Sciences, but "had found he could not get on." " From Mr. William Gerard Hamilton I have heard, that Johnson, when observing to him that it was prudent for a man who had not been accustomed to speak in public, to begin his speech in as simple a manner as possible, acknowledged that he rose in that society to deliver a speech which he had prepared; “but,” said he, "all my flowers of oratory forsook me." I however cannot help wishing, that he had" tried his hand " in Parliament; and I wonder that ministry did not make the experiment. I at length renewed a correspondence which had been too long discontinued: "MY DEAR SIR, TO DR. JOHNSON. "Edinburgh, April 18, 1771. "I can now fully understand those intervals of silence in your correspondence with me, which have often given me anxiety and uneasiness; for although I am conscious that my veneration and love for Mr. Johnson have never in the least abated, yet I have deferred for almost a year and a half to write to him." In the subsequent part of this letter, I gave him an account of my comfortable life as a married man2 and a lawyer in prac 1 Dr. Kippis, however, (Biog. Brit., art. J. Gilbert Cooper, p. 266, n., new edit.) says, that he "once heard Dr. Johnson speak in the Society of Arts and Manufactures, upon a subject relative to mechanics, with a propriety, perspicuity, and energy, which excited general admiration.”—Malone. I cannot give credit to Dr. Kippis's account against Johnson's own statement, vouched by Lord Stowell and Mr. Hamilton; but even if we could, one speech in the Society of Arts was no test of what Johnson might have been able to do in parliament; and it may be suspected that, at the age of sixty-two, he, with all his talents, would have failed to acquire that peculiar tact and dexterity, without which even great abilities do not succeed in that very fastidious assembly.-Croker. 2 Mr. Boswell had married, in November, 1769, Miss Margaret Montgomerie, of the family of the Montgomeries of Lainshawe, who were baronets, and claimed the peerage of Lyle. Dr. Johnson says of this lady to Mrs. Thrale, in a letter from Auchinleck, August 23, 1773 :-" Mrs. B. has the mien and manner of a gentlewoman, and such a person and mind M M tice at the Scotch bar; invited him to Scotland, and promised to attend him to the Highlands and Hebrides. "DEAR SIR, TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. "London, June 20, 1771. I wished "If you are now able to comprehend that I might neglect to write without diminution of affection, you have taught me, likewise, how that neglect may be uneasily felt without resentment. for your letter a long time, and when it came, it amply recompensed the delay. I never was so much pleased as now with your account of yourself; and sincerely hope, that between public business, improving studies, and domestic pleasures, neither melancholy nor caprice will find any place for entrance. Whatever philosophy may determine of material nature, it is certainly true of intellectual nature, that it abhors a vacuum: our minds cannot be empty; and evil will break in upon them, if they are not pre-occupied by good. My dear Sir, mind your studies, mind your business, make your lady happy, and be a good Christian. After this, "If we perform our duty, we shall be safe and steady, 'Sive per,' &c. whether we climb the Highlands, or are tossed among the Hebrides; and I hope the time may come when we may try our powers both with cliffs and water. I see but little of Lord Elibank,' I know not why; perhaps by my own fault. I am this day going into Staffordshire and Derbyshire for six weeks. I am, dear Sir, your most affectionate and most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." as would not in any place either be admired or condemned. She is in a proper degree inferior to her husband: she cannot rival him, nor can he ever be ashamed of her."--Croker. 2 Patrick Murray, fifth Lord Elibank. He had been in the army, and served as a colonel in the expedition against Carthagena in 1740. He was a man of wit and talents, and wrote some tracts relative to the statistics and history of Scotland. He died in 1778, æt. 75.-Croker. TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. In Leicester Fields. 