well.

"Be so good as to let me know whether you design to stay at Lichfield this summer; if you do, I purpose to come down. I shall bring Frank with me; so that Kitty must contrive to make two beds, or get a servant's bed at the Three Crowns, which may be as well. As I suppose she may want sheets, and table linen, and such things, I have sent ten pounds, which she may lay out in conveniences. I will pay her for our board what you think proper; I think a guinea a week for me and the boy.

"Be pleased to give my love to Kitty.-I am, my dearest love, your most humble servant, · Pearson MSS. "SAM. JOHNSON."]

On Wednesday, July 6., he was engaged to sup with me at my lodgings in Downing-street, Westminster. But on the preceding night my landlord having behaved very rudely to me and some company who were with me, I had resolved not to remain another night in his house. I was exceedingly uneasy at the awkward appearance I supposed I should make to Johnson and the other gentlemen whom I had invited, not being able to receive them at home, and being obliged to order supper at the Mitre. I went to Johnson in the morning, and talked of it as of a serious distress. He laughed, and said, "Consider, Sir, how insignifi

1 Miss Porter had just received a legacy of ten thousand pounds, by the death of her brother.- CROKER.

2 Certainly not; you must use them according to the contract, expressed or implied, under which you have hired them. If a landlord breaks his part of the contract, the law will relieve the other party; but the latter is not at liberty to take such violent and illegal steps as Johnson suggests.— CROKER.

3 Isaac Ambrose Eccles, Esq., of Cronroe, in the county of Wicklow, whom I have heard talk of this supper. He was of a literary turn, and published one or two plays of Shakspeare, with notes.- CROKER.

cant this will appear a twelvemonth hence." Were this consideration to be applied to most of the little vexatious incidents of life, by which our quiet is too often disturbed, it would prevent many painful sensations. I have tried it frequently with good effect. "There is nothing," continued he, "in this mighty misfortune; nay, we shall be better at the Mitre." I told him that I had been at Sir John Fielding's office, complaining of my landlord, and had been informed that, though I had taken my lodgings for a year, I might, upon proof of his bad behaviour, quit them when I pleased, without being under an obligation to pay rent for any longer time than while I possessed them. The fertility of Johnson's mind could show itself even upon so small a matter as this. "Why, Sir," said he, "I suppose this must be the law, since you have been told so in Bow-street. But, if landyour lord could hold you to your bargain, and the lodgings should be yours for a year, you may certainly use them as you think fit. So, Sir, you may quarter two life-guardsmen upon him; find into your apartments; or you may say or you may send the greatest scoundrel you can that you want to make some experiments in quantity of assafoetida in his house." natural philosophy, and may burn a large

I had as my guests this evening at the Mitre tavern, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Goldsmith, Mr. Thomas Davies, Mr. Eccles 3, an Irish gentleman, for whose agreeable company I was obliged to Mr. Davies, and the Rev. Mr. John Ogilvie 4, who was desirous of being in company with my illustrious friend; while I, in my turn, was proud to have the honour of showing one of my countrymen upon what easy terms Johnson permitted me to

live with him.

Goldsmith, as usual, endeavoured, with too much eagerness, to shine, and disputed very warmly with Johnson against the well-known maxim of the British constitution, "the king can do no wrong;" affirming, that "what was morally false could not be politically true; and as the king might, in the exercise of his regal power, command and cause the doing of what was wrong, it certainly might be said, in sense and in reason, that he could do wrong." JOHNSON. "Sir, you are to consider, that in our constitution, according to its true principles, the king is the head, he is supreme; he is above every thing, and there is no power by which he can be tried. Therefore it is, Sir,

4 The northern bard mentioned page 143. When I asked Dr. Johnson's permission to introduce him, he obligingly agreed; adding, however, with a sly pleasantry," but he must give us none of his poetry." It is remarkable that Johnson and Churchill, however much they differed in other ponts, agreed on this subject. See Churchill's "Journey." It is, however, but justice to Dr. Ogilvie to observe, that his "Day of Judgment" has no inconsiderable share of merit.— BOSWELL.

