333. Burke, in 1792, said in Parliament that 'Dr. Johnson's virtues wereequal to his transcendent talents, and his friendship he valued as thegreatest consolation and happiness of his life.' _Parl. Debates_,xxx. 109.[1240] On the same undoubted authority, I give a few articles, whichshould have been inserted in chronological order; but which, now thatthey are before me, I should be sorry to omit:--'In 1736, Dr. Johnson had a particular inclination to have been engagedas an assistant to the Reverend Mr. Budworth, then head master of theGrammar-school, at Brewood, in Staffordshire, "an excellent person, whopossessed every talent of a perfect instructor of youth, in a degreewhich, (to use the words of one of the brightest ornaments ofliterature, the Reverend Dr. Hurd, Bishop of Worcester,) has been rarelyfound in any of that profession since the days of Quintilian." Mr.Budworth, "who was less known in his life-time, from that obscuresituation to which the caprice of fortune oft condemns the mostaccomplished characters, than his highest merit deserved," had been bredunder Mr. Blackwell [Blackwall], at Market Bosworth, where Johnson wassome time an usher [_ante_, i. 84]; which might naturally lead to theapplication. Mr. Budworth was certainly no stranger to the learning orabilities of Johnson; as he more than once lamented his having beenunder the necessity of declining the engagement, from an apprehensionthat the paralytick affection, under which our great Philologistlaboured through life, might become the object of imitation or ofridicule, among his pupils.' Captain Budworth, his grandson, hasconfirmed to me this anecdote.'Among the early associates of Johnson, at St. John's Gate, was SamuelBoyse [G-1], well known by his ingenious productions; and not less notedfor his imprudence. It was not unusual for Boyse to be a customer to thepawnbroker. On one of these occasions, Dr. Johnson collected a sum ofmoney to redeem his friend's clothes, which in two days after werepawned again. "The sum, (said Johnson,) was collected by sixpences, at atime when to me sixpence was a serious consideration [G-2]."'Speaking one day of a person for whom he had a real friendship, but inwhom vanity was somewhat too predominant, he observed, that "Kelly [G-3]was so fond of displaying on his side-board the plate which he possessed,that he added to it his spurs. For my part, (said he,) I never wasmaster of a pair of spurs, but once; and they are now at the bottom ofthe ocean. By the carelessness of Boswell's servant, they were droppedfrom the end of the boat, on our return from the Isle of Sky [G-4]."'The late Reverend Mr. Samuel Badcock [G-5], having been introduced to Dr.Johnson, by Mr. Nichols, some years before his death, thus expressedhimself in a letter to that gentleman:--'How much I am obliged to you for the favour you did me in introducingme to Dr. Johnson! _Tantum vidi Virgilium_ [G-6]. But to have seen him,and to have received a testimony of respect from him, was enough. Irecollect all the conversation, and shall never forget one of hisexpressions. Speaking of Dr. P---- [Priestley], (whose writings, Isaw, he estimated at a low rate,) he said, "You have proved him asdeficient in _probity_ as he is in learning [G-7]." I called him an"Index-scholar [G-8];" but he was not willing to allow him a claim evento that merit. He said, that "he borrowed from those who had beenborrowers themselves, and did not know that the mistakes he adopted hadbeen answered by others." I often think of our short, but precious,visit to this great man. I shall consider it as a kind of an _aera_ inmy life.' BOSWELL. [Note: See Appendix G for notes on this footnote.][1241] See _ante_, i. 152, 501.[1242] He wrote to Dr. Taylor on Feb. 17, 1776:--'Keep yourselfcheerful. Lie in bed with a lamp, and when you cannot sleep and arebeginning to think, light your candle and read. At least light yourcandle; a man is perhaps never so much harrassed (_sic_) by his own mindin the light as in the dark.' _Notes and Queries_, 6th S. v. 423.[1243] Mr. Croker records 'the following communication from Mr. Hoolehimself':--'I must mention an incident which shews how ready Johnson wasto make amends for any little incivility. When I called upon him, themorning after he had pressed me rather roughly to read _louder_, hesaid, "I was peevish yesterday; you must forgive me: when you are as oldand as sick as I am, perhaps you may be peevish too." I have heard himmake many apologies of this kind.'