Life of Samuel Johnson, Vol. II — 1775 part 2

'I am, dear Sir, your humble servant, 'SAM.

JOHNSON.'

'Feb.

25, 1775.' On Tuesday, March 21, I arrived in London[908]; and on repairing to Dr. Johnson's before dinner, found him in his study, sitting with Mr. Peter Garrick, the elder brother of David, strongly resembling him in countenance and voice, but of more sedate and placid manners[909].

Johnson informed me, that 'though Mr. Beauclerk was in great pain, it was hoped he was not in danger[910], and that he now wished to consult Dr. Heberden to try the effect of a _new understanding_.'

Both at this interview, and in the evening at Mr. Thrale's, where he and Mr. Peter Garrick and I met again, he was vehement on the subject of the Ossian controversy;

observing, 'We do not know that there are any ancient Erse manuscripts;

and we have no other reason to disbelieve that there are men with three heads, but that we do not know that there are any such men.'

He also was outrageous, upon his supposition that my countrymen 'loved Scotland better than truth[911],' saying, 'All of them,--nay not all,--but _droves_ of them, would come up, and attest any thing for the honour of Scotland.'

He also persevered in his wild allegation, that he questioned if there was a tree between Edinburgh and the English border older than himself[912].

I assured him he was mistaken, and suggested that the proper punishment would be that he should receive a stripe at every tree above a hundred years old, that was found within that space.

He laughed, and said, 'I believe I might submit to it for a _banbee_!'

The doubts which, in my correspondence with him, I had ventured to state as to the justice and wisdom of the conduct of Great-Britain towards the American colonies, while I at the same time requested that he would enable me to inform myself upon that momentous subject, he had altogether disregarded; and had recently published a pamphlet, entitled, _Taxation no Tyranny; an answer to the Resolutions and Address of the American Congress_.

[913] He had long before indulged most unfavourable sentiments of our fellow-subjects in America.

[914] For, as early as 1769, I was told by Dr. John Campbell, that he had said of them, 'Sir, they are a race of convicts,[915] and ought to be thankful for any thing we allow them short of hanging.'

Of this performance I avoided to talk with him; for I had now formed a clear and settled opinion,[916] that the people of America were well warranted to resist a claim that their fellow-subjects in the mother-country should have the entire command of their fortunes, by taxing them without their own consent; and the extreme violence which it breathed, appeared to me so unsuitable to the mildness of a Christian philosopher, and so directly opposite to the principles of peace which he had so beautifully recommended in his pamphlet respecting Falkland's Islands,[917] that I was sorry to see him appear in so unfavourable a light.

Besides, I could not perceive in it that ability of argument, or that felicity of expression, for which he was, upon other occasions, so eminent.

Positive assertion, sarcastical severity, and extravagant ridicule, which he himself reprobated as a test of truth, were united in this rhapsody.

That this pamphlet was written at the desire of those who were then in power, I have no doubt; and, indeed, he owned to me, that it had been revised and curtailed by some of them.

He told me, that they had struck out one passage, which was to this effect:-- 'That the Colonists could with no solidity argue from their not having been taxed while in their infancy, that they should not now he taxed.

We do not put a calf into the plow; we wait till he is an ox.'

He said, 'They struck it out either critically as too ludicrous, or politically as too exasperating.

I care not which.

It was their business.

If an architect says, I will build five stories, and the man who employs him says, I will have only three, the employer is to decide.'

'Yes, Sir, (said I,) in ordinary cases.

But should it be so when the architect gives his skill and labour _gratis_?'

Unfavourable as I am constrained to say my opinion of this pamphlet was, yet, since it was congenial with the sentiments of numbers at that time, and as everything relating to the writings of Dr. Johnson is of importance in literary history, I shall therefore insert some passages which were struck out, it does not appear why, either by himself or those who revised it.

They appear printed in a few proof leaves of it in my possession, marked with corrections in his own hand-writing.

I shall distinguish them by _Italicks_.

