Life of Johnson
Chapter 69 : At last, the company having separated, without any thing of which they approved having

At last, the company having separated, without any thing of which they approved having been offered, Dodsley himself thought of _The World_. BOSWELL.

[602] In the original MS. 'in this _my_ undertaking,' and below, 'the salvation _both_ of myself and others.'

[603] Prayers and Meditations, p. 9. BOSWELL.

[604] In the original folio edition of the _Rambler_ the concluding paper is dated Sat.u.r.day, March 17. But Sat.u.r.day was in fact March 14.

This circ.u.mstance is worth notice, for Mrs. Johnson died on the 17th. MALONE.

[605] _Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides_, 3d edit. p. 28. [Aug. 16, 1773]. BOSWELL.

[606] 'Gray had a notion not very peculiar, that he could not write but at certain times, or at happy moments; a fantastic foppery, to which my kindness for a man of learning and virtue wishes him to have been superior.' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 482. See _post_, under April 15, 1758.

[607] Her correspondence with Richardson and Mrs. Carter was published in 1807.

[608] The correspondence between her and Mrs. Carter was published in 1808.

[609] Dr. Birch says:--'The proprietor of the _Rambler_, Cave, told me that copy was seldom sent to the press till late in the night before the day of publication,' Croker's _Boswell_, p. 121, note. See _post_, April 12, 1776, and beginning of 1781.

Johnson carefully revised the _Ramblers_ for the collected edition. The editor of the Oxford edition of Johnson's _Works_ states (ii. x), that 'the alterations exceeded six thousand.' The following pa.s.sage from the last number affords a good instance of this revision.

_First edition_.

'I have never complied with temporary curiosity, nor furnished my readers with abilities to discuss the topic of the day; I have seldom exemplified my a.s.sertions by living characters; from my papers therefore no man could hope either censures of his enemies or praises of himself, and they only could be expected to peruse them, whose pa.s.sions left them leisure for the contemplation of abstracted truth, and whom virtue could please by her native dignity without the a.s.sistance of modish ornaments.' _Gent. Mag_. xxii. 117.

_Revised edition_.

'I have never complied with temporary curiosity, nor enabled my readers to discuss the topic of the day; I have rarely exemplified my a.s.sertions by living characters; in my papers no man could look for censures of his enemies, or praises of himself; and they only were expected to peruse them, whose pa.s.sions left them leisure for abstracted truth, and whom virtue could please by its naked dignity.' Johnson's _Works_, iii. 462.

[610] 'Such relicks [Milton's early ma.n.u.scripts] shew how excellence is acquired; what we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence.' Johnson's _Works_, vii. 119.

[611] Of the first 52 _Ramblers_ 49 were wholly by Johnson; of the last 156, 154. He seems to say that in the first 49, 17 were written from notes, and in the last 154 only 13.

[612] No. 46.

[613] Hawkins's _Life of Johnson_, p. 268 [p. 265]. BOSWELL.

[614] 'The sly shadow steals away upon the dial, and the quickest eye can distinguish no more than that it is gone.' Glanville, quoted in Johnson's _Dictionary_.

[615] This most beautiful image of the enchanting delusion of youthful prospect has not been used in any of Johnson's essays. BOSWELL.

[616] From Horace (_Ars Poet_. 1. 175) he takes his motto for the number:--

'Multa ferunt anni venientes commoda sec.u.m, Multa recedentes adimunt.'

The blessings flowing in with life's full tide Down with our ebb of life decreasing glide.'

FRANCIS.

[617] Lib. xii. 96 [95]. 'In Tuccam aemulum omnium suorum studiorum.'

MALONE.

[618] 'There never appear,' says Swift, 'more than five or six men of genius in an age; but if they were united, the world could not stand before them.' Johnson's _Works_, iv. 18.

[619] In the first edition this is printed [Greek: o philoi on philos]; in the second, [Greek: o philoi on philos]; in the 'Corrections' to the second, we find 'for [Greek: o] read [Greek: oi];' in the third it is printed as above. In three editions we have therefore five readings of the first word. See _post_, April 15, 1778, where Johnson says:

'An old Greek said, "He that has friends has no friend,"' and April 24, 1779, where he says: 'Garrick had friends but no friend.'

[620]

'gravesque Principum amicitias.'

'And fatal friends.h.i.+ps of the guilty great.'

FRANCIS, Horace, _Odes_, ii. 1. 4.

[621] 3 _Post_, under Jan. 1, 1753.

[622] Sir John Hawkins has selected from this little collection of materials, what he calls the 'Rudiments of two of the papers of the _Rambler_.' But he has not been able to read the ma.n.u.script distinctly.

Thus he writes, p. 266, 'Sailor's fate any mansion;' whereas the original is 'Sailor's life my aversion.' He has also transcribed the unappropriated hints on _Writers for bread_, in which he decyphers these notable pa.s.sages, one in Latin, _fatui non famae_, instead of _fami non famae_; Johnson having in his mind what Thua.n.u.s says of the learned German antiquary and linguist, Xylander, who, he tells us, lived in such poverty, that he was supposed _fami non famae scribere_; and another in French, _Degente de fate [fatu] et affame a'argent_, instead of _Degoute de fame_, (an old word for _renommee_) _et affame d'argent_. The ma.n.u.script being written in an exceedingly small hand, is indeed very hard to read; but it would have been better to have left blanks than to write nonsense. BOSWELL.

