BOSWELL. Johnson here assumes his title of Doctor, which Boswell says
(_ante_, ii. 332, note 1), so far as he knew, he never did. Perhaps the
letter has been wrongly copied, or perhaps Johnson thought that, in
writing to a man of title, he ought to assume such title as he
himself had.
[829] The eminent painter, representative of the ancient family of
Homfrey (now Humphry) in the west of England; who, as appears from their
arms which they have invariably used, have been, (as I have seen
authenticated by the best authority,) one of those among the Knights and
Esquires of honour who are represented by Holinshed as having issued
from the Tower of London on coursers apparelled for the justes,
accompanied by ladies of honour, leading every one a Knight, with a
chain of gold, passing through the streets of London into Smithfield, on
Sunday, at three o'clock in the afternoon, being the first Sunday after
Michaelmas, in the fourteenth year of King Richard the Second. This
family once enjoyed large possessions, but, like others, have lost them
in the progress of ages. Their blood, however, remains to them well
ascertained; and they may hope in the revolution of events, to recover
that rank in society for which, in modern times, fortune seems to be an
indispensable requisite. BOSWELL.
[830] Son of Mr. Samuel Paterson. BOSWELL. In the first two editions
after 'Paterson' is added 'eminent for his knowledge of books.' See
_ante_, iii. 90.
[831] Humphry, on his first coming to London, poor and unfriended, was
helped by Reynolds. Northcote's _Reynolds_, ii. 174.
[832] On April 21 he wrote:--'After a confinement of 129 days, more than
the third part of a year, and no inconsiderable part of human life, I
this day returned thanks to God in St. Clement's Church for my
recovery.' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 365.
[833] On April 26 he wrote:--'On Saturday I showed myself again to the
living world at the Exhibition; much and splendid was the company, but
like the Doge of Genoa at Paris [Versailles, Voltaire, _Siècle de Louis
XIV_, chap, xiv.], I admired nothing but myself. I went up the stairs to
the pictures without stopping to rest or to breathe,
"In all the madness of superfluous health."
[Pope's _Essay on Man_, iii. 3.] The Prince of Wales had promised to be
there; but when we had waited an hour and a half, sent us word that he
could not come.' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 367. 'The first Gentleman in
Europe' was twenty-one years old when he treated men like Johnson and
Reynolds with this insolence. Mr. Forster (_Life of Goldsmith_, ii. 244)
says that it was at this very dinner that 'Johnson left his seat by
desire of the Prince of Wales, and went to the head of the table to be
introduced.' He does not give his authority for the statement.
[834] Mr. Croker wrote in 1847 that he had 'seen it very lately framed
and glazed, in possession of the lady to whom it was addressed.'
Croker's _Boswell_, p. 753.
[835] Shortly before he begged one of Mrs. Thrale's daughters 'never to
think that she had arithmetic enough.' _Ante_, p. 171, note 3. See
_ante_, iii. 207, note 3.
[836] Cowper wrote on May 10 to the Rev. John Newton:--'We rejoice in
the account you give us of Dr. Johnson. His conversion will indeed be a
singular proof of the omnipotence of Grace; and the more singular, the
more decided.' Southey's _Cowper_, xv. 150. Johnson, in a prayer that he
wrote on April 11, said:--'Enable me, O Lord, to glorify Thee for that
knowledge of my corruption, and that sense of Thy wrath, which my
disease and weakness and danger awakened in my mind.' _Pr. and Med._
p. 217.
[837] Mr. Croker suggests _immediate_.
[838] 'The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.'
_St. James_, v. 16.
[839] Upon this subject there is a very fair and judicious remark in the
life of Dr. Abernethy, in the first edition of the _Biographia
Britannica_, which I should have been glad to see in his life which has
been written for the second edition of that valuable work. 'To deny the
exercise of a particular providence in the Deity's government of the
world is certainly impious: yet nothing serves the cause of the scorner
more than an incautious forward zeal in determining the particular
instances of it.'
