bark and steel for the mind_, if I may use the expression; more that can
brace and invigorate every manly and noble sentiment. No. 32 on
patience, even under extreme misery, is wonderfully lofty, and as much
above the rant of stoicism, as the Sun of Revelation is brighter than
the twilight of Pagan philosophy. I never read the following sentence
without feeling my frame thrill: 'I think there is some reason for
questioning whether the body and mind are not so proportioned, that the
one can bear all which can be inflicted on the other; whether virtue
cannot stand its ground as long as life, and whether a soul well
principled, will not be sooner separated than subdued[642].'
[Page 216: The character of Prospero. A.D. 1750.]
[Page 217: The Style of The Rambler. Ætat 41.]
Though instruction be the predominant purpose of the _Rambler_, yet it
is enlivened with a considerable portion of amusement. Nothing can be
more erroneous than the notion which some persons have entertained, that
Johnson was then a retired authour, ignorant of the world; and, of
consequence, that he wrote only from his imagination when he described
characters and manners. He said to me, that before he wrote that work,
he had been 'running about the world,' as he expressed it, more than
almost any body; and I have heard him relate, with much satisfaction,
that several of the characters in the _Rambler_ were drawn so naturally,
that when it first circulated in numbers, a club in one of the towns in
Essex imagined themselves to be severally exhibited in it, and were much
incensed against a person who, they suspected, had thus made them
objects of publick notice; nor were they quieted till authentick
assurance was given them, that the _Rambler_ was written by a person who
had never heard of any one of them[643]. Some of the characters are
believed to have been actually drawn from the life, particularly that of
Prospero from Garrick[644], who never entirely forgave its pointed
satire[645]. For instances of fertility of fancy, and accurate description
of real life, I appeal to No. 19, a man who wanders from one profession
to another, with most plausible reasons for every change. No. 34, female
fastidiousness and timorous refinement. No. 82, a Virtuoso who has
collected curiosities. No. 88[646], petty modes of entertaining a company,
and conciliating kindness. No. 182, fortune-hunting. No. 194-195, a
tutor's account of the follies of his pupil. No. 197-198,
legacy-hunting. He has given a specimen of his nice observation of the
mere external appearances of life, in the following passage in No. 179,
against affectation, that frequent and most disgusting quality: 'He that
stands to contemplate the crouds that fill the streets of a populous
city, will see many passengers whose air and motion it will be difficult
to behold without contempt and laughter; but if he examine what are the
appearances that thus powerfully excite his risibility, he will find
among them neither poverty nor disease, nor any involuntary or painful
defect. The disposition to derision and insult, is awakened by the
softness of foppery, the swell of insolence, the liveliness of levity,
or the solemnity of grandeur; by the sprightly trip, the stately stalk,
the formal strut, and the lofty mien; by gestures intended to catch the
eye, and by looks elaborately formed as evidences of importance.'
Every page of the _Rambler_ shews a mind teeming with classical allusion
and poetical imagery: illustrations from other writers are, upon all
occasions, so ready, and mingle so easily in his periods, that the whole
appears of one uniform vivid texture.
[Page 218: Johnson's masters in style. A.D. 1750.]
[Page 219: A Great Personage. Ætat 41.]
The style of this work has been censured by some shallow criticks as
involved and turgid, and abounding with antiquated and hard words. So
ill-founded is the first part of this objection, that I will challenge
all who may honour this book with a perusal, to point out any English
writer whose language conveys his meaning with equal force and
perspicuity. It must, indeed, be allowed, that the structure of his
sentences is expanded, and often has somewhat of the inversion of Latin;
and that he delighted to express familiar thoughts in philosophical
language; being in this the reverse of Socrates, who, it was said,
reduced philosophy to the simplicity of common life. But let us attend
to what he himself says in his concluding paper: 'When common words were
less pleasing to the ear, or less distinct in their signification, I
have familiarised the terms of philosophy, by applying them to popular
ideas[647].' And, as to the second part of this objection, upon a late
careful revision of the work, I can with confidence say, that it is
amazing how few of those words, for which it has been unjustly
characterised, are actually to be found in it; I am sure, not the
proportion of one to each paper. This idle charge has been echoed from
one babbler to another, who have confounded Johnson's Essays with
Johnson's _Dictionary_; and because he thought it right in a Lexicon of
our language to collect many words which had fallen into disuse, but
were supported by great authorities, it has been imagined that all of
these have been interwoven into his own compositions. That some of them
have been adopted by him unnecessarily, may, perhaps, be allowed; but,
in general they are evidently an advantage, for without them his stately
ideas would be confined and cramped. 'He that thinks with more extent
than another, will want words of larger meaning[648].' He once told me,
that he had formed his style upon that of Sir William Temple[649], and
upon Chambers's Proposal for his _Dictionary_[650]. He certainly was
mistaken; or if he imagined at first that he was imitating Temple, he
was very unsuccessful; for nothing can be more unlike than the
simplicity of Temple, and the richness of Johnson. Their styles differ
as plain cloth and brocade. Temple, indeed, seems equally erroneous in
supposing that he himself had formed his style upon Sandys's _View of
the State of Religion in the Western parts of the World_.
