I3DNVS01^ ^SMMH 
 
 y o\i\mn-W'' y ow/m\ 
 
 LIBRARY^ ^LIBRARYQ^ *\WEUN!VER% 
 
 ^ojitcho^ 
 
 
 c 0FCALIF0% 
 
 ^WEUNIVER^ ^lOSAN 
 
 O L 
 
 6^ O 
 
 ^AHVaaiH^' ^nWNV-StfF^ "^BAINj 
 
 ^10S-ANGELj> 
 
 ^LIBRARY^ 
 
 I 
 
 aOJITVD-JO"
 
 %H0NV-S01^ %?HMNfl-3V^ ^frWHHIB^' * y 6\\ 
 
 ^LIBRARY*?/ ^lUBRARY^ 
 
 ^fOJITVD-JO 
 
 \WE-UNIVERS// 
 
 ' o 
 %0J I7V3- JO^ ^TCDNV-SOl^ 
 
 >KAL1F(% 
 
 ; 0KALIF(% 
 
 >awhhib^ soxmrn^ '*mww^ 
 
 ^\\EUNWER'% ^lOS-ANCEl^ ^UIBRARYtf/- 
 
 "2 Ct: 
 
 %13DNYS01^ ^/m\INf]]\W 
 
 ^WE-UNIVER%.- vkLOS ANGELA 
 
 
 a <
 
 
 AN 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 LIFE AND GENIUS 
 
 OF 
 
 SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 
 
 \* Entered at Stationers Hall.
 
 AN 
 
 %2^Z^ 
 
 / 
 
 E 
 
 ON THE 
 
 LIFE AND GENIUS 
 
 OF 
 
 SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL. D. 
 
 By ARTHUR MURPHY, E Qi 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for T. Longman, B. White and Son. B Law, J. Dodfley, II. Baldwin, 
 \. Rohfon, f. Jolmfon, C. Dilly, T. Vernor, G. G. J. mid J. Rohinfon, 
 T. Cadtll, J. N.chols, R. Baldwin, N. Cdnant, P. Elmfly, F. and C. 
 Riving'on, T. Payne, W. Goldfmith, R. Faulder, Leie.li ard Sotliehy, 
 G. Nicol, f. Mtirrav. A Strahan, W. Lowndes, T. Evans, W. Eent, 
 S Hayes, G. and T. VVilkie, T. and J. Efierton, W.Fcx.'P. M'Qneen, 
 O^ilvie and Speare, Darton and Harvey, G. and C. Kearfley, W. Millar, 
 15. C. Colhns, and li. Ncwbery. 
 
 MDCCXCIII.
 
 r \ 
 
 3 53 3 
 
 je-* 
 
 A N 
 
 E S S AY 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 LIFE AND GENIUS 
 
 O F 
 
 SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D 
 
 WHEN the works of a great Writer, 
 who has bequeathed to pofterity a 
 iafting legacy, are prefented to the world, it 
 is naturally expected, that fome account of 
 his life fhould accompany the edition. The 
 Reader wifhes to know as much as poffible 
 of the Author. The circumftances that at- 
 tended him, the features of his private cha- 
 racter, his converfation, and the means by 
 which he rofe to eminence, bscome the fa- 
 
 a vouritc
 
 % AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 vourite objects of enquiry. Curiofity is excited; 
 and the admirer of his works is eager to know 
 his private opinions, his courfe of ftudy, the 
 particularities of his conduct, and, above all, 
 whether he purfued the wifdom which he re- 
 commends, and practifed the virtue which his 
 writings inipire. A principle of gratitude is 
 awakened in every generous mind. For the 
 entertainment and inftruclion which genius 
 and diligence have provided for the world, 
 men of refined and fenfible tempers are ready 
 to pay their tribute of praife, and even to form 
 a poflhumous friendship with the author. 
 
 In reviewing the life of fuch a writer, there 
 is, bcfides, a rule of juftice to which the 
 publick have an undoubted claim. Fond ad- 
 miration and partial friendship mould not be 
 luffered to reprefent his virtues with exaggera- 
 tion j nor mould malignity be allowed, under 
 a fpecious difguife, to magnify mere defects, 
 the ufual failings of human nature, into vice 
 or grofs deformity. The lights and ihades of 
 the character mould be piven ; and, if this be 
 done with a fhicr, regard to truth, a jufr eili- 
 mate of Dr. Johnfon will afford a lefTon per- 
 haps
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 3 
 
 haps as valuable as the moral doctrine that 
 fpeaks with energy in every page of his 
 works. 
 
 The prefent writer enjoyed the converfatiou 
 and friendmip of that excellent man more than 
 thirty years. He thought it an honour to be fo 
 connected, and to this hour he reflects on his 
 lofs with regret: but regret, he knows, has 
 fecret bribes, by which the judgement may be 
 influenced, and partial affection may be carried 
 beyond the bounds of truth. In the prefent 
 cafe, however, nothing needs to be diiguifed, 
 and exaggerated praife is unneceffary. It is an 
 obfervation of the younger Pliny, in his Epiftle 
 to his Friend of Tacitus, that hiftory ought 
 never to magnify matters of fact, becaufe 
 worthy actions require nothing but the truth. 
 Nam nee hiftoria debet egredi veritatetn, et 
 honejle fj3is Veritas fufficit. This rule the 
 prefent biographer promifes (hall guide his pen 
 throughout the following narrative. 
 
 It mav be faid, the death of Dr. Johnfon 
 kept the public mind in agitation beyond all 
 former example. No literary character ever \ 
 
 a 2 excited/
 
 4 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 /excited fo much attention ; and, when the 
 prefs has teemed with anecdotes, apophthegms, 
 effays, and publications of every kind, what 
 \ occafion now for a new tract on the fame 
 threadbare fubject ? the plain truth (hall be 
 the anfwer. The proprietors of Johnfon's 
 Works thought the life, which they prefixed 
 to their former edition, too unwieldy for re- 
 publication. The prodigious variety of foreign 
 matter, introduced into that performance, 
 feemed to overload the memory of Dr. John- 
 fon, and in the account of his own life to 
 leave him hardly vilible. They wifned to have 
 a more concife, and, for that reafon, perhaps a 
 more fatisfactory account, fuch as may exhibit 
 a jufl picture of the man, and keep him the 
 principal figure in the fore ground of his own 
 picture. To comply with that requeft is the 
 defign of this eflay, w r hich the writer under- 
 takes with a trembling hand. He has no dif- 
 coveries, no fecret anecdotes, no occasional 
 controverfy,, no iudden flames of wit and 
 humour, no private converfation, and no new 
 facts to embellifh his work. Every thin?" has 
 / been gleaned. Dr. John fon faid of himfelf, 
 \ " 1 am not uncandid, nor fevere : I fome- 
 
 " times
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 5 
 
 < times fay more than I mean, in jeft, and 
 ' people are apt to think me ferious *." The 
 exercife of that privilege, which is enjoyed by 
 every man in fociety, has not been allowed to 
 him. His fame has given importance even to 
 trifles, and the zeal of his friends has brought 
 every thing to light. What mould be related, 
 and what mould not, has been published wirh- 
 out diftinction. Dicenda tacenda locuti ! Every 
 thing that fell from him has been caught with 
 eagerneis by his admirers, who, as he fays in 
 one of his letters, have acted with the dili- 
 gence of fpies upon his conduct. To fome of 
 them the following lines, in Mallet's Poem on 
 Verbal Criticifm, are not inapplicable : 
 
 " Such that grave bird in Northern feas is found, 
 " Whofe name a Dutchman only knows to found; 
 ** Where -e'er the king of fifh moves on before, 
 st This humble friend attends from more to more; 
 t{ With eye fliil earned, and with bill inclin'd, 
 " He picks up what his patron drops behind, 
 " With thoie choice cates his palate to regale, 
 " And is the careful Tibbald of a whale." 
 
 * Bofwell's Life of Johnfon. Vol. II. p. 465. 
 
 a 3 After
 
 6 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 After fo many effays and volumes of Johnfoni* 
 ana, what remains for the prefent writer ? 
 Perhaps, what has not been attempted ; a 
 fhort, yet full, a faithful, yet temperate, hif- 
 tory of Dr. Johnfon. 
 
 SAMUEL JOHNSON was born at 
 Lichfield, September 7, 1 709, O. S*. His 
 father, Michael Johnfon, was a bookfeller in 
 that city ; a man of large athletic make, and 
 violent paflions ; wrong headed, pofitive, and 
 at times afflicted with a degree of melancholy, 
 little fhort of madnefs. His mother was filler 
 to Dr. Ford, a practicing phyfician, and father 
 of Cornelius Ford, generally known by the 
 name of Parson Ford, the fame who is re- 
 prefented near the punch- bowl in Hogarth's 
 Midnight Modern Converfation. In the Life 
 of Fenton, Johnfon fays, that " his abilities, 
 " inftead of furniming convivial merriment to 
 " the voluptuous and difiblute, might have ena- 
 c bled him to excel among the virtuous and the 
 
 * This appears in a note to Johnfon's Diarv, prefixed 
 to the tirft of his prayers. After the alteration of tiie 
 ftiie, he kept his birth-day on rhe 18th of September, 
 and it is accordingly marked September , 7 ,. 
 
 " wife."
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON, ? 
 
 t wife." Being chaplain to the Earl of Chef- 
 terfield, he wifhed to attend that nobleman on 
 his embaffy to the Hague. Colley Cibber has 
 recorded the anecdote. " You mould go," faid 
 the witty peer, " if to your many vices you 
 would add one more." " Pray, my Lord, 
 fc what is that?" " Hypocrify, my dear Doc- 
 ' tor." Johnfon had a younger brother named 
 Nathaniel, who died at the age of twenty- 
 feven or twenty-eight. Michael Johnfon, the 
 father, was chofen in the year 1718 Under 
 Bailiff of Lichfield, and in the year 1725 he 
 ferved the office of the Senior Bailiff. He had 
 a brother of the name of Andrew, who, for 
 fome years, kept the ring at Smithfield, ap- 
 propriated to wreftlers and boxers. Our author 
 ufed to fay, that he was never thrown or con- 
 quered. Michael, the father, died December 
 1 73 1, at the age of feventy-fix ; his mother at 
 eighty-nine, of a gradual decay, in the year 
 1759. Of the family nothing more can be 
 related worthy of notice. Johnion did not 
 delight in talking of his relations. " There is 
 ii little pleaiure," he faid to xVlrs. Piozzi, " ill 
 " relating the anecdotes of beggary." 
 
 a 4 Johnfou
 
 8 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 Johnfon derived from his parents, or from 
 an unwholefome nurfe, the diftemper called 
 the King's Evil. The Jacobites at that time 
 believed in the efficacy of the royal touch ; 
 and accordingly Mrs. Johnfon prefented her 
 fon, when two years old, before Queen Anne, 
 who, for the fir ft time, performed that office, 
 and communicated to her young patient all the 
 healing virtue in her power. He was after- 
 wards cut for that fcrophuloui. humour, and 
 the under part of his face was feamed and dif- 
 figured by the operation. It is fuppofed, that 
 this difeafe deprived him of the fight of his 
 left eye, and alfo impaired his hearing. At 
 eight years old, he was placed under Mr. 
 Hawkins, at the Free-fchool at Lichfield, 
 where he was not remarkable for diligence or 
 regular application. Whatever he read, his 
 tenacious memory made his own. In the fields 
 with his fchool-fellows he talked more to him- 
 felf than with his companions, in 1725, 
 when lie was about fix teen years old, he went 
 on a vifit to his coufin Cornelius Ford, who 
 detained him for fome months, and in the 
 mean time affiled him in the daffies. The 
 
 general
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 9 
 
 general direction for his ftudies, which he then 
 received, he related to Mrs. Piozzi. " Ob* 
 " tain," fays Ford, " fome general principles 
 " of every fcience : he who can talk only on 
 " one fubject, or act only in one department, is 
 " feldom wanted, and, perhaps, never wifhed 
 " for ; while the man of general knowledge 
 " can often benefit, and always pleafe." This 
 advice Johnfon feems to have purfaed with a 
 good inclination. His reading was always deful- 
 tory, feldom refting on any particular author, 
 but rambling from one book to another, and, 
 by hafty matches, hoarding up a variety of 
 knowledge. It may be proper in this place to 
 mention another general rule laid down by 
 Ford for Johnfon's future conduct : " You will 
 " make your way the more eafily in the world, 
 {S as you are contented to difpute no man's 
 " claim to converfation-excellence : they will, 
 '* therefore, more willingly allow your preten- 
 " fions as a writer." But," fays Mrs. Pi- 
 ozzi, 4t the features of peculiarity, which mark 
 " a character to all fucceeding generations, are 
 " flow in coming: to their growth." That 
 ingenious lady adds, with her ufual vivacity, 
 " Can one, on fuch an occalion, forbear recol- 
 
 " lecting
 
 IO AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 ** letting the predictions of Boileau's father, 
 ** who faid, ftroking the head of the young 
 * 6 fatinft, * this little man has too much wit, 
 M but he will never fpeak ill of any one' r" 
 
 On Johnfon's return from Cornelius Ford, 
 Mr. Hunter, then Mafler of the Free-fchool 
 at Lichfield, refufed to receive him again on 
 that foundation. At this diitance of time, 
 what his reafons were, it is vain to enquire ; 
 but to refute affiilance to a lad of promifmg 
 genius muft be pronounced harlh and illiberal. 
 It did not, however, flop the progrefs of the 
 young ftudent's education. He was placed 
 at another fchool* at Stourbridge in Worcefter- 
 frire, under the care of Mr. Wentworth. 
 Having gone through the rudiments of claffic 
 literature, he resumed to his father's houfe, 
 and was probably intended for the trade of a 
 bookfJler. He has been heard to fay that he 
 could bind a book. At the end of two years, 
 bcinir the i about nineteen, he went, to aflift the 
 ftudies of a young gentleman of the name of 
 Corbet, to the Univerfity of Oxford ; and on 
 they'll: of u&ober, 1728, both were entered 
 of Pembroke College ; Corbet as a gentleman- 
 commoner,
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. II 
 
 commoner, and Johnfon as a commoner. The 
 college-tutor, Mr. Jordan, was a man of no 
 genius ; and Johnfon, it feems, (hewed an 
 early contempt of mean abilities, in one or 
 two infrances behaving with infolence to that 
 gentleman. Of his general conduct at the 
 univeriky there are no particulars that merit 
 attention, except the tranilation of Pope's 
 Meffiah, which was a college-exercife impofed 
 upon him as a talk by Mr. Jordan. Corbet 
 left the univerfity in about two years, and 
 Jchnfon's falary ceafed. He was, by confe- 
 quence, ftraitened in his circumftances; but he 
 {till remained at college. Mr. Jordan, the tutor, 
 went off to a living ; and was fucceeded by 
 Dr. Adams, who afterwards became head of 
 the college, and was efreemed through life for 
 his learning, his talents, and his amiable cha- 
 racter. Johnfon grew more regular in his 
 attendance. Ethics, theology, and claffic lite- 
 rature, were his favourite itudies. He difco- 
 vered, notwithstanding, early iymptoms of 
 that wandering difpofition of mind which ad- 
 hered to him to the end of his life. His read- 
 ing was by fits and {tarts, undirected to any 
 particular fcience. General philology, agree- 
 2 ably
 
 12 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 ably to his coufin Ford's advice, was the object 
 of his ambition. He received, at that time, 
 an early impreflion of piety, and a tafte for 
 the beft authors ancient and modern. It may, 
 notwithftanding, be queftioned whether, ex- 
 cept his Bible, he ever read a book entirely 
 through. Late in life, if any man praifed a 
 book in his prefence, he was fure to afk, 
 ** Did you read it through ?" If the anfwer 
 was in the affirmative, he did not feem willing 
 to believe it. He continued at the univerfity 
 till the want of pecuniary fupplies obliged him 
 to quit the place. He obtained, however, the 
 afliitance of a friend, and returning in a fhort 
 time was able to complete a refidence of three 
 years. The hiftory of his exploits at Oxford, 
 he ufed to fay, was bell: known to Dr. Taylor 
 and Dr. Adams. Wonders are told of his 
 memory, and, indeed, all who knew him late 
 in life can witnefs that he retained that fa- 
 culty in the greatest vigour. 
 
 From the univerfity Johnfon returned to 
 Lichfield. His father died foon after, De- 
 cember, 1 73 1 ; and the whole receipt out of his 
 effects, as appeared by a memorandum in the 
 
 fon's
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON". 1 3 
 
 fbn's hand- writing, dated 15th June, 1732, 
 was no more than twenty pounds *. In this 
 exigence, determined that poverty mould nei- 
 ther deprefs his fpirit nor warp his integrity, 
 he became under-mafter of a Grammar-fchool 
 at Market Boiworth in JLeicefterfhire. That 
 refource, however, did not la ft long. Dif- 
 gufted by the pride of Sir Wolftan Dixie, the 
 patron of that little feminary, he left the 
 place in difcontent, and ever after fpoke of it 
 with abhorrence. In 1733 he went on a vifit 
 to Mr. Hector, who had been his fchool- 
 fellow, and was then a furgeon at Birming- 
 ham, lodging at the houfe of Warren, a 
 bookleller. At that place Johnfon tranflated 
 a Voyage to Abyffinia, written by Jerome 
 Lobo, a Portugueze miffionary. This was the 
 fir ft literary work from the pen of Dr. John- 
 fon. His friend Hector was occafionaily his 
 
 * The entry of this is remarkable for his early refolu- 
 tion to preferve through lite a fair and upright character. 
 *' 1 732, Junii 15. Undecim aureos dcpofui, quo die, quid- 
 " quid ante matris funus (quod ierum fit precor) rie pa- 
 " ternis bonis iperare licet, vieinti fcilicet libras, accept. 
 " Ufque ?.dco mihi rnea fortuna fingenda eft interea, et ns 
 " pauperta'e vires animi languefcant, ne in flagitia egeftas 
 *' adigat, cavendum." 
 
 amanu-
 
 14 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 amanuenfis. The work was, probably, un- 
 dertaken at the defire of Warren, the book- 
 feller, and was printed at Birmingham ; but it 
 appears in the Literary Magazine, or Hiftory 
 of the Works of the Learned, for March, 
 1735, that it was publifhed by Bettefworth 
 and Hitch, Pater- nofter- row. It contains a 
 narrative of the endeavours of a company of 
 million aries to convert the people of Abyfli- 
 nia to the Church of Rome. In the preface 
 to this work Johnfon obferves, " that the Por- 
 " tuguefe traveller, contrary to the general view 
 " of his countrymen, has amufed his readers 
 *' with no romantic abfurdities or incredible 
 " fictions. He appears, by his modeft. and 
 *' unaffected narration, to have defcribed things 
 " as he law them ; to have copied nature from 
 "the life; and to have confulted his fenfes, 
 " not his imagination. He meets with no bafi- 
 " lifks, that deftroy with their eyes ; his cro- 
 *' codiles devour their prey, without tears; and 
 *' his cataracts fall from the rock, without 
 46 deafening the neighbouring inhabitants. The 
 " reader will here find no regions curled with 
 " irremediable barrenneis, or blefTed with fpon- 
 " taneous fecundity ; no perpetual gloom, or 
 
 " unceafing
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 1 5 
 
 u unceafing fun-fhine ; nor are the nations, here 
 " defcribed, either void of all fenfeofhuma- 
 ' nity, or eonfummate in all private and fociai 
 " virtues : here are no Hottentots without reli- 
 " gion, polity, or articulate language; no Chi- 
 " nefe perfectly polite, and completely (killed in 
 " all fciences : he will difcover, what will always 
 * be difcovered by a diligent and impartial en- 
 " quirer, that, wherever human nature is to be 
 ** found, there is a mixture of vice and virtue, 
 *' a conteft of paffion and reafon ; and that the 
 c Creator doth not appear partial in his diftri- 
 " butions, but has balanced, in mod countries, 
 *' their particular inconveniences by particular 
 u favours." We have here an early fpecimen 
 of Johnfon's manner : the vein of thinking 
 and the frame cf the fentences are maniftfrly 
 his : we fee the infant Hercules. The trans- 
 lation or Lobo's Narrative has been reprinted 
 lately in a feparate volume, with foine other 
 tracts of Dr. Johnfon's, and therefore forms 
 no part of this edition ; but a compendious 
 account of fo interefting a work, as Father 
 Lobo's difcover v of the head of the Kile, 
 will not, it is imagined, be unacceptable to the 
 reader. 
 
 Father
 
 l6 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 Father Lobo, the Portuguefe Miflionary, 
 embarked in 1622, in the fame fleet with the 
 Count Vidigueira, who was appointed, by the 
 King of Portugal, Viceroy of the Indies. They 
 arrived at Goa ; and in January 1624, Father 
 Lobo fet out on the miffion to Abyilinia. Two 
 of the Jefuits, fent on the fame commiffion, 
 were murdered in their attempt to penetrate 
 into that empire. Lobo had better fuccefs : 
 he furmounted all difficulties, and made his 
 way into the heart of the country. Then fol- 
 lows a defcription of Abyffinia, formerly the 
 largeft empire of which we have an account 
 in hifiory. It extended from the Red Sea to 
 the Indian Sea, containing no lefs than forty 
 provinces. At the time of Lobo's miffion, it 
 was not much larger than Spain, confiding 
 then but of five kingdoms, of which part was 
 entirely fubjecl: to the Emperor, and part paid 
 him a tribute, as an acknowledgement. The 
 provinces were inhabited by Moors, Pagans, 
 Jews, and Chriftians. The laft was in Lobo's 
 time the eftablifhed and reigning religion. The 
 diverfity of people and religion is the reafon 
 
 why
 
 GENIUS OP DR. JOHNSON. iy 
 
 why the kingdom was under different forms of 
 government, with laws and cuftoms extremely 
 various. Some of the people neither fowed 
 their lands, nor improved them by any kind of 
 culture, living upon milk and flefh, and, like 
 the Arabs, encamping without any fettled ha- 
 bitation. In fome places they praeYifed no 
 rites of worfhip, though they believed that, 
 in the regions above, there dwells a Being that 
 governs the world. This Deity they call in 
 their language Out. The Chriftianity, pro- 
 feffed by the people in fome parts, is {o cor- 
 rupted with fuperftitions, errors, and herefies, 
 and fo mingled with ceremonies borrowed from 
 the Jews, that little, betides the name of 
 Chriftianity, is to be found among them. The 
 Abyflins cannot properly be faid to have either 
 cities or houfes ; they live in tents or cottages 
 made of ftraw or clay, very rarely building 
 with ftone. Their villages or towns confift of 
 thefe huts; yet even of fuch villages they 
 have but few, becaufe the grandees, the vice- 
 roys, and the emperor himfelf, are always in 
 camp, that they may be prepared, upon the 
 mod fudden alarm, to meet every emergence in 
 a country which is engaged every year either 
 
 b in
 
 l8 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 in foreign wars or inteftine commotions. Ethi- 
 opia produces very near the fame kinds of pro- 
 vision as Portugal, though, by the extreme 
 lazinefs of the inhabitants, in a much lefs 
 quantity. What the ancients imagined, of the 
 torrid zone being a part of the world unin- 
 habitable, is fo far from being true, that the 
 climate is very temperate. The blacks have 
 better features than in other countries, and are 
 not without wit and ingenuity. Their appre- 
 henfion is quick, and their judgement found. 
 There are in this climate two harvefls in the 
 year; one in winter, which lafts through the 
 months of July, Auguil:, and September ; the 
 other in the fjpring. They have, in the greateft 
 plenty, raifins, peaches, pomegranates, fugar- 
 canes, and fome figs. Mod of thefe are ripe 
 about Lent, which the A by (Tins keep with 
 great ftri&nefs. The animals of the country 
 are the lion, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the 
 unicorn, horfes, mules, oxen, and cows with- 
 out number. They have a very particular 
 cuftom, which obliges every man, that has a 
 thoufand cows, to fave every year one day's 
 milk of all his herd, and make a bath with it 
 for his relations. This they do fo many days 
 
 in
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 1 9 
 
 in each year, as they have thoufands of cattle ; 
 fo that, to exprefs how rich a man is, they 
 tell you, he bathes fo many times, 
 
 " Of the river Nile, which has furniftied 
 fo much controverfy, we have a full and clear 
 defcription. It is called, by the natives, Abavi, 
 the Father of Water. * It rifes in Sacala, a 
 province of the kingdom of Goiama, the 
 mod fertile and agreeable part of the Abyflinian 
 dominions. On the Eaftern fide of the coun- 
 try, on the declivity of a mountain, whofe 
 defcent is fo eafy, that it feems a beautiful 
 plain, is that fource of the Nile, which has 
 been fought after at fo much expence and la- 
 bour. This fpring, or rather thefe two 
 fprings, are two holes, each about two feet 
 diameter, a (tone's caft diftant from each other. 
 One of them is about five feet and a half in 
 depth. L,obo was not able to fink his plum- 
 met lower, perhaps, becaufe it was flopped by 
 roots, the whole place being full of trees. A 
 line of ten feet did not reach the bottom 
 of the other. Thefe fprings are fuppofed 
 by the Abyflins to be the vents of a great 
 fubterraneous lake. At a fmall diitance 
 
 b 2 to
 
 HO AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 to the South, is a village called Guix, through 
 which you afcend to the top of the mountain, 
 where there is a little hill, which the idola- 
 trous Agacl hold in great veneration. Their 
 pried calls them together to this place once a 
 year ; and every one facrifices a cow, or more, 
 according to the different degrees of wealth 
 and devotion. Hence we have fufficient proof, 
 that thefe nations always paid adoration to the 
 Deity of this famous river. 
 
 ". As to the courfe of the Nile, its waters, 
 after their firft rife, run towards the Eaft, about 
 the length of a mutket-lhot ; then, turning 
 Northward, continue hidden in the grafs and 
 weeds for about a quarter of a league, when, 
 they re-appear amongft a quantity of rocks. 
 The Nile from its fource proceeds with fo 
 inconfiderable a current, that it is in danger of 
 being dried up by the hot feafon ; but, foon 
 receiving an increafe from the Gemma, the 
 Keltu, the Bransa, and the other fmaller 
 rivers, it expands to fuch a breadth in the 
 plains of Boad, which is not above three days 
 journey from its fource, that a mufket-ball 
 will fcarcely fly from one bank to the other. 
 4 Here
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 21 
 
 Here it begins to turn northward, winding, 
 however, a little to the Eaft, for the fpace of 
 nine or ten leagues, and then enters the fo- 
 much-talked-of Lake of Dambia, flowing 
 with fuch violent rapidity, that its waters 
 may be diftinguifhed through the whole paf- 
 fage, which is no lefs than fix leagues. Here 
 begins the greatnefs of the Nile. Fifteen 
 miles farther, in the land of Alata, it 
 rumes precipitately from the top of a high 
 rock, and forms one of the moft beautiful 
 water- falls in the w r orld. Lobo fays, he 
 pafTed under it without being wet, and refting 
 himfelf, for the fake of the coolnefs, was 
 charmed with a thoufand delightful rainbows, 
 which the fun-beams painted on the water, in 
 all their fhining and lively colours *. The 
 
 * This Mr. Bruce, the late traveller, avers to be a 
 downright falfehood. He fays, a deep pool of water 
 reaches to the very foot of the rock. ; and, allowing 
 that there was a feat or bench (which there is not) in the 
 middle of the pool, it is abfolutely impoiTible, by any 
 exertion of human itrength, to have arrived at it. But 
 it may be aiked, can Mr. Bruce fay what was the face of the 
 country in the year 1622, when Lobo faw the magnificent 
 light which he has defcribed ? Mr. Bruce's pool of water 
 may have been formed fince ; and Lobo, perhaps, was 
 content to fit down without a bench. 
 
 b 3 fall
 
 22 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 fall of this mighty ftream, from fo great a 
 height, makes a noife that may be heard at a 
 considerable diftance; but it was not found, that 
 the neighbouring inhabitants were deaf. After 
 the cataract, the Nile collects its fcattered 
 ftream among the rocks, which are fo near 
 each other, that, in Lobo's time, a bridge of 
 beams, on which the whole Imperial army 
 patted, was laid over them. Sultan Sequed 
 has fince built a ftone bridge of one arch, in 
 the fame place, for which purpofe he procured 
 mafons from India. Here the river alters its 
 courfe, and pafles through various kingdoms, 
 fuch as Amhara, Olaca, Choaa, Da- 
 mot, and the kingdom of Goiama, and, 
 after various windings, returns within a fhort 
 day's journey of its fpring. To purfue it 
 through all its mazes, and accompany it round 
 the kingdom of Goiama, is a journey of 
 twenty-nine days. From Abyffinia the river 
 pafles into the countries of Fazulo and Om- 
 barca, two vaft regions little known, inha- 
 bited by nations entirely different from the 
 Abyffins. Their hair, like that of the other 
 blacks in thofe regions, is fhort and curled. 
 In the year 1615, Rassela Christos, Lieu- 
 tenant-
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 23 
 
 tenant-general to Sultan Sequed, entered thofe 
 kingdoms in a hoftile manner ; but, not being 
 able to get intelligence, returned without at- 
 tempting any thing. As the empire of 
 Abyflinia terminates at thefe defcents, Lobo 
 followed the courfe of the Nile no farther, 
 leaving it to range over barbarous kingdoms, 
 and convey wealth and plenty into zEgypr, 
 which owes to the annual inundations of this 
 river its envied fertility*. Lobo knows no- 
 thing of the Nile in the reft of its pafl'age, 
 except that it receives great increafe from many 
 other rivers, has feveral cataracts like that 
 already defcribed, and that few fifth are to be 
 found in it. That fcarcity is to be attributed 
 to the river-borfe and the crocodile, which de- 
 ftroy the weaker inhabitants of the river. 
 Something, likewife, mull be imputed to the 
 cataracts, where fifth cannot fall without being 
 killed. Lobo adds, that neither he, nor any 
 with whom he converfed about the crocodile, 
 ever faw him weep ; and therefore all that 
 
 * After comparing this defcription with that lately 
 given by Mr. Bruce, the reader will judge whether Lobo 
 is to lofe the honour of having been at the head of the 
 Nile near two centuries before any other European tra- 
 veller. 
 
 b 4 hath
 
 24 AM ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 hath been faid about his tears mult be ranked 
 among the fables invented for the amufement 
 of children. 
 