In confirmation of my sentiments, I am also happy to quote that sensible
and elegant writer Mr. _Melmoth_ [see _ante_, iii. 422], in Letter VIII.
of his collection, published under the name of _Fitzosborne_. 'We may
safely assert, that the belief of a particular Providence is founded
upon such probable reasons as may well justify our assent. It would
scarce, therefore, be wise to renounce an opinion which affords so firm
a support to the soul, in those seasons wherein she stands in most need
of assistance, merely because it is not possible, in questions of this
kind, to solve every difficulty which attends them.' BOSWELL.
[840] I was sorry to observe Lord Monboddo avoid any communication with
Dr. Johnson. I flattered myself that I had made them very good friends
(see _Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides_, third edit. p. 67, _post_, v.
80), but unhappily his Lordship had resumed and cherished a violent
prejudice against my illustrious friend, to whom I must do the justice
to say, there was on his part not the least anger, but a good-humoured
sportiveness. Nay, though he knew of his Lordship's indisposition
towards him, he was even kindly; as appeared from his inquiring of me
after him, by an abbreviation of his name, 'Well, how does _Monny_?'
BOSWELL. Boswell (_Hebrides, post_, v. 74) says:--'I knew Lord Monboddo
and Dr. Johnson did not love each other; yet I was unwilling not to
visit his lordship, and was also curious to see them together.'
Accordingly, he brought about a meeting. Four years later, in 1777
(_ante_, iii. 102), Monboddo received from Johnson a copy of his Journey
to the Hebrides. They met again in London in 1780 (Piozzi Letters, ii.
III), and perhaps then quarrelled afresh. Dr. Seattle wrote on Feb. 28,
1785:-'Lord Monboddo's hatred of Johnson was singular; he would not
allow him to know anything but Latin grammar, "and that," says he, "I
know as well as he does." I never heard Johnson say anything severe of
him, though when he mentioned his name, he generally "grinned horribly a
ghastly smile,"' ['Grinned horrible,' &c. _Paradise Lost_, ii. 846.]
Forbes's _Beattie_, p. 333. The use of the abbreviation _Monny_ on
Johnson's part scarcely seems a proof of kindliness. See _ante_, i. 453,
where he said:--'Why, Sir, _Sherry_ is dull, naturally dull,' &c.; and
iii. 84, note 2, where he said:--'I should have thought _Mund_ Burke
would have had more sense;' see also Rogers's _Boswelliana_, p. 216,
where he said:--'_Derry_ [Derrick] may do very well while he can outrun
his character; but the moment that his character gets up with him he
is gone.'
[841] On May 13 he wrote:--' Now I am broken loose, my friends seem
willing enough to see me. ... But I do not now drive the world about;
the world drives or draws me. I am very weak.' _Piozzi Letters_,
ii. 369.
[842] See _ante,_ iii, 443.
[843] See _ante,_ p. 197.
[844] Boswell himself, likely enough.
[845] Verses on the death of Mr. Levett. BOSWELL. _Ante,_ p. 138
[846] If it was Boswell to whom this advice was given, it is not
unlikely that he needed it. The meagreness of his record of Johnson's
talk at this season may have been due, as seems to have happened before,
to too much drinking. _Ante,_ p.88, note 1.
[847] _Ante,_ ii. 100.
[848] George Steevens. See _ante,_ iii. 281.
[849] Forty-six years earlier Johnson wrote of this lady:-'I have
composed a Greek epigram to Eliza, and think she ought to be celebrated
in as many different languages as Lewis le Grand.' _Ante_, i. 122. Miss
Burney described her in 1780 as 'really a noble-looking woman; I never
saw age so graceful in the female sex yet; her whole face seems to beam
with goodness, piety, and philanthropy.' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_,
i. 373.
[850] 'Mrs. Thrale says that though Mrs. Lennox's books are generally
approved, nobody likes her.' _Ib._ p. 91. See _ante_, i. 255, and
iv. 10.
[851] 'Sept. 1778. MRS. THRALE. "Mrs. Montagu is the first woman for
literary knowledge in England, and if in England, I hope I may say in
the world." DR. JOHNSON. "I believe you may, Madam. She diffuses more
knowledge in her conversation than any woman I know, or, indeed, almost
any man." MRS. THRALE. "I declare I know no man equal to her, take away
yourself and Burke, for that art."' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 118. It
is curious that Mrs. Thrale and Boswell should both thus instance Burke.