Boswell's naïveté in thinking it remarkable that two persons should agree in disliking the poetry of his northern bard is amusing: it might have been more remarkable if two had agreed in liking it. - CROKER.

that we hold the king can do no wrong; that whatever may happen to be wrong in government may not be above our reach, by being ascribed to Majesty. Redress is always to be had against oppression, by punishing the immediate agents. The king, though he should command, cannot force a judge to condemn a man unjustly; therefore it is the judge whom we prosecute and punish. Political institutions are formed upon the consideration of what will most frequently tend to the good of the whole, although now and then exceptions may occur. Thus it is better in general that a nation should have a supreme legislative power, although it may at times be abused. And then, Sir, there is this consideration, that if the abuse be enormous, Nature will rise up; and, claiming her original rights, overturn a corrupt political system." I mark this animated sentence with peculiar pleasure, as a noble instance of that truly dignified spirit of freedom which ever glowed in his heart, though he was charged with slavish tenets by superficial observers; because he was at all times indignant against that false patriotism, that pretended love of freedom, that unruly restlessness, which is inconsistent with the stable authority of any good government.

This generous sentiment, which he uttered with great fervour, struck me exceedingly, and stirred my blood to that pitch of fancied resistance, the possibility of which I am glad to keep in mind, but to which I trust I never shall be forced.

"Great abilities," said he, "are not requisite for an historian; for in historical composition all the greatest powers of the human mind are quiescent. He has facts ready to his hand; so there is no exercise of invention. Imagination is not required in any high degree; only about as much as is used in the lower kinds of poetry. Some penetration, accuracy, and colouring, will fit a man for the task, if he can give the application which is necessary."

"Bayle's Dictionary is a very useful work for those to consult who love the biographical part of literature, which is what I love most.'

Talking of the eminent writers in Queen Anne's reign, he observed, "I think Dr. Arbuthnot the first man among them. He was the most universal genius, being an ex

1 "Somebody speaking of Bayle's manner in his Dictionary. Mr. Pope said:-Ay, he is the only man that ever collected with so much judgment, and wrote with so much spirit, at the same time.""-Spence. - WRIGHT.

2 Mrs. Brooke [Frances Moore, wife of the Rev. Mr. Brooke, chaplain to the forces in Canada, whither she accompanied him] received an answer not unlike this, when expatiating on the accumulation of sublime and beautiful objects, which form the fine prospect UP the river St. Lawrence in North America: "Come, madam, (says Dr. Johnson,) confess that nothing ever equalled your pleasure in seeing that sight reversed, and finding yourself looking at the happy prospect DOWN the river St. Lawrence." Mrs. Brooke wrote two novels called "Emily Montague," and "Lady Julia Mandeville." She afterwards produced several dramatic pieces, one of which," Rosina," still keeps the stage. She is said to have been much esteemed by Johnson. She died in 1789.

cellent physician, a man of deep learning, and a man of much humour. Mr. Addison was, to be sure, a great man: his learning was not profound; but his morality, his humour, and his elegance of writing, set him very high."

Mr. Ogilvie was unlucky enough to choose for the topic of his conversation the praises of his native country. He began with saying, that there was very rich land around Edinburgh. Goldsmith, who had studied physic there, contradicted this, very untruly, with a sneering laugh. Disconcerted a little by this, Mr. Ogilvie then took new ground, where, I suppose, he thought himself perfectly safe; for he observed, that Scotland had a great many noble wild prospects. JOHNSON. "I believe, Sir, you have a great many. Norway, too, has noble wild prospects; and Lapland is remarkable for prodigious noble wild prospects. But, Sir, let me tell you, the noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that leads him to England! "" 2 This unexpected and pointed sally produced a roar of applause. After all, however, those who admire the rude grandeur of Nature cannot deny it to Caledonia.

