tained extraordinary relief, for which he looked up to Heaven with grateful devotion. He made no direct inference from this fact; but from his manner of telling it, I could perceive that it appeared to him as something more than an incident in the common course of events. For my own part, I have no difficulty to avow that cast of thinking, which, by many modern pretenders to wisdom, is called superstitious. But here I think even men of dry rationality may believe, that there was an intermediate interposition of Divine Providence, and that the "fervent prayer of this righteous man" availed. 2 On Sunday, May 9., I found Colonel Vallancy, the celebrated antiquary and engineer of Ireland, with him. On Monday, the 10th, I dined with him at Mr. Paradise's, where was a large company; Mr. Bryant, Mr. Joddrel*, Mr. Hawkins Browne, &c. On Thursday, the 13th, I dined with him at Mr. Joddrel's, with another large company; the Bishop of Exeter [Dr. Ross], Lord Monboddo, Mr. Murphy, &c. I was sorry to observe Lord Monboddo avoid any communication with Dr. Johnson. I flattered myself that I had made them very good friends; but unhappily his lordship had resumed and cherished a violent prejudice against my illustrious friend, to whom I must do the justice to say, there was on his part not the least anger, but a good-humoured sportiveness. Nay, though he knew of his lordship's indisposition towards him, he was even kindly; as appeared from his inquiring of me after him, by an abbreviation of his name, "Well, how does Monny ?" 5 On Saturday, May 15., I dined with him at Dr. Brocklesby's, where were Colonel Vallancy, Mr. Murphy, and that ever-cheerful companion, Mr. Devaynes, apothecary to his majesty. Of these days, and others on which I saw him, I have no memorials, except the general recollection of his being able and animated in conversation, and appearing to relish society as much as the youngest man. I find only these three small particulars: When a person was mentioned, who said, "I have lived fifty-one years in this world without having had ten minutes of uneasiness;" he exclaimed, "The man who says so lies he attempts to impose on human 1 So in all the editions, though the meaning of the term intermediate does not seem quite clear. Perhaps Mr. Boswell may have meant immediate. - CROker. 2 Upon this subject there is a very fair and judicious remark in the Life of Dr. Abernethy, in the first edition of the Biographia Britannica, which I should have been glad to see in his Life, which has been written for the second edition of that valuable work. "To deny the exercise of a particular providence in the Deity's government of the world is certainly impious, yet nothing serves the cause of the scorner more than incautious forward zeal in determining the particular instances of it." In confirmation of my sentiments, I am also happy to quote that sensible and elegant writer, Mr. Melmoth, in Letter VIII. of his collection, published under the name of Fitzosborne, "We may safely assert, that the belief of a par icular Providence is founded upon such probable reasons as may well justify our assent. It would scarce, therefore, be wise to renounce an opinion which affords so firm a support to the soul in those seasons wherein she stands in most need of assistance, merely because it is credulity." The Bishop of Exeter in vain observed, that men were very different. His lordship's manner was not impressive; and I learnt afterwards, that Johnson did not find out that the person who talked to him was a prelate; if he had, I doubt not that he would hire treated him with more respect; for, once talking of George Psalmanazar, whom he reverencedi his piety, he said, "I should as soon think of contradicting a bishop." One of the company provoked him greatly by doing what he cou least of all bear, which was, quoting something of his own writing, against what he then ma tained. "What, Sir," cried the gentleme "do you say to The busy day, the peaceful night, Unfelt, uncounted, glided by?' Johnson, finding himself thus presented a giving an instance of a man who had live without uneasiness, was much offended, i he looked upon such a quotation as unfair: Eis anger burst out in an unjustifiable retor insinuating that the gentleman's remarka a sally of ebriety: "Sir, there is one passin I would advise you to command; when yo have drunk out that glass, don't drink another.” Here was exemplified what Goldsmith said e him, with the aid of a very witty image fre one of Cibber's comedies: "There is no argu with Johnson: for if his pistol misses fire, he knocks you down with the butt end of it." th Another was this: when a gentleman et eminence in the literary world was violenty censured for