Library of English Classics


BOSWELL




MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
LONDON  BOMBAY * CALCUTTA
MADRAS ' MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK * BOSTON CHICAGO
DALLAS * SAN FRANCISCO
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
TORONTO




The Life of
Samuel Johnson, LL.D.


By James


Boswell,


Esq.


IN THREE VOLS.-VOL. III.
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON
1922




COPYRIGHT
First Edition "1 Library of English Classic," 19goo
Reprirted, i9o6, 1912, 1922.


"  I I B., ILRINTED IN GREAT BERITAIN




THE LIFE
OF
SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.
APRIL 17, being Good Friday, I waited on Johnson as
usual. I observed at breakfast that although it was a part
of his abstemious discipline on this most solemn fast, to
take no milk in his tea, yet when Mrs. Desmoulins inadvertently poured it in, he did not reject it. I talked of
the strange indecision of mind, and imbecility in the
common occurrences of life, which we may observe in
some people. JOHNSON: "Why, Sir, I am in the habit
of getting others to do things for me." BOSWELL
"What, Sir! have you that weakness?"   JOHNSON
"Yes, Sir. 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 such extravagance or bad management, that
he was living much beyond his income, his lady had objected to the cutting of a pickled mango, and that I had
taken an opportunity to ask the price of it, and found
that it was only two shillings; so here was a very poor
saving. JOHNSON   " Sir, that is the blundering economy
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 of Europe, for which I had
a variety of materials collected. JOHNSON: "I do not
III.                                     B




2


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


say, Sir, you may not publish your travels; but I give
you my opinion, that you would lessen yourself by it.
What can you tell of countries so well known as those
upon the continent of Europe, which you have visited?"
BOSWELL: "But I can give an entertaining narrative, with
many incidents, anecdotes, jeux d'esprit, and remarks, so
as to make very pleasant reading." JOHNSON: "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 1 The world is now not contented
to be merely entertained by a traveller's narrative; they
want to learn something 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 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 produced by them."   BOSWELL: "I cannot
agree with you, Sir. People would like to read what you
say of any thing. Suppose a face has been painted by
fifty painters before; still we love to see it done by Sir
Joshua." JOHNSON    "True, Sir, but Sir Joshua cannot
paint a face when he has not time to look on it." BosWELL   "Sir, a sketch of any sort by him is valuable.
And, Sir, to talk to you in your own style (raising my
voice, and shaking my head), you should have give us
your travels in France. I am sure I am right, and there's
an end on't."
I said to him that it was certainly true, as my friend
Dempster had observed in his letter to me upon the
subject, that a great part of what was in his "Journey
to the Western Islands of Scotland," had been in his
mind before he left London. JOHNSON: "Why yes, Sir,
the topics were; and 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
1 I believe, however, I shall follow my own opinion; for the
world has shewn a very flattering partiality to my writings, on
many occasions. B. He did not follow it.




AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE


3


one mode of life with another. As the Spanish proverb
says, 'He, who would bring home the wealth of the
Indies, must carry the wealth of the Indies with him.' So
it is in travelling; a man must carry knowledge with him,
if he would bring home knowledge."  BOSWELL  "The
proverb, I suppose, Sir, means, he must cairry a large stock
with him to trade with." JOHNSON ~ "Yes, Sir "
It was a delightful day * as we walked to St. Clement's
Church, I again remarked that Fleet Street was the most
cheerful scene in the world. "Fleet Street," said I, "is
in my mind more delightful than Tempe."  JOHNSON
"Ay, Sir; but let it be compared with Mull."
There was a very numerous congregation to-day at StClement's Church, which Dr. Johnson said he observed
with pleasure.
And now I am to give a pretty full account of one of
the most curious instances in Johnson's life, of which he
himself 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.
He knew me, and asked if I remembered one Edwards;
I did not at first recollect the name, but gradually as we
walked along recovered it, and told him a conversation
that had passed at an alehouse between us. My purpose
is to continue our acquaintance." (Prayers and Meditations,
I64.)
It was in Butcher Row that this meeting happened.
Mr. Edwards, who was a decent-looking elderly man In
gray clothes and a wig of many curls, accosted Johnson
with familiar confidence, knowing who he was, while
Johnson returned his salutation with a courteous formality,
as to a stranger. But as soon as Edwards had brought
to his recollection their having been at Pembroke College
together nine-and-forty years ago, he seemed much pleased,
asked where he lived, and said he should be glad to see
him at Bolt Court. EDWARDS: "Ah, Sir! we are old
men now.' JOHNSON (who never liked to think of being
old): " Don't let us discourage one another." EDWARDS.
" Why, Doctor, you look stout and hearty. I am happy




4


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


to see you so; for the newspapers told us you were very
ill." JOHNSON   'Ay, Sir, they are always telling lies of
us old fellows."
Wishing to be present at more of so singular a conversation as that between two fellow-collegians, who had lived
forty years in London without ever having chanced- to
meet, I whispered to Mr. Edwards that Dr Johnson was
going home, and that he had better accompany him now.
So Edwards walked along with us, I eagerly assisting to
keep up the conversation. Mr. Edwards informed Dr.
Johnson that he had practised long as a solicitor in
Chancery, but that he now lived in the country upon a
little farm, about sixty acres, just by Stevenage in Hertfordshire, and that he came-to London (to Barnard's Inn,
No. 6) generally twice a week. Johnson appearing to me
in a reverie, Mr Edwards addressed himself to me, and
expatiated on the pleasure of living in the country  BosWELL "I have no notion of this, Sir. What you have
to entertain you, is, I think, exhausted in half an hour."
EDWARDS     " What! don't you love to    have hope
realized? 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 (who we
did not imagine was attending)  "You find, 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.  For even then, Sir (turning to me), he was
delicate in language, and we all feared him." 1 JOHNSON
(to Edwards)   " From  your having practised the law
long, Sir, I presume you must be rich." EDWARDS
"No, Sir; I got a good deal of money; but I had a
number of poor relations to whom I gave great part
of it."  JOHNSON: "Sir, you have been rich in the
1 Johnson said to me afterwards, " Sir, they respected me for
literature; and yet it was not great but by comparison. Sir, it
is amazing how little literature there is in the world." B.




AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE
most valuable sense of the word."   EDWARDS' "Bul
I shall not die rich."  JOHNSON' "Nay, sure, Sir, it is
better to live rich, than to die rich."  EDWARDS: "1
wish I had continued at college."  JOHNSON' "Why
do you wish that, Sir?"  EDWARDS   "Because I think
I should have had a much easier life than mine has been.
I should have been a parson, and had a good living, like
Bloxham and several others, and lived comfortably."
JOHNSON: "Sir, the life of a parson, of a conscientious
clergyman, 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 clergyman's life 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 together at an alehouse near
Pembroke Gate? At that time, you told me of the
Eton boy, who, when verses on our SAVIOUR's turning
water into wine were prescribed as an exercise, brought
up a single line, which was highly admired
Vidit et erubuit lympha pudica DEUM.' 1
And I told   you of another fine line in 'Camden's
Remains,' a 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.'"
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."1 Unde rubor vestris et non sua purpura lymphis?
Qua rosa mirantes tam nova mutat aquas?
Numen, conviva, praesens agnoscite numen,
Nympha pudica DEUM vidit, et erubuit."
The lines are Crashaw's (who was a Charterhouse boy), and
were first published in his Epigrammata Sacra at Cambridge in
I634.




6


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Mr. Burke, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr. Courtenay, Mr.
Malone, and, indeed, all the eminent men to whom I
have mentioned this, have thought it an exquisite trait
of character  The truth is, that philosophy, like religion,
is too generally supposed to be hard and severe, at least
so grave as to exclude all gaiety.
EDWARDS " I have been twice married, Doctor. You,
I suppose, have never known what it was to have a
wife."  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 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.  Early in life I drank wine    for many years I
drank none, I then for some years drank a great deal."
EDWARDS " Some hogsheads, I warrant you." JOHNSON
" I then had a severe illness, and left it off, and I have
never began it again. I never felt any difference upon
myself from eating one thing rather than another, nor
from one kind of weather rather than another.  There
are people, I believe, who feel a difference; but I am
not one of them. And as to regular meals, I have fasted
from the Sunday's dinner to the Tuesday's dinner without
any inconvenience. I believe it is best to eat just as one
is hungry but a man who is in business, or a man who
has a family, must have stated meals. I am a straggler.
I may leave this town and go to Grand Cairo, without
being missed here or observed    there."  EDWARDS
"Don't you eat supper, Sir?" JOHNSON: "No, Sir"
EDWARDS * "For my part, now, I consider supper as a
turnpike through which one must pass, in order to get
to bed."1
JOHNSON   "You are a lawyer, Mr Edwards. Lawyers
know life practically.  A  bookish man should always
1 I am not absolutely sure but this was my own suggestion,
though it is truly in the character of Edwards. B.




AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE


7


have them to converse with. They have what he wants."
EDWARDS: "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."
Mr. Edwards mentioned a gentleman who had left his
whole fortune to Pembroke College. JOHNSON: "Whether
to leave one's whole fortune to a college be right, must
depend upon circumstances. I would leave the interest
of a fortune I bequeathed to a college to my relations
or my friends, for their lives. It is the same thing to
a college, which is a permanent society, whether it gets
the money now or twenty years hence; and I would
wish to make my relations or friends feel the benefit
of it."
This interview confirmed my opinion of Johnson's
most humane and benevolent heart.   His cordial and
placid behaviour to an old fellow-collegian, a man so
different from himself; and his telling him that he would
go down to his farm and visit him, shewed a kindness
of disposition very rare at an advanced age. He observed,
"How wonderful it was that they had both been in
London forty years, without having ever once met, and
both walkers in the street too!" Mr. Edwards, when
going away, again recurred to his consciousness of senility,
and looking full in Johnson's face, said to him, " You'll
find in Dr. Young,
'O my coevals! remnants of yourselves."'
Johnson did not relish this at all; but shook his head
with impatience. Edwards walked off seemingly highly
pleased with the honour of having been thus noticed by
Dr. Johnson. 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
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 much, and I think so justly; for




8


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


who has not felt the painful effect of the dreary void,
when there is a total silence in a company for any length
of time; or, which is as bad, or perhaps worse, when
the conversation is with difficulty kept up by a perpetual
effort?
Johnson once observed to me, "Tom    Tyers described
me the best   'Sir,' said he, 'you are like a ghost * you
never speak till you are spoken to.'"
The gentleman whom he thus familiarly mentioned was
Mr. Thomas Tyers, son of Mr. Jonathan Tyers, the
founder of that excellent place of public amusement,
Vauxhall Gardens, which must ever be an estate to its
proprietor, as it is peculiarly adapted to the taste of the
English nation; there being a mixture of curious show,gay exhibition,-music, vocal and instrumental, not too
refined for the general ear;-for all which only a shilling
is paid,2 and, though last, not least, good eating and
drinking for those who choose to purchase that regale.
Mr. Thomas Tyers was bred to the law; but having a
handsome fortune, vivacity of temper, and eccentricity of
mind, he could not confine himself to the regularity of
practice. He therefore ran about the world with a pleasant
carelessness, amusing everybody by his desultory conversation. He abounded in anecdote, but was not sufficiently
attentive to accuracy  I therefore cannot venture to avail
myself much of a biographical sketch of Johnson which he
published, being one among the various persons ambitious
of appending their names to that of my illustrious friend.
That sketch is, however, an entertaining little collection
of fragments.   Those which he published of Pope and
1 He is described in The Idler (48) under the name of Tom
Restless, as was pointed out to Nichols by Johnson himself.
Croker.
2 In summer 1792, additional and more expensive decorations
having been introduced, the price of admission was raised to 2s.
I cannot approve of this. The company may be more select;
but a number of the honest commonalty are, I fear, excluded
from sharing in elegant and innocent entertainment. An attempt
to abolish the is. gallery at the playhouse has been very properly
counteracted. B,




JOHNSON AND THE LAW


9


Addison are of higher merit; but his fame must chiefly
rest upon his "Political Conferences," in which he introduces several eminent persons delivering their sentiments
in the way of dialogue, and discovers a considerable
share of learning, various knowledge, and discernment of
character. This much may I be allowed to say of a man
who was exceedingly obliging to me, and who lived with
Dr Johnson in as easy a manner as almost any of his
very numerous acquaintance.
Mr Edwards had said to me aside, that Dr. Johnson
should have been of a profession. I repeated the remark
to Johnson that I might have his own thoughts on the
subject. JOHNSON: "Sir, it would have been better that
I had been of a profession. I ought to have been a
lawyer."  BOSwELL: " I do not think, Sir, it would have
been better, for we should not have had the English
Dictionary." JOHNSON: "But you would have had
Reports."  BOSWELL: "Ay; but there would not have
been another who could have written the Dictionary.
There would have been many very good judges. Suppose
you had been Lord Chancellor; you would have delivered
opinions with more extent of mind, and in a more
ornamental manner, than perhaps any Chancellor ever
did, or ever will do. But, I believe, causes have been as
judiciously decided as you could have done." JOHNSON.
"Yes, Sir  Property has been as well settled."
Johnson, however, had a noble ambition floating in his
mind, and had, undoubtedly, often speculated on the
possibility of his supereminent powers being rewarded in
this great and liberal country by the highest honours of
the State. Sir William Scott informs me that, upon the
death of the late Lord Lichfield, who was Chancellor of
the University of Oxford, he 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 attained to the dignity of the peerage; and
now that the title 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




BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


will you vex me by suggesting this when it is too
late?"
But he did not repine at the prosperity of others. The
late Dr. Thomas Leland told Mr Courtenay that, when
Mr. Edmund Burke shewed Johnson his fine house and
lands near Beaconsfield, Johnson coolly said, " Non equidem
invideo; miror magis." 1
Yet no man had a higher notion of the dignity of
literature than Johnson, or was more determined in
maintaining the respect which he justly considered as due
to it. Of this, besides the general tenor of his conduct in society, some characteristical instances may be
mentioned.
He told Sir Joshua Reynolds, that once when he dined
in a numerous company of booksellers, where, the room
being small, the head of the table, at which he sat, was
almost close to the fire, he persevered in suffering a great
1 I am not entirely without suspicion that Johnson may have
felt a little momentary envy; for no man loved the good things
of this life better than he did; and he could not but be conscious
that he deserved a much larger share of them than he ever had.
I attempted in a newspaper to comment on the above passage in
the manner of Warburton, who must be allowed to have shewn
uncommon ingenuity in giving to any author's text whatever
meaning he chose it should carry. As this imitation may amuse
my readers, I shall here introduce it  "No saying of DR. JOHNSON'S
has been more misunderstood than his applying to MR. BURKE
when he first saw him at his fine place at Beaconsfield, Non
equidem invideo; miror magis. These two celebrated men had
been friends for many years before Mr. Burke entered on his
parliamentary career. They were both writers, both members of
THE LITERARY CLUB; when, therefore, Dr. Johnson saw Mr.
Burke in a situation so much more splendid than that to which he
himself had attained, he did not mean to express that he thought
it a disproportionate prosperity; but while he, as a philosopher,
asserted an exemption from envy, non equidem invideo, he went on
in the words of the poet, miror magis; thereby signifying, either
that he was occupied in admiring what he was glad to see; or,
perhaps, that considering the general lot of men of superior abilities,
he wondered, that Fortune, who is represented as blind, should, in
this instance, have been so just,",B




LORD CAMDEN


I I


deal of inconvenience from the heat, rather than quit his
place, and let one of them sit above him.
Goldsmith, in his diverting simplicity, complained one
day, in a mixed company, of Lord Camden. "I met
him," said he, " at Lord Clare's house in the country, and
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," said he, " Dr. Goldsmith is in the right. A
nobleman ought to have made up to such a man as
Goldsmith; and I think it is much against Lord Camden
that he neglected him."
Nor could he patiently endure to hear that such respect
as he thought due only to higher intellectual qualities,
should be bestowed on men of slighter, though perhaps
more amusing, talents. I told him, that one morning,
when I went to breakfast with Garrick, who was very
vain of his intimacy with Lord Camden, he 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? "-" 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 player "
Sir Joshua Reynolds observed, with great truth, that
Johnson considered Garrick 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.
Having fallen into a very serious frame of mind, in
which mutual expressions of kindness passed between us,
such as would be thought too vain in me to repeat, I
talked with regret of the sad inevitable certainty that one
of us must survive the other. JOHNSON    "Yes, Sir,
that is an affecting consideration. I remember Swift, in
one of his letters to Pope, says, ' I intend to come over,
that we may meet once more; and when we must part,
it is what happens to all human beings.'"  BoswtLL




12


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


"The hope that we shall see our departed friends again
must support the mind." JOHNSON' "Why yes, Sir."
BOSWELL: "There is a strange unwillingness to part
with life, independent of serious fears as to futurity. A
reverend friend of ours (naming him) tells me, that he
feels an uneasiness at the thoughts of leaving his house,
his study, his books."  JOHNSON. "This is foolish in
[Percy]. A man need not be uneasy on these grounds;
for, as he will retain his consciousness, he may say with
the philosopher, Omnia mea mecum porto."  BOSWELL'
"True, Sir; we may carry our books in our heads; but
still there is something painful in the thought of leaving
for ever what has given us pleasure. I remember, many
years ago, when my imagination was warm, and I happened
to be in a melancholy mood, it distressed me to think of
going into a state of being in which Shakespeare's poetry
did not exist. A lady whom I then much admired, a
very amiable woman, humoured my fancy, and relieved
me by saying, 'The first thing you will meet in the other
world, will be an elegant copy of Shakespeare's works
presented to you.'" Dr. Johnson smiled benignantly at
this, and did not appear to disapprove of the notion.
We went to St. Clement's Church again in the afternoon, and then returned and drank tea and coffee in Mrs.
Williams's room; Mrs. Desmoulins doing the honours of
the tea-table. I observed that he would not even look at
a proof-sheet of his " Life of Waller " on Good Friday.
Mr. Allen, the printer, brought a book on agriculture,
which was printed, and was soon to be published. It was
a very strange performance, the author having mixed in it
his own thoughts upon various topics, along with his
remarks on ploughing, sowing, and other farming operations. He seemed to be an absurd profane fellow, and
had introduced in his book many sneers at religion, with
equal ignorance and conceit. Dr. Johnson permitted me
to read some passages aloud. One was, that he resolved
to work on Sunday, and did work, but he owned he felt
some weak compunction; and he had this very curious
reflection-" I was born in the wilds of Christianity, and




SEEKING AFTER MERIT


'3


the briars and thorns still hang about me." Dr. Johnson
could not help laughing at this ridiculous image, yet was
very angry at the fellow's impiety. "However," said he,
"the reviewers will make him hang himself." He, however, observed, " That formerly there might have been a
dispensation obtained for working on Sunday in the time
of harvest." Indeed in ritual observances, were all the
ministers of religion what they should be, and what many
of them are, such a power might be wisely and safely
lodged with the Church.
On Saturday, April I4, I drank tea with him. He
praised the late Mr Duncombe, of Canterbury, as a
pleasing man. " He used to come to me; I did not seek
much after him. 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: "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 am happy to mention another instance which I discovered, of his seeking after a man of merit. Soon after
the Honourable Daines Barrington had published his
excellent " Observations on the Statutes," Johnson waited
on that worthy and learned gentleman; and, having told
him his name, courteously said, " I have read your book,
Sir, with great pleasure, and wish to be better known to
you." Thus began an acquaintance, which was continued
with mutual regard as long as Johnson lived.
Talking of a recent seditious delinquent,2 he said, "They
should set him in the pillory, that he may be punished in
a way that would disgrace him." I observed, that the
pillory does not always disgrace. And I mentioned an
1 For this pious impostor see his own memoirs, published in
1764, and Appendix A. vol. iii. of Dr Hill's edition. He is
mentioned also in Humphry Clinker.
2 Horne Tooke, who, in the previous winter, had been
sentenced to a year's imprisonment and a fine of /200 for a
seditious libel. Croker.




14


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


instance of a gentleman, who I thought was not dishonoured by it.- JOHNSON "Ay, but he was, Sir. He
could not mouth and strut as he used to do, after having
been there. People are not willing to ask a man to their
tables, who has stood in the pillory "
The gentleman (see Vol. II. p. 450) who had dined with
us at Dr Percy's came in. Johnson attacked the Americans
with intemperate vehemence of abuse. I said something
in their favour; and added that I was always sorry when
he talked on that subject. This, it seems, exasperated
him; though he said nothing at the time. The cloud was
charged with sulphureous vapour, which was afterwards to
burst in thunder.-We talked of a gentleman [Langton]
who was running out his fortune in London; and I said,
"We must get him out of it. All his friends must quarrel
with him, and that will soon drive him away" JOHNSON
"Nay, Sir, we'll 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 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):
" Because, Sir, I had nothing ready. A man cannot strike
till he has weapons."  This was a candid and pleasant
confession.
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 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 conceit of parts has
some foundation. To be sure it should not be. But who
1 Probably Dr. Shebbeare, a political writer in 1758, who, after
having been twice convicted and punished for seditious libels on
the government, ended as its pensioner.




EASTER DAY, 1778                  15
is without it?"  BOSWELL  " Yourself, Sir"  JOHNSON
"Why I play no tricks * I lay no traps."  BOSWELL
"No, Sir. You are six feet high, and you only do not
stoop."
We talked of the numbers of people that sometimes
have composed the household of great families. I mentioned that there were a hundred in the family of the
present Earl of Eglinton's father. Dr Johnson seeming
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, you may be long enough." BosWELL * "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 readily get farther on. We grow to five feet pretty
readily: but it is not so easy to grow to seven."
On Sunday, April I9, being Easter Day, after the
solemnities of the festival in St. Paul's Church, I visited
him but could not stay to dinner  I expressed a wish to
have the arguments for Christianity always in readiness,
that my religious faith might be as firm and clear as any
proposition whatever, so that I need not be under the least
uneasiness, when it should be attacked. JOHNSON. " Sir,
you cannot answer all objections. You have demonstration
for a First Cause * you see he must be good as well as
powerful, because there is nothing to make him otherwise,
and goodness of itself is preferable. Yet you have 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.
But of that we were not sure, till we had a positive
revelation." I told him, that his " Rasselas " had often
made me unhappy; for it represented the misery of human
life so well, and so convincingly to a thinking mind, that
if at any time the impression wore off, and I felt myself
easy, I began to suspect some delusion.
On Monday, April 20, I found him at home in the
morning. We talked of a gentleman [Langton], who we




,6       BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON
apprehended was gradually involving his circumstances by
bad management. JOHNSON      "Wasting a fortune is
evaporation by a thousand imperceptible means. If it
were a stream, they'd stop it. You must speak to him.
It is really miserable. Were he a gamester, it could be
said he had hopes of winning   Were he a bankrupt in
trade, he might have grown rich; but he has neither
spirit to spend, nor resolution to spare. He does not
spend fast enough to have pleasure from it. He has the
crime of prodigality, and the wretchedness of parsimony.
If a man is killed in a duel, he is killed as many a one has
been killed, but it is a sad thing for a man to lie down
and die, to bleed to death, because he has not fortitude
enough to sear the wound, or even to stitch it up." I
cannot but pause a moment to admire the fecundity of
fancy, and choice of language, which in this instance, and
indeed on almost all occasions, he displayed. It was well
observed by Dr Percy, now Bishop of Dromore   "The
conversation of Johnson is strong and clear, and may
be compared to an antique statue, where every vein
and muscle is distinct and bold. Ordinary conversation
resembles an inferior cast."
On Saturday, April 25, I dined with him at Sir Joshua
Reynolds's, with the learned Dr Musgrave, Counsellor
Leyland of Ireland, son to the historian, Mrs. Cholmondeley, and some more ladies. "The Project," a new poem,
was read to the company by Dr Musgrave. JOHNSON.
Sir, it has no power. Were it not for the well-known
names with which it is filled, it would be nothing the
names carry the poet, not the poet the names."  MusGRAVE    " A  temporary poem  always entertains us."
JOHNSON   "SO does an account of the criminals hanged
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 time was no more than Richard. How
a man should say only Richard, it is not easy to imagine.




PAMPHLETS


17


But it was thus Dr Douglas was talking of Dr. Zachary
Grey, and was ascribing to him something that was written
by Dr. Richard Grey. So to correct him, Taylor said
(imitating his affected sententious emphasis and nod),
' Richard.'"
Mrs. Cholmondeley, in a high flow of spirits, exhibited
some lively sallies of hyperbolical compliment to Johnson,
with whom she had been long acquainted, and was very
easy.  He was quick in catching the manner of the
moment, and answered her somewhat in the style of the
hero of a romance, "Madam, you crown me with unfading
laurels."
I happened, I know not how, to say that a pamphlet
meant a prose piece. JOHNSON  "No, Sir. A few sheets
of poetry unbound are a pamphlet, as much as a few sheets
of prose." MUSGRAVE. "A pamphlet may be understood to mean a poetical piece in Westminster Hall, that
is, in formal language; but in common language it is
understood to mean prose."  JOHNSON (and here was
one of the many instances of his knowing clearly and
telling exactly how a thing is): "A pamphlet is understood in common language to mean prose, only from this,
that there is so much more prose written than poetry; as
when we say a book, prose is understood for the same
reason, though a book may as well be in poetry as in
prose. We understand what is most general, and we
name what is less frequent."'
We talked of a lady's verses on Ireland. Miss
REYNOLDS   " Have you seen them, Sir?"  JOHNSON.
" No, Madam, I have seen a translation from Horace, by
one of her daughters. She shewed it me." 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 be good, why not give them hearty praise?"
JOHNSON' "Why, Madam, because I have not then got
the better of my bad humour from having been shewn
III.                                     C




I 8      BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON
them. You must consider, Madam; beforehand they
may be bad, as well as good. Nobody has a right to put
another under such a difficulty, that he must either hurt
the person by telling the truth, or hurt himself by telling
what is not true." BOSWELL: "' A man often shews his
writings to people of eminence, to obtain from them,
either from their good-nature, or from their not being
able to tell the truth firmly, a commendation of which he
may afterwards avail himself." JOHNSON: "Very true,
Sir  Therefore the man, who is asked by an author, what
he thinks of his work, is put to the torture, and is not
obliged to speak the truth; so that what he says is not
considered as his opinion; yet he has said it, and cannot
retract it; and this author, when mankind are hunting
him with a canister at his tail, can say, ' I would not have
published, had not Johnson, or Reynolds, or Musgrave,
or some other good judge commended the work.' Yet I
consider it as a very difficult question in conscience,
whether one should advise a man not to publish a work, if
profit be his object; for the man may say, ' Had it not
been for you, I should have had the money.' Now you
cannot be sure; for you have only your own opinion, and
the public may think very differently"  SIR JOSHUA
REYNOLDS: "You must upon such an occasion have two
judgments; one as to the real value of the work, the
other as to what may please the general taste at the time."
JOHNSON ~ "But you can be sure of neither; and therefore I should scruple much to give a suppressive vote.
Both Goldsmith's comedies were once refused; his first
by Garrick, his second by Colman, who was prevailed on
at last by much solicitation, nay, a kind of force, to bring
it on. His ' Vicar of Wakefield,' I myself did not think
would have had much success. It was written and sold to
a bookseller, before his 'Traveller,' but published after;
so little expectation had the bookseller from it. Had it
been sold after 'The Traveller,' he might have had twice
as much money for it, though sixty guineas was no mean
price. The bookseller had the advantage of Goldsmith's
reputation from 'The Traveller' in the sale, though Gold



A LIST OF JOHNSON'S WORKS


'9


smith had it not in selling the copy."  SIR JOSHUA
REYNOLDS: "' The Beggars' Opera' affords a proof how
strangely people will differ in opinion about a literary
performance. Burke thinks it has no merit." JOHNSON:
" It was refused 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, which keeps the audience always
attentive, and dismisses them in good humour"
We went to the drawing-room, where was a considerable increase of company. Several of us got round Dr.
Johnson, and complained that he would not give us an
exact catalogue of his works, that there might be a complete edition. He smiled, and evaded our entreaties.
That he intended to do it, I have no doubt, because I
have heard him say so; and I have in my possession an
imperfect list, fairly written out, which he entitles " Historia Studiorum." I once got from one of his friends a
list, which there was pretty good reason to suppose was
accurate, for it was written down in his presence by this
friend, who enumerated each article aloud, and had some
of them mentioned to him by Mr. Levett, in concert with
whom it was made out; and Johnson who heard all this
did not contradict it. But when I shewed a copy of this
list to him, and mentioned the evidence for its exactness,
he laughed and said, "I was willing to let them go on as
they pleased, and never interfered." Upon which I read it
to him, article by article, and got him positively to own or
refuse; and then, having obtained certainty so far, I got
some other articles confirmed by him directly, and afterwards, from  time to time, made additions under his
sanction.
His friend, Edward Cave, having been mentioned, he
told us, " Cave used to sell ten thousand of ' The Gentleman's Magazine'; yet such was then his minute attention
and anxiety 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 something good next month.' "




10


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


It was observed, that avarice was inherent in some
dispositions.  JOHNSON   "No man was born a miser,
because no man was born to possession. Every man is
born cupidus-desirous of getting; but not avarusdesirous of keeping." BOSWELL " I have heard old Mr.
Sheridan maintain, with much ingenuity, that a complete
miser is a happy man; a miser who gives himself wholly
to the one passion of saving."     JOHNSON: "That is
flying in the face of all the world, who have called an
avaricious man a miser, because he is miserable. No, Sir;
a man who both spends and saves money is the happiest
man, because he has both enjoyments."
The conversation having turned on bon-mots, he quoted,
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." I He admitted that Mr. Burke's classical pun
upon Mr. Wilkes's being carried on the shoulders of the
mob,
" —          numerisque fertur
Lege solutus," (Hor. Od. iv. z.)
was admirable; and though he was strangely unwilling to
allow to that extraordinary man the talent of wit,2 he also
laughed with approbation at another of his playful conceits;
1 The anecdote is told by Menage as a pleasantry of the Duc
d'Uzis, " chevalier d'honneur " to Louis XIV.'s queen; but
according to another authority the duke was a blundering fellow
on whom the courtiers used to father all manner of absurdities.
Croker.
2 See this question fully investigated in the notes upon my
yournal of a Tour to the Hebrides, edit. 3, p. 21, et seq. And here,
as a lawyer mindful of the maxim Suum culque tribuito, I cannot
forbear to mention, that the additional note beginning with "I
find since the former edition," is not mine, but was obligingly
furnished by Mr. Malone, who was so kind as to superintend the
press while I was in Scotland, and the first part of the second
edition was printing. He would not allow me to ascribe it to its
proper author; but, as it is exquisitely acute and elegant, I take
this opportunity, without his knowledge, to do him justice. B.




SELF-CENSURE


21


which was, that " Horace has in one line given a description of a good desirable manor:
'Est modus in rebus, sunt certi denique fines;'
(Sat. i. I.)
that is to say, a modus as to the tithes, and certain fines."
He observed, "A man cannot with propriety speak of
himself, except he relates simple facts; as, 'I was at
Richmond:' or what depends on mensuration; as, (I
am six feet high.' He is sure he has been at Richmond;
he is sure he is six feet high; but he cannot be sure he
is wise, or that he has any other excellence. Then, all
censure 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." BosWELL: "Sometimes it may proceed from a man's strong
consciousness of his faults being observed. He knows
that others would throw him down, and therefore he had
better lie down softly of his own accord."
On Tuesday, April 28, he was engaged to dine at
General Paoli's, where, as I have already observed, I was
still entertained in elegant hospitality, and with all the
ease and comfort of a home. I called on him, and accompanied him in a hackney coach. We stopped first at
the bottom of Hedge Lane, into which he went to leave a
letter "with good news for a poor man in distress," as he
told me. I did not question him particularly as to this.1
He himself often resembled Lady Bolingbroke's lively
description of Pope. that " he was un politique aux choux
etaux raves." He would say, " I dine to-day in Grosvenor
Square;" this might be with a duke; or, perhaps, "I
dine to-day at the other end of the town;" or, "A
gentleman of great eminence called on me yesterday "He loved thus to keep things floating in conjecture. Omne
1 A poor painter, Mauritius Lowe, lived at this time at 3 Hedge
Lane, Charing Cross (Garrick Correspondence, ii. 305). P. Cunningham. One of his pictures had been accepted for the Royal
Academy this year on Johnson's recommendation, as is shewn
by a copy of the catalogue in the Academy's library. Napier.




2


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


ignotum pro magnifico est.  I believe I ventured to dissipate
the cloud, to unveil the mystery, more freely and frequently
than any of his friends. We stopped again at Wirgman's,
the well-known toy-shop, in St. James's Street at the corner
of St. James's Place, to which he had been directed, but
not clearly, for he searched about some time, and could
not find it at first; and said, "To direct one only to a
corner shop is toying with one." I suppose he meant this
as a play upon the word toy; it was the first time that I
knew him stoop to such sport. After he had been some
time in the shop, he sent for me to come out of the coach,
and help him to choose a pair of silver buckles, as those
he had 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 clothes; and the dark colour, from which he
never deviated, was enlivened by metal buttons. His
wigs, too, were much better; and during their travels in
France, he was furnished with a Paris-made wig, of handsome construction. This choosing of silver buckles was
a negotiation  "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." Such were the principles of
the business; and, after some examination, he was fitted.
As we drove along, I found him in a talking humour, of
which I availed myself.  BOSWELL: "I was this morning
in Ridley's shop, Sir, and was told, that the collection
called 'Johnsoniana' has sold very much."    JOHNSON:
"Yet the 'Journey to the Hebrides' has not had a great
sale."1  BOSWELL: "That is strange."   JOHNSON '-Yes,
1 Here he either was mistaken, or had a different notion of an
extensive sale from what is generally entertained: for the fact is,
that four thousand copies of that excellent work were sold very
quickly. A new edition has been printed since his death, besides
that in the collection of his works. B. Another edition has been
printed since Mr. Boswell wrote the above, besides repeated
editions in the general collection of his works during the last ten
years. Malone. Hannah More says (Life, i. 39) that Cadell, the
publisher, told her that 4000 copies were sold in the first week.
Croker.




THE FIRST WHIG


23


Sir; for in that book I have told the world a great deal
that they did not know before."
BOSWELL: "I drank chocolate, Sir, this morning with
Mr. Eld: and, to my no small surprise, found him to be
a Saffordshire Whig, a being which I did not believe had
existed." JOHNSON  "Sir, there are rascals in all countries."
BOSWELL: "Eld said, a Tory was a creature generated
between a non-juring parson and one's grandmother."
JOHNSON: "And I have always said, the first Whig was
the Devil." BOSWELL: "He certainly was, Sir. The
Devil was impatient of subordination; he was the first
who resisted power:
'Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.'"
At General Paoli's were Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr
Langton, Marchese Gherardi of Lombardy, and Mr. John
Spottiswoode the younger, of Spottiswoode,l the solicitor.
At this time fears of invasion were circulated; to obviate
which, Mr. Spottiswoode observed, that Mr. Fraser the
engineer, who had lately come from Dunkirk, said, that
the French had the same fears of us. JOHNSON: "It is
thus that mutual cowardice keeps us in peace. Were one
half of mankind brave, and one half cowards, the brave
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."
We talked of drinking wine. JOHNSON. "I require
wine, only when I am alone. I have then often wished
for it, and often taken it."  SPOTTISWOODE * "What, by
way of a companion, Sir?"   JOHNSON: "To get rid of
myself, to send myself away. Wine gives great pleasure;
and every pleasure is of itself a good. It is a good,
1 In the phraseology of Scotland, I should have said, " Mr. John
Spottiswoode, the younger, of that ilk." Johnson knew that sense
of the word very well, and has thus explained it in his Dictionary,
voce ILK-" It also signifies 'the same,' as, Mackintosh of that ilk,
denotes a gentleman whose surname and the title of his estate are
the same." B.




24


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


unless counterbalanced by evil. A man may have a
strong reason not to drink wine; and that may be
greater than the pleasure. Wine makes a man better
pleased with himself. I do not say that it makes him
more pleasing to others. Sometimes it does. But the
danger is, that while a man grows better pleased with
himself, he may be growing less pleasing to others.1 Wine
gives a man nothing. It neither gives him knowledge
nor wit; it only animates a man, and enables him to bring
out what a dread of the company has repressed. It only
puts in motion what has been locked up in frost. But
this may be good, or it may be bad." SPOTTISWOODE:
" So, Sir, wine is a key which opens a box; but this box
may be either full or empty?"  JOHNSON' "Nay, Sir,
conversation is the key * wine is a pick-lock, which forces
open the box, and injures it. A man should cultivate his
mind so as to have that confidence and readiness without
wine, which wine gives." BOSWELL: "The great difficulty
of resisting wine is from 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. They don't care a farthing whether he drinks
wine or not." SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS "Yes, they do
for the time." JOHNSON: "For the time!-if they care
this minute, they forget it the next. And as for the
good, worthy man; how do you know he is good and
worthy? No good and worthy man will insist upon
another man's drinking wine. 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,
1 It is observed in Waller's Life, in the Biographia Britannica,
that he drank only water; and that while he sat in a company
who were drinking wine, " he had the dexterity to accommodate
his discourse to the pitch of theirs as it sunk." If excess in drinking be meant, the remark is acutely just. But surely, a moderate
use of wine gives a gaiety of spirits which water-drinkers know
not. B.




WINE AND WATER


25


when they say they have had the wine twenty years;three would rather save the wine;-one, perhaps, cares.
I allow it is something to please one's company; and
people are always pleased with those who partake pleasure
with them. But after a man has brought himself to
relinquish the great personal pleasure which arises from
drinking wine, any other consideration is a trifle. To
please others by drinking wine, is something only, if
there be nothing against it. I should, however, be sorry
to offend worthy men:
'Curst be the verse, how well so e'er it flow,
That tends to make one worthy man my foe."'
BOSWELL. " Curst be the spring, the water."  JOHNSON
" But let us consider what a sad thing it would be, if we
were obliged to drink or do any thing else that may happen
to be agreeable to the company where we are." LANGTON   " By the same rule you must join with a gang of
cut-purses." JOHNSON   " Yes, Sir: but yet we must do
justice to wine; we must allow it the power it possesses.
To make a man pleased with himself, let me tell you, is
doing a very great thing
Si patria volumus, si nobis vivere cari."'
I was at this time myself a water-drinker, upon trial,
by Johnson's recommendation. JOHNSON: " Boswell is a
bolder combatant than Sir Joshua he argues for wine without the help of wine; but Sir Joshua with it." SIR JOSHUA
REYNOLDS: "But to please one's company is a strong
motive." JOHNSON (who from drinking only water, supposed everybody who drank wine to be elevated) "I 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' "At first the taste of wine was disagreeable
to me; but I brought myself to drink it, that I might be
like other people. The pleasure of drinking wine is so




26


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


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. This is one of the
disadvantages of wine, it makes a man mistake 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.-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 I believed was really uneasy if his company would not drink hard. JOHNSON:
"That is from having had people about him whom he has
been accustomed to command." BOSWELL: "Supposing I
should be tite-a-tte with him at table." JOHNSON  "Sir,
there is no more reason for your drinking with him, than
his being sober with you." BOSWELL: " Why that is true;
for it would do him less hurt to be sober, than it would
do me to get drunk."  JOHNSON  "Yes, Sir: and from
what I have heard of him, one would not wish to sacrifice
himself to such a man. If he must always have somebody to drink with him, he should buy a slave, and then
he would be sure to have it. They who submit to drink
as another pleases, make themselves his slaves." BosWELL' "But, Sir, you will surely make allowance for the
duty of hospitality. A gentleman who loves drinking,
comes to visit me." JOHNSON "Sir, a man knows whom
he visits, he comes to the table of a sober man." BosWELL: "But, Sir, you and I should not have been so well
received in the Highlands and Hebrides, if I had not
drunk with our worthy friends. Had I drunk water only
as you did, they would not have been so cordial." JOHNSON: " Sir William Temple mentions, that in his travels
through the Netherlands he had two or three gentlemen
with him; and when a bumper was necessary, he put it on
them. Were I to travel again through the islands, I would




A DINNER AT ALLAN RAMSAY'S


27


have Sir Joshua with me to take the bumpers." BOSWELL'
" But, Sir, let me put a case. Suppose Sir Joshua should
take a jaunt into Scotland; he does me the honour to
pay me a visit at my house in the country; I am overjoyed at seeing him; we are quite by ourselves shall I
unsociably and churlishly let him sit drinking by himself?
No, no, my dear Sir Joshua, you shall not be treated so,
I will take a bottle with you."
The celebrated Mrs. Rudd being mentioned (Vol. II.
pp. 196 note and 285), JOHNSON  "Fifteen years ago I
should have gone to see her "  SPOTTISWOODE  "Because
she was fifteen years younger?"  JOHNSON  " No, Sir,
but now they have a trick of putting every thing into
the newspapers."
He begged of General Paoli to repeat one of the
introductory stanzas of the first book of Tasso's "Jerusalem," which he did, and then Johnson found fault with
the simile of sweetening the edges of a cup for a child,
being transferred from Lucretius into an epic poem. The
General 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
itself at a later period, when Thucydides wrote. JOHNSON  "I recollect but one passage quoted by Thucydides
from Homer, which is not to be found in our copies of
Homer's works; I am for the antiquity of Homer, and
think that a Grecian colony by being nearer Persia might
be more refined than the mother country."
On Wednesday, April 29, I dined with him at Mr.
Allan Ramsay's, where were Lord Binning, Dr. Robertson the historian, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and the Honourable Mrs. Boscawen, widow of the Admiral, and mother
of the present Viscount Falmouth; of whom, if it be
not presumptuous in me to praise her, I would say, that
her manners are the most agreeable, and her conversation
the best of any lady with whom I ever had the happiness
to be acquainted. Before Johnson came we talked a good
deal of him; Ramsay said, he had always found him a
very polite man, and that he treated him with great




28       BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON
respect, which he did very sincerely. I said, I worshipped
him. 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
superior to other men." ROBERTSON  " In criticism, and
in wit and conversation, he is no doubt very excellent;
but in other respects he is not above other men; he will
believe any thing, and will strenuously defend the most
minute circumstances connected with the Church of England."  BOSWELL   "Believe me, Doctor, you are much
mistaken as to this; for when you talk with him calmly
in private he is very liberal in his way of thinking."
ROBERTSON " He and I have been always very gracious;
the first time I met him was one evening at Strahan's,
when he had just had an unlucky altercation with Adam
Smith, to whom he had been so rough, that Strahan, after
Smith was gone, had remonstrated with him, and told
him that I was coming soon, and that he was uneasy to
think that he might behave in the same manner to me.
'No, no, Sir,' said Johnson, 'I warrant you Robertson
and I shall do very well.' Accordingly he was gentle and
good-humoured and courteous with me, the whole evening; and he has been so upon every occasion that we have
met since. I have often said (laughing), that I have been
in a great measure indebted to Smith for my good reception."  BOSWELL: " His power of reasoning is very
strong, and he has a peculiar art of drawing characters,
which is as rare as good portrait painting." SIR JOSHUA
REYNOLDS: " He is undoubtedly admirable in this; but,
in order to mark the characters which he draws, he overcharges them, and gives people more than they really
have, whether of good or bad."
No 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; and were very
soon sat down to a table covered with such variety of good
things, as contributed not a little to dispose him to be
pleased.
RAMSAY: "I am old enough to have been a con



HOMER IN PROSE


29


temporary of Pope. His poetry was highly admired in
his lifetime, more a great deal than after his death."
JOHNSON    "Sir, it has not been less admired since his
death; no authors ever had so much fame in their own
lifetime as Pope and Voltaire; and Pope's poetry has been
as much admired since his death as during his life; it
has only not been as much talked of, but that is owing
to its being now more distant, and people having other
writings to talk of. Virgil is less talked of than Pope,
and Homer is less talked of than Virgil; but they are
not less admired. We must read what the world reads
at the moment. It has been maintained that this superfetation, this teeming of the press in modern times, is
prejudicial to good literature, because it obliges us to
read so much of what is of inferior value, in order to
be in the fashion; so that better works are neglected for
want of time, because a man will have more gratification
of his vanity in conversation, from having read modern
books, than from having read the best works of antiquity.
But it must be considered, that we have now more knowledge generally diffused; all our ladies read now, which
is a great extension. Modern writers are the moons
of literature; they shine with reflected light, with light
borrowed from the ancients. Greece appears to me to be
the fountain of knowledge; Rome of elegance."    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 upon a part of it."  JOHNSON: " Sir,
you could not read it without the pleasure of verse."'
We talked of antiquarian researches. JOHNSON: " All
that is really known of the ancient state of Britain is
1 This experiment, which Madame Dacier made in vain, has
since been tried in our own language, by the editor of Ossian, and
we must either think very meanly of his abilities, or allow that
Dr. Johnson was in the right. And Mr. Cowper, a man of real
genius, has miserably failed in his blank verse translation. B.




3o


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


contained in a few pages. We can know no more than
what the old writers have told us; yet what large books
have we upon it, the whole of which, excepting such parts
as are taken from those old writers, is all a dream, such
as Whitaker's' Manchester.'   I have heard Henry's
'History of Britain' well spoken of: I am told it is
carried on in separate divisions, as the civil, the military,
the religious history; I wish much to have one branch
well done, and that is the history of manners, of common
life."  ROBERTSON. "Henry should have applied his
attention to that alone, which is enough for any man;
and he might have found a great deal scattered in various
books, had he read solely with that view  Henry erred
in not selling his first volume at a moderate price to the
booksellers, that they might have pushed him on till he
had got reputation. I sold my 'History of Scotland'
at a moderate price, as a work by which the booksellers
might either gain or not; and Cadell has told me, that
Millar and he have got six thousand pounds by it. I
afterwards received a much higher price for my writings.1
An author should sell his first work for what the booksellers will give, till it shall appear whether he is an author
of merit, or, which is the same thing as to purchasemoney, an author who pleases the public."
Dr Robertson expatiated on the character of a certain
nobleman [Lord Clive], that he was one of the strongest
minded men that ever lived; that he would sit in company
quite sluggish, while there was nothing to call forth his
intellectual vigour; but the moment that any important
subject was started, for instance, how this country is to be
defended against a French invasion, he would rouse himself, and 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 the King of Prussia will say
1 He received /4,500 for the History of Charles V. See
Macaulay's biography of Johnson; Misc. Writ. ii. 300.




GOOD HUMOUR AND THE WILL


3x


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 afterwards,
when we were by ourselves, " Robertson was in a mighty
romantic humour, he talked of one whom he did not
know; but I downed him with the King of Prussia."
"Yes, Sir," said I, "you threw a bottle at his head."
An ingenious gentleman was mentioned, concerning
whom both Robertson and Ramsay agreed that he had
a constant firmness of mind; for after a laborious day,
and amidst a multiplicity of cares and anxieties, he would
sit down with his sisters and be quite cheerful and goodhumoured. Such a disposition, it was observed, was a
happy gift of nature. JOHNSON  " I do not think so;
a man has from nature a certain portion of mind; the
use he makes of it depends upon his own free will. That
a man has always the same firmness of mind, I do not
say; because every man feels his mind less firm at one
time than another; but I think, a man's being in a good
or bad humour depends upon his will." —I, however,
could not help thinking that a man's humour is often
uncontrollable by his will.
Johnson harangued against drinking wine. "A man,"
said he, "may choose whether he will have abstemiousness
and knowledge, or claret and ignorance." Dr. Robertson
(who is very companionable) was beginning to dissent as
to the proscription of claret. JOHNSON (with a placid
smile). "Nay, Sir, you shall not differ with me; as I
have said that the man is most perfect who takes in the
most things, I am for knowledge and claret." ROBERTSON (holding a glass of generous claret in his hand):
"Sir, I can only drink your health." JOHNSON  "Sir, I
should be sorry if you should be ever in such a state as to
be able to do nothing more."  ROBERTSON: "Dr. Johnson, allow me to say, that in one respect I have the
advantage of you; when you were in Scotland you would
not come to hear any of our preachers, whereas, when I
am here, I attend your public worship without scruple,




32       BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON
and indeed, with great satisfaction." JOHNSON  "Why,
Sir, that is not so extraordinary; the King of Siam sent
ambassadors to Louis the Fourteenth; but Louis the
Fourteenth sent none to the King of Siam."'
Here my friend for once discovered a want of knowledge or forgetfulness; for Louis the Fourteenth did send
an embassy to the King of Siam, and the Abbe Choisi,
who was employed in it, published an account of it in
two volumes.
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 admire in Ramsay, is his continuing
to be so young." JOHNSON: "Why, yes, Sir, it is to be
admired. I value myself upon this, that there is nothing
of the old man in my conversation. I am now sixtyeight, and I have no more of it than at twenty-eight."
BOSWELL' "But, Sir, would not you wish to know old
age? He who is never an old man, does not know the
whole of human life; for old age is one of the divisions
of it." JOHNSON  "Nay, Sir, what talk is this?"  BosWELL. "I mean, Sir, the Sphinx's description 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? "Seeing him heated, I would not argue any farther; but I
was confident that I was in the right. I would, in due
time, be a Nestor, an elder of the people; and there
should be some difference between the conversation of
twenty-eight and sixty-eight. A grave picture should not
be gay. There is a serene, solemn, placid old age. JOHNSON: "Mrs. Thrale's mother said of me what flattered
me much. A clergyman was complaining of want of
1 Mrs. Piozzi confidently mentions this as having passed in
Scotland. Anecdotes, p. 62.




BOSWELL OFFENDED


society in the country where he lived; and said, 'They
talk of runts;' (that is, young cows.)  ' Sir,' said Mrs.
Salusbury, ' Mr. Johnson 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."
On Saturday, May 2, I dined with him at Sir Joshua
Reynolds's, where there was a very large company, and
a great deal of conversation; but owing to some circumstances which I cannot now recollect, I have no record of
any part of it, except that there were several people there
by no means of the Johnsonian school; so that less
attention was paid to him 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 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. To
such unhappy chances are human friendships liable.
On Friday, May 8, I dined with him at Mr Langton's.
I was reserved and silent, which I suppose he perceived,
and might recollect the cause. After dinner when Mr
Langton was called out of the room, and we were by
ourselves, he drew his chair near to mine, and said, in
a tone of conciliating courtesy, "Well, how have you
done?"    BOSWELL: "Sir, you have made me very
uneasy by your behaviour to me when we were last at
Sir 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 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 sorry for
it. I'll make it up to you twenty different ways, as you
1Il.                                     D




34


1iOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


please." BOSWELL * " I said to-day to Sir Joshua, 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 is a pretty good image, Sir."
JOHNSON    "Sir, it is one of the happiest I have ever
heard."
The truth is, there was no venom in the wounds which
he inflicted at any time, unless they were irritated by some
malignant infusion by other hands. We were instantly
as cordial again as ever, and joined in hearty laugh at
some ludicrous but innocent peculiarities of one of our
friends. 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 from him."
He said, " I read yesterday Dr. Blair's sermon on
Devotion, from the text ' Cornelius, a devout man.' His
doctrine is the best limited, the best expressed there is
the most warmth without fanaticism, the most rational
transport. There is one part of it which I disapprove,
and I'd have him correct it; which is, that 'he who
does not feel joy in religion is far from the kingdom of
heaven!' there are many good men whose fear of GOD
predominates over their love. It may discourage. It
was rashly said. A noble sermon it is indeed. I wish
Blair would come over to the Church of England."
When Mr Langton returned to us, the " flow of talk"
went on. An eminent author being mentioned;-JOHNSON   "He is not a pleasant man. His conversation
is neither instructive nor brilliant. He does not talk as
if impelled by any fulness of knowledge or vivacity of
imagination. His conversation is like that of any other
sensible man. He talks with no wish either to inform
or to hear, but only because he thinks it does not become ---    to sit in a company and say nothing."
Mr. Langton having repeated the anecdote of Addison




MADAME LAPOUCHIN


35


having distinguished between his powers in conversation
and in writing, by saying "I have only ninepence in
my pocket; but I can draw for a thousand pounds;"JOHNSON "He had not that retort ready, Sir; he had
prepared it beforehand." 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."  BOSWELL   "Have they not arts?"    JOHNSON:
"They have no pottery"    BOSWELL- "What do you
say to the written characters of their language?"  JOHNSON: "Sir, they have not an alphabet. They have not
been able to form what all other nations have formed."
BOSWELL: "There is more learning in their language
than in any other, from the immense number of their
characters." JOHNSON' "It is only more difficult from
its rudeness; as there is more labour in hewing down
a tree with a stone than with an axe."
He said, " I have been reading Lord Kames's 'Sketches
of the History of Man.' In treating of severity of
punishment he mentions that of Madame Lapouchin, in
Russia, but he does not give it fairly; for I have looked
at Chappe d'Auteroche, from whom he has taken it.' 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 culpable as one
can conceive, to misrepresent fact in a book, and for
what motive? It is like one of those lies which people
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
palliate this. Guilt is a principal feature in the picture.
Kames 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; for five


1 Voyage en Siberie, published in 1768.     Croker.




36


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


pounds has the same proportion of value to a hundred
pounds when money is plentiful, as when it is scarce?
A lady explained it to me.    'It is,' said she, 'because
when money is plentiful there are so many more who
have money to lend, that they bid down one another.
Many have then a hundred pounds; and one says,Take mine rather than another's, and you shall have it
at four per cent.'" BOSWELL: " Does Lord Kames decide
the question?"  JOHNSON: "I think he leaves it as he
found it."  BOSWELL: "This must have been an extraordinary lady, who instructed you, Sir. May I ask who
she was?"   JOHNSON ' "Molly Aston,l Sir, the sister of
those ladies with whom you dined at Lichfield.   I shall
be at home to-morrow."    BOSWELL: "Then let us dine
by ourselves at the Mitre, to keep up the old custom,
'the custom of the manor,' custom of the Mitre."
JOHNSON. "Sir, so it shall be."
On Saturday, May 9, we fulfilled our purpose of dining
by ourselves at the Mitre, according to old custom.
There was, on these occasions, a little circumstance of
kind attention to Mrs. Williams, which must not be
I See Vol. I. p. 45, note. Boswell thus translates the epigram
there quoted by Mrs. Piozzi:
Adieu, Maria! since you'd have me free;
For, who beholds thy charms, a slave must be.
He adds also the following note on it:
A correspondent of The Gentleman's Magazine, who subscribes
himself SCIOLUS, to whom I am indebted for several excellent
remarks, observes, "The turn of Dr. Johnson's lines to Miss
Aston, whose Whig principles he had been combating, appears
to me, to be taken from an ingenious epigram in the Menagiana,
[vol. iii. p. 376, edit. 1716] on a young lady who appeared at
a masquerade, habillJ en Yesuite, during the fierce contentions of
the followers of Molinos and Jansenius concerning free-will:
'On s'etonne ici que Caliste
Ait pris lhabit de Moliniste.
Puisque cette jeune beauti
Ote A chacun sa libert6
N'est ce pas une Janseniste?'"  B




IMAGINATION AND LOVE


37


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.
Our conversation to-day, I know not how, turned, I
think for the only time at any length during our long
acquaintance, upon the sensual intercourse between the
sexes, the delight of which he ascribed chiefly to imagination. "Were it not for imagination, Sir," said he, "a man
would be as happy in the arms of a chamber-maid as of a
duchess.  But such is the adventitious charm of fancy,
that we find men who have violated the best principles of
society, and ruined their fame and their fortune, that they
might possess a woman of rank." It would not be proper
to record the particulars of such a conversation in moments
of unreserved frankness, when nobody was present on
whom it could have any hurtful effect. That subject,
when philosophically treated, may surely employ the mind
in a curious discussion, and as innocently, as anatomy;
provided that those who do treat it, keep clear of inflammatory incentives.
" From grave to gay, from lively to severe,"-we were
soon engaged in very different speculation; humbly and
reverently considering and wondering at the universal
mystery of all things, as our imperfect faculties can now
judge of them.   "There are," said he, "innumerable
questions to which the inquisitive mind can in this state
receive no answer ' Why do you and I exist? Why was
this world created? Since it was to be created, why was it
not created sooner?"
On Sunday, May I o, I supped with him at Mr. Hoole's,
with Sir Joshua Reynolds. I have neglected the memorial
of this evening, so as to remember no more of it than two
particulars; one that he strenuously opposed an argument
by Sir Joshua, that virtue was preferable to vice, considering this life only; and that a man would be virtuous
were it only to preserve his character' and that he
expressed much wonder at the curious formation of the
bat, a mouse with wings; saying, that it was almost as




38


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


strange a thing in physiology as if the fabulous dragon
could be seen.
On Tuesday, May   2, I waited on the Earl of Marchmont, to know if his Lordship would favour Dr Johnson
with information concerning Pope, whose Life he was
about to write. Johnson had not flattered himself with
the hopes of receiving any civility from this nobleman;
for he said to me, when I mentioned Lord Marchmont as
one who could tell him a great deal about Pope,-" Sir,
he will tell me nothing" I had the honour of being
known to his Lordship, and applied to him of myself,
without being commissioned by Johnson. His Lordship
behaved in the most polite and obliging manner, promised
to tell all he recollected about Pope, and was so very
courteous as to say, "Tell Dr. Johnson, I have a great
respect for him, and am ready to shew it in any way I can.
I am to be in the city to-morrow, and will call at his house
as I return." 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 definition of excise? Do
you know the history of his aversion to the word transpire? "
Then taking down the folio Dictionary, he shewed it with
this censure on its secondary sense * "'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. He should have shewn what word would
do for it, if it was unnecessary." I afterwards put the
question to 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 a thing in English, because there
is one in another language, is to change the language."
I availed myself of this opportunity to hear from his
Lordship many particulars both of Pope and Lord
Bolingbroke, which I have in writing.




LORD MARCHMONT


39


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 Osborne, the bookseller"
Elated with the success of my spontaneous exertion to
procure material and respectable aid to Johnson for his
very favourite work, " The Lives of the Poets," 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 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 with this
intelligence, would praise my active merit, and would be
alert to embrace such an offer from a nobleman.  But
whether I had shewn an over exaltation which provoked
his spleen; or whether he was seized with a suspicion that
I had obtruded him on Lord Marchmont, and humbled
him too much; or whether there was any thing more than
an unlucky fit of ill-humour, I know not; but to my
surprise, the result was,-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 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 said,
" Lord Marchmont will call on me, and then I shall call
on Lord Marchmont." Mrs. Thrale was uneasy at his
unaccountable 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, which would be a great
pity. I sent a card to his Lordship, to be left at Johnson's
house, acquainting him, that Dr. Johnson could not be in




40


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


town next day, but would do himself the honour of waiting on him at another time-I give this account fairly, as
a specimen of that unhappy temper with which this great
and good man had occasionally to struggle from something
morbid in his constitution. Let the most censorious of
my readers suppose himself to have a violent fit of the
tooth-ache, or to have received a severe stroke on the shin
bone, and when in such a state to be asked a question;
and if he has any candour he will not be surprised at the
answers which Johnson sometimes gave in moments of
irritation, which, let me assure them, is exquisitely painful.
But it must not be erroneously supposed that he was, in
the smallest degree, careless concerning any work which he
undertook, or that he was generally thus peevish. It will
be seen that in the following year he had a very agreeable
interview with Lord Marchmont, at his Lordship's house;
and this very afternoon he soon forgot any fretfulness, and
fell into conversation as usual.
I mentioned a reflection having been thrown out against
four peers for having presumed to rise in opposition
to the opinion of the twelve judges, in a cause in the
House of Lords, as if that were indecent. JOHNSON:
"Sir, there is no ground for censure. The peers are
judges themselves; and supposing them really to be of a
different opinion, they might from duty be in opposition
to the judges, who were there only to be consulted."
In this observation I fully concurred with him; for
unquestionably, all the peers are vested with the highest
judicial powers; and when they are confident that they
understand a cause, are not obliged, nay ought not to
acquiesce in the opinion of the ordinary law judges, or
even in that of those who from their studies and experience
are called the law lords. I consider the peers in general
as I do a jury, who ought to listen with respectful attention
to the sages of the law; but, if after hearing them they
have a firm opinion of their own, are bound as honest men
to decide accordingly. Nor is it so difficult for them to
understand even law questions, as is generally thought;
provided they will bestow sufficient attention upon them,




POPE'S 'UNIVERSAL PRAYER'


41


This observation was made by my honoured relation the
late Lord Cathcart, who had spent his life in camps and
courts; yet assured me, that he could form a clear opinion
upon most of the causes that came before the House of
Lords, "as they were so well enucleated in the cases."
Mrs. Thrale told us, that a curious clergyman of our
acquaintance had discovered a licentious stanza, which
Pope had originally in his " Universal Prayer," before the
stanza,
"What conscience dictates to be done,
Or warns us not to do," &c.
It was this:
"Can sins of moment claim the rod
Of everlasting fires?
And that offend great Nature's GOD,
Which Nature's self inspires? "
and that Dr Johnson observed, "it had been borrowed
from Guarini." There are, indeed, in Pastor Fido many
such flimsy superficial reasonings as that in the last two
lines of this stanza.
BOSWELL: "In that stanza of Pope's,' rod of fires' is
certainly a bad metaphor."  MRS. THRALE. "And ' sins
of moment' is a faulty expression; 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 friend struck it
out. Boileau wrote some such thing, and Arnaud struck
it out, saying,' IVous gagnerez deux ou trois impies, et
perdrez je ne sfais combien des honnetes gens.' These fellows
want to say a daring thing, and don't know how to go
about it. Mere poets know no more of fundamental
principles than — " Here he was interrupted somehow
Mrs. Thrale   mentioned   Dryden.   JOHNSON     "He
puzzled himself about predestination.-How foolish it
was in Pope to give all his friendship to lords who thought
they honoured him by being with him; and to choose




42


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


such lords as Burlington, and Cobham, and Bolingbroke?
Bathurst was negative, a pleasing man; and I have heard
no ill of Marchmont;-and then always saying,' I do not
value you for being a lord;' which was a sure proof that
he did. I never say, I do not value Boswell more for
being born to an estate, because I do not care." BOSWELL
" Nor for being a Scotchman?" JOHNSON  " Nay, Sir, I do
value you more for being a Scotchman. You are a Scotchman without the faults of Scotchmen. You would not
have been so valuable as you are had you not been a
Scotchman."
Talking of divorces, I asked if Othello's doctrine was
not plausible
"He that is robb'd, not wanting what is stolen,
Let him not know't, and he's not robb'd at all."
Dr. Johnson and Mrs. Thralejoined against this. JOHNSON. " Ask any man if he'd wish not to know of such an
injury." BOSWELL: " Would you tell your friend to make
him unhappy? " JOHNSON: " Perhaps, Sir, I should not;
but that would be from prudence on my own account. A
man would tell his father " BOSWELL " Yes; because he
would not have spurious children to get any share of the
family inheritance."  MRS. THRALE: " Or he would tell
his brother"  BOSWELL: " Certainly his elder brother."
JOHNSON: "You would tell your friend of a woman's
infamy, to prevent his marrying a whore  there is the
same reason to tell him of his wife's infidelity, when he is
married, to prevent the consequences of imposition. It is
a breach of confidence not to tell a friend."  BOSWELL'
"Would you tell Mr. -?" (naming a gentleman who
assuredly was not in the least danger of such a miserable
disgrace, though married to a fine woman.) JOHNSON
"No, Sir; because it would do no good      he is so
sluggish, he'd never go to Parliament and get through a
divorce."
1 Both these paragraphs refer to Langton, to whom, as Croker
justly observes, Boswell never lets slip a chance of an offensive
allusion.




PARSON FORD


43


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 parsimony, to the gulf of
ruin. To pass over the flowery path of extravagance is
very well."
Amongst the numerous prints pasted on the walls of
the dining-room at Streatham, was Hogarth's "Modern
Midnight Conversation." I asked him what he knew of
Parson Ford, who makes a conspicuous figure in the
riotous group.' JOHNSON. " Sir, he was my acquaintance
and relation, my mother's nephew. He had purchased a
living in the country, but not simoniacally. I never saw
him but in the country I have been told he was a man of
great parts; very profligate, but I never heard he was
impious." BOSWELL: " Was there not a story of his ghost
having appeared? " JOHNSON' "Sir, it was believed. A
waiter at the Hummums,2 in which house Ford died, had
been absent for some time, and returned, not knowing
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 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 exclaimed,' Then
we are all undone! ' Dr. Pellet, who was not a credulous
man, inquired into the truth of this story, and he said, the
evidence was irresistible. My wife went to the Hummums; (it is a place where people get themselves cupped.)
1 See ante, Vol. I. p. 21, note 2.
s Baths are called Hummums in the East, and thence this hotel,
where there were baths, was called by that name. Croker.




44


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


I believe she went with intention to hear about this story
of Ford. At first they were unwilling to tell her; but
after they had talked to her, she came away satisfied that
it was true. To be sure the man had a fever; and this
vision may have been the beginning of it. But 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."
After Mrs. Thrale was gone to bed, Johnson and I sat
up late. We resumed Sir Joshua Reynolds's argument on
the preceding Sunday, that a man would be virtuous,
though he had no other motive than to preserve his
character. JOHNSON  "Sir, it is not true for, as to this
world, vice does not hurt a man's character."  BOSWELL:
"Yes, Sir, debauching a friend's wife will." JOHNSON:
"No, Sir  Who thinks the worse of [Beauclerk] for it?"
BOSWELL: "Lord [Bolingbroke] was not his friend."
JOHNSON: "That is only a circumstance, Sir, a slight
distinction. He could not get into the house but by
Lord [Bolingbroke]. A man is chosen Knight of the Shire
not the less for having debauched ladies."  BOSWELL:
"What, Sir, if he debauched the ladies of gentlemen in
the county, will not there be a general resentment against
him?" JOHNSON. " No, Sir He will lose those particular
gentlemen; but the rest will not trouble their heads about
it:" (warmly) BOSWELL'    "Well, Sir, I cannot think
so." JOHNSON    "Nay, Sir, there is no talking with a
man who will dispute what every body knows * (angrily.)
Don't you know this?" BOSWELL: "No, Sir; and I
wish to think better of your country than you represent
it. I knew in Scotland a gentleman obliged to leave it for
debauching a lady; and in one of our counties an earl's
brother lost his election, because he had debauched the
lady of another earl in that county, and destroyed the
peace of a noble family."
Still he would not yield. He proceeded. "Will you
not allow, Sir, that vice does not hurt a man's character


1 See ante, Vol. II. p. 33, and note.




VICE AND CHARACTER


45


so as to obstruct his prosperity in life, when you know
that [Lord Clive] was loaded with wealth and honours:
a man who had acquired his fortune by such crimes, that
his consciousness of them impelled him to cut his own
throat?"1 BOSWELL   " You will recollect, Sir, that Dr
Robertson said, he cut his throat because he was weary of
still life; 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 dispute, to see what a man
will answer,-to make him your butt!" (angrier still.)
BoswELL: " My dear Sir, I had no such intention as you
seem to suspect: I had not indeed. Might not this
nobleman have felt every 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 decide upon
this dispute.
Next morning I stated to Mrs. Thrale at breakfast,
before he came down, the dispute of last night as to the
influence of character upon success in life. She said he
was certainly wrong; and told me, that a baronet lost an
election in Wales, because he had debauched the sister of
a gentleman in the country, whom he made one of his
daughters invite as her companion at his seat in the
country, when his lady and his other children were in
London. But she would not encounter Johnson upon
the subject.
I stayed all this day with him at Streatham. He
talked a great deal in very good humour.
Looking at Messrs. Dilly's splendid edition of Lord
Chesterfield'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
1 For the absurd stories about Clive's suicide, and the true
cause of it, see Macaulay's essay, and Sir Charles Wilson's Clive
(Macmillan's " Men of Action ").




46


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


have found out that one is like Demosthenes, and the
other like Cicero."
He censured Lord Kames's " Sketches of the History
of Man," for misrepresenting Clarendon's account of the
appearance of Sir George Villiers' ghost, as if Clarendon
were weakly credulous; when the truth is, that Clarendon
only says, that the story was upon a better foundation of
credit than usually such discourses are founded upon;
nay, speaks thus of the person who was reported to have
seen the vision, "the poor man, if he had been at all
waking;" which Lord Kames has omitted. He added
" In this book it is maintained that virtue is natural to
man, and, that if we would but consult our own hearts,
we should be virtuous. Now after consulting our own
hearts all we can, and with all the helps we have, we find
how few of us are virtuous. This is saying a thing which
all mankind know not to be true." BOSWELL " Is not
modesty natural?"  JOHNSON   "I cannot say, Sir, as
we find no people quite in a state of nature; but I think
the more they are taught, the more modest they are. The
French are a gross, ill-bred, untaught people; a lady there
will spit on the floor and rub it with her foot. What I
gained by being in France was learning 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; when you set travelling
against mere negation, against doing nothing, it is better
to be sure; but how much more would a young man
improve were he to study during those years. Indeed, if
a young man is wild, and must run after women and bad
company, it is better this should be done abroad, as, on
his return, he can break off such connexions, and begin
at home a new man, with a character to form, and
acquaintances to make. How little does travelling supply
to the conversation 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 pyramids of Egypt." BOSWELL: " Well,




THE MANNERS OF THE GREAT


47


I happened to hear him tell the same thing, which made
me mention him."
I talked of a country life.-JOHNSON: "Were I to live
in the country, I would not devote myself to the
acquisition of popularity; I would live in a much better
way, much more happily; I would have my time at my
own command." BOSWELL' "But, Sir, is it not a sad
thing to be at a distance from all our literary friends?"
JOHNSON. "Sir, you will by and by have enough of this
conversation which now delights you so much."
As he was a zealous friend of subordination, he was at
all times watchful to repress 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
them better wives, better mothers, more willing to sacrifice
their own pleasure to their children, than a hundred other
women. Tradeswomen (I mean the wives of tradesmen)
in the City, who are worth from  0o to 5,oool. are the
worst creatures upon the earth, grossly ignorant, and
thinking viciousness fashionable. Farmers, I think, are
often worthless fellows. Few lords will cheat; and if
they do they'll be ashamed of it farmers cheat and are
not ashamed of it they have all the sensual vices too of
the nobility, with cheating into the bargain. There is as
much fornication and adultery amongst farmers as amongst
noblemen."  BOSWELL: "The notion of the world, Sir,
however, is, that the morals of women of quality are worse
than those in lower stations."  JOHNSON    "Yes, Sir,
the licentiousness of one woman of quality makes more
noise than that of a number of women in lower stations;
then, Sir, you are to consider the malignity of women in
the City against women of quality, which will make them
believe any thing of them, such as that they call their
coachmen to bed. No, Sir, so far as I have observed, the
higher in rank, the richer ladies are, they are the better
instructed and the more virtuous."
1 James, first Earl of Charlemont. His lordship was to the
last in the habit of telling this story rather too often. Croker.




BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


This year the Reverend Mr. Home published his
"Letter to Mr. Dunning, on the English Particle;"
Johnson read it; and though not treated in it with
sufficient respect, he had candour enough to say to Mr.
Seward, " Were I to make a new edition of my Dictionary,
I would adopt several of Mr. Home's etymologies; I
hope they did not put the dog in the pillory for his libel;
he has too much literature for that."
On Saturday, May      6, I dined with   him  at Mr.
Beauclerk's with Mr. Langton, Mr Steevens, Dr Higgins,
and some others.   I regret very feelingly every instance
of my remissness in recording his memorabilia; I am
afraid it is the condition of humanity (as Mr Windham,
of Norfolk, once observed to me, after having made an
admirable speech in the House of Commons, which was
highly applauded, but which he afterwards perceived
might have been better): "that we are more uneasy from
thinking of our wants, than happy in thinking of our
acquisitions." This is an unreasonable mode of disturbing
our tranquillity, and should be corrected; let me then
comfort myself with the large treasure of Johnson's
conversation which I have preserved for my own enjoyment and that of the world, and let me exhibit what I
have upon each occasion, whether more or less, whether
a bulse,2 or only a few sparks of a diamond.
He said, " Dr Mead lived more in the broad sunshine
of life than almost any man." 8
The disaster of General Burgoyne's army was then
the common topic of conversation.4   It was asked why
piling their arms was insisted upon as a matter of such
1 In Mr. Horne Tooke's enlargement of that c" Letter," which
he has since published with the title of 'ET7ra 7r*epoevra; or, the
Diversions of Purley; he mentions this compliment, as if Dr.
Johnson instead of several of his etymologies had said all. His
recollection having thus magnified it, shews how ambitious he was
of the approbation of so great a man. B.
2 Bulse, from bolsa, a Portuguese word signifying a purse; used
in India for a certain quantity of diamonds. Imp. Dict.
3 See ante, Vol. I. p. o09, note.
4 His surrender to Gates at Saratoga, Oct. 17, 1777. Croker.




FRANCIS'S HORACE


49


consequence, when it seemed to be a circumstance so
inconsiderable in itself.  JOHNSON' " Why, Sir, a French
author says,' II y a beaucoup de puerilites dans la guerre.'
All distinctions are trifles, because great things can seldom
occur, and those distinctions are settled by custom. A
savage would as willingly have his meat Sent to him in
the kitchen, as eat it at the table here as men become
civilized, various modes of denoting honourable preference
are invented."
He this day made the observations upon the similarity
between "Rasselas" and "Candide": which         I have
inserted in its proper place, when considering his admirable philosophical Romance.    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; so much of the excellence is in tha
numbers and the expression.    Francis has done it the
best, I'll take his, five out of six, against them all."
On Sunday, May 17, I presented to him Mr. Fullarton
of Fullarton, who has since distinguished himself so much
in India,' to whom he naturally talked of travels, as Mr.
Brydone accompanied him in his tour to Sicily and
Malta.   He said    "The information which we have
from modern travellers is much more authentic than
what we had from ancient travellers; ancient travellers
guessed; modern travellers measure.   The Swiss admit
that there is but one error in Stanyan.2  If Brydone were
more attentive to his Bible he would be a good traveller"
1 William Fullarton, an Ayrshire gentleman, played a distinguished part in the Indian wars, first against Hyder Ali, and
afterwards against his son Tippoo. He published a View of the
English Interests in India in I787.  In later life he was less
favourably known for his quarrel with Picton over the administration of Trinidad, which resulted in the latter being tried for the
torture of a Spanish girl, and found guilty, though the verdict was
reversed on appeal.
2 Temple Stanyan, at one time Minister to the Porte, author
of an Account of Switzerland and a History of Greece. He died in
1752. Croker.
II.                                         E




so50


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


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."  BOSWELL: "Is there
no hope of a change to the better? "  JOHNSON: "Why,
yes, Sir, when we are weary of this relaxation. So the
City of London will appoint its mayors again by seniority."
BOSWELL    "But is not that taking a mere 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.".,
On Tuesday, May I9, I was to set out for Scotland
in the evening.  He was engaged to dine with me at
Mr Dilly's; I waited upon him to remind him of his
appointment and attend him thither; 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-Oh, no, Sir, a vow is a horrible thing, it is a snare
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 by religious awe.-Methought he
would have added-to Hell-but was restrained.      I
humoured the dilemma.    "What! Sir," said I, "'In
callum jusseris ibit'?" alluding to his imitation of it,
" And bid him go to Hell, to Hell he goes."
I had mentioned to him a slight fault in his noble
"Imitation of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal," a too near
recurrence of the verb spread, in his description of the
young enthusiast at College:
"Through all his veins the fever of renown
Spreads from the strong contagion of the gown;




A DINNER AT DILLY'S


5I


O'er Bodley's dome his future labours spread,
And Bacon's mansion trembles o'er his head."
He had desired me to change spreads to burns, but
for perfect authenticity, I now had it done with his own
hand.1   I thought this alteration not only cured the
fault, but was more poetical, as it might carry an allusion
to the shirt by which Hercules was inflamed.
We had a quiet comfortable meeting at Mr Dilly's,
nobody there but ourselves. Mr. Dilly mentioned somebody having wished that Milton's " Tractate on Education "
should be printed along with his poems in the edition
of the English Poets then going on. JOHNSON      ' "It
would be breaking in upon the plan; but would be of
no great consequence. So far as it would be any thing,
it would be wrong. 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, I fancy, has been tried
often enough, but is very imperfect; it gives too much
to one side, and too little to the other; it gives too little
to literature-I shall do what I can for Dr. Watts; but
my materials are very scanty   His poems are by no
means his best works; I cannot praise his poetry itself
highly; but I can praise its design."
My illustrious friend and I parted with assurances of
affectionate regard.
I wrote to him on the 25th of May, from Thorpe in
Yorkshire, one of the seats of Mr. Bosville, and gave
him an account of my having passed a day at Lincoln,
unexpectedly, and therefore without having any letters
of introduction, but that I had been honoured with
civilities from the Rev. Mr Simpson, an acquaintance of
his, and Captain Broadley, of the Lincolnshire Militia;
but more particularly from the Rev. Dr. Gordon, the
1 The slip of paper on which he made the correction, is
deposited by me in the noble library to which it relates, and to
which I have presented other pieces of his hand-writing. B.
They are not now to be found in the Bodleian. Dr. Hill.




52


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Chancellor, who first received me with great politeness
as a stranger, and, when I informed him who I was,
entertained me at his house with the most flattering
attention; I also expressed the pleasure with which I
had found that our worthy friend, Langton, was highly
esteemed in his own country town.
C TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON.
"Edinburgh, June 8, 1778.
"MY DEAR SIR,
"SINCE my return to Scotland, I have been again at Lanark,
and have had more conversation with Thomson's sister.   It
is strange that Murdoch, who was his intimate friend, should
have mistaken his mother's maiden name, which he says was
Hume, whereas Hume was the name of his grandmother by the
mother's side.  His mother's name was Beatrix Trotter,1 a
daughter of Mr. Trotter of Fogo, a small proprietor of land.
Thomson had one brother, whom he had with him in England as
his amanuensis; but he was seized with a consumption, and
having returned to Scotland, to try what his native air would do
for him, died young. He had three sisters, one married to Mr.
Bell, minister of the parish of Strathaven; one to Mr. Craig,
father of the ingenious architect who gave the plan of the New
Town of Edinburgh; and one to Mr. Thomson, master of the
grammar-school at Lanark. He was of a humane and benevolent
disposition; not only sent valuable presents to his sisters, but a
yearly allowance in money, and was always wishing to have it
in his power to do them more good. Lord Lyttelton's observation,
that 'he loathed much to write,' was very true. His letters to
his sister, Mrs. Thomson, were not frequent, and in one of them
he says, 'All my friends who know me, know how backward I
am to write letters: and never impute the negligence of my
hand to the coldness of my heart.' I send you a copy of the last
letter which she had from him; she never heard that he had any
intention of going into holy orders.  From this late interview
with his sister, I think much more favourably of him, as I hope
you will. I am eager to see more of your Prefaces to the Poets:
I solace myself with the few proof sheets which I have.
1 Dr. Johnson was by no means attentive to minute accuracy
in his Lives of the Poets; for notwithstanding my having detected
this mistake, he has continued it. B.




JOHNSON AT WARLEY CAMP


53


" I send another parcel of Lord Hailes's ' Annals,' which you
will please to return to me as soon as you conveniently can. He
says, 'he wishes you would cut a little deeper;' but he may be
proud that there is so little occasion to use the critical knife. I
ever am, my dear Sir, your faithful and affectionate humble
servant,
"JAMES BOSWELL."
Mr. Langton has been pleased, at my request, to favour
me with some particulars of Dr. Johnson's visit to Warley
Camp, where this gentleman was at the time stationed as
a Captain in the Lincolnshire militia. I shall give them
in his own words in a letter to me:
" It was in the summer of the year 1778, that he complied with
my invitation to come down to the camp at Warley, and he
stayed with me about a week; the scene appeared, notwithstanding a great degree of ill health that he seemed to labour under, to
interest and amuse him, as agreeing with the disposition that I
believe you know he constantly manifested towards inquiring into
subjects of the military kind. He sat, with a patient degree of
attention, to observe the proceedings of a regimental court-martial,
that happened to be called in the time of his stay with us; and
one night, as late as at eleven o'clock, he accompanied the Major
of the regiment in going what are styled the Rounds, where he
might observe the forms of visiting the guards, for the seeing that
they and their sentries are ready in their duty on their several
posts. He took occasion to converse at times on military topics,
one in particular, that I see the mention of in your 'Journal of a
Tour to the Hebrides' which lies open before me (3rd ed. p. iii)
as to gunpowder; which he spoke of to the same effect, in part,
that you relate.
"On one occasion, when the regiment were going through
their exercise, he went quite close to the men at one of the extremities of it, and watched all their practices attentively; and,
when he came away, his remark was, 'The men indeed do load
their muskets and fire with wonderful celerity.' He was likewise
particular in requiring to know what was the weight of the musketballs in use, and within what distance they might be expected to
take effect when fired off.
"In walking among the tents, and observing the difference
between those of the officers and private men, he said, that the
superiority of accommodation of the better conditions of life to
that of the inferior ones was never exhibited to him in so distinct




54


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


a view. The civilities paid to him in the camp were from the
gentlemen of the Lincolnshire regiment, one of the officers of
which accommodated him with a tent in which he slept; and
from General Hall, who very courteously invited him to dine with
him, where he appeared to be very well pleased with his entertainment, and the civilities he received on the part of the General;
the attention likewise of the General's aide-de-camp, Captain
Smith, seemed to be very welcome to him, as appeared by their
engaging in a great -deal of discourse together. The gentlemen of
the East York Regiment likewise, on being informed of his coming,
solicited his company at dinner, but by that time he had fixed his
departure, so that he could not comply with the invitation."
C TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
< SIR,
"I HAVE received two letters from you, of which the
second complains of the neglect shewn to the first. You must
not tie your friends to such punctual correspondence. You have
all possible assurances of my affection and esteem; and there ought
to be no need of reiterated professions. When it may happen
that I can give you either counsel or comfort, I hope it will never
happen to me that I should neglect you; but you must not think
me criminal or cold, if I say nothing when I have nothing to say.
" You are now happy enough. Mrs. Boswell is recovered; and
I congratulate you upon the probability of her long life. If
general approbation will add any thing to your enjoyment, I can
tell you that I have heard you mentioned as a man whom everybody
likes. I think life has little more to give.
" [Langton] has gone to his regiment. He has laid down his
coach, and talks of making more contractions of his expense:
how he will succeed, I know not. It is difficult to reform a
household gradually; it may be better done by a system
totally new. I am afraid he has always something to hide.
When we pressed him to go to [Langton], he objected the
necessity of attending his navigation; 2 yet he could talk of going
to Aberdeen, a place not much nearer his navigation. I believe
he cannot bear the thought of living at [Langton] in a state of
diminution; and of appearing among the gentlemen of the neighbourhood shorn of his beams. This is natural, but it is cowardly.
1 When I one day at Court expressed to General Hall my sense
of the honour he had done my friend, he politely answered, "Sir,
I did myself honour." B.
2 The Wey Canal from Guildford to Weybridge, in which he
had a considerable share. Croker.




A DIFFERENCE WITH STRAHAN


55


What I told him of the increasing expense of a growing family,
seems to have struck him. He certainly had gone on with very
confused views, and we have, I think, shewn him that he is
wrong: though, with the common deficience of advisers we have
not shewn him how to do right.
" I wish you would a little correct or restrain your imagination,
and imagine that happiness, such as life admits, may be 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 everywhere.
" I do not blame your preference of London to other places, for
it is really to be preferred, if the choice is free; but few have the
choice of their place, or their manner of life; and mere pleasure
ought not to be the prime motive of action.
" 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.
"I am, dear Sir, your most, &c.,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, July 3, 1778."
In the course of this year there was a difference between
him and his friend Mr Strahan; the particulars of which
it is unnecessary to relate.  Their reconciliation was communicated to me in a letter from Mr. Strahan; in the
following words:
" The notes I shewed you that passed between him and me
were dated in March last. The matter lay dormant till July 27,
when he wrote to me as follows.
'TO WILLIAM STRAHAN) ESQ.
'SIR,
'IT would be very foolish for us to continue strangers any
longer. You can never by persistency make wrong right. If I
resented too acrimoniously, I resented only to yourself. Nobody
ever saw or heard what I wrote. You saw that my anger was
over, for in a day or two I came to your house. I have given you
a longer time; and I hope you have made so good use of it, as to
be no longer on evil terms with, Sir, your, &c.
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
" On this I called upon him; and he has since dined with me,"




56


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


After this time, the same friendship as formerly continued between Dr     Johnson and Mr. Strahan.        My
friend mentioned to me a little circumstance of his attention, which, though we may smile at it, must be allowed
to have its foundation in a nice and true knowledge of
human life.   "When I write to Scotland," said he, "I
employ Strahan to frank my letters, that he may have the
consequence of appearing a Parliament-man among his
countrymen."
" TO CAPTAIN LANGTON,1 WARLEY CAMP.
"DEAR SIR,
" WHEN I recollect how long ago I was received with so
much kindness at Warley Common, I am ashamed that I have
not made some inquiries after my friends.
" Pray how many sheep-stealers did you convict? and how did
you punish them? When are you to be cantoned in better habitations? The air grows cold, and the ground damp.  Longer
stay in the camp cannot be without much danger to the health of
the common men if even the officers can escape.
"You see that Dr. Percy is now Dean of Carlisle; about five
hundred a year, with a power of presenting himself to some good
living. He is provided for
" The session of the CLUB is to commence with that of the
Parliament. Mr. Banks desires to be admitted; he will be a very
honourable accession.
"Did the King please you?    The Coxheath men, I think,
have some reason to complain; Reynolds says your camp is better
than theirs.
"I hope you find yourself able to encounter this weather. Take
care of your own health; and, as you can, of your men. Be
pleased to make my compliments to all the gentlemen whose
notice I have had, and whose kindness I have experienced.
" I am, dear Sir, your most humble servant,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
" October 31, 1778."
I wrote to him   on the I 8th of August, the i 8th of
1 Dr. Johnson here addresses his worthy friend, Bennet Langton, Esq. by his title as Captain of the Lincolnshire militia, in
which he has since been most deservedly raised to the rank or
Major. B.




BURNEY'S HISTORY OF MUSIC


57


September, and the 6th of November, informing him of
my having had another son born whom I had called
James; that I had passed some time at Auchinleck; that
the Countess of Loudoun, now in her ninety-ninth year,
was as fresh as when he saw her, and remembered him
with respect; and that his mother by adoption, the
Countess of Eglinton, had said to me* " Tell Mr.
Johnson I love him exceedingly;" that I had again suffered much from bad spirits; and that as it was very long
since I heard from him, I was not a little uneasy
The continuance of his regard for his friend Dr Burney
appears from the following letters *
" TO THE REVEREND DR. WHEELER, OXFORD.
"DEAR SIR,
"DR. BURNEY, who brings this paper, is engaged in a
History of Music; and having been told by Dr. Markham of
some MSS. relating to his subject, which are in the library of your
college, is desirous to examine them. He is my friend and
therefore I take the liberty of entreating your favour and assistance in his inquiry and can assure you, with great confidence,
that if you knew him he would not want any intervenient solicitation to obtain the kindness of one who loves learning and virtue
as you love them.
" I have been flattering myself all the summer with the hope
of paying my annual visit to my friends; but something has
obstructed me. I still hope not to be long without seeing you.
I should be glad of a little literary talk; and glad to shew you, by
the frequency of my visits, how eagerly I love it, when you talk it.
"I am, dear Sir, your most humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, November 2, 1778."
"TO THE REVEREND DR. EDWARDS, OXFORD.
"SIR,
"THE bearer, DR. BURNEY, has had some account of a
Welsh Manuscript in the Bodleian Library, from which he hopes
to gain some materials for his 'History of Music'; but being
ignorant of the language, is at a loss where to find assistance. I
make no doubt but you, Sir, can help him through his difficulties,
and therefore take the liberty of recommending him to your favour,




58


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


as I am sure you will find him a man worthy of every civility that
can be shewn, and every benefit that can be conferred.
"But we must not let Welsh drive us from Greek. What
comes of Xenophon? If you do not like the trouble of publishing
the book, do not let your commentaries be lost; contrive that they
may be published somewhere.
"I am, Sir, your humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, November 2, 1778."
These letters procured Dr. Burney great kindness and
friendly offices from both of these gentlemen, not only on
that occasion, but in future visits to the University. The
same year Dr. Johnson not only wrote to Dr. Joseph
Warton in favour of Dr. Burney's youngest son, who was
to be placed in the college of Winchester, but accompanied
him when he went thither.
We surely cannot but admire the benevolent exertions
of this great and good man, especially when we consider
how grievously he was afflicted with bad health, and how
uncomfortable his home was made by the perpetual jarring
of those whom he charitably accommodated under his roof.
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 them    both; Poll [Miss Carmichael]
loves none of them."
"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
' IT is indeed a long time since I wrote, and think you
must have some reason to complain; however you must not let
small things disturb you, when you have such a fine addition to
your happiness as a new boy, and I hope your lady's health is
restored by bringing him. It seems very probable that a little
care will now restore her, if any remains of her complaints are left.
"You seem, if I understand your letter, to be gaining ground at
Auchinleck, an incident that would give me great delight.
When any fit of anxiety, or gloominess or perversion of mind
" When any fit of anxiety, or gloominess, or perversion of mind,




REYNOLDS' 'DISCOURSES'


59


lays hold upon you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaints,
but exert your whole care to hide it, by endeavouring to hide it
you will drive it away- Be always busy.
" The CLUB is to meet with the Parliament: we talk of electing
Banks, the traveller; he will be a reputable member.
" Langton has been encamped with his company of militia on
Warley Common; I spent five days amongst them; he signalized
himself as a diligent officer, and has very high respect in the
regiment. He presided when I was there at a court-martial; he
is now quartered in Hertfordshire; his lady and little ones are in
Scotland. Paoli came to the camp, and commended the soldiers.
" Of myself I have no great matters to say  My health is not
restored, my nights are restless and tedious. The best night that
I have had these twenty years was at Fort Augustus.
" I hope soon to send you a few Lives to read.
" I am, dear Sir, your most affectionate
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"November 21, I778."
About this time the Rev Mr. John Hussey, who had
been some time in trade, and was then a clergyman of the
Church of England, being about to undertake a journey to
Aleppo and other parts of the East, which he accomplished,
Dr Johnson (who had long been in habits of intimacy
with him,) honoured him with the following letter:
" TO MR. JOHN HUSSEY.
"DEAR SIR,
" I HAVE sent you the ' Grammar,' and have left you two
books more, by which I hope to be remembered: write my name
in them; we may perhaps see each other no more, you part with
my good wishes, nor do I despair of seeing you return. Let no
opportunities of vice corrupt you; let no bad example seduce you;
let the blindness of Mahometans confirm you in Christianity.
God bless you. I am, dear Sir, your affectionate humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"December 29, 1778."
Johnson this year expressed great satisfaction at the
publication of the first volume of "Discourses, to the
Royal Academy," by Sir Joshua Reynolds, whom he always
considered as one of his literary school. Much praise
indeed is due to those excellent Discourses which are so




6o


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


universally admired, and for which the author received
from the Empress of Russia a gold snuff-box, adorned
with her profile in bas relief, set in diamonds; and containing what is infinitely more valuable, a slip of paper, on
which are written with her Imperial majesty's own hand,
the following words    "Pour le Chevalier Reynolds en
temoignage du contentement que j'ai ressentie a la lecture de ses
excellens discours sur la peinture."
This year Johnson gave the world a luminous proof that
the vigour of his mind in all its faculties, whether memory,
judgment, or imagination, was not in the least abated;
for this year came out the first four volumes of his
"Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, to the most Eminent
of the English Poets," * published by the booksellers of
London. The remaining volumes came out in the year
1780. The Poets were selected by the several booksellers
who had the honorary copyright, which is still preserved
among them by mutual compact, notwithstanding the
decision of the House of Lords against the perpetuity of
literary property. We have his own authority [Life of
Watts], that by his recommendation the poems of Blackmore, Watts, Pomfret, and Yalden, were added to the
collection. Of this work I shall speak more particularly
hereafter.
On the 22nd of January I wrote to him on several
topics, and mentioned that as he had been so good as to
permit me to have the proof sheets of his " Lives of the
Poets," I had written to his servant Francis, to take care
of them for me.
"MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON.
"Edinburgh, Feb. 2, 1779.
"MY DEAR SIR,
"GARRICK'S death is a striking event; not that we should
be surprised with the death of any man, who has lived sixty-two
years; but because there was a vivacity in our late celebrated
friend, which drove away the thoughts of death from any association with him. I am sure you will be tenderly affected with his
departure; and I would wish to hear from you upon the subject.
I was obliged to him in my days of effervescence in London, when




LETTERS FROM BOSWELL                      61
poor Derrick was my governor; and since that time I received
many civilities from him. Do you remember how pleasing it was,
when I received a letter from him, at Inverary, upon our first
return to civilized living after our Hebridean journey? I shall
always remember him with affection as well as admiration.
"On Saturday last, being the the 3oth of January, I drank
coffee and old port, and had solemn conversation with the
Reverend Mr. Falconer, a nonjuring bishop, a very learned and
worthy man. He gave two toasts, which you will believe I drank
with cordiality, Dr. Samuel Johnson, and Flora Macdonald. I sat
about four hours with him, and it was really as if I had been living
in the last century. The Episcopal Church of Scotland, though
faithful to the Royal House of Stuart, has never accepted of any
congt d'lire since the Revolution: it is the only true Episcopal
Church in Scotland, as it has its own succession of bishops. For
as to the episcopal clergy who take the oaths to the present
Government, they indeed follow the rites of the Church of England,
but, as Bishop Falconer observed, 'They are not Episcopals; for
they are under no bishop, as a bishop cannot have authority beyond
his diocese.' This venerable gentleman did me the honour to dine
with me yesterday, and he laid his hands upon the heads of my
little ones. We had a good deal of curious literary conversation,
particularly about Mr. Thomas Ruddiman, with whom he lived in
great friendship.
"Any fresh instance of the uncertainty of life makes one
embrace more closely a valuable friend. My dear and much
respected Sir, may GOD preserve you long in this world while I
am in it.
"I am ever, your much obliged, and affectionate humble servant,
"JAMES BOSWELL."
On the 23rd of February I wrote to him again,
complaining of his silence, as I had heard he was ill, and
had written to Mr Thrale for information concerning him;
and I announced my intention of soon being again in
London.
"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"WHY should you take such delight to make a bustle, to
write to Mr Thrale that I am negligent, and to Francis to do
what is so very unnecessary. Thrale, you may be sure, cared not
about it; and I shall spare Francis the trouble, by ordering a set




62


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


both of the Lives and Poets to dear Mrs. Boswell,' in acknowledgement of her marmalade. Persuade her to accept them, and
accept them kindly.  If I thought she would receive them scornfully, I would send them to Miss Boswell, who, I hope, has yet
none of her mamma's ill-will to me.
" I would send sets of Lives, four volumes, to some other
friends, to Lord Hailes first. His second volume lies by my
bedside; a book surely of great labour, and to every just thinker
of great delight. Write me word to whom I shall send besides;
would it please Lord Auchinleck?  Mrs. Thrale waits in the
coach.
" I am, dear Sir, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
" March 13, 1779."
This letter crossed me on the road to London, where
I arrived on Monday, March I5, and next morning at
a late hour, found Dr. Johnson sitting over his tea,
attended by Mrs. Desmoulins, Mr. Levett, and a clergyman who had come to submit some poetical pieces to his
revision. It is wonderful what a number and variety of
writers, some of them even unknown to him, prevailed
on his good-nature to look over their works, and suggest
corrections and improvements.
My arrival interrupted for a little while the important
business of this true representative of Bayes; upon its
being resumed, I found that the subject under immediate
consideration was a translation, yet in manuscript, of the
Carmen Seculare of Horace, which had this year been
set to music, and performed as a public entertainment in
London, for the joint benefit of Monsieur Philidor and
Signor Baretti.  When Johnson had done reading, the
author 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 what answer to make, as he certainly could
not honestly commend the performance; with exquisite
address he evaded the question thus, "Sir, I do not say
1 He sent a set elegantly bound and gilt, which was received as
a very handsome present. B.




POET AND CRITIC


63


that it may not be made a very good translation." Here
nothing whatever in favour of the performance was
affirmed, and yet the writer was not shocked. 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 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"
Then turning to me, the poet cried, " My muse has not
been long upon the town, and (pointing to the ode) it
trembles under the hand of the great critic." Johnson,
in a tone of displeasure, asked him, " Why do you praise
Anson?" 1 I did not trouble him by asking his reason
for this question. He proceeded, " Here is an error, Sir;
you have made Genius feminine."-" Palpable, Sir (cried
the enthusiast); I know it. But (in a lower tone) it was
to pay a compliment 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 two should make
five; but they will still make but four."
Although I was several times with him in the course
of the following days, such it seems were my occupations,
or such my negligence, that I have preserved no memorial
of his conversation till Friday, March 26, when I visited
him. 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
thing you can do to an author is to be silent as to his
works. An assault upon a town 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."


1 A mistake of Boswell's for Amherst. Dr. Hill.




64


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Talking of a friend of ours associating with persons
of very discordant principles and characters, I said he
was a very universal man, quite a man of the world.
JOHNSON: "Yes, Sir; but one may be so much a man
of the world, as to be nothing in the world. I remember
a passage in Goldsmith'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." JOHNSON  " 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 of
whom I had not a good opinion. JOHNSON "But you
must not indulge your delicacy too much; or you will be
a tite-ai-te man all your life."
During my stay in London this spring, I find I was
unaccountably negligent in preserving Johnson's sayings,
more so than at any time when I was happy enough to
have an opportunity of hearing his wisdom and wit.
There is no help for it now. I must content myself
with presenting such scraps as I have. But I am nevertheless ashamed and vexed to think how much has been
lost. It is not that there was a bad crop this year; but
that I was not sufficiently careful in gathering it in. I,
therefore, in some instances can only exhibit a few detached
fragments.
Talking of the wonderful concealment of the author of
the celebrated letters signed Yunius, he said " I should
have believed Burke to be Junius, because I know no man
but Burke who is capable of writing these letters; but
Burke spontaneously denied it to me. The case would
have been different, had I asked him if he was the
author; a man so questioned, as to an anonymous publication, may think he has a right to deny it."
He observed that his old friend, Mr Sheridan, had
been honoured with extraordinary attention in his own
country, by having had an exception made in his favour




THE ADVANTAGES OF LONDON


65


in an Irish Act of Parliament concerning insolvent debtors.
"Thus to be singled out," said he, "by legislature, as
an object of public consideration and kindness, is a proof
of no common merit."
At Streatham, on Monday, March 29, at breakfast, he
maintained that a father had no right to control the
inclinations of his daughters in marriage.
On Wednesday, March 31, when I visited him, and
confessed an excess of which I had very seldom been
guilty; that I had spent a whole night in playing at
cards, and that I could not look back on it with satisfaction instead of a harsh animadversion, he mildly said,
"Alas, Sir, on how few things can we look back with
satisfaction."
On Thursday, April i, he commended one of the Dukes
of Devonshire for "a dogged veracity" [see Vol. II.
p. 377 ] He said too, "London is nothing to some people;
but 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; more can be had here for the
money even by ladies, than any where else. You cannot
play tricks with your fortune in a small place; you must
make an uniform appearance. Here a lady may have
well-furnished apartments, and elegant dress, without any
meat in her kitchen."
I was amused by considering with how much ease and
coolness he could write or talk to a friend, exhorting him
not to suppose that happiness was not to be found as well
in other places as in London; when he himself was at
all times sensible of its being, comparatively speaking, a
heaven upon earth.  The truth is, that by those who
from sagacity, attention, and experience, have learnt the
full advantage of London, its pre-eminence over every
other place, not only for variety of enjoyment, but for
comfort, will be felt with a philosophical exultation. The
freedom from remark and petty censure, with which life
may be passed there, is a circumstance which a man who
knows the teasing restraint of a narrow circle must relish
highly. Mr. Burke, whose orderly and amiable domestic


F


III,




66


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


habits might make the eye of observation less irksome
to him than to most men, said once very pleasantly, in
my hearing, "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 may live in splendid society at one time,
and in frugal retirement at another, without animadversion.
There, and there alone, a man's own house is truly his
castle, in which he can be in perfect safety from intrusion
whenever he pleases. I never shall forget how well this
was expressed to me one day 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 a travelling governor. He knows French very
well. He is a man of good principles; and 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."
A gentleman has informed me, that Johnson said of the
same person, " Sir, he has the most inverted understanding
of any man whom I have ever known."
On Friday, April 2, being Good Friday, I visited him
in the morning as usual; and finding that we insensibly fell
into a train of ridicule upon the foibles of one of our
friends, a very worthy man, I, by way of a check, quoted
some good admonition from  "The Government of the
Tongue," that very pious book. It happened also, remarkably enough, that the subject of the sermon preached
to us 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 evilspeaking. As we were moving slowly along in the crowd
from church, 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 author of 'The




EASTER DAY, 1779


67


Government of the Tongue' would have us treat all
men alike."
In the interval between morning and evening service,
he endeavoured to employ himself earnestly in devotional
exercise; and, as he has mentioned in his "Prayers and
Meditations" (p. I73), gave me "Les Pensees de Pascal,"
that I might not interrupt him. I preserve the book with
reverence. His presenting it to me is marked upon it
with his own hand, and I have found in it a truly divine
unction. We went to church again in the afternoon.
On Saturday, April 3, I visited him at night, and found
him sitting in Mrs. Williams's room, with her, and one
who he afterwards told me was a natural son of the second
Lord Southwell.' The table had a singular appearance,
being covered with a heterogeneous assemblage of oysters
and porter for his company, and tea for himself. I
mentioned my having heard an eminent physician, who
was himself a Christian, argue in favour of universal
toleration, and maintain that no man could be hurt by
another man's differing from him in opinion. JOHNSON
"Sir, you are to a certain degree hurt by knowing that
even one man does not believe."
On Easter Day, after solemn service at St. Paul's, I
dined with him Mr. Allen the printer was also his guest.
He was uncommonly silent; and I have not written down
any thing, except a single curious fact, which, having the
sanction of his inflexible veracity, may be received as a
striking instance of human insensibility and inconsideration.
As he was passing by a fishmonger who was skinning an
eel alive, he heard him "curse it, because it would not lie
still."
On Wednesday, April 7, I dined with him at Sir Joshua
Reynolds's. I have not marked what company was there.
Johnson harangued upon the qualities of different liquors;
and spoke with great contempt of claret, as so weak, that
"a man would be drowned by it before it made him
drunk." He was persuaded to drink one glass of it, that
1 Mauritius Lowe, the painter mentioned on p. 21 note. Croker.




68


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


he might judge, not from recollection, which might be
dim, but from immediate sensation. He shook his head,
and said  "Poor stuff! No, Sir, claret is the liquor for
boys, port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero
(smiling) must drink brandy   In the first place, the
flavour of brandy is most grateful to the palate, and then
brandy will do soonest for a man what drinking can do for
him. There are, indeed, few who are able to drink
brandy   That is a power rather to be wished for than
attained. And yet (proceeded he), as in all pleasure hope
is a considerable part, I know not but fruition comes too
quick by brandy. Florence wine I think the worst; it is
wine only to the eye; it is wine neither while you are
drinking it, nor after you have drunk it, it neither
pleases the taste, nor exhilarates the spirits."  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 headache after sitting up with him.
He did not like to have this recalled, or, perhaps, thinking
that I boasted improperly, resolved to have a witty stroke
at me; "Nay, Sir, it was not the wine that made your
head ache, but the sense that I put into it." BOSWELL:
"What, 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; especially if Johnson in a long intimacy had given
him repeated proofs of his regard and good estimation. I
used to say, that as he had given me  i0ooo in praise, he
had a good right now and then to take a guinea from me.
On Thursday, April 8, I dined with him at Mr Allan
Ramsay's, with Lord Graham1 and some other company
We talked of Shakespeare's witches. JOHNSON  " They
are beings of his own creation; they are a compound of
malignity and meanness, without any abilities, and are
quite different from the Italian magician. King James
says in his 'Daemonology,' 'Magicians command the
1 Afterwards third Duke of Montrose, born in 1755, succeeded
to the title in I790, and died in 1836. Croker.




A LOVE OF LIBERTY


69


devils: witches are their servants.' The Italian magicians
are elegant beings."  RAMSAY    "Opera witches, not
Drury Lane witches."-Johnson observed, that abilities
might be employed in a narrow sphere, as in getting
money, which he said he believed no man could do
without vigorous parts, though concentrated to a point.
RAMSAY. "Yes, like a strong horse in a mill; he pulls
better."
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 ancestors have borne it more years
than I can tell." This was a handsome compliment to the
antiquity of the House of Montrose. His Lordship told
me afterwards, that he had only affected to complain of
the climate; lest, if he had spoken as favourably of his
country as he really thought, Dr Johnson might have
attacked it. 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 Margaret's horse should stumble."
Lord Graham commended Dr Drummond at Naples
as 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 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 govern us. When that was the case some
time ago, no man was at liberty not to have candles in his
windows."  RAMSAY    "The result is, that order is better
than confusion." JOHNSON   "The result is, that order
cannot be had but by subordination."
On Friday, April 16, I had been present at the trial of
the unfortunate Mr Hackman, who, in a fit of frantic




7o


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


jealous love, had shot Miss Ray, the favourite of a nobleman.1 Johnson, in whose company I had dined to-day
with some other friends, was much interested by my
account of what passed, and particularly with his prayer
for the mercy of heaven. He said, in a solemn fervid
tone, "I hope he shall find mercy"
This day 2 a violent altercation arose between Johnson
and Beauclerk, which having made much noise at the
time, I think it proper, in order to prevent any future
misrepresentation, to give a minute account of it.
In talking of Hackman, Johnson argued, as Judge
Blackstone had done, that his being furnished with two
pistols was a proof that he meant to shoot two persons.
Mr. Beauclerk said   "No; for that every wise man
who intended to shoot himself, took two pistols, that
he might be sure of doing it at once. Lord          's
cook shot himself with one pistol, and lived ten days in
great agony.   Mr., who loved buttered muffins,
but durst not eat them because they disagreed with his
stomach, resolved to shoot himself; and then he ate
three buttered muffins for breakfast, before shooting himself, knowing that he should not be troubled with indigestion  he had two charged pistols; one was found
lying charged upon the table by him, after he had shot
himself with the other "8-" Well," said Johnson, with
an air of triumph, "you see here one pistol was sufficient."
Beauclerk replied smartly, " Because it happened to kill
him." And either then or very little afterwards, being
piqued at Johnson's triumphant remark, added, " This is
what you don't know, and I do." There was then a
1 Hackman was a clergyman who had been in the army- The
nobleman was the Earl of Sandwich, at this time First Lord of the
Admiralty. Croker.
2 At the Club, when Johnson was President and the following
members present Lord Althorp, Sir Charles Bunbury, Beauclerk,
Boswell, Sir Joseph Banks (the "eminent traveller"), Reynolds,
and George Steevens. Napier.
8 This looks like the origin of one of Sam Weller's famous
anecdotes.




JOHNSON AND BEAUCLERK


71


cessation of the dispute; and some minutes intervened,
during which dinner and the glass went on cheerfully;
when Johnson suddenly and abruptly exclaimed * "Mr
Beauclerk, how came you to talk so petulantly to me, as
'This is what you don't know, but what I know'? One
thing I know, which you don't seem to know, that you
are very uncivil." BEAUCLERK: "Because you began by
being uncivil (which you always are)." The words in
parentheses were, I believe, not heard by Dr. Johnson.
Here again there was a cessation of arms. Johnson told
me, that the reason why he waited at first some time
without taking any notice of what Mr. Beauclerk said,
was because he was thinking whether he should resent it.
But when he considered that there were present a young
Lord and an eminent traveller, two men of the world with
whom he had never dined before, he was apprehensive
that they might think they had a right to take such
liberties with him as Beauclerk did, and therefore resolved
he would not let it pass * adding, " that he would not appear a coward."  A little while after this, the conversation
turned on the violence of Hackman's temper. Johnson
then said " It was his business to command his temper, as
my friend, Mr. Beauclerk, should have done some time
ago." BEAUCLERK   "I should learn of you, Sir." JOHNSON' "Sir, you have given me opportunities enough of
learning, when I have been in your company  No man
loves to be treated with contempt." BEAUCLERK (with a
polite inclination towards Johnson) "Sir, you have known
me twenty years, and however I may have treated others,
you may be sure I could never treat you with contempt."
JOHNSON   "Sir, you have said more than was necessary."
Thus it ended; and Beauclerk's coach not having come
for him till very late, Dr Johnson and another gentleman
sat with him a long time after the rest of the company
were gone; and he and I dined at Beauclerk's on the
Saturday se'nnlght following
After this tempest had subsided, I recollect the following particulars of his conversation
"I am always for getting a boy forward in his learning;




72


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


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 you have
brought him to have entertainment from a book. He'll
get better books afterwards."
" Mallet, I believe, never wrote a single line of his projected life of the Duke of Marlborough. He groped for
materials, and thought of it, till he had exhausted his
mind. Thus it sometimes happens that men entangle
themselves in their own schemes."
"To be contradicted in order to force you to talk is
mighty unpleasing. You shine, indeed; but it is by being
ground."
Of a gentleman who made some figure among the
Literati of his time (Mr. Fitzherbert), he said, "What
eminence he had was by a felicity of manner: he had no
more learning than what he could not help."
On Saturday, April 24, I dined with him at Mr Beauclerk's, with Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr Jones (afterwards
Sir William), Mr Langton, Mr. Steevens, Mr Paradise,
and Dr Higgins. I mentioned that Mr. Wilkes had
attacked Garrick to me, as a man who had no friend.
JOHNSON     I believe he is right, Sir  01 (P'io, oui 4ixoS
-He had friends but no friend. Garrick was so diffused,
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 play the sophist.- "Garrick did
not need a friend, as he got from every body all that he
wanted. What is a friend? One who supports you and
comforts you, while others do not. Friendship, you
know, Sir, is the cordial drop, 'to make the nauseous
draught of life go down ' but if the draught be not
nauseous, if it be all sweet, there is no occasion for that
drop." JOHNSON "Many men would not be content to
live so. I hope I should not. They would wish to have
an intimate friend, with whom they might compare minds,
and cherish private virtues," One of the company men



GARRICK


73


tioned Lord Chesterfield, as a man who had no friend.
JOHNSON   "There were more materials to make friendship in Garrick, had he not been so diffused." BOSWELL'
"Garrick was pure gold, but beat out to thin leaf. Lord
Chesterfield was tinsel." JOHNSON  "Garrick was a very
good man, the cheerfulest man of his age; a decent liver
in a profession which is supposed 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 fourpence do as much
as others made fourpence-halfpenny do. But when he
had got money, he was very liberal." I presumed to
animadvert on his eulogy on Garrick, in his "Lives of
the Poets."  "You say, Sir, his death eclipsed the gaiety
of nations" [see Vol. I. p. 44]. JOHNSON. "I could not have
said more nor less. It is the truth; eclipsed not extinguished; and his death did eclipse, it was like a storm."
BOSWELL' "But why nations?    Did his gaiety extend
farther than his own nation?" JOHNSON "Why, Sir,
some exaggeration must be allowed. Besides, nations
may be said-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." BEAUCLERK   "But he is a very unnatural Scotchman."  I,
however, continued to think the compliment to Garrick
hyperbolically untrue. His acting had ceased some time
before his death; at any rate he had acted in Ireland but
a short time, at an early period of his life, and never in
Scotland. I objected also to what appears an anticlimax
of praise, when contrasted with the preceding panegyric,
-" and diminished the public stock of harmless pleasure!"
-"Is not harmless pleasure very tame?"    JOHNSON
" Nay, Sir, harmless pleasure is the highest praise. Pleasure is a word of dubious import, pleasure is in general
dangerous, and pernicious to virtue; to be able therefore
to furnish pleasure that is harmless, pleasure pure and
unalloyed, is as great a power as man can possess." This




74


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


was, perhaps, as ingenious a defence as could be made;
still, however, I was not satisfied.
A celebrated wit being mentioned, he said  "One may
say of him as was said of a French wit, II n'a de l'esprit
que contre Dieu. I have been several times in company
with him, but never perceived any strong power of wit.
He produces a general effect by various means; he has
a cheerful countenance and a gay voice. Besides his trade
is wit. It would be as wild in him to come into company
without merriment, as for a highwayman to take the road
without his pistols."
Talking of the effects of drinking, he said. "Drinking
may be practised with great prudence; a man who exposes himself when he is intoxicated, has not the art of
getting drunk; a sober man who happens occasionally
to get drunk, readily enough goes into a new company,
which a man who has been drinking should never do.
Such a man will undertake any thing; he is without skill
in inebriation. I used to slink home when I had drunk
too much. A man accustomed to self-examination will
be conscious when he is drunk, though an habitual
drunkard will not be conscious of it. I knew a physician,
who for twenty years was not sober; yet in a pamphlet,
which he wrote upon fevers, he appealed to Garrick and
me for his vindication from a charge of drunkenness. A
bookseller (naming him) who got a large fortune by
trade, was so habitually and equally drunk, that his most
intimate friends never perceived that he was more sober
at one time than another."
Talking of celebrated and successful irregular practisers
in physic, he said, "Taylor' was the most ignorant man
I ever knew, but sprightly' Ward, the dullest. Taylor
challenged me once to talk Latin with him (laughing).
I quoted some of Horace, which he took to be a part
of my own speech. He said a few words well enough."
1 The Chevalier Taylor, the celebrated oculist. Malone. Ward
was a well-known quack, satirized by Pope. Imitations of Horace,
epist. 2, i. i8o.




BEAUCLERK'S STORIES


75


BEAUCLERK: "I remember, Sir, you said, that Taylor
was an instance how far impudence could carry ignorance."-Mr. Beauclerk was very entertaining this day,
and told us a number of short stories in a lively elegant
manner, and with that air of the world which has I know
not what impressive effect, as if there were something
more than is expressed, or than perhaps we could perfectly understand. As Johnson and I accompanied Sir
Joshua Reynolds in his coach, Johnson said' "There is
in Beauclerk a predominance over his company, that one
does not like. But he is a man who has lived so much
in the world, that he has a short story on every occasion;
he is always ready to talk, and is never exhausted."
Johnson and I passed the evening at Miss Reynolds's,
Sir Joshua's sister. I mentioned that an eminent friend
of ours, talking of the common remark that affection
descends, said that, "This was wisely contrived for the
preservation of mankind; for which it was not so
necessary that there should be affection from children to
parents, as from parents to children; nay, there would
be no harm in that view though children should at a
certain age eat their parents." JOHNSON  "But, Sir, if
this were known generally to be the case, parents would
not have affection for children."  BOSWELL  "True, Sir;
for it is in expectation of a return that parents are so
attentive to their children; and I know a very pretty
instance of a little girl of whom her father was very fond,
who once when he was in a melancholy fit, and had gone
to bed, persuaded him to rise in good humour by saying,
'My dear papa, please to get up, and let me help you
on with your clothes, that I may learn to do it when you
are an old man."'
Soon after this time a little incident occurred, which I
will not suppress, because I am desirous that my work
should be, as much as is consistent with the strictest truth,
an antidote to the false and injurious notions of his
character, which have been given by others, and therefore
I infuse every drop of genuine sweetness into my biographical cup.




76


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


"TO DR. JOHNSON.
"MY DEAR SIR,
"I AM in great pain with an inflamed foot, and obliged to
keep my bed, so am prevented from having the pleasure to dine
at Mr Ramsay's to-day, which is very hard; and my spirits are
sadly sunk. Will you be so friendly as to come and sit an hour
with me in the evening? I am ever your most faithful, and
affectionate humble servant,
"JAMES BOSWELL.
"South Audley Street;
"Monday, April 26."
"TO MR. BOSWELL.
"MR. JOHNSON laments the absence of Mr. Boswell, and will
come to him.
"Harley Street."
He came to me in the evening, and brought Sir Joshua
Reynolds. I need scarcely say, that 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 [see p. 39], sent
by me to my Lord Marchmont, a present of those
volumes of his "Lives of the Poets," which were at this
time published, with a request to have permission to wait
on him; and his Lordship, who had called on him
twice, obligingly appointed Saturday, the ist of May, for
receiving us.
On that morning Johnson came to me from Streatham,
and after drinking chocolate at General Paoli's in South
Audley Street, we proceeded to Lord Marchmont's in
Curzon Street. His Lordship met us at the door of his
library, and with great politeness said to Johnson, " I am
not going to make an encomium upon myself, by telling
you the high respect I have for you, Sir." Johnson was
exceedingly courteous, and the interview, which lasted
about two hours, during which the Earl communicated
his anecdotes of Pope, was as agreeable as I could have
wished. When we came out, I said to Johnson, that,




PARNELL'S ' HERMIT'


77


considering his Lordship's civility, I should have been
vexed if he had again failed to come.      "Sir," said he,
" I would rather have given twenty pounds than not
have come." I accompanied him to Streatham, where we
dined, and returned to town in the evening.
On Monday, May 3, I dined with him at Dr Dilly's;
I pressed him this day for his opinion on the passage on
Parnell, concerning which I had in vain questioned him
in several letters, and at length obtained it in due form
of law.
"CASE for DR. JOHNSON'S Opinion; 3rd of May, 1779.
"PARNELL, in his ' Hermit,' has the following passage:
'To clear this doubt, to know the world by sight,
To find if books and swains report it right:
(For yet by swains alone the world he knew,
Whose feet came wand'ring o'er the nightly dew.)'
Is there not a contradiction in its being first supposed that
the Hermit knew both what books and swains reported of
the world, yet afterwards said, that he knew it by swains
alone?"
"I think it an inaccuracy. -He mentions two instructors in the first line, and says he had only one in
the next." 1
1 I do not," says Mr Malone, "see any difficulty in this
passage, and wonder that Dr. Johnson should have acknowledged
it to be inaccurate. The Hermit, it should be observed, had no
actual experience of the world whatsoever: all his knowledge
concerning it had been obtained in two ways; from books and
from the relations of those country swains, who had seen a little
of it. The plain meaning, therefore, is, 'To clear his doubts
concerning Providence, and to obtain some knowledge of the
world by actual experience; to see whether the accounts furnished
by books, or by the oral communications of swains, were just
representations of it; [I say, swains], for his oral or viva voce
information had been obtained from that part of mankind alone,
&c.' The word alone here does not relate to the whole of the




78


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


This evening I set out for Scotland.
"TO MRS. LUCY PORTER, IN LICHFIELD.
" DEAR MADAM,
"MR. GREEN has informed me that you are much better:
I hope I need not tell you that I am glad of it. I cannot boast of
being much better; my old nocturnal complaint still pursues me,
and my respiration is difficult, though much easier than when I
left you the summer before last. Mr. and Mrs. Thrale are well;
Miss has been a little indisposed; but she is got well again. They
have since the loss of their boy had two daughters; but they
seem likely to want a son.
"I hope you had some books which I sent you. I was sorry
for poor Mrs. Adey's death, and am afraid you will be sometimes
solitary; but endeavour, whether alone or in company, to keep
yourself cheerful. My friends likewise die very fast; but such is
the state of man. I am, dear love, your most humble servant,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"May 4, 1779."
He had, before I left London, resumed the conversation
concerning the appearance of a ghost at Newcastle-uponTyne, which Mr. John Wesley believed, but to which
Johnson did not give credit. I was, however, desirous to
examine the question closely, and at the same time wished
to be made acquainted with Mr. John Wesley; for though
I differed from him in some points, I admired his various
talents, and loved his pious zeal. At my request, therefore, Dr Johnson gave me a letter of introduction to
him.
preceding line, as has been supposed, but, by a common licence,
to the words,-of all mankind, which are understood, and of which
it is restrictive."  Mr Malone, it must be owned, has shewn
much critical ingenuity in his explanation of this passage. His
interpretation, however, seems to me much too recondite. The
meaning of the passage may be certain enough, but surely the
expression is confused, and one part of it contradictory to the
other. B. Croker has pointed out a misquotation which makes
all the difference; the second line should run " books or swains."
But in his letter of February 28, I778, Boswell quoted the passage
correctly. Napier.




JOHN WESLEY AND THE GHOST


79


"TO THE REVEREND MR. JOHN WESLEY.
SIR,
"MR. BOSWELL, a gentleman who has been long known
to me, is desirous of being known to you, and has asked this
recommendation, which I give him with great willingness, because
I think it very much to be wished that worthy and religious men
should be acquainted with each other. I am, Sir, your most
humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"May 3, I779."
Mr Wesley being in the course of his ministry at
Edinburgh, I presented this letter to him, and was very
politely received. I begged to have it returned to me,
which was accordingly done.-His state of the evidence as
to the ghost did not satisfy me.
I did not write to Johnson, as usual, upon my return to
my family; but tried how he would be affected by my
silence. Mr. Dilly sent me a copy of a note which he
received from him on the  3th of July, in these words:
" TO MR. DILLY.
" SIR,
"SINCE Mr Boswell's departure I have never heard from
him; please to send word what you know of him, and whether
you have sent my books to his lady. I am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON."
My readers will not doubt that his solicitude about me
was very flattering.
' TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
" DEAR SIR,
"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 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 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.
" My thoughts are at present employed in guessing the reason




8o        BOSWELL'S LIFE       OF JOHNSON
of your silence: you must not expect that I should tell you any
thing, if I had any thing to tell. Write, pray write to me, and let
me know what is, or what has been the cause of this long
interruption.
I am, dear Sir, your most affectionate humble servant,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"July I3, 1779."
c TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON.
Edinburgh, July 17, 1779.
"MY DEAR SIR,
'' WHAT may be justly denominated a supine indolence of
mind has been my state of existence since I last returned to
Scotland. In a livelier state I had often suffered severely from
long intervals of silence on your part; and I had even been chid
by you for expressing my uneasiness.  I was willing to take
advantage of my insensibility, and while I could bear the experiment, to try whether your affection for me would, after an
unusual silence on my part, make you write first. This afternoon
I have had very high satisfaction by receiving your kind letter of
inquiry, for which I most gratefully thank you. I am doubtful if
it was right to make the experiment: though I have gained by it.
I was beginning to grow tender, and to upbraid myself, especially
after having dreamt two nights ago that I was with you. I and
my wife, and my four children, are all well. I would not delay
one post to answer your letter; but as it is late, I have not time to
do more. You shall soon hear from me upon many and various
particulars; and I shall never again put you to any test. I am,
with veneration, my dear Sir, your much obliged, and faithful
humble servant,
"JAMES BOSWELL."
On the 22nd of July, I wrote to him again; and gave
him an account of my last interview with my worthy friend
Mr. Edward Dilly, at his brother's house at Southill in
Bedfordshire, where he died soon after I parted from him,
leaving me a very kind remembrance of his regard.
I informed him that Lord Hailes, who had promised to
furnish him  with some anecdotes for his " Lives of the
Poets," had sent me three instances of Prior's borrowing
from Gombauld, in " Recueil des Poetes," tome 3. Epigram,
"To John I owed great obligation," p. 25        "To   the




BOSWELL'S SILENCE


8i


Duke of Noailles," p. 32.    "Sauntering Jack and Idle
Joan," p. 25
My letter was a pretty long one, and contained a
variety of particulars; but he, it should seem, had not
attended to it; for his next to me was as follows
c'TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"MY DEAR SIR,
" ARE you playing the same trick again, and trying who
can keep silence longest? Remember that all tricks are either
knavish or childish. and that it is as foolish to make experiments
upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.
"What can be the cause of this second fit of silence, I cannot
conjecture. but after one trick, I will not be cheated by another,
nor will harass my thoughts with conjectures about the motives of
a man who probably acts only by caprice. I therefore suppose
you are well, and that Mrs. Boswell is well too and that the fine
summer has restored Lord Auchinleck. I am much better than
you left me: I think I am better than when I was in Scotland.
" I forgot whether I informed you that poor Thrale has been in
great danger.  Mrs. Thrale likewise has miscarried, and been
much indisposed. Every body else is well; Langton is in camp.
I intend to put Lord Hailes's description of Dryden 1 into another
edition, and as I know his accuracy, wish he would consider the
dates, which I could not always settle to my own mind.
" Mr Thrale goes to Brighthelmstone about Michaelmas, to
be jolly and ride a-hunting. I shall go to town or perhaps to
Oxford. Exercise and gaiety, or rather carelessness, will, I hope,
dissipate all remains of his malady; and I likewise hope by the
change of place to find some opportunities of growing yet better
myself. I am, dear Sir, your humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON
"Streatham, Sept. 9, I779."
My readers will not be displeased at being told every
slight circumstance of the manner in which Dr Johnson
contrived to amuse his solitary hours.    He sometimes
employed himself in chemistry, sometimes in watering and
1 Which I communicated to him from his Lordship, but it has
not yet been published. I have a copy of it. B.


11.


G




82


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


pruning a vine, sometimes in small experiments, at
which those who may smile, should recollect that there
are moments which admit of being soothed only by
trifles.'
On the 20th of September, I defended myself against
his suspicion of me, which I did not deserve, and added
"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. The very sight of your hand-writing would comfort
me and were a sheet to be thus sent regularly, we should
much oftener convey something were it only a few kind
words."
1 In one of his manuscript diaries, there is the following entry,
which marks his curious minute attention: "July 26, 1768. I
shaved my nail by accident in whetting the knife about an eighth
of an inch from the bottom, and about a fourth from the top.
This I measure that I may know the growth of nails; the whole
is about five-eighths of an inch." Another of the same kind
appears, "Aug 7, 1779. Partem brachii dextri carpo proximam et
cutem pectoris circa mamillam dextram rasi, ut notum fieret quanta
temporis pili renovarentur"  And, "Aug. 15, 1783. I cut from
the vine 41 leaves, which weighed five oz. and a half and eight
scruples:-I lay them upon my book-case, to see what weight
they will lose by drying." B.
"Dr. Johnson" (Mrs. Piozzi's Anecdotes, p. 237) "was always
exceedingly fond of chemistry; and we made up a sort of laboratory
at Streatham one summer, and diverted ourselves with drawing
essences and colouring liquors. But the danger in which Mr.
Thrale found his friend one day, when I had driven to London,
and he had got the children and servants assembled around him to
see some experiments performed, put an end to all our entertainment; as Mr. Thrale was persuaded that his short sight would
have occasioned his destruction in a moment by bringing him close
to a fierce and violent flame. Indeed it was a perpetual miracle
that he did not set himself on fire reading abed, as was his constant
custom, when quite unable even to keep clear of mischief with our
best help; and accordingly the foretops of all his wigs were
burned by the candle down to the very network. Future experiments in chemistry were, however, too dangerous, and Mr. Thrale
insisted that we should do no more towards finding the philosopher's
stone." Croker.