 " As to the caufes of the inundations of the 
 Nile, Lobo obferves, that many an idle hypo- 
 thecs has been framed. Some theorifts afcribe 
 it to the high winds, that flop the current, 
 and force the water above its banks. Others 
 pretend a fubterraneous communication be- 
 tween the Ocean and the Nile, and that the 
 fea, when violently agitated, fwells the river. 
 Many are of opinion, that this mighty flood 
 proceeds from the melting of the mow on the 
 mountains of ^Ethiopia ; but fo much mow 
 and fuch prodigious heat are never met with 
 in the fame region. Lobo never faw fnow in 
 Abyflinia, except on Mount Semen in the 
 kingdom of Tigre, very remote from the 
 Nile; and on Namara, which is, indeed, not 
 far diftant, but where there never falls fnow 
 enough to wet, when diffolved, the foot of the 
 mountain. To the immenfe labours of the For- 
 tuguefe mankind is indebted for the knowledge 
 of the real caufe of thefe inundations, fo great 
 and fo regular. By them we are informed, that 
 
 Abyf-
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON, 25 
 
 Abyffinia, where the Nile rifes, is full of 
 mountains, and, in its natural (ituation, is 
 much higher than ^Egypt ; that in the winter, 
 from June to September, no day is without 
 rain ; that the Nile receives, in its courfe, all 
 the rivers, brooks, and torrents, that fall from 
 thofe mountains, and, by neceflary confe- 
 quence, fwelling above its banks, fills the 
 plains of ^Egypt with inundations, which come 
 regularly about the month of July, or three 
 weeks after the beginning of the rainy feafon 
 in ./Ethiopia. The different degrees of this 
 flood are fuch certain indications of the fruit- 
 fulnefs or fterility of the enfuing year, that it 
 is publicly proclaimed at Cairo how much the 
 water had gained during the night." 
 
 Such is the account of the Nile and its in- 
 undations, which, it is hoped, will not be 
 deemed an improper or tedious digreffion, efpe- 
 cially as the whole is an extract from Johnfon's 
 tranflation. He is all the time the actor in the 
 fcene, and in his own words relates the ftory. 
 Having fmifhed this work, he returned in Fe- 
 bruary, 1734, to his native city, and, in the 
 month of Auguft following, publifhed Pro- 
 
 pofals
 
 26 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 pofals for printing, by fubfcription, the Latin 
 poems of Politian, with the Hiftory of Latin 
 Poetry, from the JEra of Petrarch to the time 
 of Politian ; and alfo the Life of Politian, to be 
 added by the Editor, Samuel Johnfon. The 
 book to be printed in thirty octavo meets, price 
 five millings. It is to be regretted that this 
 project failed for want of encouragement. 
 Johnfon, it feems, differed from Boileau, Vol- 
 taire, and D'Alembert, who had taken upon 
 them to profcribe all modern efforts to write 
 with elegance in a dead language. For a deci- 
 fion, pronounced in fo high a tone, no good 
 reafon can be affigned. The interefts of learn- 
 ing require, that the diction of Greece and 
 Rome mould be cultivated with care ; and he, 
 who can write a language with correctnefs, 
 will be moil: likely to tinderftand its idiom, its 
 grammar, and its peculiar graces of ftyle. 
 What man of tafte would willingly forego 
 the pleafure of reading Vida, Fracajtorius, 
 Sannazaro, Strada, and others, down to the 
 late elegant productions of Bifhop Lowth r 
 The hiftory which Johnfon propofed to him- 
 felf would, beyond all queftion, have been a 
 valuable addition to the hiftory of letters ; but 
 
 his
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 27 
 
 his project failed. His next expedient was to 
 offer his aflittance to Cave, the original pro- 
 jector of the Gentleman's Magazine. For 
 this purpofe he fent his propofals in a letter, 
 ofFering, on reafonable terms, occafionaliy to 
 fill fome pages with poems and infcriptions 
 never printed before ; with fugitive pieces that 
 deferved to be revived, and critical remarks on 
 authors ancient and modern. Cave agreed to 
 retain him as a correfpondent and contributor 
 to the Magazine. What the conditions were 
 cannot now be known ; but, certainly, they 
 were not fufficient to hinder Johnfon from call- 
 ing his eyes about him in queft of other em- 
 ployment. Accordingly, in 1 735, he made over- 
 tures to the reverend Mr. Budworth, Matter of 
 a Grammar-fchool at Brerewood, in Staffbrd- 
 fhire, to become his aflittant. This propor- 
 tion did not fucceed. Mr. Budworth appre- 
 hended, that the involuntary motions, to 
 which Johnion's nerves were fubjeft, might 
 make him an object of ridicule with his fcho- 
 lars, and, by confequence, lefTen their refpeet 
 for their matter. Another mode of advancing 
 himfelf prefented itfelf about this time. Mrs. 
 Porter, the widow of a mercer in Birmingham, 
 
 admired
 
 28 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 admired his talents. It is faid that me had 
 about eight hundred pounds ; and that fum to 
 a perfon in Johnfon*s circumftances was an 
 affluent fortune. A marriage took place ; and, 
 to turn his wife's money to the beft advantage, 
 he projected the fcheme of an academy for 
 education. Gilbert Walmfley, at that time 
 Regifter of the Ecclefiaftical Court of the 
 Bifhop of Lichfield, was diftinguifhed by his 
 erudition and the politenefs t>f his manners. 
 He was the friend of Johnfon, and, by his 
 weight and influence, endeavoured to promote 
 his intereft. The celebrated Garrick, whofe 
 father, Captain Garrick, lived at Lichfield, 
 was placed in the new feminary of education 
 by that gentleman's advice. Garrick was then 
 about eighteen years old. An acceflion of fe- 
 ven or eight pupils was the moll: that could be 
 obtained, though notice was given by a public 
 advertifement *, that, at Edial, near Lich- 
 field, in StafFordmire, young Gentlemen are 
 boarded, and taught the Latin and Greek Lan- 
 guages, by Samuel Johnfon. 
 
 * See the Gentleman's Magazine for 1736, p. 418. 
 
 The
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 2 
 
 The undertaking proved abortive. John- 
 fon, having now abandoned all hope9 of pro- 
 moting his fortune in the country, determined 
 to become an adventurer in the world at large. 
 His young pupil, Garrick, had formed the 
 fame refolution ; and, accordingly, in March, 
 1737, they arrived in London together. Two 
 fuch candidates for fame perhaps never, before 
 that day, entered the metropolis together. 
 Their flock of money was foon exhaufted. In 
 his vifionary project of an academy Johnfon 
 had probably wafted his wife's fubftance ; and 
 Garrick's father had little more than his half- 
 pay. The two fellow-travellers had the world 
 before them, and each was to chufe his road 
 to fortune and to fame. They brought with 
 them genius,, and powers of mind, peculiarly 
 formed by nature for the different vocations to 
 which each of them felt himfelf inclined. 
 They a&ed from the impulfe of young minds, 
 even then meditating great things, and with 
 courage anticipating fuccefs. Their friend, Mr. 
 Walmfley, by a letter to the Rev. Mr. Colfon, 
 who, it feems, was a great mathematician, 
 exerted his good offices in their favour. He 
 
 gave
 
 30 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 gave notice of their intended journey. " Davy 
 " Garrick," he faid, '* will be with you next 
 *? week ; and Johnfon, to try his fate with a 
 *' tragedy, and to get himfelf employed in fome 
 " tranflation either from the Latin or French. 
 " Johnfon is a very good fcholar and a poet, 
 " and, I have great hopes, will turn out a fine 
 ' tragedy-writer. If it fhould be in your 
 V way, I doubt not but you will be ready to 
 u recommend and affift your countrymen." 
 Of Mr. Walmfley's merit, and the excellence 
 of his character, Johnfon has left a beautiful 
 teftimonial at the end of the Life of Edward 
 Smith. It is reafonable to conclude, that a 
 mathematician, abforbed in abftrad fpecula- 
 tions, was not able to find a fphere of action 
 for two men who were to be the architects of 
 their own fortune. In three or four years after- 
 wards, Garrick came forth with talents that 
 aflonifhed the publick. He began his career 
 at Goodman's-fields, and there, monflratus fatis 
 Vejpajianus ! he chofe a lucrative profeffion, 
 and confequently foon emerged from all his 
 difficulties. Johnfon was left to toil in the 
 humble walks of literature. A tragedy, as 
 appears by Walmfley's letter, was the whole 
 
 of
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 31 
 
 of his {lock. This, mod probably, was 
 Irene; but, if then finiftHed, it was doomed 
 to wait for a more happy period. It was of- 
 fered to Fleetwood, and rejected. Johnfon 
 looked round him for employment. Having, 
 while he remained in the country, correfponded 
 with Cave under a feigned name, he now 
 thought it time to make himfelf known to a 
 man whom he confidered as a patron of lite- 
 rature. Cave had announced, by public adver- 
 tifement, a prize of fifty pounds for the beft 
 Poem on Life, Death, Judgement, Heaven, 
 and Hell ; and this circumftance diffufed an 
 idea of his liberality. Johnfon became con- 
 nected with him in buiinefs, and in a clofe and 
 intimate acquaintance. Of Cave's character it 
 is unnecefTary to fay any thing in this place, 
 as Johnfon was afterwards the biographer of 
 his firft and mod ufeful patron. To be en- 
 gaged in the tranflation of fome important 
 book was ftill the object which Johnfon had in 
 view. For this purpofe he propofed to give 
 the Hiflory of the Council of Trent, with 
 copious notes then lately added to a French 
 edition. Twelve meets of this work were 
 printed, for which Johnfon received forty- 
 
 nine
 
 32 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 nine pounds, as appears by his receipt in the 
 pofleflion of Mr. Nichols, the compiler of 
 that entertaining and ufeful work, the Gentle- 
 man's Magazine. Johnfon's tranflation was 
 never completed ; a like defign was offered to 
 the publick, under the patronage of Dr. Za- 
 chary Pearce ; and by that contention both 
 attempts were frustrated. Johnfon had been 
 commended by Pope for the tranflation of 
 the Median into Latin verfe ; but he knew no 
 approach to fo eminent a man. With one, 
 however, who was connected with Pope, he 
 became acquainted at St. John's Gate ; and 
 that perfon was no other than the well-known 
 Richard Savage, whofe life was afterwards 
 written by Johnfon with great elegance, and a 
 depth of moral reflection. Savage was a man 
 of considerable talents. His addrefs, his va- 
 rious accomplishments, and, above all, the 
 peculiarity of his misfortunes recommended 
 him to Johnfon's notice. They became united 
 in the clofeft intimacy. Both had great parts, 
 and they were equally under the prefTure of 
 want. Sympathy joined them in a league of 
 friendship. Johnfon had been often heard to 
 relate that he and Savage walked round Grofve- 
 
 nor-
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 33 
 
 nor-fquare till four in the morning; in the 
 courfe of their converfation reforming the 
 world, dethroning princes, eftabliihing new 
 forms of government, and giving laws to the 
 feveral ftates of Europe, till, fatigued at length 
 with their legiflative office, they began to feel 
 the want of refrefhment ; but could not mutter 
 up more than four pence halfpenny. Savage, 
 it is true, had many vices ; but vice could 
 never ftrike its roots in a mind like Johnfon's, 
 feafoned early with religion, and the principles 
 of moral rectitude. His hrft prayer was com- 
 pofed in the year 1738. He had not at that 
 time renounced the uie of wine ; and, no 
 doubt, occafionally enjoyed his friend and his 
 bottle. The love of late hours, which fol- 
 lowed him through life, was, perhaps, origi- 
 nally contracted in company with Savage. 
 However that may be, their connection was 
 not of long duration. In the year 1738, Sa- 
 vage was reduced to the iaft diftrefs. Mr. 
 Pope, in a letter to him, exprefTed his con- 
 cern for " the miferable withdrawing of his 
 " pennon after the death of the Queen ;" and 
 gave him hopes, that, " in a fhort time, he 
 4i mould find himfelf fupplied with a compe- 
 
 c *' tence,
 
 34 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 " tence, without any dependance on tbofe 
 " little creatures, whom we are pleafed to call 
 " the Great." The fcheme proposed to him 
 was, that he mould retire to Swanfea in Wales, 
 and receive an allowance of fifty pounds a 
 year, to be railed by fubfcription ; Pope was 
 to pay twenty pounds. This plan, though 
 finally eftablilhed, tcok more than a year be- 
 fore it was carried into execution. In the mean 
 time, the intended retreat of Savage called to 
 Johnfon's mind the third fatire of Juvenal, in 
 which that poet takes leave of a friend, who 
 was withdrawing himfelf irom all the vices of 
 Rome. Struck with this idea, he wrote that 
 well-known Poem, called London. The firil 
 lines manifeftly point to Savage. 
 
 " Though grief and fonclnefs in my breaft rebel, 
 " When injured Thales bids the town farewel ; 
 " Yet ftill my calmer thoughts his choice com- 
 
 " mend ; 
 " I praife the hermit, but regret the friend. 
 " Refolv'd at length, from Vice and London far, 
 (( To breathe in diftant fields a purer air ; 
 " And, fix'd on Cambria's foiitary fhore, 
 " Give to St. David one true Bricon more." 
 
 John foil at that time lodged at Greenwich. 
 He there fixes the fcene, and takes leave of 
 
 his
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 35 
 
 his friend ; who, he fays in his Life, parted 
 from him with tears in his eyes. The poem, 
 when finifTied, was offered to Cave. It hap- 
 pened, however, that the late Mr. Dodfley 
 was the purchafer, at the price of ten guineas. 
 It was publimed in 1 738 ; and Pope, we are 
 told, faid, ' The author, whoever he is, will 
 " not be long concealed ;" alluding to the paf- 
 fage in Terence, //, ubl ejl, dlu celari non 
 fotefl. Not with (landing that prediction, it does 
 not appear that, befides the copy- money, any 
 advantage accrued to the author of a poem, 
 written with the elegance and energy of Pope. 
 John fon, in Auguft 173S, went, with all the 
 fame of his poetry, to offer himfelf a candi- 
 date for the maiterfhip of the fchool at Ap- 
 pleby, in Leicefterfhire. The ftatutes of the 
 place required, that the perfon chofen mould 
 be a mafter of arts. To remove this objec- 
 tion, the late Lord Gower was induced to 
 write to a friend, in order to obtain for John- 
 fon a mailer's degree in the Univerfity of Dub- 
 lin, by the recommendation of Dr. Swift. 
 The letter was printed in one of the maga- 
 zines, and is as follows : 
 
 C 2 " S I R,
 
 36 an essay on the life and 
 
 "Sir, 
 
 " Mr. Samuel Johnfon (author of London, 
 " a fatire, and fome other poetical pieces) is a 
 " native of this county, and much refpected 
 " by fome worthy gentlemen in the neigh- 
 " bourhood, who are truftees of a charity- 
 " fchool, now vacant ; the certain falary of 
 " which is fixty pounds per year, of which 
 " they are defirous to make him mafter ; but 
 " unfortunately he is not capable of receiving 
 ' their bounty, which would make him happy 
 " for life, by not being a mafter of arts, 
 " which, by the ftatutes of the fchool, the 
 " mafter of it muft be. 
 
 " Now thefe gentlemen do me the honour to 
 *' think, that I have intereft enough in you, 
 " to prevail upon you to write to Dean Swift, 
 " to perfuade the Univerfity of Dublin to fend 
 " a diploma to me, conftituting this poor man 
 " mafter of arts in their univerfity. They 
 *' highly extol the man's learning and probity; 
 *' and will not be perfuaded, that the Univerfity 
 <f will make any difficulty of conferring fuch 
 " a favour upon a ftranger, if he is recom- 
 ** mended by the Dean. They fay, he is not 
 2 '* afraid
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON, %J 
 
 " afraid of the ftrictefr. examination, though 
 " he is of fo long a journey ; and yet he will 
 " venture it, if the Dean thinks it neceffary, 
 " chufing rather to die upon the road than to 
 4< be flarved to death in tranflating for book- 
 " fellers, which has been his only fubfiftence 
 " for fome time paft. 
 
 " I fear there is more difficulty in this affair 
 " than thefe good-natured gentlemen appre- 
 " hend, efpecially as their election cannot 
 " be delayed longer than the nth of next 
 " month. If you fee this matter in the fame 
 " light that it appears to me, I hope you will 
 ** burn this, and pardon me for giving you fo 
 " much trouble about an impracticable thing ; 
 " but, if you think there is a probability of 
 * s obtaining the favour afked, I am fure your 
 " humanity and propenfity to relieve merit in 
 " diftrefs will incline ycu to ferve the poor 
 " man, without my adding any more to the 
 " trouble I have already given you than aflu- 
 " ring you, that I am, with great truth, Sir, 
 
 " Your faithful humble fervant, 
 
 " Gower. 
 
 " Trentham, Aug. ifl." 
 
 c 3 This
 
 38 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 This fcheme mifcarried. There is reafon to 
 think, that Swift declined to meddle in the 
 bufinefs ; and to that circumftance Johnfon's 
 known diflike of Swift has been often im- 
 puted. 
 
 It is mortifying to purfue a man of merit 
 through all his difficulties ; and yet this narra- 
 tive muft be, through many following years, 
 the hiftory of Genius and Virtue ftruggling 
 with Advcrfity. Having loft the fchool at 
 Appleby, Johnfon was thrown back on the 
 metropolis. Bred to no profeflion, without 
 relations, friends, or intereft, lie was con- 
 demned to drudgery in the fervice of Cave, his 
 only patron. In November, 1738, was pub- 
 lilhed a tranflation of Croufaz's Examen of 
 Pope's EfTay on Man ; " containing a fuccinct 
 * View or' the Syftem of the Fatalifts, and a 
 ** Confutation of their Opinions, with an 
 " llluflration of the Doctrine of Free Will ; 
 " and an Fnquiry, what view Mr. Pope might 
 <( have in touching upon the Leibnitzian Phi- 
 *' loiophy, and Fatalifin. By Mr. Croufaz, 
 *' ProicOor of Philoionhy and Mathematics at 
 11 Laufanne." This tranflation has been gene- 
 
 rally
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 39 
 
 rally thought a production of Johnfon's pen ; 
 but it is now known, that Mrs. Elizabeth Carter 
 has acknowledged it to be one of her early per- 
 formances. It is certain, however, that Johnfon 
 was eager to promote the publication. He confi- 
 dered the foreign philofophy as a man zealous in 
 the caufe of religion; and with him he was wil- 
 ling to join againit. the fyftem of the Fatalifts 
 and the doctrine of Leibnitz. It is well known 
 that Warburton wrote a vindication of Mr. 
 Pope ; but there is reafon to think, that Johnfon 
 conceived an early prejudice againit the EfTay on 
 Man ; and what once took root in a mind like 
 his was not eaiily eradicated. His letter to 
 Cave on this fubjedt is (till extant, and may well 
 juftify Sir John Hawkins, who inferred that 
 Johnfon was the tranflator of Croufaz. The 
 conclufion of the letter is remarkable. " I am 
 4 * yours, Impr ansus." If by that Latin word 
 was meant that he had not dined, becaufe he 
 wanted the means, who can read it, even at 
 this hour, without an aching heart ? 
 
 With a mind naturally vigorous, and quick- 
 ened bv necellky, Johnlon formed a multipli- 
 city of projects ; but mod: of them proved 
 abortive. A number of fmall tracts iifued 
 
 c 4 from
 
 40 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 from his pen with wonderful rapidity ; fuch 
 as " MarMor Norfolciense ; or an Effay 
 *! on an ancient prophetical Infcription, in 
 " Monkifh Rhyme, difcovered at Lynn in 
 " Norfolk. By Probus Brit amicus" This 
 was a pamphlet againft Sir Robert Walpole. 
 According to Sir John Hawkins, a warrant 
 was iffued to apprehend the Author, who re- 
 tired with his wife to an oblcure lodging 
 near Lambeth-Marfh, and there eluded the 
 fearch of the mefiengers. But this ftory has 
 no foundation in truth. Johnfon was never 
 known to mention fuch an incident in his life; 
 and Mr. Steele (late of the Treafury) caufed 
 diligent fearch to be made at the proper offices, 
 and no trace of fuch a proceeding could be 
 found. In the fame year (1739) the Lord 
 Chamberlain prohibited the reprefentation of a 
 tragedy, called Gustavus Vasa, by Henry 
 Brooke. Under the mafk of irony, Johnfon 
 published, " A Vindication of the Licencer 
 " from the malicious and fcandalous Afperiions 
 ' of Mr. Brooke." Of thefe two pieces Sir 
 John Hawkins fays, " they have neither learn- 
 " ing nor wit ; nor a (ingle ray of that ge- 
 " nius which has fince blazed forth ;" but as 
 they have been lately re-printed, the reader, 
 
 who
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 41 
 
 who wifhes to gratify his curiofity, is referred 
 to the fourteenth volume of Johnfbn's works, 
 published by Stockdale. The lives of Boer- 
 haave, Blake, Barratier, Father Paul, and 
 others, were, about that time, printed in the 
 Gentleman's Magazine. The fubfcription of 
 fifty pounds a year for Savage was completed ; 
 and in July, 1739, Johnfon parted with the 
 companion of his midnight hours, never to 
 lee him more. The feparation was, perhaps-, 
 an advantage to him, who wanted to make a 
 right uie of his time, and even then beheld, 
 with felf- reproach, the wafle occasioned bv dii- 
 fipation. His abftinence from wine and ftrong 
 liquors began foon after the departure of ra- 
 vage. What habits he contracted in the courfe 
 of that acquaintance cannot now be known. 
 The ambition of excelling in converfation, and 
 that pride of victory, which, at times, dis- 
 graced a man of Johnfon's genius, were, per- 
 haps* native blemifhes. A fierce fpirit of in- 
 dependence, even in the midft of poverty, 
 may be feen in Savage, and, if not thence 
 transfufed by Johnfon into his own manners, 
 it may, at lead:, be fuppofed to have gained 
 Strength from the example before him. During 
 that connection, there was, if we believe Sir 
 
 John
 
 42 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 John Hawkins, a fhort reparation between our 
 author and his wife; but a reconciliation foon 
 took place. Johnfon loved her, and fhewed his 
 affection in various modes of gallantry, which 
 Garrick ufed to render ridiculous by his mimicry. 
 The affectation of foft and faftiionable airs did 
 not become an unwieldy figure ; his admiration 
 was received by the wife with the flutter of an 
 antiquated coquette; and both, it is well 
 known* furnimed matter for the lively genius 
 of Garrick. 
 
 It is a mortifying reflection, that Johnfon, 
 with a flore of learning and extrordinary ta- 
 lents, was not able, at the age of thirty, to 
 force his way to the favour of the publick. 
 Slow r[je$ worth by poverty deprefid. " He 
 " was {till," as he fays himfelf, ' to provide 
 " for the day that was pairing over him." He 
 faw Cave involved in a ftate of warfare with 
 the numerous competitors, at that time ftrug- 
 gling with the Gentleman's Magazine ; and 
 gratitude, for fuch fupplies as Johnfon received, 
 dictated a Latin Ode on the fubjedl of that 
 contention. The fir ft lines, 
 
 " Urbane, nullis fefle laboribus, 
 " Urbane, nullis vic'te caluraniis," 
 
 put
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 43 
 
 put one in mind of Cafimir's Ode to Pope 
 Urban : 
 
 u Urbane, regum raaxime, maxirae 
 <e Urbane vatum." 
 
 The Polifh poet was, probably, at that time in 
 the hands of a man who had meditated the 
 hiftory of the Latin poets. Guthrie, the his- 
 torian, had from July, 1736, compofed the 
 parliamentary fpeeches for the Magazines; but, 
 from the beginning of the feffion which 
 opened on the 19th of November, 1740, 
 Johnfon fucceeded to that department, and con- 
 tinued it from that time to the debate on fpi- 
 rituous liquors, which happened in the Houfe 
 of Lords in February, 1742-3. The elo- 
 quence, the force of argument, and the fplen- 
 dor of language, difplayed in the feverai 
 fpeeches, are well known, and univerfally ad- 
 mired. The whole has been collected in two 
 volumes by Mr. Stockdale, and may form a 
 proper fupplement to this edition. That John- 
 fon was the author of the debates during that 
 period was not generally known; but the fe- 
 cret tranfpired feverai years afterwards, 
 and was avowed by himielf on the following 
 occafion, Mr. Wedderburne (now Lord Lough- 
 borough),
 
 44 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 borough), Dr. Johnfon, Dr. Francis (the 
 tranflator of Horace), the prefent writer, and 
 others, dined with the late Mr. Foote. An 
 important dehate towards the end of Sir Ro- 
 bert Walpole's adminiftration being mentioned, 
 Dr. Francis obferved, " That Mr. Pitt's fpeech, 
 u on that occafion, was the bed he had ever 
 *' read." He added, " That he had employed 
 " eight years of his life in the ftudy of De- 
 '* mofthenes, and finimed a tranflation of that 
 * celebrated orator, with all the decorations 
 " of ftyle and language within the reach of 
 ' his capacity ; but he had met with nothing 
 t; equal to the fpeech above-mentioned." Many 
 of the company remembered the debate ; and 
 fome paflages were cited, with the approbation 
 and applauie of all prefent. During the ar- 
 dour of converfation John ion remained filent. 
 As foon as the warmth of praife fubfided, he 
 opened with thefe words. " That fpeech I 
 *' wrote in a garret in Exeter- ftreet." The 
 company was ftruck with aftonimment. After 
 flaring at each other with filent amaze, Dr. Fran- 
 cis afked, '* How that fpeech could be written 
 '" by him r" " Sir," faid Johnfon, " I wrote it 
 *' in Exeter-ftreet. I never had been in the 
 
 " gallery
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 45 
 
 " gallery of the Houfe of Commons but once. 
 44 Cave had intereft with the door-keepers. 
 " He, and the perfons employed under him, 
 " gained admittance : they brought away the 
 " fubjedl: of difcuffion, the names of the 
 4 fpeakers, the fide they took, and the order 
 " in which they rofe, together with the notes of 
 4 * the arguments advanced in the courfe of the 
 " debate. The whole was afterwards commu- 
 " nicated to me, and I compofed the fpeeches- 
 " in the form which they now have in the Par- 
 " liamentary Debates." To this difcovery Dr. 
 Francis made anfwer : *' Then, Sir, you have 
 " exceeded Demofthenes himfelf ; for, to fay 
 *' that you have exceeded Francis's Demof- 
 " thenes would be faying nothing." The reft 
 of the company beftowed lavifh encomiums on 
 Johnfon : one, in particular, praifed his im- 
 partiality ; obferving, that he dealt out reafon 
 and eloquence with an equal hand to both 
 parties. " That is not quite true," faid John- 
 fon ; " I faved appearances tolerably well ; 
 M but I took care that the whig dogs mould 
 " not have the beft of it." The fale of the 
 Magazine was greatly increafed by the Parlia- 
 mentary Debates, which were continued by 
 
 John-
 
 46 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 Johnfon till the month of March, 1742-3. 
 From that time the Magazine was conducted 
 by Dr. Hawkefvvorth. 
 
