'That this is done, I thought it fit that you should know. What carewill be taken of us, who can tell? May GOD pardon and bless us, forJESUS CHRIST'S sake.'I am, &c.'SAM. JOHNSON[1199],''Dec. 2, 1784.'My readers are now, at last, to behold SAMUEL JOHNSON preparing himselffor that doom, from which the most exalted powers afford no exemption toman[1200]. Death had always been to him an object of terrour; so that,though by no means happy, he still clung to life with an eagerness atwhich many have wondered. At any time when he was ill, he was very muchpleased to be told that he looked better. An ingenious member of the_Eumelian Club_[1201], informs me, that upon one occasion when he saidto him that he saw health returning to his cheek, Johnson seized him bythe hand and exclaimed, 'Sir, you are one of the kindest friends Iever had.'His own state of his views of futurity will appear truly rational; andmay, perhaps, impress the unthinking with seriousness.'You know, (says he,)[1202] I never thought confidence with respect tofuturity, any part of the character of a brave, a wise, or a good man.Bravery has no place where it can avail nothing; wisdom impressesstrongly the consciousness of those faults, of which it is, perhaps,itself an aggravation; and goodness, always wishing to be better, andimputing every deficience to criminal negligence, and every fault tovoluntary corruption, never dares to suppose the condition offorgiveness fulfilled, nor what is wanting in the crime supplied bypenitence.'This is the state of the best; but what must be the condition of himwhose heart will not suffer him to rank himself among the best, or amongthe good? Such must be his dread of the approaching trial, as will leavehim little attention to the opinion of those whom he is leaving forever; and the serenity that is not felt, it can be no virtue to feign.'His great fear of death, and the strange dark manner in which Sir JohnHawkins[1203] imparts the uneasiness which he expressed on account ofoffences with which he charged himself, may give occasion to injurioussuspicions, as if there had been something of more than ordinarycriminality weighing upon his conscience. On that account, therefore, aswell as from the regard to truth which he inculcated[1204], I am tomention, (with all possible respect and delicacy, however,) that hisconduct, after he came to London, and had associated with Savage andothers, was not so strictly virtuous, in one respect, as when he was ayounger man. It was well known, that his amorous inclinations wereuncommonly strong and impetuous. He owned to many of his friends, thathe used to take women of the town to taverns, and hear them relate theirhistory[1205]. In short, it must not be concealed, that, like many othergood and pious men, among whom we may place the Apostle Paul upon hisown authority, Johnson was not free from propensities which were ever'warring against the law of his mind[1206],'--and that in his combatswith them, he was sometimes overcome[1207].Here let the profane and licentious pause; let them not thoughtlesslysay that Johnson was an _hypocrite_, or that his _principles_ were notfirm, because his _practice_ was not uniformly conformable to what heprofessed.Let the question be considered independent of moral and religiousassociation; and no man will deny that thousands, in many instances, actagainst conviction. Is a prodigal, for example, an _hypocrite_, when heowns he is satisfied that his extravagance will bring him to ruin andmisery? We are _sure_ he _believes_ it; but immediate inclination,strengthened by indulgence, prevails over that belief in influencing hisconduct. Why then shall credit be refused to the _sincerity_ of thosewho acknowledge their persuasion of moral and religious duty, yetsometimes fail of living as it requires? I heard Dr. Johnson onceobserve, 'There is something noble in publishing truth, though itcondemns one's self[1208].' And one who said in his presence, 'he hadno notion of people being in earnest in their good professions, whosepractice was not suitable to them,' was thus reprimanded by him:--'Sir,are you so grossly ignorant of human nature as not to know that a manmay be very sincere in good principles, without having goodpractice[1209]?'But let no man encourage or soothe himself in 'presumptuous sin[1210],'from knowing that Johnson was sometimes hurried into indulgences whichhe thought criminal. I have exhibited this circumstance as a shade in sogreat a character, both from my sacred love of truth, and to shew thathe was not so weakly scrupulous as he has been represented by those whoimagine that the sins, of which a deep sense was upon his mind, weremerely such little venial trifles as pouring milk into his tea onGood-Friday. His understanding will be defended by my statement, if hisconsistency of conduct be in some degree impaired. But what wise manwould, for momentary gratifications, deliberately subject himself tosuffer such uneasiness as we find was experienced by Johnson inreviewing his conduct as compared with his notion of the ethicks of thegospel? Let the following passages be kept in remembrance:--'O, GOD, giver and preserver of all life, by whose power I was created,and by whose providence I am sustained, look down upon me withtenderness and mercy; grant that I may not have been created to befinally destroyed; that I may not be preserved to add wickedness towickedness[1211].' 