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LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 SAMUEL JOHNSON, D. D 
 
-Library* j 
 
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 SAMUEL JOHNSON, D. I) 
 
 MISSIONARY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN CONNECTICUT, 
 
 AND FIRST PRESIDENT OF KING S COLLEGE, 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 BT 
 
 E. EDWARDS BEARDSLEY, D. D., 
 
 KKCTOK OF ST. THOMAS S CHURCH, NEW HAVEN. 
 
 ^fVf -V>^v 
 
 ~- ^ 
 Library. )) 
 
 H U ^.nor. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUOHTON. 
 Conbon: fiiningtons. 
 
 1874. 
 
.* 
 
 ^ b 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year L873, by 
 
 E. EDWAKDS BBARDSLKT, 
 In the office of the librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 UVKRAIDK, CAMBKIDOR: 
 
 BTKRKOTTPKP AND PKINTKO BT 
 H. O. HOVOIITON ASD CUMPA9T. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE materials for a volume of this kind are rarely 
 accessible after the lapse of a century. Letters and 
 papers of historic value are so often scattered and de 
 stroyed, that unless the biographer attends to his task 
 in season, he may find it difficult to gather the infor 
 mation that he needs for writing with fullness and 
 satisfaction. " If a life," said Dr. Johnson, the great 
 name which is the pride and glory of English liter 
 ature, " be delayed till interest and envy are at an 
 end, we may hope for impartiality, but must expect 
 little intelligence." 
 
 Though this work is published one hundred years 
 after the death of its distinguished subject, yet I trust 
 it will be found that besides being impartial, I have 
 escaped the caustic criticism of givirfg " little intelli 
 gence." In writing the History of the Church in 
 Connecticut, I fell upon original sources of informa 
 tion, which seemed never to have been carefully ex 
 plored. Chandler s " Life of Johnson," brief and un 
 satisfactory as it may be, was very well for the day in 
 which it appeared, and I should not have attempted 
 an ampler biography, if I had not felt that it was now 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 due to the memory of one of the most important names 
 in American history. 
 
 The Johnson MSS., not a tithe of which could 
 have passed under the inspection of Chandler, have 
 all been kindly placed in my hands, and unless I had 
 been familiar with them by previous acquaintance, 
 the preparation of this work would have been much 
 more laborious, and its publication longer delayed. 
 As it is, the hours of leisure during a period of three 
 years, if the busy Rector of a city parish may be sup 
 posed to have any leisure, have been devoted to it, 
 and nothing has been overlooked which was calcu 
 lated to shed any new light upon the character of 
 Johnson, and the times in which he lived. 
 
 By introducing large portions of his correspondence 
 with eminent men in this country, and with Bishops 
 and leading minds in the Church of England, I have 
 made him in a measure his own biographer, and at 
 the same time rescued from oblivion faded manuscripts 
 which the accidents of another generation might have 
 put quite beyond our reach. One gets a better idea of 
 a man from seeing him in his letters and writings than 
 from the estimates of those who weigh him in their 
 own scales, and describe him in their own language. 
 
 It was a remark of Bishop Jebb that " the lives of 
 good men are an invaluable portion of a clergyman s 
 library ; " but it is to be hoped that these pages will 
 not be limited to readers of this class. All who are 
 interested in Yale College, its early struggles and 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 first endowments, the gifts of Berkeley and the influ 
 ence of his Philosophy, all who would know anything 
 of the origin of King s (now Columbia) College, New 
 York, and of the progress of liberal education in this 
 country, and all who would thoroughly understand 
 the efforts to secure the American Episcopate, the 
 strange opposition to it, and the movements which 
 led to the Eevolution and the Independence of the 
 Colonies, will find many fresh historical facts in this 
 volume, and wonder why they were not before given 
 to the public. 
 
 The engraving which forms the frontispiece is made 
 from a portrait in the possession of his great grand 
 son, Mr. William Samuel Johnson of Stratford. The 
 painting, though there is nothing but a tradition in 
 the family to support the statement, is without doubt 
 from the pencil of Smibert, the artist who accompa 
 nied Dean Berkeley to America, and remained in 
 Boston after the return of his friend and patron to 
 England. It has the touch of Berkeley s own por 
 trait by the same painter, which is among the treas 
 ures of Art that adorn the walls of Yale College. 
 
 NEW HAVEN, December, 1873. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIRTH AND PARENTAGE ; EARLY EDUCATION AND STATE OF 
 LEARNING IN THE COUNTRY; BACHELOR S DEGREE FROM THE 
 COLLEGE AT SAYBROOK; THE COLLEGE REMOVED TO NEW 
 HAVEN, AND JOHNSON APPOINTED ONE OF THE TUTORS. HIS 
 SETTLEMENT AT WEST HAVEN AND THE INFLUENCE OF A 
 PRAYER-BOOK AND WORKS IN ENGLISH THEOLOGY ... 1 
 
 A. D. 1696-1722. 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 THE DECLARATION OF JOHNSON AND HIS FRIENDS ; STRUGGLE 
 BETWEEN FEELINGS AND DUTY; DEBATE BEFORE GOVERNOR 
 SALTONSTALL AND ITS RESULTS ; EXTRACTS FROM NOTES OF 
 DAYS ; VOYAGE TO ENGLAND FOR ORDINATION ; ARRIVAL AND 
 RECEPTION } PRIVATE JOURNAL ... . . . .18 
 
 A. D. 1722, 1725. 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 SICKNESS AND DEATH OF BROWN ; FURTHER EXTRACTS FROM 
 PRIVATE JOURNAL; VISITS TO OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE; AR 
 RIVAL OF MR. WETMORE; DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND, AND 
 VOYAGE HOME ; SETTLEMENT AT STRATFORD J LETTERS TO THE 
 BISHOP OF LONDON; MARRIAGE ... . . . .38 
 
 A. D. 1723-1727. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 POLEMICS AND INFIDELITY; BIRTH OF A SON; PERSONAL AC 
 QUAINTANCE WITH DEAN BERKELEY ; VISITS TO HIM AT NEW 
 PORT, AND A CONVERT TO HIS VIEWS ; ALCIPHRON, OR THE 
 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER; RETURN OF BERKELEY TO ENGLAND, 
 
x CONTENTS. 
 
 AND BENEFACTIONS TO YALE COLLEGE J RELIGIOUS CONTRO 
 VERSY, AND PUBLICATION OF PAMPHLETS 60 
 
 A. D. 1727-1736. 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE J MEMORIAL TO THE GENERAL AS 
 SEMBLY OF CONNECTICUT; LETTERS TO BERKELEY; WHITE- 
 FIELD IN NEW ENGLAND AND RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASM; COM 
 PLAINT TO THE COMMISSARY; THE CLERGY OF CONNECTICUT 
 PETITIONING FOR A RESIDENT COMMISSARY, AND ASKING THAT 
 JOHNSON BE APPOINTED; DOCTOR S DEGREE FROM THE UNI 
 VERSITY OF OXFORD . . ... 92 
 
 A. D. 1736-1743. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 INCREASE OF HIS PARISH AND NEW CHURCH AT STRATFORD; 
 MORE CONTROVERSY; SYSTEM OF MORALITY; STUDY OF HE 
 BREW, AND HUTCHINSON S PRINCIPLES ; PHILOSOPHICAL COR 
 RESPONDENCE J EDUCATION OF SONS, AND LETTERS TO THE 
 KLPKR ; PROJECT OF A COLLEGE AT PHILADELPHIA, AND 
 JOHNSON INVITED TO ITS CHARGE . . . . . .119 
 
 A. D. 1743-1750. 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE WITH FRANKLIN; DECLINES PHILADELPHIA; 
 " ELEMENTA PHILOSOPHICA " ; DEATH OF BERKELEY AND LET 
 TER FROM HIS SON ; ENGLISH EDITION OF " ELEMENTS OF PHI 
 LOSOPHY " ; SPECULATIVE INQUIRIES, AND NOTIONS ABOUT 
 EDUCATION . . . . . . . . *" . . 157 
 
 A. D. 1750-1754. 
 
 CHAPTER Vm. 
 
 PROPOSED COLLEGE AT NEW YORK ; JOHNSON INVITED TO THE 
 PRESIDENCY; OBSTACLES TO A CHARTER, AND FINALLY GRANT 
 ED ; LETTERS TO PRESIDENT CLAP ; REMOVAL TO NEW YORK 
 AND LECTURER IN TRINITY CHURCH ; HIS YOUNGER SON 
 CHOSEN TUTOR IN KING S COLLEGE ; GOES TO ENGLAND FOR OR 
 DINATION AND DIES THERE OF THE SMALL-POX . . .189 
 
 A. D. 1754-1756. 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 GRIEF FOR THE DEATH OF HIS SON AND CORRESPONDENCE WITH 
 FRIENDS ; PROGRESS OF THE COLLEGE AND ERECTION OF A 
 BUILDING J LEAVES THE CITY ON ACCOUNT OF THE SMALL 
 POX ; DEATH OF HIS WIFE ; FIRST COMMENCEMENT ; AND IN 
 CLINATIONS TO RESIGN ... . . . . . . 225 
 
 A. D. 1756-1759. 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 4MALL-POX AGAIN IN NEW YORK, AND RETIREMENT TO STRAT 
 FORD ; MORE AFFLICTION ; THIRD COMMENCEMENT | LETTERS 
 TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY; PUBLICATIONS ON 
 PRAYER, AND DEFENCE OF THE LITURGY ..... 247 
 
 A. D. 1759-1761. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 FOURTH COMMENCEMENT; SECOND MARRIAGE; BENEFACTIONS 
 TO THE COLLEGE ; DR. JAY AUTHORIZED TO MAKE COLLECTIONS 
 IN ENGLAND ; ARRIVAL OF REV. MYLES COOPER J RELIGIOUS 
 CONTROVERSY; AND FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . . . 265 
 
 A. D. 1761-1763. 
 CHAPTER XTL 
 
 THE SMALL-POX IN NEW YORK ; DEATH OF HIS WIFE ; RESIGNA 
 TION OF THE PRESIDENCY AND RETIREMENT TO STRATFORD ; 
 CORRESPONDENCE WITH FRIENDS IN ENGLAND ; RE-APPOINT 
 MENT TO HIS FORMER MISSION ; ADDRESS TO THE BISHOP OF 
 LONDON J THE STAMP ACT J CONTINUED INTEREST IN THE COL 
 LEGE ; AND CLERICAL CONVENTION ....... 286 
 
 A. D. 1763-1766. 
 
 CHAPTER XHT. 
 
 REVIEW OF HUTCHINSON S PHILOSOPHY; STUDY OF HEBREW AND 
 PUBLICATION OF GRAMMAR ; INDIAN SCHOOL ; DEPARTURE OF 
 
 HIS SON FOR ENGLAND ; CHANDLER S APPEAL ; CORRESPON 
 DENCE WITH HIS SON J ENGLISH ANCESTRY ; AND DEATH OF 
 ARCHBISHOP SECKER . . . . . . . 305 
 
 A. D. 1766-1768. 
 
xii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN BISHOPS CONTINUED ; FOREIGN COR 
 RESPONDENCE ; BISHOP LOWTH AND HEBREW GRAMMAR; AS 
 SISTANT MINISTER ; MARRIAGE OF GRANDDAUGHTER ; AND 
 PROLONGED ABSENCE OF HIS SON . . . . . .324 
 
 A. D. 1768-1770. 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 DE8IRK FOR AMERICAN BISHOPS UNQUENCHED ; LETTERS FROM 
 
 DR. BERKELEY AND THE BISHOP OF LONDON ; JOY AT THE RE 
 TURN OF HIS SON ; WISH FOR A PEACEFUL EXIT | DKATH AND 
 BURIAL; CONCLUSION 341 
 
 A. D. 1770-1772. 
 
 APPENDIX A... 361 
 
 APPENDIX B . . . . 366 
 
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 OP 
 
 SAMUEL JOHNSON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIBTH AND PARENTAGE ; EARLY EDUCATION AND STATE OF LEARN 
 ING IN THE COUNTRY; BACHELOR S DEGREE FROM THE COL 
 LEGE AT SAYBROOK ; THE COLLEGE REMOVED TO NEW HAVEN, 
 AND JOHNSON APPOINTED ONE OF THE TUTORS. HIS SETTLE 
 MENT AT WEST HAVEN AND THE INFLUENCE OF A PRAYER- 
 BOOK AND WORKS IN ENGLISH THEOLOGY. 
 
 A. D. 1696-1722. 
 
 IT would not have been worth while to write the 
 life of Samuel Johnson, had it been as barren of inci 
 dent and historic interest as the lives of most clergy 
 men. But he lived in eventful times, and the part 
 which he bore in the literary, ecclesiastical, and edu 
 cational affairs of the country will warrant the publi 
 cation of fuller memorials than those hitherto given 
 to the public. 
 
 He was born in Guilford, Connecticut, on the 14th 
 
 of October, 1696, 0. S., and was the great grandson of 
 
 Robert Johnson, who with his wife Adaline and four 
 
 sons, Robert, Thomas, John, and William, came from 
 
 i 
 
2 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, and first appeared at 
 New Haven in 1641. Kobert, the eldest of these sons, 
 finished his academic education at Harvard College, 
 and graduated in the class of 1645. He went to 
 Rowley, in Massachusetts, where a brother of his fa 
 ther had settled, and was pursuing his studies with a 
 view to the sacred ministry, when he sickened and 
 died. In his will, dated " 13th of the 7th mo. 1649," 
 and probated at Ipswich " the 26th of the 1st mo. 
 1650," he directed his executors to distribute a por 
 tion of his goods to the poor of Rowley, and to return 
 the remainder to his father, Robert Johnson, at New 
 Haven. Thomas, the second son, died a bachelor. John 
 married, and his descendants settled in Wallingford 
 and Middletown. 
 
 William, the grandfather of Samuel Johnson, and 
 who was twelve years old when the family emigrated 
 from England, removed to Guilford, and became one 
 of the leading men in that town and a deacon in the 
 Congregational Church. He married July 2, 1651, 
 Elizabeth Bushnell, daughter of Francis Bushnell of 
 Saybrook, and had eight daughters and two sons 
 the youngest, Nathaniel, dying not long after his 
 birth, and surviving his mother but a few weeks. 
 Samuel, the father of the subject of this volume, was 
 born in 1670, and at twenty-six married Mary, 
 daughter of David Sage of Middletown, by whom he 
 had eleven children, six sons and five daughters. He 
 was a successor to his father in the office of a Congre 
 gational deacon at Guilford, and the distinguished son, 
 late in life, speaking of them both, and giving some 
 account of their character to one of his own children, 
 said, they were " well esteemed for men of good sense 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 3 
 
 and piety, but neither of them had much more of a 
 turn for worldly wisdom than I have." 
 
 Samuel, though not the first-born of his parents, 
 was the eldest child that lived beyond infancy, and 
 he appears to have been a pet of his grandfather, 
 William, who taught him to read and commit to mem 
 ory not only passages of Scripture, but the Lord s 
 Prayer and the Creed. He was very proud of his 
 progress, and occasionally took the boy with him in 
 visiting his neighbors, and made him repeat for their 
 entertainment specimens of the knowledge which he 
 had acquired. Among his earliest recollections, Sam 
 uel mentions finding in a book of his grandfather s 
 several Hebrew words which excited his curiosity, but 
 no one could tell him their meaning, or explain them 
 further than to say they belonged to the original 
 language in which the Old Testament was written. 
 This but increased his desire for learning, and as the 
 project of establishing a college in the colony at Say- 
 brook, in the neighborhood of Guilford, had just then 
 taken shape, he was marked out in the mind of the 
 household as a future candidate for its course of in 
 struction. Upon the death of his grandfather, how 
 ever, which happened when he was six years old, the 
 design was relinquished, and it might not have been 
 renewed had not his fondness for books continued and 
 the prospect of bringing him up to other business be 
 come discouraging. 
 
 In the eleventh year of his age, he was sent to a 
 school, in his native place, kept at that time by Jared 
 Eliot, a young man who had graduated at the new 
 college, a son of the then recently deceased minister 
 of Guilford, and whose affection for his pupil ripened 
 
4 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 into friendly relations in after life. But he was not 
 long to enjoy the happiness of such an instructor. 
 Before the year expired, Mr. Eliot relinquished the 
 school to prepare for his settlement in the ministry 
 at Killingworth, now Clinton, and the lad, impatient 
 to learn, was finally sent from home and placed under 
 the care of Joseph Smith, pastor of a newly organized 
 church in Upper Middletown, now Cromwell. Though 
 a graduate of Harvard College, Mr. Smith was not a 
 scholar who inspired his pupil with much respect for 
 his attainments, and after trying in vain for six 
 months to make progress in his studies, he left his 
 poorly qualified master and returned to Guilford. 
 
 Here he fell first into the hands of Daniel Chap 
 man, another graduate of the new college, who was 
 an improvement upon his last instructor, and with 
 whom he continued for nearly two years. At length 
 he found in the person of Mr. James, who had been 
 educated in England, a respectable classical scholar, 
 and notwithstanding some eccentricities of character, 
 a very good teacher. Under his tuition he made 
 rapid advancement in Latin and Greek, and by the 
 time he had attained the age of fourteen years, he 
 was pronounced fit to join the College at Saybrook. 
 
 There was not much to be proud of at this period 
 in the state of learning throughout the country. The 
 old scholars and Puritan divines of the Connecticut 
 and Massachusetts colonies, who came with the early 
 emigrants, had descended to their graves, and the 
 generation that succeeded them, not having had the 
 advantages of the Universities in England, fell behind 
 the fathers, and was greatly deficient, if tested by a 
 high standard of education. The course of studies 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 5 
 
 prescribed in the new college was brief, for " the ut 
 most as to classical learning that was now generally 
 aimed at, " says Johnson in his Autobiography, 1 " and 
 indeed for twenty or thirty years after, was no more 
 than to construe five or six of Tully s Orations, and as 
 many books of Virgil poorly, and most of the Greek 
 Testament," with a portion of the Hebrew Psalter. 
 His first tutor at college was Joseph Noyes, one of 
 the nine graduates of the institution in 1709, and af 
 terwards for forty-five years pastor of the First Ec 
 clesiastical Society in New Haven. His " tutorial re 
 nown " according to President Stiles, " was then great 
 and excellent," and having some knowledge of He 
 brew, he encouraged his pupil to devote the little 
 leisure he might have, to the study of a language 
 which he was chiefly desirous to understand, and 
 which soon became his favorite branch of philology. 
 The tutor in the department of mathematics and 
 mental and moral philosophy, was Phineas Fisk, and 
 his instructions, like those of his colleague in the 
 classics, had a limited range, and were confined to 
 the imperfect systems not yet brushed away by the 
 scientific discoveries of Descartes, Boyle, Locke, and 
 Newton. When Johnson graduated in 1714, some 
 thing had been heard of these great names, as well 
 as of a new philosophy that was attracting attention in 
 England, but the young men were cautioned against 
 receiving it, and told that it would corrupt the pure 
 religion of the country and bring in another system of 
 divinity. Ames s " Medulla Theologiae " and " Cases of 
 Conscience " and " Wollebius," had been established as 
 the standard of orthodoxy, and no variation from these 
 was admissible. The trustees of the institution, at the 
 
 i MS. 
 
6 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 outset, made a fundamental rule that special care 
 should be taken to "ground the students well in 
 theoretical divinity," and the Rector was forbidden to 
 teach or allow others to teach any system contrary to 
 their order. 
 
 It was less difficult to confine attention to the old 
 scholastic systems, for the reason that books of learn 
 ing in the land were rare, and opportunities for im 
 provement small. The few works brought over from 
 England by the first settlers were treatises published a 
 century before ; and Johnson early acquired a repu 
 tation for skill by making a synopsis of them, and re 
 ducing to some method all parts of learning then 
 known, "a curious cobweb of distributions and def 
 initions" as he himself termed it, "which only 
 served to blow him up with a great conceit that he 
 was now an adept." But his pride of opinion was 
 afterwards thoroughly humbled. He accidentally fell 
 in with a copy of Lord Bacon s "Instauratio Magna," 
 or "Advancement of Learning," possibly the only 
 one then in the country and purchasing it immedi 
 ately, he lost no time in devouring its contents. It 
 opened to him a new world of thought. With an 
 unprejudiced mind he read its pages, and considered 
 and reconsidered the whole circle of sciences as they 
 had been investigated and arranged by this remark 
 able man. He was thus led to see his own littleness 
 in comparison with Lord Bacon s greatness, and to 
 use his own words, he " found himself like one at 
 once emerging out of the glimmer of twilight into 
 the full sunshine of open day." 
 
 After completing his collegiate course and receiv 
 ing the degree of Bachelor of Arts, he followed the 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 7 
 
 example of Eliot, and entered upon the labor of teach 
 ing a school of the higher order in Guilford. His 
 classmate and intimate friend, Daniel Brown, acted in 
 the like capacity at New Haven, and the correspond 
 ence carried on between them at this period was 
 full of affection, and bore upon theology, and ques 
 tions that related to " philosophy in general and 
 logic in particular." The concerns of the College, 
 too, were much in their thoughts. Brown, in one of 
 his letters dated August 3, 1716, wrote: "As to 
 domestic affairs, please to be informed, that July 18, 
 Mr. Moss, Hemingway, and Noyes, went to conse 
 crate your chapel at the North Village. . . . This 
 town hath given eight acres of land hard joining to 
 the town plot, for the use of the College, if it comes 
 here. Considerable of money is subscribed also." 
 
 The beginning of the institution was a contribution 
 of about forty folio volumes, almost all theological, 
 and given by different ministers of the colony " for 
 founding a college in Connecticut." The next year, 
 1701, this library was increased by another private 
 donation, and in 1714, Jeremiah Dummer, the agent 
 of the colony in England, sent over a valuable collec 
 tion of eight hundred volumes, some of which were 
 his own gift, and the remainder had been obtained at 
 his solicitation from various English gentlemen and 
 authors. The whole number of books was now about 
 one thousand, and among them were works of emi 
 nent writers of the Church of England, both clergy 
 men and laymen. Johnson and his literary friends 
 eagerly embraced opportunities of becoming ac 
 quainted with the new collection, and read for the 
 first time the works of some of the best English di- 
 
8 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 vines and philosophers. The library was placed at 
 Saybrook, where the instruction was carried on by 
 two tutors, and where the private commencements 
 were held. But no college building had been erected 
 there ; and as the original charter gave to the trustees 
 the right of selecting the town in which the institu 
 tion should be permanently fixed, a diversity of opin 
 ion arose on the subject, and sharp controversies 
 sprung up which led to disorder and dissatisfaction 
 among the students. They complained of the want of 
 proper accommodations at Saybrook, and entertained 
 so little respect for their tutors as to break out into 
 open rebellion towards the end of the year 1715. 
 Those from towns on the Connecticut River, acting un 
 der the guidance of Timothy Woodbridge and Thomas 
 Buckingham, ministers at Hartford and trustees of the 
 College, collected together at Wethersfield, where in 
 struction was set up in a collegiate way by two tutors, 
 and in which place or in Hartford these trustees 
 wished the institution to be finally located. Other 
 students from the sea-side towns put themselves un 
 der the care and tuition of Mr. Johnson at Guilford, 
 while Mr. Andrew, the rector pro tern., who resided at 
 Milford, appears to have taken upon himself the in 
 struction and oversight of the senior class. 
 
 The breach thus made in the colony could not be 
 readily healed, and the Collegiate School, for so it was 
 denominated at that time, continued in a disordered 
 state till September, 1716, when a majority of the 
 trustees, of which number was Governor Saltonstall, 
 voted to remove it to New Haven. The sanction 
 of the General Assembly, which met the following 
 month, was asked and obtained for the removal, and 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 9 
 
 then the trustees proceeded to elect Mr. Johnson one 
 of the tutors ; and with a view of conciliating the 
 opposition, they chose Samuel Smith, who was of the 
 Wethersfield party, to be the other. But the dis 
 satisfaction was not appeased, and at Saybrook 
 forcible resistance was made to the removal of the 
 library, so that the Governor and Council deemed it 
 expedient to convene there, and aid the sheriff in the 
 performance of his duty. Besides other lawless acts, 
 the carts provided for transporting the books were 
 destroyed in the night time, the bridges between 
 Saybrook and New Haven were rendered impassable, 
 and during the week in which the library was upon 
 the road, many valuable books and papers were lost. 
 An attempt to supersede Governor Saltonstall at the 
 next election, for his activity in the matter, was well- 
 nigh successful, 1 and the feud in the government was 
 not diminished when a subscription was set on foot in 
 New Haven, " and in all the neighboring towns, for 
 building a college ; and one Mr. Caner of Boston was 
 procured to undertake the work, who directly applied 
 himself to the business." 2 Mr. Johnson, under a com 
 mission from the trustees, waited on Mr. Smith to 
 induce him to accept the office of tutor and bring his 
 scholars with him to New Haven, but he and his 
 party were inexorable, and resolved to maintain their 
 ground and carry on their design. Johnson, there 
 fore, was obliged to enter upon the tutorship alone, 
 and with about fifteen students from the sea-side 
 began his course of instruction at New Haven, being 
 assisted by Mr. Noyes, the minister of the town. 
 In 1718 the trustees appointed Daniel Brown to be 
 
 1 Prof. Kingsley s Sketch of Yale College, p. 7. 2 Johnson MSS. 
 
10 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 his colleague, the classmate whose turn of mind 
 and thirst for knowledge not only made him an agree 
 able companion, but a hearty supporter of new studies 
 in the line of philosophy and mathematics. By the 
 autumn of that year several apartments were finished 
 in the college building, and Johnson first lodged and 
 set up housekeeping therein, and shortly his colleague 
 followed his example. The institution was now gain 
 ing friends and a good reputation. The General 
 Assembly had hitherto, for the sake of peace, con 
 nived at the faction in Wethersfield, hoping it would 
 die out of itself; but at the October session in 1718, 
 an act was passed requiring all the students to repair 
 to the established college. " They made an appear 
 ance of submission, and came all at once in a caravan ; 
 but it soon appeared that they had no good intention ; 
 they found fault with everything, and made all the 
 mischief they could, as they were doubtless instructed 
 to do ; " l and after six weeks they withdrew and 
 rejoined the old faction. At the next session of the 
 General Assembly measures were concerted to recon 
 cile the conflicting interests, and finally the difference 
 was compromised in this way : the scholars should 
 return to their duty and abide at New Haven ; and 
 in case they did, the degrees which had been given 
 at Wethersfield should be allowed good, " and a State 
 House should be built at the public expense at Hart 
 ford." Thus the unhappy controversy a manu 
 script history of which by Johnson has been pre 
 served was terminated, and liberal donations of 
 money and of books by Governor Yale gave to the 
 college a new impulse, and the name which it now 
 
 l Johnson MSS. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 11 
 
 Dears was then conferred on it in honor of him for 
 his timely benefactions. 
 
 The state of the institution demanded a resident 
 rector, and as Mr. Andrew was advanced in life and 
 disinclined to remove from Milford, the trustees chose 
 Timothy Cutler, who had been for ten years the 
 pastor in Stratford and a popular preacher in the 
 colony, to be his successor. He was a native of 
 Charlestown in Massachusetts, and graduated at Har 
 vard College in 1701. His learning and superior 
 talents qualified him for the station ; but the thought 
 of his separation from them grieved his parishioners, 
 and they resisted it for some time with much firm 
 ness. At length, however, it was accomplished, and 
 Mr. Cutler established himself with his family at New 
 Haven in the autumn of 1719, after which Johnson 
 retired from the office of tutor, though not from 
 association with his literary friends the Kector and 
 Mr. Brown. Theology was the study to which he 
 had always intended to devote himself; and as the 
 people of West Haven a village only four miles 
 from the college, and at that time a part of New 
 Haven earnestly desired him to settle among them, 
 he yielded to their solicitations, and was ordained 
 there in the Congregational way on the 20th of March, 
 1720, " having been," according to his own account, 
 " a preacher occasionally ever since he was eighteen." 1 
 He might have found other fields of pastoral labor in 
 many respects more inviting, but his desire to be near 
 the college and the library, as well as near those 
 for whose society he had the keenest relish, led him 
 to forego the acceptance of better offers, and give 
 
 1 4ii.t.nhistnrft.n7>.v. 
 
12 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 the preference to a situation of comparatively little 
 promise. 
 
 The books most frequently in his hands at this 
 period were not calculated to strengthen his faith in 
 Independency, and some time before his ordination, 
 for the purpose of " methodizing his thoughts," and 
 assisting his memory, he drew up a scheme of relig 
 ion, embracing its doctrines and duties, and following 
 the plan of John Scott in his " Christian Life," a 
 work which he greatly admired and pronounced to 
 be the best and most compendious that had yet fallen 
 in his way. His inquisitive mind would not allow 
 huii to rest contented in hasty conclusions, and so 
 early as 1715 he met with the discourse of Arch 
 bishop King on " the Inventions of Men in the Wor 
 ship of God," the reading of which helped to in 
 crease his dislike of extempore prayers, and to confirm 
 him in the opinion that the use of pre- composed forms 
 of public worship was more devotional, and showed 
 much greater reverence for the Divine Majesty. He 
 had been bred up in prejudice against the Church of 
 England, but a good, religious man in Guilford placed 
 in his hands a copy of the Book of Common Prayer, 
 and this, with the treatise of Archbishop King, perused 
 the year before, caused all his prejudices to vanish, 
 and inspired him with a love of the Liturgy, which, 
 contrary to his former belief, he found to be collected 
 for the most part out of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 The direction of his thoughts may be learned from 
 the books which he read after retiring from his tutor 
 ship in the college. About the time of his settlement 
 at West Haven he began a catalogue of those, which 
 he perused with evident care, and curiously enough, 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 13 
 
 at the head of this list stands the Liturgy of the 
 Church of England, followed immediately by Potter on 
 "Church Government/ and Patrick s "Devotions;" 
 and a little later, by "The Whole Duty of Man/* 
 Wall on " Infant Baptism," Echard s " Church His 
 tory," and Hooker s "Ecclesiastical Polity." The 
 shelves of the well-selected library contained other 
 books in English theology among them the works 
 of such eminent divines as Barrow, Beveridge, Bull, 
 Burnet, Hoadly, Pearson, Sharp, Sherlock, South, 
 Taylor, Tillotson, Wake, and Whitby, and all were 
 included in the list of those which passed under his 
 review and consideration during the brief period of 
 his residence at West Haven. So much was he 
 opposed to extempore prayers in public that he pro 
 vided himself with forms drawn chiefly from the 
 Liturgy of the Church of England, and repeated 
 them with a fervor which won the admiration not 
 only of his own flock but of persons connected with 
 the adjoining parishes. It was his ordinary practice 
 to compose carefully one discourse a month ; but he 
 read attentively the sermons of Barrow and other 
 celebrated preachers, and so charged his mind with 
 their thoughts that, by the help of a few notes, he 
 delivered the substance of them in language of his 
 own, and thus acquired a facility of expression which 
 became of service to him in after life. 
 
 It is easy to foresee the influence which such a course 
 of reading would have upon a candid and inquiring 
 mind like that of Johnson. It threw new light over 
 subjects that had long embarrassed him, and he was 
 unable to find any sufficient support for the Congre 
 gational form of church government or for the rigid 
 
14 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Calvinistic tenets in which he had been educated. 
 He spoke his doubts to his literary friends, and they 
 shared them with him ; so that from first meeting in 
 a fraternal way at the residences of each other or in 
 the college library, and examining the doctrines and 
 practices of the Primitive Church, they had begun to 
 be uneasy and anxious about the form and authority 
 of their own discipline and worship. How to conduct 
 themselves under the circumstances was a delicate 
 question. There were six of these earnest inquirers 
 besides Johnson, and they occupied responsible posi 
 tions in and around New Haven. Cutler and Brown 
 carried on the college ; John Hart was the minister at 
 East Guilford, now Madison ; Jared Eliot was the 
 minister at Killingworth ; Samuel Whittelsey at Wall- 
 ingford ; and James Wetmore at North Haven. With 
 the exception of Cutler, all were graduates of the 
 college, and three of them were classmates, who had 
 been brought into very intimate association with each 
 other. Their conferences and readings led them to the 
 conclusion that the Church of England was the near 
 est to the apostolic model, and if conformity to it had 
 been an easy thing, they would most likely have re 
 linquished at once their positions and made the change. 
 Johnson wrote in his private journal, on the 3d of 
 January, 1722, these honest and touching words : 
 
 I hoped when I was ordained that I had sufficiently sat 
 isfied myself of the validity of Presbyterian ordination under 
 my circumstances. 1 But alas ! I have ever since had growing 
 
 1 A manuscript of Johnson "written at Westhaven, Dec. 20, A. D. 1719," entitled, 
 " My present Thoughts of Episcopacy with what I conceive may justifie me in accept 
 ing Presbyterial Ordination," gives the state of his mind three months before he was 
 formally set apart to the work of the ministry. In this paper he first sets down his 
 apprehensions formed from the best light he could obtain, which were entirely favor 
 able to Episcopacy, and then considers the circumstances under which he was called 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 15 
 
 suspicions that it is not right, and that I am an usurper in the 
 house of God, which sometimes I must confess fills my mind 
 with a great deal of perplexity, and I know not what to do ; 
 my case is very unhappy. Oh that I could either gain satis 
 faction that I may lawfully proceed in the execution of the 
 ministerial function, or that Providence would make my way 
 plain for the obtaining of Episcopal orders. O my God, di 
 rect my steps ; lead and guide me and my friends in thy way 
 everlasting. 
 
 The Church of England scarcely had a foothold in 
 Connecticut at this time. The Kev. George Pigot, a 
 Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel in Foreign Parts, arrived at Stratford in the 
 spring of 1722, and was as much surprised as gratified 
 to receive from Johnson an early visit, and learn from 
 him the direction in which some of the leading minds 
 in the colony were drifting. He was pleased to accept 
 an invitation to hold a private conference with the 
 inquirers at New Haven, and the result was too good 
 to be kept from his parishioners and from the knowl 
 edge of the Society at home. Writing to the Secre 
 tary in August, he said : " The leading people of this 
 colony are generally prejudiced against their mother 
 church, but yet I have great expectations of a glo 
 rious revolution of the ecclesiastics of this country, 
 because the most distinguished gentlemen among 
 
 to proceed. Among the reasons that led him to accept Presbyterial ordination 
 were "the passionate entreaties of a tender mother," the effect upon the College, if 
 he publicly declared for Episcopacy, his want of that politeness and those quali- 
 ficatio r ns "which would be requisite in making such an appearance," and the not 
 understanding sufficiently what was needed to take Episcopal orders. "Although I 
 seem," he adds in conclusion, "tolerably well satisfied in these my thoughts of 
 the right of Episcopacy, yet, considering the meanness of my advantages and the 
 scantiness of my time hitherto, I have reason to be very jealous whether I have not 
 too much precipitated into those opinions, and then finally perhaps I may in the 
 mean time be doing some service to promote the main interest of religion, though it 
 be not as a method so desirable." 
 
16 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 them are resolvedly bent to promote her welfare and 
 embrace her baptism and discipline, and if the leaders 
 fall in, there is no doubt to be made of the people. 
 Those gentlemen who are ordained pastors among 
 the Independents, namely, Mr. Cutler, the president 
 of Yale College, and five more, have held a conference 
 with me, and are determined to declare themselves 
 professors of the Church of England, as soon as they 
 shall understand they will be supported at home; 
 they complain much, both of the necessity of going 
 home for orders, and of their inability for such an 
 undertaking ; they also surmise it to be entirely dis- 
 serviceable to our church, because, if they should 
 come to England, they must leave their flocks, and 
 thereby give the vigilant enemy an opportunity to 
 seize their cures and supply them with inveterate 
 schismatics; but if a bishop could be sent us, they 
 could secure their parishes now and hereafter, because 
 the people here are legally qualified to choose their 
 own ministers as often as a vacancy happens, and this 
 would lighten the Honorable Society s expenses to a 
 wonderful degree." * 
 
 Pigot read with too much hope what he regarded 
 as the signs of the times. He had only been in the 
 colony a few months, and his interview with these 
 gentlemen had made him sanguine that their declara 
 tion for Episcopacy would be followed by the con 
 version of other ministers of less note, as well as by 
 the conversion of large portions of their respective 
 flocks. He had not seen how the spirit of the old 
 Puritan opponents of the Church of England would 
 rise up against the movement, and the "glorious 
 
 l Documentary History, Conn., vol. i. p. 57. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 17 
 
 revolution of the ecclesiastics/ if not a picture of his 
 imagination, was at least still in embryo. Johnson, 
 who was the leader of the van, and the most active 
 among them, appears to have kept his mind open to 
 conviction, for after making an entry in the catalogue 
 of books before referred to of the works of Cyprian, 
 he added immediately under it these words : " Which, 
 with other ancient and modern authors read for these 
 three last years, have proved so convincing of the 
 necessity of Episcopal Ordination to me and my 
 friends, that this Commencement, September 13, 1722, 
 we found it necessary to express our doubts to the 
 ministers, from whom, if we receive not satisfaction, 
 we shall be obliged to desist." 
 
18 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 THE DECLARATION OF JOHNSON AND HIS FRIENDS ; STRUGGLE 
 BETWEEN FEELINGS AND DUTY; DEBATE BEFORE GOVERNOR 
 8ALTONSTALL AND ITS RESULTS J EXTRACTS FROM NOTES OF 
 DAYS ; VOYAGE TO ENGLAND FOR ORDINATION ; ARRIVAL 
 AND RECEPTION; PRIVATE JOURNAL. 
 
 A. D. 1722-1723. 
 
 THE formal declaration of Johnson and his friends, 
 made by request of the Trustees, recited that " some of 
 them doubted the validity, and the rest were more fully 
 persuaded of the invalidity of Presbyterian ordination 
 in opposition to the Episcopal." They asked for 
 " satisfaction," and time was allowed for further in 
 quiry and consultation, in the hope that they might 
 get rid of their scruples, or at least be quiet and 
 contented in their positions. 
 
 Johnson entered in his Notes of Days, September 
 17, immediately after the Commencement, this account 
 of his feelings : 
 
 Being at length bro t to such scruples concerning the valid 
 ity of my ordination, that I could not proceed in administra 
 tion without intolerable uneasiness of mind, I have now at 
 length (after much study and prayer to God for direction), 
 together with my friends (Mr. T. Cutler, Mr. J. Hart, Mr. 
 S. Whittelsey, Mr. Jared Eliot, Mr. James Wetmore, Mr. 
 Daniel Brown), after some private conferences with minis 
 ters, this Commencement made a public declaration of my 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 19 
 
 scruples and uneasiness, and am advised to suspend adminis 
 tration for the present. It is with great sorrow of heart 
 that I am forced thus, by the uneasiness of my conscience, 
 to be an occasion of so much uneasiness to my dear friends, 
 my poor people, and indeed to the whole Colony. O God, I 
 beseech Thee grant that I may not, by an adherence to Thy 
 necessary truths and laws (as I profess in my conscience they 
 seem to me) be a stumbling-block or occasion of fall to any 
 soul. Let not our thus appearing for Thy Church be any 
 ways accessory, though accidentally to the hurt of religion 
 in general or any person in particular. Have mercy, Lord, 
 have mercy on the souls of men, and pity and enlighten those 
 that are grieved at this accident. Lead into the way of truth 
 all those that have erred and are deceived ; and if we in this 
 affair are misled, I beseech Thee show us our error before it 
 be too late, that we may repair the damage. Grant us Thy 
 illumination for Christ s sake. Amen. 
 
 The General Assembly was to meet in New Haven 
 the ensuing October, and at the suggestion of Gurdon 
 Saltonstall, the Governor of the Colony, a debate was 
 held in the College Library, the day after the session 
 commenced, for the purpose of discussing the whole 
 subject, and disposing of questions that had created 
 serious alarm in the public mind. "He moderated 
 very genteely " on the occasion ; but the " gentlemen 
 on the Dissenting side " had not directed their studies 
 this way, and hence when they came to the debate 
 they were not so well prepared to cope with their 
 opponents and answer their arguments. They rested 
 their chief objection to Episcopacy on the promiscuous 
 use of the words bishop and presbyter in the New 
 Testament ; but this objection was met by citing such 
 Scripture facts as the evident superintendency of 
 Timothy over the clergy and people at Ephesus, 
 
20 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 of Titus in Crete, and of the angels of the seven 
 churches in Asia. The history of the first and purest 
 ages of Christianity was also appealed to, and " at 
 length," says Johnson in his Autobiography, "an old 
 minister got up and made an harangue against them 
 in the declamatory way to raise an odium, but he had 
 not gone far before Mr. Saltonstall got up and said he 
 only designed a friendly argument, and so put an end 
 to the conference/ 
 
 Eliot, Hart, and Whittelsey were unable to with 
 stand the alternate fury and entreaties of their friends, 
 and leaving their scruples behind, they quietly settled 
 back into their former relations, and continued to the 
 end of their days in the service of the Congregational 
 ministry. 1 But the others were more resolute, and 
 followed their convictions. Johnson made a private 
 record of the reasons which influenced him in the 
 step they were about to take. They are worth pro 
 ducing here in full : 
 
 Oct. 6, 1722. In the fear of God setting myself now upon 
 the serious consideration of the great and urgent affair now 
 under my hand and a deliberate examination wherein my 
 duty lies, I now set down the motives which lie before me on 
 both sides of the question, whether I shall now go over to 
 England and offer myself to the service of the Church ? 
 
 1. That which I propound to govern myself in general in 
 this affair is the awful account which I expect to give of all 
 that I do in this world, before the dread tribunal of God, 
 where the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, and every 
 one shall receive according to his work. 
 
 2. Though I have been a grievous sinner, and deserve to 
 
 1 Chandler, in his Life of Johnson, p. 31, says: "Amidst all the controversies in 
 which the Church was engaged during their lives, they were never known to act or 
 wy or insinuate anything to her disadvantage." 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 21 
 
 be left of God, yet as those instances wherein I have offended 
 bear no relation to any of these controversies, and therefore 
 cannot be supposed to have any influence, by way of tempta 
 tion, to the present undertaking, but (if anything) the con 
 trary; so I do renounce and abhor them, judge and condemn 
 myself for them, and humbly purpose to continue forever in 
 watchfulness against, and war with them, and to make 
 business of mortification, by God s grace, imploring his par 
 don and mercy in Jesus Christ, and therefore I hope in God 
 He does not, and will not abandon me to err in anything of 
 great consequence. 
 
 3. God s glory, the good of his Church in general and 
 the safety of precious souls in particular, are the ends I would 
 always and particularly in the present case have in my 
 eye. 
 
 4. Upon the most deliberate consideration I cannot find 
 that either the frowns or applauses, the pleasures or profits 
 of the world have any prevailing influence in the affair. 
 
 One week later, and three days before the discus 
 sion in the College Library he made another record 
 thus : 
 
 Oct. 13. Now therefore to consider particularly what lies 
 against, 
 
 I. In the first place, and here are several particulars. 
 
 1. Some few seeming texts o Scripture and a possibility 
 of interpreting all on the side of and in favor to Presbytery. 
 
 2. Breaking the peace of the country in general and my 
 own people in particular, which are great things. 
 
 3. Danger of the stumbling of weak brethren and the 
 damage of precious and immortal souls, and grieving good 
 men. Now these considerations are indeed of great weight, 
 and it is not a little thing should be sufficient to balance them. 
 
 II. On the other hand I consider, 
 
 1. Sundry texts of Scripture there are which seem to me 
 plainly to intimate that Episcopacy is of apostolical ap- 
 
22 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 pointment, which together with the unanimous witness of 
 the Church immediately after the Apostles times and down 
 ward in the purest ages of Christianity, seem as much at least 
 (if not more) to oblige my conscience to submit to Episco 
 pacy as a divine appointment, as to observe the first day of 
 the week, and therefore do as much oblige me to declare 
 in favor of Episcopacy in this country as for the Lord s day, 
 supposing I am in a seventh day country. 
 
 2. If this be therefore a divine or at least apostolical in 
 stitution (as I am fully persuaded it is), fear of breaking 
 peace should not shut up my mouth in a matter of so much 
 consequence. 
 
 1. Considering first that this country is in such a misera 
 ble state as to church government (let whatever hypothesis 
 will, be right), that it needs reformation and alteration in 
 that affair. 
 
 2. The least I can say is, that I was in so much doubt 
 whether my ordination was lawful, that it utterly hindered 
 my devotion in administration. 
 
 3. I am indeed forced to think (comparing my case with 
 what I find in ancient authors, and especially in S. Cyprian) 
 that had I lived and administered without and in opposition 
 to Episcopacy, I should have been excommunicated for a 
 schismatic in the purest ages. 
 
 4. That peace without one of Christ s institutions is a 
 false peace, and it is best being on the surest side. 
 
 5. There may be offense taken where there is none given. 
 If others are damnified by my doing my duty I cannot help 
 that, however I endeavor the contrary. 
 
 6. There may be more souls damnified for want of Episco 
 pal government in the country and that by far at length, 
 than by my making this appearance. 
 
 7. If I am, by what ordination I have had, consecrated to 
 God, yet I am not on this account guilty of sacrilege for that 
 I design yet to devote myself, my whole life to the service of 
 Christ and his Church, and so promote the good of precious 
 souls, and this (if I might be allowed, and so far as I am 
 allowed) in this place [West Haven]. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 23 
 
 These considerations all laid together, it seems to be my 
 duty to venture myself in the arms of Almighty Providence 
 to cross the ocean for the sake of that excellent church, the 
 Church of England ; and God preserve me, and if I err, God 
 forgive me. 
 
 This transcript of his feelings is a proof that he did 
 not expect any new light to rise from the debate in 
 the College Library, and shine through his doubts. 
 His convictions had settled into a definite plan of ac 
 tion, and the 23d day of October found him and his 
 two friends. Cutler and Brown, on their way to Bos 
 ton to embark for England. It was a slow journey, 
 and reaching Bristol, in Rhode Island, on the 28th, 
 he made a note thus, " We were most kindly enter 
 tained at Bristol, at Colonel Mackintosh s. Here, being 
 Sunday, I first went to church. How amiable are thy 
 tabernacles, Lord of hosts. Mr. Orem preached." 
 Taking with them a letter from this gentleman to the 
 Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel in Foreign Parts, they proceeded to Boston 
 where they were warmly welcomed by friends in 
 terested in their movement, and spent a few days be 
 fore embarking in the ship Mary, commanded by 
 Captain Thomas Lithered. JThese friends had engaged 
 their passage in this vessel, and very kindly at their 
 own expense they provided everything necessary for 
 the voyage. The. last day in Boston is mentioned 
 by Johnson in his private journal as follows : 
 
 November 4. Sunday. Mr. Brown and I read the Earl of 
 Nottingham against Whiston. This day, by God s grace I 
 first communicated with the Church of England. How de 
 vout, grand, and venerable was every part of the adminis 
 tration, every way becoming so awful a mystery ! Mr. Cuth- 
 
24 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 bert of Annapolis Royal, preached. To-morrow we venture 
 upon the great ocean for Great Britain. God Almighty pre 
 serve us ! 
 
 The voyage across the Atlantic one hundred and 
 fifty years ago was a momentous and awful under 
 taking. It was not attended with as many comforts 
 as now, and a sailing vessel was the only mode of con 
 veying passengers. Business rather than pleasure 
 impelled men to attempt it, and strong health was 
 needed to bear its hardships. In these days of steam 
 navigation, when quick passages in large floating pal 
 aces are confidently anticipated, we are apt to forget 
 the sacrifices and trials of those, who in the close and 
 narrow cabins of sailing ships, were tossed for weeks 
 and months on the ocean, and entirely dependent 
 upon favoring gales to waft them to the point of their 
 destination. Johnson in a fine hand, which it must 
 have required the sharpest eyesight to have written 
 as it does now to read, kept " a journal of his voyage 
 to, abode at, and return from England," and some idea 
 of his perils and of the manner in which he employed 
 his time, may be formed by liberally extracting from 
 its pages. His entries during the outward passage 
 are thus made : 
 
 November 15. We have been even ten days now upon the 
 great ocean, and have had much contrary wind, made small 
 progress, were once in danger. God preserved us. To whom 
 be glory. May He send us a good and prosperous gale of 
 wind for Christ s sake. I have just finished reading, since I 
 came on board, the Abp. of Cambray s demonstration of the 
 existence of God. 
 
 20A. We are, through God s goodness, safe after an 
 other grievous storm. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 25 
 
 23c?. Just finished Mr. Kettlewell on the Sacrament, 
 now finished Mr. Herbert s " Temple." 
 
 26th. We are safe, by God s goodness, after a storm. 
 Just finished Mr. Nelson s " Practice of True Devotion." 
 
 29th. Finished Dr. Taylor s "Golden Guide, or Guide 
 to Devotion and for the Penitent," and " Hudibras." 
 
 Dec. 3c?. Yesterday, Dec. 2, a grievous storm. Thanks 
 to God we are yet safe ! Three last week. 
 
 Finished Dr. Bray on the Baptismal Covenant. 
 
 5th. This week tolerable weather, only the wind too 
 southerly. 
 Finished Osterwald s Catechism. 
 
 VltJi. This day we came to soundings. 
 
 Finished reading " The Gentleman instructed in the con 
 duct of a virtuous and happy Life." Truly an excellent 
 piece. Dedicated by Dr. Hicks. 
 
 14A This day, blessed be God, we first came in sight of 
 land. The first we made was the Isle of Wight, having been 
 ten days without an observation. We were marvelously 
 conducted by the good hand of Providence through the fog 
 thus far up the channel : cui laus. 
 
 Read a short answer to a Popish Catechism. Anon. 
 
 Thus ends our boisterous and uncomfortable voyage, after 
 five weeks and four days. 
 
 N. B. We read prayers Sundays, Wednesdays, and 
 Fridays. 
 
 * 
 
 It was purely for religious purposes that they en 
 countered such perils on the sea. A conscientious 
 regard for what they believed to be the truth, and 
 not ambition or the spirit of adventure, led them to 
 great self-sacrifices. The cordiality of their reception 
 in England, where the knowledge of their affair had 
 preceded them, and the interest and enthusiasm with 
 which they viewed everything connected with the 
 strength and glory of the Church, are best shown by 
 extracts from Johnson s private journal. 
 
26 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 December 15. This day we arrived safe, by God s good 
 ness, at Ramsgate, in the Isle of Thanet, were kindly enter 
 tained at Capt. Lithered s house, whence we took horse and 
 came to Canterbury that night, being Saturday. 
 
 16th. This day, being Sunday, we went to church (Dr. 
 Cumberland read service) at the magnificent Cathedral of 
 Canterbury, where we heard one Mr. Archer preach on the 
 story of the Ethiopian and S fc Philip. In the afternoon we 
 were by mistake directed to a meeting. After which we 
 viewed the ancient magnificence of the Cathedral and heard 
 evening service there. 84 Ps. was sung. 
 
 11th. This day we went to service again at the cathedral, 
 where we had opportunity for further view of that stately 
 building, 500 feet in length, and by 275 steps we ascended 
 the tower of it, where we left our names. In the afternoon 
 we waited on Dean Stanhope, who was pleased to take a 
 very gracious and friendly notice of us. After evening ser 
 vice we viewed the walls of the city and other instances of 
 ancient magnificence. 
 
 18fA. This day we waited on Dr. Wilkins, one of the 
 Prebendaries, after which we went to service ; which ended, 
 we took a further view of the city, especially the churches, 
 walls, and Tower, then dined with Dr. Grandorgh, who 
 showed us the Library of the Cathedral, etc. After evening 
 service we were invited by Mr. Norris to his house, and 
 spent the evening there in company with Mr. Hughes, Mr. 
 Gosling, SenT and Junf, who expressed great civility and 
 kindness. 
 
 \.Wi. This day we took coach and came to Rochester and 
 Chatham, and there lodged. 
 
 20th. This day from thence by coach we came to 
 London. 
 
 21st. This day we provided our lodgings at Mrs. Wyld- 
 man s, in Fetter Lane, after which we were at the Exchange 
 and N. England Coffee House, after which we waited on 
 Mr. Hay. 
 
 23c?. This day, being Sunday, in the forenoon we went 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 27 
 
 to service at the famous Cathedral of S fc Paul, where we 
 heard Mr. Bramston on 21 Mat. 9 v. Hosamia. In the 
 afternoon we were at S fc Mary s, Aldermary, where we heard 
 Mr. Jno. Berriman on 1 Tim. i. 15, with whom, after ser 
 vice, we conversed at Mr. Buckridge s, from whence we went 
 to Mr. Hay s. 
 
 24th. This day we went to Mr. Hay s, where we had 
 opportunity with Dr. Wm. Berriman, the Bishop of Lon 
 don s chaplain, from whom we had a letter to Dr. Ibbotson, 
 the Abp. of Canterbury s chaplain, wherewith we went to 
 Lambeth, but his Grace was indisposed. After which we 
 went over from Lambeth to Westminster and viewed the 
 Abbey and the Hall, and sundry ancient monuments. 
 
 25th. This day, being Christmas, we went to church at 
 S* Dunstaii s, where we heard Dr. Jenks from 85 Ps., 10, 11, 
 " Mercy and Truth," etc., from whom we received the 
 Holy Eucharist, after which we took coach and went to dine 
 with Sir Edw d Blacket (having been invited by the Lady 
 Blacket), from whence, in our return, we were at evening 
 service in S l Ann s church. 
 
 2Qth. This day we conversed with Mr. Th. Coram. 
 
 21th. This day we were at service in the morning at 
 S* Andrew s, Undershaft. Dr. Wm. Berriman read service, 
 who after prayers informed us when to wait on the Abp. 
 
 Afternoon, went to Westminster and S* James s. 
 
 2Sth. This day we went in the morning to Westminster, 
 where we conversed with Dr. Fr. Astry, Treasurer of S* 
 Paul s, from whence we came to the N. England Coffee 
 House, where we -conferred with Mr. Bridger and others of 
 our acquaintance. I was at Evening Prayer. S* Dunstan s. 
 
 30th. This day in the morning we were at service at the 
 Cathedral of S* Paul, where we heard one Mr. Seagrave 
 from Heb. ii. 16 not the nature of angels. In the afternoon 
 we were at the Old Jewry, where Mr. Trapp preached from 
 Heb. iii. 13 of the Deceitfulness of Sin with whom we 
 conversed afterwards. 
 
 31s. This day we went with Mr. Coram through S 1 
 
28 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 James s Park and Chelsea (where we viewed the fine Hos 
 pital) to Parsons Green at Fulham to dine with Mr. Hall, 
 who treated us very kindly and generously ; coming home, 
 we saw the place of K. Charles execution. 
 
 January 3^. This day in the morning we were intro 
 duced by Mr. Bridger to wait on Sir William Dawes, the 
 L d Archbishop of York, who treated us with great kindness 
 and condescension, and took notice of our affair. After 
 which I went to Dr. Astry and conferred with him. In the 
 evening Mr. Checkley (just arrived from N. England) came 
 to our lodgings to visit us. 1 
 
 4th. This day I went in the morning to confer further 
 with Dr. Astry about going to Lambeth, after which I was 
 at Smithfield and S 11 Andrew s, Holborn, thence home, and 
 read the orders and papers of the Society and the Bp. of 
 Bristol s and Carlisle s sermons. 
 
 5th. This day in the forenoon we (attended with Mr. 
 Bridger, Mr. Sanford, and other gentlemen) waited on 
 Dr. W. Wake, his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, at 
 his Palace at Lambeth, introduced by Dr. Ibbotson. His 
 Grace treated us like a Father of the ch h, very courteously, 
 and took notice of our affair ; we returned on foot round by 
 Southwark, where we viewed the most ancient church and 
 monastery of S* Mary Overie. . . . . 
 
 6th. This day (being Sunday) we were in the morning 
 at S? Martin-in-the-Fields, where we were entertained with 
 a most amiable and profitable sermon by Sir Wm. Dawes, 
 the most excellent Abp. of York, a most wonderful preacher ! 
 His text, Gen. xviii. 19, "For I know him that he will 
 command," etc. In the afternoon I was at the Cathedral of 
 S* Paul, where one Mr. Bowers preached. Jno. i. 14. 
 * Full of," etc. 
 
 1th. This day we were at Dr. Level s at Westminster. 
 
 1 Johnson wrote on the fly-leaf of his private journal thus: " N. B. I speak in 
 the plural number to comprehend Mr. T. Cutler and Mr. D. Brown, who were con 
 stantly my fellow-travellers; and after Mr. Brown s death, Mr. Checkley ; and after 
 his arrival, Mr. Wetmore." 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 29 
 
 8th. This day we waited on Dr. Willis, the Bishop of 
 Sarum. After which we were to visit Mr. Rawlins, and dined 
 at Dr. Lovel s in company with Mr. Cummin. In the even 
 ing we received Mr. Honyman s letters, and after Evening 
 Prayer conferred with Mr. Hay. 
 
 \\th. This day we went in the morning to wait on Dr. 
 Nicholson, the Bishop of Londonderry ; after which we were 
 with Mr. Humphreys, the Secretary to the Society, thence 
 to Mr. Massey s, from thence in the afternoon we went to 
 wait on Dr. King, the Master of the Charter House, with 
 whom we conferred on our affairs ; after which we viewed 
 Guildhall, and spent the evening with Mr. Massey. 
 
 15th. This day, after walking about the city and con 
 versing at the N. E. Coffee House with Mr. Sanford, etc., 
 we went in the afternoon (having been invited) to visit Mr. 
 Dommer, a Printer by Gray s Inn (which we took a view 
 of, and of the fields and walks by the way), where were Mr. 
 Cambel and Mr. Whiston (Arians with whom we had a 
 great deal of talk and dispute), as also Mr. Massey and Mr. 
 Rawlins. 
 
 18th. This day in the morning we were first with Dr. 
 Astry, with whom we went (by him introduced) before the 
 Hon. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
 Parts. Sir William Dawes, A*bp. of York, was in the chair, 
 who with the whole body of the clergy present received us 
 with a most benign aspect, and treated us with all imaginable 
 kindness. From thence we went with Dr. Berriman, chap 
 lain, before Dr. Jno. Robinson, Bp. of London, who received 
 us very graciously, and took a kind notice of our affair. 
 
 20th. This day (being Sunday) in the morning we were 
 at S fc Bride s, where we had a charity sermon from Deut. 
 xv. 11, 12, preached by Dr. Th. Biss ; in the afternoon we 
 were at S* Mary le Bow, where we heard Mr. Smith on 
 
30 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Death, from Job xvii. 13 ; in the evening we conversed at 
 home first with Dr. King, Master of the Chapter House 
 (who gave us a kind visit), after that with Mr. Checkley 
 and Dr. Jones. 
 
 21s. This day Mr. Brown and I were with the Bishop 
 of London, with whom we conferred further upon our affair ; 
 he treated us with great benignity ; from thence we went to 
 dine with Dr. Astry, who after dinner took coach with us 
 and came to the Chapter House by S* Paul s, where we were 
 kindly treated by the Committee of the Society, who granted 
 our desire ; we spent the evening with Mr. Massey, Lewis, 
 and Humphreys. 
 
 22d. This day, alas ! Mr. Cutler falling sick of the 
 small-pox, Mr. Brown and I thought best to remove, and we 
 took up our lodgings at Mr. Gregson s at the Two White 
 Fryars by the Bolt and Tun in Fleet Street ; after which we 
 were at the Coffee House and Mr. More s. 
 
 23<^. This day we were in the morning with Mr. Hay 
 for his advice, from whom we went directly to the Bp. of 
 London to Fulham (to his Palace), where we were kindly 
 entertained by Dr. W. Berriman, with whom we had a very 
 free conversation. 
 
 . This day in the morning we were at Dr. Astry s, 
 with whom and Dr. Berriman we came to wait on the Society 
 at Bp. Tenison s Library, who granted our requests and 
 made way for our ordination. After which we were at Mr. 
 Bridger s and at evening service at S* Paul s Cathedral. 
 
 27th. This day (being Sunday) we were in the morning 
 at S l Paul s, where were present, besides the Lord Mayor 
 and Aldermen, Sir Peter King and the rest of the Judges ; 
 one Mr. Wheatly preached from 1 Tim. iii. 16. The mys 
 tery of godliness. In the afternoon we were at Westminster 
 Abbey, where were present Sundry Bishops. One Mr. 
 Mandevil preached from Matt. v. 8. Pure in heart, etc. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 31 
 
 . This day in the morning we went to wait on Dr. 
 Grandorgh, upon whose invitation we took coach with him 
 and went to Westminster Hall (it being Term time), where 
 we saw the several courts and judges sitting. We viewed 
 likewise the Houses both of Lords and Commons. In the 
 afternoon we, with Mr. Checkley, were in company with Mr. 
 Hendley and Mr. Lewis, .two clergymen, and Mr. Wood and 
 others. 
 
 February ~Lst. This day in the afternoon we were at Mr. 
 Hay s, and spent the evening at the Sun Tavern with Messrs. 
 Lewis, Humphrey, Vaughan, Powel, Vincent, Wait, Scul- 
 lard, etc., clergymen. 
 
 4th. This day we were to dine with Mr. Hendley at 
 Islington, in company with Mr. Lewis, Mr. Checkley, and 
 Mr. Wood. After we came home we were in company with 
 Philips and Calwel, and read Irene, a play. 
 
 5th. This day we were at Sion College, where we had 
 the benefit of two or three hours use of the Library to 
 examine commentators on our texts. 
 
 6th. This day we were not out, but at the Theatre in 
 Drury Lane in the evening, where we had a Tragedy. 
 
 1th. This day in the morning we were at service at S 1 
 Paul s Cathedral, where Dr. Chishul preached in defense of the 
 Trinity against the Arians from Matt, xxviii. 19, " Go ye 
 therefore," etc. ; after which, with Mr. Checkley, we took a 
 view of that stupendous fabric, ascended to the top of the 
 dome by five hundred and fifty steps, which with the Cupola 
 and Cross make four hundred feet in height. We were in 
 the Library also, and sundry other parts ; viewed the cells, 
 etc. It is perhaps one of the finest buildings in the world 
 an amazing mass of stones ! In the evening also we were at 
 service there, and afterward waited on Mr. Jennings. 
 
 Qth. This day in the morning we were first with Mr. 
 Dummer, the agent ; after that we went to wait on Dr. 
 Grandorgh, who presented us from an unknown hand 1 (whom 
 
 1 Karl Thanet. 
 
32 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 God bless) with ten guineas apiece ; in the afternoon 
 finished reading a book called the " Scotch Presbyterian 
 Eloquence," and after that I finished composing my sermon 
 for probation. 
 
 1.0th. This day, being Sunday, in the morning I heard 
 at S* Mary s, Aldermary, Dr. Kennet, Bp. of Peterborough, 
 preach from 1 Thess. iii. 11, 12, " Now God and the Father," 
 etc. After which I saw him ordain Mr. Usher and another 
 man. We dined with Mr. Negus ; in the afternoon we heard 
 Dr. Watson from John i. 11, " He came unto his own," etc. 
 
 \\tli. This day we were not out. I read Dr. Hoadly s 
 Sermon on the " Kingdom of Christ," and his " Preserva 
 tive Against Non-jurors," with Snape s and Law s answer. 
 
 12th. This day in the morning we were at service at the 
 church of S Lawrence Jewry, where Dr. Moss, Dean of Ely, 
 preached a Lecture from Rom. iii. 8, " Let us do evil," etc. 
 Afternoon we were at the Coffee House N. E., and in the 
 evening we were at the Theatre at Lincoln s Inn, where we 
 had a Comedy The Drummer. N. B. This same day 
 after dinner we visited the good people of Bedlam. 
 
 13^. This day we were not out, but I read Dr. Wood 
 ward s " Young Man s Monitor," and wrote letters to my 
 friends in N. England. 
 
 . This day we were at the anniversary meeting of 
 the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel at S* Mary le 
 Bow, where Dr. J. Waugh, Dean of Gloucester, preached 
 from 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20, The spirits in prison, etc. We 
 were at evening service at S* Paul s, and in the evening I 
 was at the Sun Tavern Club, where, besides those who were 
 there before, were Messrs. Hill, Bridger, Lewis, and another 
 or two. 
 
 . This day in the morning we were at service at 
 Westminster Abbey, after which we went to visit Mr. More, 
 <i young clergyman, on the affair of Baptism ; he was very 
 courteous. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 33 
 
 24th. This day, being Sunday, we were at service all 
 day at S* Dimstaii s, West ; in the morning Dr. John Wilcox, 
 Bishop of Gloucester, preached from 1 Pet. iv. 10, " As 
 every man hath received," etc. Afternoon, Dr. Nath. Mar 
 shall preached on Matt. xix. 14, " For of such," etc. 
 
 . This day (being Ash Wednesday) we were at 
 service at S* James*, Clerkenwell, where Dr. Jno. Potter, 
 Bishop of Oxford, preached from 2 Cor. i. 12, "For our 
 rejoicing is this," etc. We dined with Dr. Massey. 
 
 March 2. This day not out but to buy books. We saw 
 a wondrous clock that performed all sorts of music. 
 
 3c?. This day (being Sunday) we were in the morning 
 at S* Andrew s, Undershaft, or S* Mary Ax, where Dr. 
 Wm. Berriman preached from Jer. xiii. 23, " Can the 
 Ethiopian," etc. ; in the afternoon at S* Martins, Ludgate, 
 where Mr. Crow preached from Luke xiii. 5, "I tell you, 
 Nay ; but, except," etc. 
 
 4A. -This day we heard Esquire Boyle s Lecture at S* 
 Mary le Bow preached by Dr. Burrough from Phil. iii. 8, 
 k4 Yea, doubtless, and I count," etc. After that we took a 
 walk with Mr. Jno. Berriman, Mr. Scullard, and Mr. Wats, 
 through Moorfields out to Ash Hospital, and so out of town 
 through the pleasant meadows. In the evening received a 
 visit from Mr. David Yale. 
 
 5th. This day we went to * Kensington to confer with 
 Dr. Berriman ; we were admitted to my Lord of London ; 
 there we dined ; after which we drank a bottle with the 
 Doctor and Secretary, and then viewed the Royal Palace and 
 Gardens. 
 
 In the evening at S* Paul s, at Sir Christopher Wren s 
 funeral. Statues. 
 
 1th. This day we were at service at S* Paul s, where 
 Dr. Chishul preached again against the Arians in defense of 
 the Holy Trinity from Matt, xxviii. 19. It was his fourth 
 3 
 
34 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Lecture. After that we waited on Dr. Knight to confer on 
 the affair of Baptism. He treated us very kindly. We vis 
 ited Buckridge. 
 
 8th. This day in the morning we were at service at S l 
 Paul s, where one Mr. Bearcroft preached from 2 Pet. i. 10, 
 Calling and election, etc. I came home and read Dr. 
 Delaune s sermon on Original Sin, Whiston s argument about 
 the validity of ministries and the appendices, and the spirit 
 of some late writers about the Bishop of Rochester s com 
 mitment. 
 
 9th. This day we were at service in the morning at 
 Westminster Abbey with Mr. Checkley, with whom after 
 wards we went to confer with Dr. Knight on the affair of 
 Baptism, and (nobis tribus an legit! mum sit apud Presby- 
 terianos Baptisma susceptum graviter dubitantibus) hora 4 
 pomeridianS in ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, Testibus Dom. 
 Johanne Jones, Isaaco Cardel, et Dom. Dorothea Nightingale 
 et ministrante Jeremitl Nicholsono, Doctor! Knight curato, 
 privatum, Baptisma hypotheticum recepimus. Si rectum 
 hoc, Deus agnoscat, et si alitercum sit simpliciter actum 
 ignoscat. l 
 
 . This day we heard Mr. Usher at St. Antholin s, 
 after which Mr. Lazingby invited us to his house with Mr. 
 Oliver and Mr. Scullard, etc., clergymen ; then we with Mr. 
 Checkley took coach and went to Hampstead to wait on Mr. 
 Cutler home, who (I thank God) is recovered. We walked 
 about to view that town, and then returned and went to 
 the Theatre at Lincoln s Inn, where we had the comedy of 
 the Merchant. 
 
 13th. This day we went to Mr. Bridger s, and from 
 thence to Kensington to confer with my Lord of London on 
 
 * We three, having grave doubts whether Baptism received among the Presby 
 terians is valid, at 4 o clock P.M. in the church of St. Sepulchre Mr. John Jones, 
 Isaac Cardel, and Mrs. Dorothy Nightingale being witnesses, and Jeremiah Nichol 
 son, curate to Dr. Knight, ministering received private hypothetical baptism. If 
 this be right, may God approve it; and if otherwise than sincerely done, may He 
 pardon it. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 35 
 
 the affair of ordination. We drank a bottle with Dr. Berri- 
 man, Mr. Sherlock, etc., and had letters to the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury ; in our return were in the Royal Gardens. 
 
 14th. This day in the morning we first waited on Gov 
 ernor Shute and then on the Earl of Clarendon at Somerset 
 House. After that we were at prayers at S* Stephen s, 
 Coleman Street, where Mr. Hay catechised and preached a 
 lecture on the Catechism ; in the afternoon we were at Mr. 
 Bowyer s, the Bookseller, with whom we drank a bottle ; 
 after that we went up to the top of the glorious Cathedral 
 of S* Paul and viewed the town. 
 
 ~LSth. This day I was at Kensington to confer with Dr. 
 Berriman on the affair of ordination, by whose application 
 to the Bishop of London, and by order from William, Lord 
 Apb. of Canterbury, we had letters dimissory to Thomas, 
 Lord Bp. of Norwich. In the evening I read the " Modern 
 Protestant." 
 
 19A. This day in the morning we went to wait on the 
 Right Reverend Dr. Thomas Green, the Bishop of Norwich, 
 for ordination, who received us favorably. Thence we went 
 to see Mr. Raw] ins and Lady Blacket. After that we were 
 at the N. England Coffee House. 
 
 20/i. This day in the morning we were to wait on Mr. 
 Jennings to discourse on our affairs ; from thence we went 
 to wait on the Bishop of Norwich, who examined us in order 
 for ordination, which also did Mr. Ellotson, the gentleman 
 who is to present us ; then we signed the Articles. After 
 noon we were at S* Sepulchre, where Mr. Brown and I with 
 Mrs. Dorothy were witnesses for Mr. Cutler at his baptism. 
 After that we were about town to provide robes, etc., for 
 ordination. 
 
 2lst. This day we were before the Society at the Arch 
 bishop s Library at S fc Martin s upon our affairs, and were in 
 the evening at the Half-moon Tavern, Cheapside, wkh the 
 gentlemen of the club before mentioned, besides whom were 
 others. 
 
36 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 22d. This day in the morning, 10 of the clock, we 
 waited on the Right Rev d Thomas, Lord Bishop of Norwich, 
 and at the parish church of S l Martin-in-the-Fields, after 
 morning Prayer, we were first confirmed and then ordained 
 Deacons. In the afternoon I was at Prayers at S l Paul s, 
 and then at Mr. Jonah Bowyer s, Bookseller. 
 
 24th. This day (being Sunday) we were all day at S l 
 James s Church, where in the morning Dr. Samuel Clark 
 preached from Heb. xii. 16, 17, of Esau s selling his birth 
 right. Afternoon, Dr. Ibbotson preached from Luke ix. 23, 
 " Let him deny himself," etc. In the evening I finished 
 Abp. Dawes, etc., sermons. 
 
 26th. This day we had the honor to dine again with 
 Dr. Francis Astry, and spent the afternoon at his house, with 
 Mr. Carter, a clergyman, our benefactor. After that we 
 waited on Dr. Nath. Marshall, with whom we drank a bottle 
 in company with Dr. Grey and Mr. Wheatly, clergymen, 
 and Mr. Martin and Dr. Walker, in both which conversa 
 tions we had great kindness. 
 
 28th. This day we were in the morning to wait on the 
 Bishop of Norwich. Afternoon we were at Clerkenwell ; 
 from thence we went with Mr. Checkley to see the Tower, 
 where we viewed the armory, both horse and foot, the artil 
 lery and regalia, and the trophies of Sir Francis Drake, and 
 everything to be seen there ; after that we ascended the 
 monument, one hundred and two feet high, by three hun 
 dred and forty-five steps. Glorious things ! 
 
 29th. This day in the morning I was at service at S 
 Clement Danes, where Mr. R. Leybourn preached from Job 
 vii. 16, "I would not live alway," etc. Otherwise not out. 
 
 30A. This day in the morning we were to wait on the 
 Bishop of Norwich, whose chaplain, Mr. Clark, examined 
 us. The Bishop gave us his fatherly advice, and we sub 
 scribed the XXXIX. Articles, in order for ordination. We 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 37 
 
 dined and spent the day with Mr. Dummer in company 
 with Mr. Massey and Mr. Low. 
 
 31s. This day at 6 in the morning, Sunday, at the 
 church of S fc Martin-in-the-Fields, at the continued appoint 
 ment and desire of William, Lord Abp. of Canterbury, and 
 John, Lord Bishop of London, we were ordained Priests 
 most gravely by the Right Rev d Thomas, Lord Bp. of Nor 
 wich, who afterwards preached an excellent sermon from 
 Rom. ii. 4, " Or despisest thou," etc. I dined with Mr. 
 Massey in company with Mr. Godly and Mr. Bull, clergy 
 men. Afternoon I preached for Mr. Massey at S fc Alban s, 
 Wood Street, on Phil. i. 27. We all spent the evening with 
 Mr. Low. 
 
 April 1. This day in the morning we were at the 
 Bishop of Norwich s house with the Secretary for our orders. 
 Afternoon we were at S* Paul s Chapter House and the 
 Chapter Coffee House. 
 
 3<f. This day we dined with Mr. Carter (our benefactor), 
 with whom we took coach and came into town. We spent 
 the evening at Mr. Massey s with Mr. Price. 
 
 The errand on which Johnson and his associates 
 appeared in England served as an introduction to 
 remarkable persons and places. Wherever they went 
 they were sure to be welcomed ; and the interest 
 evinced in their entertainment was only exceeded by 
 the desire to send them back to their country pre 
 pared to meet the new responsibilities laid upon them, 
 and to engage in a struggle which they could hardly 
 hope to avoid with the steady foes of Episcopacy. 
 
38 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 CHAPTER IE. 
 
 SICKNESS AND DEATH OF MR. BROWN; FURTHER EXTRACTS FROM 
 PRIVATE JOURNAL; VISITS TO OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE; 
 ARRIVAL OF MR. WETMORE ; DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND, AND 
 VOYAGE HOME ; SETTLEMENT AT STRATFORD ; LETTERS TO 
 
 THE BISHOP OF LONDON ; MARRIAGE. 
 A. D. 1723-1727. 
 
 THE dreadful malady from which Mr. Cutler had 
 just recovered now fell upon another member of the 
 party. On Thursday, the 4th of April, Brown com 
 plained of being ill; and two days later his disease 
 was pronounced to be -the small-pox. " God grant 
 him," entered Johnson in his diary, " a safe deliver 
 ance ; " and the same day he removed his own quar 
 ters to an apothecary in the next door. He does not 
 appear to have thought it imprudent to remain so 
 near, or he was so anxious to learn each day the 
 progress of the disease, and the signs of its yielding 
 to treatment, that he could not think of being at a 
 distance from his friend. Edward Jenner was not yet 
 born, and hence his great discovery of vaccination 
 as a preventive of the small-pox was unknown to the 
 medical profession. Individuals were then subject 
 to it in its worst form in the natural way, and inocu 
 lation was sometimes resorted to as a means of escap 
 ing its virulence, and securing a more speedy and 
 perfect recovery. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 39 
 
 For nearly a week Johnson went in and out of his 
 new quarters visiting noted places, and mingling with 
 his clerical friends. On the 7th of April, it being 
 Palm Sunday, he was at the Royal Chapel, S* James s 
 Palace, where he saw the King, George the Prince, 
 the Princess, and sundry bishops and persons of the 
 nobility. Dr. W. Wake, Abp. of Canterbury, preached 
 from Luke xiii. 6-9, The barren fig-tree. He ap 
 plied it to the present state of the nation. It is 
 evident that the symptoms in the case of Brown had 
 not become alarming. A few quotations from the 
 journal of Johnson will best tell the story : 
 
 April 9. This day I was first at Child s Coffee House. 
 We dined at the Cross Keys in Holborn with Mr. Ham 
 mond, in company with Mr. Massey and thirty English 
 gentlemen. I wrote to my friends in the evening. 
 
 IQth. This day we were at S 4 James s, Clerkenwell, 
 where we heard Dr. Sherlock, Dean of Chichester, preach 
 from Isaiah liii. 8, on " Christ s sufferings." Afternoon I 
 was at the N. E. Coffee House with Mr. Sandford, and spent 
 the evening (after evening service at S* Foster s) 1 with Mr. 
 Berriman and Mr. Scullard at Coach Makers Hall. 
 
 11th. This day we were at Whitehall Chapel at service, 
 to see the ceremony of washing the disciples feet performed, 
 being Maundy Thursday. Afterwards we met Mr. Oliver at 
 the New England Coffee House, who went with us to wait 
 on Mr. Tryon, the Treasurer, where we saw Mr. More. In 
 the evening I removed my lodgings to Mr. Skinner s. 
 
 12th. This day being Good Friday, we were at service 
 at the Royal Chapel at S fc James s, where Dr. Stanhope, 
 Dean of Canterbury, preached an excellent sermon from 
 John i. 29, " Behold the Lamb of God," etc. I was at 
 evening prayers at S* Martin s, Ludgate. 
 
 l In another place Johnson speaks of "S l Foster s, alias Vedast." The reference 
 is to S* Vcdast e Church, Foster Lane, built by Wren, with a three storied spire, 
 and still in use as a parish church. 
 
40 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 This day, thinking Mr. Brown a little better, Mr. 
 Cutler, Mr. Manning, and I, went to Greenwich, where we 
 were on board the Royal Carolina ; there viewed the glorious 
 Hospital, then the Palace, the Park, and Royal Observatory, 
 and after that Mr. Crawley s Iron Ware House. But woe 
 is me ! alas ! alas ! on our return we are accosted with the 
 sorrowful news of Mr. Brown s death. O Father, not my 
 will, but thine be done ! O my grief ! I have lost in him 
 the best friend in the world, a fine scholar, and a brave 
 Christian. It is thy will, O God ; let me be silent, and shut 
 my mouth. But my flesh trembles for fear of Thee, and I 
 am afraid of thy righteous judgments. O give me grace to 
 be resigned, and to get good by it. O prepare his friends 
 for the news, and comfort them. O save and spare me, if it 
 may be thy will, for Christ s sake. 
 
 14ith. This day being Easter Sunday, Mr. Checkley and 
 I were at S 1 Paul s Cathedral, where we had a sermon from 
 Rev. i. 17-18, "I am he that was dead, and am alive," 
 etc. We received the Holy Communion from the hands of 
 Dean Younger, Mr. Baker, and Mr. Caiieton. Afternoon 
 we were at S l Alban s, Wood Street, where Mr. Massey 
 preached from Is. liii. 10, u When thou shalt make his soul 
 an offering," etc. With him we went home, and there I 
 lodged that night. 
 
 \5th. This day I was at service at S* John s Chapel, 
 Clerkenwell ; thence to Lady Blaket s and Dr. Astry s. 
 After that I went to Mr. Berrimaii s, who with Mr. Scullard, 
 and Mr. Wats and other lay gentlemen, went with me to 
 divert me out into the fields and meadows to the new bury 
 ing place, where I saw Mr. Nelson s tomb ; thence to Dr. 
 Marshall s and Dr. Astry s ; thence to Whitehall, whence 
 we went by water to Mr. Scullard s, where we spent the 
 evening. There I lodged. 
 
 16th. This morning Mr. Scullard went with me to see 
 the wine vaults and water works. After that I was at 
 S* Bride s to hear the Spital sermon preached by Dean 
 Waugh from 1 Cor. xiii. 13, The greatest, charity. The 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 41 
 
 children sang wonderfully. This evening my dear friend, 
 Mr. Brown, was interred in S* Dunstan in the West, at 
 tended by about thirty of the clergy of the town. 
 
 These extracts show the depth of Johnson s sorrow 
 at the death of his classmate and companion. The 
 constantly changing scenes through which he passed 
 could not put it from his mind. It was the one great 
 disappointment of his journey, and he often referred 
 to it afterwards with feelings of affectionate sadness. 
 When human props fall from under us it is a comfort 
 to be able to lean upon divine supports, and to do 
 what is imposed upon us with increased faith and 
 diligence. This was the privilege of the survivor who 
 mourned so deeply the loss of his gentle and loving 
 friend. 
 
 The private journal of Johnson carries us back a 
 century and a half, and brings to view now and then 
 manners and customs which seem strange to many at 
 the present day. The frequent gathering of clergy 
 men at coffee houses and clubs was among the social 
 habits of the time, and as little was thought of ac 
 quaintances meeting at the "Vine Tavern" for a 
 literary feast, as would now be thought of a party of 
 travellers stopping at an inn and asking for refresh 
 ment and lodgings for the night. The reader will be 
 glad to have introduced more of the notes of the sub 
 ject of this volume. They are brief, and written 
 without any attempt at rhetoric or fine description ; 
 but the simple words are graphic, and present a 
 lively picture of what the writer saw and heard : 
 
 April 21. This day being Sunday I preached my proba 
 tion sermon on Phil. i. 27, at S* Dionis Back Church, in 
 Fenchurch Street, before Dr. Smith and Mr. Hay, members 
 of the Society. We dined at Mr. Bridgets with the clergy- 
 
42 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 man, his brother. After dinner we took coach to Trinity 
 Chapel, in Hanover Square, where I preached the same be 
 fore sundry persons of quality. We spent the evening at the 
 Dean of Ely s, Dr. Moss, with the two Finches, Mr. Finch 
 and the Dean of York, and Mr. Massey and Mr. Collens. 
 
 22d. This day I read Morning Prayers for Dr. Polling 
 at S l Ann s ; in the afternoon we walked in Lincoln s Inn 
 Fields, were a considerable time in the Library, and at 
 Evening Prayers in the Chapel, and after that at S l 
 Foster s ; thence to Moorfields, where we saw a remarkable 
 gun which went oft eleven times in a minute ; spent the 
 evening with Mr. Wheatly, Berriman, Scullard, and the 
 other company, at Mr. Kodden s. 
 
 23<i. This day in the morning we went to drink a dish 
 of tea with Mr. Collens, a very worthy clergyman ; after 
 that we were at Lincoln s Inn, thence to John s Coffee 
 House in Swithin s Lane, with sundry clergymen ; then at 
 N. England Coffee House with Mr. Harrison ; after that we 
 waited on Dr. Barrowby, a worthy gentleman, our physician ; 
 we spent the evening at the Vine Tavern with Messrs. Ber 
 riman, Lewis, Scullard, Higgot, Champion, Brigen, Wait, 
 Vaughan, Rice, and Bp. Bradford s son. 
 
 24th. This day in the morning we visited Mrs. Kitty 
 Lockwood, and then Mr. Rawden ; after that we were at 
 Morning Prayers at Lincoln s Inn ; thence we took a walk 
 in S l James s Park, and dined with Dr. Astry. We were at 
 Evening Prayers at S l Foster s, and spent the evening at Mr. 
 Jno. Berriman s with Mr. Wheatly, Mr. Wait, and the other 
 gentlemen. 
 
 29^. This day in the morning we waited on Dr. Ed 
 mund Gibson, Lord Bishop of London, lately advanced, who 
 treated us very kindly ; thence we were at Court ..... 
 
 30^/i. This morning we were at Westminster Abbey, 
 where we viewed the cloisters and monuments, and by Mr. 
 Church s means saw the school and dormitory, as also Abp. 
 Laud s own handwriting, and the original names and war 
 rant of the Regicides. We dined with Mr. Truby and Mr. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 43 
 
 Bowyer ; then we were at Mr. Downing s, thence to wait on 
 Dr. Rennet, with whom we spent the evening. 
 
 May 1. This day in the morning we were at Mr. 
 Scutlard s, with whom we went to Mr. C Ion don s, who con 
 ducted us to Gresham College to Dr. Woodward s, thence to 
 the work house, thence we went to prayers at S fc Mildred s, 
 Poultry. Mr. Scullard read prayers. Thence we went to 
 John s Coffee House in company with sundry clergymen. 
 We dined at Mr. Tryon s ; after that we were at Mr. 
 Bowyer s with Dr. Snape and Dr. Colebatch, and waited on 
 Sub-Dean Gosling ; were at Chapter Coffee House with Dr. 
 Grey and Mr. Wheatly. Supped at the Old Devil Tavern 
 with Mr. Manning and Mr. Wood. 
 
