DOCTOR JOHN-
SONS MrcTHRALE
Edited UyMLoODan
LIBRARY
DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
M R S. P I O Z Z I
(MRS. THRALE)
After painting fry
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
DR. JOHNSON'S
MRS. THRALE
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, LETTERS AND LITERARY
REMAINS OF MRS. PIOZZI, EDITED BY
A. HAYWARD, Q.C., NEWLY SELECTED
AND EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND
NOTES, BY J. H. LOBBAN
WITH TWENTY-SEVEN PORTRAITS
IN COLLOTYPE FROM PAINTINGS BY
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS
T. N. FOULIS
EDINBURGH y LONDON
1910
TO
L. M. Q. C.
WHO SUGGESTED THE WORK
AND MADE OF IT A PLEASURE
PREFACE
THE contents of this volume are selected from the
second edition, published in two volumes in 1861, of
Mr. Hayward's Autobiography, Letters, and Literary
Remains of Mrs. Piozzi. The first of these volumes
consists of the editor's biographical and critical essay,
and the only portions of it reprinted here are
the Marginal Notes and extracts from Thraliana
which Mr. Hayward incorporated in his essay and
did not reproduce in his text. I have restored these
to their proper place, and have endeavoured to make
the book more serviceable by prefixing to the
Marginalia the relevant quotations from the texts.
In the former edition only page references were
given to a particular edition of Johnson's works.
The contents of this volume are, I hope, independ-
ently intelligible. The changes in the grouping of
the materials, and the addition of subject-headings,
notes, and a detailed index, have been made with the
same object in view, namely, to render more acces-
sible and attractive a book full of value and interest
to all students of the period.
In the brief introduction I have drawn freely on
viii PREFACE
Mr. Hayward's elaborate essay, of which the limits
of the present volume forbade the inclusion. For
two other reasons the omission may be justified. A
considerable portion of the essay is of a controversial
character, and deals with matters no longer sub judice.
And no one, I think, would deny that some of the
most valuable pages in it are those containing the
extracts that Mr. Hay ward had the good fortune to
present for the first time from the unpublished MSS.
of Mrs. Piozzi. These, as I have explained, are
inserted in the text of the present edition.
J. H. L
LONDON,
October 28, 1909.
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . xiii
MRS. PIOZZI'S AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS . . i
MARGINAL NOTES ON LETTERS TO AND FROM DR.
JOHNSON . . . . ... 68
MARGINAL NOTES ON WRAXALL'S HISTORICAL
MEMOIRS ...... 80
MARGINAL NOTES ON Bos WELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON 112
MARGINAL NOTES ON JOHNSON'S LIVES OF THE
POETS ....... 126
EXTRACTS FROM THRALIANA . . . 164
LETTERS TO DANIEL AND SAMUEL LYSONS . . 249
LETTERS TO DR. ROBERT GRAY . . .281
LETTERS TO SIR JAMES FELLOWES . . . 298
APPENDIX : LETTERS BETWEEN DR. JOHNSON AND
MRS. THRALE RELATING TO HER MARRIAGE
WITH MR. PIOZZI ..... 319
INDEX . . . . . . .323
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
MRS. PIOZZI (MRS. THRALE) . . . Frontispiece
SAMUEL JOHNSON ..... Page 8
SUMMER HOUSE AT STREATHAM, 1775 . . 24
HENRY THRALE . . . . . 40
MARIA, COUNTESS OF COVENTRY (Miss GUN-
NING) ....... 5 6
ELIZABETH, DUCHESS OF HAMILTON, AND
DUCHESS OF ARGYLL (Miss GUNNING) . 72
ADMIRAL LORD RODNEY . . . . 84
MRS. SIDDONS . . . . 88
LADY CREWE . . . . . 98
CHARLES JAMES Fox . . . . 104
EDMUND BURKE . . . . . no
JAMES BOSWELL . . . >, 120
EDWARD GIBBON . . . I2 4
LADY ELIZABETH MONTAGU . i3 6
DAVID GARRICK . . . >, 1 5 2
HORACE WALPOLE . . J 5 6
GIUSEPPE BARETTI . . l68
xii LIST OF^ILLUSTRATIONS
DR. CHARLES BURNEY . . . ' . Page 184
THRALE PLACE, STREATHAM . . . 194
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS . . . 200
MADAME D'ARBLAY (FANNY BURNEY) . . 216
GEORGE THE THIRD 232
ADMIRAL LORD KEITH . . . . 248
ANNA SEWARD ...... 264
MRS. ABINGTON ...... 280
OLIVER GOLDSMITH . . . 296
FANNY KEMBLE . . . . 312
INTRODUCTION
ALTHOUGH Autobiographical Memoirs may seem
rather an ambitious title for the notes recorded by
Mrs. Piozzi, the sense of unfitness will be less and
less felt as the reader comes under the influence of
their cumulative effect. For in nearly everything
she wrote Mrs. Piozzi found opportunity for the
display of an agreeable egotism. Her briefest
marginal retorts to Boswell are as full of biographical
value as her more elaborate entries in her Thraliana.
Certainly the rather pompous opening pages are the
least characteristic in the volume, and the reader
who refuses to see the unintentional humour in the
solemn chronicle of the Salusbury pedigree would do
well to pass without more ado to the cut and thrust
of the marginal notes on Wraxall and Boswell and
Johnson. Her readers' pleasure and her own reputa-
tion both gain by the controversies that were thrust
upon her. Had her life been always as happy as it
was seemingly prosperous, Mrs. Piozzi's personality
would cut a very unimportant figure in our literary
annals. Her name, we imagine, might in that case
have won a footnote immortality along with that of
xiv INTRODUCTION
Lady Miller, the presiding genius of the Bath-Easton
Vase. But the " accursed wits," as she calls them,
would not have it so. She lived to face an un-
exampled storm of obloquy and slander, and what-
ever view may be taken of her conduct, it must be
admitted that the crisis revealed in her unsuspected
reserves of courage and dignity and wit.
Hester Lynch Salusbury was born at Bodvel,
Caernarvonshire, i6th January, 1741. Of her early
life we obtain some significant records in her memoirs.
Her candour in speaking of her parents and husband
and children is always unflinching. Her mother,
Hester Salusbury Cotton, made a love match, the
plain-spoken daughter tells us, with " her rakish cousin,
John Salusbury of Bachygraig," Flintshire. " He,
unchecked by care of a father who died during the
infancy of his sons, ran out the estate completely to
nothing." We hear later of the father's "desperate
engagement with some quacks and projectors who
pretended to find lead on his encumbered estate,"
and of his " quarrelling and fighting duels and fretting
his friends." Presently Lord Halifax found occupa-
tion for John Salusbury by sending him out as one
of the pioneer colonists of Nova Scotia, and Hester
and her mother were left, " sine pane almost, I believe,
certainly sine nummo" to stay with Grandmother
Cotton at East Hyde, near Luton, and with Sir
Robert Salusbury Cotton (Hester's uncle) at Lleweney
Hall. At East Hyde in particular Hester Salusbury
had a very merry time, teaching her grandmother's
" four great ramping war-horses " to come to her hand
" for a lump of sugar." By her own admission she was
INTRODUCTION xv
something of a spoilt child. She was her parents'
"joint plaything " and her uncles' " fondled favourite."
" Education was a word then unknown as applied to
females," but Hester was taught French so well that
she was reckoned " half a prodigy." To an aunt she
owed instruction in Latin, Italian, and Spanish.
" Study was my delight, and such a patroness would
have made stones students."
In 1761, George Montagu Dunk, second Earl of
Halifax, became Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and
John Salusbury once again shared his patron's for-
tunes. It was during the father's absence in Ireland
that Uncle Thomas set about match-making. " My
uncle had been to town for a night or two, and
returned to tell us what an excellent, what an in-
comparable young man he had seen, who was, in
short, a model of perfection, ending his panegyric
by saying that he was a real sportsman." Hester
was disposed to laugh (her second marriage also
began in laughter), but Sir Thomas looked very
grave. Next day Henry Thrale made his appearance
and laid immediate siege to the affections of his
future mother-in-law. Sir Thomas's chaplain cher-
ished hopes of Hester's fortune 1 and promptly reported
the arrival of Thrale to her father, who hastened back
from Ireland vowing that his daughter " should not
be exchanged for a barrel of porter." John Salusbury,
however, died suddenly in December, 1762, and ten
months later " Mr. Thrale deigned to accept my un-
desired hand." It is in these words that Mrs. Thrale
1 A charge of ^5000 on the Welsh estate was left her by her father,,
and her uncle added as much again. See p. 41.
xvi INTRODUCTION
describes the first days of her married life. She
speaks of herself as being left "to conciliate as I
could a husband, who was indeed much kinder than
I counted on to a plain girl, who had not one attrac-
tion in his eyes, and on whom he never had thrown
five minutes of his time away in any interview un-
witnessed by company, even till after our wedding-
day was done."
These words are ominous of the story that follows.
It is unnecessary to trace it in detail, as it is fully
recorded in the pages of this volume. The general
conception of Mrs. Thrale is that of a woman who
made a brilliant match and was enabled by her
husband's liberality to dispense splendid hospitality
at Streatham Place. To read Mrs. Thrale's memoirs
brings the conviction that all this was but the silver
lining to a cloud that encompassed the whole of her
life with Henry Thrale. There is no reason for
discrediting her evidence. On the contrary, it bears
every prima facie semblance of truth. She lays
herself open to many charges. She may on good
grounds be accused of hardness and flippancy and
vanity. But it is scarcely possible on any fair view
of the evidence to deny that she had a passion for
justice. The same experiences that hardened her
made her broad-minded and tolerant. She could
see the humour in the libels against her, and she
was generous in her estimate of her assailants. This
quality in her, by a not very inexplicable irony, has
led many of her critics to belittle her womanliness.
But she is at least entitled to the quality of her
defect, and that, I take it, compels acceptance of the
INTRODUCTION xvii
general accuracy of her rather pitiful description of
her first marriage. Her praise of Mr. Thrale comes
obviously from her head and not from her heart.
She acknowledges his generosity generously, but her
warmest laudation is only a cold appraisement, and
in a score of unguarded passages she lets slip the
secret of her unhappiness. The hostess of Streatham
Place never had much honour in her own house.
Her guests appear to have taken their cue from the
master of the house, and Mr. Thrale's gallantry never
reached the length of home. She submitted to such
treatment at her own table that we are fain to accuse
her of a want of dignity and self-respect. But we
have her own explanation a halting confession of
her fear of her husband and of her conviction that
he would quarrel with no guest in support of his
wife. As the mother of his heir, she tells us bitterly,
she enjoyed a short-lived distinction, but Harry
Thrale died in 1776 and left a gap that the five
surviving daughters out of eleven did nothing to
fill. " ' Daughters,' said Johnson warmly, ' he'll no
more value his daughters than .' " And that was
precisely how Thrale did value both his daughters
and their mother. Mrs. Piozzi's references to her
daughters are the most unpleasing pages of her
memoirs. It is often difficult to remember that the
cold allusions to "the ladies" refer to her own
children. We must conclude that to the children
of her loveless marriage Mrs. Thrale was a cold and
unsympathetic mother. To what extent she was
blameworthy is a more difficult question. Her
influence and authority at home were constantly
b
xviii INTRODUCTION
undermined, and when she married Mr. Piozzi, there
seemed to be a general conspiracy among the friends
of her great days to add fuel to the doubts and sus-
picions of her children. To her daughters, as to her
husband, we find Mrs. Thrale striving to be just
and impartial. " They are five lovely creatures to be
sure, but they love not me. Is it my fault or
theirs ? "
Before we pass from Mrs. Thrale to Mrs. Piozzi
there are two matters to note Mrs. Thrale's keen
participation in her husband's business affairs, and
the presence of Dr. Johnson at Streatham. From
the first Mrs. Thrale proved a loyal and keen-witted
wife, and her loyalty is all the more laudable as she
learned that Mr. Thrale's chief motive in choosing
her as his wife was her willingness to live for a certain
part of the year in the unfashionable quarter of
Southwark. As a business man Thrale was ap-
parently credulous and nervous, and his shrewd wife
helped him over many crises and vetoed some
foolish speculations. She was equally loyal and
successful in helping her husband in his candidature
for Parliament. The extent to which her pride had
suffered is made evident by her relief when she had
finally sold the "brew-house" to "a knot of rich
quakers." " I have by this bargain purchased peace
and a stable fortune, restoration to my original rank
in life, and a situation undisturbed by commercial
jargon, unpolluted by commercial frauds, undisgraced
by commercial connections. They who succeed me
in the house have purchased the power of being rich
beyond the wish of rapacity, and I have procured
INTRODUCTION xix
the improbability of being made poor by flights
of the fairy, speculation. . . . 'Tis over now, tho',
and I'll clear my head of it and all that belongs to
it ; I will go to church, give God thanks, receive the
sacrament and forget the frauds, follies, and incon-
veniences of a commercial life this day." It is
characteristic of Mrs. Thrale that in the midst of all
this no doubt genuine emotion of relief, she kept an
open eye to the humour of Johnson's activity as an
executor. She viewed him with a twinkle as he
bustled about in the unfamiliar surroundings of the
brewery, and has left a delightful picture of his joy
at signing large cheques. She corroborates Lord
Lucan's entertaining account, and, as Mr. Hayward
noted, almost reproduces Johnson's classic description
of the brewery as " the potentiality of becoming rich
beyond the dreams of avarice."
At the beginning of 1765 Johnson made his first
appearance at the hospitable house at Streatham.
He was introduced by Arthur Murphy, and the other
guest of honour was James Woodhouse, the shoemaker
poet, one of Mrs. Montagu's lions, whom the Thrales
captured for the evening. Johnson occasionally
gratified the Queen of the Blues with a finely turned
compliment, but her shoemaker genius he treated as
lightly as he did her own superfluous labours in the
defence of Shakespeare. There were only two words
to describe this attempt at literary patronage, and
Johnson used them without any search for euphemistic
equivalents. He said it was " all vanity and childish-
ness." But the important result of the dinner was,
as Mrs. Thrale records, that " we liked each other so
xx INTRODUCTION
well that the next Thursday was appointed for the
same company to meet, exclusive of the shoemaker
[the italics are ours], and since then Johnson has
remained till this day our constant acquaintance,
visitor, companion, and friend." To this account by
Mrs. Thrale of their first meeting the best footnote is
found in the last letter she received from her illustrious
guest. That letter is one of the distressing series
reprinted in the appendix to this volume. It repre-
sents Johnson's second and kinder thoughts. He
had realised the harshness and unfairness of his
reception of the news of Mrs. Thrale's second marriage,
and the author of the sentence that follows is the
Johnson whom we all love for his great humanity and
his splendid sincerity. " I wish that God may grant
you every blessing, that you may be happy in this
world for its short continuance, and eternally happy
in a better state ; and whatever I can contribute to
your happiness I am very ready to repay, for that
kindness which soothed twenty years of a life radically
wretched."
That the honour conferred by Johnson's presence
in her house was not without attendant trials may
be granted by the most fervent Johnsonian. No one
could be more delightful company than the dictator
when he chose, but the early struggles of his life in
London, which occupy so small a space in Boswell's
memoir, left permanent marks on his manners and
on his temper. And when a modest and long delayed
prosperity overtook him, his acknowledged supremacy
as a king of clubmen tended to aggravate his love of
domineering. This is a side of Johnson's character
INTRODUCTION xxi
that one is often apt to overlook. It yielded such
excellent "copy" to Boswell that we forget that
what is a feast of wit to us was often a bitter enough
morsel for some of his victims to chew. The strokes
that agreeably tickled Boswell left wounds that
rankled in Goldsmith. And there was only one
Boswell, preordained for his great mission by a
signal genius, an invulnerable skin, and an infinite
capacity for taking snubs. Of this necessary equip-
ment Mrs. Thrale had very little. To say that her
long submissiveness was, like Boswell's, due to a
form of self-interest is a patently inadequate theory.
It is true only to the extent that it recognises her
genuine literary enthusiasm and her appreciation of
the honour of Johnson's friendship. Two other
qualities at least were necessary, and these Mrs.
Thrale had in no common measure a keen sense of
humour and a large tolerance. Sufficient instances
are on record to show that, when it was absolutely
necessary for the maintenance of dignity, Mrs. Thrale
could remind Johnson of her position as hostess as
neatly as Burke could vindicate the independence of
the members of the Club. That she did this so
seldom redounds to her good sense, her humour, and
her loyalty to her husband. Some of her confessions
in Thraliana sharply remind us that the attitude of
Johnson towards women was that of Swift and
Addison rather than that of Steele. Addison's
banter and "civil leer" are not unfaithfully repro-
duced in his playful patronage of Fanny Burney.
To his hostess his company must always have been
of the nature of a " fearful joy," as no one could fore-
xxii INTRODUCTION
tell the moment when the table in the most literal
sense would be set on a roar.
Mr. Thrale died in 1781, and immediately rumour
was busy in finding a second husband for his rich
widow, now in her fortieth year, and with five
daughters surviving of a family of twelve. Lord
Loughborough, Sir Richard Jebb, George Selwyn,
Johnson, and Mr. Piozzi were freely mentioned as
likely candidates for her hand. Just a year after
Thrale's death, she tells us that " every man that
comes to the house is put in the papers for me to
marry. In good time I wrote to-day to beg the
Morning Herald would say no more about me, good
or bad." And a few days later she entered in her
diary a spirited reply to the scandal-mongers.
" Somebody mentioned my going to be married
t'other day, and Johnson was joking about it. ' I
suppose, Sir,' said I, ' they think they are doing me
honour with their imaginary matches, when, perhaps,
the man does not exist who would do me honour
by marrying me ! ' This, indeed, was said in the
wild and insolent spirit of Baretti, yet 'tis nearer
the truth than one would think for. A woman of
passable person, ancient family, respectable character,
uncommon talents, and three thousand a year, has
a right to think herself any man's equal, and has
nothing to seek but return of affection from whatever
partner she pitches on. To marry for love would
therefore be rational in me, who want no advance-
ment of birth or fortune, and //// / am in love, I will
not marry, nor perhaps then." This is a true and
dispassionate statement of her position, and one that
INTRODUCTION xxiii
disperses the cloud of slander and misrepresentation
that was soon to fall on her. It is perfectly certain
that no marriage she could have made would have
escaped the attentions of the school for scandal.
The manner in which every fact of the case was
turned to Mrs. Thrale's discredit is seen in Madame
D'Arblay's well-known account of the evening party
at her father's house in St. Martin's Street, when
Mrs. Thrale "softly arose, and stealing on tip-toe
behind Signor Piozzi, who was accompanying himself
on the piano-forte to an animated arria parlante, with
his back to the company, and his face to the wall,
she ludicrously began imitating him by squaring her
elbows, elevating them with ecstatic shrugs of the
shoulders, and casting up her eyes, while languish-
ingly reclining her head ; as if she were not less
enthusiastically, though somewhat more suddenly,
struck with the transports of harmony than himself."
The passage from which these words are taken was
written, it may be noted, more than half a century
after the event, and interest chiefly attaches to the
reflection with which it closes. " When the catas-
trophe (sic) was known, this incident, witnessed by so
many, was recollected and repeated from coterie to
coterie throughout London with comments and
sarcasm of endless variety." It is difficult now to
see in the incident the slightest ground for ill-natured
talk. Madame D'Arblay herself admits that the
party was a dismal failure, and her description of its
boredom goes far to extenuate Mrs. Thrale's ill-
mannered diversion. But any story was good
enough as evidence against Mrs. Piozzi, and times
xxiv INTRODUCTION
innumerable this one has been cited as a proof of
her want of respect for the man she was later to
marry.
Gabriel Piozzi, whom Macaulay refers to as an
" Italian fiddler," was one of the many distinguished
foreign musicians who enjoyed Dr. Burney's hospi-
tality at St. Martin's Street. According to her own
account, Mrs. Thrale made his acquaintance first at
Brighton in 1780 on the introduction of Fanny
Burney, who pronounced him " a companion likely to
lighten the burden of life to me, as he was just a
man to my natural taste." During that summer,
while sheltering at Brighton from the commotion of the
Gordon Riots, the Thrales saw much of Mr. Piozzi, and
on their return to town he became a familiar figure
at Streatham. In a letter to Mrs. Thrale, six months
after her husband's death, Johnson refers to Piozzi in
a manner showing no disapprobation of the close
friendship of which he was evidently now aware.
" Piozzi, I find, is coming in spite of Miss Harriet's
prediction, or second sight, and when he comes and /
come, you will have two about you that love you ;
and I question if either of us heartily care how few
more you have." Inconsistency is a charitable term
to apply to Johnson's conduct in telling Mrs. Thrale
later that by her marriage to this friend she would
forfeit her fame and her country.
The most important documents respecting the
much discussed marriage are contained in the subse-
quent pages, and it is unnecessary here to add to
the mountain that has been piled up over this
biographical molehill. Mrs. Piozzi reveals her
INTRODUCTION xxv
inmost thoughts in her diary, and with its help
Mr. Hayward had little difficulty in demolishing the
insubstantial pageant of Macaulay's rhetoric. The
" Italian fiddler " was a man of great personal charm,
distinguished in his profession, and so successful as
to be able to leave his wife a considerable fortune.
By infinite patience and tact he overcame all calumny,
and in a very difficult position he acted consistently
with the most scrupulous honour. His return to
England disarmed his own and his wife's traducers,
and it is with pardonable satisfaction that Mrs.
Piozzi records the approaches of her shamefaced
critics. " Piozzi could not talk to Johnson," she
once admitted, and he appears not to have shared
his wife's literary interests. But one thing is very
noticeable in her memoirs and letters, and that is
the gratitude and affection with which she always
refers to him. So far from regretting the earlier
glories of Streatham, she refers to them only as a
foil to her newly-found happiness. The indictment
against her used to run that she had married a
foreigner, a musician, a Roman Catholic, and had
deserted five children. For the first three terms we
might now, judging of the wisdom of the act by the
happiness of its event, substitute the word gentle-
man. As regards her children we have to admit
that Mrs. Piozzi was a failure. It has to be re-
membered, however, that they were all possessed of
an ample fortune, and that in the eldest daughter,
who was twenty-two at the time, the others found
the guardian of their choice. That the marriage
should have been the subject of comment at the
xxvi INTRODUCTION
time causes no astonishment It was the price of
her social prominence. Our astonishment is caused
only by the virulence and bitterness of it all, and
our sympathy goes out to the victim of so gross an
assault on the liberty of the subject. Johnson's first
letter is also not difficult to understand. In his old
age and ill health he keenly felt the threatened
disturbance of the fixed habits of his life, and sorrow
and anger and self-pity led him for the moment to
distort his loss into Mrs. Thrale's crime. To defend
his first letter seems a poor service to Johnson, as it
is implicitly condemned by the altered tone of his
second. The bitter " I once was, Madam, most truly
yours " is replaced by " I am, with great affection."
The letter that comes between these two is perhaps
the best thing that ever came from Mrs. Thrale's pen,
and no one was better fitted to recognise its sincerity
and dignity than the writer of the Letter to Lord
Chesterfield.
The twenty-five years that closed with the death of
Mr. Piozzi in 1809 were the happiest of her life.
Slander and misrepresentation assailed her at various
times, but in most of these instances the attacks were
either the result of individual malice or the natural
penalty of authorship. It was left to a fellow-
countryman of her husband to pursue the shameful
tactics to a shameful end. Her most lukewarm
friends had sufficient national spirit left them to
reprobate the slanders of the brilliant and foul-
mouthed Baretti. Even to that gifted ruffian Mrs.
Piozzi is scrupulously just. It is a signal proof of
her large toleration that even to her the humour was
INTRODUCTION xxvii
plainly apparent of Baretti's professed indignation
at the indignity of her marriage. He had done all
in his power to set her daughter against her; and
when he found himself referred to in some uncom-
plimentary pages of her Anecdotes of Johnson, his
revenge took a form of which it is only possible to
say that we are glad that an English pen did not
write it and sorry that an English magazine printed
it. But Mrs. Piozzi rated it at its true value. " It
hurts little," she said. What hurt her more was the
idea that the Burneys were behind the attack. This
idea was pretty certainly due to malicious gossip.
But Mrs. Piozzi had a very penetrating insight into
character, and her comments on her friend, Fanny
Burney, are very illuminative. " Dear Burney,"
she writes, speaking of her visit immediately pre-
ceding her second marriage, " who loves me kindly
but the world reverentially, was, I believe, equally
pained as delighted with my visit," and her words are
strikingly confirmed by Miss Burney's admission in
her Diary that the delight of the visit was " mixed
with bitters the least palatable." There are only
two other attacks to which we need refer. Mrs.
Piozzi necessarily had to pay a penalty for daring
to write about Johnson. Her Anecdotes inspired
Walpole with a number of witticisms, and led to one
of Peter Pindar's best remembered skits, " Bozzy and
Piozzi," of which the following is an example.
BOZZY
"Well, Ma'am ! since all that Johnson said or wrote,
You hold so sacred, how have you forgot
xxviii INTRODUCTION
To grant the wonder-hunting world a reading
Of Sam's Epistle, just before your wedding:
Beginning thus, (in strains not form'd to flatter)
' Madam,
' If that most ignominious matter
' Be not concluded'
Farther shall I say ?
No we shall have it from yourself some day,
To justify your passion for the Youth,
With all the charms of eloquence and truth."
MADAME PIOZZI
" What was my marriage, Sir, to you or him ?
He tell me what to do ! a pretty whim !
He, to propriety, (the beast) resort!
As well might elephants preside at court.
Lord ! let the world to damn my match agree;
Good God ! James Boswell, what's that world \.o me?
The folks who paid respects to Mistress Thrale,
Fed on her pork, poor souls ! and swill'd her ale,
May sicken at Piozzi, nine in ten
Turn up the nose of scorn good God ! what then ?
For me, the Dev'l may fetch their souls so great ;
They keep their homes, and /, thank God, my meat.
When they, poor owls ! shall beat their cage, a jail,
I, unconfm'd, shall spread my peacock tail ;
Free as the birds of air, enjoy my ease,
Choose my own food, and see what climes I please,
/ suffer only if I'm in the wrong :
So, now, you prating puppy, hold your tongue."
The other incident is of much later date, and
carries us forward to the year 1813, when William
Augustus Conway made his first appearance at
Covent Garden. Conway (the name was the stage
substitute for Rugg) enjoyed a short-lived popularity
INTRODUCTION xxi
as an actor, in London and in the provinces, but
his sensitiveness to hostile criticism drove him to
America, where five years later he committed suicide.
His handsome appearance and fine declamation are
attested by Macready, but it would seem that his
height made him awkward and self-conscious.
Hazlitt has many references to his ungainliness, and
in one of them, a criticism of Conway as Romeo in
1814, he likens him to a young elephant, and con-
cludes with the question, " Quere, Why does he not
marry ? " Mrs. Piozzi had formed a warm attach-
ment for the young actor, and did her utmost to
promote his professional success. In her will he was
specially mentioned. Two days before her death she
had made him a present of a hundred pounds, which
Conway, in a letter full of grateful reference to his
" late revered friend," insisted on restoring to the
estate.
In 1843 a book appeared called Love Letters
of Mrs. Piozzi, written when she was eighty, to
William Augustus Conway, and the anonymous
editor asserted that the seven letters were copied
from the originals in America. This publication
requires no comment beyond the statement that its
authenticity is doubtful, and that its contents afford
no support for the hypothesis suggested in the catch-
penny title.
There is entire agreement in all the records of her
life as to the marvellous vivacity of her old age. " A
wonderful old lady," says Moore ; " faces of other times
seemed to crowd over her as she sat the Johnsons,
Reynoldses, etc.: though turned eighty, she has all
xxx INTRODUCTION
the quickness and intelligence of a gay young
woman." A year before her death she celebrated
her eightieth birthday by giving a supper and dance
to more than six hundred guests at Bath, and she
herself opened the ball with her nephew, Sir John
Salusbury. Fanny Burney remarks on the same
trait in her entry in her Diary respecting Mrs.
Piozzi's death. " I have lost now, just lost, my once
most dear, intimate, and admired friend, Mrs. Thrale
Piozzi, who preserved her fine faculties, her imagina-
tion, her intelligence, her powers of allusion and
citation, her extraordinary memory, and her almost
unexampled vivacity, to the last of her existence.
She was in her eighty-second year, and yet owed not
her death to age nor to natural decay, but to the
effects of a fall in a journey from Penzance to
Clifton. . . . She was in truth a most wonderful
character for talents and eccentricity, for wit, genius,
generosity, spirit, and powers of entertainment." To
the same observer we owe an interesting comparison
between Mrs. Piozzi and the Queen of the Blues.
" More bland and more gleeful than that of either of
them [Mrs. Vesey and Mrs. Montagu], was the
personal celebrity of Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Vesey,
indeed, gentle and diffident, dreamed not of any
competition, but Mrs. Montagu and Mrs. Thrale
had long been set up .as rival candidates for collo-
quial eminence, and each of them thought the other
alone worthy to be her peer. Openly therefore when
they met, they combated for precedence of admira-
tion, with placid though high-strained intellectual
exertion on the one side, and an exuberant pleasantry
INTRODUCTION xxxi
or classical allusion or quotation on the other ; with-
out the smallest malice in either."
Mrs. Piozzi had no desire to be numbered among
the Blues, against whom she directs some pungent
sarcasm. The contrast between her and Mrs.
Montagu was sharper than Madame D'Arblay's
high-flown diction indicates. Mrs. Piozzi had a
delicate sense of humour, and doubtless enjoyed to
the full the ludicrous airs and pompous solemnity of
Mrs. Montagu. In accomplishments she probably
excelled all the Blues with the exception of Elizabeth
Carter, the best scholar and the finest lady of them
all. Johnson described her learning as "that of a
schoolboy in one of the lower forms," but her own
books disprove the accuracy of this criticism. Much
of her learning was superficial, but she had read
widely and brought to her reading shrewd and
independent judgment and a remarkable memory.
That her wit and her humour did not always pre-
vent her descent to the ridiculous is shown by her
complacent references to her share in the Delia
Cruscan fatuity. The side of Mrs. Piozzi's character
that least attracts is a concomitant of her wonderful
vitality. It is her boast that she never grew old, but
it is her defect that in some ways she never grew up.
We tire of the archness of " your poor little H.L.P.,"
and occasionally discover in her letters insincerity as
well as twaddle. On the literary side she disarms
criticism by her frankness and her unpretentiousness.
As a hostess, and it is in that capacity that Mrs.
Piozzi's name will last in our literary history, she
was singularly gifted. She admitted herself that
xxxii INTRODUCTION
she was too strong-featured to be beautiful, but she
had a clever and attractive face, and her charm of
manner was rooted in real kindness of heart. Lovers
of Johnson will always owe her homage for the sun-
shine she brought into his life. It is a debt owing
to her without any deduction.
DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
I HEARD it asserted once in a mixt company that
few men of ever so good a family could recollect, im-
mediately on being challenged, the maiden names of
their four great-grandmothers : they were not Welsh
men. My father's two grandames were Bridget Per-
cival, daughter to a then Lord Egmont, and Mary
Pennant of Downing, great-aunt to the great natural-
ist. My mother claimed Hester Salusbury, heiress of
Lleweney Hall, as one of her grandmothers by mar-
riage with Sir Robert Cotton ; Vere Herbert, only
daughter of Lord Torington, was the other.
The Salusbury pedigree is, indeed, perpetually re-
ferred to by Pennant in the course of his numerous
volumes. It begins, I remember, with Adam de Saltz-
burg, son to Alexander, Duke and Prince of Bavaria,
who came to England with the Conqueror, and in
1070 had obtained for his valour a faire House in
Lancashire, still known by the name of Saltsbury
Court. I showed an abstract of it to the Heralds in
office at Saltzbourg, when there ; and they acknow-
2 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
ledged me a true descendant of their house, offering
me all possible honours, to the triumphant delight oi
dear Piozzi, for whose amusement alone I pulled out
the schedule. You * will find a modest allusion to
the circumstance in page 283 of the Travel Book,
2nd vol. 2
Among my immediate ancestors, third, fourth, or
fifth, I forget which, from this Father Adam, was
Henry Salusbury surnamed the Black ; who having
taken three noble Saracens with his own hand in the
first Crusade, Coeur de Lion knighted him on the
field, and to the old Bavarian Lion (see Retrospec-
tion^ p. Ii6 3 ) which adorned his shield, added three
crescents for coat armour. On his return the king
permitted him to settle where he married in Wales.
He built Lewenney Hall, naming it Lew, the Lion,
and an ny, for us; and set a brazen one upon its
highest tower.
Among our popular Cambrian ballads, is one to the
honour of this hero; still known to the harpers by
name of Black Sir Harry. The civil wars of York
and Lancaster called into public notice an immediate
descendant of this warrior. His name, which also
was Henry, stood recorded on a little obelisk, or
1 Sir James Fellowes (1771-1857), an eminent physician, who
was one of Mrs. Piozzi's executors. The memoirs were written
at his request.
