'Then the world must be left in the dark. It must be said (assuming a mock solemnity), he scraped them, and let them dry, but what he did with them next he never could be prevailed upon to tell.' JOHNSON : 'Nay, sir, you should say it more emphatically :— he could not be prevailed upon, even by his dearest friends, to tell.'

He had this morning received his Diploma as Doctor of Laws from the University of Oxford. He did not vaunt of his new dignity, but I understood he was highly pleased with it. I shall here insert the progress and completion of that high academical honour, in the same manner as I have traced his obtaining that of Master of Arts.

TO THE REV. DR. FOTHERGILL, VICE-CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, TO BE COMMUNICATED TO THE HEADS OF HOUSES, AND PROPOSED IN CON

VOCATION.

'MR. VICE-CHANCELLOR AND GENTLEMEN,-The honour of the degree of M.A. by diploma, formerly conferred upon Mr. Samuel Johnson, in consequence of his having eminently distinguished himself by the publication of a series of Essays excellently calculated to form the manners of the people, and in which the cause of religion and morality has been maintained and recommended by the strongest powers of argument and elegance of language, reflected an equal degree of lustre upon the University itself.

'The many learned labours which have since that time employed the attention and displayed the abilities of that great man so much to the advancement of literature and the benefit of the community, render him worthy of more distinguished honours in the Republic of letters; and I persuade myself that I shall act agreeably to the sentiments of the whole University, in desiring that it may be proposed in Convocation to confer on him the degree of Doctor in Civil

Law by diploma, to which I readily give my consent; and am, Mr. Vice-Chancellor and gentlemen, your affectionate friend and servant,

'Downing Street, March 23, 1775.'

DIPLOMA

NORTH.1

'CANCELLARIUS, Magistri, et Scholares Universitatis Oxoniensis omnibus ad quos præsentes Literæ pervenerint, salutem in Domino Sempiternam.

'SCIATIS, virum illustrem, SAMUELEM JOHNSON, in omni humaniorum literarum genere eruditum, omniumque scientiarum comprehensione felicissimum, scriptis suis, ad popularium mores formandos summa verborum elegantia ac sententiarum gravitate compositis, ita olim inclaruisse, ut dignus videretur cui ab Academia sua eximia quædam laudis præmia deferrentur, quique in venerabilem Magistrorum Ordinem summa cum dignitate cooptaretur:

'Cum vero eundem clarissimum virum tot postea tantique labores, in patria præsertim lingua ornanda et stabilienda feliciter impensi, ita insigniverint, ut in Literarum Republica Princeps jam et Primarius jure habeatur; Nos, Cancellarius, Magistri, et Scholares Universitatis Oxoniensis, quo talis viri merita pari honoris remuneratione exæquentur, et perpetuum suæ simul laudis, nostræque erga literas propensissimæ voluntatis exstet monumentum, in solenni Convocatione Doctorum et Magistrorum Regentium, et non Regentium, prædictum SAMUELEM JOHNSON Dectorem in Jure Civili renunciavimus et constituimus, eumque virtute præsentis Diplomatis singulis juribus, privilegiis, et honoribus, ad istum gradum quaqua pertinentibus, frui et gaudere jussimus. In cujus rei testimonium commune Universitatis Oxoniensis sigillum præsentibus apponi fecimus.

'Datum in Domo nostræ Convocationis die tricesimo Mensis Martii, Anno Domini Millesimo septingentesimo, septuagesimo quinto.'

1 Extracted from the Convocation Register, Oxford.

2 The original is in my possession. He showed me the Diploma, and allowed me to read it, but would not consent to my taking a copy of it, fearing perhaps that I should blaze it abroad in his lifetime. His

VIRO REVERENDO THOMÆ FOTHERGILL, S. T. P. UNIVERSITATIS OXONIENSIS VICE-CANCELLARIO.

'S. P. D.

"SAM. JOHNSON.

'Multis non est opus, ut testimonium, quo, te præside, Oxonienses nomen meum posteris commendarunt, quali animo acceperim compertum faciam. Nemo sibi placens non lætatur ; nemo sibi non placet, qui vobis, literarum arbitris, placere potuit. Hoc tamen habet incommodi tantum beneficium, quod mihi nunquam posthac sine vestræ famæ detrimento vel labi liceat vel cessare; semperque sit timendum, ne quod mihi tam eximia laudi est, vobis aliquando fiat opprobrio. Vale.