The style of Johnson was, undoubtedly, much formed upon that of the
great writers in the last century, Hooker, Bacon, Sanderson, Hakewell,
and others; those 'GIANTS[651],' as they were well characterised by A
GREAT PERSONAGE[652], whose authority, were I to name him, would stamp a
reverence on the opinion.
[Page 220: The motto to the Dictionary. A.D. 1750.]
We may, with the utmost propriety, apply to his learned style that
passage of Horace, a part of which he has taken as the motto to his
_Dictionary_[653]:
'Cum tabulis animum censoris sumet honesti;
Audebit quaecumque parùm splendoris habebunt
Et sine pondere erunt, et honore indigna ferentur,
Verba movere loco, quamvis invita recedant,
Et versentur adhuc intra penetralia Vesta.
Obscurata diu populo bonus eruet, atque
Proferet in lucem speciosa vocabula rerum,
Quae priscis memorala Calonibus alque Cethegis,
Nunc situs informis premit et deserta velustas:
Adsciscet nova, quae genitor produxerit usus:
Vehemens, et liquidus, puroque simillimus amni,
Fundet opes Latiumque beabit divile linguá.[654]'
[Page 221: Johnson not a coiner of words. Ætat 41.]
To so great a master of thinking, to one of such vast and various
knowledge as Johnson, might have been allowed a liberal indulgence of
that licence which Horace claims in another place:
'Si forté necesse est
Indiciis monstrare recentibus abdita rerum,
Fingere cinctutis non exaudita Cethegis
Continget, dabiturque licentia sumpta pudenter:
Et nova fictaque nuper habebunt verba fidem si
Græco fonte cadant, parce detorta. Quid autem
Cæcilio Plautoque dabit Romanus, ademptum
Virgilio Varioque? Ego cur, acquirere pauca
Si possum, invideor; cum lingua Catonis et Enni
Sermonem patrium ditaverit, et nova rerum
Nomina protulerit? Licuit semperque licebit
Signatum præsente notá producere nomen[655].'
Yet Johnson assured me, that he had not taken upon him to add more than
four or five words to the English language, of his own formation[656]; and
he was very much offended at the general licence, by no means 'modestly
taken' in his time, not only to coin new words, but to use many words in
senses quite different from their established meaning, and those
frequently very fantastical[657].
[Page 222: Johnson's influence on style. A.D. 1750.]
Sir Thomas Brown[658], whose life Johnson wrote, was remarkably fond of
Anglo-Latian diction; and to his example we are to ascribe Johnson's
sometimes indulging himself in this kind of phraseology'. Johnson's
comprehension of mind was the mould for his language. Had his
conceptions been narrower, his expression would have been easier. His
sentences have a dignified march; and, it is certain, that his example
has given a general elevation to the language of his country, for many
of our best writers have approached very near to him; and, from the
influence which he has had upon our composition, scarcely any thing is
written now that is not better expressed than was usual before he
appeared to lead the national taste.
[Page 223: Courtenay's lines on Johnson's school. Ætat 41.]
This circumstance, the truth of which must strike every critical reader,
has been so happily enforced by Mr. Courtenay, in his _Moral and
Literary Character of Dr. Johnson_, that I cannot prevail on myself to
withhold it, notwithstanding his, perhaps, too great partiality for one
of his friends:
'By nature's gifts ordain'd mankind to rule,
He, like a Titian, form'd his brilliant school;
And taught congenial spirits to excel,
While from his lips impressive wisdom fell.
