约翰逊4-6-14

Talking of the success of the Scotch in London, he imputed it In aconsiderable degree to their spirit of nationality. 'You know, Sir,(said he,) that no Scotchman publishes a book, or has a play broughtupon the stage, but there are five hundred people ready to applaudhim.[583]'He gave much praise to his friend, Dr. Burney's elegant and entertainingtravels[584], and told Mr. Seward that he had them in his eye, whenwriting his _Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland_.Such was his sensibility, and so much was he affected by pathetickpoetry, that, when he was reading Dr. Beattie's _Hermit_ in my presence,it brought tears into his eyes[585].He disapproved much of mingling real facts with fiction. On thisaccount he censured a book entitled _Love and Madness_[586].Mr. Hoole told him, he was born in Moorfields, and had received part ofhis early instruction in Grub-street. 'Sir, (said Johnson, smiling) youhave been _regularly_ educated.' Having asked who was his instructor,and Mr. Hoole having answered, 'My uncle, Sir, who was a taylor;'Johnson, recollecting himself, said, 'Sir, I knew him; we called him the_metaphysical taylor_. He was of a club in Old-street, with me andGeorge Psalmanazar, and some others[587]: but pray, Sir, was he a goodtaylor?' Mr. Hoole having answered that he believed he was toomathematical, and used to draw squares and triangles on his shop-board,so that he did not excel in the cut of a coat;--'I am sorry for it (saidJohnson,) for I would have every man to be master of his own business.'In pleasant reference to himself and Mr. Hoole, as brother authours, heoften said, 'Let you and I, Sir, go together, and eat a beef-steak inGrub-street[588].'Sir William Chambers, that great Architect[589], whose works shew asublimity of genius, and who is esteemed by all who know him for hissocial, hospitable, and generous qualities, submitted the manuscript ofhis _Chinese Architecture_ to Dr. Johnson's perusal. Johnson was muchpleased with it, and said, 'It wants no addition nor correction, but afew lines of introduction;' which he furnished, and Sir Williamadopted[590].He said to Sir William Scott, 'The age is running mad after innovation;all the business of the world is to be done in a new way; men are to behanged in a new way; Tyburn itself is not safe from the fury ofinnovation[591].' It having been argued that this was animprovement,--'No, Sir, (said he, eagerly,) it is _not_ an improvement:they object that the old method drew together a number of spectators.Sir, executions are intended to draw spectators. If they do not drawspectators they don't answer their purpose. The old method was mostsatisfactory to all parties; the publick was gratified by aprocession[592]; the criminal was supported by it. Why is all this tobe swept away?' I perfectly agree with Dr. Johnson upon this head, andam persuaded that executions now, the solemn procession beingdiscontinued, have not nearly the effect which they formerly had[593].Magistrates both in London, and elsewhere, have, I am afraid, in thishad too much regard to their own ease[594].Of Dr. Hurd, Bishop of Worcester, Johnson said to a friend, 'Hurd, Sir,is one of a set of men who account for every thing systematically; forinstance, it has been a fashion to wear scarlet breeches; these menwould tell you, that according to causes and effects, no other wearcould at that time have been chosen.' He, however, said of him atanother time to the same gentleman, 'Hurd, Sir, is a man whoseacquaintance is a valuable acquisition.'That learned and ingenious Prelate[595] it is well known published atone period of his life _Moral and Political Dialogues_, with a woefullywhiggish cast. Afterwards, his Lordship having thought better, came tosee his errour, and republished the work with a more constitutionalspirit. Johnson, however, was unwilling to allow him full credit for hispolitical conversion. I remember when his Lordship declined the honourof being Archbishop of Canterbury, Johnson said, 'I am glad he did notgo to Lambeth; for, after all, I fear he is a Whig in his heart.'Johnson's attention to precision and clearness in expression was veryremarkable. He disapproved of parentheses; and I believe in all hisvoluminous writings, not half a dozen of them will be found. He neverused the phrases _the former_ and _the latter_, having observed, thatthey often