[586] He, however, wrote, or partly wrote, an Epitaph on Mrs. Bell, wife of his friend John Bell, Esq., brother of the Reverend Dr. Bell, Prebendary of Westminster, which is printed in hisWorks[i. 151]. It is in English prose, and has so little of his manner, that I did not believe he had any hand in it, till I was satisfied of the fact by the authority of Mr. Bell. BOSWELL. 'The epitaph is to be seen in the parish church of Watford.' Hawkins'sJohnson, p. 471.
[587] Seeante, i. 187. Mme. D'Arblay (Memoirs of Dr. Burney, i. 271) says that this year Goldsmith projected aDictionary of Arts and Sciences, in which Johnson was to take the department of ethics, and that Dr. Burney finished the articleMusician. The scheme came to nothing.
[588] We may doubt Steevens's taste. Garrick 'producedHamletwith alterations, rescuing,' as he said, 'that noble play from all the rubbish of the fifth act' (ante, ii. 85, note 7.) Steevens wrote to Garrick:—'I expect great pleasure from the perusal of your alteredHamlet. It is a circumstance in favour of the poet which I have long been wishing for. You had better throw what remains of the piece into a farce, to appear immediately afterwards. No foreigner who should happen to be present at the exhibition, would ever believe it was formed out of the loppings and excrescences of the tragedy itself. You may entitle itThe Grave-Diggers; with the pleasant Humours of Osric, the Danish Macaroni.'Garrick Corres. i. 451.
[589] A line of an epigram in theLife of Virgil, ascribed to Donatus.
[590] Given by a lady at Edinburgh. BOSWELL.
[591] There had been masquerades in Scotland; but not for a very long time. BOSWELL. 'Johnson,' as Mr. Croker observes, 'had no doubt seen an account of the masquerade in theGent. Mag. for January,' p. 43. It is stated there that 'it was the first masquerade ever seen in Scotland.' Boswell appeared as a dumb Conjurer.
[592] Mrs. Thrale recorded in 1776, after her quarrel with Baretti:—'I had occasion to talk of him with Tom Davies, who spoke with horror of his ferocious temper; "and yet," says I, "there is great sensibility about Baretti. I have seen tears often stand in his eyes." "Indeed," replies Davies, "I should like to have seen that sight vastly, when—even butchers weep."' Hayward'sPiozzi, ii. 340. Davies said of Goldsmith:—'He least of all mankind approved Baretti's conversation; he considered him as an insolent, overbearing foreigner.' Davies, in the same passage, speaks of Baretti as 'this unhappy Italian.' Davies'sGarrick, ii. 168. As this was published in Baretti's life-time, the man could scarcely have been so ferocious as he was described.
[593] 'There were but a few days left before the comedy was to be acted, and no name had been found for it. "We are all in labour," says Johnson, whose labour of kindness had been untiring throughout, "for a name to Goldy's play." [See Boswell'sHebrides, Oct. 14, 1773.] What now stands as the second title,The Mistakes of a Night, was originally the only one; but it was thought undignified for a comedy.The Old House a New Innwas suggested in place of it, but dismissed as awkward. Sir Joshua offered a much better name to Goldsmith, saying, "You ought to call itThe Belle's Stratagem, and if you do not I will damn it." When Goldsmith, in whose ear perhaps a line of Dryden's lingered, hit uponShe Stoops to Conquer.' Forster'sGoldsmith, ii. 337, and Northcote'sReynolds, i. 285. Mr. Forster quotes the line of Dryden as
'But kneels to conquer, and but stoops to rise.'
In Lord Chesterfield'sLetters, iii. 131, the line is given,
'But stoops to conquer, and but kneels to rise.'
[594] This gentleman, who now resides in America in a publick character of considerable dignity, desired that his name might not be transcribed at full length. BOSWELL.
[595] Now Doctor White, and Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Pennsylvania. During his first visit to England in 1771, as a candidate for holy orders, he was several times in company with Dr. Johnson, who expressed a wish to see the edition of hisRasselas, which Dr. White told him had been printed in America. Dr. White, on his return, immediately sent him a copy. BOSWELL.
[596] Horace.Odes, iii. I. 34.
[597] Seepost, Oct. 12, 1779.
[598] Malone had the following from Baretti: 'Baretti made a translation ofRasselasinto French. He never, however, could satisfy himself with the translation of the first sentence, which is uncommonly lofty. Mentioning this to Johnson, the latter said, after thinking two or three minutes, "Well, take up the pen, and if you can understand my pronunciation, I will see what I can do." He then dictated the sentence to the translator, which proved admirable, and was immediately adopted.' Prior'sMalone, p. 161. Baretti, in a MS. note on his copy ofPiozzi Letters, i. 225, says:—'Johnson never wrote to me French, but when he translated for me the first paragraph of hisRasselas.' That Johnson's French was faulty, is shown by his letters in that language.Ante, ii. 82, andpost, under Nov. 12, 1775.
[599] It has been translated into Bengalee, Hungarian, Polish, Modern Greek, and Spanish, besides the languages mentioned by Johnson. Dr. J. Macaulay'sBibliography of Rasselas. It reached its fifth edition by 1761.A Bookseller of the Last Century, p. 243. In the same book (p. 19) it is mentioned that 'a sixteenth share inThe Ramblerwas sold for £22 2s. 6d.'
[600] A motion in the House of Commons for a committee to consider of the subscription to the Thirty nine Articles had, on Feb. 23 of this year, been rejected by 159 to 67.Parl. Hist. xvii. 742-758. A bill for the relief of Protestant Dissenters that passed the House of Commons by 65 to 14 on March 25, was rejected in the House of Lords by 86 to 28 on April 2.Ibp. 790.
[601] Seepost, April 25, 1778, where Johnson says that 'Colman [the manager] was prevailed on at last by much solicitation, nay, a kind of force, to bring it on.' Mr. Forster (Life of Goldsmith, ii. 334-6) writes:—'The actors and actresses had taken their tone from the manager. Gentleman Smith threw up Voting Marlow; Woodward refused Tony Lumpkin; Mrs. Abington declined Miss Hardcastle [inThe Athenæum, No. 3041, it is pointed out that Mrs. Abington was not one of Colman's Company]; and, in the teeth of his own misgivings, Colman could not contest with theirs. He would not suffer a new scene to be painted for the play, he refused to furnish even a new dress, and was careful to spread his forebodings as widely as he could.' The play met with the greatest success. 'There was a new play by Dr. Goldsmith last night, which succeeded prodigiously,' wrote Horace Valpole (Letters, v. 452). The laugh was turned against the doubting manager. Ten days after the play had been brought out, Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale:—'C——[Colman] is so distressed with abuse about his play, that he has solicited Goldsmith totake him off the rack of the newspapers.'Piozzi Letters, i. 80. Seepost, just before June 22, 1784, for Mr. Steevens's account.
[602] It was anything but an apology, unlessapologyis used in its old meaning ofdefence.
[603] Nine days afterShe Stoops to Conquerwas brought out, a vile libel, written, it is believed, by Kenrick (antei. 297), was published by Evans inThe London Packet. The libeller dragged in one of the Miss Hornecks, 'the Jessamy Bride' of Goldsmith's verse. Goldsmith, believing Evans had written the libel, struck him with his cane. The blow was returned, for Evans was a strong man. 'He indicted Goldsmith for the assault, but consented to a compromise on his paying fifty pounds to a Welsh charity. The papers abused the poet, and steadily turned aside from the real point in issue. At last he stated it himself, in anAddress to the Public, in theDaily Advertiserof March 31.' Forster'sGoldsmith, ii. 347-351. The libel is given in Goldsmith'sMisc. Works(1801), i. 103.
[604] 'Yourpaper,' I suppose, because theChroniclewas taken in at Bolt Court.Ante, ii. 103.
[605] See Forster'sGoldsmith, i. 265, for a possible explanation of this sarcasm.
