steadiness of analogy, or direction of rules. An Erse grammar is an addition to the stores of literature; and its authour hopes for the indulgence always shown to those that attempt to do what was never done before. If his work shall be found defective, it is at least all his own: he is not like other grammarians, a compiler or transcriber; what he delivers, he has learned by attentive observation among his countrymen, who perhaps will be themselves surprised to see that speech reduced to principles, which they have used only by imitation. "The use of this book will, however, not be confined to the mountains and islands: it will afford a pleasing and important subject of speculation to those whose studies lead them to trace the affinity of languages, and the migrations of the ancient races of mankind." "TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. "Glasgow, 24th April, 1777, "MY DEAR SIR,-Our worthy friend Thrale's death having appeared in the newspapers, and been afterwards contradicted, I have been placed in a state of very uneasy uncertainty, from which I hoped to be relieved by you: but my hopes have as yet been vain. How could you omit to write to me on such an occasion? I shall wait with anxiety. "I am going to Auchinleck to stay a fortnight with my father. It is better not to be there very long at one time. But frequent renewals of attention are agreeable to him. 66 My wife has made marmalade of oranges for you. I left her and my daughters and Alexander all well yesterday. I have taught Veronica to speak of you thus; Dr. Johnson, not Johnston.—I remain, my dear sir, your most affectionate, and obliged humble servant, "JAMES BOSWELL." "TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. "Sd May, 1777. "DEAR SIR,-The story of Mr. Thrale's death, as he had neither been sick nor in [Dr. Maty's posthumous edition of the Memoirs and Miscellaneous Works of Lord Chesterfield, published by Mr. Justamond early in 1777. -ED.] any other danger, made so little impression upon me, that I never thought about obviating its effects on any body else. It is supposed to have been produced by the English custom 2 of making April fools, that is, of sending one another on some foolish errand on the first of April. "Tell Mrs. Boswell that I shall taste her marmalade cautiously at first. Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. Beware, says the Italian proverb, of a reconciled enemy. But when I find it does me no harm, I shall then receive it, and be thankful for it as a pledge of firm, and, I hope, of unalterable kindness. She is, after all, a dear, dear lady. return Dr. Blair thanks for The Scotch write English "Please to his sermons. wonderfully well. "Your frequent visits to Auchinleck, and your short stay there, are very laudable and very judicious. Your present concord with your father gives me great pleasure; it was all that you seemed to want. My health is very bad, and my nights are very unquiet. What can I do to mend them? I have for this summer nothing better in prospect than a journey into Staffordshire and Derbyshire, perhaps with Oxford and Birmingham in my way. "Make my compliments to Miss Veronica; I must leave it to her philosophy to comfort you for the loss of little David. You must remember, that to keep three out of four is more than your share. Mrs. Thrale has but four out of eleven. "I am engaged to write little Lives, and little Prefaces, to a little edition of the English Poets. I think I have persuaded the booksellers to insert something of Thomson; and if you could give me some information about him, for the life which we have is very scanty, I should be glad.-I am, dear sir, your most affectionate humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." To those who delight in tracing the progress of works of literature, it will be an entertainment to compare the limited design with the ample execution of that admirable performance, "The Lives of the English Poets," which is the richest, most beautiful, and indeed most perfect, production of Johnson's pen. His notion of it at this time appears in the preceding letter. He has a memorandum in this year: "29th May, Easter-eve, I treated with booksellers on a bargain, but the time was not long." The bargain was concerning that undertaking; but his tender conscience seems 2 [Not merely an English custom-the French have the same; but what we call April fools they term "poisson d'Avril.”—ED.] alarmed, lest it should have intruded too | cise account of the life of each authour by much on his devout preparation for the solemnity of the ensuing day. But, indeed, very little time was necessary for Johnson's concluding a treaty with the bookseller; as he had, I believe, less attention to profit from his labours, than any man to whom literature has been a profession. I shall here insert, from a letter to me from my late worthy friend Mr. Edward Dilly, though of a later date, an account of this plan so happity conceived, since it was the occasion of procuring for us an elegant collection of the best biography and criticism of which our language can boast. 