occasioned obscurity; he therefore contrived to construct hissentences so as not to have occasion for them, and would even ratherrepeat the same words, in order to avoid them[596]. Nothing is morecommon than to mistake surnames when we hear them carelessly uttered forthe first time. To prevent this, he used not only to pronounce themslowly and distinctly, but to take the trouble of spelling them; apractice which I have often followed; and which I wish were general.Such was the heat and irritability of his blood, that not only did hepare his nails to the quick; but scraped the joints of his fingers witha pen-knife, till they seemed quite red and raw.The heterogeneous composition of human nature was remarkablyexemplified in Johnson. His liberality in giving his money to persons indistress was extraordinary. Yet there lurked about him a propensity topaultry saving. One day I owned to him that 'I was occasionally troubledwith a fit of _narrowness_.' 'Why, Sir, (said he,) so am I. _But I donot tell it_.' He has now and then borrowed a shilling of me; and when Iasked for it again, seemed to be rather out of humour. A droll littlecircumstance once occurred: as if he meant to reprimand my minuteexactness as a creditor, he thus addressed me;--'Boswell, _lend_ mesixpence--_not to be repaid_[597].'This great man's attention to small things was very remarkable. As aninstance of it, he one day said to me, 'Sir, when you get silver inchange for a guinea, look carefully at it; you may find some curiouspiece of coin.'Though a stern _true-born Englishman_[598], and fully prejudiced againstall other nations, he had discernment enough to see, and candour enoughto censure, the cold reserve too common among Englishmen towardsstrangers: 'Sir, (said he,) two men of any other nation who are shewninto a room together, at a house where they are both visitors, willimmediately find some conversation. But two Englishmen will probably goeach to a different window, and remain in obstinate silence. Sir, we asyet do not enough understand the common rights of humanity[599].'Johnson was at a certain period of his life a good deal with the Earl ofShelburne[600], now Marquis of Lansdown, as he doubtless could not buthave a due value for that nobleman's activity of mind, and uncommonacquisitions of important knowledge, however much he might disapprove ofother parts of his Lordship's character, which were widely differentfrom his own.Maurice Morgann, Esq., authour of the very ingenious _Essay on thecharacter of Falstaff_[601], being a particular friend of his Lordship,had once an opportunity of entertaining Johnson for a day or two atWickham, when its Lord was absent, and by him I have been favoured withtwo anecdotes.One is not a little to the credit of Johnson's candour. Mr. Morgann andhe had a dispute pretty late at night, in which Johnson would not giveup, though he had the wrong side, and in short, both kept the field.Next morning, when they met in the breakfasting-room, Dr. Johnsonaccosted Mr. Morgann thus:--'Sir, I have been thinking on our disputelast night--_You were in the right_[602].'The other was as follows:--Johnson, for sport perhaps, or from thespirit of contradiction, eagerly maintained that Derrick[603] had meritas a writer. Mr. Morgann argued with him directly, in vain. At length hehad recourse to this device. 'Pray, Sir, (said he,) whether do youreckon Derrick or Smart[604] the best poet?' Johnson at once felthimself roused; and answered, 'Sir, there is no settling the point ofprecedency between a louse and a flea.'Once, when checking my boasting too frequently of myself in company, hesaid to me, 'Boswell, you often vaunt so much, as to provoke ridicule.You put me in mind of a man who was standing in the kitchen of an innwith his back to the fire, and thus accosted the person next him, "Doyou know, Sir, who I am?" "No, Sir, (said the other,) I have not thatadvantage." "Sir, (said he,) I am the _great_ TWALMLEY, who invented theNew Floodgate Iron[605]."' The Bishop of Killaloe, on my repeating thestory to him, defended Twalmley, by observing, that he was entitled tothe epithet of _great_; for Virgil in his groupe of worthies in theElysian fields--_Hic manus ob patriam pugnando vulnera passi_, &c.mentions_Inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artes_[606].He was pleased to say to me one morning when we were left alone in