[606] Horace Walpole is violent against Dalrymple and the King. 'What must,' he says, 'be the designs of this reign when George III. encourages a Jacobite wretch to hunt in France for materials for blackening the heroes who withstood the enemies of Protestantism and liberty.'Journal of the Reign of George III, i. 286.
[607] Mr. Hallam pointed out to Mr. Croker that Johnson was speaking of Dalrymple's description of the parting of Lord and Lady Russell:—'With a deep and noble silence; with a long and fixed look, in which respect and affection unmingled with passion were expressed, Lord and Lady Russell parted for ever—he great in this last act of his life, but she greater.' Dalrymple'sMemoirs, i. 31. Seepost, April 30, 1773, for the foppery of Dalrymple; and Boswell'sHebrides, near the end, for Johnson's imitation of Dalrymple's style.
[608] Seeante, i. 334.
[609] Seeante, ii. 170.
[610] Horace Walpole says:—'It was not Chesterfield's fault if he had not wit; nothing exceeded his efforts in that point; and though they were far from producing the wit, they at least amply yielded the applause he aimed at.'Memoirs of the Reign of George II, i. 51.
[611] A curious account of Tyrawley is given in Walpole'sReign of George II, iii. 108. He had been Ambassador at Lisbon, and he 'even affected not to know where the House of Commons was.' Walpole says (Letters, i. 215, note) that 'Pope has mentioned his and another ambassador's seraglios in one of hisImitations of Horace.' He refers to the lines in theImitations, i. 6. 120:—
'Go live with Chartres, in each vice outdoK——l's lewd cargo, or Ty——y's crew.'
Kinnoul and Tyrawley, says Walpole, are meant.
[612] According to Chalmers, who himself has performed this task, Dr. Percy was the first of these gentlemen, and Dr. John Calder the second. CROKER.
[613] Sir Andrew Freeport, after giving money to some importunate beggars, says:—'I ought to give to an hospital of invalids, to recover as many useful subjects as I can, but I shall bestow none of my bounties upon an almshouse of idle people; and for the same reason I should not think it a reproach to me if I had withheld my charity from those common beggars.'The Spectator, No. 232. This paper is not by Addison. In No. 549, which is by Addison, Sir Andrew is made to found 'an almshouse for a dozen superannuated husbandmen.' I have before (ii. 119) contrasted the opinions of Johnson and Fielding as to almsgiving. A more curious contrast is afforded by the following passage inTom Jones, book i. chap. iii:—'I have told my reader that Mr. Allworthy inherited a large fortune, that he had a good heart, and no family. Hence, doubtless, it will be concluded by many that he lived like an honest man, owed no one a shilling, took nothing but what was his own, kept a good house, entertained his neighbours with a hearty welcome at his table, and was charitable to the poor, i.e. to those who had rather beg than work, by giving them the offals from it; that he died immensely rich, and built an hospital.'
[614] Boswell says (Hebrides, Aug. 26, 1773):—'His recitation was grand and affecting, and, as Sir Joshua Reynolds has observed to me, had no more tone than it should have.' Mrs. Piozzi (Anec. p. 302) writes:—'His manner of repeating deserves to be described, though at the same time it defeats all power of description; but whoever once heard him repeat an ode of Horace would be long before they could endure to hear it repeated by another.' Seeante, ii. 92, note 4.
[615] 'Some of the old legendary stories put in verse by modern writers provoked him to caricature them thus one day at Streatham:—
"The tender infant, meek and mild,Fell down upon the stone;The nurse took up the squealing child,But still the child squeal'd on."
'A famous ballad also beginning—Rio verde, Rio verde, when I commended the translation of it, he said he could do it better himself, as thus:—
"Glassy water, glassy water,Down whose current clear and strong,Chiefs confused in mutual slaughter,Moor and Christian roll along."
"But, Sir," said I, "this is not ridiculous at all." "Why no," repliedhe, "why should I always write ridiculously?"' Piozzi'sAnec. p. 65.Seeante, ii. 136, note 4. Neither Boswell nor Mrs. Piozzi mentionsPercy by name as the subject of Johnson's ridicule.
[616] See Boswell'sHebrides, Oct. 4, 1773.
[617] Rogers (Table-Talk, p. 88) said that 'Fox considered Burnet's style to be perfect.'
[618] Johnson (Works, vii. 96) quotes; 'Dalrymple's observation, who says "that whenever Burnet's narrations are examined, he appears to be mistaken."' Lord Bolingbroke (Works, iv. 151) wrote of party pamphlets and histories:—'Read them with suspicion, for they deserve to be suspected; pay no regard to the epithets given, nor to the judgments passed; neglect all declamation, weigh the reasoning, and advert to fact. With such precautions, even Burnet's history may be of some use.' Horace Walpole, noticing an attack on Burnet, says (Letters, vi. 487):—'It shows his enemies are not angry at his telling falsehoods, but the truth … I will tell you what was said of hisHistoryby one whose testimony you yourself will not dispute. That confessor said, "Damn him, he has told a great deal of truth, but where the devil did he learn it?" This was St. Atterbury's testimony.'
[619] The cross-buns were for Boswell and Levet. Johnson recorded (Pr. and Med. p. 121):—'On this whole day I took nothing of nourishment but one cup of tea without milk; but the fast was very inconvenient. Towards night I grew fretful and impatient, unable to fix my mind or govern my thoughts.'
[620] It is curious to compare with this Johnson's own record:—'I found the service not burdensome nor tedious, though I could not hear the lessons. I hope in time to take pleasure in public works.'Pr. and Med. p. 121.
[621] In the originalin.
[622] Afterwards Charles I. BOSWELL.
[623] Seeante, ii. 47.
[624] Seepost, April 9, 1778, where Johnson said:-'Goldsmith had no settled notions upon any subject; so he talked always at random.'
[625] The next day Johnson recorded:—'I have had some nights of that quiet and continual sleep which I had wanted till I had almost forgotten it.'Pemb. Coll. MSS.
[626] Seeante, ii. 11.
[627] We have the following account of Johnson's kitchen in 1778: 'Mr. Thale.—"And pray who is clerk of your kitchen, Sir?" Dr. J.—"Why, Sir, I am afraid there is none; a general anarchy prevails in my kitchen, as I am told Mr. Levet, who says it is not now what it used to be." Mr. T.—"But how do you get your dinners drest?" Dr. J.—"Why, Desmouline has the chief management, for we have no jack." Mr. T.—"No jack? Why, how do they manage without?" Dr. J.—"Small joints, I believe, they manage with a string, and larger one done at the tavern. I have some thoughts (with a profound gravity) of buying a jack, because I think a jack is some credit 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; if a jack is seen, a spit will be presumed."' Mme. D'Arblay'sDiary, i. 115.
[628] Seeante, i. 418.
[629] Seeante, i. 252.
[630] 'By inscribing this slight performance to you, I do not mean so much to compliment you as myself. It may do me some honour to inform the publick, that I have lived many years in intimacy with you. It may serve the interests of mankind also to inform them, that the greatest wit may be found in a character, without impairing the most unaffected piety.' BOSWELL.
[631] See an account of this learned and respectable gentleman, and of his curious work in theMiddle State, Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, 3rd edition. p. 371. [Oct. 25.] BOSWELL. Seepost, June 9, 1784.
[632] Seeante, i. 225, for Boswell's project works, and i. 211.
[633] 'When the efficiency [of men and women] is equal, but the pay unequal, the only explanation that can be given is custom.' J. S. Mill'sPolitical Economy, Book ii. ch. xiv. 5.
[634] The day before he told Boswell this he had recorded:—'My general resolution, to which I humbly implore the help of God, is to methodise my life, to resist sloth. I hope from this time to keep a journal.'Pr. and Med. p. 124. Four times more he recorded the same resolution to keep a journal. Seeante, i. 433, andpost, Apr. 14,1775.