7 Id. Apr. 1775.'

He revised some sheets of Lord Hailes's Annals of Scotland, and wrote a few notes on the margin with red ink, which he bade me tell his lordship did not sink into the paper, and might be wiped off with a wet sponge, so that he did not spoil his manuscript. I observed to him that there were very few of his friends so accurate as that I could venture to put down in writing what they told me as his sayings. JOHNSON: Why should you write down my sayings?' BOSWELL: 'I write them when they are good.'

objection to this appears from his ninety-ninth letter to Mrs. Thrale, whom in his letter he thus scolds for the grossness of her flattery of him. 'The other Oxford news is, that they have sent me a degree of Doctor of Laws, with such praises in the Diploma as perhaps ought to make me ashamed: they are very like your praises. I wonder whether I shall ever show it to you.'

It is remarkable that he never, so far as I know, assumed his title of Doctor, but called himself Mr. Johnson, as appears from many of his cards or notes to myself, and I have seen many from him to other persons, in which he uniformly takes that designation. I once observed on his table a letter directed to him with the addition of Esquire, and objected to it as being a designation inferior to that of Doctor; but he checked me, and seemed pleased with it, because, as I conjectured, he liked to be sometimes taken out of the class of literary men, and to be merely genteel,-un gentilhomme comme un autre.

JOHNSON: 'Nay, you may as well write down the sayings of any one else that are good.' But where, I might with great propriety have added, can I find such?

I visited him by appointment in the evening, and we drank tea with Mrs. Williams. He told me that he had been in the company of a gentleman1 whose extraordinary travels had been much the subject of conversation. But I found he had not listened to him with that full confidence, without which there is little satisfaction in the society of travellers. I was curious to hear what opinion so able a judge as Johnson had formed of his abilities, and I asked if he was not a man of sense. JOHNSON: 'Why, sir, he is not a distinct relater; and I should say he is neither abounding nor deficient in sense. I did not perceive any superiority of understanding.' BoswELL: 'But will you not allow him a nobleness of resolution in penetrating into distant regions?' JOHNSON: 'That sir, is not to the present purpose: we are talking of sense. A fighting-cock has a nobleness of resolution.'

Next day, Sunday, April 2, I dined with him at Mr. Hoole's. We talked of Pope. JOHNSON: 'He wrote his Dunciad for fame. That was his primary motive. Had it not been for that the dunces might have railed against him till they were weary, without his troubling himself about them. He delighted to vex them, no doubt; but he had more delight in seeing how well he could vex them.'

The Odes to Obscurity and Oblivion,' in ridicule of 'cool Mason and warm Gray,' being mentioned,

1 [Bruce, the famous and ill-treated Abyssinian traveller.-A. B.]

Johnson said: "They are Colman's best things.' Upon its being observed that it was believed these Odes were made by Colman and Lloyd jointly;-JOHNSON: 'Nay, sir, how can two people make an Ode? Perhaps one made one of them, and one the other.' I observed that two people had made a play, and quoted the anecdote of Beaumont and Fletcher, who were brought under suspicion of treason, because while concerting the plan of a tragedy when sitting together at a tavern, one of them was overheard saying to the other, 'I'll kill the king.' JOHNSON: The first of these Odes is the best; but they are both good. They exposed a very bad kind of writing.' BoswELL: 'Surely, sir, Mr. Mason's "Elfrida" is a fine poem: at least you will allow there are some good passages in it.' JOHNSON: "There are now and then some good imitations of Milton's bad manner.'

I often wondered at his low estimation of the writings of Gray and Mason. Of Gray's poetry I have, in a former part of this work, expressed my high opinion; and for that of Mr. Mason I have ever entertained a warm admiration. His 'Elfrida' is exquisite, both in poetical description and moral sentiment; and his 'Caractacus' is a noble drama. Nor can I omit paying my tribute of praise to some of his smaller poems, which I have read with pleasure, and which no criticism shall persuade me not to like. If I wondered at Johnson's not tasting the works of Mason and Gray, still more have I wondered at their not tasting his works that they should be insensible to his energy of diction, to his splendour of images and comprehension of thought. Tastes may differ as to the violin, the flute, the hautboy, in short all the lesser