约翰逊4-6-22

his own genius. It is much more poetical than the other.On Monday, June 14, and Tuesday, 15, Dr. Johnson and I dined, on one ofthem, I forget which, with Mr. Mickle, translator of the _Lusiad_, atWheatley, a very pretty country place a few miles from Oxford; and onthe other with Dr. Wetherell, Master of University-College. From Dr.Wetherell's he went to visit Mr. Sackville Parker, the bookseller; andwhen he returned to us, gave the following account of his visit, saying,'I have been to see my old friend, Sack. Parker; I find he has marriedhis maid; he has done right. She had lived with him many years in greatconfidence, and they had mingled minds; I do not think he could havefound any wife that would have made him so happy. The woman was veryattentive and civil to me; she pressed me to fix a day for dining withthem, and to say what I liked, and she would be sure to get it for me.Poor Sack! He is very ill, indeed. We parted as never to meet again. Ithas quite broke me down.' This pathetic narrative was strangelydiversified with the grave and earnest defence of a man's having marriedhis maid. I could not but feel it as in some degree ludicrous.In the morning of Tuesday, June 15, while we sat at Dr. Adams's, wetalked of a printed letter from the Reverend Herbert Croft[942], to ayoung gentleman who had been his pupil, in which he advised him to readto the end of whatever books he should begin to read. JOHNSON. 'This issurely a strange advice; you may as well resolve that whatever men youhappen to get acquainted with, you are to keep to them for life. A bookmay be good for nothing; or there may be only one thing in it worthknowing; are we to read it all through[943]? These Voyages, (pointing tothe three large volumes of _Voyages to the South Sea_[944], which werejust come out) _who_ will read them through? A man had better work hisway before the mast, than read them through; they will be eaten by ratsand mice, before they are read through. There can be littleentertainment in such books; one set of Savages is like another.'BOSWELL. 'I do not think the people of Otaheite can be reckonedSavages.' JOHNSON. 'Don't cant in defence of Savages[945].' BOSWELL.'They have the art of navigation.' JOHNSON. 'A dog or a cat can swim.'BOSWELL. 'They carve very ingeniously.' JOHNSON. 'A cat can scratch, anda child with a nail can scratch.' I perceived this was none of the_mollia tempora fandi_[946]; so desisted.Upon his mentioning that when he came to College he wrote his firstexercise twice over; but never did so afterwards[947]; MISS ADAMS. 'Isuppose, Sir, you could not make them better?' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Madam, tobe sure, I could make them better. Thought is better than no thought.'MISS ADAMS. 'Do you think, Sir, you could make your _Ramblers_ better?'JOHNSON. 'Certainly I could.' BOSWELL. 'I'll lay a bet, Sir, youcannot.' JOHNSON. 'But I will, Sir, if I choose. I shall make the bestof them you shall pick out, better.' BOSWELL. 'But you may add to them.I will not allow of that.' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, there are three ways ofmaking them better;--putting out,--adding,--or correcting[948].'During our visit at Oxford, the following conversation passed betweenhim and me on the subject of my trying my fortune at the Englishbar[949]: Having asked whether a very extensive acquaintance in London,which was very valuable, and of great advantage to a man at large, mightnot be prejudicial to a lawyer, by preventing him from giving sufficientattention to his business;--JOHNSON. 'Sir, you will attend to business,as business lays hold of you. When not actually employed, you may seeyour friends as much as you do now. You may dine at a Club every day,and sup with one of the members every night; and you may be as much atpublick places as one who has seen them all would wish to be. But youmust take care to attend constantly in Westminster-Hall; both to mindyour business, as it is almost all learnt there, (for nobody reads now;)and to shew that you want to have business[950]. And you must not betoo often seen at publick places, that competitors may not have it tosay, 'He is always at the Playhouse or at Ranelagh, and never to befound at his chambers.' And, Sir, there must be a kind of solemnity inthe manner of a professional man. I have nothing particular to say toyou on the subject. All this I should say to any one; I should have saidit to Lord Thurlow twenty years ago.'The PROFESSION may probably think this representation of what isrequired in a Barrister who