2 Observations and Reflections made in the course of a
Journey through France, Italy, and Germany, 1789.
3 A work of Mrs. Piozzi, entitled Retrospection ; or, Review
of the most striking and important Evenfa, etc., which the
last Eighteen Hundred Years have presented to the view of
Mankind, 1801.
GILDING THE LION 3
rather cippus, by the roadside at Barnet, where the
great battle was fought so long, that I remember my
father taking me out of the carriage to read it when
I was quite a child. He had shewn mercy to an
enemy on that occasion, who looking on his device
or imprese, flung himself at his feet with these
words :
Sat est prostrasse Leoni.
Our family have used that Legenda as motto to the
coat armour ever since.
I guess not why this man was a Yorkist. The other
party was natural to the inhabitants of North Wales,
where the proud Duke of Somerset had married a
daughter of his to the son of Owen Tudor by the
Princess Katherine of France; another of whose sons,
Fychan Tudor de Beraine, married his son to Jasper
the Earl of Pembroke's daughter. These were imme-
diate parents to the father of Katherine de Berayne by
Constance d'Aubigne", dame d'Honneur to Anne de
Bretagne. She brought him this one only child, an
heiress, who was ward to Queen Elizabeth, and in
her fifteenth year married, with her Majesty's consent,
to Sir John Salusbury, of Llewenney Hall, eldest of
fourteen children. After his demise fair Katherine
gave her hand to Sir Richard Clough, the splendid
merchant, mentioned in a note to Retrospection, whose
daughter inherited Bachygraig, and married Roger
Salusbury, youngest brother of Sir John, first husband
to her mother. He quarrelled with the House of
Lleweney, tore down the Lion and set it on his wife's
seat called Bachygraig, where it stood, newly gilt by
Mr. Piozzi, two years ago (1813).
4 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
My father was lineally descended from this pair,
and died possessed of dear old Bachygraig, while Sir
John Salusbury's family soon finished in a daughter
Hester, who, marrying Sir Robert Cotton of Comber-
mere, gave him, and all her progeny by him, the
name of Salusbury Cotton. She was immediate
grandame to my dear mother ; and thus in your little
friend the two families remain united.
Will it amuse you to be told that Katherine de
Berayne, after Sir Richard Clough's death, married
Maurice Wynne, of Gwydir, whose family and fortune
merged in that of the Berties ? He was not, however,
her last husband. She wedded Thelwall, of Plasy-
ward, after she was quite an old woman. But the
Berayne estate she left to my mother's great-grand-
father, as heir to her first husband, Sir John Salus-
bury of Lleweney. My uncle sold it to Lord Kirk-
wall's father. 1
But it will bring matters nearer home to tell you
that my mother, who had io,ooo/., an excellent fortune
in those days, besides an annuity for her mamma's
life of I25/. per annum, who was living gaily with
her brother, Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, and his
wife, Lady Betty Tollemache, refused all suitors
attracted by her merits and beauty for love of her
rakish cousin, John Salusbury of Bachygraig. He,
unchecked by care of a father who died during the
infancy of his sons, ran out the estate completely to
1 Lord Kirkwall sold the property to the Rev. Edward Hughes,
whose son, William Lewis Hughes, the present possessor, was
created Baron Dinorben,in 1831, of Kinmel.Park, Denbighshire.
The house was burnt down in 1840. (Sir James Fellowes.)
HALF A PRODIGY 5
nothing. So completely that the io,ooo/. would
scarcely pay debts and furnish them out a cottage
in Caernarvonshire, where after two or three dead
things I was born alive, and where they were forced
by circumstances to remain, till my grandmother
Lucy Salusbury an exemplary creature should die,
and leave them free at least to mortgage or to sell, or
to do something towards reinstating themselves in a
less unbecoming situation.
Meanwhile /was their joint plaything, and although
education was a word then unknown as applied to
females, they had taught me to read and speak and
think and translate from the French, till I was half a
prodigy ; l and my father's brother Thomas, who was
bred up for the ecclesiastical courts with poor papa's
money, and who lived in London among the gay and
great, said how his friends the Duke of Leeds, Lord
Halifax, etc., would be delighted could they but see
little Hester. My mother, however, thought it would
be best to conciliate her own relations, and made me,
I know not at how early an age, write a letter to my
uncle Robert who had lately lost Lady Betty. The
scheme prospered : grandmamma Salusbury of Bachy-
graig was dead, and Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton said
he longed to kiss his sister and the little girl ; to whom
he was perhaps more willing to attach himself, as he
had no progeny, and his only brother had married,
not much to please him, a portionless cousin of his
1 There is a tradition in the Cotton family that she could re-
peat the names of most of the rivers in the world, but when
asked the name of the river at the bottom of the garden (the
Thames) she could not tell it. (Hay ward.)
6 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
own, Miss Cotton, of Etwall and Belleport, by whom
he had many children, among which two only were
favourites at Lleweney. An invitation followed, and
we came to the Old Hall hung round with armour,
which struck my infant eyes with wonder and de-
light.
My uncle soon began to dote on Fiddle, as he called
me in fondness ; and I certainly did not obtain his
love by flattery, as I remember well this odd tete-a-tete
conversation :
" Come now, dear," said he, " that we are quite alone,
tell me what you expected to see here at Llewenney."
" I expected," replied I, "to see an old baronet."
" Well, in that your expectation is not much disap-
pointed; but why did you think of such stuff?" "Why
just because papa and mamma was always saying to
me and to one another at Bodvel, what the old baronet
would think of this and that : they did it to frighten
me I see now ; but I thought to myself that kings and
princes were but men, and God made them you know,
Sir, and they made old baronets." " Incomparable
Fiddle," exclaimed my uncle " you will see a Mr. and
Mrs. Clough at dinner to-day : do you know how to
spell Clough ? " " No," was the reply ; " I never heard
the name ; but if it had been spelt like buff, you would
not have asked me the question, They write it per-
haps as we write enough c, 1, o, u, g, h."
What baby anecdotes are these, you cry. 'Tis so,
but your poor friend certainly ceased being in any
wise a wonder after she was five years old, at which
period we left Wales and came to my uncle's house in
Albemarle Street, where he told my mother he should
MEETING MR. QUIN 7
follow in less than two months ; make a new will, and
leave poor Fiddle io,ooo/., having understood that my
parents had by their marriage settlement agreed to
entail the old Bachygraig Estate'on Thomas Salusbury,
brother to papa, and then a doctor in the Commons ;
and on his sons, rather than their own daughter, if
they had no male heir. I fancy some rough words
passed concerning this. My uncle certainly but ill
brooked my father's pride, and he still less willingly
endured being informed that, if his quality friends
would provide him some distant establishment, my
mother and myself should share the old baronet's
fortune. " No, no, Sir Robert," was the haughty
answer, " if I go for a soldier, your sister shall carry
the knapsack, and the little wench may have what I
can work for." I have heard that our parting soon
followed this conversation, and scarce were my in-
fantine tears dried for leaving dear Llewenney and
my half-adored uncle, before the news reached London
of his sudden death by an apoplectic fit ; in conse-
quence of which, his brother, Sir Lynch Salusbury
Cotton, came into everything by a temporary will
kept in case of accidents till one more copious and
correct should be formed.
Some traces yet remain upon my mind of poor
mamma's anguish and of my father's violent expres-
sions. She has related to me his desperate engage-
ment with some quacks and projectors who pretended
to find lead on his encumbered estate, whilst we re-
mained in town, and I became a favourite with the
Duke and Duchess of Leeds, where I recollect often
meeting the famous actor Mr. Quin, who taught me
8 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
to speak Satan's speech to the sun in Paradise Lost.
When they took me to see him act Cato, I remember
making him a formal courtesy, much to the Duchess's
amusement, perhaps to that of the player. I was just
six years old, and we sate in the stage-box, where I
kept on studying the part with all my little power,
not at all distracted by the lights or company, which
they fancied would take my attention. The fireworks
for the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle l were the next sights
my fancy was impressed with. We sate on a terrace
belonging to the Hills of Tern now Lord Berwick's
family, and David Garrick was there, and made me
sit on his lap, feeding me with cates, etc. ; because
having asked some one who sate near why they called
those things that blew up, Gerbes in the bill of fare, /
answered, " Because they are like wheat-sheaves, you
see, and Gerbe is a wheat-sheaf in French."
When Garrick was intimate at Streatham Park more
than twenty years afterwards, he did not like that
story : it made him look older, at least feel older, than
he wished, I suppose.
Lord Halifax 2 was now, or soon after, head of the
Board of Trade, and wished to immortalise his name
he had no sons by colonising Nova Scotia. Corn-
wallis and my father, whom he patronised, were sent
out, the first persons in every sense of the word ; and
poor dear mamma was left sine pane almost, I believe,
certainly sine nummo, with her odd little charge, a girl
without a guinea, whose mind however she ceased not
1 The peace of 1748, when the writer was seven.
2 George Montagu Dunk, second Earl of Halifax. He did
" immortalise his name " by giving it to the town of Halifax, N.S.
SAMUEL JOHNSON
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
BUYING A BRIDE 9
to cultivate in every possible manner. For French,
writing, and arithmetic, I had no instructor but her-
self; and when she went from home where I could
not be taken, my temporary abode was the great school
in Queen Square, where Mrs. Dennis and her brother,
the Admiral Sir Peter Dennis, 1 said I was qualified,
at eight years old, for teacher rather than learner ; and
he actually did instruct me in the rudiments of navi-
gation, as the globes were already familiar to me.
The small-pox, however, and measles, interrupted my
studies for awhile, when my Grandmother Cotton
invited my mother and myself to spend a summer in
Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, where she had a fine
country seat called East Hyde, not far from Luton, to
which I made reference in Retrospection (vol. ii.
p. 434). This lady, daughter to Sir Thomas Lynch,
after whom I was named, had possessed an immense
fortune in Jamaica ; but being left an orphan at five
years old, was, as she always said and I believe, pur-
chased of Lord Torrington, her mother's brother, by
Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton for his son Thomas, the
child he educated himself in the Tower of London,
when confined there on account of his correspondence
with the Electress Sophia.
Certain it is that Lady Cotton was scarce fifteen
years older than her own eldest son, my dear Uncle
Robert, husband of Lady Betty Tollemache ; which
she considered as little to the honour of her father-in-
law who, she believed, obtained her fortune to his
family by any means he could.
1 Sir Peter Denis, one of Anson's captains, who distinguished
himself later at Quiberon Bay.
io DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
She had made a second choice when left a widow
at thirty-seven years old, with many children, all
mortally offended at her marrying again ; but Captain
King was dead, and they were reconciled at the time
I am speaking of. At East Hyde I learned to love
horses ; and when my mother hoped I was gaining
health by the fresh air, I was kicking my heels on a
corn binn, and learning to drive of the old coachman ;
who, like every body else, small and great, delighted in
taking me for a pupil. Grandmamma kept four great
ramping war-horses, chevaux entiers, for her carriage,
with immense long manes and tails, which we buckled
and combed ; and when, after long practice, I showed
her and my mother how two of them (poor Colonel
and Peacock) would lick my hand for a lump of sugar
or fine white bread, much were they amazed ; much
more when my skill in guiding them round the court-
yard on the break could no longer be doubted or
denied, though strictly prohibited for the future.
Among our Hertfordshire neighbours was Sir Henry
Penrice, Judge of the Admiralty, who by the heiress
of that branch of the Spencer family had only one
daughter, the all - accomplished Anna Maria, who
sought my mother's friendship the more eagerly, as
she felt her heart daily more and more attached to
my father's brother, Doctor Thomas Salusbury, of the
Commons. My resemblance to my papa's whole
family fixed me a favourite. My mother thought her-
self ill-used by them, and so in fact she was ; her
husband having left his brother a power of attorney to
do everything for him, and he neglecting all mamma's
entreaties, having forbore to change the hands of a
A FONDLED FAVOURITE n
mortgage upon that portion of the Welsh estate ap-
pointed for her jointure. Worse than that: my mother
had scraped up, by dint of miserable privations, money
for the purpose; but Uncle Thomas neglected his
absent brother's interest, and the estate was lost.
Love was, however, his apology; and a faint hope, per-
haps, that so immense a fortune as that of Miss Penrice
might in some wise and on some future day benefit
her child, hushed all mamma's complaints. The lovers
married. Sir Henry died, and was succeeded by his
son-in-law, both in his place, his title, and his estate.
My father had meanwhile, I fear, behaved perversely,
quarrelling and fighting duels, and fretting his friends
at home. My mother and my uncle, taking advan-
tage of his last gloomy letter, begged him to return
and share the gaieties of Offley Place, mentioned in
Retrospection, vol. i. p. 213: likewise, if I remember
rightly, in the Travel Book (vol. ii. 1 ), where I recollect
the plains of Kalin reminding me of our dear airings
upon Lily Hoo, the common near our house, joining
to that of Offley, scenes I shall see no more !
Here I reigned long, a fondled favourite. Kind
Lady Salusbury felt her health decline, but told her
husband she should die more happily, persuaded that
he would not marry, as he was so attached to the good
girl she now considered as her own, having nearly lost
her precious life by a severe miscarriage. She, however,
lived with him nine years, and said it were pity I
should not learn Latin, Italian, and even Spanish, in
all which she was conversant. Study was my delight,
and such a patroness would have made stones students.
1 Observations and Reflections, etc. See note p. 2.
la DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
The Lisbon earthquake had impressed her strongly;
and my mother, who was particularly fond of Spanish
literature, made me translate a sermon in that language,
written and preached in the Jewish synagogue at Lon-
don by Isaac Netto, whose name is all I can bring
back to mind, and dedicate it to my dear aunt, Anna
Maria Salusbury. A set of pearl and garnet orna-
ments, which I gave afterwards to Lady Keith, 1 was
my shining recompense ; but such was my father's
conduct, she never did love him. My mother she
respected, and dear Doctor Collier, a constant guest,
did all he could to keep us all happy in one another.
Felicity, in this world, however, lasts not long. Poor
Lady Salusbury died, at forty-one years old, of dropsy
in the breast, and uncle said he had no kindness but
for me. I think I did share his fondness with his
stud ; our stable was the first for hunters of enormous
value, for racers, too ; and our house, after my aunt's
death, was even haunted by young men who made
court to the niece, and expressed admiration of the
horses. Every suitor was made to understand my
extraordinary value. Those who could read, were
shown my verses ; those who could not, were judges
of my prowess in the field. It was my sport to mimic
some, and drive others back, in order to make Dr.
Collier laugh, who did not perhaps wish to see me
give a heart away which he held completely in his
hands, since he kindly became my preceptor in Latin,
logic, rhetoric, etc.
We began, I think, before I was thirteen years old.
1 Hester Maria Thrale, Mrs. Piozzi's eldest daughter, who in
1808 married Admiral Lord Keith.
A RED-HOT TEMPER 13
On the day I was sixteen he confessed sixty-four, I
remember, and said he was just four times my age, so
I suppose he was. The difference or agreement never
crossed my mind, nor seemed to have crossed his. A
friendship more tender, or more unpolluted by interest
or by vanity, never existed ; love had no place at all
in the connection, nor had he any rival but my mother.
Their influence was of the same kind, and hers the
strongest ; but it was not till after poor papa's death
that I observed she looked on Collier with a jealous
eye. We were scarce all of us enough to manage with
my father's red-hot temper. It was daily endangering
our alienation of Sir Thomas Salisbury's fondness,
which the arrival of a new neighbour put still more
to hazard. We should have made home more
agreeable.
My uncle would not then have run to the smiling
widow of Wellbury just at our Park gate the
Honourable Mrs. King, whose blandishments drew
him from dear Offley, and made our removal to our
London house less painful. The summer before this
removal had produced to me a new vexation. Lord
Halifax was become lieutenant of Ireland, 1 and my
father made one of his numerous escort, delighting to
attend his patron through his own country, and show
him the wonders of Wales. Mamma and I remained
at Offley doing the honours. Doctor Collier was in
London upon business. My uncle had been to town
for a night or two, and returned to tell us what an
excellent, what an incomparable young man he had
1 See note p. 8. Halifax was Lord-Lieutenant from 1761
to 1763.
14 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
seen, who was, in short, a model of perfection, ending
his panegyric by saying that he was a real sportsman.
Seeing me disposed to laugh, he looked very grave ;
said he expected us to like him, and that seriously.
The next day Mr. Thrale followed his eulogist, and
applied himself so diligently to gain my mother's
attention aye, and her heart, too, that there was
little doubt of her approving the pretensions of so very
showy a suitor if suitor he was to me, who certainly
had not a common share in the compliments he paid
to my mother's wit, beauty, and elegance.
His father, he said, was born in our village at Offley,
of mean parents, but had made a prodigious fortune,
by his merits : and the people all looked with admira-
tion at his giving $s. to a poor boy who lay on the
bank, because he was sure his father had been such
a boy. In a week's time the country catched the notion
up that Miss Salusbury's husband had been suddenly
found by meeting Sir Thomas at the house of Mr.
Levinz, a well-known bon vivant of those days, they
were not then called amphitryons, who kept a gay
house and a gay lady at Brompton, where he enter-
tained the gay fashionists of i^6o. 1 The chaplain
of Offley Place, a distant relation of ours, uncle I
think to this Sir Robert Salusbury whom you met
once in Park Street (Bath), having undisclosed hopes
of his own to get the heiress, not only took alarm, but
cunningly conveyed that alarm to my father, who,
when he came home, said he saw his girl already half
1 Syntax seems not to have been included in the " Latin, logic,
rhetoric, etc.," which Miss Salusbury studied with Mrs. Denis and
Doctor Collier.
EXCHANGED FOR A BARREL OF PORTER 15
disposed of without hisown consent, and swore I should
not be exchanged for a barrel of porter, etc. 1
Vain were all my assurances that nothing resembled
love less than Mr. Thrale's behaviour: vain my promises
that no step on my part should be taken without his
concurrence; although I clearly understood, and wrote
Dr. Collier word so, that my uncle made this marriage
the condition of his favour quite apparently, and that
certain ruin would follow my rejection. The letter,
perhaps, still exists in which I declared my resolution
to adhere to the maxims of filial duty he had taught
me, and refuse (when I should be asked) any offer, how-
ever tempting, that should seek to seduce me from his
authority under which both myself and my mother
were placed. By this time the brothers quarrelled and
met no more. My father took us to London. My
uncle solaced himself with visiting the widow ; and
after a miserable winter, which visits from Mr. Thrale
to my mother rendered terrifying to me every day
from papa's violence of temper, a note came, sent in
a sly manner, from Dr. Collier, to tell me (it was
written in Latin) that Sir Thomas would certainly
marry Mrs. King the Sunday following, and begged
I would not say a syllable till the next day, when he
would come and break the dreadful tidings to my father.
My countenance, however, showed, or his acuteness
discovered, something he did not like ; an accusation
followed, that I received clandestine letters from Mr.
Thrale, a circumstance I had certainly every just reason
to deny, and felt extremely hurt, of course, at seeing
myself disbelieved. After a fruitless and painful con-
1 Referring to Thrale's business as a brewer.
16 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
test for many hours of this cruel evening, my spirits
sunk, I fainted, and my father, gaining possession of
the fatal billet, had to ask my pardon poor unhappy
soul ! and in this fond misery spent we the hours till
four o'clock in the morning. At nine we rose ; he to
go across the park in search of my maternal uncle, Sir
Lynch Salusbury Cotton, from whom, and from Dr.
Crane, Prebendary of Westminster, he meant to seek
counsel and comfort. Me, to the employment of call-
ing our medical friend, Herbert Lawrence, to dinner
by a billet of earnest request. All of us were ill, but
by the time he came, my father died, and was brought
us home a corpse, before the dining hour. This was
December 1762, fifty-three years ago exactly. Yet
are not my feelings blunted !
The Will gave to my mother his Bachygraig House,
and estate for life, charged with 5<DOO/. for me; to which
my uncle, in consideration perhaps of my poor father's
having paid every expense of his education at Cam-
bridge, perhaps in recollection of having lost him a
farm of ioo/. a year, added 5ooo/. more ; with which
(and expectations of course) Mr. Thrale deigned to
accept my undesired hand, and in ten months from
my poor father's death, were both the marriages he
feared accomplished.
My uncle went himself with me to church, gave me
away, dined with us at Streatham Park, returned to
Hertfordshire, wedded the widow, and then scarce ever
saw or wrote to either of us ; leaving me to conciliate
as I could, a husband who was indeed much kinder
than I counted on, to a plain girl, who had not one
attraction in his eyes, and on whom he never had
"KING OF HELL" 17
thrown five minutes of his time away, in any interview
unwitnessed by company, even till after our wedding-
day was done !
My mother staid with us, however, so did her niece,
Miss Hester Salusbury Cotton, now Lady Corbet. Mr.
Murphy l was introduced, and the facetious Georgey
Bodens, 2 as the men called him. Lord Carhampton's
father, Simon Luttrell, afterwards known to all the
town by the emphatic title " King of Hell," 3 besides
a very sickly old physician, who seemed as if living
with us, Dr. Fitzpatrick, a Roman Catholic ; the rest
were professed Infidels.
When winter came, however, I was carried to my
town residence, Deadman's Place, Southwark ; which
house, no more than that in Surrey, had been seen by
me till called upon to inhabit it. Here, too, my mother
quitted us, and lived at our old mansion in Dean Street,
Soho, then no unfashionable part of the world, and
thither I went oh how willingly ! to visit her every
day. My husband's sisters 4 (who, like himself, were
eminent for personal beauty) now called upon me,
looked at me, and in modern phrase, seemed to quiz
1 Arthur Murphy, the friend and biographer of Johnson and
Garrick. He introduced Johnson to the Thrales.
2 An accepted wit, as we may gather from his mention in
Madame D'Arblay's Diary. The specimen of his humour that
she quotes is not hilariously brilliant. Mr. Bodens described
parliament as " a humbug on the nation."
3 It was told of him that he challenged his son, the Colonel
Luttrell (afterwards Earl of Carhampton) of Middlesex election
celebrity, who refused to fight him, " not because he was his
father, but because he was not a gentleman." (Hayward.)
* Mrs. Rice, Mrs. Nesbitt (afterwards Mrs. Scott), Lady Lade,
and Mrs. Plumbe.
i8 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
me, asking how I liked Dr. Fitzpatrick, their brother's
Jesuit friend ? I answered drily, that the Doctor was
well-read and well-bred, apparently in extreme ill
health (he was a physician), and that Mr. Thrale's
friends must necessarily be mine. The ladies with-
drew, disappointed, and I tried with all diligence to
canvass the man whom they thought, and of course 7
thought, had so much influence; where if I gained
none I must become a nuisance. The doctor had no
more influence than myself; but being so much about
them all, could at least tell me les tracasseries defamille
of which I was wholly ignorant. From him in due
time I learned what had determined my husband's
choice to me, till then a standing wonder. He had, the
doctor said, asked several women, naming them, but
all except me refused to live in the Borough, 1 to which,
and to his business, he observed, that Mr. Thrale was
as unaccountably attached now as he had been in his
father's time averse from both. And oh ! cried
the old man, how would my deceased friend have
delighted in this happy sight ! alluding to my state
of pregnancy.
So summer came again, and Streatham Park was
improving, and autumn came, and Lady Keith came, 2
and I became of a little more importance. Confidence
was no word in our vocabulary, and I tormented myself
to guess who possessed that of Mr. Thrale ; not his
clerks certainly, who scarce dared approach him much
less come near me ; whose place he said was either in
the drawing-room or the bed-chamber. We kept,
1 Thrale's brewery was in Southwark.
3 Hester Thrale (Lady Keith) was born in 1762.
JOHNSON MEETS THE THRALES 19
meantime, a famous pack of fox-hounds, at a hunting
box near Croydon; but it was masculine for ladies
to ride, etc. We kept the finest table possible at
Streatham Park, but his wife was not to think of the
kitchen. So I never knew what was for dinner till I
saw it.
Driven thus on literature as my sole resource, no
wonder if I loved my books and children. From a
gay life my mother held me fast. Those pleasures Mr.
Thrale enjoyed alone; with me indeed they never
would have suited ; I was too often and too long con-
fined. Although Dr. Johnson (now introduced among
us 1 ) told me once, before her face, who deeply did
resent it, that I lived like my husband's kept mistress,
shut from the world, its pleasures, or its cares.
The scene was soon to change. Fox-hounds were
sold, and a seat in Parliament was suggested by our
new inmate as more suitable to his dignity, more
desirable in every respect. I grew useful now, almost
necessary ; wrote the advertisements, looked to the
treats, and people to whom I was till then unknown,
admired how happy Mr. Thrale must be in such a
wonder of a wife.
I wondered all the while where his heart lay ; but it
was found at last, too soon for joy, too late almost for
sorrow. A vulgar fellow, by name Humphrey Jackson,
had, as the clerks informed me, all in a breath, com-
plete possession of it. He had long practised on poor
Thrale's credulity, till, by mixing two cold liquors
1 "This year (1765) was distinguished by his (Johnson) being
introduced into the family of Mr. Thrale, one of the most
eminent brewers in England." (Bos well.)
20 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
which produced heat perhaps, or two colourless liquors
which produced brilliancy, he had at length prevailed
on him to think he could produce beer too, without the
beggarly elements of malt and hops. He had per-
suaded him to build a copper somewhere in East
Smithfield, the very metal of which cost 2OOO/., wherein
this Jackson was to make experiments and con-
jure some curious stuff, which should preserve ships'
bottoms from the worm ; gaining from Government
money to defray these mad expenses. Twenty enor-
mous vats, holding 1000 hogsheads each costly con-
tents ! Ten more holding 1000 barrels each, were
constructed to stew in this pernicious mess ; and after-
wards erected, on I forget how much ground bought
for the ruinous purpose.
That all were spoiled, was but a secondary sorrow.
We had in the commercial phrase, no beer to start for
customers. We had no money to purchase with. Our
clerks, insulted long, rebelled and ratted, but I held
them in. A sudden run menaced the house, and
death hovered over the head of the principal. I think
some faint image of the distress appears in Doctor
Johnson's forty-eighth letter, I st vol. 1 But God tempers
every evil with some good. Such was my charming
mother's firmness and such her fond attachment to us
both, that our philosophical friend, embracing her, ex-
claimed, that he was equally charmed by her conduct,
and edified by her piety. " Fear not the menaces of
suicide," said he ; " the man who has two such females
to console him, never yet killed himself, and will not
1 Mrs. Piozzi's Letters to and from the late Samuel Johnson, in
two vols., 1788.
TWO ANXIOUS WEEKS 21
now. Of all the bankrupts made this dreadful year,"
continued he, " none have destroyed themselves but
married men ; who would have risen from the weeds
undrowned, had not the women clung about and sunk
them, stifling the voice of reason with their cries."
Ah, Sir James Fellowes, and have not I too been in
a ship on fire l not for two hours, but for two full
weeks, between the knowledge of my danger and the
end on't?
Well ! first we made free with our mother's money,
her little savings ! about 3OOO/. 'twas all she had ;
and, big as I was with child, I drove down to Bright-
helmstone, to beg of Mr. Scrase 2 6ooo/. more he
gave it us and Perkins, 3 the head clerk, had never
done repeating my short letter to our master, which
only said, " I have done my errand, and you soon
shall see returned, whole, as I hope your heavy and
faithful messenger, H. L. T."
Perkins' sons are now in possession of the place,
their father but lately dead. Dear Mr. Scrase was
an old gouty solicitor, retired from business, friend
and contemporary of my husband's father. Mr. Rush
lent us 6ooo/., Lady Lade 5ooo/. our debts, including
those of Humphrey Jackson, were I3o,ooo/., besides
borrowed money. Yet in nine years was every shilling
paid ; one, if not two elections well contested ; and we
1 Alluding to the fire on board an East Indiaman, in which
Sir James Fellowes was passenger. (Hayward.)
2 Richard Scrase, described by Fanny Burney as Mrs. Thrale's
" Daddy Crisp."
3 Became one of the owners of Thrale's brewery under its
later name of " Barclay and Perkins." Perkins was greatly
esteemed by Johnson.
22 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
might, at Mr. Thrale's death, have had money, had he
been willing to listen to advice, as you will see by our
correspondence, which is now time for you to begin,
and be released from these scenes of calamity. The
baby that I carried lived an hour my mother a year ;
but she left our minds more easy. I lay awake twelve
nights and days, I remember, 'spite of all art could
do ; but here I am, vexing your tired ear with past
afflictions.
You will see that many letters were suppressed.
But as you have probably thought more of my literary,
than of my moral or social existence, though I hope
not, it will be right at least to say that it was during
the winters of those happy years when I reigned Queen
at Offley Place all summer, that Hogarth made me sit
for his fine picture of the " Lady's Last Stake," now
in possession of Lord Charlemont.
It was then, too, when I was about thirteen, fourteen,
and fifteen years old, that I took a fancy to write in
the St. James's Chronicle, unknown to my parents and
my tutor too : it was my sport to see them reading,
studying, blaming or praising their own little whim-
sical girl's performances ; but such was their admira-
tion of one little verse thing, that I could not forbear
owning it, and am sorry that no copy has, I believe,
been kept.
The little poetical trash I did write in earnest, is
preserved somewhere, perhaps in T/iraliana, 1 which
I promised to Mrs. Mostyn : 2 perhaps in a small
1 A diary kept by Mrs. Piozzi from 1776 to 1809. See
extracts, p. 164.
2 Mrs. Piozzi's youngest daughter.
" LITTLE POEMS" 23
repository I prepared for dear Salusbury, 1 before our
final parting: such I meant it to be; but have no
guess how you will find the stuff, or whether he ever
thought it worth his while to keep old aunt's school
exercises such he would probably and naturally con-
sider them. There is a little poem called " Offley
Park " I know ; another " On my poor Aunt Anna
Maria's favourite Ash Tree " ; and one styled " The
Old Hunter's Petition for Life," written to save dear
Forester from being shot because grown superan-
nuated. There is a little odd metaphysical toy
beside, written to divert Doctor Collier after the
death of his dog Pompey, for whom James Harris
made a Greek epitaph, of which this is the Eng-
lish meaning, as I remember; but no doubt all is
lost, and these verses are not mine. I forget whose
though :
" Here what remains of Pompey lies,
Handsome, generous, faithful, wise.
Then shouldst thou, friend, possess a bitch
In nature's noble gifts as rich ;
When Death shall take her, let her have
With Pompey here one common grave ;
So from their mingled dust shall rise
A race of dogs as good and wise :
Dogs who disease shall never know,
Rheumatic ache or gouty toe ;
Nor feel the dire effects of tea,
Nor show decay by cachexy.
For if aright the future Fates I read,
Immortal are the dogs their pregnant dust shall breed."
1 Piozzi's nephew, whom Mrs. Piozzi adopted and made her
heir. He became Sir John Salusbury Piozzi Salusbury.
24 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
The great James Harris 1 was no disdainer of trifles.
He wrote the two comical dialogues at the end of
David Simple, an old novel composed by Dr. Collier's
sister, 2 who was dead before I knew him, in conjunc-
tion with Sally Fielding, whose brother was author
of Tom Jones, not yet obsolete. James Harris gave
me his Hermes interleaved, that I might write my
remarks on it, proving my attention to philosophical
grammar, for which study I had shown him signs of
capacity, I trust ; but Collier would not suffer him to
talk metaphysics in my hearing, unless he himself
was the respondent. Oh, what conversations ! What
correspondences were these ! never renewed after my
wedding-day, October nth, 1763. Dr. Johnson was
perhaps justly offended if I even appeared to recollect
them, and in my mother's presence. There was no
danger. They had never fallen in Mr. Thrale's way
of course.
But you make me an egotist, and force me to re-
member scenes and ideas I never dreamed of com-
municating. The less so, because finding my fortune
of late circumscribed in a manner wholly new to me,
no doubt remained of all celebrity following my lost
power of entertaining company, giving parties, etc. ;
and my heart prepared to shut itself quite up, con-
1 Author of Hermes, or a Philosophical Inquiry concerning
Universal Grammar, 1751. His son became first Earl of
Malmesbury.
2 Fielding declares his sister to be the "real and sole author."
Harris's dialogues on Fashion and Much Ado were incorporated
by Sarah Fielding not with David Simple but with the later
Familiar Tetters between the principal Characters in David
Simple.
THE SUMMER HOUSE AT STREATHAM, 1775
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
WAITING FOR "RESTORATION DAY" 25
vinced there existed not a human creature who cared
one atom for poor H. L. P. now she had no longer
money to be robbed of. That disinterested kindness
does exist, however, my treatment here at Bath evinces
daily, and in six months will come if things do but
continue in their natural course my restoration day.
Meanwhile this odd prefatory collection of Biographi-
cal Anecdotes are at your service.
