约翰逊4-6-106

was Mickle, the translator of the _Lusiad_ and author of the _Ballad ofCumnor Hall_ (_ante_, ii. 182). Had it not been for this 'poetaster,'_Kenilworth_ might never have been written. Scott, in the preface, tellshow 'the first stanza of _Cunmor Hall_ had a peculiar species ofenchantment for his youthful ear, the force of which is not even nowentirely spent.' The play that was refused was the _Siege ofMarseilles_. Ever since the success of Hughes's _Siege of Damascus_ 'asiege had become a popular title' (_ante_, iii. 259, note 1).[937] She could only have been away for the day; for in 1776 Garrickwrote:--'As I have not left Mrs. Garrick one day since we were married,near twenty-eight years, I cannot now leave her.' _Garrick Corres_.ii. 150.[938] Dr. Morell once entered the school-room at Winchester College, 'inwhich some junior boys were writing their exercises, one of whom, struckno less with his air and manner than with the questions he put to them,whispered to his school-fellows, "Is he not a fine old Grecian?" TheDoctor, overhearing this, turned hastily round and exclaimed, "I amindeed an old Grecian, my little man. Did you never see my head beforemy Thesaurus?"' The Praepostors, learning the dignity of their visitor,in a most respectful manner showed him the College. Wooll's _Life of Dr.Warton_, p. 329. Mason writing to Horace Walpole about some odes,says:--'They are so lopped and mangled, that they are worse now than theproductions of Handel's poet, Dr. Morell.' Walpole's _Letters_, v. 420.Morell compiled the words for Handel's _Oratorios_.[939] _Ante_, i. 148.[940] I doubt whether any other instance can be found of _love_ beingsent to Johnson.[941] The passage begins:--'A _servant_ or two from a revering distancecast many a wishful look, and condole their honoured master in thelanguage of sighs.' Hervey's _Meditations_, ed. 1748, i. 40.[942] _Ib_. ii. 84.[943] The _Meditation_ was perhaps partly suggested by Swift's_Meditation upon a Broomstick_. Swift's _Works_ (1803), iii. 275.[944] Thomas Burnet of the Charterhouse, in his _Sacred Theory of theEarth_, ed. 1722, i. 85.[945] See _ante_, i. 476, and ii. 73.[946] Elizabeth Gunning, celebrated (like her sister, Lady Coventry) forher personal charms, had been previously Duchess of Hamilton, and wasmother of Douglas, Duke of Hamilton, the competitor for the Douglasproperty with the late Lord Douglas: she was, of course, prejudicedagainst Boswell, who had shewn all the bustling importance of hischaracter in the Douglas cause, and it was said, I know not on whatauthority, that he headed the mob which broke the windows of some of thejudges, and of Lord Auchinleck, his father, in particular. WALTER SCOTT.See _ante_, ii. 50.[947] See _ante_, i. 408, and ii. 329.[948] She married the Earl of Derby, and was the great-grandmother ofthe present Earl. Burke's _Peerage_.[949] See _ante_, iv. 248.[950] Lord Macaulay's grandfather, Trevelyan's _Macaulay_, i. 6.[951] See _ante_, p. 118.[952] On reflection, at the distance of several years, I wonder that myvenerable fellow-traveller should have read this passage withoutcensuring my levity. BOSWELL.[953] _Ante_, p. 151.[954] See _ante_, i. 240.[955] As this book is now become very scarce, I shall subjoin the title,which is curious:--The Doctrines of a Middle State between Death andthe Resurrection: Of Prayers for the Dead: And the Necessity ofPurification; plainly proved from the holy Scriptures, and the Writingsof the Fathers of the Primitive Church: and acknowledged by severallearned Fathers and Great Divines of the Church of England and otherssince the Reformation. To which is added, an Appendix concerning theDescent of the Soul of Christ into Hell, while his Body lay in theGrave. Together with the Judgment of the Reverend Dr. Hickes concerningthis Book, so far as relates to a Middle State, particular Judgment, andPrayers for the Dead as it appeared in the first Edition. 'And aManuscript of the Right Reverend Bishop Overall upon the Subject of aMiddle State, and never before printed. Also, a Preservative againstseveral of the Errors of the Roman Church, in six small Treatises. Bythe Honourable Archibald Campbell. Folio, 1721. BOSWELL.[956] The release gained for him by Lord Townshend must have been fromhis last imprisonment after the accession of George I; for, as Mr.Croker points out, Townshend was not Secretary of State till 1714.[957] See _ante_, iv. 286.