 In 1^43-4, Ofbome, the bookfeller, who 
 kept a mop in Gray's-Inn, purchafed the Earl 
 of Oxford's library, at the price of thirteen 
 thoufand pounds. He projected a catalogue in 
 five octavo volumes, at five millings each. 
 Johnfon was employed in that painful drudgery. 
 He was likewife to collect all fuch frhall tracts 
 as were in any degree worth preferving, in order 
 to reprint and publim the whole in a collection, 
 called " The Harleian Mifcellany." The cata- 
 logue was completed ; and the Milcellany, in 
 1749, was publilhed in eight quarto volume:. 
 In this bufinefs Johnfon was a day-labourer for 
 immediate fubfillence, not unlike Gufravus 
 Vafa working in the mines of Dalicarlia. 
 What Wilcox, a bookfeller of eminence in the 
 Strand, faid to Johnfon, on his firfl arrival in 
 town, was now almoit confirmed. He lent 
 our author five guineas, and then afked him, 
 " How do you mean to earn your livelihood in 
 " this town ?" " By my literary labours," was 
 the anfwer. Wilcox, flaring at him, monk 
 
 his
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 47 
 
 his head : " By your literary labours! You 
 " had better buy a porter's knot." Johnfon 
 ufed to tell this anecdote to Mr. Nichols ; but 
 he faid, " Wilcox was one of my beft friends, 
 " and he meant well." In fact, Johnfon, while 
 employed in Gray's Inn, may be faid to have car- 
 ried a porter's knot. He paufed occafionally, to 
 perufe the book that came to his hand. Ofborne 
 thought that fuch curiofity tended to nothing 
 but delay, and objected to it with all the pride and 
 infolence of a man, who knew that he paid daily 
 wages. In the difpute, that of courfe enfued, 
 Ofborne, with that roughnefs which was natu- 
 ral to him, enforced his argument by giving the 
 lie. Johnfon feized a folio, and knocked the 
 bookfeller down. This ftory has been related 
 as an inflance of Johnfon's ferocity; but merit 
 cannot always take the fpurns of the unworthy 
 with a patient fpirit. 
 
 That the hiflory of an author muft be found 
 in his works is, in general, a true obfervation ; 
 and was never more apparent than in the pre- 
 fent narrative. Every aera of Johnfon's life is 
 fixed by his writings. In 1744, he published 
 the Life of Savage ; and then projected a new 
 
 edition
 
 48 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 edition of Shakfpeare. As a prelude to that 
 defign, he published, in 1745, Mifcellaneous 
 Obfervations on the Tragedy of Macbeth, with 
 Remarks on Sir Thomas Hanmer*s Edition : to 
 which were prefixed, Propofals for a new Edi- 
 tion of Shakfpeare, with a Specimen, Of this 
 pamphlet, Warburton, in the Preface to Shak- 
 fpeare, has given his opinion : " As to all 
 ** thofe things, which have been published 
 " under the title of Effays, Remarks. Ob- 
 '* fervations, &c. on Shakfpeare, if you 
 u except fome critical notes on Macbeth, 
 " given as a fpecimen of a projected edition, 
 " and written, as appears, by a man of parts 
 " and genius, the red: are abfolutely below a 
 46 ferious notice,'* But the attention of the 
 publick was not excited ; there was no friend 
 to promote a fuhfcription ; and the project died 
 to revive at a future day. A new undertaking, 
 however, was {oon after propofed ; namely, 
 an Englifh Dictionary, upon an enlarged plan. 
 Several of the mod: opulent bookfellers had 
 meditated a work of this kind ; and the agree- 
 ment wasfoon adjufred between the parties. Em- 
 boldened by this connection, Johnfon thought 
 of a better habitation than he had hitherto 
 
 known.
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 49 
 
 known. He had lodged with his wife in courts 
 and alleys about the Strand; but now, for the 
 purpofe of carrying on his arduous undertaking, 
 and to be near his printerand friend, Mr. Strahan, 
 he ventured to take a houfe in Gough-fquare, 
 Fleet-ftreet. He was told that the Earl of Chef- 
 terfield was a friend to his undertaking; and, in 
 confequence of that intelligence, he publifhed, in 
 1747, The Plan of a Dictionary of the Englijk 
 Language, addrejfedto the Right Honourable Phi- 
 lip Dormer, Earl of Chejlerfield, one of his Ma~ 
 jejly s principal Secretaries of State, Air. White- 
 head, afterwards poet Laureat, undertook to 
 convey the manufcript to his Lordfhip : the 
 confequence was an invitation from Lord Chef- 
 terfield to the author. A ftronger contrail: of 
 characters could not be brought together; the 
 Nobleman, celebrated for his wit, and all the 
 graces of polite behaviour; the Author, con- 
 icious of his own merir, towering in idea 
 above all competition, verfed in fcholaftic 
 logic, but a Granger to the arts of polite con- 
 verfation, uncouth, vehement, and vociferous. 
 The coalition was too unnatural. Johnfou 
 expected a Maecenas, and was difappointeJ. 
 No patronage, no affiftance followed. Vines 
 
 d were
 
 50 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE A N Vf 
 
 were repeated ; but the reception was not cor- 
 dial. John ion one day was left a full hour, wait- 
 ing in an anti-chamber, till a gentleman mould 
 retire, and leave his Lordmip at leifure. This 
 was the famous Colley Gibber. Johnfon faw 
 him go, and, fired with indignation, turned out 
 of the houfe. What Lord Chefterfield thought 
 of his viiitor may be feen in a paffage in one 
 of that Nobleman's letters to his fon *. " There 
 ." is a man, whofe moral character, deep learn- 
 " ing, and luperior parts, I acknowledge, ad- 
 " mire, and refpect ; but whom it is fo im- 
 " pofiible for me to love, that I am almoft in 
 " a fever whenever I am in his company. His 
 " figure (without being deformed) fee ms made 
 " to difgrace or ridicule the common ftru&ure 
 ' of the human body. His legs and arms 
 " are never in the pofition which, according 
 " to the fituation of his body, they ought to 
 *' be in, but conitantly employed in commit- 
 " ting acts of hoflility upon the Graces. He 
 <{ throws any where, but down his throat, 
 " whatever he means to drink ; and mangles 
 " what he means to carve. Inattentive to all 
 " the regards of locial life, he miftimes and 
 
 * Letter CCX1I. 
 
 " mif*
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 5T 
 
 " mifplaces every thing. He difputes with heat 
 ** indifcriminately, mindlefs of the rank, cha- 
 " ra&er, and fituation, of thofe with whom he 
 " difputes. Abfolutely ignorant of the feveral 
 " gradations of familiarity and refpect, he is 
 "exactly the fame to his fuperiors, his equals, 
 " and his inferiors; and therefore, by a ne- 
 " ceflary confequence, is abfurd to two of the 
 ** three. Is it poffible to love fuch a man ? 
 " No. The utmoft 1 can do for him is, to 
 " confider him a refpe&able Hottentot.*' Such 
 was the idea entertained by Lord Chefterfield. 
 After the incident of Colley Cibber, Johnfou 
 never repeated his vifits. In his high and de- 
 cifive tone, he has been often heard to fay, 
 " Lord Chefterflsld is a Wit among Lords, 
 " and a Lord among Wits." 
 
 In the courfe of the year 1747, Garrick, 
 in conjunction with Lacy, became patentee of 
 Drury-lane Playhoufe. For the opening of 
 the theatre, at the ufual time, Johnfon wrote 
 for his friend the well-known prologue, which, 
 to fay no more of it, may at leaft be placed on 
 a level with Pope's to the tragedy of Cato. 
 The play-houfe being now under Garrick's 
 
 d 2 di-
 
 52 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 direction, Johnfon thought the opportunity fair 
 to think of his tragedy of Irene, which was 
 his whole flock on his firft arrival in town in 
 the year i 737. That play was accordingly put 
 into rehearfal in January 1749. As a pre- 
 curfor to prepare the way, and awaken the 
 public attention, 'The Vanity of Human Wijloes^ 
 a Poem in Imitation of the Tenth Satire of 
 Juvenal, by the Author of London, was pub- 
 limed in the fame month. In the Gentleman's, 
 Magazine, for February, 1749, we find that 
 the tragedy of Irene was acted at Drury-lane, 
 on Monday, February the 6th, and from 
 that time, without interruption, to Monday, 
 February the 20th, being in all thirteen nights. 
 Since that time it has not been exhibited on 
 any ftage. Irene may be added to fome other 
 plays in our language, which have loll: their 
 place in the theatre, but continue to pleafe in 
 the clofet. During the reprefentation of this 
 piece, Johnfon attended every night behind 
 the fcenes. Conceiving that his character, as 
 an author, required fome ornament for his 
 perfon, he chofe, upon that occafion, to de- 
 corate himfelf with a handfome waiffcoat, and 
 gold-laced hat. The late Mr. Topham Beau- 
 
 clere^
 
 OENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. $$ 
 
 clerc, who had had a great deal of that hu- 
 mour which pleafes the more for feeming 
 undesigned, ufed to give a pleafant defcription 
 of this Green-room finery, as related by the author 
 himfelf ; * But," faid Johnfon with great gra- 
 vity, ** I foon laid aiide my gold-laced hat, left 
 *' it fhould make me proud." The amount 
 of the three benefit-nights for the tragedy of 
 Irene, it is to be feared, was not very confi- 
 derable, as the profit, that ftimulating motive, 
 never invited the author to another dramatic 
 attempt. Some years afterwards, when the 
 prefent writer was intimate with Garrick, and 
 knew Johnfon to be in diftrefs, he afked the 
 manager why he did not produce another tra- 
 gedy for his Lichfield friend r Garrick's anfwer 
 was remarkable : " When Johnfon writes 
 " tragedy, declamation roars, and pajjion Jleefis : 
 '* when Shakfpeare wrote, he dipped his pen 
 " in his own heart." 
 
 There may, perhaps, be a degree of fame- 
 nefs in this regular way of tracing an author 
 from one work to another, and the reader may 
 feel the efFa& of a tedious monotony ; but in 
 the life of Johnfon there are no other land- 
 
 d 3 marks.
 
 54 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 marks. He was now forty years old, and had 
 mixed but little with the world. He followed 
 no profeflion, tranfacted no bufinefs, and was 
 a Granger to what is called a town-life. We 
 are now arrived at the brighten 1 period he had 
 hitherto known. His name broke out upon 
 mankind with a degree of luftre that promifed 
 a triumph over all his difficulties. The Life of 
 Savage was admired as a beautiful and inftruc- 
 tive piece of biography. The two Imitations 
 of Juvenal were thought to rival even the ex- 
 cellence of Pope ; and the tragedy of Irene, 
 though uninterefting on the ftage, was uni- 
 verfally admired in the clofet, for the propriety 
 of the fentiments, the richnefs of the lan- 
 guage, and the general harmony of the whole 
 compoiition. His fame was widely dirfuied ; 
 and he had made his agreement with the book- 
 fellers for his Engliih Dictionary at the fum of 
 fifteen hundred guineas ; part of which was to 
 be, from time to time, advanced in proportion 
 to the progrefs of the work. This was a cer- 
 tain fund for his fupport, without being obliged 
 to write fugitive pieces for the petty fupplies 
 of the day. xAccordingly, we find that, in 1749, 
 he cftablimed a club, conlifiing of ten in num- 
 ber,
 
 GENIUS' OF DR. JOHNSON. 55 
 
 i>er, at Horfeman's, in Ivy-lane, on every 
 Tuefday evening. This is the firir. fcene of 
 focial life to which John (on can be traced out 
 of his own houfe. The members of this 
 little fociety were, Samuel Johnfon; Dr. Salter 
 (father of the late Matter of the Charter- 
 houfc) ; Dr. Hawkefworth ; Mr. Ryland, a 
 merchant; Mr. Payne, a bookfeller, in Pater- 
 nofter-row; Mr. Samuel Dyer, a learned young 
 man ; Dr. William M'Ghie, a Scotch phyfi- 
 cian ; Dr. Edmund Barker, a young phyfician ; 
 Dr. Bathurft, another young physician ; and 
 Sir John Hawkins. This lift is given by Sir 
 John, as it mould feem, with no other view 
 than to draw a fpiteful and malevolent character 
 of almoft every one of them. Mr. Dyer, 
 whom Sir John fays he loved with the affec- 
 tion of a brother, meets with the harmeft 
 treatment, becaufe it was his maxim, that to 
 live in peace with mankind \ and in a temper to do 
 good offices, was the moji ejfential part of our 
 duty. That notion of moral goodnefs gave 
 umbrage to Sir John Hawkins, and drew 
 down upon the memory of his friend the bit- 
 tereft imputations. Mr. Dyer, however, was 
 admired and loved through life. He was a 
 
 d 4 man
 
 $6 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 man of literature. Johnfon loved to enter 
 with him into a difcuffion of metaphyfical, 
 moral, and critical, fubjedts ; in thofe conflicts, 
 exercifing his talents, and, according to his 
 cuftom, always contending for victory. Dr. 
 Bathurft was the perfon on whom Johnfon 
 fixed his affection. He hardly ever fpoke of 
 him without tears in his eyes. It was from 
 him, who was a native of Jamaica, that 
 Johnfon received into his fervice Frank, the 
 black fervant, whom, on account of his matter, 
 he valued to the end of his life. At the time 
 of instituting the club in Ivy-lane, Johnfon 
 had projected the Rambler. The title was moil 
 probably fuggefted by the Wanderer ; a poem 
 which he mentions, with the warmed praife, 
 in the Life of Savage. With the fame fpirit of 
 independence with which he wifhed to live, it 
 was now his pride to write. He communi- 
 cated his plan to none of his friends : lie de- 
 fired no affifbnce, relying entirely on his own 
 fund, and the protection of the Divine Being, 
 which he employed in a folemn form of prayer, 
 compofed by himfelf for the occaiion. Ha- 
 ving formed a refolution to undertake a work 
 that might be of ufe and honour to his country, 
 
 he
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 57 
 
 he thought, with Milton, that this was not to 
 " be obtained " but by devout prayer to that 
 ** Eternal Spirit that can enrich with all ut- 
 " terance and knowledge, and fend out his 
 " feraphim, with the hallowed fire of his altar, 
 " to touch and purify the lips of whom he 
 " pleafes." 
 
 Having invoked the fpecial protection of 
 Heaven, and by that act of piety fortified his 
 mind, he began the great work of the Ram- 
 bler. The firft number was publifhed on Tuef- 
 day, March the 20th, 1750 ; and from that 
 time was continued regularly every Tuefday and 
 Saturday for the fpace of two years, when it 
 finally clofed on Saturday, March 14, 1752. 
 As it began with motives of piety, fo it ap- 
 pears, that the fame religious fpirit glowed 
 With unabating ardour to the laft. His con- 
 clufion is : " The Eflays, profeffedly ferious, if 
 " I have been able to execute my own inten- 
 " tions, will be found exactly conformable to 
 ** the precepts of Chriftianiry, without anv 
 " accommodation to the licentioufnefs and le- 
 " vity of the prefent age. I therefore look 
 * back on this part of my work with pleafure, 
 1 " which
 
 58 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 M which no man (hall diminifh or augment. 
 ** I fhall never envy the honours which wit and 
 " learning obtain in any other caufe, if I can 
 * be numbered among the writers who have 
 " given ardour to virtue, and confidence to 
 " truth." The whole number of EfTays 
 amounted to two hundred and eight. Addi- 
 fon's, in the Spectator, are more in number, but 
 not half in point of quantity : Addifon was not 
 bound to publiih on dated days ; he could watch 
 the ebb and flow of his genius, and fend his pa- 
 per to the prefs when his own tafte was fatif- 
 fied. Johnfon's cafe was very different. He 
 wrote fingly and alone. In the whole progrefs 
 of the work he did not receive more than ten 
 efTays. This was a fcanty contribution. For 
 the reft, the author has defcribed his fituation : 
 u He that condemns himfelf to compofe on a 
 " ftated day, will often bring to his talk an at- 
 ** tentiou difnpated, a memory embarraffed, an 
 ** imagination overwhelmed, a mind diftracted 
 " with anxieties, a body languifhing with dif- 
 " eafe : he will labour on a barren topic, till it 
 ' is too late to change it ; or, in the ardour of 
 " invention, dirfufe his thoughts into wild exu- 
 " berance, which the preffing hour of publi- 
 
 " cation
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 59 
 
 " cation cannot fuffer judgement to examine or 
 " reduce." Of this excellent production the 
 number fold on each day did not amount to five 
 hundred: of courfe the bookfeller, who paid 
 the author four guineas a week, did not carry- 
 on a fuccefsful trade. His generality and per- 
 feverance deferve to be commended ; and hap- 
 pily, when the collection appeared in volumes, 
 were amply rewarded. Johnfon lived to fee 
 his labours flourim in a tenth edition. His 
 pofterity, as an ingenious French writer has 
 faid on a fimilar occalion, began in his life- 
 time. 
 
 In the beginning of 1750, foon after the 
 Rambler was fet on foot, Johnfon was induced, 
 by the arts of a vile impoftor, to lend his affift- 
 ance, during a temporary delulion, to a fraud 
 not to be paralleled in the annals of literature. 
 One Lauder, a native of Scotland, who had 
 been a teacher in the Univerfity of Edin- 
 burgh, had conceived a mortal antipathy to 
 the name and character of Milton. His 
 reafon was, becaufe the prayer of Pamela, in 
 Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, was, as he fup- 
 pofed, malicioufly infer ted by the great poet in 
 
 an
 
 60 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 an edition of the Eikon Bafilike, in order to 
 fix an imputation of impiety on the memory 
 of the murdered king. Fired with refentment, 
 and willing to reap the profits of a grofs impo- 
 fition, this man collected from feveral Latin 
 poets, fuch as Mafenius the Jefuit, Staphorf- 
 tius a Dutch divine, Beza, and others, all 
 fuch paffages as bore any kind of refemblance 
 to different places in the Paradife Loll ; and 
 thefe he publifhed, from time to time, in the 
 Gentleman's Magazine, with occafional inter- 
 polations of lines, which he himfelf tranflated 
 from Milton. The public credulity fwallowed 
 all with eagernefs ; and Milton was fuppofed to 
 be guilty of plagiarifm from inferior modern 
 writers. The fraud fucceeded fo well, that 
 Lauder collected the whole into a volume, 
 and advertifed it under the title of " An E/fay 
 " on Milton* s Ufe and Imitation of the Moderns, 
 ' in his Paradife Lo/l ; dedicated to the Univer- 
 11 f ties of Oxford and Cambridge" While the 
 book was in the prefs, the proof-meets were 
 (hewn to Johnfon at the Ivy -lane Club, by 
 Payne, the bookfeller, who was one of the 
 members. No man in that fociety was in pof- 
 feffion of the authors from whom Lauder 
 
 profefled
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 6l 
 
 profeffed to make his extracts. The charge 
 was believed, and the contriver of it found his 
 way to Johnfon, who is reprefented by Sir 
 John Hawkins, not indeed as an accomplice in 
 the fraud, but, through motives of malignity 
 to Milton, delighting in the detection, and 
 exulting that the poet's reputation would fuf- 
 fer by the difcovery. More malice to a de- 
 ceafed friend cannot well be imagined. Haw- 
 kins adds, " that he wijhed well to the argu- 
 *.* ment majl be inferred from the preface, which 
 u indubitably was written by him, 1 * The preface, 
 it is well known, was written by Johnfon, and 
 for that reafon is inferted in this edition. But, 
 if Johnfon approved of the argument, it was 
 no longer than while he believed it founded in 
 truth. Let us advert to his own words in that 
 very preface. * Among the enquiries to 
 * which the ardour of criticifm has naturally 
 given occanon, none is more obfcure in it- 
 *' felf, or more worthy of rational curiofity, 
 '* than a retrofpection of the progrefs of this 
 *' mighty genius in the conftruction of his 
 " work ; a view of the fabric gradually rifing, 
 <c perhaps from fmall beginnings, till its fcun- 
 * dation reds in the centre, and its turrets 
 
 " fparkle
 
 6l AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 " fparkle in the ikies ; to trace back the ftruc- 
 " ture, through all its varieties, to the fimpli- 
 ' city of the firft plan; to find what was pro- 
 " jected, whence the fcheme was taken, how 
 " it was improved, by what afiiftance it was 
 i executed, and from what ftores the mate- 
 " rials were collected ; whether its founder 
 tl dug them from the quarries of nature, or 
 " demolished other buildings to embellim his 
 " own." 1 hefe were the motives that induced 
 Johnfon to afTift Lauder with a preface : and 
 are not thefe the motives of a critic and a 
 fcholar ? What reader of tafte, what man of 
 real knowledge, would not think his time well 
 employed in an enquiry fo curious, fo interefr- 
 ing, and inftructive ? If Lauder's facts were 
 really true, who would not be glad, without 
 the fmalleft tincture of malevolence, to receive 
 real information ? It is painful to be thus 
 obliged to vindicate a man who, in his heart, 
 towered above the petty arts of fraud and im- 
 pofition, againfl an injudicious biographer, who 
 undertook to be his editor, and the protector 
 of his memory. Another writer, Dr. Towers, 
 in an Effay on the Life and Character of Dr. 
 Johnfon, feems to countenance this calumny. 
 
 He
 
 GENIUS OF D R. JOH.N SON. (^ 
 
 He fays, // can hardly he doubted, but that 
 John/on s averfon to Milton's politics was the 
 caufe of that alacrity with which he joined with 
 Lauder in his infamous attack on our great epic 
 poet, and which induced him to affift in that 
 tranfaclion. Thefe words would feem to de- 
 fcribe an accomplice, were they not immedi- 
 ately followed by an exprefs declaration, that 
 John fon was unacquainted with the impofure. 
 Dr. Towers adds, // feems to have been by way 
 of mailing fame compenfation to the memory of 
 Milton, for the fioare he had in the attack of 
 Lauder, that Johnfon wrote the prologue, fpoken 
 by Garrick, at Drury-lane Theatre, 1750, on 
 the performance of the Mafque of Comus, for the 
 benefit of Milton's grand- daughter. Dr. Towers 
 .is not free from prejudice; but, as Shakfpeare 
 has it, " he begets a temperance, to give 
 '* it fmoothnefs." He is, therefore, entitled 
 to a difpaffionate anfwer. When Johnfou 
 wrote the prologue, it does not appear that he was 
 aware of the malignant artifices practifed by 
 Lauder. In the poftfeript to Johnfon's pre- 
 face, a fubfeription is propofed, for relieving 
 the grand-daughter of the author of Faradife 
 Loft. Dr. Towers will agree that this fhew 
 
 John-
 
 64 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 Johnfon's alacrity in doing good. That alacrity 
 mewed itfelf again in the letter printed in the 
 European Magazine, January, 17^5, and 
 there faid to have appeared originally in the 
 General Advertifer, 4th April, 1750, by which 
 the publick were invited to embrace the oppor- 
 tunity of paying a juft regard to the illuftrious 
 dead, united with the pleafure of doing good 
 to the living. The letter adds, " To affifi in- 
 ** duftrious indigence^ ftruggling'with diftrefs, 
 " and debilitated by age, is a difplay of vir- 
 * tue, and an acquifition of happi nets- and ho- 
 ** nour. Whoever, therefore, would be thought 
 *' capable of pleafure in reading the works of 
 ' our incomparable Milton, and not fo defti- 
 " tute of gratitude as to refufe to lay out a 
 " trifle, in a rational and elegant entertain- 
 ** ment, for the benefit of his living remains, 
 " for the exercife of their own virtue, the 
 " increafe of their reputation, and the con- 
 " fcioufnefs of doing good, mould appear at 
 * Drury-lane Theatre, to-morrow, April 5, 
 " when Comus will be performed for the bene- 
 " fit of Mrs. Elizabeth Fofter, grand-daughter 
 u to the author, and the only furviving branch 
 * of his family. Not a bene, there will be a 
 
 " new
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 6$ 
 
 " new prologue on the occafion, written by 
 " the author of Irene, and fpoken by Mr. 
 * Garrick." The man, who had thus exertod 
 himfelf to ferve the grand-daughter, cannot be 
 iuppofed to have entertained peribnal malice 
 to the grand-father. It is true, that the ma- 
 levolence of Lauder, as well as the impoftures 
 of Archibald Bower, were fully detected by 
 the labours, in the caufe of truth, of the Rev. 
 Dr. Douglas, now Lord Bifhop of Salifbury. 
 
 " Diram qui contudit Hydfam, 
 
 " Notaque fatali portenta labore fubegit." 
 
 But the pamphlet, entituled, Milton vindicated 
 from the Charge of Plagiarifm brought agair'ifi 
 him by Mr, Lauder, and Lauder himfelf coil- 
 viewed of fever at Forgeries and grofs Impofitions on 
 the Publick, by John Douglas, M. A. Reefer 
 of Eaten Confiantine, Salop, was not pub- 
 limed till the year 175 1. In that work, p. *jj. 
 Dr. Douglas fays: " It is to be hoped, nay, 
 " it is expecled, that the elegant and nervous 
 *' writer, whofe judicious fentiments and in- 
 " imitable ftyle point out the author of Lau- 
 " der's preface and poflfcript, will no longer 
 ' allow A man to plume himfelf with his fca- 
 * then, who appears Ho little to have deferved 
 
 e " his
 
 66 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE ANt> 
 
 *' his alTiftance ; an aiTiftance which I am per- 
 *' fuaded would never have been communi- 
 *' cated, had there been the leafr. fufpicion of 
 * thofe facts, which I have been the inftru- 
 *' ment of conveying to the world." We 
 have here a contemporary teftimony to the in- 
 tegrity of Dr. Johnfon throughout the whole 
 of that vile tranfaction. What was the con- 
 fequence of the requifition made by Dr. Dou- 
 glas ? Johnfon, whofe ruling paflion may be 
 faid to be the love of truth, convinced Lauder, 
 that it would be more for his intereft to make 
 a full confeftion of his guilt than to (land 
 forth the convicted champion of a lie ; and for 
 this purpofe he drew up, in the frrongeit terms, 
 a recantation hi a Letter to the Rev. Mr. 
 Douglas, which Lauder figned, and published 
 in the year 1 75 1 . That piece will remain a 
 kiting memorial of the abhorrence with which 
 Johnfon beheld a violation of truth. Mr. Ni- 
 chols, whofe attachment to his illuftrious friend 
 was unwearied, mewed him in 1780 a book, 
 called Remarks on Johnfon 1 s Life of Milton, 
 in which the affair of Lauder was renewed 
 with virulence, and a poetical fcale in the Lite- 
 rary Magazine 1758 (when Johnfon had ceafed 
 to write in that collection) was urged as an 
 
 additional
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 6j 
 
 additional proof of deliberate malice. He read 
 the libellous pafTagewith attention, and inftantly 
 wrote on the margin : *' In the bufinefs of Lau- 
 " derl was deceived, partly by thinking the man 
 *' too frantic to be fraudulent. Of the poetical 
 " fca/e, quoted from the Magazine, I am not the 
 " author. I fancy it was put in after I had 
 " quitted that work : for, I not only did not 
 " write it, but I do not remember it." As a 
 critic and a fcholar, John foil was willing to 
 receive what numbers, at the time, believed to 
 be true information : when he found that the 
 whole was a forgery, he renounced all connec- 
 tion with the author. 
 