BREAKFASTING IN SPLENDOUR


83


My friend Colonel James Stuart,1 second son of the
Earl of Bute, who had distinguished himself as a good
officer of the Bedfordshire militia, had taken a public
spirited resolution to serve his country in its difficulties,
by raising a regular regiment, and taking the command of
it himself. This, in the heir of the immense property of
Wortley, was highly honourable. Having been in Scotland recruiting, he obligingly asked me to accompany him
to Leeds, then the head-quarters of his corps; from
thence to London for a short time, and afterwards to
other places to which the regiment might be ordered.
Such an offer, at a time of the year when I had full
leisure, was very pleasing; especially as I was to accompany a man of sterling good sense, information,
discernment, and conviviality; and was to have a second
crop, in one year, of London and Johnson. Of this I
informed my illustrious friend, in characteristical warm
terms, in a letter dated the 30th of September, from
Leeds.
On Monday, October 4, I called at his house before
he was up. He sent for me to his bedside, and expressed
his satisfaction at this incidental meeting, with as much
vivacity as if he had been in the gaiety of youth. He
called briskly, " Frank, go and get coffee, and let us
breakfast in splendour"
During this visit to London I had several interviews
with him, which it is unnecessary to distinguish particularly.
I consulted him as to the appointment of guardians to my
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 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
i Colonel Stuart assumed successively the names of Stuart and
Mackenzie, but was best known as Mr. Stuart-Wortley. He was
father of the first Lord Wharncliffe, and died in 1814. Croaer.




84


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


ability and expertness, to whom, therefore, the execution
of the trust will not be burdensome."
On Sunday, October 10, we dined together at Mr.
Strahan's. The conversation having turned on the prevailing practice of going to the East-Indies in quest of
wealth;-JOHNSON. "A man had better have io,oool. at
the end of ten years passed in England, than 20,ooo0001. at
the end of ten years passed in India, because you must
compute 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. The ingenious Mr. Brown, distinguished by
the name of Capability Brown, told me, that he was once
at the seat of Lord Clive, who had returned from India
with great wealth; and that he shewed him at the door of
his bed-chamber a large chest, which he said he had once
had full of gold; upon which Brown observed,' I am
glad you can bear it so near your bed-chamber.'"
We talked of the state of the poor in London.-JOHNSON  "Saunders Welch, the Justice, who was once highconstable 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 year, died of hunger; not absolutely
of immediate hunger, but of the wasting and other diseases which are the consequences 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 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. Will you
give me work? '-' I cannot.'-  Why then you have no
right to charge me with idleness.'"
We left Mr Strahan's at seven, as Johnson had said he
intended to go to evening prayers. As we walked along
he complained of a little gout in his toe, and said: " I




POPE


sha'n't go to prayers to-night; I shall go to-morrow.
Whenever I miss church on a Sunday, I resolve to go
another day. But I do not always do it." This was a
fair exhibition of that vibration between pious resolutions
and indolence, which many of us have too often experienced.
I went home with him, and we had a long quiet
conversation.
I read him a letter from Dr. Hugh Blair concerning
Pope (in writing whose Life he was now employed),
which I shall insert as a literary curiosity.1
"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"IN the year 1763, being at London,I was carried by Dr John
Blair, Prebendary of Westminster, to dine at old Lord Bathurst's;
where we found the late Mr. Mallet, Sir James Porter, who had
been Ambassador at Constantinople, the late Dr Macaulay, and
two or three more. The conversation turning on Mr. Pope, Lord
Bathurst told us, that 'The Essay on Man' was originally composed by Lord Bolingbroke in prose, and that Mr. Pope did no
more than put it into verse that he had read Lord Bolingbroke's
manuscript in his own hand-writing; and remembered well, that
he was at a loss whether most to admire the elegance of Lord
Bolingbroke's prose, or the beauty of Mr. Pope's verse. When
Lord Bathurst told this, Mr. Mallet bade me attend, and remember this remarkable piece of information; as, by the course
1 The Rev Dr. Law, Bishop of Carlisle, in the preface to his
valuable edition of Archbishop King's Essay on the Origin of Evil,
mentions that the principles maintained in it had been adopted by
Pope in his Essay on Man; and adds: "The fact, notwithstanding
such denial (Bishop Warburton's), might have been strictly verified
by an unexceptionable testimony, viz. that of the late Lord
Bathurst who saw the very same system of the ro flArLov (taken
from the Archbishop) in Lord Bolingbroke's own hand, lying
before Mr. Pope, while he was composing his Essay." This is
respectable evidence; but that of Dr. Blair is more direct from
the fountain-head, as well as more full. Let me add to it that of
Dr. Joseph Warton: " The late Lord Bathurst repeatedly assured
me that he had read the whole scheme of The Essay on Man, in
the hand-writing of Bolingbroke, and drawn up in a series of
propositions, which Pope was to versify and illustrate." Essay on
the Genius and Writings of PopeC ii. 62. B.




86


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


of Nature, I might survive his Lordship, and be a witness of his
having said so. The conversation was indeed too remarkable to
be forgotten. A few days after, meeting with you, who were
then also at London, you will remember that I mentioned to you
what had passed on this subject, as I was much struck with this
anecdote. But what ascertains my recollection of it beyond
doubt, is, that being accustomed to keep a journal of what passed
when I was at London, which I wrote out every evening, I find
the particulars of the above information, just as I have now given
them, distinctly marked; and am thence enabled to fix this conversation to have passed on Friday, the 22nd of April, 1763.
" I remember also distinctly (though I have not for this the
authority of my journal), that the conversation going on concerning Mr. Pope, I took notice of a report which had been
sometimes propagated that he did not understand Greek. Lord
Bathurst said to me that he knew that to be false; for the 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
which he had been translating, and then to give them his version
of them, and to compare them together.
"If these circumstances can be of any use to Dr. Johnson, you
have my full liberty to give them to him. I beg you will, at the
same time, present to him my most respectful compliments, with
best wishes for his success and fame in all his literary undertakings. I am, with great respect, my dearest Sir, your most
affectionate, and obliged humble servant,
"HUGH BLAIR.
"Broughton Park, Sept. 21, I779."
JOHNSON: "Depend upon it, Sir, this is too strongly
stated.  Pope may have had from Bolingbroke the philosophic stamina of his Essay; and admitting this to be
true, Lord Bathurst did not intentionally falsify. But the
thing is not true in the latitude that Blair seems to
imagine; we are sure that the poetical imagery, which
makes a great part of the poem, was Pope's own. It is
amazing, Sir, what deviations there are from precise truth,
in the account which is given of almost every thing. I
told Mrs. Thrale, 'You have so little anxiety about
truth, that you never tax your memory with the exact
thing' Now what is the use of the memory to truth, if
one is careless of exactness?  Lord Hailes's ' Annals of




TRICKS TO MAKE FIRES BURN


87


Scotland' are very exact; but they contain mere dry
particulars. They are to be considered as a dictionary.
You know such things are there; and may be looked at
when you please. Robertson paints; but the misfortune
is, you are sure he does not know the people whom he
paints; so you cannot suppose a likeness. Characters
should never be given by an historian, unless he knew the
people whom he describes, or copies from those who knew
them."
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 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
getting an accession of wisdom. But perhaps a man, after
knowing his own character-the limited strength of his
own mind, should not be desirous of having too much
wisdom, considering, quid valeant humeri, how little he can
carry." JOHNSON: "Sir, be as wise as you can; let a
man be aliis letus, sapiens sibi:
'Though pleas'd to see the dolphins play,
I mind my compass and my way.'-( The Spleen.)
You may be as 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 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." BOSWELL "An excellent climax!
and it has availed you. In your preface you say,' What




88


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


would it avail me in this gloom of solitude?' You have
been agreeably mistaken."
In his Life of Milton, he observes, "I cannot but
remark a kind of respect, perhaps unconsciously, paid to
this great man by his biographers: every house in which
he resided is historically mentioned, as if it were an injury
to neglect naming any place that he honoured by his
presence." I had, before I read this observation, been
desirous of shewing that respect to Johnson, by various
inquiries. Finding him this evening in -a very good
humour, I prevailed on him to give me an exact list of his
places of residence, since he entered the metropolis as an
author, which I subjoin in a note.1
I mentioned to him a dispute between a friend of mine
and his lady, concerning conjugal infidelity, which my
friend had maintained was by no means so bad in the
husband as in the wife. JOHNSON. "Your friend was in
the right, Sir. Between a man and his Maker it is a
different question but between a man and his wife, a
husband's infidelity is nothing. They are connected by
children, by fortune, by serious considerations of community   Wise married women don't trouble themselves
about infidelity in their husbands." BOSwELL "To be
sure there is a great difference between the offence of
infidelity in a man and that of his wife." JOHNSON "The
difference is boundless. The man imposes no bastards
upon his wife."
Here it may be questioned whether Johnson was
entirely in the right. I suppose it will not be controverted
that the difference in the degree of criminality is very great,
on account of consequences ' but still it may be maintained,
1 (i) 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.
(Io) Fetter Lane. (ii) Holborn, again. (12) Gough Square.
(13) Staple Inn.  (14) Gray's Inn.  ('5) Inner Temple
Lane, No. i. (I6) Johnson's Court, No. 7. (17) Bolt Court,
No. 8. B.




ROMAN CATHOLICISM


89


that, independent of moral obligation, infidelity is by no
means a light offence in a husband: because it must hurt
a delicate attachment, in which a mutual constancy is
implied, with such refined sentiments as Massinger has
exhibited in his play of " The Picture."-Johnson probably
at another time would have admitted this opinion. And
let it be kept in remembrance, that he was very careful
not to give any encouragement to irregular conduct. A
gentleman, not adverting to the distinction made by him
upon this subject, supposed a case of singular perverseness
in a wife, and heedlessly said, " That then he thought a
husband might do as he pleased with a safe conscience."
JOHNSON. "Nay, Sir, this is wild indeed (smiling); you
must consider that fornication is a crime in a single man
and you cannot have more liberty by being married."
He this evening expressed himself strongly against the
Roman Catholics; observing, " In every thing in which
they differ from us, they are wrong." He was even
against the invocation of saints; in short, he was in the
humour of opposition.
Having regretted to him that I had learnt little Greek,
as is too generally the case in Scotland; that I had for a
long time hardly applied at all to the study of that noble
language, and that I was desirous of being told by him
what method to follow; he recommended to me as easy
helps, Sylvanus's " First Book of the Iliad;" Dawson's
i" Lexicon to the Greek New Testament;" and " Hesiod,"
with Pasoris Lexicon at the end of it.
On Tuesday, October 12, I dined with him at Mr
Ramsay's with Lord Newhaven, and some other company,
none of whom I recollect, but a beautiful Miss Graham,1
a relation of his Lordship's, who asked 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 Newhaven)
you are caught."  JOHNSON: " Nay, I do not see how I


I Now the lady of Sir Henry Dashwood, Bart. B.




90o


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


am 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 Newhaven and Johnson carried on an argument
for 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 for that Parliament, rather than have a
perpetual contest kept up between Parliament and the
people." Lord Newhaven took the opposite side; but
respectfully said, "I speak with great deference to you,
Dr Johnson; I speak to be instructed." This had its
full effect upon my friend. He bowed his head almost
as low as the table, to a complimenting nobleman; and
called out, " My Lord, my Lord, I do not desire all this
ceremony: let us tell our minds to one another quietly."
After the debate was over, he said, " I have got lights on
the subject to-day, which I had not before." This was a
great deal from him, especially as he had written a
pamphlet upon it.
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 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 public affairs."
Of his fellow-collegian, the celebrated Mr. George
Whitefield, he said: "Whitefield never drew as much
attention as a mountebank does; he did not draw attention by doing better than others, but by doing what was
strange. Were Astley to preach a sermon standing upon
his head on a horse's back, he would collect a multitude




ASSOCIATION WITH INFIDELS


91


to hear him: but no wise man would say he had made
a better sermon for that. I never treated Whitefield's
ministry with contempt; I believe 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, art, and elegance,
we must beat down such pretensions."
What I have preserved of his conversation during the
remainder of my stay in London at this time, is only
what follows: I told him that when I objected to keeping
company with a notorious infidel, a celebrated friend of
ours said to me  " I do not think that men who live
laxly in the world, as you and I do, can with propriety
assume such an authority  Dr Johnson may, who is
uniformly exemplary in his conduct. But it is not very
consistent to shun an infidel to-day, and get drunk tomorrow."   JOHNSON' "Nay Sir, this is sad reasoning
Because a man cannot be right in all things, is he to be
right in nothing? Because a man sometimes gets drunk,
is he therefore to steal? This doctrine would very soon
bring a man to the gallows."
After all, however, it is a difficult question how far
sincere Christians should associate with the avowed enemies
of religion; for in the first place, almost every man's
mind may be more or less t corrupted by evil communications;" secondly, the world may very naturally suppose
that they are not really in earnest in religion, who can
easily bear its opponents; and thirdly, if the profane find
themselves quite well received by the pious, one of the
checks upon an open declaration of their infidelity, and
one of the probable chances of obliging them seriously
to reflect, which their being shunned would do, is
removed.
He, I know not why, shewed upon all occasions an
aversion to go to Ireland, where I proposed to him that
we should make a tour. JOHNSON   "It is the last place
where I should wish to travel."  BOSWELL' "Should you
not like to see Dublin, Sir?" JOHNSON    "No, Sir;
Dublin is only a worse capital."  BOSWELL. Is not the




92


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Giant's Causeway worth seeing?"  JOHNSON: "Worth
seeing? yes; but not worth going to see."
Yet he had a kindness for the Irish nation, and thus
generously expressed himself to a gentleman from that
country, on the subject of an uNION which artful
politicians have often had in view-" 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."
Of an acquaintance of ours, whose manners and every
thing about him, though expensive, were coarse, he said,
"Sir, you see in him vulgar prosperity."
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 errante," though I have been
told it was rendered more ludicrously, "I1 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 ambassador says well;-His Excellency observes-;" And
then he expanded and enriched the little that had been
said, in so strong a manner, that it appeared something
of consequence. This was exceedingly entertaining to the
company who were present, and many a time afterwards it
furnished a pleasant topic of merriment: " The ambassador
says well" became a laughable term of applause, when no
mighty matter had been expressed.
I left London on Monday, October 18, and accompanied
Colonel Stuart to Chester, where his regiment was to lie
for some time.
' MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON.
"Chester, October 22, I779.
"MY DEAR SIR,
"IT was not till one o'clock on Monday morning, that
Colonel Stuart and I left London; for we chose to bid a cordial




BOSWELL AT LICHFIELD


93


adieu to Lord Mountstuart, who was to set out on that day on
his embassy to Turin. We drove on excellently, and reached
Lichfield in good time enough that night. The Colonel had
heard so preferable a character of the George, that he would not
put up at the Three Crowns, so that I did not see our host
Wilkins. We found at the George as good accommodations as
we could wish to have, and I fully enjoyed the comfortable
thought that I was in Lichfield again. Next morning it rained
very hard; and as I had much to do in a little time, I ordered a
post-chaise, and between eight and nine sallied forth to make a
round of visits. I first went to Mr. Green, hoping to have had
him to accompany me to all my other friends, but he was engaged
to attend the Bishop of Sodor and Man, who was then lying at
Lichfield very ill of the gout. Having taken a hasty glance at the
additions to Green's museum, from which it was not so easy to
break away, I next went to the Friary, where I at first occasioned
some tumult in the ladies, who were not prepared to receive
company so early: but my name, which has by wonderful felicity
come to be closely associated with yours, soon made all easy; and
Mrs. Cobb and Miss Adey re-assumed their seats at the breakfasttable, which they had quitted with some precipitation. They
received me with the kindness of an old acquaintance: and after
we had joined in a cordial chorus to your praise, Mrs. Cobb gave
me the high satisfaction of hearing that you said, ' Boswell is a
man who I believe never left a house without leaving a wish for
his return.' And she afterwards added, that she bid you tell me,
that if ever I came to Lichfield, she hoped I would take a bed at
the Friary. From thence I drove to Peter Garrick's, where I also
found a very flattering welcome. He appeared to me to enjoy his
usual cheerfulness; and he very kindly asked me to come when
I could, and pass a week with him. From Mr. Garrick's I went
to the Palace to wait on Mr Seward. I was first entertained by
his lady and daughter, he himself being in bed with a cold, according to his valetudinary custom. But he desired to see me; and I
found him dressed in his black gown, with a white flannel nightgown above it; so that he looked like a Dominican friar. He
was good-humoured and polite; and under his roof too my
reception was very pleasing. I then proceeded to Stowhill and
first paid my respects to Mrs. Gastrell, whose conversation I was
not willing to quit. But my sand-glass was now beginning to run
low, as I could not trespass too long on the Colonel's kindness,
who obligingly waited for me; so I hastened to Mrs. Aston's,
whom I found much better than I feared I should; and there I
met a brother-in-law of these ladies, who talked much of you, and
very well too, as it appeared to me. It then only remained to




94


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


visit Mrs. Lucy Porter, which I did, I really believe, with sincere
satisfaction on both sides. I am sure I was glad to see her again;
and, as I take her to be very honest, I trust she was glad to see me
again; for she expressed herself so, that I could not doubt of her
being in earnest. What a great keystone of kindness, my dear Sir,
were you that morning! for we were all held together by our
common attachment to you. I cannot say that I ever passed two
hours with more self-complacency than I did those two at Lichfield. Let me not entertain any suspicion that this is idle vanity.
Will not you confirm me in my persuasion, that he who finds
himself so regarded has just reason to be happy?
"We got to Chester about midnight on Tuesday; and here
again I am in a state of much enjoyment. Colonel Stuart and his
officers treat me with all the civility I could wish; and I play my
part admirably- Latus aliis, sapiens sibi, the classical sentence
which you, I imagine, invented the other day, is exemplified in
my present existence. The Bishop,1 to whom I had the honour
to be known several years ago, shews me much attention; and I
am edified by his conversation. I must not omit to tell you, that
his Lordship admires, very highly, your prefaces to the Poets. I
am daily obtaining an extension of agreeable acquaintance, so that
I am kept in animated variety; and the study of the place itself,
by the assistance of books, and of the Bishop, is sufficient
occupation. Chester pleases my fancy more than any town I
ever saw. But I will not enter upon it at all in this letter.
" How long I shall stay here I cannot yet say. I told a very
pleasing young lady,2 niece to one of the Prebendaries, at whose
house I saw her, 'I have come to Chester, Madam, I cannot tell
how; and far less can I tell how I am to get away from it. Do
not think me too juvenile.' I beg it of you, my dear Sir, to
favour me with a letter while I am here, and add to the happiness
of a happy friend, who is ever, with affectionate veneration, most
sincerely yours,
c JAMES BOSWELL.
c If you do not write directly, so as to catch me here, I shall be
disappointed. Two lines from you will keep my lamp burning
bright."
"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"WHY should you importune me so earnestly to write?
Of what importance can it be to hear of distant friends, to a man
Dr. Porteus, afterwards Bishop of London. Croker
2 Miss Letitia Barnston. B.




OLD TENURES IN SCOTLAND


95


who finds himself welcome wherever he goes, and makes new
friends faster than he can want them? If to the delight of such
universal kindness of reception, any thing can be added by knowing that you retain my good-will, you may indulge yourself in the
full enjoyment of that small addition.
"d I am glad that you made the round of Lichfield with so much
success; the oftener you are seen, the more you will be liked. It
was pleasing to me to read that Mrs. Aston was so well, and that
Lucy Porter was so glad to see you.
" In the place where you now are, there is much to be observed;
and you will easily procure yourself skilful directors. But what
will you do to keep away the black dog that worries you at home?
If you would, in compliance with your father's advice, inquire
into the old tenures and old characters of Scotland, you would
certainly open to yourself many striking scenes of the manners of
the Middle Ages. The feudal system, in a country half-barbarous,
is naturally productive of great anomalies in civil life. The
knowledge of past times is naturally growing less in all cases not
of public record; and the past time of Scotland is so unlike the
present, that it is already difficult for a Scotchman to image the
economy of his grandfather. Do not be tardy nor negligent; but
gather up eagerly what can yet be found.1
"We have, I think, once talked of another project, a history of
the late insurrection in Scotland, with all its incidents. Many
falsehoods are passing into uncontradicted history. Voltaire, who
loved a striking story, has told what he could not find to be
true.
"You may make collections for either of these projects, or for
both, as opportunities occur, and digest your materials at leisure.
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 solitary, be
not idle.
" There is a letter for you, from your humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, October 27, 1779."
1 I have a valuable collection made by my father, which, with
some additions and illustrations of my own, I intend to publish.
I have some hereditary claim to be an antiquary; not only from
my father, but as being descended, by the mother's side, from the
able and learned Sir John Skene, whose merit bids defiance to all
the attempts which have been made to lessen his fame. B.




96


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


"TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON.
"Carlisle, Nov. 7, 1779.
"MY DEAR SIR,
" THAT I should importune you to write to me at Chester,
is not wonderful, when you consider what an avidity I have for
delight; and that the amor of pleasure, like the amor nummi,
increases in proportion with the quantity which we possess of it.
Your letter, so full of polite kindness and masterly counsel, came
like a large treasure upon me, while already glittering with riches.
I was quite enchanted at Chester, so that I could with difficulty
quit it. But the enchantment was the reverse of that of Circe;
for so far was there from being any thing sensual in it, that I was
all mind. I do not mean all reason only for my fancy was kept
finely in play  And why not?-If you please I will send you a
copy, or an abridgment of my Chester journal, which is truly a
log-book of felicity
"The Bishop treated me with a kindness which was very
flattering. I told him that you regretted you had seen so little
of Chester. His Lordship bade me tell you, that he should be
glad to shew you more of it. I am proud to find the friendship
with which you honour me is known in so many places.
"I arrived here late last night. Our friend the Dean has been
gone from hence some months; but I am told at my inn, that he
is very populous (popular). However, I found Mr. Law, the
Archdeacon, son to the Bishop, and with him I have breakfasted
and dined very agreeably- I got acquainted with him at the assizes
here about a year and a half ago; he is a man of great variety of
knowledge, uncommon genius, and, I believe, sincere religion. I
received the holy sacrament in the cathedral in the morning, this
being the first Sunday in the month; and was at prayers there in
the morning. It is divinely cheering to me to think that there is
a cathedral so near Auchinleck; and I now leave Old England in
such a state of mind as I am thankful to GOD for granting me.
"The black dog that worries me at home I cannot but dread;
yet as I have been for some time past in a military train, I trust I
shall repulse him. To hear from you will animate me like the
sound of a trumpet; I therefore hope, that soon after my return
to the northern field, I shall receive a few lines from you.
"Colonel Stuart did me the honour to escort me in his carriage
to shew me Liverpool, and from thence back again to Warrington,
where we parted.' In justice to my valuable wife, I must inform
1 His regiment was afterwards ordered to Jamaica, where he
accompanied it, and almost lost his life by the climate. This




BOSWELL AT CHESTER


97


you she wrote to me, that as I was so happy, she would not be so
selfish as to wish me to return sooner than business absolutely
required my presence. She made my clerk write to me a post or
two after to the same purpose, by commission from her; and this
day a kind letter from her met me at the post-office here, acquainting me that she and the little ones were well, and expressing all
their wishes for my return home. I am, more and more, my dear
Sir, your affectionate, and obliged humble servant,
"JAMES BOSWELL."
" TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
" YOUR last letter was not only kind but fond. But I wish
you to get rid of all intellectual excesses, and neither to exalt your
pleasures, nor aggravate your vexations beyond their real and
natural state. Why should you not be as happy at Edinburgh as
at Chester? In culpa est animus, qui se non effugit usquam. Please
yourself with your wife and children, and studies, and practice.
"I have sent a petition I from Lucy Porter, with which I leave
it to your discretion whether it is proper to comply. Return me
her letter, which I have sent, that you may know the whole case,
and not be seduced to any thing that you may afterwards repent.
Miss Doxy perhaps you know to be Mr. Garrick's niece.
"If Dean Percy can be popular -at Carlisle, he may be very
happy. He has in his disposal two livings, each equal, or almost
equal in value to the deanery; he may take one himself, and give
the other to his son.
"How near is the cathedral to Auchinleck, that you are so
much delighted with it? It is, I suppose, at least an hundred and
fifty miles off. However, if you are pleased, it is so far well.
"Let me know what reception you have from your father, and
the state of his health. Please him as much as you can, and add
no pain to his last years.
"Of our friends here I can recollect nothing to tell you. I
have neither seen nor heard of Langton. Beauclerk is just returned
from Brighthelmstone, I am told, much better. Mr. Thrale and
impartial order I should think a sufficient refutation of the idle
rumour that " there was still something behind the throne greater
than the throne itself." B. Boswell refers to the influence over
the King attributed to Lord Bute, which might have been supposed
sufficient to save his son's regiment from being ordered to Jamaica.
1 Requesting me to inquire concerning the family of a gentleman who was then paying his addresses to Miss Doxy. B.
II.                                            H




98


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


his family are still there; and his health is said to be visibly
improved: he has not bathed but hunted.
"At Bolt Court there is much malignity, but of late little open
hostility [see p. 58]. I have had a cold but it is gone.
"Make my compliments to Mrs. Boswell, &c.
"I am, Sir, your humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, Nov. 13, 1779."
On November 22, and December 21, I wrote to him
from Edinburgh, giving a very favourable report of the
family of Miss Doxy's lover,-that after a good deal of
inquiry I had discovered the sister of Mr. Francis Stewart,
one of his amanuenses when writing his Dictionary;that I had, as desired by him, paid her a guinea for an
old pocket-book of her brother's which he had retained;
and that 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 sent her by Providence.-That I had repeatedly
begged of him to keep his promise to send me his letter
to Lord Chesterfield, and that this memento, like Delenda
est Carthago, must be in every letter that I should write
to him, till I had obtained my object.
In I780, the world was kept in impatience for the
completion of his "Lives of the Poets," upon which he
was employed so far as his indolence allowed him to
labour.
I wrote to him on January I, and March 13, sending
him my notes of Lord Marchmont's information concerning Pope; complaining that I had not heard from him
for almost four months, though he was two letters in my
debt; that I had suffered again from melancholy;hoping that he had been in so much better company (the
Poets), that he had not time to think of his distant friends;
for if that were the case, I should have some recompense
for my uneasiness; that the state of my affairs did not
admit of my coming to London this year; and begging
he would return me Goldsmith's two poems, with his
lines marked.




A LETTER OF CONSOLATION


99


His friend Dr. Lawrence having now suffered the
greatest affliction to which a man is liable, and. which
Johnson himself had felt in the most severe manner;
Johnson wrote to him in an admirable strain of sympathy
and pious consolation.
" TO DR. LAWRE NCE.
"DEAR SIR,
" AT a time when all your friends ought to shew their
kindness, and with a character which ought to make all that know
you your friends, you may wonder that you have yet heard nothing
from me.
" I have been hindered by a vexatious and incessant cough, for
which within these ten days I have been bled once, fasted four or
five times, taken physic five times, and opiates, I think, six. This
day it seems to remit.
"The loss, dear Sir, which you have lately suffered, I felt many
years ago, and know therefore how much has been taken from
you, and how little help can be had from consolation. He that
outlives a wife whom he has long loved, sees himself disjoined from
the only mind that has the same hopes, and fears, and interest;
from the only companion with whom he has shared much good or
evil; and with whom he could set his mind at liberty, to retrace
the past or anticipate the future. The continuity of being is
lacerated; the settled course of sentiment and action is stopped;
and life stands suspended and motionless, till it is driven by external
causes into a new channel. But the time of suspense is dreadful.
"1 Our first recourse in this distressed solitude, is, perhaps for want
of habitual piety, to a gloomy acquiescence in necessity- Of two
mortal beings, one must lose the other; but surely there is a
higher and better comfort to be drawn from the consideration of
that Providence which watches over all, and a belief that the
living and the dead are equally in the hands of GOD, who will
reunite those whom he has separated; or who sees that it is best
not to reunite. I am, dear Sir, your most affectionate, and most
humble servant,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"Jan. 2o, 1780."
"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
" WELL, I had resolved to send you the Chesterfield
letter; but I will write once again without it.  Never impose




o10


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


tasks upon mortals. To require two things is the way to have
them both undone.
<' For the difficulties which you mention in your affairs, I am
sorry; but difficulty is now very general: it is not therefore
less grievous, for there is less hope of help. I pretend not to give
you advice, not knowing the state of your affairs; and general
counsels about prudence and frugality would do you little good.
You are, however, in the right not to increase your own perplexity
by a journey hither; and I hope that by staying at home you will
please your father.
"Poor dear Beauclerk-nec, 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 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.1
" Dr. Percy, notwithstanding all the noise of the newspapers,
has had no literary loss.2 Clothes and movables were burnt to
the value of about oo/.; but his papers, and I think his books,
were all preserved.
"Poor Mr. Thrale has been in extreme danger from an
apoplectical disorder, and recovered, beyond the expectation of
his physicians; he is now at Bath, that his mind may be quiet,
and Mrs. Thrale and Miss are with him.
"Having told you what has happened to your friends, let me
say something to you of yourself. You are always complaining
of melancholy, and I conclude from those complaints that you
are fond of it. No man talks of that which he is desirous to
conceal, and every man desires to conceal that of which he is
ashamed. Do not pretend to deny it; manifestum habemusfurem;
make it an invariable and obligatory law to yourself, never to
mention your own mental diseases; if you are never to speak of
them you will think on them but little, and if you think little
of them, they will molest you rarely- When you talk of them,
it is plain that you want either praise or pity; for praise there is
1 Topham Beauclerk died March II, 1780. His library was
sold by public auction in April and May 1781, for 5,o01/.
Malone.
2 By a fire in Northumberland House, where he had an
apartment, in which I have passed many an agreeable hour. B.




A LETTER FROM MRS. THRALE


I01


no room, and pity will do you no good; therefore, from this hour
speak no more, think no more, about them.
" Your transaction with Mrs. Stewart gave me great satisfaction;
I am much obliged to you for your attention. Do not lose sight
of her; your countenance may be of great credit, and of consequence of great advantage to her. The memory of her brother
is yet fresh in my mind; he was an ingenious and worthy man.
"Please to make my compliments to your lady and to the
young ladies. I should like to see them, pretty loves. I am,
dear Sir, yours affectionately,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"April 8, 1780."
Mrs. Thrale being now at Bath with her husband, the
correspondence between Johnson and her was carried on
briskly.  I shall present my readers with one of her
original letters to him at this time, which will amuse
them probably more than those well-written but studied
epistles which she has inserted in her collection, because
it exhibits the easy vivacity of their literary intercourse.
It is also of value as a key to Johnson's answer, which
she has printed by itself, and of which I shall subjoin
extracts.
"MRS. THRALE TO DR. JOHNSON.
"I HAD a very kind letter from you yesterday, dear Sir, with a
most circumstantial date. You took trouble with my circulating
letter, Mr. Evans writes me word, and I thank you sincerely for
so doing: one might do mischief else not being on the spot.
"Yesterday's evening was passed at Mrs. Montagu's: there
was Mr. Melmoth; I do not like him though, nor he me; it
was expected we should have pleased each other; he is, however,
just Tory enough to hate the Bishop of Peterborough [Dr. John
Hinchliffe] for Whiggism, and Whig enough to abhor you for.
Toryism.
"Mrs. Montagu flattered him finely; so he had a good
afternoon on't.  This evening we spend at a concert.  Poor
Queeney's2 sore eyes have just released her  she had a long
1 Author of Fitzosborne's Letters, and translator of the letters of
Pliny and Cicero. Croker
2 A kind of nick-name given to Mrs. Thrale's eldest daughter,
whose name being Esther she might be assimilated to a S.ueen. B.




102


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


confinement, and could neither read nor write, so my master
[Mr. Thrale] treated her very good-naturedly with the visits of
a young woman in this town, a tailor's daughter, who professes
music, 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
seventeen years old.
" You live in a fine whirl indeed: if I did not write regularly
you would half forget me, and that would be very wrong, for I
felt my regard for you in my face last night, when the criticisms
were going on.
"This morning it was all connoisseurship; we went to see
some pictures painted by a gentleman-artist, Mr. Taylor, of this
place; my master makes one every where, 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
tease him every meal he eats, and Mrs. Montagu is quite 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,
"H. L. T.
"Bath, Friday, April 28."
" DR. JOHNSON TO MRS. THRALE.
" DEAREST MADAM,
"MR. THRALE never will live abstinently, till he can
persuade himself to live by rule.1 * * * * * *. Encourage, as
you can, the musical girl.
" Nothing is more common than mutual dislike, where mutual
approbation is particularly expected.  There is often on both
sides a vigilance not over-benevolent; and as attention is strongly
excited, so that nothing drops unheeded, any difference in taste
or opinion, and some difference where there is no restraint will
commonly appear, immediately generates dislike.
" Never let criticisms operate on your face or your mind; it is
very rarely that an author is hurt by his critics. The blaze of
reputation cannot be blown out, but it often dies in the socket;
a very few names may be considered as perpetual lamps that shine
1 I have taken the liberty to leave out a few lines. B.




BEAUCLERK'S CONVERSATION


103


unconsumed. From the author of' Fitzosborne's Letters' I cannot think myself in much danger. I met him only once about
thirty years ago, and in some small dispute reduced him to
whistle; having not seen him since, that is the last impression.
Poor Moore, the fabulist, was one of the company.
"Mrs. Montagu's long stay, against her own inclination, is
very convenient. You would, by your own confession, want a
companion; and she is par pluribus; conversing with her, you
may find variety in one.
' London, May I, I780."
On the 2nd of May I wrote to him, and requested
that we might have another meeting somewhere in the
North of England, in the autumn of this year.
From Mr. Langton I received soon after this time a
letter, of which I extract a passage, relative both to Mr.
Beauclerk and Dr. Johnson.
"The melancholy information you have received concerning
Mr. Beauclerk's death is true. Had his talents been directed in
any sufficient degree as they ought, I have always been strongly
of opinion that they were calculated to make an illustrious figure;
and that opinion, as it had been in part formed upon Dr. Johnson's
judgment, receives more and more confirmation by hearing what,
since his death, Dr. Johnson has said concerning them: a few
evenings ago, he was at Mr. Vesey's, where Lord Althorp, who
was one of a numerous company there, addressed Dr. Johnson
on the subject of Mr. Beauclerk s death, saying, 'Our CLUB has
had a great loss since we met last.' He replied, 'A loss, that
perhaps the whole nation could not repair!' The Doctor then
went on to speak of his endowments, and particularly extolled the
wonderful ease with which he uttered what was highly excellent.
He said, that 'No man ever was so free when he was going to
say a good thing, from a look that expressed that it was coming;
or, when he had said it, from a look that expressed that it had
come.'  At Mr. Thrale's, some days before when we were
talking on the same subject, he said, referring to the same idea
of his wonderful facility, 'That Beauclerk's talents were those
which he had felt himself more disposed to envy, than those of
any whom he had known.'
"On the evening I have spoken of above, at Mr. Vesey's, you
would have been much gratified, as it exhibited an instance of the
high importance in which Dr. Johnson's character is held, I think




1o4


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


even beyond any I ever before was witness to. The company
consisted chiefly of ladies, among whom were the Duchess
Dowager of Portland, the Duchess of Beaufort, whom I suppose
from her rank I must name before her mother, Mrs. Boscawen,
and her elder sister, Mrs. Lewson, who was likewise there; Lady
Lucan, Lady Clermont, and others of note both for their station
and understandings. Among the gentlemen were Lord Althorp,
whom I have before named, Lord Macartney, Sir Joshua Reynolds,
Lord Lucan, Mr. Wraxall, whose book you have probably seen,
'The Tour to the Northern Parts of Europe;' a very agreeable
ingenious man; Dr. Warren, Mr. Pepys, the Master in Chancery,
whom I believe you know, and Dr. Barnard, the Provost of
Eton. 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 chiefly between Dr. Johnson
and the Provost of Eton, while the others contributed occasionally
their remarks. Without attempting to detail the particulars of
the conversation, which perhaps if I did, I should spin my account
out to a tedious length, I thought, my dear Sir, this general
account of the respect with which our valued friend was attended
to, might be acceptable."
"(TO THE REVEREND DR. FARMER.
"May 25, 1780.
" SIR,
" I KNOW your disposition to second any literary attempt,
and therefore venture upon the liberty of entreating you to
procure from College or University registers, all the dates or
other informations which they can supply relating to Ambrose
Philips, Broome, and Gray, who were all of Cambridge, and of
whose lives I am to give such accounts as I can gather. Be
pleased to forgive this trouble from, Sir, your most humble servant,
" SAM. JOHNSON."
While Johnson was thus engaged in preparing a
delightful literary entertainment for the world, the
tranquillity of the metropolis of Great Britain was unexpectedly disturbed by the most horrid series of outrages
that ever disgraced a civilized country. A relaxation of
some of the severe penal provisions against our fellowsubjects of the Catholic communion had been granted by




THE GORDON RIOTS


105


the legislature, with an opposition so inconsiderable, that
the genuine mildness of Christianity, united with liberal
policy, seemed to have become general in this island.
But a dark and malignant spirit of persecution soon
shewed itself, in an unworthy petition for the repeal of
the wise and humane statute. That petition was brought
forward by a mob, with the evident purpose of intimidation,
and was justly rejected. But the attempt was accompanied and followed by such daring violence as is unexampled in history. Of this extraordinary tumult, Dr
Johnson has given the following concise, lively, and just
account in his " Letters to Mrs. Thrale: "
"On Friday [June 2], the good Protestants met in Saint
George's Fields, at the summons of Lord George Gordon, and
marching 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.
" An exact journal of a week's defiance of government I cannot
give you. On Monday Mr. Strahan, who had been insulted,
spoke to Lord Mansfield, who had I think been insulted too, of
the licentiousness of the populace; and his Lordship treated it as
a very slight irregularity. On Tuesday night they pulled down
Fielding's house [in Bow Street], and burnt his goods in the
street. They had gutted on Monday Sir George Savile's house
[in Leicester Square], but the building was saved. On Tuesday
evening, leaving Fielding's ruins, they went to Newgate 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 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. They have
since gone to Caen wood, but a guard was there before them.
They plundered some Papists, I think, and burnt a mass-house in
Moorfields the same night.
"On Wednesday I walked with Dr. Scot to look at Newgate,
and found it in ruins, with the fire yet glowing. As I went by,
the Protestants were plundering the Sessions-house at the Old
1 Vol. ii. p. 133, et seq. I have selected passages from several
letters, without mentioning dates. B.




xo6


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


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 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 Clerkenwell Bridewell, and released
all the prisoners.
"At night they set fire to the Fleet, and to the King's Bench,
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 terror you have been
happy in not seeing.
"The King said in council, 'That the magistrates had not
done their duty, but that he would do his own:' and a proclamation was published directing us to keep our servants within
doors, as the peace was now to be preserved by force. The
soldiers were sent out to different parts, and the town is now
[June 9] at quiet.
" 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 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 inoffensive
Papists have been plundered, but the high sport was to burn the
jails. 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; and two pirates have
surrendered themselves, and it is expected that they will be
pardoned.
"Government now acts again with its proper force; and we
are all under the protection of the King and the law. I thought
that it would be agreeable to you and my master to have my
testimony to the public security; and that you would sleep more
quietly when I told you that you are safe.
"There has, indeed, been an universal panic, from which the
King was the first that recovered. Without the concurrence of
his ministers, or the assistance of the civil magistrates, he put the
soldiers in motion, and saved the town from calamities, such as a
rabble's government must naturally produce.
"The public has escaped a very heavy calamity- The rioters
attempted the Bank on Wednesday night, but in no great number.
and like other thieves, with no great resolution. Jack Wilkes
headed the party that drove them away- It is agreed, that if they




THE KEEPER OF NEWGATE


107


had seized the Bank on Tuesday, at the height of the panic,
when no resistance had been prepared, they might have carried
irrecoverably away whatever they had found. Jack, who was
always zealous for order and decency, declares, that if he be
trusted with power, he will not leave a rioter alive. There is,
however, now no longer any need of heroism or bloodshed; no
blue riband is any longer worn."
Such was the end of this miserable sedition, from
which London was delivered by the magnanimity of the
Sovereign himself. Whatever some may maintain, I am
satisfied that there was no combination or plan, either
domestic or foreign; but that the mischief spread by a
gradual contagion of frenzy, augmented by the quantities
of fermented liquors, of which the deluded populace
possessed themselves in the course of their depredations.
I should think myself very much to blame, did I here
neglect to do justice to my esteemed friend Mr Akerman,
the keeper of Newgate, who long discharged a very
important trust with an uniform intrepid firmness, and at
the same time a tenderness and a liberal charity, which
entitle him to be recorded with distinguished honour.
Upon this occasion, 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 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 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 vociferation of "Hear him-hear
him! i obtained a silent attention, he then calmly told
t Lord George Gordon and his followers, during these outrages,
wore blue ribands in their hats. Malone,




to8


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


them, that the gate must not go down; that they were
under his care, and that they should not be permitted to
escape but that he could assure them, they need not be
afraid of being burnt, for that the fire was not in the
prison, properly so called, which was strongly built with
stone; and that if they would engage to be quiet, he
himself would come in to them, and conduct them to the
farther end of the building, and would not go out till
they gave him leave. To this proposal they agreed;
upon which Mr Akerman, having first made them fall
back from  the gate, went in, and with a determined
resolution ordered the outer turnkey upon no account to
open the gate, even though the prisoners (though he
trusted they would not) should break their word, and by
force bring himself to order it. " Never mind me," said
he, "should that happen." The prisoners peaceably
followed him, while he conducted them through passages
of which he had the keys, to the extremity of the gaol,
which was most distant from the fire. Having by this
very judicious conduct fully satisfied them that there was
no immediate risk, if any at all, he then addressed them
thus  "Gentlemen, you are now convinced that I told
you true. 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 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 out and look after my family and property,
I shall be obliged 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.
Johnson has been heard to relate the substance of this
story with high praise, in which he was joined by Mr.
Burke. My illustrious friend, speaking of Mr. Akerman's
kindness to his prisoners, pronounced this eulogy upon his




DAVID BOSWELL


109


character * —" He who has long had constantly in his view
the worst of mankind, and is yet eminent for the humanity
of his disposition, must have had it originally in a great
degree, and continued to cultivate it very carefully."
In the course of this month my brother David waited
upon Dr. Johnson, with the following letter of introduction, which I had taken care should be lying ready on his
arrival in London.
TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON.
" Edinburgh, April 29, 1780.
"MY DEAR SIR,
"THIS will be delivered to you by my brother David, on
his return from Spain. You will be glad to see the man who
vowed to 'stand by the old castle of Auchinleck, with heart, purse,
and sword;' that romantic family solemnity devised by me, of
which you and I talked with complacency upon the spot. I trust
that twelve years of absence have not lessened his feudal attachment; and that you will find him worthy of being introduced to
your acquaintance. I have the honour to be, with affectionate
veneration, my dear Sir, your most faithful humble servant,
" JAMES BOSWELL."
Johnson received him very politely, and has thus
mentioned him in a letter to Mrs. Thrale. 1 "I have had
with me a brother of Boswell's, a Spanish merchant,2 whom
the war has driven' from his residence at Valencia; he is
gone to see his friends, and will find Scotland but a sorry
place after twelve years' residence in a happier climate.
He is a very agreeable man, and speaks no Scotch."
'cTO DR. BEATTIE, AT ABERDEEN.
" SIR,
" MORE years than I have any delight to reckon, have passed
since you and I saw one another of this, however, there is no
reason for making reprehensory complaint;-Sicfata ferunt. But
methinks there might pass some small interchange of regard
1 Vol. ii. Mrs. Piozzi has omitted the name, she best knows
why. B.
2 Now settled in London. B.




110


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


between us. If you say that I ought to have written, I now
write; and I write to tell you, that I have much kindness for you
and Mrs. Beattie; and that I wish your health better, and your
life long. Try change of air, and come a few degrees southwards a softer climate may do you both good; winter is coming
in; and London will be warmer, and gayer, and busier, and more
fertile of amusement, than Aberdeen.
"My health is better; but that will be little in the balance,
when I tell you that Mrs. Montagu has been very ill, and is, I
doubt, now but weakly. Mr. Thrale has been very dangerously
disordered; but is much better, and I hope will totally recover.
He has withdrawn himself from business the whole summer. Sir
Joshua and his sister are well; and Mr. Davies has got great
success as an author,1 generated by the corruption of a bookseller.
More news I have not to tell you, and therefore you must be
contented with hearing, what I know not whether you much wish
to hear, that I am, Sir, your most humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"Bolt Court, Fleet Street,
"August 2I, 1780."
TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"I FIND you have taken one of your fits of taciturnity, and
have resolved not to write till you are written to; it is but a peevish
humour, but you shall have your way.
" I 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.
"Mr Thrale and his family have, since his illness, passed
their time first at Bath, and then at Brighthelmstone; but I have
been at neither place. I would have gone to Lichfield if I could
1 Meaning his entertaining Memoirs of David Garrick, of which
Johnson (as Davies informed me) wrote the first sentence; thus
giving, as it were, the keynote to the performance. It is, indeed,
very characteristical of its author, beginning with a maxim, and
proceeding to illustrate.-" All excellence has a right to be
recorded. I shall, therefore, think it superfluous to apologize for
writing the life of a man, who, by an uncommon assemblage of
private virtues, adorned the highest eminence in a public profession." B.




EUROPE, ASIA, OR AFRICA'


I I


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 invasion, with
about 501. 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 frightened that he
removed part of his goods. Mrs. Williams took shelter in the
country.
" I know not whether I shall get a ramble this autumn. It is
now about the time when we were travelling. I have, however,
better health than I had then, and hope you and I may yet shew
ourselves on some part of Europe, Asia, or Africa.1 In the mean
time let us play no trick, but keep each other's kindness by all
means in our power.
The bearer of this is Dr. Dunbar of Aberdeen, who has
written and published a very ingenious book,2 and who I think
has a kindness for me, and will, when he knows you, have a kindness for you.
c I suppose your little ladies are grown tall: and your son has
become a learned young man. I love them all, and I love your
naughty lady, whom I never shall persuade to love me. When
the Lives are done, I shall send them to complete her collection, but must send them in paper, as for want of a pattern,
I cannot bind them to fit the rest. I am, Sir, yours most
affectionately,
SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, August 21, 1780."
This year he wrote to a young clergyman in the country
the following very excellent letter, which contains valuable
advice to divines in general:
1 It will no doubt be remarked how he avoids the rebellious land
of America. This puts me in mind of an anecdote for which I am
obliged to my worthy social friend, Governor Richard Penn
" At one of Miss E. Hervey's assemblies, Dr. Johnson was following her up and down the room; upon which Lord Abington
observed to her, 'Your great friend is very fond of you; you can
go no where without him.'-' Ay,' said she, 'he would follow me
to any part of the world.'-' Then,' said the Earl, ' ask him to go
with you to America.'"  B.
2 Essays on the History of Mankind. B.




1I2


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


" DEAR SIR,
" NOT many days ago Dr. Lawrence shewed me a letter, in
which you make mention of me: I hope, therefore, you will not
be displeased that I endeavour to preserve your good-will by some
observations which your letter suggested to me.
" You are afraid of falling into some improprieties in the daily
service by reading to an audience that requires no exactness.
Your fear, I hope, secures you from danger. They who contract
absurd habits are such as have no fear. It is impossible to do the
same thing very often, without some peculiarity of manner; but
that manner may be good or bad, and a little care will at least preserve it from being bad: to make it good, there must, I think,
be something of natural or casual felicity, which cannot be taught.
"Your present method of making your sermons seems very
judicious. Few frequent preachers can be supposed to have
sermons more their own than yours will be. Take care to register,
somewhere or other, the authors from whom your several discourses are borrowed; and do not imagine that you shall always
remember, even what perhaps you now think it impossible to
forget.
" My advice, however, is, that you attempt, from time to time,
an original sermon; and in the labour of composition, do not
burden your mind with too much at once; do not exact from
yourself at one effort of excogitation, propriety of thought and
elegance of expression. Invent first, and then embellish. The
production of something, where nothing was before, is an act of
greater energy than the expansion or decoration of the thing
produced. Set down diligently your thoughts as they rise in the
first words that occur; and when you have matter, you will
easily give it form  nor, perhaps, will this method be always
necessary; for by habit, your thoughts and diction will flow
together.
" The composition of sermons is not very difficult. the divisions
not only help the memory of the hearer, but direct the judgment
of the writer; they supply sources of invention, and keep every
part in its proper place.
" What I like least in your letter is your account of the manners
of your parish; from which I gather, that it has been long
neglected by the parson. The Dean of Carlisle [Dr. Percy],
who was then a little rector in Northamptonshire, told me, that it
might be discerned whether or no there was a clergyman resident
in a parish, by the civil or savage manner of the people. Such a
congregation as yours stands in need of much reformation; and I
would not have you think it impossible to reform them. A very
savage parish was civilized by a decayed gentlewoman, who came




ADVICE TO A CLERGYMAN


"3


among them to teach a petty school. My learned friend Dr
Wheeler of Oxford, when he was a young man, had the care of a
neighbouring parish for I51. a year, which he was never paid; but
he counted it a convenience, that it compelled him to make a
sermon weekly. One woman he could not bring to the communion; and when he reproved or exhorted her, she only answered,
that she was no scholar. He was advised to set some good woman
or man of the parish, a little wiser than herself, to talk to her in a
language level to her mind. Such honest, I may call them holy,
artifices, must be practised by every clergyman; for all means
must be tried by which souls may be saved. Talk to your people,
however, as much as you can; and you will find, that the more
frequently you converse with them upon religious subjects, the
more willingly they will attend, and the more submissively they
will learn. A clergyman's diligence always makes him venerable.
I think I have now only to say, that in the momentous work you
have undertaken, I pray GOD to bless you. I am, Sir, your
most humble servant,
SAM. JOHNSON.
"Bolt Court, August 30, 1780."
My next letters to him   were dated August 24, September 6, and October I, and from them I extract the
following passages:
"My brother David and I find the long indulged fancy cf out
comfortable meeting again in Auchinleck, so well realized, that it
in some degree confirms the pleasing hope of 0! preclarum diem!
in a future state.
"I beg that you may never again harbour a suspicion of my
indulging a peevish humour, or playing tricks; you will recollect,
that when I confessed to you, that I had once been intentionally
silent to try your regard, I gave you my word and honour that I
would not do so again.
" I rejoice to hear of your good state of health: I pray GOD to
continue it long. I have often said, that I would willingly have
ten years added to my life, to have ten taken from yours; I mean,
that I would be ten years older to have you ten years younger
But let me be thankful for the years during which I have enjoyed
your friendship, and please myself with the hopes of enjoying it
many years to come in this state of being, trusting always, that in
another state, we shall meet never to be separated. Of this we
can form no notion; but the thought, though indistinct, is
delightful, when the mind is calm and clear.


III.


I




II4


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


"The riots in London were certainly horrible; but you give
me no account of your own situation during the barbarous
anarchy. A description of it by DR. JOHNSON would be a great
painting;1 you might write another ' LONDON, A POEM.'
"I am charmed with your condescending affectionate expression, 'let us keep each other's kindness by all the means in our
power:' my revered friend! how elevating it is to my mind,
that I am found worthy to be a companion to Dr. Samuel Johnson! All that you have said in grateful praise of Mr. Walmsley
I have long thought of you: but we are both Tories, which has
a very general influence upon our sentiments. I hope that you
will agree to meet me at York, about the end of this month; or
if you will come to Carlisle, that would be better still, in case the
Dean be there. Please to consider, that to keep each other's
kindness, we should every year have that free and intimate communication of mind which can be had only when we are together.
We should have both our solemn and our pleasant talk.
"I write now for the third time, to tell you that my desire for
our meeting this autumn is much increased. I wrote to Squire
Godfrey Bosville, my Yorkshire chief, that I should, perhaps, pay
him a visit, as I was to hold a conference with Dr. Johnson at
York. I give you my word and honour that I said not a word
of his inviting you; but he wrote to me as follows:
"'I need not tell you I shall be happy to see you here the
latter end of this month, as you propose; and I shall likewise be
in hopes that you will persuade Dr. Johnson to finish the conference here. It will add to the favour of your own company, if
you prevail upon such an associate to assist your observations. I
have often been entertained with his writings, and I once belonged
to a club of which he was a member, and I never spent an evening there, but I heard something from him well worth remembering.'
"We have thus, my dear Sir, good comfortable quarters in the
neighbourhood of York, where you may be assured we shall
be heartily welcome. I pray you then resolve to set out; and let
not the year I780 be a blank in our social calendar, and in that
record of wisdom and wit, which I keep with so much diligence,
to your honour, and the instruction and delight of others."
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 adver1 I had not then seen his letters to Mrs. Thrale. B.




AN ELECTION ADDRESS


I"5


tisements and letters for him. I shall insert one as a
specimen:
" TO THE WORTHY ELECTORS OF THE BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK.
c GENTLEMEN,
"A NEW Parliament being now called, I again solicit the
honour of being elected for one of your representatives; and solicit
it with the greater confidence, as I am not conscious of having
neglected my duty, or having acted otherwise than as becomes the
independent representative of independent constituents; superior
to fear, hope, and expectation, who has no private purposes to promote, and whose prosperity is 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.
" I can only send my respectful wishes, that all your deliberations may tend to the happiness of the kingdom, and the peace of
the borough.
" I am, Gentlemen, your most faithful and obedient servant,
" HENRY THRALE.
"Southwark, Sept. 5, I 780."
On his birth-day, Johnson has this note    "I am now
beginning the seventy-second year of my life, with more
strength of body, and greater vigour of mind, than I
think is common 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." (Prayers and Meditations,
p. o05.)
Mr. Macbean, whom I have mentioned more than once
as one of Johnson's humble friends, a deserving but
unfortunate man, being now oppressed by age and poverty,
Johnson solicited the Lord Chancellor Thurlow to have
him admitted into the Charterhouse.1 I take the liberty
1 Macbean was admitted to the Charterhouse on Lord Thurlow's nomination in April, 178I; on which occasion Johnson
wrote the following letter. "To THE REV. DR. VYSE, at Lambeth.
Bolt Court, April 10, 1781. Rev. Sir,-The bearer is one of my




xI6


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


to insert his Lordship's answer, as I am eager to embrace
every occasion of augmenting the respectable notion which
should ever be entertained of my illustrious friend:
' TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON.
"London, October 24, I780.
" SIR,
" I HAVE this moment received your letter dated the I9th,
and returned from Bath.
"In the beginning of the summer I placed one in the Chartreux, without the sanction of a recommendation so distinct and
so authoritative as yours of Macbean; and I am afraid, that
according to the establishment of the House, the opportunity of
making the charity so good amends will not soon recur. But
whenever a vacancy shall happen, if you'll favour me with notice
of it, I will try to recommend him to the place, even though-it
should not be my turn to nominate.
"I am, Sir, with great regard, your most faithful and obedient
servant,
" THURLOW."
"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"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.
" Mr. Thrale's loss of health has lost him the election he is
now going to Brighthelmstone, and expects me to go with him;
and how long I shall stay, I cannot tell. I do not much like the
place, but yet I shall go, and stay while my stay is desired. We
must, therefore, content ourselves with knowing what we know
as well as man can know the mind of man, that we love one
old friends, a man of great learning, whom the Chancellor has
been pleased to nominate to the Chartreux. He attends his Grace
the Archbishop, to take the oath required; and being a modest
scholar, will escape embarrassment, if you are so kind as to introduce him, by which you will do a kindness to a man of great
merit, and add another to those favours which have already been
conferred by you on, Sir, your most humble servant, SAM.
JOHNSON."  Malone.




LANGTON'S JOHNSONIANA


117


another, and that we wish each other's happiness, and that the
lapse of a year cannot lessen our mutual kindness.
" I was pleased to be told that I accused Mrs. Boswell unjustly,
in supposing that she bears me ill-will. I love you so much, that
I would be glad to love all that love you, and that you love; and
I have love very ready for Mrs. Boswell, if she thinks it worthy
of acceptance. I hope all the young ladies and gentlemen are
well.
"I take a great liking to your brother. He tells me that his
father received him kindly, but not fondly; however, you seemed
to have lived well enough at Auchinleck, while you staid. Make
your father as happy as you can.
"You lately told me of your health: I can tell you in return,
that my health has been for more than a year past better than it
has been for many years before. Perhaps it may please GOD to
give us some time together before we are parted. I am, dear Sir,
yours most affectionately,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"Oct. 17, I780."
Being disappointed in my hopes of meeting Johnson
this year, so that I could hear none of his admirable sayings, I shall compensate for this want by inserting a
collection of them, for which I am indebted to my worthy
friend Mr. Langton, whose kind communications have
been separately interwoven in many parts of this work.
Very few articles of this collection were committed to
writing by himself, he not having that habit; which he
regrets, and which those who know the numerous opportunities he had of gathering the rich fruits of 7ohnsonian
wit and wisdom, must ever regret. I however found, in
conversation with him, that a good store of JOHNSONIANA
was treasured in his mind; and I compared it to Herculaneum, or some old Roman field, which when dug, fully
rewards the labour employed. The authenticity of every
article is unquestionable. For the expression, I, who
wrote them down in his presence, am partly answerable.
"Theocritus is not deserving of very high respect as a
writer; as to the pastoral part, Virgil is very evidently
superior. He wrote, when there had been a larger influx
of knowledge into the world than when Theocritus lived.




Ii8


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Theocritus does not abound in description though living
in a beautiful country: the manners painted Are coarse
and gross. Virgil has much more description, more sentiment, more of nature, and more of art. 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 is as well conducted as Euripides
could have done it; and the battle is well related. Afterwards they carry off a woman, whose two brothers come
to recover her, and expostulate with Castor and Pollux
on their injustice; but they pay no regard to the brothers,
and a battle ensues, where Castor and his brother are
triumphant.-Theocritus seems not to have seen that the
brothers have the advantage in their argument over his
Argonaut heroes.-'The Sicilian Gossips' is a piece of
merit." 1
"Callimachus is a writer of little excellence. The chief
thing to be learned from him is his account of rites and
mythology; which, though desirable to be known for the
sake of understanding other parts of ancient authors, is
the least pleasing or valuable part of their writings."
"Mattaire's account of the Stephani is a heavy book.
He seems to have been a puzzle-headed man, with a
large share of scholarship, but with a little geometry or
logic in his head, without method, and possessed of little
genius. He wrote Latin verses from time to time, and
published a set in his old age, which he called ' Senilia';
in which he shews so little learning or taste in writing, as
to make Carteret a dactyl.-In matters of genealogy it is
necessary to give the bare names as they are; but in
poetry, and in prose of any elegance in the writing, they
require to have inflection given to them.-His book of the
Dialects is a sad heap of confusion; the only way to write
on them is to tabulate them with notes, added at the
bottom of the page, and references."
1 See Matthew Arnold's Essays in Criticism (ISt series, "Pagan
and Medieval Religious Sentiment") for an exquisite translation
of this, the i5th, idyll.




EMPLOYMENT. OF THE POOR


x"9


" It may be questioned, whether there is not some mistake as to the methods of employing the poor, seemingly
on a supposition that there is a certain portion of work
left undone for want of persons to do it; but if that is
otherwise, and all the materials' we have are actually
worked up, or all the manufactures we can use or dispose
of are already executed, then what is given to the poor,
who are to be set at work, must be taken from some who
now have it: as time must be taken for learning (according to Sir William Petty's observation), 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 of this nature, what Giannone  said to a
monk, who wanted what he called to convert him. ' Tu sei
santo, ma tu non sei filosopho.'-It is an unhappy circumstance that one might give away five hundred pounds in a
year to those that importune in the streets, and not do any
good."
"There is nothing more likely to betray a man into
absurdity, than condescension; when he seems to suppose
his understanding too powerful for his company."
"Having asked Mr. Langton if his father and mother
had sat for their pictures, which he thought it right for
each generation of a family to do, and being told they had
opposed it, he said, 'Sir, among the anfractuosities of the
human mind, I know not if it may not be one, that there
is a superstitious reluctance to sit for a picture.' "
"John Gilbert Cooper related, that soon after the
publication of his Dictionary, Garrick, being asked by
Johnson what people said of it, told him, that among
other animadversions, it was objected that he cited authorities which were beneath the dignity of such a work, and
mentioned Richardson. ' Nay,' said Johnson, 'I have done
worse than that  I have cited thee, David.'"
' Talking of expense, he observed, with what munifi1 An Italian historian (i676-1 748) whose attacks on the Church
in his History of the Kingdom of Naples lodged him in prison where,
despite a retractation, he died. Dr. Hill.




120


BOSWELL'S LIFl OF JOHNSON


cence a great merchant will spend his money, both from his
having it at command, and from his enlarged views by
calculation of a good effect upon the whole. 'Whereas,'
said he, 'you will hardly ever find a country gentleman,
who is not a good dKl disconcerted at an unexpected
occasion for his being obliged to lay out ten pounds."
"When in good humour, he would talk of his own
writings with a wonderful frankness and candour, and
would even criticise them with the closest severity. One
day, having read over one of his 'Ramblers,' Mr. Langton
asked him, how he liked that paper; he shook his head,
and answered, 'too wordy.' At another time, when one
was 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.' "1
"Talking of a point of delicate scrupulosity of moral
conduct, 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. But let us try to help one another. If
there be a wrong twist, it may be set right. It is not
probable that two people can be wrong the same way.' "
" Of the preface to Capels Shakespeare, he said, ' If the
man would have come to me, I would have endeavoured
to endow his purposes with words;' for as it is, he doth
'gabble monstrously.'"
" He related, that he had once in a dream a contest of
wit with some other person, and that he was very much
mortified by imagining that his opponent had the better
of him. ' Now,' said he, ' one may mark here the effect
of sleep in weakening the power of reflection; for had
1 Sir Walter Scott corroborates this opinion by an amusing
anecdote (Croker Papers, ii. 32, 2nd edit. 1885).  I was told that
a gentleman called Pot, or some such name, was introduced to him
as a particular admirer of his. The Doctor growled and took no
further notice. 'He admires in especial your Irene as the finest
tragedy of modern times;' to which the Doctor replied, If Pot
says so, Pot lies.' "




LANGTON'S J HNSONIANA                   121
not my judgment failed me, I should have seen that the
wit of this supposed antagonist, by whose superiority I felt
myself depressed, was as much furnished by me, as that
which I thought I had been utterin i my own character.' "
"One evening in company, anngenious and learned
gentleman read to him a letter of compliment which he
had received from one of the Professors of a foreign
University. Johnson, in an irritable fit, thinking there
was too much ostentation, said * ' I never receive any of
these tributes of applause from abroad. One instance I
recollect of a foreign publication, in which mention is
made of l'illustre Lockman.' "
" Of Sir Joshua Reynolds, he said, 'Sir, I know no man
who has passed through life with more observation than
Reynolds."'
" He repeated to Mr. Langton, with great energy in
the Greek, our SAVIOUR'S gracious expression concerning
the forgiveness of Mary Magdalen, 'H Trio-ri, o'ou oea-Eaxe
o-E' TopEUOU  El? pjVuV.  'Thy faith hath saved thee, go
in peace.' (St. Luke vii. 50.)  He said, ' The manner of
this dismission is exceedingly affecting.'"
" He thus defined the difference between physical and
moral truth. ' Physical truth is, when you tell a thing as
it actually is. Moral truth is when you tell a thing sincerely and precisely as it appears to you. I say such a one
walked across the street; if he really did so, I told a
physical truth. If I thought so, though I should have
been mistaken, I told a moral truth.'"
" Huggins, the translator of Ariosto, and Mr. Thomas
Warton, in the early part of his literary life, had a dispute
concerning that poet, of whom Mr Warton, in his
' Observations on Spenser's " Fairy Queen," ' gave some
1 Secretary to the British Herring Fishery, remarkable for an
extraordinary number of occasional verses, not of eminent merit.
B. He was also an indefatigable translator for the booksellers,
having acquired a knowledge of languages, as Johnson told
Hawkins, by living at coffee-houses frequented by foreigners, and,
according to Tyers, a very worthy man, much loved by his friends
and respected even by Pope. Croker.




122


BOSWELL'S LIRE OF JOHNSON


account which Huggins attempted to answer with violence,
and said, ' I will militate no longer against his nescience '
Huggins was master of the subject, but wanted expression. Mr. Warton's knowledge of it was then imperfect,
but his manner lively and elegant. Johnson said, ' It
appears to me, that Huggins has ball without powder,
and Warton powder without ball.'"
" Talking of the farce of ' High Life below Stairs,' he
said, ' Here is a farce, which is really very diverting, when
you see it acted; and yet one may read it, and not know
that one has been reading any thing at all.' "
" He used at one time to go occasionally to the greenroom of Drury Lane Theatre, where he was much regarded
by the players, and was very easy and facetious with them.
He had a very high opinion of Mrs. Clive's comic powers,
and conversed more with her than with any of them. He
said, ' Clive, Sir, is a good thing to sit by; she always
understands what you say.' And she said of him, ' I love
to sit by Dr. Johnson; he always entertains me.' One
night, when ' The Recruiting Officer' was acted, he said to
Mr Holland, who had been expressing an apprehension
that Dr. Johnson would disdain the works of Farquhar:
' No, Sir, I think Farquhar a man whose writings have
considerable merit.'
"His friend Garrick was so busy in conducting the
drama, that they could not have so much intercourse as
Mr. Garrick used to profess an anxious wish that there
should be. There might, indeed, be something in the
contemptuous severity as to the merit of acting, which
this old preceptor nourished in himself, that would mortify
Garrick after the great applause which he received from the
audience. For though Johnson said of him, 'Sir, a man
who has a nation to admire him every night, may well be
expected to be somewhat elated;' yet he would treat
theatrical matters with a ludicrous slight. He mentioned
one evening, ' I met David coming off the stage, dressed
in a woman's riding hood, when he acted in " The
Wonder"; I came full upon him, and I believe he was
not pleased.'"




DRURY LANE GREEN-ROOM


123


" Once he asked Tom Davies, whom he saw dressed in a
fine suit of clothes, ' And what art thou to-night?' Tom
answered, ' The Thane of Ross;' (which it will be
recollected is a very inconsiderable character.) '0 brave!'
said Johnson."
" Of Mr. Longley, at Rochester,) a gentleman of very
considerable learning, whom Dr Johnson met there, he
said 'My heart warms towards him. I was surprised to
find in him such a nice acquaintance with the metre in the
learned languages: though I was somewhat mortified
that I had it not so much to myself as I should have
thought.' "
"Talking of the minuteness with which people will
record the sayings of eminent persons, a story was told,
that when Pope was on a visit to Spence at Oxford, as they
looked from the window they saw a gentleman-commoner,
who was just come in from riding, amusing himself with
whipping at a post. Pope took occasion to say, 'That
young gentleman seems to have little to do.' Mr
Beauclerk observed, 'Then, to be sure, Spence turned
round and wrote that down;' and went on to say to Dr.
Johnson, 'Pope, Sir, would have said the same of you, if
he had seen you distilling.' JOHNSON 'Sir, if Pope had
told me of my distilling, I would have told him of his
grotto.'"
"He would allow no settled indulgence of idleness
upon principle, and always repelled every attempt to urge
excuses for it. A friend one day suggested, that it was
not wholesome to study soon after dinner. JOHNSON.
'Ah, Sir, don't give way to such a fancy. At one time of
my life I had taken it into my head that it was not wholesome to study between breakfast and dinner.' "
"Mr. Beauclerk one day repeated to Dr. Johnson
Pope's lines,
Let modest Foster, if he will, excel
Ten metropolitans in preaching well:'
1 Recorder of Rochester and father of Archbishop Longley.
Dr. Hill.




124


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


then asked the Doctor, 'Why did Pope say this?'
JOHNSON' 'Sir, he hoped it would vex somebody."'
"Dr. Goldsmith, upon occasion of Mrs. Lennox's
bringing out a play,1 said to Dr Johnson at the CLUB, that
a person had advised him to go and hiss it, because she
had attacked Shakespeare in her book called 'Shakespeare
Illustrated.' JOHNSON: 'And did not you tell him that
he was a rascal?' GOLDSMITH. 'No, Sir, I did not.
Perhaps he did not mean what he said.' JOHNSON ' Nay,
Sir, if he lied, it is a different thing.' Colman slily said,
(but it is believed Dr. Johnson did not hear him,) 'Then
the proper expression should have been,-Sir, if you don't
lie, you are a rascal.'"
" His affection for Topham Beauclerk was so great, that
when Beauclerk was labouring under that severe illness
which at last occasioned his death, Johnson said, (with a
voice faltering with emotion,) 'Sir, I would walk to the
extent of the diameter of the earth to save Beauclerk.'"
" One night at the CLUB he produced a translation of an
epitaph which Lord Elibank had written in English for
his Lady, and requested of Johnson to turn it into Latin
for him. Having read Domina de North et Gray, he said
to Dyer,2 'You see, Sir, what barbarism we are compelled
to make use of, when modern titles are to be specifically
mentioned in Latin inscriptions.' When he had read it
once aloud, and there had been a general approbation
expressed by the company, he addressed himself to Mr.
Dyer in particular, and said, 'Sir, I beg to have your
judgment, for I know your nicety.' Dyer then very
properly desired to read it over again; which having done,
he pointed out an incongruity in one of the sentences.
Johnson immediately assented to the observation, and said
' Sir, this is owing to an alteration of a part of the sentence,
from the form in which I had first written it. and I
1 Probably The Sisters, a comedy performed one night only, at
Covent Garden in 1769. Dr. Goldsmith wrote an excellent
epilogue to it. Malone.
2 The words in the epitaph are Domino North et Gray, and refer
to the lady's first husband. Croker.




TOLERATION


125


believe, Sir, you may have remarked, that the making a
partial change, without a due regard to the general structure
of the sentence, is a very frequent cause of error in
composition.'"
"Johnson was well acquainted with Mr. Dossie, author
of a treatise on Agriculture'; and said of him,' Sir, of the
objects which the Society of Arts have chiefly in view, the
chemical effects of bodies operating upon other bodies, he
knows more than almost any man.' Johnson, in order
to give Mr. Dossie his vote to be a member of this
Society, paid up an arrear which had run on for two years.
On this occasion he mentioned a circumstance, as characteristic of the Scotch.  'One of that nation,' said he, ' who
had been a candidate, against whom I had voted, came up
to me with a civil salutation. Now, Sir, this is their way.
An Englishman would have stomached it, and been sulky,
and never have taken farther notice of you; but a Scotchman, Sir, though you vote nineteen times against him, will
accost you with equal complaisance after each time, and the
twentieth time, Sir, he will get your vote.'"
"Talking on the subject of toleration, one day when
some friends were with him in his study, he made his
usual remark, that the State has a right to regulate the
religion of the people, who are the children of the State.
A clergyman having readily acquiesced in this, Johnson,
who loved discussion, observed: 'But, Sir, you must go
round to other states than our own. You do not know
what a Brahmin has to say for himself.' In short, Sir,
I have got no farther than this every man has a right
to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has
a right to knock him down for it. Martyrdom is the
test.' "
" A man, he observed, should begin to write soon for,
if he waits till his judgment is matured, his inability,
1 Here Lord Macartney remarks, "A Brahmin or any casttof
the Hindoos will neither admit you to be of their religion, nor be
converted to yours; —a thing which struck the Portuguese with
the greatest astonishment, when they first discovered the East
Indies." B.




126


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


through want of practice to express his conceptions, will
make the disproportion so great between what he sees and
what he can attain, that he will probably be discouraged
from writing at all. As a proof of the justness of this
remark, we may instance what is related of the great Lord
Granville; ' that after he had written his letter giving an
account of the battle of Dettingen, he said, ' Here is a
letter, expressed in terms not good enough for a tallowchandler to have used.'"
"Talking of a court-martial that was sitting upon a
very momentous public occasion,2 he expressed much
doubt of an enlightened decision; and said, that perhaps
there was not a member of it, who in the whole course of
his life, had ever spent an hour by himself in balancing
probabilities."
"Goldsmith one day brought to the CLUB a printed
ode, which he, with others, had been hearing read by its
author in a public room, at the rate of five shillings each
for admission. One of the company having read it aloud,
Dr. Johnson said, ' Bolder words and more timorous
meaning, I think never were brought together.'"
"Talking of Gray's Odes, he said, 'They are forced
plants, raised in a hot-bed; and they are poor plants;'
they are but cucumbers after all.' A gentleman present,
who had been running down ode-writing in general, as a
bad species of poetry, unluckily said, 'Had they been
literally cucumbers, they had been better things than
odes.'- Yes, Sir,' said Johnson, 'for a hog.'"
"His distinction of the different degrees of attainment
of learning was thus marked upon two occasions. Of
Queen Elizabeth he said, ' She had learning enough to
1 John, Lord Carteret and first Earl Granville, who died, January
2, 1763. Malone.
2 Probably the court-martial which sat at Portsmouth in 1779
onAdmiral Keppel for his conduct of the action with the French
fleet off Ushant on July 27, 1778, and acquitted him on every
charge. The excitement was great in London, where the mob
were all on Keppel's side.  See Mahon's Hist. of Eng. vi.
256-8.




LANGTON'S JOHNSONIANA


127


have given dignity to a bishop;' and of Mr. Thomas
Davies, he said, 'Sir, Davies has learning enough to give
credit to a clergyman.'"
" He used to quote, with great warmth, the saying of
Aristotle recorded by Diogenes Laertius; ' That there
was the same difference between one learned and unlearned,
as between the living and the dead.'"
" It is very remarkable, that he retained in his memory
very slight and trivial, as well as important things. As
an instance of this, it seems that an inferior domestic of
the Duke of Leeds had attempted to celebrate his grace's
marriage in such homely rhymes as he could make * and
this curious composition having been sung to Dr. Johnson,
he got it by heart, and used to repeat it in a very pleasant
manner. Two of the stanzas were these.
When the Duke of Leeds shall married be
To a fine young lady of high quality,
How happy will that gentlewoman be
In his grace of Leeds's good company.
She shall have all that's fine and fair,
And the best of silk and satin shall wear;
And ride in a coach to take the air,
And have a house in St. James's Square.'1
1 The correspondent of The Gentleman's Magazine who subscribes himself SCIOLUS, furnishes the following supplement: "A
lady of my acquaintance remembers to have heard her uncle sing
those homely stanzas more than forty-five years ago. He repeated
the second thus:
'She shall breed young lords and ladies fair,
And ride abroad in a coach and three pair,
And the best, &c.
And have a house, &c.'
And remembered a third which seems to have been the introductory one, and is believed to have been the only remaining one
When the Duke of Leeds shall have made his choice
Of a charming young lady that's beautiful and wise,
She'll be the happiest young gentlewoman under the skies,




128


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


To hear a man, of the weight and dignity of Johnson,
repeating such humble attempts at poetry, had a very
amusing effect. He, however, seriously observed of the
last stanza repeated by him, that it nearly comprised all
the advantages that wealth can give."
" An eminent foreigner, when he was shewn the British
Museum, was very troublesome with many absurd inquiries.
' Now there, Sir,' said he, ' is the difference between an
Englishman and a Frenchman. A Frenchman must be
always talking, whether he knows any thing of the matter
or not; an Englishman is content to say nothing, when
he has nothing to say' "
"His unjust contempt for foreigners was, indeed,
extreme. One evening, at Old Slaughter's coffee-house,
when a number of them were talking aloud about little
matters, he said, ' Does not this confirm old Meynell's
observation-For any thing I see, foreigners are fools?"'
" He said, that once, when he had a violent toothache,
a Frenchman accosted him thus: 'Akh, Monsieur, vou:
itudiez trop.'"
"Having spent an evening at Mr. Langton's with the
Reverend Dr. Parr, he was much pleased with the conversation of that learned gentleman; and, after he was
gone, said to Mr. Langton 'Sir, I am obliged to you for
having asked me this evening. Parr is a fair man. I do
not know when I have had an occasion of such free controversy. It is remarkable how much of a man's life
may pass without meeting with any instance of this kind
of open discussion."'
"We may fairly institute a criticism between Shakespeare and Corneille, as they both had, though in a
different degree, the lights of a latter age. It is not so
just between the Greek dramatic writers and Shakespeare.
It may be replied to what is said by one of the remarkers
As long as the sun and moon shall rise,
And how happy shall, &c."'
It is with pleasure I add that this stanza could never be more
truly applied than at this present time L1792]. B.




PAGAN MYTHOLOGY


129


on Shakespeare, that though Darius's shade had prescience,
it does not necessarily follow that he had all past particulars
revealed to him."
"Spanish plays, being wildly and improbably farcical,
would please children here, as children are entertained
with stories full of prodigies; their experience not being
sufficient to cause them to be so readily startled at
deviations from the natural course of life. The machinery
of the Pagans is uninteresting to us  when a goddess
appears in Homer or Virgil, we grow weary; still more
so in the Grecian tragedies, as in that kind of composition
a nearer approach to Nature is intended.-Yet there are
good reasons for reading romances; as-the fertility of
invention, the beauty of style and expression, the curiosity
of seeing with what kind of performances the age and
country in which they were written was delighted for it
is to be apprehended that at the time when very wild
improbable tales were well received, the people were in a
barbarous state, and so on the footing of children, as has
been explained."
" It is evident enough that no one who writes now can
use the Pagan deities and mythology; the only machinery,
therefore, seems that of ministering spirits, the ghosts of
the departed, witches, and fairles, though these latter, as
the vulgar superstition concerning them (which, while in
its force, infected at least the imagination of those that
had more advantage in education, though their reason set
them free from it) is every day wearing out, seem likely
to be of little farther assistance in the machinery of
poetry. As I recollect, Hammond introduces a hag or
witch into one of his love-elegies, where the effect is
unmeaning and disgusting."
" The man who uses his talent of ridicule in creating or
grossly exaggerating the instances he gives, who imputes
absurdities that did not happen, or when a man was a
little ridiculous, describes him as having been very much
so, abuses his talents greatly. The great use of delineating absurdities is, that we may know how far human
folly can go; the account, therefore, ought of absolute
111D-                                      K




13o


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


necessity to be faithful. A certain character (naming the
person), as to the general cast of it, is well described by
Garrick, but a great deal of the phraseology he uses in it,
is quite his own, particularly in the proverbial comparisons,
'obstinate as a pig,' &c., but I don't know whether it
might not be true of Lord      that from a too great
eagerness of praise and popularity, and a politeness carried
to a ridiculous excess, he was likely, after asserting a thing
in general, to give it up again in parts. For instance, if
he had said Reynolds was the first of painters, he was
capable enough of giving up, as objections might happen
to be severally made, first, his outline,-then the grace in
form,-then the colouring,-and lastly, to have owned
that he was such a mannerist, that the disposition of his
pictures was all alike."
"For hospitality, as formerly practised, there is no
longer the same reason; heretofore the poorer people
were more numerous, and from want of commerce, their
means of getting a livelihood more difficult; therefore
the supporting them was an act of great benevolence;
now that the poor can find maintenance for themselves,
and their labour is wanted, a general undiscerning hospitality tends to ill, by withdrawing them from their
work to idleness and drunkenness. Then, formerly rents
were received in kind, so that there was a great abundance
of provisions in possession of the owners of the lands,
which, since the plenty of money afforded by commerce,
is no longer the case."
" Hospitality to strangers and foreigners in our country
is now almost at an end, since, from the increase of them
that come to us, there have been a sufficient number of
people that have found an interest in providing inns
and proper accommodations, which is in general a more
expedient method for the entertainment of travellers.
Where the travellers and strangers are few, more of that
hospitality subsists, as it has not been worth while to
provide places of accommodation.  In Ireland there is
still hospitality to strangers, in some degree; in Hungary
and Poland probably more."




A CLERGYMAN REBUKED


131


" Colman, in a note on his translation of Terence, talking of Shakespeare's learning, asks, ' What says Farmer
to this? What says Johnson?' Upon this he observed,
'Sir, let Farmer answer for himself: I never engaged in
this controversy. I always said, Shakespeare had Latin
enough to grammaticise his English.'"
"A clergyman, whom    he characterised as one who
loved to say little oddities, was affecting one day, at a
bishop's table, a sort of slyness and freedom not in
character, and repeated, as if part of 'The Old Man's
Wish,' a song by Dr. Walter Pope, a verse bordering
on licentiousness. Johnson rebuked him in the finest
manner, by first shewing that he did not know the
passage he was aiming at, and thus humbling him. 'Sir,
that is not the song: it is thus.' And he gave it right.
Then looking steadfastly on him, 'Sir, there is a part of
that song which I should wish to exemplify in my own
life:
'May I govern my passions with absolute sway!'"
"Being asked if Barnes knew a good deal of Greek,
he answered, ' I doubt, Sir, he was unoculus inter cecos.'"
"( He used frequently to observe, that men might be
very eminent in a profession, without our perceiving any
particular power of mind in them in conversation. 'It
seems strange,' said he,' that a man should see so far to
the right, who sees so short a way to the left. Burke
is the only man whose common conversation corresponds
with the general fame which he has in the world. Take
up whatever topic you please, he is ready to meet you.' "
"A gentleman, by no means deficient in literature,
having discovered less acquaintance with one of the
classics than Johnson expected, when the gentleman left
the room, he observed, 'You see, now, how little any
body reads.' Mr. Langton happening to mention his
having read a good deal in Clenardus's Greek Grammar,
'Why, Sir,' said he, 'who is there in this town who
knows any thing of Clenardus but you and I?' And
upon Mr. Langton's mentioning that he had taken the




132


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


pains to learn by heart the Epistle of St. Basil, which is
given in that grammar as a praxis, 'Sir,' said he, ' I never
made such an effort to attain Greek.' "
" Of Dodsley's ' Public Virtue, a Poem,' he said, 'It
was fine blank; (meaning to express his usual contempt
for blank verse ) however, this miserable poem did not
sell, and my poor friend Doddy said, Public Virtue was
not a subject to interest the age.'"
" Mr. Langton, when a very young man, read Dodsley's
'Cleone, a Tragedy,' to him, not aware of his extreme
impatience to be read to. As it went on he turned his
face to the back of his chair, and put himself into various
attitudes, which marked his uneasiness. At the end of
an act, however, he said, 'Come, let's have some more,
let's go into the slaughter-house again, Lanky. But I
am  afraid there is more blood than brains.'  Yet he
afterwards said, 'When I heard you read it I thought
higher of its power of language when I read it myself,
I was more sensible of its pathetic effect;' and then he paid
it a compliment which many will think very extravagant.
'Sir,' said he, 'if Otway had written this play, no other
of his pieces would have been remembered.' Dodsley
himself, upon this being repeated to him, said, 'It was
too much ' it must be remembered, that Johnson always
appeared not to be sufficiently sensible of the merit of
Otway."
"'Snatches of reading,' said he, 'will not make a
Bentley or a Clarke. They are, however, in a certain
degree advantageous. I would put a child into a library
(where no unfit books are) and let him read at his choice.
A child should not be discouraged from reading any thing
that he takes a liking to, from a notion that it is above
his reach. If that be the case, the child will soon find it
out and desist; if not, he of course gains the instruction;
1 This assertion concerning Johnson's insensibility to the pathetic
powers of Otway is too round. I once asked him, whether he did
not think Otway frequently tender: when he answered, "Sir, he
is all tenderness." Burney.




LEARNING LOW DUTCH


I33


which is so much the more likely to come, from the
inclination with which he takes up the study'"
"Though he used to censure carelessness with great
vehemence, he owned, that he once, to avoid the trouble
of locking up five guineas, hid them, he forgot where,
so that he could not find them."
"A gentleman who introduced his brother to Dr.
Johnson, was earnest to recommend him to the Doctor's
notice, which he did by saying,' When we have sat
together some time, you'll find my brother grow very
entertaining.'-' Sir,' said Johnson, ' I can wait.' "
"When the rumour was strong that we should have
a war, because the French would assist the Americans,
he rebuked a friend with some asperity for supposing it,
saying, ' No, Sir, national faith is not yet sunk so low.'"
" In the latter part of his life, in order to satisfy himself
whether his mental faculties were impaired, he resolved
that he would try to learn a new language, and fixed upon
the Low Dutch, for that purpose, and this he continued
till he had read about one half of ' Thomas A Kempis;'
and finding that there appeared no abatement of his power
of acquisition, he then desisted, as thinking the experiment
sad been duly tried.  Mr Burke justly observed, that
this was not the most vigorous trial, Low Dutch being
a language so near to our own; had it been one of the
languages entirely different, he might have been very soon
satisfied."
" Mr Langton and he having gone to see a freemason's
funeral procession, when they were at Rochester, and some
solemn music being played on French horns, he said,' This
is the first time that I have ever been affected by musical
sounds;' adding, 'that the impression made upon him
was of a melancholy kind.' Mr. Langton saying, that
this effect was a fine one — JOHNSON  ' Yes, if it softens
the mind so as to prepare it for the reception of salutary
feelings, it may be good' but inasmuch as it is melancholy
per se, it is bad.'"
"Goldsmith had long a visionary project, that some
time or other when his circumstances should be easier, he




I34


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


would go to Aleppo, in order to acquire a knowledge,
as far as might be, of any arts peculiar to the East, and
introduce them into Britain. When this was talked of
in Dr Johnson's company, he said ' Of all men Goldsmith is the most unfit to go out upon such an inquiry;
for he is utterly ignorant of such arts as we already
possess, and consequently could not know what would
be accessions to our present stock of mechanical knowledge. Sir, he would bring home a grinding-barrow,
which you see in every street in London, and think he
had furnished a wonderful improvement.'"
"'Greek, Sir,' said he, 'is like lace; every man gets
as much of it as he can.'"
"When Lord Charles Hay, after his return from
America, was preparing his defence to be offered to the
court-martial which he had demanded, having heard Mr
Langton as high in expressions of admiration of Johnson,
as he usually was, he requested that Dr. Johnson might
be introduced to him; and Mr. Langton having mentioned it to Johnson, he very kindly and readily agreed;
and being presented by Mr. Langton to his Lordship,
while under arrest, he saw him several times; upon one
of which occasions Lord Charles read to him what he had
prepared, which Johnson signified his approbation of,
saying, 'It is a very good soldierly defence.' Johnson
said, that he had advised his Lordship that, as it was in
vain to contend With those who were in possession of
power, if they would offer him the rank of lieutenantgeneral and a government, it would be better judged to
desist from urging his complaints. It is well known
that his Lordship died before the sentence was made
known."
"Johnson one day gave high praise to Dr. Bentley's
verses1 in Dodsley's Collection, which he recited with
1 Dr. Johnson, in his Life of Cowley, says, that these are " the
only English verses which Bentley is known to have written."
I shall here insert them, and hope my readers will apply
them.




DR. BENTLEY'S VERSES


135


his usual energy. Dr. Adam Smith, who was present,
observed in his decisive professorial manner, 'Very well
-very well.' Johnson however added, 'Yes, they are
very well, Sir; but you may observe in what manner
they are well. They are the forcible verses of a man of
"Who strives to mount Parnassus' hill
And thence poetic laurels bring,
Must first acquire due force and skill,
Must fly with swan's or eagle's wing.
"Who Nature's treasures would explore,
Her mysteries and arcana know;
Must high as lofty Newton soar,
Must stoop as delving Woodward low.
"Who studies ancient laws and rites;
Tongues, arts, and arms, and history:
Must drudge, like Selden, days and nights,
And in the endless labour die.
"Who travels in religious jars,
(Truth mixt with error, shades with rays,)
Like Whiston, wanting pyx or stars,
In ocean wide or sinks or strays.
"But grant our hero's hope, long toil
And comprehensive genius crown,
All sciences, all arts his spoil,
Yet what reward, or what renown?
"Envy, innate in vulgar souls,
Envy steps in and stops his rise;
Envy with poison'd tarnish fouls
His lustre, and his worth decries.
"Inglorious or by wants enthralled,
To college and old books confin'd,
A pedant from his learning called,
Dunces advanced, he's left behind:
Yet left content, a genuine Stoic he,
Great without patron, rich without South Sea." B.
The last stanza is corrected from a better copy found by J.
Boswell, jun. Croker.




136


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


a strong mind, but not accustomed to write verse; for
there is some uncouthness in the expression.' "
"Drinking tea one day at Garrick's with Mr. Langton,
he was questioned if he was not somewhat of a heretic as
to Shakespeare; said Garrick, 'I doubt he is a little of
an infidel.'-' Sir,' said Johnson, ' I will stand by the lines
I have written on Shakespeare in my prologue at the
opening of your theatre.' Mr. Langton suggested, that
in the line
'And panting Time toil'd after him in vain;'
Johnson might have had in his eye the passage in the
'Tempest,' where Prospero says of Miranda,
-  She will outstrip all praise,
And make it halt behind her.'
Johnson said nothing. Garrick then ventured to observe,
'I do not think that the happiest line in the praise of
Shakespeare.'   Johnson   exclaimed, smiling, 'Prosaical
rogues! Next time I write, I'll make both time and
space pant.' "2
1 The difference between Johnson and Smith is apparent even
in this slight instance. Smith was a man of extraordinary application, and had his mind crowded with all manner of subjects; but
the force, acuteness, and vivacity of Johnson were not to be found
there. He had book-making so much in his thoughts, and was
so chary of what might be turned to account in that way, that he
once said to Sir Joshua Reynolds, that he made it a rule when in
company, never to talk of what he understood. Beauclerk had
for a short time a pretty high opinion of Smith's conversation.
Garrick after listening to him for a while, as to one of whom his
expectations had been raised, turned slily to a friend, and whispered
him, "What say you to this? -eh? flabby, I think."  B.
2 I am sorry to see in the Transactions of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, vol. ii. "An Essay of the Character of Hamlet,"
written, I should suppose, by a very young man, though called
c" Reverend "; who speaks with presumptuous petulance of the first
literary character of his age. Amidst a cloudy confusion of words
(which hath of late too often passed in Scotland for metaphysics),
he thus ventures to criticise one of the noblest lines in our




JOHNSON ON THE RIVER


I37


"It is well known that there was formerly a rude
custom  for those who were sailing upon the Thames, to
accost each other as they passed in the most abusive
language they could invent, generally, however, with as
much satirical humour as they were capable of producing.
Addison gives a specimen of this ribaldry, in Number
383 of The Spectator, when Sir Roger de Coverley and he
are going to Spring Garden (Vauxhall). Johnson was
once eminently successful in this species of contest; a
fellow having attacked him with some coarse raillery,
Johnson answered him thus, 'Sir, your wife, under pretence
of keeping a bawdy-house, is a receiver of stolen goods.'
One evening when he and Mr. Burke and Mr. Langton
were in company together, and the admirable scolding of
Timon of Athens was mentioned, this instance of Johnson's was quoted, and thought to have at least equal
excellence."
"As Johnson always allowed the extraordinary talents
of Mr. Burke, so Mr. Burke was fully sensible of the
wonderful powers of Johnson. Mr Langton recollects
having passed an evening with both of them, when Mr.
Burke repeatedly entered upon topics which it was evident
he would have illustrated with extensive knowledge and
richness of expression; but Johnson always seized upon
the conversation, in which, however, he acquitted himself
in a most masterly manner. As Mr. Burke and Mr
Langton were walking home, Mr. Burke observed that
Johnson had been very great that night; Mr. Langton
language:-" Dr. Johnson has remarked, that 'time toiled after
him in vain.' But I should apprehend, that this is entirely to
mistake the character. Time toils after every great man, as well
as after Shakespeare. The workings of an ordinary mind keep
pace, indeed, with time; they move no faster; they have their
beginning, their middle, and their end; but superior natures can
reduce these into a point. They do not, indeed, suppress them; but
they suspend, or they lock them up in the breast." The learned
Society, under whose sanction such gabble is ushered into the
world, would do well to offer a premium to any one who will
discover its meaning. B.




138


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


joined in this, but added, he could have wished to hear
more from another person (plainly intimating that he
meant Mr. Burke); 'Oh, no,' said Mr. Burke, 'it is
enough for me to have rung the bell to him.'"
"Beauclerk having observed to him of one of their
friends, that he was awkward at counting money, 'Why,
Sir,' said Johnson,' I am likewise awkward at counting
money. But then, Sir, the reason is plain; I have had
very little money to count.'"
" He had an abhorrence of affectation. Talking of old
Mr Langton, of whom he said, 'Sir, you will seldom see
such a gentleman, such are his stores of literature, such
his knowledge in divinity, and such his exemplary life;'
he added,' and Sir, he has no grimace, no gesticulation,
no bursts of admiration on trivial occasions; he never
embraces you with an overacted cordiality.'"
"Being in company with a gentleman who thought fit
to maintain Dr. Berkeley's ingenious philosophy, that
nothing exists but as perceived by some mind; when the
gentleman was going away, Johnson said to him, 'Pray,
ir, don't leave us; for we may perhaps forget to think
of you, and then you will cease to exist.'"
" Goldsmith upon being visited by Johnson one day in
the Temple, said to him with a little jealousy of the
appearance of his accommodation,' I shall soon be in better
chambers than these.' Johnson at the same time checked
him and paid him a handsome compliment, implying that
a man of his talents should be above attention to such
distinctions,-' Nay, Sir, never mind  that.  Nil te
quesiveris extra.'"
"At the time when his pension was granted to him, he
said, with a noble literary ambition,' Had this happened
twenty years ago, I should have gone to Constantinople to
learn Arabic, as Pococke did.'"
"As an instance of the niceness of his taste, though he
praised West's translation of Pindar, he pointed out the
following passages as faulty, by expressing a circumstance
so minute as to detract from the general dignity which
should prevail;




RICHARDSON'S VANITY


139


'Down then from thy glittering nail,
Take, O muse, thy Dorian lyre.' "
"When Mr. Vesey was proposed as a member of the
LITERARY CLUB, Mr Burke began by saying that he was
a man of gentle manners. 'Sir,' said Johnson, 'you need
say no more. When you have said a man of gentle
manners, you have said enough.' "
"The late Mr. Fitzherbert told Mr. Langton, that
Johnson said to him: 'Sir, a man has no more right to
say an uncivil thing, than to act one; no more right to say
a rude thing to another than to knock him down.'"
"' My dear friend Dr. Bathurst,' said he, with a warmth
of approbation, ' declared, he was glad that his father, who
was a West Indian planter, had left his affairs in total
ruin, because having no estate, he was not under the
temptation of having slaves.' "
"Richardson had little conversation, except about his
own works, of which Sir Joshua Reynolds said he was
always willing to talk, and glad to have them introduced.
Johnson when he carried Mr. Langton to see him, professed that he could bring him out into conversation, and
used this illusive expression, 'Sir, I can make him rear '
But he failed; for in that interview Richardson said little
else than that there lay in the room a translation of his
Clarissa into German." 1
A literary lady has favoured me with a characteristic anecdote
of Richardson. One day at his country house at Northend,
where a large company was assembled at dinner, a gentleman who
was just returned froum Paris, willing to please Mr. Richardson,
mentioned to him a very flattering circumstance,-that he had
seen his Clarissa lying on the King's brother's table. Richardson
observing that part of the company were engaged in talking to
each other, affected then not to attend to it. But by and by,
when there was a general silence, and he thought that the flattery
might be fully heard, he addressed himself to the gentleman, "I
think, Sir, you were saying something about-," pausing in a
high flutter of expectation. The gentleman provoked at his inordinate vanity, resolved not to indulge it, and with an exquisitely
sly air of indifference answered, "A mere trifle, Sir, not worth




140


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


" Once when somebody produced a newspaper in which
there was a letter of stupid abuse of Sir Joshua Reynolds,
of which Johnson himself came in for a share,-' Pray,'
said he, 'let us have it read aloud from beginning to
end;' which being done, he with a ludicrous earnestness,
and not directing his look to any particular person, called
out, ' Are we alive after all this satire!'"
" He had a strong prejudice against the political character of Secker, one instance of which appeared at Oxford,
where he expressed great dissatisfaction at his varying the
old-established toast, 'Church and King.' 'The Archbishop of Canterbury,' said he (with an affected smooth
smiling grimace), 'drinks, Constitution in Church and
State.' Being asked what difference there was between the
two toasts, he said, 'Why, Sir, you may be sure he meant
something.' Yet when the life of that prelate, prefixed to
his sermons by Dr. Porteus and Dr Stinton, his chaplains,
first came out, he read it with the utmost avidity, and
said, ' It is a life well written, and that well deserves to be
recorded.' "
"Of a certain noble Lord, he said, 'Respect him you
could not; for he had no mind of his own. Love him
you could not; for that which you could do with him,
every one else could.'"
" Of Dr. Goldsmith he said,' No man was more foolish
when he had not a pen in his hand, or more wise when he
had.'"
"He told in his lively manner the following literary
anecdote: ' Green and Guthrie, an Irishman and a Scotchman, undertook a translation of Duhalde's history of
China. Green said of Guthrie, that he knew no English,
and Guthrie of Green, that he knew no French; and
these two undertook to translate Duhalde's history of
China. In this translation there was found "the twentysixth day of the new moon." Now as the whole age of
repeating." The mortification of Richardson was visible, and he
did not speak ten words more the whole day. Dr. Johnson was
present, and appeared to enjoy it much. B.




'THE FALSE ALARM'


I4I


the moon is but twenty-eight days, the moon instead of
being new, was nearly as old as it could be. The blunder
arose from their mistaking the word neuvieme ninth, nouvelle
or neuve, new. "
tTalking of Dr. Blagden's copiousness and precision
of communication, Dr. Johnson said, 'Blagden, Sir, is a
delightful fellow.'"
" On occasion of Dr. Johnson's publishing his pamphlet
of' The False Alarm,' there came out a very angry answer
(by many supposed to be by Mr. Wilkes). Dr Johnson
determined on not answering it; but, in conversation with
Mr. Langton, mentioned a particular or two, which if he
had replied to it, he might perhaps have inserted.-In the
answerer's pamphlet, it had been said with solemnity, ' Do
you consider, Sir, that a House of Commons is to the
people as a creature is to its Creator?' ' To this question,'
said Dr. Johnson,' I could have replied, that-in the first
place-the idea of a CREATOR must be such as that he has
a power to unmake or annihilate his creature. Then it
cannot be conceived that a creature can make laws for its
CREATOR. " 1
"'Depend upon it,' said he, 'that if a man talks of his
misfortunes, there is something in them that is not disagreeable to him; for where there is nothing but pure
misery, there never is any recourse to the mention of it.' "
"A man must be a poor beast, that should read no
more in quantity than he could utter aloud."
"Imlac in 'Rasselas,' I spelt with a c at the end, because it is less like English, which should always have the
Saxon k added to the c." 2
1 His profound adoration of the GREAT FIRST CAUSE was such
as to set him above that "philosophy and vain deceit," with
which men of narrow conceptions have been infected. I have
heard him strongly maintain that " what is right is not so from
any natural fitness, but because GOD wills it to be right;" and it
is certainly so, because he has predisposed the relations of things so
as that which he wills must be right. B.
2 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. B.




142


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


"Many a man is mad in certain instances, and goes
through life without having it perceived — for example, a
madness has seized a person of supposing himself obliged
literally to pray continually; had the madness turned the
opposite way, and the person thought it a crime ever to
pray, it might not improbably have continued unobserved."
"He apprehended that the delineation of characters in
the end of the first book of the 'Retreat of the Ten
Thousand,' was the first instance of the kind that was
known."
("'Supposing,' said he, 'a wife to be of a studious or
argumentative turn, it would be very troublesome: for
instance,-if a woman should continually dwell upon the
subject of the Arian heresy.' "
"No man speaks concerning another, even suppose it
be in his praise, if he thinks he does not hear him exactly
as he would, if he thought he was within hearing."
"' The applause of a single human being is of great
consequence.' This he said to me with great earnestness
of manner, very near the time of his decease, on occasion
of having desired me to read a letter addressed to him
from some person in the North of England; which when
I had done, and he asked me what the contents were, as I
thought being particular upon it might fatigue him, it
being of great length, I only told him in general that it
was highly in his praise,-and then he expressed himself
as above."
" He mentioned with an air of satisfaction what Baretti
had told him, that, meeting, in the course of his studying
English, with an excellent paper in the Spectator, one of
four that were written by the respectable Dissenting
Minister, Mr. Grove of Taunton, and observing the
genius and energy of mind that it exhibits, it greatly
quickened his curiosity to visit our country; as he thought,
if such were the lighter periodical essays of our authors,
their productions on more weighty occasions must be
wonderful indeed!"
"He observed once, at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, that a
beggar in the street will more readily ask alms from a




LANGTON'S JOHNSONIANA


I43


man, though there should be no marks of wealth in his
appearance, than from even a well-dressed woman; 1 which
he accounted for from the great degree of carefulness as
to money that is to be found in women; saying farther
upon it, that, the opportunities in general that they
possess of improving their condition are much fewer than
men have; and adding, as he looked round the company,
which consisted of men only,-there is not one of us who
does not think he might be richer, if he would use his
endeavour."
"He thus characterised an ingenious writer of his
acquaintance  'Sir, he is an enthusiast by rule.'"
"' He may hold up that SHIELD against all his enemies;'
-was an observation on Homer, in reference to his
description of the shield of Achilles, made by Mrs.
Fitzherbert wife to his friend Mr Fitzherbert of Derbyshire, and respected by Dr Johnson as a very fine one.
He had in general a very high opinion of that lady's
understanding."
"An observation of Bathurst's may be mentioned,
which Johnson repeated, appearing to acknowledge it to
be well founded, namely, it was somewhat remarkable
how seldom on occasion of coming into the company of
any new person, one felt any wish or inclination to see
him again."This year the Reverend Dr. Franklin having published
a translation of " Lucian," inscribed to him the Demonax
thus:
"To Dr. SAMUEL JOHNSON, the Demonax of the present age,
this piece is inscribed by a sincere admirer of his respectable talents,
" THE TRANSLATOR."
Though upon a particular comparison of Demonax and
Johnson, there does not seem to be a great deal of similarity between them, this dedication is a just compliment
from the general character given by Lucian of the ancient
1 Sterne is of a direct contrary opinion. See his Sentimental
Yourney, article, "The Mystery." B.




144


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Sage, "u apIrrou l v o7ta Eyc 4^ oo-o'(wY y7vo'evMo, the best
philosopher whom I have ever seen or known."
In 1781, Johnson at last completed his "Lives of the
Poets," of which he gives this account ' "Some time in
March I finished the ' Lives of the Poets,' which I wrote
in my usual way, dilatorily and hastily, unwilling to work,
and working with vigour and haste." (Prayers and Meditations, p. 190.) In a memorandum previous to this, he
says of them   "Written, I hope, in such a manner as
may tend to the promotion of piety."     (Prayers and
Meditations, p. 174.)
This is the work, which of all Dr. Johnson's writings
will perhaps be read most generally, and with most
pleasure. Philology and biography were his favourite
pursuits, and those who lived most in intimacy with him,
heard him upon all occasions, when there was a proper
opportunity, take delight in expatiating upon the various
merits of the English Poets  upon the niceties of their
characters, and the events of their progress through the
world which they contribute to illuminate. His mind
was so full of that kind of information, and it was so
well arranged in his memory, that in performing what he
had undertaken in this way, he had little more to do than
to put his thoughts upon paper; exhibiting first each
poet's life, and then subjoining a critical examination of
his genius and works. But when he began to write, the
subject swelled in such a manner, that instead of prefaces
to each poet, of no more than a few pages, as he had
originally intended,1 he produced an ample, rich, and
most entertaining view of them in every respect. In this
1 His design is thus announced in his Advertisement: "The
booksellers having determined to publish a body of English Poetry,
I was persuaded to promise them a preface to the works of each
author; an undertaking, as it was then presented to my mind,
not very tedious or difficult. My purpose was only to have
allotted to every poet an advertisement, like that which we find
in the French Miscellanies, containing a few dates, and a general
character; but I have been led beyond my intention, I hope by
the honest desire of giving useful pleasure.'  B.




THE 'LIVES OF THE POETS'


I45


he resembled Quintllian, who tells us, that in the composition of his Institutions of Oratory, " Latius se tamen
aperiente materia, plus quam   imponebatur oneris sponte
suscepi."  The booksellers, justly sensible of the great
additional value of the copyright, presented him    with
another hundred pounds, over and above two hundred,
for which his agreement was to furnish such prefaces as
he thought fit.1
This was, however, but a small recompense for such a
collection of biography, and such principles and illustrations
of criticism, as, if digested and arranged in one system, by
some modern Aristotle or Longinus, might form a code
upon that subject, such as no other nation can shew. As
he was so good as to make me a present of the greatest
part of the original and indeed only manuscript of this
admirable work, I have an opportunity of observing with
wonder the correctness with which he rapidly struck off
such glowing composition. He may be assimilated to
the Lady in Waller, who could impress with "Love at
first sight: "
(' Some other nymphs with colours faint,
And pencil slow, may Cupid paint,
And a weak heart in time destroy;
She has a stamp, and prints the boy."
That he, however, had a good deal of trouble, and
some anxiety in carrying on the work, we see from a
series of letters to Mr. Nichols the printer,2 whose variety
1 " On this occasion Dr. Johnson observed to me: 'Sir, I
always said the booksellers were a generous set of men. Nor in
the present instance have I reason to complain. The fact is not
that they have paid me too little, but that I have written too much.'
The Lives were soon published in a separate edition; when for
a very few corrections he was presented with another hundred
guineas." Nichols' Literary Anecdotes, viii. 416.
2 Thus —"In the Life of Waller, Mr. Nichols will find a
reference to the Parliamentary History, from  which a long
quotation is to be inserted. If Mr. Nichols cannot easily find the
book; Mr- Johnson will send it from Streatham." "< Clarendon is
here returned."  "By some accident, I laid your note upon Duke
111.                                          L




I46


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


of literary inquiry and obliging disposition, rendered him
useful to Johnson. Mr. Steevens appears, from the papers
in my possession, to have supplied him with some anecdotes
and quotations; and I observe the fair hand of Mrs.
Thrale as one of his copyists of select passages. But he
was principally indebted to my steady friend Mr Isaac
Reed, of Staple Inn, whose extensive and accurate knowledge of English literary history I do not express with
exaggeration, when I say it is wonderful; indeed his
labours have proved it to the world; and all who have
the pleasure of his acquaintance can bear testimony to the
frankness of his communications in private society.
up so safely, that I cannot find it. Your informations have been
of great use to me. I must beg it again: with another list of our
authors, for I have laid that with the other. I have sent Stepney's
epitaph. Let me have the revises as soon as can be. Dec. I778."
"I have sent Philips, with his epitaphs, to be inserted. The
fragment of a preface is hardly worth the impression, but that we
may seem to do something. It may be added to the Life of
Philips. The Latin page is to be added to the Life of Smith. I
shall be at home to revise the two sheets of Milton. March I,
1779."  "Please to get me the last edition of Hughes's letters;
and try to get Dennis upon Blackmore, and upon Cato, and any
thing of the same writer against Pope. Our materials are defective."  "As Waller professed to have imitated Fairfax, do you
think a few pages of Fairfax would enrich our edition? Few
readers have seen it, and it may please them. But it is not
necessary."  " An account of the lives and works of some of the
most eminent English Poets. By, &c.-'The English Poets,
biographically and critically considered, by SAM. JOHNSON.'-Let
Mr. Nichols take his choice, or make another to his mind. May,
178i." "You somehow forgot the advertisement for the new
edition. It was not enclosed. Of Gay's letters I see not that
any use can be made, for they give no information of any thing.
That he was a member of a Philosophical Society is something;
but surely he could be but a corresponding member. However,
not having his life here, I know not how to put it in, and it is of
little importance."  See several more in The Gentleman's Magazinc, 1785. The editor of that Miscellany, in which Johnson
wrote for several years, seems justly to think that every fragment
of so great a man is worthy of being preserved. B.




COWLEY AND WALLER


I47


It is not my intention to dwell upon each of Johnson's
"Lives of the Poets," or attempt an analysis of their
merits, which, were I able to do it, would take up too
much room in this work; yet I shall make a few observations upon some of them, and insert a few various readings.
The Life of COWLEY he himself considered as the best
of the whole, on account of the dissertation which it contains on the Metaphysical Poets. Dryden, whose critical
abilities were equal to his poetical, had mentioned them in
his excellent dedication of his Juvenal, but had barely
mentioned them. Johnson has exhibited them at large,
with such happy illustration from their writings, and in so
luminous a manner, that indeed he may be allowed the
full merit of novelty, and to have discovered to us, as it
were, a new planet in the poetical hemisphere.
It is remarked by Johnson in considering the works of
a poet,1 that " amendments are seldom made without some
token of a rent;" but I do not find that this is applicable
to prose. We shall see that though his amendments in
this work are for the better, there is nothing of the pannus
assutus; the texture is uniform: and indeed, what had
been there at first, is very seldom unfit to have remained.
Yarious Readings 2 in the Life of COWLEY.
"All [future votaries of] that may hereafter pantfor solitude.
"To conceive and execute the [agitation or perception] pains
and the pleasures of other minds.
" The wide effulgence of [the blazing] a summer noon."
In the Life of WALLER, Johnson gives a distinct and
animated narrative of public affairs in that variegated
period, with strong yet nice touches of character; and
having a fair opportunity to display his political principles,
does it with an unqualified manly confidence, and satisfies
1 The life of Sheffield (Duke of Buckinghamshire). B. Boswell had just previously recorded a very similar observation on
alterations in prose.
2 The original reading is enclosed in crotchets, and the present
one is printed in italics. B.




z48


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


his readers how nobly he might have executed a Tory
History of his country.
So easy is his style in these Lives, that I do not recollect
more than three uncommon or learned words; one, when
giving an account of the approach of Waller's mortal
disease, he says, "he found his legs grow tumid;" by
using the expression his legs swelled, he would have
avoided this; and there would have been no impropriety
in its being followed by the interesting question to his
physician, " What that swelling meant? " Another, when
he mentions that Pope had emitted proposals; when published, or issued, would have been more readily understood;
and a third, when he calls Orrery and Dr. Delany, writers
both undoubtedly veracious; when true, honest, or faithful,
might have been used. Yet, it must be owned, that
none of these are hard or too big words: that custom
would make them seem as easy as any others; and that a
language is richer and capable of more beauty of expression,
by having a greater variety of synonyms.
His dissertation upon the unfitness of poetry for the
awful subjects of our holy religion, though I do not
entirely agree with him, has all the merit of originality,
with uncommon force and reasoning.
yarious Readings in the Life of WALLER.
Consented to [the insertion of their names] their own nomina
tion.
" [After] paying a fine of ten thousand pounds.
"Congratulating Charles the Second on his [coronation] re.
covered right.
" He that has flattery ready for all whom the vicissitudes of the
world happen to exalt, must be [confessed to degrade his powers]
scorned as a prostituted mind.
" The characters by which Waller intended to distinguish his
writings are [elegance] sprightliness and dignity.
"Blossoms to be valued only as they [fetch]foretell fruits.
"Images such as the superficies of nature [easily] readily
supplies.
" [His] Some applications [are sometimes] may be thought tot
remote and unconsequential.
" His images are [sometimes confused] not always distinct."




THE LIFE OF MILTON


149


Against his Life of MILTON, the hounds of Whiggism
have opened in full cry. But of Milton's great excellence
as a poet, where shall we find such a blazon as by the
hand of Johnson?      I shall select only the following
passage concerning Paradise Lost:
"Fancy can hardly forbear to conjecture with what temper
Milton surveyed the silent progress of his work, and marked his
reputation stealing its way in a kind of subterraneous current,
through fear and silence. I cannot but conceive him calm and
confident, little disappointed, not at all dejected, relying on his
own merit with steady consciousness, and waiting without impatience, the vicissitudes of opinion, and the impartiality of a
future generation."
Indeed even Dr. Towers, who may be considered as one
of the warmest zealots of The Revolution Society itself,
allows, that "Johnson has spoken in the highest terms of
the abilities of that great poet, and has bestowed on his
principal poetical compositions the most honourable
encomiums." l
That a man, who venerated the Church and Monarchy
as Johnson did, should speak with a just abhorrence of
Milton as a politician, or rather as a daring foe to good
1 See An Essay on the Life, Character, and Writings of Dr.
Samuel 7ohnson, London, 1787; which is very well written, making
a proper allowance for the democratical bigotry of its author whom
I cannot however but admire for his liberality in speaking thus of
my illustrious friend. "He possessed extraordinary powers of
understanding, which were much cultivated by study, and still
more by meditation and reflection. His memory was remarkably
retentive, his imagination uncommonly vigorous, and his judgment
keen and penetrating. He had a strong sense of the importance
of religion; his piety was sincere, and sometimes ardent; and his
zeal for the interests of virtue was often manifested in his conversation and his writings. The same energy which was displayed
in his literary productions was exhibited also in his conversation,
which was various, striking, and instructive; and perhaps no man
ever equalled him for nervous and pointed repartees. His Dictionary, his moral Essays, and his productions in polite literature,
will convey useful instruction, and elegant entertainment, as long
as the language in which they are written shall be understood." B.




I50


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


polity, was surely to be expected; and to those who censure him, I would recommend his commentary on Milton's
celebrated complaint of his situation, when by the lenity of
Charles the Second, "a lenity of which (as Johnson well
observes) the world has had perhaps no other example, he,
who had written in justification of the murder of his
Sovereign, was safe under an Act of Oblivion."
" No sooner is he safe than he finds himself in danger, fallen on
evil days and evil tongues, with darkness and with dangers compassed
round. This darkness, had his eyes been better employed, had
undoubtedly deserved compassion; but to add the mention ot
danger, was ungrateful and unjust. He was fallen, indeed, on evil
days; the time was come in which regicides could no longer boast
their wickedness. But of evil tongues for Milton to complain,
required impudence at least equal to his other powers; Milton,
whose warmest advocates must allow, that he never spared any
asperity of reproach, or brutality of insolence."
I have, indeed, often wondered how Milton, " an acrimonious and surly republican,"-" a man who in his
domestic relations was so severe and arbitrary," and whose
head was filled with the hardest and most dismal tenets of
Calvinism, should have been such a poet; should not only
have written with sublimity, but with beauty, and even
gaiety; should have exquisitely painted the sweetest sensations of which our nature is capable; imaged the delicate
raptures of connubial love; nay, seemed to be animated
with all the spirit of revelry  It is a proof that in the
human mind the departments of judgment and imagination, perception and temper, may sometimes be divided by
strong partitions; and that the light and shade in the
same character may be kept so distinct as never to be
blended.1
In the Life of Milton, Johnson took occasion to maintain his own and the general opinion of the excellence of
rhyme over blank verse, in English poetry; and quotes
1 Mr. Malone thinks it is rather a proof that he felt nothing of
those cheerful sensations which he has described that on these
topics it is the poet, and not the man, that writes. B.




MILTON AND DRYDEN


15I


this apposite illustration of it by " an ingenious critic,"
that it seems to be verse only to the eye.' The gentleman
whom he thus characterises, is (as he told Mr. Seward)
Mr. Lock, of Norbury Park in Surrey, whose knowledge
and taste in the fine arts is universally celebrated; with
whose elegance of manners the writer of the present work
has felt himself much impressed, and to whose virtues a
common friend, who has known him long and is not much
addicted to flattery, gives the highest testimony.
Various Readings in the Life of MILTON.
"I cannot find any meaning but this which [his most bigoted
advocates] even kindness and reverence can give.
" [Perhaps no] scarcely any man ever wrote so much, and praised
so few.
"A certain [rescue] preservative from oblivion.
"Let me not be censured for this digression, as [contracted]
pedantic or paradoxical.
" Socrates rather was of opinion, that what we had to learn was
how to [obtain and communicate happiness] do good and avoid evil.
"Its elegance [who can exhibit?] is less attainable."
I could, with pleasure, expatiate upon the masterly
execution of the Life of DRYDEN, which we have seen
(Vol. II. p. 278) was one of Johnson's literary projects at
an early period, and which it is remarkable, that after
desisting from it, from a supposed scantiness of materials,
he should, at an advanced age, have exhibited so amply.
His defence of that great poet against the illiberal
attacks upon him, as if his embracing the Roman Catholic
communion had been a time-serving measure, is a piece
of reasoning at once able and candid. Indeed, Dryden
himself, in his "Hind and Panther," hath given such a
picture of his mind, that they who know the anxiety for
1 One of the most natural instances of the effect of blank verse
occurred to the late Earl of Hopetoun. His Lordship observed
one of his shepherds poring in the fields upon Milton's Paradise
Lost; and having asked him what book it was, the man answered,
" An't please your Lordship, this is a very odd sort of an author;
he would fain rhyme, but cannot get at it." B.




152


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


repose as to the awful subject of our state beyond the
grave, though they may think his opinion ill-founded,
must think charitably of his sentiment:
BUT, gracious GOD, how well dost thou provide
For erring judgments an unerring guide!
Thy throne is darkness in the abyss of light,
A blaze of glory that forbids the sight.
O! teach me to believe thee thus conceal'd,
And search no farther than thyself reveal'd;
But Her alone for my director take,
Whom thou hast promis'd never to forsake.
My thoughtless youth was wing'd with vain desires;
My manhood long misled by wand'ring fires,
Follow'd false lights; and when their glimpse was gone,
My pride struck out new sparkles of her own.
Such was I, such by nature still I am;
Be thine the glory, and be mine the shame.
Good life be now my task: my doubts are done;
What more could shock my faith than Three in One?"
In drawing Dryden's character, Johnson has given,
though I suppose unintentionally, some touches of his
own.   Thus
"The power that predominated in his intellectual operations
was rather strong reason than quick sensibility.  Upon all
occasions that were presented, he studied rather than felt; and
produced sentiments not such as Nature enforces, but meditation
supplies. With the simple and elemental passions as they spring
separate in the mind, he seems not much acquainted.  He is,
therefore, with all his variety of excellence, not often pathetic;
and had so little sensibility of the power of effusions purely
natural, that he did not esteem them in others."
It may indeed be observed, that in all the numerous
writings of Johnson, whether in prose or verse, and even
in his tragedy, of which the subject is the distress of ar
unfortunate princess, there is not a single passage that
ever drew a tear.
1 It may be found interesting to compare the sentiments
expressed in these lines with those of Newman's famous hymn,
Lead, kindly light, &c.




DRYDEN AND POPE


153


Various Readings in the Life ofDRYDEN.
" The reason of this general persual, Addison has attempted to
[find in] derive from the delight which the mind feels in the
investigation of secrets.
" His best actions are but [convenient] inability of wickedness.
"When once he had engaged himself in disputation, [matter]
thoughts flowed in on either side.
"The abyss of an un-ideal [emptiness] vacancy.
" These, like [many other harlots,] the harlots of other men, had
his love though not his approbation.
" He [sometimes displays] descends to display his knowledge with
pedantic ostentation.
"French words which [were then used in] had then crept into
conversation."
The Life of Pope was written by Johnson con amore,
both from the early possession which that writer had
taken of his mind, and from the pleasure which he must
have felt, in for ever silencing all attempts to lessen
his poetical fame, by demonstrating his excellence, and
pronouncing the following triumphant eulogium -
" After all this, it is surely superfluous to answer the question
that has once been asked, whether Pope was a poet? otherwise
than by asking in return, if Pope be not a poet, where is poetry
to be found? To circumscribe poetry by a definition, will only
shew the narrowness of the definer; though a definition which
shall exclude Pope, will not easily be made. Let us look round
upon the present time, and back upon the past; let us inquire
to whom the voice of mankind has decreed the wreath of poetry;
let their productions be examined, and their claims stated, and
the pretensions of Pope will be no more disputed."
I remember once to have heard Johnson say, " Sir, a
thousand years may elapse before there shall appear
another man with a power of versification equal to that
of Pope." That power must undoubtedly be allowed its
due share in enhancing the value of his captivating
composition.
Johnson who had done liberal justice to Warburton
in his edition of Shakespeare, which was published during
the life of that powerful writer, with still greater liberality




154


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


took an opportunity, in the Life of Pope, of paying the
tribute due to him when he was no longer in "high
place," but numbered with the dead.1
1 Of Johnson's conduct towards Warburton, a very honourable
notice is taken by the editor of Tracts by Warburton and a Warburtonian, not admitted into the Collection of their respective Works.
After an able and "fond, though not undistinguishing," consideration of Warburton's character, he says "In two immortal
works Johnson has stood forth in the foremost rank of his
admirers. By the testimony of such a man, impertinence must
be abashed, and malignity itself must be softened. Of literary
merit, Johnson, as we all know, was a sagacious, but a most
severe judge. Such was his discernment, that he pierced into the
most secret springs of human actions; and such was his integrity,
that he always weighed the moral characters of his fellowcreatures, in the 'balance of the sanctuary.'  He was too
courageous to propitiate a rival, and too proud to truckle to a
superior. Warburton he knew, as I know him, and as every
man of sense and virtue would wish to be known,-I mean, both
from his own writings, and from the writings of those who
dissented from his principles, or who envied his reputation. But,
as to favours, he had never received or asked any from the Bishop
of Gloucester: and if my memory fails me not, he had seen him
only once, when they met almost without design, conversed
without much effort, and parted without any lasting impression
of hatred or affection. Yet, with all the ardour of sympathetic
genius, Johnson had done that spontaneously and ably, which,
by some writers, had been before attempted injudiciously, and
which, by others, from whom more successful attempts might
have been expected, has not hitherto been done at all. He spoke
well of Warburton, without insulting those whom Warburton
despised.  He suppressed not the imperfections of this extraordinary man, while he endeavoured to do justice to his numerous
and transcendental excellences. He defended him when living,
amidst the clamours of his enemies; and praised him when dead,
amidst the silence of his friends." Having availed myself of this
editor's eulogy on my departed friend, for which I warmly thank
him, let me not suffer the lustre of his reputation, honestly
acquired by profound learning and vigorous eloquence, to be
tarnished by a charge of illiberality.  He has been accused of
invidiously dragging again into light certain writings of a person
respectable by his talents, his learning, his station, and his age,
which were published a great many years ago, and have since, it




WARBURTON


155


It seems strange, that two such men as Johnson and
Warburton, who lived in the same age and country,
should not only not have been in any degree of intimacy,
but been   almost personally unacquainted.     But such
instances, though we must wonder at them, are not rare.
If I am rightly informed, after a careful inquiry, they
never met but once, which was at the house of Mrs.
French, in London, well known for her elegant assemblies,
and bringing eminent characters together   The interview
proved to be mutually agreeable.
I am well informed, that Warburton said of Johnson,
"I admire him, but I cannot bear his style   " and that
Johnson being told of this, said, "That is exactly my
case as to him." The manner in which he expressed his
admiration of the fertility of Warburton's genius and
of the variety of materials, was  "The table is always
full, Sir.  He brings things from    the north, and the
south, and from every quarter. In his' Divine Legation,'
you are always entertained. He carries you round and
round, without carrying you forward to the point, but
then you have no wish to be carried forward." He
said to the Reverend Mr. Strahan, "Warburton is
perhaps the last man who has written with a mind full
of reading and reflection."
is said, been silently given up by their author. But when it is
considered that these writings were not sins of youth but deliberate
works of one well-advanced in life, overflowing at once with
flattery to a great man of great interest in the Church, and with
unjust and acrimonious abuse of two men of eminent merit;
and that, though it would have been unreasonable to expect a
humiliating recantation, no apology whatever has been made in
the cool of the evening, for the oppressive fervour of the heat of
the day; no slight relenting indication has appeared in any note,
or any corner of later publications; is it not fair to understand
him as superciliously persevering?  When he allows the shafts
to remain in the wounds, and will not stretch forth a lenient
hand, is it wrong, is it not generous to become an indignant
avenger? B. The editor was Dr. Parr, and the Warburtonian
Bishop Hurd. Croker.




156


-BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


It is remarkable, that in the Life of Broome, Johnson
takes notice of Dr Warburton using a mode of expression which he himself used, and that not seldom, to the
great offence of those who did not know him. Having
occasion to mention a note, stating the different parts
which were executed by the associated translators of "The
Odyssey," he says, "Dr Warburton told me, in his warm
language, that he thought the relation given in the note a
lie. The language is warm indeed; and, I must own,
cannot be justified in consistency with a decent regard to
the established forms of speech." Johnson had accustomed himself to use the word lie, to express a mistake
or an error in relation; in short, when the thing was not
so as told, though the relator did not mean to deceive.
When he thought there was intentional falsehood in the
relator, his expression was, " He lies and he knows he
lies."
Speaking of Pope's not having been known to excel in
conversation, Johnson observes that, " Traditional memory
retains no sallies of raillery, or sentences of observation;
nothing either pointed or solid, wise or merry; and that
one apophthegm only is recorded." In this respect Pope
differed widely from Johnson, whose conversation was,
perhaps, more admirable than even his writings, however
excellent. Mr. Wilkes has, however, favoured me with
one repartee of Pope, of which Johnson was not informed.
Johnson, after justly censuring him for having " nursed
in his mind a foolish disesteem of kings," tells us, " yet
a little regard shewn him by the Prince of Wales melted
his obduracy; and he had not much to say when he was
asked by his Royal Highness, how he could love a prince,
while he disliked kings?" The answer which Pope made,
was, " The young lion is harmless, and even playful; but
when his claws are full grown he becomes cruel, dreadful,
and mischievous."
But although we have no collection of Pope's sayings,
it is not therefore to be concluded, that he was not agreeable in social intercourse; for Johnson has been heard to
say, that "the happiest conversation is that of which




POPE'S NOBLE FRIENDS


'57


nothing is distinctly remembered, but a general effect of
pleasing impression." The late Lord Somerville,' who
saw much of great and brilliant life, told me, that he had
dined in company with Pope, and that after dinner the
little man, as he called him, drank his bottle of Burgundy,
and was exceedingly gay and entertaining.
I cannot withhold from my great friend a censure of at
least culpable inattention, to a nobleman, who, it has been
shewn, behaved to him with uncommon politeness. He
says, " Except Lord Bathurst, none of Pope's noble friends
were such as that a good man would wish to have his
intimacy with them known to posterity." This will not
apply to Lord Mansfield, who was not ennobled in Pope's
lifetime; but Johnson should have recollected, that Lord
Marchmont was one of those noble friends. He includes
his Lordship along with Lord Bolingbroke, in a charge of
neglect of the papers which Pope left by his will; when
in truth, as I myself pointed out to him, before he wrote
that poet's life, the papers were "committed to the sole care
and judgment of Lord Bolingbroke, unless he (Lord Bolingbroke) shall not survive me;" so that Lord Marchmont had
no concern whatever with them. After the first edition of
the Lives, Mr. Malone, whose love of justice is equal to his
accuracy, made, in my hearing, the same remark to Johnson; yet he omitted to correct the erroneous statement.
These particulars I mention, in the belief that there was
only forgetfulness in my friend; but I owe this much to
the Earl of Marchmont's reputation, who, were there no
1 Let me here express my grateful remembrance of Lord
Somerville's kindness to me, at a very early period. He was the
first person of high rank that took particular notice of me in the
way most flattering to a young man fondly ambitious of being
distinguished for his literary talents: and by the honour of his
encouragement made me think well of myself, and aspire to deserve it better. He had a happy art of communicating his varied
knowledge of the world, in short remarks and anecdotes, with a
quiet pleasant gravity, that was exceedingly engaging. Never
shall I forget the hours which I enjoyed with him at his apartments in the Royal Palace of Holyrood House, and at his seat near
Edinburgh, which he himself had formed with an elegant taste. 13.