66 TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. "Southill, 26th Sept. 1777. "DEAR SIR,-You find by this letter, that I am still in the same calm retreat, from the noise and bustle of London, as when I wrote to you last. I am happy to find you had such an agreeable meeting with your old friend Dr. Johnson; I have no doubt your stock is much increased by the interview; few men, nay, I may say, scarcely any man has got that fund of knowledge and entertainment as Dr. Johnson in conversation. When he opens freely, every one is attentive to what he says, and cannot fail of improvement as well as pleasure. "The edition of the poets, now printing, will do honour to the English press; and a concise account of the life of each authour, by Dr. Johnson, will be a very valuable addition, and stamp the reputation of this edition superiour to any thing that is gone before. The first cause that gave rise to this undertaking, I believe, was owing to the little trifling edition of the poets, printing by the Martins at Edinburgh, and to be sold by Bell in London. Upon examining the volumes which were printed, the type was found so extremely small, that many persons could not read them: not only this inconvenience attended it, but the inaccuracy of the press was very conspicuous. These reasons, as well as the idea of an invasion of what we call our Literary Property, induced the London booksellers to print an elegant and accurate edition of all the English poets of reputation, from Chaucer to the present time. "Accordingly a select number of the most respectable booksellers met on the occasion: and, on consulting together, agreed, that all the proprietors of copyright in the various poets should be summoned together; and when their opinions were given, to proceed immediately on the business. Accordingly a meeting was held, consisting of about forty of the most respectable booksellers of London, when it was agreed that an elegant and uniform edition of The English Poets' should be immediately printed, with a con Dr. Samuel Johnson; and that three persons should be deputed to wait upon Dr. Johnson, to solicit him to undertake the Lives; viz. T. Davies, Strahan, and Cadell. The Doctor very politely undertook it, and seemed exceedingly pleased with the proposal. As to the terms, it was left entirely to the Doctor to name his own; he mentioned two hundred guineas; it was immediately agreed to; and a farther compliment, I believe, will be made him. A committee was likewise appointed to engage the best engravers, viz. Bartolozzi, Sherwin, Hall, &c. Likewise another committee for giving directions about the paper, printing, &c.; so that the whole will be conducted with spirit, and in the best manner, with respect to authorship, editorship, engravings, &c. &c. My brother will give you a list of the poets we mean to give, many of which are within the time of the Act of Queen Anne, which Martin and Bell cannot give, as they have no property in them: the proprietors are almost all the booksellers in London, of consequence.—I am, dear sir, ever yours, "EDWARD DILLY." 1 Johnson's moderation in demanding so small a sum is extraordinary. Had he asked one thousand, or even fifteen hundred guineas, the booksellers, who knew the value of his name, would doubtless have readily given it. They have probably got five thousand guineas by this work in the course of twenty-five years.--MALONE. [It must be recollected that Johnson at first intended very short prefaces-he afterwards expanded his design.-ED.] 2 Mr. Joseph Cooper Walker, of the treasury, Dublin, who obligingly communicated to me this and a former letter from Dr. Johnson to the same gentleman (for which see vol. i. p. 139), writes to have some account of Mr. O'Connor. He is an me as follows:- Perhaps it would gratify you to amiable, learned, venerable old gentleman, of an independent fortune, who lives at Belanagar, in the county of Roscommon: he is an admired writer, and member of the Irish Academy. The above letter is alluded to in the preface to the second edition of his Dissert.' p. 3." Mr. O'Connor afterwards died at the age of eighty-two, July 1, 1791. See a well-drawn character of him in acter and your literary undertaking, I am | person who gave him any assistance in the resolved to gratify myself by renewing a cor- compilation of his dictionary. The bishop respondence which began and ended a great had left some account of his life and characwhile ago, and ended, I am afraid, by my ter, written by himself. To this Johnson fault, a fault which, if you have not forgot- made some valuable additions †, and also ten it, you must now forgive. furnished to the editor, the Rev. Mr. Derby 3, a dedication †, which I shall here insert; both because it will appear at this time with peculiar propriety, and because it will tend to propagate and increase that "fervour of loyalty," which in me, who boast of the name of tory, is not only a principle, but a passion. rant. "If I have ever disappointed you, give me leave to tell you that you have likewise disappointed me. I expected great discoveries in Irish antiquity, and large publicaons in the Irish language; but the world still remains as it was, doubtful and ignoWhat the Irish language is in itself, and to what languages it has affinity, are very interesting questions, which every man wishes to see resolved that has any philological or historical curiosity. Dr. Leland begins his history too late: the ages which deserve an exact inquiry are those times (for such there were) when Ireland was the school of the west, the quiet habitation of sanctity and literature. If you could give a history, though imperfect, of the Irish nation, from its conversion to Christianity to the invasion from England, you would amplify knowledge with new views and new objects. Set about it, therefore, if you can: do what you can easily do without anxious exactness. Lay the foundation, and leave the superstructure to posterity. -I am, sir, your humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." Early in this year came out, in two volumes quarto, the posthumous works of the learned Dr. Zachary Pearce, bishop of Rochester; being "A Commentary, with Notes, on the four Evangelists and the Acts of the Apostles," with other theological pieces. Johnson had now an opportunity of making a grateful return to that excellent prelate 2, who, we have seen, was the only the “Gentleman's Magazine" for August, 1791. -BOSWELL. 66 FOR [In Anderson's" Sketches of the Native Irish," p. 5. ed. 1828, there is on these words, such there were," the following note: These words were misquoted by Dr. Campbell in his strictures, IF such there were,' although he was actually the bearer of the letter to O'Connor." The editor confesses that Dr. Campbell's reading seems the more probable of the two.-ED.] 2 [Mrs. Thrale, in one of her letters, repeats a curious anecdote of this prelate, which she probably had from Dr. Johnson himself: "We will act as Dr. Zachary Pearce, the famous bishop of Rochester, did, when he lost the wife he so much loved-call for one glass to the health of her who is departed never more to return, and then go quietly back to the usual duties of life, and forbear to mention her again from that time to the last day of it."-Lett. 2. p. 213. But he survived his lady but a few months, and his death was (if not occasioned) certainly accelerated by her loss. She died 23d Oct. 1773, and he 29th June, 1774, after a union of fifty-one years.-ED.] "TO THE KING. SIR,-I presume to lay before your majesty the last labours of a learned bishop, who died in the toils and duties of his calling. He is now beyond the reach of all earthly honours and rewards; and only the hope of inciting others to imitate him, makes it now fit to be remembered, that he enjoyed in his life the favour of your majesty. "The tumultuary life of princes seldom permits them to survey the wide extent of national interest, without losing sight of private merit; to exhibit qualities which may be imitated by the highest and the humblest of mankind; and to be at once amiable and great. "Such characters, if now and then they appear in history, are contemplated with admiration. May it be the ambition of all your subjects to make haste with their tribute of reverence! and as posterity may learn from your majesty how kings should live, may they learn likewise from your people how they should be honoured!-I am, may it please your majesty, with the most profound respect, your majesty's most dutiful and devoted subject and servant." In the summer he wrote a prologue* which was spoken before " A Word to the which had been brought upon the stage in Wise," a comedy by Mr. Hugh Kelly, 1770; but he being a writer for ministry in one of the newspapers, it fell a sacrifice to popular fury, and in the playhouse phrase, was damned. By the generosity of Mr. Harris, the proprietor of Covent-garden theatre, it was now exhibited for one night, for the benefit of the authour's widow and children. To conciliate the favour of the audience was the intention of Johnson's prologue, which, as it is not long, I shall here insert, as a proof that his poetical talents were in no degree impaired. 3 [Died 6th Oct. 1778, the Rev. J. Derby, A. M. rector of Southfleet and Longfield in Kent, and one of the six preachers in Canterbury Cathedral.-Gent. Mag. He had married Bishop Pearce's niece. Johnson in a letter to Mrs. Thrale," My clerical friend Derby is dead.”