Life of Johnson Volume III Part 63

[670] Very likely Boswell himself. See _post_, July 17, 1779, where he put Johnson's friendship to the test by neglecting to write to him.

[671] No doubt Dr. Barnard, Dean of Derry, afterwards Bishop of Killaloe. See _ante_, p. 84.

[672] The reverse of the story of _Combabus_, on which Mr. David Hume told Lord Macartney, that a friend of his had written a tragedy. It is, however, possible that I may have been inaccurate in my perception of what Dr. Johnson related, and that he may have been talking of the same ludicrous tragical subject that Mr. Hume had mentioned. BOSWELL. The story of Combabus, which was originally told by Lucian, may be found in Bayle's _Dictionary_. MALONE.

[673] Horace Walpole, less than three months later, wrote (_Letters_, vii. 83):--'Poor Mrs. Clive has been robbed again in her own lane [in Twickenham] as she was last year. I don't make a visit without a blunderbuss; one might as well be invaded by the French.' Yet Wesley in the previous December, speaking of highwaymen, records (_Journal_, iv. 110):--'I have travelled all roads by day and by night for these forty years, and never was interrupted yet.' Baretti, who was a great traveller, says:--'For my part I never met with any robbers in my various rambles through several regions of Europe.' Baretti's _Journey from London to Genoa_, ii. 266.

[674] A year or two before Johnson became acquainted with the Thrales a man was hanged on Kennington Common for robbing Mr. Thrale.

_Gent. Mag_. x.x.xiii. 411.

[675] The late Duke of Montrose was generally said to have been uneasy on that account; but I can contradict the report from his Grace's own authority. As he used to admit me to very easy conversation with him, I took the liberty to introduce the subject. His Grace told me, that when riding one night near London, he was attacked by two highwaymen on horseback, and that he instantly shot one of them, upon which the other galloped off; that his servant, who was very well mounted, proposed to pursue him and take him, but that his Grace said, 'No, we have had blood enough: I hope the man may live to repent.' His Grace, upon my presuming to put the question, a.s.sured me, that his mind was not at all clouded by what he had thus done in self-defence. BOSWELL.

[676] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 22, for a discussion on signing death-warrants.

[677] 'Mr. Dunning the great lawyer,' Johnson called him, _ante_, p. 128.

Lord Shelburne says:--'The fact is well known of the present Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (Lord Loughborough, formerly Mr. Wedderburne) beginning a law argument in the absence of Mr. Dunning, but upon hearing him hem in the course of it, his tone so visibly [sic] changed that there was not a doubt in any part of the House of the reason of it.'

Fitzmaurice's _Shelburne_, iii. 454.

[678] 'The applause of a single human being,' he once said, 'is of great consequence.' _Post_, 1780, in Mr. Langton's _Collection_.

[679] Most likely Boswell's father, for he answers to what is said of this person. He was known to Johnson, he had married a second time, and he was fond of planting, and entertained schemes for the improvement of his property. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Nov. 4 and 5, 1773.

_Respectable_ was still a term of high praise. It had not yet come down to signify 'a man who keeps a gig.' Johnson defines it as 'venerable, meriting respect.' It is not in the earlier editions of his _Dictionary_. Boswell, in his _Hebrides_ (Oct. 27), calls Johnson the Duke of Argyle's 'respectable guest,' and _post_, under Sept. 5, 1780, writes of 'the _respectable_ notion which should ever be entertained of my ill.u.s.trious friend.' Dr. Franklin in a dedication to Johnson describes himself as 'a sincere admirer of his _respectable_ talents;'

_post_, end of 1780. In the _Gent. Mag_. lv. 235, we read that 'a stone now covers the grave which holds his [Dr. Johnson's] _respectable_ remains.' 'I do not know,' wrote Hannah More (_Memoirs_, i. 43) of Hampton Court, 'a more _respectable_ sight than a room containing fourteen admirals, all by Sir G.o.dfrey.' Gibbon (_Misc. Works_, ii. 487), congratulating Lord Loughborough on becoming Lord Chancellor, speaks of the support the administration will derive 'from so _respectable_ an ally.' George III. wrote to Lord Shelburne on Sept. 16, 1782, 'when the tie between the Colonies and England was about to be formally severed,'

that he made 'the most frequent prayers to heaven to guide me so to act that posterity may not lay the downfall of this once _respectable_ empire at my door.' Fitzmaurice's _Shelburne_, iii. 297. Lord Chesterfield (_Misc. Works_, iv. 308) writing of the hour of death says:--'That moment is at least a very _respectable_ one, let people who boast of not fearing it say what they please.'