[635] Seepost, March 30, 1778, where Johnson says:—'A man loves to review his own mind. That is the use of a diary or journal.'
[636] 'He who has not made the experiment, or who is not accustomed to require rigorous accuracy from himself, will scarcely believe how much a few hours take from certainty of knowledge and distinctness of imagery … To this dilatory notation must be imputed the false relations of travellers, where there is no imaginable motive to deceive. They trusted to memory what cannot be trusted safely but to the eye, and told by guess what a few hours before they had known with certainty.' Johnson'sWorks, ix. 144.
[637] Goldsmith, in his dedication to Reynolds of theDeserted Village, refers no doubt to Johnson's opinion of luxury. He writes:—'I know you will object (and indeedseveral of our best and wisest friendsconcur in the opinion) that the depopulation it deplores is nowhere to be seen, and the disorders it laments are only to be found in the poet's own imagination…. In regretting the depopulation of the country I inveigh against the increase of our luxuries; and here also I expect the shout of modern politicians against me. For twenty or thirty years past it has been the fashion to consider luxury as one of the greatest national advantages.' Seepost, April 15, 1778.
[638] Johnson, in hisParl. Debates(Works, x. 418), makes General Handasyd say:—'The whole pay of a foot soldier is sixpence a day, of which he is to pay fourpence to his landlord for his diet, or, what is very nearly the same, to carry fourpence daily to the market … Twopence a day is all that a soldier had to lay out upon cleanliness and decency, and with which he is likewise to keep his arms in order, and to supply himself with some part of his clothing. If, Sir, after these deductions he can, from twopence a day, procure himself the means of enjoying a few happy moments in the year with his companions over a cup of ale, is not his economy much more to be envied than his luxury?'
[639] The humours of Ballamagairy. BOSWELL.
[640]
'Ah me! when shall I marry me?Lovers are plenty; but fail to relieve me.He, fond youth, that could carry me,Offers to love, but means to deceive me.But I will rally and combat the ruiner:Not a look, nor a smile shall my passion discover;She that gives all to the false one pursuing her,Makes but a penitent and loses a lover.'
Boswell, in a letter published in Goldsmith'sMisc. Works, ii. 116, with the song, says:—'The tune is a pretty Irish air, callThe Humours of Ballamagairy, to which, he told me, he found it very difficult to adapt words; but he has succeeded very happily in these few lines. As I could sing the tune and was fond of them, he was so good as to give me them. I preserve this little relic in his own handwriting with an affectionate care.'
[641] Seeante, i. 408, andpostApril 7, 1776.
[642] Seeante, ii. 74.
[643] Seeante, i. 429.
[644] See ante, ii. 169, for Johnson's 'half-a-guinea's worth of inferiority.'
[645] Boswell (ante, i. 256) mentions that he knew Lyttelton. For hisHistory, seeante, ii. 37.
[646] Johnson has an interesting paper 'on lying' inThe Adventurer, No. 50, which thus begins:—'When Aristotle was once asked what a man could gain by uttering falsehoods, he replied, "Not to be credited when he shall tell the truth."'
[647] Johnson speaks of the past, for Sterne had been dead five years. Gray wrote on April 22, 1760:—'Tristram Shandyis still a greater object of admiration, the man as well as the book. One is invited to dinner where he dines a fortnight beforehand.' Gray'sWorks, ed. 1858, iii. 241.
[648] 'I was but once,' said Johnson, 'in Sterne's company, and then his only attempt at merriment consisted in his display of a drawing too indecently gross to have delighted even in a brothel.' Johnson'sWorks(1787), xi. 214.
[649] Townshend was not the man to make his jokes serve twice. Horace Walpole said of hisChampagne Speech,—'It was Garrick writing and acting extempore scenes of Congreve.'Memoirs of the Reign of George III, iii. 25. Sir G. Colebrooke says:—'When Garrick and Foote were present he took the lead, and hardly allowed them an opportunity of shewing their talents of mimicry, because he could excel them in their own art.'Ibp. 101, note. '"Perhaps," said Burke, "there never arose in this country, nor in any country, a man of a more pointed and finished wit."' Payne'sBurke, i. 146.
[650] The 'eminent public character' is no doubt Burke, and the friend, as Mr. Croker suggests, probably Reynolds. See Boswell'sHebrides, Aug. 15, 1773, for a like charge made by Johnson against Burke. Boswell commonly describes Burke as 'an eminent friend of ours;' but he could not do so as yet, for he first met him fifteen days later. (Post, April 30.)
[651] 'Party,' Burke wrote in 1770 (Thoughts on the Present Discontents), 'is a body of men united for promoting by their joint endeavours the national interest upon some particular principle in which they are all agreed. For my part I find it impossible to conceive that any one believes in his own politics, or thinks them to be of any weight, who refuses to adopt the means of having them reduced into practice.' Payne'sBurke, i. 86.
[652] On May 5, and again on Nov. 10, the play was commanded by the King and Queen. Prior'sGoldsmith, ii. 394.
[653]Absalom and Achitophel, part i. l. 872.
[654] Paoli perhaps was thinking of himself. While he was still 'the successful rebel' in Corsica, he had said to Boswell:—'The arts and sciences are like dress and ornament. You cannot expect them from us for some time. But come back twenty or thirty years hence, and we'll shew you arts and sciences.' Boswell'sCorsica, p. 172.
[655] 'The Duke of Cumberland had been forbidden the Court on his marriage with Mrs. Horton, a year before; but on the Duke of Gloucester's avowal of his marriage with Lady Waldegrave, the King's indignation found vent in the Royal Marriage Act: which was hotly opposed by the Whigs as an edict of tyranny. Goldsmith (perhaps for Burke's sake) helped to make it unpopular with the people: "We'll go to France", says Hastings to Miss Neville, "for there, even among slaves, the laws of marriage are respected." Said on the first night this had directed repeated cheering to the Duke of Gloucester, who sat in one of the boxes.' Forster'sGoldsmith, ii. 358. Seeante, ii. 152.
[656]Stenography, by John Angell, 1758.
[657] Seepost, April 10, 1778.
[658] Seeante, ii.
[659] James Harris, father of the first Earl of Malmesbury, born 1709, died 1780. Two years later Boswell wrote to Temple: 'I am invited to a dinner at Mr. Cambridge's (for the dinner, seepost, April 18, 1773), where are to be Reynolds, Johnson, and Hermes Harris. "Do you think so?" said he. "Most certainly, said I." Do you remember how I used to laugh at his style when we were in the Temple? He thinks himself an ancient Greek from these little peculiarities, as the imitators of Shakspeare, whom theSpectatormentions, thought they had done wonderfully when they had produced a line similar:—
"And so, good morrow to ye, good Master Lieutenant."'
Letters of Boswell, p. 187. It is not in theSpectator, but inMartinus Scriblerus, ch. ix. (Swift'sWorks, 1803, xxiii, 53), that the imitators of Shakspeare are ridiculed. Harris got his name of Hermes from hisHermes, or a Philosophical Inquiry concerning Universal Grammar. Cradock (Memoirs, i, 208) says that, 'A gentleman applied to his friend to lend him some amusing book, and he recommended Harris'sHermes. On returning it, the other asked how he had been entertained. "Not much," he replied; "he thought that all these imitations ofTristram Shandyfell far short of the original."' Seepost, April 7, 1778, and Boswell'sHebrides, Nov. 3, 1773.
[660] Johnson suffers, in Cowper's epitaph on him, from the same kind of praise as Goldsmith gives Harris:—
'Whose verse may claim, grave, masculine and strong,Superior praise to the mere poet's song.'
Cowper'sWorks, v. 119.
[661] Seeante, 210.
