约翰逊4-6-87

'WILLIAM FORBES.'When I consider how many of the persons mentioned in this Tourare now gone to 'that undiscovered country, from whose bourne notraveller returns[1145],' I feel an impression at once awful andtender.--_Requiescant in pace!_It may be objected by some persons, as it has been by one of my friends,that he who has the power of thus exhibiting an exact transcript ofconversations is not a desirable member of society. I repeat the answerwhich I made to that friend:--'Few, very few, need be afraid that theirsayings will be recorded. Can it be imagined that I would take thetrouble to gather what grows on every hedge, because I have collectedsuch fruits as the _Nonpareil_ and the BON CHRETIEN[1146]?'On the other hand, how useful is such a faculty, if well exercised! Toit we owe all those interesting apophthegms and _memorabilia_ of theancients, which Plutarch, Xenophon, and Valerius Maximus, havetransmitted to us. To it we owe all those instructive and entertainingcollections which the French have made under the title of _Ana_, affixedto some celebrated name. To it we owe the _Table-Talk_ of Selden[1147],the _Conversation_ between Ben Jonson and Drummond of Hawthornden,Spence's _Anecdotes_ of Pope[1148], and other valuable remains in ourown language. How delighted should we have been, if thus introduced intothe company of Shakspeare and of Dryden[1149], of whom we know scarcelyany thing but their admirable writings! What pleasure would it havegiven us, to have known their petty habits, their characteristickmanners, their modes of composition, and their genuine opinion ofpreceding writers and of their contemporaries! All these are nowirrecoverably lost. Considering how many of the strongest and mostbrilliant effusions of exalted intellect must have perished, how much isit to be regretted that all men of distinguished wisdom and wit have notbeen attended by friends, of taste enough to relish, and abilitiesenough to register their conversation;'Vixere fortes ante AgamemnonaMulti, sed omnes illacrymabilesUrgentur, ignotique longaNocte, carent quia vate sacro[1150].'They whose inferiour exertions are recorded, as serving to explain orillustrate the sayings of such men, may be proud of being thusassociated, and of their names being transmitted to posterity, by beingappended to an illustrious character.Before I conclude, I think it proper to say, that I havesuppressed[1151] every thing which I thought could _really_ hurt anyone now living. Vanity and self-conceit indeed may sometimes suffer.With respect to what _is_ related, I considered it my duty to 'extenuatenothing, nor set down aught in malice[1152];' and with those lighterstrokes of Dr. Johnson's satire, proceeding from a warmth and quicknessof imagination, not from any malevolence of heart, and which, on accountof their excellence, could not be omitted, I trust that they who are thesubject of them have good sense and good temper enough not to bedispleased.I have only to add, that I shall ever reflect with great pleasure on aTour, which has been the means of preserving so much of the enlightenedand instructive conversation of one whose virtues will, I hope, ever bean object of imitation, and whose powers of mind were so extraordinary,that ages may revolve before such a man shall again appear.APPENDIX.No. I._In justice to the ingenious_ DR. BLACKLOCK, _I publish the followingletter from him, relative to a passage in p. 47._'TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.'DEAR SIR,'Having lately had the pleasure of reading your account of the journeywhich you took with Dr. Samuel Johnson to the Western Isles, I take theliberty of transmitting my ideas of the conversation which happenedbetween the doctor and myself concerning Lexicography and Poetry, which,as it is a little different from the delineation exhibited in the formeredition of your _Journal_, cannot, I hope, be unacceptable; particularlysince I have been informed that a second edition of that work is now incontemplation, if not in execution: and I am still more strongly temptedto encourage that hope, from considering that, if every one concerned inthe conversations related, were to send you what they can recollect ofthese colloquial entertainments, many curious and interestingparticulars might be recovered, which the most assiduous attention couldnot observe, nor the most tenacious memory retain. A little reflection,Sir, will convince you, that there is not an axiom in Euclid moreintuitive nor more evident than the doctor's assertion that poetry wasof much easier execution than lexicography. Any mind therefore endowedwith common sense, must have been extremely absent from itself, if itdiscovered the least astonishment from hearing that a poem might bewritten with much more facility than the same quantity of a dictionary.'The real cause of my surprise was what appeared to me much moreparadoxical, that he could write a sheet of dictionary _with as muchpleasure_ as a sheet of poetry. He acknowledged, indeed, that the latterwas much easier than the former. For in the one case, books and a deskwere requisite; in the other, you might compose when lying in bed, orwalking in the fields, &c. He did not, however, descend to explain, norto this moment can I comprehend, how the labours of a mere Philologist,in the most refined sense of that term, could give equal pleasure withthe exercise of a mind replete