and dictated while Hector wrote. Mr. Hector carried the sheets to the press, and corrected almost all the proof sheets, very few of which were even seen by Johnson. In this manner, with the aid of Mr. Hector's active friendship, the book was completed, and was published in 1735, with London upon the title-page, though it was in reality printed at Birmingham, a device too common with provincial publishers. For this work he had from Mr. Warren only the sum of five guineas. This being the first prose work of Johnson, it is a curious object of enquiry how much may be traced in it of that style which marks his subsequent writings with such peculiar excellence; with so happy an union of force, vivacity, and perspicuity. I have perused the book with this view, and have found that here, as I believe in every other translation, there is in the work itself no vestige of the translator's own style; for the language of translation being adapted to the thoughts of another person, insensibly follows their cast, and, as it were, runs into a mould that is ready prepared. Thus, for instance, taking the first sentence that occurs at the opening of the book, p. 4. "I lived here above a year, and completed my studies in divinity; in which time some letters were received from the fathers of Ethiopia, with an account that Sultan Segned, Emperor of Abyssinia, was converted to the church of Rome; that many of his subjects had followed his example, and that there was a great want of missionaries to improve these prosperous beginnings. Every body was very desirous of seconding the zeal of our fathers, and of sending them the assistance they requested; to which we were the more encouraged, because the Emperor's letter informed our Provincial, that we might easily enter his dominions by the way of Dancala; but, unhappily, the secretary wrote Geila for Dancala, which cost two of our fathers their lives." Every one acquainted with Johnson's manner will be sensible that there is nothing of it here; but that this sentence might have been composed by any other man. But, in the Preface the Johnsonian style begins to appear; and though use had not yet taught his wing a permanent and equable flight, there are parts of it which exhibit his best manner in full vigour. I had once the pleasure of examining it with Mr. Edmund Burke, who confirmed me in this opinion, by his superior critical sagacity, and was, I remember, much delighted with the following specimen ': "The Portuguese traveller, contrary to the general vein of his countrymen, has amused his reader with no romantic absurdity, or incredible 1 This very extract was published in the Memoirs as an early specimen of Johnson's peculiar style, long before Mr. Boswell's notice of it. CROKER, 1846. 2 See Rambler, No. 103. [ Curiosity is the thirst of the soul," &c.] - BOSWELL. 3 May we not trace a fanciful similarity between Politian and Johnson? Huetius, speaking of Paulus Pelissonius Fontanerius, says, "-in quo natura, ut olim in Angelo Politiano, fictions; whatever he relates, whether true or not, is at least probable; and he who tells nothing exceeding the bounds of probability, has a right to demand that they should believe him who cannot contradict him. He appears, by his modest and unaffected narration, to have described things as he saw them, to have copied nature from the life, and to have with no basilisks that destroy with their eyes, his consulted his senses, not his imagination. He meets crocodiles devour their prey without tears, and his cataracts fall from the rocks without deafening the neighbouring inhabitants. irremediable barrenness, or blest with spontaneous "The reader will here find no regions cursed with fecundity; no perpetual gloom, or unceasing sunshine; nor are the nations here described either devoid of all sense of humanity, or consummate in all private or social virtues. Here are no Hottentots without religious policy or articulate language; no Chinese perfectly polite, and completely skilled in all sciences; he will discover, what will always be discovered by a diligent and impartial inquirer, that wherever human nature is to be found, there is a mixture of vice and virtue, a contest of passion and reason; and that the Creator doth not appear partial in his distributions, but has balanced, in most countries, their particular inconveniences by particular favours." Here we have an early example of that brilliant and energetic expression, which, upon innumerable occasions in his subsequent life, justly impressed the world with the highest admiration. Nor can any one, conversant with the writings of Johnson, fail to discern his hand in this passage of the Dedication to John Warren, Esq., of Pembrokeshire, though it is ascribed to Warren the bookseller: "A generous and elevated mind is distinguished by nothing more certainly than an eminent degree of curiosity; nor is that curiosity ever more agreeably or usefully employed, than in examining the laws and customs of foreign nations. I hope, therefore, the present I now presume to make will not business as a dedicator to commend, nor as a bookbe thought improper; which, however, it is not my seller to depreciate." It is reasonable to suppose, that his having been thus accidentally led to a particular study of the history and manners of Abyssinia, was the remote occasion of his writing, many years afterwards, his admirable philosophical tale, the principal scene of which is laid in that country. Johnson returned to Lichfield early in 1734, and in August that year he made an attempt to procure some little subsistence by his pen'; for he published proposals for printing by subscription the Latin Poems of Politian3: "An deformitatem oris excellentis ingenii præstantiâ compensavit." Comment. de reb. ad eum pertin. Edit. Amstel. 