约翰逊4-6-31

[F-6] Mr. John Desmoulins was the son of Mrs. Desmoulins (_ante_, iii.222, 368), and the grandson of Johnson's god-father, Dr. Swinfen(_ante_, i. 34). Johnson mentions him in a letter to Mrs. Thrale in1778. 'Young Desmoulins is taken in an _under-something_ of Drury Lane;he knows not, I believe, his own denomination.' _Piozzi Letters_,ii. 25.[F-7] The reference is to _The Rambler_, No. 41 (not 42 as Boswellsays), where Johnson mentions 'those vexations and anxieties with whichall human enjoyments are polluted.'[F-8] Bishop Sanderson described his soul as 'infinitely polluted withsin.' Walton's _Lives_, ed. 1838, p. 396.[F-9] Hume, writing in 1742 about his _Essays Moral and Political_,says:--'Innys, the great bookseller in Paul's Church-yard, wonders there is nota new edition, for that he cannot find copies for his customers.' J.H.Burton's _Hume_, i. 143.[F-10] Nichols (_Lit. Anec._ ii. 554) says that, on Dec. 7,'Johnson asked him whether any of the family of Faden the printer wereliving. Being told that the geographer near Charing Cross was Faden'sson, he said, after a short pause:--"I borrowed a guinea of his fathernear thirty years ago; be so good as to take this, and pay it for me."'[F-11] Nowhere does Hawkins more shew the malignancy of his characterthan in his attacks on Johnson's black servant, and through him onJohnson. With the passage in which this offensive _caveat_ is found hebrings his work to a close. At the first mention of Frank (_Life_, p.328) he says:--'His first master had _in great humanity_ made him a Christian, and hislast for no assignable reason, nay rather in despite of nature, and tounfit him for being useful according to his capacity, determined to makehim a scholar.'But Hawkins was a brutal fellow. See _ante_, i. 27, note 2, and 28, note1.[F-12] Johnson had written to Taylor on Oct. 23 of this year:--'"Coming down from a very restless night I found your letter, which mademe a little angry. You tell me that recovery is in my power. This indeedI should be glad to hear if I could once believe it. But you mean tocharge me with neglecting or opposing my own health. Tell me, therefore,what I do that hurts me, and what I neglect that would help me." Thisletter is endorsed by Taylor: "This is the last letter. My answer, whichwere (_sic_) the words of advice he gave to Mr. Thrale the day he dyed,he resented extremely from me."' Mr. Alfred Morrison's _Collection ofAutographs_, &c., ii. 343.'The words of advice' which were given to Mr. Thrale _the day before_the fatal fit seized him, were that he should abstain from full meals._Ante_, iv. 84, note 4. Johnson's resentment of Taylor's advice mayaccount for the absence of his name in his will.[F-13] They were sold in 650 Lots, in a four days' sale. Besides thebooks there were 146 portraits, of which 61 were framed and glazed.These prints in their frames were sold in lots of 4, 8, and even 10together, though certainly some of them--and perhaps many--wereengravings from Reynolds. The Catalogue of the sale is in theBodleian Library.APPENDIX G.(_Notes on Boswell's note on page 408_.)[G-1] Mrs. Piozzi records (_Anecdotes_, p. 120) that Johnson told her,--'When Boyse was almost perishing with hunger, and some money wasproduced to purchase him a dinner, he got a bit of roast beef, but couldnot eat it without ketch-up; and laid out the last half-guinea hepossessed in truffles and mushrooms, eating them in bed too, for want ofclothes, or even a shirt to sit up in.'Hawkins (_Life_, p. 159) gives 1740 as the year of Boyse's destitution.'He was,' he says, 'confined to a bed which had no sheets; here, toprocure food, he wrote; his posture sitting up in bed, his only coveringa blanket, in which a hole was made to admit of the employment ofhis arm.'Two years later Boyse wrote the following verses to Cave from aspunging-house:--'Hodie, teste coelo summo,Sine pane, sine nummo,Sorte positus infeste,Scribo tibi dolens moeste.Fame, bile tumet jecur:Urbane, mitte opem, precor.Tibi enim cor humanumNon a malis alienum:Mihi mens nee male grato,Pro a te favore dato.Ex gehenna debitoria,Vulgo, domo spongiatoria.'He adds that he hopes to have his _Ode on the British Nation_ done thatday. This _Ode_, which is given in the _Gent. Mag._ 1742, p. 383,contains the following verse, which contrasts sadly with the poorpoet's case:--'Thou, sacred isle, amidst thy ambient main,_Enjoyst the sweets of freedom_ all thy own.'[G-2] It is not likely that Johnson called a sixpence 'a seriousconsideration.' He who in his youth would not let his comrades say_prodigious_ (_ante/_, in. 303) was not likely in his old age so tomisuse a word.[G-3] Hugh Kelly is mentioned _ante_, ii. 48, note 2, and iii. 113.