would hope for success, to be by much tooindulgent; but certain it is, that as'The wits of Charles found easier ways to fame[951],'some of the lawyers of this age who have risen high, have by no meansthought it absolutely necessary to submit to that long and painfulcourse of study which a Plowden, a Coke, and a Hale considered asrequisite. My respected friend, Mr. Langton, has shewn me in thehand-writing of his grandfather[952], a curious account of aconversation which he had with Lord Chief Justice Hale, in which thatgreat man tells him, 'That for two years after he came to the inn ofcourt, he studied sixteen hours a day; however (his Lordship added) thatby this intense application he almost brought himself to his grave,though he were of a very strong constitution, and after reduced himselfto eight hours; but that he would not advise any body to so much; thathe thought six hours a day, with attention and constancy, wassufficient; that a man must use his body as he would his horse, and hisstomach; not tire him at once, but rise with an appetite.[953]'On Wednesday, June 19[954], Dr. Johnson and I returned to London; hewas not well to-day, and said very little, employing himself chiefly inreading Euripides. He expressed some displeasure at me, for notobserving sufficiently the various objects upon the road. 'If I had youreyes, Sir, (said he) I should count the passengers.' It was wonderfulhow accurate his observation of visual objects was, notwithstanding hisimperfect eyesight, owing to a habit of attention[955]. That he was muchsatisfied with the respect paid to him at Dr. Adams's is thus attestedby himself: 'I returned last night from Oxford, after a fortnight'sabode with Dr. Adams, who treated me as well as I could expect or wish;and he that contents a sick man, a man whom it is impossible to please,has surely done his part well[956].'After his return to London from this excursion, I saw him frequently,but have few memorandums: I shall therefore here insert some particularswhich I collected at various times.The Reverend Mr. Astle, of Ashbourne, in Derbyshire, brother to thelearned and ingenious Thomas Astle[957], Esq., was from his early yearsknown to Dr. Johnson, who obligingly advised him as to his studies, andrecommended to him the following books, of which a list which he hasbeen pleased to communicate, lies before me in Johnson's ownhand-writing:--_Universal History (ancient.)--Rollin's Ancient History.--Puffendorf'sIntroduction to History.--Vertot's History of Knights of Malta.--Vertot's Revolution of Portugal.--Vertot's Revolutions of Sweden.--Carte's History of England.--Present State of England.--GeographicalGrammar.--Prideaux's Connection.--Nelson's Feasts and Fasts.--Duty ofMan.--Gentleman's Religion.--Clarendon's History.--Watts's Improvementof the Mind.--Watts's Logick.--Nature Displayed.--Lowth's EnglishGrammar.--Blackwall on the Classicks.--Sherlock's Sermons.--Burnet'sLife of Hale.--Dupin's History of the Church.--Shuckford'sConnection.--Law's Serious Call.--Walton's Complete Angler.--Sandys'sTravels.--Sprat's History of the Royal Society.--England'sGazetteer.--Goldsmith's Roman History.--Some Commentaries on the.Bible_[958].It having been mentioned to Dr. Johnson that a gentleman who had a sonwhom he imagined to have an extreme degree of timidity, resolved to sendhim to a publick school, that he might acquire confidence;--' Sir, (saidJohnson,) this is a preposterous expedient for removing his infirmity;such a disposition should be cultivated in the shade. Placing him at apublick school is forcing an owl upon day[959].'Speaking of a gentleman whose house was much frequented by low company;'Rags, Sir, (said he,) will always make their appearance where they havea right to do it.'Of the same gentleman's mode of living, he said, 'Sir, the servants,instead of doing what they are bid, stand round the table in idleclusters, gaping upon the guests; and seem as unfit to attend a company,as to steer a man of war[960].'A dull country magistrate[961] gave Johnson a long tedious account ofhis exercising his criminal jurisdiction, the result of which was hishaving sentenced four convicts to transportation. Johnson, in an agonyof impatience to get rid of such a companion, exclaimed, 'I heartilywish, Sir, that I were a fifth.'Johnson was present when a tragedy was read, in which there occurredthis line:--'Who rules o'er freemen should himself be free[962].'The company having admired it much, 'I cannot agree with you (saidJohnson:) It might as well be said,--'Who drives fat oxen should himself