158


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


other memorials, will be immortalized by that line of
Pope, in the verses on his grotto
"And the bright flame was shot through Marchmont's soul."
yarious readings in the Life f POPE.
<c [Somewhat free] sufficiently bold in his criticism.
"All the gay [niceties] varieties of diction.
"Strikes the imagination with far [more] greater force.
"It is [probably] certainly the noblest version of poetry which
the world has ever seen.
"Every sheet enabled him to write the next with [less trouble]
more facility.
"No man sympathizes with [vanity depressed] the sorrows of
vanity.
c It had been [criminal] less easily excused.
"When he [threatened to lay down] talked of laying down
his pen.
"Society [is so named emphatically in opposition to] politically
regulated, is a state contra-distinguished from a state of nature.
" A fictitious life of an [absurd] infatuated scholar.
"A foolish [contempt, disregard] disesteem of kings.
"His hopes and fears, his joys and sorrows [were like those of
other mortals] acted strongly upon his mind.
"Eager to pursue knowledge and attentive to [accumulate]
retain it.
"A mind [excursive] active, ambitious, and adventurous.
"In its [noblest] widest searches still longing to go forward.
"He wrote in such a manner as might expose him to few
[neglects] hazards.
"The [reasonableness] justice of my determination.
c A [favourite] delicious employment of the poets.
"More terrific and more powerful [beings] phantoms perform
on the stormy ocean.
" The inventor of [those] this petty [beings] nation.
"The [mind] heart naturally loves truth."
In the Life of ADDISON we find an unpleasing account
of his having lent Steele a hundred pounds, and "reclaimed
his loan by an execution."    In the new edition of the
Biographia Britannica, the authenticity of this anecdote is
denied. But Mr. Malone has obliged me with the following note concerning it:



ADDISON AND STEELE


I59


c Many persons having doubts concerning this fact, I applied to
Dr. Johnson, to learn on what authority he asserted it. He told
me, he had it from Savage, who lived in intimacy with Steele, and
who mentioned, that Steele told him the story with tears in his
eyes.-Ben Victor, Dr. Johnson said, likewise informed him of
this remarkable transaction, from the relation of Mr. Wilkes
the comedian, who was also an intimate of Steele's. —Some in
defence of Addison, have said, that ' the act was done with the
good-natured view of rousing Steele, and correcting that profusion
which always made him necessitous.'-' If that were the case,'
said Johnson, 'and that he only wanted to alarm Steele, he would
afterwards have returned the money to his friend, which it is not
pretended he did.'-' This, too,' he added, 'might be retorted by
an advocate for Steele, who might allege, that he did not repay the
loan intentionally, merely to see whether Addison would be mean
and ungenerous enough to make use of legal process to recover it.
But of such speculations there is no end we cannot dive into the
hearts of men; but their actions are open to observation.'
"I then mentioned to him that some people thought that Mr.
Addison's character was so pure, that the fact, though true, ought
to have been suppressed. He saw no reason for this. 'If nothing
but the bright side of characters should be shewn, we should sit
down in despondency, and think it utterly impossible to imitate
them in any thing. The sacred writers (he observed) related the
vicious as well as the virtuous actions of men; which had this
moral effect, that it kept mankind from despair, into which otherwise they would naturally fall, were they not supported by the
recollection that others had offended like themselves, and by penitence and amendment of life had been restored to the favour of
Heaven."' E. M. March 15, 1782.
The last paragraph of this note is of great importance;
and I request that my readers may consider it with particular attention. It will be afterwards referred to in this
work.
Various readings in the Life of ADDISON.," [But he was our first example] He was, however, one of our
earliest examples of correctness.
1 The late Mr Burke informed me, in 1792, that Lady
Dorothea Primrose, who died at a great age, I think in 1768, and
had been well acquainted with Steele, told him the same story.
Alalone.




r6o


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


" And [overlook] despise their masters.
< His instructions were such as the [state] character of his [own
time] readers made [necessary] proper.
" His purpose was to [diffuse] infuse literary curiosity by gentle
and unsuspected conveyance [among] into the gay, the idle, and
the wealthy.
" Framed rather for those that [wish] are learning to write.
"Domestic [manners] scenes."
In his Life of PARNELL, I wonder that Johnson omitted
to insert an epitaph which he had long before composed
for that amiable man, without ever writing it down, but
which he was so good as, at my request, to dictate to me,
by which means it has been preserved.
"Hic requiescit THOMAS PARNELL, S.T.P,
< Qui sacerdos pariter et poeta,
Utrasque partes ita implevit,
Ut neque sacerdoti suavitas poete,
Nec poete sacerdotis sanctitas, deessct."
Yarious readings in the Life of PARNELL.
C< About three years [after] afterwards.
" [Did not much want] was in no great need of improvement.
"But his prosperity did not last long [was clouded with that
which took away all his powers of enjoying either profit or
pleasure, the death of his wife, whom he is said to have lamented
with such sorrow, as hastened his end].1 His end, whatever was
the cause, was now approaching.
"In the Hermit, the [composition] narrative, as it is less airy,
is less pleasing."
In the Life of BLACKMORE, we find that writer's reputation generously cleared by Johnson from the cloud of
prejudice which the malignity of contemporary wits had
raised around it. In this spirited exertion -of justice, he
1 I should have thought that Johnson, who had felt the severe
affliction from which Parnell never recovered, would have preserved
this passage. B. A reference to the Life might have shewn
Boswell that Johnson did preserve the sense of it in another
passage, and also the reason of this alteration.




BLACKMORE


x6i


has been imitated by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in his praise of
the architecture of Vanbrugh.
We trace Johnson's own character in his observations
on Blackmore's "magnanimity        as an   author."-" The
incessant attacks of his enemies, whether serious or merry,
are never discovered to have disturbed his quiet, or to have
lessened his confidence in himself." Johnson, I recollect,
once told me, laughing heartily, that he understood it had
been said of him, "He appears not to feel, but when he
is alone, depend upon it, he suffers sadly." I am ascertain
as I can be of any man's real sentiments, that he enjoyed
the perpetual shower of little hostile arrows as evidences of
his fame.
Various readings tn the Lfe of BLACKMORE.
"To [set] engage poetry [on the side] in the cause of virtue.
" He likewise [established] enforced the truth of Revelation.
"[Kindness] benevolence was ashamed to favour.
" His practice, which was once [very extensive] invidiously great.
"There is scarcely any distemper of dreadful name [of] which
he has not [shewn] taught his reader how [it is to be opposed] to
oppose.
" Of this [contemptuous] indecent arrogance.
" [He wrote] but produced likewise a work of a different kind.
"At least [written] compiled with integrity.
" Faults which many tongues [were desirous] would have made
haste to publish.
"But though he [had not] could not boast of much critical
knowledge.
"He [used] waited for no felicities of fancy.
" Or had ever elated his [mind] views born to that ideal perfection which every [mind]genius born to excel is condemned always
to pursue and never overtake.
"The [first great] fundamental principle of wisdom and of
virtue."
Various readings in the Life of PHILIPS.
" His dreadful [rival] antagonist Pope.
" They [have not often much] are not loaded with thought.
" In his translation from Pindar, he [will not be denied to have
reached] found the art of reaching all the obscurity of the Theban
bard."


111.


M




i62


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Various readings in the Life of CONGREVE.
"Congreve's conversation must surely have been at least equally
pleasing with his writings.
"It apparently [requires] pre-supposes a familiar knowledge of
many characters.
"Reciprocation of [similes] conceits.
"The dialogue is quick and [various] sparkling.
"Love for Love; a comedy [more drawn from life] of nearer
alliance to life.
"The general character of his miscellanies, is that they shew
little wit and [no] little virtue.
" [Perhaps] certainly he had not the fire requisite for the higher
species of lyric poetry."
Various readings in the Life of TIcKELL.
"[Longed] long wished to peruse it.
"At the [accession] arrival of King George.
"Fiction [unnaturally] unskilfully compounded  of Grecian
deities and Gothic fairies."
Various readings in the Life of AKENSIDE,
" For [another] a diferent purpose.
"[A furious] an unnecessary and outrageous zeal.
"[Something which] what he called and thought liberty.
"A [favourer of innovation] lover of contradiction.
"Warburton's [censure] objections.
" His rage [for liberty] of patriotism.
"Mr. Dyson with [a zeal] an ardour of friendship."
In the Life of LYTTELTON, Johnson seems to have been
not favourably disposed towards that nobleman. Mrs.
Thrale suggests that he was offended by Molly Aston's
preference of his Lordship to him.2    I can by no means
1 There is a passage in Johnson's criticism on Akenside's Odes
which may be commended to our reviewers "To examine such
compositions singly, cannot be required; they have doubtless
brighter and darker parts: but, when once they are found to be
generally dull, all further labour may be spared; for to what use
can the work be criticised that will not be read? "
2 Let not my readers smile to think of Johnson's being a
candidate for female favour; Mr. Peter Garrick assured me, that




LORD LYTTELTON


join in the censure bestowed by Johnson on his Lordship,
whom he calls " poor Lyttelton," for returning thanks to
the Critical Reviewers, for having " kindly commended "
his Dialogues of the Dead.     Such "acknowledgments,"
says my friend, "( never can be proper, since they must be
paid either for flattery or for justice." In my opinion, the
most upright man, who has been tried on a false accusation,
may, when he is acquitted, make a bow to his jury. And
when those, who are so much the arbiters of literary merit,
as in a considerable degree to influence the public opinion,
review an author's work placido lumine, when I am afraid
mankind in general are better pleased with severity, he
may surely express a grateful sense of their civility.
Various readings in the Life of LYTTELTON.
c, He solaced [himself] his grief by writing a long poem to her
memory
"The production rather [of a mind that means well than thinks
vigorously] as it seems of leisure than of study, rather effusions than
compositions.
"His last literary [work] production.
"[Found the way] undertook to persuade."
As the introduction to his critical examination of the
he was told by a lady, that in her opinion Johnson was " a very
seducing man." Disadvantages of person and manner may be
forgotten, where intellectual pleasure is communicated to a
susceptible mind; and that Johnson was capable of feeling the
most delicate and disinterested attachment, appears from the
following letter which is published by Mrs. Thrale, with some
others to the same person, of which the excellence is not so
apparent.  "TO MISS BOOTHBY.    January, 1775.   DEAREST
MADAM,-THOUGH I am afraid your illness leaves you little
leisure for the reception of airy civilities, yet I cannot forbear to
pay you my congratulations on the new year; and to declare my
wishes that your years to come may be many and happy. In this
wish, indeed, I include myself, who have none but you on whom
my heart reposes; yet surely I wish your good, even though your
situation were such as should permit you to communicate no
gratifications to, dearest, dearest Madam, your, &c., SAM. JOHNSON."  B.




164


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


genius and writings of YOUNG, he did Mr. Herbert Croft,
then a Barrister of Lincoln's Inn, now a clergyman, the
honour to adopt a life of Young written by that gentleman,
who was the friend of Dr Young's son, and wished to
vindicate him from some very erroneous remarks to his
prejudice. Mr Croft's performance was subjected to the
revision of Dr Johnson, as appears from the following
note to Mr John Nichols
"This life of Dr Young was written by a friend of his son.
What i, crossed with black is expunged by the author, what is
crossed with red is expunged by me. If you find any thing more
that can be well omitted, I shall not be sorry to see it yet shorter."
Gent. Mag. iv IO.
It has always appeared to me to have a considerable
share of merit, and to display a pretty successful imitation
of Johnson's style. When I mentioned this to a very
eminent literary character [Burke], he opposed me
vehemently, exclaiming, "No, no, it is not a good imitation
of Johnson  it has all his pomp without his force, it has
all the nodosities of the oak without its strength."  This
was an image so happy, that one might have thought he
would have been satisfied with it; but he was not. And
setting his mind again to work, he added, with exquisite
felicity, "It has all the contortions of the sibyl, without
the inspiration."
Mr. Croft very properly guards us against supposing
that Young was a gloomy man; and mentions, that " His
parish was indebted to the good-humour of the author of
the Night Thoughts for an Assembly and a BowlingGreen."  A letter from a noble foreigner is quoted, in
which he is said to have been "very pleasant in conversation."
Mr Langton, who frequently visited him, informs me,
that there was an air of benevolence in his manner, but
that he could obtain from him less information than he
had hoped to receive from one who had lived so much in
intercourse with the brightest men of what has been called
the Augustan age of England; and that he shewed a




YOUNG'S 'NIGHT THOUGHTS'


degree of eager curiosity concerning the common occurrences that were then passing, which appeared somewhat
remarkable in a man of such intellectual stores, of such an
advanced age, and who had retired from life with declared
disappointment in his expectations.
An instance at once of his pensive turn of mind, and
his cheerfulness of temper, appeared in a little story which
he himself told to Mr Langton, when they were walking
in his garden. " Here," said he, " I had put a handsome
sun-dial, with this inscription, Eheu fugaces! which (speaking with a smile) was sadly verified, for by the next morning my dial had been carried off."1
It gives me much pleasure to observe, that however
Johnson may have casually talked, yet when he sits, as
"an ardent judge zealous to his trust, giving sentence "
upon the excellent works of Young, he allows them the
high praise to which they are justly entitled.  "The
Universal Passion," says he, " is indeed a very great performance,-his distichs have the weight of solid sentiment,
and his points the sharpness of resistless truth."
But I was most anxious concerning Johnson's decision
upon "NIGHT THOUGHTS," which I esteem as a mass of
the grandest and richest poetry that human genius has
ever produced: and was delighted to find this character
of that work: "In his 'NIGHT THOUGHTS' he has
exhibited a very wide display of original poetry, variegated
with deep reflection and striking allusions: a wilderness
of thought, in which the fertility of fancy scatters flowers
of every hue and of every odour. This is one of the few
poems in which blank verse could not be changed for
rhyme but with disadvantage."  And afterwards * "Particular lines are not to be regarded; the power is in the
1 The late Mr. James Ralph told Lord Macartney, that he passed
an evening with Dr. Young at Lord Melcombe's (then Mr. Doddington) at Hammersmith. The Doctor happening to go out
into the garden, Mr. Doddington observed to him, on his return,
that it was a dreadful night, as in truth it was, there being a violent
storm of rain and wind. "No, Sir," replied the Doctor, " it is a
very fine night. THE LORD is abroad." B.




[66


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


whole; and in the whole there is a magnificence like that
ascribed to Chinese plantation, the magnificence of vast
extent and endless diversity."
But there is in this poem not only all that Johnson so
well brings in view, but a power of the pathetic beyond
almost any example that I have seen. He who does not
feel his nerves shaken, and his heart pierced by many
passages in this extraordinary work, particularly by that
most affecting one, which describes the gradual torment
suffered by the contemplation of an object of affectionate
attachment visibly and certainly decaying into dissolution,
must be of a hard and obstinate frame.1
To all the other excellences of " NIGHT THOUGHTS" let
me add the great and peculiar one, that they contain not
only the noblest sentiments of virtue, and contemplations
on immortality, but the Christian Sacrifice, the Divine
Propitiation, with all its interesting circumstances, and
consolations to " a wounded spirit," solemnly and poetically displayed in such imagery and language, as cannot fail
to exalt, animate, and soothe the truly pious. No book
whatever can be recommended to young persons, with
better hopes of seasoning their minds with vital religion,
than " YOUNG'S NIGHT THOUGHTS."
In the Life of SWIFT, it appears to me that Johnson had
a certain degree of prejudice against that extraordinary
man, of which I have elsewhere had occasion to speak.
Mr. Thomas Sheridan imputed it to a supposed apprehension in Johnson, that Swift had not been sufficiently active in
obtaining for him an Irish degree when it was solicited (see
Vol. I. p. 87), but of this there was not sufficient evidence;
and let me not presume to charge Johnson with injustice,
because he did not think so highly of the writings of this
author as I have done from my youth upwards. Yet that
he had an unfavourable bias is evident, were it only from
1 Dr. Hill has pointed out that this reference is to the death of
Narcissa in the third of the Night Thoughts. While Boswell was
engaged on his great work his wife was dying of consumption in
"c the rigid north." She was dead nearly two years before the Life
was published.




SWIFT


z67


that passage in which he speaks of Swift's practice of
saving, as, " first ridiculous and at last detestable; " and
yet after some examination of circumstances, finds himself
obliged to own that, " It will perhaps appear that he only
liked one mode of expense better than another, and saved
merely that he might have something to give."
One observation which Johnson makes in Swift's Life,
should be often inculcated:
" It may be justly supposed, that there was in his conversation
what appears so frequently in his letters, an affectation of familiarity
with the great, an ambition of momentary equality, sought and
enjoyed by the neglect of those ceremonies which custom has
established as the barriers between one order of society and another.
This transgression of regularity was by himself and his admirers
termed greatness of soul; but a great mind disdains to hold any
thing by courtesy, and therefore never usurps what a lawful
claimant may take away. He that encroaches on another's dignity,
puts himself in his power; he is either repelled with helpless
indignity, or endured by clemency and condescension."
Yarious readings in the Life of SWIFT.
"Charity may be persuaded to think that it might be written
by a man of a peculiar [opinions] character, without ill intention.
" He did not [disown] deny it.
"[To] by whose kindness it is not unlikely that he was [indebted for] advanced to his benefices.
"[With] for this purpose he had recourse to Mr. Harley.
"Sharpe, whom he [represents] describes as ' the harmless tool,
of others' hate.'
"Harley was slow because he was [irresolute] doubtful.
"When [readers were not many] we were not yet a nation of
readers.
" [Every man who] he that could say he knew him.
"Every man of known influence has so many [more] petitions
[than] which he [can] cannot grant, that he must necessarily offend
more than he [can gratify] gratifies.
"Ecclesiastical [preferments] benefices.
"Swift [procured] contrived an interview.
"[As a writer] In his works he has given very different
specimens.
"On all common occasions he habitually [assumes] affects a
style of [superiority] arrogance.




i68


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


" By the [omission] neglect of those ceremonies.
"That their merits filled the world [and] or that there was no
[room for] hope of more."
I have not confined myself to the order of the " Lives,"
in making my few remarks. Indeed a different order is
observed in the original publication, and in the collection
of Johnson's Works. And should it be objected, that
many of my various readings are inconsiderable, those
who make an objection will be pleased to consider, that
such small particulars are intended for those who are
nicely critical in composition, to whom they will be an
acceptable selection.
" Spence's Anecdotes," which are frequently quoted and
referred to in Johnson's "Lives of the Poets," are in a
manuscript collection, made by the Reverend Mr. Joseph
Spence,1 containing a number of particulars concerning
eminent men. To each anecdote is marked the name of
the person on whose authority it is mentioned. This
valuable collection is the property of the Duke of Newcastle, who, upon the application of Sir Lucas Pepys, was
pleased to permit it to be put into the hands of Dr. Johnson, who I am sorry to think made but an awkward return.
"Great assistance," says he, " has been given me by Mr.
Spence's Collection, of which I consider the communication
as a favour worthy of public acknowledgment: " but he
has not owned to whom he was obliged; so that the
acknowledgment is unappropriated to his Grace.
While the world in general was filled with admiration
of Johnson's "Lives of the Poets," there were narrow
circles in which prejudice and resentment were fostered,
and from which attacks of different sorts issued against
1 The Rev. Joseph Spence, A.M., Rector of Great Harwood
in Buckinghamshire, and Prebendary of Durham, died at Byfleet
in Surrey, August 20, 1768. He was a Fellow of New College
in Oxford, and held the office of Professor of Poetry in that
University from 1728 to 1738. Malone. The Anecdotes were
first published in 1820 by Murray, with notes by Malone, and other
editions have since been issued. See quart. Rev. xxiii. 400.




RECEPTION OF THE 'LIVES'


I69


him.1 By some violent Whigs he was arraigned of
injustice to Milton; by some Cambridge men of depreciating Gray; and his expressing with a dignified
freedom what he really thought of George, Lord
Lyttelton, gave offence to some of the friends of that
nobleman, and particularly produced a declaration of war
against him from Mrs. Montagu, the ingenious Essayist
on Shakespeare, between whom and his Lordship a
commerce of reciprocal compliments had long been carried
on. In this war the smallest powers in alliance with him
were of course led to engage, at least on the defensive,
and thus I, for one, was excluded from the enjoyment of
"A Feast for Reason," such as Mr Cumberland has
described, with a keen, yet just and delicate pen, in his
" OBSERVER." These minute inconveniences gave not
the least disturbance to Johnson. He nobly said, when I
talked to him of the feeble, though shrill outcry which
had been raised: "Sir, I considered myself as entrusted
with a certain  portion of truth.  I have given my
opinion sincerely; let them shew where they think me
wrong.
While my friend is thus contemplated in the splendour
derived from his last and perhaps most admirable work,
I introduce him with peculiar propriety as the correspondent of WARREN HASTINGS! a man whose regard
reflects dignity even upon JOHNSON; a man the extent of
whose abilities was equal to that of his power; and who,
by those who are fortunate enough to know him in
private life, is admired for his literature and taste, and
beloved for the candour, moderation, and mildness of his
character. Were I capable of paying a suitable tribute
of admiration to him, I should certainly not withhold it
1 From this disreputable class, I except an ingenious, though
not satisfactory defence of HAMMOND, which I did not see till
lately, by the favour of its author, my amiable friend, the Reverend
Mr. Bevill, who published it without his name. It is a juvenile
performance, but elegantly written, with classical enthusiasm of
sentiment, and yet with a becoming modesty, and great respect
for Dr. Johnson. B.




170


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


at a moment' when it is not possible that I should be
suspected of being an interested flatterer. But how weak
would be my voice after that of the millions whom he
governed.    His condescending and obliging compliance
with my solicitation, I with humble gratitude acknowledge:
and while by publishing his letter to me, accompanying
the valuable communication, I do eminent honour to my
great friend, I shall entirely disregard any invidious
suggestions, that as I in some degree participate in the
honour, I have, at the same time, the gratification of my
own vanity in view.
CC TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"Park Lane, Dec. 2, 1790.
"SIR,
"I HAVE been fortunately spared the troublesome suspense
of a long search, to which in performance of my promise I had
devoted this morning, by lighting upon the objects of it among
the first papers that I laid my hands on: my veneration for your
great and good friend, Dr Johnson, and the pride, or I hope
something of a better sentiment, which I indulge in possessing
such memorials of his goodwill towards me, having induced me
to bind them in a parcel containing other select papers, and
labelled with the titles appertaining to them. They consist but
of three letters, which I believe were all that I ever received from
Dr. Johnson. Of these, one which was written in quadruplicate,
under the different dates of its respective dispatches, has already
been made public, but not from any communication of mine.
This, however, I have joined to the rest; and have now the
pleasure of sending them to you for the use to which you informed
me it was your desire to destine them.
"My promise was pledged with the condition, that if the
letters were found to contain any thing which should render
them improper for the public eye, you would dispense with the
performance of it. You will have the goodness, I am sure, to
pardon my recalling this stipulation to your recollection, as I shall
be loath to appear negligent of that obligation which is always
implied in an epistolary confidence. In the reservation of that
right I have read them over with the most scrupulous attention,
1 January, 179i. B. Hastings's trial was now just entering
on its third year.




LETTERS TO WARREN HASTINGS


171


but have not seen in them the slightest cause on that ground to
withhold them from you. But, though not on that, yet on
another ground I own  feel a little, yet but a little, reluctance to
part with them; I mean on that of my own credit, which I fear
will suffer by the information conveyed by them, that I was early
in the possession of such valuable instructions for the beneficial
employment of the influence of my late station, and (as it may
seem) have so little availed myself of them. Whether I could, if
it were necessary, defend myself against such an imputation, it
little concerns the world to know. I look only to the effect
which these relics may produce, considered as evidences of the
virtues of their author: and believing that they will be found to
display an uncommon warmth of private friendship, and a mind
ever attentive to the improvement and extension of useful knowledge, and solicitous for the interests of mankind, I can cheerfully
submit to the little sacrifice of my own fame, to contribute to the
illustration of so great and venerable a character. They cannot
be better applied, for that end, than by being entrusted to your
hands. Allow me, with this offering, to infer from it a proof of
the very great esteem with which I have the honour to profess
myself, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,
" WARREN HASTINGS.
"P.S. At some future time, and when you have no farther
occasion for these papers, I shall be obliged to you if you will
return them."
The last of the three letters thus graciously put into
my hands, and which has already appeared in public,
belongs to this year; but I shall previously insert the
first two in the order of their dates. They altogether
form a grand group in my biographical picture.
" TO THE HONOURABLE WARREN HASTINGS, ESQ.
" SIR
("THOUGH I have had but little personal knowledge of
you, I have had enough to make me wish for more; and though
it be now a long time since I was honoured by your visit, I had
too much pleasure from it to forget it. By those whom we
delight to remember, we are unwilling to be forgotten; and
there'bre I cannot omit this opportunity of reviving myself in
your memory by a letter which you will receive from the hands




172


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


of my friend Mr. Chambers; a man whose purity of manners
and vigour of mind are sufficient to make every thing welcome
that he brings.
"That this is my only reason for writing, will be too apparent
by the uselessness of my letter to any other purpose. I have no
questions to ask; not that I want curiosity after either the ancient
or present state of regions, in which have been seen all the power
and splendour of wide-extended empire; and which, as by some
grant of natural superiority, supply the rest of the world with
almost all that pride desires, and luxury enjoys. But my knowledge of them is too scanty to furnish me with proper topics of
inquiry; I can only wish for information; and hope that a mind
comprehensive like yours will find leisure amidst the cares of your
important station, to inquire into many subjects of which the
European world either thinks not at all or thinks with deficient
intelligence and uncertain conjecture. I shall hope, that he who
once intended to increase the learning of his country by the
introduction of the Persian language,2 will examine nicely the
traditions and histories of the East; that he will survey the
wonders of its ancient edifices, and trace the vestiges of its ruined
cities; and that, at his return, we shall know the arts and opinions
of a race of men, from whom very little has been hitherto derived.
" You, Sir, have no need of being told by me, how much may
be added by your attention and patronage to experimental
knowledge and natural history. There are arts of manufacture
practised in the countries in which you preside, which are yet
very imperfectly known here, either to artificers or philosophers.
Of the natural productions, animate and inanimate, we yet have
so little intelligence, that our books are filled, I fear, with
conjectures about things which an Indian peasant knows by his
senses.
"Many of those things my first wish is to see; my second to
know, by such accounts as a man like you will be able to give.
"As I have not skill to ask proper questions, I have likewise
no such access to great men as can enable me to send you any
political information. Of the agitations of an unsettled Government, and the struggles of a feeble Ministry, care is doubtless
taken to give you more exact accounts than I can obtain. If you
are inclined to interest yourself much in public transactions it is
no misfortune to you to be distant from them.
1 Afterwards Sir Robert Chambers, one of his Majesty's judges
in India. B.
2 See Macaulay's Essays, ed. I884, iii. 229.




LETTERS TO WARREN H4ASTINGS


173


" That literature is not totally forsaking us, and that your
favourite language is not neglected, will appear from the book,'
which I should have pleased myself more with sending, if I could
have presented it bound; but time was wanting, I beg, however,
Sir, that you will accept it from a man very desirous of your
regard; and that if you think me able to gratify you by any
thing more important you will employ me.
I( am now going to take leave, perhaps a very long leave, of
my dear Mr Chambers. That he is going to live where you
govern, may justly alleviate the regard of parting; and the hope
of seeing both him and you again, which I amn not willing to
mingle with doubt, must at present comfort, as it can, Sir, your
most humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"March 30, 1774."
CCTO THE SAME.
CC SIR,
"BEING informed that by the departure of a ship, there is
now an opportunity of writing to Bengal, I am unwilling to slip
out of your memory by my own negligence, and therefore take the
liberty of reminding you of my existence, by sending you a book
which is- not yet made public.
"9 I have lately visited a region less remote, and less illustrious
than India, which afforded some occasions for speculation; what
has occurred to me I have put into the volume, 'Journey to the
Western Islands of Scotland,' of which I beg your acceptance.
"Men in your station seldom have presents totally disinterested;
my book is received, let me now make my request.
"There is, Sir, somewhere within your government, a young
adventurer, one Chauncey Lawrence, whose father is one of my
oldest friends. Be pleased to shew the young man what countenance is fit, whether he wants to be restrained by your authority,
or encouraged by your favour. His father is now President of the
College of Physicians, a man venerable for his knowledge, and more
venerable for his virtue.
" I wish you a prosperous government, a safe return, and a long
enjoyment of plenty and tranquillity. I am, Sir, your most
obedient and most humble servant,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, DcC. 20, 1774."
[Sir W.] Jones's Persian Grammar. B.




I74


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


"TO THE SAME.
Jan. 9, 1781.
" SIR,
"A AMIDST the importance and multiplicity of affairs in
which your great office engages you, I take the liberty of recalling
your attention for a moment to literature, and will not prolong the
interruption by an apology which your character makes needless.
" Mr. Hoole, a gentleman long known, and long esteemed in
the India House, after having translated Tasso, has undertaken
Ariosto. How well he is qualified for his undertaking he has
already shewn. He is desirous, Sir, of your favour in promoting
his proposals, and flatters me by supposing that my testimony may
advance his interest.
" It is a new thing for a clerk of the India House to translate
poets;-it is new for a Governor of Bengal to patronise learning.
That he may find his ingenuity rewarded, and that learning may
flourish under your protection, is the wish of, Sir, your most
humble servant,
c' SAM. JOHNSON."
I wrote to him in February, complaining of having been
troubled by a recurrence of the perplexing question of
liberty and necessity;-and mentioning that I hoped soon
to meet him again in London.
" TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"c DEAR SIR,
" I HOPED yOU had got rid of all this hypocrisy of misery
What have you to do with liberty and necessity? Or what more
than to hold your tongue about it? Do not doubt but I shall be
most heartily glad to see you here again, for I love every part
about you but your affectation of distress.
"I have at last finished my Lives, and have laid up for you a
load of copy, all out of order, so that it will amuse you a long time
to set it right. Come to me, my dear Bozzy, and let us be as
happy as we can. We will go again to the Mitre, and talk old
times over. I am, dear Sir, yours affectionately,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"March 14, 1781."
On Monday, March I9, I arrived in London, and on
Tuesday the 20th met him in Fleet Street, walking, or




JOHNSON'S WALK


175


rather indeed moving, along; for his peculiar march is
thus described in a very just and picturesque manner in a
short Life 1 of him published very soon after his death.
"When he walked the streets, what with the constant roll
of his head, and the concomitant motion of his body, he
appeared to make his way by that motion, independent of
his feet." That he was often much stared at while he
advanced in this manner, may easily be believed; but it
was not safe to make sport of one so robust as he was.
Mr. Langton saw him one day, in a fit of absence, by a
sudden start, drive the load off a porter's back, and walk
forward briskly without being conscious of what he had
done. The porter was very angry but stood still, and eyed
the huge figure with much earnestness, till he was satisfied
that his wisest course was to be quiet and take up his
burden again.
Our accidental meeting in the street after a long separation, was a pleasing surprise to us both. He stepped
aside with me into Falcon Court, and made kind inquiries
about my family, and as we were in a hurry going different
ways, I promised to call on him next day; he said he
was engaged to go out in the morning.   "Early, Sir?"
said I. JOHNSON: "Why, Sir, a London morning does
not go with the sun."
I waited on him next evening, and he gave me a great
portion of his original manuscript of his " Lives of the
Poets," which he had preserved for me.
1 Published by Kearsley, with this well-chosen motto:
C( ---From his cradle
He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one:
And, to add greater honours to his age
Than man could give him, he died fearing Heaven."
SHAKESPEARE. B.
Dr Hill calls the quotation "a patched-up one."  But, with the
exception of Heaven for God, which may be Botwell's mistake in
transcribing, the words are quite correct. They are from the
beginning and the end of Griffith's defence of Wolsey to
Katherine, Henry VIII. iv. 2.




176


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


I found on visiting his friend, Mr Thrale, that he was
now very ill, and had removed, I suppose by the solicitation of Mrs. Thrale, to a house in Grosvenor Square. I
was sorry to see him sadly changed in his appearance.
He told me I might now have the pleasure to see Dr.
Johnson drink wine again, for he had lately returned to it.
When I mentioned this to Johnson, he said, " I drink it
now sometimes, but not socially." The first evening that
I was with him at Thrale's I observed he poured a large
quantity of it into a glass, and swallowed it greedily.
Every thing about his character and manners was forcible
and violent; there never was any moderation; many a
day did he fast, many a year did he refrain from wine,
but when he did eat, it was voraciously; when he did
drink wine, it was copiously.  He could practise abstinence,
but not temperance.
Mrs. Thrale and I had a dispute, whether Shakespeare
or Milton had drawn the most admirable picture of a
man.'   I was for Shakespeare; Mrs. Thrale for Milton;
and after a fair hearing, Johnson decided for my opinion.
I told him of one of Mr. Burke's playful sallies upon
Dean Marlay:2, I don't like the Deanery of Ferns, it
1 Shakespeare makes Hamlet thus describe his father:
" See what a grace was seated on this brow:
Hyperion's curls, the front of Jove himself,
An eye like Mars, to threaten and command;
A station like the herald Mercury
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill;
A combination and a form, indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal,
To give the world assurance of a man."
Milton thus portrays our first parent, Adam:
" His fair large front and eye sublime declar'd
Absolute rule; and hyacinthine locks
Round from his parted forelock manly hung
Clust'ring, but not beneath his shoulders broad." B.
2 Dr. Richard Marlay, afterwards Lord Bishop of Waterford, a
very amiable, benevolent, and ingenious man. He was chosen a




AN ELECTION PETITION


i77


sounds so like a barren title."-" Dr. Heath should have
it;"  said I. Johnson laughed, and, condescending to
trifle in the same mode of conceit, suggested Dr. Moss.
He said, " Mrs. Montagu has dropped me. Now, Sir,
there are people whom one should like very well to drop,
but would not wish to be dropped by." He certainly was
vain of the society of ladies, and could make himself very
agreeable to them, when he chose it; Sir Joshua Reynolds
agreed with me that he could. Mr. Gibbon, with his
usual sneer, controverted it, perhaps in resentment of
Johnson's having talked with some disgust of his ugliness,
which one would think a philosopher would not mind.
Dean Marlay wittily observed, "A    lady may be vain,
when she can turn a wolf-dog into a lap-dog."
The election for Ayrshire, my own county, was this
spring tried upon a petition before a Committee of the
House of Commons. I was one of the counsel for the
sitting member, and took the liberty of previously stating
different points to Johnson, who never failed to see them
clearly, and to supply me with some good hints. He
dictated to me the following note upon the registration of
deeds:
"ALL laws are made for the convenience of the community;
what is legally done should be legally recorded, that the state of
things may be known, and that wherever evidence is requisite,
evidence may be had. For this reason, the obligation to frame
and establish a legal register is enforced by a legal penalty, which
penalty is the want of that perfection and plenitude of right which
a register would give. Thence it follows, that this is not an
objection merely legal; for the reason on which the law stands
being equitable, makes it an equitable objection."
" This," said he, " you must enlarge on, when speaking
to the Committee. You must not argue there, as if you
were arguing in the schools; close reasoning will not fix
their attention; you must say the same thing over and
member of the LITERARY CLUB in 1777, and died in Dublin, July
2, i802, in his 75th year. Malone.
II.                                        N




178


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


over again, in different words. If you say it but once,
they miss it in a moment of inattention. It is unjust,
Sir, to censure lawyers for multiplying words, when they
argue; it is often necessary for them to multiply words."
His notion of the duty of a member of Parliament
sitting upon an election-committee was very high; and
when he was told of a gentleman upon one of those
committees, who read the newspapers part of the time
and slept the rest, while the merits of a vote were examined by the counsel; and as an excuse, when challenged
by the chairman for such behaviour, bluntly answered,
"I had made up my mind upon that case; "-Johnson,
with an indignant contempt, said, " If he was such a rogue
as to make up his mind upon a case without hearing it,
he should not have been such a fool as to tell it."-" I
think," said Mr. Dudley Long, now North, "the Doctor
has pretty plainly made him out to be both rogue
and fool."
Johnson's profound reverence for the hierarchy made
him expect from bishops the highest degree of decorum;
he was offended even at their going to taverns: "A
bishop," said he, "has nothing to do at a tippling-house.
It is not indeed immoral in him to go to a tavern; neither
would it be immoral in him to whip a top in Grosvenor
Square: but if he did, I hope the boys would fall upon
him, and apply the whip to him. There are gradations in
conduct; there is morality,-decency,-propriety. None
of these should be violated by a bishop. A bishop should
not go to a house where he may meet a young fellow
leading out a wench."  BOSWELL    "But, Sir, every
tavern does not admit women." JOHNSON    "Depend
upon it, Sir, any tavern will admit a well-dressed man and
a well-dressed woman; they will not perhaps admit a
woman whom they see every night walking by their door
in the street. But a well-dressed man may lead in a welldressed woman to any tavern in London. Taverns sell
meat and drink, and will sell them to any body who can
eat and can drink. You may as well say, that a mercer
will not sell silks to a woman of the town."




RESPECT FOR THE CLERGY


179


He also disapproved of bishops going to routs, at least
of their staying at them longer than their presence
commanded respect. He mentioned a particular bishop.
"Poh!" said Mrs. Thrale, "the Bishop of [St. Asaph]
is never minded at a rout."  BOSWELL: "When a bishop
places himself in a situation where he has no distinct
character, and is of no consequence, he degrades the
dignity of his order."   JOHNSON.    "Mr. Boswell,
Madam, has said it as correctly as it could be."
Nor was it only in the dignitaries of the Church that
Johnson required a particular decorum and delicacy of
behaviour; he justly considered that the clergy, as persons
set apart for the sacred office of serving at the altar, and
impressing the minds of men with the awful concerns
of a future state, should be somewhat more serious than
the generality of mankind, and have a suitable composure
of manners. A due sense of the dignity of their profession, independent of higher motives, will ever prevent
them from losing their distinction in an indiscriminate
sociality; and did such as affect this, know how much it
lessens them in the eyes of those whom they think to
please by it, they would feel themselves much mortified.
Johnson, and his friend Beauclerk, were once together
in company with several clergymen, who thought that
they should appear to advantage by assuming the lax
jollity of men of the world; which, as it may be observed
in similar cases, they carried to noisy excess. Johnson,
who they expected would be entertained, sat grave and
silent for some time; at last, turning to Beauclerk, he
said, by no means in a whisper, "This merriment of
parsons is mighty offensive."
Even the dress of a clergyman should be in character,
and nothing can be more despicable than conceited
attempts at avoiding the appearance of the clerical order;
attempts, which are as ineffectual as they are pitiful. Dr.
Porteus, now Bishop of London, in his excellent charge
when presiding over the diocese of Chester, justly animadverts upon this subject; and observes of a reverend
fop, that he "can be but half a beau."




I80


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Addison, in "The Spectator," has given us a fine
portrait of a clergyman, who is supposed to be a member
of his Club; and Johnson has exhibited a model, in the
character of Mr. Mudge (Vol. I. p. 274), which has
escaped the collectors of his works, but which he owned
to me, and which indeed he shewed to Sir Joshua
Reynolds at the time when it was written. It bears the
genuine marks of Johnson's best manner, and is as
follows.
"The Reverend Mr. Zachariah Mudge, Prebendary of Exeter,
and Vicar of St. Andrew's in Plymouth; a man equally eminent
for his virtues and abilities, and at once beloved as a companion
and reverenced as a pastor. He had the general curiosity to which
no kind of knowledge is indifferent or superfluous; and that
general benevolence by which no order of men is hated or despised.
"His principles both of thought and action were great and
comprehensive. By a solicitous examination of objections, and
judicious comparison of opposite arguments, he attained what
inquiry never gives but to industry and perspicuity, a firm and
unshaken settlement of conviction. But his firmness was without
asperity; for, knowing with how much difficulty truth was
sometimes found, he did not wonder that many missed it.
"The general course of his life was determined by his profession; he studied the sacred volumes in the original languages;
with what diligence and success, his Notes upon the Psalms give
sufficient evidence. He once endeavoured to add the knowledge
of Arabic to that of Hebrew; but finding his thoughts too much
diverted from other studies, after some time desisted from his
purpose.
"His discharge of parochial duties was exemplary. How his
sermons were composed, may be learned from the excellent volume
which he has given to the public; but how they were delivered,
can be known only to those that heard them; for as he appeared
in the pulpit, words will not easily describe him. His delivery,
though unconstrained, was not negligent, and though forcible was
not turbulent; disdaining anxious nicety of emphasis, and laboured
artifice of action, it captivated the hearer by its natural dignity, it
roused the sluggish, and fixed the volatile, and detained the mind
upon the subject without directing it to the speaker.
"The grandeur and solemnity of the preacher did not intrude
upon his general behaviour; at the table of his friends he was a
companion communicative and attentive; of unaffected manners,
of manly cheerfulness, willing to please and easy to be pleased.




HARTE'S 'GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS'


8i


His acquaintance was universally solicited, and his presence obstructed no enjoyment which religion did not forbid. Though
studious he was popular; though argumentative he was modest;
though inflexible he was candid: and though metaphysical yet
orthodox." 1
On Friday, March 30, I dined with him at Sir Joshua
Reynolds's, with the Earl of Charlemont, Sir Annesley
Stewart, Mr Eliot of Port Eliot, Mr. Burke, Dean
Marlay, Mr. Langton; a most agreeable day, of which
I regret that every circumstance is not preserved; but it
is unreasonable to require such a multiplication of felicity
Mr. Eliot, with whom Dr. Walter Harte (see Vol. I.
p. 461) had travelled, talked to us of his "History of
Gustavus Adolphus," which he said was a very good
book in the German translation.  JOHNSON    Harte was
excessively vain. He put copies of his book in manuscript
into the hand of Lord Chesterfield and Lord Granville,
that they might revise it. Now how absurd was it to
suppose that two such noblemen would revise so big a
manuscript. Poor man! he left London the day of the
publication of his book that he might be out of the way
of the great praise he was to receive; and he was ashamed
to return, when he found how ill his book had succeeded.
It was unlucky in coming out on the same day with
Robertson's 'History of Scotland.' His husbandry, however, is good." BOSWELL    "So he was fitter for that
than for heroic history  he did well when he turned
his sword into a ploughshare."
Mr Eliot mentioned a curious liquor peculiar to his
country, which the Cornish fishermen drink. They call
it mahogany; and it is made of two parts gin, and one
part treacle, well beaten together  I begged to have
some of it made, which was done with proper skill by
Mr. Eliot. I thought it very good liquor; and said it
was a counterpart of what is called Athol porridge in the
1 London Chronicle, May 2, 1769. This respectable man is there
mentioned to have died on the 3rd of April, that year, at Cofflect,
the seat of Thomas Veale, Esq., on his way to London. B.




I82


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Highlands of Scotland, which is a mixture of whisky
and honey. Johnson said, "That must be a better
liquor than the Cornish, for both its component parts
are better." He also observed, "Mahogany must be a
modern name; for it is not long since the wood called
mahogany was known in this country." I mentioned his
scale of liquors;-claret for boys,-port for men,-brandy
for heroes. "Then," said Mr. Burke, "let me have
claret: I love to be a boy; to have the careless gaiety
of boyish days." JOHNSON   "I should drink claret too,
if it would give me that; but it does not it neither
makes boys men, nor men boys. You'll be drowned by
it before it has any effect upon you."
I ventured to mention a ludicrous paragraph in the
newspapers, that Dr Johnson was learning to dance of
Vestris. Lord Charlemont, wishing to excite him to talk,
proposed in a whisper that he should be asked whether it
was true. "Shall I ask him?" said his Lordship. We
were, by a great majority, clear for the experiment. Upon
which his Lordship very gravely, and with a courteous air,
said, " Pray, Sir, is it true that you are taking lessons of
Vestris?" This was risking a good deal, and required the
boldness of a General of Irish Volunteers to make the
attempt. Johnson was at first startled, and in some heat
answered, "How   can your Lordship ask so simple a
question?" But immediately recovering himself, whether
from unwillingness to be deceived, or to appear deceived,
or whether from real good humour, he kept up the joke
" Nay, but if any body were to answer the paragraph, and
contradict it, I'd have a reply, and would say, that he who
contradicted it was no friend either to Vestris or me. For
why should not Dr. Johnson add to his other powers a
little corporeal agility? Socrates learnt to dance at an
advanced age, and Cato learnt Greek at an advanced age.
Then it might proceed to say, that this Johnson, not
content with dancing on the ground, might dance on the
rope; and they might introduce the elephant dancing on
the rope. A nobleman [first Viscount Grimston] wrote a
play called ' Love in a Hollow Tree.' He found out




THE AMERICAN WAR


183


that it was a bad one, and therefore wished to buy up all
the copies, and burn them. The Duchess of Marlborough
had kept one; and when he was against her at an election,
she had a new edition of it printed, and prefixed to it, as
a frontispiece, an elephant dancing on a rope; to shew,
that his Lordship's writing comedy was as awkward as an
elephant dancing on a rope."
On Sunday, April I, I dined with him at Mr. Thrale's,
with Sir Philip Jennings Clerk and Mr Perkins [Vol. II. p.
651, who had the superintendence of Mr. Thrale's brewery,
with a salary of five hundred pounds a year. Sir Philip
had the appearance of a gentleman of ancient family, well
advanced in life. He wore his own white hair in a bag
of goodly size, a black velvet coat, with an embroidered
waistcoat, and very rich laced ruffles; which Mrs. Thrale
said were old fashioned, but which, for that reason, I
thought the more respectable, more like a Tory; yet Sir
Philip was then in Opposition in Parliament. " Ah, Sir,"
said Johnson, "ancient ruffles and modern principles do
not agree."  Sir Philip defended the Opposition to the
American war ably and with temper, and I joined him.
He said the majority of the nation was against the
Ministry. JOHNSON. " I, Sir, am against the Ministry;
but it is for having too little of that, of which Opposition
thinks they have too much. Were I minister, if any man
wagged his finger against me, he should be turned out;
for that which it is in the power of Government to give at
pleasure to one or to another, should be given to the
supporters of Government. If you will not oppose at
the expense of losing your place, your opposition will not
be honest, you will feel no serious grievance; and the
present opposition is only a contest to get what others
have. Sir Robert Walpole acted as I would do. As to
the American war, the sense of the nation is with the
Ministry. The majority of those who can understand is
with it; the majority of those who can only hear, is against
it; and as those who can only hear are more numerous
than those who can understand, and Opposition is always
loudest, a majority of the rabble will be for Opposition."




184


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


This boisterous vivacity entertained us but the truth
in my opinion was, that those who could understand the
best were against the American war, as almost every man
now is, when the question has been coolly considered.
Mrs. Thrale gave high praise to Mr. Dudley Long
(now North). JOHNSON' "Nay, my dear lady, don't
talk  so.  Mr. Long's character is very short.     It is
nothing.   He fills a chair.   He is a man of genteel
appearance, and that is all.1 I know.nobody who blasts
by praise as you do   for whenever there is exaggerated
praise, every body is set against a character. They are
provoked to attack it.     Now, there is Pepys;2 you
praised that man with such disproportion, that I was
incited to lessen him, perhaps more than he deserves.
His blood is upon your head. By the same principle,
your malice defeats itself; for your censure is too violent.
And yet (looking to her with a leering smile) she is the
first woman in the world, could she but restrain that
wicked tongue of hers;-she would be the only woman,
could she but command that little whirligig."
Upon the subject of exaggerated praise I took the
liberty to say, that I thought there might be very high
praise given to a known character which deserved it, and
therefore it would not be exaggerated. Thus, one might
1 Here Johnson condescended to play upon the words Long and
short. But little did he know that, owing to Mr. Long's reserve
in his presence, he was talking thus of a gentleman distinguished
amongst his acquaintance for acuteness of wit, one to whom I
think the French expression, II phtille d'esprit, is particularly
suited. He has gratified me by mentioning that he heard Dr.
Johnson say, "Sir, if I were to lose Boswell, it would be a limb
amputated." B.
2 William Weller Pepys, Esq., one of the Masters in the
High Court of Chancery, and well known in polite circles.
My acquaintance with him is not sufficient to enable me to speak
of him from my own judgment. But I know that both at Eton
and Oxford he was the intimate friend of the late Sir James
Macdonald, the Marcellus of Scotland, whose extraordinary
talents, learning, and virtues, will ever be remembered with
admiration and regret. B.




A LACK OF CONVERSATION


185


say of Mr. Edmund Burke, he is a very wonderful man.
JOHNSON:   No, Sir, you would not be safe, if another
man had a mind perversely to contradict. He might
answer, ' Where is all the wonder? Burke is, to be sure,
a man of uncommon abilities, with a great quantity of
matter in his mind, and a great fluency of language in
his mouth. But we are not to be stunned and astonished
by him.' So you see, Sir, even Burke would suffer, not
from any fault of his own, but from your folly."
Mrs. Thrale mentioned a gentleman who had acquired
a fortune of 4000l. a year in trade, but was absolutely
miserable because he could not talk in company; so
miserable, that he was impelled to lament his situation
in the street to * * * * ' whom he hates, and who he
knows despises him. "I am a most unhappy man," said
he. "I am invited to conversations. I go to conversations; but, alas! I have no conversation."-JOHNSON
" Man commonly cannot be successful in different ways.
This gentleman has spent, in getting 4000/. a year, the
time in which he might have learnt to talk; and now he
cannot talk."  Mr Perkins made a shrewd and droll
remark * " If he had got his 40001. a year as a mountebank, he might have learnt to talk at the same time that
he was getting his fortune."
Some other gentlemen came in. The conversation concerning the person whose character Dr Johnson had
treated so slightingly, as he did not know his merit, was
resumed. Mrs. Thrale said, "You think so of him, Sir,
because he is quiet, and does not exert himself with force.
You'll be saying the same thing of Mr * * * * * there,
who sits as quiet-" This was not well bred; and Johnson did not let it pass without correction. " Nay, Madam,
what right have you to talk thus? Both Mr * * * * *
and I have reason to take it ill. aou may talk of Mr
* * * * *; but why do you make me do it. Have I said
any thing against Mr. * * * * *? You have set him,
that I might shoot him but I have not shot him."
One of the gentlemen said, he had seen three folio
volumes of Dr. Johnson's sayings collected by me. " I




I86


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


must put you right, Sir," said I; " for I am very exact in
authenticity. You could not see folio volumes, for I have
none: you might have seen some in quarto and octavo.
This is an inattention which one should guard against."
JOHNSON: " Sir, it is a want of concern about veracity. He
does not know that he saw any volumes. If he had seen
them he could have remembered their size."
Mr. Thrale appeared very lethargic to-day. I saw him
again on Monday evening, at which time he was not
thought to be in immediate danger; but early in the
morning of Wednesday the 4th, he expired. Johnson
was in the house, and thus mentions the event: "I felt
almost the last flutter of his pulse, and looked for the last
time upon the face that for fifteen years had never been
turned upon me but with respect and benignity." (Prayers
and Meditations, p. 191.)  Upon that day there was a call
of the LITERARY CLUB; but Johnson apologlsed for his
absence by the following note -
" MR. JOHNSON knows that Sir Joshua Reynolds and the other
gentlemen will excuse his incompliance with the call, when they
are told that Mr. Thrale died this morning.
" Wednesday."
Mr. Thrale's death was a very essential loss to Johnson,
who, although he did not foresee all that afterwards
happened, was sufficiently convinced that the comforts
which Mr. Thrale's family afforded him would now in a
great measure cease. He, however, continued to shew a
kind attention to his widow and children as long as it was
acceptable and he took upon him, with a very earnest
concern, the office of one of his executors, the importance
of which seemed greater than usual to him, from his
circumstances having been always such, that he had scarcely
any share in the real business of life. His friends of the
CLUB were in hopes that Mr. Thrale might have made a
liberal provision for him for his life, which, as Mr Thrale
left no son and a very large fortune, it would have been
highly to his honour to have done; and, considering Dr.
Johnson's age, could not have been of long duration; but he




SALE- OF THRALE'S BREWERY


187


bequeathed him only two hundred pounds, which was the
legacy given to each of his executors. I could not but be
somewhat diverted by hearing Johnson talk in a pompous
manner of his new office, and particularly of the concerns
of the brewery, which it was at last resolved should be
sold. Lord Lucan tells a very good story, which, if not
precisely exact, is certainly characteristical that when the
sale of Thrale's brewery was going forward, Johnson
appeared bustling about, with an inkhorn and pen in his
button-hole, like an exciseman; and on being asked what
he really considered to be the value of the property which
was to be disposed of, answered, "We are not here to sell
a parcel of boilers and vats, but the potentiality of growing
rich beyond the dreams of avarice."
On Friday, April 6, he carried me to dine at a club,
which, at his desire, had been lately formed at the Queen's
Arms in St. Paul's Churchyard. He told Mr. Hoole that
he wished to have a City Club, and asked him to collect
one; but, said he, "Don't let them be patriots."  The
company were to-day very sensible, well-behaved men. I
have preserved only two particulars of his conversation.
He said he was glad Lord George Gordon had escaped,
rather than that a precedent should be established for
hanging a man for constructive treason; which, in consistency with his true, manly, constitutional Toryism, he
considered would be a dangerous engine of arbitrary
power   And upon its being mentioned that an opulent
and very indolent Scotch nobleman, who totally resigned
the management of his affairs to a man of knowledge
and abilities, had claimed some merit by saying, "The
next best thing to managing a man's own affairs well, is
being sensible of incapacity, and not attempting it, but
having full confidence in one who can do it:" JOHNSON.
"Nay, Sir, this is paltry. There is a middle course. Let
a man give application, and depend upon it he will soon
1 The brewery was sold to Barclay & Perkins for 35,000ooo.
Wright. Baretti, in a MS. note on the Piozzi Letters, i. 369, says
that in the two last years of Thrale's life his brewery brought him;30,000 a year net profit. Dr, Hill.




i88


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


get above a despicable state of helplessness, and attain the
power of acting for himself"
On Saturday, April 7, I dined with him at Mr. Hoole's
with Governor Bouchier and Captain Orme, both of whom
had been long in the East Indies; and being men of good
sense and observation, were very entertaining. Johnson
defended the oriental regulation of different castes of men,
which was objected to as totally destructive of the hopes
of rising in society by personal merit. He shewed that
there was a principle in it sufficiently plausible by analogy.
"We see," said he, "in metals that there are different
species; and so likewise in animals, though one species
may not differ very widely from another, as in the species
of dogs,-the cur, the spaniel, and the mastiff.  The
Brahmins are the mastiffs of mankind."
On Thursday, April I2, I dined with him at a bishop's,
where were Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr. Berenger, and some
more company. He had dined the day before at another
bishop's. I have unfortunately recorded none of his conversation at the bishop's where we dined together. but
I have preserved his ingenious defence of his dining twice
abroad in Passion Week; a laxity, in which I am convinced he would not have indulged himself at the time
when he wrote his solemn paper in "The Rambler," upon
that awful season. It appeared to me, that by being much
more in company, and enjoying more luxurious living, he
had contracted a keener relish for pleasure, and was con- -
sequently less rigorous in his religious rites. This he
would not acknowledge; but he reasoned with admirable
sophistry, as follows. "Why, Sir, a bishop's calling
company together in this week, is, to use the vulgar
phrase, not the thing. But you must consider laxity is a
bad thing; but preciseness is also a bad thing; and your
general character may be more hurt by preciseness than
by dining with a bishop in Passion Week. There might
1 Dr. Hill quotes a passage fiom Hannah More's Memoirs
(i. 21o) to shew that the bishop was Dr. Shipley of St. Asaph, and
the reason for Boswell's having left the conversation unrecorded
was that he was too drunk to remember it.




DINING WITH BISHOPS


189


be a handle for reflection.  It might be said,' He refuses
to dine with a bishop in Passion Week, but was three
Sundays absent from church.'" BOSWELL - "Very true,
Sir. But suppose a man to be uniformly of good conduct,
would it not be better that he should refuse to dine with
a bishop in this week, and so not encourage a bad practice
by his example?" JOHNSON: "Why, Sir, you are to
consider whether you might not do more harm by lessening the influence of a bishop's character by your disapprobation in refusing him, than by going to him."
" TO MRS. LUCY PORTER, IN LICHFIELD.
" DEAR MADAM,
"LIFE is full of troubles. I have just lost my dear friend
Thrale. I hope he is happy; but I have had a great loss. I am
otherwise pretty well. I require some care of myself, but that
care is not ineffectual; and when I am out of order, I think it
often my own fault.
"The spring is now making quick advances. As it is the
season in which the whole world is enlivened and invigorated, I
hope that both you and I shall partake of its benefits. My desire
is to see Lichfield; but being left executor to my friend, I know
not whether I can be spared; but I will try, for it is now long
since we saw one another, and how little we can promise ourselves
many more interviews we are taught by hourly examples of
mortality. Let us try to live so as that mortality may not be an
evil. Write to me soon, my dearest; your letters will give me
great pleasure.
"I am sorry that Mr. Porter has not had his box; but by
sending it to Mr Matthias, who very readily undertook its
conveyance, I did the best I could, and perhaps before now he
has it.
"Be so kind as to make my compliments to my friends; I have
a great value for their kindness, and hope to enjoy it before
summer is past. Do write to me. I am, dearest love, your most
humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
" London, April 12, 1781."
On Friday, April I3, being Good Friday, I went to St
Clement's Church with him as usual. There I saw again
his old fellow-collegian, Edwards, to whom    I said, "I




I90


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


think, Sir, Dr. Johnson and you meet only at church."Sir," said he, "it is the best place we can meet in, except
heaven, and I hope we shall meet there too." Dr Johnson told me that there was very little communication
between Edwards and him, after their unexpected renewal
of acquaintance. " But," said he, smiling, "he met me
once, and said, ' I am told you have written a very pretty
book called "The Rambler."' I was unwilling that he
should leave the world in total darkness, and sent him
a set."
Mr. Berenger 1 visited him to-day, and was very pleasing. We talked of an evening society for conversation at
a house in town, of which we were all members, but of
which Johnson said * "It will never do, Sir. There is
nothing served about there, neither tea, nor coffee, nor
lemonade, nor any thing whatever; and depend upon it,
Sir, a man does not love to go to a place from whence he
comes out exactly as he went in."   I endeavoured for
argument's sake, to maintain that men of learning and
talents might have very good intellectual society, without
the aid of any little gratifications of the senses. Berenger
joined with Johnson, and said, that without these any
meeting would be dull and insipid. He would therefore
have all the slight refreshments; nay, it would not be
amiss to have some cold meat, and a bottle of wine upon
a sideboard. "Sir (said Johnson to me, with an air of
triumph), Mr. Berenger knows the world. Every body
loves to have good things furnished to them without any
trouble. I told Mrs. Thrale once, that as she did not
choose to have card-tables, she should have a profusion
of the best sweetmeats, and she would be sure to have
company enough come to her." I agreed with my illustrious friend upon this subject; for it has pleased GOD
1 Richard Berenger, Esq., many years Gentleman of the Horse
to his present Majesty, and author of The History and Art of
Horsemanship, 177I. Malone. Hannah More (Memoirs, i. 175)
has described him as "all chivalry, blank verse, and anecdote"
(Croker); and Mrs. Piozzi (Anec. i56), as Johnson's "standard of
ideal elegance." Dr. Hill.




EASTER DAY, 1781


191


to make man a composite animal, and where there is
nothing to refresh the body, the mind will languish.
On Sunday, April I5, being Easter Day, after solemn
worship in St. Paul's Church, I found him alone; Dr.
Scott, of the Commons, came in. He talked of its having
been said, that Addison wrote some of his best papers
in " The Spectator," when warm with wine. Dr. Johnson
did not seem willing to admit this. Dr. Scott, as a confirmation of it, related, that Blackstone, a sober man,
composed his "Commentaries" with a bottle of port
before him; and found his mind invigorated and supported in the fatigue of his great work by a temperate use
of it.
I told him that, in a company where I had lately been,
a desire was expressed to know his authority for the
shocking story of Addison's sending an execution into
Steele's house. "Sir," said he, "it is generally known
it is known to all who are acquainted with the literary
history of that period it is as well known, as that he
wrote 'Cato.'" Mr. Thomas Sheridan once defended
Addison to me, by alleging that he did it in order to
coyer Steele's goods from other creditors, who were going
to seize them.
We talked of the difference between the mode of
education at Oxford and that in those colleges where
instruction is chiefly conveyed by lectures. JOHNSON:
" Lectures were once useful; but now, when all can read,
and books are so numerous, lectures are unnecessary. If
your attention fails, and you miss a part of the lecture, it
is lost; you cannot go back as you do upon a book."
Dr. Scott agreed with him. "But yet," said I, "Dr.
Scott, you yourself gave lectures at Oxford." 1  He
smiled. "You laughed, then," said I, "at those who
came to you."
Dr. Scott left us, and soon afterwards we went to
dinner. Our company consisted of Mrs. Williams, Mrs.
I William Scott (Lord Stowell) was a tutor at University
College for ten years. Dr. Hill.




192


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Desmoulins, Mr. Levett, Mr. Allen, the printer, [Mr.
Macbean] and Mrs. Hall, sister of the Reverend Mr.
John Wesley, and resembling him, as I thought, both in
figure and manner. Johnson produced now, for the first
time, some handsome silver salvers, which he told me he
had bought fourteen years ago; so it was a great day. I
was not a little amused by observing Allen perpetually
struggling to talk in the manner of Johnson, like the
little frog in the fable blowing himself up to resemble the
stately ox.
I mentioned a kind of religious Robin Hood Society,
which met every Sunday evening at Coachmakers' Hall,
for free debate; and that the subject for this night was,
the text which relates, with other miracles which happened
at our SAVIOUR's death: "And the graves were opened,
and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came
out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the
holy city, and appeared unto many." Mrs. Hall said it
was a very curious subject, and she should like to hear it
discussed. JOHNSON (somewhat warmly) "One would
not go to such a place to hear it,-one would not be seen
in such a place,- to give countenance to such a meeting."
I, however, resolved that I would go. "But, Sir," said
she, to Johnson, "I should like to hear you discuss it."
He seemed reluctant to engage in it. She talked of the
resurrection of the human race in general, and maintained
that we shall be raised with the same bodies. JOHNSON
" Nay, Madam, we see that it is not to be the same body,
for the Scripture uses the illustration of grain sown, and
we know that the grain which grows is not the same with
what is sown. You cannot suppose that we shall rise
with a diseased body; it is enough if there be such a
sameness as to distinguish identity of person."  She
seemed desirous of knowing more, but he left the question
in obscurity.
Of apparitions, he observed  "A total disbelief of them
1 Dr. Hill refers to Prior's Life of Goldsmith, i. 420 for an
amusing story concerning this Society, of which Goldsmith was
once a member, and, it is said, Burke,




JOHNSON AS 'CAPTAIN MACHEATH'             193
is adverse to the opinion of the existence of the soul
between death and the last day; the question simply is,
whether departed spirits ever have the power of making
themselves perceptible to us: a man who thinks he has
seen an apparition, can only be convinced himself; his
authority will not convince another; and his conviction, if
rational, must be founded on being told something which
cannot be known but by supernatural means."
He mentioned a thing as not unfrequent, of which I had
never heard before,-being called, that is, hearing one's
name pronounced by the voice of a known person at a
great distance, far beyond the possibility of being reached
by any sound uttered by human organs. " An acquaintance, on whose veracity I can depend, told me, that walking home one evening to Kilmarnock, he heard himself
called from a wood by the voice of a brother who had
gone to America; and the next packet brought accounts
of that brother's death."  Macbean asserted that this
inexplicable calling was a thing very well known. Dr.
Johnson said, that one day at Oxford, as he was turning
the key of his chamber, he heard his mother distinctly call
-Sam. She was then at Lichfield; but nothing ensued.
This phenomenon is, I think, as wonderful as any other
mysterious fact, which many people are very slow to
believe, or rather, indeed, reject with an obstinate contempt.
Some time after this, upon his making a remark which
escaped my attention, Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Hall were
both together striving to answer him. He grew angry,
and called out loudly, "Nay, when you both speak at
once, it is intolerable." But checking himself, and softening, he said, "This one may say, though you are ladies."
Then he brightened into gay humour, and addressed them
in the words of one of the songs in "The Beggars'
Opera":
" But two at a time there's no mortal can bear."
"What, Sir," said I, "are you going to turn Captain
Macheath?" There was something as pleasantly ludi

III.


0




194


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


crous in this scene as can be imagined. The contrast
between Macheath, Polly and Lucy —and Dr Samuel
Johnson; blind, peevish Mrs. Williams; and lean, lank,
preaching Mrs. Hall, was exquisite.
I stole away to Coachmakers' Hall, and heard the
difficult text of which we had talked discussed with great
decency, and some intelligence, by several speakers.
There was a difference of opinion as to the appearance
of ghosts in modern times, though the arguments for it,
supported by Mr. Addison's authority, preponderated.
The immediate subject of debate was embarrassed by the
bodies of the saints having been said to rise, and by the
question what became of them afterwards —did they
return again to their graves? or were they translated to
heaven? Only one evangelist mentions the fact, (St.
Matthew, xxvii. 52-3,) and the commentators whom I
have looked at do not make the passage clear. There
is, however, no occasion for our understanding it farther,
than to know that it was one of the extraordinary mnanifestations of divine power, which accompanied the most
important event that ever happened.
On Friday, April 20, I spent with him one of the
happiest days that I remember to have enjoyed in the
whole course of my life. Mrs. Garrick, whose grief for
the loss of her husband was, I believe, as sincere as
wounded affection and admiration could produce, had this
day, for the first time since his death, a select party of
his friends to dine with her.' The company was Miss
Hannah More, who lived with her and whom she called
her chaplain, Mrs. Boscawen, Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, Sir
Joshua Reynolds, Dr Burney, Dr. Johnson, and myself.
We found ourselves very elegantly entertained at her
house in the Adelphi, where I have passed many a
pleasing hour with him  "who gladdened life."   She
looked well, talked of her husband with complacency,
and, while she cast her eyes on his portrait which hung
over the chimney-piece, said, that "death was now the
1 Garrick had been dead a little more than two years.




THOMAS HOLLIS


195


most agreeable object to her " The very semblance of
David Garrick was cheering. Mr Beauclerk, with happy
propriety, inscribed under that fine portrait of him, which
by Lady Diana's kindness is now the property of my
friend Mr. Langton, the following passage from his
beloved Shakespeare'
C --       A merrier man,
Within the limit of becoming mirth,
I never spent an hour's talk withal:
His eye begets occasion for his wit;
For every object that the one doth catch
The other turns to a mirth-moving jest;
Which his fair tongue, conceit's expositor,
Delivers in such apt and gracious words,
That aged years play truant at his tales
And younger hearings are quite ravished;
So sweet and voluble is his discourse."
LovE's LABOUR'S LOST, ii. I.
We were all in fine spirits; and I whispered to Mrs.
Boscawen, " I believe this is as much as can be made of
life." In addition to a splendid entertainment, we were
regaled with Lichfield ale, which had a peculiar appropriate
value. Sir Joshua, and Dr Burney, and I, drank cordially
of it to Dr Johnson's health, and though he would not
join us, he as cordially answered, "Gentlemen, I wish you
all as well as you do me."
The general effect of this day dwells upon my mind in
fond remembrance; but I do not find much conversation
recorded.  What I have preserved shall be faithfully
given.
One of the company mentioned Mr. Thomas Hollis,
the strenuous Whig, who used to send over Europe
presents of democratical books with their boards stamped
with daggers and caps of Liberty. Mrs. Carter said,
"He was a bad man' he used to talk uncharitably"
JOHNSON    "Poh! poh! Madam; who is the worse for
being talked of uncharitably? Besides, he was a dull
poor creature as ever lived' and I believe he would not
have done harm to a man whom he knew to be of very




I96


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


opposite principles to his own. I remember once at the
Society of Arts, when an advertisement was to be drawn
up, he pointed me out as the man who could do it best.
This, you will observe, was kindness to me. I however
slipped away and escaped it."
Mrs. Carter having said of the same person, " I doubt
he was an atheist;" JOHNSON    "I don't know that.
He might perhaps have become one, if he had had time
to ripen. (Smiling.)  He might have exuberated into an
atheist."
Sir Joshua Reynolds praised Mudge's "Sermons."
JOHNSON    "Mudge's 'Sermons' are good, but not
practical. He grasps more sense than he can hold; he
takes more corn than he can make into meal, he opens
a wide prospect, but it is so distant, it is indistinct. I
love Blair's 'Sermons.' Though the dog is a Scotchman,
and a Presbyterian, and every thing he should not be,
I was the first to praise them. Such was my candour."
(Smiling)  MRS. BOSCAwEN * "Such his great merit, to
get the better of all your prejudices." JOHNSON. "Why,
Madam, let us compound the matter, let us ascribe it
to my candour, and his merit."
In the evening we had a large company in the drawingroom; several ladies, the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr. Percy,
Mr. Chamberlayne of the Treasury, &c. &c. Somebody
said, the life of a mere literary man could not be very
entertaining. JOHNSON: "But it certainly may.  This
is a remark which has been made, and repeated, without
justice; why should the life of a literary man be less
entertaining than the life of any other man? Are there
not as interesting varieties in such a life? As a literary
life it may be very entertaining."  BOSWELL'  "But it
must be better surely, when it is diversified with a little
active variety-such as his having gone to Jamaica;-or
-his having gone to the Hebrides." Johnson was not
displeased at this.
Talking of a very respectable author, he told us a
curious circumstance in his life, which was, that he had
married a printer's devil.  REYNOLDS   "A   printer's




MARRYING A PRINTER'S DEVIL


I97


devil, Sir! Why, I thought a printer's devil was a
creature with a black face and in rags."   JOHNSON.
"Yes, Sir. But I suppose he had her face washed, and
put clean clothes on her." (Then looking very serious,
and very earnest.)  "And she did not disgrace him;the woman had a bottom of good sense." The word
bottom thus introduced was so ludicrous when contrasted
with his gravity, that most of us could not forbear
tittering and laughing; though I recollect that the Bishop
of Killaloe kept his countenance with perfect steadiness,
while Miss Hannah More slily hid her face behind a
lady's back who sat on the same settee with her  His
pride could not bear that any expression of his should
excite ridicule, when he did not intend it; he therefore
resolved to assume and exercise despotic power, glanced
sternly around, and called out in a strong tone, " Where's
the merriment?" Then collecting himself, and looking
awful, to make us feel how he could impose restraint,
and as it were searching his mind for a still more ludicrous
word, he slowly pronounced "' I say the woman was
fundamentally sensible;" as if he had said, hear this now,
and laugh if you dare. We all sat composed as at a
funeral.
He and I walked away together; we stopped a little
while by the rails of the Adelphi, looking on the Thames,
and I said to him with some emotion, that I was now
thinking of two friends we had lost, who once lived in
the buildings behind us, Beauclerk and Garrick. "Ay,
Sir," said he, tenderly, "and two such friends as cannot
be supplied."
For some time after this day I did not see him very
often, and of the conversation which I did enjoy I am
sorry to find I have preserved but little. I was at this
time engaged in a variety of other matters, which required
exertion and assiduity, and necessarily occupied almost all
my time.
One day, having spoken very freely of those who were
then in power, he said to me, "Between ourselves, Sir, I
do not like to give Opposition the satisfaction of knowing




I98


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


how much I disapprove of the Ministry." And when
I mentioned that Mr. Burke had boasted how quiet the
nation was in George the Second's reign, when Whigs
were in power, compared with the present reign, when
Tories governed -" Why, Sir," said he, "you are to
consider that Tories having more reverence for government, will not oppose with the same violence as Whigs,
who being unrestrained by that principle, will oppose by
any means.
This month he lost not only Mr Thrale, but another
friend, Mr William Strahan, junior, printer, the eldest
son of his old and constant friend, Printer to his
Majesty.
" TO MRS. STRAHAN.
"DEAR MADAM,
" THE grief which I feel for the loss of a very kind friend,
is sufficient to make me know how much you suffer by the death
of an amiable son; a man, of whom I think it may be truly said,
that no one knew him who does not lament him. I look upon
myself as having a friend, another friend, taken from me.
" Comfort, dear Madam, I would give you, if I could; but I
know how little the forms of consolation can avail. Let me,
however, counsel you not to waste your health in unprofitable
sorrow, but go to Bath, and endeavour to prolong your own life;
but when we have all done all that we can, one friend must in
time lose the other. I am, dear Madam, your most humble
servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"April 23, I781
On Tuesday, May 8, I had the pleasure of again dining
with him and Mr Wilkes, at Mr. Dilly's. No negotiation
was now required to bring them together; for Johnson
was so well satisfied with the former interview, that
he was very glad to meet Wilkes again, who was
this day seated between Dr Beattie and Dr Johnson
(between Truth and Reason, as General Paoli said, when I
told him of it). WILKES: "I have been thinking, Dr.
Johnson, that there should be a bill brought into Parliament
that the controverted elections for Scotland should be tried




JOHNSON AND WILKES


199


in that country, at their own abbey of Holyrood House,
and not here; for the consequence of trying them here is,
that we have an inundation of Scotchmen who come up
and never go back again. Now here is Boswell, who is
come upon the election for his own county, which will
not last a fortnight." JOHNSON  "Nay, Sir, I see no
reason why they should be tried at all, for, you know,
one Scotchman is as good as another." WILKES "Pray,
Boswell, how much may be got in a year by an advocate
at the Scotch bar?" BOSWELL " I believe two thousand
pounds." WILKES " How can it be possible to spend
that money in Scotland?" JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, the
money may be spent in England, but there is a harder
question. If one man in Scotland gets possession of two
thousand pounds, what remains for all the rest of the
nation?"  WILKES'    "You know, in the last war, the
immense booty which Thurot carried off by the complete
plunder of seven Scotch isles, he re-embarked with three
and sixpence." 1 Here again Johnson and Wilkes joined
in extravagant sportive raillery upon the supposed poverty
of Scotland which Dr. Beattie and I did not think it worth
our while to dispute.
The subject of quotation being introduced, Mr Wilkes
censured it as pedantry. JOHNSON   "No, Sir, it is a
good thing; there is a community of mind in it. Classical
quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world."
WILKES. " Upon the Continent they all quote the Vulgate Bible. Shakespeare is chiefly quoted here, and we
quote also Pope, Prior, Butler, Waller, and sometimes
Cowley."
We talked of letter-writing. JOHNSON   " It is now
become so much the fashion to publish letters, that in
order to avoid it, I put as little into mine as I can."
BOSWELL   " Do what you will, Sir, you cannot avoid it.
1 Thurot's squadron was the only one of those destined for the
French invasion of England in 1759-60 which had succeeded
in escaping our Channel fleet. He was eventually killed and
his ships taken in an engagement off Carrickfergus, which he had
just plundered.




200


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Should you even write as ill as you can, your letters would
be published as curiosities:
' Behold a miracle! instead of wit,
See two dull lines with Stanhope's pencil writ."'
He gave us an entertaining account of Bet Flint, a
woman of the town, who, with some eccentric talents and
much effrontery, forced herself upon his acquaintance.
"Bet," said he, "wrote her own Life in verse,2 which she
brought to me, wishing that I would furnish her with a
preface to it. (Laughing.) I used to say of her, that she
was generally slut and drunkard;-occasionally whore and
thief  She had, however, genteel lodgings, a spinnet on
which she played, and a boy that walked before her chair.
Poor Bet was taken up on a charge of stealing a counterpane, and tried at the Old Bailey  Chief Justice [Willes],
who loved a wench, summed up favourably, and she was
acquitted.3 After which, Bet said, with a gay and satisfied
air,' Now that the counterpane is my own, I shall make a
petticoat of it.' "
1 " Accept a miracle," &c. Young told Spence (Anecdotes, 377)
that the lines were his own, and written with Lord Chesterfield's
diamond on a drinking-glass at a club called " The World," held
at the King's Head in Pall Mall.
2 Johnson, whose memory was wonderfully retentive, remembered the first four lines of this curious production, which have
been communicated to me by a young lady of his acquaintance:
"When first I drew my vital breath,
A little minikin I came upon earth;
And then I came from a dark abode,
Into this gay and gaudy world." B.
3 The account which Johnson had received on this occasion,
was not quite accurate. BET was tried at the Old Bailey in September 1758, not by the Chief Justice here alluded to (who however tried another cause on the same day), but before Sir William
Moreton, Recorder; and she was acquitted, not in consequence of
any favourable summing up of the judge, but because the prosecutrix,
Mary Walthow, could not prove that the goods charged to have
been stolen (a counterpane, a silver spoon, two napkins, &c.) were
her property  Malone.




JOHNSON AND WILKES


201


Talking of oratory, Mr. Wilkes described it as accompanied with all the charms of poetical expression. JOHNSON  "No, Sir; oratory is the power of beating down
your adversary's arguments, and putting better in their
place." WILKES "But this does not move the passions."
JOHNSON: "He must be a weak man, who is to be so
moved." WILKES (naming a celebrated orator): "Amidst
all the brilliancy of [Burke's] imagination, and the exuberance of his wit, there is a strange want of taste. It was
observed of Apelles's Venus, that her flesh seemed as if
she had been nourished by roses his oratory would sometimes make one suspect that he eats potatoes and drinks
whisky."
Mr. Wilkes observed, how tenacious we are of forms in
this country; and gave as an instance, the vote of the
House of Commons for remitting money to pay the army
in America in Portugal pieces, when, in reality, the remittance is made not in Portugal money, but in our specie.
JOHNSON. " Is there not a law, Sir, against exporting the
current coin of the realm?"  WILKES  "Yes, Sir; but
might not the House of Commons, in case of real evident
necessity, order our own current coin to be sent into our
own colonies?" -Here Johnson, with that quickness of
recollection which distinguished him so eminently, gave
the Middlesex Patriot an admirable retort upon his own
ground. " Sure, Sir, you don't think a resolution of the
House of Commons equal to the law of the land."  WILKES
(at once perceiving the application)  "GOD forbid, Sir"
-To hear what had been treated with such violence in
"The False Alarm," now turned into pleasant repartee,
was extremely agreeable.  Johnson went on:-" Locke
observes well, that a prohibition to export the current coin
is impolitic; for when the balance of trade happens to be
against a state, the current coin must be exported."
Mr. Beauclerk's great library was this season sold in
London by auction. Mr. Wilkes said, he wondered to
find in it such a numerous collection of sermons: seeming
to think it strange that a gentleman of Mr Beauclerk's
character in the gay world, should have chosen to have




202


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


many compositions of that kind.    JOHNSON     "Why, Sir,
you are to consider, that sermons make a considerable
branch of English literature; so that a library must be
very imperfect if it has not a numerous collection of
sermons   1 and in all collections, Sir, the desire of aug1 Mr. Wilkes probably did not know that there is an English
sermon the most comprehensive and lively account of that entertaining faculty, for which he himself was so much admired. It is
in Barrow's first volume, and fourteenth sermon, " Against foolish
Talking and Jesting." My old acquaintance, the late Corbyn
Morris, in his ingenious Essay on Wit, Humour, and Ridicule, calls
it " a profuse description of wit " but I do not see how it could
be curtailed without leaving out some good circumstance of discrimination. As it is not generally known, and may perhaps
dispose some to read sermons, from which they may receive real
advantage, while looking only for entertainment, I shall here subjoin it. " But first (says the learned preacher) it may be demanded,
what the thing we speak of is? Or what this facetiousness (or
wit, as he calls it before) doth import? To which questions I
might reply, as Democritus did to him that asked the definition of
a man, 'Tis that which we all see and know-' Any one better
apprehends what it is by acquaintance, than I can inform him by
description.  It is, indeed, a thing so versatile and multiform,
appearing in so many shapes, so many postures, so many garbs, so
variously apprehended by several eyes and judgments, that it
seemeth no less hard to settle a clear and certain notion thereof,
than to make a portrait of Proteus, or to define the figure of the
fleeting air. Sometimes it lieth in pat allusion to a known story,
or in seasonable application of a trivial saying, or in forging an
apposite tale; sometimes it playeth in words and phrases, taking
advantage from the ambiguity of their sense, or the affinity of
their sound  sometimes it is wrapped in a dress of humorous
expression: sometimes it lurketh under an odd similitude: sometimes it is lodged in a sly question, in a smart answer, in a quirkish
reason, in a shrewd intimation, in cunningly diverting or cleverly
retorting an objection: sometimes it is couched in a bold scheme
of speech, in a tart irony, in a lusty hyperbole, in a startling metaphor, in a plausible reconciling of contradictions, or in acute nonsense. sometimes a scenical representation of persons or things, a
counterfeit speech, a mimical look or gesture, passeth for it sometimes an affected simplicity, sometimes a presumptuous bluntness
giveth it being: sometimes it riseth only from a lucky hitting
upon what is strange sometimes from a crafty wresting obvious




JOHNSON AND WILKES


203


menting them grows stronger in proportion to the advance
in acquisition; as motion is accelerated by the continuance
of the impetus. Besides, Sir, (looking at Mr Wilkes with
a placid but significant smile,) a man may collect sermons
with intention of making himself better by them. I hope
Mr. Beauclerk intended, that some time or other that
should be the case with him."
Mr. Wilkes said to me, loud enough for Dr Johnson
to hear, "Dr. Johnson should make me a present of his
' Lives of the Poets' as I am a poor patriot, who cannot
afford to buy them." Johnson seemed to take no notice
of this hint; but in a little while, he called to Mr. Dilly,
"Pray, Sir, be so good as to send a set of my' Lives'
to  Mr. Wilkes, with     my compliments."      This  was
matter to the purpose. Often it consisteth in one knows not
what, and springeth up one can hardly tell how  Its ways are
unaccountable, and inexplicable; being answerable to the numberless rovings of fancy, and windings of language. It is, in short, a
manner of speaking out of the simple and plain way (such as
reason teacheth and proveth things by), which by a pretty surprising uncouthness in conceit or expression, doth affect and amuse
the fancy, stirring in it some wonder, and breeding some delight
thereto. It raiseth admiration as signifying a nimble sagacity of
apprehension, a special felicity of invention, a vivacity of spirit,
and reach of wit more than vulgar it seeming to argue a rare
quickness of parts, that one can fetch in remote conceits applicable; a notable skill, that he can dexterously accommodate them
to the purpose before him; together with a lively briskness ot
humour, not apt to damp those sportful flashes of imagination
(Whence in Aristotle such persons are termed ErSL6C'Lotdexterous
men, and EVrpOT'70, men of facile or versatile manners, who can
easily turn themselves to all things, or turn all things to themselves.) It also procureth delight, by gratifying curiosity with its
rareness, as semblance of difficulty (as monsters, not for their
beauty, but their rarity as juggling tricks, not for their use, but
their abstruseness, are beheld with pleasure): by diverting the
mind from its road of serious thoughts; by instilling gaiety and
airiness of spirit; by provoking to such dispositions of spirit in way
of emulation or complaisance and by seasoning matters, otherwise distasteful or insipid, with an unusual and thence grateful
tang."  B.




204


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


accordingly done; and Mr. Wilkes paid Dr. Johnson a
visit, was courteously received, and sat with him a long
time.
The company gradually dropped away        Mr. Dilly
himself was called down stairs upon business; I left the
room for some time; when I returned, I was struck with
observing Dr. Samuel Johnson and John Wilkes, Esq.
literally tete-a-tete; for they were reclined upon their
chairs, with their heads leaning almost close to each other,
and talking earnestly, in a kind of confidential whisper,
of the personal quarrel between George the Second and
the King of Prussia.    Such a scene of perfectly easy
sociality between two such opponents in the war of
political controversy, as that which I now beheld, would
have been an excellent subject for a picture. It presented
to my mind the happy days which are foretold in
Scripture, when the lion shall lie down with the kid.1
After this day there was another pretty long interval,
during which Dr Johnson and I did not meet. When
I mentioned it to him with regret, he was pleased to
say, "Then, Sir, let us live double."
About this time it was much the fashion for several
ladies to have evening assemblies, where the fair sex might
participate in conversation with literary and ingenious
men, animated by a desire to please.    These societies
were denominated Blue-stocking Clubs, the origin of which
title being little known, it may be worth while to relate
it. One of the most eminent members of those societies,
when they first commenced, was Mr Stillingfleet,2 whose
dress was remarkably grave, and in particular it was
observed, that he wore blue stockings.   Such was the
excellence of his conversation, that his absence was felt
1 When I mentioned this to the Bishop of Killaloe, "With the
goat," said his Lordship.  Such, however, was the engaging
politeness and pleasantry of Mr. Wilkes, and such the social good
humour of the Bishop, that when they dined together at Mr.
Dilly's where I also was, they were mutually agreeable. B.
2 Mr Benjamin Stillingfleet, author of tracts relating to natural
history, &c. B.




BLUE STOCKINGS


205


as so great a loss, that it used to be said, " We can do
nothing without the blue stockings; " and thus by degrees
the title was established.  Miss Hannah More has
admirably described a Blue-stocking Club, in her " Bas
Bleu," a poem in which many of the persons who were
most conspicuous there are mentioned.
Johnson was prevailed with to come sometimes into
these circles, and did not think himself too grave even
for the lively Miss Monckton (now Countess of Cork),
who used to have the finest bit of blue at the house of
her mother, Lady Galway   Her vivacity enchanted the
Sage, and they used to talk together with all imaginable
ease. A singular instance happened one evening, when
she insisted that some of Sterne's writings were very
pathetic. Johnson bluntly denied it. "I am sure," said
she, " they have affected me."-" Why," said Johnson,
smiling, and rolling himself about, " that is, because,
dearest, you're a dunce."  When she some time afterwards mentioned this to him, he said with equal truth
and politeness, " Madam, if I had thought so, I certainly
should not have said it."
Another evening Johnson's kind indulgence towards
me had a pretty difficult trial. I had dined at the Duke
of Montrose's with a very agreeable party, and his Grace,
according to his usual custom, had circulated the bottle
very freely. Lord Graham and I went together to Miss
Monckton's, where I certainly was in extraordinary spirits,
and above all fear or awe.  In the midst of a great
number of persons of the first rank, amongst whom I
recollect with confusion a noble lady of the most stately
decorum, I placed myself next to Johnson, and thinking
myself now fully his match, talked to him in a loud and
boisterous manner, desirous to let the company know
how I could contend with Ajax. I particularly remember
pressing him upon the value of the pleasures of the
imagination, and as an illustration of my argument, asking
him, "What, Sir, supposing I were to fancy that the
(naming the most charming duchess in his Majesty's
dominions) were in love with me, should I not be very




206


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


happy?"    My friend with much address evaded my
interrogatories, and kept me as quiet as possible; but
it may easily be conceived how he must have felt.'  However, when a few days afterwards I waited upon him and
made an apology, he behaved with the most friendly
gentleness.   While I remained in London this year,
Johnson and I dined together at several places. I recollect
a placid day at Dr Butter's, who had now removed from
Derby to Lower Grosvenor Street, London; but of his
conversation on that and other occasions during this
period, I neglected to keep any regular record, and shall
1 Next day I endeavoured to give what had happened the most
ingenious turn I could, by the following verses --
TO THE HONOURABLE MISS MONCKTON.
Not that with th' excellent Montrose
I had the happiness to dine;
Not that I late from table rose,
From Graham's wit, from generous wine.
It was not these alone which led
On sacred manners to encroach;
And made me feel what most I dread,
JOHNSON'S just frown, and self-reproach.
But when I enter'd, not abash'd,
From your bright eyes were shot such rays,
At once intoxication flash'd,
And all my frame was in a blaze!
But not a brilliant blaze I own,
Of the dull smoke I'm yet asham'd;
I was a dreary ruin grown,
And not enlighten'd though inflam'd.
Victim at once to wine and love,
I hope, MARIA, you'll forgive;
While I invoke the powers above,
That henceforth I may wiser live.
The lady was generously forgiving, returned me an obliging
answer, and I thus obtained an Act of Oblivion, and took care
never to offend again. B.




TALKING FOR VICTORY


207


therefore insert here some miscellaneous articles which I
find in my Johnsonian notes.
His disorderly habits, when "1 making provision for the
day that was passing over him," appear from the following
anecdote communicated to me by Mr. John Nichols
"In the year I763, a young bookseller, who was an
apprentice to Mr Whiston, waited on him with a subscription to his 'Shakespeare'. and observing that the
Doctor made no entry in any book of the subscriber's
name, ventured diffidently to ask, whether he would
please to have the gentleman's address, that it might be
properly inserted in the printed list of subscribers.-' 1
shall print no list of subscribers,' said Johnson, with great
abruptness, but almost immediately recollecting himself,
added, very complacently, 'Sir, I have two very cogent
reasons for not printing any list of subscribers;-one,
that I have lost all the names,-the other, that I have
spent all the money.'"
Johnson could not brook appearing to be worsted it
argument, even when he had taken the wrong side, to
shew the force and dexterity of his talents. When,
therefore, he perceived that his opponent gained ground,
he had recourse to some sudden mode of robust sophistry.
Once when I was pressing upon him with visible advantage, he stopped me thus -" My dear Boswell, let's
have no more of this, you'll make nothing of it. I'd
rather have you whistle a Scotch tune."
Care, however, must be taken to distinguish between
Johnson when he " talked for victory," and Johnson
when he had no desire but to inform and illustrate.
" One of Johnson's principal talents (says an eminent
friend of his [Gerard Hamilton]), was shewn in maintaining the wrong side of an argument, and in a splendid
perversion of the truth.-If you could contrive to have
his fair opinion on a subject, and without any bias from
personal prejudice, or from a wish to be victorious in
argument, it was wisdom itself, not only convincing, but
overpowering."
He had, however, all his life habituated himself to




208


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


consider conversation as a trial of intellectual vigour and
skill; and to this, I think, we may venture to ascribe
that unexampled richness and brilliancy which appeared
in his own. As a proof at once of his eagerness for
colloquial distinction, and his high notion of this eminent
friend, he once addressed him thus. "-, we now
have been several hours together; and you have said
but one thing for which I envied you."
He disliked much all speculative desponding considerations, which tended to discourage men from diligence
and exertion. He was in this like Dr. Shaw, the great
traveller, who, Mr. Dalnes Barrington told me, used to
say, "I hate a cui bono man."  Upon being asked by a
friend what he should think of a man who was apt to
say non est tanti;-"That he's a stupid fellow, Sir,"
answered Johnson   "What would these tanti men be
doing the while?" When I, in a low-spirited fit, was
talking to him with indifference of the pursuits which
generally engage us in a course of action, and inquiring
a reason for taking so much trouble: "Sir," said he, in
an animated tone, "it is driving on the system of life."
He told me, that he was glad that I had, by General
Oglethorpe's means, become acquainted with Dr Shebbeare. Indeed that gentleman, whatever objections were
made to him, had knowledge and abilities much above the
class of ordinary writers, and deserves to be remembered
as a respectable name in literature, were it only for his
admirable "Letters on the English Nation," under the
name of "Battista Angeloni, a Jesuit."
Johnson and Shebbeare1 were frequently named together, as having in former reigns had no predilection
for the family of Hanover. The author of the celebrated
"Heroic Epistle to Sir William Chambers," introduces
them in one line, in a list of those "who tasted the sweets
of his present Majesty's reign." Such was Johnson's
candid relish of the merit of that satire, that he allowed
1 I recollect a ludicrous paragraph in the newspapers, that the
King had pensioned both a He-bear and a She-bear. B.




JOHNSON AND GOLDSMITH


209


Dr. Goldsmith, as he told me, to read it to him from
beginning to end, and did not refuse his praise to its
execution.
Goldsmith could sometimes take adventurous liberties
with him, and escape unpunished. Beauclerk told me
that when Goldsmith talked of a project for having a
third theatre in London solely for the exhibition of
new plays, in order to deliver authors from the supposed
tyranny of managers, Johnson treated it slightingly, upon
which Goldsmith said, " Ay, ay, this may be nothing to
you, who can now shelter yourself behind the corner of
a pension;" and Johnson bore this with good-humour.
Johnson praised the Earl of Carlisle's poems, which his
Lordship had published with his name, as not disdaining
to be a candidate for literary fame.1 My friend was of
opinion, that when a man of rank appeared in that
character, he deserved to have his merit handsomely
allowed.2 In this I think he was more liberal than Mr.
1 Frederick, fifth Earl of Carlisle, the kinsman and guardian to
whom Byron dedicated the second edition of Hours of Idleness,
and then satirised in English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, for which
however he subsequently made amends in the third canto of Childe
Harold.
2 Men of rank and fortune however should be pretty well
assured of having a real claim to the approbation of the public, as
writers, before they venture to stand forth. Dryden in his preface
to.ll for Love, thus expresses himself: "Men of pleasant conversation (at least esteemed so) and endued with a trifling kind
of fancy, perhaps helped out by a smattering of Latin, are ambitious to distinguish themselves from the herd of gentlemen, by
their poetry:
'Rarus enim fermi sensus communis in illa
Fortuna.' (JUVENAL, Sat. viii. 73.)
And is not this a wretched affectation, not to be contented with
what fortune has done for them, and sit down quietly with their
estates, but they must call their wits in question, and needlessly
expose their nakedness to public view? Not considering that
they are not to expect the same approbation from sober men
which they have found from their flatterers after the third bottle:


111.


p




2I1        BOSWELL'S LIFE       OF JOHNSON
William Whitehead, in his "Elegy to Lord Villiers," in
which, under the pretext of " superior toils demanding all
their care," he discovers a jealousy of the great paying
their court to the Muses
-              to the chosen few
Who dare excel, thy fost'ring aid afford;
Their arts, their magic powers, with honours due
Exalt;-but be thyself what they record."
Johnson had called twice on the Bishop of Killaloe
before his Lordship set out for Ireland, having missed
him  the first time.   He said    "It would have hung
heavy on my heart if I had not seen him. No man ever
paid more attention to another than he has done to me;
If a little glittering in discourse has passed them on us for witty
men, where was the necessity of undeceiving the world? Would
a man, who has an ill title to an estate, but yet is in possession
of it, would he bring it out of his own accord to be tried at Westminster? We who write, if we want the talents, yet have the
excuse that we do it for a poor subsistence; but what can be
urged in their defence, who, not having the vocation of poverty
to scribble, out of mere wantonness take pains to make themselves
ridiculous? Horace was certainly in the right when he said,
'That no man is satisfied with his own condition.' A poet is not
pleased, because he is not rich; and the rich are discontented
because the poets will not admit them of their number." B.
1 This gave me very great pleasure, for there had been once
a pretty smart altercation 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 pleasant verses, in which he supposed himself to learn
different perfections from different men. They concluded with
delicate irony —
"Johnson shall teach me how to place
In fairest light each borrow'd grace
From him I'll learn to write:
Copy his clear familiar style,
And by the roughness of his file
Grow, like himself, polite."




JOHNSON'S CONTENTMENT


211I


and I have neglected him, not wilfully, but from being
otherwise occupied. Always, Sir, set a high value on
spontaneous kindness. He whose inclination prompts
him to cultivate your friendship of his own accord, will
love you more than one whom you have been at pains to
attach to you."
Johnson told me, that he was once much pleased to find
that a carpenter, who lived near him, was very ready to
shew him some things in his business which he wished to
see  " It was paying,' said he, " respect to literature.''
I asked him, if he was not dissatisfied with having so
small a share of wealth, and none of those distinctions in
the state which are the objects of ambition. He had only
a pension of three hundred a year  Why was he not in
such circumstances as to keep his coach? Whly had he not
some considerable office? JOHNSON  "Sir, I have never
complained of the world; nor do I think that I have
reason to complain. It is rather to be wondered at that
I have so much. My pension is more out of the usual
course of things than any instance that I have known.
Here, Sir, was a man avowedly no friend to Government
at the time, who got a pension without asking for it. I
never courted the great; they sent for me; but I think
they now give me up. They are satisfied  they have seen
enough of me." Upon my observing that I could not
believe this, for they must certainly be highly pleased by
his conversation  conscious of his own superiority, he
answered, " No, Sir; great lords and great ladies don't
love to have their mouths stopped." This was very
expressive of the effect which the force of his understanding and brilliancy of his fancy could not but produce; and,
to be sure, they must have found themselves strangely
diminished in his company. When I warmly declared
how happy I was at all times to hear him —' Yes,
Sir," said he; "but if you were Lord Chancellor, it
I know not whether Johnson ever saw the poem, but I had
occasion to find that as Dr Barnard and he knew each other
better, their mutual regard increased. B.




212


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


would not be so. you would then consider your own
dignity."
There was much truth and knowledge of human nature
in this remark. But certainly one should think, that in
whatever elevated state of life a man who knew the value
of the conversation of Johnson might be placed, though
he might prudently avoid a situation in which he might
appear lessened by comparison, yet he would frequently
gratify himself in private with the participation of the rich
intellectual entertainment which Johnson could furnish.
Strange, however, is it, to consider how few of the great
sought his society; so that if one were disposed to take
occasion for satire on that account, very conspicuous objects
present themselves. His noble friend, Lord Elibank, well
observed, that if a great man procured an interview with
Johnson, and did not wish to see him more, it shewed a
mere idle curiosity, and a wretched want of relish for
extraordinary powers of mind. Mrs. Thrale justly and
wittily accounted for such conduct by saying, that Johnson's
conversation was by much too strong for a person accustomed to obsequiousness and flattery; it was mustard
in a young child's mouth!
One day, when I told him that I was a zealous Tory,
but not enough " according to knowledge," and should be
obliged to him for "a reason," he was so candid, and expressed himself so well, that I begged of him to repeat
what he had said, and I wrote down as follows:
c" OF TORY AND WHIG.
'c A wise Tory and a wise Whig, I believe, will agree. Their
principles are the same, though their modes of thinking are
different. A high Tory makes government unintelligible it is
lost in the clouds. A violent Whig makes it impracticable: he
is for allowing so much liberty to every man, that there is not
power enough to govern any man. The prejudice of the Tory is
for establishment; the prejudice of the Whig is for innovation.
A Tory does not wish to give more real power to government;
but that government should have more reverence. Then they
differ as to the Church. The Tory is not for giving more legal




TORY AND WHIG


213


power to the clergy, but wishes they should have a considerable
influence, founded on the opinion of mankind; the Whig is for
limiting and watching them with a narrow jealousy."
" TO MR. PERKINS.
"SIR,
" HOWEVER often I have seen you, I have hitherto forgotten
the note, but I have now sent it: with my good wishes for the
prosperity of you and your partner,1 of whom, from our short
conversation, Icould not judge otherwise than favourably. I am,
Sir, your most humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"June 2, 1781."
On Saturday, June 2, I set out for Scotland, and had
promised to pay a visit, in my way, as I sometimes did,
at Southill, in Bedfordshire, at the hospitable mansion of
Squire Dilly, the elder brother of my worthy friends, the
booksellers in the Poultry. Dr Johnson agreed to be of
the party this year, with Mr Charles Dilly and me, and
to go and see Lord Bute's seat at Luton Hoo. He talked
little to us in the carriage, being chiefly occupied in reading
Dr. Watson's2 second volume of "Chemical Essays,"
which  he liked   very well, and his own "Prince       of
Abyssinia," on which he seemed to be intensely fixed;
having told us, that he had not looked at it since it was
first published. I happened to take it out of my pocket
this day, and he seized upon it with avidity  He pointed
out to me the following remarkable passage:
1 Mr. Barclay, a descendant of Robert Barclay, of Ury, the
celebrated apologist of the people called Quakers, and remarkable
for maintaining the principles of his venerable progenitor, with as
much of the elegance of modern manners as is consistent with
primitive simplicity. B.
2 Now Bishop of Llandaff, one of the poorest bishoprics in this
Kingdom. His Lordship has written with much zeal to shew the
propriety of equalizing the revenues of bishops. He has informed
us that he has burnt all his chemical papers. The friends of our
excellent constitution, now assailed on every side by innovators
and levellers, would have less regretted the suppression of some of
his Lordship's other writings. B.




214


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


"By what means," said the prince, "are the Europeans thus
powerful? or why, since they can so easily visit Asia and Africa
for trade or conquest, cannot the Asiatics and Africans invade
their coasts, plant colonies in their ports, and give laws to their
natural princes? The same wind that carried them back would
bring us thither."-" They are more powerful, Sir, than we,"
answered Imlac, "because they are wiser.  Knowledge will
always predominate over ignorance, as man governs the other
animals. But why their knowledge is more than ours, I know
not what reason can be given, but the unsearchable will of the
Supreme Being."
He   said, "Thls, Sir, no man    can  explain  otherwise.
We stopped at Welwin, where I wished much to see, in
company with Johnson, the residence of the author of
" Night Thoughts," which was then possessed by his son,
Mr. Young. Here some address was requisite, for I was
not acquainted with Mr Young, and had I proposed to
Dr Johnson that we should send to him, he would have
checked my wish, and perhaps been offended. I therefore
concerted with Mr. Dilly, that I should steal away from
Dr. Johnson and him, and try what reception I could
procure from Mr Young, if unfavourable, nothing was
to be said; but if agreeable, I should return and notify it
to them. I hastened to Mr Young's, found he was at
home, sent in word that a gentleman desired to wait upon
him, and was shewn into a parlour, where he and a young
lady, his daughter, were sitting. He appeared to be a
plain, civil country gentleman; and when I begged pardon
for presuming to trouble him, but that I wished much to
see his place, if he would give me leave, he behaved very
courteously, and answered, "By all means, Sir, we are just
going to drink tea; will you sit down?"  I thanked him,
but said that Dr Johnson had come with me from
London, and I must return to the inn to drink tea with
him; that my name was Boswell, I had travelled with him
in the Hebrides.   "Sir," said he, "I should think it a
great honour to see Dr. Johnson here. Will you allow
me to send for him?" Availing myself of this opening,




DR. YOUNG'S HOUSE


215


I said that " I would go myself and bring him, when he
had drunk tea; he knew nothing of my calling here."
Having been thus successful, I hastened back to the inn,
and informed Dr. Johnson that, " Mr. Young, son of Dr.
Young, the author of ' Night Thoughts,' whom I had just
left, desired to have the honour of seeing him at the house
where his father lived." Dr. Johnson luckily made no
enquiry how this invitation had arisen but agreed to go,
and when we entered Mr Young's parlour, he addressed
him with a very polite bow, " Sir, I had a curiosity to come
and see this place. I had the honour to know that great
man, your father." We went into the garden, where we
found a gravel walk, on each side of which was a row of
trees, planted by Dr Young, which formed a handsome
Gothic arch. Dr Johnson called it a fine grove. I beheld
it with reverence.
We sat some time in the summer-house, on the outside
wall of which was inscribed, "A mbulantes in horto audiebant vocem Dei;" and, in reference to a brook by which
it is situated, "JVivendi recte qui prorogat horam," &c. I
said to Mr. Young, that I had been told his father was
cheerful. "Sir," said he, "he was too well-bred a man
not to be cheerful in company; but he was gloomy when
alone. He never was cheerful after my mother's death,
and he had met with many disappointments." Dr. Johnson observed to me afterward " That this was no favourable account of Dr. Young; for it is not becoming in a
man to have so little acquiescence in the ways of Providence, as to be gloomy because he has not obtained as
much preferment as he expected; nor to continue gloomy
for the loss of his wife. Grief has its time." The last
part of this censure was theoretically made. Practically
we know that grief for the loss of a wife may be continued
very long, in proportion as affection has been sincere. No
man knew this better than Dr Johnson.
We went into the church, and looked at the monument
erected by Mr Young to his father. Mr Young mentioned an anecdote, that his father had received several
thousand pounds of subscription-money for his " Universal




210


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Passion," but had lost it in the South Sea.1 Dr Johnson
thought this must be a mistake; for he had never seen a
subscription-book.
Upon the road we talked of the uncertainty of profit
with which authors and booksellers engage in the publication of literary works. JOHNSON " My judgment I have
found is no certain rule as to the sale of a book."
BOSWELL   "Pray, Sir, have you been much plagued with
authors sending you their works to revise?" JOHNSON:
"No, Sir; I have been thought a sour, surly fellow."
BOSWELL "Very lucky for you, Sir,-in that respect."
I must however observe, that notwithstanding what he
now said, which he no doubt imagined at the time to be
the fact, there was, perhaps, no man who more frequently
yielded to the solicitations even of very obscure authors,
to read their manuscripts, or more liberally assisted them
with advice and correction.
He found himself very happy at Squire Dilly's, where
there is always abundance of excellent fare, and hearty
welcome.
On Sunday, June 3, we all went to Southill church,
which is very near to Mr Dilly's house. It being the
first Sunday of the month, the holy sacrament was
administered, and I stayed to partake of it. When I came
afterwards into Dr. Johnson's room, he said, "You did
right to stay and receive the communion; I had not
thought of it." This seemed to imply that he did not
choose to approach the altar without a previous preparation, as to which good men entertain different opinions,
some holding that it is irreverent to partake of that
ordinance without considerable premeditation; others, that
whoever is a sincere Christian, and in a proper frame of
mind to discharge any other ritual duty of our religion,
may, without scruple, discharge this most solemn one. A
middle notion I believe to be the just one, which is, that
communicants need not think a long train of preparatory
1 This assertion is disproved by a comparison of dates. The
first four satires of Young were published in 1725: the South
Sea scheme (which appears to be meant) was in 1720. Malone.




ADVICE TO BOSWELL


217


forms indispensably necessary; but neither should they
rashly and lightly venture upon so awful and mysterious
an institution. Christians must judge each for himself
what degree of retirement and self-examination is necessary
upon each occasion.
Being in a frame of mind which, I hope for the felicity
of human nature, many experience,-in fine weather,-at
the country-house of a friend,-consoled and elevated by
pious exercises, I expressed myself with an unrestrained
fervour to my "guide, philosopher, and friend- " "My
dear Sir, I would fain be a good man; and I am very good
now. I fear GOD, and honour the King, I wish to do no
ill, and to be benevolent to all mankind." He looked at
me with a benignant indulgence, but took occasion to
give me wise and salutary caution. " Do not, Sir, accustom
yourself to trust to impressions. There is a middle state
of mind between conviction and hypocrisy, of which many
are conscious. By trusting to impressions, a man may
gradually come to yield to them, and at length be subject
to them, so as not to be a free agent, or what is the same
thing in effect, to suppose that he is not a free agent. A
man who is in that state, should not be suffered to live;
if he declares he cannot help acting in a particular way,
and is irresistibly impelled, there can be no confidence in
him, no more than in a tiger. But, Sir, no man believes
himself to be impelled irresistibly; we know that he who
says he believes it, lies. Favourable impressions at particular
moments, as to the state of our souls, may be deceitful
and dangerous. In general no man can be sure of his
acceptance with GOD; some, indeed, may have had it
revealed to them. St. Paul, who wrought miracles, may
have had a miracle wrought on himself, and may have
obtained supernatural assurance of pardon, and mercy, and
beatitude; yet St. Paul, though he expresses strong hope,
also expresses fear, lest having preached to others, he himself should be a cast-away."
The opinion of a learned bishop of our acquaintance, as
to there being merit in religious faith, being mentioned:JOHNSON   "Why, yes, Sir, the most licentious man, were




2 I 8


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


hell open before him, would not take the most beautiful
strumpet to his arms. We must, as the Apostle says, live
by faith, not by sight."
I talked to him of original sin,' in consequence of the
fall of man, and of the atonement made by our SAVIOUR.
After some conversation, which he desired me to remember,
he, at my request, dictated to me as follows.
" With respect to original sin, the inquiry is not necessary; for
whatever is the cause of human corruption, men are evidently and
confessedly so corrupt, that all the laws of heaven and earth are
insufficient to restrain them from crimes.
" Whatever difficulty there may be in the conception of
vicarious punishments, it is an opinion which has had possession
of mankind in all ages. There is no nation that has not used the
practice of sacrifices. Whoever, therefore, denies the propriety of
vicarious punishments, holds an opinion which the sentiments and
practice of mankind have contradicted, from the beginning of the
world. The great sacrifice for the sins of mankind was offered at
the death of the MESSIAH, who is called in Scripture ' The Lamb
of GOD, that taketh away the sins of the world.' To judge of
the reasonableness of the scheme of redemption, it must be considered as necessary to the government of the universe, that GOD
should make known his perpetual and irreconcilable detestation of
moral evil. He might indeed punish, and punish only the offenders;
but as the end of punishment is not revenge of crimes, but propagation of virtue, it was more becoming the Divine clemency to
find another manner of proceeding, less destructive to man, and at
least equally powerful to promote goodness. The end of punishment is to reclaim and warn. That punishment will both reclaim
1 Dr. Ogden, in his second sermon "On the Articles of the
Christian Faith," with admirable acuteness thus addresses the
opposers of that doctrine, which accounts for the confusion, sin,
and misery, which we find in this life. " It would be severe in
GOD, you think, to degrade us to such a sad state as this, for the
offence of our first parents but you can allow him to p/ace us in
it without any inducement. Are our calamities lessened for not
being ascribed to Adam? If your condition be unhappy, is it not
still unhappy, whatever was the occasion? with the aggravation
of this reflection, that if it was as good as it was at first designed,
there seems to be somewhat the less reason to look for its
amendment." B.




ORIGINAL SIN


2I9


and warn, which shews evidently such abhorrence of sin in GOD,
as may deter us from it, or strike us with dread of vengeance
when we have committed it. This is effected by vicarious punishment. Nothing could more testify the opposition between the
nature of GOD and moral evil, or more amply display his justice,
to men and angels, to all orders and successions of beings, than
that it was necessary for the highest and purest nature, even for
DIVINITY itself, to pacify the demands of vengeance, by a painful
death; of which the natural effect will be, that when justice is
appeased, there is a proper place for the exercise of mercy; and
that such propitiation shall supply in some degree, the imperfections
of our obedience, and the inefficacy of our repentance  for,
obedience and repentance, such as we can perform, are still
necessary. Our SAVIOUR has told us, that he did not come to
destroy the law but to fulfil to fulfil the typical law, by the
performance of what those types had foreshewn; and the moral
law, by precepts of greater purity and higher exaltation."
Here he said, "GOD bless you with it."      I acknowledged myself much obliged to him; but I begged that he
would go on as to the propitiation being the chief object
of our most holy faith. He then dictated this one other
paragraph
"The peculiar doctrine of Christianity is, that of an universal
sacrifice, and perpetual propitiation. Other prophets only proclaimed the will and the threatenings of GOD. CHRIST satisfied
his justice."
The Reverend Mr Palmer,' Fellow of Queen's College,
1 This unfortunate person, whose full name was Thomas
Fysche Palmer, afterwards went to Dundee in Scotland, where
he officiated as minister to a congregation of the sect who call
themselves Unitarians, from a notion that they distinctively worship
ONE GOD, because they deny the mysterious doctrine of the
TRINITY. They do not advert that the great body of the
Christian Church in maintaining that mystery, maintain also the
Unity of the GODHEAD; the "TRINITY in UNITY!-three persons and ONE GOD." The Church humbly adores the DIVINITY
as exhibited in the holy Scriptures. The Unitarian sect vainly
presumes to comprehend and define the ALMIGHTY. Mr. Palmer
having heated his mind with political speculations, became so
much dissatisfied with our excellent constitution, as to compose,




220


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Cambridge, dined with us. He expressed a wish that a
better provision were made for parish clerks.  JOHNSON'
" Yes, Sir, a parish clerk should be a man who is able to
make a will, or write a letter for any body in the parish."
I mentioned Lord Monboddo's notion that the ancient
Egyptians, with all their learning, and all their arts, were
not only black, but woolly-haired. Mr Palmer asked
how did it appear upon examining the mummies? Dr.
Johnson approved of this test.
Although upon most occasions I never heard a more
strenuous advocate for the advantages of wealth than Dr.
Johnson, he this day, I know not from what caprice, took
the other side. "I have not observed," said he, "that
men of very large fortunes enjoy any thing extraordinary
that makes happiness. What has the Duke of Bedford?
What has the Duke of Devonshire? The only great
instance that I have ever known of the enjoyment of
wealth was, that of Jamaica Dawkins, who going to visit
Palmyra, and hearing that the way was infested by robbers,
hired a troop of Turkish horse to guard him."
Dr Gibbons, the Dissenting minister, being mentioned,
he said, " I took to Dr. Gibbons." And addressing himself to Mr. Charles Dilly, added, "I shall be glad to see
him. Tell him if he'll call on me, and dawdle over a
dish of tea in an afternoon, I shall take it kind."
The Reverend Mr Smith, Vicar of Southill, a very
respectable man, with a very agreeable family, sent an
publish, and circulate writings, which were found to be so seditious
and dangerous, that upon being found guilty by a jury, the Court
of Justiciary in Scotland sentenced him to transportation for
fourteen years. A loud clamour against this sentence was made
by some Members of both Houses of Parliament; but both
Houses approved of it by a great majority; and he was conveyed
to the settlement for convicts in New South Wales. B.
He died on his return from Botany Bay, in the year I803.
Malone. Dr Hill shews from the Ann. Reg- for 1793 that
Palmer's sentence was seven, not fourteen years. His colleague,
Muir, an advocate, was sentenced to the longer term.
I Taken from Herodotus. B.




MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION


221


invitation to us to drink tea. I remarked Dr. Johnson's
very respectful politeness.  Though always fond of
changing the scene, he said, " We must have Mr. Dilly's
leave. We cannot go from your house, Sir, without
your permission." We all went, and were well satisfied
with our visit. I however remember nothing particular,
except a nice distinction which Dr. Johnson made with
respect to the power of memory, maintaining that forgetfulness was a man's own fault. "To remember and to
recollect," said he, "are different things. A man has
not the power to recollect what is not in his mind; but
when a thing is in his mind he may remember it."
The remark was occasioned by my leaning back on a
chair, which a little before I had perceived to be broken,
and pleading forgetfulness as an excuse. " Sir," said he,
"its being broken was certainly in your mind."
When I observed that a housebreaker was in general
very timorous-JOHNsoN ~ "No wonder, Sir; he is
afraid of being shot getting into a house, or hanged
when he has got out of it."
He told us, that he had in one day written six sheets
of a translation from the French; adding  "I should be
glad to see it now  I wish that I had copies of all the
pamphlets written against me, as it is said Pope had.
Had I known that I should make so much noise in the
world, I should have been at pains to collect them. I
believe there is hardly a day in which there is not something about me in the newspapers."
On Monday, June 4, we all went to Luton Hoo, to see
Lord Bute's magnificent seat, for which I had obtained a
ticket. As we entered the park, I talked in a high style
of my old friendship with Lord Mountstuart, and said, " I
shall probably be much at this place." The Sage, aware
of human vicissitudes, gently checked me: "Don't you
be too sure of that." He made two or three peculiar
observations; as when shewn the botanical garden, "Is
not every garden a botanical garden?" When told that
there was a shrubbery to the extent of several miles
"That is making a very foolish use of the ground; a




222


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


little of it is very well." When it was proposed that we
should walk on the pleasure-ground; "Don't let us
fatigue ourselves. Why should we walk there? Here's
a fine tree, let's get to the top of it." But upon the
whole, he was very much pleased. He said: "This is
one of the places I do not regret having come to see.
It is a very stately place, indeed; in the house magnificence is not sacrificed to convenience, nor convenience to
magnificence. The library is very splendid; the dignity
of the rooms is very great; and the quantity of pictures
is beyond expectation, beyond hope."
It happened without any previous concert, that we
visited the seat of Lord Bute upon the King's birthday;
we dined and drank his Majesty's health at an inn in the
village of Luton.
In the evening I put him in mind of his promise to
favour me with a copy of his celebrated letter to the Earl
of Chesterfield, and he was at last pleased to comply
with this earnest request, by dictating it to me from his
memory, for he believed that he himself had no copy.
There was an animated glow in his countenance while he
thus recalled his high-minded indignation.
He laughed heartily at a ludicrous action in the Court
of Session, in which I was counsel. The Society of Procurators, or Attorneys, entitled to practise in the inferior
courts at Edinburgh, had obtained a royal charter, in
which they had taken care to have their ancient designation
of Procurators changed into that of Solicitors from a
notion, as they supposed, that it was more genteel. And
this new title they displayed by a public advertisement for
a General Meeting at their HALL.
It has been said that the Scottish nation is not distinguished for humour; and, indeed, what happened on
this occasion may in some degree justify the remark; for
although this society had contrived to make themselves a
very prominent object for the ridicule of such as might
stoop to it, the only joke to which it gave rise, was the
following paragraph, sent to the newspaper called "The
Caledonian Mercury":




A SCOTCH LIBEL CASE


223


" A correspondent informs us, that the Worshipful Society of
Chaldeans, Cadies, or Running-Stationers of this city are resolved,
in imitation, and encouraged by the singular success of their
brethren, of an equally respectable Society, to apply for a Charter
of their Privileges, particularly of the sole privilege of PROCURING,
in the most extensive sense of the word, exclusive of chairmen,
porters, penny-post men, and other inferior ranks; their brethren
the R-Y-L     S-LL ----RS, alias P-c-RS, before the INFERIOR
Courts of this City, always excepted.
"Should the Worshipful Society be successful, they are farther
resolved not to be puffed up thereby, but to demean themselves
with more equanimity and decency than their Royal, learned, and
very modest brethren above mentioned have done, upon their late
dignification and exaltation."
A majority of the members of the Society prosecuted
Mr. Robertson, the publisher of the paper, for damages,
and the first judgment of the whole Court very wisely
dismissed the action     Solventur risu tabulhe, tu missus
abibis. But a new trial or review was granted upon a
petition, according to the forms in Scotland. This petition
I was engaged to answer, and Dr. Johnson, with great
alacrity, furnished me this evening with what follows
"All injury is either of the person, the fortune, or the fame.
Now it is a certain thing, it is proverbially known, that a jest
breaks no bones. They never have gained half-a-crown less in the
whole profession since this mischievous paragraph has appeared;
and, as to their reputation, what is their reputation but an
instrument of getting money?   If, therefore, they have lost
no money, the question upon reputation may be answered by
a very old position,-De mintmis non curat Prator.
" Whether there was, or was not, an animus injuriandi, is not
worth inquiring, if no injuria can be proved. But the truth is,
there was no animus injuriandi. It was only an animus irritandi,'
which happened to be exercised upon a genus irritabile produced
unexpected violence of resentment. Their irritability arose only
from an opinion of their own importance, and their delight in
their new exaltation. What might have been borne by a Procurator could not be borne by a Solicitor. Your Lordships well
1 Mr. Robertson altered this word to jocandi, he having found
in Blackstone that to irritate is actionable. B.




224


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


know that honores mutant mores. Titles and dignities play strongly
on the fancy. As a madman is apt to think himself grown
suddenly great, so he that grows suddenly great is apt to borrow
a little from the madman. To co-operate with their resentment
would be to promote their frenzy; nor is it possible to guess to
what they might proceed, if to the new title of Solicitor should
be added the elation of victory and triumph.
"We consider your Lordships as the protectors of our rights,
and the guardians of our virtues; but believe it not included in
your high office, that you should flatter our vices, or solace our
vanity; and, as vanity only dictates this prosecution, it is humbly
hoped your Lordships will dismiss it.
"If every attempt, however light or ludicrous, to lessen another's
reputation, is to be punished by a judicial sentence, what punishment can be sufficiently severe for him who attempts to diminish
the reputation of the Supreme Court of Justice by reclaiming upon
a cause already determined, without any change in the state of the
question? Does it not imply hopes that the judges will change
their opinion? Is not uncertainty and inconstancy in the highest
degree disreputable to a Court? Does it not suppose, that the
former judgment was temerarious or negligent?  Does it not
lessen the confidence of the public? Will it not be said, that
jus est aut incognitum, aut vagum? and will not the consequence
be drawn, misera est servitus?  Will not the rules of action be
obscure? Will not he who knows himself wrong to-day, hope
that the Courts of Justice will think him right to-morrow?
Surely, my Lords, these are attempts of dangerous tendency,
which the solicitors, as men versed in the law, should have
foreseen and avoided. It was natural for an ignorant printer to
appeal from the Lord Ordinary; but from lawyers, the descendants
of lawyers, who have practised for three hundred years, and have
now raised themselves to a higher denomination, it might be
expected, that they should know the reverence due to a judicial
determination: and, having been once dismissed, should sit down
in silence."
I am ashamed to mention, that the Court, by a plurality
of voices, without having a single additional circumstance
before them, reversed their own judgment, made a serious
matter of this dull and foolish joke, and adjudged Mr
Robertson to pay to the Society five pounds, (sterling
money) and costs of suit. The decision will seem strange
to English lawyers.
On Tuesday, June 5, Johnson was to return to London.




OF PRETTY WOMEN


225


He was very pleasant at breakfast; I mentioned a friend
of mine having resolved never to marry a pretty woman.
JOHNSON   "Sir, it is a very foolish resolution to resolve
not to marry a pretty woman. Beauty is of itself very
estimable. No, Sir, I would prefer a pretty woman,
unless there are objections to her A pretty woman may
be foolish; a pretty woman may be wicked; a pretty
woman may not like me. But there is no such danger in
marrying a pretty woman as is apprehended; she will not
be persecuted if she does not invite persecution. A pretty
woman, if she has a mind to be wicked, can find a readier
way than another; and that is all."
I accompanied him in Mr. Dilly's chaise to Shefford,
where, talking of Lord Bute's never going to Scotland,
he said  "As an Englishman, I should wish all the Scotch
gentlemen should be educated in England; Scotland would
become a province; they would spend all their rents in
England." This is a subject of much consequence, and
much delicacy. The advantage of an English education
is unquestionably very great to Scotch gentlemen of talents
and ambition; and regular visits to Scotland, and perhaps
other means, might be effectually used to prevent them
from being totally estranged from their native country,
any more than a Cumberland or Northumberland gentleman, who has been educated in the south of England. I
own, indeed, that it is no small misfortune for Scotch
gentlemen, who have neither talents nor ambition, to be
educated in England, where they may be perhaps distinguished only by a nickname, lavish their fortune in
giving expensive entertainments to those who laugh at
them, and saunter about as mere idle insignificant
hangers-on even upon the foolish great; when if they
had been judiciously brought up at home, they might
have been comfortable and creditable members of
society.
At Shefford I had another affectionate parting from my
revered friend, who was taken up by the Bedford coach
and carried to the metropolis. I went with Messieurs
Dilly to see some friends at Bedford; dined with the


IIl.


Q




226


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


officers of the militia of the county, and next day
proceeded on my journey.
"TO BENNET LANGTON, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
" How welcome your account of yourself and your invitation
to your new house was to me, I need not tell you, who consider
our friendship not only as formed by choice, but as matured by
time. We have been now long enough acquainted to have many
images in common, and therefore to have a source of conversation
which neither the learning nor the wit of a new companion can
supply.
"My 'Lives' are now published; and if you will tell me
whither I shall send them, that they may come to you, I will take
care that you shall not be without them.
"You will, perhaps, be glad to hear, that Mrs. Thrale is
disencumbered of her brewhouse; and that it seemed to the
purchaser so far from an evil, that he was content to give for it a
hundred and thirty-five thousand pounds. Is the nation ruined?
"Please to make my respectful compliments to Lady Rothes,
and keep me in the memory of all the little dear family, particularly
Mrs. Jane. I am, Sir, your affectionate humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"Bolt Court, June 16, 1781."
Johnson's charity to the poor was uniform and extensive, both from inclination and principle. He not only
bestowed liberally out of his own purse, but what is more
difficult as well as rare, would beg from others, when he
had proper objects in view. This he did judiciously as
well as humanely. Mr Philip Metcalfe tells me, that
when he has asked him for some money for persons in
distress, and Mr. Metcalfe has offered what Johnson
thought too much, he insisted on taking less, saying,
"No, no, Sir; we must not pamper them."
I am indebted to Mr. Malone, one of Sir Joshua
Reynolds's executors, for the following note, which was
found among his papers after his death, and which, we
may presume, his unaffected modesty prevented him from
communicating to me with the other letters from Dr.
Johnson with which he was pleased to furnish me.




SAXON ANTIQUITIES


227


However slight in itself, as it does honour to that
illustrious painter, and most amiable man, I am happy to
introduce it.
" TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.
"DEAR SIR,
" IT was not before yesterday that I received your splendid
benefaction. To a hand so liberal in distributing, I hope nobody
will envy the power of acquiring. I am, dear Sir, your obliged
and most humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"June 23, 1781 "
< TO THOMAS ASTLE, ESQ.
"SIR,
"I AM ashamed that you have been forced to call so often
for your books, but it has been by no fault on either side. They
have never been out of my hands, nor have I ever been at home
without seeing you; for to see a man so skilful in the antiquities
of my country, is an opportunity of improvement not willingly to
be missed.
"Your notes on Alfred1 appear to me very judicious and
accurate, but they are too few. Many things familiar to you are
unknown to me, and to most others; and you must not think too
favourably of your readers; by supposing them knowing, you will
leave them ignorant. Measure of land, and value of money, it is
of great importance to state with care. Had the Saxons any gold
coin?
"I have much curiosity after the manners and transactions of
the middle ages, but have wanted either diligence or opportunity,
or both. You, Sir, have great opportunities, and I wish you
both diligence and success. I am, Sir, &c.,
"SAM JOHNSON.
"July 17, I78I."
The following curious anecdote I insert in Dr. Burney's
own words.
"Dr. Burney related to Dr. Johnson the partiality which his
1 The Will of King Alfred, alluded to in this letter, from the
original Saxon in the library of Mr. Astle, has been printed at the
expense of the University of Oxford. B. For Astle see Vol. I.
p. 1o6, note.




228


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


writings had excited in a friend of Dr. Burney's, the late Mr.
Bewley, well known in Norfolk by the name of the Philosopher of
Massingham: who, from    the ' Ramblers' and 'Plan' of his
Dictionary, and long before the author's fame was established by
the Dictionary itself, or any other work, had conceived such a
reverence for him, that he earnestly begged Dr. Burney to give
him the cover of his first letter he had received from him, as a
relic of so estimable a writer. This was in 1755. In 1760, when
Dr. Burney visited Dr. Johnson at the Temple in London, where
he had then chambers, he happened to arrive there before he was
up; and being shewn into the room where he was to breakfast,
finding himself alone, he examined the contents of the apartment,
to try whether he could undiscovered steal any thing to send to his
friend Bewley, as another relic of the admirable Dr. Johnson.
But finding nothing better to his purpose, he cut some bristles off
his hearth-broom, and enclosed them in a letter to his country
enthusiast, who received them with due reverence. The Doctor
was so sensible of the honour done him by a man of genius and
science, to whom he was an utter stranger, that he said to Dr.
Burney 'Sir, there is no man possessed of the smallest portion
of modesty, but must be flattered with the admiration of such a
man. I'll give him a set of my " Lives," if he will do me the
honour to accept of them.' In this he kept his word; and Dr.
Burney had not only the pleasure of gratifying his friend with a
present more worthy of his acceptance than the segment from the
hearth-broom, but soon after introducing him to Dr. Johnson
himself in Bolt Court, with whom he had the satisfaction of
conversing a considerable time, not a fortnight before his death;
which happened in St. Martin's Street, during his visit to Dr.
Burney, in the house where the great Sir Isaac Newton had lived
and died before."
In one of his little memorandum-books is the following
minute:
"August 9, 3 p.m. atat. 72, in the summer-house at Streatham.
"After innumerable resolutions formed and neglected, I have
retired hither, to plan a life of greater diligence, in hope that I
may yet be useful, and be daily better prepared to appear before
my Creator and my Judge, from whose infinite mercy I humbly
call for assistance and support.
"My purpose is,
"To pass eight hours every day in some serious employment.
" Having prayed, I purpose to employ the next six weeks upon
the Italian language for my settled study."




