About this period he was offered a living of considerable value in
Lincolnshire, if he were inclined to enter into holy orders. It was a
rectory in the gift of Mr. Langton, the father of his much valued
friend. But he did not accept of it; partly I believe from a
conscientious motive, being persuaded that his temper and habits
rendered him unfit for that assiduous and familiar instruction of the
vulgar and ignorant which he held to be an essential duty in a
clergyman[949]; and partly because his love of a London life was so
strong, that he would have thought himself an exile in any other place,
particularly if residing in the country[950]. Whoever would wish to see
his thoughts upon that subject displayed in their full force, may peruse
_The Adventurer_, Number 126[951].
1757: ÆTAT. 48.].--In 1757 it does not appear that he published any
thing, except some of those articles in _The Literary Magazine_, which
have been mentioned. That magazine, after Johnson ceased to write in it,
gradually declined, though the popular epithet of _Antigallican_[952] was
added to it; and in July 1758 it expired. He probably prepared a part of
his _Shakspeare_ this year, and he dictated a speech on the subject of
an Address to the Throne, after the expedition to Rochfort, which was
delivered by one of his friends, I know not in what publick meeting.[953]
It is printed in _The Gentleman's Magazine_ for October 1785 as his, and
bears sufficient marks of authenticity.
[Page 321: Irish literature. Ætat 48.]
By the favour of Mr. Joseph Cooper Walker, of the Treasury, Dublin, I
have obtained a copy of the following letter from Johnson to the
venerable authour of _Dissertations on the History of Ireland_.
[Page 322: The affinities of language. A.D. 1757.]
'To CHARLES O'CONNOR, ESQ.[954]
'SIR,
'I have lately, by the favour of Mr. Faulkner,[955] seen your account of
Ireland, and cannot forbear to solicit a prosecution of your design. Sir
William Temple complains that Ireland is less known than any other
country, as to its ancient state.[956] The natives have had little
leisure, and little encouragement for enquiry; and strangers, not
knowing the language, have had no ability.
'I have long wished that the Irish literature were cultivated.[957]
Ireland is known by tradition to have been once the seat of piety and
learning[958]; and surely it would be very acceptable to all those who are
curious either in the original of nations, or the affinities of
languages, to be further informed of the revolution of a people so
ancient, and once so illustrious.
'What relation there is between the Welch and Irish language, or between
the language of Ireland and that of Biscay, deserves enquiry. Of these
provincial and unextended tongues, it seldom happens that more than one
are understood by any one man; and, therefore, it seldom happens that a
fair comparison can be made. I hope you will continue to cultivate this
kind of learning, which has too long lain neglected, and which, if it be
suffered to remain in oblivion for another century, may, perhaps, never
be retrieved. As I wish well to all useful undertakings, I would not
forbear to let you know how much you deserve in my opinion, from all
lovers of study, and how much pleasure your work has given to, Sir,
'Your most obliged,
'And most humble servant,
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'London, April 9, 1757.'
'To THE REVEREND MR. THOMAS WARTON.
'DEAR SIR,
'Dr. Marsili[959] of Padua, a learned gentleman, and good Latin poet, has
a mind to see Oxford. I have given him a letter to Dr. Huddesford[960],
and shall be glad if you will introduce him, and shew him any thing in
Oxford.
'I am printing my new edition of _Shakspeare_.
'I long to see you all, but cannot conveniently come yet. You might
write to me now and then, if you were good for any thing. But _honores
mulant mores_. Professors forget their friends[961]. I shall certainly
complain to Miss Jones[962]. I am,
'Your, &c.
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'[London,] June 21, 1757.'
'Please to make my compliments to Mr. Wise.'
[Page 323: Subscribers to Johnson's SHAKSPEARE. Ætat 48.]
Mr. Burney having enclosed to him an extract from the review of his
_Dictionary_ in the _Bibliothèque des Savans[963], and a list of
subscribers to his _Shakspeare_, which Mr. Burney had procured in
Norfolk, he wrote the following answer:
'To MR. BURNEY, IN LYNNE, NORFOLK.
