Life of Johnson
Chapter 28 : It is a sad saying, that 'most of those whom he wished to please had sunk into the

It is a sad saying, that 'most of those whom he wished to please had sunk into the grave;' and his case at forty-five was singularly unhappy, unless the circle of his friends was very narrow. I have often thought, that as longevity is generally desired, and I believe, generally expected, it would be wise to be continually adding to the number of our friends, that the loss of some may be supplied by others. Friends.h.i.+p, 'the wine of life[879],' should like a well-stocked cellar, be thus continually renewed; and it is consolatory to think, that although we can seldom add what will equal the generous _first-growths_ of our youth, yet friends.h.i.+p becomes insensibly old in much less time than is commonly imagined, and not many years are required to make it very mellow and pleasant. _Warmth_ will, no doubt, make a considerable difference. Men of affectionate temper and bright fancy will coalesce a great deal sooner than those who are cold and dull.

[Page 300: Garrick's complimentary epigram. A.D. 1755.]

The proposition which I have now endeavoured to ill.u.s.trate was, at a subsequent period of his life, the opinion of Johnson himself. He said to Sir Joshua Reynolds, 'If a man does not make new acquaintance as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friends.h.i.+p _in constant repair_.'

The celebrated Mr. Wilkes, whose notions and habits of life were very opposite to his, but who was ever eminent for literature and vivacity, sallied forth with a little _Jeu d'Esprit_ upon the following pa.s.sage in his Grammar of the English Tongue, prefixed to the _Dictionary_: '_H_ seldom, perhaps never, begins any but the first syllable.' In an Essay printed in _The Publick Advertiser_, this lively writer enumerated many instances in opposition to this remark; for example, 'The authour of this observation must be a man of a quick _apprehension_, and of a most _compre-hensive_ genius.' The position is undoubtedly expressed with too much lat.i.tude.

This light sally, we may suppose, made no great impression on our Lexicographer; for we find that he did not alter the pa.s.sage till many years afterwards[880].

He had the pleasure of being treated in a very different manner by his old pupil Mr. Garrick, in the following complimentary Epigram[881]:

'_On_ JOHNSON'S DICTIONARY,

'Talk of war with a Briton, he'll boldly advance, That one English soldier will beat ten of France; Would we alter the boast from the sword to the pen, Our odds are still greater, still greater our men: In the deep mines of science though Frenchmen may toil, Can their strength be compar'd to Locke, Newton, and Boyle?

Let them rally their heroes, send forth all their pow'rs, Their verse-men and prose-men, then match them with ours!

First Shakspeare and Milton[882], like G.o.ds in the fight, Have put their whole drama and epick to flight; In satires, epistles, and odes, would they cope, Their numbers retreat before Dryden and Pope; And Johnson, well arm'd like a hero of yore, Has beat forty French[883], and will beat forty more!'

[Page 301: Zachariah Williams. aetat 46.]

Johnson this year gave at once a proof of his benevolence, quickness of apprehension, and admirable art of composition, in the a.s.sistance which he gave to Mr. Zachariah Williams, father of the blind lady whom he had humanely received under his roof. Mr. Williams had followed the profession of physick in Wales; but having a very strong propensity to the study of natural philosophy, had made many ingenious advances towards a discovery of the longitude, and repaired to London in hopes of obtaining the great parliamentary reward[884]. He failed of success; but Johnson having made himself master of his principles and experiments, wrote for him a pamphlet, published in quarto, with the following t.i.tle: _An Account of an Attempt to ascertain the Longitude at Sea, by an exact Theory of the Variation of the Magnetical Needle; with a Table of the Variations at the most remarkable Cities in Europe, from the year 1660 to 1680_.[Dagger] To diffuse it more extensively, it was accompanied with an Italian translation on the opposite page, which it is supposed was the work of Signor Baretti[885], an Italian of considerable literature, who having come to England a few years before, had been employed in the capacity both of a language-master and an authour, and formed an intimacy with Dr. Johnson. This pamphlet Johnson presented to the Bodleian Library[886]. On a blank leaf of it is pasted a paragraph cut out of a news-paper, containing an account of the death and character of Williams, plainly written by Johnson[887].