 2d. This day I was at Mr. Checkley s ; then we were all 
 at Dr. Grey s and Dr. Marshall s, with whom we spent the 
 evening. Read Dr. Woodward s remarks on the ancient and 
 present state of London. 
 
 3c7. This day we dined with Dr. Woodward at Gresham 
 College, who showed us his fine collection of rarities, of 
 animals, minerals, antediluvian shells, Roman urns, and other 
 antiquities of 2 or 3000 years. After that Mr. Wilmer 
 showed us his collection of plants. We spent the evening at 
 Mr. Berrirnan s ; I finished Dr. Berriman s sermon at Induc 
 tion. 
 
 th. This day I was at my Lord Mayor s with Messrs. 
 Rawden, Chapman, and Pope, thence to S fc Mary-le-Bow, at 
 the confirmation of Dr. Edmund Gibson, Bp. of London ; we 
 dined at Mr. Carter s with Dr. Moss, Dean of Ely, who took 
 us into his coach and brought us to Holborn, and thence we 
 went to Mr. Jenks , with whom we conversed, and after that 
 with Mr. Middleton. 
 
 5th. This day being Sunday I read prayers at S* 
 Michael, Queenhithe. Mr. Estwick preached from 1 Pet. ii. 
 21, on " Christ s example." I assisted in the administration 
 of the Sacrament. We dined at Mr. Scullard s ; for him I 
 preached at S fc Antholin s ; afterwards we were .... at 
 Dr. Baile s ; thence we went to S* Ann s, where Mr. Cutler 
 
44 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 preached for Mr. Wheatly on Eccl. xii. 13, 14, "Fear 
 God," etc. With him we dined. 
 
 6th. This day I was at Mr. Bowyer s, where I saw the 
 Bishop of Rochester as he came from the Tower to the House 
 of Lords ; thence we went to Dr. Grey s, and we dined with 
 Mr. Rawden in company with Mr. Abbot and Mr. Jenner. 
 
 1th. This day we heard Dr. Roderick preach a Latin 
 sermon at Sion College from these words : " He that endureth 
 to the end shall be saved." After which we dined there in 
 company with about fifty of the clergy convened on that 
 occasion. After that we went over the river with Mr. Scul- 
 lard and viewed S l Saviour s Church, i. e. S* Mary Overie s, 
 and then the water works, and spent the evening at the 
 Vine with our former acquaintances. - 
 
 8th. This day we took horses and went in company 
 with Mr. Waterman to Harrow-on-the-Hill, to wait on Mr. 
 Cox, with whom we dined, and after that w$ went to Eton 
 and Windsor. 
 
 9th. This day we visited the Castle and Palace at 
 Windsor, and after that we went to Hampton Court, and 
 saw the fine palaces there, in both which glorious places we 
 saw everything curious, magnificent, or entertaining, and then 
 returned this evening to London. 
 
 This day we were first at Mr. Bowyer s to see the 
 Bishop of Rochester go by ; thence we went to Court, thence 
 to Dr. Grey s, and spent the evening with Mr. Berriman, 
 Scullard, East, etc. 
 
 12^. This day, Sunday, I heard Dr. Thomas Wilson, 
 the Bishop of Sodor and Man, preach from Mar. xii. 32-34, 
 Of the love of God, at S fc Vedast Foster s. We dined at 
 Mr. Scate s. Afternoon I preached before that Bishop for 
 Mr. Berriman at S L Mary s, Aldermary. After service we 
 were at Mr. Scate s again with the Bishop. After that Mr. 
 Berriman and I went to the Tower, and we spent the evening 
 at Mrs. Parker c. 
 
 . This day we went with Dr. Grey to view Sion 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 45 
 
 College Library, where we saw John Wickliff s Bible, original 
 manuscript, then we went to Moorfields. After dinner we 
 were at Change, we were at the Chapter House and Coffee 
 House with Dr. Lang and Mr. Oliver, we spent the evening 
 in visiting Walter Newbury, a Quaker countryman ; finished 
 Mr. Wheatly s Tract of " Bidding Prayer." 
 
 14th. This day we heard Dr. Moss, Dean of Ely, at S* 
 Lawrence Jewry, preach on the Eternity of Hell Torments, 
 Matt. xxv. ult., with whom and about twenty clergy 
 men we were at the Coffee House afterwards ; we spent the 
 afternoon at Mr. Truby s with Mr. Oliver, Dr. Jones, and 
 one or two clergymen. 
 
 ~L5th. This day we were first to wait on Dr. Marshall, 
 who (being the King s chaplain) introduced us into the 
 Palace of S* James, where we were at prayers with the 
 young Princesses, and had the honor to kiss their hands. 
 We dined there with the King s chaplain, and after that went 
 home with Dr. Marshall, and waited on the Dean of Ely and 
 Dr. Grey. 
 
 16th. This day we were at S* Paul s Cathedral, at the 
 Installation of Edmund, Bishop of London, performed by 
 Dr. Bowers, Bp. of Chichester, and the whole chapter. Af 
 ternoon we were there again at service, after that with Mr. 
 Negus, after that at S* Foster s, and went with Mr. Berri- 
 man to the Tower, and spent the evening with him and Mr. 
 Garden. 
 
 Vlth. This day in the mowiing we waited on Dr. Astry ; 
 thence we went to Tyburn to see Counselor Layer hanged. 
 
 . This day I read prayers in the morning at S 
 Magnus for Mr. Scullard, with whom I dined. Afternoon 
 I preached before Dr. Waddington [afterwards Bishop of 
 Chichester] at All Hallows the Great for Dr. Berriman. 
 After service we were at Mr. Shaler s with Mr. Berriman 
 and Mr. Scullard ; thence to Mr. Checkley s, and spent the 
 evening with Mr. Webster. 
 
 20th. This day we took coach and came to Oxford, and 
 lodged at the Angel Inn. 
 
46 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 . This clay first we waited on Dr. Slrippen, the Vice- 
 Ghancellor at Brasen Nose College ; thence we went to Trin 
 ity College, where Mr. Stockwell showed us the fine gardens 
 and Chapel of the College. We dined with Dr. Shippen, 
 V. C., and thence we waited on Mr. Trognair, Green, and 
 Atkinson of Queen s College, with whom and the rest of the 
 Fellows we supped in the Hall and saw the Chapel and 
 Library, and spent the rest of the evening. 
 
 22(7. This day we went first to Pembroke College to 
 wait on Dr. Painting and Mr. Lockton, who showed us the 
 gardens ; thence we went to Magdalen College, where we 
 dined with Mr. Warton (and the Fellows), who after a little 
 conversation went with us to the famous Bodleyan Library, 
 which we viewed, and the Antiquity and Picture Galleries ; 
 thence to the glorious Theatre and Printing House ; thence 
 to Trinity College to wait on Dr. Dobson, Mr. Ball, and Mr. 
 Stockwell ; here we were at Evening Prayers ; thence we 
 went to Corpus Christi College to wait on Mr. Bar. Smith, 
 who showed us the gardens, library, manuscripts, and chapel 
 of that College ; after, removed lodgings to Mr. Barnes. 
 
 23d. This day (being Ascension day) we went to wait 
 on Mr. Conybeare of Exeter College, who went with us to 
 Christ Church, the Cathedral, where Mr. Wyat preached 
 before the University. 
 
 24th. This day we were first at Queen s College with 
 Mr. Trognair ; thence we went to Merton to wait on Mr. 
 Moseley ; thence to Trinity College to dine with Dr. Dob- 
 son, President, who brought us into the schools where Dr. 
 Potter, Bp. of Oxford, was Moderator to a Theological Dis 
 pute on Baptism and Prayers for the Dead ; thence we 
 went with Mr. Atkinson to the Printing House and the 
 Museum, where we saw all the curiosities of the air-pump 
 and other engines, the skeletons, mummies, medals, jewels, 
 antiquities, etc ..... 
 
 25/t. This day in the morning we were at prayers at 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 47 
 
 Quern s College ; thence, accompanied by Mr. Smith of S 1 
 John s, we went first to Oriel College, thence to Corpus 
 Ohristi, thence to Christ s Church, where we saw the ancient 
 monuments, painting on the glass, etc. 
 
 26th. This day (being Sunday) we were at service at 
 Queen s College Chapel, and thence to S* Mary s Church, 
 where Mr. Owen preached on Christ s Ascension, S* 
 Mar. tilt., " He was received up into heaven," etc. We 
 dined at Dr. Shippen s, V. Cli., with Dr. Delaune and Mr. 
 Leybourne, etc., where we received our Diplomas for the 
 Degrees. After that we walked in the fields, and were at 
 evening service at S* John s College, where cxxxix. Ps. was 
 sung. We spent the evening at Corpus Christi College in 
 company with Mr. Smith, Aylmer, Burton, etc. 
 
 21th. This day we went with Mr. B. Smith to see the 
 Bodleyan Library, the medals and antiquities, the manu 
 scripts and curiosities of that glorious structure ; thence we 
 went to the Vice-Chancellor s, whence we had the honor to 
 ride in his coach in company with Dr. Delaune, President of 
 S fc John s College, and Dr. Dobson, President of Trinity, to 
 Cuddesdon, to wait on Dr. Jno. Potter, Bishop of Oxford, 
 who treated us with the utmost civility. With him we had 
 the honor to dine and spend the afternoon, and after our 
 return we spent the evening with Dr. Delaune. 
 
 28th. This day we first waited on Dr. Francis Gastrel, 
 Bp. of Chester ; then we dinectwith Mr. Conybeare at Exeter 
 College ; thence we took horses and rode out to see the 
 famous seat of the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim, in 
 company with Mr. Burton and Mr. Greenaway a most 
 magnificent structure, gardens, and bridge. We spent the 
 evening with Burton. 
 
 29th. This day being Restauration, we were at church at 
 S* Mary s, where Dr. Felton, Principal of Edmund Hall, 
 preached on Ps. 50, Offer unto God thanksgiving, an 
 excellent sermon ; then we had the honor to dine with Dr. 
 Gastrel, Bp. of Chester. Afternoon we were with our ac- 
 
48 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 quaintanee at Corpus Christi, where we supped with the 
 Fellows in the Hall ; with them we walked in the fields, 
 and spent the evening with Mr. Greenaway at Hart Hall, 
 having been before at Queen s. 
 
 3Qth. This day we went first to wait on the learned Mr. 
 Sam 1 Parker ; thence to S l M. Magdalene, where Mr. Dud 
 ley Woodbridge showed us the Park, President s garden, 
 .... etc. ; thence we went to Edmund Hall and took our 
 leave of Dr. Felton ; thence to the public Schools and Con 
 vocation House, where was a congregation, and the Vice- 
 Chancellor gave degrees to some gentlemen ; we dined with 
 the Fellows of Queen s College and took our leave of them ; 
 then of Dr. Dobson and the Fellows of Trinity, then of the 
 Vice-Chancellor, and then of Dr. Delaune and Dr. Haywood 
 at S fc John s. We spent our evening with sundry gentlemen 
 at Mr. Blathwait s, and thus we take our leave of Oxford. 
 
 31s. This day we took coach and came to London. 
 
 Their return to the metropolis, after an absence of 
 ten days, was followed by the renewal of civilities 
 to their friends, and preparations for a visit to Cam 
 bridge. 
 
 June 3. This day we were first at Westminster to wait 
 on Edmund, Bp. of London, who treated us very kindly ; 
 thence at Whitehall, now Banqueting House ; thence I went 
 to Mr. Downing s, thence to N. E. Coffee House and wrote 
 home. We dined with Mrs. Cardel, were at Evening Prayers 
 at S* Foster s, and spent the evening at the Queen s Head 
 with Messrs. Wheatly, Ryan, Berriman, Jebb, and Wag- 
 staff a nonjuring clergyman. 
 
 6th. This day (being Thursday in Whitsun week) we 
 first drank a dish of tea with Mr. Berriman, with whom we 
 went to Gresham College, where the charity children meet, 
 whence, in company with a great number of the clergy, we 
 went in procession before the children to S* Sepulchre s, 
 where there was a sermon preached on the occasion by Dr. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 49 
 
 Waterland, from Prov. xxii. 7, " Train up," etc. The chil 
 dren, to the number of 4 or 5,000, sung gloriously the 
 finest emblem of heaven in the world. 
 
 7th. This day we took coach and came to Cambridge. 
 
 Here the same kind attentions were bestowed upon 
 them as in Oxford. They first paid their respects to 
 the heads of several of the colleges, and visited King 
 Henry s Chapel and the Library of Trinity. Johnson 
 continues his notes : 
 
 9th. This day (being Trinity Sunday) we were in the 
 morning to drink a dish of tea with Dr. Laney at Pembroke, 
 with whom we went to service at S* Mary s Church, where 
 Mr. Trotter preached from Luke xxi. 15, " Give a mouth 
 and wisdom," etc. We dined with Dr. Ashton at Jesus Col 
 lege, were afternoon at S 1 Mary s again, where Mr. Pearce 
 preached from S* John xiv. 16, "I will pray," etc. W 
 were at evening service at Trinity College Chapel, where 
 was fine music ; we supped at Trinity Hall 
 
 ~LQth. This day we first drank a dish of tea with Dr. 
 R. Jenkins, Master of S* John s College ; after that we were 
 to see the Pictures, Library, and curiosities there ; thence we 
 waited on Dr. Middleton, Prof, bibliothecarum, who showed 
 us the Royal Library given by K. George ; thence we went 
 to dine with Dr. Dickens, in company with Dr. Warren, Mr. 
 Oldsworth, and Dr. Berriman ; thence we all went to Em- 
 anuel College, were there at evening service, and in the gal 
 lery and library and gardens. We supped and spent the 
 evening with Mr. Marshall. 
 
 \\tJi. This day we went in the morning to wait on Mr. 
 Mickleborough of Bennet or Corpus Christi, whence we went 
 to church at S* Mary s, where Mr. Fosset preached a Latin 
 sermon on Church discipline from 1 Cor. v. 2. We went to 
 the congregation where the Vice-chancellor, Dr. Cross (in 
 the room of Dr. Snape, absent), with the rest of the Doctors 
 and Masters sat, and we with others received our Degrees, 
 pro forma. After that we dined with the Vice-chancellor 
 4 
 
50 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 in company with Dr. Laney, the two Proctors, and Mr 
 Beadle ; thence we were at congregation again, where sun 
 dry others were graduated. After that we went to Trin 
 ity College, and were there at evening service and in the 
 Library, and waited on Mr. Pilgrim, Greek Professor ; we 
 spent the evening at Jesus College with Mr. Lucas and 
 Harding. 
 
 12th. This day we went first to Bennet College Library, 
 where we saw Abp. Parker s donation to that College, his 
 plate, ancient manuscripts, and particularly the instrument 
 of his consecration and the handwriting of the first Reform 
 ers, etc. We dined at S* John s with Dr. Jenkins, and then 
 went to Caius College to wait on Mr. Symson, and conversed 
 there with sundry gentlemen ; saw the Chapel and library ; 
 thence we went to the Coffee House, and conversed with Mr. 
 Baker and Dr. Middleton, etc. We spent the evening at 
 Mr. Symson s in company with Mr. Burroughs and Mr. San 
 derson, the Blind Mathematical Professor a prodigy. 
 
 14th. This day we went in the morning to C. C. C. C. 
 to drink a dish of tea with Mr. Mickleborough, thence to 
 church to S* Mary s, where we had a sermon in Latin by 
 Dr. Hall on the text, " The disciples were first called Chris 
 tians," etc. We dined at Jesus with Mr. Harding ; thence 
 we went to Magdalen and Peterhouse, and to wait on Mr. 
 Marshall at Emanuel, and to take our leave of Dr. Laney, Dr. 
 Cross, Mr. Pilgrim, and Mr. Lawson, and spent the evening 
 with Dr. Dickens, Dr. Warren, Mr. Nichols, and Mr. Mar 
 shal], and thus we take our leave of Cambridge. 
 
 ~L5th. This day we took coach and came up to London 
 in company with Dr. Bentley. 
 
 The journeys to Oxford and Cambridge were the 
 longest which they made out of London, after their 
 arrival in that city. It was no part of their plan to 
 travel into other counties of England, and they saw 
 nothing of Scotland or Ireland. Besides the four 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 51 
 
 days at Canterbury, the ten at Oxford, and the seven 
 at Cambridge, the whole time of their sojourn was 
 passed in London. The little book of private notes 
 is nearly ended, and the entries now begin to show 
 preparations for the homeward voyage. 
 
 June "16th. -< This day (being Sunday) we were in the 
 morning at S* Foster s, where the Bp. of Man preached on 
 Mar. xii. 32-3, " The love of our neighbor." Afternoon I 
 was at S* Austin s. 
 
 VltJi. This day we waited first on the Bp. of London, 
 then after dinner took a walk to Islington with Mr. Clendon, 
 Berriman, and Champion ; on our return we went to see the 
 great fire that happened that day, and spent the evening 
 with Mr. Wheatly. 
 
 18th. This day we first waited on Dr. Snape, Vice- 
 chancellor of Cambridge ; then on Dr. Knight. We spent 
 the afternoon with Mr. Phillips in seeing Sir John Parsons 
 Brewhouse and the Tower, and in company with Capt. 
 Ruggles and Mr. Hooper at N. E. Coffee House. N. B. I 
 lodge now at Mr. Manning s apothecary. 
 
 19* A. This day we were first to drink a dish of tea with 
 Dr. Berriman and his brother, then about sundry private 
 affairs, and at John s Coffee House with sundry clergymen. 
 
 * 
 21s*. This day we were first to wait on Mr. Jennings, 
 
 then before the Society de Propaganda at S* Martin s 
 Library, then before the Bp. of London with Dr. Berriman. 
 We spent the evening with the good Dean of Ely and Dr. 
 Grey. 
 
 22d. .... I moved lodgings to Mr. Budd s, the 
 Rising Sun, on Fleet Street. We spent our evening with 
 Dr. Bennet after Evening Prayers at S* Giles . 
 
 23<i. This day being Sunday I was in the morning at 
 S* Paul s. Dr. Skirret preached from Matt. vii. 21, " Not 
 every one," etc. There I received the communion. Dean 
 
52 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Godolphin, Dean Younger, and Sub-dean Gosling adminis 
 tered. Afternoon I heard Mr. Oliver from Rom. xii. 2, 
 44 Be not conformed," etc. It was at S* Austin s. After 
 that I was at Chapter Coffee House with Mr. Higgot and 
 Mr. Norton. Spent the evening with Mrs. Humphreys and 
 another pretty gentlewoman. 
 
 2Qth. This day we went in the morning to wait on 
 Edmund Bp. of London, who gave us his License certificate 
 and benediction by imposition of hands. Then we waited 
 on Dr. Lovel. We dined with Dr. Grey, where were Dr. 
 Marshall and Mr. Hains. We spent the evening at Dr. 
 Bennet s; were at service there. 
 
 . This day being Sunday I preached at S* Nicholas, 
 Cole Abbey, in the morning, from Phil. i. 27, 44 Only let 
 your conversation be," etc. We dined at Dr. Bennet s with 
 sundry gentlemen. Afternoon I preached the same sermon 
 at the Cathedral Church of S Paul, for Dean Younger, with 
 whom I went home, and he was very kind. We spent the 
 evening with Dr. King, master of the Charter House, in 
 company with the Bishop of Man, etc. 
 
 July 4. This morning we were first surprised with the 
 arrival of our friend Mr. Wetmore from New England. l We 
 went with him to Westminster ; thence at Morning Service at 
 Lincoln s Inn, and waited on Dr. Lupton ; thence at sundry 
 places, and at Evening Service at S 4 Foster s with Mr. 
 Berriman. 
 
 5th. This day we went to Dr. Berriman s and Mr. 
 Oliver s, then to Westminster ; waited on Mr. Sherlock, 
 and dined with Dr. Lovel. Then came to Evening Service 
 at S l Foster s, and Dr. Cutler and I stood witnesses for Mr. 
 Wetmore at the font. We spent the evening at Mr. Truby s 
 with Dr. Dawson, Mr. Oliver, Newhouse, etc. 
 
 l Dr. Chandler, in his Life of Johnson, p. 37, states that Mr. Wetmore ac 
 companied them in the tour " to Cambridge; but this is a mistakb, as it was made 
 prior to bis arrival in England. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 53 
 
 6th. This day I was first to wait on Dr. King, Master 
 of the Charter House ; after that at S fc John s, then at Mrs. 
 Cardel s, then we were at Mr. Hay s, and spent the evening 
 at Pratt s with Dr. and Mr. Berriman. 
 
 7th. This day I preached and assisted in administering 
 the Sacrament for Mr. Wheatly at S fc Swithin, and afternoon 
 for Dr. Berriman at All Hallows the Great. We spent the 
 evening with Mr. Newman. 
 
 . This day we were at Lambeth to take our leave 
 of the Abp. of Canterbury, who after sundry civilities gave 
 us his solemn Apostolical Benediction by imposition of hands. 
 We spent the evening at Mr. Manning s. 
 
 14:th. This day I heard Mr. Barrel (formerly a Papist) 
 at S* Bottolph s, Aldergate, on " Charity." Afternoon I 
 heard Mr. Vernon at St. Paul s, " God and Mammon." 
 We spent the evening with Mr. Newman at the Temple. 
 
 18th. This day we were at the Abbey at Westminster 
 at the Bp. of Man s Tryal, and spent the afternoon with Mr. 
 Jones, Salmon, and Yale. 
 
 19A. This day we were at service at Westminster 
 Abbey, then at the Treasury, took our leave of sundry 
 friends, and spent the evening with Mr. Oliver and Dr. 
 Warren. 
 
 25th. This day I was at service at the Royal Chapel, 
 at S* James s, at Mr. Wetmore s ordination, and received 
 the Sacrament of the Bp. of London ; the rest of the day 
 spent in taking leave of our friends. 
 
 26th. This day we took our leave of London and came 
 down to Gravesend, Mr. Manning and Mr. Wetmore with us. 
 
 They sailed down the river Thames on the 28th, 
 and were ashore at Deal, and afterwards in " a bad 
 storm." Being windbound they had an opportunity 
 
54 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 of landing at Cowes on the Isle of Wight, and went 
 to Newport and Carisbrook Castle the latter places 
 associated with the memory of the unfortunate King 
 Charles I. "Farewell to England! " said Johnson as 
 the vessel carried them out of sight of land. They 
 encountered storm after storm on the passage, in one 
 of which a man was washed overboard and lost. On 
 the 22d of September he wrote in his journal : 
 " This day finished Father le Compte s History of 
 China/ and Dr. Goodman s Winter Evening Confes 
 sions/ and (God be praised) this day, after 8 weeks 
 from London and above 6 from the Lizard, we made 
 Piscataqua, and landed there. And so ends my voy 
 age for England. We go hence for Boston by land." 
 
 He was now to be separated from the companion 
 ship of Dr. Cutler, though for many years afterwards 
 they had frequent interviews and a constant corre 
 spondence. He passed a few days with Mr. Hony- 
 man in Rhode Island, and then proceeded to the 
 paternal roof in Guilford from which he had been so 
 long absent. His arrival at Stratford in the begin 
 ning of November was joyfully welcomed by his little 
 flock; and Mr. Pigot, who had been waiting to be 
 relieved, hastened to his new charge in Providence. 
 
 Johnson felt the responsibility of his situation, and 
 was alive with the work of organizing and settling the 
 Church of England in Connecticut. At this time there 
 was no house of public worship for Episcopalians in 
 the Colony, but one had been commenced in Stratford, 
 and was opened for religious services on Christmas 
 Day, nearly fourteen months after his establishment 
 in that town. His predecessor had communicated to 
 the Society that he would "find it a most difficult 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 55 
 
 task to answer the expectations of the towns around 
 him, there being work enough for Sunday laborers in 
 the Lord s harvest ; " and his own letters to the 
 Bishop of London and others, written after a cursory 
 survey of the field, are full of solicitude for the 
 " necessitous state " of the Church. Their replies are 
 equally earnest. One dated February 17, 1725, from 
 the Eev. J. Berriman, so frequently mentioned in his 
 private journal, contains the first intimation which 
 Johnson received of the scheme of Berkeley : 
 
 DEAR SIR, I received yours of October last, and cannot 
 let slip the present opportunity of writing, though I have 
 little time to write in, and less business to write about. 
 
 I am glad you continue to remember me among your 
 other friends in these parts, though you are so far removed 
 from us. You may assure yourself nothing will ever blot you 
 out of my remembrance, and as I shall always find a peculiar 
 pleasure in reading your letters, so I shall be diligent in 
 answering you, if it will give you any satisfaction. 
 
 It is with regret I hear of the difficulties Dr. Cutler labors 
 under, and the hard usage Mr. Checkley has met with. May 
 it please God to make it all turn to the benefit of yours and 
 of the whole Church in general, and I beseech Him to succeed 
 your labors, and to send more laborers into your harvest. A 
 very pious Dean in Ireland is quitting his preferment there 
 to go and settle in the Bermuda Islands, where he proposes 
 to erect a College to bring up the natives of America to 
 do the office of Missionaries, etc. Several friends of his go 
 with him upon this expedition. 
 
 We hear of two Nonjuring Bishops (Dr. Welton for one) 
 who are gone into America ; and it is said the Bishop of 
 London will send one or more of a different stamp as an 
 antidote against them. God Almighty prevent the bad 
 effects of the one, and in his due time accomplish the other, 
 and furnish you with a plentiful supply for all your wants. 
 
56 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 The good Bishop of Man continues to be persecuted by 
 those stiff-necked rulers that have given him so much dis 
 turbance. The Deputy-governor lately put a man into a 
 captain s commission who was under the censure of the 
 Church on purpose to affront and provoke the Bishop, and 
 throw contempt upon his authority, pretending the Bishop 
 has nothing to do with military men. It is hoped and 
 expected the insults he daily meets with will occasion some 
 good law to be made to curb the exorbitant and almost 
 independent power of the King of Man. 
 
 Dr. Waddington is made Bp. of Chichester, Dr. Clavering 
 of Landaff, Dr. Bradshaw of Bristol, etc. My brother is 
 married, and I am moved to his lodgings in Bow Lane, and 
 Mr. Scullard boards with us. Mr. Chas. Wheatly has buried 
 his wife. Lord Chancellor is turned out of office and fallen 
 into great disgrace. 
 
 I am your very affectionate friend and serv t. 
 
 Johnson urged the importance of bishops in this 
 country, not only to ordain the men who were in 
 clined to the Episcopal ministry, but to exercise 
 proper supervision in ecclesiastical matters. In a 
 letter written twelve months after his arrival at 
 Stratford, he said to Dr. Gibson, the Bishop of 
 London : " It is a great satisfaction to us to under 
 stand that one of your Lordship s powerful interest 
 and influence is engaged in so good a work as that of 
 sending bishops into America, and that there is noth 
 ing you desire more or would be at greater pains to 
 compass. This gives us the greatest hopes that by 
 your Lordship s pious endeavors, under the bless 
 ing of God and the benign influence of our most 
 gracious King, it may at length be accomplished. 
 And we humbly hope that the address and repre 
 sentation of the state of religion here which we have 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 57 
 
 lately presumed to offer, may, in your Lordship s 
 hands, be of some service in this affair. I pray God 
 give it success." 
 
 The position of Johnson now made him influential 
 among the friends of the Church throughout New 
 England. He was the only Episcopal clergyman in 
 Connecticut, and had strong adversaries around him 
 in those from whose fellowship he had withdrawn. 
 They did much in conformity with the narrow spirit 
 of the age to thwart his plans, and drive him from 
 the Colony, by rendering his situation uncomfortable 
 and embarrassing. But he had prepared himself for 
 all such opposition, and nothing helped more to 
 wear off its edge and win for him the respect and 
 confidence of many who were at first suspicious of 
 the purity of his motives, than his constantly cheer 
 ful and benevolent temper, and the frankness and 
 courtesy with which he defended his opinions. 
 
 For nearly two years he had lived among his poor 
 people and been content with such provision as their 
 humble circumstances allowed. But on the 26th of 
 September, 1725, he married Mrs. Charity Nicoll, 
 widow of Benjamin Nicoll, Esq., and daughter of 
 Colonel Richard Floyd 1 of Brookhaven, Long Island. 
 She had three children by her former husband two 
 sons and a daughter and no sooner had the step 
 father established himself in his own house than he 
 
 1 Writing to his son in 1757, Johnson gave this account to him of his mother s 
 ancestors: "Floyd is doubtless originally Lloyd, LI being pronounced in Wales, 
 whence they came, like Fl. All I can learn is that your grandfather was born at 
 New Castle on the Delaware, that his father and mother came from Wales, and that 
 when he came and settled at Long Island they came with him, and lived to be old. 
 His wife was Margaret Woodhull, whose father was an English gentleman of a con 
 siderable family, cousin-german by his mother to Lord Careiv, father to the late 
 Bishop of Durham, whose niece was mother to the present Earl of Wallgrave or 
 Wald grave." 
 
58 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 undertook to instruct the sons in a preliminary course 
 of education, and prepare them for Yale College, 
 where they both graduated in 1734. The father of 
 Johnson wrote him a congratulatory letter on his 
 happy marriage, and informed him at the same time 
 that his mother was in a languishing condition, 
 with little prospect of recovery. Her death, which 
 occurred in the succeeding March, preceded a sick 
 ness of his own that brought him nigh to the grave, 
 and of which he made this entry in his private 
 journal, under date of June 13, 1726 : " Blessed be 
 thy goodness, adored be thy kindness, patience, and 
 forbearance, good and gracious God, who hast 
 preserved me from the danger I have been exposed 
 to in my late sickness at Boston, and granted me 
 so successful, so speedy a relief and recovery from 
 so dangerous a distemper. What shall I render to 
 the Lord for all his benefits? Let my soul praise 
 Thee while I live, and all that is within me bless 
 his holy name. Thou forgivest all my iniquities, 
 and healest all my diseases. Thou savest my life 
 from destruction, and crownest me with loving-kind 
 ness and tender mercy. May I never forget thy ben 
 efits ! but remember my recovery from this sickness 
 as a fresh motive to lay out the life and powers which 
 are yet lent and continued to me, with greater zeal 
 and engagedness for God s glory, the advancement 
 of his Church, and the good of the souls of men ; and 
 may it be as a warning to me to walk with more 
 watchfulness and circumspection all my days, that I 
 may be ready to depart whenever my last summons 
 shall arrive." 
 
 Before the year had rolled round, another severe 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 59 
 
 affliction befell him in the decease of his father, 
 " a man remarkable for a friendly temper, and de 
 lighting much in hospitality to strangers." Accord 
 ing to the son s account, he was favorably impressed 
 with the Church of England, " entirely brought off 
 from most of the fanatical and predestination prin 
 ciples, . . . . and would have communicated with 
 us, if he had lived." The bitter and uncharitable 
 spirit of the times had served to deter him from this, 
 and he was not so thoroughly persuaded as to " think 
 it necessary to leave the Dissenting Communion." 
 
60 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 POLEMICS AND INFIDELITY; BIRTH OP A SON; PERSONAL AC 
 QUAINTANCE WITH DEAN BERKELEY ; VISITS TO HIM AT NEW 
 PORT, AND A CONVERT TO HIS VIEWS ; ALCIPHRON, OR THE 
 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER ; RETURN OF BERKELEY TO ENGLAND, 
 AND BENEFACTIONS TO YALE COLLEGE; RELIGIOUS CONTRO 
 VERSY, AND PUBLICATION OF PAMPHLETS. 
 
 A. D. 1727-1736. 
 
 THE inquiring mind of Johnson led him to seek 
 the society of scholars, and his thirst for knowledge 
 was so great that he neglected no opportunity of 
 intellectual improvement. William Burnet was now 
 the Governor of New York, " a very bookish man, 
 and much of a scholar," as the subject of this memoir 
 described him, who had a large library, and whose 
 taste for learning might have come from his father, 
 for he was the eldest son of Gilbert Burnet, Bishop 
 of Salisbury, and the celebrated historian of " His 
 Own Time." 
 
 Johnson, in his frequent visits to New York, culti 
 vated the friendship of Governor Burnet, with whom 
 he became a great favorite. He was furnished with 
 some of the best books that his library contained, 
 and in this way was drawn into the thorny thicket 
 of the Bangorian controversy, which involved the 
 doctrine of the Trinity, and questions of ecclesiastical 
 authority, and the proper province of the civil mag 
 istrate. The Governor was a zealous champion on 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 61 
 
 the side of Clark, Whiston, and Hoadly, and attempted 
 dexterously to bring over his young friend to his 
 own views. 
 
 Here is one of the letters which he wrote to 
 him : 
 
 NEW YORK, August 14, 1727. 
 
 REVEREND SIR, It is so rare a thing in this country to 
 find one that reads books with care and impartiality, that you 
 need no apology for borrowing, but you give me pleasure in 
 doing it. I hate to have them lie idle upon a shelf ; but 
 when I lend them to such readers, I reckon they bring me in 
 good interest. 
 
 There is no need in reading a controversy to be of one side 
 of the question it is rather better to be of neither ; and, in 
 points which are not capable of demonstration, perhaps those 
 who never entirely determine, but still are in some suspense, 
 act most rationally. Candor and temper are sufficient bonds 
 of unity, without sameness of opinion. 
 
 The thing that always hung most in my mind out of Dr. 
 Clark s book was, that there were but three possible opinions 
 upon the subject, and that whoever has any opinion fixed, 
 has one of the three, and that all other opinions are mere 
 self-delusion and mere nothing, however plausibly disguised. 
 As to the style and decency of writing which you commend 
 in the Doctor, it is certainly very taking ; and it is commonly 
 the lot of the most unpopular*to write so, whereas those who 
 are backed by numbers are apt to swagger. I remember my 
 father was called a Socinian, because in one of his books he 
 commends the serious, modest way of controversy. But this 
 is no proof of people s being right ; and accordingly, I re 
 member an able member of the House of Commons, speaking 
 of a very rising young member, said, what a pity he had 
 not been of the side of the minority, for then he would have 
 had a complete finishing, but as he was on the winning side, 
 it was a great chance but he would be spoiled. So much a 
 better school is adversity than prosperity in every stage and 
 
62 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 
 profession of life. As to the three opinions, I take the 
 
 fashionable one to be Sabellianisra, as I have often found by 
 conversation, of which Socinianism ought to be a conse 
 quence, though seldom, drawn, and therefore not fairly charge 
 able ; the most uncommon one Tritheism, which people are 
 oftener driven to by dispute than that they choose it ; and 
 the most obvious one that of the inequality, which would be 
 more universal if it did not seem to lead to Polytheism, 
 though not so much as Tritheism does. I send the books, 
 an*d am, sir, 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 W. BTJRNET. 
 To this Johnson replied : 
 
 MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY, Dr. Clark s writ 
 ings are so very agreeable and instructive that I cannot 
 presently be disengaged from them, when I have once got 
 them under my eye ; however, I now at last return those of 
 them which I had last, with my humble thanks for them and 
 those kind lines which accompanied them from your Excel 
 lency, full of very wise and true observations. 
 
 But as to the last of them, relating to the three opinions : 
 if Sabellianism do indeed necessarily include and infer Socin 
 ianism ; and if, at the same time, the common orthodoxy 
 were not really different from Sabellianism, provided there 
 were but three possible opinions on this subject, I should 
 readily enough subscribe to that of the inequality ; for I can 
 not conceive how a great many texts of Scripture can be 
 fairly accounted for upon the Socinian hypothesis ; and as 
 for Tritheism, that is demonstrably and utterly inconsistent 
 with reason as well as Scripture. But that of the inequal 
 ity, though reasonable and intelligible enough, and very well 
 accounting for most texts of Scripture relating to this subject, 
 yet there a.re some texts which I wish I could, but cannot 
 find reconcilable to it, without too great a violence done to 
 them, and too great a deviation from the most obvious sense 
 and meaning of them. It seems to me, therefore, there must 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 63 
 
 be a fourth hypothesis possible, though it may not be com 
 prehensible or explicable ; and yet, so far as it is discovered 
 to us, it is intelligible, and because it is divinely revealed, 
 must be credible. But I shall gladly embrace any further 
 light on this subject. 
 
 If your Excellency removes to Boston, as the people there 
 will no doubt think themselves veiy happy, so I shall be 
 very glad in particular that you remove no further from us, 
 and that it will yet remain practicable for me to enjoy the 
 advantages of that condescending goodness you have hitherto 
 expressed towards me. And therefore, if I may yet presume, 
 I shall be very much obliged to your Excellency if you will 
 please to lend me any other good book, and particularly an 
 Italian Grammar, after the manner of Boyer for the French, 
 for I have a curiosity to look into the nature of that language. 
 I am, 
 
 May it please your Excellency, 
 
 Your most humble, etc., 
 
 S. J. 
 
 Thus he found him indisposed to adopt conclusions 
 until he had examined and approved the basis on 
 which they rested. The cause of truth demanded an 
 impartial study of the matters in dispute, and there 
 fore Johnson turned to the writings of those who had 
 arrayed themselves in opposition to the principles of 
 these men, to such authors as Bull, Pearson and 
 Waterland, Sherlock, Snape and Law, and very soon 
 he was more convinced than ever that the modus of 
 the Trinity was not to be accounted for on any phil 
 osophical hypothesis ; that it is beyond the reach of 
 our faculties, and to be received as taught in the 
 Scriptures, and believed in the Church for ages imme 
 diately succeeding the Apostolic. Thus he rejected 
 human speculation in Divine things, and settled down 
 in the conviction, as he himself states in his autobi- 
 
64 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 ography, " That we must be content chiefly, if not 
 only, both in nature and revelation, with the knowl 
 edge of facts and their design and connections, without 
 speculating much further ; that one great end of all 
 God s discoveries, both in nature and grace, is to 
 mortify our pride and self-sufficiency, to make us 
 deeply sensible of our entire dependence, and chiefly 
 to engage us to live by faith and not by sight" 
 
 A club of free-thinkers in England about this time 
 startled the nation with their bold attacks on Chris 
 tianity. Included in the members of this club were 
 Anthony Collins, Thomas Woolston, and Matthew 
 Tindall, all of whom, as if by concert, openly engaged 
 in an effort to bring discredit upon the religion of the 
 Bible, and weaken the faith of the disciples of Christ. 
 They issued their publications in succession, and at 
 tacked Christianity from different points, claiming, 
 among other things, that the miracles of Christ were 
 susceptible of a mystical interpretation, and at the 
 same time asserting that they were never actually 
 wrought. 
 
 These infidel writers were attended and followed 
 by others in the same abandoned cause, so that, as 
 Johnson says, " it seemed as if hell itself was broke 
 loose at once to undermine and demolish Christianity." 
 He read very carefully the books that were prepared 
 in defense of the truth and in confutation of the 
 principles of the free-thinkers, and thus became a 
 scholar armed and ready to do battle in his Master s 
 service. " I remember," says Chandler in his Life, 1 
 " to have heard him in conversation give an account 
 of the various attacks upon revelation, and of the 
 
 1 P. 143. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 65 
 
 defenses which they occasioned, similar to that given 
 by Leland in his View of the Deistical Writers, 
 and this too before that valuable work was published. 
 
 The loss of his parents, referred to in the previous 
 chapter, was supplied to him in a measure by the 
 birth of a child. On the 14th day of October, 1727, 
 he made an entry in his private journal in these 
 words, "This day I am 31 years old, and this 
 sevennight (October 7) it hath pleased God of his 
 goodness to give me the great blessing of a very 
 likely son, for which, and in my wife s comfortable 
 deliverance, I adore his goodness. 
 
 " Thus I am no sooner deprived of a father but I 
 am provided for with a son to supply the demands of 
 our mortal condition in this world. My only hope in 
 Thee, God, who hast been my father s God, and 
 who art my God, is, that Thou wilt be his God and 
 portion in the land of the living, and forever. I have 
 dedicated him to Thee ; sanctify him by thy grace, 
 that he may be serviceable unto Thee in the world, 
 and be fitted for and made partaker of thy glory." 
 
 The pleasant letters which follow touch upon his 
 domestic relations, and revive the recollection of 
 friendships formed while he was sojourning in Lon 
 don: 
 
 Bow LANE, Sept. 25, 1727. 
 
 REV. Sin, I have a long time wished and hoped for a 
 letter from you, but not being so happy as to receive one, I 
 am resolved to force myself into your acquaintance, hoping 
 the distance cannot hinder our good wishes to each other. 
 I heard from Dr. Cutler success attends your labors in the 
 ministry. I pray God continue health to you, and pros 
 perity to your endeavors. I cannot but wish you all 
 happiness in the change of your condition, and doubt not a 
 5 
 
66 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 man of your zeal and goodness will meet with all the bless 
 ings a married estate can allow. I should be pleased to 
 divert you with a little news, but we have none fresher than 
 the death of the good Bp. of Bath and Wells, and hope to 
 have some good man his successor. Our new King seems 
 everybody s favorite, and his Government so equitable that 
 we flatter ourselves all things will be managed to universal 
 satisfaction. 
 
 I am, dear sir, your affectionate brother, 
 
 And very humble servant, 
 
 J. SCULLARD. 
 Dr. Waterland is made a Prebend of Windsor. 
 
 Immediately on its reception Johnson replied to 
 this letter as follows : 
 
 REV. SIR, I have received yours of the 25th of Septem 
 ber, and am very much obliged to you for retaining me still 
 in your remembrance, and for this kind testimony of it, for 
 indeed I was almost afraid you had quite forgot me. But I 
 am surprised if you never received any letter from me, for 
 I have written to you once and again, and I was afraid I 
 should never have the happiness of receiving one from you. 
 But the distance makes correspondence uncertain ; however, 
 I shall be glad, and not only esteem it an happiness but an 
 honor, to receive now and then a letter from you, and you 
 may depend upon it that I shall not be wanting on my part. 
 
 I thank you for your kind congratulations upon my new 
 condition, not so new now indeed, but that I have a son, I 
 thank God, as well as a wife. I hope I shall have occasion 
 before long to congratulate you upon the like occasion, and 
 that you will be as happy in such a state as you can wish me, 
 and as happy, I thank heaven, I am as this fading world 
 and this poor country will admit of. 
 
 I am glad to hear you are all so well pleased with our new 
 King, and that we have so good a prospect of the welfare of 
 the Church under his auspicious reign. I pray God we may 
 feel the benign influences of it in these distant regions. I am 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 67 
 
 glad so good a man as Dr. Waterland is taken notice of, and 
 sorry for the good Bp. of Bath and Wells death. I shall be 
 glad to be informed who succeeds, and what other altera 
 tions and preferments occur. In hopes of which, my Lumble 
 and affectionate regards to Mr. Berriman, Wheatly, and all 
 friends. 
 
 I remain your most humble brother, 
 
 S. JOHNSON. 
 
 I have not heard who is the Rector since good Mr. Laz- 
 inby s death. 
 
 One of the most interesting portions of Johnson s 
 life was from the beginning of 1729 to the autumn of 
 1731, the period covered by the residence of Dean 
 Berkeley at Newport in Rhode Island. Before that 
 dignitary came to America, he had read his "Prin 
 ciples of Human Knowledge," and had not only 
 formed a high estimate of the ability and character 
 of the author, but had become in a measure a convert 
 to his metaphysical opinions. Desirous of conversing 
 with so extraordinary a genius and so distinguished 
 a scholar, he made a visit to Newport soon after 
 his arrival, and through his friend, the Rev. Mr. 
 Honyman, Missionary of the Church of England in 
 that place, he was introduced to the Dean, and 
 admitted to a free and full discussion of his philo 
 sophical works, and of the benevolent scheme which 
 brought him to this country. It was gratifying to 
 Johnson that in this first interview he was received 
 with such marked kindness and confidence, besides 
 being presented with those of the Dean s publications 
 which had not fallen under his eye. The personal 
 acquaintance thus begun laid the foundation of a life 
 long friendship and correspondence between two great 
 thinkers. 
 
68 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 There are glimpses of Berkeley among the wits of 
 the Court of Queen Anne, and he was intimate with 
 Steele and Addison, and a companion of Swift and 
 Pope. He had been Senior Fellow of Trinity College, 
 Dublin, in official employment as Lecturer in Divinity, 
 and preacher for the University, but resigned his 
 Fellowship in 1724 on being preferred to the Deanery 
 of Derry, an important living in the Irish Church, 
 with an annual income of about eleven hundred 
 pounds. A romance connected with Dean Swift 
 caused him to be remembered in the will of a lady 
 of Dutch descent (Miss Vanhomrigh), 1 but as he was 
 an " absolute philosopher in regard to money, titles, 
 and power," the fortune which came to him so unex 
 pectedly appears to have only ripened his conception 
 of the plan of erecting a college at Bermuda for 
 better supplying the plantations with clergymen, and 
 converting the savage Americans to Christianity. 
 
 It was about this time that he published a tract in 
 defense of the enterprise. It had taken such shape 
 in his mind, that he pleaded for it with wonderful 
 power, and was resolved to dedicate his life and 
 fortune and energies to its prosecution. An extract 
 from the humorous letter of Dean Swift to Carteret, 
 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, dated September 3, 1724, 
 may furnish the best account of his enthusiasm : 
 
 For three years past he has been struck with a notion of 
 founding a University at Bermudas by a charter from the 
 Crown. He has seduced several of the hopefullest young 
 clergymen and others here, many of them well provided for, 
 and all in the fairest way of preferment ; but in England his 
 conquests are greater, and I doubt will spread very far this 
 
 1 See Eraser s Lift and Letterg of Berkeley, Oxford, 1871, ch. iv. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 69 
 
 winter. He showed me a little Tract which he designs to 
 publish, and there your Excellency will see his whole scheme 
 of a life academico-philosophical (I shall make you remember 
 what you were) of a college founded for Indian scholars and 
 missionaries, where he most exorbitantly proposes a whole 
 hundred pounds a year for himself, forty pounds for a Fel 
 low, and ten for a Student. His heart will break if his 
 Deanery be not taken from him and left to your Excellency s 
 disposal. I discouraged him by the coldness of courts and 
 ministers who will interpret all this as impossible and a vision ; 
 but nothing will do. And, therefore, I humbly entreat your 
 Excellency either to use such persuasions as will keep one of 
 the first men in the kingdom for learning and virtue quiet 
 at home, or assist him by your credit to compass his romantic 
 design. 1 
 
 No discouragements checked the efforts of Berke 
 ley. By his persuasive eloquence he converted 
 ridiculers into friends and supporters, and obtained 
 towards the furtherance of his object private sub 
 scriptions of more than five thousand pounds. He 
 approached the throne for a charter, which was 
 finally granted, and then his influence at Court 
 secured the promise of an endowment of 20,000 
 a fraction of the value of certain lands which the 
 French, by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, had ceded 
 to the British Crown, and the proceeds of which, to 
 the amount of 80,000, the good Queen Anne had 
 designed as a fund for the support of four bishops in 
 America. Her death, the next year, prevented the 
 execution of her charitable design, and Berkeley felt 
 that he had a moral claim upon it for his own kindred 
 scheme. 
 
 Preparations for his voyage across the Atlantic 
 
 1 Works> vol. xvi. p. 469. 
 
70 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 were at last completed, and a business letter to his 
 friend, Thomas Prior, dated Gravesend, September 5, 
 1728, opens with a paragraph which has fixed his 
 torically several matters, u To-morrow, with God s 
 blessing, I set sail for Rhode Island with my wife and 
 a friend of hers, my Lady Handcock s daughter, who 
 bears us company. I am married since I saw you 
 to Miss Forster, daughter of the late Chief Justice, 1 
 whose humor and turn of mind pleases me beyond 
 anything that I know in her whole sex. Mr. James, 
 Mr. Dalton, and Mr. Smibert go with us on this 
 voyage. We are now altogether at Gravesend, and 
 are engaged in one view." 
 
 Berkeley was in middle life when he landed at 
 Newport on the 23d of January, nearly five months 
 after sailing from Gravesend, and " was ushered into 
 the town with a great number of gentlemen, to whom 
 he behaved himself after a very complaisant manner/ 
 Here he rested to think over, under new circum 
 stances, the romantic enterprise which had absorbed 
 his energies for seven long years, and purchasing a 
 tract of land in a sequestered spot, he built a com 
 modious house, which, in loyal remembrance of the 
 English palace, he named Whitehall, and waited the 
 tardy movements of Sir Robert Walpole, the prime 
 minister, to send him the funds which had been 
 promised by the Government. 
 
 It was in this retreat that he continued his philo 
 sophical investigations, and received the successive 
 visits of Johnson. The date of the first personal in 
 terview between them has not been discovered, but 
 
 1 John Forster, also Recorder of Dublin, and Speaker of the Irish House of Com 
 mons. The marriage took place August 1, 1728. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 71 
 
 as early as June 25, 1729, Berkeley wrote to him at 
 much length, in answer to objections or inquiries 
 which he had been moved to make in reference to 
 his Philosophy. Judging from its tenor it is thought 
 to have been his first letter to Johnson. He began 
 thus : 
 
 REV. SIR, The ingenious letter you favored me with 
 found me very much indisposed with a gathering or impost- 
 hum ation in my head which confined me several weeks, and 
 is now, I thank God, relieved. The objections of a candid 
 thinking man to what I have written will always be welcome, 
 and I shall not fail to give all the satisfaction I am able, not 
 without hopes either of convincing or being convinced. It is 
 a common fault for men to hate opposition, and be too much 
 wedded to their own opinions. I am so sensible of this in 
 others that I could not pardon it to myself, if I considered 
 mine any further than they seem to me to be true, which I 
 shall the better be able to judge of when they have passed 
 the scrutiny of persons so well qualified to examine them as 
 you and your friends appear to be, to whom my illness must 
 be an apology for not sending this answer sooner. 
 
 He proceeded briefly to explain or defend under 
 eleven heads the philosophic ideas which he had 
 published, and then closed his letter with words 
 which show his high respect for the intellectual force 
 and clearness of Johnson : 
 
 And now, Sir, I submit these hints (which I have hastily 
 thrown together as soon as my illness gave me leave) to your 
 own maturer thoughts, which after all you will find the best 
 instructors. What you have seen of mine was published 
 when I was very young, and without doubt hath many 
 defects. For though the notions should be true (as I verily 
 think they are), yet it is difficult to express them clearly 
 and consistently, language being framed to common use and 
 
72 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 received prejudices. I do not therefore pretend that my 
 books can teach truth. All I hope for is that they may be 
 an occasion to inquisitive men of discovering truth by consult 
 ing their own minds and looking into their own thoughts. 
 As to the Second part of my treatise concerning the principles 
 of Human Knowledge, the fact is that I had made a con 
 siderable progress in it, but the manuscript was lost about 
 fourteen years ago during my travels in Italy ; and I never 
 had leisure since to do so disagreeable a thing as writing 
 twice on the same subject. 
 
 Objections passing through your hands have their full 
 force and clearness. I like them the better. This inter 
 course with a man of parts and a philosophic genius is very 
 agreeable. I sincerely wish we w r ere nearer neighbors. 1 In 
 the mean time whenever either you or your friends favor me 
 with your thoughts, you may be sure of a punctual corre 
 spondence on my part. Before I have done I will venture to 
 recommend three points : 1. To consider well the answers I 
 have already given in my books to several objections. 2. To 
 consider whether any new objection that shall occur doth not 
 suppose the doctrine of abstract general ideas. 3. Whether 
 the difficulties proposed in objection to my scheme can be 
 solved by the contrary, for if they cannot, it is plain they 
 can be no objection to mine. 
 
 I know not whether you have got my treatise concerning 
 the principles of Human Knowledge. I intend to send it 
 with my tract De Motu. If you know of a safe hand favor 
 me with a line, and I will make use of that opportunity to 
 send them. My humble service to your friends, to whom I 
 understand myself indebted for some part of your letter. 
 I am, your very faithful, humble serv t, 
 
 GEOR. BERKELEY. 
 
 The correspondence thus begun was continued, and 
 the following letter, written after Berkeley was well 
 settled in his own house, indicates that the two had 
 
 1 The distance from Stratford to Newport is about 120 miles. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 73 
 
 been brought face to face in the discussion of great 
 metaphysical questions, and that further conversation 
 was needed to " set several things in a fuller and 
 clearer light : " 
 
 REV. SIK, Yours of Feb. 5th came not to my hands 
 before yesterday ; and this afternoon being informed that a 
 sloop is ready to sail towards your town, I would not let 
 slip the opportunity of returning you an answer, though 
 wrote in a hurry. 
 
 1. I have no objection against calling the ideas in the mind 
 of God, archetypes of ours. But I object against those arche 
 types by philosophers supposed to be real things, and to 
 have an absolute rational existence distinct from their being 
 perceived by any mind whatsoever, it being the opinion of 
 all materialists that an ideal existence in the divine mind is 
 one thing, and the real existence of material things another. 
 
 2. As to space, I have no notion of any but that which 
 is relative. I know some late philosophers have attributed 
 extension to God, particularly mathematicians ; one of whom, 
 in a treatise de Spatio reali, pretends to find out fifteen of 
 the incommunicable attributes of God in space. But it 
 seems to me that, they being all negative, he might as well 
 have found them in nothing ; and that it would have been 
 as justly inferred from space being impassive, increated, in 
 divisible, etc., that it was nothing, as that it was God. 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton supposeth an absolute space different 
 from relative, and consequent thereto, absolute motion dif 
 ferent from relative motion ; and with all other mathema 
 ticians, he supposeth the infinite divisibility of the finite 
 parts of this absolute space ; he also supposeth material 
 bodies to drift therein. Now, though I do acknowledge Sir 
 Isaac to have been an extraordinary man, and most profound 
 mathematician, yet I cannot agree with him in these particu 
 lars. I make no scruple to use the word space, as well as all 
 other words in common use, but I do not mean thereby a 
 distinct absolute being. For my meaning I refer you to what 
 I have published. 
 
74 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 By the TO vvi I suppose to be implied that all things past and 
 to come are actually present to the mind of God, and that 
 there is in Him no change, variation, or succession. A suc 
 cession of ideas I take to constitute time, and not to be only 
 the sensible measure thereof, as Mr. Locke and others think. 
 But in these matters every man is to think for himself, and 
 speak as he finds. One of my earliest inquiries was about 
 time, which led me into several paradoxes that I did not 
 think fit or necessary to publish, particularly into the notion 
 that the resurrection follows next moment to death. We 
 are confounded and perplexed about time. (1.) Supposing 
 a succession in God. (2.) Conceiving that we have an 
 abstract idea of time. (3.) Supposing that the time in one 
 mind is to be measured by the succession of ideas in another. 
 (4.) Not considering the true use and end of words, which 
 as often terminate in the will as the understanding, being 
 employed rather to excite, influence, and direct action than 
 to produce clear and distinct ideas. 
 
 3. That the soul of man is passive as well as active I 
 make no doubt. Abstract general ideas was a notion that 
 Mr. Locke held in common with the Schoolmen, and I think 
 all other philosophers ; it runs through his whole book of 
 Human Understanding. He holds an abstract idea of exist 
 ence exclusive of perceiving and being perceived. I cannot 
 find I have any such idea, and this is my reason against it. 
 Descartes proceeds upon other principles. One square foot 
 of snow is as white as one thousand yards ; one single per 
 ception is as truly a perception as one hundred. Now any 
 degree of perception being sufficient to existence, it will not 
 follow that we should say one existed more at one time than 
 another, any more than we should say one thousand yards of 
 snow are whiter than one yard. But after all, this comes to 
 a verbal dispute. I think it might prevent a good deal of 
 obscurity and dispute to examine well what I have said about 
 abstraction, and about the true use of sense and significancy 
 of words, in several parts of these things that I have pub 
 lished, though much remains to be said on that subject. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 75 
 
 You say you agree with me that there is nothing within 
 your mind but God and other spirits, with the attributes 
 or properties belonging to them, and the ideas contained 
 in them. This is a principle or main point from which, and 
 from what I had laid down about abstract ideas, much may 
 be deduced. But if in every inference we should not agree, 
 so long as the main points are settled and well understood, 
 I should be less solicitous about particular conjectures. I 
 could wish that all the things I have published on these 
 philosophical subjects were read in the order wherein I pub 
 lished them, once to take the design and connection of them, 
 and a second time with a critical eye, adding your own 
 thought and observation upon every part as you went along. 
 I send you herewith ten bound books and one unbound. 
 You will take yourself what you have not already. You 
 will give the principles, the theory, the dialogue, one of each, 
 with my service to the gentleman who is Fellow of New 
 Haven College, whose compliments you brought to me. 
 What remains you will give as you please. 
 
 If at any time your affairs should draw you into these 
 parts, you shall be very welcome to pass as many days as 
 you can spend at my house. Four or five days conversation 
 would set several things in a fuller and clearer light than 
 writing could do in as many months. In the mean time I 
 shall be glad to hear from you or your friends whenever you 
 please to favor, Rev. Sir, 
 
 Your very humble serv t, 
 
 GEOE. BEEKELEY. 
 
 Pray let me know whether they would admit the writings 
 of Hooker and Chillingworth into the library of the College 
 in New Haven. 
 
 RHODE ISLAND, March 24, 1729-30. 
 
 Johnson was at Newport and preached November 1, 
 1730, and he may have taken an earlier opportunity 
 for the " four or five days conversation." Whenever 
 
76 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 the interview was held, other subjects besides phil 
 osophy must have entered into their discussions. For 
 Berkeley had already begun to realize the painful un 
 certainty which hung over his prospects, and to feel 
 that the crisis of the Bermuda College was approach 
 ing. The money promised by the Government had 
 not been sent, and he wrote a letter to Prior on the 
 7th of May, 1730, manifesting much solicitude about 
 the Ministerial delays, and intimating that he had no 
 intention of continuing in these parts, if the grant 
 of 20,000 was in the end to be positively refused. 
 At one time he entertained the thought of applying 
 for permission to change the original plan and trans 
 fer the College to Rhode Island, where he had ex 
 pended largely for lands and buildings, and where the 
 chief objections raised against placing it in Bermuda 
 would be obviated. But he quickly relinquished this 
 idea, and at length his hopes were entirely crushed 
 when the conclusive answer came from Walpole, 
 " advising him by all means to return home to Eu 
 rope, and give up his present expectations." He 
 bore his great disappointment like a philosopher, and 
 a good picture of his feelings is given in the work l 
 which he wrote " in this distant retreat, far beyond 
 the verge of that great whirlpool of business, faction, 
 and pleasure, which is called the world : " 
 
 I flattered myself, Theages, that before this time I might 
 have been able to have sent you an agreeable account of the 
 success of the affair which brought me into this remote corner 
 of the country. But instead of this, I should now give you 
 the detail of its miscarriage, if I did not rather choose to 
 entertain you with some amusing incidents which have 
 
 1 Alciphron ; or, the Minute Philosopher, in Seven Dialogues. Two vols. Printed 
 in London, 1732. A second edition appeared in the same year. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 77 
 
 helped to make me easy under a circumstance I could neither 
 obviate nor foresee. Events are not in our power ; but it 
 always is, to make a good use even of the very worst. And 
 I must needs own, the course and event of this affair gave 
 opportunity for reflections that make me some amends for 
 a great loss of time, pains, and expense. A life of action, 
 which takes its issue from the counsels, passions, and views 
 of other men, if it doth not draw a man to imitate, will at 
 least teach him to observe. And a mind at liberty to reflect 
 on its own observations, if it produce nothing useful to the 
 world, seldom fails of entertainment to itself. 1 
 
 It is due to Johnson that the self-sacrificing and 
 missionary enterprise of Berkeley was not wholly a 
 failure, or rather that his name was held in grateful 
 remembrance in America after his return to England. 
 When it had been decided to break up and leave 
 Whitehall and the country, he paid him a final visit 
 and received from him many valuable books, and to 
 use his own words, they " parted very affectionately." 
 Nor was this all. Both were deeply interested in the 
 cause of learning, and Johnson took the liberty of 
 commending to his friendly notice the institution 
 where he had himself been educated, notwithstand 
 ing the continued hostility of the authorities to the 
 Church of England. He was in Khode Island, July, 
 1731, and on the 4th day of that month, according 
 to his own note, preached " before the Dean," a ser 
 mon from the text, " For in Christ Jesus neither 
 circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, 
 but a new creature." This was undoubtedly his final 
 visit when they " agreed " together about the books, 
 and discussed the matters of the College ; but letters 
 passed between them afterwards, and Berkeley, on the 
 
 i P. 2, vol. i. 2d ed. 
 
78 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 eve of his departure, wrote his great American friend 
 as follows : 
 
 REV. SIR, I am now upon the point of setting out for 
 Boston in order to embark for England. But the hurry I 
 am in could not excuse my neglecting to acknowledge the 
 favor of your letter. In answer to the obliging things in 
 it, I can only say I wish I might deserve them. 
 
 My endeavors shall not be wanting, some way or other, to 
 be useful ; and I should be very glad to be so in particular 
 to the College at New Haven, and the more as you were 
 once a member of it, and have still an influence there. Pray 
 return my service to those gentlemen who sent their com 
 pliments by you. 
 
 I have left a box of books with Mr. Kay, to be given away 
 by you, the small English books where they may be most 
 serviceable among the people, the others as we agreed to 
 gether. The Greek and Latin books I would have given to 
 such lads as you think will make the best use of them in the 
 College, or to the school at New Haven. 
 
 I pray God to bless you and your endeavors to promote 
 religion and learning in this uncultivated part of the world, 
 and desire you to accept mine and my wife s best wishes and 
 services, being very truly, Rev. Sir, 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 GEOR. BERKELEY. 
 
 RHODE ISLAND, Sept. 7, 1731. 
 
 Berkeley s gifts to Yale College were through the 
 agency of Johnson. To him was transmitted from Eng 
 land the instrument by which he conveyed to the cor 
 poration his farm at Whitehall of ninety-six acres, 
 the annual proceeds to be used for the purpose of 
 encouraging Greek and Latin scholarship : and he 
 so interested some of his Bermuda subscribers in the 
 American College, that with their assistance he was 
 enabled to send over in 1733 a donation to the library 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 79 
 
 of nearly one thousand volumes, valued at about 
 .500 : " The finest collection of books" according to 
 President Clap, " which had then ever been brought 
 to America." 
 
 The letter to Johnson which accompanied " the in 
 strument of conveyance," has not been published, or 
 even referred to in any sketch of his life and bene 
 factions ; and that to Rector Williams is not to be 
 found among the archives of Yale College. A little 
 doubt has been raised about Johnson s sole agency in 
 the matter, and the motive which actuated him and 
 the Dean ; l but this letter removes it, and at the same 
 time shows the singleness of the donor s intentions 
 and the forecast of his mind as to a course after 
 graduation. He appears to have been the first to 
 suggest its advantages : 
 
 LONDON, July 25, 1732. 
 
 REV. SIR, Some part of the benefactions to the College 
 of Bermuda, which I could not return, the benefactors being 
 deceased, joined with the assistance of some living friends, 
 
 1 President Stiles, in his Diary, says Johnson " persuaded the Dean to believe that 
 Yale College would soon become Episcopal, and that they had received his immaterial 
 philosophy. This or some other motive influenced the Dean to make a donation of 
 his Rhode Island farm, ninety-six acres, with a library of about a thousand vol 
 umes, to Yale College, in 1733. This donation was certainly procured very much 
 through the instrumentality of Rev. Dr. Jared Eliot and Rev. Dr. Johnson." 
 
 The latter writing to Abp. Seeker, March, 1759, and referring to efforts of the Con 
 gregational ministers to depreciate the work of the missionaries, said : "I main 
 tained all along a very friendly correspondence with the chief men among them, 
 and endeavored to do them all the good offices I could, and in particular I procured a 
 noble donation from Bishop Berkeley for their College in land and books to the value 
 of nigh 2,000 sterling. But behold the gratitude of these men. At the same time 
 that I was doing them these good offices, they were contriving and did send to the 
 Bishop of London a long letter, full of gross falsehoods and misrepresentations, of 
 complaint against us with a view to get all the church people deprived of their min 
 isters, and then of their subsistence, which he laid before the Society, and which I be 
 lieve your Grace may find among papers of the year 1735. In reply to which the 
 Society gave them leave to produce evidence to make good their complaints against 
 us, which they endeavored to do, but could make nothing of it." 
 
80 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 has enabled me without any great loss to myself, to dispose 
 of my farm in Rhode Island in favor of the College in Con 
 necticut. It is my opinion that as human learning and the 
 improvements of Reason are of no small use in Religion, so 
 it would very much forward those ends, if some of your stu 
 dents were enabled to subsist longer at their studies, and if 
 by a public tryal and premium an Emulation were inspired 
 into all. This method of encouragement hath been found 
 useful in other learned societies, and I think it cannot fail 
 of being so in one where a person so well qualified as yourself 
 has such influence, and will bear a share in the elections. 
 I have been a long time indisposed with a great disorder in 
 my head ; this makes any application hurtful to me, which 
 must excuse my not writing a longer letter on this occasion. 
 The letter you sent by Mr. Beach 1 I received and did 
 him all the service I could with the Bishop of London and 
 the Society. He promised to call on me before his return, 
 but have not heard of him, so am obliged to recommend 
 this pacquet to Mr. Newman s care. It contains the in 
 strument of conveyance 2 in form of law, together with a let- 
 
 1 Rev. John Beach of Newtown. 
 
 a The farm contained ninety-six acres more or less, and was worth at the time, 
 one hundred pounds sterling. It was leased March 25th, 1763, to John Whiting for 
 nine hundred and ninety-nine years. The President and Fellows of Yale College 
 recited in the agreement, that they had " found upon the experience of thirty years 
 past that by leasing said farm on short leases, the housing and fences have greatly 
 gone to decay, the wood destroyed, and the farm not improved to so good an advan 
 tage as land cultivated by freeholders, which is likely to be the case for some cen 
 turies while land is so plenty in this country ; upon mature consideration whereof 
 and the advice of Rev. George Berkeley, the son of the generous donor, and sundry 
 other gentlemen learned in the law, and skilled in the best economy," the annual 
 rent, from March 25th, 1763, to March 25th, 1769, was fixed at 72 ounces of silver 
 money, besides requiring about 300 rods of stone wall to be made upon the prem 
 ises ; from 1769 to 1810, 144 ounces of silver money ; and from 1810, to the termi 
 nation of the lease 240 bushels of good merchantable wheat or its value. 
 
 Whiting assigned his lease to other parties, and subsequently a new one was given 
 for the remainder of the period, fixing the annual rent from 1769 to 1789 at 100 
 ounces of silver money ; from 1789 to 1810 at 126 ounces of silver money ; and after 
 1810 at 210 bushels of wheat. 
 
 A party wishing to buy the lease, wrote March 2d, 1799, that the rent was too 
 great after 1810 ; and the corporation therefore voted the next year that the tenant 
 hould pay $130 annually for ten years, and after that $140. 
 
 The latest lease was executed May 18th, 1801, by Timothy Dwight, President of 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 81 
 
 ter for Mr. President Williams, which you will deliver to 
 him. I shall make it my endeavor to procure a benefaction 
 of books for the College library, and am not without hopes 
 of success. There hath of late been published here a treatise 
 against those who are called Free Thinkers, which I intended 
 to have sent fco you and some other friends in those parts, but 
 on second thoughts suspect it might do mischief to have it 
 known in that part of the world what pernicious opinions 
 are boldly espoused here at home. My little family, I thank 
 God, are well. My best wishes attend you and yours. 
 My wife joins her services with mine. I shall be glad to 
 hear from you by the first opportunity after this hath come 
 to your hands. Direct your letter to Lord Percival, at his 
 house in Pall-Mall, London, and it will be sure to find me 
 wherever I am. On all occasions I shall be glad to show 
 that I am very truly, Rev. Sir, 
 
 Your faithful humble serv 4 ., 
 
 GEOK. BEBKELEY. 
 
 Johnson, in his autobiography, mentions that " the 
 Trustees, though they made an appearance of much 
 thankfulness, were almost afraid to accept the noble 
 donation," suspecting a proselytizing design, and 
 remembering the effect in previous years of Anglican 
 divinity upon the minds of some of their leading 
 scholars. But wiser counsels prevailed, the books 
 and lands were received, and Berkeley maintained a 
 friendly correspondence with the authorities of the 
 College to the end of his life. 
 
 His well-known philosophical work, published the 
 year after his return to England, attracted the atten 
 tion of learned men, and while many rejected his 
 
 Yale College, in favor of Paul Wightman, his heirs and assigns forever, fixing the rent 
 at $140 per annum from March 25th, 1810, to March 25th, 2761. See Records of T. C. 
 The Farm is now estimated to be worth $100,000, and if it had been kept in 
 possession of the College, Berkeley s gift would have been a vastly greater stimulus 
 to classical scholarship. 
 6 
 
82 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 speculative spirit, none denied the greatness of his 
 intellect and the purity of his Christian character. 
 It was some compensation for the disappointment of 
 his cherished hopes that so far from being overlooked 
 at Court, he was promoted to the See of Cloyne, 
 a secluded bishopric in the southern part of his na 
 tive Ireland, to which he was consecrated on Sunday, 
 the 19th of May, 1734. In this retired spot, where 
 he was almost as much out of the world as he had 
 been at Newport, he found leisure to pursue his fa 
 vorite studies, and to keep up by letter a tolerably 
 frequent intercourse with his congenial friend on this 
 side of the Atlantic. 
 
 Johnson became a thorough convert to his system, 
 and owned his obligations to Berkeley in removing 
 many difficulties that had hitherto attended his phil 
 osophical and theological inquiries. As he himself 
 says in his autobiography, " he found the Dean s way 
 of thinking and explaining things, utterly precluded 
 skepticism, and left no room for endless doubts and un 
 certainties. His denying matter at first seemed shock 
 ing ; but it was only for the want of giving a thorough 
 attention to his meaning. It was only the unintelli 
 gible scholastic notion of matter he disputed, and not 
 anything either sensible, imaginable, or intelligible ; 
 and it was attended with this vast advantage, that it 
 not only gave new incontestible proofs of a Deity, but 
 moreover, the most striking apprehensions of his 
 constant presence with us and inspection over us. 
 and of our entire dependence on Him and infinite 
 obligations to his most wise and almighty benevo 
 lence." 
 
 The history of philosophic thought was blended to 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 83 
 
 some extent with the infidelity of the times, but 
 Berkeley went a great deal deeper and wider than 
 those who treated his theories roughly and pro 
 nounced them fallacious and bewildering. It was his 
 design in " Alciphron ; or, the Minute Philosopher/ 
 to vindicate the Christian religion, and overcome the 
 various objections of atheists, fatalists, enthusiasts, lib 
 ertines, scorners, critics, metaphysicians, and skeptics. 
 Years before, while present at one of the deistical 
 clubs in London, he had heard a " noted writer l 
 against Christianity declare that he had found out 
 a demonstration against the being of a God ; " and 
 though the thing was palpably false, he was ready 
 to disprove it, and thereby to encourage a religious 
 faith in the constancy of a Divine and superintending 
 Power. Johnson was doubly careful to guard the 
 truth, for he had under his eye at this time, and 
 directed in their theological studies, young men, who, 
 having finished their collegiate course, declared for 
 Episcopacy, and were preparing to proceed to Eng 
 land for ordination. The following letter, otherwise 
 interesting, mentions two, Isaac Browne and John 
 Pierson, graduates of Yale Collge in 1729 : 
 
 DEAR SIR, I am obliged to you for introducing me into 
 the company of such worthy gentlemen as Mr. Browne and 
 Mr. Pierson, and doubt not but they will ever be a credit 
 to their Tutor, and a light and ornament to the Church in 
 your parts ; and I hope their success will prove an encour 
 agement to others. 
 
 I might now send you a long account of the bustle we 
 have had here about laying an excise on wine and tobacco, 
 which has put the whole nation in a flame that will not 
 presently be quenched, of the divided state we have been 
 in as to peace and war, by the affairs of Poland, where we 
 
 1 Anthony Collins. 
 
84 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 suppose a king is chosen by this time, but as yet know not 
 who is the person, of the death of that infamous author 
 Tindal, etc., etc., but you will have a better and more 
 particular account by word of mouth, to which therefore I 
 refer you, and am 
 
 Your hearty friend and servant, 
 
 J. BERRIMAN. 
 
 SCOTCH YARD, August 31, 1733. 
 
 Another letter from the same clergyman, written 
 six months later, reveals the uneasiness which was 
 then felt about the nomination to a vacant see of one 
 who was accused of unsound theology, especially of 
 Arianism, and of giving to portions of the Old Testa 
 ment an allegorical interpretation : 
 
 DEAR SIR, .... Dean Berkeley was lately made 
 a bishop in Ireland. There is a great bustle with us about 
 the nomination of a new bishop to the See of Gloucester, the 
 like to which I know not whether any history can parallel. 
 There is one Dr. Rundle named by our new Lord Chancellor, 
 son to the late Bishop of Durham (Talbot), to whom the 
 Doctor was Chaplain. The Bishop of London makes a vigor 
 ous stand against him, and it is said twenty of the bishops 
 have declared they will have no hand in his consecration. It 
 is objected against him, that he has said these words, or to 
 this effect, that Abraham was an old dotard, and that no 
 man in his senses could believe that God would command him 
 to sacrifice his son. There are two clergymen, one of which 
 is (Dr. Stebbing) preacher at Gray s Inn, and chaplain to 
 the King, who will make good this charge against him upon 
 oath, to prevent his confirmation ; though if the court will 
 have it so, we reckon all opposition will be in vain. This 
 matter has been a good while in suspense, and God only 
 knows how it will end. He knows how to bring good out of 
 evil, and may He order all for good. 
 
 I am very heartily, yours, etc., 
 
 F6.i5, 1734. J. BERRIMAN. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 85 
 
 And Johnson replied as follows : 
 
 August 18, 1734. 
 
 DEAR SIR, I very thankfully received yours of February 
 15, and am deeply affected with the story you tell me about 
 Dr. Ruiidle. It seems the enemies of Christianity are re 
 solved to leave no stone unturned in order to demolish it. 
 This contrivance of endeavoring to furnish out the bench 
 of bishops with infidels, is a notable step, which I doubt not 
 but they will further pursue as the times will bear it. I 
 conclude the favorite doctor is consecrated before now, for 
 I have since heard that all the foundation of the outcry 
 against him, was only that he said there were some allego 
 ries in the Old Testament, and that he was horridly abused, 
 and so it was likely to be hushed up. I shall be much obliged 
 to you to let me know what is the true event of this affair, 
 and who succeeds at York and Winchester, and is likely to 
 succeed at Canterbury ; and what other events occur ; espe 
 cially about the progress of infidelity, which, with many other 
 things, seems to have a most ominous aspect on our poor 
 Church and nation. Notwithstanding infidelity, I hope the 
 Church of England will yet more and more take root down 
 ward, and bear fruit upward in these American parts, where 
 several dissenting ministers are, and many people have been 
 hastening into her bosom. A worthy gentleman, one Mr. 
 Arnold, has lately left them and come over to us ; he had 
 been my successor ; he only wants to be encouraged by the 
 Society (with whom things at present, I perceive, run pretty 
 low) to come over for ordination ; in the mean time will do 
 all the good he can in a lay capacity. My very humble 
 service to the Doctor, Mr. Scullard, and all friends. 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your most affectionate friend and humble servant, 
 
 S. J. 
 
 A second letter from his friend touching the case of 
 Dr. Rundle gives a fuller explanation of it, and has 
 a postscript which shows the extent to which an in 
 fidel moralist in that age dared to proceed : 
 
86 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 DEAK SIR, Yours of Aug. last came safely to me by 
 the post ; and since that I have had a packet from Dr. 
 Cutler, in which came your second letter to a Dissenter, 
 which I read over with great pleasure, and for which I now 
 return you many thanks. You have had, I find, wrong ac 
 counts of Dr. Rundle s promotion, though before this you 
 may have been set right by the public news. He did not 
 get the Bishopric of Gloucester, at last, but since that dis 
 pute has got one of more than three times the value of that, 
 
 which is Londonderry, Ireland. The great Sir R said he 
 
 could not do without the Ch 1 r, and he must be obliged. 
 I forgot whether I told you that Dr. R. had been charged 
 with saying that Abraham w r as an old dotard and that no man 
 could believe God should command him to sacrifice his son, 
 and that Dr. Stebbing, chaplain to the King, and Mr. Venn, 
 minister of S* Antholin s, were his accusers ; but besides this, 
 the opposition he met with from the Bishop of London was 
 grounded on strong suspicions of his being in the Arian 
 scheme. 
 
 The Abp. of York (Dr. Blackburn) is still living. Bp. 
 Hoadly is translated from Sarum to Winchester, and tis 
 thought as matters now stand, if Abp. Wake should die, the 
 Bp. of London will go to Canterbury, though an alteration 
 at Court may possibly give Dr. Sherlock the advantage. Dr. 
 Benson is promoted to the See of Gloucester, and Dr. Seeker, 
 who succeeded Dr. Clark at St. James s, is made Bp. of Bris 
 tol, the late Bp. Herring being translated to Bangor in the 
 room of Bp. Sherlock, translated to Salisbury, and Dr. Flem 
 ing, late Dean of Carlisle, is made Bp. of that See in the room 
 of Bp. Waugh, deceased. Benson and Seeker were Preben 
 daries of Durham, and both ( tis said) promoted to appease 
 the Ch 1 r, but nothing would do till Rundle was made 
 a bishop. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your affectionate friend and humble servant, 
 
 J. BERRLMAN. 
 
 SCOTCH YARD, Apr. 5, 1 735. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 87 
 
 There has been lately published a book here which strikes 
 a note higher in the scheme of infidel morality than perhaps 
 you ever heard of, and that is to show fornication to be a 
 necessary duty. Increase and multiply is the duty ; and 
 adultery itself is justified to promote this end, but besides all 
 this the book is wrote in the grave way with prayers and 
 praises and other instances of blasphemy. The bookseller 
 is taken up by the King s messenger. The author is said in 
 the title page to be a clergyman. I hear he is one of the 
 Kirk of Scotland. 
 
 The Church of England in Connecticut was sur 
 rounded from the beginning with bitter opponents. 
 By this time others had followed the example of 
 Johnson in leaving the Congregational ministry and 
 conforming to Episcopacy, and among the people a 
 spirit of religious inquiry had been awakened which 
 it was not easy to check. The case of John Beach, 
 born in Stratford and graduated at Yale College in 
 1721, attracted much attention. For eight years he 
 had been settled over the Independents or Congre- 
 gationalists at Newtown, about twenty miles distant 
 from the place of his nativity, and was a " popular 
 and insinuating young man," but early in 1732, he 
 publicly informed his people of a change in his views, 
 and declared his determination to cross the Atlantic 
 and receive holy orders in the Church of England. 
 At the instance of his friends, he was sent back by the 
 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel with the 
 appointment of a missionary in the town and vicin 
 ity where he had lately ministered and was so well 
 known, beloved, and respected. The following extract 
 from a letter of Johnson to the Bishop of London 
 dated April 5, 1732, refers to his character and con 
 version : 
 
88 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 .... My Lord, as the Church here has been very unfor 
 tunate in the defeat of the noble design of the Reverend the 
 Dean of Londonderry, which, especially if it had been exe 
 cuted on the Continent, would have been of great advantage 
 to the interest of religion and learning in America, so it has, 
 on the other hand, been happy since in the conversion (be 
 sides a number of other good people) of the worthy persons 
 who have all had a public education in the neighboring Col 
 lege, and two of them have been dissenting teachers ; two of 
 them will go into other business, and one of them is Mr. 
 Beach, the bearer hereof, whom I know, by long experience 
 of him (he having been heretofore my pupil, and ever since 
 my neighbor) to be a very ingenuous and studious person, 
 and a truly serious and conscientious Christian ; but I forbear 
 to say anything further of his case, and refer your Lordship 
 to our joint recommendation of him. 
 
 The conformity of Mr. Beach to Episcopacy, not 
 withstanding the admitted excellence of his character, 
 stirred up his " congregationalist neighbors " more 
 than any former defections from their ranks, and a 
 sharp controversy arose which reached on through 
 many years. There was much in the prevalent teach 
 ing of the day that savored of bigotry. The sin of 
 covenant breaking was charged upon those who left 
 the Congregational order, and Johnson drew up and 
 published, partly at the instance of William Beach, a 
 brother of the above named clergyman, a tract to meet 
 this charge, and give plain reasons for conforming to 
 the Church. He was answered by John Graham, a 
 Presbyterian minister in Southbury, and a reply and 
 rejoinder followed. The tracts of Johnson were in the 
 form of " Letters from a Minister of the Church of 
 England to his Dissenting Parishioners," and he wrote 
 three of them, the second of which he began with 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 89 
 
 paragraphs that outline the history of the move 
 ment : 
 
 My writing my former letter to take off the aspersions 
 which have been injuriously cast upon the Church, was 
 principally occasioned by this very J. G., who, without any 
 manner of provocation, had (as some of his friends have 
 owned) written a scurrilous paper or verses which did most 
 abominably misrepresent and abuse the Church, and tend to 
 beget in people a very wrong notion of it, and a bitter un 
 charitable temper towards it ; and now, in spite of all the 
 caution and tenderness wherewith I endeavored to conduct 
 myself, both in my conversation and letter, is still resolved 
 to go on reproaching and misrepresenting us, and setting us 
 in all the odious and ridiculous lights he can invent. For 
 my part, I sincerely aimed at reconciling the difference be 
 tween you and us, and composing our spirits as far as I was 
 able, that if possible we might come at a right understanding 
 of each other, and a good agreement ; or at least if we could 
 not attain to think alike, that we might not think hardly, 
 censoriously, or injuriously of each other, and might live in 
 tolerable good peace and charity one with another. But 
 this man is resolved to set and keep us still at variance, and 
 to blow up the fire of contention and uncharitableness, and 
 all, forsooth, under the pretense of doing justice ! though 
 you will find by what follows, that his remarks are in truth 
 one continued piece of injustice. 
 
 As Johnson was the leading spirit among the Epis 
 copal clergy in the New England and northern col 
 onies, the defense of the Church fell to his pen, and 
 it is surprising that he found time with all his mis 
 sionary duties to write so much and so ably. The 
 people read the publications with avidity, and many 
 who had hitherto believed the Church to be full of 
 " Popery, Arminianism, and the inventions of men/ 
 became acquainted with the Liturgy, and were so 
 
UO LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 persuaded of its Scriptural character, that they with 
 drew from their former connections and attached 
 themselves to the Anglican Communion. His ability 
 as a controversialist was early recognized on the other 
 side, and the following curious letter from one of his 
 friends pays him a compliment and gives a scrap of 
 history worth preserving : 
 
 ETON COLLEGE, Sept. 29, 1 735. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Dr. Cutler lately communicated to me your 
 2d controversial letter, for which I am obliged to him and 
 the author. It were to be wished, that a clergyman s atten 
 tion were not called off from the work of the ministry by the 
 opposition of unreasonable men ; but I am glad the cause 
 has found so able a defender. 
 
 I send these lines by my friends who accompany Mr. 
 Oglethorpe to Georgia; they go purely out of a religious 
 motive ; a circumstance not so common among our American 
 Missionaries. They all are members of the University of 
 Oxford, men of piety, learning, and zeal. Mr. John Wesley, 
 Fellow of Lincoln College, Mr. Charles Wesley, student of 
 Ch. Ch., Mr. Hall of Lincoln, and Mr. Salmon of Brasenose 
 all clergymen. We promise to ourselves much good from 
 their pious endeavors under the assistance and influence of 
 Mr. Oglethorpe, and that with regard both [to] the Indians 
 to whom two of them go as missionaries, and to the colony 
 itself. Your good offices in corresponding with them, and 
 advising and assisting them in any respect, would be kindly 
 accepted by them and me. 
 
 I continue still a member of the University, though not 
 Fellow of C. C. C. I am Fellow of Eton Coif: near Wind 
 sor, and have a good living between that place and Oxford. 
 If in any respect I can be serviceable to you, my best offices 
 are at your command. 
 
 Your affectionate friend. 
 