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
A RETROSPECT
MY heart was free, my head full of Authors, Actors,
Lite'rature in every shape ; and I had a dear, dear
friend, an old Dr. Collier, who said 'he was sixty-six
years old, I remember, the day I was sixteen, and
whose instructions I prized beyond all the gayeties of
early life: nor have I ever passed a day since we
parted in which I have not recollected with gratitude
the boundless obligations that I owe him. He was
intimate with the famous James Harris of Salisbury,
Lord Malmesbury's father, of whom you have heard
how Charles Townshend * said, when he took his seat
in the House of Commons, " Who is this man ? "-
to his next neighbour ; " I never saw him before."
" Who ? " " Why, Harris, the author, that wrote one
book about Grammar [so he did] and one about
Virtue." " What does he come here for ? " replies
Spanish Charles ; " he will find neither Grammar nor
Virtue here? Well, my dear old Dr. Collier had much
of both, and delighted to shake the superflux of his
full mind over mine, ready to receive instruction con-
veyed with so much tender assiduity.
In a few years (our Letters tell the date) Johnson
1 Chancellor of the Exchequer in Chatham's Ministry in 1766.
36
H. L. P.'S CONVERSATION 27
was introduced ; and now I must laugh at a ridiculous
Retrospection. When I was a very young wench,
scarce twelve years old I trust, my notice was strongly
attracted by a Mountebank in some town we were pass-
ing through. " What a fine fellow ! " said I ; " dear
Papa, do ask him to dinner with us at our inn ! or
at least, Merry Andrew, because he could tell us such
clever stories of Jiis master" My Father laughed sans
intermission an hour by the dial, as Jacques once at
motley. Yet did dear Mr. Conway's fancy for
H. L. P.'s conversation grow up, at first, out of some-
thing not unlike this, when, his high-polished mind
and fervid imagination taking fire from the tall Beacon
bearing Dr. Johnson's fame above the clouds, he
thought some information might perhaps be gained
by talk with the old female who so long carried coals
to it. She has told all, or nearly all, she knew
" And like poor Andrew must advance,
Mean mimic of her master's dance,
But similes, like songs in love,
Describing much, too little prove."
So now, leaving Prior's pretty verses, and leaving Dr.
Johnson too, who was himself severely censured for his
rough criticism x on a writer who had pleased all in
our Augustan age of Literature, poor H. L. P. turns
egotist at eighty, and tells her own adventures. (From
Conway MSS. 2 )
1 Johnson condemns Prior's "amorous effusions" as being
the " dull exercises of a skilful versifier."
2 In her old age Mrs. Piozzi formed a warm attachment to
an actor named Rugg, whose stage name was William Augustus
Conway. After his death by suicide in 1828 his effects were
sold in New York, and among them were Young's Night
28 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
THE GLOBE THEATRE
For a long time, then, or I thought it such, my
fate was bound up with the old Globe Theatre, upon
the Bankside, Southwark ; the alley it had occupied
having been purchased and thrown down by Mr.
Thrale to make an opening before the windows of our
dwelling-house. When it lay desolate in a black heap
of rubbish, my Mother, one day, in a joke, called it
the Ruins of Palmyra; and after they had laid it
down in a grass-plot, Palmyra was the name it went
by, I suppose, among the clerks and servants of the
brewhouse ; for when the Quaker Barclay bought the
whole, 1 I read that name with wonder in the Writ-
ings. . . . But there were really curious remains of
the old Globe Playhouse, which, though hexagonal
in form without, was round within, as circles contain
more space than other shapes, and Bees make their
cells in hexagons only because that figure best admits
of junction. Before I quitted the premises, however,
I learned that Tarleton, the actor of those times, was
not buried at St. Saviour's, Southwark, as he wished,
near Massinger and Gower, but at Shoreditch Church.
He was the first of the profession whose fame was
high enough to have his portrait solicited for to be set
up as a sign ; and none but he and Garrick, I believe,
Thoughts, and Mrs. Piozzi's Anecdotes of Johnson, and
Observations and Reflections, all containing marginal notes by
Mrs. Piozzi herself.
1 " The greatest event of my life. I have sold my brewhouse
to Barclay, the rich Quaker, for 135,0007." Thraliana, June 3,
1781.
TARLETON AND GARRICK 29
ever obtained that honour. Mr. Dance's l picture of
our friend David lives in a copy now in Oxford St.,
the character King Richard, (Conway MSS.)
THE SUPREMACY OF BRITISH BELLES
A genteel young clergyman, in our Upper Crescent,
told his mamma about ten days ago, that he had lost
his heart to pretty Miss Prideaux, and that he must
absolutely marry her or die. La chere mere of course
replied gravely : " My dear, you have not been ac-
quainted with the lady above a fortnight: let me
recommend you to see more of her." " More of her ! "
exclaimed the lad, " why I have seen down to the fifth
rib on each side already." This story will serve to con-
vince Captain T. Fellowes and yourself, that as you
have always acknowledged the British Belles to exceed
those of every other nation, you may now say with
truth, that they outstrip them.
THE DANGERS OF REVISION
The labours of the press resemble those of the
toilette : both should be attended to and finished
with care; but once completed, should take up no
more of our attention, unless we are disposed at
evening to destroy all effect of our morning's study.
1 Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, one of the original members
of the Royal Academy.
30 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
" THE STREATFIELD "
" So you may set the Streatfield at defiance." John-
son, Oct. 15, 1778; Letters, vol. ii. p. 2O. 1
My dear and ever honoured Doctor Collier was the
cause of my making this Miss Streatfield's acquaint-
ance. I had learned from others that he dropped into
her hands soon as dismissed from mine ; and that he
gained rather than lost by the exchange, had long been
my secret consolation. She was but fourteen or fifteen
when they first met, and he was growing sickly. She
did her own way, and her way was to wait on him,
who instructed her in Greek, and who obtained from
her excess of tenderness for him, what I could not have
bestowed. I have heard her say she grudged his old
valet the happiness of reaching him a glass of wine,
and out of her house did he never more make his
residence, but died in her arms, and was buried at her
expense, the moment she came of age. 2 All these
1 The references are to Mrs. Piozzi's Letters to and from the
late Samuel Johnson, 2 vols., 1788.
2 The attachment inspired by Dr. Collier in both his pupils
resembles that of Stella and Vanessa to Swift, the growth of
which is described in the Dean's best poem, " Cadenus and
Vanessa " :
" I knew by what you said and writ
How dang'rous things were men of wit :
You caution'd me against their charms,
But never gave me equal arms.
Your lessons found the weakest part,
Aim'd at the head, but reach'd the heart."
The Edinburgh Review imagines him to have been Arthur
BARETTI 31
accounts did I never cease listening to, till 1 observed
my beautiful friend, not contented with her legitimate
succession to the heart of Doctor Collier, was endea-
vouring to supplant me in the esteem of Mr. Thrale,
whose good opinion, assailed vainly by Baretti, it was
my business and my bounden duty to retain. Miss
Thrale, now Lady Keith, was in this case my coad-
jutor; though she had acted in concert with Baretti, 1
she abhorred this attack of Miss Streatfield, who was
very dangerous indeed, both from her beauty and
learning. Wit she possessed none of, and was as
ignorant as an infant of
" That which before us lies in daily life."
No wonder Mr. Thrale, whose mind wanted some new
object, since he had lost his son, and lost beside the
pleasure he had taken in his business, before all know-
ledge of it was shared with myself, no wonder that
he encouraged a sentimental attachment to Sophia
Streatfield, who became daily more and more dear to
him, and almost necessary. No one who visited us
missed seeing his preference of her to me ; but she was
so amiable and so sweet natured, no one appeared to
blame him for the unusual and unrepressed delight he
took in her agreeable society. I was exceedingly op-
Collier, LL.D., described by the author of Lives of the Civilians
as an ingenious but unsteady and eccentric man, the confidential
law-adviser of the notorious Duchess of Kingston. (Hayward.)
1 Giuseppe Marc Antonio Baretti came to London in 175*1
and soon became intimate with Johnson and Thrale. For
nearly three years he was resident tutor at Streatham Place.
Mrs. Thrale accuses him of subverting her authority with her
children and of trying to poison her husband's mind against her.
32 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
pressed by pregnancy, arid saw clearly my successor
in the fair S. S. 1 as we familiarly called her in the family,
of which she now made constantly a part, and stood
godmother to my new-born baby, by bringing which I
only helped to destroy my own health, and disappoint
my husband, who wanted a son. " Why Mr. Thrale is
Peregrinus Domi," said Dr. Johnson ; " he lives in Clif-
ford Street, I hear, all winter " ; and so he did, leaving
his carriage at his sister's door in Hanover Square, that
no inquirer might hurt his favourite's reputation; which
my behaviour likewise tended to preserve from injury,
and we lived on together as well as we could. Miss
Browne, 2 who sung enchantingly, and had been much
abroad ; Miss Burney, whose powers of amusement
were many and various, were my companions then at
Streatham Park, with Doctor Johnson, who wanted
me to be living at the Borough, because less incon-
venient to hi m, so he said I passed my winter in Surrey,
" feeding my chickens and starving my understand-
ing" : but 1779, and the summer of it was coming, to
bring on us a much more serious calamity.
1 The young " woman of feeling " so amusingly described in
Madame D'Arblay's Diary. The entry for June 14, 1781, runs :
" We had my dear father and Sophy Streatfield, who, as usual,
was beautiful, caressing, amiable, sweet, and fatiguing." See
pp. 39, 178.
2 Fanny Brown was for some time the rival of " S. S." at
Streatham Place. She also is depicted with pleasant irony in
Fanny Burney's Journal. Both were " in fevers in his [Johnson's]
presence, from apprehension."
AN ALARMING RETURN 33
MR. THRALE'S ILLNESS
I
"Your account ofMr.Thrale's illness is very terrible."
Johnson, June 14, 1779 ; Letters, vol. ii. p. 47.
My account of Mr. Thrale's illness had every reason
to be terrible. 1 He had slept at Streatham Park, and
left it after breakfast, looking as usual.
His sister's husband, Mr. Nesbitt, often mentioned
in these Letters and Memoirs, had been dead perhaps
a fortnight. He was commercially connected, I knew,
with Sir George Colebrook and Sir Something Turner;
but that was all I knew and that was nothing. I
knew of nothing between Thrale and them, till after
my return from Italy, and was the more perhaps
shocked and amazed when, sitting after dinner with
Lady Keith 2 and Doctor Burney and his daughter, I
believe, my servant Sam opened the drawing-room
door with un air effare, saying: " My master is come
home, but there is something amiss." I started up,
and saw a tall black female figure, who cried, " Don't
go into the library, don't go in I say." My rushing
by her somewhat rudely was all her prohibition gained:
but there sat Mrs. Nesbitt holding her brother's hand,
who I perceived knew not a syllable of what was pass-
ing. So I called Dr. Burney, begged him to fly in the
post-chaise, which was then waiting for him, and send
1 This does not refer to Mr. Thrale's last illness. He died on
April 4, 1781.
2 Her eldest daughter, the future Lady Keith.
34 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
me some physician, Sir R. Jebb or Pepys, or if none
else could be found, my old accoucheur, Doctor Brom-
field of Gerard Street. 1 'Twas he that came; and,
convincing me it was an apoplectic seizure, acted
accordingly, while the silly ladies went home quite
contented I believe : only Mrs. Nesbitt said she thought
he was delirious ; and from her companion I learned
that he had dined at their house, had seen the will
opened, and had dropped as if lifeless from the dinner-
table ; when, instead of calling help, they called their
carriage, and brought him five or six miles out of
town in that condition. Would it not much enrage
one? From this dreadful situation medical art re-
lieved Mr. Thrale, but the natural disposition to con-
viviality degenerated into a preternatural desire for
food, like Erisicthon of old
" Cibus omnis in illo
Causa cibi est ; semperque locus fit inanis edendo." 2
It was a distressing moment, and the distress increas-
ing perpetually, nor could any one persuade our
patient to believe, or at least to acknowledge, he ever
had been ill. With ^person, the very wretched wreck
of what it had been, no one could keep him at home.
Dinners and company engrossed all his thoughts, and
dear Dr. Johnson encouraged him in them, that he
might not appear wise, or predicting his friend's cer-
tainly accelerated dissolution.
1 Sir R. Jebb, physician to George ill., 1786 ; Sir Lucas Pepys,
physician extraordinary to George ill., 1777 ; William Bromfield,
1712-1792, surgeon to Queen Charlotte.
2 Ovid, Met. viii. 841.
AN INORDINATE APPETITE 35
Death of the baby boy I carried in my bosom was
the natural consequence of the scene described here ;
but I continued to carry him till a quarrel among the
clerks, which I was called to pacify, made a complete
finish of the child, and nearly of me. The men were
reconciled though, and my danger accelerated their
reconcilement.
II
" It was by bleeding till he fainted that his life was
saved." Johnson, Aug. 24, 1780; Letters, vol. ii.
p. 185.
*
Here is another allusion to that famous bleeding
which certainly in Southwark did save the life of Mr.
Thrale, and by its immediate effects ruined my nerves
for ever.
Sir Richard x however said : " We have paid his
heavy debt this time, but he must eat prudently in
future." No one however could control his appetite,
which Sir Lucas Pepys, who was at Brighthelmstone,
observing, commanded us to town, and took a house
not 100 yards from his own for us, in Grosvenor Square,
and I went every day to the Borough, whence Lan-
caster, a favourite clerk third in command, was run
away with i85o/. Thither poor Dr. Delap 2 followed
1 Sir R. Jebb (see footnote previous page).
2 John Delap, D.D., incumbent of Woollavington, Sussex, a
writer of melodramas for Drury Lane. Dr. Delap's chief claim
to fame is his being reproved by Johnson for his valetudin-
arianism. " Dear Doctor, do not be like the spider, man, and
spin conversation incessantly out of thy own bowels."
36 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
me, begging a prologue to his new play, and I re-
member composing it in the coach, as I was driving
up and down after Lancaster: but my business in
Southwark was of far severer import.
Some fellow had incited our master to begin a new
and expensive building to the amount of 2O,ooo/., after
the progress of which he was ever inquisitive, and kept
the plan of it in his bedchamber. So little did Dr.
Johnson even then comprehend the strict awe I stood
in of my first husband, that I well recollect his saying
to me, " Madam ! You should tear that foolish paper
down : why 'tis like leaving a wench's loveletter in the
apartments of a man whom you would wish to cure of
his amorous passion." God knows I durst as well en-
counter death as disturb Mr. Thrale's loveletters or his
building plans. The next grand agony was seeing
him send out cards of invitation to a concert and
supper on the 5th of April. He had himself charged
Piozzi, who was the first to tell me, with care of the
musical part of our entertainment, and had himself
engaged the Parsees,a set of Orientals, who were shown
at all the gay houses, the lions of the day. 1 I could
but call my coadjutors, Jebb and Pepys ; who tried to
counteract this frolic, but in vain. They were obliged
to compromise the matter by making him promise to
leave town for Streatham immediately after the 5th.
" Leave London ! lose my Ranelagh season ! " ex-
1 " Mrs. Garrick and I were invited to a fine assembly at Mrs.
Thrale's. There was to be a fine concert and all the fine people
were to be there ; but the chief attraction was to meet the
Bramin and the two Parsees . . . but just as my hair was
dressed, came a servant to forbid our coming, for that Mr. Thrale
was dead." (Letters of Hannah More.)
A LAST FAVOUR 37
claimed their patient. " Why, Sir, we wished you to
be here, that our attendance might be more regular,
and less expensive : but since we find you thus un-
manageable, you are safest at a distance." Now,
Johnson first began to see, or say he saw the danger,
but now his lectures upon temperance came all too
late. Poor Mr. Thrale answered him only by inquiring
when lamprey season would come in ? requesting Sir
Philip, 1 who was dining with us, to write his brother,
the Prebendary of Worcester, a letter, begging from
him the first fish of that kind the Severn should pro-
duce. I winked at Sir Philip, but he, following us
women half upstairs, said : " I understand you, Madam,
but must disobey. A friend I have known thirty-six
years shall not ask a favour of me in his last stage of
life and be refused. What difference can it make ? "
Tears stood in his eyes, and my own prevented all
answer. In effect, that day was Mr. Thrale's last!
I saw him in Sir Richard's arms at midnight. Pepys
came at ten, and never left the house till early light
showed me the way to Streatham : and from thence,
hoping still less disturbance, to Brighthelmstone :
where we had a dwelling house of our own, and whither
you will see the letters all addressed.
This was thirty-four or thirty-five years ago, yet
did I never completely recover my strength of body
or of mind again. I am sure I never did ! The
shocks of 1780 and 1781 are not yet either recovered
or forgotten by poor H. L. P.
1 Sir Philip Jennings Clerke, M.P. for Totnes. Fanny Burney
in her Diary records one of the many disputations between Clerke
and Johnson.
38 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
DR. COLLIER
" Poor dear Dr. Collier." Mrs. Thrale to Johnson,
Aug. 10, 1780; Letters, vol. ii. p. 183.
Perhaps this is no improper place to observe that
La Bruyere tells his readers with confidence how the
firmest friendships will be always dissolved by the
intervention of love seizing the heart of either party.
It may be so : but certainly the sentiment with which
dear Dr. Collier inspired me in 1757 remains un-
altered now in the year 1815. After my father's
death my kind and prudent mother, resolving I
should marry Mr. Thrale, and fearing possibly lest
my Preceptor should foment any disinclination which
she well knew would melt in her influence, or die in
her displeasure, resolved to part us, and we met no
more : but never have I failed remembering him with
a preference as completely distinct from the venerat-
ing solicitude which hung heavily over my whole soul
whilst connected with Doctor Johnson, as it was from
the strong connubial duty that tied my every thought
to Mr. Thrale's interest, or from the fervid and attrac-
tive passion which made twenty years passed in
Piozzi's enchanting society seem like a happy dream
of twenty hours. My first friend formed my mind
to resemble his. It never did resemble that of either
of my husbands, and in that of Doctor Johnson's
mine was swallowed up and lost. Oh true were these
words, put together so long ago :
A GALLANT INVALID 39
" The sentiment I feel for you
No pow'r on earth shall e'er subdue ;
No pow'r on earth shall e'er remove,
Nor pungent grief nor ardent love."
Sophia Streatfield too, if yet living, will bear testimony
to the strange power of Doctor Arthur Collier over
the minds of his youthful pupils when past seventy
years old, and to the day of his death, which when I
knew her, she lamented annually, by wearing a black
dress, etc. If he did not burn my letters, Latin
exercises, etc., she possesses them.
Mr. Thrale's passion for her she played with; a
little perhaps diverting herself by mortifying me,
but there was no harm done, I am confident. He
thought her a thing at least semi-celestial ; had he
once found her out a mere mortal woman, his flame
would have blazed out no more. And it did blaze
frightfully indeed during one dreadful attack of the
apoplexy at our Borough house, alluded to in these
letters, page 178, when by Sir Richard Jebb's con-
ditional permission, Shaw the apothecary bled Mr.
Thrale usque ad deliquium, and I thought all over.
When, however, temporary and apparent recovery
followed the horrid process of stimulating cataplasms
which awakened him from coma to delirium, that
delirium only appeased by bleeding quite to faint-
ness ; when he had remained mute five long days ;
not speaking a consolatory word to one of us ; friends,
sisters, daughters, clerks, physicians, no sooner was
Sophy Streatfield's voice heard in Southwark, than
our patient sate up in bed, conversed with her without
hesitation, and even said, with a complimentary smile,
40 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
kissing her hand, that the visit she had made that
day, had repaid all his sufferings. It was from this
attack, when he recovered, that Lawrence, 1 Jebb, etc.,
sent us to Bath, whence rioters dislodged and drove
us to Brighthelmstone. From thence we returned to
London : a ready-furnished house in Grosvenor
Square being thought the best place by medical
advisers, while Perkins assured Doctor Johnson that
his master would be safest, in every respect, at a
distance from his business.
" We read the will to-day." Johnson, April 5, 1781 ;
Letters, vol. ii. p. 192.
It was neither kind or civil, you will say, to open
the will in my absence, but Mr. Thrale had been both
civil and kind in labouring to restore to me the Welsh
estate, 2 which I had meant to give him in our
moments of uneasiness when I became possessed
of it by Sir Thomas Salusbury's death, from whom
we had once expected Offley Place in Hertfordshire,
and all its wide domain. Notwithstanding that dis-
appointment, my husband left me the interest of
5O,ooo/. for my life, doubtless in return for my
diligence during our distresses in 1772, because it is
specified to be given over and above what was
provided in our marriage settlement. He left me
1 Dr. Thomas Lawrence, the friend and physician of Johnson.
2 See pp. 1 6, 65.
HENRY THRALE
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
A KNOT OF RICH QUAKERS 41
also the plate, pictures, and linen of both houses,
forgetting even to name Brighthelmstone, 1 so all I
had bought for that place fell to the ladies (who said
loudly what a wretched match their poor papa had
made). It was not so, however. Mr. Thrale had
received the rents and profits from Wales, 9OOO/.,
and had cut timber for 4OOO/. more. My mother
and my aunts, and an old Doctor Bernard Wilson, 2
had left me 5ooo/. among them, more or less, and I
carried io,ooo/., in my hand, so that the family was
benefited by me 28,000!. at the lowest, besides
having been, as King Richard expresses it,
" A jack-horse in their great affairs."
On Mr. Thrale's death I kept the counting-house
from nine o'clock every morning till five o'clock
every evening till June, when God Almighty sent us
a knot of rich Quakers 3 who bought the whole, and
saved me and my coadjutors from brewing ourselves
into another bankruptcy, which hardly could, I think,
have been avoided being, as we were five in number,
Cator, Crutchley, Johnson, myself, and Mr. Smith, 4
all with equal power, yet all incapable of using it
1 The older name of Brighton. The modern name came into
general use at the end of the eighteenth century, but it occurs as
early as 1660. Fanny Burney, in her Diary, uses both names
in a single paragraph.
2 Canon of Lichfield (d. 1772).
3 The purchaser was David Barclay, a London banker. He
bought it for ,135,000, and put his nephew into it along with the
manager, Perkins.
4 John Cator, a timber-merchant, M.P. for Ipswich; Jerry
Crutchley, believed by Mrs. Piozzi to be Thrale's natural son ;
Henry Smith, a second cousin of Mr. Thrale.
42 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
without help from Mr. Perkins, who wished to force
himself into partnership, though hating the whole lot
of us, save only me. Upon my promise, however, that
if he would find us a purchaser, I would present his
wife with my dwelling-house at the Borough, 1 and all
its furniture, he soon brought forward these Quaker
Barclays, from Pennsylvania I believe they came,
her own relations I have heard and they obtained
the brewhouse a prodigious bargain, but Miss Thrale
was of my mind to part with it for I5o,ooo/. ; and I
am sure I never did repent it, as certainly it was best
for us five females at the time, although the place
has now doubled its value, and although men have
almost always spirit to spend, while women show
greater resolution to spare.
Will it surprise you now to hear that, among all my
fellow executors, none but Johnson opposed selling the
concern ? Cator, a rich timber merchant, was afraid
of implicating his own credit as a commercial man.
Crutchley hated Perkins, and lived upon the verge of
a quarrel with him every day while they acted to-
gether. Smith cursed the whole business, and won-
dered what his relation, Mr. Thrale, could mean by
leaving him 2OO/. he said, and such a burden on his
back to bear for it. All were well pleased to find
themselves secured, and the brewhouse decently, though
not very advantageously disposed of, except dear
Doctor Johnson, who found some odd delight in sign-
ing drafts for hundreds and for thousands, to him a
new, and as it appeared delightful, occupation. When
1 The house was in Deadman's Place, Bankside, now called
Park Street, Borough Market.
PIOZZI AT BATH 43
all was nearly over, however, I cured his honest heart
of its incipient passion for trade, by letting him into
some, and only some, of its mysteries. The plant, as
it is called, was sold, and I gave God thanks upon
Whit Sunday, 1781, for sparing me farther perplexity,
though at the cost of a good house, etc.
FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH PIOZZI
"You have got Piozzi again." Johnson to Mrs.
Thrale, Dec. 3, 1781.
Dr. Johnson, mentioning dear Piozzi, has en-
couraged me to tell how and where our acquaintance
began. 1 I was at Brighthelmstone in August 1780, or
thereabout, when the rioters 2 at Bath had driven my
sick husband and myself and Miss Thrale (Fanny
Burney went home to her father) into Sussex for
change of place. I had been in the sea early one
morning, and was walking with my eldest daughter
on the cliff, when, seeing Mr. Piozzi stand at the library
door, I accosted him in Italian, and asked him if he
would like to give that lady a lesson or two whilst at
Brighton, that she might not be losing her time. He
replied, coldly, that he was come thither himself merely
to recover his voice, which he feared was wholly lost ;
that he was composing some music, and lived in great
1 The story of their acquaintanceship is traced in the In-
troduction.
2 During the Gordon Riots. Cf. Mme. D'Arblay's Diary,
June ii, 1780.
44 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
retirement ; so I took my leave, and we continued our
walk, Miss Thrale regretting she had lost such an
opportunity ; but on our returning home the same day,
Mr. Piozzi started out of the shop, begged my pardon
for not knowing me before, protested his readiness to
do anything to oblige me, and his concern for not
being able to contribute to our amusement, but that
I should command everything in his now limited
power.
We parted, and at breakfast the post brought me a
letter from the present Madame D'Arblay, saying that
her father's friend, Mr. Piozzi, was gone to Brighthelm-
stone, where she hoped we should meet, for though he
had lost his voice, his musical powers were enchanting,
and that I should find him a companion likely to
lighten the burden of life to me, as he was just a man
to my natural taste. This letter is existing now, and
that was her expression. Mr. Thrale found his per-
formance on the forte-piano so superior to everything
then heard in England, and in short took such a fancy
to his society, that we were seldom apart, except while
Mr. Piozzi was studying to compose the six fine sonatas,
that he dedicated to his favourite pupil, Miss Child, 1
afterwards Lady Westmoreland. His voice strength-
ened by sea-bathing, but never recovered the astonish-
ing powers he brought with him first from Italy. I
fancied they would have returned when we went abroad
together four years after, but they never did ; and he
was contented in future to delight, without surprising,
his hearers, unless they had indeed taste enough to
1 Daughter of Sir Francis Child, the younger, head of the
great banking house.
ALTAR AND ORGAN-LOFT 45
understand that unrivalled manner of singing, which
he as tenor, and Pacchierotti l as soprano, had com-
pletely to themselves.
Mr. Piozzi was the son of a gentleman of Brescia in
Lombardy, who meant him for the Church and edu-
cated him accordingly; but he resisted the celibat,
escaped from those who would have made him take
the vows, and as his uncle said, " Ah, Gabrieli, thou
wilt never get nearer the altar than the organ-loft," so
it proved. He ran from the Venetian state to Milan,
where Marchese D'Araciel proved his constant friend
and protector, and encouraged him in his fancy for
trying Paris and London, instead of being a burden
to his parents, who had fourteen children, a limited
income, and many pecuniary uneasinesses. Whilst
here, his fame reached the Queen of France, who sent
for him and Sacchini, 2 the great opera composer, and
it was when they came back loaded with presents, and
honours, and emoluments, that Dr. Johnson congratu-
lated me on having got Piozzi again. Sacchini re-
turned and died at Paris, but Piozzi staid (till I drove
him from me), notwithstanding all the offers of the
Court of France, when I was living at Bath, " deserted,
spiritless, afflicted, fallen."
1 Gasparo Pacchierotti, a celebrated singer, who was a
favourite guest at Dr. Burney's house in St. Martin's Street.
2 Antonio Sacchini, a famous Neapolitan composer, who came
to England in 1772. He died in Paris in September, 1786.
Among his works, which eight years before his death numbered
seventy-eight, was the music to a theme from Fanny Burney's
Evelina,
46 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
DOMESTIC TRIALS
" You can hardly think how bad I have been whilst
you were in all your altitudes at the opera, and all the
fine places, and thinking little of me." Johnson^ Dec.
20, 1783 ; Letters, vol. ii. p. 52.
Dear Harriet died of measles, hooping-cough, and
strumous swellings in the neck and throat, 1783. Lucy
had fallen a sacrifice to the same train of evils ; and
Cecilia, now Mrs. Mostyn, had her health so shaken
after the date of this letter, that it was with the ut-
most difficulty she recovered. Mr. Piozzi and I had
made what we considered as our final parting in London
about a month before, when I requested him to tame
the newspapers by quitting England, and leave me to
endure my debts, my distractions, and the bitter re-
proaches of my family as I could. He had given up
all my letters, promises, etc., into Miss Thrale's hands
(now Lady Keith). You laughed when I told you that
his expression was : " Take it to you your mamma, and
make it of her a countess ; it shall kill me, I know, but
it shall kill her too." Miss Thrale took the papers, and
turned her back on him, I remember. Well ! Sir Lucas
Pepys alone knew the true state of my heart. He pitied
me, kept my secret inviolable, behaved like a brother
to me, and told all the inquirers that I was very ill
indeed, and that he had advised Bath.
To Bath I went, and Piozzi prepared for his melan-
choly journey, having first lent me a thousand pounds,
for which I remitted the interest to Italy, and our
PARTING FROM PIOZZI 47
ladies l said I had bought him off with their money :
so the calumny outlived even our separation. He
had not left London when I was summoned to at-
tend the two little girls at Mrs. Ray's 'school, Russel
House, Streatham ; but I refused another painful
interview, however earnestly my lover begged it. I
breakfasted with Sir Lucas Pepys: told him my
heroism, and never knew till Piozzi told me after he
returned to England, that he had been sitting at a
front window of some public-house on the road all
that dreadful Saturday, to see my carriage pass back-
wards and forwards to where the children resided.
Oh what moments ! oh what moments ! but I went
back to Bath. We lived in Russel Street, where I
found my three eldest daughters at their work and
their drawings. I think they scarcely said " How d'ye
do ? or how does Cecilia 2 do ? " and we went on
together without either rough words or smooth ones.
Dr. Staker, to whom Pepys had recommended the
care of my health, cut his own throat, and Doctors
Woodward (of the pretty house in Gay Street) and
Dobson, from Liverpool, were our medical advisers.
Doctor Johnson never came to look for me at
Streatham, where I lodged during Cecy's danger ; and
I would not go into London for fear of encountering
Piozzi's eyes somewhere. So I only stopped at Pepys'
house for an hour, close to Hyde Park, and away to
Bath again, where one curious thing befell me, and
but one. You have heard of many severities shown
1 Her daughters.
2 Her youngest daughter, Cecilia (Mrs. Mostyn), who accom-
panied her mother to Bath.
48 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
me, now hear of one man like yourself. 1 My maid
came to me half-alarmed, half-pleasant somehow, and
said : " I have had a king's messenger sent to me,
Madam ; but here's the letter, and the man is gone
again. I offered him money, but he had orders to
take none."
The letter said :
" MADAM, Let nothing add to your present pain,
as no one surely deserves so much happiness. Your
letter is gone safe ; I transmitted the amiable contents
to Mr. Piozzi, who will receive it in due time ; but you
should be careful not to send another packet unpaid
for, unless you would direct it to me. Your signing
no name, and dating, forced me to peruse every word
of a letter in three languages which no one could so
have written but Mrs. Thrale, to whom I wish all
that such merit and virtue, etc. etc. etc.
" JACKSON,
" Comptroller of the Foreign
Post Office."
He had directed the letter to my maid !
We left our cards with this gentleman as soon as
we were married, of course, and he made us a fine
dinner and a grand entertainment, and I saw for the
first time my kind friend and admirer, Mr. Jackson.
Poor fellow ! he soon died, but not till Mr. Piozzi had
sung with his daughter, and given him all the pleasure
he was capable of receiving in the last stage of life,
and a miserable state of health.
1 Sir James Fellowes.
CALUMNIES 49
FOREIGN TOUR
" Prevail on Mr. Piozzi to settle in England."
Johnson, July 8, 1784; Letters, vol. ii. p. 376.
Dr. Johnson's advice corresponded exactly with Mr.
Piozzi's intentions. He was impatient to show Italy
to me and me to the Italians, but never meant to for-
bear bringing his wife home again, and showing he had
brought her. Well aware of the bustle his marriage
made, it was his most earnest wish that every doubt
of his honour and of my happiness should be dispelled ;
so that whilst our ladies and Madame d'Arblay, that
was Miss Burney, and Baretti, 1 and all the low Italians
of the Haymarket who hated my husband, were hatch-
ing stories how he had sold my jointure, had shut me
up in a convent, etc., we made our journey to our resi-
dence in Italy as showy as we possibly could. All the
English at every town partook of our hospitality ; the
inhabitants came flocking, nothing loth, and we sent
presents to our beautiful daughters by every hand
that would carry them. Miss Thrale was of age by
now, and I left Miss Nicholson, 2 the bishop's grand-
daughter, whom they appeared to like exceedingly,
with them, but she soon quitted her post on observing
that they gave people to understand she was a cast
1 Baretti attacked Mrs. Piozzi in three papers in The European
Magazine, 1788.