Our boasted GOLDSMITH felt the sovereign sway:
From him deriv'd the sweet, yet nervous lay.
To Fame's proud cliff he bade our Raphael rise;
Hence REYNOLDS' pen with REYNOLDS' pencil vies.
With Johnson's flame melodious BURNEY glows,
While the grand strain in smoother cadence flows.
And you, MALONE, to critick learning dear.
Correct and elegant, refin'd though clear,
By studying him, acquir'd that classick taste,
Which high in Shakspeare's fane thy statue plac'd.
Near Johnson STEEVENS stands, on scenick ground,
Acute, laborious, fertile, and profound.
Ingenious HAWKESWORTH to this school we owe.
And scarce the pupil from the tutor know.
Here early parts accomplish'd JONES sublimes,
And science blends with Asia's lofty rhymes:
Harmonious JONES! who in his splendid strains
Sings Camdeo's sports, on Agra's flowery plains:
In Hindu fictions while we fondly trace
Love and the Muses, deck'd with Attick grace.
Amid these names can BOSWELL be forgot,
Scarce by North Britons now esteem'd a Scot[659]?
Who to the sage devoted from his youth,
Imbib'd from him the sacred love of truth;
The keen research, the exercise of mind,
And that best art, the art to know mankind.--
Nor was his energy confin'd alone
To friends around his philosophick throne;
_Its influence wide improv'd our letter'd isle.
And lucid vigour marked the general style_:
As Nile's proud waves, swoln from their oozy bed.
First o'er the neighbouring meads majestick spread;
Till gathering force, they more and more expand.
And with new virtue fertilise the land.'
Johnson's language, however, must be allowed to be too masculine for the
delicate gentleness of female writing. His ladies, therefore, seem
strangely formal, even to ridicule; and are well denominated by the
names which he has given them as Misella[660], Zozima, Properantia,
Rhodoclia.
[Page 224: The styles of addison and Johnson. A.D. 1750.]
It has of late been the fashion to compare the style of Addison and
Johnson, and to depreciate, I think very unjustly, the style of Addison
as nerveless and feeble[661], because it has not the strength and energy
of that of Johnson. Their prose may be balanced like the poetry of
Dryden and Pope. Both are excellent, though in different ways. Addison
writes with the ease of a gentleman. His readers fancy that a wise and
accomplished companion is talking to them; so that he insinuates his
sentiments and taste into their minds by an imperceptible influence.
Johnson writes like a teacher. He dictates to his readers as if from an
academical chair. They attend with awe and admiration; and his precepts
are impressed upon them by his commanding eloquence. Addison's style,
like a light wine, pleases everybody from the first. Johnson's, like a
liquor of more body, seems too strong at first, but, by degrees, is
highly relished; and such is the melody of his periods, so much do they
captivate the ear, and seize upon the attention, that there is scarcely
any writer, however inconsiderable, who does not aim, in some degree, at
the same species of excellence. But let us not ungratefully undervalue
that beautiful style, which has pleasingly conveyed to us much
instruction and entertainment. Though comparatively weak, opposed to
Johnson's Herculean vigour, let us not call it positively feeble. Let us
remember the character of his style, as given by Johnson himself[662]:
'What he attempted, he performed; he is never feeble, and he did not
wish to be energetick; he is never rapid, and he never stagnates. His
sentences have neither studied amplitude, nor affected brevity: his
periods, though not diligently rounded, are voluble and easy[663]. Whoever
wishes to attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant
but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the volumes of
Addison[664].'
[Page 225: Boswell's projected works. Ætat 41.]
[Page 226: The last Rambler. A.D. 1750.]
Though the _Rambler_ was not concluded till the year 1752, I shall,
under this year, say all that I have to observe upon it. Some of the
translations of the mottos by himself are admirably done. He
acknowledges to have received 'elegant translations' of many of them
from Mr. James Elphinston; and some are very happily translated by a Mr.