AUTUMN HOLIDAYS, 1781


229


How venerably pious does he appear in these moments
of solitude, and how spirited are his resolutions for the
improvement of his mind, even in elegant literature, at a
very advanced period of life, and when afflicted with many
complaints.
In autumn he went to Oxford, Birmingham, Lichfield,
and Ashbourne, for which very good reasons might be
given in the conjectural yet positive manner of writers,
who are proud to account for every event which they
relate. He himself, however, says, "( The motives of my
journey I hardly know; I omitted it last year, and am not
willing to miss it again." (Prayers and Meditations, 201 )
But some good considerations arise, amongst which is the
kindly recollection of Mr Hector, surgeon of Birmingham.
" Hector is likewise an old friend, the only companion of
my childhood that passed through the school with me.
We have always loved one another; perhaps we may be
made better by some serious conversation, of which however I have no distinct hope."
He says too, " At Lichfield, my native place, I hope to
shew a good example by frequent attendance on public
worship."
My correspondence with him during the rest of this
year was, I know not why, very scanty, and all on my side.
I wrote him one letter to introduce Mr Sinclair (now Sir
John), the Member for Caithness, to his acquaintance;
and informed him in another, that my wife had again been
affected with alarming symptoms of illness.
IN I782, his complaints increased, and the history of his
life this year is little more than a mournful recital of the
variations of his illness, in the midst of which, however, it
will appear from his letters, that the powers of his mind
were in no degree impaired.
" TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"I siT down to answer your letter on the same day in
which I received it, and am pleased that my first letter of the year




230


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


is to you. No man ought to be at ease while he knows himself in
the wrong; and I have not satisfied myself with my long silence.
The letter relating to Mr. Sinclair, however, was, I believe, never
brought.
" My health has been tottering this last year: and I can give no
very laudable account of my time. I am always hoping to do
better than I have ever hitherto done.
"( My journey to Ashbourne and Staffordshire was not pleasant;
for what enjoyment has a sick man visiting the sick?-Shall we
ever have another frolic like our journey to the Hebrides?
" I hope that dear Mrs. Boswell will surmount her complaints;
in losing her you will lose your anchor, and be tossed, without
stability, by the waves of life.' I wish both her and you very
many years, and very happy.
" For some months past, I have been so withdrawn from the
world, that I can send you nothing particular. All your friends,
however, are well, and will be glad of your return to London. I
am, dear Sir, yours most affectionately,
"SAM. JOHNSON.: January 5, 1782."
At a time when he was less able than he had once been
to sustain a shock, he was suddenly deprived of Mr.
Levett, which event he thus communicated to Dr.
Lawrence.
"SIR,
" OUR old friend, Mr. Levett, who was last night eminently
cheerful, died this morning. The man who lay in the same room,
hearing an uncommon noise, got up and tried to make him speak,
but without effect. He then called Mr. Holder, the apothecary,
who, though when he came, he thought him dead, opened a vein,
but could draw no blood. So has ended the long life of a very
useful and very blameless man. I am, Sir, your most humble
servant,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"January 17, 1782."
In one of his memorandum-books in my possession, is
the following entry --
1 The proof of this has been proved by sad experience. B.
Mrs. Boswell died June 4, 1789. Malone.




DEATH OF LEVETT


231


c January tfo, Sunday. Robert Levett was buried in the
churchyard of Bridewell, between one and two in the afternoon.
He died on Thursday 17, about seven in the morning, by an
instantaneous death. He was an old and faithful friend; I have
known him from about 46. Commendavi. May GOD have mercy
on him. May he have mercy on me."
Such was Johnson's affectionate regard for Levett,1 that
he honoured his memory with the following pathetic
verses:"CONDEMN'D to Hope's delusive mine,
As on we toil from day to day,
By sudden blast or slow decline
Our social comforts drop away.
Well try'd through many a varying year,
See LEVETr to the grave descend;
Officious, innocent, sincere,
Of every friendless name the friend.
Yet still he fills affection's eye,
Obscurely wise, and coarsely kind,
Nor, letter'd Arrogance,' deny
Thy praise to merit unrefin'd.
When fainting Nature call'd for aid,
And hov'ring Death prepar'd the blow,
His vigorous remedy display'd
The power of art without the show.
In Misery's darkest caverns known,
His ready help was ever nigh,
Where hopeless Anguish pour'd his groan,
And lonely Want retir'd to die.3
1 See an account of him in The Gentleman's Magazine, Feb.
1785. B.
2 In both editions of Sir John Hawkins's Lif of Dr. 7ohnson,
"letter'd ignorance " is printed. B.
3 Johnson repeated this line to me thus:
"C And Labour steals an hour to die."
But he afterwards altered it to the present reading. B.




232


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


No summons mock'd by chill delay,
No petty gains disdain'd by pride;
The modest wants of every day
The toil of every day supply'd.
His virtues walk'd their narrow round,
Nor made a pause, nor left a void;
And sure the eternal Master found
His single talent well employ'd.
The busy day, the peaceful night,
Unfelt, uncounted, glided by;
His frame was firm, his powers were bright,
Though now his eightieth year was nigh.
Then, with no throbs of fiery pain,
No cold gradations of decay,
Death broke at once the vital chain,
And freed his soul the nearest way."
In one of Johnson's registers of this year, there occurs
the following curious passage   "Jan. 20.   The Ministry
is dissolved. I prayed with Francis, and gave thanks."
(Prayers and Meditations, 209.)   It has been the subject
of discussion, whether there are two distinct particulars
mentioned here? Or that we are to understand the
giving of thanks to be in consequence of the dissolution of
the Ministry? In support of the last of these conjectures
may be urged his mean opinion of that Ministry, which
has frequently appeared in the course of this work; and it
is strongly confirmed by what he said on the subject to
Mr Seward -" I am glad the Ministry is removed.
Such a bunch of imbecility never disgraced a country. If
they sent a messenger into the City to take up a printer,
the messenger was taken up instead of the printer, and
committed by the sitting alderman. If they sent one army
to the relief of another, the first army was defeated and
taken before the second arrived. I will not say that what
they did was always wrong; but it was always done at a
wrong time."'
1 Boswell has misquoted the date, which should be March 20.
Lord North's Administration was superseded by Lord Rockingham's
Qn March I9. Croker,




A MELANCHOLY HOUSEHOLD


233


"TO MRS. STRAHAN.
"DEAR MADAM,
" MRS. WILLIAMS shewed me your kind letter  This little
habitation is now but a melancholy place, clouded with the gloom
of disease and death. Of the four inmates, one has been suddenly
snatched away; two are oppressed by very afflictive and dangerous
illness; and I tried yesterday to gain some relief by a third bleeding, from a disorder which has for some time distressed me, and I
think myself to-day much better.
"I am glad, dear Madam, to hear that you are so far recovered
as to go to Bath. Let me once more entreat you to stay till your
health is not only obtained, but confirmed. Your fortune is such
as that no moderate expense deserves your care; and you have a
husband, who, I believe, does not regard it. Stay, therefore, till
you are quite well. I am, for my part, very much deserted; but
complaint is useless. I hope GOD will bless you, and I desire you
to form the same wish for me. I am, dear Madam, your most
humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"February 4, 1782."
"TO EDMOND MALONE, ESQ.
"SIR,
" I HAVE for many weeks been so much out of order, that
I have gone out only in a coach to Mrs. Thrale's, where I can
use all the freedom that sickness requires. Do not, therefore, take
it amiss, that I am not with you and Dr. Farmer. I hope hereafter to see you often. I am, Sir, your most humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"Feb. 27, 1772."
" TO THE SAME.
"DEAR SIR,
" I HOPE I grow better, and shall soon be able to enjoy the
kindness of my friends. I think this wild adherence to Chatterton1
1 This note was in answer to one which accompanied one of the
earliest pamphlets on the subject of Chatterton's forgery, entitled
Cursory Observations on the Poems attributed to Thomas Rowley, &c.
Mr. Thomas Warton's very able Inquiry appeared about three
months afterwards: and Mr Tyrwhitt's admirable Vindication of
his Appendix, in the summer of the same year, left the believers in
his daring imposture nothing but "the resolution to say again




234


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


more unaccountable than the obstinate defence of Ossipn. In
Ossian there is a national pride, which may be forgiven, though it
cannot be applauded. In Chatterton there is nothing but the
resolution to say again what has once been said. I am, Sir, your
humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"March 2, 1782."
These short letters shew the regard which Dr. Johnson
entertained for Mr Malone, who the more he is known is
the more highly valued. It is much to be regretted that
Johnson was prevented from sharing the elegant hospitality
of that gentleman's table, at which he would in every
respect have been fully gratified. Mr. Malone, who has
so ably succeeded him as an editor of Shakespeare, has, in
his preface, done great and just honour to Johnson's
memory.
"TO MRS. LUCY PORTER, IN LICHFIELD.
"DEAR MADAM,
" I WENT away from Lichfield ill, and have had a troublesome time with my breath; for some weeks I have been
disordered by a cold, of which I could not get the violence abated,
till I had been let blood three times. I have not, however, been
so bad but that I could have written, and am sorry that I neglected it.
"My dwelling is but melancholy; both Williams, and Desmoulins, and myself, are very sickly: Frank is not well; and poor
Levett died in his bed the other day, by a sudden stroke; I
suppose not one minute passed between health and death; so
uncertain are human things.
"Such is the appearance of the world about me; I hope your
scenes are more cheerful. But whatever befalls us, though it is
what had been said before." Daring, however, as this fiction was,
and wild as was the adherence to Chatterton, both were greatly
exceeded in 1795 and the following year, by a still more audacious
imposture, and the pertinacity of one of its adherents, who has
immortalized his name by publishing a bulky volume, of which the
direct and manifest object was, to prove the authenticity of certain
papers attributed to Shakespeare, after the fabricator o the spurious trash had publicly acknowledged the imposture! Malone.
An allusion to the forgeries of W. H. Ireland. Croker,




ILL-HEA LTH


235


wise to be serious, it is useless and foolish, and perhaps sinful, to
be gloomy. Let us, therefore, keep ourselves as easy as we can;
though the loss of friends will be felt, and poor Levett had been a
faithful adherent for thirty years.
"Forgive me, my dear love, the omission of writing; I hope to
mend that and my other faults. Let me have your prayers.
"Make my compliments to Mrs. Cobb, and Miss Adey, and
Mr. Pearson, and the whole company of my friends. I am, my
dear, your most humble servant,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, March 2, I 782."
"TO THE SAME.
"DEAR MADAM,
" My last was but a dull letter, and I know not that this
will be much more cheerful; I am, however, willing to write,
because you are desirous to hear from me.
" My disorder has now begun its ninth week, for it is not yet
over. I was last Thursday blooded for the fourth time, and have
since found myself much relieved, but I am very tender and easily
hurt; so that since we parted I have had but little comfort, but l
hope that the spring will recover me; and that in the summer I
shall see Lichfield again, for I will not delay my visit another year
to the end of autumn.
"I have, by advertising, found poor Mr. Levett's brothers in
Yorkshire, who will take the little he has left: it is but little, yet
it will be welcome, for I believe they are of very low condition.
"1 To be sick, and to see nothing but sickness and death, is but a
gloomy state; but I hope better times, even in this world, will
come, and whatever this world may withhold or give, we shall be
happy in a better state. Pray for me, my dear Lucy.
"Make my compliments to Mrs. Cobb, and Miss Adey, and
my old friend, Hetty Bailey, and to all the Lichfield ladies. I am,
dear Madam, yours affectionately,
a"SAM4. JOHNSON.
"Bolt Court, Fleet Street,
"March 19, 1782."
On the day on which this letter was written, he thus
feelingly mentions his respected friend, and physician, Dr.
Lawrence:
"Poor Lawrence has almost lost the sense of hearing; and I
have lost the conversation of a learned, intelligent, and comtnuni



236


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


cative companion, and a friend whom long familiarity has much
endeared. Lawrence is one of the best men whom I have known.
'Nostrum omnium miserere Deus.'" (Prayers and Meditations, 207.)
It was Dr Johnson's custom when he wrote to Dr.
Lawrence concerning his own health, to use the Latin
language. I have been favoured by Miss Lawrence with
one of these letters as a specimen
"T. LAWRENCIO, Medico, S.
"Novum frigus, nova tussis, nova spirandi difficultas, novam sanguinis missionem suadent, quam tamen te inconsulto nolim fieri. Ad te
venire vix possum, nec est cur ad me venias. Licere vel non licere uno
verbo dicendum est; catera mihi et Holdero1 reliqueris. Si per te
licet, imperatur nuncio Holderum ad me deducere.
" Mails Calendis, 1782.
c" Postquam tu discesseris, quo me vertam? " 2
1 Mr. Holder, in the Strand, Dr. Johnson's apothecary. B.
2 " Fresh cold, renewed cough, and an increased difficulty of
breathing; all suggest a further letting of blood, which however
I do not choose to have done without your advice. I cannot well
come to you, nor is there any occasion for your coming to me.
You may say in one word, yes or no, and leave the rest to Holder
and me. If you consent the messenger will bring Holder to me.
When you shall be gone, whither shall I turn myself? " Croker.
See Macaulay's review of Croker's first edition. This translation,
as it now stands, is one of many proofs how greatly Croker and
his work profited by Macaulay's criticisms.
Soon after the above letter, Dr. Lawrence left London, but not
before the palsy had made so great a progress as to render him
unable to write for himself. The following are extracts from
letters addressed by Dr Johnson to one of his daughters. " You
will easily believe with what gladness I read that you had heard
once again that voice to which we have all so often delighted to
attend. May you often hear it. If we had his mind, and his
tongue, we could spare the rest." " I am not vigorous, but much
better than when dear Dr. Lawrence held my pulse the last time.
Be so kind as to let me know, from one little interval to another,
the state of his body  I am pleased that he remembers me, and
hope that it never can be possible for me to forget him. July 22,
I782."   "I am much delighted even with the small advances




LETTER TO LANGTON


237


CCTO CAPTAIN LANGTON1 IN ROCHESTER.
cc DEAR SIR,
' IT is now long since we saw one another; and, whatever has been the reason, neither you have written to me, nor I to
you. To let friendship die away by negligence and silence, is
certainly not wise. It is voluntarily to throw away one of the
greatest comforts of this weary pilgrimage, of which when it is, as
it must be, taken finally away, he that travels on alone, will wonder how his esteem could be so little. Do not forget me; you
see that I do not forget you. It is pleasing in the silence of solitude to think, that there is one at least, however distant, of whose
benevolence there is little doubt, and whom there is yet hope of
seeing again.
"Of my life, from the time we parted, the history is mournful.
The spring of last year deprived me of Thrale, a man whose eye
for fifteen years had scarcely been turned upon me but with
respect or tenderness; for such another friend the general course
of human things will not suffer man to hope. I passed the
summer at Streatham, but there was no Thrale; and having idled
away the summer with a weakly body and neglected mind, I
made a journey to Staffordshire on the edge of winter. The
season was dreary, I was sickly, and found the friends sickly whom
I went to see. After a sorrowful sojourn, I returned to a habitation
possessed for the present by two sick women, where my dear old
which dear Dr. Lawrence makes towards recovery. If we could
have again but his mind, and his tongue in his mind, and his right
hand, we should not much lament the rest. I should not despair
of helping the swelled hand by electricity, if it were frequently
and diligently supplied. Let me know from time to time whatever happens; and I hope I need not tell you, how much I am
interested in every change. Aug. 26, 1782."  "Though the
account with which you favoured me in your last letter could not
give me the pleasure that I wished, yet I was glad to receive it;
for my affection to my dear friend makes me desirous of knowing
his state, whatever it be. I beg, therefore, that you continue to
let me know, from time to time, all that you observe. Many fits
of severe illness have, for about three months past, forced my kind
physician often upon my mind. I am now better; and hope
gratitude, as well as distress, can be a motive to remembrance.
Bolt Court, Fleet Street, Feb. 4, 1783." B.
1 Mr. Langton being at this time on duty at Rochester, he is
addressed by his military title. B.




238


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


friend, Mr. Levett, to whom, as he used to tell me, I owe your
acquaintance, died a few weeks ago, suddenly in his bed; there
passed not, I believe, a minute between health and death. At
night, as at Mrs. Thrale's, I was musing in my chamber, I thought
with uncommon earnestness, that however I might alter all my
mode of life, or whithersoever I might remove, I would endeavour to retain Levett about me; in the morning my servant
brought me word that Levett was called to another state, a state
for which, I think, he was not unprepared, for he was very useful
to the poor. How much soever I valued him, I now wish that I
had valued him more.
" I have myself been ill more than eight weeks of a disorder,
from which, at the expense of about fifty ounces of blood, I hope
I am now recovering.
" You, dear Sir, have, I hope, a more cheerful scene; you see
George fond of his book, and the pretty misses airy and lively,
with my own little Jenny equal to the best: and in whatever
can contribute to your quiet or pleasure, you have Lady Rothes
ready to concur. May whatever you enjoy of good be increased,
and whatever you suffer of evil be diminished. I am, dear Sir,
your humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"Bolt Court, Fleet Street,
"March 20, I782."
"TO MR. HECTOR, IN BIRMINGHAM.1
"DEAR SIR,
" I HOPE I do not very grossly flatter myself to imagine
that you and dear Mrs. Careless [Vol. II. p. 205] will be glad to hear
some account of me. I performed the journey to London with
very little inconvenience, and came safe to my habitation, where
I found nothing but ill health, and, of consequence, very little
cheerfulness. I then went to visit a little way into the country
where I got a complaint by a cold which has hung eight weeks
upon me, and from which I am, at the expense of fifty ounces of
blood, not yet free. I am afraid I must once more owe my recovery
to warm weather, which seems to make no advances towards us.
"Such is my health, which will, I hope, soon grow better.
In other respects I have no reason to complain. I know not that
I have written any thing more generally commended than the
1 A part of this letter having been torn off, I have, from the
evident meaning, supplied a few words and half words at the ends
and beginning of lines. B.




LETTERS TO MR. HECTOR


239


< Lives of the Poets'; and have found the world willing enough to
caress me, if my health had invited me to be in much company;
but this season I have been almost wholly employed in nursing
myself.
"( When summer comes I hope to see you again, and will not
put off my visit to the end of the year. I have lived so long in
London, that I did not remember the difference of seasons.
"Your health, when I saw you, was much improved. You
will be prudent enough not to put it in danger. I hope, when
we meet again, we shall congratulate each other upon fair
prospects of longer life; though what are the pleasures of the
longest life when placed in comparison with a happy death? I
am, dear Sir, yours most affectionately,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, March 21, 1782."
C TO THE SAME.
[Without a date, but supposed to be about this time.]
"DEAR SIR,
"THAT you and dear Mrs. Careless should have care or
curiosity about my health, gives me that pleasure which every
man feels from finding himself not forgotten.  In age we feel
again that love of our native place and our early friends, which
in the bustle or amusements of middle life were overborne and
suspended. You and I should now naturally cling to one another
we have outlived most of those who could pretend to rival us in
each other's kindness. In our walk through life we have dropped
our companions, and are now to pick up such as chance may
offer us, or to travel on alone. You, indeed, have a sister, with
whom you can divide the day  I have no natural friend left; but
Providence has been pleased to preserve me from neglect; I have
not wanted such alleviations of life as friendship could supply.
My health has been, from my twentieth year, such as has seldom
afforded me a single day of ease; but it is at least not worse: and
I sometimes make myself believe that it is better. My disorders
are, however, still sufficiently oppressive.
i( I think of seeing Staffordshire again this autumn, and intend
to find my way through Birmingham, where I hope to see you
and dear Mrs. Careless well. I am, Sir, your affectionate friend,
" SAM. JOHNSON."
I wrote to him   at different dates; regretted that I
could not come to London this spring, but hoped we




240


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


should meet somewhere in the summer; mentioned the
state of my affairs, and suggested hopes of some preferment; informed him, that as " The Beauties of Johnson "
had been published in London, some obscure scribbler
had  published   at Edinburgh, what he      called "The
Deformities of Johnson."
" TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
" DEAR SIR,
<( THE pleasure which we used to receive from each other
on Good Friday and Easter Day, we must be this year content
to miss. Let us, however, pray for each other, and hope to see
one another yet from time to time with mutual delight. My
disorder has been a cold, which impeded the organs of respiration,
and kept me many weeks in a state of great uneasiness; but by
repeated phlebotomy it is now relieved; and next to the recovery
of Mrs. Boswell, I flatter myself that you will rejoice at
mine.
" What we shall do in the summer it is yet too early to consider.
You want to know what you shall do now; I do not think this
time of bustle and confusion like to produce any advantage to
you.  Every man has those to reward and gratify who have
contributed to his advancement.  To come hither with such
expectations at the expense of borrowed money, which, I find,
you know not where to borrow, can hardly be considered prudent.
am sorry to find, what your solicitations seem to imply, that
you have already gone the whole length of your credit. This is
to set the quiet of your whole life at hazard. If you anticipate
your inheritance, you can at last inherit nothing; all that you
receive must pay for the past. You must get a place, or pine in
penury, with the empty name of a great estate. Poverty, my
dear friend, is so great an evil, and pregnant with so much
temptation and so much misery, that I cannot but earnestly
enjoin you to avoid it. Live on what you have; live if you can
on less; do not borrow either for vanity or pleasure; the vanity
will end in shame, and the pleasure in regret stay therefore at
home till you have saved money for your journey hither.
" The Beauties of Johnson' are said to have got money to
the collector; if 'The Deformities' have the same success, I shall
be still a more extensive benefactor.
"Make my compliments to Mrs. Boswell, who is, I hope,
reconciled to me; and to the young people, whom I have never
offended.




A MISINTERPRETATION


241


"You never told me the success of your plea against the
solicitors. I am, dear Sir, your most affectionate,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, March 28, 1782."
Notwithstanding his afflicted state of body and mind
this year, the following correspondence affords a proof
not only of his benevolence and conscientious readiness
to relieve a good man from error, but by his clothing
one of the sentiments in his "Rambler" in different
language, not inferior to that of the original, shews his
extraordinary command of clear and forcible expression.
A clergyman at Bath wrote to him, that in "The
Morning Chronicle," a passage in "The Beauties of
Johnson," article DEATH, had been pointed out as supposed by some readers to recommend suicide, the words
being, "To die is the fate of man; but to die with
lingering anguish is generally his folly;" and respectfully
suggesting to him, that such an erroneous notion of any
sentence in the writings of an acknowledged friend of
religion and virtue, should not pass uncontradicted.
Johnson thus answered the clergyman's letter:
"TO THE REVEREND MR., AT BATH.
" SIR,
"' BEING now in the country in a state of recovery, as I
hope, from a very oppressive disorder, I cannot neglect the
acknowledgment of your Christian letter. The book called 'The
Beauties of Johnson,' is the production of I know not whom;
I never saw it but by casual inspection, and considered myself as
utterly disengaged from its consequences. Of the passage you
mention, I remember some notice in some paper; but knowing
that it must be misrepresented, I thought of it no more, nor do
I know where to find it in my own books. I am accustomed
to think little of newspapers; but an opinion so weighty and
serious as yours has determined me to do, what I should without
your seasonable admonition have omitted: and I will direct my
thought to be shewn in its true state.1  If I could find the
1 What follows, appeared in The Morning Chronicle of May
29, 1782.-" A correspondent having mentioned, in The Morning
Chronicle of December 12, the last clause of the following
III.                                          I




242


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


passage I would direct you to it. I suppose the tenor is this --
'Acute diseases are the immediate and inevitable strokes of
Heaven; but of them the pain is short, and the conclusion
speedy; chronical disorders, by which we are suspended in tedious
torture between life and death, are commonly the effect of our
own misconduct and intemperance. To die, &c.'-This, Sir,
you see is all true and all blameless. I hope some time in the
next week to have all rectified. My health has been lately much
shaken; if you favour me with any answer, it will be a comfort
to me to know that I have your prayers. I am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"May 15, 1782."
This letter, as might be expected, had its full effect,
and the clergyman acknowledged it in grateful and
pious terms.'
The following letters require no extracts from mine to
introduce them:
"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
" THE earnestness and tenderness of your letter is such,
that I cannot think myself shewing it more respect than it claims
by sitting down to answer it on the day on which I received it.
" This year has afflicted me with a very irksome and severe
disorder. My respiration has been much impeded, and much
blood has been taken away. I am now harassed by a catarrhous
paragraph, as seeming to favour suicide; we are requested to
print the whole passage, that its true meaning may appear, which
is not to recommend suicide but exercise, Exercise cannot secure
us from that dissolution to which we are decreed; but while the
soul and body continue united, it can make the association pleasing,
and give probable hopes that they shall be disjoined by an easy
separation.  It was a principle among the ancients, that acute
diseases are from Heaven, and chronical from ourselves; the dart
of death, indeed, falls from Heaven, but we poison it by our
own misconduct to die is the fate of man; but to die with
lingering anguish is generally his folly-" B. The passage is in
No. 85 of The Rambler. Croker.
1 The correspondence may be seen at length in The Gentleman's
Magazine, Feb. 1786. B.




DEBT A CALAMITY


243


cough, from which my purpose is to seek relief by change of air;
and I am, therefore, preparing to go to Oxford.
"Whether I did right in dissuading you from coming to
London this spring, I will not determine. You have not lost
much time by missing my company; I lhave scarcely been well
for a single week. I might have received comfort from your
kindness; but you would have seen me afflicted, and, perhaps,
found me peevish. Whatever might have been your pleasure
or mine, I know not how I could have honestly advised you to
come hither with borrowed money. Do not accustom yourself
to consider debt only as an inconvenience; you will find it a
calamity. Poverty takes away so many means of doing good,
and produces so much inability to resist evil, both natural and
moral, that it is by all virtuous means to be avoided. Consider a
man whose fortune is very narrow; whatever be his rank by
birth, or whatever his reputation by intellectual excellence, what
can he do? or what evil can he prevent? That he cannot help
the needy is evident; he has nothing to spare. But, perhaps, his
advice or admonition may be useful. His poverty will destroy his
influence: many more can find that he is poor, than that he is
wise. and few will reverence the understanding that is of so little
advantage to its owner. I say nothing of the personal wretchedness of a debtor, which, however, has passed into a proverb. Of
riches it is not necessary to write the praise. Let it, however, be
remembered, that he who has money to spare, has it always in his
power to benefit others; and of such power a good man must
always be desirous.
" I am pleased with your account of Easter.1 We shall meet,
I hope, in autumn, both well and both cheerful; and part each
the better for the other's company
"Make my compliments to Mrs. Boswell, and to the young
charmers. I am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, June 3, 1782."
"TO MR. PERKINS.
"DEAR SIR,
"I AM much pleased that you are going a very long
journey, which may by proper conduct restore your health and
prolong your life.
1 Which I celebrated in the Church-of-England chapel at
Edinburgh, founded by Lord Chief Baron Smith of respectable
and pious memory. B.




244


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


" Observe these rules:
" I. Turn all care out of your head as soon as you mount the
chaise.
" 2. Do not think about frugality; your health is worth more
than it can cost.
" 3. Do not continue any day's journey to fatigue.
"4. Take now and then a day's rest.
"5. Get a smart sea-sickness, if you can.
"6. Cast away all anxiety, and keep your mind easy<This last direction is the principal; with an unquiet mind,
neither exercise, nor diet, nor physic, can be of much use.
"I wish you, dear Sir, a prosperous journey, and a happy
recovery. I am, dear Sir, your most affectionate humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"July 28, 1782."
"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
DEAR SIR,
"BEING uncertain whether I should have any call this
autumn into the country, I did not immediately answer your
kind letter. I have no call; but if you desire to meet me at
Ashbourne, I believe I can come thither; if you had rather come
to London, I can stay at Streatham: take your choice.
" This year has been very heavy. From the middle of January
to the middle of June I was battered by one disorder after another!
I am now very much recovered, and hope still to be better.
What happiness it is that Mrs. Boswell has escaped.
"My' Lives ' are reprinting, and I have forgotten the author
of Gray's character;1 write immediately, and it may be perhaps
yet inserted.
" Of London or Ashbourne you have your free choice: at any
place I shall be glad to see you. I am, dear Sir, yours, &c.,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"August 24, 1782."
On the 3oth of August, I informed him that my
honoured father had died that morning; a complaint
under which he had long laboured having suddenly come
to a crisis while I was upon a visit at the seat of Sir
Charles Preston, from whence I had hastened the day
before, upon receiving a letter by express.
1 The Reverend Mr. Temple, Vicar of St. Gluvias, Cornwall. B.




DEATH OF BOSWELL'S FATHER


245


" TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
" I HAVE struggled through this year with so much
infirmity of body, and such strong impressions of the fragility
of life, that death, whenever it appears, fills me with melancholy;
and I cannot hear without emotion, of the removal of any one,
whom I have known, into another state.
" Your father's death had every circumstance that could enable
you to bear it; it was at a mature age, and it was expected; and
as his general life had been pious, his thoughts had doubtless for
many years past been turned upon eternity. That you did not
find him sensible must doubtless grieve you; his disposition
towards you was undoubtedly that of a kind, though not of a
fond father. Kindness, at least actual, is in our power, but
fondness is not; and if by negligence or imprudence you had
extinguished his fondness, he could not at will rekindle it.
Nothing then remained between you but mutual forgiveness of
each other's faults, and mutual desire of each other's happiness.
"I shall long to know his final disposition of his fortune.
"You, dear Sir, have now a new station, and have therefore
new cares, and new employments. Life, as Cowley seems to say,
ought to resemble a well-ordered poem; of which one rule
generally received is, that the exordium should be simple, and
should promise little.  Begin your new course of life with the
least show, and the least expense possible: you may at pleasure
increase both, but you cannot easily diminish them. Do not
think your estate your own, while any man can call upon you
for money which you cannot pay; therefore, begin with timorous
parsimony. Let it be your first care not to be in any man's debt.
A" When the thoughts are extended to a future state, the present
life seems hardly worthy of all those principles of conduct, and
maxims of prudence, which one generation of men has transmitted to another; but upon a closer view, when it is perceived
how much evil is produced, and how much good is impeded by
embarrassment and distress, and how little room the expedients of
poverty leave for the exercise of virtue, it grows manifest that the
boundless importance of the next life enforces some attention to
the interest of this.
"Be kind to the old servants, and secure the kindness of the
agents and factors; do not disgust them by asperity, or unwelcome gaiety, or apparent suspicion. From them you must
learn the real state of your affairs, the characters of your
tenants, and the value of your lands.
" Make my compliments to Mrs. Boswell; I think her expecta



246


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


tions from air and exercise are the best that she can form. I
hope she will live long and happily.
"I forgot whether I told you that Rasay has been here; we
dined cheerfully together. I entertained lately a young gentleman
from Corrichatachin.
"I received your letters only this morning. I am, dear Sir,
yours, &c.,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
" London, Sept. 7, 1782."
In answer to my next letter, I received one from him,
dissuading me from hastening to him as I had proposed;
what is proper for publication is the following paragraph,
equally just and tender:
" One expense, however, I would not have you to spare; let
nothing be omitted that can preserve Mrs. Boswell, though it
should be necessary to transplant her for a time into a softer
climate. She is the prop and stay of your life. How much
must your children suffer by losing her."
My wife was now so much convinced of his sincere
friendship for me, and regard for her, that, without any
suggestion on my part, she wrote him a very polite, and
grateful Jetter
" DR. JOHNSON TO MRS. BOSWELL.
"DEAR LADY,
" I HAVE not often received so much pleasure as from your
invitation to Auchinleck.  The journey thither and back is,
indeed, too great for the latter part of the year; but if my health
were fully recovered, I would suffer no little heat and cold, nor a
wet or a rough road to keep me from you. I am, indeed, not
without hope of seeing Auchinleck again; but to make it a
pleasant place I must see its lady well, and brisk, and airy. For
my sake, therefore, among many greater reasons, take care, dear
Madam, of your health, spare no expense, and want no attendance that can procure ease, or preserve it. Be very careful to
keep your mind quiet; and do not think it too much to give an
account of your recovery to, Madam, yours, &c.,
" SAM. JOHNSON,
"London, Sept. 7, 1782."




BOSWELL'S JEALOUSIES


247


D"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"HAVING passed almost this whole year in a succession of
disorders, I went in October to Brighthelmstone, whither I came
in a state of so much weakness, that I rested four times in walking between the inn and the lodging. By physic and abstinence
I grew better, and am now reasonably easy, though at a great
distance from health. I am afraid, however, that health begins,
after seventy, and long before, to have a meaning different from
that which it had at thirty. But it is culpable to murmur at the
established order of the creation, as it is vain to oppose it; he that
lives, must grow old; and he that would rather grow old than die,
has GOD to thank for the infirmities of old age.
" At your long silence I am rather angry. You do not, since
now you are the head of your house, think it worth your while
to try whether you or your friend can live longer without writing,
nor suspect that after so many years of friendship, that, when I
do not write to you, I forget you. Put all such useless jealousies
out of your head, and disdain to regulate your own practice by the
practice of another, or by any other principle than the desire of
doing right.
"Your economy, I suppose, begins now to be settled; your
expenses are adjusted to your revenue, and all your people in
their proper places. Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have,
spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it
certainly destroys liberty, and it makes some virtues impracticable,
and others extremely difficult.
"Let me know the history of your life, since your accession
to your estate. How many houses, how many cows, how much
land in your own hand, and what bargains you make with your
tenants.
"Of my 'Lives of the Poets,' they have printed a new edition
in octavo, I hear, of three thousand. Did I give a set to Lord
Hailes? If I did not, I will do it out of these. What did you
make of all your copy?
" Mrs. Thrale and the three Misses are now for the winter in
Argyll Street. Sir Joshua Reynolds has been out of order, but is
well again; and I am, dear Sir, your affectionate humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, Dec. 7, I 782."




248


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


"TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON.
< Edinburgh, Dec. 20, I782.
DEAR SIR,
" I WAS made happy by your kind letter, which gave us
the agreeable hopes of seeing you in Scotland again.
"I am much flattered by the concern you are pleased to take
in my recovery. I am better, and hope to have it in my power
to convince you by my attention, of how much consequence I
esteem your health to the world and to myself. I remain, Sir,
with grateful respect, your obliged and obedient servant,
"MARGARET BOSWELL."
The death of Mr Thrale had made a very material
alteration with respect to Johnson's reception in that
family. The manly authority of the husband no longer
curbed the lively exuberance of the lady; and as her
vanity had been fully gratified, by having the Colossus of
Literature attached to her for many years, she gradually
became less assiduous to please him. Whether her attachment to him was already divided by another object, I
am unable to ascertain. but it is plain that Johnson's
penetration was alive to her neglect or forced attention;
for on the 6th of October this year, we find him making
a "parting use of the library" at Streatham, and pronouncing a prayer which he composed on leaving Mr.
Thrale's family.
"Almighty GOD, Father of all mercy, help me by thy grace,
that I may, with humble and sincere thankfulness, remember the
comforts and conveniences which I have enjoyed at this place;
and that I may resign them with holy submission, equally trusting
un thy protection when Thou givest, and when Thou takest away.
Have mercy upon me, O LORD, have mercy upon me.
"To thy fatherly protection, O LORD, I commend this family.
Bless, guide, and defend them, that they may so pass through
this world, as finally to enjoy in thy presence everlasting happiness,
for JESUS CHRIST'S sake. Amen." (Prayers and Meditations, 214.)
One cannot read this prayer, without some emotions not
very favourable to the lady whose conduct occasioned it.




FAREWELL TO STREATHAM


249


In one of his memorandum-books I find "Sunday,
went to church at Streatham. Templo valedixi cum
osculo."
He met Mr Philip Metcalfe often at Sir Joshua
Reynolds's, and other places, and was a good deal with
him at Brighthelmstone this autumn, being pleased at
once with his excellent table and animated conversation.
Mr. Metcalfe shewed him great respect, and sent him a
note that he might have the use of his carriage whenever
he pleased. Johnson (3rd October 1782) returned this
polite answer:-" Mr. Johnson is very much obliged by
the kind offer of the carriage, but he has no desire of
using Mr. Metcalfe's carriage, except when he can have
the pleasure of Mr Metcalfe's company." Mr Metcalfe
could not but be highly pleased that his company was
thus valued by Johnson, and he frequently attended him
in airings. They also went together to Chichester, and
they visited Petworth, and Cowdray, the venerable seat
of the Lords Montacute.1    "Sir," said Johnson, "I
should like to stay here four-and-twenty hours. We see
here how our ancestors lived."
That his curiosity was still unabated, appears from two
letters to Mr. John Nichols, of the loth and 20th of
October this year. In one he says, "I have looked into
your 'Anecdotes,' and you will hardly thank a lover of
literary history for telling you that he has been much
informed and gratified. I wish you would add your own
discoveries and intelligence to those of Dr. Rawlinson,
and undertake the supplement to Wood. Think of it."
In the other, "I wish, Sir, you could obtain some fuller
information of Jortin, Markland, and Thirlby. They
were three contemporaries of great eminence."
1 An interesting account of Cowdray, which was burned in the
same month in which its owner, the last of his line, was drowned
in Switzerland, will be found in that pleasant book of English
travel, Field Paths and Green Lanes (ch. ix.), by Mr. L. J.
Jennings, M.P.




250


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


"TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.
"DEAR SIR,
" I HEARD yesterday of your late disorder, and should think
ill of myself if I had heard of it without alarm. I heard likewise
of your recovery, which I sincerely wish to be complete and
permanent. Your country has been in danger of losing one of
its brightest ornaments, and I of losing one of my oldest and
kindest friends; but I hope you will still live long, for the honour
of the nation: and that more enjoyment of your elegance, your
intelligence, and your benevolence, is still reserved for, dear Sir,
your most affectionate, &c.,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
" Brighthelmstone, Nov. 14, 1782."
The Reverend Mr Wilson having dedicated to him his
"Archaeological Dictionary," that mark of respect was thus
acknowledged
" TO THE REVEREND MR. WILSON, CLITHEROE, LANCASHIRE.
"REVEREND SIR,," THAT I have long omitted to return you thanks for the
honour conferred upon me by your dedication, I entreat you with
great earnestness not to consider as more faulty than it is. A
very importunate and oppressive disorder has for some time debarred
me from the pleasures, and obstructed me in the duties of life.
The esteem and kindness of wise and good men is one of the
last pleasures which I can be content to lose: and gratitude to
those from whom this pleasure is received, is a duty of which I
hope never to be reproached with the final neglect. I therefore
now return you thanks for the notice which I have received from
you, and which I consider as giving to my name not only more
bulk, but more weight; not only as extending its superficies, but
as increasing its value. Your book was evidently wanted, and
will, I hope, find its way into the school, to which, however, I
do not mean to confine it; for no man has so much skill in
ancient rites and practices as not to want it. As I suppose myself
to owe part of your kindness to my excellent friend, Dr. Patten,
he has likewise a just claim to my acknowledgment, which I hope
you, Sir, will transmit. There will soon appear a new edition
of my Poetical Biography; if you will accept of a copy to
keep me in your mind, be pleased to let me know how it may be




ADVICE TO BOSWELL


251


conveniently conveyed to you. This present is small, but it is
given with good will by, reverend Sir, your most, &c.,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
<c December 31, 1782."
IN 1783, he was more severely afflicted than ever, as
will appear in the course of his correspondence; but still
the same ardour for literature, the same constant piety,
the same kindness for his friends, and the same vivacity,
both in conversation and writing, distinguished him.
Having given Dr. Johnson a full account of what I was
doing at Auchinleck, and particularly mentioned what I
knew would please him,-my having brought an old man
of eighty-eight from a lonely cottage to a comfortable
habitation within my enclosures, where he had good neighbours near to him,-I received an answer in February, of
which I extract what follows:
"I am delighted with your account of your activity at Auchinleck, and wish the old gentleman, whom you have so kindly
removed, may live long to promote your prosperity by his prayers.
You have now a new character and new duties; think on them
and practise them.
" Make an impartial estimate of your revenue, and whatever it
is, live upon less. Resolve never to be poor. Frugality is not
only the basis of quiet, but of beneficence. No man can help
others that wants help himself: we must have enough before we
have to spare.
" I am glad to find that Mrs. Boswell grows well; and hope
that to keep her well, no care nor caution will be omitted. May
you long live happily together.
"When you come hither, pray bring with you Baxter's
Anacreon.' I cannot get that edition in London."
On Friday, March 2I, having arrived in London the
night before, I was glad to find him at Mrs. Thrale's
house, in Argyll Street, appearances of friendship between
them being still kept up. I was shewn into his room,
and after the first salutation, he said, "I am glad you
are come- I am very ill." He looked pale, and was
distressed with a difficulty of breathing: but after the
common inquiries he assumed his usual strong animated




252


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


style of conversation. Seeing me now for the first time
as a Laird, or proprietor of land, he began thus: "Sir,
the superiority of a country-gentleman over the people
upon his estate is very agreeable: and he who says he
does not feel it to be agreeable, lies; for it must be
agreeable to have a casual superiority over those who are
by nature equal with us."  BOSWELL: "Yet, Sir, we see
great proprietors of land who prefer living in London."
JOHNSON- "Why, Sir, the pleasure of living in London,&
the intellectual superiority that is enjoyed there, may
counterbalance the other. Besides, Sir, a man may prefer
the state of the country-gentleman upon the whole, and
yet there may never be a moment when he is willing to
make the change to quit London for it." He said, " It
is better to have five per cent. out of land, than out of
money, because it is more secure; but the readiness of
transfer, and promptness of interest, make many people
rather choose the funds. Nay, there is another disadvantage belonging to land, compared with money. A
man is not so much afraid of being a hard creditor, as
of being a hard landlord."  BOSWELL: '"Because there
is a sort of kindly connexion between a landlord and his
tenants." JOHNSON: " No, Sir. many landlords with us
never see their tenants.  It is because if a landlord drives
away his tenants, he may not get others; whereas the
demand for money is so great, it may always be lent."
He talked with regret and indignation of the factious
opposition to Government at this time, and imputed it in
a great measure to the Revolution. " Sir," said he, in a
low voice, having come nearer to me, while his old
prejudices seemed to be fomenting in his mind, "this
Hanoverian family is isolee here. They have no friends.
Now the Stuarts had friends who stuck by them so late
as 1745   When the right of the king is not reverenced,
there will not be reverence for those appointed by the
king."
His observation that the present royal family has no
friends, has been too much justified by the very ungrateful
behaviour of many who were under great obligations to




DINNER WITH4 MRS. THRALE


253


his Majesty; at the same time there are honourable
exceptions and the very next year after this conversation,
and ever since, the King has had as extensive and generous
support as ever was given to any monarch, and has had
the satisfaction of knowing that he was more and more
endeared to his people.
He repeated to me his verses on Mr. Levett, with an
emotion which gave them full effect; and then he was
pleased to say: "You must be as much with me as you
can. You have done me good. You cannot think how
much better I am, since you came in."
He sent a message to acquaint Mrs. Thrale that I was
arrived. I had not seen her since her husband's death.
She soon appeared, and favoured me with an invitation to
stay to dinner, which I accepted. There was no other
company but herself and three of her daughters, Dr.
Johnson, and I. She too said, she was very glad I was
come, for she was going to Bath, and should have been
sorry to leave Dr Johnson before I came. This seemed
to be attentive and kind; and I who had not been informed of any change, imagined all to be as well as
formerly. He was little inclined to talk at dinner, and
went to sleep after it; but when he joined us in the
drawing-room, he seemed revived, and was again
himself.
Talking of conversation, he said  "There must, in the
first place, be knowledge, there must be materials,-in
the second place, there must be a command of words;in the third place, there must be imagination, to place
things in such views as they are not commonly seen in;and in the fourth place, there must be presence of mind,
and a resolution that it is not to be overcome by failures;
this last is an essential requisite; for want of it many
people do not excel in conversation. Now I want it; I
throw up the game upon losing a trick." I wondered to
hear him talk thus of himself, and said, " I don't know,
Sir, how this may be; but I am sure you beat other
people's cards out of their hands."  I doubt whether
he heard this remark.    While he went on talking




254


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


triumphantly, I was fixed in admiration, and said to
Mrs. Thrale, " 0, for short-hand to take this down! "", You'll carry it all in your head," said she; "a long head
is as good as short-hand."
It has been observed and wondered at, that Mr Charles
Fox never talked with any freedom in the presence of
Dr. Johnson; though it is well knowA, and I myself
can witness, that his conversation is various, fluent, and
exceedingly agreeable. Johnson's own experience, however, of that gentleman's reserve, was a sufficient reason
for his going on thus: "Fox never talks in private
company; not from any determination not to talk, but
because he has not the first motion. A man who is used
to the applause of the House of Commons, has no wish
for that of a private company. A man accustomed to
throw for a thousand pounds, if set down to throw for
sixpence, would not be at the pains to count his dice.
Burke's talk is the ebullition of his mind; he does not
talk from a desire of distinction, but because his mind
is full."
He thus curiously characterized one of our old acquaintance: " [Sheridan] is a good man, Sir; but he is a vain
man and a liar. He, however, only tells lies of vanity;
of victories, for instance, in conversation, which never
happened." This alluded to a story which I had repeated
from that gentleman, to entertain Johnson with its wild
bravado  " This Johnson, Sir," said he, " whom you are
all afraid of, will shrink, if you come close to him in
argument, and roar as loud as he. He once maintained
the paradox, that there is no beauty but in utility. ' Sir,'
said I, ' what say you to the peacock's tail, which is one of
the most beautiful objects in nature, but would have as
much utility if its feathers were all of one colour?' He
felt what I thus produced, and had recourse to his usual
expedient, ridicule. exclaiming, ' A peacock has a tail, and
a fox has a tail;' and then he burst out into a laugh.'Well, Sir,' said I, with a strong voice, looking him
full in the face, ' you have unkennelled your fox; pursue
him if you dare.' He had not a word to say, Sir."




ANTIPATHY TO THE SCOTCH


255


-Johnson told me, that this was fiction from beginning
to end.l
After musing for some time, he said, " I wonder how I
should have any enemies; for I do harm to nobody." 2
BOSWELL. " In the first place, Sir, you will be pleased to
recollect, that you set out with attacking the Scotch; so
you got a whole nation for your enemies." JOHNSON'
"Why, I own, that by my definition of oats I meant to
vex them."    BOSWELL. "Pray, Sir, can you trace the
cause of your antipathy to the Scotch? "  JOHNSON.    I
cannot, Sir."  BOSWELL. "Old Mr Sheridan says, it was
because they sold Charles the First."  JOHNSON ~ "Then,
Sir, old Mr. Sheridan has found out a very good reason."
Surely the most obstinate and sulky rationality, the most
determined aversion to this great and good man, must be
cured when he is seen thus playing with one of his preiudices, of which he candidly admitted that he could not
tell the reason. It was, however, probably owing to his
having had in his view the worst part of the Scottish
nation, the needy adventurers, many of whom he thought
were advanced above their merits by means which he did
not approve. Had he in his early life been ip Scotland,
1 Were I to insert all the stories which have been told of contests boldly maintained with him, imaginary victories obtained
aver him, of reducing him to silence, and of making him own
that his antagonist had the better of him in argument, my
volumes would swell to an immoderate size. One instance, I
find, has circulated both in conversation and in print; that when
he would not allow the Scotch writers to have merit, the late Dr.
Rose, of Chiswick, asserted that he could name one Scotch writer,
whom Dr. Johnson himself would allow to have written better
than any man of the age; and upon Johnson's asking who it was,
answered, "Lord Bute, when he signed the warrant for your
pension."  Upon which, Johnson, struck with the repartee,
acknowledged that this was true. When I mentioned it to Johnson, "Sir," said he, "if Rose said this, I never heard it."  B.
2 This reflection was very natural in a man of a good heart,
who was not conscious of any ill will to mankind, though the
sharp sayings which were sometimes produced by his discrimination
and vivacity, which he perhaps did not recollect, were, I am afraid,
too often remembered with resentment. B.




256


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


and seen the worthy, sensible, independent gentlemen,
who live rationally and hospitably at home, he never could
have entertained such unfavourable and unjust notions of
his fellow-subjects. And accordingly we find, that when
he did visit Scotland in the latter period of his life, he
was fully sensible of all that it deserved, as I have already
pointed out, when speaking of his "Journey to the
Western Islands."
Next day, Saturday, March 22, I found him still at
Mrs. Thrale's, but he told me that he was to go to his
own house in the afternoon. He was better, but I perceived he was an unruly patient, for Sir Lucas Pepys,
who visited him while I was with him said, " If you were
tractable, Sir, I should prescribe for you."
I related to him a remark which a respectable friend
had made to me, upon the then state of Government,
when those who had been long in Opposition had attained
to power, as it was supposed, against the inclination of the
Sovereign. "You need not be uneasy," said this gentleman, "about the King  He laughs at them all; he plays
them one against another."  JOHNSON  "Don't think so,
Sir The King is as much oppressed as a man can be. If
he plays them one against another, he wins nothing."
I had paid a visit to General Oglethorpe in the morning, and was told by him that Dr. Johnson saw company
on Saturday evenings, and he would meet me at Johnson's
that night. When I mentioned this to Johnson, not
doubting that it would please him, as he had a great value
for Oglethorpe, the fretfulness of his disease unexpectedly
shewed itself; his anger suddenly kindled, and he said,
with vehemence, "Did not you tell him not to come?
Am I to be hunted in this manner?"  I satisfied him that
I could not divine that the visit would not be convenient,
and that I certainly could not take it upon me of my own
accord to forbid the General.
I found Dr Johnson in the evening in Mrs. Williams's
room, at tea and coffee with her and Mrs. Desmoulins,
who were also both ill; it was a sad scene, and he was
not in a very good humour. He said of a performance




OF EXAGGERATION


that had lately come out. " Sir, if you should search all
the madhouses in England, you would not find ten men
who would write so, and think it sense."
I was glad when General Oglethorpe's arrival was
announced, and we left the ladies. Dr. Johnson attended
him in the parlour, and was as courteous as ever. The
General said, he was busy reading the writers of the
Middle Age. Johnson said they were very curious.
OGLETHORPE    " The House of Commons has usurped the
power of the nation's money, and used it tyrannically
Government is now carried on by corrupt influence, instead of the inherent right in the king." JOHNSON  " Sir,
the want of inherent right in the king occasions all this
disturbance. What we did at the Revolution was necessary: but it broke our constitution."' OGLETHORPE'
"My father did not think it necessary."
On Sunday, March 23, I breakfasted with Dr Johnson,
who seemed much relieved, having taken opium the night
before. He, however, protested against it, as a remedy
that should be given with the utmost reluctance, and only
in extreme necessity. I mentioned how commonly it was
used in Turkey, and that therefore it could not be so perniclous as he apprehended. He grew warm, and said:
"Turks take opium, and Christians take opium; but
Russel, in his account of Aleppo, tells us, that it is as
disgraceful in Turkey to take too much opium, as it is
with us to get drunk. Sir, it is amazing how things are
exaggerated. A gentleman was lately telling in a company where I was present, that in France as soon as a man
of fashion marries, he takes an opera-girl into keeping,
and this he mentioned as a general custom.  'Pray, Sir,'
1 I have, in my 7ournal of a Tour to the Hebrides, fully expressed my sentiments upon this subject. The Revolution was
necessary, but not a subject for glory; because it for a long time
blasted the generous feelings of loyalty. And now, when by the
benignant effect of time the present Royal Family are established
in our affections, how unwise is it to revive by celebrations the
memory of a shock, which it would surely have been better that
our constitution had not required. B.


IIIll


8




258


130SWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


said I, 'how  many opera-girls may there be?'  He
answered, 'About fourscore.' ' Well then, Sir,' said I,
'you see there can be no more than fourscore men of
fashion who can do this.'"
Mrs. Desmoulins made tea; and she and I talked
before him upon a topic which he had once borne patiently
from me when we were by ourselves,-his not complaining of the world, because he was not called to some great
office, nor had attained to great wealth. He flew into a
violent passion, I confess with some justice, and commanded us to have done: "Nobody," said he, "has a
right to talk in this manner, to bring before a man his
own character, and the events of his life, when he does not
choose it should be done. I never have sought the world,
the world was not to seek me. It is rather wonderful
that so much has been done for me. All the complaints
which are made of the world are unjust. I never knew a
man of merit neglected it was generally by his own fault
that he failed of success. A man may hide his head in a
holes he may go into the country, and publish a book
now and then, which nobody reads, and then complain he
is neglected. There is no reason why any person should
exert himself for a man who has written a good book: he
has not written it for any individual. I may as well make
a present to a postman who brings me a letter  When
patronage was limited, an author expected to find a
Maecenas, and complained if he did not find one. Why
should he complain? This Mxcenas has others as
good as he, or others who have got the start of him."
BOSWELL " But surely, Sir, you will allow that there are
men of merit at the bar, who never get practice." JOHNSON  "Sir, you are sure that practice is got from an
opinion that the person employed deserves it best; so that
if a man of merit at the bar does not get practice, it is
from error, not from injustice. He is not neglected. A
horse that is brought to market may not be bought,
though he is a very good horse; but that is from ignorance, not from intention."
There was in this discourse much novelty, ingenuity,




MERIT AND PROSPERITY


259


and discrimination, such as is seldom to be found. Yet
I cannot help thinking that men of merit, who have no
success in life, may be forgiven for lamenting, if they are
not allowed to complain. They may consider it as hard
that their merit should not have its suitable distinction.
Though there is no intentional injustice towards them on
the part of the world, their merit not having been perceived, they may yet repine against fortune or fate, or by
whatever name they choose to call the supposed mythological power of Destiny. It has, however, occurred to
me as a consolatory thought, that men of merit should
consider thus.-How much harder would it be, if the
same persons had both all the merit and all the prosperity.
Would not this be a miserable distribution for the poor
dunces? Would men of merit exchange their intellectual
superiority, and the enjoyments arising from it, for external distinction and the pleasures of wealth? If they
would not, let them not envy others, who are poor where
they are rich, a compensation which is made to them.
Let them look inwards and be satisfied; recollecting
with conscious pride what Virgil finely says of Corycius
Senex (Georg. iv ), and which I have, in another place,1
with truth and sincerity applied to Mr Burke.
"t Regum xquabat opes animis."
On the subject of the right employment of wealth,
Johnson observed " A man cannot make a bad use of his
money, so far as regards society, if he do not hoard it;
for if he either spends it or lends it out, society has the
benefit. It is in general better to spend money than to
give it away; for industry is more promoted by spending
money than by giving it away A man who spends his
money is sure he is doing good with it * he is not sure
when he gives it away. A man who spends ten thousand
a year will do more good than a man who spends two
thousand and gives away eight."
1 Letter to the People of Scotland against the attempt to diminish the
number of the Lords of Session, 1785. B.




260


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


In the evening I came to him again. He was somewhat fretful from his illness. A gentleman asked him
whether he had been abroad to-day.    "Don't talk so
childishly," said he.  "You may as well ask if I hanged
myself to-day." I mentioned politics. JOHNSON: "Sir,
I'd as soon have a man to break my bones as talk to me
of public affairs, internal or external. I have lived to see
things all as bad as they can be."
Having mentioned his friend, the second Lord Southwell, he said. " Lord Southwell was the highest bred man
without insolence, that I ever was in company with; the
most qualitied I ever saw Lord Orrery was not dignified,
Lord Chesterfield was, but he was insolent. Lord * * * *1
is a man of coarse manners, but a man of abilities and
information. I don't say he is a man I would set at the
head of a nation, though perhaps he may be as good as
the next Prime Minister that comes; but he is a man to
be at the head of a club;-I don't say our CLUB; for
there's no such club."  BOSWELL. "But, Sir, was he not
once a factious man?" JOHNSON' "0 yes, Sir; as factious
a fellow as could be found; one who was for sinking us all
into the mob." BOSWELL: "How then, Sir, did he get
into favour with the King? " JOHNSON "Because, Sir, I
suppose he promised the King to do whatever the King
pleased."
He said    "Goldsmith's blundering speech to Lord
Shelburne, which has been so often mentioned, and which
he really did make to him, was only a blunder in emphasis
-' I wonder they should call your Lordship Malagrida,
for Malagrida was a very good man; '-meant, I wonder
they should use Malagrida as a term of reproach." 2
1 Lord Shelburne, who was now head of the short-lived Ministry
of 1782, with Pitt for his Chancellor of the Exchequer, which
was ousted by the Coalition shortly after this conversation.
2 Malagrida was a Jesuit who was put to death at Lisbon in
1761 on suspicion of having sanctioned, in his capacity of confessor,
an attempt to assassinate King Joseph of Portugal. " His name,"
writes Wraxall in his Memoirs, " is become proverbial among us
to express duplicity." It was first applied to Lord Shelburne in a
squib attributed to Wilkes. Dr. Hill.




'THE VILLAGE'


26i


Soon after this time I had an opportunity of seeing, by
means of one of his friends, a proof that his talents, as well
as his obliging service to authors, were ready as ever. He
had revised " The Village," an admirable poem by the
Reverend Mr Crabbe. Its sentiments as to the false notions
of rustic happiness and rustic virtue, were quite congenial
with his own, and he had taken the trouble not only to
suggest slight corrections and variations, but to furnish
some lines, when he thought he could give the writer's
meaning better than in the words of the manuscript.1
On Sunday, March 30, I found him at home in the
evening, and had the pleasure to meet with Dr. Brocklesby,
whose reading, and knowledge of life, and good spirits,
supply him with a never-failing source of conversation.
He mentioned a respectable gentleman, who became extremely penurious near the close of his life.  Johnson said
there must have been a degree of madness about him.
"Not at all, Sir," said Dr. Brocklesby, "his judgment was
entire." Unluckily however, he mentioned that although
he had a fortune of twenty-seven thousand pounds, he
denied himself many comforts, from an apprehension that
1 I shall give an instance, marking the original by Roman, and
Johnson's substitution in italic characters:
"In fairer scenes, where peaceful pleasures spring,
Tityrus, the pride of Mantuan swains, might sing;
But charmed by him, or smitten with his views,
Shall modern poets court the Mantuan muse?
From Truth and Nature shall we widely stray,
Where Fancy leads, or Virgil led the way?"
" On Mincio's banks, in Caesar's bounteous reign,
If Tityrus found the golden age again,
Must sleepy bards the flattering dream prolong,
Mechanic echoes of the Mantuan song?
From Truth and Nature shall we widely stray,
WYhere Virgil, not where Fancy, leads the way?"
Here we find Johnson's poetical and critical powers undiminished.
I must, however, observe, that the aids he gave to this poem, as to
The Traveller and Deserted Village of Goldsmith, were so small as
by no means to impair the distinguishing merit of the author. B.




262


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


he could not afford them. " Nay, Sir," cried Johnson,
"when the judgment is so disturbed that a man cannot
count, that is pretty well."
I shall here insert a few of Johnson's sayings, without
the formality of dates, as they have no reference to any
particular time or place.
" The more a man extends and varies his acquaintance
the better." This, however, was meant with a just restriction; for he on another occasion said to me, "Sir, a man
may be so much of every thing, that he is nothing of
any thing-'
" Raising the wages of day-labourers is wrong; for it
does not make them live better, but only makes them
idler, and idleness is a very bad thing for human nature."
"It is a very good custom to keep a journal for a man's
own use; he may write upon a card a day all that is necessary
to be written, after he has had experience of life. At first
there is a great deal to be written, because there is a great
deal of novelty; but when once a man has settled his
opinions, there is seldom much to be set down."
" There is nothing wonderful in the Journal which we
see Swift kept in London, for it contains slight topics, and
it might soon be written."
I praised the accuracy of an account-book of a lady
whom I mentioned. JOHNSON: " Keeping accounts, Sir,
is of no use when a man is spending his own money, and
has nobody to whom he is to account. You won't eat
less beef to-day, because you have written down what it
cost yesterday." I mentioned another lady who thought
as he did, so that her husband could not get her to keep
an account of the expense of the family, as she thought it
enough that she never exceeded the sum allowed her.
JOHNSON: "Sir, it is fit she should keep an account,
because her husband wishes it; but I do not see its use."
I maintained that keeping an account had this advantage,
that it satisfies a man that his money has not been lost or
stolen, which he might sometimes be apt to imagine, were
there no written state of his expense; and besides, a
calculation of economy, so as not to exceed one's income,




LORD MANSFIELD


263


cannot be made without a view of the different articles in
figures, that one may see how to retrench in some particulars less necessary than others.  This he did not
attempt to answer.
Talking of an acquaintance of ours, whose narratives,
which abounded in curious and interesting topics, were
unhappily found to be very fabulous; I mentioned Lord
Mansfield's having said to me, "Suppose we believe one
half of what he tells."  JOHNSON ~ "Ay; but we don't
know which half to believe. By his lying we lose not
only our reverence for him, but all comfort in his conversation."  BOSWELL ~ "May we not take it as amusing
fiction?"  JOHNSON: "Sir, the misfortune is, that you
will insensibly believe as much of it as you incline to
believe."
It is remarkable, that notwithstanding their congeniality
in politics, he never was acquainted with a late eminent
noble judge, whom I have heard speak of him as a writer,
with great respect.' Johnson, I know not upon what
degree of investigation, entertained no exalted opinion of
his Lordship's intellectual character. Talking of him to
me one day, he said, "It Is wonderful, Sir, with how little
real superiority of mind men can make an eminent figure
in public life." He expressed himself to the same purpose concerning another law-lord, who, it seems, once took
a fancy to associate with the wits of London; but with so
little success, that Foote said, "What can he mean by
coming among us? He is not only dull himself, but the
cause of dullness in others." Trying him by the test of
his colloquial powers, Johnson had found him very defective.  He once said to Sir Joshua Reynolds, "This
man now has been ten years about town, and has made
nothing of it;" meaning as a companion.2   He said to
1 Lord Mansfield; Boswell using late in the sense of in retirement, for Mansfield was alive when the Life was published, having
retired from the Bench three years before (1788). Dr. Hill.
2 Knowing as well as I do what precision and elegance of
oratory his Lordship can display, I cannot but suspect that his unfavourable appearance in a social circle, which drew such anim



26+       BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON
me, " I never heard any thing from him in company that
was at all striking; and depend upon it, Sir, it is when
you come close to a man in conversation that you discover
what his real abilities are: to make a speech in a public
assembly is a knack. Now I honour Thurlow, Sir;
Thurlow is a fine fellow; he fairly puts his mind to
yours."
After repeating to him some of his pointed, lively
sayings, I said, "It is a pity, Sir, you don't always
remember your own good things, that you may have a
laugh when you will."  JOHNSON. "Nay, Sir, it is better
that I forget them that I may be reminded of them, and
have a laugh on their being brought to my recollection."
When I recalled to him his having said as we sailed
up Loch Lomond, "That if he wore any thing fine, it
should be very fine;" I observed that all his thoughts
were upon a great scale. JOHNSON: "Depend upon it,
Sir, every man will have as fine a thing as he can get;
as large a diamond for his ring."  BOSWELL  "Pardon
me, Sir: a man of a narrow mind will not think of it,
a slight trinket will satisfy him:
'Nec sufferre queat majoris pondera gemmae.'"
(Juv. Sat. i. 29.)
I told him I should send him some "Essays" which
I had written,1 which I hoped he would be so good as
to read, and pick out the good ones. JOHNSON: "Nay,
Sir, send me only the good ones; don't make me pick
them."
I heard him once say, "Though the proverb' Nullum
numen abest, si sit prudentia,' does not always prove true,
adversions upon him, must be owing to a cold affectation of
consequence, from being reserved and stiff. If it be so, and he
might be an agreeable man if he would, we cannot be sorry that
he misses his aim. B. No doubt Lord Loughborough (Wedderburn). Croker.
1 Under the title of "The Hypochondriac."  See Vol. I.
p. 35, note.




BEAUCLERK AND LANGTON


265


we may be certain of the converse of it, Nullum numen
adest, si sit imprudentia."
Once, when Mr. Seward was going to Bath, and asked
his commands, he said, "Tell Dr. Harington that I wish
he would publish another volume of the ' Nuga antique ';'
it is a very pretty book."  Mr. Seward seconded this
wish, and recommended to Dr. Harington to dedicate
it to Johnson, and take for his motto what Catullus says
to Cornelius Nepos:
-  namque tu solebas,
Meas esse aliquid putare NUGAS."
(Od., i. 3.)
As a small proof of his kindliness and delicacy of
feeling, the following circumstance may be mentioned
one evening when we were in the street together, and I
told him I was going to sup at Mr. Beauclerk's, he said,
"I'll go with you."  After having walked part of the
way, seeming to recollect something, he suddenly stopped
and said, "I cannot go,-but I do not love Beauclerk
the less."
On the frame of his portrait Mr. Beauclerk had
inscribed,
"C -   Ingenium ingens
Inculto latet hoc sub corpore."
After Mr. Beauclerk's death, when it became Mr.
Langton's property, he made the inscription be defaced.
Johnson said complacently, "It was kind in you to take
it off;" and then after a short pause added, "and not
unkind in him to put it on."
He said, "How few of his friends' houses would a
man choose to be at when he is sick!"  He mentioned
one or two. I recollect only Thrale's.
He observed * "There is a wicked inclination in most
people to suppose an old man decayed in his intellects.
1 It has since appeared. B. A new and greatly improved
edition of this very curious collection was published by Mr. Park
in i804, in two volumes octavo. Malone.




266


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


If a young or middle-aged man, when leaving a company,
does not recollect where he laid his hat, it is nothing;
but if the same inattention is discovered in an old man,
people will shrug up their shoulders, and say, 'His
memory is going.'"
When I once talked to him of some of the sayings
which every body repeats, but nobody knows where to
find, such as, Quos DEUS vult perdere, prius dementat; 1 he
told me that he was once offered ten guineas to point
out from whence Semel insanivimus omnes was taken. He
could not do it; but many years afterwards met with it
by chance in "Johannes Baptista Mantuanus."
I am very sorry that I did not take a note of an
eloquent argument in which he maintained that the
situation of Prince of Wales was the happiest of any
person's in the kingdom, even beyond that of the
Sovereign. I recollect only-the enjoyment of hope,the high superiority of rank, without the anxious cares
of government,-and a great degree of power, both from
natural influence wisely used, and from the sanguine
expectations of those who look forward to the chance
of future favour
Sir Joshua Reynolds communicated to me the following
particulars
Johnson thought the poems published as translations
from Ossian had so little merit, that he said, "Sir, a
man might write such stuff for ever, if he would abandon
his mind to it."
He said, " A man should pass a part of his time with
the laughers, by which means any thing ridiculous or
particular about him might be presented to his view, and
corrected." I observed, he must have been a bold laugher
who would have ventured to tell Dr. Johnson of any of
his particularities.2
1 The words are probably a rough translation from a fragment
of Euripides. Dr. Hill.
2 I am happy, however, to mention a pleasing instance of his
enduring with great gentleness to hear one of his most striking
particularities pointed out:-Miss Hunter, a niece of his friend




DUKES AND LORDS


267


Having observed the vain ostentatious importance of
many people in quoting the authority of dukes and lords,
as having been in their company, he said, he went to
the other extreme, and did not mention his authority
when he should have done it, had it not been that of a
duke or a lord.
Dr. Goldsmith said once to Dr. Johnson, that he
wished for some additional members to the LITERARY
CLUB, to give it an agreeable variety; "for," said he,
"there can now be nothing new among us; we have
travelled over one another's minds." Johnson seemed a
little angry and said, "Sir, you have not travelled over my
mind, I promise you."   Sir Joshua, however, thought
Goldsmith right, observing that  "When people have
lived a great deal together, they know what each of them
will say on every subject. A new understanding, therefore, is desirable; because though it may only furnish
the same sense upon a question which would have been
furnished by those with whom we are accustomed to live,
yet this sense will have a different colouring; and
colouring is of much effect in every thing else as well
as in painting."
Johnson used to say that he made it a constant rule
to talk as well as he could both as to sentiment and
expression, by which means, what had been originally
effort became familiar and easy.  The consequence of
this, Sir Joshua observed, was, that his common conversation in all companies was such as to secure him
universal attention, as something above the usual colloquial
style was expected.
Yet, though Johnson had this habit in company, when
another mode was necessary, in order to investigate truth,
he could descend to a language intelligible to the meanest
Christopher Smart, when a very young girl, struck by his
extraordinary motions, said to him, " Pray, Dr. Johnson, why do
you make such strange gestures? " —" From bad habit,' he
replied. "Do you, my dear, take care to guard against bad
habits." This I was told by the young lady's brother at
Margate. B.




268


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


capacity.  An instance of this was witnessed by Sir
Joshua Reynolds, when they were present at an examination of a little blackguard boy by Mr. Saunders Welch,
the late Westminster Justice. Welch, who imagined that
he was exalting himself in Dr. Johnson's eyes by using
big words, spoke in a manner that was utterly unintelligible to the boy; Dr. Johnson perceiving it, addressed
himself to the boy, and changed the pompous phraseology
into colloquial language. Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was
much amused by this procedure, which seemed a kind of
reversing of what might have been expected from the
two men, took notice of it to Dr. Johnson, as they
walked away by themselves. Johnson said that it was
continually the case; and that he was always obliged to
translate the justice's swelling diction (smiling) so that
his meaning might be understood by the vulgar, from
whom information was to be obtained.
Sir Joshua once observed to him that he had talked
above the capacity of some people with whom they had
been in company together.  "No matter, Sir," said Johnson; "they consider it as a compliment to be talked to,
as if they were wiser than they are. So true is this, Sir,
that Baxter made it a rule in every sermon that he
preached, to say something that was above the capacity
of his audience."'
Johnson's dexterity in retort, when he seemed to be
driven to an extremity by his adversary, was very remarkable. Of his power in this respect, our common friend,
Mr. Windham of Norfolk, has been pleased to furnish
me with an eminent instance. However unfavourable to
Scotland, he uniformly gave liberal praise to George
Buchanan, as a writer  In a conversation concerning the
literary merits of the two countries, in which Buchanan
1 The justness of this remark is confirmed by the following
story, for which I am indebted to Lord Elliot: A country parson,
who was remarkable for quoting scraps of Latin in his sermons,
having died, one of his parishioners was asked how he liked his
successor; "He is a very good preacher," was his answer, "but
no latiner." B.




SCOTCH AND ENGLISH


269


was introduced, a Scotchman, imagining that on this
ground he should have an undoubted triumph over him,
exclaimed, "Ah, Dr. Johnson, what would you have said
of Buchanan, had he been an Englishman?"-" Why,
Sir," said Johnson after a little pause, " I should not have
said of Buchanan, had he been an Englishman, what I will
now say of him as a Scotchman,-that he was the only man
of genius his country ever produced."
And this brings to my recollection another instance of
the same nature. I once reminded him that when Dr.
Adam Smith was expatiating on the beauty of Glasgow,
he had cut him short by saying, "Pray, Sir, have you
ever seen Brentford?" and I took the liberty to add,
"My dear Sir, surely that was shocking "-"  Why, then,
Sir," he replied, " You have never seen Brentford."
Though his usual phrase for conversation was talk, yet
he made a distinction; for when he once told me that he
dined the day before at a friend's house, with "a very
pretty company;" and I asked him if there was good
conversation, he answered, " No, Sir, we had talk enough,
but no conversation; there was nothing discussed."
Talking of the success of the Scotch in London, he
imputed it in a considerable degree to their spirit of
nationality.  "You know, Sir," said he, "that no Scotchman publishes a book, or has a play brought upon the
stage, but there are five hundred people ready to applaud
him."
He gave much praise to his friend, Dr. Burney's elegant
and entertaining travels, and told Mr. Seward that he had
them in his eye, when writing his "Journey to the Western
Islands of Scotland."
Such was his sensibility, and so much was he affected
by pathetic poetry, that when he was reading Dr. Beattie's
"Hermit," in my presence, it brought tears into his
eyes.'
He disapproved much of mingling real facts with fiction.
1 The particular passage which excited the strong emotion, was,
as I have heard from my father, the third stanza, "'Tis night,"
&c. 7. Boswell, jun.




270


BOSWELL'S LIFE OP JOHNSON


On this account he censured a book entitled " Love and
Madness." 1
Mr. Hoole told him, he was born in Moorfields, and
had received part of his early instruction in Grub Street.
"Sir," said Johnson smiling, "you have been regularly
educated." Having asked who was his instructor, and
Mr. Hoole having answered, " My uncle, Sir, who was a
tailor;" Johnson, recollecting himself, said, " Sir, I knew
him; we called him the metaphysical tailor. He was of a
club in Old Street, with me and George Psalmanazar, and
some others. but pray, Sir, was he a good tailor?"  Mr.
Hoole having answered that he believed he was too
mathematical, and used to draw squares and triangles on
his shop-board, so that he did not excel in the cut of a
coat; — " I am sorry for it," said Johnson, "for I would
have every man to be master of his own business."
In pleasant reference to himself and Mr. Hoole, as
brother authors, he often said, "Let you and I, Sir, go
together, and eat a beef-steak in Grub Street."
Sir William Chambers, that great architect 2 whose works
shew a sublimity of genius, and who is esteemed by all
who know him, for his social, hospitable, and generous
qualities, submitted  the manuscript of his "Chinese
Architecture" to Dr. Johnson's perusal. Johnson was
much pleased with it, and said, "It wants no addition
nor correction, but a few lines of introduction;" which
he furnished, and Sir William adopted.8
1 Love and Madness was written by the Rev. Sir Herbert
Croft, author of the "Life of Young" in the Lives of the Poets.
It purports to be a correspondence between Hackman and Miss
Ray (see p. 70).  Its only interest lies in the fact that the
strange story of Chatterton's life and death was first published
in it.
2 The Honourable Horace Walpole, late Earl of Orford, thus
bears testimony to this gentleman's merit as a writer: "Mr.
Chambers's Treatise on Civil Architecture is the most sensible book,
and the most exempt from prejudices, that ever was written on
that science." Preface to Anecdotes of Painting in England. B.
3 The introductory lines are these  "It is difficult to avoid
praising, too little or too much. The boundless panegyrics which




EXECUTIONS


271


He said to Sir William   Scott: "The age is running
mad after innovation; and all the business of the world
is to be done in a new way; men are to be hanged in a
new way; Tyburn itself is not safe from the fury of
innovation." It having been argued that this was an
improvement.-" No, Sir," said he, eagerly, "it is not an
improvement; they object, that the old method drew
together a number of spectators. Sir, executions are internded to draw spectators. If they do not draw spectators
they don't answer their purpose. The old method was
most satisfactory to all parties; the public was gratified
by a procession; the criminal was supported by it. Why
is all this to be swept away? " I perfectly agree with Dr.
Johnson upon this head, and am persuaded that executions
now, the solemn procession being discontinued, have not
nearly the effect which they formerly had. Magistrates,
both in London and elsewhere, have, I am afraid, in this
had too much regard to their own ease.
Of Dr. Hurd, Bishop of Worcester, Johnson said to a
friend,-" Hurd, Sir, is one of a set of men who account
for every thing systematically; for instance, it has been a
fashion to wear scarlet breeches; these men would tell
you that, according to causes and effects, no other wear
could at that time have been chosen." He, however, said
of him at another time to the same gentleman, "Hurd,
Sir, is a man whose acquaintance is a valuable acquisition."
That learned and ingenious prelate it is well known
have been lavished upon the Chinese learning, policy, and arts,
shew with what power novelty attracts regard, and how naturally
esteem swells into admiration. I am far from desiring to be
numbered among the exaggerators of Chinese excellence.  I
consider them as great, or wise, only in comparison with the
nations that surround them; and have no intention to place them
in competition either with the ancients or with the moderns of
this part of the world; yet they must be allowed to claim our
notice as a distinct and very singular race of men  as the inhabitants of a region divided by its situation from all civilized
countries, who have formed their own manners, and invented their
own arts, without the assistance of example." B.




272


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


published at one period of his life " Moral and Political
Dialogues," with a wofully Whiggish cast. Afterwards
his Lordship, having thought better, came to see his error,
and republished the work with a more constitutional spirit.
Johnson, however, was unwilling to allow him full credit
for his political conversion. I remember when his Lordship
declined the honour of being Archbishop of Canterbury,
Johnson said, " I am glad he did not go to Lambeth; for,
after all, I fear he is a Whig in his heart."
Johnson's attention to precision and clearness in
expression was very remarkable. He disapproved of a
parenthesis; and I believe in all his voluminous writings,
not half a dozen of them will be found. He never used
the phrases the former and the latter, having observed that
they often occasioned obscurity; he therefore contrived to
construct his sentences so as not to have occasion for
them, and would even rather repeat the same words, in
order to avoid them. Nothing is more common than to
mistake surnames, when we hear them carelessly uttered
for the first time. To prevent this, he used not only to
pronounce them slowly and distinctly, but to take the
trouble of spelling them; a practice which I have often
followed, and which I wish were general.
Such was the heat and irritability of his blood, that not
only did he pare his nails to the quick; but scraped the
joints of his fingers with a penknife, till they seemed quite
red and raw.
The heterogeneous composition of human nature was
remarkably exemplified in Johnson.  His liberality in
giving his money to persons in distress was extraordinary.
Yet there lurked about him a propensity to paltry saving.
One day I owned to him that " I was occasionally troubled
with a fit of narrowness."  "Why, Sir," said he, "so am
I. But I do not tell it." He has now and then borrowed
a shilling of me; and when I asked him for it again,
seemed to be rather out of humour.     A  droll little
circumstance once occurred  as if he meant to reprimand
my minute exactness as a creditor, he thus addressed
me;-"Boswell, lend me sixpence-not to be repaid."




MORICE MORGANN


273


This great man's attention to small things was very
remarkable. As an instance of it, he one day said to
me: "Sir, when you get silver in change for a guinea,
look carefully at it; you may find some curious piece
of coin."
Though a stern, true-born Englishman, and fully
prejudiced against all other nations, he had discernment
enough to see, and candour enough to censure, the cold
reserve too common among Englishmen towards strangers.
"Sir," said he, "two men of any other nation who are
shewn into a room together, at a house where they are
both visitors, will immediately find some conversation.
But two Englishmen will probably go each to a different window, and remain in obstinate silence.  Sir, we
as yet do not enough understand the common rights
of humanity."
Johnson was at a certain period of his life a good deal
with the Earl of Shelburne, now Marquis of Lansdowne,
as he doubtless could not but have a due value for that
nobleman's activity of mind and uncommon acquisitions
of important knowledge, however much he might disapprove of other parts of his Lordship's character, which
were widely different from his own.
Morice Morgann, Esq., author of the very ingenious
"Essay on the Character of Falstaff,"1 being a particular
friend of his Lordship, had once an opportunity of entertaining Johnson for a day or two at Wycombe, when
this Lord was absent, and by him I have been favoured
with two anecdotes.
One is not a little to the credit of Johnson's candour.
Mr Morgann and he had a dispute pretty late at night, in
which Johnson would not give up, though he had the
wrong side, and in short, both kept the field. Next
morning, when they met in the breakfast-room, Dr.
Johnson accosted Mr. Morgann thus. " Sir, I have been
1 Johnson being asked his opinion of this Essay, answered:
"Why, Sir, we shall have the man come forth again; and as he
has proved Falstaff to be no coward, he may prove lago to be a
very good character." B.
II.




274


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


thinking on our dispute last night-rou were in the
right."
The other was as follows: Johnson, for sport perhaps,
or from the spirit of contradiction, eagerly maintained
that Derrick had merit as a writer     Mr. Morgann
argued with him   directly in vain.  At length he had
recourse to this device. "Pray, Sir," said he, "whether
do you reckon Derrick or Smart the best poet?"  Johnson at once felt himself roused; and answered, "Sir,
there is no settling the point of precedency between a
louse and a flea."'
Once, when checking my boasting too frequently of
myself in company, he said to me  "Boswell, you often
vaunt so much as to provoke ridicule. You put me in
mind of a man who was standing in the kitchen of an
inn with his back to the fire, and thus accosted the person
next him, 'Do you know, Sir, who I am?' 'No, Sir,'
said the other,'I have not that advantage.' 'Sir,' said
he,' I am the great TWALMLEY, who invented the New
Floodgate Iron.' "2  The Bishop of Killaloe, on my
repeating the story to him, defended TWALMLEY by observing that he was entitled to the epithet of great; for
Virgil in his group of worthies in the Elysian fieldsHic manus, ob patriam pugnando vulnera passi, &c.
mentions
Inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artes. (in. vi.)
He was pleased to say to me one morning when we
were left alone in his study, " Boswell, I think I am easier
with you than with almost any body "
He would not allow Mr David Hume any credit for
his political principles, though similar to his own; saying
of him, "Sir, he was a Tory by chance."
1 In The European Magazine (Sept., 1796) this comparison is
said to have been made between Derrick and Boyse, which, as
Croker observes, is more probable.
2 What the great TWALMLEY was so proud of having invented,
was neither more nor less than a kind of box-iron for smoothing
linen. B.




JOHNSON'S CHARADE


275


His acute observation of human life made him remark,
"Sir, there is nothing by which a man exasperates most
people more, than by displaying a superior ability of
brilliancy in conversation. They seem pleased at the
time; but their envy makes them curse him at their
hearts."
My readers will probably be surprised to hear that the
great Dr. Johnson could amuse himself with so slight
and playful a species of composition as a charade  I
have recovered one which he made on Dr. Barnard, now
Lord Bishop of Killaloe; who has been pleased for
many years to treat me with so much intimacy and social
ease, that I may presume to call him not only my Right
Reverend, but my very dear friend. I therefore with
peculiar pleasure give to the world a just and elegant
compliment thus paid to his Lordship by Johnson.
CHARADE.
"My first shuts out thieves from your house or your
room,
"My second expresses a Syrian perfume.
"My whole is a man in whose converse is shar'd,
"The strength of a Bar and the sweetness of Nard."
Johnson asked Richard Owen Cambridge, Esq., if he
had read the Spanish translation of Sallust, said to be
written by a Prince of Spain, with the assistance of his
tutor who is professedly the author of a treatise annexed
on the Phcenician language.
Mr. Cambridge commended the work, particularly as
he thought the translator understood his author better
than is commonly the case with translators; but said he
was disappointed in the purpose for which he borrowed
the book; to see whether a Spaniard could be better
furnished with inscriptions from monuments, coins, or
other antiquities, which he might more probably find on
a coast so immediately opposite to Carthage, than the
antiquaries of any other countries.  JOHNSON: "I am




276


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


very sorry you were not gratified in your expectations."
CAMBRIDGE: "The language would have been of little
use, as there is no history existing in that tongue to
balance the partial accounts which the Roman writers have
left us." JOHNSON' "No, Sir. They have not been
partial, they have told their own story, without shame or
regard to equitable treatment of their injured enemy;
they had no compunction, no feeling for a Carthaginian.
Why, Sir, they would never have borne Virgil's description
of ]Eneas's treatment of Dido, if she had not been a
Carthaginian."
I gratefully acknowledge this and other communications from Mr. Cambridge, whom, if a beautiful villa on
the banks of the Thames a few miles distant from
London, a numerous and excellent library which he
accurately knows and reads, a choice collection of pictures
which he understands and relishes, an easy fortune, an
amiable family, an extensive circle of friends and acquaintance, distinguished by rank, fashion, and genius,
a literary fame various, elegant, and still increasing,
colloquial talents rarely to be found, and with all these
means of happiness enjoying, when well advanced in
years, health and vigour of body, serenity and animation of
mind, do not entitle to be addressed fortunate senex! I
know not to whom, in any age, that expression could
with propriety have been used.  Long may he live to
hear and to feel it!1
Johnson's love of little children, which he discovered
upon all occasions, calling them  "pretty dears," and
giving them sweetmeats, was an undoubted proof of the
real humanity and gentleness of his disposition.
His uncommon kindness to his servants, and serious
concern, not only for their comfort in this world, but
their happiness in the next, was another unquestionable
evidence of what all, who were intimately acquainted with
him, knew to be true.
1 Mr. Cambridge enjoyed all the blessings here enumerated for
many years after this passage was written. He died at his seat near
Twickenham, Sept. 17, i802, in his eighty-sixth year. Malone.




HODGE THE CAT


277


Nor would it be just, under this head, to omit the
fondness which he shewed for animals which he had
taken under his protection.  I never shall forget the
indulgence with which he treated Hodge, his cat; for
whom he himself used to go out and buy oysters, lest
the servants having that trouble should take a dislike to
the poor creature.  I am, unluckily, one of those who
have an antipathy to a cat, so that I am uneasy when in
the room with one; and I own, I frequently suffered
a good deal from the presence of the same Hodge. I
recollect him one day scrambling up Dr Johnson's breast
apparently with much satisfaction, while my friend, smiling
and half-whistling, rubbed down his back, and pulled
him by the tail; and when I observed he was a fine cat,
saying, "Why, yes, Sir, but I have had cats whom I
liked better than this, " and then, as if perceiving Hodge
to be out of countenance, adding, "but he is a very fine
cat, a very fine cat indeed."
This reminds me of the ludicrous account which he
gave Mr. Langton, of the despicable state of a young
gentleman of good family. "Sir, when I heard of him
last he was running about town shooting cats."  And
then in a sort of kindly reverie, he bethought himself of
his own favourite cat, and said, "But Hodge sha'n't be
shot  no, no, Hodge shall not be shot."
He thought Mr Beauclerk made a shrewd and judicious
remark to Mr Langton, who, after having been for the
first time in company with a well-known wit about town,
was warmly admiring and praising him,-" See him
again," said Beauclerk.
His respect for the hierarchy, and particularly the
dignitaries of the Church, has been more than once
exhibited in the course of this work. Mr. Seward saw
him presented to the Archbishop of York, and described
his bow to an ARCHBISHOP, as such a studied elaboration
of homage, such an extension of limb, such a flexion of
body, as have seldom or ever been equalled.
I cannot help mentioning with much regret, that by
my own negligence I lost an opportunity of having




278


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


the history of my family from its founder Thomas
Boswell, in 1504, recorded and illustrated by Johnson's
pen. Such was his goodness to me, that when I presumed
to solicit him for so great a favour, he was pleased to
say, " Let me have all the materials you can collect, and
I will do it both in Latin and English; then let it be
printed, and copies of it be deposited in various places
for security and preservation." I can now only do the
best I can to make up for this loss, keeping my great
master steadily in view.   Family histories, like the
imagines majorum of the ancients, excite to virtue; and
I wish that they who really have blood, would be more
careful to trace and ascertain its course.  Some have
affected to laugh at the history of the House of Yvery; 1
it would be well if many others would transmit their
pedigrees to posterity, with the same accuracy and generous
zeal, with which the noble lord who compiled that work
has honoured and perpetuated his ancestry.
On Thursday, April io, I introduced to him, at his
house in Bolt Court, the Honourable and Reverend
William  Stuart, son of the Earl of Bute; a gentleman
truly worthy of being known to Johnson; being, with
all the advantages of high birth, learning, travel, and
elegant manners, an exemplary parish priest in every
respect.
After some compliments on both sides, the tour which
Johnson and I had made to the Hebrides was mentioned.
-JOHNSON: "I got an acquisition of more ideas by it
than by any thing that I remember. I saw quite a different
system  of life."  BOSWELL. "You would not like to
make the same journey again?"      JOHNSON: " Why
no, Sir, not the same  it is a tale told.  Gravina, an
Italian critic, observes, that every man desires tq see
that of which he has read; but no man desires to read
an account of what he has seen * so much does description
1 A genealogy of the Perceval family written by John Earl
of Egmont: " Strange, and I think in a great measure fabulous,"
says Croker. "So ridiculous," says Horace Walpole, (quoted by
Dr. Hill) " that he has since tried to suppress all the copies."




"THE TURKISH SPY'


279


fall short of reality. Description only excites curiosity:
seeing satisfies it.  Other people may go and see the
Hebrides."   BOSWELL    "I should wish to go and see
some country totally different from what I have been
used to; such as Turkey, where religion and every thing
else are different."  JOHNSON: "Yes, Sir; there are
two subjects of curiosity,-the Christian world, and the
Mahometan world. All the rest may be considered as
barbarous."   BOSWELL: "Pray, Sir, is the 'Turkish
Spy' a genuine book?"     JOHNSON: "No, Sir.     Mrs.
Manley, in her 'Life,' says, that her father wrote the
first two volumes  and in another book, ' Dunton's Life
and Errors,' we find that the rest was written by one
Sault, at two guineas a sheet, under the direction of Dr.
Midgeley." 1
BOSWELL: "This has been a very factious reign, owing
to the too great indulgence of Government." JOHNSON.
" I think so, Sir. What at first was lenity, grew timidity.
Yet this is reasoning a posteriori, and may not be just.
Supposing a few had at first been punished, I believe
faction would have been crushed; but it might have been
said, that it was a sanguinary reign. A man cannot tell
a priori what will be best for Government to do. This
reign has been very unfortunate.    We have had an
unsuccessful war; but that does not prove that we have
been ill governed.  One side or other must prevail in
war, as one or other must win at play. When we beat
Louis, we were not better governed; nor were the
French better governed, when Louis beat us."
On Saturday, April I2, I visited him, in company
1 The Turkish Spy was pretended to have been written originally
in Arabic; from Arabic translated into Italian, and thence into
English.  The real author of the work, which was in fact
originally written in Italian, was I. P. Marana, a Genoese, who
died at Paris in I693. John Dunton in his life says, that "Mr.
William Bradshaw received from Mr. Midgeley forty shillings a
sheet for writing part of the Turkish Spy;" but I do not find
that he any where mentions Sault as engaged in that work.
Malone.




280


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


with Mr Windham of Norfolk, whom, though a Whig,
he highly valued. One of the best things he ever said
was to this gentleman; who before he set out for Ireland
as Secretary to Lord Northington, when Lord Lieutenant,
expressed to the sage some modest and virtuous doubts,
whether he could bring himself to practise those arts
which it is supposed a person in that situation has occasion
to employ.   "Don't be afraid, Sir," said Johnson, with
a pleasant smile, "you will soon make a very pretty
rascal."
He talked to-day a good deal of the wonderful extent
and variety of London, and observed, that men of
curious inquiry might see in it such modes of life as very
few could even imagine. He in particular recommended
to us to explore Wapping, which we resolved to do.'
Mr. Lowe, the painter, who was with him, was very
much distressed that a large picture which he had painted
was refused to be received into the Exhibition of the
Royal Academy. Mrs. Thrale knew Johnson's character
so superficially, as to represent him as unwilling to do
small acts of benevolence; and mentions, in particular,
that he would hardly take the trouble to write a letter
in favour of his friends.  The truth, however, is, that
he was remarkable, in an extraordinary degree, for what
she denies to him; and, above all, for this very sort of
kindness, writing letters for those to whom his solicitations
might be of service.    He now   gave Mr Lowe the
following, of which I was diligent enough, with his
permission, to take copies at the next coffee-house while
Mr. Windham was so good as to stay by me.
i We accordingly carried our scheme into execution, in October,
1792; but whether from that uniformity which has in modern
times, in a great degree, spread through every part of the
metropolis, or from our want of sufficient exertion, we were
disappointed. B. Windham notes in his Diary, howannoyed he
was at being " foolishly drawn by Boswell" into this exploration,
and thereby missing a prize-fight "which turned out a very good
one." Napier.




LOWE THE PAINTER


287


" TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.
"SIR,
"MR. LOWE considers himself as cut off from all credit
and all hope, by the rejection of his picture from the Exhibition.
Upon this work he has exhausted all his powers, and suspended
all his expectations and, certainly, to be refused an opportunity
of taking the opinion of the public, is in itself a very great
hardship. It is to be condemned without a trial.
"If you could procure the revocation of this incapacitating
edict, you would deliver an unhappy man from great affliction.
The Council has sometimes reversed its own determination; and
I hope, that by your interposition this luckless picture may be
got admitted. I am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"April 12, 1783."
"TO MR. BARRY.
"SIR,
"MR. LOWE'S exclusion from the Exhibition gives him
more trouble than you and the other gentlemen of the Council
could imagine or intend. He considers disgrace and ruin as the
inevitable consequence of your determination.
" He says that some pictures have been received after rejection;
and if there be any such precedent, I earnestly entreat that you
will use your interest in his favour.  Of his work I can say
nothing; I pretend not to judge of painting; and this picture
I never saw; but I conceive it extremely hard to shut out any
man from the possibility of success; and therefore I repeat my
request that you will propose the reconsideration of Mr. Lowe s
case; and if there be any among the Council with whom my
name can have any weight, be pleased to communicate to them
the desire of, Sir, your most humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"April 12, 1783."
Such intercession was too powerful to be resisted; and
Mr. Lowe's performance was admitted at Somerset Place.
The subject, as I recollect, was the Deluge, at that point
of time when the water was verging to the top of the
last uncovered mountain.     Near to the spot was seen
the last of the antediluvian race, exclusive of those who
were saved in the ark of Noah. This was one of those




282


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


giants, then the inhabitants of the earth, who had still
strength to swim, and with one of his hands held aloft
his infant child.  Upon the small remaining dry spot
appeared a famished lion, ready to spring at the child and
devour it.  Mr Lowe told me that Johnson said to
him, "Sir, your picture is noble and probable."-" A
compliment, indeed," said Mr. Lowe, "from a man who
cannot lie, and cannot be mistaken."
About this time he wrote to Mrs. Lucy Porter,
mentioning his bad health, and that he intended a visit
to Lichfield. "It is," says he, "with no great expectation
of amendment that I make every year a journey into the
country; but it is pleasant to visit those whose kindness
has been often experienced."
On April I8 (being Good Friday), I found him at
breakfast, in his usual manner upon that day, drinking
tea without milk, and eating a cross-bun to prevent
faintness; we went to St. Clement's Church, as formerly.
When we came home from church, he placed himself on
one of the stone seats at his garden door, and I took
the other, and thus in the open air, and in a placid frame
of mind, he talked away very easily. JOHNSON  "Were
I a country gentleman, I should not be very hospitable,
I should not have crowds in my house."    BOSWELL
"Sir Alexander Dick tells me, that he remembers having
a thousand people in a year to dine at his house, that is,
reckoning each person as one each time that he dined
there."  JOHNSON: "That, Sir, is about three a day"
BOSWELL: "How      your statement lessens the idea."
JOHNSON: "That, Sir, is the good of counting.    It
brings everything to a certainty, which before floated in the
mind indefinitely."  BOSWELL: "But omne ignotum pro
1 The picture, says Northcote (Life of Reynolds), was execrable
beyond belief. It was hung by itself in the Antique Academy
room (Taylor's Life of Reynolds). On Nov. I, 1855, The Times
printed a letter signed by Carlyle, Dickens, and Forster, asking
subscriptions for Lowe's two daughters, then very old and destitute,
one of whom was Johnson's goddaughter.  See Napier, iv.,
appendix 9.




BONE PASTE


283


magnifico est: one is sorry to have this diminished."
JOHNSON    "Sir, you should not allow yourself to be
delighted with error."  BOSWELL'  "Three a day seem
but few."   JOHNSON: "Nay, Sir, he who entertains
three a day, does very liberally. And if there is a large
family, the poor entertain those three, for they eat what
the poor would get. there must be superfluous meat;
it must be given to the poor, or thrown out." BOSWELL:
"I observe in London, that the poor go about and
gather bones, which I understand are manufactured."
JOHNSON * "Yes, Sir; they boil them, and extract a
grease from them for greasing wheels and other purposes.
Of the best pieces they make a mock ivory, which is
used for hafts to knives and various other things; the
coarser pieces they burn and pound, and sell the ashes."
BOSWELL   "For what purpose, Sir?" JOHNSON: "Why,
Sir, for making a furnace for the chemists for melting
iron. A paste made of burnt bones will stand a stronger
heat than any thing else. Consider, Sir; if you are to
melt iron, you cannot line your pot with brass, because
it is softer than iron, and would melt sooner; nor with
iron, for though malleable iron is harder than cast iron,
yet it would not do; but a paste of burnt bones will not
melt." BOSWELL' "Do you know, Sir, I have discovered
a manufacture to a great extent, of what you only piddle
at,-scraping and drying the peel of oranges.1 At a
place in Newgate Street, there is a prodigious quantity
prepared, which they sell to the distillers." JOHNSON'
"Sir, I believe they niake a higher thing out of them
than a spirit; they make what is called orange-butter,
the oil of the orange inspissated, which they mix perhaps
with common pomatum, and make it fragrant. The oil
does not fly off in the drying."
BOSWELL: "I wish to have a good walled garden."
It is suggested to me by an anonymous annotator on my
work, that the reason why Dr. Johnson collected the peels of
squeezed oranges, may be found in the 358th letter in Mrs.
Piozzi's Collection, where it appears that he recommended "dried
orange-peel, finely powdered," as a medicine. B.




284


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


JOHNSON: "I don't think it would be worth the expense
to you. We compute in England, a park-wall at a
thousand pounds a mile; now a garden-wall must cost
at least as much. You intend your trees should grow
higher than a deer will leap. Now let us see;-for a
hundred pounds you could only have forty-four square
yards, which is very little; for two hundred pounds, you
may have eighty-four square yards, which is very well.'
But when will you get the value of two hundred
pounds of walls, in fruit, in your climate?  No, Sir,
such contention with Nature is not worth while.  I
would plant an orchard, and have plenty of such fruit as
ripen well in your country. My friend, Dr Madden, of
Ireland, said that,' In an orchard there should be enough
to eat, enough to lay up, enough to be stolen, and enough
to rot upon the ground.'  Cherries are an early fruit,
you may have them; and you may have the early apples
and pears." BOSWELL "We cannot have nonpareils."
JOHNSON   "Sir, you can no more have nonpareils than
you can have grapes."  BOSWELL'  "We have them, Sir;
but they are very bad."  JOHNSON   "Nay, Sir, never
try to have a thing merely to shew that you cannot have
it. From ground that would let for forty shillings you
may have a large orchard; and you see it costs you only
forty shillings. Nay, you may graze the ground when
the trees are grown up; you cannot, while they are
young."   BOSWELL   "Is not a good garden a very
common thing in England, Sir?" JOHNSON: "Not so
common, Sir, as you imagine. In Lincolnshire there is
hardly an orchard; in Staffordshire very little fruit."
BOSWELL'   "Has Langton no orchard?"     JOHNSON'
"No, Sir"    BOSWELL: "How so, Sir?"     JOHNSON:
"Why, Sir, from the general negligence of the county.
He has it not, because nobody else has it." BOSWELL
"A hot-house is a certain thing; I may have that."
1 The Bishop of Ferns observes that Boswell here mistakes
forty-four square yards for forty-four yards square, and thus makes
Johnson talk nonsense. Croker. Dr. Hill has also pointed out
the mistake of eighty-four for eighty-eight.




THE ART OF ELOCUTION


285


JOHNSON    " A  hot-house is pretty certain; but you
must first build it, then you must keep fires in it,
and you must have a gardener to take care of it."
BOSWELL   "But, if I have a gardener, at any rate?-"
JOHNSON. "Why, yes."     BOSWELL' "I'd have it near
my house; there is no need to have it in the orchard."
JOHNSON   "Yes, I'd have it near my house.-I would
plant a great many currants; the fruit is good, and they
make a pretty sweetmeat."
I record this minute detail, which some may think
trifling, in order to shew clearly how this great man,
whose mind could grasp such large and extensive subjects,
as he has shewn in his literary labours, was yet wellinformed in the common affairs of life, and loved to
illustrate them.
Mr. Walker, the celebrated master of elocution, came
in, and then we went up stairs into the study  I asked
him if he had taught many clergymen. JOHNSON be I
hope not."  WALKER * " I have taught only one, and he
is the best reader I ever heard, not by my teaching, but
by his own natural talents."  JOHNSON  "Were he the
best reader in the world, I would not have it told that he
was taught." Here was one of his peculiar prejudices.
Could it be any disadvantage to the clergyman to have it
known that he was taught an easy and graceful delivery?
BOSWELL " Will you not allow, Sir, that a man may be
taught to read well? " JOHNSON S "Why, Sir, so far as
to read better than he might do without being taught, yes.
-Formerly it was supposed that there was no difference
in reading, but that one read as well as another." BosWELL: " It is wonderful to see old Sheridan as enthusiastic
about oratory as ever." WALKER: "His enthusiasm as
to what oratory will do, may be too great but he reads
well." JOHNSON    "He reads well, but he reads low;
and you know it is much easier to read low than to read
high, for when you read high you are much more limited,
your loudest note can be but one, and so the variety is
less in proportion to the loudness. Now some people
have occasion to speak to an extensive audience, and must




286


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


speak loud to be heard."  WALKER: "The art is to
read strong, though low"
Talking of the origin of language;-JOHNSON: "It
must have come by inspiration. A thousand, nay, a
million of children could not invent a language. While
the organs are pliable, there is not understanding enough
to form a language; by the time that there is understanding enough, the organs are become stiff.-We know
that after a certain age we cannot learn to pronounce a
new language. No foreigner, who comes to England
when advanced in life, ever pronounces English tolerably
well; at least such instances are very rare. When I
maintain that language must have come by inspiration, I
do not mean that inspiration is required for rhetoric, and
all the beauties of language; for when once man has
language, we can conceive that he may gradually form
modifications of it. I mean only that inspiration seems
to me to be necessary to give man the faculty of speech;
to inform him that he may have speech; which I think
he could no more find out without inspiration, than cows
or hogs would think of such a faculty" WALKER  " Do
you think, Sir, that there are any perfect synonyms in any
language?"  JOHNSON. "Originally there were not; but
by using words negligently, or in poetry, one word comes
to be confounded with another."
He talked of Dr Dodd. "A friend of mine," said
he, "came to me and told me, that a lady wished to have
Dr. Dodd's picture in a bracelet, and asked me for a
motto. I said, I could think of no better than Currat
Lex. I was very willing to have him pardoned, that is,
to have the sentence changed to transportation; but,
when he was once hanged, I did not wish he should
be made a saint."
Mrs. Burney, wife of his friend Dr. Burney, came in,
and he seemed to be entertained with her conversation.
Garrick's funeral was talked of as extravagantly expensive. Johnson, from his dislike to exaggeration, would
not allow that it was distinguished by any extraordinary
pomp.   "Were there not six horses to each coach?"




PROXIMITY TO BEDLAM


287


said Mrs. Burney. JOHNSON: "Madam, there were no
more six horses than six phoenixes." 1
Mrs. Burney wondered that some very beautiful new
buildings should be erected in Moorfields, in so shocking
a situation as between Bedlam and St. Luke's Hospital;
and said she could not live there. JOHNSON. "Nay,
Madam, you see nothing there to hurt you. You no
more think of madness by having windows that look to
Bedlam, than you think of death by having windows that
look to a churchyard."  MRS. BURNEY: "We may look
to a churchyard, Sir; for it is right that we should be
kept in mind of death." JOHNSON. "Nay, Madam, if
you go to that, it is right that we should be kept in mind
of madness, which is occasioned by too much indulgence
of imagination. I think a very moral use may be made
of these new buildings I would have those who have
heated imaginations live there, and take warning."  MRS.
BURNEY "But, Sir, many of the poor people that are
mad, have become so from disease, or from distressing
events. It is, therefore, not their fault, but their misfortune; and, therefore, to think of them is a melancholy
consideration."
Time passed on in conversation till it was too late for
the service of the church at three o'clock. I took a walk,
and left him alone for some time; then returned, and
we had coffee and conversation again by ourselves.
I stated the character of a noble friend of mine, as a
curious case for his opinion *-" He is the most inexplicable man to me that I ever knew. Can you explain
him, Sir? He is, I really believe, noble-minded, generous,
and princely. But his most intimate friends may be
separated from him for years, without his ever asking
a question concerning them. He will meet them with
a formality, a coldness, a stately indifference; but when
1 There certainly were coaches and six, and Johnson himself
went in one of them. Croker. The ridiculous ostentation of
Garrick's funeral was common talk at the time. Three years
later Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale that the undertaker had not
yet been paid and was ruined. Dr. Hill.




288


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


they come close to him, and fairly engage him in conversation, they find him as easy, pleasant, and kind, as
they could wish. One then supposes that what is so
agreeable will soon be renewed; but stay away from him
for half a year, and he will neither call on you, nor send
to inquire about you." JOHNSON " Why, Sir, I cannot
ascertain his character exactly, as I do not know him;
but I should not like to have such a man for my friend.
He may love study, and wish not to be interrupted by
his friends; Amici fures temporis. He may be a frivolous
man, and be so much occupied with petty pursuits, that
he may not want friends. Or he may have a notion
that there is a dignity in appearing indifferent, while he
in fact may not be more indifferent at his heart than
another."
We went to evening prayers at St. Clement's, at seven,
and then parted.
On Sunday, April 20, being Easter Day, after attending
solemn service at St. Paul's, I came to Dr Johnson, and
found Mr Lowe, the painter, sitting with him. Mr.
Lowe mentioned the great number of new buildings of
late in London, yet that Dr Johnson had observed that
the number of inhabitants was not increased. JOHNSON
"Why, Sir, the bills of mortality prove that no more
people die now than formerly; so it is plain no more
live. The register of births proves nothing, for not onetenth of the people of London are born there."  BosWELL   "I believe, Sir, a great many of the children born
in London die early." JOHNSON: "Why, yes, Sir."
I3OSWELL   "But those who do live, are as stout and
strong people as any  Dr. Price says, they must be
naturally strong to get through." JOHNSON a "That is
system, Sir. A great traveller observes that it is said
there are no weak or deformed people among the Indians;
but he with much sagacity assigns the reason of this,
which is, that the hardship of their life, as hunters and
fishers, does not allow weak or diseased children to grow
up. Now had I been an Indian, I must have died early;
my eyes would not have served me to get food. I




NATURAL AFFECTION


289


indeed now could fish, give me English tackle; but had
I been an Indian I must have starved, or they would have
knocked me on the head, when they saw I could do
nothing." BOSWELL: "Perhaps they would have taken
care of you: we are told they are fond of oratory; you
would have talked to them."  JOHNSONr' "Nay, Sir, I
should not have lived long enough to be fit to talk; I
should have been dead before I was ten years old.
Depend upon it, Sir, a savage, when he is hungry, will
not carry about with him a looby of nine years old who
cannot help himself   They have no affection, Sir."
BOSWELL    "I believe natural affection, of which we
hear so much, is very small." JOHNSON: "Sir, natural
affection is nothing  but affection from principle and
established duty is sometimes wonderfully strong." LOWE:
" A hen, Sir, will feed her chickens in preference to herself." JOHNSON   "But we don't know that the hen is
hungry; let the hen be fairly hungry, and I'll warrant
she'll peck the corn herself. A cock, I believe, will feed
hens instead of himself; but we don't know that the
cock is hungry."  BOSWELL    "And that, Sir, is not
from affection but gallantry. But some of the Indians
have affection." JOHNSON  "Sir, that they help some
of their children is plain; for some of them live, which
they could not do without being helped."
I dined with him; the company were, Mrs. Williams,
Mrs. Desmoulins, and Mr Lowe. He seemed not to
be well, talked little, grew drowsy soon after dinner, and
retired, upon which I went away.
Having next day gone to Mr Burke's seat in the
country, from whence I was recalled by an express, that a
near relation of mine had-killed his antagonist in a duel,
and was himself dangerously wounded,' I saw little of Dr
Johnson till Monday, April 28, when I spent a considerable
part of the day with him, and introduced the subject which
then chiefly occupied my mind. JOHNSON: " I do not see,
1 The combatants were Mr. Cunningham of the Scots Greys
(wounded), and Mr. Riddell of the Life Guards (killed). Gent.'s
Mag. for 1783. Groker.
III.                                    U




290


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Sir, that fighting is absolutely forbidden in Scripture; I
see revenge forbidden, but not self-defence."  BOSWELL
"The Quakers say it is; ' Unto him that smiteth thee
on one cheek, offer him also the other'" JOHNSON:
"But stay, Sir; the text is meant only to have the
effect of moderating passion; it is plain that we are not
to take it in a literal sense. We see this from the
context, where there are other recommendations, which I
warrant you the Quaker will not take literally; as, for
instance, 'From him that would borrow of thee, turn
thou not away.' Let a man whose credit is bad, come
to a Quaker, and say, 'Well, Sir, lend me a hundred
pounds;' he'll find him as unwilling as any other man.
No, Sir, a man may shoot the man who invades his
character, as he may shoot him who attempts to break
into his house.1 So in 1745, my friend, Tom Cumming
the Quaker, said he would not fight, but he would drive
an ammunition-cart; and we know that the Quakers have
sent flannel waistcoats to our soldiers, to enable them to
fight better."  BOSWELL: "When a man is the aggressor,
and by ill-usage forces on a duel in which he is killed, have
we not little ground to hope that he is gone to a state
of happiness?"   JOHNSON: "Sir, we are not to judge
1 I think it necessary to caution my readers against concluding
that in this, or any other conversation of Dr. Johnson, they have
his serious and deliberate opinion on the subject of duelling. In
my Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, 3rd edit. p. 386, it appears
that he made this frank confession: " Nobody at times talks more
laxly than I do;" and, ibid. p. 23: " He fairly owned he could
not explain the rationality of duelling." We may, therefore, infer,
that he could not think that justifiable, which seems so inconsistent
with the spirit of the Gospel. At the same time it must be confessed that, from the prevalent notions of honour, a gentleman who
receives a challenge is reduced to a dreadful alternative. A
remarkable instance of this is furnished by a clause in the will of
the late Colonel Thomas, of the Guards, written the night before
he fell in a duel, September 3, 1785: "In the first place, I
commit my soul to Almighty GOD, in hopes of his mercy and
pardon for the irreligious step I now (in compliance with the
unwarrantable customs of this wicked world) put myself under the
necessity of taking." B.




HOPE OF A RESURRECTION


291


determinately of the state in which a man leaves this life.
He may in a moment have repented effectually, and it is
possible may have been accepted of GOD. There is in
'Camden's Remains,' an epitaph upon a very wicked man,
who was killed by a fall from his horse, in which he is
supposed to say,
Between the stirrup and the ground,
I mercy asked, I mercy found."' 1
BOSWELL: "Is not the expression in the burial-service,
'in the sure and certain hope of a blessed resurrection, too
strong to be used indiscriminately, and, indeed, sometimes
when those over whose      bodies it is said have been
notoriously profane?"  JOHNSON: "It is sure and certain
hope, Sir' not belief."   I did not insist farther; but
cannot help thinking that less positive words would be
more proper 2
Talking of a man who was grown very fat, so as to be
incommoded with corpulency; he said, "He eats too
much, Sir."   BOSWELL: "I don't know, Sir; you will see
1 In repeating this epitaph Johnson improved it. The original
runs thus.
" Betwixt the stirrup and the ground,
Mercy I asked, mercy I found." Malone.
2 Upon this objection the Reverend Mr. Ralph Churton, Fellow
of Brasenose College, Oxford, has favoured me with the following
satisfactory observation. ' The passage in the burial-service does
not mean the resurrection of the person interred, but the general
resurrection; it is in sure and certain hope of the resurrection;
not his resurrection. Where the deceased is really spoken of, the
expression is very different, 'as our hope is this our brother doth'
[rest in Christ], a mode of speech consistent with every thing
but absolute certainty that the person departed doth not rest in
Christ, which no one can be assured of, without immediate
revelation from Heaven. In the first of these places also, 'eternal
life' does not necessarily mean eternity of bliss, but merely the
eternity of the state, whether in happiness or in misery, to ensue
upon the resurrection; which is probably the sense of 'the life
everlasting,' in the Apostles' Creed. See Wheatly and Bennet on
the Common Prayer." B,




292


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


one man fat who eats moderately, and another lean who eats
a great deal." JOHNSON: " Nay, Sir, whatever may be the
quantity that a man eats, it is plain that if he is too fat, he
has eaten more than he should have done. One man may
have a digestion that consumes food better than common;
but it is certain that solidity is increased by putting something to it."  BOSWELL  "But may not solids swell and
be distended?" JOHNSON  " Yes, Sir, they may swell and
be distended; but that is not fat."
We talked of the accusation against a gentleman for
supposed delinquencies in India [Warren Hastings].
JOHNSON' "What foundation there is for accusation I
know not, but they will not get at him. Where bad
actions are committed at so great a distance, a delinquent
can obscure the evidence till the scent becomes cold; there
is a cloud between which cannot be penetrated. therefore
all distant power is bad. I am clear that the best plan for
the government of India is a despotic governor; for if he
be a good man, it is evidently the best government; and
supposing him to be a bad man, it is better to have one
plunderer than many. A governor, whose power is
checked, lets others plunder, that he himself may be
allowed to plunder; but if despotic he sees that the more
he lets others plunder the less there will be for himself, so
he restrains them; and though he himself plunders, the
country is a gainer, compared with being plundered by
numbers."
I mentioned the very liberal payment which had been
received for reviewing; and, as evidence of this, that it
had been proved in a trial, that Dr. Shebbeare had received
six guineas a sheet for that kind of literary labour.
JOHNSON   "Sir, he might get six guineas for a particular
sheet, but not communibus sheetibus."  BOSWELL  "Pray,
Sir, by a sheet of review is it meant that it shall be all of
the writer's own composition? or are extracts, made from
the book reviewed, deducted?"  JOHNSON   "No, Sir;
it is a sheet, no matter of what."  BOSWELL: "I think
that is not reasonable." JOHNSON: "Yes, Sir, it is. A
man will more easily write a sheet all his own than read an




PAYMENT FOR REVIEWS


293


octavo volume to get extracts." To one of Johnson's
wonderful fertility of mind, I believe writing was really
easier than reading and extracting; but with ordinary men
the case is very different. A great deal, indeed, will
depend upon the care and judgment with which extracts
are made. I can suppose the operation to be tedious and
difficult; but in many instances we must observe crude
morsels cut out of books as if at random; and when a
large extract is made from one place, it surely may be
done with very little trouble. One, however, I must
acknowledge, might be led, from the practice of reviewers,
to suppose that they take a pleasure in original writing;
for we often find, that instead of giving an accurate
account of what has been done by the author whose work
they are reviewing, which is surely the proper business of
a literary journal, they produce some plausible and ingenious
conceits of their own upon the topics which have been
discussed.
Upon being told that old Mr Sheridan, indignant at
the neglect of his oratorical plans, had threatened to go
to America;JOHNSON " I hope he will go to America."
BOSWELL   " The Americans don't want oratory." JOHNSON: " But we can want Sheridan."
On Monday, April 29, I found him at home in the
forenoon, and Mr. Seward with him. Horace having
been mentioned;-BOSWELL: "There is a great deal of
thinking in his works. One finds there almost every thing
but religion."  SEWARD: "He speaks of his returning
to it, in his ode Parcus Deorum cultor et infrequens."
JOHNSON: "Sir, he was not in earnest; this was merely
poetical."  BOSWELL'  "There are, I am afraid, many
people who have no religion at all."  SEWARD  "And
sensible people too." JOHNSON: " Why, Sir, not sensible
in that respect. There must be either a natural or a
moral stupidity, if one lives in a total neglect of so very
important a concern."  SEWARD: "I wonder that there
should be people without religion." JOHNSON' "Sir,
you need not wonder at this, when you consider how
large a proportion of almost every man's life is passed




294


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


without thinking of it. I myself was for some years
totally regardless of religion. It had dropped out of my
mind. It was at an early part of my life. Sickness
brought it back, and I hope I have never lost it since."
BOSWELL   "My dear Sir, what a man must you have
been without religion! Why you must have gone on
drinking, and  swearing, and-"    JOHNSON   (with a
smile): "I drank enough and swore enough to be sure."
SEWARD * "One should think that sickness, and the view
of death would make more men religious." JOHNSON:
" Sir, they do not know how to go about it. they have
not the first notion. A man who has never had religion
before, no more grows religious when he is sick than a
man who has never learnt figures can count when he has
need of calculation."
I mentioned a worthy friend [Langton] of ours whom
we valued much, but observed that he was too ready to
introduce religious discourse upon all occasions. JOHNSON " Why, yes, Sir, he will introduce religious discourse
without seeing whether it will end in instruction and
improvement, or produce some profane jest. He would
introduce it in the company of Wilkes, and twenty more
such."
I mentioned Dr Johnson's excellent distinction between
liberty of conscience and liberty of teaching.  JOHNSON:
i" Consider, Sir; if you have children whom you wish to
educate in the principles of the Church of England, and
there comes a Quaker who tries to pervert them to his
principles, you would drive away the Quaker. You
would not trust to the predomination of right which you
believe is in your opinions. you will keep wrong out of
their heads. Now the vulgar are the children of the
State. If any one attempts to teach them doctrines
contrary to what the State approves, the magistrate may
and ought to restrain him." SEWARD "Would you
restrain private conversation, Sir?" JOHNSON: "Why,
Sir, it is difficult to say where private conversation begins,
and where it ends. If we three should discuss even the
great question concerning the existence of a Supreme




DAVID MALLOCH


295


Being by ourselves, we should not be restrained; for that
would be to put an end to all improvement. But if we
should discuss it in the presence of ten boarding-school
girls and as many boys, I think the magistrate would do
well to put us in the stocks, to finish the debate there."
Lord Hailes had sent him a present of a curious little
printed poem, on repairing the University of Aberdeen,
by David Malloch, which he thought would please
Johnson, as affording clear evidence that Mallet had
appeared even as a literary character by the name of
Malloch; his changing which to one of softer sound,
had given Johnson occasion to introduce him into his
Dictionary, under the article Alias.1 This piece was, I
suppose, one of Mallet's first essays. It is preserved in
his works, with several variations. Johnson having read
aloud from the beginning of it, where there were some
common-place assertions as to the superiority of ancient
times;-" How false," said he, "is all this, to say that in
ancient times learning was not a disgrace to a peer as it is
now. In ancient times a peer was as ignorant as any one
else. He would have been angry to have it thought he
could write his name. Men in ancient times dared to
stand forth with a degree of ignorance with which nobody
would dare now to stand forth. I am always angry,
when I hear ancient times praised at the expense of
modern times. There is now a great deal more learning
in the world than there was formerly; for it is universally
diffused. You have, perhaps, no man who knows as
much Greek and Latin as Bentley; no man who knows
as much mathematics as Newton: but you have many
more men who know Greek and Latin, and who know
mathematics."
On Thursday, May i, I visited him in the evening
1 A notion has been entertained, that no such exemplification
of Alias is to be found in Johnson's Dictionary, and that the
whole story was waggishly fabricated by Wilkes in the NORTH
BRITON. The real fact is, that it is not to be found in the folio
or quarto editions, but was added by Johnson in his own octave
abridgement in I756.  f. Boswell, jun,




296


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


along with young Mr. Burke. He said: "It is strange
that there should be so little reading in the world, and so
much writing. People in general do not willingly read,
if they can have any thing else to amuse them. There
must be an external impulse; emulation, or vanity, or
avarice. The progress which the understanding makes
through a book has more pain than pleasure in it.
Language is scanty, and inadequate to express the nice
gradations and mixtures of our feelings. No man reads
a book of science from pure inclination. The books that
we do read with pleasure are light compositions, which
contain a quick succession of events. However, I have
this year read all Virgil through. I read a book of the
']Eneid' every night; so it was done in twelve nights,
and I had a great delight in it. The 'Georgics' did not
give me so much pleasure, except the fourth book. The
'Eclogues' I have almost all by heart. I do not think
the story of the ' Eneid' interesting. I like the story of
the 'Odyssey' much better, and this not on account of
the wonderful things which it contains; for there are
wonderful things enough in the ']Eneid';-the ships of
the Trojans turned to sea-nymphs,-the tree at Polydorus's
tomb dropping blood. The story of the 'Odyssey' is
interesting, as a great part of It is domestic.-It has been
said there is pleasure in writing, particularly in writing
verses. I allow, you may have pleasure from writing,
after it is over, if you have written well; but you don't
go willingly to it again. I know when I have been
writing verses, I have run my finger down the margin, to
see how many I had made and how few I had to
make."
He seemed to be in a very placid humour, and although
I have no note of the particulars of young Mr. Burke's
conversation, it is but justice to mention in general, that
it was such that Dr. Johnson said to me afterwards, "He
did very well indeed; I have a mind to tell his father."
1 Richard Burke died Aug. 2, I794, in his thirty-fifth year.
The fond partiality of his father for his talents is now well known.
He is said to have remarked how extraordinary it was that Lord




'CLEAR YOUR MIND OF CANT'


297


"TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.
DEAR SIR,
"THE gentleman who waits on you with this, is Mr.
Cruikshanks, who wishes to succeed his friend Dr. Hunter, as
Professor of Anatomy in the Royal Academy  His qualifications
are very generally known, and it adds dignity to the institution
that such men1 are candidates. I am, Sir, your most humble
servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"May 2, 1783."
I have no minute of any interview with Johnson till
Thursday, May i Sth, when I find what follows. BOSWELL
"I wish much to be in Parliament, Sir"     JOHNSON
"Why, Sir, unless you come resolved to support any
administration, you would be the worse for being in
Parliament, because you would be obliged to live more
expensively."-BoswELL    "Perhaps, Sir, I should be the
less happy for being in Parliament. I never would sell
my vote, and I should be vexed if things went wrong."
JOHNSON    "That's cant, Sir.  It would not vex you
more in the House, than in the gallery   public affairs
vex no man." BOSwELL " Have not they vexed yourself
a little, Sir?  Have not you been vexed by all the
turbulence of this reign, and by that absurd vote of the
House of Commons, 'That the influence of the Crown
has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished'?"
JOHNSON. "Sir, I have never slept an hour less, nor
ate an ounce less meat.   I would have knocked the
factious dogs on the head, to be sure; but I was not
vexed."  BOSWELL   "I declare, Sir, upon my honour, I
did not imagine I was vexed and took a pride in it; but
it was, perhaps, cant; for I own I neither ate less, nor
slept less."  JOHNSON' "My dear friend, clear your
mind of cant. You may talk as other people do: you
Chatham, Lord Holland, and he should each have had a son so
superior to their fathers. Croker,
1 Let it be remembered by those who accuse Dr. Johnson of
illiberality, that both were SFotchmen. B.




-298


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


may say to a man, ' Sir, I am your most humble servant.'
You are not his most humble servant. You may say,
'These are bad times; it is a melancholy thing to be
reserved to such times.'  You don't mind the times.
You tell a man, ' I am sorry you had such bad weather
the last day of your journey, and were so much wet.'
You don't care sixpence whether he is wet or dry. You
may talk in this manner; it is a mode of talking in
society  but don't think foolishly"
I talked of living in the country. JOHNSON: "Don't
set up for what is called hospitality * it is a waste of time,
and a waste of money; you are eaten up and not the
more respected for your liberality.  If your house be
like an inn, nobody cares for you. A man who stays a
week with another, makes him a slave for a week."
BOSWELL   "But there are people, Sir, who make their
houses a home to their guests, and are themselves quite
easy."  JOHNSON  "Then, Sir, home must be the same
to the guests, and they need not come."   Here he
discovered a notion common enough in persons not much
accustomed to entertain company, that there must be a
degree of elaborate attention, otherwise company will
think themselves neglected; and such attention is no
doubt very fatiguing. He proceeded: "I would not,
however, be a stranger in my own country; I would
visit my neighbours, and receive their visits; but I would
not be in haste to return visits. If a gentleman comes
to see me, I tell him that he does me a great deal of
honour. I do not go to see him perhaps for ten weeks;
then we are very complaisant to each other.  No, Sir,
you will have much more influence by giving or lending
money where it is wanted, than by hospitality."
On Saturday, May 17, I saw him for a short time.
Having mentioned that I had that morning been with
old Mr. Sheridan, he remembered their former intimacy
with a cordial warmth, and said to me, "Tell Mr.
Sheridan I shall be glad to see him, and shake hands
with him." BOSWELL " It is to me very wonderful that
resentment should be kept up so long."   JOHNSON;




MISS BURNEY'S 'CECILIA'


299


"Why, Sir, it is not altogether resentment that he does
not visit me; it is partly falling out of the habit,-partly
disgust, as one has at a drug that has made him sick.
Besides, he knows that I laugh at his oratory."
Another day I spoke of one of our friends, of whom
he, as well as I, had a very high opinion. He expatiated
in his praise; but added, "Sir, he is a cursed Whig, a
bottomless Whig, as they all are now."
I mentioned my expectations from the interest of an
eminent person then in power, adding, "but I have no
claim but the claim of friendship; however, some people
will go a great way for that motive." JOHNSON  "Sir,
they will go all the way from that motive." A gentleman
talked of retiring. " Never think of that," said Johnson.
The gentleman urged, "(I should then do no ill."  JOHNSON' "Nor no good either.    Sir, it would be a civil
suicide."
On Monday, May 26, I found him at tea, and the
celebrated Miss Burney, the author of "Evelina" and
"Cecilia," with him.  I asked, if there would be any
speakers in Parliament, if there were no places to be
obtained.  JOHNSON   "Yes, Sir   Why do you speak
here?   Either to instruct and entertain, which is a
benevolent motive; or for distinction, which is a selfish
motive."  I mentioned "Cecilia."  JOHNSON (with an
air of animated satisfaction)  "Sir, if you talk of
'Cecilia,' talk on."
We talked of Mr. Barry's exhibition of his pictures.
JOHNSON: "Whatever the hand may have done, the
mind has done its part. There is a grasp of mind there,
which you find no where else."1
I asked, whether a man naturally virtuous, or one who
has overcome wicked inclinations, is the best. JOHNSON:
"Sir, to you, the man who has overcome wicked inclinations, is not the best. He has more merit to himself:
I would rather trust my money to a man who has no
1 In Mr. Barry's printed analysis, or description of these
pictures, he speaks of Johnson's character in the highest terms. B




300


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


hands, and so a physical impossibility to steal, than to
a man of the most honest principles. There is a witty
satirical story of Foote. He had a small bust of Garrick
placed upon his bureau. 'You may be surprised,' said
he, 'that I allow him to be so near my gold;-but you
will observe, he has no hands.'"
On Friday, May 29, being to set out for Scotland
next morning, I passed a part of the day with him in
more than usual earnestness; as his health was in a more
precarious state than at any time when I had parted from
him. He, however, was quick and lively, and critical as
usual.  I mentioned one who was a very learned man.
JOHNSON' "Yes, Sir, he has a great deal of learning;
but it never lies straight.  There is never one idea by
the side of another; 'tis all entangled  and then he
drives it so awkwardly upon conversation!"
I stated to him an anxious thought, by which a sincere
Christian might be disturbed, even when conscious of
having lived a good life so far as is consistent with
human infirmity, he might fear that he should afterwards
fall away, and be guilty of such crimes as would render all
his former religion vain. Could there be, upon this awful
subject, such a thing as balancing of accounts? Suppose
a man, who has led a good life for seven years, commits
an act of wickedness, and instantly dies; will his former
good life have any effect in his favour? JOHNSON:
" Sir, if a man has led a good life for seven years, and
then is hurried by passion to do what is wrong, and is
suddenly carried off, depend upon it he will have the
reward of his seven years' good life: GOD will not take
a catch of him.   Upon this principle Richard Baxter
believes that a suicide may be saved. 'If,' says he, 'it
should be objected that what I maintain may encourage
suicide, I answer, I am not to tell a lie to prevent it.'"
BOSWELL. " But does not the text say ' As the tree falls,
so it must lie'?"  JOHNSON    "Yes, Sir; as the tree
falls  but, —(after a little pause)-that is meant as to
the general-state of the tree, not what is the effect of a
sudden blast."  In short, he interpreted the expression




ADVICE TO BOSWELL


301


as referring to condition, not to position. The common
notion, therefore, seems to be erroneous; and Shenstone's
witty remark on divines trying to give the tree a jerk
upon a death-bed, to make it lie favourably, is not well
founded.
I asked him what works of Richard Baxter's I should
read. He said, " Read any of them; they are all good."
He said, "Get as much force of mind as you can.
Live within your income. Always have something saved
at the end of the year. Let your imports be more than
your exports, and you'll never go far wrong."
I assured him that, in the extensive and various range
of his acquaintance, there never had been any one who
had a more sincere respect and affection for him than
I had. He said * " I believe it, Sir. Were I in distress,
there is no man to whom I should sooner come than
to you. I should like to come and have a cottage in
your park, toddle about, live mostly on milk, and be
taken care of by Mrs. Boswell.   She and I are good
friends now; are we not?"
Talking of devotion, he said: "Though it be true that
' GOD dwelleth not in temples made with hands,' yet in
this state of being, our minds are more piously affected
in places appropriated to divine worship, than in others.
Some people have a particular room in their houses, where
they say their prayers, of which I do not disapprove, as it
may animate their devotion."
He embraced me and gave me his blessing, as usual
when I was leaving him for any length of time. I walked
from his door to-day, with a fearful apprehension of what
might happen before I returned.
"'TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM WINDHAM.
" SIR,
" THE bringer of this letter is the father of Miss Philips,1
a singer, who comes to try her voice on the stage at Dublin.
"Mr. Philips is one of my old friends; and as I am of opinion
1 Now the celebrated Mrs. Crouch. B.