2 The chaperon chosen by Mrs. Piozzi for her daughters. " In
1797, we find Sir Walter Scott meeting his future wife (a ward
of the Marquis of Downshire), 'under the care of Miss Nicholson,
a daughter of the late Dean of Exeter.'" (A. R. Ellis.)
4
So DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
mistress of dear Piozzi, who never saw her face out of
their company, except once at a dinner visit.
But I have not told you our parting. That I re-
sided at Bath, these letters are a proof; that my
residence was a wretched one, needs no asserting.
Insults at home, and spiteful expressions in every
letter from the guardians, broke my spirits quite down ;
and letters from my grieving lover, when they did
come, helped to render my life miserable. I meant
not to call him home till all my debts were paid; and
my uncle's widow, Lady Salusbury, had threatened to
seize upon my Welsh estate if I did not repay her
money, lent by Sir Thomas Salusbury to my father ;
money in effect which poor papa had borrowed to
give him when he was a student at Cambridge, and
your little friend just born. This debt, however, not
having been cancelled, stood against me as heiress.
I had been forced to borrow from the ladies ; and Mr.
Crutchley, when I signed my mortgage to them for
/ooo/., said : " Now, Madam, call your daughters in
and thank them ; make them your best curtsey" (with
a sneer) " for keeping you out of a gaol." He added
5<DO/. or 8oo/. more, and I paid that off as alluded to; 1
but Doctor Johnson knew how I was distressed, and
you see how even he had been writing ! !
Will you wonder to hear how ill I was? After
much silent suffering, Doctor Dobson, who felt for
me even to tears, left me one evening in the slipper
1 Dr. Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale, London, April
1784 : " I am sensible of the ease that your repayment of Mr.
Crutchley has given : you felt yourself gened by that debt : is
there an English word for it ?" (Hayward.)
MRS. PIOZZI 51
bath, and I suppose ran to Lady Keith, and spoke
with some severity ; for she came into the room with
him, and said, " The doctor tells me, Madam, he must
write to Mr. Piozzi about your health ; will you be
pleased to tell us where to find him ? " " At Milan,
my dear," was the faint reply, " with his friend, the
Marquis d'Araciel (a Spanish grandee) ; his palace,
Milan, is sufficient direction." " Milan ! " exclaimed
they all at once, for not one word had ever passed
among us concerninghim or his destination. " Milan !"
So Doctor Dobson, I trust, took pen and ink, and the
next day I was better. Miss Thrale declared her
resolution to go to their own house at Brighthelm-
stone, and I entreated permission to attend them.
Short journeys, change of air, etc., helped to revive
me, and Miss Nicholson went with us to Stonehenge,
Wilton, etc., in our way to Sussex, whence I returned
to Bath to wait for Piozzi. He was here the eleventh
day after he got Dobson's letter. In twenty-six more
we were married in London by the Spanish ambas-
sador's chaplain, and returned hither to be married
by Mr. Morgan, of Bath, at St. James's Church, July
25, 1784.!
1 A copy of the certificate was found among her papers :
"Anno Domini 1784, die vero 23 Julij, nullo impedimento
detecto, rite in matrimonio conjunct! fuere Gabriel Piozzi, et
Hester Lynch Thrale, prassentibus notis testibus Aloisio Borghi,
Francisco Mecci, et Angelica Borghi.
" P r - me RICHARDUM SMITH.
" Nous Jean Balthazar d'Adhemar de mont Falcon des pre-
miers Comtes souverains d'Orange ; Monteliman, Grignan, etc.,
gouverneur des villes et Chateaux de Dieppe, grand Bailly d'epee
52 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
Greenland, the solicitor my husband now employed,
discovered i6oo/. still due to me, which was paid on
demand ; and for the rest of the debt, Piozzi, laughing,
said it would be discharged in three years at farthest.
So it was ; and I felt as much, I think, of astonishment
as pleasure. From London we went immediately to
Paris, Lyons, Turin, Genoa, and Milan ; where, as the
Travel Book tells you, we spent the winter, and where
the Marquis of Araciel and his family paid me most
distinguished attention. There Mr. Parsons 1 dined
with us, I remember, and left me a copy of compli-
mentary verses too long to insert here ; but we met
again the following summer at Florence, where we were
living in a sort of literary coterie with Mr. and Mrs.
Greathead, Mr. Merry, whom his friends called Delia
Crusca, 2 and a most agreeable et cetera of English
de Mantes et de Meulan, Chevalier de 1'ordre Royal et Militaire
de St. louis, premier ecuyer de Madame Elizabet de France,
Marechal des Camps et armees du Roy et Son Ambassadeur
extraordinaire et plenipotentiaire aupres de sa majeste britta-
nique, etc.
" Certifions que la Signature apposee a 1'acte cy de pied est
veritablement celle de M. Richard Smith que pleine et entiere
confiance doit y etre ajoutee tant en jugement que de hors, en
foi de quoi nous avons Signe le present, fait contresigner par
I'un de nos Secretaires, et appose le sceau de nos armes. Donne
a notre hotel le Vingt-sept Juillet mil Sept cent quatre vingt
quatre.
(Signed) " Le C te D'ADHEMAR.
" Par son excellence
" HERVIEN." (Hayward.)
1 William Parsons (d. 1807), one of the leaders of the Delia
Cruscan fraternity of poets.
2 Bertie Greathead (1759-1826), an unsuccessful dramatist
and Delia Cruscan poet. The craze, which was put an end to
BELLA CRUSCAN VERSES 53
and Italians. We had designed giving a splendid
dinner on our wedding-day to Lord Pembroke and
the whole party, and Mr. Parsons presented me verses
which will not be understood except I write out my
own, that provoked them. He had written a hymn
to Venus, so I said :
While Venus inspires, and such verses you sing
As Prior might envy and praise ;
While Merry can mount on the eagle's wide wing,
Or melt in the nightingale's lays :
On the beautiful banks of this classical stream
While Bertie can carelessly rove.
Dividing his hours, and varying his theme
With philosophy, friendship, and love ;
In vain all the beauties of nature or art
To rouze my tranquillity tried ;
.Too often, said I, has this languishing heart
For the joys of celebrity sigh'd.
Now sooth'd by soft music's seducing delights,
With reciprocal tenderness blest ;
No more will I pant for poetical flights,
Or let vanity rob me of rest.
by Gifford's jSavtadand Maviad, began in England in 1787 on
the return of Robert Merry from Florence. Merry, an ex-guards-
man, had sought refuge in Florence from his creditors, and his
literary pretensions had won him entrance to the Academia della
Crusca, an old society founded in 1582. His verses, which
appeared chiefly in The World, were signed " Delia Crusca," and
the name was applied to the ridiculous "school" he quickly
founded.
54 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
The Slave and the Wrestlers, what are they to me ?
From plots and contentions removed ;
And Job with still less satisfaction I see,
When I think of the pains I have prov'd.
It was thus that I sought in oblivion to drown
Each thought from remembrance that flows :
Thus fancy was stagnant I honestly own,
But I called the stagnation repose.
Now, vvak'd by my countrymen's voice once again
To enjoyment of pleasures long past ;
Her powers elastic the soul shall regain,
And recall her original taste.
Like the loadstone that long lay conceal'd in the earth,
Among metals which glitter'd around ;
Inactive her talents, and only call'd forth,
When the ore correspondent was found.
To these lines Mr. Parsons brought the following
very flattering answer, which he repeated after
dinner:
" To Mrs. Piozzi
" Tho' sooth'd by soft music's seducing delights,
And blest with reciprocal love ;
These cannot impede your poetical flights,
For still friends to the Muses they prove.
Then sitting so gaily your table around,
Let us all with glad sympathy view
What joys in this fortunate union abound,
This union of wit and virtu.
"THIS UNION OF WIT AND VIRTU" 55
" May the day that now sees you so mutually blest
In full confidence, love, and esteem,
Still return with increasing delight to your breast,
And be Hymen your favourite theme !
Nor fear that your fertile strong genius should fail,
Each thought of stagnation dispel ;
The fame which so long has attended a Thrale,
A Piozzi alone shall excel.
" As the ore must for ever obedient be found
By the loadstone attracted along :
So in England you drew all the poets around,
By the magical force of your song :
The same power on Arno's fair side you retain ;
Your talents with wonder we see :
And we hope from your converse those talents to
gain,
Tho' like magnets in smaller degree."
RESIDENCE IN ITALY
Before we began our journey, my good husband
bespoke a magnificent carriage capable of containing
every possible accommodation, and begged me to take
tea enough and books enough ; but when looking over
the last article he saw " Diodati's Italian Bible, with
Notes " (this was in 1784, I remember), " Ah ciel ! "
he exclaimed, " this will bring us into trouble. Be
content, my dear creature, with an English Bible, and
reflect that you are not travelling as you ought to be,
like a Protestant lady of quality, but as the wife of a
56 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
native, an acknowledged Papist, and one determined
to remain so." I replied, from my heart, that I
desired to appear in his country in no other character
than that of his wife; that I would preserve my
religious opinions inviolate at Milan, as he did his at
London ; and that all would go on, to use his own
phrase, all' ottima perfezzione. Observing an under-
toned expression, however, saying, " They shall tease
quesf anima bella as little as I can help," my heart
felt (though I changed the conversation) that my mind
must prepare itself for controversy. The account of
temptations he told me I should undergo of another
kind I drove from me with unaffected laughter, but
perceived that he was best pleased when I replied to
them with equally unaffected but more serious pro-
testations of exclusive and unalterable love.
He was right all the while. When we arrived at
Milan, our abiding place, I perceived the men of
quality and bon ton considered me as fair game to
shoot their senseless attentions at ; and my sometimes
cold, sometimes indignant, reception of their odd
complimentary addresses, was received at first with
most unmerited displeasure, and in a short time with
admiration no less undeserved. Conjugal fidelity
being a thing they had no conception of, and each
concluding I kept my favours for some one else,
nothing undeceived them but my strictly adhered-to
resolution of never suffering a tete-a-tete with any man
whatever except my husband, and laughing with them
in company, saying we inhabited a Casa Fidele, and
should do honour to the residence.
MARIA, COUNTESS OF COVENTRY
(Miss GUNNING)
After painting by
SIR JOSHFA REYNOLDS
CASA FIDELE 57
The truth is, old Comte Fidele, a widower of seventy
years old, said his house was too big for him (an in-
valid), and gave us up the winter side of his palace
for a year, paying only So/. My bed-chamber,
twenty-seven feet long and eighteen feet high, was
lighted by one immense window at the end, and
looked over the naviglio to the beautiful mountains of
Brianza. Out of this went a handsome square room
where I received my company in common. Out of
that we walked into a large dinner apartment, next
to which was the servants' hall (as we should call it,
but known in Italy by name of anti-camera), where
and from whence the servants answered the bell.
Through this opened the best drawing-room, with
two fire-places, two large glass lustres, four enormous
windows with yellow damask curtains I am ashamed
to say how long, but my maid always said they were
eight yards from top to bottom. Her apartment
opened through this ; for all were passage rooms, and
a' small pair of stairs led to a lovely cold bath. I
have not done yet. Behind my magnificent bed of
white-watered tabby, and very clean, a door opened
into a large light closet where I kept my books ; and
through that a commodious staircase led to Mr.
Piozzi's bed-chamber, and a beautiful dressing-room
or study, where he was supposed to receive company,
people on business, etc. All this very well furnished
indeed for four-score pounds a year ! ! A.D. 1784.
The showy valet was a Frenchman hired at Paris,
the gaudy butler out of livery resembling nothing but
a goldfish, had eighteen pence a day, and the man
cook no less. One woman, besides my own English
58 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
Abigail, formed our household ; a word I should not
have used, for they all walked home in the evening,
after the wives and children, etc., had been brought
into the kitchen almost literally to lick the plates. It
seemed very odd, but I believe Mr. Piozzi paid every-
body every night of his life. I remember his asking
me one day what I thought our dinner came to ; we
were eight at table, the dishes seven and nine. When
I had made some ridiculous conjectures, he showed
me that the whole expense, wine included, was thirteen
shillings of our money, no more, and I expected to
hear him say how happy he was. Not a bit ; he
was happy only in my attachment and society ; his
countrymen were his scourge. They told him, as I
was a Protestant I was of course an infidel, and should
be a favourite at the German Court which the Em-
peror kept at Milan. So I was ; but one day when
some of our Italian ecclesiastics dined with us,
and met the Austrian Count Kinigh, the Viennese
librarian, etc., who endeavoured to play upon the
natives, ridiculing their superstitions, etc., I could
bear no more of what they called philosophy, the
less perhaps because they hoped I should be pleased
with such discourse, and much amazed our Milanese
friends by saying, when applied to, that I really
thought the thorns of ancient philosophy were now
only fit to burn in the fire, unless we could make a
hedge of them to fence in the possession of Christian
truth.
This speech won all the old abbates' hearts at once,
and was echoed about with ten times the praise it
deserved. I was now assailed on every side to become
A DIALECTICAL VICTORY 59
a Romanist, for Catholics I never would submit to
call them who excluded from salvation every sect of
our religion but their own. Dear Piozzi grew more
and more weary of this controversial chat ; but it was
comical to see with how much pleasure he witnessed
my gaining even a momentary triumph over these
men, skilled in disputation, and masters of their own
language. " Are you a Calvinist, Madam ? " said one
of the Monsignori. " Certainly not" was the reply.
" Do you kneel to receive the Sacrament?" " I do."
" And are not those fellows damned who do receive
it standing or sitting?" "I believe not" said I.
" Our blessed Lord did not Himself eat the passover
according to the strict rules of the Mosaical law, which
insists on its being eaten standing ; whereas we know
that Jesus Christ reclined on a triclinium, as was the
usage of Rome and of the times. Nay, perhaps He
was pleased to do so that such disputes should not
arise; or, if arising, that His example might be ap-
pealed to." " What proof have you of our Saviour's
reclining on a triclinium ? " " St. John's leaning on
His breast at supper," said I. "Oh, that was at
common meals, not at the passover." " Excuse me,
my lord, it was at the last solemn supper, which we
all commemorate with our best intentions, some one
way, some another. Their method is not yours,
neither is it mine; let us beware of judging lest we
ourselves be judged." " Fetch me a Bible, sir," said
Monsignore. " I will bring mine," said I. " Excuse
me now, Madam," replied my antagonist; " we cannot
abide but by the Vulgate." Canonico Palazzi offered
to go ; I begged of him to buy me one at the next
60 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
bookseller's three doors off. My victory was com-
plete, and I have the Bible still which won it for me.
All this, however delightful, grew very wearisome
and a little dangerous ; and we were glad when spring-
time came that we might set out upon our travels.
Every new-comer from that country (England) told
us how all ill-reports had subsided, how the Cardinal
Prince d'Orini's civilities had been related up and
down, and in short that we had but to return, secure
of every comfort Great Britain could afford. Mr.
Piozzi said, the moment every debt should be dis-
charged, that he would turn his horses' heads towards
the island he had always preferred to every other
place; and, so saying, we travelled on, as happy in
leaving Milan as in arriving there. Au reste, as the
French say, few things befell us worth recording, ex-
cept Count Manucci's * visit. He had been intimate
with Mr. Thrale in England, as Johnson's letters
abundantly testify, and had taken a fancy to Mr.
Piozzi at Paris, when he was there with Sacchini.
Hearing, therefore, of his marriage, he came one
morning, but never had a notion that it was with me
he had connected himself. " Ah, Madame ! " ex-
claimed the Count, " quel coup de Theatre ! " when the
door opened, and showed him an old acquaintance
with a new name. This was the nobleman who, I
told you, lamented so tenderly that his sister's children
were counterfeited.
1 Johnson made his acquaintance when visiting Paris with the
Thrales in 1775. The following year Manucci made a tour of
this country.
THE TIDE TURNED 61
RETURN TO ENGLAND
The letters from our daughters had been cold and
unfrequent during the whole absence ; a little more
so as we approached nearer home. 1 The newspapers
had told of our exploits at Brussels, and public good-
humour seemed disposed to wait and even to meet
our return. Fector, the government officer at Dover,
would not even look into our portmanteaus, trunks,
etc. ; and I saw instantly that the tide was turned.
Numberless cards were left at the Royal Hotel, where
we remained till a house in Hanover Square was
fitted up to receive us, and on the 22nd of May, we
opened with a concert and supper, the more willingly
as Mr. Cator, 2 in whose hands we placed our pecuniary
affairs at starting, pronounced the mortgage paid off,
and I5,ooo/. in the bank to begin with. This Mr.
Cator had been one of our insulting enemies; was
acting executor to Mr. Thrale, and guardian to his
daughters ; hadsaid that I should be soon deceased, but
my death would be concealed by Mr. Piozzi, while he
enjoyed my jointure, etc. ; this man's approbation was
indeed a triumph, and we now intended to be happy.
Cecilia had been left at Ray and Frey's school at
Streatham, with friends I could depend on ; but Lady
Keith removed her thence, and placed her at Steven-
son's, Queen Square, without my knowledge or
consent. We kept our distance then, and so did
they ; meeting only in public. I took my little mad-
headed Cecilia home, and we had masters to her, etc.
1 Mr. and Mrs. Piozzi returned to England 1787.
See p. 41.
62 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
Nor do I know when the sisters and I should have
met again, had not she grown so fast that at fourteen
years old or six months more, Mr. Piozzi felt himself
alarmed, and was advised by our friends, Lord
Huntingdon, 1 Sir Charles Hotham, 2 and the Great-
heads, with whom we lived familiarly, to put the
young lady into Chancery, a measure he was most
earnest to adopt. We were at Streatham Park, but
I observed my husband unusually anxious, when an
old Mr. Jones who had married Sir William Fowler's
daughter, my mother's first cousin, told me that the
Miss Thrales had made overtures of reconciliation
through him (who lived much with us), and that he
should make a breakfast party for us all at his house
in Cavendish Square, with my permission. It was
the middle of the French Revolution, so there was
talk enough, and the day went on very well, with
an invitation to the ladies for Easter Tuesday, I
remember; and Pisani, the Venetian ambassador,
Lord 3 and Lady Coventry, and 1 30 people, in short,
witnessed our gaiety and mutual good humour.
Three weeks more, however, had scarce elapsed before
Miss Thrale, now Viscountess Keith, came down on
horseback, and said she must speak to us on business.
It was to beg Mr. Piozzi would not put Cecilia into
Chancery. Their fortunes, they alleged, would be
examined by lawyers, and dear Mr. Cator's accounts
1 Theophilus Hastings, ninth Earl of Huntingdon, whose wife,
Selina, was the founder of " Lady Huntingdon's Connexion."
2 M.P. for Southwark Mr. Thrale having been his unsuccess-
ful rival in September 1780.
3 The sixth Earl of Coventry (1722-1809). His first wife was
the famous beauty, Maria Gunning, who died in 1760.
INCIDENTS ON RETURN 63
too would be hauled over, 1 with which they were well
contented ; alluding, besides this, to some undisclosed
dealings and connections of their father's, wholly new
and very surprising to me> who had no notion of his
affairs beyond the counting-house and brewhouse
yard. In short, they frighted us into every com-
pliance they could wish, then kept their distance as
before, sending perpetually for Cecy.
Libels and odd ill-natured speeches appeared
sometimes in the public prints, and one day of the
ensuing winter, when I was airing my lap-dogs in a
retired part of Hyde Park, Lord Fife 2 came up to me,
and after a moment's chat, said, " Would you like to
know your friends from your enemies ? " in a Scotch
accent. " Yes, very much, my lord," was the reply.
" Ay, but have you strength of mind enough to bear
my intelligence ? " " Make haste and tell me, dear
my lord," said I. " Why then the Burneys are your
enemies, that you so fostered and fondled ; more than
that, Baretti has been making up a libel . . . and
every magazine has refused it entrance except a new
work carried on by the female Burney." 3 " Never
1 See pp. 41, 61.
2 James Duff, second Earl of Fife (1729-1809).
3 Mrs. Piozzi, inlthis scrap of dialogue, is quite,Elizabethan in|her
own language. The words she assigns to Lord Fife are reminis-
cent of a modern police-court report. The " female Burney "
certainly did not carry on the European Magazine in which
Baretti's libellous abuse appeared in 1788. Mrs. Piozzi was
evidently sure that Fanny Burney was aiding Baretti. The
entry in Thraliana for August i, 1788, runs : " Baretti has been
grossly abusive in the European Magazine to me : that hurts
me but little ; what shocks me is that those treacherous Burneys
should abet and puff him. He is a most ungrateful because
64 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
mind," replied I, " nobody will read their work ; I
feel as I ought towards your lordship's friendship,
which you cannot prove better than by not naming
the subject; it will die away, so will the authors;
good morrow, and a thousand thanks." . . . My own
books came out one by one: they pleased, and I
suffered not these tormentors much to vex me. We
went on spending our money at and upon Streatham
Park, till old Mr. Jones and the wise Marquis Trotti
advised Piozzi to make the tour of North Wales, and
see my country, my estate, etc. We had been all over
Scotland, except the Highlands, where we were afraid
of carrying Cecy because of her unsteady health. I
staid with dear Mrs. Siddons, at Rose Hill, while our
friends made their ramble, and came back as much
delighted with Denbighshire and Flintshire as Mr.
Thrale had been disgusted with them. This was
charming. Piozzi had fixed upon a spot, and resolved
to build an Italian villa on the banks of the Clwydd.
Even Mr. Murphy applauded the project, and we
drew in our expenses, preparing to engage in brick
and mortar.
CONCLUSION
Gout now fastened on Mr. Piozzi, who built his
pretty villa in North Wales, and conforming to our
religious opinions, kindly set our little church at
Dymerchion in a state it never before enjoyed, spend-
ing sums of money on its decoration, and making a
vault for my ancestors and for ourselves to repose
unprincipled wretch ; but I am sorry that anything belonging to
Dr. Burney should be so monstrously wicked."
"SIMPLE VOICES UNREFIN'D" 65
in. I wrote verses for the opening of our tiny temple,
and dear Piozzi set them most enchantingly to music ;
our clerk, he said, was a very good genius; and I
trust a more virtuous or pious pleasure could not be
felt than ours when teaching those poor people to sing
the lines you will read over leaf.
With homely verse and artless lays,
Full oft these humble roofs shall ring;
Whilst to our dear Redeemer's praise
Rough youths and village maidens sing. 1
Incarnate God ! when He appear'd,
And blessings all around Him spread,
Though still by radiant myriads fear'd,
He chose the poor, the lowly shed.
And sure before He comes again
In awful state to judge the world ;
Resounding choirs though He disdain,
Temples and tow'rs in ruin hurl'd ;
To unambitious efforts kind,
Pleas'd He permits our rustic lays ;
Our simple voices, unrefin'd,
Have leave to sing their Saviour's praise.
The house, our dwelling-house I mean, was built
from a design of its elegant master's own hand, and
he set poor old Bachygraig up too; 2 repaired and
1 Mrs. Piozzi apparently had Collins's Dirge in Cymbeline in
mind.
2 " Mr. Piozzi built the house for me, he said ; my own old
chateau, Bachygraig by name, tho' verv curious, was wholly
uninhabitable ; and we called the Italian villa he set up as
mine in the vale of Cluid, Brynbella, or the beautiful brow,
5
66 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
beautified it, and to please his silly wife, gilt the
Llewenny lion on its top. The scroll once held in his
paw was broke and gone. Lombardy, where his (Mr.
Piozzi's) relations lived, was torn by faction, and his
father, a feeble old man of eighty-one years old, equal
to one hundred in our island, was actually terrified
into apoplexy, lethargy, and death. His son, who half
entertained a tender thought that they might meet
once more, grieved for his loss severely, the more so,
as he himself said, because " Sara quel che sara, ma
alia fin, il sangue non e acqua." His brother, I am
afraid, joined the Republicans, leaving a very deserv-
ing lady, born at Venice, whose friends were wholly
ruined, though her uncle, the Abbate Zendrini, was
afterwards in high favour, and even appointed con-
fessor to Buonaparte. They had baptized one of their
babies by name of John Salusbury in compliment to
me, and Mr. Piozzi sent to bring him out of the con-
fusion. He came an infant between three and four
years old. We educated him first at Mr. Davis's
school at Streatham, where my own son had been
placed so many years before, and then with Mr. Shep-
hard, of Enborne, Berkshire, whence he commonly
came to us at Streatham Park, or Bath, or Brynbella.
You know the rest. You know that dear Mr. Piozzi
died of the gout at his pretty villa in North Wales. 1
You know that he left me that, and everything else,
never naming his nephew in the will, only leaving
making the name half Welsh and half Italian, as we were."
(Conway MSS.)
1 In March, 1809. Mrs. Piozzi lived at Brynbella until 1814,
when she gave it up to her husband's nephew, Sir John Salus-
bury[,Piozzi Salusbury.
A STATE OF INSULATION 67
among his father's children 6ooo/. in the three per
cents., being the whole of his savings during the twenty-
five years he had shared and enjoyed my fortune. Un-
exampled generosity indeed ! And true love ! Could
I do less than repay it to the child whose situation
in life I now felt responsible for ! I bred him with
his friends at Oxford, yet he stood alone, insulated in
a nation where he had no natural friend. Incapaci-
tated to return where his religion would have rendered
him miserable, and petted, and spoiled, till any profes-
sion would have been painful. What could I do ? The
boy had besides all this formed an attachment to his
friend's sister. What could I do ? You know what I
did do. I gave them my estate ; and resolving that
Mr. Thrale's daughters should suffer as little as pos-
sible by this arrangement, I repaired and new fronted
their house at Streatham Park, and by the enormous
expense incurred there, and the loss of my rents from
Denbighshire and Flintshire, reduced myself to the
very wretched state you found me in, and lavished
upon me a friendship, which, at the sauciest hour of
my life, would by my mind have been esteemed an
honour, but in this sad deserted stage of it the truest,
very near the only cordial. Thus then, as Adam says
to Raphael in Milton's Paradise Lost:
" Thus have I told thee all my state ; and brought
My story to that sum of earthly bliss
Which /enjoy : and since at length to part,
Go ; sent of heaven, angelic messenger,
Gentle to me, and affable hath been
Thy conversation, to be honour'd ever
With grateful memory,"
by H. L. Piozzi.
FROM MARGINAL NOTES ON LETTERS
TO AND FROM THE LATE SAMUEL
JOHNSON, LL.D., ETC., I/S8 1
MR. SEAWARD. Mr. Seaward, who wrote the Anec-
dotes : 2 he was only son to a rich brewer, whom he
disappointed and grieved by his preference of litera-
ture to riches. His head, however, was not quite right.
I believe his principles were vitiated by his studies
among the Swiss infidels : Helvetius, D'Alembert, and
the rest of them. He kept his morality pure for the
sake of his health perhaps, for he was a professed
valetudinarian.
Mr. Keep. Mr. Keep, when he heard I was a native
of North Wales, told me that his wife was a Welsh
woman, and desired to be buried at Ruthyn. " So,"
says the man, " I went with the corpse myself, because
I thought it would be a pleasant journey, and indeed
I found Ruthyn a very beautiful place."
Sir Robert Chambers? The box goes to Calcutta
1 The name, or passage, suggesting the note is given when
required for its elucidation.
2 William Seward (1747-1799), author of Anecdotes of Some
Distinguished Persons, 1795-1797.
3 Made Johnson's acquaintance in 1766 ; Chief Justice in
Bengal, 1789-1799. He was a member of the Literary Club.
In May 1773 (vide Boswell) he was the cause of a "ludicrous
exhibition of the awful, melancholy, and venerable Johnson."
68
LILLY-LOLLY 69
to Sir Robert Chambers, a favourite with them all. (I
never could see why.) He was judge in India, married
Fanny Wilton the statuary's daughter, who stood for
Hebe at the Royal Academy. She was very beautiful
indeed, and but fifteen years old when Sir Robert
married her. His portrait is in the library at Streatham
Park. 1
Bath is often mentioned in these letters, but I forgot
among the baby anecdotes which precede them, to say
how I remembered being carried about the rooms by
Beau Nash, 2 and taken notice of by Lady Caroline,
mother to the famous Charles James Fox.
" Why should you suspect me of forgetting lilly
lolly ? " Johnson.
Ask me about this stuff, and I'll try to tell you :
come, here it is. One of our Welsh squires had a half-
witted son, his sole heir, poor fellow ! and the parents
fondled it accordingly. When Christmas came, and
all the country was invited at Llewenney Hall, the
seat of my mother's eldest brother, who married Lady
Elizabeth Tollemache, came these dear Wynnes and
their booby boy about eleven years old. " What does
the child say ? " cries my aunt, " it sounds like lilly
lolly." " Indeed, my Lady Betty," replies the mother,
in a sharp Welsh accent, " Dick does say lilly lolly,
sure enough : but he mains : How do you do, Sir
Robert Cotton?" I had probably in some unprinted
letter said : " Here's a deal of lilly lolly, which I sup-
1 See Appendix.
2 Richard Nash's "reign " at Bath lasted from 1705 to about
1750.
70 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
pose you forget, but it means How do you do, Dr.
Johnson ? "
Foote. " Did you see Foote at Brighthelmstone ?
Did you think he would so soon be gone ? Life, says
Falstaff, is a shuttle. He was a fine fellow in his way ;
and the world is really impoverished by his sinking
glories. Murphy ought to write his life, at least to
give the world a Footeana. Now, will any of his con-
temporaries bewail him ? Will Genius change his sex
to weep ? I would really have his life written with
diligence." l Johnson.
Doctor Johnson was not aware that Foote broke
his heart because of a hideous detection ; he was trying
to run away from England, and from infamy, but death
stopped him. Doctor Johnson never could persuade
himself that things were as bad as the sufferer or his
friends represented them ; he thought it wrong to
believe so, and steadily made the best on't.
Richardson. Doctor Johnson said, that if Mr.
Richardson had lived till /came out, my praises would
have added two or three years to his life : " For," says
Dr. Johnson, " that fellow died merely for want of
change among his flatterers : he perished for want of
more, like a man obliged to breathe the same air till
it is exhausted."
1 " A very able essay on the Life and Character of Foote
has been written by Mr. Forster, who clears his memory of the
calumny which shortened his life." (Hayward.) Foote was
accused of infamous charges by the subornation of William
Jackson, the Irish revolutionist, who was secretary at the time
to Foote's persistent enemy, Elizabeth Chudleigh, the self-styled
Duchess of Kingston.
A WANDERING LIE 71
The Burneys. Doctor Burney and his family are
often spoken of in these Memoirs. He was a man of
very uncommon attainments : wit born with him, I
suppose; learning, he had helped himself to, and was
proud of the possession ; elegance of manners he had
so cultivated, that those who knew but little of the
man, fancied he had great flexibility of mind. It was
mere pliancy of body, however, and a perpetual show
of obsequiousness by bowing incessantly as if acknow-
ledging a.\\ inferiority, which nothing would have forced
him to confess. I never in my life heard Johnson pro-
nounce the words, " I beg your pardon, Sir," to any
human creature but the apparently soft and gentle
Dr. Burney. Perhaps the story may be related in
the Anecdotes: but as I nozv recollect it, thus it is.
"Did you, Madame, subscribe ioo/. to build our new
bridge at Shrewsbury ? " said Burney to me. " No,
surely, Sir," was my reply. " What connexion have
I with Shropshire ? and where should I have money
so to fling away ? " " It is very comical, is it not, Sir ? "
said I, turning to Dr. Johnson, " that people should
tell such unfounded stories?" "It is," answered he,
" neither comical nor serious, my dear ; it is only a
wandering lie." This was spoken in his natural voice,
without a thought of offence, I am confident ; but up
bounced Burney in a towering passion, and to my much
amaze, put on the hero, surprising Doctor Johnson into
a sudden request for pardon, and protestation of not
having ever intended to accuse his friend of a false-
hood. The following lines written, sur le champ, with
a gold pen I gave him, prove he could make more
agreeable impromptus than this I have related :
72 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
" Such implements tho' fine and splendid,
They say can ne'er write well:
With common fame that truth is blended,
Let this example tell.
" If bounteous Thrale could thus confer
Her learning, sense, and wit ;
Who would not wish a gift from her,
Who not to beg submit ?
" Paupers from Grub Street at her gate
Would crowd, both young and old,
In humble guise to supplicate
For thoughts not pens of gold.
" For not alone the gift of tongues,
The Muses' grace and favour :
Adorn her prose, and on her songs
Bestow the Attic flavour.
" The Virtues all around her wait
T' infuse their influence mild ;
And every duty regulate
Of parent, wife, and child.
" Such judgment to direct each storm,
Each hurricane to weather ;
A mind so pure, a heart so warm,
How seldom found together ! "
There was a merry tale told about the town of some
musical nobleman having been refused tickets for his
ELIZABETH, DUCHESS OF HAMILTON AND
DUCHESS OF ARGYLL
(Miss GUNNING)
After painting hy
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
MUSA LOQUITUR 73
private concert about this time by blind Stanley, 1 who
he had always patronised : and of his going to a grave
friend's, I forget who, where, foaming with anger, he
at length exclaimed : " But I will go to Burney's house
to-night (where there was music), and that will do for
him." " Are you mad, my dear Lord ? " says the grave
man amazed : " to talk of setting a blind man's house
on fire, because he has refused your favourite girl a
ticket? Fie! fie! I am ashamed of listening to such
strange things." The equivoque was now well under-
stood, but having no acquaintance with the doctor,
the gentleman thought he had menaced going to burn
Jus house.
