is considered that soon after closing his Rambler he suffered a loss which, there can be no doubt, affected him with the deepest distress.1 On the 17th of March, O. S.,* his wife died. Her wedding ring, when she became his wife, was, after her death, preserved by him, as long as he lived, with an affectionate care, in a little round wooden box, in the inside of which he pasted a slip of paper, thus inscribed by him in fair characters, as follows: Eheu! Eliz. Johnson, Mart. 17° 1752. 2 After his death, Mr. Francis Barber, his faithful servant, and residuary legatee, offered this memorial of tenderness to Mrs. Lucy Porter, Mrs. Johnson's daughter; but she having declined to accept of it, he had it enameled as a mourning ring for his old master, and presented it to his wife, Mrs. Barber, who now has it. I have, indeed, been told by Mrs. Desmoulins, who, before her marriage, lived for some time with Mrs. Johnson at Hampstead, that she indulged herself in country air and nice living at an unsuitable expense, while her husband was drudging in the smoke of London, and that she by no means treated him with that complacency which is the most engaging quality in a wife. But all this is perfectly compatible with his fondness 1. Deepest distress. See Appendix B, page 545, for more notes on Dr. Johnson's married life. 2. Francis Barber. Originally a negro slave in the West Indies. His master, the father of Johnson's dear friend, Dr. Bathurst, took him to England, sent him to school there, and in his will left him his freedom. In 1752 Barber entered Dr. Johnson's service, who for some time continued his schooling, and always protected him, leaving him a comfortable annuity by will. A clergyman by the name of Turner describes how he once called at No. 1 Inner Temple Lane to see Johnson. Francis opened the door and a group of his African countrymen sitting round a fire in the gloomy anteroom all turned their sooty faces at once to stare at him. 1752] GRIEF OVER HIS WIFE'S DEATH 45 for her, especially when it is remembered that he had a high opinion of her understanding, and that the impressions which her beauty, real or imaginary, had originally made upon his fancy, being continued by habit, had not been effaced, though she herself was doubtless much altered for the worse. From Mr. Francis Barber I have had the following account of the situation in which he found him after his wife's death: "He was in great affliction. Mrs. Williams1 was then living in his house, which was in Gough Square. He was busy with the Dictionary. Mr. Shiels and, some others of the gentlemen who had formerly written for him used to come about him. He had then little for himself, but frequently sent money to Mr. Shiels when in distress. The friends who visited him at that time were chiefly Dr. Bathurst,2 and Mr. Diamond, 1. Mrs. Williams. Unmarried, the term Mrs. in the eighteenth century being often applied to spinsters. "Mrs. Anna Williams, daughter of a very ingenious Welsh physician, having come to London in hopes of being cured of a cataract in both her eyes, which afterwards ended in total blindness, was kindly received as a constant visitor at his house while Mrs. Johnson lived; and after her death, having come under his roof in order to have an operation upon her eyes performed with more comfort to her than in lodgings, she had an apartment from him during the rest of her life, at all times when he had a house." Boswell: Life of Johnson. "Her acquisitions were many and her curiosity universal; so that she partook of every conversation." Johnson, 1788. "Age and sickness and pride have made her so peevish that I was forced to bribe the maid to stay with her by a secret stipulation of half a crown a week over her wages." Johnson, 1777. 2. Dr. Bathurst. A London physician without much practice. He became a ship's doctor and died in the West Indies in 1757. “A physician in a great city seems to be the mere plaything of fortune; his degree of reputation is for the most part totally casual; they that employ him know not his excellence; they that reject him know not his deficience." Johnson. ""Dear Bathurst,' said [Johnson] to me one day, 'was a man to my very heart's content; he hated a fool, and he hated a rogue, and he hated a Whig; he was a very good hater.' Mrs. Piozzi: Anecdotes of Johnson. ""My dear friend Dr. Bathurst,' said he with a warmth of approbation, 'declared he was glad that his father, who was a West Indian planter, had left his affairs in total ruin because, having no estate, he was not under the temptation of having slaves.'" Boswell: Life of Johnson. 2 an apothecary in Cork Street, Burlington Gardens, with whom he and Mrs. Williams generally dined every Sunday. There was also Mr. Cave, Dr. Hawkesworth,1 Mr. Ryland, merchant on Tower Hill, Mrs. Masters, the poetess, who lived with Mr. Cave, Mrs. Carter, and sometimes Mrs. Macaulay;" also, Mrs. Gardiner, wife of a tallow-chandler on Snow Hill, not in the learned way, but a worthy, good woman; Mr. (now Sir Joshua) Reynolds; Mr. Millar, Mr. Dodsley, Mr. Bouquet, Mr. Payne, of Paternoster Row, booksellers; Mr. Strahan, the printer; the Earl of Orrery, Lord Southwell, Mr. Garrick." 5 3 Many are, no doubt, omitted in this catalogue of his friends, and in particular, Mr. Robert Levet,' an obscure practicer in physic amongst the lower people, his fees being sometimes very small sums, sometimes whatever provisions his patients could afford him; but of such extensive practice in that way 1. Dr. Hawkesworth. For a time so successful as an essayist and compiler that he grew "foppish." He became very unpopular before his death, possibly because of his frankness in religious matters. 2. Ryland, John. Hawkesworth's brother-in-law. A merchant, dissenter, Old School Whig, and sound scholar; Johnson's lifelong friend. 