The porter was very angry, but stood still, and eyed the huge figurewith much earnestness, till he was satisfied that his wisest course wasto be quiet, and take up his burthen again.Our accidental meeting in the street after a long separation was apleasing surprize to us both. He stepped aside with me intoFalcon-court, and made kind inquiries about my family, and as we were ina hurry going different ways, I promised to call on him next day; hesaid he was engaged to go out in the morning. 'Early, Sir?' said I.JOHNSON: 'Why, Sir, a London morning does not go with the sun.'I waited on him next evening, and he gave me a great portion of hisoriginal manuscript of his _Lives of the Poets_, which he hadpreserved for me.I found on visiting his friend, Mr. Thrale, that he was now very ill,and had removed, I suppose by the solicitation of Mrs. Thrale, to ahouse in Grosvenor-square[239]. I was sorry to see him sadly changed inhis appearance.He told me I might now have the pleasure to see Dr. Johnson drink wineagain, for he had lately returned to it. When I mentioned this toJohnson, he said, 'I drink it now sometimes, but not socially.' Thefirst evening that I was with him at Thrale's, I observed he poured alarge quantity of it into a glass, and swallowed it greedily. Everything about his character and manners was forcible and violent; therenever was any moderation; many a day did he fast, many a year did herefrain from wine; but when he did eat, it was voraciously; when he diddrink wine, it was copiously. He could practise abstinence, but nottemperance[240].Mrs. Thrale and I had a dispute, whether Shakspeare or Milton had drawnthe most admirable picture of a man[241]. I was for Shakspeare; Mrs.Thrale for Milton; and after a fair hearing, Johnson decided formy opinion.I told him of one of Mr. Burke's playful sallies upon Dean Marlay[242]:'I don't like the Deanery of _Ferns_, it sounds so like a _barren_title.'--'Dr. Heath should have it;' said I. Johnson laughed, andcondescending to trifle in the same mode of conceit, suggested Dr._Moss_[243].He said, 'Mrs. Montagu has dropt me. Now, Sir, there are people whom oneshould like very well to drop, but would not wish to be droppedby[244].' He certainly was vain of the society of ladies, and could makehimself very agreeable to them, when he chose it; Sir Joshua Reynoldsagreed with me that he could. Mr. Gibbon, with his usual sneer,controverted it, perhaps in resentment of Johnson's having talked withsome disgust of his ugliness[245], which one would think a _philosopher_would not mind. Dean Marlay wittily observed, 'A lady may be vain, whenshe can turn a wolf-dog into a lap-dog.'The election for Ayrshire, my own county, was this spring tried upon apetition, before a Committee of the House of Commons. I was one of theCounsel for the sitting member, and took the liberty of previouslystating different points to Johnson, who never failed to see themclearly, and to supply me with some good hints. He dictated to me thefollowing note upon the registration of deeds:--'All laws are made for the convenience of the community: what is legallydone, should be legally recorded, that the state of things may be known,and that wherever evidence is requisite, evidence may be had. For thisreason, the obligation to frame and establish a legal register isenforced by a legal penalty, which penalty is the want of thatperfection and plentitude of right which a register would give. Thenceit follows, that this is not an objection merely legal: for the reasonon which the law stands being equitable, makes it an equitableobjection.''This (said he) you must enlarge on, when speaking to the Committee. Youmust not argue there as if you were arguing in the schools[246]; closereasoning will not fix their attention; you must say the same thing overand over again, in different words. If you say it but once, they miss itin a moment of inattention. It is unjust, Sir, to censure lawyers formultiplying words when they argue; it is often necessary for them tomultiply words[247].' His notion of the duty of a member of Parliament,sitting upon an election-committee[248], was very high; and when he wastold of a gentleman upon one of those committees, who read thenewspapers part of the time, and slept the rest, while the merits of avote were examined by the counsel; and as an excuse, when challenged bythe chairman for such behaviour, bluntly answered, 'I had made up mymind upon that case;'--Johnson, with an indignant contempt, said, 'If hewas such a rogue as to make up his mind upon a case without hearing it,he should not have been such a fool as to tell it.' 