[1244] 'To his friend Dr. Burney he said a few hours before he died,taking the Doctor's hands within his, and casting his eyes towardsHeaven with a look of the most fervent piety, "My dear friend, while youlive do all the good you can." Seward's _Biographiana,_ p. 601[1245] Mr. Hoole, senior, records of this day:--'Dr. Johnson exhorted meto lead a better life than he had done. "A better life than you, my dearSir:" I repeated. He replied warmly, "Don't compliment not." Croker's_Boswell_, p. 844[1246] See _ ante_, p. 293[1247] The French historian, Jacques-Auguste de Thou, 1553-1617, authorof _Historia sui Temporis_ in 138 books.[1248] See _ante,_ ii. 42, note 2.[1249] Mr. Hutton was occasionally admitted to the royal breakfast-table."Hutton," said the King to him one morning, "is it true that youMoravians marry without any previous knowledge of each other?" "Yes, mayit please your majesty," returned Hutton; "our marriages are quiteroyal" Hannah More's _Memoirs_, i. 318. One of his female-missionariesfor North American said to Dr. Johnson:--'Whether my Saviour's servicemay be best carried on here, or on the coast of Labrador, 'tis Mr.Hutton's business to settle. I will do my part either in a brick-houseor a snow-house with equal alacrity.' Piozzi's _Synonymy_, ii. 120. Heis described also in the _Memoirs of Dr. Burney_, i. 251, 291.[1250] _Ante_, ii. 402.[1251] Burke said of Hussey, who was his friend and correspondent, thatin his character he had made 'that very rare union of the enlightenedstatesman with the ecclesiastic.' Burke's _Corres_. iv. 270.[1252] Boswell refers, I believe, to Fordyce's epitaph on Johnson in the_Gent. Mag._ 1785, p. 412, or possibly to an _Ode_ on p. 50 ofhis poems.[1253] 'Being become very weak and helpless it was thought necessarythat a man should watch with him all night; and one was found in theneighbourhood for half a crown a night.' Hawkins's _Life of Johnson_,p. 589.[1254] It was on Nov. 30 that he repeated these lines. See Croker's_Boswell_, p. 843.[1255] _British Synonymy_, i. 359. Mrs. Piozzi, to add to the wonder,says that these verses were 'improviso,' forgetting that Johnson wroteto her on Aug 8, 1780 (_Piozzi Letters_, ii. 175):--'You have heard inthe papers how --- is come to age. I have enclosed a short song ofcongratulation which you must not shew to anybody. It is odd that itshould come into anybody's head. I hope you will read it with candour;it is, I believe, one of the author's first essays in that way ofwriting, and a beginner is always to be treated with tenderness.' Thatit was Sir John Lade who had come of age is shewn by the entry of hisbirth, Aug. 1, 1759, in the _Gent. Mag._ 1759, p. 392. He was the nephewand ward of Mr. Thrale, who seemed to think that Miss Burney would makehim a good wife. (Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 79.) According to Mr.Hayward (_Life of Piozzi_, i. 69) it was Lade who having asked Johnsonwhether he advised him to marry, received as answer: 'I would advise noman to marry, Sir, who is not likely to propagate understanding.' See_ante_, ii. 109, note 2. Mr. Hayward adds that 'he married a woman ofthe town, became a celebrated member of the Four-in-Hand Club, andcontrived to waste the whole of a fine fortune before he died.' InCampbell's _Chancellors_ (ed. 1846, v. 628) a story is told of Sir JohnLadd, who is, I suppose, the same man. The Prince of Wales in 1805 askedLord Thurlow to dinner, and also Ladd. 'When "the old Lion" arrived thePrince went into the ante-room to meet him, and apologised for the partybeing larger than he had intended, but added, "that Sir John was an oldfriend of his, and he could not avoid asking him to dinner," to whichThurlow, in his growling voice, answered, "I have no objection, Sir, toSir John Ladd in his proper place, which I take to be your RoyalHighness's coach-box, and not your table."'[1256] _British Synonymy_ was published in 1794, later therefore thanBoswell's first and second editions. In both these the latter half ofthis paragraph ran as follows:--"From the specimen which Mrs. Piozzi hasexhibited of it (_Anecdotes_, p. 196) it is much to be wished that theworld could see the whole. Indeed I can speak from my own knowledge; forhaving had the pleasure to read it, I found it to be a piece ofexquisite satire conveyed in a strain of pointed vivacity and humour,and in a manner of which no other instance is to be found in Johnson'swritings. After describing the ridiculous and ruinous career of a wildspendthrift he _consoles_ him with this reflection:--"You may hang or drown at last."'[1257] Sir John.