hisstudy, 'Boswell, I think I am easier with you than with almostany body.'He would not allow Mr. David Hume any credit for his politicalprinciples, though similar to his own; saying of him, 'Sir, he was aTory by chance[607].'His acute observation of human life made him remark, 'Sir, there isnothing by which a man exasperates most people more, than by displayinga superiour ability or brilliancy in conversation. They seem pleased atthe time; but their envy makes them curse him at their hearts[608].'My readers will probably be surprised to hear that the great Dr. Johnsoncould amuse himself with so slight and playful a species of compositionas a _Charade_. I have recovered one which he made on Dr. _Barnard_, nowLord Bishop of Killaloe; who has been pleased for many years to treat mewith so much intimacy and social ease, that I may presume to call himnot only my Right Reverend, but my very dear Friend. I therefore withpeculiar pleasure give to the world a just and elegant compliment thuspaid to his Lordship by Johnson[609].CHARADE.'My _first_[610] shuts out thieves from your house or your room,My _second_[611] expresses a Syrian perfume.My _whole_[612] is a man in whose converse is shar'd,The strength of a Bar and the sweetness of Nard.'Johnson asked Richard Owen Cambridge, Esq., if he had read the Spanishtranslation of _Sallust_, said to be written by a Prince of Spain[613],with the assistance of his tutor, who is professedly the authour of atreatise annexed, on the Phoenician language.Mr. Cambridge commended the work, particularly as he thought theTranslator understood his authour better than is commonly the case withTranslators: but said, he was disappointed in the purpose for which heborrowed the book; to see whether a Spaniard could be better furnishedwith inscriptions from monuments, coins, or other antiquities which hemight more probably find on a coast, so immediately opposite toCarthage, than the Antiquaries of any other countries. JOHNSON. 'I amvery sorry you was[614] not gratified in your expectations.' CAMBRIDGE.'The language would have been of little use, as there is no historyexisting in that tongue to balance the partial accounts which the Romanwriters have left us.' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. They have not been _partial_,they have told their own story, without shame or regard to equitabletreatment of their injured enemy; they had no compunction, no feelingfor a Carthaginian. Why, Sir, they would never have borne Virgil'sdescription of Aeneas's treatment of Dido, if she had not been aCarthaginian[615].'I gratefully acknowledge this and other communications from Mr.Cambridge, whom, if a beautiful villa on the banks of the Thames, a fewmiles distant from London, a numerous and excellent library, which heaccurately knows and reads, a choice collection of pictures, which heunderstands and relishes, an easy fortune, an amiable family, anextensive circle of friends and acquaintance, distinguished by rank,fashion and genius, a literary fame, various, elegant and stillincreasing, colloquial talents rarely to be found[616], and with allthese means of happiness, enjoying, when well advanced in years, healthand vigour of body, serenity and animation of mind, do not entitle to beaddressed _fortunate senex!_[617] I know not to whom, in any age, thatexpression could with propriety have been used. Long may he live to hearand to feel it!Johnson's love of little children, which he discovered upon alloccasions, calling them 'pretty dears,' and giving them sweetmeats, wasan undoubted proof of the real humanity and gentleness of hisdisposition[618].His uncommon kindness to his servants, and serious concern, not only fortheir comfort in this world, but their happiness in the next, wasanother unquestionable evidence of what all, who were intimatelyacquainted with him, knew to be true.Nor would it be just, under this head, to omit the fondness which heshewed for animals which he had taken under his protection. I nevershall forget the indulgence with which he treated Hodge, his cat: forwhom he himself used to go out and buy oysters, lest the servants havingthat trouble should take a dislike to the poor creature. I am,unluckily, one of those who have an antipathy to a cat, so that I amuneasy when in the room with one; and I own, I frequently suffered agood deal from the presence of this same Hodge. I recollect him one dayscrambling up Dr. Johnson's breast, apparently with much satisfaction,while my friend smiling and half-whistling, rubbed down his back, andpulled him by the tail; and when I observed he was a fine cat, saying,'Why yes, Sir, but I have had cats whom I liked better than this;' andthen as if perceiving Hodge to be out of countenance, adding, 'but he isa very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed.'This reminds me of the ludicrous account which he gave Mr. Langton, ofthe despicable state of a young Gentleman of good family. 