[680] The younger Newbery records that Johnson, finding that he had a violin, said to him:--'Young man, give the fiddle to the first beggar man you meet, or you will never be a scholar.' _A Bookseller of the Last Century_, pp. 127, 145. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 15.

[681] When I told this to Miss Seward, she smiled, and repeated, with admirable readiness, from _Acis and Galatea_,

'Bring me a hundred reeds of ample growth, To make a pipe for my CAPACIOUS MOUTH.' BOSWELL.

[682] See _post_, June 3, 1784, where Johnson again mentions this. In _The Spectator_, No. 536, Addison recommends knotting, which was, he says, again in fashion, as an employment for 'the most idle part of the kingdom; I mean that part of mankind who are known by the name of the women's-men, or beaus,' etc. In _The Universal Pa.s.sion_, Satire i, Young says of fame:--

'By this inspired (O ne'er to be forgot!) Some lords have learned to spell, and some to knot.'

Lord Eldon says that 'at a period when all ladies were employed (when they had nothing better to do) in knotting, Bishop Porteous was asked by the Queen, whether she might knot on a Sunday. He answered, "You may not;" leaving her Majesty to decide whether, as _knot_ and _not_ were in sound alike, she was, or was not, at liberty to do so.' Twiss's _Eldon_, ii. 355.

[683] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 23.

[684] See _post_, p. 248.

[685] Martin's style is wanting in that 'cadence which Temple gave to English prose' (_post_, p. 257). It would not be judged now so severely as it was a century ago, as the following instance will show:--'There is but one steel and tinder-box in all this commonwealth; the owner whereof fails not upon every occasion of striking fire in the lesser isles, to go thither, and exact three eggs, or one of the lesser fowls from each man as a reward for his service; this by them is called the Fire-Penny, and this Capitation is very uneasy to them; I bid them try their chrystal with their knives, which, when they saw it did strike fire, they were not a little astonished, admiring at the strangeness of the thing, and at the same time accusing their own ignorance, considering the quant.i.ty of chrystal growing under the rock of their coast. This discovery has delivered them from the Fire-Penny-Tax, and so they are no longer liable to it.'

[686] See _ante_, p. 226.

[687] Lord Macartney observes upon this pa.s.sage, 'I have heard him tell many things, which, though embellished by their mode of narrative, had their foundation in truth; but I never remember any thing approaching to this. If he had written it, I should have supposed some wag had put the figure of one before the three.'--I am, however, absolutely certain that Dr. Campbell told me it, and I gave particular attention to it, being myself a lover of wine, and therefore curious to hear whatever is remarkable concerning drinking. There can be no doubt that some men can drink, without suffering any injury, such a quant.i.ty as to others appears incredible. It is but fair to add, that Dr. Campbell told me, he took a very long time to this great potation; and I have heard Dr.

Johnson say, 'Sir, if a man drinks very slowly, and lets one gla.s.s evaporate before he takes another, I know not how long he may drink.'

Dr. Campbell mentioned a Colonel of Militia who sat with him all the time, and drank equally. BOSWELL.

[688] See _ante_, i. 417.

[689] In the following September she is thus mentioned by Miss Burney: --'Mrs. Thrale. "To-morrow, Sir, Mrs. Montagu dines here, and then you will have talk enough." Dr. Johnson began to see-saw, with a countenance strongly expressive of inward fun, and after enjoying it some time in silence, he suddenly, and with great animation, turned to me and cried; "Down with her, Burney! down with her! spare her not! attack her, fight her, and down with her at once! You are a rising wit, and she is at the top; and when I was beginning the world, and was nothing and n.o.body, the joy of my life was to fire at all the established wits, and then everybody loved to halloo me on."' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 117. 'She has,' adds Miss Burney, 'a sensible and penetrating countenance and the air and manner of a woman accustomed to being distinguished and of great parts. Dr. Johnson, who agrees in this, told us that a Mrs. Hervey of his acquaintance says she can remember Mrs. Montagu _trying_ for this same air and manner.' _Ib_. p. 122. See _ante_, ii. 88.