Miss Burney writes of her in much more moderate terms:--'Allowing a
little for parade and ostentation, which her power in wealth and rank in
literature offer some excuse for, her conversation is very agreeable;
she is always reasonable and sensible, and sometimes instructive and
entertaining.' _Ib._ p. 325. See _ante_, ii. 88, note 3. These five
ladies all lived to a great age. Mrs. Montagu was 80 when she died; Mrs.
Lennox, 83; Miss Burney (Mme. D'Arblay), 87; Miss More and Mrs. (Miss)
Carter, 88. Their hostess, Mrs. Garrick, was 97 or 98.
[852] Miss Burney, describing how she first saw Burke, says:--'I had
been told that Burke was not expected; yet I could conclude this
gentleman to be no other. There was an evident, a striking superiority
in his demeanour, his eye, his motions, that announced him no common
man.' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, ii. 145. See _ante_, ii. 450, where
Johnson said of Burke:--'His stream of mind is perpetual;' and Boswell's
_Hebrides post,_, v. 32, and Prior's _Life of Burke_, fifth edition,
p. 58.
[853] _Kennel_ is a strong word to apply to Burke; but, in his
jocularity, he sometimes 'let himself down' to indelicate stories. In
the House of Commons he had told one--and a very stupid one too--not a
year before. _Parl. Hist_, xxiii. 918. Horace Walpole speaks of Burke's
'pursuit of wit even to puerility.' _Journal of the Reign of George
III_, i. 443. He adds (_ib_. ii. 26):--'Burke himself always aimed at
wit, but was not equally happy in public and private. In the former,
nothing was so luminous, so striking, so abundant; in private, it was
forced, unnatural, and bombast.' See _ante_, p. 104, where Wilkes said
that in his oratory 'there was a strange want of taste.'
[854] _Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides_, third edition, p. 20 [_post_,
v. 32.] BOSWELL. See also _ante_, i. 453, and iii. 323.
[855] I have since heard that the report was not well founded; but the
elation discovered by Johnson in the belief that it was true, shewed a
noble ardour for literary fame. BOSWELL. Johnson wrote on Feb. 9:--'One
thing which I have just heard you will think to surpass expectation. The
chaplain of the factory at Petersburgh relates that the _Rambler_ is
now, by the command of the Empress, translating into Russian, and has
promised, when it is printed, to send me a copy.' _Piozzi Letters,_ ii.
349. Stockdale records (_Memoirs,_ ii. 98) that in 1773 the Empress of
Russia engaged 'six English literary gentlemen for instructors of her
young nobility in her Academy at St. Petersburgh.' He was offered one of
the posts. Her zeal may have gone yet further, and she may have wished
to open up English literature to those who could not read English.
Beauclerk's library was offered for sale to the Russian Ambassador.
_Ante,_ iii. 420. Miss Burney, in 1789, said that a newspaper reported
that 'Angelica Kauffmann is making drawings from _Evelina_ for the
Empress of Russia.' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary,_ v. 35.
[856]
'--me peritus
Disect Iber, Rhodanique potor.'
'To him who drinks the rapid Rhone
Shall Horace, deathless bard, be known.'
FRANCIS. Horace, _Odes_, ii. 20. 19.
[857] See _ante_, iii. 49.
[858] See _post_, June 12, 1784.
[859] See _ante_, p. 126.
[860] H. C. Robinson (_Diary_, i. 29) describes him as 'an author on an
infinity of subjects; his books were on Law, History, Poetry,
Antiquities, Divinity, Politics.' He adds (_ib_. p. 49l):--'Godwin,
Lofft, and Thelwall are the only three persons I know (except Hazlitt)
who grieve at the late events'--the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. He
found long after his death 'a MS. by him in these words:--"Rousseau,
Euripides, Tasso, Racine, Cicero, Virgil, Petrarch, Richardson. If I had
five millions of years to live upon this earth, these I would read daily
with increasing delight."' _Ib_. iii. 283.
[861] Dunciad, iv. 394, note.
