a ^^^ sentence ended with an important word or an insignifi- 69, cant word, or with what part of speech it was conclud- ed." Mr. Langton, who now had joined us, com- mended Clarendon. Johnson. " He is objected to for his parentheses, his involved clauses, and his want of harmony. But he is supported by his matter. It is, indeed, owing to a plethory of matter that his style is so faulty : every substance^ (smiling to Mr. Harris,) has so many accidents. — To be distinct, we must talk analijticallij. If we analyse language, we must speak of it grammatically ; if we analyse argument, we must speak of it logically." Garrick. " Of all the transla- tions that ever were attempted, I think Elphinston's Martial the most extraordinary. He consulted me upon it, who am a little of an epigrammatist myself, j^ou know. ] told him freely, ' You don't seem to have that turn.' 1 asked him if he was serious ; and finding he was, I advised him against publishing. Why, his translation is more difficult to understand than the original. I thought him a man of some talents ; but l)e seems crazy in this." Johnson. " Sir, you have done what I had not courage to do. Bu^ he did not ask my advice, and I did not force it upon him, to make him angry with me." Garrick. " But as a friend, Sir — ." Johnson. " Why, such a friend as I am with for his Dictionary. He certainly was mistaken ; or, if he imagined at first that he was imitating Temple, he was very unsuccessful, for nothing can be more unlike than the simplicity of Temple and the richness of Johnson." This observation, on the first view, seems perfectly just ; but on a closer exam- ination, it will, I think, appear to have been founded on a misapprehension. Mr. Eoswcll understood Johnson too literally. He did not, I conceive, mean, that he endeavoured to imitate Temple's style in all its parts ; but that he formed his style on iiim and Chambers, (perhaps the paper published in 1737, relative to his second edition, entitled Considerations, &c.) taking from each what was most worthy of imitation. The passage before us, I think, shows, that he learned from Temple to modulate his periods, and, in that respect only, made him his pattern. In this view of the subject there is no difficulty. He might learn from Chambers, compactness, strength, and precision (in opposition to the laxity of style which had long prevailed) ; from Sir Thomas Browne, (who was also certainly one of liis ar- chetypes,) pumlcya ferhomm, vigour and energy of expression ; and from Temple, harmonious arrangement, the due collocation of words, and the other arts and graces of composition here enumerated : and yet, after all, his style might bear no striking resemblance to that of any of these writers, though it had profited by each. M.] DR. JOHNSON. 49^> iiim — no." Garrick. " But if you see a friend going 1778- to tumble over a precipice !" Johnson. " Tliat is an ^^ extravagant case, Sir. You are sure a friend will thank 6<). you for hindering liini from tumbling over a precipice : but, in the other case, 1 should hurt his vanity, and do him no good. He would not take my advice. His brother-in-law, Strahan, sent him a subscription of fifty pounds, and said he would send him fifty more, if he would not publish." Garrick. " What ! eh ! is Strahan a good judge of an Epigram ? Is not he rather an obtuse man, eh ?" Johnson. " Why, Sir, he may not be a judge of an Epigram : but you see he is a judge of what is not an Epigram." Boswell. " It is easy for you Mr. Garrick, to talk to an anthour as you talked to Elphinston ; you, who have been so long the manager of a theatre, rejecting the plays of poor au- thours. You are an old Judge, who have often pro- nounced sentence of death. You are a practised sur- geon, who have often amputated limbs ; and though this may have been for the good of your patients, the}' cannot like you. Those who have undergone a dread- ful operation, are not very fond of seeing the operator again." Garrick. " Yes, I know enough of that. There was a reverend gentleman, (Mr. Hawkins,) who wrote a tragedy, the siege of something,^ which I re- fused." Harris. " So, the siege was raised." John- son. " Aye, he came to me and complained ; and told me, that Garrick said his play was wrong in the concoc- tion. Now, what is the concoction of a play !" (Here Garrick started, and twisted himself, and seemed sorely vexed ; for Johnson told me, he believed the story was true.) Garrick. "1 — I — I — said, /;'i7 concoction.' Johnson, (smiling.) "Well, he left out ^W^. And Rich, he said, refused him in false English : he could shew it under his hand." Garrick. " He wrote to me in violent wrath, for having refused his play : ' Sir, ' It was called " The Siege of Aleppo." Mr. Hawkins, the Authour of it, was