'SIR,
'That I may shew myself sensible of your favours, and not commit the
same fault a second time, I make haste to answer the letter which I
received this morning. The truth is, the other likewise was received,
and I wrote an answer; but being desirous to transmit you some proposals
and receipts, I waited till I could find a convenient conveyance, and
day was passed after day, till other things drove it from my thoughts;
yet not so, but that I remember with great pleasure your commendation of
my _Dictionary_. Your praise was welcome, not only because I believe it
was sincere, but because praise has been very scarce. A man of your
candour will be surprised when I tell you, that among all my
acquaintance there were only two, who upon the publication of my book
did not endeavour to depress me with threats of censure from the
publick, or with objections learned from those who had learned them from
my own Preface. Your's is the only letter of goodwill that I have
received; though, indeed, I am promised something of that sort from
Sweden.
'How my new edition[964] will be received I know not; the subscription has
not been very successful. I shall publish about March.
'If you can direct me how to send proposals, I should wish that they
were in such hands.
'I remember, Sir, in some of the first letters with which you favoured
me, you mentioned your lady. May I enquire after her? In return for the
favours which you have shewn me, it is not much to tell you, that I wish
you and her all that can conduce to your happiness.
'I am, Sir,
'Your most obliged,
'And most humble servant,
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'Gough-square, Dec. 24, 1757.'
[Page 324: Brothers and sisters. A.D. 1758.]
In 1758 we find him, it should seem, in as easy and pleasant a state of
existence, as constitutional unhappiness ever permitted him to enjoy.
'To BENNET LANGTON, ESQ., AT LANGTON, LINCOLNSHIRE[965].
'DEAREST SIR,
'I must indeed have slept very fast, not to have been awakened by your
letter. None of your suspicions are true; I am not much richer than when
you left me; and, what is worse, my omission of an answer to your first
letter, will prove that I am not much wiser. But I go on as I formerly
did, designing to be some time or other both rich and wise; and yet
cultivate neither mind nor fortune. Do you take notice of my example,
and learn the danger of delay. When I was as you are now, towering in
the confidence of twenty-one, little did I suspect that I should be at
forty-nine, what I now am.
'But you do not seem to need my admonition. You are busy in acquiring
and in communicating knowledge, and while you are studying, enjoy the
end of study, by making others wiser and happier. I was much pleased
with the tale that you told me of being tutour to your sisters. I, who
have no sisters nor brothers, look with some degree of innocent envy on
those who may be said to be born to friends; and cannot see, without
wonder, how rarely that native union is afterwards regarded. It
sometimes, indeed, happens, that some supervenient cause of discord may
overpower this original amity; but it seems to me more frequently thrown
away with levity, or lost by negligence, than destroyed by injury or
violence. We tell the ladies that good wives make good husbands; I
believe it is a more certain position that good brothers make good
sisters.
'I am satisfied with your stay at home, as Juvenal with his friend's
retirement to Cumæ: I know that your absence is best, though it be not
best for me.
'Quamvis digressu veteris confusus amici,
Laudo tamen vacuis quod sedem figere Cumis
Destinet, atque unum civem donare Sibyllæ[966].'
[Page 325: Dodsley's CLEONE. Ætat 49.]
'_Langton_ is a good Cumæ, but who must be Sibylla? Mrs. Langton is as
wise as Sibyl, and as good; and will live, if my wishes can prolong
life, till she shall in time be as old. But she differs in this, that
she has not scattered her precepts in the wind, at least not those which
she bestowed upon you.
'The two Wartons just looked into the town, and were taken to see
_Cleone_, where, David[967] says, they were starved for want of company to
keep them warm. David and Doddy[968] have had a new quarrel, and, I think,
cannot conveniently quarrel any more. _Cleone_ was well acted by all the
characters, but Bellamy[969] left nothing to be desired. I went the first
night, and supported it, as well as I might; for Doddy, you know, is my
patron[970], and I would not desert him. The play was very well received.
Doddy, after the danger was over, went every night to the stage-side,
and cried at the distress of poor Cleone[971].
[Page 326: Reynolds's prices for portraits. A.D. 1758.]
'I have left off housekeeping[972], and therefore made presents of the
game which you were pleased to send me. The pheasant I gave to Mr.
Richardson[973], the bustard to Dr. Lawrence, and the pot I placed with
Miss Williams, to be eaten by myself. She desires that her compliments
and good wishes may be accepted by the family; and I make the same
request for myself.
'Mr. Reynolds has within these few days raised his price to twenty
guineas a head[974], and Miss is much employed in miniatures[975]. I know
not any body [else] whose prosperity has encreased since you left them.
[Page 327: Johnson's SHAKSPEARE delayed. Ætat 49.]