[662] Cave set up his coach about thirty years earlier (ante, i, 152, note). Dr. Franklin (Memoirs, iii, 172) wrote to Mr. Straham in 1784:—'I remember your observing once to me, as we sat together in the House of Commons, that no two journeymen printers within your knowledge had met with such success in the world as ourselves. You were then at the head of your profession, and soon afterwards became a member of parliament. I was an agent for a few provinces, and now act for them all.'
[663] 'Hamilton made a large fortune out of Smollett'sHistory.' Forster'sGoldsmith, i, 149. He was also the proprietor of theCritical Review.
[664] Seeante, i, 71.
[665] Seeante, ii, 179, and Boswell'sHebrides, Sept. 19, 1773. Horace Walpole wrote of the year 1773:—'The rage of duelling had of late much revived, especially in Ireland, and many attempts were made in print and on the stage to curb so horrid and absurd a practice.'Journal of the Reign of George III, i. 282.
[666] Very likely Boswell. SeePost, April 10, 1778, where he says:—'I slily introduced Mr. Garrick's fame and his assuming the airs of a great man'.
[667] In theGarrick's Corresup to this date there is no letter from Lord Mansfield which answers Boswell's descriptions. To Lord Chatham Garrick had addressed some verses from Mount Edgecumbe. Chatham, on April 3, 1772, sent verses in return, and wrote:—'You have kindly settled upon me a lasting species of property I never dreamed of in that enchanting place; a far more able conveyancer than any in Chancery-land.Ibi, 459.
[668]
'Then I alone the conquest prize,When I insult a rival's eyes:If there's, &c.'
[669]
'But how did he return, this haughty brave,Who whipt the winds, and made the sea his slave?(Though Neptune took unkindly to be boundAnd Eurus never such hard usage foundIn his Ãolian prison under ground).'
Dryden,Juvenal, x. 180.
[670] Most likely Mr. Pepys, a Master in Chancery, whom Johnson more than once roughly attacked at Streatham. Seepost, April 1, 1781, and Mme. D'Arblay'sDiary, ii. 46.
[671] Seeante, ii. 73.
[672] 'Jan. 5, 1772. Poor Mr. Fitzherbert hanged himself on Wednesday. He went to see the convicts executed that morning; and from thence in his boots to his son, having sent his groom out of the way. At three his son said, Sir, you are to dine at Mr. Buller's; it is time for you to go home and dress. He went to his own stable and hanged himself with a bridle. They say his circumstances were in great disorder.' Horace Walpole'sLetters, v. 362. Seeante, i. 82, andpost, Sept. 15, 1777.
[673] Boswell, in hisHebrides(Aug. 18, 1773) says that, 'Budgel was accused of forging a will [Dr. Tindal's] and sunk himself in the Thames, before the trial of its authenticity came on.' Pope, speaking of himself, says that he—
'Let Budgel charge low Grub-street on his quill,And write whate'er he pleas'd, except his will.'
Prologue to the Satires, 1, 378.
Budgel drowned himself on May 4, 1737, more than two years after the publication of this Prologue.Gent. Mag. vii. 315. Perhaps the verse is an interpolation in a later edition. Seepost, April 26, 1776.
[674] Seepost, March 15, 1776.
[675] On the Douglas Cause. Seeante, ii. 50, andpost, March 26, 1776.
[676] I regretted that Dr. Johnson never took the trouble to study a question which interested nations. He would not even read a pamphlet which I wrote upon it, entitledThe Essence of the Douglas Cause; which, I have reason to flatter myself, had considerable effect in favour of Mr. Douglas; of whose legitimate filiation I was then, and am still, firmly convinced. Let me add, that no fact can be more respectably ascertained than by the judgement of the most august tribunal in the world; a judgement, in which Lord Mansfield and Lord Camden united in 1769, and from which only five of a numerous body entered a protest. BOSWELL. Boswell, in his Hebrides, records on Oct. 26, 1773:—'Dr. Johnson roused my zeal so much that I took the liberty to tell him that he knew nothing of the [Douglas] Cause.' Lord Shelburne says: 'I conceived such a prejudice upon the sight of the present Lord Douglas's face and figure, that I could not allow myself to vote in this cause. If ever I saw a Frenchman, he is one.' Fitzmaurice'sShelburne, i. 10. Hume 'was struck,' he writes, 'with a very sensible indignation at the decision. The Cause, though not in the least intricate, is so complicated that it never will be reviewed by the public, who are besides perfectly pleased with the sentence; being swayed by compassion and a few popular topics. To one who understands the Cause as I do, nothing could appear more scandalous than the pleadings of the two law lords.' J. H. Burton'sHume, ii. 423. In Campbell'sChancellors, v. 494, an account is given of a duel between Stuart and Thurlow that arose out of this suit.
[677] The Fountains.Works, ix. 176.
[678] Seeante, ii. 25.
[679] It has already been observed (ante, ii. 55), that one of his first Essays was a Latin Poem on a glow-worm; but whether it be any where extant, has not been ascertained. MALONE.
[680] 'Mallet's works are such as a writer, bustling in the world, shewing himself in publick, and emerging occasionally from time to time into notice, might keep alive by his personal influence; but which, conveying little information and giving no great pleasure, must soon give way, as the succession of things produces new topicks of conversation and other modes of amusement.' Johnson'sWorks, viii. 468.
[681] Johnson made less money, because he never 'traded' on his reputation. When he had made his name, he almost ceased to write.
[682] 'May 27, 1773. Dr. Goldsmith has written a comedy—no, it is the lowest of all farces. It is not the subject I condemn, though very vulgar, but the execution. The drift tends to no moral, no edification of any kind. The situations, however, are well imagined, and make one laugh, in spite of the grossness of the dialogue, the forced witticisms, and total improbability of the whole plan and conduct. But what disgusts me most is, that though the characters are very low, and aim at low humour, not one of them says a sentence that is natural or marks any character at all. It is set up in opposition to sentimental comedy, and is as bad as the worst of them.' Horace Walpole'sLetters, v. 467. Northcote (Life of Reynolds, i. 286) says that Goldsmith gave him an order to see this comedy. 'The next time I saw him, he inquired of me what my opinion was of it. I told him that I would not presume to be a judge of its merits. He asked, "Did it make you laugh?" I answered, "Exceedingly." "Then," said the Doctor, "that is all I require."'
[683] Garrick brought out his revised version of this play by Beaumont and Fletcher in 1754-5. Murphy'sGarrick, p. 170. The compliment is in a speech by Don Juan, act v. sc. 2: 'Ay, but when things are at the worst, they'll mend; example does everything, and the fair sex will certainly grow better, whenever the greatest is the best woman in the kingdom.'
[684]Formularis not in Johnson'sDictionary.
[685]
'On earth, a present god, shall Caesar reign.'
FRANCIS. Horace,Odes, iii. 5.2.
[686] Seeante, i. 167.
[687] Johnson refers, I believe, to Temple's EssayOf Heroic Virtue, where he says that 'the excellency of genius' must not only 'be cultivated by education and instruction,' but also 'must be assisted by fortune to preserve it to maturity; because the noblest spirit or genius in the world, if it falls, though never so bravely, in its first enterprises, cannot deserve enough of mankind to pretend to so great a reward as the esteem of heroic virtue.' Temple'sWorks, iii. 306.
[688] Seepost, Sept. 17, 1777.
[689] In an epitaph that Burke wrote for Garrick, he says: 'He raised the character of his profession to the rank of a liberal art.' Windham'sDiary, p. 361.
[690] 'The allusion,' as Mr. Lockhart pointed out, 'is not to theTale of a Tub, but to theHistory of John Bull' (part ii. ch 12 and 13). Jack, who hangs himself, is however the youngest of the three brothers ofThe Tale of a Tub, 'that have made such a clutter in the work' (ib. chap ii). Jack was unwillingly convinced by Habbakkuk's argument that to save his life he must hang himself. Sir Roger, he was promised, before the rope was well about his neck, would break in and cut him down.