In the paragraph where he says the Americans were incited to resistance by European intelligence from 'Men whom they thought their friends, but who were friends only to themselves[918],' there followed,-- '_and made by their selfishness, the enemies of their country_' And the next paragraph ran thus:-- 'On the original contrivers of mischief, _rather than on those whom they have deluded_, let an insulted nation pour out its vengeance.'

The paragraph which came next was in these words:-- '_Unhappy is that country in which men can hope for advancement by favouring its enemies.

The tranquillity of stable government is not always easily preserved against the machinations of single innovators;

but what can be the hope of quiet, when factions hostile to the legislature can be openly formed and openly avowed?

_' After the paragraph which now concludes the pamphlet, there followed this, in which he certainly means the great Earl of Chatham[919], and glances at a certain popular Lord Chancellor[920].'

'_If, by the fortune of war, they drive us utterly away, what they will do next can only be conjectured.

If a new monarchy is erected, they will want a KING.

He who first takes into his hand the sceptre of America, should have a name of good omen.

WILLIAM has been known both as conqueror and deliverer; and perhaps England, however contemned, might yet supply them with ANOTHER WILLIAM.

Whigs, indeed, are not willing to be governed; and it is possible that KING WILLIAM may be strongly inclined to guide their measures: but Whigs have been cheated like other mortals, and suffered their leader to become their tyrant, under the name of their PROTECTOR.

What more they will receive from England, no man can tell.

In their rudiments of empire they may want a CHANCELLOR_.'

Then came this paragraph:-- '_Their numbers are, at present, not quite sufficient for the greatness which, in some form of government or other, is to rival the ancient monarchies; but by Dr. Franklin's rule of progression[921], they will, in a century and a quarter, be more than equal to the inhabitants of Europe.

When the Whigs of America are thus multiplied, let the Princes of the earth tremble in their palaces.

If they should continue to double and to double, their own hemisphere would not contain them.

But let not our boldest oppugners of authority look forward with delight to this futurity of Whiggism_.'

How it ended I know not, as it is cut off abruptly at the foot of the last of these proof pages[922].

His pamphlets in support of the measures of administration were published on his own account, and he afterwards collected them into a volume, with the title of _Political Tracts, by the Authour of the Rambler_, with this motto:-- 'Fallitur egregio quisquis sub Principe credit Servitium; nunquam libertas gratior extat Quam sub Rege pio.'

CLAUDIANUS[923].

These pamphlets drew upon him numerous attacks[924].

Against the common weapons of literary warfare he was hardened; but there were two instances of animadversion which I communicated to him, and from what I could judge, both from his silence and his looks, appeared to me to impress him much.

One was, _A Letter to Dr. Samuel Johnson, occasioned by his late political Publications_.

It appeared previous to his _Taxation no Tyranny_, and was written by Dr. Joseph Towers[925].

In that performance, Dr. Johnson was treated with the respect due to so eminent a man, while his conduct as a political writer was boldly and pointedly arraigned, as inconsistent with the character of one, who, if he did employ his pen upon politics, 'It might reasonably be expected should distinguish himself, not by party violence and rancour, but by moderation and by wisdom.'

It concluded thus:-- 'I would, however, wish you to remember, should you again address the publick under the character of a political writer, that luxuriance of imagination or energy of language will ill compensate for the want of candour, of justice, and of truth.

And I shall only add, that should I hereafter be disposed to read, as I heretofore have done, the most excellent of all your performances, _The Rambler_, the pleasure which I have been accustomed to find in it will be much diminished by the reflection that the writer of so moral, so elegant, and so valuable a work, was capable of prostituting his talents in such productions as _The False Alarm_, the _Thoughts on the Transactions respecting Falkland's Islands_, and _The Patriot_' I am willing to do justice to the merit of Dr. Towers, of whom I will say, that although I abhor his Whiggish democratical notions and propensities, (for I will not call them principles,) I esteem him as an ingenious, knowing, and very convivial man.