_F. Lewis_[665], of whom I never heard more, except that Johnson thus
described him to Mr. Malone: 'Sir, he lived in London, and hung loose
upon society.' The concluding paper of his _Rambler_ is at once
dignified and pathetick. I cannot, however, but wish that he had not
ended it with an unnecessary Greek verse, translated also into an
English couplet[666]. It is too much like the conceit of those dramatick
poets, who used to conclude each act with a rhyme; and the expression in
the first line of his couplet, '_Celestial powers_', though proper in
Pagan poetry, is ill suited to Christianity, with 'a conformity[667]' to
which he consoles himself. How much better would it have been, to have
ended with the prose sentence 'I shall never envy the honours which wit
and learning obtain in any other cause, if I can be numbered among the
writers who have given ardour to virtue, and confidence to truth[668].'
His friend, Dr. Birch, being now engaged in preparing an edition of
Ralegh's smaller pieces, Dr. Johnson wrote the following letter to that
gentleman:
'To DR. BIRCH.
'Gough-square, May 12, 1750.
'SIR,
'Knowing that you are now preparing to favour the publick with a new
edition of Ralegh's[669] miscellaneous pieces, I have taken the liberty to
send you a Manuscript, which fell by chance within my notice. I perceive
no proofs of forgery in my examination of it; and the owner tells me,
that as _he_[670] has heard, the handwriting is Sir Walter's. If you
should find reason to conclude it genuine, it will be a kindness to the
owner, a blind person[671], to recommend it to the booksellers. I am, Sir,
'Your most humble servant,
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
[Page 227: Milton's grand-daughter. Ætat 41.]
[Page 228: Lauder's imposition. A.D. 1751.]
His just abhorrence of Milton's political notions was ever strong. But
this did not prevent his warm admiration of Milton's great poetical
merit, to which he has done illustrious justice, beyond all who have
written upon the subject. And this year he not only wrote a Prologue,
which was spoken by Mr. Garrick before the acting of _Comus_ at
Drury-lane theatre, for the benefit of Milton's grand-daughter, but took
a very zealous interest in the success of the charity[672]. On the day
preceding the performance, he published the following letter in the
'General Advertiser,' addressed to the printer of that paper:
'SIR,
'That a certain degree of reputation is acquired merely by approving the
works of genius, and testifying a regard to the memory of authours, is a
truth too evident to be denied; and therefore to ensure a participation
of fame with a celebrated poet, many who would, perhaps, have
contributed to starve him when alive, have heaped expensive pageants
upon his grave[673].
'It must, indeed, be confessed, that this method of becoming known to
posterity with honour, is peculiar to the great, or at least to the
wealthy; but an opportunity now offers for almost every individual to
secure the praise of paying a just regard to the illustrious dead,
united with the pleasure of doing good to the living. To assist
industrious indigence, struggling with distress and debilitated by age,
is a display of virtue, and an acquisition of happiness and honour.
'Whoever, then, would be thought capable of pleasure in reading the
works of our incomparable Milton, and not so destitute of gratitude as
to refuse to lay out a trifle in rational and elegant entertainment, for
the benefit of his living remains, for the exercise of their own virtue,
the increase of their reputation, and the pleasing consciousness of
doing good, should appear at Drury-lane theatre to-morrow, April 5, when
_Comus_ will be performed for the benefit of Mrs. Elizabeth Foster,
grand-daughter to the author, and the only surviving branch of his
family.
'N.B. There will be a new prologue on the occasion, written by the
author of _Irene[674], and spoken by Mr. Garrick; and, by particular
desire, there will be added to the Masque a dramatick satire, called
_Lethe_, in which Mr. Garrick will perform.'
[Page 229: Douglas's MILTON NO PLAGIARY. Ætat 42.]
1751: ÆTAT. 42.--In 1751[675] we are to consider him as carrying on both
his _Dictionary_ and _Rambler_. But he also wrote _The Life of
Cheynel_[676],[*] in the miscellany called _The Student_; and the Reverend
Dr. Douglas having, with uncommon acuteness, clearly detected a gross
forgery and imposition upon the publick by William Lauder, a Scotch
schoolmaster, who had, with equal impudence and ingenuity, represented
Milton as a plagiary from certain modern Latin poets, Johnson, who had
been so far imposed upon as to furnish a Preface and Postscript to his
work, now dictated a letter for Lauder, addressed to Dr. Douglas,
acknowledging his fraud in terms of suitable contrition.[677]
[Page 230: Johnson tricked by Lander. A.D. 1751.]