[862] The King opened Parliament this day. Hannah More during the
election found the mob favourable to Fox. One night, in a Sedan chair,
she was stopped with the news that it was not safe to go through Covent
Garden. 'There were a hundred armed men,' she was told, 'who, suspecting
every chairman belonged to Brookes's, would fall upon us. A vast number
of people followed me, crying out "It is Mrs. Fox; none but Mr. Fox's
wife would dare to come into Covent Garden in a chair; she is going to
canvas in the dark."' H. More's _Memoirs_, i. 316. Horace Walpole wrote
on April 11:--'In truth Mr. Fox has all the popularity in Westminster.'
_Letters_, viii. 469.
[863] See _post_, under June 9, 1784, where Johnson describes Fox as 'a
man who has divided the kingdom with Caesar.'
[864] See _ante_, p. 111.
[865] See _ante_, ii. 162.
[866] Boswell twice speaks of W. G. Hamilton as 'an eminent friend' of
Johnson. He was not Boswell's friend. (Ante, p. 111, and _post_, under
Dec. 20, 1784.) But Boswell does not here say 'a friend _of ours_.' By
'eminent friend' Burke is generally meant, and he, possibly, is meant
here. Boswell, it is true, speaks of his 'orderly and amiable domestic
habits' (_ante_, iii. 378); but then Boswell mentions the person here
'as a virtuous man.' If Burke is meant, Johnson's suspicions would seem
to be groundless.
[867] See _ante_, p. 168, where Johnson 'wonders why he should have any
enemies.'
[868] After all, I cannot but be of opinion, that as Mr. Langton was
seriously requested by Dr. Johnson to mention what appeared to him
erroneous in the character of his friend, he was bound, as an honest
man, to intimate what he really thought, which he certainly did in the
most delicate manner; so that Johnson himself, when in a quiet frame of
mind, was pleased with it. The texts suggested are now before me, and I
shall quote a few of them. 'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth.' _Mat._ v. 5.--'I therefore, the prisoner of the LORD,
beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are
called; with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing
one another in love.' _Ephes._ v. [iv.] 1, 2.--'And above all these
things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.' _Col._ iii.
14.--'Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not, charity
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up: doth not behave itself unseemly,
is not easily provoked.' 1 _Cor._ xiii. 4, 5. BOSWELL. Johnson, in _The
Rambler,_ No. 28, had almost foretold what would happen. 'For escaping
these and a thousand other deceits many expedients have been proposed.
Some have recommended the frequent consultation of a wise friend,
admitted to intimacy and encouraged by sincerity. But this appears a
remedy by no means adapted to general use; for, in order to secure the
virtue of one, it pre-supposes more virtue in two than will generally be
found. In the first, such a desire of rectitude and amendment as may
incline him to hear his own accusation from the mouth of him whom he
esteems, and by whom therefore he will always hope that his faults are
not discovered; and in the second, such zeal and honesty as will make
him content for his friend's advantage to lose his kindness.'
[869] Member for Dumfries.
[870] Malone points out that the passage is not in Bacon, but in Boyle,
and that it is quoted in Johnson's _Dictionary_ (in the later editions
only), under _cross-bow._ It is as follows:--'Testimony is like the shot
of a long-bow, which owes its efficacy to the force of the shooter;
argument is like the shot of the cross-bow, equally forcible whether
discharged by a giant or a dwarf.' See Smollett's _Works_, ed. 1797, i.
cliv, for a somewhat fuller account by Dr. Moore of what was said by
Johnson this evening.
[871] The Peace made by that very able statesman, the Earl of Shelburne,
now Marquis of Lansdown, which may fairly be considered as the
foundation of all the prosperity of Great Britain since that time.
BOSWELL. In the winter of 1782-83, preliminary treaties of peace were
made with the United States, France, and Spain; and a suspension of arms
with Holland. The Ode is made up of such lines as the following:--
'While meek philosophy explores
Creation's vast stupendous round,
With piercing gaze sublime she soars,
And bursts the system's distant bound.'
_Gent. Mag._; 1783. p. 245.
[872] In the first edition of my Work, the epithet _amiable_ was given.