 JOHN BURTON. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 91 
 
 In answering this letter which reached him about 
 a year after its date, Johnson said it would be " a 
 mighty pleasure " to him, indeed, if he were so sit 
 uated as to converse or hold any correspondence with 
 ki gentlemen of so worthy a character;" but as the 
 distance from New England to Georgia was not much 
 short of a thousand miles, and no trade as yet settled 
 between the colonies, there was little prospect that he 
 could render them essential service. He added at the 
 close of his letter : " I thank you also for the candor 
 you express towards the poor performance Dr. Cutler 
 sent you. Controversy is what I have neither tal 
 ents nor inclination for, but the most abusive mis 
 representations of the Church which our adversaries 
 disseminate among the people has made something 
 of this kind in a manner necessary." 
 
92 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Librar. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE ; MEMORIAL TO THE GENERAL AS 
 SEMBLY OF CONNECTICUT ; LETTERS TO BERKELEY ; WHITE- 
 FIELD IN NEW ENGLAND AND RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASM; COM 
 PLAINT TO THE COMMISSARY ; THE CLERGY OF CONNECTICUT 
 PETITIONING FOR A RESIDENT COMMISSARY, AND ASKING THAT 
 
 JOHNSON BE APPOINTED ; DOCTOR S DEGREE FROM THE UNI 
 VERSITY OF OXFORD. 
 
 A. D. 1736-1743. 
 
 BESIDES his extensive correspondence in this coun 
 try, upon Johnson devolved the chief duty of com 
 municating with friends at home, and keeping them 
 informed of everything here that concerned the gen 
 eral prosperity of the Church. His letters 1 to the 
 Bishops and to the Secretary of the Society for the 
 Propagation of the Gospel are numerous, and, for that 
 period, minute in their details. He watched every 
 movement that bore hardly upon the labors of the 
 missionaries, and promptly suggested means of redress 
 and encouragement. He advocated without ceasing 
 the appointment of bishops for America, as the best 
 plan of settling the Church upon a sure foundation, 
 and saving it from the reproach of enemies. This 
 thought was so constantly in his mind that he some 
 times felt obliged to apologize for referring to it, as 
 the following letter from the Bishop of Gloucester 
 will show, written under date of 
 
 * See Church Documents, Connecticut, vols. i. and ii., and author s History of Epis 
 copal Church in Connecticut, vol. i. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 93 
 
 LONDON, March 9, 173|. 
 
 SIK, You needed no apology for any application you 
 could make to me in relation to anything wherein you might 
 think me capable of serving the Church in America. I wish 
 my capacity were equal to my desire of doing it. No one 
 is more sensible of the difficulties in general you labor 
 under in those parts, and in particular of those you complain 
 of for want of a bishop residing among you. My own interest 
 to be sure is inconsiderable ; but the united interests of the 
 bishops here is not powerful enough to effect so reasonable 
 and right a thing as the sending some bishops into America. 
 The person whom you have sent hither to be ordained is 
 a very sensible, and seems to be a serious man, and it is 
 plain that he came over with no view to his private inter 
 ests ; his only motive could be to embrace what he thought to 
 be right, and his only desire now seems to be to be rendered 
 as serviceable as possible to the Church of Christ. I wish we 
 could have sent him back to you in a post and with a salary 
 better suited to his deserts ; but however small the salary 
 may seem, the income of the Society is so very low at pres 
 ent, that we were forced to break through some of our 
 rules and regulations to allot this salary small as it is. I 
 wrote a letter to the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford to recom 
 mend these gentlemen l to the University for the favor of a 
 Degree, and I have since received a letter from him to ac 
 quaint me that the degree of Master of Arts is by Diploma 
 conferred upon each of them. I wish Mr. Caner, who has the 
 character from you and every one of a very deserving man, 
 might acquire a better state of health by his journey hither. 
 
 The Bishop of Cloyne has for some time been in a very 
 bad state of health, but by a letter I have just received 
 from him I have the pleasure to hear he is better than he 
 was. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your faithful servant and affectionate Brother, 
 
 M. GLOUCESTER. 
 
 l Jonathan Arnold and Rev. Henry Caner. 
 
94 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 The plea was early set up, and it had its influence 
 with the home government, that the establishment of 
 bishops in America would lead to an independence 
 of the Colonies. Allusion is made to this, and the 
 idea spurned in a letter of Johnson to the Bishop of 
 London, written 
 
 Nov. 3, 1 738. 
 
 MY LORD, I most humbly thank your Lordship for your 
 kind letter of February 3d, and in answer to it can only la 
 ment the unhappiness of the times, and that it is not even in 
 your Lordship s power to do those great and good services 
 to the Church in general and here in America in particu 
 lar, which you would gladly and have faithfully labored to 
 do. All I can say is, that though it is a most unaccounta 
 ble way of reasoning to conclude in us Americans any dis 
 position towards an independency on our mother country 
 from our general desire of bishops to preside over us, the 
 reverse of which is the truth, yet since it is thus (and 
 doubtless there are many more instances as strange as this 
 in the reasoning of this desperate age), we must patiently 
 submit and wait upon Providence till it shall please God 
 to enlighten the minds of men, and send us better times. 
 I have delayed the longer to acknowledge your Lordship s 
 kind letter, because I was Availing to wait the issue of an 
 affair that has been in agitation among us, which I expected 
 to have given your Lordship an account of myself, but 
 since Mr. Arnold J is obliged to go home this fall on that 
 
 1 Jonathan Arnold, the successor of Samuel Johnson in the Congregational minis 
 try at West Haven, conformed to Episcopacy in 1734, and afterwards went to Eng 
 land where he received holy orders, as may be learned from the Bishop of Glouces 
 ter s letter on the preceding page. He was not lost, as has been sometimes stated, on 
 a second voyage to England in 1739. He did not go home on the " affairs " referred 
 to above, but removed to Staten Island, N". Y., where he became the Society s mis 
 sionary in charge of St. Andrew s Church. See History of Episcopal Church in 
 Connecticut, vol. i. c. viii. Complaints against Mr. Arnold by the wardens and ves 
 trymen were transmitted to the Society, and by an order bearing date June 21, 
 174r>, he was "dismissed from being their missionary to the Church of St. Andrew." 
 The Itev. T. B. Chandler writing to the Rev. l>r. Johnson from Elizabethtown, 
 February 2(5, 1753, said: "I had the pleasure of receiving your favor of January 
 29, and am sorry to tell you that Mr. Arnold did nothing in his will for his children 
 iu New England. Mrs. Arnold was left sole executrix, and everything her hu- 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 95 
 
 and some other affairs, I beg leave to refer your Lordship 
 to our joint address to your Lordship, and remain may it 
 please your Lordship yours, etc., S. J. 
 
 Any letter from Johnson to a friend in London, 
 was sure to be welcomed, and few young men went 
 over for holy orders, who did not deem it necessary 
 to take from him a note of introduction. His old as 
 sociate in the first struggle for Episcopacy in Con 
 necticut Dr. Cutler solicited his good offices, 
 when he was about to send his son, a graduate of 
 Harvard College in 1732, on the same errand which 
 had carried them to England many years before. 
 The answer which one of his correspondents returned 
 is a matter of historic interest : 
 
 DEAR SIR, I had the favor of yours of September last 
 by Mr. Cutler ; who intends to make a longer stay with us 
 than you thought of. He has had the good fortune to get a 
 curacy of <50 per annum in Essex, about 30 miles from Lon 
 don, where he may live cheap and save money to buy books, 
 and he will have a very great advantage in conversing a 
 good part of the year with his Rector, Dr. Walker, a very 
 ingenious and learned man, who will assist him vastly in 
 critical learning, and furnish him for the present with all 
 sorts of books he has occasion for. Dr. MacSparran has 
 been honored with a Degree by the University of Oxford, 
 and might to be sure go on it ad eundem at Cambridge, but 
 I believe he will scarce have time to go thither. I hear 
 with much pleasure that he has prevailed with the Bp. of 
 London to appoint Mr. Checkley a missionary, and hope we 
 shall soon see him here in London. 
 
 band died possessed of was left to her disposal. However, she says she is willing 
 that his children in New England should come in for shares with her own child in 
 whatsoever he left in your parts; and I believe she will not recall it. As to the tem 
 per of mind in which Mr. Arnold left the world, I find that he had his reason for 
 some months before his death, which he retained to the last. But I have not heard 
 what remarks or reflections he made on his past life, and what was the moral dispo 
 sition of his mind." MS. Letter. 
 
96 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Your good friend the Bp. of Oxford is translated to Can 
 terbury, to the universal satisfaction of almost everybody. 
 Dr. Lisle at Bow might have succeeded him, but declined it, 
 and the general expectation is that Dr. Seeker, Bp. of Bris 
 tol, will be removed to Oxford, to make way for Dr. Goocli 
 to go to Bristol, who (according to custom) could not be Bp. 
 of Oxford as being a Cambridge man. Dr. Gooch is brother- 
 in-law to Bp. Sherlock (of Salisbury), whom now in con 
 junction with the Abp. of Canterbury we reckon to be at the 
 head of ecclesiastical affairs, perhaps I should add here 
 with us, for with you to be sure the Bp. of London is and 
 must be at the head. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your assured friend and humble servant. 
 
 J. BERRIMAN. 
 
 SCOTCH YARD, Apr. 14, 1737. 
 
 Johnson was a great reader, and no new publica 
 tion of any merit appeared in England which he did 
 not immediately send for. In one of his letters to 
 Mr. Berriman he said : " I am particularly thankful 
 for the intelligence you have given me about books, 
 a subject I shall always be glad our correspondence 
 may turn upon, for I want very much to know what 
 passes among the learned world." Intelligent people 
 at that period read solid works, and he was ever ready 
 to lend anything that he possessed to those who 
 were earnest seekers of the truth. In the following 
 note to Mr. Berriman, there is an allusion for the 
 first time to one whose movements in this country 
 were soon to fill him with watchfulness and anx 
 iety : 
 
 Sept. 10, 1739. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Your kind letter of January 10, 1739, came 
 not to my hands till some time this summer. I am very 
 much obliged to you for it, and for your care in procuring 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 97 
 
 and sending Parker s " Eusebius," which I desired Mr. Cut 
 ler to get for me to make up my set, having had the first 
 volume burnt in a house where I had lent it. 
 
 I have not seen Mr. Checkley 1 since his arrival, but hear 
 he is like to be very useful at Providence. I have nothing 
 remarkable to tell you from hence. Though the Church here 
 is very ill-treated by these dissenting governments, yet it 
 daily increases. I should be glad to know from you what is 
 the general sense of the clergy about Mr. Whitefield and his 
 proceedings, of which our newspapers are generally filled. 
 
 1 John Checkley, born of English parents in the city of Boston, 1680, finished his 
 studies at the University of Oxford, and afterwards travelled over the greatest part 
 of Europe. As the reader has already seen, he was with Johnson in London in 1723, 
 and upon returning to this country published a pamphlet entitled: A Modest Proof 
 of the Order and Government settled by Christ and his Apostles in the Church." It 
 was the forerunner of the controversy upon Episcopacy on this continent, and un 
 doubtedly had the approval and encouragement of Cutler and Johnson. The author 
 of a reply, Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, observed that it was said to be reprinted at 
 Boston, but he did not remember that he had ever seen any former edition. 
 
 A second edition of the reply together with an appendix, called, Remarks on some 
 part of Mr. P. Barclay s Persuasive, soon appeared. The latter was by the Rev. 
 Thomas Foxcroft, a Presbyterian divine of Boston, who invited Johnson to a friendly 
 discussion of the claims of Episcopacy, and wrote him two long letters, one in June 
 and the other in August, 1726, besides sending him books and a pamphlet, entitled 
 A Vindication, etc. Careful answers were returned to these letters, and in one of 
 them, referring to the Vindication, Johnson said: " If you could not be satisfied with 
 out seeing some remarks upon this performance, there is a gentleman in your neigh 
 borhood, far more able than I am, who if he were addressed in that gentlemanly and 
 friendly Christian manner, wherewith you seem to aim at treating me, would, I doubt 
 not, do it to your satisfaction, and with as much Christian friendly temper, modera 
 tion, and forbearance, as you can wish for from me ; notwithstanding that he is so 
 injuriously dressed up like a morose furioso, in the imaginations of your people, and 
 notwithstanding the ungentlemanly, unchristian treatment he meets with among 
 you." 
 
 The pamphlet, A Modest Proof, etc., was followed by a republication of Leslie s 
 " Short and Easy Method with the Deists, to which was annexed a Discourse concerning 
 Episcopacy, sold by John Checkley." For this he was arrested as a libeler, tried be 
 fore a jury, and mulcted in fifty pounds to the king, and costs of prosecution, with 
 securities for his good behavior for six months. Checkley reprinted his Discourse 
 Concerning Episcopacy in 1728, in London, whither he went for holy orders but 
 obstacles were thrown in his way, and he returned without accomplishing his pur 
 pose. His desire to serve God in the ministry of the Church was unquenched, and 
 again, when he was on the verge of threescore years, he crossed the ocean, and was 
 ordained by the Bishop of Exeter, and appointed a missionary to Providence, R. I., 
 where he officiated till his death, which occurred in 1753. His son John graduated at 
 Harvard College, in 1738, and went to England for ordination ; but fell a victim to 
 the small-pox, and died during his sojourn abroad, in 1743. 
 7 
 
98 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 There has been very much such a stir among the Dissenters 
 in some parts of this country as he makes in England. 
 I am, sir, yours, etc. 
 
 S. J. 
 
 The members and professors of the Church of Eng 
 land living in Connecticut were aggrieved by an act 
 of the Colonial legislature, whereby the proceeds aris 
 ing from the sale of certain lands were designated for 
 the sole benefit of the Congregational ministers and 
 people. They complained of the injustice of denying 
 them a share in the public moneys for the support 
 of their ministers, and a memorial was sent to the 
 General Assembly, signed by nearly seven hundred 
 males attached to the Church of England, and asking 
 for themselves equal privileges and protection. This 
 memorial, which carefully recited no less than seven 
 reasons why the legislative action should be amended, 
 was drawn up by Johnson as were all similar memo 
 rials prepared during his lifetime, and having refer 
 ence to the rights of Churchmen in Connecticut. He 
 apprised his friends in England of these movements, 
 and sought their advice whenever he was in any per 
 plexity. The College at New Haven continued to in 
 terest him, and not only his affection for it, but his 
 agency in securing important donations, led him to 
 watch its progress and attend the public examinations 
 in Greek and Latin, to which he was invited as the 
 senior Episcopal Missionary in the colony, according 
 to the terms of Berkeley s gift. So early as 1735, the 
 Bishop of Cloyne wrote him, expressing great pleasure 
 to find that a member of his own family, Benjamin 
 Nicoll, had won distinction as a " scholar of the house," 
 and he added a few words to indicate something of his 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 99 
 
 design in founding the scholarship : " One principal 
 end proposed by me was to promote a better under 
 standing with the Dissenters, and so by degrees to les 
 sen their dislike to our communion ; to which end me- 
 thought the improving their minds with liberal studies 
 might greatly conduce, as I am very sensible that your 
 own discreet behavior andnmnner of living towards 
 th em7 TTaTh~very much forwarded the same effect. 7 
 The subject of the memorial was the " affair " upon 
 which the Connecticut Clergy jointly addressed the 
 Bishop of London ; and Johnson wrote to Berkeley 
 about it, and about the treatment of Mr. Arnold, more 
 pointedly, when in the following letter he reported " a 
 good struggle for the scholarship : " 
 
 May 14, 1739. 
 
 MAY IT PLEASE YOUE, LORDSHIP, I humbly thank 
 your Lordship for your very obliging letter of May 11, 1738, 
 which came not to my hands till precisely that day twelve 
 months after it was written, and in the very interim when 
 (having lately attended on the examination of the scholars at 
 Yale College for your Lordship s premium) T was meditat 
 ing to write to your Lordship and give you some account of 
 the condition of things among us ; which is as follows : We 
 had a good struggle this year for the scholarship, and it is 
 very agreeable to see to what perfection classical learning 
 is advanced in comparison with what it was before your 
 Lordship s donation to this College, though I cannot say it 
 has much increased for these two years past, and I doubt it 
 is got to something of a stand. Another son of Mr. Williams 
 has got it this year, who had manifestly the advantage of the 
 rest ; but I think none have ever performed to so great per 
 fection as one Whittelsey last year, who is son of a neighbor 
 ing minister, whose performance was very extraordinary, not 
 only for the scholarship, but also for books purchased with 
 some money that had been forfeited by the resignation of 
 Leonard. 
 
100 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 I am very sorry to tell your Lordship how ungrateful 
 New Haven people have been to the Church after so many 
 benefactions their College hath received from that quarter, in 
 raising a mob and keeping Mr. Arnold vi et armis from tak 
 ing possession of the land, which, as I told your Lordship in 
 my last, one Mr. Gregson of London had given him to build 
 a church on near the College. 1 
 
 Another instance of injurious treatment the Church has 
 lately met with from this ungrateful country has been in the 
 General Assembly denying a most reasonable petition as laid 
 before them last year. The case was this : all the lands with 
 in the bounds of this Government [Connecticut] were by 
 charter alike granted to all the inhabitants, without limita 
 tion to those of any particular denomination in matters of 
 religion. Now of these lands there remained a sufficient 
 quantity for seven new townships, which were lately laid out 
 and ordered to be sold, and the money (amounting to about 
 70,000) to be considered as the common right of the whole 
 community. When it was considered how to dispose of it, it 
 was at length concluded that it should be divided proportion 
 ally to each town, according to their estates, for the support 
 of dissenting teachers ; whereby the Church people, who had 
 manifestly a right to their proportion of it, were excluded. 
 Whereupon we presented our humble address to the Assem 
 bly, signed by every male of the Church in the Government 
 
 1 In a pamphlet entitled A Vindication of the Bishop of Landaff s Sermon from 
 the Gross Misrepresentations and Abusive Reflections contained in Mr. Wm. Living- 
 tton s Letter to hi* Lordship, published in 1768, the author, after speaking, page 40, of 
 the treatment of the Society s Missionaries in New England, says: " Perhaps Mr. 
 Livingston may remember some instances of this himself; once especially in a gal 
 lant exploit performed by the students of Yale College, in which he was more than a 
 spectator. The scene of this noble action was a lot of ground in the town of New 
 Ffaven, which had been bequeathed to the CHURCH for the use of a missionary. 
 There these magnanimous champions signalized themselves; for once upon a time, 
 quitting soft dalliance with the muses, they roughened into sons of Mars, and issu 
 ing forth in deep and firm array, with courage bold and undaunted, they not only at 
 tacked, but bravely routed a YOKE OF OXEN and a poor Plowman, which had been 
 sent by the then Missionary of New Haven, to occupy and plow up the said lot of 
 ground. An exploit truly worthy of the renowned Hudibras himself ! " The pam 
 phlet, though published anonymously, was written by Dr. Inglis of New York, 
 afterwards first Lord Bishop of Nova Scotia. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 101 
 
 above sixteen, to the number of about seven hundred, praying 
 we might have our proportion in these public moneys. But 
 they were pleased to pass a negative upon it ; and I should be 
 very thankful for your Lordship s advice whether it be worth 
 our while to apply to the King and Council on this affair. 
 
 I heartily rejoice with your Lordship in the health and 
 prosperity of your lady and family, and am no less grieved 
 for the illness you labor under, in your own person. I sin 
 cerely pray, God remove it, and give you health. 
 
 Good Dr. Cutler is in great grief, having lately lost a 
 very hopeful son, nigh of age for Orders. Mr. Honyman 
 has been till lately very much indisposed with grief for the 
 loss of his spouse, but is within these few months recovered 
 and married again to one Mrs. Brown, an elderly gentle 
 woman, mother to Capt. Brown of Newport. With our 
 humble duty to your lady, 
 
 I remain, may it please your Lordship, etc. 
 
 S. J. 
 
 All letters to his English correspondents at this 
 period allude to the action of the General Assembly, 
 and in some of them, he speaks of the fickleness of 
 Mr. Arnold and his removal to Staten Island. In 
 writing to Dr. Astry, April 10, 1740, he said : " I am 
 sorry the Society found themselves under a necessity 
 of removing him to any other mission, though I con 
 fess he has not conducted so discreetly of late, espe 
 cially since he had an intimation of it, as I could wish, 
 and I fear the Church in these parts will much suf 
 fer on this occasion. At least his people falling of 
 course again under my care will be a very great ad 
 dition to my burden." 
 
 The memorialists were not disheartened by the re 
 fusal to grant their petition, and the clergy renewed 
 it so earnestly that at last, rather than let the Church 
 
102 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 have its share, a proposition to repeal was adopted, 
 and the proceeds of the sale of the lands by a former 
 act went to the maintenance of popular education. 
 Johnson writing to the Bishop of Cloyne shortly 
 before the repeal took place, referred to the me 
 morial once more, but seemed to be hopeless of any 
 redress : 
 
 June 20, 1740. 
 
 MY LORD, I did myself the honor to write to you 
 about a year ago, and ackowledged yours of May 11, 1738, 
 and gave you some account of the condition of things among 
 us in this Colony, and especially the College, which is so much 
 indebted to your Lordship, that I think it is but fit that your 
 Lordship should, at least once a year, have some account of 
 the success of your generous donation to it ; and this I hope 
 will apologize for my troubling your Lordship once in a while 
 with some account of our affairs which otherwise would not 
 deserve your notice. 
 
 Our College has been in a very unsettled position this 
 last year, which perhaps may be the reason that there has 
 not this May appeared quite so good a proficiency in clas 
 sical learning as heretofore (though very considerable com 
 pared with what used to be), there having been an interreg 
 num of seven or eight months wherein it has had no Rector. 
 Mr. Williams had been much out of health for some months, 
 and last fall was persuaded it was owing to his sedentary life 
 and the sea-side air, and accordingly took up a resolution, 
 from which he would not be dissuaded, to retire up into the 
 country, where he has lived ever since, and where, indeed, he 
 seems to have enjoyed his health better ; though some people 
 are so censorious as to judge that, considering the age and de 
 clining state of our Governor, his chief aim was to put him 
 self in the way of being chosen into that post. But if this 
 was his view, it is not unlikely that he may be disappointed, 
 for upon a considerable struggle last election for a new Gov 
 ernor, he had but few votes, and Mr. Eliot had a vast many 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 103 
 
 more than all other competitors put together, and will doubt 
 less succeed whenever there is a new choice. However, Mr. 
 Williams was a Representative and Speaker in their Assembly, 
 and was made one of the Judges of the Superior Court, and 
 may possibly get to be one of the Council or Assistants, which 
 is, I believe, the utmost he will attain to. 
 
 Upon his leaving the College the Trustees have ap 
 pointed one Mr. Clap, late minister of Windham, to succeed, 
 who seems to be a well tempered gentleman and of good 
 sense and much of a mathematician, and though he is not so 
 well acquainted with the classics as might be wished, I hope 
 he will improve much in that and all other points of learn 
 ing, and prove a good governor to the College. 
 
 We have again applied to the Assembly about the seven 
 new townships, that I mentioned to your Lordship in my last, 
 and nothing has yet been done. Next October will be the 
 last time of asking, but I do not expect they will finally grant 
 our petition. However, the Church greatly increases, espe 
 cially in the town. But I grow tedious, and will not add 
 any further save my earnest prayers for your lady and family, 
 to whom my very humble duty. I beg your prayers, and re 
 main, my Lord, your Lordship s, etc. S. J. 
 
 The arrival in New England in the autumn of 1740 
 of the Rev. George Whitefield was followed by an out 
 burst of great religious enthusiasm. He had been 
 ordained by the Bishop of Gloucester, and, before 
 coming to this country, had given specimens of the 
 extraordinary power and erratic zeal for which he was 
 afterwards so celebrated. There had been " very 
 much such a stir among the Dissenters " in some of 
 the Colonies as he had made in England, and the 
 people, therefore, were ripe for his extravagances, 
 and crowded around him when he preached in the 
 open air or in the meeting-houses. He soon put 
 himself beyond the sympathy and sanction of the 
 
104 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 bishops and clergy of the Church, whose doctrines, 
 worship, and discipline he was ordained to defend ; and 
 the more bitter his invectives against them became, 
 the more earnestly did his adherents among the Inde 
 pendent or Congregational ministers encourage his 
 work and promote his irregularities. No doubt many 
 of them regarded him as an angel of light in human 
 form, raised up by Divine Providence to awaken sin 
 ners to repentance, to seriousness of life, and the prac 
 tice of virtue ; and there is reason to believe that his 
 preaching in several instances was attended with 
 blessed results. But those who welcomed and caressed 
 him with the idea that his course was calculated to 
 check among their people a growing attachment to 
 the doctrines and worship of the Church, discovered 
 at length that so far from this, it shattered and divided 
 their own churches, and in the end rapidly increased 
 and strengthened the communion which they ex 
 pected to see dwindle and die. 
 
 Whitefield had his imitators as well as his followers 
 preachers who undertook to adopt his style and 
 imitate his dramatic action, and who travelled about 
 from place to place seeking to make converts, and 
 disregarding all ecclesiastical rights and regulations. 
 Then came a set of lay-exhorters who added to the 
 popular confusions and fomented the flames which had 
 been kindled. Johnson carefully watched the progress 
 of things and was at the head of his clerical brethren 
 in guiding and steadying the Church through such 
 great and manifold perils. He wrote to the Arch 
 bishop of Canterbury, and the Bishops of Gloucester, 
 London, and Cloyne to acquaint them with the 
 strange commotions in Connecticut, growing out of 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 105 
 
 Whitefield s itinerancy. It will be sufficient to quote 
 only his letter to Berkeley, which contains other ref 
 erences, and is dated : 
 
 Oct. 3, 1741. 
 
 My LORD, This comes to your Lordship upon occa 
 sion of our recommending to the Society, Mr. Richard Caner 
 (brother to my good neighbor Mr. Henry Caner, Missionary 
 to Fairfield, of whom you may possibly retain some remem 
 brance), who well deserves the Society s notice on this oc 
 casion. I have the pleasure to inform your Lordship that 
 upon the occasion of our new Rector, Mr. Clap, and his ap 
 plication to the business of the College, we have the satis 
 faction to see classical as well as mathematical learning im 
 prove among us ; there having been a better appearance the 
 last May than what I gave your Lordship an account of be 
 fore ; for this gentleman proves a solid, rational, good man, 
 and much freer from bigotry than his predecessor. 
 
 But this new enthusiasm, in consequence of Whitefield s 
 preaching through the country and his disciples , has got 
 great footing in the College as well as throughout the coun 
 try. Many of the scholars have been possessed of it, and two 
 of this year s candidates were denied their degrees for their 
 disorderly and restless endeavors to propagate it. Indeed 
 Whitefield s disciples have in this country much improved 
 upon the foundation which he laid ; so that we have now 
 prevailing among us the most odd and unaccountable enthu 
 siasm that perhaps ever obtained in any age or nation. For 
 not only the minds of many people are at once struck with 
 prodigious distresses upon their hearing the hideous outcry of 
 our itinerant preachers, but even their bodies are frequently 
 in a moment affected with the strangest convulsions and 
 involuntary agitations and cramps, which also have some 
 times happened to those who came as mere spectators, and 
 are no friends to their new methods, and even without their 
 minds being at all affected. The Church, indeed, has not, 
 as yet, much suffered, but rather gained by these commo 
 tions, which no men of sense of either denomination have 
 
106 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 at all given in to, but it has required great care and pains 
 in our clergy to prevent the mischief. How far God may 
 permit this madness of the people to proceed, He only 
 knows. But I hope that neither religion nor learning will 
 in the whole event of things much suffer by it. 
 
 I humbly beg an interest in your Lordship s prayers and 
 blessing, and remain, etc., 
 
 S. J. 
 
 In a similar strain he wrote to his friend, Dr. Astry, 
 two days before, and spoke of the necessity, if pos 
 sible, of an increase in the number of missionaries, at 
 the same time that he entreated him to be present 
 at the meeting of the Society when the application 
 of Mr. Caner was presented. The reply of Dr. Astry 
 deserves a place in this connection : 
 
 REV. SIR, I had the favor of your letter by Mr. Caner, 
 and have out of regard to your recommendation of him at 
 tended the Board whilst his business was depending. I 
 hope and believe that you will find him satisfied with what 
 has been done there in compliance with his request ; and 
 that he will do me the justice with you to bear testimony 
 that he found me disposed to help him what I could. It 
 would have been agreeable to my inclinations to have had 
 more of his company. But the hurry of his affairs and 
 haste to return to you, have been a bar to that satisfaction. 
 As to his going to Oxford, he mentioned it not to me, and 
 indeed I declined entering into it with him, for that I have 
 very little acquaintance left in the University, and accord 
 ingly had little prospect of being instrumental in getting 
 him a degree there, had he attempted it. 
 
 I lament the vexations you have had by means of that 
 strange fellow Whitefield, and his successors. But as I find 
 by you that the Church has not in the main suffered so 
 much as might have been apprehended, and was designed 
 by those who maliciously set them to work, one has reason 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 107 
 
 to be content and to thank God that things are no worse. 
 And I have the pleasure to think that among my friends in 
 your parts, there are men capable of dealing with them so 
 as to stop their progress, if not to bring good out of evil. 
 I heartily pray that your endeavors may have that effect, 
 the rather because the Society is very little in a condition 
 to send you more fellow-helpers at present, however your 
 occasions may require more. That they have added one 
 in Mr. Caner 1 I am very glad, as I see in him all good dis 
 positions to answer the ends of his mission. My wife re 
 turns her compliments to you and yours, and I am with grat 
 itude, Sir, 
 
 Your affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 FK. ASTKY. 
 
 ST. JAMES S PLACE, Feb. 8, 1741-2. 
 
 A bitter and uncharitable spirit grew out of the 
 religious enthusiasm consequent upon the intinerancy 
 of Whitefield. Divines of the standing order were 
 divided-- part sympathizing with the new light, and 
 part stoutly maintaining a continuance in the old 
 ways and opposing innovations. The odium theolog- 
 icum was never more fierce, and any attempt to 
 restrain it proved unavailing. Large numbers of 
 sober and thoughtful persons in Connecticut, dis 
 gusted with the extravagances of the time and finding 
 in Congregationalism no rest from strife and dissen 
 sion, broke away from their former associations, and 
 fled for comfort and quietness to the bosom of the 
 Church of England. This excited in an unhappy de 
 gree the displeasure of her opponents, and harsh judg 
 ments and irritating reflections fell upon the mission 
 aries and upon the doctrines of the communion which 
 they were appointed to teach and maintain. 
 
 1 He was appointed a missionary to Norwalk, Ct., and transferred to the charge of 
 St. Andrew s Ch. Staten Island, 1745, upon the dismission of Mr. Arnold, but died 
 of small-pox in New York, Dec. 14, 1745. 
 
108 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Johnson was brought into sharp conflict with Mr 
 Gold, the dissenting minister in Stratford, and a cor 
 respondence was carried on between them which in 
 volved very important principles as well as dangerous 
 precedents. It had been said of him that he was 
 not converted, nor any of the Church of England 
 people in Stratford ; that he was a thief, and robber 
 of churches, and had no business in the place ; that 
 his church doors stood open to all mischief and wick 
 edness, and other words of like import, which could 
 only be uttered in the heats of angry passion or re 
 ligious excitement. He was not willing to rest under 
 these charges without calling the author to account, 
 and so he addressed him a letter, which speaks for 
 itself, dated, 
 
 July 6, 1741. 
 
 SIR, .... I thought it my duty to write a few lines to 
 you, in the spirit of Christian meekness, on this subject. And 
 I assure you I am nothing exasperated at these hard censures, 
 much less will I return them upon you. No Sir ! God for 
 bid I should censure you as you censure me ! I have not 
 so learned Christ ! I will rather use the words of my dear 
 Saviour concerning those that censure so, and say, " Father, 
 forgive them, for they know not what they do." 
 
 As to my having no business here, I will only say that 
 to me it appears most evident that I have as much business 
 here at least as you have, being appointed by a Society 
 in England incorporated by Royal Charter to provide min 
 isters for the Church people in America ; nor does his Maj 
 esty allow of any establishment here, exclusive of the Church, 
 much less of anything that should preclude the Society he 
 has incorporated from providing and sending ministers to 
 the Church people in these countries. And as to my being 
 a robber of churches, I appeal to God and all his people, 
 of both denominations, whether I have ever uncharitably 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 109 
 
 censured you, or said or done anything to disaffect or disunite 
 your people from you, as on many occasions I might have 
 done ; on the other hand, whether I have not on all occasions 
 put people upon making the kindest constructions possible 
 upon your proceedings, and whether there has ever been 
 anything in mine or my people s conduct that could be 
 justly interpreted to savor of spite or malice, though we 
 have met with much of it from some of our neighbors. 
 
 If any of your people have left you, I appeal to them 
 whether it has been owing to any insinuations of mine, and 
 whether it has not been many times owing to your own 
 conducting otherwise than in prudence you might have done, 
 that they have been led to inquire, and upon inquiring to 
 conform to this Church. And pray why have not Dissent 
 ers here as much liberty to go to church, if they see good 
 reason for it (as they will soon do if they seriously inquire), 
 as Church people to go to meeting if they see fit, as some 
 have done, without my charging you so highly ? In short, 
 all I have done which could be the occasion of any people 
 leaving you, has been to vindicate our best of churches from 
 the injurious misrepresentations she has labored under from 
 you and others ; and this it was my bounden duty to do. 
 And indeed I shall think myself obliged in conscience to 
 take yet more pains with Dissenters as well as Church people 
 than I have ever yet done, if I see them in danger of being 
 misled by doctrines so contrary to the very truth and spirit 
 of the Gospel as have lately been preached among us up 
 and down in this country. 
 
 And as to my Church being open to all wickedness, I ap 
 peal to God and all that know me and my proceedings 
 whether I have not as constantly borne witness against all 
 kinds of wickedness as you have, and been as far from pat 
 ronizing it as you have been, and must think my people are 
 generally as serious and virtuous as yours. And lastly as 
 to your censuring me and my people as being unconverted, 
 etc., I will only beg you to consider whether you act the 
 truly Christian part in thus endeavoring to disaffect my peo- 
 
110 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 pie towards my ministrations, and weaken and render abor 
 tive my endeavors for the good of their souls, when I know 
 not that I have given you any occasion to judge me uncon 
 verted, much less to set me out in such a formidable 
 light to them. However, I leave these things, Sir, to your se 
 rious consideration, and beg you will either take an opportu 
 nity to converse with me where and when you please, or 
 rather return me a few lines, wherein (as you have judged 
 me unconverted, etc.) I entreat you will plainly give me your 
 reasons why you think me so ; for as bad as I am, I hope I 
 am open to conviction, and earnestly desirous not to be mis 
 taken in an affair of so great importance, and the rather 
 because I have not only my own, but many other souls to 
 answer for, whom I shall doubtless mislead if I am misled 
 myself. In compassion, therefore, to them and me, pray be 
 so kind as to give us your reasons why you think us in such 
 a deplorable condition. 
 
 In hopes of which I remain, Sir, your real well-wisher and 
 humble servant, S. J. 
 
 Replies and rejoinders followed in quick succes 
 sion, and though Mr. Gold denied having used the 
 severe language attributed to him, yet he appears to 
 have retained his uncharitable feelings, and to have 
 been as far as ever from understanding the true 
 teachings and doctrines of the Church of England. 
 His last letter to Johnson should be quoted, if for no 
 other reason, at least to show the spirit which pos 
 sessed the most ardent and enthusiastic followers of 
 Whitefield : - 
 
 SIR, I don t wonder that a man is not afraid of sin 
 ning that believes he has power in himself to repent when 
 ever he pleases, nor is it strange for one who dares to utter 
 falsehoods of others to be ready at any time to confirm them 
 with the solemnity of an oath, especially since he adheres 
 to a minister whom he believes has power to wash him from 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. Ill 
 
 all his sins by a full and final absolution upon his saying he 
 is sorry for them, etc. ; and as for the pleas which you make 
 for Col. Lewis, and others that have broke away disorderly 
 from our Church, I think there s neither weight nor truth in 
 them ; nor do I believe such poor shifts will stand them nor 
 you in any stead in the awful day of account ; and as for 
 your saying that as bad as you are yet you lie open to convic 
 tion, for my part I find no reason to think you do, seeing 
 you are so free and full in denying plain matters of fact ; 
 and as for your notion about charity from that 1 Cor. 
 xiii., my opinion is that a man may abound with love to God 
 and man, and yet bear testimony against disorderly walkers, 
 without being in the least guilty of the want of charity to 
 wards you. What ! must a man be judged uncharitable 
 because he don t think well nor uphold the willful miscar 
 riages and evil doings of others ? This is surely a perverse 
 interpretation of the Apostle s meaning. I don t think it 
 worth my while to say anything further in the affair, and as 
 you began the controversy against rule or justice, so I hope 
 modesty will induce you to desist ; and do assure you that 
 if you see cause to make any more replies, my purpose is, 
 without reading of them, to put them under the pot among 
 my other thorns and there let one flame quench the matter. 
 These, Sir, from your sincere friend and servant in all things 
 lawful and laudable, HEZ. GOLD. 
 
 STRATFORD, July 21, 1741. 
 
 Johnson waited ten days, and then concluded to 
 " venture the sacrifice of one letter more," in vindi 
 cation of himself and his people. He would not 
 bear the imputation of having opened a controversy 
 thus closed upon him, but he was chiefly anxious, for 
 the sake of the truth, to disabuse the mind of his 
 neighbor of the idea that the Church of England 
 holds and teaches that a man has power in himself 
 to repent when he pleases, and that the minister has 
 
]]2 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 power to wash him from all his sins by a full and 
 final absolution upon his only saying he is sorry for 
 them. These two propositions he regarded as so 
 false and mischievous to the souls of men, that if the 
 Church taught or practiced according to them he 
 owned he would " abhor and fly from her as from the 
 face of a serpent." " As our absolution," he added, 
 " is nothing else but the declaration of God s pardon 
 to all true penitents, so we hold no absolution in any 
 other sense than you do yourself. Pray, Sir, where 
 did you learn these dreadful notions of the Church ? 
 Have you lived nigh twenty years so near the Church 
 and all this while understood us no better ? " 
 
 He wrote to Dr. Bearcroft, the Secretary of the So 
 ciety, in March, 1742, that the raging enthusiam in 
 this country was " like a kind of epidemical frenzy," 
 and in order to prevent mischief and take advantage 
 of the popular excitement, the clergy were obliged 
 to be continually riding and preaching. He himself 
 had scarcely failed all the previous winter to officiate 
 three times, and frequently six times in a week, go 
 ing to different parts of the Colony and directing the 
 minds of people to the true plan of salvation and the 
 Scriptural doctrines of the Church. While he was 
 thus fulfilling his ministerial duty with a diligence 
 and prudence equaled only by his learning and firm 
 ness, a complaint was brought against him which is 
 best explained in the following note from the Rev. 
 Roger Price, the Commissary for all New England, 
 holding his office under the appointment of the Bishop 
 of London : 
 
 REV. SlE, Mr. Morris l made a complaint to me and 
 
 1 The Rev. Theophilus Morris an Englishman by hirth who succeeded Mr 
 Arnold at West Haven as an itinerant missionary. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 113 
 
 the clergy convened at Boston relating to your going to the 
 dissenting meeting, and suffering your son to do the same, 
 which gave some uneasiness to your brethren. I hope your 
 prudence will always direct you to avoid anything that may 
 show such a favorable disposition towards the separation as 
 will obstruct the growth of the Episcopal Church. 
 
 I am your affectionate brother and humble servant, 
 
 ROG. PBICE. 
 
 BOSTON, June 18, 1742. 
 
 Johnson lost no time in replying to the reproof 
 thus administered, and the answer reveals the relig 
 ious habits of his elder son, who was then a student 
 in Yale College : 
 
 July 5, 1 742. 
 
 REV. SIR, I received yours of the 18th of June, and do 
 take in good part and with humble submission the tender 
 chastisement which you and my brethren have thought fit 
 to send me relating to my going myself and permitting my 
 son to go to meeting. 
 
 As to myself, I cannot think the charge is at all just, for 
 I never have been to meeting since the last convention at 
 Rhode Island that could with any propriety bear that name. 
 All the foundation of Mr. Morris complaint is only this, 
 that on Commencement night, when Davenport was raving 
 among the people there, Mr. Wetmore and I went in the 
 dark, no mortal knowing us but our own company ; and stood 
 at the edge of the crowd and heard him rave about five min 
 utes, and then went about our business ; this I humbly con 
 ceive could not be called going to meeting any more than a 
 visit to Bedlam, for we heard no prayers nor anything 
 that could be called preaching, any more than the ravings 
 of a man distracted. 
 
 As to my son, I am and so is he, as far as you can be- 
 from approving his going to meeting, and would by no 
 means permit it, if it were possible to avoid it consistently 
 with his having a public education. But this is what [ 
 must entirely deny him, or not forbid him once in a while to 
 
114 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 go to meeting, and of two evils I think it my duty to choose 
 the least. He comes home once in a fortnight or three weeks, 
 and when Mr. Morris goes to West-side, he hears him, so 
 that he goes to meeting as little as possible. And in this 
 case I do not think it the unpardonable sin, though I have 
 as little opinion of the meeting as anybody can reasonably 
 have. 
 
 I look upon the worst part of going to meeting to be, be 
 ing present and joining with extempore prayers, and yet this 
 is what Dr. Cutler and Mr. Usher permitted their sons to do 
 every day in the College Hall [Harvard], without being ever 
 found fault with. Upon the whole I can truly say, and thank 
 God for it, my prudence has always directed me and always 
 shall, to avoid anything that could show the least favora 
 ble disposition towards the separation as such, or to obstruct 
 the growth of the Episcopal Church. So far from this, that 
 I believe I may say without vanity that I have labored as 
 faithfully, and with as good success, as any of my brethren 
 in promoting that cause. I came alone into this colony a few 
 years ago, when there were but 70 or 80 adult Church people 
 in the whole Government, and now there are above 2000 ; 
 there are ten churches actually built and three more building, 
 and seven settled in the ministry. I have nigh 150 com 
 municants, of whom there wanted but four of fourscore to 
 gether and received the Communion last Sunday, and my 
 people are as regular and rubrical in our worship as any 
 congregation that I know of. Can it then be supposed that 
 I have obstructed our growth ? In short, I have labored, 
 and studied, and wrote, and rid, and preached, and pleaded, 
 and lived all that was in my power to promote the growth of 
 the best of churches. I have neither farming nor merchan 
 dise, nor do I suffer any other pursuit of either pleasure or 
 profit to embarrass or hinder me in promoting the growth 
 of the Church, which is the single point that I have in view. 
 If it would not savor of something like vanity, which I hope 
 may be excused on this occasion, I might almost venture 
 to say I have labored more abundantly than they all, and yet 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 115 
 
 I must, it seems, be, as it were, singled out by my brethren 
 to be censured as one from whom there is danger appre 
 hended of obstructing the growth of the Episcopal Church. 
 No, Sir ; I trust the danger is not from any conduct of mine, 
 but from that spirit of indolence and negligence, of bigotry 
 and bitterness, which has called my conduct in question, and 
 let him that is without fault, or has less fault than I, cast 
 the first stone. For God s sake, Sir, is there nothing but 
 not forbidding a son to go to meeting when he can t help it 
 that can obstruct the Church ? Could you find nothing 
 worse than this to except against in the conduct of any of 
 our brethren ? I fear you might ; if not, God be praised. 
 And particularly, my brother Morris, whom I have ever used 
 in the best and kindest manner, I must think had, of all men, 
 the least reason to complain, and I fear he has much more 
 deserved the censure of his brethren for his violent passion, 
 rashness, and inconsistency in his conversation, and his neg 
 lecting his people again and again by such long and needless 
 journeys, especially at this important juncture. And I believe 
 he had better have gone twenty times to meeting, than once 
 have shown such a spirit of ingratitude and malevolence*as 
 he has done. But I heartily pity and forgive him, and pray 
 that he, as well as I and all the rest of us, may live to better 
 purpose than to bring our order into contempt, and to dis 
 grace the best Church and religion in the world. 
 
 I am, Rev. Sir, 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 S. JOHNSON. 
 
 This apology or explanation, which Johnson wished 
 the Commissary to communicate to as many of the 
 brethren as he had opportunity, was the end of the 
 matter, except that he gently remonstrated with Mr. 
 Morris, and asked what he meant by raising such a 
 " clamor against him both at New York and Boston." 
 He challenged further scrutiny of his conduct, and 
 was willing the complaint should be carried before 
 
116 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 the Bp. of London and the Venerable Society ; but 
 Mr. Morris had misapprehended his intentions, and 
 finding himself unable, from the peculiarities of his 
 temperament, to secure a better living in the Colony, 
 he soon withdrew and returned to England. 
 
 The clergy of Connecticut felt the want of an 
 overseer in these critical times more than ever, and 
 as they had been repeatedly refused a Bishop, they 
 asked for a Commissary to reside among them, and 
 for this purpose sent a formal petition to the Bishop 
 of London. Their distance from Boston was such as to 
 render it inconvenient, if not impracticable, to attend 
 the Conventions there, and the growth of the Church 
 in the Colony had been so great that they anticipated 
 many advantages to come from the appointment. 
 They all signed or supported the petition except Mr. 
 Morris. Of their own free will, and without any in 
 fluence on his part, they presumed to mention for 
 the office the Rev. Mr. Johnson of Stratford, as a per 
 son in whose ability, virtue, and integrity they had 
 full confidence. But the Bishop of London was un 
 willing to revoke or change any part of the commis 
 sion which he had granted to Mr. Price without his 
 consent, or until his death or resignation, and so 
 no Commissary for Connecticut was appointed. The 
 petition was renewed six years later to Sherlock, 
 then Bishop of London, and the successor of Gibson ; 
 but he was so persuaded of his inability to do jus 
 tice to the Church in the American Colonies, and so 
 bent on the establishment of one or two Bishops to 
 reside in proper parts of them, and to " have the con 
 duct and direction of the whole," that he declined 
 to take a patent from the crown for the exercise of 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 117 
 
 ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and only consented to or 
 dain candidates and supervise the clergy till a better 
 provision could be made. " I should be tempted," 
 said he " to throw off all this care quite, were it not 
 for the sake of preserving even the appearance of an 
 Episcopal Church in the plantations." But Johnson 
 without the appointment of Commissary continued to 
 be the prudent guide and adviser of his brethren, and 
 the calm watcher of all movements that related to the 
 peace and prosperity of the Church, not only in New 
 England but throughout the country. 
 
 It was a great gratification to him to receive from 
 the University of Oxford the degree of Doctor of 
 Divinity, which was conferred upon him by diploma 
 February, 1743. Twenty years before, when he vis 
 ited that ancient seat of learning, his merits had 
 been recognized, and the hope expressed that by his 
 ministry the English Church might be revived on this 
 Continent : aliam et eandem olim nascituram Eccle- 
 siam Anglicanam. The hope had been partly fulfilled, 
 and the second and higher distinction, due to his 
 learning and his labors, was spoken of by the Yice- 
 Chancellor, Dr. Hodges, when he resigned his office, as 
 one of the most agreeable things that had been done 
 during his administration. It was stated in the Di 
 ploma, ut, incredibili Ecclesice incremento summam sui 
 expectationem sustinuerit plane et superaverit. John 
 son thanked his friends, particularly Dr. Astry, and 
 Dr. Seeker Bishop of Oxford, for their agency in 
 the matter, and wrote to his son at Yale College, 
 April 23, 1744, that he might share in the joy of his 
 success : " I have the pleasure to let you know that 
 my good friend Dr. Astry hath accomplished for me 
 
118 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 what he so kindly undertook. Dr. Gardiner, lately 
 returned from England, writes to me that he has 
 brought my Diploma. I hope you, as well as I, shall 
 consider this great honor, which the University of 
 Oxford has done me, as a fresh motive to the use of 
 diligence in well-doing, that we may deserve the no 
 tice you see they are so ready to take of those that 
 faithfully endeavor to have true merit/ 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 
 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 INCREASE OF HIS PARISH AND NEW CHURCH AT STRATFORD ; 
 MORE CONTROVERSY; SYSTEM OF MORALITY; STUDY OF HE 
 BREW, AND HUTCHINSON S PRINCIPLES ; PHILOSOPHICAL 
 CORRESPONDENCE ; EDUCATION OF SONS, AND LETTERS TO 
 
 THE ELDER ; PROJECT OF A COLLEGE AT PHILADELPHIA, 
 AND JOHNSON INVITED TO ITS CHARGE. 
 
 A. D. 1743-1750. 
 
 IT was no longer doubtful that the movement to 
 wards the Church, in consequence of the extravagan 
 cies of Whitefield and his followers, was an earnest and 
 important one. Many things conspired to give it 
 strength, and the growth of the parishes in Connec 
 ticut necessitated the erection of larger houses of 
 worship to accommodate the congregations. This 
 was the case at Stratford, where there had been an 
 accession of several of the most influential families 
 of the place ; and Johnson was much occupied in 
 1743 with preparations to build a new edifice suited 
 to the wants of the people. Money was scarce in 
 those days, and contributions of labor, time, timber, 
 and other material were accepted in its place. The 
 subscription of the Rector was for a bell, and he had 
 the satisfaction of seeing the new church opened, 
 though not completed on the 8th of July 1744, when 
 he preached a sermon from Psalms xxvi. 8, on " the 
 great duty of loving and delighting in the public 
 worship of God." The discourse was afterwards 
 printed, with an appendix containing prayers for use 
 
120 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 in the family and closet. In the same year a church 
 was begun at Rip ton (now Huntington), then a part 
 of the town of Stratford and under his pastoral care, 
 and it was this " growing disposition among the peo 
 ple in many places to forsake the tenets of enthusiasm 
 and confusion," that added to the labors of Johnson, 
 and required his unceasing ministrations. Probably 
 no period of his life was filled with greater anxiety 
 than that which immediately followed the itinerancy 
 of Whitefield, and witnessed the results of his disor 
 derly proceedings. 
 
 When the spirit that was rampant in the land placed 
 all in predestination and mere sovereignty, and denied 
 that there are any promises to our prayers and en 
 deavors, another controversy arose which engaged his 
 own practiced pen and that of Jonathan Dickinson. 1 
 He published towards the end of 1744 a pamphlet of 
 thirty-two pages, entitled " A Letter from Aristocles to 
 Authades concerning the sovereignty and the prom 
 ises of God," and said in his advertisement that what 
 prevailed on him to consent to its publication " was a 
 sincere and firm persuasion, that it is really the cause 
 of God and his Christ that I here plead, and that the 
 eternal interest of the souls of men is very nearly con 
 cerned in it. For it is manifest to me, that some 
 notions have of late been propagated and inculcated 
 
 1 So early as 1725, one of his parishioners was sharply attacked by this same gen 
 tleman, a Presbyterian divine of Elizabethtown, N. J., upon the subject of Episco 
 pacy, and not being able to cope with his antagonist, Johnson sketched, at his request, 
 the chief arguments in its favor which the parishioner sent in his own name to Mr. 
 Dickinson and soon had an answer. To this a reply was furnished him, and some 
 time after, Mr. Dickinson enlarged and printed his own papers in the dispute, which 
 involved the necessity of publishing what had been written on the other side with 
 the name of the real author. " On this occasion, Mr. Foxcroft, of Boston, took up 
 their cause " against the Church, " and wrote more largely, to whom Mr. Johnson re- 
 olied but was not answered." 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 121 
 
 in this country, that are equally destructive to the 
 right belief both of God and the Gospel. I have, in 
 deed, that charity for those that have done it that I 
 do not believe they are sensible of these fatal conse 
 quences of what they teach, though I very much 
 wonder they are not aware of them." 
 
 Johnson would not be understood to aim at under 
 mining any of the soul-humbling doctrines of the 
 Gospel, for he insisted that his way of explaining the 
 Divine Sovereignty and promises was not a distortion 
 of the Scriptures ; but entirely agreeable to them, and 
 such as unprejudiced men of plain common sense might 
 accept and be saved with an everlasting salvation. It 
 was a controversy, as one of the pamphlets of the 
 day characterized it, between a Calvinist and a be 
 liever of mere primitive Christianity; and Mr. Dick 
 inson published a first and second " Vindication of 
 God s Sovereign free grace," the last appearing 
 just before his death ; but Dr. Johnson had already 
 issued another letter in defense of " Aristocles to Au- 
 thades," 1 and closed it thus : " I will add no more 
 but my earnest wishes that we may, on all sides, be 
 above all things careful, for the sake of the love of 
 God, which is my greatest motive in writing, that we 
 do by no means advance or inculcate any notions or 
 doctrines that may reflect dishonor upon the best of 
 Beings, and upon the Gospel of his grace, or be any 
 ways detrimental to any of the souls which He hath 
 made." 
 
 In a letter to a friend, he spoke with the warmest 
 feelings against those who represented the Deity as 
 
 1 Mr. Dickinson, in his first Vindication, interpreted these names to represent John- 
 Bon, and the Rev. Mr. Cooke of Stratfield, who had printed a sermon in favor of his 
 own side. 
 
122 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 consigning some persons to everlasting happiness and 
 others to everlasting misery, by an unconditional de 
 cree. " In truth, if it were possible, I would rather 
 believe there is no God than to imagine Him to be 
 such a Being as these teachers not only represent 
 Him, but insist He is ; and you must believe so too 
 upon the pain of damnation." 1 
 
 " These controversies " says Johnson in his auto 
 biography, " ended in 1744," but he mistook his own 
 dates ; for the pamphlets, which were all printed at 
 Boston, show that they were rather begun at this 
 time, and carried on for the next two years by the 
 principals, and then Mr. Beach of Newtown and " Mr. 
 Jedediah Mills, pastor of a church at Kipton," en 
 gaged in the contest and lengthened it out nearly a 
 lustrum. 
 
 Mills was an enthusiastic follower of Whitefield, 
 and had broken a lance with Johnson, on original 
 sin, several years before, by writing him letters and 
 calling in question his belief and doctrinal teachings. 
 In one of his replies, dated November, 1741, Johnson 
 said : " You talked about Dr. Clarke, but I never 
 undertook to justify his doctrine of original sin, which 
 I even allowed to be expressed too loosely and un 
 guardedly : only I was willing to put a more favor 
 able construction on it than you did; nor do I re 
 member I ever advised Darby people to read his ser 
 mons in public, but I am sure I advised them not to 
 do it, and lent them another book to read that they 
 might not read his." 
 
 With a view of counteracting the evil effects of the 
 spirit of the times, Johnson prepared and published in 
 
 2 Letter to C. Colden, April 22, 1746. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 123 
 
 1746 a " System of Morality/ in two parts ; one treat 
 ing of Ethics in a speculative aspect, and the other of 
 the practical duties that result from established truths. 1 
 It was a useful and seasonable work, and received the 
 approbation of sober and thoughtful men. The fol 
 lowing letter was written by one who, though he had 
 no sympathy with him in ecclesiastical matters, yet 
 respected his learning, and was himself, in his day, a 
 guiding mind among the theologians of New Eng 
 land : 
 
 REV. SIB, I have read your new " System of Morality " 
 with a pleasure which I cannot easily express. You have 
 honored our country by this production of the most perfect 
 piece of Ethics, and in the best form, that I have seen in 
 any language, and I like it most in our own. I hope the 
 tutors in our academies may even with the greater advan 
 tage read it to their pupils, show them the connection and 
 strength of every part of it, and the force with which it 
 should enter their souls and abide there. For I think it 
 is strongly adapted to inform the mind and affect the heart ; 
 and under the blessing of the Holy Spirit to form both into 
 all the emotions of virtue and piety, in its connection with 
 and submission to "the Sacred Scriptures, and the revelation 
 of Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law for righteousness 
 to us sinners. 
 
 1 In 1743, a small 18mo volume was published, entitled An Introduction to the 
 Study of Philosophy, exhibiting a general view of all the arts and sciences, with a 
 " Catalogue of the most valuable books in the Library of Yale College, disposed 
 under proper heads." It was written by Johnson "for young men at the College," 
 and was the second edition enlarged, the first having been published at London in 
 the Republic of Letters for May, 1731. At the end of what must have been the 
 original draught, dated October 5, 1730, he made a note: " This system did not 
 please me well and I drew another." The Catalogue was prepared by Rector Clap, 
 and in his advertisement, addressed to the students, he said: " The Introduction to 
 Philosophy will give you a general idea or scheme of all the arts and sciences, and 
 the several things which are to be known and learnt; and the Catalogue will direct 
 you to many of the best books to be read, in order to obtain the knowledge of them. 
 And I would advise you, my pupils, to pursue a regular course of Academical studies 
 in some measure according to the order of this Catalogue." 
 
124 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Yet, sir, I also freely own to you that your words, page 
 64, " of God s sending a glorious person under the character 
 of his own Son, who had an inexpressible glory with Him 
 before the world was ; " although enforced by the following 
 Scripture expressions, " the express image of his person, and 
 the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in Him bodily in his 
 incarnate state ; " seem not enough to me in honor of re 
 vealed religion, the Holy Scriptures ; by which it is, Sir, that 
 our reason is illuminated and raised to such a gracious height ; 
 as that you, my honored brother, after the diligent study of 
 them for many years, have by their help and the assistance 
 of the blessed Inspirer of them (I am willing to add), been 
 enabled to write this correct and exalted book of Ethics. 
 
 Your own modesty will not permit you to blame me, if I 
 freely say, that none of the learned Heathen ever wrote to 
 this height, with like perspicuity, method, and enforcement 
 on conscience. It is the Christian Divine, after a diligent 
 search into the religion of Jesus, together with what the 
 masters of morality had wrote before his manifestation in 
 the flesh, or since that blessed day, who exhibits himself in 
 your treatise. And though I am too much a stranger now 
 to Mr. Wollaston s delineation of the Religion of Nature to 
 give my opinion of it, yet I persuade myself also that his 
 performance, praised as it has been by tjiose that I highly 
 esteem, may stand also much indebted to his improvements 
 by Christianity. 
 
 Upon all Sir, to lay my whole intention before you in this 
 latter part of my letter, I request you to consider whether 
 those words : " a glorious person under the character of his 
 own Son in our nature, who had an imperishable glory with 
 Him before the world was," with what follows of Scripture 
 expressions in that pious paragraph, is sufficient to answer 
 unto the doctrine of the eternal Godhead of Christ, as it is 
 explained to us in the Athanasian Creed, daily read in your 
 worshipping congregations ? 
 
 This is the defect that occurs to me in the close of your 
 excellent treatise ; which yet I have not observed to any one 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 125 
 
 but yourself. And I hope, Sir, that this freedom, after the 
 high brotherly regards I have been expressing, will be can 
 didly taken by you. 
 
 I ask your prayers for me in my age ; and wishing you 
 always the presence of God with you in your holy studies 
 and ministrations, 
 
 I am, Rev. Sir, 
 
 Your affec. brother and servant, 
 
 BENJ. COLMAN. 
 
 BOSTON, June 2, 1746. 
 
 The answer was worthy of the subject and of the 
 man : 
 
 June 12. 
 
 REV. SIR, You needed not to make any apology or 
 beseech my candor for so very kind and obliging a letter as 
 you did me the favor to write of the 2d instant. The favor 
 able opinion you express of that small piece of morals I 
 wrote, I wish it would pretend to deserve, and I am highly 
 obliged to you for the candor wherewith you read it, and the 
 brotherly kindness you express towards me. 
 
 But what I am particularly obliged to you for is that you 
 was so good as to point out to me the passage you mention 
 as what you apprehended liable to exception. This I take as 
 a singular act of friendship, and what the rather deserves my 
 thankful acknowledgment as it comes from a gentleman of 
 your venerable age and character, and one to whom I had 
 never had the honor of being known. I apprehend, therefore, 
 that as I had the presumption to appear in public, your 
 kind aim was that nothing that I offer should be either 
 liable to misconstruction, or of any mischievous tendency to 
 the disadvantage of our common faith. 
 
 In answer, therefore, to your kind suggestion, I beg leave 
 to say, that, as I am sincerely tenacious of the Athanasian 
 Faith, so I beg those expressions may not be understood to 
 be inconsistent with it, but rather expressive of it as they 
 appear to me to be, and that you will do me the favor to as 
 sure any gentlemen of this who may be apt to suspect me. 
 
126 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 The only reason of my expressing myself as I did was, be 
 cause I was not willing to meddle with anything contro 
 versial, and therefore chose to confine myself to the language 
 of the Sacred Scriptures. However, if it were not too late, 
 I could wish one word were inserted which would put the 
 matter out of all ambiguity. I would express it thus : " Who 
 was truly God of God, and had inexpressible glory with Him 
 from all Eternity, before the world was," and I should be 
 highly obliged to you, if you will desire the printer (provided 
 it be not too late) to insert those words, Was truly Crod of 
 G-odfrom all Eternity, in their proper place. 
 
 I readily agree with you that even such an imperfect 
 sketch of morals as this could never have been beat out with 
 out the help of Revelation, to which no doubt but Mr. Wol- 
 laston was also very much beholden ; and indeed I am of 
 opinion that those noble pieces of Epictetus, Antoninus, and 
 Hierocles, though they were not professed Christians, were 
 notwithstanding the better for the light which Christianity 
 had brought into the world, though they had it at second 
 hand ; which indeed might be the case with Seneca and 
 Tully before, and even Plato and Pythagoras, who in their 
 travels might pick up many notions which originally came 
 from the inspired prophets. 
 
 I again repeat my humblest thanks for your kind letter, 
 and especially for your prayer for me with which it concludes, 
 and beg the continuance of it ; and I earnestly pray to God 
 for you that He will be your shield and the staff of your age 
 while you continue here, and your exceeding great reward in 
 a better world hereafter. 
 
 I am, Rev. Sir, your most obliged, etc. 
 
 S. J. 
 
 Colman died the next year, and too soon to know 
 the success of the little work, whose author he had 
 so gracefully complimented. Reference will be made 
 to a second edition of it in a future chapter. 
 
 Hebrew had been a favorite study with Johnson, 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 127 
 
 but about this time, his philosophical and theological 
 readings led him to take a new interest in it and to 
 refresh and improve his critical knowledge. Lord 
 President Forbes " Thoughts on Religion and Letter 
 to a Bishop " fell in his way, and opened to him a 
 scene of study and inquiry both novel and interesting. 
 He found in this author an abridgment or summary 
 of the works of John Hutchinson, then attracting the 
 attention of the learned world. These he procured 
 and read, and considered again and again with the 
 utmost care and with the best helps which he could 
 command ; and " though in many things," to use his 
 own words, " he seemed to overdo and go into ex 
 tremes, and his language was obscure, yet no man in 
 these last ages, ever appeared to have so laboriously 
 studied, and so thoroughly understood the Hebrew 
 language and antiquities, as Mr. Hutchinson." Some 
 of his translations were forced and unnatural, and his 
 criticisms were not all just. It grieved Johnson that 
 he should hurt his own cause by censuring bitterly 
 the great name of Sir Isaac Newton, and representing 
 him and others as no better than atheists who re 
 nounced Christianity ; and he could not be pleased 
 with his harsh treatment of the Jewish Rabbis, what 
 ever defects in their character might be proved. But 
 still Hutchinson appeared to him to be a " prodigious 
 genius," little inferior, if not superior to Sir Isaac 
 himself, and to have established several very impor 
 tant philosophical and theological principles. He 
 wrote to his friend John Berriman in London to know 
 more about him and the estimation in which he was 
 held, and the answer which he received was not very 
 flattering to his cultured mind : " Mr. Hutchinson, I 
 
128 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 never saw in my life but once ; he had rather the ap 
 pearance of a plowman than a philosopher. He was 
 not bred to learning ; but by the leisure he enjoyed, 
 while he was steward to the Duke of Richmond, he 
 found means to attain a good measure of knowledge in 
 the Hebrew tongue ; upon which he became so con 
 ceited that he thought nobody knew anything of the 
 matter but himself; and those few that learned of him 
 to be so sharpsighted as to see in the Old Testament 
 the only true principles of philosophy, quite contrary 
 to the Newtonian, and clearer accounts of the Trinity 
 than are to be found in the New." l 
 
 Johnson may have had the feeling to which Jones 
 of Nay land gave expression in the preface to the 
 second edition of his life of Bishop Home, when, 
 speaking of the Hutchinsonian principles, he said : 
 " These things came down to us under the name of 
 John Hutchinson, a character sui generis, such as the 
 common forms of education could never have pro 
 duced ; and it seems to me not to have been well ex 
 plained, how and by what means he fell upon things, 
 seemingly so new and uncommon ; but we do not in 
 quire whose they are, but what they are, and what 
 they are good for. If the tide had brought them to 
 shore in a trunk, marked with the initials J. H., while 
 I was walking by the sea-side, I would have taken them 
 up, and kept them for use ; without being solicitous 
 to know what ship they came out of, or how far, and 
 how long they had been floating at the mercy of the 
 wind and the waves. If they should get from my 
 hands into better hands, I should rejoice ; being per 
 suaded they would revive in others the dying flame 
 
 i MS. Letter, June 19, 1747. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 129 
 
 of Christian faith, as they did in Bishop Home and 
 myself." 
 
 A correspondence, chiefly upon philosophical sub 
 jects, was carried on for some time between Johnson 
 and Cadwallader Golden, afterwards Lieutenant-gov 
 ernor of the Province of New York. Golden was the 
 son of a Scotch divine, and finished a course of studies 
 at the University of Edinburgh, and devoted himself 
 to medicine and mathematics. While yet a young 
 man, he emigrated to America and finally settled in 
 New York, where he was appointed the first surveyor- 
 general of the lands of the Colony, and at the same 
 time master in chancery. His botanical and medical 
 essays were numerous ; but the work upon which he 
 bestowed the most labor was first published under 
 the title of the " Cause of Gravitation," and then en 
 larged and printed with the title of the "Principles 
 of Action in Matter," to which was added a " Trea 
 tise on Fluxions." Among his correspondents were 
 such distinguished characters of the time as Linnaeus, 
 Gronovius, and Franklin. His letters to Johnson are 
 full of the principles involved in his chief work, and in 
 one of them he said : " I am now printing something 
 on the subject of material agents, which I hope may 
 be of use to enlarge our knowledge in moral philoso 
 phy. I print only so many copies as may submit it to 
 the examination of the learned. As soon as it shall 
 be printed, it will kiss your hands for that purpose." 
 
 Johnson directed his attention to the philosophy of 
 Berkeley, and sent him some of his productions, as 
 the following letter will show : 
 
 COLDENGHAM, March 26, 1744. 
 
 Sin, I now take this opportunity, by Mr. Watkins, to 
 
 9 
 
130 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 return you my hearty thanks with the books you were 
 pleased to send me. . As to the Bishop s " New Theory of 
 Vision," I think he has explained some things better than 
 had been done before, but as to the main design he labors 
 at, I cannot say that I comprehend it. I allow that the 
 object which reflects light is not in a proper sense the ob 
 ject of vision, no more than a bell or any other sounding body 
 is the object of the sense of hearing, and yet I think we may 
 without much impropriety say that we see or hear a bell 
 as well as that we feel it, though it be certain that the 
 bell is not the immediate object of the senses of seeing and 
 hearing, as it is of the sense of feeling, and that it is only 
 from reasoning and experience that we form the concep 
 tion of the same objects affecting all the senses. If his 
 sentiments do not differ from this conception of the matter, 
 then I must look on a great part of his books to contain 
 a most subtle disputation about the use of words. If his 
 sentiments be different, I can form no conception of them. 
 His mistake in the " Analyst," in my opinion, may be made 
 very apparent, that lie does not understand the doctrine of 
 Infinites or Fluxions, as received by mathematicians, and 
 this I think I can demonstrate. I formerly had illustrated 
 the principles of that doctrine in writing, in order to assist 
 my own imagination in forming a regular and true concep 
 tion of it. 
 
 Since I received that book from you I have carefully re- 
 examined what I had formerly wrote, and am so far from 
 finding any defect in what was formerly clear to me, that I 
 think I clearly see his error, that he has no conception of the 
 principles of that doctrine. If you have a curiosity to be 
 satisfied in this, I will send you a copy of my paper. It is 
 contained in about two sheets of paper. 
 
 I assume the liberty always to be allowed in philosophiz 
 ing to differ from any man without disrespect or disregard 
 to his character, as I now do with respect to Bislfop Berke 
 ley, whose merit is very conspicuous, and whom I highly 
 esteem. I am sir, your humble servant, 
 
 CADWALLADER GOLDEN. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 131 
 
 In replying, Johnson as usual defended his friend 
 and favorite author, and said : "I am much obliged 
 to you for the observations you have made upon 
 Bishop Berkeley s pieces that I sent you. I take it that 
 the great design of that gentleman in what he wrote 
 was to banish scholasticism, and all talk without any 
 meaning, out of philosophy, which, you very well 
 know, has been the bane of science in all other parts 
 of learning, as well as in religion and morality." He 
 did not claim to be competent to understand all his 
 reasonings : "As to his mathematical pieces," said he, 
 " I confess I am not versed enough in the sublime 
 mathematics to be a judge of them, and so cannot 
 pronounce on this subject. I am very loth to give 
 you the trouble of transcribing, otherwise I should 
 have a great curiosity to see what you have wrote 
 upon it, in order that I might make a better judg 
 ment ; but this is too great a favor for me to ask." 
 
 In another letter of later date he showed his inde 
 pendent thinking, and confessed : " Your notions of 
 prescience and liberty are entirely agreeable to the 
 apprehensions I have of those matters ; nor could any 
 thing have been expressed better, nor can the greatest 
 authority in the world induce me to think otherwise. 
 You knew good Dr. Turner s works. He takes for his 
 motto : Nullius in verba. It is a very good one ; and 
 for the same reason, though I have a profound vener 
 ation for Mr. Locke and Sir Isaac Newton, yet I will 
 not be determined by their authority, nor by their 
 reasons, any farther than I can see for myself. I am 
 not attached to Hutchinson. Sir Isaac was doubtless 
 very exact; but no wonder if even he, in matters 
 very abstruse, should sometimes be mistaken ; nor is 
 
132 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 it less to be wondered at, if this should be the case 
 now with Bishop Berkeley, though I cannot but think 
 him one of the first men of the age. I have lately 
 read his " Siris," and have desired Mr. Nicholls to 
 send it you, if he can consistent with his engage 
 ments with Mr. Franklin, of whom he was so obliging 
 as to borrow it for me. Be it so that there may be 
 some things in it that may be thought fictitious, yet I 
 cannot but wish I had your opinion upon the philo 
 sophical part of it." 
 
 Golden paid his respects to Bishop Berkeley s 
 " Treatise on Tar Water," and published his reflec 
 tions by themselves, " which " said he, " turned out 
 to the benefit of the printer." But in his corre 
 spondence with Johnson his pen ran chiefly upon 
 mental and moral philosophy ; and the several letters 
 which passed between them serve to illustrate as 
 much the character of the one as the other : 
 
 COLDENGHAM, June 2, 1746. 
 
 REVEREND SIR, I now desire Mr. Nicholls to send 
 you a copy of the " Treatise " which I mentioned to you in 
 my last. In it you will find my thoughts on some things 
 which were the subject of your last to me by the Rev. Mr. 
 Watkins. One thing I am desirous to be more fully in 
 formed of from you, how consciousness and intelligence be 
 come essential to all agents that act from a power in them 
 selves. As to my own part, I do not perceive the necessary 
 connection between power or force and intelligence or con 
 sciousness. We may certainly in a thousand objects of our 
 senses discover power and force without perceiving any intel 
 ligence in them. And though this power or force should be 
 only apparent and the consequence or effect of some other 
 primary cause, yet I am certainly to be excused in my think 
 ing it real till it appear otherwise to me, as I believe every 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 133 
 
 man is to be excused who does not understand astronomy, 
 and thinks that the sun moves, and this opinion cannot in 
 any proper sense be called an absurdity in him. 
 
 In the next place I must beg you will give me a definition 
 of matter, or of any other being merely passive, without any 
 power or force or action. Such a being I cannot conceive, 
 and therefore as to me does not exist. 
 
 You will oblige me exceedingly by giving your opinion of 
 the printed " Treatise or of any part of it without reserve. 
 For my design only is to discover and be assured of the truth. 
 You will find by some parts of that piece that though I have 
 the greatest esteem of Sir Isaac Newton s knowledge and 
 performances, I take the liberty to differ from him in some 
 points. That man never existed who never erred. As I 
 have a great esteem of your judgment, I am very desirous to 
 have your opinion of what I send as soon as may be with 
 your conveniency, and thereby you will very much oblige, 
 Sir, your most humble servant, 
 
 CAJDWALLADER, GOLDEN. 
 
 June 19. 
 
 Sin, I now return you my hearty thanks for yours of 
 the 2d instant, and especially for your kind present that ac 
 companied it. It is my sincere opinion of it that it is a very 
 ingenious piece, and the result of much and deep thought. 
 There is one thing in it that I am much pleased with, which 
 is, that you make the resistance of what you call matter to 
 be an action deriving from a self -exerting principle. This I 
 take to be a point of very great importance and use, both in 
 physics and metaphysics as well as in religion. All the odds 
 between you and me is, that you imagine matter to be a self- 
 exerting principle, whereas I suppose matter to be a mere 
 passive thing, and if it is spirit pervading and agitating all 
 things, that is one principle of action according to Virgil s 
 philosophy : mem agitat molem, etc., which though it be the 
 most ancient notion, I believe is nevertheless true ; and that 
 elasticity and gravitation or attraction and repulsion as well 
 
134 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 as resistance, or what Sir Isaac calls vis inertice, and perhaps 
 several others, are so many various exertions of the one self- 
 exerting active principle Who pervades all things, and in 
 Whom we live, move, and have our being. 
 
 Your attempt to assign the cause of gravitation appears 
 to me a curious dissertation, but I have hardly furniture and 
 force of mind enough to comprehend it, having for many 
 years discontinued these kind of studies, and indeed never 
 turned my thoughts that way so closely as I find you have 
 done. Your system seems to me pretty near of kin to Mr. 
 Hutchinson s, as far as I have had opportunity to be ac 
 quainted with his from my Lord Forbes, but I believe you 
 have much outdone him in the exactness of your method and 
 methodical reasoning. 
 
 And now in answer to your candid inquiries, you ask me 
 how consciousness and intelligence become essential to all 
 agents that act from a power within themselves ? where, by a 
 power within themselves I take you to mean a principle of 
 activity belonging to their essence, and not either arbitrarily 
 annexed to them, or exerting itself in and by them. To 
 which I answer, a power of action without a principle of self- 
 exertion and activity, I can form no notion of, and a blind 
 power or principle of activity were it possible would be 
 so far from being of any use that it could be only mischiev 
 ous in nature. In fact we find that all these motions and 
 consequently actions in nature are conformable to the wisest 
 laws and rules, ever aiming at some useful end or design, and 
 must therefore be under the management of a most wise and 
 designing principle, so that it seems to me repugnant to 
 place intelligence and activity in or derive them from different 
 principles ; for if you suppose a blind principle of action in 
 matter, you must still suppose it under the ever ruling force 
 of an intelligent und designing principle ; and as it is not the 
 part of a philosopher to multiply beings and causes without 
 necessity, it seems plain to me that we ought not to imagine 
 any other principle of action than the principle of intelli 
 gence, which we know from our own soul in fact has, and in 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 135 
 
 nature must have, a power of self-exertion and activity. We 
 must come at it eventually in our inquiries, and I see not 
 how one can avoid admitting it immediately. I can find 
 nothing of activity in the idea of matter ; nothing but what 
 is merely passive, and therefore can only conceive it as a 
 mere passive instrument acted on by the one principle of in 
 telligence and activity. Thus I say things appear to me, nor 
 can I with the utmost force of mind that my little capacity 
 will admit of, conceive of them any otherwise, but I submit 
 what I am about to advance on this subject to your better 
 judgment, and remain Sir, 
 
 Your most obliged friend and humble servant, 
 
 S. J. 
 
 A letter from Golden, dated November 19, 1746, 
 continued his speculative inquiries, and met very 
 emphatically the apprehension, reported to him by 
 Johnson, of one of the Fellows of Yale College, that 
 there was a " tendency in his system towards athe 
 ism." This was a misfortune in his view which had 
 happened to all new discoveries in philosophy, and 
 after rejecting the thought that he was an enemy 
 to true religion, he proceeded to say : 
 
 I shall add something on this occasion, in defense of my 
 system, that from it a certain proof may be given of the evi 
 dence of spirits, or immaterial beings. For as in the idea of 
 all immaterial beings, quantity or shape or form is included, 
 and their actions are all divisible into degrees or quantities 
 of action ; the being from whence thinking proceeds cannot 
 be material, because no kind of quantity enters our concep 
 tion thereof, neither can any kind of measure or division be 
 applied to it, so much as in imagination. 
 
 All allow that when God created matter, He gave it 
 some essential property ; otherwise there can be no essential 
 difference between matter and spirit, and why may not I say, 
 in my way of speaking, that God gave at the creation to dif- 
 
136 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 ferent kinds of matter, different and distinct kinds of action. 
 As to my part, I can discover no kind of ill consequence in 
 the one more than in the other. 
 
 In answer to your demand of my opinion of Dr. Berkeley s 
 book " De Motu," I shall give it with the freedom requisite to 
 Philosophy. I think that the doctor has made the greatest 
 collection in this and his other performances, of indistinct 
 and indigested conceptions from the writings of both the an 
 cients, and the moderns that I ever met with in any man s 
 performances ; that he has the art of puzzling and confound 
 ing his readers in an elegant style not common to such kind 
 of writers ; and that he is as great an abuser of the use of 
 words as any one of those he blames most for that fault. I 
 hope you will pardon me for writing so freely of your friend, 
 and of so great a man. I do it with the less concern in 
 hopes thereby to provoke you to use the same freedom with 
 me. Compliments without sincerity spoil all philosophy. 
 
 I am so often interrupted at this time with business, and 
 which I wish I could avoid, that you must excuse the inco 
 herence of this scrawl, and likewise that I say nothing on 
 the subject of your treatise. I will do it when I can apply 
 my thoughts to it in the "manner you desire. I must still 
 stay some days on business in this place, which deprives me 
 of that pleasure which I had hoped to obtain in old age ; that 
 is, free thoughts and conversation with my friends on phi 
 losophy. 
 
 The next letter contained the notice of the treatise 
 which Johnson had desired him to examine, and is 
 dated : 
 
 COLDENGHAM, January, 27, 1746-7. 
 
 REV. SIR, In my last I told you how much I had been 
 involved in the public affairs, that I had not been able to 
 consider your new System of Morality with the attention 
 which I designed to give to the reading of it, and which it 
 truly deserves. Nothing has been a greater injury to true 
 religion than the pretenses that some people have set up 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 137 
 
 that religion is not the object of the understanding, but is 
 merely founded on authority, for in such case it could not 
 with any propriety be designed for the use of an intelligent 
 being, and there are no means left to distinguish between 
 true and false Religion when we are not allowed to use our 
 understanding in forming our judgment, and the false may 
 set up as strong pretenses to authority as the true, and in 
 fact always does. 
 
 You have by your performance clearly evinced the con 
 trary of this, that true religion is founded on the reason or 
 nature of things, and you have shown this in a manner 
 adapted to common capacities and the commonly received 
 conceptions, which makes it more generally useful and the 
 more valuable. 
 
 I have considered the same in my own Principles of Nat 
 ural Philosophy, and I have done this for two reasons : viz. 
 thereby to remove some metaphysical objections which you 
 made to my principles, and which I hope by this method to 
 remove more easily than by a direct answer ; the other 
 reason is in hopes to give you some hints which may per 
 haps be of use to you in reconsidering your subject, as you 
 tell me that you intend to publish a second edition of that 
 work. I hope you will give me your sentiments with the 
 same freedom that you see I write to you, and thereby I shall 
 judge that the freedom I take is not disagreeable to you. 
 I have no other view but truth, and for that reason I shall 
 myself be more obliged by having my mistakes shown to 
 me than by any applause. I am, Sir, 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 CADWALLADER, GOLDEN. 
 
 Johnson waited nearly three months, and then re 
 turned the following answer : 
 
 April 15. 
 
 SIR, I have been so much taken up of late in several 
 journeys and various other affairs, that this must be my 
 apology for not sooner answering your kind letter of Jan. 
 27. Your beautiful little draught of the first principles of 
 
138 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 morality is what I have been very much pleased with ; I 
 have read it with attention three times, and every time with 
 a fresh increase of pleasure, and I now at length return my 
 hearty thanks for it, and for the candor you express towards 
 the piece I had the presumption to publish. You have in 
 this little piece of yours made such an easy, gradual, and nat 
 ural progress from physics to metaphysics, and from thence 
 to morality, as is very pleasing to the mind ; and I think, if 
 I rightly apprehend, you have now so explained yourself that 
 we do not much differ, and what difference yet remains I be 
 lieve is but merely verbal. My chief objection was against 
 your using the term action as expressing anything in matter, 
 which I take to be a mere passive thing, and that action 
 cannot in strict propriety of speaking be attributed to it ; for 
 which reason that expression still grated upon my mind till 
 I came to your 7th section, in which, when you come to ex 
 plain the difference between spirit and body, you say " the 
 actions of the latter are altered by efficient causes always 
 external to themselves." 
 
 This seems evidently to conclude what I would be at, and 
 that at the bottom we think alike, viz. that when we speak 
 of matter and the action of it we use that word for want of 
 a better, in a sense rather figurative than literal, and un 
 derstand it in a vulgar sense rather than a sense that is 
 strictly philosophical, [as we] do the rising and setting of 
 the sun. So we may call writing the action of the pen, when 
 it is only in reality merely acted [on] , and consequently that 
 by the action of matter you do not mean any exertion of its 
 own, much less a designed conscious self-exertion wliich al 
 ways enters into my notion of efficient causes ; and that there 
 fore when you say it is determined by the (exertion I would 
 say of) efficient causes always external to itself, those efficient 
 causes must always be self-exerting and intelligent beings 
 i. e., spirits, which therefore only are properly agents, and 
 consequently that all the actions in all nature that affect our 
 senses and excite ideas in our minds are really the actions 
 of that Great Supreme Almighty Being or Spirit whom you 
 call (25) the soul of the universe. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 139 
 
 I do not, with Sir Isaac in 9, quite like that expres 
 sion. It may however be admitted, if it means that He 
 animates and governs the world as the soul does the body, 
 which is merely passive to it : it is so far right, He 
 being in this sense the natural Governor of the natural 
 world ; but this seems not sufficient unless you also conceive 
 Him as the moral Governor of the intelligent or moral world, 
 rewarding or punishing men according as they behave, 
 which is what I would apprehend you to mean by the real 
 words. 
 
 You say very truly, 9, We have no idea of matter ; by 
 which it is plain that by matter you mean something 
 that is not the object either of our senses or minds. Of 
 what use then is it in philosophy ? Why may we not 
 wholly drop it, and do as well without it, perhaps much 
 better, and suppose what you call the action of it to be the 
 action of that Almighty Spirit in whom we live, move, and 
 have our being, and consider all nature as being the glorious 
 system of his incessant exertions and operations, with which 
 by his own action governed by fixed rules of his most wise 
 establishment called the laws of nature, He perpetually and 
 with endless variety of objects affects our senses and minds 
 This will sufficiently account for everything, whereas mattet 
 whereof we have no idea, can account for nothing. 
 
 You use the expression, 20 and 21, During the time oj 
 our existence, which sounds as though it was to have a po 
 riod with this vain life. This I cannot suppose your mean 
 ing (and therefore might perhaps be better left out), because 
 I apprehend you must think it evident from the wisdom, jus - 
 tice, and goodness of God, compared with that excellent nature 
 He has given us, that we must be designed for nobler ends 
 than can be answered by our existence only in this short, un 
 certain, and troublesome life. Thus, Sir, I have used the free 
 dom you desire, and which I doubt not you will take in the 
 same good part, and with the same pleasure as I do yours, 
 and always shall. I am glad to find by your " Gazette " that 
 you are at last resolved to have a College in your Gov- 
 
140 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 eminent. This is what I doubt not you have much at heart, 
 and I heartily wish success to it, and shall be glad to cor 
 respond with you in anything in my little power that may 
 tend to promote it, and wish it may take effect speedily 
 that you may not suffer the Jersey College (which will be a 
 fountain of nonsense) to get ahead of it. 
 