[958] He was the grandson of the first Marquis, who was beheaded byCharles II in 1661, and nephew of the ninth Earl, who was beheaded byJames II in 1685. Burke's _Peerage_. He died on June 15, 1744, accordingto the _Gent. Mag._ xiv. 339; where he is described as 'the consecratedArchbishop of St. Andrews.' See _ante_, ii. 216.[959] George Hickes, 1642-1715. A non-juror, consecrated in 1693suffragan bishop of Thetford by three of the deprived non-juror bishops.Chalmers's _Biog. Dict._ xvii. 450. Burnet (_Hist. of his own Time_, iv.303) describes him as 'an ill-tempered man, who was now [1712] at thehead of the Jacobite party, and who had in several books promoted anotion, that there was a proper sacrifice made in the Eucharist.'Boswell mentions him, _ante_, iv. 287.[960] See _ante_, ii. 458.[961] This must be a mistake for _He died_.[962] 'It is generally supposed that life is longer in places wherethere are few opportunities of luxury; but I found no instance here ofextraordinary longevity. A cottager grows old over his oaten cakes likea citizen at a turtle feast. He is, indeed, seldom incommoded bycorpulence, Poverty preserves him from sinking under the burden ofhimself, but he escapes no other injury of time.' Johnson's Works,ix. 81.[963] Lady Lucy Graham, daughter of the second Duke of Montrose, andwife of Mr. Douglas, the successful claimant: she died in 1780, whenceBoswell calls her '_poor_ Lady Lucy.' CROKER[964] Her first husband was the sixth Duke of Hamilton and Brandon. Onhis death she refused the Duke of Bridgewater. She was the mother offour dukes--two of Hamilton and two of Argyle. Her sister married theEarl of Coventry. Walpole's _Letters_, ii. 259, note. Walpole, writingon Oct. 9, 1791, says that their story was amazing. 'The two beautifulsisters were going on the stage, when they were at once exalted almostas high as they could be, were Countessed and double-Duchessed.' _Ib_.ix. 358. Their maiden name was Gunning. The Duchess of Argyle was alivewhen Boswell published his _Journal_.[965] See _ante_, iv. 397, and v. 210. It was Lord Macaulay'sgrandfather who was thus reprimanded. Mr. Trevelyan remarks (_Life ofMacaulay_, i. 7), 'When we think what well-known ground this [subject]was to Lord Macaulay, it is impossible to suppress a wish that the greattalker had been at hand to avenge his grandfather.' The result mightwell have been, however, that the great talker would have been reducedto silence--one of those brilliant flashes of silence for which SydneySmith longed, but longed in vain.[966] See _ante_, ii. 264, note 2.[967] See _ante_, iv. 8, for his use of 'O brave!'[968] Having mentioned, more than once, that my _Journal_ was perused byDr. Johnson, I think it proper to inform my readers that this is thelast paragraph which he read. BOSWELL. He began to read it on August 18(_ante_, p. 58, note 2).[969] See _ante_, ii. 320.[970] Act i. sc. 1. The best known passage in _Douglas_ is the speechbeginning 'My name is Norval.' Act ii. The play affords a few quotationsmore or less known, as:--'I found myselfAs women wish to be who love their lords.'Act i.'He seldom errsWho thinks the worse he can of womankind.'Act iii.'Honour, sole judge and umpire of itself.'Act iv.'Unknown I die; no tongue shall speak of me.Some noble spirits, judging by themselves,May yet conjecture what I might have proved,And think life only wanting to my fame.'Act v.'An honest guardian, arbitrator justBe thou; thy station deem a sacred trust.With thy good sword maintain thy country's cause;In every action venerate its laws:The lie suborn'd if falsely urg'd to swear,Though torture wait thee, torture firmly bear;To forfeit honour, think the highest shame,And life too dearly bought by loss of fame;Nor to preserve it, with thy virtue giveThat for which only man should wish to live.'[_Satires_, viii. 79.]For this and the other translations to which no signature is affixed, Iam indebted to the friend whose observations are mentioned in the notes,pp. 78 and 399. BOSWELL. Sir Walter Scott says, 'probably Dr. HughBlair.' I have little doubt that it was Malone. 'One of the bestcriticks of our age,' Boswell calls this friend in the other twopassages. This was a compliment Boswell was likely to pay to Malone, towhom he dedicated this book. Malone was a versifier. See Prior's_Malone_, p. 463.