'I think (said Mr.Dudley Long[249], now North) the Doctor has pretty plainly made him outto be both rogue and fool.'Johnson's profound reverence for the Hierarchy[250] made him expect frombishops the highest degree of decorum; he was offended even at theirgoing to taverns; 'A bishop (said he) has nothing to do at atippling-house. It is not indeed immoral in him to go to a tavern;neither would it be immoral in him to whip a top in Grosvenor-square.But, if he did, I hope the boys would fall upon him, and applythe whip to _him_. There are gradations in conduct; there ismorality,--decency,--propriety. None of these should be violated by abishop. A bishop should not go to a house where he may meet a youngfellow leading out a wench.' BOSWELL. 'But, Sir, every tavern does notadmit women.' JOHNSON. 'Depend upon it, Sir, any tavern will admit awell-drest man and a well-drest woman; they will not perhaps admit awoman whom they see every night walking by their door, in the street.But a well-drest man may lead in a well-drest woman to any tavern inLondon. Taverns sell meat and drink, and will sell them to any body whocan eat and can drink. You may as well say that a mercer will not sellsilks to a woman of the town.'He also disapproved of bishops going to routs, at least of their stayingat them longer than their presence commanded respect. He mentioned aparticular bishop. 'Poh! (said Mrs. Thrale) the Bishop of ----[251] isnever minded at a rout.' BOSWELL. 'When a bishop places himself in asituation where he has no distinct character, and is of no consequence,he degrades the dignity of his order.' JOHNSON. 'Mr. Boswell, Madam, hassaid it as correctly as it could be.'Nor was it only in the dignitaries of the Church that Johnson required aparticular decorum and delicacy of behaviour; he justly considered thatthe clergy, as persons set apart for the sacred office of serving at thealtar, and impressing the minds of men with the aweful concerns of afuture state, should be somewhat more serious than the generality ofmankind, and have a suitable composure of manners. A due sense of thedignity of their profession, independent of higher motives, will everprevent them from losing their distinction in an indiscriminatesociality; and did such as affect this, know how much it lessens them inthe eyes of those whom they think to please by it, they would feelthemselves much mortified.Johnson and his friend, Beauclerk, were once together in company withseveral clergymen, who thought that they should appear to advantage, byassuming the lax jollity of _men of the world;_ which, as it may beobserved in similar cases, they carried to noisy excess. Johnson, whothey expected would be _entertained,_ sat grave and silent for sometime; at last, turning to Beauclerk, he said, by no means in a whisper,'This merriment of parsons is mighty offensive.'Even the dress of a clergyman should be in character, and nothing can bemore despicable than conceited attempts at avoiding the appearance ofthe clerical order; attempts, which are as ineffectual as they arepitiful. Dr. Porteus, now Bishop of London, in his excellent charge whenpresiding over the diocese of Chester, justly animadverts upon thissubject; and observes of a reverend fop, that he 'can be but _half abeau_[252].'Addison, in _The Spectator_[253], has given us a fine portrait of aclergyman, who is supposed to be a member of his _Club_; and Johnson hasexhibited a model, in the character of Mr. Mudge[254], which has escapedthe collectors of his works, but which he owned to me, and which indeedhe shewed to Sir Joshua Reynolds at the time when it was written. Itbears the genuine marks of Johnson's best manner, and is asfollows[255]:--'The Reverend Mr. _Zacariah Mudge_, Prebendary of Exeter, and Vicar ofSt. Andrew's in Plymouth; a man equally eminent for his virtues andabilities, and at once beloved as a companion and reverenced as apastor. He had that general curiosity to which no kind of knowledge isindifferent or superfluous; and that general benevolence by which noorder of men is hated or despised.His principles both of thought and action were great and comprehensive.By a solicitous examination of objections, and judicious comparison ofopposite arguments, he attained what enquiry never gives but to industryand perspicuity, a firm and unshaken settlement of conviction. But hisfirmness was without asperity; for, knowing with how much difficultytruth was sometimes found, he did not wonder that many missed it.The general course of his life was determined by his profession; hestudied the sacred volumes in the original languages; with whatdiligence and success, his _Notes upon the Psalms_ give sufficientevidence. He once endeavoured to add the knowledge of Arabick to that ofHebrew; but finding his thoughts too much diverted from other studies,after some time desisted from his