We had been talking of the French rondeaux one
day, and both doctors said they were impracticable in
English, so I made this Musa loquitur :
To burn ye with rapture, or melt you with pity,
A rondeau was never intended :
Yet the lines should be light, and the turn should
be witty,
And the jest is to see how 'tis ended.
To finish it neat in an elegant style
Though Phoebus himself should discern ye ;
And though to throw light on the troublesome toil,
Should he shine hot enough for to burn ye,
You still would be vex'd,
Incumbered, perplex'd,
1 John Stanley (1713-1786), musical composer, organist of St.
Andrew's, Holborn, and of the Inner Temple.
74 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
So teizing the rhymes would return ye :
In a fit of despair
Then this moment forbear,
And let me some humility learn ye:
Leave writing with ease,
And each talent to please,
And making of rondeaux to Burney.
" I shall be in danger of crying out, with Mr. Head,
catamaran, whatever that may mean." Johnson,
A comical hack joke. Ask me, and I will tell you
one or two more tales about catamaran. Come ; here
it is : You do not hate nonsense with affected fastidi-
ousness, or fastidious affectation, like those who have
little sense. Turn the page then, over.
This Mr. Head, whose real name was Plunkett, a
low Irish parasite, dependant on Mr. Thrale primarily,
and I suppose, secondarily on Mr. Murphy, was em-
ployed by them in various schemes of pleasure, as you
men call profligacy : and on this occasion was deputed
to amuse them by personating some lord, whom his
patrons had promised to introduce to the beautiful Miss
Gunnings x when they first came over with intent to
make their fortunes. He was received accordingly, and
the girls played off their best airs, and cast kind looks
on his introducers from time to time : till the fellow
wearied, as Johnson says, and disgusted with his ill-
acted character, burst out on a sudden as they sate
at tea, and cried, " Catamaran ! young gentlemen with
1 Elizabeth Gunning married the Duke of Hamilton in 1752
and the Duke of Argyll in 1759. Her sister, Maria, in 1752
married the Earl of Coventry.
THE GUNNINGS 75
two shoes and never a heel : when will you have done
with silly jokes now? Leddies," turning to the future
peeresses, " never mind these merry boys ; but if you
really can afford to pay for some incomparable silk
stockings, or true India handkerchiefs, here they are
noiu " : rummaging his smuggler's pocket ; but the
girls jumped up and turned them all three into the
street, where Thrale and Murphy cursed their senseless
assistant, and called him Head, like lucus a non lucendo,
because they swore he had none. The duchess (of
Hamilton), however, never did forgive this impudent
frolic ; Lady Coventry, more prudently, pretended to
forget it.
Catamaran ! was probably a mere Irish exclamation
which burst from the fellow when impatient to be
selling his smuggled goods. There is exactly such a
character in Richardson's Clarissa: Captain Tomlin-
son, employed by Lovelace.
" But and you have had, with all your adula-
tions, nothing finer said of you than was said last
Saturday night of Burke and me. We were at the
Bishop of - 's, a bishop little better than your
bishop ; and towards twelve we fell into talk, to which
the ladies listened, just as they do to you ; and said,
as I heard, there is no rising unless somebody will cry
fire." Johnson, May 23, 1780.
The lady was Mrs. Montagu ; Johnson's bishop was
the Bishop of St. Asaph (Shipley) ; Mrs. P.'s the Bishop
of Peterborough (Hinchcliffe).
I have no care about enjoying undivided empire,
nor any thoughts of disputing it with Mrs. Montagu.
76 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
She considers her title as indisputable most probably,
though I am sure I never heard her urge it. Queen
Elizabeth, you remember, would not suffer hers to be
inquired into, and I have read somewhere that the
Great Mogul is never crowned.
Apropos to gallantry, here is a gentleman hooted
out of Bath for showing a lady's loveletters to him ;
and such is the resentment of all the females, that
even the house-maid refused to make his bed. I think
them perfectly right, as he has broken all the common
ties of society ; and if he were to sleep on straw for
half a year instead of our old favourites the Capucin
friars, it would do him no harm, and set the men a
good example.
[" In the margin is written Mr. Wade." Hayward.~\
" Gluttony is, I think, less common among women
than among men. Women commonly eat more
sparingly, and are less curious in the choice of meat ;
but if once you find a woman gluttonous, expect from
her very little virtue. Her mind is enslaved to the
lowest and grossest temptation.
" Of men, the examples are sufficiently common. I
had a friend, of great eminence in the learned and
the witty world, who had hung up some pots on his
wall to furnish nests for sparrows. The poor sparrows,
not knowing his character, were seduced by the con-
venience, and I never heard any man speak of any
future enjoyment with such contortions of delight as
he exhibited, when he talked of eating the young
ones." Johnson.
WHEN THE PIE WAS OPENED 77
[The name of Isaac Hawkins Browne * is written in
the margin, and it is added that the young sparrows
were eaten in a pie. Hayward.~\
" DEAR SIR, Communicate your letters regularly.
Your father's inexorability not only grieves but amazes
me. He is your father. He was always accounted a
wise man ; nor do I remember any thing to the dis-
advantage of his good nature ; but in his refusal to
assist you, there is neither good nature, fatherhood,
nor wisdom." Johnson.
I think you will be surprised to hear that this so
serious letter should have been written to the crazy
fellow, of whom a ludicrous story is told in the
Anecdotes : Joe Simson, as Dr. Johnson called him,
when he related the ridiculous incidents of his marriage,
his kept mistress, his footman, and himself all getting
so drunk with the nuptial bowl of punch, purchased
with borrowed money, that the hero of the tale
tumbled down stairs and broke his leg or arm, I
forget which, and sent for Dr. Johnson to assist
him.
Hehad another friend of much the same description,
though this gentleman was a lawyer : the other a poet.
. . . Boyce 2 was the author of some pretty things in
the Gentleman's Magazine, and Johnson showed me
the following verses in manuscript, which I translated:
but which are not half so pleasant as was his account
1 Isaac Hawkins Browne, the elder (1705-1760), wit and poet,
author of The Pipe of Tobacco, a series of clever parodies.
2 Samuel Boyse (1708-1749), minor poet, author of The
Deity, etc.
78 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
of Mr. Boyce lying a-bed : not for lack of a shirt,
because he seldom wore one, supplying the want with
white paper wristbands : but for want of his scarlet
cloak, laced with gold, his usual covering, which lay
unredeemed at the pawnbroker's. The verses were
addressed to Cave, 1 of St. John's Gate, who saved him
from prison that time at least :
" Hodie, teste Ccelo summo,
Sine pane, sine nummo ;
Sorte positus infeste
Scribo tibi dolens maeste :
Fame, bile, tumet jecur,
Urbane! 2 mitte opem precor:
Tibi enim cor humanum
Non a malis alienum ;
Mihi mens nee male grato,
Pro a te favore dato.
Ex gehenna debitoria,
Vulgo, domo spongiatoria."
O witness Heaven for me this day
That I've no pelf my debts to pay :
No bread, nor halfpenny to buy it,
No peace of mind or household quiet.
My liver swell'd with bile and hunger
Will burst me if I wait much longer.
Thou hast a heart humane they say,
O then a little money pray.
1 Edward Cave, founder of the Gentleman's Magazine in
I73I-
2 Cave's editorial pseudonym was " Sylvanus Urban."
DOMUS SPONGIATORIA 79
Nor further press me on my fate
And fix me at the begging gate :
Sufficient in this hell to souse
Vulgarly called a sponging house.
Of this curious creature I have heard Johnson tell
how he remained fasting three whole days : and at the
end when his consoling friend brought him a nice beef-
steak, how he refused to touch it till the dish (he had
no plate) had been properly rubbed over with shalot.
" What inhabitants this world has in it ! "
" You were kind in paying my forfeits at the club ;
it cannot be expected that many should meet in the
summer, however they that continue in town should
keep up appearances as well as they can. I hope to
be again among you." -Johnson.
There is a story of poor dear Garrick, whose atten-
tion to his money-stuff never forsook him relating
that when his last day was drawing to an end, he
begged a gentleman present to pay his club forfeits,
" and don't let them cheat you," added he, " for there
cannot be above nine, and they will make out ten."
MARGINAL NOTES ON WRAXALL'S
HISTORICAL MEMOIRS OF MY OWN
TIME
I SEND Wraxall l with the quartos, that you may read
something written of your poor friend as well as some-
thing written by her. His book will be a relief when
you get into the dark ages of " Retrospection." Mrs.
Piozzi to Sir James Fellowes.
Her note on Wraxall's statement relating to Marie
Antoinette's first confinement is :
You see how cautious Sir N. Wraxall is but you
may likewise see through his caution. He knew no
doubt better than myself, that about this time a
swathed baby made of white marble was laid at the
bed chamber door with this inscription :
" Je ne suis point de Cire subintelligitur Sire
Je suis de pierre subintelligitur Pierre."
A Life-Guard Man as I was informed. 2
1 Sir Nathaniel William Wraxall (1751-1831), returned to
England from service with the East India Company in 1772 ;
published his Historical Memoirs of the years 1772-84 in 1815.
2 [Recent and impartial history favours the belief in Marie
Antoinette's personal purity ; but her indiscretion was of a nature
to give rise to the coarsest scandal amongst a people whose loyalty
was rapidly declining into a diametrically opposite train of feelings.
In the following epigram the speakers are the Queen and Mile.
80
THE PLANETS 81
The Dauphin, who died very young, and the other
who lived to suffer still more whom every one pities,
are mentioned in the 2nd vol., but I can't find the
place now. Us etoient vrais Descendans de Louis
XIV., mais comment ? Juste Ciel !
Verses quoted by Mrs. Piozzi as illustrating
Wraxall's comments on the famous women of his
time.
THE PLANETS.
(Said to be written by Charles Fox.) l
With Devon's girl so blithe and gay, 2
I well could like to sport and play;
With Jersey would the time beguile,
With Melbourne titter, sneer and smile,
With Bouverie one would wish to sin,
With Darner I could only grin :
But to them all I'd bid adieu,
To pass my life and think with Crewe.
d'Oliva, the courtesan who personated her Majesty in the affair
of the Diamond Necklace :
" Vile espece, ose tu bien
Jouer le role d'une reine ?
Pourquoi non, ma Souveraine,
Vous jouez souvent le mien." (Hayward.)
1 In the Album at Crewe Hall. (Hayward.)
2 Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, 1774 ; wife
of George Bussy Villiers, fourth Earl of Jersey ; wife of Peni-
stone Lamb, first Viscount Melbourne ; wife of the third Earl
of Radnor ; the Hon. Anne Seymour Damer, Horace Walpole's
cousin ; Frances Anne Crewe, a daughter of Fulke Greville,
married Lord Crewe, 1776.
6
82 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
THE PLEIADES.
(Said to be written by Mr. Chamberlayne, who threw himself
out of the window.)
With charming Cholmondeley l well one might
Pass half the day, and all the night ;
From Montague's z more fertile mind
Perpetual source of pleasures find :
Of Tully's Latin, Homer's Greek,
With learned Carter 3 one could speak ;
With Thrale converse in purest ease,
Of letters, life, and languages.
But if I dare to talk with Crewe ;
My ease, my peace, my heart adieu !
Sweet Greville ! 4 whose too feeling heart
By love was once betrayed,
With Sappho's ardour, Sappho's art,
For cool indifference prayed : 5
Who can endure a prayer from you
So selfish and confined ?
You should when you produced a Crewe,
Have prayed for all mankind.
1 Mary Woffington, sister of " Peg,'' wife of Rev. R. Cholmon-
deley. A noted blue-stocking.
2 Mrs Elizabeth Montagu, (1720-1800), the "Queen of the
Blues."
3 Johnson's friend, Elizabeth Carter (1717-1806), the most
scholarly of all the " blues."
4 The mother of Lady Crewe, herself famed for beauty and
wit. " His [Fulke Greville's] wife and daughter were and are
the two greatest beauties in England, and Mrs. Greville is my
godmother." (Fanny Burney's Early Diary.}
6 Her chief poem was an " Ode to Indifference," and Fulke's con-
duct is reputed to have inspired it. Miss Burney plainly hints so.
"WHAT, WHAT, WHAT!" 83
When the King of Sweden was murdered in a ball-
room, by Ankerstroom, about the year 1792, there
was a comically impudent caricature published repre-
senting George the Third, with a letter in his hand
and a label out of his mouth, saying, What, what,
what ! Shot, shot, shot ! l
" The last Princess of the Stuart line who reigned
in this country, has been accused of a similar passion
(for drink), if we may believe the secret history of
that time, or trust to the couplet which was affixed
to the pedestal of her statue in front of St. Paul's,
by the satirical wits of 1714." WraxalL
Brandy-faced Nan has left us in the lurch,
Her face to the brandy-shop, and her to the
church.
" The Countess Cowper was at this time dis-
tinguished by his (the Grand Duke Leopold's) attach-
ment; and the exertion of his interest with Joseph
the Second, his brother, procured her husband, Lord
Cowper, to be created soon afterwards a Prince of
the German Empire." WraxalL
She was beautiful when no longer a court favourite,
in 1786. Her attachment was then to Mr. Merry,
the highly accomplished poet, known afterwards by
name of Delia Crusca. 2
1 George the Third was a firm believer in Lewis Carroll's
maxim,
What I tell you three times is true.
This is the foible over which Peter Pindar makes merry.
2 See p. 53.
84 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
"In 1779, Charles Edward exhibited to the world
a very humiliating spectacle." WraxalL
Still more so at Florence, in 1786. Count Alfieri
had taken away his consort, 1 and he was under the
dominion and care of a natural daughter, who wore
the Garter, and was called Duchess of Albany. 2 She
checked him when he drank too much, or when he
talked too much. Poor soul ! Though one even-
ing, he called Mr. Greatheed 3 up to him, and said in
good English, and a loud though cracked voice :
" I will speak to my own subjects my own way,
sare. Ay and I will soon speak to you, Sir, in
Westminster Hall." The Duchess shrugged her
shoulders.
" It was universally believed that he (Rodney) had
been distinguished in his youth, by the personal
attachment of the Princess Amelia, daughter of
George the Second, who displayed the same parti-
ality for Rodney, which her cousin, the Princess
Amelia of Prussia, manifested for Trenck. 4 A living
evidence of the former connexion existed, unless
fame had recourse to fiction for support. But, de-
traction, in every age, from Elizabeth down to the
present times, has not spared the most illustrious
females." WraxalL
1 Louisa, daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, left Prince Charles
Edward in 1780 and lived with Alfieri.
2 Caroline, his daughter by Clementina Walkingshaw.
3 See p. 52.
4 Friedrich Trenck, soldier, author, merchant, etc., incurred
Frederick the Great's disfavour by his intrigue at the age of
eighteen with the Princess Amelia.
ADMIRAL LORD RODNEY
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
A GHOST STORY 85
Meaning, I suppose, the famous Miss Ashe, who,
after many adventures, married Captain Falkner of
the Royal Navy. She was a pretty creature, but
particularly small in her person. Little Miss Ashe
was the name she went by, yet I should think Rodney
scarce old enough to have been her father. Her mother,
people spoke of, as with certainty.
THE LYTTELTON GHOST STORY.
" Lyttelton, 1 when scarcely thirty-six, breathed
his last at a country house near Epsom, called Pitt
Place, from its situation in a chalk pit ; where he
witnessed, as he conceived, a supernatural appear-
ance." Wraxall.
He did so : 2 but here the author must pardon me,
and so must you, dear Sir, if I presume to say I can
tell this tale better; meaning with more exactness, for
truth constitutes the whole of its value.
Lord Westcote and Lord Sandys 3 both told it thus,
and they were familiar intimates at Streatham Park
where now their portraits hang in my library.
Lord Lyttelton was in London, and was gone to
bed I think upon a Thursday night. He rang his bell
1 Thomas, second Baron Lyttelton (1744-1779), distinguished
by the prefix " wicked."
2 He was warned in a dream (24th Nov. 1779) that he would
die in three days and this was exactly fulfilled.
3 William Hay Lyttelton, first Baron Lyttelton of Frankley
was created Lord Westcote in the Irish peerage. It was at
Ombersley, the seat of Lord Sandys, that Johnson said he got
for the first time as much wall fruit as he liked.
86 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
suddenly and with great violence, and his valet on
entering found him much disordered, protesting he
had been, or had fancied himself, plagued with a white
bird fluttering within his curtains. " When, however,
(continued he) I seemed to have driven her away, a
female figure stood at my feet in long drapery, and
said ' Prepare to die, my Lord, you'll soon be called.'
'How soon? how soon?' said I, 'in three years?'
' Three years,' replied she, tauntingly, ' three days,' and
vanished." Williams the man-servant related this to
his friends of course ; and the town talk was all about
Lord Lyttelton's dream ; he himself ran to his uncle
with it, to Lord Westcote ; who confessed having
reproved him pretty sharply for losing time in the in-
vention of empty stories (such he accounted it),instead
of thinking about the speech he was to make a few
days after.
Lord Sandys was milder ; saying, " My dear fellow,
if you believe this strange occurrence, and would have
us believe it ; be persuaded to change your conduct,
and give up that silly frolic which you told us of. I
mean going next Sunday was it not ? to Woodcote ;
but I suppose 'tis only one of your wondrous fine de-
vices to make us plain folks stare : so drink a dish of
chocolate and talk of something else."
On Saturday, after we had talked this over at
Streatham Park, a lady late from Wales dropt in,
and told us she had been at Drury Lane last night.
" How were you entertained?" said I; " Very strangely
indeed" was the reply ; " not with the play though,
for I scarce knew what they acted but with the dis-
course of Captain Ascough or Askew so his com-
A PROPHETIC SPIRIT 87
panions called him who averred that a friend of his,
the profligate Lord Lyttelton, as I understood by
them, had certainly seen a spirit, who has warned him
that he is to die within the next three days, and I
have thought of nothing else ever since."
No further accounts reached Streatham Park till
Monday morning, when every tongue was telling how a
Mrs. Flood and two Miss Amphlets, demirep beauties,
had passed over Westminster Bridge by the earliest
hour, looking like corpses from illness occasioned by
terror, and escorted by this Captain Ascough to town.
The man Williams' constant and unvarying tale tallied
with his, who said, they had been passing the time ap-
pointed in great gayety ; some other girls and gentle-
men of the country having in some measure joined the
party for dinner only, but leaving these before mid-
night. That on Sunday Lord Lyttelton drew out his
watch at eleven o'clock, and said, " Well, now I must,
leave you, agreeable as all of you are ; because I mean
to meditate on the next Wednesday's speech, and have
actually brought some books with me." " Oh, but the
ghost ! the ghost ! " exclaimed one of the Miss Amph-
lets laughing. " Oh, don't you see that we have bilked
the bitch" says Lord Lyttelton, showing his watch,
and running from them up stairs, where Williams had
set out the reading table, etc., and put his master on
the yellow night-gown, which he always used. Lord
Lyttelton then said, "Make up my five grains of
rhubarb and peppermint water and leave me ; but, did
you remember to bring rolls enough from London ? "
" I brought none, my Lord ; I have found a baker here
at Epsom that makes them just as your Lordship
88 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
likes " describing how and stirring the mixture as
he spoke. " What are you using ? " cries my Lord
" a toothpick ! " "A clean one, indeed, my Lord."
"You lazy devil go fetch a spoon directly"; he did
so ; but heard a noise in the room and hastened back,
to find his master fallen over the table, books and all.
He raised him ; " Speak to me, my Lord speak for
God's sake, dear my Lord." " Ah, Williams ! " was
his last and only word. Williams fan down to the
dissolute company below, his watch in his hand.
" Not twelve o'clock yet" he exclaimed, " and dead
dead."
They all bore witness that no violence came near
the man, and I do think that some judicial process
then proclaimed him " Dead by the visitation of
God." This, however, might be my hearing those
words from friends and acquaintances relating the
incident ; but when it was reported twenty years after,
that Lord Lyttelton committed suicide, I knew that
was an error, or a falsity.
Of this event, however, few people spoke after the
first bustle ; and I had changed my situation and
associates so completely, that it lay loose in my
mind never forgotten, though in a manneY un-
remembered.
Chance, however, threw me into company of the
gay and facetious Miles Peter Andrews, 1 with whom
and Mr. Greatheed's 2 family, and Mrs. Siddons, and
Sir Charles Hotham, 2 and a long et cetera, an enter-
taining day had been passed sometime in the year
1 Gunpowder merchant, dramatist, wit, and M.P. (d. 1814).
2 See pp. 52, 62.
MRS. SIDDONS
AJtir pa.in.ting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
LORD LYTTELTON'S GHOST 89
1795, if I remember rightly ; and Mrs. Merrick Hoare, 1
assuming intimacy, said, " Now, dear Mr. Andrews,
that the Pigous are gone, and everybody is gone but
ourselves, do tell my mother your own story of Lord
Lyttelton." He hesitated, and I pressed him, urging
my long past acquaintance with his Lordship's uncles
the bishop and Lord Westcote. He looked uneasily
at me, but I soothed, and Sophia gave him no quarter ;
so with something of an appeal to her that the tale
would be as she had learned it from her friends the
Pigous, and from himself, he began by saying : " Lord
Lyttelton and I had lived long in great familiarity,
and had agreed that whichever quitted this world first
should visit the other. Neither of us being sick, how-
ever, such thoughts were at the time of his death, poor
fellow ! furthest from my mind.
" Lord Lyttelton had asked me to make one of his
mad party to Woodcote or Pitt Place, in Surrey, on
such a day, but I was engaged to the Pigous you saw
this evening, and could not go. They then lived in
Hertfordshire; I went down thither on the Sunday,
and dined with them and their very few, and very
sober friends, who went away in the evening. At
eleven o'clock I retired to my apartment : it was
broad moonlight and I put out my candle: when just
as I seemed dropping asleep, Lord Lyttelton thrust
himself between the curtains, dressed in his own yellow
night-gown that he used to read in, and said in a
mournful tone, l Ah, Andrews, ifs all over' 'Oh,'
replied I quickly, ' are you there, you dog ? ' and re-
collecting there was but one door to the room, rushed
1 Mrs. Piozzi's second surviving daughter, Sophia Thrale.
9 o DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
out at it locked it, and held the key in my hand,
calling to the housekeeper and butler, whose voices I
heard putting the things away, to ask when Lord
Lyttelton arrived, and what trick he was meditating.
The servants made answer with much amazement,
that no such arrival had taken place; but I assured
them I had seen, and spoken to him, and could pro-
duce him, 'for here,' said I, 'he is; under fast lock
and key.' We opened the door, and found no one,
but in two or three days heard that he died at that
very moment, near Epsom in Surrey."
After a pause, I said very seriously to Mr. Andrews,
" Were you quite sober, Sir?" "As you are now,"
replied he ; " and I did think I saw Lord Lyttelton
as I now think that I see you." " Did think, Sir ? do
you now think it?" "I should most undoubtedly
think it, but that so many people for so many years
have told me I did not see him," said he. We made a
few serious reflections and parted.
" ' A day or two before the 7th of June,' l said he,
' Count Maltzan, then the Prussian Minister at our
Court, called on me, and informed me that the mob
had determined to attack the Bank.' " Wraxall.
The foreigners always obtain the first intelligence
of everything. It was the Marquis del Campo who
himself informed the Queen of Peg Nicholson's 2 at-
tempt to assassinate George the Third. And one of
1 June 7, 1780, the culminating day of the Gordon Riots.
2 The housemaid that attempted to stab the King with a
dessert-knife in 1786.
GAINSBOROUGH'S FAILURE 91
the Ministers of a foreign Court was first to learn the
meditated escape of Buonaparte from Elba. 1
" Suspicions were thrown on the Earl of Shelburne, 2
probably with great injustice. The natural expecta-
tion of producing a change in Ministry, was imagined
to suspend or supersede in certain minds, every other
consideration ; and it was even pretended, though on
very insufficient grounds, that Peers did not scruple to
take an active part in the worst excesses of the night
of the ;th of June." 3 Wraxall.
A man remarkable for duplicity will be always
suspected whether deserving suspicion or no. Gains-
borough drew Lord Shelburne's portrait : my Lord
complained it was not like. The painter said "he
did not approve it, and begged to try again." Fail-
ing this time, however, he flung away his pencil say-
ing, " D it, I never could see through varnish,
and there's an end."
1 This is far from clear. The Duke of Wellington told Rogers
that he got the first intelligence from the English minister at
Florence, the late Earl of Westmoreland, then Lord Burghersh.
It is one of the most curious cases of conflicting evidence that
can be named. See the Edinburgh Review, No. 227 (July
1860), pp. 235, 236. (Hayward.)
2 Goldsmith's Malagrida. " Goldsmith's blundering speech
to Lord Shelburne, which has been so often mentioned, and
which he really did make to him, was only a blunder in emphasis :
' I wonder they should call your Lordship Malagrida, for
Malagrida was a very good man.'" (Boswell's Jo/mson, 1783.)
3 It was a current story, which I have heard Lord Macaulay
relate, that the late Right Honourable T. Grenville was with a
party that broke into the Admiralty, and that the second time
he entered it was as First Lord. (Hayward.)
9 2 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
" Sir Fletcher Norton, 1 though perhaps justly ac-
cused, as a professional man, of preferring profit to
conscientious delicacy of principle; and though de-
nominated in the coarse satires or caricatures of that
day, by the epithet of ' Sir Bullface Doublefee ' ; yet
possessed eminent parliamentary, as well as legal
talents." 2 WraxalL
One of which I remember, except the second line,
which is not exact :
" Careless of censure, and no fool to fame,
Firm in his double post and double fees ;
Sir Fletcher standing without fear or shame,
Pockets the cash, and let's them laugh that please.
" So on a market day, stands Whatley's bear,
In spite of all their noise and hurly burley ;
Fixed on his double post, secure in air,
Munching his bunch of grapes, and looking surly."
The Bear at Devizes was then kept by one Whatley,
and stood upon a monstrous double signpost high up
in the air, when some wag wrote these verses with a
diamond on the window of an eating- room belonging
to the inn. They were taken of course into every-
body's scrap book, or everybody's memory.
1 Speaker of the House of Commons, 1770 ; created Baron
Grantley, 1782 ; attacked by Junius and many satirists and
caricaturists.
2 " Much may be done if a man puts his whole mind to a
particular object. By doing so, Norton has made himself the
great lawyer that he is allowed to be." (Boswell's Johnson, sub
anno 1776.)
DEFINITION OF A PRONOUN 93
When the present King (George the Third) was
quite a lad, there was a young fellow about the Prince's
Court, who being thought natural son to my uncle
Robert, was petted and provided for in some manner
by the family, and used to visit familiarly at my
mother's ; who said that he told her how one day the
two eldest boys were playing in the Princess's apart-
ment, when the second said suddenly, " Brother, when
you and I are men groivn, you shall marry a wife and
I'll keep a mistress." "What you say there? you
naughty boy," exclaimed the mother; " you better to
learn your pronouns as preceptor bid you ; I believe
you not know what it is a pronoun."
" Be quiet, Eddy," says the King ; " we shall have
anger presently for your nonsense. Fletcher ! (to my
courtier cousin) give us the books." " Let them alone,"
cries Prince Edward; "I know what it is without a
book : a pronoun is to a noun what a mistress is to a
wife a substitute and a representative." The Princess
burst out o' laughing and turned them all out of the
room.
Prince Edward was the Duke of York, who died at
Monaco in Italy.
Mrs. Crewe and Mrs. Bouverie)- The two fashion-
able belles about the Court and town had been painted
by Reynolds in a character of two shepherdesses, with
a pensive air as if appealing to each other, about the
year 1770, or perhaps earlier; and there was written
under the picture : " Et in Arcadia ego." When the
Exhibition was arrranging, the members and their
1 See p. Si.
94 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
friends went and looked the works over ; " What can
this mean ? " said Dr. Johnson ; " it seems very
nonsensical / am in Arcadia" " Well ! what of
that ! The King could have told you," replied the
painter. " He saw it yesterday, and said at once, ' Oh,
there is a tombstone in the back-ground. Ay, ay,
death is even in Arcadia.' "
The thought is borrowed from Poussin ; where
the gay frolickers stumble over a death's head, with a
scroll proceeding from his mouth, saying, "Et in
Arcadia ego"
'Tis said that those who seek one thing, often find
a better which was not the primary object of their
search. Queen Caroline looked for popular applause,
and gained private esteem. In pursuit of her original
desire to please every one who was presented, however,
she made herself acquainted with the well-known
events in English History ; and having been told that
a Derbyshire baronet, Sir Woolston Dixie, lived near
the spot where Richard the Third lost his life and
crown, readily adverted to that occurrence, and when
his name was mentioned, said " Oh, Sir ! it has been
related to me your connexion with Bosworth Field and
the memorable battle fought there." The gentleman's
face, even redder than before, swelled with indignation,
till at last he broke out with no very decorous
vehemence of protestation, that all her Majesty had
heard concerning it was false and groundless ; and
that he would find a way to make those repent who
had filled the ears of his Sovereign with such gross
untruths. " God forgive my great sin ! " cried the
A BATTLE OF BOSWORTH 95
astonished Princess ; and Sir Woolston Dixie left the
drawing-room in an agony scarce to be described.
The misintelligence, as the French call it, was
occasioned by the baronet's utter ignorance of historic
literature. He was a brutal fellow, and having as-
saulted a tinker some day crossing Bos worth Field, the
tinker laid down his tools and beat him severely ; which
his merry neighbours heard with pleasure, and called
this luckless encounter, naturally enough, The Battle
of Bosworth : while poor Sir Woolston, having never
heard of any other contest in the place, except his own,
made no doubt but that the Queen had heard of his dis-
grace, and took that opportunity to ridicule him for it.
I must add, that such instances of gross ignorance
in country gentlemen were not as now incompatible
with birth, rank, or fortune ; I mean in the days when
Caroline of Anspach canvassed her drawing-room at
St. James's. 1
Lady Archibald Hamilton formed during many
years the object of Frederick's 2 avowed and particular
attachment.
She was mother to Archdeacon Hamilton, who lived
his last years and died in the Circus here at Bath. He
was very unhappy in his family ; and when one observed
accidentally on another friend's ill-fortune " has he
three children?" says poor Hamilton; "and are they
1 Miss Berry relates that Sir John Germaine left a legacy to
Sir Matthew Decker, under the impression that he was the
author of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. (Hay ward.)
2 Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, the father of George
III.
96 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
like mine?" His mother was the Delamira of the
Tatler. His daughter is the Countess of Aldborough.
" The inglorious naval engagement in the Mediter-
ranean, between Byng and La Galissoniere, for his
conduct in which the former of those admirals
suffered." Wraxall.
See Retrospection, 2nd vol., page 423, near the
bottom. I had more grace than to name my own
father and uncle in a quarto volume meant for public
view : but I may tell you * thus privately, and after
more than half a century has past, how my uncle (who
was then judge of the Admiralty) felt affected, when
the old Duke of Newcastle wrung him by the hand
and said, " My dear Sir Thomas, England has seen
her best days. We are all undone. This d
fellow has done for us, and all is over."
" The Treasury, the Admiralty, the War Office, all
obeyed his (the first Pitt's) orders with prompt and
implicit submission. Lord Anson and the Duke of
Newcastle, sometimes, it is true, remonstrated, and
often complained ; but always finished by com-
pliance." Wraxall.
Their compliance was submission of the most un-
qualified kind, and the patience with which they
waited in the ante-room, while Mr. Pitt was examining
some machinery brought for his inspection by Nuttal
the engine maker in Long Acre, was truly laughable.
1 Sir James Fellowes, to whom were given her annotated copies
of her own books except the " Travel Book,'' which was given
to Conway.
JUNIUS 97
" All circumstances fully weighed, my own con-
viction is, that the Letters of 'Junius' were written
by the Right Honourable William Gerard Hamilton,
commonly designated by the nickname of ' Single
Speech Hamilton.' " 1 Wraxall.
So it is mine. I well remember when they were
most talked of and N. Seward said, " How the
arrows of Junius were sure to wound, and likely to
stick." " Yes, Sir," replied Dr. Johnson ; " yet let us
distinguish between the venom of the shaft, and the
vigour of the bow." At which expression Mr.
Hamilton's countenance fell in a manner that to me
betrayed the author. Johnson repeated the expression
in his next pamphlet and Junius wrote no more.
Lord Thurlow was storming one day at his old
valet, who thought little of a violence with which he
had been long familiar, and " Go to the devil, do" cries
the enraged master ; " Go, I say, to the devil." " Give
me a character, my Lord," replied the fellow, drily ;
" people like, you know, to have characters from their
acquaintance."
