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DOUGLAS UNDER WHOSE DIGNIFIED, SCHOLARLY AND INSPIRING DIRECTION THIS WORK WAS FIRST PLANNED TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Introduction xi Bibliography xv Chronological Table xvii Life of Johnson 1 Notes 351 L INTRODUCTION The following abridgment has been prepared with the aim of transferring Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson from the reference shelf to the student's hands, of making it for him something more than " a book to browse on," or a mere adjunct to the essays of Macaulay and Carlyle. The third, or less, of the original here presented is, therefore, not a series of hastily culled " selections. " Every sacrifice of Boswell's text has been made with the intention of offending as little as possible those who look upon his work as a touchstone. That the " talk " should remain intact, or nearly so, was the first consideration, otherwise that the original proportions should be preserved. Boswell's freedom from the tyranny of the modern paragraph becomes so conspicuous after abridgment that a feeling for consistency stands with sentiment for retaining some of his antiquated spelling, especially those forms that Dr. Johnson himself favored. Nothing, fortunately, in the life of him who " ever discouraged obscenity and impiety " calls for expurgation, and the editor believes that cautious excision has left for the student most of the significant allusions to men, books, and politics of the time as well as to Johnson's friends, household, publishers, and clubs. Through the courtesy of Messrs. Harper and Brothers it has been possible to refer unstintedly to the magnificent work of Dr. George Birbeck Hill. The foreign phrases, though very simple, have been translated; but general remarks on eighteenth century life and manners, such as are now common in other school classics, and information to be found in the dictionary or ready-reference books has been excluded from the notes; for their theme, is Johnson. xil INTRODUCTION Those who have found contact with the mind of Dr. Johnson one of the most fascinating of literary experiences eagerly tell us that it is also one of the most educating of human experi- ences. Piety, filial honor, a passion for discrimination, an un- willingness to compromise on matters of principle, indomitable personal pride coupled with the sweetest generosity, intolerance of sham and " sets of words," — even the bigotry with which to face the bigotry of the latest cry, — these things made that singularly impressive unity of mind and character. Who else — to use the words of Sir Joshua Reynolds — can so surely as Dr. Johnson clear one's mind of rubbish and teach one to think justly? For Boswell, of whom something must be said in an Intro- duction, the student should read Carlyle's book on Heroes and the correspondence with Temple — if he can find it; but he should be led to see that, as Mr. Mowbray Morris says, "Johnson's attitude to Boswell is at once the best explanation of his character and his worth." Were that attitude borne in mind, there would be less wonder how the "flunky," upon whom far cleverer persons have so grudgingly bestowed their magnanimity, could have written one of the great books of modern days. It but emphasizes the classic truth : Enduring art makes its way by convictions rather than by conciliations. " He would not change his tiger into a cat to please anybody ! " How much shrewder, even as a bid for fame, his devotion to one majestic being than the desire to please a host of the second rate ! This the lovers of the obvious, of whom Macaulay is the chief, have failed to see. Boswell spared himself even less than he spared his master, and admits the fact with so much sin- cerity and candor in the Dedication to Sir Joshua Reynolds that one feels ashamed of the easy criticism which could pro- duce : " All the caprices of his temper, all the illusions of his vanity, all the hypochondriac whimsies, all his castles in the air, he displayed with a cool complacency, a perfect unconscious- ness that he was making a fool of himself, to which it is im- possible to find a parallel in the whole history of mankind." Such an attitude, Edmund Gosse almost too mildly says, indi- cates " something incomprehensible " in the critic's u capacity." Boswell was not " a man of the meanest and feeblest intellect " ; INTRODUCTION xiii he was, no doubt, sensual and vain, but, fond though he was of a "toot on a new horn, ,, never vulgar. His fame he achieved through Johnson, " but the fact," says Gosse, " has been insisted upon until his own genius and peculiarities have been unduly overlooked." Plainly, all recent criticism is disposed to make amends. Boswell was born on the family estate of Auchinleck in 1740, schooled in Edinborough, prepared for the law in Glasgow. Events of importance subsequent to his meeting with Johnson in 1763 are mentioned in the Life. After Johnson's death he kept a residence in London, maintained a prominent place in the Literary Club, and was made Foreign Secretary of the Royal Academy. He died in London in 1795, and was buried at Auchinleck. His correspondence with Temple was published in 1857, and his Commonplace Book — " Boswelliana " — in 1874. A BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS CONCERNING DR. JOHNSON 1774. Campbell's Lexiphanes. 1781. The Beauties of Johnson. 1782. The Deformities of Johnson. 1785. Johnson's Prayers and Meditations, published by- George Strahan. Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. 1786. Mrs. Piozzi's Anecdotes of the late Samuel Johnson During the Last Twenty Years of his Life. 1787. Sir John Hawkins's Life of Samuel Johnson. 1788. Mrs. Piozzi's Letters to and from the Late Samuel Johnson. 1791. Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson. 1792. Murphy's Essay on the Life and Genius of Johnson. 1793. Second edition of Boswell's Life. Merry's Witticisms, Anecdotes, Jests etc. of Dr. John- son. 1794. Boswell's supplementary volume. 1798. Dr. Johnson's Table Talk. 1799. Malone's third edition of Boswell's Life. 1804. Malone's fourth edition of Boswell's Life. 1805. Phillips's edition of Johnson's Account of his Life from Birth to his Eleventh Year, with Letters to Miss Hill Boothby. 1831. Croker's edition of Boswell's Life. Macaulay's Essay on Boswell's Life of Samuel John- son. 1832. Carlyle's Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson in Frazer's Magazine. 1841. (Printed) Carlyle's The Hero as Man of Letters. 1854. The Reverend Thomas Campbell's Diary of a Visit to England. XVI A BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY 1856. Macaulay's Life of Samuel Johnson. 1857. BoswelVs Correspondence with the Rev. Mr. Temple. 1859. (Under Macaulay's supervision.) An article in Edin- burg Review on Campbell's Diary. 1878. Dr. Hill's Dr. Johnson, his Friends and his Critics. 1878. Leslie Stephens's Johnson. (English Men of Letters Series.) 1879. Mason's Samuel Johnson, his Words and his Ways. 1884. Reverend Alexander Napier's edition of Boswell's Life. 1887. Dr. Hill's edition of Boswell's Life. 1888. Dr. Hill's Wit and Wisdom of Samuel Johnson. 1892. Dr. Hill's Letters of Samuel Johnson. 1897. Dr. Hill's Johnsonian Miscellanies. 1898. Austin Dobson's (in Eighteenth Century Vignettes) A Garret in Gough Square, and BoswelVs Predecessors and Editors. 1905. Augustine Birrell's The Johnsonian Legend. 1907. Clement K. Snorter's Immortal Memories. 1910. Walter Raleigh's Six Essays on Johnson. A. M. Broadley's Dr. Johnson and Mrs. Thrale with The Unpublished Journal of the Tour in Wales and Correspondence of the Streatham Circle. 1911. Tinker's Dr. Johnson and Fanny Burney. 1911. Alice Meynell and G. K. Chesterton's Johnson. (Selections from Johnson's prose, poetry, letters, etc. One volume.) 1909. Aleyn Lyell Reade's Johnsonian Gleanings. No. I, Dr. Johnson's Ancestors. 1912. No. II, Francis Barber, Dr. Johnson's Negro Servant. No. Ill will deal with Johnson's early life. 1913. Thraliana : by Mr. Salusbury, a descendant of Mrs. Thrale 's family. 1913. Bailey's Dr. Johnson and his Circle. (Home University Library.) CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF JOHNSON'S LIFE AND CONTEMPORARY EVENTS 1709-1784 1709 Johnson born The Tatler, No. I, Sept. 18 Prior's Poems 1710 Trial of Sache- verell 1711 Pope's Essay on Criticism, The Spectator Hume born No. I 1712 Johnson Pope's Rape of "touched" by the Lock, Queen Anne Gay's Trivia 1713 Addison's Cato Sterne born 1714 Accession of George I 1715 Pope's transla- tion of the Iliad, Vol. I 1716 Gray and Garrick born 1717 Johnson sent to Newton's Prin- Horace Walpole Lichfield cipia born Grammar school 1719 Defoe's Robinson Addison died Crusoe, Part I [ble" 1720 "South Sea Bub- 1721 Smollett, Collins, and Prior born 1723 Pope's Odyssey Adam Smithborn, Reynolds born xviii CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 1724 Allan Ramsay's Evergreen and Tea Table Mis- cellany 1725 Johnson sent to Allan Ramsay's Stourbridge School Gentle Shepherd 1726 Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Thomson's Winter 1727 Gay's Fables Accession of George II. Sir Isaac Newton died 1728 Johnson entered Pembroke Col- lege, Oxford Pope's Dunciad Goldsmith born 1729 Johnson left Ox- Burke born, ford without a Steele and Con- degree greve died 1731 Johnson's father The Gentleman's Croker and died Magazine, No. I Churchill born, Defoe died 1732 Johnson an Pope's Essay on Gay died usher at Mar- Man. Frank- ket Bosworth lin's Poor Rich- ard's Almanac 1735 Johnson's mar- riage to Mrs. Porter. Pub- lication of Lo- bo's Voyage to Abyssinia Rob Roy died 1736 Johnson set up a private acad- emy at Edial. Wrote Irene 1737 Johnson and Garrick set out for London Gibbon born CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE xix 1738 Johnson be- Macpherson born. comes a regu- The first of the lar contribu- London Metho- tor to the Gen- dists tleman's Maga- zine. Pub- lishes London 1739 Hume's Treatise Of Human Na- ture Mrs. Thrale born 1740- Johnson writes Richardson's Bos well born 1743 Parliamentary Reports Pamela 1741 Haendel's Mes- 1742 siah, Fielding's Joseph Andrews, Young's Night Thoughts, Shen- stone's School- mistress 1744 Johnson's Life Akenside's Pleas- Pope died of Savage ures of the Im- agination 1745 Swift died. Jacobite Rebel- lion 1747 Johnson's Plan Gray's Ode on a for a Diction- Distant Prospect ary of the Eng- of Eton College, lish Language Collins's Odes addressed to Lord Chester- field 1748 Richardson's Cla- rissa Harlowe, Thomson died S-- Smollett's Rod- erick Random, Thomson's Cas- tle of Indolence XX CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 1749 Johnson's Van- Fielding's Tom Charles Fox born ity of Human Jones Wishes, Irene, produced by Garrick at Drury Lane 1750 Johnson's Ram- bler, No. I 1751 Gray's Elegy in R. B. Sheridan a Country born Churchyard 1752 Mrs. Johnson Frances Burney dies. The and Chatterton Rambler is dis- born continued 1753 Johnson con- tributes to Hawkesworth ' s Adventurer 1754 Hume's History Fielding died. of England Crabbe born 1755 Johnson re- The "Lisbon ceives degree Earthquake" of M.A. from Oxford. Pub- lished Diction- ary of the Eng- lish Language 1756 Johnson con- Burke's Vindica- tributes to the tion of Natural Literary Maga- Society, Essay zine On Sublime and Beautiful, Gray's Odes Blake born 1757 Johnson begins Sterne's Tristram Allan Ramsay the Idler Shandy died 1758 Johnson's Ras- Robertson's His- Burns born. 1759 selas. His mother dies tory of England Pitt born CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE XXI 1760 Bos well's first Goldsmith's Citi- Accession of visit to Lon- zen of the World George III don 1761 Churchill's Ros- ciad Richardson died 1762 Johnson pen- Macpherson's Lady Montagu sioned £300 a Ossian died year 1763 Johnson and Lady Montagu's Boswell meet Letters, Smart's Song to David 1764 The • Literary Goldsmith's Hogarth died Club founded Traveller, Wal- pole's Castle of Otranto, Chat- terton's Elinour and Juga Percy's Reliques 1765 Johnson receives Stamp Act. degree of of Ancient Young died. > LL.D. from Poetry Steam engine Trinity Col- invented lege, Dublin. Publishes his edition of Shakespeare. Meets the Thrales 1766 Goldsmith's Vicar Repeal of Stamp of Wakefield Act 1767 Johnson's con- Maria Edgeworth versation with born George III Sterne's Senti- 1768 mental Journey, Goldsmith's Good-Natured Man, Gray's Poems. Bos- well's Account of Corsica Sterne died XX11 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 1769 The first Letters Napoleon and of Junius, Rob- Wellington born ertson's History of Charles V, Burke's Obser- vations on the Present State of the Nation 1770 Johnson's False Goldsmith's De- Wordsworth born. Alarm serted Village, Burke's Thoughts on the Present Discon- Chatterton died tents 1771 Smollett's Hum- Walter Scott born. phrey Clinker, Gray died. Beat tie's Min- Smollett died strel 1772 Sir Joshua Rey- Coleridge born. nolds's Dis- Swedenborg died courses 1773 Johnson visits Goldsmith's She "Boston Tea Scotland with Stoops to Con- Party" Boswell quer. Fergus- son's Poems 1774 Johnson visits Burke's Speech Southern born. Wales with on American Goldsmith died Mr. and Mrs. Taxation, Thrale Chesterfield's Letters to his Son, Warton's History of Eng- lish Poetry, I 1775 Johnson re- Burke's Speech Jane Austen born. ceives the de- on Conciliation Landor born. gree of D.C.L. with America, Lamb born. from Oxford. Sheridan's Ri- Bunker Hill Publishes Tax- vals ation no Tyr- anny and CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE xxill Journey to the Western Is- lands of Scot- „ land. He visits France with Mr. and Mrs. Thrale 1776 Gibbon's Decline Hume died. and Fall of the Ro- Declaration of man Empire, I. Independence Adam Smith's Wealth of Na- tions 1777 Sheridan's School Campbell born. for Scandal, Burgoyne's sur- Robertson's His- render tory of America 1778 Frances Burney's Hazlitt born. Evelina Hallam born. Voltaire died. Chatham died 1779 Johnson's Lives of the Poets, first four vol- umes Garrick died 1780 The Gordon Riots 1781 Johnson com- pletes the Lives of the Poets. Mr. Thrale dies 1782 Frances Burney's Cecilia Webster born 1783 Johnson Crabbe's Village, Irving born. stricken by Blake's Poeti- Peace with paralysis. He cal Sketches America founds a new club at the Essex Head XXIV CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 1784 Johnson's friends at- tempt to raise a fund which shall pay for a comfortable winter in Italy. Johnson visits Lichfield, Ash- bourne, andOx- ford. He dies at Bolt Court December 13 BOSWELL'S LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON \ THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. To write the Life of him who excelled all mankind in writing the lives of others, and who, whether we consider his extraor- dinary endowments, or his various works, has been equalled by few in any age, is an arduous, and may be reckoned in me a presumptuous task. 5 Had Dr. Johnson written his own Life, in conformity with the opinion which he has given, that every man's life may be best written by himself ; had he employed in the preservation of his own history, that clearness of narration and elegance of language in which he has embalmed so many eminent persons, 10 the world would probably have had the most perfect example of biography that was ever exhibited. But although he at different times, in a desultory manner, committed to writing many particulars of the progress of his mind and fortunes, he never had persevering diligence enough to form them into a 15 ! regular composition. Of these memorials a few have been preserved ; but the greater part was consigned by him to the flames, a few days before his death. As I had the honour and happiness of enjoying his friend- ship for upwards of twenty years; as I had the scheme of 20 writing his life constantly in view ; as he was well apprised of this circumstance, and from time to time obligingly satisfied my enquiries, by communicating to me the incidents of his v early years ; als I was very assiduous in recording his conver- sation, of which the extraordinary vigour and vivacity con- 25 stituted one. of the first features of* his character ; and as I have spared no pains in obtaining materials concerning B 1 2 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. him, and have been favoured with the most liberal communi- cations by his friends ; I natter myself that few biographers have entered upon such a work as this, with more advantages, independent of literary abilities, in which I am not vain 5 enough to compare myself with some great names who have gone before me in this kind of writing. Instead of melting down my materials into one mass, wherever narrative is necessary to explain, connect, and supply, I furnish it ; but in the chronological series of John- 10 son's life, I produce his own minutes, letters, or conversation, being convinced that this mode is more lively. There is here an accumulation of intelligence from various points, by which his character is more fully understood and illustrated. And he will be seen as he really was ; for I profess to write, 15 not his panegyrick, which must be all praise, but his Life ; which, great and good as he was, must not be supposed to be entirely perfect. What I consider as the peculiar value of the following work is the quantity it contains of Johnson's conversation ; wHiSk 20 is universally acknowledged to have been eminently instru#-: tive and entertaining. That the conversation of a celebrated man, if his talents have been exerted in conversation, will best display his character, is well established in the judgement of mankind. 25 If authority be required, let us appeal to Plutarch, the prince of ancient biographers. "Nor is it always in the most dis- tinguished achievements that men's virtues or vices may be best discerned ; but very often an action of small note, a short saying, or a jest, shall distinguish a person's real character 30 more than the greatest sieges, or the most important battles." To this may be added the sentiments of the very man whose life I am about to exhibit. "The business of the biographer is often to pass slightly over those performances and incidents which produce vulgar greatness, to lead the thoughts into 35 domestick privacies, and display the minute details of daily life, where exteriour appendages are cast aside, and men excel each other only by prudence and by virtue. t TS LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 3 " All ; ;pa and enterprises of De Witt are now of less importa « th

ookseller and - loner. Mis mot! Sarah Fon DC THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSOjy "a place to which good people went," and h< which bad people went/' communicated to hii a little child in bed with her ; and that it njg] fixed in his memory, she sent him to repeal 5 Jackson, their man-servant. There is a traditional story of the infant H ism, so curiously characteristick, that I $ha it: — "When Dr. Sacheverel was at Lichfield, J I 10 quite three years old. Mr. Hammond obsei cathedral perched upon his father's shoulde gaping at the muchr celebrated preacher, asl how he could possibly think of bringing si church, and in the midst of so great a crowc 15 because it was impossible to keep him at li \i as he was, he believed he had caught the p zeal for Sacheverel, and would have staic church, satisfied with beholding him." One day, when the servant who used :o 20 to conduct him home, had not come* in "tii himself, though he was then so near-si^h obliged to stoop down on his hands and tn of th k< oriel ° before he ventured to step o^ t he might miss his wa art folio wee place to 3r, when le bettei Thomas of tory- withholc was nai m at the. ning anc Johnsor infant tc answered or, young spirit anc r er in the to school set out by at he was ake a view His school- all into the tt some dis- her. Feel- ^° he rar '. '.. J '.".' -.. . . • ■ THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 5 lied ; and repeated it distinctly, though he could not have d it more than twice. Another story of his infant precocity I am to refute upon own authority. It is told, that, when a child of three ,rs old, he chanced to tread upon a duckling, the eleventh 5 a brood, and killed it ; upon which, he dictated to his ther the following epitaph : — " Here lies good master duck, Whom Samuel Johnson trod on ; If it had liv'd, it had been good luck, 10 For then we'd had an odd one." lis mother, yielding to the superstitious notion as to the yue of the regal touch, carried him to London, where he 3 touched by Queen Anne.° Being asked if he could re- mber Queen Anne, — "He had (he said) a confused, but 15 lehow a sort of solemn recollection of a lady in diamonds i a long black hood." le was first taught to read English by Dame Oliver, a low, who kept a school for young children in Lichfield. He i me she could read the black letter, and asked him to 20 ■row for her, from his father, a bible in that character, len he was going to Oxford, she brought him, in the sim- ;ity of her kindness, a present of gingerbread, and said he s the best scholar she ever had. He delighted in mention- this early compliment: adding, with smile, that " this 25 3 as high a proof of his merit as he could conceive." Ie began to learn Latin with Mr. Hawkins, usher, or under- ster of Lichfield school, "a man (said he) very skilful in his le way." Mr. Hunter, the headmaster, according to his : ount, "was very severe, and wrong-headedly severe. He 30 not distinguish between ignorance and negligence ; for he uld beat a boy equally for not knowing a thing, as for neg- ting to know it. For instance, he would call up a boy and - i him Latin for a candlestick, which the boy could not xoect to be asked. Now, Sir, if a boy could answer every 35 ■ estion, there would be no need of a master to teach him." u 6 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. Mr. Langton asked him how he had acquired so accurat a knowledge of Latin, in which, I believe, he was exceedec by no man of his time ; he said, "My master whipt me ven well. Without that, Sir, I should have done nothing. 5 While Hunter was flogging his boys unmercifully, he used to say, "And this I do to save you from the gallows"." Johnson, upon all occasions, expressed his approbation of enforcing instruction by means of the rod. "A child is afraid of being whipped, and gets his task, and there's an end on't ; whereas 10 by exciting emulation and comparisons of superiority, you make brothers and sisters hate each other." When Johnson saw some young ladies in Lincolnshire who were remarkably well behaved, owing to their mother's strict discipline and severe correction, he exclaimed, in one c 15 Shakespeare's lines a little varied, ''Rod, I will honour thee for this thy duty." Johnson did not strut or stand on tip-toe ; he only did nc stoop. He was from the beginning, *Ai/a£ av8p Greek, only some of Anacreon and Hesiod : but in this irregu- lar manner (added he) I had looked into a great many books, which were not commonly known at the Universities, where they seldom read any books but what are put into their 10 hands by their tutors; so that when I came to Oxford, Dr. Adams, now master of Pembroke College, told me, I was the best qualified for the University that he had ever known come - there." The Reverend Dr. Adams gave me some account of what 15 passed on the night of Johnson's arrival at Oxford. His father, who had anxiously accompanied him, found means to have him introduced to Mr. Jorden, who was to be his tutor. / His father seemed very full of the merits of his son, and told \ the company he was a good scholar, and a poet, and wrote 20 Latin verses. His figure and manner appeared strange to them; but he behaved modestly, and sat silent, till upon something which occurred in the course of conversation, he suddenly struck in and quoted Macrobius. Mr. Jorden "was a very worthy man, but a heavy man, 25 and I did not profit much by his instructions. Indeed, I did not attend him much. The first day after I came to college, I waited upon him, and then staid away four. On the sixth, Mr. Jorden asked me why I had not attended. I answered, I had been sliding in Christ-Church meadow. And 30 this I said with as much nonchalance as I am now talking to you. I had no notion that I was wrong or irreverent to my tutor.'' Boswell. "That, Sir, was great fortitude of mind." Johnson. "No, Sir, stark insensibility." He had a love and respect for Jorden, not for his literature, but for his 35 worth. "Whenever (said he) a young man becomes Jorden's pupil, he becomes his son." 8 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. While he was at Lichfield, in the college vacation of the year 1729, he felt himself overwhelmed with an horrible hypochondria, with perpetual irritation, fretfulness, and im- patience; and with a dejection, gloom, and despair, which 5 made existence misery. " Sunday (said he) was a heavy day to me when I was a boy. My mother confined me on that day, and made me read 'The Whole Duty of Man/° from a great part of which I could derive no instruction. When, for instance, I had 10 read the chapter on theft, which from my infancy I had been taught was wrong, I was no more convinced that theft was wrong than before ; so there was no accession of knowledge. A boy should be introduced to such books by having his attention directed to the arrangement, to the style,- and 15 other excellencies of composition ; that the mind being thus engaged by an amusing variety of objects may not grow weary. " "I fell into an inattention to religion, or an indifference about it, in my ninth year. The church at Lichfield, in which 20 we had a seat, wanted reparation, so I was to go and find a seat in other churches; and having bad eyes, and being awkward about this, I \ised to go and read in the fields on Sunday. This habit continued till my fourteenth year; I then became a sort of lax talker against religion, for I did 25 not much think against it ; and this lasted till I went to Oxford, where it would not be suffered. When at Oxford, I took up Law's 'Serious Call to a Holy Life/ expecting to find it a dull book, (as such books generally are), and per- haps to laugh at it. But I found Law quite an overmatch 30 for me; and this was the first occasion of my thinking in earnest of religion." From this time forward religion was the predominant object of his thoughts. He told me, that from his earliest years he loved to read poetry, but hardly ever read any poem to an end; that he 35 read Shakspeare at a period so early, that the speech of the Ghost in Hamlet terrified him when he was alone; that Horace's Odes were the compositions in which he took most THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 9 delight, and it was long before he liked his Epistles and Satires. He told me what he read solidly at Oxford was Greek ; not the Grecian historians, but Homer and Euripides and now and then a little Epigram ; that the study of which he was the most fond was Metaphysicks. 5 His apartment in Pembroke College was that upon the second floor over the gateway. The enthusiast of learning will ever contemplate it with veneration. One day, while he was sitting in it quite alone, the master of the College overheard him uttering this soliloquy in his strong emphatick 10 voice: "Well, I have a mind to see what is done in other places of learning. I'll go and visit the Universities abroad. I'll go to France and Italy. I'll go to Padua. And I'll mind my business. For an Athenian blockhead is the worst of all blockheads." 15 He was then depressed by poverty, and irritated by dis- ease. "Ah, Sir, I was mad and violent. It was bitterness which they mistook for frolick. I was miserably poor, and I thought to fight my way by my literature and my wit ; so I disregarded all power and all authority." 20 I have heard from some of his contemporaries that he was generally seen lounging at the College gate, with a circle of young students round him, whom he was entertaining with wit, and keeping from their studies, if not spiriting them up to rebellion against the College discipline, which in his 25 maturer years he so much extolled. He very early began a diary of his life. Oct. 1729. "De- sidice valedixi; syrenis istius cantibus surdam posthac aurem obversurus. — I bid farewell to Sloth, being resolved hence- forth not to listen to her syren strains." 30 Johnson was peculiarly happy in mentioning how many of the sons of Pembroke were poets ; adding, with a smile of sportive triumph, "Sir, we are a nest of singing birds." He was not, however, blind to what he thought the defects of his own college. Taylor had obtained his father's consent 35 to be entered of Pembroke, that he might be with his school- fellow. This would have been a great comfort to Johnson. 10 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. But he fairly told Taylor that he could not, in conscience, suffer him to enter where he knew he could not have an able tutor. He then made enquiry all round the University, and having found that Mr. Bateman, of Christ-Church, was the 5 tutor of highest reputation, Taylor was entered of that Col- lege. Mr. Bateman' s lectures were so excellent, that John- son used to come and get them at second-hand from Taylor, . till his poverty being so extreme, that his shoes were worn out, and his feet appeared through them, he saw that this humiliat- 10 ing circumstance was pereeived by the Christ-Church men, and he came no more. He was too proud to accept of money, and somebody having set a pair of new shoes at his door, he threw them away with indignation. Dr. Adams paid Johnson this high compliment. "I was 15 his nominal tutor; but he was above my mark." When I repeated it to Johnson, his eyes flashed with grateful satis- faction, and he exclaimed, "That was liberal and noble." The state of poverty in which his father died, appears from a note in one of Johnson's little diaries. "I layed by 20 eleven guineas on this day, when I received twenty pounds, being all that I have reason to hope for out of my father's effects, previous to the death of my mother ; an event which I pray God may be very remote. I now therefore see that I must make my own fortune. Meanwhile, let me take care 25 that the powers of my mind be not debilitated by pov- erty, and that indigence do not force me into any criminal act." Johnson was so far fortunate, that the respectable char- acter of his parents, and his own merit, had, from his earliest 30 years, secured him a kind reception in the best families at Lichfield. Among these were Dr. Swinfen, Captain Garrick, and Mr. Gilbert Walmsley, Registrar of the Ecclesiastical Court of Lichfield. In these families he was in the company of ladies, particularly at Mr. Walmsley's, whose wife and 35 sisters-in-law, of the name of Aston, and daughters of a Baronet, were remarkable for good breeding; so that the notion which has been industriously circulated and believed, THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 11 that he never was in good company till late in life, is wholly without foundation. In the forlorn state of his circumstances, he accepted of an offer to be employed as usher in the school of Market-Bos- worth, in Leicestershire. This employment was very irk- 5 some to him in every respect. Mr. Hector recollects his writing "that the poet had described the dull sameness of his existence in these words, c Vitam continet una dies 9 (one day contains the whole of my life) ; that it was unvaried as the note of the cuckoo ; and that he did not know whether it 10 was more disagreeable for him to teach, or the boys to learn, the grammar rules. " He was invited by Mr. Hector to pass some time at Bir- mingham. Mr. Warren, the first established bookseller in Birmingham, was very attentive to Johnson, who he soon 15 found could be of much service to him in his trade, by his knowledge of literature and in furnishing some numbers of a periodical Essay printed in the newspaper, of which Warren was the proprietor. He made some valuable acquaintances there, amongst whom were Mr. Porter, a mercer, whose widow 20 he afterwards married. Having mentioned that he had read at Pembroke College a Voyage to Abyssinia, by Lobo, a Portuguese Jesuit, and that he thought an abridgement and translation of it from the French into English might be an useful and profitable publica- 25 tion, Mr. Warren and Mr. Hector joined in urging him to undertake it. He accordingly agreed; but his constitu- tional indolence soon prevailed, and the work was at a stand. Mr. Hector, who knew that a motive of humanity would be the most prevailing argument with his friend, went to John- 30 son, and represented to him, that the printer could have no other employment till this undertaking was finished, and that the poor man and his family were suffering. Johnson upon this exerted the powers of his mind, though his body was relaxed. He lay in bed with the book, which was a quarto, 35 before him, and dictated while Hector wrote. He published proposals for printing by subscription the 12 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. Latin Poems of Politian. There were not subscribers enough to insure a sufficient sale; so the work never appeared. Miss Porter told me, that when he was first introduced to 5 her mother, his appearance was very forbidding : he was then lean and lank, so that his immense structure of bones was hideously striking to the eye, and the scars of the scrophula were deeply visible. He also wore his hair, which was straight and stiff, and separated behind ; and he often had, seemingly, 10 convulsive starts and odd gesticulations, which tended to excite at once surprise and ridicule. Mrs. Porter was so much engaged by his conversation that she overlooked all these external disadvantages, and said to her daughter, "This is the most sensible man that I ever saw in my life." 15 Though Mrs. Porter was double the age of Johnson, and her person and manner, as described to me by the late Mr. Garrick, were by no means pleasing to others, she must have had a superiority of understanding and talents, as she cer- tainly inspired him with a more than ordinary passion. He 20 went to Lichfield to ask Ms mother' s consent to the marriage ; which he could not but be conscious was a very imprudent scheme, both on account of their disparity of years, and her want of fortune. But Mrs. Johnson knew too well the ardour of her son's temper, and was too tender a parent to oppose 25 his inclinations. "Sir, it was a love marriage on both sides." I have had from my illustrious friend the following curious account of their journey to church upon the nuptial morn : — "Sir, she had read the old romances, and had got into her head the 30 fantastical notion that a woman of spirit should use her lover like a dog. So, Sir, at first she told me that I rode too fast, and she could not keep up with me : and, when I rode a little slower, she passed me, and complained that I lagged behind. I was not to be made the slave of caprice ; and I resolved to 35 begin as I meant to end. I therefore pushed on briskly, till I was fairly out of her sight. The road lay between two hedges, so I was sure she could not miss it ; and I contrived THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 13 that she should soon come up with me. When she did, I observed her to be in tears/ ' He now set up a private academy, for which purpose he hired a large house. In the Gentleman's Magazine for 1736, there is the following advertisement: "At Edial, near Lich- 5 field, in Staffordshire, young gentlemen are boarded and taught the Latin and Greek Languages, by Samuel John- son/' But the only pupils that were put under his care were the celebrated David Garrick and his brother George, and a Mr. Offely. The truth is, that he was not so well 10 qualified for being a teacher of elements, and a conductor in learning by regular gradations, as men of inferiour powers of mind. His own acquisitions had been made by fits and starts, by violent irruptions into the regions of knowledge; and it could not be expected that his impatience would be subdued, 15 and his impetuosity restrained, so as to fit him for a quiet guide to novices. From Mr. Garrick's account he did not appear to have been profoundly reverenced by his pupils. His oddities of manner, and uncouth gesticulations, could not but be the subject of 20 merriment to them ; and in particular, the young rogues used to listen and peep through the key-hole, that they might turn into ridicule his tumultuous and awkward fondness for Mrs. Johnson, whom he used to name by the familiar appel- lation of Tetty or Tetsey, which, like Betty or Betsey, is provin- 25 dally used as a contraction for Elizabeth. I have seen Garrick exhibit her, by his exquisite talent of mimickry, so as to excite the heartiest bursts of laughter. Johnson now thought of trying his fortune in London. David Garrick went thither at the same time, with intent to 30 follow the profession of the law, from which he was soon diverted by his decided preference for the stage. He had a little money when he came to town, and he knew how he could live in the cheapest manner. "I dined (said he) very well for eight-pence, with very good company, at 35 the Pine- Apple in New-street, just by. Several of them had travelled. They expected to meet every day; but did not 14 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. know one another's names. It used to cost the rest a shilling, for the}^ drank wine ; but I had a cut of meat for six-pence, and bread for a penny, and gave the waiter a penny ; so that I was quite well served, nay, better than the rest, for they 5 gave the waiter nothing." His Ofellus in the Art of Living in London, I have heard him relate, was an Irish painter, whom he knew at Birmingham. " He said a man might live in a garret at eighteen-pence a week; few people would inquire where he lodged ; and if they did, it was easy to say, 10 'Sir, I am to be found at such a place/ By spending three- pence in a coffee-house, he might be for some hours every day in very good company; he might dine for six-pence, breakfast on bread and milk for a penny, and do without supper. On clean-shirt-day he went abroad, and paid visits." 15 Amidst this cold obscurity, there was one brilliant circum- stance to cheer him ; he was well acquainted with Mr. Henry Hervey, who had at this time a house in London, where Johnson had an opportunity of meeting genteel company. He described this early friend, " Harry Hervey," thus: "He 20 was a vicious man, but very kind to me. If you call a dog Hervey, I shall love him." He had now written only three acts of his Irene, and retired for some time to lodgings at Greenwich, where he used to compose, walking in the Park. His tragedy was 25 slowly and painfully elaborated. A few days before his death, while burning a great mass of papers, he picked out from among them the original unformed sketch of this tragedy, in his own handwriting, and gave it to Mr. Langton. The King having graciously accepted of this manuscript as 30 a literary curiosity, the volume is deposited in the King's library. He related to me the following minute anecdote of this period : "In the last age, when my mother lived in London, there were two sets of people, those who gave the wall, and 35 those who took it ; the peaceable and the quarrelsome. When I returned to Lichfield, my mother asked me, whether I was one of those who gave the wall, or those who took it. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 15 Now it is fixed that every man keeps to the right ; or, if one is taking the wall, another yields it ; and it is never a dispute." His tragedy being by this time, as he thought, completely finished and fit for the stage, Mr. Peter Garrick told me, that Johnson and he went together to the Fountain Tavern, and 5 read it over, and that he afterwards solicited Mr. Fleetwood, the patentee of Drury-lane theatre, to have it acted at his house; but Mr. Fleetwood would not accept it, probably because it was not patronized by some man of high rank; and it was not acted till 1749, when his friend David Garrick 10 was manager of that theatre. The Gentleman's Magazine, begun and carried on by Mr. Edward Cave, under the name of Sylvanus Urban, had attracted the notice and esteem of Johnson, in an eminent degree, before he came to London as an adventurer in litera- 15 ture. He told me, that when he first saw St. John's Gate, the place where that deservedly popular miscellany was originally printed, he " beheld it with reverence." His first performance in the Gentleman's Magazine, was a copy of Latin verses, in March 1738, addressed to the editor 20 in so happy a style of compliment, that Cave must have been destitute both of taste and sensibility, had he not felt himself highly gratified. He was now enlisted by Mr. Cave as a regular coadjutor in his magazine, by which he probably obtained a tolerable 25 livelihood. What we certainly know to have been done by him was the Debates in both houses of Parliament, under the name of "The Senate of Lilliput," sometimes with feigned denominations of the several speakers, sometimes with de- nominations formed of the letters of their real names, in the 30 manner of what is called anagram, so that they might easily be decyphered. Parliament then kept the press in a kind of mysterious awe, which made it necessary to have recourse to such devices. The speeches were enriched by the acces- sion of Johnson's genius, from the scanty notes furnished by 35 persons employed to attend in both houses of Parliament. Sometimes he had nothing more communicated to him than 16 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. the names of the several speakers, and the part which they had taken in the debate. But what first displayed his transcendent powers, and "gave the world assurance of the Man/' was his "London, a Poem, 5 in Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal." To Mr. Cave. " Having the inclosed poem in my hands to dispose of for the benefit of the authour (of whose abilities I shall say noth- ing, since I send you his performance), I cannot help taking 10 notice, that besides what the authour may hope for on account of his abilities, he has likewise another claim to your regard, as he lies at present under very disadvantageous cir- cumstances of fortune. Sam. Johnson." Mr. Robert Dodsley had taste enough to perceive its un- 15 common merit, and gave Johnson ten guineas, who told me, "I might perhaps have accepted of less; but that Paul Whitehead had a little before got ten guineas for a poem; and I would not take less than Paul Whitehead." Johnson's " London" was published in May, 1738;. and it 20 is remarkable that it came out on the same morning with Pope's satire, entitled "1738." Pope, who then filled the poetical throne without a rival, must have been particularly struck by the sudden appearance of such a poet. Informed that his name was Johnson, and that he was some obscure 25 man, Pope said, "He will soon be deterre." The nation was then in that ferment against the Court and the Ministry, which some years after ended in the down- fall of Sir Robert Walpole. Accordingly we find in Johnson's "London " the most spirited invectives against tyranny and 30 oppression, the warmest predilection for his own country, and the purest love of virtue ; interspersed with traits of his own particular character and situation, not omitting his prejudices as a "true-born Englishman." " Quick let us rise, the happy seats explore, 35 And bear Oppression's insolence no more." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 17 11 How, when competitors like these contend, Can surly Virtue hope to find a friend ? " " This mournful truth is every where confess'd, Slow rises worth, by poverty depress'd !" An offer being made to him of the mastership of a school, 5 provided he could obtain the degree of Master of Arts, Dr. Adams was applied to, to know whether that could be granted him as a favour from the University of Oxford. But it was then thought too great a favour to be asked. Pope, without any knowledge of him but from his " London," io recommended him to Earl Gower, who endeavoured to procure for him a degree from Dublin, by a letter to a friend of Dean Swift. It was, perhaps, no small disappointment to Johnson that this respectable application had not the desired effect. He applied to Dr. Adams, to consult Dr. Smalebroke of the Com- 15 mons, whether a person might be permitted to practise as an advocate there, without a doctor's degree in Civil Law. He who could displa}^ eloquence and wit in defence of the deci- sion of the House of Commons upon Mr. Wilkes's election for Middlesex, and of the unconstitutional taxation of our fellow- 20 subjects in America, must have been a powerful advocate in any cause. But here, also, the want of a degree was an insurmountable bar. Johnson's last quoted letter to Mr. Cave concludes with a fair confession that he had not a dinner. Though in this 25 state of want himself, his benevolent heart was not insen- sible to the necessities of an humble labourer in literature. To Mr. Cave. "You may remember I have formerly talked with you about a Military Dictionary. Mr. Macbean has very good 30 materials for such a work, which I have seen, and will do it at a very low rate. Sam. Johnson." In "Marmor Norf olciense ; or an Essay on an ancient prophetical Inscription, in monkish Rhyme, lately discovered 18 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. near Lynne in Norfolk, by Probtjs Britannicus," he, in a feigned inscription, supposed to have been found in Nor- folk, the country of Sir Robert Walpole, the obnoxious prime minister, inveighs against the Brunswick succession, and the 5 measures of government consequent upon it. To this sup- posed prophecy he added a Commentary, making each expres- sion apply to the times, with warm Anti-Hanoverian zeal. "Marmor Norf olciense " became exceedingly scarce, so that I for many years endeavoured in vain to procure a copy of it. 10 At last I was indebted to the malice of one of Johnson's numerous petty adversaries, who, in 1775, published a new edition of it, "with Notes and a Dedication to Samuel John- son, LL.D. by Tribunus;" in which some puny scribbler invidiously attempted to found upon it a charge of incon- 15 sistency against its author, because he had accepted of a pension. He looked at it and laughed, and seemed to be much diverted with the feeble efforts of his unknown adver- sary, who, I hope, is alive to read this account. "Now (said he) here is somebody who thinks he has vexed me sadly ; yet, 20 if it had not been for you, you rogue, I should probably never have seen it." Mr. Pope's note concerning Johnson justifies Swift's epithet of "paper-sparing Pope," ° for it is written on a slip no larger than a common message-card: 25 "This is imitated by one Johnson who put in for a Publick- school in Shropshire, but was disappointed. He has an in- firmity of the convulsive kind, that attacks him sometimes, so as to make Him a sad Spectacle. Mr. P. from the Merit of This Work which was all the knowledge he had of Him 30 endeavour' d to serve Him without his own application ; & wrote to my L d gore, but he did not succeed. Mr. Johnson published afterw ds another Poem in Latin with Notes the whole very Humerous call'd the Norfolk Prophecy. P." When Sir Joshua observed to Johnson that he seemed very 35 desirous to see Pope's note, he answered, "Who would not be proud to have such a man as Pope so solicitous in enquir- ing about him?" THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 19 Sir Joshua Reynolds, however, said : "Those motions or tricks of Dr. Johnson are improperly called convulsions. He could sit motionless, when he was told so to do, as well as any other man. My opinion is, that it proceeded from a habit ° which he had indulged himself in, of accompanying 5 his thoughts with certain untoward actions, and those actions always appeared to me as if they were meant to reprobate some part of his past conduct. The great business of his life (he said) was to escape from himself; this disposition he considered as the disease of his mind, which nothing cured 10 but company. We visited the late Mr. Banks, of Dorset- shire ; the conversation turning upon pictures, which Johnson could not well see, he retired to a corner of the room, stretching out his right leg as far as he could reach before him, then bringing up his left leg, and stretching his right 15 still further on. The old gentleman observing him, went up to him, and in a very courteous manner assured him, though it was not a new house, the flooring was perfectly safe. The Doctor started from his reverie like a person waked out of his sleep, but spoke not a word." 20 Johnson used to be a pretty frequent visitor at the house of Mr. Richardson, author of Clarissa. Mr. Hogarth came one day to see Richardson. While he was talking, he per- ceived a person standing at a window in the room, shaking his head, and rolling himself about in a strange ridiculous 25 manner. He concluded that he was an idiot, whom his rela- tions had put under the care of Mr. Richardson, as a very good man. To his great surprise, however, this figure stalked forwards to where he and Mr. Richardson were sitting, and all at once took up the argument, and burst out into an in- 30 vective against George the Second. Garrick repeated an Epitaph upon Phillips. Johnson shook his head at these common-place funeral lines. "I think, Davy, I can make a better." Then stirring about his tea for a little while, in a state of meditation, he almost ex- 35 tempore produced the following verses : 20 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. " Phillips, whose touch harmonious could remove The pangs of guilty power or hapless love ; Rest here, distress'd by poverty no more, Here find that calm thou gav'st so oft before ; Sleep, undisturb'd, within this peaceful shrine, Till angels wake thee with a note like thine ! " Johnson considered Dr. Birch as a dull writer. "Tom Birch is as brisk as a bee in conversation; but no sooner does he take a pen in his hand, than it becomes a torpedo to 10 him, and benumbs all his faculties." His circumstances were at this time embarrassed ; yet his affection for his mother was so warm, and so liberal, that he took upon himself a debt of hers. To Mr. Levett; in Lichfield. 15 "I am extremety sorry that we have encroached so much upon your forbearance with respect to the interest, which I am not immediately able to remit to you, but will pay it (I think twelve pounds,) in two months. I look upon this, and on the future interest of that mortgage, as my own debt ; 20 and beg that you will be pleased to give me directions how to pay it, and not mention it to my dear mother. Sam. Johnson." In 1744 he produced The Life of Richard Savage : a man of whom it is difficult to speak impartially, without wonder- 25 ing that he was for some time the intimate companion of Johnson; for his character was marked by profligacy, inso- lence, and ingratitude : yet, as he undoubtedly had a warm and vigorous, though unregulated mind, had seen life in all its varieties, and been much in the company of the statesmen 30 and wits of his time, he could communicate to Johnson an abundant supply of such materials as his philosophical curi- osity most eagerly desired. It is melancholy to reflect, that Johnson and Savage were sometimes in such extreme in- digence, that they could not pay for a lodging ; so that they 35 have wandered together whole nights in the streets. He THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 21 told Sir Joshua Reynolds that one night in particular, when Savage and he walked round St. James' s-Square for want of a lodging, they were not at all depressed by their situation ; but in high spirits and brimful of patriotism, trav- ersed the square for several hours, inveighed against the 5 minister and " resolved they would stand by their country." Johnson's "Life of Savage" is one of the most interesting narratives in the English language. Sir Joshua Reynolds told me, that upon his return from Italy he met with it in Devonshire, knowing nothing of its author, and began to read 10 it while he was standing with his arm leaning against a chimney-piece. It seized his attention so strongly, that, not being able to lay down the book till he had finished it, when he attempted to move, he found his arm totally benumbed. The rapidity with which this work was composed is a won- 15 derful circumstance. Johnson has been heard to say, "I wrote forty-eight of the printed octavo pages of the Life of Savage at a sitting; but then I sat up all night." Johnson and Taylor went to see Garrick perform, and after- wards passed the evening at a tavern with him and old 20 GifTard. Johnson, after censuring some mistakes in emphasis, which Garrick had committed in the course of that night's acting, said, "The players, Sir, have got a kind of rant, with which they run on, without any regard either to accent or emphasis." Both Garrick and Giffard were offended at this 25 sarcasm, and endeavoured to refute it ; upon which Johnson rejoined, "Well now, I'll give you something to speak, with which you are little acquainted, and then we shall see how just my observation is. That shall' be the criterion. Let me hear you repeat the ninth Commandment, 'Thou shalt not 30 bear false witness against thy neighbour.'" Both tried at it, said Dr. Taylor, and both mistook the emphasis, which should be upon not and false witness. Johnson put them right, and enjoyed his victory with great glee. In 1745 he published a pamphlet entitled, " Miscellaneous 35 Observations on the Tragedy of Macbeth, with Remarks on Shakspeare." His pamphlet was fortunate enough to ob- 22 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. tain the approbation even of the supercilious Warburton himself. David Garrick, having become joint patentee and manager of Drury-lane theatre,. Johnson honoured his opening of it 5 with a Prologue. Like the celebrated Epilogue to the " Dis- tressed Mother/' it was, during the season, often called for by the audience. But the year 1747 is distinguished as the epoch when Johnson's arduous and important work, his Dictionary of 10 the English Language, was announced to the world, by the publication of its Plan or Prospectus. He told me, that "it was not the effect of particular study; but that it had grown up in his mind insensibly." I have been in- formed by Mr. James Dodsley, that several years before 15 this period, when Johnson was one day sitting in his brother Robert's shop, he heard his brother suggest to him, that a Dictionary of the English Language would be a work that would be well received by the publick ; that Johnson seemed at first to catch at the proposition, but, after a pause, said, in 20 his abrupt decisive manner, "I believe I shall not undertake it." Johnson told me, "Sir, the way in which the plan of my Dictionary came to be inscribed to Lord Chesterfield, was this : I had neglected to write it by the time appointed. Dodsley suggested a desire to have it addressed to Lord 25 Chesterfield. I laid hold of this as a pretext for delay, that it might be better done, and let Dodsley have his desire. I said to my friend, Dr. Bathurst, 'Now if an} 7 good comes of my addressing to Lord Chesterfield, it will be ascribed to deep policy,' when, in fact, it was only a casual excuse for 30 laziness." His "Plan" in manuscript got into the hands of a noble Lord, who carried it to Lord Chesterfield. When Taylor observed this might be an advantage, Johnson replied, "No, Sir, it would have come out with more bloom, if it had not been seen before by any body." 35 Dr. Adams found him one day busy at his Dictionary. Adams. "But, Sir, how can you do this in three years?" Johnson. "Sir, I have no doubt that I can do it in three THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.B. 23 years. " Adams. "But the French Academy, which consists of forty members, took forty years to compile their Diction- ary." Johnson. "Sir, thus it is. This is the proportion. Let me see ; forty times forty is sixteen hundred. As three to sixteen hundred, so is the proportion of an Englishman to 5 a Frenchman." For the mechanical part he employed six amanuenses. To all these painful labourers Johnson shewed a never-ceasing kindness. While the Dictionary was going forward, Johnson lived part of the time in Holborn, part in Gough-square, Fleet-street ; 10 and he had an upper room fitted up like a counting-house for the purpose, in which he gave to the copyists their several tasks. The words, partly taken from other dictionaries, and partly supplied by himself, having been first written down with spaces left between them, he delivered in writing their ety- 15 mologies, definitions, and various significations. The au- thorities ° were copied from the books themselves, in which he had marked the passages with a black-lead pencil. I remem- ber his telling me, that a large portion of it having by mistake been written upon both sides of the paper, so as to be incon- 20 venient for the compositor, it cost him twenty pounds to have it transcribed upon one side only. But his enlarged and lively mind could not be satisfied without more diversity of employment, and the pleasure of animated relaxation. He therefore formed a club in Ivy 25 lane, Paternoster Row, with a view to enjoy literary discus- sion, and amuse his evening hours. The members associated with him in this little society were, his beloved friend Dr. Richard Bathurst, Mr. Hawkesworth, afterwards well known by his writings, Mr. John Hawkins, an attorney, and 30 a few others of different professions. In the Gentleman's Magazine he wrote a "Life of Roscom- mon/' which he afterwards inserted amongst his Lives of the English Poets. Mr. Dodsley brought out his Preceptor. Johnson 35 furnished "The Preface," as also, "The Vision of Theodore, the Hermit, found in his Cell," a most beautiful allegory of 24 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. human life, under the figure of ascending the mountain of Existence. Dr. Johnson thought this was the best thing he ever wrote. In January, 1749, he published " The Vanity of Human 5 Wishes, being the Tenth Satire of Juvenal imitated." I have heard him say, that he composed seventy lines of it in one day, without putting one of them upon paper till they were finished. I remember when I once regretted to him that he had not given us more of Juvenal's Satires, he said he 10 probably should give more, for he had them all in his head. Garrick observed in his sprightly manner, with more vi- vacity than regard to just discrimination, as is usual with wits, " When Johnson lived much with the Herveys, and saw a good deal of what was passing in life, he wrote his ' London/ which 15 is lively and easy : when he became more retired, he gave us his ' Vanity of Human Wishes/ which is as hard as Greek. Had he gone on to imitate another satire, it would have been as hard as Hebrew." Garrick being now manager of Drury-lane theatre, kindly 20 and generously made use of it to bring out Johnson's tragedy, which had been long kept back for want of encouragement. But in this benevolent purpose he met with no small difficulty from the temper of Johnson. "Sir, (said he) the fellow wants me to make Mahomet run mad, that he may have an oppor- 25tunity of tossing his hands and kicking his heels." Before the curtain drew up, there were catcalls and whis- tling, which alarmed Johnson's friends. The Prologue, which was written by himself in a manly strain, soothed the audience, and the play went off tolerably, till it came to the conclusion, 30 when Mrs. Pritchard, the Heroine of the piece, was to be strangled upon the stage, and was to speak two lines with the bow-string round her neck. The audience cried out 'Murder ! Murder!' She several times attempted to speak; but in vain. At last she was obliged to go off the stage alive. 35 This passage was afterwards struck out, and she was carried off to be put to death behind the scenes. Notwithstanding all the support of such performers as THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.I). 25 Garrick, Barry, Mrs. Cibber, Mrs. Pritchard, and every advantage of dress and decoration, the tragedy of Irene did not please the publick. Mr. Garrick's zeal carried it through for nine nights, so that the authour had his three nights' profits. Garrick has complained to me, that Johnson not 5 only had not the faculty of producing the impressions of tragedy, but that he had not the sensibility to perceive them. When asked how he felt upon the ill success of his tragedy, he replied, "Like the Monument;" meaning that he con- 10 tinued firm and unmoved as that column. "A man (said he) who writes a book, thinks himself wiser or wittier than the rest of mankind; he supposes that he can instruct or amuse them, and the publick to whom he appeals, must, after all, be the judges of his pretensions." 15 He appeared behind the scenes, and even in one of the side boxes, in a scarlet waistcoat, with rich gold lace, and a gold- laced hat. He humourously observed to Mr. Langton, "that when in that dress he could not treat people with the same ease as when in his usual plain clothes." He for a consider- 20 able time used to frequent the Green-Room, and seemed to take delight in dissipating his gloom, by mixing in the sprightly chit-chat of the motley circle then to be found there. John- son at last denied himself this amusement, from considera- tions of rigid virtue ; saying, "I'll come no more behind your 25 scenes, David; for the silk stockings and white bosoms of your actresses excite my amorous propensities." In 1750 he came forth in the character for which he was eminently qualified, a majestick teacher of moral and re- ligious wisdom. The vehicle which he chose was that of a 30 periodical paper, which he knew had been, upon former oc- casions, employed with great success. The Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian, were the last of the kind published in England. He gave Sir Joshua Reynolds the following account of its name: "What must be done, Sir, will be done. I was at a 35 loss how to name it. I sat down at night upon my bedside, and resolved that I would not go to sleep till I had fixed its 26 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. i title. The Rambler seemed the best that occurred, and I took it/' ° Many of these discourses, which we should suppose had been laboured with all the slow attention of literary leisure, 5 were written in haste as the moment pressed, without even being read over by him before they were printed. Sir Joshua Reynolds once asked Mm by what means he had attained his extraordinary accuracy and flow of language. He told him, that he had early laid it down as a fixed rule to do his best on 10 every occasion, and in every company : to impart whatever he knew in the most forcible language he could put it in; and that by constant practice, and never suffering any care- less expressions to escape him, or attempting to deliver his thoughts without arranging them in the clearest manner, it 15 became habitual to him. Johnson told me, with an amiable fondness, a little pleasing circumstance relative to this work. Mrs. Johnson, in whose judgement and taste he had great confidence, said to him, after a few numbers of the Rambler had come out, " I thought very 20 well of you before ; but I did not imagine you could have written any thing equal to this." Some of these more solemn papers, I doubt not, particularly attracted the notice of Dr. Young, the authour of " The Night Thoughts." Johnson was pleased when told of the minute 25 attention with which Young had signified his approbation of his Essays. I will venture to say, that in no writings whatever can be found more bark and steel for the mind. No. 32 on " patience, even under extreme misery," is wonderfully lofty, and as much 30 above the rant of stoicism, as the Sun of Revelation is brighter than the twilight of Pagan philosophy. I never read the following sentence without feeling my frame thrill : — "I think there is some reason for questioning whether the body and mind are not so proportioned, that the one can bear all which 35 can be inflicted on the other ; whether virtue cannot stand its ground as long as life, and whether a soul well principled will not be sooner separated than subdued." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 27 Several of the characters in the Rambler were drawn so naturally, that a club in one of the towns in Essex imagined themselves to be severally exhibited in it, and were much in- censed against a person who, they suspected, had thus made them objects of publick notice; nor were they quieted 5 till authentick assurance was given them., that the Rambler was written b}^ a person who had never heard of any one of them. Some of the characters are believed to have been actually drawn from the life, particularly that of Prospero from Garrick, who never entirely forgave its pointed satire. 