attacking people by anonymo paragraphs in newspapers, he, from spirit of contradiction, as I thought, took u his defence, and said, "Come, come, this not so terrible a crime; he means only to ve them a little. I do not say that I shoul! it; but there is a great difference between L and me: what is fit for Hephæstion is not for Alexander." Another, when I told that a young and handsome countess had se to me, "I should think that to be praised Dr. Johnson would make one a fool all o life;" and that I answered, "Madam, I si make him a fool to-day, by repeating this. him;" he said, "I am too old to be ma fool: but if you say I am made a fool, Is not possible, in questions of this kind, to solve every difc. which attends them."- BOSWELL. 3 Afterwards General Vallancy; an ingenious man somewhat of a visionary on Irish antiquities. He de 1812, æt. 92. CROKER. 4 Richard Paul Joddrel, Esq., formerly M.P. for Sa died Jan. 26. 1831, aged 86. He was the last survi Johnson's Essex Street club. CROKER. 5 Indeed his friends seem to have, as it were, celebr. 1 his recovery by a round of dinners, for he wrote on the to Mrs. Thrale:-"Now I am broken loose, my friend willing enough to see me. On Monday I dined with ! dise; Tuesday. Hoole; Wednesday, Dr. Taylor, 1with Joddrel: Friday, Mrs. Garrick; Saturday, Dr. b. lesby; next Monday, Dilly."- CROKER. 6 Most probably Mr. Boswell himself, who has more once applied the same quotation on similar OCCASLT CROKER. 7 Verses on the death of Mr. Levett.— BOSWELL 8 George Steevens.- CROKER, ļ thing more rough, and at any rate would probably have checked the flow of Johnson's good humour. He called to us with a sudden air of exultation, as the thought started into his mind, "O! Gentlemen, I must tell you a very great thing. The Empress of Russia has ordered the Rambler' to be translated into the Russian language; so I shall be read on the banks of the Wolga. Horace boasts that his fame would extend as far as the banks of the Rhone; now the Wolga is farther from me than the Rhone was from Horace." BoswELL. "You must certainly be pleased with this, Sir." JOHNSON. "I am pleased, Sir, to be sure. A man is pleased to find he has succeeded in that which he has endeavoured to do." One of the company mentioned his having seen a noble person driving in his carriage, and looking exceedingly well, notwithstanding his great age. JOHNSON. Ah, Sir, that is nothing. Bacon observes, that a stout healthy old man is like a tower undermined." 66 On Sunday, May 16., I found him alone: he talked of Mrs. Thrale with much concern, saying, "Sir, she has done every thing wrong since Thrale's bridle was off her neck;" and was proceeding to mention some circumstances which have since been the subject of public discussion, when he was interrupted by the arrival of Dr. Douglas, now Bishop of Salisbury. not deny it. I am much pleased with a compliment, especially from a pretty woman." On the evening of Saturday, May 15., he was in fine spirits at our Essex Head Club. He told us, "I dined yesterday at Mrs. Garrick's with Mrs. Carter', Miss Hannah More, and Fanny Burney. Three such women are not to be found: I know not where I could find a fourth, except Mrs. Lennox, who is superior to them all." BOSWELL. "What! had you them all to yourself, Sir?" JOHNSON. "I had them all, as much as they were had; but it might have been better had there been more company there." BOSWELL. "Might not Mrs. Montagu have been a fourth?" JOHNSON. "Sir, Mrs. Montagu does not make a trade of her wit but Mrs. Montagu is a very extraordinary woman: she has a constant stream of conversation, and it is always impregnated; it has always meaning." BoSWELL. "Mr. Burke has a constant stream of conversation." JOHNSON. "Yes, Sir; if a man were to go by chance at the same time with Burke under a shed to shun a shower, he would say, 'this is an extraordinary man.' If Burke should go into a stable to see his horse dressed, the ostler would say 'we have had an extraordinary man here.' BOSWELL. "Foote was a man who never failed in conversation. If he had gone into a stable-' JOHNSON. "Sir, if he had gone into a stable, the ostler would have said,here has been a comical fellow;' but he would not have respected him." BosWELL. "And, Sir, the ostler would have answered him,—would have given him as good as he brought, as the common saying is." JOHNSON. "Yes, Sir; and Foote would have answered the ostler. When Burke does not descend to be merry, his conversation is very superior indeed. There is no proportion between the powers which he shows in serious talk and in jocularity. When he lets himself down to that he is in the kennel." I have in another place [p. 273.] opposed, and I hope with success, Dr. Johnson's