BOSWELL'SLIFE OF JOHNSON

INCLUDING BOSWELL'S JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO THE HEBRIDESAND JOHNSON'S DIARY OF A JOURNEY INTO NORTH WALES

EDITED BY

GEORGE BIRKBECK HILL, D. C. L. 

PEMBROKE COLLEGE, OXFORD

IN SIX VOLUMES

VOLUME III. --LIFE (1776-1780)

CONTENTS OF VOL. III. 

LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL. D. (MARCH 1776--OCT. 1780). 

APPENDICES:

A. GEORGE PSALMANAZAR

B. JOHNSON'S TRAVELS AND LOVE OF TRAVELLING

C. ELECTION OF LORD MAYORS OF LONDON

D. THE INMATES OF JOHNSON'S HOUSE

E. BOSWELL'S LETTERS OF ACCEPTANCE OF THE OFFICEOF SECRETARY FOR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE TOTHE ROYAL ACADEMY

THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL. D. 

Having left Ashbourne in the evening, we stopped to change horses atDerby, and availed ourselves of a moment to enjoy the conversation of mycountryman, Dr. Butter, then physician there. He was in greatindignation because Lord Mountstuart's bill for a Scotch militia[1] hadbeen lost. Dr. Johnson was as violent against it. 'I am glad, (said he, )that Parliament has had the spirit to throw it out. You wanted to takeadvantage of the timidity of our scoundrels;' (meaning, I suppose, theministry). It may be observed, that he used the epithet scoundrel verycommonly not quite in the sense in which it is generally understood, butas a strong term of disapprobation; as when he abruptly answered Mrs. Thrale, who had asked him how he did, 'Ready to become a scoundrel, Madam; with a little more spoiling you will, I think, make me a completerascal[2]:' he meant, easy to become a capricious and self-indulgentvaletudinarian; a character for which I have heard him express greatdisgust. 

Johnson had with him upon this jaunt, '_Il Palmerino d'Inghilterra_, ' aromance[3] praised by Cervantes; but did not like it much. He said, heread it for the language, by way of preparation for his Italianexpedition. --We lay this night at Loughborough. 

On Thursday, March 28, we pursued our journey. I mentioned that old Mr. Sheridan complained of the ingratitude of Mr. Wedderburne[4] and GeneralFraser, who had been much obliged to him when they were young Scotchmenentering upon life in England. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, a man is very apt tocomplain of the ingratitude of those who have risen far above him. A manwhen he gets into a higher sphere, into other habits of life, cannotkeep up all his former connections. Then, Sir, those who knew himformerly upon a level with themselves, may think that they ought stillto be treated as on a level, which cannot be; and an acquaintance in aformer situation may bring out things which it would be verydisagreeable to have mentioned before higher company, though, perhaps, every body knows of them. ' He placed this subject in a new light to me, and shewed that a man who has risen in the world, must not be condemnedtoo harshly for being distant to former acquaintance, even though he mayhave been much obliged to them. ' It is, no doubt, to be wished that aproper degree of attention should be shewn by great men to their earlyfriends. But if either from obtuse insensibility to difference ofsituation, or presumptuous forwardness, which will not submit even to anexteriour observance of it, the dignity of high place cannot bepreserved, when they are admitted into the company of those raised abovethe state in which they once were, encroachment must be repelled, andthe kinder feelings sacrificed. To one of the very fortunate personswhom I have mentioned, namely, Mr. Wedderburne, now Lord Loughborough, Imust do the justice to relate, that I have been assured by another earlyacquaintance of his, old Mr. Macklin[5], who assisted in improving hispronunciation, that he found him very grateful. Macklin, I suppose, hadnot pressed upon his elevation with so much eagerness as the gentlemanwho complained of him. Dr. Johnson's remark as to the jealousy'entertained of our friends who rise far above us, ' is certainly veryjust. By this was withered the early friendship between CharlesTownshend and Akenside[6]; and many similar instances might be adduced. 

He said, 'It is commonly a weak man who marries for love. ' We thentalked of marrying women of fortune; and I mentioned a common remark, that a man may be, upon the whole, richer by marrying a woman with avery small portion, because a woman of fortune will be proportionallyexpensive; whereas a woman who brings none will be very moderate inexpenses. JOHNSON. 'Depend upon it, Sir, this is not true. A woman offortune being used to the handling of money, spends it judiciously: buta woman who gets the command of money for the first time upon hermarriage, has such a gust in spending it, that she throws it away withgreat profusion. '

He praised the ladies of the present age, insisting that they were morefaithful to their husbands, and more virtuous in every respect, than informer times, because their understandings were better cultivated[7]. Itwas an undoubted proof of his good sense and good disposition, that hewas never querulous, never prone to inveigh against the present times, as is so common when superficial minds are on the fret. On the contrary, he was willing to speak favourably of his own age; and, indeed, maintained its superiority[8] in every respect, except in its reverencefor government; the relaxation of which he imputed, as its grand cause, to the shock which our monarchy received at the Revolution, thoughnecessary[9]; and secondly, to the timid concessions made to faction bysuccessive administrations in the reign of his present Majesty. I amhappy to think, that he lived to see the Crown at last recover its justinfluence[10]. 

At Leicester we read in the news-paper that Dr. James[11] was dead. Ithought that the death of an old school-fellow, and one with whom he hadlived a good deal in London, would have affected my fellow-travellermuch: but he only said, 'Ah! poor Jamy. ' Afterwards, however, when wewere in the chaise, he said, with more tenderness, 'Since I set out onthis jaunt, I have lost an old friend and a young one;--Dr. James, andpoor Harry[12]. ' (Meaning Mr. Thrale's son. )

Having lain at St. Alban's, on Thursday, March 28, we breakfasted thenext morning at Barnet. I expressed to him a weakness of mind which Icould not help; an uneasy apprehension that my wife and children, whowere at a great distance from me, might, perhaps, be ill. 'Sir, (saidhe, ) consider how foolish you would think it in _them_ to beapprehensive that _you_ are ill[13]. ' This sudden turn relieved me forthe moment; but I afterwards perceived it to be an ingenious fallacy. Imight, to be sure, be satisfied that they had no reason to beapprehensive about me, because I _knew_ that I myself was well: but wemight have a mutual anxiety, without the charge of folly; because eachwas, in some degree, uncertain as to the condition of the other. 

I enjoyed the luxury of our approach to London, that metropolis which weboth loved so much, for the high and varied intellectual pleasure whichit furnishes[14]. I experienced immediate happiness while whirled alongwith such a companion, and said to him, 'Sir, you observed one day atGeneral Oglethorpe's[15], that a man is never happy for the present, butwhen he is drunk. Will you not add, --or when driving rapidly in apost-chaise[16]?' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir, you are driving rapidly fromsomething, or to something. '

Talking of melancholy, he said, 'Some men, and very thinking men too, have not those vexing thoughts[17]. Sir Joshua Reynolds is the same allthe year round[18]. Beauclerk, except when ill and in pain, is the same. But I believe most men have them in the degree in which they are capableof having them. If I were in the country, and were distressed by thatmalady, I would force myself to take a book; and every time I did it Ishould find it the easier. Melancholy, indeed, should be diverted byevery means but drinking[19]. '

We stopped at Messieurs Dillys, booksellers in the Poultry; from whencehe hurried away, in a hackney coach, to Mr. Thrale's, in the Borough. Icalled at his house in the evening, having promised to acquaint Mrs. Williams of his safe return; when, to my surprize, I found him sittingwith her at tea, and, as I thought, not in a very good humour: for, itseems, when he had got to Mr. Thrale's, he found the coach was at thedoor waiting to carry Mrs. And Miss Thrale, and Signor Baretti, theirItalian master, to Bath[20]. This was not shewing the attention whichmight have been expected to the 'Guide, Philosopher, and Friend[21], ' the_Imlac_[22] who had hastened from the country to console a distressedmother, who he understood was very anxious for his return. They had, Ifound, without ceremony, proceeded on their intended journey. I was gladto understand from him that it was still resolved that his tour to Italywith Mr. And Mrs. Thrale should take place, of which he had entertainedsome doubt, on account of the loss which they had suffered; and hisdoubts afterwards proved to be well-founded. He observed, indeed veryjustly, that 'their loss was an additional reason for their goingabroad; and if it had not been fixed that he should have been one of theparty, he would force them out; but he would not advise them unless hisadvice was asked, lest they might suspect that he recommended what hewished on his own account. ' I was not pleased that his intimacy with Mr. Thrale's family, though it no doubt contributed much to his comfort andenjoyment, was not without some degree of restraint: not, as has beengrossly suggested, that it was required of him as a task to talk for theentertainment of them and their company; but that he was not quite athis ease; which, however, might partly be owing to his own honestpride--that dignity of mind which is always jealous of appearing toocompliant. 

On Sunday, March 31, I called on him, and shewed him as a curiositywhich I had discovered, his _Translation of Lobo's Account ofAbyssinia_, which Sir John Pringle had lent me, it being then littleknown as one of his works[23]. He said, 'Take no notice of it, ' or 'don'ttalk of it. ' He seemed to think it beneath him, though done atsix-and-twenty. I said to him, 'Your style, Sir, is much improved sinceyou translated this. ' He answered with a sort of triumphant smile, 'Sir, I hope it is. '

On Wednesday, April 3, in the morning I found him very busy putting hisbooks in order, and as they were generally very old ones, clouds of dustwere flying around him. He had on a pair of large gloves such as hedgersuse. His present appearance put me in mind of my uncle, Dr. Boswell's[24]description of him, 'A robust genius, born to grapple with wholelibraries. '

I gave him an account of a conversation which had passed between me andCaptain Cook, the day before, at dinner at Sir John Pringle's[25]; and hewas much pleased with the conscientious accuracy of that celebratedcircumnavigator, who set me right as to many of the exaggerated accountsgiven by Dr. Hawkesworth of his Voyages. I told him that while I waswith the Captain, I catched the enthusiasm[26] of curiosity andadventure, and felt a strong inclination to go with him on his nextvoyage. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, a man _does_ feel so, till he considers howvery little he can learn from such voyages. ' BOSWELL. 'But one iscarried away with the general grand and indistinct notion of A VOYAGEROUND THE WORLD. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, but a man is to guard himselfagainst taking a thing in general. ' I said I was certain that a greatpart of what we are told by the travellers to the South Sea must beconjecture, because they had not enough of the language of thosecountries to understand so much as they have related. Objects fallingunder the observation of the senses might be clearly known; but everything intellectual, every thing abstract--politicks, morals, andreligion, must be darkly guessed. Dr. Johnson was of the same opinion. He upon another occasion, when a friend mentioned to him severalextraordinary facts, as communicated to him by the circumnavigators, slily observed, 'Sir, I never before knew how much I was respected bythese gentlemen; they told _me_ none of these things. '

He had been in company with Omai, a native of one of the South SeaIslands, after he had been some time in this country. He was struck withthe elegance of his behaviour, and accounted for it thus: 'Sir, he hadpassed his time, while in England, only in the best company; so that allthat he had acquired of our manners was genteel. As a proof of this, Sir, Lord Mulgrave and he dined one day at Streatham; they sat withtheir backs to the light fronting me, so that I could not seedistinctly; and there was so little of the savage in Omai, that I wasafraid to speak to either, lest I should mistake one for the other[27]. '

We agreed to dine to-day at the Mitre-tavern, after the rising of theHouse of Lords, where a branch of the litigation concerning the DouglasEstate[28], in which I was one of the counsel, was to come on. I broughtwith me Mr. Murray, Solicitor-General of Scotland, now one of the Judgesof the Court of Session, with the title of Lord Henderland. I mentionedMr. Solicitor's relation, Lord Charles Hay[29], with whom I knew Dr. Johnson had been acquainted. JOHNSON. 'I wrote something[30] for LordCharles; and I thought he had nothing to fear from a court-martial. Isuffered a great loss when he died; he was a mighty pleasing man inconversation, and a reading man. The character of a soldier is high. They who stand forth the foremost in danger, for the community, have therespect of mankind. An officer is much more respected than any other manwho has as little money. In a commercial country, money will alwayspurchase respect. But you find, an officer, who has, properly speaking, no money, is every where well received and treated with attention. Thecharacter of a soldier always stands him in stead[31]. ' BOSWELL. 'Yet, Sir, I think that common soldiers are worse thought of than other men inthe same rank of life; such as labourers. ' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, a commonsoldier is usually a very gross man[32], and any quality which procuresrespect may be overwhelmed by grossness. A man of learning may be sovicious or so ridiculous that you cannot respect him. A common soldiertoo, generally eats more than he can pay for. But when a common soldieris civil in his quarters, his red coat procures him a degree ofrespect[33]. ' The peculiar respect paid to the military character inFrance was mentioned. BOSWELL. 'I should think that where military menare so numerous, they would be less valued as not being rare. ' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, wherever a particular character or profession is high in theestimation of a people, those who are of it will be valued above othermen. We value an Englishman highly in this country, and yet Englishmenare not rare in it. '

Mr. Murray praised the ancient philosophers for the candour and goodhumour with which those of different sects disputed with each other. JOHNSON. 'Sir, they disputed with good humour, because they were not inearnest as to religion. Had the ancients been serious in their belief, we should not have had their Gods exhibited in the manner we find themrepresented in the Poets. The people would not have suffered it. Theydisputed with good humour upon their fanciful theories, because theywere not interested in the truth of them: when a man has nothing tolose, he may be in good humour with his opponent. Accordingly you see inLucian, the Epicurean, who argues only negatively, keeps his temper; theStoick, who has something positive to preserve, grows angry[34]. Beingangry with one who controverts an opinion which you value, is anecessary consequence of the uneasiness which you feel. Every man whoattacks my belief, diminishes in some degree my confidence in it, andtherefore makes me uneasy; and I am angry with him who makes meuneasy[35]. Those only who believed in revelation have been angry athaving their faith called in question; because they only had somethingupon which they could rest as matter of fact. ' MURRAY. 'It seems to methat we are not angry at a man for controverting an opinion which webelieve and value; we rather pity him. ' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir; to be surewhen you wish a man to have that belief which you think is of infiniteadvantage, you wish well to him; but your primary consideration is yourown quiet. If a madman were to come into this room with a stick in hishand, no doubt we should pity the state of his mind; but our primaryconsideration would be to take care of ourselves. We should knock himdown first, and pity him afterwards. No, Sir; every man will disputewith great good humour upon a subject in which he is not interested. Iwill dispute very calmly upon the probability of another man's son beinghanged; but if a man zealously enforces the probability that my own sonwill be hanged, I shall certainly not be in a very good humour withhim. ' I added this illustration, 'If a man endeavours to convince methat my wife, whom I love very much, and in whom I place greatconfidence, is a disagreeable woman, and is even unfaithful to me, Ishall be very angry, for he is putting me in fear of being unhappy. 'MURRAY. 'But, Sir, truth will always bear an examination. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, but it is painful to be forced to defend it. Consider, Sir, how should you like, though conscious of your innocence, to be triedbefore a jury for a capital crime, once a week. '

We talked of education at great schools; the advantages anddisadvantages of which Johnson displayed in a luminous manner; but hisarguments preponderated so much in favour of the benefit which a boy ofgood parts[36] might receive at one of them, that I have reason tobelieve Mr. Murray was very much influenced by what he had heard to-day, in his determination to send his own son to Westminster school[37]. --Ihave acted in the same manner with regard to my own two sons; havingplaced the eldest at Eton, and the second at Westminster. I cannot saywhich is best. [38] But in justice to both those noble seminaries, I withhigh satisfaction declare, that my boys have derived from them a greatdeal of good, and no evil: and I trust they will, like Horace[39], begrateful to their father for giving them so valuable an education. 

I introduced the topick, which is often ignorantly urged, that theUniversities of England are too rich[40]; so that learning does notflourish in them as it would do, if those who teach had smallersalaries, and depended on their assiduity for a great part of theirincome. JOHNSON. 'Sir, the very reverse of this is the truth; theEnglish Universities are not rich enough. Our fellowships are onlysufficient to support a man during his studies to fit him for the world, and accordingly in general they are held no longer than till anopportunity offers of getting away. Now and then, perhaps, there is afellow who grows old in his college; but this is against his will, unless he be a man very indolent indeed. A hundred a year is reckoned agood fellowship, and that is no more than is necessary to keep a mandecently as a scholar. We do not allow our fellows to marry, because weconsider academical institutions as preparatory to a settlement in theworld. It is only by being employed as a tutor, that a fellow can obtainany thing more than a livelihood. To be sure a man, who has enoughwithout teaching, will probably not teach; for we would all be idle ifwe could[41]. In the same manner, a man who is to get nothing byteaching, will not exert himself. Gresham-College was intended as aplace of instruction for London; able professors were to read lecturesgratis, they contrived to have no scholars; whereas, if they had beenallowed to receive but sixpence a lecture from each scholar, they wouldhave been emulous to have had many scholars. Every body will agree thatit should be the interest of those who teach to have scholars; and thisis the case in our Universities[42]. That they are too rich is certainlynot true; for they have nothing good enough to keep a man of eminentlearning with them for his life. In the foreign Universities aprofessorship is a high thing. It is as much almost as a man can make byhis learning; and therefore we find the most learned men abroad are inthe Universities[43]. It is not so with us. Our Universities areimpoverished of learning, by the penury of their provisions. I wishthere were many places of a thousand a-year at Oxford, to keepfirst-rate men of learning from quitting the University. ' Undoubtedly ifthis were the case, Literature would have a still greater dignity andsplendour at Oxford, and there would be grander living sources ofinstruction. 

I mentioned Mr. Maclaurin's[44] uneasiness on account of a degree ofridicule carelessly thrown on his deceased father, in Goldsmith's_History of Animated Nature_, in which that celebrated mathematician isrepresented as being subject to fits of yawning so violent as to renderhim incapable of proceeding in his lecture; a story altogetherunfounded, but for the publication of which the law would give noreparation[45]. This led us to agitate the question, whether legalredress could be obtained, even when a man's deceased relation wascalumniated in a publication. Mr. Murray maintained there should bereparation, unless the author could justify himself by proving the fact. JOHNSON. 'Sir, it is of so much more consequence that truth should betold, than that individuals should not be made uneasy, that it is muchbetter that the law does not restrain writing freely concerning thecharacters of the dead. Damages will be given to a man who iscalumniated in his life-time, because he may be hurt in his worldlyinterest, or at least hurt in his mind: but the law does not regard thatuneasiness which a man feels on having his ancestor calumniated[46]. Thatis too nice. Let him deny what is said, and let the matter have a fairchance by discussion. But, if a man could say nothing against acharacter but what he can prove, history could not be written; for agreat deal is known of men of which proof cannot be brought. A ministermay be notoriously known to take bribes, and yet you may not be able toprove it. ' Mr. Murray suggested, that the authour should be obliged toshew some sort of evidence, though he would not require a strict legalproof: but Johnson firmly and resolutely opposed any restraint whatever, as adverse to a free investigation of the characters of mankind[47]. 

On Thursday, April 4, having called on Dr. Johnson, I said, it was apity that truth was not so firm as to bid defiance to all attacks, sothat it might be shot at as much as people chose to attempt, and yetremain unhurt. JOHNSON. 'Then, Sir, it would not be shot at. Nobody[48]attempts to dispute that two and two make four: but with contestsconcerning moral truth, human passions are generally mixed, andtherefore it must ever be liable to assault and misrepresentation. '

On Friday, April 5, being Good Friday, after having attended the morningservice at St. Clement's Church[49], I walked home with Johnson. Wetalked of the Roman Catholick religion. JOHNSON. 'In the barbarous ages, Sir, priests and people were equally deceived; but afterwards there weregross corruptions introduced by the clergy, such as indulgences topriests to have concubines, and the worship of images, not, indeed, inculcated, but knowingly permitted. ' He strongly censured the licensedstews at Rome. BOSWELL. 'So then, Sir, you would allow of no irregularintercourse whatever between the sexes?' JOHNSON. 'To be sure I wouldnot, Sir. I would punish it much more than it is done, and so restrainit. In all countries there has been fornication, as in all countriesthere has been theft; but there may be more or less of the one, as wellas of the other, in proportion to the force of law. All men willnaturally commit fornication, as all men will naturally steal. And, Sir, it is very absurd to argue, as has been often done, that prostitutes arenecessary to prevent the violent effects of appetite from violating thedecent order of life; nay, should be permitted, in order to preserve thechastity of our wives and daughters. Depend upon it, Sir, severe laws, steadily enforced, would be sufficient against those evils, and wouldpromote marriage. '

I stated to him this case:--'Suppose a man has a daughter, who he knowshas been seduced, but her misfortune is concealed from the world? shouldhe keep her in his house? Would he not, by doing so, be accessory toimposition? And, perhaps, a worthy, unsuspecting man might come andmarry this woman, unless the father inform him of the truth. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, he is accessory to no imposition. His daughter is in his house;and if a man courts her, he takes his chance. If a friend, or, indeed, if any man asks his opinion whether he should marry her, he ought toadvise him against it, without telling why, because his real opinion isthen required. Or, if he has other daughters who know of her frailty, heought not to keep her in his house. You are to consider the state oflife is this; we are to judge of one another's characters as well as wecan; and a man is not bound, in honesty or honour, to tell us the faultsof his daughter or of himself. A man who has debauched his friend'sdaughter is not obliged to say to every body--"Take care of me; don'tlet me into your houses without suspicion. I once debauched a friend'sdaughter. I may debauch yours. "'

Mr. Thrale called upon him, and appeared to bear the loss of his sonwith a manly composure. There was no affectation about him; and hetalked, as usual, upon indifferent subjects. [50] He seemed to me tohesitate as to the intended Italian tour, on which, I flattered myself, he and Mrs. Thrale and Dr. Johnson were soon to set out; and, therefore, I pressed it as much as I could. I mentioned, that Mr. Beauclerk hadsaid, that Baretti, whom they were to carry with them, would keep themso long in the little towns of his own district, that they would nothave time to see Rome. I mentioned this, to put them on their guard. JOHNSON. 'Sir, we do not thank Mr. Beauclerk for supposing that we areto be directed by Baretti. No, Sir; Mr. Thrale is to go, by my advice, to Mr. Jackson[51], (the all-knowing) and get from him a plan for seeingthe most that can be seen in the time that we have to travel. We must, to be sure, see Rome, Naples, Florence, and Venice, and as much more aswe can. ' (Speaking with a tone of animation. )

When I expressed an earnest wish for his remarks on Italy, he said, 'Ido not see that I could make a book upon Italy[52]; yet I should be gladto get two hundred pounds, or five hundred pounds, by such a work. ' Thisshewed both that a journal of his Tour upon the Continent was not whollyout of his contemplation, and that he uniformly adhered to that strangeopinion, which his indolent disposition made him utter: 'No man but ablockhead ever wrote, except for money[53]. ' Numerous instances to refutethis will occur to all who are versed in the history of literature. [54]

He gave us one of the many sketches of character which were treasured inhis mind, and which he was wont to produce quite unexpectedly in a veryentertaining manner. 'I lately, (said he, ) received a letter from theEast Indies, from a gentleman whom I formerly knew very well; he hadreturned from that country with a handsome fortune, as it was reckoned, before means were found to acquire those immense sums which have beenbrought from thence of late; he was a scholar, and an agreeable man, andlived very prettily in London, till his wife died. After her death, hetook to dissipation and gaming, and lost all he had. One evening he losta thousand pounds to a gentleman whose name I am sorry I have forgotten. Next morning he sent the gentleman five hundred pounds, with an apologythat it was all he had in the world. The gentleman sent the money backto him, declaring he would not accept of it; and adding, that if Mr. ---- had occasion for five hundred pounds more, he would lend it to him. He resolved to go out again to the East Indies, and make his fortuneanew. He got a considerable appointment, and I had some intention ofaccompanying him. Had I thought then as I do now, I should have gone:but, at that time, I had objections to quitting England. '

It was a very remarkable circumstance about Johnson, whom shallowobservers have supposed to have been ignorant of the world, that veryfew men had seen greater variety of characters; and none could observethem better, as was evident from the strong, yet nice portraits which heoften drew. I have frequently thought that if he had made out what theFrench call _une catalogue raisonnée_ of all the people who had passedunder his observation, it would have afforded a very rich fund ofinstruction and entertainment. The suddenness with which his accounts ofsome of them started out in conversation, was not less pleasing thansurprising. I remember he once observed to me, 'It is wonderful, Sir, what is to be found in London. The most literary conversation that Iever enjoyed, was at the table of Jack Ellis, a money-scrivener behindthe Royal Exchange, with whom I at one period used to dine generallyonce a week[55]. '

Volumes would be required to contain a list of his numerous and variousacquaintance[56], none of whom he ever forgot; and could describe anddiscriminate them all with precision and vivacity. He associated withpersons the most widely different in manners, abilities, rank andaccomplishments[57]. He was at once the companion of the brilliantColonel Forrester[58] of the Guards, who wrote _The Polite Philosopher_, and of the aukward and uncouth Robert Levet; of Lord Thurlow, and Mr. Sastres, the Italian master; and has dined one day with the beautiful, gay, and fascinating Lady Craven, [59] and the next with good Mrs. Gardiner, [60] the tallow-chandler, on Snow-hill. 

On my expressing my wonder at his discovering so much of the knowledgepeculiar to different professions, he told me, 'I learnt what I know oflaw, chiefly from Mr. Ballow, [61] a very able man. I learnt some, too, from Chambers;[62] but was not so teachable then. One is not willing tobe taught by a young man. ' When I expressed a wish to know more aboutMr. Ballow, Johnson said, 'Sir, I have seen him but once these twentyyears. The tide of life has driven us different ways. ' I was sorry atthe time to hear this; but whoever quits the creeks of privateconnections, and fairly gets into the great ocean of London, will, byimperceptible degrees, unavoidably experience such cessations ofacquaintance. 

'My knowledge of physick, (he added, ) I learnt from Dr. James, whom Ihelped in writing the proposals for his _Dictionary_ and also a littlein the Dictionary itself. [63] I also learnt from Dr. Lawrence, but wasthen grown more stubborn. '

A curious incident happened to-day, while Mr. Thrale and I sat with him. Francis announced that a large packet was brought to him from thepost-office, said to have come from Lisbon, and it was charged _sevenpounds ten shillings_. He would not receive it, supposing it to be sometrick, nor did he even look at it. But upon enquiry afterwards he foundthat it was a real packet for him, from that very friend in the EastIndies of whom he had been speaking; and the ship which carried ithaving come to Portugal, this packet, with others, had been put into thepost-office at Lisbon. 

I mentioned a new gaming-club, [64] of which Mr. Beauclerk had given me anaccount, where the members played to a desperate extent. JOHNSON. 'Depend upon it, Sir, this is mere talk. _Who_ is ruined by gaming? Youwill not find six instances in an age. There is a strange rout madeabout deep play: whereas you have many more people ruined by adventuroustrade, and yet we do not hear such an outcry against it. ' THRALE. 'Theremay be few people absolutely ruined by deep play; but very many are muchhurt in their circumstances by it. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, and so are verymany by other kinds of expence. ' I had heard him talk once before in thesame manner; and at Oxford he said, 'he wished he had learnt to play atcards. '[65] The truth, however, is, that he loved to display hisingenuity in argument; and therefore would sometimes in conversationmaintain opinions which he was sensible were wrong, but in supportingwhich, his reasoning and wit would be most conspicuous. [66] He wouldbegin thus: 'Why, Sir, as to the good or evil of card-playing--' 'Now, (said Garrick, ) he is thinking which side he shall take. '[67] He appearedto have a pleasure in contradiction, especially when any opinionwhatever was delivered with an air of confidence[68]; so that there washardly any topick, if not one of the great truths of Religion andMorality, that he might not have been incited to argue, either for oragainst. Lord Elibank[69] had the highest admiration of his powers. Heonce observed to me, 'Whatever opinion Johnson maintains, I will not saythat he convinces me; but he never fails to shew me, that he has goodreasons for it. ' I have heard Johnson pay his Lordship this highcompliment: 'I never was in Lord Elibank's company without learningsomething. '[70]

We sat together till it was too late for the afternoon service. Thralesaid he had come with intention to go to church with us. We went atseven to evening prayers at St. Clement's church, after having drankcoffee; an indulgence, which I understood Johnson yielded to on thisoccasion, in compliment to Thrale[71]. 

On Sunday, April 7, Easter-day, after having been at St. Paul'sCathedral, I came to Dr. Johnson, according to my usual custom. Itseemed to me, that there was always something peculiarly mild and placidin his manner upon this holy festival, the commemoration of the mostjoyful event in the history of our world, the resurrection of our LORDand SAVIOUR, who, having triumphed over death and the grave, proclaimedimmortality to mankind[72]. 

I repeated to him an argument of a lady of my acquaintance, whomaintained, that her husband's having been guilty of numberlessinfidelities, released her from conjugal obligations, because they werereciprocal. JOHNSON. 'This is miserable stuff, Sir. To the contract ofmarriage, besides the man and wife, there is a third party--Society; andif it be considered as a vow--GOD: and, therefore, it cannot bedissolved by their consent alone. Laws are not made for particularcases, but for men in general. A woman may be unhappy with her husband;but she cannot be freed from him without the approbation of the civiland ecclesiastical power. A man may be unhappy, because he is not sorich as another; but he is not to seize upon another's property with hisown hand. ' BOSWELL. 'But, Sir, this lady does not want that the contractshould be dissolved; she only argues that she may indulge herself ingallantries with equal freedom as her husband does, provided she takescare not to introduce a spurious issue into his family. You know, Sir, what Macrobius has told us of Julia. [73]' JOHNSON. 'This lady of yours, Sir, I think, is very fit for a brothel. '

Mr. Macbean[74], authour of the _Dictionary of ancient Geography_, camein. He mentioned that he had been forty years absent from Scotland. 'Ah, Boswell! (said Johnson, smiling, ) what would you give to be forty yearsfrom Scotland?' I said, 'I should not like to be so long absent from theseat of my ancestors. ' This gentleman, Mrs. Williams, and Mr. Levet, dined with us. 

Dr. Johnson made a remark, which both Mr. Macbean and I thought new. Itwas this: that 'the law against usury is for the protection of creditorsas well as of debtors; for if there were no such check, people would beapt, from the temptation of great interest, to lend to desperatepersons, by whom they would lose their money. Accordingly there areinstances of ladies being ruined, by having injudiciously sunk theirfortunes for high annuities, which, after a few years, ceased to bepaid, in consequence of the ruined circumstances of the borrower. '

Mrs. Williams was very peevish; and I wondered at Johnson's patiencewith her now, as I had often done on similar occasions. The truth is, that his humane consideration of the forlorn and indigent state in whichthis lady was left by her father, induced him to treat her with theutmost tenderness, and even to be desirous of procuring her amusement, so as sometimes to incommode many of his friends, by carrying her withhim to their houses, where, from her manner of eating, in consequence ofher blindness, she could not but offend the delicacy of persons of nicesensations. [75]

After coffee, we went to afternoon service in St. Clement's church. Observing some beggars in the street as we walked along, I said to him Isupposed there was no civilised country in the world, where the miseryof want in the lowest classes of the people was prevented. JOHNSON. 'Ibelieve, Sir, there is not; but it is better that some should beunhappy, than that none should be happy, which would be the case in ageneral state of equality. '[76]

When the service was ended, I went home with him, and we sat quietly byourselves. He recommended Dr. Cheyne's books. I said, I thought Cheynehad been reckoned whimsical. 'So he was, (said he, ) in some things; butthere is no end of objections. There are few books to which someobjection or other may not be made. ' He added, 'I would not have youread anything else of Cheyne, but his book on Health, and his _EnglishMalady_. '[77]

Upon the question whether a man who had been guilty of vicious actionswould do well to force himself into solitude and sadness; JOHNSON. 'No, Sir, unless it prevent him from being vicious again. With some people, gloomy penitence is only madness turned upside down. A man may begloomy, till, in order to be relieved from gloom, he has recourse againto criminal indulgencies. '[78]

On Wednesday, April 10, I dined with him at Mr. Thrale's, where were Mr. Murphy and some other company. Before dinner, Dr. Johnson and I passedsome time by ourselves. I was sorry to find it was now resolved that theproposed journey to Italy should not take place this year. [79] He said, 'I am disappointed, to be sure; but it is not a great disappointment. ' Iwondered to see him bear, with a philosophical calmness, what would havemade most people peevish and fretful. I perceived, however, that he hadso warmly cherished the hope of enjoying classical scenes, that he couldnot easily part with the scheme; for he said, 'I shall probably contriveto get to Italy some other way. But I won't mention it to Mr. And Mrs. Thrale, as it might vex them. ' I suggested, that going to Italy mighthave done Mr. And Mrs. Thrale good. JOHNSON. 'I rather believe not, Sir. While grief is fresh, every attempt to divert only irritates. You mustwait till grief be _digested_, and then amusement will dissipate theremains of it. '

At dinner, Mr. Murphy entertained us with the history of Mr. JosephSimpson, [80] a schoolfellow of Dr. Johnson's, a barrister at law, of goodparts, but who fell into a dissipated course of life, incompatible withthat success in his profession which he once had, and would otherwisehave deservedly maintained; yet he still preserved a dignity in hisdeportment. He wrote a tragedy on the story of Leonidas, entitled _ThePatriot_. He read it to a company of lawyers, who found so many faults, that he wrote it over again: so then there were two tragedies on thesame subject and with the same title. Dr. Johnson told us, that one ofthem was still in his possession. This very piece was, after his death, published by some person who had been about him, and, for the sake of alittle hasty profit, was fallaciously advertised, so as to make it bebelieved to have been written by Johnson himself. 

I said, I disliked the custom which some people had of bringing theirchildren into company, [81] because it in a manner forced us to payfoolish compliments to please their parents. JOHNSON. 'You are right, Sir. We may be excused for not caring much about other people'schildren, for there are many who care very little about their ownchildren. It may be observed, that men, who from being engaged inbusiness, or from their course of life in whatever way, seldom see theirchildren, do not care much about them. I myself should not have had muchfondness for a child of my own. '[82] MRS. THRALE. 'Nay, Sir, how can youtalk so?' JOHNSON. 'At least, I never wished to have a child. '

Mr. Murphy mentioned Dr. Johnson's having a design to publish an editionof _Cowley_. Johnson said, he did not know but he should; and heexpressed his disapprobation of Dr. Hurd, for having published amutilated edition under the title of _Select Works of AbrahamCowley_. [83] Mr. Murphy thought it a bad precedent; observing that anyauthour might be used in the same manner; and that it was pleasing tosee the variety of an authour's compositions, at different periods. 

We talked of Flatman's Poems; and Mrs. Thrale observed, that Pope hadpartly borrowed from him _The dying Christian to his Soul_. [84] Johnsonrepeated Rochester's verses upon Flatman[85], which I think by much toosevere:

'Nor that slow drudge in swift Pindarick strains, Flatman, who Cowley imitates with pains, And rides a jaded Muse, whipt with loose reins. '

I like to recollect all the passages that I heard Johnson repeat: itstamps a value on them. 

He told us, that the book entitled _The Lives of the Poets_, by Mr. Cibber, was entirely compiled by Mr. Shiels, a Scotchman, one of hisamanuenses. 'The bookseller (said he, ) gave Theophilus Cibber, who wasthen in prison, ten guineas, to allow _Mr. Cibber_ to be put upon thetitle-page, as the authour; by this, a double imposition was intended:in the first place, that it was the work of a Cibber at all; and, in thesecond place, that it was the work of old Cibber. '[86]

Mr. Murphy said, that _The Memoirs of Gray's Life_ set him much higherin his estimation than his poems did; 'for you there saw a manconstantly at work in literature. ' Johnson acquiesced in this; butdepreciated the book, I thought, very unreasonably. For he said, 'Iforced myself to read it, only because it was a common topick ofconversation. I found it mighty dull; and, as to the style, it is fitfor the second table[87]. ' Why he thought so I was at a loss to conceive. He now gave it as his opinion, that 'Akenside[88] was a superiour poetboth to Gray and Mason. '

Talking of the Reviews, Johnson said, 'I think them very impartial: I donot know an instance of partiality. '[89] He mentioned what had passedupon the subject of the _Monthly_ and _Critical Reviews_, in theconversation with which his Majesty had honoured him. [90] He expatiated alittle more on them this evening. 'The Monthly Reviewers (said he) arenot Deists; but they are Christians with as little christianity as maybe; and are for pulling down all establishments. The Critical Reviewersare for supporting the constitution both in church and state. [91] TheCritical Reviewers, I believe, often review without reading the booksthrough; but lay hold of a topick, and write chiefly from their ownminds. The Monthly Reviewers are duller men, and are glad to read thebooks through. '

He talked of Lord Lyttelton's extreme anxiety as an authour; observing, that 'he was thirty years in preparing his _History_, and that heemployed a man to point it for him; as if (laughing) another man couldpoint his sense better than himself. '[92] Mr. Murphy said, he understoodhis history was kept back several years for fear of Smollet[93]. JOHNSON. 'This seems strange to Murphy and me, who never felt that anxiety, butsent what we wrote to the press, and let it take its chance. ' MRS. THRALE. 'The time has been, Sir, when you felt it. ' JOHNSON. 'Whyreally, Madam, I do not recollect a time when that was the case. '

Talking of _The Spectator_, he said, 'It is wonderful that there is sucha proportion of bad papers, in the half of the work which was notwritten by Addison; for there was all the world to write that half, yetnot a half of that half is good. One of the finest pieces in the Englishlanguage is the paper on Novelty, [94] yet we do not hear it talked of. Itwas written by Grove, a dissenting _teacher_. ' He would not, Iperceived, call him a _clergyman_, though he was candid enough to allowvery great merit to his composition. Mr. Murphy said, he remembered whenthere were several people alive in London, who enjoyed a considerablereputation merely from having written a paper in _The Spectator_. Hementioned particularly Mr. Ince, who used to frequent Tom'scoffee-house. 'But (said Johnson, ) you must consider how highly Steelespeaks of Mr. Ince[95]. ' He would not allow that the paper[96] on carryinga boy to travel, signed _Philip Homebred_, which was reported to bewritten by the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, had merit. He said, 'it wasquite vulgar, and had nothing luminous. '

Johnson mentioned Dr. Barry's[97] System of Physick. 'He was a man (saidhe, ) who had acquired a high reputation in Dublin, came over to England, and brought his reputation with him, but had not great success. Hisnotion was, that pulsation occasions death by attrition; and that, therefore, the way to preserve life is to retard pulsation[98]. But weknow that pulsation is strongest in infants, and that we increase ingrowth while it operates in its regular course; so it cannot be thecause of destruction. ' Soon after this, he said something veryflattering to Mrs. Thrale, which I do not recollect; but it concludedwith wishing her long life. 'Sir, (said I, ) if Dr. Barry's system betrue, you have now shortened Mrs. Thrale's life, perhaps, some minutes, by accelerating her pulsation. '

On Thursday, April 11[99], I dined with him at General Paoli's, in whosehouse I now resided, and where I had ever afterwards the honour of beingentertained with the kindest attention as his constant guest, while Iwas in London, till I had a house of my own there. I mentioned my havingthat morning introduced to Mr. Garrick, Count Neni, a Flemish Noblemanof great rank and fortune, to whom Garrick talked of Abel Drugger[100] as_a small part_; and related, with pleasant vanity, that a Frenchman whohad seen him in one of his low characters, exclaimed, '_Comment! je nele crois pas. Ce n'est pas Monsieur Garrick, ce Grand Homme_!' Garrickadded, with an appearance of grave recollection, 'If I were to beginlife again, I think I should not play those low characters. ' Upon whichI observed, 'Sir, you would be in the wrong; for your great excellenceis your variety of playing, your representing so well, characters sovery different. ' JOHNSON. 'Garrick, Sir, was not in earnest in what hesaid; for, to be sure, his peculiar excellence is his variety[101]: and, perhaps, there is not any one character which has not been as well actedby somebody else, as he could do it. ' BOSWELL. 'Why then, Sir, did hetalk so?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, to make you answer as you did. ' BOSWELL. 'I don't know, Sir; he seemed to dip deep into his mind for thereflection. ' JOHNSON. 'He had not far to dip, Sir: he said the samething, probably, twenty times before. '

Of a nobleman raised at a very early period to high office, he said, 'His parts, Sir, are pretty well for a Lord; but would not bedistinguished in a man who had nothing else but his parts[102]'. 

A journey to Italy was still in his thoughts[103]. He said, 'A man who hasnot been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority, from his nothaving seen what it is expected a man should see. The grand object oftravelling is to see the shores of the Mediterranean. On those shoreswere the four great Empires of the world; the Assyrian, the Persian, theGrecian, and the Roman. --All our religion, almost all our law, almostall our arts, almost all that sets us above savages, has come to us fromthe shores of the Mediterranean. ' The General observed, that 'THEMEDITERRANEAN would be a noble subject for a poem[104]. '

We talked of translation. I said, I could not define it, nor could Ithink of a similitude to illustrate it; but that it appeared to me thetranslation of poetry could be only imitation. JOHNSON. 'You maytranslate books of science exactly. You may also translate history, inso far as it is not embellished with oratory[105], which is poetical. Poetry, indeed, cannot be translated; and, therefore, it is the poetsthat preserve languages; for we would not be at the trouble to learn alanguage, if we could have all that is written in it just as well in atranslation. But as the beauties of poetry cannot be preserved in anylanguage except that in which it was originally written, we learn thelanguage. '

A gentleman maintained that the art of printing had hurt real learning, by disseminating idle writings. --JOHNSON. 'Sir, if it had not been forthe art of printing, we should now have no learning at all; for bookswould have perished faster than they could have been transcribed. ' Thisobservation seems not just, considering for how many ages books werepreserved by writing alone. 

The same gentleman maintained, that a general diffusion of knowledgeamong a people was a disadvantage; for it made the vulgar rise abovetheir humble sphere. JOHNSON. 'Sir, while knowledge is a distinction, those who are possessed of it will naturally rise above those who arenot. Merely to read and write was a distinction at first; but we seewhen reading and writing have become general, the common people keeptheir stations. And so, were higher attainments to become general theeffect would be the same. '[106]

'Goldsmith (he said), referred every thing to vanity; his virtues, andhis vices too, were from that motive. He was not a social man. He neverexchanged mind with you. '

We spent the evening at Mr. Hoole's. Mr. Mickle, the excellenttranslator of _The Lusiad_[107], was there. I have preserved little of theconversation of this evening. [108] Dr. Johnson said, 'Thomson had a truepoetical genius, the power of viewing every thing in a poetical light. His fault is such a cloud of words sometimes, that the sense can hardlypeep through. Shiels, who compiled _Cibber's Lives of the Poets_[109], wasone day sitting with me. I took down Thomson, and read aloud a largeportion of him, and then asked, --Is not this fine? Shiels havingexpressed the highest admiration. Well, Sir, (said I, ) I have omittedevery other line. '[110]

I related a dispute between Goldsmith and Mr. Robert Dodsley, one daywhen they and I were dining at Tom Davies's, in 1762. Goldsmithasserted, that there was no poetry produced in this age. Dodsleyappealed to his own _Collection_[111], and maintained, that though youcould not find a palace like Dryden's _Ode on St. Cecilia's Day_, youhad villages composed of very pretty houses; and he mentionedparticularly _The Spleen_[112]. JOHNSON. 'I think Dodsley gave up thequestion. He and Goldsmith said the same thing; only he said it in asofter manner than Goldsmith did; for he acknowledged that there was nopoetry, nothing that towered above the common mark. You may find wit andhumour in verse, and yet no poetry. _Hudibras_ has a profusion of these;yet it is not to be reckoned a poem. _The Spleen_, in Dodsley's_Collection_, on which you say he chiefly rested, is not poetry[113]. 'BOSWELL. 'Does not Gray's poetry, Sir, tower above the common mark?'JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir; but we must attend to the difference between whatmen in general cannot do if they would, and what every man may do if hewould. Sixteen-string Jack[114] towered above the common mark. ' BOSWELL. 'Then, Sir, what is poetry?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, it is much easier tosay what it is not. We all _know_ what light is; but it is not easy to_tell_ what it is. '

On Friday, April 12, I dined with him at our friend Tom Davies's, wherewe met Mr. Cradock, of Leicestershire, authour of _Zobeide_, atragedy[115]; a very pleasing gentleman, to whom my friend Dr. Farmer'svery excellent _Essay on the Learning of Shakspeare_[116] is addressed;and Dr. Harwood, who has written and published various works;particularly a fantastical translation of the New Testament, in modernphrase[117], and with a Socinian twist. 

I introduced Aristotle's doctrine in his _Art of Poetry_, of 'the[Greek: katharis ton pathaematon], the purging of the passions, ' as thepurpose of tragedy[118]. 'But how are the passions to be purged by terrourand pity?' (said I, with an assumed air of ignorance, to incite him totalk, for which it was often necessary to employ some address)[119]. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, you are to consider what is the meaning of purgingin the original sense. It is to expel impurities from the human body. The mind is subject to the same imperfection. The passions are the greatmovers of human actions; but they are mixed with such impurities, thatit is necessary they should be purged or refined by means of terrour andpity. For instance, ambition is a noble passion; but by seeing upon thestage, that a man who is so excessively ambitious as to raise himself byinjustice, is punished, we are terrified at the fatal consequences ofsuch a passion. In the same manner a certain degree of resentment isnecessary; but if we see that a man carries it too far, we pity theobject of it, and are taught to moderate that passion. ' My record uponthis occasion does great injustice to Johnson's expression, which was soforcible and brilliant, that Mr. Cradock whispered me, 'O that his wordswere written in a book[120]!'

I observed, the great defect of the tragedy of _Othello_ was, that ithad not a moral; for that no man could resist the circumstances ofsuspicion which were artfully suggested to Othello's mind. JOHNSON. 'Inthe first place, Sir, we learn from _Othello_ this very useful moral, not to make an unequal match; in the second place, we learn not to yieldtoo readily to suspicion. The handkerchief is merely a trick, though avery pretty trick; but there are no other circumstances of reasonablesuspicion, except what is related by Iago of Cassio's warm expressionsconcerning Desdemona in his sleep; and that depended entirely upon theassertion of one man. [121] No, Sir, I think _Othello_ has more moral thanalmost any play. '

Talking of a penurious gentleman of our acquaintance, Johnson said, 'Sir, he is narrow, not so much from avarice, as from impotence to spendhis money. He cannot find in his heart to pour out a bottle of wine; buthe would not much care if it should sour. '

He said, he wished to see John Dennis's _Critical Works_ collected. Davies said they would not sell. Dr. Johnson seemed to thinkotherwise. [122]

Davies said of a well-known dramatick authour, that 'he lived upon_potted stories_, and that he made his way as Hannibal did, by vinegar;having begun by attacking people; particularly the players. '[123]

He reminded Dr. Johnson of Mr. Murphy's having paid him the highestcompliment that ever was paid to a layman, by asking his pardon forrepeating some oaths in the course of telling a story. [124]

Johnson and I supt this evening at the Crown and Anchor tavern, incompany with Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr. Langton, Mr. Nairne, [125] now one ofthe Scotch Judges, with the title of Lord Dunsinan, and my very worthyfriend, Sir William Forbes, [126] of Pitsligo. 

We discussed the question whether drinking improved conversation andbenevolence. [127] Sir Joshua maintained it did. JOHNSON. 'No, Sir: beforedinner men meet with great inequality of understanding; and those whoare conscious of their inferiority, have the modesty not to talk. Whenthey have drunk wine, every man feels himself happy, and loses thatmodesty, and grows impudent and vociferous: but he is not improved; heis only not sensible of his defects. ' Sir Joshua said the Doctor wastalking of the effects of excess in wine; but that a moderate glassenlivened the mind, by giving a proper circulation to the blood. 'I am(said he, ) in very good spirits, when I get up in the morning. Bydinner-time I am exhausted; wine puts me in the same state as when I gotup; and I am sure that moderate drinking makes people talk better. 'JOHNSON. 'No, Sir; wine gives not light, gay, ideal hilarity; buttumultuous, noisy, clamorous merriment. I have heard none of thosedrunken, --nay, drunken is a coarse word, --none of those _vinous_flights. ' SIR JOSHUA. 'Because you have sat by, quite sober, and felt anenvy of the happiness of those who were drinking. ' JOHNSON. 'Perhaps, contempt. [128]--And, Sir, it is not necessary to be drunk one's self, torelish the wit of drunkenness. Do we not judge of the drunken wit, ofthe dialogue between Iago and Cassio, the most excellent in its kind, when we are quite sober? Wit is wit, by whatever means it is produced;and, if good, will appear so at all times. I admit that the spirits areraised by drinking, as by the common participation of any pleasure:cock-fighting, or bear-baiting, will raise the spirits of a company, asdrinking does, though surely they will not improve conversation. I alsoadmit, that there are some sluggish men who are improved by drinking; asthere are fruits which are not good till they are rotten. There are suchmen, but they are medlars. I indeed allow that there have been a veryfew men of talents who were improved by drinking; but I maintain that Iam right as to the effects of drinking in general: and let it beconsidered, that there is no position, however false in itsuniversality, which is not true of some particular man. ' Sir WilliamForbes said, 'Might not a man warmed with wine be like a bottle of beer, which is made brisker by being set before the fire?' 'Nay, (saidJohnson, laughing, ) I cannot answer that: that is too much for me. '

I observed, that wine did some people harm, by inflaming, confusing, andirritating their minds; but that the experience of mankind had declaredin favour of moderate drinking. JOHNSON. 'Sir, I do not say it is wrongto produce self complacency by drinking; I only deny that it improvesthe mind. When I drank wine, I scorned to drink it when in company. [129] Ihave drunk many a bottle by myself; in the first place, because I hadneed of it to raise my spirits; in the second place, because I wouldhave nobody to witness its effects upon me. '

He told us, 'almost all his _Ramblers_ were written just as they werewanted for the press; that he sent a certain portion of the copy[130] ofan essay, and wrote the remainder, while the former part of it wasprinting. When it was wanted, and he had fairly sat down to it, he wassure it would be done. '[131]

He said, that for general improvement, a man should read whatever hisimmediate inclination prompts him to; though, to be sure, if a man has ascience to learn, he must regularly and resolutely advance. He added, 'what we read with inclination makes a much stronger impression. If weread without inclination, half the mind is employed in fixing theattention; so there is but one half to be employed on what we read. '[132]He told us, he read Fielding's _Amelia_ through without stopping. [133] Hesaid, 'if a man begins to read in the middle of a book, and feels aninclination to go on, let him not quit it, to go to the beginning. Hemay perhaps not feel again the inclination. '

Sir Joshua mentioned Mr. Cumberland's _Odes_, [134] which were justpublished. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, they would have been thought as good asOdes commonly are, if Cumberland had not put his name to them; but aname immediately draws censure, unless it be a name that bears downeverything before it. Nay, Cumberland has made his _Odes_ subsidiary tothe fame of another man. [135] They might have run well enough bythemselves; but he has not only loaded them with a name, but has madethem carry double. '

We talked of the Reviews, and Dr. Johnson spoke of them as he did atThrale's. [136] Sir Joshua said, what I have often thought, that hewondered to find so much good writing employed in them, when theauthours were to remain unknown, and so could not have the motive offame. JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, those who write in them, write well, in orderto be paid well. '

Soon after this day, he went to Bath with Mr. And Mrs. Thrale. I hadnever seen that beautiful city, and wished to take the opportunity ofvisiting it, while Johnson was there. Having written to him, I receivedthe following answer. 

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 'DEAR SIR, 'Why do you talk of neglect? When did I neglect you? If you will come toBath, we shall all be glad to see you. Come, therefore, as soon as youcan. 

'But I have a little business for you at London. Bid Francis look in thepaper-drawer of the chest of drawers in my bed-chamber, for two cases;one for the Attorney-General, [137] and one for the Solicitor-General. [138]They lie, I think, at the top of my papers; otherwise they are somewhereelse, and will give me more trouble. 

'Please to write to me immediately, if they can be found. Make mycompliments to all our friends round the world, and to Mrs. Williams athome. 

'I am, Sir, your, &c. 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'Search for the papers as soon as you can, that, if it is necessary, Imay write to you again before you come down. '

On the 26th of April, I went to Bath;[139] and on my arrival at thePelican inn, found lying for me an obliging invitation from Mr. And Mrs. Thrale, by whom I was agreeably entertained almost constantly during mystay. They were gone to the rooms;[140] but there was a kind note from Dr. Johnson, that he should sit at home all the evening. I went to himdirectly, and before Mr. And Mrs. Thrale returned, we had by ourselvessome hours of tea-drinking and talk. 

I shall group together such of his sayings as I preserved during the fewdays that I was at Bath. 

Of a person[141] who differed from him in politicks, he said, 'In privatelife he is a very honest gentleman; but I will not allow him to be so inpublick life. People _may_ be honest, though they are doing wrong: thatis, between their Maker and them. But _we_, who are suffering by theirpernicious conduct, are to destroy them. We are sure that ---- acts frominterest. We know what his genuine principles were. They who allow theirpassions to confound the distinctions between right and wrong, arecriminal. They may be convinced; but they have not come honestly bytheir conviction. '[142]

It having been mentioned, I know not with what truth, that a certainfemale political writer, [143] whose doctrines he disliked, had of latebecome very fond of dress, sat hours together at her toilet, and evenput on rouge:--JOHNSON. 'She is better employed at her toilet, thanusing her pen. It is better she should be reddening her own cheeks, thanblackening other people's characters. '

He told us that 'Addison wrote Budgell's papers in the _Spectator_, atleast mended them so much, that he made them almost his own; and thatDraper, Tonson's partner, assured Mrs. Johnson, that the much admiredEpilogue to _The Distressed Mother_, which came out in Budgell's name, was in reality written by Addison. '[144]

'The mode of government by one may be ill adapted to a small society, but is best for a great nation. The characteristick of our owngovernment at present is imbecility. [145] The magistrate dare not call theguards for fear of being hanged. The guards will not come, for fear ofbeing given up to the blind rage of popular juries. '[146]

Of the father of one of our friends, he observed, 'He never clarifiedhis notions, by filtrating them through other minds. He had a canal uponhis estate, where at one place the bank was too low. --I dug the canaldeeper, ' said he. [147]

He told me that 'so long ago as 1748[148] he had read "_The Grave_, aPoem[149], " but did not like it much. ' I differed from him; for though itis not equal throughout, and is seldom elegantly correct, it abounds insolemn thought, and poetical imagery beyond the common reach. The worldhas differed from him; for the poem has passed through many editions, and is still much read by people of a serious cast of mind. 

A literary lady of large fortune[150] was mentioned, as one who did goodto many, but by no means 'by stealth, ' and instead of 'blushing to findit fame, [151] acted evidently from vanity. JOHNSON. 'I have seen no beingswho do as much good from benevolence, as she does, from whatever motive. If there are such under the earth, or in the clouds, I wish they wouldcome up, or come down. What Soame Jenyns says upon this subject is notto be minded; he is a wit. No, Sir; to act from pure benevolence is notpossible for finite beings. Human benevolence is mingled with vanity, interest, or some other motive. '[152]

He would not allow me to praise a lady then at Bath; observing 'She doesnot gain upon me, Sir; I think her empty-headed. ' He was, indeed, astern critick upon characters and manners. Even Mrs. Thrale did notescape his friendly animadversion at times. When he and I were one dayendeavouring to ascertain, article by article, how one of our friends[153]could possibly spend as much money in his family as he told us he did, she interrupted us by a lively extravagant sally, on the expence ofclothing his children, describing it in a very ludicrous and fancifulmanner. Johnson looked a little angry, and said, 'Nay, Madam, when youare declaiming, declaim; and when you are calculating, calculate. ' Atanother time, when she said, perhaps affectedly, 'I don't like to fly. 'JOHNSON. 'With _your_ wings, Madam, you _must_ fly: but have a care, there are _clippers_ abroad. ' How very well was this said, and how fullyhas experience proved the truth of it! But have they not _clipped_rather _rudely_, and gone a great deal _closer_ than was necessary?[154]

A gentleman[155] expressed a wish to go and live three years at Otaheité, or New-Zealand, in order to obtain a full acquaintance with people, sototally different from all that we have ever known, and be satisfiedwhat pure nature can do for man. JOHNSON. 'What could you learn, Sir?What can savages tell, but what they themselves have seen? Of the past, or the invisible, they can tell nothing. The inhabitants of Otaheité andNew-Zealand are not in a state of pure nature; for it is plain theybroke off from some other people. Had they grown out of the ground, youmight have judged of a state of pure nature. Fanciful people may talk ofa mythology being amongst them; but it must be invention. They have oncehad religion, which has been gradually debased. And what account oftheir religion can you suppose to be learnt from savages? Only consider, Sir, our own state: our religion is in a book; we have an order of menwhose duty it is to teach it; we have one day in the week set apart forit, and this is in general pretty well observed: yet ask the first tengross men you meet, and hear what they can tell of their religion. '

On Monday, April 29, he and I made an excursion to Bristol, where I wasentertained with seeing him enquire upon the spot, into the authenticityof 'Rowley's Poetry, '[156] as I had seen him enquire upon the spot intothe authenticity of 'Ossian's Poetry. '[157] George Catcot, the pewterer, who was as zealous for Rowley, as Dr. Hugh Blair[158] was for Ossian, (Itrust my Reverend friend will excuse the comparison, ) attended us at ourinn, and with a triumphant air of lively simplicity called out, 'I'llmake Dr. Johnson a convert. ' Dr. Johnson, at his desire, read aloud someof Chatterton's fabricated verses, while Catcot stood at the back of hischair, moving himself like a pendulum, and beating time with his feet, and now and then looking into Dr. Johnson's face, wondering that he wasnot yet convinced. We called on Mr. Barret, the surgeon, and saw some ofthe _originals_ as they were called, which were executed veryartificially;[159] but from a careful inspection of them, and aconsideration of the circumstances with which they were attended, wewere quite satisfied of the imposture, which, indeed, has been clearlydemonstrated from internal evidence, by several able criticks. '[160]

Honest Catcot seemed to pay no attention whatever to any objections, butinsisted, as an end of all controversy, that we should go with him tothe tower of the church of St. Mary, Redcliff, and _view with our owneyes_ the ancient chest in which the manuscripts were found. To this, Dr. Johnson good-naturedly agreed; and though troubled with a shortnessof breathing, laboured up a long flight of steps, till we came to theplace where the wonderous chest stood. '_There_, (said Catcot, with abouncing confident credulity, ) _there_ is the very chest itself. '[161]'After this _ocular demonstration_, there was no more to be said. Hebrought to my recollection a Scotch Highlander, a man of learning too, and who had seen the world, attesting, and at the same time giving hisreasons for the authenticity of Fingal:--'I have heard all that poemwhen I was young. '--'Have you, Sir? Pray what have you heard?'--'I haveheard Ossian, Oscar, and _every one of them_. '

Johnson said of Chatterton, 'This is the most extraordinary young manthat has encountered my knowledge. It is wonderful how the whelp haswritten such things. '[162]

We were by no means pleased with our inn at Bristol. 'Let us see now, (said I, ) how we should describe it. ' Johnson was ready with hisraillery. 'Describe it, Sir?--Why, it was so bad that Boswell wished tobe in Scotland!'

After Dr. Johnson's return to London, [163] I was several times with him athis house, where I occasionally slept, in the room that had beenassigned to me. [164] I dined with him at Dr. Taylor's, at GeneralOglethorpe's, and at General Paoli's. To avoid a tedious minuteness, Ishall group together what I have preserved of his conversation duringthis period also, without specifying each scene where it passed, exceptone, which will be found so remarkable as certainly to deserve a veryparticular relation. Where the place or the persons do not contribute tothe zest of the conversation, it is unnecessary to encumber my page withmentioning them. To know of what vintage our wine is, enables us tojudge of its value, and to drink it with more relish: but to have theproduce of each vine of one vineyard, in the same year, kept separate, would serve no purpose. To know that our wine, (to use an advertisingphrase, ) is 'of the stock of an Ambassadour lately deceased, ' heightensits flavour: but it signifies nothing to know the bin where each bottlewas once deposited. 

'Garrick (he observed, ) does not play the part of Archer in _The BeauxStratagem_ well. The gentleman should break out through the footman, which is not the case as he does it. '[165]

'Where there is no education, as in savage countries, men will have theupper hand of women. Bodily strength, no doubt, contributes to this; butit would be so, exclusive of that; for it is mind that always governs. When it comes to dry understanding, man has the better. '

'The little volumes entitled _Respublicæ_, [166] which are very well done, were a bookseller's work. '

'There is much talk of the misery which we cause to the brute creation;but they are recompensed by existence[167]. If they were not useful toman, and therefore protected by him, they would not be nearly sonumerous. ' This argument is to be found in the able and benignantHutchinson's _Moral Philosophy_. But the question is, whether theanimals who endure such sufferings of various kinds, for the service andentertainment of man, would accept of existence upon the terms on whichthey have it. Madame Sévigné[168], who, though she had many enjoyments, felt with delicate sensibility the prevalence of misery, complains ofthe task of existence having been imposed upon her without herconsent[169]. 

'That man is never happy for the present is so true, that all his relieffrom unhappiness is only forgetting himself for a little while. Life isa progress from want to want, not from enjoyment to enjoyment. '[170]

'Though many men are nominally entrusted with the administration ofhospitals and other publick institutions, almost all the good is done byone man, by whom the rest are driven on; owing to confidence in him, andindolence in them. '[171]

'Lord Chesterfield's _Letters to his Son_, I think, might be made a verypretty book. Take out the immorality, and it should be put into thehands of every young gentleman. An elegant manner and easiness ofbehaviour are acquired gradually and imperceptibly. No man can say "I'llbe genteel. " There are ten genteel women for one genteel man, becausethey are more restrained. A man without some degree of restraint isinsufferable; but we are all less restrained than women. Were a womansitting in company to put out her legs before her as most men do, weshould be tempted to kick them in. '

No man was a more attentive and nice observer of behaviour in those inwhose company he happened to be, than Johnson; or, however strange itmay seem to many, had a higher estimation of its refinements[172]. LordEliot informs me, that one day when Johnson and he were at dinner at agentleman's house in London, upon Lord Chesterfield's Letters beingmentioned, Johnson surprized the company by this sentence: 'Every man ofany education would rather be called a rascal, than accused ofdeficiency in _the graces_. ' Mr. Gibbon, who was present, turned to alady who knew Johnson well, and lived much with him, and in his quaintmanner, tapping his box, addressed her thus: 'Don't you think, Madam, (looking towards Johnson, ) that among _all_ your acquaintance, you couldfind _one_ exception?' The lady smiled, and seemed to acquiesce. [173]

'I read (said he, ) Sharpe's letters on Italy over again, when I was atBath. There is a great deal of matter in them. '[174]

'Mrs. Williams was angry that Thrale's family did not send regularly toher every time they heard from me while I was in the Hebrides. Littlepeople are apt to be jealous: but they should not be jealous; for theyought to consider, that superiour attention will necessarily be paid tosuperiour fortune or rank. Two persons may have equal merit, and on thataccount may have an equal claim to attention; but one of them may havealso fortune and rank, and so may have a double claim. '

Talking of his notes on Shakspeare, he said, 'I despise those who do notsee that I am right in the passage where _as_ is repeated, and "asses ofgreat charge" introduced. That on "To be, or not to be, " isdisputable. '[175]

A gentleman, whom I found sitting with him one morning, said, that inhis opinion the character of an infidel was more detestable than that ofa man notoriously guilty of an atrocious crime. I differed from him, because we are surer of the odiousness of the one, than of the errour ofthe other. JOHNSON. 'Sir, I agree with him; for the infidel would beguilty of any crime if he were inclined to it. '

'Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gaincredit in the world. One of these is the cry against the evil of luxury. Now the truth is, that luxury produces much good[176]. Take the luxury ofbuildings in London. Does it not produce real advantage in theconveniency and elegance of accommodation, and this all from theexertion of industry? People will tell you, with a melancholy face, howmany builders are in gaol. It is plain they are in gaol, not forbuilding; for rents are not fallen. --A man gives half a guinea for adish of green peas. How much gardening does this occasion? how manylabourers must the competition to have such things early in the market, keep in employment? You will hear it said, very gravely, Why was not thehalf-guinea, thus spent in luxury, given to the poor? To how many mightit have afforded a good meal. Alas! has it not gone to the _industrious_poor, whom it is better to support than the _idle_ poor? You are muchsurer that you are doing good when you _pay_ money to those who work, asthe recompence of their labour, than when you _give_ money merely incharity. Suppose the ancient luxury of a dish of peacock's brains wereto be revived, how many carcases would be left to the poor at a cheaprate: and as to the rout that is made about people who are ruined byextravagance, it is no matter to the nation that some individualssuffer. When so much general productive exertion is the consequence ofluxury, the nation does not care though there are debtors in gaol; nay, they would not care though their creditors were there too. '[177]

The uncommon vivacity of General Oglethorpe's mind, and variety ofknowledge, having sometimes made his conversation seem too desultory, Johnson observed, 'Oglethorpe, Sir, never _completes_ what he has tosay. '

He on the same account made a similar remark on Patrick Lord Elibank:'Sir, there is nothing _conclusive_ in his talk. '[178]

When I complained of having dined at a splendid table without hearingone sentence of conversation worthy of being remembered, he said, 'Sir, there seldom is any such conversation. ' BOSWELL. 'Why then meet attable?' JOHNSON. 'Why to eat and drink together, and to promotekindness; and, Sir, this is better done when there is no solidconversation; for when there is, people differ in opinion, and get intobad humour, or some of the company who are not capable of suchconversation, are left out, and feel themselves uneasy. It was for thisreason, Sir Robert Walpole said, he always talked bawdy at his table, because in that all could join. '[179]

Being irritated by hearing a gentleman[180] ask Mr. Levett a variety ofquestions concerning him, when he was sitting by, he broke out, 'Sir, you have but two topicks, yourself and me. I am sick of both. ' 'A man, (said he, ) should not talk of himself, nor much of any particularperson. He should take care not to be made a proverb; and, therefore, should avoid having any one topick of which people can say, "We shallhear him upon it. "' There was a Dr. Oldfield, who was always talking ofthe Duke of Marlborough. He came into a coffee-house one day, and toldthat his Grace had spoken in the House of Lords for half an hour. 'Didhe indeed speak for half an hour?' (said Belchier, the surgeon, )--'Yes. '--'And what did he say of Dr. Oldfield?'--'Nothing. '--'Why then, Sir, he was very ungrateful; for Dr. Oldfield could not have spoken fora quarter of an hour, without saying something of him. '

'Every man is to take existence on the terms on which it is given tohim[181]. To some men it is given on condition of not taking liberties, which other men may take without much harm. One may drink wine, and benothing the worse for it; on another, wine may have effects soinflammatory as to injure him both in body and mind, and perhaps, makehim commit something for which he may deserve to be hanged. '

'Lord Hailes's _Annals of Scotland_[182] have not that painted form whichis the taste of this age; but it is a book which will always sell, ithas such a stability of dates, such a certainty of facts, and such apunctuality of citation. I never before read Scotch history withcertainty. '

I asked him whether he would advise me to read the Bible with acommentary, and what commentaries he would recommend. JOHNSON. 'To besure, Sir, I would have you read the Bible with a commentary; and Iwould recommend Lowth and Patrick on the Old Testament, and Hammond onthe New. '

During my stay in London this spring, I solicited his attention toanother law case, in which I was engaged. In the course of a contestedelection for the Borough of Dumfermline, which I attended as one of myfriend Colonel (afterwards Sir Archibald) Campbell's counsel; one of hispolitical agents, who was charged with having been unfaithful to hisemployer, and having deserted to the opposite party for a pecuniaryreward--attacked very rudely in a news-paper the Reverend Mr. JamesThomson, one of the ministers of that place, on account of a supposedallusion to him in one of his sermons. Upon this the minister, on asubsequent Sunday, arraigned him by name from the pulpit with someseverity; and the agent, after the sermon was over, rose up and askedthe minister aloud, 'What bribe he had received for telling so many liesfrom the chair of verity[183]. ' I was present at this very extraordinaryscene. The person arraigned, and his father and brother, who had alsohad a share both of the reproof from the pulpit, and in the retaliation, brought an action against Mr. Thomson, in the Court of Session, fordefamation and damages, and I was one of the counsel for the reverenddefendant. The _Liberty of the Pulpit_ was our great ground of defence;but we argued also on the provocation of the previous attack, and on theinstant retaliation. The Court of Session, however--the fifteen Judges, who are at the same time the Jury, decided against the minister, contrary to my humble opinion; and several of them expressed themselveswith indignation against him. He was an aged gentleman, formerly amilitary chaplain, and a man of high spirit and honour. Johnson wassatisfied that the judgement was wrong, and dictated to me the followingargument in confutation of it:

'Of the censure pronounced from the pulpit, our determination must beformed, as in other cases, by a consideration of the action itself, andthe particular circumstances with which it is invested. 

'The right of censure and rebuke seems necessarily appendant to thepastoral office. He, to whom the care of a congregation is entrusted, isconsidered as the shepherd of a flock, as the teacher of a school, asthe father of a family. As a shepherd tending not his own sheep butthose of his master, he is answerable for those that stray, and thatlose themselves by straying. But no man can be answerable for losseswhich he has not power to prevent, or for vagrancy which he has notauthority to restrain. 

'As a teacher giving instruction for wages, and liable to reproach, ifthose whom he undertakes to inform make no proficiency, he must have thepower of enforcing attendance, of awakening negligence, and repressingcontradiction. 

'As a father, he possesses the paternal authority of admonition, rebuke, and punishment. He cannot, without reducing his office to an empty name, be hindered from the exercise of any practice necessary to stimulate theidle, to reform the vicious, to check the petulant, and correct thestubborn. 

'If we enquire into the practice of the primitive church, we shall, Ibelieve, find the ministers of the word exercising the whole authorityof this complicated character. We shall find them not only encouragingthe good by exhortation, but terrifying the wicked by reproof anddenunciation. In the earliest ages of the Church, while religion was yetpure from secular advantages, the punishment of sinners was publickcensure, and open penance; penalties inflicted merely by ecclesiasticalauthority, at a time while the church had yet no help from the civilpower; while the hand of the magistrate lifted only the rod ofpersecution; and when governours were ready to afford a refuge to allthose who fled from clerical authority. 

'That the Church, therefore, had once a power of publick censure isevident, because that power was frequently exercised. That it borrowednot its power from the civil authority, is likewise certain, becausecivil authority was at that time its enemy. 

'The hour came at length, when after three hundred years of struggle anddistress, Truth took possession of imperial power, and the civil lawslent their aid to the ecclesiastical constitutions. The magistrate fromthat time co-operated with the priest, and clerical sentences were madeefficacious by secular force. But the State, when it came to theassistance of the church, had no intention to diminish its authority. Those rebukes and those censures which were lawful before, were lawfulstill. But they had hitherto operated only upon voluntary submission. The refractory and contemptuous were at first in no danger of temporalseverities, except what they might suffer from the reproaches ofconscience, or the detestation of their fellow Christians. When religionobtained the support of law, if admonitions and censures had no effect, they were seconded by the magistrates with coercion and punishment. 

'It therefore appears from ecclesiastical history, that the right ofinflicting shame by publick censure, has been always considered asinherent in the Church; and that this right was not conferred by thecivil power; for it was exercised when the civil power operated againstit. By the civil power it was never taken away; for the Christianmagistrate interposed his office, not to rescue sinners from censure, but to supply more powerful means of reformation; to add pain whereshame was insufficient; and when men were proclaimed unworthy of thesociety of the faithful, to restrain them by imprisonment, fromspreading abroad the contagion of wickedness. 

'It is not improbable that from this acknowledged power of publickcensure, grew in time the practice of auricular confession. Those whodreaded the blast of publick reprehension, were willing to submitthemselves to the priest, by a private accusation of themselves; and toobtain a reconciliation with the Church by a kind of clandestineabsolution and invisible penance; conditions with which the priest wouldin times of ignorance and corruption, easily comply, as they increasedhis influence, by adding the knowledge of secret sins to that ofnotorious offences, and enlarged his authority, by making him the solearbiter of the terms of reconcilement. 

'From this bondage the Reformation set us free. The minister has nolonger power to press into the retirements of conscience, to torture usby interrogatories, or put himself in possession of our secrets and ourlives. But though we have thus controlled his usurpations, his just andoriginal power remains unimpaired. He may still see, though he may notpry: he may yet hear, though he may not question. And that knowledgewhich his eyes and ears force upon him it is still his duty to use, forthe benefit of his flock. A father who lives near a wicked neighbour, may forbid a son to frequent his company. A minister who has in hiscongregation a man of open and scandalous wickedness, may warn hisparishioners to shun his conversation. To warn them is not only lawful, but not to warn them would be criminal. He may warn them one by one infriendly converse, or by a parochial visitation. But if he may warn eachman singly, what shall forbid him to warn them altogether? Of that whichis to be made known to all, how is there any difference whether it becommunicated to each singly, or to all together? What is known to all, must necessarily be publick. Whether it shall be publick at once, orpublick by degrees, is the only question. And of a sudden and solemnpublication the impression is deeper, and the warning more effectual. 

'It may easily be urged, if a minister be thus left at liberty to delatesinners from the pulpit, and to publish at will the crimes of aparishioner, he may often blast the innocent, and distress the timorous. He may be suspicious, and condemn without evidence; he may be rash, andjudge without examination; he may be severe, and treat slight offenceswith too much harshness; he may be malignant and partial, and gratifyhis private interest or resentment under the shelter of his pastoralcharacter. 

'Of all this there is possibility, and of all this there is danger. Butif possibility of evil be to exclude good, no good ever can be done. Ifnothing is to be attempted in which there is danger, we must all sinkinto hopeless inactivity. The evils that may be feared from thispractice arise not from any defect in the institution, but from theinfirmities of human nature. Power, in whatever hands it is placed, willbe sometimes improperly exerted; yet courts of law must judge, thoughthey will sometimes judge amiss. A father must instruct his children, though he himself may often want instruction. A minister must censuresinners, though his censure may be sometimes erroneous by want ofjudgement, and sometimes unjust by want of honesty. 

'If we examine the circumstances of the present case, we shall find thesentence neither erroneous nor unjust; we shall find no breach ofprivate confidence, no intrusion into secret transactions. The fact wasnotorious and indubitable; so easy to be proved, that no proof wasdesired. The act was base and treacherous, the perpetration insolent andopen, and the example naturally mischievous. The minister, however, being retired and recluse, had not yet heard what was publickly knownthroughout the parish; and on occasion of a publick election, warned hispeople, according to his duty, against the crimes which publickelections frequently produce. His warning was felt by one of hisparishioners, as pointed particularly at himself. But instead ofproducing, as might be wished, private compunction and immediatereformation, it kindled only rage and resentment. He charged hisminister, in a publick paper, with scandal, defamation, and falsehood. The minister, thus reproached, had his own character to vindicate, uponwhich his pastoral authority must necessarily depend. To be charged witha defamatory lie is an injury which no man patiently endures in commonlife. To be charged with polluting the pastoral office with scandal andfalsehood, was a violation of character still more atrocious, as itaffected not only his personal but his clerical veracity. Hisindignation naturally rose in proportion to his honesty, and with allthe fortitude of injured honesty, he dared this calumniator in thechurch, and at once exonerated himself from censure, and rescued hisflock from deception and from danger. The man whom he accuses pretendsnot to be innocent; or at least only pretends; for he declines a trial. The crime of which he is accused has frequent opportunities and strongtemptations. It has already spread far, with much depravation of privatemorals, and much injury to publick happiness. To warn the people, therefore, against it was not wanton and officious, but necessary andpastoral. 

'What then is the fault with which this worthy minister is charged? Hehas usurped no dominion over conscience. He has exerted no authority insupport of doubtful and controverted opinions. He has not dragged intolight a bashful and corrigible sinner. His censure was directed againsta breach of morality, against an act which no man justifies. The man whoappropriated this censure to himself, is evidently and notoriouslyguilty. His consciousness of his own wickedness incited him to attackhis faithful reprover with open insolence and printed accusations. Suchan attack made defence necessary; and we hope it will be at last decidedthat the means of defence were just and lawful. '

When I read this to Mr. Burke, he was highly pleased, and exclaimed, 'Well; he does his work in a workman-like manner. '[184]

Mr. Thomson wished to bring the cause by appeal before the House ofLords, but was dissuaded by the advice of the noble person who latelypresided so ably in that Most Honourable House, and who was thenAttorney-General. As my readers will no doubt be glad also to read theopinion of this eminent man upon the same subject, I shall here insertit. 

CASE. 'There is herewith laid before you, 1. Petition for the Reverend Mr. James Thomson, minister of Dumfermline. 2. Answers thereto. 3. Copy of the judgement of the Court of Session upon both. 4. Notes of the opinions of the Judges, being the reasons upon which their decree is grounded. 'These papers you will please to peruse, and give your opinion, Whetherthere is a probability of the above decree of the Court of Session'sbeing reversed, if Mr. Thomson should appeal from the same?'

'I don't think the appeal adviseable: not only because the value of thejudgement is in no degree adequate to the expence; but because there aremany chances, that upon the general complexion of the case, theimpression will be taken to the disadvantage of the appellant. 

'It is impossible to approve the style of that sermon. But the_complaint_ was not less ungracious from that man, who had behaved soill by his original libel, and, at the time, when he received thereproach he complains of. In the last article, all the plaintiffs areequally concerned. It struck me also with some wonder, that the Judgesshould think so much fervour apposite to the occasion of reproving thedefendant for a little excess. 

'Upon the matter, however, I agree with them in condemning the behaviourof the minister; and in thinking it a subject fit for ecclesiasticalcensure; and even for an action, if any individual could qualify[185] awrong, and a damage arising from it. But this I doubt. The circumstanceof publishing the reproach in a pulpit, though extremely indecent, andculpable in another view, does not constitute a different sort of wrong, or any other rule of law, than would have obtained, if the same wordshad been pronounced elsewhere. I don't know whether there be anydifference in the law of Scotland, in the definition of slander, beforethe Commissaries, or the Court of Session. The common law of Englanddoes not give way to actions for every reproachful word. An actioncannot be brought for general damages, upon any words which import lessthan an offence cognisable by law; consequently no action could havebeen brought here for the words in question. Both laws admit the truthto be a justification in action _for words_; and the law of England doesthe same in actions for libels. The judgement, therefore, seems to me tohave been wrong, in that the Court repelled that defence. 

'E. THURLOW. '

I am now to record a very curious incident in Dr. Johnson's Life, whichfell under my own observation; of which _pars magna fui_, [186] and which Iam persuaded will, with the liberal-minded, be much to his credit. 

My desire of being acquainted with celebrated men of every description, had made me, much about the same time, obtain an introduction to Dr. Samuel Johnson and to John Wilkes, Esq. Two men more different couldperhaps not be selected out of all mankind. They had even attacked oneanother with some asperity[187] in their writings; yet I lived in habitsof friendship with both[188]. I could fully relish the excellence of each;for I have ever delighted in that intellectual chymistry, which canseparate good qualities from evil in the same person. 

Sir John Pringle, 'mine own friend and my Father's friend, ' between whomand Dr. Johnson I in vain wished to establish an acquaintance[189], as Irespected and lived in intimacy with both of them, observed to me once, very ingeniously, 'It is not in friendship as in mathematicks, where twothings, each equal to a third, are equal between themselves. You agreewith Johnson as a middle quality, and you agree with me as a middlequality; but Johnson and I should not agree. ' Sir John was notsufficiently flexible; so I desisted; knowing, indeed, that therepulsion was equally strong on the part of Johnson; who, I know notfrom what cause, unless his being a Scotchman, had formed a veryerroneous opinion of Sir John. But I conceived an irresistible wish, ifpossible, to bring Dr. Johnson and Mr. Wilkes together. How to manageit, was a nice and difficult matter. 

My worthy booksellers and friends, Messieurs Dilly in the Poultry[190], atwhose hospitable and well-covered table I have seen a greater number ofliterary men, than at any other, except that of Sir Joshua Reynolds, hadinvited me to meet Mr. Wilkes and some more gentlemen on Wednesday, May15. 'Pray (said I, ) let us have Dr. Johnson. '--'What with Mr. Wilkes?not for the world, (said Mr. Edward Dilly:) Dr. Johnson would neverforgive me. '--'Come, (said I, ) if you'll let me negociate for you, Iwill be answerable that all shall go well. ' DILLY. 'Nay, if you willtake it upon you, I am sure I shall be very happy to see them bothhere. '

Notwithstanding the high veneration which I entertained for Dr. Johnson, I was sensible that he was sometimes a little actuated by the spirit ofcontradiction, and by means of that I hoped I should gain my point. Iwas persuaded that if I had come upon him with a direct proposal, 'Sir, will you dine in company with Jack Wilkes?' he would have flown into apassion, and would probably have answered, 'Dine with Jack Wilkes, Sir!I'd as soon dine with Jack Ketch[191]. ' I therefore, while we were sittingquietly, by ourselves at his house in an evening, took occasion to openmy plan thus:--'Mr. Dilly, Sir, sends his respectful compliments to you, and would be happy if you would do him the honour to dine with him onWednesday next along with me, as I must soon go to Scotland. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, I am obliged to Mr. Dilly. I will wait upon him--'BOSWELL. 'Provided, Sir, I suppose, that the company which he is to have, isagreeable to you. ' JOHNSON. 'What do you mean, Sir? What do you take mefor? Do you think I am so ignorant of the world, as to imagine that I amto prescribe to a gentleman what company he is to have at his table?'BOSWELL. 'I beg your pardon, Sir, for wishing to prevent you frommeeting people whom you might not like. Perhaps he may have some of whathe calls his patriotick friends with him. ' JOHNSON. 'Well, Sir, and whatthen? What care _I_ for his _patriotick friends_[192]? Poh!' BOSWELL. 'Ishould not be surprized to find Jack Wilkes there. ' JOHNSON. 'And ifJack Wilkes _should_ be there, what is that to _me_, Sir? My dearfriend, let us have no more of this. I am sorry to be angry with you;but really it is treating me strangely to talk to me as if I could notmeet any company whatever, occasionally. ' BOSWELL. 'Pray forgive me, Sir: I meant well. But you shall meet whoever comes, for me. ' Thus Isecured him, and told Dilly that he would find him very well pleased tobe one of his guests on the day appointed. 

Upon the much-expected Wednesday, I called on him about half an hourbefore dinner, as I often did when we were to dine out together, to seethat he was ready in time, and to accompany him. I found him buffetinghis books, as upon a former occasion[193], covered with dust, and makingno preparation for going abroad. 'How is this, Sir? (said I. ) Don't yourecollect that you are to dine at Mr. Dilly's?' JOHNSON. 'Sir, I did notthink of going to Dilly's: it went out of my head. I have ordered dinnerat home with Mrs. Williams. ' BOSWELL, 'But, my dear Sir, you know youwere engaged to Mr. Dilly, and I told him so. He will expect you, andwill be much disappointed if you don't come. ' JOHNSON. 'You must talk toMrs. Williams about this. '

Here was a sad dilemma. I feared that what I was so confident I hadsecured would yet be frustrated. He had accustomed himself to shew Mrs. Williams such a degree of humane attention, as frequently imposed somerestraint upon him; and I knew that if she should be obstinate, he wouldnot stir. I hastened down stairs to the blind lady's room, and told herI was in great uneasiness, for Dr. Johnson had engaged to me to dinethis day at Mr. Dilly's, but that he had told me he had forgotten hisengagement, and had ordered dinner at home. 'Yes, Sir, (said she, prettypeevishly, ) Dr. Johnson is to dine at home, '--'Madam, (said I, ) hisrespect for you is such, that I know he will not leave you unless youabsolutely desire it. But as you have so much of his company, I hope youwill be good enough to forego it for a day; as Mr. Dilly is a veryworthy man, has frequently had agreeable parties at his house for Dr. Johnson, and will be vexed if the Doctor neglects him to-day. And then, Madam, be pleased to consider my situation; I carried the message, and Iassured Mr. Dilly that Dr. Johnson was to come, and no doubt he has madea dinner, and invited a company, and boasted of the honour he expectedto have. I shall be quite disgraced if the Doctor is not there. ' Shegradually softened to my solicitations, which were certainly as earnestas most entreaties to ladies upon any occasion, and was graciouslypleased to empower me to tell Dr. Johnson, 'That all things consideredshe thought he should certainly go. ' I flew back to him still in dust, and careless of what should be the event, 'indifferent in his choice togo or stay[194];' but as soon as I had announced to him Mrs. Williams'consent, he roared, 'Frank, a clean shirt, ' and was very soon drest. When I had him fairly seated in a hackney-coach with me, I exulted asmuch as a fortune-hunter who has got an heiress into a post-chaise withhim to set out for Gretna-Green. 

When we entered Mr. Dilly's drawing room, he found himself in the midstof a company he did not know. I kept myself snug and silent, watchinghow he would conduct himself. I observed him whispering to Mr. Dilly, 'Who is that gentleman, Sir?'--'Mr. Arthur Lee. '--JOHNSON. 'Too, too, too, ' (under his breath, ) which was one of his habitual mutterings[195]. Mr. Arthur Lee could not but be very obnoxious to Johnson, for he wasnot only a _patriot_ but an _American_[196]. He was afterwards ministerfrom the United States at the court of Madrid. 'And who is the gentlemanin lace?'--'Mr. Wilkes, Sir. ' This information confounded him stillmore; he had some difficulty to restrain himself, and taking up a book, sat down upon a window-seat and read, or at least kept his eye upon itintently for some time, till he composed himself. His feelings, I daresay, were aukward enough. But he no doubt recollected his having ratedme for supposing that he could be at all disconcerted by any company, and he, therefore, resolutely set himself to behave quite as an easy manof the world, who could adapt himself at once to the disposition andmanners of those whom he might chance to meet. 

The cheering sound of 'Dinner is upon the table, ' dissolved his reverie, and we _all_ sat down without any symptom of ill humour. There werepresent, beside Mr. Wilkes, and Mr. Arthur Lee, who was an old companionof mine when he studied physick at Edinburgh, Mr. (now Sir John) Miller, Dr. Lettsom, and Mr. Slater the druggist. Mr. Wilkes placed himself nextto Dr. Johnson, and behaved to him with so much attention andpoliteness[197], that he gained upon him insensibly. No man eat moreheartily than Johnson, or loved better what was nice and delicate. Mr. Wilkes was very assiduous in helping him to some fine veal. 'Pray giveme leave, Sir:--It is better here--A little of the brown--Some fat, Sir--A little of the stuffing--Some gravy--Let me have the pleasure ofgiving you some butter--Allow me to recommend a squeeze of thisorange;--or the lemon, perhaps, may have more zest. '--'Sir, Sir, I amobliged to you, Sir, ' cried Johnson, bowing, and turning--his head tohim with a look for some time of 'surly virtue, '[198] but, in a shortwhile, of complacency. 

Foote being mentioned, Johnson said. 'He is not a good mimick[199]. ' Oneof the company added, 'A merry Andrew, a buffoon. ' JOHNSON. 'But he haswit too, and is not deficient in ideas, or in fertility and variety ofimagery, and not empty of reading; he has knowledge enough to fill uphis part. One species of wit he has in an eminent degree, that ofescape. You drive him into a corner with both hands; but he's gone, Sir, when you think you have got him--like an animal that jumps over yourhead. Then he has a great range for wit; he never lets truth standbetween him and a jest, and he is sometimes mighty coarse. Garrick isunder many restraints from which Foote is free[200]. ' WILKES. 'Garrick'swit is more like Lord Chesterfield's. ' JOHNSON. 'The first time I was incompany with Foote was at Fitzherbert's. Having no good opinion of thefellow, I was resolved not to be pleased; and it is very difficult toplease a man against his will[201]. I went on eating my dinner prettysullenly, affecting not to mind him. But the dog was so very comical, that I was obliged to lay down my knife and fork, throw myself back uponmy chair, and fairly laugh it out. No, Sir, he was irresistible[202]. Heupon one occasion experienced, in an extraordinary degree, the efficacyof his powers of entertaining. Amongst the many and various modes whichhe tried of getting money, he became a partner with a small-beer brewer, and he was to have a share of the profits for procuring customersamongst his numerous acquaintance. Fitzherbert was one who took hissmall-beer; but it was so bad that the servants resolved not to drinkit. They were at some loss how to notify their resolution, being afraidof offending their master, who they knew liked Foote much as acompanion. At last they fixed upon a little black boy, who was rather afavourite, to be their deputy, and deliver their remonstrance; andhaving invested him with the whole authority of the kitchen, he was toinform Mr. Fitzherbert, in all their names, upon a certain day, thatthey would drink Foote's small-beer no longer. On that day Footehappened to dine at Fitzherbert's, and this boy served at table; he wasso delighted with Foote's stories, and merriment, and grimace, that whenhe went down stairs, he told them, "This is the finest man I have everseen. I will not deliver your message. I will drink his small-beer. "'

Somebody observed that Garrick could not have done this. WILKES. 'Garrick would have made the small-beer still smaller. He is now leavingthe stage; but he will play _Scrub_[203] all his life. ' I knew thatJohnson would let nobody attack Garrick but himself[204], as Garrick oncesaid to me, and I had heard him praise his liberality; so to bring outhis commendation of his celebrated pupil, I said, loudly, 'I have heardGarrick is liberal[205]. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, I know that Garrick hasgiven away more money than any man in England that I am acquainted with, and that not from ostentatious views. Garrick was very poor when hebegan life; so when he came to have money, he probably was veryunskilful in giving away, and saved when he should not. But Garrickbegan to be liberal as soon as he could; and I am of opinion, thereputation of avarice which he has had, has been very lucky for him, andprevented his having many enemies. You despise a man for avarice, but donot hate him. Garrick might have been much better attacked for livingwith more splendour than is suitable to a player:[206] if they had had thewit to have assaulted him in that quarter, they might have galled himmore. But they have kept clamouring about his avarice, which has rescuedhim from much obloquy and envy. '

Talking of the great difficulty of obtaining authentick information forbiography, [207] Johnson told us, 'When I was a young fellow I wanted towrite the _Life of Dryden_, and in order to get materials, I applied tothe only two persons then alive who had seen him;[208] these were oldSwinney[209] and old Cibber. Swinney's information was no more than this, "That at Will's coffee-house Dryden had a particular chair for himself, which was set by the fire in winter, and was then called hiswinter-chair; and that it was carried out for him to the balcony insummer, and was then called his summer-chair. " Cibber could tell no morebut "That he remembered him a decent old man, arbiter of criticaldisputes at Will's[210]. " You are to consider that Cibber was then at agreat distance from Dryden, had perhaps one leg only in the room, anddurst not draw in the other. ' BOSWELL. 'Yet Cibber was a man ofobservation?' JOHNSON. 'I think not. '[211] BOSWELL. 'You will allow his_Apology_ to be well done. ' JOHNSON. 'Very well done, to be sure, Sir. [212] That book is a striking proof of the justice of Pope's remark:

"Each might his several province well command, Would all but stoop to what they understand[213]. "

BOSWELL. 'And his plays are good. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes; but that was histrade; _l'esprit du corps_; he had been all his life among players andplay-writers. [214] I wondered that he had so little to say inconversation, for he had kept the best company, and learnt all that canbe got by the ear. He abused Pindar to me, and then shewed me an Ode ofhis own, with an absurd couplet, making a linnet soar on an eagle'swing[215]. I told him that when the ancients made a simile, they alwaysmade it like something real. '

Mr. Wilkes remarked, that 'among all the bold flights of Shakspeare'simagination, the boldest was making Birnamwood march to Dunsinane;creating a wood where there never was a shrub; a wood in Scotland! ha!ha! ha!' And he also observed, that 'the clannish slavery of theHighlands of Scotland was the single exception to Milton's remark of"The Mountain Nymph, sweet Liberty[216], " being worshipped in all hillycountries. '--'When I was at Inverary (said he, ) on a visit to my oldfriend, Archibald, Duke of Argyle, his dependents congratulated me onbeing such a favourite of his Grace. I said, "It is then, gentlemen, truely lucky for me; for if I had displeased the Duke, and he had wishedit, there is not a Campbell among you but would have been ready to bringJohn Wilkes's head to him in a charger. It would have been only

'"'Off with his head! So much for Aylesbury[217]. '"

'I was then member for Aylesbury. '

Dr. Johnson and Mr. Wilkes talked of the contested passage in Horace's_Art of Poetry_[218], '_Difficile est propriè communia dicere_. ' Mr. Wilkes according to my note, gave the interpretation thus; 'It isdifficult to speak with propriety of common things; as, if a poet had tospeak of Queen Caroline drinking tea, he must endeavour to avoid thevulgarity of cups and saucers. ' But upon reading my note, he tells methat he meant to say, that 'the word _communia_, being a Roman law term, signifies here things _communis juris_, that is to say, what have neveryet been treated by any body; and this appears clearly from whatfollowed, "--TuqueRectiùs Iliacum carmen deducis in actusQuàm si proferres ignota indictaque primus. "

'You will easier make a tragedy out of the _Iliad_ than on any subjectnot handled before[219]. ' JOHNSON. 'He means that it is difficult toappropriate to particular persons qualities which are common to allmankind, as Homer has done. '

WILKES. 'We have no City-Poet now: that is an office which has gone intodisuse. The last was Elkanah Settle. There is something in _names_ whichone cannot help feeling. Now _Elkanah Settle_ sounds so _queer_, who canexpect much from that name? We should have no hesitation to give it forJohn Dryden, in preference to Elkanah Settle, from the names only, without knowing their different merits[220]. ' JOHNSON. 'I suppose, Sir, Settle did as well for Aldermen in his time, as John Home could do now. Where did Beckford and Trecothick learn English[221]?'

Mr. Arthur Lee mentioned some Scotch who had taken possession of abarren part of America, and wondered why they should choose it. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, all barrenness is comparative. The _Scotch_ would not know itto be barren. ' BOSWELL. 'Come, come, he is flattering the English. Youhave now been in Scotland, Sir, and say if you did not see meat anddrink enough there. ' JOHNSON. 'Why yes, Sir; meat and drink enough togive the inhabitants sufficient strength to run away from home. ' Allthese quick and lively sallies were said sportively, quite in jest, andwith a smile, which showed that he meant only wit. Upon this topick heand Mr. Wilkes could perfectly assimilate; here was a bond of unionbetween them, and I was conscious that as both of them had visitedCaledonia, both were fully satisfied of the strange narrow ignorance ofthose who imagine that it is a land of famine. [222] But they amusedthemselves with persevering in the old jokes. When I claimed asuperiority for Scotland over England in one respect, that no man can bearrested there for a debt merely because another swears it against him;but there must first be the judgement of a court of law ascertaining itsjustice; and that a seizure of the person, before judgement is obtained, can take place only, if his creditor should swear that he is about tofly from the country, or, as it is technically expressed, is _inmeditatione fugae_: WILKES. 'That, I should think, may be safely swornof all the Scotch nation. ' JOHNSON. (to Mr. Wilkes) 'You must know, Sir, I lately took my friend Boswell and shewed him genuine civilised life inan English provincial town. I turned him loose at Lichfield, my nativecity, that he might see for once real civility:[223] for you know he livesamong savages in Scotland, and among rakes in London. ' WILKES. 'Exceptwhen he is with grave, sober, decent people like you and me. ' JOHNSON, (smiling) 'And we ashamed of him. '

They were quite frank and easy. Johnson told the story[224] of his askingMrs. Macaulay to allow her footman to sit down with them, to prove theridiculousness of the argument for the equality of mankind; and he saidto me afterwards, with a nod of satisfaction, 'You saw Mr. Wilkesacquiesced. ' Wilkes talked with all imaginable freedom of the ludicroustitle given to the Attorney-General, _Diabolus Regis_; adding, 'I havereason to know something about that officer; for I was prosecuted for alibel. ' Johnson, who many people would have supposed must have beenfuriously angry at hearing this talked of so lightly, said not a word. He was now, _indeed_, 'a good-humoured fellow. '[225]

After dinner we had an accession of Mrs. Knowles, [226] the Quaker lady, well known for her various talents, and of Mr. Alderman Lee. Amidst somepatriotick groans, somebody (I think the Alderman) said, 'Poor oldEngland is lost. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, it is not so much to be lamented thatOld England is lost, as that the Scotch have found it. '[227] WILKES. 'HadLord Bute governed Scotland only, I should not have taken the trouble towrite his eulogy, and dedicate _Mortimer_ to him. '[228]

Mr. Wilkes held a candle to shew a fine print of a beautiful femalefigure which hung in the room, and pointed out the elegant contour ofthe bosom with the finger of an arch connoisseur. He afterwards, in aconversation with me, waggishly insisted, that all the time Johnsonshewed visible signs of a fervent admiration of the corresponding charmsof the fair Quaker. 

This record, though by no means so perfect as I could wish, will serveto give a notion of a very curious interview, which was not onlypleasing at the time, but had the agreeable and benignant effect ofreconciling any animosity, and sweetening any acidity, which in thevarious bustle of political contest, had been produced in the minds oftwo men, who though widely different, had so many things incommon--classical learning, modern literature, wit, and humour, andready repartee--that it would have been much to be regretted if they hadbeen for ever at a distance from each other. [229]

Mr. Burke gave me much credit for this successful _negociation_; andpleasantly said, that 'there was nothing to equal it in the wholehistory of the _Corps Diplomatique_'. 

I attended Dr. Johnson home, and had the satisfaction to hear him tellMrs. Williams how much he had been pleased with Mr. Wilkes's company, and what an agreeable day he had passed. [230]

I talked a good deal to him of the celebrated Margaret Caroline Rudd, whom I had visited, induced by the fame of her talents, address, andirresistible power of fascination[231]. To a lady who disapproved of myvisiting her, he said on a former occasion[232], 'Nay, Madam, Boswell isin the right; I should have visited her myself, were it not that theyhave now a trick of putting every thing into the news-papers. ' Thisevening he exclaimed, 'I envy him his acquaintance with Mrs. Rudd. '

I mentioned a scheme which I had of making a tour to the Isle of Man, and giving a full account of it; and that Mr. Burke had playfullysuggested as a motto, 'The proper study of mankind is MAN. '[233]

JOHNSON. 'Sir, you will get more by the book than the jaunt will costyou; so you will have your diversion for nothing, and add to yourreputation. '

On the evening of the next day I took leave of him, being to set out forScotland[234]. I thanked him with great warmth for all his kindness. 'Sir, (said he, ) you are very welcome. Nobody repays it with more. '

How very false is the notion which has gone round the world of therough, and passionate, and harsh manners of this great and good man. That he had occasional sallies of heat of temper, and that he wassometimes, perhaps, too 'easily provoked[235]' by absurdity and folly, andsometimes too desirous of triumph in colloquial contest, must beallowed. The quickness both of his perception and sensibility disposedhim to sudden explosions of satire; to which his extraordinary readinessof wit was a strong and almost irresistible incitement. To adopt one ofthe finest images in Mr. Home's _Douglas_[236], 'On each glance of thoughtDecision followed, as the thunderboltPursues the flash!'

I admit that the beadle within him was often so eager to apply the lash, that the Judge had not time to consider the case with sufficientdeliberation. 

That he was occasionally remarkable for violence of temper may begranted: but let us ascertain the degree, and not let it be supposedthat he was in a perpetual rage, and never without a club in his hand, to knock down every one who approached him. On the contrary, the truthis, that by much the greatest part of his time he was civil, obliging, nay, polite in the true sense of the word; so much so, that manygentlemen, who were long acquainted with him, never received, or evenheard a strong expression from him. [237]

The following letters concerning an Epitaph which he wrote for themonument of Dr. Goldsmith, in Westminster-Abbey, afford at once a proofof his unaffected modesty, his carelessness as to his own writings, andof the great respect which he entertained for the taste and judgement ofthe excellent and eminent person to whom they are addressed:

'TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 

'DEAR SIR, 'I have been kept away from you, I know not well how, and of thesevexatious hindrances I know not when there will be an end. I thereforesend you the poor dear Doctor's epitaph. Read it first yourself; and ifyou then think it right, shew it to the Club. I am, you know, willing tobe corrected. If you think any thing much amiss, keep it to yourself, till we come together. I have sent two copies, but prefer the card. Thedates must be settled by Dr. Percy. 

'I am, Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'May 16, 1776. '

TO THE SAME. 

'SIR, 'Miss Reynolds has a mind to send the Epitaph to Dr. Beattie; I am verywilling, but having no copy, cannot immediately recollect it. She tellsme you have lost it. Try to recollect and put down as much as youretain; you perhaps may have kept what I have dropped. The lines forwhich I am at a loss are something of _rerum civilium sivènaturalium_. '[238] It was a sorry trick to lose it; help me if you can. Iam, Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'June 22, 1776. 

'The gout grows better but slowly[239]. '

It was, I think, after I had left London this year, that this Epitaphgave occasion to a _Remonstrance_ to the MONARCH OF LITERATURE, for anaccount of which I am indebted to Sir William Forbes, of Pitsligo. 

That my readers may have the subject more fully and clearly before them, I shall first insert the Epitaph. 

OLIVARII GOLDSMITH, _Poetae, Physici, Historici, Qui nullum ferè scribendi genusNon tetigit, Nullum quod tetigit non ornavit. [240]Sive risus essent movendi, Sive lacrymae, Affectuum potens at lenis dominator:Ingenio sublimis, vividus, versatilis, Oratione grandis, nitidus, venustus:Hoc monumento memoriam coluitSodalium amor, Amicorum fides, Lectorum veneratio. Natus in Hiberniâ Forniae Longfordiensis, In loco cui nomen Pallas, Nov. XXIX. MDCCXXXI[241];Eblanae literis institutus;Obiit Londini, April IV, MDCCLXXIV. '

Sir William Forbes writes to me thus:--

'I enclose the _Round Robin_. This _jeu d'esprit_ took its rise one dayat dinner at our friend Sir Joshua Reynolds's. [242] All the companypresent, except myself, were friends and acquaintance of Dr. Goldsmith[243]. The Epitaph, written for him by Dr. Johnson, became thesubject of conversation, and various emendations were suggested, whichit was agreed should be submitted to the Doctor's consideration. But thequestion was, who should have the courage to propose them to him? Atlast it was hinted, that there could be no way so good as that of a_Round Robin_, as the sailors call it, which they make use of when theyenter into a conspiracy, so as not to let it be known who puts his namefirst or last to the paper. This proposition was instantly assented to;and Dr. Barnard, Dean of Derry, now Bishop of Killaloe[244], drew up anaddress to Dr. Johnson on the occasion, replete with wit and humour, butwhich it was feared the Doctor might think treated the subject with toomuch levity. Mr. Burke then proposed the address as it stands in thepaper in writing, to which I had the honour to officiate as clerk. 

'Sir Joshua agreed to carry it to Dr. Johnson, who received it with muchgood humour[245], and desired Sir Joshua to tell the gentlemen, that hewould alter the Epitaph in any manner they pleased, as to the sense ofit; but _he would never consent to disgrace the walls of WestminsterAbbey_ with an English inscription. 

'I consider this _Round Robin_ as a species of literary curiosity worthpreserving, as it marks, in a certain degree, Dr. Johnson's character. '

My readers are presented with a faithful transcript of a paper, which Idoubt not of their being desirous to see. 

Sir William Forbes's observation is very just. The anecdote now relatedproves, in the strongest manner, the reverence and awe with whichJohnson was regarded, by some of the most eminent men of his time, invarious departments, and even by such of them as lived most with him;while it also confirms what I have again and again inculcated, that hewas by no means of that ferocious and irascible character which has beenignorantly imagined. 

This hasty composition is also to be remarked as one of a thousandinstances which evince the extraordinary promptitude of Mr. Burke; whowhile he is equal to the greatest things, can adorn the least; can, withequal facility, embrace the vast and complicated speculations ofpoliticks, or the ingenious topicks of literary investigation. [246]

'DR. JOHNSON TO MRS. BOSWELL. 

'MADAM, 'You must not think me uncivil in omitting to answer the letter withwhich you favoured me some time ago. I imagined it to have been writtenwithout Mr. Boswell's knowledge, and therefore supposed the answer torequire, what I could not find, a private conveyance. 

'The difference with Lord Auchinleck is now over; and since youngAlexander[247] has appeared, I hope no more difficulties will arise amongyou; for I sincerely wish you all happy. Do not teach the young ones todislike me, as you dislike me yourself; but let me at least haveVeronica's kindness, because she is my acquaintance. 

'You will now have Mr. Boswell home; it is well that you have him; hehas led a wild life. I have taken him to Lichfield, and he has followedMr. Thrale to Bath. Pray take care of him, and tame him. The only thingin which I have the honour to agree with you is, in loving him; andwhile we are so much of a mind in a matter of so much importance, ourother quarrels will, I hope, produce no great bitterness. I am, Madam, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'May 16, 1776. '

'MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, June 25, 1776. 

'You have formerly complained that my letters were too long. There is nodanger of that complaint being made at present; for I find it difficultfor me to write to you at all. [Here an account of having been afflictedwith a return of melancholy or bad spirits. ]

'The boxes of books[248] which you sent to me are arrived; but I have notyet examined the contents. 

 * * * * *

'I send you Mr. Maclaurin's paper for the negro, who claims his freedomin the Court of Session. [249]'

'DR. JOHNSON TO MR. BOSWELL. 

'Dear Sir, 'These black fits, of which you complain, perhaps hurt your memory aswell as your imagination. When did I complain that your letters were toolong[250]? Your last letter, after a very long delay, brought very badnews. [Here a series of reflections upon melancholy, and--what I couldnot help thinking strangely unreasonable in him who had suffered so muchfrom it himself, --a good deal of severity and reproof, as if it wereowing to my own fault, or that I was, perhaps, affecting it from adesire of distinction. ]

'Read Cheyne's _English Malady_;[251] but do not let him teach you afoolish notion that melancholy is a proof of acuteness. 

'To hear that you have not opened your boxes of books is very offensive. The examination and arrangement of so many volumes might have affordedyou an amusement very seasonable at present, and useful for the whole oflife. I am, I confess, very angry that you manage yourself so ill. [252]

'I do not now say any more, than that I am, with great kindness, andsincerity, dear Sir, 'Your humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. ''July 2, 1776. '

'It was last year[253] determined by Lord Mansfield, in the Court ofKing's Bench, that a negro cannot be taken out of the kingdom withouthis own consent. '

'DR. JOHNSON TO MR. BOSWELL. 

'DEAR SIR, 'I make haste to write again, lest my last letter should give you toomuch pain. If you are really oppressed with overpowering and involuntarymelancholy, you are to be pitied rather than reproached. 

 * * * * *

'Now, my dear Bozzy, let us have done with quarrels and with censure. Let me know whether I have not sent you a pretty library. There are, perhaps, many books among them which you never need read through; butthere are none which it is not proper for you to know, and sometimes toconsult. Of these books, of which the use is only occasional, it isoften sufficient to know the contents, that, when any question arises, you may know where to look for information. 

'Since I wrote, I have looked over Mr. Maclaurin's plea, and think itexcellent. How is the suit carried on? If by subscription, I commissionyou to contribute, in my name, what is proper. Let nothing be wanting insuch a case. Dr. Drummond[254], I see, is superseded. His father wouldhave grieved; but he lived to obtain the pleasure of his son's election, and died before that pleasure was abated. 

'Langton's lady has brought him a girl, and both are well; I dined withhim the other day. 

'It vexes me to tell you, that on the evening of the 29th of May I wasseized by the gout, and am not quite well. The pain has not beenviolent, but the weakness and tenderness were very troublesome, and whatis said to be very uncommon, it has not alleviated my other disorders. Make use of youth and health while you have them; make my compliments toMrs. Boswell. I am, my dear Sir, 'Your most affectionate

'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'July 6[255], 1776. '

'Mr. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, July 18, 1776. 

'MY DEAR SIR, 'Your letter of the second of this month was rather a harsh medicine;but I was delighted with that spontaneous tenderness, which, a few daysafterwards, sent forth such balsam as your next brought me. I foundmyself for some time so ill that all I could do was to preserve a decentappearance, while all within was weakness and distress. Like a reducedgarrison that has some spirit left, I hung out flags, and planted allthe force I could muster, upon the walls. I am now much better, and Isincerely thank you for your kind attention and friendly counsel. 

 * * * * *

'Count Manucci[256] came here last week from travelling in Ireland. I haveshewn him what civilities I could on his own account, on yours, and onthat of Mr. And Mrs. Thrale. He has had a fall from his horse, and beenmuch hurt. I regret this unlucky accident, for he seems to be a veryamiable man. '

As the evidence of what I have mentioned at the beginning of this year, I select from his private register the following passage:

'July 25, 1776. O GOD, who hast ordained that whatever is to be desiredshould be sought by labour, and who, by thy blessing, bringest honestlabour to good effect, look with mercy upon my studies and endeavours. Grant me, O LORD, to design only what is lawful and right; and afford mecalmness of mind, and steadiness of purpose, that I may so do thy willin this short life, as to obtain happiness in the world to come, for thesake of JESUS CHRIST our Lord. Amen. [257]

It appears from a note subjoined, that this was composed when he'purposed to apply vigorously to study, particularly of the Greek andItalian tongues. '

Such a purpose, so expressed, at the age of sixty-seven, is admirableand encouraging; and it must impress all the thinking part of my readerswith a consolatory confidence in habitual devotion, when they see a manof such enlarged intellectual powers as Johnson, thus in the genuineearnestness of secrecy, imploring the aid of that Supreme Being, 'fromwhom cometh down every good and every perfect gift[258]. '

'TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 

'SIR, 'A young man, whose name is Paterson, offers himself this evening to theAcademy. He is the son of a man[259] for whom I have long had a kindness, and who is now abroad in distress. I shall be glad that you will bepleased to shew him any little countenance, or pay him any smalldistinction. How much it is in your power to favour or to forward ayoung man I do not know; nor do I know how much this candidate deservesfavour by his personal merit, or what hopes his proficiency may now giveof future eminence. I recommend him as the son of my friend. Yourcharacter and station enable you to give a young man great encouragementby very easy means. You have heard of a man who asked no other favour ofSir Robert Walpole, than that he would bow to him at his levee. 

'I am, Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'Aug. 3, 1776. '

'MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, August 30, 1776. 

[After giving him an account of my having examined the chests of bookswhich he had sent to me, and which contained what may be truely called anumerous and miscellaneous _Stall Library_, thrown together atrandom:--]

'Lord Hailes was against the decree in the case of my client, theminister;[260] not that he justified the minister, but because theparishioner both provoked and retorted. I sent his Lordship your ableargument upon the case for his perusal. His observation upon it in aletter to me was, "Dr. Johnson's _Suasorium_ is pleasantly[261] andartfully composed. I suspect, however, that he has not convincedhimself; for, I believe that he is better read in ecclesiasticalhistory, than to imagine that a Bishop or a Presbyter has a right tobegin censure or discipline _è cathedrá[262]_. "

 * * * * *

'For the honour of Count Manucci, as well as to observe that exactnessof truth which you have taught me, I must correct what I said in aformer letter. He did not fall from his horse, which might have been animputation on his skill as an officer of cavalry; his horse fell withhim. 

'I have, since I saw you, read every word of Granger's _BiographicalHistory_. It has entertained me exceedingly, and I do not think him the_Whig_ that you supposed. [263] Horace Walpole's being his patron[264] is, indeed, no good sign of his political principles. But he denied to LordMountstuart that he was a Whig, and said he had been accused by bothparties of partiality. It seems he was like Pope, "While Tories call me Whig, and Whigs a Tory[265]. "

'I wish you would look more into his book; and as Lord Mountstuartwishes much to find a proper person to continue the work upon Granger'splan, and has desired I would mention it to you; if such a man occurs, please to let me know. His Lordship will give him generousencouragement. '

'TO MR. ROBERT LEVETT. 

'DEAR SIR, 'Having spent about six weeks at this place, we have at length resolvedupon returning. I expect to see you all in Fleet-street on the 30th ofthis month. 

'I did not go into the sea till last Friday[266], but think to go most ofthis week, though I know not that it does me any good. My nights arevery restless and tiresome, but I am otherwise well. 

'I have written word of my coming to Mrs. Williams. Remember me kindlyto Francis and Betsy. I am, Sir, 'Your humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON[267]. '

'Brighthelmstone[268], Oct. 21, 1776'

I again wrote to Dr. Johnson on the 21st of October, informing him, thatmy father had, in the most liberal manner, paid a large debt for me[269], and that I had now the happiness of being upon very good terms with him;to which he returned the following answer. 

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'I had great pleasure in hearing that you are at last on good terms withyour father[270]. Cultivate his kindness by all honest and manly means. Life is but short; no time can be afforded but for the indulgence ofreal sorrow, or contests upon questions seriously momentous. Let us notthrow away any of our days upon useless resentment, or contend who shallhold out longest in stubborn malignity. It is best not to be angry; andbest, in the next place, to be quickly reconciled. May you and yourfather pass the remainder of your time in reciprocal benevolence!

 * * * * *

'Do you ever hear from Mr. Langton? I visit him sometimes, but he doesnot talk. I do not like his scheme of life[271]; but as I am not permittedto understand it, I cannot set any thing right that is wrong. Hischildren are sweet babies. 

'I hope my irreconcileable enemy, Mrs. Boswell, is well. Desire her notto transmit her malevolence to the young people. Let me have Alexander, and Veronica, and Euphemia, for my friends. 

'Mrs. Williams, whom you may reckon as one of your well-wishers, is in afeeble and languishing state, with little hope of growing better. Shewent for some part of the autumn into the country, but is littlebenefited; and Dr. Lawrence confesses that his art is at an end. Deathis, however, at a distance; and what more than that can we say ofourselves? I am sorry for her pain, and more sorry for her decay. Mr. Levett is sound, wind and limb. 

'I was some weeks this autumn at Brighthelmstone. The place was verydull, and I was not well; the expedition to the Hebrides was the mostpleasant journey that I ever made[272]. Such an effort annually would givethe world a little diversification. 

'Every year, however, we cannot wander, and must therefore endeavour tospend our time at home as well as we can. I believe it is best to throwlife into a method, that every hour may bring its employment, and everyemployment have its hour. Xenophon observes, in his _Treatise ofOeconomy_[273], that if every thing be kept in a certain place, when anything is worn out or consumed, the vacuity which it leaves will shewwhat is wanting; so if every part of time has its duty, the hour willcall into remembrance its proper engagement. 

'I have not practised all this prudence myself, but I have suffered muchfor want of it; and I would have you, by timely recollection and steadyresolution, escape from those evils which have lain heavy upon me[274]. Iam, my dearest Boswell, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'Bolt-court, Nov. 16, 1776. '

On the 16th of November I informed him that Mr. Strahan had sent me_twelve_ copies of the _Journey to the Western Islands_, handsomelybound, instead of the _twenty_ copies which were stipulated[275]; butwhich, I supposed, were to be only in sheets; requested to know how theyshould be distributed: and mentioned that I had another son born to me, who was named David, and was a sickly infant. 

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'I have been for some time ill of a cold, which, perhaps, I made anexcuse to myself for not writing, when in reality I knew not what tosay. 

'The books you must at last distribute as you think best, in my name, oryour own, as you are inclined, or as you judge most proper. Every bodycannot be obliged; but I wish that nobody may be offended. Do the bestyou can. 

'I congratulate you on the increase of your family, and hope that littleDavid is by this time well, and his mamma perfectly recovered. I am muchpleased to hear of the re-establishment of kindness between you and yourfather. Cultivate his paternal tenderness as much as you can. To live atvariance at all is uncomfortable; and variance with a father is stillmore uncomfortable. Besides that, in the whole dispute you have thewrong side; at least you gave the first provocations, and some of themvery offensive[276]. Let it now be all over. As you have no reason tothink that your new mother has shewn you any foul play, treat her withrespect, and with some degree of confidence; this will secure yourfather. When once a discordant family has felt the pleasure of peace, they will not willingly lose it. If Mrs. Boswell would but be friendswith me, we might now shut the temple of Janus. 

'What came of Dr. Memis's cause[277]? Is the question about the negrodetermined[278]? Has Sir Allan any reasonable hopes[279]? What is become ofpoor Macquarry[280]? Let me know the event of all these litigations. Iwish particularly well to the negro and Sir Allan. 

'Mrs. Williams has been much out of order; and though she is somethingbetter, is likely, in her physician's opinion, to endure her malady forlife, though she may, perhaps, die of some other. Mrs. Thrale is big, and fancies that she carries a boy; if it were very reasonable to wishmuch about it, I should wish her not to be disappointed. The desire ofmale heirs is not appendant only to feudal tenures. A son is almostnecessary to the continuance of Thrale's fortune; for what can misses dowith a brewhouse? Lands are fitter for daughters than trades[281]. 

'Baretti went away from Thrale's in some whimsical fit of disgust, orill-nature, without taking any leave[282]. It is well if he finds in anyother place as good an habitation, and as many conveniencies. He has gotfive-and-twenty guineas by translating Sir Joshua's _Discourses_ intoItalian, and Mr. Thrale gave him an hundred in the spring[283]; so that heis yet in no difficulties. 

'Colman has bought Foote's patent, and is to allow Foote for lifesixteen hundred pounds a year, as Reynolds told me, and to allow him toplay so often on such terms that he may gain four hundred poundsmore[284]. What Colman can get by this bargain, but trouble and hazard, Ido not see. I am, dear Sir, 'Your humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'Dec. 21, 1776. '

The Reverend Dr. Hugh Blair, who had long been admired as a preacher atEdinburgh, thought now of diffusing his excellent sermons moreextensively, and encreasing his reputation, by publishing a collectionof them. He transmitted the manuscript to Mr. Strahan, the printer, whoafter keeping it for some time, wrote a letter to him, discouraging thepublication[285]. Such at first was the unpropitious state of one of themost successful theological books that has ever appeared. Mr. Strahan, however, had sent one of the sermons to Dr. Johnson for his opinion; andafter his unfavourable letter to Dr. Blair had been sent off, hereceived from Johnson on Christmas-eve, a note in which was thefollowing paragraph:

'I have read over Dr. Blair's first sermon with more than approbation;to say it is good, is to say too little[286]. '

I believe Mr. Strahan had very soon after this time a conversation withDr. Johnson concerning them; and then he very candidly wrote again toDr. Blair, enclosing Johnson's note, and agreeing to purchase thevolume, for which he and Mr. Cadell gave one hundred pounds. The salewas so rapid and extensive, and the approbation of the publick so high, that to their honour be it recorded, the proprietors made Dr. Blair apresent first of one sum, and afterwards of another, of fifty pounds, thus voluntarily doubling the stipulated price; and when he preparedanother volume, they gave him at once three hundred pounds, being in allfive hundred pounds, by an agreement to which I am a subscribingwitness; and now for a third octavo volume he has received no less thansix hundred pounds. 

1777: ÆTAT. 68. --In 1777, it appears from his _Prayers and Meditations_, that Johnson suffered much from a state of mind 'unsettled andperplexed[287], ' and from that constitutional gloom, which, together withhis extreme humility and anxiety with regard to his religious state, made him contemplate himself through too dark and unfavourable a medium. It may be said of him, that he 'saw GOD in clouds[288]. ' Certain we may beof his injustice to himself in the following lamentable paragraph, whichit is painful to think came from the contrite heart of this great man, to whose labours the world is so much indebted:

'When I survey my past life, I discover nothing but a barren waste oftime, with some disorders of body, and disturbances of the mind, verynear to madness, [289] which I hope He that made me will suffer toextenuate many faults, and excuse many deficiencies[290]. '

But we find his devotions in this year eminently fervent; and we arecomforted by observing intervals of quiet, composure, and gladness. 

On Easter-day we find the following emphatick prayer:

'Almighty and most merciful Father, who seest all our miseries, andknowest all our necessities, look down upon me, and pity me. Defend mefrom the violent incursion [incursions] of evil thoughts, and enable meto form and keep such resolutions as may conduce to the discharge of theduties which thy providence shall appoint me; and so help me, by thyHoly Spirit, that my heart may surely there be fixed, where true joysare to be found, and that I may serve thee with pure affection and acheerful mind. Have mercy upon me, O GOD, have mercy upon me; years andinfirmities oppress me, terrour and anxiety beset me. Have mercy uponme, my Creator and my Judge. [In all dangers protect me. ] In allperplexities relieve and free me; and so help me by thy Holy Spirit, that I may now so commemorate the death of thy Son our Saviour JESUSCHRIST, as that when this short and painful life shall have an end, Imay, for his sake, be received to everlasting happiness. Amen[291]. '

While he was at church, the agreeable impressions upon his mind are thuscommemorated:

'I was for some time distressed, but at last obtained, I hope from theGOD of Peace, more quiet than I have enjoyed for a long time. I had madeno resolution, but as my heart grew lighter, my hopes revived, and mycourage increased; and I wrote with my pencil in my Common Prayer Book, "Vita ordinanda. Biblia legenda. Theologiae opera danda. Serviendum et lætandum[292]. "'

Mr. Steevens whose generosity is well known, joined Dr. Johnson in kindassistance to a female relation of Dr. Goldsmith, and desired that onher return to Ireland she would procure authentick particulars of thelife of her celebrated relation[293]. Concerning her there is thefollowing letter:--

'To GEORGE STEEVENS, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'You will be glad to hear that from Mrs. Goldsmith, whom we lamented asdrowned, I have received a letter full of gratitude to us all, withpromise to make the enquiries which we recommended to her. 

'I would have had the honour of conveying this intelligence to MissCaulfield, but that her letter is not at hand, and I know not thedirection. You will tell the good news. 

'I am, Sir, 'Your most, &c. 

'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'February 25, 1777. '

'MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, Feb. 14, 1777. 

'My Dear Sir, 'My state of epistolary accounts with you at present is extraordinary. The balance, as to number, is on your side. I am indebted to you for twoletters; one dated the 16th of November, upon which very day I wrote toyou, so that our letters were exactly exchanged, and one dated the 21stof December last. 

'My heart was warmed with gratitude by the truely kind contents of bothof them; and it is amazing and vexing that I have allowed so much timeto elapse without writing to you. But delay is inherent in me, by natureor by bad habit. I waited till I should have an opportunity of payingyou my compliments on a new year. I have procrastinated till the year isno longer new. 

 * * * * *

'Dr. Memis's cause was determined against him, with £40 costs. The LordPresident, and two other of the Judges, dissented from the majority, upon this ground;--that although there may have been no intention toinjure him by calling him _Doctor of Medicine_, instead of _Physician_, yet, as he remonstrated against the designation before the charter wasprinted off, and represented that it was disagreeable, and even hurtfulto him, it was ill-natured to refuse to alter it, and let him have thedesignation to which he was certainly entitled. My own opinion is, thatour court has judged wrong. The defendants were _in malâ fide_, topersist in naming him in a way that he disliked. You remember poorGoldsmith, when he grew important, and wished to appear _Doctor Major_[294], could not bear your calling him _Goldy_[295]. Would it not havebeen wrong to have named him so in your _Preface to Shakspeare_, or inany serious permanent writing of any sort? The difficulty is, whether anaction should be allowed on such petty wrongs. _De minimis non curatlex_. 

'The Negro cause is not yet decided. A memorial is preparing on the sideof slavery. I shall send you a copy as soon as it is printed. Maclaurinis made happy by your approbation of his memorial for the black. 

'Macquarry was here in the winter, and we passed an evening together. The sale of his estate cannot be prevented. 

'Sir Allan Maclean's suit against the Duke of Argyle, for recovering theancient inheritance of his family, is now fairly before all our judges. I spoke for him yesterday, and Maclaurin to-day; Crosbie spoke to-dayagainst him. Three more counsel are to be heard, and next week the causewill be determined. I send you the _Informations_, or _Cases_, on eachside, which I hope you will read. You said to me when we were under SirAllan's hospitable roof, "I will help him with my pen. " You said it witha generous glow; and though his Grace of Argyle did afterwards mount youupon an excellent horse, upon which "you looked like a Bishop[296], " youmust not swerve from your purpose at Inchkenneth. I wish you mayunderstand the points at issue, amidst our Scotch law principles andphrases. 

[Here followed a full state of the case, in which I endeavoured to makeit as clear as I could to an Englishman, who had no knowledge of theformularies and technical language of the law of Scotland. ]

'I shall inform you how the cause is decided here. But as it may bebrought under the review of our Judges, and is certainly to be carriedby appeal to the House of Lords, the assistance of such a mind as yourswill be of consequence. Your paper on _Vicious Intromission_[297] is anoble proof of what you can do even in Scotch law. 

 * * * * *

'I have not yet distributed all your books. Lord Hailes and LordMonboddo have each received one, and return you thanks. Monboddo dinedwith me lately, and having drank tea, we were a good while by ourselves, and as I knew that he had read the _Journey_ superficially, as he didnot talk of it as I wished, I brought it to him, and read aloud severalpassages; and then he talked so, that I told him he was to have a copy_from the authour_. He begged _that_ might be marked on it. 

 * * * * *

'I ever am, my dear Sir, 'Your most faithful, 'And affectionate humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

'SIR ALEXANDER DICK TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

'Prestonfield, Feb. 17, 1777. 

'Sir, 'I had yesterday the honour of receiving your book of your _Journey tothe Western Islands of Scotland_, which you was so good as to send me, by the hands of our mutual friend[298], Mr. Boswell, of Auchinleck; forwhich I return you my most hearty thanks; and after carefully reading itover again, shall deposit in my little collection of choice books, nextour worthy friend's _Journey to Corsica_. As there are many things toadmire in both performances, I have often wished that no Travels orJourneys should be published but those undertaken by persons ofintegrity and capacity to judge well, and describe faithfully, and ingood language, the situation, condition, and manners of the countriespast through. Indeed our country of Scotland, in spite of the union ofthe crowns, is still in most places so devoid of clothing, or cover fromhedges and plantations, that it was well you gave your readers a sound_Monitoire_ with respect to that circumstance. The truths you have told, and the purity of the language in which they are expressed, as your_Journey_ is universally read, may, and already appear to have a verygood effect. For a man of my acquaintance, who has the largest nurseryfor trees and hedges in this country, tells me, that of late the demandupon him for these articles is doubled, and sometimes tripled. I have, therefore, listed Dr. Samuel Johnson in some of my memorandums of theprincipal planters and favourers of the enclosures, under a name which Itook the liberty to invent from the Greek, _Papadendrion_[299]. LordAuchinleck and some few more are of the list. I am told that onegentleman in the shire of Aberdeen, _viz_. Sir Archibald Grant, hasplanted above fifty millions of trees on a piece of very wild ground atMonimusk: I must enquire if he has fenced them well, before he enters mylist; for, that is the soul of enclosing. I began myself to plant alittle, our ground being too valuable for much, and that is now fiftyyears ago; and the trees, now in my seventy-fourth year, I look up towith reverence, and shew them to my eldest son now in his fifteenthyear, and they are full the height of my country-house here, where I hadthe pleasure of receiving you, and hope again to have that satisfactionwith our mutual friend, Mr. Boswell. I shall always continue, with thetruest esteem, dear Doctor, 'Your much obliged, 'And obedient humble servant, 'ALEXANDER DICK[300]. '

'To JAMES BOSWELL, Esq. 

'DEAR SIR, 'It is so long since I heard any thing from you[301], that I am not easyabout it; write something to me next post. When you sent your lastletter, every thing seemed to be mending; I hope nothing has latelygrown worse. I suppose young Alexander continues to thrive, and Veronicais now very pretty company. I do not suppose the lady is yet reconciledto me, yet let her know that I love her very well, and value her verymuch. 

'Dr. Blair is printing some sermons. If they are all like the first, which I have read, they are _sermones aurei, ac auro magis aurei_. It isexcellently written both as to doctrine and language. Mr. Watson'sbook[302] seems to be much esteemed. 

 * * * * *

'Poor Beauclerk still continues very ill[303]. Langton lives on as he usedto do[304]. His children are very pretty, and, I think, his lady loses herScotch. Paoli I never see. 

'I have been so distressed by difficulty of breathing, that I lost, aswas computed, six-and-thirty ounces of blood in a few days[305]. I ambetter, but not well. 

'I wish you would be vigilant and get me Graham's _Telemachus_[306] thatwas printed at Glasgow, a very little book; and _Johnstoni Poemata_[307], another little book, printed at Middleburgh. 

'Mrs. Williams sends her compliments, and promises that when you comehither, she will accommodate you as well as ever she can in the oldroom[308]. She wishes to know whether you sent her book[309] to SirAlexander Gordon[310]. 

'My dear Boswell, do not neglect to write to me; for your kindness isone of the pleasures of my life, which I should be sorry to lose. 

'I am, Sir, 'Your humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'February 18, 1777. '

'To DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, Feb. 24, 1777. 

'DEAR SIR, 'Your letter dated the 18th instant, I had the pleasure to receive lastpost. Although my late long neglect, or rather delay, was truelyculpable, I am tempted not to regret it, since it has produced me sovaluable a proof of your regard. I did, indeed, during that inexcusablesilence, sometimes divert the reproaches of my own mind, by fancyingthat I should hear again from you, inquiring with some anxiety about me, because, for aught you knew, I might have been ill. 

'You are pleased to shew me, that my kindness is of some consequence toyou. My heart is elated at the thought. Be assured, my dear Sir, that myaffection and reverence for you are exalted and steady. I do not believethat a more perfect attachment ever existed in the history of mankind. And it is a noble attachment; for the attractions are Genius, Learning, and Piety. 

'Your difficulty of breathing alarms me, and brings into my imaginationan event, which although in the natural course of things, I must expectat some period, I cannot view with composure. 

 * * * * *

'My wife is much honoured by what you say of her. She begs you mayaccept of her best compliments. She is to send you some marmalade oforanges of her own making. 

 * * * * *

'I ever am, my dear Sir, 'Your most obliged

'And faithful humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'I have been much pleased with your late letter, and am glad that my oldenemy Mrs. Boswell, begins to feel some remorse. As to Miss Veronica'sScotch, I think it cannot be helped. An English maid you might easilyhave; but she would still imitate the greater number, as they would belikewise those whom she must most respect. Her dialect will not begross. Her Mamma has not much Scotch, and you have yourself very little. I hope she knows my name, and does not call me _Johnston_[311]. 

'The immediate cause of my writing is this:--One Shaw[312], who seems amodest and a decent man, has written an _Erse Grammar_, which a verylearned Highlander, Macbean[313], has, at my request, examined andapproved. 

