Life Of Johnson, Volume 4 (of 6) - Boswell
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[Here he said, 'GOD bless you with it.' I acknowledged myself much
obliged to him; but I begged that he would go on as to the propitiation
being the chief object of our most holy faith. He then dictated this one
other paragraph.]
'The peculiar doctrine of Christianity is, that of an universal
sacrifice, and perpetual propitiation. Other prophets only proclaimed
the will and the threatenings of GOD. CHRIST satisfied his
justice[400].'
The Reverend Mr. Palmer[401], Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge,
dined with us. He expressed a wish that a better provision were made for
parish-clerks. JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, a parish-clerk should be a man who is
able to make a will, or write a letter for any body in the parish.'
I mentioned Lord Monboddo's notion[402] that the ancient Egyptians, with
all their learning, and all their arts, were not only black, but
woolly-haired. Mr. Palmer asked how did it appear upon examining the
mummies? Dr. Johnson approved of this test[403].
Although upon most occasions[404] I never heard a more strenuous
advocate for the advantages of wealth, than Dr. Johnson: he this day, I
know not from what caprice, took the other side. 'I have not observed
(said he) that men of very large fortunes enjoy any thing extraordinary
that makes happiness. What has the Duke of Bedford? What has the Duke of
Devonshire? The only great instance that I have ever known of the
enjoyment of wealth was, that of Jamaica Dawkins, who, going to visit
Palmyra, and hearing that the way was infested by robbers, hired a troop
of Turkish horse to guard him[405].'
Dr. Gibbons[406], the Dissenting minister, being mentioned, he said, 'I
took to Dr. Gibbons.' And addressing himself to Mr. Charles Dilly,
added, 'I shall be glad to see him. Tell him, if he'll call on me, and
dawdle[407] over a dish of tea in an afternoon, I shall take it kind.'
The Reverend Mr. Smith, Vicar of Southill, a very respectable man, with
a very agreeable family, sent an invitation to us to drink tea. I
remarked Dr. Johnson's very respectful[408] politeness. Though always
fond of changing the scene, he said, 'We must have Mr. Dilly's leave. We
cannot go from your house, Sir, without your permission.' We all went,
and were well satisfied with our visit. I however remember nothing
particular, except a nice distinction which Dr. Johnson made with
respect to the power of memory, maintaining that forgetfulness was a
man's own fault[409]. 'To remember and to recollect (said he) are
different things. A man has not the power to recollect what is not in
his mind; but when a thing is in his mind he may remember it.' The
remark was occasioned by my leaning back on a chair, which a little
before I had perceived to be broken, and pleading forgetfulness as an
excuse. 'Sir, (said he,) its being broken was certainly in your
mind[410].'
When I observed that a housebreaker was in general very timorous;
JOHNSON. 'No wonder, Sir; he is afraid of being shot getting _into_ a
house, or hanged when he has got _out_ of it.'
He told us, that he had in one day written six sheets of a translation
from the French[411], adding, 'I should be glad to see it now. I wish
that I had copies of all the pamphlets written against me, as it is said
Pope had. Had I known that I should make so much noise in the world, I
should have been at pains to collect them. I believe there is hardly a
day in which there is not something about me in the newspapers.'
On Monday, June 4, we all went to Luton-Hoe, to see Lord Bute's
magnificent seat[412], for which I had obtained a ticket. As we entered
the park, I talked in a high style of my old friendship with Lord
Mountstuart[413], and said, 'I shall probably be much at this place.'
The Sage, aware of human vicissitudes, gently checked me: 'Don't you be
too sure of that.' He made two or three peculiar observations; as when
shewn the botanical garden, 'Is not every garden a botanical garden?'
When told that there was a shrubbery to the extent of several miles:
'That is making a very foolish use of the ground; a little of it is very
well.' When it was proposed that we should walk on the pleasure-ground;
'Don't let us fatigue ourselves. Why should we walk there? Here's a fine
tree, let's get to the top of it.' But upon the whole, he was very much
pleased. He said, 'This is one of the places I do not regret having come
to see. It is a very stately place, indeed; in the house magnificence is
not sacrificed to convenience, nor convenience to magnificence. The
library is very splendid: the dignity of the rooms is very great; and
the quantity of pictures is beyond expectation, beyond hope.'
It happened without any previous concert, that we visited the seat of
Lord Bute upon the King's birthday; we dined and drank his Majesty's
health at an inn, in the village of Luton.