formerly Professor of Poetry at Oxford It is printed in his " Miscellanies," 3 Vol?, octavo. [Garrick had high authority for this expressIoD. Dryden lues it in one of hi' critical essays. M.I 496 JHE LIFE OF 1778. this is growing a very serious and terrible affair. I am ^J^ resolved to publish my play. I will appeal to the 69. vvorld ; and how will your judgement appear 1' I an- swered, ' Sir, notwithstanding all the seriousness, and all the terrours, I have no objection to your publishing your play ; and as you live at a great distance, (Devon- shire, I believe,) if you will send it to me, I will convey it to the press.' I never heard more of it, ha ! ha 1 ha !" On Friday, April 10, I found Johnson at home in the morning. We resumed the conversation of yester- day. He put me in mind of some of it which had escaped my memory, and enabled me to record it more perfectly than 1 otherwise could have done. He was much pleased with my paying so great attention to his recommendation in 1763, the period when our ac- quaintance began, that I should keep a journal ; and I could perceive he was secretly pleased to find so much of the fruit of his mind preserved : and as he had been used to imagine and sa}^ that he always laboured when he said a good thing, — it delighted him, on a review, to find that his conversation teemed with point and imagery. 1 said to him, " You were yesterday ; Sir, in re- markably good humour : but there was nothing to offend you, nothing to produce irritation or violence. There was no bold offender. There was not one cap- ital conviction. It was a maiden assize. You had on your white gloves." He found fault with our friend Langton for having been too silent. " Sir, (said 1,) you will recollect that he very properly took up Sir Joshua for being glad that Charles Fox had praised Goldsmith's ' Traveller,' and you joined him." Johnson. " Yes, Sir, I knocked Fox on the head, without ceremony. Reynolds is too much under Fox and Burke at present. Fie is under the Fox star, and the Irish constellation. He is always under some planet." Boswell. " There is no Fox star." Johnson. " But there is a dog star." Bos- well. " They say, indeed, a fox and a dog are the same animal." DU. JOHNSON. 497 I reminded him of a gentleman, wlio, Mrs. Choi- ''778. mondeley said, was first talkative from affectation, and ^^ then silent from the same cause ; that he first thought, 69. " I shall be cekhrated as the liveliest man in every company ;" and then, all at once, " O ! it is much more respectable to be grave and look wise." " He has reversed the Pythagorean discipline, by being first talkative, and then silent. He reverses the course of Nature too ; he was first the gay butterfly, and then the creeping worm." Johnson laughed loud and long at this expansion and illustration of what he himself had told me. We dined together with Mr. Scott (now Sir William Scott, his Majesty's Advocate General,*) at his cham- bers in the Temple, nobody else there. The company being small, Johnson was not in such spirits as he had been the preceding day, and for a considerable time little was said. At last he burst forth : " Subordination is sadly broken down in this age. No man, now, has the same authority which his father had, — except a gaoler. No master has it over his servants : it is di- minished in our colleges ; nay, in our granniiar schools." BoswELL. " What is the cause of this, Sir ?" John- son. " Why, the coming in of the Scotch," (laughing sarcastically.) Boswell. " That is to say, things have been turned topsy turvey. — But your serious cause.'' Johnson. " Why, Sir, there are many causes, the chief of which is, 1 think, the great increase of money. No man now depends upon the Lord of a Manour, when he can send to another country, and fetch provisions. The shoe-black at the entry of my court does not depend on me. 1 can deprive him but of a penny a day, which he hopes somebody else will bring him ; and that penny I must carry to another shoe-black, so the trade suffers nothing. I have ex- plained, in my ' Journey to the Hebrides,' how gold and silver destroy feudal subordination. But, besides, there is a general relaxation of reverence. No son now depends upon his father, as in former times. Pater- 8 [Now (1804,) Judge of the Court of Admiralty, and Master of the Faculties. M." VOL. IT. ^j'3 498 THE LIFE OF 1778. nity used to be considered as of itself a great thing, ]gj^ which had a right to many claims. That is, in general, 69. reduced to very small bounds. My hope is, that as anarchy produces tyranny, this extreme relaxation will produce freni strictio." Talking of fame, for which there is so great a desire, I observed, how little there is of it in reality, compared with the other objects of human attention. " Let