 I am, Sir, etc. S. J. 
 
 The business of his official position crowded upon 
 him, and Golden found little leisure to pursue his fa 
 vorite speculations, but he wrote again to Johnson 
 in answer to the foregoing letter, and then there ap 
 pears to have been for a short time a suspension of 
 their correspondence : 
 
 NEW YORK, May 18/fc, 1747. 
 
 REV. Sm, Yours of the 15th of last month, in which 
 you express some satisfaction in the little rude sketch I 
 sent you on the first principles of morality, gave me a good 
 deal of pleasure, though I cannot be fully clear that either 
 of us has received clear conceptions of the other s thoughts. 
 But in the first place I must thank you for your taking no 
 tice of some expressions in my paper liable to exceptions. I 
 own they are justly so, but as what I wrote was only for 
 your private amusement, and to obtain your opinion on my 
 thoughts, I did not much attend to the accuracy of expres 
 sion. 
 
 I did not think ot the old opinion of the soul of the world 
 when I wrote that paragraph. My design was only to avoid 
 all expressions which could raise any idea of matter or cor 
 poreity, as the word spirit in its natural signification is apt 
 to do, and for that reason only I made use of the words soul 
 or mind. Please then to put in their place infinitely Intelli 
 gent Being. It was by the same inadvertency the words, 
 During the time of our existence^ were made use of, and I 
 am obliged to you for the correction which you have made 
 of them. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 141 
 
 I jut now to come to the matter itself, I cannot have any 
 idea of anything merely passive or without any kind of 
 action. I can have no idea of a mere negative, and since, 
 as I observed, all our ideas of everything external to us must 
 arise from the actions of those things on our minds, every 
 thing of which we have any idea must be active. This is 
 my fundamental argument, to which 1 suspect you have not 
 given sufficient attention ; and from whence I conclude that 
 all matter is active. You seem likewise not to have alluded 
 to the distinction which I make between the substance and 
 the action of that substance. We have no idea of the sub 
 stance of intelligent Beings, as little as of material. We have 
 only ideas of their actions. Or the ideas are the effects of 
 their actions on our minds. But, Sir, if you attribute all 
 action immediately to that Almighty Spirit in whom we live, 
 move, and have our Being, all nature (as you say) being a sys 
 tem of his incessant exertions, etc., I do not see how anything 
 or action can be morally evil in a proper sense, and the 
 foundation of morality seems merely to be sapped. It 
 seems to be a kind of Spinozism in other words. But as 
 this is inconsistent with the whole tenor and end of your 
 treatise I can only conclude that I have not been able to form 
 any conception of the first principles of your and Dr. Berke 
 ley s system of Philosophy. I am afraid you will find me 
 of a much duller apprehension than you at first imagined, 
 and that if you are willing to make me understand your 
 system, it will give you more trouble than perhaps any 
 thing, that can be expected from me on the subject, can de 
 serve. 
 
 The public affairs have employed my time so much that 
 I cannot write more fully at this time on this or any other 
 subject, and I must desire that the same excuse may serve 
 for my not answering your letter sooner. But if you be at 
 more leisure, a line or two from you will be exceedingly 
 agreeable to me, that I may know whether I have been so 
 lucky as to explain anything to your satisfaction, or to free me 
 from my mistakes. I hope soon to be freed from these clogs 
 
142 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 to tKe pleasantest amusement in old age, and to have time to 
 show how much I am, Sir, 
 
 Your most obliged humble servant, 
 
 CADWALLADER GOLDEN. 
 
 June 7. 
 
 SIR, Could you be sensible of the manner of life I am 
 obliged to live, I should have little occasion to make any 
 apology for my being so long before I answer your obliging 
 letters, and especially your last of May 18, for which I now 
 return you my sincerest thanks ; or for my incorrectness of 
 expression when I do write, which doubtless is the chief occa 
 sion of my not being clearly understood, as well as of my not 
 sufficiently attending to what you write. For my case is 
 not altogether dissimilar to that of the great Apostle, partic 
 ularly in being in journeyings often and in perils among false 
 brethren. 
 
 I am entirely satisfied and well pleased with the amend 
 ments you allow me to make in the ingenious draught you 
 were so good as to send me of your notion of the first princi 
 ples of morality ; with which it now runs clearly to my mind 
 and is equally pleasing to my friends here, to whom I have 
 communicated it. As for the incidental turn I made upon 
 an expression of yours in favor of Bp. Berkeley s system, 
 I was little more than jocular on that occasion, being not 
 dogmatically tenacious of his peculiar sentiments, much less 
 zealous of making you a proselyte to them. I would how 
 ever observe that you have made a considerable approach 
 towards them, at least as far as I am concerned to wish you 
 to do, particularly in your allowing that all our ideas of sen 
 sible things are the effects of the actions of something ex 
 ternal to our minds, and that even resistance is an action. 
 Your supposing an active medium which you call matter in 
 tervening between the action of the Deity and our minds 
 perceiving, to which they are immediately passive, though I 
 am not clear in it, does not affect me so long as you allow 
 all action throughout all sensible nature to derive originally 
 from Him. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 143 
 
 I doubt I expressed myself sometimes uncouthly, at least 
 very incorrectly, otherwise you would not have inferred from 
 what I wrote that I attributed " all action immediately to 
 the Almighty Spirit." I meant only all the actions in sen 
 sible nature only, or which produce in our minds the ideas of 
 sense and imagination ; but I was far from meaning that 
 there are no other actions besides those of the Deity. For 
 this would be in effect to deny or doubt whether there be 
 any other Beings besides Him and our ideas. This would 
 sap the foundation of morality sure enough, and would be at 
 least as bad as Spinozism. Bp. Berkeley any more than I, 
 never doubted of the existence or actions of other inferior 
 created spirits, free agents and subject to moral government. 
 All he contends for is that there are no other than two 
 sorts of beings, the one active the other passive, that spirit, 
 the Deity, and created intelligence alone are the active beings, 
 and the objects of sense alone are merely passive ; and that 
 there is no active medium intervening between the actions of 
 the Deity and our minds whom He has made to be percep 
 tive and self -active Beings. These I take to be the first 
 principles of his system. But however at a loss you may 
 be about his peculiar system, there is a very pretty book pub 
 lished in England in 1745, called " Dialogues Concerning 
 Education," being a plan for training up the youth of both 
 sexes in learning and virtue, which I have lately seen, and 
 long to have you read ; and in which I don t doubt we should 
 perfectly agree. I have recommended it to Mr. Shatford of 
 New York to procure several copies, and do not think we 
 could put a better thing into the hands of our children. It 
 is the prettiest thing in its kind, and the best system both 
 in physical, metaphysical, and moral philosophy I have ever 
 seen. 
 
 Dr. Johnson had two sons ; the birth of the elder 
 has been already given, and that of the other Wil 
 liam took place March 9, 1731. He saw as their 
 intellects opened, that if they had such an education 
 
144 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 as he desired for them, it would be necessary for him 
 to give his personal attention to it, and carry them 
 through the preliminary course, and " that it might 
 be the more agreeable to them to have companions, 
 he took several gentlemen s sons of New York and 
 Albany." When the youngest was born he wrote in 
 his private diary : " God, I give this child as well 
 as the other to Thee. Bless them both," and "let 
 me live to see them well educated and engaged in 
 Thy service." At the age of about thirteen they 
 were each admitted to the lowest class in Yale Col 
 lege, but " it was a great damage to them," said the 
 father " that they entered so young, and that when 
 they were there, they had so little to do, their class 
 mates being so far behind them." He regretted that 
 he had not taught them Hebrew before they entered ; 
 a study which they could not pursue in College, as 
 there was no competent teacher. William Samuel, 
 the eldest, received the degree of B. A. in 1744, and 
 was the single " scholar of the house," for that year, 
 to whom was adjudged the premium under the bounty 
 of Dean Berkeley. He chose the law for his profes 
 sion, and in the last week of May, 1747, he took a 
 journey to Boston, that he might attend a few Lec 
 tures, be present at the Commencement, and admitted 
 a Master of Arts in Harvard University. 
 
 Some external preparation for the occasion appears 
 to have been necessary, since he wrote to his father 
 from Cambridge that he had spoken for a wig and could 
 not have one under 10; everything being " mon 
 strously dear." The cost of his degree exceeded his 
 expectations: " Commencement is now over" said he, 
 " and I have taken a Degree which cost me 8 ; four 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 145 
 
 of which I was unwilling to pay, but the Corporation 
 appointed the charge when they granted my request, 
 and it was then too late to hesitate about it." 
 
 The letters which passed between the father and 
 the son at this time are full of affection, and because 
 it was the turning point in the son s life, the most 
 important of them deserve a place in this connection. 
 He had reported his pleasant journey and safe arrival, 
 and given some account of the old friends of his 
 father, Dr. Cutler and Mr. Caner, 1 as well as his 
 inclinations about a profession and his desire to be 
 governed by the paternal counsels, before he penned 
 the following letter : 
 
 HONORED SIR, When I wrote last it was in great haste, 
 and only that.,you might just know that I was well. Since 
 which I have met with nothing very remarkable. The 
 small-pox, which, when I wrote first, I informed you was in 
 town, is now only in the pest-house, and there only one negro 
 has it, so that there is now no danger. The gentleman also, 
 I then mentioned, is since taken up and buried ; he was 
 found with his money and watch about him, and therefore tis 
 thought was not murdered as was suspected. It proved to 
 be the gentleman from London. He was son to a Deacon of 
 Dr. Guise s Church, of a fine fortune, and came recommended 
 to Dr. Colman, who never saw him but once. He preached 
 a sermon about it last Sunday, and told them that the last 
 was the most afflicting week that he ever endured. 
 
 About 40 of the money I brought with me was of the 
 Rhode Island last emission, and consequently of no use here,, 
 for it is 50 fine to tender it to any one. What I mention it for 
 is because I got Captain Prince to change it, and he expects 
 that you will indemnify him, if the law prohibiting the bills 
 of the neighboring colonies (which we hear our Assembly is 
 
 1 Rev. Henry Caner, long his neighbor over the Church at Fairfield, Conn., had 
 recently been made Rector of King s Chapel Boston. 
 10 
 
146 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 about to enact) should take place before he gets home. If 
 it should, I believe you must repay him and send it down to 
 me if you have an opportunity, that I may exchange it at 
 Newport on my return home. 
 
 The precepts you gave me in your letter are excellent, and 
 the method you prescribe is no doubt the best ; for I find by 
 experience that vice is not to be reasoned with, but the temp 
 tation to it to be avoided, and none is there greater than that 
 of bad company. It is almost impossible to associate with ill 
 men and not sometimes do as they do, and even though we do 
 not, yet their converse leaves a stain upon the mind which it 
 is very difficult to get rid of. For this reason it shall be, as 
 you advise, my greatest concern to avoid them, and chief care 
 not to consent with them in their wickedness. 
 
 It is the greatest desire of my soul to be useful to mankind, 
 but the difficulty is to determine in what way ; for as we 
 must necessarily be confined to some one kind of business or 
 profession for a subsistence, so I think every man ought to 
 choose that which is most agreeable to his dispositions and 
 abilities, for in that he is most likely to succeed ; and here it 
 seems that what is really the best profession, in itself con 
 sidered, is out of the question, but the point is what is best 
 for this or that particular man. For as it is impossible that 
 all men can live by any one profession, though it be really 
 the best, so the Wisdom of Heaven has almost infinitely 
 diversified the dispositions and powers of men, that they may 
 not only follow but also delight in the different pursuits of 
 life ; and he I take it as much answers the end of his being 
 who adorns a lower as he who fills a higher station of life, 
 provided he is apparently calculated for it, and, therefore, it 
 seems I must consider not in what profession the greatest 
 good may be done to mankind, but in what station I, with 
 these dispositions, these abilities and acquirements which I 
 possess, am most likely to serve them ; for where there is one 
 that succeeds in an employment for which he is not calcu 
 lated there are thousands that fail. 
 
 You may perhaps think from that warmth and eagerness of 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 147 
 
 temper which is natural to me, that I am for rushing into life 
 and business hand over head without . due deliberation and 
 forecast. But in this you are really mistaken, for I am fully 
 sensible that all my future happiness in life depends upon 
 my taking a right course ; so I have employed my most seri 
 ous and intense thought upon it for this long time past, and 
 have endeavored so far as I am able to consider everything 
 relating to it, and to view my case, in every possible light I 
 could place it. But I am resolved to do nothing rashly, yet I 
 think it is high time for me to have some particular business 
 in view, and to be qualifying myself for it. And as I chiefly 
 and above aU (under the conduct of Heaven) depend upon 
 your advice, direction, and approbation in this most important 
 case, so I hope you will be prepared when I come home to 
 give me your last and best advice in the affair, that I may 
 earnestly apply myself more immediately to fit myself for 
 business. And pray, Sir, consider the distinction I mentioned 
 above, and consider not what profession is best in itself (for 
 if I am not fit for it, that must be the very worst of all for 
 me), but what is best for me such as I am. We cannot un 
 make ourselves. We may correct but can never eradicate 
 the first principles of our constitution either in body or mind. 
 I know and am fully persuaded you would do what to you 
 appears best for me in every case, and you know my temper, 
 dispositions, abilities, etc. as well, perhaps better than I do 
 myself ; therefore, Sir, consider these and direct me to a 
 course of life that is suitable for me ; for by this means, and 
 by the practice of virtue in such a course, I apprehend it is 
 most likely I may become an instance of the generis humani 
 debitio, and an instrument of doing all the good I am capable 
 of among this degenerate race, and may best secure both my 
 
 temporal and eternal interest 
 
 I am, honored Sir, 
 
 Your most dutiful son and humble servant, 
 
 WM. SAM L JOHNSON. 
 CAMBRIDGE, June 13, 1747. 
 
148 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 STRATFORD, June 23, 1747. 
 
 DEAREST SON, I thank you for yours of the 13th, and 
 am glad to find the small-pox is not likely to spread. That 
 is a very melancholy story you tell of the young gentleman, 
 and must come with a most shocking force to his poor 
 father s ears, whom every human breast must tenderly com 
 passionate, though perhaps the less, if what I heard be true, 
 that that idle passion called love was the occasion of it, on 
 account of which, it being unequal, he forced him away. I 
 conclude the affair of the Rhode Island money need give us 
 no concern, since though Prince told me of his changing it, 
 he said nothing further about it. 
 
 I am extremely well pleased with the remarks you make 
 on the advice I gave you about the infectiousness of vice and 
 the great danger of bad company, and the resolution you ex 
 press to be upon the strictest guard, which I pray God you 
 may steadfastly abide by ; and remember that that loose, 
 weak, inconstant humor, abusively called Free Thinking, is 
 equally infectious with vice, of which it is always either a 
 cause or an effect, or most commonly both. I hope, therefore, 
 you will be no less upon your guard against that, and any 
 conversations leading to it, especially those of the ludicrous 
 kind, which can be no more reasoned with than vice itself, 
 or the most violent temptation to it. And as I doubt not 
 but the infidelity of this wicked age is chiefly occasioned by 
 an unbounded self-conceit and the unconstrained indulgence 
 of lust, I would particularly recommend it to you above all 
 things to be clothed with humility and to flee youthful lust. 
 
 I am also equally well pleased with the reflections you 
 make upon the subject of making a wise choice of a course 
 of life wherein to be useful to mankind. They are very just. 
 If a man is not pleased with the business he follows, it cannot 
 be expected he will succeed in it. For which reason I have 
 always resolved as far as possible to indulge your inclinations, 
 though at the expense of my own, for I am so much con 
 cerned, if possible, that you may be happy, that I should 
 gladly undergo a great deal of uneasiness rather than stand 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 149 
 
 in the way of it : nay, I have said, though I could never en 
 joy myself if you should follow war, yet I would rather sub 
 mit to that, than that you should not be able to enjoy your 
 self well in some other calling. 
 
 But with regard to the question before us, I agree with 
 you, that in choosing a course of life much allowance must 
 be made to one s natural genius and inclination. Genuine 
 nature must always be consulted. Notwithstanding which, I 
 cannot quite agree with you in saying that what is really the 
 best profession in itself considered is out of the question. 
 Methinks it ought by all means to be taken into considera 
 tion with other things, in order to make a just judgment how 
 to steer. If indeed it is plainly hmnoris impar, or one has 
 an unconquerable aversion to it as a business of life, as I 
 have for husbandry (though a great opinion of it), it must 
 be doubtless a duty to choose rather some other course. But 
 if I am equally qualified for that with another, perhaps better, 
 and have only some little reluctances and misgivings, I ought 
 in that case, for the sake of the superior intrinsic excellency 
 and usefulness, to set my reason to work to conquer those re 
 luctances if possible, And I know by experience, agreeable 
 to what you allow, that the nature cannot be eradicated yet 
 it may be corrected ; that what one has no genius for, and 
 even a reluctance to> may by dint of resolution and applica 
 tion be rendered not only tolerable but even delightful, as 
 was my case with regard to Mathematics. 
 
 You are, my son, and I bless God for it, by genius and 
 ability equally qualified to shine either in the pulpit, at the 
 bar, or at arms. As to the last, I hope that is now at least 
 in a great measure out of the question. And as to the two 
 former, I shall for my part be entirely easy whichsoever you 
 choose, though I prefer the first, for which you are already 
 so well qualified that you can well afford to spend a year or 
 two in making a trial of the study of Law, which would by 
 no means be lost time, if you should afterwards quit it for 
 Divinity. On the other hand, if you like it you may abide 
 by it. 
 
150 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 You say well (as being so young you well may), that you 
 are not for rushing suddenly into life. And as you can spare 
 yet three or four years to consider and qualify yourself, I doubt 
 not but by that time you may begin in either of those profes 
 sions with good advantage. Meantime assure yourself it is 
 my daily and earnest prayer both for you and your brother 
 not only that you may be duly qualified, but also directed to 
 such a choice of business for life as may enable you to do 
 God the greatest honor and mankind the greatest good you 
 are capable of, and at the same time, in the best manner to 
 enjoy yourselves here, and be qualified for the most ample re 
 ward hereafter. And to my prayers I shall willingly add my 
 best advice and endeavors, and I am glad you have opened 
 the way to a particular and free correspondence and conver 
 sation upon these subjects, and would wish you always to 
 converse with me in the freest and most unreserved manner 
 upon any subject that may be of importance to you, nay even 
 upon the choice of a companion as well as a business for life, 
 as occasion may offer. For there is nothing pleases me better 
 than a decent, open, and unreserved freedom. You will make 
 allowance for the extreme haste of my writing. It is now 
 half an hour past 12, and high time to break up, so I con 
 clude. With our hearty love to you, 
 Dear son, 
 
 Your most tender and affectionate father, 
 
 S. JOHNSON. 
 
 The answer to this letter caused the father to write 
 another with more advice about plans for the future ; 
 and he addressed it to his son at Guilford, where he 
 would stop on his return to visit relations. It closed 
 the correspondence, and nothing more was needed to 
 fix him in the choice of a profession : 
 
 STRATFORD, July 7, 1747. 
 
 DEAR SON, I do not now write to you as at Boston, 
 having been informed you was to leave it this week. How- 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 151 
 
 ever as writing rather than speaking may be most agreeable 
 to you on some of the subjects of your letter, I send this to 
 meet you on the road. 
 
 Methinks you are rather too severe upon that instance of 
 human frailty which is called Love. I believe there are 
 few of us without some tincture of distraction, and I take 
 that to be a species of it, which, in some degrees, of which 
 there have been many instances, deserves as great a compas 
 sion and tenderness as any other kind of distraction, it being 
 sometimes equally impossible even for a good genius to be 
 master of himself in that case, as in any other case of distrac 
 tion, which makes it a matter of great importance with re 
 gard to that, as well as other dangers, to think much of the 
 Apostle s aphorism, Let him that thinketh he standeth take 
 heed lest he fall. 
 
 I am pleased with the declaration you make of your sense 
 and resolution about Free Thinking. Indeed I have thought 
 (nor am I yet secure) that you are in too much danger of it, 
 I mean in the bad sense ; instances of which, you complain 
 you have met with. But it is rather too cold an expression 
 you use, that the more you know of this humor the less you 
 esteem it. This seems to imply as if you had had too much of 
 a favor for it, and upon the experience and observations you 
 have had opportunity to make of it, I should hope you might 
 have said, the more you know of it the more you abhor it. 
 
 You suspect my tenderness may carry me too far. It may 
 have been so in some instances. It is a pardonable esteem, 
 for which I hope you know how to make allowances. But 
 give me leave to say, that there is at least as great a danger 
 in youth of being too secure and self-sufficient ; and, in con 
 sequence of that, of thinking too hardly of the caution and 
 anxiety of age, and being not sufficiently sensible of the great 
 advantage which age has of youth, in having gone through a 
 long course of experience, and having had larger opportuni 
 ties of trial, both of the treachery of a tempting world, and of 
 the instability and deceitfulness of the heart of man, our 
 own as well as that of others ; and consequently of the great 
 
152 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 dangers to which youth is particularly exposed, and of which 
 it is not sufficiently aware. 
 
 I did not allege the case of Mathematics, as being at all 
 concerned with choosing a course of life (as you seem to un 
 derstand me), but only as a case, wherein a choice being made 
 of any pursuit, even though somewhat against the grain, a 
 resolute practice and application might, as I experienced, ren 
 der it not only tolerable but even delightful. 
 
 Perhaps it is only the knowledge of yourself as you now 
 are, in the heat of youth, that makes you apprehensive that 
 you are not well calculated for Divinity (of which you give 
 so just an encomium). I doubt not but with a careful man 
 agement of yourself, you will in a few years grow more se 
 date, and your taste may mucli alter. However, as you pro 
 fess that you have no notion of hurrying into life, you will 
 do well to study law industriously two or three years. I 
 would only observe, that so far as temper and disposition and 
 conduct in life are concerned, such a management of them as 
 is necessary to make a good Christian will be equally consist 
 ent with being a divine ; and if you should not follow divin 
 ity as your profession, I beg to depend that your conduct be 
 such as would be an ornament to it, and that you so order 
 your manner of life, as vastly more to serve than disserve 
 that cause ; much less would I fear as you seem to do, that 
 if you were a divine you should do more hurt than good 
 to it. 
 
 You abhor the thought of making a woman unhappy, i. e., 
 in matrimony, or a family miserable. You are very right in 
 this, and I hope I may take this as a good omen that you are 
 resolute (and then you will succeed in it) so to act your part 
 in life, as will not fail by God s blessing to make all those 
 happy in a good measure to whom you may ever be related. 
 And I would hope the same tenderness for that tender and 
 unwary sex will always make you equally careful while you 
 are in a state of celibacy to guard against anything that may 
 have the least tendency to make any of them miserable, which 
 often proves the effect of a frequent intercourse with them 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 153 
 
 when no thoughts of anything further than mere conversation 
 are intended. This is an affair of great tenderness, and has 
 occasioned in time past a great deal of grief to me, and were 
 I to go over life again I would never frequently or much con 
 verse with a person I had not even remote thoughts of mak 
 ing a partner in life, or when I was in no condition for it. 
 
 You say you are not worth a farthing, etc. It is true you 
 are not in possession, but whenever you are disposed to settle 
 yourself, I can spare you 2,000 pounds worth of lands to dis 
 pose of for that purpose, and hope in God s time I may leave 
 you at least as much more. Meantime, I am, 
 Your most affectionate father, 
 
 S. JOHNSON. 
 
 In the year 1749 a project was set on foot to estab 
 lish a college at Philadelphia, and several gentlemen 
 of the first rank in the province gave it their sup 
 port. One of this number was the celebrated Benja 
 min Franklin, who drew up and published the original 
 proposals for erecting the English, Latin, and Math 
 ematical schools of the institution under the name of 
 an Academy, " which was considered as a very proper 
 foundation on which to raise something further at a 
 future period if these should be successful." He con 
 sulted Dr. Johnson, for whose opinion on such mat 
 ters he had the highest respect, about the plan of 
 education ; and was very urgent to get him to assume 
 the Presidency, and for this purpose, in company with 
 another gentleman, visited him at Stratford. A sim 
 ilar movement was begun about the same time in 
 New York, and Johnson, in writing to his fast friend, 
 Bishop Berkeley, desired his good offices and " advice 
 upon the undertaking." The following letter in reply 
 was inclosed to Dr. Franklin, that he might have the 
 benefit of the suggestions and thoughts which it con 
 tained: 
 
154 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 CLOYNE August 23, 1749. 
 
 REV. SIR, I am obliged for the account you have sent 
 me of the prosperous estate of learning in your College of 
 New Haven. I approve of the regulations made there, and 
 am particularly pleased to find your sons have made such a 
 progress as appears from their elegant address to me in the 
 Latin tongue. It must indeed give me a very sensible satis 
 faction to hear that my weak endeavors have been of some 
 use and service to that part of the world. I have two letters 
 of yours at once on my hands to answer, for which business 
 of various kinds must be my apology. As to the first, wherein 
 you inclosed a small pamphlet relating to tar- water, I can 
 only say in behalf of those points in which the ingenious 
 author seems to dissent from me, that I advance nothing 
 which is not grounded on experience, as may be seen at large 
 in Mr. Prior s narrative of the effects of tar-water, printed 
 three or four years ago, and which may be supposed to have 
 reached America. 
 
 For the rest, I am glad to find a spirit towards learning 
 prevail in those parts, particularly New York, where you say 
 a college is projected, which has my best wishes. At the 
 same time I am sorry that the condition of Ireland, contain 
 ing such numbers of poor uneducated people, for whose sake 
 Charity Schools are erecting throughout the kingdom, oblig- 
 eth us to draw charities from England ; so far are we from 
 being able to extend our bounty to New York, a country in 
 proportion much richer than our own. But as. you are 
 pleased to desire my advice upon this undertaking, I send the 
 following hints to be enlarged and improved by your own 
 judgment. 
 
 I would not advise the applying to England for charters 
 or statutes (which might cause great trouble, expense, and 
 delay), but to do the business quietly within themselves. 
 
 I believe it may suffice to begin with a President and two 
 Fellows. If they can procure but three fit persons, I doubt 
 not the college from the smallest beginnings would soon grow 
 considerable : I should conceive good hopes were you at the 
 head of it. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 155 
 
 Let them by all means supply themselves out of the semi 
 naries in New England. For I am very apprehensive none 
 can be got in Old England (who are willing to go) worth 
 sending. 
 
 Let the Greek and Latin classics be well taught. Be 
 this the first care as to learning. But the principal care 
 must be good life and morals to which (as well as to study) 
 early hours and temperate meals will much conduce. 
 
 If the terms for degrees are the same as in Oxford and 
 Cambridge, this would give credit to the College, and pave 
 the way for admitting their graduates ad eundem in the 
 English universities. 
 
 Small premiums in books, or distinctions in habit, may 
 prove useful encouragements to the students. 
 
 I would advise that the building be regular, plain, and 
 cheap, and that each student have a small room (about ten 
 feet square) to himself. 
 
 I recommended this nascent seminary to an English bish 
 op, to try what might be done there. But by his answer it 
 seems the colony is judged rich enough to educate its own 
 youth. 
 
 Colleges from small beginnings grow great by subsequent 
 bequests and benefactions. A small matter will suffice to 
 set one a going. And when this is once well done, there is no 
 doubt it will go on and thrive. The chief concern must be 
 to set out in a good method, and introduce, from the very 
 first, a good taste into the society. For this end the princi 
 pal expense should be in making a handsome provision for 
 the President and Fellows. 
 
 I have thrown together these few crude thoughts for you 
 to ruminate upon and digest in your own judgment, and 
 propose from yourself, as you see convenient. 
 
 My correspondence with patients who drink tar water, 
 obliges me to be less punctual in corresponding with my 
 friends. But I shall be always glad to hear from you. My 
 sincere good wishes and prayers attend you in all your laud 
 able undertakings. 
 
 I am your faithful, humble servant, G. CLOYNE. 
 
156 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 The Philadelphia gentlemen matured their plans, 
 and the subscriptions obtained for carrying them out 
 were a strong proof of the public spirit and generos 
 ity of their fellow-citizens. The hints of Berkeley 1 
 appear to have been carefully studied, and Johnson 
 was importuned to become the head of an institu 
 tion which he showed himself so well qualified to 
 direct, and which promised to be such a nursery of 
 classic and Christian learning. 
 
 1 The memory of this distinguished prelate as interested in Christian Education is 
 perpetuated in Connecticut. His name designates one of its most useful and pros 
 perous Institutions, the "Berkeley Divinity School " at Middletown, incorporated 
 in 1854, and conducted, since its foundation, under the immediate charge of the 
 Bishop of the Diocese, 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 167 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE WITH FRANKLIN ; DECLINES PHILADELPHIA ; 
 " ELEMENTA PHILOSOPHICA " ; DEATH OF BERKELEY AND 
 LETTER FROM HIS SON; ENGLISH EDITION OF "ELEMENTS OF 
 PHILOSOPHY" ; SPECULATIVE INQUIRIES, AND NOTIONS ABOUT 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 A. D. 1750-1754. 
 
 THE fondness of Johnson for learning and colleges 
 induced him to take into serious consideration the 
 overtures from Philadelphia. They were urged upon 
 him in a way which made them somewhat attractive, 
 but his reluctance to leave the region of his nativity 
 and separate himself from the cherished associations 
 of his brethren formed a great obstacle to their ac 
 ceptance. He spoke freely of his age as against the 
 change, and did not think it was warranted by the 
 prospect of increased usefulness and better pecun 
 iary support. Dr. Franklin s letters to him present 
 the subject very fully, and show the points on which 
 Johnson dwelt in his replies. The first that has been 
 preserved is dated : 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 9, 1750. 
 
 REV. SIR, At my return home I found your favor of 
 June the 28th, with the Bishop of Cloyne s letter inclosed, 
 which I will take care of, and beg leave to keep a little 
 longer. 
 
 Mr. Francis, our Attorney General, who was with me 
 at your house, from the conversation then had with you, 
 and reading some of your pieces, has conceived an esteem 
 
158 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 for you equal to mine. The character we have given of you 
 to the other trustees, and the sight of your letters relating 
 to the academy, has made them very desirous of engaging 
 you in that design, as a person whose experience and judg 
 ment would be of great use in forming rules and establish 
 ing good methods in the beginning, and whose name for 
 learning would give it a reputation. We only lament, that 
 in the infant state of our funds, we cannot make you an 
 offer equal to your merit. But as the view of being useful 
 has most .weight with generous and benevolent minds, and in 
 this affair you may do great service not only to the present 
 but to future generations, I flatter myself sometimes that 
 if you were here, and saw things as they are, and con 
 versed a little with our people, you might be prevailed with 
 to remove. I would therefore earnestly press you to make 
 us a visit as soon as you conveniently can ; and in the mean 
 time let me represent to you some of the circumstances as 
 they appear to me. 
 
 1. The Trustees of the Academy are applying for a char 
 ter, which will give an opportunity of improving and mod 
 eling our constitution in such a manner as, when we have 
 your advice, shall appear best. I suppose we shall have 
 power to form a regular college. 
 
 2. If you would undertake the management of the English 
 Education, I am satisfied the trustees would, on your ac 
 count, make the salary ,100 sterling, (they have already 
 voted .150 currency which is not far from it), and pay the 
 charge of your removal. Your son might also be employed 
 as tutor at 60 or perhaps 70 per annum. 
 
 3. It has been long observed, that our church is not suf 
 ficient to accommodate near the number of people who would 
 willingly have seats there. The buildings increase very fast 
 towards the south end of the town, and many of the princi 
 pal merchants now live there ; which being at a considerable 
 distance from the present church, people begin to talk much 
 of building another, and ground has been offered as a gift 
 for that purpose. The Trustees of the Academy are three 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 159 
 
 fourths of them members of the Church of England, and the 
 rest men of moderate principles. They have reserved in the 
 building a large hall for occasional preaching, public lectures, 
 orations, etc. ; it is 70 feet by 60, furnished with a handsome 
 pulpit, seats, etc. In this Mr. Tennent collected his congre 
 gation, who are now building him a meeting-house. In the 
 same place, by giving now and then a lecture, you might, 
 with equal ease, collect a congregation that would in a short 
 time build you a church, if it should be agreeable to you. 
 
 In the mean time, I imagine you will receive something 
 considerable yearly, arising from marriages and christenings 
 in the best families, etc., not to mention presents that are not 
 unfrequent from a wealthy people to a minister they like ; 
 and though the whole may not amount to more than a due 
 support, yet I think it will be a comfortable one. And 
 when you are well settled in a church of your own, your son 
 may be qualified by years and experience to succeed you in 
 the Academy ; or if you rather choose to continue in the 
 Academy, your son might probably be fixed in the Church. 
 
 These are my private sentiments which I have commu 
 nicated only to Mr. Francis, who entirely agrees with me. 
 I acquainted the trustees that I would write to you, but 
 could give them no dependence that you would be prevailed 
 on to remove. They will, however, treat with no other till 
 I have your answer. 
 
 You will see by our newspaper, which I inclose, that the 
 Corporation of this city have voted 200 down and 100 a 
 year out of their revenues to the Trustees of the Academy. 
 As they are a perpetual body, choosing their own successors, 
 and so not subject to be changed by the caprice of a gov 
 ernor or of the people, and as 18 of the members (some the 
 most leading) are of the trustees, we look on this donation to 
 be as good as so much real estate ; being confident it will be 
 continued as long as it is well applied, and even increased, if 
 there should be occasion. We have now near 5,000 sub 
 scribed, and expect some considerable sums besides may be 
 procured from the merchants of London trading hither. And 
 
160 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 as we are in the centre of the Colonies, a healthy place, with 
 plenty of provisions, we suppose a good academy here may 
 draw numbers of youth for education from the neighbor 
 ing Colonies, and even from the West Indies. 
 
 I will shortly print proposals for publishing your pieces 
 by subscription, and disperse them among my friends along 
 the continent. My compliments to Mrs. Johnson and your 
 son ; and Mr. and Mrs. Walker your good neighbors. 
 I am, with great esteem and respect, Sir, 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 B. FRANKLIN. 
 
 P. S. There are some other things best treated of when 
 we have the pleasure of seeing you. It begins now to be 
 pleasant travelling. I wish you would conclude to visit us 
 in the next month at farthest. Whether the journey pro 
 duce the effect we desire or not, it shall be no expense to you. 
 
 The Eev. Richard Peters, though he had no per 
 sonal acquaintance with him, wrote him on the same 
 day, and invited him to his house. Mr. Peters was 
 an Englishman of culture and good manners, who 
 came to this country in Holy Orders, with his young 
 wife, and served for a time as an assistant in Christ 
 Church, Philadelphia. He afterwards accepted the 
 appointment of Provincial Secretary, and acquired a 
 considerable fortune, but did not relinquish his minis 
 terial character, and continued occasionally to per 
 form clerical duty. The letter below has allusion to 
 his official position in the government which he still 
 held : - 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 9, 1750. 
 
 REVEREND SIR, I am obliged to you for the honor you 
 did me in your compliments by Mr. Franklin and Mr. Fran 
 cis. They said so many good things of your abilities and 
 inclinations to promote useful knowledge, and the Trustees 
 of the Academy are so much in want of your advice and 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 161 
 
 assistance, that, though personally unknown to you, I must 
 take the freedom, from a hint that such a journey would 
 not be disagreeable to you, to give you an invitation to my 
 house. Let me, good Sir, have the pleasure of conversing 
 with a gentleman whose character I have a long time es 
 teemed, and provided your journey be not between the 20th 
 October and 1st November, when I am obliged to attend the 
 Governor and Assembly at New Castle, I will meet you at 
 Trenton or Brunswick, or any other place you shall appoint. 
 I will tell you beforehand, that can my friends or I find any 
 expedient to engage your residence among us, I will leave 
 nothing unattempted in the power of, Reverend Sir, 
 Your affectionate brother and humble servant, 
 
 RICHAKD PETERS. 
 Johnson replied : 
 
 Aug. 16. 
 
 Sm, I am extremely obliged to you for the honor you 
 have done me in writing so kind and polite a letter to me, 
 who am a perfect stranger to you, and a person whose real 
 character I doubt you will find much below what the can 
 dor of the openly friendly gentlemen have represented. You 
 will see by my letter to Mr. Franklin what difficulties lie in 
 my way with regard to my residence among you, which oth 
 erwise would, doubtless, be vastly agreeable to me. How 
 ever, as I do think in earnest, if practicable, to make a tour 
 to Philadelphia in acknowledgment of the great kindness you 
 express towards me, I shall most gratefully accept of your 
 kind invitation, and let you know beforehand when to ex 
 pect me. If I can come at all it will be before the time 
 you mention, but I would first see my brethren here together 
 at our Commencement on the 2d week in Sept., by convers 
 ing with whom I shall be the better able to make a judg 
 ment whether a remove would be practicable. Meantime, 
 I remain, Sir, etc., 
 
 S. J. 
 
 The next letter of Franklin, so characteristic of 
 
 the man ? goes more deeply into the objections which 
 11 
 
162 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Johnson had raised, and intimates to him that his " tal 
 ents for the education of youth were the gift of God," 
 and it was his duty to employ them for the public 
 service. 1 It shows too the writer s practical wisdom 
 in regard to the extension of the Church : 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 23, 1750. 
 
 DEAR SIR, We received your favor of the 16th inst. 
 Mr. Peters will hardly have time to write to you per this 
 post, and I must be short. Mr. Francis spent the last even 
 ing with me, and we were all glad to hear that you seriously 
 meditate a visit after the middle of next month, and that 
 you will inform us by a line when to expect you. We 
 drank your health and Mrs. Johnson s, remembering your 
 kind entertainment of us at Stratford. 
 
 I think, with you, that nothing is of more importance for 
 the public weal, than to form and train up youth in wis 
 dom and virtue. Wise and good men are, in my opinion, 
 the strength of a state far more so than riches or arms, which, 
 under the management of ignorance and wickedness, often 
 draw on destruction, instead of promoting the safety of a 
 people. And though the culture bestowed on youth be suc 
 cessful only with a few, yet the influence of those few, for 
 the service in their power, may be very great. Even a sin 
 gle woman, that was wise, by her wisdom saved a city. 
 
 I think, also, that general virtue is more probably to be ex 
 pected and obtained from the education of youth than from 
 the exhortation of adult persons ; bad habits and vices of the 
 mind being, like diseases of the body, more easily prevented 
 than cured. 
 
 I think, moreover, that talents for the education of youth 
 are the gift of God ; and that he on whom they are be 
 stowed, whenever a way is opened for the use of them, is as 
 strongly called as if he heard a voice from heaven. Nothing 
 more surely pointing out duty, in a public service, than abil 
 ity and opportunity of performing it. 
 
 1 This letter was first printed in the Port Folio, 1809, and it also appears in Sparks 
 Works of Franklin, vol. vii. pp. 47-50. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 163 
 
 I have not yet discoursed with Dr. Jenney concerning your 
 removal hither. You have reason, I own, to doubt whether 
 your coming on the foot I proposed would not be disagree 
 able to him, though I think it ought not. For should his 
 particular interest be somewhat affected by it, that ought not 
 to stand in competition with the general good ; especially as 
 it cannot be much affected, he being old, and rich, and with 
 out children. I will however learn his sentiments before the 
 next post. But whatever influence they might have on your 
 determinations about removing, they need have none on your 
 intention of visiting. And if you favor us with the visit, it 
 is not necessary that you should previously write to him to 
 learn his dispositions about your removal, since you will see 
 him, and when we are all together those things may be better 
 settled in conversation than by letters at a distance. Your 
 tenderness of the Church s peace is truly laudable ; but, me- 
 thinks, to build a new church in a growing place is not 
 properly dividing but multiplying ; and will really be a 
 means of increasing the number of those who worship God 
 in that way. Many who cannot now be accommodated in 
 the church go to other places or stay at home ; and if we 
 had another church, many, who go to other places or stay at 
 home, would go to church. I suppose the interest of the 
 Church has been far from suffering in Boston by the building 
 of two new churches there in my memory. I had for several 
 years nailed against the wall of my house, a pigeon-box that 
 would hold six pair ; and though they bred as fast as my 
 neighbor s pigeons, I never had more than six pair ; the old 
 and strong driving out the young and weak, and obliging 
 them to seek new habitations. At length I put up an addi 
 tional box, with apartments for entertaining twelve pair more, 
 and it was soon filled with inhabitants, by the overflowings of 
 my first box and of others in the neighborhood. This I take 
 to be a parallel case with the building a new church here. 
 
 Your years, I think, are not so many as to be an objection 
 of any weight, especially considering the vigor of your con 
 stitution. For the small-pox, if it should spread here, you 
 
164 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 might inoculate with great probability of safety ; and I think 
 that distemper generally more favorable here than further 
 northward. Your objection about the politeness of Philadel 
 phia, and your imagined rusticity, is mere compliment ; and 
 your diffidence of yourself absolutely groundless. 
 
 My humble respects, if you please, to your brethren at the 
 Commencement. I hope they will advise you to what is most 
 for the good of the whole, and then I think they will advise 
 you to move hither. 
 
 Please to tender my best respects and service to Mrs. 
 Johnson and your son. 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your obliged and affectionate, humble serv*, 
 
 B. FRANKLIN. 
 
 Illness prevented Johnson from making his contem 
 plated visit. Franklin wrote him again and gave up 
 ull expectation of seeing him immediately, as the 
 small-pox was spreading in the city, and it would not 
 be prudent to expose himself to its dangers : 
 
 DEAR SIR, I am sorry to hear of your illness. If you 
 have not been used to the f ever-and-ague let me give you one 
 caution. Don t imagine yourself thoroughly cured, and so 
 omit the use of the bark too soon. Remember to take the 
 preventing doses faithfully. If you were to continue taking 
 a dose or two every day for two or three weeks after the fits 
 have left you, twould not be amiss. If you take the powder 
 mixed quick in a tea-cup of milk, tis no way disagreeable, 
 but looks and even tastes like chocolate. Tis an old saying: 
 That an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and 
 certainly a true one, with regard to the bark ; a little of 
 which will do more in preventing the fits than a great deal in 
 removing them. 
 
 But if your health would permit I should not expect the 
 pleasure of seeing you soon. The small-pox spreads apace, 
 and is now in all quarters ; yet as we have only children to 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 165 
 
 have it, and our Doctors inoculate apace, I believe they will 
 soon drive it through the town ; so that you may possibly 
 visit us with safety in the spring. In the mean time we 
 should be glad to know the result you came to after con 
 sulting your brethren at the Commencement. Messrs. Peters 
 and Francis have directed me on all occasions to present their 
 compliments to you. Please to acquaint me if you propose 
 to make any considerable additions to the " Ethics," that I 
 may be able in the proposals to compute the bigness of the 
 book. 
 
 I am, with sincere esteem and respect, dear Sir, 
 Your most obliged humble servant, 
 
 B. FKANKLIN. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, September 13, 1750. 
 
 Inclosed I return the good Bishop s letter with thanks. 
 
 Before this correspondence was begun, Dr. Johnson 
 received a second invitation to the Rectorship of 
 Trinity Church, Newport, made vacant by the death 
 of his friend, the Rev. James Honyman. But he felt 
 that his removal would prejudice the interests of the 
 Church in Connecticut, and he finally declined it, and 
 suggested to the Vestry whether it would not be ad 
 visable to think of Dr. Cutler s son for the place. He 
 had been a long time officiating in England, and 
 was " doubtless/ he said, " very well experienced and 
 accomplished." The same motive which led him to 
 decline Newport helped him to come to a determina 
 tion about Philadelphia. He had been quite ready 
 to give his friends there the benefit of his counsels in 
 regard to their Institution ; but the following letters 
 were the last that related to the acceptance of their 
 proposals. 
 
166 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, December 24, 1751. 
 
 DEAR SIR, I received your favor of the llth inst. and 
 thank you for the hint you give of the omission in the 
 44 Idea." The "Sacred Classics" are read in the English 
 school, though I forgot to mention them. And I shall pro 
 pose at the meeting of the Schools, after the Holidays, that 
 the English master begin and continue to read select portions 
 of them daily with the prayers as you advise. 
 
 But if you can be thus useful to us at this distance, how 
 much more might you be so if you were present with us, 
 and had the immediate inspection and government of the 
 schools. I wrote to you in my last that Mr. Martin our 
 Rector died suddenly of a quinsy. His body was carried to 
 the Church, respectfully attended by the trustees, all the 
 masters and scholars in their order, and a great number of 
 the citizens. Mr. Peters preached his funeral sermon, and 
 gave him the just and honorable character he deserved. 
 The schools are now broke up for Christmas, and will not 
 meet again till the 7th of January. Mr. Peters took care 
 of the Latin and Greek School after Mr. Martin s death 
 till the breaking up. And Mr. Allison, a dissenting min 
 ister, has promised to continue that care for a month after 
 their next meeting. Is it impossible for you to make us a 
 visit in that time ? I hope by the next post to know some 
 thing of your sentiments, that I may be able to speak more 
 positively to the Trustees concerning the probability of your 
 being prevailed with to remove hither. 
 
 The English master is Mr. Dove, a gentleman about your 
 age, who formerly taught grammar sixteen years at Chiches- 
 ter in England. He is an excellent master, and his scholars 
 have made a surprising progress. 
 
 I shall send some of the " (Economies " to Mr. Havens per 
 next post. If you have a spare one of your " Essays on the 
 Method of Study," the English edition, please to send it me. 
 
 My wife joins in the compliments of the season to you 
 and Mrs. Johnson, with, dear Sir, 
 
 Your affectionate humble servant, 
 
 B. FRANKLIN 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 167 
 
 Answer : 
 
 DEAR SIR, I now write my most thankful acknowledg 
 ments for your two kind letters of December 24 and January 
 8, and have received your most obliging letters of the sum 
 mer before last, to which you refer me. There was one of 
 August 23, to which I did not make a particular reply by 
 reason of my illness at that time. In that you reasoned, I 
 own, in a very forcible manner upon the head of duty. You 
 argued that ability, with opportunity, manifestly pointed out 
 duty, as though it were a voice from Heaven. This, Sir, I 
 agree to, and therefore have always endeavored to use what 
 little ability I have that way in the best manner I could, 
 having never been without pupils of one sort or other half 
 a year at a time, and seldom that, for thirty-eight years. 
 And, thank God, I have the great satisfaction to see some of 
 them in the first pulpits, not only in Connecticut, but also in 
 Boston and New York, and others in some of the first places 
 in the land. But I am now plainly in the decline of life, both 
 as to activity of body and vigor of mind, and must, therefore, 
 consider myself as being an Emeritus, and unfit for any new 
 situation in the world or to enter on any new business, espe 
 cially at such a distance from my hitherto sphere of action 
 and my present situation, where I have as much duty on my 
 hands as I am capable of and where my removal would make 
 too great a breach to be countervailed by any good I am ca 
 pable of doing elsewhere, for which I have but a small chance 
 left for much opportunity. So that I must beg my good 
 friends at Philadelphia to excuse me, and I pray God they 
 may be directed to a better choice. And as Providence has 
 so unexpectedly provided so worthy a person as Mr. Dove 
 for your other purpose, I hope the same good Providence 
 will provide for this. I am not personally acquainted with 
 Mr. Winthrop, the Professor at Cambridge, but by what I 
 have heard of him, perhaps he might do. But I rather 
 think it would be your best way to try if you cannot get 
 some friend and faithful gentleman at home, of good judg- 
 
168 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 ment and care, to inquire and try if some worthy Fellow of 
 one or other of the Universities could not be obtained. Per 
 haps Mr. Peters or Mr. Dove may know of some acquaint 
 ance of theirs, that might do likely : dulcius ex ipsis fortibus. 
 Your son intimated that you had thought of a voyage home 
 yourself ; if you should you might undoubtedly look out a 
 fit person to be had, and you had better do as you can for 
 some time than not be well provided. I could, however, wish 
 to make you a visit in the Spring, if the way were safe, but 
 it seems the small-pox is propagating at New York, and per 
 haps you will be scarcely free of it. Meantime you have, in 
 deed, my heart with you as though I were ever so much with 
 you in presence, and if there were any good office in my 
 power you might freely command it. 
 
 I thank you for sending the two sheets of my " Noetica " 
 which are done with much care. I find no defects worth 
 mentioning but what were probably my own. At page 62, 1. 
 19, there should have been a (;) after " universal," and 1. 21 
 a (;) after " affirmative." On reviewing the former sheets I 
 observe a neglect, p. 30, 1. 24, " on account of which," and p. 
 36, 1. 3, there should be a (,) aftes " is." * 
 
 I am very much obliged to you for Short and the Almanac 
 and my wife for hers. I have had five parcels of the " (Econ 
 omies " and Fisher. I think you told me they were a dollar 
 each parcel, besides that of Havens, who desires you to send 
 him another parcel, and begs you to send one or more of 
 your pieces on "Electricity," published in England. By your 
 son s account I am much charmed with this, and beg if you 
 have a spare copy to send it me. And as you desire a copy 
 of my " Introduction," since I had many sent me from home, 
 I send half a dozen, of which with my humble service to 
 Messrs. Peters and Francis and your son, pray them to accept 
 each a copy. My wife and son, with me, desire our service 
 may be acceptable to them and Mrs. Franklin and your son. 
 
 I am, Sir, etc. 
 
 S. J. 
 
 1 In the copy before me there are pen corrections of these and other errors by 
 Johnson himself. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 169 
 
 The work referred to in the foregoing letter was 
 the " Elementa Philosophica : containing chiefly Noet- 
 ica, or Things relating to the Mind or Understanding ; 
 and Ethica, or Things relating to the Moral Beha 
 viour." This was the summary title, and three great 
 philosophers were grouped together in the issue of 
 the work. It was written by Johnson, dedicated, 
 " from the deepest sense of gratitude," to the Bishop 
 of Cloyne, and printed by Benjamin Franklin. The 
 first part, Nbetica, was mainly new, prepared for 
 young beginners to show them the principles of knowl 
 edge and the progress of the human mind towards its 
 highest perfection ; and in the advertisement, Johnson 
 said : " Though I would not be too much attached to 
 any one author or system, exclusive of any others ; 
 yet whoever is versed in the writings of Bishop 
 Berkeley will be sensible that I am in a particular 
 manner beholden to that excellent philosopher for 
 several thoughts that occur in the following Tract." 
 The remaining part was a second edition of his " Sys 
 tem of Morality," described in the previous chapter. 
 
 The graceful dedication to Berkeley was too late to 
 be seen by that eminent man. The correspondence 
 between them had been kept up, and every opportu 
 nity improved to communicate with each other, as the 
 
 following letters will show. 
 
 CLOYNE, July 1 7, 1 750. 
 
 REV. SIR, A few months ago I had an opportunity of 
 writing to you and Mr. Honyman by an inhabitant of the 
 Rhode Island Government. I would not, nevertheless, omit 
 the present occasion of saluting you, and letting you know 
 that it gave me great pleasure to hear from Mr. Bourk, a pas 
 senger from those parts, that a late sermon of yours at New 
 Haven hath had a very good effect in reconciling several to 
 
170 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 the Church. I find also by a letter from Mr. Clap, that 
 learning continues to make notable advances in Yale College. 
 This gives me great satisfaction, and that God may bless 
 your worthy endeavors and crown them with success, is the 
 sincere prayer of, Rev. Sir, 
 
 Your faithful brother and obedient servt, 
 
 G. CLOYNE. 
 
 P. S. I hope your ingenious sons are still an ornament to 
 Yale College, and tread in their father s footsteps. 
 
 Answer: December 17. 
 
 MY LORD, I yesterday received your Lordship s most 
 kind letter of July 17, from New Haven, and as there is a 
 vessel soon going from New York, I take the opportunity of 
 making my most humble acknowledgments to your Lordship, 
 though I lately wrote by the way of New York, my humble 
 thanks for your kind letter before received which came not 
 to hand till last summer. In that letter I informed you of 
 the death of good Mr. Honyman, and of the controversy be 
 tween the Governor of New York and their Assembly, which 
 hath hindered their College from going forward, since 
 which, things have been so far accommodated that they have 
 nominated the Trustees, and I hope they will proceed. 
 They are very thankful for the notice you so kindly took 
 of what I had mentioned to you in their behalf, and will 
 form their College upon the model you suggested to me. I 
 intended to have written by Mr. Bourk, but he was just going 
 when I saw him, and I had not time, nor had I then re 
 ceived your Lordship s last kind letter. 
 
 We should soon have a flourishing Church at New Haven, if 
 we could get a minister, but the Secretary of the Society 
 writes very discouragingly about expecting any more ministers 
 for these parts. Here is one of your Lordship s scholars, one 
 Colton, 1 that is a worthy candidate, and another equally 
 deserving, one Camp, 2 but we cannot yet have leave for their 
 
 1 Jonathan Colton was afterwards admitted to Holy Orders in England, and died 
 on his returning voyage to this country in 1752. 
 
 2 Ichabod Camp, his companion, a graduate of Yale College, 1743, was ordained at 
 the same time. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 171 
 
 going home for Orders. No endeavors of mine shall be 
 wanting, my Lord, while I live, to promote sound learning 
 and religion in these parts, and particularly your Lordship s 
 excellent system, in order to which I am preparing a short 
 draught for the use of pupils, but it will much want your 
 Lordship s correction. 
 
 I thank God iny sons yet give me good hopes, and there 
 is scarce anything I want to hear of more than of Mr. Harry s 
 welfare and of your Lordship s family, for whom I most 
 ardently pray. I heartily thank your Lordship for your 
 prayers and good wishes for me and mine, and beg the con 
 tinuance of them, and remain, my Lord, your Lordship s, etc. 
 
 S. J. 
 
 Berkeley wrote one more letter to Johnson, partly 
 in answer to the foregoing, and it is believed to have 
 been his last to the great American friend who never 
 ceased to love him for his virtues, and to honor him 
 ibr his learning and philosophy. It was dated : 
 
 CLOYNE, July 25, 1751. 
 
 REV. SIR, I would not let Mr. Hall depart without a 
 line from me in acknowledgment of your letter which he put 
 into my hands. As for Mr. Hutchinson s writings, I am not 
 acquainted with them. I live in a remote corner where 
 many modern things escape me. Only this I can say, that I 
 have observed that author to be mentioned as an enthusiast, 
 which gave me no prepossession in his favor. 
 
 I am glad to find by Mr. Clap s letter, and the speci 
 mens of literature inclosed in his packet, that learning con 
 tinues to make a progress in Yale College , and hope that 
 virtue and Christian charity may keep pace with it. 
 
 The letters which you and Mr. Clap say you had written, 
 in answer to my last, never came into my hands. I am glad 
 to hear, by Mr. Hall, of the good health and condition of 
 yourself and family. I pray God to bless you and yours, 
 and prosper your good endeavors. I am Rev. Sir, 
 Your faithful friend and humble serv*, 
 
 G. CLOYNB. 
 
172 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 As soon as his " Elementa Philosophica " was pub 
 lished, Johnson wrote to Berkeley and sent him a copy, 
 not knowing that he had broken up at Cloyne, and 
 exchanged its gloomy retirement and the life of a 
 recluse philosopher for the classic shades and ideal 
 beauty of Oxford. His son George had been entered 
 a student at Christ Church, and parental tenderness, 
 joined to other considerations, 1 led him to follow him 
 with his family and make his future residence at the 
 seat of the venerable University in the " fair vale of 
 the Cherwell and the Isis." The issue of " Elementa 
 Philosophica " must have been about the time when he 
 was settling his affairs, preparatory to the final depar 
 ture from Cloyne. The following letter shows this as 
 well as the use to which the work was put and the es 
 timation in which it was held. It gives, moreover, a 
 sketch of the progress of the Institution of which 
 Johnson had declined the oversight. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, July 2, 52. 
 
 REV. SIR, I have sent you, via New York, twenty-four 
 of your books bound as those I sent per post. The remainder 
 of the fifty are binding in a plainer manner, and shall be sent 
 as soon as done and left at Mr. Stuyvesant s as you order. 
 
 Our Academy, which you so kindly inquire after, goes on 
 well. Since Mr. Martin s death the Latin and Greek school 
 has been under the care of Mr. Allison, a Dissenting minis 
 ter, well skilled in those languages and long practiced in 
 teaching. But he refused the Rectorship, or to have any 
 thing to do with the government of the other schools. So 
 that remains vacant, and obliges the Trustees to more fre 
 quent visits. We have now several young gentlemen desir 
 ous of entering on the study of Philosophy, and Lectures 
 are to be opened this week. Mr. Allison undertakes Logic 
 
 1 See Fraser a Life, of Berkeley, ch. ix. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 173 
 
 and Ethics, making your work his text to comment and 
 lecture upon. Mr. Peters and some other gentlemen under 
 take the other branches, till we shall be provided with a 
 Rector capable of the whole, who may attend wholly to the 
 instructions of youth in the higher parts of learning as they 
 come out fitted from the lower schools. Our proprietors 
 have lately wrote that they are extremely well pleased with 
 the design, will take our Seminary under their patronage, 
 give us a charter, and, as an earnest of their benevolence, 
 Five Hundred Pounds sterling. And by our opening a 
 charity school, in which near one hundred poor children are 
 taught Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, with the rudi 
 ments of religion, we have gained the general good will of all 
 sorts of people, from whence donations and bequests may 
 be reasonably expected to accrue from time to time. This is 
 our present situation, and we think it a promising one ; es 
 pecially as the reputation of our schools increases, the masters 
 being all very capable and diligent and giving great satis 
 faction to all concerned. 
 
 I have heard of no exceptions yet made to your work, nor 
 do I expect any, unless to those parts that savor of what is 
 called Berkeley anism, which is not well understood here. 
 When any occur I shall communicate them. 
 
 With great esteem and respect, I am, dear Sir, 
 Your obliged humble serv*, 
 
 B. FRANKLIN. 
 
 Berkeley had not long enjoyed the academic re 
 pose of Oxford before his family and friends were 
 thrown into the deepest affliction by his sudden death. 
 He had received neither the book nor the letter 
 from Johnson when it occurred, on the evening of 
 Sunday, the 14th of January, 1753, but the author 
 had sent another copy of his work to Dr. Thos. Seeker, 
 then Bishop of Oxford and almost the only survivor 
 of the distinguished men in England with whom 
 
174 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Berkeley corresponded in his later years. The funeral 
 solemnities were scarcely over when he wrote to his 
 son and apprized him of its reception and offered it to 
 his acceptance, and he in acknowledging the Bishop s 
 kindness said " Dr. Johnson s book I have not 
 seen, but shall be greatly obliged to you for a copy 
 of it, as I suppose it is not reprinted in England, and 
 as my dear father had a great esteem for the author." 
 The best and most authentic account of Berkeley s 
 death is contained in the following letter to Dr. John 
 son, written by this son, and dated : 
 
 CHRIST CHURCH, October 16, 1753. 
 
 REV. SIR, With inexpressible sorrow I repeat the dis 
 mal account (for I suppose you have heard it before) of my 
 dearest and ever honored father s removal to the enjoyment 
 of eternal rewards, which happened suddenly and without the 
 least previous notice or pain on Sunday evening, Jan. 14th, 
 as he was sitting with my mother, sister, and myself, and 
 although all possible means were instantly used, no symp 
 tom of life ever appeared after, nor could the physicians as 
 sign any cause for his death, as they were certain it was not 
 an apoplexy. He had made his will at Cloyne a few days 
 before he left it (which he did in the middle of August), and 
 has very wisely left us all entirely under the care, and in the 
 power of the best of mothers. He arrived at Oxford on the 
 25th of August and had received great benefit from the 
 change of air, and by God s blessing on Tar Water, insomuch 
 that for some years he had not been in better health than he 
 was the instant before he left us. He had been indeed much 
 out of order the whole summer at Cloyne, which prevented 
 his coming over with me in May, 1752. His remains are 
 interred in the Cathedral of Christ Church, and next week 
 a monument to his memory will be erected with an inscrip 
 tion by Dr. Markham, a student of this College. 1 A few 
 
 1 Berkeley provided in his will that his body should be buried in the Church 
 yard of the parish where he died. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 175 
 
 days after this greatest of human misfortunes befell us I 
 received from Cloyne your letter to my dearest father, but 
 his agent there has not yet got an opportunity of sending 
 me the Book mentioned in it, but the Bishop of Oxford 
 has been so good as to send it to me, and you must give me 
 leave to say that (except those wrote by him to whom this 
 was dedicated) I never read any with equal pleasure, and 
 the more so as it shows that a person so very capable and 
 willing to spread his Philosophy, understands it so thor 
 oughly. This little book contains and teaches the wisdom 
 of ages and numberless volumes, and I entreat you would ac 
 cept my hearty thanks for the honor you have done my 
 dearest parent by choosing him for its patron, and also for 
 the improvement I have met with in it. 
 
 It is now high time that I should apologize for the liberty 
 I have taken, and which nothing should have encouraged me 
 to but the great friendship that subsisted between you and 
 him whose image is ever fresh before me, and whose mem 
 ory shall ever be most dear to me. I have inherited his high 
 esteem for you, Sir, and this will, I hope, plead my excuse for 
 giving you this trouble. My mother, who remembers you 
 with the truest regard, desires me to assure you of her most 
 sincere services. Your countryman, my brother, 1 has been 
 near two years abroad in the south of France for his health, 
 which has been very bad ever since a violent fever which 
 he had some years ago. He is now, I thank God, much bet 
 ter, and is lately returned to Dublin, from whence we expect 
 him here next summer. Not knowing any other way of 
 
 In the summer of 1870, in company with two friends, I spent a day at Cloyne, 
 and walked through its narrow streets, and under the ancient elms that overshad 
 ow the dwellings of this thriftless village. I thought of Berkeley at every turn 
 and was disappointed when we entered the Cathedral to find no memorial of the 
 great name associated with it for nearly a score of years. The mysterious Round 
 Tower, the Cave, the See House and the Palace garden, were there as they were a 
 century ago, and the myrtle and the ivy grew in wonderful luxuriance, but there was 
 nothing to perpetuate the memory of the good Bishop, or to show that there had ever 
 been a people here who knew his intellectual greatness. 
 
 i Henry, the eldest son, born at Newport. In Eraser s admirable Life of Berke 
 ley, p. 336, it is conjectured that he "had been left behind in Ireland," when the 
 removal to Oxford took place. 
 
176 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 conveyance, I have taken the liberty of inclosing this to Dr. 
 Bearcroft, the Secretary of your Society (of which I have the 
 honor to be a member), to forward it. If ever you can think 
 of anything in which I can render you the least service, I as 
 sure you that nothing will more highly oblige me than receiv 
 ing any commands from one whom I so honor and esteem, and 
 to whom I am a most dutiful and faithful humble servant. 
 
 GEO. BERKELEY. 
 
 A third edition of Dr. Johnson s " Elements of Phi 
 losophy," corrected and enlarged, was published in 
 London in the spring of 1754, under the editorship 
 of Rev. William Smith, afterwards Provost of the 
 College of Philadelphia. He sent by him letters to 
 several of his friends, and among the rest to Mr. Ber- 
 riman, who answered, 
 
 February 7, 1754. 
 
 DEAR SIR, I had the pleasure of yours by Mr. Smith, 
 but have as yet had but little of that gentleman s company ; 
 I once called at his lodgings, and found him at home ; but 
 having no time to stay then, he promised to favor me with 
 a visit, which promise he has not yet fulfilled : however, I 
 hope he will do it hereafter, as I understood by him he in 
 tended to continue some time in England before he returned 
 to your parts. 
 
 Dr. Bearcroft is made Master of the Charter House, but 
 still holds his place of Secretary to the Society. There has 
 been some talk of Capt. Thomlinson for Treasurer. Per 
 haps I may let you know more about it before I seal up this 
 letter. 
 
 Mr. Pollen is appointed Missionary to Rhode Island. He 
 is a worthy clergyman and esteemed a good scholar ; he was 
 contemporary at C. C. C. Oxon. with your friend Dr. Burton, 
 who is now Vice Provost of Eton College. I would beg 
 leave to recommend him to your favorable notice, and that 
 you would advise and assist him in any case that may need 
 your helping hand. He is a traveller, and has seen the 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 177 
 
 world ; and has been lately employed in an Episcopal chapel 
 at Glasgow, but never was in your parts, and being quite a 
 stranger to such a kind of settlement, may often have occa 
 sion to consult you, who are so much known, and so well es 
 teemed by all around you. We have had such bad accounts 
 of poor Mr. Checkley that we fear the next news will bring 
 an account of his death. 
 
 I thank God I am rather the better for the change of my 
 situation, and at this time in tolerable good health ; but I must 
 never expect to get free from my old companions, the cough 
 and shortness of breath, bat God be praised, they are not by 
 many degrees so bad with me as with many others : and I 
 ought to be very thankful for the long intervals I have, and 
 the health and strength afforded me to attend my duty in the 
 Church. I quitted my Lecture at Aldermary at Lady- Day 
 last and have done scarce any duty in the Church but supply 
 ing my own pulpit or desk on Sunday mornings, since mid 
 summer. I find my strength somewhat decayed, and my 
 eyes begin to wax dim (though I can make no use of spec 
 tacles), and I have this day completed my grand climacteric. 
 
 Feb. 15. The choice of a Treasurer came on at the 
 anniversary meeting of the Society in the Vestry at Bow 
 Church. Mr. Pearson (recommended by the Bishops) was 
 elected, and nobody named in opposition to him. 
 
 I am affectionately yours, 
 
 J. BEBKIMAN, 
 
 To the London edition of the " Elements of Philos 
 ophy " was annexed " A Letter containing some Im 
 partial Thoughts concerning the Settlement of Bish 
 ops in America, by Dr. Johnson and some of his 
 Brethren." In this connection the following letter is 
 important, written by the Bishop of Oxford from the 
 
 DEANERY OF ST. PAUL S, March 19, 1754. 
 GOOD DR. JOHNSON, I should have returned you my 
 hearty thanks before now, if extraordinary business had not 
 
178 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 put it partly out of my power, and partly out of my thoughts, 
 for your favors by Mr. Smith. He is indeed a very ingen 
 ious and able, and seems a very well disposed young man. 
 And if he had pursued his intention of residing a while at 
 Oxford, I should have hoped for more of his company and 
 acquaintance. Nor would he, I think, have failed to see 
 more fully, what I flatter myself he is convinced of without 
 it, that our Universities do not deserve the sentence which 
 is passed on them by the author whom he cites, and whose 
 words he adopts in page 84 of his " General Idea of the 
 College of Mirania." 1 He assures me they are effaced in 
 almost all the copies. I wish they had not been printed, or 
 that the leaf had been cancelled. But the many valuable 
 things which there are in that performance and in the pa 
 pers which he published at New York, will atone for this 
 blemish with all candid persons. And there seems a fair 
 prospect of his doing great service in the place where he is 
 going to settle. 
 
 I am particularly obliged to you for sending me your Book ; 
 of which I made a very acceptable present to the late excel 
 lent Bishop of Cloyne s son, a most serious, and sensible, 
 and prudent young man, whom his father placed at Christ 
 Church, and who, with his mother and sister, spent the last 
 Bummer with me in Oxfordshire. I have now lately received 
 from Mr. Smith another copy of it, printed here, and have 
 read several parts of it, and all with much pleasure. You 
 have taken very proper care to keep those who do not enter 
 into all the philosophy of the good and great man from being 
 shocked at it, and you have explained and recommended just 
 reasoning, virtue, and religion, so as to make them not only 
 well understood, but ardently loved. 
 
 Would God there were any present hopes of executing 
 what the concluding piece unanswerably proves to be harm- 
 
 1 This was an imaginary scheme drawn up and published at the desire of some 
 gentlemen of New York, who were appointed to receive proposals relative to the 
 establishment of a college in that province, and it contained a pretty exact repre 
 sentation of what the author endeavored to realize in the Institution over which he 
 afterwards presided at Philadelphia. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 179 
 
 less, useful, and requisite. But we have done all we can here 
 in vain ; and must wait for more favorable times ; which 
 I think it will contribute not a little to bring on, if the 
 ministry of our Church in America, by friendly converse with 
 the principal Dissenters, can satisfy them that nothing more 
 is intended or desired than that our Church may enjoy the 
 full benefit of its own institutions, as all others do. For so 
 long as they are uneasy and remonstrate, regard will be paid 
 to them and their friends here by our ministers of state. 
 And yet it will be a hard matter for you to prevent their 
 being uneasy, while they find you gaining ground upon 
 them. That so much of the money of the Society was em 
 ployed in supporting Episcopal congregations amongst them, 
 was industriously made an argument against the late col 
 lection. And though, God be thanked, the collection hath 
 notwithstanding proved a very good one, yet unless we be 
 cautious on that head, we shall have farther clamor ; and 
 one knows not what the effect of it may be. Our friends 
 in America will furnish us, I hope, from time to time, with 
 all such facts, books, observations, and reasonings, as may 
 enable us the better to defend our common cause. 
 I am with great regard and esteem, Sir, 
 
 Your loving brother and humble servant, 
 
 THO. OXFOKD. 
 
 Johnson felt some disappointment that his work 
 was not more generally appreciated, and appeared 
 to regret that he had ventured on its publication. 
 The cost of printing it was likely to exceed the 
 amount of sales, as it was not so well calculated for 
 popular reading as for use in educational institu 
 tions. Franklin relieved him from any anxiety on 
 this subject, and wrote him a kind and encouraging 
 letter, offering to assume the loss, should there be 
 any : 
 
180 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, April 15, 1754. 
 
 DEAK SIR, When I returned from Maryland in Febru 
 ary last, I found your favor of Jan y 1, but having mislaid 
 it soon after, I deferred answering till I should find it again, 
 which I have now done. I think you ought not to be, a,s 
 you say you are, vexed at yourself that you offered your 
 " Noetica " to be printed ; for though the demand for it 
 in this part of the world has not yet been equal to the 
 merit of the work, yet you will see by the inclosed news 
 paper they are reprinting it in England, where good judges 
 being more plenty than with us, it will, I doubt not, acquire 
 a reputation that may not only make it extensively useful 
 there, but bring it more into notice in its native America. 
 
 As to the use of it in our Academy, you are to consider 
 that though our plan is large, we have as yet been able to 
 carry little more into execution than the grammatical and 
 mathematical parts : the rest must follow gradually, as the 
 youth come forward and we can provide suitable masters. 
 Some of the eldest scholars, who have now left us, did read 
 it ; but those at present in the Academy are chiefly engaged 
 in lower studies. For my own part, I know too well the 
 badness of our general taste, to expect any great profit in 
 printing it ; though I did think it might sell better than I 
 find it does, having struck off five hundred, and not disposed 
 of more than fifty in these parts. There were parcels sent to 
 New York, Rhode Island, and Boston, and advertised there, 
 though it seems you have not heard of it. How they sold I 
 have not learnt, and did not remember to inquire when I 
 was there last year. I am far from thinking it right that 
 the loss should fall on you, who took so much pains in the 
 composition. You gave me no other expectation than what 
 I might gather from your saying in your letter of May 10, 
 1750, you believed you could dispose of one hundred copies 
 in Connecticut, and perhaps another hundred might be dis 
 posed of at Boston. All I would request of you is, that if 
 you think fit, you would take the trouble of writing to such 
 of the Ministers of your Church in New England and New 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 181 
 
 York as you are acquainted with, and desire them to recom 
 mend the book to their friends ; and if, with those you have 
 had, all that shall be disposed of in those Colonies amount to 
 two hundred, I will cheerfully take my chance with the re 
 mainder. And if you cannot procure the sale of so many, 
 make yourself easy nevertheless ; I shall be perfectly satis 
 fied with your endeavor. With my best respects to good 
 Mrs. Johnson and your valuable sons, 
 
 I am, dear Sir, very affectionately, 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 B. FRANKLIN. 
 
 Among the friends and correspondents of Dr. John 
 son, Lieutenant-governor Golden was not forgotten in 
 the distribution of the spare copies of his " Noetica." 
 It has been seen how these two men discussed philo 
 sophical subjects and exchanged publications, and the 
 following letters, after glancing at the points of their 
 disagreement, advert to matters of domestic interest, 
 and show the concurrence of their ideas upon the 
 subject of education : 
 
 December 20, 1752. 
 
 SIR, I sometime since received your book which Mr. 
 Nicholls told me you was pleased to send me. Since that 
 time my thoughts happened by several incidents to be so 
 much engaged that I could not write to you in the manner 
 I inclined to do, and they continued so when I sent you 
 the " Principles of Action in Matter," about ten days or a 
 fortnight since. I had at that time just received three copies 
 of it from England, and had only time to run it curso 
 rily over to correct the most obvious errors in the press, 
 which happen to be numerous. I know we (you and I) 
 differ in the fundamentals of that Essay, and for that rea 
 son I expect from you the strongest arguments that can 
 be brought against it, and therefore, if I am under an error, 
 you are the most capable to set me right, and I assure you 
 
182 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 that I have that esteem of your judgment that I unwill 
 ingly differ from you. Pray then, Sir, let me have your 
 objections to those principles with that freedom that ought 
 always to subsist in philosophical inquiries. 
 
 In the sixth page of your u Noetica," you say our per 
 ceptions cannot be produced in our minds without a cause 
 (so far we agree) ; or, which is the same thing, by any im 
 agined, unintelligent, inert, or unactive cause. I likewise agree 
 that an unactive cause and no cause are synonymous ; but I 
 am not convinced that intelligence is an essential concomitant 
 to all action, for then I could not conceive the action of a 
 mill without supposing it endowed with intelligence. You 
 seem likewise to think that the words inert and unactive 
 are synonymous. Sir Isaac Newton was certainly of a dif 
 ferent opinion, as appears by the third definition in the be 
 ginning of his " Principia," viz. : Materia3 vis inerta est Po- 
 tentia resistendi, etc. We certainly can have no conception 
 of Force or Power devoid of all kind of action. Now, Sir, 
 these are fundamental differences. One of us must be 
 under a very great mistake, and if you incline to write with 
 the same freedom that I incline to think on these subjects, 
 I hope we shall not continue long of a different opinion. 
 Inert in common discourse is often synonymous with unactive, 
 but I take it in the sense that philosophers of late use the 
 word Inertia when they say vis inertice, which certainly can 
 not mean mere inaction. I shall say nothing more on these 
 matters of speculation, that I may pass to a subject of more 
 immediate concern. 
 
 It gave me a great deal of pleasure when Mr. De Lancey 
 resolved to send his children to you for their education in 
 learning, as I am confident they will thereby imbibe prin 
 ciples which will be of the greatest use to themselves and 
 to their neighbors in whatever course of life they shall 
 afterwards take to. I am under little concern as to their 
 learning languages, or as to their skill in what may be called 
 the learned sciences, but I am earnestly desirous that they 
 have the true principles of good manners early implanted in 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 183 
 
 their minds ; to have their affections always moved by uni 
 versal benevolence, and to have a true sense of honor where 
 in it really consists. It is from you that I hope they will 
 receive these great advantages, of which they will find the 
 benefits in every station of life and in all emergencies or 
 turns of fortune. These I beg you will again and again ex 
 plain to them and never cease to inculcate upon their minds. 
 As it is not determined what course of life any of them shall 
 pursue, it may be best to instruct them in such parts of learn 
 ing as will be of use in every station. I think knowledge in 
 geography as useful as any other part for these purposes, 
 especially the modern geography with an account of the 
 present state of the kingdoms and republics in Europe and 
 of the great monarchies in other parts of the world. Peter, 
 in a letter he wrote to me from West Chester, tells me that 
 he inclines to study Divinity and to fit himself for that study 
 with you. I shall be far from diverting these thoughts, be 
 cause he may be as useful in that way as in any, and the 
 more so that few of any distinguished families in America 
 apply themselves to the Church. His applying to it may 
 (if others follow his example) prevent a contempt of the 
 character which otherwise may in time be produced. For 
 this reason I do not doubt but the bishops in England will 
 think it for the interest of the Church to encourage any 
 young gentlemen in America who shall turn their thoughts 
 that way from worthy principles. 
 
 I had thoughts of writing to my grandchildren, 1 but 1 
 have said all to you that I had in my thoughts to write to 
 them, and therefore if you think proper you may communicate 
 it to them and remember me affectionately to them and tell 
 them that we are all in health. I hope to hear often from 
 you. Mr. Nicholls will take care of your letters. 
 I am affectionately, Sir, 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 CADWALLADER COLDEN. 
 
 l Elizabeth Colden, daughter of the Lieutenant-governor, married Peter De Lancey, 
 and was the mother of eleven children, six son8 and five daughters. Peter, one of 
 
184 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 January 29, 1758. 
 
 The river being full of ice has deprived me of any oppor 
 tunity of sending this letter till now. We continue in health. 
 Remember us again to the children. Their grand-mamma, 
 uncles and aunts all join with me. 
 
 Yours, C. C. 
 
 Answer : 
 
 February 19. 
 
 SIR, I sent you that Book without any imagination of 
 its being worthy your perusal. I only meant it as a testi 
 mony of my humble respect and gratitude, though not with 
 out my wishes that so far as you should condescend [to] cast 
 your eye upon it, if you see anything that might much tend 
 to mislead youth in the entrance of their studies, for whose 
 use it was written, you would be so good as to intimate it 
 to me. I now return you my humble thanks for your very 
 ingenious performance and this kind letter upon it. I have 
 perused it with some care, though I have not yet had it 
 long enough to spend so much thought upon it as I intend. 
 I am glad to see the whole of it published, and doubt not 
 but it will be an acceptable present to the public, and must 
 own that now I see the whole of it together, it appears to 
 me in a much more advantageous light than that piece of 
 it did before, and do not think we differ so much in the 
 principles you set out with as you seem to imagine. I do not 
 differ with you at all, considered as a natural philosopher, 
 which is the light in which you are principally to be considered 
 in that Treatise. For it is evident there are those three dis 
 tinct principles of action in nature you go upon, media or 
 endings of action I should call them as a metaphysician, re 
 ferring the same origin of them to the one great principle of 
 natural discovery and action ; but which you as a natural 
 philosopher, as such going no higher, do very well to 
 
 the sons, did not fulfill the promise of his boyhood in regard to the Church, hav 
 ing been killed in a duel at a comparatively early age ; but a grand-nephew of his 
 father, Wm. Heathcote De Lancey, was consecrated the first Bishop of Western New 
 York, May 9, 1839, and died April 5, 1865. MS. Letter D. Golden Murray, Dec. 
 10, 1872. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 185 
 
 consider as distinct principles. The principle of resistance of 
 motion and of elasticity and the contemporative (if I may 
 so speak) of those principles in their various exertions and 
 operations you seem to have happily demonstrated will 
 well account for the phenomena, and as to what is metaphys 
 ical in your Treatise, I think you have explained yourself to 
 my satisfaction in your chapter of the Intelligent Being, 10 
 where you allow the Intelligent Being to be the real author 
 of all material (I should call them sensible) beings, and to 
 govern or direct their actions in such a manner as is most 
 conducive to the advantage of the whole, which you rightly 
 deduce from the power of our minds over the ether in the 
 nerves which we observe to quiesce till put in action by 
 our hands. The reasons indeed we know not, but it is the 
 fact. 
 
 So that I believe what we seem to differ in, if at all, will 
 amount to little more than words. I agree with you in 
 saying " we can certainly have no conception of Force 
 or Power devoid of all kind of action," and when I do so, 
 it seems to me that you must with me allow that Sir Isaac s 
 vis inertice is a contradiction in terms, and that that great 
 man, in that definition and the explication of it, has some 
 expressions that have no meaning ; for I must think it is 
 plain that by Inertia (as in Ovid, pondus iners) the old 
 Romans meant an utter destitution of any principle of ac 
 tivity in se, or power of self-exertion or action, terminating 
 on anything without, and I don t see what right he had to 
 use or define it in a quite contrary sense ; at best his expres 
 sions are figurative. 
 
 As to that question whether the same Being that is the 
 principle of action must as such be also a principle of In 
 telligence, I have nothing to say for it more than I said in 
 a former letter, that it seems to follow from that principle 
 "Non est philosophia extera multiplicare sine necessitate, 
 and that a blind principle or power of action without Intelli 
 gence seems repugnant and useless. However it seems a 
 question of little real consequence, or indeed of scarce any 
 
186 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 meaning after what you allow in the chapter of the Intel 
 ligent Being ; the action of what you call matter being ac 
 cording to you derived originally from and directed by the 
 Intelligent Being. And so matter is no more than merely 
 His instrument, so that what you call the action of a mill or 
 watch is really only a successive series of passions till you 
 come to the principle of Intelligence, which will ultimately 
 prove to be also the principle of the action. 
 
 That expression of yours, page 164, " That perfect Intel 
 ligence will not act in contradiction to the action of matter," 
 I should have chosen to express thus : Will not in the set 
 tled course of things act in contradiction to the Laws He 
 hath established according to which He wills matter to act. 
 For I cannot conceive you to imagine the action of matter 
 to be independent of the Divine will. I rather imagine 
 from other passages that you do with me conceive it to be 
 entirely dependent, as well as matter itself, on the constant 
 free exertion of the Divine will and power. 
 
 I don t deny, Sir, but that I am yet a little in the dark 
 about the operations of that elastic fluid by which you ac 
 count for gravitation. I should scarce ever say that there 
 should be a perpetual return of the ethereal fluid to the 
 sun as well as a perpetual flow from it, agreeable to Mr. 
 Hutchinson s notion, who imagines a perpetual circulation 
 of it from the sun, and after a kind of condensation of it 
 at the utmost bounds of the system, a reverberation and re 
 turn of it to the sun again ; so that according to that great 
 man the effects of gravitation, circular motion, and rotation, 
 will be the result of the struggle between those contrary 
 tendencies. This being supposed, you and he seem well to 
 coincide. I wish you had opportunity, if you have not had, 
 to read his system with some attention and exactness, if 
 not in his works, which are something tedious, at least in that 
 beautiful short sketch of them set forth by your excellently 
 great and good countryman, Lord President Forbes, in his 
 " Letter to a Bishop and Thoughts on Religion." But what 
 you call the different principles of Light and Ether, he sup- 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 187 
 
 poses to be the one ethereal fluid or fire of the sun in the dif 
 ferent conditions of Light and Spirit as it flies from or re 
 turns to its fountain. Perhaps your notion and his may 
 come nearly to the same thing. The Abbe Pluche of France, 
 as well as he and Bp. Berkeley, agree that this ethereal fire 
 is the light and life of the whole sensible world, and grand 
 agent in all nature, or the immediate engine from whence 
 all the phenomena mechanically derive : and that this was 
 the original philosophy of Moses and in all the Hebrew 
 Scriptures, and taught mankind from the beginning. And 
 I am pleased in thinking that your demonstrations and 
 Mr. Franklin s experiments illustrate and confirm it to be 
 the only true and genuine philosophy. Pardon, Sir, my 
 incoherent and rambling way of writing. I hope you may 
 pick out my meaning. I would transcribe, but my care of 
 your grandchildren and other duties will not admit of time 
 for it. 
 
 As to your grandchildren, I have the same notion of 
 education with you (my plan you may see in my 6th chap 
 ter), and do not fail, as you desire, to inculcate those prin 
 ciples you mention as far as I am able. And besides the 
 moral and classical part (in which they have almost finished 
 " Cornelius Nepos " and two thirds of " Justin "), I have gone 
 over and explained a short History of England and a short 
 Geography you gave them, and am now going over a short 
 system of Universal History and Chronology, and point 
 out to them in maps the Ancient Geography of the Classics 
 as well as the modern. But they have (the eldest espe 
 cially) such a violent impetuosity to their play that I find 
 it exceeding difficult to gain so strong an attention as I 
 could wish to their books and studies. They seem well 
 cut out for business, as farming and merchandise, but Peter 
 has an excellent turn for learning, and it is a pity but he 
 should go through an entire course of education. As to 
 what he wrote to you, I am exceeding glad his dispositions 
 are such and that you approve of them, and agree with you 
 and thank you for your remark of the vast importance 
 
188 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 to religion and the public weal, that any of distinguished 
 families should apply themselves to Divinity. Mrs. De 
 Lancey first mentioned it to me, and I ventured to encour 
 age it, and shall henceforward encourage myself to hope 
 that your daughter has borne, and that I am educating one 
 who, in God s time, may become a bishop in America. I 
 communicated your letter to them and inculcated it. They 
 send their humblest thanks and duty to you and their grand 
 mamma and uncles and aunts. They have had an uninter 
 rupted course of perfect health. 
 