In the evening I put him in mind of his promise to favour me with a copy
of his celebrated Letter to the Earl of Chesterfield, and he was at last
pleased to comply with this earnest request, by dictating it to me from
his memory; for he believed that he himself had no copy[414]. There was
an animated glow in his countenance while he thus recalled his
high-minded indignation.
He laughed heartily at a ludicrous action in the Court of Session, in
which I was Counsel. The Society of _Procurators_, or Attornies,
entitled to practise in the inferiour courts at Edinburgh, had obtained
a royal charter, in which they had taken care to have their ancient
designation of Procurators changed into that of _Solicitors_, from a
notion, as they supposed, that it was more genteel[415]; and this new
title they displayed by a publick advertisement for a _General Meeting_
at their HALL.
It has been said, that the Scottish nation is not distinguished for
humour; and, indeed, what happened on this occasion may in some degree
justify the remark: for although this society had contrived to make
themselves a very prominent object for the ridicule of such as might
stoop to it, the only joke to which it gave rise, was the following
paragraph, sent to the newspaper called _The Caledonian Mercury_:--
'A correspondent informs us, that the Worshipful Society of _Chaldeans_,
_Cadies_[416], or _Running Stationers_ of this city are resolved, in
imitation, and encouraged by the singular success of their brethren, of
an equally respectable Society, to apply for a Charter of their
Privileges, particularly of the sole privilege of PROCURING, in the most
extensive sense of the word[417], exclusive of chairmen, porters,
penny-post men, and other _inferiour_ ranks; their brethren the R--Y--L
S--LL--RS, _alias_ P--C--RS, _before the_ INFERIOUR Courts of this City,
always excepted.
'Should the Worshipful Society be successful, they are farther resolved
not to be _puffed up_ thereby, but to demean themselves with more
equanimity and decency than their _R--y--l, learned_, and _very modest_
brethren above mentioned have done, upon their late dignification and
exaltation.'
A majority of the members of the Society prosecuted Mr. Robertson, the
publisher of the paper, for damages; and the first judgement of the
whole Court very wisely dismissed the action: _Solventur risu tabulae,
tu missus abibis_[418]. But a new trial or review was granted upon a
petition, according to the forms in Scotland. This petition I was
engaged to answer, and Dr. Johnson with great alacrity furnished me this
evening with what follows:--
'All injury is either of the person, the fortune, or the fame. Now it is
a certain thing, it is proverbially known, that _a jest breaks no
bones_. They never have gained half-a-crown less in the whole profession
since this mischievous paragraph has appeared; and, as to their
reputation, What is their reputation but an instrument of getting money?
If, therefore, they have lost no money, the question upon reputation
may be answered by a very old position,--_De minimis non curat Praetor_.
'Whether there was, or was not, an _animus injuriandi_, is not worth
inquiring, if no _injuria_ can be proved. But the truth is, there was no
_animus injuriandi_. It was only an _animus irritandi[419]_, which,
happening to be exercised upon a _genus irritabile_, produced unexpected
violence of resentment. Their irritability arose only from an opinion of
their own importance, and their delight in their new exaltation. What
might have been borne by a _Procurator_ could not be borne by a
_Solicitor_. Your Lordships well know, that _honores mutant mores_.
Titles and dignities play strongly on the fancy. As a madman is apt to
think himself grown suddenly great, so he that grows suddenly great is
apt to borrow a little from the madman. To co-operate with their
resentment would be to promote their phrenzy; nor is it possible to
guess to what they might proceed, if to the new title of Solicitor,
should be added the elation of victory and triumph.
'We consider your Lordships as the protectors of our rights, and the
guardians of our virtues; but believe it not included in your high
office, that you should flatter our vices, or solace our vanity: and, as
vanity only dictates this prosecution, it is humbly hoped your Lordships
will dismiss it.
'If every attempt, however light or ludicrous, to lessen another's
reputation, is to be punished by a judicial sentence, what punishment
can be sufficiently severe for him who attempts to diminish the
reputation of the Supreme Court of Justice, by reclaiming upon a cause
already determined, without any change in the state of the question?
Does it not imply hopes that the Judges will change their opinion? Is
not uncertainty and inconstancy in the highest degree disreputable to a
Court? Does it not suppose, that the former judgement was temerarious or
negligent? Does it not lessen the confidence of the publick? Will it not
be said, that _jus est aut incognitum aut vagum?_ and will not the
consequence be drawn, _misera est servitus[420]?_ Will not the rules of
action be obscure? Will not he who knows himself wrong to-day, hope that
the Courts of Justice will think him right to-morrow? Surely, my Lords,
these are attempts of dangerous tendency, which the Solicitors, as men
versed in the law, should have foreseen and avoided. It was natural for
an ignorant printer to appeal from the Lord Ordinary; but from lawyers,
the descendants of lawyers, who have practised for three hundred years,
and have now raised themselves to a higher denomination, it might be
expected, that they should know the reverence due to a judicial
determination; and, having been once dismissed, should sit down
in silence.'