10 It has of late been the fashion to compare the style of Addison and Johnson, and to depreciate, I think, very un- justly, the style of Addison as nerveless and feeble, because it has not the strength and energy of that of Johnson. Let us remember the character of his style, as given by Johnson 15 himself: "What he attempted he performed: he is never feeble, and he did not wish to be energetick ; he is never rapid, and he never stagnates. His sentences have neither studied amplitude, nor affected brevity : his periods, though not dili- gently rounded, are voluble and easy. Whoever wishes to 20 attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison." Some of the translations of the mottos are by a Mr. F. Lewis, whom Johnson thus described: "Sir, he lived in 25 London, and hung loose upon society." Mrs. Anna Williams, daughter of a very ingenious Welsh physician, and a woman of more than ordinary talents and literature, having come to London in hopes of being cured of a cataract in both eyes, was kindly received as a constant 30 visitor at his house while Mrs. Johnson lived ; and, after her death, had an apartment from him during the rest of her life. There was a suspension of Johnson's work during a part of the year 1752 ; for on the 17th of March, his wife died. To argue from her being much older than Johnson, or any 35 other circumstances, that he could not really love her, is absurd; for love is not a subject of reasoning, but of feel- 28 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. ing, and therefore there are no common principles upon which one can persuade another concerning it. The following very solemn and affecting prayer was found after Dr. Johnson's decease, by his servant, Mr. Francis 5 Barber : "April 26, 1752, being after 12 at Night of the 25th. " Lord ! Governour of heaven and earth, in whose hands are embodied and departed Spirits, if thou hast ordained the 10 Souls of the Dead to minister to the Living, and appointed my departed Wife to have care of me, grant that I may enjoy the good effects of her attention and ministration, whether exer- cised by appearance, impulses, dreams, or in any other man- ner agreeable to thy Government. Forgive my presump- 15 tion, enlighten my ignorance, and however meaner agents are employed, grant me the blessed influences of thy holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." "March 28, 1753. I kept this day as the anniversary of my Tetty's death, with prayer and tears in the morning. In 20 the evening I prayed for her conditionally, if it were lawful." "April 23, 1753. I know not whether I do not too much indulge the vain longings of affection ; but I hope they in- tenerate my heart, and that when I die, like my Tetty, this affection will be acknowledged in a happy interview and that 25 in the mean time I am incited by it to piety. I will, however, not deviate too much from common and received methods of devotion." Her wedding-ring, when she became his wife, was, after her death, preserved by him, as long as he lived, with an affec- 30 tionate care, in a little round wooden box, in the inside of which he pasted a slip of paper, thus inscribed by him in fair characters, as follows : "Eheu! Eliz. Johnson, 35 Nupta Jul. 9° 1736, Mortua, eheu! Mart. 17° 1752." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 29 The dreadful shock of separation took place in the night ; and he immediately dispatched a letter to his friend, the Reverend Dr. Taylor, which, as Taylor told me, expressed grief in the strongest manner he had ever read; so that it is much to be regretted it has not been preserved. The letter 5 was brought to Dr. Taylor, at his house in the Cloysters, Westminster, about three in the morning ; and as it signified an earnest desire to see him, he got up, and went to Johnson as soon as he was dressed, and found him in tears and in ex- treme agitation. After being a little while together, John- 10 son requested him to join with him in prayer. His humble friend Mr. Robert Levet was an obscure prac- tiser in physick amongst the lower people, his fees being some- times very small, sometimes whatever provisions his patients could afford him ; but of such extensive practice in that way 15 that Mrs. Williams has told me, his walk was from Hounds- ditch to Marylebone. Such was Johnson's predilection for him, and fanciful estimation of his moderate abilities, that I have heard him say he should not be satisfied, though attended by all the College of Physicians, unless he had Mr. Levet 20 with him. Mr. Levet had an apartment in his house, or his chambers, and waited upon him every morning, through the whole course of his late and tedious breakfast. He was of a strange grotesque appearance, stiff and formal in his man- ner, and seldom said a word while any company was 25 present. Sir Joshua Reynolds was truly his dulce decus, and with him he maintained an uninterrupted intimacy to the last hour of his life. Sir Joshua, indeed, was lucky enough at their very first meeting to make a remark, which was so much 30 above the commonplace style of conversation, that Johnson at once perceived that Reynolds had the habit of thinking for himself. The ladies were regretting the death of a friend, to whom they owed great obligations; upon which Reynolds observed, "You have however, the comfort of being relieved 35 from a burthen of gratitude." They were shocked a little at this alleviating suggestion as too selfish; but Johnson 30 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. defended it in his clear and forcible manner, and was much pleased with the mind, the fair view of human nature. One evening at the Miss CotterehV, the then Duchess of Argyle and another lady of high rank came in. Johnson 5 thinking that he and his friend were neglected, addressed himself in a low tone to Mr. Reynolds, saying, "How much do you think you and I could get in a week, if we were to work as hard as we could ?" — as if they had been common me- chanicks. 10 Bennet Langton came to London chiefly with a view of endeavouring to be introduced to the authour of the Rambler. By a fortunate chance he happened to take lodgings in a house where Mr. Levet frequently visited; Johnson wished. to see numbers at his levee, as his morning circle of company might, 15 with strict propriety, be called. Mr. Langton was exceed- ingly surprised when the sage first appeared. He had not received the smallest intimation of his figure, dress, or manner. From perusing his writings, he fancied he should see a decent, well-drest, in short, a remarkably decorous philosopher. 20 Instead of which, down from his bed-chamber, about noon, came, as newly risen, a huge, uncouth figure, with a little dark wig which scarcely covered his head, and his clothes hanging loose about him. But his conversation was so rich, so ani- mated, and so forcible, and his religious and political notions 25 so congenial with those in which Langton had been educated, that he conceived for him that veneration and attachment which he ever preserved. Mr. Beauclerk's being of the St. Alban's family, and, having, in some particulars, a resemblance to Charles the Second, 30 contributed, in Johnson's imagination, to throw a lustre upon his other qualities; and in a short time, the moral, pious Johnson, and the gay dissipated Beauclerk, were companions. "What a coalition! (said Garrick, when he heard of this:) I shall have my old friend to bail out of the Round-house." 35 Beauclerk could take more liberty with him, than any body with whom I ever saw him. One Sunday, when the weather was very fine, Beauclerk enticed him, insensibly, to saunter THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 31 about all the morning. They went into a church-yard, in the time of divine service, and Johnson laid himself down at his ease upon one of the tomb-stones. "Now, Sir, (said Beau- clerk) you are like Hogarth's Idle Apprentice." When John- son got his pension, Beauclerk said to him, in the humourous 5 phrase of Falstaff, "I hope you'll now purge and live cleanly, like a gentleman/ ' One night, when Beauclerk and Langton had supped at a tavern in London, and sat till about three in the morning, it came into their heads to go and knock up Johnson, and see if 10 they could prevail on him to join them in a ramble. They rapped violently at the door of his chambers in the Temple, till at last he appeared in his shirt, with his little black wig on the top of his head, instead of a night-cap, and a poker in his hand, imagining, probably, that some ruffians were coming 15 to attack him. When he discovered who they were, and was told their errand, he smiled, and with great good humour agreed to their proposal: "What, is it you, you dogs ! I!ll have a frisk with you." He was soon drest, and they sallied forth together into Covent-Garden, where the greengrocers 20 and fruiterers were beginning to arrange their hampers, just come in from the country. Johnson made some attempts to help them; but the honest gardeners stared so at his figure and manner, and odd interference, that he soon saw his services were not relished. They then repaired to one of 25 the neighbouring taverns, and made a bowl of that liquor called Bishop, which Johnson had always liked. Langton deserted them, being engaged to breakfast with some young Ladies. Johnson scolded him for "leaving his social friends to go and sit with a set of wretched un-idea'd 30 girls." Garrick being told of this ramble, said to him smartly, "I heard of your frolick t'other night. You'll be in the Chronicle." Upon which Johnson afterwards observed, "He durst not do such a thing. His wife would not let him !" Lord Chesterfield had behaved to him in such a manner as 35 to excite his contempt and indignation. The world has been for many years amused with a story confidently told and as 32 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. confidently repeated with additional circumstances, that a sudden disgust was taken by Johnson upon occasion of his having been one day kept long in waiting in his Lordship's antechamber, for which the reason assigned was, that he had 5 company with him ; and that at last, when the door opened, out walked Colley Cibber ; and that Johnson was so violently provoked when he found for whom he had been so long ex- cluded, that he went away in a passion, and never would return. Johnson himself assured me, that there was not the 10 least foundation for it. He told me, that there never was any particular incident which produced a quarrel between Lord Chesterfield and him ; but that his Lordship's continued neg- lect was the reason why he resolved to have no connexion with him. When the Dictionary w T as upon the eve of publication, 15 Lord Chesterfield, who, it is said, had flattered himself with expectations that Johnson would dedicate the work to him, attempted, in a courtly manner, to soothe and insinuate himself with the Sage, by writing two papers in " The World," in recommendation of the work; and it must be confessed 20 that they contain some studied compliments, so finely turned that if there had been no previous offence, it is probable that Johnson would have been highly delighted. This courtly device failed of its effect. Johnson, who thought that "all was false and hollow," despised the hone}^ed 25 words. "Sir, after making great professions, he had, for many years, taken no notice of me ; but when my Dictionary was coming out, he fell a scribbling in ' The World ' about it. Upon which, I wrote him a letter expressed in civil terms, but such as might shew him that I did not mind what he said or 30 wrote, and that I had done with him." To the Right Honourable the Earl of Chesterfield. "My Lord, February 7, 1755. "I have been lately informed, by the proprietor of the World, that two papers, in which my Dictionary is recom- 35 mended to the publick, were written by your Lordship. To THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 33 be so distinguished, is an honour, which, being very little accustomed to favours from the great, I know not well how to receive, or in what terms to acknowledge. " When, upon some slight encouragement, I first visited your Lordship, I was overpowered, like the rest of mankind, by the 5 enchantment of your address, and could not forbear to wish that I might boast myself Le vainqueur du vainqueuer de la terre. "Seven years, my Lord, have t now past, since I waited in your outward rooms, or was repulsed from your door ; during which time I have been pushing on my work through diffi- 10 culties, of wmich it is useless to complain, and have brought it, at last, to the verge of publication, without one act of as- sistance, one word of encouragement, or one smile of favour. Such treatment I did not expect, for I never had a Patron before. 15 "The shepherd in Virgil grew at last acquainted with Love, and found him a native of the rocks. "Is not a Patron, my Lord, one who looks w T ith unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help ? The notice 20 which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind ; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary, and can- not impart it ; till I am known, and do not want it. I hope it is no very cynical asperity, not to confess obligations where 25 no benefit has been received, or to be unwilling that the Pub- lick should consider me as owing that to a Patron, which Providence has enabled me to do for myself. "Having carried on my work thus far with so little obliga- tion to any favourer of learning, I shall not be disappointed 30 though I should conclude it, if less be possible, with less ; for I have been long wakened from that dream of hope in which I once boasted myself with so much exultation, My Lord, Your Lordship's most humble, 35 Most obedient servant, Sam. Johnson." 34 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. "While this was the talk of the town ° (says Dr. Adams), Dr. Warburton, finding that I was acquainted with Johnson, desired me earnestly to carry his compliments to him, and to tell him, that he honoured him for his manly behaviour in 5 rejecting these condescensions of Lord Chesterfield, and for resenting the treatment he had received from him with a proper spirit. Johnson was visibly pleased with this compli- ment, for he had always a Jiigh opinion of Warburton. In the tenth Satire one of the couplets upon the vanity of wishes 10 even for literary distinction stood thus : 11 Yet think what ills the scholar's life assail, Toil, envy, want, the garret, and the jail." But after experiencing the uneasiness which Lord Chester- field's fallacious patronage made him feel, he dismissed the 15 word garret from the sad group, " Toil, envy, want, the Patron, and the jail." "Sir (said Johnson) Lord Chesterfield is the proudest man this day existing." "No (said Dr. Adams), there is one per- son, at least, as proud; I think, by 3^our own account you 20 are the prouder man of the two." "But mine (replied John- son instantly) was defensive pride." "This man (said he) I thought had been a Lord among wits; but, I find, he is only a wit among Lords!" The character of a "respectable Hottentot," in Lord 25 Chesterfield's letters, has been generally understood to be meant for Johnson. I said, laughingly, that there was one trait which unquestionably did not belong to him; "he throws his meat any where but down his throat." "Sir (said he), Lord Chesterfield never saw me eat in his 30 life." Johnson found an interval of leisure to make an excursion to Oxford, for the purpose of consulting the libraries there. Of his conversation while at Oxford at this time, Mr. Warton preserved and communicated to me the following THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 35 memorial. " When Johnson came to Oxford in 1754, he wished to see his old College, Pembroke. I went with him. He was highly pleased to find all the College-servants which he had left there still remaining, particularly a very old butler. The master, Dr. Radcliffe, received him very 5 coldly. Johnson at least expected that the master would order a copy of his Dictionary, now near publication; but the master did not choose to talk on the subject, never asked Johnson to dine, nor even to visit him, while he stayed at Oxford. Johnson said, t There lives a man, who lives by the 10 revenues of literature, and will not move a finger to support it. If I come to live at Oxford, I shall take up my abode at Trinity/ We then called on the Reverend Mr. Meeke. "Johnson: 'I remember, at the classical lecture in the Hall, I could not bear Meeke's superiority, and I tried to 15 sit as far from him as I could, that I might not hear him construe/ "Mr. Wise, Radclivian librarian, read to us a dissertation on some old divinities of Thrace, called the Cabiri. As we returned to Oxford in the evening, I out-walked Johnson, 20 and he cried out Sufflamina, a Latin word, which came from his mouth with peculiar grace, and was as much as to say, Put on your drag chain. Before we got home, I again walked too fast for him ; and he now cried out, ' Why, 3^ou walk as if you were pursued by all the Cabiri in a body/ 25 In an evening we frequently took long walks from Oxford into the country, returning to supper. Once, in our way home we viewed the ruins of the abbies of Oseney and Rewley, near Oxford. After at least half an hour's silence, Johnson said, ' I viewed them with indignation ! ' We had then a long 30 conversation on Gotjiic buildings ; and in talking of the form of old halls, he said, 'In these halls, the fire-place was an- ciently always in the middle of the room, till the Whigs removed it on one side/ ' Meeke was left behind at Oxford to feed on a Fellowship, and I went to London to get 35 my living : now, Sir, see the difference of our literary charac- ters !'" 36 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. The degree of Master of Arts was now considered as an honour of considerable importance, in order to grace the title-page of his Dictionary ; and his character in the literary world being by this time deservedly high, his friends thought 5 that, if proper exertions were made, the University of Oxford would pay him the compliment. To the Reverend Thomas Warton. "I am extremely obliged to you and to Mr. Wise for the uncommon care which you have taken of my interest. 10 "You know poor Mr. Dodsley has lost his wife; I hope he will not suffer so much as I yet suffer for the loss of mine. Qt/iwi ' tl 5 oijxoL ; dvTjra yap ireirbvdanev. I have ever since seemed to myself broken off from mankind ; a kind of solitary wanderer in the wild of life, without airy 15 direction, or fixed point of view : a gloomy gazer on the world to which I have little relation. Sam. Johnson/' In 1755 we behold him to great advantage ; his degree of Master of Arts conferred upon him, his Dictionary published, his correspondence animated, his benevolence exercised. 20 Dr. Adams, visiting him one day, found his parlour floor covered with parcels of foreign and English literary journals, and he told Dr. Adams he meant to undertake a Review. "How, Sir (said Dr. Adams), can you think of doing it alone ? All branches of knowledge must be considered in it.^Do- 25 you know Mathematicks ? Do you know Natural History ? " Johnson answered, "Why, Sir, I must do as well as I can. My chief purpose is to give my countrymen a view of what is doing in literature upon the continent ; and I shall have, in a good measure, the choice of my subject, for I shall select 30 such books as I best understand/' Dr. Adams suggested Dr. Maty as an assistant. u He (said Johnson), the little black dog ! I'd throw him into the Thames." The scheme, however, was dropped. Mr. Andrew Millar, bookseller in the Strand, took the : THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 37 principal charge of conducting the publication of Johnson's Dictionary; and as the patience of the proprietors was re- peatedly tried and almost exhausted, by their expecting that the work would be compleated within the time which John- son had sanguinely supposed, the learned author was often 5 goaded to dispatch, more especially as he had received all the copy money, by different drafts, a considerable time before he had finished his task. When the messenger who carried the last sheet to Millar returned, Johnson asked him, "Well, what did he say ?" — "Sir (answered the messenger), he said, 10 1 Thank God I have done with him/ " "I am glad (replied Johnson, with a smile), that he thanks God for any thing/ ' To Bennet Langton. "Sir, "I have a mother more than eighty years old, who has 15 counted the days to the publication of my book, in hopes of seeing me; and to her, if I can disengage myself here, I resolve to go. "When the duty that calls me to Lichfield is discharged, my inclination will carry me to Langton. I shall delight to 20 hear the ocean roar, or see the stars twinkle, in the company of men to whom Nature does not spread her volumes or utter her voice in vain. Sam. Johnson. " The Dictionary, with a Grammar and History of the English Language, being now at length published, in two volumes 25 folio, the world contemplated with wonder so stupendous a work achieved by one man, while other countries had thought such undertakings fit only for whole academies. One of its excellencies has always struck me with peculiar admiration ; I mean the perspicuity with which he has expressed abstract 30 scientific notions. As an instance of this, I shall quote the following sentence : " When the radical idea branches out into parallel ramifications, how can a consecutive series be formed of senses in their nature collateral?" A few of his definitions must be admitted to be erroneous. 35 Thus, Windward and Leeward, though directly of opposite 38 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. meaning, are defined identically the same way. A lady once asked him how he came to define Pastern' the knee of a horse : instead of making an elaborate defence, as she expected, he at once answered, " Ignorance, Madam, pure ignorance." 5 His definition of Network has been often quoted with sportive malignity, as obscuring a thing in itself very plain. But to these frivolous censures no other answer is necessary than that with which we are furnished by his own Preface. "To explain requires the use of terms less abstruse than that 10 which is to be explained, and such terms cannot always be found. Sometimes easier words are changed into harder ; as, burial, into sepulture or interment; dry, into desiccative; dry- ness, into siccity or aridity; fit, into paroxism; for, the easiest word, whatever it be, can never be translated into one more 15 easy." His introducing his own opinions, and even prejudices, under general definitions of words, while at the same time the original meaning of the words is not explained, as his Tory. Whig, Pension, Oats, Excise, and a few more, cannot be full> 20 defended, and must be placed to the account of capricious and humourous indulgence. ' ' You know, Sir, Lord Gower for- sook the old Jacobite interest. When I came to the Renegado after telling that it meant 'one who deserts to the enemy, a revolter/ I added, Sometimes we say a Gower. Thus it went 25 to the press : but the printer had more wit than I, and struct it out." This indulgence does not display itself only ic sarcasm towards others, but sometimes in pWful allusion to the notions commonly entertained of his own laborious task. Thus: " Grub-street, the name of a street in London, much 30 inhabited by writers of small histories, dictionaries, and tem- porary poems ; whence any mean production is called Grub- street." — "Lexicographer, a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge." He said to Sir Joshua Rejmolds, "If a man does not make 35 new acquaintance as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friend- ship in constant repair" THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 39 The celebrated Mr. Wilkes, whose notions and habits of fe were very opposite to his, but who was ever eminent for terature and vivacity, sallied forth with a little Jeu d' Esprit pon the following passage in his Grammar of the English Tongue, prefixed to the Dictionary: "H seldom, perhaps 5 j ever, begins any but the first syllable/' In any essay printed r.i the " Public Advertiser," this lively writer enumerated many instances in opposition to this remark; for example, "The "uthour of this observation must be a man of a quick appre- hension, and of a most compre-hensive genius." 10 He had the pleasure of being treated in a very different lanner by Mr. Garrick: "On Johnson's Dictionary. " Talk of war with a Briton, hell boldly advance, That one English soldier will beat ten of France ; 15 Would we alter the boast from the sword to the pen, Our odds are still greater, still greater our men ; And Johnson, well-arm' d like a hero of yore, Has beat forty French, and will beat forty more ! " He wrote in his Journal the following scheme of life, for 20 mnday: " Having lived " (as he with tenderness of con- . cience' expresses himself) "not without an habitual rev- rence for the Sabbath, yet without that attention to its sligious duties which Christianity requires;" " 1. To rise early, and in order to it, to go to sleep early on 25 Saturday. "2. To use some extraordinary devotion in the morning. "3. To examine the tenour of my life, and particularly the ast week ; and to mark my advances in religion, or recession rom it. 30 "4. To read the Scripture methodically with such helps as ire at hand. "5. To go to church twice. "6. To read books of Divinity, either speculative or practical. 35 "7. To instruct my family. 40 "8. To wear off by meditation any worldly soil contracted in the week." He had spent, during the progress of the work, the money for which he had contracted to write his Dictionary. The 5 reward of his labour was only fifteen hundred and seventy- five pounds ; and when the expence of amanuenses and paper and other articles are deducted, his clear profit was very in- considerable. I once said to him, "I am sorry, Sir, you did not get more for your Dictionary." His answer was, "I am 10 sorry too. But it was very well. The booksellers are generous liberal-minded men." "Dr. Watts," said Johnson, "was one of the first who taught the Dissenters to write and speak like other men, by shewing them that elegance might consist with piety." 15 His defence of tea ° against Mr. Jonas Hanway's violent attack upon that elegant and popular beverage, shews how very well a man of genius can write upon the slightest sub- ject, when he writes, as the Italians say, con amove: I sup- pose no person ever enjoyed with more relish the infusion of 20 that fragrant leaf than Johnson. The quantities which he drank of it at all hours were so great, that his nerves must have been uncommonly strong, not to have been extremely relaxed by such an intemperate use of it. Johnson's most exquisite critical essay in the Literary 25 Magazine, and indeed anywhere, is his review of Soame Jenyns's ° "Inquiry into the Origin of Evil." Jenyns "ven- tured far beyond his depth," and accordingly, was exposed by Johnson, both with acute argument and brilliant wit. He resumed his scheme of giving an edition of Shakspeare 30 with notes ; but his indolence prevented him from pursuing it with diligence. It is remarkable, that at this time his fancied activity was for the moment so vigorous, that he promised his work should be published before Christmas, 1757. Yet nine years elapsed before it saw the light. 35 About this period he was offered a living of considerable value in Lincolnshire, if he were inclined to enter into holy orders. It was a rectory in the gift of Mr. Langton. But THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 41 he did not accept of it ; partly I believe from a conscientious motive, and partly because his love of a London life was so strong. To Bennet Langton. " I was much pleased with the tale that you told me of 5 being tutour to your sisters. I, who have no sisters nor brothers, look with some degree of innocent envy on those who may be said to be born to friends; and cannot see, without wonder, how rarely that native union is afterwards regarded. We tell the ladies that good wives make good 10 husbands; I believe it is a more certain position that good brothers make good sisters. "The two Wartons just looked into the town, and were taken to see Cleone, where, David says, they were starved for want of company to keep them warm. David and Doddy ° 15 have had a new quarrel, and, I think, cannot conveniently quarrel any more. i Cleone ' was well acted by all the char- acters, but Bellamy left nothing to be desired. I went the first night, and supported it as well as I might ; for Doddy, you know, is my patron, and I would not desert him. The 20 play was very well received. Doddy, after the danger was over, went every night to the stage-side, and cryed at the distress of poor Cleone. "Mr. Reynolds has within these few days raised his price to twenty guineas a head, and Miss ° is much employed in 25 miniatures. Sam. Johnson." Mr. Burney, during a visit to the capital, had an interview with him in Gough-square, where he dined and drank tea with him, and was introduced to the acquaint- ance of Mrs. Williams. After dinner, Johnson proposed 30 to Mr. Burney to go up with him into his garret, which being accepted, he there found about five or six Greek folios, a deal writing-desk, and a chair and a half. Johnson giving to his guest the entire seat, tottered himself on one with only three legs and one arm. Here he gave Mr. Burney Mrs. Williams's 35 J 42 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. history, and shewed him some volumes of his Shakspeare already printed, to prove that he was in earnest. Upon Mr. Burney's opening the first volume, at the Merchant of Venice, he observed to him, that he seemed to be more severe on War- 5 burton than Theobald. "0 poor Tib.! (said Johnson) he was ready knocked down to my hands; Warburton stands between me and him." "But, Sir, (said Mr. Burney), you'll, have Warburton upon your bones, won't you?" "No Sir; he'll not come out : he'll only growl in his den." "But you 10 think, Sir, that Warburton is a superiour critick to Theobald? " — "0, Sir, he'd make two-and-fifty Theobalds, cut into slices ! The worst of Warburton is, that he has a rage for saying something, when there's nothing to be said. " He began a new periodical paper, entitled "The Idler," 15 which came out every Saturday in a weekly newspaper, called " The Universal Chronicle." The Idler is evidently the work of the same mind which produced the Rambler, but has less body and more spirit. Mr. Langton remembers Johnson, when on a visit at Ox- 20 ford, asking him one evening how long it was till the post went out ; and on being told about half an hour, he exclaimed, "Then we shall do very well." He upon this instantly sat down and finished an Idler, which it was necessary should be in London the next day. Mr. Langton having signified 25a wish to read it, "Sir, (said he), you shall not do more than I have done myself." He then folded it up, and sent it off. He describes "the attendant on a Court," as one "whose business is to watch the looks of a being weak and foolish as 30 himself." His mother died at the great age of ninety, an event which deeply affected him. To Miss Porter, at Mrs. Johnson's, in Lichfield. "I think myself obliged to you beyond all expression of 35 gratitude for your care of my dear mother. God grant it may not be without success. Tell Kitty, that I shall never THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 43 forget her tenderness for her mistress. Whatever you can do, continue to do. My heart is very full. "I hope you received twelve guineas on Monday. I found a way of sending them by means of the Postmaster, after I had written my letter, and hope they came safe. I will send 5 you more in a few days. God bless you all. Sam. Johnson." To his Mother. "Dear Honoured Mother, "Neither your condition nor your character make it fit for me to say much. You have been the best mother, and 1 10 believe the best woman in the world. I thank you for your indulgence to me, and beg forgiveness of all that I have done ill, and all that I have omitted to do well. God grant you his Holy Spirit, and receive you to everlasting happiness, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Lord Jesus receive your spirit. !5 Amen. "I am, dear, dear Mother, "Your dutiful Son, "Sam. Johnson." Soon after this event, he wrote his " Rasselas, Prince of 20 Abyssinia." Mr. Strahan the printer told me, that Johnson wrote it, that with the profits he might defray the expence of his mother's funeral, and pay some little debts which she had left. He told Sir Joshua Reynolds, that he composed it in the evenings of one week, sent it to the press in portions as it 25 was written, and had never since read it over. Mr. Strahan, Mr. Johnston, and Mr. Dodsley purchased it for a hundred pounds, but afterwards paid him twenty-five pounds more, when it came to a second edition. Rasselas, as was observed to me by a very accomplished lady, may be considered as a 30 more enlarged and more , deeply philosophical discourse in prose, upon "Vanity of Human Wishes." Notwithstanding my high admiration of Rasselas, I will not maintain that the "morbid melancholy in Johnson's constitution may not, perhaps, have made life appear to him 35 44 more insipid and unhappy than it generally is." I always re- member a remark made to me by a Turkish lady, educated in France, "M a joi, Monsieur, notre bonheur depend de la fagon que notre sang circule" 5 He refreshed himself by an excursion to Oxford, of which the following short characteristical notice, in his own words, is preserved : — ". . . . is now making tea for me. I have been in my gown ever since I came here. It was, at my first coming, quite new and handsome. I have swum thrice, 10 which I had disused for many years. I have proposed to Vansittart climbing over the wall, but he has refused me. And I have clapped my hands till they are sore, at Dr. King's speech. " He said, "No man will be a sailor who has contrivance 15 enough to get himself into a jail ; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned." And at another time, "A man in a jail has more room, better food, and com- monly better company." „_. To John Wilkes. 20 Dear Sir, "I am again your petitioner in behalf of that great Cham of literature, Samuel Johnson. His black servant, whose name is Francis Barber, has been pressed on board the Stag Frigate, Captain Angel, and our lexicographer is in great 25 distress. You know what matter of animosity the said Johnson has against you : and I dare say you desire no other opportunity of resenting it, than that of laying him under an obligation. "Your affectionate obliged humble servant, 30 "T. Smollett." " There are (said he) inexcusable lies, and consecrated lies. For instance, we are told that on the arrival of the news of the unfortunate battle of Fontenoy, every heart beat, and every eye was in tears. Now we know that no man eat his dinner 35 the worse, but there shoidd have been all this concern ; and to say there was, (smiling) may be reckoned a consecrated lie." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 45 To Mr. Joseph Baretti, at Milan. " The only change in my way of life is, that I have fre- quented the theatre more than in former seasons. But I have gone thither only to escape from myself. Sam. Johnson. " A lady having at this time solicited him to obtain the 5 Archbishop of Canterbury's patronage to have her son sent to the University, he wrote to her the following answer. V Madam, " My delay in answering your letter could proceed only from my unwillingness to destroy any hope that you had formed. 10 Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: but, like all other pleas- ures immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain; and expectations improperly indulged, must end in disappointment. If it be asked, what is the 15 improper expectation which it is dangerous to indulge, ex- perience will quickly answer, that it is such expectation as is dictated not by reason, but by desire. "When you made your request to me, you should have considered, Madam, what you were asking. You ask me to so- 20 licit a great man, to whom I never spoke, for a young person whom I had never seen, upon a supposition which I had no means of knowing to be true. There is no reason why, amongst all the great, I should chuse to supplicate the Arch- bishop, nor why, among all the possible objects of his bounty, 25 the Archbishop should chuse your son. If I could help you in this exigence by any proper means, it would give me pleas- ure : but this proposal is so very remote from usual methods, that I cannot comply with it, but at the risk of such answer and suspicions as I believe you do not wish me to undergo. 30 "Sam. Johnson." To Mr. Joseph Baretti, at Milan. " Last winter I went down to my native town, where I found the streets much narrower and shorter than I thought I 46 had left them, inhabited by a new race of people to whom I was very little known. My play-fellows were grown old, and forced me to suspect that I was no longer 3 r oung. My only remaining friend has changed his principles, and was become 5 the tool of the* predominant faction. My daughter-in-law, from whom I expected most, and whom I met with sincere benevolence, has lost the beauty and gaiety of youth, without having gained much of the wisdom of age. I wandered about for five days, and took the first convenient opportunity 10 of returning to a place, where, if there is not much happiness, there is, at least, such a diversity of good and evil, that slight vexations do not fix upon the heart. Sam. Johnson." The accession of George the Third opened a new and brighter prospect to men of literary merit. Johnson having 15 been represented as a very learned and good man, without any certain provision, his Majesty was pleased to grant him a pension of three hundred pounds a year. The Earl of Bute, who was then Prime Minister, had the honour to announce this instance of his Sovereign's bounty. 20 Sir Joshua Reynolds told me, that Johnson called on him after his Majesty's intention had been notified to him, and said he wished to consult his friends as to the propriety of his accepting this mark of the royal favour, after the defini- tions which he had given in his Dictionary of pension and 25 pensioners. He then told Sir Joshua that Lord Bute said to him expressly, "It is not given you for any thing you are to do, but for what you have done." When I spoke to Lord Loughborough, wishing to know if he recollected the prime mover in the business, he said, ''All his friends assisted :" and 30 when I told him that Mr. Sheridan strenuously asserted his claim to it, his Lordship said, "He rang the bell." Dr. John- son replied in a fervour of gratitude, "The English language does not afford me terms adequate to my feelings on this occasion. I must have recourse to the French. I am penetre 35 with his Majesty's goodness." This year his friend, Sir Joshua Reynolds, paid a visit of some weeks to his native country, Devonshire, in which he THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 47 was accompanied by Johnson. He was entertained at the seats of several noblemen and gentlemen in the west of Eng- land ; but the greatest part of this time was passed at Plym- outh, where the magnificence of the navy, the ship-building and all its circumstances, afforded him a grand subject of 5 contemplation. Reynolds and he were at this time the guests of Dr. Mudge, the celebrated surgeon ; and Johnson formed an acquaintance with Dr. Mudge's father, that very emi- nent divine, the Reverend Zachariah Mudge, Prebendary of Exeter, who was idolised in the west. He preached a 10 sermon purposely that Johnson might hear him ; and after- wards Johnson honoured his memory by drawing his char- acter. Having observed, that in consequence of the Dock-yard a new town had arisen about two miles off as a rival to the old ; 15 and knowing from his sagacity, and just observation of human nature, that it is certain if a man hates at all, he will hate his next neighbour, he set himself resolutely on the side of the old town, the established town. Plymouth is very plenti- fully supplied with water by a river brought into it from a 20 great distance, which is so abundant that it runs to waste in the town. The Dock, or New-town, being totally destitute of water, petitioned Plymouth that a small portion of the conduit might be permitted to go to them. Johnson, affec- ing to entertain the passions of the place, exclaimed, "No, 25 no ! I am against the dockers, I am a Plymouth-man. Rogues ! let them die of thirst. They shall not have a drop ! " To Mr. Joseph Baretti, at Milan. e " There is, indeed, nothing that so much seduces reason from vigilance, as the thought of passing life with an amiable 30 woman ; and if all would happen that a lover fancies, I know not what other terrestrial happiness would deserve pursuit. But love and marriage are different states. A woman, we are sure, will not always be fair; we are not sure she will always be virtuous : and man cannot retain through life that 35 48 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. respect and assiduity by which he pleases for a day or for a month. I do not, however, pretend to have discovered that life has any thing more to be desired than a prudent and virtuous marriage. Sam. Johnson." 5 This is to me a memorable year ; for in it I had the happi- ness to obtain the acquaintance of that extraordinary man whose memoirs I am now writing. Though then but two- and-twenty, I had for several years read his works with de- light and instruction, and had the highest reverence for their 10 authour, which had grown up in my fancy into a kind of mysterious veneration, by figuring to myself a state of solemn elevated abstraction, in which I supposed him to live in the immense metropolis of London. Mr. Gentleman had given me a representation of the figure and manner of Dictionary 15 Johnson as he was then generally called. Mr. Thomas Davies the actor, who then kept a bookseller's shop in Russell-street, Covent-garden, told me that Johnson was very much his friend, and came frequently to his house, where he more than once invited me to meet him ; but by some 20 unlucky accident or other he was prevented from coming to us. At last, on Monday, the 16th of May, when I was sitting in Mr. Davies' back-parlour, after having drunk tea with him and Mrs. Davies, Johnson unexpectedly came into the shop ; and Mr. Davies having perceived him through the glass-door 25 in the room in which we were sitting, advancing towards us, — ■ he announced his awful approach to me, somewhat in the manner of an actor in the part of Horatio, when he addresses Hamlet on the appearance of his father's ghost, "Look, my Lord, it comes." I found that I had a very perfect idea of 30 Johnson's figure, from the portrait of him painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds soon after he had published his Dictionary, in the attitude of sitting in his easy chair in deep meditation ; which was the first picture his friend did for him. Mr. Davies mentioned my name, and respectfully introduced me 35 to him. I was much agitated ; recollecting his prejudice against the Scotch, I said to Davies, "Don't tell where I THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 49 come from." — "From Scotland," cried Davies, roguishly. "Mr. Johnson, (said I) I do indeed come from Scotland, but I cannot help it." He seized the expression "come from Scotland." "That, Sir, I find, is what a very great many of your countrymen cannot help." This stroke stunned me a 5 good deal ; and when we had sat sown, I felt myself not a little embarrassed, and apprehensive of what might come next. He then addressed himself to Davies : "What do you think of Garrick? He has refused me an order for the play for Miss Williams, because he knows the house will be full, and 10 that an order would be worth three shillings." Eager to take any opening to get into conversation with him, I ven- tured to say, "0, Sir, I cannot think Mr. Garrick would grudge such a trifle to you." "Sir, (said he, with a stern look,) I have known David Garrick longer than you have done : 15 and I know no right you have to talk to me on the subject." I now felt myself much mortified, and began to think, that the hope which I had long indulged of obtaining his acquaint- ance was blasted. Davies followed me to the door, and when I complained to 20 him a little of the hard blows which the great man had given me, he kindly took upon him to console me by saying, "Don't be uneasy. I can see he likes you very well." A few days afterwards I called on Davies, and asked him if he thought I might take the liberty of waiting on Mr. Johnson. 25 He said I certainly might, and that Mr. Johnson would take it as a compliment. His Chambers were on the first floor of No. 1, Inner-Temple-lane, and I entered them with an im- pression given me by the Reverend Dr. Blair, who described his having "found the Giant in his den." At this time the 30 controversy concerning the pieces published by Mr. James Macpherson, as translations of Ossian, was at its height. Johnson had all along denied their authenticity ; and, what was still more provoking to their admirers, maintained that they had no merit. The subject having been introduced by Dr. 35 Fordyce, Dr. Blair, relying on the internal evidence of their antiquity, asked Dr. Johnson whether he thought any man of 50 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. a modern age could have written such poems? Johnson replied, "Yes, Sir, many men, many women, and many children." Johnson at this time, did not know that Dr. Blair had just published a Dissertation, not only defending 5 their authenticity; but seriously ranking them with the poems of Homer and Virgil ; and when he was afterwards informed of this circumstance, he expressed some displeasure at Dr. Fordyce's having suggested the topick, and said, "I am not sorry that they got thus much for their pains. Sir, 10 it was like leading one to talk of a book, when the authour is concealed behind the door." He received me very courteously : but it must be con- fessed that his apartment, and furniture, and morning dress, were sufficiently uncouth. His brown suit of cloaths looked 15 very rusty : he had on a little old shrivelled unpowdered wig, which was too small for his head ; his shirt-neck and knees of his breeches were loose; his black worsted stockings ill drawn up ; and he had a pair of unbuckled shoes by way of slippers. But all these slovenly particularities were forgotten 20 the moment that he began to talk. Some gentlemen, whom I do not recollect, were sitting with him ; when I rose, he said to me, "Nay, don't go." — "Sir, (said I), I am afraid that I intrude upon you. It is benevolent to allow me to sit and hear you." He seemed pleased with this compliment, which I sincerely 25 paid him, and answered, "Sir, I am obliged to any man who visits me." He said: "Christopher Smart, before his confinement, used for exercise to walk to the alehouse ; but he was carried back again. I did not think he ought to be shut up. His 30 infirmities were not noxious to society. He insisted on people praying with him; and I'd as lief pray with Kit Smart as any one else. Another charge was, that he did not love clean linen ; and I have no passion for it." He generally went abroad at four in the afternoon, and 35 seldom came home till two in the morning. I took the liberty to ask if he did not think it wrong to live thus, and not make more use of his great talents. He owned it was a bad habit. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 51 I had learnt that his place of frequent resort was the Mitre tavern in Fleet-street, where he loved to sit up late, and I begged I might be allowed to pass an evening with him there soon, which he promised I should. A few days afterwards I met him near Temple-bar, about one o'clock in the morning, 5 and asked him if he would then go to the Mitre. "Sir, (said he) it is too late ; they won't let us in. But I'll go with you another night with all my heart." Happening to dine at Clifton's eating-house, in Butcher- row, I was surprised to perceive Johnson come in and take his 10 seat at another table. He agreed to meet me in the evening at the Mitre. I called on him, and we went thither at nine. We had a good supper, and port wine, of which he then sometimes drank a bottle. The orthodox high-church sound of the Mitre, — the figure and manner of the celebrated 15 Samuel Johnson, — the extraordinary power and precision of his conversation, and the pride arising from finding my- self admitted as his companion, produced a variety of sensa- tions, and a pleasing elevation of mind beyond what I had ever before experienced. 20 "Sir, I do not think Gray a first-rate poet.° He has not a bold imagination, nor much command of words. The obscurity in which he has involved himself will not persuade us that he is sublime. His Elegy in a church-yard has a happy selection of images, but I don't like what are called 25 his great things. His ode which begins 1 Ruin seize thee, ruthless King, Confusion on thy banners wait ! ' I has been celebrated for its abruptness, and plunging into the • subject all at once. But such arts as these have no merit, 30 unless when they are original. We admire them only once ; i and this abruptness has nothing new in it. We have had i it often before. Nay, we have it in the old song of Johhny Armstrong : 1 Is there ever a man in all Scotland, 35 From the highest estate to the lowest degree, &c.' " 52 TEE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. I acknowledged, that though educated very strictly in the principles of religion, I had for some time been misled into a certain degree of infidelity ; but that I was come now to a better way of thinking. He called to me with warmth, 5 "Give me your hand ; I have taken a liking to you." "For my part, Sir, I think all Christians, whether Papists or Protestants, agree in the essential articles, and that their differences are trivial, and rather political than religious." We talked of belief in ghosts. He said, "Sir, I make a 10 distinction between what a man may experience by the mere strength of his imagination, and what imagination cannot possibly produce. Thus, suppose I should think I saw a form, and heard a voice cry, c Johnson, you are a very wicked fellow, and unless you repent you will certainly be punished ; ' 15 my own unworthiness is so deeply impressed upon my mind, that I might imagine I thus saw and heard, and therefore I should not believe that an external communication had been made to me. But if a form should appear, and a voice should tell me that a particular man had died at a particular 20 place, and a particular hour, a fact which I had no apprehen- sion of, nor any means of knowing, and this fact, with all its circumstances, should afterwards be unquestionably proved, I should, in that case, be persuaded that I had supernatural intelligence imparted to me." 25 Here it is proper, once for all, to give a true and fair state- ment of Johnson's way of thinking upon the question, whether departed spirits are ever permitted to appear in this world, or in any way to operate upon human life. He has been igno- rantly misrepresented as weakly credulous upon that subject. 30 Churchill in his poem entitled " The Ghost," drew a caricature of him under the name of "Pomposo," representing him as one of the believers of the story of a Ghost in Cock-lane, which, in the year 1762, had gained very general credit in London. Many of my readers, I am convinced, are to this hour under 35 an impression that Johnson was thus foolishly deceived. It will therefore surprize them a good deal when they are in- formed upon undoubted authority, that Johnson was one of THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 53 those by whom the imposture was detected. The story had become so popular, that he thought it should be investigated. After the gentlemen who went and examined into the evi- dence were satisfied of its falsity, Johnson wrote in their presence an account of it, which was published in the news- 5 papers and Gentleman's Magazine, and undeceived the world. I mentioned Mallet's tragedy of "Elvira." Johnson. "You may abuse a tragedy, though you cannot write one. You may scold a carpenter who has made you a bad table, though you cannot make a table. It is not your trade to make tables." 10 He proceeded: "Your going abroad, Sir, and breaking off idle habits, may be of great importance to you. I would go where there are courts and learned men. There is a good deal of Spain that has not been perambulated. A man of inferiour talents to yours may furnish us with useful observa- 15 tions upon that country." Dr. Oliver Goldsmith had sagacity enough to cultivate as- siduously the acquaintance of Johnson, and his faculties were gradually enlarged by the contemplation of such a model. No man had the art of displaying with more advantage as 20 a writer, whatever literary acquisitions he made. "Nihil quod tetigit non ornavit." His mind resembled a fertile, but thin soil. There was a quick, but not a strong vegetation, of whatever chanced to be thrown upon it. No deep root could be struck. The oak of the forest did not grow there; but 25 the elegant shrubbery and the fragrant parterre appeared in gay succession. It has been generally circulated and be- lieved that he was a mere fool in conversation, but, in truth, this has been greatly exaggerated. He had, no doubt, a more than common share of that hurry of ideas which we often 30 find in his countrymen, and which sometimes produces a laughable confusion in expressing them. He was very much what the French call un etourdi, and from vanity and an eager desire of being conspicuous wherever he was, he fre- quently talked carelessly without knowledge of the subject, 35 or even without thought. His person was short, his coun- tenance coarse and vulgar, his deportment that of a scholar 54 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. awkwardly affecting the easy gentleman. Those who were in any way distinguished, excited envy in him to so ridiculous an excess, that the instances of it are hardly credible. When accompanying tw^o beautiful young ladies with their mother 5 on a tour in France, he was seriously angry that more atten- tion was paid to them than to him ; and once at the exhibition of the Fantoccini in London, when those who sat next him observed with what dexterity a puppet was made to toss a pike, he could not bear that it should have such praise, and 10 exclaimed with some warmth, " Pshaw! I can do it better myself." When he began to rise into notice, he said he had a brother who was Dean of Durham, a fiction so easily detected that it is wonderful how he should have been so in- considerate as to hazard it. He told me that he had sold a 15 novel for four hundred pounds. This was his Vicar of Wakefield. But Johnson informed me, that he had made the bargain for Goldsmith, and the price was sixty pounds. The history of Goldsmith's situation and Johnson's friendly interference, I shall give authentically from Johnson's own 20 exact narration : "I received one morning a message from poor Goldsmith that he was in great distress, and as it was not in his power to come to me, begging that I would come to him as soon as possible. I sent him a guinea, and promised to come to him 25 directly. I accordingly went as soon as I was drest, and found that his landlady had arrested him for his rent, at which he was in a violent passion. I perceived that he had already changed my guinea, and had got a bottle of Madeira and a glass before him. I put the cork into the bottle, desired 30 he would be calm, and began to talk to him of the means by which he might be extricated. He then told me that he had a novel ready for the press, which he produced to me. I looked into it, and saw its merit; told the landlady I should soon return, and having gone to a bookseller, sold it for sixty 35 pounds. I brought Goldsmith the money, and he discharged his rent, not without rating his landlady in a high tone for having used him so ill." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 55 Goldsmith had increased my admiration of the goodness of Johnson's heart, by incidental remarks, such as, when I men- tioned Mr. Levet, whom he entertained under his roof, "He is poor and honest, which is recommendation enough to John- son ; " and a He is now become miserable, and that insures the 5 protection of Johnson. " Bonnell Thornton had just published a burlesque " Ode on St. Cecilia's day, adapted to the ancient British musick, viz., the salt-box, the jews-harp, the marrow-bones and cleaver, the hum-strum or hurdy-gurdy, &c." Johnson praised its 10 humour, and seemed much diverted with it. He repeated the following passage : " In strains more exalted the salt-box shall join, And clattering and battering and clapping combine ; With a rap and a tap while the hollow side sounds, 15 Up and down leaps the flap, and with rattling rebounds." At this time Miss Williams had so much of his attention, that he every night drank tea with her before he went home, however late it might be, and she always sat up for him. Dr. Goldsmith, being a privileged man, went with him this night, 20 strutting away, and calling to me with an air of superiority, like that of an esoterick over an exoterick disciple of a sage of an- tiquity, "I go to see Miss Williams." I confess, I then envied him this mighty privilege, of which he seemed so proud ; but it was not long before I obtained the same mark of distinction. 25 Talking of London, he observed, "Sir, if you wish to have a just notion of the magnitude of this city, you must not be satisfied with seeing its great streets and squares, but must survey the innumerable little lanes and courts. It is not in the showy evolutions of buildings, but in the multiplicity of 30 human habitations which are crowded together, that the wonderful immensity of London consists." He was engaged to sup with me at my lodgings. But my landlord having behaved very rudely to me, I had resolved not to remain another night in his house. I went to Johnson 35 in the morning, and talked of it as of a serious distress. He laughed, and said, " Consider, Sir, how insignificant this will 56 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. appear a twelvemonth hence. There is nothing (continued he) in this mighty misfortune ; nay, we shall be better at the Mitre. But, if your landlord could hold you to your bar- gain, and the lodgings should be yours for a year, you ma}' 5 certainly use them as you think fit. So, Sir, you may quarter two life-guardsmen upon him ; or you may send the greatest scoundrel you can find into your apartments ; or you may say that you want to make some experiments in natural philoso- phy, and may burn a large quantity of assafoetida in his 10 house." Goldsmith, as usual, endeavoured, with too much eagerness, to shine, and disputed very warmly with Johnson against the well known maxim of the British constitution, "the King can do no wrong." Johxsox. "Sir, you are to consider, that 15 in our constitution, the King is the head, he is supreme : he is above every tiling, and there is no power by which he can be tried. Redress is always to be had against oppression, by " punishing the immediate agents. And then, Sir, there is this consideration, that if the abuse be enormous, Nature will rise 20 up, and claiming her original rights, overturn a corrupt political system." "Great abilities (said he) are not requisite for an His- torian ; ° for in historical composition, all the greatest powers of the human mind are quiescent. He has facts ready to his 25 hand ; so there is no exercise of invention. Imagination is not required in any high degree; onry about as much as is used in the lower kinds of poetry. Some penetration, ac- curacy, and colouring, will fit a man for the task, if he can give the application which is necessary." 30 Mr. Ogilvie observed, that Scotland had a great many noble wild prospects. Johxsox. "I believe, Sir, you have a great many. Norway, too, has noble wild prospects ; and Lapland is remarkable for prodigious noble wild prospects. But, Sir, let me tell you, the noblest prospect which a Scotch- 35 man ever sees, is the high road that leads him to England !" This unexpected and pointed sally produced a roar of applause. It happening to be a very rainy night, I made some com- THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 57 mon-place observations on the relaxation of nerves and depression of spirits which such weather occasioned; add- ing, however, that it was good for the vegetable creation. Johnson, who, as we have already seen, denied that the tem- perature of the air had any influence on the human frame, 5 answered, with a smile of ridicule, "Why, yes, Sir, it is good for vegetables, and for the animals who eat those vegetables, and for the animals who eat those animals. " This observa- tion of his aptly enough introduced a good supper. He enlarged very convincingly upon the excellence of rhyme 10 over blank verse in English poetry. I mentioned to him that Dr. Adam Smith had maintained the same opinion strenu- ously. Johnson. "Sir, I was once in company with Smith, and we did not take to each other ; but had I known that he loved rhyme as much as you tell me he does, I should have 15 hugged him." He said, "It is always easy to be on the negative side. If a man were now to deny that there is salt upon the table, you could not reduce him to an absurdity. Come, let us try this a little further. I deny that Canada is taken, and I can sup- 20 port my denial by pretty good arguments. The French are a much more numerous people than we ; and it is not likely that they would allow us to take it. 'But the ministry have assured us, in all the formality of the Gazette, that it is taken.' — Very true. But the ministry have put us to an enormous 25 expence by the war in America, and it is their interest to per- suade us that we have got something for our money. — 'But the fact is confirmed by thousands of men who were at the taking of it.' — Ay, but these men have still more interest in deceiving us. They don't want that you should think the 30 French have beat them, but that they have beat the French. Now suppose you should go over and find that it really is taken, that would only satisfy yourself; for when you come home we will not believe you. We will say, you have been bribed. — Yet, Sir, notwithstanding ail these plausible objec-35 tions, we have no doubt that Canada is really ours. Such is the weight of common testimony." 58 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. Numerous reflections had been thrown out against him on account of his having accepted a pension from his present Majesty. "Why, Sir (said he, with a hearty laugh), it is a mighty foolish noise that they make. I have accepted 5 of a pension as a reward which has been thought due to my literary merit ; and now that I have this pension, I am the same man in every respect that I have ever been; I retain the same principles. It is true, that I cannot now curse (smiling) the House of Hanover ; nor would it be decent for 10 me to drink King James's health in the wine that King George gives me money to pay for. But, Sir, I think that the pleasure of cursing the House of Hanover, and drinking King James' health, are amply overbalanced by three hundred " pounds a year." 15 I heard him once say, "that after the death of a violent Whig, with whom he used to contend with great eagerness, he felt his Toryism much abated." He said of Jacobitism : "A Jacobite is neither an Atheist nor a Deist. That can- not be said of a Whig; for Whiggism is a negation of all 20 principle." He was of Lord Essex's opinion, " rather to go a hundred miles to speak with one wise man, than five miles to see a fair town." A person maintained that there was no distinction between 25 virtue and vice. Johnson. "Why, Sir, if the fellow does not think as he speaks, he is lying. But if he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, Sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons." He recommended to me to keep a journal of my life, full 30 and unreserved. He counselled me to keep it private, and said I might surely have a friend who would burn it in case of my death. " There is nothing, Sir, too little for so little a creature as man. It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much 35 happiness as possible." One morning Mr. Dempster happened to call on me. When I complained that drinking port and sitting up late THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 59 with him affected my nerves for some time after, he said, "One had better be palsied at eighteen than not keep com- pany with such a man/' Mr. Levet once showed me Dr. Johnson's library, which was contained in two garrets over his Chambers. I found 5 a number of good books, but dusty and in great confusion. The floor was strewed with manuscript leaves, in Johnson's own hand-writing, which I beheld with a degree of venera- tion, supposing they perhaps might contain portions of the Rambler or of Rasselas. I observed an apparatus for chymical 10 experiments, of which Johnson was all his life very fond. The place seemed to be very favourable for retirement and meditation. Johnson told me, that he went up thither with- out mentioning it to his servant when he wanted to study, secure from interruption ; for he would not allow his servant 15 to say he was not at home when he really was. "A servant's strict regard for truth (said he), must be weakened by such a practice. A philosopher may know that it is merely a form of denial ; but few servants are such nice distinguishers. If I accustom a servant to tell a lie for me, have I not reason 20 to apprehend that he will tell many lies for himself." Johnson. "Pity is not natural to man. Children are always cruel. Savages are always cruel. Pity is acquired and improved by the cultivation of reason. We may have uneasy sensations for seeing a creature in distress, without 25 pity ; for we have not pity unless we wish to relieve them." Rousseau's treatise on the inequality of mankind was at this time a fashionable topick. Mr. Dempster. "A wise man ought to value only merit." . Johnson. "If man were a savage, living in the woods by himself, this might be true ; 30 but in civilized society we all depend upon each other, and our happiness is very much owing to the good opinion of mankind. Now, Sir, in civilized society, external advantages make us more respected. A man with a good coat upon his back meets with a better reception than he who has a bad 35 one. Sir, you may analyse this, and say what is there in it ? But that will avail you nothing, for it is a part of a general 60 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. system. Pound St. Paul's church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is, to be sure, good for nothing; but, put all these atoms together, and you have St. Paul's church. In civilized society, personal merit will not serve you so much 5 as money will. Sir, you may make the experiment. Go into the street, and give one man a lecture on morality, and another a shilling, and see which will respect you most. Rous- seau, and all those who deal in paradoxes, are led away b}^ a childish desire of novelty. When I was a boy, I used always 10 to choose the wrong side of a debate, because most ingenious things, that is to say, most new things, could be said upon it. Sir, there is nothing for which you may not muster up more plausible arguments, than those which are urged against wealth and other external advantages. Why, now, there is 15 stealing ; why should it be thought a crime ? When I was running about this town a very poor fellow, I was a great arguer for the advantages of poverty ; but I was, at the same time, very sorry to be poor. Sir, all the arguments which are brought to represent poverty as no evil, shew it to be 20 evidently a great evil. You never find people labouring to convince you that you may live very happily upon a plentiful fortune." Mr. Dempster having endeavoured to maintain that intrinsick merit ought to make the only distinction amongst mankind, Johnson said, "Why, Sir, mankind have found that 25 this cannot be. How shall we determine the proportion of intrinsick merit ? Were that to be the only distinction amongst mankind, we should soon quarrel about the degrees of it. Subordination tends greatly to human happiness. Were we all upon an equality, we should have no other en- 30Joyment than mere animal pleasure." "No man (said Johnson) who ever lived by literature, has lived more independently than I have done." He said he had taken longer time than he needed to have done in composing his Dictionar}^. He received our compliments upon that 35 great work with complacenc}^, and told us that the Academy delta Crusca could scarcely believe that it was done by one man. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 61 At night, Mr. Johnson and I supped in a private room at the Turk's Head coffee-house, in the Strand. "I encourage this house (said he), for the mistress of it is a good civil woman, and has not much business." "Sir, I love the acquaintance of young people ; because, in 5 the first place, I don't like to think myself growing old. In the next place, young acquaintances must last longest, if they do last ; and then, Sir, young men have more virtue than old men; they have more generous sentiments in every respect. I love the young dogs of this age, they have more wit and 10 humour and knowledge of life than we had; but then the dogs are not so good scholars. Sir, in my early years I read very hard. It is a sad reflection but a true one, that I knew almost as much at eighteen as I do now. My judge- ment, to be sure, was not so good ; but I had all the facts." 15 " I would behave to a nobleman as I should expect he would behave to me, were I a nobleman and he Sam Johnson. Sir, there is one Mrs. Macaulay in this town, a great republican. One day when I was at her house, I put on a very grave countenance, and said to her, 'Madam, I am now become a 20 convert to your way of thinking. I am convinced that all mankind are upon an equal footing ; and to give you an un- questionable proof, Madam, that I am in earnest, here is a very sensible, civil, well-behaved fellow-citizen, yovoc footman ; I desire that he may be allowed to sit down and dine with us.' 25 I thus, Sir, shewed her the absurdity of the levelling doctrine. She has never liked me since. Sir, your levellers wish to level down as far as themselves ; but they cannot bear levelling up to themselves." He said, he would go to the Hebrides with me, unless some 30 very good companion should offer when I was absent, which he did not think probable; adding, "There are few people whom I take so much to as you." We talked of the education of children ; and I asked him what he thought was best to teach them first. Johnson. 35 "Sir, it is no matter what you teach them first, any more than what leg you shall put into your breeches first. Sir, 62 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. you may stand disputing which is best to put in first, but in the mean time your breech is bare. Sir, while you are con- sidering which of two things you should teach your child first, another boy has learnt them both/' 5 "I have no more pleasure in hearing a man attempting wit and failing, than in seeing a man trying to leap over a ditch and tumbling into it." "Why, Sir, Sherry is dull, naturally dull; but it must, have taken him a great deal of pains to become what we now 10 see him. Such an excess of stupidity, Sir, is not in Nature." " Sir, what influence can Mr. Sheridan have upon the lan- guage of this great country, by his narrow exertions ? Sir, it is burning a farthing candle at Dover, to shew light at Calais." "Sir, I honour Derrick for his presence of mind. One 15 night, when Floyd, another poor authour, was wandering about the streets in the night, he found Derrick fast asleep upon a bulk; upon being suddenly waked, Derrick started up, 'My dear Floyd, I am sorry to see you in this destitute state : will you go home with me to my lodgings?' " 20 I again begged his advice as to my method of study at Utrecht. "Come, (said he) let us make a day of it. Let us go down to Greenwich and dine, and talk of it there." Dr. Johnson and I took a sculler at the Temple stairs, and set out for Greenwich. I asked him if he really thought a 25 knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages an essential requisite to a good education. Johnson. "Most certainly, Sir." "And yet, (said I) people go through the world very well, and carry on the business of life to good advantage, without learning." Johnson. "Wiry, Sir, that may be true 30 in cases where learning cannot possibly be of any use ; for instance, this boy rows us as well without learning, as if he could sing the song of Orpheus to the Argonauts, who were the first sailors." He then called" to the boy, "What would you give, my lad, to know about the Argonauts?" "Sir 35 (said the boy), I would give what I have." Johnson was much pleased with his answer, and we gave him a double fare. Dr. Johnson then turning to me, "Sir (said he), a desire of know- THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 63 ledge is the natural feeling of mankind; and every human being, whose mind is not debauched, will be willing to give all that he has, to get knowledge/' We landed at the Old Swan, and walked to Billingsgate, where we took oars and moved smoothly along the silver Thames. It was a very fine 5 day. We were entertained with the immense number and variety of ships that were lying at anchor, and with the beautiful country on each side of the. river. I talked of preaching, and of the great success which those called methodists have. Johnson. "Sir, it is owing to 10 their expressing themselves in a plain and familiar manner. To insist against drunkenness as a crime, because it debases reason, the noblest faculty of man, would be of no service to the common people ; but to tell them that they may die in a fit of drunkenness, and shew them how dreadful that would 15 be, cannot fail to make a deep impression. Sir, when your Scotch clergy give up their homely manner, religion will soon decay in that country." Let this observation, as John- son meant it, be ever remembered. He remarked that the structure of Greenwich hospital was 20 too magnificent for a place of charity, and that its parts were too much detached, to make one great whole. He spoke with enthusiasm of the beauty of Latin verse. "All the modern languages (said he) cannot furnish so melo- dious a line as 25 " Formosam resonare doces Amarillida silvas." ° Afterwards he entered upon the business of the day, which was to give me his advice as to a course of study. I recollect with admiration an animating blaze of eloquence, which roused 30 every intellectual power in me to the highest pitch. He ran over the grand scale of human knowledge; advised me to select some particular branch to excel in, but to acquire a little of every kind. We walked in the evening in Greenwich Park. He asked me 35 "Is not this very fine?" I answered, "Yes, Sir; but not equal to Fleet-street." Johnson. "You are right, Sir." 64 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. A very fashionable Baronet, on his attention being called to the fragrance of a May evening in the country, observed, "This may be very well; but for my part, I prefer the smell of a flambeau at the play-house. " 5 Our sail up the river, in our return to London, was by no means so pleasant as in the morning ; for the night air was so cold that it made me shiver. I was the more sensible of it from having sat up all the night before recollecting and writing in my Journal. I remember having sat up four nights 10 in one week. Johnson, whose robust frame was not in the least affected by the cold, scolded me, as if my shivering had been a paltry effeminacy, saying, "Why do you shiver?" Sir William Scott, of the Commons, told me, that when he complained of a head-ache in the post-chaise, as they were 15 travelling together to Scotland, Johnson treated him in the same manner: "At your age, Sir, I had no head-ache." We concluded the day at the Turk's Head coffee-house very socially. At a meeting of the people called Quakers, I had heard a 20 woman preach. Johnson. "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all." He said, that "he always felt an inclination to do nothing." I observed, that it was strange to think that the most indolent 25 man in Britain had written the most laborious work, The Eng- lish Dictionary. I had now made good my title to be a privileged man and was carried by him in the evening to drink tea with Miss Williams. She was well acquainted with his habits, and knew 30 how to lead him on to talk. After tea he carried me to what he called his walk, which was a long narrow paved court in the neighbourhood, overshadowed by some trees. I men- tioned to him how common it was in the world to tell absurd stories of him, and to ascribe to him very strange sayings. 35 Johnson. "What do they make me say, Sir ? " Boswell. "Why, Sir, (laughing heartily as I spoke,) David Hume told me, you said that you would stand before a battery of cannon THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 65 to restore the Convocation to its full powers. " — Little did I apprehend that he had actually said this : but I was soon convinced of my errour; for, with a determined look, he thundered out, "And would I not, Sir? Shall the Pres- byterian Kirk ° of Scotland have its General Assembly, and 5 the Church of England be denied its Convocation ? " He was walking up and down the room, while I told him the anecdote ; but when he uttered this explosion of high-church zeal, he had come close to my chair, and his eye flashed with indignation. 10 In the Harwich stage-coach, a fat elderly gentlewoman, and a young Dutchman, seemed the most inclined among us to conversation. At the inn where we dined, the gentle- woman said that she had done her best to educate her chil- dren ; and, particularly, that she had never suffered them to be 15 a moment idle. Johnson. "I wish, Madam, you would educate me too; for I have been an idle fellow all my life." "I am sure, Sir, (said she) you have not been idle." John- son. "Nay, Madam, it is very true; and that gentleman there, (pointing to me,) has been idle. He was idle at Edin- 20 burgh. His father sent him to Glasgow, where he con- tinued to be idle. He then came to London, where he has been very idle; and now he is going to Utrecht, where he will be as idle as ever." I asked him privately how he could expose me so. Johnson. "Poh, poh ! (said he) they knew 25 nothing about you, and will think of it no more." To the utter astonishment of all the passengers but myself, who knew that he could talk upon any side of a question, he defended the Inquisition. Having observed at one of the stages that I ostentatiously gave a shilling to the coachman, when the 30 custom was for each passenger to give only six-pence, he took me aside and scolded me, saying that what I had done would make the coachman dissatisfied with all the rest of the pas- sengers who gave him no more than his due. When at table, he was totally absorbed in the business of 35 the moment ; his looks seemed riveted to his plate ; nor would he, unless when in very high company, say one word F 66 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. or even pay the least attention to what was said by others, till he had satisfied his appetite : which was so fierce, and in- dulged with such intenseness, that while in the act of eating, the veins of his forehead swelled, and generally a strong per- 5 spiration was visible. To those whose sensations were deli- cate, this could not but be disgusting. Johnson, though he could be rigidly abstemious, was not a temperate man. I re- member when he was in Scotland, his praising "Gordon's palates," with a warmth of expression which might have done 10 honour to more important subjects. "As for Maclaurin's imitation of ft made dish, it was a wretched attempt." He about the same time was so much displeased with the per- formances of a nobleman's French cook, that he exclaimed with vehemence, "I'd throw such a rascal into the river;" 15 and he then proceeded to alarm a lady at whose house he was to sup, by the following manifesto of his skill: "I, Madam, who live at a variety of good tables, am a much better judge of cookery, than any person who has a very tolerable cook, but lives much at home ; for his palate is gradually adapted 20 to the taste of his cook: whereas, Madam, in trying by a wider range, I can more exquisitely judge." When invited to dine, even with an intimate friend, he was not pleased if something better than a plain dinner was not prepared for him. I have heard him say on such an occasion, "This was 25 a good dinner enough, to be sure : but it was not a dinner to as A; a man to." One day when he had dined with his neighbour and landlord, in Bolt-court, Mr. Allen, the printer, whose old housekeeper had studied his taste in every thing, he pronounced this eulogy: "Sir, we could not have had a 30 better dinner had there been a Synod of Cooks." ° Johnson said, " I never considered whether I should be a grave man, or a merry man, but just let inclination, for the time, have its course." We stood talking for some time together of Bishop Berkeley's ingenious sophistry to prove 35 the non-existence of matter, and that every thing in the universe is merely ideal. I observed, that though we are satisfied his doctrine is not true, it is impossible to refute it. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 67 I never shall forget the alacrity with which Johnson answered, striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone till he rebounded from it, — "I refute it thus" To me it is not conceivable how Berkeley can be answered by pure reasoning ; but I know that the nice and difficult task was to have been 5 undertaken by one of the most luminous minds ° of the pre- sent age, had not politicks " turned him from calm philosophy aside/' My revered friend walked down with me to the beach, where we embraced and parted with tenderness, and engaged to 10 correspond by letters. To Boswell. "There lurks, perhaps, in every human heart a desire of distinction which inclines every man first to hope, and then to believe, that nature has given him something peculiar to 15 himself. Every desire is a viper in the bosom, who, while he was chill, was harmless ; but when warmth gave him strength, exerted it in poison. You know a gentleman, who, when first he set his foot in the gay world, imagined a total indiffer- ence and universal negligence to be the strongest indication 20 of an airy temper and a quick apprehension. He tried this scheme of life awhile, was made weary of it by his sense and his virtue ; he then wished to return to his studies ; and find- ing long habits of idleness and pleasure harder to be cured than he expected, concluded that Nature had originally 25 formed him incapable of rational employment. Resolve, and keep your resolution ; choose, and pursue your choice. Sam. Johnson." To a lady who endeavoured to vindicate herself from blame for neglecting social attention to worthy neighbours, by say- 30 ing, "I would go to them if it would do them any good ;" he ' said, "What good, Madam, do you expect to have in your power to do them ? It is shewing them respect, and that is doing them good." So socially accommodating was he, that once when Mr. 35 68 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. Langton and he were driving together in a coach, and Mr. Langton complained of being sick, he insisted that they should go out, and sit on the back of it in the open air, which they did. And being sensible how strange the appearance must be, ob- 5 served, that a count^man whom they saw in a field would probably be thinking, "If these two madmen should come down, what would become of me?" Soon after his return to London, which was in February, 1764, was founded that Club which existed long without a 10 name, but at Mr. Garrick's funeral became distinguished by the title of The Literary Club. Sir Joshua Reynolds had the merit of being the first proposer of it, to which Johnson acceded ; and the original members were, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr. Johnson, Mr. Edmund Burke, Dr. Nugent, Mr. Beauclerk, 15 Mr. Langton, Dr. Goldsmith, Mr. Chamier, and Sir John Haw- kins. They met at the Turk's Head, in Gerrard-street, Soho, one evening in every week, at seven, and generally continued their conversation till a pretty late hour. This club has been gradually increased to its present number, thirty-five. After 20 about ten years, instead of supping weekly, it was resolved to dine together once a fortnight during the meeting of Par- liament. Their original tavern having been converted into a private house, they moved first to Prince's in Sackville- street, then to Le Teller's in Dover-street and now meet at 25 Parsloe's, St. James' s-street. Sir John Hawkins ° represents himself as a "seceder." The fact was, that he one evening attacked Mr. Burke, in so rude a manner, that all the company testified their displeasure; and at their next meeting his reception was such, that he never 30 came again. Not very long after the institution of our club, Sir Joshua Reynolds was speaking of it to Garrick. "I like it much, ' (said he,) I think I shall be of you." Dr. Johnson was much displeased with the actor's conceit. "He'll be of us, (said 35 Johnson) how does he know we will permit him ? The first Duke in England has no right to hold such language." However, when Garrick was regularly proposed, Johnson THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 69 warmly and kindly supported him, and he was accordingly elected. He had a particularity, of which none of his friends even ventured to ask an explanation. This was his anxious care to go out or in at a door or passage, by a certain number 5 of steps from a certain point, or at least so as that either his right or his left foot, (I am not certain which,) should constantly make the first actual movement when he came close to the door or passage. Thus I conjecture : for I have, upon innumerable occasions, observed him suddenly stop, and then seem to count 10 his steps with a deep earnestness ; and when he had neglected or gone wrong in this sort of magical movement, I have seen him go back again, put himself in a proper posture to begin the ceremony, and, having gone through it, break from his abstraction, walk briskly on and join his companion. Sir 15 Joshua Reynolds has observed him to go a good way about rather than cross a particular alley in Leicester-fields. While talking or even musing as he sat in his chair, he com- monly held his head to one side towards his right shoulder, and shook it in a tremulous manner, moving his body back- 20 wards and forwards, and rubbing his left knee in the same direction, with the palm of his hand. In the intervals of articulating he made various sounds with his mouth ; some- times as if ruminating, or what is called chewing the cud, sometimes giving a half whistle, sometimes making his 25 tongue play backwards from the roof of his mouth, as if clucking like a hen, and sometimes protruding it against his upper gums in front, as if pronouncing quickly under his breath, too, too, too: all this accompanied sometimes with a thoughtful look, but more frequently with a smile. Gen- 30 erally when he had concluded a period, in the course of a dispute, by which time he was a good deal exhausted by vio- lence and vociferation, he used to blow out his breath like a whale, a contemptuous mode of expression, as if he had made the arguments of his opponent fly like chaff before the wind. 35 # He paid a short visit to the University of Cambridge, with his friend Mr. Beauclerk. There is a lively picturesque ac- 70 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. count of his behaviour in the Gentleman's Magazine for March 1785. "He drank his large potations of tea, interrupted by many an indignant contradiction, and many a noble senti- ment/' — " Several persons got into his company the last 5 evening at Trinity, where, about twelve, he began to be very great ; stripped poor Mrs. Macaulay to the very skin, then gave her for his toast, and drank her in two bumpers." In his diary: "July 2. I paid Mr. Simpson ten guineas, which he had formerly lent me in my necessity, and for which loTetty expressed her gratitude." "July 8. I lent Mr. Simpson ten guineas more." Trinity College, Dublin, at this time surprised Johnson with a spontaneous compliment of the highest academical honours, by creating him Doctor of Laws. His "Prayer before the 15 Study of Law : " "Almighty God, the giver of wisdom, without whose help resolutions are vain, without whose blessings study is inef- fectual ; enable me, if it be thy will, to attain such knowledge as may qualify me to direct the doubtful and instruct the 20 ignorant; to prevent wrongs and terminate contentions." His prayer in the view of becoming a politician is entitled, "Engaging in Politicks with H — n," no doubt, his friend, the Right Honourable William Gerard Hamilton, to whose conversation he once paid this high compliment : "I am very 25 unwilling to be left alone, Sir, and therefore I go with my company down the first pair of stairs, in some hopes that they may, perhaps, return again ; I go with you, Sir, as far as the street-door." His prayer is in general terms: "Enlighten my understanding with knowledge of right, and govern my 30 will by thy laws, that no deceit may mislead me, nor tempta- tion corrupt me ; that I may always endeavour to do good, and hinder evil." This year, 1765, was distinguished by his being introduced into the family of Mr. Thrale, one of the most eminent 35 brewers in England, and member of Parliament for the borough of Southwark. Johnson used to give this account of the rise of Mr. Thrale's father : "He worked at six shillings a week for 71 twenty years in the great brewery, which afterwards was his own. The proprietor of it had an only daughter, who was married to a nobleman. It was not fit that a peer should continue the business. It was suggested, that it would be advisable to treat with Thrale, a sensible, active, honest man, 5 who had been employed in the house, and to transfer the whole to him for thirty thousand pounds, security being taken upon the property. This was accordingly settled. In eleven years Thrale paid the purchase-money. He acquired a large fortune, and lived to be a member of Parliament for South- 10 wark. But what was most remarkable was the liberality with which he used his riches. He gave his son and daughters the best education. He used to say, 'If this young dog does not find so much after I am gone as he expects, let him re- member that he has had a great deal in my own time. '" 15 The son, though in affluent circumstances, had good sense enough to carry on his father's trade, which was of such ex- tent, that I remember he once told me, he would not quit it for an annuity of ten thousand a year. Mr. Thrale had married Miss Hester Lynch Salusbury, of 20 good Welch extraction, a lady of lively talents, improved by education. That Johnson's introduction into Mr. Thrale's family, which contributed so much to the happiness of his life, was owing to her desire for his conversation, is a very probable and the general supposition : but it is not the truth. Mr. 25 Murphy, who was intimate with Mr. Thrale, having spoken very highly of Dr. Johnson, he was requested to make them acquainted. This being mentioned to Johnson, he accepted of an invitation to dinner at Thrale's, and was so much pleased with his reception, both by Mr. and Mrs. Thrale, and they so 30 much pleased with him, that his invitations to their house were more and more frequent, till at last he became one of the family, and an apartment was appropriated to him, both in their house at Southwark and in their villa at Streatham. "I know no man, (said he,) who is more master of his 35 wife and family than Thrale. If he but holds up a finger, he is obeyed. It is a great mistake to suppose that she is 12 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. above him in literary attainments. She is more flippant; but he has ten times her learning : he is a regular scholar ; but her learning is that of a school-boy in one of the lower forms/' My readers may naturally wish for some represen- 5 tation of the figures of this couple. Mr. Thrale was tall, well proportioned, and stately. As for Madam, or my Mis- tress, by which epithets Johnson used to mention Mrs. Thrale, she was short, plump, and brisk. She has herself given us a lively view of the idea which Johnson had of her person, on 10 her appearing before him in a dark-coloured gown: "You little creatures should never wear those sort of clothes, how- ever ; they are unsuitable in every way. What ! have not all insects gay colours?" Nothing could be more fortunate for Johnson than this 15 connection. He had at Mr. Thrale's all the comforts and even luxuries of life : his melancholy was diverted, and his irregular habits lessened by association with an agreeable and well-ordered family. He was treated with the utmost respect, and even affection. The vivacity of Mrs. Thrale Y 20 literary talk roused him to cheerfulness and exertion, ever when they were alone. But this was not often the case for he found here a constant succession of what gave him the highest enjoyment, the society of the learned, the witty, anc the eminent in every way. 25 He at length gave to the world his edition of Shakspeare A blind indiscriminate admiration of Shakspeare had ex- posed the British nation to the ridicule of foreigners. John- son, by candidly admitting the faults of his poet, had the more credit in bestowing on him deserved and indisputable 30 praise ; and doubtless none of all his panegyrists have done him half so much honour. His Shakspeare was virulentlj attacked by Mr. William Kenrick, who wrote for the book- sellers in a great variety of branches. When some of hh works were mentioned, Dr. Goldsmith said he had nevei 35 heard of them; upon which Dr. Johnson observed, "Sir, h( is one of the many who have made themselves publick, with- out making themselves known." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 73 From one of his Journals I transcribed what follows : "At church, Oct. — 65. "To avoid all singularity. "To come in before sendee, and' compose my mind by medi- tation, or by reading some portions of scripture. Tetty. 5 "If I can hear the sermon, to attend it, unless attention be more troublesome than useful. "To consider the act of prayer as a reposal of myself upon God, and a resignation of all into his holy hand." In writing Dedications, that courtly species of composition, 10 no man excelled Dr. Johnson. Though the loftiness of his mind prevented him from ever dedicating in his own person, he wrote a very great number of Dedications for others. He told me, a great many years ago, "he believed he had dedi- cated to all the Royal Family round." 15 I found Dr. Johnson in a good house in Johnson's court, Fleet-street, in which he had accommodated Miss Williams with an apartment on the ground floor, while Mr. Levet occupied his post in the garret : his faithful Francis was still attending upon him. He said of Goldsmith's "Traveller," 20 which had been published in my absence, "There has not been so fine a poem since Pope's time." He at my request marked with a pencil the lines which he had furnished, which are only line 420th, 11 To stop too fearful, and too faint to go ; " 25 and the concluding ten fines, except the last couplet but one. Dr. Johnson at the same time favoured me by marking the lines which he furnished to Goldsmith's "Deserted Village," which are only the last four : " That trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay, 30 As ocean sweeps the labour'd mole away : While self-dependent power can time defy, As rocks resist the billows and the sky." I mentioned that a gay friend had advised me against being a lawyer, because I should be excelled by plodding 35 74 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. blockheads. Johnson. "Why, Sir, in the formulary and statutory part of law, a plodding blockhead may excel ; but in the ingenious and rational part of it a plodding blockhead can never excel." 5 Johnson. "Sir, I never was near enough to great men to court them. You may be prudently attached to great men, and yet independent. You must not give a shilling's worth of court for sixpence worth of good. But if you can get a shilling's worth of good for sixpence worth of court, }^ou are 10 a fool if you do not pay court." He said, "If convents should be allowed at all, they should only be retreats for persons unable to serve the publick, or who have served it. It is our first duty to serve society ; and, after we have done that, we may attend wholly to the salva- 15 tion of our own souls. A youthful passion for abstracted devotion should not be encouraged." Johnson said (sarcastically), "It seems, Sir, you have kept very good company abroad, Rousseau and Wilkes !" ° Think- ing it enough to defend one at a time, I said nothing as to 20 my gay friend, but answered with a smile, "My dear Sir, you don't call Rousseau bad company. Do you really think him a bad man?" Johnson. " Rousseau, Sir, is a very bad man. I would sooner sign a sentence for his transportation, than that of any felon who has gone from the Old Baile}^ 25 these man}^ years. Yes, I should like to have him work in the plantations." Boswell. "Sir, do you think him as bad a man as Voltaire?" Johnson. "Wiry, Sir, it is diffi- cult to settle the proportion of iniquity between them." Another evening we found him indisposed, "Come then 30 (said Goldsmith), we will not go to the Mitre to-night since we cannot have the big man with us." Johnson then called for a bottle of port, of which Goldsmith and I partook, while our friend, now a water-drinker, sat by us. Goldsmith. "I think, Mr. Johnson, you don't go near the theatres now. 35 You give yourself no more concern about a new play, than if you had never had anything to do with the stage." John- son. "Why, Sir, our tastes greatly alter." Boswell. "But, THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 75 Sir, why don't you give us something in some other way?" Goldsmith. "Ay, Sir, we have a claim upon you." John- son. "No, Sir, I am not obliged to do any more. Xo man is obliged to do as much as he can do. A man is to have part of his life to himself. Now, Sir, the good I can do by 5 my conversation bears the same proportion to the good I can do by my writings that the practice of a physician, retired to a small town, does to his practice in a great city." Bos- well. "But I wonder, Sir, you have not more pleasure in writing than in not writing." Johnson. "Sir, you may 10 wonder. I have written a hundred lines in a day. I re- member I wrote a hundred lines of ' The Vanity of Human Wishes/ in a day. Doctor (turning to Goldsmith), I am not quite idle ; I made one line t'other day ; but I made no more." Goldsmith. "Let us hear it; we'll put a bad one 15 to it." Johnson. "No, Sir; I have forgot it." The following letter to Mr. Langton is of interest: To Bennet Langton. "Since you will not inform us where you are, of how you live, I know not whether you desire to know any thing of us. 20 However, I will tell you that the club subsists ; but we have the loss of Burke's company since he has been engaged in publick business in which he has gained more reputation than perhaps any man at his [first] appearance ever gained before. He made two speeches in the House for repealing the Stamp- 25 act, which were publickly commended by Mr. Pitt, and have filled the town with wonder. "Burke is a great man by nature, and is expected soon to attain civil greatness. I am grown greater too, for I have maintained the newspapers these many weeks ; and what is 30 greater still, I have risen every morning since New-year's day, at about eight : when I was up, I have indeed done but little ; yet it is no slight advancement to obtain for so many hours more, the consciousness of being. "I wish you were in my new study; I am now writing 35 76 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. my first letter in it. I think it looks very pretty about me. "The Club holds very well together. Monday is my night. I continue to rise tolerably well, and read more 5 than I did. I hope something will yet come on it. Sam. Johnson. " "Do not accustom yourself to enchain your volatility by vows ; they will sometime leave a thorn in your mind, which you will, perhaps, never be able to extract or eject. Take 10 this warning; it is of great importance/' Mr. Cuthbert Shaw published the following portrait of Johnson : " Here Johnson comes, — unblest with outward grace, His rigid morals stamp'd upon his face." 15 In February, 1767, there happened one of the most re- markable incidents of Johnson's life, which gratified his monarchical enthusiasm, and which he loved to relate with all its circumstances, when requested by his friends. This was his being honoured by a private conversation with his 20 Majesty, in the library at the Queen's house. He had fre- quently visited those splendid rooms, and noble collection of books. Mr. Barnard, the librarian, took care that he should have here a very agreeable resource at leisure hours. His Majesty having been informed of his occasional visits, 25 was pleased to signify a desire that he should be told when Dr. Johnson came next to the library. His Majesty began by observing, that he understood he came sometimes to the librae; then mentioned his hav- ing heard that the Doctor had been lately at Oxford, and 30 asked him if he was not fond of going thither. To which Johnson answered, that he was indeed fond of going to Oxford sometimes, but was likewise glad to come back again. He was then asked whether there were better libraries at Oxford or Cambridge. He answered, he believed the Bodleian was 35 larger than any they had at Cambridge; at the same time adding, "I hope, whether we have more books or not than THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 77 they have at Cambridge, we shall make as good use of them as they do." His Majesty enquired if he was then writing any thing. He answered he was not, for he had pretty well told the world what he knew, and must now read to acquire more 5 knowledge. The King, as it should seem with a view to urge him to rely on his own stores as an original writer, and to continue his labours, then said: "I do not think you borrow much from any body." Johnson said, he thought he had already done his part as a writer. "I should have thought 10 so too (said the King), if you had not written so well." When asked at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, whether he made any reply to this high compliment, he answered, "No, Sir. It was not for me to bandy civilities with my Sovereign." His Majesty then talked of the controversy between War- 15 burton and Lowth, and asked Johnson what he thought of it. Johnson answered, "Warburton has most general, most scholastic learning ; Lowth is the more correct scholar. I do not know which of them calls names best." "Why, truly (said the King), when once it comes to calling names, argu-20 ment is pretty well at an end." The conversation next turned on the Philosophical Trans- actions, when Johnson observed that they had now a better method of arranging their materials than formerly. "Ay (said the King), they are obliged to Dr. Johnson for that." 25 During the whole of this interview, Johnson talked to his Majesty with profound respect, but still in his firm manly manner, with a sonorous voice, and never in that subdued tone which is commonly used at the levee and in the drawing room. After the King withdrew, he said to Mr. Barnard, 30 "Sir, they may talk of the King as they will; but he is the finest gentleman I have ever seen." And he afterwards ob- served to Mr. Langton, "Sir, his manners are those of as fine a gentleman as we may suppose Lewis the Fourteenth or Charles the Second." 35 At Sir Joshua Reynolds's, where a circle of Johnson's friends was collected round him to hear his account of this <8 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. memorable conversation, he told them, "I found his Majesty wished I should talk, and I made it my business to talk. I find it does a man good to be talked to by his sovereign." During all the time in which Dr. Johnson was employed in 5 relating to the circle at Sir Joshua Reynolds's the particulars of what passed between the King and him, Dr. Goldsmith remained unmoved upon a sopha at some distance, affecting not to join in the least in the eager curiosity of the company. At length, the frankness, and simplicity of his natural char- 10 acter prevailed. He sprung from the sopha, advanced to Johnson, and in a kind of flutter, from imagining himself in the situation which he had just been hearing described, ex- claimed, "Well, you acquitted yourself in this conversation better than I should have done ; for I should have bowed and 15 stammered through the whole of it." He passed three months at Lichfield : and I cannot omit an affecting and solemn scene there, as related by himself : "Sunday, Oct. 18, 1767. Yesterday, Oct. 17, at about ten in the morning, I took my leave for ever of my dear old friend, 20 Catharine Chambers, who came to live with my mother about 1724, and has been but little parted from us since. She buried my father, my brother, and my mother. She is now fifty-eight years old. "I desired all to withdraw, then told her that we were to 25 part for ever ; that as Christians we should part with prayer ; and that I would, if she was willing, say a short prayer beside her. She expressed great desire to hear me ; and held up her poor hands as she lay in bed, with great fervour, while I prayed, kneeling by her." 30 A ridicule of his style, under the title of "Lexiphanes," Sir John Hawkins ascribes to Dr. Kenrick; but its authour was one Campbell, a Scotch purser in the navy. The ridi- cule consisted in applying Johnson's "words of large mean- ing," to insignificant matters. 35 Boswell. "But what do you think of supporting a cause which you know to be bad?" Johnson. "Sir, you do not know it to be good or bad till the judge determines it. I THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 79 have said that you are to state facts fairly; so that your thinking, or what you call knowing, a cause to be bad, must be from reasoning, must be from your supposing your argu- ments to be weak and inconclusive. But, Sir, that is not enough. An argument which does not convince yourself, 5 may convince the Judge to whom you urge it." He praised Goldsmith's " Good-natured Man"; said, it was the best comedy, that had appeared since " The Provoked Husband," and that there had not been of late any such char- acter exhibited on the stage as that of Croaker. I observed 10 it was the Suspirius of his Rambler. He said, Goldsmith had owned he had borrowed it from thence. "Sir (continued he) , there is all the difference in the world between characters of nature and characters of manners ; and there is the differ- ence between the characters of Fielding and those of Richard- 15 son."° "I used once to be sadly plagued with a man who wrote verses, but who literally had no other notion of a verse, but that it consisted of ten syllables. Lay your knife and your fork, across your plate, was to him a verse : 20 Lay your knife and }^our fork, across your plate. As he wrote a great number of verses, he sometimes by chance made good ones, though he did not know it." He said he had lately been a long while at Lichfield, but had grown very weary before he left it. Boswell. "I won- 25 der at that, Sir ; it is your native place." Johnson. "Why so is Scotland your native place." His prejudice against Scotland appeared remarkably strong at this time. When I talked of our advancement in literature, "Sir (said he), you have learnt a little from us, and you think 30 yourselves very great men. Hume would never have written History, had not Voltaire written it before him. He is an echo of Voltaire." Boswell. "But, Sir, we have Lord Karnes." Johnson. "You have Lord Karnes. Keep him; ha, ha, ha ! We don't envy you him. Do you ever see Dr. 35 Robertson?" Boswell. "Yes, Sir." Johnson. "Does the dog talk of me?" Boswell. "Indeed, Sir, he does, 80 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. and loves you." Thinking that I now had him in a corner, and being solicitous for the literary fame of my country, I pressed him for his opinion on the merit of Dr. Robertson's History of Scotland. But, to my surprize, he escaped : 5 "Sir, I love Robertson and I won't talk of his book." An essay, maintaining the future life of brutes, w T as men- tioned, and the doctrine insisted on by a gentleman who seemed fond of curious speculation. Johnson discouraged this talk ; and being offended at its continuation, he watched 10 an opportunity to give the gentleman a blow of reprehension. So, when the poor speculatist, with a serious metaphysical pensive face, addressed him, "But really, Sir, when we see a very sensible dog, we don't know what to think of him," Johnson, rolling with joy at the thought which beamed in 15 his eye, turned quickly round, and replied, "True, Sir: and when we see a very foolish fellow, we don't know what to think of him." He then rose up, strided to the fire, and stood for some time laughing and exulting. I asked him if it was not hard that one deviation from 20 chastity should so absolutely ruin a young woman. John- son. "Why no, Sir; it is the great principle which she is taught. When she has given up that, she has given up every notion of female honour and virtue, which are all included in chastity." 25 A gentleman talked to him of a lady whom he greatly ad- mired and wished to marry, but was afraid of her superiority of talents. "Sir (said he), you need not be afraid; marry her. Before a year goes about, you'll find that reason much weaker, and that w T it not so bright." 30 At this time I observed upon the dial-plate of his watch a short Greek inscription, taken from the New Testament, Ni>£ yap epx erat > "the night cometh when no man can work." He sometime afterwards laid aside this dial-plate. "It might do very well upon a clock which a man keeps in his 35 closet ; but to have it upon his watch which he carries about with him, and which is often looked at by others, might be censured as ostentatious." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 81 Asking him explicitly whether it would be improper to publish his letters after his death, his answer was, "Nay, Sir, when I am dead, you may do as you will." He talked in his usual style with a rough contempt of popu- lar liberty. "They make a rout about universal liberty, with- 5 out considering that all that is to be valued, or indeed can be enjoyed by individuals is private liberty. Political liberty is good only so far as it produces private liberty. Now, Sir, there is the liberty of the press, which you know is a constant topick. Suppose you and I and two hundred more were 10 restrained from printing our thoughts : what then ? What proportion would that restraint upon us bear to the private happiness of the nation?" He supped at the Crown and Anchor tavern, in the Strand, with a company whom I collected to meet him. With an 15 excess of prudence, for which Johnson afterwards found fault with them, they hardly opened their lips, and that only to say something which they were certain would not expose them to the sword of Goliath. Recollecting that Mr. Davies, by acting as an informer, 20 had been the occasion of his talking somewhat too harshly to his friend, Dr. Percy, he took an opportunity to give him a hit: so added, with a preparatory laugh, "Why, Sir, Tom Davies might have written the ' Conduct of the Allies.'" Poor Tom being thus suddenly dragged into ludicrous notice 25 in the presence of the Scottish Doctors, to whom he was ambitious of appearing to advantage, was grievously mor- tified. Nor did his punishment rest here; for upon sub- sequent occasions, whenever he, "statesman all o'er," assumed a strutting importance, I used to hail him — "the Authour 30 of the Conduct of the Allies." When I called upon Dr. Johnson next morning, I found him highly satisfied with his colloquial prowess the preceding even- ing. "Well (said he), we had good talk." Boswell. "Yes, Sir, you tossed and gored several persons." 35 Alexander, Earl of Eglintoune, who loved wit more than wine, and men of genius more than sycophants, had regretted 82 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. that Johnson had not been educated with more refinement, and lived more in polished society. "No, no, my Lord (said Signor Baretti), do with him what you would, he would always have been a bear." "True (answered the Earl, with 5 a smile), but he would have been a dancing bear." Gold- smith, who knew him well: "Johnson, to be sure, has a roughness in his manner : but no man alive has a more tender heart. He has nothing of the bear but his skin." I was very sorry that I had not his company with me at 10 the Jubilee, in honour of Shakspeare, at Stratford-upon- Avon, the great poet's native town. Johnson's connection both with Shakspeare and Garrick founded a double claim to his presence ; and it would have been highly gratifying to Mr. Garrick. He would have had a benignant effect on 15 both. When almost every man of eminence in the literary world was happy to partake in this festival of genius, the ab- sence of Johnson could not but be wondered at and regretted. Johnson wrote me the following letter from Bright- helmstone : 20 To Boswell "Your History ° is like other histories, but your Journal is in a very high degree curious and delightful. There is be- tween the history and the journal that difference which there will always be found between notions borrowed from 25 without, and notions generated within. Your history was copied from books; your journal rose out of } T our own ex- perience and observation. "I am glad that you are going to be married. I have always loved and valued you, and shall love you and value 30 you still more, as you become more regular and useful : effects which a happy marriage will hardly fail to produce. Sam. Johnson." On Sept. 30th, we dined together at the Mitre. I at- tempted to argue for the superior happiness of the Savage 35 State. Johnson said, " No, Sir, you are not to talk such paradox. Let me have no more on't." Boswell. "Some- THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 83 times I have been in the humour of wishing to retire to a desart." Johnson. "Sir, you have desart enough in Scotland." He maintained to me contrary to the common notion, that a woman would not be the worse wife for being learned ; in 5 which, from all that I have observed of Artemisias, I humbly differed from him. When I censured a gentleman of my acquaintance for marrying a second time, as it shewed a disregard of his first wife, he said "Not at all, Sir. He pays the highest compli- 10 ment to the first by shewing that she made him so happy as a married man, that he wishes to be so a second time." And yet, on another occasion, he owned that he once had almost asked a promise of Mrs. Johnson that she would not marry again, but had checked himself. 15 I had the pleasure of seeing Mrs. Thrale at Dr. Johnson's one morning, and had conversation enough with her to ad- mire her talents ; and to shew her that I was as Johnsonian as herself. He delivered me a very polite card from Mr. Thrale and her, inviting me to Streatham. 20 I found, at an elegant villa, six miles from town, every cir- cumstance that can make society pleasing. Johnson, though quite at home, was yet looked up to with an awe, tempered by affection, and seemed to be equally the care of his host and hostess. I rejoiced at seeing him so happy. 25 Mrs. Thrale praised Garrick's talents for light gay poetry ; and, as a specimen, repeated his song in "Florizel and Perdita," and dwelt with peculiar pleasure on this line : "I'd smile with the simple, and feed with the poor." Johnson. "Nay, my dear Lady, this will never do. Poor 30 David ! Smile with the simple ; — What folly is that ? And who would feed with the poor that can help it ? No, no ; let me smile with the wise, and feed with the rich." I repeated this sally to Garrick, and wondered to find his sensibility as a writer not a little irritated by it. To soothe him I observed, 35 that Johnson spared none of us ; and I quoted the passage in 84 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. Horace in which he compares one who attacks his friends for the sake of a laugh, to a pushing ox, that is marked by a bunch of hay put upon his horns: "fcenum habet in cornu" "Ay, (said Garrick, vehemently,) he has a whole mow of it." 5 I presented Dr. Johnson to General Paoli. The General talked of languages being formed on the particular notions and manners of a people, without knowing which, we cannot know the language. " Sir, (said Johnson,) you talk of language, as if you had never done any thing else but study it, instead of 10 governing a nation." The General said, "Questo e un tro-ppo gran complimento ;" this is too great a compliment. John- son answered, "I should have thought so, Sir, if I had not heard you talk." The General said, that "a great part of the fashionable infidelity was owing to a desire of showing 15 courage. Men who have no opportunities of shewing it as to things in this life, take death and futurity as objects on which to display it." Johnson. "That is mighty foolish affectation. Fear is one of the passions of human nature, of which it is impossible to divest it. You remember that the 20 Emperour Charles V, when he read upon the tomb-stone of a Spanish nobleman, 'Here lies one who never knew fear/ wittily said, i Then he never snuffed a candle with his fingers/ " " Perfect good breeding, " he observed, "consists in having no particular mark of any profession." 25 Dr. Johnson shunned to-night any discussion of the per- plexed question of fate and free will, which I attempted to agitate : "Sir, (said he,) we know our will is free, and there's an end on't." Garrick played round him with a fond vivacity, taking 30 hold of the breasts of his coat, and, looking up in his face with a lively archness, complimented him on the good health which he seemed then to enjoy; while the sage, shaking his head, beheld him with a gentle complacency. One of the company not being come at the appointed hour, I proposed, as usual 35 upon such occasions, to order dinner to be served ; adding, "Ought six people to be kept waiting for one ?" "Why, yes, (answered Johnson, with a delicate humanity,) if the one will THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL D. 85 suffer more by your sitting down, than the six will do by wait- ing." Goldsmith, to divert the tedious minutes, strutted about, bragging of his dress, and I believe was seriously vain of it, for his mind was wonderfully prone to such impressions. "Come, come, (said Garrick,) talk no more of that. You are 5 perhaps, the worst — eh, eh!" — Goldsmith was eagerly attempting to interrupt him, when Garrick went on, laughing ironically, "Nay, you will always look like a gentleman; but I am talking of being well or ill drest." "Well, let me tell you, (said Goldsmith,) when my taylor brought home my 10 bloom-coloured coat, he said, 'Sir, I have a favour to beg of you. When any body asks you who made your clothes, be pleased to mention John Filby, at the Harrow, in Water-lane.' " Johnson. "Why, Sir, that was because he knew the strange colour would attract crowds to gaze at it, and thus they might 15 hear of him, and see how well he could make a coat even of so absurd a colour." ° After dinner our conversation first turned upon Pope. Johnson repeated to us, in his forcible melodious manner, the concluding lines of the Dunciad. While he was talking loudly 20 in praise of those lines, one of the company ventured to say, "Too fine for such a poem : — a poem on what ? " Johnson, (with a disdainful look,) "Why, on dunces. It was worth while being a dunce then. Ah, Sir, hadst thou lived in those days ! It is not worth while being a dunce now, when 25 there are no wits." Some one mentioned the descrip- tion of Dover Cliff. Johnson. "No, Sir; it should be all precipice, — all vacuum. The crows impede your fall. The diminished appearance of the boats, and other circum- stances, are all very good description; but do not impress 30 the mind at once with the horrible idea of immense height. The impression is divided ; you pass on by computation, from one stage of the tremendous space to another. Had the girl in ' The Mourning Bride ' said she could not cast her shoe to the top of one of the pillars in the temple, it would not have 35 aided the idea, but weakened it." Garrick. "Sheridan has too much vanity to be a good 86 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSOW, LL.D. man." Johnson. " No, Sir, were mankind to be divided into good and bad, he would stand considerably within the ranks of good." Mrs. Montague being mentioned; — Reynolds. "I think 5 that essay does her honour." Johxson. "Yes, Sir, it does her honour, but it would do nobody else honour. I have, indeed, not read it all. But when I take up the end of a web, and find it packthread, I do not expect, by looking further, to find embroidery. Sir, I will venture to say, there is not one 10 sentence of true criticism in her book. None shewing the beauty of thought, as formed on the workings of the human heart," One day at Sir Joshua's table, when it was related that Mrs. Montague, in an excess of compliment to the authour of a 15 modern tragedy, had exclaimed, "I tremble for Shakspeare;" Johnson said, "When Shakspeare has got for his rival, and Mrs. Montague for his defender, he is in a poor state indeed." Johnson. "We have an example of true criticism in Burke's ' Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful.' There is 20 no great merit in telling how many plays have ghosts in them, and how this ghost is better than that. You must shew how terrour is impressed on the human heart. — In the descrip- tion of night in Macbeth, the beetle and the bat detract from the general idea of darkness, — inspissated gloom." 25 Politicks being mentioned, he said, "This petitioning is a new mode of distressing government, and a mighty easy one. I will undertake to get petitions either against quarter guineas or half guineas, with the help of a little hot wine." Johnson. " Many of Shakspeare's plays are the worse for 30 being acted : Macbeth, for instance." Talking of our feeling for the distresses of others ; — John- son. "Why, Sir, there is much noise made about it, but it is greatly exaggerated. Why, there's Baretti, who is to be tried for his life to-morrow: friends have risen up for him on 35 every side ; yet if he should be hanged, none of them will eat a slice of plum-pudding the less. Sir, that sympathetick feeling goes a very little way in depressing the mind." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 87 Boswell. "I have often blamed myself, Sir, for not feel- ing for others, as sensibly as many say they do." Johnson. "Sir, don't be duped by them any more. You will find these very feeling people are not very ready to do you good. They pay you by feeling J y 5 He appeared, for the only time I suppose in his life, as a •witness in a Court of Justice, being called to give evidence to the character of Mr. Baretti, who having stabbed a man in the street, was arraigned at the Old Bailey for murder. Never did such a constellation of genius enlighten the aweful Ses- 10 sions House, emphatically called Justice Hall ; Mr. Burke, Mr. Garrick, Mr. Beauclerk, and Dr. Johnson. Johnson gave his evidence in a slow, deliberate, and distinct manner, which was uncommonly impressive. It is well known that Mr. Baretti was acquitted. 15 We went home to his house to tea. Mrs. Williams made it with sufficient dexterity, notwithstanding her blindness, though her manner of satisfying herself that the cups were full enough, appeared to me a little awkward ; for I fancied she put her finger down a certain way, till she felt the tea touch 20 it. In my first elation at being allowed the privilege of attend- ing Dr. Johnson at his late visits to this lady, which was like being e secretioribus consiliis, I willingly drank cup after cup, as if it had been the Heliconian spring. But as the charm of novelty went off, I grew more fastidious ; and besides, I dis- 25 covered that she was of a peevish temper. Mr. Fergusson told him of a new invented machine which went without horses : a man who sat in it turned a handle, which worked a spring that drove it forward. "Then, Sir, (said Johnson,) what is gained is, the man has his choice 30 whether he will move himself alone, or himself and the machine too." I asked, "If, Sir, you were shut up in a castle, and a new- born child with you, what would you do?" "Why, Sir, I should not much like my company." Boswell. "But 35 would you take the trouble of rearing it?" He seemed, as may well be supposed, unwilling to pursue the subject: 88 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. but upon my persevering in my question, replied, "Why yes, Sir, I would; but I must have all conveniences. If I had no garden, I would make a shed on the roof, and take it there for fresh air. I should feed it, and wash it much, and 5 with warm water to please it, not with cold water to give it pain." Boswell. " But, Sir, does not heat relax ? " John- son. "Sir, you are not to imagine the water is to be very hot. I would not coddle the child. No, Sir, the hardy method of treating children does no good. I'll take you five children 10 from London, who shall cuff five Highland children. Sir, a man bred in London will carry a burthen, or run, or wrestle, as well as a man brought up in the hardest manner in the country." Boswell. "Would you teach this child that I have furnished you with, any thing?" Johnson. "No, I 15 should not be apt to teach it." Boswell. "Would not you have a pleasure in teaching it?" Johnson. "No, Sir, I should not have a pleasure in teaching it." Boswell. "Have you not a pleasure in teaching men ! — There I have you. You have the same pleasure in teaching men, that I 20 should have in teaching children." Johnson. "Why, something about that." Johnson. " It is not from reason and prudence that people, marry, but from inclination. A man is poor ; he thinks ' I can- not be worse, and so I'll e'en take Peggy.'" 25 Boswell. "Sir, is it not a very bad thing for landlords to oppress their tenants, by raising their rents?" Johnson. "Very bad. But, Sir, it never can have any general influence : it may distress some individuals. For, consider this : land- lords cannot do without tenants. Now tenants will not give 30 more for land, than land is worth. If they can make more of their money by keeping a shop, or any other way, they do it, and so oblige landlords to let land come back to a reason- able rent, in order that they may get tenants." Boswell. "So, Sir, you laugh at schemes of political improvement." 35 Johnson. "Why, Sir, most schemes of political improve- ment are very laughable things. There is no doubt, that if the poor should reason, ' We'll be the poor no longer, we'll THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 89 make the rich take their turn/ they could easily do it, were it not that they can't agree. " He would not suffer one of the petitions to the King about the Middlesex election to be read. Boswell. "Foote, Sir, told me, that when he was very 5 ill he was not afraid to die." Johnson. "It is not true, Sir. Hold a pistol to Footers breast, or to Hume's breast, and threaten to kill them, and you'll see how they behave." To my question, whether we might not fortify our minds for the approach of death, he answered, in a passion, "No, Sir, 10 let it alone. It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time." He added, (with an earnest look,) "A man knows it must be so, and submits. It will do him no good to whine." I attempted to continue the conversation. He was so 15 provoked, that he said: "Give us no more of this;" and when I was going away, called to me sternly, "Don't let us meet to-morrow." Next morning I sent him a note, stating that I might have been in the wrong, but it was not intentionally ; notwith- 20 standing our agreement not to meet that day, I would call on him in my way to the city, and stay five minutes. Upon entering his study, I was glad that he was not alone. I whispered him, "Well, Sir, you are now in good humour." Johnson. "Yes, Sir." I was going to leave him, and had 25 got as far as the staircase. He stopped me, and smiling, said, "Get you gone m;" a 'curious mode of inviting me to stay. "Now (said he,) that you are going to marry, do not expect more from life, than life will afford. You may often find 30 yourself out of humour, and you may often think your wife not studious enough to please you ; and yet you may have reason to consider yourself as upon the whole very happily married." Talking of marriage in general, he observed, "Our mar- 35 riage service is too refined. It is calculated only for the best kind of marriages." 90 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. I was volatile enough to repeat to him a little epigrammatick song of mine, on matrimony. A MATRIMONIAL THOUGHT. " In the blithe days of honey-moon, 5 With Kate's allurements smitten, I lov'd her late, I lov'd her soon, And call'd her dearest kitten. But now my kitten's grown a cat, And cross like other wives, 10 O ! by my soul, my honest Mat, I fear she has nine lives." My illustrious friend said, "It is very well, Sir; but you should not swear." Upon which I altered "0 ! by my soul/' to "alas, alas !" 