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L200 to L50 per annum.' Northcote's _Reynolds_, ii. 188. The place wasmore profitable than Johnson thought. 'It was worth having from theharvest it brought in by the multiplication of the faces of King andQueen as presents for ambassadors and potentates.' This is shewn by thefollowing note in Sir Joshua's price-book:--'Nov. 28, 1789, remain inthe Academy five Kings, four Queens; in the house two Kings and oneQueen.' Taylor's _Reynolds_, ii. 449.[1137] Mr. Nichols published in 1782 _Anecdotes of William Bowyer,Printer_. In 1812-15 he brought out this work, recast and enlarged,under the title of _Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century_. See_ante_, p. 161.[1138] In the original (which is in the British Museum) not _hints_ but_names_.[1139] On Nov. 4, he wrote to Mr. Ryland:--'I have just received aletter in which you tell me that you love to hear from me, and I valuesuch a declaration too much to neglect it. To have a friend, and afriend like you, may be numbered amongst the first felicities of life;at a time when weakness either of body or mind loses the pride and theconfidence of self-sufficiency, and looks round for that help whichperhaps human kindness cannot give, and which we yet are willing toexpect from one another. I am at this time very much dejected.... I amnow preparing myself for my return, and do not despair of some moremonthly meetings [_post_, Appendix C]. To hear that dear Payne is bettergives me great delight. I saw the draught of the stone [over Mrs.Johnson's grave, _ante_, p. 351]. Shall I ever be able to bear the sightof this stone? In your company I hope I shall.' Mr. Morrison's_Autographs_, vol. ii.[1140] To him as a writer might be generally applied what he said ofRochester:--'His pieces are commonly short, such as one fit ofresolution would produce.' _Works_, vii. 159.[1141] _Odes_, iv.7. _Works_, i. 137.[1142] _Against inqitisitive and perplexing thoughts_. 'O LORD, my Makerand Protector, who hast graciously sent me into this world to work outmy salvation, enable me to drive from me all such unquiet and perplexingthoughts as may mislead or hinder me in the practice of those dutieswhich Thou hast required. When I behold the works of thy hands, andconsider the course of thy providence, give me grace always to rememberthat thy thoughts are not my thoughts, nor thy ways my ways. And whileit shall please Thee to continue me in this world, where much is to bedone, and little to be known, teach me by thy Holy Spirit, to withdrawmy mind from unprofitable and dangerous enquiries, from difficultiesvainly curious, and doubts impossible to be solved. Let me rejoice inthe light which Thou hast imparted, let me serve Thee with active zealand humble confidence, and wait with patient expectation for the time inwhich the soul which Thou receivest shall be satisfied with knowledge.Grant this, O LORD, for JESUS CHRIST'S sake. Amen.' BOSWELL. _Pr. andMed._ p. 219.[1143] _Life of Johnson_, p. 599.[1144] Porson with admirable humour satirised Hawkins for his attack onBarber. _Gent. Mag._ 1787, p. 752, and _Porson Tracts_, p. 358. Barettiin his _Tolondron_, p. 149, says that 'Barber from his earliest youthserved Johnson with the greatest affection and disinterestedness.'[1145] Vol. ii. p. 30. BOSWELL.[1146] I shall add one instance only to those which I have thought itincumbent on me to point out. Talking of Mr. Garrick's having signifiedhis willingness to let Johnson have the loan of any of his books toassist him in his edition of Shakspeare [_ante_, ii. 192]; Sir Johnsays, (p. 444,) 'Mr. Garrick knew not what risque he ran by this offer.Johnson had so strange a forgetfulness of obligations of this sort, thatfew who lent him books ever saw them again.' This surely conveys a mostunfavourable insinuation, and has been so understood. Sir John mentionsthe single case of a curious edition of Politian [_ante_, i. 90], whichhe tells us, 'appeared to belong to Pembroke College, and which,probably, had been considered by Johnson as his own, for upwards offifty years.' Would it not be fairer to consider this as aninadvertence, and draw no general inference? The truth is, that Johnsonwas so attentive, that in one of his manuscripts in my possession, hehas marked in two columns, books borrowed, and books lent.In Sir John Hawkins's compilation, there are, however, some passagesconcerning Johnson which have unquestionable merit. One of them I shalltranscribe, in justice to a writer whom I have had too much occasion tocensure, and to shew my fairness as the biographer of my illustriousfriend: 'There was wanting in his conduct and behaviour, that dignitywhich results from a regular and orderly course of action, and by anirresistible power commands esteem. He could not be said to be a stayedman, nor so to have adjusted in his mind the balance of reason andpassion, as to give occasion to say what may be observed of some men,that all they do is just, fit, and right.' [Hawkins's _Johnson_, p.409.] Yet a judicious friend well suggests, 'It might, however, havebeen added, that such men are often merely just, and rigidly correct,while their hearts are cold and unfeeling; and that Johnson's virtueswere of a much higher tone than those of the _stayed, orderly man_, heredescribed.' BOSWELL.