[G-4] It was not on the return from Sky, but on the voyage from Sky toRasay, that the spurs were lost. _Post_, v. 163.[G-5] Dr. White's _Bampton Lectures_ of 1784 'became part of thetriumphant literature of the University of Oxford,' and got the preachera Christ Church Canonry. Of these _Lectures_ Dr. Parr had written aboutone-fifth part. White, writing to Parr about a passage in the manuscriptof the last Lecture, said:--'I fear I did not clearly explain myself; Ihumbly beg the favour of you to make my meaning more intelligible.' Onthe death of Mr. Badcock in 1788, a note for L500 from White was foundin his pocket-book. White pretended that this was remuneration for someother work; but it was believed on good grounds that Badcock had begunwhat Parr had completed, and that these famous _Lectures_ were mainlytheir work. Badcock was one of the writers in the _Monthly Review_.Johnstone's _Life of Dr. Parr_, i. 218-278. For Badcock's correspondencewith the editor of the _Monthly Review_, see _Bodleian_ MS. _Add._C. 90.[G-6] 'Virgilium vidi tantum.' Ovid, _Tristia_, iv. 10. 51.[G-7] Mackintosh says of Priestley:--'Frankness and disinterestedness inthe avowal of his opinion were his point of honour.' He goes on to pointout that there was 'great mental power in him wasted and scattered.'_Life of Mackintosh_, i. 349. See _ante_, ii. 124, and iv. 238 forJohnson's opinion of Priestley.[G-8] Badcock, in using the term 'index-scholar,' was referring no doubtto Pope's lines:--'How Index-learning turns no student pale,Yet holds the eel of science by the tail.'_Dunciad_, i. 279.APPENDIX H.(_Notes on Boswell's note on pages 421-422_.)[H-1] The last lines of the inscription on this urn are borrowed, with aslight change, from the last paragraph of the last _Rambler/_.(Johnson's _Works_, iii. 465, and _ante_, i. 226.) Johnson visitedColonel Myddelton on August 29, 1774, in his Tour to Wales. See_post_, v. 453.[H-2] Johnson, writing to Dr. Taylor on Sept. 3, 1783, said:--'I sat toOpey (sic) as long as he desired, and I think the head is finished, butit is not much admired.' _Notes and Queries_, 6th S. v. 481. Hawkins(_Life of Johnson_, p. 569) says that in 1784 'Johnson resumed sittingto Opie, but,' he adds, 'I believe the picture was never finished.'[H-3] Of this picture, which was the one painted for Beauclerk (_ante_,p. 180), it is stated in Johnson's _Work_, ed. 1787, xi. 204, that'there is in it that appearance of a labouring working mind, of anindolent reposing body, which he had to a very great degree.'[H-4] It seems almost certain that the portrait of Johnson in the CommonRoom of University College, Oxford, is this very mezzotinto. It wasgiven to the College by Sir William Scott, and it is a mezzotinto fromOpie's portrait. It has been reproduced for this work, and will be foundfacing page 244 of volume iii. Scott's inscription on the back of theframe is given on page 245, note 3, of the same volume.APPENDIX I.(_Page_ 424.)Boswell most likely never knew that in the year 1790 Mr. Seward, in thename of Cadell the publisher, had asked Parr to write a _Life ofJohnson_. (Johnstone's _Life of Parr_, iv. 678.) Parr, in his amusingvanity, was as proud of this _Life_ as if he had written it. '"It wouldhave been," he said, "the third most learned work that has ever yetappeared. The most learned work ever published I consider Bentley _Onthe Epistles of Phalaris_; the next Salmasius _On the HellenisticLanguage_." Alluding to Boswell's Life he continued, "Mine should havebeen, not the droppings of his lips, but the history of his mind."'Field's _Life of Parr_, i. 164.In the epitaph that he first sent in were found the words 'ProbabiliPoetae.''In arms,' wrote Parr, 'were all the Johnsonians: Malone, Steevens, SirW. Scott, Windham, and even Fox, all in arms. The epithet was cold. Theydo not understand it, and I am a Scholar, not a Belles-Lettres man.'Parr had wished to pass over all notice of Johnson's poetical character.To this, Malone said, none of his friends of the Literary Club wouldagree. He pointed out also that Parr had not noticed 'that part ofJohnson's genius, which placed him on higher ground than perhaps anyother quality that can be named--the universality of his knowledge, thepromptness of his mind in producing it on all occasions in conversation,and the vivid eloquence with which he clothed his thoughts, howeversuddenly called upon.' Parr, regardless of Johnson's rule that 'inlapidary inscriptions a man is not upon oath' (_ante_, ii. 407),replied, that if he mentioned his conversation he should have to mentionalso his roughness in contradiction, &c. As for the epithet _probabili_,he 'never