 I cannot take leave without giving you my humble thanks 
 for the favor you have done me in the good character you 
 gave of me in your account of Pokeweed, etc., which was 
 published in the " Gentleman s Magazine," and wish I may 
 deserve it. I have since heard of several others of the eat 
 ing cancers cured by it, but a man in this town has a strange 
 sore on his legs they call a heaving or gnawing cancer, on 
 which it was tried without success ; and both cutting, burn 
 ing, and several caustics have since been tried, which have 
 only made it grow the faster, and it is now larger than the 
 hand can cover, and is like to cost the poor man his life. 
 I am, Sir, your most obliged humble servant, 
 
 S. J. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 189 
 
 CHAPTER VIE. 
 
 PROPOSED COLLEGE AT NEW YORK ; JOHNSON INVITED TO THE 
 PRESIDENCY ; OBSTACLES TO A CHARTER, AND FINALLY 
 GRANTED ; LETTERS TO PRESIDENT CLAP ; REMOVAL TO NEW 
 YORK AND LECTURER IN TRINITY CHURCH ; HIS YOUNGER 
 SON CHOSEN TUTOR IN KING S COLLEGE ; GOES TO ENGLAND 
 FOR ORDINATION AND DIES THERE OF THE SMALL-POX. 
 
 A. D. 1754-1756. 
 
 THE proposition to establish a College in New York 
 was pursued with more vigor after the settlement of 
 the Institution at Philadelphia. A few gentlemen, 
 chiefly members of the Church of England, were lead 
 ing spirits in the movement, and guided it so as to se 
 cure the erection of the College on the broad grounds 
 of Christian liberality. It appears to have been the 
 intention in the original endowment of Trinity Church, 
 in the city of New York, to connect the promotion of 
 learning with the interests of religion, and a lot of 
 land in a favorable locality belonging to the Vestry 
 was given for the use of the proposed College, upon 
 condition, that the President thereof for the time be 
 ing should be in communion with the Church of Eng 
 land, and that the morning and evening service in the 
 College should be the Liturgy of the Church, or such 
 a collection of prayers out of the Liturgy as should be 
 " agreed upon by the President or Trustees or Gov 
 ernors of the said College." This gift was accepted 
 by the Commissioners empowered to receive propo 
 sals for the Trustees. 
 
190 UFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 The Trustees, who had been appointed by an act 
 of the Colonial Legislature, consisted of " the eldest 
 Councilor of the Province, the Speaker of the As 
 sembly, the Judges of the Supreme Court, the Mayor 
 of the city of New York," ex officio (Churchmen), 
 and one more Churchman, together with the Treas 
 urer of the Colony, and a " member of the Dutch 
 Church, and one of the Presbyterian congregation." l 
 The same act which fixed the appointment of Trus 
 tees, vested in them the sum of " three thousand four 
 hundred and forty-three pounds, eighteen shillings, 
 raised by way of Lottery for erecting a College within 
 the Colony ;" and by a supplementary act passed on 
 the 4th of July, 1753, the Treasurer of the Colony 
 for the time being was enabled and directed to pay 
 unto the Trustees out of " the moneys arising from 
 the duty of excise, the annual sum of five hundred 
 pounds, for and during the term of seven years, to 
 commence from and after the first day of January 
 next ensuing ; " this annuity to be distributed by 
 them in salaries to the officers of instruction. 
 
 In pursuance of other powers granted by this act, 
 the Trustees invited Dr. Johnson, who from its incep 
 tion had been consulted about perfecting the scheme 
 and carrying it into execution, to become the Pres 
 ident, and to remove to New York and enter upon 
 his duties without delay. The position was congen 
 ial to his tastes, for he loved learning and colleges ; 
 but there were two great obstacles in the way of his 
 acceptance. One was he had not had the small-pox, 
 and in New York he would be much more exposed 
 
 1 See a Brief Vindication of the Proceedings of the Trustees, etc., by an Impar 
 tial Hand, p. 4. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 191 
 
 to it than in Stratford ; and the other, which was 
 perhaps the greater, was the consideration of his ad 
 vanced years. He was almost three-score, and on this 
 account was less inclined to sunder the happy pas 
 toral relations which had subsisted between him and 
 his people for the best part of his life. And then 
 the social refinement, the bustle and stir, and de 
 mands upon his time in a city did not contrast pleas 
 antly in his mind with the studious retirement and 
 quiet repose of a rural parsonage. But his friends in 
 New York and the principal managers of the enter 
 prise assured him they would abandon it, and it would 
 come to nothing if he declined the invitation. He 
 finally consented to make a trial, but would not ab 
 solutely accept the office till the charter should be 
 obtained, and he could see what sort of an institution 
 he was to preside over. With this view he left Strat 
 ford on the 15th of April, 1754, but neither removed 
 his family nor resigned his parish. The Vestry of 
 Trinity Church unanimously chose him an Assistant 
 Minister and voted him the sum of one hundred and 
 fifty pounds per annum ; but he replied, " My ad 
 vanced years, verging towards the decline of life, are 
 great matters of discouragement to me, and render 
 me extremely fearful whether I shall be able to an 
 swer your expectations." l 
 
 The design of the College underwent a violent 
 struggle before Dr. Johnson arrived in New York. 
 It was intended to be a common blessing to all de 
 nominations, with no other preference for the Church 
 than that one of her communicants should be at the 
 head ; " but Mr. W. Livingston, a virulent Presby- 
 
 1 Berriati s Hist. Trinity Church, p. 106. 
 
192 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 terian, joined with other leading Presbyterians and 
 Free-thinkers, violently opposed it, and raised a hide 
 ous clamor against it, and printed a paper of Twenty 
 Reasons to disaffect the Assembly against granting 
 the money raised by lotteries." 1 This paper was 
 styled a Protest, and much was written and published 
 in reply. Johnson himself dipped into the contro 
 versy, and even asked his elder son, who was then 
 rising into eminence in the legal profession, to try 
 his hand in an argument to demolish the Twenty 
 Reasons and vindicate the proceedings of the Trus 
 tees. The opinion which he returned to his father 
 should not be omitted from these pages : 
 
 I must add a word to what you say of an answer to the 
 Protest. You know I am generally averse to disputes of 
 this kind, as tending more to irritate the passions than to 
 convince the understandings of the people. What is wrote 
 in this way, is most generally read only by those persons 
 who are before prepossessed on one side or other of the ques 
 tion. But especially averse am I towards engaging myself 
 in any controversial writings, as knowing myself to want 
 both ability and leisure to perform anything as it should be. 
 I never yet wrote anything but I was both sick and ashamed 
 of it before it was half done. In regard to the present case, 
 Mr. Wetmore on conference agrees with me that it is not, 
 as we can see, worth while to write or publish any answer, 
 most of what is here said having been already thrown out 
 in the " Reflector," or consisting of such far fetched reasons 
 and strained constructions of the act of Assembly and pur 
 port of the petition and charter, that they demonstrate the 
 gentleman to be determined to oppose and find fault with 
 everything that does not coincide exactly with his favorite 
 scheme of absolute independency both in religion and gov 
 ernment. And when men are resolved to wrangle and find 
 
 1 M S. Autobiography. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 193 
 
 fault, what end is there in answering them ? But especially 
 I imagine that of all persons, you nor I nor any of the family 
 should be in the least concerned in any disputes with respect 
 to the College. For those in the opposition to have it in their 
 power once to suggest that you are at the head of a party, or 
 promoting any particular scheme, must be highly prejudi 
 cial, and will give them great strength in their endeavors to 
 bias the Assembly. A very small matter in this way may 
 be magnified and improved to the most pernicious purposes. 
 Let us by all means at present stand perfectly neuter. If 
 they, whose business it is, form a college whose model you 
 approve, you can in this case accept the Presidentship with 
 cheerfulness. If they do not, you can retreat with honor. 
 Should I write anything, it would certainly be discovered by 
 them, and must in these circumstances do vastly more hurt 
 than in any case it would possibly do good. This I humbly 
 suggest as my opinion in the matter. However, if an answer 
 be finally thought necessary, Mr. Wetmore will doubtless 
 be ready to write, and I have suggested to him, what has oc 
 curred to me in reading of it. The Protest I think goes upon 
 a wrong supposition, namely, that the charter petitioned for 
 is to establish a college without the approbation and almost 
 independent of the Assembly or Legislature, to the support 
 of which nevertheless the moneys granted by the two acts 
 of Assembly are to be applied, contrary to the intentions and 
 design of the Assembly in making the grant, which I take 
 it is by no means aimed at by anybody, nor indeed I con 
 ceive can possibly be. The question I think truly is whether 
 it be advisable for the Trustees to recommend or the Legis 
 lature to accept the generous offer of Trinity Church on the 
 condition they give, or not. In this light nothing I think 
 in the Protest can have any great weight. It would be 
 plainly unreasonable for the Church to make the offer with 
 out the condition annexed. And TWENTY reasons, I think, 
 might be given why it would be advisable for the Legisla 
 ture to accept it on those terms. What is said about the 
 establishment of the Church of England, and several other 
 
 13 
 
194 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 things which are hinted at, are manifestly designed to raise 
 a clamor and excite jealousies, as they have not even the 
 remote resemblance of a reason pro or con. on any just or 
 reasonable state of the question. However, let us by all 
 means let them entirely alone. Let those whose proper busi 
 ness it is exert themselves. Tis enough for us to say, .... 
 God speed ye. I know you will excuse my freedom, and 
 am, honored Sir, 
 
 Your obedient son and servt, 
 
 WM. SAML. JOHNSON. 
 
 June 13th, 1754. 
 
 In writing to him, June 17, 1754, the father said : 
 " I very much commend your prudence ; but even 
 caution, one of the best things in the world, may be 
 carried too far as well as humility itself. We must 
 have resolution to do good in spite of opposition, as 
 well as discretion to direct it to the best purposes. 
 As to the Protest, I hope there will be no occasion for 
 you or me to answer it." He may have known at 
 this time what was already contemplated, if not be 
 gun ; for " A Brief Vindication of the Proceedings of 
 the Trustees relating to the College, containing a suf 
 ficient Answer to the late famous Protest, with its 
 Twenty unanswerable Reasons," was written " by an 
 Impartial Hand," this hand representing Mr. Ben 
 jamin Nicoll, a son of Dr. Johnson s wife by her first 
 husband. He was a lawyer of distinction in New 
 York, one of the governors of the College, and " the 
 life and soul of the whole affair." While the contest 
 was going on, Dr. Johnson published his plan of edu 
 cation, and appointed a day for examining and ad 
 mitting candidates. He commenced with a class of 
 ten students, including two from other colleges, who 
 met him for the first time on the 17th of July in 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 195 
 
 the vestry-room of the school-house belonging to the 
 Corporation of Trinity Church. He continued his 
 instructions without intermission till September 1st, 
 when he was summoned to the sick-bed of his elder 
 son, whom he had little expectation of finding alive, 
 but who, after remaining a long time in a critical 
 state, finally recovered. During his absence, which 
 continued till November 10, the Royal Charter passed 
 the seals, incorporating the Governors of King s 
 College in New York ; and thus what had been the 
 subject of such violent opposition became a fixed 
 provision of law. The time had now come for him 
 to make a decision whether he would remain in 
 Stratford or go to New York. The services of his 
 Church had been conducted in his absence by his 
 younger son, who was preparing for Holy Orders, 
 and with the aid of the neighboring clergy he had 
 managed to keep the people from much uneasiness 
 during the protracted struggle for settling the ques 
 tion about a charter for the College. The following 
 letter from the Rector of Trinity Church sums up the 
 final contest, and puts before him the responsibility 
 of resigning his pastoral charge, and entering upon 
 the full duties of the Presidency : 
 
 DEAR SIR, Mr. Nicoll being obliged to go out of town, 
 communicated your letter to me in order that I might an 
 swer it. On Thursday last the Charter passed the Governor 
 and Council, and was ordered to be forthwith engrossed. 
 On Friday, the Trustees appointed by act of Assembly, ac 
 cording to order of the House, delivered in a report of their 
 proceedings conformable to the act, which report was signed 
 by all but William Livingston, who objected to the report as 
 not being complete, because no notice was taken of the pro- 
 
196 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 ceedings with regard to the Charter, which the Governor 
 and the rest of the gentlemen thought unnecessary. Where 
 upon Livingston delivered in a separate report in full, con- 
 taming his famous Protest, etc. This occasioned a great 
 ferment in the House, and issued for that day in a resolve 
 that Livingston s Report should be printed at large, and 
 the affair postponed to farther consideration on Wednesday 
 next. They had a majority of fourteen to eight, but three 
 of our friends were absent, and it was with much difficulty 
 that they were prevented from censuring the conduct of the 
 Trustees and returning thanks to Livingston. We were all 
 afraid that this would have retarded the Sealing of the Char 
 ter, and some well-wishers to the thing would have consented 
 to the retarding of it, had not the Governor appeared reso 
 lute and come to town on Saturday and fixed the Seal to it ; 
 and to do him justice, he has given us a good majority of 
 Churchmen, no less than eleven of the Vestry being of the 
 number. There are but eight of the Dutch Church, most of 
 them good men and true, and two Dissenters. We are, how 
 ever, puzzled what to advise you as to resigning your mission. 
 I have been with Mr. Chambers this morning, and though it 
 be the opinion of most of the gentlemen that you ought to 
 resign and trust to Providence for the issue of things and 
 come away immediately, yet we would rather choose if pos 
 sible, that you should put off the resignation for a fortnight 
 or three weeks, and come down immediately, because some 
 are not so clear with regard to the 500 support, though 
 others think we cannot be deprived of it. But since this 
 conversation with Mr. Chambers we have had some glim 
 mering light. I went from Mr. Chambers to Mr. Watts 
 (who is unhappily confined with the rheumatism), and met 
 two Dutch members coming out of his house, who, as he told 
 me, came to make proposals for an accommodation, and all 
 they desired was a Dutch Professor of Divinity, which, if 
 granted, they would all join us, and give the money. This 
 I doubt not will be done unless the Governor should oppose 
 it, who is much incensed at the Dutch for petitioning the 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 197 
 
 Assembly on that head, but I make no doubt but he may be 
 pacified. 
 
 Upon the whole, it is the opinion of all that you must 
 come down as soon as possible, and the advice of Mr. Cham 
 bers and myself, in which I believe Benny concurs, that you 
 defer the resignation of your mission a little longer, as it will 
 be a means of getting a good subscription for your support 
 in case this accommodation with the Assembly should fail, 
 which, however, I am inclined to think will not fail. In a 
 word, it seems you have put your hand to the plow, and I 
 know not how you can now look back. Providence, I trust, 
 is still on our side, and everybody is solicitous for your re 
 turn. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, in the greatest hurry, 
 Yours, etc. 
 
 HEN. BARCLAY. 
 
 I have not time to give you a list of the Governors, nor 
 indeed can I recollect them all. The whole number is forty- 
 one : seventeen ex-officio and twenty -four private gentlemen, 
 hi which number there are at present but eight of the Dutch 
 Church, the French, Lutheran, Presbyterian Ministers, and 
 Will. Livingston, so that we have a majority of twenty- 
 nine to twelve, and in these twelve are included Mr. Rich 
 ards, John Cruger, Leonard Lispenard, and the Treasurer, 
 all our good friends. 
 
 MONDAY, 10 o clock, Nov. 4, 1754. 
 
 Dr. Johnson returned to New York to find the con 
 troversy about the College not yet closed. The op 
 position set their pens running to prevent the Assem 
 bly from granting any more favors ; but he did not 
 heed them, and sent for some of his furniture and 
 books, and wrote to his son Wm. Samuel, December 2, 
 to say : " It is not doubted but the next session will 
 give us the money to build. Meantime it is resolved to 
 have a subscription to begin with, and doubtless money 
 
198 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 enough will be got twice told to build a President s 
 house, which will begin early in the spring. And 
 as to my security, the Trustees resolve to meet this 
 week and confirm what they did before, nothing doubt 
 ing but the 500 per annum is in their power, and 
 unalterably at their disposal for my support." By 
 the advice of his friends, he was to lodge during the 
 winter with his son, Mr. Benjamin Nicoll, with whom 
 he appears to have previously made his home ; and the 
 Vestry of Trinity Church voted to pay him the salary 
 as usual, and " in consideration of his advanced years 
 and the duties of the College," to require of him 
 " only to read prayers on Sunday, and to preach one 
 Sunday in a month at church and chapel," or as 
 might be agreed upon by the Rector and occasion 
 might demand. 
 
 His endeavors met with much embarrassment, and 
 " nothing," he wrote again to his son after the Holi 
 days, " I assure you could have induced me to en 
 dure it, but the hopes of rendering the little remain 
 der of my life more useful to mankind, and especially 
 in laying a foundation for sound learning and true 
 religion in the rising and future generations." He 
 worked vigorously on to bring things into shape and 
 order, drew from the Liturgy a form for the daily 
 prayers, composed the Collect for the College, and had 
 them printed with the Psalter. It added to his anxi 
 ety that his flock in Stratford was without a shepherd. 
 Both his sons acted as lay-readers, the elder tak 
 ing his place after the younger had joined the father 
 in New York to pursue his theological studies. Mr. 
 Beach of Newtown had been thought of for his suc 
 cessor, and all would have welcomed him to the post, 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 199 
 
 but he could not conscientiously leave his own church 
 vacant. In a letter to his son Wm. Samuel, January 
 20, 1755, Johnson said : " The melancholy condition 
 of my poor destitute people is very affecting to me. 
 I talked with Ogilvie and Chandler to no purpose ; 
 nor do I think there is the least probability that Mr. 
 Brown, or Mr. Seabury, Jun. ? would entertain the 
 least thoughts of a removal, and since there is no 
 hope of Stiles, 1 I am sorry he should have had it in 
 his power to make a merit of his refusal. I am 
 very sorry Mr. Beach cannot be prevailed upon to 
 remove ; and what course you can now take, I cannot 
 conceive. Me thinks I should be for trying Mr. Lea 
 rning, with the utmost endeavor to get him for Strat 
 ford or Newtown. I confess from his talk to me, 
 there seems little hope, yet it seems to me worth 
 while to try. Who knows what may be done ? Can 
 there be no thoughts of Sam. Brown for Newtown ? 
 or is there no young man that would go for so valua 
 ble a parish ? It is certainly much preferable to any 
 thing the Dissenters can give. There was some talk 
 once of one Street, of Wallingford. What has come 
 of him ? " 
 
 The establishment of a separate religious society 
 and church in Yale College, at first unacceptable to 
 many of the Congregationalists, and the adoption 
 about this time of regulations which infringed upon 
 the rights of Episcopal students, gave importance 
 to the position of Dr. Johnson as the head of King s 
 College. It was the fault of the times to take a nar 
 row view of Christian liberty ; but after a parish had 
 been formed, a church built, and a Missionary of the 
 
 1 Ezra Stiles, afterwards President of Yale College. 
 
200 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel stationed in 
 New Haven, it was expected and claimed that Episco 
 pal students should be allowed to prefer their own 
 mode of worship on the Lord s day, and not subjected 
 to a penalty for declining to attend those services in 
 the College Chapel, designed to guard and perpetuate 
 the Puritan faith. The two sons of the Missionary 
 (Punderson) were not exempted from the rigor of 
 the offensive statute. The separation and withdrawal 
 of all students from the First Ecclesiastical Society, 
 where with the officers of the College they had been 
 hitherto accustomed and required to worship, and 
 limiting them to the chapel, involved questions of 
 internal orthodoxy ; and the long and fierce con 
 tention which sprung up and affected to some extent 
 the whole colony, was entirely outside the rights of 
 Episcopalians, and only concerned them so far that it 
 made them more desirous to keep their sons as much 
 as possible under the teaching of the Church. 
 
 President Clap defended the law in its full opera 
 tion, and undertook to show that it was " inconsistent 
 with the original design of the founders," to grant 
 special favors to Episcopal students. Johnson, who 
 for many years had been on the most friendly terms 
 with him, replied warmly to his statements, and in 
 sisted that the chief benefactors of the College and 
 the proportionate share of Churchmen in its yearly 
 support contemplated a common benefit, and forbid 
 the supposition that the children of Episcopal parents 
 should ever be required to " go out of their own 
 houses to meeting, when there was a church at their 
 doors." The following letter is an earnest vindication 
 of his views : 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 201 
 
 STKATFORD, February 5, 1754. 
 
 REV. AND DEAR Sin, Tho I am but in a poor condition 
 for writing, I can t forbear a few lines in answer to yours of 
 January 30th. 
 
 I thank you for your kind congratulation on my being 
 chosen President of their intended College at New York, 
 and I shall desire by all means, if I undertake it, to hold a 
 good correspondence not only as Colleges but as Christians, 
 supposing you and the Fellows of your College act on the 
 same equitable, catholic, and Christian principles as we 
 unanimously propose to act upon, i. e., to admit that the chil 
 dren of the Church may go to church whenever they have 
 opportunity, as we think of nothing but to admit that the 
 children of dissenting parents have leave to go to their 
 meetings ; nor can I see anything like an argument in all 
 you have said to justify the forbidding it. And I am pro 
 digiously mistaken if you did not tell me it was an allowed 
 and settled rule with you heretofore. 
 
 The only point in question, as I humbly conceive, is, 
 whether there ought of right to be any such law in your Col 
 lege as, either in words or by necessary consequence, forbids 
 the liberty we contend for ! What we must beg leave to in 
 sist on is, That there ought not ; and that it is highly injuri 
 ous to forbid it ; unless you can make it appear That you 
 ever had a right to exclude the people of the Church belong 
 ing to this Colony, from having the benefit of Public educa 
 tion in your College, without their submitting to the hard con 
 dition of not being allowed to do what they believe in their 
 conscience it is their indispensable duty to do, i. e., to require 
 their children to go to church whenever they have opportunity, 
 and at the same time a right to accept and hold such vast ben 
 efactions from gentlemen of the Church of England, ivherewith 
 to support you in maintaining such a law in exclusion of such 
 a liberty. Can you think those gentlemen would ever have 
 given such benefactions to such a purpose ! And ought it not 
 to be considered at the same time, that the parents of these 
 children contribute also their proportion every year to the 
 support of the College ? 
 
202 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Your argument in a former letter was, That it is incon 
 sistent with the original design of the founders, which was 
 only to provide ministers for your churches. But pray, Sir, 
 why may not our Church also be provided for with ministers 
 from one common College as well as your churches ? And 
 ought not the catholic design of the principal benefactors 
 also in strict justice to be regarded, who, in the sense of the 
 English law, are to be reckoned among the founders ? See 
 Viner, on the Title FOUNDERS. What Mr. Yale s views 1 
 were, I had not opportunity of knowing, though, doubtless, 
 they were the same that we suppose. But I was knowing 
 to Bp. Berkeley s, which were, that his great Donation 
 should be equally for a common benefit, without respect to 
 parties. For I was myself the principal, I may say in effect 
 the only person in procuring that Donation, and with those 
 generous, catholic, and charitable views ; though you (not 
 willing, it seems, that Posterity should ever know this) did 
 not think fit to do me the justice in the History of the Col 
 lege (though humbly suggested), as to give me the credit 
 of any, the least influence on him in that affair ; when the 
 truth is, had it not been for my influence it would never 
 have been done, to which I was prompted by the sincere 
 desire that it should be for a common benefit, when I could 
 have easily procured it appropriated to the Church. But 
 at that time Mr. Williams also pretended a mighty catholic 
 charitable conviction that there never was any meaning in 
 
 1 Jeremiah Dummer, agent of the Colony of Connecticut, writing to Gov. Sal- 
 tonstall, from " Middle Temple [London], 14th April, 1719," s&ys : " I heartily con 
 gratulate you upon the happy union of the Colony, in fixing the Colledge at New 
 Haven, after some differences which might have been attended with ill conse 
 quences. Mr. Yale is very much rejoyc d at this good news, and more than a little 
 pleas d with his being the Patron of such a seat of the Muses. Saving that he ex- 
 press t at first some kind of concern, whether it was well in him, being a Church 
 man, to promote an Academy of Dissenters. But when we had di?cours t that 
 point freely, he appear d convinc t that the business of good men is to spread relig 
 ion and learning among mankind without being too fondly attach t to particular 
 Tenet", about which the world never was, nor never will be, agreed. Besides, if the 
 Discipline of the Church of England be most agreeable to Scripture and primitive 
 practice, there s no better way to make men sensible of it than by giving them good 
 learning." State Library, Hartford. Extract from Document 110 of vol. ii. 
 "Foreign Correspondence with Colonial Agents, 1661-1732." 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 203 
 
 it ; it being at the very same juncture that he, with the 
 Hampshire ministers, his father at the head of them, were, 
 in their great charity, contriving a letter to the Bishop of 
 London by means of which they hoped to deprive all the 
 Church people in these parts of their ministers, and them of 
 their support ; the same charitable aim that Mr. Hobart l 
 and bis friends are pursuing at this day ! And now you, 
 Gentle-men, are so severe as to establish a law to deprive us 
 of the benefit of a public education for our children too, un 
 less we will let them, nay require them, to go out of our 
 own houses to meeting, when there is a church at our doors. 
 Indeed, Sir, I must say this appears to me so very inju 
 rious, that I must think it my duty, in obedience to a rule 
 of the Society, to join with my Brethren in complaining of 
 it to our superiors at home, if it be insisted upon, which is 
 what I abhor and dread to be brought to ; and, therefore, 
 by the love of our dear country (in which we desire to live, 
 only upon a par with you, in all Christian charity), I do 
 beseech you, Gentlemen, not to insist upon it. Tell it not in 
 Gratli! much less in the ears of our dear mother-country, 
 that any of her daughters should deny any of her children 
 leave to attend on her worship whenever they have oppor 
 tunity for it. Surely you cannot pretend that you are con 
 science-bound to make such a law, or that it would be an 
 infraction of liberty of conscience for it to be repealed from 
 home, as you intimate. This would be carrying matters far 
 indeed. But for God s sake do not be so severe to think in 
 this manner, or to carry things to this pass ! If so, let Dis 
 senters never more complain of their heretofore persecutions 
 or hardships in England, unless they have us tempted to 
 think it their principle, that they only ought to be tolerated, 
 in order at length to be established, that they may have the 
 sole privilege of persecuting others. But I beg pardon and 
 forbear ; only I desire it may be considered, how ill such a 
 principle would sound at this time of day, when the univer- 
 
 i Noah Hobart, a Congregational minister at Fairfield, who published two Addresses 
 Jo Members of the Episcopal Separation in New England. He died 1773. 
 
204 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Bal Church of England as much abhors the persecution of 
 Dissenters as they can themselves. It may also deserve to 
 be considered that the Government at home would probably 
 be so far from going into the formality of repealing this law 
 that they would declare it a nullity in itself ; and not only 
 so, but even the corporation that hath enacted it ; inasmuch 
 as it seems a principle in law that a corporation cannot make, 
 a corporation, nor can one be made without his Majesty s act. 
 See Viner, under the titles, COKPORATION and BY-LAWS. 
 
 You mistake me, Sir. I did not say that Professors of 
 Divinity do not preach. I knew they and the Heads, etc., 
 do preach in their turns at the common church, to which all 
 resort to sermon. But what I say is, that they do not 
 preach as Professors, nor do they ever preach in private 
 Colleges, there being no such thing as preaching in the Col 
 lege chapels, but only at St. Mary s and Christ Church, 
 which are in effect cathedrals, where the scholars resort, but 
 not exclusive of the town s people, tho they generally go to 
 their parish churches. 
 
 I wonder how you came to apprehend I had any scruples 
 about the divinity of Christ. I am with you, glad we agree 
 so far ; and I would desire you to understand, that my zeal 
 for that sacred Depositum, the Christian faith, founded on 
 those principles, a coessential, coeternal Trinity, and the 
 Divinity, incarnation, and satisfaction of Christ, is the very 
 and sole reason of my zeal for the Church of England, and 
 that she may be promoted, supported, and well treated in 
 these countries ; as I have been long persuaded that she is, 
 and will eventually be found, the only stable bulwark against 
 all heresy and infidelity which are coming in like a flood 
 upon us, and this, as I apprehend, by reason of the rigid 
 Calvinism, Antinomianism, enthusiasm, divisions, and sep 
 arations, which, through the weakness and great imperfec 
 tion of your constitution (if it may so be called), are so rife 
 and rampant among us. My apprehension of this was the 
 first occasion of my conforming to the Church (which has 
 been to my great comfort and satisfaction), and hath been 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 205 
 
 more and more confirmed by what has occurred ever since. 
 And I am still apt to think that no well-meaning Dove that 
 has proper means and opportunity of exact consideration, 
 will ever find rest to the sole of his foot amid such a deluge, 
 till he comes into the Church as the alone ark of safety, 
 all whose Articles, Liturgy, and Homilies taken together and 
 explained by one another, and by the writings of our first 
 Reformers, according to their original sense, shall ever be 
 sacred with me ; which sense, as I appehend it, is neither 
 Calvinistical nor Arminian, but the golden mean, and accord 
 ing to the genuine meaning of the Holy Scriptures in the 
 original, critically considered and understood. I beg pardon 
 for this length, which I did not design at first, and desire 
 you will also excuse my haste, inaccuracy, and this writing 
 currente calamo, and conclude with earnestly begging that 
 neither your insisting on this law nor anything else, may oc- 
 ?ur to destroy or interrupt our harmony and friendship, with 
 which, on my part I desire ever to remain, dear Sir, 
 Your real friend and humble servant, 
 
 S. JOHNSON. 
 P. S. I wish you to communicate it to the Fellows. 
 
 Another letter from President Clap received his at 
 tention when he was on the eve of departing for New 
 York. The issue was made in the case of the sons of 
 the Missionary, and here the first relaxation of the 
 law began. For Dr. Johnson s son William wrote 
 him from Stratford a few months later : " I don t 
 hear any talk of printing against the President ; am 
 told he has given up the point with Mr. Punderson s 
 sons." He could not well do otherwise after the fol 
 lowing letter, dated : 
 
 STRATFORD, February 19, 1754. 
 
 DEAR SIR, My unsettled condition in view of my re 
 moving to New York, must be my apology for not being 
 more particular in answer to yours of the 10th. 
 
206 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 If there was not good reason offered to support my 
 warmth you might justly fault it, but I must think it was 
 supported with abundant reasons which you have nothing 
 like answered. I am sure the Dissenters in England had 
 never half so much reason to excuse their many pathetic 
 declamations. You would have us, it seems, be deprived of 
 our birthright as Englishmen, and at the same time be per 
 fectly calm and easy under it. Truly, Sir, I must think it 
 sufficient to raise our passions to be denied a public education 
 for our children, unless we will in direct violation of our con 
 sciences enjoin them to go to dissenting meeting when we 
 have a church at our doors. 
 
 I have always been very tender of the charter privileges of 
 this Government, and ever advised our Church people to be 
 easy, and do all they could to promote the public peace and 
 weal as things stand ; but by your proceedings you seem re 
 solved to provoke us to be enemies to the Government, when 
 we are content to be only upon a par with our neighbors, and 
 to live in entire love and peace with them in a cheerful sub 
 mission to the Government. I am surprised at your Politic* 
 in this way of proceeding with us, supposing the injustice 
 and uncharitableness of it were out of the question. How 
 ever, since you are resolved (being, as you say, in possession) 
 to go on in your own way, you must even proceed ; but J am 
 very much mistaken if you do not eventually prove your own 
 greatest enemies. 
 
 It is strange to me that merely opening a church at New 
 Haven should be considered by any of you, gentlemen, as a 
 justifiable provocation to interrupt the harmony that had 
 subsisted between us, when we do not aim at disturbing you, 
 but only at judging and acting for ourselves. Indeed I own 
 I have never been very zealous and active in the affair, but 
 rather hung back, as I apprehended danger of some gentle 
 men s making disturbance on such an occasion ; but I do not 
 remember that I told you I was with you of the mind it 
 would not be for the public good to have a church there, as 
 you state it. However, when I saw what loose principles 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 207 
 
 were obtaining among you and the confused state you were 
 in, I thought it might be much conducive to the public good 
 to have a church there, especially after such a virulent and 
 abusive spirit as Mr. Hobart thought fit to raise against the 
 Church, to whose pious labors I suppose it was chiefly owing 
 that the Society fixed a mission and Mr. Punderson there. 
 
 If there had been such a general law before, as you say, 
 yet this I very well remember, that you told me you had 
 made certain Rules under the name of Customs, which I un 
 derstood to be written and agreed to by the Fellows ; one of 
 which was that the children of the Church, their parents so 
 desiring, should have free liberty to go to church whenever 
 they had opportunity, or to this effect. 
 
 I may be, perhaps, mistaken in saying there is never 
 preaching in any of the College chapels. There may be 
 those two or three exceptions you mention ; my copy of the 
 Oxford Laws was and is at New York ; so that I could not 
 turn to those paragraphs you cited ; but surely you cannot 
 think them anything to your purpose of holding constant 
 meeting only in your Hall, 1 and requiring the Church chil 
 dren to attend them when they have a church to go to, and 
 their parents order their attendance there ! 
 
 If, indeed, you are an independent Society or Government, 
 or the Charter had given you such unlimited and uncontrol 
 lable powers, I own there would have been something plausi 
 ble in your reasoning ; but then it would equally conclude 
 against any toleration of the Dissenters in England, and 
 consequently must now be interpreted to be contrary to law, 
 and as far as in you lies to aim at a subversion of the present 
 English Constitution. 
 
 I much wonder you cannot understand my stating of the 
 case. I cannot conceive of any words that could make it 
 more intelligible. If, indeed, with Holies, etc., you thought 
 power to do anything would give a right to it, then your ar 
 gument from possession is just ; but I trust that is not your 
 
 1 Public worship was established in the College Hall preparatory to the erection of 
 a chapel. 
 
208 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 tenet. The question then is, 1st. Whether it be right in 
 itself for any Society, however voluntary or independent, to 
 require as a condition of enjoying the privileges of it (and 
 especially so great a privilege as that of a public education), 
 that any person that is free of that Society, or lorn in it* 
 should be obliged to act contrary to his conscience, or to what 
 he is really persuaded is his duty in matters of religion, sup 
 posing that his religious principles be not in their nature sub 
 versive of the State ? And then, 2dly. Supposing this could 
 be resolved in the affirmative, Whether your Charter has 
 given this government such a right, or a right to erect any 
 Corporation with such a right or power as to insist on such a 
 condition; or indeed could do it consistent with the English 
 Constitution ? I trow not. And it is plain to me, that un 
 less you prove the affirmative of both these questions, which 
 you don t attempt, you really do nothing to the purpose. 
 But I humbly conceive it is most proper to have these ques 
 tions canvassed before our Assembly here, before we trouble 
 our Superior at home. 
 
 But in truth the College is ours in proportion as really as 
 yours, and you can no more be bound to pursue the inten 
 tion of the founders in your sense, exclusive of the Church, 
 than Oxford was to continue their Colleges appropriated to 
 the Roman Catholics, if so much ; I mean in point of equity. 
 There may be some small inconveniences in granting such a 
 liberty, but they are not to be compared with the inconven 
 iences which will attend denying it. 
 
 If what was mentioned was no designed omission in the 
 first draught of your History, yet it seems to have been de 
 signedly persisted in after what I humbly suggested to you. 
 Indeed, Sir, your College never had a more hearty friend, 
 without respect to any party, than I was and desire still to 
 continue, if we can only stand upon an equal foot, but I am 
 really and tenderly hurt by this disputed prohibition. It is 
 hard, very hard indeed, if in an English colony the Church 
 must be treated upon the same foot with every idle sectary. 
 But I am insensibly got much further than I intended. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 209 
 
 However, if I can find leisure to answer your state of the 
 case and reasoning upon it more particularly, which I think 
 may be easily done, and with as much calmness as you can 
 desire, you may expect to hear further from me. Mean 
 time, I remain, dear Sir, 
 
 Your friend and humble servant, 
 
 S. JOHNSON. 
 
 His time and thoughts were so much absorbed in 
 the controversy about the College in New York, that 
 he does not appear to have answered President Clap, 
 as he intimated. He and his friends were deter 
 mined to construct it on a liberal basis ; but there 
 was as much opposition among Presbyterians to allow 
 ing Episcopalians to dominate therein, as there was 
 among the authorities of Yale College to giving the 
 children of the Church the privilege of worshipping 
 on Sundays in their own sanctuary. His son William 
 wrote him, August 2, 1754, and in the course of his 
 letter said : " We had yesterday a visit from President 
 Clap ; I suppose on his return from advising with his 
 brother Holt art. He was very inquisitive about your 
 College, and wanted much to see your Oxonia Illus- 
 trata, which I handed to him. He pored upon it a 
 considerable time, and at length said : * Really, I think 
 it seems to agree very well with a pretty long His 
 tory (I forget the author s name) that I have lately 
 been reading, which I sent for from Cambridge Li 
 brary/ He said not a word about the controversy, 
 though I believe he does not intend to give it over, 
 by his studying the History of Oxford so much." 
 
 Dr. Johnson finally resigned the Mission of Strat 
 ford, 1 which he had held thirty-two years, and settled 
 
 1 The Rev. Edward Winslow was appointed his successor, May 2, 1755. 
 14 
 
210 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 with his family in New York, where he devoted him 
 self to the duties of the College at the same time 
 that he fulfilled the office of a lecturer in Trinity 
 Church. When he came to admit a second class, he 
 needed some assistance, and as Mr. Whittelsey, who 
 had previously been chosen Tutor, was prevented by 
 the failure of his health from accepting the appoint 
 ment, the Trustees gave the place to the younger 
 son of Dr. Johnson. The internal affairs of the Col 
 lege were now prosperous, and liberal subscriptions 
 and benefactions were obtained to further its interests. 
 But the war without was unended. The Presbyterian 
 faction went on with its clamor, and expected to find 
 in Sir Charles Hardy, the new Governor of the Prov 
 ince, a sympathizing friend, and prepared an inflam 
 matory address, against his arrival, to disaffect him 
 towards the College. But it was received with cold 
 ness, while the address of the Governors or Trustees 
 delivered by the President, was listened to " with the 
 utmost complaisance ; " and signifying his desire to 
 see the subscription paper, it was taken to him the 
 next day, when the Governor " immediately took his 
 pen and subscribed 500. All this," says Johnson in 
 his autobiography, " was such a mortification to the 
 faction, that from this time forward they shut their 
 mouths, and the College met with no more opposition. 
 And in a little time it was agreed, for peace* sake, 
 with the Assembly, to divide the money equally be 
 tween the College and the public." This was the 
 money raised by lottery. 
 
 His younger son had completed his theological 
 studies, and resigning his tutorship, embarked for 
 England for Holy Orders, Nov. 8, 1755, with a view 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 211 
 
 to assist and succeed the venerable Mr. Standard at 
 West Chester. It was a painful thing for the father 
 to part with him. He wrote his other son shortly be 
 fore the decision : " Your brother can never go with 
 better advantage than now, so that it is doubtless best- 
 he should now go. But I tremble at the thoughts 
 of the difficulties and dangers to which he must be 
 exposed, and pray God I may live to see him safe 
 returned again, and could then cheerfully sing my 
 mine dimittis" 
 
 He had already acquainted the Venerable Society 
 with the foundation of the College and his own elec 
 tion to the Presidency ; and Sherlock, the Bishop of 
 London, had written him a letter of congratulation in 
 view of the good service which this Institution might 
 do for the Church of England in the Northern Colo 
 nies. But the Vestry of Trinity Church took occa 
 sion to write to the Rev. Dr. Bearcroft, Secretary of 
 the Society, and appeal directly for sympathy and aid 
 in behalf of the new enterprise. The letter thus 
 written was intrusted to the care of Mr. George Har- 
 ison, one of their number, and Mr. William Johnson, 
 and after speaking of the opposers, it went on to say 
 of the friends of the College : 
 
 They have begun a subscription amongst themselves, and 
 are daily purchasing materials to lay the foundation of a 
 handsome, convenient edifice, which, God willing, they pur 
 pose to begin next spring ; and they are induced to hope, 
 that as the dissenting Seminary in New Jersey has had the 
 General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland engaged in its 
 behalf last year, as well as the dissenting interest in Eng 
 land, and, as we are informed, have collected a very consid 
 erable sum of money, so our brethren in England will be 
 
212 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 ready to contribute to preserve the Church in this part of 
 the world from the contempt its enemies are endeavoring to 
 bring upon it. 
 
 The Dissenters have already three seminaries in the 
 Northern Governments. They hold their synods, presbyte 
 ries, and associations, and exercise the whole of their ecclesi 
 astical government to the no small advantage of their cause ; 
 whilst those churches which are branches of the National 
 Establishment are deprived not only of the benefit of a reg 
 ular church government, but their children are debarred the 
 privilege of a liberal education, unless they will submit to 
 accept of it on such conditions as Dissenters require ; which, 
 in Yale College, is to submit to a fine as often as they at 
 tend public worship in the Church of England, communi 
 cants only excepted, and that only on Christmas and sacra 
 ment days. This we cannot but look upon as hard meas 
 ure, especially as we can with good conscience declare that 
 we are so far from that bigotry and narrowness of spirit they 
 have of late been pleased to charge us with, that we would 
 not, were it in our power, lay the least restraint on any 
 man s conscience, and should heartily rejoice to continue in 
 brotherly love and charity with all our Protestant brethren." l 
 
 Four months elapsed and no intelligence had been 
 received by Dr. Johnson of the arrival of his son in 
 England. He reached his destination, however, after 
 an extremely perilous voyage, a week before Christ 
 mas, and landing at Deal, proceeded to Canterbury, 
 where of all the clergy who befriended the father and 
 his companions thirty-three years before, Mr. Gosling 
 alone survived to welcome the son and give him hos 
 pitality. But on arriving in London, the seat of the 
 Society s operations, he found several of his father s 
 old friends and correspondents, and writing to him 
 January 10th, he expressed some disappointment that 
 
 1 Berrian s History Trinity Church, p. 103 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 213 
 
 his application to be ordained for West Chester was 
 heard with so little favor. He had called on Dr. 
 Bearcroft, Christmas Eve, who received him rather 
 coldly ; and again he had waited on him ten days 
 later, when he was more kind, and " talked very 
 freely of Dr. McSparran and his ambitious views ; of 
 Fowle and Norwalk, Mr. Gibbs, 1 the state of the 
 Church throughout New England ; of the hasty rec 
 ommendations of young gentlemen for orders from 
 America, and their being sent many times very raw, 
 without first obtaining leave to come, etc. ; but always 
 mentioned you with a great deal of kindness and re 
 spect. He said the Society did not intend to maintain 
 assistants abroad, and that the sending me as curate 
 to Mr. Standard would be a bad precedent for others 
 to ask the same favors. I urged the infirmities of the 
 old Doctor, and the miserable condition of the Church 
 there as well as in many parts of the County." He 
 was assured that if the Society thought proper to 
 grant the request, much missionary duty would be 
 done outside of the parish. 
 
 Mr. Berriman and Dr. Astry received him cordially 
 and promised him all the assistance in their power, but 
 both regretted that he and Mr. Samuel Fayerweather, 2 
 who arrived in London a week after Mr. Johnson, 
 " were come upon such a slender basis." Further on 
 in this same letter, he says : 
 
 1 Rev. Wm. Gibbs, of Simsbury, Ct., then in poor health. 
 
 2 He vras a native of Boston, and graduated at Harvard College, 1743. He was 
 for several years settled as a Congregational minister in Newport, R. I., but after 
 conforming to the Church of England, and receiving Holy Orders therein, he was ap 
 pointed a missionary in South Carolina. The climate impaired his health, and peti 
 tioning the Society to be removed North, he was transferred in 1760 to St. Paul s 
 Church, Narragansett, vacant by the death of Dr. McSparran, in 1757. Mr. Fayer 
 weather died in 1781. 
 
214 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Last Tuesday, with Fayerweather, waited on his Lordship 
 of London at Fulham. He appeared very kind ; he seemed 
 desirous to converse with us, but it was very difficult to un 
 derstand him : his voice is almost gone, but his understanding 
 yet very good. He spoke at first pretty roughly to Fayer 
 weather, and said his bond from Taunton people was good for 
 nothing ; they meant only to impose upon him. He had, he 
 said, known instances of it from other places, and Taunton 
 he knew never intended to pay what they promised him. At 
 our coining away he asked whether I should write soon, and 
 bid me give his services to you and tell you that writing was 
 grown very difficult to him, and his infirmities such that he 
 could scarce hold a pen in his hand to write his name, which 
 was the reason you had no letter from him for some time. 
 He then told us we must wait upon Dr. Nicholls next 
 week, who does all his business for him, and thus we are 
 referred to another tribunal. They all seem to agree (and 
 especially the Secretary) that Taunton must not be made 
 a mission. Poor Fayerweather is frighted out of his wits 
 about it. However, I endeavor to encourage him to hope 
 that all things will turn out right for us both, by and by. 
 
 The good Bishop of Oxford I have waited on twice. He 
 truly deserves Pope s character Seeker is decent. He con 
 verses with me with all the familiarity of an intimate friend, 
 promises to write for me to Oxford, and hopes a degree may 
 be obtained. I heard him preach on Christmas Day at the 
 Cathedral (the congregation was in tears), and received the 
 Sacrament at his hands. There is to be a meeting of the 
 Society next Friday, at which he promises to attend, and I 
 am to be there myself and urge my cause. The Committee 
 meet on Monday to prepare matters ready. Thus you see 
 I am at present lying at the pool, and waiting for the mov 
 ing of the waters, in hopes some good friend will then take 
 me up and cast me in, so that in my next I hope I shall be 
 able to give you a more agreeable account of a favorable 
 turn to my affairs. Meantime I shall endeavor to possess 
 myself in patience and wait the event. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 215 
 
 He seized every opportunity to communicate with 
 his father, and keep him informed of the progress of 
 his affairs. He knew his anxieties about him, and 
 would do what he could to quiet them, and gladden 
 the hearts of all his friends at home. His letters, in 
 tended for the family eye, do not fail to mention any 
 change of plan or new proposition, though he was so 
 far away that it must be carried into effect before he 
 could have the parental advice. He left himself in 
 the hands of Providence and his London counselors, 
 and wrote as follows to his father : 
 
 LONDON, February 6, 1756. 
 
 HONORED SIR, I am told this morning, with the greatest 
 secrecy, of an opportunity to New York, but who it is that is 
 going, I know not ; however, tis satisfaction enough for me 
 that I can inform you with what pleasure I received yours 
 by the Grrace via Bristol. There is no happiness here equal 
 to that of hearing that you all continue well, as blessed be 
 God, I am at present. You mention in this letter that you 
 had wrote a few days before, I suppose by the Albany, but 
 she is not yet arrived, and we begin to be anxious for fear 
 the French have got her. I am sorry to hear of Mr. Col- 
 gan s death ; neither do I know what to say about succeed 
 ing there. 1 I have just mentioned it to Dr. Nicholls and 
 Dr. Astry, and they both seemed rather to discourage me 
 from thinking of it, as there must be a lawsuit, and perhaps 
 a good deal of trouble to get things quietly settled ; how 
 ever, if I should hear nothing further from you about it, I 
 shall endeavor to get leave of the Society to succeed there, 
 if they should choose me upon my return, and all things con 
 sidered, it be thought most advisable. 
 
 I wrote you a long letter by the General Wall Paquet 
 for New York, which hope you will receive. Since that I 
 have waited on his Grace of Canterbury, who received me in 
 
 1 Jamaica, L. I. 
 
216 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 a very familiar manner and inquired much about the College 
 at New York, and the affairs of religion there. I was sur 
 prised to find by him that he had never yet seen a charter, 
 or received any proper account of his being a Governor of 
 the College. I suppose it was left with our late Governor, 
 De Lancey, to write and send a charter to him, but you 
 know his indolence, and therefore tis not strange it never 
 was done. 
 
 As to my own affairs, I can inform you nothing certain. I 
 have waited upon the Committee at the Charter House, and 
 afterwards was introduced to the Venerable Board at Abp. 
 Tenison s Library. His Grace of York sat in the chair. On 
 his right hand, the Bp. of Oxford, and three other Bishops. 
 On his left, a very grand assembly ! Your letters were read, 
 and that from the Vestry, publicly before the Board ; Mr. 
 Harison was asked by the Bp. of Oxford to be present, and 
 accordingly when we were introduced, we were questioned 
 by his Grace and the Bp. of Oxford publicly about the Col 
 lege and the opposition it had met, and was like to meet with 
 from the Dissenters, etc., to all which we answered in the 
 best manner we could. I was then desired by Dr. Bear- 
 croft to tell his Grace and the Bishops the story of our 
 persecutions at Yale College, and in particular that of our 
 going to hear Mr. Morris preach in the jail at New Haven 
 (which I had told the Committee before) ; and they all 
 heard it with much attention, and seemed disposed to patron 
 ize the College at New York. Mr. Harison, by your letters 
 and Dr. Astry s recommendation, was mentioned at the 
 Board for a member of the Society. I have myself taken a 
 good deal of pains among the members, to have him made 
 one, and Dr. Nicholls assures me it will be done at the next 
 meeting. Mr. Fayerweather and myself are recommended 
 by the Society to the Bp. of London for orders, and have 
 leave afterwards to apply to them for their favor, which I 
 suppose will be near ,20 for me, an annual present, but not 
 a settled salary as Dr. Nicholls thinks. Mr. Fayerweather 
 I know not how they will dispose of, perhaps to Norwalk, 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 217 
 
 for the Secretary tells me they must dismiss poor Fowle. 
 I expect Dr. Nicholls will examine us next week, and we 
 shall be ordained (if found worthy) in the Ember Week in 
 March. Tis this day the general Fast, and I had engaged 
 myself to wait on some company to Westminster Abbey to 
 hear the sermon before the House of Lords, before I knew 
 of the opportunity for writing. 
 
 I trust in God for his protection and blessing upon us all, 
 and hope we shall have a happy meeting again. Meantime, 
 I remain, Honored Sir, 
 
 Your most dutiful and obedient son, 
 
 W. JOHNSON. 
 
 The examination referred to in the foregoing letter 
 was held, and he wrote his father on the 19th of 
 March, to inform him that he and Mr. Fayerweather 
 and several other candidates were ordained Deacons 
 the previous Sunday by the Bishop of Bangor, Dr. 
 Pierce, in the Chapel of the Palace at Fulham, Dr. 
 Sherlock, the Bishop of London, being too infirm to 
 go through the ordination. Dr. Nicholls, Master of 
 the Temple, presented them, and " after the service," 
 he added, " we had a very grand and elegant dinner 
 served up. The Bishop of London s lady, my Lord 
 of Bangor, Dr. Nicholls, etc., sat at the table with us. 
 The particular notice with which I was treated above 
 the rest of my fellow-candidates had almost put me 
 to the blush several times. My Lord of London de 
 sired to be affectionately remembered to you. He 
 expresses a very great regard for you, and on your 
 account treats me with the greatest kindness, and in 
 tends (as I am told by Dr. Nicholls), as soon as ever 
 he can hear from Boston whether or not Dr. Mc- 
 Sparran accepts the Chaplaincy, which Mr. Brockwell 
 
218 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 held, to give me the refusal of it, as he does not much 
 expect the Dr. will think best to have it. If it should 
 be offered me I shall be at a loss how to act, as I shall 
 be unwilling to refuse, and unworthy to accept it." 
 
 He wrote again on the 31st, and said : "I have 
 now the satisfaction to acquaint you that Mr. Fayer- 
 weather, myself, and two others were ordained Priests 
 on Lady Day, at the Bishop of London s palace 
 again, by the Bishop of Carlisle, Dr. Osbaldistone." 
 Three days later he had another opportunity to write 
 his father, when he mentioned : "I forgot in my 
 last to tell you that my good friend, Mr. Cutler, had 
 been in London almost a week, and took much no 
 tice of me. He came from Bocking, forty miles, al 
 most on purpose to see us, and would have me with 
 him every day, and visit all his friends with him here 
 in London. He is hearty and lusty, a very true pic 
 ture of his father ; only more merry. When he went 
 away he made me and Mr. Fayerweather promise to 
 preach for him at Bocking in our journey to Cam 
 bridge. He particularly desired to be affectionately 
 remembered to you, but says he believes he shall 
 never be tempted to see America again." 
 
 Young Johnson still tarried in London, and had not 
 left its precincts since his arrival, to visit other parts 
 of the kingdom. He preached with good acceptance 
 in several churches of the metropolis, and then com 
 municated to his brother his final plans in the fol 
 lowing letter. His ordination had not fixed his post 
 in America, and the hesitancy or uncertainty about 
 this occasioned him some anxiety : 
 
 DEAR BROTHER, I have yet received but one letter 
 from you and that above a month ago, to which I gave you 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 219 
 
 an answer by Captain Jacobson, in the Irene, by whom also 
 I sent you a box of books, marked W. S. J., No. 2, which I 
 hope will come safe to you. I have still the pleasure of ac 
 quainting you of the continuation of my health (blessed be 
 God), as I hope you all have ; but am quite weary of the smoke 
 of London, which I propose on Friday next to change for 
 that of Windsor, and Oxford, where I was about ten days 
 since honored with a degree of Master of Arts, and through 
 my intercession with the good Bishop of Oxford, had Mr. 
 Fayerweather joined with me, so that we have been now 
 sounding in the newspapers almost a week, till I am quite, 
 weary of the compliments. Messrs. Harison and Fayer 
 weather will accompany me to the University where we pro 
 pose to spend about eight days, and then go to Cambridge 
 and Booking to see Mr. Cutler, etc. After which I shall 
 return to London again, and begin to settle my affairs here 
 that I may turn my attention to America again, and the 
 pleasing hopes of seeing you in health and peace once more. 
 
 I don t know whether I told you that my Lord of London 
 designs me the Chaplaincy at Boston, if Dr. McSparran re 
 fuses it, as tis expected he will; his own being better, and 
 the Bishop won t let him hold both as the Dr. intended, and 
 my Lord is now waiting his answer that he may give it to 
 me, so that I am, at present, in a quandary whether Boston, 
 West Chester, or Jamaica, will finally be my place of abode, 
 though I can t but rather wish one of the latter, and that I 
 may be the nearer to Daddy in his decline of life, as well as 
 to you, though Boston be in itself the most eligible other 
 wise, as well as most honorable. 
 
 Be so good as to make my compliments to Mr. Winslow, 
 and tell him his acquaintances here are well, particularly Mr. 
 Brornfield and Jackson. I have had several agreeable little 
 rides with Mr. Jackson into the country about London, as 
 Mr. Winslow can tell you he did before me. He dislikes 
 the grounds and rudiments of law, etc., that you mentioned, 
 but advises me to get you Peere Williams Reports, a cele 
 brated thing, just published, in 3 vols. folio, price 4 10s 
 
220 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 But as it is so costly I am a little at a loss what to do. Mr. 
 Jackson offers to do you any little service that shall come in 
 his way, and is obliged to you for the little memorandum you 
 gave me about his land, which I showed to him. His Grace 
 of Canterbury has been very ill, so that his life has been de 
 spaired of, but is now better, though tis thought he will not 
 live long, as he is imagined to be in a consumption. I am to 
 morrow to attend at the grand rehearsal for the Sons of the 
 Clergy at St. Paul s, and after sermon to be at the great feast 
 with the stewards, gentry, etc. I have nothing particular to 
 inform you as to public affairs. "Pis neither peace nor war 
 here ; our eyes are fixed upon America, and I hope you will 
 do worthily. I shall add no more, but my most affectionate 
 love to sister, and hearty service to all friends as though 
 named, and that 
 
 I am your most affectionate brother and friend, 
 
 W. JOHNSON. 
 
 LONDON, May 5, 1756. 
 
 A letter to his father, twenty days later, describing 
 the reception at Oxford, was the last which he wrote 
 to his friends in America. The journey to see Mr. 
 Cutler at Bocking does not appear to have been made, 
 for the visit to Cambridge was cut short by his illness 
 and speedy return to London. What happened to him 
 after this is best detailed in the following pathetic 
 letter, conveying the tidings of his death : 
 
 LONDON, June 24, 1756. 
 
 DEAR AND EVER HONORED SIR, The occasion of my 
 writing to you is melancholy and distressing. But O how 
 can I speak it my heart is pained within me, my spirit is 
 troubled for you. The sovereign God has made a great 
 breach in your family. Your beloved son William is dead 
 is dead. 
 
 It pleased God, after a short illness of about nine days 
 with the small-pox, to take him out of this world. The task 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 22] 
 
 in sending such a letter of condolence to one of the best and 
 tenderest of parents is exceeding irksome and disagreeable to 
 me. But the duty I owe to Doctor Johnson, as well as the 
 particular regard I had for his amiable son, will not allow me 
 to refrain. And while I thus drop a tear with you over my 
 departed friend, wouldn t be forgetful of what Christianity 
 forbids, " to mourn as those who are without hope." 
 
 And though you, Rev. Sir, may say in the midst of your 
 distress and sorrow, " O William, my son, that I had 
 died for thee William, my son, my son," yet you have 
 all the reason imaginable to be greatly comforted in his death, 
 and even to rejoice because he is gone to his heavenly Father. 
 Certain I am that you will be better able to make suita 
 ble reflections on such a providence, and improve it to your 
 soul s comfort through the gracious assistance of the Divine 
 Spirit than I can direct to. However, as it may be some 
 satisfaction to you to know the particulars of his death, I 
 will just put down some of the circumstances of it. 
 
 Your son and I who were as one, united in the bonds of 
 natural love and affection, and engaged in one and the same 
 cause, were as often together as our circumstances would allow 
 of (which was almost every day). And as we had one in 
 terest to serve, and recommended to the same gentlemen, 
 we in all respects fared alike, and had the same honors to be 
 unitedly thankful for. This leads me to observe that your 
 letters (and Doctor Cutler s which I procured in behalf of 
 us both) to the Bishop of Oxford introduced us to his ac 
 quaintance, and our conduct recommended us still more to 
 his esteem and notice. That worthy gentleman, who was in 
 defatigable to serve us, went down to Oxford and procured, 
 after making all the interest he could, a degree of Master of 
 Arts, which was conferred on us by Diploma in the fullest 
 convocation ever known before, and the more honorary this 
 was, being done when we were not present ourselves. His 
 Lordship, upon his return to London, advised us in conse 
 quence of so high an honor to pay a visit to the University, 
 which we did, and were there received with all the demonstra- 
 
222 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 tions of joy and respect possible by the Vice-chancellor and the 
 other governors of it, with whom we staid a fortnight, with 
 the most inexpressible pleasure and delight, the Vice- 
 chancellor himself presenting to each of us his Diploma in 
 the handsomest form and order. 
 
 In about a month after, we agreed to visit the University 
 of Cambridge also, where we were admitted ad eundem, and 
 previous to it we passed through all the forms and ceremo 
 nies of it. And there we were likewise treated with uncom 
 mon civility and kindness by the Vice-chancellor, Profess 
 ors, Doctors, Proctors, etc. We spent four days at this seat 
 of the Muses, and came back to London, but with this dis 
 agreeable circumstance of my brother traveller being sick 
 of that fatal distemper whereof he died. Where he took the 
 infection, or by what particular means, I cannot trace out, 
 but very well remember his first complaints were in Trin 
 ity Hall, Cant. ; though some say he was out of order by 
 overheating his blood, and worrying himself by excessive 
 walking in bad weather the day before we sat out upon our 
 journey. 
 
 As soon as he got back to his lodgings from this unfortunate 
 tour, a surgeon of eminence Mr. Kinnersly bled him, 
 which was on Saturday evening about eight o clock, June the 
 12th. The next day, which was Sunday, a physician and 
 an apothecary of the first rank and character Doctor 
 Hyberton and Charming were sent for, who immediately 
 pronounced his case dangerous, he having the worst of symp 
 toms, and those of the confluent sort. On the Friday follow 
 ing, growing worse, the help of another physician was found 
 necessary, and accordingly, by the advice and desire of good 
 Mr. Berriman, Doctor Nichols, a gentleman of great renown 
 and formerly of your acquaintance, was applied to, and the 
 three consulted together, and did everything for dear Billy 
 that they possibly could do. This I was an eye-witness to, as 
 I took lodgings in the house where he was from his first being 
 put to bed, and constantly staid with him (at his desire), 
 and the rather as Mr. Harison was gone into Wales and 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 223 
 
 Ireland. He had also a careful nurse and the best of friends 
 about him to keep up his spirits. The Revd. minister above 
 mentioned was exceeding kind in praying with him. I like 
 wise prayed with him at several different times, for which he 
 always expressed his most humble and hearty thanks. 
 
 In the whole course of his sickness as he had the exercise 
 of his reason and understanding, so I observed him full of 
 devotion. And when any prayers were offered up in his 
 behalf, his attention was fixed to every sentence and period. 
 On Sunday, the 20th of June, about two hours before he died, 
 [he] begged of me to pray with him before I went out to 
 church (for then I was just going to preach for the Rev. 
 Doctor Bristowe), which I readily complied with, and couldn t 
 help remarking his particular emphasis on the concluding 
 word, Amen. This he would speak out distinctly, and au 
 dibly, with his innocent hands lifted up to the God of Heaven 
 when he could scarcely be heard to say anything else. 
 
 As I sat by his bed-side observing him to breathe hard, 
 I asked him " whether he thought himself dangerous, 
 whether he thought he should die," to which he answered, 
 " I know not ; I cannot tell." I asked, " whether he was 
 anything uneasy about a future state." His answer was " Not, 
 no, not in the least." To which he further added, " If it be 
 the will of God that I may live to see my dear father again, 
 I shall be thankful ; if not, his will be done. I can, I do en 
 tirely resign myself to the blessed will of my Creator to dis 
 pose of me as He thinks best." 
 
 This, this was his language, and I may say too, the song of 
 his soul. Towards the close of his precious life, he had one or 
 two considerable struggles and conflicts, yet still meek, si 
 lent, patient, resigned, 
 
 "And smiling pleased in Death." 
 
 Death was no surprise to him in the least ; being disarmed 
 of its stings and horrors, he bid it welcome, breathing out his 
 last in the hands of Jesus. May the dear parents be pre 
 pared to hear the tidings, and supported under so sore a be 
 reavement. 
 
224 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Ah me ! my companion and friend ! very pleasant hast thou 
 been unto me in thy life-time, and now at death not divided. 
 O Lord make me to know mine end and the measure of my 
 days what it is, that I may know how frail I am. 
 
 Quistalia fando temperet alachryrais ? 
 
 And after all, the greatest comfort, Rev. and Hon. Sir, to you 
 is, that your beloved son only sleepeth ; that you shall see him 
 again risen with a more beautified body, like unto his Saviour s, 
 and distinguished with the glory of the Lord, a crown 
 a laurel. The young prophet hath ascended ; may I in par 
 ticular catch his mantle, his spirit descending and resting 
 upon me. To conclude, may both Mr. Harison, who was your 
 worthy son s intimate friend, and I, imitate him as he imi 
 tated Christ, and follow him who through faith and patience 
 is now inheriting the promises. Then shall we be together 
 with him as one, where there will be no parting any more in 
 the beatific presence, and ever rejoice in shouting forth the 
 praises of God and the Lamb. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 
 
 I most heartily sympathize with you, venerable and much 
 afflicted Sir, and the whole distressed family, and wish you 
 and them the great consolations which are contained in the 
 covenant of grace, and promised to good men under Divine 
 chastisement. 
 
 I am, believe me to be, with the utmost sincerity, 
 Your very affectionate sympathizing friend, 
 
 SAMUEL FAYERWEATHER. 
 
 He was carried on Thursday the 25th of June into 
 the Church of St. Mildred in the Poultry, and, after 
 the usual funeral rites, was laid in a vault, under 
 the Church, belonging to Mr. Morley, a near relation 
 of Mr. Harison. A handsome marble monument was 
 afterwards erected to his precious memory at the ex 
 pense of his most loving brother. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 225 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 GBIEF FOR THE DEATH OP HIS SON AND CORRESPONDENCE WITH 
 FRIENDS ; PROGRESS OF THE COLLEGE AND ERECTION OF A 
 BUILDING; LEAVES THE CITY ON ACCOUNT OF THE SMALL 
 POX; DEATH OF HIS WIFE ; FIRST COMMENCEMENT; AND IN 
 CLINATIONS TO RESIGN. 
 
 A. D. 1756-1759. 
 
 IT is impossible to describe the sorrow of the father 
 at the loss of his son. He had written to his friends 
 in Stratford as late as the first week in September, to 
 say that no new intelligence had been received from 
 him, and that he hoped by that time he was " well 
 on his way over/ The first tidings of his death 
 came through a London paper, and followed quickly 
 upon the hope thus expressed. He seized his pen 
 and wrote again as follows : 
 
 September 13, 1756. 
 
 DEAREST SON, You will find by an article in the news 
 which is out of the London paper, that it hath pleased our 
 Heavenly Father to take to himself your dear brother, and 
 to deprive me of one of the best of sons and you of the best 
 of brothers. May He support and comfort you under these 
 heavy tidings, as I hope I may say with thankfulness He does 
 us. The wound is exceeding deep, but we have nothing to 
 say upon these occasions but Thy will be done ! and to make 
 the best use we can of it to disengage us from this world, and 
 fit us for a better where he is doubtless gone, and where we 
 may hope in a little time to meet him never to part more. 
 This is all the intelligence we have of it (via Boston), but 
 
 15 
 
226 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 you see him in the case so exactly described that there 
 is no possible place left to doubt of it. Your sister is at 
 Staten Island. I dread at the shock it must give her. 
 Thank God we are all in health and send our tender sym 
 pathies with you on this melancholy occasion. This makes 
 us the more long to see you again, but must wait till your 
 affairs make it practicable. Meantime may God sanctify 
 this sad event to you and to us all, and ever have you under 
 his most gracious protection. I am, dear pon, 
 
 Your most afflicted and affectionate father, 
 
 S. JOHNSON. 
 
 Several letters passed between them before the 
 tidings were confirmed by Mr. Fayerweather s com 
 munication, in one of which Dr. Johnson said : 
 " Dear son, you are now my all ; pray for my sake as 
 well as your own be very careful of your health. I 
 have always a sort of terror at the sound of Litch field 
 ever since the sickness you got there. I shall long 
 to hear you are well returned." Another letter, 
 written after all the particulars of William s death 
 had been received, is so full of parental tenderness 
 and solicitude for his surviving child that it must not 
 be omitted in this connection : 
 
 NEW YORK, October 18, 1756. 
 
 MY DEAR AND ONLY SON, I had yours of the 12th and 
 thank God for your health and ours. I conclude you had 
 my last by the post with Mr. Fayerweather s, though I have 
 no answer by Hurd. 
 
 Your kind intentions towards your brother, had he lived, 
 are very pleasing to me. You may remember I once 
 wished you to assist him, as I was concerned how he would 
 be able to get decently along in life. But God, I am per 
 suaded, has provided infinitely better for him than we both 
 of us could have done, and yet it is so difficult a thing to be 
 disengaged from the hopes and wishes we had of happiness 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 227 
 
 in his continuance with us, that I believe we would both be 
 content to be stripped of all we have, if that could fetch him 
 back. But God s will is done, and to that we must submit. 
 
 What you mention of his taking away such young persons, 
 and especially in prospect of great usefulness, always ap 
 peared to me one of the most difficult phenomena of Provi 
 dence to account for. It did so, on his taking away my 
 dear friend, Mr. Brown, who was certainly the best of us 
 three, and much such another as your brother. What you 
 suggest is the only thing that can satisfy us that there are 
 wise and good reasons with that infinitely perfect and best of 
 Beings, though it is infinitely beyond us to see them. It is 
 impossible for vis to judge what is wisest and best, unless we 
 knew the whole of things. But He hath kept that future 
 world impenetrably out of our sight, doubtless (wisely and 
 kindly) to teach us to live by faith, not by sight. A heathen 
 would say, Prudens, futuri temporis exitum, calignosa node 
 premit Deus. It is certain we can make nothing of Provi 
 dence without taking both worlds into the account ; and in 
 this view let us rest. 
 
 Mr. Walker was so kind as to write me a large and elab 
 orate letter on this melancholy occasion, to which I inclose 
 an answer open for your perusal, which I desire you to seal 
 and deliver to him. I am very sorry you can t be here at 
 Christmas. After having had two such desirable sons for 
 near thirty years almost always under my eye, now to be to 
 tally deprived of one, and so very seldom to see the other, 
 seems very hard. I shall be so out of all patience not to see 
 you till spring that I beg of you, if possible, to let us see you 
 in that first week in December you mention. 
 
 My dear son This is your birthday ; * you now enter 
 upon your thirtieth year. I bless God for preserving you 
 both so long to me as He has. May He preserve you still, 
 and lengthen out to you a useful life to a good old age, and 
 bestow ten thousand blessings on you and yours. And as I 
 always set my heart upon your being, both, great and public 
 
 1 He was born on the 7th of October, Old Style. 
 
228 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 blessings to mankind, and now one is taken away, and some 
 part of your private care is thereby abated, I trust you will 
 be so much the more of a public spirit, and lay out your life 
 and talents to the best advantage for public usefulness, and 
 that, as much as you can, in what relates to the interest of 
 Religion as well as Justice. I am, with our tenderest re 
 gards to you both, and to the children, dear son, 
 
 Your most affectionate father, 
 
 S. JOHNSON. 
 
 His friends in England wrote him all the comfort 
 ing words they could, and at the University of Oxford 
 a memorial of the character of his son was drawn up, 
 in which the Rev. George Home, of Magdalen Col 
 lege, and the Rev. George Berkeley, student of 
 Christ Church, had a share, and in which the hope 
 was expressed that the guardians of the Church in 
 America might find some expedient to " prevent fu 
 ture calamities of this kind, by rendering such long 
 and perilous voyages unnecessary." Dr. Johnson 
 used the event as a fresh reason for the establish 
 ment of an American Episcopate. In writing to Dr. 
 Nicholls, December 10, 1756, and thanking him for 
 his kindness to his deceased son, he urged this meas 
 ure with great zeal, but despaired of seeing anything 
 accomplished at present. He wrote in a similar strain 
 to his other correspondents, and appeared to be as full 
 of solicitude for the prosperity of the Church in Amer 
 ica as of sorrow for the death of his beloved child. 
 The following letter to the son of Bp. Berkeley may 
 be taken as an example of the depth of his feeling on 
 both subjects : 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 229 
 
 KING S COLLEGE, N. Y., December 10, 1756. 
 
 DEAKEST Sin, I have now before me three of your very 
 kind and affectionate letters to acknowledge, which I most 
 gratefully do. In particular I thank you for the very tender 
 sympathy you express on occasion of the loss of my dear son, 
 which is indeed a very heavy loss not only to me and my 
 family, but to the poor people to whom he was to minister, 
 and hath been most affectionately lamented by all who knew 
 him. Your reflections on this unhappy occasion are both 
 just and kind, and I thank God, under such considerations, 
 He has enabled me to bear it better than I could have ex 
 pected. And however hard it bears on flesh and blood, as I 
 am deeply sensible that my Heavenly Father both always 
 knows and does what is best, I heartily join with you in say 
 ing, Not my will, O my God, but Thine be done ! And I 
 gladly take this opportunity to render my most hearty thanks 
 to you for the great kindness wherewith you treated my dear 
 son, when he was at Oxford, and I beg you will give my 
 humblest service and thanks to . all those good gentlemen, as 
 though named, into whose conversation you introduced him, 
 and who treated him with so great kindness, and indeed to 
 the whole Senate for the great honor they did him in his de 
 gree, of all which he had a most pleasing and grateful sense, 
 as abundantly appears both from his journal, and a letter 
 he wrote to me from London soon after. His satisfaction 
 in his journey to Oxford was inexpressible, and particularly 
 I beg you will give my humblest duty and thanks (lest my 
 letter should miscarry) to my Lord of Oxford, whose treat 
 ment of him was like that of a father and friend, rather than 
 a stranger and inferior, for which I cannot be sufficiently 
 thankful. 
 
 I am very much obliged to you for sending me a copy of 
 your justly renowned and ever honored father s epitaph, for 
 whom I had the most intense affection. It is extremely just 
 and elegant. It was a mighty satisfaction that our friend 
 ship was like to be continued in our sons ; but since God has 
 
230 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 been pleased to deny it in him that is gone, I wish it may 
 be continued in my only surviving son, who though he is a 
 lawyer, and (thank God) is in the best estimation in that 
 profession, yet his chief affection is towards Divinity of the 
 best sort, having read Hutchinson, etc., and would shine in 
 that if he could have orders without such a dangerous voy 
 age, which yet he would not much regard, if he had not a 
 family. I beg, therefore, though unknown, he may be num 
 bered among your friends. I desire, when you write, you 
 will give my humblest service to that excellent lady your hon 
 ored mother, as well as your brother, of whom I should be 
 glad to hear, and assure her that I do most tenderly sympa 
 thize with her in her affliction, and do earnestly pray to God 
 for the relief of your dear sister. I bless God who has in 
 fused your heart with a disposition to take Holy Orders in 
 this degenerate, apostatizing age, in which a man had need to 
 have the spirit of a confessor if not a martyr, and I shall not 
 cease to pray earnestly that you may both have the grace and 
 opportunity to act a worthy part in that capacity for which 
 you are so excellently qualified. 
 
 And now it is time that I consider the subjects of your 
 other letters, and particularly that I tender you my most 
 hearty thanks for the most kind present of books you were 
 so good as to send me, which I wish I could retaliate. I 
 should have done this sooner but that they arrived not long 
 before the sad news of my son s death, having lain so long 
 with the Secretary that he had forgotten whence they were. 
 Dr. Ellis performance I am highly pleased with, so far as 
 Religion is concerned, but I cannot say that I am satisfied 
 with either Mr. Locke or him in that part. I cannot think 
 sense the only source of our knowledge, and must conceive 
 consciousness and the pure intellect another, without which 
 instruction could take no effect, though it labor in the first 
 materials. Bp. Berkeley, Dr. Cudworth, and Plato, should 
 be well considered. I desire you would give my humble ser 
 vice and thanks to Mr. Holloway for his kind present, which 
 is an excellent performance, but I am afraid of going out 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 231 
 
 of one extreme into another, and so hurting the cause of our 
 holy religion by carrying the humor of allegorizing too far, 
 as some of the pious Fathers seem to have done ; and I have 
 thought sometimes a handle has been groundlessly, at least 
 it has been wickedly taken by the enemies of Christianity to 
 set them in a very ridiculous light. Dr. Patten s, Mr. Wit- 
 tar s and Mr. Home s performances are exceeding good, and 
 I am in particular prodigiously pleased with Mr. Home s 
 State of the Case, etc., which carries all before it. Would to 
 Heaven all Hutchinsonians would write in that candid and 
 powerful manner. Their cause, which I am persuaded is 
 the cause of God, would at length, methinks, bear down all 
 opposition. I long for those things he seems to hint as be 
 ing upon the anvil. In short I am very much obliged to you 
 for all those tracts, which are very excellent. I am heartily 
 glad Mr. Hutchinson s works are so much esteemed at Ox 
 ford, and you may depend upon it, I shall do my best to make 
 that University my pattern as far as may be, and particularly 
 to induce as many as I can to study the Hebrew Scriptures, 
 and to understand his writings. I thank God my College 
 has at last got the victory of its enemies, having had an act 
 passed this fall in favor of it by our Assembly, and all op- 
 posers stop their mouths. The foundation of the building is 
 laid, to be carried on vigorously in spring. But as we shall 
 want much assistance, I am very thankful for the forward 
 ness you express to promote it, for the books contributed, 
 and believe we shall soon empower somebody to put for 
 ward a subscription in England. 
 
 As to Tillotson, I have myself been heretofore a great 
 admirer of his sermons, but for these several years have been 
 sensible of the ill-effects of them in these parts, as well as of 
 some others worse than they much here in vogue, and 
 done my best to guard against them ; but as he has long been 
 in possession, it will not do here to speak against him with 
 much acrimony except among Methodists. The Remarks on 
 his life are doubtless but too just. However it is good to 
 keep the golden mean and hold moderation, as far as can con- 
 
232 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 sist with a wise zeal and steadiness to the cause of God, and 
 truth as it is in Jesus. 
 
 I am sadly grieved for the melancholy account you give 
 me of some of the chief dignitaries, and the condition of the 
 Church there, and little hopes of any establishment in our 
 favor here. I confess I should scarce have thought my dear 
 sou s life ill bestowed (nor I believe would he) if it could 
 have been a means of awakening this stupid age to a sense 
 of the necessity of sending Bishops (at least one good one) to 
 take care of the Church in these vastly wide extended re 
 gions. But alas ! what can be expected of such an age as 
 this ! Deus bone in quce tempora reservastis nos ! This is 
 now the seventh precious life (most of them the flower of 
 this country) that has been sacrificed to the atheistical pol 
 itics of this miserable abandoned age, which seems to have 
 lost all notion of the necessity of a due regard to the interest 
 of Religion, in order to secure the blessing of God on our na 
 tion both at home and abroad. As to us here, as things have 
 hitherto gone, we can scarce look for anything else but to 
 come under a foreign yoke. 
 
 But it is now high time I should relieve your patience when 
 I begin to have scarce any left of my own. I therefore con 
 clude with my sincere thanks for your affectionate prayers for 
 me and mine, the continuance of which I still desire ; and be 
 assured that both you and your relatives and friends shall 
 always be severally remembered in mine, who am, dear Sir, 
 Your most affectionate friend and brother in Christ, 
 
 S. J. 
 
 The affairs of the College in the mean time went 
 on prosperously, and Dr. Johnson applied all his en 
 ergies to give form and effect to the plans of the Over 
 seers. They appointed as Tutor, to take the place 
 of his lamented son, Mr. Leonard Cutting, a gentle 
 man who had been educated at Eton and the Uni 
 versity of Cambridge, and was well qualified to fill 
 the position. It was decided to locate the College 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 233 
 
 building " in the skirts of the city/ and the first 
 stone, with a suitable inscription, was laid on the 23d 
 of August, 1756, by Sir Charles Hardy, at which time 
 the President made a short Latin address to the Gov 
 ernors, to Sir Charles, and Mr. De Lancy, the Lieuten 
 ant-governor of the Province, " congratulating them 
 on this happy event, which was followed with an ele 
 gant dinner." But an interruption of his personal 
 work soon occurred. 
 
 The appearance of the small-pox in the city at the 
 setting in of the winter of 1756 obliged him to re 
 tire to West Chester, where he ministered to the poor 
 people who had been disappointed in their expecta 
 tions of having his son for their Rector. The thirty 
 pupils in the three classes were left in charge of Mr. 
 Cutting, to whom Mr. Daniel Treadwell, a graduate 
 of Harvard College, was added as an assistant, having 
 been appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natu 
 ral Philosophy. Dr. Johnson himself did what he 
 could in the way of advice and direction, but his 
 long absence was felt to be a hindrance to the best 
 designs of the Institution. At first he seems to 
 have retired alone without his family, for he wrote 
 to his son from West Chester on the 19th of Decem 
 ber to say, " The kindness of everybody here is inex 
 pressible. My Lord [Underbill] and his family think 
 nothing too good for me, or too much to do, and 
 everything I say is a law to them. The next day 
 after you went away, he begged I would be perfectly 
 at home and call for everything I wanted. I told 
 him, when at home, I always had my family together 
 morning and evening to prayers, and should be glad 
 to do the same here. He was very glad at my mo- 
 
234 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 tion, and is prodigiously pleased with the practice, in 
 somuch that he tells all his neighbors of it, and if 
 any of them are here, he will not let them go away 
 before prayers are over. 
 
 " The snow looked terribly, but they intend, if it 
 will continue, to make an advantage of it. My Lord 
 and the Major have this evening, since church, en 
 gaged fourteen sleds to go to-morrow and fetch all up 
 at once, so that I hope we may soon be together again, 
 but it looks threatening for another storm." 
 
 The storm did continue, and some days elapsed be 
 fore the removal was accomplished. In this retire 
 ment he found opportunity to refresh his mind with 
 favorite studies, and to review some of the judg 
 ments which he had formed at an earlier period of 
 his ministry. Writing to his son on the 30th of Jan 
 uary, 1757, he said : " Your notion of those Oxford 
 gentlemen is doubtless very right, and I hope we shall 
 have more of their zealous labors to preserve Religion 
 from sinking in this apostatizing age. I confess Dr. 
 Clarke, etc., had led me far many years ago into the 
 reasoning humor, now so fashionable in matters of Re 
 ligion, from which I bless God I was happily reclaimed, 
 first by Forbes and more perfectly by Hutchinson, 
 whose system I have been now more thoroughly can 
 vassing from the Hebrew Scriptures, since this retire 
 ment, in regard to the Philosophical as well as the 
 Theological part, and, to my unspeakable satisfaction, 
 am much convinced it is, in both, entirely right, and 
 I could wish you to read both Forbes and Pike over 
 and over again. 
 
 " But your dear brother yet lies very near my 
 heart, and I cannot avoid yet daily and hourly follow- 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 235 
 
 ing him in my thoughts, with the utmost tenderness, 
 into the world of Spirits, whither he is gone before us. 
 And when I pray for you and all of us, I cannot help 
 remembering him, as I used to do, but in some such 
 words as these : < I humbly hope my dear departed 
 son is accepted with Thee in Thy blessed Son, and 
 that thou art still his God. be the God of us also 
 that survive, our God and guide and chief good in 
 time and to all eternity. The expression you know 
 is taken from that of the God of Abraham, etc., ap 
 plied by our Saviour to the Resurrection ; but we 
 must remember it means in the original their Ulohim, 
 i. e., their Father, Redeemer, and Comforter. No won 
 der then it includes the Resurrection. This custom 
 of commemorating our departed friends obtained in 
 the best and earliest times of Christianity, and by 
 degrees degenerated to praying for them out of pur 
 gatory." 
 
 By the advice of his friends, he continued in his 
 retirement at West Chester for upwards of a year, 
 the prevalence of the small-pox in the city not mak 
 ing it prudent for him to resume his College duties. 
 In the mean time he made a visit with his wife to 
 Stratford, and spent several weeks of the early sum 
 mer of 1757 among his old friends and parishioners. 
 The journey was performed in a leisurely and private 
 manner, and writing to his son on the last day of 
 July, not long after the return to West Chester, he 
 for the first time spoke of the illness of his wife. Her 
 sickness proved to be the fever and ague, a complaint 
 which then prevailed quite extensively in that neigh 
 borhood, and another member of his household was ill 
 in the same way, Mrs. Georgiana Maverick, the 
 
236 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 widowed daughter of his wife by her former husband. 
 No immediate danger attended this sickness, but per 
 sons afflicted with it, especially those of feeble consti 
 tutions, were often so shattered and reduced by its se 
 verity as never to recover. The following note, writ 
 ten to the wife of his son, shows his anxiety in the 
 earlier stages of the complaint : 
 
 WEST CHESTER, September 12, 1757. 
 
 DEAR DAUGHTER, I am sensible my son is not at home, 
 for which reason I write to you to let you know how it is 
 with us. It is an exceeding sickly time in these parts, and 
 we have our share of it, having all of us had the fever and 
 ague, but your poor mother has a very bad fever. She had 
 got well of the first turn so as to ride about several times, 
 but yesterday a week ago she was taken bad again, and has 
 been bad all the week and so continues, and God only knows 
 what will be the event. It seems to be of the kind they call 
 the long fever, but I hope it may have a comfortable issue. 
 I mention our case that my son may know how it is when he 
 comes home, but would not have him troubled with it where 
 he is, and I hope I may be able to give him a better account 
 of it by the time he returns. I was glad to find by his last 
 letter that you were all in health, which I pray God con 
 tinue. We all give our kind love to you and the children, 
 and to him when lie returns, and to Mrs. Beach. 
 I am, dear daughter, 
 
 Your most affectionate father and friend, 
 
 S. JOHNSON. 
 
 The next letter bore more favorable intelligence, 
 but the signs of improvement were not lasting. Un 
 der the pressure of all his trials, his pen was employed 
 whenever he could be of any service to the Church, 
 and on the 3d of October, he excused himself from 
 writing more largely to his son, because he had been 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 237 
 
 obliged to prepare a long letter to the Rev. Mr. Wet- 
 more, who had applied to him for his advice to be 
 communicated to a meeting of the clergy which he 
 was about to call at Stamford on the 13th at the in 
 stance of the Society " to look into the affairs of Mr. 
 Beach s 1 sermon, and try to bring him to a better 
 mind." " Truly," said Johnson, " things are come to 
 that pass that he must make some submission to the 
 Society or be discarded, or at least severely repri 
 manded, for Hobart 2 has procured a complaint from 
 their Association against him to the Society, which has 
 put them on these measures, though I wish this could 
 be concealed, and that it could be rather represented 
 as arising ex proprio molu from other information," 
 which the Society possessed. Writing to his son a 
 week later, he referred again to Mr. Beach playfully 
 as one who " had always those two seeming inconsis 
 tencies, to be dying and yet relishing sublunary 
 things." The reprimand, if given, seems not to have 
 been very severe, and Mr. Beach subsequently in a 
 measure atoned for bis mistake by the publication of a 
 sermon on " Scripture Mysteries," which received the 
 sanction of his brethren, and was introduced to the 
 public with a preface from the pen of Johnson himself. 
 Not deeming it prudent to return to New York in 
 consequence of the small-pox, he moved into more 
 comfortable quarters at West Chester, and for a good 
 part of the winter was alternately hopeful and fear 
 ful about the result of his wife s illness. Occasionally 
 his sorrow for the death of his son would break out 
 
 * Rev. John Beach. The sermon was An Inquiry concerning the State of the 
 Dead, which was misunderstood, and he regretted its publication. 
 