I am ashamed to mention, that the Court, by a plurality of voices,
without having a single additional circumstance before them, reversed
their own judgement, made a serious matter of this dull and foolish
joke, and adjudged Mr. Robertson to pay to the Society five pounds
(sterling money) and costs of suit. The decision will seem strange to
English lawyers.
On Tuesday, June 5, Johnson was to return to London. He was very
pleasant at breakfast; I mentioned a friend of mine having resolved
never to marry a pretty woman. JOHNSON. 'Sir, it is a very foolish
resolution to resolve not to marry a pretty woman. Beauty is of itself
very estimable. No, Sir, I would prefer a pretty woman, unless there are
objections to her. A pretty woman may be foolish; a pretty woman may be
wicked; a pretty woman may not like me. But there is no such danger in
marrying a pretty woman as is apprehended: she will not be persecuted if
she does not invite persecution. A pretty woman, if she has a mind to be
wicked, can find a readier way than another; and that is all.'
I accompanied him in Mr. Dilly's chaise to Shefford, where talking of
Lord Bute's never going to Scotland, he said, 'As an Englishman, I
should wish all the Scotch gentlemen should be educated in England;
Scotland would become a province; they would spend all their rents in
England.' This is a subject of much consequence, and much delicacy. The
advantage of an English education is unquestionably very great to Scotch
gentlemen of talents and ambition; and regular visits to Scotland, and
perhaps other means, might be effectually used to prevent them from
being totally estranged from their native country, any more than a
Cumberland or Northumberland gentleman who has been educated in the
South of England. I own, indeed, that it is no small misfortune for
Scotch gentlemen, who have neither talents nor ambition, to be educated
in England, where they may be perhaps distinguished only by a nick-name,
lavish their fortune in giving expensive entertainments to those who
laugh at them, and saunter about as mere idle insignificant hangers on
even upon the foolish great; when if they had been judiciously brought
up at home, they might have been comfortable and creditable members
of society.
At Shefford I had another affectionate parting from my revered friend,
who was taken up by the Bedford coach and carried to the metropolis. I
went with Messieurs Dilly, to see some friends at Bedford; dined with
the officers of the militia of the county, and next day proceeded on
my journey.
'To BENNET LANGTON, ESQ.
'DEAR SIR,
'How welcome your account of yourself and your invitation to your new
house was to me, I need not tell you, who consider our friendship not
only as formed by choice, but as matured by time. We have been now long
enough acquainted to have many images in common, and therefore to have a
source of conversation which neither the learning nor the wit of a new
companion can supply.
'My _Lives_ are now published; and if you will tell me whither I shall
send them, that they may come to you, I will take care that you shall
not be without them.
'You will, perhaps, be glad to hear, that Mrs. Thrale is disencumbered
of her brewhouse; and that it seemed to the purchaser so far from an
evil, that he was content to give for it an hundred and thirty-five
thousand pounds. Is the nation ruined?
'Please to make my respectful compliments to Lady Rothes, and keep me in
the memory of all the little dear family, particularly pretty Mrs.
Jane.[421]
'I am, Sir,
'Your affectionate humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'Bolt-Court, June 16, 1781.'
Johnson's charity to the poor was uniform and extensive, both from
inclination and principle. He not only bestowed liberally out of his own
purse, but what is more difficult as well as rare, would beg from
others, when he had proper objects in view. This he did judiciously as
well as humanely. Mr. Philip Metcalfe[422] tells me, that when he has
asked him for some money for persons in distress, and Mr. Metcalfe has
offered what Johnson thought too much, he insisted on taking less,
saying 'No, no, Sir; we must not _pamper_ them.'
I am indebted to Mr. Malone, one of Sir Joshua Reynolds's executors, for
the following note, which was found among his papers after his death,
and which, we may presume, his unaffected modesty prevented him from
communicating to me with the other letters from Dr. Johnson with which
he was pleased to furnish me. However slight in itself, as it does
honour to that illustrious painter, and most amiable man, I am happy to
introduce it.
'To SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 'DEAR SIR,
'It was not before yesterday that I received your splendid benefaction.
To a hand so liberal in distributing, I hope nobody will envy the power
of acquiring.
