Life of Johnson Volume I Part 33

'T. SMOLLET.'

Mr. Wilkes, who upon all occasions has acted, as a private gentleman, with most polite liberality, applied to his friend Sir George Hay, then one of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty; and Francis Barber was discharged, as he has told me, without any wish of his own. He found his old master in Chambers in the Inner Temple[1047], and returned to his service.

[Page 350: Life in Inner Temple-lane. A.D. 1759.]

What particular new scheme of life Johnson had in view this year, I have not discovered; but that he meditated one of some sort, is clear from his private devotions, in which we find[1048], 'the change of outward things which I am now to make;' and, 'Grant me the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that the course which I am now beginning may proceed according to thy laws, and end in the enjoyment of thy favour.' But he did not, in fact, make any external or visible change[1049].

[Page 351: Blackfriars-bridge. aetat 50.]

At this time, there being a compet.i.tion among the architects of London to be employed in the building of Blackfriars-bridge, a question was very warmly agitated whether semicircular or elliptical arches were preferable. In the design offered by Mr. Mylne the elliptical form was adopted, and therefore it was the great object of his rivals to attack it. Johnson's regard for his friend Mr. Gwyn induced him to engage in this controversy against Mr. Mylne[1050]; and after being at considerable pains to study the subject, he wrote three several letters in the _Gazetteer_, in opposition to his plan.

If it should be remarked that this was a controversy which lay quite out of Johnson's way, let it be remembered, that after all, his employing his powers of reasoning and eloquence upon a subject which he had studied on the moment, is not more strange than what we often observe in lawyers, who, as _Quicquid agunt homines_[1051] is the matter of law-suits, are sometimes obliged to pick up a temporary knowledge of an art or science, of which they understood nothing till their brief was delivered, and appear to be much masters of it. In like manner, members of the legislature frequently introduce and expatiate upon subjects of which they have informed themselves for the occasion.

[Page 353: Relief of the French Prisoners. aetat 51.]

1760: aeTAT. 51].--In 1760 he wrote _An Address of the Painters to George III. on his Accession to the Throne of these Kingdoms_,[dagger]

which no monarch ever ascended with more sincere congratulations from his people. Two generations of foreign princes had prepared their minds to rejoice in having again a King, who gloried in being 'born a Briton[1052].' He also wrote for Mr. Baretti, the dedication[dagger] of his _Italian and English Dictionary_ to the Marquis of Abreu, then Envoy-Extraordinary from Spain at the Court of Great Britain.

[Page 354: Mary Queen of Scots. A.D. 1760.]

Johnson was now neither very idle, nor very busy with his _Shakspeare_; for I can find no other public composition by him except an introduction to the proceedings of the Committee for cloathing the French Prisoners[1053];[*] one of the many proofs that he was ever awake to the calls of humanity; and an account which he gave in the Gentlemen's Magazine of Mr. Tytler's acute and able vindication of Mary Queen of Scots.[*] The generosity of Johnson's feelings s.h.i.+nes forth in the following sentence:--

"It has now been fas.h.i.+onable, for near half a century, to defame and vilify the house of Stuart and, to exalt and magnify the reign of Elizabeth. The Stuarts have found few apologists, for the dead cannot pay for praise; and who will, without reward, oppose the tide of popularity? Yet there remains still among us, not wholly extinguished, a zeal for truth, a desire of establis.h.i.+ng right in opposition to fas.h.i.+on[1054]".

In this year I have not discovered a single private letter, written by him to any of his friends. It should seem, however, that he had at this period a floating intention of writing a history of the recent and wonderful successes of the British arms in all quarters of the globe; for among his resolutions or memorandums, September 18, 'send for books for Hist. of War[1055].' How much is it to be regretted that this intention was not fulfilled. His majestick expression would have carried down to the latest posterity the glorious achievements of his country with the same fervent glow which they produced on the mind of the time. He would have been under no temptation to deviate in any degree from truth, which he held very sacred, or to take a licence, which a learned divine told me he once seemed, in a conversation, jocularly to allow to historians.

[Page 355: Consecrated lies. aetat 51.]

'There are (said he) inexcusable lies, and consecrated lies. For instance, we are told that on the arrival of the news of the unfortunate battle of Fontenoy, every heart beat, and every eye was in tears. Now we know, that no man eat his dinner the worse[1056], but there _should_ have been all this concern; and to say there _was_, (smiling) may be reckoned a consecrated lie.'

This year Mr. Murphy, having thought himself ill-treated by the Reverend Dr. Francklin, who was one of the writers of _The Critical Review_, published an indignant vindication in _A Poetical Epistle to Samuel Johnson, A.M_., in which he compliments Johnson in a just and elegant manner:

Transcendant Genius! whose prolific vein Ne'er knew the frigid poet's toil and pain; To whom APOLLO opens all his store, And every Muse presents her sacred lore; Say, pow'rful JOHNSON, whence thy verse is fraught With so much grace and such energy of thought; Whether thy JUVENAL instructs the age In chaster numbers, and new-points his rage; Or fair IRENE sees, alas! too late.