 Mr. Beach had very properly answered his " Addresses to the members of the 
 Episcopal Separation in New England." 
 
238 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 afresh, and any allusion to it by an English friend was 
 sure to stir the depths of his feeling. He closed a 
 letter to his son at Stratford, December 18, 1757, 
 thus : " You tell me in your last you have had the 
 melancholy pleasure of seeing Mr. Harison. It must 
 be so, indeed ; but though I have been very impatient 
 for it, I have not yet had the opportunity. He 
 sent me a short letter from Dr. Bearcroft, of July 2. 
 by which it appears he had written to me the Sep 
 tember before, which must have miscarried. It only 
 relates to a scheme of the Society, to educate some 
 Indian youths in my College as an expedient towards 
 propagating Christianity among them. I want very 
 much to see him, in order the better to know how to 
 write my letters and what to do with these bills, and 
 I fear I shall lose the opportunities. 
 
 Christmas is quite at hand, and if we may not have 
 the pleasure of seeing you here (which though I long 
 for, yet I durst not expect, however so much I desire 
 it, it being such a tedious journey), I wish you may 
 have a pleasant one and a happy new year, and many, 
 many more." 
 
 He was induced to consult his old family physician 
 at Stratford, Dr. Harpin, about his wife, who, as 
 the winter wore on, became troubled with a cough 
 and shortness of breath, and other symptoms of a con 
 sumption. She gradually improved under the use of 
 new remedies, and by the middle of February, Dr. 
 Johnson began to think of returning to his duties in 
 town. The appearance of the small-pox at West 
 Chester hastened this step, for in a letter to his son on 
 the 4th of March, 1758, he said : " The young fellows 
 here purposely take the small-pox so much, that J be* 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 239 
 
 lieve we cannot be any longer safer here than at town, 
 so that I think to go within about a week, and the 
 family will, I believe, hardly continue out the month 
 before they follow me." Three weeks later he wrote 
 again, but now from New York, where he had been 
 nearly the whole of this time at the house of his step 
 son, and mentioned, " I have been but little abroad as 
 yet, though I have some thoughts of venturing to 
 church to-morrow. I have been and shall be very 
 careful, but the small-pox is certainly very thin now, 
 as neither doctors nor ministers, nor anybody else 
 that I have seen, can tell where it is, of their own 
 knowledge ; but doubtless it is in some remote skirts 
 of the town. However, I hope God will preserve me 
 from it : the Freshmen have attended me every day 
 at your brother s." 
 
 The family followed him to town early in April, and 
 carried with them the fever and ague, which had af 
 flicted his wife and daughter so long at West Chester. 
 The change brought no real relief, and the letters of 
 the father to the son spoke more and more discour- 
 agingly of the recovery of Mrs. Johnson. The crisis 
 had been reached and all hope relinquished, when the 
 following was written from, 
 
 NEW YORK, May 29, Monday, 11 o clock. 
 
 MY DEAREST SON, God is now calling me to pass 
 through another great revolution in my circumstances ; 
 another great change in my condition, which I hope may fur 
 ther contribute to prepare me the better for my last. I should 
 have written by Philip Nicholls, but he called in the utmost 
 hurry so early, that having sat up till 1 o clock, I was not yet 
 awake. He could give you, or at best my dear daughter, a 
 prelude to what is now to follow. Your dear mother continued 
 
240 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 as she was, without seeming worse till about six o clock last 
 Friday evening, having rid out the day before, and conversed 
 and walked about as usual, and would have rid out that day 
 but the wind was too high. But about that hour she was 
 seized all at once with a terrible shivering, not cold, but con 
 vulsive, which issued in a most terrible fever, and tormenting 
 pains, except short intervals of dozing, which continued till 
 midnight last night, since which she has been tolerably easy 
 and slept a good deal, but is reduced to the lowest ebb of life, 
 and cannot hold it many hours. She is perfectly resigned, and 
 sometimes even longs to be released, with good hopes of a 
 blessed immortality. May God give her an abundant en 
 trance into his heavenly kingdom, and a happy meeting with 
 your dear brother ! 
 
 Had you been at Stratford, I should have sent an express 
 for you to come, but the suddenness of the occasion, all the 
 while threatening speedy death, together with your great dis 
 tance, made us think it best to decline it, though I shall hope 
 to see you as soon as may be, as you may chance to be here 
 before her funeral. But you must be careful and inquisitive 
 as you come along, as I hear the small-pox is much at New 
 Rochelle, and about the half way to the Bridge, where you 
 may do well to have some tar to smell to, and tobacco in your 
 mouth. Yesterday I asked her whether there was anything 
 she would have me say to you in particular. She bid me 
 give her love and dying blessing to you and your children. 
 Take care, dear son, you do not overdo yourself. You are 
 now my all in effect. Your brother and sisters with me give 
 our love to you all. LacJirymans scribo, being, dear son, 
 Your most affectionate, but very afflicted father, 
 
 S. JOHNSON. 
 
 She lingered till the Thursday evening after the 
 date of this letter, and then expired, thus sundering 
 a happy connection which had existed for more than 
 thirty-two years. She was buried under the chancel 
 of Trinity Church the old edifice which was after- 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 241 
 
 wards destroyed in the great conflagration that befell 
 the city during the Revolutionary War. 
 
 It had been decided to hold the first commence 
 ment of the College on the 21st of June, and John 
 son, who was desirous of making a good appearance, 
 turned, in the freshness of his grief, to the work of 
 preparing for this occasion. The graduating class 
 numbered eight, and the two tutors, Cutting and 
 Treadwell, with eleven other gentlemen, were admit 
 ted to the degree of Master of Arts. An " elegant 
 entertainment " followed the public exercises, and 
 such was the interest manifested in the Institution 
 that a new impulse seemed to be given to its pros 
 perity. Materials for completing the college building 
 were at once procured, and then when the stone had 
 been delivered, a delay arose from an unexpected 
 cause. The difficulty of finding suitable workmen 
 prevented any progress, so that nothing more was 
 done till the winter had passed away and the spring 
 opened. In the meantime Johnson, who had previ 
 ously applied to the Archbishop of Canterbury and 
 other friends in England for aid in behalf of the Col 
 lege, was not much encouraged by the answers which 
 he received. A good philosophical and mathemati 
 cal apparatus had been obtained, and the Rev. Dr. 
 Bristowe, of London, who befriended his lamented 
 son, intimated his purpose of procuring a large library 
 for the infant seminary, a purpose which he after 
 wards executed by bequeathing to it his own valuable 
 collection of nearly fifteen hundred volumes. But 
 money to finish the building and endow the College 
 was not readily given. 
 
 Having two good tutors, one to take charge of the 
 
 16 
 
242 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Classical and the other of the Mathematical depart 
 ment, he devoted himself chiefly to teaching the New 
 Testament in Greek ; and to Logic, Metaphysics, and 
 Ethics, with lessons in Hebrew to those who desired 
 to become acquainted with that language. He was 
 interrupted for a time in his duties by sickness in the 
 family, and was himself severely attacked with the 
 measles in March, 1759, from which it was feared he 
 might not recover. " God grant," he wrote to his 
 son after all danger was passed, " that my life may 
 have been spared to some good purpose, and that 
 what remains of it may be more abundantly employed 
 to his glory in the station I am in ! " 
 
 A gloomy and anxious winter was not succeeded by 
 a joyous spring, for Mrs. Maverick, upon whom, 
 since the death of his wife, he had depended for the 
 oversight of his domestic affairs, was in a precarious 
 state of health, with decided tendencies to consump 
 tion. As late as the 28th of May, in reply to an in 
 vitation from his son s wife to visit Stratford, he said : 
 " Your sister thanks you for your kind letter, but by 
 reason of her weakness, begs me to answer it for her. 
 She, as well as I, would gladly make you a visit, but 
 she continues so infirm that I can neither bring her 
 nor leave her ; so that I must not have the pleasure 
 of seeing you and my dear little girls this spring, but 
 hope I may in the fall." 
 
 In less than a month from this date he had given up 
 all hope of her recovery, and admitted to her friends 
 that she was in a " fixed, incurable consumption." 
 Her death came sooner than he expected ; occurring 
 on the 28th of June, thirteen months from the decease 
 of her mother, and she was buried in the same grave 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 243 
 
 above her, under the chancel of Trinity Church. " I 
 am again," he informed his son, " bereaved, and now 
 in a manner stripped. Your dear sister is gone and 
 has left me very disconsolate." The event opened 
 afresh his former griefs, and revived his inclinations 
 to retire from the charge of the College and spend 
 the remainder of his days in Stratford. But he was 
 urged to remain, and the state of the Institution al 
 most forbid him to leave it at this crisis. 
 
 The second Commencement had just been held and 
 was private ; one student only being admitted to the 
 degree of Bachelor of Arts. The building was going 
 on vigorously under his own eye, and his counsel and 
 influence were much needed in the further steps to be 
 taken for the advancement of the College. The fol 
 lowing letter to Archbishop Seeker shows that while 
 he was deeply interested in the prosperity of the 
 Church at large, and desirous of seeing another Mis 
 sion established in New England, he was on the watch 
 also for some suitable person to be his successor. 
 
 April 25, 1 759. 
 
 MAY IT PLEASE YOUB. GRACE, In the beginning of last 
 month I wrote an answer in part to your Grace s most kind 
 letter of September 27. I hoped then by this time to have 
 made a reply to the rest of that very important letter, but I 
 have not sufficient information relating to some things, espec 
 ially what concerns our frontiers. The occasion of my now 
 writing is the desire and request of the clergy of Boston, that 
 some letters of mine may accompany theirs that are going by 
 this pacquet in behalf of Mr. Apthorp and a Mission at Cam 
 bridge near Boston. Indeed, that paragraph of your Grace s 
 letter relating to Missions in New England, very much dis 
 courages me from writing anything relating to new Missions 
 in these provinces. What I am now doing, therefore, pro- 
 
244 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 coeds purely from my friendship to those worthy gentlemen, 
 to which I should be wanting, if I should refuse to write any 
 thing on this occasion. I therefore humbly beg your Grace 
 will excuse me, if I only suggest that I am fully satisfied that 
 a Mission would be of very good use to the interest of the 
 Church and true religion so near that College, for the reasons 
 they give, but what strongly sways with me is, that we want 
 extremely to have as many worthy men as possible in this 
 country, and Mr. Apthorp, by all accounts of him, is indeed 
 a very superior young gentleman, having been bred at Cam 
 bridge, England, and merited a fellowship there, and that 
 estimation and prospect of preferment that everybody won 
 ders at his disposition to tarry in this, even though it be his 
 native country, at all. And since it is so, I am very desir 
 ous to keep him, and the rather as he, having a considerable 
 fortune of his own, may probably prove a fitter person than 
 any we can ever expect to procure to succeed me in this sta 
 tion, and I am very desirous, if it may be, to be acquainted 
 with my successor before I leave it, and that he may be some 
 worthy person who has been bred at one of your Universi 
 ties at home. However, whether the Society can think 
 proper to make a new Mission in New England under the 
 present condition of things, must be humbly submitted to 
 the wisdom and goodness of the Board. 
 
 I remain, may it please your Grace, 
 
 Your Grace s most obliged, etc., 
 
 S. J. 
 
 In writing to Dr. Bearcroft, the Secretary of the 
 Society, two months after this, he expressed himself as 
 having little expectation of a collection in England 
 for his College, but it needed assistance so much, and 
 he urged its claims with such zeal, that the board gen 
 erously donated .500 sterling, a gift which seemed 
 to put new life into the hopes and energies of the 
 somewhat tardy Governors. He defended at this 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 245 
 
 period the Missionaries of the Society against the 
 complaints of the Dissenters, who accused them of 
 using undue means to gain the attention of their 
 brethren and make converts. Seeker had written 
 him for information on the subject, and he replied 
 repelling the accusations, and adding : " The quarrels 
 of the Dissenters among themselves, especially, occa 
 sioned by the late enthusiasm, contributed vastly more 
 to drive honest thinking people into the Church than 
 any endeavors of the clergy to make proselytes. 
 There is now a flagrant instance of this at Walling- 
 ford, a large country town in the heart of Connecti 
 cut." The " late enthusiasm " was the result of 
 Whitefield s itinerancy, and a body of " shocking 
 teachers followed him, who propagated so many wild 
 notions of God and the Gospel, that a multitude of 
 people were so bewildered that they could find no 
 rest to the sole of their feet till they retired into 
 the Church as the only ark of safety." The great 
 want of the Church here was a Bishop, and he im 
 plored the authorities at home, in spite of the mis 
 representations of their adversaries, to send one to 
 America. " He need not," he said, " be fixed in New 
 England, or in any part where Dissenters abound. 
 He might be fixed at Virginia, where the Church is 
 established, and only visit us northward once in three 
 or four years. We should be content to ride three or 
 four hundred miles for Holy Orders." 
 
 No objection was made at a meeting of the Society 
 to the Mission at Cambridge, and to the appointment 
 of Mr. Apthorp, with an annual stipend of .50. He 
 met with a better reception at first among the Dis 
 senters than was anticipated, and his temper, pru- 
 
240 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 dence, and abilities, gave him great advantage, if not 
 influence, in that important seat of learning. But the 
 Archbishop did not so complacently accord with John 
 son in his plan of providing for his own retirement. 
 " Your views/ he said, "in relation to a successor, are 
 very worthy of you ; but I hope many years will pass 
 before there be occasion to deliberate on that head." 
 The change might bring with it no little discourage 
 ment, and put in peril the best interests of the Insti 
 tution. At least it was too soon to give publicity to 
 his intentions, and work with this end mainly in view. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 247 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SMALL-POX AGAIN IN NEW YORK, AND RETIREMENT TO STRAT 
 FORD ; MORE AFFLICTION; THIRD COMMENCEMENT; LETTERS TO 
 THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY; PUBLICATIONS ON PRAYER, 
 AND DEFENSE OF THE LITURGY. 
 
 A. D. 1759-1761. 
 
 THE disease which had been the great horror of his 
 life, drove him once more from his post. " Never " 
 he wrote to his son, on the 15th of October, " was 
 anything known like the present breaking out of the 
 sinall-pox in New York. It seems as though it arose 
 out of the ground. They are surprised at it and can 
 not account for it." He undertook to keep himself 
 from exposure, and for a time heard the recitations 
 of the classes in his own dwelling, but soon the dis 
 ease appeared almost at his door, and fortifying 
 himself as best he could, he hurried from the city to 
 a farm-house in the suburbs, where he remained until 
 all danger of having taken it was past, and then with 
 a servant he proceeded to Stratford. Shut up in this 
 rural retreat, he spent the winter with his son, more 
 anxious than ever for the College, since one of the 
 tutors Mr. Treadwell was in a decline, and could 
 render very little assistance to his colleague. He 
 died of consumption before the spring had much ad 
 vanced ; and thus the entire management of the In 
 stitution, in the absence of the President, devolved 
 upon Mr. Cutting. 
 
243 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Dr. Johnson did not return to New York until the 
 middle of May, and it was with some fear that he 
 ventured at this time, for there were a few scattered 
 cases of small-pox about the town, and he could not 
 know when he might expose himself and become a 
 victim of the distemper. A desolate feeling possessed 
 him as he resumed his college duties. The city ap 
 peared to him as it never had before, almost a wil 
 derness, for besides the loss of Mr. Treadwell, a place 
 among the Governors had been vacated which he 
 could not hope to see again filled by one of equal 
 energy and influence. Benjamin Nicoll, the younger 
 son of his deceased wife, whose education from child 
 hood he had superintended, who had risen to the 
 highest eminence as a lawyer in the city, and whose 
 house had been his home as much as that of his own 
 son in Stratford, sickened and died at the age of 
 forty-two, in April, 1760, before he could return. 
 It was said that " never in the memory of man at 
 New York was any one so much lamented." His 
 death was the severest misfortune which had befallen 
 the College. It filled its friends with consternation, 
 and to Johnson in particular it was a most painful 
 bereavement, for of all the members of the govern 
 ing board, none was more able, wise, and zealous than 
 he, and upon none had he relied more confidently 
 to carry him through his perplexities and trials, and 
 enable him to place the College upon a broad and firm 
 foundation. 
 
 His long absence and the sickness and death of his 
 " best tutor " had been a serious detriment to the In 
 stitution. Several of the students withdrew, and the 
 prospect for the future was surrounded with gloom. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 249 
 
 These things made it the more necessary for him to 
 apply all his energy and ingenuity to recover from 
 the losses which had been suffered, and get back the 
 confidence of those who had grown lukewarm or 
 doubtful. The college building, one hundred and 
 eighty feet in length by thirty, three stories high, 
 erected in a delightful situation near the Hudson 
 Kiver, and " opening to the harbor," was so far com 
 pleted that he moved into it and " set up housekeep 
 ing and tuition there, a little more than forty years 
 after he had done the same at Yale College in New 
 Haven." He wrote very earnestly to the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury and begged him to send two good tutors 
 one that might be qualified in time to succeed him, 
 and the other to take the department of mathematics 
 and experimental philosophy, made vacant by the 
 death of Mr. Treadwell. His Grace replied : " It 
 grieves me that you should be without help so long. 
 If any other person can procure it for you, I should 
 be heartily glad. But I think you had better wait 
 than have a wrong person sent you from hence. 
 Could you not get some temporary assistance in your 
 neighborhood ? " 
 
 The selection was a difficult one in view of the 
 requirements of Johnson. Among other names rec 
 ommended to Seeker was that of Myles Cooper, 
 a Fellow of Queen s College, Oxford. He had the 
 reputation of being a grave and good man, and was 
 " very well affected to the government ; well quali 
 fied for the inferior tutor s place, but not inclined to 
 accept it ; not unskilled in Hebrew, and willing to 
 take the Vice-President s office, but not of age for 
 Priest s Orders " till the lapse of several months. This 
 
250 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 gentleman, as it will be seen, was afterwards appointed 
 and made a useful and accomplished head of the In 
 stitution. 
 
 The third Commencement and the first from the 
 college building, was now held, and the President de 
 livered a brief speech in Latin to the governing body, 
 congratulating them on the privilege of assembling in 
 their new hall, and marking the event as the begin 
 ning of a fresh epoch in the history of the college. 
 The degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred upon 
 six young gentlemen, and the eclat given to the oc 
 casion helped to bring the officers of instruction 
 favorably before the public. The next term opened 
 well, but as no assistance had been obtained, the 
 President and Mr. Cutting were obliged to do double 
 duty ; and the whole year, as he himself said, " was 
 remarkable only on account of hard services, which 
 made him more and more weary of his station." 
 
 A preparatory school was projected about this time, 
 and Johnson applied to the Rev. East Apthorp, the 
 scholarly Missionary at Cambridge, referred to in the 
 previous chapter, for his idea of what might be " ex 
 ecuted at school and at college by a person of mid 
 dling genius, persevering in a regular course of mod 
 erate study and assisted by good instructors." The 
 very full answer which was returned, embraced what 
 he was pleased to call an " excellent plan of educa 
 tion," and he would have been contented without 
 seeking tutors from abroad, if he could have had the 
 assistance of Mr. Apthorp in carrying it into execu 
 tion throughout the whole course. " But since Prov 
 idence," he wrote him, " seems to be ordering other 
 wise, I hope you are reserved for yet higher and 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 251 
 
 better things. It may yet be a considerable time first, 
 but as there is the greatest need of it, and the utmost 
 propriety in it, that bishops should be sent into 
 America, for the accomplishing which I hope you 
 will be continually using your influence in the man 
 ner the Archbishop advises, that the Church may 
 enjoy in full her government and discipline here at 
 least as well as the Dissenters theirs, I hope the 
 time is not a great way off before that most prim 
 itive and apostolical order may be established here, 
 and I pray God you may be the first that may serve 
 your country in that capacity." 
 
 His correspondence with the Archbishop of Canter 
 bury turned upon matters which directly concerned 
 the welfare of the Church. Sometimes, but rarely, 
 he touched upon delicate questions of State policy, 
 and during his retirement at Stratford in the win 
 ter of 1759-60, having little to do, and taking the 
 advice of " several gentlemen of good understanding 
 and public spirit," he drew up a paper with a view 
 at first of publishing it in the " London Magazine," 
 but upon reflection concluded to send it to his Grace 
 and inclose copies to him for Lord Halifax and Mr. 
 Pitt, with instructions to suppress or communicate his 
 thoughts as he should see fit. Relying on his great 
 candor he added in reference to the paper : "I hum 
 bly hope you will impute it to the feeble struggles of 
 a well-meaning mind, that would be useful to the 
 world if it could, but desires to be retired and con 
 cealed. I can only assure your Grace that it is the 
 wish of many gentlemen in these two colonies, though 
 but few know in confidence of my having taken this 
 step." 
 
252 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 It does not appear what the particular subjects 
 were which he thus presented, but they related to 
 America, and were written under the name of Philang- 
 lus Americanus. They met with no favor, for the 
 Archbishop in his reply, November 4th, 1760, said : " I 
 shall always be pleased with your notifying and pro 
 posing to me whatever you apprehend to be material ; 
 because I know it will always be done with good inten 
 tion, and almost always furnish me with useful notices ; 
 and indeed will be of no small use, even when you may 
 happen to judge amiss, as it will give me an opportu 
 nity of setting you right. In my opinion, the paper 
 intended for the London Magazine/ and the letters 
 for Lord Halifax and Mr. Pitt, are of the latter sort. 
 The things said in them are in the main right, so far 
 as they may be practicable ; but publishing them to 
 the world beforehand, instead of waiting till the time 
 comes, and then applying privately to the persons 
 whose advice the king will take about them, is likely 
 to raise opposition and prevent success. Publishing 
 them, indeed, in a magazine, may raise no great 
 alarm ; but then it will be apt to produce contempt, 
 for those monthly collections are far from being in 
 high esteem. And as soon as either of those great 
 men should see that the queries offered to him were 
 designed to be inserted in any of them, he would 
 be strongly tempted to throw them aside, without 
 looking further into them, even were he otherwise 
 disposed to read them over ; which men of business 
 seldom are, when they receive papers from unknown 
 hands, few of them in proportion deserving it. You 
 will pardon the frankness with which I tell you my 
 thoughts. Whatever good use I can make of your 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 253 
 
 notions, I will. But the use which you propose is 
 not agreeable to my judgment." 
 
 Johnson had mentioned in the same letter which 
 accompanied his paper the sudden death of Mr. De 
 Lancey, the Lieutenant-governor of New York, and 
 suggested the importance of appointing in his place 
 " not only a good statesman, but a friend to religion 
 and the Church, and exemplary in attendance on her 
 public offices, for want of which, religion had suffered 
 extremely in that province." The suggestion was 
 felt to be worthy of consideration. " I have spoken," 
 said the Archbishop, " concerning a Lieutenant-gov 
 ernor, in the manner which you desired, to the Duke 
 of Newcastle and Mr. Pitt, and also to Lord Halifax, 
 in whom the choice is. They all admit the request 
 to be a very reasonable and important one ; and 
 promise that care shall be taken about it. The last 
 of them is very earnest for Bishops in America. I 
 hope we may have a chance to succeed in that great 
 point, when it shall please God to bless us with a 
 peace." 
 
 Every letter written at this period was but a repe 
 tition of the wants of the Church in the American 
 Colonies, and of his own desire for aid in carrying 
 on the College. It was as difficult to find tutors as 
 suitable persons to supply the vacant missions. After 
 many diligent inquiries, the Archbishop had thus far 
 been unsuccessful in meeting his wishes, and as a 
 means of providing for the Church, he expressed 
 the hope that good young men might be sent over 
 from this country to receive ordination and be re 
 turned to fulfill the office of missionaries in the old 
 parishes. The eye of Johnson was especially fixed 
 
25 i LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 upon the Church in Connecticut and New York, 
 though he was depended upon in London for informa 
 tion to some extent, in regard to all the colonies. 
 The Society looked to him for facts which it cost him 
 much labor to procure, and frequently it was a long 
 time before he could reply intelligently to all the in 
 quiries received. He sent off by every packet some 
 thing which was designed to put his English friends 
 and patrons in possession of the state of American 
 feeling, and transmitted, as they were issued, the pam 
 phlets and publications that bore upon the concerns 
 of the Church. The idea of the geography and ex 
 tent of this continent was less understood in England 
 then than now, and it is not very well compre 
 hended at the present time, so that when the Arch 
 bishop of Canterbury in the same letter addressed 
 questions to him for information concerning Missiona 
 ries from Newfoundland to North Carolina, he could 
 not answer to his own satisfaction till he had obtained 
 the data on which to proceed. 
 
 Quietly fixed at housekeeping in the College build 
 ing, he passed the winter of 1760-61, and took great 
 pains to preserve his health and avoid exposure to the 
 dreaded contagious disease. He wrote his son at 
 Stratford about the middle of November : " It would 
 be an unspeakable satisfaction to see you here, but I 
 would rather be denied it than you should be too 
 much incommoded. I believe the small-pox will die 
 away again, though perhaps never be quite gone. 
 It would be one of the greatest satisfactions in life 
 to me to have you well through it by inoculation, 
 from which there are so good hopes that I should 
 not care to oppose it, if you think it best to under- 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 255 
 
 take it, and yet I dare not urge you to it, but would 
 leave it to Providence and the dispositions of your 
 own mind. It is indeed a wretched embarrassment 
 to me in my present situation ; so that if your case 
 was as mine is, I should be almost ready to even ad 
 vise you to it, and did I not think of retiring for 
 good and all when it becomes general again, if I 
 should live to it, 1 should be almost resolved to run 
 the risk of it yet." 
 
 A few days before Christmas, when he was expect 
 ing a visit from his son, which the illness of his wife 
 prevented, he wrote him again, a brief note in which 
 were the words: "I hope by your account you 
 are in no danger of the small-pox, as perhaps you 
 would have been had you been here and gone much 
 about, for there is a good deal of it about town. On 
 which account I have been out only at Church and 
 Mr. Barclay s these three or four weeks. Thank God, 
 I continue in perfect health, and hope with this care 
 I am in no danger." 
 
 The friends of the Institution were anxious to con 
 tinue him at its head, and saw the importance of 
 keeping him on the spot now that an effort was about 
 to be made to renew the application for contributions 
 from abroad. The times appeared more auspicious. 
 The King of Great Britain had died suddenly on the 
 25th of October, 1760, and his grandson, George 
 III., ascended the throne in the twenty-third year of 
 his age, a sovereign of religious impulses and un 
 spotted reputation. " The young king begins his 
 reign, you see," wrote Johnson to his son, referring 
 him to the public prints, " with a glorious proclama 
 tion in favor of religion and virtue, the like to 
 
256 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 which I believe has not been before, unless in Queen 
 Anne s reign." 
 
 The Episcopal clergy in this country transmitted ad 
 dresses to him upon his accession, but that of the 
 clergy in and near Boston was not presented to him, 
 because it was thought to mention Bishops prema 
 turely. " This is a matter," wrote Seeker to John 
 son, " of which you in America cannot judge ; and 
 therefore I beg you will attempt nothing without the 
 advice of the Society or of the Bishops." He had 
 written to his Grace, and with the advice of some 
 of his clerical brethren, humbly suggested to him, 
 whether there would not be good reason to hope 
 from the declarations of the young king that upon the 
 commencement of a peace he might be prevailed upon 
 to settle Episcopacy in America, and whether the 
 draught of an address to his Majesty something like 
 the one which he inclosed, would not be expedient 
 and contribute to this end. 
 
 The Governors of the College took occasion to add 
 their congratulations in a formal way, and to mani 
 fest their loyalty as dutiful subjects of the youthful 
 sovereign. Johnson was the author of this address, 
 as he was of that which went from the clergy of New 
 York, and the two neighboring provinces, but it does 
 not seem to have awakened any new interest in be 
 half of his plans, and probably it was too soon after 
 the coronation, to hope for benefits or changes. The 
 most that it could do may have been to lead the King 
 to inquire concerning the signers, and, as Seeker sug 
 gested, " express himself in relation to them." 
 
 In the autumn of 1760 he published a discourse 
 entitled : "A demonstration of the Reasonableness, 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 257 
 
 Usefulness, and great Duty of Prayer/ which he ded 
 icated to Jeffery Amherst, Major-general and Com 
 mander-in-chief of all his Majesty s forces in North 
 America. The dedication was a graceful compliment 
 to him for the " glorious success " which had attended 
 his conduct in the reduction of Canada, " an event/ 
 he added, " of immortal renown, and a signal reward 
 of your piety and virtue." The discourse was writ 
 ten at the earnest request of a person of note, who 
 put into his hands a manuscript, undertaking to 
 prove by reason, that Prayer, since it implies a pe 
 tition to God to supply any wants of ours, is in effect, 
 " an utterly impertinent and insignificant thing, and 
 but a mere useless ceremony." Appended to it, was a 
 letter to a friend in West Chester, relating to the same 
 subject, with whom he had expostulated for not fre 
 quenting the public worship as usual, and whose ab 
 sences sprung not so much from indifference, as from 
 doubts and infidel speculations. He closed it in words 
 as applicable to men of the present day, as to skep 
 tics who lived a century ago. 
 
 I am grieved to hear you complain of endless doubts and 
 perplexities in matters of religion, for it is indeed a miserable 
 state to be worried with a spirit of skepticism, and dark sus 
 picions and surmises about this, and that, and the other. 
 Nubila mem est Tioec ubi regnant. " It is a cloudy, doleful 
 state of mind where these prevail." Pray sit down then and 
 carefully distinguish and separate things certain from things 
 doubtful, and abide by them, and give the doubts to the winds ; 
 but never doubt whether you ought diligently to attend on the 
 public service of God. Attend, I say, in the first place, and 
 above all things, to plain, evident, practical matters, and es 
 pecially live in the constant regular practice of true devotion 
 towards God in Christ, who is our only Supreme Good ; and 
 
 17 
 
258 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 trouble not your head with curious disputes and speculations, 
 and perplexing doubts and intricacies, many of which are 
 only strifes about words, and others about things we have 
 no concern with, and things quite beyond our faculties. 
 
 I will only add, that I am fully persuaded when you come 
 to leave this world, it will be the greatest satisfaction to you, 
 to be able to say with the royal Psalmist, " Lord, I have 
 loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where 
 thine honor dwelleth." I hope, therefore, you will this once 
 excuse this long letter from a faithful friend, who is solici 
 tously concerned for your best good, and I commend you 
 to God s protection, conduct, and blessing. 
 
 To confirm the truth of his words, and give force 
 to his reasoning, he subjoined a sententious extract 
 from a sermon of his venerated friend Dr. Seeker, 
 the archbishop of Canterbury. " There must be pub 
 lic virtue, or government cannot stand ; there must 
 be private virtue, or there cannot be public ; there 
 must be religion, or there can be neither ; there 
 must be true religion, or there will be false. There 
 must be attendance on God s worship, or there will 
 be no religion at all." 
 
 This publication was followed by happy effects, and 
 several months after he printed as a sequel to it a ser 
 mon, " On the Beauty of Holiness in the Worship of 
 the Church of England," which he recommended to 
 the attention of the good people of New England, 
 and particularly of his former parishioners at Strat 
 ford and West Chester. It was a temperate defense 
 of the Liturgy, and aimed to " show that in the Church 
 of England we do most truly worship Almighty God. 
 that our worship is a most holy worship, and tends to 
 promote holiness in the best manner, and that it is a 
 most beautiful worship, and is truly worshipping God 
 in the beauty of holiness." 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 259 
 
 A passage under the last head, though somewhat 
 quaint in its phraseology, may be cited as an example 
 of the spirit of the whole discourse : 
 
 Our worship is truly beautiful in its language, which is 
 very weighty and expressive. It may, perhaps, be granted 
 that in a few passages, it may be capable of some improve 
 ments, but in general this must be allowed to be the char 
 acter of its language, that it carrieth a great force and weight 
 with it, without either deficiency or redundancy, and is in 
 the happy medium between an affectation of verbosity, and 
 high flown figures, on the one hand, and obscurity and dull 
 ness, and a low vulgar meanness of expression on the other, 
 It hath a grandeur and majesty in it, and, at the same time, 
 a most easy, natural, intelligible simplicity ; always fitted 
 to the weight and importance of the matter, and the capac 
 ities of the whole body of worshippers. If it savors of an 
 tiquity, and on that account be thought not so polite to 
 modern ears, yet this very thing giveth it an air of the 
 greater gravity and importance, and there are but very 
 few expressions that are at all the less intelligible, though 
 it is nigh two hundred years old ; and it adds much to its 
 beauty, that it is expressed as far as it could well be, in the 
 very language of Scripture, being an excellent collection from 
 the very Word of God, which is ever full of majesty and 
 grandeur. And as there cannot be a more decent and beau 
 tiful sight than to behold a great number of intelligent 
 beings, the creatures and children of God, jointly conspiring 
 to do all the honor they can to Him their common parent, in 
 their united adoration of Him, so there is the greatest pro 
 priety and fitness in it, and consequently the greatest beauty 
 that they should worship their heavenly Father in his own 
 language, in the words which He hath put into their mouths. 
 If, therefore, we love the Scriptures, we cannot fail to love 
 the worship of the Church of England, which is for the most 
 part taken from them, and entirely conformed to them. 
 
 But it adds to the beauty of our excellent Liturgy, that 
 
260 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 there is an admirable proportion in all its parts ; insomuch 
 that no one part is so swelled or enlarged beyond its meas 
 ure, as to jostle out or starve another. There is a just pro 
 portion of Devotions and Lessons, of Prayers and Praises, 
 of Confessions and Deprecations, of Supplications and In 
 tercessions, of Petitions and Thanksgivings for ourselves and 
 for all men, for kings, and all that are in authority, and for 
 all orders and conditions of men. And as all these parts of 
 worship, without deficiency or redundancy, are thus so ex 
 quisitely fitted and proportioned one to the other, so they all 
 aim at one end, to which they are no less aptly fitted and 
 proportioned, namely, to advance the honor of God and the 
 general benefit of mankind, and to promote universal holi 
 ness and righteousness among them, all which considerations 
 abundantly speak their harmony and beauty. 
 
 And this beauty is further mightily improved by that 
 grateful variety that appears among them, which renders our 
 Liturgy like a beautiful garden, wherein there is a delightful 
 variety of luxuriant nature intermixed with curious art, of 
 other various plants with trees ; of fruits with flowers of di 
 vers sorts, all ranged in a various and beautiful order. In 
 like manner, in our Liturgy, devotions are gratefully inter 
 mixed with lessons, and prayers with praises. The people s 
 part is generally intermixed with the minister s, and short 
 responses, in the form of ejaculations, with set and continued 
 prayers, in which there is an agreeable variety, and the 
 prayers are each of them short, in imitation of the Lord s 
 Prayer ; and there is a correspondent variety of actions of 
 the body, suited to this variety of the exercises of the mind ; 
 all wisely contrived to keep the congregations wakeful, lively, 
 and attentive. This method is therefore vastly preferable to 
 one tedious, long-continued prayer, without any variety, as is 
 the case with our neighbors, in which the people s attention 
 flags, and they grow dull and heavy, and the force of their 
 devotion is extremely weakened. On which account nothing 
 should tempt me to exchange our beautiful variety of short 
 devotions, for their long, dull, and unvaried performances. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 261 
 
 For such is our frailty at best, that we need all the wise 
 precautions imaginable to be used to keep our minds vigor 
 ous, wakeful, and attentive, both by a variety of devo 
 tions and of bodily worship, which is the true intent of all 
 that beautiful variety wherewith our worship is attended, and 
 which, in proportion as it attains those ends, may be truly 
 styled the beauty of holiness. 1 
 
 An experience of nearly forty years had strength 
 ened his love for these forms and given him an oppor 
 tunity to test their value. From time to time he had 
 seen in them fresh beauties, and the testimony which 
 he bore to their excellence, in the evening of his days, 
 was a proof that no trials, and hatreds, and adversities, 
 had made him regret the step which he took when he 
 broke away from the popular faith of New England. 
 He felt that he was one in sympathy and fellowship 
 with a great branch of the Church universal. " In the 
 use of the Liturgy," said he, "I am offering up not 
 the devotions of this or that assembly only, much less 
 of this or that particular person or minister, but the 
 prayers and praises of the whole English Church and 
 nation, enjoined by lawful authority, and which every 
 assembly is jointly offering up at the same time. And 
 moreover, that I find I am worshipping God accord 
 ing to the ancient Scripture method, wherein it was 
 the manner for all the people to lift up their voice 
 with one accord, not only in singing, but in saying 
 their devotions." 
 
 The sermon from which these portions are taken 
 is closed with an earnest appeal to churchmen to 
 adorn the religion they professed, by the " exemplary 
 holiness" of their behavior. "We have lately had," 
 are his words, " an adversary [Mr. Noah Hobart] who 
 
 i Pages 20-22. 
 
262 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 pretends to show as an argument against us, that 
 where the Church prevails, all manner of wickedness 
 prevails." It was a groundless and abusive reproach, 
 and he would have them confute it by living lives 
 answerable to the mighty obligations their worship 
 laid them under. A wicked churchman, in his judg 
 ment, was the most inexcusable of all creatures. 
 Much as he loved the Liturgy, he was far more desir 
 ous that they who adopted it should be true to its 
 teachings, and firmly resolved to bring forth those 
 fruits of holiness whereby our Heavenly Father may 
 be glorified. 
 
 Since the death of his wife and daughter, he had 
 lived very much alone, and been little concerned 
 about his domestic affairs. But they appeared to be 
 suffering at this time " for want of a careful and dis 
 interested housekeeper," and he began to turn over 
 in his mind what he had thought of before, but dis 
 missed without coming to a final decision. The fol 
 lowing letter to his son will explain his views and 
 feelings in regard to a second marriage : 
 
 K. C., N. Y., February 16, 1761. 
 
 DEAREST SON, We cannot be sufficiently thankful that 
 our health is so graciously continued, both yours and mine. 
 Mine, I think, was never better, notwithstanding my confine 
 ment. For exercise I run frequently up garret, besides walk 
 ing a great deal the length of my two rooms, by which I 
 tire myself at least once a day ; which with five recitations 
 ^lectures we call them), two of which are equal to two ser 
 mons, seem exercise enough to answer the end. Indeed, I 
 am obliged to live very laboriously. 
 
 I thank you for explaining yourself so fully on the subject 
 I mentioned, and with so much tenderness and filial affection, 
 and I may add with much propriety and accuracy, consider- 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 263 
 
 ing your hurry and interruption. I was always with you, 
 against second matches, especially in advanced years, for the 
 reason you mention, on which account I bless myself a 
 thousand times that I came off so well from my former views, 
 which gave me great uneasiness on your account ; and be 
 sure I should never have thought of such a thing again, 
 but in the present case, which can scarce possibly be at 
 tended with those ill consequences. Indeed, it seems yery 
 ridiculous, and I am really ashamed of the thoughts of mat 
 rimony at this time of day ; but in truth it seems so doleful 
 in old age to be destitute of a contemporary companion, that 
 I am almost apt to think a man never wants one more, and 
 that if he has a good one in his younger years, there is noth 
 ing in life he needs more earnestly to pray for than her 
 continuance to the last. On these accounts, I don t know 
 (since you approve of it, and I cannot for two or three years 
 at least if I live, leave this station) but that I had best think 
 of it in earnest. I should hardly come this spring, if it 
 were not on this account, but if my life and health continue, 
 I believe I shall go about the middle of May, if there is 
 like to be an opportunity, or perhaps not till June, accord 
 ing as Commencement is. I doubt the difficulty will be to 
 have a vessel ready immediately after Commencement. 
 
 I have got " Smollett," and with you do not quite like 
 him. I fear he has no religion. Methinks he writes some 
 times with a fleer. I am told he has written so freely about 
 Lord Anson that he has prosecuted him and put him in jail. 
 I believe there is but one volume of the continuation of it 
 published. I shall send it when there is opportunity. I 
 had another volume of sermons for a vehicle to this letter. 
 With my love to Mrs. Beach and to you all, I remain, 
 Your most affectionate father and friend, 
 
 S. JOHNSON. 
 
 The practice of interchanging thoughts on the sub 
 ject of their readings had been observed for a long 
 time, and must have been as pleasant as it was profit- 
 
264 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 able. Scarcely any new and important work upon 
 theology, history, philosophy, or literature, made its 
 appearance in England, which the father did not 
 speedily procure, and possess himself of its contents 
 before sending it to his son. In this way they bene 
 fited each other, and sharpened their moral and crit 
 ical judgments. It was a period when the books 
 published, especially those commanding attention, 
 were not so numerous but that a diligent reader could 
 easily find time to peruse them and weigh well their 
 merits and tendencies. Johnson had a great dislike 
 for any author who seemed to sneer at the Christian 
 religion. He had no patience with infidels and scoff 
 ers, and believed Christianity to be not only the 
 anchor of the soul and the safeguard of society, but 
 the sublimest philosophy. 
 
 This feeling will account for his distrust of Smollett. 
 " Infidelity " said Bishop Watson, in his reply to 
 Thomas Paine, " is a rank weed, it threatens to over 
 spread the land ; its root is principally fixed amongst 
 the great and opulent, but you are endeavoring to 
 extend the malignity of its poison through ah 1 the 
 classes of the community." * It was a fear of this kind 
 which made Johnson so careful to watch against the 
 contaminating influence of irreligion. He would 
 have the rising generation, the merchants, manu 
 facturers, and tradesmen of the British realm, pre 
 served from the delusions of unbelief, and continued 
 in that faith which is the foundation of happiness in 
 this world, and of the hope of glory in another. 
 
 i Apology /or the Bible, p. 176, American Ed. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 265 
 
 Library 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 FOURTH COMMENCEMENT ; SECOND MARRIAGE ; BENEFACTIONS TO 
 THE COLLEGE; DR. JAY AUTHORIZED TO MAKE COLLECTIONS 
 
 IN ENGLAND ; ARRIVAL OF REV. MYLES COOPER ; RELIGIOUS 
 CONTROVERSY ; AND FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 A. D. 1761-1763. 
 
 AT the fourth Commencement of King s College, 
 which was held June 3, 1761, the first Bachelors pro 
 ceeded to their second degree. Several graduates of 
 other colleges were admitted at the same time to a 
 like honor, and pains were taken to make friends for 
 the institution among Episcopalians outside of New 
 York. Johnson was now more hopeful than ever of 
 its growth, and felt that its great want was the want 
 of additional funds to continue its operations and ex 
 tend the course of instruction. He needed both a 
 tutor and a professor to aid him in his labors, and his 
 correspondence with the Archbishop of Canterbury 
 had led him to anticipate that one or the other might 
 ere long come from England, and be found fit event 
 ually to succeed to his responsibilities. 
 
 Immediately after this fourth Commencement, he 
 proceeded to Stratford in a sailing vessel, and was 
 there married on the 18th of June to Mrs. Sarah 
 Beach, widow of his old friend and parishioner, Wil 
 liam Beach, and mother of his son s wife. At the 
 close of the vacation, he embarked with her for New 
 York, and earnestly applied himself again to his 
 
266 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 duties in the College. Failing to procure assistance 
 from England, the Governors appointed Mr. Robert 
 Harpur, a gentleman who had been educated at the 
 University of Glasgow, and was well qualified to be 
 Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, 
 and with his help, he had an easier time than in the 
 preceding year, and the class.es were more thoroughly 
 instructed. Nothing occurred to disturb the even 
 tenor of his course during the ensuing winter. His 
 domestic affairs were every way agreeable, and he 
 wrote his son in October that he " never was happier 
 in his life than now." What added greatly to his pleas 
 ure, as he himself said, was : " That Providence has 
 sent us a good teacher of Mathematics and Experi 
 ments from Ireland, bred at Glasgow," and the scholars 
 were so charmed with him that he could not refrain 
 from expressing his belief that the Institution was 
 thus to receive a fresh impulse. 
 
 The increase of its funds was another stimulus to 
 its prosperity. Those obtained to complete the build 
 ing and provide for immediate necessities were al 
 ready exhausted, and the Governors were beginning 
 to spend a portion of their capital to carry on the 
 Institution. Besides the sums early secured, and the 
 donation from the venerable Society of five hundred 
 pounds, a benevolent gentleman, Mr. Joseph Mur 
 ray, had bequeathed his estate to the College, 
 amounting to six or seven thousand pounds. But 
 more was needed, and Dr. Johnson renewed his pro 
 posal to solicit a collection in England, and prepared 
 the way for it by writing to his friends and asking 
 their good offices. In a letter to the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury dated January 6, 1762, after referring to 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 267 
 
 his agency in procuring a suitable person for vice- 
 president and to succeed him in case of his decease 
 or resignation, he said, " Notwithstanding the excep 
 tion made to his age, and the uncertainty whether 
 he will answer as a preacher, he is desired, if he is 
 willing, to come upon the terms, and with the views 
 mentioned in our letters to your Grace. But as we 
 have already been providentially provided for with 
 an ingenious young gentleman, one Mr. Harpur, bred 
 at Glasgow, who does very well in teaching Mathe 
 matics and Experimental Philosophy, Mr. Cooper 
 will not need to bring one with him for that pur 
 pose. But the great difficulty is how to support 
 these salaries which our stock cannot long do, un 
 less we can by some means get an addition to it, and 
 we see no way for this but by getting forward a sub 
 scription in England, and we have not yet any one 
 here to go home on purpose to solicit one. So that 
 unless some public spirited gentleman there would 
 be so good as to undertake it, I see not what to do, 
 though indeed I cannot excuse ourselves of too much 
 indolence and inattention to the interests of the 
 College." 
 
 A month before this he had written to Mr. Home 
 of Oxford, afterwards Bishop of Norwich, and author 
 of the " Commentary on the Psalms," and sent the 
 letter by a graduate of Yale College who went to 
 England, recommended to the Society and the Bishop 
 of London as a worthy candidate for Holy Orders and 
 a Mission. After thanking him for the kindness he 
 had shown to his deceased son, and mentioning fa 
 vorably what he was pleased to call his " admirable 
 state of the case between Sir Isaac and Mr. Hutchin- 
 son," Johnson said : 
 
2G8 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 I thought I would, though thus late, presume to trouble 
 you. with a few lines, to express my earnest wishes that some 
 of you (and I hope you are about it), would give the world 
 an entire methodical system of that sacred philosophy and 
 theology in the same candid way to the best advantage. 1 
 say this because, though Mr. Hutchinson s Discourses, on the 
 Hebrew Scriptures, are admirable, yet his way of writing is 
 obscure and disagreeable, which together with his asperity 
 of temper and expression, has been I believe, the cliief, if 
 not the only reason that his extraordinary works have been 
 no more read and considered and so generally thrown by 
 with contempt in this conceited and inattentive age. May I 
 not hope that this is doing and will soon be done. 
 
 I have written several times to good Mr. Berkeley, but 
 whether my letters or his miscarry, or his leaving Oxford 
 be the occasion, I have heard nothing from him these five 
 years. If you ever see or correspond with him please to give 
 my most affectionate service to him. 
 
 I have heard a rumor that the Rev. Dr. Patten has lately 
 published some excellent performance, but cannot hear what 
 it is. I shall be much obliged to you to make my humblest 
 compliments acceptable to him, whose excellent sermons as 
 well as yours are much admired here. 
 
 It is uncertain whether the worthy youth, Mr. Treadwell, 
 who carries this letter, will see Oxford. If he should I beg 
 your kind notice of him. My College, I thank God, is now 
 in a pretty flourishing condition, and the building finished, 
 only we want a fund to support sufficient officers. 
 
 I am, Reverend Sir, with great esteem, 
 
 Your most affectionate obliged humble servant, 
 
 S. J. 
 
 He dispatched a brief note to his old friend Dr. 
 Astry by the same gentleman, " who/ he said, " will 
 give you some account of the Church and of my Col 
 lege, and my labors and hopeful prospect of laying a 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 269 
 
 good foundation for posterity. I pray, God be your 
 staff, your support and your comfort in your declining 
 years, and your exceeding great reward in a better 
 world." 
 
 Letters of this sort served as an introduction to 
 the movement which was in contemplation. An op 
 portunity soon offered of soliciting subscriptions in 
 England through the agency of Dr. James Jay ; and 
 the President of the College urged the Governors to 
 accept his services and furnish him not only with the 
 requisite authority, but with suitable addresses to the 
 king, the two Archbishops, the Universities of Oxford 
 and Cambridge, and the Society for the Propagation 
 of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. All seemed ready to 
 acquiesce in the proposal, and Dr. Jay was formally 
 appointed ; and took his departure from New York on 
 the 12th of May, 1762. Of the letters and addresses 
 put into his hand, which were all prepared by John 
 son, it will be enough to select the one written to 
 Archbishop Seeker : 
 
 To THE MOST REV. FATHER IN GOD, THOMAS, LORD ARCHBISHOP OP 
 CANTERBURY. 
 
 May it please your Grace, Your Grace is well acquainted 
 with the labors and difficulties under which we have strug 
 gled in founding our College and carrying it on hitherto ; 
 and has been informed that we have erected an elegant 
 building of one hundred eighty feet in length by thirty in 
 width and three stories in height, which is now just finished 
 and designed for one side of a quadrangle to be completed 
 as we shall be enabled. But as we are not yet able to carry 
 it any farther without assistance, nor have we a sufficient 
 fund to support the necessary officers the Master, Profes 
 sors, and Tutors, we are therefore constrained to beg the 
 
270 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 charitable contributions of such public spirited gentlemen as 
 are generously disposed to promote so good a work, and have 
 empowered the bearer hereof, Dr. James Jay of this city, 
 who is an ingenious young gentleman, and a graduated phy 
 sician of the University of Edinburgh, to ask and receive 
 such benefactions as shall be contributed to this important 
 undertaking. 
 
 And as your Grace is the first member of our corporation 
 and has given abundant demonstration of your delight in 
 doing good offices, and especially to this College, for which 
 we are inexpressibly thankful, we humbly beg leave to rec 
 ommend him to your Grace, and entreat you in addition 
 to your former goodness that you will give him your best 
 advice and direction for his carrying on a solicitation for 
 benefactions ; and if you think proper, that you will intro 
 duce him, or procure him introduced to our most gracious 
 Sovereign for his favor ; and also that you will be pleased to 
 recommend him to his Grace, the Lord Archbishop of York 
 and the Bishop of London, or any other of the nobility, 
 clergy, or gentry as your Grace shall judge most expedient. 
 In doing which you will unspeakably oblige, may it please 
 your Grace, Your Grace s, etc. 
 
 On his arrival in England, Dr. Jay found a com 
 petitor for British charities in the Rev. Dr. Smith, 
 Provost of the College in Philadelphia. He had pre 
 ceded him to London and was engaged in soliciting 
 subscriptions for his own institution. The Archbishop, 
 who had warmly espoused the cause of King s Col 
 lege, feeling that separate collections at the same 
 time would injure the claims of each, thought it would 
 be best to unite them, and apply to the king for a 
 brief to go through the kingdom in favor of both. 
 This was accordingly done, and the proceeds were di 
 vided equally between the two institutions, except that 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 271 
 
 a donation from his Majesty of six hundred pounds to 
 the College in New York was adjudged to be not in 
 cluded in the general collection. The joint contri 
 butions yielded to King s College the net sum of 
 nearly six thousand pounds sterling, which, with the 
 legacy of Mr. Murray and other donations, constituted 
 for the time a sufficient endowment. The son of 
 Bishop Berkeley generously contributed ten guineas, 
 and in answering Johnson s letter by Dr. Jay, said, 
 " It gave great delight to my worthy mother, now at 
 my house, to hear that you enjoyed your health and 
 spirits; she bears a most sincere good will to that 
 quarter of the world where your acquaintance witk 
 her took its rise." 
 
 The Governors were now enabled to furnish the 
 assistance which had long been desired, and the Rev. 
 Myles Cooper, the young Oxford graduate, whom the 
 Archbishop had recommended as being well qualified 
 to take part in the management of the College, 
 came over to this country in the autumn of 1762, 
 and was welcomed by the President, and immediately 
 appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy. He proved 
 equal to the duties of the position, in spite of the 
 objection which had been raised against him that he 
 was too young ; and Johnson looked forward with sat 
 isfaction to the day when he himself would be allowed 
 to retire. He worked zealously with his new officer, 
 and sought in judicious ways to prepare him for the 
 assumption of his own responsibilities, not expect 
 ing, however, that a Providential event would lead 
 him so soon to sever his connection with the College. 
 
 Absorbed as he was at this time in matters of 
 education, he did not forget the Church, or cease to 
 
272 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 take a lively interest in the prosperity of the parishes 
 in his native colony. He longed to see a better and 
 more learned clergy ; and in a letter to his son who 
 had referred to the subject, he said, December, 1762, 
 " What you lament has occasioned in me many a sigh. 
 But how to remedy it is the difficulty. I wish those 
 we have, had better abilities, more inclination to books 
 and more zeal ; and if I am allowed to come again 
 among you, I intend to try to animate them, and hope 
 to do some good. But I doubt poverty is one chief 
 remora, which I cannot remedy. But we must, as 
 you say, take more care to have good candidates if 
 we can get them, and not recommend poor ones. I 
 hope you may have some good influence in getting a 
 right choice for New Haven, which is of much impor 
 tance. We have good hands here, Chandler and young 
 Seabury, but I can t get them to write, nor indeed do 
 they know enough of some affairs for this business, 
 but might be informed. We must, as you say, leave it 
 with God Almighty, with whom is the residue of the 
 Spirit, to raise up instruments to defend His Church 
 under His protection, and I hope and trust He will 
 not desert it." 
 
 He had in his mind, while writing thus to his son, a 
 pamphlet which had recently been published anony 
 mously, and circulated to the injury of the Church of 
 England, especially in Massachusetts and Connecticut, 
 and to which the Archbishop of Canterbury had 
 called his attention, and desired that it might be an 
 swered. Johnson fixed upon the Missionary at New- 
 town as the most competent person to do this, and 
 wrote again to his son, " I shall be very sorry if Mr. 
 Beach does not answer that base pamphlet. Tell Mr. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 273 
 
 Winslow, let the clergy give him no rest till he is 
 persuaded. I would undertake it myself rather than 
 fail, if writing were not so tedious to me. I fear how 
 the Church will do when her old champions are gone. 
 If he fails I know of none anywhere equal to it. I 
 knew nothing before of that Boston act. I wonder 
 with the Archbishop none of the Church s friends 
 had been earlier in their notice." 
 
 It was a time of sharp theological controversy. The 
 bitter hostility of the Independents to the introduc 
 tion of Bishops into this country, and to the work of 
 the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, was 
 the origin of the pamphlet, and a few of the Episcopal 
 clergy, in view of its ironical character, were inclined 
 to regard it as unworthy of the least attention. The 
 younger Johnson, in a letter to his father, dated Jan 
 uary 7, 1763, said : " Mr. Beach, I am now assured, 
 is writing, as he has sent to me to procure an account 
 of the settlements and salaries of some of the Dissent 
 ing ministers ; and I hope with you, he will do it well. 
 I have written him to encourage the thing and to 
 suggest some few things. Mr. Caner, it seems by a 
 letter to Mr. Winslow, thinks the piece too low and 
 scandalous to answer ; but I cannot agree with him. 
 As our enemies avail themselves so much of it, I am 
 not content to let it pass." 
 
 The answer was prepared and submitted to the ex 
 amination of Dr. Johnson through his son, into whose 
 hands the manuscript first came, and he, after running 
 it over, wrote to his father : " I durst not pronounce 
 upon it from this hasty reading, and am sorry I have 
 not more time to consider it, but hope you and Mr. 
 Cooper and others there will consider it carefully be- 
 
274 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 fore it is published. I fear it is too severe in some 
 expressions, though they deserve it all." With a few 
 words referring to his own suggestions, he added, 
 " Perhaps it would have been well if Mr. Beach had 
 not so often mentioned Messrs. Hobart and Dickinson 
 as the authors of the pamphlet, as it is very uncertain 
 who they were, 1 though I believe he is right, that all 
 their clergy are pleased with it. You will critically 
 examine the whole. Notwithstanding the opinion of 
 Mr. Caner, Mr. Winslow, etc., an answer must be pub 
 lished ; I think I every day see more and more occa 
 sion for it." 
 
 Dr. Johnson had determined by this time, to retire 
 from his position in New York, and was shaping his 
 plans with reference to such a step. There was some 
 prospect that Mr. Winslow might be transferred to an 
 other station, and an opportunity given for restoring 
 him to his old parish. But if this should not be effected, 
 his son wrote him to have no anxiety about his tem 
 poral concerns. " Your determination," said he, "to 
 leave the conduct of your affairs to me is kind and does 
 me honor, but it is too much, as I am very liable to 
 mistake. Only be assured that you will always have 
 my best judgment, and that I shall never think any 
 thing I can do a burden, or too much to render your 
 
 1 The author was Mr. Noah Welles, a Congregational divine in Stamford, C t. 
 The irony extended through 47 octavo pages, and justified Johnson in using the ex 
 pression " base pamphlet." The title page ran thus: " The Real Advantages which 
 ministers and people* may enjoy, especially in the Colonies, by conforming to the 
 Church of England ; faithfully considered and impartially represented, in a Letter to 
 a young Gentleman, printed in the year 1762." It opened with these words: " I re 
 ceived your s by the worthy Mr. , in which you inform me that pursuant t<- 
 
 my advice, you went to Church on Christmas Day, and was so greatly pleased with 
 our worship that you have some thoughts of conforming, and going home for orders 
 next spring. You may be sure this gave me the greatest satisfaction, as I am firmly 
 attached to the Apostolic Church of England, that great bulwark of the Reforma 
 tion." 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 275 
 
 life comfortable. I know not why it is not equally a 
 duty, at least to provide for parents as for children, 
 But use your own judgment (of which we have both 
 had so long and so good experience) with mine for the 
 best means to attain that end. Be not concerned for 
 me or mine so as to give yourself any uneasiness ; if 
 I or they have less fortune, it may be less tempta 
 tion to go astray, and redoubled diligence may make 
 amends for it. Those who are not content to be 
 diligent have no title to the goods of fortune, and 
 those who are really so, will very seldom want a com 
 petency. If you can stay there with ease, satisfac 
 tion, honor, and credit I can be content ; if not, do not 
 hesitate to retire, whatever becomes of every other 
 consideration, for all others are inferior to them. 
 Providence will not desert us." 
 
 A domestic affliction prevented him from giving 
 much attention to Mr. Beach s pamphlet before its 
 publication ; and soon the minds of Churchmen were 
 turned to the controversy as renewed and carried on 
 in Boston. In 1763 appeared a vindication of the 
 Society by the Rev. East Apthorp, entitled " Con 
 siderations on the Institution and Conduct of the So 
 ciety for the Propagation of the G-ospel in Foreign 
 Parts," to which a Dissenting divine, Dr. Jonathan 
 Mayhew, replied in a much thicker pamphlet, and 
 contended that the managers were either deceived by 
 the representations of their Missionaries, or were gov 
 erned more by a regard to Episcopacy than to the 
 interests of true religion. Replies and rejoinders fol 
 lowed, and the republication in England of Dr. May- 
 hew s " Observations on the Charter and Conduct of 
 the Society/ led the Archbishop of Canterbury to 
 
276 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 prepare an answer and print it that the truth might 
 be known to the British public. The following letters, 
 though anticipating a little the chronological order of 
 events, will let the reader into a pretty full history 
 of the whole controversy, as well as shed some light 
 on the affair of American Bishops : 
 
 GOOD DR. JOHNSON, I heartily thank you for your let 
 ter of August 10, particularly for the concern which you ex 
 press about my health. It is frequently disordered ; but I 
 can for the most part pay some attention to business. When 
 I fail, as I am now within a few days of seventy, an abler 
 person in all respects, I hope, will succeed me. 
 
 Mr. Beach s book is not come to my hands ; I wish it had 
 received your corrections. I am as desirous that your an 
 swer to Dr. Mayhew should be published, as I can be with 
 out having seen it ; because I dare say it is written with the 
 temper which I told you I wished Mr. Beach might preserve. 
 But indeed I fear the world will think we have settled too 
 many missions in New England and New York ; and there 
 fore it may be best, not absolutely to justify, but to excuse 
 ourselves in that respect, as prevailed on by entreaties hard to 
 be resisted, as having many applications, and resolved to be 
 hereafter more sparing in the admission of them, instead of 
 making it our business to Episcopize New England, as Dr. 
 Mayhew expresses himself. Our adversaries may be asked 
 whether they have not made as great mistakes in some points, 
 as we in this ; and whether bitter invectives against them 
 would not be unchristian. There was a company incorpor- 
 porated by Car. 2, in 1661, for Propagating the Grospel 
 amongst the heathen nations of New England and the adjacent 
 p,arts, which still subsists, and the affairs of it are managed 
 by the Dissenters. Queen Anne, in 1709, incorporated The 
 Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, 
 and empowered them to propagate it not only there, but in 
 Popish and infidel parts of the world. Accordingly they had 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 277 
 
 correspondents and Missionaries in New England above thirty 
 years ago ; and in Long Island, Pennsylvania, North Caro 
 lina, and Georgia above twenty years ago ; and probably they 
 have still. It may be useful to inquire, whether these two 
 Societies have observed their charters better than ours hath. 
 If not, their friends should think and speak mildly of us. 
 The new projected Society at Boston is about sinking itself 
 into the latter of these, as I am informed. I know nothing 
 of Dr. Barclay s " Defence against Smith, "nor of Aplin ; pos 
 sibly this last word was a slip of your pen for Apthorp. 
 
 What will be done about Bishops, I cannot guess. Appli 
 cation for them was made to Lord Egremont, who promised 
 to consult with the other ministers, but died without making 
 any report from them. His successor, Lord Halifax, is a 
 friend to the scheme ; but I doubt, whether in the present 
 weak state of the ministry, he will dare to meddle with what 
 will certainly raise opposition. I believe very little is done 
 or doing yet toward the settlement of America ; and I know 
 not what disposition will be made of the lands belonging to 
 the Popish clergy in the conquered provinces. 
 
 I am very glad to hear the money is paid to Mr. Charlton. 
 I have heard nothing of any design of a Degree for Mr. Chan 
 dler, but from you. If any person here is engaged in it, I 
 should know, that we may act in concert. But I think we 
 should have a more formal recommendation of him from 
 you and Dr. Barclay, and any other principal persons, clergy 
 or laity. 
 
 Your account of Mr. Cooper gives me great pleasure. In 
 a late letter to me, he expresses good hopes about the Col 
 lege ; but complains of some disappointment in regard to his 
 income, which I do not distinctly understand. I have writ 
 ten to him, to recommend patience ; and to Dr. Barclay, to 
 desire that the Governors will be as kind to him as with pro 
 priety they can. Mr. Caner hath sent over one Mr. Frink 
 for a new mission at Rutland, about sixty miles from Boston, 
 without any previous mention of the matter to the Society, 
 which is irregular ; and I do not think we shall appoint him to 
 
278 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 it ; perhaps to some vacant old one we may, if such there be. 
 The Mission of Braintree is offered to Mr. Winslow, in order 
 to make room for you at Stratford. Whether it be worth 
 his acceptance I know not. But the Society are very desir 
 ous of restoring you to your old station ; and if this proposal 
 doth not succeed, they will be glad to have any other method 
 pointed out to them. 
 
 Since I wrote thus far, the Society hath appointed Mr. 
 Frink Missionary at Augusta. It seems he was inoculated 
 a few days before. I hope he will get safe through the dis 
 temper. 
 
 God bless you, good Dr. Johnson, and His Church in your 
 parts. I am, with much esteem, 
 
 Your loving brother, 
 
 THO. CANT. 
 
 LAMBETH, September 28, 1763. 
 
 Answer : 
 
 December 20, 1763. 
 
 MAY IT PLEASE YOUR GRACE, I humbly ask your 
 Grace s pardon for writing so soon again, which I hope you 
 will excuse, as I should be extremely wanting in my duty to 
 your Grace, if I did not most gratefully acknowledge your 
 very kind letter of September 28, which I lately received. I 
 am very glad and thank God that your health is not so much 
 impaired as to forbid your giving some attention to business, 
 and I earnestly pray that it may be yet again confirmed and 
 lengthened out to the utmost, and the rather as I am ex 
 tremely afraid that in these times no gentleman can be 
 found that will go near to make good your Grace s ground. 
 I am surprised Mr. Beach s book is not come to your hands ; 
 I sent a copy which was promised me to be sent you from 
 Boston seven months ago ; and I have again urged it, and 
 Aplin s (a lawyer), for so is his name. Mr. Caner (as it is 
 privately said) has made, I think, a pretty good answer to 
 Mayhew, with which mine, such as it is, is printed ; but I 
 hear Mayhew has replied already, still in his own way. Mr. 
 Caner has remarked upon these Societies much as your 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 279 
 
 Grace mentions. I trust it will soon come to you, and that 
 you will not dislike it. 
 
 Did our benefactors know the real state of things in New 
 England, they would allow that missionaries are as much 
 needed here as in other parts of America. The wildest 
 notions are propagated here both on the side of enthusiasm 
 and infidelity ; but I wish to God more could be done there 
 as well as here. Dr. Barclay s Defense was sent to the So 
 ciety, and I have advised him to send your Grace a copy, 
 and also to write in behalf of Mr. Chandler, whose char 
 acter truly is that of a most faithful Missionary, and one that 
 hath made much proficiency in learning, and especially in 
 divinity. I know of none so much to my mind that loves 
 books, and reads so much as he. It would be for the honor 
 and interest of the Church and religion, if there were at 
 least one in each province of that degree, and he a Com 
 missary. I wish Mr. Caner had a D. D. degree, who 
 well deserves it, and the rather as there is none in that 
 province now but Dr. Cutler, who has done. By a letter 
 lately from Mr. Cooper it appears that the Governors of 
 the College have enlarged his salary to his content. 
 
 It is truly a miserable thing, my Lord, that we no sooner 
 leave fighting our neighbors, the French, but we must 
 fall to quarrelling among ourselves. I fear the present 
 state of our ministry is indeed very feeble ; so that I doubt 
 we must, after all our hopes, lose the present juncture also 
 for gaining the point we have long had so much at heart, 
 and I believe must never expect another. Is there then 
 nothing more that can be done either for obtaining Bishops 
 or demolishing these pernicious charter governments, and 
 reducing them all to one form in immediate dependence on 
 the king ? I cannot help calling them pernicious, for they 
 are indeed so as well for the best good of the people them 
 selves as for the interests of true religion. I would hope 
 Providence may somehow bring it about that things may be 
 compromised respecting the ministry, and would it not now 
 be a proper juncture for some such general address from 
 
280 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 the provinces here to the King as I once mentioned to your 
 Grace ? or is there not probability enough of success left 
 with regard to both Bishops and government to make it 
 worth while for a gentleman or two, who I believe might be 
 procured to go from hence for the purpose of gaining these 
 points ? for I doubt nothing will do without solicitation from 
 hence. I should be greatly obliged to your Grace for your 
 opinion and direction in respect to these things as soon as 
 may be. It is indeed too much to trouble your Grace with 
 these affairs in your present infirm state. I therefore hum 
 bly beg your pardon that I am thus importunate. I re 
 member you once mentioned his Grace of York as having 
 extraordinary talents for business ; could not he be engaged 
 to be active in these affairs ? I am greatly obliged to the 
 Society that they are very desirous to restore me to this 
 station. Mr. Winslow is gone to Braintree, to see whether 
 it will do for him to accept it, and I am prone to think he 
 will. If he does I shall do my best, but I shall soon need 
 some assistance. 
 
 I am, with the greatest veneration, etc., 
 
 S. J. 
 
 The reply of Archbishop Seeker to this letter gives 
 the reason for his own share in the controversy, and 
 suggests a conciliatory course to attain the great ob 
 ject in view. 
 
 GOOD DR. JOHNSON, Since my last of September 28, 
 1763, I have been favored with two letters from you, dated 
 Ooctober 20, and December 20. The first did not seem to 
 require an immediate answer, and about the time that I 
 received the second, the gout seized both my hands and 
 both my feet. It made several attacks on my right hand, 
 and disabled me from making almost any use of it for two 
 or three months. I am now, God be thanked, nearly as 
 well as usual, and have received all the pamphlets which 
 were designed for me from America. When Dr. Mayhew s 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 281 
 
 " Observations, * etc., were reprinted here, it was thought 
 necessary that an answer to them should also be printed 
 here ; which was done before the " Candid Examination, and 
 Letter to a Friend," came to my hands. An hundred copies 
 of the answer were sent by the Society to the Colonies, 
 and I hope you have had one of them. It was believed 
 that they would do no harm amongst you, and might do 
 some good, though the " Candid Examination," etc., was un 
 doubtedly sufficient for your part of the world. If you see 
 any mistakes in the Answer, or hear of any objections to 
 any part of it, that seem to be material, be pleased to 
 send me an account of them, with such remarks as you 
 think proper. I have Dr. Mayhew s " Defence of his Ob 
 servations." He manifests the same spirit as before, and 
 runs out into many things of little consequence to the So 
 ciety. The case of Mr. Price and Mr. Barrett, page 125, 
 etc., is new to me ; and if it be truly represented, the for 
 mer seems to have been blamable. If any reply is made, I 
 hope it will be short and cool. Some angry Dissenter hath 
 published a pamphlet, entitled, " The Claims of the Church 
 of England Seriously Considered, in a letter to the author 
 of the Answer to Dr. Mayhew." There is but little in it 
 relative to the Society, and nothing that requires confutation. 
 The affair of American Bishops continues in suspense. 
 Lord Willoughby of Parham, the only English Dissenting 
 Peer, and Dr. Chandler, 1 have declared, after our scheme was 
 fully laid before them, that they saw no objection against it. 
 The Duke of Bedford, Lord President, hath given a calm 
 and favorable hearing to it, hath desired it may be reduced 
 into writing, and promised to consult about it with the other 
 ministers at his first leisure. Indeed, I see not how Prot 
 estant Bishops can decently be refused us, as in all probabil 
 ity a Popish one will be allowed, by connivance at least, in 
 Canada. The Ecclesiastical settlement of that country is 
 not made yet, but is under consideration, and I hope will 
 be a reasonable and satisfactory one. Four clergymen will 
 
 1 Samuel Chandler, a Presbyterian divine of London. 
 
282 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 be appointed for Florida, with salaries of 100 each, and 
 four school-masters with 25 each; and the Society have 
 been desired to provide them. This I consider as a good 
 omen ; yet much will depend on various circumstances, and 
 particularly on the opinion, or persuasion concerning the 
 opinion of the Americans, both Dissenters and Churchmen. 
 
 The Bishop of London died last week ; poor man, he was 
 every way unequal to that station. His successor, Dr. Ter- 
 rick, is a sensible and good tempered man, greatly esteemed 
 as a preacher, and personally liked by the king, as well as 
 favored by the ministry. Therefore I hope he will both have 
 considerable influence, and use it well. He was Residentiary 
 of St. Paul s Church, when I was made Dean. I had no ac 
 quaintance with him before, but we have been very good 
 friends ever since ; and I doubt not but we shall remain 
 such, and consult together about American affairs. 
 
 We must not run the risk of increasing the outcry against 
 the Society ; especially in the present crisis, and so perhaps 
 lose an opportunity of settling Bishops in our Colonies, by 
 establishing two or three new Missions in New England. 
 Our affairs are not to be carried on with a high hand, but 
 our success, if we do succeed, must arise from conciliating 
 the minds of men. And this ought to be labored very dili 
 gently abroad as well as at home. 
 
 The Society hath agreed, in pursuance of a proposal made 
 by Dr. Smith, to establish a proper number of correspond 
 ing Societies, with an agent or president for each of them ; 
 to give information and advice concerning all needful af 
 fairs, and act for the Society in all requisite cases. But 
 this general scheme cannot be brought into due form for 
 execution, till we see whether Bishops can be obtained and 
 how many. 
 
 The Archbishop of York is very active in our business, as 
 well as able. He hath brought the estate of Codrington 
 College out of a most lamentable condition into a very 
 hopeful one, and he hath done a great deal with the min 
 isters in our ecclesiastical concerns. But these, and partic- 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 283 
 
 ularly what relates to Bishops, must be managed in a quiet, 
 private manner. Were solicitors to be sent over prema 
 turely from America for Bishops, there would come also so 
 licitors against them ; a flame would be raised, and we should 
 never carry our point. Whenever an application from them 
 is really wanted and become seasonable, be assured that you 
 will have immediate notice. 
 
 I have heard nothing yet of Dr. Barclay s Defence ; nor 
 hath he mentioned to me the propriety of a Degree for Mr. 
 Chandler, though I had a letter from him, dated January 
 20. I desire to know what College degree Mr. Chandler 
 hath, and of what standing he is in that College ; and the 
 same of Mr. Caner. 
 
 Concerning the other particulars in your letters, I pre 
 sume the Secretary hath written to you ; and therefore I 
 shall only add that I heartily pray God to give you every 
 blessing needful for you, and earnestly desire your prayers in 
 return for Your loving brother, 
 
 THO. CANT. 
 
 LAMBETH, May 22, 1764. 
 
 These letters show how much Seeker relied upon 
 the judgment of Johnson to guide him in his efforts 
 for the Church in the American Colonies. A wide 
 ocean rolled between them and there was often op* 
 portunity for ministerial crises and important politi 
 cal events before they could interchange views. But 
 they kept each other well posted, and if Johnson 
 could not discern the wisdom of the state policy 
 which hemmed in the zeal of his "loving brother," 
 he would not cease to plead for the Episcopacy in 
 America, and to hope that it might be secured before 
 his probation ended. 
 
 He had written to Mr. Ap thorp very freely on this 
 and other subjects growing out of the controversy 
 with Dr. Mayhew, and among the letters which he 
 
284 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 received in reply was one that spoke of the influence 
 which his son might have, if employed to present the 
 application for Bishops. The letter should be given 
 in full for the information it contains : 
 
 CAMBRIDGE, May 7, 1764. 
 
 REVEREND AND GOOD SIK, I have before me two of 
 your favors, for which I make my earliest acknowledgments. 
 The great affliction of our family in the death of Mrs. 
 Wheelwright, who was extremely dear to us all, has hardly 
 given me leisure or spirits, for some time past, to attend to 
 any but the most necessary business. 
 
 I had a long conversation with Mr. Bennet on his affair. 
 His public spirit leads him to project things that I fear can 
 not be effected, for want of the same spirit among those who 
 alone can execute them. I have however undertaken to do 
 all in my power ; which is, to solicit our Governor and Lieu 
 tenant-governor to patronize him, and to receive four Indian 
 youths at Boston, and in England. I shall use the influ 
 ence of my friends with the Society to fix Mr. Bennet on 
 their list, and to obtain, if possible, the appointment of two 
 missionaries for the Mohawks. I hope something was done 
 for him at a meeting of the Episcopal Society in Boston, to 
 whom I recommended the support of his good undertaking. 
 He proposes to make me another visit in a fortnight, 
 when everything that can be done at Boston will be at 
 tempted. 
 
 The affair of soliciting the settlement of Bishops among 
 us, is, I perceive, a matter of too great consequence and 
 difficulty for me to engage in singly. What I wrote so 
 hastily was rather expressive of my good will than of my set 
 tled thoughts. I soon after received a permission from the 
 Society, and an invitation from my friends to make a voyage 
 to England, which I hope to accomplish, by God s blessing, 
 this year. I shall gladly exert myself in promoting that 
 great national measure you speak of, as far as shall be 
 proper for me. And as the subject is of much importance, 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 285 
 
 I will write my thoughts to you with freedom and simplicity. 
 It is an affair that would be solicited by a layman with less 
 aversion and opposition than by a clergyman. And I believe 
 there can hardly be a properer person employed than Mr. 
 Johnson, whom I heartily wish well recovered of the small 
 pox. If he should engage in that service, I think his in 
 structions from hence ought to be of weight and authority. 
 If he was himself, in person, to collect the sense of the prin 
 cipal governments, not only of the clergy, but of the Gov 
 ernors and persons of property and character among the 
 laity, it might have a good effect. But I think the letters 
 you mention, signed by a few of the clergy in each province, 
 would be ineffectual. If the whole application both here 
 and in England was conducted with firmness, spirit and 
 dignity, I am apt to think it would succeed, as the Arch 
 bishop, and (it is said) the King himself approves of it. My 
 opinion is confirmed by an answer to Dr. May hew pub 
 lished in London last winter, and wrote with admirable 
 strength and temper. But this I suppose you have seen. 
 
 I know nothing of the article of news relating to Dr. 
 Tucker of Bristol ; nor do I think it is at all to be depended 
 on. 
 
 What I write on this subject is with the most entire con 
 fidence in your wisdom to suppress any thoughts which you 
 may not approve, and to accept my good intention. In this 
 view I transcribe the quotation I mentioned, on the opposite 
 page, and beg leave to declare myself, 
 
 Very respectfully, Reverend Sir, 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 EAST 
 
 1 Though the son of a wealthy merchant of Boston, he did not return to this coun 
 try again, but spent the remainder of his days in England, being first presented by 
 Archbishop Seeker to the Vicarage of Croydon. He was subsequently collated to 
 the Rectory of St. Mary-le-Bow in London, with other benefices annexed, and still 
 later became a Prebend in St. Paul s Cathedral. It is said he was actually offered 
 the Bishopric of Kildare, but having lost his sight, he was obliged to decline, and 
 finally retired to Cambridge among the scenes of his early education, for he was 
 an alumnus and fellow of Jesus College, "honored and loved not only in his im 
 mediate circle, but by many of the great and good beyond it." He died April 16, 
 1816, in the 85th year of his age. 
 
286 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE SMALL-POX IN NEW YORK ; DEATH OF HIS WIFE ; RESIGNA 
 TION OF THE PRESIDENCY AND RETIREMENT TO STRATFORD ; 
 CORRESPONDENCE WITH FRIENDS IN ENGLAND ; RE-APPOINT 
 MENT TO HIS FORMER MISSION ; ADDRESS TO THE BISHOP OF 
 LONDON ; THE STAMP ACT ; CONTINUED INTEREST IN THE COL 
 LEGE ; AND CLERICAL CONVENTION. 
 
 A. D. 1763-1766. 
 
 FOR some time it had been known that the disease 
 which Johnson so much dreaded was more or less prev 
 alent in town. He had not chosen to avail himself of 
 the stipulation made with the Governors that he 
 might retire into the country on its appearance, but 
 had remained at his post, and used additional cau 
 tion, to avoid the contagion. When the last Com 
 mencement was held (1762), he was carried to the 
 Chapel in a close carriage ; and in all the letters to 
 his son for the rest of the year, he expressed his 
 thankfulness to God for the continuance of good 
 health, and seemed to be cheered with the hope of 
 soon getting away from a situation of such peculiar 
 anxiety. He began to think of having accommoda 
 tions provided for him in Stratford, and his son, 
 writing to him in Christmas week, said, " If you de 
 termine absolutely to remove in the Spring you will 
 let me know by-and-by, whether I shall prepare to 
 enlarge my house, or endeavor to hire one for you, 
 if any should offer." 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 287 
 
 By this time the small-pox had appeared in several 
 dwellings near the College, and he and his wife were 
 obliged to keep as close as possible in the building, 
 and with this precaution they hoped to be safe. To 
 wards the end of January, however, Mrs. Johnson be 
 came very ill with what was thought to be only a 
 bad cold, but alas ! on the first day of February her 
 real disorder developed itself, which proved to be the 
 small-pox. She received the information with com 
 posure, and, from a tender regard for the welfare of 
 her husband, desired him to leave her with his prayers 
 in the hands of God, and withdraw to a place of less 
 danger. For two days he occupied a room in the 
 other end of the College building, and then his friends, 
 thinking him too much exposed, he retired three 
 miles distant to the country seat of Mr. Watts, and 
 there waited in painful suspense the result of his wife s 
 sickness. He had not long to wait, for on the llth 
 of February, overwhelmed with grief, he wrote to his 
 son, " The thing that I feared is come upon me, 
 God s will is done. Your good mother died on Wed 
 nesday evening, the 9th," and he added that they 
 were probably then " carrying her to her grave, to 
 lie by his own mother," under the Chancel of Trinity 
 Church. 
 
 This bereavement was a crushing blow to him, and 
 he resolved at once to resign the presidency of the 
 College and go into retirement. He tarried a fort 
 night longer at the country seat of his friend, wrote 
 his letter of resignation to the Governors, and then 
 committing his affairs to Mr. Cooper and a lay-gentle 
 man, " hired an able hand with a sleigh " to take him 
 to Stratford, where he arrived February 25, 1763. 
 
288 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 He was now in the 67th year of his age, blessed 
 with good health, but having natural infirmities which 
 called for a less anxious and active life. His con 
 nection with the College had been a sacrifice to him 
 in a pecuniary sense, and in resigning the charge of 
 it, he modestly hinted that he might be entitled to 
 some consideration for his many hardships and losses. 
 That it had not prospered more was not owing to any 
 fault of his, but to " providential misfortunes or to 
 the Governors themselves, in not providing a good 
 Grammar school ; for," said he, " till provision is 
 made both for a better classical and English educa 
 tion, the College can never flourish." 
 
 The following correspondence has a meaning that 
 is more than simply official : 
 
 NEW YORK, March 2, 1768. 
 
 REVEREND SIR, At the meeting of the Governors of 
 King s College yesterday, your letter addressed to them was 
 laid before them. They are sensibly touched with your late 
 misfortune, and the immediate occasion of your retiring ; 
 and that vein of benevolence, which runs through your letter, 
 could not but very much affect them. 
 
 I have the pleasure to be the instrument of returning 
 their thanks for your faithful service as President, and your 
 good offices for promoting the interest of the College hitherto, 
 and your affectionate wishes for the future prosperity of it, 
 gratefully accepting your kind offer of continuing your en 
 deavors on all occasions for the advancement of that good 
 work ; and they wish you health and happiness. 
 
 As for the rest, the Governors have resolved to take your 
 case into consideration at some future meeting. In the mean 
 time be assured that I am, 
 
 Reverend Sir, your very affectionate friend and 
 very humble servant, 
 
 DANIEL HORSMANDEN. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 289 
 
 Answer : 
 
 March 30. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, I very humbly thank you for your kind 
 answer to my letter to you, communicated to me by the 
 Honorable Judge Horsmanden, and for your affectionate 
 sympathy with me under my truly compassionable circum 
 stances ; and that you take in so good part my past faithful 
 endeavors to serve you, and my persevering solicitude for the 
 prosperity of the College. This, I trust, is a pleasing pre 
 lude to that friendship which I hope will always subsist be 
 tween the Corporation and me, and a further engagement to 
 any good offices in my power for the furtherance of its 
 wants. 
 
 I am particularly thankful, gentlemen, for your kind reso 
 lution in my favor, to take my present depressed condition 
 into your benevolent consideration at some future meeting, 
 and shall gratefully acknowledge whatever kind dispositions 
 you shall at any time express towards me. With my con 
 tinued fervent wishes for the prosperity of you and yours, and 
 that dear College, 
 
 I remain, Gentlemen, with great regard, 
 
 Your most affectionate friend and obed t humble serv t, 
 
 S. J. 
 
 It was a time of war during the whole of his Presi 
 dency, and the expenses of living in town had been 
 so much greater than was expected, that the Gover 
 nors could not well refuse a gratuity, and finally voted 
 to settle upon him a pension of fifty pounds per an 
 num. This was secured chiefly through the influence 
 of the Rev. Mr. Auchmuty, who did not think it 
 enough, but was glad to have some recognition of the 
 sacrifices and self-denials of his venerable friend. 
 