302


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


that neither he nor his daughter will do any thing that can disgrace their benefactors, I take the liberty of entreating you to
countenance and protect them so far as may be suitable to your
station 1 and character; and shall consider myself as obliged by any
favourable notice which they shall have the honour of receiving
from you.
" I am, Sir, your most humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, May 31, 1783."
The following is another instance of his active
benevolence:
" TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.
" DEAR SIR,
"I HAVE sent you some of my godson's 2 performances, of
which I do not pretend to form any opinion. When I took the
liberty of mentioning him to you, t did not know what I have
since been told, that Mr Moser had admitted him among the
students of the Academy. What more can be done for him, I
earnestly entreat you to consider; for I am very desirous that he
should derive some advantage from my connexion with him. If
you are inclined to see him, I will bring him to wait on you, at
any time that you shall be pleased to appoint.
"I am, Sir, your most humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"June 2, I783."
My anxious apprehensions at parting with him this
year, proved to be but too well founded; for not long
afterwards he had a dreadful stroke of the palsy, of which
there are very full and accurate accounts in letters written
by himself, to shew with what composure of mind, and
resignation to the Divine Will, his steady piety enabled
him to behave.
"TO MR. EDMUND ALLEN.
"DEAR SIR,
" IT has pleased GOD, this morning, to deprive me of the
powers of speech: and as I do not know but that it may be his
1 Mr. Windham was at this time in Dublin, secretary to the
Earl of Northington, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. B.
2 Son of Mr. Samuel Patterson. B.




JOHNSON PARALYZED


303


farther good pleasure to deprive me soon of my senses, I request
you will on the receipt of this note, come to me, and act for me,
as the exigencies of my case may require.
"I am, sincerely yours,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"June 17, 1783."
C TO THE REVEREND DR. JOHN TAYLOR.
C' DEAR SIR,
" Ir has pleased GOD, by a paralytic stroke in the night, to
deprive me of speech.
" I am very desirous of Dr. Heberden's assistance, as I think my
case is not past remedy. Let me see you as soon as it is possible.
Bring Dr Heberden with you, if you can; but come yourself at
all events. I am glad you are so well, when I am so dreadfully
attacked.
" I think that by a speedy application of stimulants much may
be done. I question if a vomit, vigorous and rough, would not
rouse the organs of speech to action. As it is too early to send,
I will try to recollect what I can, that can be suspected to have
brought on this dreadful distress.
"' I have been accustomed to bleed frequently for an asthmatic
complaint; but have forborne for some time by Dr. Pepys's persuasion, who perceived my legs beginning to swell. I sometimes
alleviate a painful, or more properly an oppressive, constriction of
my chest, by opiates; and have lately taken opium frequently, but
the last, or two last times, in smaller quantities. My largest dose
is three grains, and last night I took but two. You will suggest
these things (and they are all that I can call to mind) to Dr.
Heberden.
"I am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"June 17, 1783.
Two days after he wrote thus to Mrs. Thrale
"On Monday, the i6th, I sat for my picture,2 and walked a
considerable way with little inconvenience. In the afternoon and
evening I felt myself light and easy, and began to plan schemes
of life. Thus I went to bed, and in a short time waked and sat
1 Vol. ii. p. 268, of Mrs. Thrale's Collection. B.
To Miss Reynolds, of whose work Northcote records that Sir
Joshua said it made other people laugh and him cry. Dr. Hill.




304


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


up, as has been long my custom, when I felt a confusion and
indistinctness in my head, which lasted, I suppose, about half a
minute. I was alarmed, and prayed GOD, that however he might
afflict my body, he would spare my understanding. This prayer,
that I might try the integrity of my faculties, I made in Latin
verse. The lines were not very good, but I knew them not to
be very good: I made them easily, and concluded myself to be
unimpaired in my faculties.'
"Soon after I perceived that I had suffered a paralytic stroke,
and that my speech was taken from me. I had no pain, and so
little dejection in this dreadful state, that I wondered at my own
apathy, and considered that perhaps death itself, when it should
come, would excite less horror than seems now to attend it.
" In order to rouse the vocal organs, I took two drams. Wine
has been celebrated for the production of eloquence. I put myself
into violent motion, and I think repeated it; but all was vain.
I then went to bed, and strange as it may seem, I think slept.
When I saw light, it was time to contrive what I should do.
Though GOD stopped my speech, he left me my hand; I enjoyed
a mercy which was not granted to my dear friend Lawrence, who
now perhaps overlooks me as I am writing, and rejoices that I have
what he wanted.   My first note was necessarily to my servant,
who came in talking, and could not immediately comprehend why
he should read what I put into his hands.
"I then wrote a card to Mr. Allen, that I might have a
discreet friend at hand, to act as occasion should require. In
penning this note, I had some difficulty; my hand, I knew not
how nor why, made wrong letters. I then wrote to Dr. Taylor
to come to me, and bring Dr. Heberden- and I sent to Dr.
Brocklesby, who is my neighbour.   My physicians are very
friendly, and give me great hopes; but you may imagine my
situation. I have so far recovered my vocal powers, as to repeat
the Lord's Prayer with no very imperfect articulation.  My
memory, I hope, yet remains as it was! but such an attack
produces solicitude for the safety of every faculty."
"TO MR. THOMAS DAVIES.
" DEAR SIR,
"I HAVE had, indeed, a very heavy blow; but GOD, who
yet spares my life, I humbly hope will spare my understanding,
and restore my speech. As I am not at all helpless, I want no
1 Compare a somewhat similar experiment made by Sir Walter
Scott during one of his severe illnesses in i 89.  Lockhart's
Life of Scott, vi. 69-70.




PARTIAL RECOVERY


305


particular assistance, but am strongly affected by Mrs. Davies's
tenderness; and when I think she can do me good, shall be very
glad to call upon her. I had ordered friends to be shut out; but
one or two have found the way in; and if you come you shall
be admitted: for I know not whom I can see, that will bring
more amusement on his tongue, or more kindness in his heart.
"I am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"June 18, 1783."
It gives me great pleasure to preserve such a memorial
of Johnson's regard for Mr Davies, to whom I was indebted for my introduction to him.' He indeed loved
Davies cordially, of which I shall give the following little
evidence. One day when he had treated him with too
much asperity, Tom, who was not without pride and
spirit, went off in a passion; but he had hardly reached
home, when Frank, who had been sent after him, delivered this note.-" Come, come, dear Davies, I am
always sorry when we quarrel; send me word that we
are friends."
"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"YOUR anxiety about my health is very friendly, and
very agreeable with your general kindness. I have, indeed, had
a very frightful blow. On the 17th of last month, about three
in the morning, as near as I can guess, I perceived myself almost
totally deprived of speech. I had no pain. My organs were so
obstructed that I could say no, but could scarcely say yes. I wrote
the necessary directions, for it pleased GOD to spare my hand, and
sent for Dr. Heberden and Dr. Brocklesby. Between the time
in which I discovered my own disorder, and that in which I sent
for the doctors, I had, I believe, in spite of my surprise and
solicitude, a little sleep, and Nature began to renew its operations.
They came and gave the directions which the disease required, and
from that time I have been continually improving in articulation.
I can now speak, but the nerves are weak, and I cannot continue
discourse long; but strength, I hope, will return. The physicians
1 Poor Derrick, however, though he did not himself introduce
me to Dr. Johnson as he promised, had the merit of introducing
me to Davies, the immediate introductor. B.
II.                                           X




306


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


consider me as cured. I was last Sunday at Church. On Tuesday
I took an airing to Hampstead, and dined with THE CLUB, where
Lord Palmerston was proposed, and, against my opinion, was
rejected.1 I designed to go next week with Mr. Langton to
Rochester, where I purpose to stay about ten days, and then try
some other air. I have many kind invitations. Your brother has
very frequently inquired after me. Most of my friends have,
indeed, been very attentive.  Thank dear Lord Hailes for his
present.
" I hope you found at your return every thing gay and prosperous, and your lady in particular, quite recovered and confirmed.
Pay her my respects. I am, dear Sir, your most humble servant,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
" London, July 3, 1783."
" TO MRS. LUCY PORTER, IN LICHFIELD.
"DEAR MADAM,
" THE account which you give of your health is but
melancholy- May it please GOD to restore you. My disease
affected my speech, and still continues, in some degree, to obstruct
my utterance; my voice is distinct enough for a while. but the
organs being still weak are quickly weary: but in other respects I
am, I think, rather better than I have lately been; and can let
you know my state without the help of any other hand.
" In the opinion of my friends, and in my own, I am gradually
mending. The physicians consider me as cured, and I had leave
four days ago to wash the cantharides from my head. Last
Tuesday I dined at THE CLUB.
"I am going next week into Kent, and purpose to change the
air frequently this summer; whether I shall wander so far as
Staffordshire I cannot tell. I should be glad to come. Return
my thanks to Mrs. Cobb, and Mr. Pearson, and all that have
shewn attention to me.
" Let us, my dear, pray for one another, and consider our
sufferings as notices mercifully given us to prepare ourselves for
another state.
"I live now but in a melancholy way. My old friend Mr.
Levett is dead, who lived with me in the house, and was useful
and companionable; Mrs. Desmoulins is gone away; and Mrs.
Williams is so much decayed that she can add little to another's
1 His Lordship was soon after chosen, and is now a member of
THE CLUB. B.




VISIT TO LANGTON


307


gratifications. The world passes away, and we are passing with
it; but there is, doubtless, another world, which will endure for
ever. Let us all fit ourselves for it. I am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, July 5, 1783."
Such was the general vigour of his constitution, that he
recovered from this alarming and severe attack with
wonderful quickness; so that in July he was able to
make a visit to Mr. Langton at Rochester, where he
passed about a fortnight, and made little excursions as
easily as at any time of his life. In August he went as
far as the neighbourhood of Salisbury, to Heale, the seat
of William Bowles, Esq., a gentleman whom I have heard
him praise for exemplary religious order in his family.
In his diary I find a short but honourable mention of this
visit. —"August 28, I came to Heale without fatigue.
30, I am  entertained quite to my mind."
"TO DR. BROCKLESBY.
"Heale, near Salisbury, Aug. 29, I783.
( DEAR SIR,
"WITHOUT appearing to want a just sense of your kind
attention, I cannot omit to give an account of the day which
seemed to appear in some sort perilous. I rose at five, and went
out at six; and having reached Salisbury about nine, went forward
a few miles in my friend's chariot. I was no more wearied with
the journey, though it was a high-hung, rough coach, than I
should have been forty years ago. We shall now see what air
will do.  The country is all a plain; and the house in which I
am, so far as I can judge from my window, for I write before I
have left my chamber, is sufficiently pleasant.
" Be so kind as to continue your attention to Mrs. Williams;
it is great consolation to the well, and still greater to the sick,
that they find themselves not neglected; and I know that you
will be desirous of giving comfort, even where you have no great
hope of giving help.
" Since I wrote the former part of the letter, I find that by the
course of the post I cannot send it before the thirty-first. I
am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON."




3o8


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


While he was here, he had a letter from Dr. Brocklesby,
acquainting him of the death of Mrs. Williams,l which
affected him a good deal. Though for several years her
temper had not been complacent, she had valuable qualities,
and her departure left a blank in his house. Upon this
occasion he, according to his habitual course of piety,
composed a prayer. (Prayers and Meditations, 226.)
I shall here insert a few particulars concerning him,
with which I have been favoured by one of his friends.
"He had once conceived the design of writing the Life ot
Oliver Cromwell, saying, that he thought it must be highly
curious to trace his extraordinary rise to the supreme power
from so obscure a beginning. He at length laid aside his scheme,
on discovering that all that can be told of him is already in print;
and that it is impracticable to procure any authentic information
in addition to what the world is already possessed of."
" He had likewise projected, but at what part of his life is not
known, a work to shew how small a quantity of REAL FICTION
there is in the world; and that the same images, with very little
variation, have served all the authors who have ever written."
" His thoughts in the latter part of his life were frequently
employed on his deceased friends. He often muttered, these, or
such like sentences: 'Poor man! and then he died.' "2
1 In his letter to Miss Susanna Thrale, Sept. 9, I783, he thus
writes: "Pray shew Mamma this passage of a letter from Dr.
Brocklesby. 'Mrs. Williams, from mere inanition, has at length
paid the great debt to nature about three o'clock this morning.
(Sept. 6.) She died without a struggle, retaining her faculties to
the very last, and, as she expressed it, having set her house in
order, was prepared to leave it at the last summons of nature.'"
In his letter to Mrs. Thrale, Sept. 22, he adds, " Poor Williams
has, I hope, seen the end of her afflictions. She acted with
prudence, and she bore with fortitude. She has left me.
'Thou thy weary task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages.'
Had she had good humour and prompt elocution, her universal
curiosity and comprehensive knowledge would have made her the
delight of all that knew her. She has left her little to your
charity-school."  Malone.
2 So Lamb in the last days of his life was frequently heard to
say to himself, " Coleridge is dead." Canon Ainger's Charles
Lamb, p. 200oo.




JOHNSONIANA


309


"Speaking of a certain literary friend, ' He is a very pompous
puzzling fellow,' said he; he lent me a letter once that somebody had written to him, no matter what it was about; but he
wanted to have the letter back, and expressed a mighty value for
it; he hoped it was to be met with again, he would not lose it for
a thousand pounds. I laid my hands upon it soon afterwards, and
gave it him. I believe I said I was very glad to have met with it.
O, then he did not know that it signified any thing. So you see,
when the letter was lost it was worth a thousand pounds, and
when it was found it was not worth a farthing."'
" The style and character of his conversation is pretty generally
known; it was certainly conducted in conformity with a precept
of Lord Bacon, but it is not clear, I apprehend, that this conformity was either perceived or intended by Johnson.  The
precept alluded to is as follows: 'In all kinds of speech, either
pleasant, grave, severe, or ordinary, it is convenient to speak
leisurely, and rather drawlingly than hastily: because hasty
speech confounds the memory, and oftentimes, besides the
unseemliness, drives a man either to stammering, a nonplus,
or harping on that which should follow; whereas a slow
speech confirmeth the memory, addeth a conceit of wisdom
to the hearers, besides a seemliness of speech and countenance.'
Dr. Johnson's method of conversation was certainly calculated to
excite attention, and to amuse and instruct (as it happened)
without wearying or confusing his company  He was always
most perfectly clear and perspicuous; and his language was so
accurate, and his sentences so neatly constructed, that his conversation might have been all printed without any correction. At the
same time, it was easy and natural; the accuracy of it had no
appearance of labour, constraint, or stiffness; he seemed more
correct than others, by the force of habit, and the customary
exercises of his powerful mind."
" He spoke often in praise of French literature. 'The French
are excellent in this,' he would say, ' they have a book on every
subject.' From what he had seen of them he denied them the
praise of superior politeness, and mentioned, with very visible
disgust, the custom they have of spitting on the floors of their
apartmen ts. ' This,' said the Doctor, is as gross a thing as can
well be done; and one wonders how any man, or set of men, can
persist in so offensive a practice for a whole day together; one
should expect that the first effort towards civilization would
remove it even among savages.'"
1 Hints for Civil Conversation.-Bacon's Works, 4to. vol. i.
p. 57. Malon.e




31o


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


"Baxter's ' Reasons of the Christian Religion,' he thought
contained the best collection of the evidences of the divinity of
the Christian system."
" Chemistry was always an interesting pursuit with Dr. Johnson. Whilst he was in Wiltshire, he attended some experiments
that were made by a physician at Salisbury, on the new kinds of
air. In the course of the experiments, frequent mention being
made of Dr. Priestley, Dr. Johnson knit his brows, and in a stern
manner inquired, ' Why do we hear so much of Dr. Priestley '1
1 I do not wonder at Johnson's displeasure when the name of
Dr. Priestley was mentioned; for I know no writer who has been
suffered to publish more pernicious doctrines. I shall instance only
three. First, materialism; by which mind is denied to human
nature; which, if believed, must deprive us of every elevated
principle. Secondly, necessity; or the doctrine that every action,
whether good or bad, is included in an unchangeable and unavoidable system; a notion utterly subversive of moral government.
Thirdly, that we have no reason to think that the future world
(which, as he is pleased to inform us, will be adapted to our
merely improved nature) will be materially different from this;
which, if believed, would sink wretched mortals into despair, as
they could no longer hope for the "rest that remaineth for the
people of GOD," or for that happiness which is revealed to us as
something beyond our present conceptions; but would feel themselves doomed to a continuation of the uneasy state under which
they now groan. I say nothing of the petulant intemperance
with which he dares to insult the venerable establishments of his
country. As a specimen of his writings, I shall quote the following passage, which appears to me equally absurd and impious, and
which might have been retorted upon him by the men who were
prosecuted for burning his house. "I cannot," says he, "as a
necessarian [meaning necessitarian], hate any man; because I consider him as being, in all respects, just what GOD has made him to
be; and also as doing with respect to me, nothing but what he was
expressly designed and appointed to do; GOD being the only cause,
and men nothing more than the instruments in his hands to execute
all his pleasure."-Illustrations of Philosophical Necessity, p. III.
The Reverend Dr. Parr, in a late tract, appears to suppose that
Dr. 7ohnson not onAy endured, but almost solicited, an interview with
Dr. Priestley. In justice to Dr. Johnson, I declare my firm belief
that he never did. My illustrious friend was particularly resolute
in not giving countenance to men whose writings he considered
as pernicious to society. I was present at Oxford when Dr. Price,




CONTINUED ILL HEALTH


3"


He was very properly answered, 'Sir, because we are indebted to
him for these important discoveries.' On this Dr. Johnson appeared well content; and replied, 'Well, well, I believe we are;
and let every man have the honour he has merited.' "
" A friend was one day, about two years before his death, struck
with some instance of Dr. Johnson's great candour. 'Well, Sir,'
said he, 'I will always say that you are a very candid man.''Will you?' replied the Doctor; I doubt then you will be very
singular. But, indeed, Sir,' continued he, 'I look upon myself
to be a man very much misunderstood. I am not an uncandid
nor am I a severe man. I sometimes say more than I mean, in
jest; and people are apt to believe me serious: however, I am
more candid than I was when I was younger. As I know more
of mankind, I expect less of them, and am ready now to call a
man a good man, upon easier terms than I was formerly."'
On his return from Heale he wrote to Dr. Burney,-" I
came home on the     8th of September, at noon, to a very
disconsolate house. You and I have lost our friends; but
you have more friends at home. My domestic companion
is taken from me. She is much missed, for her acquisitions were many, and her curiosity universal; so that she
partook of every conversation. I am not well enough to
go much out; and to sit, and eat, or fast alone, is very
wearisome. I always mean to send my compliments to all
the ladies."
His fortitude and patience met with severe trials during
this year. The stroke of the palsy has been related circumstantially; but he was also afflicted with the gout,
and was besides troubled with a complaint which not only
was attended with immediate inconvenience, but threatened
him with a chirurgical operation, from which most men
would shrink. The complaint was a sarcocele, which
Johnson bore with uncommon firmness, and was not at all
even before he had rendered himself so generally obnoxious by his
zeal for the French Revolution, came into a company where
Johnson was, who instantly left the room. Much more would he
have reprobated Dr. Priestley. Whoever wishes to see a perfect
delineation of this Literary Jack of all Trades, may find it in an
ingenious tract, entitled, I small Whole-Length of Dr. Priestley,
printed for Rivington's in St. Paul's Churchyard. B.




312


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


frightened while he looked forward to amputation. He
was attended by Mr Pott and Mr Cruikshank. I have
before me a letter of the 30th of July this year, to Mr.
Cruikshank, in which he says, " I am going to put myself
into your hands: " and another accompanying a set of
his '" Lives of the Poets," in which he says, " I beg your
acceptance of these volumes, as an acknowledgment of the
great favours which you have bestowed on, Sir, your most
obliged and most humble servant." I have in my possession several more letters from him to Mr. Cruikshank,
and also to Dr. Mudge at Plymouth, which it would be
improper to insert, as they are filled with unpleasing
technical details. I shall, however, extract from his letters
to Dr Mudge such passages as shew either a felicity of
expression or the undaunted state of his mind.
" My conviction of your skill, and my belief of your friendship,
determine me to entreat your opinion and advice."-" In this
state I with great earnestness desire you to tell me what is to be
done. Excision is doubtless necessary to the cure, and I know
not any means of palliation. The operation is doubtless painful;
but is it dangerous? The pain I hope to endure with decency;
but I am loth to put life into much hazard." —" By representing
the gout as an antagonist to the palsy, you have said enough to
make it welcome. This is not strictly the first fit, but I hope it
is as good as the first; for it is the second that ever confined me;
and the first was ten years ago, much less fierce and fiery than
this."-" Write, dear Sir, what you can to inform or encourage
me. The operation is not delayed by any fears or objections of
mine."
"TO BENNET LANGTON, ESQ
" DEAR SIR,
" You may very reasonably charge me with insensibility of
your kindness, and that of Lady Rothes, since I have suffered so
much time to pass without paying any acknowledgment. I now,
at last, return my thanks; and why I did it not sooner I ought to
tell you. I went into Wiltshire as soon as I well could, and was
there much employed in palliating my own malady. Disease
produces much selfishness. A man in pain is looking after ease;
and lets most other things go as chance shall dispose of them. In
the mean time I have lost a companion, [Mrs. Williams] to whom
I have had recourse for domestic amusement for thirty years, and




GOUT


313


whose variety of knowledge never was exhausted; and now return
to a habitation vacant and desolate. I carry about a very troublesome and dangerous complaint, which admits no cure but by the
chirurgical knife. Let me have your prayers. I am, &c.
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, Sept. 29, 783."
Happily the complaint abated without his being put to
the torture of amputation. But we must surely admire
the manly resolution which he discovered, while it hung
over him.
In a letter to the same gentleman he writes, " The gout
has within these four days come upon me with a violence
which I never experienced before. It made me helpless as
an infant."-And in another, having mentioned Mrs.
Williams, he says,-" Whose death following that of
Levett, has now made my house a solitude. She left her
little substance to a charity-school. She is, I hope, where
there is neither darkness, nor want, nor sorrow."
I wrote to him, begging to know the state of his health,
and mentioned that Baxter's " Anacreon," " which is in the
library at Auchinleck, was, I find, collated by my father in
1727 with the MS. belonging to the University of Leyden,
and he has made a number of notes upon it. Would you
advise me to publish a new edition of it?"
His answer was dated September 30th."You should not make your letters such rarities, when you
know, or might know, the uniform state of my health. It is very
long since I heard from you; and that I have not answered is a
very insufficient reason for the silence of a friend.-Your
Anacreon' is a very uncommon book; neither London nor
Cambridge can supply a copy of that edition. Whether it should
be reprinted, you cannot do better than consult Lord Hailes.Besides my constant and radical disease, I have been for these ten
days much harassed with the gout; but that has now remitted.
I hope GOD will yet grant me a little longer life, and make me
less unfit to appear before him."
He this autumn received a visit from the celebrated
Mrs. Siddons. He gives this account of it in one of his
letters to Mrs. Thrale [October 27]:



3I4


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


" Mrs. Siddonls, in her visit to me, behaved with great modesty
and propriety, and left nothing behind her to be censured or
despised. Neither praise nor money, the two powerful corrupters
of mankind, seem to have depraved her. I shall be glad to see her
again. Her brother Kemble calls on me, and pleases me very
well. Mrs. Siddons and I talked of plays; and she told me her
intention of exhibiting this winter the characters of Constance,
Catharine, and Isabella, in Shakespeare."
Mr. Kemble has favoured me with the following minute
of what passed at this visit.
"When Mrs. Siddons came into the room, there happened to
be no chair ready for her, which he observing, said with a smile,
Madam, you who so often occasion a want of seats to other
people, will the more easily excuse the want of one yourself.'
" Having placed himself by her, he with great good humour
entered upon a consideration of the English drama; and, among
other inquiries, particularly asked her which of Shakespeare's
characters she was most pleased with. Upon her answering that
she thought the character of Queen Catharine in 'Henry the
Eighth' the most natural:-'I think so too, Madam,' said he;
'and whenever you perform it, I will once more hobble out to the
theatre myself.' Mrs. Siddons promised she would do herself the
honour of acting his favourite part for him; but many circumstances happened to prevent the representation of 'King Henry
the Eighth' during the Doctor's life.
" In the course of the evening he thus gave his opinion upon
the merits of some of the principal performers whom he remembered to have seen upon the stage. ' Mrs. Porter in the vehemence
of rage, and Mrs. Clive in the sprightliness of humour, I have
never seen equalled. What Clive did best, she did better than
Garrick; but could not do half so many things well; she was a
better romp than any I ever saw in nature.-Pritchard, in common
life, was a vulgar idiot; she would talk of her gownd; but, when
she appeared upon the stage, seemed to be inspired by gentility
and understanding.-I once talked with Colley Cibber, and
thought him ignorant of the principles of his art.-Garrick,
Madam, was no declaimer; there was not one of his own sceneshifters who could not have spoken To be, or not to be, better than
he did; yet he was the only actor I ever saw whom I could call
a master both in tragedy and comedy; though I liked him best in
comedy. A true conception of character, and natural expression
of it, were his distinguished excellences.' Having expatiated, with
his usual force and eloquence, on Mr. Garrick's extraordinary




ON ACTING


315


eminence as an actor, he concluded with this compliment to his
social talents; 'And after all, Madam, I thought him less to
be envied on the stage than at the head of a table.' "
Johnson, indeed, had thought more upon the subject
of acting than might be generally supposed. Talking of
it one day to Mr. Kemble, he said, "Are you, Sir, one of
those enthusiasts who believe yourself transformed into
the very character you represent?" Upon Mr. Kemble's
answering that he had never felt so strong a persuasion
himself, "To be sure not, Sir," said Johnson; "the thing
is impossible. And if Garrick really believed himself to
be that monster, Richard the Third, he deserved to be
hanged every time he performed it." 1
A pleasing instance of the generous attention of one of
his friends has been discovered by the publication of Mrs.
Thrale's collection of Letters. In a letter to one of the
Miss Thrales, [ii. 328] he writes, "A friend, whose
name I will tell when your mamma has tried to guess it,
1 My worthy friend, Mr. John Nichols, was present when Mr.
Henderson, the actor, paid a visit to Dr. Johnson: and was received
in a very courteous manner.-See Gentleman's Magazine, June,
179I. I found among Dr Johnson's papers the following letter
to him from the celebrated Mrs. Bellamy: V"TO DR. JOHNSON.
SIR,-The flattering remembrance of the partiality you honoured
me with, some years ago, as well as the humanity you are known
to possess, has encouraged me to solicit your patronage at my
benefit. By a long Chancery suit, and a complicated train of
unfortunate events, I am reduced to the greatest distress; which
obliges me, once more, to request the indulgence of the public.
Give me leave to solicit the honour of your company, and to
assure you, if you grant my request, the gratification I shall feel,
from being patronised by Dr. Johnson, will be infinitely superior
to any advantage that may arise from the benefit; as I am, with
the profoundest respect, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
G. A. BELLAMY.
" No. io, Duke Street, St. James's,
"May I, 1783."
I am happy in recording these particulars, which prove that my
illustrious friend lived to think much more favourably of players
than he appears to have done in the early part of his life. B.




3I6


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


sent to my physician to inquire whether this long train of
illness had brought me into difficulties for want of money,
with an invitation to send to him for what occasion
required. I shall write this night to thank him, having
no need to borrow." And afterwards, in a letter to Mrs.
Thrale, "Since you cannot guess, I will tell you, that
the generous man was Gerard Hamilton. I returned him
a very thankful and respectful letter." [ii. 342.]
I applied to Mr. Hamilton, by a common friend, and
he has been so obliging as to let me have Johnson's letter
to him upon this occasion, to adorn my collection.
"TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM GERARD HAMILTON.
"DEAR SIR,
" YOUR kind inquiries after my affairs, and your generous
offers, have been communicated to me by Dr. Brocklesby. I
return thanks with great sincerity, having lived long enough to
know what gratitude is due to your friendship; and entreat that
my refusal may not be imputed to sullenness or pride. I am,
indeed, in no want. Sickness is, by the generosity of my physicians,
of little expense to me. But if any unexpected exigence should
press me, you shall see, dear Sir, how cheerfully I can be obliged
to so much liberality. I am, Sir, your most obedient and most
humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"November 19, 1783."
I find in this, as in former years, notices of his kind
attention to Mrs. Gardiner, who though in the humble
station of a tallow-chandler upon Snow Hill, was a woman
of excellent good sense, pious, and charitable. She told
me, she had been introduced to him by Mrs. Masters, the
poetess, whose volumes he revised, and, it is said, illuminated heroL and there with a ray of his own genius. Mrs.
Gardiner was very zealous for the support of the Ladies'
Charity-School in the parish of St. Sepulchre. It is confined to females; and, I am told, it afforded a hint for
the story of Betty Broom in " The Idler " Johnson this
year, I find, obtained for it a sermon from the late Bishop
of St. Asaph, Dr. Shipley, whom he, in one of his letters




'THE FATHER'S REVENGE'


3I7


to Mrs. Thrale, characterises as " knowing and conversible"; and whom all who knew his Lordship, even
those who differed from him in politics, remember with
much respect.
The Earl of Carlisle having written a tragedy, entitled
"THE FATHER'S REVENGE," some of his Lordship's friends
applied to Mrs. Chapone, to prevail on Dr Johnson to
read and give his opinion of it, which he accordingly did,
in a letter to that lady. Sir Joshua Reynolds having
informed me that this letter was in Lord Carlisle's possession, though I was not fortunate enough to have the
honour of being known to his Lordship, trusting to the
general courtesy of literature, I wrote to him requesting
the favour of a copy of it, and to be permitted to insert
it in my life of Dr. Johnson. His Lordship was so good
as to comply with my request, and has thus enabled me
to enrich my work with a very fine piece of writing, which
displays both the critical skill and politeness of my
illustrious friend; and perhaps the curiosity which it will
excite, may induce the noble and elegant author to gratify
the world by the publication I of a performance, of which
Dr. Johnson has spoken in such terms.
" TO MRS. CHAPONE.
" MADAM,
"BY sending the tragedy to me a second time,2 I think
that a very honourable distinction has been shewn me, and I did
not delay the perusal, of which I am now to tell the effect.
" The construction of the play is not completely regular; the
stage is too often vacant, and the scenes are not sufficiently
connected. This, however, would be called by Dryden only a
mechanical defect; which takes away little from the power of the
poem, and which is seen rather than felt.
" A rigid examiner of the diction might, perhaps, wish some
words changed, and some lines more vigorously terminated.
But from such petty imperfections what writer was ever free?
1 A few copies only of this tragedy have been printed, and given
to the author's friends. B.
2 Dr. Johnson having been very ill when the tragedy was first
sent to him, had declined the consideration of it. B.




318


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


"The general form   and force of the dialogue is of more
importance. It seems to want that quickness of reciprocation
which characterises the English drama, and is not always sufficiently
fervid or animated.
" Of the sentiments, I remember not one that I wished omitted.
In the imagery I cannot forbear to distinguish the comparison of
joy succeeding grief to light rushing on the eye accustomed to
darkness. It seems to have all that can be desired to make it
please. It is new, just, and delightful.1
"With the characters, either as conceived or preserved, I have
no fault to find. but was much inclined to congratulate a writer,
who, in defiance of prejudice and fashion, made the archbishop a
good man, and scorned all thoughtless applause which a vicious
churchman would have brought him.
" The catastrophe is affecting. The father and daughter both
culpable, both wretched, and both penitent, divide between them
our pity and our sorrow.
"Thus, Madam, I have performed what I did not willingly
undertake, and could not decently refuse. The noble writer will
be pleased to remember that sincere criticism ought to raise no
resentment, because judgment is not under the control of will;
but involuntary criticism, as it has still less ot choice, ought to be
more remote from possibility of offence.
" I am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
Nov. 28, 1783."
I consulted him on two questions of a very different
nature    one,  whether the    unconstitutional influence
exercised by the peers of Scotland in the election of the
representatives of the Commons, by means of fictitious
qualifications, ought not to be resisted;-the other, what
in propriety and humanity should be done with old
horses unable to labour. I gave him some account of my
life at Auchinleck; and expressed my satisfaction that the
gentlemen of the county had, at two public meetings,
elected me their preses, or chairman.
1 < I could have borne my woes; that stranger Joy
Wounds while it smiles:-The long-imprison'd wretch,
Emerging from the night of his damp cell,
Shrinks from the sun's bright beams; and that which flings
Gladness o'er all, to him is agony." B.




ADVICE TO BOSWELL


319


"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"LIKE all other men who have great friends, you begin to
feel the pangs of neglected merit; and all the comfort that I can
give you is, by telling you that you have probably more pangs to
feel, and more neglect to suffer. You have, indeed, begun to complain too soon; and I hope I am the only confidant of your discontent. Your friends have not yet had leisure to gratify personal
kindness; they have hitherto been busy in strengthening their
ministerial interest. If a vacancy happens in Scotland, give them
early intelligence; and as you can serve Government as powerfully
as any of your probable competitors, you may make in some sort
a warrantable claim.
" Of the exaltations and depressions of your mind you delight
to talk, and I hate to hear. Drive all such fancies from you.
" On the day when I received your letter, I think, the foregoing
page was written; to which one disease or another has hindered
me from making any additions. I am now a little better  But
sickness and solitude press me very heavily. I could hear sickness
better, if I were relieved from solitude.
" The present dreadful confusion of the public 1 ought to make
you wrap yourself up in your hereditary possessions, which, though
less than you may wish, are more than you can want; and in an
hour of religious retirement return thanks to GOD, who has
exempted you from any strong temptation to faction, treachery,
plunder, and disloyalty.
"' As your neighbours distinguish you by such honours as they
can bestow, content yourself with your station, without neglecting
your profession. Your estate and the Courts will find you full
employment, and your mind well occupied will be quiet.
"The usurpation of the nobility, for they apparently usurp all
the influence they gain by fraud and misrepresentation, I think it
certainly lawful, perhaps your duty, to resist. What is not their
own, they have only by robbery.
" Your question about the horses gives me more perplexity. I
know not well what advice to give you. I can only recommend
a rule which you do not want;-give as little pain as you can. I
suppose that we have a right to their service while their strength
lasts; what we can do with them afterwards, I cannot so easily
1 The rejection by the Lords of Fox's India Bill had resulted in
the dismissal of the Coalition Ministry a few days before this letter
was finished.




320


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


determine. But let us consider  Nobody denies that man has a
right first to milk the cow, and to shear the sheep, and then to
kill them for his table. May he not, by parity of reason, first
work a horse, and then kill him the easiest way, that he may have
the means of another horse, or food for cows and sheep? Man is
influenced in both cases by different motives of self-interest. He
that rejects the one must reject the other.
"I am, &c.
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, Dec. 24, 1733.
"A happy and pious Christmas; and many happy years to you,
your lady, and children."
The late ingenious Mr. Mickle, some time before his
death, wrote me a letter concerning Dr Johnson, in which
he mentions: " I was upwards of twelve years acquainted
with him, was frequently in his company, always talked
with ease to him, and can truly say, that I never received
from him one rough word."
In this letter he relates his having, while engaged in
translating the " Lusiad," had a dispute of considerable
length with Johnson, who, as usual declaimed upon the
misery and corruption of a sea life, and used this expression:-" It had been happy for the world, Sir, if your
hero Gama, Prince Henry of Portugal, and Columbus,
had never been born, or that their schemes had never
gone farther than their own imaginations."
"This sentiment," says Mr. Mickle, "which is to be found in
his 'Introduction to the World Displayed,' I, in my Dissertation
prefixed to the ' Lusiad,' have controverted; and though authors
are said to be bad judges of their own works, I am not ashamed to
own to a friend, that that dissertation is my favourite above all
that I ever attempted in prose. Next year, when the ' Lusiad'
was published, I waited on Dr. Johnson, who addressed me with
one of his good-humoured smiles:-' Well, you have remembered
our dispute about Prince Henry, and have cited me too. You
have done your part very well indeed you have made the best of
your argument; but I am not convinced yet.'
" Before publishing the ' Lusiad,' I sent Mr Hoole a proof of
that part of the introduction in which I make mention of Dr.
Johnson, yourself, and other well-wishers to the work, begging it




OSSIAN


321


might be shewn to Dr. Johnson. This was accordingly done;
and in place of the simple mention of him which I had made, he
dictated to Mr. Hoole the sentence as it now stands.
"Dr. Johnson told me in 1772 that, about twenty years before
that time, he himself had a design to translate the ' Lusiad,' of the
merit of which he spoke highly, but had been prevented by a
number of other engagements."
Mr. Mickle reminds me in this letter of a conversation
at dinner one day at Mr Hoole's with Dr. Johnson, when
Mr. Nicol, the King's bookseller, and I attempted to
controvert the maxim, " better that ten guilty should
escape, than one innocent person suffer;" and were
answered by Dr Johnson with great power of reasoning
and eloquence. I am very sorry that I have no record of
that day: but I well recollect my illustrious friend's
having ably shewn that, unless c;vil institutions ensure
protection to the innocent, all the confidence which mankind should have in them would be lost.
I shall here mention what, in strict chronological
arrangement, should have appeared in my account of last
year; but may more properly be introduced here, the controversy having not been closed till this. The Reverend
Mr. Shaw, a native of one of the Hebrides, having
entertained doubts of the authenticity of the poems ascribed to Ossian, divested himself of national bigotry;
and having travelled in the Highlands and Islands of
Scotland, and also in Ireland, in order to furnish himself
with materials for a Gaelic Dictionary, which he afterwards
compiled, was so fully satisfied that Dr. Johnson was in
the right upon the question, that he candidly published a
pamphlet, stating his conviction, and the proofs and
reasons on which it was founded. A person at Edinburgh,
of the name of Clark, answered this pamphlet with much
zeal, and much abuse of its author. Johnson took Mr.
Shaw under his protection, and gave him his assistance in
writing a reply, which has been admired by the best
judges, and by many been considered as conclusive. A
few paragraphs, which sufficiently mark their great author,
shall be selected.
Ill.




311        BOSWELL'S LIFP      OF JOHNSON
" My assertions are, for the most part, purely negative I deny
the existence of Fingal, because in a long and curious peregrination through the Gaelic regions I have never been able to find it.
What I could not see myself I suspect to be equally invisible to
others; and I suspect with the more reason, as among all those
who have seen it no man can shew it.
" Mr Clark compares the obstinacy of those who disbelieve the
genuineness of Ossian to a blind man, who should dispute the
reality of colours, and deny that the British troops are clothed in
red. The blind man's doubt would be rational, if he did not
know by experience that others have a power which he himself
wants: but what perspicacity has Mr. Clark which Nature has
withheld from me or the rest of mankind?
" The true state of the parallel must be this. Suppose a man,
with eyes like his neighbours, was told by a boasting corporal that
the troops, indeed, wore red clothes for their ordinary dress, but
that every soldier had likewise a suit of black velvet, which he put
on when the king reviews them. This he thinks strange, and
desires to see the fine clothes, but finds nobody in forty thousand
men that can produce either coat or waistcoat. One, indeed, has
left them in his chest at Port Mahon; another has always heard
that he ought to have velvet clothes somewhere; and a third has
heard somebody say that soldiers ought to wear velvet. Can the
inquirer be blamed if he goes away believing that a soldier's red
coat is all that he has?
"But the most obdurant incredulity may be shamed or silenced
by facts. To overpower contradictions, let the soldier shew his
velvet coat, and the Fingalist the original of Ossian.
"The difference between us and the blind man is this: the
blind man is unconvinced, because he cannot see; and we, because,
though we can see, we find that nothing can be shewn."
Notwithstanding the complication of disorders under
which Johnson now laboured, he did not resign himself to
despondency and discontent, but with wisdom and spirit
endeavoured to console and amuse his mind with as many
innocent enjoyments as he could      procure.    Sir John
Hawkins has mentioned the cordiality with which he
insisted that such of the members of the old club in Ivy
Lane as survived, should meet again and dine together,
which they did, twice at a tavern, and once at his house.
and in order to ensure himself society in the evening for
three days in the week, he instituted a club at the Essex




THE CLUB IN ESSEX STREET


323


Head, in Essex Street, then kept by Samuel Greaves, an
old servant of Mr Thrale's.
"TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.
" DEAR SIR,
"IT is inconvenient to me to come out; I should else
have waited on you with an account of a little evening club which
we are establishing in Essex Street, in the Strand, and of which
you are desired to be one. It will be held at the Essex Head,
now kept by an old servant of Thrale's. The company is
numerous, and as you will see by the list, miscellaneous. The
terms are lax, and the expenses light. Mr. Barry was adopted by
Dr. Brocklesby, who joined with me in forming the plan. We
meet thrice a week, and he who misses forfeits twopence.
" If you are willing to become a member, draw a line under your
name. Return the list. We meet for the first time on Monday
at eight. I am, &c.
" SAM. JOHNSON.
<c Dec. 4, 1783."
It did not suit Sir Joshua to be one of this club. But
when I mention only Mr Dames Barrington, Dr. Brocklesby, Mr. Murphy, Mr. John Nichols, Mr. Cooke, Mr.
Joddrel, Mr Paradise, Dr Horsley, Mr Windham,' I
shall sufficiently obviate the misrepresentation of it by Sir
John Hawkins, as if it had been a low alehouse association,
by which Johnson was degraded. Johnson himself, like
his namesake Old Ben, composed the rules of his club.2
1 I was in Scotland when this club was founded, and during all
the winter. Johnson, however, declared I should be a member,
and invented a word upon the occasion: " Boswell," said he, " is
a very clubable man." When I came to town, I was proposed by
Mr. Barrington, and chosen. I believe there are few societies
where there is better conversation or more decorum. Several of
us resolved to continue it after our great founder was removed by
death. Other members were added; and now, above eight years
since that loss, we go on happily  B.
2 RULES.
"To-day deep thoughts resolve with me to drench
In mirth, that after no repenting draws."-MILTON.
(I) " The club shall consist of four-and-twenty. (2) The




324


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


In the end of this year he was seized with a spasmodic
asthma of such violence, that he was confined to the house
in great pain, being sometimes obliged to sit all night in
his chair, a recumbent posture being so hurtful to his
respiration, that he could not endure lying in bed; and
there came upon him at the same time that oppressive and
fatal disease, a dropsy It was a very severe winter, which
probably aggravated his complaints, and the solitude in
which Mr. Levett and Mrs. Williams had left him, rendered
his life very gloomy     Mrs. Desmoulins, who still lived,
was herself so very ill, that she could contribute very little
meetings shall be on the Monday, Thursday, and Saturday of
every week; but in the week before Easter there shall be no
meeting. (3) Every member is at liberty to introduce a friend
once a week, but not oftener. (4) Two members shall oblige
themselves to attend in their turn every night from eight to ten,
or to procure two to attend in their room. (5) Every member
present at the club shall spend at least sixpence: and every member who stays away shall forfeit threepence. (6) The master of
the house shall keep an account of the absent members: and
deliver to the president of the night a list of the forfeits incurred.
(7) When any member returns after absence, he shall immediately
lay down his forfeits; which if he omits to do, the president shall
require. (8) There shall be no general reckoning, but every man
shall adjust his own expenses. (9) The night of indispensable
attendance will come to every member once a month. Whoever
shall for three months together omit to attend himself, or by substitution, nor shall make an apology in the fourth month, shall be
considered as having abdicated the club. (io) When a vacancy is
to be filled, the name of the candidate, and of the member recommending him, shall stand in the club room three nights. On the
fourth he may be chosen by ballot; six members at least being
present, and two-thirds of the ballot being in his favour; or the
majority, should the numbers not be divisible by three. (I I) The
master of the house shall give notice, six days before, to each of those
members whose turn of necessary attendance is come. (12) The
notice may be in these words:-Sir, On -      the -   of -,
will be your turn of presiding at the Essex Head. Your company
is therefore earnestly requested. (13) One penny shall be left by
each member for the waiter." Johnson's definition of a club in
this sense, in his Dictionary, is, "An assembly of good fellows,
meeting under certain conditions." B.




COURAGE UNDER ILL HEALTH


32S


to his relief. He, however, had none of that unsocial shyness which we commonly see in people afflicted with sickness. He did not hide his head from the world, in
solitary abstraction; he did not deny himself to the visits
of his friends and acquaintances; but at all times, when
he was not overcome by sleep, was ready for conversation
as in his best days.
"TO MRS. LUCY PORTER IN LICHFIELD.
"DEAR MADAM,
" You may perhaps think me negligent that I have not
written to you again upon the loss of your brother; but condolences and consolations are such common and such useless things,
that the omission of them is no great crime: and my own diseases
occupy my mind, and engage my care. My nights are miserably
restless, and my days, therefore, are heavy. I try, however, to
hold up my head as high as I can.
"I am sorry that your health is impaired; perhaps the spring
and the summer may, in some degree, restore it; but if not, we
must submit to the inconveniences of time, as to the other dispensations of Eternal Goodness. Pray for me, and write to me, or
let Mr. Pearson write for you.
"I am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, Nov. 29, 1783."
And now I am arrived at the last year of the life of
SAMUEL JOHNSON; a year in which, although passed in
severe indisposition, he nevertheless gave many evidences
of the continuance of those wondrous powers of mind,
which raised him so high in the intellectual world. His
conversation and his letters of this year were in no respect
inferior to those of former years.
The following is a remarkable proof of his being alive
to the most minute curiosities of literature.
"TO MR. DILLY, BOOKSELLER, IN THE POULTRY.
< SIR,
" THERE is in the world a set of books which used to be
sold by the booksellers on the bridge, and which I must entreat




326


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


you to procure me. They are called, Burton's Books;1 the title of
one is 'Admirable Curiosities, Rareties, and Wonders in England.'
I believe there are about five or six of them; they seem very
proper to allure backward readers: be so kind as to get them for
me, and send me them with the best printed edition of Baxter's
'Call to the Unconverted.'
"I am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
Jan. 6, 1784."
"TO MR. PERKINS.
"DEAR SIR,
"I WAS very sorry not to see you when you were so kind
as to call on me but to disappoint friends, and if they are very
good-natured, to disoblige them, is one of the evils of sickness. If
you will please to let me know which of the afternoons in this
week I shall be favoured with another visit by you and Mrs. Perkins, and the young people, I will take all the measures that I can
to be pretty well at that time. I am, dear Sir, your most humble
servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"Jan. 21, 1784."
His attention to the Essex Head Club appears from
the following letter to Mr. Alderman Clark, a gentleman
for whom he deservedly entertained a great regard.
"TO RICHARD CLARK, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"You will receive a requisition, according to the rules of
the Club, to be at the house as president of the night. This turn
comes once a month, and the member is obliged to attend, or send
another in his place. You were enrolled in the Club by my invitation, and I ought to introduce you; but as I am hindered by
sickness, Mr. Hoole will very properly supply my place as introductor, or yours as President. I hope in milder weather to be a
very constant attendant.
u I am, Sir, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
Jan. 27, 1784.
" You ought to be informed that the forfeits began with the
year, and that every night of non-attendance incurs the mulct of
threepence, that is, ninepence a week."
1 See Lowndes' Bibliographical Manual, i. 328-30, where the
list includes forty-six volumes.




NEW AILMENTS


327


On the 8th of January I wrote to him, anxiously
inquiring as to his health, and enclosing my " Letter to
the People of Scotland, on the Present State of the
Nation."-"I trust," said I, "that you will be liberal
enough to make allowance for my differing from you on
two points [the Middlesex Election, and the American
War], when my general principles of government are
according to your own heart, and when, at a crisis of
doubtful event, I stand forth with honest zeal as an
ancient and faithful Briton. My reason for introducing
those two points was, that as my opinions with regard to
them had been declared at the periods when they were
least favourable, I might have the credit of a man who is
not a worshipper of ministerial power."
"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"I HEAR of many inquiries which your kindness has disposed you to make after me. I have long intended you a long
letter, which perhaps the imagination of its length hindered me
from beginning. I will, therefore, content myself with a shorter.
" Having promoted the institution of a new club in the neighbourhood, at the house of an old servant of Thrale's, I went thither
to meet the company, and was seized with a spasmodic asthma, so
violent, that with difficulty I got to my own house, in which I
have been confined eight or nine weeks, and from which I know not
when I shall be able to go even to church. The asthma, however, is not the worst. A dropsy gains ground upon me; my
legs and thighs are very much swollen with water, which I should
be content if I could keep there, but I am afraid that it will soon
be higher. My nights are very sleepless and very tedious. And
yet I am extremely afraid of dying.
"My physicians try to make me hope, that much of my malady
is the effect of cold, and that some degree at l.ast of recovery is to
be expected from vernal breezes and summer suns. If my life is
prolonged to autumn, I should be glad to try a warmer climate;
though how to travel with a diseased body, without a companion
to conduct me, and with very little money, I do not well see.
Ramsay has recovered his limbs in Italy; and Fielding was sent to
Lisbon, where, indeed, he died; but he was, I believe, past hope
when he went. Think for me what I can do.
" I received your pamphlet, and when I write again may perhaps




328


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


tell you some opinion about it; but you will forgive a man strug
ling with disease his neglect of disputes, politics, and pamphlets.
Let me have your prayers. My compliments to your lady, and
young ones. Ask your physicians about my case: and desire Sir
Alexander Dick to write me his opinion.
"I am, dear Sir, &c.
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"Feb. I I, 1784."
TO MRS. LUCY PORTER, IN LICHFIELD.
"MY DEAREST LOVE,
"I HAVE been extremely ill of an asthma and dropsy, but
received, by the mercy of GOD, sudden and unexpected relief last
Thursday, by the discharge of twenty pints of water. Whether I
shall continue free, or shall fill again, cannot be told. Pray for
me.
" Death, my dear, is very dreadful; let us think nothing worth
our care but how to prepare for it; what we know amiss in ourselves let us make haste to amend, and put our trust in the mercy of
GOD, and the intercession of our SAVIOUR. I am, dear Madam,
your most humble servant,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"Feb. 23, 1784."
"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"I HAVE just advanced so far towards recovery as to read
a pamphlet; and you may reasonably suppose that the first
pamphlet which I read was yours. I am very much of your
opinion, and, like you, feel great indignation at the indecency
with which the King is every day treated. Your paper contains
very considerable knowledge of history and of the constitution,
very properly produced and applied. It will certainly raise your
character,' though perhaps it may not make you a Minister ot
State.
1 I sent it to Mr. Pitt, with a letter, in which I thus expressed
myself: " My principles may appear to you too monarchical; but
I know and am persuaded, they are not inconsistent with the true
principles of liberty. Be this as it may, you, Sir, are now the
Prime Minister, called by the Sovereign to maintain the right
of the Crown, as well as those of the people, against a violent
faction. As such, you are entitled to the warmest support of
every good subject in every department."  He answered: "I am




OPINIONS OF PHYSICIANS


329


" I desire you to see Mrs. Stewart once again, and tell her, that
in the letter-case was a letter relating to me, for which I will
give her, if she is willing to give it me, another guinea. The
letter is of consequence only to me.
" I am, dear Sir, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
London, Feb. 27, 1784."
In consequence of Johnson's request that I should ask
our physicians about his case, and desire Sir Alexander
Dick to send his opinion, I transmitted him a letter from
that very amiable baronet, then in his eighty-first year,
with his faculties as entire as ever; and mentioned his
expressions to me in the note accompanying it,-" With
my most affectionate wishes for Dr. Johnson's recovery,
in which his friends, his country, and all mankind have
so deep a stake;" and at the same time a full opinion
upon his case by Dr. Gillespie, who, like Dr. Cullen,
had the advantage of having passed through the gradations
of surgery and pharmacy, and by study and practice had
attained to such skill, that my father settled on him two
hundred pounds a year for five years, and fifty pounds
a year during his life, as an honorarium to secure his
particular attendance. The opinion was conveyed in a
letter to me, beginning, "I am sincerely sorry for the
bad state of health your very learned and illustrious
friend, Dr. Johnson, labours under at present."
"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
" PRESENTLY, after I had sent away my last letter, I received
your kind medical packet. I am very much obliged both to you
and to your physicians for your kind attention to my disease.
Dr. Gillespie has sent me an excellent consilium medicum, all solid
practical experimental knowledge. I am at present in the opinion
of my physicians (Dr. Heberden and Dr. Brocklesby), as well as
my own, going on very hopefully. I have just begun to take
extremely obliged to you for the sentiments you do me the honour
to express, and have observed with great pleasure the zealous and
able support given to the CAUSE OF THE PUBLIC in the work you
were so good to transmit me. B.




33~


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


vinegar of squills. The powder hurt my stomach so much, that
it could not be continued.
" Return Sir Alexander Dick my sincere thanks for his kind
letter; and bring with you the rhubarb1 which he so tenderly
offers me.
" I hope dear Mrs. Boswell is now quite well, and that no evil,
either real or imaginary, now disturbs you.
' I am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, March 2, 1784."
I also applied to three of the eminent physicians
who had chairs in our celebrated school of medicine at
Edinburgh, Doctors Cullen, Hope, and Munro, to each
of whom I sent the following letter.
DEAR SIR,
" DR. JOHNSON has been very ill for some time; and in a
letter of anxious apprehension he writes to me, 'Ask your
physicians about my case.'
" This, you see, is not authority for a regular consultation; but
I have no doubt of your readiness to give your advice to a man
so eminent, and who, in his 'Life of Garth,' has paid your
profession a just and elegant compliment: 'I believe every man
has found in physicians great liberality and dignity of sentiment,
very prompt effusions of beneficence, and willingness to exert a
lucrative art, where there is no hope of lucre.'
"Dr. Johnson is aged seventy-four. Last summer he had a
stroke of the palsy, from which he recovered almost entirely. He
had, before that, been troubled with a catarrhous cough. This
winter he was seized with a spasmodic asthma, by which he has
been confined to his house for about three months. Dr. Brocklesby writes to me, that upon the least admission of cold, there
is such a constriction upon his breast, that he cannot lie down
in his bed, but is obliged to sit up all night, and gets rest and
sometimes sleep, only by means of laudanum and syrup of poppies;
and that there are cedematous tumours in his legs and thighs.
Dr. Brocklesby trusts a good deal to the return of mild weather.
Dr. Johnson says, that a dropsy gains ground upon him; and he
1 From his garden at Prestonfield, where he cultivated that
plant with such success, that he was presented with a gold medal
by the Society of London for the encouragement of Arts,
Manufactures and Commerce. B.




IMPROVEMENT


331


seems to think that a warmer climate would do him good. I
understand he is now rather better, and is using vinegar of squills.
I am, with great esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient humble
servant,
"JAMES BOSWELL.
"March 7, 1784."
All of them paid the most polite attention to my letter,
and its -venerable object. Dr. Cullen's words concerning
him were, " It would give me the greatest pleasure to be
of any service to a man whom the public properly esteem,
and whom I esteem and respect as much as I do Dr.
Johnson." Dr Hope's, " Few people have a better claim
on me than your friend, as hardly a day passes that I
do not ask his opinion about this or that word." Dr.
Munro's, " I most sincerely join you in sympathizing with
that very worthy and ingenious character, from whom his
country has derived much instruction and entertainment."
Dr. Hope corresponded with his friend Dr. Brocklesby
Doctors Cullen and Munro wrote their opinions and
prescriptions to me, which I afterwards carried with me
to London, and, so far as they were encouraging, communicated to Johnson. The liberality on one hand, and
grateful sense of it on the other, I have great satisfaction
in recording
"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"I AM too much pleased with the attention which you
and your dear lady1 shew to my welfare, not to be diligent in
letting you know the progress which I make towards health.
The dropsy, by GOD'S blessing, has now run almost totally away
by natural evacuation: and the asthma, if not irritated by cold,
gives me little trouble. While I am writing this, I have not any
sensation of debility or disease. But I do not yet venture out,
having been confined to the house from the i3th of December,
now a quarter of a year.
"When it will be fit for me to travel as far as Auchinleck,
I am not able to guess; but such a letter as Mrs. Boswell's
might draw any man, not wholly motionless, a great way. Pray
1 Who had written him a very kind letter. B.




332


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


tell the dear lady how much her civility and kindness have touched
and gratified me.
"Our parliamentary tumults have now begun to subside, and
the King's authority is in some measure re-established. Mr. Pitt
will have great power; but you must remember, that what he
has to give, must, at least for some time, be given to those who
gave, and those who preserve, his power. A new Minister can
sacrifice little to esteem or friendship: he must, till he is settled,
think only of extending his interest.
"If you come hither through Edinburgh, send for Mrs. Stewart,
and give for me another guinea for the letter in the old case, to
which I shall not be satisfied with my claim, till she gives it me.
"Please to bring with you Baxter's 'Anacreon'; and if you
procure heads of Hector Boece, the historian, and Arthur Johnston,
the poet, I will put them in my room; or any other of the fathers
of Scottish literature.
" I wish you an easy and happy journey, and hope I need not
tell you that you will be welcome to, dear Sir, your most
affectionate humble servant,
"SAM. JOH NSON.
"London, March i8, I 784."
I wrote to him, March 28, from York, informing him
that I had a high gratification in the triumph of monarchical principles over aristocratical influence, in that
great county, in an address to the King; that I was thus
far on my way to him, but that news of the dissolution
of Parliament having arrived, I was to hasten back to
my own county, where I had carried an Address to his
Majesty by a great majority, and had some intention of
being a candidate to represent the county in Parliament.
" TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
"You could do nothing so proper as to hasten back when
you found the Parliament dissolved. With the influence which
your address must have gained you, it may reasonably be expected
that your presence will be of importance, and your activity of
effect.
"Your solicitude for me gives me that pleasure which every
man feels from the kindness of such a friend; and it is with




POLITICS


333


delight I relieve it by telling that Dr. Brocklesby's account is
true, and that I am, by the blessing of GOD, wonderfully relieved.
"You are entering upon a transaction which requires much
prudence. You must endeavour to oppose without exasperating;
to practise temporary hostility, without producing enemies for life.
This is, perhaps, hard to be done; yet it has been done by many,
and seems most likely to be effected by opposing merely upon
general principles, without descending to personal or particular
censures or objections. One thing I must enjoin you, which is
seldom observed in the conduct of elections;-I must entreat
you to be scrupulous in the use of strong liquors. One night's
drunkenness may defeat the labours of forty days well employed.
Be firm, but not clamorous; be active, but not malicious; and
you may form such an interest, as may not only exalt yourself, but
dignify your family.
"We are, as you may suppose, all busy here.    Mr. Fox
resolutely stands for Westminster, and his friends say will carry
the election. However that be, he will certainly have a seat.1
Mr. Hoole has just told me, that the city leans towards the
King.
" Let me hear, from time to time, how you are employed, and
what progress you make.
"Make dear Mrs. Boswell, and all the young Boswells, the
sincere compliments of, Sir, your affectionate humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, March 30, 1784."
To Mr. Langton he wrote with that cordiality which
was suitable to the long friendship which had subsisted
between him and that gentleman.
March 27. "Since you left me, I have continued in my own
opinion, and in Dr. Brocklesby's, to grow better with respect to
all my formidable and dangerous distempers though to a body
battered and shaken as mine has lately been, it is to be feared
that weak attacks may be sometimes mischievous. I have, indeed,
by standing carelessly at an open window, got a very troublesome
cough, which it has been necessary to appease by opium, in larger
_
1 Fox was returned for Westminster after a poll which lasted
from April I to May 17, and a scrutiny which lasted for nearly
a year. His opponent was Sir Cecil Wray, whom he defeated by
236 votes. During the scrutiny he sat for Kirkwall, for which
place he had been also returned.




334


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


quantities than I like to take, and I have not found it give way so
readily as I expected; its obstinacy, however, seems at last disposed to submit to the remedy, and I know not whether I should
then have a right to complain of any morbid sensation. My
asthma is, I am afraid, constitutional and incurable; but it is only
occasional, and unless it be excited by labour or by cold, gives me
no molestation, nor does it lay very close siege to life; for Sir
John Floyer, whom the physical race consider as author of one
of the best books upon it, panted on to ninety, as was supposed;
and why were we content with supposing a fact so interesting,
of a man so conspicuous? because he corrupted, at perhaps
seventy or eighty, the register, that he might pass for younger
than he was. He was not much less than eighty, when to a man
of rank who modestly asked his age, he answered, "Go look;"
though he was in general a man of civility and elegance.
"The ladies, I find, are at your house all well, except Miss
Langton, who will probably soon recover her health by light
suppers. Let her eat at dinner as she will but not take a full
stomach to bed.-Pay my sincere respects to dear Miss Langton
in Lincolnshire; let her know that I mean not to break our
league of friendship, and that I have a set of 'Lives' for her,
when I have the means of sending it."
April 8. "I am still disturbed by my cough; but what thanks
have I not to pay, when my cough is the most painful sensation
that I feel? and from that I expect hardly to be released, while
winter continues to gripe us with so much pertinacity. The year
has now advanced eighteen days beyond the equinox, and still
there is very little remission of the cold. When warm weather
comes, which surely must come at last, I hope it will help both me
and your young lady.
"The man so busy about addresses is neither more nor less
than our own Boswell, who had come as far as York towards
London, but turned back on the Dissolution, and is said now to
stand for some place. Whether to wish him success, his best
friends hesitate.
" Let me have your prayers for the completion of my recovery:
I am now better than I ever expected to have been. May GOD
add to his mercies the grace that may enable me to use them
according to his will. My compliments to all."
April 13. "I had this evening a note from Lord Portmore,'
1 To which Johnson returned this answer: "TO THE RIGHT
HONOURABLE EARL OF PORTMORE. DR. JOHNSON acknowledges
with great respect the honour of Lord Portmore's notice. He




A YOUNG PAINTER


335


desiring that I would give you an account of my health. You
might have had it with less circumduction. I am, by GOD'S
blessing, I believe free from all morbid sensations, except a cough,
which is only troublesome. But I am still weak, and can have
no great hope of strength till the weather shall be softer. The
summer, if it be kindly, will, I hope, enable me to support the
winter. GOD, who has so wonderfully restored me, can preserve
me in all seasons.
"Let me inquire in my turn after the state of your family,
great and little. I hope Lady Rothes and Miss Langton are both
well. That is a good basis of content. Then how goes George
on with his studies? How does Miss Mary? And how does my
own Jenny? I think I owe Jenny a letter, which I will take
care to pay. In the mean time tell her that I acknowledge the debt.
"Be pleased to make my compliments to the ladies. If Mrs.
Langton comes to London, she will favour me with a visit, for
I am not well enough to go out."
c TO OZIAS HUMPHRY,1 ESQ.
"SIR,
" MR. HOOLE has told me with what benevolence you
listened to a request which I was almost afraid to make, of leave to
a young painter2 to attend you from time to time in your paintingroom, to see your operations, and receive your instructions.
is better than he was; and will, as his Lordship directs, write to
Mr. Langton. Bolt Court, Fleet Street, April I3, 1784." B.
1 The eminent painter, representative of the ancient family of
Homfrey (now Humphry) in the west of England; who, as
appears from their arms which they have invariably used, have
been (as I have seen authenticated by the best authority) one of
those among the knights and esquires of honour who are represented by Holinshed as having issued from the Tower of London
on coursers apparelled for the jousts, accompanied by ladies of
honour, leading every one a knight with a chain of gold, passing
through the streets of London into Smithfield, on Sunday, at three
o'clock in the afternoon, being the first Sunday after Michaelmas,
in the fourteenth year of King Richard the Second. This family
once enjoyed large possessions, but, like others, have lost them in
the progress of ages. Their blood, however, remains to them
well ascertained; and they may hope, in the revolution of events,
to recover that rank in society for which, in modern times, fortune
seems to be an indispensable requisite. B.
2 Son of Mr. Samuel Paterson, eminent for his knowledge of
books. B.




336


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


" The young man has perhaps good parts, but has been without
a regular education. He is my godson, and therefore I interest
myself in his progress and success, and shall think myself much
favoured if I receive from you a permission to send him.
" My health is, by GOD'S blessing, much restored, but I am not
yet allowed by my physicians to go abroad. nor, indeed, do I think
myself yet able to endure the weather. I am, Sir, your most
humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"April 5, 1784."
" TO THE SAME.
" SIR,
" THE bearer is my godson, whom I take the liberty of
recommending to your kindness; which I hope he will deserve by
his respect to your excellence, and his gratitude for your favours.
I am, Sir, your most humble servant,
" SAM. JOHNSONJ.
"April IO, 1784."
" TO THE SAME.
"SIR.
" I AM very much obliged by your civilities to my godson,
but must beg of you to add to them the favour of permitting him
to see you paint, that he may know how a picture is begun,
advanced, and completed.
" If he may attend you in a few ot your operations, I hope he
will shew that the benefit has been properly conferred, both by
his proficiency and his gratitude. At least I shall consider you
as enlarging your kindness to, Sir, your humble servant,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"May 31, 1784."
"TO THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR, ASHBOURNE, DERBYSHIRE.
"DEAR SIR,
" WHAT can be the reason that I hear nothing from you?
I hope nothing disables you from writing. What I have seen,
and what I have felt, gives me reason to fear every thing. Do
not omit giving me the comfort of knowing that after all my
losses I have yet a friend left.
"I want every comfort. My life is very solitary and very
cheerless. Though it has pleased GOD wonderfully to deliver
me from the dropsy, I am yet very weak, and have not passed
the door since the I3th of December. I hope for some help from
warm weather, which will surely come in time.
"'I could not have the consent of the physicians to go to church




A LETTER TO A GODCHILD


337


yesterday; I therefore received the holy sacrament at home, in
the room where I communicated with dear Mrs. Williams, a little
before her death. Oh! my friend, the approach of death is very
dreadful. I am afraid to think on that which I know I cannot
avoid. It is vain to look round and round for that help which
cannot be had. Yet we hope and hope, and fancy that he who
has lived to-day may live to-morrow. But let us learn to derive
our hope only from GOD.
" In the mean time, let us be kind to one another. I have no
friend now living but you' and Mr. Hector, that was the friend
of my youth. Do not neglect, dear Sir, yours affectionately,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
" London, Easter Monday,
"April 12, 1784."
What follows is a beautiful specimen of his gentleness
and complacency to a young lady his godchild, one of the
daughters of his friend Mr Langton, then I think in her
seventh year. He took the trouble to write it in a large
round hand, nearly resembling printed characters, that she
might have the satisfaction of reading it herself. The
original lies before me, but shall be faithfully restored to
her; and I dare say will be preserved by her as a jewel,
as long as she lives.
" TO MISS JANE LANGTON, IN ROCHESTER, KENT.
"MY DEAREST MISS JENNY,
"I AM sorry that your pretty letter has been so long
without being answered; but, when I am not pretty well, I do
not always write plain enough for young ladies. I am glad, my
dear, to see that you write so well, and hope that you mind your
pen, your book, and your needle, for they are all necessary  Your
books will give you knowledge, and make you respected; and
your needle will find you useful employment when you do not
care to read. When you are a little older, I hope you will be very
diligent in learning arithmetic; and, above all, that through your
whole life you will carefully say your prayers, and read your
Bible. I am, my dear, your most humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"May IO, 1784."
1 This friend of Johnson's youth survived him somewhat more
than three years, having died Feb. 19, 1788. Malone.
Ill.                                          7




338


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


On Wednesday, May 5, I arrived in London, and
next morning had the pleasure to find Dr Johnson greatly
recovered. I but just saw him, for a coach was waiting
to carry him to Islington, to the house of his friend the
Reverend Mr Strahan, where he went sometimes for the
benefit of good air, which, notwithstanding his having
formerly laughed at the general opinion upon the subject,
he now acknowledged was conducive to health.
One morning afterwards, when I found him alone, he
communicated to me, with solemn earnestness, a very
remarkable circumstance which had happened in the course
of his illness, when he was much distressed by the dropsy.
He had shut himself up, and employed a day in particular
exercises of religion,-fasting, humiliation, and prayer.
On a sudden he obtained extraordinary relief, for which
he looked up to Heaven with grateful devotion.       He
made no direct inference from this fact; but from his
manner of telling it, I could perceive that it appeared to
him as something more than an incident in the common
course of events. For my own part, I have no difficulty
to avow that cast of thinking, which, by many modern
pretenders to wisdom, is called superstitious.  But here
I think even men of dry rationality may believe, that
there was an immediate interposition of divine Providence, and that "the fervent prayer of this righteous
man" availed.'
I Upon this subject there is a very fair and judicious remark
in the "Life of Dr. Abernethy," in the first edition of the
Biographia Britannica, which I should have been glad to see in his
Life which has been written for the second edition of that valuable
work. " To deny the exercise of a particular providence in the
Deity's government of the world, is certainly impious, yet nothing
serves the cause of the scorner more than an incautious forward zeal
in determining the particular instances of it." In confirmation of
my sentiments, I am also happy to quote that sensible and elegant
writer, Mr. Melmoth, in Letter VIII. of his collection, published
under the name of Fitzosborne. "We may safely assert, that the
belief of a particular Providence is founded upon such probable
reasons as may well justify our assent. It would scarce, therefore,
be wise to renounce an opinion which affords so firm a support




DINNER AT DR. BROCKLESBY'S


339


On Sunday, May 9, I found Colonel Vallancy, the
celebrated antiquary and engineer of Ireland, with him.
On Monday, the ioth, I dined with him at Mr. Paradise's,
where was a large company; Mr. Bryant, Mr. Joddrel,
Mr. Hawkins Browne, &c. On Thursday, the 13th, I
dined with himn at Mr Joddrel's with another large
company; the Bishop of Exeter, Lord Monboddo,l Mr.
Murphy, &c.
On Saturday, May 15, I dined with him at Dr
Brocklesby's, where were Colonel Vallancy, Mr. Murphy,
and that ever-cheerful companion Mr Devaynes, apothecary to his Majesty. Of these days and others on which
I saw him, I have no memorials, except the general
recollection of his being able and animated in conversation,
and appearing to relish society as much as the youngest
man.   I find only these three small particulars *-When
a person was mentioned, who said, " I have lived fiftyone years in this world, without having had ten minutes
of uneasiness;" he exclaimed, " The man who says so,
lies: he attempts to impose on human credulity." The
Bishop of Exeter in vain observed that men were very
different. His Lordship's manner was not impressive:
and I learnt afterwards, that Johnson did not find
out that the person who talked to him was a prelate; if
he had, I doubt not that he would have treated him with
more respect. for once talking of George Psalmanazar,
to the soul, in those seasons wherein she stands in most need of
assistance, merely because it is not possible, in questions of this
kind, to solve every difficulty which attends them." B.
1 I was sorry to observe Lord Monboddo avoid any communication with Dr. Johnson.  I flattered myself that I had
made them very good friends (see 7ournal of a Tour to the Hebrides,
third edition, p. 67), but unhappily his Lordship had resumed and
cherished a violent prejudice against my illustrious friend, to
whom I must do the justice to say there was on his part not the
least anger, but a good-humoured sportiveness. Nay, though he
knew of his Lordship's indisposition towards him, he was even
kindly: as appeared from his inquiring of me after him, by an
abbreviation of his name, " Well, how does Al'onny? " B.




340


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


whom he reverenced for his piety, he said, " I should as
soon think of contradicting a BISHOP."  One of the
company provoked him greatly by doing what he could
least of all bear, which was quoting something of his own
writing against what he then maintained. "What, Sir,"
cried the gentleman, "do you say to
The busy day, the peaceful night,
Unfelt, uncounted, glided by? ' 1
Johnson finding himself thus presented as giving an
instance of a man who had lived without uneasiness, was
much offended, for he looked upon such a quotation as
unfair. His anger burst out in an unjustifiable retort,
insinuating that the gentleman's remark was a sally of
ebrlety; "Sir, there is one passion I would advise you
to command when you have drunk out that glass, don't
drink another "2 Here was exemplified what Goldsmith
said of him, with the aid of a very witty image from
one of Cibber's comedies  "There is no arguing with
Johnson. for if his pistol misses fire, he knocks you
down with the butt end of it."
Another was this when a gentleman of eminence in
the literary world was violently censured for attacking
people by anonymous paragraphs in newspapers, he, from
the spirit of contradiction as I thought, took up his
defence, and said: " Come, come, this is not so terrible
a crime; he means only to vex them a little. I do not
say that I should do it; but there is a great difference
between him and me; what is fit for Hephastion is not
fit for Alexander "-Another, when I told him that a
young and handsome countess had said to me, "I should
think that to be praised by Dr. Johnson would make
one a fool all one's life;" and that I answered, "Madam,
I shall make him a fool to-day, by repeating this to
him;" he said: "I am     too old to be made a fool;
1 Verses on the death of Mr. Levett. B.
2 This "retort" leaves little doubt that the offender was
Boswell himself.




BURKE'S CONVERSAT'ION


34'


but if you say I am made a fool, I shall not deny
it. I am much pleased with a compliment, especially
from a pretty woman."
On the evening of Saturday, May i, he was in fine
spirits, at our Essex Head Club. He told us " I dined
yesterday at Mrs. Garrick's with Mrs. Carter, Miss
Hannah More, and Miss Fanny Burney       Three such
women are not to be found. I know not where I could
find a fourth, except Mrs. Lennox, who is superior to
them all."  BOSWELL: "What! had you them all to
yourself, Sir?"  JOHNSON: "I had them all as much
as they were had; but it might have been better had
there been more company there."   BOSWELL   "Might
not Mrs. Montague have been a fourth?"    JOHNSON:
"Sir, Mrs. Montague does not make a trade of her wit;
but Mrs. Montague is a very extraordinary woman; she
has a constant stream of conversation, and it is always
impregnated; it has always meaning."  BOSWELL: " Mr.
Burke has a constant stream of conversation." JOHNSON
" Yes, Sir; if a man were to go by chance at the same
time with Burke under a shed, to shun a shower, he
would say-' This is an extraordinary man.' If Burke
should go into a stable to see his horse dressed, the
ostler would say-' We have had an extraordinary man
here."'  BOSWELL ' "Foote was a man who never failed
in conversation.  If he had   gone into a stable-"
JOHNSON: "Sir, if he had gone into the stable, the
ostler would have said, ' Here has been a comical fellow;'
but he would not have respected him."     BOSWELL
" And, Sir, the ostler would have answered him, would
have given him as good as he brought, as the common
saying is."  JOHNSON   "Yes, Sir; and Foote would
have answered the ostler.-When Burke does not
descend to be merry, his conversation is very superior
indeed.  There is no proportion between the powers
which he shews in serious talk and in jocularity. When
he lets himself down to that, he is in the kennel." I
have in another place1 opposed, and I hope with success,
1 Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, third edition, p. 20. B.




342


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Dr. Johnson's very singular and erroneous notion as to
Mr. Burke's pleasantry. Mr. Windham now said low
to me, that he differed from our great friend in this
observation; for that Mr. Burke was often very happy
in his merriment.  It would not have been right for
either of us to have contradicted Johnson at this time,
in a society all of whom did not know and value Mr.
Burke as much as we did.   It might have occasioned
something more rough, and at any rate would probably
have checked the flow of Johnson's good-humour. He
called to us with a sudden air of exultation, as the thought
started into his mind: "  gentlemen, I must tell you
a very great thing. The Empress of Russia has ordered
the' Rambler' to be translated into the Russian language:'
so I shall be read on the banks of the Wolga. Horace
boasts that his fame would extend as far as the banks
of the Rhone; now the Wolga is farther from me than
the Rhone was from Horace."   BOSWELL: "You must
certainly be pleased with this, Sir." JOHNSON: "I am
pleased, Sir, to be sure. A man is pleased to find he
has succeeded in that which he has endeavoured to do."
One of the company mentioned his having seen a noble
person driving in his carriage, and looking exceedingly
well, notwithstanding his great age. JOHNSON: "Ah,
Sir; that is nothing. Bacon observes, that a stout healthy
old man is like a tower undermined."
On Sunday, May I6, I found him alone; he talked of
Mrs. Thrale with much concern, saying, "Sir, she has done
everything wrong, since Thrale's bridle was off her neck;"
and was proceeding to mention some circumstances which
have since been the subject of public discussion, when he
was interrupted by the arrival of Dr. Douglas, now Bishop
of Salisbury.
Dr. Douglas, upon this occasion, refuted a mistaken
notion which is very common in Scotland, that the
ecclesiastical discipline of the Church of England, though
1 I have since heard that the report was not well founded; but
the elation discovered by Johnson in the belief that it was true,
shewed a noble ardour for literary fame. B.




DINNER AT MR. DILLY'S


343


duly enforced, is insufficient to preserve the morals of the
clergy, inasmuch as all delinquents may be screened by
appealing to the Convocation, which being never authorized
by the King to sit for the despatch of business, the appeal
never can be heard. Dr. Douglas observed that this was
founded upon ignorance; for that the bishops have sufficient power to maintain discipline, and that the sitting of
the Convocation was wholly immaterial in this respect, it
being not a Court of Judicature, but like a Parliament, to
make canons and regulations as times may require.
Johnson, talking of the fear of death, said: "Some
people are not afraid, because they look upon salvation as
the effect of an absolute decree, and think they feel in
themselves the marks of sanctification. Others, and those
the most rational in my opinion, look upon salvation as
conditional; and as they never can be sure that they have
complied with the conditions, they are afraid."
In one of his little manuscript diaries, about this time, I
find a short notice, which marks his amiable disposition
more certainly than a thousand studied declarations." Afternoon spent cheerfully and elegantly, I hope without
offence to GOD or man; though in no holy duty, yet in
the general exercise and cultivation of benevolence."
On Monday, May 17, I dined with him at Mr. Dilly's,
where were Colonel Vallancy, the Reverend Dr. Gibbons,
and Mr. Capel Lofft, who, though a most zealous Whig,
has a mind so full of learning and knowledge, and so much
exercise in various departments, and withal so much
liberality, that the stupendous powers of the literary
Goliath, though they did not frighten this little David of
popular spirit, could not but excite his admiration. There
was also Mr. Braithwaite of the Post Office, that amiable
and friendly man, who, with modest and unassuming
manners, has associated with many of the wits of the age.
Johnson was very quiescent to-day. Perhaps too I was
indolent. I find nothing more of him in my notes, but
that when I mentioned that I had seen in the King's
library sixty-three editions of my favourite "Thomas a
Kempis,"-amongst which it was in eight languages, Latin,




344


BOSWELL'S LIFE 'O JOHNSON


German, French, Italian, Spanish, English, Arabic, and
Armenian,-he said, he thought it unnecessary to collect
many editions of a book, which were all the same, except
as to the paper and print; he would have the original, and
all the translations, and all the editions which had any
variations in the text. He approved of the famous
collection of editions of Horace by Douglas, mentioned by
Pope, who is said to have had a closet filled with them;
and he added, " Every man should try to collect one book
in that manner, and present it to a public library."
On Tuesday, May   8, I saw him for a short time in the
morning. I told him that the mob had called out, as the
King passed, "No Fox-No Fox," which I did not like.
He said, "They were right, Sir."  I said, I thought not;
for it seemed to be making Mr. Fox the King's
competitor. There being no audience, so that there
could be no triumph in a victory, he fairly agreed with
me. I said it might do very well, if explained thus
" Let us have no Fox;" understanding it as a prayer to
his Majesty not to appoint that gentleman minister.
On Wednesday, May 19, I sat a part of the evening
with him, by ourselves. I observed, that the death of our
friends might be a consolation against the fear of our own
dissolution, because we might have more friends in the
other world than in this. He perhaps felt this as a
reflection upon his apprehension as to death, and said, with
heat "How can a man know where his departed friends
are, or whether they will be his friends in the other world?
How many friendships have you known formed upon
principles of virtue? Most friendships are formed by
caprice or by chance, mere confederacies in vice or leagues
in folly."
We talked of our worthy friend Mr. Langton. He
said, " I know not who will go to Heaven if Langton does
not. Sir, I could almost say, Sit anima mea cum Langtono."
I mentioned a very eminent friend as a virtuous man.
JOHNSON: "Yes, Sir; but       has not the evangelical
virtue of Langton. -, I am afraid, would not scruple
to pick up a wench."




LANGTON ON JOHNSON'S FAULTS


345


He however charged Mr. Langton with what he thought
want of judgment upon an interesting occasion.  "When
I was ill," said he, " I desired he would tell me sincerely in
what he thought my life was faulty. Sir, he brought me a
sheet of paper, on which he had written down several texts
of Scripture, recommending Christian charity. And when
I questioned him what occasion I had given for such an
animadversion, all that he could say amounted to this,that I sometimes contradicted people in conversation.
Now what harm does it do to any man to be contradicted?"
BOSWELL: " I suppose he meant the manner of doing it;
roughly, and harshly."  JOHNSON' "And who is the worse
for that?" BOSWELL: " It hurts people of weaker nerves."
JOHNSON: "I know no such weak-nerved people."      Mr.
Burke, to whom I related this conference, said, " It is well,
if when a man comes to die, he has nothing heavier upon his
conscience than having been a little rough in conversation."
Johnson, at the time when the paper was presented to
him, though at first pleased with the attention of his friend,
whom he thanked in an earnest manner, soon exclaimed in
a loud and angry tone, " What is your drift, Sir?"  Sir
Joshua Reynolds pleasantly observed, that it was a scene
for a comedy, to see a penitent get into a violent passion
and belabour his confessor.1
I After all, I cannot but be of opinion, that as Mr. Langton
was seriously requested by Dr. Johnson to mention what appeared
to him erroneous in the character of his friend, he was bound as
an honest man to intimate what he really thought, which he
certainly did in the most delicate manner; so that Johnson himself,
when in a quiet frame of mind, was pleased with it. The texts
suggested are now before me, and I shall quote a few of them.
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Mat. v.
5.-" I, therefore, the prisoner of the LORD, beseech you, that ye
walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all
lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another
in love."  Ephes. v. I, 2.-" And above all these things put on
charity, which is the bond of perfectness." Col. iii. 4. —" Charity
suffereth long, and is kind: charity envieth not, charity vaunteth
not itself, is not puffed up: doth not behave itself unseemly, is
not easily provoked." I Cor. xiii. 4, 5. B.




346


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


I have preserved no more of his conversation at the
times when I saw him during the rest of this month, till
Sunday, the 30th of May, when I met him in the evening
at Mr. Hoole's, where there was a large company both
of ladies and gentlemen. Sir James Johnston happened
to say, that he paid no regard to the arguments of counsel
at the bar of the House of Commons, because they were
paid for speaking. JOHNSON "Nay, Sir, argument is
argument.   You   cannot help paying regard to their
arguments, if they are good. If it were testimony, you
might disregard it, if you knew that it were purchased.
There is a beautiful image in Baconl upon this subject:
testimony is like an arrow shot from a long bow; the
force of it depends on the strength of the hand that draws
it. Argument is like an arrow from a crossbow, which
has equal force though shot by a child."
He had dined that day at Mr. Hoole's, and Miss
Helen Maria Williams being expected in the evening, Mr.
Hoole put into his hands her beautiful " Ode on the
Peace."  Johnson read it over, and when this elegant,
and accomplished young lady3 was presented to him, he
took her by the hand in the most courteous manner, and
1 Dr. Johnson's memory deceived him. The passage referred
to is not Bacon's, but Boyle's and may be found with a slight
variation, in Johnson's Dictionary, under the word, Crossbow.
Malone.
2 The peace made by that very able statesman, the Earl of
Shelburne, now Marquis of Lansdowne, which may fairly be
considered as the foundation of all the prosperity of Great Britain
since that time. B.
8 In the first edition of my Work, the epithet amiable was
given. I was sorry to be obliged to strike it out; but I could
not in justice suffer it to remain, after this young lady had not
only written in favour of the savage anarchy with which France
has been visited, but had (as I have been informed by good
authority) walked without horror over the ground at the
Tuileries when it was strewed with the naked bodies of the
faithful Swiss guards, who were barbarously massacred for having
bravely defended, against a crew of ruffians, the monarch whom
they had taken an oath to defend. From Dr. Johnson she could
now expect not endearment but repulsion. B.




MISS WILLIAMS


347


repeated the finest stanza of her poem; this was the most
delicate and pleasing compliment he could pay. Her
respectable friend, Dr. Kippis, from whom I had this
anecdote, was standing by, and was not a little gratified.
Miss Williams told me, that the only other time she
was fortunate enough to be in Dr. Johnson's company,
he asked her to sit down by him, which she did, and upon
her inquiring how he was, he answered, "I am very ill
indeed, Madam. I am very ill even when you are near
me; what should I be were you at a distance?"
He had now a great desire to go to Oxford, as his
first jaunt after his illness; we talked of it for some days,
and I had promised to accompany him. He was impatient
and fretful to-night, because I did not at once agree to
go with him on Thursday. When I considered how ill
he had been, and what allowance should be made for the
influence of sickness upon his temper, I resolved to
indulge him, though with some inconvenience to myself,
as I wished to attend the musical meeting in honour of
Handel in Westminster Abbey, on the following Saturday.
In the midst of his own diseases and pains, he was ever
compassionate to the distresses of others, and actively
earnest in procuring them aid, as appears from a note to
Sir Joshua Reynolds, of June, in these words. "I am
ashamed to ask for some relief for a poor man, to whom,
I hope, I have given what I can be expected to spare.
The man importunes me, and the blow goes round, I
am going to try another air on Thursday "
On Thursday, June 3, the Oxford post-coach took us
up in the morning at Bolt Court. The other two
passengers were Mrs. Beresford and her daughter, two
very agreeable ladies from America; they were going to
Worcestershire, where they then resided. Frank had
been sent by his master the day before to take places for
us; and I found from the way-bill that Dr. Johnson had
made our names be put down. Mrs. Beresford, who had
read it, whispered me, " Is this the great Dr. Johnson?"
I told her it was; so she was then prepared to listen.
As she soon happened to mention in a voice so low that




348


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Johnson did not hear it, that her husband had been a
member of the American Congress, I cautioned her to
beware of introducing that subject, as she must know how
very violent Johnson was against the people of that
country. He talked a great deal. But I am sorry I
have preserved little of the conversation. Miss Beresford
was so much charmed, that she said to me aside, "How
he does talk! Every sentence is an essay." She amused
herself in the coach with knotting; he would scarcely
allow this species of employment any merit. " Next to
mere idleness," said he, "I think knotting is to be
reckoned in the scale of insignificance; though I once
attempted to learn knotting. Dempster's sister (looking
to me) endeavoured to teach me it; but I made no
progress."
I was surprised at his talking without reserve in the
public post-coach of the state of his affairs: "I have,"
said he, "about the world, I think, above a thousand
pounds, which I intend shall afford Frank an annuity of
seventy pounds a year." Indeed his openness with people
at a first interview was remarkable. He said once to Mr.
Langton, "I think I am like Squire Richard in 'The
Journey to London,' I'm never strange in a strange place."
He was truly social. He strongly censured what is much
too common in England among persons of condition,maintaining an absolute silence, when unknown to each
other; as for instance, when occasionally brought together
in a room before the master or mistress of the house has
appeared. "Sir, that is being so uncivilized as not to
understand the common rights of humanity."
At the inn where we stopped he was exceedingly
dissatisfied with some roast mutton which he had for
dinner  The ladies, I saw, wondered to see the great
philosopher, whose wisdom and wit they had been
admiring all the way, get into ill-humour from such a
cause. He scolded the waiter, saying, "It is as bad as
bad can be: it is ill-fed, ill-killed, ill-kept, and ill-dressed."
He bore the journey very well, and seemed to feel
himself elevated as he approached Oxford, that magnificent




VISIT TO OXFORD


349


and venerable seat of Learning, Orthodoxy, and Toryism.
Frank came in the heavy coach, in readiness to attend
him; and we were received with the most polite hospitality
at the house of his old friend Dr. Adams, Master of
Pembroke College, who had given us a kind invitation.
Before we were set down, I communicated to Johnson,
my having engaged to return to London directly, for the
reason I have mentioned, but that I would hasten back to
him again. He was pleased that I had made this journey
merely to keep him company. He was easy and placid
with Dr. Adams, Mrs. and Miss Adams, and Mrs.
Kennicot, widow of the learned Hebrsean, who was here
on a visit. He soon dispatched the inquiries which were
made about his illness and recovery, by a short and distinct
narrative; and then assuming a gay air, repeated from
Swift,
Nor think on our approaching ills,
And talk of spectacles and pills."
Dr. Newton, the Bishop of Bristol, having been
mentioned, Johnson recollecting the manner in which he
had been censured by that prelate,1 thus retaliated " Tom
1 Dr. Newton in his Account of his own Life, after animadverting upon Mr. Gibbon's History, says, "Dr Johnson's Lives
of the Poets afforded more amusement. but candour was much
hurt and offended at the malevolence that predominates in every
part. Some passages, it must be allowed, are judicious and well
written, but make not sufficient compensation for so much spleen
and ill-humour. Never was any biographer more sparing of his
praise, or more abundant in his censures. He seemingly delights
more in exposing blemishes, than in recommending beauties;
slightly passes over excellences, enlarges upon imperfections, and,
not content with his own severe reflections, revives old scandal,
and produces large quotations from the forgotten works of former
critics. His reputation was so high in the republic of letters,
that it wanted not to be raised upon the ruins of others. But
these Essays, instead of raising a higher idea than was before
entertained of his understanding, have certainly given the world
a worse opinion of his temper."  The Bishop was therefore the
more surprised and concerned for his townsman, for "He
respected him not only for his genius and learning, but valued him




350


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


knew he should be dead before what he has said of me
would appear. He durst not have printed it while he
was alive."  DR. ADAMS: "I believe his ' Dissertations
on the Prophecies' is his great work."  JOHNSON: " Why,
Sir, it is Tom's great work; but how far it is great, or
how much of it is Tom's are other questions. I fancy a
considerable part of it was borrowed." DR. ADAMS'
" He was a very successful man."    JOHNSON: "I don't
think so, Sir.-He did not get very high. He was late
in getting what he did get; and he did not get it by the
best means. I believe he was a gross flatterer."
I fulfilled my intention by going to London, and
returned to Oxford on Wednesday the 9th of June, when
I was happy to find myself again in the same agreeable
circle at Pembroke College, with the comfortable prospect
of making some stay. Johnson welcomed my return with
more than ordinary glee.
He talked with great regard of the Honourable Archibald Campbell, whose character he had given at the Duke
of Argyll's table, when we were at Inverary; 1 and at this
time wrote out for me, in his own hand, a fuller account
of that learned and venerable writer, which I have published in its proper place. Johnson made a remark this
evening which struck me a good deal.    "I never," said
he, " knew a Nonjuror who could reason."2     Surely he
much for the more amiable part of his character, his humanity and
charity, his morality and religion." The last sentence we may
consider as the general and permanent opinion of Bishop Newton;
the remarks which precede it must, by all who have read Johnson's
admirable work, be imputed to the disgust and peevishness of old
age. I wish they had not appeared, and that Dr. Johnson had
not been provoked by them to express himself not in respectful
terms, of a prelate whose labours were certainly or considerable
advantage both to literature and religion. B.
I Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, third edit. p. 37. B.
2 The Rev Mr. Agutter has favoured me with a note of a
dialogue between Mr. John Henderson and Dr. Johnson on this
topic, as related by Mr. Henderson, and it is evidently so authentic
that I shall here insert it:-HENDERSON: "What do you think,
Sir, of William Law?" JOHNSON; "William Law, Sir, wrote




THE NONJURORS


351


did not mean to deny that faculty to many of their
writers; to Hickes, Brett, and other eminent divines of
that persuasion; and did not recollect that the seven
bishops, so justly celebrated for their magnanimous resistance of arbitrary power, were yet Nonjurors to the new
Government. The nonjurnng clergy of Scotland, indeed,
who, excepting a few, have lately, by a sudden stroke, cut
off all ties of allegiance to the House of Stuart and resolved to pray for our present lawful Sovereign by name,
may be thought to have confirmed this remark; as it may
be said, that the divine indefeasible hereditary right which
they professed to believe, if ever true, must be equally
true still. Many of my readers will be surprised when I
mention, that Johnson assured me he had never in his life
been in a nonjuring meeting-house.
Next morning at breakfast, he pointed out a passage in
Savage's " Wanderer," saying " These are fine verses."" If," said he, "I had written with hostility of Warburton
in my 'Shakespeare,' I should have quoted this couplet:
'Here Learning, blinded first, and then beguil'd,
Looks dark as Ignorance, as Frenzy wild.'
You see they'd have fitted him to a T" (smiling). DR.
ADAMS: "But you did not write against Warburton."
the best piece of Parenetic Divinity; but William Law was no
reasoner."  HENDERSON: "Jeremy Collier, Sir?" JOHNSON:
"Jeremy Collier fought without a rival, and therefore could not
claim the victory." Mr. Henderson mentioned Kenn and Kettlewell; but some objections were made; at last he said, "But, Sir,
what do you think of Lesley? " JOHNSON: " Charles Lesley I
had forgotten. Lesley was a reasoner, and a reasoner who was not
to be reasoned against." B. Many tried to answer Collier's famous
attack on the English stage, Congreve and Vanbrugh, and perhaps
Wycherley, among the number; but the victory remained with
Collier. Dryden alone dared to confess his offences, and ask pardon for them. But Dryden alone was great enough to do this. See
Macaulay's essay on the Comic Dramatists of the Restoration.
For Lesley, and for the mistake in Boswell's note, see Macaulay's
History of England, iii. 455-6.




352


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


JOHNSON: " No, Sir, I treated him with great respect both
in my preface and in my notes."
Mrs. Kennicot spoke of her brother, the Reverend Mr
Chamberlayne, who had given up great prospects in the
Church of England on his conversion to the Roman
Catholic faith. Johnson, who warmly admired every
man who acted from a conscientious regard to principle,
erroneous or not, exclaimed fervently, " GOD bless him."
Mrs. Kennicot, in confirmation of Dr Johnson's opinion
that the present was not worse than former ages, mentioned that her brother assured her, there was now less
infidelity on the Continent than there had been; Voltaire
and Rousseau were less read. I asserted, from good
authority, that Hume's infidelity was certainly less read.
JOHNSON    "All infidel writers drop into oblivion, when
personal connexions and the floridness of novelty are
gone; though now and then a foolish fellow, who thinks
he can be witty upon them, may bring them again into
notice. There will sometimes start up a college joker,
who does not consider that what is a joke in a college will
not do in the world. To such defenders of religion I
would apply a stanza of a poem which I remember to
have seen in some old collection:
'Henceforth be quiet and agree,
Each kiss his empty brother;
Religion scorns a foe like thee,
But dreads a friend like t'other.'
The point is well, though the expression is not correct;
one and not thee, should be opposed to t'other." 1
1 I have inserted the stanza as Johnson repeated it from
memory; but I have since found the poem itself, in The Foundling
Hospitalfor Wit, printed at London, 1749. It is as follows:
"c EPIGRAM, occasioned by a religious dispute at Bath.
" On Reason, Faith, and Mystery high,
Two wits harangue the table;
B —  y believes he knows not why,
N —     swears 'tis all a fable.




AN OBSTINATE RATIONALITY


353


On the Roman Catholic religion he said  "If you join
the Papists externally, they will not interrogate you strictly
as to your belief in their tenets. No reasoning Papist
believes every article of their faith. There is one side on
which a good man might be persuaded to embrace it. A
good man of a timorous disposition in great doubt of his
acceptance with GOD, and pretty credulous, may be glad
to be of a church where there are so many helps to get to
Heaven. I would be a Papist if I could. I have fear
enough; but an obstinate rationality prevents me. I
shall never be a Papist, unless on the near approach of
death, of which I have a very great terror I wonder that
women are not all Papists."  BOSWELL  " They are not
more afraid of death than men are." JOHNSON' "Because
they are less wicked."  DR. ADAMS    "They are more
pious."  JOHNSON   "No, hang 'em, they are not more
pious. A wicked fellow is the most pious when he takes
to it. He'll beat you all at piety,"
He argued in defence of some of the peculiar tenets of
the Church of Rome. As to the giving the bread only to
the laity, he said * " They may think, that in what is merely
ritual, deviations from the primitive mode may be admitted
on the ground of convenience, and I think they are as
well warranted to make this alteration, as we are to substitute sprinkling in the room of the ancient baptism."
As to the invocation of saints, he said " Though I do
not think it authorized, it appears to me, that the ' communion of saints' in the Creed means the communion
with the saints in Heaven, as connected with ' The holy
Catholic Church.' "  He admitted the influence of evil
"c Peace, coxcombs, peace, and both agree
N, kiss thy empty brother;
Religion laughs at foes like thee,
And dreads a friend like t'other." B.
The disputants are supposed to have been Beau Nash and
Bentley, son of the Doctor  Croker.
1 Waller, in his Divine Poesie, Canto first, has the same thought
finely expressed:
III.                                      A




354


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


spirits upon our minds, and said, "Nobody who believes
the New Testament can deny it."
I brought a volume of Dr. Hurd, the Bishop of
Worcester's Sermons, and read to the company some
passages from one of them, upon this text, "Resist the
Devil and he will flee from you." James iv. 7. I was
happy to produce so judicious and elegant a supporter' of
"The Church triumphant, and the Church below,
In songs of praise their present union shew:
Their joys are full, our expectation long,
In life we differ, but we join in song;
Angels and we assisted by this art,
May sing together, though we dwell apart." B.
I The sermon thus opens -" That there are angels and spirits,
good and bad; that at the head of these last there is ONE more
considerable and malignant than the rest, who, in the form or
under the name of a serpent, was deeply concerned in the fall of
man, and whose head, as the prophetic language is, the son of man
was one day to bruise; that this evil spirit, though that prophecy
be in part completed, has not yet received his death's wound, but
is still permitted, for ends unsearchable to us, and in ways which
we cannot particularly explain, to have a certain degree of power
in this world hostile to its virtue and happiness, and sometimes
exerted with too much success. all this is so clear from Scripture,
that no believer, unless he be first of all spoiled by philosophy and
vain deceit, can possibly entertain a doubt of it." Having treated
of possessions, his Lordship says, " As I have no authority to affirm
that there are now any such, so neither may I presume to say with
confidence, that there are not any." "But then with regard to the
influence of evil spirits at this day upon the SOULS of men, I shall
take leave to be a great deal more peremptory."-[Then, having
stated the various proofs, he adds], " All this, I say, is so manifest
to every one who reads the Scriptures, that, if we respect their
authority, the question concerning the reality of the demoniac
influence upon the minds of men is clearly determined." Let it
be remembered, that these are not the words of an antiquated or
obscure enthusiast, but of a learned and polite prelate now alive;
and were spoken, not to a vulgar congregation, but to the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn. His Lordship in this sermon
explains the words, "deliver us from evil," in the Lord's Prayer,
as signifying a request to be protected from "the evil one," that is,




A LIBEL ON WOMEN


355


a doctrine, which, I know not why, should in this world
of imperfect knowledge, and therefore of wonder and
mystery in a thousand instances, be contested by some
with an unthinking assurance and flippancy
After dinner, when one of us talked of there being
a great enmity between Whlg and Tory;-JOHNSON.
"Why, not so much, I think, unless when they come into
competition with each other. There is none when they
are only common acquaintance, none when they are of
different sexes. A Tory will marry into a Whig family, and
a Whig into a Tory family, without any reluctance. But
indeed, in a matter of much more concern than political
tenets, and that is religion, men and women do not
concern themselves much about difference of opinion, and
ladies set no value on the moral character of men who pay
their addresses to them; the greatest profligate will be as
well received as the man of the greatest virtue, and this
by a very good woman, by a woman who says her prayers
three times a day." Our ladies endeavoured to defend
their sex from this charge, but he roared them down!
" No, no, a lady will take Jonathan Wild as readily as St.
Austin, if he has threepence more; and, what is worse,
her parents will give her to him. Women have a perpetual
envy of our vices; they are less vicious than we, not
from choice, but because we restrict them; they are the
slaves of order and fashion; their virtue is of more
consequence to us than our own, so far as concerns this
world."
Miss Adams mentioned a gentleman of licentious
character, and said, " Suppose I had a mind to marry that
gentleman, would my parents consent?" JOHNSON  "Yes,
they'd consent, and you'd go. You'd go, though they did
not consent." Miss ADAMS "Perhaps their opposing
the Devil. This is well illustrated in a short but excellent
commentary by my late worthy friend, the Rev. Dr. Lort, of
whom it may truly be said, Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit. It is
remarkable that Waller in his Reflections on the several Petitions, in
that sacredform of devotion, has understood this in the same sense:
" Guard us from all temptations of the FOE." B.




356


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


might make me go."    JOHNSON   "0, very well; you'd
take one whom you think a bad man, to have the pleasure
of vexing your parents. You put me in mind of Dr
Barrowby, the physician, who was very fond of swine's
flesh. One day, when he was eating it, he said, ' I wish I
was a Jew '-' Why so?' said somebody; 'the Jews are
not allowed to eat your favourite meat.'-' Because,' said
he,' I should then have the gust of eating it, with the
pleasure of sinning.' "-Johnson then proceeded in his
declamation.
Miss Adams soon afterwards made an observation that
I do not recollect, which pleased him much; he said with
a good-humoured smile, "That there should be so much
excellence united with so much depravity is strange."
Indeed, this lady's good qualities, merit, and accomplishments, and her constant attention to Dr Johnson,
were not lost upon him. She happened to tell him that a
little coffee-pot, in which she had made him coffee, was
the only thing she could call her own. He turned to her
with a complacent gallantry, "Don't say so, my dear; I hope
you don't reckon my heart as nothing."
I asked him if it was true as reported, that he had said
lately, "I am for the King against Fox; but I am for
Fox against Pitt."  JOHNSON: "Yes, Sir; the King is
my master; but I do not know Pitt; and Fox is my
friend."
" Fox," added he, "is a most extraordinary man: he
is a man (describing him in strong terms of objection in
some respects according as he apprehended, but which
exalted his abilities the more), who has divided the kingdom
with Caesar; so that it was a doubt whether the nation
should be ruled by the sceptre of George the Third, or the
tongue of Fox."
Dr. Wall, physician at Oxford, drank tea with us.
Johnson had in general a peculiar pleasure in the company
of physicians, which was certainly not abated by the
conversation of this learned, ingenious, and pleasing
gentleman. Johnson said. " It is wonderful how little
good Radcliffe's travelling fellowships have done. I know




FORMS OF PRAYER


357


nothing that has been imported by them; yet many
additions fo our medical knowledge might be got in
foreign countries. Inoculation, for instance, has saved
more lives than war destroys; and the cures performed
by the Peruvian bark are innumerable. But it is in vain
to seqd our travelling physicians to France, and Italy, and
Germany, for all that is known there is known here * I'd
send them out of Christendom; I'd send them among
~arbarous nations."
On Friday, June I I, we talked at breakfast of forms of
prayer. JOHNSON: "I know of no good prayers but
those in the Book of Common Prayer." DR. ADAMS (in
a very earnest manner) " I wish, Sir, you would compose
some family prayers." JOHNSON. " I will not compose
prayers for you, Sir, because you can do it for yourself.
But I have thought of getting together all the books of
prayers which I could, selecting those which should appear
to me the best, putting out some, inserting others, adding
some prayers of my own, and prefixing a discourse on
prayer." We all now gathered about him, and two or
three of us at a time joined in pressing him to execute this
plan. He seemed to be a little displeased at the manner
of our importunity, and in great agitation called out:
" Do not talk thus of what is so awful. I know not what
time GOD will allow me in this world. There are many
things which I wish to do." Some of us persisted, and
Dr. Adams said, "I never was more serious about any
thing in my life."  JOHNSON: "Let me alone, let me
alone; I am overpowered."  And then he put his hands
before his face, and reclined for some time upon the table.
I mentioned Jeremy Taylor's using, in his forms of
prayer, "I am the chief of sinners," and other such selfcondemning expressions. "Now," said I, "this cannot
be said with truth by every man, and therefore is improper
for a general printed form. I myself cannot say that I
am the worst of men; I will not say so." JOHNSON
" A man may know that physically, that is in the real state
of things, he is not the worst man; but that morally he
may be so.    Law observes, that 'Every man knows




358


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


something worse of himself than he is sure of in others.'
You may not have committed such crimes as some men
have done; but you do not know against what degree of
light they have sinned. Besides, Sir, 'the chief of sinners'
is a mode of expression for ' I am a great sinner.' So St.
Paul, speaking of our SAVIOUR'S having died to save
sinners, says, 'of whom I am the chief;' yet he certainly
did not think himself so bad as Judas Iscariot." BOSWELL
"But, Sir, Taylor means it literally, for he founds a
conceit upon it. When praying for the conversion of
sinners, and of himself in particular, he says, 'LORD, thou
wilt not leave thy chief work undone."' JOHNSON "I
do not approve of figurative expressions in addressing the
Supreme Being, and I never use them. Taylor gives a
very good advice' 'Never lie in your prayers; never
confess more than you really believe; never promise more
than you mean to perform.'" I recollected this precept
in his "Golden Grove"; but his example for prayer
contradicts his precept.
Dr Johnson and I went in Dr Adams's coach to dine
with Mr. Nowell, Principal of St. Mary Hall, at his
beautiful villa at Iffley, on the banks of the Isis, about
two miles from Oxford. While we were upon the road,
I had the resolution to ask Johnson whether he thought
that the roughness of his manner had been an advantage
or not, and if he would not have done more good if he
had been more gentle. I proceeded to answer myself
thus: "Perhaps it has been of advantage, as it has given
weight to what you said. you could not, perhaps, have
talked with such authority without it." JOHNSON: " No,
Sir; I have done more good as I am. Obscenity and
impiety have always been repressed in my company"
BOSWELL    "True, Sir; and that is more than can be
said of every bishop. Greater liberties have been taken
in the presence of a bishop, though a very good man, from
his being milder, and therefore not commanding such awe.
Yet, Sir, many people who might have been benefited by
your conversation, have been   frightened  away.  A
worthy friend of ours has told me, that he has often been




DR. NOWELL


359


afraid to talk to you."  JOHNSON: "Sir, he need not
have been afraid, if he had any thing rational to say. If
he had not, it was better he did not talk."
Dr. Nowell is celebrated for having preached a sermon
before the House of Commons, on the 3oth of January,
1772, full of high Tory sentiments, for which he was
thanked as usual, and printed it at their request; but, in
the midst of that turbulence and faction which disgraced
a part of the present reign, the thanks were afterwards
ordered to be expunged.1 This strange conduct sufficiently
exposes itself; and Dr. Nowell will ever have the honour
which is due to a lofty friend of our monarchical constitution. Dr. Johnson said to me, "Sir, the Court will
be very much to blame, if he is not promoted." I told
this to Dr. Nowell; and asserting my humbler, though
not less zealous exertions in the same cause, I suggested,
that whatever return we might receive, we should still
have the consolation of being like Butler's steady and
generous Royalist,
" True as the dial to the sun,
Although it be not shone upon."
We were well entertained and very happy at Dr
Nowell's, where was a very agreeable company; and we
drank " Church and King" after dinner, with true Tory
cordiality.
We talked of a certain clergyman of extraordinary
character, who by exerting his talents in writing on
temporary topics, and displaying uncommon intrepidity,
has raised himself to affluence.2 I maintained that we
1 Townshend (afterwards Lord Sydney) moved that the sermon
be burned by the common hangman. The House was very near
carrying the motion, till they recollected their former vote of
thanks and contented themselves, after an acrimonious debate,
with ordering the vote to be expunged from their journals.
Mahon's Hist. of Engl., v. 303.
2 The Rev. Henry Bate, commonly known as the "fighting
parson," who assumed the name of Dudley and was created a
baronet. He founded The Morning Post, and afterwards, on a




360


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


ought not to be indignant at his success; for merit of
every sort was entitled to reward. JOHNSON: "Sir, I
will not allow this man to have merit. No, Sir; what
he has is rather the contrary; I will, indeed, allow him
courage, and on this account we so far give him credit.
We have more respect for a man who robs boldly on the
highway, than for a fellow who jumps out of a ditch, and
knocks you down behind your back.       Courage is a
quality so necessary for maintaining virtue, that it is
always respected, even when it is associated with vice."
I censured the coarse invectives which were become
fashionable in the House of Commons, and said that if
members of Parliament must attack each other personally
in the heat of debate, it should be done more genteelly.
JOHNSON    " No, Sir; that would be muchworse. Abuse
is not so dangerous when there is no vehicle of wit or
delicacy, no subtle conveyance. The difference between
coarse and refined abuse is as the difference between
being bruised by a club, and wounded by a poisoned
arrow."-I have since observed his position elegantly
expressed by Dr. Young '
"As the soft plume gives swiftness to the dart,
Good breeding sends the satire to the heart."
On Saturday, June I2, there drank tea with us at Dr
Adams's, Mr. John Henderson, student of Pembroke
College, celebrated for his wonderful acquirements in
alchemy, judicial astrology, and other abstruse and curious
learning;1 and the Reverend Herbert Croft, who, I am
afraid, was somewhat mortified by Dr. Johnson's not
being highly pleased with some ' Family Discourses,"
which he had printed; they were in too familiar a style
quarrel with his colleagues, The Morning Herald. He fought
more than one duel, and was sentenced to a year's imprisonment
for a libel on the Duke of Richmond (Walpole's Journal of the
Reign of George the Third, quoted by Dr. Hill). The latter
portion of his life was more decorous. Croker.
1 See an account of him, in a sermon by the Rev. Mr.
Agutter. B.




THE FEAR OF DEATH


361


to be approved of by so manly a mind. I have no note
of this evening's conversation, except a single fragment.
When I mentioned Thomas Lord Lyttelton's vision, the
prediction of the time of his death and its exact fulfilment;
-JOHNSON: "It is the most extraordinary thing that
has happened in my day. I heard it with my own ears,
from his uncle, Lord Westcote.1 I am so glad to have
every evidence of the spiritual world, that I am willing to
believe it."  DR. ADAMS. "You have evidence enough;
good evidence which needs not such support." JOHNSON
"I like to have more."
Mr. Henderson, with whom I had sauntered in the
venerable walks of Merton College, and found him a
very learned and pious man, supped with us. Dr. Johnson surprised him not a little, by acknowledging with a
look of horror that he was much oppressed by the fear
of death. The amiable Dr. Adams suggested that GOD
was infinitely good. JOHNSON. "That He is infinitely
good, as far as the perfection of His nature will allow,
I certainly believe  but it is necessary, for good upon
the whole, that individuals should be punished. As to
an individual, therefore, He is not infinitely good; and
as I cannot be sure that I have fulfilled the conditions on
which salvation is granted, I am afraid I may be one of
those who shall be damned." (Looking dismally ) DR.
ADAMS' "What do you mean by damned?"     JOHNSON
(passionately and loudly) * "Sent to Hell, Sir, and
punished everlastingly."  DR. ADAMS  "I don't believe
that doctrine."  JOHNSON' "Hold, Sir, do you believe
that some will be punished at all?"   DR. ADAMS
"Being excluded from Heaven will be a punishment;
yet there may be no great positive suffering." JOHNSON
" Well, Sir; but, if you admit any degree of punishment,
there is an end of your argument for infinite goodness
simply considered; for, infinite goodness would inflict
no punishment whatever. There is not infinite goodness
1 For this vision see Gent. Mag. for 1816, ii. 422; and for
1818, i. 597  Croker,




362


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


physically considered; morally there is."    BOSWELL:
"But may not a man attain to such a degree of hope as
not to be uneasy from the fear of death?" JOHNSON:
"A man may have such a degree of hope as to keep him
quiet. You see I am not quiet, from the vehemence
with which I talk; but I do not despair." MRS. ADAMS ~
" You seem, Sir, to forget the merits of our Redeemer."
JOHNSON. " Madam, I do not forget the merits of my
Redeemer; but my Redeemer has said that He will set
some on His right hand and some on His left."-He
was in gloomy agitation, and said, "I'll have no more
on't."-If what has now been stated should be urged by
the enemies of Christianity, as if its influence on the
mind were not benignant, let it be remembered that
Johnson's temperament was melancholy, of which such
direful apprehensions of futurity are often a common
effect. We shall presently see that when he approached
nearer to his awful change, his mind became tranquil, and
he exhibited as much fortitude as becomes a thinking man
in that situation.
From the subject of death we passed to discourse of
life, whether it was upon the whole more happy or
miserable. Johnson was decidedly for the balance of
misery. in confirmation of which I maintained that no
1 The Reverend Mr. Ralph Churton, Fellow of Brasenose
College, Oxford, has favoured me with the following remarks on
my work, which he is pleased to say, "I have hitherto extolled, and
cordially approve." " The chief part of what I have to observe
is contained in the following transcript from a letter to a friend,
which, with his concurrence, I copied for this purpose; and,
whatever may be the merit or justness of the remarks, you may
be sure that being written to a most intimate friend, without any
intention that they ever should go farther, they are the genuine
and undisguised sentiments of the writer. 'Jan. 6, I792. Last
week, I was reading the second volume of Boswell's Johnson,
with increasing esteem for the worthy author, and increasing
veneration of the wonderful and excellent man who is the subject
of it. The writer throws in, now and then, very properly some
serious religious reflections; but there is one remark, in my mind
an obvious and just one, which I think he has not made, that




JOHNSON'S MELANCHOLY


363


man would choose to lead over again the life which he
had experienced. Johnson acceded to that opinion in the
Johnson's "morbid melancholy," and constitutional infirmities,
were intended by Providence, like St. Paul's thorn in the flesh, to
check intellectual conceit and arrogance; which the consciousness
of his extraordinary talents, awake as he was to the voice of
praise, might otherwise have generated in a very culpable degree.
Another observation strikes me, that in consequence of the same
natural indisposition, and habitual sickliness (for he says he scarcely
passed one day without pain after his twentieth year), he considered and represented human life as a scene of much greater
misery than is generally experienced. There may be persons
bowed down with affliction all their days; and there are those,
no doubt, whose iniquities rob them of rest; but neither calamities
nor crimes, I hope and believe, do so much and so generally
abound, as to justify the dark picture of life which Johnson's
imagination designed, and his strong pencil delineated. This I
am sure, the colouring is far too gloomy for what I have experienced, though as far as I can remember, I have had more sickness
(I do not say more severe, but only more in quantity), than falls
to the lot of most people. But then daily debility and occasional
sickness were far overbalanced by intervenient days and, perhaps,
weeks void of pain, and overflowing with comfort. So that in
short, to return to the subject, human life, as far as I can perceive
from experience or observation, is not that state of constant
wretchedness which Johnson always insisted it was; which misrepresentation (for such it surely is), his biographer has not
corrected, I suppose, because, unhappily, he has himself a large
portion of melancholy in his constitution, and fancied the portrait
a faithful copy of life."'" The learned writer then proceeds thus
in his letter to me " I have conversed with some sensible men
on this subject, who all seem to entertain the same sentiments
respecting life with those which are expressed or implied in the
foregoing paragraph. It might be added that as the representation
here spoken of, appears not consistent with fact and experience,
so neither does it seem to be countenanced by Scripture. There
is, perhaps, no part of the sacred volume which at first sight
promises so much to lend its sanction to these dark and desponding notions as the book of Ecclesiastes, which so often, and so
emphatically, proclaims the vanity of things sublunary. But ' the
design of this whole book (as it has been justly observed) is not to
put us out of conceit with life, but to cure our vain expectations
of a complete and perfect happiness in this world; to convince us,




364


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


strongest terms. This is an inquiry often made; and its
being a subject of disquisition is a proof that much misery
that there is no such thing to be found in mere external enjoyments; and to teach us-to seek for happiness in the practice of
virtue, in the knowledge and love of GOD, and in the hopes of a
better life. For this is the application of all: Let us hear, &c.,
xii. 13. Not only his duty, but his happiness too: For GOD, &c.,
"er. 14.'-See Sherlock On Providence, p. 299. The New Testament tells us, indeed, and most truly, that sufficient unto the day
is the evil thereof;' and, therefore, wisely forbids us to increase
our burden by forebodings of sorrows; but I think it nowhere
says that even our ordinary afflictions are not consistent with a
very considerable degree of positive comfort and satisfaction. And,
accordingly, one whose sufferings as well as merits were conspicuous, assures us, that in proportion 'as the sufferings of Christ
abounded in them, so their consolation also abounded by Christ,'
2 Cor. i. 5. It is needless to cite, as indeed it would be endless even
to refer to, the multitude of passages in both Testaments holding
out, in the strongest language, promises of blessings, even in this
world, to the faithful servants of GOD. I will only refer to St.
Luke xviii. 29, 30, and I Tim. iv. 8. Upon the whole, setting aside
instances of great and lasting bodily pain, of minds peculiarly
oppressed by melancholy, and of severe temporal calamities, from
which extraordinary cases we surely should not form our estimate
of the general tenor and complexion of life. excluding these
from the account, I am convinced that as well the gracious constitution of things which Providence has ordained, as the declarations
of Scripture and the actual experience of individuals, authorize
the sincere Christian to hope that his humble and constant endeavours to perform his duty, chequered as the best life is with
many failings, will be crowned with a greater degree of present
peace, serenity, and comfort, than he could reasonably permit
himself to expect, if he measured his views and judged of life
from the opinion of Dr. Johnson, often and energetically expressed in the Memoirs of him, without any animadversion or
censure by his ingenious biographer.  If he himself, upon reviewing the subject, shall see the matter in this light, he will, in
an octavo edition, which is eagerly expected, make such additional
remarks or corrections as he shall judge fit; lest the impressions
which these discouraging passages may leave on the reader's mind,
should in any degree hinder what otherwise the whole spirit and
energy of the work tends, and, I hope, successfully, to promote,pure morality and true religion." Though I have, in some degree,




THE BALANCE OF LIFE


365


presses upon human feelings; for those who are conscious
of a felicity of existence, would never hesitate to accept
of a repetition of it. I have met with very few who
would. I have heard Mr Burke make use of a very
ingenious and plausible argument on this subject; " Every
man," said he, "would lead his life over again; for, every
man is willing to go on and take an addition to his life,
which, as he grows older, he has no reason to think will
be better, or even so good, as what has preceded." I
imagine, however, the truth is, that there is a deceitful
hope that the next part of life will be free from the pains,
and anxieties, and sorrows, which we have already felt.
We are for wise purposes "Condemn'd to Hope's delusive
obviated any reflections against my illustrious friend's dark views
of life, when considering, in the course of this work, his Rambler
and his Rasselas, I am obliged to Mr. Churton for complying with
my request of his permission to insert his remarks, being conscious
of the weight of what he judiciously suggests as to the melancholy
in my own constitution. His more pleasing views of life, I hope,
are just, Valeant, quantum valere possunt. Mr. Churton concludes
his letter to me in these words. "Once, and only once, I had the
satisfaction of seeing your illustrious friend; and as I feel a particular regard for all whom he distinguished with his esteem and
friendship, so I derive much pleasure from reflecting that I once
beheld, though but transiently near our college gate, one whose
works will for ever delight and improve the world, who was a
sincere and zealous son of the Church of England, an honour to
his country, and an ornament to human nature." His letter was
accompanied with a present from himself of his Sermons at the
Bampton Lecture, and from his friend, Dr. Townson, the venerable
Rector of Malpas in Cheshire, of his Discourses on the Gospels,
together with the following extract of a letter from that excellent
person, who is now gone to receive the reward of his labours:
"Mr. Boswell is not only very entertaining in his works, but they
are so replete with moral and religious sentiments, without an
instance, as far as I know, of a contrary tendency, that I cannot
help having a great esteem for him: and if you think such a trifle
as a copy of the Discourses, ex dono authoris, would be acceptable
to him, I should be happy to give him this small testimony of my
regard." Such spontaneous testimonies of approbation from such
men, without any personal acquaintance with me, are truly
valuable and encouraging. B.




366


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


mine," as Johnson finely says; and I may also quote the
celebrated lines of Dryden, equally philosophical and
poetical:
" When I consider life, 'tis all a cheat,
Yet fool'd with hope, men favour the deceit;
Trust on, and think to-morrow will repay;
To-morrow's falser than the former day;
Lies worse; and while it says we shall be blest
With some new joys, cuts off what we possest.
Strange cozenage! none would live past years again;
Yet all hope pleasure in what yet remain;
And from the dregs of life think to receive,
What the first sprightly running could not give."
(A4urungzebe, iv i.)
It was observed to Dr. Johnson, that it seemed strange
that he, who has so often delighted his company by his
lively and brilliant conversation, should say he was
miserable.  JOHNSON    "Alas! it is all outside; I may
be cracking my joke, and cursing the sun. Sun, how I
hate thy beams! " I knew not well what to think of this
declaration; whether to hold it as a genuine picture of
his mind,' or as the effect of his persuading himself, contrary to fact, that the position which he had assumed as
to human unhappiness, was true. We may apply to him
a sentence in Mr. Greville's " Maxims, Characters, and
Reflections" (p. I39); a book which is entitled to much
more praise than it has received     " ARISTARCHUS is
charming how full of knowledge, of sense, of sentiment.
You get him with difficulty to your supper; and after
having delighted every body and himself for a few hours,
he is obliged to return home,-he is finishing his treatise,
to prove that unhappiness is the portion of man."
On Sunday, June 13, our philosopher was calm      at
breakfast. There was something exceedingly pleasing in
our leading a college life, without restraint, and with
1 Yet there is no doubt that a man may appear very gay in
company, who is sad at heart. His merriment is like the sound
of drums and trumpets in a battle, to drown the groans of the
wounded and dying. B.




THE LAWFULNESS OF A LIE


367


superior elegance, in consequence of our living in the
Master's house and having the company of ladies. Mrs.
Kennicot related, in his presence, a lively saying of Dr
Johnson to Miss Hannah More, who had expressed a
wonder that the poet who had written "Paradise Lost,"
should write such poor sonnets-" Milton, Madam, was a
genius that could cut a Colossus from a rock, but could
not carve heads upon cherry-stones."
We talked of the casuistical question, Whether it was
allowable at any time to depart from truth?  JOHNSON
" The general rule is, that truth should never be violated,
because it is of the utmost importance to the comfort of
life, that we should have a full security by mutual faith;
and occasional inconveniences should be willingly suffered,
that we may preserve it. There must, however, be some
exceptions. If, for instance, a murderer should ask you
which way a man is gone, you may tell him what is not
true, because you are under a previous obligation not to
betray a man to a murderer." BOSWELL: "Supposing
the person who wrote 'Junius' were asked whether he
was the author, might he deny it?" JOHNSON: "I don't
know what to say to this. If you were sure that he wrote
' Junius' would you, if he denied it, think as well of him
afterwards? Yet it may be urged, that what a man has
no right to ask, you may refuse to communicate; and
there is no other effectual mode of preserving a secret,
and an important secret, the discovery of which may be
very hurtful to you, but a flat denial; for if you are
silent, or hesitate, or evade, it will be held equivalent to a
confession. But stay, Sir, here is another case. Supposing
the author had told me confidentially that he had written
' Junius ' and I were asked if he had, I should hold myself
at liberty to deny it, as being under a previous promise,
express or implied, to conceal it. Now what I ought to
do for the author, may I not do for myself? But I deny
the lawfulness of telling a lie to a sick man, for fear of
alarming him. You have no business with consequences;
you are to tell the truth. Besides, you are not sure what
effect your telling him that he is in danger may have. It




368


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


may bring his distemper to a crisis, and that may cure
him. Of all lying I have the greatest abhorrence of this,
because I believe it has been frequently practised on
myself"
I cannot help thinking that there is much weight in the
opinion of those who have held, that truth, as an eternal
and immutable principle, ought, upon no account whatever, to be violated from supposed previous or superior
obligations, of which every man being to judge for himself, there is great danger that we too often, from partial
motives, persuade ourselves that they exist; and probably
whatever extraordinary instances may sometimes occur,
where some evil may be prevented by violating this noble
principle, it would be found that human happiness would,
upon the whole, be more perfect were truth universally
preserved.
In the notes to the "Dunciad," we find the following
verses, addressed to Pope:1
"While malice, Pope, denies thy page
Its own celestial fire;
While critics, and while bards in rage,
Admiring, won't admire:
While wayward pens thy worth assail,
And envious tongues decry;
These times, though many a friend bewail,
These times bewail not I.
But when the world's loud praise is thine,
And spleen no more shall blame:
When with thy Homer thou shalt shine
In one establish'd fame!
When none shall rail, and every lay
Devote a wreath to thee;
That day (for come it will) that day
Shall I lament to see."
It is surely not a little remarkable, that they should
appear without a name. Miss Seward, knowing Dr. John1 The annotator calls them " amiable verses." B. The annotator was Pope himself. Croker.