'I am, dear Sir,
Your obliged and most humble servant, SAM, JOHNSON. June 23, 1781.'
'To THOMAS ASTLE, Esq.[423]
'SIR,
'I am ashamed that you have been forced to call so often for your books,
but it has been by no fault on either side. They have never been out of
my hands, nor have I ever been at home without seeing you; for to see a
man so skilful in the antiquities of my country, is an opportunity of
improvement not willingly to be missed.
'Your notes on Alfred[424] appear to me very judicious and accurate, but
they are too few. Many things familiar to you, are unknown to me, and to
most others; and you must not think too favourably of your readers: by
supposing them knowing, you will leave them ignorant. Measure of land,
and value of money, it is of great importance to state with care. Had
the Saxons any gold coin?
'I have much curiosity after the manners and transactions of the middle
ages, but have wanted either diligence or opportunity, or both. You,
Sir, have great opportunities, and I wish you both diligence
and success.
'I am, Sir, &c. SAM. JOHNSON. July 17, 1781.'
The following curious anecdote I insert in Dr. Burney's own words:--
'Dr. Burney related to Dr. Johnson the partiality which his writings had
excited in a friend of Dr. Burney's, the late Mr. Bewley, well known in
Norfolk by the name of the _Philosopher of Massingham_[425]: who, from
the _Ramblers_ and Plan of his _Dictionary_, and long before the
authour's fame was established by the _Dictionary_ itself, or any other
work, had conceived such a reverence for him, that he urgently begged
Dr. Burney to give him the cover of the first letter he had received
from him, as a relick of so estimable a writer. This was in 1755. In
1760[426], when Dr. Burney visited Dr. Johnson at the Temple in London,
where he had then Chambers, he happened to arrive there before he was
up; and being shewn into the room where he was to breakfast, finding
himself alone, he examined the contents of the apartment, to try whether
he could undiscovered steal any thing to send to his friend Bewley, as
another relick of the admirable Dr. Johnson. But finding nothing better
to his purpose, he cut some bristles off his hearth-broom, and enclosed
them in a letter to his country enthusiast, who received them with due
reverence. The Doctor was so sensible of the honour done him by a man of
genius and science, to whom he was an utter stranger, that he said to
Dr. Burney, "Sir, there is no man possessed of the smallest portion of
modesty, but must be flattered with the admiration of such a man. I'll
give him a set of my _Lives_, if he will do me the honour to accept of
them[427]." In this he kept his word; and Dr. Burney had not only the
pleasure of gratifying his friend with a present more worthy of his
acceptance than the segment from the hearth-broom, but soon after of
introducing him to Dr. Johnson himself in Bolt-court, with whom he had
the satisfaction of conversing a considerable time, not a fortnight
before his death; which happened in St. Martin's-street, during his
visit to Dr. Burney, in the house where the great Sir Isaac Newton had
lived and died before.'
In one of his little memorandum-books is the following minute:--
'August 9, 3 P.M., aetat. 72, in the summer-house at Streatham. After
innumerable resolutions formed and neglected, I have retired hither, to
plan a life of greater diligence, in hope that I may yet be useful, and
be daily better prepared to appear before my Creator and my Judge, from
whose infinite mercy I humbly call for assistance and support.
'My purpose is,
'To pass eight hours every day in some serious employment.
'Having prayed, I purpose to employ the next six weeks upon the Italian
language, for my settled study.'
How venerably pious does he appear in these moments of solitude, and how
spirited are his resolutions for the improvement of his mind, even in
elegant literature, at a very advanced period of life, and when
afflicted with many complaints[428].
In autumn he went to Oxford, Birmingham, Lichfield, and Ashbourne, for
which very good reasons might be given in the conjectural yet positive
manner of writers, who are proud to account for every event which they
relate[429]. He himself, however, says,
'The motives of my journey I hardly know; I omitted it last year, and am
not willing to miss it again[430].'
But some good considerations arise, amongst which is the kindly
recollection of Mr. Hector, surgeon at Birmingham:
'Hector is likewise an old friend, the only companion of my childhood
that passed through the school with me. We have always loved one
another; perhaps we may be made better by some serious conversation, of
which however I have no distinct hope.'
He says too,
'At Lichfield, my native place, I hope to shew a good example by
frequent attendance on publick worship.'
My correspondence with him during the rest of this year was I know not
why very scanty, and all on my side. I wrote him one letter to introduce
Mr. Sinclair (now Sir John), the member for Caithness, to his
acquaintance; and informed him in another that my wife had again been
affected with alarming symptoms of illness.