[1258]'"Les morts n'ecrivent point," says Madame de Maintenon.' HannahMore's _Memoirs_, i. 233. The note that Johnson received 'was,' says Mr.Hoole, 'from Mr. Davies, the bookseller, and mentioned a present of somepork; upon which the Doctor said, in a manner that seemed as if hethought it ill-timed, "too much of this," or some such expression.'Croker's _Boswell_, p. 844.[1259] Sir Walter Scott says that 'Reynolds observed the charge givenhim by Johnson on his death-bed not to use his pencil of a Sunday for aconsiderable time, but afterwards broke it, being persuaded by someperson who was impatient for a sitting that the Doctor had no title toexact such a promise.' Croker's _Corres_. ii. 34. 'Reynolds used to saythat "the pupil in art who looks for the Sunday with pleasure as an idleday will never make a painter."' Northcote's _Reynolds_, i. 119. 'Dr.Johnson,' said Lord Eldon, 'sent me a message on his death-bed, torequest that I would attend public worship every Sunday.' Twiss's_Eldon_, i. 168. The advice was not followed, for 'when a lawyer, a warmpartisan of the Chancellor, called him one of the pillars of the Church;"No," said another lawyer, "he may be one of its buttresses; butcertainly not one of its pillars, for he is never found within it."'_Ib_. iii. 488. Lord Campbell (_Lives of the Chancellors_, vii. 716)says:--Lord Eldon was never present at public worship in London from oneyear's end to the other. Pleading in mitigation before Lord Ellenboroughthat he attended public worship in the country, he received the rebuke,"as if there were no God in town.'"[1260] Reynolds records:--'During his last illness, when all hope was atan end, he appeared to be quieter and more resigned. His approachingdissolution was always present to his mind. A few days before he died,Mr. Langton and myself only present, he said he had been a great sinner,but he hoped he had given no bad example to his friends; that he hadsome consolation in reflecting that he had never denied Christ, andrepeated the text, "Whoever denies me, &c." [_St. Matthew_ x. 33.] Wewere both very ready to assure him that we were conscious that we werebetter and wiser from his life and conversation; and that so far fromdenying Christ, he had been, in this age, his greatest champion.'Taylor's _Reynolds_, ii. 459.[1261] Hannah More (_Memoirs_ i. 393) says that Johnson, having put up afervent prayer that Brocklesby might become a sincere Christian, 'caughthold of his hand with great earnestness, and cried, "Doctor, you do notsay _Amen_." The Doctor looked foolishly, but after a pause cried"_Amen_"' Her account, however, is often not accurate.[1262] Windham records (_Diary_, p. 30) that on the night of the 12th heurged him to take some sustenance, 'and desisted only upon hisexclaiming, "It is all very childish; let us hear no more of it."' Onhis pressing him a second time, he answered that 'he refused nosustenance but inebriating sustenance.' Windham thereupon asked him totake some milk, but 'he recurred to his general refusal, and begged thatthere might be an end of it. I then said that I hoped he would forgivemy earnestness; when he replied eagerly, "that from me nothing would benecessary by way of apology;" adding with great fervour, in words whichI shall (I hope) never forget--"God bless you, my dear Windham, throughJesus Christ;" and concluding with a wish that we might meet in somehumble portion of that happiness which God might finally vouchsafe torepentant sinners. These were the last words I ever heard him speak. Ihurried out of the room with tears in my eyes, and more affected than Ihad been on any former occasion.' It was at a later hour in this samenight that Johnson 'scarified himself in three places. On Mr. Desmoulinsmaking a difficulty of giving him the lancet he said, "Don't you, if youhave any scruples; but I will compel Frank," and on Mr. Desmoulinsattempting to prevent Frank from giving it to him, and at last torestrain his hands, he grew very outrageous, so much so as to call Frank"scoundrel" and to threaten Mr. Desmoulins that he would stab him.'_Ib_. p. 32.[1263] Mr. Strahan, mentioning 'the anxious fear', which seized Johnson,says, that 'his friends who knew his integrity observed it with equalastonishment and concern.' He adds that 'his foreboding dread of theDivine justice by degrees subsided into a pious trust and humble hope inthe Divine mercy.' _Pr. and Med._ preface, p. xv.