'Murphy is to have his _Orphan of China_ acted next month; and is
therefore, I suppose, happy[976]. I wish I could tell you of any great
good to which I was approaching, but at present my prospects do not much
delight me; however, I am always pleased when I find that you, dear Sir,
remember,
'Your affectionate, humble servant,
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'Jan. 9, 1758.'
'TO MR. BURNEY, AT LYNNE, NORFOLK.
'SIR,
'Your kindness is so great, and my claim to any particular regard from
you so little, that I am at a loss how to express my sense of your
favours[977]; but I am, indeed, much pleased to be thus distinguished by
you.
'I am ashamed to tell you that my _Shakspeare_ will not be out so soon
as I promised my subscribers; but I did not promise them more than I
promised myself. It will, however, be published before summer.
'I have sent you a bundle of proposals, which, I think, do not profess
more than I have hitherto performed. I have printed many of the plays,
and have hitherto left very few passages unexplained; where I am quite
at a loss, I confess my ignorance, which is seldom done by
commentators[978].
'I have, likewise, enclosed twelve receipts; not that I mean to impose
upon you the trouble of pushing them, with more importunity than may
seem proper, but that you may rather have more than fewer than you shall
want. The proposals you will disseminate as there shall be an
opportunity. I once printed them at length in the _Chronicle_, and some
of my friends (I believe Mr. Murphy, who formerly wrote the _Gray's-Inn
Journal_) introduced them with a splendid encomium.
[Page 328: The garret in Gough-square. A.D. 1758.]
'Since the _Life of Browne_, I have been a little engaged, from time to
time, in the _Literary Magazine_, but not very lately. I have not the
collection by me, and therefore cannot draw out a catalogue of my own
parts, but will do it, and send it. Do not buy them, for I will gather
all those that have anything of mine in them, and send them to Mrs.
Burney, as a small token of gratitude for the regard which she is
pleased to bestow upon me.
'I am, Sir,
'Your most obliged
'And most humble servant,
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'London, March 8, 1758.'
Dr. Burney has kindly favoured me with the following memorandum, which I
take the liberty to insert in his own genuine easy style. I love to
exhibit sketches of my illustrious friend by various eminent hands.
'Soon after this, Mr. Burney, during a visit to the capital, had an
interview with him in Gough-square, where he dined and drank tea with
him, and was introduced to the acquaintance of Mrs. Williams. After
dinner, Mr. Johnson proposed to Mr. Burney to go up with him into his
garret, which being accepted, he there found about five or six Greek
folios, a deal writing-desk, and a chair and a half. Johnson giving to
his guest the entire seat, tottered himself on one with only three legs
and one arm[979]. Here he gave Mr. Burney Mrs. Williams's history, and
shewed him some volumes of his _Shakspeare_ already printed, to prove
that he was in earnest. Upon Mr. Burney's opening the first volume, at
the _Merchant of Venice_, he observed to him, that he seemed to be more
severe on Warburton than Theobald. "O poor Tib.! (said Johnson) he was
ready knocked down to my hands; Warburton stands between me and him."
"But, Sir, (said Mr. Burney,) you'll have Warburton upon your bones,
won't you?" "No, Sir; he'll not come out: he'll only growl in his den."
"But you think, Sir, that Warburton is a superiour critick to Theobald?"
"O, Sir, he'd make two-and-fifty Theobalds, cut into slices[980]! The
worst of Warburton is, that he has a rage for saying something, when
there's nothing to be said." Mr. Burney then asked him whether he had
seen the letter which Warburton had written in answer to a pamphlet
addressed "To the most impudent Man alive[981]." He answered in the
negative. Mr. Burney told him it was supposed to be written by Mallet.
The controversy now raged between the friends of Pope and Bolingbroke;
and Warburton and Mallet were the leaders of the several parties[982].
[Page 330: The Idler. A.D. 1758.]
Mr. Burney asked him then if he had seen Warburton's book against
Bolingbroke's _Philosophy_[983]? "No, Sir, I have never read Bolingbroke's
impiety, and therefore am not interested about its confutation."'
On the fifteenth of April he began a new periodical paper, entitled _The
Idler_[984],[*] which came out every Saturday in a weekly news-paper,
called _The Universal Chronicle, or Weekly Gazette_, published by
Newbery[985]. These essays were continued till April 5, 1760. Of one
hundred and three, their total number, twelve were contributed by his
friends; of which, Numbers 33, 93, and 96, were written by Mr. Thomas
Warton; No. 67 by Mr. Langton; and Nos. 76, 79, and 82, by Sir Joshua
Reynolds; the concluding words of No. 82, 'and pollute his canvas with
deformity,' being added by Johnson, as Sir Joshua informed me[986].