'O, LORD, let me not sink into total depravity; lookdown upon me, and rescue me at last from the captivity of sin[1212].''Almighty and most merciful Father, who hast continued my life from yearto year, grant that by longer life I may become less desirous of sinfulpleasures, and more careful of eternal happiness[1213].' 'Let not myyears be multiplied to increase my guilt; but as my age advances, let mebecome more pure in my thoughts, more regular in my desires, and moreobedient to thy laws[1214].' 'Forgive, O merciful LORD, whatever I havedone contrary to thy laws. Give me such a sense of my wickedness as mayproduce true contrition and effectual repentance; so that when I shallbe called into another state, I may be received among the sinners towhom whom sorrow and reformation have obtained pardon, for JESUSCHRIST'S sake. Amen[1215].'Such was the distress of mind, such the penitence of Johnson, in hishours of privacy, and in his devout approaches to his Maker. His_sincerity_, therefore, must appear to every candid mind unquestionable.It is of essential consequence to keep in view, that there was in thisexcellent man's conduct no false principle of _commutation_, no_deliberate_ indulgence in sin, in consideration of a counter-balance ofduty. His offending, and his repenting, were distinct andseparate[1216]: and when we consider his almost unexampled attention totruth, his inflexible integrity, his constant piety, who will dare to'cast a stone at him[1217]?' Besides, let it never be forgotten, that hecannot be charged with any offence indicating badness of _heart_, anything dishonest, base, or malignant; but that, on the contrary, he wascharitable in an extraordinary degree: so that even in one of his ownrigid judgements of himself, (Easter-eve, 1781,) while he says, 'I havecorrected no external habits;' he is obliged to own, 'I hope that sincemy last communion I have advanced, by pious reflections, in mysubmission to GOD, and my benevolence to man[1218].'I am conscious that this is the most difficult and dangerous part of mybiographical work, and I cannot but be very anxious concerning it. Itrust that I have got through it, preserving at once my regard totruth,--to my friend,--and to the interests of virtue and religion. Norcan I apprehend that more harm can ensue from the knowledge of theirregularity of Johnson, guarded as I have stated it, than from knowingthat Addison and Parnell were intemperate in the use of wine; which hehimself, in his _Lives_ of those celebrated writers and pious men, hasnot forborne to record[1219].It is not my intention to give a very minute detail of the particularsof Johnson's remaining days[1220], of whom it was now evident, that thecrisis was fast approaching, when he must '_die like men, and fall likeone of the Princes_[1221].' Yet it will be instructive, as well asgratifying to the curiosity of my readers, to record a fewcircumstances, on the authenticity of which they may perfectly rely, asI have been at the utmost pains to obtain an accurate account of hislast illness, from the best authority[1222].Dr. Heberden[1223], Dr. Brocklesby, Dr. Warren[1224], and Dr. Butter,physicians, generously attended him, without accepting any fees, as didMr. Cruikshank, surgeon; and all that could be done from professionalskill and ability, was tried, to prolong a life so truly valuable. Hehimself, indeed, having, on account of his very bad constitution, beenperpetually applying himself to medical inquiries, united his ownefforts with those of the gentlemen who attended him; and imagining thatthe dropsical collection of water which oppressed him might be drawn offby making incisions in his body, he, with his usual resolute defiance ofpain, cut deep, when he thought that his surgeon had done it tootenderly[1225].About eight or ten days before his death, when Dr. Brocklesby paid himhis morning visit, he seemed very low and desponding, and said, 'I havebeen as a dying man all night.' He then emphatically broke out in thewords of Shakspeare,--'Can'st thou not minister to a mind diseas'd;Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow;Raze out the written troubles of the brain;And, with some sweet oblivious antidote,Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff,Which weighs upon the heart?'To which Dr. Brocklesby readily answered, from the same great poet:--'----------------therein the patientMust minister to himself[1226].'Johnson expressed himself much satisfied with the application.On another day after this, when talking on the subject of prayer, Dr.Brocklesby repeated from Juvenal,--'_Orandum est, ut sit mens sana in corpore Sano_[1227],'and so on to the end of the tenth satire; but in running it quicklyover, he happened, in the line,'_Qui spatium vitae; extremum inter munera ponat_,'to pronounce _supremum_ for _extremum_; at which Johnson's critical earinstantly took offence, and discoursing vehemently on the unmetricaleffect of such a lapse, he shewed himself as full as ever of the spiritof the grammarian[1228].Having no near relations[1229], it had been for some time Johnson'sintention to make a liberal provision for his faithful servant, Mr.Francis Barber, whom he looked upon as particularly under hisprotection, and whom he had all along treated