be fat.'He was pleased with the kindness of Mr. Cator, who was joined with himin Mr. Thrale's important trust, and thus describes him[963]:--'There ismuch good in his character, and much usefulness in his knowledge.' Hefound a cordial solace at that gentleman's seat at Beckenham, in Kent,which is indeed one of the finest places at which I ever was a guest;and where I find more and more a hospitable welcome.Johnson seldom encouraged general censure of any profession[964]; but hewas willing to allow a due share of merit to the various departmentsnecessary in civilised life. In a splenetick, sarcastical, or jocularframe, however, he would sometimes utter a pointed saying of thatnature. One instance has been mentioned[965], where he gave a suddensatirical stroke to the character of an _attorney_. The tooindiscriminate admission to that employment, which requires bothabilities and integrity, has given rise to injurious reflections, whichare totally inapplicable to many very respectable men who exercise itwith reputation and honour.Johnson having argued for some time with a pertinacious gentleman; hisopponent, who had talked in a very puzzling manner, happened to say, 'Idon't understand you, Sir:' upon which Johnson observed, 'Sir, I havefound you an argument; but I am not obliged to find you anunderstanding[966].'Talking to me of Horry Walpole, (as Horace late Earl of Orford wasoften called[967],) Johnson allowed that he got together a great manycurious little things, and told them in an elegant manner[968]. Mr.Walpole thought Johnson a more amiable character after reading his_Letters to Mrs. Thrale_: but never was one of the true admirers of thatgreat man[969]. We may suppose a prejudice conceived, if he ever heardJohnson's account to Sir George Staunton[970], that when he made thespeeches in parliament for the _Gentleman's Magazine_, 'he always tookcare to put Sir Robert Walpole in the wrong, and to say every thing hecould against the electorate of Hanover[971].' The celebrated _HeroickEpistle_, in which Johnson is satyrically introduced, has been ascribedboth to Mr. Walpole and Mr. Mason. One day at Mr. Courtenay's, when agentleman expressed his opinion that there was more energy in that poemthan could be expected from Mr. Walpole; Mr. Warton, the late Laureat,observed, 'It may have been written by Walpole, and _buckram'd_ byMason[972].'He disapproved of Lord Hailes, for having modernised the language of theever-memorable John Hales of Eton[973], in an edition which his Lordshippublished of that writer's works. 'An authour's language, Sir, (saidhe,) is a characteristical part of his composition, and is alsocharacteristical of the age in which he writes. Besides, Sir, when thelanguage is changed we are not sure that the sense is the same. No, Sir;I am sorry Lord Hailes has done this.'Here it may be observed, that his frequent use of the expression, _No,Sir_, was not always to intimate contradiction; for he would say so,when he was about to enforce an affirmative proposition which had notbeen denied, as in the instance last mentioned. I used to consider it asa kind of flag of defiance; as if he had said, 'Any argument you mayoffer against this, is not just. No, Sir, it is not.' It was likeFalstaff's 'I deny your Major[974].'Sir Joshua Reynolds having said that he took the altitude of a man'staste by his stories and his wit, and of his understanding by theremarks which he repeated; being always sure that he must be a weak manwho quotes common things with an emphasis as if they were oracles;Johnson agreed with him; and Sir Joshua having also observed that thereal character of a man was found out by his amusements,--Johnson added,'Yes, Sir; no man is a hypocrite in his pleasures[975].'I have mentioned Johnson's general aversion to a pun[976]. He once,however, endured one of mine. When we were talking of a numerous companyin which he had distinguished himself highly, I said, 'Sir, you were aCOD surrounded by smelts. Is not this enough for you? at a time too whenyou were not _fishing_ for a compliment?' He laughed at this with acomplacent approbation. Old Mr. Sheridan observed, upon my mentioning itto him, 'He liked your compliment so well, he was willing to take itwith _pun sauce_.' For my own part, I think no innocent species of witor pleasantry should be suppressed; and that a good pun may be admittedamong the smaller excellencies of lively conversation.Had Johnson treated at large _De Claris Oratoribus_[977], he might havegiven us an admirable work. When the Duke of Bedford attacked theministry as vehemently as he could, for having taken upon them to extendthe time for the importation of corn[978], Lord Chatham, in his firstspeech in the House of Lords, boldly avowed himself to be an adviser ofthat measure. 