I was sorry to be obliged to strike it out; but I could not in justice
suffer it to remain, after this young lady had not only written in
favour of the savage Anarchy with which France has been visited, but had
(as I have been informed by good authority), walked, without horrour,
over the ground at the Thuillieries, when it was strewed with the naked
bodies of the faithful Swiss Guards, who were barbarously massacred for
having bravely defended, against a crew of ruffians, the Monarch whom
they had taken an oath to defend. From Dr. Johnson she could now expect
not endearment but repulsion. BOSWELL.
[873] Rogers (_Table-Talk_, p. 50) described her as 'a very fascinating
person,' and narrated a curious anecdote which he heard from her about
the Reign of Terror.
[874] This year, forming as it did exactly a quarter of a century since
Handel's death, and a complete century since his birth, was sought, says
the _Gent. Mag._ (1784, p. 457) as the first public periodical occasion
for bringing together musical performers in England. Dr. Burney writes
(_Ann. Reg._ 1784, p. 331):--'Foreigners must have been astonished at so
numerous a band, moving in such exact measure, without the assistance of
a Coryphaeus to beat time. Rousseau says that "the more time is beaten,
the less it is kept."' There were upwards of 500 performers.
[875] See _ante_, iii. 242.
[876] Lady Wronghead, whispers Mrs. Motherly, pointing to Myrtilla.
'_Mrs. Motherly_. Only a niece of mine, Madam, that lives with me; she
will be proud to give your Ladyship any assistance in her power.
'_Lady Wronghead_. A pretty sort of a young woman--Jenny, you two must
be acquainted.
'_Jenny_. O Mamma! I am never strange in a strange place. _Salutes
Myrtilla_.' _The Provoked Husband; or, A Journey to London_, act ii. sc.
1, by Vanbrugh and Colley Gibber. It was not therefore Squire Richard
whom Johnson quoted, but his sister.
[877] See _ante_, p. 191.
[878] See Macaulay's _Essays_, ed. 1843, i. 353, for his application of
this story.
[879] She too was learned; for according to Hannah More (_Memoirs_, i.
292) she had learnt Hebrew, merely to be useful to her husband.
[880]
'This day then let us not be told,
That you are sick, and I grown old;
Nor think on our approaching ills,
And talk of spectacles and pills.'
Swift's _Lines on Stella's Birthday_, 1726-27. Works, ed. 1803, xi. 21.
[881] Dr. Newton, in his _Account of his own Life_, after animadverting
upon Mr. Gibbon's _History_, says, 'Dr. Johnson's _Lives of the Poets_
afforded more amusement; but candour was much hurt and offended at the
malevolence that predominates in every part. Some passages, it must be
allowed, are judicious and well written, but make not sufficient
compensation for so much spleen and ill humour. Never was any biographer
more sparing of his praise, or more abundant in his censures. He
seemingly delights more in exposing blemishes, than in recommending
beauties; slightly passes over excellencies, enlarges upon
imperfections, and not content with his own severe reflections, revives
old scandal, and produces large quotations from the forgotten works of
former criticks. His reputation was so high in the republick of letters,
that it wanted not to be raised upon the ruins of others. But these
_Essays_, instead of raising a higher idea than was before entertained
of his understanding, have certainly given the world a worse opinion of
his temper.--The Bishop was therefore the more surprized and concerned
for his townsman, for _he respected him not only for his genius and
learning, but valued him much more for the more amiable part of his
character, his humanity and charity, his morality and religion.'_ The
last sentence we may consider as the general and permanent opinion of
Bishop Newton; the remarks which precede it must, by all who have read
Johnson's admirable work, be imputed to the disgust and peevishness of
old age. I wish they had not appeared, and that Dr. Johnson had not been
provoked by them to express himself, not in respectful terms, of a
Prelate, whose labours were certainly of considerable advantage both to
literature and religion. BOSWELL.
[882] Newton was born Jan. 1, 1704, and was made Bishop in 1761. In his
_Account of his own Life_ (p. 65) he says:--'He was no great gainer by
his preferment; for he was obliged to give up the prebend of
Westminster, the precentorship of York, the lecturership of St.
George's, Hanover Square, and the _genteel office of sub-almoner_.' He
died in 1781. His _Works_ were published in 1782. Gibbon, defending
himself against an attack by Newton, says (_Misc. Works_, l. 24l):--'The
old man should not have indulged his zeal in a false and feeble charge
against the historian, who,' &c.