[1147] 'Lich, a dead carcase; whence Lichfield, the field of the dead, acity in Staffordshire, so named from martyred Christians. _Salve magnaparens.'_ It is curious that in the Abridgment of the _Dictionary_ hestruck out this salutation, though he left the rest of the article._Salve magna parens_, (Hail, mighty parent) is from Virgil's _Georgics_,ii. 173. The Rev. T. Twining, when at Lichfield in 1797, says:--'Ivisited the famous large old willow-tree, which Johnson, they say, usedto kiss when he came to Lichfield.' _Recreations and Studies of aCountry Clergyman of the XVIII Century_, p. 227.[1148] The following circumstance, mutually to the honour of Johnson,and the corporation of his native city, has been communicated to me bythe Reverend Dr. Vyse, from the Town-Clerk:--'Mr. Simpson has now beforehim, a record of the respect and veneration which the Corporation ofLichfield, in the year 1767, had for the merits and learning of Dr.Johnson. His father built the corner-house in the Market-place, the twofronts of which, towards Market and Broad-market-street, stood uponwaste land of the Corporation, under a forty years' lease, which wasthen expired. On the 15th of August, 1767, at a common-hall of thebailiffs and citizens, it was ordered (and that without anysolicitation,) that a lease should be granted to Samuel Johnson, Doctorof Laws, of the encroachments at his house, for the term of ninety-nineyears, at the old rent, which was five shillings. Of which, asTown-Clerk, Mr. Simpson had the honour and pleasure of informing him,and that he was desired to accept it, without paying any fine on theoccasion, which lease was afterwards granted, and the Doctor diedpossessed of this property.' BOSWELL.[1149] See vol. i. p. 37. BOSWELL.[1150] According to Miss Seward, who was Mr. White's cousin, 'Johnsononce called him "the rising strength of Lichfield."' Seward's_Letters_, i. 335.[1151] The Rev. R. Warner, who visited Lichfield in 1801, gives in his_Tour through the Northern Counties_, i. 105, a fuller account. He isclearly wrong in the date of its occurrence, and in one other matter,yet his story may in the main be true. He says that Johnson's friends atLichfield missed him one morning; the servants said that he had set offat a very early hour, whither they knew not. Just before supper hereturned. He informed his hostess of his breach of filial duty, whichhad happened just fifty years before on that very day. 'To do away thesin of this disobedience, I this day went,' he said, 'in a chaiseto--, and going into the market at the time of high business uncoveredmy head, and stood with it bare an hour, before the stall which myfather had formerly used, exposed to the sneers of the standers-by, andthe inclemency of the weather.' This penance may recall Dante's lines,--'Quando vivea piu glorioso, disse,Liberamente nel campo di Siena,Ogni vergogna deposta, s'affisse.''"When at his glory's topmost height," said he,"Respect of dignity all cast aside,Freely he fix'd him on Sienna's plain."'CARY. Dante, _Purgatory_. Cant. xi. l. 133.[1152]'How instinct varies in the grovelling swine,Compared, half-reasoning elephant, with thine.'Pope, _Essay on Man_, i. 221.[1153] See _ante_, iii. 153, 296.[1154] Mr. Burke suggested to me as applicable to Johnson, what Cicero,in his CATO MAJOR, says of _Appius:--'Intentum enim animum tanquam arcumhabebat, nec languescens succumbebat senectuti_;' repeating, at the sametime, the following noble words in the same passage:--_'Ita enimsenectus honesta est, si se ipsa defendit, si jus suum retinet, sinemini emancipata est, si usque ad extremum vitae spiritum vindicet jussuum_.' BOSWELL. The last line runs in the original:-'si usque adultimum spiritum dominatur in suos.' _Cato Major_, xi. 38.[1155]'_atrocem_ animum Catonis.''Cato--Of spirit unsubdued.'FRANCIS. Horace, 2 _Odes_, i. 24.[1156] Yet Baretti, who knew Johnson well, in a MS. note on _PiozziLetters_, i.315, says:--'If ever Johnson took any delight in anything itwas to converse with some old acquaintance. New people he never loved tobe in company with, except ladies, when disposed to caress andflatter him.'