[971] I am sorry that I was unlucky in my quotation. But notwithstandingthe acuteness of Dr. Johnson's criticism, and the power of his ridicule,_The Tragedy of Douglas_ sill continues to be generally and deservedlyadmired. BOSWELL. Johnson's scorn was no doubt returned, for Dr. A.Carlyle (_Auto._ p. 295) says of Home:--'as John all his life had athorough contempt for such as neglected his poetry, he treated all whoapproved of his works with a partiality which more than approached toflattery.' Carlyle tells (pp. 301-305) how Home started for London withhis tragedy in one pocket of his great coat and his clean shirt andnight-cap in the other, escorted on setting out by six or seven Merseministers. 'Garrick, after reading his play, returned it as totallyunfit for the stage.' It was brought out first in Edinburgh, and in theyear 1757 in Covent Garden, where it had great success. 'This tragedy,'wrote Carlyle forty-five years later, 'still maintains its ground, hasbeen more frequently acted, and is more popular than any tragedy in theEnglish language.' _Ib._ p. 325. Hannah More recorded in 1786(_Memoirs_, ii. 22), 'I had a quarrel with Lord Monboddo one nightlately. He said _Douglas_ was a better play than Shakespeare could havewritten. He was angry and I was pert. Lord Mulgrave sat spiriting me up,but kept out of the scrape himself, and Lord Stormont seemed to enjoythe debate, but was shabby enough not to help me out.'[972] See _ante_, ii. 230, note 1.[973] See _ante_, p. 318.[974] See _ante_, iii. 54[975] See _ante_, p. 356.[976] See _ante_, iii. 241, note 2.[977] As a remarkable instance of his negligence, I remember some yearsago to have found lying loose in his study, and without the cover, whichcontained the address, a letter to him from Lord Thurlow, to whom he hadmade an application as Chancellor, in behalf of a poor literary friend.It was expressed in such terms of respect for Dr. Johnson, that, in myzeal for his reputation, I remonstrated warmly with him on his strangeinattention, and obtained his permission to take a copy of it; by whichprobably it has been preserved, as the original I have reason to supposeis lost. BOSWELL. See _ante_, iii. 441.[978] 'The islets, which court the gazer at a distance, disgust him athis approach, when he finds, instead of soft lawns and shady thickets,nothing more than uncultivated ruggedness.' Johnson's _Works_, ix. 156.[979] See _ante_, i. 200, and iv. 179.[980] In these arguments he says:--'Reason and truth will prevail atlast. The most learned of the Scottish doctors would now gladly admit aform of prayer, if the people would endure it. The zeal or rage ofcongregations has its different degrees. In some parishes the Lord'sPrayer is suffered: in others it is still rejected as a form; and hethat should make it part of his supplication would be suspected ofheretical pravity.' Johnson's _Works_, ix. 102. See _ante_, p. 121.[981] 'A very little above the source of the Leven, on the lake, standsthe house of Cameron, belonging to Mr. Smollett, so embosomed in an oakwood that we did not see it till we were within fifty yards of thedoor.' _Humphry Clinker_, Letter of Aug. 28.[982] Boswell himself was at times one of 'those absurd visionaries.'_Ante_, ii. 73.[983] See _ante_, p. 117.[984] Lord Kames wrote one, which is published in Chambers's _Traditionsof Edinburgh_, ed. 1825, i. 280. In it he bids the traveller to 'indulgethe hope of a Monumental Pillar.'[985] See _ante_, iii. 85; and v. 154.[986] This address does not offend against the rule that Johnson laysdown in his _Essay on Epitaphs_ (_Works_, v. 263), where he says:--'Itis improper to address the epitaph to the passenger.' The improprietyconsists in such an address in a church. He however did break throughhis rule in his epitaph in Streatham Church on Mr. Thrale, where hesays:--'Abi viator.' _Ib._ i. 154.[987] In _Humphry Clinker_ (Letter of Aug. 28), which was published afew months before Smollett's death, is his _Ode on Leven-Water_.[988] The epitaph which has been inscribed on the pillar erected on thebanks of the Leven, in honour of Dr. Smollett, is as follows. The partwhich was written by Dr. Johnson, it appears, has been altered; whetherfor the better, the reader will judge. The alterations are distinguishedby Italicks.Siste viator!Si lepores ingeniique venam benignam,Si morum callidissimum pictorem, Unquam es miratus,Immorare paululum memoriaeTOBIAE SMOLLET, M.D.Viri virtutibus _hisce_Quas in homine et civeEt laudes et imiteris,Haud mediocriter ornati:Qui in literis variis versatus,Postquam felicitate _sibi propria_Sese posteris commendaverat,Morte acerba raptusAnno aetatis 51,Eheu: quam procul a patria!Prope Liburni portum in Italia, Jacet sepultres.Tali tantoque viro, patrueli suo, Cui in decursu lampadaSe potius tradidisse decuit, Hanc Columnam,Amoris, eheu! inane monumentum In ipsis Leviniae ripis,Quas _versiculis sub exitu vitae illustratas_Primis infans vagitibus personuit, Ponendam curavitJACOBUS SMOLLET de Bonhill. Abi et reminiscere,Hoc quidem honore, Non modo defuncti memoriae,Verum etiam exemplo, prospectum esse;Aliis enim, si modo digni sint,Idem erit virtutis praemium!BOSWELL.