reflected upon it without almost a triumphant feeling in itsfelicity.' Nevertheless he would change it into 'poetae sententiarum etverborum ponderibus admirabili.' Yet these words, 'energetic andsonorous' though they were, 'fill one with a secret and invincibleloathing, because they tend to introduce into the epitaph a character ofmagnificence.' With every fresh objection he rose in importance. Hewrote for the approbation of real scholars of generations yet unborn.'That the epitaph was written by such or such a man will, from thepublicity of the situation, and the popularity of the subject, be longremembered.' Johnstone's _Life of Parr_, iv. 694-712. No objection seemsto have been raised to the five pompous lines of perplexing dates andnumerals in which no room is found even for Johnson's birth andbirth-place.'After I had written the epitaph,' wrote Parr to a friend, 'Sir JoshuaReynolds told me there was a scroll. I was in a rage. A scroll! Why,Ned, this is vile modern contrivance. I wanted one train of ideas. Whatcould I do with the scroll? Johnson held it, and Johnson must speak init. I thought of this, his favourite maxim, in the Life of Milton,[Johnson's _Works_, vii. 77],"[Greek: Otti toi en megaroisi kakon t agathon te tetuktai.]."In Homer [_Odyssey_, iv. 392] you know--and shewing the excellence ofMoral Philosophy. There Johnson and Socrates agree. Mr. Seward, hearingof my difficulty, and no scholar, suggested the closing line in the_Rambler_ [_ante_, i. 226, note 1]; had I looked there I should haveanticipated the suggestion. It is the closing line in Dionysius's_Periegesis_,"[Greek: Anton ek makaron antaxios eiae amoibae.]."I adopted it, and gave Seward the praise. "Oh," quoth Sir William Scott,"_[Greek: makaron]_ is Heathenish, and the Dean and Chapter willhesitate." "The more fools they," said I. But to prevent disputes I havealtered it."[Greek: En makaressi ponon antaxios ein amoibae]."Johnstone's _Life of Parr_, iv. 713.Though the inscription on the scroll is not strictly speaking part ofthe epitaph, yet this mixture of Greek and Latin is open to the censureJohnson passed on Pope's Epitaph on Craggs.'It may be proper to remark,' he said, 'the absurdity of joining in thesame inscription Latin and English, or verse and prose. If eitherlanguage be preferable to the other, let that only be used; for noreason can be given why part of the information should be given in onetongue and part in another on a tomb more than in any other place, or onany other occasion.' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 353.Bacon the sculptor was anxious, wrote Malone, 'that posterity shouldknow that he was entitled to annex R.A. to his name.' Parr was ready togive his name, lest if it were omitted 'Bacon should slily put thefigure of a hog on Johnson's monument'; just as 'Saurus and Batrachus,when Octavia would not give them leave to set their names on the Templesthey had built in Rome, scattered one of them [Greek: saurai] [lizards],and the other [Greek: batrachoi] [frogs] on the bases and capitals ofthe columns.' But as for the R.A., the sculptor 'very reluctantly had toagree to its omission.' Johnstone's _Parr_, iv. 705 and 710.FOOTNOTES:[1] Nothing can compensate for this want this year of all years.Johnson's health was better than it had been for long, and his mindhappier perhaps than it had ever been. The knowledge that in his _Livesof the Poets_, he had done, and was doing good work, no doubt was verycheering to him. At no time had he gone more into society, and at notime does he seem to have enjoyed it with greater relish. 'How do youthink I live?' he wrote on April 25. 'On Thursday, I dined withHamilton, and went thence to Mrs. Ord. On Friday, with much company atReynolds's. On Saturday, at Dr. Bell's. On Sunday, at Dr. Burney's; atnight, came Mrs. Ord, Mr. Greville, &c. On Monday with Reynolds, atnight with Lady Lucan; to-day with Mr. Langton; to-morrow with theBishop of St. Asaph; on Thursday with Mr. Bowles; Friday ----; Saturday,at the Academy; Sunday with Mr. Ramsay.' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 107. OnMay 1, he wrote:--'At Mrs. Ord's, I met one Mrs. B---- [Buller], atravelled lady, of great spirit, and some consciousness of her ownabilities. We had a contest of gallantry an hour long, so much to thediversion of the company that at Ramsay's last night, in a crowded room,they would have pitted us again. There were Smelt, [one of the King'sfavourites] and the Bishop of St. Asaph, who comes to every place; andLord Monboddo, and Sir Joshua, and ladies out of tale.' _Ib_. p. 111.The account that Langton gives of the famous evening at Mrs. Vesey's,'when the company began to collect round Johnson till they became notless than four, if not five deep (_ante_, May 2, 1780), is livelyenough; but 'the particulars of the conversation' which he neglects,Boswell would have given us in full.