3. Mrs. Carter. The learned Mrs. Carter (unmarried) who, according to Johnson, "could make a pudding as well as translate Epictetus." "Her whole face seems to beam with goodness, piety, and philanthropy." Mme. D'Arblay: Diary. 4. Mrs. Macaulay. (1731-1791) Still Miss Catherine Sawbridge. Later, as Mrs. Macaulay, she became literary, a giver of good dinners, and a patroness of republicanism and democratic equality. Horace Walpole called her the brood hen of fashion, and a shallow fanatic. 5. Mrs. Gardiner. "Mrs. Gardiner was very zealous for the support of the charity-school in the parish of St. Sepulcher." Boswell. 6. Orrery. "That man spent his life in catching at an object [literary eminence] which he had not power to grasp." Johnson, 1770. 7. Levet. At one time a waiter in a coffee-house in Paris. He picked up some knowledge of medicine, chiefly through free lectures. "When in deshabille, he might have been taken for an alchemist. Gentleman's Magazine, LV: 110. "Levet is a brutal fellow, but I have a good regard for him; for his brutality is in his manners, not his mind.' Johnson, 1778. "Mr. Levet, who thinks his ancient rights invaded [by the introduction of another guest into the household], stands at bay, fierce as ten furies. Mrs Williams growls and scolds." Johnson, 1778. "Here is Mr. Levet, just come in at fourscore from a walk to Hampstead, eight miles in August." Johnson, 1780. [752] MR. LEVET AND OTHER FRIENDS 47 that, Mrs. Williams has told me, his walk was from Houndsditch to Marylebone. It appears from Johnson's diary that their acquaintance commenced about the year 1746; and such was Johnson's predilection for him, and fanciful estimation of his moderate abilities, that I have heard him say he should not be satisfied, though attended by all the College of Physicians, unless he had Mr. Levet with him. Ever since I was acquainted with Dr. Johnson, and many years before, as I have been assured by those who knew him earlier, Mr. Levet had an apartment in his house, or his chambers, and waited upon him every morning, through the whole course of his late and tedious breakfast. He was of a strange, grotesque appearance, stiff and formal in his manner, and seldom said a word while any company was present. When Johnson lived in Castle Street, Cavendish Square, he used frequently to visit two ladies who lived opposite him, Miss Cotterells, daughters of Admiral Cotterell. Reynolds1 used also to visit there, and thus they met. The ladies were regretting the death of a friend, to whom they owed great obligations; upon which Reynolds observed, "You have, however, the comfort of being relieved from a burthen of gratitude." They were shocked a little at this suggestion, as too selfish; but Johnson defended it in his clear and forcible manner, and was much pleased with the mind, the fair view of human nature, which it exhibited, like some of the reflections of Rochefaucault. The consequence was that he went home with Reynolds, and supped with him. Sir Joshua told me [an] anecdote of Johnson about the time 1. Reynolds, Sir Joshua (1723-1792). "To coxcombs averse, yet most civilly steering, When they judged without skill, he was still hard of hearing; Sir James Northcote, the painter, is reported to have said of him: "I never heard the words, 'Your lordship' or 'Your ladyship' come from his mouth, nor did he ever say 'sir' in speaking to anyone but Dr. Johnson." "[Johnson] may be said to have formed my mind, and to have brushed from it a great deal of rubbish." Sir Joshua Reynolds. of their first acquaintance. When they were one evening together at the Miss Cotterells', the then Duchess of Argyle and another lady of high rank came in. Johnson, thinking that the Miss Cotterells were too much engrossed by them, and that he and his friend were neglected, grew angry; and resolving to shock1 their supposed pride, addressed himself in a low tone to Mr. Reynolds, saying, "How much do you think you and I could get in a week, if we were to work as hard as we could?"—as if they had been common mechanics. His acquaintance with Bennet Langton, Esq. of Langton, in Lincolnshire, commenced soon after the conclusion of his Rambler, which that gentleman, then a youth, had read with so much admiration that he came to London chiefly with a view of endeavoring to be introduced to its author. By chance he happened to take lodgings in a house where Mr. Levet frequently visited; and having mentioned his wish to his landlady, she introduced him to Mr. Levet, who readily obtained Johnson's permission to bring Mr. Langton to him. Mr. Langton was exceedingly surprised when the sage first appeared. From perusing his writings, he fancied he should see a decent, well-dressed, in short, a remarkably decorous philosopher. Instead of which, down from his bed chamber, about noon, came, as newly risen, a huge, uncouth figure, with a little dark wig which scarcely covered his head, and his clothes hanging loose about him. But his conversation was so rich, so animated, and so forcible, and his religious and 1. Resolving to shock. "Men whose consciousness of their own merit sets them above the compliances of servility are apt enough in their association with superiors to watch their own dignity with troublesome and punctilious jealousy, and in the fervor of independence, to exact that attention which they refuse to pay." Johnson: Life of Gray, 1780. 2. Langton. Langton was only seventeen when he first met Johnson. He later went to Oxford, married, was negligent regarding his estate, sedulous regarding the happiness and moral welfare of his friends, and devoted to his children, whom Johnson thought he had too much about him. He saw all things through a pleasant atmosphere of learning. But he was rather too ready to give moral advice where it was not welcome. In the pages of this book he is often alluded to as a worthy friend. |