[Page 302: Joseph Baretti. A.D. 1755.]

[Page 303: A scheme of life for Sunday. aetat 47.]

In July this year he had formed some scheme of mental improvement, the particular purpose of which does not appear. But we find in his _Prayers and Meditations_, p. 25, a prayer ent.i.tled 'On the Study of Philosophy, as an Instrument of living;' and after it follows a note, 'This study was not pursued.'

On the 13th of the same month he wrote in his _Journal_ the following scheme of life, for Sunday:

'Having lived' (as he with tenderness of conscience expresses himself) 'not without an habitual reverence for the Sabbath, yet without that attention to its religious duties which Christianity requires;

'1. To rise early, and in order to it, to go to sleep early on Sat.u.r.day.

'2. To use some extraordinary devotion in the morning.

'3. To examine the tenour of my life, and particularly the last week; and to mark my advances in religion, or recession from it.

'4. To read the Scripture methodically with such helps as are at hand.

'5. To go to church twice.

'6. To read books of Divinity, either speculative or practical.

'7. To instruct my family.

'8. To wear off by meditation any worldly soil contracted in the week.'

1756: aeTAT. 47.--In 1756 Johnson found that the great fame of his _Dictionary_ had not set him above the necessity of 'making provision for the day that was pa.s.sing over him[888].'

[Page 304: Payment for the DICTIONARY. A.D. 1756.]

No royal or n.o.ble patron extended a munificent hand to give independence to the man who had conferred stability on the language of his country.

We may feel indignant that there should have been such unworthy neglect; but we must, at the same time, congratulate ourselves, when we consider, that to this very neglect, operating to rouse the natural indolence of his const.i.tution, we owe many valuable productions, which otherwise, perhaps, might never have appeared.

He had spent, during the progress of the work, the money for which he had contracted to write his _Dictionary_. We have seen that the reward of his labour was only fifteen hundred and seventy-five pounds; and when the expence of amanuenses and paper, and other articles are deducted, his clear profit was very inconsiderable. I once said to him, 'I am sorry, Sir, you did not get more for your _Dictionary_'. His answer was, 'I am sorry, too. But it was very well. The booksellers are generous, liberal-minded men[889].' He, upon all occasions, did ample justice to their character in this respect[890]. He considered them as the patrons of literature; and, indeed, although they have eventually been considerable gainers by his _Dictionary_, it is to them that we owe its having been undertaken and carried through at the risk of great expence, for they were not absolutely sure of being indemnified.

[Page 305: Johnson's opinion of booksellers. aetat 47.]

On the first day of this year we find from his private devotions, that he had then recovered from sickness[891]; and in February that his eye was restored to its use[892]. The pious grat.i.tude with which he acknowledges mercies upon every occasion is very edifying; as is the humble submission which he breathes, when it is the will of his heavenly Father to try him with afflictions. As such dispositions become the state of man here, and are the true effects of religious discipline, we cannot but venerate in Johnson one of the most exercised minds that our holy religion hath ever formed. If there be any thoughtless enough to suppose such exercise the weakness of a great understanding, let them look up to Johnson and be convinced that what he so earnestly practised must have a rational foundation.

[Page 306: Christopher Smart. A.D. 1756.]