On Saturday, July 9., I found Johnson surrounded with a numerous levée, but have not preserved any part of his conversation.

[JOHNSON TO MISS PORTER.

“July 12. 1763.

"MY DEAREST LOVE,-I had forgot my debt to poor Kitty; pray let her have the note, and do what you can for her, for she has been always very good. I will help her to a little more money if she wants it, and will write. I intend that she shall have the use of the house as long as she and I live.

"That there should not be room for me at the

house is some disappointment to me, but the matter is not very great. I am sorry you have had your head filled with building, for many reasons. It was not necessary to settle immediately for life at any one place; you might have staid and seen more of the world. You will not have your work done, as you do not understand it, but at twice the value. You might have hired a house at half the interest of the money for which you build it, if your house cost you a thousand pounds. You might have the Palace for twenty pounds, and make forty of your thousand pounds; so in twenty years you would

"The truth is," adds Mrs. Piozzi," he hated to hear about prospects and views, and laying out ground, and taste in gardening:-"That was the best garden (he said) which produced most roots and fruits; and that water was most to be prized which contained most fish." He used to laugh at Shenstone most unmercifully for not caring whether there was any thing good to eat in the streams he was so fond of. Walking in a wood when it rained was, I think, the only rural image which pleased his fancy. He loved the sight of fine foresttrees, however, and detested Brighthelmstone Downs," because it was a country so truly desolate (he said), that if one had a mind to hang one's self for desperation at being obliged to live there, it would be difficult to find a tree on which to fasten the rope." — Croker.

3 Miss Porter laid out nearly one-third of her legacy in building a handsome house at Lichfield, where Johnson in after years frequently visited her.- CROKER.

L

JOHNSON TO GEORGE STRAHAN. "14th July, 1763.

"DEAR GEORGE,—To give pain ought always to be painful, and I am sorry that I have been the occasion of any uneasiness to you, to whom I hope never to [do] any thing but for your benefit or your pleasure. Your uneasiness was without any reason on your part, as you had written with sufficient frequency to me, and I had only neglected to answer them, because as nothing new had been proposed to your study, no new direction or incitement could be offered you. But if it had happened that you had omitted what you did not omit, and that I had for an hour, or a week, or a much longer time, thought myself put out of your mind by something to which presence gave that prevalence, which presence will sometimes give even where there is the most prudence and experience, you are not to imagine that my friendship is light enough to be blown away by the first cross blast, or that my regard or kindness hangs by so slender a hair as to be broken off by the unfelt weight of a petty offence. I love you, and hope to love you long. You have hitherto done nothing to diminish my good will, and though you had done much more than you have supposed imputed to you, my good will would not have been diminished.

"I write thus largely on this suspicion, which you have suffered to enter into your mind, because in youth we are apt to be too rigorous in our expectations, and to suppose that the duties of life are to be performed with unfailing exactness and regularity; but in our progress through life we are forced to abate much of our demands, and to take

friends such as we can find them, not as we would make them.

sioned'; adding, however, that it was good for the vegetable creation. Johnson, who, as we have already seen, denied that the temperature of the air had any influence on the human frame, answered, with a smile of ridicule, Why, yes, Sir, it is good for vegetables, and for the animals who eat those vegetables, and for the animals who eat those animals." observation of his aptly enough introduced a good supper; and I soon forgot, in Johnson's company, the influence of a moist atmosphere.2

This

Feeling myself now quite at ease as his companion, though I had all possible reverence for him, I expressed a regret that I could not be so easy with my father, though he was not much older than Johnson, and certainly, however respectable, had not more learning and the reason of this. JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, I I asked him greater abilities to depress me. am a man of the world. I live in the world, and I take, in some degree, the colour of the world as it moves along. Your father is a judge in a remote part of the island, and all his notions are taken from the old world. Besides, Sir, there must always be a struggle between a father and son, while one aims at power and the other at independence." I said, I was afraid my father would force me to be a lawyer. JOHNSON. "Sir, you need not be afraid of his forcing you to be a laborious practising lawyer; that is not in his power. For, as the proverb says, 'One man may lead a horse to the water, but twenty cannot make him drink.' He may be displeased that you are not what he wishes you to be; but that displeasure will not go far. If he insists only on your having as much law as is necessary for a man of property, and then endeavours to get you into parliament, he is quite in the right."