[1157] Johnson, thirty-four years earlier, wrote:--'I think there issome reason for questioning whether the body and mind are not soproportioned that the one can bear all that can be inflicted on theother; whether virtue cannot stand its ground as long as life, andwhether a soul well principled will not be separated sooner thansubdued.' _The Rambler_, No. 32. He wrote to Mrs. Thrale on Aug. 14,1780:--'But what if I am seventy-two; I remember Sulpitius says of SaintMartin (now that's above your reading), _Est animus victor annorum, etsenectuti cedere nescius_. Match me that among your young folks.'_Piozzi Letters_, ii. 177. On Sept. 2, 1784, he wrote to Mr. Sastres theItalian master:--'I have hope of standing the English winter, and ofseeing you, and reading _Petrarch_ at Bolt-court.' _Ib_. p. 407.[1158] _Life of Johnson_, p. 7.[1159] It is a most agreeable circumstance attending the publication ofthis Work, that Mr. Hector has survived his illustrious schoolfellow somany years; that he still retains his health and spirits; and hasgratified me with the following acknowledgement: 'I thank you, mostsincerely thank you, for the great and long continued entertainment your_Life of Dr. Johnson_ has afforded me, and others, of my particularfriends.' Mr. Hector, besides setting me right as to the verses on asprig of Myrtle, (see vol. i. p. 92, note,) has favoured me with twoEnglish odes, written by Dr. Johnson, at an early period of his life,which will appear in my edition of his poems. BOSWELL. See _ante_, i.16, note 1.[1160] The editor of the _Biographia Britannica. Ante_, iii. 174.[1161] On Dec. 23, Miss Adams wrote to a friend:--'We are all under thesincerest grief for the loss of poor Dr. Johnson. He spent three or fourdays with my father at Oxford, and promised to come again; as he was, hesaid, nowhere so happy.' _Pemb. Coll. MSS._[1162] See _ante_, p. 293.[1163] Mr. Strahan says (Preface, p. iv.) that Johnson, being hinderedby illness from revising these prayers, 'determined to give the MSS.,without revision, in charge to me. Accordingly one morning, on myvisiting him by desire at an early hour, he put these papers into myhands, with instructions for committing them to the press, and with apromise to prepare a sketch of his own life to accompany them.' WhateverJohnson wished about the prayers, it passes belief that he ever meantfor the eye of the world these minute accounts of his health and hisfeelings. Some parts indeed Mr. Strahan himself suppressed, as the Pemb.Coll. MSS. shew (_ante_, p. 84, note 4). It is curious that one portionat least fell into other hands (_ante_, ii. 476). There are otherapparent gaps in the diary which raise the suspicion that it was onlyfragments that Mr. Strahan obtained. On the other hand Mr. Strahan hadnothing to gain by the publication beyond notoriety (see his Preface, p.vi.). Dr. Adams, whose name is mentioned in the preface, expressed in aletter to the _Gent. Mag._ 1785, p. 755, his disapproval of thepublication. Mr. Courtenay (_Poetical Review_, ed. 1786, p. 7), thusattacked Mr. Strahan:--'Let priestly S--h--n in a godly fitThe tale relate, in aid of Holy Writ;Though candid Adams, by whom David fell [A],Who ancient miracles sustained so well,To recent wonders may deny his aid,Nor own a pious brother of the trade.'[A] The Rev. Dr. Adams of Oxford, distinguished for his answer to DavidHume's _Essay on Miracles_.[1164] Johnson once said to Miss Burney of her brother Charles:--'Ishould be glad to see him if he were not your brother; but were he adog, a cat, a rat, a frog, and belonged to you, I must needs be glad tosee him.' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, ii. 233. On Nov. 25 she called onhim. 'He let me in, though very ill. He told me he was going to try whatsleeping out of town might do for him. "I remember," said he, "that mywife, when she was near her end, poor woman, was also advised to sleepout of town; and when she was carried to the lodgings that had beenprepared for her, she complained that the staircase was in very badcondition, for the plaster was beaten off the walls in many places.""Oh!" said the man of the house, "that's nothing but by the knocksagainst it of the coffins of the poor souls that have died in thelodgings." He laughed, though not without apparent secret anguish, intelling me this.' Miss Burney continues:--'How delightfully bright arehis faculties, though the poor and infirm machine that contains themseems alarmingly giving way. Yet, all brilliant as he was, I saw himgrowing worse, and offered to go, which, for the first time I everremember, he did not oppose; but most kindly pressing both my hands, "Benot," he said, in a voice of even tenderness, "be not longer in comingagain for my letting you go now." I assured him I would be the sooner,and was running off, but he called me back in a solemn voice, and in amanner the most energetic, said:--"Remember me in your prayers."' Mme.D'Arblay's _Diary_, ii. 327. See _ante_, iii. 367, note 4.