There was as great a storm of wind and rain as I have almost ever seen,
which necessarily confined us to the house; but we were fully
compensated by Dr. Johnson's conversation. He said, he did not grudge
Burke's being the first man in the House of Commons, for he was the
first man every where; but he grudged that a fellow who makes no figure
in company, and has a mind as narrow as the neck of a vinegar cruet,
should make a figure in the House of Commons, merely by having the
knowledge of a few forms, and being furnished with a little occasional
information[728]. He told us, the first time he saw Dr. Young was at the
house of Mr. Richardson, the author of _Clarissa_. He was sent for, that
the doctor might read to him his _Conjectures on original
Composition_[729], which he did, and Dr. Johnson made his remarks; and
he was surprized to find Young receive as novelties, what he thought
very common maxims. He said, he believed Young was not a great scholar,
nor had studied regularly the art of writing[730]; that there were very
fine things in his _Night Thoughts_[731], though you could not find
twenty lines together without some extravagance. He repeated two
passages from his _Love of Fame_,--the characters of Brunetta[732] and
Stella[733], which he praised highly. He said Young pressed him much to
come to Wellwyn. He always intended it, but never went[734]. He was
sorry when Young died. The cause of quarrel between Young and his son,
he told us, was, that his son insisted Young should turn away a
clergyman's widow, who lived with him, and who, having acquired great
influence over the father, was saucy to the son. Dr. Johnson said, she
could not conceal her resentment at him, for saying to Young, that 'an
old man should not resign himself to the management of any body.' I
asked him, if there was any improper connection between them. 'No, Sir,
no more than between two statues. He was past fourscore, and she a very
coarse woman. She read to him, and I suppose made his coffee, and
frothed his chocolate, and did such things as an old man wishes to have
done for him.'
Dr. Doddridge being mentioned, he observed that 'he was author of one of
the finest epigrams in the English language. It is in Orton's Life of
him.[735] The subject is his family motto,--_Dum vivimus, vivamus_;
which, in its primary signification, is, to be sure, not very suitable
to a Christian divine; but he paraphrased it thus:
"Live, while you live, the _epicure_ would say,
And seize the pleasures of the present day.
Live, while you live, the sacred _preacher_ cries,
And give to GOD each moment as it flies.
Lord, in my views let both united be;
I live in _pleasure_, when I live to _thee_."'
I asked if it was not strange that government should permit so many
infidel writings to pass without censure. JOHNSON. 'Sir, it is mighty
foolish. It is for want of knowing their own power. The present family
on the throne came to the crown against the will of nine tenths of the
people.[736] Whether those nine tenths were right or wrong, it is not
our business now to enquire. But such being the situation of the royal
family, they were glad to encourage all who would be their friends. Now
you know every bad man is a Whig; every man who has loose notions. The
church was all against this family. They were, as I say, glad to
encourage any friends; and therefore, since their accession, there is no
instance of any man being kept back on account of his bad principles;
and hence this inundation of impiety[737].' I observed that Mr. Hume,
some of whose writings were very unfavourable to religion, was, however,
a Tory. JOHNSON. 'Sir, Hume is a Tory by chance[738] as being a
Scotchman; but not upon a principle of duty; for he has no principle. If
he is any thing, he is a Hobbist.'
There was something not quite serene in his humour to-night, after
supper; for he spoke of hastening away to London, without stopping much
at Edinburgh. I reminded him that he had General Oughton and many others
to see. JOHNSON. 'Nay, I shall neither go in jest, nor stay in jest. I
shall do what is fit.' BOSWELL. 'Ay, Sir, but all I desire is, that you
will let me tell you when it is fit.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, I shall not consult
you.' BOSWELL. 'If you are to run away from us, as soon as you get
loose, we will keep you confined in an island.' He was, however, on the
whole, very good company. Mr. Donald McLeod expressed very well the
gradual impression made by Dr. Johnson on those who are so fortunate as
to obtain his acquaintance. 'When you see him first, you are struck with
awful reverence;--then you admire him;--and then you love him
cordially.'
I read this evening some part of Voltaire's _History of the War_ in
1741[739], and of Lord Kames against Hereditary Indefeasible Right. This
is a very slight circumstance, with which I should not trouble my
reader, but for the sake of observing that every man should keep minutes
of whatever he reads. Every circumstance of his studies should be
recorded; what books he has consulted; how much of them he has read; at
what times; how often the same authors; and what opinions he formed of
them, at different periods of his life. Such an account would much
illustrate the history of his mind.[740]