66 'Ashbourne, July 17, 1771. "DEAR SIR, "When I came to Lichfield, I found that my portrait' had been much visited, and much admired. Every man has a lurking wish to appear considerable in his native place; and I was pleased with the dignity conferred by such a testimony of your regard. "Be pleased, therefore to accept the thanks of, Sir, your most obliged, and most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." "The bearer of this, Mr. Beattie, professor of moral philosophy at Aberdeen, is desirous of being introduced to your acquaintance. His genius and learning, and labours in the service of virtue and religion, render him very worthy of it; and as he has a high esteem of your character, I hope you will give him a favourable reception. I ever am, &c., "JAMES BOSWELL.” "DEAR SIR, TO BENNET LANGTON, ESQ.' "August 29, 1771. "I am lately returned from Staffordshire and Derbyshire. The last letter mentions two others which you have written to me since you received my pamphlet. Of these two I never had but one, in which you mentioned a design of visiting Scotland, and, in consequence, put my journey to Langton out of my thoughts. My summer wan 1 The second portrait of Johnson, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds; with his arms raised and his hands bent. It was at this time, it is believed, in the possession of Miss Lucy Porter.-Malone. It is now the property of the Duke of Sutherland.-Croker. 2 First published in the Third Edition, i., 137-8.—Editor. derings are now over, and I am engaging in a very great work, the revision of my Dictionary; from which I know not, at present, how to get loose. If you have observed, or been told, any errors or omissions, you will do me a great favour by letting me know them. "Lady Rothes, I find, has disappointed you and herself. Ladies will have these tricks. The Queen and Mrs. Thrale, both ladies of experience, yet both missed their reckoning this summer. I hope, a few months will recompense your uneasiness. "Please to tell Lady Rothes how highly I value the honour of her invitation, which it is my purpose to obey as soon as I have disengaged myself. In the mean time I shall hope to hear often of her ladyship, and every day better news and better, till I hear that you have both the happiness, which to both is very sincerely wished, by, Sir, your most affectionate and most humble servant, 66 In October I again wrote to him, thanking him for his last letter, and his obliging reception of Mr. Beattie; informing him that I had been at Alnwick lately, and had good accounts of him from Dr. Percy. In his religious record of this year we observe that he was better than usual, both in body and mind, and better satisfied with the regularity of his conduct. But he is still "trying his ways" too rigorously. He charges himself with not rising early enough; yet he mentions what was surely a sufficient excuse for this, supposing it to be a duty seriously required, as he all his life appears to have thought it :-" One great hindrance is want of rest; my nocturnal complaints grow less troublesome towards morning; and I am tempted to repair the deficiencies of the night." Alas! how hard would it be, if this indulgence were to be imputed to a sick man as a crime. In his retrospect on the following Eastereve, he says, "When I review the last year, I am able to recollect so little done, that shame and sorrow, though perhaps too weakly, come upon me." " Had he been judging of any one else in the same circumstances, how clear would he have been on the favourable side. How very difficult, and in Prayers and Meditations, p. 104. 2 Ibid., p. 109. 1 my opinion almost constitutionally impossible, it was for him to be raised early, even by the strongest resolutions, appears from a note in one of his little paper-books (containing words arranged for his "Dictionary"), written, I suppose, about 1753-"I do not remember that, since I left Oxford, I ever rose early by mere choice, but once or twice at Edial, and two or three times for the Rambler.'" I think he had fair ground enough to have quieted his mind on the subject, by concluding that he was physically incapable of what is at best but a commodious regulation. In 1772 he was altogether quiescent as an author; but it will be found, from the various evidences which I shall bring together, that his mind was acute, lively, and vigorous. "DEAR SIR, TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. "Feb. 27, 1772. "Be pleased to send to Mr. Banks, whose place of residence I do not know, this note, which I have sent open, that, if you please, you may read it. When you send it, do not use your own seal. I am, Sir, your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." TO JOSEPH BANKS, ESQ. "SIR, "Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, Feb. 27, 1772. "Perpetua ambitâ bis terrâ præmia lactis Hæc habet altrici Capra secunda Jovis.”1 1 "I return thanks to you and to Dr. Solander, for the pleasure which I received in yesterday's conversation. motto for your Goat, but have given her one. have an epic poem from some happier pen humble servant, I could not recollect a You, Sir, may perhaps than, Sir, your most "SAM. JOHNSON." "In fame scarce second to the nurse of Jove, Ease and perpetual pasture now has found." |