SACKVILLE PARKER


369


son's almost universal and minute literary information,
signified a desire that I should ask him  who was the
author   He was prompt with his answer -" Why, Sir,
they were written by one Lewis, who was either undermaster or an usher of Westminster School, and published
a Miscellany, in which ' Grongar Hill' first came out."1
Johnson praised them highly, and repeated them with a
noble animation. In the twelfth line, instead of " one
establish'd fame," he repeated "one unclouded flame,"
which he thought was the reading in former editions
but I believe was a flash of his own genius. It is much
more poetical than the other.
On Monday, June 14, and Tuesday, I5, Dr Johnson
and I dined, on one of them, I forget which, with Mr.
Mickle, translator of the "Luslad," at Wheatley, a very
pretty country place a few miles from Oxford; and on
the other with Dr. Wetherell, Master of University College. From Dr. Wetherell's he went to visit Mr. Sackville Parker, the bookseller; and when he returned to us,
gave the following account of his visit, saying  "I have
been to see my old friend, Sack. Parker; I find he has
married his maid; he has done right. She had lived with
him many years in great confidence, and they had mingled
minds; I do not think he could have found any wife that
would have made him so happy The woman was very
attentive and civil to me; she pressed me to fix a day for
dining with them, and to say what I liked, and she would
be sure to get it for me. Poor Sack! He is very ill,
indeed. We parted as never to meet again. It has quite
broken me down." This pathetic narrative was strangely
1 Lewis's verses addressed to Pope (as Mr. Bindley suggests to
me), were first published in a collection of Pieces in Verse and Prose
on occasion of the Dunciad, 8vo. 1732. They are there called an
epigram.-Grongar Hill, the same gentleman observes, was first
printed in Savage's Miscellanies, as an ode (it is singular that
Johnson should not have recollected this), and was reprinted in the
same year (1726), in Lewis's Miscellany, in the form it now bears.
The Dean of Westminster, who has been pleased at my request to
make some inquiry on this subject, has not found any vestige of
Lewis having ever been employed at the School. Malone.
III.                                       B B




370


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


diversified with the grave and earnest defence of a man's
having married his maid. I could not but feel it as in
some degree ludicrous.
In the morning of Tuesday, June 15, while we sat at
Dr. Adams's, we talked of a printed letter from the
Reverend Herbert Croft to a young gentleman who had
been his pupil, in which he advised him to read to the end
of whatever books he should begin to read. JOHNSON
" This is surely a strange advice; you may as well resolve
that whatever men you happen to get acquainted with,
you are to keep to them for life. A book may be
good for nothing; or there may be only one thing in it
worth knowing   are we to read it all through? These
voyages (pointing to the three large volumes of ' Voyages
to the South Sea,'1 which were just come out), who will
read them through? A man had better work his way
before the mast, than read them through; they will be
eaten by rats and mice before they are read through.
There can be little entertainment in such books; one set
of savages is like another."  BOSWELL: " I do not think
the people of Otaheite can be reckoned savages." JOHNson. " Don't cant in defence of savages."  BoSWELL:
" They have the art of navigation."  JOHNSON' "A dog
or a cat can swim." BOSWELL " They carve very ingeniously." JOHNSON: "A cat can scratch, and a child with a
nail can scratch." I perceived this was none of the mollia
tempora fandi, so desisted.
Upon his mentioning that when he came to College he
wrote his first exercises twice over, but never did so afterwards; Miss ADAMS     " I suppose, Sir, you could not
make them   better?"  JOHNSON: "Yes, Madam, to be
sure, I could make them better. Thought is better than
no thought."  Miss ADAMS: "Do you think, Sir, you
could make your ' Ramblers' better?" JOHNSON: "Certainly I could." BosWELL: '" I'll lay a bet, Sir, you can1 Cook's third voyage. i JVoyage to the Pacific Ocean in the
years 1776-80; London, 1784, 3 vols. 4to. The first two vols.
by Capt. Cook, the third by Capt. King. See Mr. Besant's
Captain Cook (Macmillan's " Men of Action ").




THE LIFE OF A BARRISTER


371


not." JOHNSON: "But I will, Sir, if I choose. I shall
make the best of them you shall pick out, better "BOSWELL: "But you may add to them. I will not allow
of that."  JOHNSON: "Nay, Sir, there are three ways
of making them    better; —putting out,-adding,-or
correcting."
During our visit at Oxford, the following conversation
passed between him and me on the subject of my trying
my fortune at the English Bar. Having asked, whether
a very extensive acquaintance in London, which was very
valuable and of great advantage to a man at large, might
not be prejudicial to a lawyer, by preventing him from
giving sufficient attention to his business?-JoHNSON
"Sir, you will attend to business, as business lays hold
of you. When not actually employed, you may see your
friends as much as you do now. You may dine at a
club every day, and sup with one of the members every
night; and you may be as much at public places as one
who has seen them all would wish to be. But you must
take care to attend constantly in Westminster Hall; both
to mind your business, as it is almost all learnt there (for
nobody reads now), and to shew that you want to have
business. And you must not be too often seen at public
places, that competitors may not have it to say,' He is
always at the playhouse or at Ranelagh, and never to be
found at his chambers.' And, Sir, there must be a kind
of solemnity in the manner of a professional man. I
have nothing particular to say to you on the subject. All
this I should say to any one; I should have said it to
Lord Thurlow twenty years ago."
THE PROFESSION may probably think this representation
of what is required in a barrister who would hope for
success, to be much too indulgent, but certain it is, that as
"The wits of Charles found easier ways to fame,"
some of the lawyers of this age who have risen high,
have by no means thought it absolutely necessary to submit
to that long and painful course of study which a Plowden, a Coke, and a Hale, considered as requisite. My




372


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


respected friend, Mr Langton, has shewn me in the
hand-writing of his grandfather, a curious account of a
conversation which he had with Lord Chief Justice Hale,
in which that great man tells him  "That for two years
after he came to the inn of court, he studied sixteen
hours a day; however (his Lordship added), that by
this intense application he almost brought himself to his
grave, though he were of a very strong constitution, and
after reduced himself to eight hours; but that he would
not advise any body to so much; that he thought six
hours a day, with attention and constancy, was sufficient;
that man must use his body as he would his horse, and
his stomach; not tire him at once but rise with an
appetite."
On Wednesday, June I9, Dr. Johnson and I returned
to London; he was not well to-day, and said very little,
employing himself chiefly in reading Euripides. He
expressed some displeasure at me, for not observing
sufficiently the various objects upon the road. "If I
had your eyes, Sir," said he, " I should count the
passengers." It was wonderful how accurate his observation of visual objects was, notwithstanding his imperfect
eyesight, owing to a habit of attention. —That he was
much satisfied with the respect paid to him at Dr Adams's
is thus attested by himself * "I returned last night from
Oxford, after a fortnight's abode with Dr Adams, who
treated me as well as I could expect or wish; and he
that contents a sick man, a man whom it is impossible
to please, has surely done his part well." [Letters to
Mrs. Thrale, ii. 372.]
After his return to London from this excursion, I saw
him frequently, but have few memorandums; I shall
therefore here insert some particulars which I collected
at various times.        f
The Reverend Mr. Astle, of Ashbourne, in Derbyshire,
brother to the learned and ingenious Thomas Astle, Esq.,
was from his early years known to Dr. Johnson, who
obligingly advised him as to his studies, and recommended
to him the following books, of which a list, which he has




A COURSE OF READING


373


been pleased to communicate, lies before me, in Johnson's
own hand-writing.Universal History (ancient).-Rollin's Incient History.-Puffendorf's Introduction to History. —Yertot's History of Knights of Malta.
— Vertot's Revolution of Portugal. —ertot's Revolution of Sweden.Carte's History of England.-Present State of England.-Geographical Grammar.-Prideaux's Connexion.-Nelson's Feasts and
Fasts.-Duty of Man.-Gentleman's Religion.-Clarendon's History.
-WIatts's Improvement of the Mind.-Watts's Logic.-Nature Displayed.-Lowth's English Grammar.-Blackwell on the Classics.Sherlock's Sermons.-Burnet's Life of Hale.-Dupin's History of the
Church.-Shuckford's Connexions.-Law's Serious Call.- Walton's
Complete Angler.-Sandys's Travels.-Spratt's History of the Royal
Society.-England's Gazetteer.-Goldsmith's Roman History.-Some
Commentaries on the Bible.
It having been mentioned to Dr. Johnson that a
gentleman who had a son whom he imagined to have
an extreme degree of timidity, resolved to send him to
a-public school that he might acquire confidence; "Sir,"
said  Johnson, "this is a preposterous expedient for
removing his infirmity; such a disposition should be
cultivated in the shade. Placing him at a public school
is forcing an owl upon day."
Speaking of a gentleman whose house was much
frequented by low company; "Rags, Sir," said he, "will
always make their appearance, where they have a right to
do it."
Of the same gentleman's mode of living, he said:
"Sir, the servants, instead of doing what they are bid,
stand round the table in idle clusters, gaping upon the
guests; and seem as unfit to attend a company, as to
steer a man-of-war."
A dull country magistrate gave Johnson a long tedious
account of his exercising his criminal jurisdiction, the
result of which was having sentenced four convicts to
transportation. Johnson, in an agony of impatience to
get rid of such a companion, exclaimed, "I heartily wish,
Sir, that I were a fifth."




374


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Johnson was present when a tragedy was read, in which
there occurred this line:
"Who rules o'er freemen should himself be free."
The company having admired it much, "I cannot agree
with you," said Johnson. "It might as well be said,
" 'Who drives fat oxen should himself be fat."'
He was pleased with the kindness of Mr. Cator, who
was joined with him in Mr. Thrale's important trust,
and thus describes him. "There is much good in his
character, and much usefulness in his knowledge."
[Letters to Mrs. Thrale, ii. 284.] He found a cordial
solace at that gentleman's seat at Beckenham in Kent,
which is indeed one of the finest places at which I
ever was a guest; and where I find more and more
a hospitable welcome.
Johnson seldom encouraged general censure of any
profession; but he was willing to allow a due share of
merit to the various departments necessary in civilized
life. In a splenetic, sarcastical, or jocular frame of mind,
however, he would sometimes utter a pointed saying of that
nature. One instance has been mentioned (Vol. I. p. 466),
where he gave a sudden satirical stroke to the character
of an attorney. The too indiscriminate admission to that
employment, which requires both abilities and integrity,
has given rise to injurious reflections, which are totally
inapplicable to many very respectable men who exercise
it with reputation and honour.
Johnson having argued for some time with a pertinacious gentleman: his opponent, who had talked in
a very puzzling manner, happened to say, "I don't
understand you, Sir;" upon which Johnson observed,
"Sir, I have found you an argument; but I am not
obliged to find you an understanding."
Talking to me of Horry Walpole (as Horace late
Earl of Orford was often called), Johnson allowed that
he got together a great many curious little things and
told them in an elegant manner. Mr. Walpole thought




HORACE WALPOLE


375


Johnson a more amiable character after reading his
"Letters to Mrs. Thrale": but never was one of the
true admirers of that great man.1 We may suppose a
prejudice conceived, if he ever heard Johnson's account
to Sir George Staunton, that when he made the speeches
in Parliament for the "Gentleman's Magazine," " He
always took care to put Sir Robert Walpole in the wrong,
and to say everything he could against the electorate of
Hanover."   The celebrated "Heroic Epistle," in which
Johnson is satirically introduced, has been ascribed both
to Mr Walpole and Mr Mason. One day at Mr
Courtenay's, when a gentleman expressed his opinion
that there was more energy in that poem than could
be expected from Mr. Walpole; Mr. Warton, the late
Laureate, observed, "It may have been written     by
Walpole, and buckram'd by Mason."2
He disapproved of Lord Hailes, for having modernised
the language of the ever-memorable John Hales of Eton,
in an edition which his Lordship published of that writer's
works.  "An author's language, Sir," said he, "is a
characteristical part of his composition, and is also characteristical of the age in which he writes. Besides, Sir, when
the language is changed we are not sure that the sense is
the same. No, Sir   I am sorry Lord Hailes has done
this."
Here it may be observed, that his frequent use of the
expression, No, Sir, was not always to intimate contradiction; for he would say so when he was about to
enforce an affirmative proposition which had not been
dented, as in the instance last mentioned. I used to consider it as a kind of flag of defiance: as if he had said,
" Any argument you may offer against this, is not just.
No, Sir, it is not." It was like Falstaff's " I deny your
major."
1 In his Posthumous Works, he has spoken of Johnson in the
most contemptuous manner! Malone. See Memoirs of the Reign
of George the Third, iv 297.
2 It is now (I8o4) known that the Heroic Epistle was written
by Mason. Malone.




376


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Sir Joshua Reynolds having said that he took the
altitude of a man's taste by his stories and his wit, and
of his understanding by the remarks which he repeated;
being always sure that he must be a weak man, who
quotes common things with an emphasis as if they were
oracles;-Johnson agreed with him; and Sir Joshua
having also observed that the real character of a man
was found out by his amusements,-Johnson added,
"Yes, Sir; no man is a hypocrite in his pleasures."
I have mentioned Johnson's general aversion to pun.
He once, however, endured one of mine.-When we
were talking of a numerous company in which he had
distinguished himself highly, I said, "Sir, you were a
COD surrounded by smelts. Is not this enough for you?
at a time too when you were not fishing for a compliment?" He laughed at this with a complacent approbation.
Old Mr Sheridan observed, upon my mentioning it to him,
" He liked your compliment so well, he was willing to
take it with pun sauce." For my own part, I think no
innocent species of wit or pleasantry should be suppressed:
and that a good pun may be admitted among the smaller
excellences of lively conversation.
Had Johnson treated at large De Claris Oratoribus, he
might have given us an admirable work. When the
Duke of Bedford attacked the Ministry as vehemently
as he could, for having taken upon them to extend the
time for the importation of corn,1 Lord Chatham, in his
first speech in the House of Lords, boldly avowed himself
to be an adviser of that measure. " My colleagues,"
said he, " as I was confined by indisposition, did me the
signal honour of coming to the bed-side of a sick man,
to ask his opinion. But, had they not thus condescended,
I should have taken up my bed and walked, in order to
1 A mistake. The Ministry was attacked for prohibiting,
without an order of Parliament, the export of corn before the
price had been reached at which exportation ceased to be lawful.
It was on this occasion that Chatham made his first speech in the
House of Lords, defending his bold stretch of the prerogative
against Mansfield. Mahon's Hist. of Engl., v. i66 and 169.




'DE CLARIS ORATORIBUS'


377


have delivered that opinion at the Council-Board." Mr.
Langton, who was present, mentioned this to Johnson,
who observed *   Now, Sir, we see that he took these
words as he found them; without considering, that
though the expression in Scripture, take up thy bed and
walk, strictly suited the instance of the sick man restored
to health and strength, who would of course be supposed
to carry his bed with him, it could not be proper in the
case of a man who was lying in a state of feebleness, and
who certainly would not add to the difficulty of moving
at all, that of carrying his bed."
When I pointed out to him in the newspaper one of
Mr. Grattan's animated and glowing speeches in favour of
the freedom of Ireland, in which this expression occurred
(I know not if accurately taken): " We will persevere,
till there is not one link of the English chain left to
clank upon the rags of the meanest beggar in Ireland;"Nay, Sir," said Johnson, "don't you perceive that one
link cannot clank?"
Mrs. Thrale has published (Anecdotes, p. 43), as Johnson's, a kind of parody or counterpart of a fine poetical
passage in one of Mr. Burke's speeches on American
Taxation. It is vigorously but somewhat coarsely executed; and I am inclined to suppose, is not quite
correctly exhibited. I hope he did not use the words
" vile agents " for the Americans in the House of Parliament; and if he did so in an extempore effusion, I wish
the lady had not committed it to writing.
Mr. Burke uniformly shewed Johnson the greatest
respect; and when Mr. Townshend, now Lord Sydney,
at a period when he was conspicuous in opposition, threw
out some reflection in Parliament upon the grant of a
pension to a man of such political principles as Johnson;
Mr. Burke, though then of the same party with Mr.
Townshend, stood warmly forth in defence of his friend, to
whom, he justly observed, the pension was granted solely
on account of his eminent literary merit.1 I am well
1 It appears from the Cavendish Debates, i. 514, and from Par.
Hist., xvii. 1054, that to neither of Townshend's attacks on




378


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


assured, that Mr Townshend's attack upon Johnson was
the occasion of his " hitching in a rhyme;" for, that in
the original copy of Goldsmith's character of Mr. Burke,
in his " Retaliation," another person's name stood in the
couplet where Mr. Townshend is now introduced:
"Though fraught with all learning kept straining his throat,
To persuade Tommy Townshend to lend him a vote."
It may be worth remarking, among the minutie of my
collection, that Johnson was once drawn to serve in the
militia, the Trained Bands of the City of London, and
that Mr Rackstrow, of the Museum in Fleet Street, was
his Colonel. It may be believed he did not serve in
person; but the idea, with all its circumstances, is
certainly laughable.  He upon that occasion provided
himself with a musket, and with a sword and belt,
which I have seen hanging in his closet.
He was very constant to those whom he once employed,
if they gave him no reason to be displeased.-When
somebody talked of being imposed on in the purchase of
tea and sugar, and such articles  "That will not be the
case," said he, "if you go to a stately shop, as I always
do. In such a shop it is not worth their while to take
a petty advantage."
An author of most anxious and restless vanity being
mentioned, " Sir," said he, "there is not a young sapling
upon Parnassus more severely blown about by every wind
of criticism than that poor fellow."
The difference, he observed, between a well-bred and
an ill-bred man is this  "One immediately attracts your
liking, the other your aversion. You love the one till
you find reason to hate him; you hate the other till you
find reason to love him."
The wife of one of his acquaintance had fraudulently
made a purse for herself out of her husband's fortune.
Johnson, in 1770 or in I774, did Burke make any answer. Fitzherbert was the defender on the first occasion, Fox on the second.
Dr. Hill.




JOHNSON'S LATINISMS


179


Feeling a proper compunction in her last moments she
confessed how much she had 'secreted; but before she
could tell where it was placed, she was seized with a
convulsive fit and expired. Her husband said he was
more hurt by her want of confidence in him, than by
the loss of his money.  "I told him," said Johnson,
"that he should console himself. for perhaps the
money might be found, and he was sure that his wife
was gone."
A foppish physician once reminded Johnson of his
having been in company with him on a former occasion
" I do not remember it, Sir." The physician still insisted;
adding that he that day wore so fine a coat that it must
have attracted his notice. "Sir," said Johnson, "had
you been dipt in Pactolus, I should not have noticed
you.,
He seemed to take a pleasure in speaking in his own
style for when he had carelessly missed it, he would
repeat the thought translated into it. Talking of the
Comedy of ' The Rehearsal," he said, "It has not wit
enough to keep it sweet." This was easy;-he therefore
caught himself, and pronounced a more round sentence.
"It has not vitality enough to preserve it from putrefaction."
He censured a writer of entertaining travels for assuming
a feigned character, saying (in his sense of the word).
" He carries out one lie; we know not how many he
brings back." At another time, talking of the same
person, he observed' "Sir, your assent to a man whom
you have never known to falsify, is a debt but after you
have known a man to falsify, your assent to him then is a
favour "
Though he had no taste for painting, he admired much
the manner in which Sir Joshua Reynolds treated of his
art, in his "Discourses to the Royal Academy"   He
observed one day of a passage in them, " I think I might
as well have said this myself:" and once when Mr.
Langton was sitting by him, he read one of them very
eagerly, and expressed himself thus  " Very well, Master




380


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Reynolds; very well, indeed. But it will not be understood."
When I observed to him that painting was so far
inferior to poetry, that the story or even emblem which it
communicates must be previously known, and mentioned
as a natural and laughable instance of this, that a little
Miss on seeing a picture of Justice with the scales, had
exclaimed to me, "See, there's a woman selling sweetmeats;" he said, " Painting, Sir, can illustrate, but cannot
inform."
No man was more ready to make an apology when he
had censured unjustly, than Johnson. When a proofsheet of one of his works was brought to him, he found
fault with the mode in which a part of it was arranged,
refused to read it, and in a passion desired that the compositor might be sent to him. The compositor was Mr
Manning, a decent, sensible man, who had composed
about one-half of his Dictionary, when in Mr. Strahan's
printing-house; and a great part of his "Lives of the
Poets," when in that of Mr. Nichols; and who (in his
seventy-seventh year) when in Mr Baldwin's printinghouse, composed a part of the first edition of this work
concerning him. By producing the manuscript, he at once
satisfied Dr Johnson that he was not to blame. Upon
which Johnson candidly and earnestly said to him, "Mr
Compositor, I ask your pardon; Mr. Compositor, I ask
your pardon, again and again."
His generous humanity to the miserable was almost
beyond example. The following instance is well attested.
Coming home late one night, he found a poor woman lying
in the street, so much exhausted that she could not walk;
he took her upon his back, and carried her to his house,
where he discovered that she was one of those wretched
females who had fallen into the lowest state of vice,
poverty, and disease. Instead of harshly upbraiding her,
1 Compositor in the Printing-house means, the person who
adjusts the types in the order in which they are to stand for printing; and arranges what is called the form, from which an impression is taken. B.




JOHNSON'S HUMANITY


38I


he had her taken care of with all tenderness for a long
time, at a considerable expense, till she was restored to
health, and endeavoured to put her into a virtuous way of
living.1
He thought Mr. Caleb Whitefoord singularly happy
in hitting on the signature of Papyrius Cursor, to his
ingenious and diverting cross-readings of the newspapers,
it being a real name of an ancient Roman, and clearly
expressive of the thing done in this lively conceit.2
He once in his life was known to have uttered what is
called a bull: Sir Joshua Reynolds, when they were riding
together in Devonshire, complained that he had a very
bad horse, for that even when going downhill he moved
slowly step by step.  "Ay," said Johnson, "and when he
goes uphill, he stands still."
He had a great aversion to gesticulating in company
He called once to a gentleman who offended him in that
point, " Don't attitudinise " And when another gentleman
thought he was giving additional force to what he uttered,
by expressive movements of his hands, Johnson fairly
seized them, and held them down.
An author of considerable eminence having engrossed a
good share of the conversation in the company of Johnson,
and having said nothing but what was trifling and insignificant; Johnson when he was gone, observed to us  "It
is wonderful what a difference there sometimes is between
a man's powers of writing and of talking.  * * * * writes
with great spirit, but is a poor talker; had he held his
tongue, we might have supposed him to have been
restrained by modesty; but he has spoken a great deal
to-day; and you have heard what stuff it was."
A gentleman having said that a conge d'lire has not,
perhaps, the force of a command, but may be considered
1 The circumstance therefore alluded to in Mr. Courtenay's
Poetical Character of him is strictly true. My informer was Mrs.
Desmoulins, who lived many years in Dr. Johnson's house. B.
2 He followed his Cross-Readings by a still more witty paper on
the Errors of the Press. These two laughable essays are preserved
in The Foundling Hospitalfor Wit. Croker.




382


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


only as a strong recommendation;-(' Sir," replied Johnson, who overheard him, "it is such a recommendation,
as if I should throw you out of a two pair of stairs
window, and recommend to you to fall soft."'
Mr Steevens, who passed many a social hour with him
during their long acquaintance, which commenced when
they both lived in the Temple, has preserved a good
number of particulars concerning him, most of which are
to be found in the department of Apophthegms, &c., in
the Collection of Johnson's Works.2     But he has been
pleased to favour me with the following, which are
original:
One evening, previous to the trial of Baretti, a consultation
of his friends was held at the house of Mr. Cox, the solicitor, in
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane. Among others present
were Mr. Burke and Dr. Johnson, who differed in sentiments
concerning the tendency of some part of the defence the prisoner
was to make. When the meeting was over, Mr. Steevens observed,
that the question between him and his friend had been agitated
with rather too much warmth. 'It may be so, Sir,' replied the
Doctor, 'for Burke and I should have been of one opinion, if we
had had no audience.'"
" Dr Johnson once assumed a character in which perhaps even
Mr. Boswell never saw him. His curiosity having been excited
by the praises bestowed on the celebrated TorrE's fireworks at
Marylebone Gardens, he desired Mr. Steevens to accompany him
thither  The evening had proved showery; and soon after the
few people present were assembled, public notice was given, that
the conductors to the wheels, suns, stars, &c., were so thoroughly
water-soaked, that it was impossible any part of the exhibition
should be made. 'This is a mere excuse,' says the Doctor, 'to
save their crackers for a more profitable company. Let us both
hold up our sticks, and threaten to break those coloured lamps that
surround the orchestra, and we shall soon have our wishes gratified.
1 This has been printed in other publications, "fall to the
ground." But Johnson himself gave me the true expression which
he had used as above; meaning that the recommendation left as
little choice in the one case as the other. B.
2 This refers to Hawkins' edition in 15 vols. 8vo. Lond.,
1787-9. The Apophthegms are reprinted in Napier's 7ohnsoniana.




STEEVENS' JOHNSONIANA


383


The core of the fireworks cannot be injured; let the different
pieces be touched in their respective centres, and they will do their
offices as well as ever.'-Some young men who overheard him,
immediately began the violence he had recommended, and an
attempt was speedily made to fire some of the wheels which
appeared to have received the smallest damage; but to little
purpose were they lighted, for most of them completely failed.The author of (The Rambler,' however, may be considered on
this occasion, as the ringleader of a successful riot, though not as a
skilful pyrotechnist."
"It has been supposed that Dr. Johnson, so far as fashion was
concerned, was careless of his appearance in public. But this is
not altogether true, as the following slight instance may shew:
Goldsmith's last comedy was to be represented during some courtmourning; and Mr Steevens appointed to call on Dr. Johnson,
and carry him to the tavern where he was to dine with others of
the poet's friends. The Doctor was ready dressed, but in coloured
clothes. yet being told that he would find every one else in black,
received the intelligence with a profusion of thanks, hastened to
change his attire, all the while repeating his gratitude for the
information that had saved him from an appearance so improper in
the front row of a front box. 'I would not,' added he, 'for ten
pounds have seemed so retrograde to any general observance.'"
"He would sometimes found his dislikes on very slender circumstances. Happening one day to mention Mr Flexman, a
Dissenting Minister, with some compliment to his exact memory
in chronological matters; the Doctor replied, 'Let me hear no
more of him, Sir. That is the fellow who made the index to my
"Ramblers," and set down the name of Milton thus.-Milton,
Mr. John.'"
Mr. Steevens adds this testimony'
"It is unfortunate, however, for Johnson, that his particularities
and frailties can be more distinctly traced than his good and
amiable exertions. Could the many bounties he studiously concealed, the many acts of humanity he performed in private, be
displayed with equal circumstantiality, his defects would be so far
lost in the blaze of his virtues, that the latter only would be
regarded."
Though from my very high admiration of Johnson, I
have wondered that he was not courted by all the great
and all the eminent persons of his time, it ought fairly to
be considered that no man of humble birth, who lived




384


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


entirely by literature, in short no author by profession,
ever rose in this country into that personal notice which
he did. In the course of this work a numerous variety of
names has been mentioned, to which many might be added.
I cannot omit Lord and Lady Lucan, at whose house he
often enjoyed all that an elegant table and the best
company can contribute to happiness; he found hospitality
united with extraordinary accomplishments, and embellished with charms of which no man could be insensible.
On Tuesday, June 22, I dined with him at THE
LITERARY CLUB, the last time of his being in that
respectable society. The other members present were
the Bishop of St. Asaph, Lord Eliot, Lord Palmerston,
Dr Fordyce, and Mr Malone. He looked ill; but had
such a manly fortitude, that he did not trouble the
company with melancholy complaints. They all shewed
evident marks of kind concern about him, with which he
was much pleased, and he exerted himself to be as entertaining as his indisposition allowed him.
The anxiety of his friends to preserve so estimable a
life, as long as human means might be supposed to have
influence, made them plan for him a retreat from the
severity of a British winter to the mild climate of Italy.
This scheme was at last brought to a serious resolution at
General Paoli's, where I had often talked of it. One
essential matter, however, I understood was necessary to
be previously settled, which was obtaining such an addition
to his income as would be sufficient to enable him to
defray the expense in a manner becoming the first literary
character of a great nation, and, independent of all his
other merits, the author of THE DICTIONARY OF THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE. The person to whom I above all
others thought I should apply to negotiate this business,
was the Lord Chancellor, because I knew that he highly
valued Johnson, and that Johnson highly valued his Lordship; so that it was no degradation of my illustrious friend
to solicit for him the favour of such a man. I have mentioned what Johnson said of him to me when he was at
the bar; and after his Lordship was advanced to the seals,




JOHNSON AND LORD THURLOW


385


he said of him, " I would prepare myself for no man in
England but Lord Thurlow. When I am to meet with
him, I should wish to know a day before." How he
would have prepared himself, I cannot conjecture. Would
he have selected certain topics, and considered them in
every view, so as to be in readiness to argue them at all
points? and what may we suppose those topics to have
been? I once started the curious inquiry to the great
man who was the subject of this compliment. he smiled,
but did not pursue it.
I first consulted with Sir Joshua Reynolds, who perfectly
coincided in opinion with me; and I therefore, though
personally very little known to his Lordship, wrote to
him,1 stating the case, and requesting his good offices for
Dr. Johnson. I mentioned that I was obliged to set out
for Scotland early in the following week, so that if his
Lordship should have any commands for me as to this
pious negotiation, he would be pleased to send them
before that time; otherwise Sir Joshua Reynolds would
give all attention to it.
This application was made not only without any suggestion on the part of Johnson himself, but was utterly
unknown to him, nor had he the smallest suspicion of it.
Any insinuations, therefore, which since his death have
been thrown out, as if he had stooped to ask what was
superfluous, are without any foundation. But, had he
asked it, it would not have been superfluous; for though
the money he had saved proved to be more than his friends
imagined, or than I believe he himself, in his carelessness
concerning worldly matters, knew it to be, had he travelled
upon the Continent an augmentation of his income would
by no means have been unnecessary
On Wednesday, June 23, I visited him in the morning,
after having been present at the shocking sight of fifteen
1 It is strange that Sir John Hawkins should have related that
the application was made by Sir Joshua Reynolds, when he could
so easily have been informed of the truth by inquiring of Sir
Joshua. Sir John's carelessness to ascertain facts is very remarkable. B.


c c


i1.




386


BOSWELL'S LIFt OF JOHNSON


men executed before Newgate. I said to him, I was sure
that human life was not machinery, that is to say, a chain
of fatality planned and directed by the Supreme Being, as
it had in it so much wickedness and misery, so many
instances of both, as that by which my mind was now
clouded.
Were it machinery, it would be better than it is in these
respects, though less noble, as not being a system of moral
government. He agreed with me now, as he always did,
upon the great question of the liberty of the human will,
which has been in all ages perplexed with so much sophistry *
" But, Sir, as to the doctrine of Necessity, no man believes
it. If a man should give me arguments that I do not see,
though I could not answer them, should I believe that I
do not see?" It will be observed, that Johnson at all
times made the just distinction between doctrines contrary
to reason, and doctrines above reason.
Talking of the religious discipline proper for unhappy
convicts, he said: "Sir, one of our regular clergy will
probably not impress their minds sufficiently: they should
be attended by a Methodist preacher; or a Popish priest."
Let me however observe, in justice to the Reverend Mr.
Vilette, who has been Ordinary of Newgate for no less
than eighteen years, in the course of which he has attended
many hundreds of wretched criminals, that his earnest and
humane exhortations have been very effectual. His extraordinary diligence is highly praiseworthy, and merits a
distinguished reward.2
On Thursday, June 24, I dined with him at Mr. Dilly's,
where were the Rev. Mr. (now Dr) Knox, master of
Tunbridge School, Mr. Smith, Vicar of Southill, Dr.
1 A friend of mine happened to be passing by afield congregation
in the environs of London, when a Methodist preacher quoted
this passage with triumph. B.
2 I trust that THE CITY OF LONDON, now happily in unison
with THE COURT, will have the justice and generosity to obtain
preferment for this reverend gentleman, now a worthy old servant
of that magnificent Corporation. B. This wish was not gratified.
Mr. Vilette died in 1799, having been for nearly thirty years
chaplain of Newgate. Croker.




DINNER AT GENERAL PAOLI'S


387


Beattie, Mr. Pinkerton, author of various literary performances, and the Rev. Dr. Mayo. At my desire old
Mr. Sheridan was invited, as I was earnest to have Johnson
and him brought together again by chance, that a reconciliation might be effected. Mr. Sheridan happened to
come early, and having learnt that Dr Johnson was to be
there, went away; so I found, with sincere regret, that
my friendly intentions were hopeless. I recollect nothing
that passed this day, except Johnson's quickness, who,
when Dr. Beattie observed, as something remarkable
which had happened to him, that he had chanced to see
both No. I, and No. Iooo, of the hackney-coaches, the
first and the last; "Why, Sir," said Johnson, "there is
an equal chance for one's seeing those two numbers as any
other two." He was clearly right; yet the seeing of the
two extremes, each of which is in some degree more
conspicuous than the rest, could not but strike one in a
stronger manner than the sight of any other two numbers.
-Though I have neglected to preserve his conversation,
it was perhaps at this interview that Dr Knox formed the
notion of it which he has exhibited in his "Winter
Evenings."
On Friday, June 25, I dined with him at General Paoli's,
where he says in one of his letters to Mrs. Thrale, "I love
to dine." There was a variety of dishes much to his taste,
of all which he seemed to me to eat so much, that I was
afraid he might be hurt by it; and I whispered to the
General my fear, and begged he might not press him.
"Alas!" said the General, "see how very ill he looks
he can live but a very short time. Would you refuse any
slight gratifications to a man under sentence of death?
There is a humane custom in Italy, by which persons in
that melancholy situation are indulged with having whatever they like best to eat and drink, even with expensive
delicacies." 1
I shewed him some verses on Lichfield by Miss Seward,
1 See Lockhart's Life of Scott, x. 178, for a very similar scene
at a dinner given to Sir Walter at Rome by the Duchess Torlonia.




388


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


which I had that day received from her, and had the
pleasure to hear h;m approve of them. He confirmed to
me the truth of a high compliment which I had been told
he had paid to that lady, when she mentioned to him
"The Colombiade," an epic poem, by Madame du Boccage:-" Madam, there is not any thing equal to your
description of the sea round the North Pole, in your ode
on the death of Captain Cook."
On Sunday, June 27, I found him rather better. I
mentioned to him a young man who was going to Jamaica
with his wife and children, in expectation of being provided for by two of her brothers settled in that island, one
a clergyman, and the other a physician. JOHNSON: "It
is a wild scheme, Sir, unless he has a positive and deliberate
invitation. There was a poor girl, who used to come
about me, who had a cousin in Barbadoes, that, in a letter
to her, expressed a wish she should come out to that
island, and expatiated on the comforts and happiness of
her situation. The poor girl went out her cousin was
much surprised, and asked her how she could think of
coming. ' Because,' said she, 'you invited me.'-' Not I,'
answered the cousin. The letter was then produced. ' I
see it is true,' said she, ' that I did invite you. but I did
not think you would come.' They lodged her in an outhouse, where she passed her time miserably; and as soon
as she had an opportunity she returned to England.
Always tell this, when you hear of people going abroad to
relations, upon a notion of being well received. In the
case which you mention, it is probable that the clergyman
spends all he gets, and the physician does not know how
much he is to get."
We this day dined at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, with
General Paoli, Lord Eliot (formerly Mr Eliot of Port
Eliot), Dr. Beattie, and some other company. Talking
of Lord Chesterfield;-JOHNSON:" His manner was
exquisitely elegant, and he had more knowledge than I
expected."  BOSWELL  "Did you find, Sir, his conversation to be of a superior style?"  JOHNSON: "Sir, in the
conversation which I had with him I had the best right to




LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS


389


superiority, for it was upon philology and literature."
Lord Eliot, who had travelled at the same time with Mr
Stanhope, Lord Chesterfield's natural son, justly observed,
that it was strange that a man who shewed he had so much
affection for his son as Lord Chesterfield did, by writing
so many long and anxious letters to him, almost all of
them when he was Secretary of State, which certainly was
a proof of great goodness of disposition, should endeavour
to make his son a rascal. His lordship told us that Foote
had intended to bring on the stage a father who had thus
tutored his son, and to shew the son an honest man to
every one else, but practising his father's maxims upon
him, and cheating him. JOHFNsoN  "I am much pleased
with this design; but I think there was no occasion
to make the son honest at all. No; he should be
a consummate rogue: the contrast between honesty
and knavery would be the stronger.     It should be
contrived so that the father should be the only sufferer
by the son's villainy, and thus there would be poetical
justice."
He put Lord Eliot in mind of Dr. Walter Harte.  " I
know," said he, " Harte was your Lordship's tutor, and
he was also tutor to the Peterborough family  Pray, my
Lord, do you recollect any particulars that he told you of
Lord Peterborough? He is a favourite of mine, and is
not enough known; his character has been only ventilated
in party pamphlets." Lord Eliot said, if Dr. Johnson
would be so good as to ask him any questions, he would
tell what he could recollect.  Accordingly some things
were mentioned.  "But," said his Lordship, "the best
account of Lord Peterborough that I have happened to
meet with, is in 'Captain Carleton's Memoirs.' Carleton
was descended of an ancestor who had distinguished himself at the siege of Derry.1 He was an officer, and, what
1 An anachronism. Carleton himself served in the navy for
many years before the siege of Derry. Croker. Sir Walter Scott
published an edition of the Memoirs in I808. For their probable
authorship see Mr. Stebbing's Peterborough, 53-6 (Macmillan's
" Men of Action "),




390


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


was rare at that time, had some knowledge of engineering."
Johnson said, he had never heard of the book. Lord
Eliot had it at Port Eliot; but, after a good deal of inquiry, procured a copy in London, and sent it to Johnson,
who told Sir Joshua Reynolds that he was going to bed
when it came, but was so much pleased with it, that he sat
up till he had read it through, and found in it such an air of
truth that he could not doubt of its authenticity; adding,
with a smile (in allusion to Lord Eliot's having recently
been raised to the peerage), " I did not think a young Lord
could have mentioned to me a book in the English history
that was not known to me."
An addition to our company came after we went up to
the drawing-room: Dr. Johnson seemed to rise in spirits
as his audience increased. He said: " He wished Lord
Orford's pictures, and Sir Ashton Lever's Museum, might
be purchased by the public, because both the money, and
the pictures, and the curiosities would remain in the
country; whereas if they were sold into another kingdom,
the nation would indeed get some money, but would lose
the pictures and curiosities, which it would be desirable
we should have, for improvement in taste and natural
history. The only question was, as the nation was much
in want of money, whether it would not be better to take
a large price from a foreign State?" '
He entered upon a curious discussion of the difference
between intuition and sagacity; one being immediate in
its effect, the other requiring a circuitous process; one he
observed was the eye of the mind, the other the nose of
the mind.
A young gentleman [Richard Burke] present took up
the argument against him, and maintained that no man
I The Houghton Collection was sold in 1779 by the third Earl
of Orford to the Empress of Russia for /40,555. P. Cunningham,
in a note to Walpole's Letters, vii. 227. The Museum (valued at
53,000ooo) was sold in 1784 by private lottery to a Mr. Parkinson,
who removed it to Albion Place, Blackfriars Bridge, where it was
for many years open as an exhibition.  The contents were
eventually sold separately by auction. Croker.




PROJECTED VISIT TO ITALY


391


ever thinks of the nose of the mind, not adverting that,
though that figurative sense seems strange to us as very
unusual, it is truly not more forced than Hamlet's "In
my mind's eye, Horatio." He persisted much too long,
and appeared to Johnson as putting himself forward as his
antagonist with too much presumption   upon which he
called to him in a loud tone, " What is it you are contending for, if you be contending? "-And afterwards
imagining that the gentleman retorted upon him with a
kind of smart drollery, he said, "Mr. [Burke], it does not
become you to talk so to me. Besides, ridicule is not
your talent; you have there neither intuition nor sagacity."
-The gentleman protested that he had intended no improper freedom, but had the greatest respect for Dr.
Johnson. After a short pause, during which we were
somewhat uneasy,-JOHNSON: N "Give me your hand, Sir.
You were too tedious, and I was too short." Mr. [Burke]:
"Sir, I am   honoured by your attention in any way."
JOHNSON: "Come, Sir, let's have no more of it. We
offended one another by our contention; let us not offend
the company by our compliments."
He now said, " He wished much to go to Italy, and that
he dreaded passing the winter in England." I said nothing:
but enjoyed a secret satisfaction in thinking that I had
taken the most effectual measures to make such a scheme
practicable.
On Monday, June 28, 1 had the honour to receive from
the Lord Chancellor the following letter:
~CTO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
" SIR,
"I SHOULD have answered your letter immediately; if
(being much engaged when I received it) I had not put it in my
pocket, and forgot to open it till this morning.
" I am much obliged to you for the suggestion; and I will adopt
and press it as far as I can. The best argument, I am sure, and I
hope it is not likely to fail, is Dr. Johnson's merit.-But it will be
necessary, if I should be so unfortunate as to miss seeing you, to
converse with Sir Joshua on the sum it will be proper to ask-in
short, upon the means of setting him out. It would be a reflection




392


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


on us all, if such a man should perish for want of the means to
take care of his health.
"Yours, &c.
" THURLOW."
This letter gave me a very high satisfaction; I next day
went and shewed it to Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was exceedingly pleased with it. He thought that I should now
communicate the negotiation to Dr Johnson, who might
afterwards complain if the attention with which he had
been honoured should be too long concealed from him. I
intended to set out for Scotland next morning; but Sir
Joshua cordially insisted that I should stay another day,
that Johnson and I might dine with him, that we three
might talk of his Italian tour, and, as Sir Joshua expressed
himself, "have it all out."  I hastened to Johnson, and
was told by him that he was rather better to-day  BosWELL: " I am very anxious about you, Sir, and particularly
that you should go to Italy for the winter, which I believe
is your own wish." JOHNSON-. "It is, Sir."  BOSWELL
"You have no objection, I presume, but the money it
would require." JOHNSON: "Why no, Sir."-Upon
which I gave him a particular account of what had been
done, and read to him the Lord Chancellor's letter. He
listened with much attention: then warmly said, "This is
taking prodigious pains about a man."-" 0, Sir," said I
with most sincere affection, "your friends would do every
thing for you." He paused,-grew more and more agitated,-till tears started into his eyes, and he exclaimed
with fervent emotion, "GOD bless you all."  I was so
affected that I also shed tears.-After a short silence, he
renewed and extended his grateful benediction, "GOD
bless you all, for JEsus CHRIST'S sake." We both remained
for some time unable to speak.-He rose suddenly and
quitted the room, quite melted in tenderness. He stayed
but a short time, till he had recovered his firmness; soon
after he returned I left him, having first engaged him to
dine at Sir Joshua Reynolds's next day -I never was again
under that roof which I had so long reverenced.
On Wednesday, June 30, the friendly confidential dinner




DINNER WITH SIR JOSHUA


393


with Sir Joshua Reynolds took place, no other company
being present. Had I known that this was the last time
that I should enjoy in this world the conversation of a
friend whom I so much respected, and from whom I
derived so much instruction and entertainment, I should
have been deeply affected. When I now look back to it,
I am vexed that a single word should have been forgotten.
Both Sir Joshua and I were so sanguine in our expectations, that we expatiated with confidence on the liberal
provision which we were sure would be made for him,
conjecturing whether munificence would be displayed in
one large donation, or in an ample increase of his pension.
He himself catched so much of our enthusiasm, as to
allow himself to suppose it not impossible that our hopes
might in one way or other be realised. He said that he
would rather have his pension doubled than a grant of a
thousand pounds; " For," said he, "though probably I
may not live to receive as much as a thousand pounds, a
man would have the consciousness that he should pass the
remainder of his life in splendour how long soever it might
be." Considering what a moderate proportion an income
of six hundred pounds a year bears to innumerable fortunes
in this country, it is worthy of remark, that a man so truly
great should think it spiendour.
As an instance of extraordinary liberality of friendship
he told us, that Dr. Brocklesby had upon this occasion
offered him a hundred a year for his life.1 A grateful tear
started into his eye, as he spoke this in a faltering tone.
Sir Joshua and I endeavoured to flatter his imagination
with agreeable prospects of happiness in Italy. "Nay,"
said he, "I must not expect much of that; when a man
goes to Italy merely to feel how he breathes the air, he can
enjoy very little."
Our conversation turned upon living in the country,
which Johnson, whose melancholy mind required the
dissipation of quick successive variety, had habituated
1 He also pressed Johnson in his last illness to remove to his
house for the more immediate convenience of medical advice.
Croker,




394


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


himself to consider as a kind of mental imprisonment.
"Yet, Sir," said I, "there are many people who are
content to live in the country." JOHNSON  "Sir, it is in
the intellectual world as in the physical world - we are told
by natural philosophers that a body is at rest in the place
that is fit for it; they who are content to live in the
country, arefit for the country."
Talking of various enjoyments, I argued that a refinement of taste was a disadvantage, as they who have
attained to it must be seldomer pleased than those who
have no nice discrimination, and are therefore satisfied with
every thing that comes in their way  JOHNSON: "Nay,
Sir; that is a paltry notion. Endeavour to be as perfect
as you can in every respect."
I accompanied him in Sir Joshua Reynolds's coach, to
the entry of Bolt Court. He asked me whether I would
not go with him to his house; I declined it, from an
apprehension that my spirits would sink. We bade adieu
to each other affectionately in the carriage. When
he had got down upon the foot-pavement he called out,
"Fare you well;" and without looking back, sprung
away with a kind of pathetic briskness, if I may use that
expression, which seemed to indicate a struggle to conceal
uneasiness, and impressed me with a foreboding of our
long, long separation.
I remained one day more in town, to have the chance
of talking over my negotiation with the Lord Chancellor;
but the multiplicity of his Lordship's important engagements did not allow of it; so I left the management of
the business in the hands of Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Soon after this time Dr. Johnson had the mortification
of being informed by Mrs. Thrale, that, "what she
supposed he never believed," was true; namely, that she
was actually going to marry Signor Piozzi, an Italian
music-master. [Letters to Mrs. Thrale, ii. 375.] He
endeavoured to prevent it; but in vain. If she would
publish the whole of the correspondence that passed
between Dr. Johnson and her on the subject, we should
have a full view of his real sentiments. As it is, our




MRS. THRALE


395


judgment must be biassed by that characteristic specimen
which Sir John Hawkins has given us: "Poor Thrale, I
thought that either her virtue or her vice would have
restrained her from such a marriage. She is now become
a subject for her enemies to exult over; and for her
friends, if she has any left, to forget or pity." 1
It must be admitted that Johnson derived a considerable
portion of happiness from the comforts and elegances
which he enjoyed in Mr. Thrale's family; but Mrs.
Thrale assures us he was indebted for these to her husband
alone, who certainly respected him  sincerely  Her words
are, " Veneration for his virtue, reverence for his talents,
delight in his conversation, and habitual endurance of a yoke
my husband first put upon me, and of which he contentedly
bore his share for sixteen or seventeen years, made me go on so
long with Mr Johnson; but the perpetual confinement I will
own to have been terrifying in the firstyears of our friendship,
and irksome in the last; nor could I pretend to support it
without help, when my coadjutor was no more." (Anecdotes,
p. 293.) Alas! how different is this from the declarations which I have heard Mrs. Thrale make in his
lifetime, without a single murmur against any peculiarities, or against any one circumstance which attended
their intimacy.
As a sincere friend of the great man whose Life I am
writing, I think it necessary to guard my readers against
the mistaken notion of Dr. Johnson's character, which
this lady's "Anecdotes" of him    suggest; for from  the
very nature and form of her book, "it lends deception
lighter wings to fly."
1 Dr. Johnson's letter to Sir John Hawkins, Life, p. 570. B.
The correspondence may be read in Hayward's Autobiography of
Mrs. Piozzi, i. II0-I4. After all the abuse showered on the
unfortunate woman it is pleasant to know that the marriage proved
a happy one in every respect. Piozzi, who was really a wellmannered, amiable man, took every care of his wife's fortune, and
on their return to England her family and friends were soon
reconciled to him. He died in I809 at his villa in Wales; his
wife died at Clifton in 1821, in her eighty-second year.




396


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


"Let it be remembered," says an eminent critic,1 " that she has
comprised in a small volume all that she could recollect of Dr.
Johnson in twenty years, during which period, doubtless, some
severe things were said by him; and they who read the book in
two hours, naturally enough suppose that his whole conversation
was of this complexion. But the fact is, I have been often in
his company, and never once heard him say a severe thing to any
one; and many others can attest the same. When he did say
a severe thing it was generally extorted by ignorance pretending
to knowledge, or by extreme vanity or affectation.
" Two instances of inaccuracy," adds he, " are peculiarly
worthy of notice:
"It is said,  That natural roughness of his manner so often
mentioned, would, notwithstanding the regularity of his notions, burst
through them all from time to time; and he once bade a very celebrated lady [Hannah More], who praised him with too much zeal
perhaps, or perhaps too strong an emphasis (which always offended
him), consider what her flattery was worth, before she choked him
with it.' (Anecdotes, p. 183.)
"Now let the genuine anecdote be contrasted with this.-The
person thus represented as being harshly treated, though a very
celebrated lady, was then just come to London from an obscure
situation in the country. At Sir Joshua Reynolds's one evening,
she met Dr. Johnson. She very soon began to pay her court to
him in the most fulsome strain. 'Spare me, I beseech you, dear
Madam,' was his reply. She still laid it on. 'Pray, Madam, let
us have no more of this;' he rejoined.  Not paying any attention
to these warnings, she continued still her eulogy. At length,
provoked by this indelicate and vain obtrusion of compliment, he
exclaimed, 'Dearest lady, consider with yourself what your flattery
is worth, before you bestow it so freely.'
" How different does this story appear, when accompanied with
all these circumstances which really belong to it, but which Mrs.
Thrale either did not know, or has suppressed.
" She says in another place, ' One gentleman, however, who dined
at a nobleman's house in his company, and that of Mr. Thrale, to
whom I was obliged for the anecdote, was willing to enter the lists
in defence of King William's character; and having opposed and
contradicted Johnson two or three times, petulantly enough, the master
of the house began to feel uneasy, and expect disagreeable consequences;
to avoid which he said, loud enough for the Doctor to hear,-Our
1 Who has been pleased to furnish me with his remarks. B.
The critic was no doubt Malone, whose MS. notes on the
Anecdotes contain the germ of these criticisms.  Croker.




MRS. THRALE'S ANECDOTES


397


friend here has no meaning now in all this except just to relate at
club to-morrow how he teased Johnson at dinner to-day; this is all
to do himself honour.-No, upon my word (replied the other), I see
no honour in it, whatever you may do.-Well, Sir (returned Dr.
Johnson, sternly), if you do not see the honour I am sure I feel the
disgrace.' (Ibid., p. 242.)
"This is all sophisticated. Mr Thrale was not in the company,
though he might have related the story to Mrs. Thrale. A friend,
from whom I had the story, was present; and it was not at the
house of a nobleman. On the observation being made by the
master of the house on a gentleman's contradicting Johnson, that
he had talked for the honour, &c., the gentleman muttered in a
low voice, 'I see no honour in it;' and Dr. Johnson said nothing:
so all the rest (though bien trouvde) is mere garnish."
I have had occasion several times, in the course of this
work, to point out the incorrectness of Mrs. Thrale, as
to particulars which consisted with my own knowledge.
But indeed she has, in flippant terms enough, expressed
her disapprobation of that anxious desire of authenticity
which prompts a person who is to record conversations,
to write them down at the moment. (Ibid., p. 44.) Unquestionably, if they are to be recorded at all, the sooner
it is done the better. This lady herself says " To recollect, however, and to repeat the sayings of Dr. Johnson, is
almost all that can be done by the writers of his Life; as
his life, at least since my acquaintance with him, consisted
in little else than talking, when he was not employed in
some serious piece of work." (Ibid., p. 23.) She boasts
of her having kept a commonplace book; and we find
she noted, at one time or other, in a very lively manner,
specimens of the conversation of Dr Johnson, and of
those who talked with him; but had she done it recently,
they probably would have been less erroneous; and we
should have been relieved from those disagreeable doubts
of their authenticity, with which we must now peruse
them.
She says of him       "He was the most charitable of
mortals, without being   what we call an active friend.
Admirable at giving    counsel; no man saw     his way so
clearly; but he would not stir a finger for the assistance




398


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


of those to whom he was willing enough to give advice."
And again on the same page, " If you wanted a slight
favour, you must apply to people of other dispositions; for
not a step would Johnson move to obtain a man a vote
in a society, to repay a compliment which might be useful
or pleasing, to write a letter of request, &c., or to obtain
a hundred pounds a year more for a friend who perhaps
had already two or three. No force could urge him to
diligence, no importunity could conquer his resolution to
stand still."  (Ibid., p. 5I.)
It is amazing that one who had such opportunities of
knowing Dr. Johnson, should appear so little acquainted
with his real character. I am sorry this lady does not
advert that she herself contradicts the assertion of his
being obstinately defective in the petites morales, in the
little endearing charities of social life, in conferring
smaller favours; for she says: " Dr. Johnson was liberal
enough in granting literary assistance to others, I think;
and innumerable are the prefaces, sermons, lectures, and
dedications which he used to make for people who begged
of him."   (Ibid., p. 193.)  I am  certain that a more
active friend has rarely been found in any age.    This
work, which I fondly hope will rescue his memory from
obloquy, contains a thousand instances of his benevolent
exertions in almost every way that can be conceived;
and particularly in employing his pen with a generous
readiness for those to whom its aid could be useful.
Indeed his obliging activity in doing little offices of
kindness, both by letters and personal application, was
one of the most remarkable features in his character;
and for the truth of this I can appeal to a number of his
respectable friends. Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr Langton,
Mr Hamilton, Mr Burke, Mr. Windham, Mr. Malone,
the Bishop of Dromore, Sir William Scott, Sir Robert
Chambers.-And can Mrs. Thrale forget the advertisements which he wrote for her husband at the time of
his election contest; the epitaphs on him and her
mother; the playful and even trifling verses, for the
amusement of her and her daughters; his corresponding




MRS. THRALE'S ANECDOTES


399


with her children, and entering into their minute concerns,
which shews him in the most amiable light?
She relates, that Mr. Cholmondeley unexpectedly rode
up to Mr Thrale's carriage, in which Mr. Thrale and
she, and Dr. Johnson were travelling; that he paid them
all his proper compliments, but observing that Dr.
Johnson, who was reading, did not see him, " tapt him
gently on the shoulder.  ''Tis Mr. Cholmondeley;' says
my husband.   ' Well, Sir-and what if it is Mr. Cholmondeley? ' says the other, sternly, just lifting his eyes a
moment from  his book, and returning to it again with
renewed avidity."'  (Ibid., p. 258.)  This surely conveys a notion of Johnson, as if he had been grossly rude
to Mr. Cholmondeley,1 a gentleman whom he always
loved and esteemed. If, therefore, there was an absolute
necessity for mentioning the story at all, it might have
been thought that her tenderness for Dr Johnson's
character would have disposed her to state any thing
that could soften it. Why then is there a total silence
as to what Mr Cholmondeley told her?-that Johnson,
who had known him from his earliest years, having been
made sensible of what had doubtless a strange appearance,
took occasion, when he afterwards met him, to make a
very courteous and kind apology. There is another little
circumstance which I cannot but remark.  Her book was
published in I785, she had then in her possession a letter
from Dr. Johnson, dated in I777, which begins thus:
"( Cholmondeley's story shocks me, if it be true, which I
can hardly think, for I am utterly unconscious of it. I am
very sorry, and very much ashamed."    (Letters to Mrs.
Jihrale, ii. 12.) Why then publish the anecdote? Or
1 George James Cholmondeley, Esq. grandson of George
third Earl of Cholmondeley, and one of the Commissioners of
Excise; a gentleman respected for his abilities, and elegance of
manners. B. When I spoke to him a few years before his
death (in I831, aged 79) upon this point, I found him very sore
at being made the subject of such a debate, and very unwilling
to remember any thing about either the offence or the apology.
Croker.




400oo


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


if she did, why not add the circumstances, with which she
was well acquainted?
In his social intercourse she thus describes him: "Ever
musing till he was called out to converse, and conversing till
thefatigue of hisfriends, or the promptitude of his own temper
to take ofence, consigned him back again to silent meditation."
(Anecdotes, p. 23.) Yet in the same book she tells us,
" He was, however, seldom inclined to be silent, when any
moral or literary question was started; and it was on such
occasions that, like the Sage in 'Rasselas,' he spoke, and
attention watched his lips, he reasoned, and conviction closed
his periods." (Ibid., p. 302 ) His conversation, indeed,
was so far from ever fatiguing his friends, that they
regretted when it was interrupted or ceased, and could
exclaim in Milton's language,
" With thee conversing, I forgot all time."
I certainly, then, do not claim too much in behalf of
my illustrious friend in saying, that however smart and
entertaining Mrs. Thrale's "Anecdotes " are, they must
not be held as good evidence against him; for wherever
an instance of harshness and seventy is told, I beg leave
to doubt its perfect authenticity; for though there may
have been some foundation for it, yet, like that of his
reproof to the "very celebrated lady," it may be so
exhibited in the narration as to be very unlike the real
fact.
The evident tendency of the following anecdote is to
represent Dr. Johnson as extremely deficient in affection,
tenderness, or even common civility    " When I one day
lamented the loss of a first cousin killed in America,'Prithee, my dear,' said he, ' have done with canting; how
would the world be the worse for it, I may ask, if all your
relations were at once spitted like larks, and roasted for
Presto's supper?-(Presto was the dog that lay under the
table while we talkea)." (Ibid., p. 63 )-I suspect this
too of exaggeration and distortion. I allow that he made
her an angry speech; but let the circumstances fairly
appear, as told by Mr. Baretti, who was present:




THE 'PIOUS NEGOTIATION


401


"Mrs. Thrale, while supping very heartily upon larks, laid
down her knife and fork, and abruptly exclaimed, '0, my dear
Johnson, do you know what has happened? The last letters
from abroad have brought us an account that our poor cousin's
head was taken off by a cannon-ball.' Johnson, who was shocked
both at the fact, and her light unfeeling manner of mentioning it,
replied, 'Madam, it would give you very little concern if all your
relations were spitted like those larks and drest for Presto's
supper.'" 1
It is with concern that I find myself obliged to animadvert on the inaccuracies of Mrs. Piozzi's "Anecdotes,"
and perhaps I may be thought to have dwelt too long
upon her little collection. But as from Johnson's long
residence under Mr. Thrale's roof, and his intimacy with
her, the account which she has given of him may have
made an unfavourable and unjust impression, my duty, as
a faithful biographer, has obliged me reluctantly to perform this unpleasing task.
Having left the pious negotiation, as I called it, in the
best hands, I shall here insert what relates to it. Johnson
wrote to Sir Joshua Reynolds on July 6, as follows:
"I am going, I hope, in a few days, to try the air of Derbyshire, but hope to see you before I go. Let me, however, mention to you what I have much at heart.-If the Chancellor should
continue his attention to Mr. Boswell's request, and confer with
you on the means of relieving my languid state, I am very desirous
1 Upon mentioning this to my friend Mr. Wilkes, he, with his
usual readiness, pleasantly matched it with the following sentimental
anecdote. He was invited by a young man of fashion at Paris, to
sup with him and a lady, who had been for some time his mistress,
but with whom he was going to part. He said to Mr. Wilkes
that he really felt very much for her, she was in such distress and
that he meant to make her a present of two hundred louis dors.
Mr. Wilkes observed the behaviour of Mademoiselle, who sighed
indeed very piteously, and assumed every pathetic air of grief: but
ate no less than three French pigeons, which are as large as English partridges, besides other things. Mr. Wilkes whispered the
gentleman, "We often say in England, Excessive sorrow is exceeding dry, but I never heard Excessive sorrow is exceeding hungry.
Perhaps one hundred will do." The gentleman took the hint. B.
III.                                         DD




402


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


to avoid the appearance of asking money upon false pretences.
I desire you to represent to his Lordship, what, as soon as it is
suggested, he will perceive to be reasonable,-That, if I grow
much worse, I shall be afraid to leave my physicians, to suffer the
inconveniences of travel, and pine in the solitude of a foreign
country;-That, if I grow much better, of which indeed there is
now little appearance, I shall not wish to leave my friends and my
domestic comforts; for I do not travel for pleasure or curiosity;
yet if I should recover, curiosity would revive.-In my present
state, I am desirous to make a struggle for a little longer life, and
hope to obtain some help from a softer climate. Do for me what
you can."
He wrote to me July 26: "I wish your affairs could
have permitted a longer and continued exertion of your
zeal and kindness. They that have your kindness, may
want your ardour. In the meantime I am very feeble,
and very dejected."
By a letter from Sir Joshua Reynolds I was informed,
that the Lord Chancellor had called on him, and acquainted him that the application had not been successful,
but that his Lordship, after speaking highly in praise of
Johnson, as a man who was an honour to his country,
desired Sir Joshua to let him know, that on granting a
mortgage of his pension, he should draw on his Lordship
to the amount of five or six hundred pounds; and that
his Lordship explained the meaning of the mortgage to
be, that he wished the business to be conducted in such a
manner that Dr. Johnson should appear to be under the
least possible obligation. Sir Joshua mentioned that he
had by the same post communicated all this to Dr.
Johnson.
How    Johnson  was affected upon the occasion will
appear from what he wrote to Sir Joshua Reynolds:
Ashbourne, September 9. "Many words I hope are not
necessary between you and me, to convince you what gratitude is
excited in my heart by the Chancellor's liberality, and your kind
offices. * * * * * *
" I have enclosed a letter to the Chancellor, which when you
have read it, you will be pleased to seal with a head, or any other




LORD THURLOW'S GENEROSITY


4o3


general seal, and convey it to him: had I sent it directly to him,
I should have seemed to overlook the favour of your intervention."
C TO THE LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR.1
"MY LORD,
" AFTER a long and not inattentive observation of mankind, the generosity of your Lordship's offer raises in me not less
wonder than gratitude. Bounty, so liberally bestowed, I should
gladly receive, if my condition made it necessary; for to such a
mind, who would not be proud to own his obligations? But it
has pleased GOD to restore me to so great a measure of health, that
if I should now appropriate so much of a fortune destined to do
good, I could not escape from myself the charge of advancing a
false claim. My journey to the continent, though I once thought
it necessary, was never much encouraged by my physicians; and
I was very desirous that your Lordship should be told of it by Sir
Joshua Reynolds, as an event very uncertain; for if I grew much
better, I should not be willing, if much worse, not able, to migrate.
Your Lordship was first solicited without my knowledge; but,
when I was told that you were pleased to honour me with your
patronage, I did not expect to hear of a refusal; yet, as I have
had no long time to brood hope, and have not rioted in imaginary
opulence, this cold reception has been scarce a disappointment;
and, from your Lordship's kindness, I have received a benefit,
which only men like you are able to bestow. I shall now live
mihi carior, with a higher opinion of my own merit. I am, my
Lord, your Lordship's most obliged, most grateful and most
humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"September, 1784."
Upon this unexpected failure I abstain from presuming
to make any remarks, or to offer any conjectures.2
1 Sir Joshua Reynolds, on account of the excellence both of the
sentiment and expression of this letter, took a copy of it, which
he shewed to some of his friends; one of whom, who admired it,
being allowed to peruse it leisurely at home, a copy was made,
and found its way into the newspapers and magazines. It was
transcribed with some inaccuracies. I print it from the original
draft in Johnson's own hand-writing. B.
2 It was reported that the King's refusal was the cause of the
failure; but a letter from Thurlow to Reynolds, printed by
Croker, seems to prove that the King was never informed of the




404


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Having, after repeated reasonings, brought Dr. Johnson
to agree to my removing to London, and even to furnish
me with arguments in favour of what he had opposed; I
wrote to him requesting he would write them for me; he
was so good as to comply, and I shall extract that part of
his letter to me of June i i, as a proof how well he could
exhibit a cautious yet encouraging view of its
"I remember, and entreat you to remember, that virtus est
vitium fugere; the first approach to riches is security from poverty.
The condition upon which you have my consent to settle in
London is, that your expense never exceeds your annual income.
Fixing this basis of security, you cannot be hurt, and you may be
very much advanced. The loss of your Scottish business, which
is all that you can lose, is not to be reckoned as any equivalent to
the hopes and possibilities that open here upon you. If you
succeed, the question of prudence is at an end; every body will
think that done right which ends happily; and though your
expectations, of which I would not advise you to talk too much,
should not be totally answered, you can hardly fail to get friends
who will do for you all that your present situation allows you to
hope; and if, after a few years, you should return to Scotland, you
will return with a mind supplied by various conversation, and
many opportunities of inquiry, with much knowledge, and materials
for reflection and instruction."
Let us now contemplate Johnson thirty years after the
death of his wife, still retaining for her all the tenderness
of affection.
" TO THE REVEREND MR. BAGSHAW, AT BROMLEY.
" SIR,
"PERHAPS YOU may remember, that in the year 1 753, YOU
committed to the ground my dear wife. I now entreat your
permission to lay a stone upon her; and have sent the inscription,
that, if you find it proper, you may signify your allowance.
" You will do me a great favour by shewing the place where
she lies, that the stone may protect her remains.
proposal, and makes it doubtful whether it was even laid before
Pitt. Why this letter was never communicated to Boswell is not
clear. See Johnson's subsequent letter to Reynolds under dates
Sept. 9 and Oct. 12.




MRS. JOHNSON'S GRAVE


405


" Mr Ryland will wait on you for the inscription, and procure
it to be engraved [Vol. I. p. 170, note I]. You will easily believe that
I shrink from this mournful office. When it is done, if I have
strength remaining, I will visit Bromley once again, and pay you
part of the respect to which you have a right from, Reverend Sir,
your most humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"July I2, 1784."
On the same day he wrote to Mr. Langton:
"I cannot but think that in my languid and anxious state, I
have some reason to complain that I receive from you neither
inquiry nor consolation. You know how much I value your
friendship, and with what confidence I expect your kindness, if I
wanted any act of tenderness that you could perform; at least if
you do not know it, I think your ignorance is your own fault.
Yet how long is it that I have lived almost in your neighbourhood
without the least notice.-I do not, however, consider this neglect
as particularly shewn to me; I hear two of your most valuable
friends make the same complaint. But why are all thus overlooked? You are not oppressed by sickness, you are not distracted
by business; if you are sick, you are sick of leisure -And allow
yourself to be told, that no disease is more to be dreaded or avoided.
Rather to do nothing than to do good, is the lowest state of a
degraded mind. Boileau says to his pupil,
'Que les vers ne soient pas v6tre eternel emploi,
Cultivez vos amis.'That voluntary debility, which modern language is content to term
indolence, will, if it is not counteracted by resolution, render in
time the strongest faculties lifeless, and turn the flame to the smoke
of virtue.-I do not expect nor desire to see you, because I am
much pleased to find that your mother stays so long with you, and
I should think you neither elegant nor grateful, if you did not
study her gratification. You will pay my respects to both the
ladies, and to all the young people.-I am going northward for a
while, to try what help the country can give me; but, if you will
write, the letter will come after me."
Next day he set out on a jaunt to Staffordshire and
Derbyshire, flattering himself that he might be in some
degree relieved.
During his absence from London he kept up a corre



406


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


spondence with several of his friends, from which I shall
select what appears to me proper for publication, without
attending nicely to chronological order.
To DR. BROCKLESBY, he writes, Ashbourne, July 20.
"The kind attention which you have so long shewn to my
health and happiness, makes it as much a debt of gratitude as a cal
of interest, to give you an account of what befalls me, when
accident removes me from your immediate care.-The journey of
the first day was performed with very little sense of fatigue; the
second day brought me to Lichfield, without much lassitude; but
I am afraid that I could not have borne such violent agitation for
many days together  Tell Dr. Heberden, that in the coach I
read 'Ciceronianus,' which I concluded as I entered Lichfield.
My affection and understanding went along with Erasmus, except
that once or twice he somewhat unskilfully entangles Cicero's civil
or moral, with his rhetorical character.-I stayed five days at
Lichfield, but, being unable to walk, had no great pleasure, and
yesterday (i9th) I came hither, where I am to try what air and
attention can perform.-Of any improvement in my health I
cannot yet please myself with the perception. * * * * * *-The
asthma has no abatement. Opiates stop the fit, so as that I can
sit and sometimes lie easy, but they do not now procure me the
power of motion; and I am afraid that my general strength of
body does not increase. The weather indeed is not benign; but
how low is he sunk whose strength depends upon the weather!I am now looking into Floyer, who lived with his asthma to
almost his ninetieth year. His book by want of order is obscure;
and his asthma, I think, not of the same kind with mine. Something however I may perhaps learn.-My appetite still continues
keen enough; and what I consider as a symptom of radical health,
I have a voracious delight in raw summer fruit, of which I was
less eager a few years ago.-You will be pleased to communicate
this account to Dr. Heberden, and if any thing is to be done, let
me have your joint opinion.-Now-abite cura; let me inquire
after the Club."''
July 31. "Not recollecting that Dr. Heberden might be at
Windsor, I thought your letter long in coming. But, you know,
nocitura petuntur, the letter which I so much desired, tells me that
I have lost one of my best and tenderest friends.2 My comfort is,
that he appeared to live like a man that had always before his eyes
1 At the Essex Head, Essex Street. B.
2 Mr. Allen, the printer. B.




LETTERS TO DR. BROCKLESBY


407


the fragility of our present existence, and was therefore, I hope,
not unprepared to meet his judge.-Your attention, dear Sir, and
that of Dr Heberden, to my health, is extremely kind. I am loth
to think that I grow worse; and cannot fairly prove even to my
own partiality, that I grow much better"
August 5. "I return you thanks, dear Sir, for your unwearied
attention, both medicinal and friendly, and hope to prove the effect
of your care by living to acknowledge it."
August I2. "Pray be so kind as to have me in your thoughts,
and mention my case to others as you have opportunity. I seem
to myself neither to gain nor lose strength. I have lately tried
milk, but have yet found no advantage, and I am afraid of it
merely as a liquid. My appetite is still good, which I know is
dear Dr Heberden's criterion of the vis vita.-As we cannot now
see each other, do not omit to write, for you cannot think with
what warmth of expectation I reckon the hours of a post-day."
August 14. " I have hitherto sent you only melancholy letters;
you will be glad to hear some better account.  Yesterday the
asthma remitted, perceptibly remitted, and I moved with more
ease than I have enjoyed for many weeks. May GOD continue
his mercy.-This account I would not delay, because I am not a
lover of complaints, or complainers, and yet I have since we parted,
uttered nothing till now but terror and sorrow. Write to me,
dear Sir."
August i6. " Better I hope, and better. My respiration gets
more and more ease and liberty. I went to church yesterday,
after a very liberal dinner, without any inconvenience; it is indeed
no long walk, but I never walked it without difficulty, since I
came, before. * * * * * * the intention was only to overpower
the seeming vis inertia of the pectoral and pulmonary muscles.-I
am favoured with a degree of ease that very much delights me, and
do not despair of another race upon the stairs of the Academy.-If
I were, however, of a humour to see, or to shew the state of my
body, on the dark side, I might say,
'Quid te exempta juvat spinis de pluribus una?'
(Hor. 2 Ep. ii. 212.)
The nights are still sleepless, and the water rises, though it does
not rise very fast. Let us, however, rejoice in all the good that we
have. The remission of one disease will enable nature to combat
the rest.-The squills I have not neglected; for I have taken
more than a hundred drops a day, and one day took two hundred
and fifty, which, according to the popular equivalent of a drop to
a grain, is more than half an ounce.-I thank you, dear Sir, for




408


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


your attention in ordering the medicines; your attention to me
has never failed. If the virtue of medicines could be enforced by
the benevolence of the prescriber, how soon should I be well I "
August I9. "The relaxation of the asthma still continues, yet
I do not trust it wholly to itself, but soothe it now and then with
an opiate. I not only perform the perpetual act of respiration with
less labour, but I can walk with fewer intervals of rest, and with
greater freedom of motion. I never thought well of Dr. James's
compounded medicines; his ingredients appear to me sometimes
inefficacious and trifling, and sometimes heterogeneous and destructive of each other  This prescription exhibits a composition of
about three hundred and thirty grains, in which there are four
grains of emetic tartar, and six drops [of] thebaic tincture. He
that writes thus surely writes for show. The basis of his medicine
is the gum ammoniacum, which dear Dr. Lawrence used to give,
but of which I never saw any effect. We will, if you please, let
this medicine alone. The squills have every suffrage, and in the
squills we will rest for the present."
August 2i. " The kindness which you shew by having me in
your thoughts upon all occasions, will, I hope, always fill my heart
with gratitude. Be pleased to return my thanks to Sir George
Baker, for the consideration which he has bestowed upon me.-Is
this the balloon that has been so long expected, this balloon to
which I subscribed, but without payment? It is pity that philosophers have been disappointed, and shame that they have been
cheated; but I know not well how to prevent either. Of this
experiment I have read nothing; where was it exhibited? and
who was the man that ran away with so much money? 1 Continue,
dear Sir, to write often and more at a time, for none of your
prescriptions operate to their proper uses more certainly than your
letters operate as cordials."
August 26. "I suffered you to escape last post without a
letter, but you are not to expect such indulgence very often; for
I write not so much because I have any thing to say, as because I
1 On Aug. 10o, 784, De Moret, a Frenchman, proposed to
ascend in a balloon from a tea-garden in the Five Fields (now
Belgravia), having first collected a considerable sum of money
The machine, which was of the clumsiest kind, caught fire, and
the mob, thinking they had been swindled, played havoc in the
gardens. De Moret however got off with his guineas. On Sept.
I5, Vincent Lunardi, an attache of the Neapolitan Embassy,
made a successful ascent from the Artillery Ground at Moorfields
before, it is said, the largest crowd ever assembled in London.
It is to this ascent that Johnson refers under date Sept. 29.




LETTERS TO DR. BROCKLESBY


409


hope for an answer; and the vacancy of my life here makes a
letter of great value.-I have here little company and little
amusement, and thus abandoned to the contemplation of my own
miseries, I am something gloomy and depressed; this too f resist
as I can, and find opium, I think, useful, but I seldom take more
than one grain-Is not this strange weather? Winter absorbed
the spring, and now autumn is come before we have had summer.
But let not our kindness for each other imitate the inconstancy
of the seasons."
Sept. 2. "Mr. Windham has been here to see me; he came,
I think, forty miles out of his way, and stayed about a day and
a half; perhaps I make the time shorter than it was.  Such
conversation I shall not have again till I come back to the regions
of literature; and there Windham is, inter stellas1 Luna minores."
He then mentions the effects of certain medicines, as taken, that,
"Nature is recovering its original powers, and the functions
returning to their proper state. GOD continue his mercies, and
grant me to use them rightly"
Sept. 9. "Do you know the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire?  And   have you ever seen Chatsworth?    I was at
Chatsworth on Monday I had seen it before, but never when
its owners were at home I was very kindly received, and honestly
pressed to stay; but I told them that a sick man is not a fit
inmate of a great house. But I hope to go again some time."
Sept. r x. "I think nothing grows worse, but all rather better,
except sleep, and that of late has been at its old pranks. Last
evening, I felt what I had not known for a long time, an
inclination to walk for amusement; I took a short walk, and
came back again neither breathless nor fatigued.-This has been
a gloomy, frigid, ungenial summer, but of late it seems to mend;
I hear the heat sometimes mentioned, but I do not feel it;
'Praeterea minimus gelido jam in corpore sanguis
Febre calet sola.' (Juv. Sat. x. 217-)
I hope, however, with good help, to find means of supporting a
winter at home, and to hear and tell at the Club what is doing,
and what ought to be doing in the world. I have no company
here, and shall naturally come home hungry for conversation.To wish you, dear Sir, more leisure, would not be kind; but
what leisure you have, you must bestow upon me."
I It is remarkable that so good a Latin scholar as Johnson
should have been so inattentive to the metre, as by mistake to
have written stellas instead of ignes. B. (Hor. Od., i. 12.)




4Io


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Sept. I6. "I have now let you alone for a long time, having
indeed little to say.  You charge me somewhat unjustly with
luxury. At Chatsworth, you should remember, that I have eaten
but once; and the doctor, with whom I live, follows a milk diet.
I grow no fatter, though my stomach, if it be not disturbed by
physic, never fails me.-I now grow weary of solitude, and think
of removing next week to Lichfield, a place of more society, but
otherwise of less convenience. When I am settled, I shall write
again.-Of the hot weather that you mentioned, we have [not]
had in Derbyshire very much, and for myself I seldom feel heat,
and suppose that my frigidity is the effect of my distemper; a
supposition which naturally leads me to hope that a hotter climate
may be useful. But I hope to stand another English winter."
Lichfield, Sept. 29. "On one day I had three letters about
the air balloon: yours was far the best, and has enabled me to
impart to my friends in the country an idea of this species ot
amusement.   In amusement, mere amusement, I am  afraid it
must end, for I do not find that its course can be directed so as
that it should serve any purposes of communication: and it can
give no new intelligence of the state of the air at different heights,
till they have ascended above the height of mountains, which
they seem never likely to do.-I came hither on the 27th. How
long I shall stay, I have not determined. My dropsy is gone,
and my asthma much remitted, but I have felt myself a little
declining these two days, or at least to-day; but such vicissitudes
must be expected. One day may be worse than another; but
this last month is far better than the former: if the next should
be as much better than this, I shall run about the town on my
own legs."
October 6. "The fate of the balloon I do not much lament:
to make new balloons, is to repeat the jest again.  We now
know a method of mounting into the air, and, I think, are not
likely to know more. The vehicles can serve no use till we can
guide them; and they can gratify no curiosity till we mount
with them to greater heights than we can reach without; till
we rise above the tops of the highest mountains, which we have
yet not done. We know the state of the air in all its regions,
to the top of Teneriffe, and therefore learn nothing from those
who navigate a balloon below the clouds. The first experiment,
however, was bold, and deserved applause and reward. But since
it has been performed, and its event is known, I had rather now
find a medicine that can ease an asthma."
October 25. "You write to me with a zeal that animates,
and a tenderness that melts me. I am not afraid either of a
journey to London, or a residence in it. I came down with little




LETTERS TO MR. HOOLE


4"1


fatigue, and am now not weaker. In the smoky atmosphere I
was delivered from the dropsy, which I consider as the original
and radical disease. The town is my element;1 there are my
friends, there are my books, to which I have not yet bid farewell,
and there are my amusements.   Sir Joshua told me long ago,
that my vocation was to public life, and I hope still to keep my
station, till GOD shall bid me Go in peace."
To MR. HOOLE. Ashbourne, Aug. 7. "Since I was here, I
have two little letters from you, and have not had the gratitude
to write.  But every man is most free with his best friends,
because he does not suppose that they can suspect him of intentional incivility —One reason for my omission is, that being in
a place to which you are wholly a stranger, I have no topics of
correspondence.  If you had any knowledge of Ashbourne, I
could tell you of two Ashbourne men, who, being last week
condemned at Derby to be hanged for a robbery, went and
hanged themselves in their cell.  But this, however it may
supply us with talk, is nothing to you.-Your kindness, I know,
would make you glad to hear some good of me, but I have
not much good to tell; if I grow not worse, it is all that I can
say.-I hope Mrs. Hoole receives more help from her migration.
Make her my compliments, and write again to, dear Sir, your
affectionate servant."
Aug. 13. "I thank you for your affectionate letter. I hope
we shall both be the better for each other's friendship, and I hope
we shall not very quickly be parted.-Tell Mr. Nichols that I
shall be glad of his correspondence, when his business allows him
a little remission; though to wish him less business, that I may
have more pleasure, would be too selfish.-To pay for seats at
the balloon is not very necessary, because in less than a minute,
they who gaze at a mile's distance will see all that can be seen.
About the wings I am of your mind; they cannot at all assist
it, nor I think regulate its motion.-I am now grown somewhat
1 His love of London continually appears. In a letter from
him to Mrs. Smart, wife of his friend the poet, which is published
in a well-written life of him prefixed to an edition of his poems
in 1791, there is the following sentence: "To one that has
passed so many years in the pleasures and opulence of London,
there are few places that can give much delight." Once, upon
reading that line in the curious epitaph quoted in The Spectator,
"Born in New England, did in London die," he laughed and
said, "I do not wonder at this. It would have been strange, if
born in London, he had died in New England."  B.




412


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


easier in my body, but my mind is sometimes depressed. —About
the Club I am in no great pain. The forfeitures go on, and the
house, I hear, is improved for our future meetings. I hope we
shall meet often and sit long."
Sept. 4. " Your letter was, indeed, long in coming, but it was
very welcome. Our acquaintance has now subsisted long, and
our recollection of each other involves a great space, and many
little occurrences, which melt the thoughts to tenderness.Write to me, therefore, as frequently as you can.-I hear from
Dr. Brocklesby and Mr. Ryland, that the Club is not crowded.
I hope we shall enliven it when winter brings us together."
To DR. BURNEY. August 2. "The weather, you know, has
not been balmy; I am now reduced to think, and am at last
content to talk of the weather. Pride must have a fall.-I have
lost dear Mr Allen; and wherever I turn, the dead or the dying
meet my notice, and force my attention upon misery and mortality.
Mrs. Burney's escape from so much danger, and her ease after
so much pain, throws, however, some radiance of hope upon the
gloomy prospect. May her recovery be perfect, and her continuance long.-I struggle hard for life. I take physic, and take
air; my friend's chariot is always ready.  We have run this
morning twenty-four miles, and could run forty-eight more.
But who can run the race with death?"
Sept. 4. [Concerning a private transaction, in which his opinion
was asked, and after giving it, he makes the following reflections,
which are applicable on other occasions.]  "Nothing deserves
more compassion than wrong conduct with good meaning; than
loss or obloquy suffered by one, who, as he is conscious only of
good intentions, wonders why he loses that kindness which he
wishes to preserve; and not knowing his own fault, if, as may
sometimes happen, nobody will tell him, goes on to offend by
his endeavours to please.-I am delighted by finding that our
opinions are the same.-You will do me a real kindness by
continuing to write. A post-day has now been long a day of
recreation."
Nov. i. "Our correspondence paused for want of topics. 1
had said what I had to say on the matter proposed to my consideration; and nothing remained but to tell you that I waked
or slept; that I was more or less sick. I drew my thoughts in
upon myself, and supposed yours employed upon your book.That your book has been delayed I am glad, since you have
gained an opportunity of being more exact.-Of the caution
necessary in adjusting narratives there is no end.  Some tell
what they do not know, that they may not seem ignorant, and




LETTER TO LANGTON


413


others from mere indifference about truth.  All truth is not,
indeed, of equal importance; but, if little violations are allowed,
every violation will in time be thought little; and a writer
should keep himself vigilantly on his guard against the first
temptations to negligence or supineness.-I had ceased to write,
because respecting you I had no more to say, and respecting
myself could say little good.  I cannot boast of advancement,
and in case of convalescence it may be said, with few exceptions,
non progredi, est regredi. I hope I may be excepted.-My great
difficulty was with my sweet Fanny,' who, by her artifice of
inserting her letter in yours, had given me a precept of frugality
which I was not at liberty to neglect; and I know not who
were in town under whose cover I could send my letter.  I
rejoice to hear that you are so well, and have a delight particularly
sympathetic in the recovery of Mrs. Burney."
To MR. LANGTON. Aug. 25. "The kindness of your last
letter, and my omission to answer it, begins to give you, even in
my opinion, a right to recriminate, and to charge me with forgetfulness for the absent. I will, therefore, delay no longer to give
an account of myself, and wish I could relate what would please
either myself or my friend.-On July I3, I left London, partly
in hope of help from new air and change of place, and partly
excited by the sick man's impatience of the present. I got to
Lichfield in a stage vehicle, with very little fatigue, in two days,
and had the consolation 2 to find, that since my last visit my three
old acquaintance are all dead.-July 2o, I went to Ashbourne,
where I have been till now; the house in which we live is repairing. I live in too much solitude, and am often deeply dejected:
I wish we were nearer, and rejoice in your removal to London.
A friend, at once cheerful and serious, is a great acquisition. Let
us not neglect one another for the little time which Providence
allows us to hope.-Of my health I cannot tell you, what my
wishes persuaded me to expect, that it is much improved by the
season or by remedies. I am sleepless; my legs grow weary with
a very few steps, and the water breaks its boundaries in some
degree. The asthma, however, has remitted: my breath is still
much obstructed, but is more free than it was. Nights of watchfulness produce torpid days; I read very little, though I am alone;
1 The celebrated Miss Fanny Burney. B.
2 Malone and others have been much puzzled over this word,
suggesting other readings, or supplying epithets to explain it. It
is surely obvious that it was used, as Croker says, "in sad
irony."




144


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


for I am tempted to supply in the day what I lost in bed. This
is my history; like all other histories a narrative of misery. Yet
am I so much better than in the beginning of the year, that I
ought to be ashamed of complaining. I now sit and write with
very little sensibility of pain or weakness; but when I rise I shall
find my legs betraying me. Of the money which you mentioned,
I have no immediate need, keep it, however, for me, unless some
exigence requires it. Your papers I will shew you certainly, when
you would see them; but I am a little angry at you for not
keeping minutes of your own acceptum et expensum, and think a
little time might be spared from Aristophanes for the resfamiliares.
Forgive me, for I mean well. I hope, dear Sir, that you and Lady
Rothes, and all the young people, too many to enumerate, are well
and happy. GOD bless you all."
To MR. WINDHAM. August. "The tenderness with which
you have been pleased to treat me through my long illness, neither
health nor sickness can, I hope, make me forget; and you are not
to suppose that after we parted you were no longer in my mind.
But what can a sick man say, but that he is sick? His thoughts
are necessarily concentred in himself: he neither receives nor
can give delight; his inquiries are after alleviations of pain, and
his efforts are to catch some momentary comfort.-Though I
am now in the neighbourhood of the Peak, you must expect no
account of its wonders, of its hills, its waters, its caverns, or its
mines; but I will tell you, dear Sir, what I hope you will not
hear with less satisfaction, that, for about a week past, my asthma
has been less afflictive."
Lichfield, October 2. "I believe you had been long enough
acquainted with the pheanomena of sickness, not to be surprised
that a sick man wishes to be where he is not, and where it appears
to every body but himself that he might easily be, without having
the resolution to remove. I thought Ashbourne a solitary place,
but did not come hither till last Monday.-I have here more
company, but my health has for this last week not advanced; and
in the languor of disease how little can be done? Whither or
when I shall make my next remove, I cannot tell; but I entreat
you, dear Sir, to let me know from time to time, where you may
be found, for your residence is a very powerful attractive to, Sir,
your most humble servant."
'"TO MR. PERKINS.
"DEAR SIR,
" I CANNOT but flatter myself that your kindness for me
will make you glad to know where I am, and in what state.




LETTER TO HAMILTON


415


"I have been struggling very hard with my diseases. My
breath has been very much obstructed, and the water has
attempted to encroach upon me again. I passed the first part
of the summer at Oxford, afterwards I went to Lichfield, thence
to Ashbourne in Derbyshire, and a week ago I returned to
Lichfield.
" My breath is now much easier, and the water is in a great
measure run away, so that I hope to see you again before
winter.
"Please make my compliments to Mrs. Perkins, and to Mr.
and  Mrs. Barclay.   I am, dear Sir, your most humble
servant,
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"Lichfield, Oct. 4, 1784."
" TO THE RIGHT HON. WILLIAM GERARD HAMILTON.
"DEAR SIR,
"CONSIDERING what reason you gave me in the spring to
conclude that you took part in whatever good or evil might befall
me, I ought not to have omitted so long the account which I am
now about to give you.-My diseases are an asthma and a dropsy,
and, what is less curable, seventy-five. Of the dropsy, in the
beginning of the summer, or in the spring, I recovered to a degree
which struck with wonder both me and my physicians; the
asthma now is likewise, for a time, very much relieved. I went
to Oxford, where the asthma was very tyrannical, and the dropsy
began again to threaten me; but seasonable physic stopped the
inundation: I then returned to London, and in July took a
resolution to visit Staffordshire and Derbyshire, where I am yet
struggling with my disease. The dropsy made another attack,
and was not easily ejected, but at last gave way. The asthma
suddenly remitted in bed, on the I3th of August, and, though
now very oppressive, is, I think, still something gentler than it
was before the remission. My limbs are miserably debilitated, and
my nights are sleepless and tedious.-When you read this, dear
Sir, you are not sorry that I wrote no sooner. I will not prolong
my complaints. I hope still to see you in a happier hour, to talk
over what we have often talked, and perhaps to find new topics
of merriment, or new incitements to curiosity.
"I am, dear Sir, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"Lichfield, Oct. 20, 1784."




4I6


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


" TO JOHN PARADISE, ESQ.1
"DEAR SIR,
"THOUGH in all my summer's excursion I have given you
no account of myself, I hope you think better of me than to
imagine it possible for me to forget you, whose kindness to me
has been too great and too constant not to have made its impression on a harder breast than mine.-Silence is not very culpable,
when nothing pleasing is suppressed. It would have alleviated
none of your complaints to have read my vicissitudes of evil. I
have struggled hard with very formidable and obstinate maladies;
and though I cannot talk of health, think all praise due to my
Creator and Preserver for the continuance of my life. The
dropsy has made two attacks, and has given way to medicine;
the asthma is very oppressive, but that has likewise once remitted.
I am very weak, and very sleepless; but it is time to conclude the
tale of misery. I hope, dear Sir, that you grow better, for you
have likewise your share of human evil, and that your lady and
the young charmers are well. I am, dear Sir, &c.
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"Lichfield, Oct. 27, 1784."
" TO MR. GEORGE NICOL.2
"DEAR SIR,
"SINCE we parted, I have been much oppressed by my
asthma, but it has lately been less laborious. When I sit I am
almost at ease, and I can walk, though yet very little, with less
difficulty for this week past, than before. I hope I shall again
enjoy my friends, and that you and I shall have a little more
literary conversation.-Where I now am, every thing is very
liberally provided for me but conversation. My friend is sick
himself, and the reciprocation of complaints and groans afford not
much of either pleasure or instruction. What we have not at
home this town does not supply, and I shall be glad of a little
1 Son of the late Peter Paradise, Esq. his Britannic Majesty's
Consul at Salonica, in Macedonia, by his lady, a native of that
country. He studied at Oxford, and has been honoured by that
University with the degree of LL.D. He is distinguished not
only by his learning and talents, but by an amiable disposition,
gentleness of manners, and a very general acquaintance with wellinformed and accomplished persons of almost all nations. B.
2 Bookseller to his Majesty. B.




LETTERS TO REYNOLDS


417


imported intelligence, and hope that you will bestow now and then
a little time on the relief, and entertainment of, Sir, yours, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"Ashbourne, Aug. 19, 1784."
" TO MR. CRUIKSHANK.
"DEAR SIR,
"Do not suppose that I forget you; I hope I shall never
be accused of forgetting my benefactors.  I had, till lately,
nothing to write but complaints upon complaints, of miseries
upon miseries; but within this fortnight I have received great
relief.-Have your lecturers any vacation? If you are released
from the necessity of daily study, you may find time for a letter
to me.-[In this letter he states the particulars of his case.] —In
return for this account of my health let me have a good account
of yours, and of your prosperity in all your undertakings. I am,
dear Sir, yours, &c.
" SAM. JOHNSON.
"Ashbourne, Sept. 4, 1784."
To MR. THOMAS DAVIES. August 14.-" The tenderness
with which you always treat me, makes me culpable in my own
eyes for having omitted to write in so long a separation;  had,
indeed, nothing to say that you could wish to hear. All has been
hitherto misery accumulated upon misery, disease corroborating
disease, till yesterday my asthma was perceptibly and unexpectedly
mitigated. I am much comforted with this short relief, and am
willing to flatter myself that it may continue and improve. I
have at present, such a degree of ease, as not only may admit the
comforts, but the duties of life. Make my compliments to Mrs.
Davies.-Poor dear Allen, he was a good man."
To SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.     Ashbourne, July 21.   "The
tenderness with which I am treated by my friends, makes it
reasonable to suppose that they are desirous to know the state of
my health, and a desire so benevolent ought to be gratified.-I
came to Lichfield in two days without any painful fatigue, and
on Monday came hither, where I purpose to stay and try what air
and regularity will effect. I cannot yet persuade myself that I
have made much progress in recovery. My sleep is little, my
breath is very much encumbered, and my legs are very weak.
The water has increased a little, but has again run off. The
most distressing symptom is want of sleep."
August 19. "Having had since our separation little to say
I.1                                          E E




4I8


BOStWLL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


that could please you or myself by saying, I have not been lavish
of useless letters; but I flatter myself that you will partake of
the pleasure with which I can now tell you, that about a week
ago I felt suddenly a sensible remission of my asthma, and consequently a greater lightness of action and motion.-Of this grateful
alleviation I know not the cause, nor dare depend upon its continuance, but while it lasts I endeavour to enjoy it, and am
desirous of communicating, while it lasts, my pleasure to my
friends.-Hitherto, dear Sir, I had written before the post, which
stays in this town but a little while, brought me your letter. Mr.
Davies seems to have represented my little tendency to recover in
terms too splendid. I am still restless, still weak, still watery, but
the asthma is less oppressive.-Poor Ramsay 11 On which side
soever I turn, mortality presents its formidable frown. I left three
old friends at Lichfield, when I was last there, and now found
them all dead. I no sooner lost sight of dear Allan, than I am
told that I shall see him no more. That we must all die, we
always knew; I wish I had sooner remembered it. Do not think
me intrusive or importunate, if I now call, dear Sir, upon you to
remember it."
Sept. 2. <"I am glad that a little favour from the Court has
intercepted your furious purposes.2 I could not in any case have
approved such public violence of resentment, and should have
considered any who encouraged it, as rather seeking sport for
themselves, than honour for you. Resentment gratifies him who
intended an injury, and pains him unjustly who did not intend it.
But all this is now superfluous.-I still continue by GoD's mercy
to mend. My breath is easier, my nights are quieter, and my
legs are less in bulk, and stronger in use. I have, however, yet a
great deal to overcome, before I can yet attain even an old man's
health.-Write, do write to me now and then; we are now old
acquaintance, and perhaps few people have lived so much and so
long together, with less cause of complaint on either side. The
retrospection of this is very pleasant, and I hope we shall never
think on each other with less kindness."
Sept. 9. "I could not answer your letter before this day,
1 Allan Ramsay, Esq., painter to his Majesty, who died August
10, I784, in the 71st year of his age, much regretted by his
friends. B.
2 An allusion to Sir Joshua's appointment as Court-Painter.
He expected it on Allan Ramsay's death, and not immediately
receiving it threatened to resign the Presidency of the Royal
Academy (Northcote's and Taylor's Life of Reynolds). Dr. Hill.




LETTERS TO REYNOLDS


419


because I went on the sixth to Chatsworth, and did not come
back till the post was gone.-Many words, I hope, are not
necessary between you and me, to convince you what gratitude
is excited in my heart by the Chancellor's liberality and your
kind offices. I did not indeed expect that what was asked by the
Chancellor would have been refused, but since it has, we will not
tell that any thing has been asked.-I have enclosed a letter to
the Chancellor, which, when you have read it, you will be pleased
to seal with a head, or other general seal, and convey it to him;
had I sent it directly to him, I should have seemed to overlook
the favour of your intervention.-My last letter told you of my
advance in health, which, I think, in the whole still continues.
Of the hydropic tumour, there is now very little appearance; the
asthma is much less troublesome, and seems to remit something
day after day  I do not despair of supporting an English winter.
-At Chatsworth I met young Mr. Burke, who led me very
commodiously into conversation with the Duke and Duchess.
We had a very good morning. The dinner was public."
Sept. I8. "I flattered myself that this week would have
given me a letter from you, but none has come. Write to me
now and then, but direct your next to Lichfield.-I think, and I
hope am sure, that I still grow better; I have sometimes good
nights; but am still in my legs weak, but so much mended, that
I go to Lichfield in hope of being able to pay my visits on foot,
for there are no coaches.-I have three letters this day, all about
the balloon; I could have been content with one. Do not write
about the balloon, whatever else you may think proper to say."
October 2. "I am always proud of your approbation, and
therefore was much pleased that you liked my letter. When you
copied it, you invaded the Chancellor's right rather than mine.The refusal I did not expect, but I had never thought much
about it, for I doubted whether the Chancellor had so much
tenderness for me as to ask. He, being keeper of the King's
conscience, ought not to be supposed capable of an improper
petition.-All is not gold that glitters, as we have often been told:
and the adage is verified in your place and my favour; but if what
happens does not make us richer, we must bid it welcome, if it
makes us wiser.-I do not at present grow better, nor much
worse; my hopes, however, are somewhat abated, and a very great
loss is the loss of hope, but I struggle on as I can."
To MR. JOHN NICHOLS. Lichfield, Oct. 20. "When you
were here, you were pleased, as I am told, to think my absence
an inconvenience. I should certainly have been very glad to give
so skilful a lover of antiquities any information about my native




42o


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


place, of which, however, I know not much, and have reason to
believe that not much is known.-Though I have not given you
any amusement, I have received amusement from you. At
Ashbourne, where I had very little company, I had the luck to
borrow 'Mr. Bowyer's Life;'1 a book so full of contemporary
history, that a literary man must find some of his old friends. I
thought that I could now and then, have told you some names
worth your notice; and perhaps we may talk a life over. I hope
we shall be much together; you must now be to me what you
were before, and what dear Mr. Allen was, besides. He was
taken unexpectedly away, but I think he was a very good man.I have made little progress in recovery. I am very weak, and
very sleepless: but I live on and hope."
This various mass of correspondence, which I have
thus brought together, is valuable, both as an addition to
the store which the public already has of Johnson's
writings, and as exhibiting a genuine and noble specimen
of vigour and vivacity of mind, which neither age nor
sickness could impair or diminish.
It may be observed, that his writings in every way,
whether for the public, or privately to his friends, was by
fits and starts; for we see frequently that many letters
are written on the same day   When he had once overcome
his aversion to begin, he was, I suppose, desirous to go
on, in order to relieve his mind from the uneasy reflection
of delaying what he ought to do.
While in the country, notwithstanding the accumulation
of illness which he endured, his mind did not lose its
powers. He translated an ode of Horace, which is
printed in his works, and composed several prayers.      I
shall insert one of them, which is so wise and energetic,
1 Anecdotes of William Bowyer, Printer, were republished by
Nichols in I8I2-15 with many additions in nine volumes under
the title of Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century. Sir
George Trevelyan tells us that annotating this work, "with a
minute diligence such as few men have the patience to bestow
upon a book they do not intend to re-edit," was one of the last
occupations of Macaulay's life. He finished the last volume a
week before he died.  Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, ii.
484.




MR. HEELY


421


so philosophical and so pious, that I doubt not of its
affording consolation to many a sincere Christian, when
in a state of mind to which I believe the best are sometimes
liable.l
And here I am enabled fully to refute a very unjust
reflection, by Sir John Hawkins, both against Dr. Johnson,
and his faithful servant Mr Francis Barber; as if both
of them had been guilty of culpable neglect towards a
person of the name of Heely, whom Sir John chooses to
call a relation of Dr. Johnson's. The fact is, that Mr.
Heely was not his relation; he had indeed been married
to one of his cousins, but she had died without having
children, and he had married another woman; so that even
the slight connexion which there once had been by alliance
was dissolved. Dr. Johnson, who had shown very great
liberality to this man, while his first wife was alive, as has
appeared in a former part of this work (Vol. I. p. 393),
was humane and charitable enough to continue his bounty
to him occasionally; but surely there was no strong
call of duty upon him or upon his legatee, to do
more. The following letter, obligingly communicated to
me by Mr. Andrew Strahan, will confirm what I have
stated:
1 Against inquisitive and perplexing thoughts. "O LORD, my
Maker and Protector, who hast graciously sent me into this world
to work out my salvation, enable me to drive from me all such
unquiet and perplexing thoughts as may mislead or hinder me in
the practice of those duties which Thou hast required. When
I behold the works of thy hands, and consider the course of thy
providence, give me grace always to remember that thy thoughts
are not my thoughts, nor thy ways my ways. And while it shall
please Thee to continue me in this world, where much is to be
done, and little to be known, teach me by thy Holy Spirit, to
withdraw my mind from unprofitable and dangerous inquiries,
from difficulties vainly curious, and doubts impossible to be solved.
Let me rejoice in the light which Thou hast imparted, let me
serve Thee with active zeal and humble confidence, and wait with
patient expectation for the time in which the soul which Thou
receivest shall be satisfied with knowledge. Grant this, O LORD,
for JESUS CHRIST'S sake. Amen."  B.




422


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


" TO MR. HEELY, NO. 5, IN PYE-STREET, WESTMINSTER.
"SIR,
" As necessity obliges you to call so soon again upon me,
you should at least have told the smallest sum that will supply
your present want you cannot suppose that I have much to
spare. Two guineas is as much as you ought to be behind with
your creditor.-If you wait on Mr. Strahan, in New    Street,
Fetter Lane, or in his absence, on Mr Andrew Strahan, shew
this, by which they are entreated to advance you two guineas,
and to keep this as a voucher. I am, Sir, your humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"Ashbourne, Aug. I2, 1784."
Indeed it is very necessary to keep in mind that Sir
John Hawkins has unaccountably viewed Johnson's
character and conduct in almost every particular, with
an unhappy prejudice.1
1 I shall add one instance only to those which I have thought
it incumbent on me to point out. Talking of Mr. Garrick's
having signified his willingness to let Johnson have the loan of
any of his books to assist him in his edition of Shakespeare; Sir
John says (page 444), "Mr. Garrick knew not what risk he
ran by this offer. Johnson had so strange a forgetfulness of
obligations of this sort, that few who lent him books ever saw
them again."  This surely conveys a most unfavourable insinuation,
and has been so understood. Sir John mentions the single case of
a curious edition of Politian, which he tells us, appeared to belong
to Pembroke College, which, probably, had been considered by
Johnson as his own, for upwards of fifty years. Would it not be
fairer to consider this as an inadvertence, and draw no general
inference? The truth is that Johnson was so attentive, that in
one of his manuscripts in my possession, he has marked in two
columns, books borrowed and books lent. In Sir John Hawkins's
compilation, there are, however, some passages concerning Johnson
which have unquestionable merit. One of them I shall transcribe,
in justice to a writer whom I have had too much occasion to
censure, and to shew my fairness as the biographer of my illustrious
friend: "There was wanting in his conduct and behaviour, that
dignity which results from a regular and orderly course of action,
and by an irresistible power commands esteem. He could not be
said to be a staid man, nor so to have adjusted in his mind the




LAST VISIT TO LICHFIELD


423


We now behold Johnson for the last time in his native
city, for which he ever retained a warm affection, and
which, by a sudden apostrophe, under the word Lich, he
introduces with reverence, into his immortal Work, THE
ENGLISH DICTIONARY.-" Salve magna parens!"'1 While
here, he felt a revival of all the tenderness of filial
affection, an instance of which appeared in his ordering
the grave-stone and inscription over Elizabeth Blaney
(Vol. I. p. i x) to be substantially and carefully renewed.
To Mr. Henry White, a young clergyman, with whom
he now formed an intimacy, so as to talk to him with
great freedom, he mentioned that he could not in general
accuse himself of having been an undutiful son. " Once,
indeed," said he, " I was disobedient; I refused to attend
my father to Uttoxeter market. Pride was the source of
balance of reason and passion, as to give occasion to say what
may be observed of some men, that all they do is just, fit, and
right." Yet a judicious friend well suggests, " It might, however,
have been added, that such men are often merely just, and rigidly
correct, while their hearts are cold and unfeeling; and that
Johnson's virtues were of a much higher tone than those of the
staid, orderly man, here described." B.
1 The following circumstance, mutually to the honour of
Johnson and the corporation of his native city, has been communicated to me by the Reverend Dr. Vyse, from the town
clerk: "Mr. Simpson has now before him, a record of the
respect and veneration which the Corporation of Lichfield, in
the year 1767, had for the merits and learning of Dr. Johnson.
His father built the corner house in the market-place, the two
fronts of which, towards Market and Broad-market Street, stood
upon waste land of the Corporation, under a forty years' lease,
which was then expired. On the 15th of August, 1767, at a
common-hall of the bailiffs and citizens, it was ordered (and that
without any solicitation), that a lease should be granted to Samuel
Johnson, Doctor of Laws, of the encroachments at his house, for
the term of ninety-nine years, at the old rent, which was five
shillings. Of which, as town-clerk, Mr Simpson had the honour
and pleasure of informing him, and that he was desired to accept
it without paying any fine on the occasion, which lease was
afterwards granted, and the Doctor died possessed of this
property." B,




424


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


that refusal, and the remembrance of it was painful. A
few years ago I desired to atone for this fault; I went to
Uttoxeter in very bad weather, and stood for a considerable time bareheaded in the rain, on the spot where my
father's stall used to stand.  In contrition I stood, and I
hope the penance was expiatory."
"I told him," says Miss Seward, " in one of my latest
visits to him, of a wonderful learned pig, which I had
seen at Nottingham; and which did all that we have
observed exhibited by dogs and horses.    The subject
amused him.    'Then,' said he, 'the pigs are a race
unjustly calumniated.  Pig has, it seems, not been wanting to man, but man to pig  We do not allow time for
his education; we kill him at a year old.' Mr. Henry
White, who was present, observed that if this instance
had happened in or before Pope's time, he would not
have been justified in instancing the swine as the lowest
degree of grovelling instinct. Dr. Johnson seemed pleased
with the observation, while the person who made it
proceeded to remark, that great torture must have been
employed, ere the indocility of the animal could have
been subdued.-' Certainly,' said the Doctor; ' but,'
turning to me,' how old is your pig?' I told him, three
years old.  'Then,' said he, 'the pig has no cause to
complain; he would have been killed the first year
if he had not been educated, and protracted existence
is a good recompense for very considerable degrees of
torture.' "
As Johnson had now very faint hopes of recovery, and
as Mrs. Thrale was no longer devoted to him, it might
have been supposed that he would naturally have chosen
to remain in the comfortable house of his beloved wife's
daughter, and end his life where he began it. But there
was in him an animated and lofty spirit,' and however
1 Mr. Burke suggested to me as applicable to Johnson, what
Cicero, in his CATO MAJOR, says of Appius: " Intentum enim
animum, tanquam arcum, habebat, nee languescens succumbebat senectuti; " repeating, at the same time, the following noble words in
the same passage: "Ita enim senectus honesta est, si se ipsa defendit,




AT BIRMINGHAM


425


complicated diseases might depress ordinary mortals, all
who saw him beheld and acknowledged the invictun  animum Catonis 1 Such was his intellectual ardour even at this
time, that he said to one friend, "Sir, I look upon every
day to be lost, in which I do not make a new acquaintance;" and to another, when talking of his illness, "I
will be conquered; I will not capitulate." And such was
his love of London, so high a relish had he of its magnificent extent, and variety of intellectual entertainment, that
he languished when absent from it, his mind having
become quite luxurious from the long habit of enjoying
the metropolis; and, therefore, although at Lichfield,
surrounded with friends who loved and revered him,
and for whom he had a very sincere affection, he still
found that such conversation as London affords, could
be found no where else. These feelings, joined, probably,
to some flattering hopes of aid from the eminent physicians
and surgeons in London, who kindly and generously
attended him without accepting fees, made him resolve
to return to the capital.
From Lichfield he came to Birmingham, where he
passed a few days with his worthy old schoolfellow, Mr.
Hector, who thus writes to me: " He was very solicitous
with me to recollect some of our most early transactions,
and transmit them to him, for I perceived nothing gave
him greater pleasure than calling to mind those days of
our innocence. I complied with his request, and he only
received them a few days before his death. I have transcribed for your inspection exactly the minutes I wrote to
him." This paper having been found in his repositories
after his death, Sir John Hawkins has inserted it entire,
and I have made occasional use of it and other comsijus suum retinet, si nemini emancipata est, si usque ad extremum vitae
spiritum vindicat jus suum." B.
1 Atrocem animum Catonis, are Horace's words, and it may be
doubted whether atrox is used by any other original writer in the
same sense. Stubborn is perhaps the most correct translation of
this epithet, Malone,




426


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


munications from Mr. Hector,' in the course of this
work. I have both visited and corresponded with him
since Dr. Johnson's death, and by my inquiries concerning
a great variety of particulars have obtained additional
information. I followed the same mode with the Reverend
Dr. Taylor, in whose presence I wrote down a good
deal of what he could tell; and he, at my request,
signed his name, to give it authenticity. It is very rare
to find any person who is able to give a distinct account
of the life even of one whom he has known intimately,
without questions being put to them. My friend Dr.
Kippis has told me, that on this account it is a practice
with him to draw out a biographical catechism.
Johnson then proceeded to Oxford, where he was again
kindly received by Dr. Adams, who was pleased to give
me the following account in one of his letters (Feb. I7th,
1785):
" His last visit was, I believe, to my house, which he left, after
a stay of four or five days. We had much serious talk together,
for which I ought to be the better as long as I live. You will
remember some discourse which we had in the summer upon the
subject of prayer, and the difficulty of this sort of composition.
He reminded me of this, and of my having wished him to try his
hand, and to give us a specimen of the style and manner that he
approved. He added, that he was now in a right frame of mind,
and as he could not possibly employ his time better, he would in
earnest set about it. But  find upon inquiry, that no papers of
this sort were left behind him, except a few short ejaculatory
forms suitable to his present situation."
1 It is a most agreeable circumstance attending the publication
of this work, that Mr. Hector has survived his illustrious schoolfellow so many years; that he still retains his health and spirits;
and has gratified me with the following acknowledgment  "I
thank you, most sincerely thank you, for the great and long continued entertainment your life of Dr. Johnson has afforded me, and
others, of my particular friends." Mr Hector, besides setting me
right as to the verse on a sprig of myrtle [Vol. I. p. 54, note], has
favoured me with two English odes, written by Dr. Johnson,
at an early period of his life, which will appear in my edition
of his poems. B,




THE ' PRAYERS AND         MEDITATIONS'         427
Dr. Adams had not then received accurate information
on this subject; for it has since appeared that various
prayers had been composed by him at different periods,
which intermingled with pious resolutions, and some short
notes of his life, were entitled by him " Prayers and
Meditations," and have, in pursuance of his earnest
requisition, in the hopes of doing good, been published,
with a judicious well-written preface, by the Reverend
Mr Strahan, to whom he delivered them. This admirable
collection, to which I have frequently referred in the
course of this work, evinces, beyond all his compositions
for the public, and all the eulogies of his friends and
admirers, the sincere virtue and piety of Johnson. It
proves with unquestionable authenticity, that amidst all
his constitutional infirmities, his earnestness to conform
his practice to the precepts of Christianity was unceasing,
and that he habitually endeavoured to refer every transaction of his life to the will of the Supreme Being-1
He arrived in London on the i6th of November,
and next day sent to Dr Burney the following note,
which I insert as the last token of his remembrance of that
ingenious and amiable man, and as another of the many
proofs of the tenderness and benignity of his heart:
1 Boswell seems to have been the only one of Johnson's friends
who approved of this publication. Strahan says in his preface
that Johnson placed the papers in his hands and charged him with
the work. We have no right to disbelieve him, or to call his
conduct, as Croker does, "disingenuous and culpable."  Only
portions of the MSS. are preserved in the library of Pembroke
College. These show occasional traces of revision such as Johnson would hardly have given to what he did not contemplate
being published. On the other hand it is difficult to believe that
he would have sanctioned every thing Strahan thought fit to print.
Dr. Adams, whose authority had been claimed in the preface,
shortly after the appearance of the book denied all knowledge of
its contents, and emphatically declared that, had he been consulted,
he would never have consented to the publication. The probable
truth is that Strahan was expected to exercise more discretion
than he had, a not uncommon result of literary bequests to
friends.




428       BOSWELL'S LIFE       OF JOHNSON
"MR. JOHNSON, who came home last night, sends his respects
to dear Dr. Burney, and all the dear Burneys, little and great."
"TO MR. HECTOR, IN BIRMINGHAM.
"DEAR SIR,
"I DID not reach Oxford until Friday morning, and then
I sent Francis to see the balloon fly, but could not go myself. I
stayed at Oxford till Tuesday, and then came in the common
vehicle easily to London. I am as I was, and having seen Dr.
Brocklesby, am to ply the squills; but, whatever be their efficacy,
this world must soon pass away. Let us think seriously on our
auty.-I send my kindest respects to dear Mrs. Careless: let me
have the prayers of both. We have all lived long, and must soon
part. GOD have mercy on us, for the sake of our Lord JEsus
CHRIST. Amen.
< I am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"London, November 17, 1784."
His correspondence with me, after his letter on the
subject of my settling in London, shall now, so far as is
proper, be produced in one series.
July 26, he wrote to me from Ashbourne:
" On the I4th I came to Lichfield, and found every body glad
enough to see me. On the 2oth I came hither, and found a
house half-built, of very uncomfortable appearance; but my own
room has not been altered. That a man worn with diseases, in
his seventy-second or third year, should condemn part of his
remaining life to pass among ruins and rubbish, and that no
inconsiderable part, appears to me very strange.-I know that
your kindness makes you impatient to know the state of my
health, in which I cannot boast of much improvement. I came
through the journey without much inconvenience, but when I
attempt self-motion I find my legs weak, and my breath very
short; this day I have been much disordered. I have no company; the Doctor [Taylor] is busy in his fields, and goes to bed
at nine, and his whole system is so different from mine, that we
seem formed for different elements; I have, therefore, all my
amusement to seek within myself."
Having written to him in bad spirits a letter filled with
dejection and fretfulness, and at the same time expressing




BOSWELL'S COMPLAINTS


429


anxious apprehensions concerning him, on account of a
dream which had disturbed me' his answer was chiefly
in terms of reproach, for a supposed charge of "affecting
discontent, and indulging the vanity of complaint." It,
however, proceeded:
"Write to me often, and write like a man. I consider your
fidelity and tenderness as a great part of the comforts which are
yet left me, and sincerely wish we could be nearer to each
other.- * * * * * *    My dear friend, life is very short and
very uncertain; let us spend it as well as we can. My worthy
neighbour, Allen, is dead. Love me as well as you can. Pay
my respects to dear Mrs. Boswell. Nothing ailed me at that
time; let your superstition at last have an end."
Feeling very soon that the manner in which he had
written might hurt me, he two days afterwards, July 28,
wrote to me again, giving me an account of his sufferings;
after which, he thus proceeds:
"Before this letter, you will have had one which I hope you
will not take amiss; for it contains only truth, and that truth
kindly intended. * * * * * * Spartam quam nactus es orna;
make the most and best of your lot, and compare yourself not
with the few that are above you, but with the multitudes which
are below you. * * * * * * Go steadily forwards with lawful
business or honest diversions.  'Be (as Temple says of the
Dutchman) well when you are not ill, and pleased when you are
not angry.'- * * * * * *  This may seem but an ill return for
your tenderness; but I mean it well, for I love you with great
ardour and sincerity. Pay my respects to dear Mrs. Boswell,
and teach the young ones to love me."
I unfortunately was so much indisposed during a considerable part of the year, that it was not, or at least I
thought it was not, in my power to write to my illustrious
friend as formerly, or without expressing such complaints
as offended him. Having conjured him not to do me
the injustice of charging me with affectation, I was with
much regret long silent. His last letter to me then came,
and affected me very tenderly.




430


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
"DEAR SIR,
" I HAVE this summer sometimes amended, and sometimes
relapsed, but, upon the whole, have lost ground very much. My
legs are extremely weak, and my breath very short, and the water
is now increasing upon me. In this uncomfortable state your
letters used to relieve; what is the reason that I have them no
longer? Are you sick, or are you sullen? Whatever be the
reason, if it be less than necessity, drive it away; and of the short
life that we have, make the best use for yourself and for your
friends. * * * * * * I am sometimes afraid that your omission
to write has some real cause, and shall be glad to know that you
are not sick, and that nothing ill has befallen dear Mrs. Boswell,
or any of your family.
"I am, Sir, your, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"Lichfield, November 5, 1784."
Yet it was not a little painful to me to find that, in
a paragraph of this letter which I have omitted, he still
persevered in arraigning me as before, which was strange
in him who had so much experience of what I suffered.
I, however, wrote to him two as kind letters as I could;
the last of which came too late to be read by him, for
his illness increased more rapidly upon him than I had
apprehended; but I had the consolation of being informed
that he spoke of me on his death-bed with affection,
and I look forward with humble hope of renewing our
friendship in a better world.
I now relieve the readers of this work from any farther
personal notice of its author; who, if he should be
thought to have obtruded himself too much upon their
attention, requests them to consider the peculiar plan of
his biographical undertaking.
Soon after Johnson's return to the metropolis, both
the asthma and dropsy became more violent and distressful. He had for some time kept a journal in Latin
of the state of his illness, and the remedies which he
used, under the title of zEgri Ephemeris, which he began
on the 6th of July, but continued it no longer than




JOHNSON'S LITERARY DESIGNS


431


the 8th of November; finding, I suppose, that it was
a mournful and unavailing register. It is in my possession; and is written with great care and accuracy.
Still his love of literature1 did not fail. A very few
1 It is truly wonderful to consider the extent and constancy of
Johnson's literary ardour, notwithstanding the melancholy which
clouded and embittered his existence. Besides the numerous
and various works which he executed, he had, at different times,
formed schemes of a great many more, of which the following
catalogue was given by him to Mr. Langton, and by that gentleman presented to his Majesty: "DIVINITY.-A small book of precepts and directions for piety: the hint taken from the directions
in Morton's exercise.-PHILOSPHY, HISTORY, and LITERATURE
in general.-History of Criticism, as it relates to judging of
authors, from Aristotle to the present age. An account of the
rise and improvements of that art; of the different opinions of
authors, ancient and modern. Translation of the History of
Herodian. New edition of Fairfax's Translation of Tasso, with
notes, glossary, &c. Chaucer, a new edition of him, from manuscripts and old editions, with various readings, conjectures, remarks
on his language, and the changes it had undergone from the
earliest times to his age, and from his to the present; with notes
explanatory of customs, &c. and references to Boccace, and other
authors from whom he has borrowed, with an account of the
liberties he has taken in telling the stories; his life and an exact
etymological glossary. Aristotle's Rhetoric, a translation of it
into English. A collection of Letters, translated from the modern
writers, with some account of the several authors. Oldham's
Poems, with notes, historical and critical. Roscommon's Poems,
with notes. Lives of the Philosophers, written with a polite air,
in such a manner as may divert as well as instruct. History of
the Heathen Mythology, with an explication of the fables, both
allegorical and historical; with references to the poets. History
of the State of Venice, in a compendious manner. Aristotle's
Ethics, an English translation of them, with notes. Geographical
Dictionary, from the French. Hierocles upon Pythagoras, translated into English, perhaps with notes. This is done by Norris.
A book of Letters, upon all kinds of subjects. Claudian, a new
edition of his works, cum notis variorum, in the manner of Burman.
Tully's Tusculan Questions, a translation of them. Tully's De
Naturl Deorum, a translation of those Books. Benzo's New
History of the New World, to be translated. Machiavel's History




432


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


days before his death he transmitted to his friend Mr.
John Nichols, a list of the authors of the "Universal
of Florence, to be translated. History of the Revival of Learning
in Europe, containing an account of whatever contributed to the
restoration of literature; such as controversies, printing, the destruction of the Greek empire, the encouragement of great men,
with the lives of the most eminent patrons, and most eminent
early professors of all kinds of learning in different countries. A
Body of Chronology, in verse, with historical notes. A Table
of the Spectators, Tatlers, and Guardians, distinguished by figures
into six degrees of value, with notes, giving the reasons of preference or degradation. A Collection of Letters from English
authors, with a preface giving some account of the writers; with
reasons for selection, and criticism upon styles; remarks on each
letter, if needful. A Collection of Proverbs from various languages. Jan. 6,-53. A Dictionary to the Common Prayer, in
imitation of Calmet's Dictionary of the Bible. March,-52. A
Collection of Stories and Examples, like those of Valerius Maximus. Jan. IO,- 53. From IElian, a volume of select stories,
perhaps from others. Jan. 28,-53. Collection of Travels,
Voyages, Adventures, and Descriptions of Countries. Dictionary
of Ancient History and Mythology. Treatise on the Study of
Polite Literature, containing the history of learning, directions for
editions, commentaries, &c. Maxims, Characters, and Sentiments,
after the manner of Bruyere, collected out of ancient authors,
particularly the Greek with Apophthegms. Classical Miscellanies,
Select Translations from ancient Greek and Latin authors. Lives
of Illustrious Persons, as well of the active as the learned, in
imitation of Plutarch. Judgment of the learned upon English
authors. Poetical Dictionary of the English tongue. Considerations upon the present state of London. Collection of Epigrams,
with notes and observations. Observations on the English language, relating to words, phrases, and modes of speech. Minutia
Literaria, Miscellaneous reflections, criticisms, emendations, notes.
History of the Constitution. Comparison of Philosophical and
Christian Morality, by sentences collected from the moralists and
fathers. Plutarch's Lives, in English, with notes. POETRY and
works of IMAGINATION.-Hymn to Ignorance. The Palace of
Sloth,-a vision. Coluthus, to be translated. Prejudice, a poetical
essay. The Palace of Nonsense,-a vision." Johnson's extraordinary facility of composition, when he shook off his constitutional
indolence, and resolutely sat down to write, is admirably described




THE 'UNIVERSAL HISTORY'


433


History," mentioning their several shares in that work.
It has, according to his direction, been deposited in the
by Mr. Courtenay, in his Poetical Review, which I have several
times quoted:
"While through life's maze he sent a piercing view,
His mind expansive to the object grew.
With various stores of erudition fraught,
The lively image, the deep-searching thought,
Slept in repose;-but when the moment press'd,
The bright ideas stood at once confess'd;
Instant his genius sped its vigorous rays,
And o'er the letter'd world diffus'd a blaze
As womb'd with fire the cloud electric flies,
And calmly o'er th' horizon seems to rise:
Touch'd by the pointed steel, the lightning flows,
And all th' expanse with rich effulgence glows."
We shall in vain endeavour to know with exact precision every
production of Johnson's pen. He owned to me that he had written
about forty sermons; but as I understood that he had given or
sold them to different persons, who were to preach them as their
own, he did not consider himself at liberty to acknowledge them.
Would those who were thus aided by him, who are still alive,
and the friends of those who are dead, fairly inform the world,
it would be obligingly gratifying a reasonable curiosity, to which
there should, I think, now be no objection. Two volumes of
them, published since his death, are sufficiently ascertained [see
Vol. II. p. 373]. I have before me, in his hand-writing, a fragment of twenty quarto leaves of a translation into English of
Sallust, De Bello Catilinario. When it was done I have no
notion; but it seems to have no very superior merit to mark it as
his. Besides the publications heretofore mentioned, I am satisfied,
from internal evidence, to admit also as genuine the following,
which, notwithstanding all my chronological care, escaped me in
the course of this work: Considerations on the Case of Dr. Trapp's
Sermonst published in 1739, in The Gentleman's Magazine. It is a
very ingenious defence of the right of abridging an author's work,
without being held as infringing his property. This is one of
the nicest questions in the Law of Literature; and I cannot help
thinking that the indulgence of abridging is often exceedingly
injurious to authors and booksellers, and should in very few cases
be permitted. At any rate, to prevent difficult and uncertain
III.                                         F   F




434


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


British Museum, and is printed in the "Gentleman's
Magazine" for December, I784.
During his sleepless nights he amused himself by
translating into Latin verse, from the Greek, many of the
epigrams in the " Anthologia." These translations, with
some other poems by him in Latin, he gave to his friend
Mr Langton, who, having added a few notes, sold them
to the booksellers for a small sum to be given to some of
discussion, and give an absolute security to authors in the property
of their labours, no abridgement whatever should be permitted,
till after the expiration of such a number of years as the Legislature may be pleased to fix. But, though it has been confidently
ascribed to him, I cannot allow that he wrote a Dedication to
both Houses of Parliament of a book entitled The Evangelicat
History Harmonised. He was no croaker; no declaimer against
the times. He would not have written, "That we are fallen
upon an age in which corruption is not barely universal, is
universally confessed." Nor, " Rapine preys on the public without opposition, and perjury betrays it without inquiry." Nor
would he, to excite a speedy reformation, have conjured up such
phantoms of terror as these: "A few years longer, and perhaps
all endeavours will be in vain. We may be swallowed by an
earthquake: we may be delivered to our enemies." This is
not Johnsonian. There are, indeed, in this dedication several
sentences constructed upon the model of those of Johnson. But
the imitation of the form, without the spirit of his style, has
been so general, that this of itself is not sufficient evidence. Even
our newspaper writers aspire to it. In an account of the funeral
of Edwin, the comedian, in The Diary of Nov. 9, 1790, that
son of drollery is thus described  "A man who had so often
cheered the sullenness of vacancy, and suspended the approaches
of sorrow." And in The Dublin Evening Post, August 16, 1791,
there is the following paragraph: " It is a singular circumstance,
that in a city like this, containing 2oo,ooo people, there are three
months in the year during which no place of public amusement
is open. Long vacation is here a vacation from pleasure, as
well as business; nor is there any mode of passing the listless
evenings of declining summer, but in the riots of a tavern,
or the stupidity of a coffee-house." I have not thought it
necessary to specify every copy of verses written by Johnson, it
being my intention to publish an authentic edition of all his
poetry, with notes. B.