_The Idler_ is evidently the work of the same mind which produced _The
Rambler_, but has less body and more spirit. It has more variety of real
life, and greater facility of language. He describes the miseries of
idleness, with the lively sensations of one who has felt them[987]; and in
his private memorandums while engaged in it, we find 'This year I hope
to learn diligence[988].' Many of these excellent essays were written as
hastily as an ordinary letter. Mr. Langton remembers Johnson, when on a
visit at Oxford[989], asking him one evening how long it was till the post
went out; and on being told about half an hour, he exclaimed, 'then we
shall do very well.' He upon this instantly sat down and finished an
_Idler_, which it was necessary should be in London the next day. Mr.
Langton having signified a wish to read it, 'Sir, (said he) you shall
not do more than I have done myself.' He then folded it up and sent it
off.
Yet there are in _The Idler_ several papers which shew as much
profundity of thought, and labour of language, as any of this great
man's writings. No. 14, 'Robbery of Time;' No. 24, 'Thinking;' No. 41,
'Death of a Friend[990];' No. 43, 'Flight of Time;' No. 51, 'Domestick
greatness unattainable;' No. 52, 'Self-denial;' No. 58, 'Actual, how
short of fancied, excellence[991];' No. 89, 'Physical evil moral
goode[992];' and his concluding paper on 'The horrour of the last[993];'
will prove this assertion. I know not why a motto, the usual trapping of
periodical papers, is prefixed to very few of the _Idlers_, as I have
heard Johnson commend the custom: and he never could be at a loss for
one, his memory being stored with innumerable passages of the
classicks[994]. In this series of essays he exhibits admirable instances
of grave humour, of which he had an uncommon share. Nor on some
occasions has he repressed that power of sophistry which he possessed in
so eminent a degree. In No. 11, he treats with the utmost contempt the
opinion that our mental faculties depend, in some degree, upon the
weather; an opinion, which they who have never experienced its truth are
not to be envied; and of which he himself could not but be sensible, as
the effects of weather upon him were very visible. Yet thus he
declaims:--
[Page 332: Influence of the weather. A.D. 1758.]
'Surely, nothing is more reproachful to a being endowed with reason,
than to resign its powers to the influence of the air, and live in
dependence on the weather and the wind for the only blessings which
nature has put into our power, tranquillity and benevolence. This
distinction of seasons is produced only by imagination operating on
luxury. To temperance, every day is bright; and every hour is propitious
to diligence. He that shall resolutely excite his faculties, or exert
his virtues, will soon make himself superiour to the seasons; and may
set at defiance the morning mist and the evening damp, the blasts of the
east, and the clouds of the south[995].'
[Page 333: The attendants on a Court. Ætat 49.]
'I think the Romans call it Stoicism[996].'
But in this number of his _Idler_ his spirits seem to run riot; for in
the wantonness of his disquisition he forgets, for a moment, even the
reverence for that which he held in high respect[997]; and describes 'the
attendant on a _Court_,' as one 'whose business, is to watch the looks
of a being, weak and foolish as himself[998].'
[Page 334: Johnson not a plagiary. A.D. 1758.]
Alas! it is too certain, that where the frame has delicate fibres, and
there is a fine sensibility, such influences of the air are
irresistible. He might as well have bid defiance to the ague, the palsy,
and all other bodily disorders, Such boasting of the mind is false
elevation.
His unqualified ridicule of rhetorical gesture or action is not, surely,
a test of truth; yet we cannot help admiring how well it is adapted to
produce the effect which he wished. 'Neither the judges of our laws, nor
the representatives of our people, would be much affected by laboured
gesticulation, or believe any man the more because he rolled his eyes,
or puffed his cheeks, or spread abroad his arms, or stamped the ground,
or thumped his breast; or turned his eyes sometimes to the ceiling, and
sometimes to the floor[999].'