1718. p. 200. BoSWELL. In this learned masquerade of "Paulus Pelissonius Fontanerius," ," we have some difficulty in detecting Madame de Sevigne's friend, Pelisson, of whom M. de Guilleragues used the phrase, which has since grown into a proverb, " qu'il abusait de la permission qu'ont les hommes d'être laids.". geli Politiani Poemata Latina, quibus, Notas, cum historia Latina poeseos à Petrarchæ ævo ad Politiani tempora deductâ, et vitá Politiani fusius quam antehac enarratâ, addidit SAM. JOHNSON." 1 It appears that his brother Nathaniel had taken up his father's trade; for it is mentioned, "that subscriptions are taken in by the Editor, or N. Johnson, bookseller, of Lichfield."2 Notwithstanding the merit of Johnson, and the cheap price at which this book was offered, there were not subscribers enough to insure a sufficient sale; so the work never appeared, and, probably, never was executed. We find him again this year at Birmingham, and there is preserved the following letter from him to Mr. Edward Cave, the original compiler and editor of the Gentleman's Magazine. JOHNSON TO CAVE. "Nov. 25. 1734. “Sir,— As you appear no less sensible than your readers of the defects of your poetical article, you will not be displeased, if, in order to the improvement of it, I communicate to you the sentiments of a person who will undertake, on reasonable terms, sometimes to fill a column. "His opinion is, that the public would not give you a bad reception, if, beside the current wit of the month, which a critical examination would generally reduce to a narrow compass, you admitted not only poems, inscriptions, &c. never printed before, which he will sometimes supply you with, but likewise short literary dissertations in Latin or English, critical remarks on authors ancient or modern, forgotten poems that deserve revival, or loose pieces, like Floyer's, worth preserving. By this method, your literary article, for so it might See Madame de Sevigne's Letter, 5 Jan. 1674. Huet, bishop of Avranche, wrote Memoirs of his own time, in Latin, from which Boswell has extracted this scrap of pedantry.- CROKER. 1 The book was to contain more than thirty sheets, the price to be two shillings and sixpence at the time of subscribing, and two shillings and sixpence at the delivery of a perfect book in quires. BosWELL. Nathaniel kept the shop as long as he lived, as did his mother, after him, till her death. Miss Seward, who in such a matter as this may perhaps be trusted, gives us an amiable still-life picture of Miss Porter, and tells us, that "from the age of twenty to her fortieth year (when she was raised to a state of competency by the death of her eldest brother), she had boarded in Lichfield with Dr. Johnson's mother, who still kept that little bookseller's shop by which her husband had supplied the scanty means of subsistence meantime Lucy Porter kept the best company in our little city, but would make no engagement on market-days, lest Granny, as she called Mrs. Johnson, should catch cold by serving in the shop. There Lucy Porter took her place, standing behind the counter, nor thought it a disgrace to thank a poor person who purchased from her a penny battledoor." - CROKER. 3 Miss Cave, the grand-niece of Mr. Edw. Cave, has obligingly shown me the originals of this and the other letters of Dr. Johnson to him, which were first published in the Gentleman's Magazine, with notes by Mr. John Nichols, the worthy and indefatigable editor of that valuable miscellany, signed N.; some of which I shall occasionally transcribe in the course of this work. BOSWELL. I have felt justified, by this testimony, in doing the same. - CROKER. 4"A letter from the late Sir John Floyer, in recommendation of the Cold Bath." Gent. Mag. 1734, p. 197.- BOSWELL. This letter was probably sent by Johnson himself; who, a very short time before his death, pressed Mr. Nichols to give to the public some account of the life and works of Sir John Floyer, whose learning and piety," he said, “deserve recording."- See Lit. Ancc., vol. v. p. 19.