'The book is very little, but Mr. Shaw has been persuaded by his friendsto set it at half a guinea, though I advised only a crown, and thoughtmyself liberal. You, whom the authour considers as a great encourager ofingenious men, will receive a parcel of his proposals and receipts. Ihave undertaken to give you notice of them, and to solicit yourcountenance. You must ask no poor man, because the price is really toohigh. Yet such a work deserves patronage. 

'It is proposed to augment our club from twenty to thirty, of which I amglad; for as we have several in it whom I do not much like to consortwith[314], I am for reducing it to a mere miscellaneous collection ofconspicuous men, without any determinate character. 

 * * * * *

'I am, dear Sir, 'Most affectionately your's, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'March 11, 1777. '

'My respects to Madam, to Veronica, to Alexander, to Euphemia, toDavid. '

'MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, April 4, 1777. 

[After informing him of the death of my little son David, and that Icould not come to London this spring:--]

'I think it hard that I should be a whole year without seeing you. May Ipresume to petition for a meeting with you in the autumn? You have, Ibelieve, seen all the cathedrals in England, except that of Carlisle. Ifyou are to be with Dr. Taylor, at Ashbourne, it would not be a greatjourney to come thither. We may pass a few most agreeable days there byourselves, and I will accompany you a good part of the way to thesouthward again. Pray think of this. 

'You forget that Mr. Shaw's _Erse Grammar_ was put into your hands bymyself last year. Lord Eglintoune put it into mine. I am glad that Mr. Macbean approves of it. I have received Mr. Shaw's Proposals for itspublication, which I can perceive are written _by the hand of a_ MASTER. 

 * * * * *

'Pray get for me all the editions of _Walton's Lives_: I have a notionthat the republication of them with Notes will fall upon me, between Dr. Home and Lord Hailes[315]. '

Mr. Shaw's Proposals[dagger] for _An Analysis of the Scotch CeltickLanguage_, were thus illuminated by the pen of Johnson:

'Though the Erse dialect of the Celtick language has, from the earliesttimes, been spoken in Britain, and still subsists in the northern partsand adjacent islands, yet, by the negligence of a people rather warlikethan lettered, it has hitherto been left to the caprice and judgement ofevery speaker, and has floated in the living voice, without thesteadiness of analogy, or direction of rules. An Erse Grammar is anaddition to the stores of literature; and its authour hopes for theindulgence always shewn to those that attempt to do what was never donebefore. If his work shall be found defective, it is at least all hisown: he is not like other grammarians, a compiler or transcriber; whathe delivers, he has learned by attentive observation among hiscountrymen, who perhaps will be themselves surprized to see that speechreduced to principles, which they have used only by imitation. 

'The use of this book will, however, not be confined to the mountainsand islands; it will afford a pleasing and important subject ofspeculation, to those whose studies lead them to trace the affinity oflanguages, and the migrations of the ancient races, of mankind. '

'To DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

'Glasgow, April 24, 1777. 'MY DEAR SIR, 'Our worthy friend Thrale's death having appeared in the newspapers, andbeen afterwards contradicted, I have been placed in a state of veryuneasy uncertainty, from which I hoped to be relieved by you: but myhopes have as yet been vain. How could you omit to write to me on suchan occasion? I shall wait with anxiety. 

'I am going to Auchinleck to stay a fortnight with my father. It isbetter not to be there very long at one time. But frequent renewals ofattention are agreeable to him. 

'Pray tell me about this edition of "_The English Poets_, with aPreface, biographical and critical, to each Authour, by Samuel Johnson, LL. D. " which I see advertised. I am delighted with the prospect of it. Indeed I am happy to feel that I am capable of being so much delightedwith literature. [316] But is not the charm of this publication chieflyowing to the _magnum nomen_ in the front of it?

'What do you say of Lord Chesterfield's _Memoirs and last Letters_?[317]

'My wife has made marmalade of oranges for you. I left her and mydaughters and Alexander all well yesterday. I have taught Veronica tospeak of you thus;--Dr. John_son_, not Jon_ston_. 

'I remain, my dear Sir, 'Your most affectionate, 'And obliged humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 'DEAR SIR, 'The story of Mr. Thrale's death, as he had neither been sick nor in anyother danger, made so little impression upon me, that I never thoughtabout obviating its effects on any body else. It is supposed to havebeen produced by the English custom of making April fools, that is, ofsending one another on some foolish errand on the first of April. 

'Tell Mrs. Boswell that I shall taste her marmalade cautiously at first. _Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes_. [318] Beware, says the Italian proverb, ofa reconciled enemy. But when I find it does me no harm, I shall thenreceive it and be thankful for it, as a pledge of firm, and, I hope, ofunalterable kindness. She is, after all, a dear, dear lady. 

'Please to return Dr. Blair thanks for his sermons. The Scotch writeEnglish wonderfully well. 

'Your frequent visits to Auchinleck, and your short stay there, are verylaudable and very judicious. Your present concord with your father givesme great pleasure; it was all that you seemed to want. 

'My health is very bad, and my nights are very unquiet. [319] What can I doto mend them? I have for this summer nothing better in prospect than ajourney into Staffordshire and Derbyshire, perhaps with Oxford andBirmingham in my way. 

'Make my compliments to Miss Veronica; I must leave it to _her_philosophy to comfort you for the loss of little David. You mustremember, that to keep three out of four is more than your share. Mrs. Thrale has but four out of eleven. [320]

'I am engaged to write little Lives, and little Prefaces, to a littleedition of _The English Poets_. I think I have persuaded thebook-sellers to insert something of Thomson; and if you could give mesome information about him, for the life which we have is very scanty, Ishould be glad. I am, dear Sir, 'Your most affectionate humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. ''May 3, 1777. '

To those who delight in tracing the progress of works of literature, itwill be an entertainment to compare the limited design with the ampleexecution of that admirable performance, _The Lives of the EnglishPoets_, which is the richest, most beautiful and indeed most perfectproduction of Johnson's pen. His notion of it at this time appears inthe preceding letter. He has a memorandum in this year, '29 May[321], Easter Eve, I treated with booksellers on a bargain, but the time wasnot long[322]. ' The bargain was concerning that undertaking; but histender conscience seems alarmed lest it should have intruded too much onhis devout preparation for the solemnity of the ensuing day. But, indeed, very little time was necessary for Johnson's concluding a treatywith the booksellers; as he had, I believe, less attention to profitfrom his labours than any man to whom literature has been aprofession. [323] I shall here insert from a letter to me from my lateworthy friend Mr. Edward Dilly, though of a later date, an account ofthis plan so happily conceived; since it was the occasion of procuringfor us an elegant collection of the best biography and criticism ofwhich our language can boast. 

'TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 'Southill, Sept. 26, 1777. 

'DEAR SIR, 'You will find by this letter, that I am still in the same calm retreat, from the noise and bustle of London, as when I wrote to you last. I amhappy to find you had such an agreeable meeting with your old friend Dr. Johnson; I have no doubt your stock is much increased by the interview;few men, nay I may say, scarcely any man, has got that fund of knowledgeand entertainment as Dr. Johnson in conversation. When he opens freely, every one is attentive to what he says, and cannot fail of improvementas well as pleasure. 

'The edition of _The Poets_, now printing, will do honour to the Englishpress; and a concise account of the life of each authour, by Dr. Johnson, will be a very valuable addition, and stamp the reputation ofthis edition superiour to any thing that is gone before. The first causethat gave rise to this undertaking, I believe, was owing to the littletrifling edition of _The Poets_, printing by the Martins, at Edinburgh, and to be sold by Bell, in London. Upon examining the volumes which wereprinted, the type was found so extremely small, that many persons couldnot read them; not only this inconvenience attended it, but theinaccuracy of the press was very conspicuous. These reasons, as well asthe idea of an invasion of what we call our Literary Property[324], induced the London Booksellers to print an elegant and accurate editionof all the English Poets of reputation, from Chaucer to the presenttime. 

'Accordingly a select number of the most respectable booksellers met onthe occasion; and, on consulting together, agreed, that all theproprietors of copy-right in the various Poets should be summonedtogether; and when their opinions were given, to proceed immediately onthe business. Accordingly a meeting was held, consisting of about fortyof the most respectable booksellers of London, when it was agreed thatan elegant and uniform edition of _The English Poets_ should beimmediately printed, with a concise account of the life of each authour, by Dr. Samuel Johnson; and that three persons should be deputed to waitupon Dr. Johnson, to solicit him to undertake the Lives, _viz_. , T. Davies, Strahan, and Cadell. The Doctor very politely undertook it, andseemed exceedingly pleased with the proposal. As to the terms, it wasleft entirely to the Doctor to name his own: he mentioned two hundredguineas[325]: it was immediately agreed to; and a farther compliment, Ibelieve, will be made him. [326] A committee was likewise appointed toengage the best engravers, _viz_. , Bartolozzi, Sherwin, Hall, etc. Likewise another committee for giving directions about the paper, printing, etc. , so that the whole will be conducted with spirit, and inthe best manner, with respect to authourship, editorship, engravings, etc. , etc. My brother will give you a list of the Poets we mean to give, many of which are within the time of the Act of Queen Anne[327], whichMartin and Bell cannot give, as they have no property in them; theproprietors are almost all the booksellers in London, of consequence. Iam, dear Sir, 'Ever your's, 'EDWARD DILLY. '

I shall afterwards have occasion to consider the extensive and variedrange which Johnson took, when he was once led upon ground which he trodwith a peculiar delight, having long been intimately acquainted with allthe circumstances of it that could interest and please. 

'DR. JOHNSON TO CHARLES O'CONNOR, Esq. [328]

'SIR, 'Having had the pleasure of conversing with Dr. Campbell about yourcharacter and your literary undertaking, I am resolved to gratify myselfby renewing a correspondence which began and ended a great while ago, and ended, I am afraid, by my fault; a fault which, if you have notforgotten it, you must now forgive. 

'If I have ever disappointed you, give me leave to tell you, that youhave likewise disappointed me. I expected great discoveries in Irishantiquity, and large publications in the Irish language; but the worldstill remains at it was, doubtful and ignorant. What the Irish languageis in itself, and to what languages it has affinity, are veryinteresting questions, which every man wishes to see resolved that hasany philological or historical curiosity. Dr. Leland begins his historytoo late: the ages which deserve an exact enquiry are those times(for[329] such there were) when Ireland was the school of the west, thequiet habitation of sanctity and literature. If you could give ahistory, though imperfect, of the Irish nation, from its conversion toChristianity to the invasion from England, you would amplify knowledgewith new views and new objects. Set about it therefore, if you can: dowhat you can easily do without anxious exactness. Lay the foundation, and leave the superstructure to posterity. I am, Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. ''May 19, 1777. '

Early in this year came out, in two volumes quarto, the posthumous worksof the learned Dr. Zachary Pearce, Bishop of Rochester; being _ACommentary, with Notes, on the four Evangelists and the Acts of theApostles_, with other theological pieces. Johnson had now an opportunityof making a grateful return to that excellent prelate, who, we haveseen[330], was the only person who gave him any assistance in thecompilation of his _Dictionary_. The Bishop had left some account of hislife and character, written by himself. To this Johnson made somevaluable additions[331][dagger], and also furnished to the editor, theReverend Mr. Derby, a Dedication[dagger], which I shall here insert, both because it will appear at this time with peculiar propriety; andbecause it will tend to propagate and increase that 'fervour of_Loyalty_[332], ' which in me, who boast of the name of TORY, is not only aprinciple, but a passion. 

'To THE KING. 

'SIR, 'I presume to lay before your Majesty the last labours of a learnedBishop, who died in the toils and duties of his calling[333]. He is nowbeyond the reach of all earthly honours and rewards; and only the hopeof inciting others to imitate him, makes it now fit to be remembered, that he enjoyed in his life the favour of your Majesty. 

'The tumultuary life of Princes seldom permits them to survey the wideextent of national interest, without losing sight of private merit; toexhibit qualities which may be imitated by the highest and the humblestof mankind; and to be at once amiable and great. 

'Such characters, if now and then they appear in history, arecontemplated with admiration. May it be the ambition of all yoursubjects to make haste with their tribute of reverence: and as posteritymay learn from your Majesty how Kings should live, may they learn, likewise, from your people, how they should be honoured. I am, 'May it please your Majesty, With the most profound respect, Your Majesty'sMost dutiful and devotedSubject and Servant. '

In the summer he wrote a Prologue[*] which was spoken before _A Word tothe Wise_, a comedy by Mr. Hugh Kelly[334], which had been brought uponthe stage in 1770; but he being a writer for ministry, in one of thenews-papers, it fell a sacrifice to popular fury, and in the playhousephrase, was _damned_. By the generosity of Mr. Harris, the proprietor ofCovent Garden theatre, it was now exhibited for one night, for thebenefit of the authour's widow and children. To conciliate the favour ofthe audience was the intention of Johnson's Prologue, which, as it isnot long, I shall here insert, as a proof that his poetical talents werein no degree impaired. 

'This night presents a play, which publick rage, Or right or wrong, once hooted from the stage:From zeal or malice, now no more we dread, For English vengeance _wars not with the dead_. A generous foe regards with pitying eyeThe man whom Fate has laid where all must lie. To wit, reviving from its authour's dust, Be kind, ye judges, or at least be just:Let no renewed hostilities invadeTh' oblivious grave's inviolable shade. Let one great payment every claim appease, And him who cannot hurt, allow to please;To please by scenes, unconscious of offence, By harmless merriment, or useful sense. Where aught of bright or fair the piece displays, Approve it only;--'tis too late to praise. If want of skill or want of care appear, Forbear to hiss;--the poet cannot hear. By all, like him, must praise and blame be found, At last, a fleeting gleam, or empty sound;Yet then shall calm reflection bless the night, When liberal pity dignified delight;When pleasure fir'd her torch at virtue's flame, And mirth was bounty with an humbler name. '[335]

A circumstance which could not fail to be very pleasing to Johnsonoccurred this year. The Tragedy of _Sir Thomas Overbury_, written by hisearly companion in London, Richard Savage[336] was brought out withalterations at Drury-lane theatre[337]. The Prologue to it was written byMr. Richard Brinsley Sheridan; in which, after describing verypathetically the wretchedness of

'Ill-fated Savage, at whose birth was giv'nNo parent but the Muse, no friend but Heav'n:'

he introduced an elegant compliment to Johnson on his _Dictionary_, thatwonderful performance which cannot be too often or too highly praised;of which Mr. Harris, in his _Philological Inquiries_[338], justly andliberally observes: 'Such is its merit, that our language does notpossess a more copious, learned, and valuable work. ' The concluding, lines of this Prologue were these:--

'So pleads the tale that gives to future timesThe son's misfortunes and the parent's crimes;There shall his fame (if own'd to-night) survive, Fix'd by THE HAND THAT BIDS OUR LANGUAGE LIVE[339]. '

Mr. Sheridan here at once did honour to his taste and to his liberalityof sentiment, by shewing that he was not prejudiced from the unluckydifference which had taken place between his worthy father and Dr. Johnson. I have already mentioned, that Johnson was very desirous ofreconciliation with old Mr. Sheridan. [340] It will, therefore, not seem atall surprizing that he was zealous in acknowledging the brilliant meritof his son. While it had as yet been displayed only in the drama, Johnson proposed him as a member of THE LITERARY CLUB, observing, that'He who has written the two best comedies of his age, is surely aconsiderable man[341]. ' And he had, accordingly, the honour to be elected;for an honour it undoubtedly must be allowed to be, when it isconsidered of whom that society consists, and that a single black ballexcludes a candidate. 

'MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. 

'July 9, 1777. [342]

'MY DEAR SIR, 'For the health of my wife and children I have taken the littlecountry-house at which you visited my uncle, Dr. Boswell[343], who, havinglost his wife, is gone to live with his son. We took possession of ourvilla about a week ago; we have a garden of three quarters of an acre, well stocked with fruit-trees and flowers, and gooseberries andcurrants, and peas and beans, and cabbages, &c. &c. , and my children arequite happy. I now write to you in a little study, from the window ofwhich I see around me a verdant grove, and beyond it the lofty mountaincalled Arthur's Seat. 

'Your last letter, in which you desire me to send you some additionalinformation concerning Thomson, reached me very fortunately just as Iwas going to Lanark, to put my wife's two nephews, the young Campbells, to school there, under the care of Mr. Thomson, the master of it, whosewife is sister to the authour of _The Seasons_. She is an old woman; buther memory is very good; and she will with pleasure give me for youevery particular that you wish to know, and she can tell. Pray then takethe trouble to send me such questions as may lead to biographicalmaterials. You say that the _Life_ which we have of Thomson is scanty. Since I received your letter I have read his _Life_, published under thename of Cibber, but as you told me, really written by a Mr. Shiels[344];that written by Dr. Murdoch; one prefixed to an edition of the Seasons, published at Edinburgh, which is compounded of both, with the additionof an anecdote of Quin's relieving Thomson from prison[345]; theabridgement of Murdoch's account of him, in the _Biographia Britannica_, and another abridgement of it in the _Biographical Dictionary_, enrichedwith Dr. Joseph Warton's critical panegyrick on the _Seasons_ in his_Essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope_: from all these it appears tome that we have a pretty full account of this poet. However, you will, Idoubt not, shew me many blanks, and I shall do what can be done to havethem filled up. As Thomson never returned to Scotland, (which _you_ willthink very wise, ) his sister can speak from her own knowledge only as tothe early part of his life. She has some letters from him, which mayprobably give light as to his more advanced progress, if she will let ussee them, which I suppose she will[346]. I believe George Lewis Scott[347]and Dr. Armstrong[348] are now his only surviving companions, while helived in and about London; and they, I dare say, can tell more of himthan is yet known. My own notion is, that Thomson was a much coarser manthan his friends are willing to acknowledge[349]. His _Seasons_ are indeedfull of elegant and pious sentiments: but a rank soil, nay a dunghill, will produce beautiful flowers[350]. 

'Your edition of _The English Poets_[351] will be very valuable, onaccount of the _Prefaces_ and _Lives_. But I have seen a specimen of anedition of _The Poets_ at the Apollo press, at Edinburgh, which, forexcellence in printing and engraving, highly deserves a liberalencouragement. 

'Most sincerely do I regret the bad health and bad rest with which youhave been afflicted; and I hope you are better. I cannot believe thatthe Prologue which you generously gave to Mr. Kelly's widow and childrenthe other day, is the effusion of one in sickness and in disquietude:but external circumstances are never sure indications of the state ofman. I send you a letter which I wrote to you two years ago atWilton[352]; and did not send it at the time, for fear of being reprovedas indulging too much tenderness; and one written to you at the tomb ofMelancthon[353], which I kept back, lest I should appear at once toosuperstitious and too enthusiastick. I now imagine that perhaps they mayplease you. 

'You do not take the least notice of my proposal for our meeting atCarlisle[354]. Though I have meritoriously refrained from visiting Londonthis year, I ask you if it would not be wrong that I should be two yearswithout having the benefit of your conversation, when, if you come downas far as Derbyshire, we may meet at the expence of a few days'journeying, and not many pounds. I wish you to see Carlisle, which mademe mention that place. But if you have not a desire to complete yourtour of the English cathedrals, I will take a larger share of the roadbetween this place and Ashbourne. So tell me _where_ you will fix forour passing a few days by ourselves. Now don't cry "foolish fellow, " or"idle dog. " Chain your humour, and let your kindness play. 

'You will rejoice to hear that Miss Macleod, of Rasay[355], is married toColonel Mure Campbell, an excellent man, with a pretty good estate ofhis own, and the prospect of having the Earl of Loudoun's fortune andhonours. Is not this a noble lot for our fair Hebridean? How happy am Ithat she is to be in Ayrshire. We shall have the Laird of Rasay, and oldMalcolm, and I know not how many gallant Macleods, and bagpipes, &c. &c. At Auchinleck. Perhaps you may meet them all there. 

'Without doubt you have read what is called _The Life_ of David Hume[356], written by himself, with the letter from Dr. Adam Smith subjoined to it. Is not this an age of daring effrontery? My friend Mr. Anderson, Professor of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow, at whose house you and Isupped[357], and to whose care Mr. Windham[358], of Norfolk, was entrustedat that University, paid me a visit lately; and after we had talked withindignation and contempt of the poisonous productions with which thisage is infested, he said there was now an excellent opportunity for Dr. Johnson to step forth. I agreed with him that you might knock Hume's andSmith's heads together, and make vain and ostentatious infidelityexceedingly ridiculous. Would it not be worth your while to crush suchnoxious weeds in the moral garden?

'You have said nothing to me of Dr. Dodd[359]. I know not how you think onthat subject; though the newspapers give us a saying of your's in favourof mercy to him. But I own I am very desirous that the royal prerogativeof remission of punishment should be employed to exhibit an illustriousinstance of the regard which GOD's VICEGERENT will ever shew to pietyand virtue. If for ten righteous men the ALMIGHTY would have sparedSodom, shall not a thousand acts of goodness done by Dr. Doddcounterbalance one crime? Such an instance would do more to encouragegoodness, than his execution would do to deter from vice. I am notafraid of any bad consequence to society; for who will persevere for along course of years in a distinguished discharge of religious duties, with a view to commit a forgery with impunity?

'Pray make my best compliments acceptable to Mr. And Mrs. Thrale, byassuring them of my hearty joy that the _Master_[360], as you call him, isalive. I hope I shall often taste his Champagne--_soberly_. 

'I have not heard from Langton for a long time. I suppose he is asusual, "Studious the busy moments to deceive[361]. "

 * * * * *

'I remain, my dear Sir, 'Your most affectionate, and faithful humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

On the 23rd of June, I again wrote to Dr. Johnson, enclosing aship-master's receipt for a jar of orange-marmalade, and a large packetof Lord Hailes's _Annals of Scotland_. 

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'I have just received your packet from Mr. Thrale's, but have notday-light enough to look much into it. I am glad that I have creditenough with Lord Hailes to be trusted with more copy[362]. I hope to takemore care of it than of the last. I return Mrs. Boswell my affectionatethanks for her present, which I value as a token of reconciliation. 

'Poor Dodd was put to death yesterday, in opposition to therecommendation of the jury[363]--the petition of the city ofLondon[364]--and a subsequent petition signed by three-and-twenty thousandhands. Surely the voice of the publick, when it calls so loudly, andcalls only for mercy, ought to be heard[365]. 

'The saying that was given me in the papers I never spoke; but I wrotemany of his petitions, and some of his letters. He applied to me veryoften. He was, I am afraid, long flattered with hopes of life; but I hadno part in the dreadful delusion; for, as soon as the King had signedhis sentence[366], I obtained from Mr. Chamier[367] an account of thedisposition of the court towards him, with a declaration that there _wasno hope even of a respite_. This letter immediately was laid beforeDodd; but he believed those whom he wished to be right, as it isthought, till within three days of his end. He died with pious composureand resolution. I have just seen the Ordinary that attended him. Hisaddress to his fellow-convicts offended the Methodists[368]; but he had aMoravian with him much of his time[369]. His moral character is very bad:I hope all is not true that is charged upon him. Of his behaviour inprison an account will be published. 

'I give you joy of your country-house, and your pretty garden; and hopesome time to see you in your felicity. I was much pleased with your twoletters that had been kept so long in store[370]; and rejoice at MissRasay's advancement, and wish Sir Allan success. 

'I hope to meet you somewhere towards the north, but am loath to comequite to Carlisle. Can we not meet at Manchester? But we will settle itin some other letters. 

'Mr. Seward[371], a great favourite at Streatham, has been, I think, enkindled by our travels with a curiosity to see the Highlands. I havegiven him letters to you and Beattie. He desires that a lodging may betaken for him at Edinburgh, against his arrival. He is just setting out. 

'Langton has been exercising the militia[372]. Mrs. Williams is, I fear, declining. Dr. Lawrence says he can do no more. She is gone to summer inthe country, with as many conveniences about her as she can expect; butI have no great hope. We must all die: may we all be prepared!

'I suppose Miss Boswell reads her book, and young Alexander takes to hislearning. Let me hear about them; for every thing that belongs to you, belongs in a more remote degree, and not, I hope, very remote, to, dearSir, 'Yours affectionately, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'June, 28, 1777. '

TO THE SAME. 

'DEAR SIR, 'This gentleman is a great favourite at Streatham, and therefore youwill easily believe that he has very valuable qualities. Our narrativehas kindled him with a desire of visiting the Highlands, after havingalready seen a great part of Europe. You must receive him as a friend, and when you have directed him to the curiosities of Edinburgh, give himinstructions and recommendations for the rest of his journey. I am, dearSir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'June 24, 1777. '

Johnson's benevolence to the unfortunate was, I am confident, as steadyand active as that of any of those who have been most eminentlydistinguished for that virtue. Innumerable proofs of it I have no doubtwill be for ever concealed from mortal eyes. We may, however, form somejudgement of it, from the many and very various instances which havebeen discovered. One, which happened in the course of this summer, isremarkable from the name and connection of the person who was the objectof it. The circumstance to which I allude is ascertained by two letters, one to Mr. Langton, and another to the Reverend Dr. Vyse, rector ofLambeth, son of the respectable clergyman at Lichfield, who wascontemporary with Johnson, and in whose father's family Johnson had thehappiness of being kindly received in his early years. 

'DR. JOHNSON TO BENNET LANGTON, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'I have lately been much disordered by a difficulty of breathing, but amnow better. I hope your house is well. 

'You know we have been talking lately of St. Cross, at Winchester; Ihave an old acquaintance whose distress makes him very desirous of anhospital, and I am afraid I have not strength enough to get him into theChartreux. He is a painter, who never rose higher than to get hisimmediate living, and from that, at eighty-three, he is disabled by aslight stroke of the palsy, such as does not make him at all helpless oncommon occasions, though his hand is not steady enough for his art. 

'My request is, that you will try to obtain a promise of the nextvacancy, from the Bishop of Chester. It is not a great thing to ask, andI hope we shall obtain it. Dr. Warton has promised to favour him withhis notice, and I hope he may end his days in peace. I am, Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'June 29, 1777. '

'To THE REVEREND DR. VYSE, AT LAMBETH. 

'SIR, 'I doubt not but you will readily forgive me for taking the liberty ofrequesting your assistance in recommending an old friend to his Gracethe Archbishop, as Governour of the Charter-house. 

'His name is De Groot; he was born at Gloucester; I have known him manyyears. He has all the common claims to charity, being old, poor, andinfirm, in a great degree. He has likewise another claim, to which noscholar can refuse attention; he is by several descents the nephew ofHugo Grotius; of him, from whom perhaps every man of learning has learntsomething. Let it not be said that in any lettered country a nephew ofGrotius asked a charity and was refused. [373]

'I am, reverend Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'July 9, 1777. '

'REVEREND DR. VYSE TO MR. BOSWELL. 

'Lambeth, June 9, 1787. 

'SIR, 'I have searched in vain for the letter which I spoke of, and which Iwished, at your desire, to communicate to you. It was from Dr. Johnson, to return me thanks for my application to Archbishop Cornwallis infavour of poor De Groot. He rejoices at the success it met with, and islavish in the praise he bestows upon his favourite, Hugo Grotius. I amreally sorry that I cannot find this letter, as it is worthy of thewriter. That which I send you enclosed[374] is at your service. It is veryshort, and will not perhaps be thought of any consequence, unless youshould judge proper to consider it as a proof of the very humane partwhich Dr. Johnson took in behalf of a distressed and deserving person. Iam, Sir, 'Your most obedient humble servant, 'W. VYSE. '

'DR. JOHNSON TO MR. EDWARD DILLY[375]. 

'SIR, 'To the collection of _English Poets_, I have recommended the volume ofDr. Watts to be added; his name has long been held by me inveneration[376], and I would not willingly be reduced to tell of him onlythat he was born and died. Yet of his life I know very little, andtherefore must pass him in a manner very unworthy of his character, unless some of his friends will favour me with the necessaryinformation; many of them must be known to you; and by your influence, perhaps I may obtain some instruction. My plan does not exact much; butI wish to distinguish Watts, a man who never wrote but for a goodpurpose. Be pleased to do for me what you can. 

'I am, Sir, your humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'Bolt-Court, Fleet-street, July 7, 1777. '

'To DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, July 15, 1777. 

'MY DEAR SIR, 'The fate of poor Dr. Dodd made a dismal impression upon my mind. 

 * * * * *

'I had sagacity enough to divine that you wrote his speech to theRecorder, before sentence was pronounced. I am glad you have written somuch for him; and I hope to be favoured with an exact list of theseveral pieces when we meet. 

'I received Mr. Seward as the friend of Mr. And Mrs. Thrale, and as agentleman recommended by Dr. Johnson to my attention. I have introducedhim to Lord Kames, Lord Monboddo, and Mr. Nairne. He is gone to theHighlands with Dr. Gregory; when he returns I shall do more for him. 

'Sir Allan Maclean has[377] carried that branch of his cause, of which wehad good hopes: the President and one other Judge only were against him. I wish the House of Lords may do as well as the Court of Session hasdone. But Sir Allan has not the lands of _Brolos_ quite cleared by thisjudgement, till a long account is made up of debts and interests on theone side, and rents on the other. I am, however, not much afraid of thebalance. 

'Macquarry's estates[378], Staffa and all, were sold yesterday, and boughtby a Campbell. I fear he will have little or nothing left out of thepurchase money. 

'I send you the case against the negro[379], by Mr. Cullen, son to Dr. Cullen, in opposition to Maclaurin's for liberty, of which you haveapproved. Pray read this, and tell me what you think as a _Politician_, as well as a _Poet_, upon the subject. 

'Be so kind as to let me know how your time is to be distributed nextautumn. I will meet you at Manchester, or where you please; but I wishyou would complete your tour of the cathedrals, and come to Carlisle, and I will accompany you a part of the way homewards. 

'I am ever, 'Most faithfully yours, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'Your notion of the necessity of an yearly interview is very pleasing toboth my vanity and tenderness. I shall, perhaps, come to Carlisleanother year; but my money has not held out so well as it used to do. Ishall go to Ashbourne, and I purpose to make Dr. Taylor invite you. Ifyou live awhile with me at his house, we shall have much time toourselves, and our stay will be no expence to us or him. I shall leaveLondon the 28th; and after some stay at Oxford and Lichfield, shallprobably come to Ashbourne about the end of your Session, but of allthis you shall have notice. Be satisfied we will meet somewhere. 

'What passed between me and poor Dr. Dodd you shall know more fully whenwe meet. 

'Of lawsuits there is no end; poor Sir Allan must have another trial, for which, however, his antagonist cannot be much blamed, having twoJudges on his side. I am more afraid of the debts than of the House ofLords. It is scarcely to be imagined to what debts will swell, that aredaily increasing by small additions, and how carelessly in a state ofdesperation debts are contracted. Poor Macquarry was far from thinkingthat when he sold his islands he should receive nothing. For what werethey sold? And what was their yearly value? The admission of money intothe Highlands will soon put an end to the feudal modes of life, bymaking those men landlords who were not chiefs. I do not know that thepeople will suffer by the change; but there was in the patriarchalauthority something venerable and pleasing. Every eye must look withpain on a _Campbell_ turning the _Macquarries_ at will out of their_sedes avitæ_, their hereditary island. 

'Sir Alexander Dick is the only Scotsman liberal enough not to be angrythat I could not find trees, where trees were not. I was much delightedby his kind letter. 

'I remember Rasay with too much pleasure not to partake of the happinessof any part of that amiable family. Our ramble in the islands hangs uponmy imagination, I can hardly help imagining that we shall go again. Pennant seems to have seen a great deal which we did not see: when wetravel again let us look better about us. 

'You have done right in taking your uncle's house. Some change in theform of life, gives from time to time a new epocha[380] of existence. In anew place there is something new to be done, and a different system ofthoughts rises in the mind. I wish I could gather currants in yourgarden. Now fit up a little study, and have your books ready at hand; donot spare a little money, to make your habitation pleasing to yourself. 

'I have dined lately with poor dear ----[381]. I do not think he goes onwell. His table is rather coarse, and he has his children too much abouthim[382]. But he is a very good man. 

'Mrs. Williams is in the country to try if she can improve her health;she is very ill. Matters have come so about that she is in the countrywith very good accommodation; but age and sickness, and pride, have madeher so peevish that I was forced to bribe the maid to stay with her, bya secret stipulation of half a crown a week over her wages. 

'Our CLUB ended its session about six weeks ago[383]. We now only meet todine once a fortnight. Mr. Dunning[384], the great lawyer, is one of ourmembers. The Thrales are well. 

'I long to know how the Negro's cause will be decided. What is theopinion of Lord Auchinleck, or Lord Hailes, or Lord Monboddo?

'I am, dear Sir, 'Your most affectionate, &c. 

'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'July 22, 1777. '

'DR. JOHNSON TO MRS. BOSWELL. 

'MADAM, 'Though I am well enough pleased with the taste of sweetmeats, verylittle of the pleasure which I received at the arrival of your jar ofmarmalade arose from eating it[385]. I received it as a token offriendship, as a proof of reconciliation, things much sweeter thansweetmeats, and upon this consideration I return you, dear Madam, mysincerest thanks. By having your kindness I think I have a doublesecurity for the continuance of Mr. Boswell's, which it is not to beexpected that any man can long keep, when the influence of a lady sohighly and so justly valued operates against him. Mr. Boswell will tellyou that I was always faithful to your interest, and always endeavouredto exalt you in his estimation. You must now do the same for me. We mustall help one another, and you must now consider me, as, dear Madam, 'Your most obliged, 'And most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'July 22, 1777. '

'MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, July 28, 1777. 

'My Dear Sir, 'This is the day on which you were to leave London and I have beenamusing myself in the intervals of my law-drudgery, with figuring you inthe Oxford post-coach. I doubt, however, if you have had so merry ajourney as you and I had in that vehicle last year, when you made somuch sport with Gwyn[386], the architect. Incidents upon a journey arerecollected with peculiar pleasure; they are preserved in brisk spirits, and come up again in our minds, tinctured with that gaiety, or at leastthat animation with which we first perceived them. '

 * * * * *

[I added, that something had occurred, which I was afraid might preventme from meeting him[387]; and that my wife had been affected withcomplaints which threatened a consumption, but was now better. ]

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'Do not disturb yourself about our interviews; I hope we shall havemany; nor think it any thing hard or unusual, that your design ofmeeting me is interrupted. We have both endured greater evils, and havegreater evils to expect. 

'Mrs. Boswell's illness makes a more serious distress. Does the bloodrise from her lungs or from her stomach? From little vessels broken inthe stomach there is no danger. Blood from the lungs is, I believe, always frothy, as mixed with wind. Your physicians know very well whatis to be done. The loss of such a lady would, indeed, be veryafflictive, and I hope she is in no danger. Take care to keep her mindas easy as is possible. 

'I have left Langton in London. He has been down with the militia, andis again quiet at home, talking to his little people, as, I suppose, youdo sometimes. Make my compliments to Miss Veronica[388]. The rest are tooyoung for ceremony. 

'I cannot but hope that you have taken your country-house at a veryseasonable time, and that it may conduce to restore, or establish Mrs. Boswell's health, as well as provide room and exercise for the youngones. That you and your lady may both be happy, and long enjoy yourhappiness, is the sincere and earnest wish of, dear Sir, 'Your most, &c. 

'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'Oxford, Aug. 4, 1777. '

'MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. 

[Informing him that my wife had continued to grow better, so that myalarming apprehensions were relieved: and that I hoped to disengagemyself from the other embarrassment which had occurred, and thereforerequesting to know particularly when he intended to be at Ashbourne. ]

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'I am this day come to Ashbourne, and have only to tell you, that Dr. Taylor says you shall be welcome to him, and you know how welcome youwill be to me. Make haste to let me know when you may be expected. 

'Make my compliments to Mrs. Boswell, and tell her, I hope we shall beat variance no more. I am, dear Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'August 30, 1777. '

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'On Saturday I wrote a very short letter, immediately upon my arrivalhither, to shew you that I am not less desirous of the interview thanyourself. Life admits not of delays; when pleasure can be had, it is fitto catch it. Every hour takes away part of the things that please us, and perhaps part of our disposition to be pleased. When I came toLichfield, I found my old friend Harry Jackson dead[389]. It was a loss, and a loss not to be repaired, as he was one of the companions of mychildhood. I hope we may long continue to gain friends, but the friendswhich merit or usefulness can procure us, are not able to supply theplace of old acquaintance, with whom the days of youth may be retraced, and those images revived which gave the earliest delight. If you and Ilive to be much older, we shall take great delight in talking over theHebridean Journey. 

'In the mean time it may not be amiss to contrive some other littleadventure, but what it can be I know not; leave it, as Sidney says, "To virtue, fortune, wine, and woman's breast[390];"

for I believe Mrs. Boswell must have some part in the consultation. 

'One thing you will like. The Doctor, so far as I can judge, is likelyto leave us enough to ourselves. He was out to-day before _I_ came down, and, I fancy, will stay out till dinner. I have brought the papers aboutpoor Dodd, to show you, but you will soon have dispatched them. 

'Before I came away I sent poor Mrs. Williams into the country, very illof a pituitous defluxion, which wastes her gradually away, and which herphysician declares himself unable to stop. I supplied her as far ascould be desired, with all conveniences to make her excursion and abodepleasant and useful. But I am afraid she can only linger a short time ina morbid state of weakness and pain. 

'The Thrales, little and great, are all well, and purpose to go toBrighthelmstone at Michaelmas. They will invite me to go with them, andperhaps I may go, but I hardly think I shall like to stay the wholetime; but of futurity we know but little. 

'Mrs. Porter is well; but Mrs. Aston, one of the ladies at Stowhill, hasbeen struck with a palsy, from which she is not likely ever to recover. How soon may such a stroke fall upon us!

'Write to me, and let us know when we may expect you. 

'I am, dear Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'Ashbourne, Sept. 1, 1777. '

'MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, Sept. 9, 1777. 

[After informing him that I was to set out next day, in order to meethim at Ashbourne. ]

'I have a present for you from Lord Hailes; the fifth book of_Lactantius_, which he has published with Latin notes. He is also togive you a few anecdotes for your _Life of Thomson_, who I find wasprivate tutor to the present Earl of Hadington, Lord Hailes's cousin, acircumstance not mentioned by Dr. Murdoch. I have keen expectations ofdelight from your edition of _The English Poets_. 

'I am sorry for poor Mrs. Williams's situation. You will, however, havethe comfort of reflecting on your kindness to her. Mr. Jackson's death, and Mrs. Aston's palsy, are gloomy circumstances. Yet surely we shouldbe habituated to the uncertainty of life and health. When my mind isunclouded by melancholy, I consider the temporary distresses of thisstate of being, as "light afflictions[391], " by stretching my mental viewinto that glorious after-existence, when they will appear to be asnothing. But present pleasures and present pains must be felt. I latelyread _Rasselas_ over again with great satisfaction[392]. 

'Since you are desirous to hear about Macquarry's sale I shall informyou particularly. The gentleman who purchased Ulva is Mr. Campbell, ofAuchnaba: our friend Macquarry was proprietor of two-thirds of it, ofwhich the rent was £156 5s 1-1/2d. This parcel was set up at £4, 069 5s. 1d. , but it sold for no less than £5, 540. The other third of Ulva, withthe island of Staffa, belonged to Macquarry of Ormaig. Its rent, including that of Staffa, £83 12s. 2-1/2d. Set up at £2178 16s. 4d. --sold for no less than £3, 540. The Laird of Col wished to purchaseUlva, but he thought the price too high. There may, indeed, be greatimprovements made there, both in fishing and agriculture; but theinterest of the purchase-money exceeds the rent so very much, that Idoubt if the bargain will be profitable. There is an island calledLittle Colonsay, of £10 yearly rent, which I am informed has belonged tothe Macquarrys of Ulva for many ages, but which was lately claimed bythe Presbyterian Synod of Argyll, in consequence of a grant made to themby Queen Anne. It is believed that their claim will be dismissed, andthat Little Colonsay will also be sold for the advantage of Macquarry'screditors. What think you of purchasing this island, and endowing aschool or college there, the master to be a clergyman of the Church ofEngland? How venerable would such an institution make the name of DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON in the Hebrides! I have, like yourself, a wonderfulpleasure in recollecting our travels in those islands. The pleasure is, I think, greater than it reasonably should be, considering that we hadnot much either of beauty or elegance to charm our imaginations, or ofrude novelty to astonish. Let us, by all means, have another expedition. I shrink a little from our scheme of going up the Baltick[393]. I am sorryyou have already been in Wales; for I wish to see it. Shall we go toIreland, of which I have seen but little? We shall try to strike out aplan when we are at Ashbourne. I am ever, 'Your most faithful humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'I write to be left at Carlisle, as you direct me; but you cannot haveit. Your letter, dated Sept. 6, was not at this place till this day, Thursday, Sept. 11; and I hope you will be here before this is atCarlisle[394]. However, what you have not going, you may have returning;and as I believe I shall not love you less after our interview, it willthen be as true as it is now, that I set a very high value upon yourfriendship, and count your kindness as one of the chief felicities of mylife. Do not fancy that an intermission of writing is a decay ofkindness. No man is always in a disposition to write; nor has any man atall times something to say. 

'That distrust which intrudes so often on your mind is a mode ofmelancholy, which, if it be the business of a wise man to be happy, itis foolish to indulge; and if it be a duty to preserve our facultiesentire for their proper use, it is criminal. Suspicion is very often anuseless pain. From that, and all other pains, I wish you free and safe;for I am, dear Sir, 'Most affectionately yours, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'Ashbourne, Sept. 11, 1777. '

On Sunday evening Sept. 14, I arrived at Ashbourne, and drove directlyup to Dr. Taylor's door. Dr. Johnson and he appeared before I had gotout of the post-chaise, and welcomed me cordially[395]. 

I told them that I had travelled all the preceding night, and gone tobed at Leek in Staffordshire; and that when I rose to go to church inthe afternoon, I was informed there had been an earthquake[396], of which, it seems, the shock had been felt in some degree at Ashbourne. JOHNSON. 'Sir, it will be much exaggerated in popular talk: for, in the firstplace, the common people do not accurately adapt their thoughts to theobjects; nor, secondly, do they accurately adapt their words to theirthoughts: they do not mean to lie; but, taking no pains to be exact, they give you very false accounts. A great part of their language isproverbial. If anything rocks at all, they say _it rocks like a cradle_;and in this way they go on. '

The subject of grief for the loss of relations and friends beingintroduced, I observed that it was strange to consider how soon it ingeneral wears away. Dr. Taylor mentioned a gentleman of theneighbourhood as the only instance he had ever known of a person who hadendeavoured to _retain_ grief. He told Dr. Taylor, that after his Lady'sdeath, which affected him deeply, he _resolved_ that the grief, which hecherished with a kind of sacred fondness, should be lasting; but that hefound he could not keep it long. JOHNSON. 'All grief for what cannot inthe course of nature be helped, soon wears away; in some sooner, indeed, in some later; but it never continues very long, unless where there ismadness, such as will make a man have pride so fixed in his mind, as toimagine himself a King; or any other passion in an unreasonable way: forall unnecessary grief is unwise, and therefore will not be long retainedby a sound mind[397]. If, indeed, the cause of our grief is occasioned byour own misconduct, if grief is mingled with remorse of conscience, itshould be lasting. ' BOSWELL. 'But, Sir, we do not approve of a man whovery soon forgets the loss of a wife or a friend. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, wedisapprove of him, not because he soon forgets his grief, for the soonerit is forgotten the better, but because we suppose, that if he forgetshis wife or his friend soon, he has not had much affection for them[398]. '

I was somewhat disappointed in finding that the edition of _The EnglishPoets_, for which he was to write Prefaces and Lives, was not anundertaking directed by him: but that he was to furnish a Preface andLife to any poet the booksellers pleased. I asked him if he would dothis to any dunce's works, if they should ask him. JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir;and _say_ he was a dunce. ' My friend seemed now not much to relishtalking of this edition. 

On Monday, September 15, Dr. Johnson observed, that every body commendedsuch parts of his _Journey to the Western Islands_, as were in their ownway. 'For instance, (said he, ) Mr. Jackson (the all-knowing)[399] told methere was more good sense upon trade in it, than he should hear in theHouse of Commons in a year, except from Burke. Jones commended the partwhich treats of language; Burke that which describes the inhabitants ofmountainous countries[400]. '

After breakfast, Johnson carried me to see the garden belonging to theschool of Ashbourne, which is very prettily formed upon a bank, risinggradually behind the house. The Reverend Mr. Langley[401], thehead-master, accompanied us. 

While we sat basking in the sun upon a seat here, I introduced a commonsubject of complaint, the very small salaries which many curates have, and I maintained, 'that no man should be invested with the character ofa clergyman, unless he has a security for such an income as will enablehim to appear respectable; that, therefore, a clergyman should not beallowed to have a curate, unless he gives him a hundred pounds a year;if he cannot do that, let him perform the duty himself. ' JOHNSON. 'To besure, Sir, it is wrong that any clergyman should be without a reasonableincome; but as the church revenues were sadly diminished at theReformation, the clergy who have livings cannot afford, in manyinstances, to give good salaries to curates, without leaving themselvestoo little; and, if no curate were to be permitted unless he had ahundred pounds a year, their number would be very small, which would bea disadvantage, as then there would not be such choice in the nurseryfor the church, curates being candidates for the higher ecclesiasticaloffices, according to their merit and good behaviour. ' He explained thesystem of the English Hierarchy exceedingly well. 'It is not thought fit(said he) to trust a man with the care of a parish till he has givenproof as a curate that he shall deserve such a trust. ' This is anexcellent _theory_; and if the _practice_ were according to it, theChurch of England would be admirable indeed. However, as I have heardDr. Johnson observe as to the Universities, bad practice does not inferthat the _constitution_ is bad[402]. 

We had with us at dinner several of Dr. Taylor's neighbours, good civilgentlemen, who seemed to understand Dr. Johnson very well, and not toconsider him in the light that a certain person did[403], who beingstruck, or rather stunned by his voice and manner, when he wasafterwards asked what he thought of him, answered, 'He's a tremendouscompanion. '

Johnson told me, that 'Taylor was a very sensible acute man, and had astrong mind[404]; that he had great activity in some respects, and yetsuch a sort of indolence, that if you should put a pebble upon hischimney-piece, you would find it there, in the same state, a yearafterwards. '

And here is the proper place to give an account of Johnson's humane andzealous interference in behalf of the Reverend Dr. William Dodd, formerly Prebendary of Brecon, and chaplain in ordinary to hisMajesty[405]; celebrated as a very popular preacher[406], an encourager ofcharitable institutions, and authour of a variety of works, chieflytheological. Having unhappily contracted expensive habits of living, partly occasioned by licentiousness of manners, he in an evil hour, whenpressed by want of money, and dreading an exposure of his circumstances, forged a bond of which he attempted to avail himself to support hiscredit, flattering himself with hopes that he might be able to repay itsamount without being detected. The person, whose name he thus rashly andcriminally presumed to falsify, was the Earl of Chesterfield[407], to whomhe had been tutor, and who, he perhaps, in the warmth of his feelings, flattered himself would have generously paid the money in case of analarm being taken, rather than suffer him to fall a victim to thedreadful consequences of violating the law against forgery, the mostdangerous crime in a commercial country; but the unfortunate divine hadthe mortification to find that he was mistaken. His noble pupil appearedagainst him, and he was capitally convicted. 

Johnson told me that Dr. Dodd was very little acquainted with him, having been but once in his company, many years previous to thisperiod[408] (which was precisely the state of my own acquaintance withDodd); but in his distress he bethought himself of Johnson's persuasivepower of writing, if haply it might avail to obtain for him the RoyalMercy. He did not apply to him, directly, but, extraordinary as it mayseem, through the late Countess of Harrington, who wrote a letter toJohnson, asking him to employ his pen in favour of Dodd. Mr. Allen, theprinter, who was Johnson's landlord and next neighbour in Bolt-court, and for whom he had much kindness[409], was one of Dodd's friends, of whomto the credit of humanity be it recorded, that he had many who did notdesert him, even after his infringement of the law had reduced him tothe state of a man under sentence of death. Mr. Allen told me that hecarried Lady Harrington's letter to Johnson, that Johnson read itwalking up and down his chamber, and seemed much agitated, after whichhe said, 'I will do what I can;'--and certainly he did makeextraordinary exertions. 

He this evening, as he had obligingly promised in one of his letters, put into my hands the whole series of his writings upon this melancholyoccasion, and I shall present my readers with the abstract which I madefrom the collection; in doing which I studied to avoid copying what hadappeared in print, and now make part of the edition of _Johnson'sWorks_, published by the Booksellers of London, but taking care to markJohnson's variations in some of the pieces there exhibited. 

Dr. Johnson wrote in the first place, Dr. Dodd's _Speech to the Recorderof London_, at the Old-Bailey, when sentence of death was about to bepronounced upon him. 

He wrote also _The Convict's Address to his unhappy Brethren_, a sermondelivered by Dr. Dodd, in the chapel of Newgate[410]. 

According to Johnson's manuscript it began thus after the text, _Whatshall I do to be saved?_[411]--

'These were the words with which the keeper, to whose custody Paul andSilas were committed by their prosecutors, addressed his prisoners, whenhe saw them freed from their bonds by the perceptible agency of divinefavour, and was, therefore, irresistibly convinced that they were notoffenders against the laws, but martyrs to the truth. '

Dr. Johnson was so good as to mark for me with his own hand, on a copyof this sermon which is now in my possession, such passages as wereadded by Dr. Dodd. They are not many: whoever will take the trouble tolook at the printed copy, and attend to what I mention, will besatisfied of this. 

There is a short introduction by Dr. Dodd, and he also inserted thissentence, 'You see with what confusion and dishonour I now stand beforeyou;--no more in the pulpit of instruction, but on this humble seat withyourselves. ' The _notes_ are entirely Dodd's own, and Johnson's writingends at the words, 'the thief whom he pardoned on the cross[412]. ' Whatfollows was supplied by Dr. Dodd himself[413]. 

The other pieces mentioned by Johnson in the above-mentioned collection, are two letters, one to the Lord Chancellor Bathurst, (not Lord North, as is erroneously supposed, ) and one to Lord Mansfield;--A Petition fromDr. Dodd to the King;--A Petition from Mrs. Dodd to the Queen;--Observations of some length inserted in the news-papers, on occasion ofEarl Percy's having presented to his Majesty a petition for mercy toDodd, signed by twenty thousand people, but all in vain. He told me thathe had also written a petition from the city of London; 'but (said he, with a significant smile) they _mended_ it[414]. ' The last of thesearticles which Johnson wrote is _Dr. Dodd's last solemn Declaration_, which he left with the sheriff at the place of execution. Here also myfriend marked the variations on a copy of that piece now in mypossession. Dodd inserted, 'I never knew or attended to the calls offrugality, or the needful minuteness of painful oeconomy;' and in thenext sentence he introduced the words which I distinguish by _Italicks_;'My life for some _few unhappy_ years past has been _dreadfullyerroneous_. ' Johnson's expression was _hypocritical_; but his remark onthe margin is 'With this he said he could not charge himself. '

Having thus authentically settled what part of the _Occasional Papers_, concerning Dr. Dodd's miserable situation, came from the pen of Johnson, I shall proceed to present my readers with my record of the unpublishedwritings relating to that extraordinary and interesting matter. 

I found a letter to Dr. Johnson from Dr. Dodd, May 23, 1777, in which_The Convict's Address_ seems clearly to be meant:--

'I am so penetrated, my ever dear Sir, with a sense of your extremebenevolence towards me, that I cannot find words equal to the sentimentsof my heart. 

 * * * * *

'You are too conversant in the world to need the slightest hint from me, of what infinite utility the Speech[415] on the aweful day has been to me. I experience, every hour, some good effect from it. I am sure thateffects still more salutary and important must follow from _your kindand intended favour_. I will labour--GOD being my helper, --to do justiceto it from the pulpit. I am sure, had I your sentiments constantly todeliver from thence, in all their mighty force and power, not a soulcould be left unconvinced and unpersuaded. '

 * * * * *

He added:--

'May GOD ALMIGHTY bless and reward, with his choicest comforts, yourphilanthropick actions, and enable me at all times to express what Ifeel of the high and uncommon obligations which I owe to the _first man_in our times. '

On Sunday, June 22, he writes, begging Dr. Johnson's assistance inframing a supplicatory letter to his Majesty:--

'If his Majesty could be moved of his royal clemency to spare me and myfamily the horrours and ignominy of a _publick death_, which the publickitself is solicitous to wave, and to grant me in some silent distantcorner of the globe, to pass the remainder of my days in penitence andprayer, I would bless his clemency and be humbled. '

This letter was brought to Dr. Johnson when in church. He stooped downand read it, and wrote, when he went home, the following letter for Dr. Dodd to the King:--

'SIR, 'May it not offend your Majesty, that the most miserable of men applieshimself to your clemency, as his last hope and his last refuge; thatyour mercy is most earnestly and humbly implored by a clergyman, whomyour Laws and Judges have condemned to the horrour and ignominy of apublick execution. 

'I confess the crime, and own the enormity of its consequences, and thedanger of its example. Nor have I the confidence to petition forimpunity; but humbly hope, that publick security may be established, without the spectacle of a clergyman dragged through the streets, to adeath of infamy, amidst the derision of the profligate and profane; andthat justice may be satisfied with irrevocable exile, perpetualdisgrace, and hopeless penury. 

'My life, Sir, has not been useless to mankind. I have benefited many. But my offences against GOD are numberless, and I have had little timefor repentance. Preserve me, Sir, by your prerogative of mercy, from thenecessity of appearing unprepared at that tribunal, before which Kingsand Subjects must stand at last together. Permit me to hide my guilt insome obscure corner of a foreign country, where, if I can ever attainconfidence to hope that my prayers will be heard, they shall be pouredwith all the fervour of gratitude for the life and happiness of yourMajesty. I am, Sir, 'Your Majesty's, &c. '

Subjoined to it was written as follows:

'To DR. DODD. 

'SIR, 'I most seriously enjoin you not to let it be at all known that I havewritten this letter, and to return the copy to Mr. Allen in a cover tome. I hope I need not tell you, that I wish it success. --But do notindulge hope. --Tell nobody. '

It happened luckily that Mr. Allen was pitched on to assist in thismelancholy office, for he was a great friend of Mr. Akerman, the keeperof Newgate. Dr. Johnson never went to see Dr. Dodd. He said to me, 'itwould have done _him_ more harm, than good to Dodd, who once expressed adesire to see him, but not earnestly. '

Dr. Johnson, on the 20th of June, wrote the following letter:

'To THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES JENKINSON. 

'SIR, 'Since the conviction and condemnation of Dr. Dodd, I have had, by theintervention of a friend, some intercourse with him, and I am sure Ishall lose nothing in your opinion by tenderness and commiseration. Whatever be the crime, it is not easy to have any knowledge of thedelinquent, without a wish that his life may be spared; at least when nolife has been taken away by him. I will, therefore, take the liberty ofsuggesting some reasons for which I wish this unhappy being to escapethe utmost rigour of his sentence. 

'He is, so far as I can recollect, the first clergyman of our church whohas suffered publick execution for immorality; and I know not whether itwould not be more for the interest of religion to bury such an offenderin the obscurity of perpetual exile, than to expose him in a cart, andon the gallows, to all who for any reason are enemies to the clergy. 

'The supreme power has, in all ages, paid some attention to the voice ofthe people; and that voice does not least deserve to be heard, when itcalls out for mercy. There is now a very general desire that Dodd's lifeshould be spared. More is not wished; and, perhaps, this is not too muchto be granted. 

'If you, Sir, have any opportunity of enforcing these reasons, you may, perhaps, think them worthy of consideration: but whatever you determine, I most respectfully intreat that you will be pleased to pardon for thisintrusion, Sir, 'Your most obedient

'And most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

It has been confidently circulated, with invidious remarks, that to thisletter no attention whatever was paid by Mr. Jenkinson (afterwards Earlof Liverpool[416]), and that he did not even deign to shew the commoncivility of owning the receipt of it. I could not but wonder at suchconduct in the noble Lord, whose own character and just elevation inlife, I thought, must have impressed him with all due regard for greatabilities and attainments. As the story had been much talked of, andapparently from good authority, I could not but have animadverted uponit in this work, had it been as was alleged; but from my earnest love oftruth, and having found reason to think that there might be a mistake, Ipresumed to write to his Lordship, requesting an explanation; and it iswith the sincerest pleasure that I am enabled to assure the world, thatthere is no foundation for it, the fact being, that owing to someneglect, or accident, Johnson's letter never came to Lord Hawkesbury'shands. I should have thought it strange indeed, if that noble Lord hadundervalued my illustrious friend; but instead of this being the case, his Lordship, in the very polite answer with which he was pleasedimmediately to honour me, thus expresses himself:--'I have alwaysrespected the memory of Dr. Johnson, and admire his writings; and Ifrequently read many parts of them with pleasure and great improvement. '

All applications for the Royal Mercy having failed, Dr. Dodd preparedhimself for death; and, with a warmth of gratitude, wrote to Dr. Johnsonas follows:

'June 25, _Midnight_. 

'Accept, thou _great_ and _good_ heart, my earnest and fervent thanksand prayers for all thy benevolent and kind efforts in my behalf. --Oh!Dr. Johnson! as I sought your knowledge at an early hour in life, wouldto heaven I had cultivated the love and acquaintance of so excellent aman!--I pray GOD most sincerely to bless you with the highesttransports--the infelt satisfaction of _humane_ and benevolentexertions!--And admitted, as I trust I shall be, to the realms of blissbefore you, I shall hail _your_ arrival there with transports, andrejoice to acknowledge that you was my Comforter, my Advocate and my_Friend_! GOD _be ever_ with _you_!'

Dr. Johnson lastly wrote to Dr. Dodd this solemn and soothingletter:

'To THE REVEREND DR. DODD. 

'DEAR SIR, 'That which is appointed to all men is now coming upon you. Outwardcircumstances, the eyes and the thoughts of men, are below the notice ofan immortal being about to stand the trial for eternity, before theSupreme Judge of heaven and earth. Be comforted: your crime, morally orreligiously considered, has no very deep dye of turpitude. It corruptedno man's principles; it attacked no man's life. It involved only atemporary and reparable injury. Of this, and of all other sins, you areearnestly to repent; and may GOD, who knoweth our frailty, and desirethnot our death, accept your repentance, for the sake of his Son JESUSCHRIST our Lord. 

'In requital of those well-intended offices which you are pleased soemphatically to acknowledge, let me beg that you make in your devotionsone petition for my eternal welfare. I am, dear Sir, 'Your affectionate servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'June 26, 1777. '

Under the copy of this letter I found written, in Johnson's own hand, 'Next day, June 27, he was executed. '

To conclude this interesting episode with an useful application, let usnow attend to the reflections of Johnson at the end of the _OccasionalPapers_, concerning the unfortunate Dr. Dodd:

'Such were the last thoughts of a man whom we have seen exulting inpopularity, and sunk in shame. For his reputation, which no man can giveto himself, those who conferred it are to answer. Of his publickministry the means of judging were sufficiently attainable. He must beallowed to preach well, whose sermons strike his audience with forcibleconviction. Of his life, those who thought it consistent with hisdoctrine, did not originally form false notions. He was at first what heendeavoured to make others; but the world broke down his resolution, andhe in time ceased to exemplify his own instructions. 

'Let those who are tempted to his faults, tremble at his punishment; andthose whom he impressed from the pulpit with religious sentiments, endeavour to confirm them, by considering the regret and self-abhorrencewith which he reviewed in prison his deviations from rectitude. '

Johnson gave us this evening, in his happy discriminative manner, aportrait of the late Mr. Fitzherbert, of Derbyshire. 'There was (saidhe) no sparkle, no brilliancy in Fitzherbert; but I never knew a man whowas so generally acceptable[417]. He made every body quite easy, overpowered nobody by the superiority of his talents, made no man thinkworse of himself by being his rival, seemed always to listen, did notoblige you to hear much from him, and did not oppose what you said. Every body liked him; but he had no friend, as I understand the word, nobody with whom he exchanged intimate thoughts[418]. People were willingto think well of every thing about him. A gentleman was making anaffected rant, as many people do, of great feelings about "his dearson, " who was at school near London; how anxious he was lest he might beill, and what he would give to see him. "Can't you (said Fitzherbert, )take a post-chaise and go to him. " This, to be sure, _finished_ theaffected man, but there was not much in it[419]. However, this wascirculated as wit for a whole winter, and I believe part of a summertoo; a proof that he was no very witty man. He was an instance of thetruth of the observation, that a man will please more upon the whole bynegative qualities than by positive; by never offending, than by givinga great deal of delight. In the first place, men hate more steadily thanthey love; and if I have said something to hurt a man once, I shall notget the better of this, by saying many things to please him[420]. '

Tuesday, September 16, Dr. Johnson having mentioned to me theextraordinary size and price of some cattle reared by Dr. Taylor, I rodeout with our host, surveyed his farm, and was shown one cow which he hadsold for a hundred and twenty guineas, and another for which he had beenoffered a hundred and thirty[421]. Taylor thus described to me his oldschoolfellow and friend, Johnson: 'He is a man of a very clear head, great power of words, and a very gay imagination; but there is nodisputing with him. He will not hear you, and having a louder voice thanyou, must roar you down. '

In the afternoon I tried to get Dr. Johnson to like the Poems of Mr. Hamilton of Bangour[422], which I had brought with me: I had been muchpleased with them at a very early age; the impression still remained onmy mind; it was confirmed by the opinion of my friend the HonourableAndrew Erskine, himself both a good poet[423] and a good critick, whothought Hamilton as true a poet as ever wrote, and that his not havingfame was unaccountable. Johnson, upon repeated occasions, while I was atAshbourne, talked slightingly of Hamilton. He said there was no power ofthinking in his verses, nothing that strikes one, nothing better thanwhat you generally find in magazines; and that the highest praise theydeserved was, that they were very well for a gentleman to hand aboutamong his friends. He said the imitation of _Ne sit ancillæ tibiamor_[424], &c. Was too solemn; he read part of it at the beginning. Heread the beautiful pathetick song, _Ah the poor shepherd's mournfulfate_, and did not seem to give attention to what I had been used tothink tender elegant strains, but laughed at the rhyme, in Scotchpronunciation, _wishes and blushes_[425], reading _wushes_--and there hestopped. He owned that the epitaph on Lord Newhall was pretty well done. He read the _Inscription in a Summer-house_, and a little of theimitations of Horace's _Epistles_; but said he found nothing to make himdesire to read on. When I urged that there were some good poeticalpassages in the book. 'Where (said he, ) will you find so large acollection without some?' I thought the description of Winter mightobtain his approbation:

'See[426] Winter, from the frozen northDrives his iron chariot forth!His grisly hand in icy chainsFair Tweeda's silver flood constrains, ' &c. 

He asked why an '_iron_ chariot'? and said 'icy chains' was an oldimage[427]. I was struck with the uncertainty of taste, and somewhat sorrythat a poet whom I had long read with fondness, was not approved by Dr. Johnson. I comforted myself with thinking that the beauties were toodelicate for his robust perceptions. Garrick maintained that he had nota taste for the finest productions of genius: but I was sensible, thatwhen he took the trouble to analyse critically, he generally convincedus that he was right. 

In the evening, the Reverend Mr. Seward[428], of Lichfield, who waspassing through Ashbourne in his way home, drank tea with us. Johnsondescribed him thus:--'Sir, his ambition is to be a fine talker; so hegoes to Buxton, and such places, where he may find companies to listento him. And, Sir, he is valetudinarian, one of those who are alwaysmending themselves. I do not know a more disagreeable character than avaletudinarian, who thinks he may do any thing that is for his ease, andindulges himself in the grossest freedoms: Sir, he brings himself to thestate of a hog in a stye[429]. '

Dr. Taylor's nose happening to bleed, he said, it was because he hadomitted to have himself blooded four days after a quarter of a year'sinterval. Dr. Johnson, who was a great dabbler in physick[430], disapproved much of periodical bleeding[431]. 'For (said he) you accustomyourself to an evacuation which Nature cannot perform of herself, andtherefore she cannot help you, should you, from forgetfulness or anyother cause, omit it; so you may be suddenly suffocated. You mayaccustom yourself to other periodical evacuations, because should youomit them, Nature can supply the omission; but Nature cannot open a veinto blood you. '--'I do not like to take an emetick, (said Taylor, ) forfear of breaking some small vessels. '--'Poh! (said Johnson, ) if you haveso many things that will break, you had better break your neck at once, and there's an end on't. You will break no small vessels' (blowing withhigh derision). 

I mentioned to Dr. Johnson, that David Hume's persisting in hisinfidelity, when he was dying, shocked me much. JOHNSON. 'Why should itshock you, Sir? Hume owned he had never read the New Testament withattention. Here then was a man, who had been at no pains to inquire intothe truth of religion, and had continually turned his mind the otherway. It was not to be expected that the prospect of death would alterhis way of thinking, unless GOD should send an angel to set him right. 'I said, I had reason to believe that the thought of annihilation gaveHume no pain. JOHNSON. 'It was not so, Sir[432]. He had a vanity in beingthought easy. It is more probable that he should assume an appearance ofease, than that so very improbable a thing should be, as a man notafraid of going (as, in spite of his delusive theory, he cannot be surebut he may go, ) into an unknown state, and not being uneasy at leavingall he knew. And you are to consider, that upon his own principle ofannihilation he had no motive to speak the truth. ' The horrour of deathwhich I had always observed in Dr. Johnson, appeared strong to-night. Iventured to tell him, that I had been, for moments in my life, notafraid of death; therefore I could suppose another man in that state ofmind for a considerable space of time. He said, 'he never had a momentin which death was not terrible to him[433]. ' He added, that it had beenobserved, that scarce any man[434] dies in publick, but with apparentresolution; from that desire of praise which never quits us. I said, Dr. Dodd seemed to be willing to die, and full of hopes of happiness. 'Sir, (said he, ) Dr. Dodd would have given both his hands and both his legs tohave lived. The better a man is, the more afraid he is of death, havinga clearer view of infinite purity. ' He owned, that our being in anunhappy uncertainty as to our salvation, was mysterious; and said, 'Ah!we must wait till we are in another state of being, to have many thingsexplained to us. ' Even the powerful mind of Johnson seemed foiled byfuturity. But I thought, that the gloom of uncertainty in solemnreligious speculation, being mingled with hope, was yet more consolatorythan the emptiness of infidelity. A man can live in thick air, butperishes in an exhausted receiver. 

Dr. Johnson was much pleased with a remark which I told him was made tome by General Paoli:--'That it is impossible not to be afraid of death;and that those who at the time of dying are not afraid, are not thinkingof death, but of applause, or something else, which keeps death out oftheir sight: so that all men are equally afraid of death when they seeit; only some have a power of turning their sight away from it betterthan others[435]. '

On Wednesday, September 17, Dr. Butter, physician at Derby, drank teawith us; and it was settled that Dr. Johnson and I should go on Fridayand dine with him. Johnson said, 'I'm glad of this. ' He seemed weary ofthe uniformity of life at Dr. Taylor's. 

Talking of biography, I said, in writing a life, a man's peculiaritiesshould be mentioned, because they mark his character. JOHNSON. 'Sir, there is no doubt as to peculiarities: the question is, whether a man'svices should be mentioned; for instance, whether it should be mentionedthat Addison and Parnell drank too freely: for people will probably moreeasily indulge in drinking from knowing this; so that more ill may bedone by the example, than good by telling the whole truth[436]. ' Here wasan instance of his varying from himself in talk; for when Lord Hailesand he sat one morning calmly conversing in my house at Edinburgh, Iwell remember that Dr. Johnson maintained, that 'If a man is to write A_Panegyrick_, he may keep vices out of sight; but if he professes towrite _A Life_, he must represent it really as it was:' and when Iobjected to the danger of telling that Parnell drank to excess, he said, that 'it would produce an instructive caution to avoid drinking, when itwas seen, that even the learning and genius of Parnell could be debasedby it. ' And in the Hebrides he maintained, as appears from my_Journal_[437], that a man's intimate friend should mention his faults, ifhe writes his life[438]. 

He had this evening, partly, I suppose, from the spirit of contradictionto his Whig friend, a violent argument with Dr. Taylor, as to theinclinations of the people of England at this time towards the RoyalFamily of Stuart. He grew so outrageous as to say, 'that, if Englandwere fairly polled, the present King would be sent away to-night, andhis adherents hanged to-morrow. ' Taylor, who was as violent a Whig asJohnson was a Tory, was roused by this to a pitch of bellowing. Hedenied, loudly, what Johnson said; and maintained, that there was anabhorrence against the Stuart family, though he admitted that the peoplewere not much attached to the present King[439]. JOHNSON. 'Sir, the stateof the country is this: the people knowing it to be agreed on all handsthat this King has not the hereditary right to the crown, and therebeing no hope that he who has it can be restored, have grown cold andindifferent upon the subject of loyalty, and have no warm attachment toany King. They would not, therefore, risk any thing to restore theexiled family. They would not give twenty shillings a piece to bring itabout. But, if a mere vote could do it, there would be twenty to one; atleast, there would be a very great majority of voices for it. For, Sir, you are to consider, that all those who think a King has a right to hiscrown, as a man has to his estate, which is the just opinion, would befor restoring the King who certainly has the hereditary right, could hebe trusted with it; in which there would be no danger now, when laws andevery thing else are so much advanced: and every King will govern by thelaws. And you must also consider, Sir, that there is nothing on theother side to oppose to this; for it is not alleged by any one that thepresent family has any inherent right[440]: so that the Whigs could nothave a contest between two rights. '

Dr. Taylor admitted, that if the question as to hereditary right were tobe tried by a poll of the people of England, to be sure the abstractdoctrine would be given in favour of the family of Stuart; but he said, the conduct of that family, which occasioned their expulsion, was sofresh in the minds of the people, that they would not vote for arestoration. Dr. Johnson, I think, was contented with the admission asto the hereditary right, leaving the original point in dispute, _viz_. What the people upon the whole would do, taking in right and affection;for he said, people were afraid of a change, even though they think itright. Dr. Taylor said something of the slight foundation of thehereditary right, of the house of Stuart. 'Sir, (said Johnson, ) thehouse of Stuart succeeded to the full right of both the houses of Yorkand Lancaster, whose common source had the undisputed right. A right toa throne is like a right to any thing else. Possession is sufficient, where no better right can be shown. This was the case with the RoyalFamily of England, as it is now with the King of France: for as to thefirst beginning of the right, we are in the dark[441]. '

Thursday, September 18. Last night Dr. Johnson had proposed that thecrystal lustre, or chandelier, in Dr. Taylor's large room, should belighted up some time or other. Taylor said, it should be lighted up nextnight. 'That will do very well, (said I, ) for it is Dr. Johnson'sbirth-day[442]. ' When we were in the Isle of Sky, Johnson had desired menot to mention his birth-day. He did not seem pleased at this time thatI mentioned it, and said (somewhat sternly) 'he would _not_ have thelustre lighted the next day. '

Some ladies, who had been present yesterday when I mentioned hisbirth-day, came to dinner to-day, and plagued him unintentionally, bywishing him joy. I know not why he disliked having his birth-daymentioned, unless it were that it reminded him of his approaching nearerto death, of which he had a constant dread[443]. 

I mentioned to him a friend of mine who was formerly gloomy from lowspirits, and much distressed by the fear of death, but was now uniformlyplacid, and contemplated his dissolution without any perturbation. 'Sir, (said Johnson, ) this is only a disordered imagination taking a differentturn. '

We talked of a collection being made of all the English Poets who hadpublished a volume of poems. Johnson told me 'that a Mr. Coxeter[444], whom he knew, had gone the greatest length towards this; havingcollected, I think, about five hundred volumes of poets whose works werelittle known; but that upon his death Tom Osborne[445] bought them, andthey were dispersed, which he thought a pity, as it was curious to seeany series complete; and in every volume of poems something good may befound. '

He observed, that a gentleman of eminence in literature had got into abad style of poetry of late[446]. 'He puts (said he) a very common thingin a strange dress till he does not know it himself, and thinks otherpeople do not know it. ' BOSWELL. 'That is owing to his being so muchversant in old English poetry[447]. ' JOHNSON. 'What is the purpose, Sir?If I say a man is drunk, and you tell me it is owing to his taking muchdrink, the matter is not mended. No, Sir, ---- has taken to an odd mode. For example; he'd write thus:

"Hermit hoar, in solemn cell, Wearing out life's evening gray[448]. "

_Gray evening_ is common enough; but _evening gray_ he'd thinkfine[449]. --Stay;--we'll make out the stanza:

"Hermit hoar, in solemn cell, Wearing out life's evening gray;Smite thy bosom, sage, and tell, What is bliss? and which the way?"'

BOSWELL. 'But why smite his bosom, Sir?' JOHNSON. 'Why to shew he was inearnest, ' (smiling). --He at an after period added the following stanza:

'Thus I spoke; and speaking sigh'd; --Scarce repress'd the starting tear;--When the smiling sage reply'd-- --Come, my lad, and drink some beer[450]. '

I cannot help thinking the first stanza very good solemn poetry, as alsothe three first lines of the second. Its last line is an excellentburlesque surprise on gloomy sentimental enquirers. And, perhaps, theadvice is as good as can be given to a low-spirited dissatisfiedbeing:--'Don't trouble your head with sickly thinking: take a cup, andbe merry. '

Friday, September 19, after breakfast Dr. Johnson and I set out in Dr. Taylor's chaise to go to Derby. The day was fine, and we resolved to goby Keddlestone, the seat of Lord Scarsdale, that I might see hisLordship's fine house. I was struck with the magnificence of thebuilding; and the extensive park, with the finest verdure, covered withdeer, and cattle, and sheep, delighted me. The number of old oaks, of animmense size, filled me with a sort of respectful admiration: for one ofthem sixty pounds was offered. The excellent smooth gravel roads; thelarge piece of water formed by his Lordship from some small brooks, witha handsome barge upon it; the venerable Gothick church, now the familychapel, just by the house; in short, the grand group of objects agitatedand distended my mind in a most agreeable manner. 'One should think(said I) that the proprietor of all this _must_ be happy. '--'Nay, Sir, (said Johnson, ) all this excludes but one evil--poverty[451]. '

Our names were sent up, and a well-drest elderly housekeeper, a mostdistinct articulator, shewed us the house; which I need not describe, asthere is an account of it published in _Adam's Works in Architecture_. Dr. Johnson thought better of it to-day than when he saw it before[452];for he had lately attacked it violently, saying, 'It would doexcellently for a town-hall. The large room with the pillars (said he)would do for the Judges to sit in at the assizes; the circular room fora jury-chamber; and the room above for prisoners. ' Still he thought thelarge room ill lighted, and of no use but for dancing in; and thebed-chambers but indifferent rooms; and that the immense sum which itcost was injudiciously laid out. Dr. Taylor had put him in mind of his_appearing_ pleased with the house. 'But (said he) that was when LordScarsdale was present. Politeness obliges us to appear pleased with aman's works when he is present. No man will be so ill bred as toquestion you. You may therefore pay compliments without saying what isnot true. I should say to Lord Scarsdale of his large room, "My Lord, this is the most _costly_ room that I ever saw;" which is true. '

Dr. Manningham, physician in London, who was visiting at LordScarsdale's, accompanyed us through many of the rooms, and soonafterwards my Lord himself, to whom Dr. Johnson was known, appeared, anddid the honours of the house. We talked of Mr. Langton. Johnson, with awarm vehemence of affectionate regard, exclaimed, 'The earth does notbear a worthier man than Bennet Langton. ' We saw a good many finepictures, which I think are described in one of _Young's Tours_[453]. There is a printed catalogue of them which the housekeeper put into myhand; I should like to view them at leisure. I was much struck withDaniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream by Rembrandt. We were shown apretty large library. In his Lordship's dressing-room lay Johnson'ssmall _Dictionary_: he shewed it to me, with some eagerness, saying, 'Look 'ye! _Quæ terra nostri non plena laboris_[454]. ' He observed, also, Goldsmith's _Animated Nature_; and said, 'Here's our friend! The poorDoctor would have been happy to hear of this. '

In our way, Johnson strongly expressed his love of driving fast in apost-chaise[455]. 'If (said he) I had no duties, and no reference tofuturity, I would spend my life in driving briskly in a post-chaise witha pretty woman; but she should be one who could understand me, and wouldadd something to the conversation. ' I observed, that we were this day tostop just where the Highland army did in 1745[456]. JOHNSON. 'It was anoble attempt. ' BOSWELL. 'I wish we could have an authentick history ofit. ' JOHNSON. 'If you were not an idle dog you might write it, bycollecting from every body what they can tell, and putting down yourauthorities. ' BOSWELL. 'But I could not have the advantage of it in mylife-time. ' JOHNSON. 'You might have the satisfaction of its fame, byprinting it in Holland; and as to profit, consider how long it wasbefore writing came to be considered in a pecuniary view. Baretti says, he is the first man that ever received copy-money in Italy[457]. ' I saidthat I would endeavour to do what Dr. Johnson suggested; and I thoughtthat I might write so as to venture to publish my _History of the CivilWar in Great-Britain in 1745 and 1746_ without being obliged to go to aforeign press[458]. 

When we arrived at Derby, Dr. Butter accompanied us to see themanufactory of china there. I admired the ingenuity and delicate artwith which a man fashioned clay into a cup, a saucer, or a tea-pot, while a boy turned round a wheel to give the mass rotundity. I thoughtthis as excellent in its species of power, as making good verses in_its_ species. Yet I had no respect for this potter. Neither, indeed, has a man of any extent of thinking for a mere verse-maker, in whosenumbers, however perfect, there is no poetry, no mind. The china wasbeautiful, but Dr. Johnson justly observed it was too dear; for that hecould have vessels of silver, of the same size, as cheap as what werehere made of porcelain[459]. 

I felt a pleasure in walking about Derby such as I always have inwalking about any town to which I am not accustomed. There is animmediate sensation of novelty; and one speculates on the way in whichlife is passed in it, which, although there is a sameness every whereupon the whole, is yet minutely diversified. The minute diversities inevery thing are wonderful. Talking of shaving the other night at Dr. Taylor's, Dr. Johnson said, 'Sir, of a thousand shavers, two do notshave so much alike as not to be distinguished. ' I thought this notpossible, till he specified so many of the varieties inshaving;--holding the razor more or less perpendicular;--drawing long orshort strokes;--beginning at the upper part of the face, or theunder;--at the right side or the left side. Indeed, when one considerswhat variety of sounds can be uttered by the windpipe, in the compass ofa very small aperture, we may be convinced how many degrees ofdifference there may be in the application of a razor. 

We dined with Dr. Butter, whose lady is daughter of my cousin Sir JohnDouglas, whose grandson is now presumptive heir of the noble family ofQueensberry. Johnson and he had a good deal of medical conversation. Johnson said, he had somewhere or other given an account of Dr. Nichols's[460] discourse _De Animá Medicâ_. He told us 'that whatever aman's distemper was, Dr. Nichols would not attend him as a physician, ifhis mind was not at ease; for he believed that no medicines would haveany influence. He once attended a man in trade, upon whom he found noneof the medicines he prescribed had any effect: he asked the man's wifeprivately whether his affairs were not in a bad way? She said no. Hecontinued his attendance some time, still without success. At length theman's wife told him, she had discovered that her husband's affairs_were_ in a bad way. When Goldsmith was dying, Dr. Turton said to him, "Your pulse is in greater disorder than it should be, from the degree offever which you have: is your mind at ease?" Goldsmith answered it wasnot. '

After dinner, Mrs. Butter went with me to see the silk-mill which Mr. John Lombe had[461] had a patent for, having brought away the contrivancefrom Italy. I am not very conversant with mechanicks; but the simplicityof this machine, and its multiplied operations, struck me with anagreeable surprize. I had learnt from Dr. Johnson, during thisinterview, not to think with a dejected indifference of the works ofart, and the pleasures of life, because life is uncertain and short; butto consider such indifference as a failure of reason, a morbidness ofmind; for happiness should be cultivated as much as we can, and theobjects which are instrumental to it should be steadily considered as ofimportance[462], with a reference not only to ourselves, but to multitudesin successive ages. Though it is proper to value small parts, as

'Sands make the mountain, moments make the year[463];'

yet we must contemplate, collectively, to have a just estimation ofobjects. One moment's being uneasy or not, seems of no consequence; yetthis may be thought of the next, and the next, and so on, till there isa large portion of misery. In the same way one must think of happiness, of learning, of friendship. We cannot tell the precise moment whenfriendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is atlast a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses thereis at last one which makes the heart run over. We must not divideobjects of our attention into minute parts, and think separately of eachpart. It is by contemplating a large mass of human existence, that aman, while he sets a just value on his own life, does not think of hisdeath as annihilating all that is great and pleasing in the world, as ifactually _contained in his mind_, according to Berkeley's reverie[464]. Ifhis imagination be not sickly and feeble, it 'wings its distant way[465]'far beyond himself, and views the world in unceasing activity of everysort. It must be acknowledged, however, that Pope's plaintivereflection, that all things would be as gay as ever, on the day of hisdeath, is natural and common[466]. We are apt to transfer to all around usour own gloom, without considering that at any given point of time thereis, perhaps, as much youth and gaiety in the world as at another. BeforeI came into this life, in which I have had so many pleasant scenes, havenot thousands and ten thousands of deaths and funerals happened, andhave not families been in grief for their nearest relations? But havethose dismal circumstances at all affected _me_? Why then should thegloomy scenes which I experience, or which I know, affect others? Let usguard against imagining that there is an end of felicity upon earth, when we ourselves grow old, or are unhappy. 

Dr. Johnson told us at tea, that when some of Dr. Dodd's pious friendswere trying to console him by saying that he was going to leave 'awretched world, ' he had honesty enough not to join in the cant[467]:--'No, no (said he, ) it has been a very agreeable world to me. ' Johnson added, 'I respect Dodd for thus speaking the truth; for, to be sure, he had forseveral years enjoyed a life of great voluptuousness[468]. '

He told us, that Dodd's city friends stood by him so, that a thousandpounds were ready to be given to the gaoler, if he would let him escape. He added, that he knew a friend of Dodd's, who walked about Newgate forsome time on the evening before the day of his execution, with fivehundred pounds in his pocket, ready to be paid to any of the turnkeyswho could get him out: but it was too late; for he was watched with muchcircumspection[469]. He said, Dodd's friends had an image of him made ofwax, which was to have been left in his place; and he believed it wascarried into the prison. 

Johnson disapproved of Dr. Dodd's leaving the world persuaded that _TheConvict's Address to his unhappy Brethren_ was of his own writing[470]. 'But, Sir, (said I, ) you contributed to the deception; for when Mr. Seward expressed a doubt to you that it was not Dodd's own, because ithad a great deal more force of mind in it than any thing known to behis, you answered, --"Why should you think so? Depend upon it, Sir, whena man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mindwonderfully. "' JOHNSON. 'Sir, as Dodd got it from me to pass as his own, while that could do him any good, there was an _implied promise_ that Ishould not own it. To own it, therefore, would have been telling a lie, with the addition of breach of promise, which was worse than simplytelling a lie to make it be believed it was Dodd's. Besides, Sir, I didnot _directly_ tell a lie: I left the matter uncertain. Perhaps Ithought that Seward would not believe it the less to be mine for what Isaid; but I would not put it in his power to say I had owned it. '

He praised Blair's sermons: 'Yet, ' said he, (willing to let us see hewas aware that fashionable fame, however deserved, is not always themost lasting, ) 'perhaps, they may not be re-printed after seven years;at least not after Blair's death[471]. '

He said, 'Goldsmith was a plant that flowered late[472]. There appearednothing remarkable about him when he was young; though when he had gothigh in fame, one of his friends[473] began to recollect something of hisbeing distinguished at College. Goldsmith in the same manner recollectedmore of that friend's early years, as he grew a greater man. '

I mentioned that Lord Monboddo told me, he awaked every morning at four, and then for his health got up and walked in his room naked, with thewindow open, which he called taking _an air bath_[474]; after which hewent to bed again, and slept two hours more. Johnson, who was alwaysready to beat down any thing that seemed to be exhibited withdisproportionate importance, thus observed: 'I suppose, Sir, there is nomore in it than this, he awakes at four, and cannot sleep till he chillshimself, and makes the warmth of the bed a grateful sensation. '

I talked of the difficulty of rising in the morning. Dr. Johnson toldme, 'that the learned Mrs. Carter, at that period when she was eager instudy, did not awake as early as she wished, and she therefore had acontrivance, that, at a certain hour, her chamber-light should burn astring to which a heavy weight was suspended, which then fell with astrong sudden noise: this roused her from sleep, and then she had nodifficulty in getting up. ' But I said _that_ was my difficulty; andwished there could be some medicine invented which would make one risewithout pain, which I never did, unless after lying in bed a very longtime. Perhaps there may be something in the stores of Nature which coulddo this. I have thought of a pulley to raise me gradually; but thatwould give me pain, as it would counteract my internal inclination. Iwould have something that can dissipate the _vis inertiæ_, and giveelasticity to the muscles. As I imagine that the human body may be put, by the operation of other substances, into any state in which it hasever been; and as I have experienced a state in which rising from bedwas not disagreeable, but easy, nay, sometimes agreeable; I suppose thatthis state may be produced, if we knew by what. We can heat the body, wecan cool it; we can give it tension or relaxation; and surely it ispossible to bring it into a state in which rising from bed will not be apain. 

Johnson observed, that 'a man should take a sufficient quantity ofsleep, which Dr. Mead says is between seven and nine hours. ' I told him, that Dr. Cullen said to me, that a man should not take more sleep thanhe can take at once. JOHNSON. 'This rule, Sir, cannot hold in all cases;for many people have their sleep broken by sickness; and surely, Cullenwould not have a man to get up, after having slept but an hour. Such aregimen would soon end in a _long sleep_[475]. ' Dr. Taylor remarked, Ithink very justly, that 'a man who does not feel an inclination to sleepat the ordinary time, instead of being stronger than other people, mustnot be well; for a man in health has all the natural inclinations toeat, drink, and sleep, in a strong degree. '

Johnson advised me to-night not to _refine_ in the education of mychildren. 'Life (said he) will not bear refinement: you must do as otherpeople do[476]. '

As we drove back to Ashbourne, Dr. Johnson recommended to me, as he hadoften done, to drink water only: 'For (said he) you are then sure not toget drunk; whereas if you drink wine you are never sure. ' I said, drinking wine was a pleasure which I was unwilling to give up. 'Why, Sir, (said he, ) there is no doubt that not to drink wine is a greatdeduction from life; but it may be necessary. ' He however owned, that inhis opinion a free use of wine did not shorten life[477]; and said, hewould not give less for the life of a certain Scotch Lord[478] (whom henamed) celebrated for hard drinking, than for that of a sober man. 'Butstay, (said he, with his usual intelligence, and accuracy of enquiry, )does it take much wine to make him drunk?' I answered, 'a great dealeither of wine or strong punch. '--'Then (said he) that is the worse. ' Ipresume to illustrate my friend's observation thus: 'A fortress whichsoon surrenders has its walls less shattered than when a long andobstinate resistance is made. '

I ventured to mention a person who was as violent a Scotsman as he wasan Englishman; and literally had the same contempt for an Englishmancompared with a Scotsman, that he had for a Scotsman compared with anEnglishman; and that he would say of Dr. Johnson, 'Damned rascal! totalk as he does, of the Scotch. ' This seemed, for a moment, 'to give himpause[479]. ' It, perhaps, presented his extreme prejudice against theScotch in a point of view somewhat new to him, by the effect of_contrast_. 

By the time when we returned to Ashbourne, Dr. Taylor was gone to bed. Johnson and I sat up a long time by ourselves. 

He was much diverted with an article which I shewed him in the _CriticalReview_ of this year, giving an account of a curious publication, entitled, _A Spiritual Diary and Soliloquies_, by John Rutty, M. D. Dr. Rutty was one of the people called Quakers, a physician of some eminencein Dublin, and authour of several works[480]. This Diary, which was keptfrom 1753 to 1775, the year in which he died, and was now published intwo volumes octavo, exhibited, in the simplicity of his heart, a minuteand honest register of the state of his mind; which, though frequentlylaughable enough, was not more so than the history of many men would be, if recorded with equal fairness. 

The following specimens were extracted by the Reviewers:--

'Tenth month, 1753. 23. Indulgence in bed an hour too long. Twelfth month, 17. An hypochondriack obnubilation from wind and indigestion. Ninth month, 28. An over-dose of whisky. 29. A dull, cross, cholerick day. First month, 1757--22. A little swinish at dinner and repast. 31. Dogged on provocation. Second month, 5. Very dogged or snappish. 14. Snappish on fasting. 26. Cursed snappishness to those under me, on a bodily indisposition. Third month, 11. On a provocation, exercised a dumb resentment for two days, instead of scolding. 22. Scolded too vehemently. 23. Dogged again. Fourth month, 29. Mechanically and sinfully dogged. '

Johnson laughed heartily at this good Quietist's self-condemningminutes; particularly at his mentioning, with such a serious regret, occasional instances of '_swinishness_ in eating, and _doggedness oftemper_[481]. ' He thought the observations of the Critical Reviewers uponthe importance of a man to himself so ingenious and so well expressed, that I shall here introduce them. 

After observing, that 'There are few writers who have gained anyreputation by recording their own actions, ' they say:--

'We may reduce the egotists to four classes. In the _first_ we haveJulius Caesar: he relates his own transactions; but he relates them withpeculiar grace and dignity, and his narrative is supported by thegreatness of his character and atchievements. In the _second_ class wehave Marcus Antoninus: this writer has given us a series of reflectionson his own life; but his sentiments are so noble, his morality sosublime, that his meditations are universally admired. In the _third_class we have some others of tolerable credit, who have given importanceto their own private history by an intermixture of literary anecdotes, and the occurrences of their own times: the celebrated _Huetius_ haspublished an entertaining volume upon this plan, "_De rebus ad eumpertinentibus_[482]. " In the _fourth_ class we have the journalists, temporal and spiritual: Elias Ashmole, William Lilly, George Whitefield, John Wesley, and a thousand other old women and fanatick writers ofmemoirs and meditations. '

I mentioned to him that Dr. Hugh Blair, in his lectures on Rhetorick andBelles Lettres, which I heard him deliver at Edinburgh, had animadvertedon the Johnsonian style as too pompous; and attempted to imitate it, bygiving a sentence of Addison in _The Spectator_, No. 411, in the mannerof Johnson. When treating of the utility of the pleasures of imaginationin preserving us from vice, it is observed of those 'who know not how tobe idle and innocent, ' that 'their very first step out of business isinto vice or folly;' which Dr. Blair supposed would have been expressedin _The Rambler_ thus: 'Their very first step out of the regions ofbusiness is into the perturbation of vice, or the vacuity of folly[483]. 'JOHNSON. 'Sir, these are not the words I should have used. No, Sir; theimitators of my style have not hit it. Miss Aikin has done it the best;for she has imitated the sentiment as well as the diction[484]. ' I intend, before this work is concluded[485], to exhibit specimens of imitation ofmy friend's style in various modes; some caricaturing or mimicking it, and some formed upon it, whether intentionally or with a degree ofsimilarity to it, of which, perhaps, the writers were not conscious. 

In Baretti's Review, which he published in Italy, under the title of_Frusta Letteraria_[486], it is observed, that Dr. Robertson the historianhad formed his style upon that of _Il celebre Samuele Johnson_. Myfriend himself was of that opinion; for he once said to me, in apleasant humour, 'Sir, if Robertson's style be faulty, he owes it to me;that is, having too many words, and those too big ones[487]. '

I read to him a letter which Lord Monboddo had written to me, containingsome critical remarks upon the style of his _Journey to the WesternIslands of Scotland_. His Lordship praised the very fine passage uponlanding at Icolmkill[488]; but his own style being exceedingly dry andhard, he disapproved of the richness of Johnson's language, and of hisfrequent use of metaphorical expressions. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, thiscriticism would be just, if in my style, superfluous words, or words toobig for the thoughts, could be pointed out[489]; but this I do not believecan be done. For instance; in the passage which Lord Monboddo admires, 'We were now treading that illustrious region[490], ' the word_illustrious_, contributes nothing to the mere narration; for the factmight be told without it: but it is not, therefore, superfluous; for itwakes the mind to peculiar attention, where something of more than usualimportance is to be presented. "Illustrious!"--for what? and then thesentence proceeds to expand the circumstances connected with Iona. And, Sir, as to metaphorical expression, that is a great excellence in style, when it is used with propriety, for it gives you two ideas forone;--conveys the meaning more luminously, and generally with aperception of delight. '

He told me, that he had been asked to undertake the new edition of the_Biographia Britannica_, but had declined it; which he afterwards saidto me he regretted[491]. In this regret many will join, because it wouldhave procured us more of Johnson's most delightful species of writing;and although my friend Dr. Kippis has hitherto discharged the taskjudiciously, distinctly, and with more impartiality than might have beenexpected from a Separatist, it were to have been wished that thesuperintendence of this literary Temple of Fame had been assigned to 'afriend to the constitution in Church and State. ' We should not then havehad it too much crowded with obscure dissenting teachers, doubtless menof merit and worth, but not quite to be numbered amongst 'the mosteminent persons who have flourished in Great-Britain and Ireland[492]. '

On Saturday, September 30, after breakfast, when Taylor was gone out tohis farm, Dr. Johnson and I had a serious conversation by ourselves onmelancholy and madness; which he was, I always thought, erroneouslyinclined to confound together[493]. Melancholy, like 'great wit, ' may be'near allied to madness[494];' but there is, in my opinion, a distinctseparation between them. When he talked of madness, he was to beunderstood as speaking of those who were in any great degree disturbed, or as it is commonly expressed, 'troubled in mind. ' Some of the ancientphilosophers held, that all deviations from right reason were madness;and whoever wishes to see the opinions both of ancients and moderns uponthis subject, collected and illustrated with a variety of curious facts, may read Dr. Arnold's very entertaining work[495]. 

Johnson said, 'A madman loves to be with people whom he fears; not as adog fears the lash; but of whom he stands in awe. ' I was struck with thejustice of this observation. To be with those of whom a person, whosemind is wavering and dejected, stands in awe, represses and composes anuneasy tumult of spirits, and consoles him with the contemplation ofsomething steady, and at least comparatively great. 

He added, 'Madmen are all sensual in the lower stages of the distemper. They are eager for gratifications to sooth their minds, and divert theirattention from the misery which they suffer: but when they grow veryill, pleasure is too weak for them, and they seek for pain[496]. Employment, Sir, and hardships, prevent melancholy. I suppose in all ourarmy in America there was not one man who went mad[497]. '

We entered seriously upon a question of much importance to me, whichJohnson was pleased to consider with friendly attention. I had longcomplained to him that I felt myself discontented in Scotland, as toonarrow a sphere, and that I wished to make my chief residence in London, the great scene of ambition, instruction, and amusement: a scene, whichwas to me, comparatively speaking, a heaven upon earth[498]. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, I never knew any one who had such a _gust_ for London as youhave: and I cannot blame you for your wish to live there: yet, Sir, wereI in your father's place, I should not consent to your settling there;for I have the old feudal notions, and I should be afraid thatAuchinleck would be deserted, as you would soon find it more desirableto have a country-seat in a better climate. I own, however, that toconsider it as a _duty_ to reside on a family estate is a prejudice; forwe must consider, that working-people get employment equally, and theproduce of land is sold equally, whether a great family resides at homeor not; and if the rents of an estate be carried to London, they returnagain in the circulation of commerce; nay, Sir, we must perhaps allow, that carrying the rents to a distance is a good, because it contributesto that circulation. We must, however, allow, that a well-regulatedgreat family may improve a neighbourhood in civility and elegance, andgive an example of good order, virtue, and piety; and so its residenceat home may be of much advantage. But if a great family be disorderlyand vicious, its residence at home is very pernicious to aneighbourhood. There is not now the same inducement to live in thecountry as formerly; the pleasures of social life are much betterenjoyed in town; and there is no longer in the country that power andinfluence in proprietors of land which they had in old times, and whichmade the country so agreeable to them. The Laird of Auchinleck now isnot near so great a man as the Laird of Auchinleck was a hundred yearsago[499]. 

I told him, that one of my ancestors never went from home without beingattended by thirty men on horseback. Johnson's shrewdness and spirit ofenquiry were exerted upon every occasion. 'Pray (said he, ) how did yourancestor support his thirty men and thirty horses, when he went at adistance from home, in an age when there was hardly any money incirculation?' I suggested the same difficulty to a friend, who mentionedDouglas's going to the Holy Land with a numerous train of followers. Douglas could, no doubt, maintain followers enough while living upon hisown lands, the produce of which supplied them with food; but he couldnot carry that food to the Holy Land; and as there was no commerce bywhich he could be supplied with money, how could he maintain them inforeign countries?

I suggested a doubt, that if I were to reside in London, the exquisitezest with which I relished it in occasional visits might go off, and Imight grow tired of it. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, you find no man, at allintellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man istired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all thatlife can afford[500]. '

To obviate his apprehension, that by settling in London I might desertthe seat of my ancestors, I assured him, that I had old feudalprinciples to a degree of enthusiasm; and that I felt all the _dulcedo_of the _natale solum_[501]. I reminded him, that the Laird of Auchinleckhad an elegant house, in front of which he could ride ten miles forwardupon his own territories, upon which he had upwards of six hundredpeople attached to him; that the family seat was rich in naturalromantick beauties of rock, wood, and water; and that in my 'morn oflife[502], ' I had appropriated the finest descriptions in the ancientClassicks to certain scenes there, which were thus associated in mymind. That when all this was considered, I should certainly pass a partof the year at home, and enjoy it the more from variety, and frombringing with me a share of the intellectual stores of the metropolis. He listened to all this, and kindly 'hoped it might be as I nowsupposed. '

He said, 'A country gentleman should bring his lady to visit London assoon as he can, that they may have agreeable topicks for conversationwhen they are by themselves. '

As I meditated trying my fortune in Westminster Hall, our conversationturned upon the profession of the law in England. JOHNSON. 'You must notindulge too sanguine hopes, should you be called to our bar. I was told, by a very sensible lawyer, that there are a great many chances againstany man's success in the profession of the law; the candidates are sonumerous, and those who get large practice so few. He said, it was by nomeans true that a man of good parts and application is sure of havingbusiness, though he, indeed, allowed that if such a man could but appearin a few causes, his merit would be known, and he would get forward; butthat the great risk was, that a man might pass half a life-time in theCourts, and never have an opportunity of shewing his abilities[503]. '

We talked of employment being absolutely necessary to preserve the mindfrom wearying and growing fretful, especially in those who have atendency to melancholy; and I mentioned to him a saying which somebodyhad related of an American savage, who, when an European was expatiatingon all the advantages of money, put this question: 'Will it purchase_occupation_?' JOHNSON. 'Depend upon it, Sir, this saying is too refinedfor a savage. And, Sir, money _will_ purchase occupation; it willpurchase all the conveniences of life; it will purchase variety ofcompany; it will purchase all sorts of entertainment. '

I talked to him of Forster's _Voyage to the South Seas_, which pleasedme; but I found he did not like it. 'Sir, (said he, ) there is a greataffectation of fine writing in it. ' BOSWELL. 'But he carries you alongwith him. ' JOHNSON, 'No, Sir; he does not carry _me_ along with him: heleaves me behind him: or rather, indeed, he sets me before him; for hemakes me turn over many leaves at a time. '

On Sunday, September 12[504], we went to the church of Ashbourne, which isone of the largest and most luminous that I have seen in any town of thesame size. I felt great satisfaction in considering that I was supportedin my fondness for solemn publick worship by the general concurrence andmunificence of mankind. 

Johnson and Taylor were so different from each other, that I wondered attheir preserving an intimacy[505]. Their having been at school and collegetogether, might, in some degree, account for this[506]; but Sir JoshuaReynolds has furnished me with a stronger reason; for Johnson mentionedto him, that he had been told by Taylor he was to be his heir. I shallnot take upon me to animadvert upon this; but certain it is, thatJohnson paid great attention to Taylor. He now, however, said to me, 'Sir, I love him; but I do not love him more; my regard for him does notincrease. As it is said in the Apocrypha, "his talk is of bullocks[507]:"I do not suppose he is very fond of my company. [508] His habits are by nomeans sufficiently clerical: this he knows that I see; and no man likesto live under the eye of perpetual disapprobation. '

I have no doubt that a good many sermons were composed for Taylor byJohnson. At this time I found, upon his table, a part of one which hehad newly begun to write: and _Concio pro Tayloro_ appears in one of hisdiaries. When to these circumstances we add the internal evidence fromthe power of thinking and style, in the collection which the ReverendMr. Hayes has published, with the _significant_ title of Sermons _leftfor publication_ by the Reverend John Taylor, LL. D. , our conviction willbe complete[509]. 

I, however, would not have it thought, that Dr. Taylor, though he couldnot write like Johnson, (as, indeed, who could?) did not sometimescompose sermons as good as those which we generally have from veryrespectable divines. He showed me one with notes on the margin inJohnson's hand-writing; and I was present when he read another toJohnson, that he might have his opinion of it, and Johnson said it was'very well. ' These, we may be sure, were not Johnson's; for he was abovelittle arts, or tricks of deception. 

Johnson was by no means of opinion, that every man of a learnedprofession should consider it as incumbent upon him, or as necessary tohis credit, to appear as an authour. When in the ardour of ambition forliterary fame, I regretted to him one day that an eminent Judge hadnothing of it, and therefore would leave no perpetual monument ofhimself to posterity[510]. 'Alas, Sir, (said Johnson) what a mass ofconfusion should we have, if every Bishop, and every Judge, everyLawyer, Physician, and Divine, were to write books. '

I mentioned to Johnson a respectable person of a very strong mind, whohad little of that tenderness which is common to human nature; as aninstance of which, when I suggested to him that he should invite hisson, who had been settled ten years in foreign parts[511], to come homeand pay him a visit, his answer was, 'No, no, let him mind hisbusiness. ' JOHNSON. 'I do not agree with him, Sir, in this. Gettingmoney is not all a man's business: to cultivate kindness is a valuablepart of the business of life. '

In the evening, Johnson, being in very good spirits, entertained us withseveral characteristical portraits. I regret that any of them escaped myretention and diligence. I found, from experience, that to collect myfriend's conversation so as to exhibit it with any degree of itsoriginal flavour, it was necessary to write it down without delay. Torecord his sayings, after some distance of time, was like preserving orpickling long-kept and faded fruits, or other vegetables, which, when inthat state, have little or nothing of their taste when fresh. 

I shall present my readers with a series of what I gathered this eveningfrom the Johnsonian garden. 

'My friend, the late Earl of Corke, had a great desire to maintain theliterary character of his family[512]: he was a genteel man, but did notkeep up the dignity of his rank. He was so generally civil, that nobodythanked him for it. '

'Did we not hear so much said of Jack Wilkes, we should think morehighly of his conversation. Jack has great variety of talk, Jack is ascholar, and Jack has the manners of a gentleman[513]. But after hearinghis name sounded from pole to pole, as the phoenix of convivialfelicity, we are disappointed in his company. He has always been _atme_: but I would do Jack a kindness, rather than not. The contest is nowover[514]. '

'Garrick's gaiety of conversation has delicacy and elegance: Foote makesyou laugh more; but Foote has the air of a buffoon paid for entertainingthe company. He, indeed, well deserves his hire[515]. '

'Colley Cibber once consulted me as to one of his birth-day Odes, [516] along time before it was wanted. I objected very freely to severalpassages. Cibber lost patience, and would not read his Ode to an end. When we had done with criticism, we walked over to Richardson's, theauthour of _Clarissa_, and I wondered to find Richardson displeased thatI "did not treat Gibber with more _respect_. " Now, Sir, to talk of_respect for a player_!' (smiling disdainfully). BOSWELL. 'There, Sir, you are always heretical: you never will allow merit to a player[517]. 'JOHNSON. 'Merit, Sir! what merit? Do you respect a rope-dancer, or aballad-singer?' BOSWELL. 'No, Sir: but we respect a great player, as aman who can conceive lofty sentiments, and can express them gracefully. 'JOHNSON. 'What, Sir, a fellow who claps a hump on his back, and a lumpon his leg, and cries "_I am Richard the Third_[518]"? Nay, Sir, aballad-singer is a higher man, for he does two things; he repeats and hesings: there is both recitation and musick in his performance: theplayer only recites. ' BOSWELL. 'My dear Sir! you may turn anything intoridicule. I allow, that a player of farce is not entitled to respect; hedoes a little thing: but he who can represent exalted characters, andtouch the noblest passions, has very respectable powers; and mankindhave agreed in admiring great talents for the stage. We must consider, too, that a great player does what very few are capable to do: his artis a very rare faculty. _Who_ can repeat Hamlet's soliloquy, "To be, ornot to be, " as Garrick does it?' JOHNSON. 'Any body may. Jemmy, there (aboy about eight years old, who was in the room), will do it as well in aweek[519]. ' BOSWELL. 'No, no, Sir: and as a proof of the merit of greatacting, and of the value which mankind set upon it, Garrick has got ahundred thousand pounds. ' JOHNSON. 'Is getting a hundred thousand poundsa proof of excellence? That has been done by a scoundrel commissary[520]. '

This was most fallacious reasoning. I was sure, for once, that I had thebest side of the argument. I boldly maintained the just distinctionbetween a tragedian and a mere theatrical droll; between those who rouseour terrour and pity, and those who only make us laugh. 'If (said I)Betterton and Foote were to walk into this room, you would respectBetterton much more than Foote. ' JOHNSON. 'If Betterton were to walkinto this room with Foote, Foote would soon drive him out of it. Foote, Sir, _quatenùs_ Foote, has powers superiour to them all[521]. '

On Monday, September 22, when at breakfast, I unguardedly said to Dr. Johnson, 'I wish I saw you and Mrs. Macaulay[522] together. ' He grew veryangry; and, after a pause, while a cloud gathered on his brow, he burstout, 'No, Sir; you would not see us quarrel, to make you sport. Don'tyou know that it is very uncivil to _pit_[523] two people against oneanother?' Then, checking himself, and wishing to be more gentle, headded, 'I do not say you should be hanged or drowned for this; but it_is_ very uncivil. ' Dr. Taylor thought him in the wrong, and spoke tohim privately of it; but I afterwards acknowledged to Johnson that I wasto blame, for I candidly owned, that I meant to express a desire to seea contest between Mrs. Macaulay and him; but then I knew how the contestwould end; so that I was to see him triumph. JOHNSON. 'Sir, you cannotbe sure how a contest will end; and no man has a right to engage twopeople in a dispute by which their passions may be inflamed, and theymay part with bitter resentment against each other. I would sooner keepcompany with a man from whom I must guard my pockets, than with a manwho contrives to bring me into a dispute with somebody that he may hearit. This is the great fault of ----[524], (naming one of our friends)endeavouring to introduce a subject upon which he knows two people inthe company differ. ' BOSWELL. 'But he told me, Sir, he does it forinstruction. ' JOHNSON. 'Whatever the motive be, Sir, the man who doesso, does very wrong. He has no more right to instruct himself at suchrisk, than he has to make two people fight a duel, that he may learn howto defend himself. '

He found great fault with a gentleman of our acquaintance for keeping abad table[525]. 'Sir, (said he, ) when a man is invited to dinner, he isdisappointed if he does not get something good. I advised Mrs. Thrale, who has no card-parties at her house, to give sweet-meats, and such goodthings, in an evening, as are not commonly given, and she would findcompany enough come to her; for every body loves to have things whichplease the palate put in their way, without trouble or preparation[526]. 'Such was his attention to the _minutiae_ of life and manners. 

He thus characterised the Duke of Devonshire[527], grandfather of thepresent representative of that very respectable family: 'He was not aman of superiour abilities, but he was a man strictly faithful to hisword. If, for instance, he had promised you an acorn, and none had grownthat year in his woods, he would not have contented himself with thatexcuse; he would have sent to Denmark for it. So unconditional was he inkeeping his word; so high as to the point of honour. ' This was a liberaltestimony from the Tory Johnson to the virtue of a great Whig nobleman. 

Mr. Burke's _Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol, on the affairs ofAmerica_, being mentioned, Johnson censured the composition much[528], andhe ridiculed the definition of a free government, _viz_. 'For anypractical purpose, it is what the people think so[529]. '--'I will let theKing of France govern me on those conditions, (said he, ) for it is to begoverned just as I please. ' And when Dr. Taylor talked of a girl beingsent to a parish workhouse, and asked how much she could be obliged towork, 'Why, (said Johnson, ) as much as is reasonable: and what is that?as much as _she thinks_ reasonable. '

Dr. Johnson obligingly proposed to carry me to see Islam, a romantickscene, now belonging to a family of the name of Port, but formerly theseat of the Congreves[530]. I suppose it is well described in some of theTours. Johnson described it distinctly and vividly, at which I could notbut express to him my wonder; because, though my eyes, as he observed, were better than his, I could not by any means equal him in representingvisible objects. I said, the difference between us in this respect wasas that between a man who has a bad instrument, but plays well on it, and a man who has a good instrument, on which he can play veryimperfectly[531]. 

I recollect a very fine amphitheatre, surrounded with hills covered withwoods, and walks neatly formed along the side of a rocky steep, on thequarter next the house, with recesses under projections of rock, overshadowed with trees; in one of which recesses, we were told, Congreve wrote his _Old Bachelor_[532]. We viewed a remarkable naturalcuriosity at Islam; two rivers bursting near each other from the rock, not from immediate springs, but after having run for many miles underground. Plott, in his _History of Staffordshire_[533], gives an account ofthis curiosity; but Johnson would not believe it, though we had theattestation of the gardener, who said, he had put in corks, where theriver _Manyfold_ sinks into the ground, and had catched them in a net, placed before one of the openings where the water bursts out. Indeed, such subterraneous courses of water are found in various parts of ourglobe[534]. 

Talking of Dr. Johnson's unwillingness to believe extraordinarythings[535], I ventured to say, 'Sir, you come near Hume's argumentagainst miracles, "That it is more probable witnesses should lie, or bemistaken, than that they should happen[536]. "' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, Hume, taking the proposition simply, is right. But the Christian revelation isnot proved by the miracles alone, but as connected with prophecies, andwith the doctrines in confirmation of which the miracles were wrought. '

He repeated his observation, that the differences among Christians arereally of no consequence[537]. 'For instance, (said he, ) if a Protestantobjects to a Papist, "You worship images;" the Papist can answer, "I donot insist on _your_ doing it; you may be a very good Papist without it:I do it only as a help to my devotion. "' I said, the great article ofChristianity is the revelation of immortality. Johnson admitted it was. 

In the evening, a gentleman-farmer, who was on a visit at Dr. Taylor's, attempted to dispute with Johnson in favour of Mungo Campbell, who shotAlexander, Earl of Eglintoune[538] upon his having fallen, when retreatingfrom his Lordship, who he believed was about to seize his gun, as he hadthreatened to do. He said, he should have done just as Campbell did. JOHNSON. 'Whoever would do as Campbell did, deserves to be hanged; notthat I could, as a juryman, have found him legally guilty of murder; butI am glad they found means to convict him. ' The gentleman-farmer said, 'A poor man has as much honour as a rich man; and Campbell had _that_ todefend. ' Johnson exclaimed, 'A poor man has no honour. ' The Englishyeoman, not dismayed, proceeded: 'Lord Eglintoune was a damned fool torun on upon Campbell, after being warned that Campbell would shoot himif he did. ' Johnson, who could not bear any thing like swearing[539], angrily replied, 'He was _not_ a _damned_ fool: he only thought too wellof Campbell. He did not believe Campbell would be such a _damned_scoundrel, as to do so _damned_ a thing. ' His emphasis on _damned_, accompanied with frowning looks, reproved his opponent's want of decorumin _his_ presence. 

Talking of the danger of being mortified by rejection, when makingapproaches to the acquaintance of the great, I observed: 'I am, however, generally for trying, "Nothing venture, nothing have. "'[540] JOHNSON. 'Very true, Sir; but I have always been more afraid of failing, thanhopeful of success. ' And, indeed, though he had all just respect forrank, no man ever less courted the favour of the great. 

During this interview at Ashbourne, Johnson seemed to be more uniformlysocial, cheerful, and alert, than I had almost ever seen him. He wasprompt on great occasions and on small. Taylor, who praised every thingof his own to excess; in short, 'whose geese were all swans, ' as theproverb says, expatiated on the excellence of his bull-dog, which, hetold us, was 'perfectly well shaped. ' Johnson, after examining theanimal attentively, thus repressed the vain-glory of our host:--'No, Sir, he is _not_ well shaped; for there is not the quick transition fromthe thickness of the fore-part, to the _tenuity_--the thin part--behind, --which a bull-dog ought to have. ' This _tenuity_ was the only_hard word_ that I heard him use during this interview, and it will beobserved, he instantly put another expression in its place. Taylor said, a small bull-dog was as good as a large one. JOHNSON, 'No, Sir; for, inproportion to his size, he has strength: and your argument would prove, that a good bull-dog may be as small as a mouse. ' It was amazing how heentered with perspicuity and keenness upon every thing that occurred inconversation. Most men, whom I know, would no more think of discussing aquestion about a bull-dog, than of attacking a bull. 

I cannot allow any fragment whatever that floats in my memory concerningthe great subject of this work to be lost. Though a small particular mayappear trifling to some, it will be relished by others; while everylittle spark adds something to the general blaze: and to please thetrue, candid, warm admirers of Johnson, and in any degree increase thesplendour of his reputation, I bid defiance to the shafts of ridicule, or even of malignity. Showers of them have been discharged at my_Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides_; yet it still sails unhurt along thestream of time, and, as an attendant upon Johnson, 'Pursues the triumph, and partakes the gale[541]. '

One morning after breakfast, when the sun shone bright, we walked outtogether, and 'pored[542]' for some time with placid indolence upon anartificial water-fall, which Dr. Taylor had made by building a strongdyke of stone across the river behind the garden[543]. It was now somewhatobstructed by branches of trees and other rubbish, which had come downthe river, and settled close to it. Johnson, partly from a desire to seeit play more freely, and partly from that inclination to activity whichwill animate, at times, the most inert and sluggish mortal, took a longpole which was lying on a bank, and pushed down several parcels of thiswreck with painful assiduity, while I stood quietly by, wondering tobehold the sage thus curiously employed, and smiling with an humoroussatisfaction each time when he carried his point. He worked till he wasquite out of breath; and having found a large dead cat so heavy that hecould not move it after several efforts, 'Come, ' said he, (throwing downthe pole, ) '_you_ shall take it now;' which I accordingly did, and beinga fresh man, soon made the cat tumble over the cascade. This may belaughed at as too trifling to record; but it is a small characteristicktrait in the Flemish picture which I give of my friend, and in which, therefore, I mark the most minute particulars. And let it be remembered, that _Æsop at play_ is one of the instructive apologues of antiquity. 

I mentioned an old gentleman of our acquaintance whose memory wasbeginning to fail. JOHNSON. 'There must be a diseased mind, where thereis a failure of memory at seventy. A man's head, Sir, must be morbid, ifhe fails so soon. '[544] My friend, being now himself sixty-eight, mightthink thus: but I imagine, that _threescore and ten_, the Psalmist'speriod of sound human life in later ages, may have a failure, thoughthere be no disease in the constitution. 

Talking of Rochester's Poems, he said, he had given them to Mr. Steevensto castrate for the edition of the poets, to which he was to writePrefaces. Dr. Taylor (the only time I ever heard him say any thingwitty)[545] observed, that 'if Rochester had been castrated himself, hisexceptionable poems would not have been written. '[546] I asked if Burnethad not given a good Life of Rochester. JOHNSON. 'We have a good_Death_: there is not much _Life_[547]. '

I asked whether Prior's Poems were to be printed entire: Johnson saidthey were. I mentioned Lord Hailes's censure of Prior, in his Preface toa collection of _Sacred Poems_, by various hands, published by him atEdinburgh a great many years ago, where he mentions, 'those impure taleswhich will be the eternal opprobrium of their ingenious authour. 'JOHNSON. 'Sir, Lord Hailes has forgot. There is nothing in Prior thatwill excite to lewdness. If Lord Hailes thinks there is, he must be morecombustible than other people[548]. '

I instanced the tale of _Paulo Purganti and his Wife_. JOHNSON. 'Sir, there is nothing there, but that his wife wanted to be kissed when poorPaulo was out of pocket. No, Sir, Prior is a lady's book. No lady isashamed to have it standing in her library. '

The hypochondriack disorder being mentioned, Dr. Johnson did not thinkit so common as I supposed. 'Dr. Taylor (said he) is the same one day asanother. Burke and Reynolds are the same; Beauclerk, except when inpain, is the same. I am not so myself; but this I do not mentioncommonly[549]. '

I complained of a wretched changefulness, so that I could not preserve, for any long continuance, the same views of any thing. It was mostcomfortable to me to experience, in Dr. Johnson's company, a relief fromthis uneasiness. His steady vigorous mind held firm before me thoseobjects which my own feeble and tremulous imagination frequentlypresented, in such a wavering state, that my reason could not judge wellof them. 

Dr. Johnson advised me to-day, to have as many books about me as Icould; that I might read upon any subject upon which I had a desire forinstruction at the time. 'What you read _then_ (said he) you willremember; but if you have not a book immediately ready, and the subjectmoulds in your mind, it is a chance if you again have a desire to studyit. ' He added, 'If a man never has an eager desire for instruction, heshould prescribe a task for himself. But it is better when a man readsfrom immediate inclination[550]. '

He repeated a good many lines of Horace's _Odes_, while we were in thechaise. I remember particularly the Ode _Eheu fugaces_[551]. 

He said, the dispute as to the comparative excellence of Homer orVirgil[552] was inaccurate. 'We must consider (said he) whether Homer wasnot the greatest poet, though Virgil may have produced the finest poem. Virgil was indebted to Homer for the whole invention of the structure ofan epick poem, and for many of his beauties. '

He told me that Bacon was a favourite authour with him[553]; but he hadnever read his works till he was compiling the _English Dictionary_, inwhich, he said, I might see Bacon very often quoted. Mr. Sewardrecollects his having mentioned, that a Dictionary of the EnglishLanguage might be compiled from Bacon's writings alone[554], and that hehad once an intention of giving an edition of Bacon, at least of hisEnglish works, and writing the Life of that great man. Had he executedthis intention, there can be no doubt that he would have done it in amost masterly manner. Mallet's _Life of Bacon_ has no inconsiderablemerit as an acute and elegant dissertation relative to its subject; butMallet's mind was not comprehensive enough to embrace the vast extent ofLord Verulam's genius and research. Dr. Warburton therefore observed, with witty justness, 'that Mallet, in his _Life of Bacon_, had forgottenthat he was a philosopher; and if he should write the Life of the Dukeof Marlborough, which he had undertaken to do, he would probably forgetthat he was a general[555]. '

Wishing to be satisfied what degree of truth there was in a story whicha friend of Johnson's and mine had told me to his disadvantage, Imentioned it to him in direct terms; and it was to this effect: that agentleman[556] who had lived in great intimacy with him, shewn him muchkindness, and even relieved him from a spunging-house, having afterwardsfallen into bad circumstances, was one day, when Johnson was at dinnerwith him, seized for debt, and carried to prison; that Johnson sat stillundisturbed, and went on eating and drinking; upon which the gentleman'ssister, who was present, could not suppress her indignation: 'What, Sir, (said she, ) are you so unfeeling, as not even to offer to go to mybrother in his distress; you who have been so much obliged to him?' Andthat Johnson answered, 'Madam, I owe him no obligation; what he did forme he would have done for a dog. '

Johnson assured me, that the story was absolutely false: but like a manconscious of being in the right, and desirous of completely vindicatinghimself from such a charge, he did not arrogantly rest on a mere denial, and on his general character, but proceeded thus:--'Sir, I was veryintimate with that gentleman, and was once relieved by him from anarrest; but I never was present when he was arrested, never knew that hewas arrested, and I believe he never was in difficulties after the timewhen he relieved me. I loved him much; yet, in talking of his generalcharacter, I may have said, though I do not remember that I ever did sayso, that as his generosity proceeded from no principle, but was a partof his profusion, he would do for a dog what he would do for a friend:but I never applied this remark to any particular instance, andcertainly not to his kindness to me. If a profuse man, who does notvalue his money, and gives a large sum to a whore, gives half as much, or an equally large sum to relieve a friend, it cannot be esteemed asvirtue. This was all that I could say of that gentleman; and, if said atall, it must have been said after his death. Sir, I would have gone tothe world's end to relieve him. The remark about the dog, if made by me, was such a sally as might escape one when painting a man highly. '

On Tuesday, September 23, Johnson was remarkably cordial to me. It beingnecessary for me to return to Scotland soon, I had fixed on the next dayfor my setting out, and I felt a tender concern at the thought ofparting with him. He had, at this time, frankly communicated to me manyparticulars, which are inserted in this work in their proper places; andonce, when I happened to mention that the expence of my jaunt would cometo much more than I had computed, he said, 'Why, Sir, if the expencewere to be an inconvenience, you would have reason to regret it: but, ifyou have had the money to spend, I know not that you could havepurchased as much pleasure with it in any other way. '

During this interview at Ashbourne, Johnson and I frequently talked withwonderful pleasure of mere trifles which had occurred in our tour to theHebrides; for it had left a most agreeable and lasting impression uponhis mind. 

He found fault with me for using the phrase to _make_ money. 'Don't yousee (said he) the impropriety of it? To _make_ money is to _coin_ it:you should say _get_ money. ' The phrase, however, is, I think, prettycurrent[557]. But Johnson was at all times jealous of infractions upon thegenuine English language, and prompt to repress colloquial barbarisms;such as, _pledging myself_, for _undertaking_; _line_, for _department_, or _branch_, as, the _civil line_, the _banking line_. He wasparticularly indignant against the almost universal use of the word_idea_ in the sense of _notion_ or _opinion_, when it is clear that_idea_ can only signify something of which an image can be formed in themind[558]. We may have an _idea_ or _image_ of a mountain, a tree, abuilding; but we cannot surely have an _idea_ or _image_ of an_argument_ or _proposition_. Yet we hear the sages of the law'delivering their _ideas_ upon the question under consideration;' andthe first speakers in parliament 'entirely coinciding in the _idea_which has been ably stated by an honourable member;'--or 'reprobating an_idea_ unconstitutional, and fraught with the most dangerousconsequences to a great and free country. ' Johnson called this 'moderncant[559]. '

I perceived that he pronounced the word _heard_, as if spelt with adouble _e, heerd_, instead of sounding it _herd_, as is most usuallydone. He said, his reason was, that if it was pronounced _herd_, therewould be a single exception from the English pronunciation of thesyllable _ear_, and he thought it better not to have that exception. 

He praised Grainger's _Ode on Solitude_, in Dodsley's _Collection_, andrepeated, with great energy, the exordium:--

'O Solitude, romantick maid, Whether by nodding towers you tread;Or haunt the desart's trackless gloom, Or hover o'er the yawning tomb;Or climb the Andes' clifted side, Or by the Nile's coy source abide;Or, starting from your half-year's sleep, From Hecla view the thawing deep;Or, at the purple dawn of day, Tadnor's marble waste survey[560]';

observing, 'This, Sir, is very noble. '

In the evening our gentleman-farmer, and two others, entertainedthemselves and the company with a great number of tunes on the fiddle. Johnson desired to have 'Let ambition fire thy mind[561], ' played overagain, and appeared to give a patient attention to it; though he ownedto me that he was very insensible to the power of musick[562]. I told him, that it affected me to such a degree, as often to agitate my nervespainfully, producing in my mind alternate sensations of pathetickdejection, so that I was ready to shed tears; and of daring resolution, so that I was inclined to rush into the thickest part of the battle. 'Sir, (said he, ) I should never hear it, if it made me such a fool. '

Much of the effect of musick, I am satisfied, is owing to theassociation of ideas. That air, which instantly and irresistibly excitesin the Swiss, when in a foreign land, the _maladie du pais_, has, I amtold, no intrinsick power of sound. And I know from my own experience, that Scotch reels, though brisk, make me melancholy, because I used tohear them in my early years, at a time when Mr. Pitt called for soldiers'from the mountains of the north, ' and numbers of brave Highlanders weregoing abroad, never to return[563]. Whereas the airs in _The Beggar'sOpera_, many of which are very soft, never fail to render me gay, because they are associated with the warm sensations and high spirits ofLondon. This evening, while some of the tunes of ordinary compositionwere played with no great skill, my frame was agitated, and I wasconscious of a generous attachment to Dr. Johnson, as my preceptor andfriend, mixed with an affectionate regret that he was an old man, whom Ishould probably lose in a short time. I thought I could defend him atthe point of my sword. My reverence and affection for him were in fullglow. I said to him, 'My dear Sir, we must meet every year, if you don'tquarrel with me. ' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, you are more likely to quarrelwith me, than I with you. My regard for you is greater almost than Ihave words to express; but I do not choose to be always repeating it;write it down in the first leaf of your pocket-book, and never doubt ofit again. '

I talked to him of misery being 'the doom of man' in this life, asdisplayed in his _Vanity of Human Wishes_[564]'. Yet I observed thatthings were done upon the supposition of happiness; grand houses werebuilt, fine gardens were made, splendid places of publick amusement werecontrived, and crowded with company. JOHNSON. 'Alas, Sir, these are allonly struggles for happiness. When I first entered Ranelagh[565], it gavean expansion and gay sensation to my mind, such as I never experiencedany where else. But, as Xerxes wept when he viewed his immense army, andconsidered that not one of that great multitude would be alive a hundredyears afterwards, so it went to my heart to consider that there was notone in all that brilliant circle, that was not afraid to go home andthink; but that the thoughts of each individual there, would bedistressing when alone. ' This reflection was experimentally just. Thefeeling of languor[566], which succeeds the animation of gaiety, is itselfa very severe pain; and when the mind is then vacant, a thousanddisappointments and vexations rush in and excruciate. Will not many evenof my fairest readers allow this to be true?

I suggested, that being in love, and flattered with hopes of success; orhaving some favourite scheme in view for the next day, might preventthat wretchedness of which we had been talking. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, itmay sometimes be so as you suppose; but my conclusion is in general buttoo true. '

While Johnson and I stood in calm conference by ourselves in Dr. Taylor's garden, at a pretty late hour in a serene autumn night, lookingup to the heavens, I directed the discourse to the subject of a futurestate. My friend was in a placid and most benignant frame. 'Sir, (saidhe, ) I do not imagine that all things will be made clear to usimmediately after death, but that the ways of Providence will beexplained to us very gradually. ' I ventured to ask him whether, althoughthe words of some texts of Scripture seemed strong in support of thedreadful doctrine of an eternity of punishment, we might not hope thatthe denunciation was figurative, and would not literally be executed. JOHNSON. 'Sir, you are to consider the intention of punishment in afuture state. We have no reason to be sure that we shall then be nolonger liable to offend against GOD. We do not know that even the angelsare quite in a state of security; nay we know that some of them havefallen. It may, therefore, perhaps be necessary, in order to preserveboth men and angels in a state of rectitude, that they should havecontinually before them the punishment of those who have deviated fromit; but we may hope that by some other means a fall from rectitude maybe prevented. Some of the texts of Scripture upon this subject are, asyou observe, indeed strong; but they may admit of a mitigatedinterpretation. ' He talked to me upon this awful and delicate questionin a gentle tone, and as if afraid to be decisive[567]. 

After supper I accompanied him to his apartment, and at my request hedictated to me an argument in favour of the negro who was then claiminghis liberty, in an action in the Court of Session in Scotland[568]. He hadalways been very zealous against slavery in every form, in which I, withall deference, thought that he discovered 'a zeal without knowledge[569]. 'Upon one occasion, when in company with some very grave men at Oxford, his toast was, 'Here's to the next insurrection of the negroes in theWest Indies[570]. ' His violent prejudice against our West Indian andAmerican settlers appeared whenever there was an opportunity[571]. Towardsthe conclusion of his _Taxation no Tyranny_, he says, 'how is it that wehear the loudest _yelps_ for liberty among the drivers of negroes[572]?'and in his conversation with Mr. Wilkes, he asked, 'Where did Beckfordand Trecothick learn English[573]?' That Trecothick could both speak andwrite good English is well known. I myself was favoured with hiscorrespondence concerning the brave Corsicans. And that Beckford couldspeak it with a spirit of honest resolution even to his Majesty, as his'faithful Lord-Mayor of London, ' is commemorated by the noble monumenterected to him in Guildhall[574]. '

The argument dictated by Dr. Johnson was as follows:--

'It must be agreed that in most ages many countries have had part oftheir inhabitants in a state of slavery[575]; yet it may be doubtedwhether slavery can ever be supposed the natural condition of man. It isimpossible not to conceive that men in their original state wereequal[576]; and very difficult to imagine how one would be subjected toanother but by violent compulsion. An individual may, indeed, forfeithis liberty by a crime; but he cannot by that crime forfeit the libertyof his children[577]. What is true of a criminal seems true likewise of acaptive. A man may accept life from a conquering enemy on condition ofperpetual servitude; but it is very doubtful whether he can entail thatservitude on his descendants; for no man can stipulate withoutcommission for another. The condition which he himself accepts, his sonor grandson perhaps would have rejected. If we should admit, whatperhaps may with more reason be denied, that there are certain relationsbetween man and man which may make slavery necessary and just, yet itcan never be proved that he who is now suing for his freedom ever stoodin any of those relations. He is certainly subject by no law, but thatof violence, to his present master; who pretends no claim to hisobedience, but that he bought him from a merchant of slaves, whose rightto sell him never was examined. It is said that, according to theconstitutions of Jamaica, he was legally enslaved; these constitutionsare merely positive; and apparently injurious to the rights of mankind, because whoever is exposed to sale is condemned to slavery withoutappeal; by whatever fraud or violence he might have been originallybrought into the merchant's power. In our own time Princes have beensold, by wretches to whose care they were entrusted, that they mighthave an European education; but when once they were brought to a marketin the plantations, little would avail either their dignity or theirwrongs. The laws of Jamaica afford a Negro no redress. His colour isconsidered as a sufficient testimony against him. It is to be lamentedthat moral right should ever give way to political convenience. But iftemptations of interest are sometimes too strong for human virtue, letus at least retain a virtue where there is no temptation to quit it. Inthe present case there is apparent right on one side, and no convenienceon the other. Inhabitants of this island can neither gain riches norpower by taking away the liberty of any part of the human species. Thesum of the argument is this:--No man is by nature the property ofanother: The defendant is, therefore, by nature free: The rights ofnature must be some way forfeited before they can be justly taken away:That the defendant has by any act forfeited the rights of nature werequire to be proved; and if no proof of such forfeiture can be given, we doubt not but the justice of the court will declare him free. '

I record Dr. Johnson's argument fairly upon this particular case; where, perhaps, he was in the right. But I beg leave to enter my most solemnprotest against his general doctrine with respect to the _Slave Trade_. For I will resolutely say--that his unfavourable notion of it was owingto prejudice, and imperfect or false information. The wild and dangerousattempt which has for some time been persisted in to obtain an act ofour Legislature, to abolish so very important and necessary a branch ofcommercial interest[578], must have been crushed at once, had not theinsignificance of the zealots who vainly took the lead in it, made thevast body of Planters, Merchants, and others, whose immense propertiesare involved in that trade, reasonably enough suppose that there couldbe no danger. The encouragement which the attempt has received excitesmy wonder and indignation: and though some men of superiour abilitieshave supported it; whether from a love of temporary popularity, whenprosperous; or a love of general mischief, when desperate, my opinion isunshaken. To abolish a _status_, which in all ages GOD has sanctioned, and man has continued, would not only be _robbery_ to an innumerableclass of our fellow-subjects; but it would be extreme cruelty to theAfrican Savages, a portion of whom it saves from massacre, orintolerable bondage in their own country, and introduces into a muchhappier state of life; especially now when their passage to theWest-Indies and their treatment there is humanely regulated. To abolishthat trade would be to

'--shut the gates of mercy on mankind[579]'. 

