*

*

*

yet left me, and sincerely wish we could be nearer to each other. My dear friend, life is very short and very uncertain; let us spend it as well as we can. My worthy neighbour, Allen, is dead. Love me as well as you can. Pay my respects to dear Mrs. Boswell. Nothing ailed me at that time; let your superstition at last have an end."

Feeling very soon that the manner in which he had written might hurt me, he two days afterwards (July 28), wrote to me again, giving me an account of his sufferings; after which he thus proceeds :

"Before this letter you will have had one which I hope you will not take amiss; for it contains only truth, and that truth kindly intended. Spartam quam nactus es orna; make the most and best of your lot, and compare yourself not with the few that are above you, but with the multitudes which are below you. Go steadily forwards with lawful business or honest diversions. 'Be,' as Temple1 says of the Dutchman, 'well when you are not ill, and pleased when you are not angry.' This may seem but an ill return for your tenderness; but I mean it well, for I love you with great ardour and sincerity. Pay my respects to dear Mrs. Boswell, and teach the young ones to love me."

I unfortunately was so much indisposed during a considerable part of the year, that it was not, or at least I thought it was not, in my power to write to my illustrious friend as formerly, or without expressing such complaints as offended him. Having conjured him not to do me the injustice of charging me with affectation, I was with much regret long silent. His last letter to me then came, and affected me very tenderly :

"DEAR SIR,

:

TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.

“Lichfield, Nov. 5, 1784.

"I have this summer sometimes amended, and sometimes relapsed, but, upon the whole, have lost ground very much. My

1 Obs. upon the United Provinces, chap. iv. Works, vol. i., p. 170, Lond. 1757 -Editor.

breath very short, and the In this uncomfortable state

legs are extremely weak, and my water is now increasing upon me. your letters used to relieve; what is the reason that I have them no longer? Are you sick, or are your sullen ? Whatever be the reason, if it be less than necessity, drive it away; and of the short life that we have, make the best use for yourself and for your friends. * * * I am sometimes afraid that your omission to write has some real cause, and shall be glad to know that you are not sick, and that nothing ill has befallen dear Mrs. Boswell, or any of your family. I am, &c., "SAM. JOHNSON."

the

Yet it was not a little painful to me to find that in a paragraph of this letter, which I have omitted, he still persevered in arraigning me as before, which was strange in him who had so much experience of what I suffered. I, however, wrote to him two as kind letters as I could; last of which came too late to be read by him, for his illness increased more rapidly upon him than I had apprehended; but I had the consolation of being informed that he spoke of me on his death-bed with affection, and I look forward with humble hope of renewing our friendship in a better world.

I now relieve the readers of this work from any farther personal notice of its author; who, if he should be thought to have obtruded himself too much upon their attention, requests them to consider the peculiar plan of his biographical undertaking.

Soon after Johnson's return to the metropolis, both the asthma and dropsy became more violent and distressful. He had for some time kept a journal in Latin of the state of his illness, and the remedies which he used, under the title of Egri Ephemeris, which he began on the 6th of July, but continued it no longer than the 8th of November; finding, I suppose, that it was a mournful and unavailing register. It is in my possession; and is written with great care and accuracy.

Still his love of literature' did not fail. A very few

It is truly wonderful to consider the extent and constancy of Jolinson's literary ardour, notwithstanding the melancholy which clouded

days before his death he transmitted to his friend, Mr. John Nichols, a list of the authors of the Universal History, mentioning their several shares in that work. It has, according to his direction, been deposited in the British Museum, and is printed in the Gentleman's Magazine for December, 1784.

and embittered his existence. Besides the numerous and various works which he executed, he had, at different times, formed schemes of a great many more, of which the following catalogue [see Appendix to this volume] was given by him to Mr. Langton, and by that gentleman presented to his Majesty.

In the first page of this little volume, his late Majesty King George III. wrote with his own hand:-" Original Manuscripts of Dr. Samuel Johnson, presented by his friend, Langton, Esq. ̄April 16th, 1785.

G. R."-Croker.

As the letter accompanying this list (which fully supports the observation in the text) was written but a week before Dr. Johnson's death, the reader may not be displeased to find it here preserved :

TO MR. NICHOLS.

"December 6th, 1784.

"The late learned Mr. Swinton, having one day remarked that one man, meaning, I suppose, no man but himself, could assign all the parts of the Ancient Universal History to their proper authors, at the request of Sir Robert Chambers, or of myself, gave the account which I now transmit to you in his own hand; being willing that of so great a work the history should be known, and that each writer should receive his due proportion of praise from posterity.