Her innocence exchang'd for guilty state; Whatever you write, in every golden line Sublimity and elegance combine; Thy nervous phrase impresses every soul, While harmony gives rapture to the whole.'

[Page 356: Arthur Murphy. A.D. 1760.]

Again, towards the conclusion:

'Thou then, my friend, who seest the dang'rous strife In which some demon bids me plunge my life, To the Aonian fount direct my feet, Say where the Nine thy lonely musings meet?

Where warbles to thy ear the sacred throng, Thy moral sense, thy dignity of song?

Tell, for you can, by what unerring art You wake to finer feelings every heart; In each bright page some truth important give, And bid to future times thy RAMBLER live[1057]?

I take this opportunity to relate the manner in which an acquaintance first commenced between Dr. Johnson and Mr. Murphy. During the publication of _The Grays-Inn Journal_, a periodical paper which was successfully carried on by Mr. Murphy alone, when a very young man, he happened to be in the country with Mr. Foote; and having mentioned that he was obliged to go to London in order to get ready for the press in one of the numbers of that _Journal_, Foote said to him, 'You need not to go on that account. Here is a French magazine, in which you will find a very pretty oriental tale; translate that, and send it to your printer.' Mr. Murphy having read the tale, was highly pleased with it, and followed Foote's advice. When he returned to town, this tale was pointed out to him in _The Rambler_, from whence it had been translated into the French magazine. Mr. Murphy then waited upon Johnson, to explain this curious incident. His talents, literature, and gentleman-like manners, were soon perceived by Johnson, and a friends.h.i.+p was formed which was never broken[1058].

[Page 357: Letter to Mr. Langston. aetat 51.]

'To BENNET LANGTON, ESQ., AT LANGTON, NEAR SPILSBY, LINCOLNs.h.i.+RE.

'DEAR SIR,

'You that travel about the world, have more materials for letters, than I who stay at home; and should, therefore, write with frequency equal to your opportunities. I should be glad to have all England surveyed by you, if you would impart your observations in narratives as agreeable as your last. Knowledge is always to be wished to those who can communicate it well. While you have been riding and running, and seeing the tombs of the learned, and the camps of the valiant, I have only staid at home, and intended to do great things, which I have not done. Beau[1059] went away to Ches.h.i.+re, and has not yet found his way back. Chambers pa.s.sed the vacation at Oxford.

'I am very sincerely solicitous for the preservation or curing of Mr.

Langton's sight, and am glad that the chirurgeon at Coventry gives him so much hope. Mr. Sharpe is of opinion that the tedious maturation of the cataract is a vulgar errour, and that it may be removed as soon as it is formed. This notion deserves to be considered; I doubt whether it be universally true; but if it be true in some cases, and those cases can be distinguished, it may save a long and uncomfortable delay.

'Of dear Mrs. Langton you give me no account; which is the less friendly, as you know how highly I think of her, and how much I interest myself in her health. I suppose you told her of my opinion, and likewise suppose it was not followed; however, I still believe it to be right.

[Page 358: Thomas Sheridan. A.D. 1761.]

'Let me hear from you again, wherever you are, or whatever you are doing; whether you wander or sit still, plant trees or make _Rusticks_,[1060] play with your sisters or muse alone; and in return I will tell you the success of Sheridan[1061], who at this instant is playing Cato, and has already played Richard twice. He had more company the second than the first night, and will make, I believe, a good figure in the whole, though his faults seem to be very many; some of natural deficience, and some of laborious affectation. He has, I think, no power of a.s.suming either that dignity or elegance which some men, who have little of either in common life, can exhibit on the stage. His voice when strained is unpleasing, and when low is not always heard. He seems to think too much on the audience, and turns his face too often to the galleries[1062].

'However, I wish him well; and among other reasons, because I like his wife[1063].

'Make haste to write to, dear Sir,

'Your most affectionate servant,

'SAM. JOHNSON.'

'Oct. 18, 1760.'

[Page 359: Instances of literary fraud. aetat 52.]

1761: aeTAT. 52.--In 1761 Johnson appears to have done little. He was still, no doubt, proceeding in his edition of _Shakespeare_; but what advances he made in it cannot be ascertained. He certainly was at this time not active; for in his scrupulous examination of himself on Easter eve, he laments, in his too rigorous mode of censuring his own conduct, that his life, since the communion of the preceding Easter, had been 'dissipated and useless[1064].' He, however, contributed this year the Preface[*] to _Rolt's Dictionary of Trade and Commerce_, in which he displays such a clear and comprehensive knowledge of the subject, as might lead the reader to think that its authour had devoted all his life to it. I asked him whether he knew much of Rolt, and of his work. 'Sir, (said he) I never saw the man, and never read the book. The booksellers wanted a Preface to a _Dictionary of Trade and Commerce_. I knew very well what such a Dictionary should be, and I wrote a Preface accordingly.' Rolt, who wrote a great deal for the booksellers, was, as Johnson told me, a singular character[1065]. Though not in the least acquainted with him, he used to say, 'I am just come from Sam. Johnson.'

