We find him again this year at Birmingham, and there is preserved the
following letter from him to Mr. Edward Cave[278], the original compiler
and editor of the _Gentleman's Magazine_:
TO MR. CAVE.
_Nov_. 25, 1734.
'Sir,
'As you appear no less sensible than your readers of the defects of your
poetical article, you will not be displeased, if, in order to the
improvement of it, I communicate to you the sentiments of a person, who
will undertake, on reasonable terms, sometimes to fill a column.
'His opinion is, that the publick would not give you a bad reception,
if, beside the current wit of the month, which a critical examination
would generally reduce to a narrow compass, you admitted not only poems,
inscriptions, &c. never printed before, which he will sometimes supply
you with; but likewise short literary dissertations in Latin or English,
critical remarks on authours ancient or modern, forgotten poems that
deserve revival, or loose pieces, like Floyer's[279], worth preserving. By
this method, your literary article, for so it might be called, will, he
thinks, be better recommended to the publick than by low jests, awkward
buffoonery, or the dull scurrilities of either party.
'If such a correspondence will be agreeable to you, be pleased to inform
me in two posts, what the conditions are on which you shall expect it.
Your late offer[280] gives me no reason to distrust your generosity. If
you engage in any literary projects besides this paper, I have other
designs to impart, if I could be secure from having others reap the
advantage of what I should hint.
[Page 92: Verses on a sprig of myrtle. A.D. 1734.]
'Your letter by being directed to _S. Smith_, to be left at the Castle
in[281] Birmingham, Warwickshire, will reach
'Your humble servant.'
Mr. Cave has put a note on this letter, 'Answered Dec. 2.' But whether
any thing was done in consequence of it we are not informed.
Johnson had, from his early youth, been sensible to the influence of
female charms. When at Stourbridge school, he was much enamoured of
Olivia Lloyd, a young quaker, to whom he wrote a copy of verses, which I
have not been able to recover; but with what facility and elegance he
could warble the amorous lay, will appear from the following lines which
he wrote for his friend Mr. Edmund Hector.
[Page 93: Boswell's controversy with Miss Seward. Ætat 25.]
VERSES _to a_ LADY, _on receiving from her a_ SPRIG of MYRTLE.
'What hopes, what terrours does thy gift create,
Ambiguous emblem of uncertain fate:
The myrtle, ensign of supreme command,
Consign'd by Venus to Melissa's hand;
Not less capricious than a reigning fair,
Now grants, and now rejects a lover's prayer.
In myrtle shades oft sings the happy swain,
In myrtle shades despairing ghosts complain;
The myrtle crowns the happy lovers' heads,
The unhappy lovers' grave the myrtle spreads:
O then the meaning of thy gift impart,
And ease the throbbings of an anxious heart!
Soon must this bough, as you shall fix his doom,
Adorn Philander's head, or grace his tomb[282].'
[Page 94: Johnson's personal appearance. A.D. 1734.]
His juvenile attachments to the fair sex were, however, very transient;
and it is certain that he formed no criminal connection whatsoever. Mr.
Hector, who lived with him in his younger days in the utmost intimacy
and social freedom, has assured me, that even at that ardent season his
conduct was strictly virtuous in that respect[283]; and that though he
loved to exhilarate himself with wine, he never knew him intoxicated but
once[284].
[Page 95: Mrs. Porter. Ætat 25.]
In a man whom religious education has secured from licentious
indulgences, the passion of love, when once it has seized him, is
exceedingly strong; being unimpaired by dissipation, and totally
concentrated in one object. This was experienced by Johnson, when he
became the fervent admirer of Mrs. Porter, after her first husband's
death[285]. Miss Porter told me, that when he was first introduced to her
mother, his appearance was very forbidding: he was then lean and lank,
so that his immense structure of bones was hideously striking to the
eye, and the scars of the scrophula were deeply visible[286]. He also wore
his hair[287], which was straight and stiff, and separated behind: and he
often had, seemingly, convulsive starts and odd gesticulations, which
tended to excite at once surprize and ridicule[288]. Mrs. Porter was so
much engaged by his conversation that she overlooked all these external
disadvantages, and said to her daughter, 'this is the most sensible man
that I ever saw in my life.'