Whatever may have passed elsewhere concerning it, the HOUSE OF LORDS iswise and independent:

_Intaminatis fulget honoribus;Nec sumit aut ponit securesArbitrio popularis auræ_[580]. 

I have read, conversed, and thought much upon the subject, and wouldrecommend to all who are capable of conviction, an excellent Tract by mylearned and ingenious friend John Ranby, Esq. , entitled _Doubts on theAbolition of the Slave Trade_. To Mr. Ranby's _Doubts_ I will apply LordChancellor Hardwicke's expression in praise of a Scotch Law Book, called_Dirletons Doubts_; HIS _Doubts_, (said his Lordship, ) are better thanmost people's _Certainties_[581]. 

When I said now to Johnson, that I was afraid I kept him too late up. 'No, Sir, (said he, ) I don't care though I sit all night with you[582]. 'This was an animated speech from a man in his sixty-ninth year. 

Had I been as attentive not to displease him as I ought to have been, Iknow not but this vigil might have been fulfilled; but I unluckilyentered upon the controversy concerning the right of Great-Britain totax America, and attempted to argue in favour of our fellow-subjects onthe other side of the Atlantick[583]. I insisted that America might bevery well governed, and made to yield sufficient revenue by the means of_influence_[584], as exemplified in Ireland, while the people might bepleased with the imagination of their participating of the Britishconstitution, by having a body of representatives, without whose consentmoney could not be exacted from them. Johnson could not bear my thusopposing his avowed opinion, which he had exerted himself with anextreme degree of heat to enforce; and the violent agitation into whichhe was thrown, while answering, or rather reprimanding me, alarmed meso, that I heartily repented of my having unthinkingly introduced thesubject. I myself, however, grew warm, and the change was great, fromthe calm state of philosophical discussion in which we had a littlebefore been pleasingly employed. 

I talked of the corruption of the British Parliament, in which I allegedthat any question, however unreasonable or unjust, might be carried by avenal majority; and I spoke with high admiration of the Roman Senate, asif composed of men sincerely desirous to resolve what they should thinkbest for their country[585]. My friend would allow no such character tothe Roman Senate; and he maintained that the British Parliament was notcorrupt, and that there was no occasion to corrupt its members;asserting, that there was hardly ever any question of great importancebefore Parliament, any question in which a man might not very well voteeither upon one side or the other. He said there had been none in histime except that respecting America. 

We were fatigued by the contest, which was produced by my want ofcaution; and he was not then in the humour to slide into easy andcheerful talk. It therefore so happened, that we were after an hour ortwo very willing to separate and go to bed[586]. 

On Wednesday, September 24, I went into Dr. Johnson's room before he gotup, and finding that the storm of the preceding night was quite laid, Isat down upon his bed-side, and he talked with as much readiness andgood-humour as ever. He recommended to me to plant a considerable partof a large moorish farm which I had purchased[587], and he made severalcalculations of the expence and profit: for he delighted in exercisinghis mind on the science of numbers[588]. He pressed upon me the importanceof planting at the first in a very sufficient manner, quoting the saying'_In bello non licet bis errare_:' and adding, 'this is equally true inplanting. '

I spoke with gratitude of Dr. Taylor's hospitality; and, as evidencethat it was not on account of his good table alone that Johnson visitedhim often, I mentioned a little anecdote which had escaped my friend'srecollection, and at hearing which repeated, he smiled. One evening, when I was sitting with him, Frank delivered this message: 'Sir, Dr. Taylor sends his compliments to you, and begs you will dine with himto-morrow. He has got a hare. '--'My compliments (said Johnson) and I'lldine with him--hare or rabbit. '

After breakfast I departed, and pursued my journey northwards[589]. I tookmy post-chaise from the Green Man, a very good inn at Ashbourne, themistress of which, a mighty civil gentlewoman, courtseying very low, presented me with an engraving of the sign of her house; to which shehad subjoined, in her own hand-writing, an address in such singularsimplicity of style, that I have preserved it pasted upon one of theboards of my original Journal at this time, and shall here insert it forthe amusement of my readers:--

'_M. KILLINGLEY's duty waits upon_ Mr. Boswell, _is exceedinglyobliged to him for this favour; whenever he comes this way, hopes fora continuance of the same. Would_ Mr. Boswell _name the house to hisextensive acquaintance, it would be a singular favour conferr'd on onewho has it not in her power to make any other return but her mostgrateful thanks, and sincerest prayers for his happiness in time, andin a blessed eternity. 

'Tuesday morn_. '

From this meeting at Ashbourne I derived a considerable accession to myJohnsonian store. I communicated my original Journal to Sir WilliamForbes, in whom I have always placed deserved confidence; and what hewrote to me concerning it is so much to my credit as the biographer ofJohnson, that my readers will, I hope, grant me their indulgence forhere inserting it[590]: 'It is not once or twice going over it (says SirWilliam, ) that will satisfy me; for I find in it a high degree ofinstruction as well as entertainment; and I derive more benefit from Dr. Johnson's admirable discussions than I should be able to draw from hispersonal conversation; for, I suppose there is not a man in the world towhom he discloses his sentiments so freely as to yourself. '

I cannot omit a curious circumstance which occurred at Edensor-inn, close by Chatsworth, to survey the magnificence of which I had gone aconsiderable way out of my road to Scotland. The inn was then kept by avery jolly landlord, whose name, I think, was Malton. He happened tomention that 'the celebrated Dr. Johnson had been in his house. ' Iinquired _who_ this Dr. Johnson was, that I might hear mine host'snotion of him. 'Sir, (said he, ) Johnson, the great writer; _Oddity_, asthey call him. He's the greatest writer in England; he writes for theministry; he has a correspondence abroad, and lets them know what'sgoing on[591]. '

My friend, who had a thorough dependance upon the authenticity of myrelation without any _embellishment_[592], as _falsehood_ or _fiction_ istoo gently called, laughed a good deal at this representation ofhimself. 

'MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, Sept. 29, 1777. 

'MY DEAR SIR, 'By the first post I inform you of my safe arrival at my own house, andthat I had the comfort of finding my wife and children all in goodhealth. 

'When I look back upon our late interview, it appears to me to haveanswered expectation better than almost any scheme of happiness that Iever put in execution. My Journal is stored with wisdom and wit[593]; andmy memory is filled with the recollection of lively and affectionatefeelings, which now, I think, yield me more satisfaction than at thetime when they were first excited. I have experienced this upon otheroccasions. I shall be obliged to you if you will explain it to me; forit seems wonderful that pleasure should be more vivid at a distance thanwhen near. I wish you may find yourself in a humour to do me thisfavour; but I flatter myself with no strong hope of it; for I haveobserved, that unless upon very serious occasions, your letters to meare not answers to those which I write[594]. '

[I then expressed much uneasiness that I had mentioned to him the nameof the gentleman[595] who had told me the story so much to hisdisadvantage, the truth of which he had completely refuted; for that myhaving done so might be interpreted as a breach of confidence, andoffend one whose society I valued:--therefore earnestly requesting thatno notice might be taken of it to anybody, till I should be in London, and have an opportunity to talk it over with the gentleman. ]

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'You will wonder, or you have wondered, why no letter has come from me. What you wrote at your return, had in it such a strain of cowardlycaution as gave me no pleasure. I could not well do what you wished; Ihad no need to vex you with a refusal. I have seen Mr. ----[596], and asto him have set all right, without any inconvenience, so far as I know, to you. Mrs. Thrale had forgot the story. You may now be at ease. 

'And at ease I certainly wish you, for the kindness that you showed incoming so long a journey to see me. It was pity to keep you so long inpain, but, upon reviewing the matter, I do not see what I could havedone better than as I did. 

'I hope you found at your return my dear enemy[597] and all her littlepeople quite well, and had no reason to repent of your journey. I thinkon it with great gratitude. 

'I was not well when you left me at the Doctor's, and I grew worse; yetI staid on, and at Lichfield was very ill. Travelling, however, did notmake me worse; and when I came to London, I complied with a summons togo to Brighthelmston, where I saw Beauclerk, and staid three days. 

'Our CLUB has recommenced last Friday, but I was not there. Langton hasanother wench[598]. Mrs. Thrale is in hopes of a young brewer[599]. Theygot by their trade last year a very large sum[600], and their expensesare proportionate. 

'Mrs. Williams's health is very bad. And I have had for some time a verydifficult and laborious respiration; but I am better by purges, abstinence, and other methods. I am yet, however, much behind hand in myhealth and rest. 

'Dr. Blair's Sermons are now universally commended; but let him thinkthat I had the honour of first finding and first praising hisexcellencies. I did not stay to add my voice to that of the publick[601]. 

'My dear friend, let me thank you once more for your visit; you did megreat honour, and I hope met with nothing that displeased you. I staidlong at Ashbourne, not much pleased, yet aukward at departing. I thenwent to Lichfield, where I found my friend at Stow-hill[602] verydangerously diseased. Such is life. Let us try to pass it well, whateverit be, for there is surely something beyond it. 

'Well, now I hope all is well, write as soon as you can to, dear Sir, 'Your affectionate servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. ''London, Nov. 25, 1777. '

'To DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 'Edinburgh, Nov. 29, 1777. 

'My DEAR SIR, 'This day's post has at length relieved me from much uneasiness, bybringing me a letter from you. I was, indeed, doubly uneasy;--on my ownaccount and yours. I was very anxious to be secured against any badconsequences from my imprudence in mentioning the gentleman's name whohad told me a story to your disadvantage; and as I could hardly supposeit possible, that you would delay so long to make me easy, unless youwere ill, I was not a little apprehensive about you. You must not beoffended when I venture to tell you that you appear to me to have beentoo rigid upon this occasion. The "_cowardly caution which gave you nopleasure_, " was suggested to me by a friend here, to whom I mentionedthe strange story and the detection of its falsity, as an instance howone may be deceived by what is apparently very good authority. But, as Iam still persuaded, that as I might have obtained the truth, withoutmentioning the gentleman's name, it was wrong in me to do it, I cannotsee that you are just in blaming my caution. But if you were ever sojust in your disapprobation, might you not have dealt more tenderly withme?

'I went to Auchinleck about the middle of October, and passed some timewith my father very comfortably. 

 * * * * *

'I am engaged in a criminal prosecution against a country schoolmaster, for indecent behaviour to his female scholars. There is no statuteagainst such abominable conduct; but it is punishable at common law. Ishall be obliged to you for your assistance in this extraordinary trial. I ever am, my dear Sir, 'Your faithful humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

About this time I wrote to Johnson, giving him an account of thedecision of the _Negro cause_, by the court of Session, which by thosewho hold even the mildest and best regulated slavery in abomination, (ofwhich number I do not hesitate to declare that I am none, ) should beremembered with high respect, and to the credit of Scotland; for it wentupon a much broader ground than the case of _Somerset_, which wasdecided in England[603]; being truly the general question, whether aperpetual obligation of service to one master in any mode should besanctified by the law of a free country. A negro, then called _JosephKnight_, a native of Africa, who having been brought to Jamaica in theusual course of the slave trade, and purchased by a Scotch gentleman inthat island, had attended his master to Scotland, where it wasofficiously suggested to him that he would be found entitled to hisliberty without any limitation. He accordingly brought his action, inthe course of which the advocates on both sides did themselves greathonour. Mr. Maclaurin has had the praise of Johnson, for his argument[604]in favour of the negro, and Mr. Macconochie distinguished himself on thesame side, by his ingenuity and extraordinary research. Mr. Cullen, onthe part of the master, discovered good information and sound reasoning;in which he was well supported by Mr. James Ferguson, remarkable for amanly understanding, and a knowledge both of books and of the world. ButI cannot too highly praise the speech which Mr. Henry Dundas generouslycontributed to the cause of the sooty stranger. Mr. Dundas's Scottishaccent[605], which has been so often in vain obtruded as an objection tohis powerful abilities in parliament, was no disadvantage to him in hisown country. And I do declare, that upon this memorable question heimpressed me, and I believe all his audience, with such feelings as wereproduced by some of the most eminent orations of antiquity. Thistestimony I liberally give to the excellence of an old friend, with whomit has been my lot to differ very widely upon many political topicks;yet I persuade myself without malice. A great majority of the Lords ofSession decided for the negro. But four of their number, the LordPresident, Lord Elliock, Lord Monboddo, and Lord Covington, resolutelymaintained the lawfulness of a status, which has been acknowledged inall ages and countries, and that when freedom flourished, as in oldGreece and Rome[606]. 

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'This is the time of the year in which all express their good wishes totheir friends, and I send mine to you and your family. May your lives belong, happy, and good. I have been much out of order, but, I hope, donot grow worse. 

'The crime of the schoolmaster whom you are engaged to prosecute is verygreat, and may be suspected to be too common. In our law it would be abreach of the peace, and a misdemeanour: that is, a kind of indefinitecrime, not capital, but punishable at the discretion of the Court. Youcannot want matter: all that needs to be said will easily occur. 

'Mr. Shaw[607], the author of the _Gaelick Grammar_, desires me to make arequest for him to Lord Eglintoune, that he may be appointed Chaplain toone of the new-raised regiments. 

'All our friends are as they were; little has happened to them of eithergood or bad. Mrs. Thrale ran a great black hair-dressing pin into hereye; but by great evacuation she kept it from inflaming, and it isalmost well. Miss Reynolds has been out of order, but is better. Mrs. Williams is in a very poor state of health. 

'If I should write on, I should, perhaps, write only complaints, andtherefore I will content myself with telling you, that I love to thinkon you, and to hear from you; and that I am, dear Sir, 'Yours faithfully, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'December 27, 1777. '

'To DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, Jan. 8, 1778. 

'DEAR SIR, 'Your congratulations upon a new year are mixed with complaint: minemust be so too. My wife has for some time been very ill, having beenconfined to the house these three months by a severe cold, attended withalarming symptoms. 

[Here I gave a particular account of the distress which the person, uponevery account most dear to me, suffered; and of the dismal state ofapprehension in which I now was: adding that I never stood more in needof his consoling philosophy. ]

'Did you ever look at a book written by Wilson, a Scotchman, under theLatin name of _Volusenus_, according to the custom of literary men at acertain period. It is entitled _De Animi Tranquillitate_[608]. I earnestlydesire tranquillity. _Bona res quies_: but I fear I shall never attainit: for, when unoccupied, I grow gloomy, and occupation agitates me tofeverishness. 

 * * * * *

'I am, dear Sir, 'Your most affectionate humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'To a letter so interesting as your last, it is proper to return someanswer, however little I may be disposed to write. 

'Your alarm at your lady's illness was reasonable, and notdisproportionate to the appearance of the disorder. I hope your physicalfriend's conjecture is now verified, and all fear of a consumption at anend: a little care and exercise will then restore her. London is a goodair for ladies; and if you bring her hither, I will do for her what shedid for me--I will retire from my apartments, for her accommodation[609]. Behave kindly to her, and keep her cheerful. 

'You always seem to call for tenderness. Know then, that in the firstmonth of the present year I very highly esteem and very cordially loveyou. I hope to tell you this at the beginning of every year as long aswe live; and why should we trouble ourselves to tell or hear it oftener?

'Tell Veronica, Euphemia, and Alexander, that I wish them, as well astheir parents, many happy years. 

'You have ended the negro's cause much to my mind. Lord Auchinleck anddear Lord Hailes were on the side of liberty. Lord Hailes's namereproaches me; but if he saw my languid neglect of my own affairs, hewould rather pity than resent my neglect of his. I hope to mend, _ut etmihi vivam et amicis_. 

'I am, dear Sir, 'Your's affectionately, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'January 24, 1778. '

'My service to my fellow-traveller, Joseph[610]. '

Johnson maintained a long and intimate friendship with Mr. Welch[611], whosucceeded the celebrated Henry Fielding as one of his Majesty's Justicesof the Peace for Westminster; kept a regular office for the police[612] ofthat great district; and discharged his important trust, for many years, faithfully and ably. Johnson, who had an eager and unceasing curiosityto know human life in all its variety, told me, that he attended Mr. Welch in his office for a whole winter, to hear the examinations of theculprits; but that he found an almost uniform tenor of misfortune, wretchedness and profligacy. Mr. Welch's health being impaired, he wasadvised to try the effect of a warm climate; and Johnson, by hisinterest with Mr. Chamier[613], procured him leave of absence to go toItaly, and a promise that the pension or salary of two hundred pounds ayear, which Government allowed him[614], should not be discontinued. Mr. Welch accordingly went abroad, accompanied by his daughter Anne, a younglady of uncommon talents and literature. 

'TO SAUNDERS WELCH, ESQ. , AT THE ENGLISH COFFEE-HOUSE, ROME. 

'DEAR SIR, 'To have suffered one of my best and dearest friends to pass almost twoyears in foreign countries without a letter, has a very shamefulappearance of inattention. But the truth is, that there was noparticular time in which I had any thing particular to say; and generalexpressions of good will, I hope, our long friendship is grown too solidto want. 

'Of publick affairs you have information from the news-papers whereveryou go, for the English keep no secret; and of other things, Mrs. Nollekens informs you. My intelligence could therefore be of no use; andMiss Nancy's letters made it unnecessary to write to you forinformation: I was likewise for some time out of humour, to find thatmotion, and nearer approaches to the sun, did not restore your health sofast as I expected. Of your health, the accounts have lately been morepleasing; and I have the gratification of imaging to myself a length ofyears which I hope you have gained, and of which the enjoyment will beimproved by a vast accession of images and observations which yourjourneys and various residence have enabled you to make and accumulate. You have travelled with this felicity, almost peculiar to yourself, thatyour companion is not to part from you at your journey's end; but youare to live on together, to help each other's recollection, and tosupply each other's omissions. The world has few greater pleasures thanthat which two friends enjoy, in tracing back, at some distant time, those transactions and events through which they have passed together. One of the old man's miseries is, that he cannot easily find a companionable to partake with him of the past. You and your fellow-traveller havethis comfort in store, that your conversation will be not easilyexhausted; one will always be glad to say what the other will always bewilling to hear. 

'That you may enjoy this pleasure long, your health must have yourconstant attention. I suppose you purpose to return this year. There isno need of haste: do not come hither before the height of summer, thatyou may fall gradually into the inconveniences of your native clime. July seems to be the proper month. August and September will prepare youfor the winter. After having travelled so far to find health, you musttake care not to lose it at home; and I hope a little care willeffectually preserve it. 

'Miss Nancy has doubtless kept a constant and copious journal. She mustnot expect to be welcome when she returns, without a great mass ofinformation. Let her review her journal often, and set down what shefinds herself to have omitted, that she may trust to memory as little aspossible, for memory is soon confused by a quick succession of things;and she will grow every day less confident of the truth of her ownnarratives, unless she can recur to some written memorials. If she hassatisfied herself with hints, instead of full representations, let hersupply the deficiencies now while her memory is yet fresh, and while herfather's memory may help her. If she observes this direction, she willnot have travelled in vain; for she will bring home a book with whichshe may entertain herself to the end of life. If it were not now toolate, I would advise her to note the impression which the first sight ofany thing new and wonderful made upon her mind. Let her now set herthoughts down as she can recollect them; for faint as they may alreadybe, they will grow every day fainter. 

'Perhaps I do not flatter myself unreasonably when I imagine that youmay wish to know something of me. I can gratify your benevolence with noaccount of health. The hand of time, or of disease, is very heavy uponme. I pass restless and uneasy nights, harassed with convulsions of mybreast, and flatulencies at my stomach; and restless nights make heavydays. But nothing will be mended by complaints, and therefore I willmake an end. When we meet, we will try to forget our cares and ourmaladies, and contribute, as we can, to the chearfulness of each other. If I had gone with you, I believe I should have been better; but I donot know that it was in my power. 

'I am, dear Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM, JOHNSON. '

'Feb. 3, 1778. '

This letter, while it gives admirable advice how to travel to the bestadvantage, and will therefore be of very general use, is another eminentproof of Johnson's warm and affectionate heart[615]. 

'TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, Feb. 26, 1778. 

'MY DEAR SIR, 'Why I have delayed, for near a month, to thank you for your lastaffectionate letter, I cannot say; for my mind has been in better healththese three weeks than for some years past. I believe I have evaded tillI could send you a copy of Lord Hailes's opinion on the negro's cause, which he wishes you to read, and correct any errours that there may bein the language; for, says he, "we live in a critical, though not alearned age; and I seek to screen myself under the shield of Ajax. " Icommunicated to him your apology for keeping the sheets of his _Annals_so long. He says, "I am sorry to see that Dr. Johnson is in a state oflanguor. Why should a sober Christian, neither an enthusiast nor afanatick, be very merry or very sad?" I envy his Lordship's comfortableconstitution: but well do I know that languor and dejection will afflictthe best, however excellent their principles. I am in possession of LordHailes's opinion in his own hand-writing, and have had it for some time. My excuse then for procrastination must be, that I wanted to have itcopied; and I have now put that off so long, that it will be better tobring it with me than send it, as I shall probably get you to look at itsooner, when I solicit you in person. 

'My wife, who is, I thank GOD, a good deal better, is much obliged toyou for your very polite and courteous offer of your apartment: but, ifshe goes to London, it will be best for her to have lodgings in the moreairy vicinity of Hyde-Park. I, however, doubt much if I shall be able toprevail with her to accompany me to the metropolis; for she is sodifferent from you and me, that she dislikes travelling; and she is soanxious about her children, that she thinks she should be unhappy if ata distance from them. She therefore wishes rather to go to some countryplace in Scotland, where she can have them with her. 

'I purpose being in London about the 20th of next month, as I think itcreditable to appear in the House of Lords as one of Douglas's Counsel, in the great and last competition between Duke Hamilton and him[616]. 

 * * * * *

'I am sorry poor Mrs. Williams is so ill: though her temper isunpleasant, she has always been polite and obliging to me. I wish manyhappy years to good Mr. Levett, who I suppose holds his usual place atyour breakfast table[617]. 

'I ever am, my dear Sir, 'Your affectionate humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

TO THE SAME. 

'Edinburgh, Feb. 28, 1778. 

'MY DEAR SIR, 'You are at present busy amongst the English poets, preparing, for thepublick instruction and entertainment, Prefaces, biographical andcritical. It will not, therefore, be out of season to appeal to you forthe decision of a controversy which has arisen between a lady and meconcerning a passage in Parnell. That poet tells us, that his Hermitquitted his cell

". .. To know the world by sight, To find if _books_ or _swains_ report it right;(For yet by _swains alone_ the world he knew, Whose feet came wand'ring o'er the nightly dew. )"

I maintain, that there is an inconsistency here; for as the Hermit'snotions of the world were formed from the reports both of _books_ and_swains_, he could not justly be said to know by _swains alone_. Bepleased to judge between us, and let us have your reasons[618]. 

'What do you say to _Taxation no Tyranny_, now, after Lord North'sdeclaration, or confession, or whatever else his conciliatory speechshould be called[619]? I never differed from you in politicks but upon twopoints, --the Middlesex Election[620], and the Taxation of the Americans bythe _British Houses of Representatives_[621]. There is a _charm _in theword _Parliament_, so I avoid it. As I am a steady and a warm Tory, Iregret that the King does not see it to be better for him to receiveconstitutional supplies from his American subjects by the voice of theirown assemblies, where his Royal Person is represented, than through themedium of his British subjects. I am persuaded that the power of theCrown, which I wish to increase, would be greater when in contact withall its dominions, than if "the rays of regal bounty[622]" were to "shine"upon America through that dense and troubled body, a modern BritishParliament. But, enough of this subject; for your angry voice atAshbourne[623] upon it, still sounds aweful "in my mind's _ears_[624]. "

'I ever am, my dear Sir, 'Your most affectionate humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

TO THE SAME. 

'Edinburgh, March 12, 1778. 

'MY DEAR SIR, 'The alarm of your late illness distressed me but a few hours; for onthe evening of the day that it reached me, I found it contradicted in_The London Chronicle_, which I could depend upon as authentickconcerning you, Mr. Strahan being the printer of it. I did not see thepaper in which "the approaching extinction of a bright luminary" wasannounced. Sir William Forbes told me of it; and he says, he saw me souneasy, that he did not give me the report in such strong terms as heread it. He afterwards sent me a letter from Mr. Langton to him, whichrelieved me much. I am, however, not quite easy, as I have not heardfrom you; and now I shall not have that comfort before I see you, for Iset out for London to-morrow before the post comes in. I hope to be withyou on Wednesday morning; and I ever am, with the highest veneration, mydear Sir, your much obliged, faithful, and affectionate, 'Humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

On Wednesday, March 18, I arrived in London, and was informed by goodMr. Francis that his master was better, and was gone to Mr. Thrale's atStreatham, to which place I wrote to him, begging to know when he wouldbe in town. He was not expected for some time; but next day havingcalled on Dr. Taylor, in Dean's-yard, Westminster, I found him there, and was told he had come to town for a few hours. He met me with hisusual kindness, but instantly returned to the writing of something onwhich he was employed when I came in, and on which he seemed muchintent. Finding him thus engaged, I made my visit very short, and had nomore of his conversation, except his expressing a serious regret that afriend of ours[625] was living at too much expence, considering how pooran appearance he made: 'If (said he) a man has splendour from hisexpence, if he spends his money in pride or in pleasure, he has value:but if he lets others spend it for him, which is most commonly the case, he has no advantage from it. '

On Friday, March 20, I found him at his own house, sitting with Mrs. Williams, and was informed that the room formerly allotted to me[626] wasnow appropriated to a charitable purpose; Mrs. Desmoulins[627], and Ithink her daughter, and a Miss Carmichael, being all lodged in it. Suchwas his humanity, and such his generosity, that Mrs. Desmoulins herselftold me, he allowed her half-a-guinea a week. Let it be remembered, thatthis was above a twelfth part of his pension. 

His liberality, indeed, was at all periods of his life very remarkable. Mr. Howard, of Lichfield, at whose father's house Johnson had in hisearly years been kindly received, told me, that when he was a boy at theCharter-House, his father wrote to him to go and pay a visit to Mr. Samuel Johnson, which he accordingly did, and found him in an upperroom, of poor appearance. Johnson received him with much courteousness, and talked a great deal to him, as to a school-boy, of the course of hiseducation, and other particulars. When he afterwards came to know andunderstand the high character of this great man, he recollected hiscondescension with wonder. He added, that when he was going away, Mr. Johnson presented him with half-a-guinea; and this, said Mr. Howard, wasat a time when he probably had not another. 

We retired from Mrs. Williams to another room. Tom Davies soon afterjoined us. He had now unfortunately failed in his circumstances, and wasmuch indebted to Dr. Johnson's kindness for obtaining for him manyalleviations of his distress[628]. After he went away, Johnson blamed hisfolly in quitting the stage, by which he and his wife got five hundredpounds a year. I said, I believed it was owing to Churchill's attackupon him, 'He mouths a sentence, as curs mouth a bone[629]. '

JOHNSON. 'I believe so too, Sir. But what a man is he, who is to bedriven from the stage by a line? Another line would have driven him fromhis shop. '

I told him, that I was engaged as Counsel at the bar of the House ofCommons to oppose a road-bill in the county of Stirling, and asked himwhat mode he would advise me to follow in addressing such an audience. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, you must provide yourself with a good deal ofextraneous matter, which you are to produce occasionally, so as to fillup the time; for you must consider, that they do not listen much. If youbegin with the strength of your cause, it may be lost before they beginto listen. When you catch a moment of attention, press the merits of thequestion upon them. ' He said, as to one point of the merits, that hethought 'it would be a wrong thing to deprive the small landholders ofthe privilege of assessing themselves for making and repairing the highroads; _it was destroying a certain portion of liberty, without a goodreason, which was always a bad thing_! When I mentioned this observationnext day to Mr. Wilkes, he pleasantly said, 'What! does _he_ talk ofliberty? _Liberty_ is as ridiculous in _his_ mouth as _Religion_ in_mine_!' Mr. Wilkes's advice, as to the best mode of speaking at the barof the House of Commons, was not more respectful towards the senate, than that of Dr. Johnson. 'Be as impudent as you can, as merry as youcan, and say whatever comes uppermost. Jack Lee[630] is the best heardthere of any Counsel; and he is the most impudent dog, and alwaysabusing us. '

In my interview with Dr. Johnson this evening, I was quite easy, quiteas his companion; upon which I find in my Journal the followingreflection: 'So ready is my mind to suggest matter for dissatisfaction, that I felt a sort of regret that I was so easy. I missed that awefulreverence with which I used to contemplate MR. SAMUEL JOHNSON, in thecomplex magnitude of his literary, moral, and religious character. Ihave a wonderful superstitious love of _mystery_; when, perhaps, thetruth is, that it is owing to the cloudy darkness of my own mind. Ishould be glad that I am more advanced in my progress of being, so thatI can view Dr. Johnson with a steadier and clearer eye. Mydissatisfaction to-night was foolish. Would it not be foolish to regretthat we shall have less mystery in a future state? That we "now seein[631] a glass darkly, " but shall "then see face to face?"' Thisreflection, which I thus freely communicate, will be valued by thethinking part of my readers, who may have themselves experienced asimilar state of mind. 

He returned next day to Streatham, to Mr. Thrale's; where, as Mr. Strahan once complained to me, 'he was in a great measure absorbed fromthe society of his old friends[632]. ' I was kept in London by business, and wrote to him on the 27th, that a separation from him for a week, when we were so near, was equal to a separation for a year, when we wereat four hundred miles distance. I went to Streatham on Monday, March 30. Before he appeared, Mrs. Thrale made a very characteristical remark:--'Ido not know for certain what will please Dr. Johnson: but I know forcertain that it will displease him to praise any thing, even what helikes, extravagantly[633]. '

At dinner he laughed at querulous declamations against the age, onaccount of luxury[634], --increase of London, --scarcity of provisions, --andother such topicks. 'Houses (said he) will be built till rents fall: andcorn is more plentiful now than ever it was[635]. '

I had before dinner repeated a ridiculous story told me by an old manwho had been a passenger with me in the stage-coach to-day. Mrs. Thrale, having taken occasion to allude to it in talking to me, called it 'Thestory told you by the old _woman_. '--'Now, Madam, (said I, ) give meleave to catch you in the fact; it was not an old _woman_, but an old_man_, whom I mentioned as having told me this. ' I presumed to take anopportunity, in presence of Johnson, of shewing this lively lady howready she was, unintentionally, to deviate from exact authenticity ofnarration[636]. 

_Thomas à Kempis_ (he observed) must be a good book, as the world hasopened its arms to receive it. It is said to have been printed, in onelanguage or other, as many times as there have been months since itfirst came out[637]. I always was struck with this sentence in it: 'Be notangry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since youcannot make yourself as you wish to be[638]. '

He said, 'I was angry with Hurd about Cowley, for having published aselection of his works: but, upon better consideration, I think there isno impropriety in a man's publishing as much as he chooses of anyauthour, if he does not put the rest out of the way. A man, forinstance, may print the _Odes_ of Horace alone. ' He seemed to be in amore indulgent humour, than when this subject was discussed between himand Mr. Murphy[639]. 

When we were at tea and coffee, there came in Lord Trimlestown, in whosefamily was an ancient Irish peerage, but it suffered by taking thegenerous side in the troubles of the last century[640]. He was a man ofpleasing conversation, and was accompanied by a young gentleman, hisson. 

I mentioned that I had in my possession the _Life of Sir RobertSibbald_, the celebrated Scottish antiquary, and founder of the RoyalCollege of Physicians at Edinburgh, in the original manuscript in hisown handwriting; and that it was I believed the most natural and candidaccount of himself that ever was given by any man. As an instance, hetells that the Duke of Perth, then Chancellor of Scotland, pressed himvery much to come over to the Roman Catholick faith: that he resistedall his Grace's arguments for a considerable time, till one day he felthimself, as it were, instantaneously convinced, and with tears in hiseyes ran into the Duke's arms, and embraced the ancient religion; thathe continued very steady in it for some time, and accompanied his Graceto London one winter, and lived in his household; that there he foundthe rigid fasting prescribed by the church very severe upon him; thatthis disposed him to reconsider the controversy, and having then seenthat he was in the wrong, he returned to Protestantism. I talked of sometime or other publishing this curious life. MRS. THRALE. 'I think youhad as well let alone that publication. To discover such weakness, exposes a man when he is gone. ' JOHNSON. 'Nay, it is an honest pictureof human nature. How often are the primary motives of our greatestactions as small as Sibbald's, for his re-conversion[641]. ' MRS. THRALE. 'But may they not as well be forgotten?' JOHNSON. 'No, Madam, a manloves to review his own mind. That is the use of a diary, orjournal[642]. ' LORD TRIMLESTOWN. 'True, Sir. As the ladies love to seethemselves in a glass; so a man likes to see himself in his journal. 'BOSWELL. 'A very pretty allusion. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, indeed. ' BOSWELL. 'Andas a lady adjusts her dress before a mirror, a man adjusts his characterby looking at his journal. ' I next year found the very same thought inAtterbury's _Funeral Sermon on Lady Cutts_; where, having mentioned her_Diary_, he says, 'In this glass she every day dressed her mind. ' Thisis a proof of coincidence, and not of plagiarism; for I had never readthat sermon before. 

Next morning, while we were at breakfast, Johnson gave a very earnestrecommendation of what he himself practised with the utmostconscientiousness: I mean a strict attention to truth, even in the mostminute particulars. 'Accustom your children (said he) constantly tothis; if a thing happened at one window, and they, when relating it, saythat it happened at another, do not let it pass, but instantly checkthem; you do not know where deviation from truth will end. ' BOSWELL. 'Itmay come to the door: and when once an account is at all varied in onecircumstance, it may by degrees be varied so as to be totally differentfrom what really happened. ' Our lively hostess, whose fancy wasimpatient of the rein, fidgeted at this, and ventured to say, 'Nay, thisis too much. If Mr. Johnson should forbid me to drink tea, I wouldcomply, as I should feel the restraint only twice a day; but littlevariations in narrative must happen a thousand times a day, if one isnot perpetually watching. ' JOHNSON. 'Well, Madam, and you _ought_ to beperpetually watching. It is more from carelessness about truth than fromintentional lying, that there is so much falsehood in the world[643]. '

In his review of Dr. Warton's _Essay on the Writings and Genius ofPope_, Johnson has given the following salutary caution upon thissubject:--

'Nothing but experience could evince the frequency of false information, or enable any man to conceive that so many groundless reports should bepropagated, as every man of eminence may hear of himself. Some menrelate what they think, as what they know; some men of confused memoriesand habitual inaccuracy, ascribe to one man what belongs to another; andsome talk on, without thought or care. A few men are sufficient tobroach falsehoods, which are afterwards innocently diffused bysuccessive relaters[644]. '

Had he lived to read what Sir John Hawkins and Mrs. Piozzi have relatedconcerning himself, how much would he have found his observationillustrated. He was indeed so much impressed with the prevalence offalsehood, voluntary or unintentional, that I never knew any person whoupon hearing an extraordinary circumstance told, discovered more of the_incredulus odi_[645]. He would say, with a significant look and decisivetone, 'It is not so. Do not tell this again[646]. ' He inculcated upon allhis friends the importance of perpetual vigilance against the slightestdegrees of falsehood; the effect of which, as Sir Joshua Reynoldsobserved to me, has been, that all who were of his _school_ aredistinguished for a love of truth and accuracy, which they would nothave possessed in the same degree, if they had not been acquainted withJohnson[647]. 

Talking of ghosts, he said, 'It is wonderful that five thousand yearshave now elapsed since the creation of the world, and still it isundecided whether or not there has ever been an instance of the spiritof any person appearing after death. All argument is against it; but allbelief is for it[648]. '

He said, 'John Wesley's conversation is good[649], but he is never atleisure. He is always obliged to go at a certain hour[650]. This is verydisagreeable to a man who loves to fold his legs and have out his talk, as I do. '

On Friday, April 3, I dined with him in London, in a company[651] wherewere present several eminent men, whom I shall not name, but distinguishtheir parts in the conversation by different letters. 

F. 'I have been looking at this famous antique marble dog of Mr. Jennings, valued at a thousand guineas, said to be Alcibiades's dog. 'JOHNSON. 'His tail then must be docked. That was the mark ofAlcibiades's dog[652]. ' E. 'A thousand guineas! The representation of noanimal whatever is worth so much, at this rate a dead dog would indeedbe better than a living lion. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, it is not the worth of thething, but of the skill in forming it which is so highly estimated. Every thing that enlarges the sphere of human powers, that shews man hecan do what he thought he could not do, is valuable. The first man whobalanced a straw upon his nose[653]; Johnson, who rode upon three horsesat a time[654]; in short, all such men deserved the applause of mankind, not on account of the use of what they did, but of the dexterity whichthey exhibited. ' BOSWELL. 'Yet a misapplication of time and assiduity isnot to be encouraged. Addison, in one of his _Spectators_, commends thejudgement of a King, who, as a suitable reward to a man that by longperseverance had attained to the art of throwing a barleycorn throughthe eye of a needle, gave him a bushel of barley. ' JOHNSON. 'He musthave been a King of Scotland, where barley is scarce. ' F. 'One of themost remarkable antique figures of an animal is the boar at Florence. 'JOHNSON. 'The first boar that is well made in marble, should bepreserved as a wonder. When men arrive at a facility of making boarswell, then the workmanship is not of such value, but they should howeverbe preserved as examples, and as a greater security for the restorationof the art, should it be lost. '

E. 'We hear prodigious[655] complaints at present of emigration[656]. I amconvinced that emigration makes a country more populous. ' J. 'Thatsounds very much like a paradox. ' E. 'Exportation of men, likeexportation of all other commodities, makes more be produced. ' JOHNSON. 'But there would be more people were there not emigration, providedthere were food for more. ' E. 'No; leave a few breeders, and you'll havemore people than if there were no emigration. ' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, it isplain there will be more people, if there are more breeders. Thirty cowsin good pasture will produce more calves than ten cows, provided theyhave good bulls. ' E. 'There are bulls enough in Ireland. ' JOHNSON. (smiling, ) 'So, Sir, I should think from your argument. ' BOSWELL. 'Yousaid, exportation of men, like exportation of other commodities, makesmore be produced. But a bounty is given to encourage the exportation ofcorn[657], and no bounty is given for the exportation of men; though, indeed, those who go, gain by it. ' R. 'But the bounty on the exportationof corn is paid at home. ' E. 'That's the same thing. ' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. ' R. 'A man who stays at home, gains nothing by his neighboursemigrating. ' BOSWELL. 'I can understand that emigration may be the causethat more people may be produced in a country; but the country will nottherefore be the more populous; for the people issue from it. It canonly be said that there is a flow of people. It is an encouragement tohave children, to know that they can get a living by emigration. ' R. 'Yes, if there were an emigration of children under six years of age. But they don't emigrate till they could earn their livelihood in someway at home. ' C. 'It is remarkable that the most unhealthy countries, where there are the most destructive diseases, such as Egypt and Bengal, are the most populous. ' JOHNSON. 'Countries which are the most populoushave the most destructive diseases. _That_ is the true state of theproposition. ' C. 'Holland is very unhealthy, yet it is exceedinglypopulous. ' JOHNSON. 'I know not that Holland is unhealthy. But itspopulousness is owing to an influx of people from all other countries. Disease cannot be the cause of populousness, for it not only carries offa great proportion of the people, but those who are left are weakenedand unfit for the purposes of increase. '

R. 'Mr. E. , I don't mean to flatter, but when posterity reads one ofyour speeches in Parliament, it will be difficult to believe that youtook so much pains, knowing with certainty that it could produce noeffect, that not one vote would be gained by it[658]. ' E. 'Waiving yourcompliment to me, I shall say in general, that it is very well worthwhile for a man to take pains to speak well in Parliament. A man, whohas vanity, speaks to display his talents; and if a man speaks well, hegradually establishes a certain reputation and consequence in thegeneral opinion, which sooner or later will have its political reward. Besides, though not one vote is gained, a good speech has its effect. Though an act which has been ably opposed passes into a law, yet in itsprogress it is modelled, it is softened in such a manner, that we seeplainly the Minister has been told, that the Members attached to him areso sensible of its injustice or absurdity from what they have heard, that it must be altered[659]. ' JOHNSON. 'And, Sir, there is agratification of pride. Though we cannot out-vote them we will out-arguethem. They shall not do wrong without its being shown both to themselvesand to the world. ' E. 'The House of Commons is a mixed body. (I exceptthe Minority, which I hold to be pure, [smiling] but I take the wholeHouse. ) It is a mass by no means pure; but neither is it wholly corrupt, though there is a large proportion of corruption in it. There are manymembers who generally go with the Minister, who will not go all lengths. There are many honest well-meaning country gentleman who are inparliament only to keep up the consequence of their families. Upon mostof these a good speech will have influence. ' JOHNSON. 'We are all moreor less governed by interest. But interest will not make us do everything. In a case which admits of doubt, we try to think on the sidewhich is for our interest, and generally bring ourselves to actaccordingly. But the subject must admit of diversity of colouring; itmust receive a colour on that side. In the House of Commons there aremembers enough who will not vote what is grossly unjust or absurd. No, Sir, there must always be right enough, or appearance of right, to keepwrong in countenance. ' BOSWELL. 'There is surely always a majority inparliament who have places, or who want to have them, and who thereforewill be generally ready to support government without requiring anypretext. ' E. 'True, Sir; that majority will always follow

"_Quo clamor vocat et turba, faventium_[660]. "'

BOSWELL. 'Well now, let us take the common phrase, Place-hunters. Ithought they had hunted without regard to any thing, just as theirhuntsmen, the Minister, leads, looking only to the prey[661]. ' J. 'Buttaking your metaphor, you know that in hunting there are few sodesperately keen as to follow without reserve. Some do not choose toleap ditches and hedges and risk their necks, or gallop over steeps, oreven to dirty themselves in bogs and mire. ' BOSWELL. 'I am glad thereare some good, quiet, moderate political hunters. ' E. 'I believe, in anybody of men in England, I should have been in the Minority; I havealways been in the Minority. ' P. 'The House of Commons resembles aprivate company. How seldom is any man convinced by another's argument;passion and pride rise against it. ' R. 'What would be the consequence, if a Minister, sure of a majority in the House of Commons, shouldresolve that there should be no speaking at all upon his side. ' E. 'Hemust soon go out. That has been tried; but it was found it would notdo. '

E. 'The Irish language is not primitive; it is Teutonick, a mixture ofthe northern tongues: it has much English in it. ' JOHNSON. 'It may havebeen radically Teutonick; but English and High Dutch have no similarityto the eye, though radically the same. Once, when looking into LowDutch, I found, in a whole page, only one word similar to English;_stroem_, like _stream_, and it signified _tide_'. E. 'I remember havingseen a Dutch Sonnet, in which I found this word, _roesnopies_. Nobodywould at first think that this could be English; but, when we enquire, we find _roes_, rose, and _nopie_, knob; so we have _rosebuds_'. 

JOHNSON. 'I have been reading Thicknesse's _Travels_, which I think areentertaining. ' BOSWELL. 'What, Sir, a good book?' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, toread once; I do not say you are to make a study of it, and digest it;and I believe it to be a true book in his intention. All travellersgenerally mean to tell truth; though Thicknesse observes, upon Smollet'saccount of his alarming a whole town in France by firing ablunderbuss[662], and frightening a French nobleman till he made him tieon his portmanteau[663], that he would be loth to say Smollet had told twolies in one page; but he had found the only town in France where thesethings could have happened[664]. Travellers must often be mistaken. Inevery thing, except where mensuration can be applied, they may honestlydiffer. There has been, of late, a strange turn in travellers to bedispleased[665]. '

E. 'From the experience which I have had, --and I have had a greatdeal, --I have learnt to think _better_ of mankind[666]. ' JOHNSON. 'From myexperience I have found them worse in commercial dealings, more disposedto cheat, than I had any notion of; but more disposed to do one anothergood than I had conceived[667]. ' J. 'Less just and more beneficent. 'JOHNSON. 'And really it is wonderful, considering how much attention isnecessary for men to take care of themselves, and ward off immediateevils which press upon them, it is wonderful how much they do forothers. As it is said of the greatest liar, that he tells more truththan falsehood; so it may be said of the worst man, that he does moregood than evil[668]. ' BOSWELL. 'Perhaps from experience men may be foundhappier than we suppose. ' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir; the more we enquire, weshall find men the less happy. ' P. 'As to thinking better or worse ofmankind from experience, some cunning people will not be satisfiedunless they have put men to the test, as they think. There is a verygood story told of Sir Godfrey Kneller, in his character of a Justice ofthe peace. A gentleman brought his servant before him, upon anaccusation of having stolen some money from him; but it having come outthat he had laid it purposely in the servant's way, in order to try hishonesty, Sir Godfrey sent the master to prison[669]. ' JOHNSON. 'To resisttemptation once, is not a sufficient proof of honesty. If a servant, indeed, were to resist the continued temptation of silver lying in awindow, as some people let it lye, when he is sure his master does notknow how much there is of it, he would give a strong proof of honesty. But this is a proof to which you have no right to put a man. You know, humanly speaking, there is a certain degree of temptation, which willovercome any virtue. Now, in so far as you approach temptation to a man, you do him an injury; and, if he is overcome, you share his guilt. ' P. 'And, when once overcome, it is easier for him to be got the better ofagain. ' BOSWELL. 'Yes, you are his seducer; you have debauched him. Ihave known a man[670] resolved to put friendship to the test, by asking afriend to lend him money merely with that view, when he did not wantit. ' JOHNSON. 'That is very wrong, Sir. Your friend may be a narrow man, and yet have many good qualities: narrowness may be his only fault. Nowyou are trying his general character as a friend, by one particularsingly, in which he happens to be defective, when, in truth, hischaracter is composed of many particulars. '

E. 'I understand the hogshead of claret, which this society was favouredwith by our friend the Dean[671], is nearly out; I think he should bewritten to, to send another of the same kind. Let the request be madewith a happy ambiguity of expression, so that we may have the chance ofhis sending _it_ also as a present. ' JOHNSON. 'I am willing to offer myservices as secretary on this occasion. ' P. 'As many as are for Dr. Johnson being secretary hold up your hands. --Carried unanimously. 'BOSWELL. 'He will be our Dictator. ' JOHNSON. 'No, the company is todictate to me. I am only to write for wine; and I am quitedisinterested, as I drink none; I shall not be suspected of havingforged the application. I am no more than humble _scribe_. ' E. 'Then youshall _pre_scribe. ' BOSWELL. 'Very well. The first play of wordsto-day. ' J. 'No, no; the _bulls_ in Ireland. ' JOHNSON. 'Were I yourDictator you should have no wine. It would be my business _cavere nequid detrimenti Respublica caperet_, and wine is dangerous. Rome wasruined by luxury, ' (smiling. ) E. 'If you allow no wine as Dictator, youshall not have me for your master of horse. '

On Saturday, April 4, I drank tea with Johnson at Dr. Taylor's, where hehad dined. He entertained us with an account of a tragedy written by aDr. Kennedy, (not the Lisbon physician. ) 'The catastrophe of it (saidhe) was, that a King, who was jealous of his Queen with hisprime-minister, castrated himself[672]. This tragedy was actually shewnabout in manuscript to several people, and, amongst others, to Mr. Fitzherbert, who repeated to me two lines of the Prologue:

"Our hero's fate we have but gently touch'd;The fair might blame us, if it were less couch'd. "

It is hardly to be believed what absurd and indecent images men willintroduce into their writings, without being sensible of the absurdityand indecency. I remember Lord Orrery told me, that there was a pamphletwritten against Sir Robert Walpole, the whole of which was an allegoryon the PHALLICK OBSCENITY. The Duchess of Buckingham asked Lord Orrery_who_ this person was? He answered he did not know. She said, she wouldsend to Mr. Pulteney, who, she supposed, could inform her. So then, toprevent her from making herself ridiculous, Lord Orrery sent her Grace anote, in which he gave her to understand what was meant. '

He was very silent this evening; and read in a variety of books:suddenly throwing down one, and taking up another. 

He talked of going to Streatham that night. TAYLOR. 'You'll be robbed ifyou do: or you must shoot a highwayman[673]. Now I would rather be robbedthan do that; I would not shoot a highwayman. ' JOHNSON. 'But I wouldrather shoot him in the instant when he is attempting to rob me, thanafterwards swear against him at the Old-Bailey, to take away his life, after he has robbed me[674]. I am surer I am right in the one case than inthe other. I may be mistaken as to the man, when I swear: I cannot bemistaken, if I shoot him in the act. Besides, we feel less reluctancereluctance to take away a man's life, when we are heated by the injury, than to do it at a distance of time by an oath, after we have cooled. 'BOSWELL. 'So, Sir, you would rather act from the motive of privatepassion, than that of publick advantage. ' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, when Ishoot the highwayman I act from both. ' BOSWELL. 'Very well, verywell. --There is no catching him. ' JOHNSON. 'At the same time one doesnot know what to say. For perhaps one may, a year after, hang himselffrom uneasiness for having shot a man[675]. Few minds are fit to betrusted with so great a thing. ' BOSWELL. 'Then, Sir, you would not shoothim?' JOHNSON. 'But I might be vexed afterwards for that too[676]. '

Thrale's carriage not having come for him, as he expected, I accompaniedhim some part of the way home to his own house. I told him, that I hadtalked of him to Mr. Dunning[677] a few days before, and had said, that inhis company we did not so much interchange conversation, as listen tohim; and that Dunning observed, upon this, 'One is always willing tolisten to Dr. Johnson:' to which I answered, 'That is a great deal fromyou, Sir. '--'Yes, Sir, (said Johnson, ) a great deal indeed. Here is aman willing to listen, to whom the world is listening all the rest ofthe year. ' BOSWELL. 'I think, Sir, it is right to tell one man of such ahandsome thing, which has been said of him by another. It tends toincrease benevolence. ' JOHNSON. 'Undoubtedly it is right, Sir[678]. '

On Tuesday, April 7, I breakfasted with him at his house. He said, 'nobody was content. ' I mentioned to him a respectable person[679] inScotland whom he knew; and I asserted, that I really believed he wasalways content. JOHNSON. 'No, Sir, he is not content with the present;he has always some new scheme, some new plantation, something which isfuture. You know he was not content as a widower; for he married again. 'BOSWELL. 'But he is not restless. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, he is only locally atrest. A chymist is locally at rest; but his mind is hard at work. Thisgentleman has done with external exertions. It is too late for him toengage in distant projects. ' BOSWELL. 'He seems to amuse himself quitewell; to have his attention fixed, and his tranquillity preserved byvery small matters. I have tried this; but it would not do with me. 'JOHNSON, (laughing) 'No, Sir; it must be born with a man to be contentedto take up with little things. Women have a great advantage that theymay take up with little things, without disgracing themselves: a mancannot, except with fiddling. Had I learnt to fiddle, I should have donenothing else[680]. ' BOSWELL. 'Pray, Sir, did you ever play on any musicalinstrument?' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. I once bought me a flagelet; but I nevermade out a tune. ' BOSWELL. 'A flagelet, Sir!--so small an instrument[681]?I should have liked to hear you play on the violoncello. _That_ shouldhave been _your_ instrument. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, I might as well have playedon the violoncello as another; but I should have done nothing else. No, Sir; a man would never undertake great things, could he be amused withsmall. I once tried knotting. Dempster's sister undertook to teach me;but I could not learn it[682]. ' BOSWELL. 'So, Sir; it will be related inpompous narrative, "Once for his amusement he tried knotting; nor didthis Hercules disdain the distaff. "' JOHNSON. 'Knitting of stockings isa good amusement. As a freeman of Aberdeen[683] I should be a knitter ofstockings. ' He asked me to go down with him and dine at Mr. Thrale's atStreatham, to which I agreed. I had lent him _An Account of Scotland, in1702_, written by a man of various enquiry, an English chaplain to aregiment stationed there. JOHNSON. 'It is sad stuff, Sir, miserablywritten, as books in general then were. There is now an elegance ofstyle universally diffused. [684] No man now writes so ill as Martin's_Account of the Hebrides_ is written. A man could not write so ill, ifhe should try. Set a merchant's clerk now to write, and he'll dobetter[685]. '

He talked to me with serious concern of a certain female friend's'laxity of narration, and inattention to truth. '--'I am as much vexed(said he) at the ease with which she hears it mentioned to her, as atthe thing itself. I told her, "Madam, you are contented to hear everyday said to you, what the highest of mankind have died for, rather thanbear. "--You know, Sir, the highest of mankind have died rather than bearto be told they had uttered a falsehood. Do talk to her of it[686]: I amweary. '

BOSWELL. 'Was not Dr. John Campbell a very inaccurate man in hisnarrative, Sir? He once told me, that he drank thirteen bottles of portat a sitting. '[687] JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, I do not know that Campbell everlied with pen and ink; but you could not entirely depend on any thing hetold you in conversation: if there was fact mixed with it. However, Iloved Campbell: he was a solid orthodox man: he had a reverence forreligion. Though defective in practice, he was religious in principle;and he did nothing grossly wrong that I have heard[688]. '

I told him, that I had been present the day before, when Mrs. Montagu, the literary lady[689], sat to Miss Reynolds for her picture; and that shesaid, 'she had bound up Mr. Gibbon's _History_ without the last twooffensive chapters[690]; for that she thought the book so far good, as itgave, in an elegant manner, the substance of the bad writers _mediiaevi_, which the late Lord Lyttelton advised her to read. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, she has not read them: she shews none of this impetuosity to me:she does not know Greek, and, I fancy, knows little Latin. She iswilling you should think she knows them; but she does not say shedoes[691]. ' BOSWELL. 'Mr. Harris, who was present, agreed with her. 'JOHNSON. 'Harris was laughing at her, Sir. Harris is a sound sullenscholar; he does not like interlopers. Harris, however, is a prig, and abad prig[692]. I looked into his book[693], and thought he did notunderstand his own system. ' BOSWELL. 'He says plain things in a formaland abstract way, to be sure: but his method is good: for to have clearnotions upon any subject, we must have recourse to analytickarrangement. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, it is what every body does, whether theywill or no. But sometimes things may be made darker by definition. I seea _cow_, I define her, _Animal quadrupes ruminans cornutum_. But a goatruminates, and a cow may have no horns. _Cow_ is plainer. ' BOSWELL. 'Ithink Dr. Franklin's definition of _Man_ a good one--"A tool-makinganimal. "' JOHNSON. 'But many a man never made a tool; and suppose a manwithout arms, he could not make a tool. '

Talking of drinking wine, he said, 'I did not leave off wine, because Icould not bear it; I have drunk three bottles of port without being theworse for it. University College has witnessed this[694]. ' BOSWELL. 'Whythen, Sir, did you leave it off?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, because it is somuch better for a man to be sure that he is never to be intoxicated, never to lose the power over himself[695]. I shall not begin to drink wineagain, till I grow old, and want it. ' BOSWELL. 'I think, Sir, you oncesaid to me, that not to drink wine was a great deduction from life. 'JOHNSON. 'It is a diminution of pleasure, to be sure; but I do not say adiminution of happiness. There is more happiness in being rational. 'BOSWELL. 'But if we could have pleasure always, should not we be happy?The greatest part of men would compound for pleasure. ' JOHNSON. 'Supposing we could have pleasure always, an intellectual man would notcompound for it. The greatest part of men would compound, because thegreatest part of men are gross. ' BOSWELL. 'I allow there may be greaterpleasure than from wine. I have had more pleasure from yourconversation, I have indeed; I assure you I have. ' JOHNSON. 'When wetalk of pleasure, we mean sensual pleasure. When a man says, he hadpleasure with a woman, he does not mean conversation, but something of avery different nature. Philosophers tell you, that pleasure is_contrary_ to happiness. Gross men prefer animal pleasure. So there aremen who have preferred living among savages. Now what a wretch must hebe, who is content with such conversation as can be had among savages!You may remember an officer at Fort Augustus[696], who had served inAmerica, told us of a woman whom they were obliged to _bind_, in orderto get her back from savage life. ' BOSWELL. 'She must have been ananimal, a beast. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, she was a speaking cat. '

I mentioned to him that I had become very weary in a company where Iheard not a single intellectual sentence, except that 'a man who hadbeen settled ten years in Minorca was become a much inferiour man towhat he was in London, because a man's mind grows narrow in a narrowplace. ' JOHNSON. 'A man's mind grows narrow in a narrow place, whosemind is enlarged only because he has lived in a large place: but what isgot by books and thinking is preserved in a narrow place as well as in alarge place. A man cannot know modes of life as well in Minorca as inLondon; but he may study mathematicks as well in Minorca. ' BOSWELL. 'Idon't know, Sir: if you had remained ten years in the Isle of Col, youwould not have been the man that you now are. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, if Ihad been there from fifteen to twenty-five; but not if from twenty-fiveto thirty-five. ' BOSWELL. 'I own, Sir, the spirits which I have inLondon make me do every thing with more readiness and vigour. I can talktwice as much in London as any where else[697]. '

Of Goldsmith he said, 'He was not an agreeable companion, for he talkedalways for fame[698]. A man who does so never can be pleasing. The man whotalks to unburthen his mind is the man to delight you. An eminentfriend[699] of ours is not so agreeable as the variety of his knowledgewould otherwise make him, because he talks partly from ostentation. '

Soon after our arrival at Thrale's, I heard one of the maids callingeagerly on another, to go to Dr. Johnson. I wondered what this couldmean. I afterwards learnt, that it was to give her a Bible, which he hadbrought from London as a present to her. 

He was for a considerable time occupied in reading _Mémoires deFontenelle_, leaning and swinging upon the low gate into the court, without his hat. 

I looked into Lord Kames's _Sketches of the History of Man_; andmentioned to Dr. Johnson his censure of Charles the Fifth, forcelebrating his funeral obsequies in his life-time, which, I told him, Ihad been used to think a solemn and affecting act[700]. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, a man may dispose his mind to think so of that act of Charles; butit is so liable to ridicule, that if one man out of ten thousand laughsat it, he'll make the other nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-ninelaugh too. ' I could not agree with him in this. 

Sir John Pringle had expressed a wish that I would ask Dr. Johnson'sopinion what were the best English sermons for style. I took anopportunity to-day of mentioning several to him. --_Atterbury_? JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, one of the best. ' BOSWELL. _Tillotson_? JOHNSON. 'Why, notnow. I should not advise a preacher at this day to imitate Tillotson'sstyle: though I don't know; I should be cautious of objecting to whathas been applauded by so many suffrages. --_South_ is one of the best, ifyou except his peculiarities, and his violence, and sometimes coarsenessof language. --_Seed_ has a very fine style; but he is not verytheological. --_Jortin's_ sermons are very elegant. --_Sherlock's_ styletoo is very elegant, though he has not made it his principal study. --Andyou may add _Smallridge_. All the latter preachers have a good style. Indeed, nobody now talks much of style: every body composes prettywell. [701] There are no such unharmonious periods as there were a hundredyears ago. I should recommend Dr. _Clarke's_ sermons, were heorthodox. [702] However, it is very well known _where_ he was not orthodox, which was upon the doctrine of the Trinity, as to which he is acondemned heretick; so one is aware of it. ' BOSWELL. 'I like Ogden's_Sermons on Prayer_ very much, both for neatness of style and subtiltyof reasoning. ' JOHNSON. 'I should like to read all that Ogden haswritten. '[703] BOSWELL. 'What I wish to know is, what sermons afford thebest specimen of English pulpit eloquence. ' JOHNSON. 'We have no sermonsaddressed to the passions that are good for any thing; if you mean thatkind of eloquence. ' A CLERGYMAN: (whose name I do not recollect. ) 'Werenot Dodd's sermons addressed to the passions?' JOHNSON. 'They werenothing, Sir, be they addressed to what they may. '

At dinner, Mrs. Thrale expressed a wish to go and see Scotland. JOHNSON. 'Seeing Scotland, Madam, is only seeing a worse England. It is seeingthe flower gradually fade away to the naked stalk. Seeing the Hebrides, indeed, is seeing quite a different scene. '

Our poor friend, Mr. Thomas Davies[704], was soon to have a benefit atDrury-lane theatre, as some relief to his unfortunate circumstances. Wewere all warmly interested for his success, and had contributed to it. However, we thought there was no harm in having our joke, when he couldnot be hurt by it. I proposed that he should be brought on to speak aPrologue upon the occasion; and I began to mutter fragments of what itmight be: as, that when now grown _old_, he was obliged to cry, 'PoorTom's _a-cold_[705];'--that he owned he had been driven from the stage bya Churchill, but that this was no disgrace, for a Churchill[706] had beatthe French;--that he had been satyrised as 'mouthing a sentence as cursmouth a bone, ' but he was now glad of a bone to pick. --'Nay, (saidJohnson, ) I would have him to say, "Mad Tom is come to see the world again[707]. "'

He and I returned to town in the evening. Upon the road, I endeavouredto maintain, in argument, that a landed gentleman is not under anyobligation to reside upon his estate; and that by living in London hedoes no injury to his country. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, he does no injury tohis country in general, because the money which he draws from it getsback again in circulation; but to his particular district, hisparticular parish, he does an injury. All that he has to give away isnot given to those who have the first claim to it. And though I havesaid that the money circulates back, it is a long time before thathappens. Then, Sir, a man of family and estate ought to consider himselfas having the charge of a district, over which he is to diffuse civilityand happiness[708]. '

Next day I found him at home in the morning. He praised Delany's_Observations on Swift_; said that his book and Lord Orrery's might bothbe true, though one viewed Swift more, and the other less favourably;and that, between both, we might have a complete notion of Swift[709]. 

Talking of a man's resolving to deny himself the use of wine, from moraland religious considerations, he said, 'He must not doubt about it. Whenone doubts as to pleasure, we know what will be the conclusion. I now nomore think of drinking wine, than a horse does. The wine upon the tableis no more for me, than for the dog that is under the table. '[710]

On Thursday, April 9, I dined with him at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, withthe Bishop of St. Asaph, [711] (Dr. Shipley, ) Mr. Allan Ramsay[712], Mr. Gibbon, Mr. Cambridge, and Mr. Langton. Mr. Ramsay had lately returnedfrom Italy, and entertained us with his observations upon Horace'svilla, which he had examined with great care. I relished this much, asit brought fresh into my mind what I had viewed with great pleasurethirteen years before. The Bishop, Dr. Johnson, and Mr. Cambridge, joined with Mr. Ramsay, in recollecting the various lines in Horacerelating to the subject. 

Horace's journey to Brundusium being mentioned, Johnson observed, thatthe brook which he describes is to be seen now, exactly as at thattime, [713] and that he had often wondered how it happened, that smallbrooks, such as this, kept the same situation for ages, notwithstandingearthquakes, by which even mountains have been changed, and agriculture, which produces such a variation upon the surface of the earth. CAMBRIDGE. 'A Spanish writer has this thought in a poetical conceit. After observing that most of the solid structures of Rome are totallyperished, while the Tiber remains the same, he adds, '_Lo que èra Firme huió solamente, Lo Fugitivo permanece y dura_[714]. '

JOHNSON. 'Sir, that is taken from Janus Vitalis:[715]

'. .. _immota labescunt;Et quae perpetuò sunt agitata manent_[716]. '

The Bishop said, it appeared from Horace's writings that he was acheerful contented man. JOHNSON. 'We have no reason to believe that, myLord. Are we to think Pope was happy, because he says so in hiswritings? We see in his writings what he wished the state of his mind toappear. Dr. Young, who pined for preferment, talks with contempt of itin his writings, and affects to despise every thing that he did notdespise. '[717] BISHOP OF ST. ASAPH. 'He was like other chaplains, lookingfor vacancies: but that is not peculiar to the clergy. I remember when Iwas with the army, [718] after the battle of Lafeldt, the officersseriously grumbled that no general was killed. ' CAMBRIDGE. 'We maybelieve Horace more when he says, "_Romae Tibur amem, ventosus Tibure Romam_[719];"

than when he boasts of his consistency:

"_Me constare mihi scis, et decedere tristem, Quandocunque trahunt invisa negotia Romam_[720]. "'

BOSWELL. 'How hard is it that man can never be at rest. ' RAMSAY. 'It isnot in his nature to be at rest. When he is at rest, he is in the worststate that he can be in; for he has nothing to agitate him. He is thenlike the man in the Irish song, "There liv'd a young man in Ballinacrazy. Who wanted a wife for to make him un_ai_sy. "'

Goldsmith being mentioned, Johnson observed, that it was long before hismerit came to be acknowledged. That he once complained to him, inludicrous terms of distress, 'Whenever I write any thing, the publick_make a point_ to know nothing about it:' but that his _Traveller_brought him into high reputation. [721] LANGTON. 'There is not one bad linein that poem; not one of Dryden's careless verses. ' SIR JOSHUA. 'I wasglad to hear Charles Fox say, it was one of the finest poems in theEnglish language. ' LANGTON. 'Why was you glad? You surely had no doubtof this before. ' JOHNSON. 'No; the merit of _The Traveller_ is so wellestablished, that Mr. Fox's praise cannot augment it, nor his censurediminish it. '[722] SIR JOSHUA. 'But his friends may suspect they had toogreat a partiality for him. ' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, the partiality of hisfriends was always against him. It was with difficulty we could give hima hearing. Goldsmith had no settled notions upon any subject; so hetalked always at random[723]. It seemed to be his intention to blurt outwhatever was in his mind, and see what would become of it. He was angrytoo, when catched in an absurdity; but it did not prevent him fromfalling into another the next minute. I remember Chamier[724], aftertalking with him for some time, said, "Well, I do believe he wrote thispoem himself: and, let me tell you, that is believing a great deal. "Chamier once asked him, what he meant by _slow_, the last word in thefirst line of _The Traveller_, '"Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow. "

'Did he mean tardiness of locomotion? Goldsmith, who would say somethingwithout consideration, answered, "Yes. " I was sitting by, and said, "No, Sir; you do not mean tardiness of locomotion; you mean, thatsluggishness of mind which comes upon a man in solitude[725]. " Chamierbelieved then that I had written the line as much as if he had seen mewrite it. [726] Goldsmith, however, was a man, who, whatever he wrote, didit better than any other man could do. He deserved a place inWestminster-Abbey, and every year he lived, would have deserved itbetter. He had, indeed, been at no pains to fill his mind withknowledge. He transplanted it from one place to another; and it did notsettle in his mind; so he could not tell what was in his own books. '

We talked of living in the country. JOHNSON. 'No wise man will go tolive in the country, unless he has something to do which can be betterdone in the country. For instance: if he is to shut himself up for ayear to study a science, it is better to look out to the fields, than toan opposite wall. Then, if a man walks out in the country, there isnobody to keep him from walking in again: but if a man walks out inLondon, he is not sure when he shall walk in again. A great city is, tobe sure, the school for studying life; and "The proper study of mankindis man, " as Pope observes. '[727] BOSWELL. 'I fancy London is the bestplace for society; though I have heard that the very first society ofParis is still beyond any thing that we have here. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, Iquestion if in Paris such a company as is sitting round this table couldbe got together in less than half a year. They talk in France of thefelicity of men and women living together: the truth is, that there themen are not higher than the women, they know no more than the women do, and they are not held down in their conversation by the presence ofwomen[728]. ' RAMSAY. 'Literature is upon the growth, it is in its springin France. Here it is rather _passée_. ' JOHNSON. 'Literature was inFrance long before we had it. Paris was the second city for the revivalof letters: Italy had it first, to be sure. What have we done forliterature, equal to what was done by the Stephani and others in France?Our literature came to us through France. Caxton printed only two books, Chaucer and Gower, that were not translations from the French; andChaucer, we know, took much from the Italians. No, Sir, if literature bein its spring in France, it is a second spring; it is after a winter. Weare now before the French in literature[729]; but we had it long afterthem. In England, any man who wears a sword and a powdered wig isashamed to be illiterate[730]. I believe it is not so in France. Yet thereis, probably, a great deal of learning in France, because they have sucha number of religious establishments; so many men who have nothing elseto do but to study. I do not know this; but I take it upon the commonprinciples of chance. Where there are many shooters, some will hit. '

We talked of old age[731]. Johnson (now in his seventieth year, ) said, 'Itis a man's own fault, it is from want of use, if his mind grows torpidin old age. ' The Bishop asked, if an old man does not lose faster thanhe gets. JOHNSON. 'I think not, my Lord, if he exerts himself. ' One ofthe company rashly observed, that he thought it was happy for an old manthat insensibility comes upon him. JOHNSON: (with a noble elevation anddisdain, ) 'No, Sir, I should never be happy by being less rational. 'BISHOP OF ST. ASAPH. 'Your wish then, Sir, is [Greek: gaeraskeindidaskomenos][732]. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, my Lord. '

His Lordship mentioned a charitable establishment in Wales, where peoplewere maintained, and supplied with every thing, upon the condition oftheir contributing the weekly produce of their labour; and he said, theygrew quite torpid for want of property. JOHNSON. 'They have no objectfor hope. Their condition cannot be better. It is rowing without aport. '

One of the company asked him the meaning of the expression in Juvenal, _unius lacertæ_. JOHNSON. 'I think it clear enough; as much ground asone may have a chance to find a lizard upon. '

Commentators have differed as to the exact meaning of the expression bywhich the Poet intended to enforce the sentiment contained in thepassage where these words occur. It is enough that they mean to denoteeven a very small possession, provided it be a man's own:

'_Est aliquid quocunque loco quocunque recessu, Unius sese dominum fecisse lacertæ_[733]. '

This season there was a whimsical fashion in the newspapers of applyingShakspeare's words to describe living persons well known in the world;which was done under the title of _Modern Characters from Shakspeare_;many of which were admirably adapted. The fancy took so much, that theywere afterwards collected into a pamphlet[734]. Somebody said to Johnson, across the table, that he had not been in those characters. 'Yes (saidhe) I have. I should have been sorry to be left out. ' He then repeatedwhat had been applied to him, 'I must borrow GARAGANTUA'S mouth[735]. '

Miss Reynolds not perceiving at once the meaning of this, he was obligedto explain it to her, which had something of an aukward and ludicrouseffect. 'Why, Madam, it has a reference to me, as using big words, whichrequire the mouth of a giant to pronounce them. Garagantua is the nameof a giant in _Rabelais_. ' BOSWELL. 'But, Sir, there is another amongstthem for you:

"He would not flatter Neptune for his trident, Or Jove for his power to thunder[736]. "'

JOHNSON. 'There is nothing marked in that. No, Sir, Garagantua is thebest. ' Notwithstanding this ease and good humour, when I, a little whileafterwards, repeated his sarcasm on Kenrick[737], which was received withapplause, he asked, '_Who_ said that?' and on my suddenly answering, _Garagantua_, he looked serious, which was a sufficient indication thathe did not wish it to be kept up. 

When we went to the drawing-room there was a rich assemblage. Besidesthe company who had been at dinner, there were Mr. Garrick, Mr. Harrisof Salisbury, Dr. Percy, Dr. Burney, Honourable Mrs. Cholmondeley, MissHannah More, &c. &c. 

After wandering about in a kind of pleasing distraction for some time, Igot into a corner, with Johnson, Garrick, and Harris. GARRICK: (toHarris. ) 'Pray, Sir, have you read Potter's _Aeschylus_?' HARRIS. 'Yes;and think it pretty. ' GARRICK. (to Johnson. ) 'And what think you, Sir, of it?' JOHNSON. 'I thought what I read of it _verbiage_[738]: but uponMr. Harris's recommendation, I will read a play. (To Mr. Harris. ) Don'tprescribe two. ' Mr. Harris suggested one, I do not remember which. JOHNSON. 'We must try its effect as an English poem; that is the way tojudge of the merit of a translation. Translations are, in general, forpeople who cannot read the original. ' I mentioned the vulgar saying[739], that Pope's _Homer_ was not a good representation of the original. JOHNSON. 'Sir, it is the greatest work of the kind that has ever beenproduced[740]. ' BOSWELL. 'The truth is, it is impossible perfectly totranslate poetry[741]. In a different language it may be the same tune, but it has not the same tone. Homer plays it on a bassoon; Pope on aflagelet. ' HARRIS. 'I think Heroick poetry is best in blank verse; yetit appears that rhyme is essential to English poetry, from ourdeficiency in metrical quantities. In my opinion, the chief excellenceof our language is numerous prose. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir William Temple was thefirst writer who gave cadence to English prose[742]. Before his time theywere careless of arrangement, and did not mind whether a sentence endedwith an important word or an insignificant word, or with what part ofspeech it was concluded. ' Mr. Langton, who now had joined us, commendedClarendon. JOHNSON. 'He is objected to for his parentheses, his involvedclauses, and his want of harmony. But he is supported by his matter. Itis, indeed, owing to a plethory of matter that his style is sofaulty[743]. Every _substance_, (smiling to Mr. Harris[744], ) has so many_accidents_. --To be distinct, we must talk _analytically_. If we analyselanguage, we must speak of it grammatically; if we analyse argument, wemust speak of it logically. ' GARRICK. 'Of all the translations that everwere attempted, I think Elphinston's _Martial_ the mostextraordinary[745]. He consulted me upon it, who am a little of anepigrammatist myself, you know. I told him freely, "You don't seem tohave that turn. " I asked him if he was serious; and finding he was, Iadvised him against publishing. Why, his translation is more difficultto understand than the original. I thought him a man of some talents;but he seems crazy in this. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, you have done what I had notcourage to do. But he did not ask my advice, and I did not force it uponhim, to make him angry with me. ' GARRICK. 'But as a friend, Sir--'JOHNSON. 'Why, such a friend as I am with him--no. ' GARRICK. 'But if yousee a friend going to tumble over a precipice?' JOHNSON. 'That is anextravagant case, Sir. You are sure a friend will thank you forhindering him from tumbling over a precipice; but, in the other case, Ishould hurt his vanity, and do him no good. He would not take my advice. His brother-in-law, Strahan, sent him a subscription of fifty pounds, and said he would send him fifty more, if he would not publish. 'GARRICK. 'What! Is Strahan a good judge of an Epigram? Is not he ratheran _obtuse_ man, eh?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, he may not be a judge of anEpigram: but you see he is a judge of what is _not_ an Epigram. 'BOSWELL. 'It is easy for you, Mr. Garrick, to talk to an authour as youtalked to Elphinston; you, who have been so long the manager of atheatre, rejecting the plays of poor authours. You are an old Judge, whohave often pronounced sentence of death. You are a practiced surgeon, who have often amputated limbs; and though this may have been for thegood of your patients, they cannot like you. Those who have undergone adreadful operation, are not very fond of seeing the operator again. 'GARRICK. 'Yes, I know enough of that. There was a reverend gentleman, (Mr. Hawkins, ) who wrote a tragedy, the SIEGE of something[746], which Irefused. ' HARRIS. 'So, the siege was raised. ' JOHNSON. 'Ay, he came tome and complained; and told me, that Garrick said his play was wrong inthe _concoction_. Now, what is the concoction of a play?' (Here Garrickstarted, and twisted himself, and seemed sorely vexed; for Johnson toldme, he believed the story was true. ) GARRICK. 'I--I--I--said _first_concoction[747]. ' JOHNSON: (smiling. ) 'Well, he left out _first_. AndRich[748], he said, refused him _in false English_: he could shew itunder his hand. ' GARRICK. 'He wrote to me in violent wrath, for havingrefused his play: "Sir, this is growing a very serious and terribleaffair. I am resolved to publish my play. I will appeal to the world;and how will your judgement appear?" I answered, "Sir, notwithstandingall the seriousness, and all the terrours, I have no objection to yourpublishing your play; and as you live at a great distance, (Devonshire, I believe, ) if you will send it to me, I will convey it to thepress[749]. " I never heard more of it, ha! ha! ha!'

On Friday, April 10, I found Johnson at home in the morning. We resumedthe conversation of yesterday. He put me in mind of some of it which hadescaped my memory, and enabled me to record it more perfectly than Iotherwise could have done. He was much pleased with my paying so greatattention to his recommendation in 1763, the period when ouracquaintance began, that I should keep a journal[750]; and I couldperceive he was secretly pleased to find so much of the fruit of hismind preserved; and as he had been used to imagine and say that healways laboured when he said a good thing[751]--it delighted him, on areview, to find that his conversation teemed with point and imagery[752]. 

I said to him, 'You were yesterday, Sir, in remarkably good humour[753]:but there was nothing to offend you, nothing to produce irritation orviolence. There was no bold offender. There was not one capitalconviction. It was a maiden assize. You had on your white gloves. '

He found fault with our friend Langton for having been too silent. 'Sir, (said I, ) you will recollect, that he very properly took up Sir Joshuafor being glad that Charles Fox had praised Goldsmith's _Traveller_, andyou joined him. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, I knocked Fox on the head, withoutceremony. Reynolds is too much under Fox and Burke at present. He isunder the _Fox star_ and the _Irish constellation_. He is always undersome planet[754]. ' BOSWELL. 'There is no Fox star. ' JOHNSON. 'But there isa dog star. ' BOSWELL. 'They say, indeed, a fox and a dog are the sameanimal. '

I reminded him of a gentleman, who, Mrs. Cholmondeley said, was firsttalkative from affectation, and then silent from the same cause; that hefirst thought, 'I shall be celebrated as the liveliest man in everycompany;' and then, all at once, 'O! it is much more respectable to begrave and look wise. ' 'He has reversed the Pythagorean discipline, bybeing first talkative, and then silent. He reverses the course of Naturetoo: he was first the gay butterfly, and then the creeping worm. 'Johnson laughed loud and long at this expansion and illustration of whathe himself had told me. 

We dined together with Mr. Scott (now Sir William Scott[755], hisMajesty's Advocate General, ) at his chambers in the Temple, nobody elsethere. The company being small, Johnson was not in such spirits as hehad been the preceding day, and for a considerable time little was said. At last he burst forth, 'Subordination is sadly broken down in this age. No man, now, has the same authority which his father had, --except agaoler. No master has it over his servants: it is diminished in ourcolleges; nay, in our grammar-schools. ' BOSWELL. 'What is the cause ofthis, Sir?' JOHNSON. 'Why the coming in of the Scotch, ' (laughingsarcastically). BOSWELL. 'That is to say, things have been turned topsyturvey. --But your serious cause. ' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, there are manycauses, the chief of which is, I think, the great increase of money. Noman now depends upon the Lord of a Manour, when he can send to anothercountry, and fetch provisions. The shoe-black at the entry of my courtdoes not depend on me. I can deprive him but of a penny a day, which hehopes somebody else will bring him; and that penny I must carry toanother shoe-black[756], so the trade suffers nothing. I have explained, in my _Journey to the Hebrides_, how gold and silver destroy feudalsubordination[757]. But, besides, there is a general relaxation ofreverence. No son now depends upon his father as in former times. Paternity used to be considered as of itself a great thing, which had aright to many claims. That is, in general, reduced to very small bounds. My hope is, that as anarchy produces tyranny, this extreme relaxationwill produce _freni strictio_[758]. '

Talking of fame, for which there is so great a desire, I observed howlittle there is of it in reality, compared with the other objects ofhuman attention. 'Let every man recollect, and he will be sensible howsmall a part of his time is employed in talking or thinking ofShakspeare, Voltaire, or any of the most celebrated men that have everlived, or are now supposed to occupy the attention and admiration of theworld. Let this be extracted and compressed; into what a narrow spacewill it go[759]!' I then slily introduced Mr. Garrick's fame, and hisassuming the airs of a great man[760]. JOHNSON. 'Sir, it is wonderful how_little_ Garrick assumes. No, Sir, Garrick _fortunam reverenterhabet_[761]. Consider, Sir: celebrated men, such as you have mentioned, have had their applause at a distance; but Garrick had it dashed in hisface, sounded in his ears, and went home every night with the plauditsof a thousand in his _cranium_. Then, Sir, Garrick did not _find_, but_made_ his way to the tables, the levees, and almost the bed-chambers ofthe great. Then, Sir, Garrick had under him a numerous body of people;who, from fear of his power, and hopes of his favour, and admiration ofhis talents, were constantly submissive to him. And here is a man whohas advanced the dignity of his profession. Garrick has made a player ahigher character. ' SCOTT. 'And he is a very sprightly writer too. 'JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir; and all this supported by great wealth of his ownacquisition. If all this had happened to me, I should have had a coupleof fellows with long poles walking before me, to knock down every bodythat stood in the way. Consider, if all this had happened to Cibber orQuin[762] they'd have jumped over the moon. --Yet Garrick speaks to_us_[763]. ' (smiling. ) BOSWELL. 'And Garrick is a very good man, acharitable man. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, a liberal man. He has given away moremoney than any man in England[764]. There may be a little vanity mixed;but he has shewn, that money is not his first object. ' BOSWELL. 'YetFoote used to say of him, that he walked out with an intention to do agenerous action; but, turning the corner of a street, he met with theghost of a halfpenny, which frightened him. ' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, that isvery true, too; for I never knew a man of whom it could be said withless certainty to-day, what he will do to-morrow, than Garrick; itdepends so much on his humour at the time. ' SCOTT. 'I am glad to hear ofhis liberality. He has been represented as very saving. ' JOHNSON. 'Withhis domestick saving we have nothing to do. I remember drinking tea withhim long ago, when Peg Woffington made it, and he grumbled at her formaking it too strong[765]. He had then begun to feel money in his purse, and did not know when he should have enough of it[766]. '

On the subject of wealth, the proper use of it, and the effects of thatart which is called oeconomy, he observed: 'It is wonderful to think howmen of very large estates not only spend their yearly incomes, but areoften actually in want of money. It is clear, they have not value forwhat they spend. Lord Shelburne[767] told me, that a man of high rank, wholooks into his own affairs, may have all that he ought to have, all thatcan be of any use, or appear with any advantage, for five thousandpounds a year. Therefore, a great proportion must go in waste; and, indeed, this is the case with most people, whatever their fortune is. 'BOSWELL. 'I have no doubt, Sir, of this. But how is it? What is waste?'JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, breaking bottles, and a thousand other things. Wastecannot be accurately told, though we are sensible how destructive it is. OEconomy on the one hand, by which a certain income is made to maintaina man genteely, and waste on the other, by which, on the same income, another man lives shabbily, cannot be defined. It is a very nice thing:as one man wears his coat out much sooner than another, we cannot tellhow. '

We talked of war. JOHNSON. 'Every man thinks meanly of himself for nothaving been a soldier, or not having been at sea. ' BOSWELL. 'LordMansfield does not. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, if Lord Mansfield were in a companyof General Officers and Admirals who have been in service, he wouldshrink; he'd wish to creep under the table. ' BOSWELL. 'No; he'd think hecould _try_ them all. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, if he could catch them: but they'dtry him much sooner. No, Sir; were Socrates and Charles the Twelfth ofSweden both present in any company, and Socrates to say, "Follow me, andhear a lecture on philosophy;" and Charles, laying his hand on hissword, to say, "Follow me, and dethrone the Czar;" a man would beashamed to follow Socrates. Sir, the impression is universal[768]; yet itis strange. As to the sailor, when you look down from the quarter deckto the space below, you see the utmost extremity of human misery; suchcrouding, such filth, such stench[769]!' BOSWELL. 'Yet sailors are happy. 'JOHNSON. 'They are happy as brutes are happy, with a piece of freshmeat, --with the grossest sensuality. But, Sir, the profession ofsoldiers and sailors has the dignity of danger. Mankind reverence thosewho have got over fear[770], which is so general a weakness. ' SCOTT. 'Butis not courage mechanical, and to be acquired?' JOHNSON. 'Why yes, Sir, in a collective sense. Soldiers consider themselves only as parts of agreat machine[771]. ' SCOTT. 'We find people fond of being sailors. 'JOHNSON. 'I cannot account for that, any more than I can account forother strange perversions of imagination. '

His abhorrence of the profession of a sailor was uniformly violent[772];but in conversation he always exalted the profession of a soldier. Andyet I have, in my large and various collection of his writings, a letterto an eminent friend, in which he expresses himself thus: 'My god-soncalled on me lately. He is weary, and rationally weary, of a militarylife. If you can place him in some other state, I think you may increasehis happiness, and secure his virtue. A soldier's time is passed indistress and danger, or in idleness and corruption. ' Such was his coolreflection in his study[773]; but whenever he was warmed and animated bythe presence of company, he, like other philosophers, whose minds areimpregnated with poetical fancy, caught the common enthusiasm forsplendid renown[774]. 

He talked of Mr. Charles Fox, of whose abilities he thought highly, butobserved, that he did not talk much at our CLUB. I have heard Mr. Gibbonremark, 'that Mr. Fox could not be afraid of Dr. Johnson; yet hecertainly was very shy of saying any thing in Dr. Johnson'spresence[775]. ' Mr. Scott now quoted what was said of Alcibiades by aGreek poet[776], to which Johnson assented. 

He told us, that he had given Mrs. Montagu a catalogue of all DanielDefoe's works of imagination; most, if not all of which, as well as ofhis other works, he now enumerated, allowing a considerable share ofmerit to a man, who, bred a tradesman, had written so variously and sowell. Indeed, his _Robinson Crusoe_ is enough of itself to establish hisreputation[777]. 

He expressed great indignation at the imposture of the Cocklane Ghost, and related, with much satisfaction, how he had assisted in detectingthe cheat, and had published an account of it in the news-papers[778]. Upon this subject I incautiously offended him, by pressing him with toomany questions, and he shewed his displeasure. I apologised, saying that'I asked questions in order to be instructed and entertained; I repairedeagerly to the fountain; but that the moment he gave me a hint, themoment he put a lock upon the well, I desisted. '--'But, Sir, (said he, )that is forcing one to do a disagreeable thing:' and he continued torate me. 'Nay, Sir, (said I, ) when you have put a lock upon the well, sothat I can no longer drink, do not make the fountain of your wit playupon me and wet me. '

He sometimes could not bear being teazed with questions[779]. I was oncepresent when a gentleman asked so many as, 'What did you do, Sir?' 'Whatdid you say, Sir?' that he at last grew enraged, and said, 'I will notbe put to the _question_. Don't you consider, Sir, that these are notthe manners of a gentleman? I will not be baited with _what_, and _why_;what is this? what is that? why is a cow's tail long? why is a fox'stail bushy?' The gentleman, who was a good deal out of countenance, said, 'Why, Sir, you are so good, that I venture to trouble you. 'JOHNSON. 'Sir, my being so _good_ is no reason why you should be so_ill_. '

Talking of the Justitia hulk at Woolwich, in which criminals werepunished, by being confined to labour, he said, 'I do not see that theyare punished by this: they must have worked equally had they never beenguilty of stealing[780]. They now only work; so, after all, they havegained; what they stole is clear gain to them; the confinement isnothing. Every man who works is confined: the smith to his shop, thetailor to his garret. ' BOSWELL. 'And Lord Mansfield to his Court. 'JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, you know the notion of confinement may be extended, as in the song, "Every island is a prison[781]. " There is, in Dodsley's_Collection_, a copy of verses to the authour of that song[782]. '

Smith's Latin verses on Pococke, the great traveller, [783] were mentioned. He repeated some of them, and said they were Smith's best verses. 

He talked with an uncommon animation of travelling into distantcountries; that the mind was enlarged by it, and that an acquisition ofdignity of character was derived from it. He expressed a particularenthusiasm with respect to visiting the wall of China. I catched it forthe moment[784], and said I really believed I should go and see the wallof China had I not children, of whom it was my duty to take care. 'Sir, (said he, ) by doing so, you would do what would be of importance inraising your children to eminence. There would be a lustre reflectedupon them from your spirit and curiosity. They would be at all timesregarded as the children of a man who had gone to view the wall ofChina. I am serious, Sir. '

When we had left Mr. Scott's, he said, 'Will you go home with me?' 'Sir, (said I, ) it is late; but I'll go with you for three minutes. ' JOHNSON. 'Or _four_. ' We went to Mrs. Williams's room, where we found Mr. Allenthe printer, who was the landlord of his house in Bolt-court, a worthyobliging man, and his very old acquaintance; and what was exceedinglyamusing, though he was of a very diminutive size, he used, even inJohnson's presence, to imitate the stately periods and slow and solemnutterance of the great man[785]. --I this evening boasted, that although Idid not write what is called stenography, or short-hand, in appropriatedcharacters devised for the purpose, I had a method of my own of writinghalf words, and leaving out some altogether so as yet to keep thesubstance and language of any discourse which I had heard so much inview, that I could give it very completely soon after I had taken itdown. He defied me, as he had once defied an actual short-handwriter[786], and he made the experiment by reading slowly and distinctly apart of Robertson's _History of America_, while I endeavoured to writeit in my way of taking notes. It was found that I had it veryimperfectly; the conclusion from which was, that its excellence wasprincipally owing to a studied arrangement of words, which could not bevaried or abridged without an essential injury. 

On Sunday, April 12, I found him at home before dinner; Dr. Dodd's poementitled _Thoughts in Prison_ was lying upon his table. This appearingto me an extraordinary effort by a man who was in Newgate for a capitalcrime, I was desirous to hear Johnson's opinion of it: to my surprize, he told me he had not read a line of it. I took up the book and read apassage to him. JOHNSON. 'Pretty well, if you are previously disposed tolike them. ' I read another passage, with which he was better pleased. Hethen took the book into his own hands, and having looked at the prayerat the end of it, he said, 'What _evidence_ is there that this wascomposed the night before he suffered? _I_ do not believe it. ' He thenread aloud where he prays for the King, &c. And observed, 'Sir, do youthink that a man the night before he is to be hanged cares for thesuccession of a royal family[787]?--Though, he _may_ have composed thisprayer, then. A man who has been canting all his life, may cant to thelast[788]. --And yet a man who has been refused a pardon after so muchpetitioning, would hardly be praying thus fervently for the King. '

He and I, and Mrs. Williams, went to dine with the Reverend Dr. Percy. Talking of Goldsmith, Johnson said, he was very envious[789]. I defendedhim, by observing that he owned it frankly upon all occasions. JOHNSON. 'Sir, you are enforcing the charge. He had so much envy, that he couldnot conceal it. He was so full of it that he overflowed. He talked of itto be sure often enough. Now, Sir, what a man avows, he is not ashamedto think; though many a man thinks, what he is ashamed to avow. We areall envious naturally[790]; but by checking envy, we get the better of it. So we are all thieves naturally; a child always tries to get at what itwants, the nearest way; by good instruction and good habits this iscured, till a man has not even an inclination to seize what isanother's; has no struggle with himself about it. '

And here I shall record a scene of too much heat between Dr. Johnson andDr. Percy, which I should have suppressed, were it not that it gaveoccasion to display the truely tender and benevolent heart of Johnson, who, as soon as he found a friend was at all hurt by any thing which hehad 'said in his wrath, ' was not only prompt and desirous to bereconciled, but exerted himself to make ample reparation[791]. 

Books of Travels having been mentioned, Johnson praised Pennant veryhighly, as he did at Dunvegan, in the Isle of Sky[792]. Dr. Percy, knowinghimself to be the heir male of the ancient Percies, [793] and having thewarmest and most dutiful attachment to the noble House ofNorthumberland, could not sit quietly and hear a man praised, who hadspoken disrespectfully of Alnwick-Castle and the Duke's pleasuregrounds, especially as he thought meanly of his travels. He thereforeopposed Johnson eagerly. JOHNSON. 'Pennant in what he has said ofAlnwick, has done what he intended; he has made you very angry. ' PERCY. 'He has said the garden is _trim_[794], which is representing it like acitizen's parterre, when the truth is, there is a very large extent offine turf and gravel walks. ' JOHNSON. 'According to your own account, Sir, Pennant is right. It _is_ trim. Here is grass cut close, and gravelrolled smooth. Is not that trim? The extent is nothing against that; amile may be as trim as a square yard. Your extent puts me in mind of thecitizen's enlarged dinner, two pieces of roast-beef, and twopuddings[795]. There is no variety, no mind exerted in laying out theground, no trees[796]. ' PERCY. 'He pretends to give the natural history ofNorthumberland, and yet takes no notice of the immense number of treesplanted there of late. ' JOHNSON. 'That, Sir, has nothing to do with the_natural history_; that is _civil_ history. A man who gives the naturalhistory of the oak, is not to tell how many oaks have been planted inthis place or that. A man who gives the natural history of the cow, isnot to tell how many cows are milked at Islington. The animal is thesame, whether milked in the Park or at Islington. ' PERCY. 'Pennant doesnot describe well; a carrier who goes along the side of Lochlomond woulddescribe it better. ' JOHNSON. 'I think he describes very well. ' PERCY. 'I travelled after him. ' JOHNSON. 'And _I_ travelled after him. ' PERCY. 'But, my good friend, you are short-sighted, and do not see so well as Ido. ' I wondered at Dr. Percy's venturing thus. Dr. Johnson said nothingat the time; but inflammable particles were collecting for a cloud toburst. In a little while Dr. Percy said something more in disparagementof Pennant. JOHNSON. (pointedly) 'This is the resentment of a narrowmind, because he did not find every thing in Northumberland. ' PERCY. (feeling the stroke) 'Sir, you may be as rude as you please. ' JOHNSON. 'Hold, Sir! Don't talk of rudeness; remember, Sir, you told me (puffinghard with passion struggling for a vent) I was short-sighted[797]. We havedone with civility. We are to be as rude as we please. ' PERCY. 'Upon myhonour, Sir, I did not mean to be uncivil. ' JOHNSON. 'I cannot say so, Sir; for I _did_ mean to be uncivil, thinking _you_ had been uncivil. 'Dr. Percy rose, ran up to him, and taking him by the hand, assured himaffectionately that his meaning had been misunderstood; upon which areconciliation instantly took place. JOHNSON. 'My dear Sir, I am willingyou shall _hang_ Pennant. ' PERCY. (resuming the former subject) 'Pennantcomplains that the helmet is not hung out to invite to the hall ofhospitality[798]. Now I never heard that it was a custom to hang out a_helmet_[799]. ' JOHNSON. 'Hang him up, hang him up. ' BOSWELL. (humouringthe joke) 'Hang out his skull instead of a helmet, and you may drink aleout of it in your hall of Odin, as he is your enemy; that will be trulyancient. _There_ will be _Northern Antiquities_[800]. ' JOHNSON. 'He's a_Whig_, Sir; a _sad dog_. (smiling at his own violent expressions, merely for _political_ difference of opinion. ) But he's the besttraveller I ever read; he observes more things than any one else does. '

I could not help thinking that this was too high praise of a writer whohad traversed a wide extent of country in such haste, that he could puttogether only curt frittered fragments of his own, and afterwardsprocured supplemental intelligence from parochial ministers, and othersnot the best qualified or most impartial narrators, whose ungenerousprejudice against the house of Stuart glares in misrepresentation; awriter, who at best treats merely of superficial objects, and shews nophilosophical investigation of character and manners, such as Johnsonhas exhibited in his masterly _Journey_, over part of the same ground;and who it should seem from a desire of ingratiating himself with theScotch, has flattered the people of North-Britain so inordinately andwith so little discrimination, that the judicious and candid amongstthem must be disgusted, while they value more the plain, just, yetkindly report of Johnson. 

Having impartially censured Mr. Pennant, as a Traveller in Scotland, letme allow him, from authorities much better than mine, his deservedpraise as an able Zoologist; and let me also from my own understandingand feelings, acknowledge the merit of his _London_, which, though saidto be not quite accurate in some particulars, is one of the mostpleasing topographical performances that ever appeared in any language. Mr. Pennant, like his countrymen in general[801], has the true spirit of a_Gentleman_. As a proof of it, I shall quote from his _London_ thepassage, in which he speaks of my illustrious friend. 'I must by nomeans omit _Bolt-court_, the long residence of Doctor SAMUEL JOHNSON, aman of the strongest natural abilities, great learning, a most retentivememory, of the deepest and most unaffected piety and morality, mingledwith those numerous weaknesses and prejudices which his friends havekindly taken care to draw from their dread abode[802]. I brought on myselfhis transient anger, by observing that in his tour in _Scotland_, heonce had "long and woeful experience of oats being the food of men in_Scotland_ as they were of horses in _England_. "' It was a nationalreflection unworthy of him, and I shot my bolt. In return he gave me atender hug[803]. _Con amore_ he also said of me '_The dog is a Whig_[804];'I admired the virtues of Lord _Russell_, and pitied his fall. I shouldhave been a Whig at the Revolution. There have been periods since, inwhich I should have been, what I now am, a moderate Tory, a supporter, as far as my little influence extends, of a well-poised balance betweenthe crown and people: but should the scale preponderate against the_Salus populi_, that moment may it be said '_The dog's a Whig_!'

We had a calm after the storm, staid the evening and supped, and werepleasant and gay. But Dr. Percy told me he was very uneasy at what hadpassed; for there was a gentleman there who was acquainted with theNorthumberland family, to whom he hoped to have appeared morerespectable, by shewing how intimate he was with Dr. Johnson, and whomight now, on the contrary, go away with an opinion to his disadvantage. He begged I would mention this to Dr. Johnson, which I afterwards did. His observation upon it was, 'This comes of _stratagem_; had he told methat he wished to appear to advantage before that gentleman, he shouldhave been at the top of the house, all the time. ' He spoke of Dr. Percyin the handsomest terms. 'Then, Sir, (said I, ) may I be allowed tosuggest a mode by which you may effectually counteract any unfavourablereport of what passed. I will write a letter to you upon the subject ofthe unlucky contest of that day, and you will be kind enough to put inwriting as an answer to that letter, what you have now said, and as LordPercy is to dine with us at General Paoli's soon, I will take anopportunity to read the correspondence in his Lordship's presence. ' Thisfriendly scheme was accordingly carried into execution without Dr. Percy's knowledge. Johnson's letter placed Dr. Percy's unquestionablemerit in the fairest point of view; and I contrived that Lord Percyshould hear the correspondence, by introducing it at General Paoli's, asan instance of Dr. Johnson's kind disposition towards one in whom hisLordship was interested. Thus every unfavourable impression was obviatedthat could possibly have been made on those by whom he wished most to beregarded. I breakfasted the day after with him, and informed him of myscheme, and its happy completion, for which he thanked me in the warmestterms, and was highly delighted with Dr. Johnson's letter in his praise, of which I gave him a copy. He said, 'I would rather have this thandegrees from all the Universities in Europe. It will be for me, and mychildren and grand-children. ' Dr. Johnson having afterwards asked me ifI had given him a copy of it, and being told I had, was offended, andinsisted that I should get it back, which I did. As, however, he did notdesire me to destroy either the original or the copy, or forbid me tolet it be seen, I think myself at liberty to apply to it his generaldeclaration to me concerning his other letters, 'That he did not choosethey should be published in his lifetime; but had no objection to theirappearing after his death[805]. ' I shall therefore insert this kindlycorrespondence, having faithfully narrated the circumstancesaccompanying it[806]. 

'To DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

'MY DEAR SIR, 'I beg leave to address you in behalf of our friend Dr. Percy, who wasmuch hurt by what you said to him that day we dined at his house[807];when, in the course of the dispute as to Pennant's merit as a traveller, you told Percy that "he had the resentment of a narrow mind againstPennant, because he did not find every thing in Northumberland. " Percyis sensible that you did not mean to injure him; but he is vexed tothink that your behaviour to him upon that occasion may be interpretedas a proof that he is despised by you, which I know is not the case. Ihave told him, that the charge of being narrow-minded was only as to theparticular point in question; and that he had the merit of being amartyr to his noble family. 

'Earl Percy is to dine with General Paoli next Friday; and I should besincerely glad to have it in my power to satisfy his Lordship how wellyou think of Dr. Percy, who, I find, apprehends that your good opinionof him may be of very essential consequence; and who assures me, that hehas the highest respect and the warmest affection for you. 

'I have only to add, that my suggesting this occasion for the exerciseof your candour and generosity, is altogether unknown to Dr. Percy, andproceeds from my good-will towards him, and my persuasion that you willbe happy to do him an essential kindness. I am, more and more, my dearSir, 'Your most faithful

'And affectionate humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

 * * * * *

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'SIR, 'The debate between Dr. Percy and me is one of those foolishcontroversies, which begin upon a question of which neither party careshow it is decided, and which is, nevertheless, continued to acrimony, bythe vanity with which every man resists confutation[808]. Dr. Percy'swarmth proceeded from a cause which, perhaps, does him more honour thanhe could have derived from juster criticism. His abhorrence of Pennantproceeded from his opinion that Pennant had wantonly and indecentlycensured his patron. His anger made him resolve, that, for having beenonce wrong, he never should be right. Pennant has much in his notionsthat I do not like; but still I think him a very intelligent traveller. If Percy is really offended, I am sorry; for he is a man whom I neverknew to offend any one. He is a man very willing to learn, and very ableto teach; a man, out of whose company I never go without having learnedsomething. It is sure that he vexes me sometimes, but I am afraid it isby making me feel my own ignorance. So much extension of mind, and somuch minute accuracy of enquiry, if you survey your whole circle ofacquaintance, you will find so scarce, if you find it at all, that youwill value Percy by comparison. Lord Hailes is somewhat like him: butLord Hailes does not, perhaps, go beyond him in research; and I do notknow that he equals him in elegance. Percy's attention to poetry hasgiven grace and splendour to his studies of antiquity. A mereantiquarian is a rugged being. 

'Upon the whole, you see that what I might say in sport or petulance tohim, is very consistent with full conviction of his merit. 

'I am, dear Sir, 'Your most, &c. , 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'April 23, 1778. '

'TO THE REVEREND DR. PERCY, NORTHUMBERLAND-HOUSE. 

'DEAR SIR, 'I wrote to Dr. Johnson on the subject of the _Pennantian_ controversy;and have received from him an answer which will delight you. I read ityesterday to Dr. Robertson, at the Exhibition; and at dinner to LordPercy, General Oglethorpe, &c. Who dined with us at General Paoli's; whowas also a witness to the high _testimony_ to your honour. 

'General Paoli desires the favour of your company next Tuesday todinner, to meet Dr. Johnson. If I can, I will call on you to-day. I am, with sincere regard, 'Your most obedient humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL[809]. '

'South Audley-street, April 25. '

On Monday, April 13, I dined with Johnson at Mr. Langton's, where wereDr. Porteus, then Bishop of Chester, now of London, and Dr. Stinton[810]. He was at first in a very silent mood. Before dinner he said nothing but'Pretty baby, ' to one of the children. Langton said very well to meafterwards, that he could repeat Johnson's conversation before dinner, as Johnson had said that he could repeat a complete chapter of _TheNatural History of Iceland_, from the Danish of _Horrebow_, the whole ofwhich was exactly thus:--

'CHAP. LXXII. _Concerning snakes_. 

'There are no snakes to be met with throughout the whole island[811]. '

At dinner we talked of another mode in the newspapers[812] of givingmodern characters in sentences from the classicks, and of the passage

'Pareus deorum cultor, et infrequens, Insanientis dum sapientiæConsultus erro, nunc retrorsùmVela dare, atque iterare cursusCogor relictos[813]:'

being well applied to Soame Jenyns; who, after having wandered in thewilds of infidelity, had returned to the Christian faith[814]. Mr. Langtonasked Johnson as to the propriety of _sapientiæ consultus_. JOHNSON. 'Though _consultus_ was primarily an adjective, like _amicus_ it came tobe used as a substantive. So we have _Juris consultus_, a consult inlaw. '

We talked of the styles of different painters, and how certainly aconnoisseur could distinguish them; I asked, if there was as clear adifference of styles in language as in painting, or even as inhand-writing, so that the composition of every individual may bedistinguished? JOHNSON. 'Yes. Those who have a style of eminentexcellence, such as Dryden and Milton, can always be distinguished. ' Ihad no doubt of this, but what I wanted to know was, whether there wasreally a peculiar style to every man whatever, as there is certainly apeculiar handwriting, a peculiar countenance, not widely different inmany, yet always enough to be distinctive:--

'. .. _facies non omnibus una, Nec diversa tamen_[815]. '

The Bishop thought not; and said, he supposed that many pieces inDodsley's collection of poems, though all very pretty, had nothingappropriated in their style, and in that particular could not be at alldistinguished. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, I think every man whatever has apeculiar style[816], which may be discovered by nice examination andcomparison with others: but a man must write a great deal to make hisstyle obviously discernible. As logicians say, this appropriation ofstyle is infinite in _potestate_, limited _in actu_. '

Mr. Topham Beauclerk came in the evening, and he and Dr. Johnson and Istaid to supper. It was mentioned that Dr. Dodd had once wished to be amember of THE LITERARY CLUB[817]. JOHNSON. 'I should be sorry if any ofour Club were hanged. I will not say but some of them deserve it[818]. 'BEAUCLERK; (supposing this to be aimed at persons for whom he had atthat time a wonderful fancy, which, however, did not last long, ) wasirritated, and eagerly said, 'You, Sir, have a friend[819], (naming him)who deserves to be hanged; for he speaks behind their backs againstthose with whom he lives on the best terms, and attacks them in thenewspapers. _He_ certainly ought to be _kicked_. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, we alldo this in some degree, "_Veniam petimus damusque vicissim_[820]. " To besure it may be done so much, that a man may deserve to be kicked. 'BEAUCLERK. 'He is very malignant. ' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir; he is notmalignant. He is mischievous, if you will. He would do no man anessential injury; he may, indeed, love to make sport of people by vexingtheir vanity. I, however, once knew an old gentleman who was absolutelymalignant. He really wished evil to others, and rejoiced at it. 'BOSWELL. 'The gentleman, Mr. Beauclerk, against whom you are so violent, is, I know, a man of good principles. ' BEAUCLERK. 'Then he does not wearthem out in practice[821]. '

Dr. Johnson, who, as I have observed before, delighted in discriminationof character, and having a masterly knowledge of human nature, waswilling to take men as they are, imperfect and with a mixture of goodand bad qualities[822], I suppose thought he had said enough in defence ofhis friend, of whose merits, notwithstanding his exceptional points, hehad a just value; and added no more on the subject. 

On Tuesday, April 14, I dined with him at General Oglethorpe's, withGeneral Paoli and Mr. Langton. General Oglethorpe declaimed againstluxury[823]. JOHNSON. 'Depend upon it, Sir, every state of society is asluxurious as it can be. Men always take the best they can get. 'OGLETHORPE. 'But the best depends much upon ourselves; and if we can beas well satisfied with plain things, we are in the wrong to accustom ourpalates to what is high-seasoned and expensive. What says Addison in his_Cato_, speaking of the Numidian?

"Coarse are his meals, the fortune of the chace, Amid the running stream he slakes his thirst, Toils all the day, and at the approach of night, On the first friendly bank he throws him down, Or rests his head upon a rock till morn[824];And if the following day he chance to findA new repast, or an untasted spring, Blesses his stars, and thinks it's luxury. "

Let us have _that_ kind of luxury, Sir, if you will. ' JOHNSON. 'Buthold, Sir; to be merely satisfied is not enough. It is in refinement andelegance that the civilized man differs from the savage. A great part ofour industry, and all our ingenuity is exercised in procuring pleasure;and, Sir, a hungry man has not the same pleasure in eating a plaindinner, that a hungry man has in eating a luxurious dinner. You see Iput the case fairly. A hungry man may have as much, nay, more pleasurein eating a plain dinner, than a man grown fastidious has in eating aluxurious dinner. But I suppose the man who decides between the twodinners, to be equally a hungry man. '

Talking of different governments, --JOHNSON. 'The more contracted thatpower is, the more easily it is destroyed. A country governed by adespot is an inverted cone. Government there cannot be so firm, as whenit rests upon a broad basis gradually contracted, as the government ofGreat Britain, which is founded on the parliament, then is in the privycouncil, then in the King. ' BOSWELL. 'Power, when contracted into theperson of a despot, may be easily destroyed, as the prince may be cutoff. So Caligula wished that the people of Rome had but one neck, thathe might cut them off at a blow. ' OGLETHORPE. 'It was of the Senate hewished that[825]. The Senate by its usurpation controlled both theEmperour and the people. And don't you think that we see too much ofthat in our own Parliament?'

Dr. Johnson endeavoured to trace the etymology of Maccaronick verses, which he thought were of Italian invention from Maccaroni; but on beinginformed that this would infer that they were the most common and easyverses, maccaroni being the most ordinary and simple food, he was at aloss; for he said, 'He rather should have supposed it to import in itsprimitive signification, a composition of several things; forMaccaronick verses are verses made out of a mixture of differentlanguages, that is, of one language with the termination of another[826]. 'I suppose we scarcely know of a language in any country where there isany learning, in which that motley ludicrous species of composition maynot be found. It is particularly droll in Low Dutch. The_Polemomiddinia_[827] of Drummond of Hawthornden, in which there is ajumble of many languages moulded, as if it were all in Latin, is wellknown. Mr. Langton made us laugh heartily at one in the Grecian mould, by Joshua Barnes, in which are to be found such comical_Anglo-Ellenisms_ as [Greek: Klubboisin ebanchthen]: they were bangedwith clubs[828]. 

On Wednesday, April 15, I dined with Dr. Johnson at Mr. Dilly's, and wasin high spirits, for I had been a good part of the morning with Mr. Orme, the able and eloquent historian of Hindostan, who expressed agreat admiration of Johnson. 'I do not care (said he, ) on what subjectJohnson talks; but I love better to hear him talk than any body. Heeither gives you new thoughts, or a new colouring. It is a shame to thenation that he has not been more liberally rewarded. Had I been Georgethe Third, and thought as he did about America, I would have givenJohnson three hundred a year for his _Taxation no Tyranny_ alone. ' Irepeated this, and Johnson was much pleased with such praise from such aman as Orme. 

At Mr. Dilly's to-day were Mrs. Knowles[829], the ingenious Quakerlady[830], Miss Seward, the poetess of Lichfield, the Reverend Dr. Mayo[831], and the Rev. Mr. Beresford, Tutor to the Duke of Bedford. Before dinner Dr. Johnson seized upon Mr. Charles Sheridan's _Account ofthe late Revolution in Sweden_[832], and seemed to read it ravenously, asif he devoured it, which was to all appearance his method of studying. 'He knows how to read better than any one (said Mrs. Knowles;) he getsat the substance of a book directly; he tears out the heart of it. ' Hekept it wrapt up in the tablecloth in his lap during the time of dinner, from an avidity to have one entertainment in readiness when he shouldhave finished another; resembling (if I may use so coarse a simile) adog who holds a bone in his paws in reserve, while he eats somethingelse which has been thrown to him. 

The subject of cookery having been very naturally introduced at a tablewhere Johnson, who boasted of the niceness of his palate[833], owned that'he always found a good dinner, ' he said, 'I could write a better bookof cookery than has ever yet been written; it should be a book uponphilosophical principles. Pharmacy is now made much more simple. Cookerymay be made so too. A prescription which is now compounded of fiveingredients, had formerly fifty in it. So in cookery, if the nature ofthe ingredients be well known, much fewer will do. Then as you cannotmake bad meat good, I would tell what is the best butcher's meat, thebest beef, the best pieces; how to choose young fowls; the properseasons of different vegetables; and then how to roast and boil, andcompound. ' DILLY. 'Mrs. Glasse's _Cookery_, which is the best, waswritten by Dr. Hill. Half the _trade_[834] know this. ' JOHNSON. 'Well, Sir. This shews how much better the subject of cookery may be treated bya philosopher. I doubt if the book be written by Dr. Hill; for, in Mrs. Glasse's _Cookery_, which I have looked into, salt-petre andsal-prunella are spoken of as different substances, whereas sal-prunellais only salt-petre burnt on charcoal; and Hill could not be ignorant ofthis. However, as the greatest part of such a book is made bytranscription, this mistake may have been carelessly adopted. But youshall see what a Book of Cookery I shall make! I shall agree with Mr. Dilly for the copy-right. ' Miss SEWARD. 'That would be Hercules with thedistaff indeed. ' JOHNSON. 'No, Madam. Women can spin very well; but theycannot make a good book of Cookery. '

JOHNSON. 'O! Mr. Dilly--you must know that an English Benedictine Monkat Paris has translated _The Duke of Berwick's Memoirs_, from theoriginal French, and has sent them to me to sell. I offered them toStrahan, who sent them back with this answer:--"That the first book hehad published was the _Duke of Berwick's Life_, by which he had lost:and he hated the name. "--Now I honestly tell you, that Strahan hasrefused them; but I also honestly tell you, that he did it upon noprinciple, for he never looked into them. ' DILLY. 'Are they welltranslated, Sir?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, very well--in a style very currentand very clear. I have written to the Benedictine to give me an answerupon two points--What evidence is there that the letters are authentick?(for if they are not authentick they are nothing;)--And how long will itbe before the original French is published? For if the French edition isnot to appear for a considerable time, the translation will be almost asvaluable as an original book. They will make two volumes in octavo; andI have undertaken to correct every sheet as it comes from the press. 'Mr. Dilly desired to see them, and said he would send for them. He askedDr. Johnson if he would write a Preface to them. JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. TheBenedictines were very kind to me[835], and I'll do what I undertook todo; but I will not mingle my name with them. I am to gain nothing bythem. I'll turn them loose upon the world, and let them take theirchance. ' DR. MAYO. 'Pray, Sir, are Ganganelli's letters authentick?'JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. Voltaire put the same question to the editor of them, that I did to Macpherson--Where are the originals[836]?'

Mrs. Knowles affected to complain that men had much more liberty allowedthem than women. JOHNSON. 'Why, Madam, women have all the liberty theyshould wish to have. We have all the labour and the danger, and thewomen all the advantage. We go to sea, we build houses, we doeverything, in short, to pay our court to the women. ' MRS. KNOWLES. 'TheDoctor reasons very wittily, but not convincingly. Now, take theinstance of building; the mason's wife, if she is ever seen in liquor, is ruined; the mason may get himself drunk as often as he pleases, withlittle loss of character; nay, may let his wife and children starve. 'JOHNSON. 'Madam, you must consider, if the mason does get himself drunk, and let his wife and children starve, the parish will oblige him to findsecurity for their maintenance. We have different modes of restrainingevil. Stocks for the men, a ducking-stool for women[837], and a pound forbeasts. If we require more perfection from women than from ourselves, itis doing them honour. And women have not the same temptations that wehave: they may always live in virtuous company; men must mix in theworld indiscriminately. If a woman has no inclination to do what iswrong being secured from it is no restraint to her. I am at liberty towalk into the Thames; but if I were to try it, my friends would restrainme in Bedlam, and I should be obliged to them. ' MRS. KNOWLES. 'Still, Doctor, I cannot help thinking it a hardship that more indulgence isallowed to men than to women. It gives a superiority to men, to which Ido not see how they are entitled. ' JOHNSON. 'It is plain, Madam, one orother must have the superiority. As Shakspeare says, "If two men ride ona horse, one must ride behind[838]. "' DILLY. 'I suppose, Sir, Mrs. Knowleswould have them to ride in panniers, one on each side. ' JOHNSON. 'Then, Sir, the horse would throw them both. ' MRS. KNOWLES. 'Well, I hope thatin another world the sexes will be equal. ' BOSWELL. 'That is being tooambitious, Madam. _We_ might as well desire to be equal with the angels. We shall all, I hope, be happy in a future state, but we must not expectto be all happy in the same degree. It is enough if we be happyaccording to our several capacities. A worthy carman will get to heavenas well as Sir Isaac Newton. Yet, though equally good, they will nothave the same degrees of happiness. ' JOHNSON. 'Probably not. '

Upon this subject I had once before sounded him, by mentioning the lateReverend Mr. Brown, of Utrecht's, image; that a great and small glass, though equally full, did not hold an equal quantity; which he threw outto refute David Hume's saying[839], that a little miss, going to dance ata ball, in a fine new dress, was as happy as a great oratour, afterhaving made an eloquent and applauded speech. After some thought, Johnson said, 'I come over to the parson. ' As an instance of coincidenceof thinking, Mr. Dilly told me, that Dr. King, a late dissentingminister in London, said to him, upon the happiness in a future state ofgood men of different capacities, 'A pail does not hold so much as atub; but, if it be equally full, it has no reason to complain. EverySaint in heaven will have as much happiness as he can hold. ' Mr. Dillythought this a clear, though a familiar illustration of the phrase, 'Onestar differeth from another in brightness[840]. '

Dr. Mayo having asked Johnson's opinion of Soame Jenyns's _View of theInternal Evidence of the Christian Religion_[841];--JOHNSON. 'I think it apretty book; not very theological indeed; and there seems to be anaffectation of ease and carelessness, as if it were not suitable to hischaracter to be very serious about the matter. ' BOSWELL. 'He may haveintended this to introduce his book the better among genteel people, whomight be unwilling to read too grave a treatise. There is a generallevity in the age. We have physicians now with bag-wigs[842]; may we nothave airy divines, at least somewhat less solemn in their appearancethan they used to be?' JOHNSON. 'Jenyns might mean as you say[843]. 'BOSWELL. 'You should like his book, Mrs. Knowles, as it maintains, asyou _friends_ do, that courage is not a Christian virtue. ' MRS. KNOWLES. 'Yes, indeed, I like him there; but I cannot agree with him, thatfriendship is not a Christian virtue[844]. ' JOHNSON. 'Why, Madam, strictlyspeaking, he is right. All friendship is preferring the interest of afriend, to the neglect, or, perhaps, against the interest of others; sothat an old Greek said, "He that has _friends_ has _no friend_. " NowChristianity recommends universal benevolence, to consider all men asour brethren[845], which is contrary to the virtue of friendship, asdescribed by the ancient philosophers. Surely, Madam, your sect mustapprove of this; for, you call all men _friends_. ' MRS. KNOWLES. 'We arecommanded to do good to all men, "but especially to them who are of thehousehold of Faith[846]. "' JOHNSON. 'Well, Madam. The household of Faithis wide enough. ' MRS. KNOWLES. 'But, Doctor, our Saviour had twelveApostles, yet there was _one_ whom he _loved_. John was called "thedisciple whom JESUS loved[847]. "' JOHNSON (with eyes sparklingbenignantly). 'Very well, indeed, Madam. You have said very well. 'BOSWELL. 'A fine application. Pray, Sir, had you ever thought of it?'JOHNSON. 'I had not, Sir. '

From this pleasing subject[848], he, I know not how or why, made a suddentransition to one upon which he was a violent aggressor; for he said, 'Iam willing to love all mankind, _except an American_:' and hisinflammable corruption bursting into horrid fire, he 'breathed outthreatenings and slaughter[849];' calling them, 'Rascals--Robbers--Pirates;' and exclaiming, he'd 'burn and destroy them. ' Miss Seward, looking to him with mild but steady astonishment, said, 'Sir, this is aninstance that we are always most violent against those whom we haveinjured. '--He was irritated still more by this delicate and keenreproach; and roared out another tremendous volley, which one mightfancy could be heard across the Atlantick. During this tempest I sat ingreat uneasiness, lamenting his heat of temper; till, by degrees, Idiverted his attention to other topicks. 

DR. MAYO (to Dr. Johnson). 'Pray, Sir, have you read _Edwards, of NewEngland, on Grace_?' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. ' BOSWELL. 'It puzzled me so muchas to the freedom of the human will, by stating, with wonderful acuteingenuity, our being actuated by a series of motives which we cannotresist, that the only relief I had was to forget it. ' MAYO. 'But hemakes the proper distinction between moral and physical necessity. 'BOSWELL. 'Alas, Sir, they come both to the same thing. You may be boundas hard by chains when covered by leather, as when the iron appears. Theargument for the moral necessity of human actions is always, I observe, fortified by supposing universal prescience to be one of the attributesof the Deity. ' JOHNSON. 'You are surer that you are free, than you areof prescience; you are surer that you can lift up your finger or not asyou please, than you are of any conclusion from a deduction ofreasoning. But let us consider a little the objection from prescience. It is certain I am either to go home to-night or not; that does notprevent my freedom. ' BOSWELL. 'That it is certain you are _either_ to gohome or not, does not prevent your freedom; because the liberty ofchoice between the two is compatible with that certainty. But if _one_of these events be certain _now_, you have no _future_ power ofvolition. If it be certain you are to go home to-night, you _must_ gohome. ' JOHNSON. 'If I am well acquainted with a man, I can judge withgreat probability how he will act in any case, without his beingrestrained by my judging. GOD may have this probability increased tocertainty. ' BOSWELL. 'When it is increased to _certainty_, freedomceases, because that cannot be certainly foreknown, which is not certainat the time; but if it be certain at the time, it is a contradiction interms to maintain that there can be afterwards any _contingency_dependent upon the exercise of will or any thing else. ' JOHNSON. 'Alltheory is against the freedom of the will; all experience for it[850]. '--Idid not push the subject any farther. I was glad to find him so mild indiscussing a question of the most abstract nature, involved withtheological tenets, which he generally would not suffer to be in anydegree opposed[851]. 

He as usual defended luxury[852]; 'You cannot spend money in luxurywithout doing good to the poor. Nay, you do more good to them byspending it in luxury, than by giving it: for by spending it in luxury, you make them exert industry, whereas by giving it, you keep them idle. I own, indeed, there may be more virtue in giving it immediately incharity, than in spending it in luxury; though there may be a pride inthat too. ' Miss Seward asked, if this was not Mandeville's doctrine of'private vices publick benefits. ' JOHNSON. 'The fallacy of that book is, that Mandeville defines neither vices nor benefits. He reckons amongvices everything that gives pleasure[853]. He takes the narrowest systemof morality, monastick morality, which holds pleasure itself to be avice, such as eating salt with our fish, because it makes it eat better;and he reckons wealth as a publick benefit, which is by no means alwaystrue. Pleasure of itself is not a vice. Having a garden, which we allknow to be perfectly innocent, is a great pleasure. At the same time, inthis state of being there are many pleasures vices, which however are soimmediately agreeable that we can hardly abstain from them. Thehappiness of Heaven will be, that pleasure and virtue will be perfectlyconsistent. Mandeville puts the case of a man who gets drunk in analehouse; and says it is a publick benefit, because so much money is gotby it to the publick. But it must be considered, that all the goodgained by this, through the gradation of alehouse-keeper, brewer, maltster, and farmer, is overbalanced by the evil caused to the man andhis family by his getting drunk[854]. This is the way to try what isvicious, by ascertaining whether more evil than good is produced by itupon the whole, which is the case in all vice. It may happen that goodis produced by vice; but not as vice; for instance, a robber may takemoney from its owner, and give it to one who will make a better use ofit. Here is good produced; but not by the robbery as robbery, but astranslation of property[855]. I read Mandeville forty, or, I believe, fifty years ago. He did not puzzle me; he opened my views into real lifevery much[856]. No, it is clear that the happiness of society depends onvirtue. In Sparta, theft was allowed by general consent[857]: theft, therefore, was _there_ not a crime, but then there was no security; andwhat a life must they have had, when there was no security. Withouttruth there must be a dissolution of society. As it is, there is solittle truth, that we are almost afraid to trust our ears; but howshould we be, if falsehood were multiplied ten times? Society is heldtogether by communication and information; and I remember this remark ofSir Thomas Brown's, "Do the devils lie? No; for then Hell could notsubsist[858]. "'

Talking of Miss ----[859], a literary lady, he said, 'I was obliged tospeak to Miss Reynolds, to let her know that I desired she would notflatter me so much. ' Somebody now observed, 'She flatters Garrick. 'JOHNSON. 'She is in the right to flatter Garrick. She is in the rightfor two reasons; first, because she has the world with her, who havebeen praising Garrick these thirty years; and secondly, because she isrewarded for it by Garrick[860]. Why should she flatter _me_? I can donothing for her. Let her carry her praise to a better market[861]. (Thenturning to Mrs. Knowles). You, Madam, have been flattering me all theevening; I wish you would give Boswell a little now. If you knew hismerit as well as I do, you would say a great deal; he is the besttravelling companion in the world[862]. '

Somebody mentioned the Reverend Mr. Mason's prosecution of Mr. Murray[863], the bookseller, for having inserted in a collection of_Gray's Poems_, only fifty lines, of which Mr. Mason had still theexclusive property, under the statute of Queen Anne; and that Mr. Masonhad persevered, notwithstanding his being requested to name his ownterms of compensation[864]. Johnson signified his displeasure at Mr. Mason's conduct very strongly; but added, by way of shewing that he wasnot surprized at it, 'Mason's a Whig. ' MRS. KNOWLES, (not hearingdistinctly:) 'What! a Prig, Sir?' JOHNSON. 'Worse, Madam; a Whig! But heis both. '

I expressed a horrour at the thought of death. MRS. KNOWLES. 'Nay, thoushould'st not have a horrour for what is the gate of life. ' JOHNSON, (standing upon the hearth rolling about, with a serious, solemn, andsomewhat gloomy air:) 'No rational man can die without uneasyapprehension. ' MRS. KNOWLES. 'The Scriptures tell us, "The righteousshall have _hope_ in his death[865]. "' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Madam; that is, heshall not have despair[866]. But, consider, his hope of salvation must befounded on the terms on which it is promised that the mediation of ourSAVIOUR shall be applied to us, --namely, obedience; and where obediencehas failed, then, as suppletory to it, repentance. But what man can saythat his obedience has been such, as he would approve of in another, oreven in himself upon close examination, or that his repentance has notbeen such as to require being repented of? No man can be sure that hisobedience and repentance will obtain salvation. ' MRS. KNOWLES. 'Butdivine intimation of acceptance may be made to the soul. ' JOHNSON. 'Madam, it may; but I should not think the better of a man who shouldtell me on his death-bed he was sure of salvation. A man cannot be surehimself that he has divine intimation of acceptance; much less can hemake others sure that he has it[867]. ' BOSWELL. 'Then, Sir, we must becontented to acknowledge that death is a terrible thing. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir. I have made no approaches to a state which can look on it as notterrible[868]. ' MRS. KNOWLES, (seeming to enjoy a pleasing serenity in thepersuasion of benignant divine light:) 'Does not St. Paul say, "I havefought the good fight of faith, I have finished my course; henceforth islaid up for me a crown of life[869]?"' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Madam; but here wasa man inspired, a man who had been converted by supernaturalinterposition. ' BOSWELL. 'In prospect death is dreadful; but in fact wefind that people die easy. ' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, most people have not_thought_ much of the matter, so cannot _say_ much, and it is supposedthey die easy. Few believe it certain they are then to die; and thosewho do, set themselves to behave with resolution, as a man does who isgoing to be hanged. He is not the less unwilling to be hanged[870]. ' MISSSEWARD. 'There is one mode of the fear of death, which is certainlyabsurd; and that is the dread of annihilation, which is only a pleasingsleep without a dream. ' JOHNSON. 'It is neither pleasing, nor sleep; itis nothing. Now mere existence is so much better than nothing, that onewould rather exist even in pain, than not exist[871]. ' BOSWELL. 'Ifannihilation be nothing, then existing in pain is not a comparativestate, but is a positive evil, which I cannot think we should choose. Imust be allowed to differ here; and it would lessen the hope of a futurestate founded on the argument, that the Supreme Being, who is good as heis great, will hereafter compensate for our present sufferings in thislife. For if existence, such as we have it here, be comparatively agood, we have no reason to complain, though no more of it should begiven to us. But if our only state of existence were in this world, thenwe might with some reason complain that we are so dissatisfied with ourenjoyments compared with our desires. ' JOHNSON. 'The lady confoundsannihilation, which is nothing, with the apprehension of it, which isdreadful. It is in the apprehension of it that the horrour ofannihilation consists[872]. '

Of John Wesley, he said, 'He can talk well on any subject[873]. ' BOSWELL. 'Pray, Sir, what has he made of his story of a ghost?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, he believes it; but not on sufficient authority. He did not taketime enough to examine the girl. It was at Newcastle, where the ghostwas said to have appeared to a young woman several times, mentioningsomething about the right to an old house, advising application to bemade to an attorney, which was done; and, at the same time, saying theattorney would do nothing, which proved to be the fact. "This (saysJohn) is a proof that a ghost knows our thoughts[874]. " Now (laughing) itis not necessary to know our thoughts, to tell that an attorney willsometimes do nothing. Charles Wesley, who is a more stationary man, doesnot believe the story. I am sorry that John did not take more pains toinquire into the evidence for it. ' MISS SEWARD, (with an increduloussmile:) 'What, Sir! about a ghost?' JOHNSON, (with solemn vehemence:)'Yes, Madam: this is a question which, after five thousand years, is yetundecided; a question, whether in theology or philosophy, one of themost important that can come before the human understanding[875]. '

Mrs. Knowles mentioned, as a proselyte to Quakerism, Miss ----[876], ayoung lady well known to Dr. Johnson, for whom he had shewn muchaffection; while she ever had, and still retained, a great respect forhim. Mrs. Knowles at the same time took an opportunity of letting himknow 'that the amiable young creature was sorry at finding that he wasoffended at her leaving the Church of England and embracing a simplerfaith;' and, in the gentlest and most persuasive manner, solicited hiskind indulgence for what was sincerely a matter of conscience. JOHNSON, (frowning very angrily, ) 'Madam, she is an odious wench. She could nothave any proper conviction that it was her duty to change her religion, which is the most important of all subjects, and should be studied withall care, and with all the helps we can get. She knew no more of theChurch which she left, and that which she embraced, than she did of thedifference between the Copernican and Ptolemaick systems. ' MRS. KNOWLES. 'She had the New Testament before her. ' JOHNSON. 'Madam, she could notunderstand the New Testament, the most difficult book in the world, forwhich the study of a life is required. ' MRS. KNOWLES. 'It is clear as toessentials. ' JOHNSON. 'But not as to controversial points. The heathenswere easily converted, because they had nothing to give up; but we oughtnot, without very strong conviction indeed, to desert the religion inwhich we have been educated. That is the religion given you, thereligion in which it may be said Providence has placed you. If you liveconscientiously in that religion, you may be safe. But errour isdangerous indeed, if you err when you choose a religion foryourself[877]. ' MRS. KNOWLES. 'Must we then go by implicit faith?'JOHNSON. 'Why, Madam, the greatest part of our knowledge is implicitfaith; and as to religion, have we heard all that a disciple ofConfucius, all that a Mahometan, can say for himself?' He then roseagain into passion, and attacked the young proselyte in the severestterms of reproach, so that both the ladies seemed to be much shocked[878]. 