truly as an humble friend.Having asked Dr. Brocklesby what would be a proper annuity to afavourite servant, and being answered that it must depend on thecircumstances of the master; and, that in the case of a nobleman, fiftypounds a year was considered as an adequate reward for many years'faithful service; 'Then, (said Johnson,) shall I be _nobilissimus_, forI mean to leave Frank seventy pounds a year, and I desire you to tellhim so[1230].' It is strange, however, to think, that Johnson was notfree from that general weakness of being averse to execute a will, sothat he delayed it from time to time[1231]; and had it not been for SirJohn Hawkins's repeatedly urging it, I think it is probable that hiskind resolution would not have been fulfilled. After making one, which,as Sir John Hawkins informs us, extended no further than the promisedannuity, Johnson's final disposition of his property was established bya Will and Codicil, of which copies are subjoined[1232].The consideration of numerous papers of which he was possessed, seemsto have struck Johnson's mind, with a sudden anxiety, and as they werein great confusion, it is much to be lamented that he had not entrustedsome faithful and discreet person with the care and selection of them;instead of which, he in a precipitate manner, burnt large masses ofthem, with little regard, as I apprehend, to discrimination. Not that Isuppose we have thus been deprived of any compositions which he had everintended for the publick eye; but, from what escaped the flames, I judgethat many curious circumstances relating both to himself and otherliterary characters have perished[1233].Two very valuable articles, I am sure, we have lost, which were twoquarto volumes, containing a full, fair, and most particular account ofhis own life, from his earliest recollection. I owned to him, thathaving accidentally seen them, I had read a great deal in them; andapologizing for the liberty I had taken, asked him if I could helpit[1234]. He placidly answered, 'Why, Sir, I do not think you couldhave helped it.' I said that I had, for once in my life, felt half aninclination to commit theft. It had come into my mind to carry off thosetwo volumes, and never see him more. Upon my inquiring how this wouldhave affected him, 'Sir, (said he,) I believe I should have gonemad[1235].'During his last illness, Johnson experienced the steady and kindattachment of his numerous friends. Mr. Hoole has drawn up a narrativeof what passed in the visits which he paid him during that time, fromthe both of November to the 13th of December, the day of his death,inclusive, and has favoured me with a perusal of it, with permission tomake extracts, which I have done. Nobody was more attentive to him thanMr. Langton, to whom he tenderly said, _Te teneam moriens deficientemanu_[1237]. And I think it highly to the honour of Mr. Windham, thathis important occupations as an active statesman[1238] did not preventhim from paying assiduous respect to the dying Sage whom he revered. Mr.Langton informs me, that, 'one day he found Mr. Burke and four or fivemore friends sitting with Johnson. Mr. Burke said to him, "I am afraid,Sir, such a number of us may be oppressive to you." "No, Sir, (saidJohnson,) it is not so; and I must be in a wretched state, indeed, whenyour company would not be a delight to me." Mr. Burke, in a tremulousvoice, expressive of being very tenderly affected, replied, "My dearSir, you have always been too good to me." Immediately afterwards hewent away. This was the last circumstance in the acquaintance of thesetwo eminent men[1239].'The following particulars of his conversation within a few days of hisdeath, I give on the authority of Mr. John Nichols[1240]:--'He said, that the Parliamentary Debates were the only part of hiswritings which then gave him any compunction[1241]: but that at the timehe wrote them, he had no conception he was imposing upon the world,though they were frequently written from very slender materials, andoften from none at all,--the mere coinage of his own imagination. Henever wrote any part of his works with equal velocity. Three columns ofthe _Magazine_, in an hour, was no uncommon effort, which was fasterthan most persons could have transcribed that quantity.'Of his friend Cave, he always spoke with great affection. "Yet (saidhe,) Cave, (who never looked out of his window, but with a view to the_Gentleman's Magazine_,) was a penurious pay-master; he would contractfor lines by the hundred, and expect the long hundred; but he was a goodman, and always delighted to have his friends at his table."'When talking of a regular edition of his own works, he said, "that hehad power, [from the booksellers,] to print such an edition, if hishealth admitted it; but had no power to assign over any edition, unlesshe could add notes, and so alter them as to make them new works; whichhis state of health forbade him to think of. I may possibly live, (saidhe,) or rather breath, three days, or perhaps three weeks; but findmyself daily and gradually weaker."'He said at another time, three or four days only before his death,speaking of the little fear he had of undergoing a chirurgicaloperation, "I would give one of these legs for a year more of life, Imean of comfortable life, not such as that which I now suffer;"--andlamented much his inability to read during his hours of restlessness; "Iused formerly, (he added,) when sleepless in bed, _to read like aTurk_[1242]."'Whilst confined by his last illness, it was his regular practice tohave the church-service read to him, by some attentive and friendlyDivine. The Rev. Mr. Hoole performed this kind office in my presence forthe last time, when, by his own desire, no more than the Litany wasread; in which his responses were in the deep and sonorous voice whichMr. Boswell has occasionally noticed, and with the most profounddevotion that can be imagined. His hearing not being quite perfect, hemore than once interrupted Mr. Hoole, with "Louder, my dear Sir, louder,I entreat you, or you pray in vain[1243]!"