A casual coincidence with other writers, or an adoption of a sentiment
or image which has been found in the writings of another, and afterwards
appears in the mind as one's own, is not unfrequent. The richness of
Johnson's fancy, which could supply his page abundantly on all
occasions, and the strength of his memory, which at once detected the
real owner of any thought, made him less liable to the imputation of
plagiarism than, perhaps, any of our writers[1000]. In _The Idler_,
however, there is a paper[1001], in which conversation is assimilated to a
bowl of punch, where there is the same train of comparison as in a poem
by Blacklock, in his collection published in 1756[1002], in which a
parallel is ingeniously drawn between human life and that liquor. It
ends,--
'Say, then, physicians of each kind,
Who cure the body or the mind,
What harm in drinking can there be,
Since punch and life so well agree?'
[Page 335: Profits on The Idler. Ætat 49.]
To _The Idler_, when collected in volumes[1003], he added, beside the
'Essay on Epitaphs' and the 'Dissertation on those of Pope[1004],' an Essay
on the 'Bravery of the English common Soldiers.' He, however, omitted
one of the original papers, which in the folio copy is No. 22[1005].
'To THE REVEREND MR. THOMAS WARTON.
'DEAR SIR,
'Your notes upon my poet were very acceptable. I beg that you will be so
kind as to continue your searches. It will be reputable to my work, and
suitable to your professorship, to have something of yours in the notes.
As you have given no directions about your name, I shall therefore put
it. I wish your brother would take the same trouble. A commentary must
arise from the fortuitous discoveries of many men in devious walks of
literature. Some of your remarks are on plays already printed: but I
purpose to add an Appendix of Notes, so that nothing comes too late.
'You give yourself too much uneasiness, dear Sir, about the loss of the
papers[1006]. The loss is nothing, if nobody has found them; nor even then,
perhaps, if the numbers be known. You are not the only friend that has
had the same mischance. You may repair your want out of a stock, which
is deposited with Mr. Allen, of Magdalen-Hall; or out of a parcel which
I have just sent to Mr. Chambers[1007] for the use of any body that will be
so kind as to want them. Mr. Langtons are well; and Miss Roberts[1008],
whom I have at last brought to speak, upon the information which you
gave me, that she had something to say.
'I am, &c.
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'[London] April 14, 1758.'
[Page 336: Mr. Langton as an undergraduate. A.D. 1758.]
'TO THE SAME.
'DEAR SIR,
'You will receive this by Mr. Baretti, a gentleman particularly intitled
to the notice and kindness of the Professor of poesy. He has time but
for a short stay, and will be glad to have it filled up with as much as
he can hear and see.
'In recommending another to your favour, I ought not to omit thanks for
the kindness which you have shewn to myself. Have you any more notes on
Shakspeare? I shall be glad of them.
'I see your pupil sometimes[1009]: his mind is as exalted as his
stature[1010]. I am half afraid of him; but he is no less amiable than
formidable. He will, if the forwardness of his spring be not blasted, be
a credit to you, and to the University. He brings some of my plays[1011]
with him, which he has my permission to shew you, on condition you will
hide them from every body else.
[Page 337: Experience compared with expectation. Ætat 49.]
'I am, dear Sir, &c.
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'[London,] June 1, 1758.'
'To BENNET LANGTON, ESQ., OF TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD.
'DEAR SIR,
'Though I might have expected to hear from you, upon your entrance into
a new state of life at a new place, yet recollecting, (not without some
degree of shame,) that I owe you a letter upon an old account, I think
it my part to write first. This, indeed, I do not only from complaisance
but from interest; for living on in the old way, I am very glad of a
correspondent so capable as yourself, to diversify the hours. You have,
at present, too many novelties about you to need any help from me to
drive along your time.
'I know not any thing more pleasant, or more instructive, than to
compare experience with expectation, or to register from time to time
the difference between idea and reality. It is by this kind of
observation that we grow daily less liable to be disappointed[1012]. You,
who are very capable of anticipating futurity, and raising phantoms
before your own eyes, must often have imagined to yourself an academical
life, and have conceived what would be the manners, the views, and the
conversation, of men devoted to letters; how they would choose their
companions, how they would direct their studies, and how they would
regulate their lives. Let me know what you expected, and what you have
found. At least record it to yourself before custom has reconciled you
to the scenes before you, and the disparity of your discoveries to your
hopes has vanished from your mind. It is a rule never to be forgotten,
that whatever strikes strongly, should be described while the first
impression remains fresh upon the mind.
[Page 338: A violent death. A.D. 1759.]
'I love, dear Sir, to think on you, and therefore, should willingly
write more to you, but that the post will not now give me leave to do
more than send my compliments to Mr. Warton, and tell you that I am,
dear Sir, most affectionately,
'Your very humble servant,