 In March 1752, he felt a fevere ftroke of 
 affliction in the death of his wife. The laft 
 number of the Rambler, as already mentioned, 
 was on the 14th of that month. The lofs of 
 Mrs. Johnfon was then approaching, and, pro- 
 bably, was the caufe that put an end to thofe 
 admirable periodical effays. It appears that (he 
 died on the 28th of March: in a memorandum, 
 at the foot of the Prayers and Meditations, 
 that is called her Dying Day. She was buried 
 at Bromley, under the care of Dr. Hawkef- 
 worth. Johnfon placed a Latin infcription on 
 
 e 2 her
 
 68 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 her tomb, in which he celebrated her beauty. 
 With thefingularity of his prayers for his deceafed 
 wife, from that time to the end of his days, the 
 world is fufficiently acquainted. On Eafter- 
 day, 22d April, 1764, his memorandum fays: 
 " Thought on Tetty, poor dear Tetty ! with 
 " my eyes full. Went to Church. After 
 " fermon I recommended Tetty in a prayer by 
 " herfelf; and my father, mother, brother, 
 " and Bathurft, in another, I did it onVy 
 " once, fo far as it might be lawful for me." 
 In a prayer, January 23, 1759, the day on 
 which his mother was buried, he commends, 
 as far as may be lawful, her foul to God, im- 
 ploring for her whatever is moil beneficial to 
 her in her prefent flate. In this habit he per- 
 iervered to the end of his days. The Rev. 
 Mr. Strahan, the editor of the Prayers and 
 Meditations, obierves, *' That Johnfon, on 
 * fome occalions, prays that the Almighty 
 " may have bad mercy on his wife and Mr. 
 " Thrale : evidently fuppofing their fentence 
 *' to have been already pafled in the Divine 
 *' Mind ; and, by confequence, proving, that 
 " he had no belief in a ll:ate of purgatory, and 
 * no reafon for praying for the dead that could 
 " impeach the fmcerity of his profeffion as a 
 1 " Pro-
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 6f 
 
 4t Proteftant." Mr. Strahan adds, ** That, in 
 ** praying for the regretted tenants of the 
 " grave, Johnfon conformed to a practice 
 " which has been retained by many learned 
 " members of the Eftablifhed Church, though 
 " the Liturgy no longer admits it. If, where 
 u the tree falleth, there it /hall be ; if our ftate, 
 " at the clofe of life, is to be the meafure of 
 " our final fen ten ce ; then prayers for the 
 *' dead, being vifibly fruitlefs, can be regarded 
 "only as the vain oblations of fu perflation. 
 * i But, of all fuperftitions, this, perhaps, is one- 
 tl of the leafl; unamiable, and moff. incident to 
 " a good mind. If our fenfations of kindnefs 
 " be intenfe, thofe, whom we have revered and 
 <4 loved, death cannot wholly feclude from our 
 " concern. It is true, for the reafon juft men- 
 " tioned, fuch evidences of our furvivino- af- 
 '* feclion may be thought ill-judged; but 
 *' furely they are generous, and fome natural 
 '* tendernefs is due even to a fuperftition, which 
 " thus originates in piety and benevolence." 
 Thefe fentences, extracted from the Rev. 
 Mr. Strahan's preface, if they are not a full 
 juftihcation, are, at lead:, a beautiful apo- 
 logy. It will not be improper to add what 
 Johnfon himfelf has faid on the fubjedt. Being 
 
 e 3 afked
 
 70 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 afked by Mr. Bofweli*, what he thought of 
 purgatory, as believed by the Roman Catho- 
 lics ? his anfwer was, " It is a very harmlefs 
 " doctrine. They are of opinion, that the 
 " generality of mankind are neither fo obfti- 
 * nately w r icked as to deferve everlafting pu 
 *' nifhment ; nor fo good as to merit being 
 " admitted into the fociety of blefTed fpirits ; 
 " and, therefore, that God is gracioufly pleafed 
 *' to allow a middle ftate, where they may be 
 " purified by certain degrees of fufTering. You 
 " fee there is nothing unreaibnable in this ; 
 " and, if it be once eftablifhed that there are 
 " fouls in purgatory, it is as proper to pray 
 '< for them, as for our brethren of mankind 9 
 <e who are yet in this life," This was Dr. 
 Johnfon's guefs into futurity; and to guefs is 
 the ut mo ft that man can do. Sbiuiows, clouds % 
 and darknefs, reft upon it, 
 
 Mrs. Johnfon left a daughter, Lucy Porter, 
 by her firft hufband. She had contracted a 
 friendship with Mrs, Anne Williams, the daugh- 
 ter of Zachary Williams, a phyfician of emi- 
 nence in South Wales, who had devoted more 
 than thirty years of a long life to the ftudy of 
 
 * Life of Johnfon, Vol, I. p. 328. 
 
 the
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON, 7 1 
 
 the longitude, and was thought to have made 
 great advances towards that important diico- 
 very. His letters to Lord Halifax, and the 
 Lords of the Admiralty, partly corrected and 
 partly written by Dr. Johnfon, are frill extant 
 in the hands of Mr. Nichols *, We there 
 find Dr. Williams, in the eighty -third year of 
 his age, ftating, that he had prepared an in- 
 ffcrument, which might be called an epitome 
 or miniature of the terraqueous globe, {hew- 
 ing, with the affiftanee of tables conftru&ed 
 by himfelf, the variations of the magnetic 
 needle, and afcertaining the longitude for the 
 fafety of navigation. It appears that this 
 fcheme had been referred to Sir Ifaac Newton ; 
 but that great philofopher excuiing himfelf on 
 account of his advanced age, all applications 
 were ufelefs till 1751* when the fubject was 
 referred, by order of Lord Anfon, to Dr. 
 Bradley, the celebrated profelTor of aftronamy. 
 His report was unfavourable -j- though it 
 allows that a confiderable progrefs had 
 been made. Dr. Williams, after all his la- 
 bour and expence, died in a fhort time after, 
 a melancholy inftance of unrewarded merit. 
 
 * Sec Gentleman's Magazine for Nov. and Dec. 1787. 
 t I hid, for Dec. 1787, p. 1042. 
 
 e 4 His
 
 ^2 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 His daughter poiTeffed uncommon talents, ' 
 and, though blind, had an alacrity of mind 
 that made her converfation agreeable, and 
 even defirable. To relieve and appeafe me- 
 lancholy reflections, Johnfon took her home 
 to his houle in Gough-fquare. In 1755, 
 Garrick gave her a benefit-play, which pro- 
 duced two hundred pounds. In 1766, me 
 published, by fubfcription, a quarto volume of 
 Mifcell anies, and increafed her little flock to 
 three hundred pounds. That fund, with 
 Johnfon's protection, fupported her through 
 the remainder of her life. 
 
 During the two years in which the Rambler 
 was carried on, the Dictionary proceeded by flow 
 degrees. In May 1 752, having compofed a prayer 
 preparatory to his return from tears and forrow 
 to the duties of life, lie refumed his grand de- 
 iign, and went on with vigour, giving, however, 
 occafional ailiftance to his friend Dr. Hawkef- 
 worth in the Adventurer, which began fbon 
 after the Rambler was laid aiide. Some of the 
 moft valuable effays in that collection were 
 from the pen of Johnfon. The Dictionary 
 was completed towards the end of 1754 ; and, 
 Cave being then no more, it was a mortification 
 to the author of that noble addition to our 
 
 Ian-
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. ^3 
 
 language, that his old friend did not live to fee 
 the triumph of his labours. In May 1755, 
 that great work was published. John foil was 
 defirous that it mould come from one who had 
 obtained academical honours ; and for that pur- 
 pofe, his friend the Rev. Thomas Warton ob- 
 tained for him, in the preceding month of 
 February, a diploma for a matter's degree from 
 the Univeriity of Oxford. Garrick, on the 
 publication of the Dictionary, wrote the fol- 
 lowing lines : 
 
 " Talk of war with a Briton, he '11 boldly advance, 
 " That one Englifh foldier can beat ten of France. 
 " Would we alter the boaft from the fword to the 
 
 " pen, 
 Cl Our odds are flill greater, ftill greater our men. 
 '* In the deep mines of fcience though Frenchmen 
 
 " may toil, 
 " Can their flrength be compar'd to Locke, New- 
 
 " ton, or Boyle ? 
 " Let them rally their heroes, fend forth all their 
 
 " pow'rs. 
 " Their verfemen and profemen, then match them 
 
 " with ours. 
 " Firft Shakfpeare and Milton, like Gods in the fight, 
 tf Have put their whole drama and epic to flight. 
 ci In fatires, epiftles, and odes, would they cope? 
 " Their numbers retreat before Dryden and Pope. 
 
 " And
 
 74 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 ^ And Johnfon well arm'd, like a hero of yore, 
 *f Has beat Forty French, and will beat Forty more." 
 
 It is, perhaps, needlefs to mention, that Forty 
 Was the number of the French Academy, at 
 the time when their Dictionary was publifhed 
 to fettle their language. 
 
 In the courfe of the winter preceding this 
 grand publication, the late Earl of Cheflcr- 
 field gave two effays in the periodical Paper, 
 called The World, dated November 28, and 
 December 5, 1754, to prepare the publick for 
 fc* important a work. The original plan, ad- 
 tlreffed to his Lotduhip in the year 1747, is 
 there mentioned in terms of the higheft praife ; 
 and this was underftood, at the time, to be 
 a courtly way of foliating a dedication of the 
 Dictionary to himfelf. Johnfon treated this 
 civility with difdain. He laid to Garrick and 
 others, " 1 have failed a long and painful 
 *' voyage round the world of the Englifh lan- 
 
 " S ua & e ana " ^ oes ne now ^ e d out two cock- 
 ** boats to tow me into harbour ?" He had 
 faid, in the laft number of the Rambler, 
 ** that, having laboured to maintain the dignity 
 *' of virtue, I will not now degrade it by the 
 ** meannefs of dedication." Such a man, when 
 
 he
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 75 
 
 he had finifhed his !' Dictionary, not," as he 
 lays himfelf, " in the foft obfcurities of retire- 
 " ment, or under the fhelter of academic 
 f* bowers, but amidft inconvenience and dif- 
 " traction, in ficknefs and in forrow, and 
 f without the patronage of the great," was* 
 not likely to be caught by the lure thrown out 
 by Lord Chefterfield. He had in vain fought 
 the patronage of that nobleman ; and his pride, 
 exafperated by difappointment, drew from him 
 the following letter, dated in the month of 
 February, 1755. 
 
 4t To the Right Honourable the Earl of 
 " Chesterfield. 
 
 * My Lord, 
 
 " I have been lately informed, by the pro- 
 f 4 prietors of the World, that two papers, in 
 *' which my Dictionary is recommended to the 
 *' publick, were written by your Lordihip. 
 *' To be fo diftinguilhed is an honour which, 
 " being very little accuftomed to favours from 
 " the great, I know not well how to receive, 
 " or in what terms to acknowledge. 
 
 " When, upon fome flight encouragement, 
 " I firft vifited your Lordfhip, I wasoverpow- 
 " ered, like the reft of mankind, by the en- 
 
 " chantment
 
 j6 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 u chantment of your addrefs, and could not 
 " forbear to wim, that I might boafr, myfelf 
 " le vainqueur du vainqueur de la terre ; that I 
 " might obtain that regard for which I faw 
 " the world contending. But I found my 
 *' attendance fo little encouraged, that neither 
 " pride, nor modefty, would fuffer me to con- 
 '* tinue it. When I had once addreiTed your 
 " Lordihip in publick, I had exhaufted all the 
 " art of pleafing, which a retired and un- 
 " courtly fcholar can pofTefs. I had done all 
 " that I could ; and no man is well pleafed to 
 " have his all neglected, be it ever fo little. 
 
 ** Seven years, my Lord, have now pafled 
 " fince I waited in your outward room, or was 
 * repulfed ftom your door ; during which 
 " time 1 have been puming on my work 
 u through difficulties, of which it is ufelefs to 
 44 complain, and have brought it at lair, to the 
 " verge of publication, without one act of 
 " affiftance, one word of encouragement, or 
 " one fmile of favour. Such treatment I did 
 " not expect ; for, I never had a patron before. 
 
 " The Shepherd in Virgil grew acquainted 
 
 " with Love, and found him a native of the 
 
 " rocks. 
 
 "Is
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. JJ 
 
 14 Is not a patron, my Lord, one who looks 
 4 with unconcern on a man ftruggling for life in 
 4 the water, and, when he has reached ground, 
 ' encumbers him with help ? The notice 
 4 which you have been pleafed to take of my 
 4 labours, had it been early, had been kind ; 
 8 but it has been delaved till I am indifferent, 
 4 and cannot enjoy it ; till I am folitary, and 
 4 cannot impart it ; till I am known, and do 
 
 * not want it. I hope it is no very cynical alpe- 
 4 rity not to confefs obligations where no be- 
 4 nefit has been received ; or to be unwilling 
 4 that the publick mould coniider me as owing 
 
 * that to a patron, which Providence has ena- 
 4 bled me to do for myfelf. 
 
 44 Having carried on my work thus far with 
 ' fo little obligation to any favourer of learn- 
 4 ing, I mall not be difappointed, though I 
 4 mould conclude it, if lefs be poffible, with 
 4 lefs ; for, I have been long wakened from 
 4 that dream of hope, in which I once boafced 
 4 myfelf with fo much exultation. 
 44 My Lord, 
 
 44 Your Lordfhip's mod humble 
 44 and moil obedient fervant, 
 
 14 Samuel Johnson." 
 
 It
 
 fS AN ESSAV ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 It is faid, upon good authority, that Johnfon 
 once received from Lord Chefterfield the fum 
 of ten pounds. It were to be wifhed that the 
 fecret had never tranfpired. ft was mean to 
 receive it, and meaner to give it. It may be 
 imagined, that, for Johnfon's ferocity, as it has 
 been called, there was fome foundation in his 
 finances ; and, as his Dictionary was brought 
 to a conclufion, that money was now to flow 
 in upon him. The reverfe was the cafe. For 
 his fubfiftence, during the progrefs of the 
 work, he had received at d liferent times the 
 amount of his con tract ; and, when his re- 
 ceipts were produced to him at a tavern-dinner 
 given by the bookfellers, it appeared, that he 
 had been paid a hundred pounds and upwards 
 more than his due. The author of a book, 
 called Lexiphaiies, written by a Mr. Campbell, 
 a Scotchman, and purfer of a man of war, 
 endeavoured to blaft his laurels, but in vain. 
 The world applauded, and Johnfon never re- 
 plied. " Abufe," he faid, " is often of fer- 
 " vice : there is nothing fo dangerous to an 
 " author as filcnce ; his name, like a fhuttle- 
 " cock, muft be beat backward and forward, 
 " or it falls to the ground." Lexiphanes pro- 
 
 feffed
 
 Genius of dr. Johnson. 79 
 
 feiTed to be an imitation of the pleafant man* 
 ner of Lucian j but humour was not the talent 
 of the writer of Lexiphanes. As Dryden fays, 
 He had too much horfe-play in his raillery. '* 
 
 t<. 
 
 It was in the fummer 1754, that the prefent? 
 writer became acquainted with Dr. Johnibn. 
 The caufe of his firir. vifit is related by Mrs. 
 Piozzi nearly in the following manner. " Mr. 
 ** Murphy being engaged in a periodical paper, 
 *' the Gray's-Inii Journal, was at a friend's 
 *' houfe in the country, and, not being difpofed 
 *' to lofe pleafure for bufinefs, wifhed to con- 
 " tent his bookfeller by fome unftudied eiTay. 
 " He therefore took up a French Journal Liti- 
 " raire, and, tranilating fomething he liked, 
 ** fent it away to town. Time, however, dif- 
 ** covered that he tranflated from the French a 
 *' Rambler, which had been taken from the 
 " Englifh without acknowledgement. Upon 
 *' this difcovery, Mr. Murphy thought it right 
 ' to make his excufes to Dr. Johnfon. He 
 *' went next day, and found him covered with 
 *' foot, like a chimney- fweeper, in a little room, 
 " as if he had been acting Lungs in the Al~ 
 *' chymift, making cetber. This being told by 
 *' Mr. Murphy in company, ' Come, come,* 
 6 " faid
 
 80 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 u faid Dr. Johnfon, ' the (lory is black 
 *' enough ; but it was a happy day that brought 
 " you firft to my houfeY' After this firft vifit, 
 the author of this narrative by degrees grew 
 intimate with Dr, Johnfon. The firft ftriking 
 fentence, that he heard from him, was in a 
 few days after the publication of Lord Boling- 
 broke's pofthumous works. Mr. Garrick afked 
 him, " If he had feen them ?" *' Yes, I have 
 " feen them.'* " What do you think of 
 "them?" "Think of them!" He made a 
 long paufe, and then replied : " Think of 
 " them ! A fcoundrel and a coward ! A fcouil- 
 " drel, who fpent his life in charging a gun 
 " again ft Chriftiauity ; and a coward, who 
 " was afraid of hearing the report of his own 
 " gun ; but left half a crown to a hungry 
 " Scotchman to draw the trigger after his 
 u death." His mind, at this time ft rained 
 and over-laboured by conftant exertion, called 
 for an interval of repoie and indolence. But 
 indolence was the time of danger : it was then 
 that his fpirits, not employed abroad, turned 
 with inward hoftility againft himfelf. His 
 reflections on his own life and conducl: were 
 always fevere ; and, wifhing to be immaculate, 
 
 he
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 8l 
 
 he deftroyed his own peace by unnecefiary fcru- 
 ples. He tells us, that, when he furveyed his paft 
 life, he difcovered nothing but a barren wafte of 
 time, with fome diforders of body, and diftur- 
 bancesof mind, very near to madnefs. His life, 
 he fays, from his earlieit youth, was wafted in a 
 morning bed; and his reigning fin was a gene- 
 ral fluggiihnefs, to which he was always in- 
 clined, and, in part of his life, almoff. com- 
 pelled, by morbid melancholy and wearinefs 
 of mind. This was his conftitutional ma- 
 lady, derived, perhaps, from his father, who 
 was, at times, overcaft with a gloom that bor- 
 dered on infanity. When to this it is added, 
 that Johnfon, about the age of twenty, drew 
 up a defcription of his infirmities for Dr. 
 Swinfen, at that time an eminent phyfician in 
 Stafrordfhire ; and received an anfwer to his 
 letter, importing, that the fymptoms indicated 
 a future privation of reafon ; who can wonder 
 that he was troubled with melancholy and de- 
 jection of fpirit ? An apprehenfion of the worft 
 calamity that can befal human nature hung 
 over him all the reft of his life, like the fword 
 of the tyrant fufpended over his gneft. In his 
 fixtieth year he had a mind to write the hiftory 
 of his melancholy ; but he defided, not know- 
 
 f ing
 
 82 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 ing whether it would not too much difturb 
 him. In a Latin poem, however, to which 
 he has prefixed as a title, TNX10I SEATTON, 
 he has left a picture of himfelf, drawn with 
 as much truth, and as firm a hand, as can be 
 feen in the portraits of Hogarth or Sir Jofhua 
 Reynolds. The learned reader will find the 
 original poem in this volume, p. 178 ; and it 
 is hoped, that a trailflation, or rather imitation, 
 of fo curious a piece will not be improper 
 in this place. 
 
 KNOW YOURSELF. 
 
 (AFTER REVISING AND ENLARGING THE ENGLISH 
 LEXICON, OR DICTIONARY.) 
 
 When Scaliger, whole years of labour paft, 
 Beheld his Lexicon complete at lad, 
 And weary of his tafk, with wond'ring eyes, 
 Saw from words pil'd on words a fabric rife, 
 He curs'd the induiiry, inertly ftrong, 
 In creeping toil that could perfift fo long, 
 And if, enrag'd he cried, Heav'n meant to flicd 
 Its keeneft vengeance on the guilty head, 
 The drudgery of words the damn'd would know, 
 Doom'd to write Lexicons in endlefs woe *. 
 
 * See Scalper's Epigram on this fubjec>, communicated 
 without doubt by Dr. johnfon, Gent. Mag, 1748, p. 8. 
 
 Yes,
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 83 
 
 Yes, you had caufe, great Genius ! to repent ; 
 " You loft good days, that might be better fpent;" 
 You well might grudge the hours of ling'ring pain, 
 And view your learned labours with difdain. 
 To you were giv'n the large expanded mind, 
 The flame of genius, and the tafte refin'd. 
 'Twas yours on eagle wings aloft to foar, 
 And amidfb rolling worlds the Great Firft Caufe 
 
 explore ! 
 To fix the asras of recorded time, 
 And live in ev'ry age and ev'ry clime-, 
 Record the Chiefs, who propt their Country's caufe; 
 Who founded Empires, and eftablifh'd Laws ; 
 To learn whate'er the Sage with virtue fraught, 
 What'er the Mufe of moral wifdom taught. 
 Thefe were your quarry; thefe to you were known j 
 And the world's ample volume was your own. 
 
 Yet warn'd by me, ye pigmy Wits, beware, 
 Nor with immortal Scaliger compare. 
 For me, though his example ftrike my view, 
 Oh ! not for me his footfteps to purfue. 
 Whether firft Nature, unpropitious, cold, 
 This clay compounded in a ruder mould ; 
 Or the flow current, loit'ring at my heart, 
 No gleam of wit or fancy can impart; 
 Whate'er the caufe, from me no numbers fla v v, 
 No vifions warm me, and no raptures glow. 
 
 f 2 A mini
 
 84 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 A mind like Scaliger's, fuperior ftill, 
 No grief could conquer, no misfortune chill. 
 Though for the maze of words his native fkies 
 He feem'd to quit, 'twas but again to rife ; 
 To mount once more to the bright fource of day, 
 And view the wonders of th' aerherial way. 
 The love of Fame his gen'rous bofom fir'd ; 
 Each Science hail'd him, and each Mufe infpir'd. 
 For him the Sons of Learning trimm'd the bays, 
 And Nations grew harmonious in his praife. 
 
 My talk perform'd, and all my labours o'er, 
 For me what lot has Fortune now in ftore ? 
 The liftlefs will fucceeds, that worft difeafe, 
 The rack of indolence, the iluggifh eafe. 
 Care grows on care, and o'er my aching brain 
 Black Melancholy pours her morbid train. 
 No kind relief, no lenitive at hand, 
 I feek at midnight clubs the focial Band ; 
 But midnight clubs, where wit with noife confpires, 
 Where Comus revels, and where wine infpires, 
 Delight no more : I feek my lonely bed, 
 And call on Sleep to footh my languid head. 
 But Sleep from thefe fad lids fkes far away ; 
 I mourn all night, and dread the coming day. 
 Exhaufted, tir'd, I throw my eyes around, 
 To find fome vacant fpot on claffic ground ; 
 And foon, vain hope ! I form a grand defign ; 
 Languor fucceeds, and all my povv'rs decline. 
 
 If
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 85 
 
 If Science open not her richeft vein, 
 Without materials all our toil is vain. 
 A form to ruggid {tone when Phidias gives, 
 Beneath his touch a new creation lives. 
 Remove his marble, and his genius dies; 
 With Nature then no breathing ftatue vies. 
 
 Whate'er I plan, I feel my pow'rs confin'd 
 By Fortune's frown and penury of mind. 
 I boaftno knowledge glean 'd with toil and ftrife, 
 That bright reward of a well-a&ed life. 
 I view myfelf, while Reafon's feeble light 
 Shoots a pale glimmer through the gloom of night, 
 While paffions, error, phantoms of the brain, 
 And vain opinions, fill the dark domain j 
 A dreary void, where fears with grief combin'd 
 Wafle all within, and defolate the mind. 
 
 What then remains ? Mull I in flow decline 
 To mute inglorious eafe old age refio;n ? 
 Or, bold ambition kindling in my breaft, 
 Attempt fome arduous talk ? Or, were it belt 
 Brooding o'er Lexicons to pafs the day, 
 And in that labour drudge my life away ? 
 
 Such is the picture for which Dr. Jolvnioti 
 fat to himfelf. He gives the prominent fea- 
 tures of his character ; his laffitude, his mor- 
 
 f 3 bid
 
 86 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 bid melancholy, his love of fame, his dejeo 
 tion, his tavern- parties, and his wandering 
 reveries, Vacua mala Jamnia mentis, about 
 which fo much has been written ; all are 
 painted in miniature, but in vivid colours, by 
 his own hand. His idea of writing more 
 Dictionaries was not merely faid in verfe. Mr. 
 Hamilton, who was at that time an eminent 
 printer, and well acquainted with Dr. John- 
 fon, remembers that he engaged in a Com- 
 mercial Dictionary, and, as appears by the 
 receipts in his pofTeflion, was paid his price 
 for feveral meets ; but he foon relinquifhed the 
 undertaking. It is probable, that he found 
 himfelf not fufficiently veried in that branch 
 of knowledge. 
 
 He was again reduced to the expedient of 
 fhort compositions for the fupply of the day. 
 The writer of this narrative has now before 
 him a letter in Dr. Johnfon's hand -writing, 
 which fhews the diilrefs and melancholy fitua- 
 tion of the man, who had written the Rambler, 
 and fm'ilheu the great work of his Dictionary. 
 The letter is directed to Mr. Richardfon (the 
 author of CiarilTa), and is as follows : 
 
 4 S i R,
 
 genius of dr. johnson. 87 
 
 "Sir, 
 *' I am obliged to entreat your affiftance. I 
 " am now under an arreft for five pounds 
 " eighteen millings. Mr. Strahan, from whom 
 " I mould have received the neceflary help in 
 " this cafe, is not at home ; and I am afraid 
 " of not finding Mr. Millar. If you will be 
 " fo good as to fend me this fum, I will very 
 " gratefully repay you, and add it to all for- 
 " mer obligations. I am, Sir, 
 
 " Your moll obedient 
 
 *' and mod humble fervant, 
 
 *' Samuel Johnson. 
 
 " Gough-lquare, 16 March." 
 
 In the margin of this letter there is a memo- 
 randum in thefe words: " March 16, 1756. 
 " Sent fix guineas. Witnefs, Wm. Ri- 
 ** chardfon." For the honour of an admired 
 writer it is to be regretted, that we do not find 
 a more liberal entry. To his friend in diftrefs 
 he fent eight millings more than was wanted, 
 Had an incident of this kind occurred in one 
 of his Romances, Richardfon would have 
 known how to grace his hero ; but in ficti- 
 tious lcenes generofity cofts the writer no- 
 thing. 
 
 f 4 About
 
 88 AN ESSA^ ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 About this time Johnfon contributed fe- 
 veral papers to a periodical Mifcellany, called 
 The Visitor, from motives which are 
 highly honourable to him, a companionate re- 
 gard for the late Mr. Chriftopher Smart. The 
 criticifm on Pope's Epitaphs appeared in that 
 work. In a fhort time after, he became a re- 
 viewer in the Literary Magazine, under the 
 aufpices of the late Mr. Newbery, a man of 
 a projecting head, good tafte, and great in- 
 duftry. This employment engrofled but little 
 of Johnfon's time. He reiigned himfelf to 
 indolence, took no exercife, rofe about two, 
 and then received the vifits of his friends. Au- 
 thors, long fince forgotten, waited on him as 
 their oracle, and he gave refponfes in the chair 
 of criticifm. He lifrened to the complaints, 
 the fchemes, and the hopes and fears, of a 
 crowd of inferior writers, " who," he faid, 
 in the words of Roger Afcham, " lived, men 
 ** knew not how, and died ohjcure, men marked 
 " n r J when" He believed, that he could give 
 a better hiftory of Grub-ftreet than any man 
 living. His houfe was filled with a fucceffion 
 pf viiitors till four or five in the evening. 
 During the whole time he prefided at his tea- 
 table.
 
 GENIUS OP DR. JOHNSON. 89 
 
 table. Tea was his favourite beverage ; and 
 when the late Jonas Hanway ponounced his 
 anathema againft the ufe of tea, Johnfon rofe 
 in defence of his habitual practice, declaring 
 himfelf " in that article a hardened finner, 
 * 6 who had for years diluted his meals with 
 " the infufion of that fafcinating plant ; whofe 
 m tea-kettle had no time to cool ; who with 
 u tea folaced the midnight hour, and with tea 
 " welcomed the morning." 
 
 The propofal for a new edition of Shak- 
 fpeare, which had formerly mifcarried, was 
 refumed in the year 1756. The book- 
 fellers readily agreed to his terms, and fub- 
 icription- tickets were ifTued out. For under- 
 taking this work, money, he confefied, was 
 the inciting motive. His friends exerted them- 
 felves to promote his intereft,; and, in the 
 mean time, he engaged in a new periodical 
 production called The Idler. The firft num- 
 ber appeared on Saturday, April 14, 1758 ; 
 and the laft, April 5, 1760. The profits of 
 this work, and the fubfcriptions for the new 
 edition of Shakfpeare, were the means by 
 which he fupported himfelf for four or five 
 
 rears.
 
 gO AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 years. In 1759 was published RafFelas, Prince 
 of Abyflinia. His tranflation of Lobo's Voyage 
 to Abyflinia feems to have pointed out that 
 country for the fcene of action ; and Rnjjila 
 Chrijlos, the General of Sultan Segued, men- 
 tioned in that work, raoft probably fuggefted 
 the name of the prince. The author wanted 
 to fet out on a journey to Lichfield, in order to 
 pay the laft offices of filial piety to his mother, 
 who, at the age of ninety, was then near her 
 diffolution ; but money was necefTary. Mr. 
 Johnfton, a bookfeller, who has long fince left 
 offbufinefs, gave one hundred pounds for the 
 copy. With this fupply Johnfon fet out for 
 Lichfield ; but did not arrive in time to clofe 
 the eyes of a parent whom he loved. He at- 
 tended the funeral, which, as appears among 
 his memorandums, was on the 23d of Janu- 
 ary 1759. 
 
 Johnfon now found it necefTary to retrench 
 his expences. He gave up his houfe in Gough- 
 fquare.* Mr. Williams went into lodgings. 
 He retired to Gray's- Inn, and foon removed to 
 chambers in the Inner Temple-lane, where he 
 lived in poverty, total idlenefs, and the pride of 
 
 literature.
 
 GENItJS OF DR. JOHNSON. 9 1 
 
 literature. Magni fiat nominh umbra. Mr. 
 Fitzherbert (the father of Lord St. Helen's, 
 the prefent minifter at Madrid) a man 
 diftinguifhed through iife for his benevo- 
 lence and other amiable qualities, ufed 
 to fay, that he paid a morning vifit to John- 
 fbn, intending from his chambers to fend a 
 letter into the city; but, to his great fur^ 
 prife, he found an author by profeffion with- 
 out pen, ink, or paper. The prefent Bifhop 
 of Salifbury was alfo among thofe who endea- 
 voured, by conftant attention, to footh the 
 cares of a mind which he knew to be afflicled 
 with gloomy appreheniions. At one of the 
 parties made at his houfe, Bofcovich, the Je- 
 ll uit, who had then lately introduced the New- 
 tonian philofbphy at Rome, and, after pub- 
 liuYmg an elegant Latin poem on the fubjecT:, 
 was made a Fellow of the Royal Society, was 
 one of the company invited to meet Dr. John- 
 fon. The converfation at fir ft was moftly in 
 French. Johnfon, though thoroughly verfed 
 in that language, and a profefTed admirer of 
 Boileau and La Bruyere, did not underftand 
 its pronunciation, nor could he fpeak it him- 
 felf with propriety. For the reft of the even- 
 ing the talk was, in Latin. Eofcovich had a 
 
 ready
 
 92 AN ESSAY ON THE LTFE AND 
 
 ready current flow of that flimfy phrafeology 
 with which a prieft may travel through Italy, 
 Spain, and Germany. Johnfon fcorned what 
 he called colloquial barbarifms. It was his 
 pride to fpeak his beft. He went on, after a 
 little practice, with as much facility as if it 
 was his native tongue. One fentence this wri- 
 ter well remembers. Obferving that Fontinelle 
 at firft oppofed the Newtonian philofophy, and 
 embraced it afterwards, his words were : FontU 
 nellus, n't fallor, in extremd feneffiute, Juit trans- 
 juga ad caflra Nezvtoniana. 
 