" The expression of his (the first Lord Liverpool's)
countenance, I find it difficult to describe." WraxalL
It was very peculiar, but he was a delightful com-
panion in social life. I know few people whose
conversation was more pleasingly diversified with fact
1 The famous single speech was made in 1755, when he was
M.P. for Petersfield. The rest of his eloquence was given chiefly
to the Irish Parliament.
7
9 8 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
and sentiment, narration and reflection, than that of
the first Lord Liverpool. 1
" ' Charles Fox,' observed he (Mr. Bootby) ' is un-
questionably a man of first-rate talents, but so deficient
in judgment, as never to have succeeded in any object
during his whole life. He loved only three things ;
women, play, and politics. Yet, at no period, did he
ever form a creditable connexion with a woman. He
lost his whole fortune at the gaming-table ; and with
the exception of about eleven months, he has remained
always in Opposition.' It is difficult to dispute the
justice of this portrait." Wraxall,
He preferred Mrs. (now Lady) Crewe, to all women
living, but Lady Crewe never lost an atom of character
1 mean female honour. She loved high play and
dissipation, but was no sensualist.
Lord Sandwich 2 came very early into a very small
paternal estate ; and his first entrance into life was
marked by an apparently warm disposition towards
virtue. He was, however, avowedly poor and proud ;
said that Sir Robert Walpole possessed no powers of
gaining him over from the opposition party, whilst he
was contented to live with the woman of his heart in
a small house somewhere about Westminster, and walk
to the House arm-in-arm with one friend, for whose
1 Charles Jenkinson (1727-1808), held many high offices of
state during a period of a quarter of a century. He was at one
time master of the Mint, and wrote a standard work on Coins
of the Realm.
2 John Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), First
Lord of the Admiralty in 1748 and again in 1771.
LADY CREWE
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
A RATED GAMESTER 99
opinions he had the highest deference. Sir Robert
laughed, and only said, " We shall see how all this
ends."
The Countess, though forty-four years old when
Lord Sandwich came of age and could not be per-
suaded to forbear pursuing her, brought him a son,
which cost her future health, and with her health that
flexibility of temper, which before marriage he deemed
her possessed of. But,
" To win a man when all our pains succeed,
The way to keep him is a task indeed."
Virtue and sense were soon found insufficient, joined
to a faded form and fretted mind, wherein resided
sullen disapprobation of all that frolic playfulness to
which her lord was naturally prone, and which his in-
terested friend taught him to consider as innocent,
even when combined with late hours, loose company,
and sometimes higher play than he could afford; al-
though Lord Sandwich never was a rated gamester 1
like Fox, or Fitzpatrick, 2 etc. Ill received at home,
however, his pleasures drew him thence, and they grow-
ing hourly more and more expensive, as his friend's
amusements were all placed to his account.
The Minister felt happy to provide for both, and
this young nobleman owed to his wife's stern virtue,
and his companion's insidious indulgences, a character
1 His passion for play is immortalised in the word sandwich
a device of his invention to prevent the necessity of leaving
the card-table for supper.
2 Richard Fitzpatrick, the intimate friend of C. J. Fox. He
was Secretary of War in 1783.
ioo DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
no man but Churchill could pourtray no man, I hope
besides himself, deserve:
" Is God's most holy name to be profan'd ?
His Word rejected, and His laws arraign'd :
His servants scorn'd as men who idly dream'd,
His service laugh'd at ; His dread Son blasphem'd ?
Is science by a scoundrel to be led ?
Are States to totter on a drunkard's head ?
Search earth, search hell, the Devil cannot find
An agent like Lothario to his mind."
The end of such men (with regard to this life) is
safer to imagine than describe. When talents, though
they can't protect, reproach their mad possessors, and
conscience, which congratulates the good man's exit,
lighting his last steps with her hallowed taper :
" Turns to a fury with a flaming torch,
Quickly extinguished in mephitic gloom ! "
Oh ! let us, to use a phrase of Shakespear, sweeten our
imaginations : and forgetting such characters, rather
recollect Doddridge's Epigram upon his own motto :
" Dum vivimus, vivamus."
" Live while you live, the epicure will say,
And give to pleasure ev'ry passing day ;
Live while you live, the sacred preacher cries,
And give to God each moment as it flies :
Lord ! in my views, let both united be !
I live to pleasure whilst I live to Thee."
Now, as a note to the third or fourth line of Church-
hill's verses, accept the following true anecdote :
Lord Sandwich had trained up a huge baboon that
he was fond of to play the part of a clergyman dressed
in canonicals, and make some buffoon imitation of say-
"THE FRANCISCANS" 101
ing grace. Among many merry friends round the table,
sat a Mr. Scott, afterwards well known by name of
Antisejanus; l but then a mere dependent servitor at
college, and humble play-fellow of young Hinchin-
broke. 2 The ape had no sooner finished his grimaces,
and taken leave of the company, than Scott unex-
pectedly, but unabashed, stood up and said :
" I protest, my lord, I intended doing this duty
myself, not knowing till now, that your lordship had
so near a relation in orders?
I must add that Lord Sandwich praised his wit and
courage without ever resenting the liberty.
He 3 had founded a society, denominated from his
own name, " The Franciscans," who, to the number of
twelve, met at Medmenham Abbey) near Marlow, in
Bucks, on the banks of the Thames.
The best account of these horrors, and the least
offensive, is in Chrysal ; or, the Adventures of a
Guinea, written by Smollet. 4
1 Chaplain to the Earl of Sandwich : " One of Lord Sand-
wich's hired and paid libellers," who "had by the pungent slang
of his letters (signed Anti-Sejanus) raised the sale of the Public
Advertiser from fifteen hundred to three thousand a day." It
was this same Scott that invited Goldsmith to become a party
hack and to his indignation and amazement met with a firm
refusal. "And so I left him in his garret ! "
2 Hinchinbroke, the seat of the Earl of Sandwich in
Huntingdonshire.
3 This reference should be to Francis Dashwood, Baron Le
Despencer (1708-1781), Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1762.
Seven years before that he founded the Hell-Fire Club at
Medmenham.
4 For Smollett should be read Charles Johnstone, the author
of this chronique scandalettse, 1760-1765.
102 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
" Beauclerc l discovered him (Fox) intently engaged
in reading a Greek Herodotus. ' What would you have
me do,' said he, ' I have lost my last shilling ! ' Such
was the elasticity, suavity, and equality of disposition
that characterised him ; and with so little effort did
he pass from profligate dissipation to researches of
taste or literature." Wraxall.
I have heard this story before, and believe it is true.
Topham Beauclerc (wicked and profligate as he wished
to be accounted) was yet a man of very strict veracity.
Oh Lord ! how I did hate that horrid Beauclerc !
" If Burke really believed the facts that he laid down
(regarding the American war), what are we to think
of his judgment ! " Wraxall.
Burke troubled himself but little to think on what
he had said; he spoke for present and immediate
effect, rarely if ever missing his aim ; because, like
Doctor Johnson, he always spoke his best, whether on
great or small occasions. One evening at Sir Joshua
Reynolds' it was his humour to harangue in praise of
the then ceded islands, and in their praise he said so
much, that Mrs. Horneck, a widow with two beautiful
daughters, 2 resolved to lose no time in purchasing where
such advantages would infallibly arise. She did so,
1 Johnson's friend, Topham Beauclerk, grandson of the Duke
of St. Albans.
2 Catherine (" Little Comedy ") became the wife of the artist
H. W. Bunbury. The younger sister, Mary (Goldsmith's
" Jessamy Bride"), married Colonel Gwyn, and lived till 1840.
Hazlitt met Mrs. Gwyn, and thought her still beautiful. " I
could almost fancy the shade of Goldsmith in the room looking
round with complacency."
A PECULIAR SPECIES OF UGLINESS 103
and lost a large portion of her slender income. " Dear
Sir," said I, when we met next, " how fatal has your
eloquence proved to poor Mrs. Horneck ! " " How
fatal her own folly ! " replied he ; ;< Ods my life, must
one swear to the truth of a song."
" It is difficult to do justice to the peculiar species
of ugliness which characterised his (Dunning x ) person
and figure, although he did not labour under any
absolute deformity of shape or limb." WraxalL
Sir Joshua alone could give a good portrait of
Dunning. His picture of Lord Shelburne, 2 Lord
Ashburton, and Colonel Barre, 3 has surely no su-
perior. The characters so admirable, the likenesses
so strong.
Wedderburn 4 was particularly happy when speak-
ing of Franklyn, who (he said) the Ministers had
wantonly and foolishly made their enemy. An enemy
so inveterate, said he, so merciless, and so implacable,
that he resembles Zanga the Moor, in Young's tragedy
of the Revenge;* who at length ends his hellish plot
by saying:
" I forg'd the letter, and dispos'd the picture,
I hated, I despis'd, and I destroy."
The quotation struck every one.
1 John Dunning, first Baron Ashburton (1731-1783).
2 Sir William Petty, first Marquis of Lansdowne, second
Earl of Shelburne (1737-1805).
3 Isaac Barre (1726-1802), soldier and politician.
4 Lord Chancellor (1793-1801), first Earl of Rosslyn, 1801.
5 Edward Young's tragedy of 1721.
104 DR - JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
Benjamin Frankly n, who, by bringing a spark from
Heaven, fulfilled the prophecies he pretended to dis-
believe ; Franklyn, who wrote a profane addition to
the Book of Genesis, who hissed on the colonies against
their parent country, who taught men to despise their
Sovereign and insult their Redeemer, who did all the
mischief in his power while living, and at last died, I
think, in America ; was beside all the rest, a plagiarist,
as it appears ; and the curious epitaph made on himself,
and as we long believed, by himself, was, I am in-
formed, borrowed without acknowledgment, from one
upon Jacob Tonson, 1 to whom it was more appropriate,
comparing himself to an old book eaten by worms ;
which on some future day, however, should be new
edited, after undergoing revisal and correction by the
Author.
There are some exquisitely pretty stanzas, very
little known, written by one Mr. Dale, upon Franklyn's
invention of a lamp, in which the flame was forced
downward, burning in a new discovered method, con-
trary to nature. I had a rough copy of the verses, and
they lay loose in the second volume of Retrospection,
but I suppose they dropped out, and I lost them, or
they should have been written down here. I cannot
trust my memory to do them justice. The first stanzas
praise his philosophical powers :
" But to covet political fame,
Was in him a degrading ambition ;
'Twas a spark, that from Lucifer came,
And first kindled the blaze of sedition.
1 The celebrated bookseller-publisher (1656-1736).
CHARLES JAMES FOX
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
LADY SARAH LENNOX 105
" May not Candour then write on his urn,
Here alas ! lies a noted inventor ;
Whose flame up to Heav'n ought to burn,
But inverted, descends to the centre? l
" Like his nephew,Mr. Fox, the Duke (of Richmond) 2
did not spare the King, when addressing the House of
Lords ; and he was considered as peculiarly obnoxious
at St. James's." Wraxall.
He never forgave the preference given by the King's
immediate adviser s? when there was question of a Con-
sort to the English Throne, where he hoped to see his
beautiful sister (Lady Sarah) 4 seated in vain ! Lord
Bute was too quick in providing a much safer partner. 5
" Burke exclaimed, that ' he (Pitt) was not merely
1 It is strange that she forgot to mention Turgot's famous
motto for the bust of Franklin by Houdon :
" Eripuit ccelo fulmen sceptrumque tyrannis."
Franklin's own criticism on it was that the thunder remained
where he found it, and that more than a million of men co-
operated with him in shaking off the monarchical rule of Great
Britain. (Hayward.)
2 Charles Lennox, the third duke (1735-1806), at one period
of his political career a champion of universal suffrage and an
ardent parliamentary reformer.
3 The unpopularity of Lord Bute was without parallel.
Chatham, in the House of Lords, referred to him as " the secret
influence, more mighty than the throne itself, which betrayed
and clogged every administration."
4 Lady Sarah Lennox. " She had to figure as bridesmaid at
her little Mecklenburg rival's wedding, and died in our own
time a queer old lady, who had become the mother of the
heroic Napiers." (Thackeray.)
5 Princess Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
106 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
a chip of the old block, but the old block itself.' "
Wraxall.
Not quite. The old block's head was beautiful, and
the eyes in it brilliant with intelligence.
I have seen Sheridan x (the father of R. B.) on the
stage in former days, acting Horatio in Rowe's Fair
Penitent, to Garrick's Lothario ; but of his powers as
a lecturer, Mr. Murphy 2 gave the most ludicrous ac-
count, taking him off with incomparable powers of
mimicry quite unequalled.
He (Lord Mulgrave) was a haughty spirited man,
whom I should not suspect of any possible meanness,
for any possible advantage. Rough as a boatswain, 3
proud as a strong feeling of aristocracy could make
him, and fond of coarse merriment, approaching to ill-
manners, he was in society a dangerous converser : one
never knew what he would say next. " Why Holla,
Burke ! (I heard him crying out on one occasion) What,
you are rioting in puns, now Johnson is away." Burke
was indignant, and ready with a reply. But Lord
Mulgrave drowned all in storms of laughter.
In reference to the " Optat Ephippia Bos piger" 4
1 Thomas Sheridan (1719-1788), manager of Theatre Royal,
Dublin, actor at Covent Garden and Drury Lane, editor of
Swift, and lecturer on elocution and education.
2 Arthur Murphy, the editor of Fielding and the friend of
Johnson. He was himself for some time an actor.
3 Constantine John Phipps, Baron Mulgrave (1744-1792),
commander of the polar expedition in which Nelson took
part.
4 The slow ox desires the trappings of the horse, and the
pack-horse longs to plough. Horace, Ep. I. xiv. 43.
THE TWO HORACES 107
story of Lord Falmouth and Pitt, told by Wraxall,
she writes :
I have heard my father relate the story somewhat
differently, but in substance the same. He said some
wag chalked the words on his (Lord Falmouth's) door,
and that, seeing them, he exclaimed, " he would give
ioo/. to know who wrote them." The first friend he
met said, " Give me the money, Horace wrote them."
Then comes the next mistake, " Horace ! a dog, after
all his obligations to me," 1 etc.
A similar story to this was related to me in Italy.
Cardinal Zanelli was pasquinaded at Rome for his in-
gratitude to the Dauphin of France, whose influence,
exerted in his favour, had procured him the dignity of
Eminenza. Zanelli's coat armour was a vine', the
statue 2 exhibited these words :
" Plantavi Vineam> et fecit labruscas."
The enraged Cardinal, little skilled in Scripture
learning, actually promised a reward to whoever would
tell who wrote it. Next day Pasquin claimed the
reward for himself, having marked under the words,
4Of/i chapter of Isaiah?
In this memorable year, 1782, the Atlas man-of-
1 Confusing Flaccus and Walpole. [Lord Falmouth's name
was JSoscawen, and he had just been soliciting the Garter.
Hayward.]
2 A mutilated statue discovered near the house of Pasquino,
a Roman tailor of the fifteenth century famed for his powers
of sarcasm, became the favourite place for the publication of
libels and scurrilities against the Pope and cardinals.
3 I saiah v. 2.
io8 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
war was launched, a three-decker of eminent beauty.
We all know that the figure at the ship's head corre-
sponds with the name, and I was informed that Her-
cules's substitute was a most magnificent fellow, fit to
support the globe. When, however, they came to ship
her bowsprit, he stood so high, that something was
found necessary to be done ; and the rough carpenter,
waiting no orders, cut part of the globe away which
stood upon the hero's shoulders. When it was ex-
amined afterwards, the part lost to our possession was
observed to be America. Sailors remarked the acci-
dent as ominous, and the event has not tended to
lessen their credulity.
When Montcalm was dying of his wounds in the
great battle which deprived us of General Wolfe,
"Well, well!" said he, "England has torn North
America from us, but she will one day tear herself from
the mother country. Once free from the French yoke,
she will endure no other."
My father said those were his very words : my father
died in the year 1762, but he always predicted
American Independence.
" During his elder brother's life, when only Lord
Harry Powlett, he (the Duke of Bolton) l had served
in the royal navy, where, however, he acquired no
laurels, and he was commonly supposed to be the
' Captain Whiffle ' pourtrayed by Smollet, in his
Roderick Random" Wraxall.
I don't know whether this Lord Harry Powlett, or
1 Duke of Bolton and Marquis of Winchester (1719-1794),
Admiral of the Fleet 1770.
A HUNDRED MONKEYS 109
an uncle of his wearing the same name, was the person
of whom my mother used to relate a ludicrous anec-
dote. Some lady with whom she had been well ac-
quainted, and to whom his lordship was observed to
pay uncommon attentions, requested him to procure
for her a pair of small monkies from East India I
forget the kind. Lord Harry, happy to oblige her,
wrote immediately, depending on the best services of
a distant friend, whom he had essentially served.
Writing a bad hand, however, and spelling what he
wrote for with more haste than correctness, he charged
the gentleman to send him over two monkies, but the
word being written too, and all the characters of one
height, ioo y what was poor Lord Harry Powlett's
dismay, when a letter came to hand, with the news
that he would receive fifty monkies by such a ship,
and fifty more by the next conveyance, making up
the hundred according to his lordship's commands !
On this occasion (his victory over De Grasse in
1782) Rodney is said to have taught them the method
of breaking the line, by which I have heard it asserted
that Lord Nelson won all his victories by sea, and
Buonaparte by land ; but which is still a stranger thing,
Lord Glenbervie l told me (and I believe him) that
Epaminondas won the battles of Leuctra and Mantinea
by the same manoeuvre 2178 years ago.
" The Princess of Franca Villa was commonly sup-
posed to have bestowed on him (Lord Rockingham)
1 Sylvester Douglas, M.P. for Fowey, created Baron Glen-
bervie 1800.
no DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
the same fatal present, which the ' Belle Ferroniere '
conferred on Francis the First, King of France ; and
which, as we learn from Burnet, 1 the Countess of South-
esk was said to have entailed on James, Duke of York,
afterwards James the Second." WraxalL
In Italy it was supposed to have been the succession
powder mingled with chocolate whilst in the cake, not
in the liquid we drink. Acqua Toffana, 2 and succession
powder (polvere per successione) were administered,
as I have heard, with certain although ill-understood
effects. Lord Rockingham desired to be opened after
his death, and was so.
" There was a number of Members who regularly
received from him (Pelham's Secretary of the Treasury)
their payment or stipend at the end of every session
in bank notes.", Wraxall,
I am sorry to read these things of Mr. Pelham, 8
whom everybody loved, and Garrick praised so
sweetly, saying :
" Let others hail the rising sun,
I bow to that whose course is run,
Which sets in endless night ;
Whose rays benignant bless'd our Isle,
Made peaceful nature round us smile,
With calm but cheerful light.
1 The story is also told in Grammont's Memoirs. Burnet adds
that Lord Southesk denied the share in the transaction attributed
to his lordship. The story of La Belle Ferroniere is declared
apocryphal by the author of U Esprit dansl Histoire. (Hayward.)
2 Aqua Tufania, a poison named after its Greek discoverer.
8 Henry Pelham (1695-1754), brother of the Duke of New-
castle, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1743).
EDMUND BURKE
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
LEAVING WELL ALONE in
" See as you pass the crowded street,
Despondence clouds each face you meet,
All their lost friend deplore.
You read in every pensive eye,
You hear in every broken sigh,
That Pelham is no more."
This ode, 1 from whence I have selected two stanzas,
not the best, and a comical thing called The News
Writers' Petition, that came out a very little while
before, give one the impression of his having been a
very honest man. I am quite sorry Wraxall's book
tends so much to destroy that impression. 2
Pelham's death was curious, and he thought so ; for
it was his favourite maxim in politics, never to stir an
evil which lies quiet. "And now," said he, upon his
death-bed to his doctor, " I die for having acted in con-
tradiction to my own good rule taking unnecessary
medicines for a stone which lay still enough in my
bladder, and might perhaps have never given me
serious injury." But so it is, that though death cer-
tainly does strike the dart, it is often vice or folly
poisons it with regard to this world or the world to
come.
1 It was on the coincidence of his death (1754) occurring on
the day when Bolingbroke's works were published. (Hayward.)
2 Wraxall's assertions regarding Pelham's corrupt practice
are admitted by historians.
ON the friendship between Warburton and Richardson:
" Very curious, and an odd friendship somehow
between men so completely dissimilar. The elephant
and zebra drawing together."
On a story of a clergyman preaching to convicts
about to be hanged and promising them a continua-
tion of his discourse :
" Like the hangman, who when some generous
fellow gave him a guinea, cried out, ' Long life to
your honour/ whilst he was tying the knot."
In reference to a parody of Johnson's style under
the title of Lexiphanes (1767) : l
" It vexed him, however, I well remember."
On the reported remark that no child has affection
for a parent whom it has not seen :
" No nor whom it has seen, I believe, except by
chance."
Johnson to Boswell, 1772 ' Mrs. Thrale loves you.'
" Not I. I never loved him."
1 Lexiphanes, by Archibald Campbell, purser of a man-of-war
and son of a St. Andrews professor.
BOSWELL'S MANNERS 113
Goldsmith and ghosts :
" Who would believe Goldy when he told of a
ghost ? A man whom one could not believe when
he told of a brother. It is questionable now
whether he had a brother or not." l
Boswell. ' Would not you allow a man to drink
for that reason (to make him forget what is disagree-
able) ? ' Johnson. ' Yes, Sir, if he sate next you.'
" Dr. Johnson said : ' The man compels me to treat
him so.' "
' You continue to stand high with Mrs. Thrale.'
Johnson to Boswell, February 22nd, 1773.
" Poor Mrs. Thrale was obliged to say so in order
to keep well with Johnson."
On the story of the retired tallow-chandler who
begged to be allowed to return to his old shop on
melting days:
"It was Murphy's story originally, who always
told it of dripping night, instead of melting day"
On a passage in Johnson's letter, August 27th, 1775,
to Boswell : ( She has a great regard for you.'
" Not I never had : I thought him a clever and
a comical fellow."
Johnson to Boswell. ' Have you no better man-
ners? That is your want ' (1770).
" So it was. Curiosity carried Boswell farther than
it ever carried any mortal breathing. He cared not
1 Boswell, plainly not a little ashamed of himself, tells the
absurd story of Goldsmith's having boasted that his brother was
Dean of Durham.
8
ii4 DR JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
what he provoked so as he saw what such a one would
say or do."
On the remark that Lord Lyttelton employed an-
other man to point his history :
" Yes, a cork-cutter." l
Dr. Dodd : 2
" If the King could have saved any man it would
have been Ryland, 3 whom he personally loved ; but
having tried his interest for that man, ' Now,' said he,
' if I am ever solicited to pardon for forgery, you
shall be made to remember these arguments.' "
On Bos well's remark that Pope's sorrowful re-
flection, that all things would be as gay as ever on
the day of his death, is natural and common :
" I don't know how common, but not natural in
the least to me. I am glad other people go on if /
am forced to stop."
On Johnson's declaration of readiness to sit up all
night being called an animated speech from a man of
sixty-eight :
" Not from Johnson, who delighted to sit up all
night and lie in bed all day."
1 History of the Life of Henry the Second (1767), by the first
Lord Lyttelton. The first and the second editions were punctu-
ated by a hack writer, Andrew Reid ; the third, Johnson says,
by an ex-combmaker.
2 Johnson drew up a petition for Dr. William Dodd, at one
time a royal chaplain, who was executed in 1777 for forging the
signature of Lord Chesterfield.
3 William Wynne Ryland, Engraver to the King, was hanged
for forgery in 1783.
SUTILE OR FUTILE 115
Johnson to BoswelL ' I will not be put to the
question. . . . These are not the manners of a gentle-
man.'
" ' I have been put so to the question by Bozzy,
this morning,' said Dr. Johnson, one day, ' that I am
now panting for breath.' ' What sort of questions
did he ask, I wonder ? ' ' Why, one question was :
" Pray, Sir, can you tell why an apple is round and a
pear pointed ? " Would not such talk make a man
hang himself?"
Pennant has the true spirit of a gentleman. Bos-
well.
" So he has. I wish he had the style of a gentle-
man ; but his perverse imitation of countinghouse
brevity, leaving the personal pronoun out so perpetu-
ally, teazes a reader more than one could imagine.
His style resembles a letter in the Spectator recom-
mending Whittington to the Temple of Fame."
On Boswell's saying that Mrs. Piozzi had mistaken
sutile for futile in Johnson's description of the needle-
work of Mrs. Knowles : x
"It was no mistake. As pictures they are futile;
so are Miss Linwood's. 2 The moth, the sunshine,
everything may destroy the beautiful work, Alas ! 3
1 Mrs. Knowles (d. 1807), a Quaker lady famous for artistic
needlework. She wrote an account of a dialogue with Johnson
which was rejected by Boswell.
2 Mary Linwood (d. 1845), a musical composer and designer
of pictures in worsted.
8 Dr. Lort, writing to Bishop Percy, says : " I take for granted
that you have read Dr. Johnson's Correspondence, published by
n6 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
On Boswell's fearing to go into a state of being
in which Shakespeare's poetry did not exist.
" And Virgil's sacred work shall die," says Cowley.
" I am not so sure, however, that we may not repeat
Virgil, as I am that we shall not see the pictures of
Raphael and Correggio. They must be taken from
us I fear. The verses may be remembered."
A new thought is a very uncommon thing in con-
versation, even of witty men. Johnson.
" A new thought is like a new coin, and has more
glitter but not more weight than the expression we
have long been used to."
' Querulousness of old age.' (Malone, as quoted
by Boswell).
" Was not Johnson querulous ? In whom else
would such querulousness have been endured ? "
On Johnson's saying of Beauclerc, 1 ' No man was
ever so free, when he was going to say a good thing,
from a look that expressed that it was coming ; or,
Mrs. Piozzi : and though you might not have been sorry to have
read the whole, yet I wish, for the Doctor's sake, that only half
of it had been printed. In one letter it is said, ' I have seen
Mrs. Knowles, the quaker, and \\erfutile pictures ' ; it should be
sutile^ a word, though not to be found in his Dictionary, yet very
aptly made to express the mode of painting, viz. in needlework,
of which sort there are two portraits of the king and queen
; made by Mrs. Knowles at Buckingham House. I desired a
sight of the original letter in order to determine a wager.
There it plainly appeared that a dash had been put across the
long s, Johnson's usual mode of writing that letter, perhaps by
the printer or corrector of the press." (Hayward.)
1 Topham Beauclerk, grandson of the Duke of St. Albans,
and one of Johnson's best-loved younger friends.
THE LANGUID LIST 117
when he had said it, from a look that expressed that
it had come.'
" Yes, Beauclerc was first upon the languid list of
Ton people. Dr. Johnson, who was all emphasis
himself, felt epris of such a character: a man of
quality who disdained effect in conversation, to which
he never came unprepared."
You must not expect that I should tell you any-
thing, if I had anything to tell. Johnson to Boswell,
July 1 3th, 1779.
" Very true ; he never did tell him anything for
fear of misrepresentation."
On Johnson's remark that a father had no right to
control the inclinations of his daughter in marriage :
" Some of his auditors 1 were, however, of opinion
that children might control their parents in marriage."
It is in expectation of a return that parents are so
attentive to their children. Boswell.
" They must be silly parents sure, of no experience
at all Scotch parents attentive to interest even
whilst fondling their babies. What nonsense ! "
As to beggars asking more readily from men than
from women. Johnson, as reported by Langton.
" The man has more money in his pocket, and his
money is his own. The woman is commonly re-
sponsible for her expenses to a father, a brother, or a
husband. She must give in her account on Monday
evening, and mention the shilling given to the beggar,
1 The remark was made at the breakfast-table at Streatham
before the future rebels.
n8 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
for doing which she will receive a cheque and be told
it was ill-bestowed."
The author of Night Thoughts and his son :
" A parent that he, the young man, hated. Addison
and Young knew too much of life to be favourites
with their families."
On Palmer's return from transportation :
" When Margaret came home safe, and his old cat
which he took out to exile with him, I know not who
told me the cat recognised her original habitation." l
To Chinese vaunting, a common sailor retorted :
" And yet, though you have been pouring out tea
ever since the Flood, you never had skill to make a
spout to your teapot till we taught you how."
He (Johnson) had projected a work to show how
small a quantity of REAL FICTION there is in the
world. Boswell.
" That would have been pretty. Johnson used to
say that he believed no combination could be found,
and few sentiments, that might not be traced to
Homer, Shakespeare, and Richardson."
In the meantime let us be kind to one another.
Johnson to Dr. Taylor?
" To whom he perpetually turned not to his
1 T. F. Palmer was a Fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge.
He became a Unitarian minister at Dundee, and was involved
in some treasonable printing for which he was sentenced to
twelve years at Botany Bay. He died on his way home.
2 John Taylor, friend and schoolfellow of Johnson (1711-1788).
His published sermons were ascribed to Johnson.
OLD THRALE 119
flatterers and admirers. Ever sighing for the toast,
bread and butter of life, when satiated with the turtle
and Burgundy of it."
On Boswell's account of Mr. Thrale's pedigree (sub
anno 1765):
" Edmund Halsey was son to a miller at St. Albans,
with whom he quarrelled, like Ralph in the Maid of
the Mill* and ran away to London with a very few
shillings in his pocket. He was eminently handsome,
and old Child of the Anchor Brewhouse, Southwark,
took him in as what we call a broomstick clerk, to
sweep the yard, etc. Edmund Halsey behaved so
well he was soon preferred to be a house-clerk, and
then, having free access to his master's table, married
his only daughter, and succeeded to the business upon
Child's demise. Being now rich and prosperous, he
turned his eyes homewards, where he learned that
sister Sukey had married a hardworking man at
Offley in Hertfordshire, and had many children. He
sent for one of them to London (my Mr. Thrale's
father) ; said he would make a man of him, and did so :
but made him work very hard, and treated him very
roughly, Halsey being more proud than tender, and
his only child, a daughter, married to Lord Cobham. 2
" Old Thrale, however, as these fine writers call him, 3
then a young fellow, and, like his uncle, eminent
for personal beauty, made himself so useful to Mr.
Halsey that the weight of the business fell entirely
1 Isaac BickerstafPs play of 1765.
2 Sir Richard Temple, Viscount Cobham (1669-1749).
3 Boswell calls him so.
120 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
on him ; and while Edmund was canvassing the
borough and visiting the viscountess, Ralph Thrale
was getting money both for himself and his principal :
who, envious of his success with a wench they both
liked but who preferred the young man to the old
one, died, leaving him never a guinea, and he bought
the brewhouse of Lord and Lady Cobham, making
an excellent bargain, with the money he had saved."
Johnson had a very sincere esteem for Mr. Thrale
as a man of excellent principles, a good scholar, well
skilled in trade, of a sound understanding, and of
manners such as presented the character of a plain,
independent English Squire. Boswell.
" No, no ! Mr. Thrale's manners presented the
character of a gay man of the town : like Millamant,
in Congreve's comedy, 1 he abhorred the country and
everything in it"
On a couplet in The Vanity of Human Wishes:
" Through all his veins the fever of renown
Spreads from the strong contagion of the gown."
He had desired me to change spreads into burns.
Boswell.
" Every fever burns I believe ; but Bozzy could
think only on Nessus' dirty shirt, or Dr. Johnson's."
Probably this alteration in dress [new silver
buckles] had been suggested by Mrs. Thrale, by
associating with whom his external appearance was
much improved. Boswell.
" It was suggested by Mr. Thrale, not by his wife."
1 The Way of the World, 1 700.
JAMES BOSWELL
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
GUSTFUL FOOD 121
A dog will take a small bit of meat as readily as
a large, when both are before him. Johnson, apud
Boswell.
" Which Johnson would never have done."
No man ate more heartily than Johnson, or loved
better what was nice and delicate. Boswell.
" What was gustful rather : what was strong that he
could taste it, what was tender that he could chew it."
In the life of Lyttelton Johnson seems to have
been not favourably disposed towards that noble-
man. Mrs. Thrale suggests that he was offended by
Molly Aston's * preference of his lordship to him.
Boswell.
" I never said so. I believe Lord Lyttelton and
Molly Aston were not acquainted. No, no ; it was
Miss Boothby - whose preference he professed to
have been jealous of, and so I said in the Anecdotes"
' Pray, sir,' said Lord Charlemont, 3 ' is it true
that you are taking lessons of Vestris ? ' 4 This was
1 A Lichfield friend for whom Johnson entertained a great
admiration. Her letters, he told Mrs. Thrale, would be the
last he would destroy.
2 Miss Hill Boothby, whose correspondence with Johnson was
published in 1805.
3 James Caulfeild, created Earl of Charlemont 1763. He
took a leading part in the Irish Volunteer movement of 1782.
From 1764 to 1773 he was living in London, and a welcome guest
in the Johnson circle.
4 The famous dancer (1729-1808) who boasted, " Europe
contains only three truly great men myself, Voltaire, and
Frederick of Prussia."
122 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
risking a good deal, and required the boldness of a
general of Irish volunteers to make the attempt.