15 In 1770, he published a political pamphlet, entitled "The False Alarm/ 7 intended to justify the conduct of ministry and their majority in the House of Commons for having virtually assumed it as an axiom, that the expulsion of a Member of Parliament was equivalent to exclusion, and thus 20 having declared Colonel Lutterel to be duly elected for the county of Middlesex, notwithstanding Mr. Wilkes had a great majority of votes. This being justly considered as a gross violation of the right of election, an alarm for the constitution extended itself all over the kingdom. To prove this alarm 25 to be false, was the purpose of Johnson's pamphlet ; but even his vast powers were inadequate to cope with constitutional truth and reason, and his argument failed of effect ; and the House of Commons have since expunged the offensive res- olutions from their Journals. That the House of Commons 30 might have expelled Mr. Wilkes repeatedly, and as often as he should be re-chosen, was not denied ; but incapacitation cannot be but an act of the whole legislature. It was wonder- ful to see how a prejudice in favour of government in general, and an aversion to popular clamour, could blind and contract 35 such an understanding as Johnson's, in this particular case ; yet the wit, the sarcasm, the eloquent vivacity which this THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 91 pamphlet displayed, made it be read with great avidity at the time. " He who may live as he will, seldom lives long in the obser- vation of his own rules/' As I was not in London, I had no opportunity of enjoying 5 his company and recording his conversation. To supply this blank, I shall present my readers with some Collectanea, obligingly furnished to me by the Rev. Dr. Maxwell, of Falk- land, in Ireland, some time assistant preacher at the Temple, and for many years the social friend of Johnson: 10 "The very minutiae of such a character must be interesting, and may be compared to the filings of diamonds. "The inseparable imperfection annexed to all human gov- ernments, consisted, Johnson said, in not being able to create a sufficient fund of virtue and principle to carry the laws into 15 due and effectual execution. Wisdom might plan, but virtue alone could execute. And where could sufficient virtue be found? A variety of delegated, and often discretionary, powers must be entrusted somewhere : which, if not governed by integrity and conscience, would necessarily be abused, 20 till at last the constable would sell his for a shilling. "He seemed to me to be considered as a kind of publick oracle, whom every body thought they had a right to visit and consult. I never could discover how he found time for his compositions. He declaimed all the morning, then went 25 to dinner at a tavern, where he commonly staid late, and then drank his tea at some friend's house, over which he loitered a great while, but seldom took supper. I fancy he must have read and wrote chiefly in the night, for I can scarcely recollect that he ever refused going with me to a tavern, and he often 30 went to Ranelagh, which he deemed a place of innocent rec- reation. "He frequently gave all the silver in his pocket to the poor, who watched him, between his house and the tavern where he dined. He walked the streets at all hours, and said he was 35 never robbed, for the rogues knew he had little money, nor had the appearance of having much. 92 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. " Though the most accessible and communicative man alive, yet when he suspected he was invited to be exhibited, he constantly spurned the invitation. "Two young women ° from Staffordshire visited him when I 5 was present, to consult him on the subject of Methodism, to which they were inclined. 'Come, (said he,) you pretty fools, dine with Maxwell and me at the Mitre, and we will talk over that subject ; ' which they did, and after dinner he took one of them upon his knee, and fondled her for half an hour 10 together. " He observed, that a man in London was in less danger of falling in love indiscreetly, than any where else; for there the difficulty of deciding between the conflicting pretensions of a vast variety of objects, kept him safe. 15 "He loved, he said, the old black letter books; they were rich in matter, though their style was inelegant ; wonderfully so, considering how conversant the writers were with the best models of antiquity. "Burton's ' Anatomy of Melancholy/ he said, was the only 20 book that ever took him out of bed two hours sooner than he wished to rise. " He had great compassion for the miseries and distresses of the Irish nation, particularly the Papists; and severely reprobated the barbarous debilitating policy of the British 25 government, which, he said, was the most detestable mode of persecution. Better would it be to restrain the turbulence of the natives by the authority of the sword, and to make them amenable to law and justice by an effectual and vigorous police, than to grind them to powder by all manner of dis- 30 abilities and incapacities. "Being solicited to compose a funeral sermon for the daugh- ter of a tradesman, and being told that she was remarkable for her humility and condescension to inferiours, he observed, that those were very laudable qualities, but it might not be so 35 easy to discover who the lady's inferiours were. "When exasperated by contradiction, he was apt to treat his opponents with too much acrimony : as, ■ Sir, you don't THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 93 see your way through that question : ' — ' Sir, you talk the language of ignorance/ On my observing to him that a cer- tain gentleman had remained silent the whole evening, in the midst of a very brilliant and learned society, 'Sir, (said he,) the conversation overflowed, and drowned him/ 5 "' Jonas, (said he,) acquired some reputation by travelling abroad, but lost it all by travelling at home/ " Whatever might be thought of some methodist teachers, he said he could scarcely doubt the sincerity of that man who travelled nine hundred miles in a month, and preached twelve 10 times a week. " In blank-verse, he said, the language suffered more distor- tion, to keep it out of prose, than any inconvenience or limi- tation to be apprehended from the shackles and circumspec- tion of rhyme. 15 "He refused to go out of a room before me at Mr. Langton's house, saying, he hoped he knew his rank better than to pre- sume to take place of a Doctor in Divinity. "He said he never passed that week in his life which he would wish to repeat, were an angel to make the proposal to 20 him. "He was of opinion, that the English nation cultivated both their soil and their reason better than any other people. " ' Lord Lyttelton (said he,) sat down to write a book, to tell the world what the world had all his life been telling him/ 25 "Speaking of the inward light, to which some methodists pretended, he said, it was a principle utterly incompatible with social or civil security. 'If a man (said he,) pretends to a principle of action of which I can know nothing, nay, not ! so much as that he has it, but only that he pretends to it ; 30 I how can I tell what that person may be prompted to do ? When a person professes to be governed by a written ascer- tained law, I can then know where to find him/ "Being asked by a young nobleman, what was become of the gallantry and military spirit of the old English nobility, he 35 replied, 'Why, my Lord, I'll tell you what is become of it : it is gone into the city to look for a fortune/ 94 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. "Of a dull tiresome fellow, he said, 'That fellow seems to me to possess but one idea, and that is a wrong one/ "A gentleman who had been very unhappy in marriage, married immediately after his wife died : Johnson said it was 5 the triumph of hope over experience. "He observed that a man of sense and education should meet a suitable companion in a wife. It was a miserable thing when the conversation could only be such as whether the mutton should be boiled or roasted, and probably a dis- lOpute about that. " He said, foppery was never cured ; once a coxcomb, always a coxcomb. "Gilbert Cowper called him the Caliban of literature; 'Well, (said he,) I must dub him the Punchinello/ 15 "To find a substitution for violated morality, he said, was the leading feature in all perversions of religion. " ' It was a most mortifying reflection for any man to con- sider, what he had done, compared with what he might have done? 20 " ' The condition of the poor was the true mark of national discrimination. J "Of economy, he remarked, it was hardly worth while to save anxiously twenty pounds a year. If a man could save, so as to enable him to assume a different rank in society, then, 25 indeed, it might answer some purpose. "A principal source of erroneous judgement was, viewing things partially and only on one side: fortune hunters, when they contemplated the fortunes singly and separately, a dazzling and tempting object ; but when they came to possess 30 the wives and their fortunes together, they began to suspect they had not made quite so good a bargain." He published a political pamphlet " respecting Falkland's Islands," in which, upon materials furnished to him by ministry, he successfully endeavoured to persuade the nation 35 that it was wise and laudable to suffer the question of right to remain undecided, rather than involve our country in another war. Upon this occasion, we find Johnson lashing THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.I). 95 the party in opposition with unbounded severity, and making the fullest use of what he ever reckoned a most effectual argumentative instrument, — contempt. His character of their very able mysterious champion, Junius, is executed with all the force of his genius, and finished with the highest 5 care. Mr. Strahan, the printer, who was at once his friendly agent in receiving his pension for him, and his banker in supplying him with money when he wanted it ; who was him- self now a Member of Parliament, thought he should do 10 eminent service, both to government and Johnson, if he could be the means of his getting a seat in the House of Commons. It is not to be believed that Mr. Strahan would have ap- plied, unless Johnson had approved of it. I never heard him mention the subject; but at a later period of his life, 15 when Sir Joshua Reynolds told him that Mr. Edmund Burke had said, that if he had come early into Parliament, he certainly would have been the greatest speaker that ever was there, Johnson exclaimed, "I should like to try my hand now." ° 20 To Sir Joshua Reynolds, in Leicester-Fields. "When I came to Lichfield, I found that my portrait ° had been much visited, and much admired. Every man has a lurking wish to appear considerable in his native place ; and I was pleased with the dignity conferred by such a testimony 25 of your regard. Sam. Johnson." In his religious record he charges himself with not rising early enough. " Alas ! how hard would it be, if this indulgence were to be imputed to a sick man as a crime." In his retro- spect on the following Easter-eve, he says, " When I review the 30 last year, I am able to recollect so little done, that shame and sorrow, though perhaps too weakly, come upon me. I do not remember that since I left Oxford, I ever rose early by mere choice, but once or twice at Edial, and two or three times for the Rambler." 35 96 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. To Joseph Banks, Esq. " Perpetua ambitd bis terrd proemia lactis Hcec habet altrici Capra secunda Jovis." "Sir, 5 "I return thanks to you and to Dr. Solander for the pleasure which I received in yesterday's conversation. I could not recollect a motto for your Goat,° but have given her one. You, Sir, may perhaps have an epick poem from some happier pen. Sam. Johnson." 10 Johnson. "Why, Sir, till you can fix the degree of obsti- nacy and negligence of the scholars, you cannot fix the de- gree of severity of the master. Severity must be continued until obstinacy be subdued, and negligence be cured." Boswell. " Lord Monboddo still maintains the superiority 15 of the savage life. Sir, that is a common prejudice." John- son. " Yes, Sir, but a common prejudice should not be found in one whose trade is to rectify errour." In the morning we had talked of old families, and the respect due to them. Johnson. "Yes, Sir, and it is a matter of 20 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?'" 25 I gave him an account of the excellent mimickry of a friend of mine in Scotland. 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 retention of what is observed, and great pliancy of organs to 30 represent what is observed." "Why, Sir, (said he,) you would not imagine that the French jour, da} r , is derived from the Latin dies, and yet nothing is more certain; and the intermediate steps are very clear. From dies, comes diurnus. Diu is, by inaccurate ears, or inaccurate 35 pronunciation, easily confounded with giu; then the Italians form a substantive of the ablative of an adjective, and thence THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 97 giurno, or, as they make it giorno : which is readily contracted into giour, or jour." 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 5 live in a state of marriage, that we find all the motives which they have for remaining in that connection, and the restraints which civilized society imposes to prevent separation, are hardly sufficient to keep them together/' The General said, that in a state of nature the same causes of dissention would 10 not arise, as occur between husband and wife in a civilized state. Johnson. "Sir, they would have dissentions 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 15 to go a hunting, when the other would choose to go a fishing." We then fell into a disquisition whether there is an}^ beauty independent of utility. Dr. Johnson maintained that there was ; and he instanced a coffee cup which he held in his hand, the painting of which was of no real use, as the cup could hold 20 coffee equally well if plain ; yet the painting was beautiful. Johnson. " Nobody can write the life of a man, but those who have eat and drunk and lived in social intercourse with him. " Promiscuous hospitality is not the way to gain real influ- 25 ence. 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'aifait dix mecontents et un ingratJ Be- 30 sides, 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 con- fidentially to your neighbours at a small interest, or perhaps at no interest at all, and having their bonds in your posses- 35 sion." Boswell. "May not a man, Sir, employ his riches to advantage, in educating young men of merit ? " Johnson. 98 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. "Yes, Sir, if they fall in your way; but if it be understood that you patronize } T oung 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 mis- 5 taken partiality ; and some from downright interested mo- tives, without scruple; and you will be disgraced." We walked to the Pantheon. The first view of it did not strike us so much as Ranelagh, of which he said, the "coup oVodl was the finest thing he had ever seen." I said there 10 was not half a guinea's worth of pleasure in seeing this place. Johnson. "But, Sir, there is half a guinea's worth of inferi- ority to other people in not having seen it." Boswell. "I doubt, Sir, whether there are many happy people here." Johnson. "Yes, Sir, there are man} 7 happy people here. 15 There are many people here who are watching hundreds, and who think hundreds are watching them. Sir, I am talking of the mass of the people. We see even what the boasted Athenians were. The little effect which Demos- thenes 's orations had upon them, shews that they were 20 barbarians." Of a schoolmaster 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 awkward. I would not put a boy to him whom I intended for a man of 25 learning. But for the sons of citizens, who are to learn a little, get good morals, and then go to trade, he ma} 7 do very well." Fielding being mentioned, Johnson exclaimed, "He was a blockhead ! " Boswell. "Will you not allow, Sir, that he 30 draws ver} 7 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 Richardson's, than in all 'Tom Jones.' I, 35 indeed, never read 'Joseph Andrews.' ' Erskine. "Surely, Sir, Richardson is ver} 7 tedious." Johnson. "Why, Sir, if you were to read Richardson for the story, your impatience THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. LL.D. 99 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." Johnson. "I maintain, that an individual of any society who practises what is allowed is not a dishonest man." Bos- 5 well. " So then, Sir, you do not think ill of a man who wins perhaps forty thousand pounds in a winter?" John- son. " 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 without producing any in- 10 termediate good." General Oglethorpe told us that when he was a very young man, I think only fifteen, serving under Prince Eugene of Sa- voy, he was sitting in a company at table with a Prince of Wirtemberg. The Prince took up a glass of wine, and, by a 15 fillip, made some of it fly in Oglethorpe's face. Here was a nice dilemma. To have challenged him instantly, might have fixed a quarrelsome character upon the young soldier : to have taken no notice of it, might have been considered as cowardice. Oglethorpe, therefore, keeping his eye upon the Prince, and 20 smiling all the time, as if he took what his Highness had done in jest, said "Mon Prince, — " (I forget the French words he used, the purport however was,) "That's a good joke: but we do it much better in England;" and threw a whole glass of wine in the Prince's face. An old General who sat by, said, 25 "II a Men fait, mon Prince, vous Vavez commence : " and thus all ended in good humour. A question was started, how far people who disagree in a capital point can live in friendship together. Johnson said they might. Goldsmith said they could not, as they had not 30 the idem velle atque idem nolle — the same likings and the same aversions. Johnson. "Why, Sir, you must shun the sub- ject as to which you disagree. For instance, I can live very well with Burke : I love his knowledge, his genius, his diffu- sion, and affluence of conversation ; but I would not talk to 35 him of the Rockingham party." Goldsmith. "But, Sir, when people live together who have something as to which 100 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. they disagree, and which they want to shun, they will be in the situation mentioned in the story of Bluebeard : ■ You may look into all the chambers but one/ But we should have the greatest inclination to look into that chamber, to talk of that 5 subject." Johnson, (with a loud voice) "Sir, I am not saying that you could live in friendship with a man from whom you differ as to some point : I am only saying that I could do it. You put me in mind of Sappho in Ovid." ° Goldsmith was now busy in writing a Natural History; 10 and, that he might have full leisure for it, he had taken lodg- ings, at a farmer's house, near to the six milestone, on the Edgeware-road, and had carried down his books in two re- turned postchaises. Mr. Mickle and I' went in, and found curi- ous scraps of descriptions of animals, scrawled upon the wall 15 with a black lead pencil. Lord Mansfield, " Severity is not the way to govern either boys or men." "Nay (said Johnson,) it is the way to govern them. I know not whether it be the way to mend them." Mr. Langton was about to establish a school upon his 20 estate, but it had been suggested to him, that it might have a tendency to make the people less industrious. Johnson. "No, Sir. While learning to read and write is a distinction, the few who have that distinction may be the less inclined to work ; but when every body learns to read and write, it is no 25 longer a distinction. A man who has a laced waistcoat is too fine a man to work ; but if every body had laced waistcoats, we should have people working in laced waistcoats. There are no people whatever more industrious, none who work more, than our manufacturers; yet they have all learned to read and 30 write. Sir, you must not neglect doing a thing immediately good, from fear of remote evil ; — from fear of its being abused." I mentioned the soft and sweet sound of a fine woman's voice. Johnson. "No, Sir, if a serpent or a toad uttered it, 35 you would think it ugly." Boswell. "So you would think, Sir, were a beautiful tune to be uttered by one of those ani- mals." Johnson. "No, Sir, it would be admired. We THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 101 have seen fine fiddlers whom we liked as little as toads" (laughing) . Talking on the subject of taste in the arts, he said, that difference of taste was, in truth, difference of skill. Boswell. "But, Sir, is there not a quality called taste, which consists 5 merely in perception or in liking ; for instance, we find people differ 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 10 in style, and who has a bad. The two classes of persons whom you have mentioned, don't differ as to good and bad." I regretted the reflection in his preface to Shakspeare against Garrick : "I collated such copies as I could procure, and wished for more, but have not found the collectors of these rarities 15 very communicative." I told him, that Garrick had vindi- cated himself by assuring me, that Johnson was made wel- come to the full use of his collection, and that he left the key of it with a servant, with orders to have a fire and every con- venience for him. Johnson's notion was, that Garrick wanted 20 to be courted for them, and that, on the contrary, Garrick should have courted him, and sent him the plays of his own accord. But, indeed, considering the slovenly and careless manner in which books were treated by Johnson, it could not be expected that scarce and valuable editions ° should have 25 been lent to him. A gentleman having to some of the usual arguments for drinking added this: "You know, Sir, drinking drives away care, and makes us forget whatever is disagreeable. Would not you allow a man to drink for that reason?" Johnson. 30 "Yes, Sir, if he sat next you." A learned gentleman, who in the course of conversation 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. 35 Johnson sat in great impatience till the gentleman had finished his tedious narrative, and then burst out (playfully however,) 102 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. "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 twelvemonth." "Much (said he,) may be made of a Scotchman, if he be & caught young.'' A friend of mine had resided long in Spain, and was unwilling to return to Britain. Johnson. "Sir, he is at- tached to some woman." Boswell. "I rather believe, Sir, it is the fine climate which keeps him there." Johnson. 10 "Nay, Sir, how can you talk so ? What is climate to happi- ness? You may advise me to live at Bologna to eat sau- sages. The sausages there are the best in the world ; they lose much by being carried." " Walpole was a minister given by the King to the people : 15 Pitt was a minister given by the people to the King, — as an adjunct?' " The advantage which humanity derives from law is this : that the law gives every man a rule of action, and prescribes a mode of conduct which shall entitle him to the support and 20 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 25 be modified at discretion, is to leave the community without law. To this case may be justly applied that important principle, miser a est servitus ubi jus est aut incognitum aid vagum. To punish fraud when it is detected is the proper art of vindictive justice ; but to prevent frauds, and make 30 punishment unnecessary, is the great employment of legis- lative wisdom. Lex non recipit majus et minus, — we may have a law, or we may have no law, but we cannot have half a law. We must either have a rule of action, or be permitted to act by discretion and by chance. Deviations 35 from the law must be uniformly punished, or no man can be certain when he shall be safe." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 103 To James Boswell. "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 5 licentious relaxation of manners, I would not have been one of the first 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 ; I have looked very 10 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 a furious quarrel ; a quarrel, I think, irreconcilable. Dr. Goldsmith has a new comedy, which is expected in the spring. No name is yet given it. 15 The chief diversion arises from a stratagem by which a lover is made to mistake his future father-in-law's house for an inn. This, you see, borders upon farce. The dialogue is quick and gay, and the incidents are so prepared as not to seem improbable. Sam. Johnson." 20 Dr. Goldsmith's apology to the publick for beating Evans, a bookseller, was written so much in Dr. Johnson's manner, that both Mrs. Williams and I supposed it to be his ; but he soon undeceived us. Johnson. " Sir, had he shown it to any one friend, he would not have been allowed to publish it. He has, 25 indeed, done it very well ; but it is a foolish thing well done. I suppose 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. "I ; fancy, Sir, this is the first time that he has been engaged in 30 such an adventure." Johnson. "Why, Sir, I believe it is the first time he has beat; he may have been beaten before. This, Sir, is a new plume to him." Lord Chesterfield being mentioned, Johnson remarked, that almost all of that celebrated nobleman's witty sayings were 35 puns. He, however, allowed the merit of good wit to his 104 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. Lordship's saying, when very old and infirm: "Tyrawley and I have been dead these two years ; but we don't choose to have it known." He observed, that all works which describe manners require 5 notes in sixty or seventy years, or less ; and told us, he had communicated all he knew that could throw light upon "The Spectator." He said, "Addison had made his Sir Andrew Freeport a true Whig, arguing against giving charity to beg- gars, and throwing out other such ungracious sentiments; 10 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 15 utterance. Modern imitations of ancient ballads he treated with ridi- cule. He disapproved of introducing scripture phrases into secu- lar discourse. 20 When I 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 tell Mrs. Williams that we were coming to drink tea with her, which we did. It was settled that we should go to church together next day. 25 On the 9th of April, being Good Friday, I breakfasted 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 be- haviour was, as I had imaged to myself, solemnly devout. 30 I never shall forget the tremulous earnestness with which he pronounced the aweful petition in the Litany : "In the hour of death, and at the day of judgment, good Lord deliver us." We went to church both in the morning and evening. In 35 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. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 105 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 il- lustrious Prince Charles, at dinner. 'I cannot (saith he,) defend a bad, nor yield in a good cause.'" Johnson. "Sir, 5 this is false reasoning ; because 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." To my great surprize Johnson asked me to dine with him on Easterday. He told me, "I have generally a meat pye on 10 Sunday : it is baked at a publick oven, which is very properly allowed, because one man can attend it ; and thus the ad- vantage is obtained of not keeping servants from church to dress dinners." I had gratified my curiosity much in dining with Jean 15 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 fish : but I found every thing in very good 20 order. A dinner here was considered as a singular phe- nomenon, and I was frequently interrogated on the subject. Foote, I remember, in allusion to Francis, the negro, was will- ing to suppose that our repast was black broth. But the fact was, that we had a very good soup, a boiled leg of lamb and 25 spinach, a veal pye, and a rice pudding. Goldsmith, though his vanity often excited him to occa- sional competition, had a very high regard for Johnson, which he had at this time expressed in the strongest manner in the Dedication of his Comedy, entitled, " She Stoops to Conquer." 30 I put a question upon a fact in common life, which he could not answer. What is the reason that women servants have much lower wages than men servants, when in fact our female house servants work much harder than the male ? He told me that he had twelve or fourteen times attempted 35 to keep a journal of his life but never could persevere. He advised me to do it. "The great thing to be recorded, (said 106 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. he,) is the state of your own mind ; and you should write down every thing that you remember, for you cannot judge at first what is good or bad; and write immediately while the im- pression is fresh, for it will not be the same a week afterwards." 5 I again solicited him to communicate to me the particulars 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." At General Oglethorpe's, Goldsmith expatiated on the com- 10 mon topick, that the race of our people was degenerated, and that this was owing to luxury. Johnson. "Sir, in the first place, I doubt the fact. I believe there are as many tall men in England now, as ever there were. But, secondly, suppos- ing the stature of our people to be diminished, that is not 15 owing to luxury ; for, Sir, consider to how very small a pro- portion of our people luxury can reach. I admit that the great increase of commerce and manufactures hurts the mili- tary spirit of a people ; because it produces a competition for something else than martial honours, — a competition for 20 riches. It also hurts the bodies of the people. A tailor sits cross-legged ; but that is not luxury." Goldsmith. "Come, you're 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 Whitechapel, through, I suppose, the great- 25 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 Northumberland-house is a pickle-shop." Johnson. "Well, Sir : do we not know that 30 a maid can in one afternoon make pickles sufficient to serve a whole family for a year ? nay, that five pickle-shops can serve all the kingdom ? Besides, Sir, there is no harm done to any body by the making of pickles, or the eating of pickles." We drank tea with the ladies ; and Goldsmith sung Tony 35 Lumpkin's song in his comedy, " She Stoops to Conquer," and a very pretty one, to an Irish tune, which he had designed for Miss Hardcastle. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 107 I told him that Mrs. Macaulay said she wondered how he could reconcile his political principles with his moral. John- son. "Why, Sir, I reconcile my principles very well. Man- kind are happier in a state of inequality and subordination. Were they to be in this pretty state of equality, they would 5 soon degenerate into brutes : — they would become Mon- boddo's nation ; — their tails would grow. Sir, all would be losers, were all to work for all : — All intellectual improve- ment arises from leisure ; all leisure arises from one working for another. " 10 I spoke of Allan Ramsay's " Gentle Shepherd," in the Scot- tish dialect, as the best pastoral that had ever been writ- ten; I offered to teach Dr. Johnson to understand it. "No, Sir, (said he,) I won't learn it. You shall retain your superi- ority by my not knowing it." 15 This brought on a question whether one man is lessened by another's acquiring an equal degree of knowledge with him. Johnson asserted the affirmative. Johnson. "It is laudable in a man to wish to live by his labours ; but he should write so as he may live by them, not 20 so as he may be knocked on the head." Goldsmith. " 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 hundred lies told of him, than one truth which he does not 25 wish should be told." Goldsmith. "For my part, I'd 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 I should choose to be out of the reach of his claws." Goldsmith. "His claws can do you no harm, when 30 you have the shield of truth." "One day Charles Townshend and a few more agreed to go and dine in the country, and each of them was to bring a friend in his carriage with him. Charles Townshend asked Fitzherbert to go with him, but told him, i You must 35 find somebody to bring you back : I can only carry you there.' Fitzherbert did not much like this arrangement. He however 108 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. consented, observing sarcastically, 'It will do very well; for then the same jokes will serve you in returning as in going/ " We talked of the King's coming to see Goldsmith's new play. — "I wish he would," said Goldsmith; adding, how- 5 ever, with an affected indifference, "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 ? " Gold- 10 smith. "I do wish to please him. I remember a line in Dryden, 'And every poet is the monarch's friend.' It ought to be reversed." Johnson. "There is nothing, I think, in which the power 15 of art is shown so much as in playing on the fiddle. In all other things we can do something at first. Any man will forge a bar of iron, if you give him a hammer ; not so well as a smith, but tolerably. A man will saw a piece of wood, and make a box, though a clumsy one ; but give him a fiddle and 20 a fiddle-stick, and he can do nothing." Mr. Elphinston talked of a new book, and asked Dr. John- son if he had read it. Johnson. "I have looked into it." "What (said Elphinston,) have you not read it through?" Johnson, offended at being thus pressed, and so obliged to 25 own his cursory mode of reading, answered tartly, "No, Sir; do you read books through?" Boswell. "Do you think, Sir, that all who commit suicide are mad?" Johnson. "Sir, they are often not universally disordered in their intellects, but one passion presses so upon 30 them, that they yield to it, and commit suicide, as a pas- sionate man will stab another. After a man has taken the resolution to kill himself, it is not courage in him to do any thing, however desperate, because he has nothing to fear." Goldsmith. "I don't see that." Johnson. "Nay, but 35 my dear Sir, why should not you see what every one else sees ? It is upon the state of his mind, after the resolution is taken, that THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 109 I argue. He may then go and take the King of Prussia by the nose, at the head of his army. He cannot fear the rack who is resolved to kill himself. When Eustace Budgell was walking down to the Thames, determined to drown himself, he might, if he pleased, without any apprehension of danger, 5 have turned aside, and first set fire to St. James's palace." Mr. Beauclerk and I called on him in the morning. As we walked up Johnson' s-court, I said, "I have a veneration for this court;" and was glad to find that Beauclerk had the same reverential enthusiasm. 10 Johnson. " People seldom read a book which is given to them; and few are given. The way to spread a work is to sell it at a low price. No man will send to buy a thing that costs even sixpence, without an intention to read it." "Sir, a game of jokes is composed partly of skill, partly of 15 chance, a man may be beat at times by one who has not the tenth part of his wit. Now Goldsmith's putting himself against another, is like a man laying a hundred to one who cannot spare the hundred. When he contends, if he gets the better, it is a very little addition to a man of his literary rep- 20 utation : if he does not get the better, he is miserably vexed." Johnson's own superlative powers of wit set him above any risk of such uneasiness. Garrick had remarked to me of him, a few days before, " Rabelais and all other wits are nothing compared with him. You may be diverted by them; but 25 Johnson gives you a forcible hug, and shakes laughter out of you, whether you will or no." Goldsmith, however, was often very fortunate in his witty contests, even when he entered the lists with Johnson himself. Sir Joshua Reynolds was in company with them one day, when 30 Goldsmith said that he thought he could write a good fable, mentioned the simplicity which that kind of composition requires, and observed, that in most fables the animals intro- duced seldom talk in character. "For instance, the fable of the little fishes, who saw birds fly over their heads, and envy- 35 ing them, petitioned Jupiter to be changed into birds. The skill consists in making them talk like little fishes." While he 110 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. indulged himself in this fanciful reverie, he observed Johnson shaking his sides, and laughing. Upon which he smartly proceeded, "Why, Dr. Johnson, this is not so easy as you seem to think ; for if you were to make little fishes talk, they 5 would talk like whales." " She Stoops to Conquer," being mentioned ; Johnson. "I know of no comedy for many years that has answered so much the great end of comedy — making an audience merry." Goldsmith said, that Garrick' s compliment to the Queen, 10 in "The Chances," was mean and gross flattery. Johnson. "Why, Sir, I would not write, I would not give solemnly under my hand, a character beyond what I thought really true ; but a speech on the stage, let it flatter ever so extravagantly, is formular. It has always been formular to flatter Kings and 15 Queens ; so much so, that even in our church-service we have 'our most religious King/ used indiscriminately, whoever is King. Nay, they even flatter themselves ; — 'we have been graciously pleased to grant/ — No modern flattery, however, is so gross as that of the Augustan age, where the Emperour 20 was deified. ' Prcesens Divus habebitur Augustus.' And as to meanness, (rising into warmth) how is it mean in a player, — a showman, — a fellow who exhibits himself for a shilling, to flatter his Queen ? Sir, it is right, at a time when the Royal Family is not generally liked, to let it be seen that the people 25 like at least one of them." Boswell. "You say, Dr. John- son, that Garrick exhibits himself for a shilling. In this re- spect he is only on a footing with a lawyer who exhibits him- self for his fee, who will maintain any nonsense or absurdity, if the case require it. Garrick refuses a play or a part which 30 he does not like : a lawyer never refuses." Johnson. "Why, Sir, what does this prove ? only that a lawyer is worse. Bos- well is now like Jack in ' The Tale of a Tub/ who, when he is puzzled by an argument, hangs himself. He thinks I shall cut him down, but I'll let him hang " (laughing vociferously). 35 I dined with him at Mr. Beauclerk's, where were Lord Charlemont, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and some more members of the Literary Club, whom he had obligingly invited to THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. Ill meet me, as I was this evening to be ballotted for as candidate for admission into that distinguished society. Johnson had done me the honour to propose me, and Beauclerk was very zealous for me. Johnson. "It is amazing how little Goldsmith knows. 5 He seldom comes where he is not more ignorant than any one else." Sir Joshua Reynolds. "Yet there is no man whose company is more liked." Johnson. "To be sure, Sir. When people find a man of the most distinguished abilities as a writer, their inf eriour whilej he is with them, it must be 10 highly gratifying to them. What Goldsmith comically says of himself is very true, — he always gets the better when he argues alone; meaning, that he is master of a subject in his study, and can write well upon it • but when he comes into company, grows confused, and unable to talk. Sir, he has 15 the art of compiling, and of saying every thing he has to say in a pleasing manner. He is now writing a Natural History, and will make it as entertaining as a Persian Tale." Johnson. "I remember once being with Goldsmith in Westminster-abbey. While we surveyed the Poet's Corner, 20 I said to him, 1 Forsitan et nostrum nomen miscebitur istis.'° When we got to Temple-bar, he stopped me, pointed to the heads upon it, and slily whispered me, ' Forsitan et nostrum nomen miscebitur istis.' " 25 A proposition, that monuments to eminent persons should be erected in St. Paul's church as well as in Westminster- abbey, was mentioned. Johnson. "As Pope was a Roman I Catholick, I would not have his to be first. I think Milton's rather should have the precedence. I think more highly of 30 ; him now than I did at twenty." The gentlemen went away to their club, and I was left at Beauclerk's till the fate of my election should be announced to me. I sat in a state of anxiety which even the charming con- versation of Lady Di Beauclerk could not entirely dissipate. 35 112 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. In a short time I received the agreeable intelligence that I was chosen. I hastened to the place of meeting, and was in- troduced to such a society as can seldom be found. Mr. Ed- mund Burke, whom I then saw for the first time, and whose 5 splendid talents had long made me ardently wish for his acquaintance; Dr. Nugent, Mr. Garrick, Dr. Goldsmith, Mr. (afterwards Sir William) Jones, and the company with whom I had dined. Upon my entrance, Johnson placed himself behind a chair, on which he leaned as on a desk or 10 pulpit, and with humorous formality gave me a Charge, pointing out the conduct expected from me as a good member of this club. Much pleasant conversation passed which Johnson relished. But his conversation alone, or what led to it, or was inter- 15 woven with it, is the business of this work. " I will do you, Boswell, the justice to say, that you are the most unscottified of your countrymen. You are almost the only instance of a Scotchman that I have known, who did not at every other sentence bring in some other Scotchman." 20 "In questions of simple unperplexed morality, conscience is very often a guide that may be trusted. But before con- science can determine, the state of the question is supposed to be completely known. In questions of law, or of fact, conscience is very often confounded with opinion. No man's 25 conscience can tell him the right of another man ; they must be known by rational investigation or historical enquiry. But it is a conscience very ill informed that violates the rights of one man for the convenience of another." " As the great end of government is to give every man his 30 own, no inconvenience is greater than that of making right uncertain. Nor is any man more an enemy to publick peace, than he who fills weak heads with imaginary claims." " Were you to tell men who live without houses, how we pile brick upon brick, and rafter upon rafter, and 35 that after a house is raised to a certain height, a man tumbles off a scaffold, and breaks his neck, he would laugh heartily at our folly; but it does not follow that men are better THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 113 without houses. No, Sir, (holding up a slice of a good loaf,) this is better than the bread tree." Mayo. "I am of opinion, Sir, that every man is entitled to liberty of conscience in religion ; and that the magistrate cannot restrain that right." Johnson. "Sir, I agree with 5 you. Every man has a right to liberty of conscience, and with that the magistrate cannot interfere. People confound liberty of thinking with liberty of talking ; nay, with liberty of preaching. Every man has a physical right to think as he pleases ; for it cannot be discovered how he thinks. He has 10 not a moral right, for he ought to inform himself, and think justly. But, Sir, no member of a society has a right to teach any doctrine contrary to what the society holds to be true." Mayo. "Then, Sir, we are to remain always in errour, and truth never can prevail." Johnson. "Sir, the only method 15 by which religious truth can be established is by martyrdom. The magistrate has a right to enforce what he thinks; and he who is conscious of the truth has a right to suffer. I am afraid there is no other way of ascertaining the truth, but by persecution on the one hand and enduring it on the other." 20 Mayo. "But, Sir, is it not very hard that I should not be allowed to teach my children what I really believe to be the truth ? " Johnson. "Why, Sir, you might contrive to teach your children extra scandalum; but, Sir, the magistrate, if he knows it, has a right to restrain you. Suppose you teach 25 your children to be thieves?" Mayo. "This is making a joke of the subject." Johnson. "Nay, Sir, take it thus : — that you teach them the community of goods : for which there are as many plausible arguments as for most erroneous doctrines. You teach them that all things at first were in 30 common, and that no man had a right to anything but as he laid his hands upon it ; and that this still is, or ought to be, the rule amongst mankind. Here, Sir, you sap a great prin- ciple in society, — property. Or, suppose you should teach your children the notion of the Adamites, and they should run 35 naked into the streets, would not the magistrate have a right to flog 'em into their doublets? I think he may; as it is 114 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. probable that he who is chopping off his own fingers may soon proceed to chop off those of other people. If I think it right to steal Mr. Dilly's plate, I am a bad man ; but he can say nothing to me. If I make an open declaration that I think so, 5 he will keep me out of his house. If I put forth my hand, I shall be sent to Newgate. This is the gradation of thinking, preaching, and acting ; if a man thinks erroneously, he may keep his thoughts to himself, and nobody will trouble him ; if he preaches erroneous doctrine, society may expel him ; if 10 he acts in consequence of it, the law takes place, and he is hanged." Mayo. "But, Sir, ought not Christians to have liberty of conscience?" Johnson. "I have already told you so, Sir. You are coming back to where you were. Dr. Mayo, like other champions for unlimited toleration, has 15 got a set of words." During this argument, Goldsmith sat in restless agitation, from a wish to get in and shine. Finding himself excluded, he had taken his hat to go away, but remained for some time with it in his hand, like a gamester, who, at the close of a long 20 night, lingers for a little while, to see if he can have a favour- able opening to finish with success. Once when he was be- ginning to speak, he found himself overpowered by the loud voice of Johnson, who was at the opposite end of the table, and did not perceive Goldsmith's attempt. Thus disap- 25 pointed, Goldsmith in a passion threw down his hat, looking angrily at Johnson, and exclaimed in a bitter tone, " Take it" When Toplady was going to speak, Johnson uttered some sound, which led Goldsmith to think that he was beginning again, and taking the words from Toplady. "Sir, the gentle- 30 man has heard you patiently for an hour : pray allow us now to hear him." Johnson, (sternly,) "Sir, I was not interrupt- ing the gentleman. I was only giving him a signal of my attention. Sir, you are impertinent." Goldsmith made no reply, but continued in the company for some time. 35 Johnson and Air. Langton and I went together to the Club, where we found Mr. Burke, Mr. Garrick, and some other members, and amongst them our friend Goldsmith, who sat THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 115 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; I ask your pardon." Goldsmith 5 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. I observed that Goldsmith had a great deal of Gold in his 10 cabinet, but, not content with that, was always taking out his purse. Johnson. "Yes, Sir, and that so often an empty purse!" Goldsmith was still more mortified when, talking in a company with fluent vivacity, and, as he flattered himself, 15 to the admiration of all who were present, a German who sat next him, and perceived Johnson rolling himself, as if about to speak, suddenly stopped him, saying, "Stay, stay, — Toctor Shonson is going to say something." Johnson had a way of contracting the names of his friends : 20 as Beauclerk, Beau; Boswell, Bozzy; Langton, Lanky; Murphy, Mur; Sheridan, Sherry. I remember one day, when Tom Davies was telling that Dr. Johnson said, "We are all in labour for* a name to Goldy's play," Goldsmith seemed displeased that such a liberty should be taken with 25 his name, and said, "I have often desired him not to call me Goldy." Goldsmith 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 30 the Highlands and Hebrides." Nor would he patiently allow me to enlarge upon Johnson's wonderful abilities; but ex- claimed, "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." 35 Dr. Johnson was obliged, by indisposition, to leave the company early. Chambers, as is common on such occasions, 116 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. prescribed various remedies to him. Johnson, (fretted by pain,) "Pr'ythee don't tease me. Stay till I am well, and then you shall tell me how to cure myself." One of our friends, who had that day employed Mr. Chambers to draw 5 his will, devising his estate to his three sisters, in preference to a remote heir male, Johnson called them " three dowdies," 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 10 stranger have it because he marries your daughter, and takes your name. As for an estate newly acquired by trade, you may give it, if you will, to the dog Towser, and let him keep his own name." He now laughed immoderately at our friend's making his 15 will ; called him the testator, and added, ' ' I dare say he thinks he has done a mighty thing. He'll call up the landlord of the first inn on the road ; and, after a suitable preface upon mor- tality and the uncertainty of life, will tell him that he should not delay making his will ; ' and here, Sir,' will he say, ' is my 20 will, which I have just made, with the assistance of one of the ablest lawyers in the kingdom ' ; and he will read it to him (laughing all the time) . I trust you have had more conscience than to make him say, ' being of sound understanding ' ; ha, ha, ha ! I hope he has left me a legacy. I'd have his will 25 turned into verse, like a ballad." Mr. Chambers did not by any means relish this jocularity 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 wa}^ till he got without the Temple- 30 gate. He then burst into such a fit of laughter, that he ap- peared 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 35 Fleet-ditch. This most ludicrous exhibition of the awful, melancholy, and venerable Johnson, happened well to coun- teract the feelings of sadness which I used to experience THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 117 when parting with him for a considerable time. I accom- panied him to his door, where he gave me his blessing. He records of himself this year, " Between Easter and Whit- suntide, having always considered that time as propitious to study, I attempted to learn the Low Dutch language." 5 Various notes of his studies appear on different days, in his manuscript diary of this year; such as, "Inchoavi lectionem Pentateuchi — Finivi lectionem Conf. Fab. Burdonum. — Legi primum actum Troadum. — Legi Dissertationem Clerici postremam de Pent. — 2 of Clark's Sermons. — L. Appolonii 10 pugnam 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. His stay in Scotland was from the 18th of August till the 15 22d of November. He saw the four Universities of Scotland, its three principal cities, and as much of the Highland and insular life as was sufficient for his philosophical contempla- tion. I had the pleasure of accompanying him during the whole of his journey. He was respectfully entertained by the 20 great, the learned, and the elegant, wherever he went; nor was he less delighted with the hospitality which he experienced in humbler life. To Boswell. "I came home last night, without any incommodity, 25 danger, or weariness, and am ready to begin a new journey. I shall go to Oxford on Monday. I know Mrs. Boswell wished me well to go ; her wishes have not been disap- pointed. Sam. Johnson." Boswell to Dr. Johnson. 30 "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. Hamilton at Rome has painted for me. The two following have been sent to me ; 118 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. " ' Maria Scotorum Regina ° meliori seculo digna,jus regium civibus seditiosis invito resignaV " i Cives seditiosi M curiam Scotorum Reginam sese muneri abdicare invitam cogunV " 5 TO BOSWELL. "Of poor dear Dr. Goldsmith there is little to be told, more than the papers have made publick. He died of a fever, made, I am afraid, more violent by uneasiness of mind. His debts began to be heavy, and all his resources 10 were exhausted. Sir Joshua is of opinion that he owed not less than two thousand pounds. Was ever poet so trusted before ? "You may, if you please, put the inscription thus : ( Maria Scotorum Regina nata 15 — , a suis in exilium acta 15 — , ab 15 hospitd neci data 15 — .' You must find the years. Sam. Johnson." To Bennet Langton. "If you have the Latin version of Busy, curious, thirsty fly, be so kind as to transcribe and send it. I wrote the following 20 tetrastick ° on poor Goldsmith : " Toy r&(pov iicropdas rbv 'OXi/Sdooio, kovltjv * Acppocri /XT] THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 143 She tells the children, 'This is a cat, and that is a dog, with four legs and a tail ; see there ! you are much better than a cat or a dog, for you can speak/ If I had bestowed such an education on a daughter, and had discovered that she thought of marrying such a fellow, I would have sent her to the Con- 5 gress. "After having talked slightingly of musick, he was ob- served 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?' Dr. Burney upon this 10 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 15 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 vacuity.' 20 "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 and tear.'" My father, who was one of the Judges of Scotland, and had 25 added considerably to the estate of Auchinleck, now signified his inclination to secure it to his family in perpetuity by an en- tail. My father had declared a predilection for heirs general, that is, males and females indiscriminately. And in the par- ticular case of our family, I apprehended that we were under 30 an implied obligation, in honour and good faith, to transmit the estate by the same tenure which we held it, which was as heirs male, excluding nearer females. I therefore ob- jected to my father's scheme. I wrote to Dr. Johnson, stat- ing the case, with all its difficulties, earnestly requesting 35 that he would favour me with his friendly opinion and advice. 144 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. To BoSWELL. "Laws are formed by the manners and exigencies of par- ticular times, and it is but accidental that they last longer than their causes : the limitation of feudal succession to the 5 male arose from the obligation of the tenant to attend his chief in war. " Suppose at one time a law that allowed only males to in- herit, and during the continuance of this law many estates to have descended, passing by the females, to remoter heirs. 10 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 in their favour ? Must they be passed by upon moral principles for ever, because they 15 were once excluded by a legal prohibition ? " 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 20 daughters to inheritance, ask yourself, first, by what right you require them to be excluded. Sam. Johnson." I had followed his recommendation and consulted Lord Hailes. "The plea of conscience (said his Lordship,) which you put, is a most respectable one, especially when conscience 25 and self are on different sides. But I think that conscience is not well informed, and that self and she ought on this oc- casion to be of a side." To Boswell. "It cannot but occur that ' Women have natural and equi- 30 table claims as well as men, and these claims are not to be capriciously or lightly superseded or infringed/ 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, manners likewise repeal them. Sam. 35 Johnson." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 145 Having communicated to Lord Hailes what Dr. Johnson wrote concerning the question which perplexed me so much, his Lordship wrote to me: "Your scruples have produced more fruit than I ever expected from them ; an excellent dis- sertation on general principles of morals and law." 5 I found Mrs. Thrale and him at breakfast. I was kindly welcomed. In a moment he was in a full glow of conversa- tion, 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 10 affection for him. I shall ever recollect this scene with great pleasure. I exclaimed to her, "I am now intellectually Hermippus redivivus, I am quite restored by him, by trans- fusion of mind." " There are many (she replied) who ad- mire and respect Mr. Johnson ; but you and I love him." 15 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 Oxford, Birming- ham, my native city Lichfield, and my old friend, Dr. Taylor's, at Ashbourne, in Derbyshire. I shall go in a few days, and 20 you, Bosweli, shall go with me." I mentioned with much regret the extravagance of the rep- resentative 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 25 this person should die. Mrs. Thrale seemed shocked at this. Johnson. "Nay, Madam, 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 establish- 30 ment which extends upwards and downwards; that this should be destroyed by one idle fellow is a sad thing." "HI owe a particular man a sum of money, I am obliged to let that man have the next money I get ; but if I owe no man, I may dispose of what I get as I please. There is not a 35 debitum justitice to a man's next heir ; there is only a debitum caritatis. If I have a brother in want, he has a claim from 146 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. affection to my assistance; but if I have also a brother in want, whom I like better, he has a preferable claim." We got into a boat to cross over to Black-friars ; as we moved along the Thames, I talked to him of a little volume, 5 altogether unknown to him, advertised under the title of " Johnsoniana, or Bon-Mots of Dr. Johnson." Johnson. 1 ' 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 10 ascribing to you dull stupid nonsense, or making you swear profanely, as many ignorant relaters of your bon-mots do?"' 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- 15 ages would a jury give me for having been represented as swearing?" He said, "The value of every story depends on its being true. (naming a worthy friend of ours,) used to think a story, a story, till I shewed him that truth w T as essential to it. 20 "A gentlewomen (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 the watchman. I perceived that she w T as somewhat in liquor." This, if told by most people, would have been thought an 25 invention ; when told by Johnson, it was believed by his friends as much as if they had seen what passed. We landed at the Temple-stairs, where we parted. I found him in the evening in Mrs. Williams' room. " All severity that does not tend to increase good, or pre- 30 vent evil, is idle. I said to the Lady Abbess of a convent, 'Madam, 3^ou are here, not for the love of virtue, but the fear of vice/ She said, 'She should remember this as long as she lived. ' '[ One of his friends, I remember, - came to sup at a tavern 35 with him, and too plainly discovered that he had drunk too much at dinner. When one who loved mischief asked John- son, "Well, Sir, what did your friend say to you, as an apology 1 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 147 for being in such a situation?" Johnson answered, "Sir, he said all that a man should say : he said he was sorry for it." 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. Gwyn, the architect. It was very 5 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. "I think he should play once a year for the benefit of decayed actors." Johnson. "Alas, Sir! he will soon be a decayed 10 actor himself." We put up at the Angel inn, and passed the evening by ourselves in easy and familiar conversation. Talking of constitutional melancholy, he observed, "A man so afflicted, Sir, must divert distressing thoughts, and not combat with 15 them." Boswell. "May not he think them down, Sir?" Johnson. "No, Sir. To attempt to think them down is madness. He should have a lamp constantly burning in his bed chamber during the night, and if wakefully disturbed, take a book, and read, and compose himself to rest. To have 20 the management of the mind is a great art, and it may be attained in a considerable degree by experience and habitual exercise." Boswell. "Should not he provide amusements for himself? for a course of chymistry?" Johnson. "Let him take a course of chymistry or a course of rope-dancing, 25 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." Dr. Wetherell and I talked of him without reserve in his own presence. Wetherell. "I would have given him a hun-30 dred guineas if he would have written a preface to his ' Political Tracts, ' by way of a Discourse on the British Constitution." I could perceive that he was displeased with this dialogue. He burst out, "Why should I be always writing?" We then went to Pembroke College, and waited on his old 35 friend, Dr. Adams, the master of it. Johnson said, "When a man voluntarily engages in an impor- L 148 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. tant controversy, he is to do all he can to lessen his antagonist, because authority from personal respect has much weight with most people, and often more than reasoning. If my antago- nist writes bad language, though that may not be essential to 5 the question, I will attack him for his bad language." Adams. "You will not jostle a chimney-sweeper." Johnson. "Yes, Sir, if it were necessary to jostle him down." We walked with Dr. Adams into the master's garden, and into the common room. Johnson, (after a reverie of medi- 10 tation,) "Ay! Here I used to play at draughts with Phil. Jones and Fludyer. Jones loved beer, and did not get very forward in the church. Fludyer turned out a scoundrel, a Whig, and said he was ashamed of having been bred at Oxford. " Boswell. "Was he a scoundrel, Sir, in any other way than 15 that of being a political scoundrel ? Did he cheat at draughts?" Johnson. "Sir, we never played for money." We talked of biography. — Johnson. "It is rarely well executed. They only who live with a man can write his life with any genuine exactness and discrimination; and few 20 people who have lived with a man know what to remark about him." I said, Mr. Robert Dodsley's life should be written, as he had been so much connected with the wits of his time. Johnson. "Never believe extraordinary characters which 25 you hear of people. Depend upon it, Sir, they are exag- gerated. 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 per- petual." Sir Joshua Reynolds informs me, that when Mr. 30 Burke was first elected a member of Parliament, 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 John- son was ill, and unable to exert himself as much as usual with- 35 out fatigue, Mr. Burke having been mentioned, he said, "That fellow calls forth all my powers. Were I to see Burke now it would kill me." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 149 We rode through Blenheim park. I observed, "You and I, Sir, have, I think, seen together the extremes of what can be seen in Britain — the wild, rough island of Mull, and Blen- heim park." We dined at an excellent inn at Chapel-house, where he 5 expatiated on the felicity of England in its taverns and inns, and triumphed over the French for not having, in any per- fection, the tavern life. "There is no private house, (said he,) in which people can enjoy themselves so well, as at a capital tavern. Let there be ever so great plenty of good 10 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 anxiety. T^he master of the house is anxious to en- tertain his guests ; the guests are anxious to be agreeable to 15 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 20 things you call for, the welcomer 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 con- trived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as 25 by a good tavern or inn." He then repeated, with great emotion, Shenstone's lines : ° "Whoe'er has travell'd life's dull round, Where'er his stages may have been, May sigh to think he still has found 30 The warmest welcome at an inn." 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 35 coffee; and it pleased me to be with him upon the classick ground of Shakspeare's native place. 150 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. He spoke slightingly of Dyer's " Fleece." — "The subject, Sir, cannot be made poetical. How can a man write poeti- cally of serges and druggets ! " Having talked of Grainger's " Sugar-Cane/' I mentioned to him Mr. Langton's having told 5 me, that this poem, when read in manuscript at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, had made all the assembled wits burst into a laugh, when, after much blank verse pomp, the poet began a new paragraph thus : " Now, Muse, let's sing of rats." 10 And what increased the ridicule was, that one of the company, who slyly overlooked the reader, perceived that the word had been originally mice, and had been altered to rats, as more dignified. "The Sugar-Cane, a Poem," did not please him. "What 15 could he make of a sugar-cane ? One might as well write the c Parsle} T -bed, a Poem ; ' or ' The Cabbage-garden, a Poem.' " Boswell. "You must then pickle your cabbage with the sal atticum." Johnson. "You know there is already i The Hop- Garden, a Poem : ' and, I think, one could say a great deal 20 about cabbage. The poem might begin with the advantages of civilized society over a rude state, exemplified by the Scotch, who had no cabbages till Oliver Cromwell's soldiers intro- duced them ; and one might thus shew how arts are propa- gated by conquest, as they were by the Roman arms." He 25 seemed to be much diverted with the fertility 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 ? Nay, it is said we had the beaver. Or why does 30 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 ' The History of the Grey Rat, by Thomas Percy, D.D., Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty.' " 35 At Birmingham, after breakfast, we went to call on his old schoolfellow Mr. Hector. A very stupid maid, who opened THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 151 the door, told us, that, "her master was gone out ; he was gone to the country; she could not tell when he would return/' " My name is Johnson ; tell him I called. Will you remember the name?" She answered with rustick simplicity, in the Warwickshire pronunciation, "I don't understand you, Sir." 5 — " Blockhead," (said he,) and roared loud in her ear, "John- son," and then she catched the sound. 