 We have now traveled through that part of 
 Dr. Johnfon's life which was a perpetual itrug- 
 gle with difficulties. Halcyon days are now to 
 open upon him. In the month of May, 1762, 
 his Majefty, to reward literary merit, fignified 
 his pleafure to grant to johnfon a penfion of 
 three hundred pounds a year. The Earl of 
 Bute was minifler. Lord Loughborough, who, 
 perhaps, was originally a mover in the buii- 
 nefs, had authority to mention it. He was 
 well acquainted with Johnfon ; but, having 
 heard much of his independent fpirit, and of 
 the dovynfal of Ofborne the bookfelier, he did 
 
 not
 
 GENIUS OF DR. jOHNSOtf. 93 
 
 not know but his benevolence might be re- 
 warded with a folio on his head. He defired 
 the author of thefe memoirs to undertake the 
 talk. This writer thought the opportunity of 
 doing fb much good the mod happy incident in 
 his life. He went, without delay, to the 
 chambers in the Inner Temple-lane, which, 
 in fact, were the abode of wretchednefs. By 
 flow and fludied approaches the meffage was 
 difclofed. Johnfon made a long paufe : he 
 alked if it was ferioufly intended ? He fell 
 into a profound meditation, and his own defi- 
 nition of a penlioner occurred to him. He 
 was told, " That he, at leaft, did not come 
 " within the definition," He defired to meet 
 next day, and dine at the Mitre Ta- 
 vern. At that meeting he gave up all 
 his fcruples. On the following day Lord 
 Loughborough conducted him to the Earl of 
 Bute. The converfation that parTed was in the 
 evening related to this writer by Dr. Johnfon. 
 He exprefied his fenfe of his Majefty's bounty, 
 and thought himfelf the more highly ho- 
 noured, as the favour was not beftowed on 
 him for having dipped his pen in faction. 
 '* No, Sir," faid Lord Bute, it is not offered 
 
 " to
 
 94 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE A N & 
 
 " to you for having dipped your pen in faclion, 
 " nor with a defign that you ever mould." 
 Sir John Hawkins will have it, that, after this 
 interview, Johnfon was often preffed to wait on 
 Lord Bute, but with a fullen fpirit refufed to 
 comply. However that be, Johnfon was ne- 
 ver heard to utter a difrefpectful word of that 
 nobleman. The writer of this eflay remem- 
 bers a circumftance which may throw fome 
 light on this fubject. The late Dr. Rofe, of 
 Chifwick, whom Johnfon loved and refpected, 
 contended for the pre-eminence of the Scotch 
 writers ; and Fergufon's book on Civil Society, 
 then on the eve of publication, he faid, would 
 give the laurel to North Britain. " Alas ! 
 *' what can he do upon that fubjecl: ?" faid John- 
 fon : " Ariftotle, Polybius, Grotius, Puffen- 
 " dorf, and Burlemaqui, have reaped in that 
 " field before him." " He will treat it," faid 
 Dr. Rofe, " in a new manner." " A new 
 * manner ! Buckinger had no hands, and he 
 " wrote his name with his toes at Charing- 
 " crofs, for half a crown apiece ; that was a 
 " new manner of writing !" Dr. Rofe re- 
 plied, " If that will not fatisfy you, I will 
 ' name a writer, whom you muft allow to be 
 
 " the
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 95 
 
 " the beft in the kingdom." " Who is that?" 
 *' The Earl of Bute, when he wrote an order 
 " for your penfion." " There, Sir," faid John- 
 fon, " you have me in the toil : to Lord Bute 
 " I mufl: allow whatever praife you may claim 
 ' for him." Ingratitude was no part of John- 
 ion's character. 
 
 Being now in the pofieilion of a regular in- 
 come, Johnfon left his chambers in the Tem- 
 ple, and once more became mafler of a houfe 
 in Johnfon's court, Fleet-irreer. Dr. Lever, 
 his friend and phyfician in ordinary, paid his 
 daily viiits with affiduity ; made tea all the 
 morning, talked what he had to fay, and did 
 not expect an anfwer. Mrs. Williams had hec 
 apartment in the houfe, and entertained her 
 beuefactor with more enlarged converfation. 
 Chemiftry was part of Johnfon's amufement. 
 For this love of experimental philofophy Sir 
 John Hawkins thinks an apology neceifary. 
 He tells us, with great gravity, that curiofity 
 was the only object in view ; not an intention 
 to grow fuddenly rich by the philoiopher's 
 {tone, or the tranfmutation of metals. To en- 
 large his circle, Johnfon once more had re- 
 
 courfe
 
 96 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 courfe to a literary club. This was at the 
 Turk's Head, in Gerrard-ftreet, Soho, on every 
 Tuefday evening through the year. The 
 members were, befides himfelf, the right ho- 
 nourable Edmund Burke, Sir Jofhua Reynolds, 
 Dr. Nugent, Dr. Goldfmith, the late Mr, 
 Topham Beauclerk, Mr. Langton, Mr. Cha- 
 mier, Sir John Hawkins, and fome others. 
 Johnfon's affection for Sir Jofhua was found- 
 ed on a long acquaintance, and a thorough 
 knowledge of the 'Virtues and amiable quali- 
 ties of that excellent artift. He delighted in 
 the converfation of Mr. Burke. He met him 
 for the firft time at Mr. Garrick's feveral years 
 ago. On the next day he faid, " I fuppofe, 
 " Murphy, you are proud of your country- 
 u man. Cum talis sit utinam noster 
 ' esset !" From that time his conftant ob- 
 fervation was, " That a man of fenfe could 
 " not meet Mr. Burke by accident, under a 
 " gateway to avoid a fhowcr, without being 
 ' convinced that he was the flrft man in Eng- 
 u land." Johnfon felt not only kindnefs, but 
 zeal and ardour for his friends. He did every 
 thing in his power to advance the reputation of 
 Dr. Goldfmith. He loved him, though he 
 
 knew
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 97 
 
 knew his failings, and particularly the leaven 
 of envy which corroded the mind of that ele- 
 gant writer, and made him impatient, without 
 difguife, of the praifes beftowed on any perfon 
 whatever. Of this infirmity, which marked 
 Goldfmith's character, Johnfon gave a remark- 
 able inftance. It happened that he went with 
 Sir Jofhua Reynolds and Goldfmith to fee the 
 Fantoccini, which were exhibited fome years 
 ago in or near the Haymarket. They admired 
 the curious mechanifm by which the puppets 
 were made to walk the ftage, draw a chair to 
 the table, fit down, write a letter, and per- 
 form a variety of other actions with fuch dex- 
 terity, that though Nature's journeymen made 
 the men, they imitated humanity to the aftonifh- 
 ment of the fpectator. The entertainment 
 being over, the three friends retired to a ta- 
 vern. Johnfon and Sir Jofhua talked with 
 pleafure of what they had feen ; and favs 
 Johnfon, in a tone of admiration, " How the 
 ' little fellow brandifhed his fpontoon !" 
 " There is nothing in it," replied Goldfmith, 
 darting up with impatience ; " give me a fpon- 
 44 toon ; I can do it as well myfelf." 
 
 g Enjoying
 
 98 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 Enjoying his amufements at his weekly club, 
 and happy in a fhte of independence, John- 
 fon gained in the year 1765 another refource, 
 which contributed more than any thing elfe to 
 exempt him from the folicitudes of life. He 
 was introduced to the late Mr. Thrale and his 
 family. Mrs. Piozzi has related the fact, and 
 it is therefore needlefs to repeat it in this place. 
 The author of this narrative looks back to the 
 fhare he had in that bufinefs with felf-congratu- 
 lation,fince he knpws the tendernefs which from 
 that time foothed Johnfon's cares at Streatham, 
 and prolonged a valuable life. The fubfcri- 
 bers to Shakfpeare began to defpair of ever 
 feeing the promifed edition. To acquit him- 
 felf of this obligation, he went to work un- 
 willingly, but proceeded with vigour. In the 
 month of October, 1765, Shakfpeare was pub- 
 limed ; and, in a (hort time after, the Uni- 
 verfitv of Dublin fent over a diploma, in ho- 
 nourable terms, creating him a Doctor of 
 Laws. Oxford in eight or ten years afterwards 
 followed the example ; and till then Johnfon 
 never afiumed trie title of Doctor. In 1766, 
 his couflitution teemed to be in a rapid decline ; 
 
 and
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 99 
 
 and that morbid melancholy, which often 
 clouded his underftanding, came upon him 
 with a deeper gloom than ever. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Thrale paid him a vifit in this fituation, and 
 found him on his knees, with Dr. Delap, the 
 rector of Lewes, in SufTex, befeeching God 
 to continue to him the ufe of his underftand- 
 ing. Mr. Thrale took him to his houfe at 
 Streatham ; and Johnfon from that time be- 
 came a conflant refident in the family. He 
 went occafionally to the club in Gerard-ftreet ; 
 but his head quarters were fixed at Streatham. 
 An apartment was fitted up for him, and the 
 library was greatly enlarged. Parties were 
 conftantly invited from town; and Johnfon was 
 every day at an elegant table, with felect and 
 polifhed company. Whatever could be devifed 
 by Mr. and Mrs. Thrale to promote the happi- 
 nefs, and eftablim the health, of their guefr, 
 was ftudioufly performed from that time to the 
 end of Mr. Thrale's life. Johnfon accompa- 
 nied the family in all their fummer excursions, 
 to Brighthelmftone, to Wales, and to Paris. 
 It is but juftice to Mr. Thrale to fay, that a 
 more ingenuous frame of mind no man pof- 
 fcfled* His education at Oxford gave him the 
 
 g 2 habits
 
 I0O AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 habits of a gentleman ; his amiable temper 
 recommended his converfation ; and the good- 
 nefs of his heart made him a fincere friend. 
 That he was the patron of Johnfon is an ho- 
 nour to his memory. 
 
 In petty difputes with contemporary wri- 
 ters, or the wits of the age, Johnfon was fel- 
 dom entangled. A llngle incident of that 
 kind may not be unworthy of notice, (ince it 
 happened with a man of great celebrity in his 
 time. A number of friends dined with Gar- 
 rick on a Chriftmas-day. Foote was then in 
 Ireland. It was faid at table, that the modern 
 Ariftophanes (fo Foote was called) had been 
 horfe- whipped by a Dublin apothecary, for 
 mimicking him on the flage. " I wonder," 
 faid Garrick, " that any man mould mew fo 
 "much refentment to Foote; h$ has a pa- 
 c * tent for fuch liberties ; nobody ever thought 
 " it worth his while to quarrel with him in 
 " London." " I am glad," faid Johnfon, to 
 " find that the man is rifwg in the world" The 
 expreffion was afterwards reported to Foote ; 
 who, in return, gave out, that he would pro- 
 duce
 
 GENIUS OP DR. JOHNSON. IOI 
 
 duce the Caliban of literature on the ftage. 
 Being informed of this defign, Johnibn fent 
 word toFoote, "That, the theatre being in tended 
 c for the reformation of vice, he would ftep from 
 '* the boxes on the itage, and correct him be- 
 *'. fore the audience." Foote knew the intre- 
 pidity of his antagonift, and abandoned the 
 defign. No ill-will enfued. Johnibn ufed to 
 fay, " That, for broad-faced mirth, Foote had 
 " not his equal." 
 
 Dr. Johnfon* s fame excited the curiofity of 
 the King. His Majefty exprefled a defire to 
 fee a man of whom extraordinary things were 
 faid. Accordingly, the librarian at Buckingham- 
 houfe invited Johnfon to fee that elegant collec- 
 tion of books, at the fame time giving a hint of 
 what was intended. His Majefty entered the 
 room ; and* among other things, aiked the 
 author, " If he meant to give the world 
 " any more of his compofitions ?" Johnfon 
 anfwered, " That he thought he had writ- 
 46 ten enough." " And I fhould think fa 
 " too," replied his Majefty, " if you had not 
 " written fo well." 
 
 g 3 Though
 
 102 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 Though Johnfon thought he had writteu 
 enough, his genius, even in fpite of bodily 
 iluggifhnefs, could not lie ftill. In 1770, we 
 find him entering the lifts as a political writer. 
 The flame of difcord that blazed throughout 
 the nation on the expulfion of Mr. Wilkes, 
 and the final determination of the Houfe of 
 Commons, that Mr. Luttrell was duly elected 
 by 206 votas againft 1143, fpread a general 
 fpirit of difcontent. To allay the tumult, Dr. 
 Johnfon published The Falfe Alarm. Mrs. 
 Piozzi informs us, " That this pamphlet was 
 " written at her houfe, between eight o'clock 
 " on Wednefday night and twelve on Thurf- 
 *' day night." This celerity has appeared 
 wonderful to many, and fome have doubted 
 the truth. It may, however, be placed within 
 the bounds of probability. Johnfon has ob- 
 ferved that there are different methods of com- 
 position. Virgil was uied to pour out a great 
 number of verfes in the morning, and pafs the 
 day in retrenching the exuberances, and cor- 
 recting inaccuracies; and it was Pope's cuftom 
 to write his firft thoughts in his firft words, 
 and gradually to amplify, decorate, rectify, and 
 
 refine,
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. IO3 
 
 refine, them. Others employ at once memory 
 and invention, and, with little intermediate 
 ufe of the pen, form and polifh large maflfes by 
 continued meditation, and write their produc- 
 tions only when, in their opinion, they have 
 completed them. This laft was Johnfon's 
 method. He never took his pen in hand till 
 he had well weighed his fubjec"t, and grafped 
 in his mind the fentiments, the train of argu- 
 ment, and the arrangement, of the whole. 
 As he often thought aloud, he had, perhaps, 
 talked it over to himfelf. This may account 
 for that rapidity with which, in general, he 
 difpatched his meets to the prefs, without be- 
 ing at the trouble of a fair copy. Whatever 
 may be the logic or eloquence of The Falfe 
 Alarm, the Houfe of Commons have fince 
 erafed the refolution from the Journals. But 
 whether they have not left materials for a fu- 
 ture controverfy may be made a queilion. 
 
 In 1771* he published another trat, on the 
 fubject of Falkland Islands. The defigri 
 was to fhew the impropriety of going to war 
 with Spain for an ifland thrown afide from 
 human ufe, ftormy in winter, and bar: 
 
 g 4 fi ..-.._,.-.,
 
 104 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 fummer. For this work it is apparent that 
 materials were furnifhed by direction of the 
 minifter. 
 
 At the approach of the general elec- 
 tion in 1774? he wrote a fhort difcourfe, called 
 The Patriot, not with any vifible applica- 
 tion to Mr. Wilkes, but to teach the people to 
 reject the leaders of oppofition, who called 
 themfelves patriots. In 1775, he undertook a 
 pamphlet of more importance, namely, Taxa- 
 tion no Tyranny, in anfwer to the Refolutions 
 and Addrefs of the American Congrefs. The 
 fcope of the argument was, that diftant colo- 
 nies, which had, in their afTemblies, a legifla- 
 ture of their own, were, notwithftanding, lia- 
 ble to be taxed in a Britifh Parliament, where 
 they had neither peers in one houfe nor repre- 
 ientatives in the other. He was of opinion, 
 that this country was ftrong enough to enforce 
 obedience. " When an Englishman," he fays, 
 " is told that the Americans fhoot up like the 
 " hydra, he naturally coniiders how the hydra 
 " was deftroyed." The event has (hewn how 
 much he and the minifter of that day were 
 miftaken. 
 
 The
 
 GE NIUS OF DR. JO H N SON. IO5 
 
 The Account of the Tour to the Weftern 
 Iflands of Scotland, which was undertaken in 
 the autumn of 1773, in company with Mr. 
 Bofwell, was not publifhed till fome time in 
 the year 1 775. This book has been varioufly 
 received ; by fome extolled for the elegance of 
 the narrative, and the depth of obfervation on 
 life and manners ; by others as much con- 
 demned, as a work of avowed hoftility to the 
 Scotch nation. The praife was, beyond all quef- 
 tion, fairly deferved ; and the cenfure, on due 
 examination, will appear hafty and ill-founded. 
 That Johnfbn entertained fome prejudices 
 againfr. the Scotch mud: not be diflembled. It 
 is true, as Mr. Bofwell fays, " that he thought 
 ts their fuccefs in England exceeded their pro- 
 li portion of real merit ; and he could not but 
 ii Jee in them that nationality which no liberal- 
 il minded Scotfman will deny." The author of 
 thefe memoirs well remembers, that Johnfbn 
 one day alked him, " Have you cbferved the 
 *' difference between your own country impu- 
 " dence and Scotch impudence ?" The an- 
 fwer being in the negative : " Then I will tell 
 <s you," faid Johnfon. " The impudence of 
 
 " an
 
 106 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 u an Irifhman is the impudence of a fly, that 
 *' buzzes about you, and you put it away ; but 
 *' it returns again, and flutters and teazes you. 
 *' The impudence of a Scotfman is the impu- 
 ** dence of a leech, that fixes and fucks your 
 " blood.'* Upon another occafion, this writer 
 went with him into the mop of Davies, the 
 bookfeller, in Runell-itreet, Coven t -garden. Da- 
 vies came running to him almofr, out of breath 
 with joy : " The Scots gentleman is come, 
 * Sir ; his principal wifh is to fee you ; he is 
 " now in the back-parlour." a Well, well, 
 *' I'll fee the gentleman," faid Johnfon. He 
 walked towards the room. Mr. Bofwell was 
 the perfon. This writer followed with no 
 fmall curiofity. " I find," faid Mr. Bofwell, 
 " that I am come to London at a bad time, 
 u when great popular prejudice has gone forth 
 *' againft. us North Britons ; but, when I am 
 " talking to you, I am talking to a large and 
 *' liberal mind, and you know that I cannot 
 " help coming from Scotland" ' Sir," faid 
 Johnfon, " no more can the reft of your coun- 
 trymen." 
 
 He 
 
 44
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. IO7 
 
 He had other reafons that helped to alienate 
 him from the natives of Scotland. Being a 
 cordial well-wi(her to the conftitution in Church 
 and State, he did not think that Calvin and 
 John Knox were proper founders of a national 
 religion. He made, however, a wide diftinc- 
 tion between the Diflenters of Scotland and 
 the Separatifts of England. To the former he 
 imputed no difafFe&ion, no want of loyalty. 
 Their foldiers and their officers had (hed their 
 blood with zeal and courage in the fervice of 
 Great Britain ; and the people, he ufed to fay* 
 were content with their own ellablifhed, modes 
 of worfhip, without wifhing, in the prefent 
 age, to give any diflurbance to the Church of 
 England. This he was at all times ready to 
 admit ; and therefore, declared, that, when- 
 ever he found a Scotchman to whom an Eng- 
 lishman was as a Scotchman, that Scotchman 
 mould be as an Englifhman to him. In this, 
 furely, there was no rancour, no malevolence. 
 The Diflenters on this fide the Tweed appeared 
 to him in a different light. Their religion, he 
 frequently faid, was too worldly, too political, 
 too refllefs and ambitious. The doctrine of 
 
 ca/Jjiering
 
 108 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 Ca/hiering kings, and erecting on the ruins of the 
 conftitution a new form of government, which 
 lately ifTued from their pulpits, lie always 
 thought was, under a calm difguife, the principle 
 that lay lurking in their hearts. He knew that 
 a wild democracy had overturned King, Lords, 
 and Commons ; and that a fet of Republican 
 Fanatics, who would not bow at the name of 
 Jesus, had taken pofleffion of all the livings 
 and all the parifhes in the kingdom. That 
 thofe fcenes of horror might never be renewed 
 was the ardent wifh of Dr. Johnfon ; and, 
 though he apprehended no danger from Scot- 
 land, it is probable that his diflike of Cal- 
 vinifm mingled fometiiries with his reflections 
 on the natives of that country. The affbeia- 
 tion of ideas could not be eafily broken ; but 
 it is well known that he loved and refpecled 
 many gentlemen from that part of the illand. 
 Dr* Robertfon*s Hiftory of Scotland, and Dr. 
 Beattfe's EfTays, were fubjects of his conflant 
 pra'tfe. Mr. Bofwell, Dr. Rofe of Chifwick, 
 Andrew Millar, Mr. Hamilton the printer, and 
 the. late Mr. Strahan, were among his mod inti- 
 mate friends. Many others might be added to 
 the lift. He fcorned to enter Scotland as a 
 
 fpy;
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON, IO 
 
 fpy ; though Hawkins, his biographer, and the 
 profefling defender of his fame, allowed him- 
 felf leave to reprefent him in that ignoble cha- 
 racter. He went into Scotland to furvey men 
 and manners. Antiquities, foflils, and mine- 
 rals, were not within his province. He did 
 not vifit that country to fettle the ftation of 
 Roman camps, or the fpot where Galgacus 
 fought the laft battle for public liberty. The 
 people, their cuftoms, and the progrefs of 
 literature, were his objects. The civilities 
 which he received in the courfe of his tour 
 have been repaid with grateful acknowledge- 
 ment, and, generally, with great elegance of 
 exprefiion. His crime is, that he found the 
 country bare of trees, and he has dated the 
 fact. This, Mr. Bofwell, in his Tour to 
 the Hebrides, has told us, was refented by his 
 countrymen with anger inflamed to rancour ; 
 but he admits that there are few trees on the 
 eaft fide of Scotland. Mr. Pennant, in his 
 Tour, fays, that, in fome parts of the eafrern 
 fide of the country, he favv feveral large plan- 
 tations of pine planted by gentlemen near their 
 feats ; and in this refpect fuch a laudable fpirit 
 prevails, that, in another half-century, it never 
 
 (hall
 
 110 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 fhall be faid, " To fpy the nakednefs of the land 
 * c are you come" Johnfon could not wait for 
 that half-century, and therefore mentioned 
 things as he found them. If in any thing he 
 has been miftaken, he has made a fair apology 
 in the lafl paragraph of his book, avowing 
 with candour, " That he may have been fur- 
 " prized by modes of life, and appearances of 
 *' nature, that are familiar to men of wider 
 ** furvey, and more varied converfation. No- 
 " velty and ignorance mud always be recipro- 
 " cal ; and he is confeious that his thoughts 
 " on national manners are the thoughts of one 
 *' who has feen but little." 
 
 The Poems of Offian made a part of John- 
 fon's enquiry during his refidence in Scotland 
 and the Hebrides. On his return to England, 
 November, 1773, a ^ orm kerned to be gather- 
 ing over his head ; but the cloud never burft, 
 and the thunder never fell. Offian, it is well 
 known, was prefented to the publick as a tranf- 
 iation from the Earfe : but that this was a 
 fraud, Johnfon declared without hesitation. 
 46 The Earfe" he fays, " was always oral 
 " only, and never a written language. The 
 
 " Welch
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. Ill 
 
 Welch and the Irifh 'were more cultivated. 
 In Earfe there was not in the world a fingle 
 manufcript a hundred years old. Martin, 
 who in the lad: century published an Ac- 
 count of the Weflern Iflands, mentions 
 Irijh, but never Earfe manufcripts, to be 
 found in the iflands in his time. The bards 
 could not read ; if they could, they might 
 probably have written. But the bard was a 
 barbarian among barbarians, and, knowing 
 nothing himfelf, lived with others that knew 
 no more. If there is a manufcript from 
 which the tranflation was made, in what 
 age was it written, and where is it ? If it 
 was collected from oral recitation, it could 
 only be in detached parts and fcattered frag- 
 ments : the whole is too long to be remem- 
 bered." Who put it together in its prefent 
 form ? For thefe, and fuch like reafons, 
 John fon calls the whole an impofture. He adds, 
 The editor, or author, never could mew the 
 original, nor can it be fhewn by any other. 
 To revenge reafonable incredulity, by re- 
 fufing evidence, is a degree of infolence 
 with which the world is not yet acquainted ; 
 6 *' and
 
 112 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 " and ftubborn audacity is the laft refuge of 
 " guilt." This reafoning carries with it great 
 weight. It roufed the refentment of Mr. 
 Macpherfon. He fent a threatening letter to 
 the author ; and Johnfon anfwered him in the 
 rough phrafe of ftern defiance. The two he- 
 roes frowned at a diftance, but never came to 
 action. 
 
 In the year 1777, the misfortunes of Dr. 
 Dodd excited his compaffion. He wrote a 
 ipeech for that unhappy man, when called up 
 to receive judgement of death; befides two pe- 
 titions, one to the King, and another to the 
 Queen ;, and a iermon to be preached by Dodd 
 to the convicts in Newgate. It may appear 
 trifling- to add, that about the fame time he 
 wrote a prologue to the comedy of A Word 
 to the Wife, written by Hugh Kelly. The 
 play, iome years before, had been damned by 
 a party on the fir ft night. It was revived for 
 the benefit of the author's widow. Airs. 
 Piozzi relates, that when Johnfon was rallied 
 for thcle exertions, fo clofe to one another, his 
 anfwer was, V/hsn they come to me loith a dying 
 
 Par/on
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. IIJ 
 
 Par/on , and a dead Stay -maker, what can a man 
 do? We come now to the laft of his literary- 
 labours. At the requeir. of the Bookfellers he 
 undertook the Lives of the Poets. The firfb 
 publication was in 1779, and the whole was 
 completed in 1781. In a memorandum of that 
 year he fays, fome time in March he finiihed 
 the Lives of the Poets, which he wrote in his 
 ufual way, dilatorily and hafrily, unwilling to 
 work, yet working with vigour and hafle. In 
 another place, he hopes they are written in fuch 
 a manner as may tend to the promotion of 
 piety. That the hiftory of fo many men, who, 
 in their different degrees, made themfelves con- 
 fpicuous in their time, was not written recently 
 after their deaths, feems to be an omifTion that 
 does no honour to the Republic of Letters. 
 Their contemporaries in general looked on with 
 calm indifference, and fufFered Wit and Genius 
 to vanifh out of the world in total filence, un- 
 regarded, and unlamented. Was there no 
 friend to pay the tribute of a tear r No juft ob- 
 ferver of life, to record the virtues of the de- 
 ceafed ? Was even Envy filent ? It feemed to 
 have been agreed, that, if an author's works 
 furvived, the hiftory of the man was to give no 
 
 h moral
 
 114 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 moral leflfon to after-ages. If tradition told us 
 that Ben Jonson. went to the Devil Tavern ; 
 that Shakspeare flole deer, and held the ftir- 
 fup at playhoufe doors ; that Dryden fre- 
 quented Button's Coffee-houfe ; curiofity was 
 lulled afleep, and Biography forgot the beft part 
 of her function, which is to inftruct mankind 
 by examples taken from the fchool of life. 
 This talk remained for Dr. Johnfon, when 
 years had rolled away ; when the channels of 
 information were, for the mod part, choaked 
 up, and little remained befides doubtful anec- 
 dote, uncertain tradition, and vague report. 
 
 " Nunc fitus infomiis premit ct deferta Vetuftas." 
 