1782: AETAT. 73.--In 1782, his complaints increased, and the history of
his life this year, is little more than a mournful recital of the
variations of his illness, in the midst of which, however, it will
appear from his letters, that the powers of his mind were in no
degree impaired.
'TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
'DEAR SIR,
'I sit down to answer your letter on the same day in which I received
it, and am pleased that my first letter of the year is to you. No man
ought to be at ease while he knows himself in the wrong; and I have not
satisfied myself with my long silence. The letter relating to Mr.
Sinclair, however, was, I believe, never brought.
'My health has been tottering this last year; and I can give no very
laudable account of my time. I am always hoping to do better than I have
ever hitherto done.
'My journey to Ashbourne and Staffordshire was not pleasant; for what
enjoyment has a sick man visiting the sick[431]?--Shall we ever have
another frolick like our journey to the Hebrides?
'I hope that dear Mrs. Boswell will surmount her complaints; in losing
her you would lose your anchor, and be tost, without stability, by the
waves of life[432]. I wish both her and you very many years, and
very happy.
'For some months past I have been so withdrawn from the world, that I
can send you nothing particular. All your friends, however, are well,
and will be glad of your return to London.
'I am, dear Sir,
'Yours most affectionately,
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'January 5, 1782.'
At a time when he was less able than he had once been to sustain a
shock, he was suddenly deprived of Mr. Levett, which event he thus
communicated to Dr. Lawrence:--
'SIR,
'Our old friend, Mr. Levett, who was last night eminently cheerful, died
this morning. The man who lay in the same room, hearing an uncommon
noise, got up and tried to make him speak, but without effect. He then
called Mr. Holder, the apothecary, who, though when he came he thought
him dead, opened a vein, but could draw no blood. So has ended the long
life of a very useful and very blameless man.
'I am, Sir,
'Your most humble servant,
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'Jan. 17, 1782.'
In one of his memorandum-books in my possession, is the following
entry:--
'January 20, Sunday. Robert Levett was buried in the church-yard of
Bridewell, between one and two in the afternoon. He died on Thursday 17,
about seven in the morning, by an instantaneous death. He was an old and
faithful friend; I have known him from about 46. _Commendavi_. May GOD
have mercy on him. May he have mercy on me.'
Such was Johnson's affectionate regard for Levett[433], that he honoured
his memory with the following pathetick verses:--
'Condemd'd to Hope's delusive mine,
As on we toil from day to day,
By sudden blast or slow decline
Our social comforts drop away.
Well try'd through many a varying year,
See LEVETT to the grave descend;
Officious, innocent, sincere,
Of every friendless name the friend[434].
Yet still he fills affection's eye,
Obscurely wise[435], and coarsely kind;
Nor, letter'd arrogance[436], deny
Thy praise to merit unrefin'd.
When fainting Nature call'd for aid,
And hov'ring Death prepar'd the blow,
His vigorous remedy display'd
The power of art without the show.
In Misery's darkest caverns known,
His ready help was ever nigh,
Where hopeless Anguish pour'd his groan,
And lonely want retir'd to die[437].
No summons mock'd by chill delay,
No petty gains disdain'd by pride;
The modest wants of every day
The toil of every day supply'd.
His virtues walk'd their narrow round,
Nor made a pause, nor left a void;
And sure the Eternal Master found
His single talent well employ'd.
The busy day, the peaceful night[438],
Unfelt, uncounted, glided by;
His frame was firm, his powers were bright,
Though now his eightieth year was nigh[439].
Then, with no throbs of fiery pain,
No cold gradations of decay,
Death broke at once the vital chain,
And freed his soul the nearest way.'
In one of Johnson's registers of this year, there occurs the following
curious passage:--
'Jan. 20[440]. The Ministry is dissolved. I prayed with Francis and gave
thanks[441].'
It has been the subject of discussion, whether there are two distinct
particulars mentioned here? or that we are to understand the giving of
thanks to be in consequence of the dissolution of the Ministry? In
support of the last of these conjectures may be urged his mean opinion
of that Ministry, which has frequently appeared in the course of this
work[442]; and it is strongly confirmed by what he said on the subject
to Mr. Seward:--'I am glad the Ministry is removed. Such a bunch of
imbecility never disgraced a country[443]. If they sent a messenger into
the City to take up a printer, the messenger was taken up instead of
the printer, and committed by the sitting Alderman[444]. If they sent
one army to the relief of another, the first army was defeated and taken
before the second arrived[445]. I will not say that what they did was
always wrong; but it was always done at a wrong time[446].'