--and, when the service wasended, he, with great earnestness, turned round to an excellent lady whowas present, saying, "I thank you, Madam, very heartily, for yourkindness in joining me in this solemn exercise. Live well, I conjureyou; and you will not feel the compunction at the last, which I nowfeel[1244]." So truly humble were the thoughts which this great and goodman entertained of his own approaches to religious perfection[1245].'He was earnestly invited to publish a volume of _DevotionalExercises_[1246]; but this, (though he listened to the proposal withmuch complacency, and a large sum of money was offered for it,) hedeclined, from motives of the sincerest modesty.'He seriously entertained the thought of translating _Thuanus_[1247]. Heoften talked to me on the subject; and once, in particular, when I wasrather wishing that he would favour the world, and gratify hissovereign, by a Life of Spenser[1248], (which he said that he wouldreadily have done, had he been able to obtain any new materials for thepurpose,) he added, "I have been thinking again, Sir, of _Thuanus_: itwould not be the laborious task which you have supposed it. I shouldhave no trouble but that of dictation, which would be performed asspeedily as an amanuensis could write."It is to the mutual credit of Johnson and Divines of differentcommunions, that although he was a steady Church-of-England man, therewas, nevertheless, much agreeable intercourse between him and them. Letme particularly name the late Mr. La Trobe, and Mr. Hutton[1249], of theMoravian profession. His intimacy with the English Benedictines, atParis, has been mentioned[1250]; and as an additional proof of thecharity in which he lived with good men of the Romish Church, I am happyin this opportunity of recording his friendship with the Reverend ThomasHussey[1251], D.D. His Catholick Majesty's Chaplain of Embassy at theCourt of London, that very respectable man, eminent not only for hispowerful eloquence as a preacher, but for his various abilities andacquisitions. Nay, though Johnson loved a Presbyterian the least of all,this did not prevent his having a long and uninterrupted socialconnection with the Reverend Dr. James Fordyce, who, since his death,hath gratefully celebrated him in a warm strain of devotionalcomposition[1252].Amidst the melancholy clouds which hung over the dying Johnson, hischaracteristical manner shewed itself on different occasions.When Dr. Warren, in the usual style, hoped that he was better; hisanswer was, 'No, Sir; you cannot conceive with what acceleration Iadvance towards death.'A man whom he had never seen before was employed one night to sit upwith him[1253]. Being asked next morning how he liked his attendant, hisanswer was, 'Not at all, Sir: the fellow's an ideot; he is as aukward asa turn-spit when first put into the wheel, and as sleepy as a dormouse.'Mr. Windham having placed a pillow conveniently to support him, hethanked him for his kindness, and said, 'That will do,--all that apillow can do.'He repeated[1254] with great spirit a poem, consisting of severalstanzas, in four lines, in alternate rhyme, which he said he hadcomposed some years before, on occasion of a rich, extravagant younggentleman's coming of age; saying he had never repeated it but oncesince he composed it, and had given but one copy of it. That copy wasgiven to Mrs. Thrale, now Piozzi, who has published it in a Book whichshe entitles _British Synonymy_[1255], but which is truly a collectionof entertaining remarks and stories, no matter whether accurate or not.Being a piece of exquisite satire, conveyed in a strain of pointedvivacity and humour, and in a manner of which no other instance is to befound in Johnson's writings, I shall here insert it[1256]:--Long-expected one-and-twenty,Ling'ring year, at length is flown;Pride and pleasure, pomp and plenty,Great --- ----[1257], are now your own.Loosen'd from the Minor's tether,Free to mortgage or to sell,Wild as wind, and light as feather,Bid the sons of thrift farewell.Call the Betseys, Kates, and Jennies,All the names that banish care;Lavish of your grandsire's guineas,Shew the spirit of an heir.All that prey on vice or follyJoy to see their quarry fly;There the gamester, light and jolly,There the lender, grave and sly.Wealth, my lad, was made to wander,Let it wander as it will;Call the jockey, call the pander,Bid them come and take their fill.When the bonny blade carouses,Pockets full, and spirits high--What are acres? what are houses?Only dirt, or wet or dry.Should the guardian friend or motherTell the woes of wilful waste;
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