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. We all met at 10 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 family of fine children, their numbers being exactly the same. Johnson said, " Marriage is the best state 15 for a man in general ; and every man is a worse man, in pro- portion as he is unfit for the married state." Dr. Johnson said that he liked individuals among the Quakers, but not the sect. Dr. Johnson said to me, "You will see, Sir, at Mr. Hector's, his sister, Mrs. Careless, a clergy- 20 man's widow. She was the first woman with wiiom I was in love. It dropt out of my head imperceptibly ; 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. Mr. 25 Hector took me to his house, where we found Johnson sitting placidly at tea, with his first love. Johnson lamented to Mr. Hector the state of one of their schoolfellows, Mr. Charles Congrev^e: "He obtained, I believe, considerable preferment in Ireland, but now lives in 30 London, quite as a valetudinarian, afraid to go into any house but his own. He takes a short airing in his post-chaise every day. An elderly woman, whom he calls cousin, lives with him, and jogs his elbow, when his glass has stood too long empty, and encourages him in drinking, 'in which he is very 35 willing to be encouraged ; not that he gets drunk, for he is a very pious man, but he is always muddy. He confesses to 152 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 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 departure had so pleasing an effect on him, 5 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 10 to have had his affection revived. "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, 15 fifty thousand. 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 charac- ters and circumstances, without the parties having any choice in the matter." 20 When we came within the focus of the Lichfield lamps, "Now (said he,) we are getting out of a state of death." We put up at the Three Crowns, not one of the great inns, but a good old-fashioned one, the very next house to that in which Johnson was born and brought up, and which was still his 25 own property. We had a comfortable supper, and got into high spirits. I felt all my Toryism glow in this old capital of Staffordshire. I could have offered incense genio loci; and I indulged in libations of that ale which Boniface, in " The Beaux Stratagem," recommends with such an eloquent 30 jollity. Next morning he introduced me to Mrs. Lucy Porter, his stepdaughter. She was now an old maid, with much sim- plicity of manner. She had never been in London. Her brother, a Captain in the navy, had left her a fortune of ten 35 thousand pounds ; about a third of which she had laid out in building a stately house, and making a handsome garden, in an elevated situation in Lichfield. Johnson, when here by THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 153 himself , used to live at her house. She reverenced him, and he had a parental tenderness for her. We then visited Mr. Peter Garrick. "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 5 as brisk and lively. Depend upon it, Sir, vivacity is much an art, and depends greatly on habit." A heavy German baron, who had lived much with the young English at Geneva, ambitious to be as lively as they, with assiduous exertion, was jumping over the tables and chairs in his lodg- 10 ings; and when the people of the house ran in and asked, with surprize, what was the matter, he answered, " Sh? ap- prens t'etrefif." I saw here, for the first time, oat ale; and oat cakes, not hard as in Scotland, but soft like a Yorkshire cake, were 15 served at breakfast. It was pleasant to me to find, that "Oats" 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 pro- 20 portion 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 like fear, in- stead of like fair; once, pronounced woonse, instead of wunse or ivonse. Johnson himself never got entirely free of 25 those provincial accents. Garrick sometimes used to take him off, squeezing a lemon into a punch-bowl, with uncouth gesticulations, looking round the company, and calling out, "Who's for poonsh? " Very little business appeared to be going forward in Lich- 30 field. "Surely, Sir, (said I,) you are an idle set of people." "Sir, (said Johnson,) we are a city of philosophers, 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 performing 35 at Lichfield. The manager begged leave to wait on Dr. Johnson. 154 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 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 'Hob in the Well/ " If we may believe Mr. Garrick, his old master's taste in theatrical merit was by no 5 means refined; he was not an elegans jormarum spectator. Johnson said of an actor, who played Sir Harry Wildair at Lichfield, "There is a courtly vivacity about the fellow ;" when, according to Garrick's account, "he was the most vulgar ruffian that ever went upon boards." 10 We had promised Mr. Stanton to be at his theatre on Monday. Dr. Johnson jocularly proposed to 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, "Prologue, spoken before Dr. Samuel 15 Johnson, at Lichfield, 1776 ;" -would have sounded as well as, "Prologue, 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 John- son and Garrick. But I found he was averse to it. 20 We viewed the museum of Mr. Richard Green, apothecary here, who told me he was proud of being a relation of Dr. Johnson's. Johnson once said, "Sir, I should as soon have thought of building a man of war, as of collecting such a museum." 25 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. 30 Dr. Johnson went with me to the cathedral. It was grand and pleasing to contemplate this illustrious writer, now full of fame, worshipping in "the solemn temple" of his native city. I returned to tea and coffee at Mr. Peter Garrick's, and 35 then found Dr. Johnson at the Reverend Mr. Seward's, Canon Residentiary, who inhabited the Bishop's palace, in which Air. Walmsley lived, and which had been the scene of many THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 155 happy hours in Johnson's early life. I had the pleasure of seeing his celebrated daughter, Miss Anna Seward, to whom I have since been indebted for some obliging communications concerning Johnson. While we sat at breakfast, Dr. Johnson received a letter 5 by the post, which seemed to agitate him very much. When he had read it, he exclaimed, "One of the most dreadful things that has happened in my time ! " The phrase my time, like the word age, is usually understood to refer to an event of a publick or general nature. I imagined something like an assas- 10 sination of the King — like a gunpowder plot carried into exe- cution ■ — or like another fire of London. When asked, "What is it, Sir?" he answered, "Mr. Thrale has lost his only son ! This is a total extinction to their family, as much as if they were sold into captivity." I saw male succession strong in 15 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." Bos- well. "I own, Sir, I have not so much feeling for the dis-20 tress of others, as some people 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 others, as much as they do themselves. It is equally so, as if one should pretend to feel as much pain while a friend's 25 leg is cutting off, as he does. No, Sir; you have expressed the rational and just nature of sympathy. I would have gone to the extremity of the earth to have preserved this boy." Mrs. Aston, whom I had seen the preceding night, and her sister, Mrs. Gastrel, a widow lady, had each a house and 30 garden, and pleasure ground, prettily situated upon Stowhill, a gentle eminence adjoining to Lichfield. Johnson walked away to dinner there, leaving me by myself without any apology. But I was soon convinced that my friend had con- ducted the matter with perfect propriety, for I received the 35 following note in his handwriting: "Mrs. Gastrel, at the lower house on Stowhill, desires Mr. Boswell's company to 156 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. dinner at two." Mrs. GastreFs husband was the clergyman who, while he lived at Stratford-upon-Avon, where he was proprietor of Shakspeare's garden, with Gothick barbarity cut down his mulberry tree, and, as Dr. Johnson told me, did 5 it to vex his neighbours. His lady, I have reason to believe, on the same authority, participated in the guilt of what the enthusiasts of our immortal bard deem almost a species of sacrilege. After dinner Dr. Johnson wrote a letter to Mrs. Thrale, on 10 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 may think of. He has many things that he must think of." 15 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." 20 In the evening we went to the Town-hall, which was con- verted into a temporary theatre, and saw "Theodosius," with " The Stratford Jubilee. " I was happy to see Dr. Johnson sit- ting in a conspicuous part of the pit, and receiving affectionate homage from all his acquaintance. We were quite gay and 25 merry. I afterwards 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." 30 "Marriage, Sir, is much more necessary to a man than to a woman : for he is much less able to supply himself with do- mestick comforts. I often wonder wiry young women should marry, as they have so much more freedom, and so much more attention paid to them while unmarried, than when 35 married." "Never speak of a man in his own presence. It is alwaj^s indelicate, and may be offensive." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 157 " Questioning is not the mode of conversation among gentlemen. It is assuming a superiority, and it is particu- larly 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 5 recollection." "A man should be careful never to tell tales of himself 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 occasion/ ' 10 Dr. Taylor's large, roomy post-chaise, drawn by four stout, plump horses, and driven by two steady jolly postilions, conveyed us to Ashbourne ; where I found my friend's school- fellow living upon an establishment perfectly corresponding with his substantial, creditable equipage : his house, garden, 15 pleasure grounds, table, in short every thing good, and no scantiness appearing. Every man should form such a plan of living as he can execute completely. Let him not draw an out- line wider than he can fill up. Dr. Taylor had a considerable political interest in the county of Derby, which he employed 20 to support the Devonshire family; for, though the school- fellow 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 counten-25 ance, and manner, were that of a hearty English 'Squire, with the parson superinduced : 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. 30 Johnson. " There is nothing against which an old man should be so much upon his guard as putting himself to nurse." Dr. Taylor commended a physician. "I fight many battles for him, as many people in the country dislike him." John- son. "But you should consider, Sir, that by every one of 35 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 ; 158 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 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. Johnson. "Fine clothes are good only as they supply the 5 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 heedlessly said, "Would not you, Sir, be the better for velvet 10 embroidery?" Johnson. "Sir, you put an end to all ar- gument when you introduce your opponent himself. Have you no better manners? There is your want." He used the epithet scoundrel, very commonly, not quite in the sense in which it is generally understood, but as a strong 15 term of disapprobation ; as when he abruptly answered Mrs. Thrale, who had asked him how he did, "Ready to become a scoundrel, madam; with a little more spoiling you will, I think, make me a complete rascal ;" — he meant, easy to be- come a capricious and self-indulgent valetudinarian ; a char- 20 acter for which I have heard him express great disgust. Johnson. "Why, Sir, a man is very apt to complain of the ingratitude of those who h#ve risen far above him. A man when he gets into a higher sphere, into other habits of life, cannot keep up all his former connections. Then, Sir, 25 those who knew him formerly upon a level with themselves, may think that they ought still to be treated as on a level." He said, "It is commonly a weak man, who marries for love. A woman of fortune being used to the handling of money, spends it judiciously : but a woman who gets the com- 30 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, 35 than in former times, because their understandings were better cultivated. I expressed an uneasy apprehension that my wife and chil- THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 159 dren might, perhaps, be ill. "Sir, (said he,) consider how foolish you would think it in them to be apprehensive that you are ill." This sudden turn relieved me for the moment; but I afterwards perceived it to be an ingenious fallacy. We stopped at Messieurs Dillys, from whence he hurried 5 away, in a hackney coach, to Mr. Thrale's in the Borough. I 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. 10 Thrale's, he found the coach was at the door waiting to carry Mrs. and Miss Thrale, and Signor Baretti, their Italian mas- ter, to Bath. This was not showing the attention which might have been expected to the " Guide, Philosopher, and Friend" ; the Imlac who had hastened from the country to console a 15 distressed mother. I shewed him his " Translation of Lobo's Account of Abyssinia." He seemed to think it beneath him, though done at si x-and- twenty. I said, "Your style, Sir, is much improved since you translated this." He answered, with a 20 sort of triumphant smile, "Sir, I hope it is." 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, 25 Dr. BoswelFs description of him, "A robust genius, born to grapple with whole libraries." I gave him an account of a conversation which had passed between me and Captain Cook. Boswell. "One is carried away with the general grand and indistinct notion of A Yoy- 30 age round the World." Johnson. "Yes, Sir, but a man is to guard himself against taking a thing in general." When a friend mentioned to him several extraordinary facts, as communicated to him by the circumnavigators, he slily ob- served, "Sir, I never before knew how much I was respected 35 by these gentlemen ; they told me none of these things." He had been in company with Omai, a native of one of the 160 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. South Sea Islands: "Sir, he had passed his time, while in England, only in the best company ; so that all that he had acquired of our manners was genteel. Lord Mulgrave and he dined one day at Streatham ; they sat with their backs to 5 the light fronting me ; and there was so little of the savage in Omai, that I was afraid to speak to either, lest I should mistake one for the other." Boswell. "I should think that where military men were numerous, they would be less valued as not being rare." 10 Johnson. "Nay, Sir, wherever a particular character or profession is high in the estimation of a people, those who are of it will be valued above other men. We value an English- man high in this country, and yet Englishmen are not rare in it." 15 Mr. Murray praised the ancient philosophers for the can- dour and good humour with which those of different sects disputed with each other. Johnson. "Sir, they disputed with good humour, because they were not in earnest as to religion. When a man has nothing to lose, he may be in good 20 humour with his opponent, Accordingly you see in Lucian the Epicurean, who argues only negatively, keeps his temper ; the Stoick, who has something positive to preserve, grows angry. Every man who attacks my belief diminishes in some degree my confidence in it, and therefore makes me uneasy ; 25 and I am angry with him who makes me uneasy. " Murray. " But, Sir, truth will always bear an examination." Johnson. "Yes, Sir, but it is painful to be forced to defend it. Consider, Sir, how should you like, though conscious of your innocence, to be tried before a jury for a capital crime, once a week." 30 "A man, who has enough without teaching, will probably not teach ; for we would all be idle if we could. I wish there were many places of a thousand a year at Oxford, to keep first-rate men of learning from quitting the University." "Sir, it is of so much more consequence that truth 35 should be 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. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 161 But if a man could say nothing against a character but what he can prove, history could not be written." I said, it was a pity that truth was not so firm as to bid de- fiance to all attacks, so that it might be shot at as much as people chose to attempt, and yet remain unhurt. Johnson. 5 "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." 10 When I expressed an earnest wish for his remarks on Italy, he said, "I do not see that I could make a book upon Italy; yet I should be glad to get two hundred pounds, or five hun- dred pounds, by such a work. No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." 15 Johnson had seen great variety of characters ; and none could observe them better, as was evident from the strong, yet nice portraits which he often drew. If he had made out what the French call une catalogue raisonnee of all the people who had passed under his observation it w r ould have afforded 20 a very rich fund of instruction and entertainment. "The most literary conversation I ever enjoyed, was at the table of Jack Ellis, a money-scrivener ° behind the Royal Exchange." He could describe and discriminate them all with precision and vivacity. He associated w T itE persons the most widely 25 different in manners, abilities, rank and accomplishments. He was at once the companion of the brilliant Colonel For- rester of the Guards, who wrote "The Polite Philosopher," and of the awkward and uncouth Robert Levett; of Lord Thurlow, and Mr. Sastres, the Italian master ; and has dined 30 one day with the beautiful, gay, and fascinating Lady Craven, and the next with good Mrs. Gardiner, the tallow-chandler, on Snowhill. A large package was brought to him from the post-office, said to have come from Lisbon, charged seven pounds, ten 3/5 shillings. He would not receive it, supposing it to be some trick. But upon enquiry afterwards he found that it was 162 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. from a friend in the East Indies of whom he had been speaking. Johxsox. " Who is ruined b} T gaming ? You will not find six instances in an age. There is a strange rout made about 5 deep play : whereas you have many more people ruined by adventurous trade, and yet we do not hear such an outcry against it. At Oxford (he said,) he wished he had learned to play at cards." The truth, however, is, that he loved to display his ingenuity in argument; and would 10 maintain opinions which he was sensible were wrong, but in supporting which, his reasoning and wit would be most con- spicuous. He would begin thus : "Why, Sir, as to the good or evil of card-playing — " "Now, (said Garrick,) he is thinking which side he shall take." He appeared to have a 15 pleasure in' contradiction, especially when any opinion what- ever was delivered with an air of confidence. 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 to evening prayers at St. Clement's church, 20 after having drank coffee ; an indulgence, which I understood Johnson yielded to on this occasion, in compliment to Thrale. On Easter-da}^, 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 25 mild and placid in his manner upon this holy festival. A lady of my acquaintance maintained, that her husband's having been guilty of numberless infidelities, released her from conjugal obligations. Johxsox. "This is miserable stuff, Sir. To the contract of marriage, besides the man and 30 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." Mr. Macbean mentioned that he had been forty years 35 absent from Scotland. "Ah, Bo swell ! (said Johnson, smil- ing,) what would you give to be forty years from Scotland?" " The law against usury is for the protection of creditors as THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 163 well as debtors ; for if there were no such check, people w T ould be apt, from the temptation of great interest, to lend to des- perate persons, b}^ whom they would lose their money. " Mrs. Williams was very peevish ; and I wondered at John- son's patience. His humane consideration of the forlorn 5 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 some- times to incommode many of his friends, by carrying her with him to their houses, where, from her manner of eating, in 10 consequence of her blindness, she could not but offend the delicacy of persons of nice sensations. Johnson. "It is better that some should be unhappy, than that none should be happy, which would be the case in a general state of equality. " 15 " With some people, gloomy penitence is only madness turned upside down." It was now resolved 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. I shall 20 probably contrive to get to Italy some other way. But I won't mention it to Mr. and Mrs. Thrale, as it might vex them." I suggested, that going to Italy might have done Mr. and Mrs. Thrale good. Johnson. "I rather believe not, Sir. While grief is fresh, every attempt to divert only 25 irritates. You must wait till grief be digested , and then amusement will dissipate the remains of it.' 7 Johnson. " We may be excused for not caring much about other people's children. It may be observed, that men, who from being engaged in business, seldom see their children, 30 do not care much about them. I myself should not have had much fondness for a child of my own." Mrs. Thrale. "Nay, Sir, how can you talk so?" Johnson. "At least, I never wished to have a child." I like to recollect all the passages that I heard Johnson 35 repeat : it stamps a value on them. " Akenside was a superiour poet both to Gray and Mason." 164 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. Talking of the Reviews, Johnson said, "I think them very impartial : I do not know an instance of partiality." He ex- patiated a little more on them this evening. "The Monthly Re- viewers (said he,) are not Deists ; but the}^ are for pulling down 5 all establishments. The Critical Reviewers are for support- ing the constitution both in Church and state. The Critical Reviewers, I believe, often review without reading the books through ; but lay hold of a topick, and write chiefly from their own minds. The Monthly Reviewers are duller men, and 10 are glad to read the books through." Talking of "The Spectator," he said, "It is wonderful that there is such a proportion of bad papers, in the half of the work which was not written by Addison; for there was all the world to write that hah, yet not a half of that half is good. 15 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 clergyman. Mr. Murphy said, he remembered when there were several people alive in London who enjoyed 20 a considerable reputation merely from having written a paper in "The Spectator." He mentioned particularly Mr. Ince, who used to frequent Tom's coffee-house. "But (said John- son,) you must consider how highly Steele speaks of Mr. Ince." 25 Dr. Barry's notion was, that pulsation occasions death by attrition ; and that, therefore, the way to preserve life is to retard pulsation. Soon after this, Dr. Johnson said some- thing very flattering to Mrs. Thrale, wishing her long life. "Sir, (said I,) if Dr. Barry's system be true, you have now 30 shortened Mrs. Thrale's life, perhaps, some minutes, by ac- celerating her pulsation." I dined with him at General Paoli's. 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 35 low characters, exclaimed, "Comment! je ne le crois pas. Ce n'est pas Monsieur Garrick, ce Grand Homme ! " Gar- rick added, with an appearance of grave recollection, "If THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 165 I were to begin life again, I think I should not play those low characters." I observed, "Sir, your great excellence is 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, 5 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 seemed to dip deep into his mind for the reflec- 10 tion." Johnson. "He had not far to dip, Sir; he had said the same thing, probably, twenty times before." 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. The grand object of travelling is to see the 15 shores of the Mediterranean. 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 savages, has come to us from the shores of the Mediterranean." / The 20 General observed, that "The Mediterranean would be a noble subject for a poem." We talked of translation. Johnson. "You may translate books of science exactly. You may also translate history, in so far as it is not embellished with oratory, which is poetical. 25 Poetry, indeed, cannot be translated; and, therefore, it is the poets that preserve languages. As the beauties of poetry cannot be preserved in any language except that in which it was originally written, we learn the language." Johnson. "Sir, while knowledge is a distinction, those 30 who are possessed of it will naturally rise above those who are not." "Goldsmith (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." 35 "Thomson had a true poetical genius, the power of viewing every thing in a poetical light. His fault is such a cloud of words 166 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. jhiels sometimes, that the sense can hardly peep through. Shie' was one day sitting with me. I took down Thomson, and read aloud a large portion of him, and then asked, — ( Is not this fine ? ' Shiels having expressed the highest admiration, 5 ' Well, Sir, (said I,) I have omitted every other line.' " Boswell. "Does not Grays 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. 10 Sixteen-string Jack towered above the common mark." Boswell. "Then, Sir, what is poetry?" 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 tell what it is." I introduced Aristotle's doctrine in his "Art of Poetry," of 15 "the KaOapcns t&v iraOrjfjLdTuv, 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.) Johnson. "Why, Sir, the passions are the great movers of human actions ; but they are 20 mixed with such impurities, that it is necessary they should be purged or refined by means of terrour and pity. For instance, ambition is a noble passion; but by seeing upon the stage that a man who is so excessively ambitious as to raise himself by injustice is punished, we are terrified at the 25 fatal consequences of such a passion." Johnson's expression was so forcible and brilliant, that Mr. Cradock whispered me, "0 that his words were written in a book !" I observed the great defect of the tragedy of "Othello" was, that it had not a moral ; for that no man could resist the 30 circumstances of suspicion which were artfully 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 35 a very pretty trick. No, Sir, I think ' Othello ' has more moral than almost any play." Talking of a penurious gentleman Johnson said, "Sir, he THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 167 is narrow, not so much from avarice, as from impotence to spend his money. He cannot find in his heart to pour out a bottle of wine ; but he would not much care if it should sour." Mr. Murphy paid him the highest compliment ever paid to a layman, by asking his pardon for repeating some oaths in 5 the course of telling a story. Johnson and I supped this evening at the Crown and Anchor tavern, in company with Sir Joshua Reynolds. We discussed the question, whether drinking improved conversation and benevolence. Sir Joshua maintained it did. 10 "I am sure that moderate drinking makes people talk better." Johnson. " No, Sir ; wine gives not light, gay, ideal hilarity ; but tumultuous, noisy, clamorous merriment. I have heard none of those drunken, — nay, drunken is a coarse word, — none of those vinous flights." Sir Joshua. " Because you 15 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 Iago and Cassio, the most excellent 20 in its kind, when we are quite sober ? Wit is wit, by what- ever means it is produced ; I admit that the spirits are raised by drinking, as by the common participation of any pleasure : cock-fighting, or bear-baiting, will raise the spirits of a com- pany, as drinking does, though surely they will not improve 25 conversation. I also admit, that there are some sluggish men who are improved by drinking ; as there are fruits which are not good till they are rotten. There are such men, but they are medlars. There is no position, however false in its uni- versality, which is not true of some particular man." Sir 30 William Forbes 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. Sir, I do not say it is wrong to produce self-complacency by drinking ; I only 35 deny that it improves the mind." He said, that for general improvement, a man should read 168 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 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. "What we read with inclination makes a much stronger impression. If we read without in- 5 duration, half the mind is employed in fixing the attention." He read Fielding's "Amelia" through, without stopping. "If a man begins to read in the middle of a book, and feels an inclination to go on, let him not quit it, to go to the be- ginning. He may perhaps not feel again the inclination." 10 I went to Bath; and on my arrival at the Pelican inn, found lying for me an obliging invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Thrale. They were gone to the rooms : but there was a kind note from Dr. Johnson, that he should sit at home all the evening. Before Mr. and Mrs. Thrale returned, we had by 15 ourselves some hours of tea-drinking and talk. Johnson. "They who allow their passions to confound the distinctions between right and wrong are criminal." A certain female political writer, whose doctrines he dis- liked, had of late become very fond of dress. Johnson. " 20 is better she should be reddening her own cheeks, than blac ening other people's characters." He told us that "Addison wrote BudgelTs papers in the Spe tator, at least mended them so much, that he made them a most his own; and that Draper, TonsoiTs partner, assure 25 Mrs. Johnson, that the much admired Epilogue to ' The Di tressed Mother/ which came out in BudgelTs name, we in reality written by Addison." Of the father of one of our friends, he observed, "He neve clarified his notions, by filtrating them through other minde 30 He had a canal upon his estate, where at one place the ban, was too low. — 'I dug the canal deeper/ said he." A literary lady of large fortune did good to many, evidently from vanity. Johnson. "I have seen no beings who do si much good from benevolence, as she does from whatever 35 motive." Even Mrs. Thrale did not escape his friendly animadversion. When he and I were one day endeavouring to ascertain, ar- THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 169 tide 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 expence of clothing his children, describing it in a very ludicrous and fanciful manner. Johnson looked a little angry, and said, "Nay, Madam, when 5 you are declaiming, declaim ; and when you are calculating, calculate. " At another time, when she said, perhaps af- fectedly, "I don't like to fly." Johnson. "With your wings, Madam, you must fly : but have a care, there are clippers abroad." 10 A gentleman expressed a wish to go and live three years at Otaheite, or New Zealand, in order to be satisfied what pure nature can do for man. Johnson. "What could you learn, Sir? Of the past, or the invisible, they can tell nothing. What account of their religion can you suppose to be learnt 15 from savages ? Only consider, Sir, our own state : our re- ligion is in a book ; we have an order of men whose duty it is to teach it, we have one day in the week set apart for it. Yet ask the first ten gross men you meet, and hear what they can tell of their religion." 20 He and I made an excursion to Bristol, where I was enter- tained with seeing him enquire upon the spot, into the au- thenticity of "Rowley's Poetry," as I had seen him enquire upon the spot into the authenticity of " Ossian's Poetry." George Cat cot, the pewter er, who was as zealous for Rowley, 25 as Dr. Hugh Blair was for Ossian, 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, moving himself like a pendulum, and beating time with his 30 feet, and now and then looking into Dr. Johnson's face, won- dering that he was not yet convinced. We saw some of the originals as they were called, which were executed very artificially. Honest Catcot seemed to pay no attention whatever to any objections, but insisted, as an end of all 35 controversy, that we should go with him to the tower of the church of St. Mary, Redcliff, and view with our own eyes the 170 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. ancient chest in which the manuscripts were found. Dr. Johnson good-naturedly agreed ; and though troubled with a shortness of breathing, laboured up a long flight of steps. " There, (said Catcot, with a bouncing confident credulity,) 5 there is the very chest itself." After this ocular demonstra- tion, there was no more to be said. Johnson said of Chat- terton, "It is wonderful how the whelp has written such things." We were by no means pleased with our inn at Bristol. 10 Johnson w r as ready with his raillery. "Why, it was so bad, that Boswell wished to be in Scotland ! " Johnson. "Where there is no education, as in savage countries, men will have the upper hand of women. Bodily strength, no doubt, contributes to this ; but it w^ould be so, IS exclusive of that ; for it is mind that always governs. When it comes to dry understanding, man has the better." "There is much talk of the misery which we cause to the brute creation; but they are recompensed by existence." Boswell. "But the question is, whether the animals who 20 endure such sufferings of various kinds, for the service and entertainment of man, would accept of existence, upon the terms on which they have it. Madame de Sevigne complains of the task of existence having been imposed upon her without her consent." 25 Johnson. "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 are nominally entrusted with the admin- 30 istration of hospitals and other publick institutions, almost all the good is done by one, 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 immorality, and it 35 should be put in the hands of every young gentleman. An elegant manner and easiness of behaviour are acquired gradu- ally and imperceptibly. Xo man can say, Til be genteel/ THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 171 There are ten genteel women for one genteel man, because they are more restrained. A man without some degree of restraint is insufferable ; but we are all less restrained than women. Were a woman sitting in compan}^ to put out her legs before her as most men do, we should be tempted to kick 5 them in. Every man of any education would rather be called a rascal, than accused of deficiency in the graces." Mr. Gibbon turned to a lady, and in his quaint manner, tapping his box, " Don't you think, Madam, (looking towards Johnson,) that among all your acquaintance you could find 10 one exception?" Johnson. "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 ought to consider, that superiour attention 15 will necessarily be paid to superiour fortune or rank." Of his notes on Shakspeare, he said, "I despise those who do not see that I am right in the passage ' asses of great charge/ ° That on 'To be, or not to be/ is disputable." "Many things false are transmitted from book to book, and 20 gain credit in the world. One is the cry against luxury. A man gives half a guinea for a dish of green peas. How much gardening does this occasion? You will hear it said, very gravely, 'Why was not the half guinea, thus spent in luxury, given to the poor ' ? Alas ! has it not gone to the industrious 25 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." Johnson observed, "Oglethorpe, Sir, never completes what 30 he has to say." He made a similar remark on Lord Elibank : "Sir, there is nothing conclusive in his talk." When I complained of having dined at a splendid table without hearing one sentence of conversation worthy of being 35 remembered, he said, "Sir, there seldom is any such con- versation.' ' Boswell. ' ' Why then meet at table ? ' ' John- 172 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. son. "Why to eat and drink together, and to promote kindness ; and, Sir, this is better done when there is no solid conversation : for when there is, people differ in opinion, and get into bad humour, or some of the company who are not capable 5 of such conversation, are left out, and feel themselves uneasy." Being irritated by hearing a gentleman ask Mr. Levett 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." 10 I solicited his attention to a law case in which I was en- gaged. The "Liberty of the pulpit " was our great ground of defence. Johnson. " The right of censure and rebuke seems necessarily appendant to the pastoral office. He, to whom the care of a congregation is entrusted, is considered as the 15 shepherd of a flock, as the teacher of a school, as the father of a family. As 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. As a teacher giving in- struction for wages, if those whom he undertakes to inform 20 make no proficiency, he must have the power of enforcing attendance, of awakening negligence^ and repressing contra- diction. As a father, he possesses the paternal authority of admonition, rebuke, and punishment. If we enquire into the practice of the primitive church, we shall, I believe, find 25 the ministers of the word exercising the whole authority of this complicated character. It therefore appears from ecclesiastical history, that the right of inflicting shame by public censure has been always considered as inherent in the Church. By the civil power it was never taken away. 30 It is not improbable that from this acknowledged power of publick censure, grew in time the practice of auricular con- fession." When I read this to Mr. Burke, he exclaimed, "Well ; he does his work in a workman-like manner." 35 I conceived an irresistible wish to bring Dr. Johnson and Mr. Wilkes together. How to manage it, was a nice and difficult matter. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 173 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. "Pray, (said I,) 5 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 negotiate for you, I will be answerable that all shall go well." 10 Dr. Johnson was sometimes actuated by the spirit of con- tradiction, and by means of that I hoped I should gain my point. 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 passion, and would probably have answered, 15 "Dine with Jack Wilkes, Sir! I'd as soon dine with Jack Ketch." I therefore, while we were sitting quietly by our- selves at his house in an evening, took occasion to open my plan thus: — "Mr. Dilly, Sir, sends his respectful compli- ments to you, and would be happy if you would do him the 20 honour to dine with him on Wednesday next along with me, as I must soon go to Scotland." Johnson. "Sir, I am obliged to Mr. Dilly. I will wait upon him — " Boswell. "Provided, Sir, I suppose, that the company which he is to have, is agreeable to you." Johnson. "What do you mean, 25 Sir? What do you take me for? Do you think I am so ignorant* of the world, as to imagine that I am to prescribe to a gentleman what company he is to have at his table?" Boswell. "I beg your pardon, Sir, for wishing to prevent you from meeting people whom you might not like. Perhaps 30 he may have some of what he calls his patriotick friends with him." Johnson. "Well, Sir, and what then? Wliat care I lor his patriotick friends? Poh!" Boswell. "I should not be surprized to find Jack Wilkes there." Johnson. "And if Jack Wilkes should be there, what is that to me, Sir? 35 My dear friend, let us have no more of this. I am sorry to be angry with you ; but really it is treating me strangely to 174 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. talk to me as if I could not meet an} 7 company whatever, occasionally." Thus I secured him. Upon the much expected Wednesday, I called on him about half an hour before dinner, as I often did when we were, to 5 dine out together, to see that he was ready in time, and to accompany him. I found him buffeting his books, covered 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 Air. Dilly's ? " Johnson. "Sir, I did not think 10 of going to Dilly's : it went out of my head. I have ordered dinner at home with Mrs. Williams. You must talk to Mrs. Williams about this." Here was a sad dilemma. If she should be obstinate, he would not stir. I hastened down stairs to the blind lady's 15 room, and told her I was in great uneasiness, for Dr. Johnson had engaged to dine at Air. Dilly's, but that he had told me he had forgotten his engagement, and had ordered dinner at home. "Yes, Sir, (said she, pretty peevishly,) Dr. Johnson is to dine at home." — "Madam, (said I,) his respect for 20 you is such, that I know he will not leave you, unless you ab- solutely desire it. But as you have so much of his company, I hope you will be good enough to forego it for a day : as Air. Dilly is a very worthy man, has frequently had agreeable parties at his house for Dr. Johnson, and will be vexed if the 25 Doctor neglects Mm to-day. And then, Madam, be pleased to consider my situation; I carried the message, and I as- sured Air. Dilly that Dr. Johnson was to come ; and no doubt he has made a dinner, and invited a company, and boasted of the honour he expected to have. I shall be quite disgraced 30 if the Doctor is not there." She gradually softened to my solicitations, and was graciously pleased to empower me to tell Dr. Johnson, "That all things considered, she thought he should certainly go." I flew back to him, still in dust, and "indifferent in his choice to go or stay ;" but as soon as I had 35 announced Airs. Williams's consent, he roared, "Frank, a clean shirt," and was very soon drest. When I had him fairfy seated in a hackney-coach with me, I exulted as much as a THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 175 fortune hunter who has got an heiress into a post-chaise with him to set out for Gretna-Green. When we entered Mr. Dilly's drawing-room, he found himself in the midst of a company he did not know. I kept myself snug and silent, watching how he would conduct 5 himself. I 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 10 American. He was afterwards minister from the United States at the court of Madrid. "And who is the gentleman in lace?" — "Mr. Wilkes, Sir." This information con- founded him still more : he had some difficulty to restrain himself, and taking up a book, sat down upon a window-seat 15 and read, or at least kept his eye upon it intently for some time, till he composed himself. His feelings, I dare say, were awkward enough. But he no doubt recollected his hav- ing rated me for supposing that he could be at all disconcerted by any company, and he, therefore, resolutely set himself 20 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. Mr. Wilkes placed himself next to Dr. Johnson, 25 and behaved to him with so much attention and politeness, that he gained upon him insensibly. 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 30 — 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 zest." — "Sir, Sir, I am obliged to you, Sir," cried Johnson, 35 bowing and turning his head to him with a look for some time of "surly virtue," but, in a short while, of complacency. 176 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. Foote being mentioned, Johnson said, "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 5 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. The first time I was in company with Foote, I was resolved not to be pleased ; and it is very difficult to please 10 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 myself back upon my chair, and fairly laugh it out. No, Sir, he was irresistible. He upon one occasion 15 experienced, in an extraordinary degree, the efficacy of his powers of entertaining. Amongst the many and various modes which he tried of getting money, he became a partner with a small-beer brewer. Fitzherbert took his small-beer; but it was so bad that the servants resolved not to drink it. 20 They fixed upon a little black boy, to deliver their remonstrance. He was to inform Mr. Fitzherbert, in all their names, upon a certain day, that they would drink Foote'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 Foote's 25 stories, and merriment, and grimace, that when he went down stairs, he told them, 'This is the finest man I have ever seen. I will not deliver your message. I will drink his small-beer.' " Somebody observed that Garrick could not have done this. Wilkes. " Garrick would have made the small-beer still 30 smaller. He is now leaving the stage ; but he will play Scrub all his life." Johnson would let nobody attack Garrick but himself, so to bring out his commendation I said, loudly, "I have heard Garrick is liberal." Johnson. "Yes, Sir, I know that Garrick has given away more money than any 35 man in England that I am acquainted with, and that not from ostentatious views." Talking of the great difficulty of obtaining authentick infor- THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. Ill mation for biography, Johnson told us, "When I was a young fellow I wanted to write the 'Life of Dry den/ and in order to get materials, I applied to the only two persons then alive who had seen him; these were old Swinney, and old Gibber. Swinney's information was no more than this, 'That at Will's 5 coffee-house Dryden had a particular chair for 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 10 old man, arbiter of critical disputes at Will's/ Cibber had perhaps one leg only in the room, and durst not draw in the other." Dr. Johnson and Mr. Wilkes talked of the contested passage in Horace's Art of Poetry, " Difficile est proprie communia di- 15 cere." Johnson. "He means that it is difficult to appro- priate to particular persons qualities which are common to all mankind, as Homer has done." Wilkes. "We have no City-Poet now. The last was Elkanah Settle. Elkanah Settle sounds so queer, who can 20 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." Some Scotch had taken possession of a barren part of America. Johnson. "Why, Sir, all barrenness is comparative. 25 The Scotch would not know it to be barren." Boswell. " Come, come, he is nattering 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 sufficient strength to run 30 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 between them. They amused themselves with persevering 35 in the old jokes. I claimed a superiority for Scotland over England in one respect, that a seizure of the person, before 178 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. judgement is obtained, can take place only if his creditor should swear that he is about to fry from the country. Wilkes. "That, I should think, may be safely sworn of all the Scotch nation." Johnson. (To Mr. Wilkes.) "You must know, 5 Sir, I lately took my friend Boswell, and shewed him genuine civilized life in an English 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 10 is with grave, sober, decent people, like you and me." John- son. (Smiling) "And we ashamed of him." They were quite frank and easy. Johnson told the story of his asking Mrs. Macaulay to allow her footman to sit down with them, to prove the ridiculousness of the arguments for 15 the equality of mankind, and he said to me afterwards, with a nod of satisfaction, "You saw Mr. Wilkes acquiesced." 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 20 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." Mr. Burke gave me much credit for this successful negotia- tion; and pleasantly said, "that there was nothing equal to it 25 in the whole history of the Corps Diplomatique." I attended Dr. Johnson home, and had the satisfaction to hear him tell Mrs. Williams how much he had been pleased with Mr. Wilkes, and what an agreeable day he had passed. I talked of the celebrated Margaret Caroline Rudd, whom 30 I had visited, induced by the fame of her talents, address, and irresistible power of fascination. To a lady who dis- approved of my visiting her, he said on a former occasion, "Nay, Madam, Boswell is in the right ; I should have visited her myself, were it not that they have now a trick of putting 35 every thing into the news-papers. I envy him his acquaint- ance with Mrs. Rudd." ° I mentioned a scheme which I had of making a tour to the LL.D. 179 Isle of Man, and giving a full account of it ; and that Mr. Burke had playfully suggested as a motto, " The proper study of mankind is Man." Johnson. "Sir, you will get more by the book than the jaunt will cost you ; so you will have your diversion for noth- 5 ing, and add to your reputation." I 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 10 of the rough and passionate and harsh manners of this great and good man. I admit that the beadle within him was often so eager to apply the lash, that the Judge had not time to consider the case with sufficient deliberation. To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 15 " I 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. Sam. Johnson." 20 "Olivarii Goldsmith, Poetse, Physici, Historici, Qui nullum fere scribendi genus Non tetigit, Nullum quod tetigit non ornavit : 25 Sive risus essent movendi, Sive lacrymse, Affectuum potens at lenis dominator : Ingenio sublimis, vividus, versatilis, Oratione grandis, nitidus, venustus : 30 Hoc monumento memoriam coluit Sodalium amor Amicorum fides, Lectorum veneratio. 180 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. Natus in Hibernia Fornix Longfordiensis, In loco cui nomen Pallas, Nov. xxix. mdccxxxi; Eblanse Uteris institutus; 5 Obiit Londini, April. iv ; mdcclxxiv." Sir William Forbes writes to me thus : "I enclose the Round Robin. This jeu d' esprit took its rise one day at dinner at our friend Sir Joshua Reynolds's. The Epitaph became the 10 subject of conversation, and various emendations were sug- gested. But the question was, who should have the courage to propose them to him ? At last it was hinted, that there could be no way so good as that of a Round Robin, as the sailors call it, which they make use of when they enter into 15 a conspiracy, so as not to let it be known who puts his name first or last to the paper. Mr. Burke then proposed the address as it stands in the paper in writing, to which I had the honour to officiate as clerk. Sir Joshua agreed to carry it to Dr. Johnson, who received it with much good humour, and 20 desired Sir Joshua to tell the gentlemen, that he would alter the Epitaph in any manner they pleased, as to the sense of it ; but he would never consent to disgrace the walls of West- minster Abbey with an English inscription. Dr. Johnson to Mrs. Boswell. 25 " Madam, "You will now have Mr. Boswell home; it is well that you have him ; he has led a wild life. I have taken him to Lichfield, and he has followed Mr. Thrale to Bath. Pray take care of him, and tame him. The only thing in which I have 30 the honour to agree with you is, in loving him : and while we are so much of mind in a matter of so much importance, our other quarrels will, I hope, produce no great bitterness. I am, Madam, "Your most humble servant, 35 "Sam. Johnson." "May 16, 1776." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 181 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 resolu- 5 tions 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, God, 10 have mercy upon me; years and infirmities oppress me, terrour and anxiety beset me. Have mercy upon me, my Creator and my Judge." While he was at church, the agreeable impressions upon his mind are thus commemorated: "I was for some time dis- 15 tressed, 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 increased; and I wrote with my pencil in my Common Prayer Book, 20 " Vita ordinanda. Biblia legenda. Theologice opera danda. Serviendum et Iwtandum" To BOSWELL. 25 "I have been much pleased with your late letter, and am glad that my old enemy, Mrs. Boswell, begins to feel some remorse. As to Miss Veronica's Scotch, I think it cannot be helped. Her dialect will not be gross. Her mamma has not much Scotch, and you have yourself very little. I hope she 30 knows my name, and does not call me Johnston. "It is proposed to augment our club° from twenty to thirty, of which I am glad ; for as we have several in it whom I do not much like to consort with, I am for reducing it to a mere miscellaneous collection of conspicuous men, without 35 any determinate character. . . . 182 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. "Tell Mrs. Boswell that I shall taste her marmalade cau- tiously at first. Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. Beware, says the Italian proverb, of a reconciled enemy. She is, after all, a dear, dear lady. 5 "I am engaged to write little Lives, and little Prefaces, to a little edition of the English Poets. I think I have persuaded the booksellers to insert something of Thomson. Sam. Johnson." He has a memorandum in this year, 1777 " 29 May, Easter- 10 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. 15 The Tragedy of "Sir Thomas Overbury," written by his early companion in London, Richard Savage, was brought out with alterations at Covent Garden. The Prologue to it was written by Mr. Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The con- cluding lines of this Prologue were these : 20 "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." To Boswell. 25 "Poor Dodd° was put to death yesterday, in opposition to the recommendation of the jury, — the petition of the city of London, — and a 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. 30 " The saying that was given me in the papers I never spoke ; but I wrote many of his .petitions, and letters. He applied to me very often. He was, I am afraid, long flattered with hopes of life ; but I had no part in the dreadful delusion. "Your notion of the necessity of an yearly interview is 35 very pleasing to both my vanity and tenderness. I shall THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 183 perhaps, come to Carlisle another year; but my money has not held out so well as it used to do. I shall go to Ashbourne, and I purpose to make Dr. Taylor invite you. "Mrs. Williams is in the country, to try if she can improve her health ; she is very ill. Matters have come so about that 5 she is in the country with very good accommodation ; but age, and sickness, and pride, have made her so peevish that I was forced to bribe the maid to stay with her, by a secret stipula- tion of half a crown a week over wages. "On Saturday I wrote a very short letter, immediately 10 upon my arrival hither, to shew you that I 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. If you and I live to be 15 much older, we shall take great delight in talking over the Hebridean Journey. "In the mean time it may not be amiss to contrive some other little adventure, but what it can be I know not ; leave it, as Sidney says, 20 1 To virtue, fortune, time, and woman's breast ' ; for I believe Mrs. Boswell must have some part in the consul- tation. Sam. Johnson." There had been an earthquake. Johnson. "Sir, it will be much exaggerated in public talk : for, in the first place, the 25 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, 30 they say it rocks like a cradle; and in this way they go on." Johnson. "All grief, for what cannot in the course of nature be helped, soon wears away ; unless where there is mad- ness. If, indeed, the cause of our grief is occasioned by our own misconduct, if grief is mingled with remorse of conscience, 35 184 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. it should be lasting." 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 5 better, but because we suppose, that if he forgets his wife or his friend soon, he has not had much affection for them." He was to furnish a Preface and Life to any poet the book- sellers pleased. I asked him if he would do this to any dunce's works, if they should ask him. Johnson. "Yes, 10 Sir, and say he was a dunce." Johnson told me, that "Taylor was a very sensible, acute man, and had a strong mind : and yet such a sort of indolence, that if you should put a pebble upon his chimney-piece, you would find it there, in the same state, a year afterwards." 15 Dr. William Dodd, chaplain in ordinary to his Majesty; celebrated as a very popular preacher, an encourager of char- itable institutions, having unhappily contracted expensive habits of living, he in an evil hour, when pressed by want of money, and dreading an exposure of his circumstances, forged 20 a bond, flattering himself with hopes that he might be able to repa} r its amount without being detected. The person whose name he thus rashly and criminally presumed to falsify, was the Earl of Chesterfield, to whom he had been tutor, and who, he perhaps, in the warmth of his feelings, flattered himself 25 would have generously paid the money, rather than suffer him to fall a victim to the dreadful consequences of violating the law against forgery. His noble pupil appeared against him, and he was capitally convicted. In his distress he be- thought himself of Johnson's persuasive power of writing, if 30 haply it might avail to obtain for him the Royal Mercy. Johnson gave us this evening, in his happy discriminative manner, a portrait of the late Mr. Fitzherbert of Derbyshire. "There was (said he,) no sparkle, no brilliancy in Fitzherbert ; but I never knew a man who was so generally acceptable. He 35 made every body quite easy, overpowered nobody by the superiority of his talents, made no man think worse of himself by being his rival, seemed always to listen, did not oblige you THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 185 to hear much from him,- and did not oppose what you said. 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 5 a post-chaise and go to him?' This finished the affected man. "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." 10 Taylor thus described his old school-fellow and friend, John- son : " He is a man of a very clear head, great power of words, and a very gay imagination ; but there is no disputing with him. He will not hear you, and having a louder voice than you, must roar you down." 15 I tried to get Dr. Johnson to like the Poems of Mr. Hamil- ton. He laughed at the rhyme, in Scotch pronunciation, wishes and blushes, reading wushes. When I urged that there were some good poetical passages in the book, "Where (said he,) will you find so large a collection without some ?" 20 The Reverend Mr. Seward of Lichfield 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 valetudinarian, one of those who are always mending them- 25 selves. 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 freedoms : Sir, he brings himself to the state of a hog in a stye." Talking of biography, I said a man's peculiarities should be 30 mentioned, because they mark hi's character. Johnson. " Sir, there is no doubt as to the 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 more easily indulge 35 in drinking from knowing this ; so that more ill may be done by the example, than good by telling the whole truth." Here 186 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 maintained, that "If a man is to write A Panegyrick, he may 5 keep vices out of sight : but if he professes to write A Life, he must represent it really as it was;" and when I objected to the danger of telling that Parnell drank to excess, he said, that "it would produce an instructive caution to avoid drink- ing, when it was seen, that even the learning and genius of 10 Parnell could be debased by it." And in the Hebrides he maintained, as appears from my "Journal," that a man's intimate friend should mention his faults, if he writes his life. He had a violent argument with Dr. Taylor, as to the in- clinations of the people of England at this time towards the 15 Royal Family of Stuart. " 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. 20 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. "Very well, (said I,) for it is Dr. Johnson's birth-day." When we were in the Isle of Sky, 25 Johnson had desired me not to mention his birth-day. He did not seem pleased at this time that I mentioned it, and said (somewhat sternly,) "he would not have the lustre lighted the next day." Some ladies, who had been present yesterday when I men- 30 tioned his birth-day, came to dinner to-day, and plagued him unintentionallly, by wishing him joy. "Thomas Warton 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. For example ; he'd write 35 thus : 1 Hermit hoar, in solemn cell, Wearing out life's evening gray.' THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 187 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, 5 What is bliss ? and which the way ? ' " Boswell. "But why smite his bosom, Sir?" Johnson. "Why to shew he was in earnest " (smiling). — He at an after period added the following stanza : " Thus I spoke ; and speaking sigh'd ; , 10 — Scarce repress' d the starting tear ; — When the smiling sage reply' d — Come, my lad, and drink some beer." 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 Keddles- 15 ton, the seat of Lord Scarsdale. I was struck with the mag- nificence of the building ; and the extensive park. " One should think (said I,) that the proprietor of all this must be happy." — "Nay, Sir, (said Johnson,) all this excludes but one evil — poverty." 20 A well-drest elderly housekeeper shewed us the house. Dr. Johnson had lately attacked it violently, 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 25 above for prisoners." Dr. Taylor put him in mind of his ap- pearing 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. Xo man will be so ill bred as to question you. You may there- 30 fore pay compliments without saying what is not true. I should say to Lord Scarsdale of his large room, 'My Lord, this is the most costly room that I ever saw;' which is true." I was much struck with Daniel interpreting Nebuchad- nezzar's dream, by Rembrandt. — We were shown a pretty 35 large library. In his Lordship's dressing-room lay Johnson's 188 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. small Dictionary : he shewed it to me, with some eagerness, saying, "Look'ye! Quce regio in terris nostri non plena laboris." He observed, also, Goldsmith's " Animated Nature ; " and said, " Here's our friend ! The poor Doctor would have 5 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 duties, and no reference to futurity, I would spend my life in driving briskly in a post-chaise w T ith a pretty woman ; but she should be one 10 who could understand me, and would add something to the conversation." I observed, that we were this day to stop just where the Highland army did in 1745. Johnson. "It was a noble attempt." Boswell. "I wish we could have an authen- tick history of it." Johnson. "If you were not an idle dog 15 you might write it, by collecting from every body what they can tell, and putting down your authorities." At Derby, Dr. Butter accompanied us to see the manufac- tory of china there. The china was beautiful, but Dr. John- son justly observed it was too dear ; for that he could have 20 vessels of silver, of the same size, as cheap as wmat were here made of porcelain. 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 25 not possible, till he specified so many of the varieties in shav- ing ; — holding the razor more or less perpendicular ; — draw- ing long or short strokes ; — beginning at the upper part of the face, or the under — at the right side or the left side. Johnson, speaking of Dodd. "Depend upon it, Sir, when 30 a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully. ? " I ventured to mention a person who was as violent a Scotch- man as he was an Englishman. He would say of Dr. Johnson, "Damned rascal! to talk as he does of the Scotch." This 35 seemed, for a moment, "to give him pause." He was much diverted with an article in the " Critical Re- view," giving an account of "A spiritual Diary and Solilo- THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 189 quies, by John Rutty, M.D.," one of the people called Quakers. The following specimens were extracted by the Reviewers : " Tenth month, 1753. "23. Indulgence in bed an hour too long. "Twelfth month, 17. An hypochondriack obnubilation 5 from wind and indigestion. "Ninth month, 28. An over-dose of whisky. "29. A dull, cross, cholerick day. "First month, 1757 — 22. A little swinish at dinner and repast. 10 "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. 15 "Third month, 11. On a provocation, exercised a dumb resentment for two days, instead of scolding. "22. Scolding too vehemently. "23. Dogged again. * "Fourth month, 29. Mechanically and sinfully dogged." 