[883] _Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides,_ 3rd ed. p. 371 [Oct. 25].
BOSWELL. See _ante_, ii. 216.
[884] The Rev. Mr. Agutter [_post,_ under Dec. 20] has favoured me with
a note of a dialogue between Mr. John Henderson [_post,_ June 12] and
Dr. Johnson on this topick, as related by Mr. Henderson, and it is
evidently so authentick that I shall here insert it:--HENDERSON. 'What
do you think, Sir, of William Law?' JOHNSON. 'William Law, Sir, wrote
the best piece of Parenetick Divinity; but William Law was no reasoner.'
HENDERSON. 'Jeremy Collier, Sir?' JOHNSON. 'Jeremy Collier fought
without a rival, and therefore could not claim the victory.' Mr.
Henderson mentioned Kenn and Kettlewell; but some objections were made:
at last he said, 'But, Sir, what do you think of Leslie?' JOHNSON.
'Charles Leslie I had forgotten. Leslie _was_ a reasoner, and _a
reasoner who was not to be reasoned against.'_ BOSWELL.
For the effect of Law's 'Parenetick Divinity' on Johnson, see _ante_, i.
68. 'I am surprised,' writes Macaulay, 'that Johnson should have
pronounced Law no reasoner. Law did indeed fall into great errors; but
they were errors against which logic affords no security. In mere
dialectical skill he had very few superiors.' Macaulay's _England_, ed.
1874, v. 81, note. Jeremy Collier's attack on the play-writers Johnson
describes in his _Life of Congreve_ (_Works_, viii. 28), and
continues:--'Nothing now remained for the poets but to resist or fly.
Dryden's conscience, or his prudence, angry as he was, withheld him from
the conflict: Congreve and Vanbrugh attempted answers.' Of Leslie, Lord
Bolingbroke thus writes (_Works_, in. 45):--'Let neither the polemical
skill of Leslie, nor the antique erudition of Bedford, persuade us to
put on again those old shackles of false law, false reason, and false
gospel, which were forged before the Revolution, and broken to pieces by
it.' Leslie is described by Macaulay, _History of England_, v. 81.
[885] Burnet (_History of his own Time_, ed. 1818, iv. 303) in 1712
speaks of Hickes and Brett as being both in the Church, but as shewing
'an inclination towards Popery.' Hickes, he says, was at the head of the
Jacobite party. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 25.
[886] 'Only five of the seven were non-jurors; and anybody but Boswell
would have known that a man may resist arbitrary power, and yet not be a
good reasoner. Nay, the resistance which Sancroft and the other
nonjuring Bishops offered to arbitrary power, while they continued to
hold the doctrine of non-resistance, is the most decisive proof that
they were incapable of reasoning.' Macaulay's _England_, ed. 1874,
v. 81.
[887] See _ante_, ii. 321, for Johnson's estimate of the Nonjurors, and
i. 429 for his Jacobitism.
[888] Savage's _Works_, ed. 1777, ii. 28.
[889] See _ante_, p. 46.
[890] See Boswell's _Hebrides, post_, v. 77.
[891] I have inserted the stanza as Johnson repeated it from memory; but
I have since found the poem itself, in _The Foundling Hospital for Wit_,
printed at London, 1749. It is as follows:--
'EPIGRAM, _occasioned by a religious dispute at Bath_.
'On Reason, Faith, and Mystery high,
Two wits harangue the table;
B----y believes he knows not why.
N---- swears 'tis all a fable.
Peace, coxcombs, peach, and both agree,
N----, kiss they empty brother:
Religion laughs at foes like thee,
And dreads a friend like t'other.'
BOSWELL. The disputants are supposed to have been Beau Nash and Bentley,
the son of the doctor, and the friend of Walpole. Croker. John Wesley in
his _Journal_, i. 186, tells how he once silences Nash.
[892] See ante, ii. 105.
[893] Waller, in his _Divine Poesie_, canto first, has the same thought
finely expressed:--
'The Church triumphant, and the Church below,
In songs of praise their present union show;
Their joys are full; our expectation long,
In life we differ, but we join in song;
Angels and we assisted by this art,
May sing together, though we dwell apart.'