with elevated conceptions and patheticideas, while taste, fancy, and intellect were deeply enamoured ofnature, and in full exertion. You may likewise, perhaps, remember, thatwhen I complained of the ground which Scepticism in religion and moralswas continually gaining, it did not appear to be on my own account, asmy private opinions upon these important subjects had long beeninflexibly determined. What I then deplored, and still deplore, was theunhappy influence which that gloomy hesitation had, not only uponparticular characters, but even upon life in general; as being equallythe bane of action in our present state, and of such consolations as wemight derive from the hopes of a future.'I have the pleasure of remaining with sincere esteem and respect,'Dear Sir,'Your most obedient humble servant,'THOMAS BLACKLOCK.''Edinburgh, Nov. 12, 1785.'I am very happy to find that Dr. Blacklock's apparent uneasiness on thesubject of Scepticism was not on his own account, (as I supposed) butfrom a benevolent concern for the happiness of mankind. With respect,however, to the question concerning poetry, and composing a dictionary,I am confident that my state of Dr. Johnson's position is accurate. Onemay misconceive the motive by which a person is induced to discuss aparticular topick (as in the case of Dr. Blacklock's speaking ofScepticism); but an assertion, like that made by Dr. Johnson, cannot beeasily mistaken. And indeed it seems not very probable, that he who sopathetically laments the _drudgery_[1153] to which the unhappylexicographer is doomed, and is known to have written his splendidimitation of _Juvenal_ with astonishing rapidity[1154], should have had'as much pleasure in writing a sheet of a dictionary as a sheet ofpoetry[1155].' Nor can I concur with the ingenious writer of theforegoing letter, in thinking it an axiom as evident as any in Euclid,that 'poetry is of easier execution than lexicography.' I have no doubtthat Bailey[1156], and the 'mighty blunderbuss of law[1157],' Jacob,wrote ten pages of their respective _Dictionaries_ with more ease thanthey could have written five pages of poetry.If this book should again be reprinted, I shall with the utmostreadiness correct any errours I may have committed, in statingconversations, provided it can be clearly shewn to me that I have beeninaccurate. But I am slow to believe, (as I have elsewhereobserved[1158]) that any man's memory, at the distance of several years,can preserve facts or sayings with such fidelity as may be done bywriting them down when they are recent: and I beg it may be remembered,that it is not upon _memory_, but upon what was _written at the time_,that the authenticity of my _Journal_ rests.* * * * *No. II.Verses written by Sir Alexander (now Lord) Macdonald; addressed andpresented to Dr. Johnson, at Armidale in the Isle of Sky[1159].Viator, o qui nostra per aequoraVisurus agros Skiaticos venis,En te salutantes tributimUndique conglomerantur oris.Donaldiani,--quotquot in insulisCompescit arctis limitibus mare;Alitque jamdudum, ac alendosPiscibus indigenas fovebit.Ciere fluctus siste, Procelliger,Nec tu laborans perge, precor, ratis,Ne conjugem plangat marita,Ne doleat soboles parentem.Nec te vicissim poeniteat virumLuxisse;--vestro scimus ut aestuantIn corde luctantes dolores,Cum feriant inopina corpus.Quidni! peremptum clade tuentibusPlus semper illo qui moritur patiDatur, doloris dum profundosPervia mens aperit recessus.Valete luctus;--hinc lacrymabilesArcete visus:--ibimus, ibimusSuperbienti qua theatroFingaliae memorantur aulae.Illustris hospes! mox spatiabereQua mens ruinae ducta meatibusGaudebit explorare coetus,Buccina qua cecinit triumphos;Audin? resurgens spirat anhelituDux usitato, suscitat efficaxPoeta manes, ingruitqueVi solita redivivus horror.Ahaena quassans tela gravi manuSic ibat atrox Ossiani pater:Quiescat urna, stet fidelisPhersonius vigil ad favillam._Preparing for the Press, in one Volume Quarto_,THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.BY _JAMES BOSWELL_, ESQ.Mr. Boswell has been collecting materials for this work for more thantwenty years, during which he was honoured with the intimate friendshipof Dr. Johnson; to whose memory he is ambitious to erect a literarymonument, worthy of so great an authour, and so excellent a man. Dr.Johnson was well informed of his design, and obligingly communicated tohim several curious particulars. With these will be interwoven the mostauthentick accounts that can be obtained from those who knew him best;many sketches of his conversation on a multiplicity of subjects, withvarious persons, some of them the most eminent of the age; a greatnumber of letters from him at different periods, and several originalpieces dictated by him to Mr. Boswell, distinguished by that peculiarenergy, which marked every emanation of his mind.Mr. Boswell takes this opportunity of gratefully acknowledging the manyvaluable communications which he has received to enable him to renderhis _Life of Dr. Johnson_ more complete. His thanks are particularly dueto the Rev. Dr. Adams, the Rev. Dr. Taylor, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr.Langton, Dr. Brocklesby, the Rev. Thomas Warton, Mr. Hector ofBirmingham, Mrs. Porter, and Miss Seward.He has already obtained a large collection of Dr. Johnson's letters tohis friends, and shall be much obliged for such others as yet remain inprivate hands; which he is the more desirous of collecting, as all theletters of that great man, which he has yet seen, are written withpeculiar precision and elegance; and he is confident that thepublication of the whole of Dr. Johnson's epistolary correspondencewill do him the highest honour.APPENDIX A.