We remained together till it was pretty late. Notwithstanding occasionalexplosions of violence, we were all delighted upon the whole withJohnson. I compared him at this time to a warm West-Indian climate, where you have a bright sun, quick vegetation, luxuriant foliage, luscious fruits; but where the same heat sometimes produces thunder, lightning, earthquakes, in a terrible degree. 

April 17, being Good Friday[879], I waited on Johnson, as usual. Iobserved at breakfast that although it was a part of his abstemiousdiscipline on this most solemn fast, to take no milk in his tea, yetwhen Mrs. Desmoulins inadvertently poured it in, he did not reject it. Italked of the strange indecision of mind, and imbecility in the commonoccurrences 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 alwaysthink afterwards I should have done better for myself. ' I told him thatat a gentleman's house[880] where there was thought to be suchextravagance or bad management, that he was living much beyond hisincome, his lady had objected to the cutting of a pickled mango, andthat I had taken an opportunity to ask the price of it, and found it wasonly two shillings; so here was a very poor saving. JOHNSON. 'Sir, thatis the blundering oeconomy of a narrow understanding. It is stopping onehole in a sieve. '

I expressed some inclination to publish an account of my _Travels_ uponthe continent of Europe, for which I had a variety of materialscollected. JOHNSON. 'I do not say, Sir, you may not publish yourtravels; but I give you my opinion, that you would lessen yourself byit. What can you tell of countries so well known as those upon thecontinent of Europe, which you have visited?' BOSWELL. 'But I can givean entertaining narrative, with many incidents, anecdotes, _jeuxd'esprit_, and remarks, so as to make very pleasant reading. ' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, most modern travellers in Europe who have published theirtravels, have been laughed at: I would not have you added to thenumber[881]. The world is now not contented to be merely entertained by atraveller's narrative; they want to learn something[882]. Now some of myfriends asked me, why I did not give some account of my travels inFrance. The reason is plain; intelligent readers had seen more of Francethan I had. _You_ might have liked my travels in France, and THE CLUBmight have liked them; but, upon the whole, there would have been moreridicule 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 facehas been painted by fifty painters before; still we love to see it doneby Sir Joshua. ' JOHNSON. 'True, Sir, but Sir Joshua cannot paint a facewhen he has not time to look on it. ' BOSWELL. 'Sir, a sketch of any sortby him is valuable. And, Sir, to talk to you in your own style (raisingmy voice, and shaking my head, ) you _should_ have given us your travelsin 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 hadobserved in his letter to me upon the subject, that a great part of whatwas in his _Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland_ had been in hismind before he left London. JOHNSON. 'Why yes, Sir, the topicks were;and books of travels[883] will be good in proportion to what a man haspreviously in his mind; his knowing what to observe; his power ofcontrasting one mode of life with another. As the Spanish proverb says, "He, who would bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry thewealth of the Indies with him. " So it is in travelling; a man must carryknowledge with him, if he would bring home knowledge. ' BOSWELL. 'Theproverb, I suppose, Sir, means, he must carry a large stock with him totrade with. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir. '

It was a delightful day: as we walked to St. Clement's church[884], Iagain remarked that Fleet-street was the most cheerful scene in theworld[885]. 'Fleet-street (said I, ) is in my mind more delightful thanTempé. ' JOHNSON. 'Ay, Sir; but let it be compared with Mull. '

There was a very numerous congregation to-day at St. Clement'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 curiousincidents in Johnson's life, of which he himself has made the followingminute on this day: 'In my return from church, I was accosted byEdwards[886], an old fellow-collegian, who had not seen me since 1729. Heknew me, and asked if I remembered one Edwards; I did not at firstrecollect the name, but gradually as we walked along, recovered it, andtold him a conversation that had passed at an alehouse between us. Mypurpose is to continue our acquaintance[887]. '

It was in Butcher-row that this meeting happened. Mr. Edwards, who was adecent-looking elderly man in grey clothes, and a wig of many curls, accosted Johnson with familiar confidence, knowing who he was, whileJohnson returned his salutation with a courteous formality, as to astranger. But as soon as Edwards had brought to his recollection theirhaving been at Pembroke-College together nine-and-forty years ago, heseemed much pleased, asked where he lived, and said he should be glad tosee him in Bolt-court. EDWARDS. 'Ah, Sir! we are old men now[888]. 'JOHNSON, (who never liked to think of being old[889]:) 'Don't let usdiscourage one another. ' EDWARDS. 'Why, Doctor, you look stout andhearty, I am happy to see you so; for the newspapers told us you werevery ill[890]. ' JOHNSON, 'Ay, Sir, they are always telling lies of _us oldfellows_. '

Wishing to be present at more of so singular a conversation as thatbetween two fellow-collegians, who had lived forty years in Londonwithout ever having chanced to meet, I whispered to Mr. Edwards that Dr. Johnson was going home, and that he had better accompany him now. SoEdwards walked along with us, I eagerly assisting to keep up theconversation. Mr. Edwards informed Dr. Johnson that he had practisedlong as a solicitor in Chancery, but that he now lived in the countryupon a little farm, about sixty acres, just by Stevenage inHertfordshire, 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 ofliving in the country. BOSWELL. 'I have no notion of this, Sir. What youhave 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 mycorn, and my trees growing. Now, for instance, I am curious to see ifthis frost has not nipped my fruit-trees. ' JOHNSON, (who we did notimagine was attending:) 'You find, Sir, you have fears as well ashopes. '--So well did he see the whole, when another saw but the half ofa subject. 

When we got to Dr. Johnson's house, and were seated in his library, thedialogue went on admirably. EDWARDS. 'Sir, I remember you would not letus say _prodigious_ at College[891]. For even then, Sir, (turning to me, )he was delicate in language, and we all feared him[892]. ' JOHNSON, (toEdwards:) 'From your having practised the law long, Sir, I presume youmust be rich. ' EDWARDS. 'No, Sir; I got a good deal of money; but I hada number of poor relations to whom I gave a great part of it. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, you have been rich in the most valuable sense of the word. 'EDWARDS. 'But I shall not die rich. ' JOHNSON. 'Nay, sure, Sir, it isbetter to _live_ rich than to _die_ rich. ' EDWARDS. 'I wish I hadcontinued at College. ' JOHNSON. 'Why do you wish that, Sir?' EDWARDS. 'Because I think I should have had a much easier life than mine hasbeen. I should have been a parson, and had a good living, like Bloxamand several others, and lived comfortably. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, the life of aparson, of a conscientious clergyman, is not easy. I have alwaysconsidered a clergyman as the father of a larger family than he is ableto maintain. I would rather have Chancery suits upon my hands than thecure of souls. No, Sir, I do not envy a clergyman's life as an easylife[893], nor do I envy the clergyman who makes it an easy life. ' Heretaking himself up all of a sudden, he exclaimed, 'O! Mr. Edwards! I'llconvince you that I recollect you. Do you remember our drinking togetherat an alehouse near Pembroke gate[894]. At that time, you told me of theEton boy, who, when verses on our Saviour's turning water into wine wereprescribed as an exercise, brought up a single line, which was highlyadmired, --

"_Vidit et erubuit lympha pudica Deum_[895], "

and I told you of another fine line in Camden's _Remains_, an eulogyupon one of our Kings, who was succeeded by his son, a prince of equalmerit:--

"_Mira cano, Sol occubuit, nox nulla secuta est_[896]. "'

EDWARDS. 'You are a philosopher, Dr. Johnson. I have tried too in mytime to be a philosopher; but, I don't know how, cheerfulness was alwaysbreaking in[897]. ' 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, thatphilosophy, like religion, is too generally supposed to be hard andsevere, at least so grave as to exclude all gaiety. 

EDWARDS. 'I have been twice married, Doctor. You, I suppose, have neverknown what it was to have a wife. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, I have known what itwas to have a wife, and (in a solemn tender faultering tone) I haveknown 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 regularmeals, and a glass of good wine. I find I require it. ' JOHNSON. 'I nowdrink no wine, Sir. Early in life I drank wine: for many years I dranknone. I then for some years drank a great deal. ' EDWARDS. 'Somehogsheads, I warrant you. ' JOHNSON. 'I then had a severe illness, andleft it off[898], and I have never begun it again. I never felt anydifference upon myself from eating one thing rather than another, norfrom one kind of weather rather than another[899]. There are people. Ibelieve, who feel a difference; but I am not one of them. And as toregular meals, I have fasted from the Sunday's dinner to the Tuesday'sdinner, without any inconvenience[900]. I believe it is best to eat justas one is hungry: but a man who is in business, or a man who has afamily, must have stated meals. I am a straggler. I may leave this townand go to Grand Cairo, without being missed here or observed there. 'EDWARDS. 'Don't you eat supper, Sir?' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. ' EDWARDS. 'Formy part, now, I consider supper as a turnpike through which one mustpass, in order to get to bed[901]. '

JOHNSON. 'You are a lawyer, Mr. Edwards. Lawyers know life practically. A bookish man should always have them to converse with. They have whathe wants. ' EDWARDS. 'I am grown old: I am sixty-five. ' JOHNSON. 'I shallbe sixty-eight[902] next birth-day. Come, Sir, drink water, and put in fora hundred. '

Mr. Edwards mentioned a gentleman who had left his whole fortune toPembroke College. JOHNSON. 'Whether to leave one's whole fortune to aCollege be right, must depend upon circumstances. I would leave theinterest of the fortune I bequeathed to a College to my relations or myfriends, for their lives[903]. It is the same thing to a College, which isa permanent society, whether it gets the money now or twenty yearshence; and I would wish to make my relations or friends feel the benefitof it. '

This interview confirmed my opinion of Johnson's most humane andbenevolent heart. His cordial and placid behaviour to an oldfellow-collegian, a man so different from himself; and his telling himthat he would go down to his farm and visit him, showed a kindness ofdisposition very rare at an advanced age. He observed, 'how wonderful itwas that they had both been in London forty years, without having everonce met, and both walkers in the street too!' Mr. Edwards, when goingaway, again recurred to his consciousness of senility, and looking fullin Johnson's face, said to him, 'You'll find in Dr. Young, "O my coevals! remnants of yourselves[904]!"'

Johnson did not relish this at all; but shook his head with impatience. Edwards walked off, seemingly highly pleased with the honour of havingbeen thus noticed by Dr. Johnson. When he was gone, I said to Johnson, Ithought him but a weak man. JOHNSON. 'Why, yes, Sir. Here is a man whohas passed through life without experience: yet I would rather have himwith me than a more sensible man who will not talk readily. This man isalways willing to say what he has to say. ' Yet Dr. Johnson had himselfby no means that willingness which he praised so much, and I think sojustly; for who has not felt the painful effect of the dreary void, whenthere is a total silence in a company, for any length of time; or, whichis as bad, or perhaps worse, when the conversation is with difficultykept 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 spokento[905]. "'

The gentleman whom he thus familiarly mentioned was Mr. Thomas Tyers, son of Mr. Jonathan Tyers, the founder of that excellent place ofpublick amusement, Vauxhall Gardens, which must ever be an estate to itsproprietor, as it is peculiarly adapted to the taste of the Englishnation; there being a mixture of curious show, --gay exhibition, --musick, vocal and instrumental, not too refined for the general ear;--for allwhich only a shilling is paid[906]; and, though last, not least, goodeating and drinking for those who choose to purchase that regale[907]. Mr. Thomas Tyers was bred to the law; but having a handsome fortune, vivacity of temper, and eccentricity of mind, he could not confinehimself to the regularity of practice. He therefore ran about the worldwith a pleasant carelessness, amusing everybody by his desultoryconversation[908]. He abounded in anecdote, but was not sufficientlyattentive to accuracy. I therefore cannot venture to avail myself muchof a biographical sketch of Johnson which he published, being one amongthe various persons ambitious of appending their names to that of myillustrious friend. That sketch is, however, an entertaining littlecollection of fragments. Those which he published of Pope and Addisonare of higher merit; but his fame must chiefly rest upon his _PoliticalConferences_, in which he introduces several eminent persons deliveringtheir sentiments in the way of dialogue, and discovers a considerableshare of learning, various knowledge, and discernment of character. Thismuch may I be allowed to say of a man who was exceedingly obliging tome, and who lived with Dr. Johnson in as easy a manner as almost any ofhis very numerous acquaintance. 

Mr. Edwards had said to me aside, that Dr. Johnson should have been of aprofession[909]. I repeated the remark to Johnson that I might have hisown thoughts on the subject. JOHNSON. 'Sir, it _would_ have been betterthat 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 shouldnot have had the _English Dictionary_. ' JOHNSON. 'But you would have had_Reports_. ' BOSWELL. 'Ay; but there would not have been another, whocould have written the _Dictionary_. There have been many very goodJudges. Suppose you had been Lord Chancellor; you would have deliveredopinions with more extent of mind, and in a more ornamented manner, thanperhaps any Chancellor ever did, or ever will do. But, I believe, causeshave 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 supereminentpowers being rewarded in this great and liberal country by the highesthonours of the state. Sir William Scott informs me, that upon the deathof the late Lord Lichfield, who was Chancellor of the University ofOxford, he said to Johnson, 'What a pity it is, Sir, that you did notfollow the profession of the law[910]. You might have been Lord Chancellorof Great Britain, and attained to the dignity of the peerage; and nowthat the title of Lichfield, your native city, is extinct, you mighthave had it[911]. ' Johnson, upon this, seemed much agitated; and, in anangry tone, exclaimed, 'Why will you vex me by suggesting this, when itis too late[912]?'

But he did not repine at the prosperity of others. The late Dr. ThomasLeland told Mr. Courtenay, that when Mr. Edmund Burke shewed Johnson hisfine house and lands near Beaconsfield, Johnson coolly said, 'Nonequidem invideo; miror magis[913]. '

Yet no man had a higher notion of the dignity of literature thanJohnson, or was more determined in maintaining the respect which hejustly considered as due to it. Of this, besides the general tenor ofhis conduct in society, some characteristical instances may bementioned. 

He told Sir Joshua Reynolds, that once when he dined in a numerouscompany of booksellers, where the room being small, the head of thetable, at which he sat, was almost close to the fire, he persevered insuffering a great deal of inconvenience from the heat, rather than quithis place, and let one of them sit above him. 

Goldsmith, in his diverting simplicity, complained one day, in a mixedcompany, of Lord Camden. 'I met him (said he) at Lord Clare's house[914]in the country, and he took no more notice of me than if I had been anordinary man. ' The company having laughed heartily, Johnson stood forthin defence of his friend. 'Nay, Gentleman, (said he, ) Dr. Goldsmith isin the right. A nobleman ought to have made up to such a man asGoldsmith; and I think it is much against Lord Camden that he neglectedhim[915]. '

Nor could he patiently endure to hear that such respect as he thoughtdue only to higher intellectual qualities, should be bestowed on men ofslighter, though perhaps more amusing talents. I told him, that onemorning, when I went to breakfast with Garrick, who was very vain of hisintimacy with Lord Camden, [916] he accosted me thus:--'Pray now, didyou--did you meet a little lawyer turning the corner, eh?'--'No, Sir, (said I. ) Pray what do you mean by the question?'--'Why, (repliedGarrick, 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 alittle lawyer_ to be associating so familiarly with a player. ' SirJoshua Reynolds observed, with great truth, that Johnson consideredGarrick to be as it were his _property_. He would allow no man either toblame or to praise Garrick in his presence, without contradictinghim[917]. 

Having fallen into a very serious frame of mind, in which mutualexpressions of kindness passed between us, such as would be thought toovain in me to repeat, I talked with regret of the sad inevitablecertainty that one of us must survive the other. JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, that is an affecting consideration. I remember Swift, in one of hisletters to Pope, says, "I intend to come over, that we may meet oncemore; and when we must part, it is what happens to all humanbeings[918]. "' BOSWELL. 'The hope that we shall see our departedfriends[919] 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 ofleaving his house, his study, his books. ' JOHNSON. 'This is foolish in----[920]. A man need not be uneasy on these grounds; for, as he willretain his consciousness, he may say with the philosopher, _Omnia meamecum porto_[921]. ' BOSWELL. 'True, Sir: we may carry our books in ourheads; but still there is something painful in the thought of leavingfor ever what has given us pleasure. I remember, many years ago, when myimagination was warm, and I happened to be in a melancholy mood, itdistressed me to think of going into a state of being in whichShakspeare's poetry did not exist. A lady whom I then much admired, avery amiable woman, humoured my fancy, and relieved me by saying, "Thefirst thing you will meet in the other world, will be an elegant copy ofShakspeare's works presented to you. "' Dr. Johnson smiled benignantly atthis, and did not appear to disapprove of the notion. 

We went to St. Clement's church again in the afternoon[922], and thenreturned and drank tea and coffee in Mrs. Williams's room; Mrs. Desmoulins doing the honours of the tea-table. I observed that he wouldnot even look at a proof-sheet of his _Life of Waller_ on Good-Friday. 

Mr. Allen, the printer, brought a book on agriculture, which wasprinted, and was soon to be published[923]. It was a very strangeperformance, the authour having mixed in it his own thoughts uponvarious topicks, along with his remarks on ploughing, sowing, and otherfarming operations. He seemed to be an absurd profane fellow, and hadintroduced in his book many sneers at religion, with equal ignorance andconceit. 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:--'Iwas born in the wilds of Christianity, and the briars and thorns stillhang about me. ' Dr. Johnson could not help laughing at this ridiculousimage, yet was very angry at the fellow's impiety. 'However, (said he, )the Reviewers will make him hang himself. ' He, however, observed, 'thatformerly there might have been a dispensation obtained for working onSunday in the time of harvest[924]. ' Indeed in ritual observances, wereall the ministers of religion what they should be, and what many of themare, such a power might be wisely and safely lodged with the Church. 

On Saturday, April 14[925], I drank tea with him. He praised the late Mr. Buncombe[926], of Canterbury, as a pleasing man. 'He used to come to me: Idid not seek much after him. Indeed I never sought much after any body. 'BOSWELL. 'Lord Orrery[927], I suppose. ' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir; I never went tohim but when he sent for me. ' BOSWELL. 'Richardson[928]?' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir. But I sought after George Psalmanazar the most. I used to go andsit with him at an alehouse in the city[929]. '

I am happy to mention another instance which I discovered of his_seeking after_ a man of merit. Soon after the Honourable DainesBarrington had published his excellent _Observations on the Statutes_, Johnson waited on that worthy and learned gentleman; and, having toldhim his name, courteously said, 'I have read your book, Sir, with greatpleasure, and wish to be better known to you. ' Thus began anacquaintance, which was continued with mutual regard as long as Johnsonlived. 

Talking of a recent seditious delinquent[930], he said, 'They should sethim in the pillory, that he may be punished in a way that would disgracehim. ' I observed, that the pillory does not always disgrace. And Imentioned an instance of a gentleman[931] who I thought was notdishonoured by it. JOHNSON. 'Ay, but he was, Sir. He could not mouth andstrut as he used to do, after having been there. People are not willingto ask a man to their tables who has stood in the pillory. '

The Gentleman who had dined with us at Dr. Percy's[932] came in. Johnsonattacked the Americans with intemperate vehemence of abuse. I saidsomething in their favour; and added, that I was always sorry when hetalked on that subject. This, it seems, exasperated him; though he saidnothing at the time. The cloud was charged with sulphureous vapour, which was afterwards to burst in thunder. --We talked of a gentleman[933]who was running out his fortune in London; and I said, 'We must get himout of it. All his friends must quarrel with him, and that will soondrive him away. ' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir; we'll send _you_ to him. If yourcompany does not drive a man out of his house, nothing will. ' This was ahorrible shock, for which there was no visible cause. I afterwards askedhim why he had said so harsh a thing. JOHNSON. 'Because, Sir, you mademe angry about the Americans. ' BOSWELL. 'But why did you not take yourrevenge directly?' JOHNSON. (smiling) 'Because, Sir, I had nothingready. A man cannot strike till he has his weapons. ' This was a candidand pleasant confession. 

He shewed me to-night his drawing-room, very genteelly fitted up; andsaid, 'Mrs. Thrale sneered when I talked of my having asked you and yourlady to live at my house[934]. I was obliged to tell her, that you wouldbe in as respectable a situation in my house as in hers. Sir, theinsolence of wealth will creep out. ' BOSWELL. 'She has a little both ofthe insolence of wealth, and the conceit of parts. ' JOHNSON. 'Theinsolence of wealth is a wretched thing; but the conceit of parts hassome foundation[935]. To be sure it should not be. But who is without it?'BOSWELL. 'Yourself, Sir. ' JOHNSON. 'Why I play no tricks: I lay notraps. ' BOSWELL. 'No, Sir. You are six feet high, and you only do notstoop. '

We talked of the numbers of people that sometimes have composed thehousehold of great families. I mentioned that there were a hundred inthe family of the present Earl of Eglintoune's father. Dr. Johnsonseeming to doubt it, I began to enumerate. 'Let us see: my Lord and myLady two. ' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, if you are to count by twos, you may belong enough. ' BOSWELL. 'Well, but now I add two sons and sevendaughters, and a servant for each, that will make twenty; so we have thefifth part already. ' JOHNSON. 'Very true. You get at twenty prettyreadily; but you will not so easily get further on. We grow to five feetpretty readily; but it is not so easy to grow to seven. '

On Sunday, April 19, being Easter-day, after the solemnities of thefestival in St. Paul's Church, I visited him, but could not stay todinner. I expressed a wish to have the arguments for Christianity alwaysin readiness, that my religious faith might be as firm and clear as anyproposition whatever, so that I need not be under the least uneasiness, when it should be attacked. JOHNSON. 'Sir, you cannot answer allobjections. You have demonstration for a First Cause: you see he must begood as well as powerful, because there is nothing to make himotherwise, and goodness of itself is preferable. Yet you have againstthis, 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, tillwe had a positive revelation. ' I told him, that his _Rasselas_ had oftenmade me unhappy; for it represented the misery of human life so well, and so convincingly to a thinking mind, that if at any time theimpression wore off, and I felt myself easy, I began to suspect somedelusion. 

On Monday, April 20[936], I found him at home in the morning. We talked ofa gentleman[937] who we apprehended was gradually involving hiscircumstances by bad management. JOHNSON. 'Wasting a fortune isevaporation 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 agamester, it could be said he had hopes of winning. Were he a bankruptin trade, he might have grown rich; but he has neither spirit to spendnor resolution to spare. He does not spend fast enough to have pleasurefrom it. He has the crime of prodigality, and the wretchedness ofparsimony. If a man is killed in a duel, he is killed as many a one hasbeen killed; but it is a sad thing for a man to lie down and die; tobleed 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 thefecundity of fancy, and choice of language, which in this instance, and, indeed, on almost all occasions, he displayed. It was well observed byDr. Percy, now Bishop of Dromore, 'The conversation of Johnson is strongand clear, and may be compared to an antique statue, where every veinand muscle is distinct and bold. Ordinary conversation resembles aninferiour cast. '

On Saturday, April 25, I dined with him at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, withthe learned Dr. Musgrave[938], Counsellor Leland of Ireland, son to thehistorian, Mrs. Cholmondeley, and some more ladies. _The Project_[939], anew poem, was read to the company by Dr. Musgrave. JOHNSON. 'Sir, it hasno 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 anaccount of the criminals hanged yesterday entertain us. '

He proceeded:--'Demosthenes Taylor, as he was called, (that is, theEditor of Demosthenes) was the most silent man, the merest statue of aman that I have ever seen. I once dined in company with him, and all hesaid during the whole time was no more than _Richard_. How a man shouldsay only Richard, it is not easy to imagine. But it was thus: Dr. Douglas was talking of Dr. Zachary Grey, and ascribing to him somethingthat 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 livelysallies of hyperbolical compliment to Johnson, with whom she had beenlong acquainted, and was very easy[940]. He was quick in catching the_manner_ of the moment, and answered her somewhat in the style of thehero 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[941], asmuch as a few sheets of prose. ' MUSGRAVE. 'A pamphlet may be understoodto mean a poetical piece in Westminster-Hall, that is, in formallanguage; but in common language it is understood to mean prose. 'JOHNSON. (and here was one of the many instances of his knowing clearlyand telling exactly how a thing is) 'A pamphlet is understood in commonlanguage to mean prose, only from this, that there is so much more prosewritten than poetry; as when we say a _book_, prose is understood forthe same reason, though a book may as well be in poetry as in prose. Weunderstand what is most general, and we name what is less frequent. '

We talked of a lady's verses on Ireland. MISS REYNOLDS. 'Have you seenthem, Sir?' JOHNSON. 'No, Madam. I have seen a translation from Horace, by one of her daughters. She shewed it me. ' MISS REYNOLDS. 'And how wasit, Sir?' JOHNSON. 'Why, very well for a young Miss's verses;--that isto say, compared with excellence, nothing; but, very well, for theperson 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 heartypraise?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Madam, because I have not then got the better ofmy bad humour from having been shewn them. You must consider, Madam;beforehand they may be bad, as well as good. Nobody has a right to putanother under such a difficulty, that he must either hurt the person bytelling the truth, or hurt himself by telling what is not true. '[942]BOSWELL. 'A man often shews his writings to people of eminence, toobtain from them, either from their good-nature, or from their not beingable to tell the truth firmly, a commendation, of which he mayafterwards avail himself. ' JOHNSON. 'Very true, Sir. Therefore the man, who is asked by an authour, what he thinks of his work, is put to thetorture, and is not obliged to speak the truth; so that what he says isnot considered as his opinion; yet he has said it, and cannot retractit; and this authour, when mankind are hunting him with a cannister athis tail, can say, "I would not have published, had not Johnson, orReynolds, or Musgrave, or some other good judge commended the work. " YetI consider it as a very difficult question in conscience, whether oneshould advise a man not to publish a work, if profit be his object; forthe 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 thepublick may think very differently. ' SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 'You must uponsuch an occasion have two judgments; one as to the real value of thework, 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 scruplemuch to give a suppressive vote. Both Goldsmith's comedies were oncerefused; his first by Garrick, [943] his second by Colman, who wasprevailed on at last by much solicitation, nay, a kind of force, tobring it on. [944] His _Vicar of Wakefield_ I myself did not think wouldhave had much success. It was written and sold to a bookseller beforehis _Traveller_; but published after; so little expectation had thebookseller from it. Had it been sold after the _Traveller_, he mighthave had twice as much money for it, though sixty guineas was no meanprice. The bookseller had the advantage of Goldsmith's reputation from_The Traveller_ in the sale, though Goldsmith had it not in selling thecopy. '[945] SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. '_The Beggar's Opera_ affords a proof howstrangely people will differ in opinion about a literary performance. Burke thinks it has no merit. ' JOHNSON. 'It was refused by one of thehouses[946]; but I should have thought it would succeed, not from anygreat excellence in the writing, but from the novelty, and the generalspirit and gaiety of the piece, which keeps the audience alwaysattentive, and dismisses them in good humour. '

We went to the drawing-room, where was a considerable increase ofcompany. Several of us got round Dr. Johnson, and complained that hewould not give us an exact catalogue of his works, that there might be acomplete edition. He smiled, and evaded our entreaties. That he intendedto do it, I have no doubt, because I have heard him say so; and I havein my possession an imperfect list, fairly written out, which heentitles _Historia Studiorum_. I once got from one of his friends alist, which there was pretty good reason to suppose was accurate, for itwas written down in his presence by this friend, who enumerated eacharticle aloud, and had some of them mentioned to him by Mr. Levett, inconcert with whom it was made out; and Johnson, who heard all this, didnot contradict it. But when I shewed a copy of this list to him, andmentioned the evidence for its exactness, he laughed, and said, 'I waswilling to let them go on as they pleased, and never interfered. ' Uponwhich I read it to him, article by article, and got him positively toown or refuse; and then, having obtained certainty so far, I got someother articles confirmed by him directly; and afterwards, from time totime, made additions under his sanction[947]. 

His friend Edward Cave having been mentioned, he told us, 'Cave used tosell ten thousand of _The Gentleman's Magazine_; yet such was then hisminute attention and anxiety that the sale should not suffer thesmallest decrease, that he would name a particular person who he heardhad talked of leaving off the _Magazine_, and would say, 'Let us havesomething good next month. '

It was observed, that avarice was inherent in some dispositions. JOHNSON. 'No man was born a miser, because no man was born topossession. Every man is born _cupidus_--desirous of getting; but not_avarus_, --desirous of keeping. ' BOSWELL. 'I have heard old Mr. Sheridanmaintain, with much ingenuity, that a complete miser is a happy man; amiser who gives himself wholly to the one passion of saving. ' JOHNSON. 'That is flying in the face of all the world, who have called anavaricious man a _miser_, because he is miserable[948]. No, Sir; a man whoboth spends and saves money is the happiest man, because he has bothenjoyments. '

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 yourMajesty pleases[949]. ' He admitted that Mr. Burke's classical pun upon Mr. Wilkes's being carried on the shoulders of the mob, --

'. .. Numerisque ferturLege solutus[950], '

was admirable; and though he was strangely unwilling to allow to thatextraordinary man the talent of wit[951], he also laughed with approbationat another of his playful conceits; which was, that 'Horace has in oneline given a description of a good desirable manour:--

"Est modus in rebus, sunt certi denique fines[952];"

that is to say, a _modus_[953] as to the tithes and certain _fines_[954]. '

He observed, 'A man cannot with propriety speak of himself, except herelates simple facts; as, "I was at Richmond:" or what depends onmensuration; as, "I am six feet high. " He is sure he has been atRichmond; he is sure he is six feet high: but he cannot be sure he iswise, or that he has any other excellence. Then, all censure of a man'sself is oblique praise. It is in order to shew how much he can spare. Ithas all the invidiousness of self-praise, and all the reproach offalsehood. ' BOSWELL. 'Sometimes it may proceed from a man's strongconsciousness of his faults being observed. He knows that others wouldthrow him down, and therefore he had better lye down softly of his ownaccord. '

On Tuesday, April 28, he was engaged to dine at General Paoli's, where, as I have already observed[955], I was still entertained in eleganthospitality, and with all the ease and comfort of a home. I called onhim, and accompanied him in a hackney-coach. We stopped first at thebottom of Hedge-lane, into which he went to leave a letter, 'with goodnews for a poor man in distress, ' as he told me[956]. I did not questionhim particularly as to this. He himself often resembled LadyBolingbroke's lively description of Pope; that 'he was _un politique auxchoux et aux raves_. '[957]. ' He would say, 'I dine to-day inGrosvenor-square;' this might be with a Duke[958]: or, perhaps, 'I dineto-day at the other end of the town:' or, 'A gentleman of great eminencecalled on me yesterday. ' He loved thus to keep things floating inconjecture: _Omne ignotum pro magnifico est_. [959]. I believe I venturedto dissipate the cloud, to unveil the mystery, more freely andfrequently than any of his friends. We stopped again at Wirgman's, thewell-known _toy-shop_[960], in St. James's-street, at the corner of St. James's-place, to which he had been directed, but not clearly, for hesearched about some time, and could not find it at first; and said, 'Todirect one only to a corner shop is _toying_ with one. ' I suppose hemeant this as a play upon the word _toy_: it was the first time that Iknew him stoop to such sport[961]. After he had been some time in theshop, he sent for me to come out of the coach, and help him to choose apair of silver buckles, as those he had were too small. Probably thisalteration in dress had been suggested by Mrs. Thrale, by associatingwith whom, his external appearance was much improved. He got bettercloaths; and the dark colour, from which he never deviated, wasenlivened by metal buttons. His wigs, too, were much better; and duringtheir travels in France, he was furnished with a Paris-made wig, ofhandsome construction[962]. This choosing of silver buckles was anegociation: 'Sir (said he), I will not have the ridiculous large onesnow in fashion; and I will give no more than a guinea for a pair. ' Suchwere the _principles_ of the business; and, after some examination, hewas fitted. As we drove along, I found him in a talking humour, of whichI availed myself. BOSWELL. 'I was this morning in Ridley's shop, Sir;and was told, that the collection called _Johnsoniana_[963] has sold verymuch. ' JOHNSON. 'Yet the _Journey to the Hebrides_ has not had a greatsale[964]. ' BOSWELL. 'That is strange. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir; for in thatbook 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 myno small surprize, found him to be a _Staffordshire Whig_[965], a beingwhich I did not believe had existed. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, there are rascalsin all countries. ' BOSWELL. 'Eld said, a Tory was a creature generatedbetween a non-juring parson and one's grandmother. ' JOHNSON. 'And I havealways said, the first Whig was the Devil[966]. ' BOSWELL. 'He certainlywas, Sir. The Devil was impatient of subordination; he was the first whoresisted power:--

"Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven[967]. "'

At General Paoli's were Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr. Langton, MarcheseGherardi of Lombardy, and Mr. John Spottiswoode the younger, ofSpottiswoode[968], the solicitor. At this time fears of an invasion werecirculated; to obviate which, Mr. Spottiswoode observed, that Mr. Fraserthe engineer, who had lately come from Dunkirk, said, that the Frenchhad the same fears of us. JOHNSON. 'It is thus that mutual cowardicekeeps us in peace. Were one half of mankind brave, and one half cowards, the brave would be always beating the cowards. Were all brave, theywould lead a very uneasy life; all would be continually fighting: butbeing all cowards, we go on very well[969]. '

We talked of drinking wine. JOHNSON. 'I require wine, only when I amalone. I have then often wished for it, and often taken it[970]. 'SPOTTISWOODE. 'What, by way of a companion, Sir?' JOHNSON. 'To get ridof myself, to send myself away. Wine gives great pleasure; and everypleasure is of itself a good. It is a good, unless counterbalanced byevil. A man may have a strong reason not to drink wine; and that may begreater than the pleasure. Wine makes a man better pleased with himself. I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others. Sometimes itdoes. But the danger is, that while a man grows better pleased withhimself, he may be growing less pleasing to others[971]. Wine gives a mannothing. 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 begood, or it may be bad[972]. ' SPOTTISWOODE. 'So, Sir, wine is a key whichopens 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 thebox and injures it. A man should cultivate his mind so as to have thatconfidence and readiness without wine, which wine gives. ' BOSWELL. 'Thegreat difficulty of resisting wine is from benevolence. For instance, agood worthy man asks you to taste his wine, which he has had twentyyears in his cellar. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, all this notion about benevolencearises from a man's imagining himself to be of more importance toothers, than he really is. They don't care a farthing whether he drinkswine 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. Andas for the good worthy man; how do you know he is good and worthy? Nogood and worthy man will insist upon another man's drinking wine. As tothe wine twenty years in the cellar, --of ten men, three say this, merelybecause they must say something;--three are telling a lie, when they saythey have had the wine twenty years;--three would rather save thewine;--one, perhaps, cares. I allow it is something to please one'scompany: and people are always pleased with those who partake pleasurewith them. But after a man has brought himself to relinquish the greatpersonal pleasure which arises from drinking wine, any otherconsideration is a trifle. To please others by drinking wine, issomething only, if there be nothing against it. I should, however, besorry to offend worthy men:--

"Curst be the verse, how well so e'er it flow, That tends to make one worthy man my foe[973]. "'

BOSWELL. 'Curst be the _spring_, the _water_. ' JOHNSON. 'But let usconsider what a sad thing it would be, if we were obliged to drink or doany thing else that may happen to be agreeable to the company where weare. ' LANGTON. 'By the same rule you must join with a gang ofcut-purses. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir: but yet we must do justice to wine; wemust allow it the power it possesses. To make a man pleased withhimself, let me tell you, is doing a very great thing[974];

"_Si patriæ volumus, si_ Nobis _vivere cari_[975]. '"

I was at this time myself a water-drinker, upon trial, by Johnson'srecommendation[976]. JOHNSON. 'Boswell is a bolder combatant than SirJoshua: he argues for wine without the help of wine; but Sir Joshua withit. ' SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 'But to please one's company is a strongmotive. ' JOHNSON. (who, from drinking only water, supposed every bodywho drank wine to be elevated, ) 'I won't argue any more with you, Sir. You are too far gone[977]. ' SIR JOSHUA. 'I should have thought so indeed, Sir, had I made such a speech as you have now done. ' JOHNSON (drawinghimself in, and, I really thought blushing, ) 'Nay, don't be angry. I didnot mean to offend you. ' SIR JOSHUA. 'At first the taste of wine wasdisagreeable to me; but I brought myself to drink it, that I might belike other people. The pleasure of drinking wine is so connected withpleasing your company, that altogether there is something of socialgoodness in it. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, this is only saying the same thing overagain. ' SIR JOSHUA. 'No, this is new. ' JOHNSON. 'You put it in newwords, but it is an old thought. This is one of the disadvantages ofwine. It makes a man mistake words for thoughts. ' BOSWELL. 'I think itis 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. (Thenlaughing heartily) It is the old dog in a new doublet. --An extraordinaryinstance 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[978], who I believed was really uneasy if hiscompany would not drink hard. JOHNSON. 'That is from having had peopleabout him whom he has been accustomed to command. ' BOSWELL. 'Supposing Ishould be _tête-à-tête_ with him at table. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, there is nomore 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 besober, than it would do me to get drunk. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir; and fromwhat I have heard of him, one would not wish to sacrifice himself tosuch a man. If he must always have somebody to drink with him, he shouldbuy a slave, and then he would be sure to have it. They who submit todrink as another pleases, make themselves his slaves. ' BOSWELL. 'But, Sir, you will surely make allowance for the duty of hospitality. Agentleman who loves drinking, comes to visit me. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, a manknows 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 theHighlands and Hebrides, if I had not drunk with our worthy friends. HadI drunk water only as you did, they would not have been so cordial. 'JOHNSON. 'Sir William Temple mentions that in his travels through theNetherlands he had two or three gentlemen with him; and when a bumperwas necessary, he put it on _them_[979]. Were I to travel again throughthe islands, I would have Sir Joshua with me to take the bumpers. 'BOSWELL. 'But, Sir, let me put a case. Suppose Sir Joshua should take ajaunt into Scotland; he does me the honour to pay me a visit at my housein 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 abottle with you. '

The celebrated Mrs. Rudd being mentioned. JOHNSON. 'Fifteen years ago Ishould have gone to see her. ' SPOTTISWOODE. 'Because she was fifteenyears younger?' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir; but now they have a trick of puttingevery thing into the newspapers[980]. '

He begged of General Paoli to repeat one of the introductory stanzas ofthe first book of Tasso's _Jerusalem_, which he did, and then Johnsonfound fault with the simile of sweetening the edges of a cup for achild, being transferred from Lucretius into an epick poem[981]. TheGeneral said he did not imagine Homer's poetry was so ancient as issupposed, because he ascribes to a Greek colony circumstances ofrefinement not found in Greece itself at a later period, when Thucydideswrote. JOHNSON. 'I recollect but one passage quoted by Thucydides fromHomer, which is not to be found in our copies of Homer's works; I am forthe antiquity of Homer, and think that a Grecian colony, by being nearerPersia, might be more refined than the mother country. '

On Wednesday, April 29, I dined with him at Mr. Allan Ramsay's, wherewere Lord Binning, Dr. Robertson the historian, Sir Joshua Reynolds, andthe Honourable Mrs. Boscawen, widow of the Admiral, and mother of thepresent Viscount Falmouth; of whom, if it be not presumptuous in me topraise her, I would say, that her manners are the most agreeable, andher conversation the best, of any lady with whom I ever had thehappiness to be acquainted. Before Johnson came we talked a good deal ofhim; Ramsay said he had always found him a very polite man, and that hetreated him with great respect, which he did very sincerely. I said Iworshipped him. ROBERTSON. 'But some of you spoil him; you should notworship him; you should worship no man. ' BOSWELL. 'I cannot helpworshipping him, he is so much superiour to other men. ' ROBERTSON. 'Incriticism, and in wit in conversation, he is no doubt very excellent;but in other respects he is not above other men; he will believe anything[982], and will strenuously defend the most minute circumstanceconnected with the Church of England. ' BOSWELL. 'Believe me, Doctor, youare much mistaken as to this; for when you talk with him calmly inprivate[983], he is very liberal in his way of thinking. ' ROBERTSON. 'Heand I have been always very gracious[984]; the first time I met him wasone evening at Strahan's, when he had just had an unlucky altercationwith Adam Smith[985], to whom he had been so rough, that Strahan, afterSmith was gone, had remonstrated with him, and told him that I wascoming soon, and that he was uneasy to think that he might behave in thesame manner to me. "No, no, Sir, (said Johnson) I warrant you Robertsonand 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 everyoccasion that we have met since. I have often said (laughing) that Ihave been in a great measure indebted to Smith for my good reception. 'BOSWELL. 'His power of reasoning is very strong, and he has a peculiarart of drawing characters, which is as rare as good portrait painting. 'SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 'He is undoubtedly admirable in this; but, in orderto mark the characters which he draws, he overcharges them, and givespeople 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 thehead-master[986]; and were very soon set down to a table covered with suchvariety of good things, as contributed not a little to dispose him to bepleased. 

RAMSAY. 'I am old enough to have been a contemporary of Pope. His poetrywas highly admired in his life-time, more a great deal than after hisdeath[987]. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, it has not been less admired since his death;no authours ever had so much fame in their own life-time as Pope andVoltaire; and Pope's poetry has been as much admired since his death asduring his life; it has only not been as much talked of, but that isowing to its being now more distant, and people having other writings totalk of. Virgil is less talked of than Pope, and Homer is less talked ofthan Virgil; but they are not less admired. We must read what the worldreads at the moment. It has been maintained that this superfoetation, this teeming of the press in modern times, is prejudicial to goodliterature, because it obliges us to read so much of what is ofinferiour value, in order to be in the fashion; so that better works areneglected for want of time, because a man will have more gratificationof his vanity in conversation, from having read modern books, than fromhaving read the best works of antiquity. But it must be considered, thatwe have now more knowledge generally diffused; all our ladies read now, which is a great extension[988]. Modern writers are the moons ofliterature; they shine with reflected light, with light borrowed fromthe ancients. Greece appears to me to be the fountain of knowledge; Romeof elegance. ' RAMSAY. 'I suppose Homer's _Iliad_ to be a collection ofpieces which had been written before his time. I should like to see atranslation of it in poetical prose like the book of Ruth or Job. 'ROBERTSON. 'Would you, Dr. Johnson, who are master of the Englishlanguage, but try your hand upon a part of it. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, you couldnot read it without the pleasure of verse[989]. '

We talked of antiquarian researches. JOHNSON. 'All that is really_known_ of the ancient state of Britain is contained in a few pages. We_can_ know no more than what the old writers have told us; yet whatlarge books have we upon it, the whole of which, excepting such parts asare taken from those old writers, is all a dream, such as Whitaker's_Manchester_[990]. I have heard Henry's _History of Britain_ well spokenof: I am told it is carried on in separate divisions, as the civil, themilitary, the religious history: I wish much to have one branch welldone, and that is the history of manners, of common life. ' ROBERTSON. 'Henry should have applied his attention to that alone, which is enoughfor any man; and he might have found a great deal scattered in variousbooks, had he read solely with that view. Henry erred in not selling hisfirst volume at a moderate price to the booksellers, that they mighthave pushed him on till he had got reputation[991]. I sold my _History ofScotland_ at a moderate price[992], as a work by which the booksellersmight either gain or not; and Cadell has told me that Millar and he havegot six thousand pounds by it. I afterwards received a much higher pricefor my writings. An authour should sell his first work for what thebooksellers will give, till it shall appear whether he is an authour ofmerit, or, which is the same thing as to purchase-money, an authour whopleases the publick. '

Dr. Robertson expatiated on the character of a certain nobleman[993]; thathe was one of the strongest-minded men that ever lived; that he wouldsit in company quite sluggish, while there was nothing to call forth hisintellectual vigour; but the moment that any important subject wasstarted, for instance, how this country is to be defended against aFrench invasion, he would rouse himself, and shew his extraordinarytalents with the most powerful ability and animation. JOHNSON. 'Yet thisman cut his own throat. The true strong and sound mind is the mind thatcan embrace equally great things and small. Now I am told the King ofPrussia will say to a servant, "Bring me a bottle of such a wine, whichcame in such a year; it lies in such a corner of the cellars. " I wouldhave a man great in great things, and elegant in little things. ' He saidto me afterwards, when we were by ourselves, 'Robertson was in a mightyromantick humour[994], he talked of one whom he did not know; but I_downed_[995] him with the King of Prussia. ' 'Yes, Sir, (said I, ) youthrew a _bottle_ at his head. '

An ingenious gentleman was mentioned, concerning whom both Robertson andRamsay agreed that he had a constant firmness of mind; for after alaborious day, and amidst a multiplicity of cares and anxieties, hewould sit down with his sisters and be quite cheerful and good-humoured. 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 ofmind; the use he makes of it depends upon his own free will. That a manhas always the same firmness of mind I do not say; because every manfeels his mind less firm at one time than another; but I think a man'sbeing in a good or bad humour depends upon his will. ' I, however, couldnot help thinking that a man's humour is often uncontroulable by hiswill. 

Johnson harangued against drinking wine[996]. 'A man (said he) may choosewhether he will have abstemiousness and knowledge, or claret andignorance. ' Dr. Robertson, (who is very companionable, ) was beginning todissent as to the proscription of claret[997]. JOHNSON: (with a placidsmile. ) 'Nay, Sir, you shall not differ with me; as I have said that theman is most perfect who takes in the most things, I am for knowledge andclaret. ' 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 theadvantage of you; when you were in Scotland you would not come to hearany of our preachers[998], whereas, when I am here, I attend your publickworship without scruple, and indeed, with great satisfaction. ' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, that is not so extraordinary: the King of Siam sentambassadors to Louis the Fourteenth; but Louis the Fourteenth sent noneto the King of Siam[999]. '

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, andthe Abbé Choisi, who was employed in it, published an account of it intwo volumes[1000]. 

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 willnot find a man in whose conversation there is more instruction, moreinformation, and more elegance, than in Ramsay's. ' BOSWELL. 'What Iadmire 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 isnothing of the old man in my conversation. I am now sixty-eight, and Ihave no more of it than at twenty-eight[1001]. ' BOSWELL. 'But, Sir, wouldnot you wish to know old age? He who is never an old man, does not knowthe 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, theSphinx's description of it;--morning, noon, and night. I would knownight, as well as morning and noon. ' JOHNSON. 'What, Sir, would you knowwhat it is to feel the evils of old age? Would you have the gout? Wouldyou have decrepitude?'--Seeing him heated, I would not argue anyfarther; but I was confident that I was in the right. I would, in duetime, be a Nestor, an elder of the people; and there _should_ be somedifference between the conversation of twenty-eight and sixty-eight. Agrave picture should not be gay. There is a serene, solemn, placid oldage. JOHNSON. 'Mrs. Thrale's mother said of me what flattered me much. Aclergyman was complaining of want of society in the country where helived; 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[1002]. '

On Saturday, May 2, I dined with him at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, wherethere was a very large company, and a great deal of conversation; butowing to some circumstance which I cannot now recollect, I have norecord of any part of it, except that there were several people there byno means of the Johnsonian school; so that less attention was paid tohim than usual, which put him out of humour; and upon some imaginaryoffence from me, he attacked me with such rudeness, that I was vexed andangry, because it gave those persons an opportunity of enlarging uponhis supposed ferocity, and ill treatment of his best friends. I was somuch hurt, and had my pride so much roused, that I kept away from himfor a week; and, perhaps, might have kept away much longer, nay, gone toScotland without seeing him again, had not we fortunately met and beenreconciled. To such unhappy chances are human friendships liable[1003]. 

On Friday, May 8, I dined with him at Mr. Langton's. I was reserved andsilent, which I suppose he perceived, and might recollect the cause. After dinner when Mr. Langton was called out of the room, and we were byourselves, he drew his chair near to mine, and said, in a tone ofconciliating courtesy[1004], 'Well, how have you done?' BOSWELL. 'Sir, you have made me very uneasy by your behaviour to me when we were lastat Sir Joshua Reynolds's. You know, my dear Sir, no man has a greaterrespect and affection for you, or would sooner go to the end of theworld to serve you. Now to treat me so--. ' He insisted that I hadinterrupted 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 twentydifferent ways, as you please. ' BOSWELL. 'I said to-day to Sir Joshua, when he observed that you _tossed_[1005] me sometimes--I don't care howoften, or how high he tosses me, when only friends are present, for thenI fall upon soft ground: but I do not like falling on stones, which isthe case when enemies are present. --I think this 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 anytime, unless they were irritated by some malignant infusion by otherhands. We were instantly as cordial again as ever, and joined in heartylaugh at some ludicrous but innocent peculiarities of one of ourfriends[1006]. BOSWELL. 'Do you think, Sir, it is always culpable tolaugh at a man to his face?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, that depends upon theman 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[1007] on Devotion, fromthe text "_Cornelius, a devout man_[1008]. " His doctrine is the bestlimited, 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 inreligion is far from the kingdom of heaven!" There are many good menwhose fear of GOD predominates over their love. It may discourage. Itwas rashly said. A noble sermon it is indeed. I wish Blair would comeover to the Church of England. '

When Mr. Langton returned to us, the 'flow of talk' went on. An eminentauthor[1009] being mentioned;--JOHNSON. 'He is not a pleasant man. Hisconversation is neither instructive nor brilliant. He does not talk asif impelled by any fulness of knowledge or vivacity of imagination. Hisconversation is like that of any other sensible man. He talks with nowish either to inform or to hear, but only because he thinks it does notbecome ---- to sit in a company and say nothing. '

Mr. Langton having repeated the anecdote of Addison having distinguishedbetween his powers in conversation and in writing, by saying 'I haveonly nine-pence in my pocket; but I can draw for a thousandpounds[1010];'--JOHNSON. 'He had not that retort ready, Sir; he hadprepared it before-hand. ' LANGTON: (turning to me. ) 'A fine surmise. Seta thief to catch a thief. '

Johnson called the East-Indians barbarians. BOSWELL. 'You will exceptthe Chinese, Sir?' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. ' BOSWELL. 'Have they not arts?'JOHNSON. 'They have pottery. ' BOSWELL. 'What do you say to the writtencharacters 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 moredifficult from its rudeness; as there is more labour in hewing down atree with a stone than with an axe. '

He said, 'I have been reading Lord Kames's _Sketches of the History ofMan_. In treating of severity of punishment, he mentions that of MadameLapouchin, in Russia, but he does not give it fairly; for I have lookedat _Chappe D'Auteroche_[1011], from whom he has taken it. He stops whereit is said that the spectators thought her innocent, and leaves out whatfollows; that she nevertheless was guilty. Now this is being as culpableas one can conceive, to misrepresent fact in a book, and for whatmotive? It is like one of those lies which people tell, one cannot seewhy. The woman's life was spared; and no punishment was too great forthe 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 principalfeature in the picture. Kames is puzzled with a question that puzzled mewhen I was a very young man. Why is it that the interest of money islower, when money is plentiful; for five pounds has the same proportionof value to a hundred pounds when money is plentiful, as when it isscarce? A lady explained it to me. "It is (said she) because when moneyis plentiful there are so many more who have money to lend, that theybid down one another. Many have then a hundred pounds; and onesays, --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[1012]. ' BOSWELL. 'This must havebeen an extraordinary lady who instructed you, Sir. May I ask who shewas?' JOHNSON. 'Molly Aston[1013], Sir, the sister of those ladies withwhom you dined at Lichfield[1014]. I shall be at home to-morrow. 'BOSWELL. 'Then let us dine by ourselves at the Mitre, to keep up theold custom, "the custom of the manor, " the custom of the mitre. 'JOHNSON. 'Sir, so it shall be. '

On Saturday, May 9, we fulfilled our purpose of dining by ourselves atthe Mitre, according to old custom. There was, on these occasions, alittle circumstance of kind attention to Mrs. Williams, which must notbe omitted. Before coming out, and leaving her to dine alone, he gaveher choice of a chicken, a sweetbread, or any other little nicething, which was carefully sent to her from the tavern, ready-drest. 

Our conversation to-day, I know not how, turned, (I think for the onlytime at any length, during our long acquaintance, ) upon the sensualintercourse between the sexes, the delight of which he ascribed chieflyto imagination. 'Were it not for imagination, Sir, (said he, ) a manwould be as happy in the arms of a chambermaid as of a Duchess. But suchis the adventitious charm of fancy, that we find men who have violatedthe best principles of society, and ruined their fame and their fortune, that they might possess a woman of rank. ' It would not be proper torecord the particulars of such a conversation in moments of unreservedfrankness, when nobody was present on whom it could have any hurtfuleffect. That subject, when philosophically treated, may surely employthe mind in as curious discussion, and as innocently, as anatomy;provided that those who do treat it keep clear of inflammatoryincentives. 

'From grave to gay, from lively to severe[1015], '--we were soon engagedin very different speculation; humbly and reverently considering andwondering at the universal mystery of all things, as our imperfectfaculties can now judge of them. 'There are (said he) innumerablequestions to which the inquisitive mind can in this state receive noanswer: Why do you and I exist? Why was this world created? Since it wasto be created, why was it not created sooner?'

On Sunday, May 10, I supped with him at Mr. Hoole's, with Sir JoshuaReynolds. I have neglected the memorial of this evening, so as toremember no more of it than two particulars; one, that he strenuouslyopposed an argument by Sir Joshua, that virtue was preferable to vice, considering this life only; and that a man would be virtuous were itonly to preserve his character: and that he expressed much wonder at thecurious formation of the bat, a mouse with wings; saying, that 'it wasalmost as strange a thing in physiology, as if the fabulous dragon couldbe seen. '

On Tuesday, May 12, I waited on the Earl of Marchmont, to know if hisLordship would favour Dr. Johnson with information concerning Pope, whose Life he was about to write. Johnson had not flattered himself withthe hopes of receiving any civility from this nobleman; for he said tome, when I mentioned Lord Marchmont as one who could tell him a greatdeal about Pope, --'Sir, he will tell _me_ nothing. ' I had the honour ofbeing known to his Lordship, and applied to him of myself, without beingcommissioned by Johnson. His Lordship behaved in the most polite andobliging manner, promised to tell all he recollected about Pope, and wasso very courteous as to say, 'Tell Dr. Johnson I have a great respectfor him, and am ready to shew it in any way I can. I am to be in thecity to-morrow, and will call at his house as I return. ' His Lordshiphowever asked, 'Will he write the Lives of the Poets impartially? He wasthe first that brought Whig and Tory into a Dictionary[1016]. And what doyou think of his definition of Excise? Do you know the history of hisaversion to the word _transpire_[1017]?' Then taking down the folio_Dictionary_, he shewed it with this censure on its secondary sense: 'Toescape from secrecy to notice; a sense lately innovated from France, without necessity[1018]. ' The truth was Lord Bolingbroke, who left theJacobites, first used it; therefore, it was to be condemned. 'He shouldhave shewn what word would do for it, if it was unnecessary. ' Iafterwards put the question to Johnson: 'Why, Sir, (said he, ) _getabroad_. ' BOSWELL. 'That, Sir, is using two words[1019]. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, there is no end of this. You may as well insist to have a word for oldage. ' BOSWELL. 'Well, Sir, _Senectus_. ' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, to insistalways 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 manyparticulars both of Pope and Lord Bolingbroke, which I have inwriting[1020]. 

I proposed to Lord Marchmont that he should revise Johnson's _Life ofPope_: 'So (said his Lordship) you would put me in a dangeroussituation. You know he knocked down Osborne the bookseller[1021]. '

Elated with the success of my spontaneous exertion to procure materialand respectable aid to Johnson for his very favourite work, _The Livesof the Poets_, I hastened down to Mr. Thrale's at Streatham, where henow was, that I might insure his being at home next day; and afterdinner, when I thought he would receive the good news in the besthumour, 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 greatrespect for you, and will call on you to-morrow at one o'clock, andcommunicate all he knows about Pope. '--Here I paused, in fullexpectation that he would be pleased with this intelligence, wouldpraise my active merit, and would be alert to embrace such an offer froma nobleman. But whether I had shewn an over-exultation, which provokedhis spleen; or whether he was seized with a suspicion that I hadobtruded him on Lord Marchmont, and humbled him too much; or whetherthere was any thing more than an unlucky fit of ill-humour, I know not;but, to my surprize, the result was, --JOHNSON. 'I shall not be in townto-morrow. I don't care to know about Pope. ' MRS. THRALE: (surprized asI was, and a little angry. ) 'I suppose, Sir, Mr. Boswell thought, thatas 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 wasno arguing with him at the moment. Some time afterwards he said, 'LordMarchmont will call on me, and then I shall call on Lord Marchmont. ' Mr. Thrale was uneasy at his unaccountable caprice[1022]; and told me, thatif I did not take care to bring about a meeting between Lord Marchmontand him, it would never take place, which would be a great pity. I senta card to his Lordship, to be left at Johnson's house, acquainting him, that Dr. Johnson could not be in town next day, but would do himself thehonour of waiting on him at another time. I give this account fairly, asa specimen of that unhappy temper with which this great and good man hadoccasionally to struggle, from something morbid in his constitution. Letthe most censorious of my readers suppose himself to have a violent fitof the tooth-ach, 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 anycandour, he will not be surprized at the answers which Johnson sometimesgave in moments of irritation, which, let me assure them, is exquisitelypainful. But it must not be erroneously supposed that he was, in thesmallest degree, careless concerning any work which he undertook, orthat he was generally thus peevish. It will be seen, that in thefollowing year he had a very agreeable interview with Lord Marchmont, athis Lordship's house[1023]; and this very afternoon he soon forgot anyfretfulness, and fell into conversation as usual. 

I mentioned a reflection having been thrown out against four Peers forhaving presumed to rise in opposition to the opinion of the twelveJudges, in a cause in the House of Lords[1024], as if that were indecent. JOHNSON. 'Sir, there is no ground for censure. The Peers are Judgesthemselves; and supposing them really to be of a different opinion, theymight from duty be in opposition to the Judges, who were there only tobe consulted. '

In this observation I fully concurred with him; for, unquestionably, allthe Peers are vested with the highest judicial powers; and when they areconfident that they understand a cause, are not obliged, nay ought notto acquiesce in the opinion of the ordinary Law Judges, or even in thatof 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 withrespectful attention to the sages of the law; but, if after hearingthem, they have a firm opinion of their own, are bound, as honest men, to decide accordingly. Nor is it so difficult for them to understandeven law questions, as is generally thought; provided they will bestowsufficient attention upon them. This observation was made by my honouredrelation the late Lord Cathcart, who had spent his life in camps andcourts; yet assured me, that he could form a clear opinion upon most ofthe causes that came before the House of Lords, 'as they were so wellenucleated[1025] in the Cases. '

Mrs. Thrale told us, that a curious clergyman of our acquaintance haddiscovered a licentious stanza, which Pope had originally in his_Universal Prayer_, before the stanza, 'What conscience dictates to be done, Or warns us[1026] not to do, ' &c. 

It was thus:--

'Can sins of moment claim the rodOf everlasting fires?And that offend great Nature's GOD, Which Nature's self inspires[1027]?'

and that Dr. Johnson observed, 'it had been borrowed from _Guarini_. 'There are, indeed, in _Pastor Fido_, many such flimsy superficialreasonings, as that in the last two lines of this stanza. BOSWELL. 'Inthat stanza of Pope's, "_rod of fires_" is certainly a bad metaphor. 'MRS. THRALE. 'And "sins of _moment_" is a faulty expression; for itstrue import is _momentous_, which cannot be intended. ' JOHNSON. 'It musthave 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, andArnaud[1028] struck it out, saying, "_Vous gagnerez deux ou trois impies, et perdrez je ne scais combien des honnettes gens_. " These fellows wantto say a daring thing, and don't know how to go about it. Mere poetsknow no more of fundamental principles than--. ' Here he was interruptedsomehow. Mrs. Thrale mentioned Dryden. JOHNSON. 'He puzzled himselfabout predestination. --How foolish was it in Pope to give all hisfriendship to Lords, who thought they honoured him by being with him;and to choose such Lords as Burlington, and Cobham, and Bolingbroke!Bathurst was negative, a pleasing man; and I have heard no ill ofMarchmont; and then always saying, "I do not value you for being aLord;" which was a sure proof that he did[1029]. I never say, I do notvalue 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 youmore for being a Scotchman. You are a Scotchman without the faults of aScotchman. You would not have been so valuable as you are, had you notbeen 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[1030]. '

Dr. Johnson and Mrs. Thrale joined against this. JOHNSON. 'Ask any manif he'd wish not to know of such an injury. ' BOSWELL. 'Would you tellyour 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 hisfather. ' BOSWELL. 'Yes; because he would not have spurious children toget any share of the family inheritance. ' MRS. THRALE. 'Or he would tellhis brother. ' BOSWELL. 'Certainly his _elder_ brother. ' JOHNSON. 'Youwould tell your friend of a woman's infamy, to prevent his marrying awhore: 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 abreach of confidence not to tell a friend. ' BOSWELL. 'Would you tellMr. ----[1031]?' (naming a gentleman who assuredly was not in the leastdanger 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'dnever go to parliament and get through a divorce. '

He said of one of our friends[1032], 'He is ruining himself withoutpleasure. 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 thisword, which was often used by him:) but it is a sad thing to passthrough the quagmire of parsimony, to the gulph of ruin. To pass overthe flowery path of extravagance is very well. '

Amongst the numerous prints pasted[1033] on the walls of the dining-roomat Streatham, was Hogarth's 'Modern Midnight Conversation. ' I asked himwhat he knew of Parson Ford[1034], who makes a conspicuous figure in theriotous group. JOHNSON. 'Sir, he was my acquaintance and relation, mymother's nephew. He had purchased a living in the country, but notsimoniacally. I never saw him but in the country. I have been told hewas a man of great parts; very profligate, but I never heard he wasimpious. ' BOSWELL. 'Was there not a story of his ghost having appeared?'JOHNSON. 'Sir, it was believed. A waiter at the Hummums[1035], in whichhouse Ford died, had been absent for some time, and returned, notknowing that Ford was dead. Going down to the cellar, according to thestory, he met him; going down again he met him a second time. When hecame up, he asked some of the people of the house what Ford could bedoing there. They told him Ford was dead. The waiter took a fever, inwhich he lay for some time. When he recovered, he said he had a messageto deliver to some women from Ford; but he was not to tell what, or towhom. He walked out; he was followed; but somewhere about St. Paul'sthey lost him. He came back, and said he had delivered the message, andthe women exclaimed, "Then we are all undone!" Dr. Pellet, who was not acredulous man, inquired into the truth of this story, and he said, theevidence was irresistible. My wife went to the Hummums; (it is a placewhere people get themselves cupped. ) I believe she went with intentionto hear about this story of Ford. At first they were unwilling to tellher; but, after they had talked to her, she came away satisfied that itwas true. To be sure the man had a fever; and this vision may have beenthe beginning of it. But if the message to the women, and theirbehaviour upon it, were true as related, there was somethingsupernatural. That rests upon his word; and there it remains. '

After Mrs. Thrale was gone to bed, Johnson and I sat up late. We resumedSir Joshua Reynolds's argument on the preceding Sunday, that a man wouldbe virtuous though he had no other motive than to preserve hischaracter. JOHNSON. 'Sir, it is not true: for as to this world vice doesnot hurt a man's character. ' BOSWELL. 'Yes, Sir, debauching a friend'swife will. ' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. Who thinks the worse of ----[1036] for it?'BOSWELL. 'Lord ----[1037] was not his friend. ' JOHNSON. 'That is only acircumstance, Sir; a slight distinction. He could not get into the housebut by Lord ----. A man is chosen Knight of the shire, not the less forhaving debauched ladies. ' BOSWELL. 'What, Sir, if he debauched theladies of gentlemen in the county, will not there be a generalresentment against him?' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. He will lose thoseparticular gentlemen; but the rest will not trouble their heads aboutit. ' (warmly. ) BOSWELL. 'Well, Sir, I cannot think so. ' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, there is no talking with a man who will dispute what every bodyknows, (angrily. ) Don't you know this?' BOSWELL. 'No, Sir; and I wish tothink better of your country than you represent it. I knew in Scotland agentleman obliged to leave it for debauching a lady; and in one of ourcounties an Earl's brother lost his election, because he had debauchedthe lady of another Earl in that county, and destroyed the peace of anoble family. '

Still he would not yield. He proceeded: 'Will you not allow, Sir, thatvice does not hurt a man's character so as to obstruct his prosperity inlife, when you know that ----[1038] was loaded with wealth and honours;a man who had acquired his fortune by such crimes, that his consciousnessof them impelled him to cut his own throat. ' BOSWELL. 'You willrecollect, Sir, that Dr. Robertson said, he cut his throat because hewas weary of still life; little things not being sufficient to move hisgreat mind. ' JOHNSON, (very angry. ) 'Nay, Sir, what stuff is this! Youhad no more this opinion after Robertson said it, than before. I knownothing more offensive than repeating what one knows to be foolishthings, by way of continuing a dispute, to see what a man willanswer, --to make him your butt!' (angrier still. ) BOSWELL. 'My dear Sir, I had no such intentions as you seem to suspect; I had not indeed. Mightnot this nobleman have felt every thing "weary, stale, flat, andunprofitable[1039], " as Hamlet says?' JOHNSON. 'Nay, if you are to bringin gabble, I'll talk no more. I will not, upon my honour. '--My readerswill 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 successin life. She said he was certainly wrong; and told me, that a Baronetlost an election in Wales, because he had debauched the sister of agentleman in the county, whom he made one of his daughters invite as hercompanion at his seat in the country, when his lady and his otherchildren were in London. But she would not encounter Johnson upon thesubject. 

I staid all this day with him at Streatham. He talked a great deal, invery good humour. 

Looking at Messrs. Dilly's splendid edition of Lord Chesterfield'smiscellaneous works, he laughed, and said, 'Here now are two speechesascribed to him, both of which were written by me: and the best of itis, they have found out that one is like Demosthenes, and the other likeCicero[1040]. '

He censured Lord Kames's _Sketches of the History of Man_[1041], formisrepresenting Clarendon's account of the appearance of Sir GeorgeVilliers's ghost, as if Clarendon were weakly credulous; when the truthis, that Clarendon only says, that the story was upon a betterfoundation of credit, than usually such discourses are founded upon[1042];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 hasomitted. He added, 'in this book it is maintained that virtue is naturalto man, and that if we would but consult our own hearts we should bevirtuous. [1043] Now after consulting our own hearts all we can, and withall the helps we have, we find how few of us are virtuous. This issaying a thing which all mankind know not to be true. ' BOSWELL. 'Is notmodesty natural?' JOHNSON. 'I cannot say, Sir, as we find no peoplequite in a state of nature; but I think the more they are taught, themore 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. [1044] WhatI gained by being in France was, learning to be better satisfied with myown country. Time may be employed to more advantage from nineteen totwenty-four almost in any way than in travelling; when you settravelling against mere negation, against doing nothing, it is better tobe sure; but how much more would a young man improve were he to studyduring those years. Indeed, if a young man is wild, and must run afterwomen and bad company, it is better this should be done abroad, as, onhis return, he can break off such connections, and begin at home a newman, with a character to form, and acquaintances to make[1045]. Howlittle does travelling supply to the conversation of any man who hastravelled; how little to Beauclerk!' BOSWELL. 'What say you toLord ----?' JOHNSON. 'I never but once heard him talk of what he hadseen, and that was of a large serpent in one of the Pyramids of Egypt. 'BOSWELL. 'Well, I happened to hear him tell the same thing, which mademe mention him[1046]. '

I talked of a country life. JOHNSON. 'Were I to live in the country, Iwould not devote myself to the acquisition of popularity; I would livein a much better way, much more happily; I would have my time at my owncommand[1047]. ' BOSWELL. 'But, Sir, is it not a sad thing to be at adistance from all our literary friends?' JOHNSON. 'Sir, you will by andby have enough of this conversation, which now delights you so much. '[1048]

As he was a zealous friend of subordination, he was at all timeswatchful to repress the vulgar cant against the manners of the great;[1049] High people, Sir, (said he, ) are the best; take a hundred ladiesof quality, you'll find them better wives, better mothers, more willingto sacrifice their own pleasure to their children than a hundred otherwomen. Tradeswomen (I mean the wives of tradesmen) in the city, who areworth from ten to fifteen thousand pounds, are the worst creatures uponthe earth, grossly ignorant, and thinking viciousness fashionable. Farmers, I think, are often worthless fellows[1050]. Few lords willcheat; and, if they do, they'll be ashamed of it: farmers cheat and arenot ashamed of it: they have all the sensual vices too of the nobility, with cheating into the bargain. There is as much fornication and adulteryamong farmers as amongst noblemen. ' BOSWELL. 'The notion of the world, Sir, however is, that the morals of women of quality are worse thanthose in lower stations. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, the licentiousness of onewoman of quality makes more noise than that of a number of women inlower stations; then, Sir, you are to consider the malignity of women inthe city against women of quality, which will make them believe anything of them, such as that they call their coachmen to bed. No, Sir, sofar as I have observed, the higher in rank, the richer ladies are, theyare the better instructed and the more virtuous. '

This year the Reverend Mr. Horne published his _Letter to Mr. Dunning onthe English Particle_; Johnson read it, and though not treated in itwith sufficient respect[1051], he had candour enough to say to Mr. Seward, 'Were I to make a new edition of my _Dictionary_, I would adoptseveral[1052] of Mr. Horne's etymologies; I hope they did not put the dogin the pillory for his libel; he has too much literature for that[1053]. '

On Saturday, May 16, I dined with him at Mr. Beauclerk's with Mr. Langton, Mr. Steevens, Dr. Higgins, and some others. I regret veryfeelingly 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 admirablespeech in the House of Commons, which was highly applauded, but which heafterwards perceived might have been better:) 'that we are more uneasyfrom thinking of our wants, than happy in thinking of our acquisitions. 'This is an unreasonable mode of disturbing our tranquillity, and shouldbe corrected; let me then comfort myself with the large treasure ofJohnson's conversation which I have preserved for my own enjoyment andthat of the world, and let me exhibit what I have upon each occasion, whether more or less, whether a bulse[1054], or only a few sparks of adiamond. 

He said, 'Dr. Mead lived more in the broad sunshine of life than almostany man[1055]. ' The disaster of General Burgoyne's army was then thecommon topic of conversation. It was asked why piling their arms wasinsisted upon as a matter of such consequence, when it seemed to be acircumstance so inconsiderable in itself[1056]. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, aFrench authour says, "_Il y a beaucoup de puerilités dans la guerre_. "All distinctions are trifles, because great things can seldom occur, andthose distinctions are settled by custom. A savage would as willinglyhave his meat sent to him in the kitchen, as eat it at the table here;as men become civilized, various modes of denoting honourable preferenceare invented. '

He this day made the observations upon the similarity between _Rasselas_and _Candide_, which I have inserted in its proper place[1057], whenconsidering his admirable philosophical Romance. He said _Candide_ hethought 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 the numbers and the expression. Francishas 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, whohas since distinguished himself so much in India[1058], to whom henaturally talked of travels, as Mr. Brydone accompanied him in his tourto Sicily and Malta. He said, 'The information which we have from moderntravellers is much more authentick than what we had from ancienttravellers; ancient travellers guessed; modern travellers measure[1059]. The Swiss admit that there is but one errour in Stanyan[1060]. If Brydonewere more attentive to his Bible, he would be a good traveller[1061]. '

He said, 'Lord Chatham was a Dictator; he possessed the power of puttingthe 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 Londonwill appoint its Mayors again by seniority[1062]. ' BOSWELL. 'But is notthat 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 worstMayor that can come; besides, there is no more reason to suppose thatthe choice of a rabble will be right, than that chance will be right. '

On Tuesday, May 19, I was to set out for Scotland in the evening. He wasengaged to dine with me at Mr. Dilly's, I waited upon him to remind himof his appointment and attend him thither; he gave me some salutarycounsel, and recommended vigorous resolution against any deviation frommoral duty. BOSWELL. 'But you would not have me to bind myself by asolemn obligation?' JOHNSON, (much agitated) 'What! a vow--O, no, Sir, avow is a horrible thing, it is a snare for sin[1063]. The man who cannotgo to Heaven without a vow--may go--. ' Here, standing erect, in themiddle of his library, and rolling grand, his pause was truly a curiouscompound of the solemn and the ludicrous; he half-whistled in his usualway, when pleasant, and he paused, as if checked by religious awe. Methought he would have added--to Hell--but was restrained. I humouredthe dilemma. 'What! Sir, (said I, ) _In cælum jusseris ibit_[1064]?'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 theTenth Satire of Juvenal_, a too near recurrence of the verb _spread_, inhis description of the young Enthusiast at College:--

'Through all his veins the fever of renown, _Spreads_ from the strong contagion of the gown;O'er Bodley's dome his future labours _spread_, And Bacon's mansion trembles o'er his head[1065]. '

He had desired me to change _spreads_ to _burns_, but for perfectauthenticity, I now had it done with his own hand[1066]. I thought thisalteration not only cured the fault, but was more poetical, as it mightcarry an allusion to the shirt by which Hercules was inflamed. 

We had a quiet comfortable meeting at Mr. Dilly's; nobody there butourselves. Mr. Dilly mentioned somebody having wished that Milton's_Tractate on Education_ should be printed along with his Poems in theedition of _The English Poets_ then going on. JOHNSON. 'It would bebreaking in upon the plan; but would be of no great consequence. So faras it would be any thing, it would be wrong. Education in England hasbeen in danger of being hurt by two of its greatest men, Milton andLocke. Milton's plan is impracticable, and I suppose has never beentried. Locke's, I fancy, has been tried often enough, but is veryimperfect; it gives too much to one side, and too little to the other;it gives too little to literature[1067]. --I shall do what I can for Dr. Watts; but my materials are very scanty. His poems are by no means hisbest works; I cannot praise his poetry itself highly; but I can praiseits design[1068]. '

My illustrious friend and I parted with assurances of affectionateregard. 

I wrote to him on the 25th of May, from Thorpe in Yorkshire, one of theseats of Mr. Bosville[1069], and gave him an account of my having passeda day at Lincoln, unexpectedly, and therefore without having any lettersof introduction, but that I had been honoured with civilities from theReverend Mr. Simpson, an acquaintance of his, and Captain Broadley, ofthe Lincolnshire Militia; but more particularly from the Reverend Dr. Gordon, the Chancellor, who first received me with great politeness as astranger, and when I informed him who I was, entertained me at his housewith the most flattering attention; I also expressed the pleasure withwhich I had found that our worthy friend Langton was highly esteemed inhis own county town. 

'To DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, June 18, 1778. 

'MY DEAR SIR, * * * * *

'Since my return to Scotland, I have been again at Lanark, and have hadmore conversation with Thomson's sister. It is strange that Murdoch, whowas his intimate friend, should have mistaken his mother's maiden name, which he says was Hume, whereas Hume was the name of his grandmother bythe mother's side. His mother's name was Beatrix Trotter[1070], adaughter of Mr. Trotter, of Fogo, a small proprietor of land. Thomsonhad one brother, whom he had with him in England as his amanuensis; buthe was seized with a consumption, and having returned to Scotland, totry what his native air would do for him, died young. He had threesisters, one married to Mr. Bell, minister of the parish of Strathaven;one to Mr. Craig, father of the ingenious architect, who gave the planof the New Town of Edinburgh; and one to Mr. Thomson, master of thegrammar-school at Lanark. He was of a humane and benevolent disposition;not only sent valuable presents to his sisters, but a yearly allowancein money, and was always wishing to have it in his power to do them moregood. Lord Lyttelton's observation, that "he loathed much to write, " wasvery 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 howbackward I am to write letters; and never impute the negligence of myhand to the coldness of my heart. " I send you a copy of the last letterwhich she had from him[1071]; she never heard that he had any intentionof going into holy orders. From this late interview with his sister, Ithink much more favourably of him, as I hope you will. I am eager to seemore of your Prefaces to the Poets; I solace myself with the fewproof-sheets which I have. 

'I send another parcel of Lord Hailes's _Annals_[1072], which you willplease to return to me as soon as you conveniently can. He says, "hewishes you would cut a little deeper;" but he may be proud that there isso 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 someparticulars of Dr. Johnson's visit to Warley-camp, where this gentlemanwas at the time stationed as a Captain in the Lincolnshire militia[1073]. I shall give them in his own words in a letter to me. 

'It was in the summer of the year 1778[1074], that he complied with myinvitation to come down to the Camp at Warley, and he staid with meabout a week; the scene appeared, notwithstanding a great degree of illhealth that he seemed to labour under, to interest and amuse him, asagreeing with the disposition that I believe you know he constantlymanifested towards enquiring into subjects of the military kind. Hesate, with a patient degree of attention, to observe the proceedings ofa regimental court-martial, that happened to be called, in the time ofhis stay with us; and one night, as late as at eleven o'clock, heaccompanied the Major of the regiment in going what are styled the_Rounds_, where he might observe the forms of visiting the guards, forthe seeing that they and their sentries are ready in their duty on theirseveral posts. He took occasion to converse at times on militarytopicks, one in particular, that I see the mention of, in your _Journalof a Tour to the Hebrides_, which lies open before me[1075], as togun-powder; which he spoke of to the same effect, in part, that yourelate. 

'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, andwatched all their practices attentively; and, when he came away, hisremark was, "The men indeed do load their muskets and fire withwonderful celerity. " He was likewise particular in requiring to knowwhat was the weight of the musquet balls in use, and within whatdistance they might be expected to take effect when fired off. 

'In walking among the tents, and observing the difference between thoseof the officers and private men, he said that the superiority ofaccommodation of the better conditions of life, to that of the inferiourones, was never exhibited to him in so distinct a view. The civilitiespaid to him in the camp were, from the gentlemen of the Lincolnshireregiment, one of the officers of which accommodated him with a tent inwhich he slept; and from General Hall, who very courteously invited himto dine with him, where he appeared to be very well pleased with hisentertainment, and the civilities he received on the part of theGeneral[1076]; the attention likewise, of the General's aid-de-camp, Captain Smith, seemed to be very welcome to him, as appeared by theirengaging in a great deal of discourse together. The gentlemen of theEast York regiment likewise on being informed of his coming, solicitedhis company at dinner, but by that time he had fixed his departure, sothat he could not comply with the invitation. '

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'I have received two letters from you, of which the second complains ofthe neglect shewn to the first. You must not tye your friends to suchpunctual correspondence. You have all possible assurances of myaffection and esteem; and there ought to be no need of reiteratedprofessions. When it may happen that I can give you either counsel orcomfort, 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 havenothing to say. 

'You are now happy enough. Mrs. Boswell is recovered; and I congratulateyou upon the probability of her long life. If general approbation willadd anything to your enjoyment, I can tell you that I have heard youmentioned as _a man whom everybody likes_[1077]. I think life has littlemore to give. 

'----[1078] has gone to his regiment. He has laid down his coach, andtalks of making more contractions of his expence: how he will succeed Iknow not. It is difficult to reform a household gradually; it may bebetter done by a system totally new. I am afraid he has always somethingto hide. When we pressed him to go to ----[1079], he objected thenecessity of attending his navigation[1080]; yet he could talk of goingto Aberdeen, a place not much nearer his navigation. I believe he cannotbear the thought of living at ----[1081] in a state of diminution; andof appearing among the gentlemen of the neighbourhood _shorn of hisbeams_. [1082] This is natural, but it is cowardly. What I told him ofthe encreasing expence of a growing family seems to have struck him. Hecertainly had gone on with very confused views, and we have, I think, shewn him that he is wrong; though, with the common deficiency ofadvisers, we have not shewn him how to do right. [1083]

'I wish you would a little correct or restrain your imagination, andimagine that happiness, such as life admits, may be had at other placesas well as London. Without asserting Stoicism, it may be said, that itis our business to exempt ourselves as much as we can from the power ofexternal things. There is but one solid basis of happiness; and that is, the reasonable hope of a happy futurity. [1084] This may be had every where. 

'I do not blame your preference of London to other places, for it isreally to be preferred, if the choice is free; but few have the choiceof their place, or their manner of life; and mere pleasure ought not tobe the prime motive of action. 

'Mrs. Thrale, poor thing, has a daughter. [1085] Mr. Thrale dislikes thetimes, [1086] like the rest of us. Mrs. Williams is sick; Mrs. Desmoulinsis 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 hisfriend Mr. Strahan;[1087] the particulars of which it is unnecessary torelate. 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 inMarch last. The matter lay dormant till July 27, [1088] when he wrote tome as follows:

"To William Strahan, Esq. 

"Sir, "It would be very foolish for us to continue strangers any longer. Youcan never by persistency make wrong right. If I resented tooacrimoniously, I resented only to yourself. Nobody ever saw or heardwhat I wrote. You saw that my anger was over, for in a day or two I cameto your house. I have given you longer time; and I hope you have made sogood 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. '

After this time, the same friendship as formerly continued between Dr. Johnson and Mr. Strahan. My friend mentioned to me a little circumstanceof his attention, which, though we may smile at it, must be allowed tohave its foundation in a nice and true knowledge of human life. 'When Iwrite to Scotland, (said he, ) I employ Strahan to frank my letters, thathe may have the consequence of appearing a Parliament-man among hiscountrymen. '

'To CAPTAIN LANGTON[1089], WARLEY-CAMP. 

'DEAR SIR, 'When I recollect how long ago I was received with so much kindness atWarley Common, I am ashamed that I have not made some enquiries after myfriends. 

'Pray how many sheep-stealers did you convict? and how did you punishthem? When are you to be cantoned in better habitations? The air growscold, and the ground damp. Longer stay in the camp cannot be withoutmuch danger to the health of the common men, if even the officers canescape. 

'You see that Dr. Percy is now Dean of Carlisle; about five hundred ayear, with a power of presenting himself to some good living. He isprovided for. 

'The session of the CLUB is to commence with that of the Parliament. Mr. Banks[1090] desires to be admitted; he will be a very honourableaccession. 

'Did the King please you[1091]? The Coxheath men, I think, have somereason to complain[1092]: Reynolds says your camp is better than theirs. 

'I hope you find yourself able to encounter this weather. Take care ofyour own health; and, as you can, of your men. Be pleased to make mycompliments to all the gentlemen whose notice I have had, and whosekindness I have experienced. 

'I am, dear Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'Sam. Johnson. '

'October 31, 1778. '

I wrote to him on the 18th of August, the 18th of September, and the 6thof November; informing him of my having had another son born, whom I hadcalled James[1093]; that I had passed some time at Auchinleck; that theCountess of Loudoun, now in her ninety-ninth year, was as fresh as whenhe saw her[1094], and remembered him with respect; and that his motherby adoption, the Countess of Eglintoune[1095], had said to me, 'Tell Mr. Johnson I love him exceedingly;' that I had again suffered much from badspirits; and that as it was very long since I heard from him, I was nota little uneasy. 

The continuance of his regard for his friend Dr. Burney, appears fromthe following letters:--

'To THE REVEREND DR. WHEELER[1096], OXFORD. 

'DEAR SIR, 'Dr. Burney, who brings this paper, is engaged in a History of Musick;and having been told by Dr. Markham of some MSS. Relating to hissubject, which are in the library of your College, is desirous toexamine them. He is my friend; and therefore I take the liberty ofintreating your favour and assistance in his enquiry: and can assureyou, with great confidence, that if you knew him he would not want anyintervenient solicitation to obtain the kindness of one who loveslearning and virtue as you love them. 

'I have been flattering myself all the summer with the hope of paying myannual visit to my friends; but something has obstructed me: I stillhope not to be long without seeing you. I should be glad of a littleliterary talk; and glad to shew you, by the frequency of my visits, howeagerly 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[1097], OXFORD. 

'SIR, 'The bearer, DR. BURNEY, has had some account of a Welsh Manuscript inthe Bodleian library, from which he hopes to gain some materials for hisHistory of Musick; but being ignorant of the language, is at a losswhere to find assistance. I make no doubt but you, Sir, can help himthrough his difficulties, and therefore take the liberty of recommendinghim to your favour, as I am sure you will find him a man worthy of everycivility that can be shewn, and every benefit that can be conferred. 

'But we must not let Welsh drive us from Greek. What comes ofXenophon[1098]? If you do not like the trouble of publishing the book, do not let your commentaries be lost; contrive that they may be publishedsomewhere. 

'I am, Sir, 'Your humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'London, November 2, 1778. 

These letters procured Dr. Burney great kindness and friendly officesfrom both of these gentleman, not only on that occasion, but in futurevisits to the university[1099]. The same year Dr. Johnson not only wroteto Dr. Joseph Warton in favour of Dr. Burney's youngest son, who was tobe placed in the college of Winchester, but accompanied him when he wentthither[1100]. 

We surely cannot but admire the benevolent exertions of this great andgood man, especially when we consider how grievously he was afflictedwith bad health, and how uncomfortable his home was made by theperpetual jarring of those whom he charitably accommodated under hisroof. He has sometimes suffered me to talk jocularly of his group offemales, and call them his _Seraglio_. He thus mentions them, togetherwith honest Levett, in one of his letters to Mrs. Thrale[1101]:'Williams hates every body; Levett hates Desmoulins, and does not loveWilliams; Desmoulins hates them both; Poll[1102] loves none of them. '[1103]

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'It is indeed a long time since I wrote, and I think you have somereason 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 Ihope your lady's health restored by bringing him. It seems very probablethat a little care will now restore her, if any remains of hercomplaints are left. 

'You seem, if I understand your letter, to be gaining ground atAuchinleck[1104], an incident that would give me great delight. 

 * * * * *

'When any fit of anxiety, or gloominess, or perversion of mind, layshold upon you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaints, but exertyour whole care to hide it; by endeavouring to hide it, you will driveit away. Be always busy[1105]. 

'The CLUB is to meet with the Parliament; we talk of electing Banks, thetraveller; 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 diligentofficer, and has very high respect in the regiment. He presided when Iwas there at a court-martial; he is now quartered in Hertfordshire; hislady and little ones are in Scotland. Paoli came to the camp andcommended the soldiers. 

'Of myself I have no great matter to say, my health is not restored, mynights are restless and tedious. The best night that I have had thesetwenty years was at Fort-Augustus[1106]. 

'I hope soon to send you a few lines to read. 

'I am, dear Sir, 'Your most affectionate, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'November 21, 1778. '

About this time the Rev. Mr. John Hussey, who had been some time intrade, and was then a clergyman of the Church of England, being about toundertake a journey to Aleppo, and other parts of the East, which heaccomplished, Dr. Johnson, (who had long been in habits of intimacy withhim, ) 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, bywhich I hope to be remembered; write my name in them; we may perhaps seeeach other no more, you part with my good wishes, nor do I despair ofseeing you return. Let no opportunities of vice corrupt you; let no badexample seduce you; let the blindness of Mahometans confirm you inChristianity. 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 thefirst volume of _Discourses to the Royal Academy_[1107], by Sir JoshuaReynolds, whom he always considered as one of his literary school[1108]. Much praise indeed is due to those excellent _Discourses_, which are souniversally admired, and for which the authour received from the Empressof Russia a gold snuff-box, adorned with her profile in _bas relief_, set in diamonds; and containing what is infinitely more valuable, a slipof paper, on which are written with her Imperial Majesty's own hand, thefollowing words: '_Pour le Chevalier Reynolds en témoignage ducontentement que j'ai ressentie[1109] à la lecture de ses excellensdiscours sur la peinture_. '

In 1779, Johnson gave the world a luminous proof that the vigour of hismind in all its faculties, whether memory, judgement, or imagination, was not in the least abated; for this year came out the first fourvolumes of his _Prefaces, biographical and critical, to the most eminentof the English Poets_, [*] published by the booksellers of London. Theremaining volumes came out in the year 1780[1110]. The Poets wereselected by the several booksellers who had the honorary copy right, which is still preserved among them by mutual compact, notwithstandingthe decision of the House of Lords against the perpetuity of LiteraryProperty[1111]. We have his own authority[1112], that by hisrecommendation the poems of Blackmore[1113], Watts[1114], Pomfret[1115], and Yalden[1116], were added to the collection. Of this work I shallspeak more particularly hereafter. 

On the 22nd of January, I wrote to him on several topicks, and mentionedthat as he had been so good as to permit me to have the proof sheets ofhis _Lives of the Poets_, I had written to his servant, Francis, to takecare 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 surprisedwith the death of any man, who has lived sixty-two years; but becausethere was a _vivacity_ in our late celebrated friend, which drove awaythe thoughts of _death_ from any association with _him_. I am sure youwill be tenderly affected with his departure[1117]; and I would wish tohear from you upon the subject. I was obliged to him in my days ofeffervescence in London, when poor Derrick was my governour[1118]; andsince that time I received many civilities from him. Do you remember howpleasing it was, when I received a letter from him at Inverary[1119], upon our first return to civilized living after our Hebridean journey? Ishall always remember him with affection as well as admiration. 

'On Saturday last, being the 30th of January[1120], I drank coffee andold port, and had solemn conversation with the Reverend Mr. Falconer, anonjuring bishop, a very learned and worthy man. He gave two toasts, which you will believe I drank with cordiality, Dr. Samuel Johnson, andFlora Macdonald. I sat about four hours with him, and it was really asif I had been living in the last century. The Episcopal Church ofScotland, though faithful to the royal house of Stuart, has neveraccepted of any _congé d'liré_, since the Revolution; it is the onlytrue Episcopal Church in Scotland, as it has its own succession ofbishops. For as to the episcopal clergy who take the oaths to thepresent government, they indeed follow the rites of the Church ofEngland, but, as Bishop Falconer observed, "they are not _Episcopals_;for they are under no bishop, as a bishop cannot have authority beyondhis diocese. " This venerable gentleman did me the honour to dine with meyesterday, and he laid his hands upon the heads of my little ones. Wehad a good deal of curious literary conversation, particularly about Mr. Thomas Ruddiman[1121], with whom he lived in great friendship. 

'Any fresh instance of the uncertainty of life makes one embrace moreclosely a valuable friend. My dear and much respected Sir, may GODpreserve 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 hissilence, as I had heard he was ill, and had written to Mr. Thrale, forinformation concerning him; and I announced my intention of soon beingagain 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 veryunnecessary. Thrale, you may be sure, cared not about it; and I shallspare Francis the trouble, by ordering a set both of the _Lives_ and_Poets_ to dear Mrs. Boswell[1122], in acknowledgement of her marmalade. Persuade her to accept them, and accept them kindly. If I thought shewould receive them scornfully, I would send them to Miss Boswell, who, Ihope, has yet none of her mamma's ill-will to me. 

'I would send sets of _Lives_, four volumes, to some other friends, toLord Hailes first. His second volume lies by my bed-side; a book surelyof great labour, and to every just thinker of great delight. Write meword to whom I shall send besides[1123]; 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 15, and next morning at a late hour, found Dr. Johnson sittingover his tea, attended by Mrs. Desmoulins, Mr. Levett, and a clergyman, who had come to submit some poetical pieces to his revision. It iswonderful what a number and variety of writers, some of them evenunknown to him, prevailed on his good-nature to look over their works, and suggest corrections and improvements[1124]. My arrival interruptedfor a little while the important business of this true representativeof Bayes[1125]; upon its being resumed, I found that the subject underimmediate consideration was a translation, yet in manuscript, of the_Carmen Seculare_ of Horace, which had this year been set to musick, andperformed as a publick entertainment in London, for the joint benefit ofMonsieur Philidor and Signer Baretti[1126]. When Johnson had donereading, the authour asked him bluntly, 'If upon the whole it was a goodtranslation?' Johnson, whose regard for truth was uncommonly strict, seemed to be puzzled for a moment, what answer to make; as he certainlycould not honestly commend the performance: with exquisite address heevaded the question thus, 'Sir, I do not say that it may not be made avery good translation[1127]. ' Here nothing whatever in favour of theperformance was affirmed, and yet the writer was not shocked. A printed_Ode to the Warlike Genius of Britain_, came next in review; the bard[1128] was a lank bony figure, with short black hair; he was writhinghimself in agitation, while Johnson read, and shewing his teeth in agrin of earnestness, exclaimed in broken sentences, and in a keen sharptone, 'Is that poetry, Sir?--Is it _Pindar_?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, thereis here a great deal of what is called poetry. ' Then, turning to me, thepoet cried, 'My muse has not been long upon the town, and (pointing tothe _Ode_) it trembles under the hand of the great critick[1129]. 'Johnson, in a tone of displeasure, asked him, 'Why do you praise Anson[1130]?' I did not trouble him by asking his reason for this question. He proceeded, 'Here is an errour, Sir; you have made Genius feminine. '[1131] 'Palpable, Sir; (cried the enthusiast) I know it. But (in a lowertone) it was to pay a compliment to the Duchess of Devonshire, withwhich her Grace was pleased. She is walking across Coxheath, in themilitary uniform, and I suppose her to be the Genius of Britain[1132]. 'JOHNSON. 'Sir, you are giving a reason for it; but that will not make itright. You may have a reason why two and two should make five; but theywill still make but four. '

Although I was several times with him in the course of the followingdays, such it seems were my occupations, or such my negligence, that Ihave 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 thanunnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an authour is to be silentas to his works. [1133]. An assault upon a town is a bad thing; butstarving it is still worse; an assault may be unsuccessful; you may havemore men killed than you kill; but if you starve the town, you are sureof victory. '

Talking of a friend of ours associating with persons of very discordantprinciples and characters; I said he was a very universal man, quite aman of the world[1134]. JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir; but one may be so much a manof the world as to be nothing in the world. I remember a passage inGoldsmith's _Vicar of Wakefield_, which he was afterwards fool enough toexpunge: "I do not love a man who is zealous for nothing. "' BOSWELL. 'That was a fine passage. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir: there was another finepassage too, which he struck out: "When I was a young man, being anxiousto distinguish myself, I was perpetually starting new propositions. ButI soon gave this over; for, I found that generally what was new wasfalse[1135]. "' I said I did not like to sit with people of whom I had nota good opinion. JOHNSON. 'But you must not indulge your delicacy too much;or you will be a _tête-à-tête_ man all your life. '

During my stay in London this spring, I find I was unaccountably[1136]negligent in preserving Johnson's sayings, more so than at any time whenI 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 suchscraps as I have. But I am nevertheless ashamed and vexed to think howmuch has been lost. It is not that there was a bad crop this year; butthat I was not sufficiently careful in gathering it in. I, therefore, insome instances can only exhibit a few detached fragments. 

Talking of the wonderful concealment of the authour of the celebratedletters signed _Junius_[1137]; he said, 'I should have believed Burke tobe Junius, because I know no man but Burke who is capable of writingthese letters[1138]; but Burke spontaneously denied it to me. The casewould have been different had I asked him if he was the authour; a manso questioned, as to an anonymous publication, may think he has a rightto deny it. '[1139]. 

He observed that his old friend, Mr. Sheridan, had been honoured withextraordinary attention in his own country, by having had an exceptionmade in his favour in an Irish Act of Parliament concerning insolventdebtors[1140]. 'Thus to be singled out (said he) by a legislature, as anobject of publick consideration and kindness, is a proof of no commonmerit. '

At Streatham, on Monday, March 29, at breakfast he maintained that afather had no right to control the inclinations of his daughters inmarriage[1141]. 

On Wednesday, March 31, when I visited him, and confessed an excess ofwhich I had very seldom been guilty; that I had spent a whole night inplaying at cards, and that I could not look back on it withsatisfaction; instead of a harsh animadversion, he mildly said, 'Alas, Sir, on how few things can we look back with satisfaction. '

On Thursday, April 1, he commended one of the Dukes of Devonshire for 'adogged veracity[1142]. ' He said too, 'London is nothing to some people;but to a man whose pleasure is intellectual, London is the place. Andthere is no place where oeconomy 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 makean 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 couldwrite or talk to a friend, exhorting him not to suppose that happinesswas not to be found as well in other places as in London[1143]; when hehimself was at all times sensible of its being, comparatively speaking, a heaven upon earth[1144]. The truth is, that by those who from sagacity, attention, and experience, have learnt the full advantage of London, itspreeminence over every other place, not only for variety of enjoyment, but for comfort, will be felt with a philosophical exultation[1145]. Thefreedom from remark and petty censure, with which life may be passedthere, is a circumstance which a man who knows the teazing restraint ofa narrow circle must relish highly. Mr. Burke, whose orderly and amiabledomestic habits might make the eye of observation less irksome to himthan to most men, said once very pleasantly, in my hearing, 'Though Ihave the honour to represent Bristol, I should not like to live there; Ishould be obliged to be so much _upon my good behaviour_. ' In London, aman may live in splendid society at one time, and in frugal retirementat another, without animadversion. There, and there alone, a man's ownhouse is truly his _castle_, in which he can be in perfect safety fromintrusion whenever he pleases. I never shall forget how well this wasexpressed to me one day by Mr. Meynell[1146]: 'The chief advantage ofLondon (said he) is, that a man is always _so near his burrow_[1147]. '

He said of one of his old acquaintances, 'He is very fit for atravelling governour. He knows French very well. He is a man of goodprinciples; and there would be no danger that a young gentleman shouldcatch his manner; for it is so very bad, that it must be avoided. Inthat respect he would be like the drunken Helot[1148]. '

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 everknown. '

On Friday, April 2, being Good-Friday, I visited him in the morning asusual; and finding that we insensibly fell into a train of ridicule uponthe foibles of one of our friends, a very worthy man[1149], I, by way ofa check, quoted some good admonition from _The Government of theTongue_[1150], that very pious book. It happened also remarkably enough, that the subject of the sermon preached to us to-day by Dr. Burrows, therector of St. Clement Danes, was the certainty that at the last day wemust give an account of 'the deeds done in the body[1151];' and, amongstvarious acts of culpability he mentioned evil-speaking. As we weremoving slowly along in the crowd from church, Johnson jogged my elbow, and said, 'Did you attend to the sermon?' 'Yes, Sir, (said I, ) it wasvery applicable to _us_. ' He, however, stood upon the defensive. 'Why, Sir, the sense of ridicule is given us, and may be lawfully used[1152]. The authour of _The Government of the Tongue_ would have us treat allmen alike. '

In the interval between morning and evening service, he endeavoured toemploy himself earnestly in devotional exercises; and as he hasmentioned in his _Prayers and Meditations_[1153], gave me '_Les Penséesde Paschal_', that I might not interrupt him. I preserve the book withreverence. 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 againin the afternoon[1154]. 

On Saturday, April 3, I visited him at night, and found him sitting inMrs. Williams's room, with her, and one who he afterwards told me was anatural son[1155] of the second Lord Southwell. The table had a singularappearance, being covered with a heterogeneous assemblage of oysters andporter for his company, and tea for himself. I mentioned my having heardan eminent physician, who was himself a Christian, argue in favour ofuniversal toleration, and maintain, that no man could be hurt by anotherman's differing from him in opinion. JOHNSON. 'Sir, you are to a certaindegree hurt by knowing that even one man does not believe[1156]. '

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 Ihave not written down any thing, except a single curious fact, which, having the sanction of his inflexible veracity, may be received as astriking instance of human insensibility and inconsideration. As he waspassing by a fishmonger who was skinning an eel alive, he heard him'curse it, because it would not lye still[1157]. '

On Wednesday, April 7, I dined with him at Sir Joshua Reynolds's. I havenot marked what company was there. Johnson harangued upon the qualitiesof different liquors; and spoke with great contempt of claret, as soweak, that 'a man would be drowned by it before it made him drunk[1158]. 'He was persuaded to drink one glass of it, that he might judge, not fromrecollection, which might be dim, but from immediate sensation. He shookhis 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 drinkbrandy. In the first place, the flavour of brandy is most grateful tothe palate; and then brandy will do soonest for a man what drinking_can_ do for him[1159]. There are, indeed, few who are able to drinkbrandy. 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 knownot but fruition comes too quick by brandy. Florence wine I think theworst; it is wine only to the eye; it is wine neither while you aredrinking it, nor after you have drunk it; it neither pleases the taste, nor exhilarates the spirits. ' I reminded him how heartily he and I usedto drink wine together, when we were first acquainted; and how I used tohave a head-ache after sitting up with him[1160]. He did not like tohave 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 asmile) when it is not used to it. '--No man who has a true relish ofpleasantry could be offended at this; especially if Johnson in a longintimacy had given him repeated proofs of his regard and good estimation. I used to say, that as he had given me a thousand pounds in praise, hehad 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 LordGraham[1161] and some other company. We talked of Shakspeare's witches. JOHNSON. 'They are beings of his own creation; they are a compound ofmalignity and meanness, without any abilities; and are quite differentfrom the Italian magician. King James says in his _Daemonology_, 'Magicians command the devils: witches are their servants. The Italianmagicians are elegant beings. ' RAMSAY. 'Opera witches, not Drury-lanewitches. ' Johnson observed, that abilities might be employed in a narrowsphere, as in getting money, which he said he believed no man could do, without vigorous parts, though concentrated to a point[1162]. RAMSAY. 'Yes, like a strong horse in a mill; he pulls better. '

Lord Graham, while he praised the beauty of Lochlomond, on the banks ofwhich is his family seat, complained of the climate, and said he couldnot bear it. JOHNSON. 'Nay, my Lord, don't talk so: you may bear it wellenough. Your ancestors have borne it more years than I can tell. ' Thiswas a handsome compliment to the antiquity of the House of Montrose. HisLordship told me afterwards, that he had only affected to complain ofthe climate; lest, if he had spoken as favourably of his country as hereally thought, Dr. Johnson might have attacked it. Johnson was verycourteous to Lady Margaret Macdonald. 'Madam, (said he, ) when I was inthe Isle of Sky, I heard of the people running to take the stones offthe road, lest Lady Margaret's horse should stumble[1163]. '

Lord Graham commended Dr. Drummond[1164] at Naples, as a man ofextraordinary talents; and added, that he had a great love of liberty. JOHNSON. 'He is _young_, my Lord; (looking to his Lordship with an archsmile) all _boys_ love liberty, till experience convinces them they arenot so fit to govern themselves as they imagined. We are all agreed asto our own liberty; we would have as much of it as we can get; but weare not agreed as to the liberty of others: for in proportion as wetake, others must lose. I believe we hardly wish that the mob shouldhave liberty to govern us. When that was the case some time ago, no manwas at liberty not to have candles in his windows. ' RAMSAY. 'The resultis, that order is better than confusion. ' JOHNSON. 'The result is, thatorder cannot be had but by subordination. '

On Friday, April 16, I had been present at the trial of the unfortunateMr. Hackman, who, in a fit of frantick jealous love, had shot Miss Ray, the favourite of a nobleman. [1165] Johnson, in whose company I dinedto-day with some other friends, was much interested by my account of whatpassed, and particularly with his prayer for the mercy of heaven. [1166]He said, in a solemn fervid tone, 'I hope he _shall_ find mercy. '

This day[1167] a violent altercation arose between Johnson andBeauclerk, [1168] which having made much noise at the time, I think itproper, in order to prevent any future misrepresentation, to give aminute 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 toshoot two persons. Mr. Beauclerk said, 'No; for that every wise man whointended to shoot himself, took two pistols, that he might be sure ofdoing it at once. Lord ----'s cook shot himself with one pistol, andlived ten days in great agony. Mr. ----, who loved buttered muffins, butdurst not eat them because they disagreed with his stomach, resolved toshoot himself; and then he eat three buttered muffins for breakfast, before shooting himself, knowing that he should not be troubled withindigestion:[1169] _he_ had two charged pistols; one was found lyingcharged upon the table by him, after he had shot himself with theother. ' 'Well, (said Johnson, with an air of triumph, ) you see here onepistol was sufficient. ' Beauclerk replied smartly, 'Because it happenedto kill him. ' And either then or a very little afterwards, being piquedat Johnson's triumphant remark, added, 'This is what you don't know, andI do. ' There was then a cessation of the dispute; and some minutesintervened, during which, dinner and the glass went on cheerfully; whenJohnson suddenly and abruptly exclaimed, 'Mr. Beauclerk, how came you totalk so petulantly to me, as "This is what you don't know, but what Iknow"? One thing _I_ know, which _you_ don't seem to know, that you arevery uncivil. ' BEAUCLERK. 'Because you began by being uncivil, (whichyou always are. )' The words in parenthesis were, I believe, not heard byDr. Johnson. Here again there was a cessation of arms. Johnson told me, that the reason why he waited at first some time without taking anynotice of what Mr. Beauclerk said, was because he was thinking whetherhe should resent it. But when he considered that there were present ayoung Lord and an eminent traveller, two men of the world with whom hehad never dined before, he was apprehensive that they might think theyhad a right to take such liberties with him as Beauclerk did, andtherefore resolved he would not let it pass; adding, that 'he would notappear a coward. ' A little while after this, the conversation turned onthe violence of Hackman's temper. Johnson then said, 'It was hisbusiness to _command_ his temper, as my friend, Mr. Beauclerk, shouldhave 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 withcontempt. ' 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'scoach not having come for him till very late, Dr. Johnson and anothergentleman sat with him a long time after the rest of the company weregone; and he and I dined at Beauclerk's on the Saturday se'nnightfollowing. 

After this tempest had subsided, I recollect the following particularsof his conversation:--

'I am always for getting a boy forward in his learning; for that is asure good. I would let him at first read _any_ English book whichhappens to engage his attention; because you have done a great deal whenyou have brought him to have entertainment from a book. He'll get betterbooks afterwards[1170]. '

'Mallet, I believe, never wrote a single line of his projected life ofthe Duke of Marlborough. [1171] He groped for materials; and thought ofit, till he had exhausted his mind. Thus it sometimes happens that menentangle themselves in their own schemes. '

'To be contradicted, in order to force you to talk, is mightyunpleasing. You _shine_, indeed; but it is by being _ground_. '

Of a gentleman who made some figure among the _Literati_ of his time, (Mr. Fitzherbert, )[1172] he said, 'What eminence he had was by a felicityof 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 SirJoshua Reynolds, Mr. Jones, (afterwards Sir William, ) Mr. Langton, Mr. Steevens, Mr. Paradise, and Dr. Higgins. I mentioned that Mr. Wilkes hadattacked Garrick to me, as a man who had no friend. 'I believe he isright, Sir. [Greek: _Oi philoi, ou philos_]--He had friends, but nofriend. [1173] Garrick was so diffused, he had no man to whom he wished tounbosom himself. He found people always ready to applaud him, and thatalways for the same thing: so he saw life with great uniformity. ' I tookupon me, for once, to fight with Goliath's weapons, and play thesophist. --'Garrick did not need a friend, as he got from every body allhe wanted. What is a friend? One who supports you and comforts you, while others do not. Friendship, you know, Sir, is the cordial drop, "tomake the nauseous draught of life go down[1174]:" but if the draught benot 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 compareminds, and cherish private virtues. ' One of the company mentioned LordChesterfield, as a man who had no friend. JOHNSON. 'There were morematerials to make friendship in Garrick, had he not been so diffused. 'BOSWELL. 'Garrick was pure gold, but beat out to thin leaf. LordChesterfield was tinsel. ' JOHNSON. 'Garrick was a very good man, thecheerfullest man of his age;[1175] a decent liver in a profession whichis supposed to give indulgence to licentiousness; and a man who gaveaway, freely, money acquired by himself. He began the world with a greathunger for money; the son of a half-pay officer, bred in a family, whosestudy was to make four-pence do as much as others made four-pencehalfpenny do. But, when he had got money, he was very liberal. '[1176] Ipresumed to animadvert on his eulogy on Garrick, in his _Lives of thePoets_. [1177] 'You say, Sir, his death eclipsed the gaiety of nations. '[1178] JOHNSON. 'I could not have said more nor less. It is the truth;_eclipsed_, not _extinguished_; and his death _did_ eclipse; it was likea storm. ' BOSWELL. 'But why nations? Did his gaiety extend farther thanhis own nation?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, some exaggeration must beallowed. [1179] Besides, nations may be said--if we allow the Scotch to bea nation, and to have gaiety, --which they have not. _You_ are anexception, though. Come, gentlemen, let us candidly admit that there isone Scotchman who is cheerful. ' BEAUCLERK. 'But he is a very unnaturalScotchman. ' I, however, continued to think the compliment to Garrickhyperbolically 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 periodof his life[1180], and never in Scotland. I objected also to what appearsan anticlimax of praise, when contrasted with the precedingpanegyrick, --'and diminished[1181] the public stock of harmlesspleasure!'--'Is not harmless pleasure very tame?' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, harmless pleasure is the highest praise. Pleasure is a word of dubiousimport; pleasure is in general dangerous, and pernicious to virtue; tobe able therefore to furnish pleasure that is harmless, pleasure pureand unalloyed, is as great a power as man can possess. ' This was, perhaps, as ingenious a defence as could be made; still, however, I wasnot satisfied. 

A celebrated wit[1182] being mentioned, he said, 'One may say of him aswas said of a French wit, _Il n'a de l'esprit que contre Dieu_. I havebeen several times in company with him, but never perceived any strongpower of wit. He produces a general effect by various means; he has acheerful countenance and a gay voice. Besides his trade is wit. It wouldbe as wild in him to come into company without merriment, as for ahighwayman to take the road without his pistols. '

Talking of the effects of drinking, he said, 'Drinking may be practisedwith great prudence; a man who exposes himself when he is intoxicated, has not the art of getting drunk; a sober man who happens occasionallyto get drunk, readily enough goes into a new company, which a man whohas 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 haddrunk too much[1183]. A man accustomed to self-examination will beconscious when he is drunk, though an habitual drunkard will not beconscious 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 Garrickand me for his vindication from a charge of drunkenness[1184]. Abookseller (naming him) who got a large fortune by trade[1185], was sohabitually and equably drunk, that his most intimate friends neverperceived that he was more sober at one time than another. '

Talking of celebrated and successful irregular practisers in physick; hesaid, 'Taylor[1186] was the most ignorant man I ever knew; but sprightly. Ward[1187] 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 myown speech. He said a few words well enough. ' BEAUCLERK. 'I remember, Sir, you said that Taylor was an instance how far impudence could carryignorance. ' Mr. Beauclerk was very entertaining this day, and told us anumber 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 therewere something more than is expressed, or than perhaps we couldperfectly understand[1188]. As Johnson and I accompanied Sir JoshuaReynolds in his coach, Johnson said, 'There is in Beauclerk apredominance over his company, that one does not like. But he is a manwho has lived so much in the world, that he has a short story on everyoccasion; he is always ready to talk, and is never exhausted. '

Johnson and I passed the evening at Miss Reynolds's, Sir Joshua'ssister. I mentioned that an eminent friend of ours[1189], talking of thecommon remark, that affection descends, said, that 'this was wiselycontrived for the preservation of mankind; for which it was not sonecessary that there should be affection from children to parents, asfrom parents to children; nay, there would be no harm in that viewthough children should at a certain age eat their parents. ' JOHNSON. 'But, Sir, if this were known generally to be the case, parents wouldnot have affection for children. ' BOSWELL. 'True, Sir; for it is inexpectation 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 fatherwas very fond, who once when he was in a melancholy fit, and had gone tobed, 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 maylearn to do it when you are an old man. "'

Soon after this time a little incident occurred, which I will notsuppress, because I am desirous that my work should be, as much as isconsistent with the strictest truth, an antidote to the false andinjurious notions of his character, which have been given by others, andtherefore I infuse every drop of genuine sweetness into my biographicalcup. 

'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 sofriendly 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[1190], Monday, April 26. '

'TO MR. BOSWELL. 

'Mr. Johnson laments the absence of Mr. Boswell, and will come to him. '

'Harley-street[1191]. 

He came to me in the evening, and brought Sir Joshua Reynolds. I needscarcely say, that their conversation, while they sat by my bedside, wasthe most pleasing opiate to pain that could have been administered[1192]. 

Johnson being now better disposed to obtain information concerning Popethan he was last year[1193], sent by me to my Lord Marchmont a presentof those volumes of his _Lives of the Poets_ which were at this timepublished, with a request to have permission to wait on him; and hisLordship, who had called on him twice, obligingly appointed Saturday, the first of May, for receiving us. 

On that morning Johnson came to me from Streatham, and after drinkingchocolate, at General Paoli's, in South-Audley-street, we proceeded toLord Marchmont's in Curzon-street. His Lordship met us at the door ofhis library, and with great politeness said to Johnson, 'I am not goingto make an encomium upon _myself_, by telling you the high respect Ihave for _you_, Sir. ' Johnson was exceedingly courteous; and theinterview, which lasted about two hours, during which the Earlcommunicated his anecdotes of Pope, was as agreeable as I could havewished[1194]. When we came out, I said to Johnson, that considering hisLordship's civility, I should have been vexed if he had again failed tocome. 'Sir, (said he, ) I would rather have given twenty pounds than nothave come. ' I accompanied him to Streatham, where we dined, and returnedto town in the evening. 

On Monday, May 3, I dined with him at Mr. Dilly's[1195]; I pressed himthis day for his opinion on the passage in Parnell, concerning which Ihad in vain questioned him in several letters, and at length obtained itin _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[1196] _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 aninaccuracy. --He mentions two instructors in the first line, and says hehad only one in the next. [1197]. '

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 nottell you that I am glad of it. I cannot boast of being much better; myold nocturnal complaint still pursues me, and my respiration isdifficult, though much easier than when I left you the summer beforelast. 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 twodaughters; 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; butendeavour, whether alone or in company, to keep yourself cheerful. Myfriends 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 theappearance of a ghost at Newcastle upon Tyne, which Mr. John Wesleybelieved, but to which Johnson did not give credit[1198]. I was, however, desirous to examine the question closely, and at the same time wished tobe made acquainted with Mr. John Wesley; for though I differed from himin some points, I admired his various talents, and loved his pious zeal. At my request, therefore, Dr. Johnson gave me a letter of introductionto him. 

'To THE REVEREND MR. JOHN WESLEY. 

SIR, Mr. Boswell, a gentleman who has been long known to me, is desirous ofbeing known to you, and has asked this recommendation, which I give himwith great willingness, because I think it very much to be wished thatworthy and religious men should be acquainted with each other. 

I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. 'May 3, 1779. '

Mr. Wesley being in the course of his ministry at Edinburgh, I presentedthis letter to him, and was very politely received. I begged to have itreturned to me, which was accordingly done. His state[1199] of theevidence 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 affectedby my silence. Mr. Dilly sent me a copy of a note which he received fromhim on the 13th of July, in these words:--

'TO MR. DILLY. 

SIR, Since Mr. Boswell's departure I have never heard from him; please tosend word what you know of him, and whether you have sent my books tohis lady. I am, &c. , 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

My readers will not doubt that his solicitude about me was veryflattering. 

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'What can possibly have happened, that keeps us two such strangers toeach other? I expected to have heard from you when you came home; Iexpected afterwards. I went into the country and returned[1200]; and yetthere is no letter from Mr. Boswell. No ill I hope has happened; and ifill should happen, why should it be concealed from him who loves you? Isit a fit of humour, that has disposed you to try who can hold outlongest without writing? If it be, you have the victory. But I am afraidof something bad; set me free from my suspicions. 

'My thoughts are at present employed in guessing the reason of yoursilence: you must not expect that I should tell you any thing, if I hadany thing to tell. Write, pray write to me, and let me know what is, orwhat has been the cause of this long interruption. 

'I am, dear Sir, 'Your most affectionate humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'July 13, 1779. '

'To DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

'Edinburgh, July 17, 1779. 

'MY DEAR SIR, 'What may be justly denominated a supine indolence of mind has been mystate of existence since I last returned to Scotland. In a livelierstate I had often suffered severely from long intervals of silence onyour part; and I had even been chided by you for expressing myuneasiness. I was willing to take advantage of my insensibility, andwhile I could bear the experiment, to try whether your affection for mewould, after an unusual silence on my part, make you write first. Thisafternoon I have had very high satisfaction by receiving your kindletter of inquiry, for which I most gratefully thank you. I am doubtfulif it was right to make the experiment; though I have gained by it. Iwas beginning to grow tender, and to upbraid myself, especiallyafter 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 answeryour letter; but as it is late, I have not time to do more. You shallsoon hear from me, upon many and various particulars; and I shall neveragain put you to any test[1201]. 

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 mylast interview with my worthy friend, Mr. Edward Dilly, at his brother'shouse at Southill, in Bedfordshire, where he died soon after I partedfrom him[1202], leaving me a very kind remembrance of his regard. 

I informed him that Lord Hailes, who had promised to furnish him withsome anecdotes for his _Lives of the Poets_, had sent me three instancesof Prior's borrowing from _Gombauld_, in _Recueil des Poetes_, tome 3. Epigram _To John I owed 'great obligation_, ' p. 25. _To the Duke ofNoailles_, 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 wasas follows:--

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'MY DEAR SIR, 'Are you playing the same trick again, and trying who can keep silencelongest? Remember that all tricks are either knavish or childish; andthat it is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of afriend, as upon the chastity of a wife. 

'What can be the cause of this second fit of silence, I cannotconjecture; but after one trick, I will not be cheated by another, norwill harass my thoughts with conjectures about the motives of a man who, probably, acts only by caprice. I therefore suppose you are well, andthat Mrs. Boswell is well too; and that the fine summer has restoredLord Auchinleck. I am much better than you left me; I think I am betterthan when I was in Scotland[1203]. 

'I forgot whether I informed you that poor Thrale has been in greatdanger[1204]. Mrs. Thrale likewise has miscarried, and been muchindisposed. Every body else is well; Langton is in camp. I intend to putLord Hailes's description of Dryden[1205] into another edition, and as Iknow his accuracy, wish he would consider the dates, which I could notalways settle to my own mind. 

'Mr. Thrale goes to Brighthelmston, about Michaelmas, to be jolly andride a hunting. I shall go to town, or perhaps to Oxford. Exercise andgaiety, or rather carelessness, will, I hope, dissipate all remains ofhis malady; and I likewise hope by the change of place, to find someopportunities of growing yet better myself. I am, dear Sir, 'Your humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'Streatham, Sept. 9[1206], 1779. '

My readers will not be displeased at being told every slightcircumstance of the manner in which Dr. Johnson contrived to amuse hissolitary hours. He sometimes employed himself in chymistry, sometimes inwatering and pruning a vine[1207], sometimes in small experiments, atwhich those who may smile, should recollect that there are moments whichadmit of being soothed only by trifles[1208]. 

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. Awhim strikes me, that we should send off a sheet once a week, like astage-coach, whether it be full or not; nay, though it should be empty. The very sight of your handwriting would comfort me; and were a sheet tobe thus sent regularly, we should much oftener convey something, were itonly a few kind words. '

My friend Colonel James Stuart[1209], second son of the Earl of Bute, whohad distinguished himself as a good officer of the Bedfordshiremilitia[1210], had taken a publick-spirited resolution to serve hiscountry in its difficulties, by raising a regular regiment, and takingthe command of it himself. This, in the heir of the immense property ofWortley, was highly honourable[1211]. Having been in Scotland recruiting, he obligingly asked me to accompany him to Leeds, then the head-quartersof his corps; from thence to London for a short time, and afterwards toother places to which the regiment might be ordered. Such an offer, at atime of the year when I had full leisure, was very pleasing; especiallyas I was to accompany a man of sterling good sense, information, discernment, and conviviality; and was to have a second crop in one yearof London and Johnson. Of this I informed my illustrious friend, incharacteristical 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 sentfor me to his bedside, and expressed his satisfaction at this incidentalmeeting, 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 _insplendour_. '

During this visit to London I had several interviews with him, which itis unnecessary to distinguish particularly. I consulted him as to theappointment 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 adviseyou 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, sothat he may be under no temptation to take advantage; and let him be aman of business, who is used to conduct affairs with ability andexpertness, to whom, therefore, the execution of the trust will not beburdensome[1212]. '

On Sunday, October 10, we dined together at Mr. Strahan's. Theconversation having turned on the prevailing practice of going to theEast-Indies in quest of wealth;--JOHNSON. 'A man had better have tenthousand pounds at the end of ten years passed in England, than twentythousand pounds at the end of ten years passed in India, because youmust compute what you _give_ for money; and a man who has lived tenyears in India, has given up ten years of social comfort and all thoseadvantages which arise from living in England. The ingenious Mr. Brown, distinguished by the name of Capability Brown[1213], told me, that hewas once at the seat of Lord Clive, who had returned from India withgreat wealth; and that he shewed him at the door of his bed-chamber alarge chest, which he said he had once had full of gold; upon whichBrown observed, "I am glad you can bear it so near your bed-chamber. '"[1214]

We talked of the state of the poor in London. --JOHNSON. 'SaundersWelch[1215], the Justice, who was once High-Constable of Holborn, andhad 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, thatis, above a thousand a year, died of hunger; not absolutely of immediatehunger; but of the wasting and other diseases which are the consequencesof hunger[1216]. This happens only in so large a place as London, wherepeople are not known. What we are told about the great sums got bybegging is not true: the trade is overstocked. And, you may depend uponit, there are many who cannot get work. A particular kind of manufacturefails: those who have been used to work at it, can, for some time, workat nothing else. You meet a man begging; you charge him with idleness:he says, "I am willing to labour. Will you give me work?"--"Icannot. "--"Why, then you have no right to charge me with idleness. "'[1217]

We left Mr. Strahan's at seven, as Johnson had said he intended to go toevening prayers. As we walked along, he complained of a little gout inhis toe, and said, 'I shan't go to prayers to-night; I shall goto-morrow: Whenever I miss church on a Sunday, I resolve to go anotherday. But I do not always do it[1218]. ' This was a fair exhibition of thatvibration between pious resolutions and indolence, which many of us havetoo 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 writingwhose life he was now employed, ) which I shall insert as a literarycuriosity[1219]. 

'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 wefound the late Mr. Mallet, Sir James Porter, who had been Ambassadour atConstantinople, the late Dr. Macaulay, and two or three more. Theconversation turning on Mr. Pope, Lord Bathurst told us, that _The Essayon Man_ was originally composed by Lord Bolingbroke in prose, and thatMr. Pope did no more than put it into verse: that he had read LordBolingbroke's manuscript in his own hand-writing; and remembered well, that he was at a loss whether most to admire the elegance of LordBolingbroke's prose, or the beauty of Mr. Pope's verse. When LordBathurst told this, Mr. Mallet bade me attend, and remember thisremarkable piece of information; as, by the course of Nature, I mightsurvive his Lordship, and be a witness of his having said so. Theconversation was indeed too remarkable to be forgotten. A few daysafter, meeting with you, who were then also in London, you will rememberthat I mentioned to you what had passed on this subject, as I was muchstruck with this anecdote. But what ascertains[1220] my recollection ofit beyond doubt, is that being accustomed to keep a journal of whatpassed when I was in London, which I wrote out every evening, I find theparticulars of the above information, just as I have now given them, distinctly marked; and am thence enabled to fix this conversation tohave passed on Friday, the 22d of April, 1763. 

'I remember also distinctly, (though I have not for this the authorityof my journal, ) that the conversation going on concerning Mr. Pope, Itook notice of a report which had been sometimes propagated that he didnot understand Greek[1221]. Lord Bathurst said to me, that he knew thatto be false; for that part of the _Iliad_ was translated by Mr. Pope inhis house in the country; and that in the mornings when they assembledat breakfast, Mr. Pope used frequently to repeat, with great rapture, the Greek lines which he had been translating, and then to give them hisversion of them, and to compare them together. 

'If these circumstances can be of any use to Dr. Johnson, you have myfull 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 hissuccess and fame in all his literary undertakings. I am, with greatrespect, my dearest Sir, 'Your most affectionate, 'And obliged humble servant, 'HUGH BLAIR. '

'Broughton Park, 'Sept. 21, 1779. '

JOHNSON. 'Depend upon it, Sir, this is too strongly stated. Pope mayhave had from Bolingbroke the philosophick _stamina_ of his Essay; andadmitting 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 thepoem, was Pope's own[1222]. It is amazing, Sir, what deviations thereare from precise truth, in the account which is given of almost everything[1223]. I told Mrs. Thrale, "You have so little anxiety about truth, that you never tax your memory with the exact thing[1224]. " Now what isthe use of the memory to truth, if one is careless of exactness? LordHailes's _Annals of Scotland_ are very exact; but they contain mere dryparticulars[1225]. They are to be considered as a Dictionary. You knowsuch things are there; and may be looked at when you please. Robertsonpaints; but the misfortune is, you are sure he does not know the peoplewhom he paints; so you cannot suppose a likeness[1226]. Charactersshould never be given by an historian, unless he knew the people whomhe describes, or copies from those who knew them[1227]. '

BOSWELL. 'Why, Sir, do people play this trick which I observe now, whenI look at your grate, putting the shovel against it to make the fireburn?' JOHNSON. 'They play the trick, but it does not make the fireburn. _There_ is a better; (setting the poker perpendicularly up atright angles with the grate. ) In days of superstition they thought, asit made a cross with the bars, it would drive away the witch. '

BOSWELL. 'By associating with you, Sir, I am always getting an accessionof wisdom. But perhaps a man, after knowing his own character--thelimited strength of his own mind, should not be desirous of having toomuch wisdom, considering, _quid valeant humeri_[1228], how little he cancarry[1229]. ' JOHNSON. 'Sir, be as wise as you can; let a man be _aliislaetus, sapiens sibi_:

"Though pleas'd to see the dolphins play, I mind my compass and my way[1230]. "

You may be wise in your study in the morning, and gay in company at atavern in the evening. Every man is to take care of his own wisdom andhis own virtue, without minding too much what others think. '

He said, 'Dodsley first mentioned to me the scheme of an EnglishDictionary[1231]; but I had long thought of it. ' BOSWELL. 'You did notknow what you were undertaking. ' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, I knew very wellwhat I was undertaking, --and very well how to do it, --and have done itvery well[1232]. ' BOSWELL. 'An excellent climax! and it _has_ availedyou. In your Preface you say, "What would it avail me in this gloom ofsolitude[1233]?" You have been agreeably mistaken. '

In his _Life of Milton_[1234] he observes, 'I cannot but remark a kindof respect, perhaps unconsciously, paid to this great man by hisbiographers: every house in which he resided is historically mentioned, as if it were an injury to neglect naming any place that he honoured byhis presence. ' I had, before I read this observation, been desirous ofshewing that respect to Johnson, by various inquiries. Finding him thisevening in a very good humour, I prevailed on him to give me an exactlist of his places of residence, since he entered the metropolis as anauthour, which I subjoin in a note[1235]. 

I mentioned to him a dispute between a friend of mine and his lady, concerning conjugal infidelity, which my friend had maintained was by nomeans so bad in the husband, as in the wife. JOHNSON. 'Your friend wasin the right, Sir. Between a man and his Maker it is a differentquestion: but between a man and his wife, a husband's infidelity isnothing. They are connected by children, by fortune, by seriousconsiderations of community. Wise married women don't trouble themselvesabout the infidelity in their husbands. ' BOSWELL. 'To be sure there is agreat difference between the offence of infidelity in a man and that ofhis wife. ' JOHNSON. 'The difference is boundless. The man imposes nobastards upon his wife[1236]. '

Here it may be questioned whether Johnson was entirely in the right. Isuppose it will not be controverted that the difference in the degree ofcriminality is very great, on account of consequences: but still it maybe maintained, that, independent of moral obligation, infidelity is byno means a light offence in a husband; because it must hurt a delicateattachment, in which a mutual constancy is implied, with such refinedsentiments as Massinger has exhibited in his play of _ThePicture_. --Johnson probably at another time would have admitted thisopinion. And let it be kept in remembrance, that he was very careful notto give any encouragement to irregular conduct. A gentleman[1237], notadverting to the distinction made by him upon this subject, supposed acase of singular perverseness in a wife, and heedlessly said, 'That thenhe thought a husband might do as he pleased with a safe conscience. 'JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, this is wild indeed (smiling) you must consider thatfornication is a crime[1238] in a single man; and you cannot have moreliberty 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[1239]; in short, he was inthe humour of opposition. 

Having regretted to him that I had learnt little Greek, as is toogenerally the case in Scotland; that I had for a long time hardlyapplied at all to the study of that noble language, and that I wasdesirous of being told by him what method to follow; he recommended tome as easy helps, Sylvanus's _First Book of the Iliad_; Dawson's_Lexicon to the Greek New Testament_; and _Hesiod_, with _PasorisLexicon_ at the end of it. 

On Tuesday, October 13, I dined with him at Mr. Ramsay's, with LordNewhaven[1240], and some other company, none of whom I recollect, but abeautiful Miss Graham[1241], a relation of his Lordship's, who asked Dr. Johnson to hob or nob with her. He was flattered by such pleasingattention, and politely told her, he never drank wine; but if she woulddrink 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 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 waterwere brought, smiling placidly to the young lady, he said, 'Madam, letus _reciprocate_. '

Lord Newhaven and Johnson carried on an argument for some time, concerning the Middlesex election[1242]. Johnson said, 'Parliament maybe considered as bound by law as a man is bound where there is nobody totie the knot. As it is clear that the House of Commons may expel, andexpel again and again, why not allow of the power to incapacitate forthat parliament, rather than have a perpetual contest kept up betweenparliament and the people. ' Lord Newhaven took the opposite side; butrespectfully said, 'I speak with great deference to you, Dr. Johnson; Ispeak to be instructed. ' This had its full effect on my friend. He bowedhis head almost as low as the table, to a complimenting nobleman; andcalled out, 'My Lord, my Lord, I do not desire all this ceremony; let ustell our minds to one another quietly. ' After the debate was over, hesaid, '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 pamphletupon it[1243]. 