. ED.] "This night presents a play, which publick rage, Or right or wrong, once hooted from the stage: From zeal or malice now no more we dread, For English vengeance wars not with the dead. A generous foe regards with pitying eye he introduced an elegant compliment to Johnson on his Dictionary, that wonderful performance which cannot be too often or too highly praised; of which Mr. Harris, in his "Philological Inquiries?," justly and The man whom fate has laid where all must lie. liberally observes, "Such is its merit, that To wit, reviving from its authour's dust, Th' oblivious grave's inviolable shade. p. 39, 40. [Dr. Johnson, indeed, was alPiozzi, ways liberal in granting literary assistance to others; and innumerable are the prefaces, sermons, lectures, and dedications, which he used to make for people who begged of him. Mr. Murphy related in his hearing one day, and he did not deny it, that when Murphy joked him the week before for having been so diligent of late between Dodd's sermon and Kelly's prologue, Dr. Johnson replied, "Why, sir, when they come to me with a dead staymaker and a dying parson, what can a man do?" He said, however, that "he hated to give away literary performances, or even to sell them too cheaply: the next generation shall not accuse me," added he, "of beating down the price of literature: one hates, besides, ever to give that which one has been accustomed to sell; would not you, sir," turning to Mr. Thrale, "rather give away money than porter?"] A circumstance which could not fail to be very pleasing to Johnson occurred this year. The tragedy of Sir Thomas Overbury," written by his early companion in London, Richard Savage, was brought out with alterations at Drury-lane theatre. The prologue to it was written by Mr. Richard Brinsley Sheridan; in which, after describing very pathetically the wretched ness of our language does not possess a more copious, learned, and valuable work." The concluding lines of this prologue were these. "So pleads the tale that gives to future times The son's misfortunes and the parent's crim There shall his fame (if own'd to-night) survive, Fix'd by the hand that bids our language live." Mr. Sheridan here at once did honour to his taste and to his liberality of sentiment, by showing that he was not prejudiced from the unlucky difference which had taken place between his worthy father and Dr. Johnson 4. I have already mentioned that Johnson was very desirous of reconciliation with old Mr. Sheridan. It will, therefore, not seem at all surprising that he was zealous in acknowledging the brilliant merit of his son. While it had as yet been displayed only in the drama, Johnson proposed him as a member of the Literary Club, observing, that "He who has written the two best comedies of his age is surely a considerable man." And he had, accordingly, the honour to be elected; for an honour it undoubtedly must be allowed to be, when it is considered of whom that society consists, and that a single black ball excludes a candidate. MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. "9th July, 1777. "MY DEAR SIR,-For the health of my wife and children I have taken the little country-house at which you visited my uncle, Dr. Boswell, who, having lost his wife, is gone to live with his son. We took possession of our villa about a week ago. We have a garden of three quarters of an acre, well stocked with fruit-trees and flowers, and gooseberries and currants, and pease and beans, and cabbages, &c. &c. and my children are quite happy. I now write to you in a little study, from the window of which I see around me a verdant grove, and beyond it the lofty mountain called Arthur's Seat "Your last letter, in which you desire me 2 Part First, chap. iv.-BOSWELL. 3 "Life of Richard Savage, by Dr. Johnson." -SHERIDAN. [He likewise made some retribution to Dr. Johnson for the attack he had meditated, about two years before, on the pamphlet he had published about the American question, entitled, "Taxation no Tyranny." Some fragments found among Sheridan's papers show that he had intended answering this pamphlet in no very courteous way. See Moore's Life, vol. i. p. 152HALL.] will be very valuable, on account of the Prefaces and Lives.' But I have seen a specimen of an edition of the Poets at the Apollo press, at Edinburgh, which, for excellence in printing and engraving, highly deserves a liberal encouragement. "Most sincerely do I regret the bad health and bad rest with which you have been afflicted; and I hope you are better. I cannot believe that the prologue which you generously gave to Mr. Kelly's widow and children the other day is the effusion of one in sickness and in disquietude: but external circumstances are never sure indications of the state of man. I send you a letter which I wrote to you two years ago at Wilton; and