[691] He wrote the following letter to Goldsmith, who filled the chair that evening. 'It is,' Mr. Forster says (Life of Goldsmith, ii. 367), 'the only fragment of correspondence between Johnson and Goldsmith that has been preserved.'
'April 23, 1773.
'SIR,—I beg that you will excuse my absence to the Club; I am going this evening to Oxford.
'I have another favour to beg. It is that I may be considered as proposing Mr. Boswell for a candidate of our society, and that he may be considered as regularly nominated.
'I am, sir,
'Your most humble servant,
If Johnson went to Oxford his stay there was brief, as on April 27Boswell found him at home.
[692] 'There are,' says Johnson, speaking of Dryden (Works, vii. 292), 'men whose powers operate only at leisure and in retirement, and whose intellectual vigour deserts them in conversation.' See alsoante, i. 413. 'No man,' he said of Goldsmith, 'was more foolish when he had not a pen in his hand, or more wise when he had;'post, 1780, in Mr. Langton'sCollection. Horace Walpole (Letters, viii. 560), who 'knew Hume personally and well,' said, 'Mr. Hume's writings were so superior to his conversation, that I frequently said he understood nothing till he had written upon it.'
[693] The age of great English historians had not long begun. The first volume ofThe Decline and Fallwas published three years later. Addison had written in 1716 (Freeholder, No. 35), 'Our country, which has produced writers of the first figure in every other kind of work, has been very barren in good historians.' Johnson, in 1751, repeated this observation inThe Rambler, No. 122. Lord Bolingbroke wrote in 1735 (Works, iii. 454), 'Our nation has furnished as ample and as important matter, good and bad, for history, as any nation under the sun; and yet we must yield the palm in writing history most certainly to the Italians and to the French, and I fear even to the Germans.'
[694] Gibbon, informing Robertson on March 26, 1788, of the completion ofThe Decline and Fall, said:—'The praise which has ever been the most flattering to my ear, is to find my name associated with the names of Robertson and Hume; and provided I can maintain my place in the triumvirate, I am indifferent at what distance I am ranked below my companions and masters.' Dugald Stewart'sRobertson, p. 367.
[695] 'Sir,' said Johnson, 'if Robertson's style be faulty, he owes it me; that is, having too many words, and those too big ones.'Post, Sept. 19, 1777. Johnson was not singular among the men of his time in condemning Robertson'sverbiage. Wesley (Journal, iii. 447) wrote of vol. i. ofCharles the Fifth:—'Here is a quarto volume of eight or ten shillings' price, containing dry, verbose dissertations on feudal government, the substance of all which might be comprised in half a sheet of paper!' Johnson again usesverbiage(a word not given in hisDictionary),post, April 9, 1778.
[696] Seeante, ii. 210.
[697] Seepost, Oct. 10, 1779.
[698] 'Vertot, né en Normandie en 1655. Historien agréable et élégant. Mort en 1735.' Voltaire,Siècle de Louis XIV.
[699] Even Hume had no higher notion of what was required in a writer of ancient history. He wrote to Robertson, who was, it seems, meditating a History of Greece:—'What can you do in most places with these (the ancient) authors but transcribe and translate them? No letters or state papers from which you could correct their errors, or authenticate their narration, or supply their defects.' J.H. Burton'sHume, ii. 83.
[700] Seeante, ii. 53. Southey, asserting that Robertson had never read the Laws of Alonso the Wise, says, that 'it is one of the thousand and one omissions for which he ought to be called rogue as long as his volumes last.' Southey'sLife, ii. 318.
[701] Ovid. de Art. Amand. i. iii. v. 13 [339]. BOSWELL. 'It may be that our name too will mingle with those.'
[702] TheGent. Mag. for Jan. 1766 (p. 45) records, that 'a person was observed discharging musket-balls from a steel crossbow at the two remaining heads upon Temple Bar.' They were the heads of Scotch rebels executed in 1746. Samuel Rogers, who died at the end of 1855, said, 'I well remember one of the heads of the rebels upon a pole at Temple Bar.' Rogers'sTable-Talk, p. 2.
[703] In allusion to Dr. Johnson's supposed political principles, and perhaps his own. BOSWELL.
[704] 'Dr. Johnson one day took Bishop Percy's little daughter upon his knee, and asked her what she thought ofPilgrim's Progress. The child answered that she had not read it. "No!" replied the Doctor; "then I would not give one farthing for you:" and he set her down and took no further notice of her.' Croker'sBoswell, p. 838. Mrs. Piozzi (Anec. p. 281) says, that Johnson once asked, 'Was there ever yet anything written by mere man that was wished longer by its readers, exceptingDon Quixote,Robinson Crusoe, and ThePilgrim's Progress?'
[705] It was Johnson himself who was thus honoured.Post, under Dec. 20, 1784.
[706] Here is another instance of his high admiration of Milton as a Poet, notwithstanding his just abhorrence of that sour Republican's political principles. His candour and discrimination are equally conspicuous. Let us hear no more of his 'injustice to Milton.' BOSWELL.
[707] There was an exception to this. In his criticism ofParadise Lost(Works, vii. 136), he says:—'The confusion of spirit and matter which pervades the whole narration of the war of Heaven fills it with incongruity; and the book in which it is related is, I believe, the favourite of children, and gradually neglected as knowledge is increased.'
[708] In theAcademy, xxii. 348, 364, 382, Mr. C. E. Doble shews strong grounds for the belief that the author was Richard Allestree, D.D., Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford, and Provost of Eton. Cowper spoke of it as 'that repository of self-righteousness and pharisaical lumber;' with which opinion Southey wholly disagreed. Southey'sCowper, i. 116.
[709] Johnson said to Boswell:—'Sir, they knew that if they refused you they'd probably never have got in another. I'd have kept them all out. Beauclerk was very earnest for you.' Boswell'sHebrides, Aug. 21, 1773.
[710] Garrick and Jones had been elected this same spring. Seeante, i. 481, note 3.
[711] Mr. Langton, in hisCollection(post, 1780), mentions an ode brought by Goldsmith to the Club, which had been recited for money.
[712] Dr. Johnson's memory here was not perfectly accurate:Eugeniodoes not conclude thus. There are eight more lines after the last of those quoted by him; and the passage which he meant to recite is as follows:—
'Say now ye fluttering, poor assuming elves, Stark full of pride, of folly, of—yourselves; Say where's the wretch of all your impious crew Who dares confront his character to view? Behold Eugenio, view him o'er and o'er, Then sink into yourselves, and be no more.'
Mr. Reed informs me that the Author ofEugenio, a Wine Merchant at Wrexham in Denbighshire, soon after its publication, viz. 17th May, 1737, cut his own throat; and that it appears by Swift'sWorksthat the poem had been shewn to him, and received some of his corrections. Johnson had readEugenioon his first coming to town, for we see it mentioned in one of his letters to Mr. Cave, which has been inserted in this work;ante, p. 122. BOSWELL. See Swift'sWorks, ed. 1803, xix. 153, for his letter to this wine merchant, Thomas Beach by name.
[713] These lines are in theAnnus Mirabilis(stanza 164) in a digression in praise of the Royal Society; described by Johnson (Works, vii. 320) as 'an example seldom equalled of seasonable excursion and artful return.'Ibp. 341, he says: 'Dryden delighted to tread upon the brink of meaning, where light and darkness begin to mingle…. This inclination sometimes produced nonsense, which he knew; and sometimes it issued in absurdities, of which perhaps he was not conscious.' He then quotes these lines, and continues: 'They have no meaning; but may we not say, in imitation of Cowley on another book—
"'Tis so likesense, 'twill serve the turn as well."'
Cowley's line is from hisPindarique Ode to Mr. Hobs:—
''Tis so liketruth, 'twill serveourturn as well.'
[714] In hisDictionary, he definespunster as a low wit, who endeavours at reputation by double meaning. Seepost, April 28, 1778.