He observed, 'The House of Commons was originally not a privilege of thepeople, but a check for the Crown on the House of Lords. I rememberHenry the Eighth wanted them to do something; they hesitated in themorning, but did it in the afternoon. He told them, "It is well you did;or half your heads should have been upon Temple-bar[1244]. " But the Houseof Commons is now no longer under the power of the crown, and thereforemust be bribed. ' He added, 'I have no delight in talking of publickaffairs[1245]. '

Of his fellow-collegian, [1246] the celebrated Mr. George Whitefield, hesaid, 'Whitefield never drew as much attention as a mountebank does; hedid not draw attention by doing better than others, but by doing whatwas strange. [1247] Were Astley[1248] to preach a sermon standing uponhis head on a horse's back, he would collect a multitude to hear him;but no wise man would say he had made a better sermon for that. I nevertreated Whitefield's ministry with contempt; I believe he did good. Hehad devoted himself to the lower classes of mankind, and among them hewas of use. [1249] But when familiarity and noise claim the praise due toknowledge, art, and elegance, we must beat down such pretensions. '

What I have preserved of his conversation during the remainder of mystay in London at this time, is only what follows: I told him that whenI objected to keeping company with a notorious infidel, [1250] acelebrated friend[1251] of ours said to me, 'I do not think that men wholive laxly in the world, as you and I do, can with propriety assume suchan 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 drunkto-morrow. ' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, this is sad reasoning. Because a mancannot be right in all things, is he to be right in nothing? Because aman sometimes gets drunk, is he therefore to steal? This doctrine wouldvery soon bring a man to the gallows. '

After all, however, it is a difficult question how far sincereChristians should associate with the avowed enemies of religion; for inthe first place, almost every man's mind may be more or less 'corruptedby evil communications;'[1252] secondly, the world may very naturallysuppose that they are not really in earnest in religion, who can easilybear its opponents; and thirdly, if the profane find themselves quitewell received by the pious, one of the checks upon an open declarationof their infidelity, and one of the probable chances of obliging themseriously to reflect, which their being shunned would do, is removed. 

He, I know not why, shewed upon all occasions an aversion to go toIreland, where I proposed to him that we should make a tour. JOHNSON. 'It is the last place where I should wish to travel. ' BOSWELL. 'Shouldyou not like to see Dublin, Sir?' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir? Dublin is only aworse capital. ' BOSWELL. 'Is not the 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 generouslyexpressed himself to a gentleman from that country, on the subject of anUNION which artful Politicians have often had in view--'Do not make anunion with us, Sir. We should unite with you, only to rob you. We shouldhave robbed the Scotch, if they had had any thing of which we could haverobbed them[1253]. '

Of an acquaintance of ours, whose manners and every thing about him, though expensive, were coarse, he said, 'Sir, you see in him vulgarprosperity. '

A foreign minister of no very high talents, who had been in his companyfor a considerable time quite overlooked, happened luckily to mentionthat he had read some of his _Rambler_ in Italian, and admired it much. This pleased him greatly; he observed that the title had beentranslated, _Il Genio errante_, though I have been told it was renderedmore ludicrously, _Il Vagabondo_;[1254] and finding that this ministergave such a proof of his taste, he was all attention to him, and on thefirst remark which he made, however simple, exclaimed, 'The Ambassadoursays well--His Excellency observes--. ' And then he expanded and enrichedthe little that had been said, in so strong a manner, that it appearedsomething of consequence. [1255] This was exceedingly entertaining to thecompany who were present, and many a time afterwards it furnished apleasant topick of merriment: '_The Ambassadeur says well_, ' became alaughable term of applause, when no mighty matter had been expressed. 

I left London on Monday, October 18, and accompanied Colonel Stuart toChester, where his regiment was to lye for some time. 

'Mr. Boswell to Dr. Johnson. 'Chester, October 22, 1779. 

'My Dear Sir, 'It was not till one o'clock on Monday morning, that Colonel Stuart andI left London; for we chose to bid a cordial adieu to Lord Mountstuart, who was to set out on that day on his embassy to Turin. We drove onexcellently, and reached Lichfield in good time enough that night. TheColonel had heard so preferable a character of the George, that he wouldnot put up at the Three Crowns, so that I did not see our hostWilkins. [1256] We found at the George as good accommodation as we couldwish to have, and I fully enjoyed the comfortable thought that _I was inLichfield again_. Next morning it rained very hard; and as I had much todo in a little time, I ordered a post-chaise, and between eight and ninesallied 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 hewas engaged to attend the Bishop of Sodor and Man, who was then lying atLichfield very ill of the gout. Having taken a hasty glance at theadditions to Green's museum, [1257] from which it was not easy to breakaway, I next went to the Friery, [1258] where I at first occasioned sometumult in the ladies, who were not prepared to receive _company_ soearly: but my _name_, which has by wonderful felicity come to be closelyassociated with yours, soon made all easy; and Mrs. Cobb and Miss Adyere-assumed their seats at the breakfast-table, which they had quittedwith some precipitation. They received me with the kindness of an oldacquaintance; and after we had joined in a cordial chorus to _your_praise, Mrs. Cobb gave _me_ the high satisfaction of hearing that yousaid, "Boswell is a man who I believe never left a house without leavinga wish for his return. " And she afterwards added, that she bid you tellme, that if ever I came to Lichfield, she hoped I would take a bed atthe Friery. From thence I drove to Peter Garrick's, where I also found avery flattering welcome. He appeared to me to enjoy his usualchearfulness; and he very kindly asked me to come when I could, and passa week with him. From Mr. Garrick's, I went to the Palace to wait on Mr. Seward. [1259] I was first entertained by his lady and daughter, he himselfbeing in bed with a cold, according to his valetudinary custom. But hedesired to see me; and I found him drest in his black gown, with a whiteflannel night-gown above it; so that he looked like a Dominican friar. He was good-humoured and polite; and under his roof too my reception wasvery pleasing. I then proceeded to Stow-hill, and first paid my respectsto Mrs. Gastrell, [1260] whose conversation I was not willing to quit. Butmy sand-glass was now beginning to run low, as I could not trespass toolong on the Colonel's kindness, who obligingly waited for me; so Ihastened to Mrs. Aston's, [1261] whom I found much better than I feared Ishould; and there I met a brother-in-law of these ladies, who talkedmuch of you, and very well too, as it appeared to me. It then onlyremained to visit Mrs. Lucy Porter, which I did, I really believe, withsincere satisfaction on both sides. I am sure I was glad to see heragain; and, as I take her to be very honest, I trust she was glad to seeme again; for she expressed herself so, that I could not doubt of herbeing in earnest. What a great key-stone of kindness, my dear Sir, wereyou that morning! for we were all held together by our common attachmentto you. I cannot say that I ever passed two hours with moreself-complacency than I did those two at Lichfield. Let me not entertainany suspicion that this is idle vanity. Will not you confirm me in mypersuasion, that he who finds himself so regarded has just reason to behappy?

'We got to Chester about midnight on Tuesday; and here again I am in astate of much enjoyment. Colonel Stuart and his officers treat me withall the civility I could wish; and I play my part admirably. _Laetusaliis, sapiens sibi_, [1262] the classical sentence which you, I imagine, invented the other day, is exemplified in my present existence. TheBishop[1263], to whom I had the honour to be known several years ago, shews me much attention; and I am edified by his conversation. I mustnot omit to tell you, that his Lordship admires, very highly, your_Prefaces to the Poets_. I am daily obtaining an extension of agreeableacquaintance, so that I am kept in animated variety; and the study ofthe place itself, by the assistance of books, and of the Bishop, issufficient occupation. Chester pleases my fancy more than any town Iever 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 pleasingyoung lady[1264], niece to one of the Prebendaries, at whose house I sawher, "I have come to Chester, Madam, I cannot tell how; and far less canI tell how I am to get away from it. " Do not think me too juvenile. Ibeg 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, withaffectionate veneration, 'Most sincerely yours, 'James Boswell. '[1265]

'If you do not write directly, so as to catch me here, I shall bedisappointed. 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 importancecan it be to hear of distant friends, to a man who finds himself welcomewherever he goes, and makes new friends faster than he can want them? Ifto the delight of such universal kindness of reception, any thing can beadded by knowing that you retain my good-will, you may indulge yourselfin the full enjoyment of that small addition. 

'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 tome to read that Mrs. Aston was so well, and that Lucy Porter was so gladto see you. 

'In the place where you now are, there is much to be observed; and youwill easily procure yourself skilful directors. But what will you do tokeep away the _black dog_[1266] that worries you at home? If you would, in compliance with your father's advice, enquire into the old tenuresand old charters of Scotland, you would certainly open to yourself manystriking scenes of the manners of the middle ages. [1267] The feudalsystem, in a country half-barbarous, is naturally productive of greatanomalies in civil life. The knowledge of past times is naturallygrowing less in all cases not of publick record; and the past time ofScotland is so unlike the present, that it is already difficult for aScotchman to image the oeconomy of his grandfather. Do not be tardy nornegligent; but gather up eagerly what can yet be found. [1268]

'We have, I think, once talked of another project, a _History of thelate insurrection in Scotland_, with all its incidents. [1269] Manyfalsehoods are passing into uncontradicted history. Voltaire, who loveda striking story, has told what he[1270] could not find to be true. [1271]

'You may make collections for either of these projects, or for both, asopportunities occur, and digest your materials at leisure. The greatdirection which Burton has left to men disordered like you, is this, _Benot solitary; be not idle_[1272]: which I would thus modify;--If you areidle, be not solitary; if you are solitary, be not idle. 

'There is a letter for you, from 'Your humble servant, 'Sam. Johnson[1273]. '

'London, October 27, 1779. ''To Dr. Samuel Johnson. 'Carlisle, Nov. 7, 1779. 

'My dear Sir, 'That I should importune you to write to me at Chester, is notwonderful, when you consider what an avidity I have for delight; andthat the _amor_ of pleasure, like the _amor nummi_[1274], increases inproportion with the quantity which we possess of it. Your letter, sofull of polite kindness and masterly counsel, came like a large treasureupon me, while already glittering with riches. I was quite enchanted atChester, so that I could with difficulty quit it. But the enchantmentwas the reverse of that of Circé; for so far was there from being anything sensual in it, that I was _all mind_. I do not mean all reasononly; for my fancy was kept finely in play. And why not?--If you pleaseI will send you a copy, or an abridgement of my Chester journal, whichis truly a log-book of felicity. 

'The Bishop treated me with a kindness which was very flattering. I toldhim, that you regretted you had seen so little of Chester. [1275] HisLordship bade me tell you, that he should be glad to shew you more ofit. I am proud to find the friendship with which you honour me is knownin so many places. 

'I arrived here late last night. Our friend the Dean[1276] has been gonefrom hence some months; but I am told at my inn, that he is very_populous_ (popular). However, I found Mr. Law, the Archdeacon, son tothe Bishop[1277], and with him I have breakfasted and dined very agreeably. I got acquainted with him at the assizes here, about a year and a halfago; he is a man of great variety of knowledge, uncommon genius, and Ibelieve, sincere religion. I received the holy sacrament in theCathedral in the morning, this being the first Sunday in the month; andwas at prayers there in the evening. It is divinely cheering to me tothink that there is a Cathedral so near Auchinleck; and I now leave OldEngland 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 Ihave 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 atrumpet, I therefore hope, that soon after my return to the northernfield, I shall receive a few lines from you. 

'Colonel Stuart did me the honour to escort me in his carriage to shewme Liverpool, and from thence back again to Warrington, where weparted[1278]. In justice to my valuable wife, I must inform you she wroteto me, that as I was so happy, she would not be so selfish as to wish meto return sooner than business absolutely required my presence. She mademy clerk write to me a post or two after to the same purpose, bycommission from her; and this day a kind letter from her met me at thePost-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 ridof all intellectual excesses, and neither to exalt your pleasures, noraggravate your vexations, beyond their real and natural state[1279]. 

'Why should you not be as happy at Edinburgh as at Chester? _In culpaest animus, qui se non effugit usquam_[1280]. Please yourself with yourwife and children, and studies, and practice. 

'I have sent a petition[1281] from Lucy Porter, with which I leave it toyour 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 seducedto any thing that you may afterwards repent. Miss Doxy perhaps you knowto be Mr. Garrick's niece. 

'If Dean Percy can be popular at Carlisle, he may be very happy. He hasin his disposal two livings, each equal, or almost equal in value to thedeanery; he may take one himself, and give the other to his son. 

'How near is the Cathedral to Auchinleck, that you are so much delightedwith it? It is, I suppose, at least an hundred and fifty miles off[1282]. However, if you are pleased, it is so far well. 

'Let me know what reception you have from your father, and the state ofhis health. Please him as much as you can, and add no pain to his lastyears. 

'Of our friends here I can recollect nothing to tell you. I have neitherseen nor heard of Langton. Beauclerk is just returned fromBrighthelmston, I am told, much better. Mr. Thrale and his family arestill there; and his health is said to be visibly improved; he has notbathed, but hunted[1283]. 

'At Bolt-court there is much malignity, but of late little openhostility[1284]. I have had a cold, but it is gone. 

'Make my compliments to Mrs. Boswell, &c. 

'I am, Sir, 'Your humble servant, 'London, Nov. 13, 1779. '

'SAM. JOHNSON. '

On November 22, and December 21, I wrote to him from Edinburgh, giving avery favourable report of the family of Miss Doxy's lover;--that after agood deal of enquiry I had discovered the sister of Mr. FrancisStewart[1285], one of his amanuenses when writing his _Dictionary_;--thatI had, as desired by him, paid her a guinea for an old pocket-book of herbrother's which he had retained; and that the good woman, who was invery moderate circumstances, but contented and placid, wondered at hisscrupulous and liberal honesty, and received the guinea as if sent herby Providence[1286]. --That I had repeatedly begged of him to keep hispromise to send me his letter to Lord Chesterfield, and that this_memento_, like _Delenda est Carthago_, must be in every letter that Ishould write to him, till I had obtained my object[1287]. 

1780: AETAT. 71. --In 1780, the world was kept in impatience for thecompletion of his _Lives of the Poets_, upon which he was employed sofar as his indolence allowed him to labour[1288]. 

I wrote to him on January 1, and March 13, sending him my notes of LordMarchmont's information concerning Pope;--complaining that I had notheard from him for almost four months, though he was two letters in mydebt;--that I had suffered again from melancholy;--hoping that he hadbeen in so much better company, (the Poets, ) that he had not time tothink of his distant friends; for if that were the case, I should havesome recompence for my uneasiness;--that the state of my affairs did notadmit of my coming to London this year; and begging he would return meGoldsmith's two poems, with his lines marked[1289]. 

His friend Dr. Lawrence having now suffered the greatest affliction towhich a man is liable, and which Johnson himself had felt in the mostsevere manner; Johnson wrote to him in an admirable strain of sympathyand pious consolation. 

'To DR. LAWRENCE. 

'DEAR SIR, 'At a time when all your friends ought to shew their kindness, and witha character which ought to make all that know you your friends, you maywonder that you have yet heard nothing from me. 

'I have been hindered by a vexatious and incessant cough, for whichwithin these ten days I have been bled once, fasted four or five times, taken physick five times, and opiates, I think, six. This day it seemsto remit. 

'The loss, dear Sir, which you have lately suffered, I felt many yearsago, and know therefore how much has been taken from you, and how littlehelp can be had from consolation. He that outlives a wife whom he haslong loved, sees himself disjoined from the only mind that has the samehopes, and fears, and interest; from the only companion with whom he hasshared much good or evil; and with whom he could set his mind atliberty, to retrace the past or anticipate the future. The continuity ofbeing is lacerated[1290]; the settled course of sentiment and action isstopped; and life stands suspended and motionless, till it is driven byexternal causes into a new channel. But the time of suspense isdreadful. 

'Our first recourse in this distressed solitude, is, perhaps for want ofhabitual piety, to a gloomy acquiescence in necessity. Of two mortalbeings, one must lose the other; but surely there is a higher and bettercomfort to be drawn from the consideration of that Providence whichwatches over all, and a belief that the living and the dead are equallyin the hands of GOD, who will reunite those whom he has separated; orwho sees that it is best not to reunite. 

'I am, dear Sir, 'Your most affectionate, 'And most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'January 20, 1780. '

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'Well, I had resolved to send you the Chesterfield letter; but I willwrite once again without it. Never impose tasks upon mortals. To requiretwo things is the way to have them both undone. 

'For the difficulties which you mention in your affairs I am sorry; butdifficulty is now very general: it is not therefore less grievous, forthere is less hope of help. I pretend not to give you advice, notknowing the state of your affairs; and general counsels about prudenceand frugality would do you little good. You are, however, in the rightnot to increase your own perplexity by a journey hither; and I hope thatby staying at home you will please your father. 

'Poor dear Beauclerk[1291]--_nec, ut soles, dabis joca_[1292]. His witand his folly, his acuteness and maliciousness, his merriment andreasoning, are now over. Such another will not often be found amongmankind. He directed himself to be buried by the side of his mother, aninstance of tenderness which I hardly expected[1293]. He has left hischildren to the care of Lady Di, and if she dies, of Mr. Langton, and ofMr. Leicester his relation, and a man of good character. His library hasbeen offered to sale to the Russian ambassador[1294]. 

'Dr. Percy, notwithstanding all the noise of the newspapers, has had noliterary loss[1295]. Clothes and moveables were burnt to the value ofabout one hundred pounds; but his papers, and I think his books, wereall preserved. 

'Poor Mr. Thrale has been in extreme danger from an apoplecticaldisorder, and recovered, beyond the expectation of his physicians; he isnow at Bath, that his mind may be quiet, and Mrs. Thrale and Miss arewith him. 

'Having told you what has happened to your friends, let me say somethingto you of yourself. You are always complaining of melancholy, and Iconclude from those complaints that you are fond of it. No man talks ofthat which he is desirous to conceal, and every man desires to concealthat of which he is ashamed. [1296] Do not pretend to deny it; _manifestumhabemus furem_; make it an invariable and obligatory law to yourself, never to mention your own mental diseases; if you are never to speak ofthem, you will think on them but little, and if you think little ofthem, they will molest you rarely. When you talk of them, it is plainthat you want either praise or pity; for praise there is no room, andpity will do you no good; therefore, from this hour speak no more, thinkno more, about them[1297]. 

'Your transaction with Mrs. Stewart gave me great satisfaction; I ammuch obliged to you for your attention. Do not lose sight of her; yourcountenance may be of great credit, and of consequence of greatadvantage to her. The memory of her brother is yet fresh in my mind; hewas an ingenious and worthy man. 

'Please to make my compliments to your lady, and to the young ladies. Ishould 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 correspondencebetween Johnson and her was carried on briskly. I shall present myreaders with one of her original letters to him at this time, which willamuse them probably more than those well-written but studied epistleswhich she has inserted in her collection, because it exhibits the easyvivacity of their literary intercourse. It is also of value as a key toJohnson's answer, which she has printed by itself, and of which I shallsubjoin extracts. 

'MRS. THRALE TO DR. JOHNSON. 

'I had a very kind letter from you yesterday, dear Sir, with a mostcircumstantial date[1298]. You took trouble with my circulating letter, [1299] 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;[1300] I do not like him _though_, nor he me; it was expected weshould have pleased each other; he is, however, just Tory enough to hatethe Bishop of Peterborough[1301] for Whiggism, and Whig enough to abhoryou for Toryism. 

'Mrs. Montagu flattered him finely; so he had a good afternoon on't. This evening we spend at a concert. Poor Queeney's[1302] sore eyes havejust released her; she had a long confinement, and could neither readnor write, so my master[1303] treated her very good-naturedly with thevisits of a young woman in this town, a taylor's daughter, who professesmusick, and teaches so as to give six lessons a day to ladies, at fiveand threepence a lesson. Miss Burney says she is a great performer; andI respect the wench for getting her living so prettily; she is verymodest and pretty-mannered, and not seventeen years old. 

'You live in a fine whirl indeed; if I did not write regularly you wouldhalf forget me, and that would be very wrong, for I _felt_ my regard foryou in my _face_ last night, when the criticisms were going on. 

'This morning it was all connoisseurship; we went to see some picturespainted by a gentleman-artist, Mr. Taylor, of this place; my mastermakes one, every where, and has got a good dawling[1304] companion to ridewith him now. He looks well enough, but I have no notion of health for aman whose mouth cannot be sewed up. [1305] Burney[1306] and I and Queeneyteize 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 hewill not live; it makes me very unhappy, but I must bear it. Let mealways 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 tolive by rule[1307]. 

 * * * * *

Encourage, as you can, the musical girl. 

'Nothing is more common than mutual dislike, where mutual approbation isparticularly expected. There is often on both sides a vigilance notover-benevolent; and as attention is strongly excited, so that nothingdrops unheeded, any difference in taste or opinion, and some differencewhere there is no restraint will commonly appear, immediately generatesdislike. 

'Never let criticisms operate upon your face or your mind; it is veryrarely that an authour is hurt by his criticks. The blaze of reputationcannot be blown out, but it often dies in the socket[1308]; a very fewnames may be considered as perpetual lamps that shine unconsumed. Fromthe authour of _Fitzosborne's Letters_ I cannot think myself in muchdanger. I met him only once about thirty years ago, and in some smalldispute reduced him to whistle; having not seen him since, that is thelast impression. Poor Moore, the fabulist[1309], was one of the company. 

'Mrs. Montagu's long stay, against her own inclination, is veryconvenient. You would, by your own confession, want a companion; and sheis _par pluribus_; conversing with her you may _find variety inone_[1310]. '

'London, May 1, 1780. '

On the and of May I wrote to him, and requested that we might haveanother meeting somewhere in the North of England, in the autumn of thisyear. 

From Mr. Langton I received soon after this time a letter, of which Iextract a passage, relative both to Mr. Beauclerk and Dr. Johnson. 

'The melancholy information you have received concerning Mr. Beauclerk'sdeath is true. Had his talents been directed in any sufficient degree asthey ought, I have always been strongly of opinion that they werecalculated to make an illustrious figure; and that opinion, as it hadbeen in part formed upon Dr. Johnson's judgment, receives more and moreconfirmation by hearing what, since his death, Dr. Johnson has saidconcerning them; a few evenings ago, he was at Mr. Vesey's[1311], whereLord Althorpe[1312], who was one of a numerous company there, addressedDr. Johnson on the subject of Mr. Beauclerk's death, saying, "Our CLUBhas had a great loss since we met last. " He replied, "A loss, thatperhaps the whole nation could not repair!" The Doctor then went on tospeak of his endowments, and particularly extolled the wonderful easewith which he uttered what was highly excellent. He said, that "no manever 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 lookthat expressed that it had come. " At Mr. Thrale's, some days before whenwe were talking on the same subject, he said, referring to the same ideaof his wonderful facility, "That Beauclerk's talents were those which hehad felt himself more disposed to envy, than those of any whom he hadknown[1313]. "

'On the evening I have spoken of above, at Mr. Vesey's, you would havebeen much gratified, as it exhibited an instance of the high importancein which Dr. Johnson's character is held, I think even beyond any I everbefore was witness to. The company consisted chiefly of ladies, amongwhom were the Duchess Dowager of Portland[1314], 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; LadyLucan[1315], Lady Clermont, and others of note both for their stationand understandings. Among the gentlemen were Lord Althorpe, whom I havebefore named, Lord Macartney, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Lord Lucan, Mr. Wraxal[1316], whose book you have probably seen, _The Tour to theNorthern 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[1317]. As soon as Dr. Johnson was come inand had taken a chair[1318], the company began to collect round him, till they became not less than four, if not five, deep; those behindstanding, and listening over the heads of those that were sitting nearhim[1319]. The conversation for some time was chiefly between Dr. Johnson and the Provost of Eton, while the others contributedoccasionally their remarks. Without attempting to detail the particularsof the conversation, which perhaps if I did, I should spin my accountout to a tedious length, I thought, my dear Sir, this general account ofthe respect with which our valued friend was attended to, might beacceptable[1320]. '

'To THE REVEREND DR. FARMER. 

'May 25, 1780. 

Sir, 'I know your disposition to second any literary attempt, and thereforeventure upon the liberty of entreating you to procure from College orUniversity registers, all the dates, or other informations which theycan supply, relating to Ambrose Philips, Broome, and Gray, who were allof Cambridge, and of whose lives I am to give such accounts as I cangather. Be pleased to forgive this trouble from, Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

While Johnson was thus engaged in preparing a delightful literaryentertainment for the world, the tranquillity of the metropolis ofGreat-Britain was unexpectedly disturbed, by the most horrid series ofoutrage that ever disgraced a civilised country. A relaxation of some ofthe severe penal provisions against our fellow-subjects of the Catholiccommunion had been granted by the legislature, with an opposition soinconsiderable that the genuine mildness of Christianity, united withliberal policy, seemed to have become general in this island[1321]. Buta dark and malignant spirit of persecution soon shewed itself, in anunworthy petition for the repeal of the wise and humane statute. Thatpetition was brought forward by a mob, with the evident purpose ofintimidation, and was justly rejected. But the attempt was accompaniedand followed by such daring violence as is unexampled in history. Ofthis extraordinary tumult, Dr. Johnson has given the following concise, lively, and just account in his _Letters to Mrs. Thrale[1322]:--

'On Friday[1323], the good Protestants met in Saint George's-Fields, atthe summons of Lord George Gordon, and marching to Westminster, insultedthe Lords and Commons, who all bore it with great tameness. At night theoutrages 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[1324], who had been insulted, spoke to LordMansfield, who had I think been insulted too, of the licentiousness ofthe populace; and his Lordship treated it as a very slight irregularity. On Tuesday night[1325] they pulled down Fielding's house, and burnt hisgoods in the street. They had gutted on Monday Sir George Savile'shouse, but the building was saved. On Tuesday evening, leavingFielding's ruins, they went to Newgate to demand their companions whohad been seized demolishing the chapel. The keeper could not releasethem but by the Mayor's permission, which he went to ask; at his returnhe found all the prisoners released, and Newgate in a blaze. They thenwent to Bloomsbury, and fastened upon Lord Mansfield's house, which theypulled down; and as for his goods, they totally burnt them[1326]. Theyhave since gone to Caen-wood, but a guard was there before them. Theyplundered some Papists, I think, and burnt a mass-house[1327] inMoorfields the same night. '

'On Wednesday I walked with Dr. Scott to look at Newgate, and found itin ruins, with the fire yet glowing. As I went by, the Protestants wereplundering the Sessions-house at the Old-Bailey. There were not, Ibelieve, a hundred; but they did their work at leisure, in fullsecurity, without sentinels, without trepidation, as men lawfullyemployed, in full day. Such is the cowardice of a commercial place. OnWednesday they broke open the Fleet, and the King's-Bench, and theMarshalsea, and Wood-street Compter, and Clerkenwell Bridewell, andreleased all the prisoners[1328]. '

'At night they set fire to the Fleet, and to the King's-Bench, and Iknow not how many other places; and one might see the glare ofconflagration fill the sky from many parts. The sight was dreadful. Somepeople were threatened: Mr. Strahan advised me to take care of myself. Such a time of terrour you have been happy in not seeing. '

'The King said in Council, "That the magistrates had not done theirduty, 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 tobe preserved by force. The soldiers were sent out to different parts, and the town is now [_June_ 9] at quiet. '

'The soldiers[1329] are stationed so as to be every where within call:there is no longer any body of rioters, and the individuals are huntedto their holes, and led to prison; Lord George was last night sent tothe Tower. Mr. John Wilkes was this day[1330] in my neighbourhood, toseize the publisher of a seditious paper. '

'Several chapels have been destroyed, and several inoffensive Papistshave been plundered; but the high sport was to burn the gaols. This wasa good rabble trick. The debtors and the criminals were all set atliberty; but of the criminals, as has always happened, many are alreadyretaken; and two pirates have surrendered themselves, and it is expectedthat they will be pardoned. '

'Government now acts again with its proper force; and we are all[1331]under the protection of the King and the law. I thought that it would beagreeable to you and my master to have my testimony to the publicksecurity; and that you would sleep more quietly when I told you that youare safe. '

'There has, indeed, been an universal panick from which the King was thefirst that recovered. Without the concurrence of his ministers, or theassistance of the civil magistrate, he put the soldiers in motion, andsaved the town from calamities, such as a rabble's government mustnaturally produce. '

'The publick[1332] has escaped a very heavy calamity. The riotersattempted the Bank on Wednesday night, but in no great number; and likeother thieves, with no great resolution. Jack Wilkes headed the partythat drove them away. It is agreed, that if they had seized the Bank onTuesday, at the height of the panick, when no resistance had beenprepared, they might have carried irrecoverably away whatever they hadfound. Jack, who was always zealous for order and decency, [1333] declaresthat 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; noblue ribband[1334] is any longer worn[1335]. '

Such was the end of this miserable sedition, from which London wasdelivered by the magnanimity of the Sovereign himself. Whatever some maymaintain, I am satisfied that there was no combination or plan, eitherdomestic or foreign; but that the mischief spread by a gradual contagionof frenzy, augmented by the quantities of fermented liquors, of whichthe deluded populace possessed themselves in the course of theirdepredations. 

I should think myself very much to blame, did I here neglect to dojustice to my esteemed friend Mr. Akerman, the keeper of Newgate, wholong discharged a very important trust with an uniform intrepidfirmness, and at the same time a tenderness and a liberal charity, whichentitle him to be recorded with distinguished honour[1336]. 

Upon this occasion, from the timidity and negligence of magistracy onthe one hand, and the almost incredible exertions of the mob on theother, the first prison of this great country was laid open, and theprisoners set free; but that Mr. Akerman, whose house was burnt, wouldhave prevented all this, had proper aid been sent to him in due time, there can be no doubt. 

Many years ago, a fire broke out in the brick part which was built as anaddition to the old gaol of Newgate. The prisoners were in consternationand tumult, calling out, 'We shall be burnt--we shall be burnt! Downwith the gate--down with the gate!' Mr. Akerman hastened to them, shewedhimself at the gate, and having, after some confused vociferation of'Hear him--hear him!' obtained a silent attention, he then calmly toldthem, that the gate must not go down; that they were under his care, andthat they should not be permitted to escape: but that he could assurethem, they need not be afraid of being burnt, for that the fire was notin 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 tothem, and conduct them to the further end of the building, and would notgo out till they gave him leave. To this proposal they agreed; uponwhich Mr. Akerman, having first made them fall back from the gate, wentin, and with a determined resolution, ordered the outer turnkey upon noaccount to open the gate, even though the prisoners (though he trustedthey would not) should break their word, and by force bring himself toorder it. 'Never mind me, (said he, ) should that happen. ' The prisonerspeaceably followed him, while he conducted them through passages ofwhich he had the keys, to the extremity of the gaol which was mostdistant from the fire. Having, by this very judicious conduct, fullysatisfied them that there was no immediate risk, if any at all, he thenaddressed them thus: 'Gentlemen, you are now convinced that I told youtrue. I have no doubt that the engines will soon extinguish this fire;if they should not, a sufficient guard will come, and you shall all betaken out and lodged in the Compters[1337]. I assure you, upon my wordand 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 youif you insist upon it; but if you will allow me to go out and look aftermy family and property, I shall[1338] be obliged to you. ' Struck withhis 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 ownconcerns. ' He did so accordingly, while they remained, and were allpreserved. 

Johnson has been heard to relate the substance of this story with highpraise, in which he was joined by Mr. Burke. My illustrious friend, speaking of Mr. Akerman's kindness to his prisoners, pronounced thiseulogy upon his character:--'He who has long had constantly in his viewthe worst of mankind, and is yet eminent for the humanity of hisdisposition, must have had it originally in a great degree, andcontinued to cultivate it very carefully[1339]. '

In the course of this month my brother David waited upon Dr. Johnson, with the following letter of introduction, which I had taken care shouldbe 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 fromSpain. You will be glad to see the man who vowed to "stand by the oldcastle of Auchinleck, with heart, purse, and sword;" that romantickfamily solemnity devised by me, of which you and I talked withcomplacency upon the spot. I trust that twelve years of absence have notlessened his feudal attachment; and that you will find him worthy ofbeing 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 aletter to Mrs. Thrale[1340]: 'I have had with me a brother of Boswell's, a Spanish merchant, [1341] whom the war has driven from his residence atValentia; he is gone to see his friends, and will find Scotland but asorry place after twelve years' residence in a happier climate. He is avery agreeable man, and speaks no Scotch. '

'To DR. BEATTIE, AT ABERDEEN. 

'Sir, 'More years[1342] than I have any delight to reckon, have past since youand I saw one another; of this, however, there is no reason for makingany reprehensory complaint--_Sic fata ferunt[1343]_. But methinks theremight pass some small interchange of regard between us. If you say, thatI ought to have written, I now write; and I write to tell you, that Ihave much kindness for you and Mrs. Beattie; and that I wish your healthbetter, and your life long. Try change of air, and come a few degreesSouthwards: a softer climate may do you both good; winter is coming on;and London will be warmer, and gayer, and busier, and more fertile ofamusement than Aberdeen. 

'My health is better; but that will be little in the balance, when Itell you that Mrs. Montagu has been very ill, and is I doubt now butweakly. Mr. Thrale has been very dangerously disordered; but is muchbetter, and I hope will totally recover. He has withdrawn himself frombusiness the whole summer. Sir Joshua and his sister are well; and Mr. Davies has got great success as an authour, [1344] generated by thecorruption of a bookseller. [1345] More news I have not to tell you, andtherefore you must be contented with hearing, what I know not whetheryou much wish to hear[1346], that I am, Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'Bolt-court, Fleet-street, August 21, 1780. '

'To JAMES BOSWELL, Esq. 

'DEAR SIR, 'I find you have taken one of your fits of taciturnity, and haveresolved not to write till you are written to; it is but a peevishhumour, 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 timefirst at Bath, and then at Brighthelmston; but I have been at neitherplace. I would have gone to Lichfield, if I could have had time, and Imight have had time if I had been active; but I have missed much, anddone little. 

'In the late disturbances, Mr. Thrale's house and stock were in greatdanger; the mob was pacified at their first invasion, with about fiftypounds in drink and meat; and at their second, were driven away by thesoldiers[1347]. Mr. Strahan got a garrison into his house, and maintainedthem a fortnight; he was so frighted 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[1348]; it is nowabout the time when we were travelling. I have, however, better healththan I had then, and hope you and I may yet shew ourselves on some partof Europe, Asia, or Africa[1349]. 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 andpublished a very ingenious book[1350], and who I think has a kindnessfor me, and will, when he knows you, have a kindness for you. 

'I suppose your little ladies are grown tall; and your son is become alearned young man. I love them all, and I love your naughty lady, whom Inever shall persuade to love me. When the _Lives_ are done, I shall sendthem to complete her collection, but must send them in paper, as forwant of a pattern, I cannot bind them to fit the rest. 

'I am, Sir, 'Yours most affectionately, 'SAM. JOHNSON. ''London, Aug. 21, 1780. '

This year he wrote to a young clergyman[1351] in the country, thefollowing very excellent letter, which contains valuable advice toDivines in general:--

'Dear Sir, 'Not many days ago Dr. Lawrence shewed me a letter, in which you makemention of me: I hope, therefore, you will not be displeased that Iendeavour to preserve your good-will by some observations which yourletter suggested to me. 

'You are afraid of falling into some improprieties in the daily serviceby reading to an audience that requires no exactness. Your fear, I hope, secures you from danger. They who contract absurd habits are such ashave no fear. It is impossible to do the same thing very often, withoutsome peculiarity of manner: but that manner may be good or bad, and alittle care will at least preserve it from being bad: to make it good, there must, I think, be something of natural or casual felicity, whichcannot be taught. 

'Your present method of making your sermons seems very judicious. Fewfrequent preachers can be supposed to have sermons more their own thanyours will be. Take care to register, somewhere or other, the authoursfrom whom your several discourses are borrowed; and do not imagine thatyou shall always remember, even what perhaps you now think it impossibleto forget. 

'My advice, however, is, that you attempt, from time to time, anoriginal sermon; and in the labour of composition, do not burthen yourmind with too much at once; do not exact from yourself at one effort ofexcogitation, propriety of thought and elegance of expression. Inventfirst, and then embellish. The production of something, where nothingwas before, is an act of greater energy than the expansion or decorationof the thing produced. Set down diligently your thoughts as they rise, in the first words that occur; and, when you have matter, you willeasily give it form: nor, perhaps, will this method be always necessary;for by habit, your thoughts and diction will flow together[1352]. 

'The composition of sermons is not very difficult: the divisions notonly help the memory of the hearer, but direct the judgement of thewriter; they supply sources of invention, and keep every part in itsproper place. 

'What I like least in your letter is your account of the manners of yourparish; from which I gather, that it has been long neglected by theparson. The Dean of Carlisle[1353], who was then a little rector inNorthamptonshire[1354], told me, that it might be discerned whether or nothere was a clergyman resident in a parish by the civil or savage mannerof the people. Such a congregation as yours stands in need of muchreformation; and I would not have you think it impossible to reformthem. A very savage parish was civilised by a decayed gentlewoman, whocame among them to teach a petty school. My learned friend Dr. Wheeler[1355] of Oxford, when he was a young man, had the care of aneighbouring parish for fifteen pounds a year, which he was never paid;but he counted it a convenience that it compelled him to make a sermonweekly. One woman he could not bring to the communion; and, when hereproved or exhorted her, she only answered, that she was no scholar. Hewas advised to set some good woman or man of the parish, a little wiserthan herself, to talk to her in a language level to her mind. Suchhonest, I may call them holy artifices, must be practised by everyclergyman; for all means must be tried by which souls may be saved[1356]. 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 willlearn. A clergyman's diligence always makes him venerable. I think Ihave now only to say, that in the momentous work you have undertaken, Ipray GOD to bless you. 

'I am, Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'Bolt-court, Aug. 30, 1780. '

My next letters to him were dated August 24, September 6, and October 1, and from them I extract the following passages:--

'My brother David and I find the long indulged fancy of our comfortablemeeting again at Auchinleck, so well realised, that it in some degreeconfirms the pleasing hope of _O! preclarum diem!_[1357] in a futurestate. '

'I beg that you may never again harbour a suspicion of my indulging apeevish humour, or playing tricks; you will recollect that when Iconfessed to you, that I had once been intentionally silent to try yourregard, I gave you my word and honour that I would not do so again[1358]. '

'I rejoice to hear of your good state of health; I pray GOD to continueit long. I have often said, that I would willingly have ten years addedto my life, to have ten taken from yours; I mean, that I would be tenyears older to have you ten years younger. But let me be thankful forthe years during which I have enjoyed your friendship, and please myselfwith 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 beseparated. Of this we can form no notion; but the thought, thoughindistinct, is delightful, when the mind is calm and clear[1359]. '

'The riots in London were certainly horrible; but you give me no accountof your own situation, during the barbarous anarchy. A description of itby DR. JOHNSON would be a great painting[1360]; you might write another_London, a Poem_. '

'I am charmed with your condescending affectionate expression, "let uskeep each other's kindness by all the means in our power;" my reveredFriend! how elevating is it to my mind, that I am found worthy to be acompanion to Dr. Samuel Johnson! All that you have said in gratefulpraise of Mr. Walmsley, [1361] I have long thought of you; but we areboth Tories, [1362] which has a very general influence upon oursentiments. I hope that you will agree to meet me at York, about theend of this month; or if you will come to Carlisle, that would be betterstill, in case the Dean be there. Please to consider, that to keep eachother's kindness, we should every year have that free and intimatecommunication of mind which can be had only when we are together. Weshould have both our solemn and our pleasant talk. '

'I write now for the third time, to tell you that my desire for ourmeeting this autumn, is much increased. I wrote to Squire GodfreyBosville[1363], my Yorkshire chief, that I should, perhaps, pay him avisit, as I was to hold a conference with Dr. Johnson at York. I giveyou my word and honour that I said not a word of his inviting you; buthe wrote to me as follows:--

'"I need not tell you I shall be happy to see you here the latter end ofthis month, as you propose; and I shall likewise be in hopes that youwill persuade Dr. Johnson to finish the conference here. It will add tothe favour of your own company, if you prevail upon such an associate, to assist your observations. I have often been entertained with hiswritings, and I once belonged to a club of which he was a member, and Inever spent an evening there, but I heard something from him well worthremembering. "

'We have thus, my dear Sir, good comfortable quarters in theneighbourhood of York, where you may be assured we shall be heartilywelcome. I pray you then resolve to set out; and let not the year 1780be 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 instructionand delight of others. '

Mr. Thrale had now another contest for the representation in parliamentof the borough of Southwark, and Johnson kindly lent him his assistance, by writing advertisements and letters for him. I shall insert one as aspecimen:

'TO THE WORTHY ELECTORS OF THE BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK. 

'GENTLEMEN, 'A new Parliament being now called, I again solicit the honour of beingelected for one of your representatives; and solicit it with the greaterconfidence, as I am not conscious of having neglected my duty, or ofhaving acted otherwise than as becomes the independent representative ofindependent constituents; superiour to fear, hope, and expectation, whohas no private purposes to promote, and whose prosperity is involved inthe prosperity of his country. As my recovery from a very severedistemper is not yet perfect, I have declined to attend the Hall, andhope an omission so necessary will not be harshly censured. 

'I can only send my respectful wishes, that all your deliberations maytend 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, 1780. '

On his birth-day, Johnson has this note:--

'I am now beginning the seventy-second year of my life, with morestrength of body, and greater vigour of mind, than I think is common atthat age[1364]. '

But still he complains of sleepless nights and idle days, andforgetfulness, or neglect of resolutions. He thus pathetically expresseshimself, --

'Surely I shall not spend my whole life with my own totaldisapprobation[1365]. '

Mr. Macbean, whom I have mentioned more than once, as one of Johnson'shumble friends, a deserving but unfortunate man, being now oppressed byage and poverty, Johnson solicited the Lord Chancellor Thurlow, to havehim admitted into the Charterhouse. I take the liberty to insert hisLordship's answer[1366], as I am eager to embrace every occasion ofaugmenting the respectable notion which should ever be entertained of myillustrious friend:--

'To DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

'London, October 24, 1780. 

'SIR, 'I have this moment received your letter, dated the 19th, and returnedfrom Bath. 

'In the beginning of the summer I placed one in the Chartreux[1367], without the sanction of a recommendation so distinct and soauthoritative as yours of Macbean; and I am afraid, that according tothe establishment of the House, the opportunity of making the charity sogood amends will not soon recur. But whenever a vacancy shall happen, ifyou'll favour me with notice of it, I will try to recommend him to theplace, even though it should not be my turn to nominate. 

'I am, Sir, with great regard, 'Your most faithful

'And obedient servant, 'THURLOW[1368]. '

'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. 

'DEAR SIR, 'I am sorry to write you a letter that will not please you, and yet itis at last what I resolve to do. This year must pass without aninterview; the summer has been foolishly lost, like many other of mysummers and winters. I hardly saw a green field, but staid in town towork, without working much. 

'Mr. Thrale's loss of health has lost him the election;[1369] he is nowgoing to Brighthelmston, and expects me to go with him; and how long Ishall stay, I cannot tell. I do not much like the place, but yet I shallgo, and stay while my stay is desired. We must, therefore, contentourselves with knowing what we know as well as man can know the mind ofman, that we love one 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, insupposing that she bears me ill-will. I love you so much, that I wouldbe glad to love all that love you, and that you love; and I have lovevery ready for Mrs. Boswell, if she thinks it worthy of acceptance. Ihope all the young ladies and gentlemen are well. 

'I take a great liking to your brother. He tells me that his fatherreceived him kindly, but not fondly; however, you seem to have livedwell enough at Auchinleck, while you staid. Make your father as happy asyou can. 

'You lately told me of your health: I can tell you in return, that myhealth has been for more than a year past, better than it has been formany years before. Perhaps it may please GOD to give us some timetogether before we are parted. 

'I am, dear Sir, 'Yours most affectionately, 'SAM. JOHNSON. ''October 17, 1780. '

APPENDIX A. 

(_Page_ 314. )

The alehouse in the city where Johnson used to go and sit with GeorgePsalmanazar was, no doubt, the club in Old Street, where he met also'the metaphysical tailor, ' the uncle of Hoole the poet (_post_, underMarch 30, 1783). Psalmanazar is mentioned a third time by Boswell(_post_, May 15, 1784) in a passage borrowed from Hawkins's edition ofJohnson's _Works_, xi. 206, where it is stated that 'Johnson said: "Hehad never seen the close of the life of any one that he wished so muchhis own to resemble as that of him, for its purity and devotion. " He wasasked whether he ever contradicted him. "I should as soon, " said he, "have thought of contradicting a bishop. " When he was asked whether hehad ever mentioned Formosa before him, he said, "he was afraid tomention even China. "' We learn from Hawkins's _Life of Johnson_, p. 547, that 'Psalmanazar lived in Ironmonger Row, Old Street; in theneighbourhood whereof he was so well known and esteemed, that, as Dr. Hawkesworth once told me, scarce any person, even children, passed himwithout shewing him the usual signs of respect. ' In the list of thewriters of the _Universal History_ that Johnson drew up a few daysbefore his death his name is given as the historian of the Jews, Gauls, and Spaniards (_post_, November, 1784). According to Mrs. Piozzi(_Anecdotes_, p. 175):--'His pious and patient endurance of a tediousillness, ending in an exemplary death, confirmed the strong impressionhis merit had made upon the mind of Mr. Johnson. "It is so verydifficult, " said he always, "for a sick man not to be a scoundrel. "'Johnson, in _Prayers and Meditations_, p. 102, mentions him as a man'whose life was, I think, uniform. ' Smollett, in _Humphry Clinker_ (inMelford's Letter of June 10), describes him as one 'who, after havingdrudged half a century in the literary mill, in all the simplicity andabstinence of an Asiatic, subsists upon the charity of a fewbooksellers, just sufficient to keep him from the parish. ' A writer inthe _Annual Register_ for 1764 (ii. 71), speaking of the latter part ofhis life, says:--'He was concerned in compiling and writing works ofcredit, and lived exemplarily for many years. ' He died a few days beforethat memorable sixteenth day of May 1763, when Boswell first metJohnson. It is a pity that no record has been kept of the club meetingsin Ironmonger Row, for then we should have seen Johnson in a new light. Johnson in an alehouse club, with a metaphysical tailor on one side ofhim, and an aged writer on the other side of him, 'who spoke Englishwith the city accent and coarsely enough, '[1370] and whom he would neverventure to contradict, is a Johnson that we cannot easily imagine. 

Of the greater part of Psalmanazar's life we know next tonothing--little, I believe, beyond the few facts that I have heregathered together. His early years he has described in his _Memoirs_. That he started as one of the most shameless impostors, and that heremained a hypocrite and a cheat till he was fully forty, if not indeedlonger, his own narrative shows. That for many years he livedlaboriously, frugally, and honestly seems to be no less certain. How farhis _Memoirs_ are truthful is somewhat doubtful. In them he certainlyconfesses the impudent trick which he had played in his youth, when hepassed himself off as a Formosan convert. He wished, he writes, 'toundeceive the world by unravelling that whole mystery of iniquity' (p. 5). He lays bare roguery enough, and in a spirit, it seems, of realsorrow. Nevertheless there are passages which are not free from theleaven of hypocrisy, and there are, I suspect, statements which are atleast partly false. Johnson, indeed, looked upon him as little less thana saint; but then, as Sir Joshua Reynolds tells us, though 'Johnson wasnot easily imposed upon by professions to honesty and candour, heappeared to have little suspicion of hypocrisy in religion. '[1371] It wasin the year 1704 that Psalmanazar published his _Historical andGeographical Description of Formosa_. So gross is the forgery that italmost passes belief that it was widely accepted as a true narrative. Hegave himself out as a native of that island and a convert toChristianity. He lied so foolishly as to maintain that in the Academiesof Formosa Greek was studied (p. 290). He asserted also that in anisland that is only about half as large as Ireland 18, 000 boys weresacrificed every year (p. 176). But his readers were for the most partonly too willing to be deceived; for in Protestant England his abuse ofthe Jesuits covered a multitude of lies. Ere he had been three months inLondon, he was, he writes (_Memoirs_, p. 179), 'cried up for a prodigy, and not only the domestic, but even the foreign papers had helped toblaze forth many things in his praise. ' He was aided in his fraud by theRev. Dr. Innes, or Innys, a clergyman of the English Church, who bymeans of his interesting convert pushed himself into the notice ofCompton, Bishop of London, and before long was made chaplain-general tothe English forces in Portugal (_Memoirs_, p. 191). The same man, asBoswell tells us (_ante_, i. 359), by another impudent cheat, a secondtime obtained 'considerable promotion. ' Psalmanazar's book soon reacheda second edition, 'besides the several versions it had abroad' (p. 5). Yet it is very dull reading--just such a piece of work as might belooked for from a young man of little fancy, but gifted with a strongmemory. Nevertheless, the author's credit lasted so long, that for manyyears he lived on a subscription 'which was founded on a belief of hisbeing a Formosan and a real convert to the Church of England' (p. 208). He was even sent to Oxford to study, and had rooms in one of thecolleges--Christ Church, if I mistake not (p. 186). It was not only as astudent that he was sent by his dupes to that ancient seat of learning;the Bishop of London hoped that he would 'teach the Formosan language toa set of gentlemen who were afterwards to go with him to convert thosepeople to Christianity' (p. 161). 

While he was living the life of a lying scoundrel, he was, he says (p. 192), 'happily restrained by Divine Grace, ' so that 'all sense ofremorse was not extinguished, ' and there was no fall into 'downrightinfidelity. ' At length he picked up Law's _Serious Call_, which movedhim, as later on it moved better men (_ante_, i. 68). Step by step hegot into a way of steady work, and lived henceforth a laborious andhonest life. It was in the year 1728, thirty-five years before hisdeath, that he began, he says, to write the narrative of his imposture(p. 59). A dangerous illness and the dread of death had deeply movedhim, and filled him with the desire of leaving behind 'a faithfulnarrative' which would 'undeceive the world. ' Nineteen years later, though he did not publish his narrative, he made a public confession ofhis guilt. In the unsigned article on Formosa, which he wrote in 1747for Bowen's _Complete System of Geography_ (ii. 251), he says, 'Psalmanaazaar [so he had at one time written his name] hath long sinceingenuously owned the contrary [of the truthfulness of his narrative]though not in so public a manner, as he might perhaps have done, had notsuch an avowment been likely to have affected some few persons who forprivate ends took advantage of his youthful vanity to encourage him inan imposture, which he might otherwise never had the thought, much lessthe confidence, to have carried on. These persons being now dead, andout of all danger of being hurt by it, he now gives us leave to assurethe world that the greatest part of that account was fabulous . .. Andthat he designs to leave behind him a faithful account of that unhappystep, and other particulars of his life leading to it, to be publishedafter his death. '

In his _Memoirs_ he will not, he writes (p. 59), give any account 'ofhis real country or family. ' Yet it is quite clear from his ownnarrative that he was born in the south of France. 'His pronunciation ofFrench had, ' it was said, 'a spice of the Gascoin accent, and in thatprovincial dialect he was so masterly that none but those born in thecountry could excel him' (Preface, p. 1). If a town can be found thatanswers to all that he tells of his birth-place, his whole account maybe true; but the circumstances that he mentions seem inconsistent. Thecity in which he was born was twenty-four miles from an archiepiscopalcity in which there was a college of Jesuits (p. 67), and about sixtymiles from 'a noble great city full of gentry and nobility, of coaches, and all kinds of grandeur, ' the seat of a great university (pp. 76, 83). When he left the great city for Avignon he speaks of himself as 'going_down_ to Avignon' (p. 87). Thence he started on a pilgrimage to Rome, and in order to avoid his native place, after he had gone no great way, 'he wheeled about to the left, to leave the place at some twenty orthirty miles distance' (p. 101). He changed his mind, however, andreturned home. Thence he set off to join his father, who was 'near 500miles off' in Germany (p. 60). 'The direct route was through the greatuniversity city' and Lyons (p. 104). His birth-place then, if hisaccount is true, was on the road from Avignon to Rome, sixty miles froma great university city and southwards of it, for through thisuniversity city passed the direct road from his home to Lyons. It was, moreover, sixty miles from an archiepiscopal city. I do not think thatsuch a place can be found. He says (p. 59) that he thought himself'obliged out of respect to his country and family to conceal both, itbeing but too common, though unjust, to censure them for the crimes ofprivate persons. ' The excuse seems unsatisfactory, for he tells enoughto shew that he came from the South of France, while for his familythere was no need of care. It was, he writes, 'ancient but decayed, ' andhe was the only surviving child. Of his father and mother he had heardnothing since he started on the career of a pious rogue. They must havebeen dead very many years by the time his _Memoirs_ were given to theworld. His story shews that at all events for the first part of his lifehe had been one of the vainest of men, and vanity is commonly foundjoined with a love of mystery. He is not consistent, moreover, in hisdates. On April 23, 1752, he was in the 73rd year of his age (p. 7); sothat he was born in either 1679 or 1680. When he joined his father hewas 'hardly full sixteen years old' (p. 112); yet it was a few yearsafter the Peace of Ryswick, which was signed on September 22, 1697. Hewas, he says, 'but near twenty' when he wrote his _History of Formosa_(p. 184). This was in the year 1704. 

With his father he stayed but a short time, and then set out ramblingnorthwards. At Avignon, by shameless lying, he had obtained a pass 'as ayoung student in theology, of Irish extract [_sic_] who had left hiscountry for the sake of religion' (p. 98). It was wonderful that hisfraud had escaped detection there, for he had kept his own name, 'because it had something of quality in it' (p. 99). He now resolved ona more impudent pretence; for 'passing as an Irishman and a sufferer forreligion, did not only, ' he writes, 'expose me to the danger of beingdiscovered, but came short of the merit and admiration I had expectedfrom it' (p. 112). He thereupon gave himself out as a Japanese convert, and forged a fresh pass, 'clapping to it the old seal' (p. 116). He wentthrough different adventures, and at last enlisted in the army of theElector of Cologne--an 'unhappy herd, destitute of all sense of religionand shamefacedness. ' He got his discharge, but enlisted a second time, 'passing himself off for a Japanese and a heathen, under the name ofSalmanazar' (pp. 133-141). Later on he altered it, he says, 'by theaddition of a letter or two to make it somewhat different from thatmentioned in the _Book of Kings_' (Shalmaneser, II _Kings_, xvii. 3). Inhis _Description of Formosa_ he wrote it Psalmanaazaar, and in laterlife Psalmanazar. In his vanity he invented 'an awkward show of worship, turning his face to the rising or setting sun, and pleased to be takennotice of for so doing' (p. 144). He had moreover 'the ambition ofpassing for a moral heathen' (p. 147). By way of singularity he nexttook to living altogether upon raw flesh, roots, and herbs (p. 163). 

It was when he was on garrison duty at Sluys that he became acquaintedwith Innes, who was chaplain to a Scotch regiment that was in the pay ofthe Dutch (p. 148). This man found in him a tool ready made to his hand. He had at once seen through his roguery, but he used his knowledge onlyto plunge him deeper in his guilt. By working on his fears and hisvanity and by small bribes he induced him to profess himself a convertto the Church of England and to submit to baptism (p. 158). He broughthim over to London, and introduced him to the Bishop of London, and toTenison, Archbishop of Canterbury (pp. 164, 179). Psalmanazar spokeLatin fluently, but 'his Grace had either forgotten his, or being unusedto the foreign pronunciation was forced to have it interpreted to him byDr. Innes in English' (p. 178). The young impostor everywhere gavehimself out as a Formosan who had been entrapped by a Jesuit priest, andbrought to Avignon. 'There I could expect, ' he wrote, 'no mercy from theInquisitors, if I had not in hypocrisy professed their religion'(_History of Formosa_, p. 25). He was kept, he says, in a kind ofcustody, 'but I trusted under God to my heels' (p. 24). It was Innes whomade him write this _History_. 

In the confession of his fraud Psalmanazar seems to keep back nothing. His repentance appears to be sincere, and his later life, there can belittle question, was regular. Yet, as I have said, even his confessionsapparently are not free from the old leaven of hypocrisy. It is indeedvery hard, if not altogether impossible, for a man who has passed fortyyears and more as a lying hypocrite altogether to 'clear his mind ofcant. ' In writing of the time when he was still living the life of alying scoundrel, he says:--'I have great reason to acknowledge it thegreatest mercy that could befall me, that I was so well grounded in theprinciples and evidence of the Christian religion, that neither theconversation of the then freethinkers, as they loved to stilethemselves, and by many of whom I was severely attacked, nor thewritings of Hobbes, Spinosa, &c. Against the truth of Divine revelationcould appear to me in any other light than as the vain efforts of adangerous set of men to overturn a religion, the best founded and mostjudiciously calculated to promote the peace and happiness of mankind, both temporal and eternal' (_Memoirs_, p. 192). Two pages further on hewrites, a little boastfully it seems, of having had 'some sort ofgallantry with the fair sex; with many of whom, even persons of fortuneand character, of sense, wit, and learning, I was become, ' he continues, 'a great favourite, and might, if I could have overcome my naturalsheepishness and fear of a repulse, have been more successful either byway of matrimony or intrigue. ' He goes on:--'I may truly say, thathardly any man who might have enjoyed so great a variety ever indulgedhimself in so few instances of the unlawful kind as I have done. ' Heconcludes this passage in his writings by 'thankfully acknowledging thatthere must have been some secret providence that kept me from givingsuch way to unlawful amours as I might otherwise have done, to the ruinof my health, circumstances, ' &c. 

When he came to wish for an honest way of life he was beset withdifficulties. 'What a deadly wound, ' he writes, 'must such an unexpectedconfession have given to my natural vanity, and what a mortificationwould it have been to such sincere honest people [as my friends] to hearit from my mouth!' (p. 213. ) This was natural enough. That he longhesitated, like a coward, on the brink is not to be cast in his teeth, seeing that at last he took the plunge. But then in speaking of the timewhen he weakly repeated, and to use his own words, 'as it were confirmedanew, ' his old falsehoods, he should not have written that 'as theassurance of God's mercy gave me good grounds to hope, so that hopeinspired me with a design to use all proper means to obtain it, andleave the issue of it to his Divine Providence' (p. 214). The onlyproper means to obtain God's mercy was at once to own to all the worldthat he had lied. It is only the Tartuffes and the Holy Willies who, whilst they persist in their guilt, talk of leaving the issue to theDivine Providence of God. 

Since this Appendix was in type I have learnt, through the kindness ofMr. C. E. Doble, the editor of Hearne's _Remarks and Collections_, ed. 1885, that a passage in that book (i. 271), confirms my conjecture thatPsalmanazar was lodged in Christ Church when at Oxford. Hearne says(July 9, 1706):--'Mr. Topping of Christ Church . .. Also tells me thatSalmanezzer, the famous Formosan, when he left Christ Church (where heresided while in Oxon) left behind him a Book in MSt. , wherein adistinct acct was given of the Consular and Imperial coyns by himself. 'Mr. Doble has also pointed out to me in the first edition of the_Spectator_ the following passage at the end of No. 14:--

'ADVERTISEMENT. 

'On the first of April will be performed at the Play-house in theHay-market an opera call'd _The Cruelty of Atreus_. N. B. The Scenewherein Thyestes eats his own children is to be performed by the famousMr. Psalmanazar lately arrived from Formosa: The whole Supper being setto Kettle-drums. '

 * * * * *

APPENDIX B. 

JOHNSON'S TRAVELS AND LOVE OF TRAVELLING. 

(_Page 352_). 

On the passage in the text Macaulay in his Review of Croker's Edition of_Boswell's Life of Johnson_ partly founds the following criticism:--

'Johnson's visit to the Hebrides introduced him to a state of societycompletely new to him; and a salutary suspicion of his own deficienciesseems on that occasion to have crossed his mind for the first time. Heconfessed, in the last paragraph of his _Journey_, that his thoughts onnational manners were the thoughts of one who had seen but little, ofone who had passed his time almost wholly in cities. This feeling, however, soon passed away. It is remarkable that to the last heentertained a fixed contempt for all those modes of life and thosestudies which tend to emancipate the mind from the prejudices of aparticular age or a particular nation. Of foreign travel and of historyhe spoke with the fierce and boisterous contempt of ignorance. "Whatdoes a man learn by travelling? Is Beauclerk the better for travelling?What did Lord Charlemont learn in his travels, except that there was asnake in one of the pyramids of Egypt?"' Macaulay's _Essays_, ed. 1843, i. 403. 

In another passage (p. 400) Macaulay says:--

'Johnson was no master of the great science of human nature. He hadstudied, not the genus man, but the species Londoner. Nobody was ever sothoroughly conversant with all the forms of life and all the shades ofmoral and intellectual character which were to be seen from Islington tothe Thames, and from Hyde-Park corner to Mile-end green. But hisphilosophy stopped at the first turnpike-gate. Of the rural life ofEngland he knew nothing, and he took it for granted that everybody wholived in the country was either stupid or miserable. '

Of the two assertions that Macaulay makes in these two passages, whileone is for the most part true, the other is utterly and grossly false. Johnson had no contempt for foreign travel. That curiosity whichanimated his eager mind in so many parts of learning did not fail him, when his thoughts turned to the great world outside our narrow seas. Itwas his poverty that confined him so long to the neighbourhood of TempleBar. He must in these early days have sometimes felt with Arviragus whenhe says:--

'What should we speak ofWhen we are old as you? when we shall hearThe rain and wind beat dark December, howIn this our pinching cave, shall we discourseThe freezing hours away? We have seen nothing. '

With his pension his wanderings at once began. His friendship with theThrales gave them a still wider range. His curiosity, which in itselfwas always eager, was checked in his more prosperous circumstances byhis years, his natural unwillingness at any one moment to make aneffort, and by the want of travelling companions who were animated by aspirit of inquiry and of enterprise equal to his own. He did indeedtravel much more than is commonly thought, and was far less frequentlyto be seen rolling along Fleet-street or stemming the full tide of humanexistence at Charing Cross than his biographers would have us believe. 

The following table, imperfect though it must necessarily be, shows howlarge a part of his life he passed outside 'the first turnpike-gate, 'and beyond the smoke of London:--

1709-1736. The first twenty-seven years of his life he spent in smallcountry towns or villages--Lichfield, Stourbridge, Oxford, Market-Bosworth, Birmingham. So late as 1781 Lichfield did not contain4, 000 inhabitants (Harwood's _History of Lichfield_, p. 380); eightyears later it was reckoned that a little over 8, 000 people dwelt inOxford (Parker's _Early History of Oxford_, ed. 1885, p. 229). In 1732or 1733 Birmingham, when Johnson first went to live there, had not, Isuppose, a population of 10, 000. Its growth was wonderfully rapid. Between 1770 and 1797 its inhabitants increased from 30, 000 to nearly80, 000 (_Birmingham Directory for_ 1780, p. Xx, and _A Brief History ofBirmingham_, p. 8). 

1736-7. The first eighteen months of his married life he lived quite inthe country at Edial, two miles from Lichfield. _Ante_, i. 97. 

1737. He was twenty-eight years old when he removed to London. _Ante_, i. 110. 

1739. He paid a visit to Appleby in Leicestershire and to Ashbourn. _Ante_, i. 82, 133 note 1. 

1754. Oxford. July and August, about five weeks. _Ante_, i. 270, note 5. 

1759. Oxford. July, length of visit not mentioned. _Ante_, i. 347. 

1761-2. Lichfield. Winter, a visit of five days. _Ante_, i. 370. 

1762. In the summer of this year his pension was granted, and hehenceforth had the means of travelling. _Ante_, i. 372. 

A trip to Devonshire, from Aug. 16 to Sept. 26; six weeks. _Ante_, i. 377. 

Oxford. December. 'I am going for a few days or weeks to Oxford. ' Letterof Dec. 21, 1762. Croker's _Boswell_, p. 129. 

1763. Harwich. August, a few days. _Ante_, i. 464. 

Oxford. October, length of visit not mentioned. A letter dated Oxford, Oct. 27 [1763]. Croker's _Boswell_, p. 161. 

1764. Langton in Lincolnshire, part of January and February. _Ante_, i. 476. 

Easton Maudit in Northamptonshire, part of June, July, and August. Croker's _Boswell_, p. 166, note, and _ante_, i. 486. 

Oxford, October. Letter to Mr. Strahan dated Oxford, Oct. 24, 1764. _Post, Addenda_ to vol. V. 

Either this year or the next Johnson made the acquaintance of theThrales. For the next seventeen years he had 'an apartment appropriatedto him in the Thrales' villa at Streatham' (_ante_, i. 493), a handsomehouse that stood in a small park. Streatham was a quiet country-village, separated by wide commons from London, on one of which a highwayman hadbeen hanged who had there robbed Mr. Thrale (_ante_, iii. 239, note 2). According to Mrs. Piozzi Johnson commonly spent the middle of the weekat their house, coming on the Monday night and returning to his own homeon the Saturday (_post_, iv. 169, note 3). Miss Burney, in 1778, describes him 'as living almost wholly at Streatham' (_ante_, i. 493, note 3). No doubt she was speaking chiefly of the summer half of theyear, for in the winter time the Thrales would be often in their townhouse, where he also had his apartment. Mr. Strahan complained of hisbeing at Streatham 'in a great measure absorbed from the society of hisold friends' (_ante_, iii. 225). He used to call it 'my _home_' (_ante_, i. 493, note 3). 

1765. Cambridge, early in the year; a short visit. _Ante_, i. 487. 

Brighton, autumn; a short visit. Piozzi's _Anec_. P. 126, and _PiozziLetters_, i. 1. 

1766. Streatham, summer and autumn; more than three months. Ante, ii. 25, and _Pr. And Med_. P. 71. 

Oxford, autumn; a month. _Ante_, ii. 25. 

1767. Lichfield, summer and autumn; 'near six months. ' _Ante_, ii. 30, and _Piozzi Letters_, i. 4, 5. 

1768. Oxford, spring; several weeks. _Piozzi Letters_, i. 6-15. 

Townmalling in Kent, September; apparently a short visit. _Pr. And Med_. P. 81. 

1769. Oxford, from at least May 18 to July 7. _Piozzi Letters_, i. 19-23, and _ante_, ii. 67. 

Lichfield and Ashbourn, August; a short visit. _Piozzi Letters_, i. 24, and _ante_, ii. 67. 

Brighton, part of August and September; some weeks. _Ante_, ii. 68, 70, and Croker's _Boswell_, p. 198, letter dated 'Brighthelmstone. August26, 1769. '

1770. Lichfield and Ashbourn, apparently whole of July. _PiozziLetters_, i. 26-32. 

1771. Lichfield and Ashbourn, from June 20 to after Aug. 5. _Ante_, ii. 141, 142, and _Piozzi Letters_, i. 36-54. 

1772. Lichfield and Ashbourn, from about Oct. 15 to early in December. _Piozzi Letters_, i. 55-69. 

1773. Oxford, April; a hurried visit. _Ante_, ii. 235, note 2. 

Tour to Scotland from Aug. 6 to Nov. 26. _Ante_, ii. 265, 268. 

Oxford, part of November and December. _Ante_, ii. 268. 

1774. Tour to North Wales (Derbyshire, Chester, Conway, Anglesey, Snowdon, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Birmingham, Oxford, Beaconsfield) fromJuly 5 to Sept. 30. _Ante_, ii. 285, and _post_, v. 427. 

1775. Oxford, March; a short visit. _Piozzi Letters_, i. 212. 

Oxford, Lichfield, Ashbourn, from end of May till some time in August. _Ante_, ii. 381, and _Piozzi Letters_, i. 223-301. 

Brighton; apparently a brief visit in September. Croker's _Boswell_, p. 459. 

A tour to Paris (going by Calais and Rouen and returning by Compiegne, St. Quintin, and Calais), from Sept. 15 to Nov. 12. _Ante_, ii. 384, 401. 

1776. Oxford, Lichfield, Ashbourn, March 19-29. (The trip was cut shortby young Thrale's death. ) _Ante_, ii. 438, and iii. 4. 

Bath, from the middle of April to the beginning of May. _Ante_, iii. 44, 51. 

Brighton, part of September and October; full seven weeks. _Ante_, iii. 92. 

1777. Oxford, Lichfield, and Ashbourn, from about July 28 to about Nov. 6. _Ante_, iii. 129, 210, and _Piozzi Letters_, i. 348-396 and ii. 1-16(the letter of Oct. 3, i. 396, is wrongly dated, as is shown by themention of Foote's death). 

Brighton, November; a visit of three days. _Ante_, iii. 210. 

1778. Warley Camp, in Essex, September; about a week. _Ante_, iii. 360. 

1779. Lichfield, Ashbourn, from May 20 to end of June. _Ante_, iii. 395, and _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 44-55. 

Epsom, September; a few days. _Pr. And Med_. Pp. 181, 225. 

1780. Brighton. October. MS. Letter dated Oct. 26, 1780 to Mr. Nicholsin the British Museum. 

1781. Oxford, Birmingham, Lichfield, Ashbourn, from Oct. 15 to Dec. 11. _Post_, iv. 135, and Croker's _Boswell_, p. 699, note 5. 

1782. Oxford, June; about ten days. _Post_, iv. 151, and _PiozziLetters_, ii. 243-249. 

Brighton, part of October and November. _Post_, iv. 159. 

1783. Rochester, July; about a fortnight. _Post_, iv. 233. 

Heale near Salisbury, part of August and September; three weeks. _Post_, iv. 233, 239. 

1784. Oxford, June; a fortnight. _Post_, iv. 283, 311. 

Lichfield, Ashbourn, Oxford, from July 13 to Nov. 16. _Post_, iv. 353, 377. 

That he was always eager to see the world is shown by many a passage inhis writings and by the testimony of his biographers. How Macaulay, whoknew his _Boswell_ so well, could have accused him of 'speaking offoreign travel with the fierce and boisterous contempt of ignorance'would be a puzzle indeed, did we not know how often this greatrhetorician was by the stream of his own mighty rhetoric swept far awayfrom the unadorned strand of naked truth. To his unjust and insultingattack I shall content myself with opposing the following extracts whichwith some trouble I have collected:--

1728 or 1729. Johnson in his undergraduate days was one day overheardsaying:--

'I have a mind to see what is done in other places of learning. I'll goand visit the Universities abroad. I'll go to France and Italy. I'll goto Padua. ' _Ante_, i. 73. 

1734. 'A generous and elevated mind is distinguished by nothing morecertainly than an eminent degree of curiosity, nor is that curiosityever more agreeably or usefully employed than in examining the laws andcustoms of foreign nations. ' _Ante_, i. 89. 

1751. 'Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristicks ofa vigorous intellect. ' _Rambler_, No. 103. 'Curiosity is in great andgenerous minds the first passion and the last; and perhaps alwayspredominates in proportion to the strength of the contemplativefaculties. ' _Ib_. No. 150. 

1752. Francis Barber, describing Johnson's friends in 1752, says:--

'There was a talk of his going to Iceland with Mr. Diamond, which wouldprobably have happened had he lived. ' _Ante_, i. 242. Johnson, in aletter to the wife of the poet Smart, says, 'we have often talked of avoyage to Iceland. ' _Post_, iv. 359 note. Mrs. Thrale wrote to him whenhe was in the Hebrides in 1773:--'Well! 'tis better talk of Iceland. Gregory challenges you for an Iceland expedition; but I trust there isno need; I suppose good eyes might reach it from some of the places youhave been in. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 188. 

1761. Johnson wrote to Baretti:--

'I wish you had staid longer in Spain, for no country is less known tothe rest of Europe. ' _Ante_, i. 365. He twice recommended Boswell toperambulate Spain. _Ante_, i. 410, 455. 

1763. 'Dr. Johnson flattered me (Boswell) with some hopes that he would, in the course of the following summer, come over to Holland, andaccompany me in a tour through the Netherlands. ' _Ante_, i. 470. 

1772. He said that he had had some desire, though he soon laid it aside, to go on an expedition round the world with Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander. _Ante_, ii. 147. 

1773. 'Dr. Johnson and I talked of going to Sweden. ' Boswell's_Hebrides_, _post_, v. 215. 

On Sept. 9, 1777, Boswell wrote to Johnson:--

'I shrink a little from our scheme of going up the Baltick: I am sorryyou have already been in Wales; for I wish to see it. ' _Ante_, iii. 134. Four days later Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'Boswell shrinks from theBaltick expedition, which, I think, is the best scheme in our power:what we shall substitute I know not. He wants to see Wales; but exceptthe woods of Bachycraigh (_post_, v. 436), what is there in Wales, thatcan fill the hunger of ignorance, or quench the thirst of curiosity? Wemay, perhaps, form some scheme or other; but in the phrase of _Hockleyin the Hole_, it is a pity he has not a _better bottom_. ' _Ib_. Note 1. 

Boswell writes:--

'Martin's account of the Hebrides had impressed us with a notion that wemight there contemplate a system of life almost totally different fromwhat we had been accustomed to see. .. . Dr. Johnson told me that hisfather put Martin's account into his hands when he was very young, andthat he was much pleased with it. ' _Post_, v. 13. 

From the Hebrides Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--

'I have a desire to instruct myself in the whole system of pastorallife; but I know not whether I shall be able to perfect the idea. However, I have many pictures in my mind, which I could not have hadwithout this journey; and should have passed it with great pleasure hadyou, and Master, and Queeney been in the party. We should have excitedthe attention and enlarged the observation of each other, and obtainedmany pleasing topicks of future conversation. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 159. 'We travelled with very little light in a storm of wind and rain; wepassed about fifty-five streams that crossed our way, and fell into ariver that, for a very great part of our road, foamed and roared besideus; all the rougher powers of nature except thunder were in motion, butthere was no danger. I should have been sorry to have missed any of theinconveniencies, to have had more light or less rain, for theirco-operation crowded the scene and filled the mind. ' _Ib_. P. 177. 

See _post_, v. 334 for the splendid passage in which, describing theemotions raised in his mind by the sight of Iona, he says:--

'Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses, whatever makes thepast, the distant, or the future predominate over the present, advancesus in the dignity of thinking beings. .. . That man is little to be enviedwhose patriotism would not gain force upon the plains of Marathon, orwhose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona. '

Macaulay seems to have had the echo of these lines still in his ear, when he described imagination as 'that noble faculty whereby man is ableto live in the past and in the future, in the distant and in theunreal. ' _Essays_, ed. 1853, iii. 167. 

1774. When he saw some copper and iron works in Wales he wrote:--

'I have enlarged my notions. ' _Post_, v. 442. See also _ante_, iii. 164. 

His letter to Warren Hastings shows his curiosity about India. _Ante, _iv. 68. 

1775. The Thrales had just received a sum of £14, 000. Johnson wrote toMrs. Thrale:--

'If I had money enough, what would I do? Perhaps, if you and master didnot hold me, I might go to Cairo, and down the Red Sea to Bengal, andtake a ramble to India. Would this be better than building and planting?It would surely give more variety to the eye, and more amplitude to themind. Half fourteen thousand would send me out to see other forms ofexistence, and bring me back to describe them. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 266. 

'Regions mountainous and wild, thinly inhabited and little cultivated, make a great part of the earth, and he that has never seen them mustlive unacquainted with much of the face of nature, and with one of thegreat scenes of human existence. ' Johnson's _Works_, ix. 36. 'All travelhas its advantages. If the traveller visits better countries he maylearn to improve his own; and if fortune carries him to worse he maylearn to enjoy it. ' _Ib_. P. 136. 

To Dr. Taylor he wrote:--

'I came back last Tuesday from France. Is not mine a kind of life turnedupside down? Fixed to a spot when I was young, and roving the world whenothers are contriving to sit still, I am wholly unsettled. I am a kindof ship with a wide sail, and without an anchor. ' _Ante_, ii. 387, note2. 

1776. In the spring of this year everything was settled for his journeyto Italy with the Thrales. Hannah More wrote (_Memoirs_, i. 74):--

'Johnson and Mr. Boswell have this day set out for Oxford, Lichfield, &c. , that the Doctor may take leave of all his old friends previous tohis great expedition across the Alps. I lament his undertaking such ajourney at his time of life, with beginning infirmities. I hope he willnot leave his bones on classic grounds. '

Boswell tells how--

'Speaking with a tone of animation Johnson said, "We must, to be sure, see Rome, Naples, Florence, and Venice, and as much more as we can. "'_Ante_, iii. 19. 

When the journey was put off by the sudden death of Mr. Thrale's son, Boswell wrote:--

'I perceived that he had so warmly cherished the hope of enjoyingclassical scenes, that he could not easily part with the scheme; for hesaid, "I shall probably contrive to get to Italy some other way. "' _Ib_. P. 28. 

A day later Boswell wrote:--

'A journey to Italy was still in his thoughts. He said, "A man who hasnot been in Italy is always conscious of an inferiority, from his nothaving seen what it is expected a man should see. The grand object oftravelling is to see the shores of the Mediterranean. "' _Ib_. P. 36. 'Johnson's desire to go abroad, particularly to see Italy, was verygreat; and he had a longing wish, too, to leave some Latin verses at theGrand Chartreux. He loved indeed the very act of travelling. .. . He wasin some respects an admirable companion on the road, as he piquedhimself upon feeling no inconvenience, and on despising noaccommodations. ' Piozzi's _Anec_. P. 168. 

Johnson, this same year, speaking of a friend who had gone to the EastIndies, said:--

'I had some intention of accompanying him. Had I thought then as I donow, I should have gone. ' _Ante_, iii. 20. According to Mr. Tyers heonce offered to attend another friend to India. Moreover 'he talked muchof travelling into Poland to observe the life of the Palatines, theaccount of which struck his curiosity very much. ' _Johnsoniana_, ed. 1836, p. 157. 

1777. Boswell wrote to Johnson this year (_ante_, iii. 107):--

'You have, I believe, seen all the cathedrals in England except that ofCarlisle. '

This was not the case, yet most of them he had already seen or lived tosee. With Lichfield, Oxford, and London he was familiar. Winchester andExeter he had seen in 1762 on his tour to Devonshire (_ante_, i. 377), Peterborough, Ely, Lincoln, York, and Durham he no doubt saw in 1773 onhis way to Scotland. The first three he might also have seen in 1764 onhis visit to Langton (_ante_, i. 476). Chester, St. Asaph, Bangor, andWorcester he visited in 1774 in his journey to Wales (_post_, v. 435, 436, 448, 456). Through Canterbury he almost certainly passed in 1775 onhis way to France (_ante_, ii. 384). Bristol he saw in 1776 (_ante_, iii. 51). To Chichester he drove from Brighton in 1782 (_post_, iv. 160). Rochester and Salisbury he visited in the summer of 1783 (_post_, iv. 233). Wells he might easily have seen when he was at Bath in 1776(_ante_, iii. 44), and possibly Gloucester. Through Norwich he perhapscame on his return from Lincolnshire in 1764 (_ante_, i. 476). Hereford, I think, he could not have visited. 

When in the September of this year Johnson and Boswell were driving inDr. Taylor's chaise to Derby, 'Johnson strongly expressed his love ofdriving fast in a post-chaise. "If, " said he, "I had no duties, and noreference to futurity, I would spend my life in driving briskly in apost-chaise with a pretty woman; but she should be one who couldunderstand me, and would add something to the conversation"' (_ante_, iii. 162). He had previously said (_ante_, ii. 453), as he was drivenrapidly along in a post-chaise, 'Life has not many things better thanthis. '

1778. Boswell wrote to Johnson:--

'My wife is so different from you and me that she dislikes travelling. '_Ante_, iii. 219. 

Later on in the year Boswell records:--

'Dr. Johnson expressed a particular enthusiasm with respect to visitingthe wall of China. I catched it for the moment, and said I reallybelieved I should go and see the wall of China had I not children, ofwhom it was my duty to take care. "Sir, (said he, ) by doing so you woulddo what would be of importance in raising your children to eminence. There would be a lustre reflected upon them from your spirit andcuriosity. They would be at all times regarded as the children of a manwho had gone to view the wall of China. I am serious, Sir. "' _Ante_, iii. 269. 

1780. In August he wrote to Boswell:--

'I know not whether I shall get a ramble this summer. .. . I hope you andI may yet shew ourselves on some part of Europe, Asia, or Africa. '_Ante_, iii. 435. 

In the same year Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--

'I hope you have no design of stealing away to Italy before theelection, nor of leaving me behind you; though I am not only seventy, but seventy-one. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 177. 

On Oct. 17 he wrote:--

'The summer has been foolishly lost, like many other of my summers andwinters. I hardly saw a green field, but staid in town to work, withoutworking much. ' _Ante_, iii. 441. 

1784. Johnson's wish to go to Italy in the last year of his life wascaused by the hope that it might be good for his health. 'I do not, ' hewrote, 'travel for pleasure or curiosity; yet if I should recover, ' headded, 'curiosity would revive. ' _Post_, iv. 348. 

Mrs. Piozzi, without however giving the year, records:--

'Dr. Johnson was very angry with a gentleman at our house for not beingbetter company, and urged that he had travelled into Bohemia and seenPrague. "Surely, " added he, "the man who has seen Prague might tell ussomething new and something strange, and not sit silent for want ofmatter to put his lips in motion. "' Piozzi's _Journey_, ii. 317. 

All these passages shew, what indeed is evident enough from the text, that it was not travelling in general but travelling between the ages ofnineteen and twenty-four, with a character unformed, a memory unstored, and a judgment untrained, that Johnson attacked. It was a common habitin his day to send young men of fortune to make the tour of Europe, asit was called, at an age when they would now be sent to either Oxford orCambridge. Lord Charlemont was but eighteen when he left England. Locke, at the end of his work on _Education_, said in 1692 much the same asJohnson said in 1778. 

'The ordinary time of travel, ' he wrote, 'is from sixteen to one andtwenty. ' He would send any one either at a younger age than sixteenunder a tutor, or at an older age than twenty-one without a tutor; 'whenhe is of age to govern himself, and make observations of what he findsin other countries worthy his notice . .. And when, too, being thoroughlyacquainted with the laws and fashions, the natural and moral advantagesand defects of his own country, he has something to exchange with thoseabroad, from whose conversation he hoped to reap any knowledge. '

Goldsmith, in his _Present State of Polite Learning_, ch. Xiii, wrote in1759:--

'We see more of the world by travel, but more of human nature byremaining at home. .. . A youth just landed at the Brille resembles aclown at a puppet-show; carries his amazement from one miracle toanother; from this cabinet of curiosities to that collection ofpictures; but wondering is not the way to grow wise. .. . The greatestadvantages which result to youth from travel are an easy address, theshaking off national prejudices, and the finding nothing ridiculous innational peculiarities. The time spent in these acquisitions could havebeen more usefully employed at home. ' Gibbon (_Misc. Works_, i. 197)says that 'the previous and indispensable requisites of foreign travelare age, judgment, a competent knowledge of men and books, and a freedomfrom domestic prejudices. '

When he was only eighteen years old he saw the evils of earlytravelling:--

'I never liked young travellers; they go too raw to make any greatremarks, and they lose a time which is (in my opinion) the most preciouspart of a man's life. ' _Ib_. P. 98. 

Cowper, in his _Progress of Error_ (ed. 1782, i. 60), describes how--

'His stock, a few French phrases got by heart, With much to learn and nothing to impart, The youth obedient to his sire's commands, Sets off a wanderer into foreign lands. 

 * * * * *

Returning he proclaims by many a grace, By shrugs and strange contortions of his face, How much a dunce that has been sent to roamExcels a dunce that has been kept at home. '

APPENDIX C. 

ELECTION OF LORD MAYORS OF LONDON. 

(_Page_ 356. )

In the years 1751-2-3, the Lord Mayor was not appointed by rotation; SirG. Champion, the senior Alderman, being accused of a leaning towardsSpain. From 1754 to 1765 (inclusive) if there was in any year a contest, yet in each case the senior Alderman nominated was chosen. From 1766 to1775 (inclusive) there was in every year a departure from the order ofseniority. In 1776-8 the order of seniority was again observed; so thattwo years before Johnson made his remark the irregularity had come to anend. This information I owe to the kindness of Mr. Scott, the excellentChamberlain of the City. Sir George Champion had been passed over in theyear 1739 also. In an address to the Liverymen he says that 'thedisorders and great disturbance to the peace of the city, which informer times had been occasioned by the over-eagerness of some, tooambitious and impatient to obtain this great honour, had been quieted'by the adoption of the order of seniority. _Gent. Mag_. 1739, p. 595. Among the Lord Mayors from 1769-1775 (inclusive) we find Beckford, Trecothick, Crosby, Townshend, Bull, Wilkes, and Sawbridge. 'Where didBeckford and Trecothick learn English?' asked Johnson (_ante_, iii. 76). Crosby, in the year of his mayoralty (1770-1), was committed to theTower by the House of Commons, for having himself committed to prison amessenger of the House when attempting to arrest the printer of the_London Evening Debates_, who was accused of a breach of privilege inreporting the Debates (_Parl. Hist_. Xvii. 155). Townshend in the sameyear refused to pay the land-tax, on the plea that his county(Middlesex) was no longer represented, as Wilkes's election had beenannulled (_Walpole's Letters_, v. 348). Bull in the House of Commonsviolently attacked Lord North's ministry (_Parl. Hist_. Xix. 980). Sawbridge, year after year, brought into Parliament a bill forshortening the duration of parliaments. During his Mayoralty he wouldnot suffer the pressgangs to enter the city. (Walpole's _Journal of theReign of George III_, ii. 84. )

Among the Aldermen the Court-party had a majority. In April 1769Wilkes's eligibility for election as an Alderman was not allowed by amajority of ten to six (Walpole's _Memoirs of the Reign of George III_, iii. 360, and _Ann. Reg_. Xii. 92). On his release from prison in April1770 he was, however, admitted without a division (_ib_. Xiii. 99). When, in March 1770, the City presented an outspoken remonstrance to theKing, sixteen Aldermen protested against it (Walpole's _Letters_, v. 229). About this time there arose a great division in the popular partyin the City. According to Lord Albemarle, in his _Memoirs ofRockingham_, ii. 209, from the period of this struggle 'the Whigs andwhat are now called Radicals became two distinct sections of the Liberalparty. ' Townshend, who in this followed the lead of Lord Shelburne, headed the more moderate men against Wilkes. The result was that in 1771each section running a candidate for the Mayoralty, a third man, Nash, who was opposed to both, was returned (Walpole's _Memoirs of the Reignof George III_, iv. 345, and _Ann. Reg_. Xiv. 146). 

The Livery, for a time at least, was Wilkite. Wilkes's name was sent upas Lord Mayor at the top of the list in 1772 and 1773, but he was ineach case passed over by the Court of Aldermen. It was not till 1774that he was elected by a kind of 'Hobson's choice. ' The Aldermen had tochoose between him and the retiring Lord Mayor, Bull. Walpole, writingof Nov. 1776, says the new Lord Mayor 'invited the Ministers to hisfeast, to which they had not been asked for seven years' (_Journal ofthe Reign of George III_, ii. 84). See Boswell's _Hebrides_, _post_, v. 339. 

APPENDIX D. 

THE INMATES OF JOHNSON'S HOUSE. (Page 368. )

In September of this year (1778) Miss Burney records the followingconversation at Streatham:--'MRS. THRALE. "Pray, Sir, how does Mrs. Williams like all this tribe?" DR. J. "Madam, she does not like them atall; but their fondness for her is not greater. She and Desmoulinsquarrel incessantly; but as they can both be occasionally of service toeach other, and as neither of them have any other place to go to, theiranimosity does not force them to separate. " . .. MR. T. "And pray who isclerk of your kitchen, Sir?" DR. J. "Why, Sir, I am afraid there isnone; a general anarchy prevails in my kitchen, as I am told by Mr. Levett, who says it is not now what it used to be. " MRS. T. "Mr. Levett, I suppose, Sir, has the office of keeping the hospital in health, for heis an apothecary. " DR. J. "Levett, Madam, is a brutal fellow, but I havea good regard for him; for his brutality is in his manners, not hismind. " MR. T. "But how do you get your dinners drest?" DR. J. "Why, Desmoulins has the chief management of the kitchen; but our roasting isnot magnificent, for we have no jack. " MR. T. "No jack! Why, how do theymanage without?" DR. J. "Small joints, I believe, they manage with astring, and larger are done at the tavern. I have some thoughts (with aprofound gravity) of buying a jack, because I think a jack is somecredit to a house. " MR. T. "Well, but you'll have a spit too. " DR. J. "No, Sir, no; that would be superfluous; for we shall never use it; andif a jack is seen, a spit will be presumed. " MRS. T. "But pray, Sir, whois the Poll you talk of? She that you used to abet in her quarrels withMrs. Williams, and call out, _At her again, Poll! Never flinch, Poll!_"DR. J. "Why, I took to Poll very well at first, but she won't do upon anearer examination. " MRS. T. "How came she among you, Sir?" DR. J. "Why, I don't rightly remember, but we could spare her very well from us. Pollis a stupid slut. I had some hopes of her at first; but when I talked toher tightly and closely, I could make nothing of her; she was wigglewaggle, and I could never persuade her to be categorical. "' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary, _ i. 114. 

More than a year later Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'Discord keeps herresidence in this habitation, but she has for some time been silent. Wehave much malice, but no mischief. Levett is rather a friend toWilliams, because he hates Desmoulins more. A thing that he should hatemore than Desmoulins is not to be found. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 80. Mrs. Piozzi (_Anec_. P. 213) says:--'He really was oftentimes afraid of goinghome, because he was so sure to be met at the door with numberlesscomplaints; and he used to lament pathetically to me that they made hislife miserable from the impossibility he found of making theirs happy, when every favour he bestowed on one was wormwood to the rest. If, however, I ventured to blame their ingratitude, and condemn theirconduct, he would instantly set about softening the one and justifyingthe other; and finished commonly by telling me, that I knew not how tomake allowances for situations I never experienced. ' Hawkins (_Life_, p. 404) says:--'Almost throughout Johnson's life poverty and distressedcircumstances seemed to be the strongest of all recommendations to hisfavour. When asked by one of his most intimate friends, how he couldbear to be surrounded by such necessitous and undeserving people as hehad about him, his answer was, "If I did not assist them, no one elsewould, and they must be lost for want. "' 'His humanity and generosity, in proportion to his slender income, were, ' writes Murphy (_Life_, p. 146), 'unbounded. It has been truly said that the lame, the blind, andthe sorrowful found in his house a sure retreat. ' See also _ante_, iii. 222. At the same time it must be remembered that while Mrs. Desmoulinsand Miss Carmichael only brought trouble into the house, in the societyof Mrs. Williams and Levett he had real pleasure. See _ante_, i. 232, note 1, and 243, note 3. 

 * * * * *

APPENDIX E. 

BOSWELL'S LETTERS OF ACCEPTANCE OF THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY FOR FOREIGNCORRESPONDENCE TO THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 

(_Page 370, note i_. )

LETTER I. 

'Agli Illustrissimi Signori Il Presidente e Consiglieri dell' AcademiaReale delle arti in Londra. 

'Avreste forse illustrissimi Signori potuto scegliere molte persone piudegne dell' ufficcio di Segretario per la corrispondenza straniera; manon sarebbe, son certo, stato possibile di trovar alcuno dal qualequesta distinzione sarebbe stata piu stimata. Sento con un animo moltoriconoscente la parzialitá che l'Academia a ben voluto mostrar per me; emi conto felicissimo che la mia elezione sia stata graziosamenteconfirmata dalla sua Maestá lo stesso Sovrano che a fondato l'Academia, e che si é sempre mostrato il suo beneficente Protettore. 

'Vi prego, Signori, di credere que porro ogni mio studio a contribuiretanto che potro alia prosperita della nostra instituzione ch' é giaarrivata ad un punto si rispettevole. 

'Ho l'onore d'essere, 'Illustrissimi Signori, 'Vostro umilissimo, 'e divotissimo servo, 'Giacomo Boswell. ''Londra, '31 d'Ottobre, 1791. '

LETTER. II. 

'A Messieurs Le President et les autres Membres du Conseil de l'AcademieRoyale des Arts à Londres. 

'Messieurs, 'C'est avec la plus vive reconnoissance que J'accepte la charge deSecretaire pour la Correspondence etrangêre de votre Academie á laquelleJ'ai eu l'honneur d'etre choisi par vos suffrages unanimes gracieusementconfirmés par sa Majesté. 

'Ce choix spontané Messieurs me flatte beaucoup; et m'inspire des desirsles plus ardens de m'en montrer digne, au moins par la promptitude aveclaquelle Je saisirai toute occasion de faire ce que Je pourrai pourcontribuer á l'avantage des Arts et la celebrité de l'Academie. 

'J'ai l'honneur d'etre avec toute la consideration possible, 'Messieurs, 'Votre serviteur tres obligé tres humble et tres fidel, 'Boswell. ''A Londres, 'ce 31 d'Octobre, 1791'

[In this letter I have made no attempt to correct Boswell's errors. ]

LETTER III. 

'To the President and Council of The Royal Academy of Arts in London. 

'Gentlemen, 'Your unsolicited and unanimous election of me to be Secretary forForeign Correspondence to your Academy, and the gracious confirmation ofmy election by his Majesty, I acknowledge with the warmest sentiments ofgratitude and respect. 

'I have always loved the Arts, and during my travels on the Continent Idid not neglect the opportunities which I had of cultivating a taste forthem. [1372] That taste I trust will now be much improved, when I shallbe so happy as to share in the advantages which the Royal Academyaffords; and I fondly embrace this very pleasing distinction as givingme the means of providing additional solace for the future years of mylife. 

'Be assured, Gentlemen, that as I am proud to be a member of an Academywhich has the peculiar felicity of not being at all dependant on aMinister[1373], but under the immediate patronage and superintendence ofthe Sovereign himself, I shall be zealous to do every thing in my powerthat can be of any service to our excellent Institution. 

'I have the honour to be, 'Gentlemen, 'Your much obliged

'And faithful humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

'London, '31 October, 1791. '

LETTER IV. 

'SIR, 'I am much obliged to you for the very polite terms in which you havebeen pleased to communicate to me my election to be Secretary forForeign Correspondence to the Royal Academy of Arts in London; and Irequest that you will lay before the President and Council the enclosedletters signifying my acceptance of that office. 

'I am with great regard, 'Sir, 'Your most obedient humble servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

'London, '31 October, 1791. 

'To John Richards, Esq. , R. A. &c. '

Bennet Langton's letter of acceptance of the Professorship of AncientLiterature in the place of Johnson is dated April 2, 1788. 

I must express my acknowledgments to the President and Council of theRoyal Academy for their kindness in allowing me to copy the aboveletters from the originals that are in their possession. 

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See ante, March 15, 1776. 

[2] _Anecdotes of Johnson_, p. 176. BOSWELL. 'It is, ' he said, 'so_very_ difficult for a sick man not to be a scoundrel. ' Ib. P. 175. He called Fludyer a scoundrel (_ante_, March 20, 1776), apparentlybecause he became a Whig. 'He used to say a man was a scoundrel that wasafraid of anything. "Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelveo'clock is, " he said, "a scoundrel. "' Johnson's _Works_ (1787), xi. 199, 211. Mr. Croker points out that 'Johnson in his _Dictionary_ defined_knave_, a scoundrel; _sneakup_, a scoundrel; _rascal_, a scoundrel;_loon_, a scoundrel; _lout_, a scoundrel; _poltroon_, a scoundrel; andthat he coined the word _scoundrelism_' (Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 25, 1773). Churchill, in _The Ghost_, Book ii. (_Poems_, i. 1. 217), describes Johnson as one

'Who makes each sentence current pass, With _puppy, coxcomb, scoundrel, ass_. '

Swift liked the word. 'God forbid, ' he wrote, 'that ever such ascoundrel as Want should dare to approach you. ' Swift's _Works_, ed. 1803, xviii. 39. 

[3] See _ante_, i. 49, for Johnson's fondness for the old romances. 

[4] Boswell, _ante_, i. 386, implies that Sheridan's pension was partlydue to Wedderburne's influence. 

[5] See _ante_, i. 386. 

[6] Akenside, in his _Ode to Townshend_ (Book ii. 4), says:--

'For not imprudent of my loss to come, I saw from Contemplation's quiet cellHis feet ascending to another home, Where public praise and envied greatness dwell. '

He had, however, no misgivings, for he thus ends:--

'Then for the guerdon of my lay, This man with faithful friendship, will I say, From youth to honoured age my arts and me hath viewed. '

[7] We have now more knowledge generally diffused; all our ladies readnow 'which is a great extension. ' _Post_, April 29, 1778. 

[8] See _post_, April, 28, 1783. 

[9] See _post_, March 22, 1783. 

[10] See _post_, March 18, 1784. 

[11] Newbery, the publisher, was the vendor of Dr. James's famouspowder. It was known that on the doctor's death a chemist whom he hademployed meant to try to steal the business, under the pretence thathe alone knew the secret of the preparation. A supply of powders enoughto last for many years was laid in by Newbery in anticipation, whileJames left an affidavit that the chemist was never employed in themanufacture. He, however, asserted that James was deprived of his mentalfaculties when the affidavit was made. Evidence against this wascollected and published; the conclusion to the Preface being written byJohnson. _A Bookseller of the Last Century_, p. 138. See _ante_, i. 159. 

[12] Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale on the birth of a second son who diedearly:--'I congratulate you upon your boy; but you must not think that Ishall love him all at once as well as I love Harry, for Harry you knowis so rational. I shall love him by degrees. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 206. A week after Harry's death he wrote:--'I loved him as I never expect tolove any other little boy; but I could not love him as a parent. ' _Ib_. P. 310. 

[13] Johnson had known this anxiety. He wrote to Mrs. Thrale fromAshbourne on July 7, 1775:--'I cannot think why I hear nothing from you. I hope and fear about my dear friends at Streatham. But I may have aletter this afternoon--Sure it will bring me no bad news. ' _Ib_. I. 263. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 21, 1773. 

[14] See _ante_, ii. 75. 

[15] _ante_, April 10, 1775. 

[16] See _ante_, March 21, 1776, and _post_, Sept. 19, 1777. 

[17] The phrase 'vexing thoughts, ' is I think, very expressive. It hasbeen familiar to me from my childhood; for it is to be found in the_Psalms in Metre_, used in the churches (I believe I should say _kirks_)of Scotland, _Psal_. Xliii. V. 5;

'Why art thou then cast down, my soul? What should discourage thee?And why with _vexing thoughts art_ thou Disquieted in me?'

Some allowance must no doubt be made for early prepossession. But at amaturer period of life, after looking at various metrical versions ofthe _Psalms_, I am well satisfied that the version used in Scotland is, upon the whole, the best; and that it has in general a simplicity and_unction_ of sacred Poesy; and in many parts its transfusion isadmirable. BOSWELL. 

[18] 'Burke and Reynolds are the same one day as another, ' Johnson said, _post_, under Sept. 22, 1777. Boswell celebrates Reynolds's 'equal andplacid temper, ' _ante_, i. I. On Aug. 12, 1775, he wrote to Temple:--'Itis absurd to hope for continual happiness in this life; few men, if any, enjoy it. I have a kind of belief that Edmund Burke does; he has so muchknowledge, so much animation, and the consciousness of so much fame. '_Letters of Boswell_, p. 212. 

[19] _ante_, i. 446. 

[20] Baretti says, that 'Mrs. Thrale abruptly proposed to start for Bath, as wishing to avoid the sight of the funeral. She had no man-friend togo with her, ' and so he offered his services. Johnson at that momentarrived. 'I expected that he would spare me the jaunt, and go himself toBath with her; but he made no motion to that effect. ' _European Mag_. Xiii. 315. It was on the evening of the 29th that Boswell found Johnson, as he thought, not in very good humour. Yet on the 30th he wrote to Mrs. Thrale, and called on Mr. Thrale. On April 1 and April 4 he again wroteto Mrs. Thrale. He would have gone a second time, he says, to see Mr. Thrale, had he not been made to understand that when he was wanted hewould be sent for. _Piozzi Letters_, i. 309-314. 

[21] Pope, _Essay on Man_, iv. 390. Boswell twice more applies the sameline to Johnson, post, June 3, 1781, and under Dec. 13, 1784. 

[22] Imlac consoles the Princess for the loss of Pekuah. 'When theclouds of sorrow gather over us, we see nothing beyond them, nor canimagine how they will be dispelled; yet a new day succeeded to thenight, and sorrow is never long without a dawn of ease. But they whorestrain themselves from receiving comfort do as the savages would havedone, had they put out their eyes when it was dark. ' _Rasselas_, ch. 35. 'Keep yourself busy, ' wrote Johnson to Mrs. Thrale, 'and you will intime grow cheerful. New prospects may open, and new enjoyments may comewithin your reach. ' _Piozzi Letters_. 

[23] See _ante_, i. 86. It was reprinted in 1789. 

[24] See Boswell's _Hebrides_ under Nov. 11, 1773. 

[25] See _post_, under April 29, 1776. 

[26] In like manner he writes, 'I catched for the moment an enthusiasmwith respect to visiting the Wall of China. ' _post_ April 10, 1778. Johnson had had some desire to go upon Cook's expedition in 1772. _ante_, March 21, 1772. 

[27] Mme. D'Arblay (_Memoirs of Dr. Burney_, i. 284) describes 'theperfect case with which Omai managed a sword which he had received fromthe King, and which he had that day put on for the first time in orderto go to the House of Lords. ' He is the 'gentle savage' in Cowpers_Task_, i. 632. 

[28] See ante, ii. 50. 

[29] Voltaire (_Siècle de Louis XV_, ch. Xv. ), in his account of thebattle of Fontenoy, thus mentions him:--'On était à cinquante pas dedistance. .. . Les officiers anglais saluèrent les Français en ôtant leurschapeaux. .. . Les officiers des gardes françaises leur rendirent lesalut, Mylord Charles Hay, capitaine aux gardes anglaises, cria:--_Messieurs des gardes françaises, tirez_. Le comte d'Auterocheleur dit a voix haute:--_Messieurs, nous ne tirons jamais les premiers;tirez vous-mêmes_. '

[30] See _post_, 1780, in Mr. Langton's _Collection_. Hay was third incommand in the expedition to North America in 1757. It was reported thathe said that 'the nation's wealth was expended in making sham-fights andplanting cabbages. ' He was put under arrest and sent home to be tried. _Gent. Mag_. 1758, p. 170. Mr. Croker says that 'the real state of thecase was that he had gone mad, and was in that state sent home. ' He diedbefore the sentence of the court-martial was promulgated. Croker's_Boswell_, p. 497. 

[31] In _Thoughts on the Coronation of George III_ (_Works_, v. 458) heexpressed himself differently, if indeed the passage is of his writing(see _ante_, i. 361). He says: 'It cannot but offend every Englishman tosee troops of soldiers placed between him and his sovereign, as if theywere the most honourable of the people, or the King required guards tosecure his person from his subjects. As their station makes them thinkthemselves important, their insolence is always such as may be expectedfrom servile authority. ' In his _Journey to the Hebrides_ (_ib_. Ix. 30)he speaks of 'that courtesy which is so closely connected with themilitary character. ' See _post_, April 10, 1778. 

[32] 'It is not in the power even of God to make a politesoldier. ' Meander; quoted by Hume, _Essays_, Part i. 20, note. 

[33] In Johnson's Debates for 1741 (_Works_, x. 387) is on thequartering of soldiers. By the Mutiny Act the innkeeper was required tofind each foot-soldier lodging, diet, and small beer for fourpence aday. By the Act as amended that year if he furnished salt, vinegar, small-beer, candles, fire, and utensils to dress their victuals, withoutpayment, he had not to supply diet except on a march. _Ib_. Pp. 416, 420. The allowance of small-beer was fixed at five pints a day, thoughit was maintained that it should be six. Lord Baltimore, according toJohnson, said that 'as every gentleman's servants each consumed dailysix pints, it surely is not to be required that a soldier should live ina perpetual state of warfare with his constitution. ' _Ib_. P. 418. Burke, writing in 1794, says:--'In quarters the innkeepers are obligedto find for the soldiers lodging, fire, candle-light, small-beer, saltand vinegar gratis. ' Burke's _Corres_. Iv. 258. Johnson wrote in 1758(_Works_, vi. 150):--'The manner in which the soldiers are dispersed inquarters over the country during times of peace naturally produceslaxity of discipline; they are very little in sight of their officers;and when they are not engaged in the slight duty of the guard aresuffered to live every man his own way. ' Fielding, in _Tom Jones_, bk. Ix. Ch. 6, humourously describes an innkeeper's grievances. 

[34] This alludes to the pleadings of a Stoic and an Epicurean for andagainst the existence of the Divinity in Lucian's _Jupiter the Tragic_. CROKER. 

[35] 'There is a time when every man is weary of raising difficultiesonly to ask himself with the solution and desires to enjoy truth withoutthe labour or hazard of contest. ' Johnson's _Works_, vi. 497. See _ante_May 7, 1773, and _post_, April 3, 1779, where he says, 'Sir, you are toa certain degree hurt by knowing that even one man does not believe. 'Hume, in his Essay _Of Parties in General_, had written:--'Such is thenature of the human mind, that it always takes hold of every mind thatapproaches it; and as it is wonderfully fortified and corroborated byan unanimity of sentiments, so is it, shocked and disturbed by anycontrariety. ' 'Carlyle was fond of quoting a sentence of Novalis:--"Myconviction gains infinitely the moment another soul will believe init. "' _Saturday Review_, No. 1538, p. 521. 'The introducing of newdoctrines, ' said Bacon, 'is an affectation of tyranny over theunderstandings and beliefs of men. ' Bacon's _Nat. Hist_. , Experiment1000. 

[36] 'We must own, ' said Johnson, 'that neither a dull boy, nor an idleboy, will do so well at a great school as at a private one. ' Boswell's_Hebrides_, Aug. 22, 1773. See _ante_, under Dec. 5, 1775. On June 16, 1784, he said of a very timid boy:--'Placing him at a public school isforcing an owl upon day. ' Lord Shelburne says that the first Pitt toldhim 'that his reason for preferring private to public education was, that he scarce observed a boy who was not cowed for life at Eton; that apublic school might suit a boy of a turbulent forward disposition, butwould not do where there was any gentleness. ' Fitzmaurice's _Shelburne_, i. 72. 

[37] 'There are, ' wrote Hume in 1767, 'several advantages of a Scotseducation; but the question is, whether that of the language does notcounterbalance them, and determine the preference to the English. ' Hedecides it does. He continues:--'The only inconvenience is, that fewScotsmen that have had an English education have ever settled cordiallyin their own country; and they have been commonly lost ever after totheir friends. ' J. H. Burton's _Hume_, ii. 403. 

[38] He wrote to Temple on Nov. 28, 1789:--'My eldest son has been atEton since the 15th of October. You cannot imagine how miserable he hasbeen; he wrote to me for some time as if from the galleys, andintreated me to come to him. ' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 314. On July 21, 1790, he wrote of his second son who was at home ill:--'I am in greatconcern what should be done with him, for he is so oppressed atWestminster School by the big boys that I am almost afraid to send himthither. ' _Ib_. P. 327. On April 6, 1791, he wrote:--'Your little friendJames is quite reconciled to Westminster. ' _Ib_. P. 337. Southey, whowas at Westminster with young Boswell, describes 'the capricious anddangerous tyranny' under which he himself had suffered. Southey's_Life_, i. 138. 

[39] Horace, Satires, i. 6. 65-88. 

[40] Dr. Adam Smith, who was for some time a Professor in theUniversity of Glasgow, has uttered, in his _Wealth of Nations_ [v. I, iii. 2], some reflections upon this subject which are certainly not wellfounded, and seem to be invidious. BOSWELL. 

[41] See _ante, _ ii. 98. 

[42] Gibbon denied this. 'The diligence of the tutors is voluntary, andwill consequently be languid, while the pupils themselves, or theirparents, are not indulged in the liberty of choice or change, ' _Misc. Works_, i. 54. Of one of his tutors he wrote:--'He well remembered thathe had a salary to receive, and only forgot that he had a duty toperform. ' _Ib_. P. 58. Boswell, _post_, end of Nov. 1784, blames Dr. Knox for 'ungraciously attacking his venerable _Alma Mater_. ' Knox, whowas a Fellow of St. John's, left Oxford in 1778. In his _LiberalEducation_, published in 1781, he wrote:--'I saw immorality, habitualdrunkenness, idleness and ignorance, boastingly obtruding themselves onpublic view. ' Knox's _Works_, iv. 138. 'The general tendency of theuniversities is favourable to the diffusion of ignorance, idleness, vice, and infidelity among young men. ' _Ib_. P. 147. 'In no part of thekingdom will you meet with more licentious practices and sentiments, andwith less learning than in some colleges. ' _Ib_. P. 179. 'The tutorsgive what are called lectures. The boys construe a classic, the jollyyoung tutor lolls in his elbow-chair, and seldom gives himself thetrouble of interrupting the greatest dunce. ' _Ib_. P. 199. 'Somesocieties would have been glad to shut themselves up by themselves, andenjoy the good things of the cook and manciple, without the intrusion ofcommoners who come for education. ' _Ib_. P. 200. 'The principal thingrequired is external respect from the juniors. However ignorant orunworthy a senior fellow may be, yet the slightest disrespect is treatedas the greatest crime of which an academic can be guilty. ' _Ib_. P. 201. The Proctors gave far 'more frequent reprimands to the want of a band, or to the hair tied in queue, than to important irregularities. A manmight be a drunkard, a debauchee, and yet long escape the Proctor'sanimadversion; but no virtue could protect you if you walked onChrist-church meadow or the High Street with a band tied too low, orwith no band at all; with a pig-tail, or with a green or scarlet coat. '_Ib_. P. 159. Only thirteen weeks' residence a year was required. _Ib_. P. 172. The degree was conferred without examination. _Ib_. P. 189. After taking it 'a man offers himself as a candidate for orders. He isexamined by the Bishop's chaplain. He construes a few verses in theGreek testament, and translates one of the articles from Latin intoEnglish. His testimonial being received he comes from his jollycompanions to the care of a large parish. ' _Ib_. P. 197. Bishop Law gavein 1781 a different account of Cambridge. There, he complains, such wasthe devotion to mathematics, that 'young men often sacrifice their wholestock of strength and spirits, and so entirely devote most of theirfirst few years to what is called _taking a good degree_, as to behardly good for anything else. ' Preface to Archbishop King's _Essay onthe Origin of Evil_, p. Xx. 

[43] According to Adam Smith this is true only of the Protestantcountries. In Roman Catholic countries and England where benefices arerich, the church is continually draining the universities of all theirablest members. In Scotland and Protestant countries abroad, where achair in a university is generally a better establishment than abenefice, by far the greater part of the most eminent men of lettershave been professors. _Wealth of Nations_, v. I. Iii. 3. 

[44] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 17, 1773. 

[45] Dr. Goldsmith was dead before Mr. Maclaurin discovered theludicrous errour. But Mr. Nourse, the bookseller, who was the proprietorof the work, upon being applied to by Sir John Pringle, agreed veryhandsomely to have the leaf on which it was contained cancelled, andre-printed without it, at his own expence. BOSWELL. In the secondedition, published five years after Goldsmith's death, the storyremains. In a foot-note the editor says, that 'he has been crediblyinformed that the professor had not the defect here mentioned. ' Thestory is not quite as Boswell tells it. 'Maclaurin, ' writes Goldsmith(ii. 91), 'was very subject to have his jaw dislocated; so that when heopened his mouth wider than ordinary, or when he yawned, he could notshut it again. In the midst of his harangues, therefore, if any of hispupils began to be tired of his lecture, he had only to gape or yawn, and the professor instantly caught the sympathetic affection; so that hethus continued to stand speechless, with his mouth wide open, till hisservant, from the next room, was called in to set his jaw again. '

[46] Dr. Shebbeare (_post_, April 18, 1778) was tried for writing alibellous pamphlet. Horace Walpole says:--'The bitterest parts of thework were a satire on William III and George I. The most remarkable partof this trial was the Chief Justice Mansfield laying down for law thatsatires even on dead Kings were punishable. Adieu! veracity and history, if the King's bench is to appreciate your expressions!' _Memoirs of theReign of George II_, iii. 153. 

[47] What Dr. Johnson has here said, is undoubtedly good sense; yet I amafraid that law, though defined by _Lord Coke_ 'the perfection ofreason, ' is not altogether _with him_; for it is held in the books, thatan attack on the reputation even of a dead man, may be punished as alibel, because tending to a breach of the peace. There is, however, Ibelieve, no modern decided case to that effect. In the King's Bench, Trinity Term, 1790, the question occurred on occasion of an indictment, _The King_ v. _Topham_, who, as a _proprietor_ of a news-paper entitled_The World_, was found guilty of a libel against Earl Cowper, deceased, because certain injurious charges against his Lordship were published inthat paper. An arrest of Judgment having been moved for, the case wasafterwards solemnly argued. My friend Mr. Const, whom I delight inhaving an opportunity to praise, not only for his abilities but hismanners; a gentleman whose ancient German blood has been mellowed inEngland, and who may be truely said to unite the _Baron_ and the_Barrister_, was one of the Counsel for Mr. Topham. He displayed muchlearning and ingenuity upon the general question; which, however, wasnot decided, as the Court granted an arrest chiefly on the informalityof the indictment. No man has a higher reverence for the law of Englandthan I have; but, with all deference I cannot help thinking, thatprosecution by indictment, if a defendant is never to be allowed tojustify, must often be very oppressive, unless Juries, whom I am moreand more confirmed in holding to be judges of law as well as of fact, resolutely interpose. Of late an act of Parliament has passeddeclaratory of their full right to one as well as the other, in matterof libel; and the bill having been brought in by a popular gentleman, many of his party have in most extravagant terms declaimed on thewonderful acquisition to the liberty of the press. For my own part Iever was clearly of opinion that this right was inherent in the veryconstitution of a Jury, and indeed in sense and reason inseparable fromtheir important function. To establish it, therefore, by Statute, is, Ithink, narrowing its foundation, which is the broad and deep basis ofCommon Law. Would it not rather weaken the right of primo-geniture, orany other old and universally-acknowledged right, should the legislaturepass an act in favour of it? In my _Letter to the People of Scotland, against diminishing the number of the Lords of Session_, published in1785, there is the following passage, which, as a concise, and I hope afair and rational state of the matter, I presume to quote: 'The Juriesof England are Judges of _law_ as well as of fact, in _many civil_, andin all _criminals_ trials. That my principles of _resistance_ may not bemisapprehended and more than my principles of _submission_, I protestthat I should be the last man in the world to encourage Juries tocontradict rashly, wantonly, or perversely, the opinion of the Judges. On the contrary, I would have them listen respectfully to the advisethey receive from the Bench, by which they may be often well directed informing _their own opinion_; which, "and not anothers, " is the opinionthey are to return _upon their oaths_. But where, after due attention toall that the judge has said, they are decidedly of a different opinionfrom him, they have not only a _power and a right_, but they are _boundin conscience_ to bring in a verdict accordingly. ' BOWELL. _The World_is described by Gifford in his _Baviad and Marviad_, as a paper set upby 'a knot of fantastic coxcombs to direct the taste of the town. 'Lowndes (_Bibl. Man_. Ed. 1871, p. 2994) confounds it with _The World_mentioned _ante_, i. 257. The 'popular gentleman' was Fox, whose LibelBill passed the House of Lords in June 1792. _Parl. Hist_. Xxix. 1537. 

[48] Nobody, that is to say, but Johnson. _Post_, p. 24, note 2. 

[49] Of this service Johnson recorded:--'In the morning I had at churchsome radiations of comfort. ' _Pr. And Med_. P. 146. 

[50] Baretti, in a marginal note on _Piozzi Letters_, i. 311, says:--'Mr. Thrale, who was a worldly man, and followed the direction of hisown feelings with no philosophical or Christian distinctions, havingnow lost the strong hope of being one day succeeded in the profitableBrewery by the only son he had left, gave himself silently up to hisgrief, and fell in a few years a victim to it. ' In a second note (ii. 22) he says:--'The poor man could never subdue his grief on account ofhis son's death. '

[51] A gentleman, who from his extraordinary stores of knowledge, hasbeen stiled _omniscient_. Johnson, I think very properly, altered it toall-knowing, as it is a _verbum solenne_, appropriated to the SupremeBeing. BOSWELL. 

[52] Mrs. Thrale wrote to him on May 3:--'Should you write aboutStreatham and Croydon, the book would be as good to me as a journey toRome, exactly; for 'tis Johnson, not _Falkland's Islands_ that interestus, and your style is invariably the same. The sight of Rome might haveexcited more reflections indeed than the sight of the Hebrides, and sothe book might be bigger, but it would not be better a jot. ' _PiozziLetters_, i 318. 

[53] Hawkins says (_Life_, p. 84) that 'Johnson was never greedy ofmoney, but without money could not be stimulated to write. I have beentold by a clergyman with whom he had been long acquainted, that, being(sic) to preach on a particular occasion, he applied to him for help. "Iwill write a sermon for thee, " said Johnson, "but thou must pay me forit. "' See _post_, May 1, 1783. Horace Walpole (_Letters_, viii. 150)records an anecdote that he had from Hawkins:--'When Dr. Johnson was athis work on his _Shakespeare_, Sir John said to him, "Well! Doctor, nowyou have finished your _Dictionary_, I suppose you will labour yourpresent work _con amore_ for your reputation. " "No Sir, " said Johnson, "nothing excites a man to write but necessity. "' Walpole then relatesthe anecdote of the clergyman, and speaks of Johnson as 'the mercenary. 'Walpole's sinecure offices thirty-nine years before this time broughthim in 'near, £2000 a year. ' In 1782 he wrote that his office of Usherof the Exchequer was worth £1800 a year. _Letters_, i. Lxxix, lxxxii. 

[54] Swift wrote in 1735, when he was sixty-seven:--'I never got afarthing by anything I writ, except one about eight years ago, and thatwas by Mr. Pope's prudent management for me. ' _Works_, xix. 171. It was, I conjecture, _Gulliver's Travels_. Hume, in 1757, wrote:--'I am writingthe _History of England_ from the accession of Henry VII. I undertookthis work because I was tired of idleness, and found reading alone, after I had often perused all good books (which I think is soon done), somewhat a languid occupation. ' J. H. Burton's _Hume_, ii. 33. 

[55] This Mr. Ellis was, I believe, the last of that profession called_Scriveners_, which is one of the London companies, but of which thebusiness is no longer carried on separately, but is transacted byattornies and others. He was a man of literature and talents. He was theauthour of a Hudibrastick version of Maphæsus's _Canto_, in addition tothe _Æneid_; of some poems in Dodsley's _Collections_; and various othersmall pieces; but being a very modest man, never put his name toanything. He shewed me a translation which he had made of Ovid's_Epistles_, very prettily done. There is a good engraved portrait of himby Pether, from a picture by Fry, which hangs in the hall of theScriveners' company. I visited him October 4, 1790, in his ninety-thirdyear, and found his judgment distinct and clear, and his memory, thoughfaded so as to fail him occasionally, yet, as he assured me, and Iindeed perceived, able to serve him very well, after a littlerecollection. It was agreeable to observe, that he was free from thediscontent and fretfulness which too often molest old age. He in thesummer of that year walked to Rotherhithe, where he dined, and walkedhome in the evening. He died on the 31st of December, 1791. BOSWELL. Theversion of Maphæsus's 'bombastic' additional _Canto_ is advertised inthe _Gent. Mag_. 1758, p. 233. The engraver of Mr. Ellis's portrait inthe first two editions is called Peffer. 

[56] 'Admiral Walsingham boasted that he had entertained moremiscellaneous parties than any other man in London. At one time he hadreceived the Duke of Cumberland, Dr. Johnson, Mr. Nairne the optician, and Leoni the singer. It was at his table that Dr. Johnson made thatexcellent reply to a pert coxcomb who baited him during dinner. "Praynow, " said he to the Doctor, "what would you give, old gentleman, to beas young and sprightly as I am?" "Why, Sir, I think, " replied Johnson, "I would almost be content to be as foolish. "' Cradock's _Memoirs_, i. 172. 

[57] 'Dr. Johnson almost always prefers the company of an intelligentman of the world to that of a scholar. ' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 241. 

[58] See J. H. Burton's _Hume_, i. 174, for an account of him. 

[59] Lord Macartney, who with his other distinguished qualities, isremarkable also for an elegant pleasantry, told me, that he met Johnsonat Lady Craven's, and that he seemed jealous of any interference: 'So, (said his Lordship, smiling, ) _I kept back_. ' BOSWELL. 

[60] See _ante_, i. 242. 

[61] There is an account of him in Sir John Hawkins's Life of Johnson. BOSWELL. Hawkins (Life, p. 246) records the following sarcasm of Ballow. In a coffee-house he attacked the profession of physic, which Akenside, who was a physician as well as poet, defended. 'Doctor, ' said Ballow, 'after all you have said, my opinion of the profession of physic isthis. The ancients endeavoured to make it a science, and failed; and themoderns to make it a trade, and have succeeded. '

[62] See _ante_, i. 274. 

[63] I have in vain endeavoured to find out what parts Johnson wrotefor Dr. James. Perhaps medical men may. BOSWELL. See _ante_, i. 159. Johnson, needing medicine at Montrose, 'wrote the prescription intechnical characters. ' Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 21, 1773. 

[64] Horace Walpole, writing of May in this year, says that GeneralSmith, an adventurer from the East Indies, who was taken off by Foote in_The Nabob_, 'being excluded from the fashionable club of young men ofquality at Almack's, had, with a set of sharpers, formed a plan for anew club, which, by the excess of play, should draw all the youngextravagants thither. They built a magnificent house in St. James's-street, and furnished it gorgeously. ' _Journal of the Reign ofGeorge III_, ii. 39. 

[65] He said the same when in Scotland. Boswell's _Hebrides_, under Nov. 22, 1773. On the other hand, in _The Rambler_, No. 80, he wrote:--'It isscarcely possible to pass an hour in honest conversation, without beingable, when we rise from it, to please ourselves with having given orreceived some advantages; but a man may shuffle cards, or rattle dice, from noon to midnight, without tracing any new idea in his mind, orbeing able to recollect the day by any other token than his gain orloss, and a confused remembrance of agitated passions, and clamorousaltercations. '

[66] 'Few reflect, ' says Warburton, 'on what a great wit has soingenuously owned. That wit is generally false reasoning. ' The wit wasWycherley. See his letter xvi. To Pope in Pope's _Works_. Warburton's_Divine Legation_, i. Xii. 

[67] 'Perhaps no man was ever more happy than Dr. Johnson in theextempore and masterly defence of any cause which, at the given moment, he chose to defend. ' Stockdale's _Memoirs_, i. 261. 

[68] Burke, in a letter that he wrote in 1771 (_Corres_. I. 330), musthave had in mind his talks with Johnson. 'Nay, ' he said, 'it is notuncommon, when men are got into debates, to take now one side, nowanother, of a question, as the momentary humour of the man and theoccasion called for, with all the latitude that the antiquated freedomand ease of English conversation among friends did, in former days, encourage and excuse. ' H. C. Robinson (_Diary_, iii. 485) says that Dr. Burney 'spoke with great warmth of affection of Dr. Johnson, and said hewas the kindest creature in the world when he thought he was loved andrespected by others. He would play the fool among friends, but herequired deference. It was necessary to ask questions and make noassertion. If you said two and two make four, he would say, 'How willyou prove that, Sir?' Dr. Burney seemed amiably sensitive to everyunfavourable remark on his old friend. 

[69] Patrick Lord Elibank, who died in 1778. BOSWELL. See Boswell's_Hebrides_, Sept. 12, 1773. 

[70] Yet he said of him:--'Sir, there is nothing conclusive in his talk. 'See _post_, p. 57. 

[71] Johnson records of this Good Friday:--'My design was to pass partof the day in exercises of piety, but Mr. Boswell interrupted me; ofhim, however, I could have rid myself; but poor Thrale, _orbus etexspes_, came for comfort, and sat till seven, when we all went tochurch. ' _Pr. And Med_. P. 146. 

[72] Johnson's entries at Easter shew this year, and some of thefollowing years, more peace of mind than hitherto. Thus this Easter herecords, 'I had at church some radiations of comfort. .. . When Ireceived, some tender images struck me. I was so mollified by theconcluding address to our Saviour that I could not utter it. ' _Pr. AndMed_. Pp. 146, 149. 'Easter-day, 1777, I was for some time muchdistressed, but at last obtained, I hope from the God of peace, morequiet than I have enjoyed for a long time. I had made no resolution, butas my heart grew lighter, my hopes revived, and my courage increased. '_Ib_. P. 158. 'Good Friday, 1778. I went with some confidence andcalmness through the prayers. ' _Ib_. P. 164. 

[73] '_Nunquam enim nisi navi plenâ tollo vectorem_. ' Lib. Ii. C. Vi. BOSWELL. 

[74] See _ante_, i. 187. 

[75] See _ante_, i. 232. 

[76] See _ante_, ii, 219. 

[77] Cheyne's _English Malady, or a Treatise of Nervous Diseases of AllKinds_, 1733. He recommended a milk, seed, and vegetable diet; by seedhe apparently meant any kind of grain. He did not take meat. He drankgreen tea. At one time he weighed thirty-two stones. His work shews thegreat change in the use of fermented liquors since his time. Thus hesays:--'For nearly twenty years I continued sober, moderate, and plainin my diet, and in my greatest health drank not above a quart, or threepints at most of wine any day' (p. 235). 'For near one-half of the timefrom thirty to sixty I scarce drank any strong liquor at all. It will befound that upon the whole I drank very little above a pint of wine, orat most not a quart one day with another, since I was near thirty'(p. 243). Johnson a second time recommended Boswell to read this book, _post_, July 2, 1776. See _ante_, i. 65. Boswell was not the man tofollow Cheyne's advice. Of one of his works Wesley says:--'It is one ofthe most ingenious books which I ever saw. But what epicure will everregard it? for "the man talks against good eating and drinking. "'Wesley's _Journal_, i. 347. Young, in his _Epistles to Pope_, No. Ii. Says:--

'--three ells round huge Cheyne rails at meat. '

Dr. J. H. Burton (_Life of Hume_, i. 45) shews reason for believing thata very curious letter by Hume was written to Cheyne. 

[78] '"Solitude, " he said one day, "is dangerous to reason, withoutbeing favourable to virtue; pleasures of some sort are necessary to theintellectual as to the corporeal health; and those who resist gaietywill be likely for the most part to fall a sacrifice to appetite; forthe solicitations of sense are always at hand, and a dram to a vacantand solitary person is a speedy and seducing relief. Remember (continuedhe) that the solitary mortal is certainly luxurious, probablysuperstitious, and possibly mad. "' Piozzi's _Anec_. P. 106. 

[79] The day before he wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'Mr. Thrale's alterationof purpose is not weakness of resolution; it is a wise man's compliancewith the change of things, and with the new duties which the changeproduces. Whoever expects me to be angry will be disappointed. I do noteven grieve at the effect, I grieve only at the cause. ' _PiozziLetters_, i. 314. Mrs. Thrale on May 3 wrote:--'Baretti said you wouldbe very angry, because this dreadful event made us put off our Italianjourney, but I knew you better. Who knows even now that 'tis deferredfor ever? Mr. Thrale says he shall not die in peace without seeing Rome, and I am sure he will go no-where that he can help without you. ' _Ib_. P. 317. 

[80] See _ante_, i. 346. 

[81] See _post_, July 22, 1777, note, where Boswell complains ofchildren being 'suffered to poison the moments of festivity. '

[82] Boswell, _post_, under March 30, 1783, says, 'Johnson discovered alove of little children upon all occasions. '

[83] Johnson at a later period thought otherwise. _Post_, March 30, 1778. 

[84] Pope borrowed from the following lines:--

'When on my sick bed I languish, Full of sorrow, full of anguish;Fainting, gasping, trembling, crying, Panting, groaning, speechless, dying--Methinks I hear some gentle spirit say, Be not fearful, come away. '

Campbell's _Brit. Poets_, p. 301. 

[85] In Rochester's _Allusion to the Tenth Satire of the First Book ofHorace_. 

[86] In the _Monthly Review_ for May, 1792, there is such a correctionof the above passage, as I should think myself very culpable not tosubjoin. 'This account is very inaccurate. The following statement offacts we know to be true, in every material circumstance:--Shiels wasthe principal collector and digester of the materials for the work: butas he was very raw in authourship, an indifferent writer in prose, andhis language full of Scotticisms, Cibber, who was a clever, livelyfellow, and then soliciting employment among the booksellers, wasengaged to correct the style and diction of the whole work, thenintended to make only four volumes, with power to alter, expunge, oradd, as he liked. He was also to supply _notes_, occasionally, especially concerning those dramatick poets with whom he had beenchiefly conversant. He also engaged to write several of the Lives;which, (as we are told, ) he, accordingly, performed. He was fartheruseful in striking out the Jacobitical and Tory sentiments, which Shielshad industriously interspersed wherever he could bring them in:--and, asthe success of the work appeared, after all, very doubtful, he wascontent with twenty-one pounds for his labour beside a few sets of thebooks, to disperse among his friends. --Shiels had nearly seventy pounds, beside the advantage of many of the best Lives in the work beingcommunicated by friends to the undertaking; and for which Mr. Shiels hadthe same consideration as for the rest, being paid by the sheet, for thewhole. He was, however, so angry with his Whiggish supervisor, (He, likehis father, being a violent stickler for the political principles whichprevailed in the Reign of George the Second, ) for so unmercifullymutilating his copy, and scouting his politicks, that he wrote Cibber achallenge: but was prevented from sending it, by the publisher, whofairly laughed him out of his fury. The proprietors, too, werediscontented, in the end, on account of Mr. Cibber's unexpectedindustry; for his corrections and alterations in the proof-sheets wereso numerous and considerable, that the printer made for them a grievousaddition to his bill; and, in fine, all parties were dissatisfied. Onthe whole, the work was productive of no profit to the undertakers, whohad agreed, in case of success, to make Cibber a present of someaddition to the twenty guineas which he had received, and for which hisreceipt is now in the booksellers' hands. We are farther assured, thathe actually obtained an additional sum; when he, soon after, (in theyear 1758, ) unfortunately embarked for Dublin, on an engagement for oneof the theatres there: but the ship was cast away, and every person onboard perished. There were about sixty passengers, among whom was theEarl of Drogheda, with many other persons of consequence and property. [_Gent. Mag_. 1758, p. 555. ]

'As to the alledged design of making the compilement pass for the workof old Mr. Cibber, the charges seem to have been founded on a somewhatuncharitable construction. We are assured that the thought was notharboured by some of the proprietors, who are still living; and we hopethat it did not occur to the first designer of the work, who was alsothe printer of it, and who bore a respectable character. 