The other instance was a paragraph of a letter to me, from my old and most intimate friend, the Reverend Mr. Temple, who wrote the character of Gray, which has had the honour to be adopted both by Mr. Mason and Dr. Johnson in their accounts of that poet[927].

The words were,-- 'How can your great, I will not say your _pious_, but your _moral_ friend, support the barbarous measures of administration, which they have not the face to ask even their infidel pensioner Hume to defend[926].'

However confident of the rectitude of his own mind, Johnson may have felt sincere uneasiness that his conduct should be erroneously imputed to unworthy motives, by good men; and that the influence of his valuable writings should on that account be in any degree obstructed or lessened[928].

He complained to a Right Honourable friend[929] of distinguished talents and very elegant manners, with whom he maintained a long intimacy, and whose generosity towards him will afterwards appear[930], that his pension having been given to him as a literary character, he had been applied to by administration to write political pamphlets; and he was even so much irritated, that he declared his resolution to resign his pension.

His friend shewed him the impropriety of such a measure, and he afterwards expressed his gratitude, and said he had received good advice.

To that friend he once signified a wish to have his pension secured to him for his life; but he neither asked nor received from government any reward whatsoever for his political labours[931].

On Friday, March 24, I met him at the LITERARY CLUB, where were Mr. Beauclerk, Mr. Langton, Mr. Colman, Dr. Percy, Mr. Vesey, Sir Charles Bunbury, Dr. George Fordyce, Mr. Steevens, and Mr. Charles Fox.

Before he came in, we talked of his _Journey to the Western Islands_, and of his coming away 'willing to believe the second sight[932],' which seemed to excite some ridicule.

I was then so impressed with the truth of many of the stories of it which I had been told, that I avowed my conviction, saying, 'He is only _willing_ to believe: I _do_ believe.

The evidence is enough for me, though not for his great mind.

What will not fill a quart bottle will fill a pint bottle.

I am filled with belief[933].'

'Are you?

(said Colman,) then cork it up.'

I found his _Journey_ the common topick of conversation in London at this time, wherever I happened to be.

At one of Lord Mansfield's formal Sunday evening conversations, strangely called _LevA(C)es_, his Lordship addressed me, 'We have all been reading your travels, Mr. Boswell.'

I

answered, 'I was but the humble attendant of Dr. Johnson.'

The Chief Justice replied, with that air and manner which none, who ever saw and heard him, can forget, 'He speaks ill of nobody but Ossian.'

Johnson was in high spirits this evening at the club, and talked with great animation and success.

He attacked Swift, as he used to do upon all occasions.

The _Tale of a Tub_ is so much superiour to his other writings, that one can hardly believe he was the authour of it[934]: 'there is in it such a vigour of mind, such a swarm of thoughts, so much of nature, and art, and life[935].'

I wondered to hear him say of _Gulliver's Travels_, 'When once you have thought of big men and little men, it is very easy to do all the rest.'

I endeavoured to make a stand for Swift, and tried to rouse those who were much more able to defend him; but in vain.

Johnson at last, of his own accord, allowed very great merit to the inventory of articles found in the pocket of the Man Mountain, particularly the description of his watch, which it was conjectured was his GOD, as he consulted it upon all occasions.

He observed, that 'Swift put his name to but two things, (after he had a name to put,) _The Plan for the Improvement of the English Language_, and the last _Drapier's Letter_[936].'

From Swift, there was an easy transition to Mr. Thomas Sheridan.

--JOHNSON.

'Sheridan is a wonderful admirer of the tragedy of _Douglas_, and presented its authour with a gold medal.

Some years ago, at a coffee-house in Oxford, I called to him, "Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Sheridan, how came you to give a gold medal to Home, for writing that foolish play[937]?"

This, you see, was wanton and insolent; but I _meant_ to be wanton and insolent.

A medal has no value but as a stamp of merit.

And was Sheridan to assume to himself the right of giving that stamp?

If Sheridan was magnificent enough to bestow a gold medal as an honorary reward of dramatick excellence, he should have requested one of the Universities to choose the person on whom it should be conferred.