This extraordinary attempt of Lauder was no sudden effort. He had
brooded over it for many years: and to this hour it is uncertain what
his principal motive was, unless it were a vain notion of his
superiority, in being able, by whatever means, to deceive mankind. To
effect this, he produced certain passages from Grotius, Masenius, and
others, which had a faint resemblance to some parts of the _Paradise
Lost_. In these he interpolated some fragments of Hog's Latin
translation of that poem, alledging that the mass thus fabricated was
the archetype from which Milton copied.[678] These fabrications he
published from time to time in the _Gentleman s Magazine_; and, exulting
in his fancied success, he in 1750 ventured to collect them into a
pamphlet, entitled _An Essay on Milton's Use and Imitation of the
Moderns in his Paradise Lost_. To this pamphlet Johnson wrote a
Preface[679], in full persuasion of Lauder's honesty, and a Postscript
recommending, in the most persuasive terms[680], a subscription for the
relief of a grand-daughter of Milton, of whom he thus speaks:
'It is yet in the power of a great people to reward the poet whose name
they boast, and from their alliance to whose genius, they claim some
kind of superiority to every other nation of the earth; that poet, whose
works may possibly be read when every other monument of British
greatness shall be obliterated; to reward him, not with pictures or with
medals, which, if he sees, he sees with contempt, but with tokens of
gratitude, which he, perhaps, may even now consider as not unworthy the
regard of an immortal spirit.'
[Page 231: Johnson's admiration of Milton. Ætat 42.]
Surely this is inconsistent with 'enmity towards Milton,' which Sir John
Hawkins[681] imputes to Johnson upon this occasion, adding,
'I could all along observe that Johnson seemed to approve not only of
the design, but of the argument; and seemed to exult in a persuasion,
that the reputation of Milton was likely to suffer by this discovery.
That he was not privy to the imposture, I am well persuaded; but that he
wished well to the argument, may be inferred from the Preface, which
indubitably was written by Johnson.'
Is it possible for any man of clear judgement to suppose that Johnson,
who so nobly praised the poetical excellence of Milton in a Postscript
to this very 'discovery,' as he then supposed it, could, at the same
time, exult in a persuasion that the great poet's reputation was likely
to suffer by it? This is an inconsistency of which Johnson was
incapable; nor can any thing more be fairly inferred from the Preface,
than that Johnson, who was alike distinguished for ardent curiosity and
love of truth, was pleased with an investigation by which both were
gratified. That he was actuated by these motives, and certainly by no
unworthy desire to depreciate our great epick poet, is evident from his
own words; for, after mentioning the general zeal of men of genius and
literature 'to advance the honour, and distinguish the beauties of
_Paradise Lost_', he says,
'Among the inquiries to which this ardour of criticism has naturally
given occasion, none is more obscure in itself, or more worthy of
rational curiosity, than a retrospect[682] of the progress of this mighty
genius in the construction of his work; a view of the fabrick gradually
rising, perhaps, from small beginnings, till its foundation rests in the
centre, and its turrets sparkle in the skies; to trace back the
structure through all its varieties, to the simplicity of its first
plan; to find what was first projected, whence the scheme was taken, how
it was improved, by what assistance it was executed, and from what
stores the materials were collected; whether its founder dug them from
the quarries of Nature, or demolished other buildings to embellish his
own.'
Is this the language of one who wished to blast the laurels of
Milton[683]?
[Page 232: Mrs. Anna Williams. A.D. 1751.]
Though Johnson's circumstances were at this time far from being easy,
his humane and charitable disposition was constantly exerting itself.
Mrs. Anna Williams, daughter of a very ingenious Welsh physician, and a
woman of more than ordinary talents and literature, having come to
London in hopes of being cured of a cataract in both her eyes, which
afterwards ended in total blindness, was kindly received as a constant
visitor at his house while Mrs. Johnson lived; and after her death,
having come under his roof in order to have an operation upon her eyes
performed with more comfort to her than in lodgings, she had an
apartment from him during the rest of her life, at all times when he had
a house[684].
[Page 233: Johnson's pleasure in her company. Ætat 43.]
[Page 234: Death of Johnson's wife. A.D. 1752.]