Johnson was at first startled, and in some heat
answered, ' How can your lordship ask so simple a
question ? ' BoswelL
" Was he not right in hating to be so treated ?
and would he not have been right to have loved me
better than any of them because I never did make a
Lyon of him ? "
I cannot withhold from Mrs. Thrale the praise of
being the author of that admirable poem ' The Three
Warnings.' * Boswell.
" How sorry he is ! "
At a later period of his life, when Sir Joshua
Reynolds told him that Mr. Edmund Burke had said
that if he had come early into Parliament he certainly
would have been the greatest speaker that ever was
there, Johnson exclaimed, ' I should like to try my
hand now ' . . . I cannot help wishing that he had
'tried his hand in Parliament'; and I wonder that
the ministry did not make the experiment. Boswell.
" Boswell had leisure for curiosity : Ministers had
not. Boswell would have been equally amused by his
failure as by his success ; but to Lord North there
would have been no joke at all in the experiment
ending untowardly."
' Wales, so far as I have yet seen of it, is a very
beautiful and rich country, all enclosed and planted.'
(Johnson, Letter to Levet, apud Boswell 1 774.)
1 See Appendix.
"SPITEFUL AGAIN!" 123
" Yet, to please Mr. Thrale, he feigned abhorrence
of it."
I was not pleased that his (Johnson's) intimacy
with Mr. Thrale's family, though it no doubt contri-
buted much to his comfort and enjoyment, was not
without some degree of restraint : not, as has been
grossly suggested, that it was required of him as a
task to talk for the entertainment of them and their
company; but that he was not quite at his ease.
Boswell.
" What restraint can he mean ? Johnson kept
every one else under restraint. I do not believe it
ever was suggested."
I found on visiting Mr. Thrale that he was now very
ill, and had removed, I suppose by the solicitation of
Mrs. Thrale, to a house in Grosvenor Square. Boswell.
" Spiteful again ! He went by direction of his
physicians where they could easiest attend to him."
Johnson mentioned to him (Reynolds) that he had
been told by Taylor x he was to be his heir. Boswell.
" His fondness for Reynolds, ay, and for Thrale,
had a dash of interest to keep it warm."
Johnson wishing to unite himself with this rich
widow (Mrs. Thrale), was much talked of, but I be-
lieve without foundation. Boswell.
" I believe so, too ! ! "
I had before dinner repeated a ridiculous story told
me by an old man, who had been a passenger with me
in the stage-coach to-day. Mrs. Thrale, having taken
1 See p. 1 1 8.
124 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
occasion to allude to it in talking to me, called it,
' The story told you by the old woman' ' Now,
Madam,' said I, ' give me leave to catch you in the
fact : it was not an old woman, but an old man, whom
I mentioned as having told me this.' I presumed to
take an opportunity, in the presence of Johnson, of
showing this lively lady how ready she was, unin-
tentionally, to deviate from exact authenticity of
narration. BoswelL
" Mrs. Thrale knew there was no such thing as an
Old Man : when a man gets superannuated, they call
him an Old Woman."
Mrs. Thrale, while supping very heartily upon
larks, laid down her knife and fork, and abruptly ex-
claimed, ' O, my dear Johnson ! do you know what
has happened ? The last letters from abroad have
brought us an account that our poor cousin's head
was taken off by a cannon-ball.' Johnson, who was
shocked both at the fact and her light, unfeeling
manner of mentioning it, replied, ' Madam, it would
givejjw* very little concern if all your relations were
spitted like those larks, and dressed for Presto's
supper.' Boswell.
" Boswell appealing to Baretti for a testimony of
the truth is comical enough ! I never addressed him
(Johnson) so familiarly in my life. I never did eat
any supper, and there were no larks to eat."
Mrs. Piozzi has given a similar misrepresentation
of Johnson's treatment of Garrick in this particular
(as to the Club), as if he had used these contemptuous
EDWARD GIBBON
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
A LESSON IN PRONUNCIATION 125
expressions: 'If Garrick does apply, I'll blackball
him. Surely one ought to sit in a society like ours
' " Unelbow'd by a gamester, pimp, or player." ' (Boswell.)
" He did say so, and Mr. Thrale stood astonished."
' When,' said Johnson, ' I published the plan of my
dictionary, Lord Chesterfield told me that the word
great should be pronounced so as to rhyme to state;
and Sir William Yonge sent me word that it should
be pronounced so as to rhyme to seat, and that none
but an Irishman would pronounce it grait. Now
here were two men of the highest rank, one the
best speaker in the House of Lords, the other the
best speaker in the House of Commons, differing
entirely.' Boswell.
" Sir William was in the right."
On Johnson's doing penance at Uttoxeter :
" Very like a Romanist, but we must all go to the
old shop for something."
MARGINAL NOTES ON JOHNSON'S
LIVES OF THE POETS
IN 1636 he (Cowley) was removed to Cambridge.
" Nothing does so reconcile one to the laxity of
all college discipline in our day, as the reflexion
how sincerely it disgusted both Milton and Cowley
in past times. Schools and colleges now neither
instruct the young folk, nor offend them ; but as
Sir Joshua Reynolds said of his pupils, ' They may
learn if they like ; I throw every advantage in their
way, and no hindrance.' "
Of the verses (Cowley's) on Oliver's death, in which
Wood's narrative seems to imply something encomi-
astic, there has been no appearance. There is a
discourse l concerning his government, indeed, with
verses intermixed, but such has certainly gained its
author no friends among the abettors of usurpation.
" It is a discourse of energetic satire, and Burke
was busy with this performance when he racked his
own invention raw to find abuse enough for Warren
Hastings."
He (Cowley) composed in Latin several books on
plants.
1 Discourse by Way of Vision concerning the Government of
Oliver Cromwell,
126
A THEORY OF LAUGHTER 127
" And this was the Parent of Darwin's late ' Loves
of the Plants. ' " l
On Cowley's letter to Sprat, 2 from Chertsey [giving
a comical account of his misadventures in the
country].
" Johnson has a Rambler imitated from this. 3
He loved to make retirement ridiculous."
In his (Cowley's) poem on the death of Hervey,
there is much praise, but little passion.
" He does divert his sorrow by chusing incongruous
images, but in this poem one may discern some truth
of real concern. 4 I think it is the parent of Lord
Lyttelton's monody to his wife."
The diction (of Cowley's Anacreontics) shows
nothing of the mould of time. . . . Real mirth must
always be natural, and nature is uniform. Men have
been wise in very different modes, but they have
always laughed the same way.
" I think not ; I think national mirth a great dis-
crimination of national character. Wisdom is dressed
up alike by almost all. . . . One way of being wise, I
think, and a thousand of being merry. ... I felt
naturalised in Italy many years after this note was
1 There is no reason for doubting the complete originality of
Erasmus Darwin's poem of 1789. Cowley would not have
pressed the claim.
2 Thomas Sprat, Bishop of Rochester, Cowley's first biog-
rapher.
3 Rambler, 135.
4 Johnson is unjust here as in the case of Lycidas. Cowley's
tribute to his Cambridge friend is generally admitted to be, as
Palgrave calls it, " a deeply-felt elegy."
i 2 8 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
written, when I could understand their jokes, and
make them understand mine"
When Virgil describes the stone which Turnus
lifted against ^Eneas, he fixes the attention on its
bulk and weight :
Saxum circumspicit ingens . . .
Limes agro positus, litem ut discerneret arvis.
Cowley says of the stone with which Cain slew his
brother :
I saw him fling the stone, as if he meant
At once his murther and his monument.
" I think that's as well ; Virgil (full of his own
Georgics) describes the agricultural use of the stone :
Cowley feeling it would produce death, thinks of the
monument"
Cowley says of the Messiah :
Round the whole earth his dreaded name shall sound,
And reach to worlds that cannot yet be found.
" O'er the whole earth would be better ; round and
sound and found, come too quick upon the ear to be
sweet, and put one in mind of a man crying cherries."
I have formerly read, without much reflection, of the
multitude of Scotchmen that carried their wares to
Poland. (Life of Denham.}
" I can remember when every pedlar was called a
Scotchman by servants, etc., probably by those of
higher rank. . . . We children used to jump for joy,
and cry, There's a Scotchman a coming, a Scotchman
indeed, mamma."
MILTON IN ITALY 129
Though with these streams he no resemblance hold,
Whose foam is amber, and their gravel gold,
His genuine and less guilty wealth to explore,
Search not his bottom but survey his shore.
Denham's On the Thames.
" Not less guilty, I think. . . . For Pactolus, etc., were
innocent of all the frauds which commerce carries on
upon the Thames, and their wealth was genuine too,
his accidental?
He (Milton) left the University alienated either by
the injudicious severity of his governors, or his own
captious perverseness.
"The_/?r.tf of these I fear it was. . . . They have
never whipt * a lad since, for fear of driving away a
second Milton. . . . There was no danger."
The merchants informed him of plots laid against
him by the Jesuits (at Rome). He (Milton) had sense
enough to judge there was no danger.
" Of that I am not so confident : dear Dr. Johnson
had never been at Rome, which was certainly no safe
place for Puritanical opinions, even in 1740; what
danger there was in 1640, Milton was right enough to
shun. Handel, who was a Lutheran, not a Calvinist,
found Italy a very troublesome residence on account
of religion, tho' the Italians quite adored his talents,
and loved his person. With how much more difficulty
Milton got thro', H. L. P. can readily imagine."
Voltaire tells a wild and unauthorised story of a
farce seen by Milton in Italy, which opened thus : ' Let
the rainbow be the fiddle-stick of the fiddle of Heaven.'
1 The story of the whipping derives from "a MS. jotting of
the old gossip, Aubrey." (Masson.)
9
130 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
"A. true one, I have no doubt. 1 A bow puts an
Italian in mind of a fiddle, directly. That is exceeding
comical indeed ! and shews off national character to per-
fection. A ship in full sail puts an Englishman, Dryden,
in mind that she may be fraught with all the riches of
the rising sun, in one place ; in another, it brings to
his fancy a weaver and his loom. . . . When an Italian
sees the rainbow, his imagination delights to have dis-
covered a nice fiddle-stick for the fiddle of Heaven."
Dr. Johnson's sneering at Milton's belief that ' his
vein never happily flowed but from the autumnal
equinox to the vernal.'
" Violin players feel it above all other men."
To prove the paucity of readers, it may be sufficient
to remark that the nation had been satisfied from
1623 to 1664, that is, forty-one years, with only two
editions of the works of Shakespeare, which probably
did not together make one thousand copies. 2
" It is a proof, because if we read anything we read
Skakspeare"
She, Milton's grand-daughter, knew little of her
grandfather, and that little was not good.
" Those who wait on others, always, I believe, in-
variably complain of the people on whom they are
dependant. This girl had heard Milton find fault with
his dinner some day 3 when she wanted to be eating
1 Andreini's drama Adamo, 1613.
8 The second and third folios of 1632 and 1663-64. Johnson's
estimate of the number is probably liberal.
* The girl (Milton's grand-daughter, Elizabeth Clark) could
not have had this opportunity, as she was born in Ireland and
came to London ten years after Milton's death.
JOHNSON AND MUSIC 131
her own, I suppose, and told of it. We learn from
her report, that John Milton was delicate in his diet."
With these trifling fictions are mingled the most
awful and sacred truths. (Johnson on Lycidas.}
" Milton had lived too much in Italy, and we must
own Italian piety, tho' often fervent, is seldom delicate;
nor do they consider as profane, what justly shocks a
native of Great Britain."
Both his characters l delight in music.
" He loved Italian music, but Johnson had no
notion of any music at all, unless perhaps a catch or
hunting song ; he would not else have called those
cheerful notes, which Milton describes thus :
' With wanton heed, and giddy cunning,
The melting voice through mazes running,
Untwisting all the chains that tie
The hidden soul of harmony.' "
But there is something wanting to allure attention.
(Johnson on Comus.}
" It wants nothing to detain a reader; on the stage
it is cold and declamatory. In reading, every line,
every word tells, and I have heard Mr. Conway 2 speak
the verses so as to enchain attention, and delight both
eye and ear."
Milton has been censured by Clarke 3 for the impiety
which sometimes breaks from Satan's mouth.
1 L Allegro and // Penseroso. 2 See note p. 27.
3 Dr. Samuel Clarke (1675-1729), the distinguished moral
philosopher.
i 3 2 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
" Satan's is not the most dangerous impiety. Satan
is a fiend, and we expect no better from him ; but I
have lived to see, in the year 1818, an impious novel
called Frankenstein , or the Modern Prometheus, who
takes for his motto, Adam's mode of arraigning
God Almighty in verse 743 of the loth Book of
Paradise Lost" l
But with guilt, enter distrust and discord, etc.
" And a spirit of fatalism. They turn metaphysi-
cians direct, and Adam throws the blame of all
upon his Maker. ' The woman that Thou gavest
me,' etc."
His (Milton's) infernal and celestial powers are
sometimes pure spirit and sometimes animated body.
"Stock of Killala 2 believed that angels were not
wholly immaterial ; he held that God alone could act
without organs. ' The Almighty (said he) keeps that
privilege to Himself.' . . . It may be so ; but bishops
should not learn their divinity from Milton."
The variety of pauses so much boasted by the lovers
of blank verse changes the measures of an English
poet to the periods of a declaimer ; and there are only
a few skilful and happy readers of Milton who enable
1 Frankenstein (the central figure of Mrs. Shelley's novel of
1818) is a man-created monster. His attitude to his Creator
is expressed in the Miltonic lines :
" Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me Man ? "
2 Joseph Stock, Bishop of Killala 1798-1810, author of a Life
of Berkeley , etc.
SHILLING WHIST 133
their audience to perceive when the lines end or
begin.
" This I had the honour to tell Doctor Johnson ;
and I said : ' Quin the actor taught it me ; and called
it The Pause of Suspension.' "
It is scarcely possible ... to image the tumults of
absurdity and clamour of contradiction which per-
plexed doctrine, disordered practice, and disturbed
both public and private quiet, in that age when sub-
ordination was broken and awe was hissed away.
(Johnson on Hudibrasl)
" How dreadful 'tis to think that I, who saw dear
Dr. Johnson write this passage . . . lived long enough
to witness the truth of \his passage likewise . . . and
how strange, that after such a storm, the present
temporary calm should give me comfortable leisure to
write this note."
One of the Puritanical tenets was the illegality of
all games of chance. (Johnson on Hudibras^}
" Playing at cards is deemed no very small wicked-
ness now, in the year 1815, by many grave people
who call themselves Methodists, or whom we call so :
I trust it is because they do not reflect on the empti-
ness of other amusements. Hot Cockles, or Hide
and Seek, is,fterse, no more innocent than a game at
shilling whist. But they are all Democrates, and like
to thwart the upper ranks of society, and leave the gin-
drinkers and tobacco-smokers full liberty of gross
enjoyment."
At Caen he (Lord Roscommon) is said to have had
i 3 4 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
some preternatural knowledge of his father's death.
(Johnson's Life of Roscommo .)
" The only tale I ever could give credit to, of the
odd kind of second sight, was a story related by a
young woman, her name, Mann, who was Miss Hamil-
ton's maid. ' I was when a girl,' said she, ' playing
on the green with my companions one summer even-
ing, when Sally Macdonald suddenly cry'd out, " Look,
look ! there's my father ahanging across the door."
" What door?" replied I. There was no door in sight.
" His own" answered the girl, and left offher diversion.
We all continued ours, and thought no more about
her, till in a week we heard the man had hanged him-
self on that very day. He lived seventeen miles off.'
To this story I know not how either to grant assent,
it is so strange, or to refuse belief, it is so artless."
The same year produced The History and Fall of
Caius Marius, much of which is borrowed from the
Romeo and Juliet oi Shakespeare. (Johnson's Life of
Otway^)
" Richardson quotes as Otway's lines verses now
well known to be Shakespear's ; but to Garrick, that
mine of mercury striated with gold, we owe the
revivification of Shakespear: tho' none of us had
influence enough with Dr. Johnson to make him con-
fess it, in his preface or his notes. ... Mr. Thrale
would not try ; Garrick had refused him a favour.
. . . He would not patronize Poll Hart, who after-
wards married Reddish." *
1 Samuel Reddish (1735-1785), a distinguished actor at Drury
Lane and Covent Garden.
"OH, WRETCHED MR. WALLER!" 135
She (Lady Dorothea Sidney 1 ) rejected his (Waller's)
addresses with disdain.
" Ladies are much humbler in these days. A
famous poet now with ten thousand o' year might
choose among the lady Sophias and lady Dorotheas,
I believe . . . but poets have no longer Dr. Johnson's
aristocratic ideas about birth or rank, which he rates
rather too high for any times ; especially rank, which
is a mere king's gift, and is often bestowed on very
low mortals indeed."
' Waller,' says Clarendon, ' was so confounded with
fear [after the discovery of his plot] that he confessed
whatever he had heard, said, thought or seen ; all
that he knew of himself and all that he suspected of
others.' (Johnson's Life of Waller?)
" What a mean fellow with his io,ooo/. a year . . .
had he never read Tacitus and his account of a
woman's firmness in concealing the plot she was
intrusted with, which no tortures could force her to
discover, for fear of bringing the tyrant's not unjust
wrath on her companions ? a woman too of no good
character for any virtue except fortitude ! Oh, wretched
Mr. Waller ! ! ! "
Upon sight of the Duchess of Newcastle's verses
on the death of a stag, he (Waller) declared that he
would give all his own compositions to have written
them, and being charged with the exorbitance of his
adulation answered that ' nothing was too much to be
1 " Sacharissa " married Henry Spencer, first Earl of
Sunderland.
136 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
given that a lady might be saved from the disgrace of
such a vile performance.' . . . Had his hypocrisy been
confined to such transactions he might have been for-
given, though not praised ; for who forbears to flatter
an author or a lady ? (Johnson's Life of Waller^}
" Not Doctor Johnson certainly. . . . When he
flattered Mrs. Montagu, who showed him some old
china plates that had once belonged to Queen Eliza-
beth, and he told her they had suffered little diminu-
tion of dignity in falling to her"
That natural jealousy which makes every man un-
willing to allow much excellence in another always
produces a disposition to believe that the mind grows
old with the body. (Life of Waller?)
"Johnson was very jealous of such sentiments
towards himself: he used to quote Swift perpetually
and say
' Some dire misfortune to portend,
No enemy can match a friend.'
" I have seen friends who were hoping each other's
decay but they were wits, living in professed rivalry."
Fair Venus, in thy soft arms
The god of rage confine ;
For thy whispers are the charms
Which only can divert his fierce design.
What though he frown, and to tumult do incline ;
Thou the flame
Kindled in his breast cans't tame,
With that snow which unmelted lies on thine.
(WALLER.)
" It is a false sentiment : we never heard of Venus's
snowy coldness before as I remember."
LADY ELIZABETH MONTAGU
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
A GOOD YEAR'S WORK 137
It (All for Love] is by universal consent accounted
the work in which he has admitted the fewest impro-
prieties of style or character. (Life of Dryden?)
" His description of Cleopatra in her galley is the
finest in the world keeping clear of Shakespear all
the time. Shakespear's description is put into the
mouth of an indifferent spectator, Enobarbus : Dryden
makes Antony himself the narrator, and dwells
judiciously on the beauties of the lady, rather than
the beauties of the show."
As he (Dryden) came out from the representation
(of Cleomenes, 1692), he was accosted thus by some
airy stripling: ' Had I been left alone with a young
beauty, I would not have spent my time like your
Spartan.' ' That, sir,' said Dryden, ' perhaps is
true ; but give me leave to tell you you are no
Spartan.'
" The story is ill told . . . instead of Spartan read
hero ; and then italic the word no at last, and you
preserve the point, which Johnson loses." *
It is certain that in one year, 1678, he published
. . . six complete plays.
" Impossible ! ! ! The man, veins, and bowels, must
have been left wholly empty, writing as he did six
plays in one year what nonsense ! " 2
Though he (Dryden) was perhaps sometimes in-
1 The criticism is based on a mistaken reading. Johnson's
words are "give me leave to tell you that you are no hero."
2 Johnson's error, Dryden's maximum being three plays in
one year.
138 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
juriously censured [for plagiarism], he would, by
denying part of the charge, have confessed the rest.
" Like Foote's cuckold in a storm, who begs his
wife in that solemn moment to confess if she had ever
been false to him. ' Sink or swim/ she replies, ' Mr.
Paragraph, that secret shall perish with me.' "
He married the Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter
to the Earl of Berkshire, with circumstances, accord-
ing to the satire imputed to Lord Somers, not very
honourable to either party.
" I know not the story, but 'tis plain that Lady
Eliz., tho' a person of high birth, is never charged
with giving herself airs, like those of the Countess to
Addison tho' Addison was rich, Dryden poor, and
the one ever dependent, the other Secretary of
State."
Of the person of Dryden I know not any account.
" I read in a Gentleman's Magazine an account of
Mr. Dryden dressed in a sword and a Chadreux wig,
taking his favourite actress Nancy Reeve to the Mul-
berry Garden 1 and treating her with tarts. Query,
what was a Chadreux wig ? "
He called the two places (at Will's) his winter and
his summer seat.
" Like old Goosey Evanson, 2 who shewed me two
seats in his little garden, and said with much serious
1 The Mulberry Garden was the most fashionable resort
after the Restoration. It was on the site of Buckingham
Palace.
2 Perhaps Dr. Edward Evanson, theologian and schoolmaster,
of Mitcham.
PLAGIARISM 139
pomp : ' This I call my Allegro, and this my Penseroso,'
a great thing indeed ; but he was imitating Dryden."
The perpetual accusation produced against him
was that of plagiarism.
"In War ton's notes to Pope's Eloisa, there is a
little tale not new to me, told of a trick put upon
Dryden by some wag, who translated his famous lines
beginning, ' To die is landing on some silent shore/
etc., into Latin verses ; old Leonine ones as I re-
member; and pasting them at bottom of a hat box
sent to his house, alarmed the old poet, who feared
being in future considered as a Plagiarist ; and was
very angry . . . and now, 1817, Mr. Mangin 1 says
the lines were not written by Dryden but by Garth. 2
Warton quotes Walter Harte 3 as author of the story.
We are tempted to say with Pontius Pilate, Quid est
veritas ? and to reply anagrammatically. . . . Est vir
qui adest ! ! I think truth is nowhere else."
Nor can the editors and admirers of Shakespeare
. . . boast of much more than of having . . . changed
Dryden's gold for baser metal, of lower value though
of greater bulk.
" Dr. Johnson was very angry that he was not
called upon by Garrick to write the (Shakespeare)
ode, which for that reason he always ridiculed.
" When Garrick's ode was published, he printed all
the testimonies to Shakespear's merits along with
1 Edward Mangin (1772-1852), miscellaneous writer, author
of Piozziana.
2 The lines occur in Garth's Dispensary, canto 3, 1. 225.
3 Miscellaneous writer ; Canon of Windsor, 1750.
140 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
the ode ; I possessed, loved, yet lost it : like hearing
different harpsichord players perform a favourite
concerto, one was delighted with their different
manners of doing the same thing. I used to think
Dryden's praise grandest, Addison's neatest, and Dr.
Johnson's gravest."
He (Dryden) translated the first book of the Iliad
without knowing what was in the second.
" Like Mrs. Pritchard, 1 who, till late in life, never
read more of Macbeth than her own part. She had
not time, she told Dr. Johnson."
Of him that knows much it is natural to suppose
that he has read with diligence : yet I rather believe
that the knowledge of Dryden was gleaned from
accidental intelligence and various conversations, by
a quick apprehension, a judicious selection, and a
happy memory, a keen appetite of knowledge, and
a powerful digestion ; by vigilance that permitted
nothing to pass without notice, and a habit of reflection
that suffered nothing useful to be lost. A mind like
Dryden's, always curious, always active, to which
every understanding was proved to be associated, and
of which every one solicited the regard, by an am-
bitious display of himself, had a more pleasant, per-
haps a nearer way to knowledge than by the silent
progress of solitary reading.
" This is a portrait of Doctor Johnson's own mind
and manners; I told him so, and he was not ill
pleased."
1 Hannah Pritchard, the greatest Lady Macbeth before Mrs.
Siddons.
AN INIMITABLE STYLE 141
His style could not easily be imitated, either
seriously or ludicrously ; for being always equable
and always varied, it has no prominent or discrimi-
nate characters.
" And it was Johnson's conversation opinion too.
He liked Mr. Thrale, he said, because he had no trick
about his manners, no emphasis in his talk ; he could
no more be taken off(?us> the phrase is) than Beauclerc ;
' and what, Sir/ said I, ' do you think then of your
favourite Burney ? ' ' Oh,' said he, ' Burney could not
be taken off certainly, because he is all trick! "
The diligence of trades and noiseful gain
And luxury, more late, asleep were laid. Etc.
Dryden's Annus Mirabilis.
" This is a good London night . . . his night in the
tragedy * so often and so justly admired, is a good
country night, but Young's description suits every
place and every season. It is the night of poetry
and plainness, of ignorance and of philosophy . . .
all are equally interested when they hear that
' 'Twas as the general pulse
Of life stood still, and Nature made a pause ;
An awful pause, prophetic of her end.' 2
A strange idea sure."
Pope represents him (Parnell) as falling from that
time into intemperance of wine. (Life of Parnell.}
" I have heard Dr. Johnson say what 'tis plain he
would not write, how Parnell could not get thro' a
1 The Indian Emperor.
2 Young's Night Thoughts, i. 23.
142 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
sermon without turning his head (even in the pulpit)
to drink a dram."
He (Goldsmith) observes that the story of The
Hermit is in More's Dialogues and Howell's Letters^
and supposes it to have been originally Arabian.
" The Hermit (Parnell's) is a favourite with all
readers. The first on't is in old Mahomet's Alcoran,
it is in Howel's Letters too ; . . . and one may trace
the old tale in the Spectator"
The Fair Penitent ... is one of the most pleasing
tragedies on the stage. (Life of Rowe.)
" It should not have been seated in Genoa tho'
where such an outrage on a maiden lady scarce could
have been committed, nor would ever have been
thought on. Suicide likewise, and the odd composure
with which Sciolto resolves to kill his daughter, are
such non-Italian notions. The scene should in no
wise have been placed in Genoa, where no young lady
of fashion can begot at. They are all safe in nunneries
till married, and then their husbands are most willing
Altamonts. Jane Shore 1 is the true Fair Penitent,
not Calista."
An Arbiter Elegantiarum, a judge of propriety,
was yet wanting. (Life of Addison.}
" This phrase has been admired, adopted and
quoted ever since these Lives came out; nor did I
ever, till the 26th of April, 1816, see that it existed, 2
twenty years before these Lives came out, in Doctor
Harrington's epitaph upon the celebrated Beau Nash
1 Rowe's later tragedy.
8 Nash's epitaph reads Elegantice as in Tacitus.
A DULL COMEDY 143
in the Abbey Church here. H. L. P. Bath, 2.6th
April, 1816."
The Spectator, whom he (Swift) ridicules for his
endless mention of the fair sex.
" Well ! there is too much about the fair sex. I am
as tir'd on't as Swift reading the papers over now.
1802."
Addison's The Drummer.
" It is a dull comedy, tho' every character is in
itself a good one. It wants incident, and interest, and
power to set 500 people o' laughing when together. 1
They would each of them be amused perhaps enough,
reading it at home. A country gentleman, his lady
and servants, are all the people engaged, except,
indeed, my lady's two silly lovers, Fantom and
Tinsel."
This year (1716) he (Addison) married the Countess
Dowager of Warwick.
" This lady was a Cambro Briton, and I suppose
absurdly proud of her family, tho' it was not a high
one. As to being Countess of Warwick, her maid
might have been Countess had an Earl married her.
So I see little sense in her being proud of that. . . .
Addison, among his females, who he compares to
instruments of music, in some paper, is particularly
severe, I well remember, upon the Welsh harp.
Steele undertook to pack an audience (for Addison's
Cafo).
" Charming Steel ! how excellent was that man's
heart ! and how perfect was his friendship ! "
1 It was produced unsuccessfully in 1715.
i 4 4 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
The necessity of complying with times and of
sparing persons is the great impediment of biography.
... It is surely better that caprice, obstinacy, frolic,
and folly, however they might delight in the description
should be silently forgotten, than that, by wanton
merriment and unseasonable detection, a pang should
be given to a widow, a daughter, a brother, or a
friend. As the process of these narratives is now
bringing me among my contemporaries, I begin to
feel myself ' walking upon ashes under which the fire
is not extinguished,' and coming to the time of which
it will be proper rather to say ' nothing that is false,
than all that is true.'
" If no relation loved Addison,this is not applicable
to him at least. I think Lyttelton's kinsfolk were
offended by these Lives ; l but the other poets had
none to care how ill they were used. The public,
however, battled it awhile for Gray, I think, and for
Prior, and foolishly enough for Milton ; who is so
praised that his best lovers could not wish him more
eloquent or lasting applause. Longinus could scarce
have done it as well."
Addison died, leaving no child but a daughter.
" Who I have always heard hated her father's works,
and despised his name, which, however, she did not
change."
In the House of Commons he (Addison) could not
speak, and therefore was useless to the defence of
the Government.
" I have heard a story, true or false, concerning
1 Mrs. Montagu elected herself Lyttelton's champion.
CREATURES WITH STINGS 145
some member of Parliament, who having been galled
by Addison's wit, revenged himself upon this sensi-
bility of feeling, by crying out that a man who pre-
tended to be Guardian of his country, must long be
a Spectator, before he was qualified to be a Tatler in
that House. I think a lover was brought in too, but
I forget how."
Swift adds that if he (Addison) proposed himself
for king, he would hardly have been refused.
" By what strange contradiction, then, could such a
man be despised by his wife ? Mr. Addison gives the
palm of conjugal merit, I remember, to ladies who
resemble the Bee. I know not whether he was
naturalist enough to know that amongst insects, the
Hymenoptera include all little creatures that have
stings."
If his jests are coarse, his arguments are strong.
(Dennis's criticism of Addison's Cato^]
" But did neither friend nor enemy, neither Dennis,
nor Pope, nor Dr. Johnson find that the temptation
of Juba to forsake Cato by Syphax, in the early part
of the play, is borrowed from Alcibiades, an exploded
tragedy of Otway? 1 where Tisaphernes says, almost
in old Syphax's words,
" ' Curse on the boy, how steadily he hears me ! '
It is indeed greatly improved by Addison."
At an age not exceeding twelve years he, [the
Duke of Buckinghamshire] resolved to educate him-
self. (Life of Sheffield^)
1 Otway's first play, 1675.
10
146 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
" He educated himself " t so he had, in earnest, no
education. His passions were never broken down by
authority, nor his reason cultivated so as to receive
mysterious truths. ... A man who, like Sheffield,
educates himself, will often possess powers of wit,
and treasures of general knowledge ; but he scarcely
can be a scholar, or a Christian ; he has never learned
to be such ; never gone thro' the necessary discipline."
In a gay French company he (Prior) produced
these extempore lines :
Mais cette voix, et ces beaux yeux,
Font Cupidon trop dangereux ;
Et je suis triste quand je crie,
Bannissons la Melancholic.
" From your charming voice and eyes
Cupid's darts new mischief borrow ;
And my bosom heaves with sighs
Whilst I sing, lets banish sorrow."
Solomon is the work to which he (Prior) entrusted
the protection of his name.
" The variety with which Solomon courts his
favourite Abra the various devices I mean, were all
literally and positively used by Louis Quatorze to
seduce La Valliere, who, altho' enamour'd of her
Sovereign, as Abra is represented to be, required all
his skill and power before he could prevail."
He (Congreve) treated the Muses with ingratitude
DON QUIXOTE 147
... he wished to be considered rather as a man of
fashion than of wit.
" It was not affectation, tho' he did treat the Muses
with ingratitude; he lived with duchesses more
willingly than with wits ; he was, I believe, a truly
proud Salopian, thinking much more of birth than of
talents." 1
From the whole mass of English poetry the most
poetical paragraph.
" Garrick was always angry when Doctor Johnson
said these lines 2 were better than any twelve descrip-
tive lines in Shakespear." 3
When he (Blackmore) first engaged in the study of
physic, he inquired, as he says, of Dr. Sydenham, what
authors he should read, and was directed by Sydenham
to Don Quixote ; ' which,' said he, ' is a very good
book; I read it still.' (Life of Blackmore?)
" And this joke, silly as it was, seems to me not
original. I have read it as recommended in the same
scornful manner by some statesman. Oh, it was Lord
Oxford, who being applied to, very seriously as it
appeared, advised the youth who was his dependent
(Mr. Rowe, 4 if I remember rightly) quickly to learn
Spanish. And this accomplishment being attained,
the unfeeling Premier, instead of employing him, as
was not unreasonably expected, only said, ' Then, Sir,
1 Congreve was born at Bardsey, near Leeds. He came of
an old Staffordshire family.