'We have been induced to enter thus circumstantially into the foregoingdetail of facts relating to _The Lives of the Poets_, compiled byMessrs. Cibber and Shiels, from a sincere regard to that sacredprinciple of Truth, to which Dr. Johnson so rigidly adhered, accordingto the best of his knowledge; and which we believe, _no consideration_would have prevailed on him to violate. In regard to the matter, whichwe now dismiss, he had, no doubt, been misled by partial and wronginformation: Shiels was the Doctor's amanuensis; he had quarrelled withCibber; it is natural to suppose that he told his story in his own way;and it is certain that _he_ was not "a very sturdy moralist. " [Thequotation is from Johnson's _Works_, ix. 116. ] This explanation appearsto me very satisfactory. It is, however, to be observed, that the storytold by Johnson does not rest solely upon my record of his conversation;for he himself has published it in his _Life of Hammond_ [_ib_. Viii. 90], where he says, "the manuscript of Shiels is now in my possession. "Very probably he had trusted to Shiels's word, and never looked at it soas to compare it with _The Lives of the Poets_, as published under Mr. Cibber's name. What became of that manuscript I know not. I should haveliked much to examine it. I suppose it was thrown into the fire in thatimpetuous combustion of papers, which Johnson I think rashly executed, when _moribundus_. ' BOSWELL. Mr. Croker, quoting a letter by Griffithsthe publisher, says:--'The question is now decided by this letter inopposition to Dr. Johnson's assertion. ' Croker's _Boswell_, p. 818. Theevidence of such an infamous fellow as Griffiths is worthless. (For hischaracter see Forster's _Goldsmith_, i. 161. ) As the _Monthly Review_was his property, the passage quoted by Boswell was, no doubt, writtenby his direction. D'Israeli (_Curiosities of Literature_, ed. 1834, vi. 375) says that Oldys (_ante_, i. 175) made annotations on a copy ofLangbaine's _Dramatic Poets_. 'This _Langbaine_, with additions byCoxeter, was bought by Theophilus Cibber; on the strength of these noteshe prefixed his name to the first collection of the _Lives of OurPoets_, written chiefly by Shiels. '

[87] Mason's _Memoirs of Gray's Life_ was published in 1775. Johnson, inhis _Life of Gray_ (_Works_, viii. 476), praises Gray's portion of thebook:--'They [Gray and Horace Walpole] wandered through France intoItaly; and Gray's _Letters_ contain a very pleasing account of manyparts of their journey. ' 'The style of Madame de Sévigné, ' wroteMackintosh (_Life_, ii. 221), 'is evidently copied, not only by herworshipper Walpole, but even by Gray; notwithstanding the extraordinarymerits of his matter, he has the double stiffness of an imitator and ofa college recluse. '

[88] See ante, ii. 164. 

[89] This impartiality is very unlikely. In 1757 Griffiths, the owner ofthe _Monthly_, aiming a blow at Smollett, the editor of the _Critical_, said that _The Monthly Review_ was not written by 'physicians withoutpractice, authors without learning, men without decency, gentlemenwithout manners, and critics without judgement. ' Smollett retorted:--'_The Critical Review_ is not written by a parcel of obscure hirelings, under the restraint of a bookseller and his wife, who presume to revise, alter, and amend the articles occasionally. The principal writers in the_Critical Review_ are unconnected with booksellers, un-awed by old women, and independent of each other. ' Forster's _Goldsmith_, i. 100. 'A fourthshare in _The Monthly Review_ was sold in 1761 for £755. ' _A Booksellerof the Last Century_, p. 19. 

[90] See ante, ii. 39. 

[91] Horace Walpole writes:--'The scope of the _Critical Review_ was todecry any work that appeared favourable to the principles of theRevolution. ' _Memoirs of the Reign of George II_, iii. 260. 

[92] 'The story of this publication is remarkable. The whole book wasprinted twice over, a great part of it three times, and many sheets fouror five times. The booksellers paid for the first impression; but thecharges and repeated operations of the press were at the expense of theauthor, whose ambitious accuracy is known to have cost him at least athousand pounds. He began to print in 1755. Three volumes appeared in1764, and the conclusion in 1771. Andrew Reid undertook to persuadeLyttelton, as he had persuaded himself, that he was master of the secretof punctuation; and, as fear begets credulity, he was employed, I knownot at what price, to point the pages of _Henry the Second_. When timebrought the _History_ to a third edition, Reid was either dead ordiscarded; and the superintendence of typography and punctuation wascommitted to a man originally a comb-maker, but then known by the styleof Doctor. Something uncommon was probably expected, and somethinguncommon was at last done; for to the Doctor's edition is appended, whatthe world had hardly seen before, a list of errors in nineteen pages. 'Johnson's _Works_, viii. 492. In the first edition of _The Lives of thePoets_ 'the Doctor' is called Dr. Saunders. So ambitious was LordLyttelton's accuracy that in the second edition he gave a list of 'falsestops which hurt the sense. ' For instance, the punctuation of thefollowing paragraph:--'The words of Abbot Suger, in his life of Lewis leGros, concerning this prince are very remarkable, ' he thus corrects, 'after prince a comma is wanting. ' See _ante_, ii. 37. 

[93] According to Horace Walpole, Lyttelton had angered Smollett bydeclining 'to recommend to the stage' a comedy of his. 'He promised, 'Walpole continues, 'if it should be acted, to do all the service in hispower for the author. Smollett's return was drawing an abusive portraitof Lord Lyttelton in _Roderick Random. ' Memoirs of the Reign of GeorgeII_, iii. 259. 

[94] _Spectator_, No. 626. See _post_, 1780, in Mr. Langton's_Collection_, near the end. 

[95] When Steele brought _The Spectator_ to the close of its firstperiod, he acknowledged in the final number (No. 555) his obligation tohis assistants. In a postscript to the later editions he says:--'It hadnot come to my knowledge, when I left off _The Spectator_, that I oweseveral excellent sentiments and agreeable pieces in this work to Mr. Ince, of Gray's Inn. ' Mr. Ince died in 1758. _Gent. Mag_. 1758, p. 504. 

[96] _Spectator_, No. 364. 

[97] Sir Edward Barry, Baronet. BOSWELL. 

[98] 'We form our words with the breath of our nostrils, we have theless to live upon for every word we speak. ' Jeremy Taylor's _HolyDying_, ch. I. Sec. 1. 

[99] On this day Johnson sent the following application for rooms inHampton Court to the Lord Chamberlain:--

'My Lord, Being wholly unknown to your lordship, I have only thisapology to make for presuming to trouble you with a request, that astranger's petition, if it cannot be easily granted, can be easilyrefused. Some of the apartments are now vacant in which I am encouragedto hope that by application to your lordship I may obtain a residence. Such a grant would be considered by me as a great favour; and I hopethat to a man who has had the honour of vindicating his Majesty'sGovernment, a retreat in one of his houses may not be improperly orunworthily allowed. I therefore request that your lordship will bepleased to grant such rooms in Hampton Court as shall seem proper to

'My Lord, 'Your lordship's most obedient and most faithful humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON. '

'April 11, 1776. '

'Mr. Saml. Johnson to the Earl of Hertford, requesting apartments atHampton Court, 11th May, 1776. ' And within, a memorandum of theanswer:--'Lord C. Presents his compliments to Mr. Johnson, and is sorryhe cannot obey his commands, having already on his hands manyengagements unsatisfied. ' Prior's _Malone_, p. 337. The endorsement doesnot, it will be seen, agree in date with the letter. Lord C. Stands forthe Lord Chamberlain. 

[100] Hogarth saw Garrick in Richard III, and on the following night inAbel Drugger; he was so struck, that he said to him, 'You are in yourelement when you are begrimed with dirt, or up to your elbows in blood. 'Murphy's _Garrick_, p. 21. Cooke, in his _Memoirs of Macklin_, p. 110, says that a Lichfield grocer, who came to London with a letter ofintroduction to Garrick from Peter Garrick, saw him act Abel Drugger, and returned without calling on him. He said to Peter Garrick: 'I sawenough of him on the stage. He may be rich, as I dare say any man wholives like him must be; but by G-d, though he is your brother, Mr. Garrick, he is one of the shabbiest, meanest, most pitiful hounds I eversaw in the whole course of my life. ' Abel Drugger is a character in BenJonson's _Alchemist_. 

[101] See _post_, under Sept. 30, 1783. 

[102] Lord Shelburne in 1766, at the age of twenty-nine, was appointedSecretary of State in Lord Chatham's ministry. Fitzmaurice's _Shelburne_, ii. 1. Jeremy Bentham said of him:--'His head was not clear. He felt thewant of clearness. He had had a most wretched education. ' _Ib_. P. 175. 

[103] He wrote to Mrs. Thrale on Aug. 14, 1780:--'I hope you have nodesign of stealing away to Italy before the election, nor of leaving mebehind you; though I am not only seventy, but seventy-one. .. . But whatif I am seventy-two; I remember Sulpitius says of Saint Martin (nowthat's above your reading), _Est animus victor annorum et senectuticedere nescius_. Match me that among your young folks. ' _PiozziLetters_, ii. 177. 

[104] Lady Hesketh, taking up apparently a thought which Paoli, asreported by Boswell, had thrown out in conversation, proposed to Cowperthe Mediterranean for a topic. 'He replied, "Unless I were a betterhistorian than I am, there would be no proportion between the theme andmy ability. It seems, indeed, not to be so properly a subject for onepoem, as for a dozen. "' Southey's _Cowper_, iii. 15, and vii. 44. 

[105] Burke said:--'I do not know how it has happened, that orators havehitherto fared worse in the hands of the translators than even thepoets; I never could bear to read a translation of Cicero. ' _Life of SirW. Jones_, p. 196. 

[106] See _ante_, ii. 188. 

[107] See _ante_, ii. 182. 

[108] See _post_, under date of Dec. 24, 1783, where mention seems to bemade of this evening. 

[109] See _ante_, note, p. 30. BOSWELL

[110] 'Thomson's diction is in the highest degree florid and luxuriant, such as may be said to be to his images and thoughts "both their lustreand their shade;" such as invest them with splendour, through which, perhaps, they are not always easily discerned. ' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 378. See _ante_, i. 453, and ii. 63. 

[111] _A Collection of Poems in six volumes by several hands_, 1758. 

[112] _Ib_. I. 116. 

[113] Mr. Nicholls says, '_The Spleen_ was a great favourite with Grayfor its wit and originality. ' Gray's _Works_, v. 36. See _post_, Oct. 10, 1779, where Johnson quotes two lines from it. 'Fling but a stone, thegiant dies, ' is another line that is not unknown. 

[114] A noted highwayman, who after having been several times tried andacquitted, was at last hanged. He was remarkable for foppery in his dress, and particularly for wearing a bunch of sixteen strings at the knees of hisbreeches. BOSWELL. 

[115] Goldsmith wrote a prologue for it. Horace Walpole wrote onDec. 14, 1771 (_Letters_, v. 356):--'There is a new tragedy at CoventGarden called _Zobeide_, which I am told is very indifferent, thoughwritten by a country gentleman. ' Cradock in his old age published hisown _Memoirs_. 

[116] '"Dr. Farmer, " said Johnson {speaking of this essay}, "you havedone that which never was done before; that is, you have completelyfinished a controversy beyond all further doubt. " "There are somecritics, " answered Farmer, "who will adhere to their old opinions. ""Ah!" said Johnson, "that may be true; for the limbs will quiver andmove when the soul is gone. "' Northcote's _Reynolds_, i. 152. Farmer wasMaster of Emanuel College, Cambridge (_ante_, i. 368). In a letter datedOct. 3, 1786, published in Romilly's _Life_ (i. 332), it issaid:--'Shakespeare and black letter muster strong at Emanuel. '

[117] 'When Johnson once glanced at this _Liberal Translation of the NewTestament_, and saw how Dr. Harwood had turned _Jesus wept_ into _Jesus, the Saviour of the world, burst into a flood of tears_, hecontemptuously threw the book aside, exclaiming, "Puppy!" The author, Dr. Edward Harwood, is not to be confounded with Dr. Thomas Harwood, thehistorian of Lichfield. ' Croker's _Boswell_, p. 836. 

[118] See an ingenious Essay on this subject by the late Dr. Moor, GreekProfessor at Glasgow. BOSWELL. 

[119] See _ante_, i. 6, note 2. 

[120] 'Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in abook!' _Job_ xix. 23. 

[121] 'The gradual progress which Iago makes in the Moor's conviction, and the circumstances which he employs to inflame him, are so artfullynatural, that, though it will perhaps not be said of him as he says ofhimself, that he is "a man not easily jealous, " yet we cannot but pityhim, when at last we find him "perplexed in the extreme. "' Johnson's_Works_, v. 178. 

[122] Of Dennis's criticism of Addison's _Cato_, he says:--'He found andshewed many faults; he shewed them indeed with anger, but he found themwith acuteness, such as ought to rescue his criticism from oblivion. '_Ib_. Vii. 457. In a note on 'thunder rumbling from the mustard-bowl'(The _Dunciad_, ii. 226) it is said:--'Whether Mr. Dennis was theinventor of that improvement, I know not; but is certain that, beingonce at a tragedy of a new author, he fell into a great passion athearing some, and cried, "S'death! that is _my_ thunder. "' SeeD'Israeli's _Calamities of Authors_, i. 135, for an amplification ofthis story. 

[123] Sir James Mackintosh thought Cumberland was meant. I am nowsatisfied that it was Arthur Murphy. CROKER. The fact that Murphy's nameis found close to the story renders it more likely that Mr. Croker isright. 

[124] 'Obscenity and impiety, ' Johnson boasted in the last year of hislife, 'have always been repressed in my company. ' _Post_, June 11, 1784. See also _post_, Sept. 22, 1777. 

[125] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 18. 

[126] See _ib_. Aug. 15. 

[127] See _post_, April 28, 29, 1778. 

[128] See _ante_, Jan. 21, 1775, note. 

[129] See _post_, April 28, 1778. That he did not always scorn to drinkwhen in company is shewn by what he said on April 7, 1778:--'I havedrunk three bottles of port without being the worse for it. UniversityCollege has witnessed this. '

[130] _Copy_ is _manuscript for printing_. 

[131] In _The Rambler_, No. 134, he describes how he had satdeliberating on the subject for that day's paper, 'till at last I wasawakened from this dream of study by a summons from the press; the timewas now come for which I had been thus negligently purposing to provide, and, however dubious or sluggish, I was now necessitated to write. To awriter whose design is so comprehensive and miscellaneous that he mayaccommodate himself with a topick from every scene of life, or view ofnature, it is no great aggravation of his task to be obliged to a suddencomposition. ' See _ante_, i. 203. 

[132] See _ante_, i. 428. 

[133] We have here an involuntary testimony to the excellence of thisadmirable writer, to whom we have seen that Dr. Johnson _directly_allowed so little merit. BOSWELL. 'Fielding's Amelia was the mostpleasing heroine of all the romances, ' he said; 'but that vile brokennose never cured [_Amelia_, bk. Ii. Ch. 1] ruined the sale of perhapsthe only book, which being printed off betimes one morning, a newedition was called for before night. ' Piozzi's _Anec_. P. 221. Mrs. Carter, soon after the publication of _Amelia_, wrote (_Corres_. Ii. 71):--'Methinks I long to engage you on the side of this poorunfortunate book, which I am told the fine folks are unanimous inpronouncing to be very sad stuff. ' See _ante_, ii. 49. 

[134] Horace Walpole wrote, on Dec, 21, 1775 (_Letters_, vi. 298):--'Mr. Cumberland has written an _Ode_, as he modestly calls it, inpraise of Gray's _Odes_; charitably no doubt to make the latter takennotice of. Garrick read it the other night at Mr. Beauclerk's, whocomprehended so little what it was about, that he desired Garrick toread it backwards, and try if it would not be equally good; he did, andit was. ' It was to this reading backwards that Dean Barnard alludes inhis verses--

'The art of pleasing, teach me, Garrick;Thou who reversest odes Pindaric, A second time read o'er. '

See _post_, under May 8, 1781. 

[135] Mr. Romney, the painter, who has now deservedly established a highreputation. BOSWELL. Cumberland (_Memoirs_, i. 384) dedicated his _Odes_to him, shortly after 'he had returned from pursuing his studies atRome. ' 'A curious work might be written, ' says Mr. Croker, 'on thereputation of painters. Hayley dedicated his lyre (such as it was) toRomney. What is a picture of Romney now worth?' The wheel is come fullcircle, and Mr. Croker's note is as curious as the work that hesuggests. 

[136] Page 32 of this vol. BOSWELL. 

[137] Thurlow. 

[138] Wedderburne. Boswell wrote to Temple on May 1:--'Luckily Dr. Taylor has begged of Dr. Johnson to come to London, to assist him insome interesting business, and Johnson loves much to be so consulted andso comes up. ' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 234. On the 14th Johnson wrote toMrs. Thrale:--'Mr. Wedderburne has given his opinion today directlyagainst us. He thinks of the claim much as I think. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 323. In _Notes and Queries_, 6th S. , v. 423, in a letter from Johnsonto Taylor, this business is mentioned. 

[139] Goldsmith wrote in 1762:--'Upon a stranger's arrival at Bath he iswelcomed by a peal of the Abbey bells, and in the next place by thevoice and music of the city waits. ' Cunningham's _Goldsmith's Works_, iv. 57. In _Humphry Clinker_ (published in 1771), in the Letter of April24, we read that there was 'a peal of the Abbey bells for the honour ofMr. Bullock, an eminent cow-keeper of Tottenham, who had just arrived atBath to drink the waters for indigestion. ' The town waits are alsomentioned. The season was not far from its close when Boswell arrived. Melford, in _Humphry Clinker_, wrote from Bath on May 17:--'The musicand entertainments of Bath are over for this season; and all our gaybirds of passage have taken their flight to Bristol-well [Clifton], Tunbridge, Brighthelmstone, Scarborough, Harrowgate, &c. Not a soul isseen in this place, but a few broken-winded parsons, waddling like somany crows along the North Parade. ' Boswell had soon to return to London'to eat commons in the Inner Temple. ' Delighted with Bath, andapparently pleasing himself with the thought of a brilliant career atthe Bar, he wrote to Temple, 'Quin said, "Bath was the cradle of age, and a fine slope to the grave. " Were I a Baron of the Exchequer and youa Dean, how well could we pass some time there!' _Letters of Boswell_, pp. 231, 234. 

[140] To the rooms! and their only son dead three days over one month!

'That it should come to this!But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two. '

_Hamlet_, act i. Sc. 2. 

[141] No doubt Mr. Burke. See _ante_, April 15, 1773, and under Oct. 1, 1774, note, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 15. 

[142] Mr. E. J. Payne, criticising this passage, says:--'It is certainthat Burke never thought he was deserting any principle of his own injoining the Rockinghams. ' Payne's _Burke_, i. Xvii. 

[143] No doubt Mrs. Macaulay. See _ante_, i. 447. 'Being asked whetherhe had read Mrs. Macaulay's second volume of the _History of England_, "No, Sir, " says he, "nor her first neither. "' Johnson's _Works_ (1787), xi. 205. 

[144] 'Of this distinguished Epilogue the reputed author was thewretched Budgel, whom Addison used to denominate "the man who calls mecousin" [Spence's _Anecdotes_, ed. 1820, p. 161]; and when he was askedhow such a silly fellow could write so well, replied, "The Epilogue wasquite another thing when I saw it first. " [_Ib_. P. 257. ] It was knownin Tonson's family, and told to Garrick, that Addison was himself theauthor of it, and that, when it had been at first printed with his name, he came early in the morning, before the copies were distributed, andordered it to be given to Budgel, that it might add weight to thesolicitation which he was then making for a place. ' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 389. See _ante_, i. 181. 

[145] See _post_, Jan. 20, 1782. 

[146] On May 10, 1768, on which day the new parliament met, a great bodyof people gathered round the King's Bench prison in St. George's Fieldsin expectation that Wilkes would go thence to the House of Commons. Somekind of a riot arose, a proclamation was made in the terms of theRiot-Act, and the soldiers firing by order of Justice Gillam, killedfive or six on the spot. The justice and one of the soldiers were on thecoroner's inquest brought in guilty of wilful murder, and two othersoldiers of aiding and abetting therein. With great difficulty theprisoners were saved from the rage of the populace. They were allacquitted however. At Gillam's trial the judge ruled in his favour, sothat the case did not go to the jury. Of the trial of one of thesoldiers 'no account was allowed to be published by authority. ' _Ann. Reg_. 1768, pp. 108-9, 112, 136-8, 233. Professor Dicey (_Law of theConstitution_, p. 308) points out that 'the position of a soldier maybe both in theory and practice, a difficult one. He may, as it hasbeen well said, be liable to be shot by a court-martial if he disobeysan order, and to be hanged by a judge and jury if he obeys it. ' Theremembrance of these cases was perhaps the cause of the feebleness shewnin the Gordon Riots in June 1780. Dr. Franklin wrote from London on May14, 1768 (_Memoirs_, iii. 315):--'Even this capital is now a daily sceneof lawless riot. Mobs patrolling the streets at noon-day, some knockingall down that will not roar for Wilkes and liberty; courts of justiceafraid to give judgment against him; coal-heavers and porters pullingdown the houses of coal-merchants that refuse to give them more wages;sawyers destroying saw-mills; sailors unrigging all the outward-boundships, and suffering none to sail till merchants agree to raise theirpay; watermen destroying private boats, and threatening bridges;soldiers firing among the mobs and killing men, women, and children. ''While I am writing, ' he adds (_ib_. P. 316), 'a great mob ofcoal-porters fill the street, carrying a wretch of their business uponpoles to be ducked for working at the old wages. ' See also _ib_. P. 402. Hume agreed with Johnson about the 'imbecility' of the government; buthe drew from it different conclusions. He wrote on Oct. 27, 1775, aboutthe addresses to the King:--'I wish they would advise him first topunish those insolent rascals in London and Middlesex, who daily insulthim and the whole legislature, before he thinks of America. Ask him, howhe can expect that a form of government will maintain an authority at3000 miles' distance, when it cannot make itself be respected, or evenbe treated with common decency, at home. ' J. H. Burton's _Hume_, ii. 479. On the 30th of this month of April--four days after theconversation in the text--John Home recorded:--'Mr. Hume cannot give anyreason for the incapacity and want of genius, civil and military, whichmarks this period. ' _Ib_. P. 503. 

[147] See _Dr. Johnson, His Friends, &c_. , p. 252. 

[148] It was published in 1743. 

[149] I am sorry that there are no memoirs of the Reverend Robert Blair, the author of this poem. He was the representative of the ancient familyof Blair, of Blair, in Ayrshire, but the estate had descended to afemale, and afterwards passed to the son of her husband by anothermarriage. He was minister of the parish of Athelstanford, where Mr. JohnHome was his successor; so that it may truely be called classick ground. His son, who is of the same name, and a man eminent for talents andlearning, is now, with universal approbation, Solicitor-General ofScotland. BOSWELL. Dr. A. Carlyle (_Auto_. P. 94) describes Blair 'as soaustere and void of urbanity as to make him quite disagreeable to youngpeople. '

[150] In 1775 Mrs. Montagu gave Mrs. Williams a small annuity. Croker's_Boswell_, pp. 458, 739. Miss Burney wrote of her:--'Allowing a littlefor parade and ostentation, which her power in wealth and rank inliterature offer some excuse for, her conversation is very agreeable. 'Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 325. See _post_, April 7, 1778, note. 

[151]

'Let humble Allen, with an awkward shame, Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame. '

Pope, _Sat. Ep_. I. 135. 

[152] Johnson refers to Jenyns's _View of the Internal Evidence of theChristian Religion_, published this spring. See _post_, April 15, 1778. Jenyns had changed his view, for in his _Origin of Evil_ he said, in apassage quoted with applause by Johnson (_Works_, vi. 69), that 'it isobservable that he who best knows our formation has trusted no onething of importance to our reason or virtue; he trusts to our vanity orcompassion for our bounty to others. '

[153] Mr. Langton is certainly meant. It is strange how often his modeof living was discussed by Johnson and Boswell. See _post_, Nov. 16, 1776, July 22, and Sept. 22, 1777, March 18, April 17, 18, and 20, May 12, and July 3, 1778. 

[154] Baretti made a brutal attack on Mrs. Piozzi in the _European Mag_. For 1788, xiii. 313, 393, and xiv. 89. He calls her 'the frontlessfemale, who goes now by the mean appellation of Piozzi; La Piozzi, asmy fiddling countrymen term her; who has dwindled down into thecontemptible wife of her daughter's singing-master. ' His excuse wasthe attacks made on him by her in the correspondence just publishedbetween herself and Johnson (see _Piozzi Letters_, i. 277, 319). Hesuspected her, and perhaps with reason, of altering some of theseletters. Other writers beside Baretti attacked her. To use LordMacaulay's words, grossly exaggerated though they are, 'She fled fromthe laughter and hisses of her countrymen and countrywomen to a landwhere she was unknown. ' Macaulay's _Writings and Speeches_, ed. 1871, p. 393. According to Dr. T. Campbell (_Diary_, p. 33) Baretti flatteredMrs. Thrale to her face. 'Talking as we were at tea of the magnitude ofthe beer vessels, Baretti said there was one thing in Mr. Thrale's housestill more extraordinary; meaning his wife. She gulped the pill veryprettily--so much for Baretti. ' See _post_, Dec. 21, 1776. 

[155] Likely enough Boswell himself. On three other occasions hementions Otaheité; _ante_, May 7, 1773, _post_, June 15, 1784 and in his_Hebrides_, Sept. 23, 1773. He was fond of praising savage life. See_ante_, ii. 73. 

[156] Chatterton said that he had found in a chest in St. Mary RedcliffeChurch manuscript poems by Canynge, a merchant of Bristol in thefifteenth century, and a friend of his, Thomas Rowley. He gave some ofthese manuscripts to George Catcot, a pewterer of Bristol, whocommunicated them to Mr. Barret, who was writing a History of Bristol. Rose's _Biog. Dict_. Vi. 256. 

[157] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 22. 

[158] See _ante_, i. 396. 

[159] 'Artificially. Artfully; with skill. ' Johnson's _dictionary_. 

[160] Mr. Tyrwhitt, Mr. Warton, Mr. Malone. BOSWELL. Johnson wrote onMay 16:--'Steevens seems to be connected with Tyrwhitt in publishingChatterton's poems; he came very anxiously to know the result of ourinquiries, and though he says he always thought them forged, is not wellpleased to find us so fully convinced. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 326. 

[161] Catcot had been anticipated by Smith the weaver (2 _Henry VI_. Iv. 2)--'Sir, he made a chimney in my father's house, and the bricks arealive at this day to testify it; therefore deny it not. '

[162] Horace Walpole says (_Works_, iv. 224) that when he was 'dining atthe Royal Academy, Dr. Goldsmith drew the attention of the company withan account of a marvellous treasure of ancient poems lately discovered atBristol, and expressed enthusiastic belief in them; for which he waslaughed at by Dr. Johnson, who was present. .. . You may imagine we did notat all agree in the measure of our faith; but though his credulitydiverted me, my mirth was soon dashed; for, on asking about Chatterton, he told me he had been in London, and had destroyed himself. '

[163] Boswell returned a few days earlier. On May 1 he wrote to Temple:--'Luckily Dr. Taylor has begged of Dr. Johnson to come to London, toassist him in some interesting business; and Johnson loves much to be soconsulted, and so comes up. I am now at General Paoli's, quite easy andgay, after my journey; not wearied in body or dissipated in mind. I havelodgings in Gerrard Street, where cards are left to me; but I lie at theGeneral's, whose attention to me is beautiful. ' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 234. Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale on May 6:--'Tomorrow I am to dine, as I did yesterday, with Dr. Taylor. On Wednesday I am to dine withOglethorpe; and on Thursday with Paoli. He that sees before him to histhird dinner has a long prospect. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 320. 

[164] See _ante_, May 12, 1775. 

[165] In the _Dramatis Personæ_ of the play are 'Aimwell and Archer, twogentlemen of broken fortunes, the first as master, and the second asservant. ' See _ante_, March 23, 1776, for Garrick's opinion of Johnson's'taste in theatrical merit. '

[166] Johnson is speaking of the _Respublicæ Elzevirianæ_, either 36 or62 volumes. 'It depends on every collector what and how much he willadmit. ' Ebert's _Bibl. Dict_. Iii. 1571. See _ante_, ii. 7. 

[167] See _post_, under Oct. 20, 1784, for 'the learned pig. '

[168] In the first edition Mme. De Sévigné's name is printed Sevigné, inthe second Sevigé, in the third Sevigne. Authors and compositors lastcentury troubled themselves little about French words. 

[169] Milton had put the same complaint into Adam's mouth:--

'Did I request thee, Maker, from my clayTo mould me man? . .. . .. As my willConcurred not to my being, ' &c. 

_Paradise Lost_, x. 743. 

[170] See _ante_, April 10, 1775. 

[171] Fielding in the _Covent Garden Journal_ for June 2, 1752 (_Works_, x. 80), says of the difficulty of admission at the hospitals:--'Theproperest objects (those I mean who are most wretched and friendless)may as well aspire at a place at Court as at a place in the Hospital. '

[172] 'We were talking of Dr. Barnard, the Provost of Eton. "He was theonly man, " says Mr. Johnson quite seriously, "that did justice to mygood breeding; and you may observe that I am well-bred to a degree ofneedless scrupulosity. No man, " continued he, not observing theamazement of his hearers, "no man is so cautious not to interruptanother; no man thinks it so necessary to appear attentive when othersare speaking; no man so steadily refuses preference on himself, or sowillingly bestows it on another, as I do; no man holds so strongly as Ido the necessity of ceremony, and the ill effects which follow thebreach of it; yet people think me rude; but Barnard did me justice. "'Piozzi's _Anec_. P. 36. On p. 258, Mrs. Piozzi writes:--'No one wasindeed so attentive not to offend in all such sort of things as Dr. Johnson; nor so careful to maintain the ceremonies of life; and thoughhe told Mr. Thrale once, that he had never sought to please till pastthirty years old, considering the matter as hopeless, he had been alwaysstudious not to make enemies by apparent preference of himself. ' SeeBoswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 27, 1773, where Johnson said:--'Sir, I lookupon myself as a very polite man. '

[173] The younger Colman in his boyhood met Johnson and Gibbon. 'Johnsonwas in his rusty brown and his black worsteds, and Gibbon in a suit offlowered velvet, with a bag and sword. He condescended, once or twice inthe course of the evening, to talk with me;--the great historian waslight and playful, suiting his matter to the capacity of the boy; but itwas done more sua [sic]; still his mannerism prevailed; still he tappedhis snuff-box; still he smirked, and smiled, and rounded his periodswith the same air of good-breeding, as if he were conversing with men. His mouth, mellifluous as Plato's, was a round hole, nearly in thecentre of his visage. ' _Random Records_, i. 121. 

[174] Samuel Sharp's _Letters from Italy_ were published in 1766. See_ante_, ii. 57, note 2, for Baretti's reply to them. 

[175] It may be observed, that Mr. Malone, in his very valuable editionof Shakspeare, has fully vindicated Dr. Johnson from the idle censureswhich the first of these notes has given rise to. The interpretation ofthe other passage, which Dr. Johnson allows to be _disputable_, he hasclearly shown to be erroneous. BOSWELL. The first note is on the line in_Hamlet_, act v. Sc. 2--

'And many such like as's of great charge. '

Johnson says:--'A quibble is intended between _as_ the conditionalparticle, and _ass_ the beast of burthen. ' On this note Steevensremarked:--'Shakespeare has so many quibbles of his own to answer for, that there are those who think it hard he should be charged with otherswhich perhaps he never thought of. ' The second note is on the opening ofHamlet's soliloquy in act iii. Sc. I. The line--

'To be, or not to be, that is the question, '

is thus paraphrased by Johnson:--'Before I can form any rational schemeof action under this pressure of distress, it is necessary to decidewhether, after our present state, we are to be or not to be. '

[176] See _post_, March 30, April 14 and 15, 1778, and Boswell's_Hebrides_, Oct. 25. 

[177] Wesley wrote on Jan. 21, 1767 (_Journal_, iii. 263):--'I had aconversation with an ingenious man who proved to a demonstration that itwas the duty of every man that could to be "clothed in purple and finelinen, " and to "fare sumptuously every day;" and that he would doabundantly more good hereby than he could do by "feeding the hungryand clothing the naked. " O the depth of human understanding! What maynot a man believe if he will?' Much the same argument Johnson, thirty-three years earlier, had introduced in one of his _Debates_(_Works_, xi. 349). He makes one of the speakers say:--'Our expenses arenot all equally destructive; some, though the method of raising them bevexatious and oppressive, do not much impoverish the nation, becausethey are refunded by the extravagance and luxury of those who areretained in the pay of the court. ' See _post_, March 23, 1783. The wholeargument is nothing but Mandeville's doctrine of 'private vices, publicbenefits. ' See _post_, April 15, 1778. 

[178] See _ante_, iii. 24. 

[179] Johnson no doubt refers to Walpole in the following passage(_Works_, viii. L37):--'Of one particular person, who has been at onetime so popular as to be generally esteemed, and at another soformidable as to be universally detested, Mr. Savage observed that hisacquisitions had been small, or that his capacity was narrow, and thatthe whole range of his mind was from obscenity to politicks, and frompoliticks to obscenity. ' This passage is a curious comment on Pope'slines on Sir Robert--

'Seen him I have, but in his happier hour Of social pleasure, ill-exchanged for power. '

_Epilogue to the Satires_, i. 29. 

[180] Most likely Boswell himself. See _ante_, March 25, 1776, and_post_, April 10, 1778, for Johnson's dislike of questioning. See also_ante_, ii. 84, note 3. 

[181] See _ante_, April 14, 1775. 

[182] See _ante_, May 12, 1774. 

[183] A Gallicism, which has it appears, with so many others, becomevernacular in Scotland. The French call a pulpit, _la chaire de vérité_. CROKER. 

[184] As a proof of Dr. Johnson's extraordinary powers of composition, it appears from the original manuscript of this excellent dissertation, of which he dictated the first eight paragraphs on the 10th of May, andthe remainder on the 13th, that there are in the whole only sevencorrections, or rather variations, and those not considerable. Such wereat once the vigorous and accurate emanations of his mind. BOSWELL. 

[185] It is curious to observe that Lord Thurlow has here, perhaps incompliment to North Britain, made use of a term of the Scotch Law, whichto an English reader may require explanation. To _qualify_ a wrong, isto point out and establish it. BOSWELL. 

[186]

'Quaeque ipse miserrima vidi, Et quorum pars magna fui. '

'Which thing myself unhappy did behold, Yea, and was no small part thereof. '

Morris, _Aeneids_, ii. 5. 

[187] In the year 1770, in _The False Alarm_, Johnson attacked Wilkeswith more than 'some asperity. ' 'The character of the man, ' he wrote, 'Ihave no purpose to delineate. Lampoon itself would disdain to speak illof him, of whom no man speaks well. ' He called him 'a retailer ofsedition and obscenity;' and he said:--'We are now disputing . .. WhetherMiddlesex shall be represented, or not, by a criminal from a gaol. '_Works_, vi. 156, 169, 177. In _The North Briton_, No. Xii, Wilkes, quoting Johnson's definition of a pensioner, asks:--'Is the said Mr. Johnson a _dependant_? or is he _a slave of state, hired by a stipendto obey his master_? There is, according to him, no alternative. --As Mr. Johnson has, I think, failed in this account, may I, after so great anauthority, venture at a short definition of so intricate a word? A_pension_ then I would call _a gratuity during the pleasure of thePrince for services performed, or expected to be performed, to himself, or to the state_. Let us consider the celebrated Mr. _Johnson_, and afew other late pensioners in this light. '

[188] Boswell, in his _Letter to the People of Scotland_ (p. 70), mentions 'my old classical companion, Wilkes;' and adds, 'with whom Ipray you to excuse my keeping company, he is so pleasant. '

[189] When Johnson was going to Auchinleck, Boswell begged him, intalking with his father, 'to avoid three topicks as to which theydiffered very widely; whiggism, presbyterianism, and--Sir John Pringle. 'Boswell's _Hebrides_, Nov 2, 1773. See also _ib_. Aug 24. 'Pringle wasPresident of the Royal Society--"who sat in Newton's chair, And wonder'dhow the devil he got there. "' J. H. Burton's _Hume_, i. 165. He was oneof Franklin's friends (Franklin's _Memoirs_ iii. III), and so was likelyto be uncongenial to Johnson. 

[190] No 22. CROKER. At this house 'Johnson owned that he always found agood dinner. ' _Post_, April 15, 1778. 

[191] This has been circulated as if actually said by Johnson; when thetruth is, it was only _supposed_ by me. BOSWELL. 

[192] 'Don't let them be _patriots_, ' he said to Mr. Hoole, when heasked him to collect a city Club. _Post_, April 6, 1781. 

[193] See p. 7 of this volume. BOSWELL. 

[194] 'Indifferent in his choice to sleep or die. ' Addison's _Cato_, act v. Sc. 1. 

[195] See _ante_, i. 485. 

[196] He was at this time 'employed by Congress as a private andconfidential agent in England. ' Dr. Franklin had arranged for letters tobe sent to him, not by post but by private hand, under cover to hisbrother, Mr. Alderman Lee. Franklin's _Memoirs_, ii. 42, and iii. 415. 

[197] When Wilkes the year before, during his mayoralty, had presentedAn Address, 'the King himself owned he had never seen so well-bred aLord Mayor. ' Walpole's _Journal of the Reign of George III_, i. 484. 

[198] Johnson's _London, a Poem_, v. 145. BOSWELL--

'How when competitors like these contend, Can surly virtue hope to fix a friend. '

[199] See _ante_, ii. 154. 

[200] Johnson had said much the same at a dinner in Edinburgh. SeeBoswell's _Hebrides_, Nov. 10, 1773. See _ante_, March 15, 1776, and_post_, Sept. 21, 1777. 

[201] 'To convince any man against his will is hard, but to please himagainst his will is justly pronounced by Dryden to be above the reach ofhuman abilities. ' _The Rambler_, No. 93. 

[202] Foote told me that Johnson said of him, 'For loud obstreperousbroadfaced mirth, I know not his equal. ' BOSWELL. 

[203] In Farquhar's _Beaux-Stratagem_, Scrub thus describes his duties:--'Of a Monday I drive the coach, of a Tuesday I drive the plough, onWednesday I follow the hounds, a Thursday I dun the tenants, on Friday Igo to market, on Saturday I draw warrants, and a Sunday I draw beer. 'Act iii. Sc. 3. 

[204] See _ante_, i. 393, note 1. 

[205] See _post_, April 10, 1778, and April 24, 1779. 

[206] See _ante_, i. 216, note 2. 

[207] See _ante_, March 20, 1776, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 22. 

[208] Dryden had been dead but thirty-six years when Johnson came toLondon. 

[209] 'Owen MacSwinny, a buffoon; formerly director of the play-house. 'Horace Walpole, _Letters_, i. 118. Walpole records one of his puns. 'Old Horace' had left the House of Commons to fight a duel, and at once'returned, and was so little moved as to speak immediately upon the_Cambrick Bill_, which made Swinny say, "That it was a sign he was not_ruffled_. "' _Ib_. P. 233. See also, _ib_. Vi. 373 for one of hisstories. 

[210] A more amusing version of the story, is in _Johnsoniana_(ed. 1836, p. 413) on the authority of Mr. Fowke. '"So Sir, " saidJohnson to Cibber, "I find you know [knew?] Mr. Dryden?" "Know him? OLord! I was as well acquainted with him as if he had been my ownbrother. " "Then you can tell me some anecdotes of him?" "O yes, athousand! Why we used to meet him continually at a club at Button's. Iremember as well as if it were but yesterday, that when he came into theroom in winter time, he used to go and sit by the fire in one corner;and in summer time he would always go and sit in the window. " "Thus, Sir, " said Johnson, "what with the corner of the fire in winter and thewindow in summer, you see that I got _much_ information from Cibber ofthe manners and habits of Dryden. '" Johnson gives, in his _Life ofDryden_ (_Works_, vii. 300), the information that he got from Swinneyand Cibber. Dr. Warton, who had written on Pope, found in one of thepoet's female-cousins a still more ignorant survivor. 'He had beentaught to believe that she could furnish him with valuable information. Incited by all that eagerness which characterised him, he sat close toher, and enquired her consanguinity to Pope. "Pray, Sir, " said she, "didnot you write a book about my cousin Pope?" "Yes, madam. " "They tell met'was vastly clever. He wrote a great many plays, did not he?" "I haveheard of only one attempt, Madam. " "Oh no, I beg your pardon; that wasMr. Shakespeare; I always confound them. "' Wooll's _Warton_, p. 394. 

[211] Johnson told Malone that 'Cibber was much more ignorant even ofmatters relating to his own profession than he could well haveconceived any man to be who had lived nearly sixty years with players, authors, and the most celebrated characters of the age. ' Prior's_Malone_, p. 95. See _ante_, ii. 92. 

[212] 'There are few, ' wrote Goldsmith, 'who do not prefer a page ofMontaigne or Colley Cibber, who candidly tell us what they thought ofthe world, and the world thought of them, to the more stately memoirsand transactions of Europe. ' Cunningham's _Goldsmith's Works_, iv. 43. 

[213] _Essay on Criticism_, i. 66. 

[214] 'Cibber wrote as bad Odes (as Garrick), but then Gibber wrote_The Careless Husband_, and his own _Life_, which both deserveimmortality. ' Walpole's _Letters_, v. 197. Pope (_Imitations of Horace_, II. I. 90), says:--

'All this may be; the people's voice is odd, It is, and it is not, the voice of God. To Gammer Gurton if it give the bays, And yet deny _The Careless Husband_ praise, Or say our fathers never broke a rule;Why then, I say, the public is a fool. '

See _ante_, April 6, 1775. 

[215] See page 402 of vol. I. BOSWELL. 

[216] Milton's _L'Allegro_, 1. 36. 

[217] 'CATESBY. My Liege, the Duke of Buckingham is taken. RICHARD. Offwith his head. So much for Buckingham. ' Colley Gibber's _Richard III_, iv. I. 

[218] _Ars Poetica, i. 128. 

[219] My very pleasant friend himself, as well as others _who rememberold stories_, will no doubt be surprised, when I observe that _JohnWilkes_ here shews himself to be of the WARBURTONIAN SCHOOL. It isnevertheless true, as appears from Dr. Hurd the Bishop of Worcester'svery elegant commentary and notes on the '_Epistola ad Pisones_. '

It is necessary to a fair consideration of the question, that the wholepassage in which the words occur should be kept in view:

'Si quid inexpertum scenae committis, et audesPersonam formare novam, servetur ad imumQualis ab incepto processerit, et sibi constet. Difficile est propriè communia dicere: tuqueRectiùs Iliacum carmen deducis in actus, Quàm si proferres ignota indictaque primus, Publica materies privati juris erit, siNon circa vilem patulumque moraberis orbem, Nec verbum verbo curabis reddere fidusInterpres; nee desilies imitator in artumUnde pedem proferre pudor vetat aut operis lex. '

The 'Commentary' thus illustrates it: 'But the formation of quite _newcharacters_ is a work of great difficulty and hazard. For here there isno generally received and fixed _archetype_ to work after, but every one_judges_ of common right, according to the extent and comprehension ofhis own idea; therefore he advises to labour and refit _old charactersand subjects_, particularly those made known and authorised by thepractice of Homer and the Epick writers. '

The 'Note' is, '_Difficile_ EST PROPRIE COMMUNIA DICERE. ' Lambin's Comment is, '_Communia hoc loco appellat Horatius argumenta fabularum à nullo adhuctractata: et ita, quae cuivis exposita sunt et in medio quodammodoposita, quasi vacua et à nemine occupata_. ' And that this is the truemeaning of _communia_ is evidently fixed by the words _ignotaindictaque_, which are explanatory of it; so that the sense given it inthe commentary is unquestionably the right one. Yet, notwithstanding theclearness of the case, a late critick has this strange passage:'_Difficile quidem esse propriè communia dicere, hoc est, materiamvulgarem, notam et è medio petitam, ita immutare atque exornare, ut novaet scriptori propria videatur, ultra concedimus; et maximi procul dubioponderis ista est observatio. Sed omnibus utrinque collatis, et tumdifficilis, tum venusti, tam judicii quam ingenii ratione habitá, majorvidetur esse gloria fabulam formare penitùs novam, quàm veterem, utcunque mutatam, de novo exhibere_. (Poet. Prael. V. Ii. P. 164. )Where, having first put a wrong construction on the word _comnmnia_, heemploys it to introduce an impertinent criticism. For where does thepoet prefer the glory of refitting _old_ subjects to that of inventingnew ones? The contrary is implied in what he urges about the superiourdifficulty of the latter, from which he dissuades his countrymen, onlyin respect of their abilities and inexperience in these matters; and inorder to cultivate in them, which is the main view of the Epistle, aspirit of correctness, by sending them to the old subjects, treated bythe Greek writers. '

For my own part (with all deference for Dr. Hurd, who thinks the _caseclear_, ) I consider the passage, '_Difficile est propriè communiadicere_, ' to be a _crux_ for the criticks on Horace. 

The explication which My Lord of Worcester treats with so much contempt, is nevertheless countenanced by authority which I find quoted by thelearned Baxter in his edition of Horace: '_Difficile est propriècommunia dicere_, h. E. Res vulgares disertis verbis enarrare, vel humilethema cum dignitate tractare. _Difficile est communes res propriisexplicare verbis_. Vet. Schol. ' I was much disappointed to find that thegreat critick, Dr. Bentley, has no note upon this very difficultpassage, as from his vigorous and illuminated mind I should haveexpected to receive more satisfaction than I have yet had. 

_Sanadon_ thus treats of it: '_Propriè communia dicere; c'est à dire, qu'il n'est pas aisé de former à ces personnages d'imagination, descaractêres particuliers et cependant vraisemblables. Comme l'on a eté lemaitre de les former tels qu'on a voulu, les fautes que l'on fait encela sont moins pardonnables. C'est pourquoi Horace conseille de prendretoujours des sujets connus tels que sont par exemple ceux que l'on peuttirer des poèmes d'Homere_. '

And _Dacier_ observes upon it, '_Apres avoir marqué les deux qualitésqu'il faut donner aux personnages qu'on invente, il conseille aux Poêtestragiques, de n'user pas trop facilement de cette liberté quils ont d'eninventer, car il est três difficile de reussir dans ces nouveauxcaractêres. Il est mal aisé, dit Horace_, de traiter proprement, _c'st àdire_ convenablement, _des_ sujets communs; _c'est à dire, des sujetsinventés, et qui n'ont aucun fondement ni dans l'Histoire ni dans laFable; et il les appelle_ communs, _parce qu'ils sont en disposition àtout le monde, et que tout le monde a le droit de les inventer, etqu'ils sont, comme on dit, au premier occupant_. ' See his observationsat large on this expression and the following. 

After all, I cannot help entertaining some doubt whether the words, _Difficile est propriè communia dicere_, may not have been thrown in byHorace to form a _separate_ article in a 'choice of difficulties' whicha poet has to encounter, who chooses a new subject; in which case itmust be uncertain which of the various explanations is the true one, andevery reader has a right to decide as it may strike his own fancy. Andeven should the words be understood as they generally are, to beconnected both with what goes before and what comes after, the exactsense cannot be absolutely ascertained; for instance, whether _propriè_is meant to signify _in an appropriated manner_, as Dr. Johnson hereunderstands it, or, as it is often used by Cicero, _with propriety_, or_elegantly_. In short, it is a rare instance of a defect in perspicuityin an admirable writer, who with almost every species of excellence, ispeculiarly remarkable for that quality. The length of this note perhapsrequires an apology. Many of my readers, I doubt not, will admit that acritical discussion of a passage in a favourite classick is veryengaging. BOSWELL. Boswell's French in this tedious note is left as heprinted it. 

[220] Johnson, after describing Settle's attack on Dryden, continues(_Works_, vii. 277):--'Such are the revolutions of fame, or such is theprevalence of fashion, that the man whose works have not yet beenthought to deserve the care of collecting them, who died forgotten inan hospital, and whose latter years were spent in contriving shows forfairs . .. Might with truth have had inscribed upon his stone:--

"Here lies the Rival and Antagonist of Dryden. "'

Pope introduces him in _The Dunciad_, i. 87, in the description of theLord Mayor's Show:--

'Pomps without guilt, of bloodless swords and maces, Glad chains, warm furs, broad banners and broad faces. Now night descending the proud scene was o'er, But lived in Settle's numbers one day more. '

In the third book the ghost of Settle acts the part of guide in theElysian shade. 

[221] Johnson implies, no doubt, that they were both Americans by birth. Trecothick was in the American trade, but he was not an American. Walpole's _Memoirs of the Reign of George III_, iii. 184, note. OfBeckford Walpole says:--'Under a jovial style of good humour he wastyrannic in Jamaica, his native country. ' _Ib_. Iv. 156. He came over toEngland when young and was educated in Westminster School. Stephens's_Horne Tooke_, ii. 278. Cowper describes 'a jocular altercation thatpassed when I was once in the gallery [of the House], between Mr. Rigbyand the late Alderman Beckford. The latter was a very incorrect speaker, and the former, I imagine, not a very accurate scholar. He ventured, however, upon a quotation from Terence, and delivered it thus, _SineScelere et Baccho friget venus_. The Alderman interrupted him, was verysevere upon his mistake, and restored Ceres to her place in thesentence. Mr. Rigby replied, that he was obliged to his worthy friendfor teaching him Latin, and would take the first opportunity to returnthe favour by teaching him English. ' Southey's _Cowper_, iii. 317. LordChatham, in the House of Lords, said of Trecothick:--'I do not know inoffice a more upright magistrate, nor in private life a worthier man. '_Parl. Hist_. Xvi. 1101. See _post_, Sept. 23, 1777. 

[222]

'Oft have I heard thee mourn the wretched lotOf the poor, mean, despised, insulted Scot, Who, might calm reason credit idle tales, By rancour forged where prejudice prevails, Or starves at home, or practises through fearOf starving arts which damn all conscience here. '

Churchill's _Prophecy of Famine, Poems_, i. 105. 

[223] For Johnson's praise of Lichfield see _ante_, March 23, 1776. Forthe use of the word _civility_, see _ante_ ii. 155. 

[224] See _ante_, i. 447. 

[225] See _ante_, April 18, 1775. 

[226] See _post_, April 15, 1778. 

[227] It would not become me to expatiate on this strong and pointedremark, in which a very great deal of meaning is condensed. BOSWELL. 

[228] 'Mr. Wilkes's second political essay was an ironical dedication tothe Earl of Bute of Ben Jonson's play, _The Fall of Mortimer_. "Let meentreat your Lordship, " he wrote, "to assist your friend [Mr. Murphy] inperfecting the weak scenes of this tragedy, and from the crude laboursof Ben Jonson and others to give us a _complete play_. It is the warmestwish of my heart that the Earl of Bute may speedily complete the story ofRoger Mortimer. "' Almon's _Wilkes_, i. 70, 86. 

[229] Yet Wilkes within less than a year violently attacked Johnson inparliament. He said, 'The two famous doctors, Shebbeare and Johnson, arein this reign the state hirelings called pensioners. ' Their names, hecontinued, 'disgraced the Civil List. They are the known pensionedadvocates of despotism. ' _Parl. Hist_. Xix. 118. It is curious thatBoswell does not mention this attack, and that Johnson a few monthsafter it was made, speaking of himself and Wilkes, said:--'The contestis now over. ' _Post_, Sept 21, 1777. 

[230] The next day he wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'For my part, I begin tosettle and keep company with grave aldermen. I dined yesterday in thePoultry with Mr. Alderman Wilkes, and Mr. Alderman Lee, and CounsellorLee, his brother. There sat you the while, so sober, with your W----'sand your H----'s, and my aunt and her turnspit; and when they are gone, you think by chance on Johnson, what is he doing? What should he bedoing? He is breaking jokes with Jack Wilkes upon the Scots. Such, Madam, are the vicissitudes of things. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 325. 

[231] See _ante_, March 20, 1776. 

[232] If he had said this on a former occasion to a lady, he said italso on a latter occasion to a gentleman--Mr. Spottiswoode. _Post_, April 28, 1778. Moreover, Miss Burney records in 1778, that when Johnsonwas telling about Bet Flint (_post_, May 8, 1781) and other strangecharacters whom he had known, 'Mrs. Thrale said, "I wonder, Sir, younever went to see Mrs. Rudd among the rest. " "Why, Madam, I believe Ishould, " said he, "if it was not for the newspapers; but I am preventedmany frolics that I should like very well, since I am become such atheme for the papers. "' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 90. 

[233] Pope, _Essay on Man_, ii. 2. 

[234] Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale on May 14 (Tuesday):--'----goes awayon Thursday, very well satisfied with his journey. Some great men havepromised to obtain him a place, and then a fig for my father and his newwife. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 324. He is writing no doubt of Boswell; yet, as Lord Auchinleck had been married more than six years, it is odd hiswife should be called _new_. Boswell, a year earlier, wrote to Temple ofhis hopes from Lord Pembroke:--'How happy should I be to get anindependency by my own influence while my father is alive!' _Letters ofBoswell_, p. 182. Johnson, in a second letter to Mrs. Thrale, writtentwo days after Boswell left, says:--'B---- went away on Thursday night, with no great inclination to travel northward; but who can contend withdestiny? . .. He carries with him two or three good resolutions; I hopethey will not mould upon the road. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 333. 

[235] 1 _Corinthians_, xiii. 5. 

[236] This passage, which is found in Act iii, is not in the acting copyof _Douglas_. 

[237] Malone was one of these gentlemen. See _post_, under June 30, 1784. Reynolds, after saying that eagerness for victory often ledJohnson into acts of rudeness, while 'he was not thus strenuous forvictory with his intimates in tête-à-tête conversations when there wereno witnesses, ' adds:--'Were I to write the Life of Dr. Johnson I wouldlabour this point, to separate his conduct that proceeded from hispassions, and what proceeded from his reason, from his naturaldisposition seen in his quiet hours. ' Taylor's _Reynolds_, ii. 462. 

[238] These words must have been in the other copy. They are not in thatwhich was preferred. BOSWELL. 

[239] On June 3 he wrote that he was suffering from 'a very serious andtroublesome fit of the gout. I enjoy all the dignity of lameness. Ireceive ladies and dismiss them sitting. _Painful pre-eminence_. ' _PiozziLetters_, i. 337. 'Painful pre-eminence' comes from Addison's _Cato_, act iii. Sc. 5. Pope, in his _Essay on Man_, iv. 267, borrows thephrase:--

'Painful pre-eminence! yourself to view, Above life's weakness and its comforts too. '

It is humorously introduced into the _Rolliad_ in the description of theSpeaker:--

'There Cornewall sits, and oh! unhappy fate!Must sit for ever through the long debate. Painful pre-eminence! he hears, 'tis true, Fox, North, and Burke, but hears Sir Joseph too. '

[240] Dean Stanley (_Memorials of Westminster Abbey_, p. 297) says:--'One expression at least has passed from the inscription into theproverbial Latin of mankind--

"Nihil tetigit quod non ornavit. "'

In a note he adds:--'Professor Conington calls my attention to the factthat, if this were a genuine classical expression, it would be_ornaret_. The slight mistake proves that it is Johnson's own. ' Themistake, of course, is the Dean's and the Professor's, who did not takethe trouble to ascertain what Johnson had really written. If we maytrust Cradock, Johnson here gave in a Latin form what he had alreadysaid in English. 'When a bookseller ventured to say something ratherslightingly of Dr. Goldsmith, Johnson retorted:--"Sir, Goldsmith nevertouches any subject but he adorns it. " Once when I found the Doctor verylow at his chambers I related this circumstance to him, and it instantlyproved a cordial. ' Cradock's _Memoirs_, i. 231. 

[241] According to Mr. Forster (_Life of Goldsmith_, i. 1), he was bornon Nov. 10, 1728. There is a passage in Goldsmith's _Bee_, No. 2, whichleads me to think that he himself held Nov. 12 as his birth-day. He says;'I shall be sixty-two the twelfth of next November. ' Now, as _The Bee_was published in October 1759, he would be, not sixty-two, but just halfthat number--thirty-one on his next birth-day. It is scarcely likely thathe selected the number and the date at random. 

[242] Reynolds chose the spot in Westminster Abbey where the monumentshould stand. Northcote's _Reynolds_, i. 326. 

[243] For A. Chamier, see _ante_, i. 478, note 1; and _post_, April 9, 1778: for P. Metcalfe, _post_, under Dec. 20, 1782. W. Vachell seemsonly known to fame as having signed this _Round Robin_, and attended SirJoshua's funeral. Who Tho. Franklin was I cannot learn. He certainly wasnot Thomas Francklin, D. D. , the Professor of Greek at Cambridge andtranslator of _Sophocles_ and _Lucian_, mentioned _post_, end of 1780. The Rev. Dr. Luard, the Registrar of that University, has kindlycompared for me six of his signatures ranging from 1739 to 1770. In eachof these the _c_ is very distinct, while the writing is unlike thesignature in the _Round Robin_. 

[244] Horace Walpole wrote in Dec. Of this year:--'The conversation ofmany courtiers was openly in favour of arbitrary power. Lord Huntingdonand Dr. Barnard, who was promised an Irish Bishopric, held suchdiscourse publicly. ' _Journal of the Reign of George III_, ii. 91. 

[245] He however upon seeing Dr. Warton's name to the suggestion, thatthe Epitaph should be in English, observed to Sir Joshua, 'I wonderthat Joe Warton, a scholar by profession, should be such a fool. ' Hesaid too, 'I should have thought Mund Burke would have had more sense. 'Mr. Langton, who was one of the company at Sir Joshua's, like a sturdyscholar, resolutely refused to sign the _Round Robin_. The Epitaph isengraved upon Dr. Goldsmith's monument without any alteration. Atanother time, when somebody endeavoured to argue in favour of its beingin English, Johnson said, 'The language of the country of which alearned man was a native, is not the language fit for his epitaph, whichshould be in ancient and permanent language. Consider, Sir; how youshould feel, were you to find at Rotterdam an epitaph upon Erasmus _inDutch_!' For my own part I think it would be best to have Epitaphswritten both in a learned language, and in the language of the country;so that they might have the advantage of being more universallyunderstood, and at the same time be secured of classical stability. Icannot, however, but be of opinion, that it is not sufficientlydiscriminative. Applying to Goldsmith equally the epithets of '_Poetae_, _Historici_, _Physici_, ' is surely not right; for as to his claim to thelast of those epithets, I have heard Johnson himself say, 'Goldsmith, Sir, will give us a very fine book upon the subject; but if he candistinguish a cow from a horse, that, I believe, may be the extent ofhis knowledge of natural history. ' His book is indeed an excellentperformance, though in some instances he appears to have trusted toomuch to Buffon, who, with all his theoretical ingenuity andextraordinary eloquence, I suspect had little actual information in thescience on which he wrote so admirably. For instance, he tells us thatthe _cow_ sheds her horns every two years; a most palpable errour, whichGoldsmith has faithfully transferred into his book. It is wonderful thatBuffon, who lived so much in the country, at his noble seat, should havefallen into such a blunder. I suppose he has confounded the _cow_ withthe _deer_. BOSWELL. Goldsmith says:--'At three years old the cow shedsits horns and new ones arise in their place, which continue as long asit lives. ' _Animated Nature_, iii. 12. This statement remains in thesecond edition. Johnson said that the epitaph on Sir J. Macdonald'should have been in Latin, as everything intended to be universal andpermanent should be. ' Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 5, 1773. He treatedthe notion of an English inscription to Smollett 'with great contempt, saying, "an English inscription would be a disgrace to Dr. Smollett. "'_Ib_. Oct. 28, 1773. 

[246] Beside this Latin Epitaph, Johnson honoured the memory of hisfriend Goldsmith with a short one in Greek. See _ante_, July 5, 1774. BOSWELL. 

[247] See _ante_, Oct. 24, 1775. 

[248] Upon a settlement of our account of expences on a Tour to theHebrides, there was a balance due to me, which Dr. Johnson chose todischarge by sending books. BOSWELL. 

[249] See _post_, under Nov. 29, 1777. 

[250] Baretti told me that Johnson complained of my writing very longletters to him when I was upon the continent; which was most certainlytrue; but it seems my friend did not remember it. BOSWELL. 

[251] See _ante_, iii. 27. 

[252] See _ante_, i. 446, for Johnson's remedies against melancholy. 

[253] It was not 'last year' but on June 22, 1772, that the negro, JamesSomerset--who had been brought to England by his master, had escapedfrom him, had been seized, and confined in irons on board a ship in TheThames that was bound for Jamaica, and had been brought on a writ of_Habeas Corpus_ before the Court of King's Bench was discharged by LordMansfield. Howell's _State Trials_, xx. 79, and Lofft's _Reports_, 1772, p. 1. 'Lord Mansfield, ' writes Lord Campbell (_Lives of the ChiefJustices_, ii. 418), 'first established the grand doctrine that the airof England is too pure to be breathed by a slave. ' According to LordCampbell, Mansfield's judgment thus ended:--'The air of England has longbeen too pure for a slave, and every man is free who breathes it. Everyman who comes into England is entitled to the protection of English law, whatever oppression he may heretofore have suffered, and whatever may bethe colour of his skin:

'"Quamvis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus esses. "

'Let the negro be discharged. '

Where Lord Campbell found this speech, that is to say if he did not putit together himself, I cannot guess. Mansfield's judgment was verybrief. He says in the conclusion:--'The only question before us is, whether the cause on the return [to the writ of _habeas corpus_] issufficient. If it is, the negro must be remanded; if it is not, he mustbe discharged. Accordingly the return states that the slave departed, and refused to serve; whereupon he was kept to be sold abroad. So highan act of dominion must be recognised by the law of the country where itis used. The power of a master over his slave has been extremelydifferent in different countries. The state of slavery is of such anature that it is incapable of being introduced on any reasons, moral orpolitical. .. . It is so odious that nothing can be suffered to support itbut positive law. Whatever inconveniences therefore may follow from adecision, I cannot say this case is allowed or approved by the law ofEngland; and therefore the black must be discharged. ' Lofft's _Reports_, 1772, p. 19. 'The judgment of the court, ' says Broom (_ConstitutionalLaw_, 1885, p. 99), 'was delivered by Lord Mansfield, C. J. , after somedelay, and with evident reluctance. ' The passage about the air ofEngland that Campbell puts into Mansfield's mouth is found in Mr. Hargrave's argument on May 14, 1772, where he speaks of England as 'asoil whose air is deemed too pure for slaves to breathe in. ' Lofft's_Reports_, p. 2. Mr. Dunning replied:--'Let me take notice, neither theair of England is too pure for a slave to breathe in, nor the laws ofEngland have rejected servitude. ' _Ib_. P. 12. Serjeant Davyrejoined:--'It has been asserted, and is now repeated by me, this air istoo pure for a slave to breathe in. I trust I shall not quit this courtwithout certain conviction of the truth of that assertion. ' _Ib_. P. 17. Lord Mansfield said nothing about the air. The line from Virgil, withwhich Lord Campbell makes Mansfield's speech end, was 'the happilychosen motto' to Maclaurin's published argument for the negro; JosephKnight, _post_, under Nov. 29, 1777. 

[254] The son of Johnson's old friend, Mr. William Drummond. (See vol. Ii. Pp. 26-29. ) He was a young man of such distinguished merit, that hewas nominated to one of the medical professorships in the College ofEdinburgh without solicitation, while he was at Naples. Having otherviews, he did not accept of the honour, and soon afterwards died. BOSWELL. 

[255] In the third and subsequent editions the date is wrongly given asthe 16th. 

[256] A Florentine nobleman, mentioned by Johnson in his _Notes of hisTour in France_ [_ante_, Oct. 18, 1775]. I had the pleasure of becomingacquainted with him in London, in the spring of this year. BOSWELL. Mrs. Thrale wrote to Johnson from Bath on May 16:--'Count Manucci would waitseven years to come with you; so do not disappoint the man, but bringhim along with you. His delight in your company is like Boniface'sexultation when the squire speaks Latin; for understand you hecertainly cannot. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 328. It was not the squire, but the priest, Foigard, who by his Latin did Boniface good. _The Beaux Strategem_, act iii. Sc. 2. 

[257] _Pr. And Med_. P. 151. 

[258] _St. James_, i. 17. 

[259] See _ante_, ii. 175. Seven and even eight years later Paterson wasstill a student in need of Johnson's recommendation. _Post_, June 2, 1783, and April 5, 1784. 

[260] See _ante_, p. 58. 

[261] Why his Lordship uses the epithet _pleasantly_, when speaking ofa grave piece of reasoning, I cannot conceive. But different men havedifferent notions of pleasantry. I happened to sit by a gentleman oneevening at the Opera-house in London, who, at the moment when _Medea_appeared to be in great agony at the thought of killing her children, turned to me with a smile, and said, '_funny_ enough. ' BOSWELL. 

[262] Dr. Johnson afterwards told me, that he was of opinion that aclergyman had this right. BOSWELL. 

[263] Johnson, nearly three years earlier, had said of Granger:--'Thedog is a Whig. I do not like much to see a Whig in any dress; but I hateto see a Whig in a parson's gown. ' Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 24, 1773. 

[264] 'I did my utmost, ' wrote Horace Walpole (_Letters_, v. 168), 'todissuade Mr. Granger from the dedication, and took especial pains to getmy _virtues_ left out of the question. '

[265]

'In moderation placing all my glory, While Tories call me Whig, and Whigs a Tory. '

Pope, _Imitations of Horace_, Bk. Ii Sat. I. 1. 67. 

[266] 'One of the dippers at Brighthelmstone, seeing Mr. Johnson swim inthe year 1766, said:--"Why, Sir, you must have been a stout-heartedgentleman forty years ago. "' _Piozzi's Anec_. P. 113. Johnson, in hisverses entitled, _In Rivum a Mola Stoana Lichfeldiæ diffluentem_(_Works_, i. 163), writes:--

'Errat adhuc vitreus per prata virentia rivus, Quo toties lavi membra tenella puer;Hic delusa rudi frustrabar brachia motu, Dum docuit blanda voce natare pater. '

[267] For this and Dr. Johnson's other letters to Mr. Levett, I amindebted to my old acquaintance Mr. Nathaniel Thomas, whose worth andingenuity have been long known to a respectable, though not a widecircle; and whose collection of medals would do credit to persons ofgreater opulence. BOSWELL. 

[268] Johnson's letters to Mrs. Thrale shew the difference betweenmodern Brighton and the Brighthelmstone of his days. Thus he writes:--'Ashbourne, Sept. 27, 1777. I know not when I shall write again, nowyou are going to the world's end [i. E. Brighton]. _Extra anni solisquevias_, where the post will be a long time in reaching you. I shall, notwithstanding all distance, continue to think on you. ' _PiozziLetters_, i. 387. 'Oct. 6, 1777. Methinks you are now a great way off;and if I come, I have a great way to come to you; and then the sea is socold, and the rooms are so dull; yet I do love to hear the sea roar andmy mistress talk--For when she talks, ye gods! how she will talk. I wishI were with you, but we are now near half the length of England asunder. It is frightful to think how much time must pass between writing thisletter and receiving an answer, if any answer were necessary. '_Ib_. Ii. 2. 

[269] Boswell wrote to Temple on Nov. 3, 1780:--'I could not helpsmiling at the expostulation which you suggest to me to try with myfather. It would do admirably with some fathers; but it would make minemuch worse, for he cannot bear that his son should talk with him as aman. I can only lament his unmelting coldness to my wife and children, for I fear it is hopeless to think of his ever being more affectionatetowards them. Yet it must be acknowledged that his paying £1000 of mydebt some years ago was a large bounty. He allows me £300 a year. '_Letters of Boswell_, p. 255. 

[270] See _ante_, Aug. 27, 1775, note. 

[271] See _ante_, p. 48, note 4. 

[272] 'He said to me often that the time he spent in this Tour wasthe pleasantest part of his life, and asked me if I would lose therecollection of it for five hundred pounds. ' Boswell's _Hebrides_, under Nov. 22, 1773. 

[273] Chap. Viii. 10. A translation of this work is in_Bibliotheca Pastorum_, ed. J. Ruskin, vol. I. 

[274] 'The chief cause of my deficiency has been a life immethodicaland unsettled, which breaks all purposes, confounds and suppressesmemory, and perhaps leaves too much leisure to imagination. ' _Pr. AndMed_. P. 136. 

[275] Johnson wrote to Boswell (_ante_, June 12, 1774):--'I havestipulated twenty-five for you to give in your own name. ' The book waspublished early in 1775. On Feb. 25, 1775, he wrote:--'I am sorry that Icould get no books for my friends in Scotland. Mr. Strahan has at lastpromised to send two dozen to you. ' It is strange that not far short oftwo years passed before the books were sent. 

[276] Boswell had 'expressed his extreme aversion to his father'ssecond marriage. ' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 255--On Sept. 2, 1775, hethus described his step-mother:--'His wife, whom in my conscience Icannot condemn for any capital bad quality, is so narrow-minded, and, Idon't know how, so set upon keeping him under her own management, and sosuspicious and so sourishly tempered that it requires the utmostexertion of practical philosophy to keep myself quiet. ' _Ib_. P. 216. 

[277] See _ante_, Jan. 19 and May 6, 1775. 

[278] See _ante_, p. 86. 

[279] See _ante_, May 27, 1775. 

[280] Macquarry was the chief of Ulva's Isle. 'He told us, ' writesBoswell, 'his family had possessed Ulva for nine hundred years; but Iwas distressed to hear that it was soon to be sold for payment of hisdebts. ' Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct 16, 1773. 

[281] See _ante_, March 24, 1776. 

[282] Mrs. Thrale gives a long but scarcely credible account of herquarrel with Baretti. It is very unlikely that he used to say to hereldest daughter 'that, if her mother died in a lying-in which happenedwhile he lived here, he hoped Mr. Thrale would marry Miss Whitbred, whowould be a pretty companion for her, and not tyrannical and overbearinglike me. ' Hayward's _Piozzi_, ii. 336. No doubt in 1788 he attacked herbrutally (see _ante_, p. 49). 'I could not have suspected him, ' wroteMiss Burney, 'of a bitterness of invective so cruel, so ferocious. ' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, iv. 185. The attack was provoked. Mrs. Piozzi, inJanuary, 1788, published one of Johnson's letters, in which he wrote--atall events she says he wrote:--'Poor B----i! do not quarrel with him; toneglect him a little will be sufficient. He means only to be frank, andmanly, and independent, and perhaps, as you say, a little wise. To befrank he thinks is to be cynical, and to be independent is to be rude. Forgive him, dearest lady, the rather because of his misbehaviour I amafraid he learnt part of me. I hope to set him hereafter a betterexample. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 277. Malone, in 1789, speaks of 'theroughness for which Baretti was formerly distinguished. ' Prior's_Malone_, p. 391. Mrs. Thrale thus describes his departure: 'My daughterkept on telling me that Mr. Baretti was grown very old and very cross, would not look at her exercises, but said he would leave this housesoon, for it was no better than Pandæmonium. The next day he packed uphis cloke-bag, which he had not done for three years, and sent it totown; and while we were wondering what he would say about it atbreakfast, he was walking to London himself, without taking leave of anyone person, except it may be the girl, who owns they had much talk, inthe course of which he expressed great aversion to me and even to her, who, [_sic_] he said, he once thought well of. ' Hayward's _Piozzi_, ii. 339. Baretti, in the _Eur. Mag_. Xiii. 398, told his story. Hesaid:--'Madam took it into her head to give herself airs, and treat mewith some coldness and superciliousness. I did not hesitate to set downat breakfast my dish of tea not half drank, go for my hat and stick thatlay in the corner of the room, turn my back to the house _insalutatohospite_, and walk away to London without uttering a syllable. ' In amarginal note on _Piozzi Letters_, i. 338, he says he left Streatham onJune 4, 1776. 'I had, ' he writes, 'by that time been in a manner one ofthe family during six years and a-half. Johnson had made me hope thatThrale would at last give me an annuity for my pains, but, neverreceiving a shilling from him or from her, I grew tired at last, and onsome provocation from her left them abruptly. ' It should seem that heafterwards made it up with them, for in a note on vol. Ii. P. 191, hesays of the day of Mr. Thrale's death, 'Johnson and I, and many otherfriends, were to dine with him that day. ' The rest of the note, at allevents, is inaccurate, for he says that 'Mrs. Thrale imparted to Johnsonthe news [of her husband's death], ' whereas Johnson saw him die. 

[283] Mrs. Piozzi says that this money was given to Baretti as aconsolation for the loss of the Italian tour (_ante_, iii. 6). Hayward's_Piozzi_, ii. 337. 

[284] The Duke of York was present when Foote had the accident by whichhe lost his leg (_ante_, ii. 95). Moved by compassion, he obtained forhim from the King a royal patent for performances at the Haymarket fromMay 14 to Sept. 14 in every year. He played but thrice after hisretirement. Forster's Essays, ii. 400, 435. 

[285] Strahan showed greater sagacity about Gibbon's _Decline and Fall_, which had been declined by Elmsly. 'So moderate were our hopes, ' writesGibbon (_Misc. Works_, i. 223), 'that the original impression had beenstinted to five hundred, till the number was doubled by the prophetictaste of Mr. Strahan. ' Carrick called Strahan 'rather an _obtuse_ man. '_Post_, April 9 1778. 

[286] See _post_, Sept. 19, 1777, and April 20, 1781. 

[287] Johnson, I believe, at this time suffered less than usual fromdespondency. See _ante_, iii. 25, note 1. The passage in which thesewords are found applies to one day only. It is as follows:--'March 28. This day is Good Friday. It is likewise the day on which my poor Tettywas taken from me. My thoughts were disturbed in bed. I rememberedthat it was my wife's dying day, and begged pardon for all our sins, andcommended her; but resolved to mix little of my own sorrows or careswith the great solemnity. Having taken only tea without milk I went tochurch; had time before service to commend my wife, and wished to joinquietly in the service, but I did not hear well, and my mind grewunsettled and perplexed. Having rested ill in the night I slumbered atthe sermon, which, I think, I could not as I sat perfectly hear. .. . Atnight I had some ease. L. D. [Laus Deo] I had prayed for pardon andpeace. ' _Pr. And Med_. P. 153. Hawkins, however (_Life_, p. 532), says, perhaps with considerable exaggeration, that at this time, 'he sunk intoindolence, till his faculties seemed to be impaired; deafness grew uponhim; long intervals of mental absence interrupted his conversation, andit was difficult to engage his attention to any subject. His friendsconcluded that his lamp was emitting its last rays, but the lapse of ashort period gave them ample proofs to the contrary. ' The proofs were_The Lives of the Poets_. Johnson himself says of this time:--'Days andmonths pass in a dream; and I am afraid that my memory grows lesstenacious, and my observation less attentive. ' _Pr. And Med_. 160. 

[288]

'Lo, the poor Indian! whose untutor'd mindSees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind. '

Pope's _Essay on Man_, i. 99. 

[289] '"I inherited, " said Johnson, "a vile melancholy from my father, which has made me mad all my life, at least not sober. "' Boswell's_Hebrides_, Sept. 16, 1773. See _ante_, i. 65, and _post_, Sept. 20, 1777. 

[290] _Pr. And Med_. P. 155. BOSWELL. 

[291] _Pr. And Med_. P. 158. BOSWELL. 

[292] He continues:--'I passed the afternoon with such calm gladness ofmind as it is very long since I felt before. I passed the night in suchsweet uninterrupted sleep as I have not known since I slept at FortAugustus. ' See _post_, Nov. 21, 1778, where in a letter to Boswell hesays:--'The best night that I have had these twenty years was at FortAugustus. ' In 1767 he mentions (_Pr. And Med_. P. 73) 'a sudden reliefhe once had by a good night's rest in Fetter Lane, ' where he had livedmany years before. His good nights must have been rare indeed. 

[293] Bishop Percy says that he handed over to Johnson various memorandawhich he had received from 'Goldsmith's brother and others of his family, to afford materials for a _Life of Goldsmith_, which Johnson was towrite and publish for their benefit. But he utterly forgot them and thesubject. ' Prior successfully defends Johnson against the charge that hedid not include Goldsmith's _Life_ among the _Lives of the Poets_. 'Thecopy-right of _She Stoops to Conquer_ was the property of Carnan thebookseller (surviving partner of F. Newbery); and Carnan being "a mostimpracticable man and at variance with all his brethren, " in the wordsof Malone to the Bishop, he refused his assent, and the project for thetime fell to the ground. ' But Percy clearly implies that it was aseparate work and not one of the _Lives_ that Johnson had undertaken. See Prior's _Goldsmith_, Preface, p. X. Malone, in a note on Boswell'sletter of July 9, 1777, says:--'I collected some materials for a _Lifeof Goldsmith_, by Johnson's desire. ' He goes on to mention the quarrelwith Carnan. It should seem then that Johnson was gathering materialsfor Goldsmith's _Life_ before the _Lives of the Poets_ were projected;that later on he intended to include it in that series, but beingthwarted by Carnan that he did nothing. 

[294] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 24, 1773. 

[295] 'I have often desired him not to call me Goldy. ' _Ib_. Oct. 14. 

[296] 'The Duke of Argyle was obliging enough to mount Dr. Johnson on astately steed from his grace's stable. My friend was highly pleased, andJoseph [Boswell's Bohemian servant] said, "He now looks like a bishop. "'Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 26. 

[297] See _ante_, ii. 196. 

[298] Even Burke falls into the vulgarism of 'mutual friend. ' See his_Correspondence_, i. 196, ii. 251. Goldsmith also writes of 'mutualacquaintance. ' Cunningham's _Goldsmith's Works_, iv. 48. 

[299] He means to imply, I suppose, that Johnson was the father ofplantations. See _ante_, under Feb. 7, 1775. Note. 

[300] For a character of this very amiable man, see _Journal of a Tourto the Hebrides_, 3rd edit. P. 36. [Aug. 17. ] BOSWELL. 

[301] By the then course of the post, my long letter of the 14th had notyet reached him. BOSWELL. 

[302] _History of Philip the Second_. BOSWELL. 

[303] See _ante_, Jan. 21, 1775. 

[304] See _ante_, iii. 48. 

[305] He wrote to Mrs. Thrale on Jan. 15, 1777, that he had had abouttwelve ounces of blood taken, and then about ten more, and that anotherbleeding was to follow. 'Yet I do not make it a matter of much form. Iwas to-day at Mrs. Gardiner's. When I have bled to-morrow, I will notgive up Langton nor Paradise. But I beg that you will fetch me away onFriday. I do not know but clearer air may do me good; but whether theair be clear or dark, let me come to you. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 344. See_post_, Sept. 16, 1777, note. 

[306] See _ante_, i. 411, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 24, 1773. 

[307] Johnson tried in vain to buy this book at Aberdeen. _Ib_. Aug. 23. 

[308] See _ante_, May 12, 1775. 

[309] No doubt her _Miscellanies_. _Ante_, ii. 25. 

[310] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 22. 

[311] John_son_ is the most common English formation of the Sirname from_John_; John_ston_ the Scotch. My illustrious friend observed that manyNorth Britons pronounced his name in their own way. BOSWELL. Boswell(_Hebrides_, Oct. 21, 1773) tells of one Lochbuy who, 'being told thatDr. Johnson did not hear well, bawled out to him, "Are you of theJohnstons of Glencro, or of Ardnamurchan?"'

[312] See _post_, under Dec. 24, 1783. 

[313] Johnson's old amanuensis. _Ante_, i. 187. Johnson described him as'a man of great learning. ' Croker's _Boswell_, p. 654. 

[314] On account of their differing from him as to religion andpoliticks. BOSWELL. See _post_, April 13, 1778. Mr. Croker says that'the Club had, as its records show, for many of his latter years verylittle of his company. '

[315] See _ante_, i. 225 note 2, July 4, 1774, and March 20, 1776. 

[316] Boswell was no reader. 'I don't believe, ' Johnson once said tohim, 'you have borrowed from Waller. I wish you would enable yourselfto borrow more. ' _Ante_, April 16, 1775. Boswell wrote to Temple onMarch 18, 1775:--'I have a kind of impotency of study. ' Two months laterhe wrote:--'I have promised to Dr. Johnson to read when I get toScotland, and to keep an account of what I read. I shall let you knowhow I go on. My mind must be nourished. ' _Letters of Boswell_, pp. 181, 195. 

[317] Chesterfield's _Letters to his Son_ were published in 1774, andhis _Miscellaneous Works_, together with _Memoirs and Letters to hisFriends_, early in 1777. 

[318] 'Whatso it is, the Danaan folk, yea gift-bearing I fear. ' Morris, Æneids, ii. 49. 

[319] He wrote to Mrs. Thrale on March 19, 1777:--'You are all young, and gay, and easy; but I have miserable nights, and know not how to makethem better; but I shift pretty well a-days, and so have at you all atDr. Burney's to-morrow. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 345. 

[320] A twelfth was born next year. See _post_, July 3, 1778. 

[321] It was March 29. 

[322] _Pr. And Med_. P. 155. BOSWELL

[323] See _ante_, i. 341, note 3. 

[324] See _ante_, i. 439. 

[325] Johnson's moderation in demanding so small a sum is extraordinary. Had he asked one thousand, or even fifteen hundred guineas, thebooksellers, who knew the value of his name, would doubtless havereadily given it. They have probably got five thousand guineas by thiswork in the course of twenty-five years. MALONE. 

[326] See _post_, beginning of 1781. 

[327] See _ante_, ii. 272, note 2. 

[328] Mr. Joseph Cooper Walker, of the Treasury, Dublin, who obliginglycommunicated to me this and a former letter from Dr. Johnson to thesame gentleman (for which see vol. I. P. 321), writes to me as follows:--'Perhaps it would gratify you to have some account of Mr. O'Connor. Heis an amiable, learned, venerable old gentleman, of an independentfortune, who lives at Belanagar, in the county of Roscommon; he is anadmired writer, and Member of the Irish Academy. --The above Letter isalluded to in the Preface to the 2nd edit, of his _Dissert_, p. 3. '--Mr. O'Connor afterwards died at the age of eighty-two. See a well-drawncharacter of him in the _Gent. Mag_. For August 1791. BOSWELL. 

[329] Mr. Croker shows good reason for believing that in the originalletter this parenthesis stood:--'_if such there were_. '

[330] See _ante_, i. 292. 

[331] 'Johnson had not heard of Pearce's _Sermons_, which I wondered at, considering that he wrote all the _Life_ published by the ChaplainDerby, except what his Lordship wrote himself. ' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 242. See ante, March 20, 1776. 

[332] Boswell, it seems, is here quoting himself. See his _Hebrides_, 3rd edit. P. 201 (Sept. 13, 1773), where, however, he lays the emphasisdifferently, writing '_fervour_ of loyalty. '

[333] 'An old acquaintance' of the Bishop says that 'he struggled hardten years ago to resign his Bishopric and the Deanery of Westminster, inwhich our gracious King was willing to gratify him; but upon aconsultation of the Bishops they thought it could not be done withpropriety; yet he was permitted to resign the Deanery. ' _Gent. Mag_. 1775, p. 421. 

[334] 'This person, it is said, was a stay-maker, but being a man of witand parts he betook himself to study, and at a time when the disciplineof the inns of court was scandalously lax, got himself called to theBar, and practised at the quarter-sessions under me, but with littlesuccess. He became the conductor of a paper called _The Public Ledger_and a writer for the stage, in which he met with some encouragement, tillit was insinuated that he was a pensioner of the minister, and thereforea fit object of patriotic vengeance. ' Hawkins's _Johnson_, p. 518. See_ante_, ii. 48 note, and _post_, 1784, in Mr. Nichols's account ofJohnson's last days. 

[335] 'This address had the desired effect. The play was well received. 'Murphy's _Garrick_, p. 302. Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale from Lichfield, 'Lucy [his step-daughter] thinks nothing of my prologue for Kelly, andsays she has always disowned it. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 352. 

[336] It was composed at a time when Savage was generally withoutlodging, and often without meat. Much of it was written with pen and inkthat were borrowed, on paper that had been picked up in the streets. Theunhappy poet 'was obliged to submit himself wholly to the players, andadmit with whatever reluctance the emendations of Mr. Cibber, which healways considered as the disgrace of his performance. ' When it wasbrought out, he himself took the part of Overbury. 'He was so muchashamed of having been reduced to appear as a player, that he alwaysblotted out his name from the list when a copy of his tragedy was to beshown to his friends. ' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 110-112. 

[337] It was not at Drury-lane, but at Covent Garden theatre, that itwas acted. MALONE. 

[338] Part First, Chap 4. BOSWELL. See _ante_ ii. 225. 

[339] _Life of Richard Savage_, by Dr. Johnson. BOSWELL. 

[340] See _ante_, i. 387, and _post_, May 17, 1783. 

[341] Sheridan joined the Literary Club in March, 1777. _The Rivals_and _The Duenna_ were brought out in 1775; _The Trip to Scarborough_on Feb. 24, 1777, and _The School for Scandal_ in the following May. Moore (_Life of Sheridan_, i. 168), speaking of _The Duenna_, says, 'The run of this opera has, I believe, no parallel in the annals of thedrama. Sixty-three nights was the career of _The Beggar's Opera_; but_The Duenna_ was acted no less than seventy-five times during theseason. ' _The Trip to Scarborough_ was a failure. Johnson, therefore, doubtless referred to _The Rivals_ and _The Duenna_. 

[342] The date is wrongly given. Boswell says that he wrote again onJune 23 (_post_, p. 120), and Johnson's letter of June 28 is in answerto both letters. The right date is perhaps June 9. 

[343] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, under Nov. 11, 1773. 

[344] See pp. 29, 30, of this volume. BOSWELL. 

[345] Johnson, describing 'the fond intimacy' of Quin and Thomson, says(_Works_, viii. 374):--'The commencement of this benevolence is veryhonourable to Quin, who is reported to have delivered Thomson, thenknown to him only for his genius, from an arrest by a very considerablepresent; and its continuance is honourable to both, for friendship isnot always the sequel of obligation. '

[346] See _ante_, ii. 63, and _post_, June 18, 1778. 

[347] Formerly Sub-preceptor to his present Majesty, and afterwards aCommissioner of Excise. MALONE. 

[348] The physician and poet. He died in 1779. 

[349] Boswell nine years earlier (_ante_, ii. 63) had heard Johnsonaccuse Thomson of gross sensuality. 

[350] 'Savage, who lived much with Thomson, once told me he heard alady remarking that she could gather from his works three parts of hischaracter, that he was a great lover, a great swimmer, and rigorouslyabstinent; but, said Savage, he knows not any love but that of the sex;he was perhaps never in cold water in his life; and he indulges himselfin all the luxury that comes within his reach. ' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 377. 

[351] Dr. Johnson was not the _editor_ of this Collection of _TheEnglish Poets_; he merely furnished the biographical prefaces. MALONE. See _post_, Sept. 14, 1777. 

[352] See _ante_, under April 18, 1775. 

[353] One letter he seems to have sent to him from this spot. See_ante_, ii. 3, note 1. 

[354] Dr. Johnson had himself talked of our seeing Carlisle together. _High_ was a favourite word of his to denote a person of rank. He saidto me, 'Sir, I believe we may at the house of a Roman Catholick lady inCumberland; a high lady, Sir. ' I afterwards discovered he meant Mrs. Strickland, sister of Charles Townley, Esq. , whose very noble collectionof pictures is not more to be admired, than his extraordinary and politereadiness in shewing it, which I and several of my friends haveagreeably experienced. They who are possessed of valuable stores ofgratification to persons of taste, should exercise their benevolence inimparting the pleasure. Grateful acknowledgments are due to WelboreEllis Agar, Esq. , for the liberal access which he is pleased to allow tohis exquisite collection of pictures. BOSWELL. 

[355] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 11, 1773. 

[356] It is no doubt, on account of its brevity that Boswell in speakingof it writes:--'What is called _The Life_. '

[357] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct, 29, 1773. 

[358] See _ante_, under Feb. 7, 1775. 

[359] See post, p. 139. 

[360] See _ante_, i. 494. 

[361] From Prior's imitation of _Gualterus Danistonus ad Amicos_; thepoem mentioned by Boswell in his _Hebrides_, Aug. 18, 1773. 

[362] _Copy_ is _manuscript for printing_. 

[363] Hawkins (_Life_, p. 521) says that the jury did not at the trialrecommend Dodd to mercy. To one of the petitions 'Mrs. Dodd first gotthe hands of the jury that found the bill against her husband, and afterthat, as it is supposed, of the jury that tried him. ' Ib. P. 527. Hesays that the public were at first very little interested in his fate, 'but by various artifices, and particularly the insertion of his name inpublic papers, with such palliatives as he and his friends could invent, never with the epithet of _unfortunate_, they were betrayed into such anenthusiastic commiseration of his case as would have led a stranger tobelieve that himself had been no accessory to his distresses, but thatthey were the inflictions of Providence. ' Ib. P. 520. Johnson wrote toDr. Taylor on May 19:--'Poor Dodd was sentenced last week. .. . I amafraid he will suffer. The clergy seem not to be his friends. Thepopulace, that was extremely clamorous against him, begins to pity him. _Notes and Queries_, 6th S. , v. 423. 

[364] Horace Walpole says 'the criminal was raised to the dignity of aconfessor in the eyes of the people--but an inexorable judge had alreadypronounced his doom. Lord Mansfield, who never felt pity, and neverrelented unless terrified, had indecently declared for execution evenbefore the judges had given their opinion. An incident that seemedfavourable weighed down the vigorous [qu. Rigorous] scale. The CommonCouncil had presented a petition for mercy to the king. Lord Mansfield, who hated the popular party as much as he loved severity, was not likelyto be moved by such intercessors. At Court it grew the language that theking must discountenance such interposition. ' Walpole adds that 'as anattempt to rescue Dodd might be apprehended, two thousand men wereordered to be reviewed in Hyde Park during the execution. ' _Journal ofthe Reign of George III_, ii. 125. 

[365] Johnson, in the '_Observations_ inserted in the newspapers'(_post_, p. 142), said 'that though the people cannot judge of theadministration of justice so well as their governors, yet their voicehas always been regarded. That if the people now commit an error, theirerror is on the part of mercy; and that perhaps history cannot shew atime in which the life of a criminal, guilty of nothing above fraud, wasrefused to the cry of nations, to the joint supplication of three andtwenty thousand petitioners. ' Hawkins's _Johnson_, p. 528. Johnson'searnestness as a petitioner contrasts with the scornful way in which hehad spoken of petitions. 'There must be no yielding to encourage this, 'the minister might have answered in his own words. _Ante_, ii. 90. 

[366] The king signs no sentences or death warrants; but out of respectto the Royal perogative of mercy, expressed by the old adage, '_TheKing's face gives grace_, ' the cases of criminals convicted in London, where the king is supposed to be resident, were reported to him by therecorder, that his Majesty might have an option of pardoning. Hence itwas seriously doubted whether a recorder's report need or, indeed, couldbe made at Windsor. All his Majesty did on these occasions was, toexpress verbally his assent or dissent to or from the execution of thesentence; and, though the King was on such occasions attended by hisMinisters and the great legal Privy Councillors, the business was nottechnically a council business, but the individual act of the King. On the accession of Queen Victoria, the nature of some cases that itmight be necessary to report to her Majesty occasioned the abrogation ofa practice which was certainly so far unreasonable that it made adifference between London and all the rest of the kingdom. CROKER. 'Iwas exceedingly shocked, ' said Lord Eldon, 'the first time I attended tohear the Recorder's report, at the careless manner in which, as itappeared to me, it was conducted. We were called upon to decide onsentences affecting no less than the lives of men, and yet there wasnothing laid before us to enable us to judge whether there had or hadnot been any extenuating circumstances; it was merely a recapitulationof the judge's opinion and the sentence. I resolved that I never wouldattend another report, without having read and duly considered the wholeof the evidence of each case, and I never did. ' Twiss's _Eldon_, i. 398. 

[367] Under-Secretary of State and a member of the Literary Club. _Ante_, i. 478. 

[368] Johnson does not here let Boswell know that he had written thisaddress (_post_, p. 141). Wesley, two days before Dodd's execution, records (_Journal_, iv. 99):--'I saw Dr. Dodd for the last time. He wasin exactly such a temper as I wished. He never at any time expressed theleast murmuring or resentment at any one; but entirely and calmly gavehimself up to the will of God. Such a prisoner I scarce ever saw before;much less such a condemned malefactor. I should think none couldconverse with him without acknowledging that God is with him. ' Inearlier years Wesley was more than once refused admittance to a manunder sentence of death who was 'earnestly desirous' to speak with him. Wesley's _Journal_, ed. 1827, i. 255, 292, 378. 

[369] Between the Methodists and the Moravians there was no good-will. In 1749 the Moravians published a declaration that 'whosoever reckonsthat those persons in England who are usually called Moravians, andthose who are called Methodists, are the same, he is mistaken. 'Thereupon Wesley recorded in his _Journal_, ii. L20:--'The Methodists, so called, heartily thank Brother Louis for his Declaration; as theycount it no honour to be in any connexion either with him or hisBrethren. '

[370] Since they have been so much honoured by Dr. Johnson I shall hereinsert them:

'TO MR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

'MY EVER DEAR AND MUCH-RESPECTED SIR, 'You know my solemn enthusiasm of mind. You love me for it, and Irespect myself for it, because in so far I resemble Mr. Johnson. Youwill be agreeably surprized when you learn the reason of my writing thisletter. I am at Wittemberg in Saxony. I am in the old church where theReformation was first preached, and where some of the reformers lieinterred. I cannot resist the serious pleasure of writing to Mr. Johnsonfrom the Tomb of Melancthon. My paper rests upon the gravestone of thatgreat and good man, who was undoubtedly the worthiest of all thereformers. He wished to reform abuses which had been introduced into theChurch; but had no private resentment to gratify. So mild was he, thatwhen his aged mother consulted him with anxiety on the perplexingdisputes of the times, he advised her "to keep to the old religion. " Atthis tomb, then, my ever dear and respected friend! I vow to thee aneternal attachment. It shall be my study to do what I can to render yourlife happy: and, if you die before me, I shall endeavour to do honour toyour memory; and, elevated by the remembrance of you, persist in noblepiety. May GOD, the Father of all beings, ever bless you! and may youcontinue to love, 'Your most affectionate friend, and devoted servant, 'JAMES BOSWELL. ''Sunday, Sept. 30, 1764. '

'To DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 'Wilton-house, April 22, 1775. 'My DEAR SIR, 'Every scene of my life confirms the truth of what you have told me, "there is no certain happiness in this state of being. "--I am here, amidst all that you know is at Lord Pembroke's; and yet I am weary andgloomy. I am just setting out for the house of an old friend inDevonshire, and shall not get back to London for a week yet. You said tome last Good-Friday, with a cordiality that warmed my heart, that if Icame to settle in London, we should have a day fixed every week, to meetby ourselves and talk freely. To be thought worthy of such a privilegecannot but exalt me. During my present absence from you, while, notwithstanding the gaiety which you allow me to possess, I am darkenedby temporary clouds, I beg to have a few lines from you; a few linesmerely of kindness, as--a _viaticum_ till I see you again. In your_Vanity of Human Wishes_, and in Parnell's _Contentment_, I find theonly sure means of enjoying happiness; or, at least, the hopes ofhappiness. I ever am, with reverence and affection, 'Most faithfully yours, 'JAMES BOSWELL. '

[371] William Seward, Esq. , F. R. S. , editor of _Anecdotes of somedistinguished persons_, etc. , in four volumes, 8vo. , well known to anumerous and valuable acquaintance for his literature, love of the finearts, and social virtues. I am indebted to him for severalcommunications concerning Johnson. BOSWELL. Miss Burney frequentlymentions him as visiting the Thrales. 'Few people do him justice, ' saidMrs. Thrale to her, 'because as Dr. Johnson calls him, he is an abruptyoung man; but he has excellent qualities, and an excellentunderstanding. ' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 141. Miss Burney, in one ofher letters, says:--'Mr. Seward, who seems to be quite at home amongthem, appears to be a penetrating, polite, and agreeable young man. Mrs. Thrale says of him, that he does good to everybody, but speaks well ofnobody. ' _Memoirs of Dr. Burney_, ii. 89. He must not be confounded withthe Rev. Mr. Seward of Lichfield. 

[372] See _post_, under date of June 18, 1778. 

[373] In the list of deaths in the _Gent. Mag_. For 1779, p. 103, wefind, 'Feb. 8. Isaac de Groot, great-grandson to the learned Grotius. He had long been supported by private donations, and at length wasprovided for in the Charterhouse, where he died. '

[374] The preceding letter. BOSWELL. 

[375] This letter was addressed not to a Mr. Dilly, but to Mr. W. Sharp, Junior. See _Gent. Mag_. 1787, p. 99. CROKER. 

[376] See _ante_, i. 312. 

[377] See _ante_, p. 101. 

[378] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 16. 

[379] See ante, p. 86, and _post_, under Nov. 29, 1777. 

[380] Johnson gives both _epocha_ and _epoch_ in his _Dictionary_. 

[381] Langton. See _ante_, p. 48, and _post_, Sept. 22, 1777. 

[382] This very just remark I hope will be constantly held inremembrance by parents, who are in general too apt to indulge their ownfond feelings for their children at the expence of their friends. Thecommon custom of introducing them after dinner is highly injudicious. Itis agreeable enough that they should appear at any other time; but theyshould not be suffered to poison the moments of festivity by attractingthe attention of the company, and in a manner compelling them frompoliteness to say what they do not think. BOSWELL. See _ante_, p. 28. 

[383] Gibbon wrote to Garrick from Paris on Aug. 14:--'At this time ofyear the society of the Turk's-head can no longer be addressed as acorporate body, and most of the individual members are probablydispersed: Adam Smith in Scotland; Burke in the shades of Beaconsfield;Fox, the Lord or the devil knows where, etc. Be so good as to salute inmy name those friends who may fall in your way. Assure Sir Joshua, inparticular, that I have not lost my relish for _manly_ conversation andthe society of the brown table. ' _Garrick Corres_. Ii. 256. I believethat in Gibbon's published letters no mention is found of Johnson. 

[384] See _ante_, ii. 159, and _post_, April 4, 1778. Of his greatnessat the Bar Lord Eldon has left the following anecdote;--'Mr. Dunning, being in very great business, was asked how he contrived to get throughit all. He said, "I do one third of it, another third does itself, andthe remaining third continues undone. "' Twiss's _Eldon_, i. 327. 

[385] It is not easy to detect Johnson in anything that comes even nearan inaccuracy. Let me quote, therefore, a passage from one of hisletters which shews that when he wrote to Mrs. Boswell he had not, ashe seems to imply, eaten any of the marmalade:--'Aug. 4, 1777. I believeit was after I left your house that I received a pot of orange marmaladefrom Mrs. Boswell. We have now, I hope, made it up. I have not opened mypot. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 350. 

[386] See _ante_, March 19, 1776. 

[387] What it was that had occured is shewn by Johnson's letter to Mrs. Thrale on Aug. 4:--'Boswell's project is disconcerted by a visit from arelation of Yorkshire, whom he mentions as the head of his clan [see_ante_, ii. 169, note 2]. Boszy, you know, make a huge bustle aboutall his own motions and all mine. I have inclosed a letter to pacifyhim, and reconcile him to the uncertainties of human life. ' _PiozziLetters_, i. 350. 

[388] When she was about four months old, Boswell declared that sheshould have five hundred pounds of additional fortune, on account ofher fondness for Dr. Johnson. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 15, 1773. She died, says Malone, of a consumption, four months after her father. 

[389] See _ante_, March 23, 1776. 

[390] By an odd mistake, in the first three editions we find a readingin this line to which Dr. Johnson would by no means have subscribed, _wine_ having been substituted for _time_. That error probably was amistake in the transcript of Johnson's original letter. The otherdeviation in the beginning of the line (_virtue_ instead of nature) mustbe attributed to his memory having deceived him. The verse quoted is theconcluding line of a sonnet of Sidney's:--

'Who doth desire that chast his wife should bee, First be he true, for truth doth truth deserve;Then be he such, as she his worth may see, And, alwaies one, credit with her preserve:Not toying kynd nor causelessly unkynd, Nor stirring thoughts, nor yet denying right, Nor spying faults, nor in plaine errors blind, Never hard hand, nor ever rayns (reins) too light;As far from want, as far from vaine expence, Th' one doth enforce, the t'other doth entice:Allow good companie, but drive from thence All filthie mouths that glorie in their vice:This done, thou hast no more but leave the rest To _nature_, fortune, _time_, and woman's breast. '

MALONE. 

[391] 2 Corinthians, iv. 17. 

[392] Boswell says (ante, i. 342):--'I am not satisfied if a year passeswithout my having read _Rasselas_ through. '

[393] It appears that Johnson, now in his sixty-eighth year, wasseriously inclined to realise the project of our going up the Baltick, which I had started when we were in the Isle of Sky [Boswell's_Hebrides_, Sept. 16]; for he thus writes to Mrs. Thrale; _Letters_, vol. I. P. 366:--

'Ashbourne, Sept. 13, 1777. 

'BOSWELL, I believe, is coming. He talks of being here to day: I shallbe glad to see him: but he shrinks from the Baltick expedition, which, Ithink, is the best scheme in our power: what we shall substitute I knownot. He wants to see Wales; but, except the woods of _Bachycraigh_, whatis there in Wales, that can fill the hunger of ignorance, or quench thethirst of curiosity? We may, perhaps, form some scheme or other; but, inthe phrase of _Hockley in the Hole_, it is a pity he has not a _betterbottom_. '

Such an ardour of mind, and vigour of enterprise, is admirable at anyage: but more particularly so at the advanced period at which Johnsonwas then arrived. I am sorry now that I did not insist on our executingthat scheme. Besides the other objects of curiosity and observation, tohave seen my illustrious friend received, as he probably would havebeen, by a Prince so eminently distinguished for his variety of talentsand acquisitions as the late King of Sweden; and by the Empress ofRussia, whose extraordinary abilities, information, and magnanimity, astonish the world, would have afforded a noble subject forcontemplation and record. This reflection may possibly be thought toovisionary by the more sedate and cold-blooded part of my readers; yet Iown, I frequently indulge it with an earnest, unavailing regret. BOSWELL. In _The Spectator_, No. 436, Hockley in the Hole is describedas 'a place of no small renown for the gallantry of the lower order ofBritons. ' Fielding mentions it in _Jonathan Wild_, bk. I. Ch. 2:--'Jonathan married Elizabeth, daughter of Scragg Hollow, of Hockleyin the Hole, Esq. , and by her had Jonathan, who is the illustrioussubject of these memoirs. ' In _The Beggar's Opera_, act i. Mrs. Peachumsays to Filch: 'You should go to Hockley in the Hole, and to Marylebone, child, to learn valour. These are the schools that have bred so manybrave men. ' Hockley in the Hole was in Clerkenwell. That Johnson hadthis valour was shewn two years earlier, when he wrote to Mrs. Thraleabout a sum of £14, 000 that the Thrales had received: 'If I had moneyenough, what would I do? Perhaps, if you and master did not hold me, Imight go to Cairo, and down the Red Sea to Bengal, and take a ramble inIndia. Would this be better than building and planting? It would surelygive more variety to the eye, and more amplitude to the mind. Halffourteen thousand would send me out to see other forms of existence, andbring me back to describe them. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 266. To the 'Kingof Sweden' _late_ was added in the second edition; Gustavus III havingbeen assassinated in March 1792. The story is somewhere told that GeorgeIII, on hearing the news, cried out, 'What, what, what! Shot, shot, shot!' The Empress of Russia was Catherine II. 

[394] It so happened. The letter was forwarded to my house at Edinburgh. BOSWELL. Arthur Young (_Tour through the North of England_, iv. 431-5)describes, in 1768, some of the roads along which Boswell was to travelnine years later. 'I would advise all travellers to consider the countrybetween Newcastle-under-Line and Preston as sea, and as soon think ofdriving into the ocean as venturing into such detestable roads. I amtold the Derby way to Manchester is good, but further is notpenetrable. ' The road from Wigan to Preston he calls 'infernal, ' and'cautions all travellers, who may accidentally purpose to travel thisterrible country, to avoid it as they would the devil; for a thousand toone they break their necks or their limbs. They will here meet with rutswhich I actually measured four feet deep, and floating with mud onlyfrom a wet summer; what therefore must it be after a winter?'

[395] Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale on Sept. 15, 1777:--'Last night cameBoswell. I am glad that he is come. He seems to be very brisk andlively, and laughs a little at ---- [no doubt Taylor]. ' _PiozziLetters_, i. 368. On the 18th he wrote:--'Boswell is with us in goodhumour, and plays his part with his usual vivacity. ' On this Barettinoted in his copy:--'That is, he makes more noise than anybody incompany, talking and laughing loud. ' On p. 216 in vol. I. Henoted:--'Boswell is not quite right-headed in my humble opinion. '

[396] In the _Gent. Mag_. For 1777, p. 458, it is described as a'violent shock. '

[397] 'Grief has its time' he once said (_post_, June 2, 1781). 'Griefis a species of idleness, ' he wrote to Mrs. Thrale (_Piozzi Letters_, i. 77). He constantly taught that it is a duty not to allow the mind toprey on itself. 'Gaiety is a duty when health requires it' (Croker's_Boswell_, p. 529). 'Encourage yourself in bustle, and variety, andcheerfulness, ' he wrote to Mrs. Thrale ten weeks after thedeath of her only surviving son (_Piozzi Letters_, i. 341). 'Even tothink in the most reasonable manner, ' he said at another time, 'is forthe present not useful as not to think. ' _Ib_ i. 202. When Mr. Thraledied, he wrote to his widow:--'I think business the best remedy forgrief, as soon as it can be admitted. ' _Ib_. Ii 197. To Dr. TaylorJohnson wrote:--'Sadness only multiplies self. ' _Notes and Queries_, 6thS. , v. 461. 

[398] 'There is no wisdom in useless and hopeless sorrow; but there issomething in it so like virtue, that he who is wholly without it cannotbe loved, nor will by me at least be thought worthy of esteem. ' _PiozziLetters_, ii. 198. Against this Baretti has written in the margin:--'Johnson never grieved much for anything. His trade was wisdom. ' See_ante_, ii. 94. 

[399] See _ante_, iii 19. Mr. Croker gives a reference to p. 136 of hisedition. Turning to it we find an account of Johnson, who rode uponthree horses. It would seem from this that, because John=Jack, thereforeJohnson=Jackson. 

[400] Mr. Croker remarks on this:--'Johnson evidently thought, eitherthat Ireland is generally mountainous, or that Mr. Burke came from apart which was: but he was mistaken. ' The allusion may well be, not toBurke as a native of Ireland, but to him as a student of nationalpolitics and economy, to whom any general reflections on the characterof mountaineers would be welcome. In Johnson's _Works_ (1787), xi. 201, it is stated that 'it was the philosophy of the book that Burke thoughtwell of. '

[401] Mr. Langley, I have little doubt, is the Mr. L---- of thefollowing passage in Johnson's letter, written from Ashbourne on July12, 1775:--'Mr. L---- and the Doctor still continue at variance; and theDoctor is afraid and Mr. L---- not desirous of a reconciliation. Itherefore step over at by-times, and of by-times I have enough. ' _PiozziLetters_, i. 267. 

[402] See _ante_, ii. 52. 

[403] George Garrick. See Murphy's _Johnson_, p. 141. 

[404] See _ante_, March 26, 1776, and _post_, Sept. 21, 1777. 

[405] 'While Lord Bathurst held the Great Seal, an attempt was in vainmade to corrupt him by a secret offer to Lady Bathurst of three thousandguineas for the living of St. George's, Hanover Square. The offer wastraced to the famous Dr. Dodd, then a King's Chaplain, and he wasimmediately dismissed. ' Campbell's _Chancellors_, v. 464. See Walpole's_Journal of the Reign of George III_, i. 298. 

[406] Horace Walpole, who accompanied Prince Edward to a service at theMagdalen House in 1760, thus describes the service (_Letters_, iii. 282):--'As soon as we entered the chapel the organ played, and the Magdalenssung a hymn in parts. You cannot imagine how well. The chapel wasdressed with orange and myrtle, and there wanted nothing but a littleincense to drive away the devil, --or to invite him. Prayers then began, psalms and a sermon; the latter by a young clergyman, one Dodd, whocontributed to the Popish idea one had imbibed, by haranguing entirelyin the French style, and very eloquently and touchingly. Heapostrophised the lost sheep, who sobbed and cried from their souls: sodid my Lady Hertford and Fanny Pelham, till, I believe, the city damestook them both for Jane Shores. The confessor then turned to theaudience, and addressed himself to his Royal Highness, whom he calledmost illustrious prince, beseeching his protection. In short, it was avery pleasing performance, and I got _the most illustrious_ to desire itmight be printed. ' Dr. A. Carlyle (_Auto_. P. 503) heard Dodd preach in1769. 'We had, ' he says, 'difficulty to get tolerable seats, the crowdof genteel people was so great. The unfortunate young women were in alatticed gallery, where you could only see those who chose to be seen. The preacher's text was, "If a man look on a woman to lust after her, "&c. The text itself was shocking, and the sermon was composed with theleast possible delicacy, and was a shocking insult on a sincerepenitent, and fuel for the warm passions of the hypocrites. The fellowwas handsome, and delivered his discourse remarkably well for a reader. When he had finished, there were unceasing whispers of applause, which Icould not help contradicting aloud, and condemning the wholeinstitution, as well as the exhibition of the preacher, as _contra bonosmores_, and a disgrace to a Christian city. ' Goldsmith in 1774 exposedDodd as a 'quacking divine' in his _Retaliation_. He describes Dr. Douglas as a 'The scourge of impostors, the terror of quacks, ' and hecontinues, --

'But now he is gone, and we want a detector, Our Dodds shall be pious, our Kenricks shall lecture. '

See _post_, April 7, 1778. 

[407] The fifth earl, the successor of the celebrated earl. On Feb. 22, 1777, Dodd was convicted of forging a bond for £4, 200 in his name; _Ann. Reg_. Xx. 168. The earl was unfortunate in his tutors, for he had beenalso under Cuthbert Shaw (_ante_, ii 31 note 2). 

[408] Mr. Croker quotes the following letter of Dodd, dated 1750:--'Ispent yesterday afternoon with Johnson, the celebrated author of _TheRambler_, who is of all others the oddest and most peculiar fellow Iever saw. He is six feet high, has a violent convulsion in his head, and his eyes are distorted. He speaks roughly and loud, listens to noman's opinions, thoroughly pertinacious of his own. Good sense flowsfrom him in all he utters, and he seems possessed of a prodigious fundof knowledge, which he is not at all reserved in communicating; but in amanner so obstinate, ungenteel, and boorish, as renders it disagreeableand dissatisfactory. In short it is impossible for words to describehim. He seems often inattentive to what passes in company, and thenlooks like a person possessed by some superior spirit. I have beenreflecting on him ever since I saw him. He is a man of most universaland surprising genius, but in himself particular beyond expression. 'Dodd was born in 1729. 

[409] 'One of my best and tenderest friends, ' Johnson called him, _post_, July 31, 1784. See _post_, April 10, 1778. 

[410] _The Convict's Address to his Unhappy Brethren: Being a Sermonpreached by the Rev. Dr. Dodd, Friday, June 6, 1777, in the Chapel ofNewgate, while under sentence of death, for forging the name of theEarl of Chesterfield on a bond for £4, 200. Sold by the booksellers andnews-carriers. Price Two-pence_. Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale fromLichfield on Aug. 9:--'Lucy said, "When I read Dr. Dodd's sermon to theprisoners, I said Dr. Johnson could not make a better. "'

_Piozzi Letters_, i. 352. See _post_, p. 167. 

[411] 'What must I do to be saved?' _Acts_ xvi. 30. 

[412] 'And finally we must commend and entrust our souls to Him whodied for the sins of men; with earnest wishes and humble hopes thatHe will admit us with the labourers who entered the vineyard at the lasthour, and associate us with the thief whom he pardoned on the cross. ' p. 14. 

[413] _The Gent. Mag_. For 1777 (p. 450) says of this address:--'Asnone but a convict could have written this, all convicts ought to readit; and we therefore recommend its being framed, and hung up in allprisons. ' Mr. Croker, italicising _could_ and suppressing the latterpart of the sentence, describes it as a criticism that must have beenoffensive to Johnson. The writer's meaning is simple enough. Theaddress, he knew, was delivered in the Chapel of Newgate by a prisonerunder sentence of death. If, instead of 'written' he had said'delivered, ' his meaning would have been quite clear. 

[414] Having unexpectedly, by the favour of Mr. Stone, of LondonField, Hackney, seen the original in Johnson's hand-writing, of 'ThePetition of the City of London to his Majesty, in favour of Dr. Dodd, ' Inow present it to my readers, with such passages as were omittedin-closed in crotchets, and the additions or variations marked inItalicks. 

'That William Dodd, Doctor of Laws, now lying under sentence of death_in your Majesty's gaol of Newgate_, for the crime of forgery, has for agreat part of his life set a useful and laudable example of diligence inhis calling, [and as we have reason to believe, has exercised hisministry with great fidelity and efficacy, ] _which, in many instances, has produced the most happy effect_. 

'That he has been the first institutor, [or] _and_ a very earnest andactive promoter of several modes of useful charity, and [that] therefore[he] may be considered as having been on many occasions a benefactor tothe publick. 

'[That when they consider his past life, they are willing to suppose hislate crime to have been not the consequence of habitual depravity, butthe suggestion of some sudden and violent temptation. ]

'[That] _Your Petitioners_ therefore considering his case, as in some ofits circumstances unprecedented and peculiar, _and encouraged by yourMajesty's known clemency_, [they] most humbly recommend the said WilliamDodd to [his] your Majesty's most gracious consideration, in hopes thathe will be found not altogether [unfit] _unworthy_ to stand an exampleof Royal Mercy. ' BOSWELL. 

[415] His Speech at the Old Bailey, when found guilty. BOSWELL. 

[416] In the second edition he is described as 'now Lord Hawkesbury. 'He had entered public life as Lord Bute's private secretary, and, according to Horace Walpole, continued in it as his tool. ' _Memoirs ofthe Reign of George III_, iv. 70, 115. Walpole speaks of him as one of'the Jesuits of the Treasury' (_Ib_. P. 110), and 'the director or agentof all the King's secret counsels. His appearance was abject, hiscountenance betrayed a consciousness of secret guilt; and, though hisambition and rapacity were insatiate, his demeanour exhibited such awant of spirit, that had he stood forth as Prime Minister, which hereally was, his very look would have encouraged opposition. ' _Ib_. P. 135. The third Earl of Liverpool wrote to Mr. Croker on Dec. 7, 1845:--'Very shortly before George III's accession my father becameconfidential secretary of Lord Bute, if you can call secretary a man whoall through his life was so bad a penman that he always dictatedeverything, and of whom, although I have a house full of papers, I havescarcely any in his own hand. ' _Croker Corres_. Iii. 178. The editor isin error in saying that the Earl of Liverpool who wrote this was son ofthe Prime Minister. He was his half-brother. 

[417] Burke wrote to Garrick of Fitzherbert:--'You know and love him;but I assure you, until we can talk some late matters over, you, evenyou, can have no adequate idea of the worth of that man. ' _GarrickCorres_. I. 190. See _ante_, i. 82. 

[418] 'I remember a man, ' writes Mrs. Piozzi (_Synonomy_, i. 2l7), 'much delighted in by the upper ranks of society, who upon a triflingembarrassment in his affairs hanged himself behind the stable door, tothe astonishment of all who knew him as the liveliest companion andmost agreeable converser breathing. "What upon earth, " said one at ourhouse, "could have made--[Fitzherbert] hang himself?" "Why, just hishaving a multitude of acquaintance, " replied Dr. Johnson, "and ne'er afriend. "' See _ante_, ii. 228. 

[419] Dr. Gisborne, Physician to his Majesty's Household, hasobligingly communicated to me a fuller account of this story than hadreached Dr. Johnson. The affected Gentleman was the late John GilbertCooper, Esq. , author of a _Life of Socrates_, and of some poems inDodsley's _Collection_. Mr. Fitzherbert found him one morning, apparently, in such violent agitation, on account of the indispositionof his son, as to seem beyond the power of comfort. At length, however, he exclaimed, 'I'll write an Elegy. ' Mr. Fitzherbert being satisfied, bythis, of the sincerity of his emotions, slyly said, 'Had not you bettertake a postchaise and go and see him?' It was the shrewdness of theinsinuation which made the story be circulated. BOSWELL. Malonewrites:--'Mr. Cooper was the last of the _benevolists_ orsentimentalists, who were much in vogue between 1750 and 1760, and dealtin general admiration of virtue. They were all tenderness in words;their finer feeling evaporated in the moment of expression, for they hadno connection with their practice. ' Prior's _Malone_, p. 427. See_ante_, ii. 129. This fashion seems to have reached Paris a few yearslater. Mme. Riccoboni wrote to Garrick on May 3, 1769:--'Dans notrebrillante capitale, où dominent les airs et la mode, s'attendrir, s'émouvoir, s'affliger, c'est le bon ton du moment. La bonté, lasensibilité, la tendre humanité sont devenues la fantaisie universelle. On ferait volontiers des malheureux pour goûter la douceur de lesplaindre. ' Garrick _Corres_. Ii. 561. 

[420] Johnson had felt the truth of this in the case of 'old Mr. Sheridan. ' _Ante_, i. 387. 

[421] Johnson, in his letters from Ashbourne, used to joke aboutTaylor's cattle:--'July 23, 1770. I have seen the great bull, and verygreat he is. I have seen likewise his heir apparent, who promises toenherit all the bulk and all the virtues of his sire, I have seen theman who offered an hundred guineas for the young bull, while he was yetlittle better than a calf. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 33. 'July 3, 1771. Thegreat bull has no disease but age. I hope in time to be like the greatbull; and hope you will be like him too a hundred years hence. ' _Ib_. P. 39. 'July 10, 1771. There has been a man here to-day to take a farm. After some talk he went to see the bull, and said that he had seen abigger. Do you think he is likely to get the farm?' _Ib_. P. 43. 'Oct. 31, 1772. Our bulls and cows are all well; but we yet hate the man thathad seen a bigger bull. ' _Ib_. P. 61. 

[422] Quoted by Boswell in his _Hebrides_, Aug. 16, 1773. 

[423] In the letters that Boswell and Erskine published (_ante_, 384, note) are some verses by Erskine, of very slight merit. 

[424] Horace, _Odes_, ii. 4. 

[425]

'The tender glance, the red'ning cheek, O'erspread with rising blushes, A thousand various ways they speak A thousand various wishes. '

Hamilton's _Poems_, ed. 1760, p. 59. 

[426] In the original, _Now. Ib_. P. 39. 

[427] Thomson, in _The Seasons_, Winter, 1. 915, describes how the ocean

 'by the boundless frostIs many a fathom to the bottom chain'd. '

In 1. 992, speaking of a thaw, he says, 'The rivers swell of bonds impatient. '

[428] See _ante_ March 24, 1776. 

[429] Johnson wrote of Pope (_Works_, viii. 309):--'The indulgence andaccommodation which his sickness required had taught him all theunpleasing and unsocial qualities of a valetudinary man. '

[430] When he was ill of a fever he wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'The doctorwas with me again to-day, and we both think the fever quite gone. Ibelieve it was not an intermittent, for I took of my own head physickyesterday; and Celsus says, it seems, that if a cathartick be taken thefit will return _certo certius_. I would bear something rather thanCelsus should be detected in an error. But I say it was a _febriscontinua_, and had a regular crisis. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 89. 

[431] Johnson must have shortened his life by the bleedings that heunderwent. How many they were cannot be known, for no doubt he wasoften bled when he has left no record of it. The following, however, Ihave noted. I do not know that he was bled more than most people of histime. Dr. Taylor, it should seem, underwent the operation every quarter. 

Dec. 1755. Thrice. 54 ounces. Croker's _Boswell_, p. 100. 

Jan. 1761. Once. _Ib_. P. 122. 

April 1770. Cupped. _Pemb. Coll. MSS_. 

Winter of 1772-3. Three times. _Ante_, ii. 206, and _Pemb. Coll. MSS_. 

May 1773. Two copious bleedings. _Pr. And Med_. 130. 

1774. Times not mentioned. 36 ounces. _Piozzi Letters_, i. 209. 

Jan. 1777. Three bleedings. 22 ounces in first two. _Ib_. I. 343. 

Jan. 1780. Once. _Post_, Jan. 20, 1780. 

June 1780. Times not mentioned. Croker's _Boswell_, p. 649. 

Jan. And Feb. 1782. Thrice. 50 ounces. _Post_, Feb. 4 and March 20, 1782. 

May 1782. At least once. _Post_, under March 19, 1782, and _PiozziLetters_, ii. 240. 

Yet he wrote to Mrs. Thrale, 'I am of the chymical sect, which holdsphlebotomy in abhorrence. ' _Ib_. Ii. 240. 'O why, ' asks Wesley, who wasas strongly opposed to bleeding as he was fond of poulticing, 'willphysicians play with the lives of their patients? Do not others (as wellas old Dr. Cockburn) know that "no end is answered by bleeding in apleurisy, which may not be much better answered without it?"' Wesley's_Journal_, ii. 310. 'Dr. Cheyne, ' writes Pope, 'was of Mr. Cheselden'sopinion, that bleeding might be frequently repeated with safety, for headvised me to take four or five ounces every full moon. ' Elwin andCourthope's _Pope's Works_, ix. 162. 

[432] 'It is the heaviest stone that melancholy can throw at a man, totell him he is at the end of his nature. ' _Sir Thomas Browne _quoted inJohnson's _Works_, vi. 485. See _post_, April 15, 1778, and Boswell's_Hebrides_, Sept. 12, 1773. 

[433] In the last number of _The Idler_ Johnson says:--'There are fewthings not purely evil of which we can say without some emotion ofuneasiness, _this is the last_. .. . The secret horrour of the last isinseparable from a thinking being whose life is limited, and to whomdeath is dreadful. '

[434] In the first edition for _scarce any man_ we find _almost noman_. See _ante_, March 20, 1776, note. 

[435] Bacon, in his _Essay on Death_, says:--'It is worthy theobserving, that there is no passion in the mind of man so weak but itmates and masters the fear of death; and therefore death is no suchterrible enemy, when a man hath so many attendants about him, that canwin the combat of him. ' In the _De Aug. Sci_. Vi. 3. 12, he says:--'Noninvenias inter humanos affetum tam pusillum, qui si intendatur paullovehementius, non mortis metum superet. '

[436] Johnson, in his _Lives of Addison and Parnell_ (_Works_, vii. 399, 449), mentions that they drank too freely. See _post_, under Dec. 2, 1784. 

[437] _Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides_. 3d edit. P. 240 [Sept. 22]. BOSWELL. 

[438] In the _Life of Addison_ (_Works_, vii. 444) he says:--'Thenecessity of complying with times, and of sparing persons, is the greatimpediment of biography. History may be formed from permanent monumentsand records; but Lives can only be written from personal knowledge, which is growing every day less, and in a short time is lost for ever. What is known can seldom be immediately told; and when it might be told, it is no longer known. The delicate features of the mind, the nicediscriminations of character, and the minute peculiarities of conduct, are soon obliterated; and it is surely better that caprice, obstinacy, frolick and folly, however they might delight in the description, shouldbe silently forgotten, than that, by wanton merriment and unseasonabledetection, a pang should be given to a widow, a daughter, a brother, ora friend. As the process of these narratives is now bringing me among mycontemporaries, I begin to feel myself "walking upon ashes under whichthe fire is not extinguished, " and coming to the time of which it willbe proper rather to say "nothing that is false, than all that is true. "'See _ante_, i. 9, and 30. 

[439] Dr. Taylor was very ready to make this admission, because theparty with which he was connected was not in power. There was thensome truth in it, owing to the pertinacity of factious clamour. Had helived till now, it would have been impossible for him to deny that hisMajesty possesses the warmest affection of his people. BOSWELL. See_post_, March 21, 1783. 

[440] The Duke of York in 1788, speaking in the House of Lords onthe King's illness, said:--'He was confident that his Royal Highness[the Prince of Wales] understood too well the sacred principles whichseated the House of Brunswick on the throne of Great Britain ever toassume or exercise any power, be his claim what it might, not derivedfrom the will of the people, expressed by their representatives, andtheir lordships in parliament assembled. ' _Parl. Hist_. Xxvii. 678. 

[441] See _ante_, i. 430. 

[442] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 18, 1773, and _post_, underdate of Sept. 9, 1779, note. 

[443] 'The return of my birth-day, ' he wrote in 1773, 'if I rememberit, fills me with thoughts which it seems to be the general care ofhumanity to escape. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 134. In 1781 he viewed theday with calmness, _if not with cheerfulness_. He writes:--'I rose, breakfasted, and gave thanks at church for my creation, preservation andredemption. As I came home, I thought I had never begun any period oflife so placidly. I have always been accustomed to let this day passunnoticed, but it came this time into my mind that some little festivitywas not improper. I had a dinner; and invited Allen and Levet. ' _Pr. AndMed_. P. 198. In 1783 he again had 'a little dinner, ' and invited fourfriends to keep the day. Croker's _Boswell_, p. 739. At Streatham theday, it would seem, was always kept. Mrs. Piozzi writes (_Anec_. P. 211):--'On the birthday of our eldest daughter, and that of our friend, Dr. Johnson, the 17th and 18th of September, we every year made up alittle dance and supper to divert our servants and their friends. '

[444] The son of a Mr. Coxeter, 'a gentleman, ' says Johnson, 'who wasonce my friend, ' enlisted in the service of the East India Company. Johnson asked Mr. Thrale to use his influence to get his discharge. _Piozzi Letters_, i. 33. 

[445] The bookseller whom Johnson beat, _ante_, i. 154. 

[446] 'When a well-known author published his poems in the year 1777, "Such a one's verses are come out, " said I: "Yes, " replied Johnson, "and this frost has struck them in again. Here are some lines I havewritten to ridicule them; but remember that I love the fellow dearlynow--for all I laugh at him. 

'Wheresoe'er I turn my view, All is strange, yet nothing new;Endless labour all along, Endless labour to be wrong;Phrase that time has flung away;Uncouth words in disarray, Trick'd in antique ruff and bonnet, Ode, and elegy, and sonnet. '"'

Piozzi's _Anec_. P. 64. 

Thomas Warton in 1777 published a volume of his poems. He, no doubt, ismeant. 

[447] In _The Rambler_, No. 121. Johnson, twenty-six years earlier, attacked 'the imitation of Spenser, which, by the influence of some menof learning and genius, seems likely to gain upon the age. .. . They seemto conclude that, when they have disfigured their lines with a fewobsolete syllables, they have accomplished their design, withoutconsidering that they ought, not only to admit old words, but to avoidnew. The laws of imitation are broken by every word introduced since thetime of Spenser. '

[448] Warton's _Ode on the First of April_ is found a line which mayhave suggested these two lines:--'The morning hoar, and evening chill. '

[449] 'Collins affected the obsolete when it was not worthy of revival;and he puts his words out of the common order, seeming to think, withsome later candidates for fame, that not to write prose is certainly towrite poetry. ' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 404. Goldsmith, eleven yearsearlier, said in his _Life of Parnell_ (_Misc. Works_, iv. 22):--'Thesemisguided innovators have not been content with restoring antiquatedwords and phrases, but have indulged themselves in the most licentioustranspositions and the harshest constructions, vainly imagining that themore their writings are unlike prose, the more they resemble poetry. 'Collins and Warton might have quoted by way of defence the couplet inMilton's _L'Allegro_. --

'While the cock with lively dinScatters the rear of _darkness thin_. '

[450] As some of my readers may be gratified by reading the progress ofthis little composition, I shall insert it from my notes. 'When Dr. Johnson and I were sitting _tête-à-tête_ at the Mitre tavern, May 9, 1778, he said "_Where_ is bliss, " would be better. He then added aludicrous stanza, but would not repeat it, lest I should take it down. It was somewhat as follows; the last line I am sure I remember:

"While I thus cried, The hoary seer reply'd, Come, my lad, and drink some beer. "

In spring, 1779, when in better humour, he made the second stanza, as inthe text. There was only one variation afterwards made on my suggestion, which was changing _hoary_ in the third line to _smiling_, both to avoida sameness with the epithet in the first line, and to describe thehermit in his pleasantry. He was then very well pleased that I shouldpreserve it. ' BOSWELL. 

[451] When I mentioned Dr. Johnson's remark to a lady of admirable goodsense and quickness of understanding, she observed, 'It is true, all thisexcludes only one evil; but how much good does it let in?'--To thisobservation much praise has been justly given. Let me then now do myselfthe honour to mention that the lady who made it was the late MargaretMontgomerie, my very valuable wife, and the very affectionate mother ofmy children, who, if they inherit her good qualities, will have noreason to complain of their lot. _Dos magna parentum virtus_. BOSWELL. The latter part of this note was first given in the second edition. Thequotation if from Horace:--

'Cos est magna parentium Virtus. ''The lovers there for dowry claimThe father's virtue and the mother's fame. '

FRANCIS, Horace, Odes, iii. 24. 21. 

[452] He saw it in 1774 on his way to Wales; but he must, I think, haveseen it since, for it does not appear from his _Journal of a Tour intoWales_ that he then saw Lord Scarsdale. He met him also at Dr. Taylor'sin July 1775. _Piozzi Letters_, i. 267. 

[453] I do not find the description in Young's _Six Months' Tour throughthe North of England_, but in Pilkington's _Present State of Derbyshire_, ii. 120. 