Sheridan had no right to give a stamp of merit: it was counterfeiting Apollo's coin[938].'

On Monday, March 27, I breakfasted with him at Mr. Strahan's. He told us, that he was engaged to go that evening to Mrs. Abington's benefit.

'She was visiting some ladies whom I was visiting, and begged that I would come to her benefit.

I told her I could not hear: but she insisted so much on my coming, that it would have been brutal to have refused her.'

This was a speech quite characteristical.

He loved to bring forward his having been in the gay circles of life; and he was, perhaps, a little vain of the solicitations of this elegant and fashionable actress.

He told us, the play was to be _The Hypocrite_, altered from Cibber's _Nonjuror_[939], so as to satirize the Methodists.

'I do not think (said he,) the character of _The Hypocrite_ justly applicable to the Methodists, but it was very applicable to the Nonjurors[940].

I once said to Dr. Madan[941], a clergyman of Ireland, who was a great Whig, that perhaps a Nonjuror would have been less criminal in taking the oaths imposed by the ruling power, than refusing them; because refusing them, necessarily laid him under almost an irresistible temptation to be more criminal; for, a man _must_ live, and if he precludes himself from the support furnished by the establishment, will probably be reduced to very wicked shifts to maintain himself[942].'

BOSWELL.

'I should think, Sir, that a man who took the oaths contrary to his principles, was a determined wicked man, because he was sure he was committing perjury;

whereas a Nonjuror might be insensibly led to do what was wrong, without being so directly conscious of it.'

JOHNSON.

'Why, Sir, a man who goes to bed to his patron's wife is pretty sure that he is committing wickedness.'

BOSWELL.

'Did the nonjuring clergymen do so, Sir?'

JOHNSON.

'I am afraid many of them did.'

I was startled at his argument, and could by no means think it convincing.

Had not his own father complied with the requisition of government[943], (as to which he once observed to me, when I pressed him upon it, '_That_, Sir, he was to settle with himself,') he would probably have thought more unfavourably of a Jacobite who took the oaths: '--had he not resembled My father as he _swore_--[944].'

Mr. Strahan talked of launching into the great ocean of London, in order to have a chance for rising into eminence; and, observing that many men were kept back from trying their fortunes there, because they were born to a competency, said, 'Small certainties are the bane of men of talents[945];' which Johnson confirmed.

Mr. Strahan put Johnson in mind of a remark which he had made to him; 'There are few ways in which a man can be more innocently employed than in getting money.'

'The more one thinks of this, (said Strahan,) the juster it will appear.'

Mr. Strahan had taken a poor boy from the country as an apprentice, upon Johnson's recommendation.

Johnson having enquired after him, said, 'Mr. Strahan, let me have five guineas on account, and I'll give this boy one.

Nay, if a man recommends a boy, and does nothing for him, it is sad work.

Call him down.'

I followed him into the court-yard[946], behind Mr. Strahan's house; and there I had a proof of what I had heard him profess, that he talked alike to all.

'Some people tell you that they let themselves down to the capacity of their hearers.

I never do that.

I speak uniformly, in as intelligible a manner as I can[947].'

'Well, my boy, how do you go on?'

'Pretty well, Sir; but they are afraid I an't strong enough for some parts of the business.'

JOHNSON.

'Why I shall be sorry for it; for when you consider with how little mental power and corporeal labour a printer can get a guinea a week, it is a very desirable occupation for you.

Do you hear,--take all the pains you can; and if this does not do, we must think of some other way of life for you.

There's a guinea.'

Here was one of the many, many instances of his active benevolence.

At the same time, the slow and sonorous solemnity with which, while he bent himself down, he addressed a little thick short-legged boy, contrasted with the boy's aukwardness and awe, could not but excite some ludicrous emotions[948].

I met him at Drury-lane play-house in the evening.

Sir Joshua Reynolds, at Mrs. Abington's request, had promised to bring a body of wits to her benefit; and having secured forty places in the front boxes, had done me the honour to put me in the group.