[1165] Mr. Hector's sister and Johnson's first love. _Ante_, ii. 459.[1166] The Rev. Dr. Taylor. BOSWELL.[1167] See _ante_, ii. 474, and iii. 180.[1168] 'Reliquum est, _[Greek: Sphartan elaches, tahutan khusmei].'_Cicero, _Epistolae ad Atticum_, iv. 6. 'Spartam nactus es, hanc orna.'Erasmus, _Adagiorum Chiliades_, ed. 1559, p. 485.[1169] Temple says of the spleen that it is a disease too refined forthis country and people, who are well when they are not ill, and pleasedwhen they are not troubled; are content, because they think little ofit, and seek their happiness in the common eases and commodities oflife, or the increase of riches; not amusing themselves with the morespeculative contrivances of passion, or refinements of pleasure.'Temple's _Works_, ed. 1757, i. 170.[1170] It is truly wonderful to consider the extent and constancy ofJohnson's literary ardour, notwithstanding the melancholy which cloudedand embittered his existence. Besides the numerous and various workswhich he executed, he had, at different times, formed schemes of a greatmany more, of which the following catalogue was given by him to Mr.Langton, and by that gentleman presented to his Majesty:'DIVINITY.'A small book of precepts and directions for piety; the hint taken fromthe directions in Morton's exercise.'PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY, and LITERATURE in general.'_History of Criticism_, as it relates to judging of authours, fromAristotle to the present age. An account of the rise and improvements ofthat art; of the different opinions of authours, ancient and modern.'Translation of the _History of Herodian_.'New edition of Fairfax's Translation of _Tasso_, with notes, glossary,&c.'Chaucer, a new edition of him, from manuscripts and old editions, withvarious readings, conjectures, remarks on his language, and the changesit had undergone from the earliest times to his age, and from his to thepresent: with notes explanatory of customs, &c., and references toBoccace, and other authours from whom he has borrowed, with an accountof the liberties he has taken in telling the stories; his life, and anexact etymological glossary.'Aristotle's _Rhetorick_, a translation of it into English.'A Collection of Letters, translated from the modern writers, with someaccount of the several authours.'Oldham's Poems, with notes, historical and critical.'Roscommon's Poems, with notes.'Lives of the Philosophers, written with a polite air, in such a manneras may divert as well as instruct.'History of the Heathen Mythology, with an explication of the fables,both allegorical and historical; with references to the poets.'History of the State of Venice, in a compendious manner.'Aristotle's _Ethicks_, an English translation of them, with notes.'Geographical Dictionary, from the French.'Hierocles upon Pythagoras, translated into English, perhaps with notes.This is done by Norris.'A book of Letters, upon all kinds of subjects.'Claudian, a new edition of his works, _cum notis variorum_, in themanner of Burman.'Tully's Tusculan Questions, a translation of them.'Tully's De Natura Deorum, a translation of those books.'Benzo's New History of the New World, to be translated.'Machiavel's History of Florence, to be translated.'History of the Revival of Learning in Europe, containing an account ofwhatever contributed to the restoration of literature; such ascontroversies, printing, the destruction of the Greek empire, theencouragement of great men, with the lives of the most eminent patronsand most eminent early professors of all kinds of learning in differentcountries.'A Body of Chronology, in verse, with historical notes.'A Table of the Spectators, Tatlers, and Guardians, distinguished byfigures into six degrees of value, with notes, giving the reasons ofpreference or degradation.'A Collection of Letters from English authours, with a preface givingsome account of the writers; with reasons for selection, and criticismupon styles; remarks on each letter, if needful.'A Collection of Proverbs from various languages. Jan. 6,--53.'A Dictionary to the Common Prayer, in imitation of Calmet's _Dictionaryof the Bible_. March, 52.'A Collection of Stories and Examples, like those of Valerius Maximus.Jan. 10,--53.'From Aelian, a volume of select Stories, perhaps from others. Jan.28,-53.'Collection of Travels, Voyages, Adventures, and Descriptions ofCountries.'Dictionary of Ancient History and Mythology.'Treatise on the Study of Polite Literature, containing the history oflearning, directions for editions, commentaries, &c.'Maxims, Characters, and Sentiments, after the manner of Bruyere,collected out of ancient authours, particularly the Greek, withApophthegms.'Classical Miscellanies, Select Translations from ancient Greek and