ON DOCTOR JOHNSON'S UNJUST CRITICISMS
IN HIS
LIVES OF THE POETS[1].
Cou'd aweful Johnson want poetic ear,
Fancy, or judgment?--no! his splendid strain,
In prose, or rhyme, confutes that plea.--The pain
Which writh'd o'er Garrick's fortunes, shows us clear
_Whence_ all his spleen to GENIUS.--Ill to bear
A Friend's renown, that to his _own_ must reign,
Compar'd, a Meteor's evanescent train,
To Jupiter's fix'd orb, proves that each sneer,
Subtle and fatal to poetic Sense,
Did from insidious ENVY meanly flow,
Illumed with dazzling hues of eloquence,
And Sophist-Wit, that labor to o'er-throw
Th' awards of AGES, and new laws dispense
That lift the _mean_, and lay the MIGHTY low.
1: When Johnson's Idolaters are hard pressed concerning his injustice
in those _fallacious_ though _able_ pages;--when they are reminded
that he there tells us the perusal of Milton's Paradise Lost is a
_task_, and never a _pleasure_;--reminded also of his avowed contempt
of that exquisite Poem, the LYCIDAS;--of his declaration that
Dryden's absurd Ode on the death of Mrs. Anne Killegrew, written in
Cowley's _worst_ manner, is the _noblest_ Ode in this Language;--of
his disdain of GRAY as a _lyric_ Poet; of the superior respect he
pays to _Yalden_, _Blackmore_, and _Pomfret_;--When these things are
urged, his Adorers seek to acquit him of _wilful_ misrepresentation
by alledging that he wanted ear for lyric numbers, and taste for the
_higher_ graces of POETRY:--but it is impossible so to believe, when
we recollect that even his _prose_ abounds with poetic efflorescence,
metaphoric conception, and harmonious cadence, which in the highest
degree adorn it, without diminishing its strength. We must look for
the source of his injustice in the envy of his temper. When Garrick
was named a Candidate for admission into the Literary Club, Dr.
Johnson told Mr. Thrale he would black-ball him. “_Who_, Sir? Mr.
Garrick! Companion of your Youth! your acknowledged Friend!” “Why,
Sir, I love my little David better than any, or all of his Flatterers
love him; but surely we ought to sit in a Society like ours,
'unelbow'd by a Gamester, Pimp, or PLAYER.” See Supplement to Dr.
Johnson's Letters, published by Mrs. Piozzi. The blended hypocrisy
and malice of this sally show the man. Johnson knew, at times, how to
coax without sincerity as well as to abuse without justice. His
seeming fondness for Mrs. C---- of Lichfield, on his visits to that
City, and the contempt with which he spoke of her to her Townspeople,
was another instance of the same nature.