Johnson sat on the seat directly behind me[949]; and as he could neither see nor hear at such a distance from the stage, he was wrapped up in grave abstraction, and seemed quite a cloud, amidst all the sunshine of glitter and gaiety[950].

I wondered at his patience in sitting out a play of five acts, and a farce of two.

He said very little; but after the prologue to Bon Ton[951] had been spoken, which he could hear pretty well from the more slow and distinct utterance, he talked of prologue-writing, and observed, 'Dryden has written prologues superiour to any that David Garrick has written;

but David Garrick has written more good prologues than Dryden has done.

It is wonderful that he has been able to write such variety of them[952].'

At Mr. Beauclerk's, where I supped, was Mr. Garrick, whom I made happy with Johnson's praise of his prologues; and I suppose, in gratitude to him, he took up one of his favourite topicks, the nationality of the Scotch, which he maintained in a pleasant manner, with the aid of a little poetical fiction.

'Come, come, don't deny it: they are really national.

Why, now, the Adams[953] are as liberal-minded men as any in the world: but, I don't know how it is, all their workmen are Scotch.

You are, to be sure, wonderfully free from that nationality: but so it happens, that you employ the only Scotch shoe-black in London.'

He imitated the manner of his old master with ludicrous exaggeration;

repeating, with pauses and half-whistlings interjected, '_Os homini sublime dedit,--calumque tueri Jussit,--et erectos ad sidera--tollere vultus_[954]';

looking downwards all the time, and, while pronouncing the four last words, absolutely touching the ground with a kind of contorted gesticulation.

Garrick, however, when he pleased, could imitate Johnson very exactly[955]; for that great actor, with his distinguished powers of expression which were so universally admired, possessed also an admirable talent of mimickry.

He was always jealous that Johnson spoke lightly of him[956].

I recollect his exhibiting him to me one day, as if saying, 'Davy has some convivial pleasantry about him, but 'tis a futile fellow[957];' which he uttered perfectly with the tone and air of Johnson.

I cannot too frequently request of my readers, while they peruse my account of Johnson's conversation, to endeavour to keep in mind his deliberate and strong utterance.

His mode of speaking was indeed very impressive[958]; and I wish it could be preserved as musick is written, according to the very ingenious method of Mr. Steele[959], who has shown how the recitation of Mr. Garrick, and other eminent speakers, might be transmitted to posterity in score[960].

Next day I dined with Johnson at Mr. Thrale's. He attacked Gray, calling him 'a dull fellow.'

BOSWELL.

'I understand he was reserved, and might appear dull in company; but surely he was not dull in poetry.'

JOHNSON.

'Sir, he was dull in company, dull in his closet, dull every where.

[961] He was dull in a new way, and that made many people think him GREAT.

He was a mechanical poet.'

He then repeated some ludicrous lines, which have escaped my memory, and said, 'Is not that GREAT, like his Odes?'

Mrs. Thrale maintained that his Odes were melodious; upon which he exclaimed, 'Weave the warp, and weave the woof;'--I added, in a solemn tone, 'The winding-sheet of Edward's race.'

'_There_ is a good line.'

'Ay, (said he), and the next line is a good one,' (pronouncing it contemptuously;) 'Give ample verge and room enough.'

--[962] 'No, Sir, there are but two good[963] stanzas in Gray's poetry, which are in his _Elegy in a Country Church-yard_.'

He then repeated the stanza, 'For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey,' &c. mistaking one word; for instead of _precincts_ he said _confines_.

He added, 'The other stanza I forget[964].'

A young lady[965] who had married a man much her inferiour in rank being mentioned, a question arose how a woman's relations should behave to her in such a situation; and, while I recapitulate the debate, and recollect what has since happened[966], I cannot but be struck in a manner that delicacy forbids me to express.

While I contended that she ought to be treated with an inflexible steadiness of displeasure, Mrs. Thrale was all for mildness and forgiveness, and, according to the vulgar phrase, 'making the best of a bad bargain.'

JOHNSON.

'Madam, we must distinguish.

