Life of Johnson Volume I Part 86

[1147] P. 447. BOSWELL. 'There is another writer, at present of gigantic fame in these days of little men, who has pretended to scratch out a life of Swift, but so miserably executed as only to reflect back on himself that disgrace which he meant to throw upon the character of the Dean.' _The Life of Doctor Swift_, Swift's _Works_, ed. 1803, ii. 200.

There is a pa.s.sage in the _Lives of the Poets_ (_Works_, viii. 43) in which Johnson might be supposed playfully to have antic.i.p.ated this attack. He is giving an account of Blackmore's imaginary _Literary Club of Lay Monks_, of which the hero was 'one Mr. Johnson.' 'The rest of the _Lay Monks_,' he writes, 'seem to be but feeble mortals, in comparison with the gigantick Johnson.' See also _post_, Oct. 16, 1769. Horace Walpole (_Letters_, v. 458) spoke no less scornfully than Sheridan of Johnson and his contemporaries. On April 27, 1773, after saying that he should like to be intimate with Anstey (the author of the _New Bath Guide_), or with the author of the _Heroic Epistle_, he continues:--'I have no thirst to know the rest of my contemporaries, from the absurd bombast of Dr. Johnson down to the silly Dr. Goldsmith; though the latter changeling has had bright gleams of parts, and the former had sense, till he changed it for words, and sold it for a pension. Don't think me scornful. Recollect that I have seen Pope and lived with Gray.'

[1148] Johnson is thus mentioned by Mrs. Sheridan in a letter dated, Blois, Nov. 16, 1743, according to the _Garrick Corres_, i. 17, but the date is wrongly given, as the Sheridans went to Blois in 1764: 'I have heard Johnson decry some of the prettiest pieces of writing we have in English; yet Johnson is an honourable man--that is to say, he is a good critic, and in other respects a man of enormous talents.'

[1149] My position has been very well ill.u.s.trated by Mr. Belsham of Bedford, in his _Essay on Dramatic Poetry_. 'The fashionable doctrine (says he) both of moralists and criticks in these times is, that virtue and happiness are constant concomitants; and it is regarded as a kind of dramatick impiety to maintain that virtue should not be rewarded, nor vice punished in the last scene of the last act of every tragedy. This conduct in our modern poets is, however, in my opinion, extremely injudicious; for, it labours in vain to inculcate a doctrine in theory, which every one knows to be false in fact, _viz_. that virtue in real life is always productive of happiness; and vice of misery. Thus Congreve concludes the Tragedy of _The Mourning Bride_ with the following foolish couplet:--

'For blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds, And though a late, a sure reward succeeds.'

'When a man eminently virtuous, a Brutus, a Cato, or a Socrates, finally sink under the pressure of acc.u.mulated misfortune, we are not only led to entertain a more indignant hatred of vice than if he rose from his distress, but we are inevitably induced to cherish the sublime idea that a day of future retribution will arrive when he shall receive not merely poetical, but real and substantial justice.' _Essays Philosophical, Historical, and Literary_, London, 1791, vol. II. 8vo. p. 317.

This is well reasoned and well expressed. I wish, indeed, that the ingenious authour had not thought it necessary to introduce any _instance_ of 'a man eminently virtuous;' as he would then have avoided mentioning such a ruffian as Brutus under that description. Mr. Belsham discovers in his _Essays_ so much reading and thinking, and good composition, that I regret his not having been fortunate enough to be educated a member of our excellent national establishment. Had he not been nursed in nonconformity, he probably would not have been tainted with those heresies (as I sincerely, and on no slight investigation, think them) both in religion and politicks, which, while I read, I am sure, with candour, I cannot read without offence. BOSWELL. Boswell's 'position has been ill.u.s.trated' with far greater force by Johnson. 'It has been the boast of some swelling moralists, that every man's fortune was in his own power, that prudence supplied the place of all other divinities, and that happiness is the unfailing consequence of virtue.