 The value of Biography has been better \m~ 
 derftood in other ages, and in other countries. 
 Tacitus informs us, that to record the lives and 
 characters- of illuftrious men was the practice 
 of the Roman authors, in the early periods of 
 the Republic* In France the example has been 
 followed. Fontine/le, D'Alembert^ and Monjieur 
 Thomas^ have left models in this kind of com- 
 petition. They have embalmed the dead. But 
 it is true, that they had incitements and ad- 
 vantages.
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 115 
 
 Vantages, even at a diftant day, which could 
 not, by any diligence, be obtained by Dr. 
 Johnfon. The wits of France had ample ma- 
 terials. They lived in a nation of critics, who 
 had at heart the honour done to their country 
 by their Poets, their Heroes, and their Philo- 
 fophers. They had, befides, an Academy of 
 Belles Lettrcs, where Genius was cultivated, re- 
 fined, and encouraged. They had the tracts, 
 the eflays, and diflertations, which remain in 
 the memories of the Academy, and they had 
 the fpeeches of the feveral members, delivered 
 at their firft admiffion to a feat in that learned 
 AfTembly. In thofe fpeeches the new Acade- 
 mician did ample juftice to the memory of his 
 predeceflbr ; and though his harangue was de- 
 corated with the colours of eloquence, and was, 
 for that reafon, called panegyric, yet being 
 pronounced before qualified judges, who knew 
 the talents, the conduct, and morals of the 
 deceafed, the fpeaker could not, with pro- 
 priety, wander into the regions of fiction. 
 The truth was known, before it was adorned. 
 The Academy faw the marble, before the artifl 
 polimed it. But this country has had no Aca- 
 demy of Literature. The public mind, for cen- 
 
 h 2 turies,
 
 Il6 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE ANO 
 
 turies, has been engrofTed by party and faction 5 
 by the madnefs of many for the gain of a few ; by 
 civil wars, religious difTentions, trade and com- 
 merce, and the arts of accumulating wealth. 
 Amidft fuch attentions, who can wonder that 
 cold praife has been often the only reward of 
 merit ? In this country Doctor Nathaniel 
 Hodges, who, like the good bihhop of Mar- 
 feilles, drew purer breath amidft the contagion 
 of the plague in London, and, during the whole 
 time, continued in the city, adminifteriug me- 
 dical afliftance, was furTered, as Johnfon nfed 
 to relate, with tears in his eyes, to die for debt 
 in a gaol. In this country, the man who brought 
 the New River to London was ruined by that 
 noble project ; and, in this country, Otway died 
 for want on Tower- Hill ; Butler, the great 
 author of Hudibras, whole name can only die 
 with the Englifh language, was left to languifh 
 in poverty, the particulars of his life almoft 
 unknown, and fcarce a veftige of him left ex- 
 cept his immortal poem. Had there been an 
 Academy of Literature, the lives, at leaft, of 
 thofe celebrated perfons would have been writ- 
 ten for the benefit of pofterity. Swift, it feems, 
 had the idea of fuch an inftitution, and pro- 
 
 poied
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON, I 1 7 
 
 pofed k to Lord Oxford ; but Whig and Tory 
 were more important objects. It is needlefs to 
 diffemble, that Dr. Johnfon, in the Life of 
 Rofcommon, talks of the inutility of fuch a 
 project. " In this country," he fays, " an 
 '-' Academy could be expected to do but little. 
 *' If an academician's place were profitable, it 
 c * would be given by intereft ; if attendance 
 * { were gratuitous, it would be rarely paid, and 
 a no man would endure the lead: difguft. Una- 
 ** nimity is impoffible, and debate would fepa- 
 " rate the atTembly. ,, To this it may be fuf* 
 flcient to anfwer, that the Royal Society has 
 not been diffolved by fullen difgufl ; and the 
 modern Academy at Somerfet-houfe has already 
 performed much, and promifes more. Una* 
 nimity is not neceflfary to fuch an aiTembly. 
 On the contrary, by difference of opinion and 
 collifion of lentiment, the caufe of Literature 
 would thrive and flourifh. The true principles 
 ofcriticifm, the fecret of fine writing, the in- 
 vestigation of antiquities, and other interesting 
 fubjects, might occafion a clafh of opinions ; 
 but in that contention truth would receive il- 
 luftration, and the efTays of the feveral mem- 
 bers would fupply the Memoirs of the Academy, 
 
 h 3 Bur,
 
 Xl8 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 But, fays Dr. Johnfon, ' fuppofe the philo'- 
 *' logical decree made and promulgated, what 
 " would be its authority ? In abfolute govern- 
 " ment there is fometimes a general reverence 
 " paid to all that has the fanction of power, 
 " the countenance of gfeatnefs. How little 
 * 4 this is the ftate of our country needs not to 
 " be told. The edicts of an fcnglifh academy 
 *' would probably be read by many, only that 
 " they may be fure to difobey them. The pre- 
 w fent manners of the nation would deride au- 
 '* thority, and therefore nothing is left, but that 
 '* every writer mould criticize himfelf." This 
 furely is not conclufive. It is by the ftandard of 
 the beft writers that every man fettles for himfelf 
 his plan of legitimate composition ; and iince 
 the authority of mperior genius is acknow- 
 ledged, that authority, which the individual 
 obtains, would not be lefiened by an adbciation 
 with others of diftinguifhed ability. It may, 
 therefore, be inferred, that an Academy of Li- 
 terature would be an eftablifhment highly ufe- 
 ful, and an honour to Literature. In luch an 
 inftitution profitable places would not be wanted. 
 Vatis avarus baud facile eft animus ; and the 
 minifter, who fliall find lejfure from party 
 
 and
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. I 19 
 
 and faction to carry fuch a fcheme into execu- 
 tion, will, in all probability, be refpe&ed by 
 pofterity as the Maecenas of letters. 
 
 We now take leave of Dr. Johnfon as an 
 author. Four volumes of his lives of the 
 Poets were publifhed in 1778, and the work was 
 completed in 1781. Should Biography fall 
 again into difufe, there will not always be a 
 Johnfon to look back through a century, and 
 give a body of critical and moral inftruction. 
 In April 1781, he loft his friend Mr. Thrale. 
 His own words, in his Diary, will beft tell that 
 melancholy event. " On Wednefday the 1 ith 
 ** of April, was buried my dear friend Mr. 
 " Thrale, who died on Wednefday the 4th, 
 *' and with him were buried many of my hopes 
 " and pleafures. About five, I think, on Wed- 
 " nefday morning he expired. I felt almoft 
 " the laft flutter of his pulfe, and looked for 
 the laft time upon the face, that, for fifteen 
 " years before, had never been turned upon me 
 < but with refpect and benignity. Farewel : 
 " may God, that delighteth in mercy, have 
 " had mercy on thee. I had conftantly prayed 
 " for him before his death. The deceafeof him, 
 
 h 4 " fro .11
 
 120 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 *' from whofe friendfhip I had obtained many 
 " opportunities of amufement, and to whom I 
 *' turned my thoughts as to a refuge from mif- 
 fortunes, has left me heavy. But my bufi- 
 " nefs is with myfelf." From the clofe of his 
 laft work, the malady, that perfecuted him 
 through life, came upon him with alarming 
 feverity, and his conftitution declined apace. 
 In 1782, his old friend Level expired without 
 warning, and without a groan. Events like 
 thefe reminded Johnfon of his own mortality. 
 He continued his viiits to Mrs. Thrale at 
 Streatham, to the 7th day of October, 1782, 
 when, having firft compofed a prayer for the 
 happinefs of a family, with whom he had for 
 many years enjoyed the pleaiures and comforts 
 of life, he removed to his own houfe in town. 
 He fays he was up early in the morning, and 
 read fortuitoufly in the Gofpel, which was his 
 parting ufe of the library. The merit of the fa- 
 mily is manifefted by the fenfe he had of it, 
 and we fee his heart overflowing with grati- 
 tude. He leaves the place with regret, and 
 cafts a lingering look behind. 
 
 Ti 
 
 le
 
 GENIUS OF D B . JOHNSON. 121 
 
 The few remaining occurrences may be foort 
 difpatched. In the month of June, 1783, 
 Johnfon had a paralytic ftroke, which afTe&ed his 
 fpeech only. He wrote to Dr. Taylor of Weft- 
 minfter; and to his friend Mr. Allen, the printer, 
 who lived at the next door. Dr. Brocklefby 
 arrived in a fhort time ; and by his care, and 
 that of Dr. Heberden, Johnfon foon recovered. 
 During his illnefs the writer of this narrative 
 vifited him, and found him reading Dr. Wat- 
 fon's Chemiftry. Articulating with' difficulty, 
 he laid, " From this book, he who knows 
 ** nothing may learn a great deal ; and he 
 " who knows will be pleaicd to find his know- 
 " ledge recalled to his mind in a manner highly 
 " pleafing." In the month of Auguft he fet 
 out for Lichfield, on a viiit to Mrs. Lucy 
 Porter, the daughter of his wife by her firft 
 hufband; and in his way back paid his refpects 
 to Dr. Adams at Oxford. Mrs. Williams died 
 at his houfe in Bolt-court in the month of Sep- 
 tember, during his abfence. This was another 
 (hock to a mind like his, ever agitated by the 
 thoughts of futurity. The contemplation of 
 his now-approaching end was conftantly before 
 his eyes; and the profpcct of death, he declared, 
 
 was
 
 122 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 was terrible. For many years, when he was 
 not difpofed to enter into the converfation 
 going forward, whoever fat near his chair, 
 might hear him repeating, from Shakfpeare, 
 
 Ay, but to die and go we know not where ; 
 To He in cold obftru&ion and to rot ; 
 This fenfible warm motion .0 become 
 A kneaded clod, and the delighted fpirit 
 To bathe in fiery floods. 
 
 And from Milton, 
 
 Who would lofe, 
 For fear of pain, this intellectual being ! 
 
 By the death of Mr. Williams he was left 
 in a ftate of deftitution, with nobody but 
 Frank, his black fervant, to footh his anxious 
 moments. In November, 1783, he was fwell- 
 ed from head to foot with a dropfy. Dr. 
 Brocklefby, with that benevolence with which 
 he always affifts his friends, paid his vifits 
 with afliduity. The medicines prefcribed were 
 efficacious, that, in a few days, Johnfon, 
 while he was offering up his prayers, was fud- 
 denly obliged to rife, and, in the courfe of 
 the day, difcharged twenty pints of water. 
 
 Johnfon,
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. I23 
 
 Johnfon, being eafed of his dropfy, began to 
 entertain hopes that the vigour of his confti- 
 tution was not entirely broken. For the fake 
 of converting with his friends, he eftablifhed 
 a converfation-club, to meet on every Wed- 
 nefday evening ; and, to ferve a man whom 
 he had known in Mr. Thrale's houfehold for 
 many years, the place was fixed at his houfe 
 in EfTex-ftreet near the Temple. To anfwer 
 the malignant remarks of Sir John Hawkins, 
 on this fubject, were a wretched wafte of time. 
 Profeffing to be Johnfon's friend, that bio- 
 grapher has raifed more objections to his charac- 
 ter than all the enemies to that excellent man. 
 Sir John had a root of bitternefs that put rancours 
 in the vejfel of his peace. Fielding, he fays, 
 was the inventor of a cant-phrafe, Goodnefs of 
 hearty which means little more than the virtue 
 of a horfe or a dog. He mould have known 
 that kind affections are the effence of virtue; 
 they are the will of God implanted in our 
 nature, to aid and ftrengthen moral obligation ; 
 they incite to action ; a fenfe of benevo- 
 lence is no lefs necefTary than a fenfe of duty. 
 Good affections are an ornament not only to an 
 author but to his writings. He who fhews 
 
 him-
 
 124 AN ESSAV ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 himfelf upon a cold fcent for opportunities to 
 bark and fharl throughout a volume of fix 
 hundred pages, may, if he will, pretend to 
 moralize; but Goodness of Heart, or, to 
 ufe that politer phrafe, the virtue of a horje or 
 a dog, would redound more to his honour. 
 But Sir John is no more : our bufinefs is with 
 Johnfon. The members of his club were re- 
 sectable for their rank, their talents, and their 
 literature. They attended with pun&uality 
 till. about Midfummer, 1784, when, with fome 
 appearance of health, Johnfon went into Der- 
 byshire, and thence to Lichfield. While he 
 was in that part of the world, his friends in 
 town were labouring for his benefit. The air 
 of a more fouthern climate they thought 
 might prolong a valuable life. But a penfioii 
 f *3 a y ear was a lender fund for a travel- 
 ing valetudinarian, and it was not then known 
 that he had faved a moderate fum of money, 
 Mr. Bofvvell and Sir Jofhua Reynolds under- 
 took to folicit the patronage of the Chancellor, 
 With Lord Thurlow, while he was at the bar, 
 Johnfon was well acquainted. He was often 
 heard to fay, " Thurlow is a man of fuch 
 " vigour of mind, that I never knew I was to 
 
 * 6 meet;
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 125 
 
 *' meet him but I was going to fay, I was 
 " afraid; but that would not be true; for, I 
 " never was afraid of any man ; but I never 
 knew that I was to meet Thurlow, but I 
 " knew I had fomething to encounter." The 
 Chancellor undertook to recommend Johnfon's 
 cafe, but without fuccefs. To protract if pof- 
 fible the days of a man, whom he refpec"ted, 
 he offered to advance the fum of five hundred 
 pounds. Being informed of this at Lichfield, 
 Johnfon wrote the following letter. 
 
 " My Lord, 
 
 " After a long and not inattentive obferva- 
 <e tion of mankind, the generofity of your 
 *' Lordfhip's offer raifes in me not lefs wonder 
 ** than gratitude. Bounty, fo liberally beftow- 
 *' ed, I fhould gladly receive if my condition 
 " made it neceflary ; for, to fuch a mind who 
 " would not be proud to own his obligations ? 
 " But it has pleafed God to reftore me to fo 
 ' great a meafure of heath, that, if I fhould 
 *' now appropriate fo much of a fortune deftined 
 " to do good, I could not efcape from myfelf 
 " the charge of advancing a falfe claim. My 
 *' journey to the continent, though I once 
 
 *' thought
 
 126 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE ANd 
 
 <f thought it neceflary, was never much eii-' 
 " couraged by my phyficians ; and I was very 
 " defirous that your Lordfhip mould be told it' 
 " by Sir Jofhua Reynolds as an event very un- 
 * certain ; for, if I grew much better, I mould 
 " not be willing, if much worfe, I mould not 
 " be able, to migrate. Your Lord (hip was firfr. 
 " folicited without my knowledge ; but, when 
 " I was told that you were pleafed to honour 
 * me with your patronage, I did not expect to 
 " hear of a refufal ; yet, as I have had no long 
 c< time to brood hopes, and have not rioted in 
 " imaginary opulence, this cold reception has 
 ** been fcarce a difappointment; and from your 
 ' Lordfhip' s kindnefs'I have received a benefit 
 *' which only men like you are able to beftow* 
 *' I (hall now live mihi carior, with a higher 
 " opinion of my own merit. 
 
 * c I am, my Lord, 
 
 *' your Lordfhip's moil obliged, 
 
 "mod: grateful, 
 
 " and mod humble, fervanr, 
 
 *' Samuel Johnson/' 
 
 "September, 1784." 
 
 We
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 12,J 
 
 We have in this inftance the exertion of two 
 Congenial minds ; one, with a generous impulfe 
 relieving merit in diftrefs ; and the other, by 
 gratitude and dignity of fentiment, rifing to an 
 equal elevation. 
 
 It feems, however, that greatnefs of mind is 
 not confined to greatnefs of rank. Dr. Brock- 
 leiby was not content to affift with his medical 
 art ; he refolved to mlnifler to . his patient's 
 mind) and pluck from his memory the for row 
 which the late refufal from a high quarter 
 might occafion. To enable him to vifit the 
 iouth of France in purfuit of health, he offered 
 from his own funds an annuity of one hundred 
 pounds, payable quarterly. This was a fivect 
 oblivious antidote ; but it was not accepted, for 
 the reafbns afiigned to the Chancellor. The 
 propofal, however, will do honour to Dr, 
 Brocklefby, as long as liberal fentiment fhall 
 be ranked among the focial virtues. 
 
 In the month of October, 17S4, we find 
 Dr. Johnfon correfponding with Mr. Nichols, 
 the intelligent compiler of the Gentleman's 
 Magazine, and, in the langour of ficknefs, {till 
 
 deiirous
 
 128 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 defirous to contribute all in his power to the 
 advancement of fcience and ufeful knowledge, 
 He fays, in a letter to that gentleman, dated 
 iMichfield, October 20, that he mould be glad 
 to give io ikilful a lover of Antiquities any in- 
 formation. He adds, " At Afhburne, where I 
 " had very little company, I had the luck to 
 ' borrow Mr. Bowyer's Life, a book fo full of 
 V contemporary hiilory, that a literary man 
 46 muft find fome of his old friends. I thought 
 " that I could now and then have told you 
 " fome hints worth your notice : We perhaps 
 " may talk a life over. I hope we mall be 
 " much together. You mull: now be to mc 
 " what you were before, and what dear Mr. 
 " Allen was betides. He was taken unexpecl:- 
 * e edly awav, but I think he was a very good 
 " man. 1 have made very little progrefs in re- 
 " covery. I am very weak, and very ileeplefs ; 
 " but I live on and hope." 
 
 In that languid condition, he arrived, on the 
 1 6th of November, at his houfe in Bolt-court, 
 there to end his days. He laboured with the 
 dropfy and an afthma. He was attended by 
 Dr. Heberden, Dr. Warren, Dr. Brocklefby, 
 j Dp
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 120 
 
 Dr. Butter, and Mr. Cruikfhank, the eminent 
 furgeon. Eternity prefented to his mind an 
 avveful profpecl:, and, with as much virtue as 
 perhaps ever is the lot of man, he fhuddered 
 at the thought of his diiiblution. His friends 
 awakened the comfortable reflection of a well- 
 fpent life ; and, as his end drew near, they 
 had the fatisfa&ion of feeing him com- 
 pofed, and even chearful, infomnch that he 
 was able, in the courfe of his reftlefs nights, 
 to make tranilations of Greek epigrams from 
 the Anthologia ; and to compofe a Latin epi- 
 taph for his father, his mother, and his bro- 
 ther Nathaniel. He meditated, at the fame 
 1 time, a Latin infcription to the memory of 
 Garrick, but his vigour was exhausted. 
 
 His love of Literature was a paffion that 
 (tuck to his laft fand. Seven days before his 
 death he wrote the following letter to his friend 
 Mr. Nichols. 
 
 "SIR, 
 
 ' The late learned Mr. Swinton of Oxford 
 having one day remarked that one man, mean- 
 ing, i fuppofe, no man but himfelf, could 
 aftign all the parts of the Ancient Univerfai 
 
 i Iliftcry
 
 I3O AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 Hifrory to their proper authors, at the requef! 
 of Sir Robert Chambers, or myfelf, gave the 
 account which I now tranfmit to you in 
 his own hand, being willing that of fo great a 
 work the hiftory mould be known, and that 
 each writer fhould receive his due proportion of 
 praife from poflerity. 
 
 " I recommend to you to preferve this fcrap of 
 literary intelligence in Mr. Swinton*s own hand, 
 or to depofit it in the Mufcum *, that the ve- 
 racity of this account may never be doubted. 
 " I am, Sir, 
 
 " Your moft humble fervant, 
 Dec, 6, 1684. " Sam. Johnson/ 1 
 
 Mr. Swinton. 
 The Hiftory of the Carthaginians. 
 
 Numidians. 
 
 Mauritanians. 
 
 . ' Gzetulians. 
 
 , Garamantes. 
 
 Melano Gaetulians. 
 
 Nigrita?. 
 
 - Cyrenaica. 
 
 1 1 1 Marmarica. 
 
 * It is there depofited. J. N. 
 
 * The
 
 GENltJS OP DR. JOHNSON. 1 3! 
 
 The Hiitory of the Regio Syrtica. 
 
 T inks, Tartars, and Moguls* 
 
 Indians. 
 
 Chinefe. 
 
 ' DiiTertation on the peopling 
 
 of America. 
 The Biftory of the DiiTertation on the Inde* 
 
 pendency of the Arabs. 
 The Cofmogony, and a fmall part of the hiftory 
 
 immediately following. By Mr. Sale. 
 To the Birth of Abraham. Chiefly by Mr. 
 
 Shelvock. 
 Hiitory of the Jews, Gauls, and Spaniards. By 
 
 Mr. Pfalmanazar. 
 Xenophon's Retreat. By the fame. 
 Hiftory of the Perfians, and the Conftantino- 
 
 politan Empire. By Dr. Campbell. 
 Hiftory of the Romans. By Mr. Bower *. 
 
 On 
 
 * Before this authentic coaimunication, Mr. Nichols had 
 given, in the volume of the Magazine for 1781, p. 37c, 
 the following account of the Universal Hiftory. The pro- 
 Dofals were pubhfhed October 6, 1729 ; and the authors of 
 the firfc feven volumes were, 
 
 Vol. I. Mr. Sale, tranflator of the Koran. 
 
 II. George Pfalmanazar. 
 
 III. George Pf?.lmi:nazar. 
 
 12 III. Arch-
 
 1$2 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 On the morning of Dec. 7, Dr. Johnfon re- 
 quefted to fee Mr. Nichols. A few days 
 before, he had borrowed fome of the early vo- 
 lumes of the Magazine, with a profeffed inten- 
 tion to point out the pieces which he had writ- 
 ten in that collection. The books lay on the 
 table, with many leaves doubled down, and in 
 particular thofe which contained his ihare in 
 the Parliamentary Debates. Such was the good- 
 nefs of Johnfon's heart, that he then declared, 
 that " thofe debates were the only parts 
 ' of his writings which gave him any com- 
 " pundtion j but that at the time he wrote them 
 " he had no conception that he was impofing 
 " upon the world, though they were frequently 
 " written from very (lender materials, and often 
 64 from none at all, the mere coinage of his 
 
 III. Archibald Bower. 
 Captain Shelvock. 
 Dr. Campbell. 
 
 IV. The fame as vol. III. 
 V. Mr. Bower. 
 
 VI. Mr. Bower. 
 
 Rev. John Swinton. 
 VII. Mr. Swinton. 
 
 Mr. Bower. 
 
 " own
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 1 33 
 
 " own imagination." He added, " that he never 
 " wrote any part of his work with equal velo- 
 " city. Three columns of the Magazine in an 
 "hour," he faid, " was no uncommon effort ; 
 " which was fafrer than mod perfons could 
 " have tranfcribed that quantity. In one day 
 *' in particular, and that nor a very long one, 
 " he wrote twelve pages, more in quantity than 
 ** ever he wrote at any other time, except in 
 " the Life of Savage, of which forty-eight 
 " pages in octavo were the production of one 
 " long day, including a part of the night." 
 
 In the courfe of the converfation, he afked, 
 whether any of the family of Faden the printer 
 were living. Heing told that the geographer 
 near Charing-crofs was Faden's fon, he faid, 
 after a fhort paufe, " I borrowed a guinea of 
 " his father near thirty years ago ; be fo good 
 " as to take this, and pay it for me." 
 
 Wiming to difcharge every duty, and e very- 
 obligation, Johnfon recollected another debt of 
 ten pounds, which he had borrowed from his 
 friend Mr. Hamilton the printer, about twenty 
 years before. He fent the money to Mr, Ha- 
 
 i q miltoa
 
 I4 A N ESSAY ON THE LIVE AND 
 
 miltou at his houfe in Bedford Row, with an 
 apology for the length of time. The Reverend 
 Mr. Strahan was the hearer of the melTage, 
 about four or five days before Johnfon breathed 
 his laft. 
 
 Mr. Saftres (whom Dr. Johnfon eftecmed 
 and mentioned in his will) entered the room 
 during his illnefs. Dr. Johnfon, as foon as he 
 faw him, ftretched forth his hand, and, in a 
 tone of lamentation, called out, Jam mori- 
 turus ! But the love of life was (till an aclive 
 principle. Feeling himfelf fwelled with the 
 dropfy, he conceived that, by incifions in his 
 legs, the water might be diicharged, Mr. 
 Cruikftiank apprehended that a mortification 
 might be the confequence ; but, to appeafe a 
 diftempered fancy, he gently lanced the iurface. 
 Johnion cried out, " Deeper, deeper ; I want 
 *' length of life, and you are afraid of giving 
 " me pain, which I do not value." 
 
 On the 8th of December, the Reverend Mr. 
 Strahan drew his will, by which, after a few le- 
 gacies, the reiidue, amounting to about fifteen 
 hundred pounds, was bequeathed to Frank, the 
 
 Black
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 10,$ 
 
 Black fervant, formerly configned to the tef- 
 tator by his friend Dr. Bathurft. 
 
 The hiftory of a death-bed is painful. Mr. 
 Strahan informs us, that the ftrength of reli- 
 gion prevailed againft the infirmity of nature ; 
 and his foreboding dread of the Divine Juftice 
 fubfided into a pious truft and humble hope of 
 mercy at the Throne of Grace. On Monday 
 the 13th day of December (the lad: of his ex- 
 igence on this fide the grave), the defire of 
 life returned with all its former vehemence. 
 He ftill imagined, that, by puncturing his legs, 
 relief might be obtained. At eight in the morn- 
 ing he tried the experiment, but no water fol- 
 lowed. In an hour or two after, he fell into a 
 doze, and about ieven in the evening expired 
 without a groan. 
 
 On the 20th of the month his remains, with 
 due folemnities, and a numerous attendance of 
 his friends, were buried in Wcftminfler Abbey, 
 near the foot of Shakfpeare's monument, and 
 clofe to the grave of the late Mr. Garrick. The 
 funeral fervice was read by his friend Dr. Taylor. 
 
 A black marble over his grave has the fol- 
 lowing infeription 
 
 i 4 Samuel
 
 I56 AN ESSAY ON TH'E LIFE AND 
 
 Samuel Johnson, LL. D. 
 
 obiit xiii die Decembris, 
 
 Anno Domini 
 
 MDCCLXXXIV. 
 
 ./^Etatis fuas lxxv. 
 
 If we now look back, as from an eminence, 
 to view the fcenes of life, and the literary la- 
 bours in which Dr. Johnfon was engaged, we 
 may be able to delineate the features of the 
 man, and to form an eftimate of his genius. 
 
 As a man, Dr. Johnfon flands difplayed in 
 open day-light. Nothing remains undifcovered. 
 Whatever he faid is known ; and without al- 
 lowing h;m the ufual privilege of hazarding 
 fentiments, and advancing pohtions, for mere 
 amufement, or the pleafure of difcuffion, Cri- 
 ticifm has endeavoured to make him anfwerable 
 for what, perhaps, he never ferioufly thought. 
 I lis diary, which has been printed, difcovers 
 flill more. We have before us the very heart 
 of the man, with all his inward confcioufnefs. 
 And yet neither in the open paths or life, nor in 
 his fecret recedes, has any one vice been dis- 
 covered. We fee him reviewing every year of 
 his life, and feverely cenfuring himfelf, tor not 
 keeping refolutioiii, which morbid melancholy, 
 
 and
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. I37 
 
 and other bodily infirmities, rendered imprac- 
 ticable. We fee him for every little defect im- 
 peding on himfelf voluntary penance, going 
 through the day with only one cup of tea with- 
 out miik, anci to the laft, amidft.paroxyfms and 
 remiiFions of illnefs, forming plans of ftudy 
 and resolutions to amend his life*. Many of 
 his lcruples may be called weaknefTes; but they 
 are the weaknefles of a good, a pious, and moft 
 excellent man. 
 
 His perfon, it is well known, was large and 
 unwieldy. His nerves were atfecled by that 
 diforder, for which, at two years of age, he 
 was preiented to the royal touch. His head 
 fhook, and involuntary motions made it uncer- 
 tain that his legs and arms would, even at a 
 tea-table, remain in their proper place. A 
 perfon of Lord Cbefterfirid's delicacy might in 
 his company be in a fever. He would tome- 
 times of his own accord do things inconfiftent 
 with the tftabliihed" modes of behaviour. Sit- 
 ting at table with the celebrated Mrs. Chol- 
 mondeley, who exerted herfelf to circulate the 
 
 * On the fubjet of voluntary penance fee the Rambler, 
 N CX. 
 
 fab-
 
 I3S AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 fubfcription for Shakfpeare. he took bold of her 
 hand in the middle of dinner, and held it dole 
 to his eye, wondering at the delicacy and the 
 whitenefs, till with a fmile (he alked, Will he' 
 give it to me again when he has done with it f 
 The exteriors of politenefs did not belong to 
 Johnfon. Even that civility which proceeds, 
 or ought to proceed, from the mind, was fome- 
 times violated. His morbid melancholy had 
 an effect on his temper ; his paffions were ir- 
 ritable ; and the pride of fcience, as well as of 
 a fierce independent fpirit, inflamed him on 
 fome occafions above all bounds of moderation. 
 Though not in the (hade of academic bowers, 
 he led a fcholaftic life ; and the habit of pro- 
 nouncing decifions to his friends and vifitors 
 gave him a dictatorial manner, winch was 
 much enforced by a voice naturally loud, and 
 often over ft retched. Metaphyseal difcuffion, 
 moral theory, fvftems of religion, and anec- 
 dotes of literature, were his favourite topics. 
 General hiflorv had little of his regard. Bib- 
 graphy was his delight. The proper ftudy of 
 mankind is man. Sooner than hear of the Punic 
 war, he would be rude to the perfon that in- 
 troduced the fubjec*t. 
 
 John-
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. I39 
 
 Johnfon was born a logician ; one of thofe, 
 to whom only books of logic are faid to be of 
 tile. In confequence Qf his (kill in that art, he 
 loved argumentation. No man thought more 
 profoundly, nor with fuch acute difcernment. 
 A fallacy could not ftand before him : it was 
 fure to be refuted by ftrength of reafoning, and 
 a preciiion both in idea and exprerlion almoft 
 unequalled. When he chofe by apt illuftration 
 to place the argument of his adverfary in a lu- 
 dicrous light, one was almoft inclined to think 
 ridicule the teji of truth. He was furprized to 
 be told, but it is certainly true, that, with great 
 powers of mind, wit and humour were his 
 (hiiiing talents. That he often argued for the 
 fake of triumph over his adverfary, cannot be 
 dif embled. Dr. Rofe, of Chifwick, has been. 
 heard to tell a friend of his, who thanked him 
 for introducing him to Dr. Johnfon, as he had 
 been convinced, in the courfe of a long difpute, 
 that an opinion, which he had embraced as a 
 fettled truth, was no better than a vulgar error. 
 This being reported to Johnfon, " Nay," faid 
 he, fc ' do not let him be thankful, for he was 
 ' right, and I was wrong." Like his uncle 
 Andrew, in the ring at Smithfield, Johnfon, 
 
 in
 
 I40 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 in a circle of difputants, was determined neither 
 to be thrown nor conquered. Notwithftanding 
 all his piety, felf-government, or the command 
 of his pafvions in converfation, does not feem 
 to have been among his attainments. When- 
 ever he thought the contention was for fupe- 
 riority, he has been known to break out with 
 violence, and even ferocity. When the fray 
 was over, he generally foftened into repent- 
 ance, and, by conciliating meamres, took care 
 that no animofity mould be left rankling in the 
 bread of his antagonift. Of this defect he 
 feems to have been confeious. In a letter to 
 Mrs. Thrale, he fays, " Poor Baretti ! do not 
 44 quarrel with him ; to neglec~l him a little 
 ' will be fufficient. He means only to be 
 " frank and manly, and independent, and, per- 
 " haps, as you fay, a little wife. To be frank, 
 *' he thinks, is to be cynical; and to be hide* 
 " pendent, is to be rude. Forgive him, dearefr. 
 " lady, the rather, becaufe of his mifbehaviour 
 I am afraid he learned part of me. I hope 
 *' to ftt him hereafter a better example.'* 
 For his own intolerant and overbearing fpirit 
 he apologized by obferving, that it had done 
 fome good ; obfeenity and impiety were re- 
 pre ill d in his company. 
 