20 Johnson laughed heartily at this good Quietist's serf-con- demning minutes. Dr. Hugh Blair had animadverted on the Johnsonian style as too pompous ; and attempted to imitate it, by giving a sentence of Addison in "The Spectator," No. 411, in the 25 manner of Johnson. "Their very first step out of business is into vice or folly;" 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 30 I should have used. No, Sir ; the imitators of my style have not hit it. Miss Aikin has done it the best ; for she has imi- tated the sentiment as well as the diction." InBaretti's " Frusta Letteraria," it is observed, that Dr. Robertson, the historian, had formed his style upon that of 35 "II celebre Samuele Johnson" My friend himself was of that opinion. "Sir, if Robertson's style be faulty, he owes it 190 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. to me; that is, having too many words, and those too big ones." Lord Monboddo had written to me some critical remarks upon the style of his " Journey to the Western Islands of 5 Scotland." His Lordship praised the very fine passage upon landing at Icolmkill : ° but disapproved of the richness of John- son'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 w T ords too big 10 for the thoughts, could be pointed out ; but this I do not be- lieve can be done." Johnson. " Employment, Sir, and hardships, prevent melancholy. I suppose in all our army in America, there was not one man who went mad." 15 Johnson. ' l Why, Sir, I never knew any one who had such a gust for London as you have : and I cannot blame you for your wish to live there: yet, Sir, were I in your father's place, I should not consent to your settling there ; for I have the old feudal notions, and I should be afraid that Auchinleck 20 would be deserted, as you w T ould soon find it more desirable to have a country-seat in a better climate. I own, however, that to consider it as a duty to reside on a family estate is a prejudice. The Laird of Auchinleck now is not near so great a man as the Laird of Auchinleck was a hundred years ago." 2b I told him, that one of my ancestors never went from home without being attended by thirty men on horseback. John- son's shrewdness and spirit of enquiry w T as exerted upon every occasion. "Pray (said he,) how did } 7 'our ancestor support his thirty men and thirty horses when he went at a distance 30 from home, in an age when there was hardly any money in circulation ? " I suggested the same difficulty to a friend who mentioned Douglas's going to the Holy Land with a numerous train of followers. Johnson. "Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, 35 who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life ; for there is in London all that life can afford." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 191 He said, a country gentleman should bring his lady to visit London as soon as he can, that they may have agreeable topicks for conversation when they are by themselves. I mentioned to him a saying which somebody had related of an American savage, who, when an European was expatiat- 5 ing on all the advantages of money, put this question : "Will it purchase occupation f " Johnson. "Depend upon it, Sir, this saying is too refined for a savage. And, Sir, money will purchase occupation ; it will purchase all the conveniences of life ; it will purchase variety of company ; it will purchase 10 all sorts of entertainment." Johnson and Taylor were so different from each other, that I wondered at their preserving an intimacy. Their having been at school and college together, might, in some de- gree, account for this ; but Sir Joshua Reynolds has furnished 15 me with a stronger reason; for Johnson mentioned to him, that he had been told by Taylor he was to be his heir. He now, however, said to me, "Sir, I love him ; but I do not love him more ; my regard for him does not increase. As it is said in the Apocrypha, 'his talk is of bullocks.' ° I do not suppose 20 he is very fond of my company. His habits are by no means sufficiently clerical : this he knows that. I see ; and no man likes to live under the eye of perpetual disapprobation." I have no doubt that a good many sermons were composed for Taylor by Johnson. I found, upon his table, a part of 25 one : and Concio pro Tayloro appears in one of his diaries. Johnson. "Getting money is not all a man's business: to cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of fife." I found from experience, that to collect my friend's conver- sation so as to exhibit it with any degree of its original flavour, 30 it was necessary to write it down without delay. To record his sayings, after some distance of 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. 35 Johnson. "Colley Cibber once consulted me as to one of his birth-day Odes, a long time before it was wanted. I ob- < 192 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. jected very freely to several passages. Gibber lost patience, and would not read his Ode to an end. When we had done with criticism, we walked over to Richardson's, the authour of 'Clarissa/ and I wondered to find Richardson displeased 5 that I 'did not treat Gibber with more respect.' Now, Sir, to talk of respect for a player!" (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 ballad-singer? a 10 fellow who claps a hump on his back, and a lump on his leg, and cries, 'I am Richard the Third'? Nay, Sir, a ballad- singer is a higher man ; there is both recitation and musick in his performance : the player only recites." Boswell. "Who can repeat Hamlet's soliloquy, 'To be, or not to be,' as Garrick 15 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." Boswell. " Garrick has got a hundred thousand pounds." Johnson. "Is getting a hundred thou- sand pounds a proof of excellence ? That has been done by 20 a scoundrel commissary." This was most fallacious reason- ing. I was sure, for once, that I had the best side of the argument. I unguardedly said, "I wish I saw you and Mrs. Macaulay together." He grew very angry; and, after a pause, while a 25 cloud gathered on his brow, he burst out, "No, Sir; you would not see us quarrel, to make you sport. Don't you know that it is very uncivil to pit two people against one another?" Then, checking himself, and wishing to be more gentle, he added, "I do not say you should be hanged or 30 drowned for this ; but it is very uncivil. 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 dis- pute with somebody that he may hear it. Whatever the motive be, Sir, the man who does so, does very wrong. He 35 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." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 193 He found great fault with a gentleman 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 5 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, without trouble or preparation." Mr. Burke's " Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol, on the affairs of America," being mentioned, Johnson ridiculed the defini- 10 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 I please." And when Dr. Taylor talked of a girl being sent to a parish workhouse, and asked how much 15 she could be obliged to work, "Why, (said Johnson,) as much as is reasonable : and what is that ? as much as she thinks reasonable." He repeated his observation, that the differences among Christians are really of no consequence. I said, the great 20 article of Christianity is the revelation of immortality. Johnson admitted it was. A gentleman-farmer attempted to dispute with Johnson in favour of Mungo Campbell, who shot Alexander, Earl of Eglintoune, who he believed was about to seize his gun, as 25 he had threatened to do. He said he should have done just as Campbell did. Johnson. "Whoever would do as Camp- bell did, deserves to be hanged." The gentleman-farmer said, "A poor man has as much honour as a rich man ; and Camp- bell had that to defend." Johnson exclaimed, "A poor man 30 has no honour." The English yeoman, not dismayed, pro- ceeded : "Lord Eglintoune was a damned fool to run on upon Campbell, after being warned that Campbell would shoot him if he did." Johnson, who could not bear any tiling like swearing, angrily replied, "He was not a damned fool : 35 he only thought too well of Campbell. He did not believe Campbell would be such a damned scoundrel, as to do so 194 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. damned a thing." His emphasis on damned, accompanied with frowning looks, reproved his opponent's want of decorum in his presence. Of being mortified by rejection, when making approaches 5 to the acquaintance of the great, he said, "I have always been more afraid of failing, than hopeful of success." And, indeed, no man ever less courted the favour of the great. Tajdor, " whose geese were all swans," as the proverb says, expatiated on the excellence of his bull-dog, which he told us, 10 was " perfectly well shaped." Johnson, after examining the animal 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 thickness of the fore-part, to the tenuity — the thin part — behind, — ■ which a bull-dog ought 15 to have." This tenuity was the only hard word that I heard him use during this interview, and it will be observed, he instantly put another expression in its place. Taylor said, a small bull-clog was as good as a large one. Johnson. "No, Sir ; for, in proportion to his size, he has strength : and your 20 argument would prove that a good bull-dog may be as small as a mouse." 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-fail, which Dr. Taylor had 25 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. Johnson, partly from a desire to see it play more freely, and partly from that inclina- tion to activity which will animate, at times, the most inert 30 and sluggish mortal, took a long pole which was lying on a bank, and pushed down several parcels of this wreck with painful assiduity, while I stood quietly by, wondering to behold the sage thus curiously employed. He worked till he was quite out of breath ; and having found a large dead 35 cat so heavy that he could not move it after several efforts, "Come," said he (tin-owing down the pole,) "you shall take it now." This may be laughed at as too trifling to record; THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 195 but it is a small characteristic trait in the Flemish picture which I give of my friend, and in which, therefore, I mark the most minute particulars. And let it be remembered, that "iEsop at play" is one of the instructive apologues of antiquity. 5 Johnson. " There must be a diseased mind, where there is a failure of memory at seventy. A man's head, Sir^ must be morbid, if he fails so soon." My friend, being now him- self sixty-eight, might think thus. Wishing to be satisfied what truth there was in a story 10 told me to his disadvantage, I mentioned it to him in direct terms ; to this effect : that a gentleman who had lived in great intimacy with him, shewn him much kindness, and even relieved him from a spunging-house, having afterwards fallen into bad circumstances, was one day, when Johnson 15 was at dinner with him, seized for debt, and carried to prison ; that Johnson sat still undisturbed, and went on eating and drinking ; upon which the gentleman's sister, who was present, could not suppress her indignation: "What, Sir, (said she,) are you so unfeeling, as not even to offer to go to my brother 20 in his distress ; you who have been so much obliged to him ? " And that Johnson answered, "Madam, I owe him no obliga- tion ; what he did for me he would have done for a dog." Johnson assured me, that the story was absolutely false : "Sir, I was very intimate with that gentleman, and was once 25 relieved by him from an arrest ; but I never was present when he was arrested, never knew that he was arrested, and I believe he never was in difficulties after the time when he relieved me. I loved him much ; yet, in talking of his gen- eral character, I may have said, though I do not remember 30 that I ever did say so ; that as his generosity proceeded from no principle, but was a part of his 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 me. Sir, I would have gone to the world's end to 35 relieve him. The remark about the dog, if made by me, was such a sally as might escape one when painting a man highly." 196 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. He found fault with me for using the phrase to make money. " Don't you see the impropriety of it? To make money is to coin it : you should say get money. " The phrase, however, is, I think, pretty current. But Johnson was at all times jeal- 5 ous of infractions upon the genuine English language, and prompt to repress colloquial barbarisms; such as pledging myself, for undertaking; line, for department, or branch, as, the civil line, the banking line. He was particularly indignant against the almost universal use of the word idea, in the sense 10 of notion, or opinion, when it is clear that idea can only signify something of which an image can be formed in the mind. We may have an idea or image of a mountain, a tree, a building; but we cannot surely have an idea or image of an argument or proposition. Yet we hear the first speakers in 15 parliament u reprobating an Idea unconstitutional, and fraught with the most dangerous consequences to a great and free country." Johnson called this " modern cant." He pronounced the word heard, as if spelt with a double e, heerd. He said that if it were pronounced herd, there would 20 be a single exception from the English pronunciation of the syllable ear. In the evening our gentleman-farmer, and two others, entertained themselves and the company with a great number of tunes on the fiddle. Johnson desired to have "Let ambi- 25 tion fire thy mind," played over again, and appeared to give a patient attention to it ; though he owned that he was very insensible to the power of musick. I told him that it affected me to such a degree, as often to agitate my nerves painfully, producing in my mind alternate sensations of pathetic de- 30 jection, so that I was ready to shed tears ; and of daring reso- lution, so that I was inclined to rush into the thickest part of the battle. "Sir (said he,) I should never hear it, if it made me such a fool." While some of- the tunes of ordinary composition were 35 played with no great skill, I was conscious of a generous at- tachment to Dr. Johnson, as my preceptor and friend, mixed with an affectionate regret that he was an old man, whom I THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 197 should probably lose in a short time. I thought I could de- fend him at the point of my sword. I said, "My dear Sir, we must meet every year, if you don't quarrel with me." Johnson. "Nay, Sir, you are more likely to quarrel with me, than I with you. My regard for you is greater almost than 5 I have words to express ; but I do not chuse to be always repeating it ; write it down in the first leaf of your pocket- book, and never doubt of it again." I talked to him of misery being "the doom of man," in this life, as displayed in his "Vanity of Human Wishes." Yet 1 10 observed that things were done upon the supposition of hap- piness ; grand houses were built, fine gardens were made, splendid places of publick amusement were contrived^ and crowded with company. Johnson. "Alas, Sir, these are all only struggles for happiness. When I first entered Rane- 15 lagh, it gave an expansion and gay sensation to my mind, such as I never experienced anywhere else. But, as Xerxes wept when he viewed his immense army, and con- sidered that not one of that great multitude would be alive a hundred years afterwards, so it went to my heart to con- 20 " sider that there was not one in all that brilliant circle, that was not afraid to go home and think." While Johnson and I stood in calm conference by ourselves in Dr. Taylor's garden, at a pretty late hour in a serene au- tumn night, looking up to the heavens, I directed the discourse 25 to the subject of a future state. My friend was in a placid and most benignant frame of mind. "Sir, (said he,) I do not imagine that all things will be made clear to us immediately after death, but that the ways, of Providence will be explained to us very gradually." 30 He had always been very zealous against slavery in every form. Upon one occasion, when in company with some very grave men at Oxford, his toast was, "Here's to the next in- surrection of the negroes in the West Indies." His violent prejudice against our West Indian and American settlers 35 appeared whenever there was an opportunity. Towards ■he conclusion of his " Taxation no Tyranny," he says, "How 198 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes ? " I said, that I was afraid I kept him too late up, "No. Sir, (said he,) I don't care though I sit all night with you." 5 This was an animated speech from a man in his sixty-ninth year. Had I been as attentive not to displease him as I ought to have been, I know not but this vigil might have been fulfilled ; but I unluckily entered upon the controversy concerning the 10 right of Great Britain to tax America, and attempted to argue in favour of our fellow-subjects on the other side of the At- lantick. I insisted that America might be very well gov- erned, and made to yield sufficient revenue by the means of influence, as exemplified in Ireland, while the people might 15 be pleased with the imagination of their participating of the British constitution, by having a body of representatives, without whose consent money could not be exacted from them. Johnson could not bear my thus opposing his avowed opinion, which he had exerted himself with an extreme degree of heat 20 to enforce; and the violent agitation into which he was thrown, while reprimanding me, alarmed me so, that I heart- ' ily repented of my having unthinkingly introduced the sub- ject. We were fatigued by the contest ; and he was not then in 25 the humour to slide into easy and cheerful talk. We were after an hour or two very willing to separate and go to bed. I went into Dr. Johnson's room before he got up, and finding that the storm of the preceding night was quite laid, I sat down upon his bed-side, and he talked with as much readiness 30 and good humour as ever. I spoke with gratitude of Dr. Taylor's hospitality. One evening, when I was sitting with him, Frank delivered this message: "Sir, Dr. Taylor sends his compliments to you, and begs you will dine with him to-morrow. He has got a 35 hare." — "My compliments (said Johnson,) and I'll dine with him — hare or rabbit." Edensor-inn, close by Chatsworth, was then kept by a very THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 199 jolly landlord. He happened to mention that "the celebrated Dr. Johnson had been in his house." I enquired who this Dr. Johnson was, that I might hear my host's notion of him. "Sir, (said he,) Johnson, the great writer ; Oddity, as they call him. He's the greatest writer in England ; he writes for the 5 ministry; he has a correspondence abroad, and lets them know what's going on." To Boswell. "You always seem to call for tenderness. Know then, that in the first month of the present year I very highly esteem and 10 very cordially love you. I hope to tell you this at the be- ginning of every year as long as we live ; and why should we trouble ourselves to tell or hear it oftener? Sam. Johnson." Johnson maintained a long and intimate friendship with Mr. Welch, one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for 15 Westminster. Johnson, who had an eager and unceasing curiosity to know human life in all its variety, attended Mr. Welch in his office for a whole winter, to hear the examina- tions of the culprits ; but he found an almost uniform tenor of misfortune, wretchedness, and profligacy. Mr. Welch's 20 health being impaired, Johnson, by his interest, procured him leave of absence to go to Italy, and a promise that the pension or salary of two hundred pounds a year should not be discontinued. Mr. Welch accordingly went, accompanied by his daughter Anne. 25 To Saunders Welch, Esq. at the English Coffee- house, Rome. "You have travelled with this felicity, 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 30 supply each other's omissions. The world has few greater pleasures than that which two friends enjoy, in tracing back, at some distant time, those transactions and events through which they have passed together. One of the old man's 200 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. miseries is, that he cannot easily find a companion able to partake with him of the past. "Miss Nancy has doubtless kept a constant and copious j ournal. She must not expect to be welcome when she returns, 5 without a great mass of information. If it were not now too late, I would advise her to note the impression which the first sight of anything new and wonderful made upon her mind. Sam. Johnson. " Boswell to De. Johnson. 10 "What do you say to ' Taxation no Tyranny, 1 now, after Lord North's declaration or confession, or whatever else his conciliatory speech should be called ? I never differed from you in politicks but upon two points, — the Middlesex Elec- tion, and the Taxation of the Americans by the British Houses 15 of Representatives. There is a charm in the word Parliament, so I avoid it. As I am a steady and a warm Tory, I regret that the King does not see it to be better for him to receive constitutional supplies from his American subjects by the voice of their own assemblies, where his Ro3^al Person is 20 represented, than through the medium of his British sub- jects. " "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 others spend it for him, which is most commonly the case, 25 he has no advantage from it." I found him sitting with Mrs. Williams. The room for- merly allotted to me was now appropriated to a charitable purpose; Mrs. Desmoulins, her daughter, and a Miss Car- michael being all lodged in it. Such was his humanity, and 30 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 re- markable. Mr. Howard, of Lichfield, at whose father's house 35 Johnson had in his early years been kindly received, told me, THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 201 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 accordingly did, and found him in an upper room, of poor appearance. Johnson received him with much courteous- ness, and talked a great deal to him, as to a school-boy, of the 5 course of his education, and other particulars. 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. Tom Da vies joined us. After he went away, Johnson 10 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 Chur chill'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, 15 who is to be driven from the stage by a line ? Another line would have driven him from his shop." Mr. Wilkes pleasantly said, "What! does he talk of lib- erty? Liberty is as ridiculous in his mouth as Religion in rnine.^ Mr. Wilkes's advice as to the best mode of speaking 20 at the bar of the House of Commons, was not more respectful towards the senate, than that of Dr. Johnson. "Be as im- pudent 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 abus- 25 ing us." Mrs. Thrale made a very characteristical remark: — "I do not know what will please Dr. Johnson : but I know that it will displease him to praise any thing, even what he likes, extravagantly." 30 I repeated a ridiculous story told me by an old man, a pas- senger with me in the stage-coach. Mrs. Thrale called it "The story told you by the old woman." — "Now, Madam, (said I,) give me leave to catch you in the fact : it was not an old woman, but an old man, whom I mentioned as having 35 told me this." I presumed to take an opportunity, in pre- 202 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. sence of Johnson, of shewing this lively lady how reacfy she was, unintentionally, to deviate from exact authenticity of narration. Thomas a Kempis (he observed,) must be a good book, as 5 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.° I always was struck by this sentence: "Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make 10 yourself as you wish to be." Johnson. "A man loves to review his own mind. That is the use of a diary, or journal." Lord Treulestown. "True, Sir. As the ladies love to see themselves in a glass; so a man likes to see himself in his journal." Bos well. 15 "And as a lady adjusts her dress before a mirrour, a man adjusts his character by looking at his journal." "Accustom your children (said he,) constantly to this; if a thing happened at one window, and they, when relating it, say that it happened at another, instantly check them ; you 20 do not know where deviation from truth will end." Our lively hostess, whose fancy was impatient of the rein, fidgeted at this, and ventured to say, "Nay, this is too much. If Mr. Johnson should forbid me to drink tea, I would comph r , as I should feel the restraint only twice a day ; but little varia- 25 tions in narrative must happen a thousand times a day, if one is not perpetually watching." Johnson. "Well, Madam, and you ought to be perpetually watching. It is more from carelessness about truth than from intentional lying, that there is so much falsehood in the world." 30 He inculcated upon all his friends the importance of per- petual 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 are distinguished for a love of truth and accuracy, which they would not have pos- 35 sessed in the same degree, if they had not been acquainted with Johnson. He said, "John Wesley's conversation is good, but he is THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 203 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 I do." F.° "I have been looking at this famous antique marble dog of Mr. Jennings, valued at a thousand guineas, said to be 5 Alcibiades's dog." Johnson. "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 10 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 15 a time ; in short, all such men deserved the applause of man- kind, not on account of the use of what they did, but of the dexterity which they exhibited." Boswell. "Yet a mis- application of time and assiduity is not to be encouraged. Addison, in one of his 'Spectators/ commends the judgement 20 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." 25 C. "It is remarkable that the most unhealthy countries, where there are the most destructive diseases, such as Egypt and Bengal, are the most populous." Johnson. "Coun- tries which are the most populous have the most destructive diseases. That is the true state of the proposition. Dis-30 1 ease cannot be the cause of populousness, for it not only carries off a great proportion of the people ; but those who are left are weakened, and unfit for the purposes of increase." R. "Mr. E., I don't mean to flatter, but when posterity reads one of your speeches in Parliament, it will be difficult 35 to believe that you took so much pains, knowing with certainty that it could produce no effect, that not one vote would be 204 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. gained by it." E. " Waiving your compliment to me, I 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 van- ity, speaks to display his talents ; and if a man speaks well, 5 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 mod- 10 elled, it is softened 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 15 we will out-argue them. They shall not do wrong without its being shown both to themselves and to the world." E. "I believe in any body of men in England I should have been in the Minority ; I have always been in the Minority." P. ' { The House of Commons resembles a private company. How 20 seldom is any man convinced by another's argument; pas- sion and pride rise against it." Johnson. " English and High Dutch have no similarity to the eye, though radically the same. Once when looking into Low Dutch, I found, in a whole page, only one word 25 similar to English; stroem, like stream, and it signified tide. 11 E. "I remember having seen a Dutch Sonnet, in which I found this word, roesnopies : roes, rose, and nopie, knob ; rosebuds." E. "From experience I have learnt to think better of 30 mankind." Johnson. "From my experience I have found them worse in commercial dealings, more disposed to cheat, than I had any notion of ; but more disposed to do one an- other good than I had conceived." J. "Less just and more beneficent." Johnson. "And really it is wonderful, con- 35 sidering how much attention is necessary for men to take care of themselves, and ward off immediate evils which press upon them, it is wonderful how much they do for others. As it is THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 205 said of the greatest liar, that he tells more truth than false- hood ; so it may be said of the worst man, that he does more good than evil." P. " There is a very good story told of Sir Godfrey Kneller, in his character of a justice of the peace. A gentleman brought his servant before ninr, upon an accusation 5 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 his honesty, Sir Godfrey sent the master to prison." Johnson. "To resist temptation once, is not a sufficient proof of honesty. If a servant, indeed, were to resist the 10 continued temptation of silver lying in a window, 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." Boswell. "I have known a man resolve to put friendship 15 to the test, by asking a man 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 character as a friend, by one 20 particular singly, in which he happens to be defective, when, in truth, his character is composed of many particulars." E. "I understand the hogshead of claret, which this so- ciety was favoured with by our friend the Dean, is nearly out ; I think he should be written to, to send another of the same 25 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. "I am willing to offer my services as secretary on this occasion." P. "As many as are for Dr. Johnson being secretary hold up your hands. — Car- 30 ried unanimously." Boswell. "He will be our Dictator." Johnson. " No, the company is to dictate to me. I am only to write for wine ; and I am quite disinterested, as I drink none ; I shall not be suspected of having forged the applica- tion. I am no more than humble scribe." E. "Then you 35 shall prescribe." Boswell. "Very well. The first play of words to-day." J. "No, no; the bulls in Ireland." 206 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. Johnson. "Were I your Dictator, you should have no wine. It would be my business cavere ne quid detrimenti Respublica caperetj and wine is dangerous. Rome was ruined by luxury " (smiling). E. " If you allow no wine as Dictator, you shall 5 not have me for your master of horse." I drank tea with Johnson at Dr. Taylor's, where he had dined. He was very silent this evening; and read in a variety of books : suddenly throwing down one, and taking up another. 10 He talked of going to Streatham that night. Taylor. "You'll be robbed, if you do : or you must shoot a highway- man." Johnson. "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, 15 after he has robbed me. I am surer I am right in the one case, than in the other. I may be mistaken as to the man when I swear : I 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 injury, than to do it at a distance 20 of time by an oath, after 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 I shoot the highwayman, I act from both." Boswell. "Very well, very well. — There is no catching him." John- 25 son. "At the same time, one does not know what to say. For perhaps one may, a year after, hang himself from uneasi- ness for having shot a highwayman. Few minds are fit to be trusted with so great a thing." Boswell. "Then, Sir, you would not shoot him?" Johnson. "But I might be vexed 30 afterwards for that too." I had said, that in his company we did not so much inter- change conversation, as listen to him; and that Dunning observed upon this, "One is always willing to listen to Dr. Johnson;" to which I answered, "That is a great deal from 35 you, Sir." — "Yes, Sir, (said Johnson,) a great deal indeed. Here is a man willing to listen, to whom the world is listening all the rest of the year." Boswell. "I think, Sir, it is right THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 207 to tell one man of such a handsome thing, which has been said of him by another." Johnson. "Undoubtedly it is right, Sir." Johnson. " Sir ; it must be born with a man to be con- tented to take up with little things. Women have a great 5 advantage that they may take up with little things, without disgracing themselves : a man cannot, except with fiddling. Had I learnt to fiddle, I should have done nothing else." Boswell. "Pray, Sir, did you ever play on any musical instrument?" Johnson. "Xo, Sir. I once bought me a 10 nagelet; but I never made out a tune." Boswell. "A nagelet, Sir ! — so small an instrument ? I should have liked to hear you play on the violoncello. That should have been your instrument." Johnson. "Sir, I might as well have pla}^ed on the violoncello as another ; but I should have done 15 nothing else. No, Sir; a man would never undertake great things, could he be amused with small. I 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 20 did this Hercules disdain the distaff. ' " Johnson. "Knitting of stockings is a good amusement. As a freeman of Aber- deen ° I should be a knitter of sto clangs." I told him, that I had been present the day before, when Mrs. Montague, the literary lady, sat to Miss Re}uiolds for her 25 picture; and that she said, "she had bound up Mr. Gibbon's History, as it gave, in an elegant manner, the substance of the bad writers medii cevi, which the late Lord Lyttleton advised her to read." Johnson. "Sir, she has not read them: she shews none of this impetuosity to me : she does not know 30 Greek, and, I fancy, knows little Latin. She is willing you should think she knows them ; but she does not say she does." Boswell. "Mr. Harris, who was present, agreed with her." Johnson. "Harris was laughing at her, Sir. Harris is a sound sullen scholar ; he does not like interlopers. Harris, 35 however, is a prig, and a bad prig." Johnson. " Sometimes things may be made darker by defi- 208 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. nition. I see a cow. I define her, Animal quadrupes rumi- nans cornutum. But a goat ruminates, and a cow may have no horns. Co w is plainer/ 7 Boswell. "I think Dr. Frank- lin's definition of Man a good one — 'A tool-making 5 animal.'" Johnson. "But many a man never made a tool : and suppose a man without arms, he could not make a tool." Johnson. " Now what a wretch must he be, who is con- tent with such conversation as can be had among savages ! 10 You may remember an officer at Fort Augustus, who had served in America, ^old us of a woman whom they were obliged to bind, in order to get her back from savage fife." Boswell. "She must have been an animal, a beast." Johnson. "Sir, she was a speaking cat." 15 Of Goldsmith, he said, "He was not an agreeable compan- ion, 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." Soon after our arrival at Thrale's, I heard one of the maids 20 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. He was for a considerable time occupied in reading u Me- moir es de Fontenelle" leaning and swinging upon the low gate 25 into the court, without his hat. Sir John Pringle had expressed a wish that I would ask Dr. Johnson's opinion what were the best English sermons for style. Atterbury? Johnson. "Yes, Sir, one of the best." Boswell. "Tillotson?" Johnson. "Why, not now. I 30 should not advise a preacher at this day to imitate Tillotson's style." Mrs. Thrale expressed a wish to see Scotland. Johnson. " Seeing Scotland, Madam, is only seeing a worse England. It is seeing the flower gradually fade away to the naked stalk. 35 Seeing the Hebrides, indeed, is seeing quite a different scene." Our poor friend, Mr. Thomas Da vies, was soon to have a benefit at Drury-lane theatre. I proposed that he should be THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 209 brought on to speak a Prologue upon the occasion ; as, that when now grown old, he was obliged to cry, "Poor Tom's &-cold;" — that he had been driven from the stage by a Churchill was no disgrace, for a Churchill had beat the French ; — that he had been satyrised as "mouthing a sentence as curs 5 mouth a bone," but he was now glad of a bone to pick. — "Nay, (said Johnson,) I would have him to say, 1 Mad Tom is come to see the world again.' " Talking of a man's resolving to deny himself the use of wine, from moral and religious considerations, he said, "He must 10 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." At Sir Joshua Reynolds', Mr. Ramsay entertained us with 15 his observations upon Horace's villa, which he had ex- amined with great care. The Bishop of St. Asaph, Dr. Johnson, and Mr. Cambridge, joined with Mr. Ramsay, in recollecting the various lines in Horace relating to the subject. Horace's journey to Brundisium being mentioned, Johnson 20 observed, that the brook wilich 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 25 produces such a variation upon the surface of the earth. 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 30 writings what he washed the state of his mind to appear. Dr. Young, who pined for preferment, talks with contempt of it in his writings, 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 peculiar 35 to the clergy. I remember when I was with the army, after p 210 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. b no the battle of Lafeldt, the officers seriously grumbled that general was killed." Goldsmith being mentioned, Johnson observed, that he once complained to him, in ludicrous terms of distress, " When- 5 ever I write anything, the publick make a point to know nothing about it : " but that his " Traveller " brought him into high reputation. Langton. " There is not one bad line in that poem; not one of Dryden's careless verses." Sir Joshua. "I was glad to hear Charles Fox say, it was one of 10 the finest poems in the English language." Langton. "Why were you glad? You surely had no doubt of this be- fore.' ' 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 15 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 20 blurt out whatever was in his mind, and see what would be- come of it. He was angry too, when catched in an absurdity ; but it did not prevent him from falling into another the next minute. I remember Chamier, after talking with him some time, said, l Well, I do believe he wrote this poem himself : 25 and, let me tell you, that is believing a great deal.' Chamier once asked, him, what he meant by slow, the last word in the first line of 'The Traveller,' 'Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow,' — Did he mean tardiness of locomotion ? Goldsmith, who would 30 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 solitude.' Chamier believed then that I had written the line, as much as if he had seen me write it. 35 Goldsmith, however, was a man, who, whatever he wrote, did it better than any other man could do. He deserved a THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 211 place in Westminster- Abbey ; and every year he lived, would have deserved it better. He had, indeed, 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." 5 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." Boswell. "I fancy, London is the best place for society ; though I have heard that the very first society of Paris is still beyond any thing that we have here." John- 10 son. "Sir, I question if in Paris, such a company as is sitting round this table could be got together 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, they know no more than the women do, and they 15 are not held down in their conversation by the presence of women." Ramsay. "Literature is upon the growth, it is in its spring in France : here it is rather passee." Johnson. "Literature was in France long before we had it. Paris was the second city for the revival of letters. Our literature came 20 to us through France. Caxton printed only two books, Chaucer, and Gower, 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. Yet there is, probably, a great 25 deal of learning in France, because they have such a number of religious establishments ; so many men who have nothing else to do but study. I do not know this ; but I take it upon the common principles of chance. Where there are many shooters, some will hit." 30 We talked of old age. Johnson (now in his seventieth 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 exerts himself." One of the company 35 rashly observed, it was happy for an old man that insensibility comes upon him. Johnson: (with a noble elevation and 212 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. disdain,) "No, Sir, I should never be happy by being less rational." Bishof of St. iVsAPH. "Your wish then, Sir, is, yr]pd(TKeLv Stoao-Ko/xei/os." ° Johnson. "Yes, my Lord." His Lordship mentioned a charitable establishment in Wales, 5 where people were maintained, and supplied with everything, 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 for hope. Their condition cannot be better. It is rowing without a port." 10 One of the company asked him the meaning of the expres- sion in Juvenal, unius lacertce. Johnson. "I think it clear enough ; as much ground as one may have a chance to find a lizard upon." This season, there was a whimsical fashion in the news-papers 15 of applying Shakspeare's words to describe living persons well known in the world. Somebody said to Johnson, across the table, that he had not been in those characters. "Yes (said he,) I have. I should have been sorry to be left out." He then repeated what had been applied to him, 20 " You must borrow me Gargantua'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 awkw r ard and ludicrous effect. "Why, Madam, it has a reference to me, as using big words, which require the mouth 25 of a giant to pronounce them. Gargantua is the name of a giant in Rabelais." Boswell. "But, Sir, there is another amongst them for you : ' He would not flatter Neptune for his trident, Or Jove for his power to thunder.' " 30 Johnson. " There is nothing marked in that. No, Sir, Gargantua is the best." When I, a little while afterwards, repeated his sarcasm on Kenrick, which was received with applause, he asked, "Who said that?" and on my suddenly answering, — Gargantua, he looked serious, which was a 35 sufficient indication that he did not w T ish it to be kept up. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 213 When we went to the drawing-room, there was a rich as- semblage. After wandering about in a kind of pleasing dis- traction for some time, I got into a corner, with Johnson, Garrick, and Harris. Garrick. "Pray, Sir, have you read Potter's iEschylus ?" Johnson. "We must try its effect as 5 an English poem; that is the way to judge of the merit of a translation. Translations are, in general, for people who cannot read the original." I mentioned the vulgar saying, that Pope's Homer was not a good representation of the original. Johnson. ' l Sir, it is the greatest work of the kind that has ever 10 been produced." — "To be distinct, we must talk analytically. If we anatyse language, we must speak of it grammatically ; if we analyse argument, we must speak of it logically." Garrick. "What ! eh ! is Strahan a good judge of an Epi- gram? Is not he rather an obtuse man, eh?" Johnson. 15 "Why, Sir, he may not be a judge of an Epigram : but you see he is a j udge of what is not an Epigram . ' ' Garrick. ' ' Yes, I know enough of that. There was a reverend gentleman, (Mr. Hawkins,) who wrote a tragedy, the siege of something, which I refused." Harris. "So, the siege was raised. "20 Johnson. "Ay, he came to me and complained ; and told me, that Garrick said his play was wrong in the concoction. 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. "I — I 25 — I — said, first concoction." Johnson, (smiling,) "Well, he left out first. And Rich, he said, refused him in false English: he could show it under his hand." Garrick. "He wrote to me in violent wrath, for having refused his play: 'Sir, this is growing a very serious and terrible affair. I am 30 resolved to publish my play. I will appeal to the world; and how will your judgement appear!' I answered, '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, (Devonshire, I believe,) if you will send 35 it to me, I will convey it to the press.' I never heard more of it, ha! ha! ha!" 214 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. I found Johnson at home in the morning;. I said, "You were yesterday, Sir, in remarkably good humour. There was no bold offender. There was not one capital conviction. It was a maiden assize. You had on your white gloves." 5 Johnson. "Sir, I knocked Fox on "the head, without ceremony. Reynolds is too much under Fox and Burke at present. He is under the Fox star, and the Irish constellation. He is always under some planet." Johnson was not in such spirits as he had been the preceding 10 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 diminished in our colleges ; nay, in our grammar-schools. " 15Boswell. " What is the cause of this, Sir ? " Johnson. "Why, the coming in of the Scotch" (laughing sarcastic ally) . Bos- well. "That is to say, things have been turned topsy-turvy. — But your serious cause." Johnson. "Why, Sir, there are many causes, the chief of which is, I think, the great 20 increase of money. No man now depends upon the Lord of the 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. I can deprive him but of a penny a day, which he hopes somebody else will bring him ; and that 25 penny I must carry to another shoe-black, so the trade suffers no tiling. Paternity used to be considered as of itself a great thing, which had a right to many claims. That is, in general, reduced to very small bounds. My hope is, that as anarchy produces tyranny,, this extreme relaxation will 30 produce freni strictio. ,J ° I slily introduced Mr. Garrick's fame, and his assuming the airs of a great man. Johnson. "Sir, it is wonderful how little Garrick assumes. No, Sir, Garrick fortunam reverentcr habet. Consider, Sir ; celebrated men, such as you 35 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 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 215 his cranium. Then, Sir, Garrick did not find, but made his way to the tables, the levees, and almost the bed-chambers of the great. Then, Sir, Garrick had under him a numerous bod}^ of people; who, from fear of his power, and hopes of his favour, and admiration of his talents, were constantly 5 submissive to him. And here is a man who has advanced the dignity of his profession. Garrick has made a player a higher character, 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, 10 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 15 more money than any man in England. There may be a little vanity mixed : but he has shewn, that money is not his first object." Boswell. "Yet Foote used to say of him, that he walked out with an intention to do a generous action ; but turning the corner of a street, he met with the ghost of a 20 halfpenny, 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. "I am glad to hear of his liberality. 25 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 30 he should have enough of it." On the subject of wealth, the proper use of it, and the effects cf that art which is called economy, he observed, "It is wonderful to think how* men of very large estates not only spend their yearly incomes, but are often actually in want of 35 money. It is clear they have not value for what they spend. A great proportion must go in waste; and, indeed, this is 216 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. the case with most people, whatever their fortune is." Bos- well. "What is waste?" Johnson. " Why, Sir, breaking bottles, and a thousand other things. Waste cannot be accurately told, though we are sensible how destructive it is. 5 Economy, by which a certain income is made to maintain a man genteelly, and waste, 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 sooner than another." 10 We talked of war. Johnson. "Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not 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; 15 he'd wish to creep under the table." Boswell. "No; he'd think he could try them all." Johnson. " No, Sir : were Soc- rates and Charles the Twelfth of Sweden 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 20 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 crowding, such filth, such 25 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 pro- fession of soldiers and sailors has the dignity of danger. Mankind reverence those who have got over fear, which is so 30 general a weakness. ' ' Scott. ' ' But is not courage mechanical, and to be acquired?" Johnson. "Why yes, Sir, in a col- lective sense. Soldiers consider themselves only as part of a great machine. " I have heard Mr. Gibbon remark, "that Mr. Fox could not 35 be afraid of Dr. Johnson ; yet he certainly was very shy of saying any thing in Dr. Johnson's presence." I said I asked questions in order to be instructed and enter- THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 217 tained ; I repaired eagerly to the fountain ; but the moment he gave me a hint, the moment he put a lock upon the well, I desisted. — "But, Sir, (said he,) that is forcing one to do a dis- agreeable thing :" and he continued to rate me. "Nay, Sir, (said I,) when I can no longer drink, do not make the fountain 5 of your wit play upon me and w^et me. 7 ' He sometimes could not bear being teazed with questions. Once a gentleman asked so many, as, "What did you do, Sir?" "What did you say, Sir?" that he at last grew en- raged. " I. will not be put to the question. Don't you consider, 10 Sir, that these are not the manners of a gentleman ? I will not be baited with what and why ; what is this ? what is that ? why is a cow's tail long? why is a fox's tail bushy?" The gentleman, a good deal out of countenance, said, "Why, Sir, you are so good, that I venture to trouble you." Johnson. 15 "Sir, my being so good is no reason why you should be so ill" He expressed a particular enthusiasm with respect to visiting the wall of China. I said I really believed I should go and see the wall of China had I not children, of whom it was my duty to take care. "Sir, (said he,) you would be raising your chil- 20 dren to eminence. There would be a lustre reflected upon them from your spirit and curiosity. They would be at all times regarded as the children of a man who had gone to visit the wall of China. I am serious, Sir." He said, "Will you go home with me?" "Sir, (said I,) 25 it is late ; but I'll go with you for three minutes." Johnson. "Or four." We went to Mrs. Williams's room, where we found Mr. Allen the printer, the landlord of his house in Bolt- court, his very old acquaintance ; and what was exceedingly amusing, though he was of a very diminutive size, he used, 30 even in Johnson's presence, to imitate the stately periods and slow and solemn utterance of the great man. — I this evening boasted, that although I did not write what is called stenography, I had a method of my own of writing hah words, and leaving out some altogether, so as yet to keep the sub- 35 stance and language. He defied me, as he had once defied an actual shorthand writer ; and he made the experiment by 218 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. reading slowly and distinctly a part of Robertson's " History of America.'' It was found that I had it very imperfectly. Dr. Dodd's poem, entitled " Thoughts in Prison/' was lying upon his table. Having looked at the prayer at the end of it, 5 he said, "What evidence is there that this was composed the night before he suffered ? I do not believe it." He then read aloud where he prays for the King, &c. and observed, "Sir, do you think that a man, the night before he is to be hanged, cares for the succession of a royal family ? — Though, he may 10 have composed this prayer then. A man who . has been canting all his life, may cant to the last. — And yet, a man who has been refused a pardon after so much petitioning, would hardly be praying thus fervently for the King." He and I, and Mrs. Williams, went to dine with the Rever- 15 end Dr. Percy. Talking of Goldsmith, Johnson said, he was very envious. I defended him, by observing that he owned it frankly upon all occasions. Johnson. " Sir, you are enforcing the charge. He had so much envy, that he could not conceal it. He was so full of it, that he overflowed. He talked of it 20 to be sure often enough." Johnson praised Pennant very highly. Dr. Percy knowing himself to be the heir male of the ancient Percies could not sit quietly and hear a man praised, who had spoken disrespect- fully of Alnwick-Castle and the Duke's pleasure-grounds. 25 He therefore opposed Johnson eagerly. Johnson. " Pennant, in what he has said of Alnwick, has done what he intended ; he has made you very angry." Percy. a He has said the garden is trim, representing it like a citizen's parterre, when the truth is, there is a very large extent of fine turf and gravel 30 walks." Johnson. "Your extent puts me in mind of the citizen's enlarged dinner, two pieces of roast-beef, and two puddings." Percy. " He pretends to give the natural history of Northumberland, and yet takes no notice of the immense number of trees planted there of late . ' ' Johnson. 1 1 That, Sir, 35 has nothing to do with the natural history; that is civil history. A man who gives the natural history of the oak, is not to tell how many oaks have been planted in this place THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.B. 219 or that. A man who gives the natural history of the cow, is not to tell how many cows are milked at Islington. The animal is the same, whether milked in the Park or at Islington." Percy. " Pennant does not describe well ; a carrier who goes along the side of Lochlomond would describe it better." 5 Johnson. "I think he describes very well. I travelled after him." Percy. "But, my good friend, you are short-sighted, and do not see so well as I do." I wondered at Dr. Percy's venturing thus. Johnson, (pointedly) "This is the resent- ment of a narrow mind, because he did not find every thing in 10 Northumberland." Percy, (feeling the stroke) "Sir, you may be as rude as you please." Johnson. "Hold,, Sir ! don't talk of rudeness ; remember, Sir, you told me, (puffing hard with passion struggling for a vent) I was short-sighted. We have done with civility. We are to be as rude as we please." 15 Percy. "Upon my honour, Sir, I did not mean to be uncivil." Johnson. "I cannot say so, Sir ; for I did mean to be uncivil, thinking you had been uncivil." Dr. Percy rose, ran up to him, and taking him by the hand, assured him affectionately that his meaning had been misunderstood ; upon which a 20 reconciliation instantly took place. Johnson. "My dear Sir, I am willing you shall hang Pennant." Percy. "Pennant complains that the helmet is not hung out to invite to the hall of hospitality. Now I never heard that it was a custom to hang out a helmet." ° Johnson. "Hang him up, hang 25 him up." Boswell. (humouring the joke) "Hang out his skull instead of a helmet, and you may drink ale out of it in your hall of Odin, as he is your enemy; that will be truly ancient. There will be ' Northern Antiquities.'" Johnson. "He's a Whig, Sir; a sad dog. But he's the best 30 traveller I ever read ; he observes more things than any one else does." Mr. Pennant, like his countrymen in general, has the true spirit of a gentleman. As a proof of it, I shall quote from his • "London " the passage, in which he speaks of my illustrious 35 friend. "I must by no means omit Bolt-court, the long residence of Doctor Samuel Johnson, a man of the strongest 220 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. natural abilities, great learning, a most retentive memory, of the deepest and most unaffected piety and morality, mingled with those numerous weaknesses and prejudices which his friends have kindly taken care to draw from their dread 5 abode. I brought on myself his transient anger, by observing that in his tour in Scotland, he once had long and woeful experience of oats being the food of men in Scotland as they . were of horses in England. It was a national reflection un- - .-worthy of him, and I shot my bolt. In return he gave me a 10 tender hug. Con amove he also said of me ' The dog is a Whig:" We had a calm after the storm, staid the evening and supped, and were pleasant and gay. But Dr. Percy told me he was very uneasy at wh*».t had passed ; for there was a gentleman 15 there who was well acquainted with the Northumberland family, to whom he hoped to have appeared more respectable, by shewing how intimate he was with Dr. Johnson, and who might now, on the contrary, go away with an opinion to his disadvantage. He begged I would mention this to Dr. 20 Johnson, which I afterwards did. His observation upon it was, "This comes of stratagem; had he told me that he wished to appear to advantage before that gentleman, he should have been at the top of the house all the time." "Then r Sir, (said I,) I will write a letter to you upon the subject of the un- 25 lucky contest of that day, and 3^ou will be kind enough to put in writing as an answer to that letter, what you have now said, and as Lord Percy is to dine with us at General Paoli's soon, I will take an opportunity to read the correspondence in his Lordship's presence." This friendly scheme was accord- 30 ingly carried into execution without Dr. Percy's knowledge. He was highly delighted with Dr. Johnson's letter, of which I gave him a copy. He said, "I would rather have this than degrees from all the Universities in Europe. It will be for me, . and my children and grand- children." Dr. Johnson having 35 afterwards asked me if I had given him a copy of it, and beinj told I had, was offended, and insisted that I should get i back, which I did. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 221 (The letter) To Boswell. "The debate between Dr. Percy and me is one of those foolish controversies, which begin upon a question of which neither party cares how it is decided, and which is, nevertheless, continued to acrimony, by the vanity with 5 which every man resists confutation. If Percy is really offended, I am sorry ; for he is a man whom I never knew to offend any one. It is true that he vexes me sometimes, but I am afraid it is by making me feel my own ignorance. Percy's attention to poetry has given grace and splendour to 10 his studies of antiquity. A mere antiquarian is a rugged being. Sam. Johnson." At Mr. Langton's he was in a very silent mood. Before dinner he said nothing but "Pretty baby," to one of the children. Langton said, that he could repeat Johnson's conversation 15 before dinner, as Johnson had said that he could repeat a complete chapter of "The Natural History of Iceland/' from the Danish of Horrebow, the whole of which was exactly thus : "Chap. LXXII. Concerning Snakes. "There are no snakes to be met with throughout the whole 20 island." Johnson. "I think every man whatever has a peculiar style, which may be discovered by nice examination and com- parison with others : but a man must write a great deal to make his style obviously discernible. As logicians say, this 25 appropriation of style is infinite in potestate, limited in actu. Dr. Dodd had once wished to be a member of the Literary Club. Johnson. " I should be sorry if any of our Club were hanged. I will not say but some of them deserve it." Beau- clerk (supposing this to be aimed at persons for whom he had 30 at that time a wonderful fancy, which, however, did not last long,) was irritated, and eagerly said, "You, Sir, have a friend (naming him) who deserves to be hanged ; for he speaks behind their backs against those with whom he lives on the 222 best terms, and attacks them in the news-papers. He certainly ought to be kicked." Johnson. "Sir, we all do this in some degree : ' Veniam petimus damusque vicissim.' r Johnson. " To be merely satisfied is not enough. It is in 5 refinement and elegance that the civilized man differs from the savage. A great part of our industry, and all our ingenuity is exercised in procuring pleasure; and, Sir, a hungry man has not the same pleasure in eating a plain dinner, that a hungry man has in eating a luxurious dinner. You see I put 10 the case fairly. A hungry man may have as much, nay, more pleasure in eating a plain dinner, than a man grown fastidious has in eating a luxurious dinner. But I suppose the man who decides between the two dinners, to be equally a hungry man." 15 Dr. Johnson endeavoured to trace the etymology of Mac- caronick verses, from Maccaroni ; but maccaroni being the most ordinary and simple food, he was at a loss ; " for Macca- ronick verses are verses made out of a mixture of different languages, that is, of one language with the termination of 20 another." It is particularly droll in Low Dutch. The " ' Polemo-middinia" of Drummond, of Hawthornden, in which there is a jumble of many languages moulded, as if it were all in Latin, is well known. Mr. Langton made us laugh heartily at one in the Grecian mould, in which are to be 25 found such comical Anglo-hellenisms as K\vf3/3oi(TLv e/3avx0ev: they were banged with clubs. Mr. Orme. "I do not care on what subject Johnson talks ; but I love better to hear him talk than any body. He either gives you new thoughts, or a new colouring. It is a shame 30 to the nation that he has not been more liberally rewarded. Had I been George the Third, I would have given Johnson three hundred a year for his ' Taxation no Tyranny/ alone." I repeated this, and Johnson was much pleased with such praise from such a man as Orme. 35 At Mr. Dilly's to-day were Mrs. Knowles, the ingenious Quaker lady, Miss Seward, the poetess of Lichfield, the Reverend Dr. Mayo, and the Rev. Mr. Beresford, Tutor to THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 223 the Duke of Bedford. Before dinner Dr. Johnson seized upon Mr. Charles Sheridan's " Account of the late Revolution in Sweden/' and seemed to read it ravenously, as if he devoured it, which was to all appearance his method of studying. "He knows how to read better than any one (said Mrs. Knowles) ; 5 he gets at the substance of a book directly ; he tears out the heart of it." He kept it wrapt up in the table-cloth in his lap during the time of dinner, from an avidity to have one enter- tainment in readiness, when he should have finished another ; resembling (if I may use so coarse a simile) a dog who holds 10 a bone in his paws in reserve, while he eats something else which has been thrown to him. The subject of cookery having been very naturally intro- duced at a table where Johnson, who boasted of the niceness of his palate, owned that "he always found a good dinner," 15 he said, "I could write a better book of cookery than has ever yet been written ; it should be a book upon philosophical principles. Pharmacy is now made much more simple. Cookery may be made so too. Then, as you cannot make bad meat good, I would tell what is the best butcher's meat, 20 the best beef, the best pieces ; how to choose young fowls ; the proper seasons of different vegetables ; and then how to roast and boil and compound." Dilly. "Mrs. Glasse's 1 Cookery/ which is the best, was written by Dr. Hill. Half the trade know this." Johnson. "Well, Sir. This shews 25 how much better the subject of Cookery may be treated by a philosopher. But you shall see what a Book of Cookery I shall make ! I shall agree with Mr. Dilly for the copy-right. " Miss Seward. "That would be Hercules with the distaff indeed." Johnson. "No, Madam. Women can spin very 30 well ; but they cannot make a good book of Cookery." Mrs. Knowles affected to complain that men had much more liberty allowed them than women. Johnson. "Why, Madam, women have all the liberty they should wish to have. We have all the labour and the danger, and the women all the 35 advantage. We go to sea, we build houses, we do every thing, in short, to pay our court to the women." Mrs. Knowles. 