His works this year were, an abstract or epitome, in octavo, of his folio _Dictionary_, and a few essays in a monthly publication, ent.i.tled, _The Universal Visiter_. Christopher Smart, with whose unhappy vacillation of mind he sincerely sympathised, was one of the stated undertakers of this miscellany; and it was to a.s.sist him that Johnson sometimes employed his pen[893]. All the essays marked with two _asterisks_ have been ascribed to him; but I am confident, from internal evidence, that of these, neither 'The Life of Chaucer,' 'Reflections on the State of Portugal,' nor an 'Essay on Architecture,' were written by him. I am equally confident, upon the same evidence, that he wrote 'Further Thoughts on Agriculture[894];'[Dagger] being the sequel of a very inferiour essay on the same subject, and which, though carried on as if by the same hand, is both in thinking and expression so far above it, and so strikingly peculiar, as to leave no doubt of its true parent; and that he also wrote 'A Dissertation on the State of Literature and Authours[895],'[Dagger] and 'A Dissertation on the Epitaphs written by Pope.'[Dagger] The last of these, indeed, he afterwards added to his _Idler_[896]. Why the essays truly written by him are marked in the same manner with some which he did not write, I cannot explain; but with deference to those who have ascribed to him the three essays which I have rejected, they want all the characteristical marks of Johnsonian composition.

[Page 307: The Literary Magazine. aetat 47.]

He engaged also to superintend and contribute largely to another monthly publication, ent.i.tled _The Literary Magazine, or Universal Review_; the first number of which came out in May this year[897]. What were his emoluments from this undertaking, and what other writers were employed in it, I have not discovered. He continued to write in it, with intermissions, till the fifteenth number; and I think that he never gave better proofs of the force, acuteness, and vivacity of his mind, than in this miscellany, whether we consider his original essays, or his reviews of the works of others. The 'Preliminary Address'[Dagger] to the Publick is a proof how this great man could embellish, with the graces of superiour composition, even so trite a thing as the plan of a magazine.

His original essays are, 'An Introduction to the Political State of Great Britain[898];'[Dagger] 'Remarks on the Militia Bill[899];'[Dagger]

'Observations on his Britannick Majesty's Treaties with the Empress of Russia and the Landgrave of Hesse Ca.s.sel[900];'[Dagger] 'Observations on the Present State of Affairs[901];'[Dagger] and 'Memoirs of Frederick III, King of Prussia[902].'[Dagger] In all these he displays extensive political knowledge and sagacity, expressed with uncommon energy and perspicuity, without any of those words which he sometimes took a pleasure in adopting in imitation of Sir Thomas Browne; of whose _Christian Morals_ he this year gave an edition, with his 'Life'[*]

prefixed to it, which is one of Johnson's best biographical performances. In one instance only in these essays has he indulged his _Brownism_[903]. Dr. Robertson, the historian, mentioned it to me, as having at once convinced him that Johnson was the author of the 'Memoirs of the King of Prussia.' Speaking of the pride which the old King, the father of his hero, took in being master of the tallest regiment in Europe, he says, 'To review this towering regiment was his daily pleasure; and to perpetuate it was so much his care, that when he met a tall woman he immediately commanded one of his _t.i.tanian_ retinue to marry her, that they might _propagate procerity_[904]' For this Anglo-Latian word _procerity_, Johnson had, however, the authority of Addison[905].

[Page 309: The earthquake of Lisbon. aetat 47.]

His reviews are of the following books: 'Birch's History of the Royal Society;'[Dagger] 'Murphy's Gray's Inn Journal;'[Dagger] 'Warton's Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope, Vol. I.'[Dagger] 'Hampton's Translation of Polybius;'[Dagger] 'Blackwell's Memoirs of the Court of Augustus;'[Dagger] 'Russel's Natural History of Aleppo[906];'[Dagger] 'Sir Isaac Newton's Arguments in Proof of a Deity;'[Dagger] 'Borlase's History of the Isles of Scilly;'[Dagger] 'Home's Experiments on Bleaching;'[Dagger] 'Browne's Christian Morals;'[Dagger] 'Hales on Distilling Sea-Water, Ventilators in s.h.i.+ps, and curing an ill Taste in Milk;'[Dagger] 'Lucas's Essay on Waters;'[Dagger] 'Keith's Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops;'[Dagger] 'Browne's History of Jamaica;'[Dagger]