every man recollect, and he will be sensible how small a part of his time is employed in talking or thinking of Shflkspeare, Voltaire, or any of the most celebrated men that have ever lived, or are now supposed to occupy the attention and admiration of the world. Let this be extracted and compressed ; into what a narrow space will it go !" I then slily introduced Mr. Garrick^s fame, and his assuming the airs of a great man. John- son. " Sir, it is w^onderful how little Garrick assumes. No, Sir, G2Ln'\c\i fort imam reverenter habet. Consider, Sir ; celebrated men, such as you have mentioned, have had their applause at a distance ; but Garrick had it dashed in his face, sounded in his ears, and went home every night with the plaudits of a thousand in his cranium. Then, Sir, Garrick did uoi finely but made his way to the tables, the levees, and almost the bed-cham- bers of the great. Then, Sir, Garrick had under him a numerous body of people ; who, from fear of his power and hopes of his favour, and admiration of his talents, were constantly submissive to him. And here is a man who has advanced the dignity of his profession. Gar- rick has made a player a higher character." Scott. *' And he is a very sprightly writer too." Johnson. " Yes, Sir ; and all this supported by great wealth of his own acquisition. If all this had happened to me, I should have had a couple of fellows with long poles walking before me, to knock down every body that stood in the way. Consider, if all this had happened to Cibber or Quin, they'd have jumped over the moon. — Yet Garrick speaks to us.'^ (smiling.) Boswell. " And Garrick is a very good man, a charitable man." Johnson. " Sir, a liberal man. He has given away more money than any man in England. There may DK. JOHNSON. 19.) be a little vanity mixed : but he has shewn, that money i778, is not his first object." Hoswell. " Yet Foote used to ^^ say of him, that he walked out with an intention to do (Jq. a generous action ; but turning the corner of a street, he met with the ghost of a halTpenny, which frightened him." Johnson. " Why, Sir, that is very true, too; for I never knew a man of whom it could be said with less certainty to-day, what he will do to-morrow, than Garrick ; it depends so much on his humour at the time." Scott. " 1 am glad to hear of his liberality. He has been represented as very saving." Johnson. " With his domestick saving we have nothing to do. I remember drinking tea with him long ago, when Peg Woffington made it, and he grumbled at her for making it too strong.^ He had then begun to feel money in his purse, and did not know when he should have enough of it." On the subject of wealth, the proper use of it, and the effects of that art which is called economy, he ob- served, " It is wonderful to think how men of very large estates not only spend their yearly incomes, but are often actually in want of money. It is clear they have not value for what they spend. Lord Shelburne told me, that a man of high rank, who looks into his own affairs, may have all that he ought to have, all that can be of any use, or appear with any advantage, for five thousand pounds a year. Therefore a great pro- portion must go in waste ; and, indeed, this is the case with most people, whatever their fortune is." Bos- AVELL. " I have no doubt, Sir, of this. But how is it ? What is waste ?" Johnson. " Why, Sir, breaking bot- tles, and a thousand other things. Waste cannot be accurately told, though we are sensible how destructive it is. Economy on the one hand, by which a certain income is made to maintain a man genteelly, and waste on the other, by which, on the same income, another man lives shabbily, cannot be defined. It is a very nice thing ; as one man wears his coat out much soon- er than another, we cannot tell how." When Johnson told this Httic anecdote to Sir Josliua Reynolds, he mcntionetj a circumstance which he omitted to-day : — « Why (said Garrick) it is as red as blood." OOO THE LIFE OF 1778. We talked of war. Johnson. " Every man thinks S^ meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not 69. having been at sea." Boswell. "Lord Mansfield does not." Johnson. " Sir, if Lord Mansfield were in a company of General Officers and Admirals who have been in service, he would shrink ; he'd wish to creep under the table." Boswell. " No ; he'd think he could//-// them all." Johnsoiv. " Yes, if he could catch them ; but they'd try him much sooner. No, Sir ; were Socrates and Charles the Twelfth of Swe- den both present in any company, and Socrates to say, ' Follow me, and hear a lecture in philosophy ;' and Charles, laying his hand on his sword, to say, ' Follow me, and dethrone the Czar ;' a man would be ashamed to follow Socrates. Sir, the impression is