 It
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 1 45 
 
 It was late in life before he had the habit of 
 mixing, otherwife than occafionally, with po- 
 lite company. At Mr. Thrale's he faw a con- 
 usant fuccefnon of well-accomplifhed vifitors. 
 In that fociety he began to wear off the rugged 
 points of his own character. He faw the ad- 
 vantages of mutual civility, and endeavoured 
 to profit by the models before him. He aimed 
 at what has been called by Swift the lejjer mo- 
 rals 9 and by Cicero minor es virtutes. His en- 
 deavour, though new and late, gave pleafure to 
 all his acquaintance. Men were glad to fee 
 that he was willing to be communicative on 
 equal terms and reciprocal complacence. The 
 time was then expected when he was to 
 ceafe being what George Garrick, brother to 
 the celebrated actor, called him the firli time 
 he heard him converfe, " A tremendous 
 Companion." He certainly wifhed to be po- 
 lite, and even thought himfelf fo ; but his 
 civility {till retained fomething uncouth and> 
 harm. His manners took a milder tone, but 
 the endeavour was too palpably feen. He la- 
 boured even in trifles. He was a giant" gaining: 
 
 o o a 
 
 a furchafe to lift a feather. 
 
 It
 
 142 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 It is obferved by the younger Pliny, that, in 
 the confines of virtue and great qualities there 
 are generally vices of an oppoiite nature. 
 In Dr. Johnfbn not one ingredient can take 
 the name of vice. From his attainments in 
 literature grew the pride of knowledge ; and, 
 from his powers of reafoning, the love of dif- 
 putation and the vain-glory of fuperior vigour. 
 His piety, in fome infcances, bordered on fu- 
 perftition. He was willing to believe in pre- 
 ternatural agency, and thought it not more 
 ftrange that there mould be evil fpirits than 
 evil men. Even the queftion about fecond 
 iight held him in fufpence. " Second fight," 
 Mr. Pennant tells ns, " is a power of feeing 
 " images impreffed on the organs of fight by 
 " the power of fancy, or on the fancy by the 
 " difordered fpirits operating on the mind. It 
 61 is the faculty of feeing fpetres, or viiions, 
 " which reprefent an event, actually paffing at 
 " a distance, or likely to happen at a future 
 ' day. In 1 77 1, a gentleman, the laft who 
 ' was fuppofed to be pofTeffed of this faculty, 
 *' had a boat at fea in a tempeftuous night, 
 ** and, being anxious for his freight, fuddenly 
 " ftarted up, and faid his men would be 
 " drowned, for he had feen them pafs before 
 
 him
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 143 
 
 " him with wet garments and dropping locks. 
 " The event correfponded with his difordered 
 <s fancy. And thus," continues Mr. Pennant, 
 " a diftempered imagination, clouded with 
 " anxiety, may make an impreflion on the 
 *? fpirits; as perfons, reftlefs and troubled with 
 *' indignation, fee various forms and figures 
 Cl while they lie awake in bed." This is what 
 Dr. Johnfon was not willing to reject. He 
 wifhed for fome pofitive proof of communi- 
 cations with another world. His benevolence 
 embraced the whole race of man, and yet was 
 tinctured with particular prejudices. He was 
 pleafed with the minifter in the Ifle of Sky, 
 and loved him fo much that he began to wifh 
 him not a Prefbyterian. To that body of Dif- 
 fenters his zeal for the Eftabiimed Church made 
 him in fome degree an adverfary ; and his at- 
 tachment to a mixed and limited Monarchy led 
 him to declare open war againfr. what he called 
 a fullen Republican. He would rather praife a 
 man of Oxford than of Cambridge. He dif- 
 liked a Whig, and loved a Tory. Thefe were 
 the (hades of his character, which it has been 
 the bufinefs of certain party -writers to repre- 
 fent in the darkefi: colours. 
 
 Since
 
 144 AN ESSAY ON TUB LIFE AND 
 
 Since virtue, or moral goodnefs, confifts in a 
 juft conformity of our actions to the relations 
 in which we ftand to the Supreme Being and 
 to our fellow creatures, where fhall we find a 
 man who has been, or endeavoured to be, more 
 diligent in the difcharge of thofe effential 
 duties ? His fir ft prayer was compofed in 
 1738; he continued thofe fervent ejaculations 
 of piety to the end of his life. In his medita- 
 tions we fee him fcrutinizing himfelf with 
 feverity, and aiming at perfection unattainable 
 by man. His duty to his neighbour confifted 
 in univerfal benevolence, and a conftant aim at 
 the production of happinefs. Who was more 
 fiucere and fteady in his friendfhips ? It has, 
 been faid that there was no real affection be- 
 tween him and Garrick. On the part of the 
 latter, there might be fome corrofions of jea- 
 loufy. The character of Prospero, in tho 
 Rambler, N. 200, was. beyond all queftion^ 
 occafioned by Garrick's oftentatious difplay of 
 furniture and Drefden china. It was furely 
 fair to take from this incident a hint for a 
 moral eflTay; and, though no more was in- 
 tended, Garrick, we are told, remembered it 
 with uneafinefs. He was alio hurt that his 
 
 Lichfield
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 1 45 
 
 Lichfield friend did not think fo highly of 
 his dramatic art as the reft of the world. 
 The fact was, Johnfon could not fee paf- 
 fions as they rofe and chafed one another in 
 the varied features of that expreflive face ; and 
 by his own manner of reciting verfes, which 
 was wonderfully impreffive, he plainly (hewed 
 that he thought there was too much of artifi- 
 cial tone and meafured cadence in the decla- 
 mation of the theatre. The prefent writer 
 well remembers being in converfation with 
 Dr. Johnfon near the fide of the fcenes during 
 the tragedy of King Lear: when Gar- 
 rick came off the ftage, he faid, 6< You two 
 " talk fo loud you deftroy all my feelings." 
 " Prithee," replied Johnfon, " do not talk of 
 " feelings, Punch has no feelings." This 
 feems to have been his fettled opinion; admi- 
 rable as Garrick's imitation of nature always 
 was, Johnfon thought it no better than mere 
 mimickry. Yet it is certain that he efleemed 
 and loved Garrick ; that he dwelt with plea- 
 fure on his praife ; and ufed to declare, that 
 he deferved his great fuccefs, becaufe on all 
 applications for charity he gav more than was 
 afked. After Garrick's death, he never talked 
 
 k of
 
 I46 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 of him without a tear in his eye. He offered, 
 if Mrs. Garrick would defire it of him, to be 
 the editor of his works, and the hiftorian of his 
 life. It has been mentioned, that on his death- 
 bed he thought of writing a Latin infcription 
 to the memory of his friend. Numbers are 
 ltill living who know thefe facts, and flill re- 
 member with gratitude the friendship which 
 he (hewed to them with unaltered affection 
 for a number of years. His humanity and 
 generofity, in proportion to his {lender income, 
 were unbounded. It has been truly laid, that 
 the lame, the blind, and the forrowful, found 
 in his houfe a fure retreat. A Ariel: adherence 
 to truth he confidered as a facred obligation, 
 infomuch that, in relating the moft minute 
 anecdote, he would not allow himfelf the lmall- 
 eft addition to embellifh his ilory. The late 
 Mr. Tyers, who knew Dr. Johnfon intimately, 
 obferved, " that he always talked as if he was 
 " talking upon oath." After a long acquaint- 
 ance with this excellent man, and an attentive 
 retrofpect to his whole conduct, fuch is the 
 light in which lie appears to the writer of this 
 eflay. The following lines of Horace may be 
 deemed his picture in miniature : 
 
 Iracundior
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 1 47 
 
 Iracundior eft paulo, minus aptus acutis 
 Naribus horum hominum, rideri poffit, eo quod 
 Rufticius tonfo toga defluit, & male laxus 
 In pcde calceus hasret ; at eft bonus, ut melior vir 
 Non alius quifquam ; at tibi amicus, at ingenium 
 
 ingens, 
 Inculto latet hoc fub corpore *. 
 
 It remains to give a review of Johnfbn's 
 works ; and tliis, it is imagined, will not be 
 unwelcome to the reader. 
 
 Like Milton and Addifon, he feems to have 
 been fond of his Latin poetry. Thofe com- 
 petitions mew that he was an early fcholar; 
 but his verfes have not the graceful eafe that 
 gave fo much fuavity to the poems of Addifon. 
 The tranflation of the Meffiah labours under 
 
 * Your friend is paffionate, perhaps unfit 
 For the bride petulance of modern wit. 
 His hair ill-cut, his robe that aukward flows, 
 Or his large fhoes to raillery expofe 
 The man you love \ yet is lie not poffefs'd 
 Of virtues, with which very few are bleft ? 
 While underneath this rude uncouth difguife 
 A genius of exteniive knowledge lies. 
 
 Francis's Hor. Book i. Sat. 3. 
 
 k 2 two
 
 148 AN ESSAY ON ?HE LIFE AND 
 
 two difadvantages ; it is fir ft to be compared 
 with Pope's inimitable performance, and after- 
 wards with the Pollio of Virgil. It may ap- 
 pear trifling to remark, that he has made the 
 letter 0, in the word Virgo, long and (hort in 
 the fame line; Virgo, Virgo Paiut. But 
 the tranflation has great merit, and fome ad- 
 mirable lines. In the odes, there is a fweet 
 flexibility, particularly, To his worthy friend 
 Dr. Lawrence ; on himfelf at the theatre, 
 March 8, 1 771 ; the Ode in the Ifle of Sky ; 
 and that to Mrs Thrale from the fame place. 
 
 His Engliih poetry is fuch as leaves room 
 to think, if he had devoted himfelf to the 
 Mufes, that he would have been the rival of 
 Pope. His firft production in this kind was 
 London, a poem in imitation of the third fa- 
 tire of Juvenal. The vices of the metropolis 
 are placed in the room of ancient manners. 
 The author had heated his mind with the 
 ardour of Juvenal; and, having the fkill to po- 
 lifli his numbers, he became a fharp accufer 
 of the times. The Vanity of Human- 
 Wishes is an imitation of the tenth fatire 
 of the fame author. Though it is tranflated 
 
 bv
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. I49 
 
 by Dryden, Johnfon's imitation approaches 
 nearefr. to the fpirit of the original. The fub- 
 jecl: is taken from the Alcibiades of Plato, 
 and has an intermixture of the fentiments of 
 Socrates concerning the object of prayers 
 offered up to the Deity. The general propo- 
 rtion is, that good and evil are fo little under- 
 ftood by mankind, that their vvimes when 
 granted are always destructive. This is exem- 
 plified in a variety of inftances, fuch as riches, 
 ftate-preferment, eloquence, military glory, 
 long life, and the advantages of form and 
 beauty. Juvenal's conclunon is worthy of a 
 ChrifKan poet, and fuch a pen as Johnfon's. 
 " Let us," he fays, " leave it to the Gods to 
 " judge what is fitted: for us. Man is dearer 
 " to his Creator than to himfelf. If we muft 
 " pray for fpecial favour, let it be for a found 
 " mind in a found body. Let us pray for 
 f i fortitude, that we may think the labours of 
 " Hercules and all his fufFerings preferable 
 " to a life of luxury and the foft repofe of 
 cl Sardanapalus. This is a bleiling within 
 Ci the reach of every man ; this we can give 
 6t ourfelves. It is virtue, and virtue only, 
 ? that can make us happy." In the tranfla- 
 
 k 3 tion,
 
 I^O AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 tion, the zeal of the Chriftian confpired with 
 the warmth and energy of the poet ; but Juve- 
 nal is not eclipfed. For the various characters 
 in the original the reader is pleafed, in the 
 Engliih poem, to meet with Cardinal Wolfey, 
 Buckingham flabbed by Felton, Lord Straf- 
 ford, Clarendon, Charles XII. of Sweden ; and 
 for Tully and Demofrhenes, Lydiat, Galileo, 
 and Archbifhop Laud. It is owing to John- 
 fon's delight in biography that the name of 
 Lydiat is called forth from obfeurity. It 
 may, therefore, not be ufeleis to tell, that 
 Lydiat was a learned divine and mathema- 
 tician in the beginning of the lad: century. 
 He attacked the doctrine of Ariftotle and Sea- 
 liper, and wrote a number of fermons on the 
 harmony of the Evangelifts. With all his 
 merit, he lay in the prifon of Bocardo at Ox- 
 ford, till bimopUiher, Laud, and others, paid 
 his debts. He petitioned Charles I. to be fent 
 to Ethiopia to procure manufcripts. Having 
 fpoken in favour of monarchy and bifhops, 
 he was plundered by the Puritans, and twice 
 carried away a prifoner from his rectory, lie 
 died very poor in 1646. 
 
 The
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 151 
 
 The Tragedy of Irene is founded on a pafTage 
 in Knolles's Hiftory of the Turks; an author 
 highly commended in the Rambler, N 122. 
 Au incident in the Life of Mahomet the Great, 
 frrfr. emperor of the Turks, is the hinge on 
 which the fable is made to move. The fub- 
 ftance of the ftory is fhortly this. In 1453, 
 Mahomet laid Siege to Ccnftantinople, and, 
 having reduced the place, became enamoured 
 of a fair Greek, whofe name was Irene. The 
 fultan invited her to embrace the law of 
 the Prophet, and to grace his throne. En- 
 raged at this intended marriage, the Janizaries 
 formed a confpiracy to dethrone the emperor. 
 To avert the impending danger, Mahomet, in 
 a full afiTembly of the grandees, " Catching 
 " with one hand," as Knolles relates it, <; the 
 " fair Greek by the hair of her head, and 
 *< drawing his falchion with the other, he, at 
 * one blow, ftruck off her head, to the great 
 c terror of them all ; and, having fo done, 
 ' faid unto them, Now, by this, judge whether 
 your emperor is able to bridle his affections 
 < { or not." The (lory is fimple, and it re-, 
 jnained for the author to amplify it with pro- 
 
 k 4 per;
 
 I52 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 per epifodes, and give it complication and va- 
 riety. The cataftrophe is changed, and horror 
 gives place to terror and pity. But, after all, 
 the fable is cold and languid. There is not, 
 throughout the piece, a fmgle fituation to ex- 
 cite curiolity, and raife a conflict of paflions. 
 The diction is nervous, rich, and elegant ; but 
 lplendid language, and melodious numbers, 
 will make a fine poem, not a tragedy. The 
 fentiments are beautiful, always happily ex- 
 prefTed, but feldom appropriated to the cha- 
 racter, and generally too philofophic. What 
 Johnfon has faid of the Tragedy of Caio may 
 be applied to Irene : " it is rather a poem in 
 " dialogue than a drama; rather a fucceffion 
 " of juft fentiments, in elegant language, than 
 " a reprefentation of natural affections. Nothing 
 " excites or afluages emotion. The events are 
 " expected without folitude, and are remem- 
 " bered without joy or for row. Of the agents 
 'we have no care; we confider not what 
 " they are doing, nor what they are fullering ; 
 " we wifii only to know what they have to 
 " fay. It is unarTecting elegance, and chili 
 " philofophy." The following fpeech, in the 
 mouth of a Turk, who is fuppofed to have 
 
 heard
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. I53 
 
 heard of the Britifh conftitution, has been often 
 feleted from the numberlefs beauties with 
 which Irene abounds: 
 
 " If there be any land, as fame reports, 
 Where common laws reftrain the prince and fubjedtj 
 A happy land, where circulating pow'r 
 Flows through each member of th' embodied (late; 
 Sure, not unconfcious of the mighty bleffing, 
 Her grateful fons (hine bright with ev'ry virtue; 
 Untainted with the Lust of Innovation; 
 Sure all unite to hold her league of rule, 
 Unbroken as the facred chain of Nature, 
 That links the jarring elements in peace." 
 
 Thefe are Britifh fentiments. Above forty 
 years ago, they found an echo in the breaft of 
 applauding audiences, and, to this hour, they 
 are the voice of the people, in defiance of the 
 metaphyjics and the new lights of certain poli- 
 ticians, who would gladly find their private 
 advantage in the difafters of their country ; a 
 race of men, quihus nulla ex honejlo /pes. 
 
 The Prologue to Irene is written with ele- 
 gance, and, in a peculiar ityle, (hews the li- 
 terary pride and lofty fpirit of the author. The 
 
 Epi-
 
 154 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 Epilogue, we are told in a late publication, was 
 written by Sir William Young. This is a new 
 difcovery, but by no means probable. When 
 the appendages to a Dramatic Performance are 
 iipt aiTigned to a friend, or an unknown hand, 
 or a perfon of famion, they are always fup- 
 pofed to be written by the author of the Play. 
 It is to be wifhed, however, that the Epilogue 
 in queition could be transferred to any other 
 writer. It is the worft Jeu d 1 Ejprit that ever 
 fell from Johnfon's pen. 
 
 An account of the various pieces contained 
 in this edition, fuch as mifcellaneous tracts 
 and philological differtations, would lead be- 
 yond the intended limits of this effay. It will 
 fuffice to fay, that they are the productions of 
 a man who never wanted decorations of lan- 
 guage, and always taught his reader to think. 
 The life of the late king of Pruffia, as far as it 
 extends, is a model of the biographical fryle. 
 The Review of The Origin of Evil was, 
 perhaps, written with afperity ; but the angry 
 epitaph, which it provoked from Soame Je- 
 nyns, was an ill-timed refentment, unworthy 
 of the genius of that amiable author. 
 
 The
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. I 55 
 
 The Rambler may be confidered as Johnfon's 
 great work. It was the bafts of that hi?h re- 
 putation which went on increafing to the end 
 of his days. The circulation of thofe periodi- 
 cal eiTays was not, at firfr, equal to their 
 merit. They had not, like the Spectators, the 
 art of charming by variety ; and indeed how 
 could it be expected ? The wits of queen 
 Anne's reign fent their contributions to the 
 Spectator; and Johrjfon freed alone. A ftnge- 
 coach, fays Sir Richard Steele, muft go for- 
 ward on ftated days, whether there are paiTen- 
 gers or not. So it was with the Rambler, 
 every Tuefday and Saturday, for two years, hi 
 this collection, Johnfon is the great moral 
 teacher of his countrymen; his eiTays form a 
 body of ethics ; the obfervations on life and 
 manners are acute and infrrudlive ; and the 
 papers, profefledly critical, ferve to promote the 
 caufe of literature. It mud, however, be ac- 
 knowledged, that a fettled srloom fianirs over 
 the author's mind ; and all the eflays, except 
 eight or ten, coming from the fame fountain- 
 ;, no wonder that they have the racinefs of 
 the foil from which they fprang. Of this uni- 
 formity
 
 I56 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 formity Johnfon was fenfible. He ufed to fay, 
 that if he had joined a friend or two, who 
 would have been able to intermix papers of a 
 fprightjy turn, the collection would have been 
 more miicellaneous, and, by coufequence, more 
 agreeable to the generality of readers. This 
 he ufed to illuftrate by repeating two beautiful 
 ftanzas from his own Ode to Cave, or Sylvanus 
 Vrban : 
 
 Non ulla Mufis pagina gratior, 
 Quam qua? feveris ludicra jungere 
 Novit, fatigatamque nugis 
 Utilibus recreare mentem. 
 Texente nymphis ferta Lycoride^ 
 Rofa? ruborem fie viola adjuvat 
 Immifta, lie Iris refulget 
 JEthcreis variata fuels. 
 
 It is remarkable, that the pomp of diction, 
 which has been objected to Johnfon, was firft 
 ailumed in the Rambler. His Dictionary was 
 going on at the fame time, and, in the courfe 
 of that work, as he grew familiar with technical 
 and fcholaftic words, he thought that the bulk 
 of his readers were equally learned ; or at leaft 
 would admire the fplendour and dignity of the 
 
 7 % Ie -
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON, 157 
 
 ftyle. And yet it is well known, that he 
 praifed in Cowley the eafy and unaffected 
 ftructure of the fentences. Cowley may be 
 placed at the head of thofe who cultivated a 
 clear and natural ftyle. Dryden, Tillotfon, 
 and Sir William Temple, followed. Addifon, 
 Swift, and Pope, with more correctnefs, carried 
 our language well nigh to perfection. Of Ad- 
 difon, Johnfon was ufed to fay, He is the Ra- 
 phael of EJfay Writers. How he differed (o 
 widely from fuch elegant models is a problem 
 not to be folved, unlefs it be true that he 
 took an early tincture from the writers of the 
 laft century, particularly Sir Thomas Browne. 
 Hence the peculiarities of the ftyle, new com- 
 binations, fentences of an unufual ftru&ure, 
 \*nd words derived from the learned languages. 
 IJis own account of the matter is, " When 
 JMfcommon words were lefs pleafing to the ear, 
 *' tir lefs diftinct in their fignitication, I fa- 
 ' miliarized the terms of philofophy, by ap 
 " plyiug them to popular ideas." But he for- 
 got the obfervation of Dryden : If too many fo- 
 reign words are poured in upon us, it looks as if 
 they were defgned, not to afjifl the natives, but 
 to conquer them. There is, it mull be admitted, 
 
 a fwell
 
 1 58 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 a fwell cf language, often out of all proportion 
 to the fentiment ; but there is, in general, a 
 fullnefs of mind, and the thought feems to 
 expand with the found of the words. Deter- 
 mined to difcard colloquial barbarifms and li- 
 centious idioms, he forgot the elegant fimplicity 
 that dillinguifhes the writings of Addifon. He 
 had what Locke calls a round-about view of his 
 fubjecl ; and, though he was never tainted, 
 like many modern wits, with the ambition of 
 fhining in paradox, he may be fairly called an 
 Original Thinker. His reading was ex- 
 tenlive. He treafured in his mind whatever 
 was worthy of notice, but he added to it from 
 his own meditation. He collected, quce recon- 
 deret, auciaque promeret, Addifon was not fo 
 profound a thinker. He was born to write, cc?i- 
 verje, and Jive, with eafe ; and he found an early 
 patron in Lord Somers. He depended, how- 
 ever, more upon a fine taife than the vigour 
 of his mind. His Latin Poetry fhews, that he 
 relifhed, with a juft felecYion, all the refined 
 and delicate beauties of the Roman clafiics; and 
 when he cultivated his native language, no 
 wonder that he formed that graceful flyle, 
 which has been fo juftly admired ; fimple, yet 
 
 elegant ;
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. I $$ 
 
 elegant ; adorned, yet never over-wrought ; 
 rich in allufion, yet pure and perfpicuous ; cor- 
 rect, without labour, and, though fometimes 
 deficient in ftrength, yet always mufical. His 
 eflays, in general, are on the furface of life; if 
 ever original, it was in pieces of humour. Sir 
 Rop-er de Coverley, and the Tory Fox- hunter, 
 need not be mentioned. Johnfon had a fund 
 of humour, but he did not know it, nor was 
 he willing to defcend to the familiar idiom and 
 the variety ofdicYion which that mode of com- 
 pofition required. The letter, in the Rambler, 
 N 12, from a young girl that wants a place, 
 will illuftrate this obfervation. Addifon pof- 
 fefled an unclouded imagination, alive to the 
 firft objects of nature and of art. He reaches 
 the fublime without any apparent art. When 
 he tells us, " If we confider the fixed ftars as 
 " fo many oceans of flame, that are each of 
 " them attended with a different fet of planets; 
 *' if we ftill difcover new firmaments and new 
 " lights, that are funk farther in thofe un- 
 ' fathomable depths of a j ther, we are lofl in a 
 " labyrinth of funs and worlds, and con- 
 " founded with the magnificence and immen- 
 " fity of nature ;" the eafe, with which this 
 
 p adage
 
 *6o AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 palTage rifes to unaffected grandeur, is the 
 fecret charm that captivates the reader. John- 
 fon is always lofty ; he feems, to ufe Dryden's 
 phrafe, to be o'er-inform'd with meaning, and 
 his words do not appear to himfelf adequate to 
 his conception. He moves in ftate, and his 
 periods are always harmonious. His Oriental 
 Tales are in the true fryle of Eaftern magnifi- 
 cence, and yet none of them are fo much ad- 
 mired as the Vifions of Mirza. In matters of 
 criticifm, Johnlbn is never the echo of prece- 
 ding writers. He thinks and decides for himfelf. 
 If we except theEiTays on the Pleafures of Ima- 
 gination, Addifon cannot be called a philofo- 
 phlcal critic. His moral EfTays are beautiful ; 
 but in that province nothing can exceed the 
 Rambler, though Johnfon ufed to fay, that 
 the Efifay on The burthens of mankind (in the 
 Spectator, N 558) was the moil exquifite he 
 had ever read. Talking of himfelf, Johnfon faid, 
 44 Topham Beauclerk has wit, and every thing 
 " comes from him with eafe; but, when I lay a 
 " good thing, I feem to labour." When we 
 compare him with Addifon, the contrail: is ftill 
 ftronger. Addifon lends grace and ornament to 
 truth; Johnfon gives it force and energy. Addi- 
 fon
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. l6l 
 
 fdn makes virtue amiable; Johnfon reprefents it 
 as an awful duty. Addifon insinuates himfelf 
 with an air of modefty ; Johnfon commands 
 like a dictator ; but a dictator in his fplendid 
 robes, not labouring at the plough. Addifon 
 is the Jupiter of Virgil, with placid ferenity 
 talking to Venus : 
 
 " Vultu, quo cbslum tempeftatefque ferenat." 
 
 Johnfon is Jupiter tonans : he darts his 
 lightning, and roils his thunder, in the caufe 
 of virtue and piety. The language feems to 
 fall fhort of his ideas; he pours along, familiari- 
 zing the times of philofophy, with bold inver- 
 fions, and fonorous periods; but we may apply 
 to him what Pope has faid of Homer: " It is 
 " the fentiment that fwells and fills out the 
 46 diclion, which rifes with it, and forms itfelf 
 44 about it; like glafs in the furnace, which 
 " grows to a greater magnitude, as the breath 
 *' within is more powerful, and the heat more 
 " intenfe." 
 
 It is not the defign of this comparifon to de- 
 cide betweei) thofe two eminent wi iters. In 
 
 1 mat-
 
 l6z AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 matters of tafte every reader will chufe for 
 himfelf. Johnfon is always profound, and of 
 courfe gives the fatigue of thinking. Addifon 
 charms while he inftructs ; and writing, as he 
 always does, a pure, an elegant, and idiomatic, 
 ftyle, he may be pronounced the fafeft model 
 for imitation. 
 
 The effays written by Johnfon in the Ad- 
 venturer may be called a continuation of the 
 Rambler. The Idler, in order to be con- 
 fiftent with the aflumed character, is written 
 with abated vigour, in a flyle of eafe and unla- 
 boured elegance. It is the OdyfTey after the 
 Iliad. Intenfe thinking would not become the 
 Idler. The flrft number prefents a well- 
 drawn portrait of an Idler, and from that cha- 
 racter no deviation could be made. Accord- 
 ingly, Johnfon forgets his auftere manner, and 
 plays us into fenfe. He ftill continues his 
 lectures on human life, but he adverts to com- 
 mon occurrences, and is often content with 
 the topic of the day. An advertifement in the 
 beginning of the firffc volume informs us, that 
 twelve entire EfTays were a contribution from 
 different hands. One of thefe, N 33, is the 
 
 journal
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 1 63 
 
 journal of a Senior Fellow at Cambridge, but, 
 as Johnfon, being himfelf an original thinker, 
 always revolted from fervile imitation, he has 
 printed the piece, with an apology, importing 
 that the journal of a citizen in the Speffiator 
 almoft precluded the attempt of any fubfequent 
 writer. This account of the Idler may be 
 clofed, after obferving, that the author's mo- 
 ther being buried on the 23d of January, 1759, 
 there is an admirable paper, occafioned by that 
 event, on Saturday the 27th of the fame month, 
 N4i. The reader, if he pleafes, may com- 
 pare it with another fine paper in the Rambler, 
 N 54, on the conviction that rufhes on the 
 mind at the bed of a dying friend. 
 