[1264] The change of his sentiments with regard to Dr. Clarke, is thusmentioned to me in a letter from the late Dr. Adams, Master of PembrokeCollege, Oxford:--'The Doctor's prejudices were the strongest, andcertainly in another sense the weakest, that ever possessed a sensibleman. You know his extreme zeal for orthodoxy. But did you ever hear whathe told me himself? That he had made it a rule not to admit Dr. Clarke'sname in his _Dictionary_. This, however, wore off. At some distance oftime he advised with me what books he should read in defence of theChristian Religion. I recommended Clarke's _Evidences of Natural andRevealed Religion_, as the best of the kind; and I find in what iscalled his _Prayers and Meditations_, that he was frequently employed inthe latter part of his time in reading Clarke's _Sermons_. BOSWELL. See_ante_, i. 398.[1265] The Reverend Mr. Strahan took care to have it preserved, and hasinserted it in _Prayers and Meditations_, p. 216. BOSWELL.[1266] See _ante_, iii. 433.[1267] The counterpart of Johnson's end and of one striking part of hischaracter may be found in Mr. Fearing in _The Pilgrim's Progress_, partii. '"Mr. Fearing was," said Honesty, "a very zealous man. Difficulty,lions, or Vanity Fair he feared not at all; it was only sin, death, andhell that were to him a terror, because he had some doubts about hisinterest in that celestial country." "I dare believe," Greatheartreplied, "that, as the proverb is, he could have bit a firebrand, had itstood in his way; but the things with which he was oppressed no man everyet could shake off with ease."' See _ante_, ii. 298, note 4.[1268] Her sister's likeness as Hope nursing Love was painted byReynolds. Northcote's _Reynolds_, i. 185.[1269] The following letter, written with an agitated hand, from thevery chamber of death, by Mr. Langton, and obviously interrupted by hisfeelings, will not unaptly close the story of so long a friendship. Theletter is not addressed, but Mr. Langton's family believe it wasintended for Mr. Boswell.'MY DEAR SIR,--After many conflicting hopes and fears respecting theevent of this heavy return of illness which has assailed our honouredfriend, Dr. Johnson, since his arrival from Lichfield, about four daysago the appearances grew more and more awful, and this afternoon ateight o'clock, when I arrived at his house to see how he should be goingon, I was acquainted at the door, that about three quarters of an hourbefore, he breathed his last. I am now writing in the room where hisvenerable remains exhibit a spectacle, the interesting solemnity ofwhich, difficult as it would be in any sort to find terms to express, soto you, my dear Sir, whose own sensations will paint it so strongly, itwould be of all men the most superfluous to attempt to--.'--CROKER.The interruption of the note was perhaps due to a discovery made byLangton. Hawkins says, 'at eleven, the evening of Johnson's death, Mr.Langton came to me, and in an agony of mind gave me to understand thatour friend had wounded himself in several parts of the body.' Hawkins's_Life_, p. 590. To the dying man, 'on the last day of his existence onthis side the grave the desire of life,' to use Murphy's words (_Life_,p. 135), 'had returned with all its former vehemence.' In the hope ofdrawing off the dropsical water he gave himself these wounds (see_ante_, p. 399). He lost a good deal of blood, and no doubt hastened hisend. Langton must have suspected that Johnson intentionallyshortened his life.[1270] Servant to the Right Honourable William Windham. BOSWELL.[1271] Sir Joshua Reynolds and Paoli were among the mourners. Among theNichols papers in the British Museum is preserved an invitation card tothe funeral.[1272] Dr. Burney wrote to the Rev. T. Twining on Christmas Day,1784:--'The Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey lay all the blame onSir John Hawkins for suffering Johnson to be so unworthily interred. TheKnight's first inquiry at the Abbey in giving orders, as the most actingexecutor, was--"What would be the difference in the expense between apublic and private funeral?" and was told only a few pounds to theprebendaries, and about ninety pairs of gloves to the choir andattendants; and he then determined that, "as Dr. Johnson had no music inhim, he should choose the cheapest manner of interment." And for thisreason there was no organ heard, or burial service sung; for which hesuffers the Dean and Chapter to be abused in all the newspapers, andjoins in their abuse when the subject is mentioned in conversation.'Burney mentions a report that Hawkins had been slandering Johnson._Recreations and Studies of a Country Clergyman of the XVIII Century_,p. 129. Dr. Charles Burney, jun., had written the day after thefuneral:--'The executor, Sir John Hawkins, did not manage things well,for there was no anthem or choir service performed--no lesson--butmerely what is read over every old woman that is buried by the parish.Dr. Taylor read the service but so-so.' Johnstone's _Parr_, i. 535.