universal : yet it is strange. As to the sailor, when you look down from the quarter-deck to the space below, you see the utmost extremity of human misery : such crouding, such filth, such stench !" Boswell. " Yet sailors are happy." Johnson. " They are happy as brutes are happy, with a piece of fresh meat, — with the grossest sensuality. But, Sir, the profession of soldiers and sailors has the dignity of danger. Man- kind reverence those vi^ho have got over fear, which is so general a weakness." Scott. " But is not courage mechanical, and to be acquired ?" Johnson. " Why yes, Sir, in a collective sense. Soldiers consider them- selves only as part of a great machine." Scott. " We find people fond of being sailors." Johnson. " I can- not account for that, any more than 1 can account for other strange perversions of imagination." His abhorrence of the profession of a sailor was uniformly violent ; but in conversation he always ex- alted the profession of a soldier. And yet I have, in my large and various collection of his writings, a letter to an eminent friend, in which he expresses himself thus : " My god-son called on me lately. He is weary, and rationally weary of a military life. If you can place him in some other state, 1 think you may increase his happiness, and secure his virtue. A soldier's time is passed in distress and danger, or in idleness and cor- \)R. JOHNSO.N. .501 ruption." Such was his cool reflection in his study ; 1778. but whenever he was warmed and animated by the ^f^ presence of company, he, like other philosophers, whose oy. minds are imprcijnated witii poetical fancy, caught the common enthusiasm for sph^ndid renown. He talked of Mr. Charles iox, of who.se abilities he thought highly, but observed, that he did not talk much at our Club. 1 have heard Mr. Ciibbon remark, "that Mr. Fox could not be afraid of Dr. Johnson ; yet he certainly was very shy of saying any thing in Dr. Johnson's presence." Mr. Scott now quoted what was said of Alcibiades by a Greek poet, to which John- son assented.' He told us, that he had given Mrs. Montagu a cata- logue of all Daniel Defoe's works of imagination ; most, if not all of which, as well as of his other works, he now enumerated, allowing- a considerable share of merit to a man, who, bred a tradesman, had written so vari- ously and so well. Indeed, his " Robinson Crusoe'^ is enough of itself to establish his reputation. He expressed great indignation at the imposture of the Cock-lane Ghost, and related, with much satisfac- tion, how he had assisted in detecting the cheat, and had published an account of it in the newspapers. Up- on this subject 1 incautiously offended him, by pressing him with too many questions, and he shewed his dis- pleasure. I apologised, saying that " 1 asked questions in order to be instructed and entertained ; I repaired ea- gerly to the fountain ; but that the moment he gave me a hint, the moment he put a lock upon the well, 1 ' [Wishing to discover the ancient observation here referred to, I applied to Sir William Scott on tlie subject, but he had no recollection of it. — My old and very learned friend. Dr. Michael Kearney, formerly senior feUow of Trinity College, Dublin, and now Arch-deacon of Raphoe in Ireland, has, however, most happily elucidated this passage. He remarks to me that " Mr. Boswell's memory must here have deceived him ; and that Mr. Scott's observation must have been, that ' Mr. I'ox, in the instance mentioned, might be considered as the re-vcne of Phaux, of whom, ai Plutarch relates in the Life of Alcibiades, Eupolis the tragedian said, . // is true ln's letter placed Dr. Percy's unquestionable merit in the fairest point of view ; and I contrived that Lord Percy should hear the correspondence, by introducing it at General Paoli's, as an instance of Dr. Johnson's kind disposition towards one in whom his Lordship was inter- ested. Thus every unfavourable impression was obviated that could possibly have been made on those by whom he wished most to be regarded. 1 breakfasted the day after with him, and informed him of my scheme, and its happy completion, for which he thanked me in the warmest terms, and was highly delighted with Dr. Johnson's letter in his praise, of which I gave him a copy. He said " I would rather have this than de- grees from all the Universities in Europe. It will be for me, and my children and grand-children." Dr. Johnson having afterwards asked me if 1 had given him a copy of it, and being told 1 had, was offended, and insisted that I should get it back, which 1 did. As, . however, he did not desire me to destroy either the original or the copy, or forbid me to let it be seen, I think myself at liberty to apply to it his general decla- ration to me concerning his own letters. " That he did not choose they should be published in his life- time ; but had no objection to their appearing after his death." 