did not send it at the time, for fear of being reproved as indulging too much tenderness: and one written to you at the tomb of Melancthon, which I kept back, lest I should appear at once too superstitious and too enthusiastick. I now to send you some additional information concerning Thomson, reached me very fortunately just as I was going to Lanark, to put my wife's two nephews, the young Campbells, to school there, under the care of Mr. Thomson, the master of it, whose wife is sister to the authour of The Sea-. sons.' She is an old woman; but her memory is very good; and she will with pleasure give me for you every particular that you wish to know, and she can tell. Pray then take the trouble to send me such questions as may lead to biographical materials. You say that the Life which we have of Thomson is scanty. Since I received your letter, I have read his Life, published under the name of Cibber, but, as you told me, really written by a Mr. Shiels'; that written by Dr. Murdoch; one prefixed to an edition of the Seasons,' published at Edinburgh, which is compounded of both, with the addition of an anecdote of Quin's relieving Thomson from prison; the abridge-imagine that perha s they may please you. ment of Murdoch's account of him, in the Biographia Britannica,' and another abridgement of it in the Biographical Dictionary,' enriched with Dr. Joseph Warton's critical panegyrick on the Seasons,' in his Essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope:' from all these it appears to me that we have a pretty full account of this poet. However, you will, I doubt not, show me many blanks, and I shall do what can be done to have them filled up. As Thomson never returned to Scotland (which you will think very wise), his sister can speak from her own knowledge only as to the early part of his life. She has some letters from him, which may probably give light as to his more advanced progress, if she will let us see them, which I suppose she will. I believe George Lewis Scott and Dr. Armstrong are now his only surviving companions, while he lived in and about Lon-(whose life I know he intended to write, for I coldon; and they, I dare say, can tell more of him than is yet known. My own notion is, that Thomson was a much coarser man than his friends are willing to acknowledge. His Seasons' are indeed full of elegant and pious sentiments; but a rank soil, nay a dunghill, will produce beautiful flowers. "Your edition 3 of the English Poets' [See ante, p. 60. It is particularly observable that the Life of Thomson which Mr. Boswell here represents Johnson as stating to have been especially written by Shiels, bears strong marks of having been written by Theophilus ber.-ED.] 2 [See ante, v. i. p. 78 —Ed.] "You do not take the least notice of my proposal for our meeting at Carlisle 4. Though I have meritoriously refrained from visiting London this year, I ask you if it would not be wrong that I should be two years without having the benefit of your conversation, when, if you come down as far as Derbyshire, we may meet at the expense of a few days' journeying and not many pounds. I wish you to see Carlisle, which made me mention that place. But if you have not a desire to complete your tour of the English cathedrals, I will take a larger share of the road between this place and Ashbourne. So tell me where you will fix for our passing a few days by ourselves. added to the collection; but he is no otherwise answerable for any which are found there, or any which are omitted. The poems of Goldsmith lected some materials for it by his desire), were omitted in consequence of a petty exclusive interest in some of them, vested in Mr. Carnan, a bookseller.-MALONE. high 4 Dr. Johnson had himself talked of our seeing Carlisle together. High was a favourite word of his to denote a person of rank. He said to me, "Sir, I believe we may meet at the house of a Roman Catholick lady in Cumberland; lady, sir." I afterwards discovered that he meant Mrs. Strickland [see ante, p. 16.-ED.], sister of Charles Townley, Esq. whose very noble collection of statues and pictures is not more to be admired, than his extraordinary and polite Cib-readiness in showing it, which I and several of my friends have agreeably experienced. They who are possessed of valuable stores of gratification to persons of taste should exercise their benevolence in imparting the pleasure. Grateful acknowledgments are due to Welbore Ellis Agar, Esq. for the liberal access which he is pleased to allow to his exquisite collection of pictures.Boswell. › Dr. Johnson was not the editor of this collection of the English Poets; he merely furnished the biographical prefaces with which it is enriched, as is rightly stated in a subsequent page. He, indeed, from a virtuous motive, recommended the works of four or five poets (whom he has named) to be |