JOHNSON'S GREEK


435


Johnson's relations, which was accordingly done; and they
are printed in the collection of his works.
A very erroneous notion has circulated as to Johnson's
deficiency in the knowledge of the Greek language, partly
owing to the modesty with which, from knowing how
much there was to be learnt, he used to mention his own
comparative acquisitions. When Mr. Cumberland    talked
to him of the Greek fragments which are so well illustrated
in "The Observer," and of the Greek dramatists in
general, he candidly acknowledged his insufficiency in that
particular branch of Greek literature. Yet it may be said,
that though not a great, he was a good Greek scholar
Dr. Charles Burney, the younger, who is universally
acknowledged by the best judges to be one of the few
men of this age who are very eminent for their skill in
that noble language, has assured me, that Johnson could
give a Greek word for almost every English one; and
that although not sufficiently conversant in the niceties of
the language, he upon some occasions discovered, even in
these, a considerable degree of critical acumen. Mr
Dalzel, Professor of Greek at Edinburgh, whose skill in it
is unquestionable, mentioned to me, in very liberal terms,
the impression which was made upon him by Johnson, in
a conversation which they had in London concerning that
language. As Johnson, therefore, was undoubtedly one
of the first Latin scholars in modern times, let us not deny
to his fame some additional splendour from Greek.2
1 Mr. Cumberland assures me, that he was always treated with
great courtesy by Dr. Johnson, who, in his Letters to Mrs. Thrale,
ii. 68, thus speaks of that learned, ingenious, and accomplished
gentleman: " The want of company is an inconvenience, but Mr.
Cumberland is a million." B.
2 Gifford relates in his Life of Ford that discussing this matter
with Jacob Bryant he urged that Johnson himself admitted that
he was not a good Greek scholar. "Sir," was the answer, " it is
not easy for us to say what such a man as Johnson would call a
good Greek scholar."  Croker. Dr. Hill quotes a characteristic
testimonial from Dr. Parr to Charles Burney's scholarship.
"There are three great Grecians in England: Porson is the first;
Burney is the third; and who is the second I need not tell."




436


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


I shall now fulfil my promise of exhibiting specimens
of various sorts of imitation of Johnson's style.
In the "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy,
I787," there is an "Essay on the Style of Dr. Samuel
Johnson," by the Reverend Robert Burrowes, whose
respect for the great object of his criticism 1 is thus evinced
in the concluding paragraph; "I have singled him out
from the great body of the English writers, because his
universally acknowledged beauties would be most apt to
induce imitation, and I have treated rather on his faults
than his perfections, because an essay might comprise all
the observations I could make upon his faults, while
volumes would not be sufficient for a treatise on his
perfections."
MR. BURROWES has analyzed the composition of Johnson, and pointed out its peculiarities with much acuteness;
and I would recommend a careful perusal of his Essay to
those who, being captivated by the union of perspicuity
and splendour which the writings of Johnson contain,
without having a sufficient portion of his vigour of mind,
may be in danger of becoming bad copyists of his manner.
I, however, cannot but observe, and I observe it to his
credit, that this learned gentleman has himself caught no
mean degree of the expansion and harmony, which, independent of all other circumstances, characterize the sentences of Johnson. Thus, in the preface to the volume in
which the Essay appears, we find" If it be said that in societies of this sort, too much attention is
frequently bestowed on subjects barren and speculative, it may be
answered, that no one science is so little connected with the rest,
as not to afford many principles whose use may extend considerably beyond the science to which they primarily belong; and that
1 We must smile at a little inaccuracy of metaphor in the
preface to the Transactions, which is written by Mr. Burrowes.
The critic of the style of JOHNsoN having, with a just zeal for literature, observed, that the whole nation are called on to exert themselves, afterwards says: " They are called on by every tie which
can have a laudable influence on the heart of man." B.




JOHNSON'S STYLE


437


no proposition is so purely theoretical as to be totally incapable of
being applied to practical purposes. There is no apparent connexion between duration and the cycloidal arch, the properties of
which, duly attended to, have furnished us with our best regulated
methods of measuring time. and he who has made himself master
of the nature and affections of the logarithmic curve, is not aware
that he has advanced considerably towards ascertaining the proportionable density of the air at its various distances from the surface
of the earth."
The ludicrous imitators of Johnson's style are innumerable. Their general method is to accumulate hard words,
without considering that, although he was fond of introducing them occasionally, there is not a single sentence in
all his writings where they are crowded together, as in the
first verse of the following imaginary ode by him to Mrs.
Thrale,1 which appeared in the newspapers;
" Cervisial coctor's viduate dame,
Opins't thou his gigantic fame,
Procumbing at that shrine;
Shall, catenated by thy charms,
A captive in thy ambient arms,
Perennially be thine? "
1 Johnson's wishing to unite himself with this rich widow, was
much talked of, but I believe without foundation. The report,
however, gave occasion to a poem, not without characteristical
merit, entitled, Ode to Mrs. Thrale, by Samuel Johnson, LL.D., on
their supposed approaching Nuptials: printed for Mr. Faulder, in
Bond-Street.-I shall quote as a specimen, the first three stanzas.
"If e'er my fingers touch'd the lyre,
In satire fierce, in pleasure gay;
Shall not my THRALIA'S smiles inspire
Shall SAM refuse the sportive lay?
"My dearest Lady I view your slave,
Behold him as your very Scrub;
Eager to write as author grave,
Or govern well, the brewing-tub.
"To rich felicity thus raised,
My bosom glows with amorous fire,
Porter no longer shall be praised,
'Tis I MYSELF am Thrale's Entire." B.




438


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


This, and a thousand other such attempts, are totally
unlike the original, which the writers imagined they were
turning into ridicule. There is not similarity enough for
burlesque, or even for caricature.
MR. COLMAN, in his "Prose on several occasions," has
A Letter from LEXIPHANES; containing Proposals for a
Glossary or Vocabulary of the Vulgar Tongue: intended as
a supplement to a larger DICTIONARY." It is evidently
meant as a sportive sally of ridicule on Johnson, whose
style is thus imitated, without being grossly overcharged
" It is easy to foresee, that the idle and illiterate will complain
that I have increased their labours by endeavouring to diminish
them; and that I have explained what is more easy by what is
more difficult-ignotum per ignotius. I expect, on the other hand,
the liberal acknowledgments of the learned. He who is buried in
scholastic retirement, secluded from the assemblies of the gay, and
remote from the circles of the polite, will at once comprehend the
definitions, and be grateful for such a seasonable and necessary
elucidation of his mother-tongue."
Annexed to this letter is a short specimen of the work,
thrown together in a vague and desultory manner, not
even adhering to alphabetical concatenation.'
The serious imitators of Johnson's style, whether intentionally or by the imperceptible effect of its strength and
c "Higledy-piggledy,-Conglomeration and confusion.
"Hodge-podge, —A culinary mixture of heterogeneous ingredients: applied metaphorically to all discordant combinations.
" Tit-for-Tat,-Adequate retaliation.
< Shilly Shally,-Hesitation and irresolution.
" Fee! fa! fum!-Gigantic intonations.
" Rigmarole,-Discourse, incoherent and rhapsodical.
" Crincum-crancum,-Lines of irregularity and involution.
"Ding-dong,-Tintinabulary chimes, used metaphorically to
signify dispatch and vehemence."  B.  On the publication of
Boswell's own book the Press teemed with parodies. The best of
these was A Lesson in Biography; or, How to write the Life of one's
Friend, by Alexander Chalmers. It was reprinted by Croker in
an appendix to his edition, and is one of the best parodies ever
written.




JOHNSON'S IMITATORS


439


animation, are, as I have had already occasion to observe,
so many, that I might introduce quotations from a numerous body of writers in our language, since he appeared in
the literary world. I shall point out the following:
WILLIAM ROBERTSON, D.D.
"In other parts of the globe, man, in his rudest state, appears as
lord of the creation, giving law to various tribes of animals which
he has tamed and reduced to subjection. The Tartar follows his
prey on the horse which he has reared, or tends his numerous
herds which furnish him both with food and clothing: the Arab
has rendered the camel docile, and avails himself of its persevering
strength; the Laplander has formed the rein-deer to be subservient
to his will; and even the people of Kamschatka have trained their
dogs to labour. This command over the inferior creatures is one of
the noblest prerogatives of man, and among the greatest efforts of
his wisdom and power. Without this, his dominion is incomplete.
He is a monarch who has no subjects; a master without servants;
and must perform every operation by the strength of his own arm."
(History of America, i. 332.)
EDWARD GIBBON, ESQ.
"Of all our passions and appetites, the love of power is of the
most imperious and unsociable nature, since the pride of one man
requires the submission of the multitude. In the tumult of civil
discord the laws of society lose their force, and their place is
seldom supplied by those of humanity. The ardour of contention,
the pride of victory, the despair of success, the memory of past injuries, and the fear of future dangers, all contribute to inflame the
mind and to silence the voice of pity." (Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire, i. ch. 4.)
MISS BURNEY.
"My family, mistaking ambition for honour, and rank for
dignity, have long planned a splendid connexion for me, to which,
though my invariable repugnance has stopped any advances, their
wishes and their views immovably adhere. I am but too certain
they will now listen to no other. I dread, therefore, to make a
trial where I despair of success; I know not how to risk a prayer
with those who may silence me by a command." (Cecilia, bk. vii.
ch. i.)1
1 See Macaulay's essay on The Diary and Letters of Madame
D'Arblay for her imitations of Johnson's style.




440


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


REVEREND MR. NARES.1
" In an enlightened and improving age, much perhaps is not to
be apprehended from the inroads of mere caprice; at such a period
it will generally be perceived, that needless irregularity is the
worst of all deformities, and that nothing is so truly elegant in
language as the simplicity of unviolated analogy.-Rules will,
therefore, be observed, so far as they are known and acknowledged:
but, at the same time, the desire of improvement having been once
excited will not remain inactive; and its efforts, unless assisted by
knowledge, as much as they are prompted by zeal, will not
unfrequently be found pernicious; so that the very persons whose
intention it is to perfect the instrument of reason, will deprave and
disorder it unknowingly. At such a time, then, it becomes peculiarly necessary that the analogy of language should be fully
examined and understood; that its rules should be carefully laid
down; and that it should be clearly known how much it contains,
which being already right should be defended from change and
violation; how much it has that demands amendment; and how
much that, for fear of greater inconveniences, must, perhaps, be
left, unaltered, though irregular."
A distinguished author in "THE MIRROR," 2 a periodical paper published at Edinburgh, has imitated Johnson
very closely.  Thus in No. 16'
"The effects of the return of spring have been frequently
remarked as well in relation to the human mind as to the animal
and vegetable world.  The reviving power of this season has
been traced from the fields to the herds that inhabit them, and
from the lower classes of beings up to man. Gladness and joy
are described as prevailing through universal Nature, animating
1 The passage which I quote is taken from that gentleman's
Elements of Orthoepy; containing a distinct View of the whole Analogy
of the English Language, so far as relates to Pronunciation, Accent,
and Quantity," London, 1784. I beg leave to offer my particular
acknowledgments to the author of a work of uncommon merit
and great utility. I know no book which contains, in the same
compass, more learning, polite literature, sound sense, accuracy of
arrangement, and perspicuity of expression. B.
2 That collection was presented to Dr. Johnson, I believe by
its authors; and I heard him speak very well of it. B.




JOHNSON'S IMITATORS


441


the low of the cattle, the carol of the birds, and the pipe of the
shepherd."
The Reverend Dr Knox, master of Tunbridge School,
appears to have the imitari aveo of Johnson's style
perpetually in his mind; and to his assiduous, though
not servile, study of it, we may partly ascribe the
extensive popularity of his writings.1
In his "Essays, Moral and Literary," No. 3, we find
the following passage: —" The polish of external grace
may indeed be deferred till the approach of manhood.
When solidity is obtained by pursuing the modes prescribed by our forefathers, then may the file be used.
The firm substance will bear attrition, and the lustre
then acquired will be durable."
There is, however, one in No. i i, which is blown up
into such tumidity as to be truly ludicrous. The writer
means to tell us that Members of Parliament, who have
run in debt by extravagance, will sell their votes to avoid
1 It were to be wished, that he had imitated the great man in
every respect, and had not followed the example of Dr. Adam
Smith, in ungraciously attacking his venerable Alma Mater,
Oxford. It must, however, be observed, that he is much less to
blame than Smith he only objects to certain particulars; Smith
to the whole institution, though indebted for much of his learning
to an exhibition which he enjoyed for many years at Balliol
College.  Neither of them, however, will do any hurt to the
noblest university in the world. While I animadvert on what
appears to me exceptionable in some of the works of Dr. Knox,
I cannot refuse due praise to others of his productions; particularly
his sermons, and to the spirit with which he maintains, against
presumptuous heretics, the consolatory doctrines peculiar to the
Christian Revelation.  This he has done in a manner equally
strenuous and conciliating. Neither ought I to omit mentioning
a remarkable instance of his candour: notwithstanding the wide
difference of our opinions upon the important subject of University
education, in a letter to me concerning this work, he thus
expresses himself. " I thank you for the very great entertainment
your Life of yohnson gives me. It is a most valuable work.Yours is a new species of biography. Happy for Johnson that
he had so able a recorder of his wit and wisdom."  B.




442


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


an arrest,' which he thus expresses.-" They who build
houses and collect costly pictures and furnitures, with
the money of an honest artisan or mechanic, will be very
glad of emancipation from the hands of a bailiff by a
sale of their senatorial suffrage."
But I think the most perfect imitation of Johnson is
a professed one, entitled " A Criticism on Gray's 'Elegy
in a Country Churchyard,'" said to be. written by MR.
YOUNG, Professor of Greek at Glasgow, and of which let
him have the credit, unless a better title can be shewn.
It has not only the particularities of Johnson's style, but
that very species of literary discussion and illustration
for which he was eminent.-Having already quoted so
much from others, I shall refer the curious to this
performance, with an assurance of much entertainment.2
Yet whatever merit there may be in any imitations of
Johnson's style, every good judge must see that they
are obviously different from the original; for all of
them are either deficient in its force, or overloaded with
its peculiarities; and the powerful sentiment to which
it is suited is not to be found.
Johnson's affection for his departed relations seemed
to grow warmer as he approached nearer to the time
when he might hope to see them     again.  It probably
appeared to him that he should upbraid himself with
unkind inattention, were he to leave the world without
having paid a tribute of respect to their memory.
"TO MR. GREEN, APOTHECARY, AT LICHFIELD.
"DEAR SIR,
"I HAVE enclosed the epitaph for my father, mother, and
brother, to be all engraved on the large size, and laid in the
1 Dr. Knox, in his Moral and Literary abstraction, may be
excused for not knowing the political regulations of his country.No senator can be in the hands of a bailiff. B.
2 According to Dr. Hill, Sir Walter Scott (Croker Papers, ii.
34) would seem to be alone in sharing Boswell's opinion of this
imitation.  Everybody else, from Horace Walpole to Croker,
could make nothing of it,




EPITAPHS


443


middle aisle in St. Michael's church, which I request the clergyman
and churchwardens to permit.
"The first care must be to find the exact place of interment,
that the stone may protect the bodies. Then let the stone be
deep, massy, and hard; and do not let the difference of ten
pounds, or more, defeat our purpose.
"I have enclosed ten pounds, and Mrs. Porter will pay you
ten more, which I gave her for the same purpose. What more
is wanted shall be sent; and I beg that all possible haste may be
made, for I wish to have it done while I am yet alive. Let me
know, dear Sir, that you receive this.  I am, Sir, your most
humble servant,
"SAM. JOHNSON.1
"Dec. 2, 1784."
"TO MRS. LUCY PORTER, IN LICHFIELD.2
"DEAR MADAM,
"I AM very ill, and desire your prayers.  I have sent
Mr. Green the epitaph, and a power to call on you for ten
pounds.
"I laid this summer a stone over Tetty, in the chapel of
Bromley, in Kent. The inscription is in Latin, of which this
is the English. [Here a translation.]
"That this is done, I thought it fit that you should know.
What care will be taken of us, who can tell? May GOD pardon
and bless us all, for JESUS CHRIST'S sake. I am, &c.
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"Dec. 2, 1784."
My readers are now, at last, to behold SAMUEL
JOHNSON preparing himself for that doom, from which
the most exalted powers afford no exemption to man.
Death had always been to him an object of terror;
1 It was not done, Dr. Harwood tells us (Hist. of Lichfield),
till after Johnson's death. When the church was re-paved in 1796,
the stone was removed and could never again be found. Croker.
A fresh one, with the same inscriptions, was placed in the church
on the hundredth anniversary of Johnson's death by Mr. Robert
Thorp of Buxton Road House, Macclesfield. Dr. Hill.
2 This lady, whose name so frequently occurs in the course of
this work, survived Dr. Johnson just thirteen months. She died
at Lichfield, in her 71st year, January 13, 1786. Malone,




444


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


so that, though by no means happy, he still clung to
life with an eagerness at which many have wondered.
At any time when he was ill, he was very much pleased
to be told that he looked better. An ingenious member
of the Eumelian Club I informs me, that upon one
occasion, when he said to him that he saw health returning to his cheek, Johnson seized him by the hand and
exclaimed, "Sir, you are one of the kindest friends I
ever had."
His own state of his views of futurity will appear
truly rational; and may, perhaps, impress the unthinking
with seriousness.
"You know," says he, "I never thought confidence with
respect to futurity, any part of the character of a brave, a wise,
or a good man. Bravery has no place where it can avail nothing;
wisdom impresses strongly the consciousness of those faults,
of which it is, perhaps, itself an aggravation; and goodness,
always wishing to be better, and imputing every deficiency to
criminal negligence, and every fault to voluntary corruption, never
dares to suppose the condition of forgiveness fulfilled, nor what is
wanting in the crime supplied by penitence.
"This is the state of the best; but what must be the condition
of him whose heart will not suffer him to rank himself among
the best, or among the good?-Such must be his dread of the
approaching trial, as will leave him little attention to the opinion
of those whom he is leaving for ever; and the serenity that is
not felt, it can be no virtue to feign." (Mrs. Thrale's Collection,
1. 3.)
His great fear of death, and the strange dark manner
in which Sir John Hawkins imparts the uneasiness which
he expressed on account of offences with which he
charged himself, may give occasion to injurious suspicions,
as if there had been something of more than ordinary
criminality weighing upon    his conscience.    On   that
1 A club in London, founded by the learned and ingenious
physician, Dr. Ash, in honour of whose name it was called
Eumelian, from  the Greek EbpcktAag: though it was warmly
contended, and even put to a vote, that it should have the more
obvious appellation of Fraxinean, from the Latin. B.




JOHNSON'S MORALITY


44


account, therefore, as well as from the regard to trut
which he inculcated (Vol. III. p. 159), I am to mentio
(with all possible respect and delicacy, however), that hi
conduct, after he came to London, and had associate
with Savage and others, was not so strictly virtuous, i
one respect, as when he was a younger man. It wa
well known that his amorous inclinations were uncom
monly strong and impetuous.    He owned to many c
his friends, that he used to take women of the tow
to taverns, and hear them relate their history  In short
it must not be concealed, that, like many other gooi
and pious men, among whom we may place the apostl
Paul upon his own authority, Johnson was not free fror
propensities which were ever "warring against the lax
of his mind,"-and that in his combats with them, h
was sometimes overcome.
Here let the profane and licentious pause; let ther
not thoughtlessly say that Johnson was an hypocrite, c
that his principles were not firm, because his practice wa
not uniformly conformable to what he professed.
Let the question be considered independent of motr
and religious associations; and no man will deny tha
thousands, in many instances, act against conviction. ]
a prodigal, for example, an hypocrite, when he owns he i
satisfied that his extravagance will bring him to ruin an
misery? We are sure he believes it; but immediat
inclination, strengthened by indulgence, prevails over tha
belief in influencing his conduct. Why then shall cred
be refused to the sincerity of those who acknowledge thel
persuasion of moral and religious duty, yet sometime
fail of living as it requires? I heard Dr. Johnson onc
observe, " There is something noble in publishing truti
though it condemns one's self."  And one who said i
1 Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, 3rd edit. p. 209. On th
same subject, in his letter to Mrs. Thrale, dated Nov. 29, 78!
he makes the following just observation  "Life, to be worthy (
a rational being, must be always in progression; we must alwa3
purpose to do more or better than in time past. The mind
enlarged and elevated by mere purposes, though they end as the




446


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


his presence, "he had no notion of people being in earnest
in their good professions, whose practice was not suitable
to them," was thus reprimanded by him -— " Sir, are you
so grossly ignorant of human nature as not to know that
a man may be very sincere in good principles, without
having good practice? "
But let no man encourage or soothe himself in "presumptuous sin," from knowing that Johnson was sometimes hurried into indulgences which he thought criminal.
I have exhibited this circumstance as a shade in so great a
character, both from my sacred love of truth, and to shew
that he was not so weakly scrupulous as he had been
represented by those who imagine that the sins, of which
a deep sense was upon his mind, were merely such little
venial trifles as pouring milk into his tea on Good-Friday.
His understanding will be defended by my statement, if
his consistency of conduct be in some degree impaired.
But what wise man would, for momentary gratifications,
deliberately subject himself to suffer such uneasiness as
we find was experienced by Johnson in reviewing his
conduct as compared with his notion of the ethics of the
Gospel? Let the following passages be kept in remembrance: "0, GOD, giver and preserver of all life, by
whose power I was created, and by whose providence I
am sustained, look down upon me with tenderness and
mercy; grant that I may not have been created to be
finally destroyed; that I may not be preserved to add
wickedness to wickedness." (Prayers and Meditations,
P. 47.)-" O0 LORD, let me not sink into total depravity;
look down upon me, and rescue me at last from the
captivity of sin." (Ibid., p. 68 )-" Almighty and most
merciful Father, who hast continued my life from year
to year, grant that by longer life I may become less
desirous of sinful pleasures, and more careful of eternal
happiness." ([bid., p. 84.)-"Let not my years be
multiplied to increase my guilt; but as my age advances,
began, by airy contemplation. We compare and judge, though
we do not practise." B.




PENITENCE AND SINCERITY


44


let me become more pure in my thoughts, more regula
in my desires, and more obedient to thy laws." (Ibid
p. 120.)-" Forgive, 0 merciful LORD, whatever I hav
done contrary to thy laws. Give me such a sense of m
wickedness as may produce true contrition and effectuw
repentance; so that when I shall be called into anothe
state, I may be received among the sinners to whor
sorrow and reformation have obtained pardon, for JESU
CHRIST'S sake.-Amen." (Ibid., p. I30.)
Such was the distress of mind, such the penitence o
Johnson, in his hours of privacy, and in his devou
approaches to his Maker. His sincerity, therefore, mus
appear to every candid mind unquestionable.
It is of essential consequence to keep in view, that ther
was in this excellent man's conduct, no false principle o
commutation, no deliberate indulgence in sin, in considera
tion of a counterbalance of duty. His offending, and hi
repenting, were distinct and separate 1 and when w
consider his almost unexampled attention to truth, hi
inflexible integrity, his constant piety, who will dare t4
" cast a stone at him "? Besides, let it never be forgotten
that he cannot be charged with any offence indicating
badness of heart, anything dishonest, base, or malignant
but that, on the contrary, he was charitable in an extra
ordinary degree; so that even in one of his own rigi(
judgments of himself (Easter-eve, I781), while he says
I have corrected no external habits;" he is obliged t<
own, "I hope that since my last communion I have
advanced by pious reflections, in my submission to GOD
and my benevolence to man." (Prayers and Meditations
p. 192.)
I am conscious that this is the most difficult an(
dangerous part of my biographical work, and I canno
but be very anxious concerning it. I trust that I have
1 Dr. Johnson related, with very earnest approbation, a story o
a gentleman, who, in an impulse of passion, overcame the virtue
of a young woman. When she said to him, " I am afraid we have
done wrong!" he answered, "'Yes, we have done wrong;'for I would not debauch her mind." B.




448


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


got through it, preserving at once my regard to truth,to my friend,-and to the interests of virtue and religion.
Nor can I apprehend that more harm can ensue from the
knowledge of the irregularities of Johnson, guarded as
I have stated it, than from knowing that Addison and
Parnell were intemperate in the use of wine; which he
himself, in his Lives of those celebrated writers and pious
men, has not forborne to record.1
It is not my intention to give a very minute detail of
the particulars of Johnson's remaining days, of whom it
was now evident, that the crisis was fast approaching,
when he must "die like men, and fall like one of the
princes." Yet it will be instructive, as well as gratifying
to the curiosity of my readers, to record a few circumstances, on the authenticity of which they may perfectly
rely, as I have been at the utmost pains to obtain an
accurate account of his last illness from the best authority.
Dr. Heberden, Dr. Brocklesby, Dr. Warren, and
Dr Butter, physicians, generously attended him without
accepting any fees, as did Mr Cruikshank, surgeon; and
all that could be done from professional skill and ability
was tried, to prolong a life so truly valuable. He himself,
indeed, having, on account of his very bad constitution,
been perpetually applying himself to medical inquiries,
united his own efforts with those of the gentlemen who
attended him; and imagining that the dropsical collection
of water which oppressed him might be drawn off by
making incisions in his body, he, with his usual resolute
defiance of pain, cut deep, when he thought that his
surgeon had done it too tenderly.2
1 For the probable reasons of Boswell's curious performance ot
this " most difficult and dangerous part of my biographical work,"
see a letter from Croker to Brougham, Croker Papers, iii. 24.
2 This bold experiment Sir John Hawkins has related in such
a manner as to suggest a charge against Johnson of intentionally
hastening his end; a charge so very inconsistent with his character
in every respect, that it is injurious even to refute it, as Sir John
has thought it necessary to do. It is evident, that what Johnson
did in hopes of relief, indicated an extraordinary eagerness to
retard his dissolution. B.




BARBER'S ANNUITY


449


About eight or ten days before his death, when Dr.
Brocklesby paid him his morning visit, he seemed very
low and desponding, and said, " I have been as a dying
man all night." He then emphatically broke out in the
words of Shakespeare,"Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas'd;
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow;
Raze out the written troubles of the brain;
And, with some sweet oblivious antidote,
Cleanse the stuffd bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart? "
To which Dr. Brocklesby readily answered, from the
same great poet
" -------- therein the patient
Must minister to himself."
Johnson expressed himself much satisfied with the
application.
On another day, after this, when talking on the subject
of prayer, Dr Brocklesby repeated from Juvenal,
" Orandum est, ut sit mens sana in corpore sano,"
and so on to the end of the tenth satire; but in running
it quickly over, he happened, in the line,
" Qui spatium vita extremum inter munera ponat,"
to pronounce supremum for extrenmum; at which Johnson's
critical ear instantly took offence, and discoursing vehemently on the unmetrical effect of such a lapse, he shewed
himself as full as ever of the spirit of the grammarian.
Having no other relations, it had been for some time
Johnson's intention to make a liberal provision for his
faithful servant Mr Francis Barber, whom he looked
upon as particularly under his protection, and whom he
had all along treated truly as an humble friend. Having
asked Dr. Brocklesby what would be a proper annuity to
a favourite servant, and being answered that it must
Ill.                                    G G




450


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


depend on the circumstances of the master; and, that in
the case of a nobleman, fifty pounds a year was considered
as an adequate reward for many years' faithful service;"Then," said Johnson, "shall I be nobilissimus, for I mean
to leave Frank seventy pounds a year, and I desire you
to tell him so." It is strange, however, to think, that
Johnson was not free from that general weakness of being
averse to execute a will, so that he delayed it from time to
time; and had it not been for Sir John Hawkins's
repeatedly urging it, I think it is probable that his kind
resolution would not have been fulfilled. After making
one, which, as Sir John Hawkins informs us, extended no
farther than the. promised annuity, Johnson's final disposition of his property was established by a will and
codicil, of which copies are subjoined.'
1  IN THE NAME OF GOD. AMEN. I, SAMUEL JOHNSON, being
in full possession of my faculties, but fearing this night may put an
end to my life, do ordain this my last will and testament. I bequeath
to GOD, a soul polluted by many sins, but I hope purified by JEsus
CHRIST.-I leave seven hundred and fifty pounds in the hands
of Bennet Langton, Esq.; three hundred pounds in the hands of
Mr. Barclay and Mr. Perkins, brewers; one hundred and fifty
pounds in the hands of Dr. Percy, Bishop of Dromore; one
thousand pounds, three per cent. annuities in the public funds; and
one hundred pounds now lying by me in ready money all these
before-mentioned sums and property I leave, I say, to Sir Joshua
Reynolds, Sir John Hawkins, and Dr. William Scott, of Doctors
Commons, in trust, for the following uses:-That is to say, to
pay to the representatives of the late William Innys, bookseller, in
St. Paul's Churchyard, the sum of two hundred pounds; to Mrs.
White, my female servant, one hundred pounds stock in the three
per cent. annuities aforesaid. The rest of the aforesaid sums of
money and property, together with my books, plate, and household
furniture, I leave to the before-mentioned Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir
John Hawkins, and Dr. William Scott, also in trust, to be applied,
after paying my debts, to the use of Francis Barber, my manservant, a negro, in such manner as they shall judge most fit and
available to his benefit. And I appoint the aforesaid Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir John Hawkins, and Dr. William Scott, sole executors of
this my last will and testament, hereby revoking all former wills and
testaments whatever. In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my
name, and affix my seal, this eighth day of December, 1784. SAM.




JOHNSON'S WILL


451


The consideration of numerous papers of which he was
possessed, seems to have struck Johnson's mind with a
JOHNSON (L.S.). Signed, sealed, published, declared and delivered,
by the said testator, as his last will and testament, in the presence
of us, the word two being first inserted in the opposite page.
GEORGE STRAHAN, JOHN DESMOULINS. By way of codicil to my
last will and testament, I, SAMUEL JOHNSON, give, devise, and
bequeath, my messuage or tenement situate at Lichfield, in the
county of Stafford, with the appurtenances in the tenure and
occupation of Mrs. Bond, of Lichfield aforesaid, or of Mr
Hinchman, her under-tenant, to my executors in trust, to sell and
dispose of the same; and the money arising fiom such sale I give
and bequeath as follows, viz. to Thomas and Benjamin, the sons
of Fisher Johnson, late of Leicester, and --  Whiting, daughter
of Thomas Johnson, late of Coventry, and the granddaughter of
the said Thomas Johnson, one full and equal fourth-part each;
but in case there shall be more granddaughters than one of the
said Thomas Johnson, living at the time of my decease, I give
and bequeath the part or share of that one to and equally between
such granddaughters. I give and bequeath to the Rev Mr
Rogers, of Berkley, near Froom, in the county of Somerset, the
sum of one hundred pounds, requesting him to apply the same
towards the maintenance of Elizabeth Herne, a lunatic. I also
give and bequeath to my god-children, the son and daughter of
Mauritius Lowe, painter, each of them one hundred pounds of
my stock in the three per cent. consolidated annuities, to be applied
and disposed of by and at the discretion of my executors, in the
education or settlement in the world of them my said legatees.
Also I give and bequeath to Sir Joln Hawkins, one of my
executors, the Annales Ecclesiastici of Baronius, and Holinshed's
and Stowe's Chronicles, and also an octavo Common Prayer-Book.
To Bennet Langton, Esq., I give and bequeath my Polyglot
Bible. To Sir Joshua Reynolds, my great French Dictionary,
by Martiniere, and my own copy of my folio English Dictionary
of the last revision. To Dr. William Scott, one of my executors,
the Dictionnaire de Commerce, and Lectius's edition of the Greek
Poets. To Mr. Windham, Poetc    Greai Heroici per Henrtcum
Stephanum. To the Rev Mr Strahan, vicar of Islington, in
Middlesex, Mill's Greek Testament, Beza's Greek Testament, by
Stephens, all my Latin Bibles, and my Greek Bible by Wechelius.
To Dr. Heberden, Dr. Brocklesby, Dr. Butter, and Mr Cruikshank, the surgeon who attended me, Mr. Holder, my apothecary,
Gerard Hamilton, Esq., Mrs. Gardiner, of Snow-hill, Mrs.




452


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


sudden anxiety, and as they were in great confusion, it is
much to be lamented that he had not intrusted some
Frances Reynolds, Mr. Hoole, and the Reverend Mr. Hoole, his
son, each a book at their election, to keep as a token of remembrance. I also give and bequeath to Mr. John Desmoulins, two
hundred pounds consolidated three per cent. annuities: and to Mr.
Sastres, the Italian master, the sum of five pounds, to be laid out
in books of piety for his own use. And whereas the said Bennet
Langton hath agreed in consideration of the sum of seven hundred
and fifty pounds, mentioned in my will to be in his hands, to grant
and secure an annuity of seventy pounds payable during the life of
me and my servant, Francis Barber, and the life of the survivor of
us, to Mr. George Stubbs, in trust for us; my mind and will is,
that in case of my decease before the said agreement shall be
perfected, the said sum of seven hundred and fifty pounds, and the
bond for securing the said sum, shall go to the said Francis
Barber; and I hereby give and bequeath to him the same, in lieu
of the bequest in his favour, contained in my said will. And I
hereby empower my executors to deduct and retain all expenses
that shall or may be incurred in the execution of my said will, or
of this codicil thereto, out of such estate and effects as I shall die
possessed of. All the rest, residue and remainder of my estate and
effects I give and bequeath to my said executors, in trust for the
said Francis Barber, his executors, and administrators. Witness
my hand and seal, this ninth day of December, 1784. SAM. JOHNSON (L.S.). Signed, sealed, published, declared, and delivered, by
the said Samuel Johnson, as, and for a codicil to his last will and
testament, in the presence of us, who, in his presence, and at his
request, and also in the presence of each other, have hereto subscribed our names as witnesses. JOHN COPE LY, WILLIAM GIBSON,
HENRY COLE."
Upon these testamentary deeds it is proper to make a few
observations. His express declaration with his dying breath as a
Christian, as it had been often practised in such solemn writings,
was of real consequence from this great man, for the conviction of
a mind equally acute and strong might well overbalance the
doubts of others, who were his contemporaries. The expression
polluted, may, to some, convey an impression of more than ordinary
contamination; but that is not warranted by its genuine meaning,
as appears from The Rambler, No. 42. The same word is used in
the will of Dr. Sanderson, Bishop of Lincoln, who was piety itself.
His legacy of two hundred pounds to the representatives of Mr.
Innys, bookseller, in St. Paul's Churchyard, proceeded from a very




JOHNSON'S WILL


453


faithful and discreet person with the care and selection of
them; instead of which, he, in a precipitate manner, burnt
worthy motive. He told Sir John Hawkins, that his father having
become a bankrupt, Mr. Innys had assisted him with money or
credit to continue his business. "This," said he, " I consider as
an obligation on me to be grateful to his descendants." The
amount of his property proved to be considerably more than he
had supposed it to be. Sir John Hawkins estimates the bequest
to Francis Barber at a sum little short of fifteen hundred
pounds, including an annuity of seventy pounds to be paid
to him by Mr. Langton, in consideration of seven hundred
and fifty pounds, which Johnson had lent to that gentleman.
Sir John seems not a little angry at this bequest, and mutters
"a caveat against ostentatious bounty and favour to negroes."
But surely when a man has money entirely of his own acquisition,
especially when he has no near relations, he may, without blame,
dispose of it as he pleases, and with great propriety to a faithful
servant. Mr. Barber, by the recommendation of his master,
retired to Lichfield, where he might pass the rest of his days in
comfort. It has been objected that Johnson has omitted many of
his best friends when leaving books to several as tokens of his last
remembrance. The names of Dr. Adams, Dr. Taylor, Dr.
Burney, Mr. Hector, Mr. Murphy, the author of this work, and
others who were intimate with him, are not to be found in his
will. This may be accounted for by considering, that as he was
very near his dissolution at the time, he probably mentioned such
as happened to occur to him; and that he may have recollected
that he had formerly shewn others such proofs of his regard, that
it was not necessary to crowd his will with their names. Mrs.
Lucy Porter was much displeased that nothing was left to her;
but besides what I have now stated, she should have considered
that she had left nothing to Johnson by her will, which was made
during his lifetime, as appeared at her decease. His enumerating
several persons in one group, arid leaving them each a book at
their election, might possibly have given occasion to a curious
question as to the order of choice, had they not luckily fixed on
different books. His library, though by no means handsome in
its appearance, was sold by Mr. Christie, for two hundred and
forty-seven pounds, nine shillings; many people being desirous
to have a book which had belonged to Johnson. In many of them
he had written little notes sometimes tender memorials of his
departed wife; as, "This was dear Tetty's book;" sometimes
occasional remarks of different sorts. Mrs. Lyons, of Clifford's




454


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


large masses of them, with little regard, as I apprehend,
to discrimination. Not that I suppose we have thus been
deprived of any compositions which he had ever intended
for the public eye; but from what escaped the flames I
judge that many curious circumstances, relating both to
himself and other literary characters, have perished.
Two very valuable articles, I am sure, we have lost,
which were two quarto volumes, containing a full, fair, and
most particular account of his own life, from his earliest
recollection. I owned to him, that having accidentally
seen them, I had read a great deal in them; and apologizing for the liberty I had taken, asked him if I could help
it.  He placidly answered, "Why, Sir, I do not think you
could have helped it." I said that I had, for once in my
life, felt half an inclination to commit theft. It had come
into my mind to carry off those two volumes, and never
see him more. Upon my inquiring how this would have
affected him, "Sir," said he, "I believe I should have
gone mad."1
Inn, has favoured me with the two following: In " Holy Rules
and Helps to Devotions by Bryan Duppa, Lord Bishop of Winton,"
"Preces quidam videtur diligenter tractasse; spero non inauditus." In
"The Rosicrucian infallible Axiomata, by John Heydon, Gent.,"
prefixed to which are some verses addressed to the author, signed
Ambr. Waters, A. M. Coll. Ex. Oxon. " These Latin verses were
written to Hobbes by Bathurst, upon his Treatise on Human Nature,
and have no relation to the book.-  an odd fraud."  B.
1 One of these volumes, Sir John Hawkins informs us, he put
into his pocket; for which the excuse he states is that he meant
to preserve it from falling into the hands of a person whom he
describes so as to make it sufficiently clear who is meant; "having
strong reasons," said he, " to suspect that this man might find and
make an ill use of the book." Why Sir John should suppose that the
gentleman alluded to would act in this manner, he has not thought
fit to explain. But what he did was not approved of by Johnson;
who, upon being acquainted of it without delay by a friend, expressed great indignation, and warmly insisted on the book being
delivered up; and, afterwards, in the supposition of his missing it,
without knowing by whom it had been taken, he said, "Sir, I
should have gone out of the world distrusting half mankind." Sir
John next day wrote a letter to Johnson, assigning reasons for his




LAST OFFICES OF HIS FRIENDS


455


During his last illness, Johnson experienced the steady
and kind attachment of his numerous friends. Mr. Hoole
has drawn up a narrative of what passed in the visits
which he paid him during that time from the Ioth of
November to the   3th of December, the day of his death,
inclusive, and has favoured me with a perusal of it, with
permission to make extracts, which I have done. Nobody
was more attentive to him than Mr. Langton, to whom
he tenderly said: Te teneam moriens deficiente manu. And
I think it highly to the honour of Mr Windham, that his
important occupations as an active statesman did not prevent him from paying assiduous respect to the dying Sage
whom he revered. Mr. Langton informs me that "One
day he found Mr. Burke and four or five more friends
sitting with Johnson.  Mr. Burke said to him, 'I am
afraid, Sir, such a number of us may be oppressive to you.'
-' No, Sir,' said Johnson, ' it is not so; and I must be in
a wretched state, indeed, when your company would not
be a delight to me.' Mr. Burke, in a tremulous voice,
expressive of being very tenderly affected, replied, 'My
dear Sir, you have always been too good to me.' Immediately afterwards he went away This was the last circumstance in the acquaintance of these two eminent men."
The following particulars of his conversation within a
few days of his death, I give on the authority of Mr. John
Nichols:
conduct; upon which Johnson observed to Mr. Langton, "Bishop
Sanderson could not have dictated a better letter  I could almost
say, Melius est sic patnituisse quam non errasse." The agitation into
which Johnson was thrown by this incident, probably made him
hastily burn those precious records, which must ever be regretted.
B. According to Croker, George Steevens was the man whom
Hawkins suspected.
1 On the same undoubted authority I give a few articles, which
should have been inserted in chronological order; but which, now
that they are before me, I should be sorry to omit. "In 1736,
Dr. Johnson had a particular inclination to have been engaged as
an assistant to the Reverend Mr. Budworth, then head master of




456


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


"' He said, that the Parliamentary Debates were the only part of
his writings which then gave him any compunction: but that at
the Grammar-school at Brewood, in Staffordshire, 'an excellent
person, who possessed every talent of a perfect instructor of youth,
in a degree which (to use the words of one of the brightest ornaments of literature, the Reverend Dr. Hurd, Bishop of Worcester)
has been rarely found in any of that profession since the days of
Quintilian.' Mr. Budworth, 'who was less known in his lifetime,
from that obscure situation to which the caprice of fortune oft
condemns the most accomplished characters, than his highest merit
deserved,' had been bred under Mr. Blackwell, at Market Bosworth,
where Johnson was some time an usher; which might naturally
lead to the application. Mr. Budworth was certainly no stranger
to the learning or abilities of Johnson, as he more than once
lamented his having been under the necessity of declining the
engagement from an apprehension that the paralytic affection,
under which our great Philologist laboured through life, might
become the object of imitation or of ridicule among his pupils."Captain Budworth, his grandson, has confirmed to me this anecdote. "Among the early associates of Johnson, at St. John's
Gate, was Samuel Boyse, well known by his ingenious productions; and not less noted for his imprudence. It was not unusual
for Boyse to be a customer to the pawnbroker. On one of these
occasions, Dr. Johnson collected a sum of money to redeem his
friend's clothes, which in two days after were pawned again.
'The sum,' said Johnson, ' was collected by sixpences, at a time
when to me sixpence was a serious consideration. "  Speaking
one day of a person for whom he had a real friendship, but in
whom vanity was somewhat too predominant, he observed that
' Kelly [the playwright] was so fond of displaying on his sideboard
the plate which he possessed, that he added to it his spurs. For
my part,' said he, 'I never was master of a pair of spurs, but once;
and they are now at the bottom of the ocean. By the carelessness
of Boswell's servant, they were dropped from the end of the boat,
on our return from the Isle of Sky.'"  The late Reverend Mr.
Samuel Badcock, having been introduced to Dr. Johnson, by Mr.
Nichols, some years before his death, thus expressed himself in a
letter to that gentleman: " How much I am obliged to you for
the favour you did me in introducing me to Dr. Johnson! Tantum
vidi Virgilium. But to have seen him and to have received a testimony of respect from him, was enough. I recollect all the
conversation, and shall never forget one of his expressions.Speaking of Dr. [Priestley] (whose writings, I saw, he estimated




JOHNSONIANA


457


the time he wrote them, he had no conception he was imposing
upon the world, though they were frequently written from very
slender materials, and often from none at all,-the mere coinage
of his own imagination. He never wrote any part of his works
with equal velocity. Three columns of the Magazine in an hour
was no uncommon effort, which was faster than most persons
could have transcribed that quantity.
"Of his friend Cave, he always spoke with great affection.
'Yet,' said he, ' Cave (who never looked out of his window, but
with a view to the "Gentleman's Magazine") was a penurious
paymaster; he would contract for lines by the hundred, and expect
the long hundred; but he was a good man, and always delighted
to have his friends at his table.'
"When talking of a regular edition of his own works, he said,
that he had power [from the booksellers] to print such an edition
if his health admitted it; but had no power to assign over any
edition, unless he could add notes and so alter them as to make
them new works; which his state of health forbade him to think
of. ' I may possibly live,' said he, 'or rather breathe, three days,
or perhaps three weeks; but find myself daily and gradually
weaker.'
"He said at another time, three or four days only before his
death, speaking of the little fear he had of undergoing a chirurgical
operation, 'I would give one of these legs for a year more of life,
I mean of comfortable life, not such as that which I now suffer;'
-and lamented much his inability to read during his hours of
restlessness. 'I used formerly,' he added, 'when sleepless in bed,
to read like a Turk.'
" Whilst confined by his last illness, it was his regular practice
to have the church service read to him by some attentive and
friendly divine. The Rev. Mr. Hoole performed this kind office
in my presence for the last time, when, by his own desire,
no more than the litany was read: in which his responses
were in the deep and sonorous voice which Mr. Boswell has
occasionally noticed, and with the most profound devotion that
can be imagined. His hearing not being quite perfect, he more
at a low rate), he said, 'You have proved him as deficient in
probity as he is in learning.'-I called him an 'Index-scholar;' but
he was not willing to allow him a claim even to that merit. He
said, 'that he borrowed from those who had been borrowers themselves, and did not know that the mistakes he adopted had been
answered by others.'-I often think of our short, but precious,
visit to this great man. I shall consider it as a kind of an era in
my life." B.




458


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


than once interrupted Mr. Hoole with, 'Louder, my dear Sir,
louder, I entreat you, or you pray in vain! '-and, when the service was ended, he, with great earnestness, turned round to an
excellent lady who was present, saying, 'I thank you, Madam,
very heartily, for your kindness in joining me in this solemn
exercise. Live well, I conjure you; and you will not feel the
compunction at the last which I now feel.' So truly humble
were the thoughts which this great and good man entertained of
his own approaches to religious perfection.
" He was earnestly invited to publish a volume of ' Devotional
Exercises'; but this (though he listened to the proposal with
much complacency, and a large sum of money was offered for
it) he declined, from motives of the sincerest modesty.
" He seriously entertained the thought of translating' Thuanus.'
He often talked to me on the subject: and once, in particular,
when I was rather wishing that he would favour the world, and
gratify his Sovereign, by a Life of Spenser (which he said that he
would readily have done, had he been able to obtain any new
materials for the purpose), he added, 'I have been thinking again,
Sir, of ' Thuanus': it would not be the laborious task which you
have supposed it. I should have no trouble but that of dictation,
which would be performed as speedily as an amanuensis could
write.'"
It is to the mutual credit of Johnson and divines of
different communions, that although he was a steady
Church-of-England man, there was, nevertheless, much
agreeable intercourse between him and them. Let me
particularly name the late Mr. La Trobe, and Mr
Hutton, of the Moravian profession. His intimacy with
the English Benedictines, at Paris, has been mentioned;
and as an additional proof of the charity in which he
lived with good men of the Romish Church, I am happy
in this opportunity of recording his friendship with the
Reverend Thomas Hussey, D.D., His Catholic Majesty's
Chaplain of Embassy at the Court of London, that very
respectable man, eminent not only for his powerful
eloquence as a preacher, but for his various abilities and
acquisitions.-Nay, though Johnson loved a Presbyterian
the least of all, this did not prevent his having a long
and uninterrupted social connexion with the Reverend
Dr. James Fordyce, who, since his death, hath grate



VERSES ON SIR JOHN LADE


459


fully celebrated him in a warm strain of devotional
composition.
Amidst the melancholy clouds which hung over the
dying Johnson, his characteristical manner shewed itself
on different occasions.
When Dr Warren, in the usual style, hoped that he
was better; his answer was, " No, Sir; you cannot conceive with what accleration I advance towards death."
A man whom he had never seen before was employed
one night to sit up with him. Being asked next morning
how he liked his attendant, his answer was, " Not at all,
Sir the fellow's an idiot; he is as awkward as a turnspit when first put into the wheel, and as sleepy as a
dormouse."
Mr. Windham having placed a pillow conveniently to
support him, he thanked him for his kindness, and said,
"That will do,-all that a pillow can do."
He repeated with great spirit a poem, consisting of
several stanzas, in four lines, in alternate rhyme, which
he said he had composed some years before on occasion
of a rich, extravagant young gentleman's coming of age,
saying he had never repeated it but once since he composed it, and had given but one copy of it. That copy
was given to Mrs. Thrale, now Piozzi, who has published
it in a book which she entitles "British Synonimy," but
which is truly a collection of entertaining remarks and
stories, no matter whether accurate or not. Being a piece
of exquisite satire, conveyed in a strain of pointed vivacity
and humour, and in a manner of which no other instance
is to be found in Johnson's writings, I shall here insert it.
Long-expected one-and-twenty,
Ling'ring year, at length is flown;
Pride and pleasure, pomp and plenty,
Great [Sir John] are now your own.
1 Sir John Lade, the posthumous son of the fourth baronet
by Mr. Thrale's sister  He entered eagerly into all the follies of
the day, was a noted whip, and married a woman of the town.
Croker.




460


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Loosen'd from the minor's tether,
Free to mortgage or to sell,
Wild as wind, and light as feather,
Bid the sons of thrift farewell.
Call the Betseys, Kates, and Jennies,
All the names that banish care:
Lavish of your grandsire's guineas,
Shew the spirit of an heir.
All that prey on voice and folly
Joy to see their quarry fly;
There the gamester, light and jolly,
There the lender, grave and sly.
Wealth, my lad, was made to wander,
Let it wander as it will;
Call the jockey, call the pander,
Bid them come and take their fill.
When the bonny blade carouses,
Pockets full, and spirits highWhat are acres? what are houses
Only dirt, or wet or dry.
Should the guardian, friend, or mother
Tell the woes of wilful waste;
Scorn their counsel, scorn their pother, —
You can hang or drown at last.
As he opened a note which his servant brought to him,
he said, "An odd thought strikes me:-we shall receive
no letters in the grave."
He requested three things of Sir Joshua Reynolds:to forgive him thirty pounds which he had borrowed of
him;-to read the Bible;-and never to use his pencil on
a Sunday. Sir Joshua readily acquiesced.
Indeed he shewed the greatest anxiety for the religious
improvement of his friends, to whom he discoursed of its
infinite consequence. He begged of Mr. Hoole to think
of what he had said, and to commit it to writing; and,
upon being afterwards assured that this was done, pressed
his hands, and in an earnest tone thanked him. Dr.
Brocklesby having attended him with the utmost assiduity




JOHNSON'S FORTITUDE


46 i


and kindness as his physician and friend, he was peculiarly
desirous that this gentleman should not entertain any
loose speculative notions, but be confirmed in the truths
of Christianity, and insisted on his writing down in his
presence, as nearly as he could collect it, the import of
what passed on the subject; and Dr. Brocklesby having
complied with the request, he made him sign the paper,
and urged him to keep it in his own custody as long as
he lived.
Johnson, with that native fortitude which, amidst all
his bodily distress and mental sufferings, never forsook
him, asked Dr. Brocklesby, as a man in whom he had
confidence, to tell him plainly whether he could recover
"Give me," said he, "a direct answer."  The Doctor
having first asked him if he could bear the whole truth,
which way soever it might lead, and being answered that
he could, declared that, in his opinion, he could not
recover without a miracle. "Then," said Johnson, "I
will take no more physic, not even my opiates; for I
have prayed that I may render up my soul to GOD
unclouded." In this resolution he persevered, and, at the
same time, used only the weakest kinds of sustenance.
Being pressed by Mr. Windham to take somewhat more
generous nourishment, lest too low a diet should have
the very effect which he dreaded, by debilitating his mind,
he said, " I will take anything but inebriating sustenance."
The Reverend Mr. Strahan, who was the son of his
friend and had been always one of his great favourites,
had, during his last illness, the satisfaction of contributing
to soothe and comfort him. That gentleman's house, at
Islington of which he is Vicar, afforded Johnson, occasionally and easily, an agreeable change of place and fresh air,
and he attended also upon him in town in the discharge
of the sacred offices of his profession.
Mr. Strahan has given me the agreeable assurance that,
after being in much agitation, Johnson became quite
composed, and continued so till his death.
Dr. Brocklesby, who will not be suspected of fanaticism,
obliged me with the following accounts:




462


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


" For some time before his death, all his fears were calmed and
absorbed by the prevalence of his faith, and his trust in the merits
and propitiation of JESUS CHRIST.
"He talked often to me about the necessity of faith in the
sacrifice of Jesus, as necessary, beyond all good works whatever,
for the salvation of mankind.
" He pressed me to study Dr. Clarke and to read his sermons.
I asked him why he pressed Dr Clarke, an Arian.1  Because,'
said he, ' he is fullest on the propitiatory sacrifice.'
Johnson having thus in his mind the true Christian
scheme, at once rational and consolatory, uniting justice
and mercy in the DIVINITY, with the improvement of
human nature, previous to his receiving the Holy Sacrament in his apartment, composed and fervently uttered
this prayer ~2
" Almighty and most merciful Father, I am now, as to human
eyes it seems, about to commemorate, for the last time, the death
of thy SON JEsus CHRIST, our Saviour and Redeemer. Grant, 0
Lord, that my whole hope and confidence may be in his merits,
and thy mercy; enforce and accept my imperfect repentance;
make this commemoration available to the confirmation of my
faith, the establishment of my hope, and the enlargement of my
charity; and make the death of thy SON JESUS CHRIST effectual
to my redemption. Have mercy upon me, and pardon the multitude of my offences.  Bless my friends: have mercy upon all
1 The change of his sentiments with regard to Dr. Clarke is
thus mentioned to me in a letter from the late Dr. Adams, Master
of Pembroke College, Oxford.-" The Doctor's prejudices were
the strongest, and certainly in another sense the weakest, that ever
possessed a sensible man. You know his extreme zeal for orthodoxy   But did you ever hear what he told me himself? That
he had made it a rule not to admit Dr. Clarke's name in his
Dictionary. This, however, wore off. At some distance of time
he advised with me what books he should read in defence of the
Christian religion. I recommended Clarke's Evidences of Natural
and Revealed Religion, as the best of the kind; and I find in what
is called his Prayers and Meditations, that he was frequently
employed in the latter part of his time in reading Clarke s
sermons." B.
2 The Reverend Mr. Strahan took care to have it preserved,
and has inserted it in Prayers and Meditations, p. 2i6.  B.




LAST MOMENTS


463


men. Support me, by thy Holy Spirit, in the days of weakness,
and at the hour of death; and receive me, at my death, to everlasting happiness, for the sake of JEsus CHRIST. Amen."
Having, as has been already mentioned, made his will
on the 8th and 9th of December, and settled all his
worldly affairs, he languished till Monday, the i3th of
that month, when he expired, about seven o'clock in the
evening, with so little apparent pain that his attendants
hardly perceived when his dissolution took place.
Of his last moments, my brother, Thomas David, has
furnished me with the following particulars.
c" The Doctor, from the time that he was certain his death was
near, appeared to be perfectly resigned, was seldom or never fretful
or out of temper, and often said to his faithful servant, who gave
me this account, ' Attend, Francis, to the salvation of your soul,
which is the object of greatest importance:' he also explained to
him passages in the scripture, and seemed to have pleasure in talking upon religious subjects.
"On Monday, the I3th of December, the day on which he
died, a Miss Morris, daughter to a particular friend of his, called,
and said to Francis, that she begged to be permitted to see the
Doctor, that she might earnestly request him to give her his
blessing. Francis went into his room, followed by the young
lady, and delivered the message. The Doctor turned himself in
the bed, and said, ' God bless you, my dear!' These were the
last words he spoke.-His difficulty of breathing increased till
about seven o'clock in the evening, when Mr. Barber and Mrs.
Desmoulins, who were sitting in the room, observing that the
noise he made in breathing had ceased, went to the bed, and
found he was dead."
About two days after his death, the following very
agreeable account was communicated to Mr Malone, in
a letter by the Honourable John Byng, to whom I am
much obliged for granting me permission to introduce it
in my work.
" DEAR SIR,
" SINCE I saw you, I have had a long conversation with
Cawstonx who sat up with Dr. Johnson, from nine o'clock on
1 Servant to the Right Honourable William Windham. B.




464


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Sunday evening till ten o'clock on Monday morning. And,
from what I can gather from him, it should seem that Dr.
Johnson was perfectly composed, steady in hope, and resigned
to death. At the interval of each hour, they assisted him to sit
up in his bed, and move his legs, which were in much pain;
when he regularly addressed himself to fervent prayer; and
though, sometimes, his voice failed him, his sense never did,
during that time. The only sustenance he received, was cider
and water.  He said his mind was prepared, and the time to
his dissolution seemed long. At six in the morning he inquired
the hour, and, on being informed, said that all went on regularly,
and he felt he had but a few hours to live.
"At ten o'clock in the morning, he parted from  Cawston,
saying, 'You should not detain Mr. Windham's servant:-I
thank you   bear my remembrance to your master.' Cawston
says that no man could appear more collected, more devout, or
less terrified at the thoughts of the approaching minute.
"This account, which is so much more agreeable than, and
somewhat different from, yours, has given us the satisfaction of
thinking that that great man died as he lived, full of resignation,
strengthened in faith, and joyful in hope."
A few days before his death, he had asked Sir John
Hawkins, as one of his executors, where he should be
buried; and on being answered, "Doubtless in Westminster Abbey," seemed to feel a satisfaction very natural
to a poet; and indeed in my opinion very natural to
every man of any imagination, who has no family
sepulchre in which he can be laid with his fathers. Accordingly, upon Monday, December 20, his remains
were deposited in that noble and renowned edifice; and
over his grave was placed a large blue flag-stone, with
this inscription:
"SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.
Obiit xIII die Decembris
Anno Domini
M. DCC. LXXXIV.
Atatis sua LXXV."
His funeral was attended by a respectable number of
his friends, particularly such of the members of THE
LITERARY CLUB as were then in town; and was also




FUNERAL IN THE ABBEY


465


honoured with the presence of several of the Reverend
Chapter of Westminster. Mr. Burke, Sir Joseph Banks,
Mr. Windham, Mr. Langton, Sir Charles Bunbury, and
Mr. Colman, bore his pall. His schoolfellow, Dr Taylor,
performed the mournful office of reading the burial
service.
I trust I shall not be accused of affectation, when I
declare, that I find myself unable to express all that I
felt upon the loss of such a "Guide, Philosopher, and
Friend."' I shall, therefore, not say one word of my
own, but adopt those of an eminent friend [Gerard
Hamilton], which he uttered with an abrupt felicity,
superior to all studied compositions -" He has made a
chasm, which not only nothing can fill up, but which
nothing has a tendency to fill up.-Johnson is dead.-Let
us go to the next best:-there is nobody; no man can
be said to put you in mind of Johnson."
As Johnson had abundant homage paid to him during
his life,2 so no writer in this nation ever had such an
1 On the subject of Johnson I may adopt the words of Sir
John Harrington, concerning his venerable Tutor and Diocesan,
Sir John Still, Bishop of Bath and Wells; " Who hath given me
some helps, more hopes, all encouragements in my best studies
to whom I never came but I grew more religious; from whom
I never went, but I parted better instructed. Of him therefore,
my acquaintance, my friend, my instructor, if I speak much, it
were not to be marvelled; if I speak frankly, it is not to be
blamed; and though I speak partially, it were to be pardoned."
Nuga Antiqua, vol. i. p. 136. There is one circumstance in Sir
John's character of Bishop Still, which is peculiarly applicable to
Johnson " He became so famous a disputer, that the learnedest
were even afraid to dispute with him: and he finding his own
strength, could not stick to warn them in their arguments to take
heed to their answers, like a perfect fencer that will tell aforehand
in which button he will give the venew, or like a cunning chessplayer that will appoint aforehand with which pawn and in what
place he will give the mate." Ibid. B.
2 Beside the dedications to him by Dr. Goldsmith, the Reverend
Dr. Franklin, and the Reverend Mr. Wilson, which I have
mentioned according to their dates, there was one by a lady, of a
versification of fningait and Ajut [Rambler, No. I86], and one
lIIr                                        HH




466


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


accumulation of literary honours after his death. A
sermon upon that event was preached in St. Mary's
by the ingenious Mr. Walker, of his Rhetorical Grammar. I have
introduced into this work several compliments paid to him in the
writings of his contemporaries; but the number of them is so
great, that we may fairly say that there was almost a general
tribute. Let me not be forgetful of the honour done to him by
Colonel Myddleton, of Gwaynynog, near Denbigh; who, on the
banks of a rivulet in his park, where Johnson delighted to stand
and repeat verses, erected an urn with the following inscription:
"This spot was often dignified by the presence of SAMUEL
JOHNSON, LL.D., whose moral writings, exactly conformable to
the precepts of Christianity, gave ardour to Virtue and confidence
to Truth." As no inconsiderable circumstance of his fame, we
must reckon the extraordinary zeal of the artists to extend and
perpetuate his image. I can enumerate a bust by Mr. Nollekens,
and the many casts which are made from it; several pictures by
Sir Joshua Reynolds, from one of which, in the possession of the
Duke of Dorset, Mr. Humphry executed a beautiful miniature in
enamel: one by Mrs. Frances Reynolds, Sir Joshua's sister one
by Mr. Zoffany; and one by Mr. Opie; and the following engravings of his portrait' I. One by Cooke, from Sir Joshua, for
the proprietors' edition of his folio Dictionary.-2. One from
ditto, by ditto, for their quarto edition.-3. One from Opie, by
Heath, for Harrison's edition of his Dictionary.-4. One from
Nollekens' bust of him, by Bartolozzi, for Fielding's quarto
edition of his Dictionary. —5. One small, from Harding, by
Trotter, for his Beauties.-6. One small, from Sir Joshua, by
Trotter, for his Lives of the Poets.-7. One small, from  Sir
Joshua, by Hall, for The Rambler.-8. One small, from    an
original drawing, in the possession of Mr. John Simco, etched
by Trotter, for another edition of his Lives of the Poets.-9. One
small, no painter's name, etched by Taylor, for his Johnsoniana.io. One folio whole-length, with his oak-stick, as described in
Boswell's Tour, drawn and etched by Trotter. —x. One large
mezzotinto, from  Sir Joshua, by Doughty.-12. One large
Roman head, from   Sir Joshua, by Marchi.-3. One octavo,
holding a book to his eye, from Sir Joshua, by Hall, for his
Works.-14. One small, from    a drawing from the life, and
engraved by Trotter, for his Life published by Kearsley. —5.
One large, from Opie, by Mr. Townley (brother of Mr. Townley of the Commons), an ingenious artist, who resided some
time at Berlin, and has the honour of being engraver to his




MONUMENTS


467


Church, Oxford, before the University, by the Reverend
Mr. Agutter of Magdalen College.1 The Lives, the
Memoirs, the Essays, both in prose and verse, which
have been published concerning him, would make many
volumes. The numerous attacks too upon him I consider as part of his consequence, upon the principle which
he himself so well knew      and asserted.    Many whc
trembled at his presence, were forward in assault, when
they no longer apprehended danger.     When one of his
little pragmatical foes was invidiously snarling at his fame,
at Sir Joshua Reynolds's table, the Reverend Dr. Parr
exclaimed, with his usual bold animation, " Ay, now that
the old lion is dead, every ass thinks he may kick at him."
A monument for him, in Westminster Abbey, was
resolved upon soon after his death, and was supported
by a most respectable contribution; but the Dean and
Majesty the King of Prussia. This is one of the finest mezzotintos that ever was executed; and what renders it of extraordinary value, the plate was destroyed after four or five impressions
only were taken off. One of them is in the possession of Sir
William Scott. Mr. Townley has lately been prevailed with to
execute and publish another of the same, that it may be more
generally circulated among the admirers of Dr. Johnson.-I6.
One large, from Sir Joshua's first picture of him, by Heath, for
this work in quarto.-I17. One octavo, by Baker, for the octavo
edition.-I8. And one for Lavater's Essays on Physiognomy, in
which Johnson's countenance is analysed upon the principles of
that fanciful writer.-There are also several seals with his head
cut on them, particularly a very fine one by that eminent artist,
Edward Burch, Esq., R.A., in the possession of the younger Dr.
Charles Burney. Let me add, as a proof of the popularity of his
character, that there are copper pieces struck at Birmingham with
his head impressed on them, which pass current as halfpence there,
and in the neighbouring parts of the country  B.
1 It is not yet published.-In a letter to me, Mr. Agutter says:
{" My sermon before the University was more engaged with Dr.
Johnson's moral than his intellectual character. It particularly
examined his fear of death, and suggested several reasons for the
apprehensions of the good, and the indifference of the infidel in
their last hours; this was illustrated by contrasting the death of
Dr. Johnson and Mr. Hume: the text was Job xxi. 22-26." B.




468


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


Chapter of St. Paul's having come to a resolution of
admitting monuments there upon a liberal and magnificent
plan, that Cathedral was afterwards fixed on as the place
in which a cenotaph should be erected to his memory:'
and in the cathedral of his native city of Lichfield, a
smaller one is to be erected.2 To compose his epitaph,
could not but excite the warmest competition of genius.8
If laudari a laudato viro be praise which is highly
estimable, I should not forgive myself were I to omit
the following sepulchral verses on the author of THE
ENGLISH DICTIONARY, written by the Right Honourable
Henry Flood. 4
X The subscription for this monument, which cost  I 1155, was
begun by the Literary Club, and completed by the aid of Johnson's
other friends and admirers. Malone. The work was executed by
John Bacon, and, irrespective of the indifferent likeness, is perhaps
the most absurd object to be seen either in St. Paul's Cathedral or
in Westminster Abbey. As some of the members of the committee for its erection had signed the famous remonstrance to
Johnson on Goldsmith's epitaph, it is a pity that they did not now
take Flood's advice and insist that the genius of the author of
the English Dictionary should be commemorated in the English
language.
2 This monument has been since erected. It consists of a
medallion, with a tablet beneath, on which is this inscription.
" The friends of SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D., a native of Lichfield,
erected this Monument, as a tribute of respect to the memory of
a man of extensive learning, a distinguished moral writer, and a
sincere Christian. He died Dec. 13, 1784, aged 75."  Malone.
8 The Reverend Dr. Parr, on being requested to undertake it,
thus expressed himself in a letter to William Seward, Esq.. "I
leave this mighty task to some hardier and some abler writer. The
variety and splendour of Johnson's attainments, the peculiarities of
his character, his private virtues, and his literary publications, fill
me with confusion and dismay, when I reflect upon the confined
and difficult species of composition, in which alone they can be
expressed, with propriety, upon his monument." But I understand that this great scholar, and warm admirer of Johnson, has
yielded to repeated solicitations, and executed the very difficult
undertaking. B. Most of those who read the inscription will
probably regret that Parr did not adhere to his original resolution.
4 To prevent any misconception on this subject, Mr. Malone,




JOHNSON'S APPEARANCE


469


" No need of Latin or of Greek to grace
Our JOHNSON'S memory, or inscribe his grave;
His native language claims this mournful space,
To pay the immortality he gave."
The character of SAMUEL JOHNSON has, I trust, been
so developed in the course of this work, that they who
have honoured it with a perusal, may be considered as well
acquainted with him. As, however, it may be expected
that I should collect into one view the capital and distinguishing features of this extraordinary man, I shall
endeavour to acquit myself of that part of my biographical
undertaking,1 however difficult it may be to do that which
many of my readers will do better for themselves.
His figure was large and well formed, and his countenance of the cast of an ancient statue; yet his appearance
was rendered strange and somewhat uncouth by convulsive
cramps, by the scars of that distemper which it was once
by whom these lines were obligingly communicated, requests me
to add the following remark: "In justice to the late Mr. Flood,
now himself wanting, and highly meriting, an epitaph from his
country, to which his transcendent talents did the highest honour,
as well as the most important service; it should be observed, that
these lines were by no means intended as a regular monumental
inscription for Dr. Johnson. Had he undertaken to write an
appropriate and discriminative epitaph for that excellent and extraordinary man those who knew Mr. Flood's vigour of mind, will
have no doubt that he would have produced one worthy of his
illustrious subject. But the fact was merely this In Dec. 1789,
after a large subscription had been made for Dr. Johnson's monument, to which Mr. Flood liberally contributed, Mr. Malone
happened to call on him at his house in Berners Street, and the
conversation turning on the proposed monument, Mr. Malone
maintained that the epitaph, by whomsoever it should be written,
ought to be in Latin. Mr. Flood thought differently. The next
morning, in the postscript to a note on another subject, he mentioned that he continued of the same opinion as on the preceding
day, and subjoined the lines above given." B.
1 As I do not see any reason to give a different character of my
illustrious friend now, from what I formerly gave, the greatest part
of the sketch of him in my Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides is
here adopted. B.




470


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


imagined the royal touch could cure, and by a slovenly
mode of dress. He had the use only of one eye; yet so
much does mind govern and even supply the deficiency of
organs, that his visual perceptions, as far as they extended,
were uncommonly quick and accurate. So morbid was his
temperament that he never knew the natural joy of a free
and vigorous use of his limbs. when he walked, it was
like the struggling gait of one in fetters; when he rode,
he had no command or direction of his horse, but was
carried as if in a balloon. That with his constitution and
habits of life he should have lived seventy-five years, is a
proof that an inherent vivida vis is a powerful preservative
of the human frame.
Man is, in general, made up of contradictory qualities;
and these will ever shew themselves in strange succession,
where a consistency in appearance at least, if not reality,
has not been attained by long habits of philosophical
discipline. In proportion to the native vigour of the
mind, the contradictory qualities will be the more prominent, and more difficult to be adjusted; and, therefore,
we are not to wonder that Johnson exhibited an eminent
example of this remark which I have made upon human
nature. At different times he seemed a different man,
in some respects; not, however, in any great or essential
article, upon which he had fully employed his mind, and
settled certain principles of duty, but only in his manners,
and in the display of argument and fancy in his talk.
He was prone to superstition, but not to credulity,
Though his imagination might incline him to a belief of
the marvellous and the mysterious, his vigorous reason
examined the evidence with jealousy. He was a sincere
and zealous Christian, of high Church-of-England and
monarchical principles, which he would not tamely suffer
to be questioned; and had, perhaps, at an early period,
narrowed his mind somewhat too much, both as to religion
and politics. His being impressed with the danger of
extreme latitude in either, though he was of a very
independent spirit, occasioned his appearing somewhat
unfavourable to the prevalence of that noble freedom of




JOHNSON'S CHARACTER


471


sentiment which is the best possession of man. Nor can
it be denied, that he had many prejudices; which, however,
frequently suggested many of his pointed sayings, that
rather shew a playfulness of fancy than any settled
malignity. He was steady and inflexible in maintaining
the obligations of religion and morality; both from a
regard for the order of society, and from a veneration
for the GREAT SOURCE of all order; correct, nay, stern in
his taste; hard to please, and easily offended; impetuous
and irritable in his temper, but of a most humane and
benevolent heart,1 which shewed itself not only in a most
liberal charity, as far as his circumstances would allow,
but in a thousand instances of active benevolence. He
was afflicted with a bodily disease which made him often
restless and fretful; and with a constitutional melancholy,
the clouds of which darkened the brightness of his fancy,
and gave a gloomy cast to his whole course of thinking
we, therefore, ought not to wonder at his sallies of impatience and passion at any time; especially when provoked
by obtrusive ignorance, or presuming petulance; and allowance must be made for his uttering hasty and satirical
sallies even against his best friends. And, surely, when
it is considered, that, "amidst sickness and sorrow," he
exerted his faculties in so many works for the benefit
of mankind, and particularly that he achieved the great
and admirable DICTIONARY of our language, we must be
astonished at his resolution. The solemn text, "of him
to whom much is given, much will be required," seems to
have been ever present to his mind, in a rigorous sense,
and to have made him dissatisfied with his labours and
acts of goodness, however comparatively great; so that
the unavoidable consciousness of his superiority was, in
1 In the Olla Podrida, a collection of essays published at Oxford,
there is an admirable paper upon the character of Johnson, written
by the Reverend Dr. Home, the last excellent Bishop of Norwich.
The following passage is eminently happy: —" To reject wisdom,
because the person of him who communicates it is uncouth, and
his manners are inelegant;-what is it but to throw away a pineapple, and assign for a reason the roughness of its coat?" B.




472


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


that respect, a cause of disquiet. He suffered so much
from this, and from the gloom which perpetually haunted
him and made solitude frightful, that it may be said of
him, " If in this life only he had hope, he was of all men
most miserable." He loved praise, when it was brought
to him; but was too proud to seek for it. He was
somewhat susceptible of flattery. As he was general and
unconfined in his studies, he cannot be considered as master
of any one particular science; but he had accumulated a
vast and various collection of learning and knowledge,
which was so arranged in his mind, as to be ever in
readiness to be brought forth. But his superiority over
other learned men consisted chiefly in what may be called
the art of thinking, the art of using his mind: a certain
continual power of seizing the useful substance of all that
he knew, and exhibiting it in a clear and forcible mahner;
so that knowledge, which we often see to be no better
than lumber in men of dull understanding, was in him
true, evident, and actual wisdom. His moral precepts are
practical; for they are drawn from an intimate acquaintance with human nature. His maxims carry conviction;
for they are founded on the basis of common sense, and
a very attentive and minute survey of real life.  His
mind was so full of imagery, that he might have been
perpetually a poet; yet it is remarkable, that, however
rich his prose is in this respect, his poetical pieces, in
general, have not much of that splendour, but are rather
distinguished by strong sentiment, and acute observation,
conveyed in harmonious and energetic verse, particularly
in heroic couplets. Though usually grave, and even awful
in his deportment, he possessed uncommon and peculiar
powers of wit and humour; he frequently indulged himself in colloquial pleasantry; and the heartiest merriment
was often enjoyed in his company; with this great advantage, that it was entirely free from any poisonous
tincture of vice or impiety, it was salutary to those who
shared in it. He had accustomed himself to such accuracy
in his common conversation,' that he at all times expressed
I Though a perfect resemblance of Johnson is not to be found




CONVERSATION


473


his thoughts with great force, and an elegant choice of
language, the effect of which was aided by his having a
in any age, parts of his character are admirably expressed by
Clarendon in drawing that of Lord Falkland, whom the noble
and masterly historian describes at his seat near Oxford:-" Such
an immenseness of wit, such a solidity of judgment, so infinite
a fancy bound in by a most logical ratiocination.-His acquaintance was cultivated by the most polite and accurate men, so that
his house was an University in less volume, whither they came,
not so much for repose as study, and to examine and refine those
grosser propositions, which laziness and consent made current in
conversation." Bayle's account of Menage may also be quoted as
exceedingly applicable to the great subject of this work.-" His
illustrious friends erected a very glorious monument to him in the
collection entitled Menagiana. Those who judge of things aright,
will confess that this collection is very proper to shew the extent
of genius and learning which was the character of Menage. And
I may be bold to say, that the excellent works he published will not
distinguish him from other learned men so advantageously as this.
To publish books of great learning, to make Greek and Latin
verses exceedingly well turned, is not a common talent, I own;
neither is it extremely rare. It is incomparably more difficult to
find men who can furnish discourse about an infinite number of
things, and who can diversify them an hundred ways. How
many authors are there who are admired for their works, on
account of the vast learning that is displayed in them, who are not
able to sustain a conversation. Those who know Menage only
by his books, might think he resembled those learned men; but if
you shew the MENAGIANA, yOU distinguish him from them, and
make him known by a talent which is given to very few learned
men. There it appears that he was a man who spoke off-hand
a thousand good things. His memory extended to what was
ancient and modern; to the court and to the city; to the dead
and to the living languages; to things serious and things jocose;
in a word, to a thousand sorts of subjects. That which appeared
a trifle to some readers of the Menagiana, who did not consider
circumstances, caused admiration in other readers, who minded the
difference between what a man speaks without preparation, and
that which he prepares for the press. And, therefore, we cannot
sufficiently commend the care which his illustrious friends took
to erect a monument so capable of giving him immortal glory.
They were not obliged to rectify what they had heard him say;
for, in so doing, they had not been faithful historians of his
conversation." B.




474


BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON


loud voice and a slow deliberate utterance. In him were
united a most logical head with a most fertile imagination,
which gave him an extraordinary advantage in arguing:
for he could reason close or wide, as he saw best for
the moment. Exulting in his intellectual strength and
dexterity, he could, when he pleased, be the greatest
sophist that ever contended in the lists of declamation;
and, from a spirit of contradiction and a delight in
shewing his powers, he would often maintain the wrong
side with equal warmth and ingenuity; so that, when
there was an audience, his real opinions could seldom be
gathered from his talk; though when he was in company
with a single friend, he would discuss a subject with
genuine fairness; but he was too conscientious to make
error permanent and pernicious by deliberately writing it;
and, in all his numerous works he earnestly inculcated
what appeared to him to be the truth; his piety being
constant, and the ruling principle of all his conduct.
Such was SAMUEL JOHNSON, a man whose talents,
acquirements, and virtues, were so extraordinary, that
the more his character is considered, the more he will
be regarded by the present age, and by posterity, with
admiration and reverence.




INDEX


ABERCROMBIE, JAMES, of Philadelphia,
i. 531; ii. 28n.
Abernethy, Dr., Life of, in " Biographia Britannica," quoted, iii.
338n.
Abington, Mrs., Johnson attends her
benefit, ii. 94, 96, I I; sups with,
ii. 16
Abreu, Marquis of, i. 256
Abyssinia, voyage to, by Lobo, translated by Johnson, i. 48, 49; ii. 224
Academia della Crusca, i. 214, 325
Academy, French, i. 131, 214, 216n.
Academy, Royal, origin of, i. 264
Academy, Royal Irish, transactions of,
quoted, iii. 436
Adam, Robert and James, ii. 97;
" Works in Architecture " referred
to, ii. 354
Adamites, the, ii. 37
Adams, Dr., Master of Pembroke
College, Oxford, i. 42, 87, 124,
189, 356; describes Johnson at
Oxford, i. 28, 29, 40; discusses
dictionary-making with Johnson, i.
131; describes first representation
of" Irene," i. I38; advising Johnson as to his projected Bibliothbque,
i. 203; visited by Johnson, ii. 19go;
iii. 349; letters to Boswell, i. 187;
iii. 426, 462n.
Adams, Miss, iii. 349, 355
Adams, William, founder of Newport
School, i. 86n.
Adams, Mr.; Johnson writes dedication for his "Treatise on the
Globe," i. 403


Addison, Joseph, i. 127n., 22, 261;
ii. 4, I94n.; iii. 180, 194; tradition of his boyhood, i. I7n.; his
style compared with Johnson's, i.
158; Johnson discusses him and his
writings, i. 311; ii. 3, I 113, 133,
246, 414; iii. 137, 191; said to
have written for Budgell, ii. 256;
intemperate in use of wine, iii. 448;
saying of, iii. 34; quoted, i. 4I I;
ii. 113, 456; Johnson's Life of,
quoted, iii. I58
" Address of the Painters to George
III. on his Accession," by Johnson,
i. 256
" Address to the Reader," by Johnson, i. 94
Adey, Mary, of Lichfield, ii. 2o0;
iii. 93; letter to Boswell, i. 12
Adey, Mrs., death of, iii. 78
" Ad Lauram parituram Epigramma,"
by Johnson, quoted, i. 1o8
"Adventurer, The," i. I46, 164,
I77-181, 231
" Adversaria," specimen of Johnson's,
i. 144
Adye, see Adey
<" Agriculture, Farther Thoughts on,"
i. 220
Agutter, Rev. Mr., iii. 35 on.; preaches
on Johnson's death, iii. 467; letter
to Boswell, iii. 467
Aikin, Anna Letitia, ii. 162; copies
Johnson's style, ii. 365
Akenside, Mark, i. 26; criticised
by Johnson, i. 496; ii. 245; extracts from Johnson's Lifeof, iii. 162




476


INDEX


Akerman, Mr., keeper of Newgate,
brave conduct of, iii. 107
Alberti, Leandro, ii. I 4
Alcibiades's dog, ii. 414
Aldrich, Rev. Mr., of Clerkenwell, i.
297
Alexander the Great, i. 175, 520
Alfred, King, will of, iii. 227n.
Allen, Edmund, printer, Johnson's
landlord in Bolt Court, i. 346; ii.
II2, 336, 341, 445; iii 12, 67,
I92, 304; letter to, from Johnson,
iii. 302
Almack's, high play at, ii. 237n.
Althorp, Lord, iii. 70n., I03
Amanuenses employed on the Dictionary, list of, i. 3 I
American affairs, ii. 71, 87, 89
Amyat, Dr., physician, tells anecdote
of Johnson, i. 273n.
Andrews, Dr., Provost of Dublin
University, i. 360
Angel, Captain, i. 253
Angel, Mr., asks Johnson to write him
a preface, ii. 13
" Annales," by Johnson, i. 40
Anne, Queen, Johnson's recollection
of, i. 16
"Annual Register," ii. 54n.
Apicius, ii. 194
Apollonius Rhodius, i. 208
" Appeal to the Public in behalf of the
Editor," by Johnson, i. 94
Appleby in Leicestershire, school
offered to Johnson at (?), i. 87n.
Arbuthnot, Dr., ii. 134; praised by
Johnson, i. 311
Argenson, Mr., visited by Johnson,
ii. I48
Argyle, Archibald Duke of, i. 132;
iii. 350; suit against Sir A. Maclean, ii.  39n., 302; entertains
Wilkes, ii. 279
Argyle, Duchess of, i. 173
Aristotle, i. 136n.; his doctrine of
the purpose of tragedy discussed,
ii. 250; saying of, quoted, iii.
12.7


Aristarchus,  Greville's  praise  of,
iii. 366
Armstrong, Johnny, song of, quoted,
i. 294
Arnaud, iii. 41
Arnold, Thomas, M.D., his " Observations on Insanity," ii. 368
Articles, Thirty-nine, petition against
subscription to, i. 485
"Art of Living in London," by
Johnson, i. 64
Ascham, Johnson's Life of, i. 342
Ashbourne, Johnson stays at, i. 45;
ii. 332, 362, 363; iii. 229
Assassination Plot, i. 51 n.
Astle, Thomas, i. Io6; iii. 372;
letter to, from Johnson, iii. 2 27
Astle, Rev. Mr., advised by Johnson
as to studies, iii. 372
Aston, Catherine, i. 46n.
Aston, Misses, i. 45
Aston, Molly, i. 45; ii. 210; iii.
162; epigram on, by Johnson, i.
46n; iii. 36
Aston, Mrs., ii. 210, 213; iii. 95;
her illness, ii. 330, 397
Aston, Sir Thomas, i. 45, 66n.
Athol, Earl of, tortured, i. 373
Athol porridge, iii. I 8
Atterbury, Bishop, his sermons, ii.
411, 428
Auchinleck in Ayrshire, visited by
Johnson, ii. 49; entail of estate, ii.
I65-175
Auchinleck, Lord, i. 530; ii. 69,
401, 422; his marriage, ii. 298;
his death, iii. 244
Ayrshire, election petition in, iii. 177
BACON, LORD, i. 155, 491; Johnson
on, ii. 384; quoted, i. 8; iii. 309
Bagshaw, Rev. Mr., Johnson's letters
to, ii. 43; iii. 404
Baldwin, Mr., printer, iii. 380
Ballow, Thomas, ii. 236
Banks, Mr., of Dorsetshire, i. 98
Banks, Sir Joseph, i. 353,479, 482n.;
ii. 366n.; iii. 56, 59, 70n.; pall



INDEX


477


bearer at Johnson's funeral, iii. 465;  Johnson, iii. 275; verses quoted,
letter from Johnson, i. 479        iii. 2IOn.
Bannatine, George, i. 261          Barnard, Dr., Dean of Kerry, ii. 419
Barbauld, Mrs., see Aikin, Anna Barnard, Dr., Provost of Eton, iii.
Letitia                            104
Barber, Francis, Johnson's black serv- Barnard, Mr., King's librarian, i. 396,
ant, i. ion., 166, 371, 393n., 48I1;  40
ii. 6, 62, 137; iii. 421, 428; his Barnes, Joshua, his Maccaronic verses,
early history, i. I68n.; his wife,  ii. 457
i. I67; his account of Johnson's Barnston, Letitia, iii. 94n.
grief for his wife, i. I68; serves in Barretier, Philip, Johnson's Life of,
the Navy, i. 252; goes to school,  i. 99
i. 416; receives religious instruction Barrington, Hon. Daines, iii. 323;
from Johnson, ii. 124; iii. 463;   his essay against migration of birds,
Johnson's liberal provision for, iii.  ii. 34; Johnson seeks his acquaint450; letters from Johnson, i. 416,  ance, iii. 13
457                              Barrow, Dr., his sermon quoted, iii.
Barclay, A., "The Ship of Fools,"    202n.
i. 197                           Barry, Sir Edward, Bart., his " SysBarclay, Mr., of Oxford, answers     ter of Physic," ii. 246
Kenrick's attack on Johnson, i. Barry, Mr., exhibition of pictures by,
367                                iii. 299; letter from Johnson to, iii.
Barclay, Mr., brewer, iii. 213n1.    281
Barclay, Robert, of Ury, iii. 2 3n.  Barter, Mr., i. 497
Baretti, Joseph, i. 185, 199, 373n., Baskerville's edition of Virgil, Johnson
420; ii. 143, 195, 223, 233, 299,  presents copy of, to Trinity College,
356; iii. 62; his history, i. 217;  Oxford, i. 421;   of  Barclay's
introduced to Rev. T. Warton by    "Apology," ii. 203
Johnson, i. 240; praised by John- "Bastard, The," a poem, i. I 5
son, i. 413;   arraigned at Old Bate, Rev. Henry, the "fighting parBailey for murder, acquitted, i. 439,  son," iii. 359
441; quarrels with Davies, i. 530; Bateman, Mr., of Christchurch, Oxwrites against Mrs. Thrale in "The  ford, i. 41
European Magazine," ii. 258n.; Bath, visited by Johnson, ii. 255
consultation of his friends before Batheaston  Villa, near  Bath, ii.
trial, iii. 382; his anecdote of Mrs.  o06
Thrale, iii. 401; Johnson's letters Bathurst, Colonel, i. 68n.
to, i. 262, 265, 269, 276; his Bathurst, Dr. Richard, i. 134, 164,
Italian  and  English  Dictionary,  i68n., 177, I79; iii. 139; death
Johnson writes Dedication for, i.  of, i. 170n., 277
256; "Easy Lessons in Italian Bathurst, Lord, i. 102; iii. 42, 85,
and English," Preface by Johnson   I 57
for, ii. 69; " Frusta Letteraria," ii. Baxter, Richard, ii. 39; his " Call to
365                                the Unconverted," iii. 326; Erse
Barnard, Dr., Bishop of Killaloe, i.  version of, presented by Johnson to
353; ii. 83; iii. 196; tells anec-  Bodlian, ii. 60; Johnson comdote of Johnson, i. 62n.; Johnson  mends his works, iii. 301, 310
calls on, iii. 210; charade on, by Baxter, William, his "Anacreon,"




478


INDEX


collated by Lord Auchinleck with
Leyden MS., iii. 313
Bayle,  Pierre, his  " Dictionary,"
praised by Johnson, i. 311; his
account of Menage, applied well, to
Johnson, iii. 473n.
Beattie, Dr. J., i. 521; ii. 43, 48;
iii. 198, 387, 388; introduced to
Johnson, i. 477; his wife, i. 480,
483; his college, i. 480; his
popularity, i. 483; ii. 47; letter
to Boswell, i. 483n.; letter to, from
Johnson, iii. I09; Johnson's admiration for his works, i. 527, 528;
iii. 269
Beauclerk, Lady Di, ii. 26, 33n., 71;
her bet with Boswell, ii. Iol
Beauclerk, Lord Sidney, i. 174
Beauclerk, Topham, i. 57, 174, 259,
270, 276, 315, 353, 394, 460; ii.
i8, 23, 26, 33n., 76, 9i, 97, I I2,
113n1., 114, 139, 233, 385n., 396;
iii. 44, 48, 72, 00, I23, 138;
entertains Johnson at Windsor, i.
175; visits Cambridge with, i. 359;
witness at Baretti's trial, i. 441;
called Beau, ii. 42; his illness, ii.
71, 86, 305; his sayings, ii. 123;
iii. 277; anecdote told by, ii. 16o0;
his equable disposition, ii. 223,
382; his account of play at Almack's, ii. 237; argues with Johnson, ii. 455; quarrels with Johnson,
iii. 70; criticised by Johnson, iii.
75; his death, iii. 100, 103; Johnson's affection for him, iii. 124;
his inscriptions under Garrick's and
Johnson's portraits, iii. 195, 265;
his library sold, iii. 201; letter to,
from Johnson, i. 17 In.
Beaufort, Duchess of, iii. 104
Beaumont, Francis, i. 41n.
Beaumont and Fletcher, anecdote of, ii
105
"Beauties of Johnson," unauthorisec
publication, iii. 240; criticised, iii
241
Beckford, Alderman, ii. 282, 390


Bedford, Duke of, attacks Ministry,
iii. 376
Bedlam, visited by Johnson, ii. 136
Beech, Thomas, his " Eugenio," ii.
27n.
Beggar's Opera, the, criticised by
Johnson, iii. 19; quoted, iii. 193
Behmen, Jacob, i. 463
Belgrade, siege of, described by Paoli,
i. 510
Bell, John, his " Travels," i. 41 2
Bell, Mrs., Johnson writes part of
Epitaph on, i. 529n.
Bellamy, Mrs., letter to Johnson, iii.
315
Belsham, W., his " Essay on Dramatic
Poetry," quoted, i. 282n.
Bennet, Mr., Johnson writes Dedication for, i. 343
Bentham, Rev. Dr., of Oxford, ii.
192
Bentley, R., i. 38; works praised by
Johnson, ii. 192; iii. 134
Berenger, Richard, iii. 19o
Beresford, Mrs., an American lady,
iii. 347
Beresford, Rev. Mr., ii. 458
Berkeley, Bishop, ii. 358; his sophistry, i. 347; iii. 138; Johnson's
opinion of him, i. 470
Berwick-upon-Tweed, Johnson passes
through, ii. 49
Berwick, Memoirs of the Duke of,
ii. 459
Bevill, Rev. Mr., his "Defence of
Hammond," iii. 169
Bibliothique, Johnson's scheme of, i.
203, Bickerstaff, Isaac, i. 432
Bicknell, Mr., his "Musical Travels
of Joel Collyer," Johnson ridiculed
in, i. 226
Binning, Lord, i. 515; iii. 27
", Biographia Britannica," ii. 194;
1   Johnson declines to edit, ii. 366;
quoted, iii. 24n.
"Biographia Dramatica," i. 26 in.
" Biographical Dictionary," i. 261 n.




INDEX


479


Birch, Rev. I)r. T., letters to Mrs.
Elizabeth Carter, i. 92; to Johnson, ii. 204; letters to, from Cave,
i. IOs, 102, I04; from Johnson,
i. I o, i6o, 204; from Earl of
Orrery, i. 130; from Bishop Warburton, i. 3
Birmingham, i. 10, 47, 57, 64; visited
by Johnson, i. 47, 52; ii. 201;
111. 229
Bishop, a liquor, i. 176
Blackfriars Bridge, i. 254
Blacklock, Dr. Thomas, i. 239;
Johnson's opinion of his poetry, i.
344
Blackmore, Sir Richard, his poems,
iii. 60; criticised by Johnson, i.
451; Johnson's Life of, quoted,
iii. 16I
Blackstone, Judge, i. 4i; iii. 70,
91; quoted, ii. I20n.
Blackwall, Anthony, i. 46
Blagden, Dr., iii. 1 4
Blair, Rev. Dr. Hugh, i. 261, 287,
417; ii. 56, 59, 75, 258; his
sermons praised by Johnson, ii. 299,
304, 360, 397; iii. 34, i96; attacks
Johnson's style, ii. 364; letter to
Boswell, iii. 85
Blair, Rev. Robert, "The Grave,"
a poem, ii. 256
Blake, Admiral, Johnson's Life of,
i. 99
Blanchetti, Marquis and Marchioness,
ii. 147
Bland, Richard, of Virginia, i. 53 In.
Blaney, Elizabeth, i. I I; iii. 423
Blenheim Park, ii. 196
Bocage, ii. 147
Bocardo, i. 136n.
Bodleian Library, i. 195, 397; iii.
57; Johnson presents books to, i.
195n., 217; ii. 60
Boerhave, ii. 134; his Life by Johnson, i. 94
Boethius, i. 93, 466
Boileau, iii. 4i; his imitation of
Juvenal, i. 76; Quoted, iii. 405


Bolingbroke, Lady, her description
of Pope, iii. 2 I
Bolingbroke, Lord, iii. 38, 42, 44,
86, I57; condemned by Johnson,
i. 191, 236; letter to Sir William
Wyndham, ii. 417n.
Bolingbroke, second Lord, ii. 33n.
Bologna sausages, praised by Johnson,
i. 521
Bonner, Bishop, i. 41n.
"( Bon Ton," a play, ii. 97
Booksellers, provincial, rare in Johnson's time, i. IO
Boothby, Miss, correspondence with
Johnson, i. Ion.; ii. IOIn.; letter
from Johnson to, iii. I63n.
Boothby, Mrs. Hill, i. 45
Boscawen, Hon. Mrs., iii. 27, I04,
I94
Boscovich, P&re Roger Joseph, i.
465; praises Johnson's Latin conversation, ii. 16I
Bosville, Mrs., i. 500
Boswell, Sir Alexander, i. 509n.
Boswell, Claude Irvine, Lord Balmuto,
ii. 298n.
Boswell, David, ancestor of J. Boswell,
ii. I65
Boswell, Dr., i. 321; his description
of Johnson, ii. 224
Boswell, Mrs., ii. 54, 61, 139, 142;
iii. 54; dislikes Johnson, ii. 51;
present from Johnson to, iii. 62;
illness and death, ii. 400; iii. 230;
letter to Johnson, iii. 248; letters
to from Johnson, ii. 290; iii. 246
Boswell, James, his views on biography, i. 3-9; on the Slave Trade,
ii. 391; suffers from hypochondria,
i. 35n.; first interview with Johnson, i. 284; gives Johnson a sketch
of his life, i. 294; anecdote of his
childhood, i. 3 6n.; goes with
Johnson to Greenwich, i. 336; to
Oxford, i. 405; ii. 189; to the
Pantheon, i. 500; to Bedlam, ii.
136; to Birmingham, ii. 20; to
Lichfield, ii. 206; to Bath, ii. 255;




480


INDEX


to Bristol, ii. 258; to Ashbourne,
ii. 332; to Keddleston, ii. 354; to
Derby, ii. 356; to Shefford,'iii. 225;
goes abroad, i. 348; goes to Shakespeare Jubilee, i. 421; visits the
Thrales at Streatham, i. 428; ii.
409; iii. 39; presents Paoli to
Johnson, i. 430; witnesses execution at Tyburn, i. 438; at Newgate, iii. 385; quarrels with Johnson, i. 450; iii. 33; marries his
cousin, i. 475; questions Johnson as to his history, i. 498; goes
to Mrs. Abington's benefit, ii. 96;
has a room in Johnson's house, ii.
137; consults Lord Hailes about
the entail, ii. I70; his conversation
with Captain Cook, ii. 224; lives
with General Paoli, ii. 247; defends
liberty of pulpit, ii. 266; sends
Johnson Lord Hailes' "Annals of
Scotland," ii. 319; regrets his censure of "Biographia Britannica,"
ii. 367n.; engaged at the Parliamentary Bar, ii. 408; his shorthand, ii. 445; is introduced to
Wesley, iii. 78; his illness, iii. 76;
procures for Johnson information
about Pope, iii. 98; attends meeting of Robin Hood Society, iii.
192, I94; engaged in ludicrous
action in Court of Sessions, iii.
222; parts with apprehension from
Johnson, iii. 301, 302; makes
application to Lord Thurlow on
Johnson's behalf, iii. 385; bids farewell to Johnson, iii. 394; letters to
Dr. Cullen, iii. 330; to Dr. Hope,
iii. 330; to Johnson, i. 351, 386,
414, 475-479, 528; ii. 51, 59,
62, 69, 72, 84, I40, I43, i6i,
174, 291, 293, 295, 301, 305,
308, 3I5, 320n., 324-330, 395,
400, 404, 451;     iii. 52, 6o,
76, 8o, 92, 96, o09, 113, 313,
318; to Munro, iii. 330; to Dr.
Percy, ii. 453; to Pitt, iii. 328n.;
letters to, from Dr. Adams, iii. 426,


462n.; from Rev. Mr. Agutter,
iii. 467n.; from Dr. Beattie, i.
483n.; from Dr. Blair, iii. 85;
from E. Dilly, ii. 310; from Sir
W. Forbes, enclosing the Round
Robin, ii. 288; from Lord Hailes,
i. 317; from  Warren Hastings,
iii. 170; from Johnson, i. 349,
370, 384, 414, 423, 453, 480,
527, 530; ii. 47, 74, 85, I39 -144, 163, i67-175, 255, 291,
292, 296, 304-308, 319-321,
325-332, 396, 401, 452; iii 54,
58, 6i, 76-81, 94-IOI, IIo,
ii6, 174, 229, 240, 244-25I,
305, 313, 3I9, 327, 329, 331,
402, 404, 428, 430; from Langton,
iii. 53, 103; from Mickle, iii.
320; from Lord Thurlow, iii.
391; from Rev. Dr. Vyse, ii.
323; his "Journal of a Tour to
the Hebrides," i. 357, 508n.; ii.
6n., 79, 304n., 381; iii. 20n.,
53, 257n., 34In., 350n., 445n.;
praised by Courtenay, by Mrs.
Thrale, ii. 50, 14; quoted, i. Io,
70, II5, 142, 157n., 253, 315,
334; iii. 290n.; his "Thesis in
Civil Law," i. 384; his "Account
of Corsica" published, i. 404;
quoted, i. 422n.; his "Hypochondriac," i. 438n.; iii. 264; his
"Matrimonial Thought," i. 454;
his " Essence of the Douglas cause,"
ii. 19n.; Journal, ii. 394; quoted,
ii. 409; verses to Hon. Miss
Monckton, quoted, iii. 2o6n.; letter
to the People of Scotland, iii. 259n.
Boswell, Thomas, founder of the
family, ii. I65
Boswell, Thomas David, ii. 374n.;
iii. I 13; introduced to Johnson,
iii. 109; his account of Johnson's
death, iii. 463
Bouchier, Governor, iii. 188
Bouffier, Claude, i. 348n.
Boufflers, Madame de, visits Johnson,
i. 460; ii. 60




INDEX


48i


Bouhours, Dominique, on beauty, i.
436
Boulter, Archbishop, i. 229n.
Bouquet, Mr., bookseller, i. 171
Bourdonne, Madame de, ii. 28n.
Bowles, William, Johnson stays with,
iil, 307
Bowyer, William, Life of, ii. 42on.
Boydell, Alderman, ii. 7 n.
Boyle, Mr., his "Martyrdom    of
Theodora," i. 224
Bradley, in Derbyshire, visited by
Johnson, i. 45
Braithwaite, Mr., of the Post Office,
iii. 343
Bramhall, Bishop, on "Liberty and
Necessity," i. 448
Brett, Colonel, i. I22n.
Brighthelmstone, Johnson visits, i.
421; ii. 297, 396; iii. 247
Bristol, Johnson visits, ii. 258
Brocklesby, Dr., iii. 261, 304, 316,
323, 329, 339; his generosity to
Johnson, iii. 393, 448; his account of Johnson's death, iii. 46;
letter to Johnson, iii. 308n.; letters
to, from Johnson, iii. 307, 406 -411
Bromley, in Kent, i. 170
Brooke, Henry, author of "The
Fool of Quality" and " Gustavus
Vasa," i. 95n., Johnson's essay
on the latter, i. 94
Brooks's Club, origin of, ii. 237n.
Broome, Life of, by Johnson, iii. 56
Brown, Capability, ii. I96; iii. 84
Brown, Rev. Robert, of Utrecht,
i. 374; ii. 461
Brown, Tom, teaches Johnson, i. 16
Browne, Isaac Hawkins, ii. 1o8; iii.
339
Browne, Rev. Dr. John, of Cambridge, i. 469n.
Browne, Sir Thomas, i. 4In.; ii.
466; influence on Johnson's style,
i. I56; his "Christian Morals,"
edited by Johnson,, with life prefixed, i. 221
11I.


Bruce, James, criticised by Johnson,
1i. 104
Bruce, Robert, ii. 52n.
Brumoy, Pare, Johnson translates for
Mrs. Lenox's English version of,
i. 251
Brydone, Patrick, "A tour through
Sicily and Malta," ii. 113, 212;
iii. 49
Buchan, Earl of, i. 506
Buchanan, George, Johnson admires
his poems, i. 338, 440; iii. 268
Buckingham, Duchess of, ii. 421
Budgell, Eustace, ii. 18, 256
Budworth, Rev- Mr., i. 46n.
Bulse, Indian measure of diamonds,
iii. 48
Bunbury, Henry, i. 302n.
Bunbury, Sir Charles, i. 353; ii. 56,
9I; iii. 70n.; pall-bearer at Johnson's funeral, iii. 465
Bunyan, John, admired by Johnson,
ii. 25
Burgoyne, General, his surrender at
Saratoga, iii. 48
Burke, Edmund, i. 249, 3 53,380,474,
5Io; ii. I2n., 26, 4I, I I 5n., 256,
285, 438; iiii. 6, io, 64, 65, I37,
164, I81, i85, I98, 341, 398; in
praise of Johnson, i. 50; ii. 270;
Johnson's views on, i. 332, 469;
ii. I96, 427n.; witness at Baretti's
trial, i. 441; Goldsmith's views
of his oratory, ii. 44; writes
Round Robin, ii. 289; his equable
disposition, ii. 382; his witticisms,
iii. 20, 176; his argument on
happiness, iii. 365; his speech
parodied  by Johnson, iii. 377;
his defence of Johnson, iii. 377;
differs from Johnson on Baretti'
case, iii. 382; compares Johnsos
to Appius, iii. 424n.; at Johnson's
sick bed, iii. 455; pall-bearer at
Johnson's funeral, iii. 465; his
" Vindication of Natural Society,"
i. 34In.; his essay on the Sublime
and Beautiful, i. 436; his speech
11




4g2


INDEX


on American Taxation, ii. 72;
his "( Letter to the Sheriff of
Bristol," criticised by Johnson,
ii. 377
Burke, Richard, i. 353; iii. 419; his
death, iii. 296n.; his argument
with Johnson, iii. 390
Burlington, Lord, iii. 42
Burnet, Bishop, " History of his Own
Times," criticised by Johnson, ii. 4
Burney, Dr. Charles, i. 289, 353,
368; ii. i6i, 435; iii. 194;
praises  Johnson's  "Preface  to
Shakespeare," i. 368; engaged on
his "History of Music," iii. 57, 58;
his " Travels " praised by Johnson,
iii. 269; letters to, from Johnson, i. 205, 233, 235, 368; iii.
311, 4I2, 427; from a lady, i.
409; quoted, i. 236, 3I2n.; ii.
47r., lion.; iii. 227
Burney, Dr. Charles, the younger,
ii. 435
Burney, Frances, iii. I02, 341, 413;
takes tea with Johnson, iii. 299;
quoted, iii. 439
Burney, Mrs., i. 364n.; iii. 286,
287; her illness, iii. 412
Burrowes, Rev. Robert, his " Essay
on the style of Dr. Samuel Johnson," iii. 436
Burrows, Rev. Dr., his sermon,
iii. 66
Burton, Robert, at Oxford, i. 29;
his "Anatomy of Melancholy,"
praised by Johnson, i. 462; ii.
189
Burton's Books, iii. 326
Bute, Earl of, i. 271, 280; ii. 94n.,
I I9, 120, 284; Johnson's opinion
of, ii. 214; letters from Johnson
to, i. 273, 275
Butler, Samuel, ii. 26; Johnson's
opinion of "Hudibras," ii. 132;
quoted, iii. 359
Butter, Dr., of Derby, ii. 218, 349,
3 57; iii. 480
Byng, Admiral, i. 467; defended by




Johnson, i. 225; his Epitaph quoted,
i. 226
Byng, Hon. John, his letter to
Malone, iii. 463






CADELL, Mr., ii. 177; iii. 30
Caesar, Julius, Bacon's remark on,
i. 8-9
"Caledonian Mercury, The," quoted,
iii. 222
Callimachus, Johnson's opinion of,
iii.  i   8
Cambridge, visited by Johnson, i.
359
Cambridge, Richard Owen, ii. 126,
430;   communicates   particulars
about Johnson, iii. 275; his death,
iii. 276n.
Camden, Lord, ii. 89; his judgment
on Douglas cause, ii. I8n.; anecdote
of, iii. I I
Camden, William, his" Remains," iii.
5, 291
Cameron, Dr. Archibald, execution
of, i. 98n.
Campbell, Archibald, his "Lexiphanes," satire on Johnson, i. 403
Campbell, Hon. Archibald, non-juring
bishop, ii. 6; praised by Johnson,
iii. 350
Campbell, Sir Archibald, ii. 265
Campbell, Rev. Dr., of St. Andrew's,
i. 26I
Campbell, Dr. John, i. 409; ii. 87;
Johnson's opinion of, i. 305; ii. 6,
194, 424
Campbell, Rev. John, of Kippen,
letter to Boswell, i. 39 n.
Campbell, Mungo, case of, ii. 379
Campbell, Dr. Thomas, ii. 107, I o,
I   16, 3; his "Diary of a Visit
to England" quoted, i. 6on., 229;
his "Philosophical Survey of the
South of Ireland," ii. Io8
"Candide," compared with "Rasselas," i. 247; iii. 49
Canus, Melchior, of Toledo, ii. 148
Cardross, Lord, see Buchan, Earl of




INDEX


483


Careless, Mrs., Johnson's first love,
ii. 205
Carleton, Captain, his "Memoirs,"
iii. 389
Carlisle, Frederick, fifth Earl of, his
poems criticised by Johnson, iii.
209, 317
Carmichael, Miss, ii. 407
Carter, Dr. Nicholas, i. 79n.
Carter, Mrs. Elizabeth, i. 171, 330n.;
iii. 194, 341; account of, i. 79n.;
advised by Johnson, i. 93; writes
in the " Rambler," i. 143; her
early rising, ii. 360; letter from
Dr. Birch to, i. 92
Carteret, Lord, see Granville, Lord
Catcot, George, ii. 258
Catiline, Sallust on, i. 7
Cator, Mr., iii. 374
Catullus, quoted, iii. 265
Cave, Miss, i. 52n.
Cave, Edward, i. 71, 74, Io, I o,
I13n., I49; iii. I9; Johnson'sfirst
publisher, i. 64; begins "Gentleman's Magazine," i. 71; sees a
ghost, i. 5o8; Johnson's opinion
of, iii. 457; his letters to Dr.
Birch, i. 93, 102, o4; letters
from Johnson to, i. 52, 66, 79, 80,
90, 91, Io6-10o7; Johnson's life
of, i. 8I
Cavendish Debates, iii. 377n.
Caxton, William, ii. 433
Cecil, Colonel, i. 512
Cervantes, ii. 133
Chalmers, George, i. 103n.
Chamberlayne, Rev. Mr., iii. 352
Chambers, Catherine, i. 244n., 246,
402
Chambers, Ephraim, his " Proposal"
for the Dictionary, i. 155
Chambers, Sir Robert, i. 240, 269,
353; ii 47, 54, 61, 236; iii.
172, 398; his intimacy with Johnson, i. 388; Vinerian Professor,
i. 405; draws Langton's will, ii.
45; his marriage, ii. 56; letter to,
from Johnson, i. 195


Chambers, Sir William, his " Chinese
Architecture " praised by Johnson,
iii. 270
Chamier, Mr., i. 353; ii. II3n., 402,
432
"Champion, The," quoted, i. II 7
Chapone, Mrs., writes for the " Rambler," i. 143; letter from Johnson
to, iii. 317
Charlemont, James, first Earl of, i.
353; ii 23; iii. 47n., I8I, 182
Charles I., ii. 5, 133
Charles II., i. 175, 324, 401; ii
133; defended   by Johnson, ii.
o09
Charles V., witty saying of, i. 431;
censured by Lord Kames, ii. 427
Charles XII. of Sweden, ii. 442;
Johnson's lines on, i. 136-137
Charles Edward, Prince, i. 2ozn., 315
Charlotte, Queen, i. 477
Charterhouse, the, i. 132; iii. 1 5
Chatham, Earl of, i. 465; ii.  In.,
16, 89; Johnson's opinion of, iii.
50; first speech in House of Lords,
iii. 376
Chatsworth, visited by Johnson, iii.
409
Chatterton, T., the " Rowley Poems,"
ii. 258; iii. 233
Chelsea College, i. 417
Chesterfield, Philip, fourth Earl of,
i. 6on., 102, 204n.; ii. 109,276;
iii. 73, 18i; " Plan" of Dictionary addressed to, i. 128; his insolence, i. 182; iii. 260; his eulogy
of the   " Dictionary"  in the
"World," i. 183; his epigram on
Sir Thomas Robinson, i. 3 I n.; his
pronunciation, i. 494; Johnson's
opinion of him, i. 89; ii. 3; iii.
388; letter from Johnson to, i. 185;
Dilly's edition of his miscellaneous
works, iii. 45; his " Letters,"
criticised by Johnson, i. 189; ii.
o00, 26; literary  property of
letters contested, i. 190; quoted,
i. 20




484


INDEX


Chesterfield, Philip, fifth Earl of, at
Dodd's trial, ii. 336
Cheyne, Dr. George, " The English
Malady," i. 33; ii. 240, 291
Cheynel, Johnson's Life of, i. I61
China, wall of, ii. 445
Choisi, Abbe, iii. 32
Cholmondeley, George James, anecdote of, iii. 399
Cholmondeley, Hon. Mrs., i. 465;
ii. 435, 439; iii. 17
Christian, Rev. Mr., of Docking, i.
409
Churchill, Rev. C., i. 287, 3Ion.; ii.
429; satirises Johnson in " The
Ghost," i. 296; his poems criticised by Johnson, i. 305; his
s Prophecy of Famine," i. 306;
his {" Rosciad," i. 399n., 419n.;
quoted, i. 82, 230, 356; ii. 408
Churton, Rev. Ralph, ii. 43n.; his
views on a passage in the burial
service, iii. 29 n.; on Boswell's
Life of Johnson, iii. 362n.
Cibber, Colley, i. I 2n., 182; ii. 440;
Johnson's epigram on, i. 101, 292;
his opinion of, i. 293, 438; ii.
109; iii. 314; Poet Laureate, i.
I30n1.; his recollection of Dryden,
ii. 278; consults Johnson, i. 375;
his "Provoked Husband," i. 406;
his "Nonjuror," ii. 94; quoted, i.
443; 1.i 340
Cibber, Mrs., i. 139, 437
Cibber, Theophilus, " Lives of the
Poets," ii. 243
Clare, Lord, tee Nugent, Robert
Clarendon, Lord, his "History,"
i. 21 3n.; his MSS. presented to the
University of Oxford, ii. 176;
criticised by Johnson, ii. 436; his
account of Villiers' Ghost, iii. 46;
his character of Falkland, iii. 473n.
Clarendon Press, ii. 176, 190
Clark, Mr., of Edinburgh, his pamphlet answered byJohnson, iii. 321
Clark, Alderman Richard, letter from
Johnson to, iii. 326


Clarke, Rev. Dr., i. 133n., 290, 448;
iii. 462; his sermons, ii. 428
Clenardus's Greek Grammar, iii. 131
Clerk, Sir Philip Jennings, iii. 183
Clermont, Lady, iii. o04
Clive, Lord, iii. 30; his suicide, iii.
45; anecdote of, iii. 84
Clive, Mrs., i. 265n.; iii. 314; Johnson's praise of, iii. 122
Clubs: the Literary, i. 353, 379,
383; ii. 23, 41, 91, TOI, 326,
396,413n.,455; iii. 56, 59, 70n.,
464; proposed augmentation of,
ii. 306; note to, from Johnson,
iii. 186; the Blue-Stocking, iii.
204; the City, iii. 187; the
Eumelian, iii. 444; the Essex
Head, i. 32n.; iii. 323, 324n., 326,
406; the King's Head, i. I 34n.;
iii. 322
Cobb, Mrs., ii. I46, 210; iii. 93
Cock Lane Ghost, ii. 443; Johnson's account of, i. 296-7
Cohausen, J. H., his "Hermippus
Redivivus," i. 305; ii. 179
Coke, Lord, i. 491
Col, Island of, visited by Johnson, ii.
49, 79; the Laird of, ii. 79
Colchester, visited by Johnson, i. 344
Collins, W,, i. 197; his character,
written by Johnson, i. 277
Colman, George, the elder, i. 147,
353, 4o6n.; ii. 91, 299; iii. 18,
24, 130; pall-bearer at Johnson's
funeral, iii. 465; his "Jealous
Wife," i. 265; his " Odes to Obscurity and Oblivion," ii. 105; his
" Letter from Lexiphanes," quoted,
iii. 438
Colman, George, the younger, his
" Random  Records," quoted, ii.
262n.
Colson, Rev. John, letter from
Walmsley, i. 63
Combabus, story of, ii. 420n.
"Comus," Johnson's Prologue to, i.
160


Confession of Faith of Assembly of




INDEX


485


Divines at Westminster (Erse), ii.
60
Congreve, Rev. Charles, Johnson's
schoolfellow, i. 17; Johnson laments
his condition, ii. 205, 217
Congreve,W., his "Mourning Bride"
praised by Johnson, i. 433, 440;
his verdict on the 4 Beggar's Opera,"
ii. I3In.; stays at Ilam, ii. 378;
quoted, i. 282n.; ii. i6; Johnson's
Life of, quoted, iii. x62
"Connoisseur," the, i. 307
"Considerations on dispute between
Crousaz and Warburton" by Johnson, i. 0o8
Cook, Captain, ii. 224; his "Voyages to the South Sea," iii. 370
Cooksey, R., Essay on Life of Lord
Somers, ii. 92n.
Cooper, John Gilbert, ii. 345n.;
nicknamed by Johnson, i. 467;
anecdote of, ii. 345
Coriat, Tom, his travels, i. 505
Cork, Countess of (Miss Monckton),
iii. 205
Cork and Orrery, Earl of, i. 214;
writes in "The World," i. X83n.;
Johnson's opinion of, i. 467; ii.
374
Cotterell, Admiral, i. 172
Cotterell, the Misses, i. 172, 269, 277
Coughlan, Anne, wife of Hon.
Thomas Hervey, i. 394n.
Courtenay, John, i. 353; iii. 6; on
the "Beggar's Opera," ii. I30n.;
his "s Poetical Review of Johnson,"
ii. 92n.; iii. 381in.; quoted, i. 31,
127n1., 157, 226, 249; iii. 433n.
Court of Session, decision of, in the
Negro cause, ii. 398
Coverley, Sir Roger de, praised by
Johnson, ii. 133
Covington) Lord, ii. 399
Cowley, Abraham, on " Plants," i.
178n.; Hurd's selection of his
works, ii. 410; Johnson's Life of,
i. 12 5; quoted, iii. 147
Cowper, William, iii. 29


Coxeter, Mr., his collection of English poets, ii. 352
Crabbe, Rev. George, his " Village"
revised by Johnson, iii. 261
Cradock, Mr., author of " Zobeide,"
ii. 250
Crashaw, R., quoted, iii. 5n.
Craven, Lady, ii. 236
"Critical Review,"   the, i. 257;
Johnson's writings in, i. 300, 355;
opinion of, i. 400; ii. 245; quoted,
i. 298n.; ii. 363
"Critical Strictures," pamphlet by
Boswell and others, i. 298
Croft, Rev. Sir Herbert, iii. 360;
his " Life of Young," iii. 164; his
"Love and Madness," iii. 2 70on.;
his advice to his pupil, iii. 370
Crouch, Mrs., iii. 301
Crousaz, his Examen of Pope's "Essay
on Man," i. 92
Cruikshank, Mr., iii. 297; letters
from Johnson to, iii. 312, 417
Cullen, Dr., ii. 134; on sleep, ii. 361;
his letter to Boswell, iii. 331; letter to, from Boswell, iii. 330
Cullen, Mr., concerned in Negro
cause, ii. 3z25, 399
Cumberland, William Duke of, i.
202n.; ii. 136, 431I.
Cumberland, R., ii. 25n1.; iii. 435;
his "Memoirs," i. 64n., 488n.; his
"Observer," iii. i69; his "Odes,"
ii. 254
Cumming, a Quaker, iii. 290
Cunningham, Mr., his duel, iii. 289
Cust, Francis Cockayne, i. i in.,
i 8n.
DACIER, Madame, iii. 29n.
Daline, his History of Sweden, i. 489
Dalrymple, Sir David, see Hailes,
Lord
Dalrymple, Sir John, his " Memoirs
of Great Britain and Ireland"
criticised by Johnson, ii. 2
Dalzel, Professor, on Johnson's knowledge of Greek, iii. 435




486


INDEX


Dante, ii. 25; quoted, ii. 413n.
Dartineuf, Charles, ii. I94n.
Dashwood, Sir Francis, i. 8 In.
Davies, Thomas, i. 3 10, 3 56, 4 I 7,418,
432 434; ii. 42; iii. 23, 27; introduces Boswell to Johnson, i. 284;
quarrels with Baretti, i. 530; his unauthorised publication of Johnson's
miscellanies, Fi. 53; misquotes Ion
motofJohnson's, ii. 16; describes
Johnson's laugh, ii. 138; in bad
circumstances, ii. 407; plans benefit at Drury Lane, ii. 428; his
"Memoirs of David Garrick," iii.
IIo; Johnson dines with, ii. 77,
io8, 250; Johnson's views on, i.
439; iii. 127; letters from Johnson
to, iii. 304, 417
Davies, Mrs., i. 284, 357
Davison, Secretary, i. 317n.
Dawkins, his "Jamaica," iii. 220
Dawson, his "Lexicon to the Greek
New Testament," iii. 89
Deane, Rev. Mr., his essay " On the
future life of Brutes," i. 410
Death-warrants, ii. 319n.
"Debate on Proposal of Parliament
to Cromwell to assume the Title of
King," by Johnson, i. IoI
Defoe, Daniel, i. 496n.; Johnson gives
list of his works, ii. 443
De Groot befriended by Johnson, ii.
323
Delany, his " Observations on Swift"
praised by Johnson, ii. 429
De Moret, aeronaut, iii. 408n.
Demosthenes, i. 502; ii. 3
Dempster, Mr., i. 298, 318, 321,
322, 521; ii. 8; censured by
Johnson, i. 325; letter to Boswell
quoted, ii. 79
Dennis, John, his "Critical Works"
commended by Johnson, ii. 251
Derby, Johnson married at, i. 57
Derby, Rev. Mr., Johnson writes
Dedication for, ii. 313
Derrick, Samuel, iii. 305n.; Johnson
on, i. 279, 286, 334; iii. 274;


quoted, i. 81; anecdote of, i.
335
Desmoulins, Mrs., i. 482; iii. 306;
supported by Dr. Johnson, i. 33,
46; ii. 407; her story of Mrs.
Johnson's selfishness, i. 167; her
illness, iii. 256, 324; her anecdote of Johnson, iii. 380; at Johnson's death-bed, iii. 463
Devaynes, Mr., apothecary to His
Majesty, iii. 339
Devonshire, Duchess of, iii. 63
Devonshire, Duke and Duchess of,
entertain Johnson at Chatsworth,
iii. 409
Devonshire, William, third Duke of,
characterised by Johnson, ii. 377
Diamond, Mr., i. 170
Diary, Johnson's, quoted, i. 37, 43,
46, I77, i8o, 360, 368; iii. 228,
230, 307, 343; his "aEgri Ephemeris," iii. 430
Dibden, C., i. 454
Dick, Sir Alexander, Bart., ii. 326;
consulted by Johnson, iii. 329; his
letter to Johnson, ii. 303
Dictionary of the English Language,
by Johnson, i. 154, I82, 204-5,
206-7, 279n., 325, 341, 488, 530,
532; ii. 43; iii. I I9; first proposed
to Johnson by Dodsley, i. 127; iii.
87; publication of Plan, i. 12 7; its
dedication to Lord Chesterfield,
i. 128; praised by Lord Orrery, i.
130; mode of writing, i. 132; discussed, i. 209-21 6; not a financial
success, i. 218; reviewed in the
"Bibliothique de Savans," i. 233;
quoted, i. 129, I76n., 212, 214n.;
ii. 386; iii. 38; parody of, quoted,
iii. 438
Dictionary,  Medicinal,  Johnson's
Dedication to Dr. Mead, quoted,
i. I09
Dilly, Charles and Edward, ii. 33,
177, 223, 458; Johnson dines
with, ii. 107, 272, 458; iii. 50,
5i, 77, 198, 343, 386; letters




INDEX


487


to Charles from Johnson, iii. 79,
325;   letter  from  Edward  to
Boswell, ii. 3 0; death of Edward,
iii. 80
Dilly, Mr., of Southill, Beds, i. i85;
ii. 33; Johnson stays with, iii.
213
Diogenes Laertius, records saying of
Aristotle, iii. 127
D'Israeli, Isaac, "Calamities and
Quarrels of Authors," i. 75 n.
"Dissertation on the State of Literature
and Authors," by Johnson, i. 220
Dixie, Sir Wolstan, Johnson disagrees
with, i. 47
Dodd, Rev. Dr. William, ii. 324,
45 5; history of his crime, ii. 335 -344; his execution, i. 319, 343;
Johnson's opinion of, ii. 320, 359;
iii. 286; his sermons, ii. 428; his
poem, "Thoughts in Prison," ii.
445; his letters to Johnson, ii. 339,
342
Doddington, Mr., see Melcombe,
Lord
Dodsley, James, i. 127, 139
Dodsley, Robert, i. 79, 81, 128, I42n.,
17I, i88, 206, 228, 247; ii. 194;
suggests the  "Dictionary"   to
Johnson, i. 127, iii. 87; buys
"Irene," i. 139; disputes with
Goldsmith,  ii.  249;  "Public
Virtue," a poem by, iii. i32;
" Cleone," a tragedy by, i. 242;
iii. 132
Dominicetti, Italian quack, i. 443
Donaldson, Alexander, bookseller,
censured by Johnson, i. 321
Donne, Dr., Walton's Life of, ii. I93;
praised by Johnson, ii. 127
Don Quixote, i. 37n.
Dosa, the brothers, i. 372n.
Dossie, Mr., Johnson's kindness to,
iii.  I25
Douglas, his collection of editions of
Horace, iii. 344
Douglas, Dr., Bishop of Salisbury,
i. 94, I8in., 353, 4I7, )I8; his


history, i, 82n.; detects Lauder's
forgery, i. 16I; investigates Cock
Lane Ghost, i. 296; anecdote of
Johnson by, i. 316; Johnson dines
with, ii. 16; calls on Johnson, iii.
342
Douglas, Dr., his literary fraud, i.
261
Douglas Estate, litigation concerning
the, ii. 18, 225.
Douglas, Mr. and Lady Jane, ii. I8
Douglas, Sir James, ii. 370
Doxy, Miss, Garrick's niece, iii. 97,
98
Drake, Sir Francis, Johnson's Life
of, i. 99
" Draughts, Introduction to the Game
of," Johnson's dedication for, i.
228
Dreghorn, Lord, see Maclaurin, Mr.
Drelincourt on Death, i. 496
Dromore, Bishop of, see Percy, Dr
Drumgold, Colonel, Johnson dines
with, ii. 156; praised by Johnson,
ii. 158
Drummond, Dr., ii. 292; iii. 69
Drummond of Hawthornden, his
" Polemo-Middinia," ii. 457
Drummond, William, i. 389; letters
from Johnson to, i. 390-393
Drury Lane Journal, i. I 54n.
Drury Lane Theatre, i. 71, 104, 126,
138, i6o, 298; ii. 96
Dryden, J., i. 500; iii. I47; Johnson on, i. 433; ii.97; iii. 41; quoted,
i. 464; ii. 13, 27; iii. 152, 366;
Johnson's Life of, quoted, iii. 15i
Dublin Journal, i. 488n.
Dublin Society, i. 229n.
Dublin, Trinity College, i. 300;
confers Doctor's degree on Johnson,
i. 360; Flood's bequest to, i. 23 In.
Du Boccage, Madame, "The Colombiade" by, iii. 388
Du Bos, his " Reflexions Critiques
sur la Poesie et la Peinture," i.
436
Ducket, George, i. 213n.




488


INDEX


Du Halde, his " Description of
China," i. 91n., 412; iii. 140
Dunbar, Dr., of Aberdeen, iii. I I
"Dunciad," The, i. o05n.
Duncombe, Mr., of Canterbury,
praised by Johnson, iii. 13
Dundas, Henry (Lord Melville), i.
i90; his pronunciation, i. 493n.;
counsel for Joseph Knight (the
negro), ii. 399
Dunfermline, contested election for,
ii. 265
Dunning, John, Lord Ashburton, i.
353; ii. 327; his accent, i. 492;
compliments Johnson, ii. 422
Dunsinan, Lord, ii. 252
Dunvegan, House of, ii. I40
Dury, Major-General Alexander, i.
241n.
Dyer, John, "The Fleece," by, ii.
I98
Dyer, Samuel, i. 353, 38on.; iii. 124
EASTON MAUDIT, visited by Johnson,
i. 358
Eccles, Rev. Mr., literary fraud by, i.
262
Eccles, Mr., i. 310
Ecclesiasticus, quoted, ii. 373
Ecole Militaire, visited by Johnson,
ii. I47
Eddystone, Johnson tries to land on, i.
274
Edial, i. 70, 478; Johnson's school
at, i. 57n.
Edinburgh, visited by Johnson, ii. 49,
50; Advocates' Library at,i. I49n.;
Transactions of Royal Society of,
quoted, iii. 136
Edward I., Lord Hailes on, ii. 63
Edwards,fellow-collegian ofJohnson's,
iii. 3, 189
Edwards, of New England, on Grace,
ii. 463
Edwards,   Rev. Dr., of Oxford,
Johnson's letter to, iii. 57
Edwards, Thomas, his "Canons of
Criticism," i. 87n.


Egg, Isle of, Erse MSS. from, ii. 85
Eglinton, Alexander Earl of, discusses
Johnson, i. 419; his death, ii. 379;
Countess of, iii. 57; his successor,
111. I5
Egmont, John Earl of, his history of
the House of Yvery, iii. 278
Eld, Mr., his definition of a Tory,
iii. 23
Elibank, Patrick Lord, i. 476, 482,
I56, 519; ii. 56, 238; his epitaph
on his wife, ii. 264; iii. 124
Eliot, Lord, i. 353; ii. 261; iii. 18I,
384, 388
Elizabeth, Madame, ii. 15I
Elizabeth, Queen, iii. 126
Elliock, Lord (of Session), ii. 399
Elliot, Mr., i. 253
Elliot, Sir Gilbert, his pronunciation,
i. 493
Ellis, Jack, the money - scrivener,
Johnson used to dine with, ii. 235
Ellsfield, near Oxford, i. I94, 209n.
Elphinston, James, i. 392, ii. 15;
assists Johnson with the "Rambler,"
i. 147, 159; his translation of Martial, ii. 436, 437; letters to, from
Johnson, i. 148; from Tytler, ii.
8I
Elwal, E., heretic, i. 496, 497; ii. 37
Emmet, Mrs., ii. 209
England, Church of, i. 342, 485
Epictetus, Discourses of, translated
by Mrs. Carter, i. 79-80n.
Epigrams, by Johnson, on Molly
Aston, 45-6n., iii. 36; on George
II. and Colley Cibber, i. IoI
Epitaphs, by Johnson, on Phillips,
i. oo; on Sir T. Hanmer, i. 124;
on Mrs. Johnson, i. I70on.; on Mrs.
Bell, i. 529n.; on Mrs. Salusbury,
ii. 47; on Goldsmith, ii. 286;
Johnson's Essay on, i. 99; Johnson's dissertation on the epitaphs
written by Pope, i. 220
Erasmus, his "Dialogus Ciceronianus,"
iii. 406
Errol, Lord, ii. 362n.