[715] I formerly thought that I had perhaps mistaken the word, and imagined it to beCorps, from its similarity of sound to the real one. For an accurate and shrewd unknown gentleman, to whom I am indebted for some remarks on my work, observes on this passage—'Q. if not on the wordFort? A vociferous French preacher said of Bourdaloue, "Il prechefort bien, etmoibien fort."'—Menagiana. See also Anecdotes Litteraires, Article Bourdaloue. But my ingenious and obliging correspondent, Mr. Abercrombie of Philadelphia, has pointed out to me the following passage inMenagiana; which renders the preceding conjecture unnecessary, and confirms my original statement:
'Madme de Bourdonne, Chanoinesse de Remiremont, venoit d'entendre un discours plein de feu et d'esprit, mais fort peu solide, et tresirregulier. Une de ses amies, qui y prenoit interet pour l'orateur, lui dit en sortant, "Eh bien, Madme que vous semble-t-il de ce que vous venez d'entendre?—Qu'il ya d'esprit?"—"Il y a tant, repondit Madme de Bourdonne, que je n'y ai pas vu decorps"'—Menagiana, tome ii. p. 64. Amsterd. 1713. BOSWELL.Menagiana, ou les bans mots et remarques critiques, historiqites, morales et derudition de M. Menage, recueillies par ses amis, published in 1693. Gilles Menage was born 1613, died 1692.
[716] That Johnson only relished the conversation, and did not join in it, is more unlikely. In hischargeto Boswell, he very likely pointed out that what was said within was not to be reported without. Boswell gives only brief reports of the talk at the Club, and these not openly. Seepost, April 7, 1775, note.
[717] Seepost, the passage before Feb. 18, 1775.
[718] By the Rev. Henry Wharton, published in 1692.
[719] Seeante, ii. 126, for what Johnson said of theinward light.
[720] Lady Diana Beauclerk. In 1768 Beauclerk married the eldest daughter of the second Duke of Marlborough, two days after her divorce from her first husband, Viscount Bolingbroke, the nephew of the famous Lord Bolingbroke. She was living when her story, so slightly veiled as it is, was thus published by Boswell. The marriage was not a happy one. Two years after Beauclerk's death, Mr. Burke, looking at his widow's house, said in Miss Burney's presence:—'I am extremely glad to see her at last so well housed; poor woman! the bowl has long rolled in misery; I rejoice that it has now found its balance. I never myself so much enjoyed the sight of happiness in another, as in that woman when I first saw her after the death of her husband.' He then drew Beauclerk's character 'in strong and marked expressions, describing the misery he gave his wife, his singular ill-treatment of her, and the necessary relief the death of such a man must give.' Mme. D'Arblay'sDiary, ii. 147.
[721] Old Mr. Langton. CROKER. Seepost, April 26, 1776.
[722] Seepost, Sept. 22, 1777.
[723] Seepost, May 15, 1776.
[724] The writer of hymns.
[725] Malone says that 'Hawkesworth was introduced by Garrick to Lord Sandwich, who, thinking to put a few hundred pounds into his pocket, appointed him to revise and publishCook's Voyages. He scarcely did anything to the MSS., yet sold it to Cadell and Strahan for £6000.' Prior'sMalone, p. 441. Thurlow, in his speech on copy-right on March 24, 1774, said 'that Hawkesworth's book, which was a mere composition of trash, sold for three guineas by the booksellers' monopolizing.'Parl. Hist. xvii. 1086. Seeante, i. 253, note 1, and Boswell'sHebrides, Oct. 3.
[726] Gilbert White held 'that, though most of the swallow kind may migrate, yet that some do stay behind, and bide with us during the winter.' White'sSelborne, Letter xii. Seeante, ii. 55.
[727] Seeante, ii. 73.
[728] No. 41. 'The sparrow that was hatched last spring makes her first nest the ensuing season of the same materials, and with the same art as in any following year; and the hen conducts and shelters her first brood of chickens with all the prudence that she ever attains.'
[729] Seepost, April 3, 1776, April 3, 1779, and April 28, 1783.
[730] Rousseau went further than Johnson in this. About eleven years earlier he had, in hisContract Social, iv. 8, laid down certain 'simple dogmas,' such as the belief in a God and a future state, and said:—'Sans pouvoir obliger personne à les croire, il [le Souverain] peut bannir de l'Etat quiconque ne les croit pas: … Que si quelquiun, après avoir reconne publiquement ces mêmes dogmes, se conduit comme ne les croyant pas, qu'il soit puni de mort; il a commis le plus grand des crimes, il a menti devant les lois.'
[731] Seepost, 1780, in Mr. Langton'sCollection.
[732] Boswell calls Elwal Johnson's countryman, because they both came from the same county. Seeante, ii.
[733] Baretti, in a MS. note onPiozzi Letters, i. 219, says:—'Johnson would have made an excellent Spanish inquisitor. To his shame be it said, he always was tooth and nail against toleration.'
[734] Dr. Mayo's calm temper and steady perseverance, rendered him an admirable subject for the exercise of Dr. Johnson's powerful abilities. He never flinched; but, after reiterated blows, remained seemingly unmoved as at the first. The scintillations of Johnson's genius flashed every time he was struck, without his receiving any injury. Hence he obtained the epithet of The Literary Anvil. BOSWELL. Seepost, April 15, 1778, for an account of another dinner at Mr. Dilly's, where Johnson and Mayo met.
[735] The Young Pretender, Charles Edward.
[736] Mr. Croker, quoting Johnson's letter of May 20, 1775 (Piozzi Letters, i. 219), where he says, 'I dined in a large company at a dissenting bookseller's yesterday, and disputed against toleration with one Doctor Meyer,' continues:—'This must have been the dinner noted in the text; but I cannot reconcile the date, and the mention of the death of the Queen of Denmark, which happened on May 10, 1775, ascertains that the date of theletteris correct. Boswell … must, I think, have misdated and misplaced his note of the conversation.' That the dinner did not take place in May, 1775, is, however, quite clear. By that date Goldsmith had been dead more than a year, and Goldsmith bore a large part in the talk at the Dilly's table. On the other hand, there can be no question about the correctness of the date of the letter. Wesley, in hisJournalfor 1757 (ii. 349), mentions 'Mr. Meier, chaplain to one of the Hanoverian regiments.' Perhaps he is the man whom Johnson met in 1775.
[737] Seeante, i. 423, note 2.
[738] 'It is very possible he had to call at Covent-garden on his way, and that for this, and not for Boswell's reason, he had taken his hat early. The actor who so assisted him in Young Marlow was taking his benefit this seventh of May; and for an additional attraction Goldsmith had written him an epilogue.' Forster'sGoldsmith, ii. 376.
[739] Johnson was not given to interrupting a speaker. Hawkins (Life, p. 164), describing his conversation, says:—'For the pleasure he communicated to his hearers he expected not the tribute of silence; on the contrary, he encouraged others, particularly young men, to speak, and paid a due attention to what they said.' Seepost, under April 29, 1776, note.
[740] That this was Langton can be seen from Boswell'sHebrides, Aug. 22, 1773, and from Johnson's letters of July 5, 1773, July 5, 1774, and Jan. 21, 1775.
[741] Seepost, April 28, 1783.
[742]Pr. and Med. p. 40. Boswell.
[743] Seeante, i. 489.
[744] 'In England,' wrote Burke, 'the Roman Catholics are a sect; in Ireland they are a nation.' Burke'sCorres. iv. 89.
[745] 'The celebrated number oftenpersecutions has been determined by the ecclesiastical writers of the fifth century, who possessed a more distinct view of the prosperous or adverse fortunes of the church, from the age of Nero to that of Diocletian. The ingenious parallels of thetenplagues of Egypt, and of thetenhorns of the Apocalypse, first suggested this calculation to their minds.' Gibbon'sDecline and Fall, ch. xvi, ed. 1807, ii. 370.