(_Page_ 80.)As no one reads Warburton now--I bought the five volumes of his_Divine Legation_ in excellent condition, bound in calf, for ten pence--oneor two extracts from his writing may be of interest. His Dedicationof that work to the Free-Thinkers is as vigorous as it is abusive. It hassuch passages as the following:--'Low and mean as your buffoonery is,it is yet to the level of the people:' p. xi. 'I have now done withyour buffoonery, which, like chewed bullets, is against the law of arms;and come next to your scurrilities, those stink-pots of your offensivewar.' _Ib. p. xxii_. On page xl. he returns again to their '_cold_buffoonery.' In the Appendix to vol. v, p. 414, he thus wittily repliesto Lowth, who had maintained that 'idolatry was punished under theDOMINION of Melchisedec'(p. 409):--'Melchisedec's story is a shortone; he is just brought into the scene to _bless_ Abraham in his returnfrom conquest. This promises but ill. Had this _King and Priest ofSalem_ been brought in _cursing_, it had had a better appearance: for, Ithink, punishment for opinions which generally ends in a _fagot_ alwaysbegins with a _curse_. But we may be misled perhaps by a wrong translation.The Hebrew word to _bless_ signifies likewise to _curse_, and underthe management of an intolerant priest good things easily run into theircontraries. What follows is his taking _tythes_ from Abraham. Nor willthis serve our purpose, unless we interpret these _tythes_ into _fines fornon-conformity_; and then by the _blessing_ we can easily understand_absolution_. We have seen much stranger things done with the _Hebrewverity_. If this be not allowed, I do not see how we can elicit fire andfagot from this adventure; for I think there is no inseparable connexionbetween _tythes_ and _persecution_ but in the ideas of a Quaker.--Andso much for King Melchisedec. But the learned _Professor_, whohas been hardily brought up in the keen atmosphere of WHOLESOMESEVERITIES and early taught to distinguish between _de facto_ and _dejure_, thought it 'needless to enquire into _facts_, when he was secureof the _right_'.This 'keen atmosphere of wholesome severities' reappears by theway in Mason's continuation of Gray's Ode to Vicissitude:--'That breathes the keen yet wholesome airOf rugged penury.'And later in the first book of Wordsworth's _Excursion_(ed. 1857, vi. 29):--'The keen, the wholesome air of poverty.'Johnson said of Warburton: 'His abilities gave him an haughty confidence,which he disdained to conceal or mollify; and his impatienceof opposition disposed him to treat his adversaries with such contemptuoussuperiority as made his readers commonly his enemies, andexcited against the advocate the wishes of some who favoured the cause.He seems to have adopted the Roman Emperour's determination,_oderint dum metuant_; he used no allurements of gentle language, butwished to compel rather than persuade.' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 288.See _ante_, ii. 36, and iv. 46.* * * * *APPENDIX B.(_Page_ 158.)Johnson's Ode written in Sky was thus translated by LordHoughton:--'Where constant mist enshrouds the rocks,Shattered in earth's primeval shocks,And niggard Nature ever mocksThe labourer's toil,I roam through clans of savage men,Untamed by arts, untaught by pen;Or cower within some squalid denO'er reeking soil.Through paths that halt from stone to stone,Amid the din of tongues unknown,One image haunts my soul alone,Thine, gentle Thrale!Soothes she, I ask, her spouse's care?Does mother-love its charge prepare?Stores she her mind with knowledge rare,Or lively tale?Forget me not! thy faith I claim,Holding a faith that cannot die,That fills with thy benignant nameThese shores of Sky.'Hayward's _Piozzi_, i. 29.* * * * *APPENDIX C.(_Page_ 307.)Johnson's use of the word _big_, where he says 'I wish thy books weretwice as big,' enables me to explain a passage in _The Life of Johnson(ante_, iii. 348) which had long puzzled me. Boswell there representshim as saying:--'A man who loses at play, or who runs out his fortune atcourt, makes his estate less, in hopes of making it _bigger_.' Boswelladds in a parenthesis:--'I am sure of this word, which was often used byhim.' He had been criticised by a writer in the _Gent. Mag_. 1785, p.968, who quoting from the text the words 'a _big_ book,' says:--'Mr.Boswell has made his friend (as in a few other passages) guilty of a_Scotticism_. An Englishman reads and writes a _large_ book, and wears a_great_ (not a _big_ or _bag_) coat.' When Boswell came to publish _TheLife of Johnson_, he took the opportunity to justify himself, though hedid not care to refer directly to his anonymous critic. Thisexplanation I discovered too late to insert in the text.A JOURNEYINTONORTH WALES,INTHE YEAR 1774.[1160]TUESDAY, JULY 5.We left Streatham 11 a.m.Price of four horses 2s. a mile.JULY 6.Barnet 1.40 p.m.On the road I read Tully's _Epistles_.At night at Dunstable.To Lichfield, 83 miles.To the Swan[1161].JULY 7.To Mrs. Porter's[1162].To the Cathedral.To Mrs. Aston's.To Mr. Green's.Mr. Green's Museum was much admired, andMr. Newton's china.JULY 8.To Mr. Newton's. To Mrs. Cobb's.