1770.

Etat. 61.

fituation, he should be magis philofophus quàm Chriftianus.

"Speaking of Arthur Murphy, whom he very much loved, 'I don't know (said he,) that Arthur can be claffed with the very first dramatick writers; yet at prefent I doubt much whether we have any thing fuperiour to Arthur.'

Speaking of the national debt, he said, it was an idle dream to fuppofe that the country could fink under it. Let the publick creditors be ever fo clamorous, the intereft of millions muft ever prevail over that of thousands.

"Of Dr. Kennicott's Collations, he observed, that though the text fhould not be much mended thereby, yet it was no fmall advantage to know, that we had as good a text as the most confummate industry and diligence could procure.

Johnson obferved, that fo many objections might be made to every thing, that nothing could overcome them but the neceffity of doing something. No man would be of any profeffion, as fimply oppofed to not being of it: but every one muft do fomething.

"He remarked, that a London parish was a very comfortless thing; for the clergyman seldom knew the face of one out of ten of his parishioners.

"Of the late Mr. Mallet he fpoke with no great refpect: faid, he was ready for any dirty job: that he had wrote against Byng at the inftigation of the miniftry, and was equally ready to write for him, provided he found his account in it.

"A gentleman

"A gentleman who had been very unhappy in 1770. marriage, married immediately after his wife died: Johnson faid, it was the triumph of hope over experience.

"He obferved, that a man of fenfe and education fhould meet a fuitable companion in a wife. It was a miferable thing when the converfation could only be fuch as, whether the mutton fhould be boiled or roafted, and probably a difpute about that.

"He did not approve of late marriages, obferving, that more was loft in point of time, than compenfated for by any poffible advantages. Even ill afforted marriages were preferable to cheerless celibacy.

"Of old Sheridan he remarked, that he neither wanted parts nor literature; but that his vanity and Quixotifm obfcured his merits.

"He faid, foppery was never cured; it was the bad ftamina of the mind, which, like those of the body, were never rectified: once a coxcomb, and always a coxcomb.

"Being told that Gilbert Cowper called him the Caliban of literature; Well, (said he,) I must dub him the Punchinello.'

"Speaking of the old Earl of Corke and Orrery, he faid, that man fpent his life in catching at an object, [literary eminence,] which he had not power to grafp.'

"To find a fubftitution for violated morality, he faid, was the leading feature in all perversions of religion."

He

Etat. 61.

"He often used to quote, with great pathos,

Atat. 61. thofe fine lines of virgil:

Etat. 62.

Optima quæque dies miferis mortalibus ævi

• Prima fugit; fubeunt morbi, tristisque fene&tus, Et labor, et dura rapit inclementia mortis.

In 1771 he published another political pamphlet, entitled "Thoughts on the late Tranfactions refpecting Falkland's Islands," in which, upon materials furnished to him by ministry, and upon general topicks expanded in his richest style, he fuccefsfully endeavoured to perfuade the nation that it was wife and laudable to fuffer the question of right to remain undecided, rather than involve our country in another war. It has been fuggested by fome, with what truth I fhall not take upon me to decide, that he rated the confequence of thofe iflands to Great-Britain too low. But however this may be, every humane mind must surely applaud the earneftnefs with which he averted the calamity of war; a calamity fo dreadful, that it is aftonishing how civilifed, nay, Christian nations, can deliberately continue to renew it. His defcription of its miferies in this pamphlet, is one of the finest pieces of eloquence in the English language. Upon this occafion, too, we find Johnfon lafking the party in oppofition with unbounded feverity, and making the fullest use of what he ever reckoned a moft effectual argumentative inftrument,-contempt. His character, of their. very able myfterious champion, JUNIUS, is executed

1771.

with all the force of his genius, and finifhed with the highest care. He feems to have exulted in Etat. 62. fallying forth to fingle combat against the boafted and formidable hero, who bade defiance to "principalities and powers, and the rulers of this world."

This pamphlet, it is obfervable, was foftened in one particular, after the first edition; for the conclufion of Mr. George Grenville's character ftood thus: "Let him not, however, be depreciated in his grave. He had powers not univerfally poffeffed: could he have enforced payment of the Manilla ranfom, he could have counted it." Which, inflead of retaining its fly fharp point, was reduced to a mere flat unmeaning expreffion, or, if I may use the word,-truifm: "He had powers not univerfally poffeffed: and if he fometimes erred, he was likewife fometimes right.'

Mr. Strahan, the printer, who had been long in intimacy with Johnfon, in the course of his literary labours, who was at once his friendly agent in receiving his pension for him, and his banker in fupplying him with money when he wanted it; who was himself now a Member of Parliament, and who loved much to be employed in political negociation; thought he fhould do eminent fervice, both to government and Johnson, if he could be the means of his getting a feat in the House of Commons. With this view, he wrote a letter to one of the Secretaries of the Treasury, of which he gave me a copy in his own hand-writing, which is as follows:

"YOU will eafily recollect, when I had the honour of waiting upon you fome time ago, I took the liberty to observe to you, that Dr. Johnson would make an excellent figure in the House of Commons, and heartily wished he had a feat there. My reasons are briefly these :

"I know his perfect good affection to his Majefty, and his government, which I am certain he wishes to fupport by every means in his

power.

"He poffeffes a great share of manly, nervous, and ready eloquence; is quick in difcerning the ftrength and weakness of an argument; can exprefs himself with clearness and precision, and fears the face of no man alive.

"His known character, as a man of extraordinary sense and unimpeached virtue, would secure him the attention of the Houfe, and could not fail to give him a proper weight there.

"He is capable of the greatest application, and can undergo any degree of labour, where he fees it neceffary, and where his heart and affections are ftrongly engaged. His Majefty's minifters might therefore fecurely depend on his doing, upon every proper occafion, the utmost that could be expected from him. They would find him ready to vindicate fuch measures as tended to promote the stability of government, and resolute and steady in carrying them into execution. Nor is any thing to be apprehended from the fuppofed impetuofity of

his