1 shall therefore insert this kindly correspond- ence, having faithfully narrated the circumstances ac- companying it. JlO I'HE LIFE OF *^^^* " TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. " MY DEAR SIR, " I BEG leave to address you in behalf of our friend Dr. Percy, who was much hurt by what you said to him that day we dined at his house ;^ when, in the course of the dispute as to Pennant's merit as a travel- ler, you told Percy that ' he had the resentment of a narrow mind against Pennant, because he did not find every thing in Northumberland.' Percy is sensible that you did not mean to injure him ; but he is vexed to think that your behaviour to him on that occasion may be interpreted as a proof that he is despised by you, which 1 know is not the case. I have told him, that the charge of being narrow-minded was only as to the particular point in question ; and that he had the merit of being a martyr to his noble family. " Earl Percy is to dine with General Paoli next Fri- day ; and I should be sincerely glad to have it in my power to satisfy his Lordship how well you think of Dr. Percy, who, I find, apprehends that your good opinion of him may be of very essential consequence ; and who assures me, that he has the highest respect and the warmest affection for you. " I have only to add, that my suggesting this occa- sion for the exercise of your candour and generosity, is altogether unknown to Dr. Percy, and proceeds from my good-will towards him, and my persuasion that you will be happy to do him an essential kindness. I am, more and more, my dear Sir, " Your most faithful " And affectionate humble servant, " James Boswell.'' " to james eoswell, esq. " SIR, " The debate between Dr. Percy and me is one of those foolish controversies, which begin upon a ques- tion of which neither party cares how it is decided, and • Suncl;iy, April 12, 1778. DR. JOHNSON. 6\ 1 which is, nevertheless, continued to acrimony, by the i778. vanity with which every man resists confutation. Dr. ^^ Percy's warmth proceeded from a cause which, per- oj). haps, does him more lionour than he could have de- rived from juster criticism. His abhorrence of Pen- nant proceeded from his opinion that Pennant had wan- tonly and indecently censured his patron. His anger made him resolve, that, for having been once wrong, lie never should be right. Pennant has much in his notions that 1 do not like ; but still 1 think him a very in- telligent traveller. If Percy is really oifended, I am sorry ; for he is a man whom I never knew to offend any one. He is a man very willing to learn, and very able to teach ; a man, out of whose company 1 never go without having learned something. It is sure that he vexes me sometimes, but 1 am afraid it is by mak- ing me feel my own ignorance. So much extension of mind, and so much minute accuracy of enquiry, if you survey your whole circle of acquaintance, you will find so scarce, if you find it at all, that you will value Percy by comparison. Lord Hailes is somewhat like him : but Lord Hailes does not, perhaps, go beyond him in research ; and 1 do not know that he equals him in el- egance. Percy's attention to poetry has given grace and splendour to his studies of antiquity. A mere antiquarian is a rugged being. " Upon the whole, you see that what I might say in sport or petulance to him, is very consistent with full conviction of his merit. " I am, dear Sir, " Your most, &c. " April 23, 1778. " Sam. Johnson." ' TO THE REVEREND DR. PERCY, NORTHUMBERLAND- HOUSE. " DEAR SIR, " I WROTE to Dr. Johnson on the subject of the Permajdian controversy ; and have received from him an answer which will delight you. I read it yesterday to Dr. Robertson, at the Exhibition ; and at dinner to 61'2 THE LIFE OF DR. JOHNSON. 1778. to Lord Percy, General Oglethorpe, &c. who dined ^^^ vvith us at General Paoli's ; who was also a witness to 69. the high testimony to your honour. " General Paoli desires the favour of your company next Tuesday to dinner, to meet Dr. Johnson. If I can, I will call on you to-day. I am, with sincere re- gard, "Your most obedient humble servant, " James Boswell/'' " South Aiidley-street, April 25." ' Though the Bishop of Dromore kindly answered the letters which I wrote to him, relative to Dr. Johnson's early history ; yet, in justice to him, I think it proper to add, that the account of the foregoing conversation, and the subsequent trans- action, as well as of some other conversations in which he is mentioned, has been given to the publick without previous communication with his Lordship. END OF THE SECOND VOLUME # .^1- • A. 5^ ?.; / \>-.'M "^9; «fe