Though Mrs. Porter was double the age of Johnson[289], and her person and
manner, as described to me by the late Mr. Garrick, were by no means
pleasing to others, she must have had a superiority of understanding and
talents, as she certainly inspired him with a more than ordinary
passion; and she having signified her willingness to accept of his hand,
he went to Lichfield to ask his mother's consent to the marriage, which
he could not but be conscious was a very imprudent scheme, both on
account of their disparity of years, and her want of fortune[290]. But
Mrs. Johnson knew too well the ardour of her son's temper, and was too
tender a parent to oppose his inclinations.
[Page 96: Johnson's marriage. A.D. 1736.]
I know not for what reason the marriage ceremony was not performed at
Birmingham; but a resolution was taken that it should be at Derby, for
which place the bride and bridegroom set out on horseback, I suppose in
very good humour. But though Mr. Topham Beauclerk used archly to mention
Johnson's having told him, with much gravity, 'Sir, it was a love
marriage on both sides,' I have had from my illustrious friend the
following curious account of their journey to church upon the nuptial
morn:
9th July:--'Sir, she had read the old romances, and had got into her
head the fantastical notion that a woman of spirit should use her lover
like a dog. So, Sir, at first she told me that I rode too fast, and she
could not keep up with me; and, when I rode a little slower, she passed
me, and complained that I lagged behind. I was not to be made the slave
of caprice; and I resolved to begin as I meant to end. I therefore
pushed on briskly, till I was fairly out of her sight. The road lay
between two hedges, so I was sure she could not miss it; and I contrived
that she should soon come up with me. When she did, I observed her to be
in tears.'
This, it must be allowed, was a singular beginning of connubial
felicity; but there is no doubt that Johnson, though he thus shewed a
manly firmness, proved a most affectionate and indulgent husband to the
last moment of Mrs. Johnson's life: and in his _Prayers and
Meditations_, we find very remarkable evidence that his regard and
fondness for her never ceased, even after her death.
[Page 97: His School at Edial. Ætat 27.]
He now set up a private academy[291], for which purpose he hired a large
house, well situated near his native city. In the _Gentleman's Magazine_
for 1736, there is the following advertisement:
'At Edial, near Lichfield[292], in Staffordshire, young gentlemen are
boarded and taught the Latin and Greek languages, by SAMUEL JOHNSON.'
But the only pupils that were put under his care were the celebrated
David Garrick and his brother George, and a Mr. Offely, a young
gentleman of good fortune who died early. As yet, his name had nothing
of that celebrity which afterwards commanded the highest attention and
respect of mankind. Had such an advertisement appeared after the
publication of his _London_, or his _Rambler_, or his _Dictionary_, how
would it have burst upon the world! with what eagerness would the great
and the wealthy have embraced an opportunity of putting their sons under
the learned tuition of SAMUEL JOHNSON. The truth, however, is, that he
was not so well qualified for being a teacher of elements, and a
conductor in learning by regular gradations, as men of inferiour powers
of mind. His own acquisitions had been made by fits and starts, by
violent irruptions into the regions of knowledge; and it could not be
expected that his impatience would be subdued, and his impetuosity
restrained, so as to fit him for a quiet guide to novices. The art of
communicating instruction, of whatever kind, is much to be valued; and I
have ever thought that those who devote themselves to this employment,
and do their duty with diligence and success, are entitled to very high
respect from the community, as Johnson himself often maintained[293]. Yet
I am of opinion that the greatest abilities are not only not required
for this office, but render a man less fit for it.
[Page 98: Garrick Johnson's pupil. A.D. 1736.]
While we acknowledge the justness of Thomson's beautiful remark,
'Delightful task! to rear the tender thought,
And teach[294] the young idea how to shoot!'
we must consider that this delight is perceptible only by 'a mind at
ease,' a mind at once calm and clear; but that a mind gloomy and
impetuous like that of Johnson, cannot be fixed for any length of time
in minute attention, and must be so frequently irritated by unavoidable
slowness and errour in the advances of scholars, as to perform the duty,
with little pleasure to the teacher, and no great advantage to the
pupils[295]. Good temper is a most essential requisite in a Preceptor.