224 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. "The Doctor reasons very wittily, but not convincingly. Now, take the instance of building; the mason's wife, if she is ever seen in liquor, is ruined ; the mason may get himself drunk as often as he pleases, with little loss of charac- 5ter; nay, may let his wife and children starve.'' Johnson. " Madam, you must consider, if the mason does get him- self drunk, and let his wife and children starve, the parish will oblige him to find security for their maintenance. We have different modes of restraining evil. Stocks for the men, a 10 ducking-stool for women, and a pound for beasts. If we re- quire more perfection from women than from ourselves, it is doing them honour. And women have not the same temptations that we have ; they may always live in virtuous company ; men must live in the world indiscriminately. If 15 a woman has no inclination to do what is wrong, being secured from it is no restraint to her. I am at liberty to walk into the Thames ; but if I were to try it, my friends would restrain me in Bedlam, and I should be obliged to them." Mrs. Knowles. "Still, Doctor, I cannot help thinking it a hardship 20 that more indulgence is allowed to men than to women. It gives a superiority to men, to which I do not see how thej r are entitled." Johnson. "It is plain, Madam, one or other must have the superiority. As Shakspeare says, ' If two men ride on a horse, one must ride behind.' " Dilly. "I suppose, 25 Sir, Mrs. Knowles would have them ride in panniers, one on each side." Johnson. "Then, Sir, the horse would throw them both." Mrs. Knowles. "Well, I hope that in another world the sexes will be equal." Boswell. "That is being too ambitious, Madam. We might as well desire to be equal 30 with the angels. A worthy carman will get to heaven as well as Sir Isaac Xewton. Yet, though equally good, they will not have the same degrees of happiness." Johnson. "All friendship is preferring the interest of a friend, to the neglect, or, perhaps, against the interests of 35 others ; so that an old Greek said, i He that has friends has no friend. ' Now Christianity recommends universal benevolence, — to consider all men as our brethren ; which is contrary to the THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 225 virtue of friendship, as described by the ancient philosophers. Surely, Madam, your sect must approve of this ; for, you call all men friends." Mrs. Knowles. "We are commanded to do good to all men, l but especially to them who are of the household of Faith.'". Johnson. "Well, Madam, the 5 household of Faith is wide enough." Mrs. Knowles, "But, Doctor, our Saviour had twelve Apostles, yet John was called 'the disciple whom Jesus loved.'" Johnson, (with eyes sparkling benignantly) "Very well, indeed, Madam. You have said very well." Boswell. "A fine applica- 10 tion. Pray, Sir, had you ever thought of it ?" Johnson. "I had not, Sir. " From this pleasing subject he made a sudden transition. "I am willing to love all mankind, except an American:" and his inflammable corruption bursting into horrid fire, 15 he "breathed out threatenings and slaughter;" calling them "Rascals — Robbers — Pirates;" and exclaiming, he'd "burn and destroy them." Miss Seward, looking to him with mild, but steady astonishment, said, "Sir, this is an instance that we are always most violent against those whom we have in- 20 jured." — He was irritated still more by this delicate and keen reproach; and roared out another tremendous volley which one might fancy could be heard across the Atlantick. Dr. Mayo, (to Dr. Johnson.) "Pray, Sir, have you read Edwards, of New England, on Grace?" Johnson. "No, 25 Sir." Boswell. " It puzzled me so much as to the freedom of the human will, by stating, with wonderful.acute ingenuity, our being actuated by a series of motives which we cannot resist, that the only relief I had was to forget it. The argument for the moral necessity of human actions is 30 always, I observe, fortified by supposing universal prescience to be one of the attributes of the Deity." Johnson. "You are surer that you are free, than you are of prescience; you are surer that you can lift up your finger or not as you please, than you are of any conclusion from a deduction of 35 reasoning. But let us consider a little the objection from prescience. It is certain I am either to go home to-night or 226 not; that does not prevent my freedom. If I am well acquainted with a man, I can judge with great probability how he will act in any case, without his being restrained by my judging. God may have this probability increased to 5 certainty/' Boswell. "When it is increased to certainty, freedom ceases. " Johnson. " All theory is against the freedom of the will; all experience for it." He, as usual, defended luxury. Miss Seward asked if this was not Mandeville's doctrine of "private vices publick 10 benefits." Johnson. "The fallacy of that book is, that Mandeville defines neither vices nor benefits. He reckons among vices every thing that gives pleasure. He takes the narrowest system of morality, monastick morality, which holds pleasure itself to be a vice, such as eating salt with our 15 fish; and he reckons wealth as a publick benefit, which is by no means always true. Pleasure of itself is not a vice. The happiness of Heaven will be, that pleasure and virtue will be perfectly consistent. Mandeville puts the case of a man who gets drunk at an alehouse; and sa} r s it is a public benefit, 20 because so much money is got by it to the publick. But it must be considered, that all the good gained by this, through the gradation of alehouse-keeper, brewer, maltster, and farmer ^ is overbalanced by the evil caused to the man and his family by his getting drunk. This is the way to try what is 25 vicious, by ascertaining whether more evil than good is produced upon the whole, which is the case in all vice. No, it is clear, that the happiness of society depends on virtue. In Sparta, theft was allowed by general consent ; theft, therefore, was there not a crime, but then there was no 30 security ; and what a life must they have had when there was no security. Without truth there must be a dissolution of society. As it is, there is so little truth, that we are almost afraid to trust our ears ; but how should we be, if falsehood were multiplied ten times ! Society is held together by com- 35 muni cation and information ; and I remember this remark of Sir Thomas Brown's, 'Do the devils lie ? No ; for then Hell could not subsist/ ; THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 227 Talking of Miss Hannah Moore, a literary lady, he said, "I was obliged to speak to Miss Reynolds, to let her know that I desired she would not flatter me so much. Why should she flatter me? I can do nothing for her. Let her carry her praise to a better market. (Then turning to 5 Mrs. Knowles.) You, Madam, have been flattering me all the evening ; I wish you would give Boswell a little now. If you knew his merit as well as I do, you would say a great deal; he is the best travelling companion in the world. " 10 I expressed a horrour at the thought of death. Mrs. Knowles. "Nay, thou shoukTst not have a horrour for what is the gate of fife." Johnson, (standing upon the hearth rolling about, with a serious, solemn, and somewhat gloon^ air :) " No rational man can die without uneasy apprehension. " 15 Mrs. Knowles. "The Scriptures tell us, 'The righteous shall have hope in his death.'" Johnson. "Yes, Madam; that is, he shall not have despair." Miss Seward. "There is one mode of the fear of death, which is certainly absurd : and that is the dread of annihilation, which is only a pleasing sleep 20 without a dream." Johnson. "It is neither pleasing, nor sleep ; it is nothing. Now mere existence is so much better than nothing, that one would rather exist even in pain, than not exist. The lady confounds annihilation, which is nothing, with the apprehension of it, which is dreadful." 25 Of John Wesley, he said, "He can talk well on any subject." Boswell. "Pray, Sir, what has he made of his* story of a ghost?" Johnson. "Why, Sir, he believes it; but not on sufficient authority. He did not take time enough to examine the girl. It was at Newcastle, where the ghost was said to 30 have appeared to a young woman several times, mentioning something about the right to an old house, advising appli- cation to be made to an attorney, which was done ; and, at the same time, saying the attorney would do nothing, which proved to be the fact. 'This (says John,) is a proof that the 35 ghost knows our thoughts.' Now (laughing,) it is not neces- sary to know our thoughts, to tell that an attorney will 228 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. sometimes do nothing. Charles Wesley, who is a more stationary man, does not believe the story. I am sorry that John did not take more pains to enquire into the evidence for it." Miss Seward, (with an incredulous smile:) "What, 5 Sir ! about a ghost ? ' - Johnson, (with solemn vehemence :) "Yes, Madam : this is a question, which, after five thousand years, is yet undecided; a question, whether in theology or philosophy, one of the most important that can come before the human understanding. " 10 Mrs. Knowles mentioned, as proselyte to Quakerism, Miss Jenny Harry, a young lady well known to Dr. Johnson, for whom he had shewn much affection ; and, in the gentlest and most persuasive manner, solicited his kind indulgence for what was sincerely a matter of conscience. Johnson, 15 (frowning very angrily,) "Madam, she is an odious wench. She could not hav t e any proper conviction that it was her duty to change her religion, which should be studied with all care. She knew no more of the Church which she left, and that which she embraced, than she did of the difference 20 between the Copernican and Ptoiemaick systems." Mrs. Knowles. "She had the New Testament before her." Johnson. "Madam, she could not understand the New Testament, the most difficult book in the world, for which the study of a life is required." Mrs. Knowles. "It is clear as 25 to essentials." Johnson. "But not as to controversial points." Notwithstanding occasional explosions of violence, we were all delighted upon the whole with Johnson. I compared him at this time to a warm West-Indian climate, where you have 30 a bright sun, quick vegetation, luxuriant foliage, luscious fruits; but where the same heat sometimes produces thun- der, lightning, and earthquakes, in a terrible degree. Good- Friday, I waited on Johnson, as usual. Although it was a part of his abstemious discipline on this most solemn 35 fast, to take no milk in his tea, yet when Mrs. Desmoulins inadvertently poured it in, he did not reject it. Johnson. "Sir, I am in the habit of getting others to do things for me. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 229 But I always think afterwards I should have done better for myself." I told him that at a gentleman's house where there was thought to be extravagance, his lady had objected to the cut- ting of a pickled mango, the price of it only two shillings. 5 Johnson. "Sir, that is the blundering ceconomy of a narrow understanding. It is stopping one hole in a sieve." I expressed some inclination to publish an account of my Travels upon the continent. ' C I can give an entertaining narra- tive, with many incidents, anecdotes, jeux d' esprit." Johnson. 10 "Why, Sir, most modern travellers in Europe who have published their travels, have been laughed at : I would not ■ have you added to the number. Now some of my friends asked me, why I did not give some account of my travels in France. The reason is plain; intelligent readers had seen more of 15 France than I had. You might have liked my travels in France, and The Club might have liked them ; but, upon the whole, there would have been more ridicule than good pro- duced by them." Boswell. " Sir, to talk to you in your own style (raising my voice, and shaking my head,) you should 20 have given us your travels in France. I am sure I am right, and there's an end on't." Johnson. " Books of travels will be good in proportion to what a man has previously in his mind ; his knowing what to observe ; his power of contrasting one mode of life with another. As the Spanish proverb says, 25 'He, who would bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry the wealth of the Indies with him.' " It was a delightful day : as we walked to St. Clement's church, I again remarked that Fleet-street was the most cheer- ful scene in the world. "Fleet-street (said I,) is in my mind 30 more delightful than Tempe." Johnson. "Ay, Sir; but let it be compared with Mull." He has made the following minute on this day: "In my return from church, I was accosted by Edwards, an old fellow- collegian, who had not seen me since 1729. My purpose is 35 to continue our acquaintance." It was in Butcher-row that this meeting happened. Mr. Edwards, who was a decent- 230 looking elderly man in gre}^ clothes, and a wig of many curls, brought to his recollection their having been at Pembroke- College together nine-and-forty years ago. Johnson seemed much pleased, asked where he lived, and said he should be 5 glad to see him in Bolt-court. So Edwards walked along with us. Mr. Edwards expatiated on the pleasure of living in the country. " I see my grass, and my corn, and my trees growing. Now, for instance, I am curious to see if this frost has not nipped my fruit-trees." Johnson. " You find, 10 Sir, you have fears as well as hopes." — So well did he see the whole, when another saw but the half of a subject. When we got to Dr. Johnson's house, and were seated in his library, the dialogue went on admirably. Edwards. "Sir, I remember you would not let us say prodigious at College. 15 For even then, Sir, (turning to me,) he was delicate in lan- guage, and we all feared him." Johnson, (to Edwards :) "From your having practised the law long, Sir, I presume you must be ricm" . Edwards. "No, Sir; I got a good deal of money; but I had a number of poor relations to wirom I 20 gave a great part of it." Johnson. ' ' Sir, you have been rich in the most valuable sense of the word." Edwards. "But I shall not die rich." Johnson. " Nay, sure, Sir, it is better to live rich, than to die rich." Edwajids. "I wish I had con- tinued at College. I should have been a parson, and had a 25 good living." Johnson. "Sir, the life of a parson, of a con- scientious clerg3mran, is not easy. I have always considered a clergyman as the father of a larger family than he is able to maintain. I would rather have Chancery suits upon my hands than the cure of souls. No, Sir, I do not envy a clergy- 30 man's fife as an easy life, nor do I envy the clergyman who makes it an easy life." — Here taking himself up all of a sudden, he exclaimed, "0 ! Mr. Edwards ! I'll convince you that I recollect you. Do you remember our drinking to- gether at an alehouse near Pembroke gate ? At that time, 35 you told me of the Eton boy, who, when verses on our Saviour's turning water into wine were prescribed as an exer- cise, brought up a single line, which was highly admired : LL.D. 231 1 Vidit et erubuit ° lympha pudica Deum.' and I told you of another fine line in ' Camden's Remains/ an eulogy upon one of our Kings, who was succeeded by his son, a prince of equal merit : ' Mira cano, Sol occubuit, nox nulla secuta est.' " 5 Edwards. "You are a philosopher, Dr. Johnson. I have tried "too in my time to be a philosopher ; but, I don't know how, cheerfulness was always breaking in." — Mr. Burke, Sir Joshua Reynolds, indeed, all the eminent men to whom I have mentioned this, have thought it an exquisite trait of 10 character. Edwards. "I have been twice married, Doctor. You, I sup- pose, have never known what it w T as to have a wife . J ' Johnson. "Sir, I have known what it was to have a wife, and (in a solemn tender faltering tone) I have known what it was to 15 lose a wife. — It had almost broke my heart." ' Edwards. "How do you live, Sir? For my part, I must have my regular meals, and a glass of good wine. I find I require it." Johnson. " I now drink no wine, Sir. And as to regular, meals, I have fasted from the Sunday's 20 dinner to the Tuesday's dinner, without any inconvenience. I believe it is best to eat just as one is hungry. I am a straggler. I may leave this town and go to Grand Cairo, without being missed here or observed there." Ed- wards. " Don't you eat supper, Sir ? " Johnson. " No, Sir." 25 Edwards. "For my part, now, I consider supper as a turn- pike through which one must pass, in order to get to bed. I am grown old: I am sixty-five." Johnson. "I shall be sixty-eight next birthday. Come, Sir, drink water, and put in for a hundred." 30 Mr. Edwards mentioned a gentleman who had left his whole fortune to Pembroke College. Johnson. " I would leave the interest of the fortune I bequeathed to a College to my rela- tions or my friends, for their lives. It is the same thing to a College, which is a permanent society, whether it gets the 35 232 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. money now or twenty years hence ; and I would wish to make my relations or friends feel the benefit of it." He observed, "how wonderful it was that they had both been in London forty years, without having ever once met, 5 and both walkers in the street too !" When he was gone, I said to Johnson, I thought him but a weak man. Johnson. "Why, yes, Sir. Here is a man who has passed through life without experience : yet I would rather have him with me than a more sensible man who will not talk readily. This 10 man is always willing to say what he has to say." Yet Dr. Johnson had himself by no means that willingness which he praised so justly. Johnson once observed to me, "Tom Tyers described me the best: 'Sir, (said he,) you are like a ghost; you never 15 speak till you are spoken to.' " The gentleman was the son of Mr. Jonathan Tyers, the founder of Vauxhall Gardens, peculiarly adapted to the taste of the English nation ; there being a mixture of curious shew, — gay exhibition, — musick, vocal and instrumental, not 20 too refined for the general ear ; — for all which only a shilling is paid ; and, though last, not least, good eating and drinking for those who choose to purchase that regale. Johnson. "Sir, it would have been better that I had been of a profession. I ought to have been a lawyer." Boswell. 25 "We should not have had the English Dictionary." Sir William Scott said to Johnson, "What a pity it is, Sir, that you did not follow the profession of the law. You might have been Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, and at- tained to the dignity of the peerage ; and now that the title 30 of Lichfield, your native city, is extinct, you might have had it." Johnson, upon this, seemed much agitated; and, in an angry tone, exclaimed, "Why will you vex me by suggest- ing this, when it is too late?" But he did not repine at the prosperity of others. When 35 Mr. Edmund Burke shewed Johnson his fine house and lands near Beaconsfield, Johnson coolly said, "Non equidem in- video; miror magis" ° THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 233 He told Sir Joshua Reynolds, that once when he dined in a numerous company of booksellers, the head of the table, at which he sat, being almost close to the fire, he persevered in suffering a great deal of inconvenience from the heat, rather than quit his place, and let one of them sit above him. 5 Goldsmith, in his diverting simplicity, complained one day of Lord Camden. " He took no more notice of me than if I had been an ordinary man." The company having laughed heartily, Johnson stood forth in defence of his friend. "Nay, Gentlemen, a nobleman ought to have made up to such a 10 man as Goldsmith." Garrick, who was very vain of his intimacy with Lord Camden, accosted me thus: — "Pray now, did you — did you meet a little lawyer turning the corner, eh?" — "No, Sir (said I). Pray what do you mean by the question?" 15 — "Why, (replied Garrick, with an affected indifference, yet as if standing on tip-toe,) Lord Camden has this moment left me. We have had a long walk together." Johnson. "Well, Sir, Garrick talked very properly. Lord Camden was a little lawyer to be associating so familiarly with a 20 player." Sir Joshua Reynolds observed, that Johnson considered Gar- rick to be as it were his property. He would allow no man either to blame or to praise Garrick in his presence, without contradicting him. 25 He would not even look at the proof-sheet of his " Life of Waller" on Good Friday. Johnson. " Indeed I never sought much after any body." Boswell. "Lord Orrery, I suppose." Johnson. "No, Sir ; I never went to him but when he sent for me." Boswell. 30 "Richardson?" Johnson. "Yes, Sir. But I sought after George Psalmanazar ° the most. I used to go and sit with him at an alehouse in the city." I observed, that the pillory does not always disgrace. And I mentioned an instance of a gentleman, who I thought 35 was not dishonoured by it. Johnson. "Ay, but he was, Sir. He could not mouth and strut as he used to do, after 234 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. having been there. People are not willing to ask a man to their tables who has stood in the pillory." Johnson attacked the Americans with intemperate vehe- mence of abuse. I said something in their favour ; and added, 5 that I was always sorry, when he talked on that subject. This, it seems, exasperated him. The cloud was charged with sul- phureous vapour, which was afterwards to burst in thunder. — We talked of a gentleman who was running out his fortune in London; I said, "We must get him out of it. All his 10 friends must quarrel with him, and that will soon drive him away." Johnson. "Nay, Sir, well send you to him. If your company does not drive a man out of his house, nothing will." This was a horrible shock, for which there was no visible cause. I afterwards asked him, why he had said so 15 harsh a thing. Johnson. "Because, Sir, you made me angry about the Americans." Boswell. "But why did you not take your revenge directly?" Johnson, (smiling) "Be- cause, Sir, I had nothing ready. A man cannot strike till he has his weapons." 20 He shewed me to-night his drawing-room, very genteelly fitted up; and said, "Mrs. Thrale sneered, when I talked of my having asked you and your lady to live at my house. I was obliged to tell her, that you would be in as respectable a situation in my house as in hers. Sir, the insolence of wealth 25 will creep out." Boswell. "She has a little both of the insolence of wealth, and the conceit of parts." Johnson. "The insolence of wealth is a wretched thing; but the con- ceit of parts has some foundation. To be sure, it should not be. But who is without it?" Boswell. "Yourself", Sir." 30 Johnson. "Why, I play no tricks: I lay no traps." Bos- well. "No, Sir. You are six feet high, and you only do not stoop." I mentioned that there were a hundred in the family of the present Earl of Eglintoune's father. Dr. Johnson seem- 35 ing to doubt it, I began to enumerate. "Let us see : my Lord and my Lady two." Johnson. "Nay, Sir, if you are to count by twos, } T ou may be long enough." Boswell. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 235 "Well, but now I add two sons and seven daughters, and a servant for each, that will make twenty; so we have the fifth part already." Johnson. "Very true. You get at twenty pretty readily ; but you will not so easily get further on. We grow to five feet pretty readily ; but it is not so easy 5 to grow to seven." I expressed a wish to have the arguments for Christianity always in readiness. Johnson. "Sir, you cannot answer all objections. You have demonstration for a First Cause: you see he must be good as well as powerful. Yet you have 10 against this, what is very certain, the unhappiness of human life. This, however, gives us reason to hope for a future state of compensation, that there may be a perfect system." MusGpAVE. "A temporary poem always entertains." Johnson. "So does an account of the criminals hanged 15 yesterday entertain us." He proceeded : — "Demosthenes Taylor, as he was called, (that is, the Editor of Demosthenes) was the most silent man, the merest statue of a man that I have ever seen. I once dined in company with him, and all he said during the whole 20 time was no more than Richard." Mrs. Cholmondeley exhibited some lively sallies of hyper- bolical compliments to Johnson. He answered her somewhat in the style of the hero of a romance, " Madam, you crown me with unfading laurels." 25 Johnson. "A pamphlet is understood in common language to mean prose. We understand what is most general, and we name what is less frequent." We talked of a lady's verses on Ireland. Johnson. "I have seen a translation from Horace, by one of her daugh- 30 ters." Miss Reynolds. " And how was it, Sir ? " Johnson. "Why, very well for a young Miss's verses ; — that is to say, compared with excellence, nothing; but, very well, for the person who wrote them. I am vexed at being shewn verses in that manner." Miss Reynolds. "But if they should 35 be good, why not give them hearty praise?" Johnson. "Why, Madam, because I have not then got the better of 236 my had humour from having been shewn them. Nobody has a right to put another under such a difficulty, that he must either hurt the person by telling the truth, or hurt him- self by telling what is not true. Therefore the man, who is 5 asked by an authour what he thinks of his work, is put to the torture, and is not obliged to speak the truth; this au- thour, when mankind are hunting him with a cannister at his tail, can say, ' I would not have published, had not John- son, or Reynolds, or Musgrave, or some other good judge com- 10 mended the work/ Both Goldsmith's comedies were once re- fused. His ' Vicar of Wakefield ' I myself did not think would have had much success. It was written and sold to a book- seller, before his ' Traveller ' ; but published after ; so little expectation had the bookseller from it. Had it been sold 15 after the ' Traveller/ he might have had twice as much money for it, though sixty guineas was no mean price." Sik Joshua Reynolds. " ' The Beggar's Opera ' affords a proof how strangely people will differ in opinion about a literary perform- ance. Burke thinks it has no merit." Johnson. "Itwasre- 20 fused by one of the houses ; but I should have thought it would succeed, not from any great excellence in the writing, but from the novelty, and the general spirit and gaiety of the piece." "Cave used to sell ten thousand of ' The Gentleman's Mag- azine ' ; yet such was then his minute attention and anxiety 25 that the sale should not suffer the smallest decrease, that he would name a particular person who he heard had talked of leaving off the Magazine, and would say, 'Let us have some- thing good next month.'" It was observed, that avarice was inherent in some dis- 30 positions. Johnson. "No man was born a miser, because no man was born to possession. Every man is born cupidus — desirous of getting ; but not avarus — desirous of keeping. All the world have called an avaricious man a miser, be- cause he is miserable. No, Sir, a man who both spends 35 and saves money is the happiest man, because he has both enjoyments." The conversation having turned on Bon-Mots, he quoted, THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 237 from one of the Ana, an exquisite instance of flattery in a maid of honour in France, who being asked by the Queen what o'clock it was, answered, " What your Majesty pleases." He admitted that Mr. Burke's classical pun upon Mr. Wilkes's being carried on the shoulders of the mob, 5 " numerisque fertur Lege solutus," ° was admirable. He observed, "A man cannot with propriety speak of himself, except he relates simple facts ; he cannot be sure he 10 is wise, or that he has any other excellence. Then, all cen- sure of a man's self is oblique praise. It is in order to shew how much he can spare. It has all the invidiousness of self- praise, and all the reproach of falsehood." We stopped first at the bottom of Hedge-lane, into which 15 he went to leave a letter, "with good news for a poor man in distress," as he told me. He often resembled Lady Boling- broke's lively description of Pope : that "he was un politique aux choux ° et aux raves." He would say, "I dine to-day in Grosvenor-square ; " this might be with a Duke ; or, perhaps, 20 "I dine to-day at the other end of the town:" or, "A gentle- man of great eminence called on me yesterday." — He loved thus to keep things floating in conjecture : Omne ig- notum pro magnifico est. We stopped again at Wirgman's, the well-known toy-shop, in St. James's-Street, to which he 25 had been directed, and could not find it at first; and said, "To direct one only to a corner shop is toying with one," a play upon the word toy ; the first time that I knew him stoop to such sport. He sent for me to come out of the coach, and help him to choose a pair of silver buckles, as those he had 30 were too small. Probably this alteration in dress had been suggested by Mrs. Thrale, by associating with whom, his external appearance was much improved. He got better cloaths ; and the dark colour, from which he never deviated, was enlivened by metal buttons. His wigs, too, were much 35 better ; and during their travels in France, he was furnished with a Paris-made wig, of handsome construction. This 238 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. choosing of silver buckles was a negociation : "Sir, (said he,) I will not have the ridiculous large ones now in fashion ; and I will give no more than a guinea for a pair." Boswell. "I was this morning in Ridley's shop, Sir; and was told, that 5 the collection called Johnsoniana has sold very much." Johnson. " Yet the ' Journey to the Hebrides ' has not had a great sale." Boswell. "That is strange." Johnson. "Yes, Sir ; for in that book I have told the world a great deal that they did not know before." 10 Boswell. "I drank chocolate, Sir, this morning with Mr. Eld ; and, to my no small surprize, found him to be a Staf- fordshire Whig, a being which I did not believe had existed." Johnson. "Sir, there are rascals in all countries. I have always said, the first Whig was the Devil." Boswell. "He 15 certainly was, Sir. The Devil was impatient of subordina- tion ; he was the first who resisted power : 1 Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.' " Johnson. "Mutual cowardice keeps us in peace. Were one-half of mankind brave, and one-half cowards, the brave 20 would be always beating the cowards. Were all brave, they would lead a very uneasy life; all would be continually fighting : but being all cowards, we go on very well." " Wine makes a man better pleased with himself. I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others. Sometimes 25 it does. But the danger is, that while a man grows better pleased with himself, he may be growing less pleasing to others. Nay, Sir, conversation is the key : wine is a pick-lock, which forces open the box, and injures it." Boswell. "The great difficulty of resisting wine is from 30 benevolence. For instance, a good worthy man asks you to taste his wine, which he has had twenty years in his cellar." Johnson. "Sir, all this notion about benevolence arises from a man's imagining himself to be of more importance to others, than he really is. And as for the good worthy man ; 35 how do you know he is good and worthy? No good and worthy man will insist upon another man's drinking wine. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 239 As to the wine twenty years in the cellar, — of ten men, three say this, merely because they must say something ; three are telling a lie, when they say they have had the wine twenty years ; — three would rather save the wine ; — one, perhaps, cares: but yet we must do justice to wine; we must allow it 5 the power it possesses. To make a man pleased with him- self, let me tell you, is doing a very great thing." Sir Joshua Reynolds. "But to please one's company is a strong motive." Johnson, (who, from drinking only water, supposed every body who drank wine to be elevated,) "Iio won't argue any more with you, Sir. You are too far gone." Sir Joshua. "I should have thought so indeed, Sir, had I made such a speech as you have now done." Johnson. (drawing himself in, and, I really thought blushing,) "Nay, don't be angry. I did not mean to offend you." Sir Joshua. 15 " The pleasure of drinking wine is so connected with pleasing your company, that altogether there is something of social goodness in it." Johnson. "Sir, this is only saying the same thing over again." Sir Joshua. "No, this is new." Johnson. "You put it in new words, but it is an old thought. 20 This is one of the disadvantages of wine, it makes a man mis- take words for thoughts." Boswell. "I think it is a new thought; at least, it is in a new attitude." Johnson. "Nay, Sir, it is only in a new coat ; or an old coat with a new facing. (Then laughing heartily.) It is the old dog in a new doublet. 25 — An extraordinary instance, however, may occur where a man's patron will do nothing for him, unless he will drink; there may be a good reason for drinking." I mentioned a nobleman, who was really uneasy, if his company would not drink hard. "Supposing I should be tete-a-tete with 30 him at table." Johnson. "Sir, there is no more reason for your drinking with him, than his being sober with you." General Paoli said he did not imagine Homer's poetry was so ancient as is supposed, because he ascribes to a Greek colony ° circumstances of refinement not found in Greece 35 itself at a later period, when Thucydides wrote. Johnson. " I am for the antiquity of Homer, and think that a Grecian 240 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. colony by being nearer Persia might be more refined than the mother country." I dined with him at Mr. Allan Ramsay's. Before Johnson came we talked a good deal of him. I said I worshipped him. 5 Robertson. "But some of you spoil him: you should not worship him; you should worship no man." Boswell. "I cannot help worshipping him, he is so much superiour to other men." Robertson. "In criticism, and in wit and conver- sation, he is no doubt very excellent ; but in other respects he 10 is not above other men; he will believe any thing, and will strenuously defend the most minute circumstance connected with the Church of England." Xo sooner did he, of whom we had been thus talking so easily, arrive, than we were all as quiet as a school upon the entrance of the head-master. 15 Ramsay. "I suppose Homer's ' Iliad ' to be a collection of pieces which had been written before his time. I should like to see a translation of it in poetical prose, like the book of Ruth or Job." Robertson. "Would you, Dr. Johnson, who are master of the English language, but try your hand 20 upon a part of it." Johnson. "Sir, you could not read it without the pleasure of verse." Dr. Robertson expatiated on the character of a certain nobleman ; that he would sit in company quite sluggish, while there was nothing to call forth his intellectual' vigour ; but the 25 moment that any important subject was started, he would shew his extraordinary talents with the most powerful ability and animation. Johnson. "Yet this man cut his own throat. The true strong and sound mind is the mind that can embrace equally great things and small. Now I am told 30 the King of Prussia will say to a servant, ' Bring me a bottle of such a wine, which came in such a year ; it lies in such a corner of the cellars.' I would have a man great in great things, and elegant in little things." He said to me after- wards, when we were by ourselves, "Robertson was in a 35 mighty romantick humour, he talked of one he did not know, but I downed him with the King of Prussia." 1 — "Yes, Sir, (said I,) you threw a bottle at his head." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 241 Next day, Thursday, April 30, I found him at home by himself. Johnson. "Well, Sir, Ramsay gave us a splendid dinner. I love Ramsay. You will not find a man in whose conversation there is more instruction, more information, and more elegance, than in Ramsay's/' Boswell. "What I 5 admire in Ramsay, is his continuing to be so young." John- son. "Why, yes, Sir; it is to be admired. I value myself upon this, that there is nothing of the old man in my conver- sation. I am now sixty-eight, and I have no more of it than at twenty-eight." Boswell. "But, Sir, would not you 10 wish to know old age ? I mean, Sir, the Sphinx's descrip- tion of it ; — morning, noon, and night. I would know night, as well as morning and noon." Johnson. "What, Sir, would you know what it is to feel the evils of- old age ? Would you have the gout ? Would you have decrepitude ? " 15 — Seeing him heated, I would not argue any farther. John- son. "Mrs. Thrale's mother said of me what nattered me much. A clergyman was complaining of want of society in the country where he lived ; and said, ' They talk of runts ' (that is, young cows). 'Sir, (said Mrs. Salusbury,) Mr. Johnson 20 would learn to talk of runts : ' ° meaning that I was a man who would make the most of my situation, whatever it was." He added, "I think myself a very polite man." There were several people at Sir Joshua Reynolds's by no means of the Johnsonian school ; so that less attention was 25 paid to Mm than usual, which put him out of humour ; and upon some imaginary offence from me, he attacked me with such rudeness, that I was vexed and angry, because it gave those persons an opportunity of enlarging upon his supposed ferocity, and ill-treatment of his best friends. I was so 30 much hurt, and had my pride so much roused, that I kept away from him for a week ; and perhaps, might have kept away much longer, nay, gone to Scotland without seeing him again, had not we fortunately met and been reconciled. When we were by ourselves, he drew his chair near to mine, 35 and said in a tone of conciliating courtesy, " Well, how have you done?" Boswell. "Sir, you have made me very R 242 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. uneasy by your behaviour to me when we last were at Six Joshua Reynolds's. You know, my dear Sir, no man has a greater respect and affection for you, or would sooner go to the end of the world to serve you. Now to treat me so — " He 5 insisted that I had interrupted him, which I assured him was not the case ; and proceeded — ' 'But why treat me so before people who neither love you nor me?" Johnson. "Well, I am sony for it. I'll make it up to you twenty different ways, as you please." Boswell. "I said to-day to Sir Joshua, 10 when he observed that you tossed me sometimes — I don't care how often, or how high he tosses me, when only friends are present, for then I fall upon soft ground : but I do not like falling on stones, which is the case when enemies are present. — I think this a pretty good image, Sir." Johnson. 15 "Sir, it is one of the happiest I have ever heard." Boswell. "Do you think, Sir, it is always culpable to laugh at a man to his face?" Johnson. "Why, Sir, that depends upon the man and the thing. If it is a slight man, and a slight thing, you may ; for you take nothing valuable 20 from him." Mr. Langton having repeated the anecdote of Addison having distinguished between his powers in conversation and in writing, by saying "I have only nine-pence in my pocket; but I can draw for a thousand pounds;" — Johnson. "He 25 had not that retort ready, Sir; he had prepared it before- hand." Langton: (turning to me.) "A fine surmise. Set a thief to- catch a thief." Johnson called the East-Indians barbarians. Boswell. "You will except the Chinese, Sir ?" Johnson. "No, Sir." 30 Boswell. "Have they not arts ? " Johnson. "They have pottery. Sir, they have not an alphabet. They have not been able to form what all other nations have formed. Their language is only more difficult from its rudeness ; as there is more labour in hewing down a tree with a stone than with an 35 axe." Johnson. " Lord Karnes, in treating of severity of punish- ment, mentions that of Madame Lapouchin, in Russia, but THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 243 he does not give it fairly. He stops where it is said that the spectators thought her innocent, and leaves out what follows ; that she nevertheless was guilty. Now this is being as cul- pable as one can conceive, to misrepresent fact in a book, and for what motive ? It is like one of those lies which people 5 tell, one cannot see why. The woman's life was spared; and no punishment was too great for the favourite of an Empress who had conspired to dethrone her mistress." Boswell. "He was only giving a picture of the lady in her sufferings." Johnson. "Nay, don't endeavour to palli- 10 ate this. Guilt is a principal feature in the picture. Karnes is puzzled with a question that puzzled me when I was a very young man. Why is it that the interest of money is lower, when money is plentiful ? A lady explained it to me. 'It is (said she) because when money is plentiful there are 15 so many more who have money to lend, that they bid down one another.'" Boswell. "This must have been an ex- traordinary lady who instructed you, Sir. May I ask who she was?" Johnson. "Molly Aston, Sir, the sister of those ladies with whom you dined at Lichfield. — I shall be 20 at home to-morrow." Boswell. "Then let us dine by our- selves at the Mitre, to keep up the old custom, 'the custom of the manor,' custom of the Mitre." Johnson. "Sir, so it shall be." There was, on these occasions, a little circumstance of kind 25 attention to Mrs. Williams, which must not be omitted. Before coming out, and leaving her to dine alone, he gave her her choice of a chicken, a sweetbread, or any other little nice thing, which was carefully sent to her from the tavern ready- drest. 30 He expressed much wonder at the curious formation of the bat, a mouse with wings ; saying, that it was almost as strange a thing in physiology, as if the fabulous dragon could be seen. I mentioned Lord Marchmont as one who could tell him a great deal about Pope, — "Sir, he will tell me nothing." I 35 had the honour of being known to his Lordship, and applied to him of myself, without being commissioned by Johnson. 244 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. His Lordship however asked, "Will he write the Lives of the Poets impartially ? He was the first that brought Whig and Tory into a Dictionary. And what do you think of his defi- nition of Excise ? Do you know the history of his aversion to 5 the word transpire f " Then taking down the folio Dictionary : "To escape from secrecy to notice; a sense lately innovated from France, without necessity/' The truth was, Lord Bolingbroke, who left the Jacobites, first used it ; therefore, it was to be condemned. I afterwards put the question to 10 Johnson: "Why, Sir, (said he,) get abroad" Boswell. "That, Sir, is using two words." Johnson. "Sir, there is no end of this. You may as well insist to have a word for old age." Boswell. "Well, Sir, Senectus." Johnson. "Nay, Sir, to insist always that there should be one word to express 15 a thing in English, because there is one in another language, is to change the language." I proposed to Lord Marchmont, that he should revise Johnson's Life of Pope: "So (said his Lordship,) you would put me in a dangerous situation. You know he knocked down 20 Osborne, the bookseller." I hastened down to Mr. Thrale's at Streatham, where he now was, that I might ensure his being at home next day ; and after dinner, when I thought he would receive the good news in the best humour, I announced it eagerly: "I have 25 been at work for you to-day, Sir. I have been with Lord Marchmont. He bade me tell you, he has a great respect for you, and will call on you to-morrow, at one o'clock, and communicate all he knows about Pope." — Here I paused, in full expectation that he would be pleased. 30 Johnson. "I shall not be in town to-morrow. I don't care to know about Pope." Mrs. Thrale : (surprised as I was, and a little angry.) "I suppose, Sir, Mr. Boswell thought, that as you are to write Pope's Life, you would wish to know about him." Johnson. "Wish! why yes. If it 35 rained knowledge, I'd hold out my hand ; but I would not give myself the trouble to go in quest of it." There was no arguing with him at the moment. Some time afterwards he THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 245 said, "Lord Marchmont will call on me, and then I shall call on Lord Marchmont." Mrs. Thrale was uneasy at his un- accountable caprice ; and told me, that if I did not take care to bring about a meeting between Lord Marchmont and him, it would never take place. But it must not be erroneously 5 supposed that he was generally thus peevish. It will be seen that in the following year he had a very agreeable in- terview with Lord Marchmont, at his Lordship's house. Mrs. Thrale told us, that Pope had originally in his " Uni- versal Prayer," 10 11 Can sins of moment claim the rod Of everlasting fires ? And that offend great Nature's God, Which Nature's self inspires ? " and Dr. Johnson observed, "it had been borrowed from Gua- 15 rini" Mrs. Thrale. " ' Sins of moment ! is a faulty expres- sion; for its true import is momentous, which cannot be intended. " Johnson. "It must have been written 'of moments.' Of moment, is momentous; of moments, momentary. I warrant you, however, Pope wrote this stanza, and some 20 friend struck it out. Boileau wrote some such thing, and Arnaud struck it out, saying, ' Vous gagnerez deux ou trois impies, et perdrex je ne scats combien des honnettes gens.' These fellows want to say a daring thing, and don't know how to go about it. Mere poets know no more of funda-25 mental principles than — ." Here he was interrupted some- how. Mrs. Thrale mentioned Dryden. Johnson. "He puzzled himself about predestination. — How foolish was it in Pope to give all his friendship to lords, who thought they honoured him by being with him." 30 He said of one of our friends, " He is ruining himself without pleasure. A man who loses at play, or who runs out his fortune at court, makes his estate less, in hopes of' making it bigger : (I am sure of this word, which was often used by him :) but it is a sad thing to pass through the quagmire of parsi- 35 mony, to the gulph of ruin. To pass over the flowery path of extravagance, is very well." 246 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. Amongst the numerous prints pasted on the walls of the dining-room at Streatham, was Hogarth's "Modern Mid- night Conversation." I asked him what he knew of Parson Ford, who makes a conspicuous figure in the riotous group. 5 Johnson. "Sir, he was my acquaintance and relation, my mother's nephew. Boswell. "Was there not a story of his ghost having appeared?" Johnson. "Sir, it was be- lieved. A waiter at the Hummums, in which house Ford died, had been absent for some time, and returned, not know- 10 ing that Ford was dead. Going down to the cellar, according to the story, he met him ; going down again, he met him a second time. When he came up he asked some of the people of the house what Ford could be doing there. They told him Ford was dead. The waiter took a fever, in which he lay 15 for some time. When he recovered, he said he had a message to deliver to some women from Ford ; but he was not to tell what, or to whom. He walked out; he was followed; but somewhere about St. Paul's they lost him. He came back, and said he had delivered the message, and the women ex- 20 claimed, ' Then we are all undone ! ' If the message to the women, and their behaviour upon it, were true as related, there was something supernatural. That rests upon his word ; and there it remains." Johnson. "Will you not allow, Sir, that vice does not 25 hurt a man's character so as to obstruct his prosperity in life, when you know that Clive was loaded with wealth and hon- ours; a man who had acquired his fortune by such crimes, that his consciousness of them impelled him to cut his own throat ? " Boswell. "Dr. Robertson said, he cut his throat 30 because of little things not being sufficient to move his great mind." Johnson, (very angry.) "Nay, Sir, what stuff is this ? You had no more this opinion after Robertson said it, than before. I know nothing more offensive than repeating what one knows to be foolish things, by way of continuing a 35 dispute, to see what a man will answer, — to make him your butt!" (angrier still.) Boswell. "My dear Sir, I had no such intention. Might not this nobleman have felt every THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 247 thing ' weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable/ as Hamlet says?" Johnson. "Nay, if you are to bring in gabble, I'll talk no more. I will not, upon my honour." — My readers will de- cide upon this dispute. Looking at Messrs. Billy's splendid edition of Lord Chester- 5 field's miscellaneous works, he laughed, and said, "Here are now two speeches ascribed to him, both of which were written by me : and the best of it is, they have found out that one of them is like Demosthenes, and the other like Cicero." 10 Johnson. " What I gained by being in France was, learn- ing to be better satisfied with my own country. Time may be employed to more advantage from nineteen to twenty- four, almost in any way than in travelling ; but how much more would a young man improve were he to study during 15 those years. How little does travelling supply to the con- versation of any man who has travelled; how little to Beauclerk?" Boswell. "What say you to Lord ?" Johnson. "I never but once heard him talk of what he had seen, and that was of a large serpent in one of the 20 Pyramids of Egypt." Boswell. "Well, I happened to hear him tell the same thing, which made me mention him." He was at all times watchful to suppress the vulgar cant against the manners of the great; "High people, Sir, (said he,) are the best ; take a hundred ladies of quality, you'll find 25 them better wives, better mothers, more willing to sacrifice their own pleasures to their children, than a hundred other women. Tradeswomen (I mean the wives of tradesmen) in the city, who are worth from ten to fifteen thousand pounds, are the worst creatures upon the earth, grossly ignorant, and 30 thinking viciousness fashionable." The disaster of General Burgoyne's army was N then the common topick of conversation. It was asked why piling their arms was insisted upon as a matter of such consequence, when it seemed to be a circumstance so inconsiderable in 35 itself. Johnson. "Why, Sir, a French authour says, c Il ij a beaucowp de puerilites dans la guerre.' " 248 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. He said "Candide" he thought had more power in it than any thing that Voltaire had written. He said, "The lyrical part of Horace never can be perfectly translated." 5 He said, "Lord Chatham was a Dictator; he possessed the power of putting the State in motion ; now there is no power, all order is relaxed. Sir, when we are weary of this relaxa- tion the City of London will appoint its Mayors again by seniority." ° Boswell. "But is not that taking a mere 10 chance for having a good or a bad Mayor?" Johnson. "Yes, Sir ; but the evil of competition is greater than that of the worst Mayor that can come; besides, there is no more reason to suppose that the choice of a rabble will be right, than that chance will be right." 15 He gave me some salutary counsel, and recommended vigorous resolution against any deviation from moral duty. Boswell : " But you would not have me to bind myself by a solemn obligation ? " Johnson, (much agitated). "What! a vow — 0, no, Sir, a vow is a horrible thing, it is a snare 20 for sin. The man who cannot go to heaven without a vow — may go — " Here, standing erect, in the middle of his library, and rolling grand, his pause was truly a curious compound of the solemn and the ludicrous ; he half -whistled in his usual way, when pleasant, and he paused, as if checked 25 by religious awe. — Methought he would have added — to Hell — but was restrained. I humoured the dilemma. "What! Sir, (said I,) 'In ccelum jusseris ibitV alluding to his imitation of it, ' And bid him go to Hell, to Hell he goes.' " 30 Johnson. " Education in England has been in danger of being hurt by two of its greatest men, Milton and Locke. Milton's plan is impracticable, and I suppose has never been tried. Locke's gives too much to one side, and too little to the other; it gives too little to literature." 35 Mr. Langton has been pleased, at my request, to favour me with some particulars of Dr. Johnson's visit to Warley-camp. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 249 " He sate, with a patient degree of attention, to observe the proceedings of a regimental court-martial ; and one night, as late as at eleven o'clock, he accompanied the Major of the regiment in going the Rounds, where he might observe the forms of visiting the guards, for seeing that they and their 5 sentries are ready in their duty on their several posts." To Boswell. " If general approbation will add ary thing to your enjoy- ment, I can tell you that I have heard you mentioned as a man whom every body likes. I think life has little more to give. 10 "Langton talks of making more contractions of his ex- pence. With the common deficience of advisers, we have- not shown him how to do right. "I wish you would a little correct or restrain your imagin- ation, and imagine that happiness, such as life admits, may be 15 had at other places as well as London. Without asserting Stoicism, it may be said, that it is our business to exempt ourselves as much as we can from the power of external ' things. There is but one solid basis of happiness : and that is, the reasonable hope of a happy futurity. This may be had 20 everywhere. "Mrs. Thrale, poor thing, has a daughter. Mr. Thrale dislikes the times, like the rest of us. Mrs. Williams is sick ; Mrs. Desmoulins is poor. I have miserable nights. Nobody is well but Mr. Levett. Sam. Johnson." 25 He has sometimes suffered me to talk jocularly of his group of females, and call them his Seraglio. He thus mentions them, together with honest Levett, in one of his letters to Mrs. Thrale: "Williams hates every body; Levett hates Desmoulins, and does not love Williams ; Desmoulins hates 30 them both ; Poll ° loves none of them." "The Club (he wrote me,) is to meet with the parliament ; we talk of electing Banks, the traveller; he will be a reputable member." Johnson expressed great satisfaction at the publication of 35 the " Discourses to the Royal Academy," by Sir Joshua Rey- 250 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. nolds, whom he always considered as one of his literary school. The authour received from the Empress of Russia ° a gold snuff-box, adorned with her profile in has relief, set in diamonds ; and containing a slip of paper, on which are written with her 5 Imperial Majesty's own hand, the following words: Pour le Chevalier Reynolds en temoignage du contentement que j'ai res- sentie a la lecture de ses excellent discours sur la peinture." At a late hour, I found Dr. Johnson sitting over his tea, attended by Mrs. Desmoulins, Mr. Levett, and a clergyman, 10 who had come to submit some poetical pieces to his revision. The authour asked him bluntly, "If upon the whole it was a good translation?" Johnson, whose regard for truth was uncommonly strict, seemed to be puzzled for a moment : with exquisite address he evaded the question thus, "Sir, I do not 15 say that it may not be made a very good translation." A printed Ode to the Warlike Genius of Britain came next in review ; the bard was a lank, bony figure, with short black hair; he was writhing himself in agitation, while Johnson read, and shewing his teeth in a grin of earnestness, exclaimed 20 in broken sentences, and in a keen sharp tone, "Is that poetry, Sir? — Is it Pindar?" Johnson. "Why, Sir, there is here a great deal of what is called poetry. Here is an er- rour, Sir; you have made Genius feminine." — "Palpable, Sir ; (cried the enthusiast) I know it. But it was a compli- 25ment to the Duchess of Devonshire, with which her Grace was pleased. She is walking across Coxheath, in the military uniform, and I suppose her to be the Genius of Britain." Johnson. "Sir, you are giving a reason for it ; but that will not make it right. You may have a reason why two and 30 two should make five ; but they will still make but four." He said he expected to be attacked on account of his " Lives of the Poets. " "However (said he,) I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst tiling you can do to an au- thour is to be silent as to his works. An assault upon a town 35 is a bad thing ; but starving it is still worse ; an assault may be unsuccessful, you may have more men killed than you kill ; but if you starve the town, you are sure of victory." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 251 Johnson. "Sir, one may be so much a man of the world, as to be nothing in the world. I remember a passage in Gold- - smith's 'Vicar of Wakefield/ which he was afterwards fool enough to expunge : ' I do not love a man who is zealous for nothing/ " Boswell. " That was a fine passage." John- 5 son. "Yes, Sir: there was another fine passage too, which he struck out: 'When I was a young man, being anxious to distinguish myself, I was perpetually starting new propositions. But I soon gave this over ; for, I found that generally what was new was false/" I said I did not like to sit with people 10 of whom I had not a good opinion. Johnson. "But you must not indulge your delicacy too much; or you will be a tete-a-tete man all your life." Talking of the wonderful concealment of the authour of the celebrated letters signed Junius; he said, "I should have be- 15 lieved Burke to be Junius, because I know no man but Burke who is capable of writing these letters; but Burke spon- taneously denied it to me. The case would have been differ- ent, had I asked him if he was the authour ; a man so ques- tioned, as to an anonymous publication, may think he has 20 a right to deny it." He maintained that a father had no right to control the inclinations of his daughters in marriage. When I confessed that I had spent a whole night in playing at cards, and that I could not look back on it with satisfac- 25 tion: he mildly said, "Alas, Sir, on how few things can we look back with satisfaction." He said, "To a man whose pleasure is intellectual, London is the place. And there is no place where economy can be so well practised as in London. You cannot play tricks 30 with your fortune in a small place ; you must make an uni- form appearance. Here a lady may have well-furnished apartments, and elegant dress, without any meat in her kitchen." He himself was at all times sensible of its being, comparatively speaking, a heaven upon earth. Mr. 35 Burke, whose orderly and amiable domestick habits might make the eye of observation less irksome to him than 252 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. to most men, said once, " Though I have the honour to represent Bristol, I should not like to live there ; I should be obliged to be so much upon my good behaviour." In London, a man's own house is truly his castle, in which he can be in 5 perfect safety from intrusion whenever he pleases. I never shall forget how well this was expressed by Mr. Meynell : "The chief advantage of London (said he,) is that a man is always so near his burrow." He said of one of his old acquaintances, "He is very fit for 10 a travelling governour. There would be no danger that a young gentleman should catch his manner; for it is so very bad, that it must be avoided. In that respect he would be like the drunken Helot. Sir, he has the most inverted understanding of any man whom I have ever 15 known. " Good-Friday, I visited him in the morning as usual. We in- sensibly fell into a train of ridicule upon the foibles of one of our friends. I, by way of a check, quoted from " The Govern- ment of the Tongue." It happened that the subject of the 20 sermon to-day by Dr. Burrows, the rector of St. Clement Danes, was the certainty that at the last day we must give an account of "the deeds done in the body;" and amongst various acts of culpability he mentioned evil-speaking. As we were moving slowly along in the crowd from church, 25 Johnson jogged my elbow, and said, "Did you attend to the sermon?" — "Yes, Sir, (said I,) it was very applicable to us" He, however, stood upon the defensive. "Why, Sir, the sense of ridicule is given us, and may be lawfully used. The authour of ' The Government of the Tongue • would have 30 us treat all men alike." In the interval between morning and evening service, he endeavoured to employ himself earnestly in devotional exer- cise; and gave me " Les Pensees de Paschal" that I might not interrupt him. I preserve the book with reverence. 35 On Saturday, I found him sitting in Mrs. Williams's room, with a son of the second Lord Southwell. The table had a singular appearance, being covered with a heterogeneous THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 253 assemblage of oysters and porter for his company, and tea for himself. Johnson. " No, Sir, claret is the liquor for boys, port for men ; but he who aspires to be a hero (smiling) must drink brandy. Brandy will do soonest for a man what drinking can 5 do for him." I reminded him how heartily he and I used to drink wine together, when we were first acquainted ; and how I used to have a head-ache after sitting up with him. "Nay, Sir, it was not the wine that made your head ache, but the sense that I put into it." Boswell. "What, 10 Sir! will sense make the head ache?" Johnson. "Yes, Sir, (with a smile) when it is not used to it." No man who has a true relish of pleasantry could be offended at this. I used to say, that as he had given me a thousand pounds in praise, he had a good right now and then to take a guinea 15 from me. Lord Graham, while he praised the beauty of Loch-Lomond, on the banks of which is his family seat, complained of the climate, and said he could not bear it. Johnson. "Nay, my Lord, don't talk so : you may bear it well enough. Your 20 ancestors have borne it more years than I can tell," a hand- some compliment to the antiquity of the House of Montrose. Johnson was very courteous to Lady Margaret Macdonald. "Madam, (said he,) when I was in the Isle of Sky, I heard of the people running to take the stones off the road, lest Lady 25 Margaret's horse should stumble." Lord Graham commended a man of extraordinary talents ; and added, that he had a great love of liberty. Johnson. "He is young, my Lord ; (looking to his Lordship with an arch smile) all boys love liberty, till experience convinces them they 30 are not so fit to govern themselves as they imagined. We are all agreed as to our own liberty ; we would have as much of it as we can get ; but we are not agreed as to the liberty of others : for in proportion as we take, others must lose. I believe we hardly wish that the mob should have liberty to 35 govern us. When that was the case some time ago, no man was at liberty not to have candles in his windows." 254 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. "I am always for getting a boy forward in his learning ; for that is a sure good. I would let him at first read any English book which happens to engage his attention ; because you have done a great deal, when 3^ou have brought him to have enter- 5 tainment from a book. Hell get better books afterwards." "To be contradicted, in order to force you to talk is mighty unpleasing. You shine, indeed ; but it is by being ground" Mr. Wilkes had attacked Garrick to me, as a man who had no friend. Johnson. " I believe he is right, Sir. 01 [\oi, ov 10 4>l\os — He had friends, but no friend. Garrick was so dif- fused, he had no man to whom he wished to unbosom himself. He found people always ready to applaud him, and that always for the same thing : so he saw life with great uniformity." I took upon me, for once, to fight with Goliath's weapons, and 15 play the sophist. — Garrick did not need a friend, as he got from every body all he wanted. What is a friend ? One who supports you and comforts you, while others do not. Friend- ship, you know, Sir, is the cordial drop, 'to make the nauseous draught of life go down : ' but if the draught be not nauseous, 20 if it be all sweet, there is no occasion for that drop." John- son. "Many men would not be content to five so. I hope I should not. They would wish to have an intimate friend, with whom they might compare minds, and cherish private virtues. Garrick was a very good man, the cheerfulest 25 man of his age ; a decent fiver in a profession which is sup- posed to give indulgence to licentiousness; and a man who gave away, freely, money acquired by himself. He began the world with a great hunger for money ; the son of a half-pay officer, bred in a family whose study was to make four-pence 30 do as much as others made four-pence halfpenny do. But, when he had got money, he was very liberal." Boswell. "You say, Sir, his death eclipsed the gaiety of nations." Johnson. "I could not have said more nor less. It is the truth; eclipsed, not extinguished; arid his death did eclipse; 35 it was like a storm." Bosw t ell. "Did his gaiety extend further than his own nation ? " Johnson. "Why, Sir, some exaggeration must be allowed. Besides, nations may be said LL.D. 255 — if we allow the Scotch to be a nation, and to have gaiety, — which they have not. You are an exception, though. Come, gentlemen, let us candidly admit that there is one Scotchman who is cheerful." I was in great pain with an inflamed foot. He brought 5 Sir Joshua Reynolds. Their conversation, while they sat by my bedside, was the most pleasing opiate to pain that could have been administered. Johnson being now better disposed to obtain information concerning Pope than he was last year, sent by me to my Lord 10 Marchmont, a present of his " Lives of the Poets," with a re- quest to have permission to wait on him ; and his Lordship, who had called on him twice, obligingly appointed Saturday, the first of May,. for receiving us. After drinking chocolate at General Paoli's, we proceeded 15 to Lord Marchmont's. His Lordship met us at the door of his library, and said to Johnson, "I am not going to make an encomium upon myself, by telling you the high respect I have for you, Sir." The interview, which lasted about two hours, during which the Earl communicated his anecdotes of Pope, 20 was as agreeable as I could have wished. To John Wesley. "Mr. Boswell, a gentleman who has been long known to me, is desirous of being known to you, and has asked this rec- ommendation, which I give him with great willingness, because, 25 I think it very much to be wished that worthy and religious men should be acquainted with each other. Sam. Johnson." I did not write to Johnson, as usual, upon my return to my family; but tried how he would be affected by my silence. To Boswell. 