This was a sufficient specimen of his vanity and impudence. But he gave a more eminent proof of it in our sister kingdom, as Dr. Johnson informed me. When Akenside's _Pleasures of the Imagination_ first came out, he did not put his name to the poem. Rolt went over to Dublin, published an edition of it, and put his own name to it. Upon the fame of this he lived for several months, being entertained at the best tables as 'the ingenious Mr. Rolt[1066].' His conversation indeed, did not discover much of the fire of a poet; but it was recollected, that both Addison and Thomson were equally dull till excited by wine. Akenside having been informed of this imposition, vindicated his right by publis.h.i.+ng the poem with its real authour's name. Several instances of such literary fraud have been detected. The Reverend Dr. Campbell, of St. Andrew's, wrote _An Enquiry into the original of Moral Virtue_, the ma.n.u.script of which he sent to Mr. Innes, a clergyman in England, who was his countryman and acquaintance. Innes published it with his own name to it; and before the imposition was discovered, obtained considerable promotion, as a reward of his merit[1067].

[Page 360: The Man of Feeling. A.D. 1781.]

The celebrated Dr. Hugh Blair, and his cousin Mr. George Bannatine, when students in divinity, wrote a poem, ent.i.tled, _The Resurrection_, copies of which were handed about in ma.n.u.script. They were, at length, very much surprised to see a pompous edition of it in folio, dedicated to the Princess Dowager of Wales, by a Dr. Douglas, as his own. Some years ago a little novel, ent.i.tled _The Man of Feeling_, was a.s.sumed by Mr.

Eccles, a young Irish clergyman, who was afterwards drowned near Bath[1068]. He had been at the pains to transcribe the whole book, with blottings, interlineations, and corrections, that it might be shewn to several people as an original. It was, in truth, the production of Mr.

Henry Mackenzie, an Attorney in the Exchequer at Edinburgh, who is the authour of several other ingenious pieces; but the belief with regard to Mr. Eccles became so general, that it was thought necessary for Messieurs Strahan and Cadell to publish an advertis.e.m.e.nt in the newspapers, contradicting the report, and mentioning that they purchase the copyright of Mr. Mackenzie[1069]. I can conceive this kind of fraud to be very easily practised with successful effrontery. The _Filiation_ of a literary performance is difficult of proof; seldom is there any witness present at its birth. A man, either in confidence or by improper means, obtains possession of a copy of it in ma.n.u.script, and boldly publishes it as his own. The true authour, in many cases, may not be able to make his t.i.tle clear. Johnson, indeed, from the peculiar features of his literary offspring, might bid defiance to any attempt to appropriate them to others.

'But Shakspeare's magick could not copied be, Within that circle none durst walk but he[1070]!'

[Page 361: Letter to Mr. Baretti. aetat 52.]

He this year lent his friendly a.s.sistance to correct and improve a pamphlet written by Mr. Gwyn, the architect, ent.i.tled, _Thoughts on the Coronation of George III_.[*]

Johnson had now for some years admitted Mr. Baretti to his intimacy; nor did their friends.h.i.+p cease upon their being separated by Baretti's revisiting his native country, as appears from Johnson's letters to him.

'To MR. JOSEPH BARETTI, AT MILAN[1071].

[Page 362: Baretti's knowledge of languages. A.D. 1761.]

'You reproach me very often with parsimony of writing: but you may discover by the extent of my paper, that I design to recompence rarity by length. A short letter to a distant friend is, in my opinion, an insult like that of a slight bow or cursory salutation;--a proof of unwillingness to do much, even where there is a necessity of doing something. Yet it must be remembered, that he who continues the same course of life in the same place, will have little to tell. One week and one year are very like one another. The silent changes made by time are not always perceived; and if they are not perceived, cannot be recounted. I have risen and lain down, talked and mused, while you have roved over a considerable part of Europe[1072]; yet I have not envied my Baretti any of his pleasures, though, perhaps, I have envied others his company: and I am glad to have other nations made acquainted with the character of the English, by a traveller who has so nicely inspected our manners, and so successfully studied our literature. I received your kind letter from Falmouth, in which you gave me notice of your departure for Lisbon, and another from Lisbon, in which you told me, that you were to leave Portugal in a few days. To either of these how could any answer be returned? I have had a third from Turin, complaining that I have not answered the former. Your English style still continues in its purity and vigour. With vigour your genius will supply it; but its purity must be continued by close attention. To use two languages familiarly, and without contaminating one by the other, is very difficult: and to use more than two is hardly to be hoped[1073]. The praises which some have received for their multiplicity of languages, may be sufficient to excite industry, but can hardly generate confidence.