'My colleagues, (said he,) as I was confined byindisposition, did me the signal honour of coming to the bed-side of asick man, to ask his opinion. But, had they not thus condescended, Ishould have _taken up my bed and walked_, in order to have deliveredthat opinion at the Council-Board.' Mr. Langton, who was present,mentioned this to Johnson, who observed, 'Now, Sir, we see that he tookthese words as he found them; without considering, that though theexpression in Scripture, _take up thy bed and walk_[979], strictlysuited the instance of the sick man restored to health and strength, whowould of course be supposed to carry his bed with him, it could not beproper in the case of a man who was lying in a state of feebleness, andwho certainly would not add to the difficulty of moving at all, that ofcarrying his bed.'When I pointed out to him in the newspaper one of Mr. Grattan's animatedand glowing speeches, in favour of the freedom of Ireland, in which thisexpression occurred (I know not if accurately taken): 'We willpersevere, till there is not one link of the English chain left to clankupon the rags of the meanest beggar in Ireland;' 'Nay, Sir, (saidJohnson,) don't you perceive that _one_ link cannot clank?'Mrs. Thrale has published[980], as Johnson's, a kind of parody orcounterpart of a fine poetical passage in one of Mr. Burke's speeches onAmerican Taxation. It is vigorously but somewhat coarsely executed; andI am inclined to suppose, is not quite correctly exhibited. I hope hedid not use the words _'vile agents'_ for the Americans in the House ofParliament; and if he did so, in an extempore effusion, I wish the ladyhad not committed it to writing[981].Mr. Burke uniformly shewed Johnson the greatest respect; and when Mr.Townshend, now lord Sydney, at a period when he was conspicuous inopposition, threw out some reflection in parliament upon the grant of apension to a man of such political principles as Johnson; Mr. Burke,though then of the same party with Mr. Townshend, stood warmly forth indefence of his friend, to whom, he justly observed, the pension wasgranted solely on account of his eminent literary merit. I am wellassured, that Mr. Townshend's attack upon Johnson was the occasion ofhis 'hitching in a rhyme[982];' for, that in the original copy ofGoldsmith's character of Mr. Burke, in his _Retaliation_, anotherperson's name stood in the couplet where Mr. Townshend is nowintroduced[983]:--'Though fraught with all learning kept[984] straining his throat,To persuade _Tommy Townshend_ to lend him a vote.'It may be worth remarking, among the _minutiae_ of my collection, thatJohnson was once drawn to serve in the militia, the Trained Bands of theCity of London, and that Mr. Rackstrow, of the Museum in Fleet-street,was his Colonel. It may be believed he did not serve in person; but theidea, with all its circumstances, is certainly laughable. He upon thatoccasion provided himself with a musket, and with a sword and belt,which I have seen hanging in his closet.He was very constant to those whom he once employed, if they gave him noreason to be displeased. When somebody talked of being imposed on in thepurchase of tea and sugar, and such articles: 'That will not be thecase, (said he,) if you go to a _stately shop_, as I always do. In sucha shop it is not worth their while to take a petty advantage.'An authour of most anxious and restless vanity being mentioned, 'Sir,(said he,) there is not a young sapling upon Parnassus more severelyblown about by every wind of criticism than that poor fellow.'The difference, he observed, between a well-bred and an ill-bred man isthis: 'One immediately attracts your liking, the other your aversion.You love the one till you find reason to hate him; you hate the othertill you find reason to love him.'The wife of one of his acquaintance had fraudulently made a purse forherself out of her husband's fortune. Feeling a proper compunction inher last moments, she confessed how much she had secreted; but beforeshe could tell where it was placed, she was seized with a convulsive fitand expired. Her husband said, he was more hurt by her want ofconfidence in him, than by the loss of his money. 