Were I a man of rank, I would not let a daughter starve who had made a mean marriage; but having voluntarily degraded herself from the station which she was originally entitled to hold, I would support her only in that which she herself had chosen; and would not put her on a level with my other daughters.

You are to consider, Madam, that it is our duty to maintain the subordination of civilized society; and when there is a gross and shameful deviation from rank, it should be punished so as to deter others from the same perversion.'

After frequently considering this subject, I am more and more confirmed in what I then meant to express, and which was sanctioned by the authority, and illustrated by the wisdom, of Johnson; and I think it of the utmost consequence to the happiness of Society, to which subordination is absolutely necessary[967].

It is weak, and contemptible, and unworthy, in a parent to relax in such a case.

It is sacrificing general advantage to private feelings.

And let it be considered, that the claim of a daughter who has acted thus, to be restored to her former situation, is either fantastical or unjust.

If there be no value in the distinction of rank, what does she suffer by being kept in the situation to which she has descended?

If there be a value in that distinction, it ought to be steadily maintained.

If indulgence be shewn to such conduct, and the offenders know that in a longer or shorter time they shall be received as well as if they had not contaminated their blood by a base alliance, the great check upon that inordinate caprice which generally occasions low marriages will be removed, and the fair and comfortable order of improved life will be miserably disturbed[968].

Lord Chesterfield's Letters being mentioned, Johnson said, 'It was not to be wondered at that they had so great a sale, considering that they were the letters of a statesman, a wit, one who had been so much in the mouths of mankind, one long accustomed _virA"m volitare per ora_[969].'

On Friday, March 31, I supped with him and some friends at a tavern[970].

One of the company[971] attempted, with too much forwardness, to rally him on his late appearance at the theatre; but had reason to repent of his temerity.

'Why, Sir, did you go to Mrs. Abington's benefit?

Did you see?'

JOHNSON.

'No, Sir.'

'Did you hear?'

JOHNSON.

'No, Sir.'

'Why then, Sir, did you go?'

JOHNSON.

'Because, Sir, she is a favourite of the publick; and when the publick cares the thousandth part for you that it does for her, I will go to your benefit too[972].'

Next morning I won a small bet from lady Diana Beauclerk, by asking him as to one of his particularities, which her Ladyship laid I durst not do.

It seems he had been frequently observed at the Club to put into his pocket the Seville oranges, after he had squeezed the juice of them into the drink which he made for himself.

Beauclerk and Garrick talked of it to me, and seemed to think that he had a strange unwillingness to be discovered.

We could not divine what he did with them; and this was the bold question to be put.

I saw on his table the spoils of the preceding night, some fresh peels nicely scraped and cut into pieces.

'O, Sir, (said I,) I now partly see what you do with the squeezed oranges which you put into your pocket at the Club.'

JOHNSON.

'I have a great love for them.'

BOSWELL.

'And pray, Sir, what do you do with them?

You scrape them, it seems, very neatly, and what next?'

JOHNSON.

'Let them dry, Sir.'

BOSWELL.

'And what next?'

JOHNSON.

'Nay, Sir, you shall know their fate no further.'

BOSWELL.

'Then the world must be left in the dark.

It must be said (assuming a mock solemnity,) he scraped them, and let them dry, but what he did with them next, he never could be prevailed upon to tell.'

JOHNSON.

'Nay, Sir, you should say it more emphatically:--he could not be prevailed upon, even by his dearest friends, to tell[973].'

He had this morning received his Diploma as Doctor of Laws from the University of Oxford.

He did not vaunt of his new dignity, but I understood he was highly pleased with it.

I shall here insert the progress and completion of that high academical honour, in the same manner as I have traced his obtaining that of Master of Arts.

To the Reverend Dr. FOTHERGILL, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, to be communicated to the Heads of Houses, and proposed in Convocation.

'MR. VICE-CHANCELLOR AND GENTLEMEN[974],

'The honour of the degree of M. A.

by diploma, formerly conferred upon MR.