[623] When we know that of the 208 _Ramblers_ all but five were written by Johnson, it is amusing to read a pa.s.sage in one of Miss Talbot's letters to Mrs. Carter, dated Oct. 20, 1750:--'Mr. Johnson would, I fear, be mortified to hear that people know a paper of his own by the sure mark of somewhat a little excessive, a little exaggerated in the expression.' _Carter Corres_. i. 357.

[624] The _Ramblers_ certainly were little noticed at first. Smart, the poet, first mentioned them to me as excellent papers, before I had heard any one else speak of them. When I went into Norfolk, in the autumn of 1751, I found but one person, (the Rev. Mr. Squires, a man of learning, and a general purchaser of new books,) who knew anything of them. Before I left Norfolk in the year 1760, the _Ramblers_ were in high favour among persons of learning and good taste. Others there were, devoid of both, who said that the _hard words_ in the _Rambler_ were used by the authour to render his _Dictionary_ indispensably necessary. BURNEY. We have notices of the _Rambler_ in the _Carter Corres_:--'May 28, 1750.

The author ought to be cautioned not to use over many hard words. In yesterday's paper (a very pretty one indeed) we had _equiponderant, and another so hard I cannot remember it [adscit.i.tious], both in one sentence.' 'Dec. 17, 1750:--Mr. Cave complains of him for not admitting correspondents; this does mischief. In the main I think he is to be applauded for it. But why then does he not write now and then on the living manners of the times?' In writing on April 22, 1752, just after the _Rambler_ had come to an end, Miss Talbot says:--'Indeed 'tis a sad thing that such a paper should have met with discouragement from wise and learned and good people too. Many are the disputes it has cost me, and not once did I come off triumphant.' Mrs. Carter replied:--'Many a battle have I too fought for him in the country, out with little success.' Murphy says:--'of this excellent production the number sold on each day did not amount to five hundred; of course the bookseller, who paid the author four guineas a week, did not carry on a successful trade.' Murphy's _Johnson_, p. 59.

[625] Richardson wrote to Cave on Aug. 9, 1750, after forty-one numbers had appeared:--'I hope the world tastes them; for its own sake I hope the world tastes them. The author I can only guess at. There is but one man, I think, that could write them.' _Rich. Corres_, i. 165. Cave replied:--'Mr. Johnson is the _Great Rambler_, being, as you observe, the only man who can furnish two such papers in a week, besides his other great business.' He mentioned the recommendation it received from high quarters, and continued:--'Notwithstanding, whether the price of two-pence, or the unfavourable season of their first publication hinders the demand, no boast can be made of it.' Johnson had not wished his name to be known. Cave says that 'Mr. Carrick and others, who knew the author's powers and style from the first, unadvisedly a.s.serting their suspicions, overturned the scheme of secrecy.' _Ib_. pp. 168-170.

[626] Horace Walpole, while justifying George II. against 'bookish men who have censured his neglect of literature,' says:--'In truth, I believe King George would have preferred a guinea to a composition as perfect as _Alexander's Feast.' Reign of George II_, iii. 304.

[627] 'Dr. Johnson said to an acquaintance of mine, "My other works are wine and water; but my _Rambler_ is pure wine."' Rogers's _Table Talk_, p. 10.

[628] See _post_, April 5, 1772; April 19, 1773; and April 9, 1778.

[629] It was executed in the printing-office of Sands, Murray, and Cochran, with uncommon elegance, upon writing-paper, of a duodecimo size, and with the greatest correctness; and Mr. Elphinston enriched it with translations of the mottos. When completed, it made eight handsome volumes. It is, unquestionably, the most accurate and beautiful edition of this work; and there being but a small impression, it is now become scarce, and sells at a very high price. BOSWELL.

[630] Mr. Thomas Ruddiman, the learned grammarian of Scotland, well known for his various excellent works, and for his accurate editions of several authours. He was also a man of a most worthy private character.

His zeal for the Royal House of Stuart did not render him less estimable in Dr. Johnson's eye. BOSWELL.

[631] In the _Gent. Mag_. for Sept. 1750, and for Oct. 1752, translations of many of the mottoes were given; but in each number there are several of Elphinston's. Johnson seems to speak of only one.

[632] Writing to Miss Porter on July 12, 1749, he said:--'I was afraid your letter had brought me ill news of my mother, whose death is one of the few calamities on which I think with terror.' Crokers _Boswell_, p. 62.

[633] Mr. Strahan was Elphinston's brother-in-law. _Post_, April 9, 1778.

[634] In the _Gent. Mag_. for January, 1752, in the list of books published is:--'A correct and beautiful edition of the Rambler in 4 volumes, in 12mo. Price 12s.' The _Rambler_ was not concluded till the following March. The remaining two volumes were published in July.

_Gent. Mag_. xxii. 338.

[635] According to Hawkins (_Life_, P. 269) each edition consisted of 1250 copies.

[636] No. 55 [59.]. BOSWELL.