[989] Baretti told Malone that, having proposed to teach JohnsonItalian, they went over a few stanzas of Ariosto, and Johnson then grewweary. 'Some years afterwards Baretti said he would give him anotherlesson, but added, "I suppose you have forgotten what we read before.""Who forgets, Sir?" said Johnson, and immediately repeated three or fourstanzas of the poem.' Baretti took down the book to see if it had beenlately opened, but the leaves were covered with dust. Prior's _Malone_,p. 160. Johnson had learnt to translate Italian before he knew Baretti._Ante_, i. 107, 156. For other instances of his memory, see _ante_, i.39, 48; iii. 318, note 1; and iv. 103, note 2.[990] For sixty-eight days he received no letter--from August 21(_ante_, p. 84) to October 28.[991] Among these professors might possibly have been either Burke orHume had not a Mr. Clow been the successful competitor in 1751 as thesuccessor to Adam Smith in the chair of Logic. 'Mr. Clow has acquired acurious title to fame, from the greatness of the man to whom hesucceeded, and of those over whom he was triumphant.' J.H. Burton's_Hume_, i. 351.[992] Dr. Reid, the author of the _Inquiry into the Human Mind_, had in1763 succeeded Adam Smith as Professor of Moral Philosophy. DugaldStewart was his pupil the winter before Johnson's visit. Stewart's_Reid_, ed. 1802, p. 38.[993] See _ante_, iv. 186.[994] Mr. Boswell has chosen to omit, for reasons which will bepresently obvious, that Johnson and Adam Smith met at Glasgow; but Ihave been assured by Professor John Miller that they did so, and thatSmith, leaving the party in which he had met Johnson, happened to cometo another company _where Miller was_. Knowing that Smith had been inJohnson's society, they were anxious to know what had passed, and themore so as Dr. Smith's temper seemed much ruffled. At first Smith wouldonly answer, 'He's a brute--he's a brute;' but on closer examination, itappeared that Johnson no sooner saw Smith than he attacked him for somepoint of his famous letter on the death of Hume (_ante_, p. 30). Smithvindicated the truth of his statement. 'What did Johnson say?' was theuniversal inquiry. 'Why, he said,' replied Smith, with the deepestimpression of resentment, 'he said, _you lie!_' 'And what did youreply?' 'I said, you are a son of a------!' On such terms did these twogreat moralists meet and part, and such was the classical dialoguebetween two great teachers of philosophy. WALTER SCOTT. This story iserroneous in the particulars of the _time, place,_ and _subject_ of thealleged quarrel; for Hume did not die for [nearly] three years afterJohnson's only visit to Glasgow; nor was Smith then there. Johnson,previous to 1763 (see _ante_, i. 427, and iii. 331), had an altercationwith Adam Smith at Mr. Strahan's table. This may have been thefoundation of Professor Miller's misrepresentation. But, even _then_,nothing of this offensive kind could have passed, as, if it had, Smithcould certainly not have afterwards solicited admission to the Club ofwhich Johnson was the leader, to which he was admitted 1st Dec. 1775,and where he and Johnson met frequently on civil terms. I, therefore,disbelieve the whole story. CROKER.[995] 'His appearance,' says Dr. A. Carlyle (_Auto_. p. 68), 'was thatof an ascetic, reduced by fasting and prayer.' See _ante_, p. 68.[996] See _ante_, ii. 27, 279.[997] See _ante,_ p. 92.[998] Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--'I was not much pleased with anyof the Professors.' _Piozzi Letters,_ i. 199. Mme. D'Arblay says:--'Whenever Dr. Johnson did not make the charm of conversation he onlymarred it by his presence, from the general fear he incited, that if hespoke not, he might listen; and that if he listened, he might reprove.'_Memoirs of Dr. Burney,_ ii. 187. See _ante_, ii. 63[999] Boswell has not let us see this caution. When Robertson first camein, 'there began,' we are told, 'some animated dialogue' (_ante,_ p.32).The next day we read that 'he fluently harangued to Dr. Johnson'(_ante,_ p.43).[1000] See _ante,_ iii. 366.[1001] He was Ambassador at Paris in the beginning of the reign ofGeorge I., and Commander-in-Chief in 1744. Lord Mahon's _England_, ed.1836, i. 201 and iii. 275.