Samuel Johnson, 1700-1784. This truly remarkable man was the son of a
bookseller and stationer; he was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire,
England. He entered Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1728; but, at the end of
three years, his poverty compelled him to leave without taking his degree.
In 1736, he married Mrs. Porter, a widow of little culture, much older
than himself, but possessed of some property. The marriage seems to have
been a happy one, nevertheless; and, on the death of his wife, in 1752,
Johnson mourned for her, most sincerely. Soon after his marriage, he
opened a private school, but, obtained only three pupils, one of whom was
David Garrick, afterward the celebrated actor. In 1737, he removed to
London, where he lived for most of the remainder of his life. Here he
entered upon literary work, in which he continued, and from which he
derived his chief support, although at times it was but a meager one, His
"Vanity of Human Wishes" was sold for ten guineas. His great Dictionary,
the first one of the English language worthy of mention, brought him
1575 Pounds, and occupied his time for seven years. Most of the money he
received for the work went to pay his six amanuenses. The other most
famous of his numerous literary works are "The Rambler," "Rasselas," "The
Lives of the English Poets," and his edition of Shakespeare. In person,
Johnson was heavy and awkward; he was the victim of scrofula in his youth,
and of dropsy in his old age. In manner, he was boorish and overbearing;
but his great powers and his wisdom caused his company to be sought by
many eminent men of his time.
###
Omar, the son of Hassan, had passed seventy-five years in honor and
prosperity. The favor of three successive caliphs had filled his house
with gold and silver; and whenever he appeared, the benedictions of the
people proclaimed his passage.
Terrestrial happiness is of short continuance, The brightness of the flame
is wasting its fuel; the fragrant flower is passing away in its own odors.
The vigor of Omar began to fail; the curls of beauty fell from his head;
strength departed from his hands, and agility from his feet. He gave back
to the caliph the keys of trust, and the seals of secrecy; and sought no
other pleasure for the remainder of life than the converse of the wise and
the gratitude of the good.
The powers of his mind were yet unimpaired. His chamber was filled by
visitants, eager to catch the dictates of experience, and officious to pay
the tribute of admiration. Caleb, the son of the viceroy of Egypt, entered
every day early, and retired late. He was beautiful and eloquent; Omar
admired his wit, and loved his docility.
"Tell me," said Caleb, "thou to whose voice nations have listened, and
whose wisdom is known to the extremities of Asia, tell me, how I may
resemble Omar the prudent? The arts by which thou hast gained power and
preserved it, are to thee no longer necessary or useful; impart to me the
secret of thy conduct, and teach me the plan upon which thy wisdom has
built thy fortune."
"Young man," said Omar, "it is of little use to form plans of life. When I
took my first survey of the world, in my twentieth year, having considered
the various conditions of mankind, in the hour of solitude I said thus to
myself, leaning against a cedar which spread its branches over my head:
'Seventy years are allowed to man; I have yet fifty remaining.
" 'Ten years I will allot to the attainment of knowledge, and ten I will
pass in foreign countries; I shall be learned, and therefore I shall be
honored; every city will shout at my arrival, and every student will
solicit my friendship. Twenty years thus passed will store my mind with
images which I shall be busy through the rest of my life in combining and
comparing. I shall revel in inexhaustible accumulations of intellectual
riches; I shall find new pleasures for every moment, and shall never more
be weary of myself.
" 'I will not, however, deviate too far from the beaten track of life; but
will try what can be found in female delicacy. I will marry a wife as
beautiful as the houries, and wise as Zobeide; and with her I will live
twenty years within the suburbs of Bagdad, in every pleasure that wealth
can purchase, and fancy can invent.
" 'I will then retire to a rural dwelling, pass my days in obscurity and
contemplation; and lie silently down on the bed of death. Through my life
it shall be my settled resolution, that I will never depend on the smile
of princes; that I will never stand exposed to the artifices of courts; I
will never pant for public honors, nor disturb my quiet with the affairs
of state.' Such was my scheme of life, which I impressed indelibly upon my
memory.
"The first part of my ensuing time was to be spent in search of knowledge,
and I know not how I was diverted from my design. I had no visible
impediments without, nor any ungovernable passion within. I regarded
knowledge as the highest honor, and the most engaging pleasure; yet day
stole upon day, and month glided after month, till I found that seven
years of the first ten had vanished, and left nothing behind them.
"I now postponed my purpose of traveling; for why should I go abroad,
while so much remained to be learned at home? I immured myself for four
years, and studied the laws of the empire. The fame of my skill reached
the judges: I was found able to speak upon doubtful questions, and I was
commanded to stand at the footstool of the caliph. I was heard with
attention; I was consulted with confidence, and the love of praise
fastened on my heart.
"I still wished to see distant countries; listened with rapture to the
relations of travelers, and resolved some time to ask my dismission, that
I might feast my soul with novelty; but my presence was always necessary,
and the stream of business hurried me along. Sometimes, I was afraid lest
I should be charged with ingratitude; but I still proposed to travel, and
therefore would not confine myself by marriage.
"In my fiftieth year, I began to suspect that the time of my traveling was
past; and thought it best to lay hold on the felicity yet in my power, and
indulge myself in domestic pleasures. But, at fifty, no man easily finds a
woman beautiful as the houries, and wise as Zobeide. I inquired and
rejected, consulted and deliberated, till the sixty-second year made me
ashamed of wishing to marry. I had now nothing left but retirement; and
for retirement I never found a time, till disease forced me from public
employment.
"Such was my scheme, and such has been its consequence. With an insatiable
thirst for knowledge, I trifled away the years of improvement; with a
restless desire of seeing different countries, I have always resided in
the same city; with the highest expectation of connubial felicity, I have
lived unmarried; and with an unalterable resolution of contemplative
retirement, I am going to die within the walls of Bagdad."
Notes.--Bag dad'--A large city of Asiatic Turkey, on the river Tigris.
In the ninth century, it was the greatest center of Moslem power and
learning.
Zobeide (Zo-bad').--A lady of Bagdad, whose story is given in the "Three
Calendars" of the "Arabian Nights."
In this selection the form of an allegory is used to express a general
truth.