"I recommend to you to preserve this scrap of literary intelligence in Mr. Swinton's own hand, or to deposit it in the Museum, that the veracity of this account may never be doubted. I am, Sir, your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON."

The Cosmogony, and a small part of the History immediately follow

ing; by Mr. Sale.

To the birth of Abraham; chiefly by Mr. Shelvock.

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During his sleepless nights he amused himself by translating into Latin verse, from the Greek, many of the epigrams in the " Anthologia." These translations, with some other poems by him in Latin, he gave to his friend Mr. Langton, who, having added a few notes, sold them to the booksellers for a small sum to be given to some of Johnson's relations, which was accordingly done; and they are printed in the collection of his works.

1

2

A very erroneous notion had circulated as to Johnson's deficiency in the knowledge of the Greek language, partly owing to the modesty with which, from knowing how much there was to be learnt, he used to mention his own comparative acquisitions. When Mr. Cumberland talked to him of the Greek fragments which are so well illustrated in "The Observer," and of the Greek dramatists in general, he candidly acknowledged his insufficiency in that particular branch of Greek literature. Yet it may be said, that though not a great, he was a good Greek scholar. Dr. Charles Burney, the younger, who is universally ac

History of the Jews, Gauls, and Spaniards; by Mr. Psalmanazar. Xenophon's Retreat; by the same.

History of the Persians and the Constantinopolitan Empire; by Dr. Campbell.

History of the Romans; by Mr. Bower.-Malone.

1 On the subject of Dr. Johnson's skill in Greek, I have great pleasure in quoting an anecdote told by my late friend, Mr. Gifford, in his Life of Ford :

:

"My friend the late Lord Grosvenor had a house at Salt Hill, where I usually spent a part of the summer, and thus became acquainted with that great and good man, Jacob Bryant. Here the conversation turned one morning on a Greek criticism by Dr. Johnson in some volume lying on the table, which I ventured (for I was then young) to deem incorrect, and pointed it out to him. I could not help thinking that he was something of my opinion, but he was cautious and reserved. 'But, Sir,' said I, willing to overcome his scruples, ' Dr. Johnson himself admitted that he was not a good Greek scholar. Sir,' he replied, with a serious and impressive air, it is not easy for us to say what such a man as Johnson would call a good Greek scholar.' I hope that I profited by that lesson-certainly I never forgot it."-Gifford's Works of Ford, vol. i., p. lxii.-Croker.

2 Mr. Cumberland assures me that he was always treated with great courtesy by Dr. Johnson, who, in his Letters to Mrs. Thrale, vol. ii., p. 68, thus speaks of that learned, ingenious, and accomplished gentleman: "The want of company is an inconvenience, but Mr. Cumberland is a million."

knowledged by the best judges to be one of the few men of this age who are very eminent for their skill in that noble language, has assured me, that Johnson could give a Greek word for almost every English one; and that, although not sufficiently conversant in the niceties of the language, he, upon some occasions, discovered, even in these, a considerable degree of critical acumen. Mr. Dalzel, professor of Greek at Edinburgh, whose skill is unquestionable, mentioned to me, in very liberal terms, the impression which was made upon him by Johnson, in a conversation which they had in London concerning that language. As Johnson, therefore, was undoubtedly one of the first Latin scholars in modern times, let us not deny to his fame some additional splendour from Greek.

I shall now fulfil my promise of exhibiting specimens of various sorts of imitation of Johnson's style.

In the "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, 1787," there is an "Essay on the Style of Dr. Samuel Johnson," by the Reverend Robert Burrowes, whose respect for the great object of his criticism1 is thus evinced in the concluding paragraph: "I have singled him out from the whole body of English writers, because his universally acknowledged beauties would be most apt to induce imitation: and I have treated rather on his faults, than his perfections, because an essay might comprise all the observations I could make upon his faults, while volumes would not be sufficient for a treatise on his perfections."

Mr. Burrowes has analysed the composition of Johnson, and pointed out its peculiarities with much acuteness; and I would recommend a careful perusal of his Essay to those who being captivated by the union of perspicuity and splendour which the writings of Johnson contain, without having a sufficient portion of his vigour of mind, may be

We must smile at a little inaccuracy of metaphor in the preface to the Transactions, which is written by Mr. Burrowes. The critic of the style of Johnson having, with a just zeal for literature, observed, that the whole nation are called on to exert themselves, afterwards says, They are called on by every tye which can have laudable influence on the heart of man."

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