[454]

'Quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris?''What place, what land in all the earth but with our grief is stored?'

Morris, _Æneids_, i. 460. 

[455] See _ante_, March 21 and 28, 1776. 

[456] At Derby. 

[457] Baretti in his _Italy_, i. 236, says:--'It is the general customfor our authors to make a present of their works to booksellers, who inreturn scarcely give a few copies when printed. ' The Venetian booksellerto whom Metastasio gave his cleared, Baretti says, more than £10, 000. Goldoni scarcely got for each of his plays ten pounds from the manager ofthe Venetian theatre, and much less from the booksellers. 'Our learnedstare when they are told that in England there are numerous writers whoget their bread by their productions only. '

[458] I am now happy to understand, that Mr. John Home, who was himselfgallantly in the field for the reigning family, in that interestingwarfare, but is generous enough to do justice to the other side, ispreparing an account of it for the press. BOSWELL. Dr. A. Carlyle, whoknew Home well, says (_Auto_. P. 295):--'All his opinions of men andthings were prejudices, which, though it did not disqualify him forwriting admirable poetry, yet made him unfit for writing history. ' See_ante_, i. 225, for Boswell's projected works. 

[459] Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale the next day:--'The finer pieces [ofthe Derby china] are so dear that perhaps silver vessels of the samecapacity may be sometimes bought at the same price; and I am not yet soinfected with the contagion of china-fancy as to like anything at thatrate which can so easily be broken. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 380. 

[460] See _ante_, April 14, 1775. 

[461] See Hutton's _History of Derby_, a book which is deservedlyesteemed for its information, accuracy, and good narrative. Indeed theage in which we live is eminently distinguished by topographicalexcellence. BOSWELL. According to Hutton the Italians at the beginningof the eighteenth century had 'the exclusive art of silk-throwing. 'Lombe went to Italy, and by bribery got admittance into the works. Having mastered the secret he returned to England with two of theworkmen. About the year 1717 he founded a great silk-mill at Derby. Hedied early, being poisoned, it was asserted, by an Italian woman who hadbeen sent over to destroy him. In this mill, Hutton, as a child, 'hadsuffered intolerable severity. ' Hutton's _Derby_, pp. 193-205. 

[462] 'I have enlarged my notions, ' recorded Johnson in his _Journal ofa Tour into Wales_ (Aug. 3, 1774), after he had seen some iron-works. 

[463] Young. BOSWELL. 

'Think nought a trifle, though it small appear. 'Small sands the mountain, moments make the year, And trifles life. '

_Love of Fame_, Satire vi. 

[464] 'Pray, Sir, don't leave us;' said Johnson to an upholder ofBerkeley's philosophy, 'for we may perhaps forget to think of you, andthen you will cease to exist. ' _Post_, 1780, in Langton's _Collection_. See also _ante_, i. 471. 

[465] Perhaps Boswell is thinking of Gray's lines at the close of the_Progress of Poesy_:--

'Yet shall he mount, and keep his distant wayBeyond the limits of a vulgar fate. '

[466] Goldsmith wrote:--'In all Pope's letters, as well as in those ofSwift, there runs a strain of pride, as if the world talked of nothingbut themselves. "Alas, " says he in one of them, "the day after I amdead the sun will shine as bright as the day before, and the worldwill be as merry as usual. " Very strange, that neither an eclipse nor anearthquake should follow the loss of a poet!' Cunningham's _Goldsmith'sWorks_, iv. 85. Goldsmith refers, I suppose, to Pope's letter to Steeleof July 15, 1712, where he writes:--'The morning after my exit the sunwill rise as bright as ever, the flowers smell as sweet, the plantsspring as green, the world will proceed in its old course, people willlaugh as heartily, and marry as fast as they were used to do. ' Elwin'sPope's _Works_, vi. 392. Gray's friend, Richard West, in some linessuggested by this letter, gives a pretty turn to Pope's thoughts wherehe says:--

'For me, whene'er all-conquering Death shall spreadHis wings around my unrepining head, I care not; tho' this face be seen no more, The world will pass as cheerful as before;Bright as before the day-star will appear, The fields as verdant, and the skies as clear. '

Mason's _Gray_, ed. 1807, i. 152. 

[467] See _post_, April 12, 1778. 

[468] A brother of Dodd's wife told Hawkins that 'Dodd's manner ofliving was ever such as his visible income would no way account for. He said that he was the most importunate suitor for preferment everknown; and that himself had been the bearer of letters to great men, soliciting promotion to livings, and had hardly escaped kicking downstairs. ' Hawkins's _Johnson_, p. 435. 

[469] Hawkins (_Life_, p. 523) says that a Mr. Selwin, who just missedbeing elected Chamberlain of the City, went by request to see a manunder sentence of death in Newgate, 'who informed him that he was indaily expectation of the arrival of the warrant for his execution;"but, " said he, "I have £200, and you are a man of character, and hadthe court-interest when you stood for Chamberlain; I should thereforehope it is in your power to get me off. " Mr. Selwin was struck with sostrange a notion, and asked, if there were any alleviating circumstancesin his case. The man peevishly answered "No;" but that he had enquiredinto the history of the place where he was, and could not find that anyone who had £200 was ever hanged. Mr. Selwin told him it was out of hispower to help him, and bade him farewell--"which, " added he, "he did;for he found means to escape punishment. "'

[470] Dodd, in his Dedication of this Sermon to Mr. Villette, theOrdinary of Newgate, says:--'The following address owes its presentpublic appearance to you. You heard it delivered, and are pleased tothink that its publication will be useful. To a poor and abject wormlike myself this is a sufficient inducement to that publication. '

[471] See _ante_, p. 97. 'They have, ' says Lowndes (_Bibl. Man_. ), 'passed through innumerable editions. ' To how many the book-stallstestify, where they are offered second-hand for a few pence. 

[472] Goldsmith was thirty when he published _An Enquiry into thePresent State of Polite Learning in Europe_; thirty-six when hepublished The _Traveller_; thirty-seven when he published _The Vicar ofWakefield_, and thirty-nine when he brought out _The Good-Natured Man_. In flowering late he was like Swift. 'Swift was not one of those mindswhich amaze the world with early pregnancy; his first work, except hisfew poetical Essays, was the _Dissentions in Athens and Rome_, publishedin his thirty-fourth year. ' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 197. See _post_, April 9, 1778. 

[473] Burke, I think, is meant. 

[474] This walking about his room naked was, perhaps, part ofLord Monboddo's system that was founded 'on the superiority of thesavage life. ' _Ante_, ii. 147. 

[475] This regimen was, however, practised by Bishop Ken, of whomHawkins (_not Sir John_) in his life of that venerable Prelate, p. 4, tells us: 'And that neither his study might be the aggressor on hishours of instruction, or what he judged his duty prevent hisimprovements; or both, his closet addresses to his GOD; he strictlyaccustomed himself to but one sleep, which often obliged him to rise atone or two of the clock in the morning, and sometimes sooner; and grewso habitual, that it continued with him almost till his last illness. And so lively and chearful was his temper, that he would be veryfacetious and entertaining to his friends in the evening, even when itwas perceived that with difficulty he kept his eyes open; and thenseemed to go to rest with no other purpose than the refreshing andenabling him with more vigour and chearfulness to sing his morning hymn, as he then used to do to his lute before he put on his cloaths. 'BOSWELL. 

[476] See _ante_, under Dec. 17, 1775. 

[477] Boswell shortened his life by drinking, if, indeed, he didnot die of it. Less than a year before his death he wrote to Temple:--'Ithank you sincerely for your friendly admonition on my frailty inindulging so much in wine. I _do_ resolve _anew_ to be upon my guard, asI am sensible how very pernicious as well as disreputable such a habitis! How miserably have I yielded to it in various years!' _Letters ofBoswell_, p. 353. In 1776 Paoli had taken his word of honour that hewould not taste fermented liquor for a year, that he might recoversobriety. _Ib_. P. 233. For a short time also in 1778 Boswell was awater-drinker, _Post_, April 28, 1778. 

[478] Sir James Mackintosh told Mr. Croker that he believed Lord Errolwas meant here as well as _post_, April 28, 1778. See Boswell's_Hebrides_, Aug. 24, 1773. 

[479] 'Must give us pause. ' _Hamlet_, act iii. Sc. 1. 

[480] 'He was the first, ' writes Dr. T. Campbell (_Survey of the Southof Ireland_, p. 373), 'who gave histories of the weather, seasons, anddiseases of Dublin. ' Wesley records (_Journal_, iv. 40):--'April 6, 1775. I visited that venerable man, Dr. Rutty, just tottering over thegrave; but still clear in his understanding, full of faith and love, andpatiently waiting till his change should come. '

[481] Cowper wrote of Johnson's _Diary_:--'It is certain that thepublisher of it is neither much a friend to the cause of religion nor tothe author's memory; for, by the specimen of it that has reached us, itseems to contain only such stuff as has a direct tendency to expose bothto ridicule. ' Southey's _Cowper_, v. 152. 

[482] Huet, Bishop of Avranches, born 1630, died 1721, published in1718 _Commentarius de rebus ad eum pertinentibus. Nouv. Biog. Gene_. Xxv. 380. 

[483] When Dr. Blair published his Lectures, he was invidiously attackedfor having omitted his censure on Johnson's style, and, on the contrary, praising it highly. But before that time Johnson's _Lives of the Poets_had appeared, in which his style was considerably easier than when hewrote _The Rambler_. It would, therefore, have been uncandid in Blair, even supposing his criticism to have been just, to have preserved it. BOSWELL. 

[484] Johnson refers no doubt to the essay _On Romances, An Imitation_, by A. L. Aikin (Mrs. Barbauld); in _Miscellaneous Pieces in Prose_, byJ. And A. L. Aikin (1773), p. 39. He would be an acute critic who coulddistinguish this _Imitation_ from a number of _The Rambler_. 

[485] See _post_, under Dec. 6, 1784. 

[486] _Id est, The Literary Scourge_. 

[487] See _ante_, ii. 236, where Johnson attacks 'the _verbiage_ ofRobertson. '

[488] 'We were now treading that illustrious island, which was oncethe luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans androving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge, and the blessingsof religion. To abstract the mind from all local emotion would beimpossible if it were endeavoured, and would be foolish if it werepossible. Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses, whatevermakes the past, the distant, or the future, predominate over thepresent, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings. Far from me, andfrom my friends, be such rigid philosophy, as may conduct us, indifferent and unmoved, over any ground which has been dignified bywisdom, bravery or virtue. The [That] man is little to be envied, whosepatriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whosepiety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona. ' Had our Tourproduced nothing else but this sublime passage, the world must haveacknowledged that it was not made in vain. Sir Joseph Banks, the presentrespectable President of the Royal Society, told me, he was so muchstruck on reading it, that he clasped his hands together, and remainedfor some time in an attitude of silent admiration. BOSWELL. SeeBoswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 19, 1773, and Johnson's _Works_, ix. 145. 

[489] 'He that thinks with more extent than another will want words oflarger meaning. ' _Ante_, i. 218. 

[490] In the original _island_. 

[491] See _ante_, ii. 203, note 3. 

[492] In this censure which has been carelessly uttered, I carelesslyjoined. But in justice to Dr. Kippis, who with that manly candid goodtemper which marks his character, set me right, I now with pleasureretract it; and I desire it may be particularly observed, as pointedout by him to me, that 'The new lives of dissenting Divines in thefirst four volumes of the second edition of the _Biographia Brittanica_, are those of John Abernethy, Thomas Amory, George Benson, Hugh Broughtonthe learned Puritan, Simon Browne, Joseph Boyse of Dublin, ThomasCartwright the learned Puritan, and Samuel Chandler. The only doubt Ihave ever heard suggested is, whether there should have been an articleof Dr. Amory. But I was convinced, and am still convinced, that he wasentitled to one, from the reality of his learning, and the excellent andcandid nature of his practical writings. 

'The new lives of clergymen of the Church of England, in the same fourvolumes, are as follows: John Balguy, Edward Bentham, George BerkleyBishop of Cloyne, William Berriman, Thomas Birch, William Borlase, Thomas Bott, James Bradley, Thomas Broughton, John Brown, John Burton, Joseph Butler Bishop of Durham, Thomas Carte, Edmund Castell, EdmundChishull, Charles Churchill, William Clarke, Robert Clayton Bishop ofClogher, John Conybeare Bishop of Bristol, George Costard, and SamuelCroxall. --"I am not conscious (says Dr. Kippis) of any partiality inconducting the work. I would not willingly insert a Dissenting Ministerthat does not justly deserve to be noticed, or omit an establishedClergyman that does. At the same time, I shall not be deterred fromintroducing Dissenters into the _Biographia_, when I am satisfied thatthey are entitled to that distinction, from their writings, learning, and merit. "'

Let me add that the expression 'A friend to the Constitution in Churchand State, ' was not meant by me, as any reflection upon this reverendgentleman, as if he were an enemy to the political constitution of hiscountry, as established at the revolution, but, from my steady andavowed predilection for a _Tory_, was quoted from Johnson's_Dictionary_, where that distinction is so defined. BOSWELL. In his_Dictionary_ a _Tory_ is defined as 'one who adheres to the ancientconstitution of the state and the apostolical hierarchy of the Church ofEngland. ' It was on the _Biographia Britannica_ that Cowper wrote thelines that end:--

'So when a child, as playful children use, Has burnt to tinder a stale last year's news, The flame extinct he views the roving fire, There goes my lady, and there goes the squire, There goes the parson, oh! illustrious spark, And there, scarce less illustrious, goes the clerk. '

Cowper's Works, viii. 320. 

Horace Walpole said that the '_Biographia Britannica_ ought rather to becalled _Vindicatio Britannica_, for that it was a general panegyric uponeverybody. ' Prior's _Malone_, p. 115. 

[493] See _ante_, p. 99. 

[494]

'Great wits are sure to madness near allied, And thin partitions do their bounds divide. '

Dryden's _Absalom and Achitophel_, 1, 163. 

[495] _Observations on Insanity_, by Thomas Arnold, M. D. , London, 1782. BOSWELL. 

[496] We read in the Gospels, that those unfortunate persons who werepossessed with evil spirits (which, after all, I think is the mostprobable cause of madness, as was first suggested to me by myrespectable friend Sir John Pringle), had recourse to pain, tearingthemselves, and jumping sometimes into the fire, sometimes into thewater. Mr. Seward has furnished me with a remarkable anecdote inconfirmation of Dr. Johnson's observation. A tradesman, who had acquireda large fortune in London, retired from business, and went to live atWorcester. His mind, being without its usual occupation, and havingnothing else to supply its place, preyed upon itself, so that existencewas a torment to him. At last he was seized with the stone; and a friendwho found him in one of its severest fits, having expressed his concern, 'No, no, Sir, (said he) don't pity me: what I now feel is ease comparedwith that torture of mind from which it relieves me. ' BOSWELL. 

[497] See _ante_, i. 446. 'Johnson was a great enemy to the presentfashionable way of supposing worthless and infamous persons mad. 'Johnson's _Works_ (1787), xi. 203. 

[498] See _post_, April 1, 1779. 

[499] See _post_, April 7, 1778. 

[500] 'Reynolds, ' writes Malone, 'was as fond of London as Dr. Johnson;always maintaining that it was the only place in England where apleasant society might be found. ' Prior's _Malone_ p. 433. Gibbonwrote to Holroyd _Misc. Works_, ii 126:--'Never pretend to allure me bypainting in odious colours the dust of London. I love the dust, andwhenever I move into the Weald it is to visit you and my Lady, and notyour trees. ' Burke, on the other hand, wrote (_Corres_. Iii 422):--'Whatis London? clean, commodious, neat; but, a very few things indeedexcepted, and endless addition of littleness to littleness, extendingitself over a great tract of land. ' 'For a young man, ' he says, 'for aman of easy fortune, London is the best place one can imagine. But forthe old, the infirm, the straightened in fortune, the grave in characteror in disposition, I do not believe a much worse place can be found. '_Ib_. Iv. 250. 

[501]

'Nescio qua natale solum dulcedine captos Ducit, et immemores non sinit esse sui. 'Ovid, _Ep. Ex Ponto_, i. 3. 35. 

[502] 'In the morn and liquid dew of youth. ' _Hamlet_, act i. Sc. 3. 

[503] Now, at the distance of fifteen years since this conversationpassed, the observation which I have had an opportunity of making inWestminster Hall has convinced me, that, however true the opinion ofDr. Johnson's legal friend may have been some time ago, the samecertainty of success cannot now be promised to the same display ofmerit. The reasons, however, of the rapid rise of some, and thedisappointment of others equally respectable, are such as it might seeminvidious to mention, and would require a longer detail than would beproper for this work. BOSWELL. Boswell began to eat his dinners in theInner Temple in 1775. _Ante_, p. 45 note 1, and _Letters of Boswell_, p. 196. In writing to Temple he thus mentions his career as a barrister. 'Jan. 10, 1789. In truth I am sadly discouraged by having no practice, nor probable prospect of it; and to confess fairly to you, my friend, Iam afraid that, were I to be tried, I should be found so deficient inthe forms, the _quirks_ and the _quiddities_, which early habitacquires, that I should expose myself. Yet the delusion of WestminsterHall, of brilliant reputation and splendid fortune as a barrister, stillweighs upon my imagination. ' _Ib_. P. 267. 'Aug. 23, 1789. The Law lifein Scotland amongst vulgar familiarity would now quite destroy me. I amnot able to acquire the Law of England. ' _Ib_. P. 304. 'Nov. 28, 1789. Ihave given up my house and taken good chambers in the Inner Temple, tohave the appearance of a lawyer. O Temple! Temple! is this realising anyof the towering hopes which have so often been the subject of ourconversations and letters? . .. I do not see the smallest opening inWestminster Hall but I like the scene, though I have attended only oneday this last term, being eager to get my _Life of Johnson_ finished. '_Ib_. P. 314. 'April 6, 1791. When my book is launched, I shall, if I amalone and in tolerable health and spirits, have some furniture put intomy chambers in the Temple, and force myself to sit there some hoursa-day, and to attend regularly in Westminster Hall. The chambers cost me£20 yearly, and I may reckon furniture and a lad to attend thereoccasionally £20 more. I doubt whether I shall get fees equal to theexpense. ' _Ib_. P. 335. 'Nov. 22, 1791. I keep chambers open in theTemple, I attend in Westminster Hall, but there is not the leastprospect of my having business. ' _Ib_. P. 344. His chambers, as he wroteto Malone, were 'in the very staircase where Johnson lived. ' Croker's_Boswell_, p. 830. 

[504] Sunday was the 21st. 

[505] See _ante_, March 26, 1776, and _post_, under Nov. 17, 1784. 

[506] In _Notes and Queries_ for April, May, and June 1882, is a seriesof Johnson's letters to Taylor, between June 10, 1742 and April 12, 1784. In the first Johnson signs himself:--'Your very affectionate, '(p. 304). On Nov. 18, 1756, he writes:--'Neither of us now can find manywhom he has known so long as we have known each other. .. . We both standalmost single in the world, ' (p. 324). On July 15, 1765, he reproachesTaylor with not writing:--'With all your building and feasting you mighthave found an hour in some wet day for the remembrance of your oldfriend. I should have thought that since you have led a life so festiveand gay, you would have [invited] me to partake of your hospitality, '(p. 383). On Oct. 19, 1779, he says:--'Write to me soon. We are bothold. How few of those whom we have known in our youth are left alive!'(p. 461). On April 12, 1784, he writes:--'Let us be kind to one another. I have no friend now living but you and Mr. Hector that was the friendof my youth, ' (p. 482, and _post_, April 12, 1784). See _ante_, p. 131, for his regret on the death of his school-fellow, Henry Jackson, whoseemed to Boswell (_ante_, under March 22, 1776) to be a low man, dulland untaught. 'One of the old man's miseries, ' he wrote, (_post_, Feb. 3, 1778), 'is that he cannot easily find a companion able to partakewith him of the past. ' 'I have none to call me Charley now, ' wroteCharles Lamb on the death of a friend of his boyhood (Talfourd's _Lamb_, ed. 1865, p. 145). Such a companion Johnson found in Taylor. That, onthe death of his wife, he at once sent for him, not even waiting for thelight of morning to come, is a proof that he had a strong affection forthe man. 

[507] _Ecclesiasticus_, ch. Xxxviii. Verse 25. The whole chapter may beread as an admirable illustration of the superiority of cultivated mindsover the gross and illiterate. BOSWELL. 

[508] Passages in Johnson's Letters to Mrs. Thrale are to the sameeffect. 'Aug. 3, 1771. Having stayed my month with Taylor I came away onWednesday, leaving him, I think, in a disposition of mind not veryuncommon, at once weary of my stay, and grieved at my departure. '_Piozzi Letters_, i. 52. 'July 13, 1775. Dr. Taylor and I spend littletime together, yet he will not yet be persuaded to hear of parting. '_Ib_. P. 276. 'July 26, 1775. Having stayed long enough at Ashbourne, Iwas not sorry to leave it. I hindered some of Taylor's diversions, andhe supplied me with very little. ' _Ib_ p. 287. 

[509] The second volume of these Sermons, which was published in 1789, ayear after the first, contains the following addition to the title:--'Towhich is added a Sermon written by Samuel Johnson, L. L. D. , for theFuneral of his Wife. ' 'Dr. Taylor had, ' writes Murphy (_Life_, p. 171), 'The LARGEST BULL in England, and some of the best Sermons. '

[510] If the eminent judge was Lord Mansfield, we may compare withBoswell's regret the lines in which Pope laments the influence ofWestminster Hall and Parliament:--

'There truant Windham every muse gave o'er, There Talbot sunk, and was a wit no more. How sweet an Ovid, Murray was our boast!How many Martials were in Pulteney lost!'

_The Dunciad_, iv. 167. 

[511] Boswell's brother David had been settled in Spain since 1768. (_Boswelliana_, p. 5. ) He therefore is no doubt the son, and LordAuchinleck the father. 

[512] See _ante_, ii. 129, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 22, 1773. 

[513] 'Jack' had not shown all his manners to Johnson. Gibbon thusdescribes him in 1762 (_Misc. Works_, i. 142):--'Colonel Wilkes, ofthe Buckinghamshire militia, dined with us. I scarcely ever met with abetter companion; he has inexhaustible spirits, infinite wit and humour, and a great deal of knowledge; but a thorough profligate in principle asin practice, his life stained with every vice, and his conversation fullof blasphemy and indecency. These morals he glories in--for shame is aweakness he has long since surmounted. ' The following anecdote in_Boswelliana_ (p. 274) is not given in the _Life of Johnson_:--'Johnsonhad a sovereign contempt for Wilkes and his party, whom he looked uponas a mere rabble. "Sir, " said he, "had Wilkes's mob prevailed againstgovernment, this nation had died of _phthiriasis_. Mr. Langton told methis. The expression, _morbus pediculosus_, as being better known wouldstrike more. "'

[514] See _ante_, p. 79, note 1. 

[515] See _ante_, p. 69. 

[516] See _ante_, i. 402. 

[517] See _ante_, i. 167. 

[518] See _post_, under Sept. 30, 1783. 

[519] See _post, ib_. , where Johnson told Mrs. Siddons that 'Garrick wasno declaimer. '

[520] Hannah More (_Memoirs_, ii. 16) says that she once asked Garrick'why Johnson was so often harsh and unkind in his speeches both of himand to him:--"Why, " he replied, "it is very natural; is it not to beexpected he should be angry that I, who have so much less merit thanhe, should have had so much greater success?"'

[521] Foote died a month after this conversation. Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'Did you see Foote at Brighthelmstone? Did you think he wouldso soon be gone? Life, says Falstaff, is a shuttle [_Merry Wives ofWindsor_, act v. Sc. 1]. He was a fine fellow in his way; and the worldis really impoverished by his sinking glories. Murphy ought to write hislife, at least to give the world a _Footeana_. Now will any of hiscontemporaries bewail him? Will genius change _his sex_ to weep? Iwould really have his life written with diligence. ' This letter iswrongly dated Oct. 3, 1777. It was written early in November. _PiozziLetters_, i. 396. Baretti, in a marginal note on _Footeana_, says:--'Onehalf of it had been a string of obscenities. ' See _post_, April 24, 1779, note. 

[522] See _ante_, i. 447. 

[523] _To pit_ is not in Johnson's _Dictionary_. 

[524] Very likely Mr. Langton. See _ante_, ii. 254. 

[525] Two months earlier Johnson had complained that Langton's table wasrather coarse. _Ante_, p. 128. 

[526] See _post_, April 13, 1781, where he again mentions this advice. 'He said of a certain lady's entertainments, "What signifies goingthither? There is neither meat, drink, nor talk. "' Johnson's _Works_(1787), xi. 207. 

[527] William, third Duke of Devonshire, who died in 1755. Johnson(_post_, April 1, 1779) 'commended him for a dogged veracity. ' HoraceWalpole records of him a fact that 'showed a conscientious idea ofhonesty in him. Sometime before his death he had given up to two ofhis younger sons £600 a-year in land, that they might not perjurethemselves, if called upon to swear to their qualifications as Knightsof the Shire. ' _Memoirs of the Reign of George II_, ii. 86. 

[528] Philip Francis wrote to Burke in 1790:--'Once for all, I wishyou would let me teach you to write English. To me who am to readeverything you write, it would be a great comfort, and to you no sort ofdisparagement. Why will you not allow yourself to be persuaded thatpolish is material to preservation?' Burke's _Corres_, iii. 164. 

[529] Edit. 2, p. 53. BOSWELL. 

[530] This is a mistake. The Ports had been seated at Islam time out ofmind. Congreve had visited there, and his _seat_, that is _the bench_ onwhich he sometimes sat, used to be shown. CROKER. On the way to Islam, Johnson told Boswell about the dedication of his _Plan_ to LordChesterfield. _Ante_, i. 183, note 4. 

[531] See _ante_, i. 41. 

[532] 'I believe more places than one are still shown in groves andgardens where he is related to have written his _Old Bachelor_. 'Johnson's _Works_, viii. 23. 

[533] Page 89. BOSWELL. 

[534] See Plott's _History of Staffordshire_, p. 88, and the authoritiesreferred to by him. BOSWELL. 

[535] See _ante_, ii. 247, and _post_, March 31, 1778. 

[536] See _ante_, i. 444. 

[537] Mrs. Piozzi records (_Anec_. P. 109):--'In answer to the argumentsurged by Puritans, Quakers, etc. Against showy decorations of the humanfigure, I once heard him exclaim:--"Oh, let us not be found, when ourMaster calls us, ripping the lace off our waistcoats, but the spirit ofcontention from our souls and tongues! . .. Alas! Sir, a man who cannotget to heaven in a green coat will not find his way thither the soonerin a grey one. "' See _ante_, i, 405. 

[538] Campbell, who was an exciseman, had in July, 1769, caught afavourite servant of Lord Eglintoune in smuggling 80 gallons of rum inone of his master's carts. This, he maintains, led to an ill-feeling. Hehad a right to carry a gun by virtue of his office, and from many of thegentry he had licences to shoot over their grounds. His lordship, however, had forbidden him to enter his. On Oct. 24, 1769, he passedinto his grounds, and walked along the shore within the sea-mark, looking for a plover. Lord Eglintoune came up with him on the sea-sandsand demanded his gun, advancing as if to seize it. Campbell warned himthat he would fire if he did not keep off, and kept retiring backwardsor sideways. He stumbled and fell. Lord Eglintoune stopped a little, andthen made as if he would advance. Campbell thereupon fired, and hit himin the side. He was found guilty of murder. On the day after the trialhe hanged himself in prison. _Ann. Reg_. Xiii. 219. See _ante_, ii. 66, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Nov. 1. 

[539] See _ante_, p. 40. 

[540] _See ante_, ii. 10. 

[541] Boswell here alludes to the motto of his Journal:--

'Oh! while along the stream of time thy nameExpanded flies, and gathers all its fame;Say, shall my little bark attendant sail, Pursue the triumph, and partake the gale?'

Pope's _Essay on Man_, iv. 383. 

[542]

'His listless length at noontide would he stretch, And pore upon the brook that babbles by. '

Gray's _Elegy_. 

[543] Johnson, a fortnight or so later, mentions this waterfall in aletter to Mrs. Thrale, after speaking of a pool that Mr. Thrale washaving dug. 'He will have no waterfall to roar like the Doctor's. I satby it yesterday, and read Erasmus's _Militis Christiani Enchiridion_. '_Piozzi Letters_, ii. 3. 

[544] See _post_, April 9 and 30, 1778. At the following Easter herecorded: 'My memory is less faithful in retaining names, and, I amafraid, in retaining occurrences. ' _Pr. And Med_. P. 170. 

[545] I am told that Horace, Earl of Orford, has a collection of_Bon-Mots_ by persons who never said but one. BOSWELL. Horace Walpolehad succeeded to his title after the publication of the first edition ofthis book. 

[546] See Macaulay's _Essays_, i. 370. 

[547] Johnson (_Works_, vii. 158) tells how 'Rochester lived worthlessand useless, and blazed out his youth and his health in lavishvoluptuousness; till, at the age of one and thirty, he had exhausted thefund of life, and reduced himself to a state of weakness and decay. ' Hedescribes how Burnet 'produced a total change both of his manners andopinions, ' and says of the book in which this conversion is recountedthat it is one 'which the critick ought to read for its elegance, thephilosopher for its arguments, and the saint for its piety. ' InJohnson's answer to Boswell we have a play on the title of this work, which is, _Some passages of the Life and Death of John Earl ofRochester_. 

[548] In the passages from Johnson's _Life of Prior_, quoted _ante_, ii. 78, note 3, may be found an explanation of what he here says. A poet who 'tries to be amorous by dint of study, ' and who 'in hisamorous pedantry exhibits the college, ' may be gross and yet not exciteto lewdness. Goldsmith, in 1766, in a book entitled _Beauties of EnglishPoetry Selected_, had inserted two of Prior's tales, 'which for onceinterdicted from general reading a book with his name upon itstitle-page. ' Mr. Forster hereupon remarks 'on the changes in the publictaste. Nothing is more frequent than these, and few things so sudden. 'Of these changes he gives some curious instances. Forster's _Goldsmith_, ii. 4. 

[549] See _ante_, iii. 5. 

[550] See _ante_, i. 428. 

[551] Horace, _Odes_, ii. 14. 

[552] I am informed by Mr. Langton, that a great many years ago he waspresent when this question was agitated between Dr. Johnson and Mr. Burke; and, to use Johnson's phrase, they 'talked their best;' Johnsonfor Homer, Burke for Virgil. It may well be supposed to have been oneof the ablest and most brilliant contests that ever was exhibited. Howmuch must we regret that it has not been preserved. BOSWELL. Johnson(_Works_, vii. 332), after saying that Dryden 'undertook perhaps themost arduous work of its kind, a translation of Virgil, ' continues:--'Inthe comparison of Homer and Virgil, the discriminative excellence ofHomer is elevation and comprehension of thought, and that of Virgil isgrace and splendour of diction. The beauties of Homer are thereforedifficult to be lost, and those of Virgil difficult to be retained. ' Mr. E. J. Payne, in his edition of Burke's _Select Works_, i. Xxxviii, says:--'Most writers have constantly beside them some favourite classical authorfrom whom they endeavour to take their prevailing tone. Burke, accordingto Butler, always had a "ragged Delphin _Virgil_" not far from his elbow. 'See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 21, note. 

[553] According to Sir Joshua Reynolds, 'Mr. Burke, speaking of Bacon's_Essays_, said he thought them the best of his works. Dr. Johnson was ofopinion that their excellence and their value consisted in being theobservations of a strong mind operating upon life; and inconsequence you find there what you seldom find in other books. 'Northcote's _Reynolds_, ii. 281. 

[554] Mr. Seward perhaps imperfectly remembered the following passage inthe _Preface to the Dictionary_ (_Works_, v. 40):--'From the authorswhich rose in the time of Elizabeth, a speech might be formed adequate toall the purposes of use and elegance. If the language of theology wereextracted from Hooker and the translation of the Bible; the terms ofnatural knowledge from Bacon; the phrases of policy, war, and navigationfrom Raleigh; the dialect of poetry and fiction from Spenser and Sidney;and the diction of common life from Shakespeare, few ideas would be lostto mankind for want of English words in which they might be expressed. '

[555] Of Mallet's _Life of Bacon_, Johnson says (_Works_, viii. 465)that it is 'written with elegance, perhaps with some affectation;but with so much more knowledge of history than of science, that when heafterwards undertook the _Life of Marlborough_, Warburton remarked, thathe might perhaps forget that Marlborough was a general, as he hadforgotten that Bacon was a philosopher. '

[556] It appears from part of the original journal in Mr. Anderdon'spapers that the friend who told the story was Mr. Beauclerk and thegentleman and lady alluded to were Mr. (probably Henry) and MissHarvey. CROKER. Not Harvey but Hervey. See _ante_, i. 106, and ii. 32, for another story told by Beauclerk against Johnson of Mr. ThomasHervey. 

[557] Johnson, in his _Dictionary_, gives as the 17th meaning of _make, to raise as profit from anything_. He quotes the speech of Pompey in_Measure for Measure_, act iv. Sc. 3:--'He made five marks, ready money. 'But Pompey, he might reply, was a servant, and his English therefore isnot to be taken as a standard. 

[558] _Idea_ he defines as _mental imagination_. 

[559] See _post_, May 15, 1783, note. 

[560] In the first three editions of Boswell we find _Tadnor_ for_Tadmor_. In Dodsley's _Collection_, iv. 229, the last couplet is asfollows:--

'Or Tadmor's marble wastes survey, Or in yon roofless cloister stray. '

[561] This is the tune that William Crotch (Dr. Crotch) was heardplaying before he was two years and a half old, on a little organ thathis father, a carpenter, had made. _Ann. Reg_. Xxii 79. 

[562] See _ante_, under Dec. 17, 1775. 

[563] In 1757 two battalions of Highlanders were raised and sentto North America. _Gent. Mag_. Xxvii. 42, 333. Boswell (_Hebrides_, Sept. 3, 1773) mentions 'the regiments which the late Lord Chathamprided himself in having brought from "the mountains of the north. "'Chatham said in the House of Lords on Dec. 2, 1777:--'I remember that Iemployed the very rebels in the service and defence of their country. They were reclaimed by this means; they fought our battles; theycheerfully bled in defence of those liberties which they attempted tooverthrow but a few years before. ' _Parl. Hist_. Xix. 477. 

[564]

'Yet hope not life from grief or danger free, Nor think the doom of man reversed for thee. '

Line 154. 

[565] See _ante_, ii. 168. Boswell, when a widower, wrote to Templeof a lady whom he seemed not unwilling to marry:--'She is aboutseven-and-twenty, and he [Sir William Scott] tells me lively and gay--_a Ranelagh girl_--but of excellent principles, insomuch that she readsprayers to the servants in her father's family every Sunday evening. '_Letters of Boswell_, p. 336. 

[566] Pope mentions [_Dunciad_, iv. 342], 'Stretch'd on the rack of a too easy chair. '

But I recollect a couplet quite apposite to my subject in _Virtue anEthick Epistle_, a beautiful and instructive poem, by an anonymouswriter, in 1758; who, treating of pleasure in excess, says:--

'Till languor, suffering on the rack of bliss, Confess that man was never made for this. ' BOSWELL. 

[567] See _post_, June 12, 1784. 

[568] See _ante_, p. 86. 

[569] 'For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but notaccording to knowledge. ' _Romans_, x. 2. 

[570] Horace Walpole wrote:--'Feb. 17, 1773. Caribs, black Caribs, haveno representatives in Parliament; they have no agent but God, and he isseldom called to the bar of the House to defend their cause. ' Walpole's_Letters_, v. 438. 'Feb. 14, 1774. 'If all the black slaves were inrebellion, I should have no doubt in choosing my side, but I scarce wishperfect freedom to merchants who are the bloodiest of all tyrants. Ishould think the souls of the Africans would sit heavy on the swords ofthe Americans. ' _Ib_. Vi. 60. 

[571] See _ante_, ii. 27, 312. 

[572] 'We are told that the subjection of Americans may tend to thediminution of our own liberties; an event which none but veryperspicacious politicians are able to foresee. If slavery be thusfatally contagious, how is it that we hear, ' etc. _Works_, vi. 262. Inhis _Life of Milton_ (_ib_. Vii. 116) he says:--'It has been observedthat they who most loudly clamour for liberty do not most liberallygrant it. '

[573] See page 76 of this volume. BOSWELL. 

[574] The address was delivered on May 23, 1770. The editor of _Rogers'sTable Talk_ quotes, on p. 129, Mr. Maltby, the friend of Rogers, whosays:--'Dr. C. Burney assured me that Beckford did not utter onesyllable of the speech--that it was wholly the invention of Horne Tooke. Being very intimate with Tooke, I questioned him on the subject. "WhatBurney states, " he said, "is true. I saw Beckford just after he camefrom St. James's. I asked him what he had said to the King; and hereplied, that he had been so confused, he scarcely knew what he hadsaid. But, cried I, _your speech_ must be sent to the papers; I'll writeit for you. I did so immediately, and it was printed forthwith. "' Tookegave the same account to Isaac Reed. Walpole's _Letters_, v. 238, note. Stephens (_Life of Horne Tooke_, i. 155-8) says, that the King's answerhad been anticipated and that Horne had suggested the idea of a reply. Stephens continues:--'The speech in reply, as Mr. Horne latelyacknowledged to me, was his composition. ' Stephens does not seem to haveheard the story that Beckford did not deliver the reply. He says thatHorne inserted the account in the newspapers. 'No one, ' he continues, 'was better calculated to give copies of those harangues than the personwho had furnished the originals; and as to the occurrences at St. James's, he was enabled to detail the particulars from the lips of themembers of the deputation. ' Alderman Townshend assured Lord Chatham thatBeckford did deliver the speech. _Chatham Corres_. Iii. 460. HorneTooke's word is not worth much. He did not resign his living till morethan seven years after he wrote to Wilkes:--'It is true I have sufferedthe infectious hand of a bishop to be waved over me; whose imposition, like the sop given to Judas, is only a signal for the devil to enter. 'Stephens's _Horne Tooke_, i. 76. Beckford, dying in his Mayoralty, isoddly connected with Chatterton. 'Chatterton had written a politicalessay for _The North Briton_, which, though accepted, was not printed onaccount of Lord Mayor Beckford's death. The patriot thus calculated thedeath of his great patron:--

 £ s. D. Lost by his death in this Essay 1 11 6Gained in Elegies £2. 2 in Essays £3. 3 ---- 5 5 0 -------------Am glad he is dead by £3 13 6

D'Israeli's _Calamities of Authors_, i. 54. 

[575] At the time that Johnson wrote this there were serfs in Scotland. An Act passed in 1775 (15 Geo. III. C. 22) contains the followingpreamble:--'Whereas by the law of Scotland, as explained by the judgesof the courts of law there, many colliers and salters are in a state ofslavery and bondage, bound to the collieries or saltworks where theywork for life, transferable with the coalwork and salteries, ' etc. TheAct was ineffectual in giving relief, and in 1779 by 39 Geo. III. C. 56all colliers were 'declared to be free from their servitude. ' The lastof these emancipated slaves died in the year 1844. _Tranent and itsSurroundings_, by P. M'Neill, p. 26. See also _Parl. Hist_. Xxix. 1109, where Dundas states that it was only 'after several years'struggle that the bill was carried through both Houses. '

[576] See _ante_, ii. 13. 

[577] 'The Utopians do not make slaves of the sons of their slaves; theslaves among them are such as are condemned to that state of life for thecommission of some crime. ' Sir T. More's _Utopia--Ideal Commonwealths_, p. 129. 

[578] The Rev. John Newton (Cowper's friend) in 1763 wrote of theslave-trade, in which he had been engaged, 'It is indeed accounted agenteel employment, and is usually very profitable, though to me it didnot prove so, the Lord seeing that a large increase of wealth could notbe good for me. ' Newton's _Life_, p. 148. A ruffian of a LondonAlderman, a few weeks before _The Life of Johnson_ was published, saidin parliament:--'The abolition of the trade would destroy ourNewfoundland fishery, which the slaves in the West Indies supported _byconsuming that part of the fish which was fit for no other consumption_, and consequently, by cutting off the great source of seamen, annihilateour marine. ' _Parl. Hist_. Xxix. 343. 

[579] Gray's Elegy. Mrs. Piozzi maintained that 'mercy was totallyabolished by French maxims; for, if all men are equal, mercy is nomore. ' Piozzi's _Synonymy_, i. 370. Johnson, in 1740, describedslavery as 'the most calamitous estate in human life, ' a state 'whichhas always been found so destructive to virtue, that in many languages aslave and a thief are expressed by the same word. ' _Works_, v. 265-6. Nineteen years later he wrote of the discoveries of thePortuguese:--'Much knowledge has been acquired, and much cruelty beencommitted; the belief of religion has been very little propagated, andits laws have been outrageously and enormously violated. ' _Ib_. P. 219. Horace Walpole wrote, on July 9, 1754, (_Letters_, ii. 394), 'I wasreading t'other day the _Life of Colonel Codrington_. He left a largeestate for the propagation of the Gospel, and ordered that three hundrednegroes should constantly be employed upon it. Did one ever hear a moretruly Christian charity than keeping up a perpetuity of three hundredslaves to look after the Gospel's estate?' Churchill, in _Gotham_, published in 1764 (_Poems_, ii. 101), says of Europe's treatment of thesavage race:--

'Faith too she plants, for her own ends imprest, To make them bear the worst, and hope the best. '

[580]

'With stainless lustre virtue shines, A base repulse nor knows nor fears;

Nor claims her honours, nor declines, As the light air of crowds uncertain veers. 'FRANCIS. Horace _Odes_, iii. 2. 

[581] Sir Walter Scott, in a note to _Redgauntlet_, Letter 1, says:--'Sir John Nisbett of Dirleton's _Doubts and Questions upon the Lawespecially of Scotland_, and Sir James Stewart's _Dirleton's Doubtsand Questions resolved and answered_, are works of authority in Scottishjurisprudence. As is generally the case, the _Doubts_ are held more inrespect than the solution. '

[582] When Boswell first made Johnson's acquaintance it was he whosuffered from the late hours. _Ante_, i. 434. 

[583] See _ante_, ii. 312. 

[584] Burke, in _Present Discontents_, says:--'The power of the Crown, almost dead and rotten as Prerogative, has grown up anew, with much morestrength and far less odium, under the name of Influence. ' _Influence_he explains as 'the method of governing by men of great natural interestor great acquired consideration. ' Payne's _Burke_, i. 10, 11. 'Influence, 'said Johnson, ' must ever be in proportion to property; and it is right itshould. ' Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 18. To political life might be appliedwhat Johnson wrote of domestic life:--'It is a maxim that no man ever wasenslaved by influence while he was fit to be free. ' _Notes and Queries_, 6th S. , v. 343. 

[585] Boswell falls into what he calls 'the cant transmitted from age toage in praise of the ancient Romans. ' _Ante_, i. 311. To do so withJohnson was at once to provoke an attack, for he looked upon the Romancommonwealth as one 'which grew great only by the misery of the rest ofmankind. ' _Ib_. Moreover he disliked appeals to history. 'Generalhistory, ' writes Murphy (_Life_, p. 138), 'had little of his regard. Biography was his delight. Sooner than hear of the Punic War hewould be rude to the person that introduced the subject. ' Mrs. Piozzisays (_Anec_. P. 80) that 'no kind of conversation pleased him less, Ithink, than when the subject was historical fact or general polity. 'What shall we learn from _that_ stuff?' said he. 'He never, ' as heexpressed it, 'desired to hear of the _Punic War_ while he lived. ' The_Punic War_, it is clear, was a kind of humorous catch word with him. She wrote to him in 1773:--'So here's modern politics in a letter fromme; yes and a touch of the _Punic War_ too. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 187. He wrote to her in 1775, just after she had been at the first regattaheld in England:--'You will now find the advantage of having made one atthe regatta. .. . It is the good of public life that it supplies agreeabletopics and general conversation. Therefore wherever you are, andwhatever you see, talk not of the Punic War; nor of the depravity ofhuman nature; nor of the slender motives of human actions; nor of thedifficulty of finding employment or pleasure; but talk, and talk, andtalk of the regatta. ' _Ib_. P. 260. He was no doubt sick of the constantreference made by writers and public speakers to Rome. For instance, inBolingbroke's _Dissertation upon Parties_, we find in three consecutiveLetters (xi-xiii) five illustrations drawn from Rome. 

[586] It is strange that Boswell does not mention that on this day theymet the Duke and Duchess of Argyle in the street. That they did so welearn from _Piozzi Letters_, i. 386. Perhaps the Duchess shewed him 'thesame marked coldness' as at Inverary. Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 25. 

[587] At Auchinleck he had 'exhorted Boswell to plant assiduously. 'Boswell's _Hebrides_, Nov. 4. 

[588] See _ante_, i. 72. In Scotland it was Cocker's _Arithmetic_ thathe took with him. Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 31. He was not alwayscorrect in his calculations. For instance, he wrote to Mrs. Thrale fromAshbourne less than a fortnight after Boswell's departure: 'Mr. Langdonbought at Nottingham fair fifteen tun of cheese; which, at an ouncea-piece, will suffice after dinner for four-hundred-and-eighty thousandmen. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 2. To arrive at this number he must havetaken a hundredweight as equal to, not 112, but 100, pounds. 

[589] Johnson wrote the next day:--'Boswell is gone, and is, I hope, pleased that he has been here; though to look on anything with pleasureis not very common. He has been gay and good-humoured in his usual way, but we have not agreed upon any other expedition. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 384. 

[590] He lent him also the original journal of his _Hebrides_, andreceived in return a complimentary letter, which he in like mannerpublished. Boswell's _Hebrides_, near the end. 

[591] 'The landlord at Ellon said that he heard he was the greatest manin England, next to Lord Mansfield. ' _Ante_, ii. 336. 

[592] See _ante_, under March 15, 1776, where Johnson says that 'truthis essential to a story. '

[593] Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'Boswell kept his journal verydiligently; but then what was there to journalize? I should be gladto see what he says of *********. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 390. The numberof stars renders it likely that Beauclerk is meant. See _ante_, p. 195, note 1. 

[594] See _ante_, ii. 279. 

[595] Mr. Beauclerk. See _ante_, p. 195. 

[596] Beauclerk. 

[597] Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'Boswell says his wife does notlove me quite well yet, though we have made a formal peace. ' _PiozziLetters_, i. 390. 

[598] A daughter born to him. BOSWELL. Mr. Croker says that thisdaughter was Miss Jane Langton, mentioned post, May 10, 1784. 

[599] She had already had eleven children, of whom seven were by thistime dead. _Ante_, p. 109. This time a daughter was born, and not ayoung brewer. _Post_, July 3, 1778. 

[600] Three months earlier Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'We are notfar from the great year of a hundred thousand barrels, which, if threeshillings be gained upon each barrel, will bring us fifteen thousandpounds a year. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 357. We may see how here, aselsewhere, he makes himself almost one with the Thrales. 

[601] See _ante_, p. 97. 

[602] Mrs. Aston. BOSWELL. 

[603] See _State Trials_, vol. Xi. P. 339, and Mr. Hargrave'sargument. BOSWELL. See _ante_, p. 87. 

[604] The motto to it was happily chosen:--

'Quamvis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus esses. '

I cannot avoid mentioning a circumstance no less strange than true, thata brother Advocate in considerable practice, but of whom it certainlycannot be said, _Ingenuas didicit fideliter artes_, asked Mr. Maclaurin, with a face of flippant assurance, 'Are these words your own?' BOSWELL. Sir Walter Scott shows where the humour of this motto chiefly lay. 'Thecounsel opposite, ' he writes, 'was the celebrated Wight, an excellentlawyer, but of very homely appearance, with heavy features, a blind eyewhich projected from its socket, a swag belly, and a limp. To himMaclaurin applied the lines of Virgil:--

'Quamvis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus esses, O formose puer, nimium ne crede colori. '

['Though he was black, and thou art heavenly fair, Trust not too much to that enchanting face. '

DRYDEN. Virgil, _Eclogues_, ii. 16. ] Mr. Maclaurin wrote an essayagainst the Homeric tale of 'Troy divine, ' I believe, for the solepurpose of introducing a happy motto, --

'Non anni domuere decem non mille carinæ. '

[Æneid, ii. 198. ] Croker's _Boswell_, p. 279. 

[605] There is, no doubt, some malice in this second mention of Dundas'sScottish accent (see _ante_, ii. 160). Boswell complained to Temple in1789 that Dundas had not behaved well to himself or his brother David. 'The fact is, he writes, 'on David's being obliged to quit Spain onaccount of the war, Dundas promised to my father that he would give himan office. Some time after my father's death, Dundas renewed theassurance to me in strong terms, and told me he had said to LordCaermarthen, "It is a deathbed promise, and I must fulfil it. " YetDavid has now been kept waiting above eight years, when he might haveestablished himself again in trade. .. . This is cruel usage. ' Boswelladds:--'I strongly suspect Dundas has given Pitt a prejudice against me. The excellent Langton says it is disgraceful; it is utter folly in Pittnot to reward and attach to his Administration a man of my popular andpleasant talents, whose merit he has acknowledged in a letter under hisown hand. ' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 286. 

[606] Knight was kidnapped when a child and sold to a Mr. Wedderburne ofBallandean, who employed him as his personal servant. In 1769 his masterbrought him to Britain, and from that time allowed him sixpence a weekfor pocket money. By the assistance of his fellow-servants he learnt toread. In 1772 he read in a newspaper the report of the decision in theSomerset Case. 'From that time, ' said Mr. Ferguson, 'he had had it in hishead to leave his master's service. ' In 1773 he married a fellow-servant, and finding sixpence a week insufficient for married life, applied forordinary wages. This request being refused, he signified his intentionof seeking service elsewhere. On his master's petition to the Justicesof Peace of Perthshire, he was brought before them on a warrant; theydecided that he must continue with him as formerly. For some time hecontinued accordingly; but a child being born to him, he petitioned theSheriff, who decided in his favour. He thereupon left the house of hismaster, who removed the cause into the Court of Session. ' Fergusonmaintained that there are 'many examples of greater servitude in thiscountry [Scotland] than that claimed by the defender, i. E. [Mr. Wedderburne, the plaintiff]. There still exists a species of perpetualservitude, which is supported by late statutes and by daily practice, viz. That which takes place with regard to the coaliers and sailers, where, from the single circumstance of entering to work after puberty, they are bound to perpetual service, and sold along with the works. 'Ferguson's _Additional Information_, July 4, 1775, pp. 3; 29; andMaclaurin's _Additional Information_, April 20, 1776, p. 2. See _ante_, p. 202. 

[607] See _ante_, p. 106. 

[608] Florence Wilson accompanied, as tutor, Cardinal Wolsey's nephewto Paris, and published at Lyons in 1543 his _De Tranquillitate AnimiDialogus_. Rose's _Biog. Dict_. Xii. 508. 

[609] When Johnson visited Boswell in Edinburgh, Mrs. Boswell 'insistedthat, to show all respect to the Sage, she would give up her ownbed-chamber to him, and take a worse. ' Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 14. See _post_, April 18, 1778. 

[610] See _ante_, Dec. 23, 1775. 

[611] Fielding, in his _Voyage to Lisbon_ (p. 2), writes of him as'my friend Mr. Welch, whom I never think or speak of but with loveand esteem. ' See _post_, under March 30, 1783. 

[612] Johnson defines _police_ as _the regulation and government of acity or country, so far as regards the inhabitants_. 

[613] At this time Under-secretary of State. See _ante_, i. 478, note 1. 

[614] Fielding, after telling how, unlike his predecessor, he had notplundered the public or the poor, continues:--'I had thus reduced anincome of about £500 a-year of the dirtiest money upon earth to littlemore than £300; a considerable proportion of which remained with myclerk. ' He added that he 'received from the Government a yearly pensionout of the public service money. ' _Voyage to Lisbon_, Introduction. 

[615] The friendship between Mr. Welch and him was unbroken. Mr. Welchdied not many months before him, and bequeathed him five guineas for aring, which Johnson received with tenderness, as a kind memorial. Hisregard was constant for his friend Mr. Welch's daughters; of whom, Janeis married to Mr. Nollekens the statuary, whose merit is too well knownto require any praise from me. BOSWELL. 

[616] See _ante_, ii. 50. It seems from Boswell's words, as the editorof the _Letters of Boswell_ (p. 91) points out, that in this case hewas 'only a friend and amateur, and not a duly appointed advocate. 'He certainly was not retained in an earlier stage of the cause, for onJuly 22, 1767, he wrote:--'Though I am not a counsel in that cause, yetI am much interested in it. ' _Ib_. P. 93. 

[617] Dr. Percy, the Bishop of Dromore, humorously observed, that Levettused to breakfast on the crust of a roll, which Johnson, after tearingout the crumb for himself, threw to his humble friend. BOSWELL. Perhapsthe word _threw_ is here too strong. Dr. Johnson never treated Levettwith contempt. MALONE. Hawkins (_Life_, p. 398) says that 'Dr. Johnsonfrequently observed that Levett was indebted to him for nothing morethan house-room, his share in a penny loaf at breakfast, and now andthen a dinner on a Sunday. ' Johnson's roll, says Dr. Harwood, was everymorning placed in a small blue and white china saucer which hadbelonged to his wife, and which he familiarly called 'Tetty. ' See theinscription on the saucer in the Lichfield Museum. 

[618] See this subject discussed in a subsequent page, under May 3, 1779. BOSWELL. 

[619] On Feb. 17, Lord North 'made his Conciliatory Propositions. '_Parl. Hist_. Xix. 762. 

[620] See _ante_, ii 111. 

[621] See _ante_, ii. 312. 

[622] Alluding to a line in his _Vanity of Human Wishes_, describingCardinal Wolsey in his state of elevation:--

'Through him the rays of regal bounty shine. ' BOSWELL. 

[623] See _ante_, p. 205. 

[624] 'In my mind's eye, Horatio. ' _Hamlet_, act i. Sc. 2. 

[625] Mr. Langton. See _ante_, p. 48. 

[626] See _ante_, May 12, 1775. 

[627] Daughter of Dr. Swinfen, Johnson's godfather, and widow of Mr. Desmoulins, a writing-master. BOSWELL. 

[628] Johnson wrote to Mrs. Montagu on March 5:--'Now, dear Madam, wemust talk of business. Poor Davies, the bankrupt bookseller, issoliciting his friends to collect a small sum for the repurchase ofpart of his household stuff. Several of them gave him five guineas. Itwould be an honour to him to owe part of his relief to Mrs. Montagu. 'Croker's _Boswell_, p. 570. J. D'Israeli says (_Calamities of Authors_, i. 265):--'We owe to Davies beautiful editions of some of our elderpoets, which are now eagerly sought after; yet, though all hispublications were of the best kinds, and are now of increasing value, the taste of Tom Davies twice ended in bankruptcy. ' See _post_, April 7, 1778. 

[629] See _ante_, i. 391. Davies wrote to Garrick in 1763:--'I rememberthat during the run of _Cymbeline_ I had the misfortune to disconcertyou in one scene of that play, for which I did immediately beg yourpardon, and did attribute it to my accidentally seeing Mr. Churchill inthe pit, with great truth; and that was the only time I can recollectof my being confused or unmindful of my business when that gentlemanwas before me. I had even then a more moderate opinion of my abilitiesthan your candour would allow me, and have always acknowledged thatgentleman's picture of me was fair. ' He adds that he left the stageon account of Garrick's unkindness, 'who, ' he says, 'at rehearsals tookall imaginable pains to make me unhappy. ' _Garrick Corres_. I. 165. 

[630] He was afterwards Solicitor-General under Lord Rockingham andAttorney-General under the Duke of Portland. 'I love Mr. Leeexceedingly, ' wrote Boswell, 'though I believe there are not any twospecifick propositions of any sort in which we exactly agree. But thegeneral mass of sense and sociality, literature and religion, in each ofus, produces two given quantities, which unite and effervescewonderfully well. I know few men I would go farther to serve than JackLee. ' _Letter to the People of Scotland_, p. 75. Lord Eldon said thatLee, in the debates upon the India Bill, speaking of the charter of theEast India Company, 'expressed his surprise that there could be suchpolitical strife about what he called "a piece of parchment, with a bitof wax dangling to it. " This most improvident expression uttered by aCrown lawyer formed the subject of comment and reproach in all thesubsequent debates, in all publications of the times, and in everybody'sconversation. ' Twiss's _Eldon_, iii. 97. In the debate on Fox's IndiaBill on Dec. 3, 1783, Lee 'asked what was the consideration of acharter, a skin of parchment with a waxed seal at the corner, comparedto the happiness of thirty millions of subjects, and the preservation ofa mighty empire. ' _Parl. Hist_. Xxiv. 49. See Twiss's _Eldon_, i. 106-9, and 131, for anecdotes of Lee; and _ante_, ii. 48, note 1. 

[631] 'For now we see _through_ a glass darkly; but then face to face. 'I _Corinthians_, xiii. 12. 

[632] Goldsmith notices this in the _Haunch of Venison_:--

My friend bade me welcome, but struck me quite dumbWith tidings that Johnson and Burke would not come;For I knew it (he cried), both eternally fail, The one with his speeches, and _t'other with Thrale_. '

CROKER. See _ante_, i. 493. 

[633] See _post_, April 1, 1781. 'Johnson said:--"He who praiseseverybody praises nobody. "' Johnson's _Works_ (1787), xi. 216. 

[634] See ante, p. 55. 

[635] Johnson wrote in July 1775:--'Everybody says the prospect ofharvest is uncommonly delightful; but this has been so long thesummer talk, and has been so often contradicted by autumn, that I do notsuffer it to lay much hold on my mind. Our gay prospects have now formany years together ended in melancholy retrospects. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 259. On Aug. 27, 1777, he wrote:--'Amidst all these little thingsthere is one great thing. The harvest is abundant, and the weather _à lamerveille_. No season ever was finer. ' _Ib_. P. 360. In this month ofMarch, 1778, wheat was selling at 5s. 3d. The bushel in London; at 6s. 10d. In Somerset; and at 5s. 1d. In Northumberland, Suffolk, and Sussex. _Gent. Mag_. Xlviii. 98. The average price for 1778 was 5s. 3d. _Ann. Reg_. Xxi. 282. 

[636] See _post_, iii. 243, Oct. 10, 1779, and April 1, 1781. 

[637] The first edition was in 1492. Between that period and 1792, according to this account, there were 3600 editions. But this isvery improbable. MALONE. Malone assumes, as Mr. Croker points out, thatthis rate of publication continued to the year 1792. But after all, thedifference is trifling. Johnson here forgot to use his favourite curefor exaggeration--counting. See _post_, April 18, 1783. 'Round numbers, 'he said, 'are always false. ' Johnson's _Works_ (1787), xi. 198. HoraceWalpole (_Letters_, viii. 300), after making a calculation, writes:--'Imay err in my calculations, for I am a woeful arithmetician; but nomatter, one large sum is as good as another. '

[638] The original passage is: 'Si non potes te talem facere, qualemvis, quomodo poteris alium ad tuum habere beneplacitum?' _De Imit. Christ_. Lib. I. Cap. Xvi. J. BOSWELL, Jun. 

[639] See p. 29 of this vol. BOSWELL. 

[640] Since this was written the attainder has been reversed; andNicholas Barnewall is now a peer of Ireland with this title. The personmentioned in the text had studied physick, and prescribed _gratis_ tothe poor. Hence arose the subsequent conversation. MALONE. 

[641] See Franklin's _Autobiography_ for his conversion fromvegetarianism. 

[642] See _ante_, ii. 217, where Johnson advised Boswell to keep ajournal. 'The great thing to be recorded, is the state of your ownmind. '

[643] 'Nobody can live long without knowing that falsehoods ofconvenience or vanity, falsehoods from which no evil immediately visibleensues, except the general degradation of human testimony, are verylightly uttered, and, once uttered, are sullenly supported. ' Johnson's_Works_, viii. 23. 

[644] _Literary Magazine_, 1756, p. 37. BOSWELL. Johnson's _Works_, vi. 42. See _post_, Oct. 10, 1779. 

[645]

'Quodcunque ostendis mihi sic incredulus odi. ''For while upon such monstrous scenes we gaze, They shock our faith, our indignation raise. '

FRANCIS. Horace, _Ars Poet_. 1. 188. Johnson speaks of 'the naturaldesire of man to propagate a wonder. ' _Works_, vii. 2. 'Wonders, ' hesays, 'are willingly told, and willingly heard. ' _Ib_. Viii. 292. Speaking of Voltaire he says:--'It is the great failing of a strongimagination to catch greedily at wonders. ' _Ib_. Vi. 455. See _ante_, i. 309, note 3, ii. 247, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 19, 1773. Accordingto Mrs. Piozzi (_Anec_. P. 137) Hogarth said:--'Johnson, though so wisea fellow, is more like King David than King Solomon; for he says in hishaste that all men are liars. '

[646] The following plausible but over-prudent counsel on this subjectis given by an Italian writer, quoted by '_Rhedi de generationeinsectarum_, ' with the epithet of '_divini poetæ_:'

'_Sempre a quel ver ch'ha faccia di menzognaDee l'uom chiuder le labbra quanto ei puote;Però che senza colpa fa vergogna_. ' BOSWELL. 

It is strange that Boswell should not have discovered that these lineswere from Dante. The following is Wright's translation:--

'That truth which bears the semblance of a lie, Should never pass the lips, if possible;Tho' crime be absent, still disgrace is nigh. '

_Infern_. Xvi. 124. CROKER. 

[647] See _ante_, i. 7, note 1. 

[648] See _ante_, i. 405. 

[649] 'Of John Wesley he said:--"He can talk well on any subject. "'_Post_, April 15, 1778. Southey says that 'his manners were almostirresistibly winning, and his cheerfulness was like perpetual sunshine. '_Life of Wesley_, i. 409. Wesley recorded on Dec. 18, 1783 (_Journal_, iv. 258):--'I spent two hours with that great man Dr. Johnson, who issinking into the grave by a gentle decay. '

[650] 'When you met him in the street of a crowded city, he attractednotice, not only by his band and cassock, and his long hair white andbright as silver, but by his pace and manner, both indicating that allhis minutes were numbered, and that not one was to be lost. "Though Iam always in haste, " he says of himself, "I am never in a hurry; becauseI never undertake any more work than I can go through with perfectcalmness of spirit. "' Southey's _Wesley_, ii. 397. 

[651] No doubt the Literary Club. See _ante_, ii. 330, 345. Mr. Crokersays 'that it appears by the books of the Club that the company on thatevening consisted of Dr. Johnson president, Mr. Burke, Mr. Boswell, Dr. George Fordyce, Mr. Gibbon, Dr. Johnson (again named), Sir JoshuaReynolds, Lord Upper Ossory, and Mr. R. B. Sheridan. ' E. No doubtstands for Edmund Burke, and J. For Joshua Reynolds. Who are meant bythe other initials cannot be known. Mr. Croker hazards some guesses; buthe says that Sir James Mackintosh and Chalmers were as dubious ashimself. 

[652] See Langhorne's _Plutarch_, ed. 1809, ii. 133. 

[653] 'A man came in balancing a straw upon his nose, and the audiencewere clapping their hands in all the raptures of applause. ' _TheCitizen of the World_, Letter xxi. According to Davis (_Life of Garrick_, i. 113), 'in one year, after paying all expenses, £11, 000 were theproduce of Mr. Maddocks (the straw-man's agility), added to the talentsof the players at Covent Garden theatre. '

[654] See _ante_, i. 399. 

[655] 'Sir' said Edwards to Johnson (_post_, April 17, 1778), 'I remember you would not let us say _prodigious_ at College. '

[656] 'Emigration was at this time a common topick of discourse. Dr. Johnson regretted it as hurtful to human happiness. ' Boswell's_Hebrides_, Aug. 15, 1773. 

[657] In 1766 Johnson wrote a paper (first published in 1808) toprove that 'the bounty upon corn has produced plenty. ' 'The truth ofthese principles, ' he says, 'our ancestors discovered by reason, and theFrench have now found it by experience. In this regulation we have thehonour of being masters to those who, in commercial policy, have beenlong accounted the masters of the world. ' _Works_, v. 323, 326, and_ante_, i. 518. 'In 1688 was granted the parliamentary bounty upon theexportation of corn. The country gentlemen had felt that the money priceof corn was falling. The bounty was an expedient to raise itartificially to the high price at which it had frequently been sold inthe times of Charles I. And II. ' Smith's _Wealth of Nations_, book I. C. Xi. The year 1792, the last year of peace before the great war, waslikewise the last year of exportation. _Penny Cyclo_. Viii. 22. 

[658]

'Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throatTo persuade Tommy Townshend to lend him a vote. '

Goldsmith's _Retaliation_. 

Horace Walpole says of Lord Mansfield's speech on the _Habeas CorpusBill_ of 1758:--'Perhaps it was the only speech that in my time at leasthad real effect; that is, convinced many persons. ' _Reign of George II_, iii. 120. 

[659] Gibbon, who was now a member of parliament, was present at thisdinner. In his _Autobiography_ (_Misc. Works_, i. 221) he says:--'Aftera fleeting illusive hope, prudence condemned me to acquiesce in thehumble station of a mute. .. . Timidity was fortified by pride, and eventhe success of my pen discouraged the trial of my voice. But I assistedat the debates of a free assembly; I listened to the attack and defenceof eloquence and reason; I had a near prospect of the character, views, and passions of the first men of the age. .. . The eight sessions that Isat in parliament were a school of civil prudence, the first and mostessential virtue of an historian. '

[660] Horace, _Odes_, iii. 24, 46. 

[661] Lord Bolingbroke, who, however detestable as a metaphysician, mustbe allowed to have had admirable talents as a political writer, thusdescribes the House of Commons, in his 'Letter to Sir William Wyndham:'--'You know the nature of that assembly; they grow, like hounds, fond ofthe man who shews them game, and by whose halloo they are used to beencouraged. ' BOSWELL. Bolingbroke's _Works_, i. 15. 

[662] Smollett says (_Journey_, i. 147) that he had a musquetoon whichcould carry eight balls. 'This piece did not fail to attract thecuriosity and admiration of the people in every place through which wepassed. The carriage no sooner halted than a crowd surrounded the man toview the blunderbuss, which they dignified with the name of _petitcanon_. At Nuys in Burgundy, he fired it in the air, and the whole mobdispersed, and scampered off like a flock of sheep. '

[663] Smollett does not say that he frightened the nobleman. He mistookhim for a postmaster and spoke to him very roughly. The nobleman seemsto have been good-natured; for, at the next stage, says Smollett, 'observing that one of the trunks behind was a little displaced, heassisted my servant in adjusting it. ' His name and rank were learntlater on. _Journey_, i. P. 134. 

[664] The two things did not happen in the same town. 'I am sure, writesThicknesse (_Travels_, ii. 147), 'there was but that single Frenchnobleman in this mighty kingdom, who would have submitted to suchinsults as the Doctor _says_ he treated him with; nor any other town butSens [it was Nuys] where the firing of a gun would have so terrified theinhabitants. '

[665] Both Smollett and Thicknesse were great grumblers. 

[666] Lord Bolingbroke said of Lord Oxford:--'He is naturally inclinedto believe the worst, which I take to be a certain mark of a mean spiritand a wicked soul; at least I am sure that the contrary quality, when itis not due to weakness of understanding, is the fruit of a generoustemper and an honest heart. ' Bolingbroke's _Works_, i. 25. Lord Eldonasked Pitt, not long before his death, what he thought of the honesty ofmankind. 'His answer was, that he had a favourable opinion of mankindupon the whole, and that he believed that the majority was reallyactuated by fair meaning and intention. ' Twiss's _Eldon_, i. 499. 

[667] Johnson wrote in 175l:--'We are by our occupations, education, and habits of life, divided almost into different species, whichregard one another, for the most part, with scorn and malignity. '_The Rambler_, No. 160. In No. 173 he writes of 'the general hostilitywhich every part of mankind exercises against the rest to furnishinsults and sarcasm. ' In 1783 he said:--'I am ready now to call a man _agood man_ upon easier terms than I was formerly. ' _Post_, under Aug. 29, 1783. 

[668] Johnson thirty-four years earlier, in the _Life of Savage_(_Works_, viii. 188), had written:--'The knowledge of life was indeedhis chief attainment; and it is not without some satisfaction that I canproduce the suffrage of Savage in favour of human nature. ' On April 14, 1781, he wrote:--'The world is not so unjust or unkind as it ispeevishly represented. Those who deserve well seldom fail to receivefrom others such services as they can perform; but few have much intheir power, or are so stationed as to have great leisure from their ownaffairs, and kindness must be commonly the exuberance of content. Thewretched have no compassion; they can do good only from strongprinciples of duty. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 199. 

[669] Pope thus introduces this story:

'Faith in such case if you should prosecute, I think Sir Godfrey should decide the suit, Who send the thief who [that] stole the cash away, And punish'd him that put it in his way. '

_Imitations of Horace_, book II. Epist. Ii. [l. 23]. BOSWELL. 

[670] Very likely Boswell himself. See _post_, July 17, 1779, wherehe put Johnson's friendship to the test by neglecting to write to him. 

[671] No doubt Dr. Barnard, Dean of Derry, afterwards Bishop ofKillaloe. See _ante_, p. 84. 

[672] The reverse of the story of _Combabus_, on which Mr. David Humetold Lord Macartney, that a friend of his had written a tragedy. It is, however, possible that I may have been inaccurate in my perception ofwhat Dr. Johnson related, and that he may have been talking of the sameludicrous tragical subject that Mr. Hume had mentioned. BOSWELL. Thestory of Combabus, which was originally told by Lucian, may be found inBayle's _Dictionary_. MALONE. 

[673] Horace Walpole, less than three months later, wrote (_Letters_, vii. 83):--'Poor Mrs. Clive has been robbed again in her own lane[in Twickenham] as she was last year. I don't make a visit withouta blunderbuss; one might as well be invaded by the French. ' Yet Wesleyin the previous December, speaking of highwaymen, records (_Journal_, iv. 110):--'I have travelled all roads by day and by night for theseforty years, and never was interrupted yet. ' Baretti, who was a greattraveller, says:--'For my part I never met with any robbers in myvarious rambles through several regions of Europe. ' Baretti's _Journeyfrom London to Genoa_, ii. 266. 

[674] A year or two before Johnson became acquainted with theThrales a man was hanged on Kennington Common for robbing Mr. Thrale. _Gent. Mag_. Xxxiii. 411. 

[675] The late Duke of Montrose was generally said to have been uneasyon that account; but I can contradict the report from his Grace's ownauthority. As he used to admit me to very easy conversation with him, Itook the liberty to introduce the subject. His Grace told me, that whenriding one night near London, he was attacked by two highwaymen onhorseback, and that he instantly shot one of them, upon which the othergalloped off; that his servant, who was very well mounted, proposed topursue him and take him, but that his Grace said, 'No, we have had bloodenough: I hope the man may live to repent. ' His Grace, upon my presumingto put the question, assured me, that his mind was not at all clouded bywhat he had thus done in self-defence. BOSWELL. 

[676] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 22, for a discussion on signingdeath-warrants. 

[677] 'Mr. Dunning the great lawyer, ' Johnson called him, _ante_, p. 128. Lord Shelburne says:--'The fact is well known of the present ChiefJustice of the Common Pleas (Lord Loughborough, formerly Mr. Wedderburne)beginning a law argument in the absence of Mr. Dunning, but upon hearinghim hem in the course of it, his tone so visibly [sic] changed that therewas not a doubt in any part of the House of the reason of it. 'Fitzmaurice's _Shelburne_, iii. 454. 

[678] 'The applause of a single human being, ' he once said, 'is of greatconsequence. ' _Post_, 1780, in Mr. Langton's _Collection_. 

[679] Most likely Boswell's father, for he answers to what is said ofthis person. He was known to Johnson, he had married a second time, andhe was fond of planting, and entertained schemes for the improvementof his property. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Nov. 4 and 5, 1773. _Respectable_ was still a term of high praise. It had not yet comedown to signify 'a man who keeps a gig. ' Johnson defines it as'venerable, meriting respect. ' It is not in the earlier editions of his_Dictionary_. Boswell, in his _Hebrides_ (Oct. 27), calls Johnson theDuke of Argyle's 'respectable guest, ' and _post_, under Sept. 5, 1780, writes of 'the _respectable_ notion which should ever be entertained ofmy illustrious friend. ' Dr. Franklin in a dedication to Johnsondescribes himself as 'a sincere admirer of his _respectable_ talents;'_post_, end of 1780. In the _Gent. Mag_. Lv. 235, we read that 'a stonenow covers the grave which holds his [Dr. Johnson's] _respectable_remains. ' 'I do not know, ' wrote Hannah More (_Memoirs_, i. 43) ofHampton Court, 'a more _respectable_ sight than a room containingfourteen admirals, all by Sir Godfrey. ' Gibbon (_Misc. Works_, ii. 487), congratulating Lord Loughborough on becoming Lord Chancellor, speaks ofthe support the administration will derive 'from so _respectable_ anally. ' George III. Wrote to Lord Shelburne on Sept. 16, 1782, 'when thetie between the Colonies and England was about to be formally severed, 'that he made 'the most frequent prayers to heaven to guide me so to actthat posterity may not lay the downfall of this once _respectable_empire at my door. ' Fitzmaurice's _Shelburne_, iii. 297. LordChesterfield (_Misc. Works_, iv. 308) writing of the hour of deathsays:--'That moment is at least a very _respectable_ one, let people whoboast of not fearing it say what they please. '

[680] The younger Newbery records that Johnson, finding that he had aviolin, said to him:--'Young man, give the fiddle to the first beggarman you meet, or you will never be a scholar. ' _A Bookseller of theLast Century_, pp. 127, 145. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 15. 

[681] When I told this to Miss Seward, she smiled, and repeated, withadmirable readiness, from _Acis and Galatea_, 'Bring me a hundred reeds of ample growth, To make a pipe for my CAPACIOUS MOUTH. ' BOSWELL. 

[682] See _post_, June 3, 1784, where Johnson again mentions this. In_The Spectator_, No. 536, Addison recommends knotting, which was, hesays, again in fashion, as an employment for 'the most idle part of thekingdom; I mean that part of mankind who are known by the name of thewomen's-men, or beaus, ' etc. In _The Universal Passion_, Satire i, Young says of fame:--

'By this inspired (O ne'er to be forgot!)Some lords have learned to spell, and some to knot. '

Lord Eldon says that 'at a period when all ladies were employed (whenthey had nothing better to do) in knotting, Bishop Porteous was asked bythe Queen, whether she might knot on a Sunday. He answered, "You maynot;" leaving her Majesty to decide whether, as _knot_ and _not_ were insound alike, she was, or was not, at liberty to do so. ' Twiss's _Eldon_, ii. 355. 

[683] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 23. 

[684] See _post_, p. 248. 

[685] Martin's style is wanting in that 'cadence which Temple gave toEnglish prose' (_post_, p. 257). It would not be judged now soseverely as it was a century ago, as the following instance willshow:--'There is but one steel and tinder-box in all this commonwealth;the owner whereof fails not upon every occasion of striking fire in thelesser isles, to go thither, and exact three eggs, or one of the lesserfowls from each man as a reward for his service; this by them is calledthe Fire-Penny, and this Capitation is very uneasy to them; I bid themtry their chrystal with their knives, which, when they saw it did strikefire, they were not a little astonished, admiring at the strangeness ofthe thing, and at the same time accusing their own ignorance, considering the quantity of chrystal growing under the rock of theircoast. This discovery has delivered them from the Fire-Penny-Tax, and sothey are no longer liable to it. '

[686] See _ante_, p. 226. 

[687] Lord Macartney observes upon this passage, 'I have heard him tellmany things, which, though embellished by their mode of narrative, hadtheir foundation in truth; but I never remember any thing approachingto this. If he had written it, I should have supposed some wag had putthe figure of one before the three. '--I am, however, absolutely certainthat Dr. Campbell told me it, and I gave particular attention to it, being myself a lover of wine, and therefore curious to hear whatever isremarkable concerning drinking. There can be no doubt that some men candrink, without suffering any injury, such a quantity as to othersappears incredible. It is but fair to add, that Dr. Campbell told me, hetook a very long time to this great potation; and I have heard Dr. Johnson say, 'Sir, if a man drinks very slowly, and lets one glassevaporate before he takes another, I know not how long he may drink. 'Dr. Campbell mentioned a Colonel of Militia who sat with him all thetime, and drank equally. BOSWELL. 

[688] See _ante_, i. 417. 

[689] In the following September she is thus mentioned by Miss Burney:--'Mrs. Thrale. "To-morrow, Sir, Mrs. Montagu dines here, and then youwill have talk enough. " Dr. Johnson began to see-saw, with a countenancestrongly expressive of inward fun, and after enjoying it some time insilence, he suddenly, and with great animation, turned to me and cried;"Down with her, Burney! down with her! spare her not! attack her, fighther, and down with her at once! You are a rising wit, and she is at thetop; and when I was beginning the world, and was nothing and nobody, thejoy of my life was to fire at all the established wits, and theneverybody loved to halloo me on. "' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 117. 'Shehas, ' adds Miss Burney, 'a sensible and penetrating countenance and theair and manner of a woman accustomed to being distinguished and of greatparts. Dr. Johnson, who agrees in this, told us that a Mrs. Hervey ofhis acquaintance says she can remember Mrs. Montagu _trying_ for thissame air and manner. ' _Ib_. P. 122. See _ante_, ii. 88. 

[690] Only one volume had been published; it ended with the sixteenthchapter. 

[691] Dr. A. Carlyle (_Auto_. P. 462) says:--'She did not take atEdinburgh. Lord Kames, who was at first catched with her Parnassiancoquetry, said at last that he believed she had as much learning as awell-educated college lad here of sixteen. In genuine feelings and deedsshe was remarkably deficient. We saw her often in the neighbourhood ofNewcastle, and in that town, where there was no audience for such anactress as she was, her natural character was displayed, which was thatof an active manager of her affairs, a crafty chaperon, and a keenpursuer of her interest, not to be outdone by the sharpest coal-dealeron the Tyne; but in this capacity she was not displeasing, for she wasnot acting a part. '

[692] What my friend meant by these words concerning the amiablephilosopher of Salisbury, I am at a loss to understand. A friendsuggests, that Johnson thought his _manner_ as a writer affected, whileat the same time the _matter_ did not compensate for that fault. Inshort, that he meant to make a remark quite different from that which a_celebrated gentleman_ made on a very eminent physician: 'He is acoxcomb, but a _satisfactory coxcomb_. ' BOSWELL. Malone says that the_celebrated gentleman_ was Gerard Hamilton. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Nov. 3, where Johnson says that 'he thought Harris a coxcomb, ' and_ante_, ii. 225. 

[693] _Hermes_. 

[694] On the back of the engraving of Johnson in the Common Roomof University College is inscribed:--'Samuel Johnson, LL. D. In haccamera communi frequens conviva. D. D. Gulielmus Scott nuper socius. 'Gulielmus Scott is better known as Lord Stowell. See _ante_, i. 379, note 2, and iii. 42; and _post_, April 17, 1778. 

[695] See _ante_, under March 15, 1776. 

[696] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 31. 

[697] See _ante_, p. 176. 

[698] See _ante_, i. 413. 

[699] _Eminent_ is the epithet Boswell generally applies to Burke(_ante_, ii. 222), and Burke almost certainly is here meant. Yet Johnsonlater on said, 'Burke's talk is the ebullition of his mind. He does nottalk from a desire of distinction, but because his mind is full. '_Post_, March 21, 1783. 

[700] Kames describes it as 'an act as wild as any that superstitionever suggested to a distempered brain. ' _Sketches, etc_. Iv. 321. 

[701] See _ante, _ p. 243. 

[702] 'Queen Caroline, ' writes Horace Walpole, 'much wished to makeDr. Clarke a bishop, but he would not subscribe the articles again. I have often heard my father relate that he sat up one night at thePalace with the Doctor, till the pages of the backstairs asked if theywould have fresh candles, my father endeavouring to persuade him tosubscribe again, as he had for the living of St. James's. Clarkepretended he had _then_ believed them. "Well, " said Sir Robert, "but ifyou do not now, you ought to resign your living to some man who wouldsubscribe conscientiously. " The Doctor would neither resign his livingnor accept the bishopric. ' _Journal of the Reign of George III_, i. 8. See _ante_, i. 398, _post_, Dec. 1784, where Johnson, on his death-bed, recommended Clarke's _Sermons_; and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 5. 

[703] Boswell took Ogden's _Sermons_ with him to the Hebrides, butJohnson showed no great eagerness to read them. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 15 and 32. 

[704] See _ante_, p. 223. 

[705] _King Lear_, act iii. Sc. 4. 

[706] The Duke of Marlborough. 

[707] See Chappell's _Popular Music of the Olden Time_, i. 330. 

[708] See _ante_, p. 177. 

[709] 'The accounts of Swift's reception in Ireland given by LordOrrery and Dr. Delany are so different, that the credit of the writers, both undoubtedly veracious, cannot be saved but by supposing, what Ithink is true, that they speak of different times. Johnson's _Works_, viii. 207. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. Lord Orrery says that Swift, on his return to Ireland in 1714, 'met with frequent indignities fromthe populace, and indeed was equally abused by persons of all ranks anddenominations. ' Orrery's _Remarks on Swift_, ed. 1752, p. 60. Dr. Delanysays (_Observations_, p. 87) that 'Swift, when he came--to takepossession of his Deanery (in 1713), was received with verydistinguished respect. '

[710] 'He could practise abstinence, ' says Boswell (_post_, March 20, 1781), 'but not temperance. '

[711] 'The dinner was good, and the Bishop is knowing and conversible, 'wrote Johnson of an earlier dinner at Sir Joshua's where he had met thesame bishop. _Piozzi Letters_, i. 334. 

[712] See _post_, Aug 19, 1784. 

[713] There is no mention in the _Journey to Brundusium_ of a brook. Johnson referred, no doubt, to Epistle I. 16. 12. 

[714]

'Ne ought save Tyber hastning to his fallRemaines of all. O world's inconstancie!That which is firme doth flit and fall away, And that is flitting doth abide and stay. '

Spenser, _The Ruines of Rome_. 

[715] Giano Vitale, to give him his Italian name, was a theologian andpoet of Palermo. His earliest work was published in 1512, and he diedabout 1560. _Brunet_, and Zedler's _Universal Lexicon_. 

[716]

'Albula Romani restat nunc nominis index, Qui quoque nunc rapidis fertur in aequor aquis. Disce hinc quid possit Fortuna. Immota labascunt, Et quae perpetuo sunt agitata manent. '

Jani Vitalis Panormitani _De Roma_. See _Delicia C. C. ItalorumPoetarum_, edit. 1608, p. 1433, It is curious that in all the editionsof Boswell that I have seen, the error _labescunt_ remains unnoticed. 

[717] See _post_, June 2, 1781. 

[718] Dr. Shipley was chaplain to the Duke of Cumberland. CROKER. The battle was fought on July 2, N. S. 1747. 

[719]

'Inconstant as the wind I various rove;At Tibur, Rome--at Rome, I Tibur love. '

FRANCIS. Horace, _Epistles_, i. 8. 12. In the first two editions Mr. Cambridge's speech ended here. 

[720]

'More constant to myself, I leave with pain, By hateful business forced, the rural scene. '

FRANCIS. Horace, _Epist_. , I. 14. 16. 

[721] See _ante_, p. 167. 

[722] Fox, it should be remembered, was Johnson's junior by nearlyforty years. 

[723] See _ante_, i. 413, ii. 214, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 2. 

[724] See _ante_, i. 478. 

[725] 'Who can doubt, ' asks Mr. Forster, 'that he also meant slownessof motion? The first point of the picture is _that_. The poet ismoving slowly, his tardiness of gait measuring the heaviness ofheart, the pensive spirit, the melancholy of which it is the outwardexpression and sign. ' Forster's _Goldsmith_, i. 369. 

[726] See _ante_, ii. 5. 

[727] _Essay on Man_, ii. 2. 

[728] Gibbon could have illustrated this subject, for not long beforehe had at Paris been 'introduced, ' he said, 'to the best company ofboth sexes, to the foreign ministers of all nations, and to the firstnames and characters of France. ' Gibbon's _Misc. Works_, i. 227. He saysof an earlier visit:--'Alone, in a morning visit, I commonly found theartists and authors of Paris less vain and more reasonable than in thecircles of their equals, with whom they mingle in the houses of therich. ' _Ib_. P. 162. Horace Walpole wrote of the Parisians in 1765, (_Letters_, iv. 436):--'Their gaiety is not greater than theirdelicacy--but I will not expatiate. [He had just described the grossnessof the talk of women of the first rank. ] Several of the women areagreeable, and some of the men; but the latter are in general vain andignorant. The _savans_--I beg their pardon, the _philosophes_--areinsupportable, superficial, overbearing, and fanatic. '

[729] See _post_, under Aug. 29, 1783, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 14. 

[730] See _post_, April 28, 1783. 

[731] See _ante_, p. 191. 

[732] [Greek: 'gaerusko d aiei polla didaskomenos. '] 'I grow in learningas I grow in years. ' Plutarch, _Solon_, ch. 31. 

[733]

''Tis somewhat to be lord of some small groundIn which a lizard may at least turn around. '

Dryden, _Juvenal_, iii. 230. 

[734] _Modern characters from Shakespeare. Alphabetically arranged_. A New Edition. London, 1778. It is not a pamphlet but a duodecimo of 88pages. Some of the lines are very grossly applied. 

[735] _As You Like it_, act iii. Sc. 2. The giant's name is Gargantua, not Garagantua. In _Modern Characters_ (p. 47), the next line also isgiven:--'Tis a word too great for any mouth of this age's size. 'The lines that Boswell next quotes are not given. 

[736] _Coriolanus_, act iii. Sc. 1. 

[737] See vol. I. P. 498. BOSWELL. 

[738] See _ante_, ii. 236, where Johnson charges Robertson with_verbiage_. This word is not in his _Dictionary_. 

[739] Pope, meeting Bentley at dinner, addressed him thus:--'Dr. Bentley, I ordered my bookseller to send you your books. I hope youreceived them. ' Bentley, who had purposely avoided saying anything about_Homer_, pretended not to understand him, and asked, 'Books! books! whatbooks?' 'My _Homer_, ' replied Pope, 'which you did me the honour tosubscribe for. '--'Oh, ' said Bentley, 'ay, now I recollect--yourtranslation:--it is a pretty poem, Mr. Pope; but you must not call it_Homer_. ' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 336, note. 

[740] 'It is certainly the noblest version of poetry which the worldhas ever seen; and its publication must therefore be considered as oneof the great events in the annals of Learning. ' _Ib_. P. 256. 'Therewould never, ' said Gray, 'be another translation of the same poem equalto it. ' Gray's _Works_, ed. 1858, v. 37. Cowper however says, that heand a friend 'compared Pope's translation throughout with the original. They were not long in discovering that there is hardly the thing in theworld of which Pope was so utterly destitute as a taste for _Homer_. 'Southey's _Cowper_, i. 106. 

[741] Boswell here repeats what he had heard from Johnson, _ante_, p. 36. 

[742] Swift, in his Preface to Temple's _Letters_, says:--'It isgenerally believed that this author has advanced our English tongue toas great a perfection as it can well bear. ' Temple's _Works_, i. 226. Hume, in his Essay _Of Civil Liberty_, wrote in 1742:--'The elegance andpropriety of style have been very much neglected among us. The firstpolite prose we have was writ by a man who is still alive (Swift). As toSprat, Locke, and even Temple, they knew too little of the rules of artto be esteemed elegant writers. ' Mackintosh says (_Life_, ii. 205):--'Swift represents Temple as having brought English style toperfection. Hume, I think, mentions him; but of late he is not oftenspoken of as one of the reformers of our style--this, however, hecertainly was. The structure of his style is perfectly modern. ' Johnsonsaid that he had partly formed his style upon Temple's; _ante_, i. 218. In the last _Rambler_, speaking of what he had himself done for ourlanguage, he says:--'Something, perhaps, I have added to the elegance ofits construction, and something to the harmony of its cadence. '

[743] 'Clarendon's diction is neither exact in itself, nor suited tothe purpose of history. It is the effusion of a mind crowded with ideas, and desirous of imparting them; and therefore always accumulating words, and involving one clause and sentence in another. ' _The Rambler_, No. 122. 

[744] Johnson's addressing himself with a smile to Mr. Harris isexplained by a reference to what Boswell said (_ante_, p. 245) ofHarris's analytic method in his _Hermes_. 

[745] 'Dr. Johnson said of a modern Martial [no doubt Elphinston's], "there are in these verses too much folly for madness, I think, and toomuch madness for folly. "' Piozzi's _Anec_. P. 61. Burns wrote on it thefollowing epigram:--

'O thou whom Poetry abhors, Whom Prose has turned out of doors, Heard'st thou that groan--proceed no further, 'Twas laurell'd. Martial roaring murder. '

For Mr. Elphinston see _ante_, i. 210. 

[746] It was called _The Siege of Aleppo_. Mr. Hawkins, the authour ofit, was formerly Professor of Poetry at Oxford. It is printed in his_Miscellanies_, 3 vols. Octavo. BOSWELL. 'Hughes's last work washis tragedy, _The Siege of Damascus_, after which a _Siege_ became apopular title. ' Johnson's _Works_, vii. 477. See _ante_, i. 75, note 2. Hannah More (_Memoirs_, i. 200) mentions another _Siege_ by a Mrs. B. This lady asked Johnson to 'look over her _Siege of Sinope_; he alwaysfound means to evade it. At last she pressed him so closely that herefused to do it, and told her that she herself, by carefully looking itover, would be able to see if there was anything amiss as well as hecould. "But, Sir, " said she, "I have no time. I have already so manyirons in the fire. " "Why then, Madame, " said he, quite out of patience, "the best thing I can advise you to do is to put your tragedy along withyour irons. "' Mrs. B. Was Mrs. Brooke. See Baker's _Biog. Dram_. Iii. 273, where no less than thirty-seven _Sieges_ are enumerated. 

[747] That the story was true is shewn by the _Garrick Corres_. Ii. 6. Hawkins wrote to Garrick in 1774:--'You rejected my _Siege of Aleppo_because it was "wrong in the first concoction, " as you said. ' He addedthat his play 'was honoured with the _entire_ approbation of JudgeBlackstone and Mr. Johnson. '

[748] The manager of Covent Garden Theatre. 

[749] Hawkins wrote:--'In short, Sir, the world will be a properjudge whether I have been candidly treated by you. ' Garrick, in hisreply, did not make the impertinent offer which he here boasts of. Hawkins lived in Dorsetshire, not in Devonshire; as he reminds Garrickwho had misdirected his letter. _Garrick Corres_. Ii. 7-11. 

[750] See _ante_, i. 433. 

[751] 'BOSWELL. "Beauclerk has a keenness of mind which is veryuncommon. " JOHNSON. "Yes, Sir; and everything comes from him so easily. It appears to me that I labour, when I say a good thing. " BOSWELL. "Youare loud, Sir, but it is not an effort of mind. "' Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 21. See _post_, under May 2, 1780. 

[752] Boswell seems to imply that he showed Johnson, or at least readto him, a portion of his journal. Most of his _Journal of a Tour tothe Hebrides_ had been read by him. Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 18, andOct. 26. 

[753] Hannah More wrote of this evening (_Memoirs_, i. 146):--'Garrickput Johnson into such good spirits that I never knew him so entertainingor more instructive. He was as brilliant as himself, and as good-humouredas any one else. '

[754] He was, perhaps, more steadily under Johnson than under any else. In his own words he was 'of Johnson's school. ' (_Ante_, p. 230). Gibboncalls Johnson Reynolds's oracle. Gibbon's _Misc. Works_, i. 149. 

[755] Boswell never mentions Sir John Scott (Lord Eldon) who knewJohnson (_ante_, ii. 268), and who was Solicitor-General when the _Lifeof Johnson_ was published. Boswell perhaps never forgave him the trickthat he and others played him at the Lancaster Assizes about the years1786-8. 'We found, ' said Eldon, 'Jemmy Boswell lying upon thepavement--inebriated. We subscribed at supper a guinea for him andhalf-a-crown for his clerk, and sent him next morning a brief withinstructions to move for the writ of _Quare adhæsit pavimento_, withobservations calculated to induce him to think that it required greatlearning to explain the necessity of granting it. He sent all round thetown to attornies for books, but in vain. He moved however for the writ, making the best use he could of the observations in the brief. The judgewas astonished and the audience amazed. The judge said, "I never heardof such a writ--what can it be that adheres _pavimento_? Are any of yougentlemen at the Bar able to explain this?" The Bar laughed. At last oneof them said, "My Lord, Mr. Boswell last night _adhæsit pavimento_. There was no moving him for some time. At last he was carried to bed, and he has been dreaming about himself and the pavement. "' Twiss's_Eldon_, i. 130. Boswell wrote to Temple in 1789:--'I hesitate as togoing the Spring Northern Circuit, which costs £50, and obliges me to bein rough, unpleasant company four weeks. ' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 274. See _ante_, ii. 191, note 2. 

[756] 'Johnson, in accounting for the courage of our common people, said (_Works_, vi. 151):--'It proceeds from that dissolution ofdependence which obliges every man to regard his own character. Whileevery man is fed by his own hands, he has no need of any servile arts;he may always have wages for his labour, and is no less necessary to hisemployer than his employer is to him. '

[757] He says of a laird's tenants:--'Since the islanders no longercontent to live have learned the desire of growing rich, an ancientdependant is in danger of giving way to a higher bidder, at theexpense of domestick dignity and hereditary power. The stranger, whosemoney buys him preference, considers himself as paying for all that hehas, and is indifferent about the laird's honour or safety. Thecommodiousness of money is indeed great; but there are some advantageswhich money cannot buy, and which therefore no wise man will by the loveof money be tempted to forego. ' _Ib_. Ix. 83. 

[758] 'Every old man complains . .. Of the petulance and insolenceof the rising generation. He recounts the decency and regularity offormer times, and celebrates the discipline and sobriety of the age inwhich his youth was passed; a happy age, which is now no more to beexpected, since confusion has broken in upon the world, and thrown downall the boundaries of civility and reverence. ' _The Rambler_, No. 50. 

[759] Boswell, perhaps, had in mind _The Rambler_, No. 146:--'It islong before we are convinced of the small proportion which everyindividual bears to the collective body of mankind; or learn how few canbe interested in the fortune of any single man; how little vacancy isleft in the world for any new object of attention; to how small extentthe brightest blaze of merit can be spread amidst the mists of businessand of folly. '

[760] See _ante_, ii. 227. 

[761]

'Fortunam reverenter habe, quicumque repenteDives ab exili progrediere loco. '

Ausonius, _Epigrammata_, viii. 7. 

Stockdale records (_Memoirs_, ii. 186), that Johnson said tohim:--'Garrick has undoubtedly the merit of an unassuming behaviour; formore pains have been taken to spoil that fellow than if he had been heirapparent to the Empire of India. '

[762] A lively account of Quin is given in _Humphry Clinker_, in theletters of April 30 and May 6. 

[763] See _ante_, i. 216. 

[764] A few days earlier Garrick wrote to a friend:--'I did not heartill last night that your friends have generously contributed to yourand their own happiness. No one can more rejoice at this circumstancethan I do; and as I hope we shall have a bonfire upon the occasion, Ibeg that you will light it with the inclosed. ' The inclosed was a bondfor £280. _Garrick Corres_. Ii. 297. Murphy says:--'Dr. Johnson oftensaid that, when he saw a worthy family in distress, it was his custom tocollect charity among such of his friends as he knew to be affluent; andon those occasions he received from Garrick more than from any otherperson, and always more than he expected. ' _Life of Garrick_, p. 378. 'Itwas with Garrick a fixed principle that authors were intitled to theemolument of their labours, and by that generous way of thinking he heldout an invitation to men of genius. ' _Ib_. P. 362. See _ante_, p. 70, and _post_, April 24, 1779. 

[765] When Johnson told this little anecdote to Sir Joshua Reynolds, hementioned a circumstance which he omitted to-day:--'Why (said Garrick)it is as red as blood. ' BOSWELL. A passage in Johnson's answer toHanway's _Essay on Tea_ (_ante_, i. 314) shews that tea was generallymade very weak. 'Three cups, ' he says, 'make the common quantity, soslightly impregnated that, perhaps, they might be tinged with theAthenian cicuta, and produce less effects than these letters chargeupon tea. ' _Works_, vi. 24. 

[766] To Garrick might be applied what Johnson said of Swift:--'He wasfrugal by inclination, but liberal by principle. ' _Works_, viii. 222. 

[767] See _post_, under March 30, 1783. In Fitzmaurice's _Shelburne_, ii. 329, is a paper by Lord Shelburne in which are very clearly laiddown rules of economy--rules which, to quote his own words (p. 337), 'require little, if any, more power of mind, than to be sure to put ona clean shirt every day. ' Boswell records (_Hebrides_, Aug. 18) thatJohnson said:--'If a man is not of a sluggish mind, he may be his ownsteward. '

[768] 'Lady Macbeth urges the excellence and dignity of courage, aglittering idea which has dazzled mankind from age to age, and animatedsometimes the housebreaker, and sometimes the conqueror. ' Johnson's_Works_, v. 69. 

[769] Smollett, who had been a ship's doctor, describes the hospital ina man-of-war:--'Here I saw about fifty miserable distempered wretches, suspended in rows, so huddled one upon another, that not more thanfourteen inches space was allotted for each with his bed and bedding;and deprived of the light of the day as well as of fresh air;breathing nothing but a noisome atmosphere . .. Devoured with vermin. '&c. The doctor, when visiting the sick, 'thrust his wig in his pocket, and stript himself to his waistcoat; then creeping on all fours undertheir hammocks, and forcing up his bare pate between two, kept themasunder with one shoulder until he had done his duty. ' _RoderickRandom_, i. Ch. 25 and 26. 

[770] See _ante_, ii. 339. 

[771] 'The qualities which commonly make an army formidable are longhabits of regularity, great exactness of discipline, and greatconfidence in the commander . .. But the English troops have none ofthese requisites in any eminent degree. Regularity is by no means partof their character. ' Johnson's _Works_, vi. 150. 

[772] See _ante_, i. 348. 

[773] In the _Marmor Norfolciense_ (_Works_, vi. 101) he describes thesoldier as 'a red animal, that ranges uncontrolled over the country, and devours the labours of the trader and the husbandman; that carrieswith it corruption, rapine, pollution, and devastation; that threatenswithout courage, robs without fear, and is pampered without labour. ' In_The Idler_, No. 21, he makes an imaginary correspondent say:--'I passedsome years in the most contemptible of all human stations, that of asoldier in time of peace. ' 'Soldiers, in time of peace, ' he continues, 'long to be delivered from the tyranny of idleness, and restored to thedignity of active beings. ' _Ib_. No. 30, he writes:--'Among thecalamities of war may be justly numbered the diminution of the love oftruth by the falsehoods which interest dictates, and credulityencourages. A peace will equally leave the warriour and relater of warsdestitute of employment; and I know not whether more is to be dreadedfrom streets filled with soldiers accustomed to plunder, or from garretsfilled with scribblers accustomed to lie. ' Many years later he wrote(_Works_, viii. 396):--'West continued some time in the army; though itis reasonable to suppose that he never sunk into a mere soldier, norever lost the love, or much neglected the pursuit of learning. '

[774] See _ante_, p. 9. 

[775] See _post_, March 21, 1783. 

[776] The reference seems to be to a passage in Plutarch's _Alcibiades_, where Phaeax is thus described:--'He seemed fitter for soliciting andpersuading in private than for stemming the torrent of a public debate;in short, he was one of those of whom Eupolis says:--"True he can talk, and yet he is no speaker. "' Langhome's _Plutarch_, ed. 1809, ii. 137. How the quotation was applied is a matter only for conjecture. 

[777] 'Was there, ' asked Johnson, 'ever yet anything written by mere manthat was wished longer by its readers, excepting _Don Quixote, RobinsonCrusoe_, and _The Pilgrim's Progress_?' Piozzi's _Anec_. P. 281. 

[778] See _ante_, i. 406. 

[779] See _ante_, March 25, 1776. 

[780] In the _Gent. Mag_. For 1776, p. 382, this hulk seems to bementioned:--'The felons sentenced under the new convict-act began towork in clearing the bed of the Thames about two miles below BarkingCreek. In the vessel wherein they work there is a room abaft in whichthey are to sleep, and in the forecastle a kind of cabin for theoverseer. ' _Ib_. P. 254, there is an admirable paper, very likely byBentham, on the punishment of convicts, which Johnson might have readwith advantage. 

[781] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 25. 

[782] Malone says that he had in vain examined Dodsley's _Collection_for the verses. My search has been equally in vain. 

[783] Johnson (_Works_, vii. 373) praises Smith's 'excellent Latin odeon the death of the great Orientalist, Dr. Pocock. ' He says that hedoes not know 'where to find it equalled among the modern writers. ' See_ante_, ii. 187, note 3. 

[784] See _ante_, p. 7. 

[785] See _post_, April 15, 1781. 

[786] See _ante_, ii. 224. 

[787] 'Thus commending myself and my eternal concerns into thy mostfaithful hands, in firm hope of a happy reception into thy kingdom;Oh! my God! hear me, while I humbly extend my supplications for others;and pray that thou wouldst bless the King and all his family; that thouwouldst preserve the crown to his house to endless generations. ' Dodd's_Last Prayer_, p. 132. 

[788] See _ante_, iii. 166. 

[789] See _ante_, i. 413. 

[790] 'I never knew, ' wrote Davies of Johnson, 'any man but one whohad the honour and courage to confess that he had a tincture of envyin him. He, indeed, generously owned that he was not a stranger to it;at the same time he declared that he endeavoured to subdue it. ' Davies's_Garrick_, ii. 391. 

[791] Reynolds said that Johnson, 'after the heat of contest was over, if he had been informed that his antagonist resented his rudeness, was the first to seek after a reconcilation. ' Taylor's _Reynolds_, 11. 457. See ante, 11. 109. 

[792] _Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides_, edit. 3, p. 221 [Sept. 17]. BOSWELL. 

[793] See this accurately stated, and the descent of his family fromthe Earls of Northumberland clearly deduced in the Reverend Dr. Nash'sexcellent _History of Worcestershire_, vol. Ii. P. 318. The Doctor hassubjoined a note, in which he says, 'The Editor hath Seen and carefullyexamined the proofs of all the particulars above-mentioned, now in thepossession of the Reverend Thomas Percy. ' The same proofs I have alsomyself carefully examined, and have seen some additional proofs whichhave occurred since the Doctor's book was published; and both as aLawyer accustomed to the consideration of evidence, and as aGenealogist versed in the study of pedigrees, I am fully satisfied. Icannot help observing, as a circumstance of no small moment, that intracing the Bishop of Dromore's genealogy, essential aid was given bythe late Elizabeth Duchess of Northumberland, Heiress of thatillustrious House; a lady not only of high dignity of spirit, such asbecame her noble blood, but of excellent understanding and livelytalents. With a fair pride I can boast of the honour of her Grace'scorrespondence, specimens of which adorn my archives. BOSWELL. 

[794] 'The gardens are trim to the highest degree, and more adapted to a_villa_ near London than the ancient seat of a great Baron. In a word, nothing except the numbers of unindustrious poor that swarm at the gateexcites any one idea of its former circumstances. ' Pennant's _Scotland_, p. 31. 

[795] Mr. Croker quotes a passage from _The Heroic Epistle_, which ends:--

'So when some John his dull invention racksTo rival Boodle's dinners, or Almack's, Three uncouth legs of mutton shock our eyes, Three roasted geese, three buttered apple pies. '

[796] Johnson saw Alnwick on his way to Scotland. 'We came to Alnwick, 'he wrote, 'where we were treated with great civility by the Duke: I wentthrough the apartments, walked on the wall, and climbed the towers. '_Piozzi Letters_, i. 108. 

[797] 'When Reynolds painted his portrait looking into the slit of hispen and holding it almost close to his eye, as was his custom, he feltdispleased, and told me he would not be known by posterity for his_defects_ only, let Sir Joshua do his worst. I said that the picture inthe room where we were talking represented Sir Joshua holding his ear inhis hand to catch the sound. "He may paint himself as deaf, if hechooses, " replied Johnson, "but I will not be _blinking Sam_. "' Piozzi's_Anec_. P. 248. 

[798] 'You look in vain for the _helmet_ on the tower, the ancientsignal of hospitality to the traveller, or for the grey-headedporter to conduct him to the hall of entertainment. Instead of thedisinterested usher of the old times, he is attended by a _valet_ toreceive the fees of admittance. ' Pennant's _Scottland_, p. 32. 

[799] It certainly was a custom, as appears from the following passagein _Perce-forest_, vol. Iii. P. 108:--'Fasoient mettre au plus haultde leur hostel un _heaulme, en signe_ que tous les gentils hommes etgentilles femmes entrâssent hardiment en leur hostel comme en leurpropre. ' KEARNEY. 

[800] The title of a book translated by Dr. Percy. BOSWELL. It is atranslation of the introduction to _l'Histoire de Danemarck_, par M. Mallet. Lowndes's _Bibl. Man_. Ed. 1871, p. 1458. 

[801] He was a Welshman. 

[802] This is the common cant against faithful Biography. Does theworthy gentleman mean that I, who was taught discrimination ofcharacter by Johnson, should have omitted his frailties, and, in short, have _bedawbed_ him as the worthy gentleman has bedawbed Scotland?BOSWELL. 

[803] See Dr. Johnson's _Journey to the Western Islands_, 296[_Works_, ix. 124];--see his _Dictionary_ article, _oats_:--and my_Voyage to the Hebrides_, first edition. PENNANT. 

[804] Mr. Boswell's Journal, p. 286, [third edition, p. 146, Sep. 6. ]PENNANT. 

[805] See _ante_, ii. 60. 

[806] Percy, it should seem, took offence later on. Cradock (_Memoirs_, i. 206) says:--'Almost the last time I ever saw Johnson [it was in 1784]he said to me:--"Notwithstanding all the pains that Dr. Farmer and Itook to serve Dr. Percy in regard to his _Ancient Ballads_, he has lefttown for Ireland without taking leave of either of us. "' Cradock adds(p. 238) that though 'Percy was a most pleasing companion, yet there wasa violence in his temper which could not always be controlled. ' 'I waswitness, ' he writes (p. 206), 'to an entire separation between Percy andGoldsmith about Rowley's [Chatterton's] poems. '

[807] Sunday, April 12, 1778. BOSWELL. 

[808] Johnson, writing of the uncertainty of friendship, says: 'Adispute begun in jest upon a subject which, a moment before, was on bothsides regarded with careless indifference, is continued by the desire ofconquest, till vanity kindles into rage, and opposition rankles intoenmity. Against this hasty mischief I know not what security can beobtained; men will be sometimes surprised into quarrels. ' _The Idler_, No. 23. See _ante_, ii. 100, note 1. 

[809] Though the Bishop of Dromore kindly answered the letters which Iwrote to him, relative to Dr. Johnson's early history; yet, in justiceto him, I think it proper to add, that the account of the foregoingconversation and the subsequent transaction, as well as some otherconversations in which he is mentioned, has been given to the publickwithout previous communication with his Lordship. BOSWELL. This note isfirst given in the second edition, being added, no doubt, at theBishop's request. 

[810] See _post_, 1780, in Mr. Langton's _Collection_. 

[811] Chap. Xlii. Is still shorter:--'_Concerning Owls_. 

'There are no owls of any kind in the whole island. '

Horrebow says in his _Preface_, p. Vii:--'I have followed Mr. Andersonarticle by article, declaring what is false in each. ' A Member of the_Icelandic Literary Society_ in a letter to the _Pall Mall Gazette_, dated May 3, 1883, thus accounts for these chapters:--'In 1746 there waspublished at Hamburg a small volume entitled, _Nachrichlen von Island, Grönland und der Strasse Davis_. The Danish Government, conceiving thatits intentions were misrepresented by this work, procured a reply to bewritten by Niels Horrebow, and this was published, in 1752, under thetitle of _Tilforladelige Efterretninger om Island_; in 1758, an Englishtranslation appeared in London. The object of the author was to answerall Anderson's charges and imputations. This Horrebow did categorically, and hence come these Chapters, though it must be added that they owetheir laconic celebrity to the English translator, the author beingrather profuse than otherwise in giving his predecessor a flat denial. '

[812] See _ante_, p. 255. 

[813] 'A fugitive from heaven and prayer, I mocked at all religious fear, Deep scienced in the mazy loreOf mad philosophy: but nowHoist sail, and back my voyage plough To that blest harbour which I left before. '

FRANCIS. Horace, _Odes_, i. 34. 1. 

[814] See _ante_, i. 315, and _post_, p. 288. 

[815] Ovid, _Meta_. Ii. 13. 

[816] Johnson says (_Works_, viii. 355):--'The greater part of mankind_have no character at all_, have little that distinguishes them fromothers equally good or bad. ' It would seem to follow that the greaterpart of mankind have no style at all, for it is in character that styletakes its spring. 

[817] 'Dodd's wish to be received into our society was conveyed to usonly by a whisper, and that being the case all opposition to hisadmission became unnecessary. ' Hawkins's _Johnson_, p. 435. 

[818] See note, vol. Iii. P. 106. BOSWELL. See _post_, p. 290, forJohnson's violence against the Americans and those who sided with them. 

[819] The friend was Mr. Steevens. Garrick says (_Corres_. Ii. 361)that Steevens had written things in the newspapers against him thatwere slanderous, and then had assured him upon his word and honour thathe had not written them; that he had later on bragged that he hadwritten them, and had said, 'that it was fun to vex me. ' Garrickadds:--'I was resolved to keep no terms with him, and will always treathim as such a pest of society merits from all men. ' 'Steevens, Dr. Parrused to say, had only three friends--himself, Dr. Farmer, and John Reed, so hateful was his character. He was one of the wisest, most learned, but most spiteful of men. ' Johnstone's _Parr_, viii. 128. Boswell hadfelt Steevens's ill-nature. While he was carrying the _Life of Johnson_through the press, at a time when he was suffering from 'the most woefulreturn of melancholy, ' he wrote to Malone, --'Jan 29, 1791. Steevens_kindly_ tells me that I have over-printed, and that the curiosity aboutJohnson is _now_ only in our own circle. .. . Feb. 25. You must know thatI am _certainly_ informed that a certain person who delights in mischiefhas been _depreciating_ my book, so that I fear the sale of it may bevery dubious. ' Croker's _Boswell_, p. 828. _A certain person_ was, nodoubt, Steevens. See _ante_, ii. 375, and _post_, under March 30, 1783, and May 15, 1784. 

[820]

'I own th' indulgence--Such I give and take. '

FRANCIS. Horace, _Ars Poet_. 1. II. 

[821]

'We grant, altho' he had much wit, H' was very shy of using it, As being loth to wear it out. '

_Hudibras_, i. I. 45. 

[822] 'Among the sentiments which almost every man changes as headvances into years is the expectation of uniformity of character. '_The Rambler_, No. 70. See _ante_, i. 161, note 2. 

[823] See _ante_, iii. 55. 

[824] After this follows a line which Boswell has omitted:--'Thenrises fresh, pursues his wonted game. ' _Cato_, act i. Sc. 4. 

[825] Boswell was right, and Oglethorpe wrong; the exclamation inSuetonius is, 'Utinam _populus_ Romanus unam cervicem haberet. ' Calig. Xxx. --CROKER. 

[826] 'Macaroon (_macarone_, Italian), a coarse, rude, low fellow;whence, _macaronick_ poetry, in which the language is purposelycorrupted. ' Johnson's _Dictionary_. '_Macaroni_, probably from oldItalian _maccare, to bruise, to batter, to pester_; Derivative, _macaronic_, i. E. In a confused or mixed state (applied to a jumble oflanguages). ' Skeat's _Etymological Diet_. 

[827] _Polemo-middinia_, as the Commentator explains, is _Proelium insterquilinio commissum_. In the opening lines the poet thus calls onthe Skipperii, or _Skippers_:--

'Linquite skellatas botas, shippasque picatas, Whistlantesque simul fechtam memorate blodeam, Fechtam terribilem, quam marvellaverat omnisBanda Deûm, quoque Nympharum Cockelshelearum. '

[828] In Best's _Memorials_, p. 63, is given another of these linesthat Mr. Langton repeated:--'Five-poundon elendeto, ah! mala simplos. 'For Joshua Barnes see _post_, 1780, in Mr. Langton's _Collection_. 

[829] See _ante_, iii. 78. 

[830] Dr. Johnson, describing her needle-work in one of his letters toMrs. Thrale, vol. I. P. 326, uses the learned word _sutile_; which Mrs. Thrale has mistaken, and made the phrase injurious by writing '_futile_pictures. ' BOSWELL. See _post_, p. 299. 

[831] See _ante_, ii. 252, note 2. 

[832] The revolution of 1772. The book was published in 1778. CharlesSheridan was the elder brother of R. B. Sheridan. 

[833] See _ante_, i. 467. 

[834] As Physicians are called _the Faculty_, and Counsellors atLaw _the Profession_; the Booksellers of London are denominated _theTrade_. Johnson disapproved of these denominations. BOSWELL. Johnsonhimself once used this 'denomination. ' _Ante_, i. 438. 

[835] See _ante_, ii. 385. 

[836] A translation of these forged letters which were written byM. De Caraccioli was published in 1776. By the _Gent. Mag_. (xlvi. 563)they were accepted as genuine. In _The Ann. Reg_. For the same year(xix. 185) was published a translation the letter in which Voltaire hadattacked their authenticity. The passage that Johnson quotes is thefollowing:--'On est en droit de lui dire ce qu'on dit autrefois a l'abbéNodot: "Montrez-nous votre manuscript de Pétrone, trouvé a Belgrade, ouconsentez à n'être cru of de personne. "' Voltaire's _Works_, xliii. 544. 

[837] Baretti (_Journey from London to Genoa_, i. 9) says that hesaw in 1760, near Honiton, at a small rivulet, 'an engine called aducking-stool; a kind of armed wooden chair, fixed on the extremity of apole about fifteen feet long. The pole is horizontally placed on a postjust by the water, and loosely pegged to that post; so that by raisingit at one end, you lower the stool down into the midst of the river. That stool serves at present to duck scolds and termagants. '

[838] 'An two men ride of a horse, one must ride behind. ' _Much Adoabout Nothing_, act iii. Sc. 5. 

[839] See _ante_, ii. 9. 

[840] 'One star differeth from another star in glory. ' I Cor. Xv. 41. 

[841] See _ante_, iii. 48, 280. 

[842] 'The physicians in Hogarth's prints are not caricatures: thefull dress with a sword and _a great tye-wig_, and the hat under thearm, and the doctors in consultation, each smelling to a gold-headedcane shaped like a parish-beadle's staff, are pictures of real life inhis time, and myself have seen a young physician thus equipped walk thestreets of London without attracting the eyes of passengers. ' Hawkins's_Johnson_, p. 238. Dr. T. Campbell in 1777, writing of Dublin to aLondon physician, says:--'No sooner were your _medical wigs_ laid asidethan an attempt was made to do the like here. But in vain. ' _Survey ofthe South of Ireland_, p. 463. 

[843] 'Jenyns, ' wrote Malone, on the authority of W. G. Hamilton, 'could not be made without much labour to comprehend an argument. Ifhowever there was anything weak or ridiculous in what another said, healways laid hold of it and played upon it with success. He looked ateverything with a view to pleasantry alone. This being his grand object, and he being no reasoner, his best friends were at a loss to knowwhether his book upon Christianity was serious or ironical. ' Prior's_Malone_, p. 375. 

[844] Jenyns maintains (p. 51) that 'valour, patriotism, and friendshipare only fictitious virtues--in fact no virtue at all. '

[845] He had furnished an answer to this in _The Rambler_, No. 99, where he says:--'To love all men is our duty so far as it includes ageneral habit of benevolence, and readiness of occasional kindness; butto love all equally is impossible. .. . The necessities of our conditionrequire a thousand offices of tenderness, which mere regard for thespecies will never dictate. Every man has frequent grievances which onlythe solicitude of friendship will discover and remedy, and which wouldremain for ever unheeded in the mighty heap of human calamity, were itonly surveyed by the eye of general benevolence equally attentive toevery misery. ' See _ante_, i. 207, note 1. 

[846] _Galatians_, vi. 10. 

[847] _St. John_, xxi. 20. Compare Jeremy Taylor's _Measures and Officesof Friendship_, ch. I. 4. 

[848] In the first two editions 'from this _amiable and_ pleasingsubject. '

[849] _Acts of the Apostles_, ix. I. 

[850] See _ante_, ii. 82. 

[851] If any of my readers are disturbed by this thorny question, I beg leave to recommend, to them Letter 69 of Montesquieu's _LettresPersanes_; and the late Mr. John Palmer of Islington's Answer to Dr. Priestley's mechanical arguments for what he absurdly calls'Philosophical Necessity. ' BOSWELL. See _post_, under Aug. 29, 1783;note. 

[852] See _ante_, ii. 217, and iii. 55. 

[853] 'I have proved, ' writes Mandeville (_Fables of the Bees_, ed. 1724, p. 179), 'that the real pleasures of all men in nature areworldly and sensual, if we judge from their practice; I say all men innature, because devout Christians, who alone are to be excepted here, being regenerated and preternaturally assisted by the divine grace, cannot be said to be in nature. '

[854] Mandeville describes with great force the misery caused by gin--'liquid poison' he calls it--'which in the fag-end and outskirts of thetown is sold in some part or other of almost every house, frequentlyin cellars, and sometimes in the garret. ' He continues:--'Theshort-sighted vulgar in the chain of causes seldom can see further thanone link; but those who can enlarge their view may in a hundred placessee good spring up and pullulate from evil, as naturally as chickens dofrom eggs. ' He instances the great gain to the revenue, and to allemployed in the production of the spirit from the husbandman upwards. _Fable of the Bees_, p. 89. 

[855] 'If a miser, who is almost a plum (i. E. Worth £100, 000, _Johnson'sDictionary_), and spends but fifty pounds a year, should be robbed of athousand guineas, it is certain that as soon as this money should cometo circulate, the nation would be the better for the robbery; yetjustice and the peace of the society require that the robber should behanged. ' _Ib_. P. 83. 

[856] Johnson, in his political economy, seems to have been very muchunder Mandeville's influence. Thus in attacking Milton's positionthat 'a popular government was the most frugal; for the trappings of amonarchy would set up our ordinary commonwealth, ' he says, 'The supportand expense of a court is, for the most part, only a particular kind oftraffick, by which money is circulated, without any nationalimpoverishment. ' _Works_, vii. 116. Mandeville in much the same waysays:--'When a covetous statesman is gone, who spent his whole life infattening himself with the spoils of the nation, and had by pinching andplundering heaped up an immense treasure, it ought to fill every goodmember of the society with joy to behold the uncommon profuseness of hisson. This is refunding to the public whatever was robbed from it. Aslong as the nation has its own back again, we ought not to quarrel withthe manner in which the plunder is repaid. ' _Ib_. P. 104. 

[857] See _ante_, ii. 176. 

[858] In _The Adventurer_, No. 50, Johnson writes:--'"The devils, " saysSir Thomas Brown, "do not tell lies to one another; for truth isnecessary to all societies; nor can the society of hell subsist withoutit. "' Mr. Wilkin, the editor of Brown's _Works_ (ed. 1836, i. Liv), says:--'I should be glad to know the authority of this assertion. 'I infer from this that the passage is not in Brown's _Works_. 

[859] Hannah More: see _post_, under date of June 30, 1784. 

[860] In her visits to London she was commonly the guest of theGarricks. A few months before this conversation Garrick wrote a prologueand epilogue for her tragedy of _Percy_. He invested for her the moneythat she made by this play. H. More's _Memoirs_, i. 122, 140. 

[861] In April 1784 she records (_ib_. I. 319) that she called onJohnson shortly after she wrote _Le Bas Bleu_. 'As to it, ' shecontinues, 'all the flattery I ever received from everybody togetherwould not make up his sum. He said there was no name in poetry thatmight not be glad to own it. All this from Johnson, that parsimoniouspraiser!' He wrote of it to Mrs. Thrale on April 19, 1784:--'It is in myopinion a very great performance. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 364. Dr. Beattie wrote on July 31, 1784:--'Johnson told me with great solemnitythat Miss More was "the most powerful versificatrix" in the Englishlanguage. ' Forbes's _Beattie_, ed. 1824, p. 320. 

[862] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 18. 

[863] The ancestor of Mr. Murray of Albemarle Street. 

[864] See _A Letter to W. Mason, A. M. From J. Murray, Bookseller inLondon_; 2d edition, p. 20. BOSWELL. 

[865] 'The righteous hath hope in his death. ' _Proverbs_, xiv. 32. 

[866] See _post_, June 12, 1784. 

[867] Johnson, in _The Convict's Address_ (_ante_, p. 141), makes Doddsay:--'Possibly it may please God to afford us some consolation, somesecret intimations of acceptance and forgiveness. But these radiationsof favour are not always felt by the sincerest penitents. To the greaterpart of those whom angels stand ready to receive, nothing is granted inthis world beyond rational hope; and with hope, founded on promise, wemay well be satisfied. '

[868] 'I do not find anything able to reconcile us to death butextreme pain, shame or despair; for poverty, imprisonment, ill fortune, grief, sickness and old age do generally fail. ' _Swift's Works_, ed. 1803, xiv. 178. 

[869] 'I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I havekept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown ofrighteousness. ' 2 _Timothy_, iv. 7 and 8. 

[870] See _ante_, p. 154. 

[871] 'Inde illud Maecenatis turpissimum votum, quo et debilitatem nonrecusat, et deformitatem, et novissime acutam crucem dummodo inter haecmala spiritus prorogetur. 

"Debilem facito manu, Debilem pede, coxa;Tuber adstrue gibberum, Lubricos quate dentes;Vita dum superest, bene est;Hanc mihi vel acutaSi sedeam cruce sustine. "'

Seneca's _Epistles_, No. 101. 

Dryden makes Gonsalvo say in _The Rival Ladies_, act iv. Sc. 1:--

'For men with horrour dissolution meet, The minutes e'en of painful life are sweet. '

In Paradise Lost Moloch and Belial take opposite sides on this point:--

MOLOCH. 'What doubt we to incenseHis utmost ire? which, to the height enraged, Will either quite consume us, and reduceTo nothing this essential; happier farThan miserable to have eternal being. '

Bk. Ii. 1. 94. 

BELIAL. 'Who would lose, Though full of pain, this intellectual being, Those thoughts that wander through eternity, To perish rather, swallowed up and lostIn the wide womb of uncreated night, Devoid of sense and motion?'

1. 146. 

Cowper, at times at least, held with Moloch. He wrote to his friendNewton:--'I feel--I will not tell you what--and yet I must--a wish thatI had never been, a wonder that I am, and an ardent but hopeless desirenot to be. ' Southey's _Cowper_, vi. 130. See _ante_, p. 153, andBoswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 12. 

[872] Johnson recorded in _Pr. And Med_. P. 202:--'At Ashbourne I hopeto talk seriously with Taylor. ' Taylor published in 1787 _A Letterto Samuel Johnson on the Subject of a Future State_. He writes that'having heard that Johnson had said that he would prefer a state oftorment to that of annihilation, he told him that such a declaration, coming from him, might be productive of evil consequences. Dr. J. Desired him to arrange his thoughts on the subject. ' Taylor says thatJohnson's entry about the serious talk refers to this matter. _Gent. Mag_. 1787, p. 521. I believe that Johnson meant to warn Taylor aboutthe danger _he_ was running of 'entering the state of torment. '

[873] Wesley, like Johnson, was a wide reader. On his journeys heread books of great variety, such as _The Odyssey_, Rousseau's _Emile_, Boswell's _Corsica_, Swift's _Letters_, Hoole's _Tasso_, Robertson's_Charles V. , Quintus Curtius_, Franklin's _Letters on Electricity_, besides a host of theological works. Like Johnson, too, he was a greatdabbler in physic and a reader of medical works. His writings covered agreat range. He wrote, he says, among other works, an English, a Latin, a Greek, a Hebrew, and a French Grammar, a Treatise on Logic and anotheron Electricity. In the British Isles he had travelled perhaps more thanany man of his time, and he had visited North America and more than onecountry of Europe. He had seen an almost infinite variety of characters. See _ante_, p. 230. 

[874] The story is recorded in Wesley's _Journal_, ed. 1827, iv. 316. It was at Sunderland and not at Newcastle where the scene was laid. The ghost did not prophesy ill of the attorney. On the contrary, it saidto the girl:--'Go to Durham, employ an attorney there, and the housewill be recovered. ' She went to Durham, 'and put the affair into Mr. Hugill the attorney's hands. ' 'A month after, ' according to the girl, 'the ghost came about eleven. I said, "Lord bless me! what has broughtyou here again?" He said, "Mr. Hugill has done nothing but wrote oneletter. "' On this Wesley writes by way of comment:--'So he [the ghost]had observed him [the attorney] narrowly, though unseen. ' See _post_, under May 3, 1779. 

[875] Johnson, with his horror of annihilation, caught at everythingwhich strengthened his belief in the immortality of the soul. Boswellmentions _ante_, ii. 150, 'Johnson's elevated wish for more and moreevidence for spirit, ' and records the same desire, _post_, June 12, 1784. Southey (_Life of Wesley_, i. 25) says of supernaturalappearances:--'With regard to the good end which they may be supposed toanswer, it would be end sufficient if sometimes one of those unhappypersons, who looking through the dim glass of infidelity see nothingbeyond this life, and the narrow sphere of mortal existence, should, from the established truth of one such story (trifling and objectless asit might otherwise appear), be led to a conclusion that there are morethings in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in their philosophy. ' See_ante_, p. 230, and _post_, April 15, 1781. 

[876] Miss Jane Harry. In Miss Seward's _Letters_, i. 97, is anaccount of her, which Mr. Croker shows to be inaccurate. There is, too, a long and lifeless report of the talk at this dinner. 

[877] See _ante_, ii. 14, 105. 

[878] Mrs. Knowles, not satisfied with the fame of her needlework, the'_sutile pictures_' mentioned by Johnson, in which she has indeeddisplayed much dexterity, nay, with the fame of reasoning better thanwomen generally do, as I have fairly shewn her to have done, communicated to me a Dialogue of considerable length, which after manyyears had elapsed, she wrote down as having passed between Dr. Johnsonand herself at this interview. As I had not the least recollection ofit, and did not find the smallest trace of it in my _Record_ taken atthe time, I could not in consistency with my firm regard toauthenticity, insert it in my work. It has, however, been published in_The Gent. Mag_. For June, 1791. It chiefly relates to the principles ofthe sect called _Quakers_; and no doubt the Lady appears to have greatlythe advantage of Dr. Johnson in argument as well as expression. Fromwhat I have now stated, and from the internal evidence of the paperitself, any one who may have the curiosity to peruse it, will judgewhether it was wrong in me to reject it, however willing to gratify Mrs. Knowles. BOSWELL. Johnson mentioned the '_sutile pictures_' in a letterdated May 16, 1776, describing the dinner at Messrs. Dilly's. 'Andthere, ' he wrote, 'was Mrs. Knowles, the Quaker, that works the sutile[misprinted by Mrs. Piozzi _futile_] pictures. She is a Staffordshirewoman, and I am to go and see her. Staffordshire is the nursery of art;here they grow up till they are transplanted to London. ' _PiozziLetters_, i. 326. He is pleasantly alluding to the fact that he was aStaffordshire man. In the _Dialogue_ in _The Gent. Mag_. For 1791, p. 502, Mrs. Knowles says that, the wrangle ended thus:--'Mrs. K. "I hope, Doctor, thou wilt not remain unforgiving; and that you will renew yourfriendship, and joyfully meet at last in those bright regions wherepride and prejudice can never enter. " Dr. Johnson. "Meet _her_! I neverdesire to meet fools anywhere. " This sarcastic turn of wit was sopleasantly received that the Doctor joined in the laugh; his spleen wasdissipated, he took his coffee, and became, for the remainder of theevening, very cheerful and entertaining. ' Did Miss Austen find here thetitle of _Pride and Prejudice_, for her novel?

[879] Of this day he recorded (_Pr. And Med_. P. 163):--'It has happenedthis week, as it never happened in Passion Week before, that I havenever dined at home, and I have therefore neither practised abstinencenor peculiar devotion. '

[880] See _ante_, iii. 48, note 4. 

[881] I believe, however, I shall follow my own opinion; for the worldhas shewn a very flattering partiality to my writings, on manyoccasions. BOSWELL. In _Boswelliana_, p. 222, Boswell, after recording astory about Voltaire, adds:--'In contradiction to this story, see in my_Journal_ the account which Tronchin gave me of Voltaire. ' This_Journal_ was probably destroyed by Boswell's family. By his will, heleft his manuscripts and letters to Sir W. Forbes, Mr. Temple, and Mr. Malone, to be published for the benefit of his younger children as theyshall decide. The Editor of _Boswelliana_ says (p. 186) that 'thesethree literary executors did not meet, and the entire business of thetrust was administered by Sir W. Forbes, who appointed as his law-agent, Robert Boswell, cousin-german of the deceased. By that gentleman'sadvice, Boswell's manuscripts were left to the disposal of his family;and it is believed that the whole were immediately destroyed. ' Theindolence of Malone and Temple, and the brutish ignorance of theBoswells, have indeed much to answer for. See _ante_, i. 225, note 2, and _post_, May 12, 1778. 

[882] 'He that would travel for the entertainment of others shouldremember that the great object of remark is human life. ' _The Idler_, No. 97. 

[883] See _ante_, ii. 377. 

[884] Johnson recorded (_Pr. And Med_. P. 163):--'Boswell came in to goto Church . .. Talk lost our time, and we came to Church late, at theSecond Lesson. '

[885] See _ante_, i. 461. 

[886] Oliver Edwards entered Pembroke College in June, 1729. He left inApril, 1730. 

[887] _Pr. And Med_. P. 164. BOSWELL. 

[888] 'Edwards observed how many we have outlived. I hope, yet hope, thatmy future life shall be better than my past. ' _Pr. And Med_. P. 166. 