Horace paints the character as _bland_:
'... _Ut pueris olim dant crustula blandi
Doctores, elementa velint ut discere_[296].'
[Page 99: Mrs. Johnson. Ætat 27.]
Johnson was not more satisfied with his situation as the master of an
academy, than with that of the usher of a school; we need not wonder,
therefore, that he did not keep his academy above a year and a half.
From Mr. Garrick's account he did not appear to have been profoundly
reverenced by his pupils. His oddities of manner, and uncouth
gesticulations, could not but be the subject of merriment to them; and,
in particular, the young rogues used to listen at the door of his
bed-chamber, and peep through the key-hole, that they might turn into
ridicule his tumultuous and awkward fondness for Mrs. Johnson, whom he
used to name by the familiar appellation of _Tetty_ or _Tetsey_, which,
like _Betty_ or _Betsey_, is provincially used as a contraction for
_Elisabeth_, her Christian name, but which to us seems ludicrous, when
applied to a woman of her age and appearance. Mr. Garrick described her
to me as very fat, with a bosom of more than ordinary protuberance, with
swelled cheeks of a florid red, produced by thick painting, and
increased by the liberal use of cordials; flaring and fantastick in her
dress, and affected both in her speech and her general behaviour. I have
seen Garrick exhibit her, by his exquisite talent of mimickry, so as to
excite the heartiest bursts of laughter; but he, probably, as is the
case in all such representations, considerably aggravated the
picture[297].
That Johnson well knew the most proper course to be pursued in the
instruction of youth, is authentically ascertained by the following
paper[298] in his own hand-writing, given about this period to a relation,
and now in the possession of Mr. John Nichols:
'SCHEME _for the_ CLASSES _of a_ GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
'When the introduction, or formation of nouns and verbs, is perfectly
mastered, let them learn:
'Corderius by Mr. Clarke, beginning at the same time to translate out of
the introduction, that by this means they may learn the syntax. Then let
them proceed to:
'Erasmus, with an English translation, by the same authour.
'Class II. Learns Eutropius and Cornelius Nepos, or Justin, with the
translation.
'N.B. The first class gets for their part every morning the rules which
they have learned before, and in the afternoon learns the Latin rules of
the nouns and verbs.
[Page 100: A scheme of study. A.D. 1736.]
'They are examined in the rules which they have learned every Thursday
and Saturday.
'The second class does the same whilst they are in Eutropius; afterwards
their part is in the irregular nouns and verbs, and in the rules for
making and scanning verses. They are examined as the first.
'Class III. Ovid's Metamorphoses in the morning, and Caesar's
Commentaries in the afternoon.
'Practise in the Latin rules till they are perfect in them; afterwards
in Mr. Leeds's Greek Grammar. Examined as before.
'Afterwards they proceed to Virgil, beginning at the same time to write
themes and verses, and to learn Greek; from thence passing on to Horace,
&c. as shall seem most proper.
'I know not well what books to direct you to, because you have not
informed me what study you will apply yourself to. I believe it will be
most for your advantage to apply yourself wholly to the languages, till
you go to the University. The Greek authours I think it best for you to
read are these:
'Cebes.
'Ælian. }
'Lucian by Leeds. } Attick.
'Xenophon. }
'Homer. Ionick.
'Theocritus. Dorick.
'Euripides. Attick and Dorick.
'Thus you will be tolerably skilled in all the dialects, beginning with
the Attick, to which the rest must be referred.
'In the study of Latin, it is proper not to read the latter authours,
till you are well versed in those of the purest ages; as Terence, Tully,
Cæsar, Sallust, Nepos, Velleius Paterculus, Virgil, Horace, Phædrus.
'The greatest and most necessary task still remains, to attain a habit
of expression, without which knowledge is of little use. This is
necessary in Latin, and more necessary in English; and can only be
acquired by a daily imitation of the best and correctest authours.