But surely the quiver of Omnipotence is stored with arrows against which the shield of human virtue, however adamantine it has been boasted, is held up in vain; we do not always suffer by our crimes; we are not always protected by our innocence.' _The Adventurer_, No. 120. See also _Ra.s.selas_, chap. 27.

[1150] 'Charles Fox said that Mrs. Sheridan's _Sydney Biddulph_ was the best of all modern novels. By the by [R. B.] Sheridan used to declare that _he_ had never read it.' Rogers's _Table-Talk_, p. 90. The editor says, in a note on this pa.s.sage:--'The incident in _The School for Scandal_ of Sir Oliver's presenting himself to his relations in disguise is manifestly taken by Sheridan from his mother's novel.'

[1151] No. 8.--The very place where I was fortunate enough to be introduced to the ill.u.s.trious subject of this work, deserves to be particularly marked. I never pa.s.s by it without feeling reverence and regret. BOSWELL.

[1152] Johnson said:--'Sir, Davies has learning enough to give credit to a clergyman.' _Post_, 1780, in Mr. Langton's _Collection_. The spiteful Steevens thus wrote about Davies:--'His concern ought to be with the outside of books; but Dr. Johnson, Dr. Percy, and some others have made such a c.o.xcomb of him, that he is now hardy enough to open volumes, turn over their leaves, and give his opinions of their contents. Did I ever tell you an anecdote of him? About ten years ago I wanted the Oxford _Homer_, and called at Davies's to ask for it, as I had seen one thrown about his shop. Will you believe me, when I a.s.sure you he told me "he had but one, and that he kept for _his own reading_?"' _Garrick Corres_. i. 608.

[1153] Johnson, writing to Beattie, _post_, Aug 21, 1780, says:--'Mr.

Davies has got great success as an author, generated by the corruption of a bookseller.' His princ.i.p.al works are _Memoirs of Garrick_, 1780, and _Dramatic Miscellanies_, 1784.

[1154] Churchill, in the _Rosciad_, thus celebrated his wife and mocked his recitation:--

'With him came mighty Davies. On my life That Davies hath a very pretty wife:-- Statesman all over!--In plots famous grown!-- He mouths a sentence, as curs mouth a bone.'

Churchill's _Poems_, i. 16.

See _post_, under April 20, 1764, and March 20, 1778. Charles Lamb in a note to his _Essay on the Tragedies of Shakespeare_ says of Davies, that he 'is recorded to have recited the _Paradise Lost_ better than any man in England in his day (though I cannot help thinking there must be some mistake in this tradition).' Lamb's _Works_, ed. 1840, p. 517.

[1155] See Johnson's letter to Davies, _post_, June 18, 1783.

[1156] Mr. Murphy, in his _Essay on the Life and Genius of Dr. Johnson_, [p. 106], has given an account of this meeting considerably different from mine, I am persuaded without any consciousness of errour. His memory, at the end of near thirty years, has undoubtedly deceived him, and he supposes himself to have been present at a scene, which he has probably heard inaccurately described by others. In my note _taken on the very day_, in which I am confident I marked every thing material that pa.s.sed, no mention is made of this gentleman; and I am sure, that I should not have omitted one so well known in the literary world. It may easily be imagined that this, my first interview with Dr. Johnson, with all its circ.u.mstances, made a strong impression on my mind, and would be registered with peculiar attention. BOSWELL.

[1157] See _post_, April 8, 1775.

[1158] That this was a momentary sally against Garrick there can be no doubt; for at Johnson's desire he had, some years before, given a benefit-night at his theatre to this very person, by which she had got two hundred pounds. Johnson, indeed, upon all other occasions, when I was in his company, praised the very liberal charity of Garrick. I once mentioned to him, 'It is observed, Sir, that you attack Garrick yourself, but will suffer n.o.body else to do it.' JOHNSON, (smiling) 'Why, Sir, that is true.' BOSWELL. See _post_, May 15, 1776, and April 17, 1778.