purpose.His discharge of parochial duties was exemplary. How his _Sermons_[256]were composed, may be learned from the excellent volume which he hasgiven to the publick; but how they were delivered, can be known only tothose that heard them; for as he appeared in the pulpit, words will noteasily describe him. His delivery, though unconstrained was notnegligent, and though forcible was not turbulent; disdaining anxiousnicety of emphasis, and laboured artifice of action, it captivated thehearer by its natural dignity, it roused the sluggish, and fixed thevolatile, and detained the mind upon the subject, without directing itto the speaker.The grandeur and solemnity of the preacher did not intrude upon hisgeneral behaviour; at the table of his friends he was a companioncommunicative and attentive, of unaffected manners, of manlycheerfulness, willing to please, and easy to be pleased. Hisacquaintance was universally solicited, and his presence obstructed noenjoyment which religion did not forbid. Though studious he was popular;though argumentative he was modest; though inflexible he was candid; andthough metaphysical yet orthodox[257].'On Friday, March 30, I dined with him at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, withthe Earl of Charlemont, Sir Annesley Stewart, Mr. Eliot of Port-Eliot,Mr. Burke, Dean Marlay, Mr. Langton; a most agreeable day, of which Iregret that every circumstance is not preserved; but it is unreasonableto require such a multiplication of felicity.Mr. Eliot, with whom Dr. Walter Harte had travelled[258], talked to usof his _History of Gustavus Adolphus_, which he said was a very goodbook in the German translation. JOHNSON. 'Harte was excessively vain. Heput copies of his book in manuscript into the hands of Lord Chesterfieldand Lord Granville, that they might revise it. Now how absurd was it tosuppose that two such noblemen would revise so big a manuscript. Poorman! he left London the day of the publication of his book, that hemight be out of the way of the great praise he was to receive; and hewas ashamed to return, when he found how ill his book had succeeded. Itwas unlucky in coming out on the same day with Robertson's _History ofScotland_[259]. His husbandry[260], however, is good.' BOSWELL. 'So hewas fitter for that than for heroick history: he did well, when heturned his sword into a plough-share.'Mr. Eliot mentioned a curious liquor peculiar to his country, which theCornish fishermen drink. They call it _Mahogany_; and it is made of twoparts gin, and one part treacle, well beaten together. I begged to havesome of it made, which was done with proper skill by Mr. Eliot. Ithought it very good liquor; and said it was a counterpart of what iscalled _Athol Porridge_ in the Highlands of Scotland, which is a mixtureof whisky and honey. Johnson said, 'that must be a better liquor thanthe Cornish, for both its component parts are better.' He alsoobserved, '_Mahogany_ must be a modern name; for it is not long sincethe wood called mahogany was known in this country.' I mentioned hisscale of liquors[261];--claret for boys--port for men--brandy forheroes. 'Then (said Mr. Burke) let me have claret: I love to be a boy;to have the careless gaiety of boyish days.' JOHNSON. 'I should drinkclaret too, if it would give me that; but it does not: it neither makesboys men, nor men boys. You'll be drowned by it, before it has anyeffect upon you.'I ventured to mention a ludicrous paragraph in the newspapers, that Dr.Johnson was learning to dance of Vestris[262]. Lord Charlemont, wishingto excite him to talk, proposed in a whisper, that he should be asked,whether it was true. 'Shall I ask him?' said his Lordship. We were, by agreat majority, clear for the experiment. Upon which his Lordship verygravely, and with a courteous air said, 'Pray, Sir, is it true that youare taking lessons of Vestris?' This was risking a good deal, andrequired the boldness of a General of Irish Volunteers to make theattempt. Johnson was at first startled, and in some heat answered, 'Howcan your Lordship ask so simple a question?' But immediately recoveringhimself, whether from unwillingness to be deceived, or to appeardeceived, or whether from real good humour, he kept up the joke: 'Nay,but if any body were to answer the paragraph, and contradict it, I'dhave a reply, and would say, that he who contradicted it was no friendeither to Vestris or me. For why should not Dr.