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
While Johnson kept his academy, there can be no doubt that he was
insensibly furnishing his mind with various knowledge; but I have not
discovered that he wrote any thing except a great part of his tragedy of
_Irene_. Mr. Peter Garrick, the elder brother of David, told me that he
remembered Johnson's borrowing the _Turkish History_[299] of him, in order
to form his play from it. When he had finished some part of it, he read
what he had done to Mr. Walmsley, who objected to his having already
brought his heroine into great distress, and asked him, 'how can you
possibly contrive to plunge her into deeper calamity?' Johnson, in sly
allusion to the supposed oppressive proceedings of the court of which
Mr. Walmsley was register, replied, 'Sir, I can put her into the
Spiritual Court!'
[Page 101: Johnson tries his fortune in London. Ætat 27.]
Mr. Walmsley, however, was well pleased with this proof of Johnson's
abilities as a dramatick writer, and advised him to finish the tragedy,
and produce it on the stage.
Johnson now thought of trying his fortune in London, the great field of
genius and exertion, where talents of every kind have the fullest scope,
and the highest encouragement. It is a memorable circumstance that his
pupil David Garrick went thither at the same time[300], with intention to
complete his education, and follow the profession of the law, from which
he was soon diverted by his decided preference for the stage.
This joint expedition of those two eminent men to the metropolis, was
many years afterwards noticed in an allegorical poem on Shakspeare's
Mulberry Tree, by Mr. Lovibond, the ingenious authour of _The Tears of
Old-May-day_[301].
They were recommended to Mr. Colson[302], an eminent mathematician and
master of an academy, by the following letter from Mr. Walmsley:
[Page 102: Mr. Walmsley's Letter. A.D. 1737.]
'To THE REVEREND MR. COLSON.
'Lichfield, March 2, 1737.
'DEAR SIR,
'I had the favour of yours, and am extremely obliged to you; but I
cannot say I had a greater affection for you upon it than I had before,
being long since so much endeared to you, as well by an early
friendship, as by your many excellent and valuable qualifications; and,
had I a son of my own, it would be my ambition, instead of sending him
to the University, to dispose of him as this young gentleman is.
'He, and another neighbour of mine, one Mr. Samuel Johnson, set out this
morning for London together. Davy Garrick is to be with you early the
next week, and Mr. Johnson to try his fate with a tragedy, and to see to
get himself employed in some translation, either from the Latin or the
French. Johnson is a very good scholar and poet, and I have great hopes
will turn out a fine tragedy-writer. If it should any way lie in your
way, doubt[303] not but you would be ready to recommend and assist your
countryman.
'G. WALMSLEY.'
[Page 103: Like in London. Ætat 28.]
How he employed himself upon his first coming to London is not
particularly known[304]. I never heard that he found any protection or
encouragement by the means of Mr. Colson, to whose academy David Garrick
went. Mrs. Lucy Porter told me, that Mr. Walmsley gave him a letter of
introduction to Lintot[305] his bookseller, and that Johnson wrote some
things for him; but I imagine this to be a mistake, for I have
discovered no trace of it, and I am pretty sure he told me that Mr. Cave
was the first publisher by whom his pen was engaged in London.
He had a little money when he came to town, and he knew how he could
live in the cheapest manner. His first lodgings were at the house of Mr.
Norris, a staymaker, in Exeter-street, adjoining Catharine-street, in
the Strand. 'I dined (said he) very well for eight-pence, with very good
company, at the Pine Apple in New-street, just by. Several of them had
travelled. They expected to meet every day; but did not know one
another's names. It used to cost the rest a shilling, for they drank
wine; but I had a cut of meat for six-pence, and bread for a penny, and
gave the waiter a penny; so that I was quite well served, nay, better
than the rest, for they gave the waiter nothing[306].'
[Page 104: Abstinence from wine. A.D. 1737.]
He at this time, I believe, abstained entirely from fermented liquors: a
practice to which he rigidly conformed for many years together, at
different periods of his life[307].
[Page 105: An Irish Ofellus. Ætat 28.]