"When therefore it shall happen, as happen it will, that you or I have disappointed the expectation of the other, you are not to suppose that you have lost me, or that I intended to lose you; nothing will remain but to repair the fault, and to go on as if it never had been committed. Sir, your affectionate servant, SAM. JOHNSON."]

Rose MSS.

I am,

On the 14th we had another evening by ourselves at the Mitre. It happening to be a very rainy night, I made some common-place observations on the relaxation of nerves and depression of spirits which such weather occa

Adam Smith, in his lectures upon composition, when I studied under him in the College of Glasgow, had maintained the same opinion strenuously, and I repeated some of his arguments. JOHNSON. "Sir, I was once in company with Smith, and we did not take to each other; but had I known that he loved rhyme as much as you tell me he does, I should have HUGGED him."

Talking of those who denied the truth of Christianity, he said, "It is always easy to be on the negative side. If a man were now to deny that there is salt upon the table, you could not reduce him to an absurdity. Come, let us try this a little further. I deny that Canada is taken, and I can support my denial

1 Johnson would suffer none of his friends to fill up chasms in conversation with remarks on the weather:-"Let us not talk of the weather." BURNEY.

2 Mrs. Piozzi says that "though Dr. Johnson owed his very life to air and exercise given him when his organs of respiration could scarcely play, in the year 1766, yet he ever persisted in the notion, that neither of thein had any thing to

do with health." "People live as long," said he, "in Pepper Alley as on Salisbury Plain; and they live so much happier, that an inhabitant of the first would, if he turned cottager, starve his understanding for want of conversation, and perish in a state of mental inferiority."— CROKER.

3 See post, 29th Oct. 1773, and 29th April, 1778 - C.

by pretty good arguments. The French are a much more numerous people than we; and it is not likely that they would allow us to take it. But the ministry have assured us, in all the formality of the Gazette, that it is taken.'Very true. But the ministry have put us to an enormous expense by the war in America, and it is their interest to persuade us that we have got something for our money. 'But the fact is confirmed by thousands of men who were at the taking of it.'-Ay, but these men have still more interest in deceiving us. They don't want that you should think the French have beat them, but that they have beat the French. Now suppose you should go over and find that it really is taken; that would only satisfy yourself; for when you come home we will not believe you. We will say, you have been bribed. Yet, Sir, notwithstanding all these plausible objections, we have no doubt that Canada is really ours. Such is the weight of common testimony. How much stronger are the evidences of the Christian religion!

1

"Idleness is a disease which must be combated; but I would not advise a rigid adherence to a particular plan of study. I myself have never persisted in any plan for two days together. A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good. A young man should read five hours in the day, and so may acquire a great deal of knowledge."

To a man of vigorous intellect and ardent curiosity like his own, reading without a regular plan may be beneficial; though even such a man must submit to it, if he would attain a full understanding of any of the sciences.

66

To such a degree of unrestrained frankness had he now accustomed me, that in the course of this evening I talked of the numerous reflections which had been thrown out against him on account of his having accepted a pension from his present Majesty. Why, Sir, (said he, with a hearty laugh,) it is a mighty foolish noise that they make. I have accepted of a pension as a reward which has been thought due to my literary merit; and now that I have this pension, I am the same man in every respect that I have ever been; I retain the same principles. It is true, that I cannot now curse (smiling) the house of Hanover; nor would it be decent for me to drink King James's health in the wine that King George gives me money to pay for. But, Sir, I think that the pleasure of cursing the house of Hanover, and drinking King James's health,

1 See post, his letter to Mr. George Strahan, May 25. 1765. -C. 2 When I mentioned the same idle clamour to him several years afterwards, he said, with a smile, "I wish my pension were twice as large, that they might make twice as much noise."-BosWELL.