INDEX


489


Erskine, Hon. Andrew, i. 298; ii.
346
Erskine, Sir Harry, i. 280
Erskine, Thomas, Lord Erskine, i.
504, 506
Esquimaux, in London, ii. 33
Essays, by Johnson, in the " Literary
Magazine," i. 220; on Du Halde's
description of China, i. 1o8; on epitaphs, 99; on the Duchess of Marlborough, i. o04
Essex, Robert Earl of, letter to Lord
Rutland, quoted, i. 316
Ethiopia, History of, i. 48n.
"Eugenio," a poem, i. 79; quoted,
ii. 27
Euripides, i. 38, 508; quoted, i. I98
" European Magazine," i. 262n., 393n.,
45in.; iii. 274n.; quoted, i. 56n.
Eutropius, ii. 24
Evans, bookseller, beaten by Goldsmith, ii. I
Exeter, Bishop of, iii. 339
FALCONER, Rev. Dr., non - juring
Bishop, iii. 6
Falkland's Islands,Johnson's pamphlet
on, i. 470, 481; ii. 87; suppressed
by Lord North, i. 472
"False Alarm," the, pamphlet by
Johnson, i. 454, 481; ii. 90
"Fantoccini," the, i. 302.
Farmer, Rev. Dr., Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, i. 268;
his "Essay on the Learning of
Shakespeare," ii. 250; letters to,
from Johnson, i. 456; iii. Io4
Farquhar, " The Recruiting Officer,"
by, iii. 122
Faulkner, George, printer, i. 488
Fawkener, Sir Everard, i. I26n.
" Felixmarte of Hircania," i. 20
Fenton, Johnson's Life of, quoted,
ii. 94n.
Ferguson, Sir Adam, presented to
Johnson, i. 50o
Ferguson, James,-astronomer, i. 443
Ferguson, James, advocate, ii. 399


Fermor, Arabella, ii. I 5on.; her niece,
Abbess of Austin nuns, ii. 50
Ferrara, Princess of, i. 278n.
Fielding, Henry, i. I I7n.; ii. 401; his
novels, i. 38n.; ii. 254; Johnson's
opinion of them, i. 407, 504
Fielding, Sir John, i. 309; iii. Io5
Fife, Countess Dowager, her masquerade, i. 530
" Fingal," poem of, ii. 72; Johnson's
opinion of, i. 465
Fitzherbert, Alleyne, i. 45
Fitzherbert, Mr., i. 45, 264; ii. 12,
I7n., 277, 420; iii. 72, 139, 143;
Johnson's opinion of, ii. 344
Fitzherbert, William, his suicide, ii.
I7
Fitzherbert, Mrs., iii. 143
Five Fields (Belgravia), iii. 408n.
Flatman, poems by, ii. 242
Fleet Street, cheerfulness of, ii. 107;
iii. 3
Fleetwood, Mr., rejects "Irene," i.
71, I04
Flexman, Mr., Dissenting Minister,
his index to " Ramblers " censured
by Johnson, iii. 383
Flint, Bet, anecdotes of, iii. 200
Flood, Right Hon. Henry, his will,
i. 23in.; his opinion of Johnson's
oratory, i. 474; his sepulchral
verses on Johnson quoted, iii. 468
Flood, Lady Frances, i. 231n.
Floyd, anecdote of, i. 335
Floyer, Sir John, physician, i. 16;
his works, i. 52n.; iii. 406
Fludyer, companion of Johnson at
Oxford, ii. I92
Fontainebleau, visited by Johnson, ii.
I43, 5I
Fontenelle, Memoires de, ii. 427
Foote, Samuel, i. 258, 307n., 332,
450, 517n.; ii. 6, 136, I55, 375,
441; iii. 341, 389; Johnson dines
with,i. 103n.; censured by Johnson,
i. 439; his powers of mimicry,
i. 488; ii. 77, 276; his death, ii.
299; anecdote of, iii. 300




490


INDEX


Forbes, Sir William, of Pitsligo, ii.
252, 406; letter to Boswell enclosing the Round Robin, ii. 288;
letter to Boswell quoted, ii. 395
Ford, Cornelius, Johnson's uncle, i.
20
Ford, Parson, Johnson's cousin, i. 20;
story of his ghost, iii. 43
Ford, Sarah, see Johnson, Sarah
Fordyce, Dr. George, i. 353; ii. 56,
91; iii. 384
Fordyce, Rev. Dr. James, i. 287; his
friendship with Johnson, iii. 458
Forester, Colonel, ii. 236
Forster, G., his " Voyage to the
South Seas," ii. 372
Fort Augustus, Johnson passes through,
ii. 49, 8
Foster, Mrs. Elizabeth, befriended by
Johnson, i. 16, X62
Fothergill, Rev. Dr., Vice-Chancellor
of the University of Oxford, ii. 102,
I04
4' Foundling Hospital for Wit, The,"
iii. 352n., 38In.
Fox, Charles James, i. 3I9n., 353;
ii. 56, 91, i 3n.; his India Bill,
i. 223; returned for Westminster
and Kirkwall, iii. 3331.; his unpopularity, iii. 344; on deep play,
ii. 237n.; on Goldsmith's "Traveller," ii. 431, 438; Johnson's
opinion of, ii. 443; iii. 254, 356
France, Johnson's views on life in, ii.
158
Francis, Philip, Johnson commends
his Horace, iii. 49
Franklin, Rev. Dr., i. 257; ii. 89;
inscribes " Demonax " to Johnson,
iii. 143
Frauds, literary, i. 261, 262
Frederick the Great, King of Prussia,
Johnson's views on his writings,
i. 319
Freon, Mr., Johnson calls on, ii. I49
French, Mrs., her assemblies, iii. 155
Friendship, Johnson's ode on, quoted,
i. 108


Frisian language, Johnson'8 interest lu
the, i. 351
Fullarton, William, meets Johnson,
iii. 49
GALWAY, Lady, iii. 205
Ganganelli, his Letters, ii. 460
Gardiner, Mrs., i. 171; ii. 236;
Johnson's kindness to, iii. 316
Gardner, Mr., bookseller, ii. I I 2
Garrick, Captain, i. 43
Garrick, David, i. 44, 6z, 62n., 71,
I oo0, 104, 136, 139, 141, i6o,
171, 175, 177, 242, 265n., 285,
293, 353, 354, 367n., 398, 406n.,
432, 453, 469; ii. I6, 26, 41,
77, 86, 97, 138, I63, I87, 238,
247, 260o, 347 435, 466; iii. i8,
119, 122, 136, 314, 315; pupil
at Lichfield School, at Johnson's
School, i. 17n., 58; describes Mrs.
Johnson, i. 59; anecdote of, i. I 6;
becomes manager of Drury Lane
Theatre, i. 126; quarrels with
Johnson, i. 138; Johnson's opinion
of, i. 153, 290, 429, 437, 519; ii.
247, 375, 440; iii. 72; on Goldsmith, i. 30 In.; on Johnson's wit, ii.
19; his performance of " Ranger," i.
407; at Shakespeare Jubilee, i. 421;
discusses with Johnson, i. 433; witness at Baretti's trial, i. 441; compliments the Queen, ii. 22; mimics
Johnson, i. 97; discussed byJohnson
and Wilkes, ii. 276, 277; his
death, iii. 60; extravagance of his
funeral, iii. 286; portrait and inscription, iii. 195; bust, iii. 300; ode
on death of Pelham, i. 191; epigram
on Johnson's Dictionary, i. 216; on
Dr. J. Hill, i. 399n.
Garrick, George, i. 58; ii. 335
Garrick, Mrs., entertains Johnson at
dinner, iii. 341
Garrick, Peter, i. 62, 71; ii. 86, 207,
210; iii. 93 -Garth, Life of, by Johnson, iii.
330




INDEX


491


Gastrel, Rev. Mr., cuts down Shakespeare's mulberry tree, ii. 214
Gastrel, Mrs., ii. 213; iii. 93
Gaubius, Professor, of Leyden, on
delusions, i. 34
Gay, " The Beggar's Opera," by,
11. 129, 131
"General Advertiser," letter to, from
Johnson, i. I6o
Gentleman, Mr., i. 278, 279
"Gentleman's Magazine," i. 52, 7 -
147 pa.sim, 162, 231, 256, 297,
359; ii. 206n., 4701.; iii. 19, 375,
434, 457; Johnson's School advertisement appears in, i. 57; Johnson's contributions to, i. 52-134
passim,  I8I, 231, 256, 297;
ii. 375,434, 457; quoted, i. 125,
359; ii. 236n.; iii. 127n., 164
George I., Johnson inveighs against,
ii. IIO
George  II., i. 98,   147, 264,
497; Johnson inveighs against,
ii. IIo; epigram on, by Johnson,
i. IOI
George III., i. I55, 256, 264, 270,
420; ii. 12; iii. 344, 356; MS.
of "Irene " presented to, i. 67; his
first speech to Parliament, i. 256n.;
his interview with Johnson, i. 395 -401; complimented by Johnson,
i. 455; accepts a book from Johnson,
ii. 69; gives a vast sum of money
to the nation, ii. I20n.; letter to,
from Dr. Dodd, written by Johnson, ii. 340
Gherardi, Marchese, of Lombardy,
iii. 23
Ghost, The Cock Lane, Johnson's
account of, i. 297n.
Ghosts, Johnson's views on, i. 295-6
Giannone, Italian historian, iii. i 19
Giardini, Felix, ii. 14
Gibbon, Edward, i. 353; ii. 55n., 113,
129, 261, 430; succeeds Goldsmith as Professor in Ancient
History, i. 42on.; on the Pantheon,
L Soon.; his history, ii. 424; first


vol. published, ii. I95; imitates
Johnson, iii. 439
Gibbons, Rev. Dr., iii. 220, 343
Gilbert, Rev. Mr., i. I 2on.
Gillespie, Dr., his opinion on Johnson's case, iii. 329
Gisborne, Dr., physician to His
Majesty, ii. 345n.
Glasse, Mrs., her " Cookery Book,"
ii. 459
Gloucester, Duke of, ii. 13n.
Goa, i. 42
Goldsmith, Dr. Isaac, Dean of
Cloyne, i. 302n.
Goldsmith, Rev. Mr., i. 51
Goldsmith, Mrs., a relation of the
poet's, ii. 301
Goldsmith, Oliver, i. 308, 310, 312,
353, 367, 378, 460, 472, 508,
510; ii. 8,   9-13, 26,    33 -39, 44,   123; iii. I24, 126,
267, 383; character and history,
i. 300; Johnson's opinion of, i.
298, 514, 522; ii. 5, 19, 249,
360, 427, 446; iii. 134, 140;
his attachment to Johnson, i. 304;
his compliment to Johnson, i. 402;
on Johnson, i. 420; ii. 6; iii. 340;
his bloom-coloured coat, i. 432;
engaged in writing his Natural
History, i. 5; I; writes " She Stoops
to Conquer," i. 530; his Apology
to the public for beating a bookseller, ii.  I; dedicates " She
Stoops to Conquer" to Johnson,
ii. 6;  sings song  from  "She
Stoops to Conquer," ii. 8; quarrels
with Johnson, ii. 39, 41; his death,
ii. 6 I, 357; his dispute with Robert
Dodsley, ii. 249; anecdotes of,
iii. II, 138; his comedies refused, iii. 18; writes epilogue to
"The Sisters," iii. 124n.; takes
liberties with Johnson, iii. 209;
makes a blundering speech to Lord
Shelburne, iii. 260; his " Goodnatured Man," i. I 5 1; prologue
for, by Johnson, i. 404; praised by




492


INDEX


Johnson, i. 406; his " Traveller,"
i. 303; ii. 23; iii.  8; Johnson's
account of, in " Critical Review," i.
3 55; Johnson furnishes some lines
to, i. 372; quoted, ii. 432; his
" Citizen of the World," i. 301;
his " Inquiry into the present state
of Polite Learning in Europe,"
i. 301; " The Bee," i. 30In.; his
"Vicar of Wakefield," i. 303;
iii.  8; quoted, iii. 64; his " Retaliation," i. 367n.; quoted, iii. 378;
his "Deserted Village," ii. 23;
Johnson furnishes some lines to, i.
373; his" Life of Parnell,"i. 498;
" She Stoops to Conquer" praised
by Johnson, ii. 21; his "History
of Animated Nature," ii. 229;
his Epitaph in Westminster Abbey
written by Johnson, i. 30In.; ii.
386;   Johnson's tetrastick  on,
quoted, ii. 62
Gordon, Hon. Alexander, i. 346
Gordon, Sir Alexander, Professor at
Aberdeen, ii. 5
Gordon, Rev. Dr., Chancellor of
Lincoln, iii. 5I
Gordon, Lord George, iii. o05, 107n.,
I87
Gordon Riots, Johnson's account of
the, iii. 105, 107
Gower Lord, i. on.; censured in Dictionary, i. 214; letter from, i. 87
Graham, Colonel, of the Royal Highlanders, i. 490
Graham, Rev. George, his "Telemachus"   reviewed by Johnson,
i. 300
Graham, Lord, afterwards third Duke
of Montrose, iii. 68, 205
Graham, Miss, afterwards wife of Sir
H. Dashwood, Bart., iii. 89
Grainger, Dr. J., his "Sugar-Cane,"
ii. 198; Johnson's opinions of, i.
355; ii. 200; his "Ode on Solitude" praised by Johnson, ii. 386
Granger, Rev. J., his " Biographical
History," ii. 295


Grantham, Lord, see Robinson, Sir
Thomas
Grantley, Lord, see Norton, Sir
Fletcher
Granville, Lord, iii. I8i; anecdote
of, iii. I26
Grattan, Right Hon. Henry, speech
by, quoted, iii. 377
Graves, Morgan, i. 55n.
Gravina, Italian critic, iii. 278
Gray, Mr., bookseller, i. IO4
Gray, Thomas, poems, ii. IoS, io6;
criticised by Johnson, i. 293; iii.
126; quoted, i. 37In.; ii. 99;
Mason's Memoirs of, i. 4, 496;
ii. 245
Gray, Sir James, i. 507
Gray's Inn Journal, i. 235, 258
Greaves, Mr., letter from Shenstone
to, ii. 198
Greaves, Samuel, landlord of Essex
Head, iii. 323
Greek Comedy, Dissertation on, by
Johnson, i. 251
Greek Epigram to Dr. Birch, by
Johnson, i. 94
Green, Bishop of Lincoln, usher at
Lichfield School, i. 17
Green, Richard, iii. 93; his museum
at Lichfield, ii. 21; letter to,
from Johnson, iii. 442
Greenwich, Johnson at, i. 66, 336
Grenville, George, character of, i.
471
Greville, Mr., his "Maxims, Characters and Reflections," quoted, iii.
366
Grey, Dr. Richard, iii. 17
Grey, Dr. Zachary, iii. 17
Grierson, Mr., His Majesty's Printer
at Dublin, i. 458
Grierson, Mrs., i. 458n.
Grimston, first Viscount, his play,
"Love in a Hollow Tree," iii.
182
Grotius, i. 162; Johnson on, i.
333; his "Adamus Exul," i.
I64n,




INDEX


493


Grove, Mr., of Taunton, writer in
" The Spectator," iii. 142
Grub Street defined in Dictionary, i.
214
" Guardian, The," i. 141
Guimene, Princess of, ii. 151
Guthrie, William, i. 74; his "Apotheosis of Milton," i. 94; Johnson
on, i. 410
Gwyn, Colonel, i. 302n.
Gwyn, Mr., i. 254; his "Thoughts
on the Coronation of George III.,"
i. 262; his discussion with Johnson, ii. 188
Gwyn, Mrs., i. 302n.
Gwynne, Nell, i. 174n.
HACKMAN, Rev. Mr., murderer of
Miss Ray, iii. 69
Hague, usher at Lichfield School, i.
I7
Hailes, Lord, i. 190, 527; ii. 63, 70,
193, 295; toasted by Johnson, i.
331; on Ossian, ii. 73; on the
entail of Auchinleck, ii. I 70-1 75;
sends presents to Johnson, ii. 330;
iii. 295; censures Prior's poems,
ii. 382; iii. 80; on the Negro
cause, ii. 401, 404; his "Annals
of Scotland" revised by Johnson,
ii. 59-64, 7I, 104, 140-144;
Johnson's opinion of, ii. 265; iii.
86; his edition of John Hales's
Works, iii. 375; his letter to Boswell, i. 317
Hale, Judge, ii. I 12; praised by Johnson, i. 491; conversation with
Langton's grandfather, iii. 372;
quoted, i. 5
Hall, Mrs., Wesley's sister, iii. I92
Halsey, Edmund, i. 362n.
Hamilton, Gavin, ii. 52
Hamilton of Bangor, his poems criticised by Johnson, ii. 346
Hamilton, Sir William, i. 353
Hamilton, William Gerard, i. 475;
ii. 104n., 425n.; iii. 398; complimented by Johnson, i. 362;


advises Johnson, ii. 9 I; laments
Johnson's death, iii. 465; letters
to, from Johnson, iii. 316, 415
Hampstead, Johnson stays at, i. 135
Handel, festival in honour of, iii. 347
Hanmer, Sir Thomas, his " Shakepeare" criticised by Johnson, i.
I22; epitaph   on, translated  by
Johnson, i. 124
Hanover, House of, i. 278n., 315
Hanway, Jonas, his " Essay on Tea,"
i. 225; his " Eight Days' Journey,"
i. 463
Harcourt, Lord Chancellor, i. 4In.
Hardwicke, Lord Chancellor, ii. 246;
praises ' Dirleton's Doubts," ii.
392
Hardwicke, second Lord, i. I85n.
Harleian Catalogue, Johnson writes
advertisement for, i. Io8
Harleian Miscellany, Johnson writes
Preface for, i. 122
Harrington, Countess of, ii. 336
Harrington, Sir John, quoted, iii.
465n.
Harris, James, of Salisbury, ii. I4,
425, 435; compliments Johnson,
ii. 29; quoted, ii. 314
Harris, Mr., proprietor of Covent
Garden Theatre, ii. 313
Harrison, Elizabeth, her "Miscellanies" reviewed by Johnson, i.
224
Harry, Jane, convert to Quakerism,
ii. 469
Harte, Rev. Dr. Walter, iii. 389;
tells anecdote of Johnson, i. I 3n7.;
Johnson's opinion of, i. 461; iii.
I8I
Harwich, visited by Johnson, i. 347
Harwood, Dr., ii. 250
Hastie, Mr., client of Boswell's, i.
512, 528
Hastings, Warren, iii. 292; his letter
to Boswell, iii. 170; letters to,
from Johnson, iii. 171, 173
Hawkesworth, Dr. J., i. 134, 170,
171, 460; begins the "Adven



494


INDEX


turer," i. 164; imitates Johnson,
i. 178; ii. 6; his "Voyages to
the South Sea," ii. 33, 224; his
preface to Swift's works, ii. 92n.
Hawkins, Mr., teaches Johnson, i.
16
Hawkins, Professor, i. 4; his" Siege
of Aleppo," ii. 437
Hawkins, Sir John, i. 380; ii. 196;
his history, i. I34n.; called "an
unclubable man," i. 354n.; his inaccuracy, iii. 385n.; his unjust leflections against Johnson, iii. 42 I;
Johnson's executor, iii. 464; his
Life of Johnson, i. 2, 3, 13n., 29n.,
45n., 80n., 03 131n., I35n.,
146n., 206n., 222, 246, 303,
393n., 403, 474n., 494n.; ii. 236n.,
412; iii. 23In., 322, 425, 444,
448n., 450; quoted, i. 82n., 95,
II2n., 143, 163, i69, i8In., 243,
254n.; ii. 197n., 253n., 344n.; his
edition of Johnson's Works, iii.
382n.; letter to, from Johnson, iii.
395
Hay, Lord Charles, his death, ii.
225; iii. 134
Hay, Sir George, i. 254
Hayes, Rev. Mr., publishes Dr
Taylor's sermons, ii. 373
Heale, Johnson stays at, iii. 307
Heberden, Dr., ii. 86; iii. 303, 304,
329, 406, 407; refuses fee from
Johnson, iii. 448
Hector, Edmund, surgeon at Birmingham, i. ii, 16, 19, 22, 25n., 26n.,
53, 55, o08n., 108, 113; ii. 201,
202, 204; Johnson stays with, i.
47; iii. 425; Johnson's affection
for, iii. 229; letters to Boswell, i.
55.; iii. 426n.; letters to, fiom
Johnson, i. 47; iii. 238, 428
Heely, Mr. Johnson's kindness to,
i. 393; iii. 42; letter to, from
Johnson, iii. 422
Henderland, Lord, ii. 225
Henderson, Mr., the actor, ii. 98n.;
iii. 3I 5n.


Henderson, John, student of Pemr
broke College, iii. 360
Henn, Mr., letter from, in thb
"Gentleman's Magazine," i. 86n.
87n.
Henry, Dr. R., his "History o
Britain," iii. 30
Herbert, George, quoted, ii. 124n.
Hertford, Lady, i. I2 In.
Hervey, Hon. Henry, i. 46n.; ii
385n.; Johnson's affection foi
65-6
Hervey, Hon. Thomas, quarrels wit]
his wife, i. 394; his present t<
Johnson, i. 395; Johnson's opinio
of, ii. 109
Hetherington's Charity, ii. 66
Hierocles, Jests of, translated b
Johnson, i. 0 I
"High Life below    Stairs," farce
criticised by Johnson, iii. I22
Hill, Aaron, letter to Mallet, i. I39n
Hill, Sir John, ii. 459; Johnson'
opinion of, i. 399
Hinchliffe, Bishop, i. 353; iii. o10
"Historia Studiorum," list of John
son's work, iii. 19
Hitch, Charles, bookseller, i. 128
Hoadley, Dr Benjamin, his "Sus
picious Husband," i. 407
Hogarth, W., his" Modern Midnigh
Conversation," i. 2 n.; iii. 43
Holbrook, usher at Lichfield School
i. I7
Hollis, Thomas, Johnson's opinio
of, iii. 195
Home, Henry, see Kames, Lord
Home, John, ii. 356n.; his gol
medal, ii. 93; his "Douglas'
quoted, i. 335; ii. 286
Homer, ii. 383; iii. 27; Johnson'
translation from, i. 24; quoted,
468; iii. 29, 296
Hooke, Abb4, ii. 154, 46on.
Hoole, John, ii. 1o5, 249; iii. 3'
188, 270, 321, 326, 335, 34(
460; his translation of Tassc
Johnson writes Dedication for, i




INDEX


495


278; his "Cleonice," ii. 68; his
translation of Ariosto, iii. 174; his
narrative of Johnson's last days, iii.
455; letters to, from Johnson, ii.
68; iii. 4 1
Hoole, Rev. Mr., iii. 457
Hope, Dr., his letter to Boswell, iii.
331; letter to, from Boswell, iii.
330
Horace, ii. 124, 383; iii. 49, 74,
293; his villa, ii. 430; his "Art
of Poetry," ii. 279; translations
from, by Johnson, i. 23, 24; iii.
420;   translation  of  "Carmen
Seculare" set to music, iii. 62;
quoted, i. 59, 155, 429, 459, 476;
ii. II8, 279, 392, 431, 454; iii.
21, 407, 425
Home, Bishop, ii. 60, 63, 193;
quoted, iii. 47 In.
Horneck, the Misses, i. 302
Horrebow, his "Natural History of
Iceland," ii. 454
Horton, Mrs., ii. 13n.
Howard, Hon. Edward, his " British
Princes " quoted, i. 45 n.
Howard, Mr., of Lichfield, i. 43;
tells anecdote of Johnson, ii. 407
Howard, General Sir George, ii.
136n.
Huddesford, Rev. Dr., i. 200, 232
Huetius, quoted, i. 5In.
Huggins, Mr., dispute with T.
Warton, iii. 12 I
Hughes, J., his edition of Spenser, i.
192
Hume, David, i. I26n., 149n., 330n.,
342, 374, 410, 424, 449; ii.
23, 91, 379, 462; tells anecdote
of Johnson, i. 141;   Johnson's
opinions of, i. 326, ii. 348; his
"Essay on Miracles," ii. 190;
his life written by himself, ii. 318
Hummums, The, iii. 43
Humphry, Ozias, letters to, from
Johnson, iii. 335
Hunter, Dr., iii. 297
Hunter, Miss, iii. 266n.


Hunter, Prebendary, Head-master of
Lichfield School, i. 17, I8, 481
Hurd, Bishop, i. 46; Johnson's
opinion of, iii. 271; his edition of
Cowley, ii. 242, 410; his sermons
quoted, iii. 3 54n.
Husbands, Johnson writes in his
"Miscellany of Poems," i. 31
Hussey, Rev. John, iii. 59; letter to,
from Johnson, iii. 59
Hussey, Rev. Thomas, his friendship
with Johnson, iii. 458
Hutchinson, F., his "Moral Philosophy," ii. 261
Hutton, Mr., a Moravian, iii. 458
Hutton, W., his " History of Derby,"
ii. 357n.
"Hypochondriac, The," essays by
Boswell in "The London Magazine," i. 35n.
"Hypocrite, The," performed at Mrs.
Abington's benefit, ii. 94
ICELAND, chapter on snakes in, ii. 454
Icolmkill, visited by Johnson, ii. 49;
Johnson's description of, ii. 365
" Idler, The," i. In., 250; iii. 8n.,
316; first appearance, i. 236;
quoted, i. 154, 213n., 238
Iffley, visited by Johnson, iii. 358
" II Palmiero d'Inghilterra," romance
praised by Cervantes, ii. 219
Imlac, i. 248
Ince, Mr., writer in " The Spectator,"
ii. 246
Inchkenneth, visited by Johnson, ii.
49; Johnson's verses on, ii. 7,
74
India, judges in, ii.  I
Innes, Rev. Mr., accomplice of
Psalmanazar, i. 26In.
Inverary, visited by Johnson, ii. 49;
iii. 350; by Wilkes, ii. 279
Inverness, visited by Johnson, ii. 49,
8i
"Irene," i. 62, 66, 103, 104;
original sketch of, i. 67; refused
by Fleetwood, i. 71; produced on




496


INDEX


the stage, i. 138; anecdote of, iii.  427; stays at Hampstead, i. 135;
120; quoted, i. 68, I38n., i67     praises "The Rambler," i. 147;
Irwin, Captain, with   Johnson  in   her death and burial, i. 165-170
France, ii. 148                 Johnson, Michael, Dr. Johnson's
father, i. 9, 12, 29, 31, 330; his
JACKSON, Harry, schoolfellow of John-  death, i. 43
son's, ii. 207; his death, ii. 329  Johnson, Nathaniel, Dr. Johnson's
Jackson, Richard (the all-knowing),  brother, i. 9, 52
ii. 233                          Johnson, Dr. Samuel, birth and parentJackson, Rev. Mr., i. i68n.          age, i. 9; childhood, i. I I, 13;
James I. of Scotland, i. 373         school-days, i. I6-28; partially
James IV.    of Scotland, granted    blind, i. 14; touched for scrofula, i.
Auchinleck to Thomas Boswell,      15; various illnesses, i. 32, 356;
ii. i65                            ii. 293; iii. 229, 302, 311, 324,
James I. of England, i. 505          448; consults Dr. Swinfen, i. 33;
James II., ii. 109                   consults Sir A. Dick and other
James, Dr., praised by Johnson, i.   Scotch doctors, iii. 329; goes to
44; begins epigram for Johnson, i.  Oxford, i. 29; compelled by poverty
o108n.; his "Medicinal Diction-   to leave Oxford, i. 42; returns to
ary," Johnson writes part of, i.   Lichfield, i. 43; becomes an usher
109; ii. 237; death of, ii. 222;  in Market-Bosworth School, i. 46;
his powders, ii. 254n.; Johnson's  leaves Market-Bosworth School, i.
opinion of his medicines, iii. 408  47; stays with Mr. Hector, at
January 3oth, fast of, Johnson's views  Birmingham, i. 47; becomes acon, i. 486                         quainted with Mr. Porter, i. 48;
"Janus Vitalis," quoted, ii. 430     returns to Lichfield, i. 5I; goes
Jeffrey, Lord, quotes Johnson's views  again to Birmingham, i. 52; falls
on duelling, i. 5Ion.              in love with Olivia Lloyd, i. 53;
Jenkinson, Right Hon. Charles, letter  with Mrs. Porter, i. 55; his marto, from Johnson, ii. 341          riage, i. 57; sets up school, i. 57;
Jennings, Mr., his marble dog, ii.   fails as a teacher, i. 58; goes to
414                                London, i. 62; lodges at GreenJenyns, Soame, his " Inquiry into the  wich, i. 66; visits Lichfield, i.
Origin  of Evil "  reviewed  by    70; takes his wife to London, i.
Johnson, i. 226;     epitaph on,   70; his various habitations, i. 70;
quoted, i. 227n.; his epitaph on  iii. 88; is offered a school, i. 86;
Johnson quoted, i. 227n.; criticised  is refused degree of M.A. by
by Johnson, ii. 257; returns to    Dublin, i. 88; wishes to practise
Christianity, ii. 454; his " View  as an advocate, i. 88; his poverty,
of the Internal Evidence of the   i. 92, 110, 112; forms a club in
Christian  Religion,"  Johnson's   Ivy Lane, i. 134; Literary Club
opinion of, ii. 462                founded, i. 353; institutes his
" Jessamy Bride, The," i. 302n.      Essex St. Club, iii. 323; lodges at
Jesuits, the, satirised by Oldham, i.  Hampstead, i. 135; grief at his
76n.                               wife's death, i. i65; visits Oxford,
Joddrel, Mr., iii. 323, 339          i. 191, 252, 388, 420; ii. I89;
Johnson, Elizabeth, Dr. Johnson's    iii. 229, 347, 426; receives degree
wife, i. 55, 59, 67, 164, 167,     of M.A. Oxon, i. 196, I98; of




INDEX


497


LL.D. Dublin, i. 360; of D.C.L.
Oxon., ii. 102; his scheme of a
Bibliotheque, i. 203; refuses the
offer of a living, i. 230; receives a
pension, i. 270; visits Devonshire,
i. 273; his library, i. 320; visits
Greenwich with Boswell, i. 336;
accompanies Boswell to Harwich,
i. 343; visits Langton at Langton,
i. 352; at Warley Camp, iii. 53;
at Rochester, iii. 307; visits Beauclerk  at Windsor, i. 175; at
Cambridge, i. 359; visits Dr.
Percy, at Easton Maudit, i. 358;
becomes   acquainted  with  the
Thrales, i. 362; describes the
family, i. 365; stays some months
with them, i. 388; at Streatham,
ii. 406; last visit to Streatham,
iii. 248; stays with Mrs. Thrale
in Argyll St., iii. 25 I; his
grief at Mrs. Thrale's engagement
to Piozzi, iii. 394; presides at
Club on Mondays, i. 383; has an
interview with the King in the
Royal Library, i. 395; visits Lichfield, i. 402, 420; ii. 206; iii.
229, 423; takes leave of Catharine
Chambers, i. 402; sends Francis
Barber to school, i. 416; visits
Brighton, i. 421; ii. 297, 396;
iii. 247; appointed Professor in
Ancient Literature by the Royal
Academy, i. 420; becomes acquainted with General Paoli, i.
430; appears as a witness at Baretti's trial, i. 441; recommended
for Parliament to the Treasury, i.
473; visits the Pantheon, i. 498,
500; proposes Boswell at the
Literary  Club, ii. 23; offends
Goldsmith, ii. 39, 4I; asks Burney to teach him music, ii. 47n.;
travels in Scotland, ii. 49; in
Wales, ii. 60; presents books to the
Bodleian Library, ii. 6on.; sends a
book to the King, ii. 69; writes
inscription for picture of Mary
ill.


Queen of Scots, ii. 7 In.; threatens
to resign his pension, ii. 91; goes
to Mrs. Abington's benefit, ii. 96;
visits Bedlam, ii. 136; assigns to
Boswell a room in his house, ii.
137; visits the Continent, ii. 142;
interested in Clarendon Press,
ii. 176; mistaken for a watchman,
ii. I85; drives through Blenheim
Park, ii. I96; at Stratford-uponAvon, ii. 198; visits Birmingham,
ii. 201; iii. 229, 425; introduces
Boswell to Lucy Porter, ii. 206;
in love with Mrs. Emmet, ii. 209;
visits Richard Green's Museum;
ii. 2 O; visits Dr. Taylor at Ashbourne, ii. 217; iii. 229; kindness
to Mrs. Williams, ii. 240; iii. 36;
to Mrs. Gardiner, iii. 316; visits
Bath, ii. 255; visits Bristol, ii.
258; examines the Rowley Poems,
ii. 259; meets Wilkes at the Dillys',
ii. 272-285; confidential conversation  with  Wilkes, iii.  204;
applies to Swinney and Cibber for
information about Dryden, ii. 278;
Round Robin addressed to, ii. 289;
proposes R. B. Sheridan at The
Club, ii. 315; tries to get De
Groot into the Charterhouse, ii.
323; efforts on behalf of Dr.
Dodd, ii. 336-344; visits Keddlestone, ii. 354; visits Derby, ii.
356; visits Ilam, ii. 378; interview
with Lord Marchmont; iii. 40,
76; difference with Strahan, iii.
53; helps Dr. Burney's son to Winchester, iii. 58; consulted by a
minor poet, iii. 62; refuses to go to
Ireland, iii. 9; frequents greenroom  of Drury Lane, iii. 122;
his affection for Beauclerk, iii.
I24; impressed by solemn music
at a funeral, iii. 133; rumour about
his dancing lessons, iii. 182; visits
Squire Dilly at Southill, iii. 213;
visits Mr. Young at Welwin, iii.
2I4; parts from Boswell at ShefKK




498


INDEX


ford, iii. 225; goes with Metcalfe
to Chichester, Petworth and Cowdray, iii. 249; visits Morice Morgann at Wycombe, iii. 273; sits to
Miss Reynolds, iii. 303; visits
Mr. Bowles at Heale, iii. 307;
visited by Mrs. Siddons, iii. 314;
meets Miss H. M. Williams, iii.
346; makes out list of books for
Rev. Mr. Astle, iii. 372; stays
with Mr. Cator at Beckenham, iii.
374; drawn to serve in militia, iii.
378; apologises to compositor, iii.
380; declines Lord Thurlow's
offer of a loan, iii. 403; sets out
for Staffordshire and Derbyshire,
iii. 405; visits Duke and Duchess
of Devonshire at Chatsworth, iii.
409; liberality towards Heely, iii.
42; presented with his father's
house, iii. 423n.; wildness of his
early life in London, iii. 445; his
will, iii. 45on.; burns many of his
papers, iii. 453; his death-bed, iii.
459-63; his death, iii. 463; burial
in Westminster Abbey, iii. 464;
epitaph, iii. 464; funeral sermon
on, by Rev Mr. Agutter, iii. 467;
cenotaphs in St. Paul's and Lichfield Cathedrals, iii. 468.
Personal traits, method of writing, &c.: his power of mastering a
book, i. 38; ii. 458; his pride, i.
42; his good memory, i. I3; his
ways among his schoolfellows, i.
18, 19; his irregular mode of
study, i. 28, 37; dreads insanity,
i. 34; his rapid writing, i. 38,
143; ii. 253; his affection for his
wife, i. 57, 59; iii. 404, 443; his
economy, i. 64; prejudice against
actors, i. 115; ii. 22, 159; gorgeous dress  at performance   of
"Irene," i. 140; a great teadrinker, i. 224; love of London,
i. 230, 426, 460; iii. 65, 41 I;
dislike of the sea, i. 253; ii. 187,
442; his religious tolerance, i.


295; iii. 458; given to soliloquy, i.
356; superstitious habit, i. 357;
tricks, i. 357; inscription on his
watch, i. 413; his fear of death,
i. 438, 450; ii. 76, 349, 466;
iii. 337, 361, 443; his general
mode of life, i. 460; unsuccessful in public speaking, i. 475; his
nicknames for his friends, ii. 42;
his boisterous laughter, ii. 46, 138;
his courage, ii. 76; his mode of
utterance and pronunciation, ii. 98)
208, 386; collects orange-peel, ii
10I; iii. 283; speaks Latin, ii.
159; dislikes to have his birthday
noticed, ii. 35; dislikes colloquial
barbarisms, ii. 386; his liberality,
ii. 407; iii. 226; his unbusinesslike habits, iii. 207; his fondness
for his cat, iii. 277; his kindness
to a poor woman, iii. 380; his
filial affection, iii. 423, 442; personal appearance, iii. 469
Opinions and arguments, &c.: his
religious opinions, i. 35; scheme
for instruction in Latin and Greek,
i. 60; invective against George II.,
i. 99; on Lord Chesterfield, i. 189;
defence of tea-drinking, i. 224;
defence of Admiral Byng, i. 225;
on a future state, i. 494; ii. 389;
on duelling, i. 509; ii. 13; iii.
290; on the law of vicious intromission, i. 522-527; on church
patronage in Scotland, ii. 29-32;
on toleration, ii. 35; on the liberty
of the pulpit, ii. 266-270; against
slavery, ii. 390; on the registration
of deeds, iii. 177; on Tory and
Whig, iii. 212; on original sin,
iii. 2I8; defence of "The Caledonian Mercury," iii. 223.
Letters from Johnson: to Thomas
Astle, iii. 227; to Edmund Allen,
iii. 302; to Rev. Mr. Bagshaw, iii.
404; to Sir Joseph Banks, i. 479;
to Francis Barber, i. 416, 457; to
Baretti, i. 262, 269, 276; to Mr.




INDEX


499


Barry, iii. 281; to Dr. Beattie,
iii. 109; to Dr. Birch, i. I o,
204; to Richard Bland, i. 531; to
Miss Boothby, iii. 163n.; to Boswell, i. 349, 370, 384, 414, 423,
453, 475, 480, 527, 530; ii. 47,
48, 50, 53, 55, 57, 59, 60, 64,
67, 70, 73, 74, 85, I39, 141, 144,
163, 164, 167, I68, I71, I74,
I75, 255, 291, 292, 296, 304,
306, 308, 319, 321, 325, 328,
329, 332, 396, 399, 401, 452;
iii. 54, 58, 6i, 79, 8i, 94, 97,
99, IIO, II6, 174, 229, 240, 244,
245, 251, 305, 313, 319, 327,
329, 33', 402, 404, 428, 430;
to Mrs. Boswell, ii. 290; to Rev.
Mr. Bagshaw, ii. 43; to Dr.
Brocklesby, iii. 307, 406-4 I;
to Dr. Burney, i. 205, 233, 235,
368; iii. 3 1, 412, 427; to Lord
Bute, i. 273, 275; to Mr. Cave,
i. 52, 66, 78, 80, 90, 9I, 93; to
Sir Robert Chambers, i. 95; to
Mrs. Chapone. iii. 317; to Lord
Chesterfield, i. I85; to Richard
Clark, iii. 326; to a clergyman at
Bath, iii. 241; to a young clergyman, iii. I I; to Comtesse de -
(in French), ii. i60; to Mr.
Cruikshank, iii. 312, 417; to
Thomas Davies, iii. 304, 417; to
Mr. Dilly, iii. 79, 325; to Dr.
Dodd, ii. 341, 343; to William
Drummond, i. 390, 392, 393; to
Rev. Dr. Edwards, iii. 57; to
James  Elphinston, i. 148; to
Rev. Dr. Farmer, i. 456; iii. 104;
in the "General Advertiser," i. I 60;
in the " Gentleman's Magazine,"
i. 113; to George III. (for Dr.
Dodd), ii. 340; to Mr. Green,
apothecary at Lichfield, iii. 442;
to Right Hon. William Gerard
Hamilton, iii.  316, 415;   to
Warren Hastings, iii. 171, 74;
to Mr. Hector, iii. 238, 428; to
Mr. Heely, iii. 422; to John Hoole,


ii. 68; iii. 411; to Ozias Humphry,. iii. 335; to John Hussey,
iii. 59; to Right Hon. Charles
Jenkinson, ii. 341; to his mother,
i. 244; to a presuming lady, i.
268; to Bennet Langton, i. 234,
241, 242, 259, 380, 404, 471,
477, 480; ii. 6, 125, 138, 322;
iii. 56, 226, 237, 312, 333, 405,
413; to Jane Langton, iii. 337;
to Dr. Lawrence, ii. 74; iii. 99,
230, 236   (in Latin); to Dr.
Lawrence's daughter, iii. 236n.;
to Dr. Leland, i. 36In.; to Robert
Levett, ii. 62, 142, 296; to James
Macpherson, ii. 76; to Edmund
Malone, iii. 233; to P Metcalfe,
iii. 249; to Dr. Mudge, iii. 312;
to George Nicol, iii. 416; to John
Nichols, iii. 164, 249, 419; to Mr.
Nichols the printer, iii. 45n.; to
Charles O'Connor, i. 231 ii. 31 I;
to John Paradise, iii. 416; to Mr.
Perkins, ii. 65; iii. 213, 243, 326,
414; to Lucy Porter, i. 246; ii.
I45; iii. 78, 189, 234, 282, 306,
325, 328, 443; to Right Hon.
the Earl of Portmore, iii. 334n.;
to Sir Joshua Reynolds, i. 358,
476, 478; ii. 286, 294; iii. 227,
250, 281, 297, 302, 323, 401,
417; to William Sharp, ii. 334; to
Joseph Simpson, i. 251; to Mrs.
Smart, iii. 411In.; to Sir George
Staunton, i. 266;   to  George
Stevens, ii. 55, 301; to Mrs.
Strahan, iii. 198, 233; to William
Strahan, iii. 55; to Rev. Dr. John
Taylor, i. x68; iii. 303, 336; to
Mrs. Thrale, ii. 103n., 138n.,
284n., 33In.; iii. 58, 102, I05,
303, 313, 317, 372, 374, 387,
394, 435n', 445n.; to the Miss
Thrales, iii. 308n., 31 5; to Lord
Thurlow, iii. 403; to the ViceChancellor of Oxford, i. 202; t(
Rev. Dr. Vyse, ii. 323; iii. I I n.
to Dr. Joseph Warton, i. 178,




500


INDEX


457; to Rev. '. Warton, i. 192,
I96, 198, 200, 202, 2o8, 209,
232, 239, 42I, 457; to Saunders
Welch, ii. 402; to Rev. Dr.
Wetherell, ii. I76; to Rev. John
Wesley, iii. 79; to Rev. Dr.
Wheeler, iii. 57; to Rev. Mr.
Wilson, iii. 250; to Right Hon.
William Windham, iii. 301, 414.
Letters to Johnson: from Mrs.
Bellamy, iii. 315n.; from  Dr.
Birch,  i.   204;   from   Dr.
Brocklesby, iii. 308n.; from Boswell, i. 386, 475, 477, 479, 528;
ii. 51, 59, 62, 69, 73, 84, I6I,
174, 29I, 293, 295, 301, 305,
308, 315, 32on., 324, 327, 330,
395, 400, 404, 406, 45; iii. 52,
60, 76, 8o, 92, 96, I09, 113;
from Mrs. Boswell, iii. 248; from
Sir Alexander Dick, ii. 303; from
Dr. Dodd, ii. 339, 342; from
Mrs. Thrale, iii. I oI; from Lord
Thurlow, iii. 116.
Works:-Early poems, i. 22-26,
53; extracts from his diary, i. 37,
43, 204, 218; ii. 67; iii. 82n.;
from his journal in France, ii. 146 -I 57; list of projected writings,
iii. 43 n.; for his other works see
their several titles.
Johnsoniana:-eulogies of Johnson, i. 45, I23; his early prose
style, i. 49; compared to Politian,
i. 5In.; to Appius, iii. 424n.; his
skill as a translator, i. 74; his style
compared with Addison's, i. 158;
called the Great Cham of Literature, the Caliban of Literature,
Oddity Johnson, and Gargantua,
i. 253, 467; ii. 395, 435; excels
in writing Dedications, i. 369;
attacked by Sheridan, i. 434; by
Bishop of Bristol, iii. 349; notes
on, by Langton, iii. 117-143; by
a friend, iii. 308; his knowledge of
Greek, iii. 435; homage of his
contemporaries, iii. 466n.; character,


iii. 469-474; Life of, published by
Kearsley, iii. 175n.; list of portraits, busts, &c., iii. 466n.
Johnson, Samuel, Librarian of St.
Martirfs in the Fields, i. 89
Johnson, Sarah, Dr. Johnson's mother,
i. 9, II, 15, 35, 52n., 56, 70, Io,
149, 207; her death,i. 243; Johnson's letters to, i. 244-5
Johnson, Irish equestrian, i. 290
Johnsonian style, begins to appear,
i. 50
"Johnsoniana, or, Bon-Mots of Dr.
Johnson," unauthorised publication,
ii. 184; sale of, iii. 22
Johnston, Sir James, iii. 346
Johnstone, Arthur, Johnson's views
on his verse, i. 338
Jones, Miss, poetess, i. 232
Jones, Phil., companion of Johnson's
at Oxford, ii. I92
Jones, Rev. River, i. 232n.
Jones, Sir William, i. 353; ii. 26;
iii. 72
Jopp, Mr., Provost of Aberdeen, ii. 70
Jorden, Mr., Johnson's tutor, i. 29,
42
Jortin, Rev Dr. J., his sermons, ii.
428
"Journal des Savans," criticised by
Johnson, i. 4oo
Journal, Johnson's, quoted, i. 37, 40,
43, 204, 28; ii. 68; iii. 82
Journal in France, Johnson's, ii. 146 -I57
"Journey to the Western Islands of
Scotland," ii. 77, 92, 129, 297,
334, 439; iii. 2, 269; in the
press, ii. 59-67; criticised, ii. 77 -83, i27; sale of, ii. 86; quoted,
ii. 365n.
Junius, Letters of, i. 497; iii. 64,
367; attacked by Johnson, i. 471
Justitia, the, hulk at Woolwich, ii.
444
Juvenal, i. 39, 79; imitated in Johnson's
"Vanity of Human Wishes"' i.
I34; quoted,i. 187, 188, 242; ii




INDEX


5o0


i6, 434; iii. 50, 209n., 264, 409,
449
KAMES, Lord,.  oo00, 410; his
"Elements of Criticism," Johnson's
opinion of, i. z86; his <" Historical
Law Tracts," i. 524n., 527; his
" Sketches of the History of Man,"
ii. 427; iii. 35, 46
Kearsley, bookseller, letter to, from
Johnson, i. 151 n.
Keddlestone, visited by Johnson, ii.
354
Kelly, Hugh, his " False Delicacy,"
i. 4o6n.; Johnson writes prologue
to "A Word to the Wise," ii.
313
Kemble, John Philip, describes Mrs.
Siddon's visit to Johnson, iii. 314
Kempis, Thomas a, ii. 410; iii. 133,
343
Ken, Bishop, his early rising, ii. 36 In.
Kennedy, Dr., tragedy by, ii. 420
Kennedy, Rev. Dr., Johnson writes
dedication for, i. 266
Kennicott, Benjamin, his " Collations
of Hebrew MSS.," i. 466
Kennicott, Mrs., iii. 349, 352, 367
Kenrick, William, i. 403; ii. 435;
his attacks on Johnson, i. 367, 416;
on Goldsmith and Garrick, i. 367n.
Keppel, Admiral, court-martial on,
iii. I26n.
Keysler, his " Travels," ii. I 1 3
Killaloe, Bishop of, see Barnard
Killingley, M., landlady of the Green
Man at Ashbourne, her address to
Boswell, ii. 394
Kimchi, Rabbi David, i. 8
King, Captain, his " Voyages to the
South Sea," iii. 370
King, Dr., bishop of Chichester, ii.
127n.
King, Dr., dissenting minister, ii. 462
King, Dr., Principal of St. Mary
Hall, i. 200, 202, 252
King's Head, meeting-place of Ivylane Club, i. 134n.


King's Library, MS. of " Irene"
deposited in, i. 67
Kippis, Dr., iii. 347, 426; his edition of" Biographia Britannica," ii.
367
Knapton, Messrs., booksellers, i. I28
Kneller, Sir Godfrey, anecdote of, ii.
418
Knight, Joseph, Johnson's argument
on his behalf, ii. 390; wins his
cause, ii. 399
Knight, Lady, her account of Mrs.
Johnson, i. 56n.
Knolles, his "History of the Turks,"
i. 62n.
Knowles, Mrs., Quaker lady, ii. 283,
284; conversation with Johnson,
ii. 458-470
Knox, Mr., on Johnson's " Tour to
the Hebrides," ii. 80
Knox, Rev. Dr., Master of Tunbridge
School, iii. 386, 387; copies
Johnson's style, i. 56n.; iii. 44;
attacks Oxford, iii. 441 n.
Kristrom, Mr., a Swede, i. 489
LADE, Sir John, iii. 459n.
Lafeldt, battle of, ii. 431
Langley, Rev. Mr., head-master of
Ashbourne School, ii. 334
Langton, Bennet, copies draft of
" Irene " for George III., i. 67;
introduced to Johnson, i. 173;
midnight ramble with Johnson, i.
176; writes for "The Idler,"
i. 237; an original member of the
Literary Club, i. 353; his account
of P. Langton, i. 38 In.; succeeds
Johnson as Professor in Ancient
Literature, i. 174n., 420on.; his
marriage, i. 472n.; entertains Johnson at dinner, ii. 53, 453; iii. 33;
makes his will, ii. 45; Johnson's
opinion of, ii. 7 1, 355; iii. 42,
294, 344; edits Johnson's Latin
verses, ii. 74n.; his extravagance,
ii. 257ii iii. 2 15; militia officer, iii.
53-59, 237; recollection of John



502


INDEX


son dictated, iii. I I 7-143; defaces
inscription on Johnson's portrait,
iii. 265; Johnson stays with, i.
351; iii. 53, 307; sells some of
Johnson's Latin poems,iii. 434; his
devotion in Johnson's last illness, iii.
455; one of Johnson's pall-bearers,
iii. 465; letters to Boswell, iii. 53,
I03; letters to, from Johnson, i.
207, 234, 241, 242, 259, 404,
471, 477; ii. 6i, 125, 138, 322;
iii. 56, 226, 237, 312, 313, 333,
405, 413
Langton, George, ii. 62
Langton, Jane, letter to, from Johnson,
iii. 337
Langton, Miss, i. 379, 383, 480
Langton, Mr., the elder, i. 259, 379,
383; offers Johnson a living, i. 230;
entertains Johnson at dinner, i. 3 6;
Johnson stays with, i. 352; Johnson's opinion of, ii. 33, 256; iii.
138
Langton, Mrs., i. 259, 379, 472
Langton, Peregrine, death of, i. 380;
account of, i. 38In.
Langton, Steven, the Archbishop, i.
I74
Lansdowne, Marquis of, iii. 273,
346n.; his "Drinking Song to
Sleep " quoted, i. 76n.; Johnson's
opinion of, ii. 247; iii. 260; on
noney matters, ii. 441; Johnson's
intimacy with, iii. 273
Lapland, reindeer imported from, i.
Soon.
Lapouchin, Madame, iii. 35
La Trobe, Mr., a Moravian, iii. 458
Laud, Archbishop, his diary quoted,
11. 4
Lauder, William, Johnson writes
preface to his Essay on Milton, i.
161, 162
Lauderdale, Lord, ii. 237n.
Law, Archdeacon, iii. 96
Law, Bishop of Carlisle, iii. 85n,
96
Law, William, his "Serious Call"


praised by Johnson, i. 36, 463;
quoted, iii. 357
Lawrence, Chauncey, iii. I73
Lawrence, Dr., i. 45, 243; ii. 237;
iii. I 2, 408; letters to, from
Johnson, ii. 74; iii. 99, 230, 236
(Latin)
Lea, Rev. Samuel, head-master of
Newport School, i. 21
Le Courayer, Dr., History of the
Council of Trent, Fr. trans. by, i.
66
Lee, Alderman, ii. 284
Lee, Arthur, American diplomatist,
ii. 275, 282
Lee, Jack, ii. 408
Leeds, Duke of, i. 353; verses on
his marriage quoted, iii. 127
Leek, in Staffordshire, earthquake at,
ii. 333
Le Fleming, Sir Michael, i. 339n.
Legrand, Abbe, i. 48n.
Leibnitz, G. W., i. 489
Leland, Rev. Dr. T., letter to, from
Johnson, i. 361 n.; his " History of
Ireland," ii. 40
Lenox, Mrs. C., iii. 124, 341;
Johnson writes dedication for, i. 18 I,
266; translates for, i. 251
Le Roy, Julien, ii. 149
"Lethe," a dramatic satire, i. 16I
Lever, Sir Ashton, his Museum, iii.
390
Levet, Robert, i. 171, 173, 304,320,
37I; ii. 4, 236, 239, 264; iii. i9,
55, 62, 192; his marriage, i. 269,
277; lives with Johnson, i. 269n.;
his death, iii. 230, 238, 306;
Johnson's verses to his memory,
iii. 231, 340; letters to, from Johnson, ii. 62, 142, 296
Levett, Mr., of Lichfield, i. 43; letter
to, from Johnson, i. i II
Lewis, F., writes for the " Rambler,"
i. I59
Lewis, Mr., his "Miscellany," iii.
369; verses quoted, iii. 368
Lewis, Mrs. Charlotte, i. 268, 277




INDEX


503


"Lexiphanes," a satire on Johnson,
i. 403
Lichfield, i. 35, 66, 207; iii. 93;
Johnson's birthplace, i. 9; Johnson educated at, i. I6; lives at, i.
43, 5I, 67, 70; visits, i. 402, 420;
ii. 77, 206; iii. 229, 406, 423;
manufactures of, ii. 208; accent, ii.
208; ale, iii. 195; verses on, by
Mrs. Seward, iii. 387; tribute to,
in Dictionary, iii. 423; corporation of, presents to Johnson his
father's house, iii. 423n.
Lichfield, Lord, death of, ii. 479
Liddel, Sir Henry, brings reindeer to
Northumberland, i. 5oon.
Lilliburlero, ballad of, ii. 114
Lincoln, iii. 5I
Lintot, Mr., bookseller, i. 64
Lintot, Mr., son of the bookseller, i.
320
"Literary Magazine, The," comes
out, i. 220; gradually declines, i.
231; Johnson contributes to, i.
220, 226, 23 5; article by Johnson
quoted, ii. 412
Literary Property, question before the
Lords, ii. 54, I I2
Liverpool, Earl of, see Jenkinson,
Right Hon. Charles
"Lives of the Poets," i. 2In., 39n1.,
I05n., 115n., 229n., 37In.; ii.
99n-, 334, 365n.; iii. 39; advertised, ii. 309; first four vols. published, iii. 60; advertisement quoted,
iii. I44n.; book completed, iii. 144;
Johnson gives copy to Mrs. Boswell, iii. 62; to Lord Marchmont,
iii. 76; to Wilkes, iii. 203; general
observations  on, iii.  144-169;
quoted, i. 44; ii. I46n.; iii. 73,
I47-i68
Lloyd, Mr., a Quaker, ii. 202
Lloyd, Mrs., ii. 202
Lloyd, Olivia, Johnson in love with,
1. 53
Lloyd, R., his "Odes to Obscurity
and Oblivion," ii. o05


Lobo, his "Voyage to Abyssinia,"
translated by Johnson, i. 48
Loch Lomond, Johnson visits, ii. 49;
climate of, iii. 69
Lock, Mr., of Norbury Park in Surrey, quoted by Johnson, iii. I 5
Locke, John, his " Commonplace
Book," i. 143; his "Thoughts on
Education," i. 513; iii. 51
Lockman, Mr., iii. I21
Lofft, Capel, iii. 343
Lombe, John, his silk mill, ii. 357
London, Johnson first goes to, i. 63;
settles in, with his wife, i. 70; his
love of, i. 230, 426, 461; ii. 433;
iii. 65; his views on, i. 308; ii.
122
"London," Johnson's poem, i. 135,
334, 433; publication of, i. 75-84;
Pope's note concerning, i. 96;
quoted, i. 85, 338; ii. 276
"London Chronicle, The," ii. I, 406;
Johnson writes Introduction to, i.
228; Boswell reads aloud to Johnson, i. 446; iii. 8 in.
"London Magazine, The," i. 95n.;
quoted, i. 470
"London Review, The," i. 367n.
Long, Dudley, afterwards North, iii.
178; Johnson on, iii. i84
Longlands, Mr., i. 515
Longley, Mr., iii. 123
Longman, the Messrs., i. 128
Looking-glasses, manufacture of, ii.
I52
Loudoun, Countess of, iii. 57
Loughborough, Lord, see Wedderburn, Alexander
Louis XIV., i. 401, 502; ii. 132,
I52; saying of, i. 499; statue of,
ii. 147; his embassy to Siam, iii.
32
Louis XVI., ii. 143, 151, I53n.
Lovage, or Levisticum, ii. 125
Love, Mr., of Drury Lane theatre, i.
492
Loveday, Dr. John, ii. 43n.
Loveday, John, of Caversham, ii. 43n.




504


INDEX


Lovibond, E., poems, i. 63
Lowe, Rev. Canon, schoolfellow of
Johnson's, i. i8, 19
Lowe, Mauritius, a poor artist, befriended by Johnson, iii. 2In., 67n,
280, 281, 288
Lowth, R., Professor of Poetry, his
controversy with Warburton, i. 398
Loyola, St. Ignatius, his asceticism, i.
42
Lucan, Lady, iii. 104, 384
Lucan, Lord, i. 353; iii. 104, 384;
tells anecdote of Johnson, iii. 187
Lucas, Dr., his "Essay on Waters"
reviewed by Johnson, i. 223
Lucian, quoted, iii. 143
Lumm, Sir Francis, i. 396n.
Lunardi, Vincent, his balloon ascent,
iii. 408n.
Lutterel, Colonel, Wilkes' opponent,
i. 454
Lydiat, history of, i. I36n.
Lye, Edward, his " Saxon and Gothic
Dictionary," i. 380
Lynn Regis, i. 205
Lyttelton, George, Lord, i. 182, 90o;
ii. 10, 23, 245, 424; iii. I69; his
"History," i. 399; his Dialogues,
i. 465; ii. 194; Johnson's Life of,
quoted, iii. 162
Lyttelton, Thomas, Lord, his vision,
iii. 361
MACARTNEY, Lord, i. 266n., 275,
305n., 353; ii. 94n.; iii. Io4; tells
anecdote of Johnson, ii. 236n.;
quoted, ii. 424n.; iii. 125n.
Macaulay, Rev. Kenneth, his "History of St. Kilda," i. 409; criticised by Johnson, i. 485
Macaulay, Mrs., wife of the Rev. K.
Macaulay, ii. 139
Macaulay, Mrs. Catherine, i. 171;
ii. 9, 376; Johnson tells anecdote
of, i. 328; ii. 283; criticises, i.
359; ii. xo6, 256
Macbean, Mr., i. 93; ii. 239; iii.
192; Johnson's amanuensis, i. 3;


Johnson writes preface to his "Dictionary of Ancient Geography," i.
529; admitted to Charterhouse, iii.
115
Macbeth, Johnson's pamphlet on, i.
122
Maccaronic verses, discussed by Johnson, ii. 457
Macclesfield, Anne, Countess of, i.
117-121
Macconochie, Mr., pleads for J
Knight, ii. 399
Macdonalds, The, at Culloden, ii. 5
Macdonald, Sir Alexander, i. 490,
491, 504
Macdonald, Angus, Lord of the Isles,
ii. 52n.
Macdonald, Flora, ii. 50, 56n.
Macdonald, Sir James, i. 330; iii.
I84n.
Macdonald, Lady Margaret, iii. 69
Macdonald, Ronald, ii. 85.
Mackenzie, Henry, his "Man of
Feeling," i. 262
Macklin, Charles, i. 280; ii. 220
Maclaurin, Mr., imitates Johnson, ii.
127; resents ridicule of his father,
ii. 229; his argument in favour of
J. Knight, ii. 291, 292, 302, 398
Maclean, of Col, death of, ii. 66, 67
Maclean, Alexander, of Col, ii. 84,
i6i
Maclean, Sir Allan, his suit against
the Duke of Argyle, ii. 139, 302,
325
Macleod, Mr., of Rasay, ii. 79
McNicol, Rev. Donald, "Remarks
on Johnson's Journey to the Hebrides," ii. 83n.
Macpherson, James, ii. 73, 84, 85,
460; Ossian's Poems, i. 287; ii.
70; his insolence to Johnson, ii.
75; letter to, from Johnson, ii. 76
Macqueen, Rev. Donald, ii. 140, 141
Macquharrie, chief of Ulva's Isle, ii.
84, 298n., 302; sale of his lands,
ii. 325, 331
Macrobius, quoted, ii. 239




INDEX


5o5


Madan, Dr., Irish clergyman, ii. 94
Madden, Dr. Samuel, his poem,
"Boulter's Monument," revised by
Johnson, i. 229
Mahogany, a Cornish drink, iii. 18i
Maitland, Mr., Johnson's amanuensis,
i. 132
Malagrida, iii. 260
Mallet, David, i. 236; publishes
Bolingbroke's Works, i. 190; his
tragedy of "Elvira," i. 298;
Johnson criticises him, i. 467; iii.
72; discards Scotch name, i. 492n.;
iii. 295; his "Life of Bacon"
criticised by Johnson, ii. 384; his
poem on the University of Aberdeen, iii. 295; letter to, from A.
Hill, i. 139n.
Malone, Edmond, i. 159, 300, 353;
iii. 6, 384, 398; one of Reynolds'
executors, iii. 226; letters to, from
Hon. J. Byng, iii. 463; from
Johnson, iii. 233; quoted, i. 86n.;
iii. 159, 468n.
Mandeville, B., his "Private Vices,
Public Benefits," ii. 465
Maningham, Dr., ii. 355
Manley, Mrs., quoted, iii. 279
Manning, Mr., compositor, iii. 380
Mansfield, Lord, i. 126n., 213nn., 491,
521; ii. x6, io6, 442, 444; iii.
157, 263; his eloquent speech in
the House of Lords, i. i55; his
judgment in the Douglas cause,
ii. I 8n.; his levees, ii. 92; his
decision in Court of King's Bench,
ii. 292; his house wrecked in
Gordon riots, iii. o05
Mantuanus, Johannes Baptista, quoted
by Johnson, iii. 266
Manucci, Count, ii. 147, 15, 293,
295
Manyfold, underground river, ii. 378
Marana, I. P., his "Turkish Spy,"
iii. 279
Marchmont, Earl of, i. 493; iii. 40,
157; gives Johnson information
about Pope, iii. 38, 39, 76; John

son gives him a copy of " Lives of
the Poets," iii. 76
Marie Antoinette, ii. 143, 15I
Marischal College, i. 484; ii. 48
Market Bosworth School, i. 46
Marlay, Dr. Richard, Bishop of
Waterford, iii. 176, i 8
Marlborough, John, Duke of, ii. I96;
anecdote of, ii. 265
Marlborough, Duchess of, iii. I83
" Marmor Norfolciense," pamphlet by
Johnson, i. 95
Marsili, Dr., of Padua, i. 232
Martin, M., his "Account of the
Western Islands of Scotland," i.
330; criticised by Johnson, ii.
423
Martinelli, Signor, his "History of
England " in Italian, ii. io
Mary, Queen of Scots, Buchanan's
verses to, i. 338; Latin inscription
for picture of, ii. 52, 62, 7In.
Mason, Miss, see Macclesfield, Lady
Mason, Rev. W., his " Memoirs of
Gray," i. 4, 496; ii. 9I; criticised
by Johnson, ii. 245; of Whitehead,
i. 6; his " Elfrida" criticised
by Johnson, ii. I05; his " Caractacus," ii. 1o; his prosecution of
Mr. Murray, ii. 466; his "Heroic
Epistle," iii. 375
Masquerade in Edinburgh, i. 530
Massinger, P., his play of " The
Picture," iii. 89
Masters, Mrs., i. 171; Johnson revises her poetry, iii. 316
Mattaire, criticised by Johnson, iii.
II8
Matty, Dr. Matthew, i. 204n.
Maupertius, quoted by Johnson, i. 4 IX
Maxwell, Rev. Dr., his "Recollections of Johnson," i. 458-468
Mayo, Rev. Dr., ii. 33, 37, 458;
iii. 387; called the Literary Anvil,
ii. 38n.
Mead, Dr., i. I Ion.; iii. 48; Johnson
writes Dedication for, i. o09; on
sleep, ii. 361




506


INDEX


Medmenham Abbey, Monks of, i.
8In.
Meeke, Rev. Mr., i. I93-5
Melanchthon, i. 7, 449
Melcombe, Lord, iii. I65n.
Melmoth, W., Johnson's opinion of,
iii. 101, 103; quoted, iii. 338n.
Melville, Viscount, see Dundas, Henry
Memis, Dr., his case, ii. 70, 75, 302;
Johnson's opinion of, ii. 34
Menage, Bayles's account of, quoted,
iii. 473n.
"Menagiana," ii. 27; quoted, iii.
36n., 473n.
"Messiah," Pope's, translated into
Latin by Johnson, i. 30
Metcalfe, Philip, his intimacy with
Johnson, iii. 249; note from Johnson to, iii. 249
Methodists, the, satirised  in the
" Hypocrite," ii. 94
Meynell, Mr., i. 45
Mickle, W. J., translator of the
" Lusiad," i. 51 I; ii. 249; iii.
369; his dispute with Johnson over
the " Lusiad," iii. 320; his letter
to Boswell quoted, iii. 320
Middlesex, Earl of, i. 266
Middlesex election, Johnson's opinion
on, i. 89, 454; ii. 65; iii. 90
Millar, Andrew, bookseller, i. 128,
171; iii. 30; conducts publication
of the " Dictionary," i. 206
Miller, Sir John, ii. 107, 275
Miller, Lady, her vase, ii. 0o6
Milner, Rev. Joseph, quoted, i. 337n.
Milton, Apotheosis of, by Guthrie,
i. 94; Johnson's opinion of, i. 60,
i63; ii. 25, I05; iii. I69; his
"< Tractate of Education," criticised
by Johnson, iii. 5; quoted, iii.
I76n., 400; Johnson's Life of,
quoted, iii. 88, 149, 151
" Mirror, The," quoted, iii. 440
Miscellaneous Pieces, by Johnson, i.
239n.
Mitre Tavern, favourite resort of
Johnson's, i. 291


Monboddo, Lord, i. 517n.; ii. 140;
iii. 220; Johnson's opinion of, i.
425, 482; ii. 9, 44, 14I; his
prejudice against Johnson, i. 42 5n.;
iii. 339; his " Origin and Progress
of Language," i. 425n.; Johnson
gives him a copy of the "Journey
to the Hebrides," ii. 303; he
criticises its style, ii. 365; his early
rising, ii. 360; his views on slavery,
*i. 399
Monckton, Miss, see Cork, Countess of
"Moniteur, Le," founded by Panckoucke, i. 207n.
Montague, Mrs. E., i. 468; ii. 257,
443; iii. IOT; painted by Miss
Reynolds, ii.  424;   Johnson's
opinion of, ii. 425; iii. 341; her
" Essay on Shakespeare " criticised
by Johnson, i. 435; her illness,
iii. I o; her controversy with
Johnson, iii. 169
Montesquieu, his " Lettres Persannes,"
ii. 464n.
" Monthly Review, The," Johnson's
opinion of, i. 400; ii. 245; quoted,
ii. 243n.
Montrose, Duke of, iii. 205; anecdote of, ii. 42 n.
Monville, Mr., ii. 147
Moody, Mr., ii. 0o8, I1, 112
More, Hannah, ii. 435; iii. 194,
341, 367; her flattery of Johnson,
ii. 466; iii. 396; her Memoirs,
iii. 188n.; quoted, iii. I9on.; her
poem " Bas Bleu," iii. 205
More, Dr. Henry, the Platonist, i. 494
More, Sir Thomas, i. 209
Morgan, Morice, tells two anecdotes
of Johnson, iii. 273
"Morning Chronicle, The," quoted,
iii. 24In.
Morris, Corbyn, quoted, iii. 202
Morris, Miss, at Johnson's death-bed,
iii. 463
Mother's Catechism (in Erse), presented by Johnson to Bodleian
Library, ii. 60




INDEX


507


Mounsey, Dr., censured by Johnson,
i. 417
Mountstuart, Lord, ii. 295; iii. 93,
221; his bill for a Scotch militia,
ii. I82, 219
Mudge, Dr., i. 274; letters to, from
Johnson, quoted, iii. 312
Mudge, Rev. Zachariah, i. 274; his
"Sermons" criticised by Johnson,
iii. 196
Mulgrave, Lord, ii. 225
Mull, visited by Johnson, ii. 49, 80
Muller, Mr., engineer, i. 255n.
Mulso, Miss, see Chapone, Mrs.
Munro, Dr., his letter to Boswell
quoted, iii. 331; letter to, from
Boswell, iii. 330
Murphy, Arthur, i. 222, 330n., 432,
460; ii. 42, 54, 136, 241, 410;
iii. 323, 339; his Essay on Johnson, i. 37n., I03n., 284n.; his
"Gray's Inn Journal," i. 235;
his "Orphan of China, i. 243;
his Poetical Epistle to Johnson
quoted, i. 257; his share in procuring Johnson's pension, i. 272;
introduces Johnson to the Thrales,
i. 365; criticised by Johnson, i.
466
Murray, Lord George, ii. 52n.
Murray, J., bookseller, prosecuted by
Mason, ii. 466
Murray, William, see Mansfield, Lord
Musgrave, Sir William, i. 104
Musgrave, Dr., iii. 16
Mylne, Mr., architect, i. 254
Mysargyrus, i. I77
NAIRNE, Mr., see Dunsinan, Lord
Nares, Rev. Mr., imitates Johnson,
iii. 440
Nash, his "History of Worcestershire," i. 41n.; ii. 447
Nash, Beau, i. 8 n.
Negro cause, see Knight, Joseph
Nelson, R., his "Festivals and Fasts"
commended by Johnson, ii. 204
Neni, Count, ii. 247


Newbery, Mr., publisher, i. 236n.,
251
Newcastle-on-Tyne, Johnson passes
through, ii. 49; story of a ghost
at, ii. 468
Newcastle, Duke of, i. I02, 319n.;
lends Rev. J. Spence's collection
to Johnson, iii. i68
Newhaven, Lord, argues with Johnson, iii. 90
Newport School, i. 21, 86n.
New Testament (Erse), presented by
Johnson to the Bodleian Library,
ii. 60
Newton, Sir Isaac, ii. 461; praised
by Johnson, i. 465
Newton, Dr., Bishop of Bristol, his
censure of Johnson, iii. 349; his
"Dissertations on the Prophecies,"
iii. 350
Nichols, Dr., ii. 120; his C De
Anima Medica," ii. 357
Nichols, John, iii. 315n., 323; editor
of the " Gentleman's Magazine,"
52n.; possesses papers of Johnson's,
i. 60, 90; iii. 432; anecdotes of
Johnson, i. 63n.; iii. 207; hisaccount
of Johnson's last days, iii. 45;
letters to, from Johnson, iii. 164,
419
Nichols, Mr., the printer; letters to,
from Johnson, quoted, iii. 145n.
Nicol, George, the King's bookseller,
iii. 321; letter to, from Johnson,
iii. 416
Nicolaida, a learned Greek, ii. I39.
Nores, Jason de, his " Comments upon
Horace," ii. 192
Norris, Mr., Johnson lodges with, i.
64
North, Lord, suppresses pamphlet of
Johnson's, i. 472; unfriendly to
Johnson, i. 474n., 481; his letter
to  Vice-Chancellor  concerning
Johnson's degree, ii. 102
Norton,Sir Fletcher (Lord Grantley),
Speaker of the House of Commons,
i 437; ii. 216




o508


INDEX


Northumberland, reindeer in, i. 5oon.
Northumberland, Duke of, i. 418,
469
Northumberland, Duchess of, ii. 107
Northumberland, Elizabeth, Duchess
of, ii. 447n.
Northumberland House, fire in, iii.
100
Nottingham, learned pig of, iii. 424
Nourse, Mr., bookseller, ii. 230n.
Nowell, Dr., Principal of St. Mary
Hall, visited by Johnson, iii. 358
Nugent, Dr., i. 353, 380; ii. 26
Nugent, Robert, Lord Clare, i. 472;
iii. I I
"OBSERVATIONS on the Present State
of Affairs," by Johnson, quoted,
i. 222
O'Connor, Charles, account of, ii.
31In.; letters to, from Johnson, i.
231; ii. 311
Odes by Johnson, on Friendship, i.
10o8; on Winter, i. 127
Offely, Mr., pupil of Johnson's, i. 58
Ogden, Dr., his" Sermons," ii. 428;
sermon quoted, iii. 218n.
Ogilvie, Dr. John, his poems criticised
by Johnson, i. 308
Oglethorpe, General, history of, i.
83n.; Johnson dines with, i. 508;
ii. 7, 20, I I7, 260, 456; tells
anecdote of Prince of Wirtemberg,
i. 510; tells ghost story, i. 511;
Johnson's remark on his conversation, ii. 264; calls on Johnson,
iii. 257; his death, ii. 1 8n.
Oldfield, Dr., anecdote of, ii. 265
Oldfield, Mrs., speaks epilogue to
" The Distressed Mother," i. 127n.
Oldham, John, his Satires quoted, i.
76
Oldmixon, John, i. 213n.
Oldys, William, i. 105; his literary
work, i. i22
Oliver, Dame, teaches Johnson, i. 16
" Olla Podrida," Oxford collection
of essays, iii. 471In.


Omai, a South Sea Islander, Johnson's
account of, ii. 225
Orford, Earl of, see Walpole, Horace
Orme, Captain, iii. i88
Orme, R., historian of Hindostan, on
maps, ii. 121; in praise of Johnson,
ii. 78, 458
Orrery, Earl of, i. 171; ii. 420;
iii. 13, 260; his letter to Dr.
Birch, i. 130; Johnson writes Dedication to, i. 181; his book on Swift,
ii. 429
Osborne, Francis, Johnson's opinion
of his writings, i. 520
Osborne, Thomas, bookseller, i. 08;
ii. 352; chastised  by Johnson,
i. 105; iii. 39
Oseney Abbey, visited by Johnson, i.
194
Ossian, controversy on, i. 287; ii. 72,
78, 84; iii. 29n.; Johnson's views
on, ii. 75, 78, 85, 92, 114; Shaw's
pamphlet on, iii. 321
Ossory, Lord, i. 353
Otaheite, ii. 21; Johnson's views on,
ii. 258
"Othello," quoted, iii. 42; Johnson's
opinion of, ii. 251
Otway, T., iii. 132
Overbury, Sir Thomas, his poem
quoted, i. 426
Ovid, i. 39; quoted, i.225; ii. 25, 97,
454; Pope's translation of, quoted,
i. 51in.
Oxford, Johnson goes to, i. 29; leaves,
i. 42; visits, i. 191, 252, 388, 420;
iii. 229; All Souls Library, i.
397; Bodleian Library, i. 397;
Broadgate Hall, see Pembroke
College; Christ Church, i. 41;
Christ Church Library, i. 397;
Christ Church Meadow, i. 193;
Merton College, iii. 361; Pembroke College, i. 39, 42, 48, I93;
ii. 190; iii. 3, 7, 350; fifth of
November celebrated at, i. 30; St.
Edmund's Hall, expulsion of six
Methodists, i. 5 5; Trinity College,




INDEX


509


i. 174, 93; ii. 193; University
College, ii.  I22,  I89; University of, ii. 133; grants Master's
degree to Johnson, i. 20; letter
from the Chancellor concerning
degree, i. 200; Methodists at, i.
337n.; grants Doctor's degree to
Johnson, ii. 102; letter to the
Chancellor of, concerning degree,
ii. 102; gift of MSS. from Lord
Clarendon's heirs, ii. 176; proposed
Manege, ii. 176
PALAIs BOURBON, Johnson visits, ii.
150
Palais Marchand, visited by Johnson,
ii. I49, 150
Palais Royal, visited by Johnson, ii.
149
Palmer, John, of Islington, his
" Answer to Dr. Priestley," ii.
464n.
Palmer, Rev. Thomas Fysche, curious
history of, iii. 219
Palmerston, Lord, i. 253n., 353; iii.
306, 384
Panckoucke, Charles Joseph, bookseller, i. 207
Pantheon, Johnson visits, i. 498, 5oo;
history of, i. 5oon.
Panting, Dr., Master of Pembroke
College, overhears Johnson's soliloquy, i. 39
Paoli, Pascal, Lieutenant-General of
Corsica, i. 416; ii. 452; iii. 59,
384; history of, i. 424n.; first
interview with Johnson, i. 430; ii.
159; calls on Johnson, i. 518;
Johnson dines with, i. 497; ii. 9,
44, 247, 260; iii. z2, 387;
Johnson pleased with a remark of
his, ii. 349
Paradise, John, iii. 72, 323; account
of, i. 32n.; iii. 4166n.; Johnson
dines with, iii. 339; letter to, from
Johnson, iii. 416
Paris, Johnson visits, ii. 142
Paris, Peace of, ii. 1 zon.


Parker, Sackville, bookseller, Johnson
visits, iii. 369
Parliamentary Debates, by Johnson,
i. o10, 104, o8; iii. 456
Parnell, T., iii. 448; his poems
quoted, ii. 405; iii. 77; Johnson's
Life of, quoted, iii. I60; Johnson's
epitaph on, quoted, iii. I60
Parr, Rev. Dr., Johnson pleased with,
iii. 28; defends Johnson's memory,
iii. 467; his letter to William
Seward quoted, iii. 468n.
"Pascal, Les Pensees de," Johnson
gives Boswell, iii. 67
Paterson, Samuel, his "Coriat Junior,"
i. 505
Paterson v. Alexander, Johnson'a
views on case of, ii. 135
"Patriot, The," pamphlet by Johnson, published, ii. 65
Paul, Father, Life of, by Johnson,
i. 93
Payne, William, his "Introduction
to the Game of Draughts," Johnson writes part of, i. 228
Pearce, Dr. Zachary, Bishop of
Rochester, i. go, 21z; Johnson
writes Dedication for his " Commentary," ii. 312
Pearson, Bishop, Johnson recommends
his works, i. 290
Peiresc, ii. 133
Pelham, Mr., Garrick's Ode on,
quoted, i. I 9
Pelisson, i. 5 n.
Pembroke, Earl of, ii. 133; on
Johnson's sayings, ii. 98n.
Penmanmaur, Johnson visits, ii. 64
Pennant, T., his Travels, ii.  5;
Johnson on, ii. 447-449; praises
Johnson, ii. 450
Pepys, Dr., iii. 303
Pepys, Sir Lucas, iii. I68, 256
Pepys, Sir W., Master in Chancery,
ii. i6n.; iii. 104, 184
Percy, Dr., Bishop of Dromore, i.
I34, 353; ii. 91, 13n., I36n.,
435; iii. 96; genealogy, ii. 447n.;




5Io


INDEX


as Dean of Carlisle, iii. 56, 97, I 112;
popular in Carlisle, iii. 96; property
burnt, iii. I00; Johnson stays with,
i. 3 58; dines with, ii. 446; disputes
with Johnson, i. 418; ii. 446,
449; his anecdotes of Johnson, i.
20, 2; on Johnson's appearance,
i. 6on.; on Johnson's mode of
writing his Dictionary, i. I33n.;
on Johnson's conversation, iii. I6;
possesses Pope's note concerning
Johnson, i. 96; on Grainger's
"' Sugar-Cane," ii. 199n.; Johnson
jokes about, ii. 200; " Hermit of
Warkworth " parodied by Johnson,
i. 472n.; " Reliques," ii. I I4n.;
" Northern Antiquities," ii. 449;
letter to Boswell, i. 40; letter to,
from Boswell, ii. 453
Percy, Earl, ii. 45 I
Perkins, Mr., manager of Mr.
Thrale's brewery, iii. 183; shrewd
remark, iii. I85;   letters  from
Johnson, ii. 65; iii. 213, 243,
326, 414
Perth, Duke of, ii. 411
Peterborough, Lord,Johnson's interest
in, iii. 389
Peyton, Mr., amanuensis, i. 132,
488; helped by Johnson, i. I32;
Johnson's consideration for, i. 489
Philidor, Monsieur, iii. 62
Phillips, Johnson's Life of, quoted,
iii. I6I
Phillips, Charles Claudius, Epitaphs
on, i. 99, 00o.
' Philosophical Transactions," i. 400
"Pilgrim's Progress," i. 37n.
Piozzi, Mrs., see Thrale, Mrs.
Piozzi, Mr., iii. 394
Pitt, William, i. 103, 319n., 379,
507; iii. 260n.; characterised by
Johnson, i. 85, 522; iii. 356;
his correspondence with Boswell,
iii. 328
"Plain Dealer, The," i. 107, 121
Plaxton, Rev. George, letter from,
i. IOn.


Players, Johnson's opinion of, i. it 6;
ii. 22, 159
Plott, "History of Staffordshire,"
ii. 378
Plutarch, quoted, i. 6; ii. 434n.; his
" Life of Alcibiades," ii. 443n.
Plymouth, Johnson visits, i. 273-5
Pococke, Canon Edward, verses on,
ii. 444n.
Pococke, R., Bishop of Ossory, ii
444n.; "Travels," ii. 13
Poets' Corner, Johnson visits, ii. 25
Politian, Latin Poems of, Johnson
proposes to print, i. 5 I
"Political Tracts," Johnson's, ii. 9o,
I90
Pomfret, his poems, iii. 60
" Pomponius Mela de Situ Orbis," i.
343
" Pomposo," caricature of Johnson, i.
296
Pope, Alexander, i. 128, 233n., 236,
272; ii. 25, 123, 13In., 15o,
194n., 3 59, 43; admires Johnson's
" London," i. 84; recommends
Johnson to Lord Gower, i. 87;
his note concerning Johnson quoted,
i. 96; borrows from Guarini, iii.
41; Johnson's opinion of his poems,
i. 432; ii. 105, 436; iii. 29, 153;
on his lack of conversation, iii. I 56;
Lady Bolingbroke's description of,
iii. 21; Lord Marchmont's anecdotes of, iii. 38, 76; verses to, iii.
368; Dr. Joseph Warton's Essay
on, i. 329; letter from Dr. Blair to
Boswell concerning, iii. 85; Life
of, by Johnson, i. 398n.; quoted,
iii.  53; letter to, from  Swift,
quoted, iii.  1;  imitations  of
Horace, i. I55 n.  ii. I95n.; iii.
74n.; " Essay on Man," i. 398n.;
" Artemisias," i. 426; " Prologue
to the Satires," ii. I8n.; "The
Dying Christian to his Soul," ii.
243; quoted, i. 175, 51In., ii.
117, 2      2782n., 388n., 419n.,
431; iii. 41, 123, I58; "Messiah"




INDEX


5II


quoted, i. 193; Johnson's Latin
translation of, i. 30
Pope, Dr. Walter, " The Old Man's
Wish," iii. I 3
Port, family of, former owners of Ilam,
ii. 378
Porter, Elizabeth, see Johnson, Elizabeth
Porter, Mr., i. 48
Porter, Mr., the younger, ii. 146
Porter, Lucy, i. 14, 52n., 55,70, i67,
252, 269; ii. 206, 21, 213; iii.
94, 95; death of, iii. 443n.; letters
to, from Johnson, i. 246; ii. 145;
iii. 78, 189, 234, 282, 306, 325,
328, 443
Porteus, Dr., Bishop of London, ii.
453; iii. 94, i40; his charge quoted,
111. 179
Portland, Duchess Dowager of, iii.
104
Portmore, Right Hon. the Earl of,
note to, from Johnson, iii. 334n.
Pott, Archdeacon, Johnson praises his
sermons, ii. 204
Pott, Mr., surgeon to Johnson, iii.
312
Prayer, forms of, iii. 357
Prayer, quoted, i. 165; iii. 421n1.
"Prayers and Meditations," i. 57,
218, 219, 337n., 420; ii. I56n.;
iii. 67, 308; published with Preface
by Rev. Mr. Strahan, i. I66; iii.
427; Johnson's friends disapprove
of publication, iii. 427n.; quoted,
i. 15, 142, I65, I69, 237, 244n.,
254, 257, 26o, 355, 359, 362,
403, 404, 456, 478, 5 7; ii. 40,
46, 53, 124, 294, 300, 301, 309;
iii. 3, 115, I44, I86, 229, 232,
236, 248, 446, 447, 462
"Preceptor, The," Johnson writes
Preface for, i. 134
Prefaces by Johnson to "Gentleman's Magazine," i. 93, 99, 104,
io8
Prendergast, or Pendergrass, story of,
i. 5I


Priestley, Dr., ii. 464n.; Johnson's
opinion of, i. 464; iii. 3 10
Primrose, Lady Dorothea, iii. I 59n.
Pringle, Sir John, President of the
Royal Society, ii. 224, 427; dislikes Johnson, ii. 272
Prior, Matthew, Johnson's opinion of
his poems, iii. 382; borrows from
Gombauld, iii. 80
Pritchard, Mrs., i. I39, 265n., 437;
ii. 11 5; Johnson's opinion of her
acting, ii. 16; iii. 314
" Proceeding of Committee for Clothing the Frencl Prisoners," Johnson
writes Introduction for, i. 256
Prologue in honour of opening of
Drury Lane Theatre, by Johnson,
i. 126
"Proposals for printing Bibliotheca
Harleiana," by Johnson, i. Io4
"Proposals for translating Politian,"
quoted, i. 5 1
" Proposals for publishing the Works
of Mrs. Charlotte Lennox," by
Johnson, quoted, ii. 68
Psalmanazar, George, i. 26 n.; iii.
I3, 270, 339
Psalms in Mctre, quoted, ii. 222n.
" Public Advertiser, The," Essay by
Wilkes in, quoted, i. 216
Pulteney, Mr., i. 103; ii. 421
Pym, John, i. 4in.
QUEENSBERRY, Duke of, ii. 130
Quintilian, quoted, iii. 145
RABELAIS, ii. 20, 435
Rackstrow, Mr., of Museum in Fleet
St., iii. 378
Radcliffe, Dr., Master of Pembroke
College, i. 193
Radcliffe travelling fellowship, Johnson's views on, iii. 356
Raleigh, Sir Walter, i. 160
" Rambler, The," i. 7n., 33n., 38n.,
62n., I04, 478; iii. I90; first
appearance, i. 142; Scotch edition,
i. 148; sketch of No. 196, i. 145;




SI


INDEX


general description of, i. I 50-159;
last paper published, i. I64; sale,
of, i. I80; against gulosity, i. 345;
Goldsmith borrows from, i. 406;
parodied by Dr. Blair, ii. 365;
criticised by Johnson, iii. 2zo; to
be translated into Russian, iii. 342;
quoted, i. 5, 5I, 94, 337.; ii. 35;
parody of, i. I 54n.
Ramsay, Allan, on Horace, ii. 430;
Johnson dines with, iii. 27, 68, 89;
death of, iii. 4I 8n.
Ranby, John, his "Doubts on the
Abolition of the Slave Trade," ii.
392
"Random, Roderick," i. 253n.
Ranelagh, i. 307n.; Johnson frequents,
i. 46; Johnson admires, i. 500;
ii. 388
Rann, John, highwayman, ii. 25on.
Rasay, family of, ii. 80
" Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia," i.
34; iii. 15, 213; published, i.
246; discussed, i. 247-249; compared with "' Candide," i. 247; iii.
49; Lord Hailes on, i. 317;
American edition, i. 532; quoted,
i. 248
Ray, his " Nomenclature," ii. 125
Ray, Miss, shot by Hackman, iii. 70
Reed, Isaac, of Staple Inn, i. I 7n.;
iii. 146
"Rehearsal, The,"    criticised  by
Johnson, i. 500; iii. 379
"Respublicae Elzeviriane," ii. 260
'( Respublica Hungarica," i. 372
"s Review, The Monthly," i. 400; ii.
245
Reviews in the "Literary Magazine,"
list of Johnson's, i. 221; Johnson's,
quoted, i. 223
Rewley, near Oxford, visited by
Johnson, i. I94
Reynolds, Sir J., i. 84n., 96, 301n.,
354, 431; ii 50, 7I, 82, 126,
I28, I42n., 438; iii. Io, 44, 75,
139, 376, 398; describes Johnson's
manners, i. 97, 452; his anecdotes


of Johnson, i. 114, I73, 357; iii.
268, 38; his conversations with
Johnson, i. 141, 143, 172, 21I5, 271,
435; ii. 252; iii. 37; raises his
prices, i. 243; praised by Johnson,
i. 264; iii. 121; his income, i.
269, 277, goes with Johnson into
Devonshire, i. 273; portraits of
Johnson, i. 284, 476; first proposer
of The Club, i. 353; supports
Mrs. Abington's benefit, ii. 96;
Johnson  dines with, ii.   159,
430; iii. I6, 33, 67, 18I, 388,
392; his equable disposition, ii.
223, 382; his present from the
Empress of Russia, iii. 60; his
"Discourses to the Royal Academy," iii. 59, 379; praises Vanbrugh, iii. I6; dines with Mrs.
Garrick, iii. I94; tries to have
Johnson's pension raised, iii. 385;
threatens to resign Presidency of
Royal Academy, iii. 41 8n.; letters
to, from Johnson, i. 358, 476, 478;
ii. 286, 294; iii. 227, 250, 281,
297, 302, 323, 40I, 417-419
Reynolds, Miss, ii. 435, 466; iii. 17,
75, 303n1; Johnson's affection for,
i. 359n.; paints Mrs. Montague,
ii. 424
Richardson, Samuel, i. 243; Johnson
visits, i. 98; ii. 375; writes in
"The Rambler," i. 143; Johnson
compares him with Fielding, i. 406,
505; with French novelists, i. 465;
cited in Dictionary, iii. II9; his
lack of conversation, iii. 139; death
of, i. 269
Richardson, Mr., son of the painter,
i. 84, 96
Richmond, Duke of, iii. 360n.
Riddell, Mr., duel with Mr. Cunningham, iii. 289n.
Ritter, Joseph, Boswell's Bohemian
servant, ii. I64
Rivers, Earl, i.  8, I 19
Roberts, Miss, complimented by Johnson, i. 316




INDEX


513


Robertson, Rev. Dr. W., historian,
i. 221, 392, 417; ii. 20; iii. 27,
29, 3I, 45, 87; Johnson's opinion
of, i. 41; ii. 24; his style formed
on Johnson's, ii. 365; as imitator
of Johnson, quoted, iii. 439
Robertson, Mr., publisher of "The
Caledonian Mercury," iii. 223
Robin Hood Society for debate, iii.
192
" Robinson Crusoe," i. 37n.
Robinson, Sir Thomas, i. 318, 469
Rochester, Johnson at, iii. 307
Rochester, Earl of, his poems, ii.
382; quoted, ii. 243
Rochford, Earl of, Johnson writes
Dedication to, i. 228
Rodney, Adm. Sir George, ii. 155
Rolt, his "Dictionary of Trade and
Commerce," Preface written by
Johnson for, i. 260; ii. II2
Roman Catholic Religion, Johnson's
views on, i. 447
Roscommon, Life of, by Johnson, i.
134
Rothes, Lady, wife of Bennet Langton, i. 472, 477, 480
Round Robin, addressed to Johnson,
on Goldsmith's Epitaph, ii. 288
Rousseau, Jean Jacques, i. 425; ii.
5; censured by Johnson, i. 375
Rowe, Mrs., i. 224
Rowley, T., poems attributed to (see
Chatterton), ii. 258; iii. 233
Royal Academy, origin of, i. 264n.;
Johnson Professor of Ancient Literature, i. 420o
Royal Marriage Act, ii. I 3n.; disapproved of by Johnson, i. 486
Royal Society, i. 48n.; Dryden's
poem on, quoted, ii. 27
Rudd, Margaret Caroline, ii. I96n.,
285; iii. 27
Ruddiman, Thomas, i. 384; ii. 6;
iii. 6I; history of, i. I49n.
Ruffhead, his Life of Pope, censured
by Johnson, i. 498
Russell, Lord, ii. 2
11


Russia, increase of population in, i. 445
Russia, Empress of, present to Sir
J. Reynolds, iii. 60
Rutland, Roger, Earl of, letter to,
from Lord Essex, i. 316
Rutty,   Dr.  John,   Quaker,   his
" Spiritual Diary and Soliloquies,"
quoted, ii. 363
SACHEVEREL, Dr., heard by Johnson,
i. 12
St. Andrews, Johnson passes through,
ii. 49
St. Asaph, visited by Johnson, ii. 64
St. Asaph, Bishop of, iii. 384
St. Basil, Epistle of, iii. 132
St. Cas, i. 24In.
St. Cloud, visited by Johnson, ii. 154
St. Denis, visited by Johnson, ii. 156
St. Germain, Library of, ii. 155
St. Germains, Benedictines of, Johnson lodges with, ii. I 56
St. James, General Epistle of, quoted,
iii. 354
St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell, i. 71
St. Kilda, i. 330, 484; Rev. K.
Macaulay's "History of," i. 409,
485
St. Luke, quoted, iii. 2 I
St. Paul, i. 463; iii. 217; quoted,
ii. 467; iii. 358
St. Sepulchre, Ladies' Charity School,
iii. 316
Salamanca, University of, praised by
Johnson, i. 334
Sallust, his account of Catiline, i. 7;
Spanish translation of, iii. 275
Salusbury, Hester Lynch, see Thrale,
Mrs.
Salusbury, Mrs., iii. 33; death of, ii.
47
Sanderson, Professor, i. 518
Sandwich, Lord, i. 82n.; iii. 70n.
Sans-terre, brewer, ii. 153
Saratoga, surrender of, iii. 48
Sarpi, Father Paul, his "History of
the Council of Trent," i. 89, 91
Sastres, Mr., ii. 236
L L




514


INDEX


Satires, Johnson's and Oldham's compared, i. 76
Savage, Richard, his character, i. I I;
his poverty, i. I 2; his influence
on Johnson, i. 1 13; his history,
i. 117-121; letter to Lord Tyrconnel, i. I I In.; his " Sir Thomas
Overbury," ii. 314; his " Wanderer," quoted, iii. 351; Johnson's
Life of, i. III, 14I, 172; praised
by "The Champion," i. I1 7
Sawbridge, Catherine, see Macaulay,
Catherine
Scaliger, quoted, i. 31
Scarsdale, Lord, ii. 354, 355
Scotch Courts of Session, procedure
in, ii. 7on.
Scotland, Church of, dissensions in,
i 484
Scotland, Episcopal Church of, iii. 6i;
its Liturgy, i. 495
" Scots Magazine," i. 71
Scott, Archibald, i. 75n.
Scott, John, of Amwell, ii. Io7; his
" Elegies" criticised by Johnson,
ii. I I8
Scott, Sir William (Lord Stowell),
i. 340, 353; iil 439; iii. 9, I91,
398
Secker, Archbishop, Johnson's prejudice against, iii. 140; quoted, i. 8
Segued, Emperor of Abyssinia, i. 49
"Sentinel, The," i. 5 iOn.
Settle, Elkanah, City-Poet, ii. 281
"Seventeen-thirty-eight," Satire by
Pope, i. 82
Sevigne, Madame de, ii. 261
Seward, Anna, i. 52n.; ii. 211, 458,
465; iii. 368; quotes "Acis and
Galatea," ii. 423n.; reproaches
Johnson, ii. 463; tells story of
learned pig, iii. 424; letter to Boswell, quoted, i. 54n.; her poems
praised by Johnson, iii. 387;
quoted, i. 14n.
Seward, Canon, i. 44n.; ii. 2 r I; iii.
93; Johnson's opinion of, ii. 347
Seward, William, ii. 321, 324; iii.


265, 293; sees Johnson's bow to
the Archbishop of York, iii. 277;
letter to, from Rev. Dr. Parr, iii.
468 n.
Shaftesbury, Earl of, i. 343
Shakespeare, Jubilee at Stratford-onAvon, i. 421; "Modern Characters from," pamphlet, ii. 434;
his witches, iii. 68; Johnson conmpares him to Corneille, iii. 128;
Johnson's edition of, i. 366, 369,
519, 529; ii. 263; Johnson criticises Sir T. Hanmer's edition of,
Mrs. Montague's Essay on, Preface
to Capel's edition of, i. 122, 435;
iii. 120; quoted, ii. 435; iii. 136,
175n., 176n., 449
Sharp, Dr. John, his letter in
" Gentleman's Magazine " quoted,
i. 359
Sharp, William, letter to, from Johnson, ii. 324
Sharpe, Rev. Gregory, sermon by, i.
468
Sharpe, S., his "Letters on Italy"
praised by Johnson, ii. 262
Shaw, Cuthbert, his portrait of Johnson in " The Race " quoted, i. 393
Shaw, Rev. Mr., ii. 400; his Erse
Grammar, ii. 306; his Gaelic
Dictionary, iii. 321; Johnson's
defence of his pamphlet, iii. 321
Shebbeare, Dr., iii. 14n., 292; his
" Letters on the English Nation,"
iii. 208
Sheffield, John, Duke of Buckinghamshire, Johnson's Life of, quoted,
iii. 147n.
Shelburne, Earl of, see Lansdowne,
Marquis of
Shenstone, W., i. 4I; his letter to
Greaves about Johnson quoted, ii.
I98
Sheridan, Charles, his "Account of
the late Revolution in Sweden,"
ii. 458
Sheridan, Frances, Johnson's affection
for, i. 26o; her "Memoirs of




INDEX


515


Miss Sydney Biddulph," i. 260n., Smallridge, his Sermons, ii. 428
282                             Smart, Christopher, the poet, writes
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, his mar-  for "Universal Visiter," i. 2I9;
riage, ii. 13 In.; poetical compli-  ii. II 2; Johnson's opinion of, i.
ment to Johnson, quoted, ii. 314;  289
proposed by Johnson at The Club, Smart, Mrs., letter to, from Johnson,
ii. 315                           iii. 41 In.
Sheridan, Thomas, i. 353; ii. 220, Smith, Captain, iii. 54
315; iii. 20, 64, i66, 191, 376, Smith, Dr. Adam, i. 330n., 353;
387; Johnson's opinion of, i.     iii. 28, 135, 269; his opinion of
260, 286, 332, 434, 467; iii.     Johnson, i. 38; Johnson's opinion
293; his quarrel with Johnson, i.  of, i. 313;  his "Wealth    of
279, 281; his share in procuring  Nations," ii. 181, 228n.; his attack
Johnson's pension, i. 272; attacks  on Oxford, iii. 441n.
Johnson in his " Life of Swift," i. Smith, Edmund, Johnson's Life of,
281, 434; his pronunciation, i. 492,  i. 44
493; is called Sherry, i. 332; ii. Smith, Rev, Mr., Vicar of Southill,
42; gives Home a gold medal, ii.  iii. 220, 386
93; Johnson sends a message to, Smollett, T., i. 330n.; ii. 418;
iii. 298                          founds " Critical Review," ii. 246;
Sherlock, Bishop, his "Sermons," ii.  his letter to Wilkes, i. 252
428                             Snowden, Johnson ascends, ii. 64
Shiels, Mr., Johnson's amanuensis, Society for encouragement of learning,
i. 131; Johnson's kindness to, i.  i. 104n.
170; writes most of Cibber's Society of Artists, i. 264n.
"Lives of the Poets," ii. 243; Society of Arts, i. 264n.
anecdote of, ii. 249            Society for Propagating  Christian
Shipley, Bishop, i. 353; ii. 430;   Knowledge in Scotland, i. 389;
quotes Plutarch, ii. 434; Johnson's  ii. 60
opinion of, iii. 316            Soho, near Birmingham, ii. 204
Siam, King of, French embassy to, Solander, Dr., i. 479, 482, 482n.
iii. 32                         Solihull Grammar School, i. 46n.
Sibbald, Sir Robert, Life of, ii. 410  Somerville, Lord, tells anecdote of
Siddons, Mrs., visits Johnson, iii. 313  Pope, iii. 157
Sidney, Sir Philip, his "Profitable " Somnium," verses by Johnson, i.
Instructions," i. 317n.; sonnet   30
quoted, ii. 329                 Sorbonne, visited  by Johnson, ii.
Simpson, Joseph, his tragedy "The    154
Patriot," ii. 242; letter to, from  South, Rev. R., his Sermons, i. 448;
Johnson, i. 251                   ii. 428
Simpson, Mr., of Lichfield, i. 43  Southill, Johnson stays at, i. I85;
Simpson, Thomas, mathematician, i.  iii. 213
255n.                           Southwark, i. 362; ii. 65n.; Thrale's
Skene, Sir John, iii. 95n.          letter to electors of, iii. I I
Sky, isle of, visited by Johnson, ii. Southwell, Lord, i. 17I; Johnson's
49, 80                            opinion of, iii. 260; "Spectator,
Smallbroke, Dr., of the Commons, i.  The," i. 141, 426, 45In., 520;
88                                ii. 364, 414; iii.  q7, 142, l8o,
v,M. 117 142... xI,..


III.


*




INDEX


191; discussed   by Johnson, ii. Stillingfleet, Benjamin, iii. 204
3, 133, 246, 256; epitaph from, Stinton, Dr., ii. 453; his "Life of
quoted, iii. 41 in.                Secker," iii. I40
Spence, Rev. Joseph, his " Anec- Stirling, Corporation of, declared cordotes," iii. i68                    rupt, ii. 135
Spencer, Lady Diana, wife of Top- Stirling, road-bill in the county of,
ham Beauclerk, ii. 33n.            ii. 408
Spencer, Lord, i. 353               Stockdale, Rev. Mr., i. 482; his
Spenser, Edmund, his " Fairy Queen,"  " Remonstrance," i. 456
T   Warton's observations on, iii. Stopford, Hon. Colonel Edward, ii.
121                                137
Spottiswoode, John, the younger, iii. Stourbridge, Johnson educated at, i.
23                                 20
"Stage, a complete Vindication of Stowe, Richard, ofApsley, i. 13n.
the Licensers of," by Johnson, i. Strahan, Andrew, iii. 421
94                               Strahan, Mrs., i. 149; letters to,
Stamp Act, speeches on the, i. 380n.  from Johnson, iii. 198, 233
Stanhope, Philip, Lord Chesterfield's Strahan, Rev. Mr., i. 398n.; iii.
son, i. 19on., 462n.; iii. 389       55, 338;   publishes Johnson's
Stanyan, Temple, traveller, iii. 49   "Prayers and   Meditations," iii.
Staunton, Sir George, iii. 375; letter  427; at Johnson's death-bed, iii.
to, from Johnson, i. 266           461
Steele, J., his "Prosodia Rationalis," Strahan, William, i. 17I, 206, 246,
ii. 98                             396n.; ii. I5, 62, 67, 85,94, 96,
Steele, Mr., Secretary to the Treasury,  297, 299, 406, 409, 437, 459;
i. 95                              iii. 28, 84, 105, 380, 422; his
Steele, Sir Richard, i. 45in.; ii.    difference with Johnson, iii. 55;
194n., 246; anecdote of, iii. 158,  his letter to the Treasury, i. 473;
191; his "Christian Hero," ii.     letter to, from Johnson, iii. 55.
195; quoted, i. I2In.; "Conscious Strahan, William, junior, death of, iii.
Lovers," quoted, i. 364n.          I98
Steevens, George, i. 353, 451, 456, Stratford-on-Avon, Shakespeare Jubi460; ii. 56, 91, 113n., 136n.,     lee, i. 421; Johnson visits, ii. 198
382; iii. 48, 70on., 72; has John- Streatham, Johnson at, ii. 406; iii.
son's dial-plate, i. 414; republishes  248
Johnson's Shakespeare, i. 529; Stuart, Andrew, his letters to Lord
helps Johnson with "Lives of the   Mansfield, ii. 18
Poets," iii. 146; gives particulars Stuart, Clan of, ii. 5
concerning Johnson, iii. 382; letters Stuart, Colonel James, iii. 83, 92
to, from Johnson, ii. 55, 301    Stuart, Hon. and Rev. William, iii.
Sterne, Rev. L., i. 505; his "Senti-  278
mental Journey," iii. I43n.; John- Stuart, House of, ii. 9
son's opinion of, iii. 205       Stuart, Mr., of Dunearn, i. 50o9n.
Stewart, Mr., Johnson's amanuensis, Stuart, Rev. James, i. 39In.
i. 132                           " Student, The," a Miscellany, i. I47,
Stewart, Sir Annesley, iii. i81       16I
Still, Bishop, compared to Johnson, Suetonius, quoted, ii. 457n.
iii. 465n.                       Swift, Dean, i. 87, I761n., 318, 518;




INDEX


517


ii. 27n., i94n.; Johnson's opinion of
him and his works, i. 332, 418,
470; ii. 23n., 92; his letter to
Pope, quoted, iii. I I; quoted, i.
96n.; ii 146n.; iii. 349; Johnson's Life of, quoted, iii. 167.
Swinfen, Dr., Johnson's god-father,
i. 29n., 43, 46; ii. 407n.; betrays
Johnson's confidence, i. 33
Swinney, tells anecdote of Dryden, ii.
278
Swinton, Rev. Mr., i. 194
Sydenham, Dr., quoted, i. 97; Johnson's Life of, i. 104
Sydney, Algernon, ii. 2
Sydney, Lord, iii. 359n.; his attack
on Johnson, iii. 377
TABLE, sinking, ii. I48n.
Tacitus, Johnson's opinion of, i. 517
Talbot, Mrs. Catherine, writes in
"The Rambler," i. 143
Tasso, his "Jerusalem," criticised by
Johnson, iii. 27
"Tatler, The," i. 141, 520n.; ii.
194n.
"Tatler, The, Revived," i. 141
"Taxation no Tyranny," pamphlet
by Johnson, ii. IO6, 405; quoted,
ii. 87-88, 390; praised by Orme,
ii. 458
Taylor, Chevalier, celebrated oculist,
iii. 74
Taylor, "Demosthenes," Johnson's
account of him, iii. 6
Taylor, Jeremy, iii. 357
Taylor, Mr., of Birmingham, i. 48.
Taylor, Rev. Dr., i. 170; ii. 212,
325; his opinion of Lichfield
School, i. 17; at Oxford, i. 41;
visited by Johnson, i. 45; ii. 212,
217, 2i8, 260, 332, 406, 420;
tells anecdote of Johnson, i. 1 6;
reads MS. of Plan of Dictionary,
i. 129; mediates between Johnson
and Garrick, i. 138; disputes with
Johnson, ii. 350; his friendship
with Johnson, ii. 372; Johnson


writes sermons for him, ii. 373; his
bull-dog, ii. 380; gives Boswell
information about Johnson, iii. 426;
reads Johnson's burial service, iii.
465; letters to, from Johnson, i.
i68; iii. 303, 336
Temple, Rev. Mr., i. 320; ii. 33,
133; meets Johnson, i.    375;
writes Gray's character, iii. 244;
letter to Boswell, quoted, ii. 91.
Temple, Sir William, i. 231; ii.
22; iii. 26; his style compared
with Johnson's, i. I55; praised by
Johnson, ii. 436
Temple Bar, ii. 25
Testament, New, Greek, quoted, i.
413
Theobald, compared with Warburton
by Johnson, i. 236
Theocritus, i. 39; compared with
Virgil by Johnson, iii. 17, I 8
Thicknesse, P., his " Travels " commended by Johnson, ii. 418
Thomas, Colonel, of the Guards, his
will quoted, iii. 290n.
Thomas, Nathaniel, ii. 296n.
Thomson, James, his poems, ii. 130;
Johnson's opinion of, i. 332, 417;
ii. 249; quoted, i. 58
Thomson, Rev. James, case against,
in the Court of Session, ii. 266 -271
Thornton, Bonnel, i. 147, 287; his
mock " Rambler," i. 154; his
burlesque "Ode on St. Cecilia's
Day," quoted, i. 306
Thrale, Mr., i. 388, 421, 428, 483n.;
ii. 2, I5, 20, 32, 6i, 62, 64, 86,
98, I07, I 6, 142, 143, i6i, I79,
223, 233, 237, 238, 241, 255,
330; iii. 78, 8i, 97, Ioo, 183;
family history, i. 362; High
Sheriff for Surrey, i. 363n.; his
opinion of French cookery, ii. 158;
death of his only son, ii. 212;
rumour of his own death, ii. 308;
illness and partial recovery, iii.
Ioo, I To; contests Southwark, iii.




INDEX


I I2; loses election, iii.  16; his
illness and removal to Grosvenor
Square, iii. 176; his death, iii.
186, 237; his brewery sold to
Barclay and Perkins, iii. 187n.,
226;   his letter to electors of
Southwark, iii. I I5
Thrale, Mrs., i. 3, i6, 125, 299,
303, 420, 427, 428, 477, 483f.,
516; ii. 54, 6i, 64, 67, 79, 99,
I39, 141, 143, 163, 179, 214,
219, 223, 241, 242, 247, 255,
257, 330, 377, 400, 409, 4II1
428; iii. 14, 22, 39, 41, 55, 78,
100, 176, 185, 212, 342, 424,
459; her poem, "The Three
Warnings," i. 389; sells her correspondence with Johnson, i. 402n.;
her coarse mode of flattery, ii. I I6;
copies passages for Johnson, iii.
146; her affection for Johnson on
the wane, iii. 248; her engagement
to Signor Piozzi, iii. 394; her
inaccuracy, iii. 395; imaginary ode
to, iii. 437; her letters to Johnson,
i. 355; iii. 0oi, 394; letters to,
from Johnson, i. 355; ii. 103n.,
I38n.; iii. 58, 102-109, 283n.,
303, 313, 3i6, 372, 374, 387,
435n., 445n.; quoted, i. 36n.,
37n., 45n., 54n., 59n., I69n.,
346n., 52 in.; ii 253n.; i. 32n.,
82n., 19on., 377, 395-400
Thrale, the Misses, ii. 162; iii. I0o,
308n., 315
Thuanus, i. 6
Thucydides, iii. 27
Thurlow, Lord, ii. I 12, 236; befriends Macbean, i. 132; iii. I 5;
opinion on the case of the Rev.
James Thomson, ii. 270; application to him to augment Johnson's
income, iii. 384; offers to lend
Johnson journey money, iii. 402;
his letter to Johnson, iii. 16; to
Boswell, iii. 391; letter to, from
Johnson, iii. 403
Thurot, iii. 199


Tickell, T., i. 451; Life of, quoted,
iii. 162
Tillotson, Archbishop, his sermons,
ii. 428
Tonson, bookseller, Johnson dines
with, i. I87n.
Tooke, J. Home, censured by Johnson, iii. 13; his "Letter to Mr.
Dunning on the English Particle,"
iii. 48
Toplady, Rev. Mr., ii. 33, 39
Topsel, Edward, his "History of
Four-footed Beasts and Animals,"
i. 93n.
Torre, pyrotechnist, iii. 382
Torrington family, vault of, in Southill
Church, i. 225
Towers, Dr. Joseph, " Letter to Dr.
Samuel Johnson," quoted, ii. 90;
essay on Johnson, quoted, iii. 149gn.
Townshend, Right Hon. Charles,
anecdote of, ii. I
Townson, Rev. Dr., "Discourse on
the Evangelical History," ii. 43n.
Trecothick, Barlow, ii. 282, 390
Trianon, Johnson at the, ii. I 52
Trimlestown, Lord, ii. 410, 4I1
Tuilleries, The, Johnson at, ii. 149
Turk's Head Coffee House, Johnson
sups at, i. 327
Turk's Head, meeting-place of The
Club, i. 353
Tursellinus, his " Life of St. Ignatius
Loyola," i. 42
Turton, Dr., ii. 357
Twalmley, "the Great," inventor of
a kind of box-iron, iii. 274
Twiss, his "Travels in     Spain"
criticised by Johnson, ii. I3
Tyburn, i. 438
Tyers, Jonathan, founder of Vauxhall
Gardens, iii. 8
Tyers, Thomas, i. 451; parodies a
phrase of Johnson's, i. 225n.;
describes Johnson, iii. 8; history
of, iii. 8
Tyrawley, Lord, ii. 3
Tyrconnel, Lord, i. I In., 121




INDEX


5I9


Tytler, P. F., " History of Scotland,"
II. 370n1.
Tytler, William, his vindication of
Mary Queen of Scots, i. 256; his
letter to Elphinston, quoted, ii. 81
"UNION, The," collection of poems,
i. 75t1.
"Universal Chronicle, The," "Idler"
appears in, i. 236; Johnson writes
advertisement for, i. 25on.
" Universal History," list of authors
of, written by Johnson, iii. 432
"Universal Visiter, The," Johnson's
Essays in, i. 219
"Universal Visiter, The," extraordinary contract with, ii. i 12
Usher, Archbishop, praised by Johnson, i. 470
Uttoxeter, Johnson does penance there,
iii. 424
VALLANCY, Colonel, antiquary, iii.
339, 343
Vanbrugh, Sir John, i. 406n.
"Vanity of Human Wishes," i. 248,
372, 379, 450; ii. 388; publication of, i. 135; quoted, i. 137
Vansittart, Dr. Robert, of Oxford,
i. 252, 519, 52In.
Vauxhall Gardens, iii. 8
Veal, Mrs., story of the ghost of, i.
496
Versailles, visited by Johnson, ii. 143,
15I
Verses to Lady Firebrace, by Johnson, i. 90
Vertot, RenJS Aubert, Sieur de, his
" Revolutions Romaines," ii. 24
Vesey, Mr., i. 353; ii. 91; iii. 139
Vestris, report of Johnson's taking
dancing lessons with, iii. 182
Vilette, Rev. Mr., Chaplain of Newgate, praised by Johnson, iii. 386
Virgil, i. 39, 186; ii. 68; iii. 29;
Johnson's translation from, i. 22;
edited by Dr. Joseph Warton, i.
17 8.; compared with Homer, ii.


383; with Theocritus, iii. I 17;
discussed, iii. 296; quoted, i. 35,
339, 385, 467, 529; ii. 399n.;
iii. 259, 274
"Vision of Theodore the Hermit,"
by Johnson, i. 134
" Vitalis, Janus," quoted, ii. 430
Voltaire, i. 207n., 376, 410, 435; ii.
1497n., i6i, 460; iii. 29; his
cruel jest on Admiral Byng, i. 225;
his comparison between Pope and
Dryden, i. 371; attacks Johnson
in "Dictionnaire Philosophique,"
i. 368; his (" Candide " compared
with " Rasselas," i. 247; iii. 49;
quoted, i. 249, 3 19
Vyse, Rev, Dr., letters to, from
Johnson, ii. 323; iii. 15n; his
letter to Boswell, ii. 323
WALDEGRAVE, Ladies, Reynolds' portrait of, i. 243n.
Wales, Johnson's impression of, ii. 64
Walker, Joseph Cooper, i. 231; his
letter to Boswell, quoted, ii. 3 IIn.
Walker, Mr., master of elocution, his
conversation with Johnson, iii. 285
Wall, Dr., physician at Oxford, iii.
356
Waller, Edmund, quoted, ii. 125n.;
iii. I45, 353n.; Life of, in "Biographia Britannica," quoted, iii.
24n.; Johnson's Life of, quoted,
iii. 148
Walmsley, Gilbert, eulogised by Johnson in " Lives of Poets," i. 44;
consulted by Johnson about " Irene,"
i. 62; his prediction about Johnson,
i. I40; his letter to  Rev. J
Colson, i. 63
Walpole, Horace, i. 243n., 330n.;
contributes to "The World," i.
183n.; sale of his pictures, iii.
390; Johnson on, iii. 374; his
" Reminiscences," ii. I Ion.; his
account of Dr. Dodd, ii. 3 3 5.; his
collection of bons mots, ii. 3 S 2n.; his
" Memoirs of the Reign of George




520


INDEX


III.," iii. 375n.; quoted, i. 301n.,
500oon.; iii. 270n., 278n., 36on.;
his Letters, i. 29In.; ii. I7n.,
107n.; quoted, i. xo6n.
Walpole, Sir R., i. 95; ii. 42; iii.
375; Johnson on, i. 85, 522;
ii. 264; iii. 183
Walton, Izaak, ii. 127; his "Complete Angler," i. 93n.; his Lives,
ii. 60, 63, 193, 307; praised by
Johnson, ii. 127
Warburton, Bishop, i. 396n., 498n.;
iii. 351; his compliment to Johnson, i. I23; his friendly message
to Johnson, i. 187; compared by
Johnson with Theobald, i. 236;
his controversy with Lowth, i. 398;
on Mallet's "Life of Bacon," ii.
384; his style of comment, iii.
Ion.; tribute to, from Johnson, iii.
153; his "Divine Legation," iii.
I55; his letter to  Dr. Birch,
quoted, i. 3
Ward, well-known quack, iii. 74
Wardlaw, Lady, her ballad of Hardyknute, i. 437
Warley Camp, Johnson visits, iii. 53
Warren, Dr., Johnson's physician, i.
353; iii. 448, 459
Warren, John, of Pembrokeshire, i. 5 I
Warren, Mr., bookseller, i. 48, 5I
Warton, Rev. Joseph, i. 75n., 353,
396n., 40o; iii. 58; his Essay on
Pope, praised by Johnson, i. 329,
498; ii. 412; letters to, from
Johnson, i. 178, 457
Warton, Thomas, the elder, Professor
of Poetry, i. I 78n.
Warton, Rev. T., the younger, i.
75n., 178n., 353; his account
of Johnson's visit to Oxford, i.
192; his poem, "The Progress
of Discontent," i. 2o2n.; elected
Professor of Poetry at Oxford, i.
232n.; writes in "The Idler,"
i. 237; visited by Johnson, ii. 193;
Johnson criticises his poetry, ii.
352; his "History of English


Poetry," ii. 47n.; his dispute with
Huggins about Ariosto, iii. 12I,
122; his witty saying, iii. 375;
letters to, from Johnson, quoted, i.
192, 196, 197, 199, 202, 208,
209, 232, 239, 42I, 457
Watson, Dr., Bishop of Llandaff, his
"Chemical Essays," iii. 213
Watts, Dr. Isaac, his poems, iii. 60;
criticised by Johnson, i. 224; ii.
324; iii. 5i; Johnson's Life of,
iii. 6o
Webster, Rev. Dr. Alexander, ii.
51, 53, 55; his account of parishes
in Scotland, ii. 56n.
Wedderburn,   Alexander    (Lord
Loughborough), ii. 136; his pronunciation, i. 280; ii. 220; helps
Johnson to his pension, i. 271,
273, 275
"Weekly Miscellany," quoted, i.
89n.
Welch, Anne, ii. 402, 403
Welch, Saunders, iii. 84; his intimacy
with Johnson, ii. 401, 403n.;
anecdote of, iii. 268; letter to, from
Johnson, ii. 402
Wentworth, Mr., Master of Stourbridge School, i. 20, 2I
Wesley, Rev. John, believes Newcastle ghost story, ii. 468; Johnson's opinion of his conversation,
ii. 413; quoted, i. 463n.; letter to,
from Johnson, iii. 79
West, G., his translation of Pindar
criticised by Johnson, iii. 138
Westmoreland, Earl of, i. 252n.
Wetherell, Dr., Master of University
College, Oxford, ii. 122; Johnson
calls on, ii. 189; dines with, iii.
369; letters to, from Johnson, ii.
176
Wheatley, near Oxford, Johnson at,
iii. 369
Wheeler, Rev. Dr., iii. 113; letter
to, from Johnson, iii. 57
Whitaker, Rev. J., i. 452n.; his
"History of Manchester," iii. 30




INDEX


521


White, Rev. Dr., Bishop of Episcopal
Church in Virginia, letter to, from
Johnson, i. 532
Whitefield, George, the preacher, i.
41;   Johnson's  opinion  of his
oratory, i. 429; iii. 90
Whitefoord, Caleb, his amusing essays,
iii. 381
Whitehead, Paul, Johnson's prejudice
against, i. 8 I
Whitehead, William, Poet Laureate,
i. 130; Mason's Memoirs of, i. 6;
his Elegy to Lord Villiers, quoted,
iii. 210
"Whole Duty of Man," Johnson
discusses authorship of, ii. 26
Wickins, Lichfield draper, his anecdote of Johnson, i. 289n.
Wight, Mr., counsel in Negro cause,
i1. 399n.
Wilcox, Mr., bookseller, i. 63n.
Wilkes, Dr., his Epitaph on Phillips,
quoted, i. 1oo
Wilkes, Friar, ii. 156
Wilkes, John, i. 82n., 89, 286, 287,
375, 424; essay in "The Public
Advertiser," i. 2 15; befriends
Francis Barber, i. 253; Johnson
writes against, i. 454; meets Johnson at the Dillys', ii. 272-285;
Johnson on, ii. 374; his conversation with Boswell, ii. 408; his
attack on Garrick, iii. 72; his
conduct during the Gordon riots,
iii. 10o6; repeats repartee of Pope's,
iii. I56; his conversation with
Johnson, iii. 198-204; tells sentimental anecdote, iii. 40 In.; letter to,
from Dr. Smollett, i. 253
Willes, Chief Justice, iii. zoo
William III., Johnson's opinion of,
ii. 40, I1
Williams, Anna, i. 171, 179, 484;
ii. 15; her account of Mrs. John-.son, i. 56n.; lives with Johnson, i.
64, 371; her intimacy with Johnson, i 307, 341; with Johnson at
Oxford, i. 421n.; her dexterity in


making tea, i. 442; petitioner for
Hetherington's charity, ii. 66;
Johnson's forbearance with, ii. 240,
274; iii. 36; angry with the
Thrales, ii. 262; dines with Dr.
Percy, ii. 446; her illness, ii. 297,
298, 321, 326, 330, 397; iii.
55, 256; her death, iii. 308; her
writings, i. 99, 389; Johnson's
tale in her " Miscellanies," ii. 20
Williams, Dr. Zachariah, Johnson
writes a pamphlet for, i. 196n., 2 6
Williams, Helen Maria, complimented
by Johnson, iii. 346
Williams, Sir Charles Hanbury, i. 395
Wilson, case of, Johnson's opinion on,
i. 522
Wilson, Father, ii. 147
Wilson, Rev. Mr., dedicates to Johnson his "Archaological Dictionary," iii. 250; letter to, from Johnson, iii. 250
Wilton, Joseph, R.A., ii. 56n.
Windham, Right Hon. William, i.
353; ii. 82; iii. 48, 268, 323,
342, 398, 409; at Johnson's
death-bed, iii. 459, 461; pallbearer, iii. 465; letters to, from
Johnson, iii. 301, 4 4
Windsor, visited by Johnson, i. 175
" Winter's Walk, The," by Johnson,
quoted, i. 124
Wirgman's toy-shop in St. James's
St., iii. 22
Wise, F., Radclivian librarian, i. 194
Woffington, Peg, anecdote of, ii. 441
Wood, Antony a, quoted, i. 29
Woodhouse, the poetical shoemaker,
criticised by Johnson, i. 466
"World, The," i. 183, I84; Johnson's opinion of, i. 307
"World Displayed, The," Introduction to, by Johnson, i. 251
Wraxall, N. W., iii. 104; his
Memoirs quoted, iii. 260n.
Wray, Sir Cecil, iii. 333n.
Wurtemberg, Prince of, anecdote of,
i. 510




522


INDEX


Wyndham, Sir William, letter from
Bolingbroke to, quoted, ii. 417n.


XENOPHON,   his   "Treatise
Economy," ii. 297
Xerxes, ii. i6, 388


of


his "Satires,"  iii. 2 6n.; his
"Night Thoughts," i. 441; iii.
65; quoted, ii. 358; iii. 7, 200,
360; life of, by Sir Herbert Croft,
iii. 64
Young, Professor, imitates Johnson,
iii. 442
Young, son of the poet, iii. 214
Yvery, House of, iii. 278
ZECK, George and Luke, i. 372
Zon, Mr., His Excellency, Venetian
Resident, i. I95


YALDEN, poems by, iii. 60
Yonge, Sir William, i. 494; writes
Epilogue to "Irene," i. 139
York, Edward Duke of, i. 369
Young, Dr., i. I52; ii. 431; his
"Universal Passion," iii. 165;


PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,
BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.




MACMILLAN'S
LIBRARY OF...
ENGLISH CLASSICS
EDITED BY ALFRED W. POLLARD
A Series of Reprints of Standard Works
in Library form
8vo. Price 7s. 6d. net per volume.
Bacon's Essays: Colours of Good and Evil, and
Advancement of Learning..         I vol.
Sheridan's Plays.                          I vol.
Malory's Morte D'Arthur...2 vols.
Sterne's Tristram Shandy and Sentimental Journey 2 vols.
Boswell's Life of Johnson..... 3 vols.
Carlyle's French Revolution... 2 vols.
Fielding's Tom Jones...2 vols.
White's Natural History of Selborne..      I vol.
Travels of Sir John Mandeville, with illustrative
Narratives from Hakluyt... I vol.
Lockhart's Life of Scott.... 5 vols.
Don Quixote, translated by Shelton.. 3 vols.
Walton's Lives and Complete Angler..  vol.
De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium
Eater, Murder as a Fine Art; The English
Mail Coach, and other Essays              I vol.
Carlyle's Sartor Resartus, and On Heroes, HeroWorship and the Heroic in History         I vol.
Select Works of Oliver Goldsmith (The Vicar of
Wakefield, The Plays, and Poems).. I vol.
Hazlitt's Characters of Shakespeare's Plays, and
Lectures on the English Poets... I vol.
Milton's Poetical Works... 2 vols.
The Political Economy of Art; Unto This Last;
Sesame and Lilies; Crown of Wild Olive.
By John Ruskin... I vol.
MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON.




















MACMILLAN'S LIBRARY
OF
ENGLISH CLASSICS
Edited by A. W. POLLARD
A Series of reprints of Standard Works in Library Form
8vo Cloth binding. a, w v' oume
Bacon's Essays; Colours of Good and Evil;
and Advancement of Learning..  vol.
Sheridan's Plays...      1 vol.
Malory's Le Morte Darthur... 2 vols,
Sterne's Tristram  Shandy and Sentimental
Journey.. 2 vols.
Boswell's Life of Johnson.,.. 3 vols.
Carlyle's French Revolution... 2 vol.s
Fielding's Tom Jones.. 2 vols.
White's Natural History of Selborne.. 1 vol
Travels of Sir John Mandeville, with Illus.
trative Narratives from Hakluyt.     I 1 vol.
Lockhart's Life of Scott...      5 vols.
Don Quixote, translated by Shelton.. 3 vols.
Walton's Lives and Complete Angler.      1 vol.
De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium
Eater; Murder as a Fine Art; The English
Mail Coach, and other Essays.. 1 vol.
Carlyle's Sartor Resartus and Heroes and
Hero-Worship... 1 vol
Goldsmith's Select Works (Vicar of Wakefield,
The Plays, and Poems)....  voL
Hazlitt's Characters of Shakespear's Plays and
Lectures on the English Poets.. 1 vo
Milton's Poetical Works.                 2 vola
The Political Economy of Art; Unto this Last;
Sesame and Lilies; The Crown of Wild
Olive. By John Ruskin.. 1 voL
LONDON: MACMILLAN AND COY LTD.