[263] Johnson add to hisother powers a little corporeal agility? Socrates learnt to dance at anadvanced age, and Cato learnt Greek at an advanced age. Then it mightproceed to say, that this Johnson, not content with dancing on theground, might dance on the rope; and they might introduce the elephantdancing on the rope. A nobleman[264] wrote a play, called _Love in ahollow Tree_. He found out that it was a bad one, and therefore wishedto buy up all the copies, and burn them. The Duchess of Marlborough hadkept one; and when he was against her at an election, she had a newedition of it printed, and prefixed to it, as a frontispiece, anelephant dancing on a rope; to shew, that his Lordship's writing comedywas as aukward as an elephant dancing on a rope[265].'On Sunday, April 1, I dined with him at Mr. Thrale's, with Sir PhilipJennings Clerk and Mr. Perkins[266], who had the superintendence of Mr.Thrale's brewery, with a salary of five hundred pounds a year. SirPhilip had the appearance of a gentleman of ancient family, welladvanced in life. He wore his own white hair in a bag of goodly size, ablack velvet coat, with an embroidered waistcoat, and very rich lacedruffles; which Mrs. Thrale said were old fashioned, but which, for thatreason, I thought the more respectable, more like a Tory; yet Sir Philipwas then in Opposition in Parliament[267]. 'Ah, Sir, (said Johnson,)ancient ruffles and modern principles do not agree.' Sir Philip defendedthe Opposition to the American war ably and with temper, and I joinedhim. He said, the majority of the nation was against the ministry.JOHNSON. '_I_, Sir, am against the ministry[268]; but it is for havingtoo little of that, of which Opposition thinks they have too much. WereI minister, if any man wagged his finger against me, he should be turnedout[269]; for that which it is in the power of Government to give atpleasure to one or to another, should be given to the supporters ofGovernment. If you will not oppose at the expence of losing your place,your opposition will not be honest, you will feel no serious grievance;and the present opposition is only a contest to get what others have.Sir Robert Walpole acted as I would do. As to the American war, the_sense_ of the nation is _with_ the ministry. The majority of those whocan _understand_ is with it; the majority of those who can only _hear_,is against it; and as those who can only hear are more numerous thanthose who can understand, and Opposition is always loudest, a majorityof the rabble will be for Opposition.'This boisterous vivacity entertained us; but the truth in my opinionwas, that those who could understand the best were against the Americanwar, as almost every man now is, when the question has been coollyconsidered.Mrs. Thrale gave high praise to Mr. Dudley Long, (now North). JOHNSON.'Nay, my dear lady, don't talk so. Mr. Long's character is very _short_.It is nothing. He fills a chair. He is a man of genteel appearance, andthat is all[270]. I know nobody who blasts by praise as you do: forwhenever there is exaggerated praise, every body is set against acharacter. They are provoked to attack it. Now there is Pepys[271]; youpraised that man with such disproportion, that I was incited to lessenhim, perhaps more than he deserves[272]. His blood is upon yourhead[273]. By the same principle, your malice defeats itself; for yourcensure is too violent. And yet (looking to her with a leering smile)she is the first woman in the world, could she but restrain that wickedtongue of hers;--she would be the only woman, could she but command thatlittle whirligig[274].'Upon the subject of exaggerated praise I took the liberty to say, that Ithought there might be very high praise given to a known character whichdeserved it, and therefore it would not be exaggerated. Thus, one mightsay of Mr. Edmund Burke, He is a very wonderful man. JOHNSON. 'No, Sir,you would not be safe if another man had a mind perversely tocontradict. He might answer, "Where is all the wonder? Burke is, to besure, a man of uncommon abilities, with a great quantity of matter inhis mind, and a great fluency of language in his mouth. But we are notto be stunned and astonished by him." So you see, Sir, even Burke wouldsuffer, not from any fault of his own, but from your folly.'Mrs. Thrale mentioned a gentleman who had acquired a fortune of fourthousand a year in trade, but was absolutely miserable, because he couldnot talk in company; so miserable, that he was impelled to lament hissituation in the street to ----[275], whom he hates, and who he knowsdespises him. 'I am a most unhappy man (said he). I am invited toconversations. I go to conversations; but, alas! I have noconversation.' JOHNSON. 