[1273] Pope's _Essay on Man_, iv. 390. See _ante_, iii. 6, and iv. 122.[1274] On the subject of Johnson I may adopt the words of Sir JohnHarrington, concerning his venerable Tutor and Diocesan, Dr. John Still,Bishop of Bath and Wells; 'who hath given me some helps, more hopes, allencouragements in my best studies: to whom I never came but I grew morereligious; from whom I never went, but I parted better instructed. Ofhim therefore, my acquaintance, my friend, my instructor, if I speakmuch, it were not to be marvelled; if I speak frankly, it is not to beblamed; and though I speak partially, it were to be pardoned.' _NugoeAntiquoe_, vol. i. p. 136. There is one circumstance in Sir John'scharacter of Bishop Still, which is peculiarly applicable to Johnson:'He became so famous a disputer, that the learnedest were even afraid todispute with him; and he finding his own strength, could not stick towarn them in their arguments to take heed to their answers, like aperfect fencer that will tell aforehand in which button he will give thevenew, or like a cunning chess-player that will appoint aforehand withwhich pawn and in what place he will give the mate.' _Ibid_. BOSWELL.[1275] The late Right Hon. William Gerard Hamilton. MALONE.[1276] 'His death,' writes Hannah More (_Memoirs_, i. 394), 'makes akind of era in literature.' 'One who had long known him said ofhim:--'In general you may tell what the man to whom you are speakingwill say next. This you can never do of Johnson.' Johnson's _Works_(1787), xi. 211.[1277] Beside the Dedications to him by Dr. Goldsmith [_ante_, ii. 216],the Reverend Dr. Francklin [_ante_, iv. 34], and the Reverend Mr. Wilson[_ante_, iv. 162], which I have mentioned according to their dates,there was one by a lady, of a versification of _Aningait and Ajut_, andone by the ingenious Mr. Walker [_ante_, iv. 206], of his _RhetoricalGrammar_. I have introduced into this work several compliments paid tohim in the writings of his contemporaries; but the number of them is sogreat, that we may fairly say that there was almost a general tribute.Let me not be forgetful of the honour done to him by Colonel Myddleton,of Gwaynynog, near Denbigh; who, on the banks of a rivulet in his park,where Johnson delighted to stand and repeat verses, erected an urn withthe following inscription:'This spot was often dignified by the presence ofSAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.Whose moral writings, exactly conformable to theprecepts of Christianity,Gave ardour to Virtue and confidence to Truth [H-1].'As no inconsiderable circumstance of his fame, we must reckon theextraordinary zeal of the artists to extend and perpetuate his image. Ican enumerate a bust by Mr. Nollekens, and the many casts which are madefrom it; several pictures by Sir Joshua Reynolds, from one of which, inthe possession of the Duke of Dorset, Mr. Humphry executed a beautifulminiature in enamel; one by Mrs. Frances Reynolds, Sir Joshua's sister;one by Mr. Zoffani; and one by Mr. Opie [H-2]; and the followingengravings of his portrait: 1. One by Cooke, from Sir Joshua, for theProprietors' edition of his folio _Dictionary_.--2. One from ditto, byditto, for their quarto edition.--3. One from Opie, by Heath, forHarrison's edition of his _Dictionary_.--4. One from Nollekens' bust ofhim, by Bartolozzi, for Fielding's quarto edition of his_Dictionary_.--5. One small, from Harding, by Trotter, for his_Beauties_.--6. One small, from Sir Joshua, by Trotter, for his _Livesof the Poets_.--7. One small, from Sir Joshua, by Hall, for _TheRambler_.--8. One small, from an original drawing, in the possession ofMr. John Simco, etched by Trotter, for another edition of his _Lives ofthe Poets_.--9. One small, no painter's name, etched by Taylor, for his_Johnsoniana_.--10. One folio whole-length, with his oak-stick, asdescribed in Boswell's _Tour_, drawn and etched by Trotter.--11. Onelarge mezzotinto, from Sir Joshua, by Doughty [H-3].--l2. One large Romanhead, from Sir Joshua, by Marchi.--13. One octavo, holding a book to hiseye, from Sir Joshua, by Hall, for his _Works_.--14. One small, from adrawing from the life, and engraved by Trotter, for his _Life_ publishedby Kearsley.--15. One large, from Opie, by Mr. Townley, (brother of Mr.