3 It seems unlikely that he and Mr. Walmesley could have had much intercourse since 1737, when Johnson removed to London: Mr. Walmesley continuing to reside in Lichfield,

are amply overbalanced by three hundred pounds a year."

There was here, most certainly, an affectation of more Jacobitism than he really had; and indeed an intention of admitting, for the moment, in a much greater extent than it really existed, the charge of disaffection imputed to him by the world, merely for the purpose of showing how dexterously he could repel an attack, even though he were placed in the most disadvantageous position; for I have heard him declare, that holding up his right hand would have secured victory at Culloden to Prince Charles's army, he was not sure he would have held it up; so little confidence had he in the right claimed by the house of Stuart, and so fearful was he of the consequences of another revolution on the throne of Great Britain; and Mr. Topham Beauclerk assured me, he had heard him say this before he had his pension. At another time he said to Mr. Langton, "Nothing has ever offered that has made it worth my while to consider the question fully." He, however, also said to the same gentleman, talking of King James the Second, "It was become impossible for him to reign any longer in this country." He no doubt had an early attachment to the house of Stuart; but his zeal had cooled as his reason strengthened. Indeed, I heard him once say, "that after the death of a violent Whig, with whom he used to contend with great eagerness, he felt his Toryism much abated." I suppose he meant Mr. Walmesley.3

Yet there is no doubt that at earlier periods he was wont often to exercise both his pleasantry and ingenuity in talking Jacobitism. My much respected friend, Dr. Douglas, now Bishop of Salisbury, has favoured me with the following admirable instance from his Lordship's own recollection. One day when dining at old Mr. Langton's, where Miss Roberts, his niece, was one of the company, Johnson, with his usual complacent attention to the fair sex, took her by the hand and said, “My dear, I hope you are a Jacobite." Old Mr. Langton, who, though a high and steady Tory, was attached to the present royal family, seemed offended, and asked Johnson with great warmth, what he could mean by putting such a question to his niece? "Why, Sir," said Johnson, “I meant no offence to your niece; I meant her a great compliment. A Jacobite, Sir, believes in the divine right of kings. He that believes in the divine_right of kings believes in a Divinity. A Jacobite believes in the divine right of bishops. He that believes in the

1831.

where he died in 1751: it was more probably some member of the Ivy-lane club, perhaps M'Ghie, who was a strong Whig; as indeed was Dyer, but he survived to 1772.- C., I cannot but believe that the events of 1745 had some influence on Dr. Johnson personally, to the diminution of his Jacobite feelings. See antè, p. 54. n. 2. The battle of Culloden was fought some months after the Pretender's retreat out of England, when, if at all, the occasion of Johnson's disgust must have happened.-CROKER, 1846.

divine right of bishops believes in the divine authority of the Christian religion. Therefore, Sir, a Jacobite is neither an atheist nor a deist. That cannot be said of a Whig; for Whiggism is a negation of all principle."

"I

He advised me, when abroad, to be as much as I could with the professors in the universities, and with the clergy; for from their conversation I might expect the best accounts of every thing, in whatever country I should be, with the additional advantage of keeping my learning alive.

It will be observed, that when giving me advice as to my travels, Dr. Johnson did not dwell upon cities, and palaces, and pictures, and shows, and Arcadian scenes. He was of Lord Essex's opinion, who advises his kinsman, Roger Earl of Rutland, "rather to go a hundred miles to speak with one wise man, than five miles to see a fair town." 3

I described to him an impudent fellow from Scotland, who affected to be a savage, and railed at all established systems. JOHNSON. "There is nothing surprising in this, Sir. He wants to make himself conspicuous. He would tumble in a hogsty, as long as you looked at him and called to him to come out. But let him alone, never mind him, and he'll soon give it over."