very singular and erroneous notion as to Mr. Burke's pleasantry. Mr. Windham now said low to me, that he differed from our great friend in this observa- Johnson, talking of the fear of death, said, tion; for that Mr. Burke was often very happy" Some people are not afraid, because they in his merriment. It would not have been look upon salvation as the effect of an absolute right for either of us to have contradicted decree, and think they feel in themselves the Johnson at this time, in a society all of whom marks of sanctification. Others, and those the did not know and value Mr. Burke as much most rational in my opinion, look upon salvaas we did. It might have occasioned some- tion as conditional; and as they never can be Dr. Douglas, upon this occasion, refuted a mistaken notion which is very common in Scotland, that the ecclesiastical discipline of the Church of England, though duly enforced, is insufficient to preserve the morals of the clergy, inasmuch as all delinquents may be screened by appealing to the convocation, which being never authorised by the king to sit for the despatch of business, the appeal never can be heard. Dr. Douglas observed, that this was founded upon ignorance; for that the bishops have sufficient power to maintain discipline, and that the sitting of the convocation was wholly immaterial in this respect, it being not a court of judicature, but like a parliament, to make canons and regulations as times may require. 1 This learned and excellent lady, so often mentioned in this volume, died at her house in Clarges Street, Feb. 19. 1806, in her eighty-ninth year. MALONE. The letters of these three ladies, posthumously published, have confirmed, and, indeed, increased the reputation of Mrs. Carter and Hannah More, while they have wholly extinguished that of Madame D'Arblay; but this indeed had been waning ever since her two first novels, which, clever as they were, owed a great deal of their extraordinary success to the strange misrepresentation, that had been somehow made, of the author's being ten years younger than she really was. Ante, p. 732. n. 3.- CROKER, 1847. 2 I have since heard that the report was not well founded; but the elation discovered by Johnson, in the belief that it was true, showed a noble ardour for literary fame. - Bos WELL. 3 See ante, p. 510. n. 3.- CROKER. 4 Since the abolition of the High Commission Court in 1640, proceedings against clergymen for ecclesiastical offences (happily, in this country, of rare occurrence, when compared with the number of the clergy) have been conducted by the same rules as are observed in other criminal cases in the spiritual courts. That inconveniences have attended their application to such suits is not a recent complaint, but some modern cases show the necessity of some early and effectual remedy. MARKLAND. sure that they have complied with the conditions, they are afraid." In one of his little manuscript diaries about this time I find a short notice, which marks his amiable disposition more certainly than a thousand studied declarations. "Afternoon spent cheerfully and elegantly, I hope without offence to God or man; though in no holy duty, yet in the general exercise and cultivation of benevolence." On Monday, May 17., I dined with him at Mr. Dilly's, where were Colonel Vallancy, the Reverend Dr. Gibbons, and Mr. Capel Lofft, who, though a most zealous Whig, has a mind so full of learning and knowledge, and so much exercised in various departments, and withal so much liberality, that the stupendous powers of the literary Goliah, though they did not frighten this little David of popular spirit, could not but excite his admiration. There was also Mr. Braithwaite of the Post-office, that amiable and friendly man, who, with modest and unassuming manners, has associated with many of the wits of the age. Johnson was very quiescent to-day. Perhaps, too, I was indolent. I find nothing more of him in my notes, but that when I mentioned that I had seen in the king's library sixty-three editions of my favourite Thomas à Kempis, amongst which it was in eight languages, Latin, German, French, Italian, Spanish, English, Arabic, and Armenian, -he said he thought it unnecessary to collect many editions of a book, which were all the same, except as to the paper and print; he would have the original, and all the translations, and all the editions which had any variations in the text. He approved of the famous collection of editions of Horace by Douglas, mentioned by Pope, who is said to have had a closet filled with them; and he added, every man should try to collect one book in that manner, and present it to a public library." 