- WRIGHT. be called, will, he thinks, be better recommended to the public than by low jests, awkward buffoonery, or the dull scurrilities of either party "If such a correspondence will be agreeable to you, be pleased to inform me in two posts what the Your conditions are on which you shall expect it. late offers gives me no reason to distrust your besides this paper, I have other designs to impart, generosity. If you engage in any literary projects if I could be secure from having others reap the advantage of what I should hint. "Your letter, by being directed to S. Smith, to be left at the Castle in Birmingham, Warwickshire, will reach "Your humble servant." "On Life, 5 A prize of fifty pounds for the best poem Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell." See Gent. Mag. vol. iv. p. 560. NICHOLS. "Being," says Dr. Johnson," but newly acquainted with wealth, and thinking the influence of fifty pounds very great, Cave expected the first authors of the kingdom to appear as competitors; and offered the allotment of the prize to the Universities. But, when the time came, no name was seen among the writers that had ever been seen before."-Life of Cave. A second prize of forty pounds, and some others of inferior value, were offered by Cave, at subsequent periods, for poems on similar subjects. It seems extraordinary that Johnson, whose wants were urgent, and who was glad, so soon after, to sell his LONDON for ten pounds, did not endeavour to obtain Cave's prize. Did his dignity of mind reject such a Mecænas as Cave? or did he make the attempt, and afterwards conceal his failure in prudent silence?-CROKER. The 6 He also wrote some amatory verses, before he left Staffordshire, which Boswell appears not to have seen. They were addressed "to Miss Hickman, playing on the spinet." At the back of this early poetical effusion, of which the original copy, in Johnson's handwriting, was obligingly communicated to me by Mr. John Taylor, is the following attestation: "Written by the late Dr. Samuel Johnson, on my mother, then Miss Hickman, playing on the spinet. J. Turton." Dr. Turton, the physician, writer of this certificate, who died in April, 1806, in his 71st year, was born in 1735. verses in question, therefore, which have been printed in some late editions of Johnson's poems,must have been written before that year. Miss Hickman, it is believed, was a lady of Staffordshire. MALONE. She was probably the sister of his early friend, Mr. Hickman, the schoolmaster at Stourbridge (ante, p. 20.n.5); but the verses do not seem to have been the expression of any real feeling on the part of the writer, nor to justify the idea conveyed by Mr. Malone's epithet "amatory.” - CROKER. The myrtle crowns the happy lovers' heads, His juvenile attachments to the fair sex were, however, very transient; and it is certain, that he formed no criminal connection whatsoever. Mr. Hector, who lived with him in his younger days in the utmost intimacy and social freedom, has assured me, that even at that ardent season his conduct was strictly virtuous in that respect; and that, though he loved to exhilarate himself with wine, he never knew him intoxicated but once.2 In a man whom religious education has secured from licentious indulgences, the passion of love, when once it has seized him, is exceedingly strong; being unimpaired by dissipation, and totally concentrated in one object. 1 Mrs. Piozzi gives the following account of this little composition from Dr. Johnson's own relation to her, on her enquiring whether it was rightly attributed to him:-"I think it is now just forty years ago, that a young fellow had a sprig of myrtle given him by a girl he courted, and asked me to write him some verses that he might present her in return. I promised, but forgot; and when he called for his lines at the time agreed on, Sit still a moment,' says I, dear Mund, and I'll fetch them thee'-so stepped aside for five minutes, and wrote the nonsense you now keep such a stir about."-Anecdotes, p. 34. In my first edition I was induced to doubt the authenticity of this account, by the following circumstantial statement in a letter to me from Miss Seward, of Lichfield: "I know those verses were addressed to Lucy Porter, wheu he was enamoured of her in his boyish days, two or three years before he had seen her mother, his future wife. He wrote them at my grandfather's, [Mr. Hunter, the schoolmaster,] and gave them to Lucy in the presence of my mother, to whom he showed them on the instant. She used to repeat them to me, when I asked her for the Verses Dr. Johnson gave her on a Sprig of Myrtle, which he had stolen or begged from her bosom. We all know honest Lucy Porter to have been incapable of the mean vanity of applying to herself a compliment not intended for her." Such was Miss Seward's statement, which I make no doubt she supposed to be correct; but it shows how dangerous it is to trust too implicitly to traditional testimony and ingenious inference; for Mr. Hector has lately assured me that Mrs. Piozzi's account is, in this instance, accurate, and that he was the person [as his name Edmund, which Mrs. Piozzi could not have known, clearly proves] for whom Johnson wrote those verses, which have been erroneously ascribed to Mr. Hammond. I am obliged, in so many instances, to notice Mrs. Piozzi's incorrectness of relation, that I gladly seize this opportunity of acknowledging, that however often, she is not always, inaccurate. The author having been drawn into a controversy with Miss Anna Seward, in consequence of the preceding statement (which may