[889] See _post_, April 30, 1778. 

[890] See _ante_, p. 221. 

[891] 'Don't, Sir, accustom yourself to use big words for littlematters. ' _Ante_, i. 471. 

[892] Johnson said to me afterwards, 'Sir, they respected me for myliterature; and yet it was not great but by comparison. Sir, it isamazing how little literature there is in the world. ' BOSWELL. 

[893] See _ante_, i. 320. 

[894] Very near the College, facing the passage which leads to it fromPembroke Street, still stands an old alehouse which must have been oldin Johnson's time. 

[895] This line has frequently been attributed to Dryden, when a King'sScholar at Westminster. But neither Eton nor Westminster have in truthany claim to it, the line being borrowed, with a slight change, from anEpigram by Crashaw:--

'Joann. 2, '_Aquæ in vinum versæ. Unde rubor vestris et non sua purpura lymphis?Qua rosa mirantes tam nova mutat aquas?Numen, convinvæ, præsens agnoscite numen, Nympha pudica_ DEUM _vidit, et erubuit_. ' MALONE. 

What gave your springs a brightness not their own?What rose so strange the wond'ring waters flushed?Heaven's hand, oh guests; heaven's hand may here be known;The spring's coy nymph has seen her God and blushed. 

[896] 'He that made the verse following (some ascribe it to GiraldusCambrensis) could adore both the sun rising, and the sun setting, whenhe could so cleanly honour King Henry II, then departed, and KingRichard succeeding. 

"_Mira cano, Sol occubuit, nox nulla sequutaest_. "'

Camden's _Remains_ (1870), p. 351. 

[897] 'When Mr. Hume began to be known in the world as a philosopher, Mr. White, a decent, rich merchant of London, said to him:--"I amsurprised, Mr. Hume, that a man of your good sense should think ofbeing a philosopher. Why, _I_ now took it into my head to be aphilosopher for some time, but tired of it most confoundedly, and verysoon gave it up. " "Pray, Sir, " said Mr. Hume, "in what branch ofphilosophy did you employ your researches? What books did you read?""Books?" said Mr. White; "nay sir, I read no books, but I used to sitwhole forenoons a-yawning and poking the fire. " _Boswelliana_, p. 221. The French were more successful than Mr. Edwards in the pursuit ofphilosophy, Horace Walpole wrote from Paris in 1766 (_Letters_, iv. 466):--'The generality of the men, and more than the generality, aredull and empty. They have taken up gravity, thinking it was philosophyand English, and so have acquired nothing in the room of their naturallevity and cheerfulness. '

[898] See _ante_, ii. 8. 

[899] See _ante_, i. 332. 

[900] See _ante_, i. 468, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 4. 

[901] I am not absolutely sure but this was my own suggestion, though itis truly in the character of Edwards. BOSWELL. 

[902] Sixty-nine. He was born in 1709. 

[903] See _ante_, i. 75, note 1. 

[904]

'O my coevals! remnants of yourselves!Poor human ruins, tottering o'er the grave!Shall we, shall aged men, like aged trees, Strike deeper their vile roots, and closer cling, Still more enamoured of this wretched soil?'

Young's _Night Thoughts_, Night iv. 

[905] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 20, 1773. According to Mrs. Piozzi'he liked the expression so well that he often repeated it. ' Piozzi's_Anec_. P. 208. He wrote to her:--'Have you not observed in all ourconversations that my _genius_ is always in extremes; that I am verynoisy or very silent; very gloomy or very merry; very sour or verykind?' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 166. In Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_ (ii. 310)we read that 'Dr. Johnson is never his best when there is nobody to drawhim out;' and in her _Memoirs of Dr. Burney_ (ii. 107) she adds that'the masterly manner in which, as soon as any topic was started, heseized it in all its bearings, had so much the air of belonging to theleader of the discourse, that this singularity was unsuspected save bythe experienced observation of long years of acquaintance. ' Malone wrotein 1783:--'I have always found him very communicative; ready to give hisopinion on any subject that was mentioned. He seldom, however, starts asubject himself; but it is very easy to lead him into one. ' Prior's_Malone_, p. 92. What Dugald Stewart says of Adam Smith (_Life_, p. 114)was equally true of Johnson:--'He was scarcely ever known to start a newtopic himself, or to appear unprepared upon those topics that wereintroduced by others. ' Johnson, in his long fits of silence, was perhapslike Cowper, but when aroused he was altogether unlike. Cowper says ofhimself:--'The effect of such continual listening to the language of aheart hopeless and deserted is that I can never give much more than halfmy attention to what is started by others, and very rarely startanything myself. ' Southey's _Cowper_, v. 10. 

[906] In summer 1792, additional and more expensive decorations havingbeen introduced, the price of admission was raised to two shillings. Icannot approve of this. The company may be more select; but a number ofthe honest commonalty are, I fear, excluded from sharing in elegant andinnocent entertainment. An attempt to abolish the one-shilling galleryat the playhouse has been very properly counteracted. BOSWELL. 

[907] _Regale_, as a noun, is not in Johnson's Dictionary. It was afavourite word with Miss Burney. 

[908] 'Tyers is described in _The Idler_, No. 48, under the name of TomRestless; "a circumstance, " says Mr. Nichols, "pointed out to me byDr. Johnson himself. "' _Lit. Anec_. Viii. 81. 'When Tom Restlessrises he goes into a coffee-house, where he creeps so near to men whomhe takes to be reasoners, as to hear their discourse, and endeavours toremember something which, when it has been strained through Tom's head, is so near to nothing, that what it once was cannot be discovered. Thishe carries round from friend to friend through a circle of visits, till, hearing what each says upon the question, he becomes able at dinner tosay a little himself; and as every great genius relaxes himself amonghis inferiors, meets with some who wonder how so young a man can talk sowisely. '

[909] 'That accurate judge of human life, Dr. Johnson, has often beenheard by me to observe, that it was the greatest misfortune whichcould befall a man to have been bred to no profession, and patheticallyto regret that this misfortune was his own. ' _More's Practical Piety_, p. 313. MARKLAND. 

[910] He had wished to study it. See _ante_, i. 134. 

[911] The fourth Earl of Lichfield, the Chancellor of Oxford, died in1772. The title became extinct in 1776, on the death of the fifth earl. The present title was created in 1831. Courthope's _Hist. Peerage_, p. 286. 

[912] See _post_, March 23, 1783, where Boswell vexed him in much thesame way. 

[913] I am not entirely without suspicion that Johnson may have felt alittle momentary envy; for no man loved the good things of this lifebetter than he did; and he could not but be conscious that he deserveda much larger share of them, than he ever had. I attempted in anewspaper to comment on the above passage, in the manner of Warburton, who must be allowed to have shewn uncommon ingenuity, in giving to anyauthour's text whatever meaning he chose it should carry. [_Ante_, ii. 37, note 1. ] As this imitation may amuse my readers, I shall hereintroduce it:--

'No saying of Dr. Johnson's has been more misunderstood than hisapplying to Mr. Burke when he first saw him at his fine place atBeaconsfield, _Non equidem invideo; miror magis_. These two celebratedmen had been friends for many years before Mr. Burke entered on hisparliamentary career. They were both writers, both members of THELITERARY CLUB; when, therefore, Dr. Johnson saw Mr. Burke in a situationso much more splendid than that to which he himself had attained, he didnot mean to express that he thought it a disproportionate prosperity;but while he, as a philosopher, asserted an exemption from envy, _nonequidem invideo_, he went on in the words of the poet _miror magis_;thereby signifying, either that he was occupied in admiring what he wasglad to see; or, perhaps, that considering the general lot of men ofsuperiour abilities, he wondered that Fortune, who is represented asblind, should, in this instance, have been so just. ' BOSWELL. Johnson inhis youth had translated

'Non equidem invideo; miror magis'

(Virgil, _Eclogues_, i. II) by

'My admiration only I exprest, (No spark of envy harbours in my breast). '

_Ante_, i. 51. 

[914] See _ante_ ii. 136. 

[915] This neglect was avenged a few years after Goldsmith's death, when Lord Camden sought to enter The Literary Club and was black-balled. 'I am sorry to add, ' wrote Mr. [Sir William] Jones in 1780, 'that LordCamden and the Bishop of Chester were rejected. When Bishops andChancellors honour us by offering to dine with us at a tavern, it seemsvery extraordinary that we should ever reject such an offer; but thereis no reasoning on the caprice of men. ' _Life of Sir W. Jones_, p. 240. 

[916] Cradock (_Memoirs_, i. 229) was dining with The Literary Club, when Garrick arrived very late, full-dressed. 'He made many apologies;he had been unexpectedly detained at the House of Lords, and Lord Camdenhad insisted upon setting him down at the door of the hotel in his owncarriage. Johnson said nothing, but he looked a volume. '

[917] Miss. [Per Errata; Originally: Mrs. ] Burney records this year(1778) that Mrs. Thrale said to Johnson, 'Garrick is one of thosewhom you suffer nobody to abuse but yourself; for if any other personspeaks against him, you browbeat him in a minute. "Why, madam, " answeredhe, "they don't know when to abuse him, and when to praise him; I willallow no man to speak ill of David that he does not deserve. "' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 65. See _ante_, i. 393, note 1. 

[918] The passage is in a letter dated Dublin, Oct. 12, 1727. 'Here ismy maintenance, ' wrote Swift, 'and here my convenience. If it pleasesGod to restore me to my health, I shall readily make a third journey;if not we must part, as all human creatures have parted. ' He never madethe third journey. Swift's _Works_, ed. 1803, xvii. 154. 

[919] See _ante_, ii. 162. 

[920] No doubt Percy. 

[921] The philosopher was Bias. Cicero, _Paradoxa_, i. 

[922] Johnson recorded of this day (_Pr. And Med_. P. 164):--'We sattill the time of worship in the afternoon, and then came again late, at the Psalms. Not easily, I think, hearing the sermon, or not beingattentive, I fell asleep. '

[923] Marshall's _Minutes of Agriculture_. 

[924] It was only in hay-time and harvest that Marshall approved ofSunday work. He had seen in the wet harvest of 1775 so much cornwasted that he 'was ambitious to set the patriotic example' of Sundaylabour. One Sunday he 'promised every man who would work two shillings, as much roast beef and plumb pudding as he would eat, with as much aleas it might be fit for him to drink. ' Nine men and three boys came. In anote in the edition of 1799, he says:--'The Author has been informedthat an old law exists (mentioned by Dugdale), which tolerateshusbandmen in working on Sundays in harvest; and that, in proof thereof, a gentleman in the north has uniformly carried one load every year on aSunday. ' He adds:--'Jan. 1799. The particulars of this note werefurnished by the late Dr. Samuel Johnson; at whose request someconsiderable part of what was originally written, and _printed_ on thissubject was cancelled. That which was published and which is now offeredagain to the public is, _in effect_, what Dr. Johnson approved; or, letme put it in the most cautious terms, that of which _Dr. Johnson did notdisapprove_. ' Marshall's _Minutes etc. , on Agriculture_, ii. 65-70. 

[925] Saturday was April 18. 

[926] William Duncombe, Esq. He married the sister of John Hughesthe poet; was the authour of two tragedies and other ingeniousproductions; and died 26th Feb. 1769, aged 79. MALONE. In his Life ofHughes (_Works_, vii. 477), Johnson says 'an account of Hughes isprefixed to his works by his relation, the late Mr. Duncombe, a manwhose blameless elegance deserved the same respect. '

[927] See _ante_, i. 185, 243, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 22. 

[928] See _ante_, i. 145. 

[929] See Appendix A. 

[930] No doubt Parson Home, better known as Home Tooke, who was atthis time in prison. He had signed an advertisement issued by theConstitutional Society asking for a subscription for 'the relief of thewidows, etc. , of our beloved American fellow-subjects, who had beeninhumanly murdered by the King's troops at Lexington and Concord. ' Forthis 'very gross libel' he had in the previous November been sentencedto a fine of £200 and a year's imprisonment. Ann. Reg. Xx. 234-245. See_post_, May 13, 1778. 

[931] Mr. Croker's conjecture that Dr. Shebbeare was the gentleman issupported by the favourable way in which Boswell (_post_, May 1781)speaks of Shebbeare as 'that gentleman, ' and calls him 'a respectablename in literature. ' Shebbeare, on Nov. 28, 1758, was sentenced by LordMansfield to stand in the pillory, to be confined for three years, andto give security for his good behaviour for seven years, for a libellouspamphlet intitled _A Sixth Letter to the People of England_. _Gent. Mag_. Xxviii. 555. (See _ante_, p. 15, note 3. ) On Feb. 7, 1759, theunder-sheriff of Middlesex was found guilty of a contempt of Court, inhaving suffered Shebbeare to stand _upon_ the pillory only, and not _in_it. _Ib_. Xxix. 91. Before the seven years had run out, Shebbeare waspensioned. Smollett, in the preface to _Humphry Clinker_, represents thepublisher of that novel as writing to the imaginary author:--'If youshould be sentenced to the pillory your fortune is made. As times go, that's a sure step to honour and preferment. I shall think myself happyif I can lend you a lift. ' See also in the same book Mr. Bramble'sLetter of June 2. 

[932] See p. 275 of this volume. BOSWELL. Why Boswell mentions thisgentleman at all, seeing that nothing that he says is reported, isnot clear. Perhaps he gave occasion to Johnson's attack on theAmericans. It is curious also why both here and in the account given ofDr. Percy's dinner his name is not mentioned. In the presence of thisunknown gentleman Johnson violently attacked first Percy, and nextBoswell. 

[933] Mr. Langton no doubt. See _ante_, iii. 48. He had paid Johnson avisit that morning. _Pr. And Med_. P. 165. 

[934] See _ante_, p. 216. 

[935] See _ante_, i. 494, where Johnson says that 'her learning is thatof a schoolboy in one of the lower forms. '

[936] On this day Johnson recorded in his review of the past year:--'My nights have been commonly, not only restless, but painful andfatiguing. ' He adds, 'I have written a little of the _Lives of thePoets_, I think with all my usual vigour. .. . This year the 28th of Marchpassed away without memorial. Poor Tetty, whatever were our faults andfailings, we loved each other. I did not forget thee yesterday. Couldestthou have lived!' _Pr. And Med_. Pp. 169, 170. 

[937] Mr. Langton. See _ante_, iii. 48. 

[938] Malone was told by Baretti that 'Dr. James picked up on a stall abook of Greek hymns. He brought it to Johnson, who ran his eyes overthe pages and returned it. A year or two afterwards he dined at SirJoshua Reynolds's with Dr. Musgrave, the editor of _Euripides_. Musgravemade a great parade of his Greek learning, and among other less knownwriters mentioned these hymns, which he thought none of the company wereacquainted with, and extolled them highly. Johnson said the first ofthem was indeed very fine, and immediately repeated it. It consisted often or twelve lines. ' Prior's _Malone_, p. 160. 

[939] By Richard Tickell, the grandson of Addison's friend. Walpole's_Letters_, vii. 54

[940] She was a younger sister of Peg Woffington (_ante_, p. 264). Johnson described her as 'a very airy lady. ' (Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 23, 1773. ) Murphy (_Life_, p. 137) says that 'Johnson, sitting attable with her, took hold of her hand in the middle of dinner, and heldit close to his eye, wondering at the delicacy and the whiteness, tillwith a smile she asked:--"Will he give it to me again when he has donewith it?"' He told Miss Burney that 'Mrs. Cholmondeley was the firstperson who publicly praised and recommended _Evelina_ among the wits. 'Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 180. Miss Burney wrote in 1778:--'Mrs. Cholmondeley has been praising _Evelina_; my father said that I couldnot have had a greater compliment than making two such women my friendsas Mrs. Thrale and Mrs. Cholmondeley, for they were severe and knowing, and afraid of praising _à tort et à travers_, as their opinions areliable to be quoted. ' _Ib_. I. 47. To Mrs. Cholmondeley Goldsmith, justbefore his death, shewed a copy in manuscript of his _Retaliation_. Noone else, it should seem, but Burke had seen it. Forster's _Goldsmith_, ii. 412. 

[941] Dr. Johnson is supported by the usage of preceding writers. So in _Musarum Deliciae_, 8vo. 1656 (the writer is speaking ofSuckling's play entitled _Aglaura_, printed in folio):--

'This great voluminous _pamphlet_ may be said To be like one that hath more hair than head. '

 MALONE. 

Addison, in _The Spectator_, No. 529 says that 'the most minutepocket-author hath beneath him the writers of all pamphlets, or worksthat are only stitched. As for a pamphleteer he takes place of none butof the authors of single sheets. ' The inferiority of a pamphlet is shewnin Johnson's _Works_, ed. 1787, xi. 216:--'Johnson would not allow theword _derange_ to be an English word. "Sir, " said a gentleman who hadsome pretensions to literature, "I have seen it in a book. " "Not in a_bound_ book, " said Johnson; "_disarrange_ is the word we ought to useinstead of it. "' In his _Dictionary_ he gives neither _derange_ nor_disarrange_. Dr. Franklin, who had been a printer and was likely to usethe term correctly, writing in 1785, mentions 'the artifices made use ofto puff up a paper of verses into a pamphlet. ' _Memoirs_, iii. 178. 

[942] See _post_, March 16, 1779, for 'the exquisite address' with whichJohnson evaded a question of this kind. 

[943] Garrick insisted on great alterations being made in _The GoodNatured Man_. When Goldsmith resisted this, 'he proposed a sort ofarbitration, ' and named as his arbitrator Whitehead the laureate. Forster's _Goldsmith_, ii. 41. It was of Whitehead's poetry that Johnsonsaid 'grand nonsense is insupportable. ' _Ante_, i. 402. _The GoodNatured Man_ was brought out by Colman, as well as _She Stoops toConquer_. 

[944] See _ante_, ii. 208, note 5. 

[945] See _ante_, i. 416. 

[946] 'This play, written in ridicule of the musical Italian drama, wasfirst offered to Cibber and his brethren at Drury Lane, and rejected;it being then carried to Rich had the effect, as was ludicrously said, of _making_ Gay _rich_ and Rich _gay_. ' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 66. See _ante_, ii. 368. 

[947] See _ante_, i. 112. 

[948] In opposition to this Mr. Croker quotes Horace:---

'Populus me sibilat; at mihi plaudoIpse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in arca. ''I'm hissed in public; but in secret blest, I count my money and enjoy my chest. ' Horace, _Sat_. I. I. 66. 

See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 26. 

[949] The anecdote is told in _Menagiana_, iii. 104, but not of a'_maid_ of honour, ' nor as an instance of '_exquisite flattery_. ' 'M. D'Uzès était chevalier d'honneur de la reine. Cette princesse luidemanda un jour quelle heure il était; il répondit, "Madame, l'heurequ'il plaira à votre majesté. "' Menage tells it as _a pleasantry_ of M. D'Uzès; but M. De la Monnoye says, that this duke was remarkable for_naïvetés_ and blunders, and was a kind of _butt_, to whom the wits ofthe court used to attribute all manner of absurdities. CROKER. 

[950] Horace, _Odes_, iv. 2. II. The common reading is _solutis_. Boswell (_Hebrides_, Aug. 15, 1773) says:--'Mr. Wilkes told me thishimself with classical admiration. '

[951] See this question fully investigated in the Notes upon my_Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides_, edit. 3, p. 21, _et seq_. [Aug. 15]. And here, as a lawyer mindful of the maxim _Suum cuique tribuito_, I cannot forbear to mention, that the additional Note beginning with 'Ifind since the former edition, ' is not mine, but was obliginglyfurnished by Mr. Malone, who was so kind as to superintend the presswhile I was in Scotland, and the first part of the second edition wasprinting. He would not allow me to ascribe it to its proper authour;but, as it is exquisitely acute and elegant, I take this opportunity, without his knowledge, to do him justice. BOSWELL. See also _ante_, i. 453, and _post_, May 15, 1784. 

[952] Horace, _Sat_. I. I. 106. Malone points out that this is themotto to _An Enquiry into Customary Estates and Tenants' Rights, &c. , with some considerations for restraining excessive fines_. By EverardFleetwood, 8vo, 1737. 

[953] A _modus_ is _something paid as a compensation for titheson the supposition of being a moderate equivalent_. Johnson's_Dictionary_. It was more desirable for the landlord than the Parson. Thus T. Warton, in his _Progress of Discontent_, represents the Parsonwho had taken a college living regretting his old condition, 'When calm around the common-roomI puffed my daily pipe's perfume;. .. And every night I went to bed, Without a _modus_ in my head. '

T. Warton's _Poems_, ii. 197. 

[954] Fines are payments due to the lord of a manor on every admissionof a new tenant. In some manors these payments are fixed by custom; theyare then _fines certain_; in others they are not fixed, but depend onthe reasonableness of the lord and the paying capacity of the tenant;they are _fines uncertain_. The advantage of _fines certain_, like thatof a _modus_ in tithes, is that a man knows what he shall get. 

[955] _Ante_, iii. 35. 

[956] Mr. P. Cunningham has, I think, enabled us to clear up Boswell'smystery, by finding in the _Garrick Corres_, ii. 305, May 1778, thatJohnson's poor friend, Mauritius Lowe, the painter, lived at No. 3, Hedge Lane, in a state of extreme distress. CROKER. See _post_, April 3, 1779, and April 12, 1783. 

[957] 'In all his intercourse with mankind, Pope had great delight inartifice, and endeavoured to attain all his purposes by indirect andunsuspected methods. "He hardly drank tea without a stratagem. " ["Nortake her tea without a stratagem. " Young's _Universal Passion, Sat_. Vi. ]He practised his arts on such small occasions that Lady Bolingbroke usedto say, in a French phrase, that "he played the politician about cabbagesand turnips. "' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 311. 

[958] Johnson, _post_, under March 30, 1783, speaks of 'the vainostentatious importance of many persons in quoting the authority ofdukes and lords. ' In his going to the other extreme, as he said he did, may be found the explanation of Boswell's 'mystery. ' For ofmystery--'the wisdom of blockheads, ' as Horace Walpole calls it(_Letters_, iii. 371)--Johnson was likely to have as little as any man. As for Grosvenor-square, the Thrales lived there for a short time, andJohnson had a room in the house (_post_, March 20, 1781). 

[959] Tacitus, _Agricola_, ch. Xxx. 'The unknown always passes forsomething peculiarly grand. '

[960] Johnson defines _toy-shop_ as 'a shop where playthings and littlenice manufactures are sold. '

[961] See _ante_, ii. 241. 

[962] Mrs. Piozzi (_Anec_. P. 237) says that 'the fore-top of all hiswigs were (sic) burned by the candle down to the very net-work. Mr. Thrale's valet, for that reason, kept one always in his own hands, withwhich he met him at the parlour door when the bell had called him downto dinner. ' Cumberland (_Memoirs_, i. 357) says that he wore 'a browncoat with metal buttons, black waistcoat and worsted stockings, with aflowing bob-wig; they were in perfectly good trim, and with the ladieshe had nothing of the slovenly philosopher about him. '

[963] See _ante_, ii. 432. 

[964] Here he either was mistaken, or had a different notion of anextensive 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 thecollection of his works. BOSWELL. See _ante_, ii. 310, note 2. 

[965] 'In the neighbourhood of Lichfield [in 1750] the principalgentlemen clothed their hounds in tartan plaid, with which they hunteda fox, dressed in a red uniform. ' Mahon's _Hist. Of England_, iv. 10. 

[966] So Boswell in his _Hebrides_ (Nov. 8), hoping that his father andJohnson have met in heaven, observes, 'that they have met in a placewhere there is no room for Whiggism. ' See _ante_, i. 431. 

[967] _Paradise Lost_, bk. I. 263. Butler (_Miscellaneous Thoughts_, 1. 169) had said:--

'The Devil was the first o' th' nameFrom whom the race of rebels came. '

[968] In the phraseology of Scotland, I should have said, 'Mr. JohnSpottiswoode the younger, _of that ilk_. ' Johnson knew that senseof the word very well, and has thus explained it in his _Dictionary_, _voce_ ILK:--'It also signifies "the same;" as, _Mackintosh of thatilk_, denotes a gentleman whose surname and the title of his estate arethe same. ' BOSWELL. See _ante_, ii. 427, note 2. 

[969] He wrote to Dr. Taylor on Oct. 19 of the next year:--'There arethose still who either fright themselves, or would fright others, withan invasion. .. . Such a fleet [a fleet equal to the transportation oftwenty or of ten thousand men] cannot be hid in a creek; it must besafely [?] visible; and yet I believe no man has seen the man that hasseen it. The ships of war were within sight of Plymouth, and only withinsight. ' _Notes and Queries_, 6th S. V. 461. 

[970] See _ante_, iii. 42. 

[971] 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 weredrinking wine, 'he had the dexterity to accommodate his discourse to thepitch of theirs as it _sunk_. ' If excess in drinking be meant, theremark is acutely just. But surely, a moderate use of wine gives agaiety of spirits which water-drinkers know not. BOSWELL. 'Waller passedhis time in the company that was highest, both in rank and wit, fromwhich even his obstinate sobriety did not exclude him. Though he drankwater, he was enabled by his fertility of mind to heighten the mirth ofBacchanalian assemblies; and Mr. Saville said that "no man in Englandshould keep him company without drinking but Ned Waller. "' Johnson's_Works_, vii. 197. 

[972] See _ante_, iii. 41, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 17. 

[973] Pope. _Satires_, Prologue, 1. 283. 

[974] As he himself had said in his letter of thanks for his diploma ofDoctor of Laws, 'Nemo sibi placens non lactatur' (_ante_, ii. 333). 

[975]

'Who mean to live within our proper sphere, Dear to ourselves, and to our country dear. '

FRANCIS. Horace, _Epistles_, i. 3. 29. 

[976] Johnson recommended this before. _Ante_, p. 169. Boswell triedabstinence once before. _Ante_, ii. 436, note 1, and iii. 170, note 1. 

[977] Johnson wrote to Boswell in 1775:--'Reynolds has taken too muchto strong liquor, and seems to delight in his new character. ' _Ante_, ii. 292. 

[978] See _ante_, p. 170, note 2. 

[979] At the Castle of the Bishop of Munster 'there was, ' writes Temple, 'nothing remarkable but the most Episcopal way of drinking that couldbe invented. As soon as we came in the great hall there stood manyflagons ready charged; the general called for wine to drink the King'shealth; they brought him a formal bell of silver gilt, that might holdabout two quarts or more; he took it empty, pulled out the clapper, andgave it me who (sic) he intended to drink to, then had the bell filled, drunk it off to his Majesty's health; then asked me for the clapper, putit in, turned down the bell, and rung it out to shew he had played fairand left nothing in it; took out the clapper, desired me to give it towhom I pleased, then gave his bell to be filled again, and brought it tome. I that never used to drink, and seldom would try, had commonly somegentlemen with me that served for that purpose when it was necessary. 'Temple's _Works_, ed. 1757, i. 266. 

[980] See _ante_, ii. 450, note 1, and iii. 79. 

[981] The passages are in the _Jerusalem_, canto i. St. 3, and in_Lucretius_, i. 935, and again iv. 12. CROKER. 

[982] See _ante_, ii. 247, where Boswell says that 'no man was morescrupulously inquisitive in order to discover the truth;' and iii. 188, 229. 

[983] See _post_, under May 8, 1781. 

[984] 'Sir, ' said Johnson, 'I love Robertson, and I won't talk of hisbook. ' _Ante_, ii. 53. 

[985] 'I was once in company with Smith, ' said Johnson in 1763, 'and wedid not take to each other. ' _Ante_, i. 427. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 29. 

[986] See _ante_, ii. 63. 

[987] See _ante_, ii. 84

[988] See _ante_, p. 3. 

[989] This experiment which Madame Dacier made in vain, has since beentried in our own language, by the editor of _Ossian_, and we must eitherthink very meanly of his abilities, or allow that Dr. Johnson was in theright. And Mr. Cowper, a man of real genius, has miserably failed in hisblank verse translation. BOSWELL. Johnson, in his _Life of Pope_(_Works_, viii. 253), says:--'I have read of a man, who being by hisignorance of Greek compelled to gratify his curiosity with the Latinprinted on the opposite page, declared that from the rude simplicity ofthe lines literally rendered he formed nobler ideas of the Homericmajesty, than from the laboured elegance of polished versions, ' ThoughJohnson nowhere speaks of Cowper, yet his writings were not altogetherunknown to him. 'Dr. Johnson, ' wrote Cowper, 'read and recommended myfirst volume. ' Southey's _Cowper_, v. 171. 

[990] 'I bought the first volume of _Manchester_, but could not read it;it was much too learned for me, and seemed rather an account of Babelthan Manchester, I mean in point of antiquity. ' Walpole's _Letters_, vi. 207. 

[991] Henry was injured by Gilbert Stuart, the malignant editor of the_Edinburgh Magazine and Review_, who 'had vowed that he would crush hiswork, ' and who found confederates to help him. He asked Hume to reviewit, thinking no doubt that one historian would attack another; when hereceived from him a highly favourable review he would not publish it. It contained a curious passage, where Hume points out that Henry andRobertson were clergymen, and continues:--'These illustrious examples, if any thing, must make the _infidel abashed of his vain cavils_. ' J. H. Burton's _Hume_, ii. 469. 

[992] Hume wrote to Millar:--'Hamilton and Balfour have offeredRobertson [for his _Scotland_] a very unusual price; no less than £500for one edition of 2000. ' _Ib_. Ii. 42. As Robertson did not accept thisoffer, no doubt he got a better one. Even if he got no more, it wouldnot have seemed 'a moderate price' to a man whose preferment hithertohad been only £100 a year. (See Dugald Stewart's _Robertson_, p. 161. )Stewart adds (_ib_. P. 169):--'It was published on Feb. 1, 1759. Beforethe end of the month the author was desired by his bookseller to preparefor a second edition. ' By 1793 it was in its fourteenth edition. _Ib_. P. 326. The publisher was Millar; the price two guineas. _Gent. Mag_. Xxix. 84. 

[993] Lord Clive. See _post_, p. 350, and Oct. 10, 1779. 

[994] Dr. A. Carlyle (_Auto_. P. 286) gives an instance of this'romantick humour. ' 'Robertson was very much a master of conversation, and very desirous to lead it, and to raise theories that sometimesprovoked the laugh against him. He went a jaunt into England withDundas, Cockburn and Sinclair; who, seeing a gallows on a neighbouringhillock, rode round to have a nearer view of the felon on the gallows. When they met in the inn, Robertson began a dissertation on thecharacter of nations, and how much the English, like the Romans, werehardened by their cruel diversions of cock-fighting, bull-baiting, &c. ;for had they not observed three Englishmen on horseback do what noScotchman or--. Here Dundas interrupted him, and said, "What! did younot know, Principal, that it was Cockburn and Sinclair and me?" This putan end to theories, &c. , for that day. '

[995] This was a favourite word with Johnson and Mrs. Thrale. 'Long liveMrs. G. That _downs_ my mistress, ' he wrote (_Piozzi Letters_, ii. 26). 'Did you quite _down_ her?' he asked of another lady (_Ib_. P. 100). Miss Burney caught up the word: 'I won't be _downed_, ' she wrote. Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 252. 

[996] See _ante_, iii. 41, 327. 

[997] Dr. A. Carlyle (_Auto_. P. 474) tells how Robertson, with one ofhis pupils, and he, visited at a house where some excellent claretflowed freely. 'After four days Robertson took me into a windowbefore dinner, and with some solemnity proposed to make a motion toshorten the drinking, if I would second him--"Because, " added he, "although you and I may go through it, I am averse to it on my pupil'saccount. " I answered that I was afraid it would not do, as ourtoastmaster might throw ridicule upon us, as we were to leave the islandthe day after the next, and that we had not proposed any abridgementtill the old claret was all done, the last of which we had drunkyesterday. "Well, well, " replied the Doctor, "be it so then, and let usend as we began. "'

[998] Johnson, when asked to hear Robertson preach, said:--'I will hearhim if he will get up into a tree and preach; but I will not give asanction by my presence to a Presbyterian assembly. ' Boswell's_Hebrides_, Aug. 27. See also _Ib_. Nov. 7. 

[999] Mrs. Piozzi confidently mentions this as having passed inScotland, _Anecdotes_, p. 62. BOSWELL. She adds:--'I was shocked tothink how he [Johnson] must have disgusted him [Robertson]. ' She, we maywell believe, felt no more shock than Robertson felt disgust. 

[1000] See Voltaire's _Siècle de Louis XIV_, ch. Xiv. 

[1001] See _ante_, p. 191. 

[1002] See _ante_, p. 54. 

[1003] It was on this day that Johnson dictated to Boswell his Latintranslation of Dryden's lines on Milton. Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 22. 

[1004] See _ante_, ii. 109. 

[1005] '"Well, Sir, " said he, "we had good talk. " BOSWELL. "Yes Sir;you tossed and gored several persons. "' _Ante_, ii. 66. 

[1006] Very likely their host. See _ante_, iii. 48. 

[1007] See _ante_, iii. 97. 

[1008] _Acts_, X. 1 and 2. 

[1009] Mr. Croker says, 'no doubt Dr. Robertson;' see _post_, underJune 16, 1784, where Johnson says much the same of 'an authour ofconsiderable eminence. ' In this case Mr. Croker says, 'probably Dr. Robertson. ' I have little doubt that Dr. Beattie was there meant. He maybe meant also here, for the description of the conversation does notagree with what we are told of Robertson. See _ante_, p. 335. Note 1. Perhaps, however, Dr. Blair was the eminent author. It is in Boswell'smanner to introduce the same person in consecutive paragraphs as ifthere were two persons. 

[1010] See _ante_, ii. 256. 

[1011] Chappe D'Auteroche writes:--'La douceur de sa physionomie et savivacité annonçaient plutôt quelque indiscrétion que l'ombre d'uncrime. Tous ceux que j'ai consultés par la suite m'ont cependant assuréqu'elle était coupable. ' _Voyage en Sibérie_, i. 227. Lord Kamessays:--'Of whatever indiscretion she might have been guilty, thesweetness of her countenance and her composure left not in thespectators the slightest suspicion of guilt. ' She was cruelly knouted, her tongue was cut out, and she was banished to Siberia. Kames's_Sketches_, i. 363. 

[1012] Mr. Croker says:--'Here I think the censure is quite unjust. Lord Kames gives in the clearest terms the same explanation. ' Kamesmade many corrections in the later editions. On turning to the first, I found, as I expected, that Johnson's censure was quite just. Kamessays (i. 76):--'Whatever be the cause of high or low interest, I amcertain that the quantity of circulating coin can have no influence. Supposing the half of our money to be withdrawn, a hundred pounds lentought still to afford but five pounds as interest; because if theprincipal be doubled in value, so is also the interest. ' This passagewas struck out in later editions. 

[1013] 'Johnson had an extraordinary admiration of this lady, notwithstanding she was a violent Whig. In answer to her high-flownspeeches for _Liberty_, he addressed to her the following Epigram, ofwhich I presume to offer a translation:--

'_Liber ut esse velim suasiti pulchra MariaUt maneam liber pulchra Maria vale_, 'Adieu, Maria! since you'd have me free;For, who beholds thy charms a slave must be. 

A correspondent of _The Gentleman's Magazine_, who subscribes himselfSCIOLUS, to whom I am indebted for several excellent remarks, observes, 'The turn of Dr. Johnson's lines to Miss Aston, whose Whig principles hehad been combating, appears to me to be taken from an ingenious epigramin the _Menagiana_ [vol. Iii. P. 376, edit. 1716] on a young lady whoappeared at a masquerade, _habillée en Jésuite_, during the fiercecontentions of the followers of Molinos and Jansenius concerningfree-will:--

 "On s'étonne ici que CalisteAit pris l'habit de Moliniste. Puisque cette jeune beautéOte à chacun sa liberté, N'est-ce pas une Janseniste?"

BOSWELL. 

Johnson, in his _Criticism upon Pope's Epitaphs_ (_Works_, viii. 355), quotes the opinion of a 'lady of great beauty and excellence. ' She was, says Mrs. Piozzi (_Anec_. P. 162), Molly Aston. Mrs. Piozzi, in her_Letters_ (ii. 383), writes:--'Nobody has ever mentioned what became ofMiss Aston's letters, though he once told me they should be the lastpapers he would destroy. ' See _ante_, i. 83. 

[1014] See _ante_, ii. 470. 

[1015] Pope's _Essay on Man_, iv. 380. 

[1016] See _ante_, i. 294. 

[1017] 'March 4, 1745. You say you expect much information aboutBelleisle, but there has not (in the style of the newspapers) the leastparticular _transpired_. ' Horace Walpole's _Letters_, i. 344. 'Jan. 26, 1748. You will not let one word of it _transpire_. ' Chesterfield's_Misc. Works_, iv. 35. 'It would be next to a miracle that a fact ofthis kind should be known to a whole parish, and not _transpire_ anyfarther. ' Fielding's _Tom Jones_, bk. Ii. C. 5. _Tom Jones_ waspublished before the _Dictionary_, but not so Walpole's _Letters_ andChesterfield's _Misc. Works_. I have not found a passage in whichBolingbroke uses the word, but I have not read all his works. 

[1018] 'The words which our authors have introduced by their knowledgeof foreign languages, or ignorance of their own . .. I have registeredas they occurred, though commonly only to censure them, and warn othersagainst the folly of naturalising useless foreigners to the injury ofthe natives. ' Johnson's _Works_, v. 31. 'If an academy should beestablished for the cultivation of our style, which I, who can neverwish to see dependance multiplied, hope the spirit of English libertywill hinder or destroy, let them, instead of compiling grammars anddictionaries, endeavour with all their influence to stop the license oftranslators, whose idleness and ignorance, if it be suffered to proceed, will reduce us to babble a dialect of France. ' _Ib_. P. 49. 'I haverarely admitted any words not authorised by former writers; for Ibelieve that whoever knows the English tongue in its present extent willbe able to express his thoughts without further help from othernations. ' _The Rambler_, No. 208. 

[1019] Boswell on one occasion used _it came out_ where a lover of finewords would have said _it transpired_. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, November 1. 

[1020] The record no doubt was destroyed with the other papers thatBoswell left to his literary executors (_ante_, p. 301, note 1). 

[1021] See _ante_, i. 154. 

[1022] 'Of Johnson's pride I have heard Reynolds observe, that if anyman drew him into a state of obligation without his own consent, thatman was the first he would affront by way of clearing off the account. 'Northcote's _Reynolds_, i. 71. 

[1023] See _post_, May 1, 1779. 

[1024] This had happened the day before (May 11) in the writ of error inHorne's case (_ante_, p. 314). _Ann. Reg_. Xii. 181. 

[1025] '_To enucleate_. To solve; to clear. ' Johnson's _Dictionary_. 

[1026] In the original _me_. 

[1027] Pope himself (_Moral Essays_, iii. 25) attacks the sentimentcontained in this stanza. He says:--

'What nature wants (a phrase I must distrust)Extends to luxury, extends to lust. '

Mr. Elwin (Pope's _Works_, ii. 462) doubts the genuineness of thissuppressed stanza. Montezuma, in Dryden's _Indian Emperour_, act ii. Sc. 2, says:--

'That lust of power we from your Godheads have, You're bound to please those appetites you gave. '

[1028] 'Antoine Arnauld, surnommé le grand Arnauld, théologien etphilosophe, né à Paris le 6 février 1612, mort le 6 août 1694 àBruxelles. ' _Nouv. Biog. Gén_. Iii. 282. 

[1029] 'It may be discovered that when Pope thinks himself concealed heindulges the common vanity of common men, and triumphs in thosedistinctions which he had affected to despise. He is proud that hisbook was presented to the King and Queen by the right honourable SirRobert Walpole; he is proud that they had read it before; he is proudthat the edition was taken off by the nobility and persons of the firstdistinction. ' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 278. 

[1030] _Othello_, act iii. Sc. 3. 

[1031] Mr. Langton, I have little doubt. Not only does that which Johnsonsays of sluggishness fit his character, but the fact that he is spokenof in the next paragraph points to him. 

[1032] Mr. Langton. See _ante_, iii. 48. 

[1033] We may wonder whether _pasted_ is strictly used. It seems likelythat the wealthy brewer, who had a taste for the fine arts, affordedHogarth at least a frame. 

[1034] See _ante_, i. 49. 

[1035] Baths are called Hummums in the East, and thence these hotels inCovent Garden, where there were baths, were called by that name. CROKER. 

[1036] Beauclerk. 

[1037] Bolingbroke. _Ante_, ii. 246. 

[1038] Lord Clive. _Ante_, p. 334. 

[1039] _Hamlet_, act i. Sc. 2. 

[1040] Johnson, or Boswell in reporting him, here falls into an error. The editor of Chesterfield's _Works_ says (ii. 3l9), 'that beingdesirous of giving a specimen of his Lordship's eloquence he has madechoice of the three following speeches; the first in the strong nervousstyle of Demosthenes; the two latter in the witty, ironical manner ofTully. ' Now the first of these speeches is not Johnson's, for it wasreported in _The Gent. Mag_. For July, 1737, p. 409, nine months beforehis first contribution to that paper. In spite of great differences thisreport and that in Chesterfield's _Works_ are substantially the same. IfJohnson had any hand in the authorised version he merely revised thereport already published. Nor did he always improve it, as will be seenby comparing with Chesterfield's _Works_, ii. 336, the following passagefrom the _Gent. Mag_. P. 411:--'My Lords, we ought in all points to betender of property. Wit is the property of those who are possessed ofit, and very often the only property they have. Thank God, my Lords, this is not our case; we are otherwise provided for. ' The other twospeeches are his. In the collected works (xi. 420, 489) they are wronglyassigned to Lord Carteret. See _ante_, i. Appendix A. 

[1041] See _ante_, p. 340. 

[1042] These words are quoted by Kames, iii. 267. In his abbreviationhe perhaps passed over by accident the words that Johnson next quotes. If Clarendon did not believe the story, he wished his readers to believeit. He gives more than five pages to it, and he ends by saying:--'Whatever there was of all this, it is a notorious truth, that when thenews of the duke's murder (which happened within few months after) wasbrought to his mother, she seemed not in the least degree surprised; butreceived it as if she had foreseen it. ' According to the story, he hadtold her of the warning which had come to him through his father's ghost. Clarendon's _History_, ed. 1826, i. 74. 

[1043] Kames maintains (iii. 95) that schools are not needful for thechildren of the labouring poor. They would be needful, 'if withoutregular education we could have no knowledge of the principles ofreligion and of morality. But Providence has not left man in a state soimperfect: religion and morality are stamped on his heart; and none canbe ignorant of them, who attend to their own perceptions. '

[1044] 'Oct. 5, 1764. Mr. Elliot brings us woeful accounts of theFrench ladies, of the decency of their conversation, and the nastinessof their behaviour. ' Walpole's _Letters_, iv. 277. Walpole wrote fromParis on Nov. 19, 1765, 'Paris is the ugliest, beastliest town in theuniverse, ' and describes the nastiness of the talk of French women ofthe first rank. _Ib_. P. 435. Mrs. Piozzi, nearly twenty years later, places among 'the contradictions one meets with every moment' at Paris, 'A Countess in a morning, her hair dressed, with diamonds too perhaps, and a dirty black handkerchief about her neck. ' Piozzi's _Journey_, i. 17. See _ante_, ii. 403, and _post_, under Aug. 29, 1783. 

[1045] See Appendix B. 

[1046] His lordship was, to the last, in the habit of telling this storyrather too often. CROKER. 

[1047] See _ante_, ii. 194. 

[1048] See _ante_, iii. 178. 

[1049] See _ante_, ii. 153. 

[1050] 'Our eyes and ears may convince us, ' wrote Wesley, 'there is nota less happy body of men in all England than the country farmers. Ingeneral their life is supremely dull; and it is usually unhappy too;for of all people in the kingdom, they are the most discontented, seldomsatisfied either with God or man. ' Southey's _Wesley_, i. 420. He didnot hold with Johnson as to the upper classes. 'Oh! how hard it is, ' hesaid, 'to be shallow enough for a polite audience. ' _Ib_. P. 419. 

[1051] Horne says:--'Even S. Johnson, though mistakenly, has attemptedAND, and would find no difficulty with THEREFORE' (ed. 1778, p. 21). However, in a note on p. 56 he says:--'I could never read his preface[to his _Dictionary_] without shedding a tear. ' See _ante_, i. 297, note 2. 

[1052] In Mr. Horne Tooke's enlargement of that _Letter_, which he hassince published with the title of [Greek: Epea pteroenta]; or, the_Diversions of Purley_; he mentions this compliment, as if Dr. Johnsoninstead of _several_ of his etymologies had said _all_. His recollectionhaving thus magnified it, shews how ambitious he was of the approbationof so great a man. BOSWELL. Horne Tooke says (ed. 1798, part i, p. 156)'immediately after the publication of my _Letter to Mr. Dunning_ I wasinformed by Mr. S. [Seward], an intimate friend of Dr. Johnson, that hehad declared that, if he lived to give a new edition of his_Dictionary_, he should certainly adopt my derivations. ' Boswell andHorne Tooke, says Stephens (_Life of Tooke_, ii. 438), had analtercation. 'Happening to meet at a gentleman's house, Mr. Boswellproposed to make up the breach, on the express condition, however, thatthey should drink a bottle of wine each between the toasts. But Mr. Tooke would not give his assent unless the liquor should be brandy. Bythe time a quart had been quaffed Boswell was left sprawling on thefloor. '

[1053] See _ante_, iii. 314. Thurlow, the Attorney-General, pressed thatHorne should be set in the pillory, 'observing that imprisonment wouldbe "a slight inconvenience to one of sedentary habits. "' It was duringhis imprisonment that he wrote his _Letter to Mr. Dunning_. Campbell's_Chancellors_, ed. 1846, v. 517. Horace Walpole says that 'LordMansfield was afraid, and would not venture the pillory. ' _Journal ofthe Reign of George III_, ii. 167. 

[1054] '_Bulse_, a certain quantity of diamonds' (India). Webster's_Dictionary_. 

[1055] 'He raised, ' says Hawkins (_Life_, p. 236), 'the medicalcharacter to such a height of dignity as was never seen in this or anyother country. I have heard it said that when he began to practise, hewas a frequenter of the meeting at Stepney where his father preached;and that when he was sent for out of the assembly, his father would inhis prayer insert a petition in behalf of the sick person. I oncementioned this to Johnson, who said it was too gross for belief; but itwas not so at Batson's [a coffee-house frequented by physicians]; itpassed there as a current belief. ' See _ante_, i. 159. Young hasintroduced him in the second of his _Night Thoughts_--

'That time is mine, O Mead, to thee I owe;Fain would I pay thee with eternity. '

Horace Walpole (_Letters_, viii. 260) says 'that he had nothing butpretensions. '

[1056] On Oct. 17, 1777, Burgoyne's army surrendered to the Americansat Saratoga. One of the articles of the Convention was 'that the armyshould march out of the camp with all the honours of war to a fixedplace where they were to deposit their arms. It is said that GeneralGates [the American Commander] paid so nice and delicate an attentionto the British military honour that he kept his army close within theirlines, and did not suffer an American soldier to be a witness to thedegrading spectacle of piling their arms. ' _Ann. Reg_. Xx. 173, 174. Horace Walpole, on Lord Cornwallis's capitulation in 1781, wrote:--'Thenewspapers on the Court side had been crammed with paragraphs for afortnight, saying that Lord Cornwallis had declared he would never pileup his arms like Burgoyne; that is, he would rather die sword in hand. 'Walpole's _Journal of the Reign of George III_, ii. 475. 

[1057] See _ante_, i. 342. 

[1058] There was a Colonel Fullarton who took an important part in thewar against Tippoo in 1783. Mill's _British India_, ed. 1840, iv. 276. 

[1059] 'To count is a modern practice, the ancient method was to guess;and when numbers are guessed, they are always magnified. ' Johnson's_Works_, ix. 95. 

[1060] He published in 1714 _An Account of Switzerland_. 

[1061] See _ante_, ii. 468. 

[1062] See Appendix C. 

[1063] 'All unnecessary vows are folly, because they suppose aprescience of the future which has not been given us. They are, I think, a crime, because they resign that life to chance which God has given usto be regulated by reason; and superinduce a kind of fatality, fromwhich it is the great privilege of our nature to be free. ' _PiozziLetters_, i. 83. Johnson (_Works_, vii. 52) praises the 'just and noblethoughts' in Cowley's lines which begin:--

'Where honour or where conscience does not bind, No other law shall shackle me; Slave to myself I ne'er will be;Nor shall my future actions be confined By my own present mind. '

See _ante_, ii. 21. 

[1064] Juvenal, _Sat_. Iii. 78. Imitated by Johnson in _London_. 

[1065] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 16, and Johnson's _Tour intoWales_, Aug. 1, 1774. 

[1066] The slip of paper on which he made the correction, is depositedby me in the noble library to which it relates, and to which I havepresented other pieces of his hand-writing. BOSWELL. In substituting_burns_ he resumes the reading of the first edition, in which the formerof the two couplets ran:--

'Resistless burns the fever of renown, Caught from the strong contagion of the gown. '

'The slip of paper and the other pieces of Johnson's hand-writing' havebeen lost. At all events they are not in the Bodleian. 

[1067] Johnson (_Works_, vii. 76), criticising Milton's scheme ofeducation, says:--'Those authors therefore are to be read at schoolsthat supply most axioms of prudence, most principles of moral truth, andmost materials for conversation; and these purposes are best served bypoets, orators, and historians. Let me not be censured for thisdigression as pedantic or paradoxical; for if I have Milton against me, I have Socrates on my side. It was his labour to turn philosophy fromthe study of nature to speculations upon life; but the innovators whom Ioppose are turning off attention from life to nature. They seem to thinkthat we are placed here to watch the growth of plants, or the motions ofthe stars. Socrates was rather of opinion that what we had to learn washow to do good and avoid evil. "[Greek: hotti toi en megaroisi kakon tagathon te tetuktai]. "'

[1068] 'His ear was well-tuned, and his diction was elegant and copious, but his devotional poetry is, like that of others, unsatisfactory. Thepaucity of its topicks enforces perpetual repetition, and the sanctityof the matter rejects the ornaments of figurative diction. It issufficient for Watts to have done better than others what no man hasdone well. ' _Ib_. Viii. 386. See _ante_, i. 312. Mrs. Piozzi (_Anec_. P. 200) says that when 'Johnson would inveigh against devotional poetry, and protest that all religious verses were cold and feeble, ' shereminded him how 'when he would try to repeat the _Dies iræ, dies illa_, he could never pass the stanza ending thus, _Tantus labor non sitcassus_, without bursting into a flood of tears. '

[1069] See _ante_, ii. 169, note 2. 

[1070] Dr. Johnson was by no means attentive to minute accuracy in his_Lives of the Poets_; for notwithstanding my having detected thismistake, he has continued it. BOSWELL. See _post_, iv. 51, note 2 for alike instance of neglect. 

[1071] See _ante_, ii. 64. 

[1072] See _ante_, ii. 278. 

[1073] 'May 31, 1778. We shall at least not doze, as we are used to do, in summer. The Parliament is to have only short adjournments; and oursenators, instead of retiring to horseraces (_their_ plough), are allturned soldiers, and disciplining militia. Camps everywhere. ' HoraceWalpole's _Letters_, vii. 75. It was a threat of invasion by the unitedforces of France and Spain, at the time that we were at war withAmerica, that caused the alarm. Dr. J. H. Burton (Dr. A. Carlyle's_Auto_. P. 399) points out, that while the militia of England was placednearly in its present position by the act of 1757, yet 'when a proposalfor extending the system to Scotland was suggested (sic), ministers wereafraid to arm the people. ' 'It is curious, ' he continues, 'that for areason almost identical Ireland has been excepted from the Volunteerorganisation of a century later. It was not until 1793 that the MilitiaActs were extended to Scotland. '

[1074] 'Before dinner, ' wrote Miss Burney in September of this year, 'to my great joy Dr. Johnson returned home from Warley Common. ' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 114. He wrote to Mrs. Thrale on Oct. 15:--'Acamp, however familiarly we may speak of it, is one of the great scenesof human life. War and peace divide the business of the world. Camps arethe habitations of those who conquer kingdoms, or defend them. ' _PiozziLetters_, ii. 22. 

[1075] Third Edition, p. 111 [Aug. 28]. BOSWELL. It was at Fort George. 'He made a very good figure upon these topicks. He said to me afterwardsthat "he had talked ostentatiously. "'

[1076] When I one day at Court expressed to General Hall my sense of thehonour he had done my friend, he politely answered, 'Sir, I did _myself_honour. ' BOSWELL. 

[1077] According to Malone, 'Mr. Burke said of Mr. Boswell that goodnature was so natural to him that he had no merit in possessing it, andthat a man might as well assume to himself merit in possessing anexcellent constitution. ' _European Mag_. 1798, p. 376. See Boswell's_Hebrides_, Aug. 21. 

[1078] Langton. See _ante_, iii. 48. 

[1079] No doubt his house at Langton. 

[1080] The Wey Canal. See _ante_, ii. 136. From _navigation_, i. E. Acanal for internal navigation, we have _navvy_. A _canal_ was thecommon term for an ornamental pool, and for a time it seemed that_navigation_ and not _canal_ might be the term applied to artificialrivers. 

[1081] Langton. 

[1082]

'He plunging downward shot his radiant head:Dispelled the breathing air that broke his flight;Shorn of his beams, a man to mortal sight. '

Dryden, quoted in Johnson's _Dictionary_ under _shorn_. The phrase firstappears in _Paradise Lost_, i. 596. 

[1083] Mrs. Thrale, this same summer, 'asked whether Mr. Langton tookany better care of his affairs. "No, madam, " cried the doctor, "andnever will. He complains of the ill-effects of habit, and restscontentedly upon a confessed indolence. He told his father himself thathe had _no turn to economy_, but a thief might as well plead that he hadno _turn to honesty_!"' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 75. 

[1084] Locke, in his last words to Collins, said:--'This world affordsno solid satisfaction but the consciousness of well-doing, and the hopesof another life. ' Warburton's _Divine Legation_, i. Xxvi. 

[1085] Not the young brewer who was hoped for (_ante_, iii. 210);therefore she is called 'poor thing. ' One of Mr. Thrale's daughterslived to Nov. 5, 1858. 

[1086] On Oct. 15 Johnson wrote:--'Is my master [i. E. Mr. Thrale, _ante_, i. 494, note 3] come to himself? Does he talk, and walk, andlook about him, as if there were yet something in the world for which itis worth while to live? Or does he yet sit and say nothing? To grievefor evils is often wrong; but it is much more wrong to grieve withoutthem. ' _Piozzi Letters_. Ii. 22. Nine days later he wrote:--'You appearto me to be now floating on the spring-tide of prosperity. I think itvery probably in your power to lay up £8000 a-year for every year tocome, increasing all the time, what needs not be increased, thesplendour of all external appearance. And surely such a state is not tobe put into yearly hazard for the pleasure of _keeping the house full_, or the ambition of _out-brewing Whitbread_? _Piozzi Letters_, p. 24. 

[1087] See _ante_, ii. 136. The following letter, of which a fac-simileis given at the beginning of vol. Iii. Of Dr. Franklin's _Memoirs_, ed. 1818, tells of 'a difference' between the famous printer of Philadelphiaand the King's Printer of London. 

'Philada. , July 5, 1775. 

'Mr. Strahan, 'You are a Member of Parliament, and one of that Majority which hasdoomed my Country to Destruction. --You have begun to burn our Towns, andmurder our People. --Look upon your Hands!--They are stained with theBlood of your Relations! You and I were long friends:--You are now myEnemy, --and

'I am, yours, 'B. FRANKLIN. '

When peace was made between the two countries the old friendship wasrenewed. _Ib_. Iii. 147. 

[1088] On this day he wrote a touching letter to Mr. Elphinston, who hadlost his wife (Croker's _Boswell_, p. 66, note). Perhaps the thoughtsthus raised in him led him to this act of reconciliation. 

[1089] Dr. Johnson here addresses his worthy friend, Bennet Langton, Esq. , by his title as Captain of the Lincolnshire militia, in which hehas since been most deservedly raised to the rank of Major. BOSWELL. 

[1090] President of the Royal Society. 

[1091] The King visited Warley Camp on Oct. 20. _Ann. Reg_. Xxi. 237. 

[1092] He visited Coxheath Camp on Nov. 23. _Ib_. Horace Walpole, writing of April of this year when, in the alarm of a French invasion, the militia were called out, says:--'The King's behaviour was childishand absurd. He ordered the camp equipage, and said he would command thearmy himself. ' Walpole continues:--'It is reported, that in a few dayswill be published in two volumes, folio, an accurate account of _HisMajesty's Journeys to Chatham and Portsmouth, together with a minuteDescription of his numerous Fatigues, Dangers, and hair-breadth Escapes;to which will be added the Royal Bon-mots_. And the following week willbe published an _History of all the Campaigns of the King of Prussia_, in one volume duodecimo. ' _Journal of the Reign of George III_, ii. 262, 264. 

[1093] Boswell, eleven years later, wrote of him:--'My second son is anextraordinary boy; he is much of his father (vanity of vanities). He isof a delicate constitution, but not unhealthy, and his spirit neverfails him. He is still in the house with me; indeed he is quite mycompanion, though only eleven in September. ' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 315. Mr. Croker, who knew him, says that 'he was very convivial, and inother respects like his father--though altogether on a smaller scale. 'He edited a new edition of Malone's _Shakespeare_. He died in 1822. Croker's _Boswell_, p. 620. 

[1094] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 30, 1773. 

[1095] _Ib_. Nov. 1. 

[1096] Regius Professor of Divinity and Canon of Christ Church. Johnsonwrote in 1783:--'At home I see almost all my companions dead or dying. At Oxford I have just left [lost] Wheeler, the man with whom I mostdelighted to converse. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 302. See _post_, Aug. 30, 1780. 

[1097] Johnson, in 1784, wrote about a visit to Oxford:--'Since I wasthere my convivial friend Dr. Edwards and my learned friend Dr. Wheelerare both dead, and my probabilities of pleasure are very muchdiminished. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 371. 

[1098] Dr. Edwards was preparing an edition of Xenophon's _Memorabilia_. CROKER. 

[1099] Johnson wrote on the 14th:--'Dr. Burney had the luck to go toOxford the only week in the year when the library is shut up. He was, however, very kindly treated; as one man is translating Arabick andanother Welsh for his service. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 38. 

[1100] Johnson three years later, hearing that one of Dr. Burney's sonshad got the command of a ship, wrote:--'I question if any ship upon theocean goes out attended with more good wishes than that which carriesthe fate of Burney. I love all of that breed whom I can be said to know, and one or two whom I hardly know I love upon credit, and love thembecause they love each other. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 225. See _post_, Nov. 16, 1784. 

[1101] Vol. Ii. P. 38. BOSWELL. 

[1102] Miss Carmichael. BOSWELL. 

[1103] See Appendix D. 

[1104] See _ante_, ii. 382, note 1. 

[1105] See _ante_, i. 446. 

[1106] See _ante_, iii. 99, note 4. 

[1107] It was the collected edition containing the first seven_Discourses_, which had each year been published separately. 'I waspresent, ' said Samuel Rogers (_Table-Talk_, p. 18), 'when Sir JoshuaReynolds delivered his last lecture at the Royal Academy. On enteringthe room, I found that a semicircle of chairs immediately in front ofthe pulpit was reserved for persons of distinction, being labelled "Mr. Burke, " "Mr. Boswell, " &c. '

[1108] In an unfinished sketch for a _Discourse_, Reynolds said of thosealready delivered:--'Whatever merit they may have must be imputed, in agreat measure, to the education which I may be said to have had under Dr. Johnson. I do not mean to say, though it certainly would be to the creditof these _Discourses_ if I could say it with truth, that he contributedeven a single sentiment to them; but he qualified my mind to thinkjustly. ' Northcote's _Reynolds_, ii. 282. See _ante_, i. 245. 

[1109] The error in grammar is no doubt Boswell's. He was so proud ofhis knowledge of languages that when he was appointed Secretary forForeign Correspondence to the Royal Academy (_ante_, ii. 67, note 1), 'he wrote his acceptance of the honour in three separate letters, stillpreserved in the Academy archives, in English, French, and Italian. '_The Athenæum_, No. 3041. 

[1110] The remaining six volumes came out, not in 1780, but in 1781. See_post_, 1781. He also wrote this year the preface to a translation of_Oedipus Tyrannus_, by Thomas Maurice, in _Poems and MiscellaneousPieces_. (See preface to _Westminster Abbey with other Poems_, 1813. )

[1111] See _ante_, ii. 272. 

[1112] _Life of Watts_ [_Works_, viii. 380]. BOSWELL. 

[1113] See _ante_, ii. 107. 

[1114] See _ante_, iii. 126. 

[1115] 'Perhaps no composition in our language has been oftener perusedthan Pomfret's _Choice_. ' Johnson's _Works_, vii. 222. 

[1116] Johnson, in his _Life of Yalden_ (_Ib_. Viii. 83), calls thefollowing stanza from his _Hymn to Darkness_ 'exquisitely beautiful':--

'Thou dost thy smiles impartially bestow, And know'st no difference here below:All things appear the same by thee, Though Light distinction makes, thou giv'st equality. '

It is strange that Churchill was left out of the collection. 

[1117] Murphy says, though certainly with exaggeration, that 'afterGarrick's death Johnson never talked of him without a tear in his eyes. He offered, ' he adds, 'if Mrs. Garrick would desire it of him, to be theeditor of his works and the historian of his life. ' Murphy's _Johnson_, p. 145. Cumberland (_Memoirs_, ii. 210) said of Garrick's funeral:--'Isaw old Samuel Johnson standing beside his grave, at the foot ofShakespeare's monument, and bathed in tears. ' Sir William Forbes wastold that Johnson, in going to the funeral, said to William Jones:--'Mr. Garrick and his profession have been equally indebted to each other. Hisprofession made him rich, and he made his profession respectable. 'Forbes's _Beattie_, Appendix CC. 

[1118] See _ante_, i. 456. 

[1119] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 23. 

[1120] The anniversary of the death of Charles I. 

[1121] See _ante_, i. 211. 

[1122] He sent a set elegantly bound and gilt, which was received as avery handsome present. BOSWELL. 

[1123] On March 10 he wrote:--'I got my _Lives_, not yet quite printed, put neatly together, and sent them to the King; what he says of them Iknow not. If the king is a Whig, he will not like them; but is any kinga Whig?' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 43. 

[1124] 'He was always ready to assist any authors in correcting theirworks, and selling them to booksellers. "I have done writing, " said he, "myself, and should assist those that do write. "' Johnson's _Works_(1787), xi. 202. See _ante_, ii. 195. 

[1125] In _The Rehearsal_. See _ante_, ii. 168. 

[1126] Johnson wrote on Nov. 21, 1778:--'Baretti has told his musicalscheme to B---- and B---- _will neither grant the question nor deny_. Heis of opinion that if it does not fail, it will succeed, but if it doesnot succeed he conceives it must fail. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 41. Baretti, in a marginal note on his copy, says that B---- is Dr. Burney. He adds:--'The musical scheme was the _Carmen Seculare_. That brought me£150 in three nights, and three times as much to Philidor. It would havebenefited us both greatly more, if Philidor had not proved a scoundrel. ''The complaisant Italian, ' says the _Gent Mag_. (xlix. 361), 'incompliment to our island chooses "to drive destructive war andpestilence" _ad Mauros, Seras et Indos_, instead of _ad Persas atqueBritannos_. ' Mr. Tasker, the clergyman, went a step further. 'I, ' hesays in his version of the _Carmen_, 'Honour and fame prognosticateTo free-born Britain's naval state And to her Patriot-King. ' _Ib_. 

[1127] We may compare with this the scene in _Le Misanthrope_ (Act i. Sc. 2), where Oronte reads his sonnet to Alceste; who thrice answers:--'Je ne dis pas cela, mais--. ' See _ante_, iii. 320. 

[1128] This was a Mr. Tasker. Mr. D'Israeli informed me that thisportrait is so accurately drawn, that being, some years after thepublication of this work, at a watering-place on the coast of Devon, hewas visited by Mr. Tasker, whose name, however, he did not then know, but was so struck with his resemblance to Boswell's picture, that heasked him whether he had not had an interview with Dr. Johnson, and itappeared that he was indeed the author of _The Warlike Genius ofBritain_. CROKER. 

[1129] The poet was preparing a second edition of his _Ode_. 'Thisanimated Pindaric made its first appearance the latter end of last year(1778). It is well calculated to rouse the martial spirit of the nation, and is now reprinted with considerable additions. ' _Gent. Mag_. July, 1779, p. 357. In 1781 he published another volume of his poems with apoetical preface, in which he thus attacks his brother-in-law:--

'To suits litigious, ignorant and raw, Compell'd by an unletter'd brother-in-law. '

_Ib_. 1781, p. 227. 

[1130] Boswell must have misheard what Johnson said. It was not Anson, but Amherst whom the bard praised. _Ode_, p. 7. 

[1131] Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale on Foote's death:--'Now, will any ofhis contemporaries bewail him? Will Genius change _his sex_ to weep?'_Piozzi Letters_, i. 396. 

[1132]

'Genius of Britain! to thy office true, On Cox-Heath reared the waving banners view. 

 * * * * *

 In martial vestBy Venus and the Graces drest, To yonder tent, who leads the way?Art thou Britannia's Genius? say. '

_Ode_, p. 8. 

[1133] Twenty-nine years earlier he wrote:--'There is nothing moredreadful to an author than neglect; compared with which reproach, hatred, and opposition are names of happiness. ' _The Rambler_, No. 2. In_The Vicar of Wakefield_, ch. Xx, George says of his book:--'The learnedworld said nothing to my paradoxes, nothing at all, Sir. .. . I sufferedthe cruellest mortification, neglect. ' See _ante_, ii. 61, 335. Humesaid:--'The misfortune of a book, says Boileau, is not the being illspoke [sic] of, but the not being spoken of at all. ' J. H. Burton's_Hume_, i. 412

[1134] The account given in Northcote's _Reynolds_ (ii. 94-97) rendersit likely that Sir Joshua is 'the friend of ours. ' Northcote, quotingMr. Courtenay, writes:--'His table was frequented by men of the firsttalents. Politics and party were never introduced. Temporal andspiritual peers, physicians, lawyers, actors, and musicians composed themotley group. ' At one of these dinners Mr. Dunning, afterwards LordAshburton, was the first who came. 'On entering, he said, "Well, SirJoshua, and who [sic] have you got to dine with you to-day? for the lasttime I dined with you the assembly was of such a sort, that, by G--, Ibelieve all the rest of the world were at peace, for that afternoon atleast. "' See _post_, under June 16, 1784, note. Boswell, in his _Letterto the People of Scotland_ (p. 95), boasts that he too is 'a veryuniversal man. ' 'I can drink, I can laugh, I can converse in perfecthumour with Whigs, with republicans, with dissenters, with Independents, with Quakers, with Moravians, with Jews. But I would vote with Toriesand pray with a Dean and Chapter. '

[1135] 'Finding that the best things remained to be said on the wrongside, I resolved to write a book that should be wholly new. I thereforedrest up three paradoxes with some ingenuity. They were false, indeed, but they were new. ' _Vicar of Wakefield_, ch. Xx. See _ante_, i. 441, where Johnson says:--'When I was a boy, I used always to choose thewrong side of a debate, because most ingenious things, that is to say, most new things, could be said upon it. ' In the _Present State of PoliteLearning_ (ch. Vii. ), Goldsmith says:--'Nothing can be a more certainsign that genius is in the wane than its being obliged to fly to paradoxfor support, and attempting to be erroneously agreeable. '

[1136] The whole night spent in playing at cards (see next page) mayaccount for part of his negligence. He was perhaps unusually dissipatedthis visit. 

[1137] See _ante_, ii. 135. 

[1138] 'Three men, ' writes Horace Walpole, 'were especially suspected, Wilkes, Edmund Burke, and W. G. Hamilton. Hamilton was most generallysuspected. ' _Memoirs of George III_, iii. 401. According to Dr. T. Campbell (_Diary_, p. 35) Johnson in 1775 'said that he looked uponBurke to be the author of _Junius_, and that though he would not takehim _contra mundum_, yet he would take him against any man. '

[1139] Sargeant Bettersworth, enraged at Swift's lines on him, 'demanded whether he was the author of that poem. "Mr. Bettesworth, "answered he, "I was in my youth acquainted with great lawyers, whoknowing my disposition to satire advised me that if any scoundrel orblockhead whom I had lampooned should ask, _Are you the author of thispaper_? I should tell him that I was not the author; and therefore Itell you, Mr. Bettesworth, that I am not the author of these lines. "'Johnson's Works, viii. 216. See _post_, June 13, 1784. 

[1140] Mr. S. Whyte (_Miscellanea Nova_, p. 27) says that Johnsonmistook the nature of the compliment. Sheridan had fled to France fromhis debtors. In 1766 an Insolvent Debtors' Relief Bill was brought intothe House in his absence. Mr. Whyte, one of his creditors, petitionedthe House to have Sheridan's name included. A very unusual motion wasmade, 'that petitioner shall not be put to his oath; but the facts setforth in his petition be admitted simply on his word. ' The motion wasseconded by an instantaneous Ay! Ay! without a dissenting voice. Sheridan wrote to Mr. Whyte:--'As the thing has passed with so muchcredit to me, the whole honour and merit of it is yours'. 

[1141] In _The Rambler_, No. 39, he wrote of this kind of control:--'Itmay be urged in extenuation of this crime which parents, not in anyother respect to be numbered with robbers and assassins, frequentlycommit, that, in their estimation, riches and happiness are equivalentterms. ' He wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'There wanders about the world a wildnotion which extends over marriage more than over any transaction. IfMiss ---- followed a trade, would it be said that she was bound inconscience to give or refuse credit at her father's choice? . .. Theparent's moral right can arise only from his kindness, and his civilright only from his money. ' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 83. See _ante_, i. 346. 

[1142] See p. 186 of this volume. BOSWELL. 

[1143] He refers to Johnson's letter of July 3, 1778, _ante_, p. 363. 

[1144] See _ante_, iii. 5, 178. 

[1145] 'By seeing London, ' said Johnson, 'I have seen as much of life asthe world can show. ' Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 11. 'London, ' wrote Humein 1765, 'never pleased me much. Letters are there held in no honour;Scotmen are hated; superstition and ignorance gain ground daily. ' J. H. Burton's _Hume_, ii. 292. 

[1146] See _ante_, i. 82. 

[1147] 'I found in Cairo a mixture of all nations . .. Many broughtthither by the desire of living after their own manner withoutobservation, and of lying hid in the obscurity of multitudes; for in acity populous as Cairo it is possible to obtain at the same time thegratifications of society and the secrecy of solitude. ' _Rasselas_, ch. Xii. Gibbon wrote of London (_Misc. Works_, ii. 291):--'La liberté d'unsimple particulier se fortifie par l'immensité de la ville. '

[1148] Perhaps Mr. Elphinston, of whom he said (_ante_, ii. 171), 'Hisinner part is good, but his outer part is mighty awkward. '

[1149] _Worthy_ is generally applied to Langton. His foibles were acommon subject of their talk. _Ante_, iii. 48. 

[1150] By the Author of _The Whole Duty of Man_. See _ante_, ii. 239, note 4. Johnson often quotes it in his _Dictionary_. 

[1151] 'The things done in his body. ' 2 _Corinthians_, v. 10. 

[1152]

'Yes I am proud: I must be proud to seeMen not afraid of God, afraid of me:Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throne, Yet touched and shamed by ridicule alone. O sacred weapon! left for truth's defence, Sole dread of folly, vice, and insolence!'

Pope. _Satires, Epilogue_, ii. 208. 

[1153] Page 173. BOSWELL. 

[1154] At eleven o'clock that night Johnson recorded:--'I am now toreview the last year, and find little but dismal vacuity, neitherbusiness nor pleasure; much intended and little done. My health is muchbroken, my nights afford me little rest. .. . Last week I published the_Lives of the Poets_, written, I hope, in such a manner as may tend tothe promotion of piety. In this last year I have made littleacquisition. I have scarcely read anything. I maintain Mrs. ----[Desmoulins] and her daughter. Other good of myself I know not where tofind, except a little charity. ' _Ib_. P. 175. 

[1155] Mauritius Lowe, the painter. _Ante_, p. 324. 

[1156] See _ante_ ii 249. 

[1157] 'Cry to it, nuncle, as the cockney did to the eels when she put'em i' the paste alive; she knapped 'em o' the coxcombs with a stick, and cried, "Down wantons, down!"' _King Lear_, act ii. Sc. 4. 

[1158] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 23, where Johnson, speaking ofclaret, said that 'there were people who died of dropsies, which theycontracted in trying to get drunk. '

[1159] 'If, ' wrote Johnson in one of his _Debates_ (_Works_ xi. 392), 'the felicity of drunkenness can be more cheaply obtained by buyingspirits than ale, it is easy to see which will be preferred. ' See_post_, March 30, 1781. 

[1160] Dempster, to whom Boswell complained that his nerves wereaffected, replied:--'One had better be palsied at eighteen than not keepcompany with such a man. ' _Ante_, i. 434. 

[1161] Marquis of Graham, afterwards third Duke of Montrose. In _TheRolliad_ (ed. 1795) he is thus attacked:--

'Superior to abuseHe nobly glories in the name of Goose;Such Geese at Rome from the perfidious GaulPreserved the Treas'ry-Bench and Capitol. '

He was one of the Lords of the Treasury. See also _The Rolliad_, p. 60

[1162] Johnson, however, when telling Mrs. Thrale that, in case of herhusband's death, she ought to carry on his business, said:--'Do not befrighted; trade could not be managed by those who manage it if it hadmuch difficulty. Their great books are soon understood, and theirlanguage, "If speech it may be called, that speech is noneDistinguishable in number, mood, or tense, "

is understood with no very laborious application. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 91. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 18. 

[1163] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 26. 

[1164] See _ante_, iii. 88, note 1. 

[1165] The Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty, with whom shelived seventeen years, and by whom she had nine children. _Ann. Reg_. Xxii. 206. The Duke of Richmond attacked her in the House of Lords asone 'who was supposed to sell favours in the Admiralty for money. 'Walpole's _Journal of the Reign of George III_, ii. 248, and _Parl. Hist_. Xix. 993. It so happened that on the day on which Hackman washanged 'Fox moved for the removal of Lord Sandwich [from office] but wasbeaten by a large majority. ' Walpole's _Letters_, vii. 194. One of herchildren was Basil Montague, the editor of _Bacon_. Carlyle writes ofhim:--'On going to Hinchinbrook, I found he was strikingly like thedissolute, questionable Earl of Sandwich; who, indeed, had been fatherof him in a highly tragic way. ' Carlyle's _Reminiscences_, i. 224. Hackman, who was a clergyman of the Church, had once been in the army. Cradock's _Memoirs_, i. 140. 

[1166] On the following Monday Boswell was present at Hackman'sexecution, riding to Tyburn with him in a mourning coach. _London Mag_. For 1779, p. 189. 

[1167] At the Club. CROKER. See _ante_, ii. 345, note 5. 

[1168] See _ante_, p. 281, for a previous slight altercation, and p. 195for a possible cause of unfriendly feeling between the two men. If sucha feeling existed, it passed away, at all events on Johnson's side, before Beauclerk's death. See _post_, iv. 10. 

[1169] This gentleman who loved buttered muffins reappears in _Pickwick_(ch. 44), as 'the man who killed himself on principle, ' after eatingthree-shillings' worth of crumpets. Mr. Croker says that Mr. Fitzherbertis meant; but he hanged himself. _Ante_, ii. 228, note 3. 

[1170] 'It is not impossible that this restless desire of novelty, whichgives so much trouble to the teacher, may be often the struggle of theunderstanding starting from that to which it is not by nature adapted, and travelling in search of something on which it may fix with greatersatisfaction. For, without supposing each man particularly marked out byhis genius for particular performances, it may be easily conceived thatwhen a numerous class of boys is confined indiscriminately to the sameforms of composition, the repetition of the same words, or theexplication of the same sentiments, the employment must, either bynature or accident, be less suitable to some than others. .. . Wearinesslooks out for relief, and leisure for employment, and surely it isrational to indulge the wanderings of both. ' Johnson's _Works_, v. 232. See _post_, iv. 21. 

[1171] 'See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept 10, and Johnson's _Works_, viii. 466. Mallet had the impudence to write to Hume that the book wasready for the press; 'which, ' adds Hume, 'is more than I or most peopleexpected. ' J. H. Burton's _Hume_, ii. 139. 

[1172] The name is not given in the first two editions. See _ante_, i. 82. 

[1173] See p. 289 of this vol. , and vol. I. P. 207. BOSWELL. The sayingis from Diogenes Laertius, bk. V. Ch. I, and is attributed to Aristotle--[Greek: _ho philoi oudeis philos_. ]

[1174]

'Love, the most generous passion of the mind, The softest refuge innocence can find;The safe director of unguided youth, Fraught with kind wishes, and secured by truth;That cordial drop Heaven in our cup has thrown, To make the nauseous draught of life go down. '

Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, _A Letter from Artemisia_, Chalmers's_Poets_, viii. 242. Pope (_Imitations of Horace_, _Epist_. I. Vi. 126)refers to these lines:--

'If, after all, we must with Wilmot own, The cordial drop of life is love alone. '

[1175] Garrick wrote in 1776:--'Gout, stone, and sore throat! Yet I amin spirits. ' _Garrick Corres_, ii. 138. 

[1176] See ante, p. 70. 

[1177] In _The Life of Edmund Smith_ (_Works_, vii. 380). See _ante_, i. 81. 

[1178] Johnson wrote of Foote's death:--'The world is reallyimpoverished by his sinking glories. ' Piozzi _Letters_, i. 396. See_ante_, p. 185, note 1. 

[1179] 'Allowance must be made for some degree of exaggerated praise, 'he said in speaking of epitaphs. 'In lapidary inscriptions a man is notupon oath. ' _Ante_, ii. 407. 

[1180] Garrick retired in January 1776, three years before his death. He visited Ireland in 1742, and again in 1743. Davies's _Garrick_, i. 57, 91. 

[1181] In the original _impoverished_. 

[1182] Certainly not Horace Walpole, as had been suggested to Mr. Croker. He and Johnson can scarcely be said to have known each other(_post_, under June 19, 1784, note). A sentence in one of Walpole's_Letters_ (iv. 407) shews that he was very unlike the French wit. OnSept. 22, 1765, he wrote from Paris:--'The French affect philosophy, literature, and free-thinking: the first never did, and never willpossess me; of the two others I have long been tired. _Free-thinking isfor one's self, surely not for society_. ' Perhaps Richard Fitzpatrick ismeant, who later on joined in writing _The Rolliad_, and who was thecousin and 'sworn brother' of Charles Fox. Walpole describes him as 'anagreeable young man of parts, ' and mentions his 'genteel irony andbadinage. ' _Journal of the Reign of George III_, i. 167 and ii. 560. Hewas Lord Shelburne's brother-in-law, at whose house Johnson might havemet him, as well as in Fox's company. There are one or two lines in _TheRolliad_ which border on profanity. Rogers (_Table-Talk_, p. 104) saidthat 'Fitzpatrick was at one time nearly as famous for his wit as Hare. 'Tickell in his _Epistle from the Hon. Charles Fox to the Hon. JohnTownshend_, p. 13, writes:--

'Oft shall Fitzpatrick's wit and Stanhope's ease, And Burgoyne's manly sense unite to please. '

[1183] See ante, i. 379, note 2. 

[1184] According to Mr. Wright (Croker's _Boswell_, p. 630), thisphysician was Dr. James. I have examined, however, the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 7th editions of his _Dissertation on Fevers_, but can find nomention of this. In the 7th edition, published in 1770, he complains (p. 111) of 'the virulence and rancour with which the fever-powder and itsinventor have been traduced and persecuted by the vendors of medicinesand their abettors. '

[1185] According to Mr. Croker this was Andrew Millar, but I doubt it. See ante, i. 287, note 3. 

[1186] 'The Chevalier Taylor, Ophthalmiator Pontifical, Imperial, andRoyal, ' as he styled himself. _Gent. Mag_. Xxxi. 226. Lord Eldon saidthat--'Taylor, dining with the barristers upon the Oxford circuit, having related many wonderful things which he had done, was asked byBearcroft, "Pray, Chevalier, as you have told us of a great many thingswhich you have done and can do, will you be so good as to try to tell usanything which you cannot do?" "Nothing so easy, " replied Taylor, "Icannot pay my share of the dinner bill: and that, Sir, I must beg of youto do. "' Twiss's _Eldon_, i 321. 

[1187] Pope mentions Ward in the Imitations of Horace_, 2 Epistle, i. 180:--

'He serv'd a 'prenticeship who sets up shop;Ward try'd on puppies, and the poor, his drop. '

Fielding, in _Tom Jones_, bk. Viii. Ch. 9, says that 'interest is indeeda most excellent medicine, and, like Ward's pill, flies at once to theparticular part of the body on which you desire to operate. ' In theintroduction to the _Voyage to Lisbon_ he speaks very highly of Ward'sremedies and of Ward himself, who 'endeavoured, he says, 'to serve mewithout any expectation or desire of fee or reward. '

[1188] 'Every thing, ' said Johnson, 'comes from Beauclerk so easily. Itappears to me that I labour, when I say a good thing. ' Boswell's_Hebrides_, Aug. 21. See _post_, under May 2, 1780. Dr. A. Carlyle(_Auto_. P. 219) mentions another great-grandson of Charles II. (Commissioner Cardonnel) who was 'the most agreeable companion that everwas. He excelled in story-telling, like his great-grandfather, CharlesII. , but he seldom or ever repeated them. '

[1189] No doubt Burke. _Ante_, ii. 222, note 4. 

[1190] General Paoli's house, where for some years Boswell was 'aconstant guest while he was in London. ' _Ante_, p. 35

[1191] Allan Ramsay's residence: No. 67, Harley-street. P. CUNNINGHAM. 

[1192] It is strange that he does not mention their visit in aletter in which he tells Temple that he is lame, and that his 'spiritssank to dreary dejection;' and utters what the editor justly calls anambiguous prayer:--'Let us hope for gleams of joy here, and a _blaze_hereafter. ' This letter, by the way, and the one that follows it, areboth wrongly dated. _Letters of Boswell_, p. 237. 

[1193] See p. 344 of this Volume. BOSWELL. 

[1194] 'Johnson's first question was, "What kind of a man was Mr. Popein his conversation?" His Lordship answered, that if the conversationdid not take something of a lively or epigrammatic turn, he fell asleep, or perhaps pretended to do so. ' Johnson's _Works_ (1787), xi. 200. Johnson in his _Life of Pope (Works_, viii. 309) says that 'when hewanted to sleep he "nodded in company. "'

[1195] Boswell wrote to Temple late on this day, 'Let us not dispute anymore about political notions. It is now night. Dr. Johnson has dined, drunk tea, and supped with only Mr. Charles Dilly and me, and I amconfirmed in my Toryism. ' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 238. 

[1196] In the original _or_. Boswell quotes the line correctly, _ante_, p. 220. 

[1197] '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 actualexperience of the world whatsoever: all his knowledge concerning it hadbeen obtained in two ways; from _books_, and from the _relations_ ofthose country swains, who had seen a little of it. The plain meaning, therefore, is, "To clear his doubts concerning Providence, and to obtainsome knowledge of the world by actual experience; to see whether theaccounts furnished by books, or by the oral communications of swains, were just representations of it; [I say, _swains_, ] for his oral or_vivá voce_ information had been obtained from that part of mankind_alone_, &c. " The word _alone_ here does not relate to the whole of thepreceding line, as has been supposed, but, by a common licence, to thewords, --_of all mankind_, which are understood, and of which it isrestrictive. '

Mr. Malone, it must be owned, has shewn much critical ingenuity in theexplanation of this passage. His interpretation, however, seems to memuch too recondite. The _meaning_ of the passage may be certain enough;but surely the _expression_ is confused, and one part of itcontradictory to the other. BOSWELL. This note is first given in thethird edition. 

[1198] See ante, p. 297. 

[1199] State is used for statement. 'He sate down to examine Mr. Owen'sstates. ' Rob Roy, ed. 1860, viii. 101. 

[1200] Johnson started for Lichfield and Ashbourne about May 20, andreturned to London towards the end of June. _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 44, 55. 'It is good, ' he wrote, 'to wander a little, lest one should dreamthat all the world was Streatham, of which one may venture to say, _none but itself can be its parallel_. ' _Ib_. P. 47. 'None but thyselfcan be thy parallel' is from Theobald's _Double Falsehood_. Pope callsit 'a marvellous line, ' and thus introduces it in _The Dunciad_, firstedition, iii. 271:--'For works like these let deathless Journals tell, "None but thyself can be thy parallel. "'

[1201] See _post_, Boswell's letter of Aug. 24, 1780, and Johnson'sletter of Dec. 7, 1782. 

[1202] Boswell, on his way to Scotland, wrote to Temple from thishouse:--'I am now at Southill, to which place Mr. Charles Dilly hasaccompanied; it is the house of Squire John Dilly, his elder brother. The family of Dilly have been land-proprietors in this county for twohundred years. .. . I am quite the great man here, and am to go forward onthe North road to-morrow morning. Poor Mr. Edward Dilly is fast a-dying;he cried with affection at seeing me here; he is in as agreeable a frameas any Christian can be. .. . I am edified here. ' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 239. 

[1203] On June 18 in the following year he recorded:--'In the morning ofthis day last year I perceived the remission of those convulsions in mybreast, which had distressed me for more than twenty years. I returnedthanks at church for the mercy granted me, which has now continued ayear. ' _Pr. And Med_. P. 183. Three days later he wrote:--'It was atwelvemonth last Sunday since the convulsions in my breast left me. Ihope I was thankful when I recollected it; by removing that disorder agreat improvement was made in the enjoyment of life. I am now as wellas men at my age can expect to be, and I yet think I shall be better. '_Piozzi Letters_, ii. 163. 

[1204] From a stroke of apoplexy. Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'Youreally do not use me well in thinking that I am in less pain on thisoccasion than I ought to be. There is nobody left for me to care aboutbut you and my master, and I have now for many years known the value ofhis friendship, and the importance of his life, too well not to havehim very near my heart. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 56. To him he wroteshortly after the attack, no doubt with a view to give the sick manconfidence:--'To shew you how well I think of your health, I have sentyou an hundred pounds to keep for me. ' _Ib_. P. 54. Miss Burney wrotevery soon after the attack:--'At dinner everybody tried to be cheerful, but a dark and gloomy cloud hangs over the head of poor Mr. Thrale whichno flashes of merriment or beams of wit can pierce through; yet he seemspleased that everybody should be gay. ' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 220. The attack was in June. _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 47. On Aug. 3, Johnsonwrote to Dr. Taylor:--'Mr. Thrale has perfectly recovered all hisfaculties and all his vigour. ' _Notes and Queries_, 6th S. V. 461. 

[1205] Which I communicated to him from his Lordship, but it has not yetbeen published. I have a copy of it. BOSWELL. The few notices concerningDryden, which Lord Hailes had collected, the authour afterwards gave toMr. Malone. MALONE. Malone published a _Life of Dryden_. 

[1206] He recorded of his birth-day this year:--'On the 17th Mr. Chamier(_ante_, i. 478) took me away with him from Streatham. I left theservants a guinea for my health, and was content enough to escapeinto a house where my birth-day not being known could not be mentioned. I sat up till midnight was past, and the day of a new year, a very awfulday, began. ' _Pr. And Med_. Pp. 181, 225. 

[1207] See _ante_, ii. 427, note 1. 

[1208] In one of his manuscript Diaries, there is the following entry, which marks his curious minute attention: 'July 26, 1768. I shaved mynail by accident in whetting the knife, about an eighth of an inch fromthe bottom, and about a fourth from the top. This I measure that I mayknow the growth of nails; the whole is about five eighths of an inch. '

Another of the same kind appears, 'Aug. 7, 1779, _Partem brachii dextricarpo proximam et cutem pectoris circa mamillam dextram rasi, ut notumfieret quanta temporis pili renovarentur_. '

And, 'Aug. 15, 1773. I cut from the vine 41 leaves, which weighed fiveoz. And a half, and eight scruples:--I lay them upon my book-case, tosee what weight they will lose by drying. ' BOSWELL. 

In _The Idler_, No. 31, we have in Mr. Sober a portrait of Johnson drawnby himself. He writes:--'The art is to fill the day with petty business, to have always something in hand which may raise curiosity, but notsolicitude, and keep the mind in a state of action, but not of labour. This art has for many years been practised by my old friend Sober withwonderful success. .. . His chief pleasure is conversation; there is noend of his talk or his attention; to speak or to hear is equallypleasing; for he still fancies that he is teaching or learningsomething, and is free for the time from his own reproaches. But thereis one time at night when he must go home that his friends may sleep;and another time in the morning when all the world agrees to shut outinterruption. These are the moments of which poor Sober trembles at thethought. But the misery of these tiresome intervals he has many means ofalleviating. .. . His daily amusement is chymistry. He has a small furnacewhich he employs in distillation, and which has long been the solace ofhis life. He draws oils and waters, and essences and spirits, which heknows to be of no use; sits and counts the drops as they come from hisretort, and forgets that whilst a drop is falling a moment flies away. 'Mrs. Piozzi says (_Anec_. P. 236):--'We made up a sort of laboratory atStreatham one summer, and diverted ourselves with drawing essences andcolouring liquors. But the danger Mr. Thrale found his friend in oneday, when he got the children and servants round him to see someexperiments performed, put an end to all our entertainment. '

[1209] Afterwards Mr. Stuart Wortley. He was the father of the firstLord Wharncliffe. CROKER. 

[1210] Horace Walpole, in April 1778, wrote:--'It was very remarkablethat on the militia being ordered out, two of Lord Bute's younger sonsoffered, as Bedfordshire gentlemen, to take any rank in the militia inthat county. I warned Lord Ossory, the Lord Lieutenant, against sodangerous a precedent as admitting Scots in the militia. A militia canonly be safe by being officered by men of property in each county. '_Journal of the Reign of George III_, ii. 252. 

[1211] Walpole wrote in Dec. 1778:--'His Majesty complained of thedifficulty of recruiting. General Keppel replied aloud, "It is owing tothe Scots, who raise their clans in and about London. " This was verytrue; the Master of Lovat had received a Royal gift of £6000 to raise aregiment of his clan, and had literally picked up boys of fifteen inLondon and Westminster. ' _Ib_. P. 316. 

[1212] He made his will in his wife's life-time, and appointed her andSir William Forbes, or the survivor of them, 'tutors and curators' tohis children. _Boswelliana_, p. 186. 

[1213] Head gardener at Stowe, and afterwards at Hampton Court andWindsor. He got his nickname from his habit of saying that grounds whichhe was asked to lay out had _capabilities_. Lord Chatham wrote ofhim:--'He writes Lancelot Brown Esquire, _en titre d'office_: please toconsider, he shares the private hours of--[the King], dines familiarlywith his neighbour of Sion [the Duke of Northumberland], and sits downat the tables of all the House of Lords, &c. ' _Chatham Corres_. Iv. 178, 430. 

[1214] See _ante_, pp. 334, 350. Clive, before the Committee of theHouse of Commons, exclaimed:--'By God, Mr. Chairman, at this moment Istand astonished at my own moderation. ' Macaulay's _Essays_, iii. 198. 

[1215] See _ante_, p. 216. 

[1216] Yet, according to Johnson, 'the poor in England were betterprovided for than in any other country of the same extent. ' _Ante_, ii. 130. 

[1217] See _ante_, ii. 119. 

[1218] See _ante_, i. 67, note 2. 

[1219] The Rev. Dr. Law, Bishop of Carlisle, in the Preface to hisvaluable edition of Archbishop King's _Essay on the Origin of Evil_ [ed. 1781, p. Xvii], mentions that the principles maintained in it had beenadopted by Pope in his _Essay on Man_; and adds, 'The fact, notwithstanding such denial (Bishop Warburton's), might have beenstrictly verified by an unexceptionable testimony, _viz_ that of thelate Lord Bathurst, who saw the very same system of the [Greek: tobeltion] (taken from the Archbishop) in Lord Bolingbroke's own hand, lying before Mr. Pope, while he was composing his _Essay_. ' This isrespectable evidence; but that of Dr. Blair is more direct from thefountain-head, as well as more full. Let me add to it that of Dr. JosephWarton; 'The late Lord Bathurst repeatedly assured me that he had readthe whole scheme of _The Essay on Man_, in the hand-writing ofBolingbroke, and drawn up in a series of propositions, which Pope was toversify and illustrate. ' _Essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope_, vol. Ii. P. 62. BOSWELL. In the above short quotation from Law are twoparentheses. According to Paley, the Bishop was once impatient at theslowness of his Carlisle printer. '"Why does not my book make itsappearance?" said he to the printer. "My Lord, I am extremely sorry; butwe have been obliged to send to Glasgow for a pound of parentheses. "'Best's _Memorials_, p. 196. 

[1220] Johnson, defining _ascertain_ in its first meaning as_establish_, quotes from Hooker: 'The divine law _ascertaineth_ thetruth of other laws. '

[1221] 'To those who censured his politicks were added enemies yet moredangerous, who called in question his knowledge of Greek, and hisqualifications for a translator of Homer. To these he made no publickopposition; but in one of his letters escapes from them as well as hecan. At an age like his, for he was not more than twenty-five, with anirregular education, and a course of life of which much seems to havepassed in conversation, it is not very likely that he overflowed withGreek. But when he felt himself deficient he sought assistance; and whatman of learning would refuse to help him?' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 252. Johnson refers, I think, to Pope's letter to Addison of Jan. 30, 1713-14. 

[1222] 'That those communications had been consolidated into a schemeregularly drawn and delivered to Pope, from whom it returned onlytransformed from prose to verse, has been reported but can hardly betrue. The Essay plainly appears the fabrick of a poet; what Bolingbrokesupplied could be only the first principles; the order, illustration andembellishments must all be Pope's. ' _Works_, viii. 287. Dr. Warton(_Essay on Pope_, ii. 58) says that he had repeatedly heard from LordBathurst the statement recorded by Dr. Blair. 

[1223] 'In defiance of censure and contempt truth is frequentlyviolated; and scarcely the most vigilant and unremitted circumspectionwill secure him that mixes with mankind from being hourly deceived bymen, of whom it can scarcely be imagined that they mean any injury tohim or profit to themselves. ' _Works_, iv. 22. 

[1224] See _ante_, pp. 226, 243. 

[1225] Gibbon wrote of Lord Hailes:--'In his _Annals of Scotland_ hehas shewn himself a diligent collector and an accurate critic. ' Gibbon's_Misc. Works_, i. 233. 

[1226] See _ante_, ii. 237. 

[1227] See _ante_, ii. 79. 

[1228]

'Versate diu quid ferre recusent, Quid valeant humeri. ''Weigh with care What suits your genius, what your strength can bear. '

FRANCIS. Horace, _Ars Poet_. 1. 39. 

[1229] Boswell seems to be afraid of having his head made to ache again, by the sense that Johnson should put into it. See _ante_, p. 381. 

[1230] _The Spleen_, a Poem. BOSWELL. The author was Matthew Green. Dodsley's _Collection_, i. 145. See _ante_, p. 38. 

[1231] See _ante_, i. 182. 

[1232] Of Dryden he wrote (_Works_, vii. 250):--'He began even now toexercise the domination of conscious genius by recommending his ownperformance. '

[1233] See _ante_, i. 297. 

[1234] Johnson's _Works_, vii. 95. See _ante_, i. 111. 

[1235]

1. Exeter-street, off Catherine-street, Strand. [March 1737, _ante_, i. 103. ]2. Greenwich. [July 1737, _ante_, i. 107. ]3. Woodstock-street, near Hanover-square. [End of 1737, _ante_, i. III. ]4. Castle-street, Cavendish-square, No. 6. [Spring and October 1738; _ante_, i. 120, and 135, note 1. Castle-street is now called Castle-street East. ]5. Strand. 6. Boswell-Court. 7. Strand, again. [In Croker's _Boswell_, p. 44, is a letter dated, 'At the Black Boy, over against Durham Yard, Strand, March 31, 1741. ']8. Bow-street. 9. Holborn. 10. Fetter-lane. [Johnson mentions in _Pr. And Med_. P. 73, 'A good night's rest I once had in Fetter-Lane. ']11. Holborn, again. 12. Gough-square. [In Croker's _Boswell_, p. 62, is a letter dated 'Goff-square, July 12, 1749. ' He moved to Staple Inn on March 23, 1759. _Rasselas_ was written when he was living in Gough-square, and not in Staple Inn, as has been asserted. _Ante_, i. 516. ]13. Staple Inn. 14. Gray's Inn. [In Croker's _Boswell_, p. 118, is a letter dated 'Gray's Inn, Dec. 17, 1759. ']15. Inner Temple-lane, No. 1. [He was here in June 1760, _ante_, i. 350, note 1; and on Jan. 13, 1761, as is shewn by a letter in Croker's _Boswell_, p. 122. Johnson Buildings now stand where his house stood. ]16. Johnson's-court, No. 7. [See i. 518 for a letter dated 'Johnson's-court, Oct. 17, 1765. ']17. Bolt-court, No. 8. [He was here on March 15, 1776 (_ante_, ii. 427). From about 1765 (_ante_, i. 493) to Oct. 7, 1782 (_post_), he had moreover 'an apartment' at Streatham, and from about 1765 to about the end of 1780, one at Southwark (_ante_, i. 493). From about the beginning of 1781 to the spring of 1783 he had a room either in Grosvenor-square or Argyll-street (_post_, March 20, 1781 and March 21, 1783. )]

[1236] See _ante_, ii. 55. 

[1237] If, as seems to be meant, the 'gentleman supposed the case' onthis occasion, he must have been Boswell, for no one else was presentwith Johnson. 

[1238] A crime that he would have restrained by 'severe laws steadilyenforced. ' _Ante_, iii. 18. 

[1239] See _ante_, ii. 105. 

[1240] Lord Newhaven was one of a creation of eighteen Irish peers in1776. 'It was a mob of nobility, ' wrote Horace Walpole. 'The King inprivate laughed much at the eagerness for such insignificant honours. '_Journal of the Reign of George III_, ii. 58. 

[1241] Now the Lady of Sir Henry Dashwood, Bart. BOSWELL. 

[1242] See _ante_, ii. 111. 

[1243] _The False Alarm_. See _ante_, ii. 111. 

[1244] See Collins's _Peerage_, i. 636, and Hume's _England_, ed. 1802, iv. 451, for an account, how Henry VIII. Once threatened to cut off thehead of Edward Montagu, one of the members (not the Speaker as Mr. Croker says), if he did not get a money bill passed by the next day. Thebill, according to the story, was passed. Mr. P. Cunningham informed Mr. Croker that Johnson was here guilty of an anachronism, for that headswere first placed on Temple Bar in William III's time. 

[1245] Horace Walpole thus describes public affairs in February of thisyear:--'The navy disgusted, insurrections in Scotland, Wales mutinous, a rebellion ready to break out in Ireland where 15, 000 Protestants werein arms, without authority, for their own defence, many of themwell-wishers to the Americans, and all so ruined that they insisted onrelief from Parliament, or were ready to throw off subjection; Hollandpressed by France to refuse us assistance, and demanding whether wewould or not protect them: uncertainty of the fate of the West IndianIslands; and dread at least that Spain might take part with France; LordNorth at the same time perplexed to raise money on the loan but at eightper cent. , which was demanded--such a position and such a prospect mighthave shaken the stoutest king and the ablest administration. Yet theking was insensible to his danger. He had attained what pleased him most--his own will at home. His ministers were nothing but his tools--everybody called them so, and they proclaimed it themselves. ' Walpole's_Journal of the Reign of George III_, ii. 339. In this melancholyenumeration he passes over the American War. 

[1246] See _ante_, i. 78, note 2. 

[1247] Wesley himself recorded in 1739 (_Journal_, i. 177):--'I havebeen all my life (till very lately) so tenacious of every point relatingto decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of soulsalmost a sin if it had not been done in a church. '

[1248] Horace Walpole (_Letters_, viii. 131) talks of some one 'ridingon three elephants at once like Astley. ' On p. 406 he says:--'I canalmost believe that I could dance a minuet on a horse galloping fullspeed, like young Astley. '

[1249] See _ante_, i. 458. 

[1250] A friend of Wilkes, as Boswell was, might well be supposed tohave got over such scruples. 

[1251] Mr. Croker says that the '"celebrated friend" was no doubtBurke. ' Burke, however, is generally described by Boswell as 'eminent. 'Moreover Burke was not in the habit of getting drunk, as seems to havebeen the case with 'the celebrated friend. ' Boswell (_ante_, p. 245, note 1) calls Hamilton 'celebrated, ' but then Boswell and Hamilton werenot friends, as is shewn, _post_, Nov. 1783. 

[1252] _Corinthians_. Xv, 33. 

[1253] See _ante_, ii. 121. 

[1254] 'Prince Gonzaga di Castiglione, when dining in company with Dr. Johnson, thinking it was a polite as well as gay thing to drink theDoctor's health with some proof that he had read his works, called outfrom the top of the table to the bottom. --_At your health, Mr. Vagabond_. ' Piozzi's _Synonymy_, ii. 358. Mme. D'Arblay (_Memoirs of Dr. Burney_, ii. 258) says, --'General Paoli diverted us all very much bybegging leave of Mrs. Thrale to give one toast, and then, with smilingpomposity, pronouncing "The great Vagabond. "'

[1255] 'Very near to admiration is the wish to admire. Every manwillingly gives value to the praise which he receives, and considers thesentence passed in his favour as the sentence of discernment. ' Johnson's_Works_, vii. 396. 

[1256] See _ante_, ii. 461. 

[1257] See _ante_, ii. 465. 

[1258] See _ante_, _ib_. P. 466

[1259] See _ante_, _ib_. P. 467. 

[1260] See _ante_, _ib_. P. 470. 

[1261] See _ante_, _ib_. P. 469. 

[1262] See ante_, p. 405. 

[1263] Bishop Porteus. See _ante_, p. 279. 

[1264] Miss Letitia Barnston. BOSWELL. 

[1265] 'At Chester I passed a fortnight in mortal felicity. I had frommy earliest years a love for the military life, and there is in it ananimation and relish of existence which I have never found amongst anyother set of men, except players, with whom you know I once lived agreat deal. At the mess of Colonel Stuart's regiment I was quite _thegreat man_, as we used to say; and I was at the same time all joyous andgay . .. I never found myself so well received anywhere. The young ladiesthere were delightful, and many of them with capital fortunes. Had Ibeen a bachelor, I should have certainly paid my addresses to a Chesterlady. ' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 247. 

[1266] Mrs. Thrale wrote to Johnson from Brighton in 1778:--'I have lostwhat made my happiness in all seasons of the year; but the black dogshall not make prey of both my master and myself. My master swims now, and forgets the black dog. ' Johnson replied:--'I shall easily forgive mymaster his long stay, if he leaves the dog behind him. We will watch, aswell as we can, that the dog shall never be let in again, for when hecomes the first thing he does is to worry my master. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 32, 37. 

[1267] See _ante_, ii. 202. 

[1268] I have a valuable collection made by my Father, which, with someadditions and illustrations of my own, I intend to publish. I have somehereditary claim to be an Antiquary; not only from my Father, but asbeing descended, by the mother's side, from the able and learned SirJohn Skene, whose merit bids defiance to all the attempts which havebeen made to lessen his fame. BOSWELL. See _ante_, i. 225, note 2, foran imperfect list of Boswell's projected publications, and Boswell's_Hebrides_, Aug. 23, for a fuller one. 

[1269] See _ante_, iii. 162, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Nov. 11. 

[1270] In the first two editions, _we_. 

[1271] In chaps, xxiv. And xxv. Of his _Siècle de Louis XV_. See _ante_, i. 498, note 4, for Voltaire's 'catching greedily at wonders. '

[1272] Burton in the last lines of _The Anatomy of Melancholy_, says:--'Only take this for a corollary and conclusion; as thou tenderest thineown welfare in this and all other melancholy, thy good health of bodyand mind, observe this short precept, give not way to solitariness andidleness. "Be not solitary, be not idle. "'

[1273] Johnson was in better spirits than usual. The following day hewrote:--'I fancy that I grow light and airy. A man that does not beginto grow light and airy at seventy is certainly losing time if he intendsever to be light and airy. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 73. 

[1274] Crescit amor nummi quantum ipsa pecunia crescit. _Juvenal_, xiv. 139. 

[1275] He had seen it on his Tour in Wales on July 26, 1774. See _post_, vol. V. 

[1276] Dean Percy, _ante_, p. 365. 

[1277] Another son was the first Lord Ellenborough. 

[1278] His regiment was afterwards ordered to Jamaica, where heaccompanied it, and almost lost his life by the climate. This impartialorder I should think a sufficient refutation of the idle rumour that'there was still something behind the throne greater than the throneitself. ' BOSWELL. Lord Shelburne, about the year 1803, likening thegrowth of the power of the Crown to a strong building that had beenraised up, said:--'The Earl of Bute had contrived such a lock to it as asuccession of the ablest men have not been able to pick, _nor has heever let the key be so much as seen by which he has held it_. 'Fitzmaurice's _Shelburne_, i. 68. 

[1279] Boswell, on Jan. 4, wrote to Temple:--'How inconsiderable areboth you and I, in comparison with what we used to hope we should be!Yet your learning and your memoirs set you far above the common run ofeducated men. And _Son pittore anche io_. I too, in several respects, have attained to superiority. But we both want solidity and force ofmind, such as we observe in those who rise in active life. ' _Letters ofBoswell_, p. 249. 

[1280]

'For in the mind alone our follies lie, The mind that never from itself can fly. '

FRANCIS. Horace, _Epistles_, i. 14. 13. 

[1281] Requesting me to inquire concerning the family of a gentleman whowas then paying his addresses to Miss Doxy. BOSWELL. 

[1282] It is little more than half that distance. 

[1283] Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale on Nov. 7:--'My master, I hope, hunts and walks, and courts the belles, and shakes Brighthelmston. Whenhe comes back, frolick and active, we will make a feast, and drink hishealth, and have a noble day. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 79. 

[1284] See page 368. BOSWELL. On Nov. 16 he wrote:--'At home we do notmuch quarrel; but perhaps the less we quarrel, the more we hate. Thereis as much malignity amongst us as can well subsist without any thoughtof daggers or poisons. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 93. 

[1285] See _ante_, i. 187. 

[1286] See _post_, p. 421, and Feb. 27, 1784. 

[1287] See _ante_, i. 260, and _post_, June 4. 1781. 

[1288] He wrote to Mrs. Thrale on April 11--'You are at all places ofhigh resort, and bring home hearts by dozens; while I am seeking forsomething to say about men of whom I know nothing but their verses, andsometimes very little of them. Now I have begun, however, I do notdespair of making an end. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 100. 

[1289] See _ante_, ii. 5. 

[1290] A writer in _Notes and Queries_ (3rd S. , viii. 197) points outthat Johnson, writing to a doctor, uses a doctor's language. 'Until verylately _solution of continuity_ was a favourite phrase with Englishsurgeons; where a bone was broken, or the flesh, &c. Cut or _lacerated_, there was a _solution of continuity_. ' See _ante_, ii. 106, for_laceration_. 

[1291] He died March 11, 1780, aged 40. _Gent. Mag_. 1780, p. 155. 

[1292]

'Animula, vagula, blandula, Hospes comesque corporis, Quæ nunc abibis in loca, Pallidula, rigida, nudula?Nec, ut soles, dabis joca. '

_Adriani morientis ad animam suam_. 

'Poor little, pretty, fluttering thing, Must we no longer live together?And dost thou prune thy trembling wing, To take thy flight thou know'st not whither?Thy humorous vein, thy pleasing folly Lies all neglected, all forgot;And pensive, wavering, melancholy, Thou dread'st and hop'st thou know'st not what. ' _Prior_. 

In _The Spectator_, No. 532, is a letter from Pope to Steele on these'famous verses which the Emperor Adrian spoke on his death-bed. ' See inPope's _Correspondence_ (Elwin's _Pope_, vi. 394), this letter to Steeleof Nov. 7, 1712, for his version of these lines. 

[1293] See _ante_, ii. 246, note 1. 

[1294] Mr. Beauclerk's library was sold by publick auction in April andMay 1781, for £5011. MALONE. See _post_, May 8, 1781. 

[1295] By a fire in Northumberland-house, where he had an apartment, inwhich I have passed many an agreeable hour. BOSWELL. 

[1296] See _post_, iv. 31. 

[1297] In 1768, on his birthday, Johnson recorded, 'This day it cameinto my mind to write the history of my melancholy. ' _Ante_, ii. 45, note 1. 

[1298] Johnson had dated his letter, 'London, April 25, 1780, ' and added, 'now there is a date; look at it. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 109. In hisreply he wrote:--'London, May 1, 1780. Mark that--you did not put theyear to your last. ' _Ib_. P. 112. 

[1299] _An Address to the Electors of Southwark. Ib_. P. 106. See _post_, p. 440. 

[1300] The author of the _Fitzosborne Letters (post_, May 5, 1784, note). Miss Burney thus describes this evening:--'We were appointed to meet theBishop of Chester at Mrs. Montagu's. This proved a very gloomy kind ofgrandeur; the Bishop waited for Mrs. Thrale to speak, Mrs. Thrale forthe Bishop; so neither of them spoke at all. Mrs. Montagu cared not afig, as long as she spoke herself, and so she harangued away. MeanwhileMr. Melmoth, the Pliny Melmoth, as he is called, was of the party, andseemed to think nobody half so great as himself. He seems intolerablyself-sufficient--appears to look upon himself as the first man in Bath, and has a proud conceit in look and manner, mighty forbidding. ' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 348. 

[1301] Dr. John Hinchliffe. BOSWELL. 

[1302] A kind of nick-name given to Mrs. Thrale's eldest daughter, whosename being _Esther_, she might be assimilated to a _Queen_. BOSWELL. 

[1303] Mr. Thrale. BOSWELL. 

[1304] In Johnson's _Dictionary_ is neither _dawling_ nor _dawdling_. Heuses _dawdle, post_, June 3, 1781. 

[1305] Miss Burney shews how luxurious a table Mr. Thrale kept. 'Wehad, ' she records, in May 1779, 'a very grand dinner to-day, _thoughnothing to a Streatham dinner_, at the Ship Tavern [Brighton], where theofficers mess, to which we were invited by the major and the captain. 'As the major was a man of at least £8, 000 a-year, and the captain of£4, 000 or £5, 000, the dinner was likely to be grand enough. Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 211. Yet when Mr. Thrale had his first stroke in1779, Johnson wrote:--'I am the more alarmed by this violent seizure, asI can impute it to no wrong practices, or intemperance of any kind. .. . What can he reform? or what can he add to his regularity and temperance?He can only sleep less. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 49, 51. Baretti, in a MS. Note on p. 51, says:--'Dr. Johnson knew that Thrale would eat like four, let physicians preach. .. . May be he did not know it, so little did hemind what people were doing. Though he sat by Thrale at dinner, he nevernoticed whether he eat much or little. A strange man!' Yet in a note onp. 49, Baretti had said that Thrale's seizure was caused by 'the meregrief he could not overcome of his only son's loss. Johnson knew it, butwould not tell it. ' See _post_, iv. 84, note 4. 

[1306] Miss Burney. 

[1307] I have taken the liberty to leave out a few lines. BOSWELL. Linesabout diet and physic. 

[1308] See _ante_, ii. 61, note 4. 

[1309] The author of _Fables for the Female Sex_, and of the tragedy of_The Gamester_, and editor of _The World_. Goldsmith, in his _PresentState of Polite Learning_ (ch. X. ), after describing the sufferings ofauthors, continues:--'Let us not then aggravate those naturalinconveniences by neglect; we have had sufficient instances of this kindalready. Sale and Moore will suffice for one age at least. But they aredead and their sorrows are over. ' Mr. Foster (_Life of Goldsmith_, ed. 1871, ii, 484) strangely confounds Edward Moore the fabulist, with Dr. John More the author of _Zeluco_. 

[1310] Line of a song in _The Spectator_, No. 470. CROKER. 

[1311] Hannah More, in 1783 (_Memoirs_, i. 286), describes 'Mrs. Vesey'spleasant parties. It is a select society which meets at her house everyother Tuesday, on the day on which the Turk's Head Club dine together. In the evening they all meet at Mrs. Vesey's, with the addition of suchother company as it is difficult to find elsewhere. '

[1312] Second Earl Spencer; the First Lord of the Admiralty under Pitt, and father of Lord Althorp who was leader of the House of Commons underEarl Grey. 

[1313] see _ante_ p. 390. 

[1314] Her childhood was celebrated by Prior in the lines beginning:--'My noble, lovely little Peggy. ' CROKER. 

[1315] Horace Walpole (_Letters_, vii. 510) wrote on Feb. 5, 1781:--'Isaw Dr. Johnson last night at Lady Lucan's, who had assembled a _bluestocking_ meeting in imitation of Mrs. Vesey's Babels. It was so blue, it was quite Mazarine-blue. Mrs. Montagu kept aloof from Johnson, likethe west from the east. ' In his letter of Jan. 14 (_ib_. P. 497), theallusion to Mrs. Vesey's Babels is explained: 'Mrs. Montagu is one of myprincipal entertainments at Mrs. Vesey's, who collects all the graduatesand candidates for fame, where they vie with one another, till they areas unintelligible as the good folks at Babel. ' 'Lady Spencer, ' saidSamuel Rogers, 'recollected Johnson well, as she used to see him oftenin her girlhood. Her mother, Lady Lucan, would say, "Nobody dines withus to-day; therefore, child, we'll go and get Dr. Johnson. " So theywould drive to Bolt Court and bring the doctor home with them. '_Rogers's Table Talk_, p. 10. 'I told Lady Lucan, ' wrote Johnson onApril 25, 1780, 'how long it was since she sent to me; but she said Imust consider how the world rolls about her. She seemed pleased that wemet again. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 107. 

[1316] 'I have seen, ' wrote Wraxall, 'the Duchess of Devonshire, then in the first bloom of youth, hanging on the sentences that fellfrom Johnson's lips, and contending for the nearest place to his chair. All the cynic moroseness of the philosopher and the moralist seemed todissolve under so flattering an approach. ' Wraxall's _Memoirs_, ed. 1815, i. 158. 

[1317] In Nichols's _Lit. Anec_. Viii. 548, 9, Dr. Barnard is thusdescribed:--'In powers of conversation I never yet knew his equal. Hesaw infinite variety of characters, and like Shakespeare adopted themall by turns for comic effect. He carried me to London in a hiredchaise; we rose from our seat, and put our heads out of the windows, while the postboy removed something under us. He supposed himself in thepillory, and addressed the populace against the government with all thecant of _No. 45 and Co_. He once told me a little anecdote of theoriginal Parson Adams, whom he knew. "Oh, Sir!" said he to Barnard, almost in a whisper, and with a look of horror, "would you believe it, Sir, he was wicked from a boy;" then going up close to him, "You will beshocked--you will not believe it, --he wrote God with a little g, when hewas ten years old!"'

[1318] In Mr. Croker's editions, 'had taken a chair' is changed into'had taken the chair, ' and additional emphasis is given by printingthese four words in italics. 

[1319] The hostess must have suffered, for, according to Miss Burney, 'Lord Harcourt said, "Mrs. Vesey's fear of ceremony is reallytroublesome; for her eagerness to break a circle is such that sheinsists upon everybody's sitting with their backs one to another; thatis, the chairs are drawn into little parties of three together, in aconfused manner all over the room. "' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 184. Miss Burney thus describes her:--'She has the most wrinkled, sallow, time-beaten face I ever saw. She is an exceeding well-bred woman, and ofagreeable manners; but all her name in the world must, I think, havebeen acquired by her dexterity and skill in selecting parties, and byher address in rendering them easy with one another. ' _Ib_. P. 244. Sheheard her say of a gentleman who had lately died:--'It's a verydisagreeable thing, I think, when one has just made acquaintance withanybody and likes them, to have them die. ' _Ib_. Ii. 290. 

[1320] Johnson passed over this scene very lightly. 'On Sunday evening Iwas at Mrs. Vesey's, and there was inquiry about my master, but I toldthem all good. There was Dr. Barnard of Eton, and we made a noise allthe evening; and there was Pepys, and Wraxall till I drove him away. '_Piozzi Letters, _ ii. 98. Wraxall was perhaps thinking of this eveningwhen he wrote (_Memoirs_, ed. 1815, i. 147):--'Those whom he could notalways vanquish by the force of his intellect, by the depth and range ofhis arguments, and by the compass of his gigantic faculties, he silencedby rudeness; and I have myself more than once stood in the predicamentwhich I here describe. Yet no sooner was he withdrawn, and with him haddisappeared these personal imperfections, than the sublime attainmentsof his mind left their full effect on the audience: such the wholeassembly might be in some measure esteemed while he was present. '

[1321] Among the provisions thus relaxed was one that subjected Popishpriests, or Papists keeping school, to perpetual imprisonment. Thoseonly enjoyed the benefit of the act who took a very strict test, inwhich, among other things, they denied the Pope's temporal and civiljurisdiction within this realm. This bill passed both Houses without asingle negative. It applied only to England. Scotland was alarmed by thereport that the Scotch Catholics were in like manner to be relieved. InEdinburgh and Glasgow the Papists suffered from outrageous acts ofviolence and cruelty, and government did not think it advisable torepress this persecution by force. The success of these Scotch bigotsseems to have given the first rise to the Protestant Association inEngland. _Ann. Reg_. Xxiii. 254-6. How slight 'the relaxation' was inEngland is shewn by Lord Mansfield's charge on Lord George Gordon'strial, where we learn that the Catholics were still subject to all thepenalties created in the reigns of Elizabeth, James I, Charles II, andof the first ten years of William III. _Ib_. Xxiv. 237. Hannah More(_Memoirs_, i. 326), four years after the riots, wrote:--'I have had agreat many prints, pamphlets, &c. , sent me from Rouen; but, unluckilyfor me, the sender happened to have put a popish prayer-book among mythings, which were therefore, by being caught in bad company, all foundguilty of popery at Brighthelmstone, and condemned to be burnt to mygreat regret. ' They were burnt in accordance with sect. 25 of 3 Jac. I. C. 4. This act was only repealed in to 1846 (9 and 10. Rep. C. 59. S. I). 

[1322] Vol. Ii. P. 143, _et seq_. I have selected passages fromseveral letters, without mentioning dates. BOSWELL. 

[1323] June 2. BOSWELL. Johnson wrote on June 9. 

[1324] See _post_, p. 435. 

[1325] On this day (June 6) Johnson, writing to Mrs. Thrale at Bath, didnot mention the riots. He gives the date very fully--'London, No. 8, Bolt-court, Fleet-street, June 6, 1780, ' and adds:--'Mind this, and tellQueency [Miss Thrale]. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 141. Miss Burney, who waswith the Thrales, writes:--'Dr. Johnson has written to Mrs. Thrale, without even mentioning the existence of this mob; perhaps, at this verymoment, he thinks it "a humbug upon the nation, " as George Bodens calledthe Parliament. ' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 401. When Johnson wrote, the mob had not risen to its height of violence. Mrs. Thrale in heranswer, giving the date, 'Bath, 3 o'clock on Saturday morning, June 10, 1780, ' asks, 'Oh! my dear Sir, was I ever particular in dating a letterbefore? and is this a time to begin to be particular when I have been upall night in trembling agitation? Miss Burney is frighted, but she saysbetter times will come; she made me date my letter so, and persists inhoping that ten years hence we shall all three read it over together andbe merry. But, perhaps, you will ask, "who is _consternated_, "? as youdid about the French invasion. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 146. 

[1326] 'Lord Mansfield's house, ' wrote Dr. Franklin from Paris(_Memoirs_, iii. 62), 'is burnt with all his furniture, pictures, books, and papers. Thus he who approved the burning American houses has hadfire brought home to him. '

[1327] Baretti in a marginal note on _mass-house_, says, 'So illiberalwas Johnson made by religion that he calls here the chapel amass-house. .. . Yet he hated the Presbyterians. That was a nasty blot inhis character. '

[1328] Horace Walpole this night (June 7) wrote:--'Yet I assure yourLadyship there is no panic. Lady Aylesbury has been at the play in theHaymarket, and the Duke and my four nieces at Ranelagh this evening. '_Letters_, vii. 388. The following Monday he wrote:--'Mercy on us! weseem to be plunging into the horrors of France, in the reigns ofCharles VI. And VII. !--yet, as extremes meet, there is at this momentamazing insensibility. Within these four days I have received fiveapplications for tickets to see my house!' _Ib_. P. 395. 

[1329] Written on June 10. 

[1330] In the original, 'was this day _with a party of soldiers_. '

[1331] In the original, 'We are all _again_. '

[1332] Written on June 12. 

[1333] George III told Lord Eldon that at a levee 'he asked Wilkes afterhis friend Serjeant Glynne. "_My_ friend, Sir!" says Wilkes to the King;"he is no friend of mine. " "Why, " said the King, "he _was_ your friendand your counsel in all your trials. " "Sir, " rejoined Wilkes, "he _was_my _counsel_--one _must_ have a counsel; but he was no _friend_; heloves sedition and licentiousness which I never delighted in. In fact, Sir, he was a Wilkite, which I never was. " The King said the confidenceand humour of the man made him forget at the moment his impudence. 'Twiss's _Eldon_, ii. 356. 

[1334] Lord George Gordon and his followers, during these outrages, woreblue ribbands in their hats. MALONE. 

[1335] Johnson added:--'All danger here is apparently over; but alittle agitation still continues. We frighten one another with aseventy-thousand Scots to come hither with the Dukes of Gordon andArgyle, and eat us, and hang us, or drown us. ' Two days later HoraceWalpole, after mentioning that Lord George Gordon was in the Tower, continued:--'What a nation is Scotland; in every reign engenderingtraitors to the State, and false and pernicious to the Kings that favourit the most. National prejudices, I know, are very vulgar; but if thereare national characteristics, can one but dislike the soils and climatesthat concur to produce them?' _Letters_, vii. 400. 

[1336] He died Nov. 19, 1792, and left 'about, £20, 000 accumulated notparsimoniously, but during a very long possession of a profitableoffice. ' His father, who was keeper before him, began as a turnkey. _Gent. Mag_. 1792, p. 1062. Wesley wrote on Jan. 2, 1761:--'Of all theseats of woe on this side hell, few, I suppose, exceed or even equalNewgate. If any region of horror could exceed it a few years ago, Newgate in Bristol did; so great was the filth, the stench, the misery, and wickedness which shocked all who had a spark of humanity left. ' Hedescribed a great change for the better which had lately been made inthe London Newgate. Perhaps it was due to Akerman. Wesley's _Journal_, iii. 32. 

[1337] There were two city prisons so called. 

[1338] In the first two editions _will_. Boswell, in the third edition, corrected most of his Scotticisms. 

[1339] In the _Life of Savage_ (_Works_, viii. 183) Johnson wrote of thekeeper of the Bristol gaol:--'Virtue is undoubtedly most laudable inthat state which makes it most difficult; and therefore the humanity ofa gaoler certainly deserves this publick attestation; and the man whoseheart has not been hardened by such an employment may be justly proposedas a pattern of benevolence. If an inscription was once engraved "to thehonest toll-gatherer, " less honours ought not to be paid "to the tendergaoler. "' This keeper, Dagge by name, was one of Whitefield's disciples. In 1739 Whitefield wrote:--'God having given me great favour in thegaoler's eyes, I preached a sermon on the Penitent Thief, to the poorprisoners in Newgate. ' He began to read prayers and preach to them everyday, till the Mayor and Sheriffs forbade Mr. Dagge to allow him topreach again. Tyerman's _Whitefield_, i. 179. 

[1340] Vol. Ii. P. 163. Mrs. Piozzi has omitted the name, she best knowswhy. BOSWELL. 

[1341] Now settled in London. BOSWELL. 

[1342] I had been five years absent from London. BEATTIE. 

[1343] '--sic fata ferebant. ' _Æneid, ii. 34_. 

[1344] Meaning his entertaining _Memoirs of David Garrick, Esq_. , ofwhich Johnson (as Davies informed me) wrote the first sentence; thusgiving, as it were, the key-note performance. It is, indeed, verycharacteristical of its authour, beginning with a maxim, and proceedingto illustrate. --'All excellence has a right to be recorded. I shall, therefore, think it superfluous to apologise for writing the life of aman, who by an uncommon assemblage of private virtues, adorned thehighest eminence in a publick profession. ' BOSWELL. 

[1345] Davies had become bankrupt. See _ante_, p. 223. Young, in hisfirst _Epistle to Pope_, says:--

'For bankrupts write when ruined shops are shutAs maggots crawl from out a perished nut. '

Davies's _Memoirs of Garrick_, published this spring, reached its thirdedition by the following year. 

[1346] I wish he had omitted the suspicion expressed here, though Ibelieve he meant nothing but jocularity; for though he and I differedsometimes in opinion, he well knew how much I loved and revered him. BEATTIE. 

[1347] The Thrales fled from Bath where a riot had broken out, andtravelled about the country in alarm for Mr. Thrale's 'personal safety, 'as it had been maliciously asserted in a Bath and Bristol paper that hewas a Papist. Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 399. 

[1348] On May 30 he wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'I have been so idle that Iknow not when I shall get either to you, or to any other place; for myresolution is to stay here till the work is finished. .. . I hope, however, to see standing corn in some part of the earth this summer, but I shallhardly smell hay, or suck clover flowers. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 140. 

[1349] 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 amobliged to my worthy social friend, Governour Richard Penn: 'At one ofMiss E. Hervey's assemblies, Dr. Johnson was following her up and downthe room; upon which Lord Abingdon observed to her, "Your great friendis 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_. '" BOSWELL. This lady was the nieceof Johnson's friends the Herveys [_ante_, i. 106]. CROKER. 

[1350] _Essays on the History of Mankind_. BOSWELL. Johnson couldscarcely have known that Dunbar was an active opponent of the Americanwar. Mackintosh, who was his pupil, writes of him:--'I shall ever begrateful to his memory for having contributed to breathe into my mind astrong spirit of liberty. ' Mackintosh's _Life_, i. 12. The youngerColman, who attended, or rather neglected to attend his lectures, speaksof him as 'an acute frosty-faced little Dr. Dunbar, a man of mucherudition, and great goodnature. ' _Random Records_, ii. 93. 

[1351] Mr. Seward (_Biographiana_, p. 601) says that this clergyman was'the son of an old and learned friend of his'--the Rev. Mr. Hoole, Iconjecture. 

[1352] See _post_, iv. 12, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 19. 

[1353] Dr. Percy, now Bishop of Dromore. BOSWELL

[1354] Johnson, in 1764, passed some weeks at Percy's rectory. _Ante_, i. 486. 

[1355] See _ante_, p. 366. 

[1356] See _ante, _, i. 458

[1357] 'O præclarum diem quum ad illud divinum animorum conciliumc'tumque profiscar. ' Cicero's _De Senectute_, c. 23. 

[1358] See _ante_, p. 396. 

[1359] See _ante_, ii. 162. 

[1360] I had not then seen his letters to Mrs. Thrale. BOSWELL. 

[1361] In the _Life of Edmund Smith_. See _ante_, i. 81, and Johnson's_Works_, vii. 380. 

[1362] Unlike Walmsley and Johnson, of whom one was a Whig, the other aTory. 'Walmsley was a Whig, ' wrote Johnson, 'with all the virulence andmalevolence of his party; yet difference of opinion did not keep usapart. I honoured him, and he endured me. '

[1363] See _ante_, ii. 169, note 2. 

[1364] Miss Burney described an evening spent by Johnson at Dr. Burney'ssome weeks earlier:--'He was in high spirits and good humour, talked allthe talk, affronted nobody, and delighted everybody. I never saw himmore sweet, nor better attended to by his audience. ' In December shewrote:--'Dr. Johnson is very gay, and sociable, and comfortable, andquite as kind to me as ever. ' A little later she wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'Does Dr. Johnson continue gay and good-humoured, and "valuingnobody" in a morning?' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 412, 429, 432. 

[1365] _Pr. And Med_. P. 185. BOSWELL. 

[1366] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 27. 

[1367] The Charterhouse. 

[1368] Macbean was, on Lord Thurlow's nomination, admitted 'a poorbrother of the Charterhouse. ' _Ante_, i. 187. Johnson, on Macbean'sdeath on June 26, 1784, wrote:--'He was one of those who, as Swift says, _stood as a screen between me and death_. He has, I hope, made a goodexchange. He was very pious; he was very innocent; he did no ill; and ofdoing good a continual tenour of distress allowed him few opportunities;he was very highly esteemed in the house [the Charterhouse]. ' _PiozziLetters_, ii. 373. The quotation from Swift is found in the lines _Onthe Death of Dr. Swift_:--

'The fools, my juniors by a year, Are tortured with suspense and fear, Who wisely thought my age a screen, When death approached, to stand between. '

Swift's _Works_, ed. 1803, xi. 246. 

[1369] Johnson, in May, had persuaded Mrs. Thrale to come up from Bathto canvass for Mr. Thrale. 'My opinion is that you should come for aweek, and show yourself, and talk in high terms. Be brisk, and besplendid, and be publick. The voters of the Borough are too proud andtoo little dependant to be solicited by deputies; they expect thegratification of seeing the candidate bowing or curtseying before them. If you are proud, they can be sullen. Mr. Thrale certainly shall notcome, and yet somebody must appear whom the people think it worth thewhile to look at. ' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 114. 

[1370] Hawkins's _Johnsons Works_, xi. 206. It is curious thatPsalmanazar, in his _Memoirs_, p. 101, uses the mongrel word_transmogrify_. 

[1371] Taylor's _Life of Reynolds_, ii. 459. 

[1372] Boswell, when in the year 1764 he was starting from Berlin forGeneva, wrote to Mr. Mitchell, the English Minister at Berlin:--'I shallsee Voltaire; I shall also see Switzerland and Rousseau. These two menare to me greater objects than most statues or pictures. ' Nichols's_Lit. Hist_. Ed. 1848, vii. 319. 

[1373] See _post, _ iv. 261, note 3 for Boswell's grievance against Pitt. 

THE END OF THE THIRD VOLUME.