'Sir, when Iheard of him last, he was running about town shooting cats.' And then ina sort of kindly reverie, he bethought himself of his own favourite cat,and said, 'But Hodge shan't be shot; no, no, Hodge shall not be shot.'He thought Mr. Beauclerk made a shrewd and judicious' remark to Mr.Langton, who, after having been for the first time in company with awell-known wit about town, was warmly admiring and praising him, 'Seehim again,' said Beauclerk.His respect for the Hierarchy, and particularly the Dignitaries of theChurch, has been more than once exhibited in the course of thiswork[619]. Mr. Seward saw him presented to the Archbishop of York[620],and described his _Bow to an ARCH-BISHOP_, as such a studied elaborationof homage, such an extension of limb, such a flexion of body, as haveseldom or ever been equalled.I cannot help mentioning with much regret, that by my own negligence Ilost an opportunity of having the history of my family from its founderThomas Boswell, in 1504, recorded and illustrated by Johnson's pen. Suchwas his goodness to me, that when I presumed to solicit him for so greata favour, he was pleased to say, 'Let me have all the materials you cancollect, and I will do it both in Latin and English; then let it beprinted and copies of it be deposited in various places for security andpreservation.' I can now only do the best I can to make up for thisloss, keeping my great Master steadily in view. Family histories, likethe _imagines majorum_ of the Ancients, excite to virtue; and I wishthat they who really have blood, would be more careful to trace andascertain its course. Some have affected to laugh at the history of thehouse of Yvery[621]: it would be well if many others would transmittheir pedigrees to posterity, with the same accuracy and generous zealwith which the Noble Lord who compiled that work has honoured andperpetuated his ancestry.On Thursday, April 10[622], I introduced to him, at his house inBolt-court, the Honourable and Reverend William Stuart, son of the Earlof Bute; a gentleman truly worthy of being known to Johnson; being, withall the advantages of high birth, learning, travel, and elegant manners,an exemplary parish priest in every respect.After some compliments on both sides, the tour which Johnson and I hadmade to the Hebrides was mentioned. JOHNSON. 'I got an acquisition ofmore ideas by it than by any thing that I remember. I saw quite adifferent system of life[623].' BOSWELL. 'You would not like to make thesame journey again?' JOHNSON. 'Why no, Sir; not the same: it is a taletold. Gravina, an Italian critick, observes, that every man desires tosee that of which he has read; but no man desires to read an account ofwhat he has seen: so much does description fall short of reality.Description only excites curiosity: seeing satisfies it. Other peoplemay go and see the Hebrides.' BOSWELL. 'I should wish to go and see somecountry totally different from what I have been used to; such as Turkey,where religion and every thing else are different.' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir;there are two objects of curiosity,--the Christian world, and theMahometan world. All the rest may be considered as barbarous.' BOSWELL.'Pray, Sir, is the _Turkish Spy_[624] a genuine book?' JOHNSON. 'No,Sir. Mrs. Manley, in her _Life_, says that her father wrote the firsttwo volumes[625]: and in another book, _Dunton's Life and Errours_, wefind that the rest was written by one _Sault_, at two guineas a sheet,under the direction of Dr. Midgeley[626].BOSWELL. 'This has been a very factious reign, owing to the too greatindulgence of Government.' JOHNSON. 