'I told him, (saidJohnson,) that he should console himself: for _perhaps_ the money mightbe _found_, and he was _sure_ that his wife was gone.'A foppish physician once reminded Johnson of his having been in companywith him on a former occasion; 'I do not remember it, Sir.' Thephysician still insisted; adding that he that day wore so fine a coatthat it must have attracted his notice. 'Sir, (said Johnson,) had youbeen dipt in Pactolus[985] I should not have noticed you.'He seemed to take a pleasure in speaking in his own style; for when hehad carelessly missed it, he would repeat the thought translated intoit[986]. Talking of the Comedy of _The Rehearsal_[987], he said, 'It hasnot wit enough to keep it sweet.' This was easy; he therefore caughthimself, and pronounced a more round sentence; 'It has not vitalityenough to preserve it from putrefaction.'He censured a writer of entertaining Travels[988] for assuming a feignedcharacter, saying, (in his sense of the word[989],) 'He carries out onelye; we know not how many he brings back.'[990] At another time, talkingof the same person, he observed, 'Sir, your assent to a man whom youhave never known to falsify, is a debt: but after you have known a manto falsify, your assent to him then is a favour.'Though he had no taste for painting, he admired much the manner in whichSir Joshua Reynolds treated of his art, in his _Discourses to the RoyalAcademy_[991]. He observed one day of a passage in them, 'I think Imight as well have said this myself: 'and once when Mr. Langton wassitting by him, he read one of them very eagerly, and expressed himselfthus:--'Very well, Master Reynolds; very well, indeed. But it will notbe understood.'When I observed to him that Painting was so far inferiour to Poetry,that the story or even emblem which it communicates must be previouslyknown, and mentioned as a natural and laughable instance of this, that alittle Miss on seeing a picture of Justice with the scales, hadexclaimed to me, 'See, there's a woman selling sweetmeats;' he said,'Painting, Sir, can illustrate, but cannot inform.'No man was more ready to make an apology when he had censured unjustly,than Johnson[992]. When a proof-sheet of one of his works was brought tohim, he found fault with the mode in which a part of it was arranged,refused to read it, and in a passion[993] desired that thecompositor[994] might be sent to him. The compositor was Mr. Manning, adecent sensible man, who had composed about one half of his_Dictionary_, when in Mr. Strahan's printing-house; and a great part ofhis _Lives of the Poets_, when in that of Mr. Nichols; and who (in hisseventy-seventh year), when in Mr. Baldwin's printing-house, composed apart of the first edition of this work concerning him. By producing themanuscript, he at once satisfied Dr. Johnson that he was not to blame.Upon which Johnson candidly and earnestly said to him, 'Mr. Compositor,I ask your pardon. Mr. Compositor, I ask your pardon, again and again.'His generous humanity to the miserable was almost beyond example. Thefollowing instance is well attested:--Coming home late one night, hefound a poor woman lying in the street, so much exhausted that she couldnot walk; he took her upon his back, and carried her to his house, wherehe discovered that she was one of those wretched females who had falleninto the lowest state of vice, poverty, and disease. Instead of harshlyupbraiding her, he had her taken care of with all tenderness for a longtime, at considerable expence, till she was restored to health, andendeavoured to put her into a virtuous way of living[995].He thought Mr. Caleb Whitefoord singularly happy in hitting on thesignature of _Papyrius Cursor_, to his ingenious and divertingcross-readings of the newspapers; it being a real name of an ancientRoman, and clearly expressive of the thing done in this livelyconceit[996].He once in his life was known to have uttered what is called a _bull_:Sir Joshua Reynolds, when they were riding together in Devonshire,complained that he had a very bad horse, for that even when going downhill he moved slowly step by step. 'Ay (said Johnson,) and when he_goes_ up hill, he _stands still_.'He had a great aversion to gesticulating in company. He called once toa gentleman who offended him in that point, 'Don't _attitudenise_.' Andwhen another gentleman thought he was giving additional force to what heuttered, by expressive movements of his hands, Johnson fairly seizedthem, and held them down[997].An authour of considerable eminence[998] having engrossed a good shareof the conversation in the company of Johnson, and having said nothingbut what was trifling and insignificant; Johnson when he was gone,observed to us, 'It is wonderful what a difference there sometimes is