be found in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. Ixiii. and Ixiv.), received the following letter from Mr. Edmund Hector on the subject: . "Dear Sir, I am sorry to see you are engaged in altercation with a lady, who seems unwilling to be convinced of her errors. Surely it would be more ingenuous to acknowledge than to persevere. Lately, in looking over some papers I meant to burn, I found the original manuscript of the Myrtle, with the date on it, 1731, which I have enclosed. "The true history (which I could swear to) is as follows:Mr. Morgan Graves, the elder brother of a worthy clergyman near Bath, [the Rev. Richard Graves, author of the Spiritual Quixote," with whom I was acquainted, waited upon a lady in this neighbourhood, who, at parting, presented him the branch. He showed it me, and wished much to return the compliment in verse. I applied to Johnson, who was with me, and in about half an hour dictated the verses, which I sent to my friend. I most solemnly declare, at that time, Johnson was an entire stranger to the Porter family; and it was almost two years after, that I introduced him to the acquaintance of Porter, whom I bought my clothes of. If you intend to convince this obstinate woman, and to exhibit to the public the truth of your narrative, you are at liberty to make what use you please of this statement. I hope you will pardon me for taking up so much of your time. This was experienced by Johnson, when ho became the fervent admirer of Mrs. Porter. after her first husband's death. Miss Porter told me, that when he was first introduced to her mother, his appearance was very forbidding: he was then lean and lank, so that his immense structure of bones was hideously striking to the eye, and the scars of the scrofula were deeply visible. He also wore his hair, which was straight and stiff, and separated behind; and he often had, seemingly, convulsive starts and odd gesticulations, which tended to excite at once surprise and ridicule. 3 Porter was so much engaged by his conversation, that she overlooked all these external disadvantages, and said to her daughter, "This is the most sensible man that I ever saw in my life." Mrs. "Solihull, ye 30 August, 1735. Sir, I was favoured with yours of ye 13th inst. in due time, but deferred answering it til now, it takeing up some time to informe the flootees [of the school] of the contents thereof; and before they would return an Answer, desired some time to make enquiry of ye caracter of Mr. Johnson, who all agree that he is an excellent scholar, and upon that account deserves much better than to be schoolmaster of Solihull. But then he has the caracter of being a very haughty, ill-natured gent., and yt he has such a way of distorting his fface (wh though he can't help) ye gent. think it may affect some young ladds; for these two reasons he is not approved on, ye late master Mr. Crompton's huffing the ffæofees being stil in their memory. However we are all exstreamly obliged to you for thinking of us, and for proposeing so good a schollar, but more especially is, dear sir, your very humble servant, HENRY GRESWOLD." It was probably prior to this that an attempt to obtain the situation of assistant in Mr. Budworth's school, at Brewood, had also failed, and for the same reasons. Mr. Budworth lamented his having been under the necessity of declining the engagement from an apprehension that the paralytic affection under which Johnson laboured might become the object of imitation or ridicule amongst his pupils. This anecdote Captain Budworth, his grandson, (who afterwards married Miss Palmer, and took her name), confirmed to Mr. Nichols. -CROKER. 3 Johnson's countenance, when in a good humour, was not disagreeable: - his face clear, his complexion good, and his features not ill-formed, inany ladies have thought they might not be unattractive when he was young. Much misrepresentation has prevailed on this subject. — PERCY. 4 Though there was a great disparity of years between her and Dr. Johnson, she was not quite so old as she is here represented, being only at the time of her marriage in her forty-eighth year, as appears by the following extract from the parish register of Great Peatling, in Leicestershire: "Anno Dom. 1688-9. Elizabeth, the daughter of William Jervis, Esq. and Mrs. Anne his wife, was born the 4th day of February and mané, baptized 16th day of the same month, by Mr. Smith, Curate of Little Peatling. John Allen, Vicar." - MALONE. Johnson's size, hard features, and decided manners, probably made him look older than he really was, and diminished the apparent disproportion.-CROKER. 5 That in Johnson's eyes she was handsome, appears from the epitaph which he caused to be inscribed on her tombstone, not long before his own death, and which will be found in a subsequent page, under the year 1752. The following account of Mrs. Johnson, and her family, is copied from a paper, written by Lady Knight, at Rome, and transmitted by her to Mr. Hoole, the translator of Metastasio, &c. :— "Mrs. Williams's account of Mrs. Johnson was, that she had a good understanding, and great sensibility, but inclined |