[746] Seeante, ii. 121, 130.
[747] Seeante, ii. 105.
[748] Reynolds said:—'Johnson had one virtue which I hold one of the most difficult to practise. After the heat of contest was over, if he had been informed that his antagonist resented his rudeness, he was the first to seek after a reconciliation.' Taylor'sReynolds, ii. 457. He wrote to Dr. Taylor in 1756:—'When I am musing alone, I feel a pang for every moment that any human being has by my peevishness or obstinacy spent in uneasiness.'Notes and Queries, 6th S., v. 324. More than twenty years later he said in Miss Burney's hearing:—'I am always sorry when I make bitter speeches, and I never do it but when I am insufferably vexed.' Mme. D'Arblay'sDiary, i. 131. 'When the fray was over,' writes Murphy (Life, p. 140), 'he generally softened into repentance, and, by conciliating measures, took care that no animosity should be left rankling in the breast of the antagonist.' Seeante, ii. 109.
[749] Johnson had offended Langton as well as Goldsmith this day, yet of Goldsmith only did he ask pardon. Perhaps this fact increased Langton's resentment, which lasted certainly more than a year. Seepost, July 5, 1774, and Jan. 21, 1775.
[750] 'Addison, speaking of his own deficiency in conversation, used to say of himself, that with respect to intellectual wealth he could draw bills for a thousand pounds, though he had not a guinea in his pocket.' Johnson'sWorks, vii. 446. Somewhat the same thought may be found inThe Tatler, No. 30, where it is said that 'a man endowed with great perfections without good-breeding, is like one who has his pockets full of gold, but always wants change for his ordinary occasions.' I have traced it still earlier, for Burnet in hisHistory of his own Times, i. 210, says, that 'Bishop Wilkins used to say Lloyd had the most learning in ready cash of any he ever knew.' Later authors have used the same image. Lord Chesterfield (Letters, ii. 291) in 1749 wrote of Lord Bolingbroke:—'He has an infinite fund of various and almost universal knowledge, which, from the clearest and quickest conception and happiest memory that ever man was blessed with, he always carries about him. It is his pocket-money, and he never has occasion to draw upon a book for any sum.' Southey wrote in 1816 (Life and Corres. iv. 206):—'I wish to avoid a conference which will only sink me in Lord Liverpool's judgment; what there may be in me is not payable at sight; give me leisure and I feel my strength.' Rousseau was in want of readiness like Addison:—'Je fais d'excellens impromptus à loisir; mais sur le temps je n'ai jamais rien fait ni dit qui vaille. Je ferais une fort jolie conversation par la poste, comme on dit que les Espagnols jouent aux échecs. Quand je lus le trait d'un Duc de Savoye qui se retourna, faisant route, pour crier;à votre gorge, marchand de Paris, je dis, me voilà .'Les Confessions, Livre iii. See alsopost, May 8, 1778.
[751] 'Among the many inconsistencies which folly produces, or infirmity suffers in the human mind, there has often been observed a manifest and striking contrariety between the life of an author and his writings; and Milton, in a letter to a learned stranger, by whom he had been visited, with great reason congratulates himself upon the consciousness of being found equal to his own character, and having preserved in a private and familiar interview that reputation which his works had procured him.'The Rambler, No. 14.
[752] Prior (Life of Goldsmith, ii. 459) says that it was not a German who interrupted Goldsmith but a Swiss, Mr. Moser, the keeper of the Royal Academy (post, June 2, 1783). He adds that at a Royal Academy dinner Moser interrupted another person in the same way, when Johnson seemed preparing to speak, whereupon Goldsmith said, 'Are you sure thatyoucan comprehend what he says?'
[753] Edmund Burke he called Mund; Dodsley, Doddy; Derrick, Derry; Cumberland, Cumbey; Monboddo, Monny; Stockdale, Stockey. Mrs. Piozzi represents him in his youth as calling Edmund Hector 'dear Mund.'Ante, i. 93, note. Sheridan's father had been known as Sherry among Swift and his friends. Swift'sWorks, ed. 1803, x. 256.
[754] Mr. Forster (Life of Goldsmith, ii. 103) on this remarks:—'It was a courteous way of saying, "I wishyou[Davies] wouldn't call me Goldy, whatever Mr. Johnson does."' That he is wrong in this is shown by Boswell, in his letter to Johnson of Feb. 14, 1777, where he says:—'You remember poor Goldsmith, when he grew important, and wished to appearDoctor Major, could not bear your calling himGoldy.' See also Boswell'sHebrides, Oct. 14, 1773.
[755] The Reverend Thomas Bagshaw, M.A., who died on November 20, 1787, in the seventy-seventh year of his age, Chaplain of Bromley College, in Kent, and Rector of Southfleet. He had resigned the cure of Bromley Parish some time before his death. For this, and another letter from Dr. Johnson in 1784, to the same truely respectable man, I am indebted to Dr. John Loveday, of the Commons [ante, i. 462, note 1], a son of the late learned and pious John Loveday, Esq., of Caversham in Berkshire, who obligingly transcribed them for me from the originals in his possession. This worthy gentleman, having retired from business, now lives in Warwickshire. The world has been lately obliged to him as the Editor of the late Rev. Dr. Townson's excellent work, modestly entitled,A Discourse on the Evangelical History, from the Interment to the Ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; to which is prefixed, a truly interesting and pleasing account of the authour, by the Reverend Mr. Ralph Churton. BOSWELL.
[756] Sunday was May 9.
[757] As Langton was found to deeply resent Johnson's hasty expression at the dinner on the 7th, we must assume that he had invited Johnson to dine with him before the offence had been given.
[758] In theDictionaryJohnson, as the second definition ofmetaphysical, says: 'In Shakespeare it meanssupernaturalorpreternatural.' 'Creation' being beyond the nature of man, the right derived from it is preternatural or metaphysical.
[759] Seeante, i. 437.
[760] Hume, on Feb. 24 of this year, mentioned to Adam Smith as a late publication Lord Monboddo'sOrigin and Progress of Language:—'It contains all the absurdity and malignity which I suspected; but is writ with more ingenuity and in a better style than I looked for.' J. H. Burton'sHume, ii. 466. Seeante, ii. 74.
[761] Monday was May 10.
[762] Seeante, i. 413. Percy wrote of Goldsmith's envy:—'Whatever appeared of this kind was a mere momentary sensation, which he knew not how, like other men, to conceal.' Goldsmith'sMisc. Works, i. 117.
[763] He might have applied to himself his own version of Ovid's lines,Genus et proavos, &c., the motto toThe Rambler, No. 46:—
'Nought from my birth or ancestors I claim; All is my own, my honor and my shame.'
Seeante, ii. 153.
[764] That Langton is meant is shewn by Johnson's letter of July 5 (post, p. 265). The man who is there described as leaving the town in deep dudgeon was certainly Langton. 'Where is now my legacy?' writes Johnson. He is referring, I believe, to the last part of his playful and boisterous speech, where he says:—'I hope he has left me a legacy.' Mr. Croker, who is great at suspicions, ridiculously takes the mention of a legacy seriously, and suspects 'some personal disappointment at the bottom of this strange obstreperous and sour merriment.' He might as well accuse Falstaff of sourness in his mirth.
[765] See Boswell'sHebrides, Sept. 23, 1773, where Boswell makes the same remark.
[766]
'Et quorum pars magna fui.''Yea, and was no small part thereof.'
Morris, Ãneids, ii. 6.