30 "What can possibly have happened, that keeps us two such strangers to each other ? I expected to have heard from you when you came home ; I expected afterwards. I went 256 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LI.D. into the country, and returned ; and yet there is no letter from Mr. Boswell. No ill I hope has happened ; and if ill should happen, why should it be concealed from him who loves you ? Is it a fit of humour, that has disposed you to try who can 5 hold out longest without writing ? If it be, you have the victory. But I am afraid of something bad ; set me free from my suspicions. Sam. Johnson." Dr. Johnson sometimes employed himself in chymistry, sometimes in watering and pruning a vine, sometimes in small 10 experiments. I defended myself against his suspicion of me, "Pray, let us write frequently. A whim strikes me, that we should send off a sheet once a week, like a stage coach, whether it be full or not ; nay, though it should be empty. " I called at his 15 house before he was up. He sent for me to his bedside, and with as much vivacity as if he had been in the gaiety of youth, called briskly, "Frank, go and get coffee, and let us breakfast in splendour." I consulted him as to the appointment of guardians to my 20 children, in case of my death. "Sir, (said he,) do not appoint a number of guardians. When there are many, they trust one to another, and the business is neglected. I would advise you to choose only one; let him be a man of respectable character, who, for his own credit, will do what is right ; let 25 him be a rich man, so that he may be under no temptation to take advantage ; and let him be a' man of business, who is used to conduct affairs with ability and expertness, to whom therefore, the execution of the trust will not be burdensome/ ' "A man had better have ten thousand pounds at the end SO of ten years passed in England, than twenty thousand pounds at the end of ten years passed in India, because you must com- pute what you give for money ; and a man who has lived ten years in India, has given up ten years of social comfort and all those advantages which arise from living in England. Lord 35 Clive shewed at the door of his bed-chamber a large chest, which he said he had once had full of gold ; Brown observed, ' I am glad you can bear it so near your bed-chamber/ " ? THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 257 We talked of the state of the poor in London. — Johnson. r Saunders Welch, the Justice, who was once High-Constable of Holborn, and had the best opportunities of knowing the state of the poor, told me that I under-rated the number, when I computed that twenty a week, that is, above a thousand a 5 year, died of hunger; not absolutely of immediate hunger; but of the wasting and other diseases which are the conse- quences of hunger. This happens only in so large a place as London, where people are not known. What we are told about the great sums got by begging, is not true : the trade is 10 overstocked. And, you may depend upon it, there are many who cannot get work. A particular kind of manufacture fails : Those who have been used to work at it, can, for some time, work at nothing else. You meet a man begging ; you charge him with idleness: he says, ( I am willing to labour. 15 Will you give me work? ? — 'I cannot/ — 'Why then you have no right to charge me with idleness/ " To BOSWELL, FROM HUGH BLAIR. " Lord Bathurst told us, that 'The Essay on Man' was originally composed by Lord Bolingbroke in prose, and that 20 Mr. Pope did no more than put it into verse. " Lord Bathurst said to me that part of the Iliad was translated by Mr. Pope in his house in the country ; and that in the morning when they assembled at breakfast, Mr. Pope used frequently to repeat, with great rapture, the Greek lines 25 which he had been translating, and then to give them his version of them, and to compare them together." Boswell. "Why, Sir, do people play this trick which I observe now, when I look at your grate, putting the shovel against it to make the fire burn?" Johnson. "They play 30 the trick, but it does not make the fire burn. There is a better ; (setting the poker perpendicularly up at right angles with the grate.) In days of superstition they thought, as it made a cross with the bars, it would drive away the witch." Boswell. "By associating with you, Sir, I am always 35 s 258 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. getting an accession of wisdom." Johnson. "Sir, be as wise as you can ; let a man be aliis Icetus, sapiens sibi : 1 Though pleas' d to see the dolphins play, I mind my compass and my way.' 5 You may be wise in your study in the morning, and gay in company at a tavern in the evening. Every man is to take care of his own wisdom and his own virtue, without minding too much what others think. " He said, "Dodsley first mentioned to me the scheme of an 10 English Dictionary ; but I had long thought of it." Boswell. "You did not know what you were undertaking." Johnson. "Yes, Sir, I knew very well what I was undertaking, — and very well how to do it, — and have done it very well." Bos- well. " In your Preface you say, 'What would it avail me in 15 this gloom of solitude V You have been agreeably mistaken." I prevailed on him to give me an exact list of his places of residence. I dined with Mm at Mr. Ramsay's, with Lord Xewhaven. A beautiful Miss Graham, a relation of his Lordship's, asked 20 Dr. Johnson to hob or nob with her. He was flattered by such pleasing attention, and politely told her he never drank wine ; but if she would drink a glass of water, he was much at her service. She accepted. "Oho, Sir ! (said Lord Xewhaven,) you are caught." Johnson. "Nay, I do not see how I am 25 caught; but if I am caught, I don't want to get free again. If I am caught, I hope to be kept." Then when the two glasses of water were brought, smiling placidly to the young lady, he said, "Madam, let us reciprocate." Lord Xewhaven and Johnson carried on an argument for 30 some time, concerning the Middlesex election. Johnson said, "Parliament may be considered as bound by law, as a man is bound where there is nobody to tie the knot. As it is clear that the House of Commons may expel, and expel again and again, why not allow of the power to incapacitate 35 for that parliament, rather than have a perpetual contest kept up between parliament and the people." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 259 He observed, "The House of Commons was originally not a privilege of the people, but a check, for the Crown, on the House of Lords. I remember, Henry the Eighth wanted them to do something; they hesitated in the morning, but did it in the afternoon. He told them, 'It is well you did ; or half 5 your heads should have been upon Temple-bar.' But the House of Commons is now no longer under the power of the Crown, and therefore must be bribed." He added, "I have no delight in talking of publick affairs." Johnson. "Whitefield did not draw attention by doing 10 better than others, but by doing what was strange. I never treated WhitefiekTs ministry with contempt; I be- lieve he did good. He had devoted himself to the lower classes of mankind, and among them he was of use. But when familiarity and noise claim the praise due to knowledge, 15 art, and elegance, we must beat down such pretensions." Boswell. " Should you not like to see Dublin, Sir?" Johnson. "No, Sir; Dublin is only a worse capital." Boswell. "Is not the Giant's-causeway worth seeing?" Johnson. "Worth seeing ? yes ; but not worth going to see." 20 Yet he had a kindness for the Irish nation, and thus gener- ously expressed himself to a gentleman from that country, — "Do not make an union with us, Sir. We should unite with you, only to rob you. We should have robbed the Scotch, if they had had any thing of which we could have robbed them." 25 A foreign minister of no very high talents, who had been in his company for a considerable time quite overlooked, happened luckily to mention that he had read some of his Rambler in Italian, and admired it much. This pleased him greatly ; he observed that the title had been translated, II Genio err ante, 30 though I have been told it was rendered more ludicrously, II Vagabondo ; and finding that this minister gave such a proof of his taste, he was all attention to him, and on the first remark which he made, however simple, exclaimed, "The Ambas- sadour says well ; — His Excellency observes — ; " And then 35 he expanded and enriched the little that had been said, in so strong a manner, that it appeared something of consequence. 260 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. This was exceedingly entertaining to the company who were present, and many a time afterwards it furnished a pleasant topick of merriment : " The Ambassadour says well," became a laughable term of applause, when no mighty matter had been 5 expressed. To Boswell. " The great direction which Burton has left to men disordered like you, is this, Be not solitary; be not idle: which I would thus modify ; — If you are idle, be not solitary ; if you are 10 solitary, be not idle. " At Bolt-court there is much malignity, but of late little open hostility. Sam. Johnson. " After a good deal of enquiry I had discovered the sister of Mr. Francis Stewart, one of his amanuenses when writing 15 his Dictionary; I had, as desired by him, paid her a guinea for an old pocket-book of her brother's which he had retained; and the good woman, who was in very moderate circumstances, but contented and placid, wondered at his scrupulous and liberal honesty, and received the guinea as if 20 sent her by Providence. To Boswell. "Well, I had resolved to send you the Chesterfield letter, but I will write once again without it. Never impose tasks upon mortals. To require two things is the way to have them 25 both undone. " Poor dear Beauclerk — nee, ut soles, dabis joca. His wit and his folly, his acuteness and maliciousness, his merriment and reasoning, are now over. Such another will not often be found among mankind. He directed himself to be buried 30 by the side of his mother, an instance of tenderness which I hardly expected. He has left his children to the care of Lady Di, and if she dies, of Mr. Langton, and of Mr. Leicester, his relation, and a man of good character. His library has been offered to sale to the Russian ambassador. Sam. Johnson." THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 261 Mrs. Thrale to Dr. Johnson. " Yesterday's evening was passed at Mrs. Montagu's: there was Mr. Melmoth, just Tory enough to hate the Bishop of Peterborough for Whiggism, and Whig enough to abhor you for Toryism. 5 " Mrs. Montagu flattered him finely ; so he had a good after- noon on't. This evening we spent at a concert. Poor Queeney's sore eyes have just released her : she had a long confinement, and could neither read nor write, so my master treated her very good-naturedly with the visits of a young 10 woman in this town, a taylor's daughter, who professes musick, and teaches so as to give six lessons a day to ladies, at five and threepence a lesson. Miss Burney says, she is a great performer ; and I respect the wench for getting her living so prettily ; she is very modest and pretty mannered, and not 15 seventeen years old. " I felt my regard for you in my face last night, when the crit- icisms were going on. "This morning it was all connoisseurship ; we went to see some pictures painted by a gentleman-artist, Mr. Taylor, 20 of this place; my master makes one everywhere, and has got a good dawdling companion to ride with him now. . . . He looks well enough, but I have no notion of health for a man whose mouth cannot be sewed up. Burney and I and Queeney teaze him every meal he eats, and Mrs. Montagu is quite 25 serious with him ; but what can one do ? He will eat, I think, and if he does eat I know he will not live ; it makes me very unhappy, but I must bear it. Let me always have your friendship. I am, most sincerely, dear Sir, "Your faithful servant, 30 "Bath, Friday, April 28." "H. L. T." To Mrs. Thrale. "Dearest Madam, "Mr. Thrale never will live abstinently, till he can persuade himself to live by rule. . . . Encourage, as you 35 can, the musical girl. 262 " Never let criticisms operate on your face or your mind ; it is very rarely that an authour is hurt by his criticks. The blaze of reputation cannot be blown out, but it often dies in the socket ; a very few names may be considered as per- 5 petual lamps that shine unconsumed. Sam. Johnson." Langton to Boswell. " Johnson said, 'That Beauclerk's talents were those which he had felt himself more disposed to envy, than those of any whom he had known.' 10 "At Mr. Yesey's, as soon as Dr. Johnson was come in, and had taken a chair, the company began to collect round him till they became not less than four, if not five, deep ; those behind standing, and listening over the heads of those that were sitting near him. The conversation for some time was 15 chiefly between Dr. Johnson and the Provost of Eton, while the others contributed occasionally their remarks. " To Mrs. Thrale. " On Friday the good Protestants met in Saint Georges- Fields, at the summons of Lord George Gordon, and marching 20 to Westminster, insulted the Lords and Commons, who all bore it with great tameness. At night the outrages began by the demolition of the. mass-house by Lincoln's Inn. " On Tuesday night they pulled down Fielding's house, and burnt his goods in the street. They had gutted on Monday 25 Sir George Savile's house, but the building was saved. On Tuesday evening, leaving Fielding's ruins, they went to New- gate to demand their companions, who had been seized demolishing the chapel. The keeper could not release them but by the Mayor's permission, which he went to ask ; at his 30 return he found all the prisoners released, and Newgate in a blaze. They then went to Bloomsbury, and fastened- upon Lord Mansfield's house, which they pulled down ; and as for his goods, they totally burnt them. "On Wednesday I walked with Dr. Scott to look at New- THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 263 gate, and found it in ruins, with the fire yet glowing. As I went by, the Protestants were plundering the Sessions-house at the Old-Bailey. There were not, I believe, a hundred ; but they did their work at leisure, in full security, without sentinels, without trepidation, as men lawfully employed in 5 full day. Such is the cowardice of a commercial place. On Wednesday they broke open the Fleet, and the King's-Bench, and the Marshalsea, and Wood-street Compter, and Clerken- well Bridewell, and released all the prisoners. " At night they set fire to the Fleet, and to the King's-Bench, 10 and I know not how many other places ; and one might see the glare of conflagration fill the sky from many parts. The sight was dreadful. Some people were threatened : Mr. Strahan advised me to take care of myself. Such a time of terrour you have been happy in not seeing. 15 "The King said in council, 'That the magistrates had not done their duty, but that he would do his own.' "The soldiers are stationed so as to be every where within call : there is no longer any body of rioters, and the individuals are hunted to their holes, and led to prison ; Lord George was 20 last night sent to the Tower. Mr. John Wilkes was this day in my neighbourhood, to seize the publisher of a seditious paper." "Several chapels have been destroyed, and several inoffen- sive Papists have been plundered, but the high sport was to 25 burn the gaols. This was a good rabble trick. The debtors and the criminals were all set at liberty ; but of the criminals, as has always happened, many are already retaken." "The publick has escaped a very heavy calamity. The rioters attempted the Bank on Wednesday night, but in no 30 great number; and like other thieves, with no great resolu- tion. Jack Wilkes headed the party that drove them away. It is agreed, that if they had seized the Bank on Tuesday, at the height of the panick, when no resistance had been prepared, they might have carried irrecoverably away what- 35 ever they had found. Jack, who was always zealous for order and decency, declares, that if he be trusted with power, 264 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. he will not leave a rioter alive. There is, however, now no longer any need of heroism or bloodshed ; no blue ribband is any longer worn. Sam. Johnson." I should think myself very much to blame, did I here neglect 5 to do justice to my esteemed friend Mr. Akerman, the keeper of Newgate. From the timidity and negligence of magistracy on the one hand, and the almost incredible exertions of the mob on the other, the first prison of this great country was laid open, and 10 the prisoners set free ; but that Mr. Akerman, whose house was burnt, would have prevented all this, had proper aid been sent him in due time, there can be no doubt. Many years ago, a fire broke out in the brick part which was built as an addition to the old gaol of Newgate. The Prisoners 15 were in consternation and tumult, calling out, "We shall be burnt — we shall be burnt ! Down with the gate ! — down with the gate ! " Mr. Akerman hastened to them, shewed himself at the gate, and having, after some confused vocifera- tion of "Hear him ! — hear him ! " obtained a silent attention, 20 he then calmly told them, that the gate must not go down ; that they were under his care, and that they should not be permitted to escape. " I have no doubt that the engines will soon extinguish this fire ; if they should not, a sufficient guard will come, and you shall be all taken out and lodged in the 25 Compters. I assure you, upon my word and honour, that I have not a farthing insured. I have left my house that I might take care of you. I will keep my promise, and stay with you if you insist upon it ; but if you will allow me to go and look after my family and property, I shall be obliged 30 to you." Struck with his behaviour, they called out, "Master Akerman, you have done bravely; it was very kind in you : by all means go and take care of your own concerns." He did so accordingly, while they remained, and were all preserved. 35 Johnson has been heard to relate the substance of this story with high praise, in which he was joined by Mr. Burke. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 265 To BOSWELL. "J have sat at home in Bolt-court, all the summer, thinking to write the Lives, and a great part of the time only thinking. Several of them, however, are done, and I still think to do the rest. 5 " I would have gone to Lichfield if I could have had time, and I might have had time if I had been active ; but I have missed much, and done little. "In the late disturbances, Mr. Thrale's house and stock were in great danger ; the mob was pacified at their first 10 invasion, with about fifty pounds in drink and meat; and at their second, were driven away by the soldiers. Mr. Strahan got a garrison into his house, and maintained them a fortnight ; he was so frighted, that he removed part of his goods. Mrs. Williams took shelter in the country. 15 Sam. Johnson." Mr. Thrale had now another contest for the representation in Parliament of the borough of Southwark, and Johnson kindly lent him his assistance, by writing advertisements for him. I shall insert one as a specimen. 20 To the Worthy Electors of the Borough of Southwark. "Gentlemen, "A new Parliament being now called, I again solicit the honour of being elected for one of your representatives ; and 25 solicit it with the greater confidence, as I am not conscious of having neglected my duty, or of having acted otherwise than as becomes the independent representative of independent constituents; superiour to fear, hope, and expectation, who has no private purposes to promote, and whose prosperity is 30 involved in the prosperity of his country. As my recovery from a very severe distemper is not yet perfect, I have declined to attend the Hall, and hope an omission so necessary will not be harshly censured. 266 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. "I can only send my respectful wishes, that all your de- liberations may tend to the happiness of the kingdom, and the peace of the borough. I am, Gentlemen, "Your most faithful 5 "And obedient servant, "Henry Thrale." On his birth-day, Johnson has this note; "I am now be- ginning the seventy-second year of my life, with more strength of body, and greater vigour of mind, than I think is common 10 at that age." But still he complains of sleepless nights and idle days, and forgetfulness, or neglect of resolutions. He thus pathetically expresses himself : "Surely I shall not spend my whole life with my own total disapprobation." To Boswell. 15 "I am sorry to write you a letter that will not please you, and yet it is at last what I resolve to do. This year must pass without an interview ; the summer has been foolishly lost, like many other of my summers and winters. I hardly saw a green field, but staid in town to work, without working much. 20 "Mr. Thrale's loss of health has lost him the election ; he is now going to B right helmst on, and expects me to go with him. I do not much like the place, but yet I shall go, and stay while my stay is desired. Sam. Johnson." Johnson. "Theocritus is not deserving of very high 25 respect as a writer ; as to the pastoral part; Virgil is very evidently superiour. Some of the most excellent parts of Theocritus are where Castor and Pollux, going with the other Argonauts, land on the Bebrycian coast, and there fall into a dispute with Amycus, the King of that country ; which 30 is as well conducted as Euripides could have done it ; and the battle is well related. i The Sicilian Gossips '° is a piece of merit." "It may be questioned, whether there is not some mistake as to the methods of employing the poor, seemingly on a THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 267 supposition that there is a certain portion of work left undone for want of persons to do it ; but if that is otherwise, a certain part of those very materials that, as it is, are properly worked up, must be spoiled by the unskilfulness of novices. We may apply to well-meaning, but misjudging persons in particulars 5 of this nature, what Giannone said to a monk, who wanted what he called to convert him : ' Tu set santo, ma tu non sei filosopho.' — One might give away five hundred pounds in a year to those that importune in the streets, and not do any good." 10 " There is nothing more likely to betray a man into absurd- ity than condescension; when he seems to suppose his under- standing too powerful for his company." " Sir, among the anfractuosities of the human mind, I know not if it may not be one, that there is a superstitious 15 reluctance to sit for a picture." Soon after the publication of his Dictionary, Garrick being asked by Johnson what people said of it, told him, that it was objected that he cited authorities which were beneath the dignity of such a work, and mentioned Richardson. " Nay, 20 (said Johnson,) I have done worse than that : I have cited thee, David." One day, having read over one of his Ramblers, Mr. Lang- ton asked him, how he liked that paper ; he shook his head, and answered, " too wordy." At another time, when one was 25 reading his tragedy of " Irene," to a company at a house in the country, he left the room : and somebody having asked him the reason of this, he replied, " Sir, I thought it had been better." Talking of a point of delicate scrupulosity of moral con- 30 duct, he said to Mr. Langton, " Men of harder minds than ours will do many things from which you and I would shrink ; yet, Sir, they will perhaps do more good in life than we." Of Sir Joshua Reynolds, he said, " Sir, I know no man who has passed through life with more observation than Reynolds." 35 He repeated to Mr. Langton, with great energy, in the Greek, our Saviour's gracious expression concerning the for- 268 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. giveness of Mary Magdalen, ut H wurns ut no effect was perceived. Upon their return the 3 girl, but could draw no confesr.on from her. Betwt : a,ad three she desired and was permitted to go home with her father. "It is, therefore, the opinion of the whole assembly, that the child has some art of making or counterfeiting a particular noise, and that there is no agency of any higher cause." 53 : 33. un etourdi. A blunderer, whom Horace Wslpole called " an inspired idiot " and of whom Garrick wrote : — NOTES 361 "for shortness called Noll, Who wrote like an angel ancl talked like poor Poll." After the puppet show mentioned, he went home, says Bos- well, with Burke to supper and broke his shins by attempting to exhibit to the company how much better he could jump over a stick than the puppets could. He once splashed into a fountain at Versailles in trying to prove that it was not within jumping distance. For " the beautiful young ladies," the Miss Hornecks, read The Jessamy Bride. Fanny Bur- ney and Mrs. Thrale were one day admiring The Vicar of Wakefield, when Dr. Johnson remarked that it "had noth-" ing of real life in it." 56 : 23. for an Historian. Not the modern view. John- son's contemporaries were Hume, Gibbon, and Robertson. Burke said that Hume took little pains to look into historical sources. 58 : 32. case of my death. Boswell left his papers to Malone, Temple, and Forbes. The executors, through indif- ference or lack of energy, allowed the papers to go so long unclaimed that many were no doubt destroyed. Dr. Hill says, " The indolence of Malone and Temple and the brutish ignorance of the Boswells have much to answer for." 61 : 18. one Mrs. Macaulay. She wrote a history of England from the accession of James I to the Revolution. Johnson frequently " stripped " her of her republican cant, although he said that " to make her ridiculous was as unneces- sary as to blacken the chimney " 62 : 8. Sherry. Thomas, father of Richard Brinsley Sheri- dan, the dramatist. 63 : 16. a deep impression. This is one of the three prin- ciples that have made for the success of the Salvation Army. 63 : 26. Formosam etc. " Thou teachest every grove to whisper, 'Loveliest Amaryllis.' " 362 NOTES Compare this for melody with Keats' : — ' ' Charmed magic casements opening on the foam Of perilous seas in faery lands forlorn." 65 : 5. Presbyterian Kirk. Baretti said Johnson would have made " a good Spanish Inquisitor : he was tooth and nail against toleration." He would not, while in Scotland, be present at a Presbyterian service, though in France he attended the Catholic. 66 : 30. Synod of Cooks. From Mrs. Piozzi's Anecdotes must be quoted : "A leg of pork boiled till it dropped from the bone, a veal pie with plums and sugar, or the outside cut of a salt buttock of beef were his favourite dainties." John- son, as Boswell frequently remarks, was not temperate. He wrote to Mrs. Thrale (Piozzi) : " Would you have me cross my genius when it leads me sometimes to voracity and some- times to abstinence? " 67 : 6. one of the most luminous minds. Burke's. His " Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful " and " Vindication of Natural Society " appeared in 1756. 68:12. The Literary Club. " Esto perpetua " was the motto and toast. Johnson's plan was that there should be nine members any two of whom should be able to entertain each other were there no more in attendance. Monday was the original meeting night, changed later to Friday. Sir John Hawkins says that the members gathered about nine, that supper was ready about ten and over about eleven. " This famous club though moving from place to place in the closing years of the last century still preserved its identity ; it took a new lease of life in the first quarter of the nineteenth century and it survived in a very quiet old age, holding its fortnightly meetings — rather sparingly attended it is true — NOTES 363 at Willis's Rooms, St. James's Street. Among recent members may be named Gladstone, Sir Frederick Leighton, Lord Salis- bury, the Duke of Argyle, Tennyson, and Matthew Arnold." D.G.Mitchell. Mr. Asquithisnowamember. SeeR.Nevill, London Clubs. 68 : 26. Sir John Hawkins. Johnson's executor and^author of the first Life of Johnson. Boswell said that by his " Life " he " hoped to make Sir John Hawkins feel some compunc- tion for his illiberal treatment of Dr. Johnson." He had been a member of the earlier club at the King's Head, Ivy Lane, yet Johnson called him " an unclubable man " ; he churlishly declined to pay his share of the supper bill, because he " took no supper at home." Boswell has already mentioned him, p. 23, contemptuously, as an attorney." 70 : 34. the family of Mr. Thrale. Boswell wrote to Temple, " Mr. Thrale is a worthy sensible man, and has the wits much about his house ; but he is not one himself." Some ten years after their first meeting Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale: " I can not but think on your kindness and my master's. Life has, upon the whole, fallen short of my early expectations ; but the acquisition of such a friendship' at an age when new friendships are seldom acquired is something better ,than the general course of things gives a man to expect. I think on it with great delight. I am not apt to be delighted." Concerning Mrs. Thrale Dr. Hill quotes from the " Memoirs of Dr. Burney " : Miss Burney described her as " extremely lively and chatty, showing none of the supercilious or pedantic airs so scofnngly attributed to women of learning or celebrity ; on the contrary, she is full of sport, remarkably gay, and excessively agreeable. I liked her in everything except her entrance into the room, which was rather florid and flourishing as who should say, — ' It is I — no less a person than Mrs. Thrale ! ' However, all that 364 NOTES ostentation wore out in the course of the visit, which lasted the whole morning, and you could not have helped liking her, she is so very entertaining — though not simple enough, I believe, for quite winning your heart." She was evidently capricious, heedless, inaccurate, and indiscreet : her foibles exposed her to the sneer of Baretti, — " faultless female! " Hogarth portrays her features in " The Lady's Last Stake." 74 : 18. Rousseau and Wilkes. Naturally the shams rather than the merits of Rousseauism engaged Dr. Johnson's attention. " Sending him to work in the plantations " was not without humor. Wilkes was in exile at this time. 76 : 26. came next to the library. All the notes go back to Lord Northcote's. He observed that the king was prob- ably the more frightened of the two. One more meeting took place. For Bos well's eight-page pamphlet, 1790, " A Con- versation between His Most Sacred Majesty, George III and Samuel Johnson, LL.D.," the publishers asked half a guinea. 79 : 16. Fielding and Richardson. Johnson's preference for Richardson is another of his literary aberrations ; yet, save for her broken nose, he thought Amelia the most attractive of heroines. See p. 98. See Hill, II. 199. 82 : 10. at the Jubilee. The Stratford festivals were insti- tuted by Garrick. Boswell attended in the costume of a Corsican patriot, with " Corsica Boswell " on a ribbon round his hat. 82 : 21. Your History. In Corsica, Boswell had met General Paoli, and at the general's luxurious London house he later almost made his home. Walpole called Boswell " that quintessence of busybodies." Dr. Hill quotes from Walpole' s letter to Gray: "Pray read the new account of Corsica. The author is a strange being and has a rage of knowing everybody that ever was talked of. He forced himself upon me at Paris in spite of my teeth and my doors." NOTES 365 Gray replied : " The pamphlet proves what I have always maintained, — that any fool may write a most valuable book by chance if he will only tell us what he heard and saw with veracity." Admiration for the history led General Oglethorpe to seek Boswell out. " Sir, my name is Ogle- thorpe. I wish to be acquainted with you." 85 : 17. so absurd a colour. On the same bill, which will be found in Prior's Life of Goldsmith, was a " blue velvet suit " and " garter blue silk breeches," and a " Queen's blue dress suit." 86 : 6. nobody else honour. This was the Essay on Shake- speare. No doubt Mrs. Montagu's reputation and her prominence were far in advance of her real ability. Lord Karnes said she knew no more than a college lad of six- teen. Johnson, however, agreed with Mrs. Thrale as to her being " the most learned woman in the world. She diffuses more knowledge in her conversation than any woman I know, or indeed, almost any man." See Hill, IV. 75-76. Dr. Johnson urged Miss Burney to attack her. " You are a rising wit and she is at the top, and when I was begin- ning the world and was nothing and nobody, the joy of my life was to fire at all the established wits and then every- body loved to halloo me on." — Mme. D'Arblay's Diary. 86 : 33. Baretti. Although a man of excitable tempera- ment, he seems not to have been responsible for the brawl in which he was attacked. Burke, Garrick, Reynolds, and Fitzherbert went his bail. He was the Italian tutor of the Thrales, — for a long time almost an intimate in the house- hold ; but he left it suddenly, indignant over a fancied neg- lect. He had no liking for Boswell ; thought him erratic. 87 : 26. of a peevish temper. Dr. Hill quotes several passages showing that she was not only refined but gracious. 92 : 4. Two young women. Rossetti's painting, " Dr. Johnson and the Methodist Ladies at the Mitre," is an impres- 366 NOTES sive piece of realism. It is reproduced in Miss Cary's " The Rossettis." For Maxwell, Rossetti substituted Boswell. 95 : 4. mysterious champion, Junius. The mystery is still unsolved. Proofs seem strongest for Sir Philip Francis, although it is known that Sackville on his death-bed made some confession of a very grave nature to Lord Mansfield. Johnson thought Burke wrote the " Letters." Walpole said three men were suspected : Wilkes, W. G. Hamilton, and Burke. 95 : 20. try my hand now. But North's political sagacity, such as it was, kept Johnson out. Croker's note is to the effect that North feared that " Johnson, like the elephant in battle, was quite as likely to trample down his friends as his foes." 95 : 22. my portrait. Reynolds painted four ; this was the second. When Sir Joshua sketched him holding a pen close to his eyes, Johnson cried, "He may paint himself as deaf, but I'll not be made a blinking Sam! " "Ugly dog," he exclaimed, looking over the shoulder of Miss Burney, who held a portrait of him. Dr. Hill gives a complete list of portraits, IV. 486. 96 : 7. a motto for your Goat. 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, Ease and perpetual pasture now has found." — Boswell. 100 : 8. Sappho in Ovid. She warned Phaon that it would be impossible to find a mate just like himself. "If to no charms thou wilt thy heart resign, But such as merit, such as equal thine, By none, alas ! by none thou canst be mov'd, Phaon alone by Phaon must be lov'd." — Pope. NOTES 367 101 : 25. valuable editions. Mme. D'Arblay writes : " Garrick gave a thundering stamp on some mark on the carpet that struck his eye — not with passion or displeasure, but merely as if from singularity and took off Dr. Johnson's voice in a short dialogue with himself that had passed the preceding week. ' David, will you lend me your Petrarca? ' ' Y-e-s, sir.' ' David, you sigh.' ' Sir, you shall have it, certainly.' Garrick sent the book stupendously bound that very evening. 'But scarcely had he taken it in his hands, when, as Boswell tells me, he poured forth a Greek ejacula- tion and a couplet or two from Horace, and then, in one of those fits of enthusiasm, which always seem to require that he should spread his arms aloft, he suddenly pounces my poor Petrarca over his head upon the floor, and then stand- ing, for several minutes lost in abstraction, he forgot probably that he had ever seen it.' " 103 : 2. your masquerade. At Edinburgh. Boswell had gone as a dumb conjurer. 103 : 14. a new comedy. " She Stoops to Conquer." It already had the title : " The Mistakes of a Night." Sir Joshua Reynolds, to whom it was dedicated, suggested "The Belle's Stratagem." It was performed at Covent Garden, March, 1773, with brilliant success, although manager and actors had expected failure. 105 : 21. in good order. Johnson confessed to Mrs. Thrale that "anarchy prevailed in his own kitchen; that Des- moulins had charge ; that there was no jack ; that small joints were suspended to roast on a string and large ones sent to the baker's." 110 : 33. puzzled by an argument. This was not quite just; for, says Lockhart, " The allusion is not to The Tale of a Tub, but to The History of John Bull IV, where, however, Jack does not hang himself for any such reason ; but the mis- 368 NOTES representation turned the laugh against Boswell, which was all Johnson cared for." 111:22. miscebitur istis. "With these, perchance, our names shall be enrolled." It is said that these were heads of traitors executed during the second Jacobite Rebellion. Ill : 30. have the precedence. Johnson, through Sir Joshua Reynolds's influence, was the first to be honored by a monument in St. Paul's. 116 : 36. awful, melancholy, and venerable Johnson. Dr. Hill says that Boswell surely makes too little of John- son's talent for admirable fooling — so richly attested by Murphy, Hawkins, Miss Burney, and Mrs. Piozzi. He said to Fanny Burney that every one had sometime in his life a desire to be a wag ; Mrs. Piozzi says that he measured a man's understanding by his mirth. 117 : 29. have not been disappointed. 11 In this he shewed a very acute penetration. My wire paid him the most assiduous and respectful attention, while he was our guest ; so that I wonder how he discovered her wishing for his 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 of 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 I never be- fore saw a man led by a bear/ " — Boswell. 118 : 1. Maria Scotorum Regina. " Mary Queen of Scots, fallen on evil days, perforce resigns to her rebellious subjects her own royal rights." Notice how Johnson in his reply changes the style : "Mary Queen of Scots, born 15 — ; sent by her own people into exile 15 — ; and by her to whom she looked NOTES 369 for protection handed over to death 15 — ." He afterwards sent to Boswell the following inscription and translation: — 11 Maria Scotorum Regina, Hominum seditiosorum Contumeliis lassata, Minis territa clamoribus victa, Libello, per quern Regno ceait, Lacrimans trepidansque Nomen apponit." "Mary, Queen of Scots, Harrassed, terrified, and overpowered By the insults, menaces, And clamours Of her rebellious subjects, Sets her hand, With tears and confusion, To a resignation of the kingdom." 118 : 20. following tetrastick. "Here Goldsmith lies. O ye, who deeds of old, Or Nature's works, or sacred song regard, With reverence tread ; for he in all excelled : Historian, and Philosopher, and Bard." — Choker's Translation. 119 : 5. about the Americans. This year, 1775, is the date of "Taxation, No Tyranny" (published anonymously), and of Burke's speech on Conciliation. Dr. Hill ascribes Johnson's hatred of the Americans to the fact of their hold- ing slaves. He quotes Johnson: " The fear that the Ameri- can colonies will break off their dependence upon England I have always thought chimerical and vain. They must be dependent, and, if they forsake us or be forsaken by us, fall into the hands of France." Dr. Hill quotes Hume, 1775. " I wish they would advise him (the king) to punish those insolent rascals in London and Middlesex who daily insult 2b 370 NOTES him and the whole legislature, before he thinks of America. Ask him how he can expect that form of government will maintain an authority at three thousand miles distance when it can not make itself respected or even be treated with com- 5 mon decency at home." 119 : 10. to tell lies. Johnson said, too, that " the High- lander, by a kind of intellectual retrogradation, knows less as he learns more. They are not much accustomed to be interrogated by others and seem never to have thought upon interrogating themselves ; so that, if they do not know what they tell to be true; they likewise do not distinctly perceive it to be false." Quoted by Dr. Hill. 119 : 12. Mr. James Macpherson. Hume said Macpherson had " not arguments, but testimonies." Gosse says : " The Ossian problem has not proved so easy of solution as the Rowley problem." The original manuscript of Johnson's letter was sold for £o0. It is not in the British Museum. 122:29. want a Chancellor. This was a thrust at Lord Clarendon. 123 : 3. the Reverend Mr. Temple. In his Introduction to the Globe Edition of the " Life," Mr. Mowbray Morris says : — "The Rev. William Temple, whose name often occurs in the biography, had been in Boswell's closest confidence since they had studied together at Glasgow University. He survived his friend only one year, dying in 1796, when all his papers passed into the hands of his son-in-law, a Mr. Powlett. Powlett soon afterwards retired to . France, and died there, and the papers, so far as the family could tell, disappeared with him. Between forty and fifty years ago a clergy- man, purchasing some articles in a shop at Boulogne, noticed that the paper in which they were wrapped was the fragment of an Eng- lish letter. A date and some names were detected ; the fragment was found to be part of a large bundle of paper lately purchased from a French hawker. How it came into his hands could never be ascertained ; the Fates had been gracious enough, and would lift NOTES- 371 the veil no further. The bundle was at once secured, and in 18o7 the correspondence was published by Mr. Bentley. The curiosities of literary history can show few happier chances than those which have so marvellously rescued from oblivion these two interesting contributions to the great Johnsonian cycle." The " two " are BoswelTs letters to Temple and Dr. Thomas Campbell's Diary : see p. 127, note. 125 : 29. to tell. In a letter to Miss Boothby, Johnson recommended for indigestion powdered orange peel in hot port wine. 126 : 24. Bouts rimes. At the fetes of Lady Miller, a woman of fashion and " patroness of art and letters," the* competitors deposited their verses in a classic urn. The Duchess of Northumberland wrote " On a Buttered Muffin." 127 : 10. Dr. Thomas Campbell. An Irish clergyman, who, on his visits to London, met most of the people worth knowing. He kept a diary, which in all likelihood was in- trusted to one of his nephews, who held a political office in Sidney, New South Wales. Here the diary, some seventy- , five years after it was written, was found in an office of the Supreme Court behind a press long unmoved. Macaulay's interest in its discovery led to its publication in England in 1859. 130 : 7. ludicrous imitation of his style. Young's is exquisite. It purports to be a criticism of Gray done by Johnson : " Gray should have seen that it but ill befitted the Bird of Wisdom to complain to the Moon of an intrusion which the Moon could no more help than herself ?* Boswell gives near the end of the " Life " serious imitations by Dr. Robertson, Gibbon, Miss Burney, and Mr. Wares. 132 : 9. Gaudium, Luctus. Every feast-day and every fast-day. Such a " Gaudy " was the fifth of November, when Oxford juniors marched round and round the fire in 372 NOTES ■ * the college halls. When Johnson visited Oxford in 1776, he was invited to a Gandy at Christ Church, but could not attend because of an engagement to dine at University Col- lege. 132 : 27. mansions of Bedlam. One of Hogarth's " sub- jects." Bedlam was then one of the sights of London, like the Abbey and the Tower, to which the public were admitted on payment of a small fee, and allowed even to talk to the maniacs. — Croker. 134 : 23. Versailles. The student should consult a guide- book for information as to the places Johnson visited. Miss was Mrs. Thrale's daughter ; Mrs. Fermor, Abbess was a niece of Arabella Fermor, the Belinda of " The Rape of the Lock " ; Sans Terre conducted Louis XVI to his execution. 136 : 27. 24L. Livre. Modern franc, value about 20 cents. 137: 26. Queen mount in the forest. The King's aunts thought it improper that the young queen should ride, and gave their consent at last only on the condition that she should not mount in the palace yard. 142 : 1. characterised Voltaire. " A man of keenest mind, whose acquaintance with literature was slight." 143 : 13. a new sense. According to Hawkins Johnson said that music hindered the flow of his thoughts. When some one praising a performer said the piece was difficult, Johnson exclaimed, " I would it had been impossible! " 146:6. Johnsoniana. Shortened sometimes to "Ana." The Bon-Mots are said to be both coarse and dull. 149 : 27. Shenstone's lines. " We happened," says Bos- well, " to lie this night at the inn at Henley where Shenstone wrote these lines." Hawkins's note is, " I have heard him assert that a tavern chair was the throne of human felicity. NOTES 373 "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 exhila- rates. my spirits, and prompts me to free conversation and an inter- change of discourse with those whom I most love : I dogmatise and am contradicted, and in this conflict of opinion and sentiments I find delight." 153 : 24. pronounced woonse. In parts of New England a similar pronunciation of does is sometimes heard. 155 : 2. Miss Anna Seward. " The Swan of Lichfield." Her verse has been much ridiculed, but it contains some lines of distinction. Leslie Stephen describes her as "a typical specimen of provincial precieuse." 158 : 5. of procuring respect. What is the theme of Sartor Resartus ? 161:23. money-scrivener. One of the London companies whose duties were later performed by attorneys. Boswell says this Mr. Ellis was the last in the profession. 164 : 1. the Reviews. The Critical Review, founded and edited by Smollett, was pro-Stuart. The Monthly was Whig and Nonconformist. 164 : 33. Abel Drugger. In Ben Jonson's Alchemist. 165 : 13. A journey to Italy. Hawkins says that the Italians looked forward eagerly to the visit of Johnson. . 166 : 10. Sixteen-string Jack. A gentleman highwayman, hanged at last. His knee ribbons had sixteen ends. 171 : 8. Mr. Gibbon. It is impossible to resist noting here Cobman's description of him, "His mouth, mellifluous as Plato's, was a round hole in the center of his visage." Bos- well hated Gibbon, said that Gibbon " poisoned the club " for him. He meant to include Gibbon in " infidel wasps and venomous insects." 171:18. asses of great charge. The Variorum edition has, of course, Johnson's notes on these two passages. 374 NOTES 172 : 13. the pastoral office. This advice was given in response to Boswell's request. Boswell's client, a minister, had publicly censured two members of his congregation, who retaliated by a suit at law. Boswell defended the liberty of the pulpit, a subject on which Johnson had strong prejudices. 178 : 36. acquaintance with Mrs. Rudd. This was prob- ably because of her fascinating tongue. She was tried for forgery and would have been hanged — as were her accom- plices — had she not saved herself by clever pleading. 180 : 8. Round Robin. The following signatures appear upon the margin : Jos. Warton, Edm. Burke, Tho. Franklin, Art. Chamier, G. Colman, Wm. Varkell, J. Reynolds, W. Forbes, T. Barnard, R. B. Sheridan, P. Metcalfe, E. Gibbon. 181 : 21. Vita ordinanda. I must lead an orderly and well regulated life. I must read my Bible. I must give my mind to the study of theology. I must serve (God) with a cheerful heart. 181 : 28. Miss Veronica's Scotch. Veronica was the name of Boswell's daughter. " -ston " is the Scotch equivalent for ' ' -son. ' ' Boswell replied that he had taught her to say ' '-son . ' ' This selection and those immediately following are from five letters to Boswell, 1777. 181 : 32. augment our club. Johnson, Boswell says, did not care to consort intimately with those who differed with him on politics and religion. 182:2. Timeo Danaos. This "classical quotation" has become so common that it has dropped from the " parole of literary men." 182 : 25. Poor Dodd. Dodd had previously lost his posi- tion as Court Chaplain because he had offered a bribe of three thousand guineas to Lord Bathurst, the Great Seal, for the living of St. George's, Hanover Square. This Earl of Chesterfield was the fifth. Johnson's famous letter con- ^ NOTES 375 cerning the dedication of the Dictionary was written to the fourth Earl. See p. 184. 190 : 6. landing at Icolmkill. "'We are now treading that illustrious island, which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and rov- ing 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 foolish 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, bravery, 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 Iona.' Had our tour produced nothing else but this sub- lime 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 on reading it, that he clasped his hands together, and remained for some time in an attitude of silent admiration." — Boswell. 191 : 20. his talk is of bullocks. Boswell's note is : " Ecclesiasticus, chap, xxxviii, v. 25. The whole chapter may be read as an admirable illustration of the superiority of cultivated minds over the gross and illiterate." How a great mind makes sport of dulness is shown in Johnson's letters to Mrs. Thrale : "I have seen the great bull, and very great he is. I have likewise seen his heir apparent who promises to enherit all the bulk and all the virtues of his sire. I have seen the man who offered a hundred guineas for the young bull, while he was yet little better than a calf. The great bull has no disease but age. I hope in time to be like the great bull ; and hope you will be like him too, a hundred years hence. There has been a man here to-day to take a 376 NOTES farm. After some talk he went to see the bull, and said that " he had seen a bigger. Do you think he is likely to get the farm? We hate the man that had seen a bigger bull." 202 : 7. since it first came out. Plainly, for once, Dr. Johnson had not " stopped to count." 203 : 4. F. Mowbray Morris has the following note : — " The Club. Croker has found, from the books, that the members present were Johnson (president), Burke, Boswell, Dr. Fordyce, Gibbon, Reynolds, Lord Upper Ossory, and Sheridan. He has guessed at the initials, but in his own confession very vaguely. We may assume, however, that R. stands for Reynolds, F. for For- dyce, and E. for Edmund Burke." 207 : 23. freeman of Aberdeen. To Dr. Johnson on the occasion of his visit had been granted the freedom of the city, a seat of the woollen industry. 212 : 3. yrjpda-K€Lv To learn as one grows older. 214 : 30. freni strictio. Tightening of the rein or bit. 219 : 25. hang out a helmet. The helmet had been used in parts of Europe as the sign of an inn. 222 : 3. Veniam petimus. We beg indulgence and we grant it in our turn. 222 : 16. Maccaronick verse. " Swaggerer " comes near to the meaning of maccaroon. Cf. Yankee Doodle. Brewer, in the Handbook of Phrase and Fable, says that a club of maccaroons introduced Italian maccaroni at Almacks. 231: 1. Vidit et erubuit. The boy was Crawshaw, one of the minor poets. " The crystal water blushed when she saw „ the Master." " I tell a tale of wonder. The sun sank, but no night followed." 232 : 37. miror magis. I feel more admiration than envy. 233 : 32. Psalmanazar. He had " made himself public " by an autobiography in which he pretended to be a native of Formosa converted to Christianity. On the strength of this J NOTES 377 story lie got himself sent to Oxford by some zealots who hoped he would influence young men to go to Formosa as mission- aries. Once at Oxford among noble traditions and gentle asso- ciates, he became converted in earnest. See Dr. Hill, III. App. A. 237 : 6. Lege solutus. Saved by the law and carried on the shoulders of the multitude. 237: 19. aux choux. A "politician" even as to the most trivial and insignificant details. 239 : 35. Greek colony. The controversy roused by Wolfe has not yet been terminated. Andrew Lang had little respect for the " critical sagacity " that would make all that is non- Homeric appear as post-Homeric. Homer was often writing, he thinks, of a No-man's land, and what is not Attic or not Ionic may be of iEgean tradition. 240:17. poetical prose. What "faults" would Dr. Johnson have found in the work of Butcher and Lang, or of Professor Palmer? 241 : 21. talk of runts. Dr. Johnson confessed to Mrs. Thrale his pleasure upon hearing some one say after a fox- hunt at Brighthelmstone, " Why, Johnson rides as well, for aught I see, as any illiterate fellow in England." 248 : 9. by seniority. From its Aldermen. 248 : 8. Hummums : public baths. 248:31. Milton and Locke. While Milton defined "a complete and generous education as that which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously all the offices, both public and private, of peace and war," yet the training was to come through the intellect rather than, as according to Locke's scheme, through the sympathies. 249 : 31. Poll. Miss Carmichael. 250 : 2. Empress of Russia. Catherine II, although, . strictly speaking, not a connoisseur, nevertheless enjoyed 378 NOTES patronizing " art and letters throughout Europe, and added enormously to the Russian imperial collections. 256 : 10. small experiments. Johnson had to be watched at Streatham lest he set the house on fire. His wig, usually burned down in front to the very netting, was so unfit for " company " that Mr. Thrale's valet kept a special one to be adjusted on the Doctor's head before his entrance to din- ner or the drawing-room. 257 : 25. with great rapture. Cowper said that Pope was utterly deficient in a taste for Homer. 258 : 17. places of residence. " (1) Exeter Street, off Catherine Street, Strand. (2) Greenwich. (3) Woodstock Street, near Hanover Square. (4) Castle Street, Cavendish Square, No. 6. (5) Strand. (6) Boswell Court. (7) Strand, again. (8) Bow Street. (9) Holborn. (10) Fetter Lane. (11) Hol- bum, again. (12) Gough Square. (13) Staple Inn. (14) Gray's Inn. (15) Inner Temple Lane, No. 1. (16) Johnson's Court, No. 7. (17) Bolt Court, No. 8." — Boswell. 261 : 7. Queeney. Esther Thrale. 266 : 31. The Sicilian Gossips. The 15th Idyl of Theoc- ritus, translated by Matthew Arnold. 275 : 10. Saxon k. Boswell says : — "I hope the authority of the great Master of our language will stop that curtailing innovation, by which we see critic, public, &c, frequently written instead of critick, publick, &c." But as the k has rightfully no place in these and similar words derived from the Latin, there are two points against him. 284 : 32. Mr. Perkins. 1 ■ Mr. Perkins was for a number of years the worthy superintendent of Mr. Thrale's great brewery, and after his death became one of the Proprietors of it; and now resides in Mr. Thrale's house in Southwark, which was the scene of so many literary meetings, and NOTES 379 in which he continues the liberal hospitality for which it was emi- nent. Dr. Johnson esteemed him much. He hung up in the count- ing-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, I wish to have one wise man there.' 'Sir, (said Johnson), I thank you. It is a very handsome compliment, and I believe you speak sincerely.' " — Boswell. 286 : 3. dreams of avarice. In one of Dr. Johnson's " Letters to Mrs. Piozzi," he mentions a sum of £14,000 which the Thrales had just received. " If I had money- enough, what would I do? Perhaps, if you and Master did not hold me, I might go to Cairo and down the Red Sea to Bengal, and take a ramble in India. Would this be better than building and planting? It would surely give more variety to the eye and more amplitude to the mind. Half fourteen thousand would send me out to see other forms of existence and bring me back to describe them." 287 : 25. preaching Mrs. Hall. A sister of the Wesleys. 289 : 36. perceiving the application. The House had expelled him ; the law had reinstated him. 292:5. cui bono, non ^st tanti. What's the use? — literally, for whose good? It's not worth while. 292 : 14. Johnson and Shebbeare. Shebbeare was pil- loried and pensioned within seven years. Boswell' s note is : " I recollect a ludicrous paragraph in the newspapers, that the king had pensioned both a He-bear and a She-bear." 296 : 30. ministry is removed. In 1782, after Yorktown, North was succeeded by Rockingham, " out " since 1766. 298 : 28. To Boswell. Boswell's father had just died. The two had not lived in fondness. Boswell was in debt and alarmed over his wife's failing health. Johnson advised him to be kind to the old servants, to live without extravagance, but to " spare no expense that can preserve Mrs. Boswell." 380 NOTES 299 : 31. Templo valedixi. Johnson's tenderness and grati- tude toward the Thrales is everywhere apparent. When one of the three remaining daughters died, he wrote to Mrs. Thrale : " I loved her, for she was Thrale's and yours, and by her dear father's appointment, in some sort mine. . . . I love you all and therefore can not without regret see the phalanx broken and reflect that you and my other dear girls are deprived of one that was born your friend. To such friends everyone that has them has recourse at last when it is discovered — and discovered it seldom fails to be, that the fortuitous friendships of inclination or vanity are at the mercy of a thousand accidents." 303 : 33. Ingens Ingenium. A mighty intellect resides within this ungainly body. 306 : 7. to draw spectators. Yet, more than once when the Wesleys desired to talk in prison with the condemned who had asked to see them, permission was refused. 309:14. Somerset Place. "Mr. Lowe's performance," said to be a wretched piece of art, was hung in the gallery on a wall by itself 7 311 : 23. extravagantly expensive. Walpole wrote indig- nantly : " It is confounding the immense space between pleas- ing talents and national services." The undertaker, unpaid, was ruined. 315:5. "Cecilia." Dr. Hill, IV. 258, has this note: " Macaulay maintained that Johnson had a hand in the com- position of ' Cecilia.' He quoted a passage from it and said, — ' We say with confidence, either Sam Johnson or the Devil.' That he was wrong is shown by Mme. D'Arblay's Diary. * Ay,' cried Dr. Johnson, ' some people want to make out some credit to me from the little rogue's book. ... I never saw a word of it before it was printed.' " 317: 5. The gout. He wrote to Mrs. Thrale: " I enjoy NOTES 381 all the dignity of lameness. I receive ladies and dismiss them sitting. Painful preeminence.'" 323 : 20. rough in conversation. " What would you give," asked a pert fellow at a dinner, " to be as young and brisk as I am? " "I would be content to be almost as foolish." . . . When talking in one of the college halls, he was fre- quently interrupted by one of the masters with " I deny that." At last Johnson turned to him and said, " Sir, you have forgotten: 'Plus negabit units asimus in una hora quam centum philosophi probaverint in centum annis.' "... An- other young gentleman asked him, " Dr. Johnson, would you advise me to marry? " "I would advise no one to marry," was the answer, " who is not likely to propagate understand- ing." Then, as if to make amends, he gave a most wonderful talk on marriage. It is plain that those who wished Johnson to talk would submit to almost any rebuffs if they hoped at last to " draw him out." Some one tried to excuse an inquisitive young man on the ground that doubtless he had come to be cured of his ignorance. " His ignorance," said Johnson, " is so deep that I am afraid to show him the bottom of it." He said to Mrs. Thrale : " It moves my indignation to be con- stantly applied to to speak well of a thing which I think contemptible." Dr. Hill quotes Sir Joshua Reynolds : " His obstinate silence whilst all the company were in rap- tures vying with each other who should pepper highest was considered rudeness and ill-nature." Lord Elibank said at the age of seventy that he would gladly travel five hundred miles for a single day in Dr. Johnson's company. " There had once been a pretty smart altercation," says Boswell, " between Dr. Barnard and him, upon a question, whether a man could improve himself after the age of forty-five ; when Johnson, in a hasty humour, expressed himself in a manner not quite civil. Dr. Barnard made it the subject of a copy of i 382 2T0TES pleasant verses, in which he supposed himself to learn differ- ent perfections from different men. They concluded with -delicate irony : — " ' Johnson shall| teach me how to place Io^airest lighfteach borrowed grace; Fsom hini iff learn to write : ' Copy his clear familiar style, And by the roughness of his file Grow, like himsetf, polite.' " 328-: 7. Milton's poor Sonnets. The eighteenth-century - ' view. . ; 329 : 13. mollia tempora fandi. " The Latin may be made out from the English" 5 mollify and infant. 333 : 29. conge d'elire. t^he paradoxical command to dean and chapter to elect as : their bishop one whose name had been decided upon by kin§ or court. 339:31. Presto's supper. The terrier once refused to yield his place on the hearth rug to Dr. Johnson. " Presto,' ' said the Dictator, " you will soon be as lazy a dog as I am." 340 : 12. the air balloon. There was a furore, then, as iiow, over the conquest of the air. 341 : 15. dinner was publick. Any one sociably " possible " might present himself without invitation. 341 : 31. expiatory. Johnson_went on the fiftieth anniver- sary of his disobedience. 345 : 28. Te teneam moriens. My dying hand clings to thine. Langton had taken lodgings in the neighborhood so as to be at Johnson's call in the last hours. 347 : 26. renowned edifice. The funeral services were so simple — without music — that Sir John Haw^kins, the exec- utor, came in for much criticism. Dean Stanley calls atten- I tion to the fact that not many feet distant from Dr. Johnson lies his arch-adversary, Macpherson. An unexpurgated edition for library and general use. Under the general editorship of Professor William Allen Neilson of Harvard University and Professor Ashley Horace Tldrxdike of Columbia University. Notes, glossaries, and introductions scholarlv and unobtrusive. Pocket Classics Edition?, cloth, 25 cents each Superior Clotfi Edition, jj cents each De Luxe Edition, leather, 33 cents each All's Well That Ends Well. (Lowes.) Antony and Cleopatra. (Benedict.) As You Like It. (Shackford.) Comedy of Errors. (Padelford.) Coriolanus. (Sherman.) Cymbeline. (Howe.) Hamlet. (Baker.) Henry IV, Part I. (Chandler.) Henry IV, Part II. (Hanscom.) Henry V. (Mott.) Henry VI, Part I. (Pound.) Henry VI, Part II. (Barnwell.) Henry VI, Part HI. (Law.) Henry VIII. (Dunlap.) Julius Caesar. (Lovett.) * King John. (Belden.) King Lear. (Gildersleeve.) Love's Labour's Lost. (Royster.) Macbeth. (Brown.) Measure for Measure. (Morris.) Merchant of Venice. (Ayres.) Merry Wives of Windsor. (Emery.) Midsummer-Night's Dream. (Cunliffe.) Much Ado About Nothing. (Lawrence.) Otlic-llo. (Parrot t.) Pericles. (Smith.) Richard II. (Craige.) Richard III. (Churchill.) Romeo and Juliet. (Neilson and Thorndike.) The Sonnets. (Alden.) Taming of the Shrew. (Tupper.) The Tempest. (Greene.) Timon of Athens. (Fletcher.) Titus Andronicus. (Stoll.) Troilus and Cressida. (Tatlock.) Twelfth Night. (Hart.) Two Gentlemen of Verona. (Sampson.) Venus and Adonis, and Lucrece. (Brown.) Winter's Tale. (Wylie.) • i Composition By Professor HENRY S. CANBY, Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University, and Mr. JOHN B. OPDYCKE, High School of Commerce, New York City Cloth, 12mo, 593 pages, $1:00 The most characteristic feature of this book is that the authors see the end from the beginning and never lose sight of it. That end is the ability on the part of the pupil to write clearly, correctly, and intelligently. From start to finish the appeal is to the intelli- gence rather than to mere form. The fact that before all else there must be something to say is emphasized in the first two chapters on Composition and Shaping the Material. The remainder of the book is simply a stud} ol different ways and the best ways of saying what you want to say. The manner of approach is psychological. Part I contains (i) choice of subject; (2) arrangement of what you want to say; (3) the use of the sentence as the expression of a single thought; (4) the use of the paragraph; (5) the structure of the whole com- position; (6) the choice of the right word to Express meaning nicely. Part II is a study of the recognized forms of composition, exposition, argument, description, narration, the story. In Part III, Aids to Composition, there are given for reference -necessary details concerning spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammatical forms, figures of spe*y\ etc. Throughout the book there are abundant exercises and illustrative excerpts that serve to emphasize the point under consideration. The book is a unit, the plan works. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York Studies in Literature By FREDERICK MONROE TISDEL Assistant Professor of English in the University of Missouri. Cloth, i2?no, illustrated, 333 pages, list price $ .go In Part I of this book the author introduces the student to more than twenty standard English classics, giving in connection with each a brief explanatory introduction, suggestions for study and topics for oral and written discussion. These classics are grouped with respect to the dif- ferent types of literature which they represent, — epic, drama, essay, novel, etc., and there is a brief exposition of the type. The result Js that in the mind of the reader the individual masterpiece and the type with its characteristics are inseparably connected. Part II consists of a brief but masterly survey of English literature. The book as a whole serves to systematize and unify the study of sec- ondary school literature, — a most desirable end. Professor E. A. Cross, State Teacher-: O -iege, Greeley, Colo. " It meets with my heartiest approval. It is brief considers all the writers high school students need to kno^ , touches the interesting features in the lives and works of these men, — about all you could want it to do." Mr. John B. Opdycke, English Department of the High School of Commerce, New York City. " I like it very much indeed. It has 'v enough in its review of the history of English literature, and its ment of the classics is restrained and dignified. So far as I h this is the only book that combines the two in one volur" against the use of an abstract History of English Liter- school and I am all in favor of putting into the rr some book that analyzes classics fully and v- book seems to have combined the two in ju c treated them in just the right manner." THE MACMIL 1 ,i\ T Y Publishers 64-66 F: A New York Boston Chicago Atlai San Francisco \RTIAL LIST OF THE GOLDEN TREASURY SERIES Edited by F. T. PALGRAVE Cloth 16mo Each, $1.00 net \ Addison, Joseph. Essays, Arnold, Matthew. Poems. 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