[690] Only one volume had been published; it ended with the sixteenth chapter.

[691] Dr. A. Carlyle (_Auto_. p. 462) says:--'She did not take at Edinburgh. Lord Kames, who was at first catched with her Parna.s.sian coquetry, said at last that he believed she had as much learning as a well-educated college lad here of sixteen. In genuine feelings and deeds she was remarkably deficient. We saw her often in the neighbourhood of Newcastle, and in that town, where there was no audience for such an actress as she was, her natural character was displayed, which was that of an active manager of her affairs, a crafty chaperon, and a keen pursuer of her interest, not to be outdone by the sharpest coal-dealer on the Tyne; but in this capacity she was not displeasing, for she was not acting a part.'

[692] What my friend meant by these words concerning the amiable philosopher of Salisbury, I am at a loss to understand. A friend suggests, that Johnson thought his _manner_ as a writer affected, while at the same time the _matter_ did not compensate for that fault. In short, that he meant to make a remark quite different from that which a _celebrated gentleman_ made on a very eminent physician: 'He is a c.o.xcomb, but a _satisfactory c.o.xcomb_.' BOSWELL. Malone says that the _celebrated gentleman_ was Gerard Hamilton. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Nov. 3, where Johnson says that 'he thought Harris a c.o.xcomb,' and _ante_, ii. 225.

[693] _Hermes_.

[694] On the back of the engraving of Johnson in the Common Room of University College is inscribed:--'Samuel Johnson, LL.D. in hac camera communi frequens conviva. D.D. Gulielmus Scott nuper socius.'

Gulielmus Scott is better known as Lord Stowell. See _ante_, i. 379, note 2, and iii. 42; and _post_, April 17, 1778.

[695] See _ante_, under March 15, 1776.

[696] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 31.

[697] See _ante_, p. 176.

[698] See _ante_, i. 413.

[699] _Eminent_ is the epithet Boswell generally applies to Burke (_ante_, ii. 222), and Burke almost certainly is here meant. Yet Johnson later on said, 'Burke's talk is the ebullition of his mind. He does not talk from a desire of distinction, but because his mind is full.'

_Post_, March 21, 1783.

[700] Kames describes it as 'an act as wild as any that superst.i.tion ever suggested to a distempered brain.' _Sketches, etc_. iv. 321.

[701] See _ante,_ p. 243.

[702] 'Queen Caroline,' writes Horace Walpole, 'much wished to make Dr. Clarke a bishop, but he would not subscribe the articles again.

I have often heard my father relate that he sat up one night at the Palace with the Doctor, till the pages of the backstairs asked if they would have fresh candles, my father endeavouring to persuade him to subscribe again, as he had for the living of St. James's. Clarke pretended he had _then_ believed them. "Well," said Sir Robert, "but if you do not now, you ought to resign your living to some man who would subscribe conscientiously." The Doctor would neither resign his living nor accept the bishopric.' _Journal of the Reign of George III_, i. 8.

See _ante_, i. 398, _post_, Dec. 1784, where Johnson, on his death-bed, recommended Clarke's _Sermons_; and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 5.

[703] Boswell took Ogden's _Sermons_ with him to the Hebrides, but Johnson showed no great eagerness to read them. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 15 and 32.

[704] See _ante_, p. 223.

[705] _King Lear_, act iii. sc. 4.

[706] The Duke of Marlborough.

[707] See Chappell's _Popular Music of the Olden Time_, i. 330.

[708] See _ante_, p. 177.

[709] 'The accounts of Swift's reception in Ireland given by Lord Orrery and Dr. Delany are so different, that the credit of the writers, both undoubtedly veracious, cannot be saved but by supposing, what I think is true, that they speak of different times. Johnson's _Works_, viii. 207. See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. Lord Orrery says that Swift, on his return to Ireland in 1714, 'met with frequent indignities from the populace, and indeed was equally abused by persons of all ranks and denominations.' Orrery's _Remarks on Swift_, ed. 1752, p. 60. Dr. Delany says (_Observations_, p. 87) that 'Swift, when he came--to take possession of his Deanery (in 1713), was received with very distinguished respect.'

[710] 'He could practise abstinence,' says Boswell (_post_, March 20, 1781), 'but not temperance.'