SAMUEL JOHNSON, in consequence of his having eminently distinguished himself by the publication of a series of Essays, excellently calculated to form the manners of the people, and in which the cause of religion and morality has been maintained and recommended by the strongest powers of argument and elegance of language, reflected an equal degree of lustre upon the University itself.

'The many learned labours which have since that time employed the attention and displayed the abilities of that great man, so much to the advancement of literature and the benefit of the community, render him worthy of more distinguished honours in the Republick of letters: and I persuade myself, that I shall act agreeably to the sentiments of the whole University, in desiring that it may be proposed in Convocation to confer on him the degree of Doctor in Civil Law by diploma, to which I readily give my consent; and am, 'Mr. Vice-Chancellor and Gentlemen, 'Your affectionate friend and servant, 'NORTH[975].'

'Downing-street, March 23, 1775.' DIPLOMA.

'CANCELLARIUS, Magistri, et Scholares Universitatis Oxoniensis omnibus ad quos presentes Literae pervenerint, salutem in Domino Sempiternam.

'SCIATIS, virum illustrem, SAMUELEM JOHNSON, in omni humaniorum literarum genere eruditum, omniumque scientiarum comprehensione felicissimum, scriptis suis, ad popularium mores formandos summAi verborum elegantiAi ac sententiarum gravitate compositis, ita olim inclaruisse, ut dignus videretur cui ab AcademiAi suAi eximia quaedam laudis praemia deferentur [deferrentur] quique [in] venerabilem Magistrorum Ordinem summAi cum dignitate cooptaretur: 'Cum verA squared eundem clarissimum virum tot posteA tantique labores, in patriAi praesertim linguAi ornandAi et stabiliendAi feliciter impensi, ita insigniverint, ut in Literarum RepublicAi PRINCEPS jam et PRIMARIUS jure habeatur; Nos CANCELLARIUS, Magistri, et Scholares Universitatis Oxoniensis, quo talis viri merita pari honoris remuneratione exaequentur, et perpetuum suae simul laudis, nostraeque ergA literas propensissimae voluntatis extet monumentum, in solenni Convocatione Doctorum et Magistrorum Regentium, et non Regentium, praedictum SAMUELEM JOHNSON Doctorem in Jure Civili renunciavimus et constituimus, eumque virtute praesentis Diplomatis singulis juribus, privilegiis et honoribus, ad istum gradum quA quA pertinentibus, frui et gaudere jussimus.

In cujus rei testimonium commune Universitatis Oxoniensis sigillum praesentibus apponi fecimus.

'Datum in Domo nostrae Convocationis die tricesimo Mensis Martii, Anno Domini Millesimo septingentesimo, septuagesimo quinto[976].'

'_Viro Reverendo_ Thomae Fothergill, S. T.

P.

_Universitatis Oxoniensis Vice-Cancellario_.

'S. P.

D.

'Sam Johnson.

'MULTIS non est opus, ut testimonium quo, te praeside, Oxonienses nomen meum posteris commendAcrunt, quali animo acceperim compertum faciam.

Nemo sibi placens non laetatur[977]; nemo sibi non placet, qui vobis, literarum arbitris, placere potuit.

Hoc tamen habet incommodi tantum beneficium, quod mihi nunquam posthAcc sine vestrae famae detrimento vel labi liceat vel cessare; semperque sit timendum, ne quod mihi tam eximiae laudi est, vobis aliquando fiat opprobrio.

Vale[978].'

'7 Id.

Apr.

, 1775.' He revised some sheets of Lord Hailes's _Annals of Scotland_, and wrote a few notes on the margin with red ink, which he bade me tell his Lordship did not sink into the paper, and might be wiped off with a wet sponge, so that he did not spoil his manuscript.

I observed to him that there were very few of his friends so accurate as that I could venture to put down in writing what they told me as his sayings.

Johnson.

'Why should you write down my sayings?'

Boswell.

'I write them when they are good.'

Johnson.

'Nay, you may as well write down the sayings of any one else that are good.'

But _where_, I might with great propriety have added, can I find such?