[1159] By Henry Home, Lord Kames, 3 vols. Edinburgh, 1762. See _post_, Oct. 16, 1769. 'Johnson laughed much at Lord Kames's opinion that war was a good thing occasionally, as so much valour and virtue were exhibited in it. "A fire," says Johnson, "might as well be thought a good thing; there is the bravery and address of the firemen employed in extinguishing it; there is much humanity exerted in saving the lives and properties of the poor sufferers; yet after all this, who can say a fire is a good thing?"' Johnson's _Works_, (1787) xi. 209.

[1160] No. 45 of the _North Briton_ had been published on April 23.

Wilkes was arrested under a general warrant on April 30. On May 6 he was discharged from custody by the Court of Common Pleas, before which he had been brought by a writ of _Habeas Corpus_. A few days later he was served with a subpoena upon an information exhibited against him by the Attorney-General in the Court of King's Bench. He did not enter an appearance, holding, as he said, the serving him with the subpoena as a violation of the privilege of parliament. _Parl. Hist_. xv. 1360.

[1161] Mr. Sheridan was then reading lectures upon Oratory at Bath, where Derrick was Master of the Ceremonies; or, as the phrase is, KING.

BOSWELL. Dr. Parr, who knew Sheridan well, describes him 'as a wrong-headed, whimsical man.' 'I remember,' he continues, 'hearing one of his daughters, in the house where I lodged, triumphantly repeat Dryden's _Ode upon St. Cecilia's Day_, according to the instruction given to her by her father. Take a sample:--

"_None_ but the brave None but the _brave_.

None _but_ the brave deserve the fair."

Naughty Richard [R. B. Sheridan], like Gallio, seemed to care nought for these things.' Moore's _Sheridan_, i. 9, 11. Sheridan writing from Dublin on Dec. 7, 1771, says:--'Never was party violence carried to such a height as in this session; the House [the Irish House of Parliament]

seldom breaking up till eleven or twelve at night. From these contests the desire of improving in the article of elocution is become very general. There are no less than five persons of rank and fortune now waiting my leisure to become my pupils.' _Ib_. p. 60. See _post_, July 28, 1763.

[1162] Bonnell Thornton. See _post_ July 1, 1763.

[1163] Lloyd was one of a remarkable group of Westminster boys. He was a school-fellow not only of Churchill, the elder Colman, and c.u.mberland, buy also of Cowper and Warren Hastings. Bonnell Thornton was a few years their senior. Not many weeks after this meeting with Boswell, Lloyd was in the Fleet prison. Churchill in _Indepence_(_Poems_ ii 310) thus addresses the Patrons of the age:--

'Hence, ye vain boasters, to the Fleet repair And ask, with blushes ask if Lloyd is there.'

Of the four men who thus enlivened Boswell, two were dead before the end of the following year. Churchill went first. When Lloyd heard of his death, '"I shall follow poor Charles," was all he said, as he went to the bed from which he never rose again.' Thornton lived three or four years longer, Forster's _Essays_, ii 217, 270, 289. See also his _Life of Goldsmith_ i. 264, for an account how 'Lloyd invited Goldsmith to sup with some friends of Grub Street, and left him to pay the reckoning.'

Thornton, Lloyd, Colman, Cowper, and Joseph Hill, to whom Cowper's famous _Epistle_ was addressed, had at one time been members of the Nonsense Club. Southey's _Cowper_, i. 37.

[1164] The author of the well-known sermons, see _post_, under Dec. 21, 1776.

[1165] See _post_, under Dec. 9, 1784.

[1166] See _post_, Feb. 7, 1775, under Dec. 24, 1783, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Nov. 10, 1773.

[1167] 'Sir,' he said to Reynolds, 'a man might write such stuff for ever, if he would _abandon_ his mind to it;' _post_, under March 30, 1783.