His Ofellus in the _Art of Living in London_, I have heard him relate,
was an Irish painter, whom he knew at Birmingham, and who had practised
his own precepts of oeconomy for several years in the British
capital[308]. He assured Johnson, who, I suppose, was then meditating to
try his fortune in London, but was apprehensive of the expence, 'that
thirty pounds a year was enough to enable a man to live there without
being contemptible. He allowed ten pounds for clothes and linen. He said
a man might live in a garret at eighteen-pence a week; few people would
inquire where he lodged; and if they did, it was easy to say, 'Sir, I am
to be found at such a place.' By spending three-pence in a coffee-house,
he might be for some hours every day in very good company; he might dine
for six-pence, breakfast on bread and milk for a penny, and do without
supper. On _clean-shirt-day_ he went abroad, and paid visits.' I have
heard him more than once talk of this frugal friend, whom he recollected
with esteem and kindness, and did not like to have one smile at the
recital. 'This man (said he, gravely) was a very sensible man, who
perfectly understood common affairs: a man of a great deal of knowledge
of the world, fresh from life, not strained through books[309]. He
borrowed a horse and ten pounds at Birmingham. Finding himself master of
so much money, he set off for West Chester[310], in order to get to
Ireland. He returned the horse, and probably the ten pounds too, after
he got home.'
[Page 106: Mr. Henry Hervey. A.D. 1737.]
Considering Johnson's narrow circumstances in the early part of his
life, and particularly at the interesting aera of his launching into the
ocean of London, it is not to be wondered at, that an actual instance,
proved by experience of the possibility of enjoying the intellectual
luxury of social life, upon a very small income, should deeply engage
his attention, and be ever recollected by him as a circumstance of much
importance. He amused himself, I remember, by computing how much more
expence was absolutely necessary to live upon the same scale with that
which his friend described, when the value of money was diminished by
the progress of commerce. It maybe estimated that double the money might
now with difficulty be sufficient.
Amidst this cold obscurity, there was one brilliant circumstance to
cheer him; he was well acquainted with Mr. Henry Hervey[311], one of the
branches of the noble family of that name, who had been quartered at
Lichfield as an officer of the army, and had at this time a house in
London, where Johnson was frequently entertained, and had an opportunity
of meeting genteel company. Not very long before his death, he mentioned
this, among other particulars of his life, which he was kindly
communicating to me; and he described this early friend, 'Harry Hervey,'
thus: 'He was a vicious man, but very kind to me. If you call a dog
HERVEY, I shall love him.'
He told me he had now written only three acts of his _Irene_, and that
he retired for some time to lodgings at Greenwich, where he proceeded in
it somewhat further, and used to compose, walking in the Park[312]; but
did not stay long enough at that place to finish it.
At this period we find the following letter from him to Mr. Edward Cave,
which, as a link in the chain of his literary history, it is proper to
insert:
[Page 107: Johnson returns to Lichfield. Ætat 28.]
'To MR. CAVE.
'Greenwich, next door to the Golden Heart,
'Church-street, July 12, 1737.
'SIR,
'Having observed in your papers very uncommon offers of encouragement to
men of letters, I have chosen, being a stranger in London, to
communicate to you the following design, which, I hope, if you join in
it, will be of advantage to both of us.
'The History of the Council of Trent having been lately translated into
French, and published with large Notes by Dr. Le Courayer[313], the
reputation of that book is so much revived in England, that, it is
presumed, a new translation of it from the Italian, together with Le
Courayer's Notes from the French, could not fail of a favourable
reception.
'If it be answered, that the History is already in English, it must be
remembered, that there was the same objection against Le Courayer's
undertaking, with this disadvantage, that the French had a version by
one of their best translators, whereas you cannot read three pages of
the English History without discovering that the style is capable of
great improvements; but whether those improvements are to be expected
from the attempt, you must judge from the specimen, which, if you
approve the proposal, I shall submit to your examination.
'Suppose the merit of the versions equal, we may hope that the addition
of the Notes will turn the balance in our favour, considering the
reputation of the Annotator.
'Be pleased to favour me with a speedy answer, if you are not willing to
engage in this scheme; and appoint me a day to wait upon you, if you
are.
'I am, Sir,
'Your humble servant,
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
It should seem from this letter, though subscribed with his own name,
that he had not yet been introduced to Mr. Cave. We shall presently see
what was done in consequence of the proposal which it contains.
[Page 108: Irene. A.D. 1737.]