[767] Johnson, as drawn by Boswell, is too 'awful, melancholy, and venerable.' Such 'admirable fooling' as he describes here is but rarely shown in his pages. Yet he must often have seen equally 'ludicrous exhibitions.' Hawkins (Life, p. 258) says, that 'in the talent of humour there hardly ever was Johnson's equal, except perhaps among the old comedians.' Murphy writes (Life, p. 139):—'Johnson was surprised to be told, but it is certainly true, that with great powers of mind, wit and humour were his shining talents.' Mrs. Piozzi confirms this. 'Mr. Murphy,' she writes (Anec. p. 205), 'always said he was incomparable at buffoonery.' She adds (p. 298):—'He would laugh at a stroke of genuine humour, or sudden sally of odd absurdity, as heartily and freely as I ever yet saw any man; and though the jest was often such as few felt besides himself, yet his laugh was irresistible, and was observed immediately to produce that of the company, not merely from the notion that it was proper to laugh when he did, but purely out of want of power to forbear it.' Miss Burney records:—'Dr. Johnson has more fun, and comical humour, and love of nonsense about him than almost anybody I ever saw.' Mine. D'Arblay'sDiary, i. 204. See Boswell's own account,post, end of vol. iv.
[768]Pr. and Med. p. 129. BOSWELL. Seepost, 1780, in Mr. Langton'sCollectionfor Johnson's study of Low Dutch.
[769] 'Those that laugh at the portentous glare of a comet, and hear a crow with equal tranquillity from the right or left, will yet talk of times and situations proper for intellectual performances,' &c.The Idler, No. xi. Seeante, i. 332.
[770] 'He did not see at all with one of his eyes' (ante, i. 41).
[771] Not six months before his death, he wished me to teach him the Scale of Musick:—'Dr. Burney, teach me at least the alphabet of your language.' BURNEY.
[772] Accurata Burdonum [i.e. Scaligerorum] Fabulæ Confutatio (auctore I. R). Lugduni Batavorum. Apud Ludovicum Elzevirium MDCXVII. BRIT. MUS. CATALOGUE.
[773] Mrs. Piozzi'sAnecdotes of Johnson, p. 131. BOSWELL. Mrs. Piozzi (Anec. p. 129) describes her mother and Johnson as 'excellent, far beyond the excellence of any other man and woman I ever yet saw. As her conduct extorted his truest esteem, her cruel illness excited all his tenderness. He acknowledged himself improved by her piety, and over her bed with the affection of a parent, and the reverence of a son.' Baretti, in a MS. note onPiozzi Letters, i. 81, says that 'Johnson could not much near Mrs. Salusbury, nor Mrs. Salusbury him, when they first knew each other. But her cancer moved his compassion, and made them friends.' Johnson, recording her death, says:—'Yesterday, as I touched her hand and kissed it, she pressed my hand between her two hands, which she probably intended as the parting caress … This morning being called about nine to feel her pulse, I said at parting, "God bless you; for Jesus Christ's sake." She smiled as pleased.'Pr. and Med. p. 128.
[774] Johnson wrote to Dr. Taylor July 22, 1782:—'Sir Robert Chambers slipped this session through the fingers of revocation, but I am in doubt of his continuance. Shelburne seems to be his enemy. Mrs. Thrale says they will do him no harm. She perhaps thinks there is no harm without hanging. The mere act of recall strips him of eight thousand a year.'Notes and Queries, 6th S., v. 462.
[775] Beattie was Professor of Moral Philosophy. For some years his 'English friends had tried to procure for him a permanent provision beyond the very moderate emoluments arising from his office.' Just before Johnson wrote, Beattie had been privately informed that he was to have a pension of £200 a year. Forbes'sBeattie, ed. 1824, pp. 145, 151. When Johnson heard of this 'he clapped his hands, and cried, "O brave we!"' Boswell'sHebrides, Oct. 26.
[776] Langton. Seeante, p. 254, note 2.
[777] Langton—his native village.
[778] Seeante, p. 261, note 2.
[779] That he set out on this day is shewn by his letter to Mrs. Thrale.Piozzi Letters, ii. 103. The following anecdote in theMemoir of Goldsmith, prefixed to hisMisc. Works(i. 110), is therefore inaccurate:—'I was dining at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, August 7, 1773, where were the Archbishop of Tuam and Mr. (now Lord) Eliot, when the latter making use of some sarcastical reflections on Goldsmith, Johnson broke out warmly in his defence, and in the course of a spirited eulogium said, "Is there a man, Sir, now who can pen an essay with such ease and elegance as Goldsmith?"' Johnson did in August, 1783, dine at Reynolds's, and meet there the Archbishop of Tuam, 'a man coarse of voice and inelegant of language'Piozzi Letters, ii. 300.
[780] It was on Saturday the 14th of August that he arrived.
[781] From Aug. 14 to Nov. 22 is one hundred days.
[782] It is strange that not one of the four conferred on him an honorary degree. This same year Beattie had been thus honoured at Oxford. Gray, who visited Aberdeen eight years before Johnson, was offered the degree of doctor of laws, 'which, having omitted to take it at Cambridge, he thought it decent to refuse.' Johnson'sWorks, viii. 479.
[783] He was long remembered amongst the lower order of Hebrideans by the title ofSassenach More, thebig Englishman. WALTER SCOTT.
[784] The first edition was published in September, 1785. In the following August, in his preface to the third edition, Boswell speaks of the first two editions 'as large impressions.'
[785] The authour was not a small gainer by this extraordinary Journey; for Dr. Johnson thus writes to Mrs. Thrale, Nov. 3, 1773:—'Boswell will praise my resolution and perseverance, and I shall in return celebrate his good humour and perpetual cheerfulness. He has better faculties than I had imagined; more justness of discernment, and more fecundity of images. It is very convenient to travel with him; for there is no house where he is not received with kindness and respect.' Let. 90, to Mrs. Thrale. [Piozzi Letters, i. 198.] MALONE.
[786] 'The celebrated Flora Macdonald. See Boswell'sTour' COURTENAY.
[787] Lord Eldon (at that time Mr. John Scott) has the following reminiscences of this visit:—'I had a walk in New Inn Hall Garden with Dr. Johnson and Sir Robert Chambers [Principal of the Hall]. Sir Robert was gathering snails, and throwing them over the wall into his neighbours garden. The Doctor repreached him very roughly, and stated to him that this was unmannerly and unneighbourly. "Sir," said Sir Robert, "my neighbour is a Dissenter." "Oh!" said the Doctor, "if so, Chambers, toss away, toss away, as hard as you can." He was very absent. I have seen him standing for a very long time, without moving, with a foot on each side the kennel which was then in the middle of the High Street, with his eyes fixed on the water running in it. In the common-room of University College he was dilating upon some subject, and the then head of Lincoln College, Dr. Mortimer, occasionally interrupted him, saying, "I deny that." This was often repeated, and observed upon by Johnson, in terms expressive of increasing displeasure and anger. At length upon the Doctor's repeating the words, "I deny that," "Sir, Sir," said Johnson, "you must have forgot that an author has said:Plus negabit tinus asinus in una hora quam centum philosophi probaverint in centum annis."' [Dr. Fisher, who related this story to Mr. Croker, described Dr. Mortimer as 'a Mr. Mortimer, a shallow under-bred man, who had no sense of Johnson's superiority. He flatly contradicted some assertion which Johnson had pronounced to be as clear as that two and two make four.' Croker'sBoswell, p. 483.] 'Mrs. John Scott used to relate that she had herself helped Dr. Johnson one evening to fifteen cups of tea.' Twiss'sEldon, i. 87.
[788] In this he shewed a very acute penetration. My wife paid him the most assiduous and respectful attention, while he was our guest; so that I wonder how he discovered her wishing for his departure. The truth is, that his irregular hours and uncouth habits, such as turning the candles with their heads downwards, when they did not burn bright enough, and letting the wax drop upon the carpet, could not but be disagreeable to a lady. Besides, she had not that high admiration of him which was felt by most of those who knew him; and what was very natural to a female mind, she thought he had too much influence over her husband. She once in a little warmth, made, with more point than justice, this remark upon that subject: 'I have seen many a bear led by a man; but I never before saw a man led by a bear.' BOSWELL. Seeante, ii. 66.