[2] In 1792, Miss Burney, after recording that Boswell told some of hisJohnsonian stories, continues:--'Mr. Langton told some stories inimitation of Dr. Johnson; but they became him less than Mr. Boswell, andonly reminded me of what Dr. Johnson himself once said to me--"Every manhas some time in his life an ambition to be a wag."' Mme. D'Arblay's_Diary_, v. 307.[3] _Stephanorum Historia, vitas ipsorum ac libros complectens_. London,1709.[4] _Senilia_ was published in 1742. The line to which Johnson refersis, 'Mel, nervos, fulgur, Carteret, unus, habes,' p. 101. In anotherline, the poet celebrates Colley Cibber's Muse--the _Musa Cibberi_:'Multa Cibberum levat aura.' p. 50. See Macaulay's Essays, ed. 1843,i. 367.[5] _Graecae Linguae Dialecti in Scholae Westmonast. usum_, 1738.[6] Giannone, an Italian historian, born 1676, died 1748. When hepublished his _History of the Kingdom of Naples_, a friendcongratulating him on its success, said:--'Mon ami, vous vous etes misune couronne sur la tete, mais une couronne d'epines.' His attacks onthe Church led to persecution, in the end he made a retractation, butnevertheless he died in prison. _Nouv. Biog. Gen._ xx. 422.[7] See _ante_, ii. 119.[8] 'There is no kind of impertinence more justly censurable than hiswho is always labouring to level thoughts to intellects higher than hisown; who apologises for every word which his own narrowness of converseinclines him to think unusual; keeps the exuberance of his facultiesunder visible restraint; is solicitous to anticipate inquiries byneedless explanations; and endeavours to shade his own abilities lestweak eyes should be dazzled with their lustre.' _The Rambler_, No. 173.[9] Johnson, in his _Dictionary_, defines _Anfractuousness_ as _Fulnessof windings and turnings_. _Anfractuosity_ is not given. Lord Macaulay,in the last sentence in his _Biography of Johnson_, alludes tothis passage.[10] See _ante_, iii. 149, note 2.[11] 'My purpose was to admit no testimony of living authors, that Imight not be misled by partiality, and that none of my contemporariesmight have reason to complain; nor have I departed from this resolution,but when some performance of uncommon excellence excited my veneration,when my memory supplied me from late books with an example that waswanting, or when my heart, in the tenderness of friendship, solicitedadmission for a favourite name.' Johnson's _Works_, v. 39. He citeshimself under _important_, Mrs. Lennox under _talent_, Garrick under_giggler_; from Richardson's _Clarissa_, he makes frequent quotations.In the fourth edition, published in 1773 (_ante_, ii. 203), he oftenquotes Reynolds; for instance, under _vulgarism_, which word is not inthe previous editions. Beattie he quotes under _weak_, and Gray under_bosom_. He introduces also many quotations from Law, and Young. In theearlier editions, in his quotations from _Clarissa_, he very rarelygives the author's name; in the fourth edition I have found itrarely omitted.[12] In one of his _Hypochondriacks_ (_London Mag._ 1782, p. 233)Boswell writes:--'I have heard it remarked by one, of whom more remarksdeserve to be remembered than of any person I ever knew, that a man isoften as narrow as he is prodigal for want of counting.'[13] 'Sept. 1778. We began talking of _Irene_, and Mrs. Thrale made Dr.Johnson read some passages which I had been remarking as uncommonlyapplicable to the present time. He read several speeches, and told us hehad not ever read so much of it before since it was first printed.' Mme.D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 96. 'I was told,' wrote Sir Walter Scott, 'that agentleman called Pot, or some such name, was introduced to him as aparticular admirer of his. The Doctor growled and took no furthernotice. "He admires in especial your _Irene_ as the finest tragedymodern times;" to which the Doctor replied, "If Pot says so, Pot lies!"and relapsed into his reverie.' _Croker Corres._ ii. 32.[14] _Scrupulosity_ was a word that Boswell had caught up from Johnson.Sir W. Jones (_Life_, i. 177) wrote in 1776:--'You will be able toexamine with the minutest _scrupulosity_, as Johnson would call it.'Johnson describes Addison's prose as 'pure without scrupulosity.'_Works_, vii. 472. 'Swift,' he says, 'washed himself with orientalscrupulosity.' _Ib._ viii. 222. Boswell (_Hebrides_, Aug. 15) writes of'scrupulosity of conscience.'[15]'When thou didst not, savage,Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like