66 On Tuesday, May 18., I saw him for a short time in the morning. I told him that the mob had called out, as the king passed 3, "No Fox, no Fox! " which I did not like. He said, "They were right, Sir." I said, I thought not; for it seemed to be making Mr. Fox the king's competitor. There being no audience, so that there could be no triumph in a victory, he fairly agreed with me. I said it He was probably not at his ease under the disputatious whiggism of Capel Lofft, with which his state of health indisposed him to combat. CROKER, 1847. 2 The mention by Pope is in the following lines of the Dunciad, and the subjoined note : "Bid me with Pollio sup, as well as dine, "Douglas, a physician of great learning and no less taste; above all, curious in what related to Horace; of whom he collected every edition, translation, and comment, to the number of several hundred volumes."— Dunciad, b. iv. 1. 392. Dr. James Douglas was born in Scotland in 1675, and died in London in 1742. He published some medical works. CROKER. On Wednesday, May 19., I sat a part of the evening with him, by ourselves. I observed. that the death of our friends might be a cosolation against the fear of our own dissolution, because we might have more friends in the other world than in this. He perhaps feit this as a reflection upon his apprehension as to death, and said, with heat, "How can a man know where his departed friends are, or whether they will be his friends in the other world? How many friendships have you known formed upon principles of virtue? Most friendships are formed by caprice or by chance- -mere confederacies in vice or leagues in folly." We talked of our worthy friend Mr. Langton. He said, "I know not who will go to heaven if Langton does not. Sir, I coul almost say Sit anima mea cum Langtono." I mentioned a very eminent friend as a virtuous man. JOHNSON. "Yes, Sir; but has not the evangelical virtue of Langtos I am afraid, would not scruple # pick up a wench." He however charged Mr. Langton with what he thought want of judgment upon interesting occasion. "When I was ill," he, "I desired he would tell me sincerely: what he thought my life was faulty. Sir, b brought me a sheet of paper, on which he hswritten down several texts of Scripture re 3 To open parliament. The Westminster election concluded only the day before in favour of Mr. Fox, wh return, however, was delayed by the requisition for scrutiny. CROKER. 4 As Boswell has seldom, if ever, applied the t "eminent friend," except to Mr. Burke or Sir Joshua R nolds, it may not be unnecessary to remind the reader thr this time Mr. Burke was fifty-four, and Sir Joshua sixtyyears of age, and that the good taste and moral propriety both forbid our believing that there could have been a ground for so offensive a supposition against either: but p ticularly as against Mr. Burke-a married man, of exer piety, and, as Boswell admits, and all the world knowi markable for the most "orderly and amiable domestic hobia Ante, p. 626. We shall see by and by (post, Dec. 2. 17. still more culpable instance of Boswell's indelicacy and in cretion in dealing with such matters.-- CROKER, 1831—47. commending Christian charity. And when I questioned him what occasion I had given for such an animadversion, all that he could say amounted to this, that I sometimes contradicted people in conversation. Now what harm does it do to any man to be contradicted?" | BOSWELL. "I suppose he meant the manner of doing it; roughly and harshly." JOHNSON. "And who is the worse for that?" BOSWELL. "It hurts people of weaker nerves." JOHNSON. "I know no such weak-nerved people." Mr. Burke, to whom I related this conference, said, "It is well if, when a man comes to die, he has nothing heavier upon his conscience than having been a little rough in conversation." Johnson, at the time when the paper was presented to him, though at first pleased with the attention of his friend, whom he thanked in an earnest manner, soon exclaimed in a loud and angry tone, "What is your drift, Sir?" Sir Joshua Reynolds pleasantly observed, that it was a scene for a comedy, to see a penitent get into a violent passion and belabour his confessor.1 I have preserved no more of his conversation at the times when I saw him during the rest of this month, till Sunday, the 30th of May, when I met him in the evening at Mr. Hoole's, where there was a large company both of ladies and gentlemen. Sir James Johnston happened to say that he paid no regard to the arguments of counsel at the bar of the House of Commons, because they were paid for speaking. JOHNSON. "Nay, Sir, is argument. argument You cannot help paying regard to their arguments if they are good. If it were testimony, you might disregard it, if you knew that it were purchased. There is a beautiful image in Bacon 2 upon this subject. Testimony is like an arrow shot from a long-bow; the force of it depends on =the strength of the hand that draws it. Argument is like an arrow from a cross-bow, 1 1 After all, I cannot but be of opinion, that as Mr. Langton was seriously requested by Dr. Johnson to mention what appeared to him erroneous in the character of his friend, he was bound as an honest man to intimate what he really thought, which he certainly did in the most delicate manner; so that Johnson himself, when in a quiet frame of mind, was pleased with it. The texts suggested are now before me, and I shall quote a few of them. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Matt. v. 5. "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering forbearing one another in love."-Ephes. v. 1, 2. And above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness."- Col. iii. 14. "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, is not easily provoked."-1 Cor. xiii. 4, 5.- Boswell. 2 Dr. Johnson's memory deceived him. The passage referred to is not Bacon's, but Boyle's, and may be found, with a slight variation, in Johnson's Dictionary, under the word Crossbow. So happily selected are the greater part of the examples in that incomparable work, that if the most striking passages found in it were collected by one of our modern bookmakers, under the title of "The Beauties of Johnson's Dictionary," they would form a very pleasing and popular volume. MALONE. 3 Dr. Moore, in his Life of Smollett, professes to relate this circumstance (at which he was present) with more "precision" than Boswell; but it is satisfactory to find that his which has equal force though shot by a child." 3 5 He had dined that day at Mr. Hoole's, and Miss Helen Maria Williams being expected in the evening, Mr. Hoole put into his hands her beautiful “Ode on the Peace."4 Johnson read it over, and when this elegant and accomplished young lady was presented to him, he took her by the hand in the most courteous manner, and repeated the finest stanza of her poem. This was the most delicate and pleasing compliment he could pay. Her respectable friend, Dr. Kippis, from whom I had this anecdote, was standing by, and was not a little gratified. Miss Williams told me, that the only other time she was fortunate enough to be in Dr. Johnson's company, he asked her to sit down by him, which she did; and upon her inquiring how he was, he answered, "I am very ill indeed, Madam. I am very ill even when you are near me; what should I be were you at a distance? ["JOHNSON TO MISS REYNOLDS. "MADAM, You do me wrong by imputing my omission to any captious punctiliousness. I have not yet seen Sir Joshua, and, when I do see him, I know not how to serve you. When I spoke upon your affairs to him, at Christmas, I received no encouragement to speak again. "But we shall never do business by letters. We must see one another. "I have returned your papers, [pp. 697.706.] and am glad that you laid aside the thought of printing them. I am, Madam, your most humble servant, -Reyn. MSS. "SAM. JOHNSON."] JOHNSON TO DR. HAMILTON." "Bolt Court, June 4. 1783. "REVEREND SIR,- Be pleased to excuse this application from a stranger in favour of one who has very little ability to speak for herself. The statement proves the accuracy of Boswell's narration, as well as the superiority of his style of reporting. CROKER. The peace made by that very able statesman the Earl of Shelburne, now Marquis of Lansdowne, which may fairly be considered as the foundation of all the prosperity of Great Britain since that time.- BOSWELL. 5 In the first edition of my work, the epithet amiable was given. I was sorry to be obliged to strike it out; but I could not in justice suffer it to remain, after this young lady had not only written in favour of the savage anarchy with which France has been visited, but had (as I have been informed by good authority) walked, without horror, over the ground at the Thuilleries when it was strewed with the naked bodies of the faithful Swiss Guards, who were barbarously massacred for having bravely defended, against a crew of ruffians, the monarch whom they had taken an oath to defend. From Dr. Johnson she could now expect not endearment, but repulsion. BOSWELL. Miss Williams, like many other early enthusiasts of the French revolution, had latterly altered her opinion very considerably. She died in 1828, æt. 65. CROKER. 