 "RafTelas," fays Sir John Hawkins, "is a fpe- 
 cimen of our language fcarcely to be paralleled ; 
 it is written in a ftyle refined to a degree of 
 immaculate purity, and difplays the whole force 
 of turgid eloquence." One cannot but fmile at 
 this encomium. RafTelas is undoubtedly both 
 elegant and fublime. It is a view of human 
 life, difplayed, it muft be owned, in gloomy 
 colours. The author's natural melancholy, 
 deprefled, at the time, by the approaching dif- 
 
 1 2 folutioti
 
 164 AN ESSAV ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 folution of his mother, darkened the picture. 
 A tale, that mould keep curiofity awake by the 
 artifice of unexpected incidents, was not the 
 defign of a mind pregnant with bitter things. 
 He, who reads the heads of the chapters, will 
 find, that it is not a courfe of adventures that 
 invites him forward, but a difcuflion of intereit- 
 ing queftions ; Reflections on Human Life ; 
 the Hiftory of Imiac, the Man of Learning ; a 
 DifFertation upon Poetry ; the Character of a 
 wife and happy Man, who difcourfes with 
 energy on the government of the paffions, and 
 on a fudden, when Death deprives him of his 
 daughter, forgets all his maxims of wifdom 
 and the eloquence that adorned them, yield- 
 ing to the ftroke of affliction with all the ve- 
 hemence of the bit^erefl anguifh. It is by pic- 
 tures of life, and profound moral reflection, that 
 expectation is engaged and gratified throughout 
 the work. The Hiftory of the Mad Aftronomer, 
 who imagines that, for five years, he pofTtfTed 
 the regulation of the weather, and that the 
 fun pafled from tropic to tropic by his direc- 
 tion, reprefents in frriking colours the fad 
 effect of a diitempered imagination. It be- 
 comes the more affecting, when we recollect 
 
 that
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 1 65 
 
 that it proceeds from one, who lived in fear of 
 the fame dreadful vititation ; from one who 
 fays emphatically, " Of the uncertainties in 
 " our prefent ftate, the moft dreadful and 
 " alarming is the uncertain continuance of 
 " reafon." The enquiry into the caufe of 
 madnefs, and the dangerous prevalence of ima* 
 gination, till, in time, fome particular train 
 of ideas fixes the attention, and the mind re- 
 curs confrantly to the favourite conception, is 
 carried on in a train of acute obfervation ; but 
 it leaves us room to think, that the author was 
 tranfcribing from his own apprehenfions. The 
 difcourfe on the nature of the foul gives us all 
 that philofbphy knows, not without a tincture 
 of fuperftition. It is remarkable that the va- 
 nity of human purfuits was, about the fime 
 time, the fubjecl: that employed both Johnfon 
 and Voltaire ; but Candide is the work of a 
 lively imagination ; and Raflelas, with all its 
 iplendour of eloquence, exhibits a gloomy pic- 
 ture. It mould, however, be remembered, that 
 the world has known the weeping as well as 
 the laughing pnilofopher. 
 
 1 2 The
 
 l66 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 The Dictionary does not properly fall with* 
 in the province of this eflay. The preface, 
 however, will be found in this edition. He 
 who reads the clofe of it, without acknow- 
 ledging the force of the pathetic and fublime, 
 mufr. have more infenfibility in his compofition 
 than ufually falls to the fhare of man. The 
 work itfelf, though in fome inftances abufe 
 has been loud, and in others malice has en- 
 deavoured to undermine its fame, (till remains 
 the Mount Atlas of Engliffi Literature. 
 
 Though ftorms and tempefts thunder on its brow, 
 And oceans break their billows at its feet, 
 It ftands unmov'd, and glories in its height. 
 
 That Johnfon was eminently qualified for 
 the office of a commentator on Shaklpeare, no 
 man can doubt ; but it was an office which 
 he never cordially embraced. The publick ex- 
 pected more than he had diligence to perform ; 
 and yet his edition has been the ground on 
 which every fubfequent commentator has chofen 
 to build. One note, for its fingularity, may 
 be thought worthy of notice in this place. 
 Hamlet fays, For if the fun breed maggots in a 
 dead dog, being a God-kiffing carrion. In this 
 
 War-
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 167 
 
 Warburton difcovered the origin of eviL Ham- 
 let, he fays, breaks off in the middle of the 
 fentence ; but the learned commentator knows 
 what he was going to fay, and, being unwil- 
 ling to keep the fecret, he goes on in a train of 
 philofophical reafoning that leaves the reader 
 in aftonifhment. Johnfon, with true piety, 
 adopts the fanciful hypothefis, declaring it to 
 be a noble emendation, which almofr. fets the 
 critic on a level with the author. The general 
 obfervations at the end of the feveral plays, 
 and the preface, will be found in this edition. 
 The former, with great elegance and precifion, 
 give a fummary view of each drama. The 
 preface is a tract of great erudition and philo- 
 fophical criticifm. 
 
 Johnfon's political pamphlets, whatever was 
 his motive for writing them, whether grati- 
 tude for his penfion, or the folicitation of men 
 in power, did not fupport the caufe for which 
 they were undertaken. They are written in 
 a ftyle truly harmonious, and with his ufual 
 dignity of language. When it is faid that he 
 advanced pofitions repugnant to the common 
 rights of mankind, the virulence of party may 
 
 1 4 be
 
 l68 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 be fufpected. It is, perhaps, true, that, in the cla- 
 mour raifed throughout the kingdom, Johnfon 
 over-heated his mind; but he was a friend to the 
 rights of man, and he was greatly fuperior to 
 the littlenefs of fpirit that might incline him 
 to advance what he did not think and firmly 
 believe. In the Falfe Alarm, though many of 
 the mod eminent men in the kingdom con- 
 curred in petitions to the throne, yet Johnfon, 
 having ivell furveyed the mafs of the people, 
 has given, with great humour and no lefs 
 truth, what mny be called, the birth, -parent- 
 age, and education, of a remcnjlrance. On the 
 fubjecr. of Falkland's ifland?, the fine diiTuafive, 
 from too haftily involving the world in the 
 calamities of war, mud extort applaufe even 
 from the party that wimed, at that time, for 
 fcenes of tumult and commotion. It was in 
 the fame pamphlet that Johnfon offered bat- 
 tle to Junius ; a writer, who, by the uncom- 
 mon elegance of his ftyle, charmed every rea- 
 der, though his object was to inflame the na- 
 tion in favour of a faction. Junius fought in 
 the dark ; he faw his enemy, and had his full 
 blow, while lie himfelf remained iafe in ob- 
 fcurity. But let us not, faid Johnfon, miftake 
 
 the
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON, 169 
 
 the venom of the (haft for the vigour of the 
 bow. The keen invective which he publifhed 
 on that occafion promifed a paper- war between 
 two combatants, who knew the uie of their 
 weapons. A battle between them was as ea- 
 gerly expected as between Mendoza and Big 
 Ben. But Junius, whatever was his reafon, 
 never returned to the field. He laid down 
 his arms, and has, ever fince, remained as 
 fecret as the man in the mask in Voltaire's 
 Hiftory. 
 
 The account of his journey to the Hebrides, 
 or Weftern Ifles of Scotland, is a model for 
 fuch as fhall hereafter relate their travels. 
 The author did not vifit that part of the world 
 in the character of an Antiquary, to amufe 
 us with wonders taken from the dark and fa- 
 bulous ages ; nor, as a Mathematician, to mea- 
 fure a degree, and fettle the longitude and lati- 
 tude of the feveral iflands. Thofe, who ex- 
 pected fuch information, expected what was 
 never intended. In every work regard the writer's 
 end. John fon went to fee men and manners, 
 modes of life, and the progrefs of civilization. 
 His remarks are fo artfully blended with the 
 
 rapidity
 
 I/O AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 rapidity and elegance of his narrative, that the 
 reader is inclined to wifh, as Johnfon did with 
 regard to Gray, that to travel, and to tell his 
 travels, had been more of his employment. 
 
 As to Johnfon's Parliamentary Debates, no- 
 thing with propriety can be faid in this place. 
 They are collected in two volumes by Mr. Stock- 
 dale, and the flow of eloquence which runs 
 through thefeveral ipeechesis fufficiently known. 
 
 It will not be ufelefs to mention two more vo- 
 lumes, which may form a proper fupplement 
 to this edition. They contain a fet of Sermons 
 left for publication by John Taylor, LL. D. 
 The Reverend Mr. Hayes, who umered thefe 
 Difcourfes into the world, has not given them 
 as the compofition of Dr. Taylor. All he 
 could fay for his departed friend was, that he 
 left them in filence among his papers. Mr. 
 Hayes knew them to be the production of a 
 fuperior mind; and the writer of thefe Memoirs 
 owes it to the candour of that elegant fcholar, 
 that he is now warranted to give an additional 
 proof of Johnfon's ardour in the caufe of piety 
 and every moral duty. The laft difcourfe in the 
 collection was intended to be delivered by Dr. 
 
 Taylor
 
 GENIUS 01 DR. JOHNSON. 171 
 
 Taylor at the funeral of Johnfon's wife ; but 
 that Reverend gentleman declined the office, 
 becaufe, as he told Mr. Hayes, the praife of 
 the deceafed was too much amplified. He, 
 who reads the piece, will find it a beautiful 
 moral leflbn, written with temper, and no 
 where overcharged with ambitious ornaments. 
 The reft of the Difcourfes were the fund, 
 which Dr. Taylor, from time to time, carried 
 with him to his pulpit. He had the largest 
 Bull* in England, and fomeofthebeft Sermons. 
 
 We come now to the Lives of the Poets, a 
 work undertaken at the age of feventy, yet the 
 moft brilliant, and certainly the moft popular, 
 of all our Author's writings. For this perfor- 
 mance he needed little preparation. Attentive 
 always to the hiflory of letters, and by his own 
 natural bias fond of Biography, he was the 
 more willing to embrace the proportion of the 
 Bookfellers. He was verfed in the whole body 
 of Enghfh Poetry ; and his rules of criticifm 
 were fettled with precifion. The diflertation, 
 in the Life of Cowley, on the metaphyseal 
 Poets of the laft century, has the attraction of 
 
 * Sec Johnfon's Letters from xA.fhbournc in Vol. XII. 
 of this edition. 
 
 novelty
 
 I72 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 novelty as well as found obfervation. The 
 writers, who, followed Dr. Donne, went in quell 
 of fomething better than truth and nature. 
 As Sancho fays in Don Quixotte, they wanted 
 better bread than is made with wheat. They 
 took pains to bewilder themfelves, and were 
 ingenious for no other purpofe than to err. In 
 Johnfon's review of Cowley's works, falfe wit 
 is dete&ed in all its (hapes, and the Gothic 
 tafte, for glittering conceits and far-fetched 
 allufions, is exploded, never, it is hoped, to re- 
 vive again. 
 
 An author, who has published his obferva- 
 tions on the Life and Writings of Dr. John- 
 fon, fpeaking of the Lives of the Poets, fays, 
 * Thefe compositions, abounding in ftrong and 
 <s acute remarks, and with many fine and even 
 u fublime paflages, have unqueflionably great 
 48 merit ; but, if they be regarded merely as 
 " containing narrations of the Lives, delinea- 
 * tions of the characters, and irric"tures of the 
 " feveral authors, they are far from being al- 
 " ways to be depended on." He adds, " The 
 " characters are fometimes partial, and there 
 *' is fometimes too much malignity of mif- 
 
 " reprefentation,
 
 GENIUS OFDR. JOHNSON. If* 
 
 <x reprefentation, to which, perhaps, may be 
 ** joined no inconfiderable portion of erroneous 
 " criticifm." The feveral claufes of this cen- 
 fure deferve to be anfvvered as fully as the limits 
 of this eflay will permit. 
 
 In the firft place, the facts are related upon 
 the beft intelligence, and the beft vouchers that 
 could be gleaned, after a great lapfe of time* 
 Probability was to be inferred from fuch ma- 
 terials as could be procured, and no man better 
 underftood the nature of hiftorical evidence than 
 Dr. Johnfon ; no man was more religioufly 
 an obferver of truth. If his Hiftory is any 
 where defective, it muft be imputed to the 
 want of better information, and the errors of 
 uncertain tradition. 
 
 Ad nos vix tenuis famas perlabitur aura. 
 
 If the ftri&ures on the works of the various 
 authors are not always fatisfactory, and if er- 
 roneous criticifms may fometimes be fufpe&ed, 
 who can hope that in matters of tafte all mail 
 agree r The inftances, in which the public 
 mind has differed from the pofiticns advanced 
 by the author, are few in number. It has 
 
 been
 
 174 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AN 
 
 been faid, that juftice has not been done to 
 Swift ; that Gay and Prior are undervalued ; 
 and that Gray has been harfhly treated. This 
 charge, perhaps, ought not to be difputed. 
 Johnfon, it is well known, had conceived a 
 prejudice againft Swift. His friends trembled 
 for him when he was writiug that life, but 
 were pleafed, at lafl, to fee it executed with 
 temper and moderation. As to Prior, it is pro- 
 bable that he gave his real opinion, but an 
 opinion that will not be adopted by men of lively 
 fancy. With regard to Gray, when he con- 
 demns the apoftrophe, in which Father Thames 
 is defired to tell who drives the hoop, or toffes 
 the ball, and then adds, that Father Thames 
 had no better means of knowing than himfelf ; 
 when he compares the abrupt beginning of the 
 firft fhnza of the bard to the ballad of Johnny 
 Armstrong, " Is there ever a man in all Scot- 
 land-" there are, perhaps, few friends of John- 
 fon, who would not wifli to blot out both the 
 paflages. It may be queftioned whether the 
 remarks on Pope's Eflay on Man can be re- 
 ceived without great caution. It has been al- 
 ready mentioned, that Croufaz, a profeflbr in 
 Switzerland, eminent for his Treatife of Logic, 
 
 ftarted
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 175 
 
 darted up a profefTed enemy to that poenu 
 Johnfon fays, *i his mind was one of thofe, in 
 *' which philofophy and piety are happily 
 44 united. He looked with diftruft upon all 
 " metaphyfical fyftems of theology, and was 
 " perfuaded, that the portions of Pope were 
 " intended to draw mankind away from Reve- 
 " lation, and to reprefent the whole courfe of 
 * things as a neceffary concatenation of in- 
 " ditloluble fatality." This is not the place 
 for a controverfy about the Leibnitzian fyflem. 
 Warburton, with all the powers of his large 
 and comprehenfive mind, publimed a Vindica- 
 tion of Pope ; and yet Johnfon fays, that " in 
 *' many parages a religious eye may eafily dii- 
 f* cover expreffions not very favourable to mo- 
 " rals or to liberty." This fentence is fevere, 
 and, perhaps, dogmatical. Croufaz wrote an 
 Examen of The Essay on Man, and after- 
 wards a Commentary on every remarkable paf- 
 fage ; and though it now appears that Mrs, 
 Elizabeth Carter tranflated the foreign Critic, 
 yet it is certain that Johnfon encouraged the 
 work, and, perhaps, imbibed thofe early pre- 
 judices which adhered to him to the end of his 
 life. He (huddered at the idea of irreligion. 
 5 Hence
 
 I76 AN ESSAY ON TI*E LIFE AND 
 
 Hence we are told in the Life of Pope, " Never 
 ** were penury of knowledge and vulgarity of 
 cc fentiment fo happily difguifed ; Pope, in the 
 ** chair of wifdom, tells much that every mari 
 " knows, and much that he did not know him- 
 * felf ; and gives us comfort in the pofition, 
 u that, though man's afool^ yet God is wife ; that 
 " human advantages are unliable ; tliat our 
 true honour is, not to have a great part, but 
 " to act it well ; that virtue only is our own, 
 " and that happinefs is always in our power. 
 " The reader, when he meets all this in its new 
 " array, no longer knows the talk of his mo- 
 *' ther and his nurfe." But may it not be faid, 
 that every fyftem of Ethics muft or ought to ter- 
 minate in plain and general maxims for the ufe of 
 life? and, though in fuch axioms, no difcovery is 
 made, dees not the beauty of the moral theory 
 confift. in the premifes, and the chain of reafon- 
 ing that leads to the conclufion ? May not 
 truth, as John foil himfelf fays, be conveyed to 
 the wind by a new train of intermediate images ? 
 Pope's doctrine about the ruling paflion does 
 not feem to be refuted, though it is called, in 
 harm terms, pernicious as well as falfe, tend- 
 ing to eflablim a kind of moral predefiination, 
 
 or
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. iff 
 
 or over-ruling principle, which cannot be re- 
 filled. But John fbn was too eafily alarmed in 
 the caufe of religion. Organized as the human 
 race is, individuals have different inlets of per- 
 ception, different powers of mind, and different 
 fenfations of pleafure and pain. 
 
 All fpread their charms, but charm not all alike^ 
 On different fenfes different objects ftrike ; . 
 Hence different palTions more cr lefs inflame* 
 As ftrong or weak the organs of the frame* 
 And hence one mafter-paffion in the bread, 
 Like Aaron's ferpent, fwallows up the reft. 
 
 Brumoy fays, Pafcal from his infancy felt hitil- 
 felf a geometrician ; and Vandyke, in like 
 manner, was a painter. Shakfpeare, who of 
 all poets had the deepefr. infight into human 
 nature, was aware of a prevailing bias in the 
 operations of every mind. By him we are told t 
 " Mafierlefs Pafjionfivays us to the m-.od of what 
 It likes or loxtbs" 
 
 It remains to enquire, whether in the lives 
 before us the characters are partial, and too of- 
 ten drawn with malignity of mifreprefentation* 
 To prove this it is alleged, that Johnfon has 
 mifreprefented the circumfhnces relative to the 
 
 m Irauf-
 
 iy& AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 tranflation of the firft Iliad, and malicioufly 
 afcribed that performance to Addifon, inftead 
 of Tickell, with too much reliance on the tes- 
 timony of Pope, taken from the account in 
 the papers left by Mr. Spence. For a refuta- 
 tion of the fallacy imputed to Addifon, we are 
 referred to a note in the Biographia Britannica, 
 written by the late Judge BlackJlone 9 who, it 
 is faid, examined the whole matter with accu- 
 racy, and found that the firft regular ftate- 
 ment of the accufation againft Addifon was 
 publifhed by RufFhead, in his Life of Pope, 
 from the materials which he received from Dr. 
 Warburton. But, with all due deference to 
 the learned Judge, whofe talents deferve all 
 praife, this account is by no means accurate. 
 
 Sir Richard Steele, in a dedication of the 
 Comedy of the Drummer to Mr. Congreve, 
 gave the firft infight into that bulinefs. He 
 lays, in a ftyle of anger and refentment, " If 
 " that gentleman (Mr. Tickell) thinks himfelf 
 " injured, I will allow 1 have wronged him 
 " upon this iflue, that (if the reputed tranflator 
 "of the firft book of Homer mall pleafe to 
 " give us another book) there (hall appear 
 
 " another
 
 GENItJS OF DR. JOHNSON. IJ<) 
 
 '" another good judge in poetry, befides Mr. 
 44 Alexander Pope, who mall like it." The 
 authority of Steele outweighs all opinions 
 founded on vain conjecture, and, indeed, feems 
 to be decifive, fince we do not find that Tickell, 
 though warmly prefled, thought proper to vin- 
 dicate himfelf. 
 
 But the grand proof of Johnfon's malignity 
 is the manner in which he has treated the cha- 
 racter and conduct of Milton. To enforce this 
 charge has wearied fophiftry and exhaufted the 
 invention of a party. What they cannot deny, 
 they palliate; what they cannot prove, they 
 fay is probable. But why all this rage again ft 
 Dr. Johnfon ? Addifon, before him, had faid 
 of Milton ; 
 
 Oh \ had the Poet ne'er prophan'd his pen, 
 To varnifn o'er the guilt of faithlefs men 1 
 
 And had not Johnfon an equal right to avow his 
 fentiments ? Do his enemies claim a privilege 
 to abufe whatever is valuable to Englishmen, 
 either in Church or State? and muft the liberty 
 of unlicensed printing be denied to the 
 friends of the Britifh con flit ution ? 
 
 m 2 It
 
 l8o AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 It is unnecessary to purfue the argument 
 through all its artifices, fince, difmantled of 
 ornament and feducing language, the plain 
 truth may be ftated in a narrow compafs. John- 
 fon knew that Milton was a republican ; he 
 fays, " an acrimonious and furly republican, 
 " for which it is not known that he gave any 
 " better reafon,than that a popular government 
 " was the mod. frugal ; for the trappings of a 
 " monarchy would let up an ordinary common- 
 '* wealth." Johnfon knew that Milton talked 
 aloud " of the danger of readmitting king- 
 kt ship in this nation;" and when Milton adds, 
 Ci that a commonwealth was commended, or 
 " rather enjoined, by our Saviour himfelf, to 
 * 4 all Chr'utians, not without a remarkable dii- 
 " allowance, and the brand of Gentilifm upon 
 " kingship, " Johnfon thought him no better 
 than a wild enthufiaft. He knew, as well 
 as Milton, li that the happinefs of a nation 
 1C rauft needs be firmed: and certaineif in a full 
 " and free council of their own electing, where 
 "no fingle perfon, but reafon only, fways ;'" 
 but the example of all the republics, recorded 
 in the annals of mankind, gave him no room 
 
 to
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. iSl 
 
 to hope that reason only would be heard. 
 He knew that the republican form of govern- 
 ment, having little or no complication, and 
 no confonance of parts by a nice mechanifm 
 forming a regular whole, was too (imple to be 
 beautiful even in theory. In practice it, perhaps, 
 never exifted. In its moil: flourifhing ftate, at 
 Athens, Rome, and Carthage, it was a con- 
 ftant fcene of tumult and commotion. From 
 the mifchiefs of a wild democracy, the progrefs 
 has ever been to the dominion of an ariftocracy; 
 and the word ariftocracy fatally includes the 
 boldeft and moft turbulent citizens, who riie 
 by their crimes, and call themfelves the bed: 
 men in the ftate. By intrigue, by cabal, and 
 faction, a pernicious oligarchy is fure to fuc- 
 ceed, and end at laft in the tyranny of a fin- 
 gle ruler. Tacitus, the great matter of poli- 
 tical wifdom, faw, under the mixed authority 
 of king, nobles, and people, a better form of 
 government than Milton's boafted republic ; 
 and what Tacitus admired in theory, but de- 
 ipaired of enjoying, John fori faw eftablifhed in 
 this country. He knew that it had been over- 
 turned by the rage of frantic men; but he knew 
 that, after the iron rod of Cromwell's ufurpa- 
 m 3 tion,
 
 182 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 tion, the constitution was once more reftored to 
 its firfr. principles. Monarchy was eftablifhed, 
 and this country was regenerated. It was re 
 generated a fecond time at the Revolution ; the 
 rights of men were then defined, and the bleflings 
 of good order and civil liberty have been ever 
 fince diffufed through the whole community. 
 
 The peace and happinefs of fociety were 
 what Dr. Johnfon had at heart. He knew 
 that Milton called his Defence of the Regicides 
 a defence of the people of England, but, how- 
 ever glofTed and varnifhed, he thought it an 
 apology for murder. Had the men, who, 
 under a (hew of liberty, brought their king to 
 the fcaffold, proved by their fubfequent con- 
 duel, that the public good infpired their ac- 
 tions, the end might have given fome fanclion 
 to the means; but ufurpation and flavery fol- 
 lowed. Milton undertook the office of fecre- 
 tary under the defpotic power of Cromwell, 
 offering the incenfe of adulation to his matter, 
 with the titles of Director of public Councils, 
 the Leader cj unconquered Armies, the Father 
 *>f his Country. Milton declared, at the fame 
 time, that nothing is more pleajing to God, or 
 
 more
 
 .GENIUS OP DR. JOHNSON. l8j 
 
 more agreeable to reafon, than that the highejt 
 mind Jbould have the fovereign power. In this 
 {train of fervile flattery Milton gives us the 
 right divine of tyrants. But it feems, in the 
 fame piece, he exhorts Cromwell " not to de- 
 " fert thofe great principles of liberty which 
 " he had profefTed to efpoufe ; for, it would be 
 " a grievous enormity, if, after having fuccefs- 
 " fully oppofed tyranny, he fhould himfelf 
 " act the part of a tyrant, and betray the caufe 
 u that he had defended." This defertion of 
 every honeft principle the advocate for liberty 
 lived to fee. Cromwell acted the tyrant ; and, 
 with vile hypocrify, told the people, that he had 
 confulted the Lord, and the Lord would have it 
 fo. Milton took an under part in the tragedy. 
 Did that become the defender of the people of 
 England ? Brutus faw his country enflaved ; he 
 :ftruck the blow for freedom, and he died with 
 honour in the caufe. Had he lived to be a fe- 
 cretary under Tiberius, what would now be faid 
 of his memory ? 
 
 But (till, it feems, the proftitution with which 
 Milton is charged, fince it cannot be defended, 
 is to be retorted on the character of Johnfon. 
 
 For
 
 184 AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 For this purpofe a book has been published, 
 called Remarks on Dr. fohnfons Life of Milton, 
 to which are added Milton" 's Traftateof Education, 
 and Areopagitica. In this laboured tract we 
 are told, " There is one performance afcribed to 
 " the pen of the Doctor, where the proftitution 
 " is of fo lingular a nature, that it would be 
 " difficult to lelecl: an adequate motive for it 
 ** out of the mountainous heap of conjectural 
 e< caufes of human paflions or human caprice. 
 ** It is the fpeech of the late unhappy Dr. 
 " William Dodd, when he was about to hear 
 " the fentence of the law pronounced upon 
 M him, in confequence of an indictment for 
 " forgery. The voice of the publick has given 
 Ci the honour of manufacturing this fpeech to 
 " Dr. Johnfon ; and the ityle and configuration of 
 < 6 the fpeech itfeif confirm the imputation. But 
 " it is hardly poflible to divine what could be 
 " his motive for accepting the office. A man, 
 u to exprefs the precife itate of mind of another, 
 " about to be declined to an ignominious death 
 " for a capital crime, lhorlc, one would ima- 
 ** ginc, have fome conicioufnefs, that lie him- 
 " felf had incurred fome guilt of the fame 
 " kind." In all the fchools of fophiftry is 
 
 there
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 185 
 
 there to be found fo vile an argument ? In the 
 purlieus of Grub-ftreet is there fuch another 
 mouthful of dirt r In the whole quiver of 
 Malice is there fo envenomed a fhaft ? 
 
 After this it is to be hoped, that a certain 
 clafs of men will talk no more of Johnfon's 
 malignity-. The laft apology for Milton is, 
 that he acted according to his principles* 
 But Johnfon thought thofe principles detefta- 
 ble ; pernicious to the conftitution in Church 
 and State, deftru&ive of the peace of fociety, 
 and hoftile to the great fabric of civil policy, 
 which the w r ifdom of ages has taught every 
 Briton to revere, to love, and cherifh. He 
 reckoned Milton in that clafs of men, of whom 
 the Roman hiflorian fays, when they want, by 
 a fudden, convulfion, to overturn the govern- 
 ment, they roar and clamour for liberty ; if 
 they fucceed, they deflroy liberty itfelf. TJt hn- 
 ferium evertant, Libertatem prceferunt ; Ji per- 
 verterint, libertatem ipfam aggredientur. Such 
 were the fentiments of Dr. Johnfon ; and it may 
 be afked, in the language of Bolingbroke, "Are 
 " thefe ientiment!-, which any man, who is 
 5i born a Briton, in any circumdances, in. any 
 
 " fitua- 
 
 3
 
 l86 AN" ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND 
 
 " fituation, ought to be afhamed or afraid to 
 " avow ?" Johnfon has done ample juftice to 
 Milton's poetry : the Criticifm on Paradife Loft 
 is a fublime compofition. Had he thought the 
 author as good and pious a citizen as Dr. 
 Watts, he would have been ready, notwith- 
 itanding his non- conformity, to do equal ho- 
 nour to the memory of the man. 
 
 It is now time to clofe this effay, which the 
 author fears has been drawn too much into 
 length. In the progrefs of the work, feeble as 
 it may be, he thought himfelf performing the 
 laft human office to the memory of a friend, 
 whom he loved, efteemed, and honoured. 
 
 His faltera accumulem donis, et fungar inani 
 Munere. 
 
 The author of thefe Memoirs has been anxious 
 to give the features of the man, and the true 
 character of the author. He has not fufFered the 
 hand of partiality to colour his excellences with 
 too much warmth ; nor has he endeavoured to 
 throw his fingularities tpo m uch in tot he (hade. Dr. 
 Johnfon's failings may well be forgiven for the 
 fake of his virtues. His defects were fpots in the 
 fun. His piety, his kind affections, and the good- 
 
 nefs
 
 GENIUS OF DR. JOHNSON. 187 
 
 nefs of his heart, prefent an example worthy of 
 
 imitation. His works ftill remain a monument 
 
 of genius and of learning. Had he written 
 
 nothing but what is contained in this edition, 
 
 the quantity fhews a life fpent in fludy and 
 
 meditation. If to this we added the labour of 
 
 his Dictionary and other various productions, 
 
 it may be fairly allowed, as he ufed to fay of 
 
 himfelf, that he has written his mare. In 
 
 the volumes here prefented to the publick, the 
 
 reader will find a perpetual fource of pleafure 
 
 and inftruction. With due precautions, authors 
 
 may learn to grace their flyle with elegance, 
 
 harmony, and precifion ; they may be taught 
 
 to think with vigour and perfpicuity ; and, to 
 
 crown the whole, by a diligent attention to 
 
 thefe books all may advance in virtue. 
 
 FINIS.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 *W5 1958 
 
 SEP 1 1 w7 
 
 <ro 
 
 SSSSL "* 
 
 OWON ^02*90 
 LD/USU ^ w 
 
 Form L9-40m-7,'56(C790s4)444
 
 Murphy - 
 
 kn essay on the 
 life and genius 
 of Samuel 
 Johnson