[1168] 'Or behind the screen' some one might have added, _ante_, i. 163.

[1169] Wesley was told that a whole waggon-load of Methodists had been lately brought before a Justice of the Peace. When he asked what they were charged with, one replied, 'Why they pretended to be better than other people, and besides they prayed from morning to night.' Wesley's _Journal_, i. 361. See also _post_, 1780, near the end of Mr. Langton's _Collection_.

[1170] 'The progress which the understanding makes through a book has'

he said, 'more pain than pleasure in it;' _post_, May 1, 1783.

[1171] _Matthew_, vi. 16.

[1172] Boswell, it is clear, in the early days of his acquaintance with Johnson often led the talk to this subject. See _post_, June 25, July 14, 21, and 28, 1763.

[1173] See _post_, April 7, 1778.

[1174] He finished his day, 'however late it might be,' by taking tea at Miss Williams's lodgings; _post_, July 1, 1763.

[1175] See _post_, under Feb. 15, 1766, Feb. 1767, March 20, 1776, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Sept. 20, 1773, where Johnson says:--'I have been trying to cure my laziness all my life, and could not do it.' It was this kind of life that caused so much of the remorse which is seen in his _Prayers and Meditations_.

[1176] Horace Walpole writing on June 12, 1759 (_Letters_, iii. 231), says:--'A war that reaches from Muscovy to Alsace, and from Madras to California, don't produce an article half so long as Mr. Johnson's riding three horses at once.' I have a curious copper-plate showing Johnson standing on one, or two, and leading a third horse in full speed.' It bears the date of November 1758. See _post_, April 3, 1778.

[1177] In the impudent _Correspondence_ (pp. 63, 65) which Boswell and Andrew Erskine published this year, Boswell shows why he wished to enter the Guards. 'My fondness for the Guards,' he writes, 'must appear very strange to you, who have a rooted antipathy at the glare of scarlet. But I must inform you, that there is a city called London, for which I have as violent an affection as the most romantic lover ever had for his mistress.... I am thinking of the brilliant scenes of happiness, which I shall enjoy as an officer of the guards. How I shall be acquainted with all the grandeur of a court, and all the elegance of dress and diversions; become a favourite of ministers of state, and the adoration of ladies of quality, beauty, and fortune! How many parties of pleasure shall I have in town! How many fine jaunts to the n.o.ble seats of dukes, lords, and members of parliament in the country! I am thinking of the perfect knowledge which I shall acquire of men and manners, of the intimacies which I shall have the honour to form with the learned and ingenious in every science, and of the many amusing literary anecdotes which I shall pick up,' etc. Boswell, in his _Hebrides_ (Aug. 18, 1773), says of himself:--'His inclination was to be a soldier; but his father, a respectable Judge, had pressed him into the profession of the law.'

[1178] A row of tenements in the Strand, between Wych Street and Temple Bar, and 'so called from the butchers' shambles on the south side.'

(_Strype_, B. iv. p. 118.) Butcher Row was pulled down in 1813, and the present Pickett Street erected in its stead. P. CUNNINGHAM. In _Humphry Clinker_, in the letter of June 10, one of the poor authors is described as having been 'reduced to a woollen night-cap and living upon sheep's-trotters, up three pair of stairs backward in Butcher Row.'

[1179] Cibber was poet-laureate from 1730 to 1757. Horace Walpole describes him as 'that good humoured and honest veteran, so unworthily aspersed by Pope, whose _Memoirs_, with one or two of his comedies, will secure his fame, in spite of all the abuse of his contemporaries.' His successor Whitehead, Walpole calls 'a man of a placid genius.' _Reign of George II_, iii. 81. See _ante_, pp. 149, 185, and _post_, Oct. 19, 1769, May 15, 1776, and Sept. 21, 1777.

[1180] The following quotations show the difference of style in the two poets:--

COLLEY GIBBER.