4

I added, that the same person maintained that there was no distinction between virtue and vice. JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, if the fellow does not think as he speaks, he is lying; and I see not what honour he can propose to himself from having the character of a liar. But if he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, Sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons."

Sir David Dalrymple, now one of the Judges of Scotland by the title of Lord Hailes 5, had contributed much to increase my high opinion of Johnson, on account of his writings, long before I attained to a personal acquaintance with him: I, in return, had informed Johnson of Sir David's eminent character for learning and religion; and Johnson was so much pleased, that at one of our evening meetings he gave him for his toast. I at this time kept up a very frequent correspondence with Sir David; and I read to Dr. Johnson to-night the following passage from the letter which I had last received from him:

1 He used to tell, with great humour, from my relation to him, the following little story of my early years, which was literally true:-"Boswell, in the year 1745, was a fine boy, wore a white cockade, and prayed for King James, till one of his uncles (General Cochran) gave him a shilling on condition that he would pray for King George, which he accordingly did. So you see 'says Boswell) that Whigs of all ages are made the same way." - BoswELL.

2 The celebrated and unfortunate Earl of Essex. — CROKER, 1846.

3 Letter to Rutland on Travel, 16mo. 1596.- BOSWELL. 4 This person has, fortunately for him, escaped my inquiries after his identity. - CRoker, 1846.

5 This learned and excellent person was born in 1726; educated at Eton, and afterwards at Utrecht; called to the Scotch bar in 1748; a lord of session in 1766. He died in

"It gives me pleasure to think that you have obtained the friendship of Mr. Samuel Johnson. He is one of the best moral writers which England has produced. At the same time, I envy you the free and undisguised converse with such a man. May I beg you to present my best respects to him, and to assure him of the veneration which I entertain for the author of the Rambler and of Rasselas? Let me recommend this last work to you; with the Rambler you certainly are acquainted. In Rasselas you will see a tender-hearted operator, who probes the wound only to heal it. the contrary, mangles human nature. He cuts and slashes, as if he took pleasure in the operation, like the tyrant who said, Ita feri ut se sentiat emori."

Swift, on

Johnson seemed to be much gratified by this just and well-turned compliment.

He recommended to me to keep a journal of my life, full and unreserved. He said it would be a very good exercise, and would yield me great satisfaction when the particulars were faded from my remembrance. I was uncommonly fortunate in having had a previous coincidence of opinion with him upon this subject, for I had kept such a journal for some time; and it was no small pleasure to me to have this to tell him, and to receive his approbation. He counselled me to keep it private, and said I might surely have a friend who would burn it in case of my death. From this habit I have been enabled to give the world so many anecdotes, which would otherwise have been lost to posterity. I mentioned that I was afraid I put into my journals too many little incidents. JOHNSON. "There is nothing, Sir, too little for so little a creature as man. It is by studying little things, that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible."

Next morning Mr. Dempster happened to call on me, and was so much struck even with the imperfect account which I gave him of Dr. Johnson's conversation, that to his honour be it recorded, when I complained that drinking port and sitting up late with him, affected my nerves for some time after, he said, "One had better be palsied at eighteen than not keep company with such a man."

On Tuesday, July 19., I found tall Sir Thomas Robinson 6 sitting with Johnson. Sir Thomas said, that the King of Prussia valued himself upon three things:- upon being a hero, a musician, and an author. JOHNSON.

1792. He wrote some papers in the World and Mirror, and published several original tracts on religious, historical, and antiquarian subjects, and republished a great many more.— CROKER.

6 The elder brother of the first Lord Rokeby, called long Sir Thomas Robinson, on account of his height, and to distinguish him from Sir Thomas Robinson, first Lord Grantham. He was a familiar acquaintance of Lord Chesterfield, and by him, as Hawkins relates, employed as a mediator with Johnson, who, on his first visit, treated him very indignantly. It was on his request for an epigram that Lord Chesterfield made the distich

"Unlike my subject will I make my song,
It shall be witty and it shan't be long :'

and to whom he said in his last illness," Ah, Sir Thomas,