I visited him by appointment in the evening, and we drank tea with Mrs. Williams.

He told me that he had been in the company of a gentleman[979] whose extraordinary travels had been much the subject of conversation.

But I found that he had not listened to him with that full confidence, without which there is little satisfaction in the society of travellers.

I was curious to hear what opinion so able a judge as Johnson had formed of his abilities, and I asked if he was not a man of sense.

Johnson.

'Why, Sir, he is not a distinct relater; and I should say, he is neither abounding nor deficient in sense.

I did not perceive any superiority of understanding.'

BOSWELL.

'But will you not allow him a nobleness of resolution, in penetrating into distant regions?'

JOHNSON.

'That, Sir, is not to the present purpose.

We are talking of his sense.

A fighting cock has a nobleness of resolution.'

Next day, Sunday, April 2, I dined with him at Mr. Hoole's. We talked of Pope.

JOHNSON.

'He wrote his _Dunciad_ for fame.

That was his primary motive.

Had it not been for that, the dunces might have railed against him till they were weary, without his troubling himself about them.

He delighted to vex them, no doubt; but he had more delight in seeing how well he could vex them.'

[980] The _Odes to Obscurity and Oblivion_, in ridicule of 'cool Mason and warm Gray,'[981] being mentioned, Johnson said, 'They are Colman's best things.'

Upon its being observed that it was believed these Odes were made by Colman and Lloyd jointly;--JOHNSON.

'Nay, Sir, how can two people make an Ode?

Perhaps one made one of them, and one the other.'

[982] I observed that two people had made a play, and quoted the anecdote of Beaumont and Fletcher, who were brought under suspicion of treason, because while concerting the plan of a tragedy when sitting together at a tavern, one of them was overheard saying to the other, 'I'll kill the King.'

JOHNSON.

'The first of these Odes is the best: but they are both good.

They exposed a very bad kind of writing.'

BOSWELL.

'Surely, Sir, Mr. Mason's _Elfrida_ is a fine Poem: at least you will allow there are some good passages in it.'

JOHNSON.

'There are now and then some good imitations of Milton's bad manner.'

I often wondered at his low estimation of the writings of Gray and Mason.

Of Gray's poetry I have in a former part of this work[983] expressed my high opinion; and for that of Mr. Mason I have ever entertained a warm admiration[984].

His _Elfrida_ is exquisite, both in poetical description and moral sentiment; and his _Caractacus_ is a noble drama[985].

Nor can I omit paying my tribute of praise to some of his smaller poems, which I have read with pleasure, and which no criticism shall persuade me not to like.

If I wondered at Johnson's not tasting the works of Mason and Gray, still more have I wondered at their not tasting his works; that they should be insensible to his energy of diction, to his splendour of images, and comprehension of thought.

Tastes may differ as to the violin, the flute, the hautboy, in short all the lesser instruments: but who can be insensible to the powerful impressions of the majestick organ?

His _Taxation no Tyranny_ being mentioned, he said, 'I think I have not been attacked enough for it.

Attack is the re-action; I never think I have hit hard, unless it rebounds[986].'

BOSWELL.

'I don't know, Sir, what you would be at.

Five or six shots of small arms in every newspaper, and repeated cannonading in pamphlets, might, I think, satisfy you[987].

But, Sir, you'll never make out this match, of which we have talked, with a certain, political lady, since you are so severe against her principles[988].'

JOHNSON.

'Nay, Sir, I have the better chance for that.

She is like the Amazons of old; she must be courted by the sword.

But I have not been severe upon her.'

BOSWELL.

'Yes, Sir, you have made her ridiculous.'

JOHNSON.

'That was already done, Sir.

To endeavour to make _her_ ridiculous, is like blacking the chimney.'

I put him in mind that the landlord at Ellon[989] in Scotland said, that he heard he was the greatest man in England,--next to Lord Mansfield.

'Ay, Sir, (said he,) the exception defined the idea.

A Scotchman could go no farther: "The force of Nature could no farther go[990]."