'Philosophical Transactions, Vol. XLIX.'[Dagger] 'Mrs. Lennox's Translation of Sully's Memoirs;'[*] 'Miscellanies by Elizabeth Harrison;'[Dagger] 'Evans's Map and Account of the Middle Colonies in America[907];'[Dagger] 'Letter on the Case of Admiral Byng;'[*] 'Appeal to the People concerning Admiral Byng;'[*] 'Hanway's Eight Days Journey, and Essay on Tea;'[*] 'The Cadet, a Military Treatise;'[Dagger] 'Some further Particulars in Relation to the Case of Admiral Byng, by a Gentleman of Oxford;'[*] 'The Conduct of the Ministry relating to the present War impartially examined;'[Dagger] 'A Free Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Evil.'[*] All these, from internal evidence, were written by Johnson; some of them I know he avowed, and have marked them with an _asterisk_ accordingly[908].

[Page 310: Johnson's ardour for liberty. A.D. 1750.]

Mr. Thomas Davies indeed, ascribed to him the Review of Mr. Burke's 'Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful;' and Sir John Hawkins, with equal discernment, has inserted it in his collection of Johnson's works: whereas it has no resemblance to Johnson's composition, and is well known to have been written by Mr.

Murphy, who has acknowledged it to me and many others.

It is worthy of remark, in justice to Johnson's political character, which has been misrepresented as abjectly submissive to power, that his 'Observations on the present State of Affairs' glow with as animated a spirit of const.i.tutional liberty as can be found any where. Thus he begins:

'The time is now come, in which every Englishman expects to be informed of the national affairs; and in which he has a right to have that expectation gratified. For, whatever may be urged by Ministers, or those whom vanity or interest make the followers of ministers, concerning the necessity of confidence in our governours, and the presumption of prying with profane eyes into the recesses of policy, it is evident that this reverence can be claimed only by counsels yet unexecuted, and projects suspended in deliberation. But when a design has ended in miscarriage or success, when every eye and every ear is witness to general discontent, or general satisfaction, it is then a proper time to disentangle confusion and ill.u.s.trate obscurity; to shew by what causes every event was produced, and in what effects it is likely to terminate; to lay down with distinct particularity what rumour always huddles in general exclamation, or perplexes by indigested[909] narratives; to shew whence happiness or calamity is derived, and whence it may be expected; and honestly to lay before the people what inquiry can gather of the past, and conjecture can estimate of the future[910]'.

[Page 311: Dr. Lucas. aetat 47.]

Here we have it a.s.sumed as an incontrovertible principle, that in this country the people are the superintendants of the conduct and measures of those by whom government is administered; of the beneficial effect of which the present reign afforded an ill.u.s.trious example, when addresses from all parts of the kingdom controuled an audacious attempt to introduce a new power subversive of the crown.[911]

A still stronger proof of his patriotick spirit appears in his review of an 'Essay on Waters, by Dr. Lucas;' of whom, after describing him as a man well known to the world for his daring defiance of power, when he thought it exerted on the side of wrong, he thus speaks:

'The Irish ministers drove him from his native country by a proclamation, in which they charged him with crimes of which they never intended to be called to the proof, and oppressed by methods equally irresistible by guilt and innocence.

'Let the man thus driven into exile, for having been the friend of his country, be received in every other place as a confessor of liberty; and let the tools of power be taught in time, that they may rob, but cannot impoverish[912].'

Some of his reviews in this _Magazine_ are very short accounts of the pieces noticed, and I mention them only that Dr. Johnson's opinion of the works may be known; but many of them are examples of elaborate criticism, in the most masterly style. In his review of the 'Memoirs of the Court of Augustus,' he has the resolution to think and speak from his own mind, regardless of the cant transmitted from age to age, in praise of the ancient Romans[913]. Thus,