'I think so, Sir. What at first waslenity, grew timidity[627]. Yet this is reasoning _a posteriori_, andmay not be just. Supposing a few had at first been punished, I believefaction would have been crushed; but it might have been said, that itwas a sanguinary reign. A man cannot tell _a priori_ what will be bestfor Government to do. This reign has been very unfortunate. We have hadan unsuccessful war; but that does not prove that we have been illgoverned. One side or other must prevail in war, as one or other mustwin at play. When we beat Louis we were not better governed; nor werethe French better governed when Louis beat us.'On Saturday, April 12, I visited him, in company with Mr. Windham, ofNorfolk, whom, though a Whig, he highly valued. One of the best thingshe ever said was to this gentleman; who, before he set out for Irelandas Secretary to Lord Northington, when Lord Lieutenant, expressed to theSage some modest and virtuous doubts, whether he could bring himself topractise those arts which it is supposed a person in that situation hasoccasion to employ. 'Don't be afraid, Sir, (said Johnson, with apleasant smile,) you will soon make a very pretty rascal[628].He talked to-day a good deal of the wonderful extent and variety ofLondon, and observed, that men of curious enquiry might see in it suchmodes of life as very few could even imagine. He in particularrecommended to us to _explore Wapping_, which we resolved to do[629].Mr. Lowe, the painter, who was with him, was very much distressed that alarge picture which he had painted was refused to be received into theExhibition of the Royal Academy. Mrs. Thrale knew Johnson's character sosuperficially, as to represent him as unwilling to do small acts ofbenevolence; and mentions in particular, that he would hardly take thetrouble to write a letter in favour of his friends[630]. The truth,however, is, that he was remarkable, in an extraordinary degree, forwhat she denies to him; and, above all, for this very sort of kindness,writing letters for those to whom his solicitations might be of service.He now gave Mr. Lowe the following, of which I was diligent enough, withhis permission, to take copies at the next coffee-house, while Mr.Windham was so good as to stay by me.TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.'SIR,'Mr. Lowe considers himself as cut off from all credit and all hope, bythe rejection of his picture from the Exhibition. Upon this work he hasexhausted all his powers, and suspended all his expectations: and,certainly, to be refused an opportunity of taking the opinion of thepublick, is in itself a very great hardship. It is to be condemnedwithout a trial.If you could procure the revocation of this incapacitating edict, youwould deliver an unhappy man from great affliction. The Council hassometimes reversed its own determination; and I hope, that by yourinterposition this luckless picture may be got admitted. I am, &c.SAM. JOHNSON.April 12, 1783.To MR. BARRY.SIR,Mr. Lowe's exclusion from the exhibition gives him more trouble than youand the other gentlemen of the Council could imagine or intend. Heconsiders disgrace and ruin as the inevitable consequence of yourdetermination.He says, that some pictures have been received after rejection; and ifthere be any such precedent, I earnestly entreat that you will use yourinterest in his favour. Of his work I can say nothing; I pretend not tojudge of painting; and this picture I never saw: but I conceive itextremely hard to shut out any man from the possibility of success; andtherefore I repeat my request that you will propose the re-considerationof Mr. Lowe's case; and if there be any among the Council with whom myname can have any weight, be pleased to communicate to them the desireof, Sir, Your most humble servant, SAM. JOHNSON. April 12, 1783.Such intercession was too powerful to be resisted; and Mr. Lowe'sperformance was admitted at Somerset Place[631]. The subject, as Irecollect, was the Deluge, at that point of time when the water wasverging to the top of the last uncovered mountain. Near to the spot wasseen the last of the antediluvian race, exclusive of those who weresaved in the ark of Noah. This was one of those giants, then theinhabitants of the earth, who had still strength to swim, and with oneof his hands held aloft his infant child. Upon the small remaining dryspot appeared a famished lion, ready to spring at the child and devourit. Mr. Lowe told me that Johnson said to him, 'Sir, your picture isnoble and probable.' 'A compliment, indeed, (said Mr. Lowe,) from a man