6 No doubt, pecuniary affairs, similar to those mentioned ante, p. 623. n. 1. I preserve all these notes as proofs of Johnson's active benevolence towards his friends, and the reliance they had on his kindness. - CROKER. This and the following notes, addressed to the Rev. Dr. Hamilton, Vicar of St. Martin's in the Fields, are published from the originals, in the possession of his son; who observes, that "they are of no further interest, than as showing the unhappy woman who waits on you with this, has been known to me many years. She is the daughter of a clergyman of Leicestershire, who by an unhappy marriage is reduced to solicit a refuge in the workhouse of your parish, to which she has a claim by her husband's settlement. Her case admits of little deliberation; she is turned out of her lodging into the street. What my condition allows me to do for her I have already done, and having no friend, she can have recourse only to the parish. I am, reverend Sir, &c., MSS. "SAM. JOHNSON." 66 SIR, - You do every thing that is liberal and kind. Mrs. Pellè is a bad manager for herself, but I will employ a more skilful agent, one Mrs. Gardiner, who will wait on you and employ Pellé's money to the best advantage. Mrs. Gardiner will wait on you. "I return you, Sir, sincere thanks for your attention to me. I am ill, but hope to come back better, and to be made better still by your conversation. I am, Sir, &c., SAM. JOHNSON."] -MSS. He had now a great desire to go to Oxford, as his first jaunt after his illness. We talked of it for some days, and I had promised to accompany him. He was impatient and fretful to-night, because I did not at once agree to go with him on Thursday. When I considered how ill he had been, and what allowance should be made for the influence of sickness upon his temper, I resolved to indulge him, though with some inconvenience to myself, as I wished to attend the musical meeting in honour of Handel, in Westminster Abbey, on the following Saturday. In the midst of his own diseases and pains, he was ever compassionate to the distresses of others, and actively earnest in procuring them aid, as appears from a note to Sir Joshua Reynolds, of June, in these words: goodness of Johnson's heart, and the spirit with which he entered into the cause and interests of an individual in distress, when he was almost on the bed of sickness and death himself."- WRIGHT. 1 Dr. Johnson left town on the following morning, with Boswell, for Oxford. WRIGHT. 2 The following note from Miss Reynolds shows that he was not a solicitor for the poor of his own acquaintance only. It seems to have been given to some poor woman as an introduction to Dr. Johnson: "Dover Street, July 9. "MY GOOD SIR, I could not forbear to communicate to the poor woman the hope you had given me of using your JOHNSON TO REYNOLDS. "I am ashamed to ask for some relief for a poor man, to whom I hope I have given what I can be expected to spare. The man importunes me, and the blow goes round. I am going to try another air on Thursday." On Thursday, June 3., the Oxford pos coach took us up in the morning at Bolt Coun The other two passengers were Mrs. Beresforl and her daughter, two very agreeable ladie from America; they were going to Wors tershire, where they then resided. Frank bad been sent by his master the day before to take places for us; and I found from the waythat Dr. Johnson had made our names be p down. Mrs. Beresford, who had read i whispered me, "Is this the great Dr. Joka son?" I told her it was; so she was the prepared to listen. As she soon happened t mention, in a voice so low that Johnson & not hear it, that her husband had been a me ber of the American Congress, I cautioned to beware of introducing that subject, as ste must know how very violent Johnson against the people of that country. He talke a great deal; but I am sorry I have preserve. little of the conversation. Miss Beresford w so much charmed, that she said to me asid "How he does talk! Every sentence is essay." She amused herself in the coach wit knotting. He would scarcely allow this species of employment any merit. "Next to mer idleness," said he, "I think knotting is to be reckoned in the scale of insignificance; though I once attempted to learn knotting: Dempster's sister (looking to me) endeavoured to teach me it, but I made no progress." I was surprised at his talking without re serve in the public post coach of the state his affairs: "I have," said he, "about world, I think, above a thousand pounds, wh I intend shall afford Frank an annuity seventy pounds a year." Indeed, his oper with people at a first interview was remarka He said once to Mr. Langton, "I think i like Squire Richard in The Journey London,' I'm never strange in a strange per He was truly social. He strongly cens what is much too common in England ar persons of condition,-maintaining an abs silence when unknown to each other; as instance, when occasionally brought tog in a room before the master or mistress of |