'Man commonly cannot be successful in differentways. This gentleman has spent, in getting four thousand pounds a year,the time in which he might have learnt to talk; and now he cannot talk.'Mr. Perkins made a shrewd and droll remark: 'If he had got his fourthousand a year as a mountebank, he might have learnt to talk at thesame time that he was getting his fortune.'Some other gentlemen came in. The conversation concerning the personwhose character Dr. Johnson had treated so slightingly, as he did notknow his merit, was resumed. Mrs. Thrale said, 'You think so of him,Sir, because he is quiet, and does not exert himself with force. You'llbe saying the same thing of Mr. ---- there, who sits as quiet--.' Thiswas not well-bred; and Johnson did not let it pass without correction.'Nay, Madam, what right have you to talk thus? Both Mr. ---- and I havereason to take it ill. _You_ may talk so of Mr. ----; but why do youmake _me_ do it. Have I said anything against Mr. ----? You have _set_him, that I might shoot him: but I have not shot him.'One of the gentlemen said, he had seen three folio volumes of Dr.Johnson's sayings collected by me. 'I must put you right, Sir, (said I;)for I am very exact in authenticity. You could not see folio volumes,for I have none: you might have seen some in quarto and octavo. This isinattention which one should guard against.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, it is a wantof concern about veracity. He does not know that he saw _any_ volumes.If he had seen them he could have remembered their size[276].'Mr. Thrale appeared very lethargick to-day. I saw him again on Mondayevening, at which time he was not thought to be in immediate danger; butearly in the morning of Wednesday, the 4th[277], he expired[278].Johnson was in the house, and thus mentions the event: 'I felt almostthe last flutter of his pulse, and looked for the last time upon theface that for fifteen years had never been turned upon me but withrespect and benignity[279].' Upon that day there was a Call of theLITERARY CLUB; but Johnson apologised for his absence by thefollowing note:--'MR. JOHNSON knows that Sir Joshua Reynolds and the other gentlemen willexcuse his incompliance with the call, when they are told that Mr.Thrale died this morning.' Wednesday.'Mr. Thrale's death was a very essential loss to Johnson[280], who,although he did not foresee all that afterwards happened, wassufficiently convinced that the comforts which Mr. Thrale's familyafforded him, would now in a great measure cease. He, however continuedto shew a kind attention to his widow and children as long as it wasacceptable; and he took upon him, with a very earnest concern, theoffice of one of his executors, the importance of which seemed greaterthan usual to him, from his circumstances having been always such, thathe had scarcely any share in the real business of life[281]. His friendsof the CLUB were in hopes that Mr. Thrale might have made a liberalprovision for him for his life, which, as Mr. Thrale left no son, and avery large fortune, it would have been highly to his honour to havedone; and, considering Dr. Johnson's age, could not have been of longduration; but he bequeathed him only two hundred pounds, which was thelegacy given to each of his executors[282]. I could not but be somewhatdiverted by hearing Johnson talk in a pompous manner of his new office,and particularly of the concerns of the brewery, which it was at lastresolved should be sold[283]. Lord Lucan[284] tells a very good story,which, if not precisely exact, is certainly characteristic: that whenthe sale of Thrale's brewery was going forward, Johnson appearedbustling about, with an ink-horn and pen in his button-hole, like anexcise-man; and on being asked what he really considered to be the valueof the property which was to be disposed of, answered, 'We are not hereto sell a parcel of boilers and vats but the potentiality of growingrich, beyond the dreams of avarice[285].'On Friday, April 6, he carried me to dine at a club, which, at hisdesire, had been lately formed at the Queen's Arms, in St. Paul'sChurch-yard. He told Mr. Hoole, that he wished to have a _City Club_,and asked him to collect one; but, said he, 'Don't let them be_patriots_[286].' The company were to-day very sensible, well-behavedmen. I have preserved only two particulars of his conversation. He saidhe was glad Lord George Gordon had escaped[287], rather than that aprecedent should be established for hanging a man for _constructivetreason_; which, in consistency with his true, manly, constitutionalToryism, he considered would be a dangerous engine of arbitrary power.And upon its being mentioned that an opulent and very indolent Scotchnobleman, who totally resigned the management of his affairs to a man ofknowledge and abilities, had claimed some merit by saying, 'The nextbest thing to managing a man's own affairs well is being sensible ofincapacity, and not attempting it, but having full confidence in one whocan do it:' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, this is paltry. There is a middle