 Johnson was resolved not to be idle in his retire 
 ment. His son " built him an elegant apartment," 
 attached to his own mansion, where, surrounded with 
 
 19 
 
290 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 his books and his grandchildren, he devoted himself 
 to quiet study and was happy in the enjoyment of his 
 domestic privileges. His literary and theological cor 
 respondence was not slackened but rather increased ; 
 and the introduction of the works of good authors 
 into this country continued to be an object near his 
 heart. A letter of his to the Rev. Mr. Home of Ox 
 ford, from which an extract was given in the previous 
 chapter, brought forth a reply which must have 
 reached him in the freshness of his sorrow for the 
 death of his wife. 
 
 REVEREND SIR, I am greatly obliged to you for the 
 good opinion you are pleased to entertain of me and any trifle 
 I have published ; and rejoice to have an opportunity of 
 recommending a work of real merit and solidity on the sub 
 ject of the sacred philosophy, by my learned friend Mr. Jones, 
 who is proceeding on the same plan, with ability and erudi 
 tion adequate to the work, as fast as his health will permit 
 him. Dr. Patten s controversy with Heathcote, some time 
 since at an end, I presume hath found its way to New York. 
 The Doctor hath published nothing more except an excellent 
 sermon on " Natural Religion." Dr. Newton, Bishop of 
 Bristol, hath lately put forth an admirable work on the 
 " Prophecies," in three vols. octavo. I expect Dr. Jay every 
 minute, to whom I shall deliver this with a letter from Mr. 
 Berkeley ; and am with best wishes and prayers for the pros 
 perity of King s College and the worthy President thereof, 
 Reverend Sir, your most affectionate servant, 
 
 G. HORNE. 
 MAGD. COLL., November 29, 1762. 
 
 Answer : 
 
 STRATFORD, IN CONN., N. E., June l. 
 
 REVEREND AND WORTHY SIR, I am very much obliged 
 to you for your most kind letter of November 29, and the very 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 291 
 
 excellent things that accompanied it, which are all entirely to 
 my mind, and I want words to express my gratitude for them. 
 Mr. Jones s Essay is exactly such a thing as I have long 
 wished to see, and I am the more pleased with it as coming 
 from the author of the " Catholic Doctrine of the Trinity," 
 which I had before been highly pleased with. These are in 
 deed the true primitive original philosophy and divinity of 
 the Holy Scriptures, made evident and intelligible. You 
 will please to give him my compliments and thanks for these 
 good works, which I shall earnestly recommend to our book 
 sellers to have always by them, and to my College to be al 
 ways there taught and inculcated, where your state of the 
 case has already been of good use. I earnestly pray God 
 to give Mr. Jones life and health to finish what he designs ; 
 and to you also, good Sir, as well as Dr. Patten, that you 
 may go on to bless the world with your most useful writ 
 ings, that this unholy age may if possible be reclaimed from 
 its apostatising turn. I had received from Mr. Cooper a high 
 notion of Dr. Morton and ordered my bookseller to procure it, 
 and grow impatient till it comes. 
 
 It is of vast importance to us at this distance .to have 
 good authors pointed out to us by good judges. I shall 
 therefore be highly obliged to you, if you will be so kind 
 as to communicate to me and my successor such as at any 
 time excel ; and indeed it would be happy for us if really 
 good authors could be induced from time to time to present 
 our Library with their productions in every kind. 
 
 I date, you see, Sir, from this place, whither I am retired 
 to spend with my only and most tender and dutiful son the 
 little declining remainder of my time, being near sixty-seven, 
 and wanting retirement, though, thank God, in perfect health 
 except somewhat paralytic. I did not indeed intend quite so 
 soon to leave the College, but so it pleased God. I was sud 
 denly driven from it by the small-pox breaking out in my 
 family and depriving me of the dear partner of my life. But 
 I hope it will immediately be well governed and instructed by 
 Mr. Cooper, who is well esteemed and appears to be an in- 
 
292 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 genious, industrious, and prudent young gentleman. I have 
 still the same care for it as ever so far as can be at this 
 distance about seventy miles, the post weekly passing, 
 and I hope now and then to visit it. If you do me the 
 favor to write again, please direct to me here, to the care 
 of the Rev. Mr. Auchmuty of New York. 
 I am, Reverend and dear Sir, with great esteem and regard, 
 Your most obliged and affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 S. J. 
 
 He wrote to Dr. Burton, the Secretary of the So 
 ciety, in the autumn of 1763, to express his thanks 
 for the proposition to transfer Mr. Winslow to a Mis 
 sion near his friends in Boston, that he might him 
 self be reappointed to Stratford. He had not had 
 much thought of doing more in his advanced years 
 than to direct the theological studies of a few young 
 candidates for Holy Orders, and send them with com 
 mendatory letters to England. But this opportunity 
 of resuming parochial duty was too attractive to be 
 disregarded. It met with favor from Mr. Winslow, 
 who for many reasons was desirous of a change. " I 
 have communicated the proposal to him," said Johnson, 
 " which he was fond of, as it would place him near 
 his friends. He had indeed had thoughts of it before, 
 but some of his friends had discouraged him about it. 
 However, upon this offer of it, he is now thinking in 
 earnest about it and is treating with the Wardens and 
 Vestry of Braintree, to see whether it may prove to 
 his advantage, and he will soon let the Society know 
 whether he accepts, as I am apt to believe he will." 
 
 Mr. Winslow s name was suggested at one time as 
 a suitable person to take the Rectorship of Trinity 
 Church, New York ; and the son of Dr. Johnson, 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 293 
 
 writing April 9, 1764, from that city, whither he had 
 gone to be inoculated for the small-pox, said to his 
 father, " Good Dr. Barclay made me a visit yesterday 
 though he was but illy able to get up-stairs ; he has 
 had a bad week of it. He returns his affectionate 
 compliments to you, but is at present by no means fit 
 to undertake such a journey as you propose, as he 
 cannot ride above three or four miles in a day, and 
 durst by no means be out of the way of his physicians. 
 The Doctor s illness has occasioned the Church to 
 think of looking out for another clergyman. Mr. 
 Auchmuty has desired my opinion of Mr. Winslow, 
 whom I have recommended as the best preacher I 
 know of, but as I have not his liberty to mention 
 it, 1 must beg you will say nothing of it at present, 
 and perhaps he will write to you himself on the sub- 
 ject." 
 
 Letters were addressed afterwards directly to Mr. 
 Winslow, but he seems not to have favored a settle 
 ment in New York, for he was shortly transferred to 
 Braintree, and the venerable Doctor took his place 
 and returned to pastoral work among a people who 
 had not forgotten his fidelity, though for ten years 
 they had only heard his voice occasionally. With the 
 assistance of a student at times in reading the service, 
 he found little difficulty in fulfilling his duties, and 
 his residence in the Colony again became a tower of 
 strength to the Church in Connecticut. 
 
 The following letter to the Archbishop of Canter 
 bury, in answer to one which appears in the previous 
 chapter, shows how earnest he was at this juncture 
 for the complete establishment of the Church in 
 America : 
 
294 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 September 20, 1764. 
 
 It grieves me that your Grace must be so persecuted with 
 that tormenting distemper for which nothing can atone, but 
 what were good Bishop Berkeley s opinion and hopes, that it 
 might prevent more fatal maladies in the decline of life, and 
 tend to lengthen one s days. This I do at least earnestly 
 pray may be the happy event with respect to your Grace s 
 precious life, which is of so much importance to the present 
 age. 
 
 I was almost overjoyed after our feeble efforts here to 
 find one, who I did not doubt was the ablest hand in the 
 kingdom, had condescended to undertake our mighty giant, 
 and in the opinion of our people had utterly disarmed him ; 
 iior had any of the Dissenters, that I can hear of, a word to 
 say, except Mayhew himself, who, upon its being immedi 
 ately reprinted here, directly advertised an answer preparing, 
 contrary to the advice of his best friends. I had it from a 
 good hand that a man of the best sense among them told 
 him he was completely answered, and advised him by no 
 means to attempt a reply. But undaunted, he would not 
 be dissuaded, and in a few days published it ; but I am told, 
 in a letter from Boston, that " to his mortification very lit 
 tle is said about it." .... In a word, I am verily persuaded 
 it will do much the most good here as well as at home of 
 anything that has yet been published. It is doubtless now 
 in your hands, and you are the fittest judge whether any re 
 ply is necessary. 
 
 Neither had I, my Lord, ever heard of the case of Mr. 
 Price and Barret, in which there might be too much truth, 
 as I remember Mr. Price was too intemperate for the sake 
 of his farm, in his endeavors to propagate the Church there. 
 
 I beg your Grace s pardon that I seemed perhaps a little 
 too impatient in my last with regard to the settling Episco 
 pacy in these countries, where I know that all the Church 
 people (except a few lukewarm persons and free-thinking 
 pretenders to it, and sometimes attendants on it, but are 
 really enemies to any establishment) are very desirous of it ; 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 295 
 
 and that all moderate Dissenters, who, I believe, are the 
 most numerous in the whole, and who know what is really 
 designed, have little or no objection to it ; and that the 
 number of such bitter zealots against it is comparatively 
 few, and chiefly in these two governments, either such loose 
 thinkers as Mayhew, who can scarcely be accounted better 
 Christians than the Turks, or such furious bitter Calvin- 
 istical enthusiasts as are really no more friends to monarchy 
 than Episcopacy ; and against people of both these sorts 
 Episcopacy is really necessary towards the better securing 
 our dependence, as well as many other good political pur 
 poses. 
 
 Your Grace s quiet, private, and conciliating method, is 
 doubtless best if the point can be gained, as it ought to 
 be, in that way ; but as I knew of no steps taken or like to 
 be, and as your Grace was so infirm, I was afraid nothing 
 would be done without some general and strong solicitations 
 from hence, without which indeed I feared the ministry would 
 hardly think anything about it themselves, or that we were 
 at all solicitous for it here. I am therefore greatly rejoiced 
 that something is doing, that the two chiefs of the separation 
 have no objection to it, and that your Grace is assisted by 
 two such great, worthy, and active gentlemen as the Arch 
 bishop of York and the Bishop of London ; and that they 
 have so good an interest ; and that so great a minister as 
 the Duke of Bedford has given so favorable attention to it 
 and promised to promote it. These are very hopeful begin 
 nings, and from these, together with the other considera 
 tions your Grace mentions, it should seem scarce possible 
 that it should miscarry ; so that I hope our first news in 
 the spring will be that it is done, and that our governments 
 all depend immediately on the Crown. May God Almighty 
 grant a happy success to your Grace s faithful endeavors 
 that his Church here may at length at this crisis be provided 
 with worthy Bishops, without which, according to the origi 
 nal constitution of the Church (in my humble opinion), no 
 Church can be perfect ; which if it should please God to grant, 
 
296 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 I could then cheerfully sing my nunc dimittis ! but if He 
 should not, the best thing that could be done would be to 
 go into Dr. Smith s proposal, which we have long wished 
 for. 
 
 The reason for not increasing missions here might be al 
 lowed good at this juncture; the young men 1 are safe re 
 turned, and will doubtless be very useful. I hope Mr. Jarvis 
 may do tolerably for several years, as his people are much 
 more able. But Mr. Hubbard must in two or three years 
 be otherwise provided for, if the Society cannot help Guil- 
 ford, which for the reasons I mentioned to your Grace, I 
 earnestly hope they may by that time safely do. 
 
 What hindered good Dr. Barclay from mentioning the two 
 things your Grace tells me he neglected, I am not able to 
 say, unless it was the great infirmity he then began to labor 
 under, which soon disabled him for public duty, and last 
 month put a period to his very valuable life, to the inexpres 
 sible grief of his church, and indeed all the churches. The 
 worthy and faithful Mr. S. Auchmuty was soon unanimously 
 chosen in his place, and one Mr. Inglis in his, whom I know 
 not, but I have good reason to think that Mr. Auchmuty will 
 prove a worthy incumbent, and I wish for the honor of the 
 Church and his station, that being of nigh twenty years stand 
 ing of our Cambridge, he might also succeed the Doctor in 
 his degree. As to Mr. Caner, he was bred and graduated at 
 our New Haven College, but was also created M. A. at Ox 
 ford, March 3, 1735, on the recommendation of Archbishop 
 Potter ; and Mr. Chandler of the same College proceeded 
 M. A. in 1748, and had a diploma from Oxford, June 4, 
 1753, I believe, by your Grace s influence. And now I am 
 upon the subject of degrees, 2 as I can t but retain a great af 
 fection for Oxon. and am desirous of continuing my connection 
 with it, will your Grace forgive me if I mention my only son, 
 who is a lawyer, for whom I am desirous of a Doctor s degree 
 
 1 Rev. Abraham Jarvis, afterwards Bishop of Connecticut, and Rev. Bela Hub- 
 bard, for forty-five years Rector of Trinity Church, New Haven. 
 * Those for which Johnson asked in this letter were all conferred in 1706. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 297 
 
 in that faculty ? His name is Wm. Samuel. He is M. A. of 
 seventeen years standing in both our Colleges, and after a 
 laborious study of the law he has been above ten years in the 
 practice of it to good acceptance, and is studious in Divinity 
 as well as in Law, and much engaged in the interest of the 
 Church and true religion. He is well known to the bearer, 
 Mr. Harison, from whom your Grace may have a further ac 
 count of him if you think it needful. Mr. Apthorp s affairs 
 suddenly calling him home, I beg your Grace s particular re 
 gard to him as a very worthy young gentleman. As I con 
 tinue to pray earnestly for your Grace s health and long life, 
 I humbly beg the continuance of your prayers and blessing 
 in behalf of, etc.. S. J. 
 
 The hope of obtaining Bishops, which now appeared 
 so bright, was not realized. The ministry disappointed 
 all the friends of the measure by neglecting the case 
 of the Church and directing attention wholly to the 
 civil affairs of the Colonies. Great confusions and 
 tumults soon after followed both here and at home in 
 consequence of the passage of the Stamp-act, and ad 
 vantage was taken of this state of things to raise a 
 fresh clamor against the establishment of Bishops in 
 America. It was claimed that nineteen twentieths of 
 the American people utterly opposed the scheme, and 
 no correction of such a statement was ever accepted 
 by the ministry. Dr. Johnson and the clergy of Con 
 necticut sent congratulatory addresses to Bishop Ter- 
 rick on his advancement to the See of London, and 
 a correspondence ensued which must have opened 
 his eyes, though he was powerless to effect a reform. 
 Johnson wrote to him as follows : 
 
 July 15, 1765. 
 I take this opportunity with the utmost gratitude to ac- 
 
298 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 knowledge your Lordship s most kind and condescending 
 letters of February 22, both to the clergy and me, theirs 
 I sent to them at their Convention, which I could not at 
 tend by reason of the distance and badness of the roads, 
 and I hear they have also most graciously acknowledged it 
 in a joint letter to your Lordship. I am glad your Lord 
 ship is pleased with the worthy Mr. Harison s account of 
 the clergy in this Colony, which I hope they will be more 
 emulous to deserve. 
 
 It is, my Lord, a kind condescension that you are pleased 
 to desire of me an account of the state of religion in these 
 parts of the world. It is with much difficulty that I write, 
 having a trembling hand, and therefore I can be but brief. 
 
 The true state of religion in America, with respect to the 
 several denominations, is this : The Independents or Con- 
 gregationalists, as they call themselves here in New England, 
 especially in the Massachusetts and Connecticut Colonies, 
 without any regard to the king s supremacy in matters of re 
 ligion, have got themselves established by law and are pleased 
 to consider us as Dissenters, but are miserably harassed with 
 controversies among themselves, at the same time that they 
 write against the Church. One great cause of their quarrels 
 is the Arminian, Calvinistical, Antinomian and enthusiastical 
 controversies which run high among them and create great 
 feuds and schisms ; and these occasion the great increase of 
 the Church, at which they also are enraged, though them 
 selves are the chief cause of it. 
 
 As to the Presbyterians, my Lord, they chiefly obtain in 
 the Southwestern Colonies, and have flourishing presbyteries 
 and synods, especially in New York, New Jersey, and Penn 
 sylvania, in their full vigor ; while in all these parts the 
 poor Church is in a low, depressed, and very imperfect state 
 for want of her pure primitive Episcopal form of govern 
 ment. We do not, my Lord, envy our neighbors, nor in the 
 least desire to disquiet them in their several ways. We only 
 desire to be upon at least as good a foot as they, and as per 
 fect in our kind as they in theirs ; and this we think we have 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 299 
 
 a right to, both as the Episcopal form was the only form of 
 government at first universally established by the Apostles, 
 and is the primitive form established by law in our mother 
 country ; and therefore cannot but think ourselves extremely 
 injured in not being provided for, and in a state little short 
 of persecution in our candidates being forced, at a great ex 
 pense of both lives and fortune, to go a thousand leagues 
 for every ordination, as well as destitute of Confirmation and 
 a regular government. So that unless we can have Bishops, 
 especially at this juncture, the Church, and with it the in 
 terest of true religion, must dwindle ; while we suffer the 
 contempt and triumph of our neighbors under this neglect, 
 who plume themselves with the hope that the Episcopate 
 is more likely (as from the lukewarmness and indifference 
 of this miserably apostatizing age they have too much reason 
 to do) to be abolished at home, than established abroad. 
 And indeed, my Lord, they are vain enough to think the 
 civil government at home is itself really better affected to 
 them than to the Church ; and even disaffected to it ; other 
 wise it would establish Episcopacy here as it is there. Pudet 
 hcec opprobria commemorare. 
 
 I humbly thank your Lordship for saying so much in our 
 behalf in your excellent sermon before the Society. Would 
 to God a due notice might be taken of it ; I do also most 
 humbly thank you for your kind prayers and blessing, and 
 beg the continuance of them ; nor shall I cease to pray ear 
 nestly for the long continuance of your Lordship s very im 
 portant life and health, being truly, my Lord, with great 
 veneration, etc., S. J. 
 
 The Stamp-act threw the country into such a fer 
 ment and the opposition to its enforcement was so 
 great that steps were early taken to procure its re 
 peal. A Congress of the Colonies met at New York, 
 and tiie son of Dr. Johnson was chosen to represent 
 Connecticut in that body, and drew up the remon- 
 
300 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 strance to the King and Parliament against the meas 
 ure, asserting taxation by themselves and trial by 
 jury as among the inherent privileges of the subjects 
 of the British realm in all her dependencies. The 
 President of the Congress Ruggles of Massachu 
 setts would not sign the document ; and James Otis, 
 a colleague of his, writing to Johnson after reaching 
 his home in Boston, spoke of the attempt of the Mas 
 sachusetts Assembly to censure him for his refusal, 
 which he himself prevented, and then added : " The 
 people of this Province, however, will never forgive 
 him. We are much surprised at the violent pro 
 ceedings at New York, as there has been so much 
 time for people to cool, and the outrages on private 
 property are so generally detested. By a vessel from 
 South Carolina we learn that the people were in a 
 tumult at Charleston and terrible consequences ap 
 prehended. God knows what all these things will 
 end in, and to Him they must be submitted. In the 
 mean time tis much to be feared the Parliament will 
 charge the Colonies with presenting petitions in one 
 hand and a dagger in the other." 
 
 The Stamp- act was repealed just one year after its 
 passage, and the venerable Missionary, who from his 
 retirement in Stratford had looked with sorrow on 
 the public discontents, was once more hopeful that 
 the establishment of Bishops in this country might 
 receive the attention of the ministry. He had not 
 ceased to be interested in the College at New York, 
 and Mr. Cooper, his successor in the Presidency, had 
 been in the habit of spending more or less of his 
 vacations with him, that they might consult together 
 
 1 MS. Letter to Wm. S. Johnson, November 12, 1765. 
 
OP SAMUEL JOHNSON. 301 
 
 and devise good things for its welfare. He paid a 
 visit to New York in May, 1766, and was present at 
 the annual Commencement held on the 20th of that 
 month in Trinity Church. It afforded him unspeak 
 able satisfaction to find the College in a prosperous 
 condition, and the graduating class the largest hith 
 erto sent forth. 
 
 But there was another matter which interested him 
 at the time quite as much as that of education. The 
 day after the Commencement, fourteen clergymen, 
 two from Connecticut and the rest from the provinces 
 of New York and New Jersey, held a Convention at 
 which Johnson presided and Dr. Auchmuty preached 
 a sermon. The most important business transacted 
 was the adoption of an address to the Society on the 
 extreme hardships the Church in America labored un 
 der for want of Bishops. It added to the moral force 
 of the address that two young men, Mr. Giles of New 
 York, and Mr. Wilson of Philadelphia, who had been to 
 England for Holy Orders, had just been lost on their 
 return in a ship that was dashed to pieces near Cape 
 Henlopen. These made ten, whose precious lives 
 sickness or the sea claimed, out of fifty-one who had 
 gone from this country for ordination in a little more 
 than forty years. It was an awful sacrifice for the 
 sake of the Church, and they implored that it might 
 be ended. " It is a greater loss," said Johnson, " to 
 the Church here in proportion than she suffered in 
 the times of Popish persecution in England." 
 
 While the clergy were holding this Convention, a 
 Synod of about sixty Presbyterians met at New York 
 with the design, it was said, of asking the General 
 Assembly of Scotland to apply to the Parliament of 
 
302 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Great Britain for an act of incorporation in their be 
 half. Reference was made to this Synod in communi 
 cating the address of the clergy, and a letter from the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, which is among the last, 
 if not the very last that he wrote to his venerated 
 friend, met the considerations urged then and previ 
 ously, and touched upon another point of great im 
 portance : 
 
 LAMBETH, July 31, 1766. 
 
 GOOD DR. JOHNSON, I am much ashamed, that I have 
 delayed so long to answer your letters, and still more grieved 
 that I cannot do it now to my own satisfaction or yours. It 
 is very probable, that a Bishop or Bishops would have been 
 quietly received in America before the Stamp-act was passed 
 here. But it is certain, that we could get no permission here 
 to send one. Earnest and continued endeavors have been 
 used with our successive ministers, but without obtaining 
 more than promises to consider and confer about the mat 
 ter ; which promises have never been fulfilled. The King 
 hath expressed himself repeatedly in favor of the scheme ; 
 and hath proposed, that if objections are imagined to lie 
 against other places, a Protestant Bishop should be sent to 
 Quebec, where there is a Popish one, and where there are 
 few Dissenters to take offence. And in the latter end of 
 Mr. Grenville s ministry, a plan of an ecclesiastical estab 
 lishment for Canada was formed, on which a Bishop might 
 easily have been grafted, and was laid before a Committee 
 of Council. But opinions differed there ; and proper per 
 sons could not be persuaded to attend ; and in a while the 
 ministry changed. Incessant opposition was made to the 
 new ministry ; some slight hopes were given, but no one 
 step taken. Yesterday the ministry was changed again, as 
 you may see by the papers ; but whether any change will 
 happen in our concern, and whether for the better or the 
 worse, I cannot so much as guess. Of late indeed it hath 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 303 
 
 not been prudent to do anything unless at Quebec. And 
 therefore the Address from the clergy of Connecticut, which 
 arrived here in December last, and that from the clergy of 
 New York and New Jersey, which arrived in January, have 
 not been presented to the King. But he hath been ac 
 quainted with the purport of them, and directed them to 
 be postponed to a fitter time. In the mean while, I wish 
 the Bishop of London would take out a patent like Bishop 
 Gibson s, only somewhat improved. For then he might ap 
 point commissaries ; and we might set up corresponding 
 societies, as we have for some time intended, with those 
 commissaries at their head. He appears unwilling, but I 
 hope may be at length persuaded to it. 
 
 Requests have been made to me and other Bishops, first 
 for countenance, then for contributions to Mr. Wheelock s 
 Indian school. My answer was that we heartily wished suc 
 cess to it; and intended to set up one not in opposition, 
 but in imitation of it ; that we hoped the Dissenters would 
 sufficiently support Mr. Wheelock s undertaking ; but could 
 not hope that they would contribute anything to a similar 
 one of ours ; and therefore it seemed requisite, that Church 
 men should do their best for ours ; though if any would be 
 kind to theirs also, we should not blame them. They seemed 
 pretty well satisfied. My first notion was, that we might 
 maintain Indian boys at Mr. Wheelock s school, who should 
 afterwards take Episcopal Orders. But Mr. Apthorp was 
 clearly of opinion, that they would all disappoint our ex 
 pectations in that respect. Now if only most, or many of 
 them would, it will be absolutely necessary, that we should 
 set up an Episcopal Indian school ; else we shall both neglect 
 our duty and lose our reputation. But we shall need the 
 best advice of our friends, in what place or places, and un 
 der what masters and regulations, it will be most proper to 
 attempt this. And the sooner, we have such advice the 
 better ; for the distance between the Society and the scene 
 of their business is extremely inconvenient. Mr. Barton of 
 Lancaster hath conversed on this subject with Sir William 
 
304 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Johnson, who hath desired to be proposed for a member 
 of our Society, and earnestly recommends the Indians to our 
 care at present. We have sent to ask further information 
 from both these gentlemen ; and shall be glad of it from all 
 who are capable of giving it. 
 
 I have mentioned our late and former losses of mission 
 aries to the King, as one argument for Bishops. He is thor 
 oughly sensible, that the Episcopalians are his best friends in 
 America. There seems no likelihood that the Scotch Pres 
 byterians will obtain any further privileges from our Parlia 
 ment for their American brethren. Nor do I think there is 
 any considerable increase of vehemence against Episcopacy 
 here. Declaimers in newspapers are not much to be minded ; 
 nor a few hot-headed men of higher rank. I entreat you 
 to write often and fully to me concerning all the Church 
 affairs of America. I have not indeed been tolerably reg 
 ular in my returns to your letters. Gout and business, and 
 principally the delusive hope that a little time would pro 
 duce good news, have hindered me. I will endeavor to do 
 better, if God spares my life. But at least your informa 
 tions and advice will be always highly acceptable and use 
 ful to Your loving brother, 
 
 THO. CANT. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 305 
 
 CHAPTER XIH. 
 
 REVIEW OF HUTCHINSON S PHILOSOPHY ; STUDY OF HEBREW 
 AND PUBLICATION OF GRAMMAR ; INDIAN SCHOOL ; DEPART 
 URE OF HIS SON FOR ENGLAND ; CHANDLER S APPEAL ; COR 
 RESPONDENCE WITH HIS SON; ENGLISH ANCESTRY; AND DEATH 
 OF ARCHBISHOP SECKER. 
 
 A. D. 1766-1768. 
 
 THE nest of Hutchinsonians, which his younger son 
 found at Oxford in 1756, 1 was by this time well-nigh 
 broken up ; but he had neither relinquished their phi 
 losophy, nor ceased to read their books. He found 
 leisure in his retirement to review the studies of for 
 mer years, and reexamine the conclusions which he 
 had reached on philosophical and theological subjects. 
 It gratified him that he was under no necessity of es 
 sentially changing his opinions; and while he could 
 not approve the tendency towards extremes in some 
 things, he still leaned to the side of Hutchinson in 
 the controversy which arose upon his writings, and 
 generally accepted them as teaching the truth. He 
 thought he saw in the respectable scholars at Oxford 2 
 
 1 Mr. Berkeley, "the very worthy son of his great father, introduced us to a 
 very valuable set of Fellows of several of the Colleges, Hutchinsonians, and truly 
 primitive Christians, who yet revere the memory of King Charles and Archbishop 
 Laud; and despise preferments and honors when the way to them is Heresy and 
 Deism." MS. Letter of Wm. Johnson, May 25, 1756. 
 
 2 " I am sorry to find that the Bishop of Oxford [Dr. Lowth] is not a very good 
 friend to Dr. Home, but you will readily suppose that the Hutchinsonians are not 
 out of countenance when you see Home is head of Magdalen, and Wetherell of Uni 
 versity College, Jones in a good living, and Berkeley with two, and in the high 
 road to preferment by the patronage of his Grace." MS. Letter of Wm. Sam l 
 Johnson, March 15, 1768 
 
 20 
 
306 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 who favored that author s views, an earnest effort for 
 the revival of Hebrew literature, and as this was a 
 branch of study upon which he prided himself, he 
 was glad of anything in the shape of new light, to 
 guide his inquiries and help to a proper understand 
 ing of the original tongue. 
 
 It was about this time, or a little earlier, that he 
 composed a small English Grammar for use in con 
 ducting the preliminary education of his two grand 
 sons, and having revised his Catechism hitherto issued, 
 he published them both together, in the hope that 
 they might serve a good purpose to others. 
 
 But the study of Hebrew was the chief delight of 
 his quiet hours. For many years he had entertained 
 a strong opinion that as this was " the first language 
 taught by God himself to mankind, and was really the 
 mother and fountain of all language and eloquence, 
 so in teaching, it would be, on many accounts, vastly 
 advantageous to begin a learned education with that 
 language," which lends to all others and borrows from 
 none. He set himself, therefore, to the preparation 
 of a Hebrew Grammar to go side by side with his 
 English Grammar ; the structure of the two lan 
 guages bearing in his view a close resemblance. 
 While engaged in this work, a new Hebrew Lexicon, 
 by the Rev. John Parkhurst, was sent to him, and 
 the value which he attached to this publication is best 
 Been by quoting the letter which he addressed to the 
 author from 
 
 STRATFORD, CONN., N. E. 
 
 REV. SIR, I humbly hope your candor and goodness will 
 pardon the assurance and liberty that so obscure, remote, and 
 unknown a person as I am, takes to address you in tlu s man- 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 307 
 
 ner ; as it proceeds from a well-meant zeal to promote the in 
 terest of religion and learning, and especially the study of 
 the Hebrew Scriptures in this my native country. I labored 
 for ten years in founding a College in New York, and I hope 
 with good success ; but it growing too tedious for my years, 
 I have lately retired hither into a delightful country parish, 
 where I had before served the Society for Propagating the 
 Gospel for above thirty years. And having great health and 
 leisure (thank God), I am still pursuing the same design of 
 promoting the study of the Hebrew Scriptures, to which but 
 very few here are addicted, and I could think of no better 
 project than to get the Grammar of it studied with a Gram 
 mar of our own excellent language as the best introduction 
 to what is called a learned education. 
 
 While I was pursuing this design, I was most agreeably 
 surprised with your admirable " Lexicon," calculated in the 
 best manner to promote my favorite views ; and I take this 
 opportunity to offer you my most hearty thanks for th?t 
 excellent work which I hope will be a very great blessing to 
 this as well as to our mother country. And since I must 
 send my little performance home to be printed, as we have 
 no types here, I humbly take the liberty to beg the favor of 
 you to take the trouble of perusing it, and if you judge it 
 may be of any good use to the purpose I aim at, to correct 
 whatever mistakes I have made in it, and to recommend it 
 to your printer to print it. The bearer hereof is Mr. Giles 
 (who has transcribed it for the press). He goes well recom 
 mended by the clergy here to ray Lord of London and his 
 Grace and the Society for Holy Orders and a mission, and is 
 very desirous of being a factor for the sale of as many as we 
 can get of your t; Lexicon" and this Grammar, in these parts 
 of the world. I am, Reverend Sir, etc., 
 
 S. J. 
 
 The work was printed by W. Faden, London, in 
 1767, and four years afterwards a second edition of 
 it, " corrected and much amended," was published by 
 
308 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 the same bookseller, with the title, " An English and 
 Hebrew Grammar, being the First short Rudiments 
 of those two Languages, taught together/ Its re 
 ceipt was acknowledged with approbation by Robert 
 Lowth, then Bishop of Oxford, a scholar whose " Prse- 
 lections on Hebrew Poetry " interested Johnson, and 
 gave him a high opinion of their author as introduc 
 ing a new era in sacred literature. The publication 
 was remarkable for its simplicit}^ and attracted the 
 attention of several men of letters. He had been 
 known before as one of the best Hebrew scholars in 
 the country, and when Dr. Kennicott undertook to 
 collate all the Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testa 
 ment, in England and other parts of Europe, he sent 
 an inquiry to Johnson through Franklin, who was 
 then in London ; and he, in communicating it, said, 
 " I have but little expectation that any ancient He 
 brew manuscripts of the Bible may be found in Amer 
 ica ; but if such have possibly strayed thither, I think 
 you, who are so well skilled in that language, are most 
 likely to know of them/ 
 
 The General Assembly of Connecticut, at the May 
 Session, 1766, " Upon the memorial of the Rev. Elea- 
 zar Wheelock," revived a brief throughout the Col 
 ony, for the support and encouragement of the Indian 
 Charity-school under his care at Lebanon. Printed 
 copies of the act were delivered to the several min 
 isters of the Gospel, who were directed to read the 
 same to their congregations and fix a time for con 
 tributions. Johnson, who had always felt a compassion 
 for the poor Indians, and tried, on various occasions, 
 to make God s way known among them, showed his 
 Christian and catholic spirit when, upon publishing 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 309 
 
 the brief to his people, he urged them to contribute 
 cheerfully and generously to promote so good a work. 
 " If any," said he, " are reluctant because Mr. Whee- 
 lock is not of our communion, we should remember 
 St. Paul s blessed temper which he expresses on the 
 like occasion, whether the Gospel be preached of 
 envy or of good will I therein do rejoice, yea and 
 will rejoice ; and this we may the rather do as this 
 gentleman seems to express a truly Christian temper. 
 And he has certainly fallen upon the right method for 
 converting the heathen, by civilizing their children and 
 teaching them husbandry, and the arts and manufac 
 tures, while he teaches them Christianity. I hope, 
 therefore, you will liberally promote this good work, 
 according to your ability, by coming prepared next 
 Lord s day after service, to make your offerings to that 
 purpose." 
 
 In acknowledging the " generous contribution," 
 Mr. Wheelock was pleased to compliment him for his 
 English Grammar and Catechism, and was so im 
 pressed with the value of the latter that he proposed 
 to the author a slight change in the answer to one 
 question, which, if he would make, he promised to 
 use his influence to have the whole reprinted for the 
 benefit of children, particularly in the Indian schools. 
 The change involved a nice doctrinal point, having 
 reference to a new heart and a new life. 
 
 Dr. Johnson agreed with Archbishop Seeker in the 
 opinion that the Society should establish an Episcopal 
 Indian school, and thought that with a Bishop placed 
 at Albany or Schenectady, such a one might be car 
 ried on under his eye and direction vastly to the 
 credit and reputation of the Church. He even wrote 
 
310 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 to Sir William Johnson, Bart., the British agent for 
 Indian affairs in New York, who was a Churchman 
 and a member of the Society, to consult him about the 
 best place in which to set up a school after the general 
 plan of Mr. Wheelock, 1 but his suggestion was event 
 ually overlooked in the consideration of other things. 
 The Colony of Connecticut was deeply interested 
 in the title to a large tract of land, which one Mason 
 had raised a dispute about in behalf of the Mohegan 
 Indians. Twice it had been determined here in the 
 Colony s favor by disinterested Commissioners, acting 
 under the appointment of the King and Council ; but 
 still the great question was unsettled ; and Dr. Wil 
 liam Samuel Johnson was selected as a special agent 
 to the Court of Great Britain to manage the case and 
 bring it to a righteous conclusion. " I know not," said 
 the father in a note introducing him to Archbishop 
 Seeker, " by what fate it is, but quite contrary to all 
 my expectations, the people of this Colony, notwith 
 standing their aversion to the Church, have chosen 
 my son a member of their Council, and appointed him 
 their agent to defend them in a cause of great im 
 portance before the King and Council." He departed 
 from New York the day before Christmas, 1766, and 
 arrived in Falmouth harbor on the 30th of January. 
 The letters which he carried with him gave him ac 
 cess to the highest dignitaries of the Church, as well 
 as to the highest officials in the Government, and he 
 used his pen freely in communicating to his father 
 whatever he saw and heard that might interest him 
 personally, or tend to affect the progress of Christian- 
 
 1 The Indian Charity-school at Lebanon was incorporated with Dartmouth Col 
 lege, New Hampshire, in 1771, and Dr. Wheelock made President. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 311 
 
 ity and the welfare of America. " Yesterda} ," said he 
 in his first letter to him after reaching London, "I 
 went to Lambeth, and was introduced to his Grace, 
 and happily met there the Bishops of London and 
 Bristol. The Archbishop received me very kindly and 
 inquired very kindly as well as minutely after your 
 health. He assured me he would, if possible, attend 
 the hearing of the Mohegan cause when it should 
 come on, and hoped to find it as just as I had repre 
 sented it." 
 
 The next letter mentioned his presence at the An 
 niversary Sermon of the Society for the Propagation 
 of the Gospel, preached February 20, 1767, in the 
 Church of St. Mary-le-Bow, by Dr. Ewer, Bishop of 
 Llandaff. Owing to a bad delivery and his own bad 
 hearing he " could take up very few sentences/ but 
 he knew he dwelt " largely upon the subject of Amer 
 ican Bishops."- 
 
 The following extract is from the same letter : 
 
 Last Sunday I had the pleasure to hear the Archbishop 
 preach, and to receive the Sacrament with him. He is truly 
 an excellent preacher, even yet full of life and vigor ; uses no 
 glasses, and speaks with great ease ; he has a fine voice, a 
 decent, emphatical gesture, and an affectionate manner which 
 engages the closest attention. His language is pure and cor 
 rect, his sentiments just and masterly, yet adapted to the 
 meanest capacities ; he enters very little into speculative 
 points, but exhorts to the practice of religion with great 
 force, warmth, and energy. After service I dined with his 
 Chaplains, Dr. Stinton of Oxford, and Dr. Porteus of Cam 
 bridge, both of them very worthy men. I then received an 
 invitation to dine with his Grace the next day, which I com- 
 
 1 This was the celebi ated sermon which excited the hostility of Dr. Charles 
 Chauncy of Boston, an able Congregational divine, who thereupon renewed the war 
 of pamphlets in this country, which had recently been closed. 
 
312 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 plied with, and found at his table only Mrs. Talbot and her 
 daughter, who live with the Archbishop, Lady Carter, the 
 Bishop of St. David s, Dr. Moss, and Dr. Porteus. The en 
 tertainment was very elegant, and the Archbishop extremely 
 facetious, easy, and agreeable. He carves himself, helps 
 everybody, and does the honors of the table with an extreme 
 good grace. This is telling you trifles, but I imagine every 
 circumstance with respect to the Archbishop will be agree 
 able to you. You cannot imagine how much I wished you 
 had been there. The conversation turned much upon Amer 
 ican affairs, and from the course of it, I am convinced that 
 such is the situation here at present that you must not ex 
 pect anything can be soon done relative to the important 
 object you have so much at heart. 
 
 This " important object " was the American Episco 
 pate, and a new effort was now made to remove, if pos 
 sible, all opposition to it in both countries. So early 
 as September, 1766, Dr. Chandler of Elizabethtown 
 wrote thus to his venerable friend at Stratford : " By 
 a letter from Mr. Cooper of a late date, I find that 
 you continue to think that something should be pub 
 lished on the subject of American Bishops, and that I 
 ought to undertake it. As to the former of these 
 points, I have for a long time been convinced of the 
 necessity of it, in order to bring the Dissenters and 
 some of the Church people, and perhaps, horresco 
 refer ens, some of our clergy into a just way of think 
 ing on the subject. But as to the other point, as I 
 am conscious of my own unfitness for the task, I 
 have never been so happy as to be able to join with 
 you in opinion." 
 
 The matter took definite shape afterwards when at 
 a " general Convention " of clergymen from New 
 York and New Jersey, with a few from other prov- 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 313 
 
 inces, Chandler was appointed to prepare an appeal 
 to the public, and he assured Johnson, who but for a 
 tremor in his hand would have written it himself, that 
 not a page should be printed until it had been submit 
 ted to his examination. He was indebted to him for a 
 plan of the pamphlet, which he worked up by degrees, 
 and furnished early in the spring of 1767. For on the 
 15th of April in that year, he wrote, announcing a 
 proposed visit of President Cooper to Connecticut, and 
 said among other things, 
 
 Mr. Cooper will bring you my papers concerning American 
 Bishops. I am ashamed that they should be offered for your 
 inspection in so rough and imperfect a state ; but my abso 
 lute inability to gain time to write them over again and give 
 them a general correction, must be my apology. Before they 
 go to the press, which will be some time in June, I must 
 transcribe them ; and by that time I shall be able to improve 
 them much by the assistance of friends. Even without any 
 such assistance, I think I could make them less unworthy of 
 the notice of the public, by straightening the crooked places, 
 and smoothing the rough ones, besides other amendments. 
 But I begin to be disturbed in proportion as the time of 
 publication draws nigh ; and I must beg the favor of you 
 to be on this occasion, what you have ever been on all occa 
 sions, my fidus Achates, my mentor, my guardian, and con 
 ductor. Every instance of your severity I shall esteem as a 
 proof of your affection ; and should your pen be as sharp as 
 the point of a javelin, it would give me not pain, but pleas 
 ure. 
 
 You will therefore not be sparing in your animadversions, 
 for the credit s sake of a young adventurer, who has been 
 pushed forward by your own impulse, and for the sake of 
 the cause, which must considerably depend on the success of 
 this publication. I am sorry the papers cannot be left longer 
 in your hands than Mr. Cooper is with you ; but when I was 
 
314 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 appointed by the Convention to draw them up, I insisted 
 upon a Committee to assist me ; and as Mr. Seabury is one 
 of that Committee, and has never had an opportunity of 
 seeing them but in a very cursory manner last week in New 
 York, I promised him, that after Mr. Cooper s return from 
 Stratford they should be left in his hands. In my opinion 
 the most blundering part of them at present is in the passage 
 relating to Sir W. Johnson, of whom something is said that 
 ought by no means to be said without his particular permis 
 sion. And yet his testimony in favor of the usefulness of an 
 Episcopate towards the conversion of the Indians is of too 
 much weight to be omitted. 
 
 The publication of the " Appeal " did not at first 
 fulfill the expectations of its author. He was disap 
 pointed that the clergy were not more active in cir 
 culating it, though he knew previously that those 
 southward would regard it with little favor. Shortly 
 before it appeared Dr. Chandler made a journey into 
 Maryland, and in a letter to Johnson, giving a humor 
 ous account of the agricultural skill of the people, 
 and a deplorable one of the state of the Church, he 
 said, " Of about forty-five clergymen in the province, 
 five or six are of good character, whose names should 
 be mentioned with honor, .... but to hear the 
 character of the rest, from the inhabitants, would 
 make the ears of any sober heathen to tingle. You 
 may be sure that they are much averse to having an 
 American Episcopate, and they are averse to their 
 numbers being increased, or their vacancies supplied 
 from the northward." 
 
 The " Appeal " was reprinted in London, and 
 sharply attacked there, as it had been here by Dr. 
 Cbauncy and other Dissenters. A passage from a 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 315 
 
 letter of its author to Dr. Johnson, written at the 
 close of the summer of 1768, will show the nature of 
 these attacks. " You see," speaking of the reprints, 
 " that it has been answered by a Presbyterian there ; 
 and I find that the London Chronicle has intro 
 duced the subject to the view of the populace ; several 
 pieces having been published therein, but all of them 
 by Chauncy s friends. In one of them an account 
 is given of the answer made by the very learned 
 Dr. Chauncy to a piece written in favor of American 
 Bishops ~by one Chandler. In another, it is asserted 
 that Dr. Chandler says that an American Episcopate 
 is upon the point of being established, and that a tax 
 is to be laid on the Americans for the support of it. 
 It is astonishing that such falsehoods as these can be 
 suffered to go unanswered, and that no methods are 
 taken by the guardians of the Church to prevent the 
 propagation and growth of them." 
 
 It was difficult for Dr. Johnson, at this period, to 
 write long letters to his son, but he managed to keep 
 him well informed of the state of political and relig 
 ious feeling on this side ; and weighed thoroughly 
 what was communicated to him in reply. In a letter 
 from Stratford dated June 8, 1767, he expressed his 
 pleasure at hearing that temperance was so much in 
 fashion in England, and added, 
 
 I wish you could have said the same of religion and all 
 other virtues, but upon the whole I doubt the times are 
 very deplorable, especially on account of the rage of avarice, 
 ambition, and lust, which seem to threaten a dissolution. 
 What else can be expected from such an unsettled state of 
 the ministry, owing to such a perpetual and violent justling 
 about in and out ? What can a Pitt do in such a state, even 
 
316 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 if he mean ever so well, which after all is, perhaps, as well 
 to be doubted of him as other men ? If they cannot agree 
 to do us any mischief, so they can neither, for the same reason, 
 agree to do us any good ; and that will be a great mischief, 
 especially since what concerns the interest of religion here 
 is totally neglected and despised. 
 
 I am extremely glad you heard and communicated with 
 my great and good friend the Archbishop. Your character of 
 him as a preacher and at his table is extremely beautiful and 
 amiable. I wish with you I could have been with you. I 
 must believe him to be one of the first characters of the age. 
 I am indeed glad if he took in good part my last long letter. 
 I was afraid it would be of hard digestion. 
 
 The Society have truly done you a great honor, in making 
 you their agent in the Hampshire affair, and I am glad you 
 have so good hopes of that, and that you have audience with 
 the Earl of Shelburne. It is said here with triumph that he 
 told one Stockton of New Jersey, who I see has been in 
 Scotland, and I suppose is the Synod s agent against Bishops, 
 that there is no occasion for Bishops in America. I wish 
 you may be able to convince him to the contrary, as I hope 
 you will by Dr. Chandler s " Appeal," which I will send you 
 as soon as printed. 
 
 The son, in his next letter, observed : " I doubt not 
 Lord Shelburne said as you have been told. I wish 
 he was the only one amongst the ministers of that 
 opinion. I fear it is universal, and the common senti 
 ment of all the leaders of all parties, and that, per 
 haps, of all others in which they are most agreed. 
 The Appeal you mention, however well drawn up, 
 will, I fear, have very little effect. Perhaps the more 
 you stir about this matter at present, the worse it will 
 be." In the same letter, he took occasion to speak of 
 Archbishop Seeker, characterizing him as certainly 
 one of the best of men. "I can clear up," he said, 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 317 
 
 " whatever has seemed dubious in his conduct or 
 character, and shall do it when I return to America. 
 But the Court is not a scene for such good men to 
 act in, and he wisely keeps himself to his own prov 
 ince ; his diligence and condescension would surprise 
 you ; he excuses himself from no labors, assiduities, or 
 attendance where he has the least prospect of doing 
 good ; he is beloved most by those who know him 
 best ; even the most profligate reverence him." 
 
 Besides attending to the business of his agency, 
 which was protracted beyond his expectation, and hav 
 ing interviews with British Lords, who were occupied 
 far more with material comforts than religious ques 
 tions, the son found time to make several journeys 
 into the country ; some for the benefit of his health, 
 and others for the sake of observation and historic cul 
 ture. In returning to London from one of these, he 
 went out of his course to visit at Bray the family of 
 the late Bishop of Cloyne. His friend, the Doctor, was 
 not at home, but his mother, the widow of Berkeley, 
 made amends in some degree for his absence, whom 
 he described to his father thus : " She is the finest old 
 lady I ever saw ; sensible, lively, facetious, and benev 
 olent. She insinuates herself at the first acquaintance 
 into one s esteem, and begets a high opinion of her 
 virtues. She received me very affectionately, and 
 remembered America, and you in particular with 
 great regard, and was pleased to say that the Bishop 
 and she had more pleasure in your acquaintance than 
 any other person s while they were in that country." 
 
 In October, 1767, he made a tour into Yorkshire, 
 and the agreeable letter which he wrote after reach 
 ing his destination has more than a family value : 
 
318 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 YORK, October 17, 1767. 
 
 HONORED SIR, I received yours of the llth of July the 
 day before I left London, on my tour this way, and as I have 
 been in motion ever since, could not write before. I am sur 
 prised that there should be so long an interval as three 
 months between my letters, which I repeat very often ; how 
 ever, I hope it was not many days after you wrote, before you 
 had intelligence, and that you will not again have so long a 
 delay, unless it be in the depth of winter, when it may in 
 deed be expected. The favorable account you give me of 
 your own and my family s health gives me the greatest pleas 
 ure, and I bless God for it as I do for my own, which I find 
 much confirmed by my ride here, which I was advised to take 
 for that purpose, both the exercise and the country air having 
 been very beneficial to me, and perfectly recovered me from 
 my late indisposition. 
 
 It gave me concern to find you were in danger of some 
 trouble in Church matters, and especially that my old friend 
 Jabez Hurd should have any hand in it, who I hoped would 
 use all his influence to preserve peace and quietness ; by this 
 time, however, I hope matters are settled again ; and indeed 
 what can you fear with such a weight as the newly acquired 
 friendship you mention must bring with it ? 
 
 I see nothing amiss in the letters you inclose me, and 
 shall deliver them as soon as I have opportunity for it ; when 
 I came out, those to whom they are directed were all out 
 of town. I spoke to Faden the morning I came away to 
 get Foster s Bible, which he said he would do, but chose to 
 take Mr. Parkhurst s opinion of it first, which he would have 
 against my return ; and as to the second part of the " Intro 
 duction," etc., it is not yet brought to the press, being the 
 composition of a gentleman for the benefit of his own school, 
 who delays the publication till his own pupils are ready to 
 make use of it. 
 
 I thank y ou for sending your bill, and will get the pictures 
 you mention if to be had, but fear there is no plate of the 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 319 
 
 Bishop of Oxford or Lord Lyttleton, if there be of the Bishop 
 of Carlisle. The latter are two as indifferent faces as are to 
 be seen in the House of Lords, especially Lord Lyttleton, 
 who is a lean, long-visaged, crooked, shriveled old gentle 
 man ; you would think him in a consumption ; his voice too 
 is very bad, but when he speaks, as he does pretty often, 
 it is always very sensibly, and he is heard with great at 
 tention. 1 
 
 When I came to Kingston-upon-Hull, I found Mr. Bell, 
 with the Mayor and Corporation of the town at a turtle feast, 
 at the inn I put up at. I introduced myself to him, and he 
 me to the Mayor, etc., and after some time to his lady, who 
 was very well pleased to see and acknowledge me as a re 
 lation. She is a worthy, sensible woman, but has few me 
 morials of the family ; both her parents having died when 
 she was not two years old. Her father was a lawyer and 
 died at the age of thirty-two. Her grandfather lived upon 
 his estate (without any profession), which I find was very 
 considerable. Her great uncle was a Doctor of Physic, emi 
 nent in his profession and by his monument in Cherry-Burton 
 Church (which I visited as well as the family seat there), it 
 appears he died the 1st of November, 1724, at the age of 
 ninety-four, having survived his wife, and seven out of nine 
 children, who all died without issue, and the two which sur 
 vived him being females never married, by which means the 
 whole estate came to Mrs. Bell. This old Dr. Johnson re 
 tained his memory, etc. to the last, and as he remembered 
 the transactions of almost a century, had you happened to 
 have met with him, when you were here in 1723, he could 
 doubtless have told you the circumstances of the emigration 
 of our ancestors, no traces of which can now be discovered 
 
 l " Since you wanted Lord Lyttleton s picture, I got an acquaintance of mine to 
 mention it to his Lordship and know of him whether he had any plate ; and your be 
 ing an American who had a value for his writings, he desired his compliments to 
 you and thanks for taking so much notice of him, but said there never had been any 
 picture taken of him, though his bookseller had requested one to prefix to his Life 
 of Henry //., and perhaps he should consent to it when he had finished that work." 
 MS. Letter, Febwary 6, 1768. 
 
320 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 here. The arms are not the same with those we have as 
 sumed. I have taken a note of them, and shall examine at 
 the " Herald s " office when I return to London. If, at this 
 distance, any evidence of our relation could be imagined to 
 arise from similarity of countenance, Mrs. Bell and I might 
 pass very well for brother and sister, except that her eyes 
 are very black. Her eldest child, a daughter about thirteen, 
 is exactly our Polly, with a little longer face, and the other 
 very like Betsey. Their son I did not see, being at a distant 
 school. Whether we are related or not, they were really 
 very civil, and as much so as they could have been with the 
 clearest proof of it, and desired me to present their affec 
 tionate compliments to you and all the family. 
 
 Nothing very material has occurred here, unless it be the 
 death of the Duke of York, who is not very greatly lamented 
 (except by the Royal family and his own domestics), though 
 we are all obliged to go into deep mourning for him. 
 
 I congratulate you on the anniversary of our birthdays, 
 and hope the next we may celebrate together, in agreeable 
 remembrance of my present rambles. I shall set out in a 
 few days on my return to London, and shall write again by 
 the first conveyance after I get to town ; and in the mean 
 time am, with the tenderest love to my dear wife and all the 
 children, 
 
 Honored Sir, your most dutiful son and humble servant, 
 
 WM. SAM L JOHNSON. 
 
 The trouble in the parish, referred to in this letter, 
 was not very serious, and appears to have grown out 
 of a desire on the part of Dr. Johnson s friends to 
 furnish him with some aid in his ministrations. His 
 infirmities had become so great that at times he was 
 unable to discharge his public duties, and a " sore 
 ness in his legs/ the result partly of breaking one 
 of them about twenty years before, confined him to 
 the house several weeks, in the winter season. Mr. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 321 
 
 John Tyler, a graduate of Yale College and a theo 
 logical student of his, who was about to proceed to 
 England for ordination, was thought of as a perma 
 nent assistant ; but opposition was raised to him on 
 the ground that he was not a very good reader and 
 did not promise to make much of a preacher, and a 
 few of the parishioners therefore did not wish to see 
 him in a position where, according to the natural 
 course of things, he would succeed to the Kectorship. 
 Dr. Johnson, not less than the Church of England in 
 the Colonies, lost a firm and noble friend in the death 
 of Archbishop Seeker. They were kindred spirits. 
 They were " loving brothers," as far as two men of 
 nearly the same age could be so, without having seen 
 each other face to face, or known each other only in a 
 long and affectionate correspondence. The letter of 
 his son which brought the intelligence of his decease 
 was one of the saddest that could have come to him 
 at that crisis. It is worthy of being spread upon 
 these pages, for the facts it contains and the counsels 
 it gave : 
 
 LONDON, August 12, 1768. 
 
 HONORED SIK, I must not fail by this packet to ac 
 quaint you (though I imagine Mr. Tyler did not leave the 
 Downs before the melancholy intelligence reached him) of 
 the death of our great and good friend, the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, in whom religion in general, and particularly 
 the Church in America, have lost their best friend in this 
 Country. His physicians and friends flattered us with hopes 
 that he might recover from this disorder, and continue yet 
 some time ; but for my own part I have been, ever since I 
 saw him last, about a month ago, satisfied he was drawing 
 near his end. The immediate occasion of his death was the 
 misfortune of breaking his thigh bone, which happened on 
 
322 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Sunday evening the 31st of July, as he was endeavoring to 
 raise himself hastily from his couch ; it was immediately set 
 by the king s surgeons, and he was easy and more comfort 
 able than could have been expected after such an accident, 
 but soon grew worse, and on Wednesday, the 3d inst., he ex 
 pired. When his body was opened, it appeared that his 
 thigh bone was extremely decayed, and the physicians ex 
 pressed their astonishment, that he could have lived so long 
 under so much pain as he must have endured, for some time 
 past with the gout, rheumatism, and gravel, by all which he 
 was sorely afflicted, and his constitution quite worn out. He 
 was interred privately, according to his own orders, in Lam 
 beth churchyard. 
 
 Thus we must bid adieu to one of the best of men. God s 
 will be done ! He can and certainly will take care of His own 
 cause and interest in the world, but in truth I see no prospect 
 at present that anybody here will make good the Archbishop s 
 ground. Several of the Bishops are indeed very worthy men, 
 but none of them in my opinion by any means so well quali 
 fied for that high station as the late Archbishop. It does 
 not yet appear who will succeed him ; almost every Bishop 
 has been named ; at present the Bishop of Lichfield and 
 Coventry, Dr. Cornwallis, is most talked of, and he and the 
 Bishop of London seem to stand the fairest chance ; but in 
 terest may give it to another, and it is difficult to say who, 
 at present, is most in favor at Court. 
 
 But from none of them, I fear, may religion in America 
 expect that attention and aid which it has formerly had. 
 The Church of England there should in fact think more of 
 taking care of itself. The Society will indeed, I trust, still 
 continue to afford their friendly assistance, but even that is a 
 precarious dependence, and I wish my countrymen not to rely 
 too much upon it, but prepare themselves as far as possible to 
 stand upon their own ground. The affection between that 
 country and this seems to be every day decreasing, and the 
 growing jealousies on both sides threaten the destruction of 
 all our harmony and happiness ; already there is hardly any 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 323 
 
 other cement left between us beside the interest founded in 
 trade, and even that is declining. Let us look forward and 
 see where these things must end, and consider what must 
 probably be soon the state of that country and this. I was 
 going to imagine it with respect to religion. But in truth I 
 dare not pursue these reflections farther upon paper. Let 
 them remain for the subjects of future, but alas ! distant 
 conversation, for I see little prospect that I may spend next 
 winter with you at Stratford, or that I can leave this country 
 before next spring. I almost say with David, " Woe is me 
 that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech, and to have my 
 habitation among the tents of Kedar ; " but we must sub 
 mit and leave it to Providence, which orders all things for 
 the best. 
 
 I am just now happy in receiving your favor of the 10th 
 of June, by which I find you were all well at that time. 
 God be thanked for it, and for the perfect health I enjoy. I 
 shall forward your letter to Dr. Berkeley, who is now at 
 Canterbury, and will bring Pike s " Lexicon," as you advise, 
 for Billy, who, I rejoice greatly to find, proceeds so rapidly 
 in his studies. With my tenderest love to him, my dear 
 wife, and all the children, and compliments to all friends, 
 I remain, honored Sir, 
 
 Your most dutiful son and humble servant, 
 
 WM. SAM L JOHNSON. 
 
 August 13. 
 
 I inclose you this morning s paper, by which it appears 
 that the Bishop of Lichfield is nominated Archbishop of 
 Canterbury ; you have also some account of the late Arch 
 bishop s will, and a list of his charities. 
 
 Yours, W. S, J. 
 
324: LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN BISHOPS CONTINUED ; FOREIGN COR 
 RESPONDENCE ; BISHOP LOWTH AND HEBREW GRAMMAR ; AS 
 SISTANT MINISTER; MARRIAGE OF GRANDDAUGHTER; AND 
 
 PROLONGED ABSENCE OF HIS SON. 
 
 A. D. 1768-1770. 
 
 THE opponents of the Church of England in this 
 country were restless under the continued efforts to 
 secure American Bishops. As often as the clergy ap 
 plied for this boon, they repeated their representa 
 tions to the Government and Dissenters at home, that 
 it was uncalled for, and, if granted, would be followed 
 by outbursts of popular indignation. It has already 
 been mentioned that the Southern Provinces were 
 opposed, or rather not inclined to the scheme, and 
 attempts were made to bring them over to its support. 
 Johnson, writing to the Rev. Mr. Camm of Virginia, 
 before the death of Seeker, said : " We have been 
 informed from home that our adversaries, who seem 
 to have much influence with the ministry, endeavor, 
 and with too much success, to make it believed, that 
 nineteen twentieths of America are utterly against 
 receiving Bishops, and that sending them, though 
 only with spiritual powers, would cause more danger 
 ous disturbances than the Stamp-act itself; insomuch 
 that our most excellent Archbishop, who has been 
 much engaged in this great affair, and has greatly 
 condescended to exchange many letters with me upon 
 
OF -SAMUEL JOHNSON. 325 
 
 it for several years, has lately informed me that he 
 has not been able to gain the attention of the min 
 istry to it ; though his Majesty is very kindly disposed 
 to favor and promote it. I am therefore very appre 
 hensive that our solicitations will fail of gaining the 
 point unless we could bring it to a general cry, and 
 prevail with the Southern Provinces to join us in a 
 zealous application to the Government at home in the 
 same important cause." 
 
 The attacks upon Chandler s " Appeal " led the au 
 thor to prepare an elaborate defense, and particularly 
 with a view of replying to Dr. Chauncy, who was his 
 most formidable antagonist. The outlook for the 
 Church at this time was anything but encouraging. 
 Passion took the place of argument, and hostile pens 
 ran beyond the limits of reason, so that what Johnson 
 wrote to his son was true : " These violent asserters 
 of civil liberty for themselves, as violently plead 
 the cause of tyranny against ecclesiastical liberty to 
 others." The " Appeal Defended " was followed, at 
 a later day, by another publication, entitled "The 
 Appeal Farther Defended," and this was the last of 
 the pamphlets in favor of the American Episcopate, 
 though the idea could not be dislodged from the 
 minds of the true friends of the Church. Chandler, 
 in congratulating his venerable adviser at Stratford 
 on recovering from a severe illness, expressed the 
 hope that his health might hold out, by the blessing 
 of Heaven, till he should " have the pleasure of see 
 ing a Bishop in America." 
 
 The effect of the controversy was not felt to any 
 good purpose in England. Other things absorbed the 
 public attention, and the ministry was so much en- 
 
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 gaged with political measures, that no time was taken 
 for deliberate consultation upon the interests of re 
 ligion in the Colonial dependencies. Johnson, the 
 agent, wrote to his father in midsummer, 1769, when 
 it was almost over : " I cannot but say, I am rather 
 pleased that your controversy about American Bishops 
 seems to be near its close, since I am afraid it can 
 have no very good effects there, and it certainly pro 
 duces none at all here. It is surprising how little at 
 tention is paid to it." The struggles of party were 
 violent, and the uneasiness and discontents of the peo 
 ple at home needed watching and allaying not less 
 than the troubles and disquietudes of the Colonies ; 
 and in this way the great and important design 
 of an American Episcopate was kept in the distance. 
 While the state of affairs, both with us and with 
 you, continues just as it now is, I am afraid," said Dr. 
 Lowth, then Bishop of Oxford, " we may not expect 
 much to be done in it." One is reminded in this con 
 nection of the sarcastic observation of Sir Robert 
 Walpole, the prime minister, when Dean Berkeley 
 solicited in Parliament an act in favor of his scheme 
 for the Bermuda College. He had gained the good 
 will of the King, and he requested Walpole, in pre 
 senting the measure, only to be silent ; he was so. 
 After it was passed, a courtier remonstrated with him 
 against the proposition of the Crown, and he re 
 plied, " Who would have thought anything for pro 
 moting religion or learning could have passed a Brit 
 ish Parliament ? " 1 
 
 Dr. Johnson did not cease, under all the discour 
 agements of the times, to cherish some good hopes 
 
 1 MS. of Wm. S. Johnson, 1767. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 327 
 
 for the future. He was now the oldest of the clergy 
 in America, and felt at liberty, as he had always 
 done, to write very plain things to his English corre 
 spondents. He began, however, to foresee the storm 
 gathering in the political horizon. He could not be 
 blind to the determination of all parties to give up 
 neither the parliamentary authority nor even the 
 right of taxation in the Colonies. " I thank you," he 
 said to his son in the spring of 1769, " for sending the 
 Resolves, etc. What dreadful things they are ! They 
 are like so many thunderbolts upon poor Boston, and 
 it is well if they do not actually turn into great guns 
 and bombs before they have done ; for these Olive- 
 rians begin to think themselves Corsicans, and I sus 
 pect will resist unto blood. But if it should come to 
 this, I doubt Old England and New will fall together, 
 and both become a prey to the House of Bourbon. 
 Deus avertat omen /" 
 
 His foreign correspondence grew more irksome 
 with the increase of his infirmities, and he relied 
 upon his son to do for him in England what he could 
 not so well plead for by letter. Several of his friends 
 in turn were pleased to communicate with him 
 through the same medium. A domestic rather than 
 a literary or theological interest is attached to the 
 following letters : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, I write these lines with your good son 
 .sitting by me. He has been so obliging as to give me his 
 company (when at this place in last December) as often as 
 lie could conveniently. It was matter of great concern to me 
 that he called on me at Bray last summer during my resi 
 dence at my other parish, twenty-five miles distant, and my 
 mother, who, to her no small joy, received him, totally forgot 
 
S28 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 to ask his address ; so that I had it not in my power to re 
 turn his visit. 
 
 I have, on the strength of an hereditary friendship, opened 
 my mind to your worthy son on every subject without re 
 serve. His Grace of Canterbury receives him always with 
 the regard due to him on his own account, and on that of 
 his excellent father, to whom I beg leave to return my best 
 thanks for a valuable token of regard which had not thus 
 long escaped my notice. 
 
 I have the happiness of telling you that my good mother 
 (who remembers you with the truest respect) is very well, 
 and likely to bless her family for many years. I am also, I 
 thank God, very happy in my wife and two sons. My choice 
 in matrimony gave the highest satisfaction to my mother, 
 and therefore you will believe that it was not an unwise one. 
 
 I earnestly pray for the continuance of your valuable life, 
 and that a long stay on earth may lead you to a longer hap 
 piness. These lines are written, as you perceive, in a hurry, 
 as Dr. Johnson must carry them away with him. 
 
 I remain, my dear Sir, 
 
 Your most faithful and affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 GEORGE BERKELEY. 
 
 I, AM HI. TI i PALACE, Thursday, March 10, 1768. 
 
 Answer : 
 
 June 10, 1768. 
 
 MY VERY DEAR AND WORTHY SrR, It gave me the* 
 greatest satisfaction to receive your affectionate letter, and to 
 be informed of your welfare, and of the health of that most 
 excellent lady, your mother ; and moreover of your great 
 happiness in so excellent a consort as she must undoubtedly 
 be to have the approbation and esteem of so good a judge. I 
 also rejoice with you in your two sons, and am glad that the 
 great and good Bishop whom I am proud to call my friend is 
 like to live in so hopeful a posterity, and I heartily pray God 
 that all those joys and many more may long, very long be 
 continued to you. I beg you will make my most affectionate 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 329 
 
 compliments acceptable to your honored mother (and your 
 lady, though unknown), together with my hearty thanks for 
 the very kind manner in which she received and treated my 
 dear and only son, who has the highest sense of her amiable- 
 ness and benevolence. I bless God that the friendship I had 
 the honor of with your renowned father still subsists between 
 our children, and am very glad that on the score of it you 
 have so particularly opened your mind to my son on the most 
 important subjects. 
 
 I am greatly grieved at the dark account he gives me from 
 you of the ill-health of the most worthy and excellent Mr. 
 Jones, and let him know, with my compliments when you 
 have opportunity, how great satisfaction I have in his excel 
 lent performance in Philosophy as well as the Trinity, and 
 how earnestly I pray for his life and health, that he may 
 bless the world with other labors ! 1 I bless God that such 
 excellent men as Drs. Horne and Wetherell are preferred to 
 be heads of those important houses in the University, and 
 when you have opportunity give them my compliments and 
 
 iy- 
 
 I am inexpressibly obliged to his Grace of Canterbury for 
 the great honor he does my son, and thank you for the can 
 dor with which you accept such a trifle as my little Grammar, 
 in which I had no other view than to be useful to young lads 
 in America, where I am extremely desirous, if possible, to 
 promote the study of Hebrew, as it is very little known here. 
 I thank you, my dear Sir, for your affectionate prayers in my 
 behalf, and remain with great esteem and regard, 
 
 Your most affectionate friend and brother, 
 
 S. J. 
 
 1 Wm. Samuel Johnson, writing to his father May 14, 1768, and speaking of Arch 
 bishop Seeker, said : 
 
 u I dined with him about ten days ago, when he was able to sit at table, but had 
 no use of his left hand and arm. I had the pleasure to meet there Dr. Berkeley, and 
 the very worthy and learned Mr. Jones, who is much better in health than he used 
 to be, and told me he was still pursuing his Principles of Natural Philosophy, and 
 hoped he should ere long be able to publish something upon that subject. He re 
 membered my brother with much affection, and desired his compliments to you, as 
 did Dr. Berkeley. His account of the state of Hutchinsonianism is much the same 
 with what I have before mentioned to you." 
 
330 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 It alleviated the grief of his son s long absence that 
 he received from him frequent and agreeable accounts 
 of interviews with his old correspondents and with 
 men of distinction in literature as well as in the affairs 
 of the government. " For the sake of the name," he 
 wrote in November 1769, " and because I think him 
 one of the best of the modern writers, I made an ac 
 quaintance, some time ago, with Dr. Samuel Johnson, 
 author of the Dictionary, etc. He was very well 
 pleased with the attention I paid him ; had heard of 
 you, and presents his compliments. He has shining 
 abilities, great erudition, and extensive knowledge ; is 
 ranked in the first class of the literati, and highly 
 esteemed for his strong sense and virtue ; but is as 
 odd a mortal as you ever saw. You would not, at 
 first sight, suspect he had ever read, or thought in his 
 life, or was much above the degree of an idiot. But 
 nuUafronti fides, when he opens himself, after a little 
 acquaintance, you are abundantly repaid for these 
 first unfavorable appearances." l 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Johnson had intimated to his son that 
 seeing so much grandeur, and being conversant with 
 the luxuries and refinement of the Old World, he 
 might be tempted to look down upon America, or that 
 his home, when he returned to it, would appear mean 
 and despicable. But great minds are never thus af 
 fected. " I will not have the vanity," he replied, " to 
 impute it to my philosophy ; but it is my good fortune, 
 
 1 It has been told that when he introduced himself as an American, the great sage 
 and moralist treated him, at first, somewhat rudely, and spoke harshly of his coun 
 trymen, saying, among other things: "The Americans! what do they know and what 
 do they read? " " They read, Sir, the Rambler," was the quick and polite reply; 
 which so pleased him that he took the statesman into his confidence, paid him many 
 civilities in London, and, after his return to this country honored him with kind 
 and courteous letters. See Appendix A. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 331 
 
 that though I am pleased enough with seeing these 
 things, yet they take little hold of my affections. I 
 like to look behind the gay curtain, but when I do, I 
 find little to admire and less to be attached to." And 
 he added still more : " My wishes, were they indulged 
 me to the utmost, would be very limited, and all cen 
 tre in a little ease and independence in the tranquil 
 vales of America. The worst of it is, that I am not 
 likely to be very soon gratified even in such humble 
 hopes, and the best way (to which I hope to bring 
 myself by and by) is to have no wishes for anything 
 in this world but what we actually possess, or have 
 certainly within our reach. This however cannot be 
 till I return to Stratford." 
 
 Ever since the publication of his " Hebrew Gram 
 mar," he had been desirous of issuing a second edition 
 corrected and improved. It was his last contribution 
 to Christian education in America, and he would leave 
 it, as far as he had the means of making it so, in a 
 perfect state. For this purpose he consulted several 
 Hebrew scholars and solicited their opinion of the 
 merit of his performance. To Bishop Lowth he sug 
 gested the idea of laying a broad foundation for the 
 study of the language in this country, and giving to 
 it a prominent place in collegiate instruction. " I 
 wish," said the Bishop, " it were as much in my 
 power, as were there an opportunity it would cer 
 tainly be in my inclination, to promote your useful 
 proposal of establishing a Hebrew Professorship in 
 North America. We must leave to God s good provi 
 dence this and many other improvements in that, 
 country, and I doubt not of their being in due time 
 accomplished." The Bishop had given him to under- 
 
332 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 stand that the learned were beginning to think in 
 earnest of a new translation of the Scriptures, " as a 
 thing not a great way off ; " and writing November 1, 
 1771, to Mr. Parkhurst, the scholar who carried his 
 " Hebrew Grammar " through the press in London, 
 Johnson expressed the wish that all helps might be 
 made available in such a work, even the discoveries 
 of Hutchinson, for whose learning, with some excep 
 tions, he still retained a high respect. 
 
 Among others whom he consulted was Mr. Sewall, 
 Professor of Oriental Literature in Harvard Univer 
 sity ; and through him he desired the opinion of a 
 colleague, Mr. John Winthrop, about Hutchinson s 
 " Scripture Philosophy." The answer returned is too 
 good to be excluded from these pages : 
 
 CAMBRIDGE, 24$ July, 1769. 
 
 REV. SIR, An answer to your obliging favor of March 
 1, 1768, I acknowledge hath been long due. The only reason 
 of delay was the want of a private conveyance. For I could 
 not persuade myself an epistle of this nature was worth the 
 postage for such a length of way. 
 
 My thanks are due, Sir, for those favorable sentiments you 
 are pleased to express of the Oriental Professor at Cam 
 bridge. He wishes his poor, but honest endeavors may be 
 followed with those happy consequences you mention. 
 
 The union of the whole Christian Church, in the bonds 
 of peace and love, is an object much to be desired. In the 
 mean time, however we may differ in certain external modes 
 and forms, I trust we shall each bear an undissembled affec 
 tion to all, of whatever denomination, who love our common 
 Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. 
 
 Mr. Professor Winthrop, Sir, is a firm believer in the 
 Newtonian system. It cannot, therefore, be supposed he 
 should entertain a very high opinion of a scheme so opposite 
 to that as the Hutchinsonian is. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 333 
 
 The Hebrew language is certainly the most simple of 
 any ; and the grammars of it (setting aside the incumbrance 
 of points), may be reduced to a smaller compass than that 
 of any other language upon earth : it may, consequently, be 
 learned with greater facility and expedition. Upon these ac 
 counts, and others that possibly might be added, I cannot 
 but think it claims priority in a learned education. The pro 
 gression ought always to be from the easier to the more dif 
 ficult. 
 
 Your Grammar, Sir, in my humble opinion, is upon a 
 very good plan, and may answer very valuable purposes. 
 You are the best judge whether it may be improved. It 
 hardly becomes the modesty of one who is comparatively 
 but a youth to point out to a gentleman of Dr. Johnson s 
 learning and experience what improvement, if any, may be 
 made in his own composition. 
 
 I am, Rev. Sir, with great respect, 
 
 Your very humble servant, 
 
 STEPHEN SEW ALL. 
 
 Something more than a lay-reader was now needed 
 to aid Dr. Johnson in his parochial duties. Mr. Ty 
 ler, who had been with him above a year, pursuing 
 the study of Hebrew and Divinity, was desirous of 
 proceeding to England for ordination, and of being ap 
 pointed to a mission within the colony. Guilford and 
 Norwich were both vacant, and as the former was the 
 birthplace of Johnson, he procured him an invitation 
 to read there for several months before embarking, 
 and then gave him commendatory letters to the Arch 
 bishop and the Society. 
 
 The Rev. Ebenezer Kneeland, a graduate of Yale 
 College in 1761, three years in holy orders, and a 
 chaplain in the British army, appeared in Stratford 
 and rendered acceptable service to the parish. 
 
 He wrote to his son, January 15, 1768 : " My 
 
334 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 health, D. G., is perfectly good, but my legs much as 
 they were. Mr. Kneeland, whom I much like, is here 
 till March, and nearly adored : the people have sub 
 scribed c30 per annum, and he has agreed to quit 
 his regiment and come next summer. Mr. Tyler is 
 invited and gone to Guilford, and the Church is very 
 happy and increasing." He described Mr. Kneeland 
 at the same time as a good scholar and an excellent 
 speaker ; but letters and other memorials will hardly 
 sustain the description. They indicate neither depth 
 of learning nor polished culture, and subsequent and 
 more intimate relations must have led him to qualify 
 his opinion. He was chosen associate minister, how 
 ever, and took the more laborious duties which had 
 become so burdensome to the aged Rector. It was 
 a welcome and timely relief, and the people were 
 glad to provide it. 
 
 Eighteen months elapsed, and his son in England 
 was surprised to learn that Mr. Kneeland had formed 
 an acquaintance with his eldest daughter (Charity), 
 and desired to be united to her in marriage. The 
 approbation of her mother and grandfather was ob 
 tained before his consent was asked, which appears to 
 have been reluctantly given, with some good advice 
 about the happiness and responsibility of the married 
 state. This connection brought the assistant minis 
 ter and his superior more closely together, and made 
 their interests in working the parish one. It left 
 no room for jealousies, and Dr. Johnson was now grat 
 ified with the prospect of being succeeded by one of 
 his own affinity in a charge especially dear to him. 
 and which he had held for nearly forty years. 
 
 What gave him the greatest anxiety at this period 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 335 
 
 was the prolonged absence of his son in England. 
 From year to year he had looked for his return, and , 
 lived upon the hope of seeing him again restored to 
 his family, but his expectations were continually dis 
 appointed. He often begged him, for the sake of his 
 domestic affairs, to relinquish his agency, if the busi 
 ness intrusted to him could not be speedily accom 
 plished ; and in December, 1769, he wrote to Gov 
 ernor Trumbull of Connecticut, congratulating him on 
 his advancement to the head of the government ; and 
 at the same time expostulating with him on the sub 
 ject of his son s being so long detained in England. 
 " I am told," said he, " the Lower House voted to 
 direct him to come home in the spring at all events ; 
 but that the Upper House, led by, I know not what 
 expressions in his letters, prevailed on the Assembly to 
 conclude to instruct him by all means to continue 
 longer, leaving, however, a discretionary power with 
 your Honor to direct otherwise, if you should see 
 reason for it, or something to this effect." 
 
 The Governor, in acknowledging his " pathetic ex 
 postulation," did not admit that any such discretion 
 ary power was lodged with him, but rather that the 
 General Assembly fully relied on the purity of the 
 agent s intentions to serve the interests of the colony, 
 and to return whenever it should be consistent with 
 his sense of duty. He lamented the public confu 
 sions, and the " paltry injurious Indian cause," which 
 had led to the long separation from his " dearest and 
 tenderest connections;" and then added, what was 
 quite true, " his observations and intelligence will be 
 of lasting advantage to the colony, and his services 
 there at this critical juncture peculiarly great." 
 
336 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 The agent, writing to his wife on New Year s Day, 
 1770, said : 
 
 The present situation of our affairs is this. On the 22d 
 uit. the Lords of the Council were moved to assign a day for 
 hearing a motion we intend to make for dismission of the 
 Mohegan cause, when their Lordships were pleased to appoint 
 the first day of their next sittings for that purpose, and to 
 assure us it should be before the expiration of this month. 
 Should this motion on our part succeed, the cause is at an end. 
 I shall then be disengaged from this tedious affair, and shall 
 have only to see what Parliament will do with the colonies 
 in the course of this session, and may certainly leave Eng 
 land as soon as it is over, which will probably be sometime 
 iu May. Should we fail in this motion, we shall then indeed 
 have to try the merits of the cause at large, but still have 
 good reason to expect that it may be got through with in the 
 course of the winter or spring ; so that either way I have the 
 strongest hopes of seeing you some time next summer, at 
 farthest, and you may rely upon it, it shall be as soon as 
 possible. 
 
 His strong hopes were not realized, and a vexatious 
 delay again filled his friends with disappointment. 
 He wrote his father late in the summer of this year 
 that he had not only been unable to get his business 
 dispatched, but had for a month past been extremely 
 ill with a serious fit of the gout in both his feet ; 
 and he intimated that if no probability existed of 
 the Mohegan cause being tried in five or six months, 
 he should not hesitate to come away as soon as his 
 health would permit, though to return again, should 
 it be thought necessary, to attend the trial. Once 
 the case was nearly finished, June, 1770, when the 
 sickness of the attorney general intervened and led 
 to a postponement. Every way this was a sad mis- 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 337 
 
 fortune to him, and speaking of his detention on 
 this account in the same letter, he said ; " One miti 
 gating circumstance, however, attends it ; that one 
 can bear with more patience those ills which are the 
 immediate inflictions of Providence than those which 
 are occasioned by the faults of men. Had this de 
 lay been occasioned by anything less than sickness or 
 unavoidable necessity I should have had no patience 
 left. But nobody is to blame ; it was the act of Prov 
 idence." 
 
 It has already been mentioned, as some compensa 
 tion for this protracted absence, that the father was 
 favored with such graphic and admirable letters from 
 his son. Nothing but talking over experiences at the 
 fireside in Stratford could exceed the interest with 
 which he read the descriptions of what he saw and 
 heard in England, and his brief account of inter 
 views with men high in Church and State. The son 
 was present at some of the most important and excit 
 ing debates in Parliament,, and at a period too when 
 great minds were occupied with great national sub 
 jects. He listened to the most eloquent defenders of 
 the British Constitution, and gathered up every word 
 that was spoken in vindication of measures which 
 bore upon the welfare of America. The caution with 
 which he communicated his observations to his father 
 showed how critical the times were, and how solici 
 tous he was that his countrymen should not be un 
 prepared for the perils and hardships that lay in their 
 path. 
 
 In a letter to him on the 4th of .January, 1769, 
 he spoke of what seemed to be the fixed resolution 
 of the Administration not to repeal immediatelv those 
 
 22 
 
338 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 acts which the Colonies complained of, but to main 
 tain the right of Parliament to impose duties and 
 taxes in America, and to enforce obedience to its laws 
 in the most effectual manner. " The tide, in fact, at 
 present," he added, " sets strongly enough against us, 
 and I fancy will continue to do so while Lord Hills- 
 borough administers our affairs, who is extremely in 
 flexible." Four months later he wrote again to his 
 father with scarcely happier forebodings : 
 
 < 
 
 I am very much obliged to you that you accept so well my 
 apology for this long, tedious absence, which, as I have said, 
 I greatly hope will not be prolonged through another winter, 
 though I cannot determine its period. Your obliging com 
 pliment upon my defense of the charter against Lord Hills- 
 borough s objections is very flattering. I am sensible of the 
 danger we are in with respect to all our rights, and particu 
 larly the evil eye they have upon this charter especially ; 
 yet I should be particularly sorry to have that event take 
 place while I am here, and shall therefore, as it is my duty, 
 continue to defend both that and all our other just rights, in 
 the best manner I can while I continue in the service of the 
 colony. It is extremely unhappy that we cannot on both 
 sides come to a better temper in the unfortunate dispute now 
 subsisting between this country and that. If we once get 
 into blood, your conjecture will undoubtedly be but too soon 
 fatally verified : we shall destroy each other, and become an 
 easy prey to our enemies. Prudent men, on both sides, are 
 aware of this danger, and will, I hope, by degrees gain so 
 much influence as to prevent it. Administration have, since 
 the rising of Parliament, given out that the duty-act shall 
 be repealed next year, if the Colonies remain quiet, but one 
 can hardly depend much upon the declarations of minis 
 ters. 
 
 When the year came round and the address from 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 339 
 
 the Throne had been issued, he inclosed a copy to his 
 father, and wrote, among other things : 
 
 Lord Chatham appeared again (after three years ab 
 sence) in the House of Lords, and declared himself the 
 friend of America. He said he had not altered his ideas of 
 the proper mode of governing the Colonies, wished for mod 
 eration and lenity, but would not go fully into the subject. 
 " I have, says he, " a strong propensity towards that coun 
 try, and love liberty wherever it appears. That country 
 was settled upon ideas of liberty. It is a vine, to use the 
 allusion of Scripture, which has taken deep root and filled 
 the land. May it long flourish ! But I am the friend not 
 the flatterer of America ; they have done wrong in some 
 things, but let us inquire coolly and candidly before we cen 
 sure as the address does." 
 
 On the 7th of February, 1770, he wrote him a 
 long letter, reciting, his hindrances, and gravely re 
 pelling an insinuation which seems to have been mis 
 chievously made, that he was becoming alienated 
 from his family ; and then he proceeded to things less 
 personal, and described a debate in Parliament, the 
 memory of which must have lingered with him to 
 the end of his days. 
 
 I hardly know how to write upon any other subject, but I 
 must just tell you that we have had many changes of men, 
 both by deaths and dismissions (which the papers, I presume, 
 will have acquainted you with), without any changes of 
 measures. Lord North, for the present, succeeds the Duke 
 of Graf ton as prime minister, and seems to intend to pursue 
 the same system of politics. Parliament have been much 
 retarded in their proceedings by these changes, and the rest 
 of their time has been taken up with the Middlesex election, 
 which has been repeatedly debated with great vehemence 
 
340 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 and acrimony, both by the Lords and Commons ; but the 
 ministry have still carried their point in favor of the decision 
 of last year, on several divisions, by a majority of about forty 
 in the Commons, and in the Lords of about fifty. The Lords 
 in the minority have signed the most spirited protest that is 
 perhaps of record. The opposition intend still to pursue the 
 point in every shape they can devise. 
 
 Lord Chatham itold the Lords that while he lived it should 
 never rest, nor would they cease to bring it before Parlia 
 ment in every possible method, till the wound in the Consti 
 tution was healed. His last speech upon this occasion (about 
 two o clock last Saturday morning) was amazingly fine. 
 Neither Greece nor Rome, I believe I may venture to say, 
 ever heard anything superior to it. Roused with indigna 
 tion at some unfair proceedings of the ministry, as well as 
 warmed by the universal ardor of the debate, he displayed 
 his utmost powers of eloquence, and with astonishing abil 
 ity and energy even vanquished Lord Mansfield, who is cer 
 tainly one of the first of mankind, and worthy of such an 
 antagonist. He obliged him to change his ground even in 
 a point within his own profession, the law. The conflicts 
 of these two great men are such as would have been seen 
 between Demosthenes and Cicero, had they been opposed 
 to each other, warmed by emulation and heated by oppo 
 sition. They excel each other in different manners of elo 
 quence, but are equally superior to all others. This dispute 
 so engrosses the attention of all the politicians that they 
 can hardly think of anything else. Hence it is that Amer 
 ican affairs have not yet been taken up, though we expect 
 they will be soon entered upon. There seems to be but little 
 hope, at present, that we shall obtain more than the repeal 
 of the duties upon glass, paper, and painters colors, which 
 will answer no purpose to America. On the contrary, they 
 threaten us with some severe resolutions, or perhaps a penal 
 act, against agreements not to import goods. Lord Chatham, 
 we are told, wishes the repeal of the whole of this Revenue 
 act, but I fear he will not have influence enough to effect it. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 341 
 
 CHAPTER XV. V o, ( , mf(if ,, ! 
 
 DESIRE FOR AMERICAN BISHOPS UNQUENCHED ; LETTERS FROM 
 DR. BERKELEY AND THE BISHOP OF LONDON ; JOY AT THE 
 RETURN OF HIS SON ; WISH FOR A PEACEFUL EXIT ; DEATH 
 
 AND BURIAL ; CONCLUSION. 
 
 A. D. 1770-1772. 
 
 THOUGH the war of pamphlets was about over, and 
 formal appeals from the clergy in this country were 
 ended, yet Dr. Johnson could not cease to be inter 
 ested in the effort to obtain American Bishops. He 
 still felt that it was a want which must be supplied, 
 and whenever he wrote to his English correspondents, 
 which was not often now, he pressed it upon their at 
 tention. The Bishop of London, Dr. Terrick, appre 
 ciated his feelings, and expressed a willingness to 
 favor the design on first coming to his London see. 
 But objections were raised which he was not able to 
 remove. They were the same which had hindered 
 the attempts of his immediate predecessor, Bishop 
 Sherlock, and deterred him from repeating his memo 
 rials to the throne upon the subject. They centered 
 in the policy of statesmen, and gathered strength 
 from the uneasiness and remonstrance of the Dissen 
 ters. 
 
 Dr. Berkeley, not always perhaps with the best 
 discretion, was a strong advocate of the scheme so 
 persistently opposed. At one time he seriously 
 meditated a visit to America with his wife, and went 
 
342 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 so far as to take steps towards purchasing a farm in 
 the colony of Connecticut. " I should much like/ 
 he wrote to the Rev. Dr. Johnson, from Cookham 
 near Maidenhead, April 21, 1770, " to pass one year 
 in a country for which I have inherited no slight af 
 fection from both my parents/ In the same letter 
 he mentioned : " Mr. Dalton is settled on a little farm 
 near me, and enjoys very good health ; he often talks 
 of America with great regard." And then he added, 
 with a mixture of playfulness and seriousness : 
 
 If you Americans are not betrayed by your wives and 
 daughters, you may transmit the invaluable blessing of lib 
 erty to your posterity ; but if your females conspire with 
 short-sighted merchants (who are too lazy to become farm 
 ers), you may in half a century be enslaved as the Irish are 
 at this day, where the list of court-pensioners (mostly Eng 
 lish) consumes more than ninety thousand pounds sterling 
 annually ; all of which money is granted without Parlia 
 ment, by virtue of the Privy Seal. And after it has been so 
 granted, Parliament is applied to for ways and means, which 
 if the Irish Parliament should refuse to afford, the English 
 Parliament would claim a privilege once surreptitiously ob 
 tained, and raise a revenue by. taxation without representa 
 tion. 
 
 The design of visiting America was relinquished, 
 partly owing to a preferment which kept him at 
 home, but l^is interest in the country continued. He 
 was a warm friend of the American Church, and ap 
 pears to have anticipated for it a great future. His 
 intimacy with Dr. Johnson, the Colonial agent, in 
 creased with every year of his stay in England, and 
 his regret at parting with him was deeper than 
 words could exrjress. That gentleman under date of 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 343 
 
 Tuesday. June llth, 1771, entered in his private 
 journal : " Attended at the Cock-pit the final hearing 
 of the Mohegan cause;" and having disposed of 
 other trusts and business committed to him, and taken 
 leave of his many friends, he bade adieu to London, 
 and sailed from GravQsend for New York on Saturday, 
 the 3d of August. Among the letters which he 
 brought with him addressed to his father, was the fol 
 lowing : 
 
 CANTERBURY, Monday, July 29, 1771. 
 
 REVEREND AND DEAR SIR, God grant that you may 
 speedily receive these lines from the hands of your excellent 
 and very amiable son. His deep distress at being thus long 
 unavoidably detained from his worthy lady, yourself, and his 
 beloved olive-branches, has sensibly impaired his health. 
 We, who love and regret him, as he deserves, hope that the 
 effect will cease with the cause. 
 
 I wrote to you a long letter immediately on the receipt of 
 your last favor. In that letter I opened my mind to you 
 with great freedom on some important subjects, and I have 
 now reason to suspect that (by the carelessness of a servant) 
 those breathings of iny soul have miscarried. This accident 
 would have been much more grievous to us if Dr. Johnson s 
 return did not now anticipate my reflections on the state of 
 learning, church discipline, and religion in America. Mr. 
 Temple of Boston visited me here a few days ago ; he styled 
 his friend, Dr. Johnson, the flower of America. 
 
 My expectations of receiving one more visit from the be 
 loved bearer of these lines are, alas ! now tq be given up. 
 This morning, a person just arrived from London, has 
 brought me a most unwelcome message from him, and my 
 letter will be but barely in time. 
 
 It happens, by what we mortals call chance, that the Dean 
 of this church is an amiable and religious man ; he is to be 
 elected Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry as soon as he shall 
 
344 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 have completed his thirtieth year, i. e., before the end of next 
 week. Dr. North is much fitter for the office of a Bishop 
 than any old man (without exception) that I remember to 
 have seen appointed to that office. Your good son knows as 
 much of the real political and ecclesiastical state of England 
 as any man in it ; I need not add, more than all the Ameri 
 cans I ever knew put together. 
 
 Mrs. Berkeley, your old acquaintance, and Mrs. George 
 Berkeley, who would be very glad to become your acquaint 
 ance, join in every possible kind wish for you. May a long 
 and happy life lead you, through Redeeming mercy, to a 
 longer happiness ! 
 
 My time is short, and my spirits are depressed by the con 
 sideration of the loss I am to sustain. Dr. Johnson indeed 
 was so good as to come on purpose to Canterbury to take 
 leave of us, but unfortunately I was then on a visit to my 
 parishioners. 
 
 I am, with the truest respect, dear Doctor, 
 
 Your faithful and affectionate brother, 
 
 G. BERKELEY. 
 
 P. S. I have the comfort of being able to say that Dr. 
 North is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ in his ser 
 mons ; if there was a vacancy, I should be happy to see him 
 our Metropolitan to-morrow. 
 
 Dr. Johnson reached his family in Stratford on the 
 1st of October, having been absent from the country 
 for nearly five years. He found his aged father full 
 of infirmities and bending to the grave, but ready to 
 welcome him with a warm heart and a clear intellect. 
 He had begun to feel that he might not live till his 
 return, and therefore his joy was all the greater when 
 he came and renewed with him the scenes through 
 which he had passed, and the personal interviews 
 with distinguished men, known to him hitherto only 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 345 
 
 through the medium of their correspondence, their 
 works, or their statesmanship. 
 
 His measure of earthly happiness was now full, and 
 he had no more for which to look forward in this 
 life. He continued a little longer to use his pen, and 
 write to his friends ; but his letters were those of one 
 who seemed to be conscious that he was closing up 
 his stewardship. The Bishop of London had sent 
 him a brief communication by his son, which, though 
 not inspiring him with any new hopes, was grate 
 fully received and resolutely answered. Its bur 
 den was the old obstacles to the American Episco 
 pate. 
 
 REVEREND SIR, I cannot let your son leave this part 
 of the world without taking the opportunity of writing a few 
 lines to you in answer to your letter delivered to me by Mr. 
 Marshall. 1 The Society, entirely satisfied with the testimo 
 nial he has brought with him, and with the assurances of a 
 sufficient allowance from the inhabitants of Woodbury, has 
 recommended him to me for orders. And, as I am always 
 unwilling to keep the candidates from America longer than 
 is necessary, especially as their stay is attended with expense, 
 I shall lose no time in ordaining Mr. Marshall, provided he 
 is found, as I trust he will [be], properly qualified for the 
 profession. The character you give of him, with regard to 
 his morals and behavior, will entitle him to some indulgence, 
 if he has not made that progress in languages which we wish 
 to find, though sometimes obliged to excuse, in our candi 
 dates. 
 
 I feel as sensibly as you can wish me to do, the distress 
 of the Americans in being obliged, at so much hazard and 
 
 1 Rev. John R. Marshall, bred a merchant, and afterwards turning his attention to 
 theology, pursued his studies under Dr. Johnson, and was licensed for Woodbury, 
 Conn., by the Bishop of London, July 28, 1771. He received the degree of M. A. 
 honoris causa, from King s College, N. Y., 1773. 
 
346 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 expense, to come to this country for orders. But I own I 
 see no prospect of a speedy remedy to it. They who are en 
 emies to the measure of an Episcopacy, whether on your part 
 of the globe or ours, have hitherto found means to prevent 
 its taking place ; though no measure can be better suited 
 to every principle of true policy, none can be more consist 
 ent with every idea I have formed of truly religious liberty. 
 We want no other motive for declaring our sentiments and 
 wishes on the subject, but what arise from the expediency, 
 I had almost said, the necessity of putting the American 
 Church upon a more respectable plan by the appointment of 
 a Bishop. But whatever are our sentiments or wishes, we 
 must leave it to the discretion and wisdom of -Government to 
 choose the time for adopting that measure. Whether we 
 shall live to see that day, is in the hands of God alone. We 
 wish only that we could look forward with pleasure and en 
 joy the thought. 
 
 Accept, sir, my best wishes for everything which may con 
 tribute to your health and happiness, and assure yourself 
 that I am, with great truth and sincerity, 
 
 Your affectionate brother, 
 
 Ric. LONDON. 
 
 FULHAM, July 22, 1771. 
 
 In replying to this letter, Johnson affirmed that no 
 one could be more concerned than he that the Church 
 should always, as far as possible, have a learned min 
 istry ; but in such a country as America then was, 
 much learning could not ordinarily be expected. He 
 was glad his Lordship felt so sensibly " the distress 
 of Americans " on being without Bishops, and apolo 
 gizing for the importunity of his brethren in Con 
 necticut, who, contrary to his advice, had made an 
 other address for them, he asked : " Is the case 
 incurable ? Is there no remedy ? Must we forever 
 go a thousand leagues for every ordination ? Can it 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 347 
 
 be that the English Government should suffer such 
 an encroachment upon Christian liberty to the Eng 
 lish Church in any part of its dominions ? I foresee," 
 he continued, " fearful consequences, political as well 
 as religious, that will inevitably follow it." If there 
 was no prospect of relief, if all hope and dependence 
 on England must be relinquished, he thought that a 
 number of the clergy would be disposed to apply to 
 some other Episcopal Church perhaps the Mora 
 vian to give them Bishops, " being conscientiously 
 persuaded that Episcopacy, such as it was in St. Cyp 
 rian s time, was the only form of government that 
 the Apostles established in the Church." 
 
 The following reply to Dr. Berkeley, if not his last 
 letter to England, was his last to that devoted friend 
 of his son and of the American Church. It shows 
 the depth of his feelings, and the great thought which 
 ever rose* in his mind as he turned to survey " the 
 branch of God s planting " in this land. 
 
 November 10, 1771. 
 
 REVEREND AND MOST DEAR SIR, I am most intensely 
 thankful to our good God that he hath so graciously preserved 
 my dear son to me and his family, and us to him through 
 his long absence and many dangers, and at length restored 
 him to us and given us to rejoice together in all the great 
 goodness of his kind Providence both towards him and us. 
 And now I return my most affectionate thanks to your very 
 excellent mother and lady and dear sons for the great kindness 
 and affection wherewith you have treated him in his absence 
 from us. May my God abundantly reward all your good 
 ness and beneficence. 
 
 I was much grieved for the miscarriage of your kind an 
 swer to my last letter, wherein you opened your mind with 
 so much freedom. I thank you for it, though I had it not, 
 
348 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 and I could wish you yet to give me a short recapitulation of 
 it. I am unwilling to give up all hopes of seeing you in 
 America, at least of your being our first Bishop, for then I 
 could trust that we should set out upon the foot of true, gen 
 uine, primitive Christianity ; and if you be not yourself the 
 man, I beg of you through your whole life strongly to inter 
 est yourself in our affairs, and so far as is possible to influence 
 that we may have one or more Bishops, and that they be 
 true, primitive Christians ; otherwise, if they are mere men 
 of this world, we are indeed better without them. 
 
 I rejoice and bless God that there is one such in these 
 abandoned times as Bishop North, and he so young, too, and 
 that of a noble family. Such an one is a phrenix indeed. 
 I desire you, if you think proper, to give my dutiful compli 
 ments to him, and let him know that, as I am the oldest of 
 the clergy here, I humbly beg he would pity our deplorable 
 condition in being obliged to go a thousand leagues for every 
 ordination, and use all the influence in his power without 
 ceasing, till we are provided with a Bishop to ordain and 
 govern the clergy here. I earnestly pray God to bless you, 
 my dear sir, and that worthy lady your mother, together 
 with your lady and dear offspring, with all the blessings of 
 this life, and that we may all at length be happy together in 
 a better world, I am, etc. 
 
 Nearly forty years before, when Dean Berkeley was 
 promoted to the see of Cloyne, Johnson wrote to a 
 London friend, expressing his joy at the appointment, 
 but regretting that it had not been an English Bish 
 opric, for then, he said, " he would have been in the 
 way of being more useful to the Church in these parts 
 of the world." The zealous son was untiring in his 
 efforts to prosecute what the father could really do 
 nothing towards accomplishing, and, at a later day, 
 was of personal service to Dr. Seabury in securing his 
 consecration to the Apostolic office from a church 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 349 
 
 north of the Tweed, where there were no State oaths 
 to hamper the little college of bishops, and no silken 
 cord binding together the crown and the crosier. 1 
 
 The waning year brought peace and quietness to 
 Johnson. He left his parochial duties chiefly to the 
 care of his assistant, and while he lived in the scenes 
 and recollections of the past rather than in the dis 
 tractions and political uncertainties of the present, he 
 did not forget the nearness of the end, much less con 
 template it with indifference. He often wished for a 
 peaceful exit, and prayed that his death might re 
 semble that of his good friend, Bishop Berkeley. 
 Though apparently little indisposed,, yet finding his 
 strength to be failing him, on the morning of January 
 6, 1772, he conversed calmly with his family upon 
 the subject of his departure, said that he was " going 
 home," and then sank to rest quietly, so as the "Lord 
 giveth his beloved sleep." An extract from the letter 
 which his son wrote to Bishop Lowth a week after the 
 event, furnishes a good description of his last mo 
 ments. 
 
 STRATFORD IN CONNECTICUT, January 13, 1772. 
 
 MY LOED, I did myself the honor to write your Lord 
 ship a short letter on my arrival in this country, acknowl 
 edging the honor of your favor of the 29th of June, from 
 Cuddesden, which I received just as 1 left London ; and pre 
 senting to your Lordship mine and my good father s duty. 
 
 I have now the misfortune to inform your Lordship of the 
 departure of my father, who left us the morning of the Epiph 
 any full of faith and hope, and we doubt not has entered 
 into the joy of our Lord. He died as he had lived, with 
 great composure and serenity of mind, and had just such a 
 
 1 Rev. Samuel Seabury, D. D., was publicly consecrated Bishop of Connecticut 
 at Aberdeen, on Sunday, the 14th of November, 1784. 
 
350 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 transition as one would wish for his best friend. He often 
 wished, and repeated it the morning of his departure, that he 
 might resemble in his death his friend, the late excellent 
 Bishop Berkeley, whose virtues he labored to imitate in his 
 life, and Heaven heard his prayer ; for, like him, he expired 
 sitting up in his chair, without a struggle or a groan. It 
 would be very inexcusable in me to trouble your Lordship 
 with this minute account, were it not also my duty to ac 
 quaint your Lordship, that from the great satisfaction and im 
 provement he had received from your writings, my father 
 had often assured me since my return that he had the great 
 est respect, veneration, and esteem for your Lordship, of any 
 man now living. That respect and esteem, give me leave to 
 say, will live in his family and among all his acquaintance, 
 upon whom he sought to inculcate it 
 
 The funeral of Dr. Johnson took place at Stratford 
 two days after his decease, and the clergy from the 
 neighboring towns were present ; one of whom, the 
 Rev. Jeremiah Learning of Norwalk, delivered a ser 
 mon in commemoration of his acquirements and Chris 
 tian character. His long tried and particular friend, 
 the Rev. John Beach of Newtown, had been selected 
 for this office, but want of health prevented his at 
 tendance at the funeral, though the sermon which he 
 prepared was afterwards preached and published. It 
 dwelt largely upon the wisdom of diverting the 
 stream of our thoughts from this visible world to 
 eternal things, and contained tributes to the memory 
 of the great man, which were neither fanciful nor un 
 deserved. " With much satisfaction," said he, " and 
 the recollection of many advantages I have received, 
 I call to mind the acquaintance which I have had 
 with this excellent divine for more than fifty-five 
 years ; and without an hyperbole, I may say it, I 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 351 
 
 know not that ever I conversed with him without 
 finding myself afterwards the better for it. He had 
 from his youth devoted himself to the sacred minis 
 try, and the studies which qualify for it he followed 
 with unwearied application, which a firm constitution 
 enabled him to pursue even in old age." He closed 
 a description of his intellectual attainments with these 
 words : " The sum is this ; he was the most excellent 
 scholar, and most accomplished divine, that this col 
 ony ever had to glory in, and what is infinitely more 
 excellent, he was an eminent Christian." 
 
 Other memorial sermons were preached, one by 
 the Rev. Mr. Inglis in Trinity. Church, New York, 
 where his name was held in grateful remembrance 
 for services rendered to the parish, and to the college 
 with which the parish was in a measure identified. 
 The loss of such a guiding light was felt by the de 
 pressed Church of England in this country, especially 
 in the Northern colonies, and no pen of equal zeal, 
 ability, and influence, was ready to take up the corres 
 pondence which he had so long conducted with Brit 
 ish minds interested in the progress of Christianity 
 on the American continent. The times grew more 
 eventful, and soon the troubles which produced the 
 Revolution interrupted communication, and sadder 
 than all the days before were those which came to 
 the supporters of Episcopacy. 
 
 " As to Dr. Johnson s person," says Chandler, " he 
 was rather tall, and, in the latter part of his life, con 
 siderably corpulent. There was something in his 
 countenance that was pleasing and familiar, and that 
 indicated the benevolence of his heart ; and yet, at 
 the same time it was majestic, and commanded re- 
 
352 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 spect. He had a ruddiness of complexion, which was 
 the effect of natural constitution, and was sometimes 
 farther brightened by a peculiar briskness in the cir 
 culation of his spirits, brought on by the exercise of 
 the benevolent affections." l 
 
 Frequent reference has been made in this volume 
 to his autobiography, which he began in the seven 
 tieth year of his age, and completed after the return 
 of his son from England. It was written in the third 
 person, and is entitled, " Memoirs of the Life of the 
 Rev. Dr. Johnson, and several Things relating to the 
 state both of Religion and Learning in his Times. " 
 This manuscript with other papers was confided to 
 the Rev. Dr. Chandler of Elizabeth town, and liberty 
 given him to use them freely in preparing a more 
 elaborate account of the life and character of his ever 
 honored friend and patron. The colonial disturb 
 ances thickened, and even before the work was ready 
 for the press, the son wrote to Dr. Chandler express 
 ing his fears about publishing : " I am at a loss what 
 to say upon the subject. On the one hand, I should 
 be extremely glad to have anything published which 
 would subserve the general interest of the Church of 
 England, and tend to do honor to the memory of my 
 father, and I know you will render whatever you pub 
 lish as perfect and unexceptionable as possible. On 
 the other hand, the age is so captious and so glutted 
 with publications of every kind, and we have so 
 many malicious adversaries working and watching for 
 every circumstance of which they may take advan 
 tage, and upon which to ground a controversy or ex 
 cite a clamor, that I am sometimes in doubt whether 
 it be best to publish anything of this kind or not." 
 
 l Life of Johnson, p. 1^6. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 353 
 
 Prudent friends advised delay, among them Mr. 
 Beach of Newtown, who, in September 1774, wrote to 
 the hesitating son, who had placed the manuscript in 
 his hands, and asked his opinion : " I should think 
 that it might be obvious to the slightest observer, 
 that this day of rage and madness is not the most 
 favorable for publications of this nature." l 
 
 He had full liberty to communicate this opinion to 
 Dr. Chandler, and in doing so he expressed his own 
 concurrence in it, and added : " I am further confirmed 
 in this idea from the insolent spirit which is lately ex 
 cited against the professors of the Church of Eng 
 land, particularly throughout New England, from an 
 apprehension that we are not sufficiently zealous in 
 the cause of American liberty. A publication of this 
 kind would on that account, I have no doubt, be 
 particularly obnoxious at this juncture, and had bet 
 ter be postponed to some more favorable opportunity. 
 For these reasons, I have not read the papers with 
 a view to any corrections or additions, as I should 
 have done, had I conceived it advisable to publish. 
 As you proposed to transcribe the work again, I have 
 returned the original memoir." 
 
 Dr. Chandler was soon after forced by the outbursts 
 of popular fury to quit his parish, and with Dr. 
 Cooper of New York sailed for England. Probably 
 he never found time to transcribe his manuscript, and 
 the wonder is how it escaped the many perils to 
 which it was subjected on his journeys. 3 It fell at 
 length into the hands of his son-in-law, 3 who pub 
 lished it more than thirty years after its preparation, 
 
 1 See History of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, vol. i. pp. 296, 297. 
 
 * See Appendix B. 
 
 Bt. Rev. John Henry Hobart, D. D., third Bishop of New York. 
 
354 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 in a small duodecimo volume of one hundred and 
 fifty pages, besides an appendix containing a few let 
 ters ; and he took care to mention in his preface 
 that " however humble may be the early annals of 
 his country, they should be interesting to every 
 American, and whatever tends to throw light on them 
 should be deemed worthy of preservation. * 
 
 The little volume embraced the substance of the 
 autobiography, and is at best but a meagre sketch 
 which did slender justice to the intellectual eminence 
 and personal worth of Johnson. Had he lived in 
 these times, he would have been distinguished among 
 men of learning, and recognized by them as an hon 
 est and patient lover of truth and justice. That he 
 attained to such excellence under all the disadvantages 
 of the period in which he was a conspicuous actor, is 
 remarkable. He dared to think for himself, and if 
 his keen penetration discovered defects in theological 
 and philosophical systems, he was careful not to ac 
 cept any new views until he had fairly examined the 
 opposing arguments and tested them by the strong 
 est proofs within his reach. It was in this way that 
 he " gradually exchanged the principles of the old 
 philosophy for those of the Newtonian system," that 
 he relinquished the rigid predestinarian tenets for 
 what appeared to be more rational and Scriptural 
 doctrines, and that he gave in his adhesion to the 
 Church of England while there were many worldly 
 motives leading him to cling to " the provincial 
 standard of orthodoxy." 
 
 As a preacher, Dr. Johnson, in the golden prime 
 of his years, had attractive qualities. He himself 
 said to his grandson towards the end of his days. 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 356 
 
 that if he had been eminent for anything, it was for 
 his eloquence. But eloquence has different forms 
 of expression, and may not necessarily consist in 
 studied rhetoric and passionate declamation. The 
 power to interest and edify an audience, to move 
 the heart and produce conviction, is a high intel 
 lectual quality, and the divine who possesses it, is 
 in the truest sense of the word, eloquent. With 
 a mind rich in theological lore, with clearness of 
 method and plainness of speech, and with an ear 
 nest desire to promote the salvation of souls, John 
 son was a minister in the Church of Christ whom 
 neither the learned nor the unlearned could hear 
 without pleasure and profit. The people followed 
 him for the Word s sake, and it is upon record that at 
 Christmas and other high festivals, his house was 
 thronged for successive days with worshippers from the 
 adjacent towns, who came to Stratford to enjoy the 
 benefit of his public and private ministrations. 
 
 If he was great in pulpit eloquence and parochial 
 duties, he was greater in his library and as an educa 
 tor in systematic divinity and the laws of ecclesiasti 
 cal polity. The Church in the northern portion of this 
 country is largely indebted to him for training a gen 
 eration of clergymen, who, with rare exceptions, 
 adorned their vocation, and left the impress of their 
 characters upon the communities in w r hich they were 
 appointed to labor. It is something to be thankful 
 for, that in its headless condition there was one who 
 knew so well how to instruct and guide the young 
 candidates for Holy Orders, and to send them forth 
 with his own passport on their perilous voyage across 
 the Atlantic. He had a profound sense of the grand- 
 
356 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 eur of the profession of a clergyman, and felt rightly 
 enough that he could not be mistaken in educating 
 those who came under his care, never to forget how 
 their names were to become historic as pioneers of 
 the Church in a new country, where all models of 
 Christian character that did not approach the perfect 
 ONE, would be despised or discredited. 
 
 It was a frequent expression of his to speak of the 
 age as " abandoned and apostatizing." He used it 
 in reference to the tendency of the times to infidelity, 
 and seemed to have no patience with those who were 
 ready to exchange the beauty of the Christian life 
 and the vitality of the Christian faith for the cold 
 dreams and theories of men of reprobate minds. Up 
 to his decease, there had been no writers against 
 Divine Revelation in this country worthy of note, 
 but there had been large importations of skeptical 
 books, and not a little mischief had been wrought by 
 their circulation. He made it his business to acquaint 
 himself with all publications of this nature, that he 
 might know how to disarm the enemy and meet the 
 demand for unreasonable and impossible conditions of 
 belief. The brightest minds among the Dissenters, 
 however much they might differ from him on doc 
 trinal points and questions of ecclesiastical polity, made 
 common cause with him in the defense of the foun 
 dations of our faith, and shared his anxiety to clear 
 away the clouds of infidelity. They respected him 
 for his learning and logical skill, and welcomed his 
 Bystem of philosophy as a most commendable effort 
 in the interests and direction of the truth. 
 
 A century has passed by and the new atheism of 
 this day needs to be met with something besides the 
 
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 357 
 
 older works on Christian evidence. Bishop Butler, 
 who spoke to the mind of the English nation, in his 
 celebrated " Analogy," has never been answered, nor 
 have the testimonies collected by Leland and Leslie ; 
 but they are little read now, for modern infidelity 
 addresses itself not so much to men of culture and 
 refinement, as to the popular imagination, weaving 
 itself into a miscellaneous literature, and at best pre 
 senting a masked portraiture of Christianity to blind 
 the eyes of the unwary. 
 
 Dr. Johnson trusted firmly in the Divine promises, 
 and did not believe that " the motley crew of Deists, 
 Socinians, Arians, and factious unbelievers " of his 
 time, as the son of Bishop Berkeley termed them, 
 could demolish what is founded on a rock. He de 
 fended the faith heroically, and trained others to im 
 itate himself, and be ready to "banish and drive 
 away from the Church all erroneous and strange doc 
 trines contrary to God s word." His name will ever 
 have an important place in American history, and 
 the more his character is studied, the more it will be 
 seen how he applied his learning and Christian phi 
 losophy to the good of his country, and the advance 
 ment of the " one Catholic and Apostolic Church," 
 in whose bosom the Lord " has promised his blessing 
 and life forevermore." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 THE following letter, an accurate copy of the original, ap 
 pears with slight variations in Boswell s " Life of Johnson." 
 A foot-note credited to the " Gentleman s Magazine," states 
 that " several letters passed between them, after the American 
 Dr Johnson had returned to his native country ; of which, 
 however, it is found that this is the only one remaining." 
 
 It is " the only one " to which an answer has been found, 
 and the answer is here printed for the first time from the 
 original draught. He is known to have written one other 
 letter, but probably the outbreak of the Revolution inter 
 rupted the correspondence. This was sent under cover, as 
 appears from the filling up of the superscription, to Rev. Mr. 
 White, afterwards Bishop of Pennsylvania, to whom the Eng 
 lish Dr. Johnson wrote the same date, saying : " I take the 
 liberty which you give me, of troubling you with a letter, 
 of which you will please fill up the direction." 
 
 So highly did he esteem his American friend, that he pre 
 sented him, before leaving England, with an elegantly 
 bound copy of his large folio Dictionary, third edition, 1765 ; 
 and an engraving o f himself, from a painting of Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds, which he considered his best likeness. 
 
 To DR. JOHNSON : 
 
 Sir, Of all those whom the various accidents of life 
 have brought within my notice, there is scarce any one whose 
 
362 APPENDIX. 
 
 acquaintance I have more desired to cultivate than yours. I 
 cannot indeed charge you with neglecting me, yet our mutual 
 inclination could scarce gratify itself with opportunities ; 
 the current of the day always bore us away from one an 
 other, and now the Atlantic is between us. 
 
 Whether you carried away an impression of me as pleas 
 ing as that which you left me of yourself, I know not ; if you 
 did, you have not forgotten me, and will be glad that I do not 
 forget you. Merely to be remembered is indeed a barren 
 pleasure, but it is one of the pleasures which is more sensi 
 bly felt as human nature is more exalted. 
 
 To make you wish that I should have you in my mind, I 
 would be glad to tell you something which you do not know, 
 but all public affairs are printed ; and as you and I had no 
 common friends, I can tell you no private history. 
 
 The Government I think grows stronger, but I am afraid 
 the next general election will be a time of uncommon turbu 
 lence, violence, and outrage. 
 
 Of Literature no great product has appeared, or is ex 
 pected ; the attention of the people has for some years been 
 otherwise employed. 
 
 I was told two days ago of a design which must excite 
 some curiosity. Two ships are [in] preparation, which are 
 under the command of Captain Constantine Phipps, to ex 
 plore the Northern ocean, not to seek the Northeast or the 
 Northwest passage, but to sail directly north, as near the 
 pole as they can go. They hope to find an open ocean, but 
 I suspect it is one mass of perpetual congelation. I do not 
 much wish well to discoveries, for I am always afraid they 
 will end in conquest and robbery. 
 
 I have been out of order this winter, but am grown better. 
 Can I ever hope to see you again ; or must I be always con 
 tent to tell you that in another hemisphere, 
 
 I am, Sir, your most humble servant, 
 
 SAMUEL JOHNSON. 
 
 JOHNSON S COURT, FLEET STREET, LONDON, March 4, 1773. 
 
APPENDIX. 363 
 
 STRATFORD, June 5, 1773. 
 
 DEAR AND RESPECTED SIR, I am perfectly unable to 
 express the grateful sense I have of the singular honor you 
 have done me by your favor of the 4th of March. There was 
 no man in England whose acquaintance I so much wished to 
 be honored with when I first embarked in my late voyage. 
 Your excellent writings had given me the highest veneration 
 and esteem of your character. I waited some time for some 
 accidental or favorable introduction to you, but when none 
 offered, I presumed so much on the idea I had formed of you, 
 that I at last ventured to introduce myself to you in the ab 
 rupt manner you remember. The kind and obliging recep 
 tion you then and ever after gave me, when I waited upon 
 you, confirmed and increased my respect, and your kind re 
 membrance of me now lays me under such obligations as I 
 must never hope to repay. To be remembered by one of the 
 first characters of an age in which there are so few whose re 
 membrance is not rather a reproach than an honor, is, I as 
 sure you, to me one of the highest pleasures that I am capa 
 ble of. 
 
 I bless God that at the date of your letter you were re 
 turning again to health, which I hope will be very long con 
 tinued to you not only for your own sake, but of human 
 nature, which will be benefited by your labors, for you live 
 not for yourself, but for all mankind. 
 
 It will, I hope, be some satisfaction to you to know that 
 your writings are in the highest esteem and are doing much 
 good in this extensive and growing country, and will, I doubt 
 not, continue to do so to very late posterity, for which reason, 
 as well as for the increase of your reputation, which I assure 
 you is very dear to me, I hope you will be still preparing 
 something for the public, who will read with the utmost 
 avidity whatever appears under the sanction of your name. 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to learn from so good an au 
 thority that Government grows stronger. You had indeed 
 convinced me that the alarm which the factious and the des 
 perate had excited was false, but I hardly expected when I 
 
364 APPENDIX. 
 
 left England that Government would have obtained so 
 speedy and so manifest a superiority over the friends of con 
 fusion, as, if we may credit the printed accounts, it seems to 
 have done. From them it would seem as if the cause of op 
 position was almost desperate. It must be expected, how 
 ever, that every effort will be made to revive it against the 
 next general election, and I wish your apprehensions may not 
 be verified : but still I hope there is no great danger of their 
 gaining so great advantages as to enable them to do much 
 mischief to the public. Upon the stability of Government 
 will depend also in a high degree the felicity of this country. 
 The Government have much to do here when the opinion 
 that has been maintained by the Boston Assembly [in] a 
 late dispute with no opposition to their Governor, that the 
 Colonies are independent of the Parliament of Great Britain, 
 gains ground, and will require their attention unless they 
 mean to acquiesce in the idea and give up their authority 
 over us, which I presume they will not be inclined to do. 
 
 The design you mention of exploring the Northern Ocean, 
 is an experiment of great curiosity, and I shall be impatient 
 to know the success of it. I have ever entertained the opin 
 ion you seem to have adopted that the Pole is the empire of 
 frost and snow, which will effectually forever stop the gains 
 from those evils which, as you justly remark, have generally 
 been the consequence of discoveries. Neither ambition nor 
 avarice, I fancy, will there have any opportunity for grat 
 ification ; we shall only acquire an innocent and perhaps use 
 less acquaintance with an unknown part of our globe. 
 
 I wish I could gratify you with any intelligence from this 
 side of the Atlantic ; but nothing occurs to me worthy of 
 your notice. I have lost since my return to America my 
 venerable father, who, to his other good qualities, added a 
 sincere respect and esteem for you, and was extremely minute 
 and particular in his inquiries concerning you. We had the 
 happiness to spend three months together after my return, 
 when he expired full of days, satisfied with life, with hopes 
 full of immortality, and without a groan or any apparent 
 previous pain. 
 
APPENDIX. 365 
 
 For myself I am again engaged largely in the busy, and in 
 this country not very profitable profession of the law, which, 
 however, answers tolerably well for the support of the numer 
 ous young family with which God has blessed me. That you 
 may enjoy every felicity, and long, very long continue as you 
 have done to bless mankind, be useful to the world, is and 
 will be the sincere and ardent prayer of, dear Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient and most faithful humble servant, 
 
 WM. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 
 
 Co DB. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 
 
 Johnson s Court, Fleet Street, London. 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 ELIZABETH-TOWN, June 20, 1774. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, The not seeing you on your return from 
 Philadelphia last winter, was a considerable disappointment 
 to me, as I partly depended upon your spending a day here, 
 that we might have time to read over, while together, the 
 " Life " of your father which I had compiled a year before. 
 If I could have consented to send it to the press without your 
 inspection and examination, it would have been published 
 long ago, but I have all along been impressed with a strong 
 sense both of your right to be consulted, and of the advant 
 age which the work would receive from your correction, and 
 perhaps from your addition, which has hitherto, and will still 
 cause me to suppress it, till it can be honored with your Im 
 primatur. With a view chiefly to this I have proposed from 
 time to time, to take a journey into New England ; but diffi 
 culties have as often arisen to interrupt me. Once indeed, I 
 could have come, but I recollected that you must then be en 
 gaged in attendance upon the General Court at Hartford, 
 and consequently would not be at leisure, nor at home to 
 consider matters of a literary nature. As, therefore, I have 
 no prospect of going your way, and hear not of your intend 
 ing to come this way, during the present summer, I have 
 determined to send you, as I am like to have no opportunity 
 of bringing i the rough copy of the " Life ; " requesting you 
 to examine it very closely, and to make such corrections upon 
 any parts of it as may occur upon a careful perusal. I ex 
 pect Mr. Beach to call upon me in an hour or two in his 
 way to New England, by whom I propose to send it ; and if 
 
APPENDIX. 367 
 
 you can be ready to return it by him, 1 it will be so much the 
 better. * 
 
 I shall send with it your father s MS. that you may com 
 pare them together. On that comparison you will find that 
 I have used it only as a guide, preserving the facts in their 
 chronological order, adding many anecdotes collected from 
 other quarters, and some of them recollected from what I 
 formerly knew, and expressing the whole in my own lan 
 guage. This I thought would better answer the general de 
 sign than confining myself more strictly to the MS. I have 
 concluded the whole with a portrait of the character of my 
 beloved patron and friend. I could wish to do it justice ; in 
 order to which I would neither say too much nor too little. 
 As I find that private affection is apt to predominate, I have 
 endeavored to be on my guard, in this part, which is by far 
 the most difficult of the whole. Be so good, therefore, as to 
 bestow a particular attention to this part, and advise and 
 assist me in it with all freedom. 
 
 . In transcribing for the press, I fancy I can make some con 
 siderable improvements, especially by way of notes. I have, 
 as you will see, made some references to. authors, extracts 
 from which are intended for that use. 
 
 As soon as you return the " Life," I think of issuing Pro 
 posals -to see what encouragement can be procured for a pub 
 lication of this nature. New England, and especially Con 
 necticut, I flatter myself, will subscribe liberally to the work. 
 New York may be expected to do something, and the Colo 
 nies to the southward of it but very little. With right man 
 agement I should imagine a pretty large subscription may be 
 procured ; in which case I may save myself here, although I 
 have lost money by every former publication I have been 
 concerned in. If you think proper, I will try what encour 
 agement can be had for a volume of your father s sermons, 
 towards which but little can be expected this way. When I 
 have done what I have to do, I will return you all the papers, 
 
 1 Rev. Abraham Beach, then Missionary of the Church of England at New Bruns 
 wick, and afterwards assistant minister of Trinity Church, New York. 
 
368 APPENDIX. 
 
 letters, etc., which you were so good as to transmit to me 
 but while anything is depending, it is best that they should 
 remain in my hands ; for which reason I must desire you to 
 send back the original MS., from which the " Life " is chiefly 
 compiled. 
 
 By so good an opportunity I shall send a copy of my " Free 
 Examination," etc., of which I request your acceptance. A 
 few copies were subscribed for, and five or six paid for in 
 Connecticut ; but as strange as it may seem, I have not been 
 able to get them sent. Gaine says it has not been possible 
 to procure a binder to do them up in New York, as every 
 person of that occupation was previously engaged in other 
 business ; however, he now promises that they shall be for 
 warded very soon. A copy arrived in England about the be 
 ginning of April ; and the Bishops, etc., ordered the sub- 
 tance of my 4i Free Examination," together with Sherlock s 
 " Memorial," to be immediately reprinted there, imagining it 
 might be of service at that critical time when a plan was un 
 der consideration for the future regulation of the Colonies. 
 Lord Dartmouth took up the cause of the Church, and ap 
 pointed to meet, and consult with the Bishop of London 
 about the Episcopate requested. He thought of bringing the 
 case immediately before the Parliament ; but the Bishop of 
 Oxford was of opinion that the Parliament had no business 
 with it, and that it was best to wait for the event of the Bos 
 ton Expedition. 
 
 With compliments to Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Kneeland, and 
 your families, 
 
 I am, with great truth and sincerity, 
 
 Your very respectful and obedient servant, 
 
 THOMAS B. CHANDLEB. 
 DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 After the Revolution and the settlement of the Govern 
 ment, he wrote again in answer to a request for the return of 
 the papers as follows : 
 
APPENDIX 3Q9 
 
 ELIZABETH-TOWN, December 28, 1785. 
 
 MY DEAR SDR, Although I do and always shall think 
 myself honored and obliged by every line I may receive from 
 you, yet I am ashamed that I have given occasion for that of 
 the 21st instant, by not sending you, or at least, not giving 
 you some satisfaction concerning the papers of your most ex 
 cellent father, my ever honored friend and patron. I am 
 ashamed too, that I have not sooner returned the " Journal " 
 of the Convention in Virginia, which you kindly put into my 
 hands on my first arrival in New York. These neglects will 
 not admit of a full justification, yet I beg you to allow as 
 much as you can to the following apology. 
 
 To a person of my disposition, and in my situation, it was 
 impossible, for a considerable while after I got home, to attend 
 to any matters of business excepting that kind of business 
 mentioned by Sir T. Moore ; nempe reverse domum, cum 
 uxore fabulandum est, garriendum cum liberis, colloquendum 
 cum ministris. Quce ego omnia inter negotia numero. As 
 soon as I was able to attend to other matters, I found my 
 books and papers in such confusion and so widely dispersed, 
 many of them being still in New York, and in different 
 hands there, that it was the work of much time to collect 
 and arrange them. When I had got together the bigger 
 part of your father s sermons, letters, etc., considering that 
 everything of the kind must be peculiarly agreeable to the 
 family, I meant to send them to you in New York, but, upon 
 inquiry, was informed that you were gone into the country. 
 Mr. Beach paid me a visit about the 10th of November, and 
 then informed me that you were not in town. Since that 
 time I have had the same answer to the same question, and 
 did not know of your return, till I learned it from your letter. 
 I shall now soon send you, to the care of Mr. Livingston, 
 the various articles I have collected, they being, in my opin 
 ion, too bulky to go by post, unless divided into different 
 parcels. Most of the Sermons and Letters I have found, and 
 am not without hopes of finding the remainder. As to the 
 " Memoir," I took it with me to England, imagining it would 
 24 
 
370 APPENDIX. 
 
 be safer with me, though subject to the perils of the sea, than 
 if left behind, " in perils among false brethren." I brought 
 it back with me in good preservation. 
 
 I have taken the liberty of inclosing a letter for Bishop Sea- 
 bury, and must beg the favor of your passport for it. I now 
 return the " Journal " of the Convention in Virginia. I had 
 hardly time to read it in New York, and I brought it over 
 with me, that I might be able to give a better account of the 
 transactions to some people in England, in letters which I 
 was a long time in writing. After making this use of it, I 
 meant to send it with the other papers ; and for the reasons 
 assigned above, this part of my intention has not sooner been 
 carried into execution. In the meanwhile, I hope you have 
 not suffered greatly for want of this curious publication. A 
 curiosity indeed it is for it exhibits such a motley mixture of 
 Episcopacy, Presbytery and Ecclesiastical Republicanism as 
 before was never brought together and incorporated, and 
 must surprise the whole Christian world. 
 
 The proceedings of the Convention in Philadelphia, which 
 is to be considered as a kind of (Ecumenical Council, were 
 much in the same style, though not so wild and intemperate. 
 In their Address to the English Archbishops, they say that 
 it is " their earnest desire and resolution to retain the vener 
 able form of Episcopal government ; " and yet they have 
 placed their Church under a government that is evidently 
 Presbyterian. Conventions, consisting of ministers and lay- 
 elders, or messengers (no matter by what name they are 
 called), are to meet without the call or license of the Bishop ; 
 it does not appear that he is to have any negative upon their 
 proceedings, or even to preside ex officio ; and, in case of his 
 delinquency, he is to be arraigned before the tribunal of his 
 own presbyters, etc., who have a power to displace him. 
 They expect the Bishops in England to countenance this new 
 fangled Episcopate ; but, from what I know of them, I can 
 hardly believe that they will be aiding to a scheme formed 
 with a design to degrade the Episcopal order by depriving it 
 of that authority which it has ever claimed and exercised as 
 
APPENDIX. 371 
 
 an essential and unalienable right, since the time of the 
 Apostles. 
 
 In Connecticut the Church has proceeded upon other 
 maxims, and merits the approbation and applause of all the 
 friends of genuine Episcopacy. I wish that so fair and 
 proper an example may still, if possible, be followed in the 
 other States. The more I consider the matter, the more I 
 am pleased, that, as yet, you have made no alterations in 
 the Liturgy, but such as are necessary to accommodate it to 
 the change of Government. 
 
 You are pleased to intimate an inclination or wish to make 
 me a visit. I should be extremely happy in seeing you here, 
 and in giving you the best reception in my power ; and I 
 shall rejoice in every kind of opportunity of proving myself 
 to be, with peculiar esteem and respect, 
 
 Your very affectionate humble servant, 
 
 T. B. CHANDLER. 
 DB. W. S. JOHNSON. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abbot, Mr., 44. 
 Addison, 68. 
 
 "Alciphron, or the Minute Philoso 
 pher/ 76, 83. 
 Allison, Mr., 166, 172. 
 American Bishops, 276, 281, 297, 315, 
 
 316, 324-326, 341. 
 American Church, 342, 347. 
 American Episcopate, 228, 314, 315, 
 
 325, 326, 345, 367, 369. 
 Ames s " Medulla Theologize," 5. 
 Amherst, Jeffery, 257. 
 Andrew, Samuel, 8, 11. 
 Anson, Lord, 263. 
 Aplin, Mr., 277, 278. 
 Apthorp, Rev. East, 243-245, 250, 275, 
 
 283, 297, 303; letter of, 284, 285; 
 
 removal to England, and death, 285. 
 Archer, Mr., 26. 
 Arianism, 84. 
 Arians, 29, 31. 
 Arminianism, 89. 
 Arnold, Rev. Jonathan, 85, 93, 99- 
 
 101 ; will and death of, 94, 95. 
 Ashton, Dr., 49. 
 Assembly, Massachusetts, 300. 
 Assembly, New York, 192, 193, 195, 
 
 197. 
 Astry, Dr. Francis, 27, 28, 30, 36, 40, 
 
 101, 117, 213, 215, 216; letter of, 
 
 106, 107. 
 
 Athanasian Creed, 124. 
 Atterbury, Dr. Francis, Bishop of 
 
 Rochester, 34, 44. 
 Auchmuty, Rev. Samuel, 289, 292, 
 
 296, 301. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bacon, Lord, 6. 
 Baile, Dr., 43. 
 Baker, Mr., 40. 
 
 Barclay, Rev. Henry, 255, 277, 279, 
 283, 293, 296 ; letter of, 195-197. 
 
 Barclay, Mr. P., 97. 
 
 Barrett, Mr., 281, 294. 
 
 Barrow, Isaac, 13. 
 
 Barrowby, Dr., 42. 
 
 Beach, Rev. Abraham, 366, 368. 
 
 Beach, Rev. John, 122, 198, 199, 237, 
 272-276, 350, 353 ; conforms to 
 Episcopacy, 87, 88. 
 
 Beach, William, 88, 265 ; his widow, 
 265. 
 
 Beadle, Mr., 50. 
 
 Bearcroft, Mr., 34; Secretary of the 
 Society, 112, 176, 211, 213, 216, 238, 
 244. 
 
 Bedford, Duke of, 281, 295. 
 
 Bell, Mr. and family, 319, 320. 
 
 Bennet College Library, 50. 
 
 Bennet, Dr., 43, 51, 52. 
 
 Bennet, Mr., and Mohawk Indians, 
 284. 
 
 Benson, Dr. Martin, Bishop of Glouces 
 ter, 86, 103, 104 ; letter of, 93, 94. 
 
 Bentley, Dr., 50. 
 
 Berkeley, George, Dean of Derry, 55, 
 68, 88; arrival at Newport, 67; 
 charter for Bermuda College, 69; 
 marriage, 70 ; letters to Johnson, 71- 
 81, 154-156, 169-171; gifts to Yale 
 College, 77-81, 98, 99, 202; Bishop 
 of Cloyne, 82 ; Philosophy, 82, 83, 
 130, 131, 136, 141-143 ; " Treatise on 
 Tar Water," 132 ; mentions of, 157, 
 169, 187, 228, 230, 294, 317, 329, 
 348-350, 357 ; Mrs. Berkeley, 344 ; 
 removal to Oxford, 172 ; death, 173, 
 174. 
 
 Berkeley, Rev. George, 80, 172, 228, 
 271, 290, 305, 317, 323, 329, 357 ; 
 letters to Johnson, 174-176, 327, 
 328, 342-344 ; meditates visit to 
 America, 341 ; Mrs. George Berke 
 ley, 344. 
 
 Bermuda College, 55, 68, 76, 79, 326. 
 
 Berriman, Rev. John, 27, 33, 40, 42, 
 45, 48, 51, 127, 213, 222 ; letters to 
 
374 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Johnson, 55, 56, 83, 84, 86, 95, 96, 
 176, 177. 
 
 Berriman, Dr., William, 27, 30, 33, 35, 
 43, 45, 49, 51, 53. 
 
 Biss, Dr. Thomas, 29. 
 
 Blackburn, Dr., Archbishop of York, 86. 
 
 Blackett, Sir Edward, 27. 
 
 Book of Common Prayer, 12. 
 
 Boston Expedition, 367. 
 
 Boswell s " Life of Johnson," 361. 
 
 Bourbon, House of, 327. 
 
 Bourk, Mr., 169, 170. 
 
 Bowers, Bishop, 45. 
 
 Bowers, Mr., 28. 
 
 Bowyers, Jonah, 36, 43, 44. 
 
 Boyle, 5. 
 
 Bradshaw, Dr., Bishop of Bristol, 56. 
 
 Bramston, Mr., 27. 
 
 Brasenose College, 90. 
 
 Bridger, Mr., 27, 28, 32, 34, 41. 
 
 Bristow, Rev. Dr., 223, 241. 
 
 British Parliament, 326, 342. 
 
 Brown, Daniel, 7, 28, 30, 227 ; tutor 
 in college, 9, 10, 14^. declares for 
 Episcopacy, 18-20 ; goes to England, 
 23 ; baptism of, 34 ; confirmation, 
 and ordination, 36, 37 ; sickness, 
 38 ; death and burial, 40, 41. 
 
 Brown, Rev. Isaac, 83. 
 
 Buckingham, Thomas, 8. 
 
 Buckridge, Mr., 27, 34. 
 
 Bull, Mr., 37. 
 
 Bull, George, 13, 63. 
 
 Burnet, Gilbert, Bishop of Sartim, 13, 
 60. 
 
 Burnet, Wm., Governor of New York, 
 60; letter of, 61, 62. 
 
 Burrough, Dr., 33. 
 
 Burton, Rev. John, 47, 90, 176, 292. 
 
 Bushnell, Francis, 2. 
 
 Butler, Bishop, " Analogy," 357. 
 
 Camm, Rev. Mr., 324. 
 
 Camp, Rev. Ichabod, 170. 
 
 Caner, Mr. Henry, 9. 
 
 Caner, Rev. Henrv, 93, 105, 145, 273, 
 
 274, 277-279, 283, 296. 
 Caner, Rev. Richard, 105, 106 ; death 
 
 of, 107. 
 
 Cardcl, Isaac, 34. 
 Cardel, Mrs., 48. 
 Carleton, Mr., 40. 
 Carter, Lady, 312. 
 Carter, Mr., 36,37, 43. 
 Carteret, 68. 
 
 " Cases of Conscience," 5. 
 Cathedral of Canterbury, 26. 
 
 Chambers, Mr., 196, 197. 
 
 Champion, Mr., 42. 
 
 Chandler, Dr. Samuel, 281. 
 
 Chandler, T. B., 199, 272, 277, 279, 
 283, 296, 312,351;" Life of Johnson, 
 20, 52, 64, 352-354 ; " Appeal," 314- 
 316, 325 ; letters of, 94, 365-370. 
 
 Channing, Dr., 222. 
 
 Chapman, Daniel, 4. 
 
 Charles I., 28, 54. 
 
 Charlton, Mr., 277. 
 
 Chatham, Lord, 339, 340. 
 
 Chauncy, Dr. Charles, 311, 314, 315, 
 325. 
 
 Checkley, Mr. John, 28, 30, 31, 36, 40, 
 43, 45, 55, 177 ; missionary at Provi 
 dence, 95, 97 ; writings and death, 97. 
 
 Chillingworth, 75 
 
 Chishul, Dr., 31, 33. 
 
 Church in America, 93, 116, 117, 179, 
 211-213, 228, 253, 283. 293, 321, 324, 
 342,346, 347,351,367. 
 
 Church of England, 7, 14-16, 23, 77, 
 85, 107, 110, 111, 193, 201, 202, 204, 
 258, 259, 322, 352-354 ; in Con 
 necticut, 54, 87, 98, 165, 254, 272, 293. 
 
 Churchmen in Connecticut, 98, 100. 
 
 Clap, Rev. Thomas, 79, 103, 105, 123, 
 170, 171, 200, 205, 209. 
 
 Clarendon, Earl of, 35. 
 
 Clark, Dr. Samuel, 36, 61, 62, 86 
 122, 234. 
 
 Clavering, Dr., 56. 
 
 Codrington College, 282. 
 
 Colebatch, Dr., 43. 
 
 Colden, Cadwnlladcr, 129; letters to 
 Johnson, 129, 130, 132, 133, 135- 
 137, 140-142, 181-184. 
 
 Golden, Elizabeth, 183. 
 
 Colgan, Rev. Thomas, 215. 
 
 College in New York, 189-194, 209; 
 chartered, 195. 
 
 Collegiate School, 8. 
 
 Collins, Anthony, 64. 
 
 Colman, Dr. Benjamin, 126, 145 ; 
 letter of, 123-12.">. 
 
 Col ton, Rev. Jonathan, 170. 
 
 Commissary for Connecticut, 116. 
 
 Congress of the Colonies, 21)9, 300. 
 
 Connecticut Clergy, 99, 116, 297, 346. 
 
 Connecticut Colony, 4, 202, 310. 
 
 Conybeare, Mr., 46. 
 
 Cook, Rev. Samuel, 121. 
 
 Cooper, Rev. Mylcs, 249, 267, 271,273, 
 287, 291, 300 ,*312-31 4, 353. 
 
 Co ram, Mr. Thomas, 27. 
 
 Court of Great Britain, 310. 
 
 Crawlev, Mr., 40. 
 
 Cross, Dr., 49, 50. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 375 
 
 Crow, Rev. Mr., 33. 
 
 Crugcr, John, 197. 
 
 Cudworth, Dr., 230. 
 
 Cummin, Mr., 29. 
 
 Cuthbcrr, Rev. Mr., 23. 
 
 Cutler, Rev. John, 97, 165, 218-220. 
 
 Cutler, Rev. Timothy, Rector of Yale 
 College, 11 ; declares for Episco 
 pacy, 18; embarks for England, 23 ; 
 sickness, 30 ; baptism, 35 ; confirma 
 tion and ordination, 36, 37 ; men 
 tions of, 34, 38, 40, 43, 52, 54, 55 ; 
 65, 86, 90, 91, 95, 114, 145, 221; 
 death of son, 101. 
 
 Cutting;, Mr. Leonard, 232, 233, 241, 
 247/250. 
 
 Cyprian, S. 17, 22. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dal.ton, Mr., 70, 342. 
 
 Dartmouth, Lord, 367. 
 
 Davenport, James, 113. 
 
 Dawes, Sir William, Archbishop of 
 York, 28, 29. 
 
 Dawson, Dr., 52. 
 
 Deists, 357. 
 
 DC Lancey, James, Lieutenant-gov 
 ernor of New York, 216, 233, 253. 
 
 De Lancey, Peter, 182, 183. 
 
 De Lancey, William Heathcote, first 
 Bishop of Western New York, 184. 
 
 Dclaunc, Dr., 47, 48. 
 
 Descartes, 5, 74. 
 
 Dickens, Dr., 49, 50. 
 
 Dickinson, Rev. Jonathan, 97, 120, 121, 
 274. 
 
 Dissenters, 103, 179, 199, 202, 206, 207, 
 212, 245, 276, 281, 282, 294, 295, 302, 
 312, 314, 324, 341, 356. 
 
 Dolison, Dr., 46-48. 
 
 Dommer, Mr., 29. 
 
 Dove, Mr., 166-168. 
 
 Dummer, Jeremiah, 7, 31, 202. 
 
 Dutch Church, 190, 196, 197. 
 
 Dwight, Timothy, President, 80. 
 
 Echard s " Church History," 13. 
 
 Egrcmont, Lord, 277. 
 
 "Elementa Philosophica," 172, 174- 
 181. 
 
 Eliot, .Tared, teacher at Guilford, 3,4 ; 
 minister at East Guilford, 14; men 
 tion of, 18,20, 79, 102. 
 
 Ellis, Dr., 230. 
 
 Ellotson, Mr., 35. 
 
 Episcopacy, 88, 97, 275, 299, 346, 347 
 
 351, 369, 370; in America, 256; in 
 
 Connecticut, 95. 
 
 Episcopal Indian School, 303, 309. 
 Estwick, Mr., 43. 
 Ewer, Dr., Bishop of Llandaff, sermon, 
 
 100,311. 
 
 F. 
 
 Faden, W., 307, 318. 
 
 Faycrweather, Rev. Samuel, 213, 214, 
 
 216-218 ; letter of, 220, 224, 226. 
 Felton, Dr., 47, 48. 
 Finch, Mr., 42. 
 Fisk, Phineas, 5. 
 Fleming, Dr., 86. 
 Floyd, Col. Richard, 57. 
 Forbes, Lord President, 127, 186, 234. 
 Forster, John, 70. 
 Fosset, Rev. Mr., 49. 
 Fowle, Rev. Mr., 213. 
 Foxcroft, Thomas, 120. 
 Francis, Mr., 157, 159, 160, 162, 168. 
 Franklin, Benjamin, 153, 169, 187,308; 
 
 letters to Johnson. 157-160, 162-166, 
 
 172, 173, 180, 181. 
 Eraser s <: Life of Berkeley/ 175. 
 " Free Examination/ 367. 
 Free Thinking, 81, 148, 151. 
 Frink, Mr., 277, 278. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gainc, Mr., 367. 
 
 Gardiner. Dr., 11 8. 
 
 Gastrel, Dr., Bishop of Chester, 47. 
 
 General Assembly, 8, 10, 19; of Con- 
 necticut, 100, 335 ; of Scotland, 211, 
 301. 
 
 " Gentleman s Magazine," 361. 
 
 George III., 255. 
 
 Gibbs, Rev. William, 213. 
 
 Gibson, Dr. Edmund, Bishop of Lon 
 don, 42, 43, 48, 56, 303. 
 
 Giles, Rev. Mr., 301,307. 
 
 Godly, Rev. Mr., 37. 
 
 Gold, Mr. Hezekiah, 108 ; letter to 
 Johnson, 110, 111. 
 
 Gooch, Dr., 96. 
 
 Gosling, Mr., 26, 43. 
 
 Gosling, Mr. Jr., 26, 212. 
 
 Governors of King s College, 286-289. 
 
 Graham, Rev. John, 88, 89. 
 
 Grafton, Duke of, 339. 
 
 Grandorgh, Dr., 26 31. 
 
 Green, Dr. Thomas, Bishop of Nor 
 vrieh, 35-37. 
 
 Grecnaway, Mr., 47, 48. 
 
 Grcgso.n, Mr., 30. 
 
376 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Gregson, Thomas, 100. 
 Gronville, Mr., 302. 
 Grey, Dr., 36, 43-45, 51, 52. 
 Gronovius, 129. 
 Guise, Dr., 145. 
 
 H. 
 
 Halifax, Lord, 251-253, 277. 
 
 Hall, Dr., 50. 
 
 Hall, Mr., 171. 
 
 Hall, Mr., of Lincoln, 90, 
 
 Hammond, Mr., 39. 
 
 Hampshire ministers, 203. 
 
 Handcock, Lady, 70. 
 
 Harding, Mr., 50. 
 
 Hardy, Sir Charles, 233. 
 
 Harison, George, 211, 216, 219, 222, 
 
 224, 238, 297. 
 Harpin, Dr., 238. 
 Harpur, Mr., Robert, 266, 267. 
 Hart, Mr. John, 14, 18, 20. 
 Harvard College, 2, 114, 144, 233. 
 Havens, Mr., 166. 
 Hay, Mr., 35, 41. 
 Haywood, Dr., 48. 
 Hebrew Manuscripts, 308. 
 Hemingway, Mr., 7. 
 Hendley, Mr., 31. 
 Herring, Bishop, 86. 
 Higgot, Mr., 52. 
 Hill, Mr., 32. 
 Hillsborough, Lord, 338. 
 Hoadly, Bishop, 13, 61. 
 Hobart, John Henry, Bishop of New 
 
 York, 353. 
 
 Hobart, Noah, 203, 207, 209, 274. 
 Hobbes, 207. 
 Hodges, Dr., 117. 
 Hollo way, Mr., 230. 
 Honyman, Rev. James, 29, 54, 67, 101, 
 
 165, 169, 170. 
 
 Hooker s "Ecclesiastical Polity," 13. 
 Hooper, Mr., 51. 
 Home, George, Bishop of Norwich, 128, 
 
 228, 231, 267, 305, 329; letter to 
 
 Johnson, 290. 
 Horsmanden, Daniel, 289 ; letter to 
 
 Johnson, 288. 
 Hubbard, Rev. Bela, 296. 
 Hughes, Mr., 26. 
 Humphrey, Mr., 31 ; Humphrey, Mrs., 
 
 52. 
 
 Hurd, Jabez, 318. 
 Hutchinson, John, 127, 128, 131, 186, 
 
 230, 231, 234, 267, 268, 305, 332. 
 Hutchinsonians, 231, 305. 
 Hyberton, Dr., 222. 
 
 Ibbotson, Dr., 28, 36. 
 
 Independents or Congregational ista, 
 
 16, 87, 273, 298. 
 
 Indian Charity School, 308, 310. 
 Inglis, Dr. Charles, 100, 296,351. 
 " Instauratio Magna," 6. 
 " Inventions of Men in the Worship 
 
 of God," 12. 
 Irish Parliament, 342. 
 
 J. 
 
 Jackson, Mr., 219. 
 
 James, Mr., 4. 
 
 James, Mr., 70. 
 
 Jarvis, Rev. Abraham, Bishop of Con 
 necticut, 296. 
 
 Jay, Dr. James, agent for soliciting 
 subscriptions, 269-271, 290. 
 
 Jebb, Mr., 48. 
 
 Jenkins, Dr. R., 49, 50. 
 
 Jenks, Dr., 27. 
 
 Jenner, Edmund, 38. 
 
 Jennings, Mr., 35. 
 
 Johnson, Robert, emigration to Amer 
 ica, and family, 1, 2. 
 
 Johnson, William, his son settles in 
 Guilford, 2, 3. 
 
 Johnson, Samuel, marriage, 2 death, 58. 
 
 Johnson, Rev. Samuel, birth, 1 ; earlr 
 education, 3, 4 ; graduates from col 
 lege, 5 ; philosophical studies, 5, 6 ; 
 tutor at New Haven, 9, 10 ; Congre 
 gational Minister at West Haven, 1 1 ; 
 doubts about his ordination, 12-15 ; 
 declares for Episcopacy, 18, 19 ; 
 reasons for his change, 20-23 ; sails 
 for England, 24 ; books read at sea, 
 25 ; arrival and reception, 25 ; ex 
 tracts from private Journal, 26-37 ; 
 baptism, 34 ; confirmation and 
 ordination, 36, 37 ; more extracts 
 from Journal, 39-53 ; sorrow for the 
 death of Brown, 41 ; visit to Oxford 
 46-48 ; visit to Cambridge, 49, 50 ; 
 taking leave of friends and farewell 
 to England, 53, 54 ; arrival at Strat 
 ford, 54 ; letter to the Bishop of 
 London, 56 ; marriage, 57 ; death of 
 parents, 58, 59 ; intimacy with Gov 
 ernor Burnet, 60 ; letter to, 62, 63 ; 
 studies of Christian evidence, 64 ; 
 religious controversy, 88-91 ; visit^ 
 to Berkeley, 67, 70, 75, 77; inter. 
 Berkeley in Yale College, 77-81 ; 
 convert to his Philosophy, 82 ; foreign 
 correspondence, 92, 34 f, 348; educa- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 377 
 
 tion of sons, 144 ; letters to J. Scul- 
 lard, 66, 67 ; letters to J. Berriman, 
 85, 96-98, 127, 128 ; letters to 
 Bishop of London, 88, 94, 297-299 ; 
 letters to Bishop Berkeley, 99-103, 
 105, 106, 170-173 ; letters to George 
 Berkeley, 229-232, 328, 329, 347, 
 348; letters to Mr. Gold, 108-111; 
 letter to Rev. Roger Price, 113-115 ; 
 letter to Mills, 122 ; letter to Colman, 
 125, 126; letters to C. Colden, 133- 
 140, 142, 143, 184-188; letters to 
 elder son, 148-153, 197-199, 225- 
 228, 233, 234, 254, 255, 262, 263, 
 315, 316; letter to son s wife, 236 ; 
 letter to Dr. Franklin, 167, 168; 
 letters to George Home, 267, 268, 
 290-292 ; letter to Rev. Richard 
 Peters, 161 ; letters to President 
 Clap, 201-209; letters to Arch 
 bishop Seeker, 243, 244, 269, 270, 
 294 - 297 ; correspondence with 
 Seeker, 241, 249, 251-254, 256; 
 named for Commissary, 116, 117; 
 Doctor of Divinity, 117, 118; build 
 ing churches, 119, 120; system of 
 morality, 123, 169 ; controversy with 
 Dickinson, 120-122; defense of 
 Berkeley s Philosophy, 131, 132; 
 called to College in Philadelphia, 
 153, 157; invited to Newport, 165; 
 " Elementa Philosophica," 169, 172 ; 
 cost of printing, 179 ; President of 
 King s College, 190, 191 ; controversy 
 among the Trustees, 192, 197 ; resigns 
 mission at Stratford, 209 ; removes 
 to New York, 210; retires to West- 
 chester, 233, 235, 237 ; illness of wife, 
 235, 236 ; death, 240 ; return to New 
 York, 239 ; small-pox again in the 
 city, 247, 255 ; writes to Rev. East 
 Apthorp, 250, 251 ; discourse on 
 Prayer, and letter to friend, 257-261 ; 
 dislike of skeptical writers, 264 ; 
 second marriage, 265 ; aid for Col 
 lege, solicited in England, 266, 267; 
 defense of the Church, 272-274 ; 
 determines to resign, 274, 275 ; small 
 pox in New York and prepares to 
 retire to Stratford, 286; death of his 
 wife, 287 ; letter to Trustees, 289 ; 
 directs studies of candidates, 292 ; 
 interest in the Indians, 308-310; 
 correspondence with Chandler, 312- 
 315 ; Hebrew Grammar, and corre 
 spondence about, 306, 307, 333 ; efforts 
 in favorot American Episcopate, 324- 
 327, 341 ; death, 349, 350 ; burial, 
 350,; sermons on, 350, 351 ; autobi 
 
 ography, 352, 354 ; character, 354- 
 357. 
 
 Johnson, Wm. Samuel, birth 65 ; edu 
 cation, 113, 117, 144; letters to his 
 father, 145-147, 192-194, 274, 275, 
 305, 311, 312, 316-323, 329-331, 
 338-340 ; inoculated for small-pox, 
 293 ; member of first Colonial Con 
 gress, 299 ; author of remonstrance 
 to the King, 300 ; special agent, 310 ; 
 marriage of daughter, 334 ; letter to 
 his wife, 336 ; prolonged absence in 
 England, 335-338 ; mentions of, 197, 
 199, 225-227, 273 ; sails for America, 
 343 ; arrival at Stratford, 344 ; letter 
 to Bishop Lowth, 349, 350. 
 
 Johnson, Rev. Wm., birth, 143 ; educa 
 tion, 143, 144; mentions of, 205, 
 226, 238 ; letters to his father, 209, 
 214, 217; tutor in King s College, 
 210; arrival in England, 212; ordi 
 nation, 217; letter to his brother, 
 218-220 ; death, 220; burial, 224. 
 
 Johnson, Sir William, 303, 310, 314. 
 
 Johnson, Dr., monument to in Cherry 
 Burton Church, 319. 
 
 Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 330; letter to 
 Wm. Samuel Johnson, and his an 
 swer, 361-365. 
 
 Jones, Dr., 30, 45. 
 
 Jones, John, 34, 53. 
 
 Jones, William, of Nayland, 128, 290, 
 291, 305. 
 
 Journal of Convention, Virginia, 368, 
 369. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kay, Mr., 78. 
 
 Kennett, Dr., 32. 
 
 Kennicott, Dr., 308. 
 
 King, Archbishop, 12. 
 
 King s College, chartered, 195 ; contro 
 versy about, 196, 197, 199 ; first com 
 mencement, 241 ; second, 243 ; fourth, 
 265 ; gifts to, 244 ; Governors of 
 256 ; need of funds, 267 ; collections 
 for in England, 269-271 ; mentions 
 of, 247, 253, 290, 291, 345. 
 
 King, Dr., master of the Chapter House, 
 30, 52, 53. 
 
 King, Sir Peter, 30. 
 
 Kinnersley, Mr., 222. 
 
 Kneeland, Rev. Ebenezer, 333, 334, 367 
 
 Knight, Rev. Dr., 34, 51. 
 
 Laney, Dr., 49, 50. 
 Law, 63. 
 
378 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 Lawson, Mr., 50. 
 
 Learning, Rev. Jeremiah, 350. 
 
 Leland, 357. 
 
 Leslie, 357. 
 
 " Letter from Aristocles to Authades," 
 
 120, 121. 
 
 Leybourn, Mr. R,, 36. 
 Lisle, Dr., 96. 
 Lispenard, Leonard, 197. 
 Lithered, Captain Thomas, 23. 
 Liturgy of the Church of England, 13, 
 
 189, 193, 205, 262. 
 
 Livingston, Win., 100, 191, 195-197. 
 Locke, John, 5, 74, 131, 230. 
 "London Chronicle," 315. 
 "London Magazine," 251, 252. 
 Lords of the Council, 336. 
 Lovel, Dr., 28, 29, 52. 
 Low, Mr., 37. 
 
 Lowth, Bishop, 326, 331, 349. 
 Lucas, Mr., 50. 
 Lupton, Dr., 52. 
 Lutheran Ministers, 197. 
 Lyttleton, Lord, 319. 
 
 Mackintosh, Colonel, 23. 
 
 Manning, Mr., 43. 
 
 Mansfield, Lord, 340. 
 
 Markham, Dr., 174. 
 
 Marlhorongh, Duke of, 47. 
 
 Marshall, Key. John R., 345. 
 
 Marshall, Dr. Nathaniel, 36, 40, 43, 45, 
 
 52. 
 
 Martin, Mr., 166. 
 Massey, Mr., 37, 39, 40. 
 Maverick, Mrs. George, 252. 
 Mayhcw, Dr. Jonathan, 275, 276, 278, 
 
 280, 281, 285,294,295. 
 McSparran, Dr. James, 95, 213, 219. 
 Middlesex Election, 339, 
 Middleton, Dr., 49, 50. 
 Middlcton, Mr., 43. 
 Mills, Mr. Ji-dediah, 122. 
 Missionaries, 245, 254. 
 Mohcgan Cause, 310, 311, 336, 343. 
 Moore, Sir T., 368. 
 Morley, Mr., 224. 
 Monis, Rev. Theophilus, 112-116. 
 Morton, Dr., 291. 
 Moselev, Mr., 46. 
 Moss, Dr., 42, 43, 45, 312. 
 Moss, Mr., 7. 
 Murray, Mr. Joseph, 266. 
 
 N. 
 
 Ncgns, Mr., 45. 
 New bury, Walter 45. 
 
 Newcastle, Duke of, 253. 
 
 Newton, Bishop, 290. 
 
 Newton, Sir Isaac, 5. 
 
 Newtonian Philosophy, 128, 332. 
 
 Nicholls, Dr., 214-217, 228. 
 
 Nichols, Dr., 222. 
 
 Nicholson, Jeremiah, 34. 
 
 Nicoll, Benjamin, Esq., 57. 
 
 Nicoll, Benjamin, Jr., 194, 195, 198, 
 
 248. 
 
 Nightingale, Mrs. Dorothy, 34, 35. 
 "Noetica," 168, 169, 180, 182. 
 North, Bishop, 344, 348. 
 North, Lord, 339. 
 Norton, Mr., 52. 
 Nottingham, Earl of, 23. 
 Noyes, Joseph, 5, 7, 9. 
 
 0. 
 
 Oglethorpe, Mr., 90. 
 
 Oldsworth, Mr., 49. 
 
 Oliver, Mr., 52, 53. 
 
 Orem, Mr., 23. 
 
 Osbaldistone, Dr., Bishop of Carlisle, 
 
 218. 
 
 Otis, James, 300. 
 Owen, Dr., 47. 
 " Oxonia Illustrata," 209. 
 
 r. 
 
 Paine, Thomas, 264. 
 
 Painting, Dr., 46. 
 
 Parker, Mr. Samuel, 48. 
 
 Parkhurst, Rev. John, 306, 318, 332. 
 
 Parsons, Sir John, 51. 
 
 Patrick s "Devotions," 13. 
 
 Patten, Rev. Dr., 231, 268, 290, 291. 
 
 Pearcc, Mr., 49. 
 
 Pearson, John, 13, 63. 
 
 Peters, Rev. Richard, 160, 162, 1*5, 
 
 166, 168, 173. 
 Phillips, Mr., 51. 
 Pierson, John, 83. 
 Pigot, Rev. George, 15, 16 ; removal to 
 
 Providence, 54. 
 Pilgrim, Mr., 50. 
 Pitt, Mr., 251-253. 
 Pollen, Rev. Mr., 176. 
 Pope, 68, 214. 
 Popery, 89. 
 
 Porteus, Dr., 311, 312. 
 Potter, Dr. John, Bishop of Oxford, 33, 
 
 46,47, 296. 
 
 Presbyterians, 298, 301. 
 Presbyterian Divines, 88, 120, 197. 
 Presbyterian Ordination, 14, 15. 
 Price," Mr., 37. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 379 
 
 Price, Rev. Roger, 112, 113, 116, 281, 
 
 294. 
 
 Primitive Church, 14. 
 "Principles of Action in Matter," 129, 
 
 181. 
 " Principles of Human Knowledge," 67, 
 
 72. 
 
 Prior, Thomas, 70, 76. 
 Protest, 192-194, 196. 
 Punderson, Rev. E., 200, 205, 207. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Queen Anne, 68, 276. 
 R. 
 
 Rawden, Mr., 42-44. 
 
 Kawlins, Mr., 29, 35. 
 
 Revolutionary War, 241. 
 
 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 361. 
 
 Rice, Mr., 42. 
 
 Richards, Mr., 197. 
 
 Robinson, Dr. John, Bishop of London, 
 
 29, 34, 35, 37. 
 Roderick, Dr., 44. 
 Rugglcs, Captain, 51. 
 Ruggles, Mr., 300. 
 Rundle, Dr., 84-86. 
 Ryan, Mr., 48. 
 
 Sabellianism, 62. 
 
 Sage, David, 2. 
 
 Salmon, Mr., 53. 
 
 Salmon, Mr., of Brazenose, 90. 
 
 Saltonstall, Governor, 8, 9, 19, 20. 
 
 Sanderson, Mr., blind professor, 50. 
 
 Sanford, Mr., 28, 29. 
 
 Scate, Mr., 44. 
 
 Scotch Presbyterians, 304. 
 
 Scott, John, " Christian Life" of, 12. 
 
 Scripture Mysteries, 237. 
 
 Scripture Philosophy, 332. 
 
 Scullard, Mr. J., 33, 34, 39, 40, 43-45, 
 56, 85 ; letter of, 65, 66. 
 
 Seabury, Mr. Samuel, Jr., 199, 314; 
 Bishop of Connecticut, 348, 349. 
 
 Seagrave, Mr., 27. 
 
 Seeker, Thomas, Bishop of Oxford, 96, 
 117, 173 ; Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 79, 241, 243, 245, 246, 249, 251, 258, 
 269, 272, 285, 293, 309-312, 316, 321, 
 322, 328, 329 ; letters to Johnson, 
 276-278, 280-283, 302-304. 
 
 Scwall, Stephen, 332, 333. 
 
 Sharpe, 13. 
 
 Shelburne, Earl of, 316. 
 
 Sherlock, 13, 52, 63. 
 
 Sherlock, Dr., Dean of Chichester, 39. 
 
 Sherlock, Bishop, 86, 96, 211, 217, 341. 
 
 Shippen, Dr., 46, 47. 
 
 Shute, Governor, 35. 
 
 Skirret, Dr., 51. 
 
 Smibert, Mr., 70. 
 
 Smith, Mr., 29, 47. 
 
 Smith, Dr., 41. 
 
 Smith, Joseph, 4. 
 
 Smith, Samuel, 9. 
 
 Smith, Rev. Dr. Wm., 176, 178, 270, 
 282. 
 
 Smith, Mr. Bar., 46, 47. 
 
 Smollett, 263, 264. 
 
 Snapc, Dr., 43, 49, 51, 63. 
 
 Societies incorporated, 276 ; Society 
 for the Propagation of the Gospel, 15, 
 16, 23, 29, 51, 87, 92, 237, 254, 269, 
 275, 278, 281, 284, 296, 307, 309, 311. 
 
 Socinianism, 62, 357. 
 
 South, 13. 
 
 Spinozism, 143. 
 
 Stamp Act, 299, 300. 
 
 Standard, Mr., 211, 213. 
 
 Stanhope, Dean, 26, 39. 
 
 Stebbing, Dr., 84, 86. 
 
 Steele, 68. 
 
 Stiles, President, 5, 79, 199. 
 
 Stinton, Dr., 311. 
 
 Stockton, Mr., 316. 
 
 Stockwell, Mr., 46. 
 
 Stuyvesant, Mr., 172. 
 
 Swift, Dean, 68. 
 
 Symson, Mr., 50. 
 
 Synod of Presbyterians, 301, 316. 
 
 " System of Morality," 123, 136, 169. 
 
 T. 
 
 Talbot, Bishop of Durham, 84. 
 
 Talbot, Mrs., 312. 
 
 Tar Water, 174. 
 
 Temple, Mr., 343. 
 
 Terrick, Dr. Richard, Bishop of Lon 
 don, 282, 297, 341 ; letter to Johnson, 
 345, 346. 
 
 Thoinlinson, Captain, 176. 
 
 Tillotson, 231. 
 
 Tindall, Matthew, 64, 84. 
 
 Trapp, Mr., 27. 
 
 Trcadwell, Mr., 241, 247-249, 268. 
 
 Trinity, doctrine of, 60, 63, 128, 291. 
 
 Tritheism, 62. 
 
 Trognair, Mr., 46. 
 
 Trotter, Mr., 49. 
 
 Truby, Mr., 42, 45, 52. 
 
 Tryon, Mr., Treasurer, 39, 43. 
 
380 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tucker, Dr., 285. 
 
 Tyler, Rev. John, 321, 334. 
 
 U. 
 
 Underbill, Lord, 233. 
 University of Bermuda, 68. 
 University of Cambridge, 232, 269. 
 University of Dublin, 68. 
 University of Edinburgh, 127, 270. 
 University of Glasgow, 266. 
 University of Oxford, 46, 90, 117, 118, 
 
 172, 219, 221,269, 329. 
 Usher, Rev. Mr., 32, 34, 114. 
 Utrecht, treaty of, 69. 
 
 V. 
 
 Vanhomrigh, Miss, 68. 
 
 Vaughan, Mr., 31, 42. 
 
 Vernon, Mr., 53. 
 
 Vestry of Trinity Church, N. Y., 198, 
 
 211. 
 
 Vicarage of Croyden, 285. 
 Vincent, Mr., 31. 
 Vindication of God s sovereign free 
 
 grace, 121. 
 Viner, 202, 204. 
 
 W. 
 
 Waddington, Dr., 45 ; Bishop of Chi- 
 chester, 56. 
 
 Wagstaff, Mr., 48. 
 
 Wait, Mr., 31, 42. 
 
 Wake, Dr. W., Archbishop of Canter 
 bury, 13, 28, 35, 37, 39, 53, 86. 
 
 Walker, Dr., 36, 95. 
 
 Wall on Infant Baptism, 13. 
 
 Wallgrave, or Waldgrave, Earl of, 37. 
 
 Walpole, Sir Robert, 70, 76, 326. 
 
 Warren, Dr., 49, 50, 53. 
 
 Warton, Mr., 46. 
 
 Waterland, Dr., 48, 63. 
 
 Waterman, Mr., 44. 
 
 Watkins, Rev. Mr., 129. 
 
 Wats, Mr., 33, 40. 
 
 Watson, Dr., 32; Bishop, 264. 
 
 Watts, Mr., 196, 287. 
 
 Waugh, Dr., Dean of Gloucester, 32, 40, 
 86. 
 
 Webster, Mr., 45. 
 
 Welles, Mr. Noah, 274. 
 
 Welton, Dr., Non-juring Bishop, 55. 
 
 Wesley, Mr. Charles, 90. 
 
 Wesley, Mr. John, 90. 
 
 Wetherell, Dr., head of University Col 
 lege, 305, 329. 
 
 Wetmore, James, 14, 18, 28, 113, 192, 
 193, 237 ; baptism, 52 ; ordination, 53. 
 
 Wheatly, Mr. Charles, 36, 42, 43, 45, 
 48, 51, 53, 56. 
 
 Wheelock, Rev. Eleazar, 303, 308, 310. 
 
 Wheelwright, Mrs., 284. 
 
 Whiston, 23,34, 61 i 
 
 Whitby, 13. 
 
 White, Rev. Wm., Bishop of Penn, 361 . 
 
 Whitefield, Rev. George, 103, 105-107, 
 110, 119, 120, 122, 245. 
 
 Whiting, John, 80. 
 
 Whittelsey, Samuel, 14, 18, 20; son of, 
 89. 
 
 Wickliffe, John, 45. 
 
 Wightman, Paul, 81. 
 
 Wilcox, Dr. John, Bishop of Glouces 
 ter, 33. 
 
 Wilkins, Dr., 26. 
 
 Williams, Elisha, Rector of Yale Col 
 lege, 79, 81, 99, 102, 103, 202. 
 
 Williams, Peere, 219. 
 
 Willis, Dr., Bishop of Sarum, 29. 
 
 Willoughby, Lord, 281. 
 
 Wilson, Rev. Mr., 301. 
 
 Wilson, Thomas, Bishop of Sodor and 
 Man, 44, 51-53. 
 
 Winslow, Rev. Edward, 209, 219, 273, 
 274, 278, 280, 292, 293. 
 
 Winthrop, Mr. John, 167, 332. 
 
 Wittar, Mr., 231. 
 
 Wollaston, 124. 
 
 " Wollebius," 5. 
 
 Wood, Mr., 31,43. 
 
 Woodbridge, Mr. Dudley, 48. 
 
 Wood bridge, Timothy, 8. 
 
 Woodhull, Margaret, 57. 
 
 Woodward, Dr., 32, 43. 
 
 Woolston, Thomas, 64. 
 
 Wren, Sir Christopher, 39 ; funeral, 33. 
 
 Wyat, Mr., 46. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yale College, fixed at New Haven, and 
 first building, 9 ; party at Wethers- 
 field, 8-10 ; Trustees, 18 ; gifts to, 79, 
 80 ; debate in College library, 19-23 ; 
 Catalogue of books, 123 ; Chapel, 200, 
 257; regulations for worship, 199, 
 212, 216; graduates, 83, 144, 267, 
 296; mentions of, 14, 113, 117, 171, 
 249. 
 
 Yale, David, 33, 53. 
 
 Yale, Elihu, 10, 202. 
 
 York, Archbishop of, 282, 295. 
 
 York, Duke of, 320. 
 
 Younger, Dean, 40, 52. 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 History of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, from 
 1635 to 1865. 
 
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