2 The Mourning Bride, n. i.
3 The dispute is recorded by Boswell, sub anno 1769.
4 The story, taken from Spence, is given by Johnson in his
Life of Rowe.
i 4 8 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
you will have l the pleasure of reading Don Quixote in
the original.' "
He that believes his powers strong enough to force
their own way, commonly tries only to please himself.
(Life of Gay.}
" As Doctor Johnson said he did, till he was starved
into civility ; ' and now,' added he, ' I am eminently
and attentively polite.' " 2
Gay's The Beggars Opera.
" The modes of the Court was given him by
Lord Chesterfield ; and the song of ' Gamesters and
Lawyers ' was the composition of Fortescue." s
Gay produced a second part under the name of Polly.
" I remember liking to read it (Polly, the second
part of The Beggar's Opera} when I was a girl ; but
I thought no one else had ever read it till I had the
pleasure of being acquainted with Mr. Mangin. 4 The
copy which lay about my father's house was a quarto"
As a poet he (Gay) cannot be rated high. He was,
as I once heard a female critic remark, of a lower order.
" His wife, Mrs. Johnson."
It (Gay's Trivia) is sprightly, various and pleasant.
" It was written, I dare say, to amuse Pope and
Swift ; he knew their taste."
1 For " you will have " Johnson's version has the neater " I
envy you."
2 " I think myself a very polite man." (Boswell, 1778.)
8 William Fortescue, Master of the Rolls, 1741.
4 See note p. 139.
IMITATIONS OF DRYDEN 149
He (Granville) was commended by old Waller, who
perhaps was pleased to find himself imitated in six
lines. (Life of Granville?)
" All the poets of those days did, inasmuch as their
abilities permitted, certainly endeavour to copy Dry den.
Of these imitators Pope was confessedly highest on the
scale, and Gay lov/est, but the style and manner were
alike in all.
"Next to this school succeeded that of Mason, Gray,
and Whitehead ; of these poor Cumberland was last
and lowest. Then came the Ossianists, and now Lord
Byron, Scott, and Southey seek a new way to fame, in
which all who put pen to paper follow implicitly with
more or less good fortune. Meanwhile Doctor Gold-
smith, and, I will add, Rogers in his Pleasures of
Memory, took their own way, and few can follow them.
Cowper did not try; he will be always an original
thinker in these days, as Young was during Pope's
reign."
The Princess of Modena, 1 whose charms appear to
have gained a strong prevalence over his (Granville's)
imagination. (Life of Granville?)
" She was very pretty, tho', and very elegant, and
liked to exert her power over men, fancying, perhaps,
she might make coquetry useful to political if not to
pious purposes."
He is for ever amusing himself with puerilities of
mythology ; his King is Jupiter ; who, if the Queen
brings no children, has a barren Juno. The Queen
is compounded of Juno, Venus, and Minerva. His
1 Mary Beatrice of Modena married James II., 1673.
150 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
poem on the Duchess of Grafton's law-suit, after
having rattled awhile with Juno and Pallas, Mars and
Alcides,Cassiope, Niobe, and thePropetides, Hercules,
Minos, and Rhadamanthus, at last concludes its folly
with profaneness. (Life of Granville^}
" When the Luctus et Gaudia of the two Universities
was printed in 1760, one man had clothed in the
Phcenician language his poetical hopes and predictions
of felicity. When forced by his brother wits and
scholars to translate his ode, thus it was :
' George the Second is dead ; Jupiter and Juno mourn :
George the Third reigns ; Jupiter and Juno rejoice.'"
Anne Countess of Macclesfield (reputed mother of
Richard Savage). (Life of Savage?)
" How came this lady to be received in society so
as to be able to injure him ? We are less scrupulous
now in the nineteenth century, yet I think such a
character would boast few acquaintances, especially
among the people in tipper life." x
He (Savage) himself confessed that when he
lived in great familiarity with Dennis, 2 he wrote
an epigram 3 against him.
1 It is now generally considered improbable that Savage was
the son of the Countess. He never furnished any proofs, and
it is likely that the child of the Countess's intrigue with Earl
Rivers died in infancy.
2 John Dennis (1657-1734), critic and playwright, Pope's
redoubtable opponent.
3 " Should Dennis publish you had stabbed your brother,
Lampooned your monarch, or debauched your mother ;
Say, what revenge on Dennis can be had,
Too dull for laughter, for reply too mad ?
GREAT ACQUAINTANCES 151
" An anonymous friend bade me, in a letter, re-
member these lines and despise Baretti's lampoon. 1
/ did more : I forgave it, and sent him money when
he really wanted. Our friend Colonel Barry 2 one
day, when Mr. Mangin 3 lived on the Queen's Parade,
Bath, alluded to my character of Baretti, given in the
newspaper then called The World"
With these ladies (Stella and Mrs. Dingley) he
(Swift) passed his hours of relaxation . . . but never
did he see either without a witness.
" Then he must have opened his bosom to three
persons ; or more still, if the witness was not always
the same person, oddly contented with the character
of a sunk fence between Swift and his ladies."
Pope was, through his whole life, ambitious of
splendid acquaintance. (Life of Pope?)
" I knew a gentleman (little resembling Pope
indeed), who used to delight himself in the close of
life by celebrating his mother's virtues ; but the
panegyric commonly began, and always ended, in
his repetition of her favourite maxim : ' Get,' said she,
' my boy, get great acquaintances \ ' His mother, like
Pope's, was a poor feeble-minded thing, unworthy
On one so poor you cannot take the law,
On one so old your sword you scorn to draw.
Uncaged then let the harmless monster rage,
Secure in dulness, madness, want, and age/'
1 See pp. 31, 63.
2 Col. Henry Barry (d. 1822), private secretary to Lord
Rawdon during the American War.
3 See p. 139.
152 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
any one's care or esteem. Perhaps they are the
mothers most regarded."
Another of his (Pope's) early correspondents was
Mr. Cromwell, 1 of whom I have heard nothing par-
ticular but that he used to ride a-hunting in a tye-wig.
" Wigs were at first tyed, on purpose that men
should ride in them either o' hunting or in battle.
The Duke of Marlbro' is represented by painters as
winning all his battles in a tye-wig, . . . and it was, I
think, called a campaign wig. ' Honest, hat-less
Cromwell in red briches,' Gay says."
I followed his (Garth's) advice; waited on Lord
Halifax some time after ; said I hoped he would find
his objections to these passages removed ; read them
to him exactly as they were at first ; and his lordship
was extremely pleased with them, and cried out, ' Ay,
now they are perfectly right ; nothing can be better.'
(Life of Pope?)
" The French Recueils tell a similar tale of some
sculptor and some cardinal, I forget who, that play'd
the silly part of Halifax. The artist took home his
work, having never touched it after the great man
had shown his taste by his objections. . . . ' And now,
my lord ' (says he), ' how do you find the statue ? '
' Trovo ! ' replied the gull'd ecclesiastic, 'che veramente
gli avete data la vita.' "
Being under the necessity of making a subter-
1 Henry Cromwell, Pope's correspondent, was a minor critic
and versifier.
DAVID GARRICK
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
A WONDERFUL LITTLE FELLOW 153
raneous passage to a garden on the other side of the
road, he (Pope) adorned it with fossil bodies, and
dignified it with the title of a grotto.
" And he added the famous quibble of ' What we
cannot overcome we must undergo'"
Mankind expect from elevated genius a uniformity
of greatness, and watch its degradation with malicious
wonder. (Life of Pope?)
" I went many years ago with friends to see le chien
s$avant, who, when he play'd his trick prettily, his
master encouraged by giving him bits of something
out of his pocket. ' Qu'est ce done, Monsieur ? '
(says one of the company). ' Du Pate, Mademoiselle,'
replies the fellow. ' // mange pourtant comme uno
autre chien', exclaims another of our party. The
people do just so by a great author, Pope or
Johnson."
Pope in his edition (of Shakespeare) undoubtedly
did many things wrong, and left many things un-
done ; but let him not be defrauded of his due praise.
" When Johnson had finished his preface to
Shakespear, Mr. Thrale said, ' Oh, Sir, you have
driven Pope quite into shade.' ' I fear not, Sir,' was
our Doctor's reply ; ' the little fellow has done
wonders ! ' '
At their last interview in the Tower, Atterbury
presented Pope with a Bible.
" And there is a black story told of and thro' Lord
Chesterfield concerning that present ; but I think it
154 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
loses ground now, 1817. It was once in every mouth
and every publication." l
Pope appears to have contemplated his victory over
the Dunces with great exultation.
" Ralph 2 (one of the heroes of the Dunciad} out-
lived all, and was lodging near Garrick's house at
Hampton, where he visited familiarly, but perhaps in
somewhat of the style of a dependant ; till one day
Mr. Garrick was engaged in shewing his pleasure-
grounds to a friend or two that he had detained to dine
with him ; and being perhaps thoughtless, or possibly
unwilling to quit his company, he contented himself
with calling the head-gardener, 'And, d'ye hear,'
said he, ' take a card, and go yourself directly and beg
Mr. Ralph's company to dinner. Take a card, I say,
and make haste.' The man left us, and I suppose we
all forgot what had passed till somebody inquired at
dinner where Mr. Ralph was. ' Lord, Sir ! Mr. Ralph
is very ill, very ill indeed.' The gardener took a cart
to fetch him, and he flung himself in such a passion,
Dick thought he would have died. . . . How Garrick
smoothed him up again I know not, but he came to
Hampton as usual after that"
James Worsdale . . . declared that he was the
1 Atterbury said to Pope, "If ever you learn that I have any
dealings with the Pretender, I give you leave to say that my
punishment is just." The Bible is said to have passed into the
possession of Ralph Allen (Fielding's Squire Allworthy) of Prior
Park.
2 James Ralph (1705-1762), miscellaneous writer, author of a
memoir of Pope.
POPE AND BOLINGBROKE 155
messenger who carried by Pope's direction the books
to Curll. 1 (Life of Pope^
" He was a sad fellow, but very comical as a buffoon.
He was the original Lady Pentweazle, and was em-
ployed as pimp and parasite, and everything, by
Thrale and Murphy in their merry hours. His taking
off the old Duchess of Marlborough, Sarah Jennings,
was particularly humourous."
Our language had few letters except those of states-
men. (Life of Pope?)
" Mr. Rowe's [Letters] are read by women very
much."
Many read it (The Essay on Man] for a manual of
piety.
" As my brother-in-law, Alderman Plumbe, who
married Mr. Thrale's' sister, read Shaftesbury's
Characteristics on a Sunday, ' it is ' (says he) ' all about
virtue so, all uncommanded virtue . . .' and the
librarian of Brera placed Tillotson and Shaftesbury
together, I remember; for, tho' he was himself an
infidel, he had the bitterness and bigotry of the
religion he prof ess d"
It is known that Bolingbroke concealed from Pope
his real opinions. He once discovered them to Mr.
Hooke.
" This Johnson learn'd of Abbe Hook 2 when we
were in France together ; yet I have my doubts.
1 Pope instigated the publication of his Letters for which he
pretended to blame Curll.
2 Dr. Luke Joseph Hooke (1716-1796), visited in Paris by
Johnson in 1775.
156 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
The Papists are all eager to save their poet from im-
putation of infidelity, and Johnson was very willing
to see so great a poet saved."
Mr. Allen gave him (Warburton) his niece and his
estate. 1 (Life of Pope?)
" The estate is all gone now, I believe. Warburton
left no children, and his widow married Mr. Stafford
Smyth, who since her death married some mean
woman and sold Prior Park."
Walpole treated him (Pope) with so much consider-
ation as, at his request, to solicit and obtain from the
French minister an abbey for Mr. Southcot, whom
he considered himself as obliged to reward . . . for
the benefit which he had received from his attendance
in a long illness.
" From whom descends either lineally, as a natural
child, or collaterally, the now famous prophetess,
Johanna Southcote. 2 The taste of a Ferine orn^e
descends likewise from Mr. Southcote. He was the
first to enclose a field with a twisted walk and shrub-
bery ornamented with beautiful flowers. Mr. South-
cote was Lady Vane's favourite S. mentioned in
Peregrine Pickle?
Telling his readers in a note that the work was im-
perfect, because part of his subject was vice too high to
be yet exposed. (Life of Pope?)
1 Pope introduced Warburton to Ralph Allen. Johnson pro-
ceeds to suggest that the Allen fortune paved the way to the
bishopric.
2 Joanna Southcote, a domestic servant, claimed supernatural
powers. After a brief notoriety she died insane in 1814.
HORACE WALPOLE
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
"MY OLD AND ODD CURIOSITY" 157
"And I recollect but very little vice in it (the
Characters of Women] though much caprice. But
perhaps I still retain my old and odd curiosity ; for
when I saw Quin act Sir John Brute, 1 and heard him
call for a song that should be full (said he) of sin and
impiety, I felt disappointed when the players sung a
' Bumper, Squire Jones,' in which I could discover no
sin or impiety at all."
Pope expressed undoubting confidence of a future
state. Being asked by his friend Mr. Hooke, a
papist, 2 whether he would not die like his father and
mother, and whether a priest should not be called : he
answered, ' I do not think it is essential, but it will be
very right, and I thank you for putting me in mind
of it.'
" Malherbe was, like him (Pope), unwilling to call
the priest ; he was contented to receive him when he
came . . . ' for,' said he, ' other people do send for a
confessor ; and I suppose God Almighty won't make
a Paradise on purpose for poor Malherbe ; so you may
shew Monsieur L'Abbe in, if you please.' "
He (Pope) may be said to have resembled Dryden,
as being not one that was distinguished by vivacity
in company.
" Costar, the French wit, says of such a character,
that the pleasantest moments he ever passed were
not with men of the most fertile minds ; and that the
pleasantest walks he ever took were not in those
countries which most excel in fruitfulness."
1 In Vanbrugh's The Provoked Wife, 1697.
2 See note, p. 155.
158 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
Pope's revenue amounted only to about 8oo/. a
year.
" A very good income in the year 1730, quite equal
to I5oo/. o' year now, in 1802, and less than that
would enable a man to give his friends more than a
pint of wine, 1 surely, altho' it is not to be had this day
for less than four shillings and sixpence the bottle."
It would be hard to find a man so well entitled (as
Pope) to notice by his wit, that ever delighted so
much in talking of his money.
" A man, never ; a woman, yes, it was Mrs.
Montagu."
In the letters both of Swift and Pope there appears
such narrowness of mind, as makes them insensible of
any excellence that has not some affinity with their
own.
" An odd contempt for every study but that of
poetry and metaphysics does certainly seem to run
through all their (Swift's and Pope's) notions. Natural
history is their perpetual scorn. ... I guess not why.
To wander thro' a wilderness of moss has at least this
claim to preference, that something certain may be
learned, however trifling. . . . Those who confound
their readers with talking about time, and space, and
matter, and motion, identity and infinity, spend time,
and breath, and paper all in vain. They neither teach
nor learn."
1 " When he had two guests in his house, he would set at
supper a single pint upon the table ; and, having himself taken
two small glasses, would retire and say, ' Gentlemen, I leave you
to your wine.'" (Johnson's Life of Pope,}
SPORUS 159
He (Pope) professed to have learned his poetry from
Dryden, whom, whenever an opportunity was pre-
sented, he praised through his whole life with unvaried
liberality ; and perhaps his character may receive some
illustration if he be compared with his master.
" This parallel (the famous one between Pope and
Dryden) is imitated from the famous French one 1
between Corneille and Racine ; and that from an old
classical comparison between the merits of Thucydides
and Herodotus . . . Oh imitatores ! Servum pecus?
I cannot forbear to observe that the comparison of
a student's progress in the sciences with the journey
of a traveller in the Alps, 2 is perhaps the best that
English poetry can shew.
" Perhaps so it is. But they say now that the
original thought came from Silius Italicus, book 3rd, 3
and Drummond certainly recollected that when he
wrote these lines :
' And as a pilgrim who the Alps doth pass,
Or Atlas' temple crown'd with Winter's glass,
When he some heapes of hills hath overwent
Beginnes to think on rest, his journey spent,
Now mounting some tall mountain, he dothe find
More heights before him than he left behind.' "
The meanest passage is the satire upon Sporus : *
" Certainly not; but Dr. Johnson loved a Hervey." 5
1 Boileau's Satires. 2 Pope's Essay on Criticism, 1. 225.
8 Bellum Punicum, iii. 529.
4 Pope's Epistle to Arbuthnot, 305 et seq.
6 The original of Sporus was John Hervey, Baron Hervey of
I ck worth (1696-1743), author of Memoirs of Reign of George II.
His brothers, Henry and Thomas, were intimate friends of
Johnson.
160 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
God said let Newton be ! and all was light ! l
" There is something like this said of Aristotle, but
I forget by whom : ' Now Nature lay in obscurity till
he appeared, etc. ' ; but it was really little less than
profane in Mr. Pope to put his imitation, thus height-
ened by words so awful, on a Christian's sepulchre, and
in a Christian church."
Savage, who lived much with Thomson, once told
me he heard a lady remarking that she could gather
from his works three parts of his character, that he
was a great lover, a great swimmer, and rigorously
abstinent ; but, said Savage, he knows not any love
but that of the sex ; he was perhaps never in cold
water in his life ; and he indulges himself in all the
luxury that comes within his reach. (Life of Thomson?)
" The lady was no good judge, I suppose. A
Capt n . Ker told me a strange thing of him once, and
I feel since that it was true somehow. At a friend's
house in Scotland where Thomson was visiting, came
on a visit likewise a young lady with whom the poet
fancied himself much in love; and having an idea
(says Captain Ker) that it would be a heavenly sight
to see her strip for bed, he bor'd a hole thro' his own
floor who lay over her chamber, and meant to peep
successfully in at the crevice ; but having drunk hard
and the girl not going to rest as soon as he expected,
he dropt asleep and snor'd so loud she heard him ; and
climbing on the chairs, set her candle to the place,
and burn'd his nose and cur'd him of his passion."
1 Epitaph for Newton's monument in the Abbey :
Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night :
God said, " Let Newton be " ! And all was light.
MOTHER DAMNABLE 161
The thought of the Last Day makes every man
more than poetical.
" It makes some people less than poetical. I went
once with a lady to see some fireworks, when an
animated harlequin ran up a pole, lighting a ring of
lamps at top. ' This,' says my companion, ' is truly
^ and puts me in mind of the Last Day ! ' '
His (Mallet's) first tragedy was Eurydice, acted at
Drury Lane in 1731; of which I know not the re-
ception nor the merit, but have heard it mentioned
as a mean performance.
" I remember seeing Mrs. Gibber 1 once play Eury-
dice for her benefit ; or was it Elvira? 2 but my father
said Mallet wrote the play. He visited Mallet, and
told us once how Mrs. Mallet kiss'd her husband's
hand, and said, c I kiss the dear hand that confers im-
mortality.' My mother thought it very ridiculous, I
remember."
He was employed to turn the public vengeance
upon Byng, and wrote a letter of accusation under the
character of a ' Plain Man.' (Life of Mallet?)
" I recollect my family joining in Mallet's opinion,
that Byng was a sad fellow ; and they called an old
Mrs. Osborne, who put her house in mourning for the
Admiral, Mother Damnable : she hung her rooms with
black." 3
1 Susannah Gibber, wife of Theophilus, son of Colley Gibber.
She became a famous tragedian and a member of Garrick's
company.
2 In Colley Gibber's Love Makes a Man. 3 Cf. p. 96.
ii
162 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
In his retirement he (Gray) wrote an ode on the
' Death of Mr. Walpole's Cat.'
" She is also called a Tabby Cat in one line, a
Tortoise-Shell Cat in another ; perhaps he knew no
more of his nymph than Cowley of his fictitious
mistresses. A poet makes his puss to his own mind,
and then writes verses to her." *
Johnson's Life of Lyttelton.
" Doctor Johnson requested Lord Westcote, 2 in my
hearing, to write this life for him (tho' I am sure he
neither loved nor esteemed the man). Lord Westcote
declined the work with many complimentary ex-
pressions ; said his dear brother was in the best
posssible hands, etc. ; and after it was written, flew in
a rage and ran to Mrs. Montagu, complaining of
Doctor Johnson, who sate still and laugh'd at my
Lord Parenthesis, as he called Billy Lyttelton."
He (Lyttelton) was content to seek happiness
again by a second marriage with the daughter of Sir
Robert Rich ; but the experiment was unsuccessful.
" Very modestly said. Johnson would not suffer
his personal dislike to operate upon character in a
work he meant to be lasting. Lady Lyttelton lived
to a very great age."
1 " Demurest of the tabby kind . . .
Her coat that with the tortoise vies."
Cowley's The Chronicle enumerates his fictitious mistresses
from Margarita to " Heleonora first of the name, whom God
grant long to reign."
3 William Henry Lyttelton, created Baron Westcote of
Balamare, co. Longford, 1776. He was a brother of George
Lyttelton, the writer, created Baron Lyttelton in 1756. Cf. p. 144.
CONFESSION 163
Doctor, 1 you shall be my confessor.
" So ended a man (Lord Lyttelton) who had
always fulminated against auricular confession, tho'
it is surely better confessing our sins to a priest than
a physician. What signifies blaming each other so?
Confession to a priest has nothing in it necessarily
evil ; Romanists may have abused the practice, but
blaming our brother Christians is no better in us
Protestants : 'twere wiser to let that alone."
1 Lyttelton's physician, whose account of his death is quoted
by Johnson.
EXTRACTS FROM THRAL1ANA
MR. THRALE'S EDUCATION
HE (the elder Thrale) educated his son and three
daughters quite in a high style. His son he wisely
connected with the Cobhams l and their relations,
Grenville's, Lytteltons, and Pitts, to whom he lent
money, and they lent assistance of every other kind,
so that my Mr. Thrale was bred up at Stowe and Stoke
and Oxford, and every genteel place ; had been
abroad with Lord Westcote, whose expenses old
Thrale cheerfully paid, I suppose, who was thus a
kind of tutor to the young man, who had not failed
to profit by these advantages, and who was, when he
came down to Offley to see his father's birthplace, a
very handsome and well accomplished gentleman.
CHARACTER OF MR. THRALE
As this is Thraliana, I will now write Mr. Thrale 's
character in it. It is not because I am in good or ill-
humour with him or he with me, for we are not
capricious people, but have, I believe, the same opinion
of each other at all places and times.
Mr. Thrale's person is manly, his countenance agree-
1 See p. 1 19.
CHARACTER OF THRALE 165
able, his eyes steady and of the deepest blue ; his
look neither soft nor severe, neither sprightly nor
gloomy, but thoughtful and intelligent ; his address is
neither caressive nor repulsive, but unaffectedly civil
and decorous ; and his manner more completely free
from every kind of trick or particularity than I ever
saw any person's. 1 He is a man wholly, as I think, out
of the power of mimicry. He loves money, and is
diligent to obtain it ; but he loves liberality too, and is
willing enough both to give generously and to spend
fashionably. His passions either are not strong, or else
he keeps them under such command that they seldom
disturb his tranquillity or his friends ; and it must, I
think, be something more than common which can
affect him strongly, either with hope, fear, anger, love,
or joy. His regard for his father's memory is remark-
ably great, and he has been a most exemplary brother ;
though, when the house of his favourite sister was on
fire, and we were all alarmed with the account of it in
the night, I well remember that he never rose, but
bidding the servant who called us to go to her assist-
ance, quietly turned about and slept to his usual hour.
I must give another trait of his tranquillity on a
different occasion. He had built great casks holding
1000 hogsheads each, and was much pleased with their
profit and appearance. One day, however, he came
down to Streatham as usual to dinner, and after hear-
ing and talking of a hundred trifles, " but I forgot,"
says he, " to tell you how one of my great casks is
burst, and all the beer run out."
Mr. Thrale's sobriety, and the decency of his con-
1 Cf. p. 141.
166 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
versation, being wholly free from all oaths, ribaldry
and profaneness, make him a man exceedingly com-
fortable to live with ; while the easiness of his temper
and slowness to take offence add greatly to his value
as a domestic man. Yet I think his servants do not
much love him, and I am not sure that his children
have much affection for him ; low people almost all
indeed agree to abhor him, as he has none of that
officious and cordial manner which is universally re-
quired by them, nor any skill to dissemble his dislike of
their coarseness. With regard to his wife, though little
tender of her person, he is very partial to her under-
standing ; but he is obliging to nobody, and confers a
favour less pleasing than many a man refuses to confer
one. This appears to me to be as just a character as
can be given of the man with whom I have now lived
thirteen years ; and though he is extremely reserved
and uncommunicative, yet one must know something
of him after so long acquaintance. Johnson has a very
great degree of kindness and esteem for him, and says
if he would talk more, his manner would be very com-
pletely that of a perfect gentleman.
People have a strange propensity to making vows
on trifling occasions, a trick one would not think of,
but I once caught my husband at it, and have since
then been suspicious that 'tis oftener done than
believed. For example : Mr. Thrale and I were driving
through E. Grinsted, and found the inn we used to put
up at destroyed by fire. He expressed great un-
easiness, and I still kept crying, " Why can we not go
to the other inn ? 'tis a very good house ; here is no
MAKING VOWS 167
difficulty in the case." All this while Mr. Thrale grew
violently impatient, endeavoured to bribe the post-boy
to go on to the next post-town, etc., but in vain ; till,
pressed by inquiries and solicitations he could no
longer elude, he confessed to me that he had sworn an
oath or made a vow, I forget which, seventeen years
before, never to set his foot within those doors again,
having had some fraud practised on him by a land-
lord who then kept the house, but had been dead long
enough ago. When I heard this all was well ; I
desired him to sit in the chaise while the horses were
changed, and walked into the house myself to get
some refreshment the while.
[In 1779, June, after his recovery from the first fit
of paralysis, she writes : ]
His head is as clear as ever ; his spirits indeed are
low, but they will mend ; few people live in such a state
of preparation for eternity, I think, as my dear master
has done since I have been connected with him ; re-
gular in his public and private devotions, constant at
the Sacrament, temperate in his appetites, moderate in
his passions, he has less to apprehend from a sudden
summons than any man I have known who was young
and gay, and high in health and fortune like him.
FIRST MEETING WITH JOHNSON
It was on the second Thursday of the month of
January, 1765, that I first saw Mr. Johnson in a room.
Murphy, whose intimacy with Mr. Thrale had been of
168 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
many years' standing, was one day dining with us at
our house in Southwark, and was zealous that we should
be acquainted with Johnson, of whose moral and
literary character he spoke in the most exalted terms ;
and so whetted our desire of seeing him soon that we
were only disputing how he should be invited, when he
should be invited, and what should be the pretence.
At last it was resolved that one Woodhouse, 1 a shoe-
maker, who had written some verses, and been asked
to some tables, should likewise be asked to ours, and
made a temptation to Mr. Johnson to meet him ; ac-
cordingly he came, and Mr. Murphy at four o'clock
brought Mr. Johnson to dinner. We liked each other
so well that the next Thursday was appointed for the
same company to meet, exclusive of the shoemaker,
and since then Johnson has remained till this day our
constant acquaintance, Visitor, companion, and friend.
A NOBLE AMBITION
Mr. Thrale overbrewed himself last winter and
made an artificial scarcity of money in the family
which has extremely lowered his spirits. Mr. Johnson
endeavoured last night, and so did I, to make him
promise that he would never more brew a larger
quantity of beer in one winter than 80,000 barrels, but
my Master, mad with the noble ambition of emulating
1 James Woodhouse (1735-1820), the poetical shoemaker dis-
covered (among her own retainers) by Mrs. Montagu. Johnson
derided the notice taken of him, and called it " all vanity and
childishness."
GIUSEPPE BARETTI
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
IGNORANCE AND RICHES 169
Whitbread and Calvert, two fellows that he despises,
could scarcely be prevailed on to promise even this,
that he will not brew more than four score thousand
barrels a year for five years to come. He did promise
that much, however; and so Johnson bade me write
it down in the Thraliana ; and so the wings of
Speculation are clipped a little very fain would I
have pinioned her, but I had not strength to perform
the operation.
How TO ATTRACT ROOKS
Lady Lade [Mr. Thrale's sister] consulted him
[Johnson] about her son, Sir John. " Endeavour,
Madam," said he, " to procure him knowledge ; for
really ignorance to a rich man is like fat to a sick
sheep, it only serves to call the rooks about him."
A FELLOW-COUNTRYMAN OF BRUTUS
Will Burke x was tart upon Mr. Baretti for being too
dogmatical in his talk about politics. " You have,"
says he, " no business to be investigating the characters
of Lord Falkland or Mr. Hampden. You cannot judge
of their merits, they are no countrymen of yours."
" True," replied Baretti, " and you should learn by the
same rule to speak very cautiously about Brutus and
Mark Antony ; they are my countrymen, and I must
have their characters tenderly treated by foreigners."
1 A relation of Edmund Burke, Under Secretary of State ;
formerly identified with " Junius."
170 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
BARETTI
Baretti l could not endure to be called, or scarcely
thought, a foreigner, and indeed it did not often occur
to his company that he was one ; for his accent was
wonderfully proper, and his language always copious,
always nervous, always full of various allusions, flowing
too with a rapidity worthy of admiration, and far be-
yond the power of nineteen in twenty natives. He had
also a knowledge of the solemn language and the gay,
could be sublime with Johnson, or blackguard with the
groom ; could dispute, could rally, could quibble, in
our language. Baretti has, besides, some skill in music,
with a bass voice, very agreeable, besides a falsetto
which he can manage so as to mimic any singer he
hears. I would also trust his knowledge of painting a
long way. These accomplishments, with his extensive
power over every modern language, make him a most
pleasing companion while he is in good humour ; and
his lofty consciousness of his own superiority, which
made him tenacious of every position, and drew him
into a thousand distresses, did not, I must own, ever
disgust me, till he began to exercise it against myself,
and resolve to reign in our house by fairly defying the
mistress of it. Pride, however, though shocking enough,
is never despicable, but vanity, which he possessed too,
in an eminent degree, will sometimes make a man near
sixty ridiculous.
France displayed all Mr. Baretti's useful powers
he bustled for us, he catered for us, he took care of the
child, he secured an apartment for the maid, he pro-
1 See pp. 31, 63.
AN ACCOMPLISHED GUIDE 171
vided for our safety, our amusement, our repose ; with-
out him the pleasure of that journey would never have
balanced the pain. And great was his disgust, to be
sure, when he caught us, as he often did, ridiculing
French manners, French sentiments, etc. I think he
half cryed to Mrs. Payne, the landlady at Dover, on
our return, because we laughed at French cookery, and
French accommodations. Oh, how he would court the
maids at the inns abroad, abuse the men perhaps ! and
that with a facility not to be exceeded, as they all con-
fessed, by any of the natives. But so he could in Spain,
I find, and so 'tis plain he could here. I will give one
instance of his skill in our low street language. Walking
in a field near Chelsea, he met a fellow, who, suspecting
him from dress and manner to be a foreigner, said sneer-
ingly," Come, Sir, will you show me the way to France?"
" No, Sir," says Baretti, instantly, " but I will show you
the way to Tyburn." Such, however, was his ignorance
in a certain line, that he once asked Johnson for in-
formation who it was composed the Pater Noster, and
I heard him tell Evans 1 the story of Dives and Lazarus
as the subject of a poem he once had composed in the
Milanese dialect, expecting great credit for his powers
of invention. Evans owned to me that he thought the
man drunk, whereas poor Baretti was, both in eating
and drinking, a model of temperance. Had he guessed
Evans's thoughts, the parson's gown would scarcely
have saved him a knouting from the ferocious Italian.
1 Evans was a clergyman and rector of Southwark (Hay ward.)
172 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
BARETTI'S READY WIT
When Johnson and Burke went to see Baretti in
Newgate, they had small comfort to give him, and bid
him not hope too strongly. " Why what can he fear,"
says Baretti, placing himself between 'em, " that holds
two such hands as I do ? "
An Italian came one day to Baretti, when he was
in Newgate for murder, to desire a letter of recom-
mendation for the teaching of his scholars, when he
(Baretti) should be hanged. " You rascal," replies
Baretti, in a rage, " if I were not in my own apart-
ment, I would kick you downstairs directly."
BARETTI AT STREATHAM
Baretti had a comical aversion to Mrs. Macaulay, 1
and his aversions are numerous and strong. If I had
not once written his character in verse, 2 I would now
write it in prose, for few people know him better : he
was Dieu me pardonne, as the French say my
inmate for very near three years ; and though I really
liked the man once for his talents, and at last was weary
of him for the use he made of them, I never altered my
sentiments concerning him ; for his character is easily
1 Catherine Macaulay (1731-1791), author of a History of
England horn. James I. to Anne. Her second husband was a
brother of the notorious quack doctor, James Graham, who
founded " The Temple of Health."
8 In " The Streatham Portraits." See Appendix.
A TROUBLESOME GUEST 173
seen, and his soul above disguise, haughty and insolent,
and breathing defiance against all mankind ; while his
powers of mind exceed most people's, and his powers
of purse are so slight that they leave him dependent on
all. Baretti is for ever in the state of a stream dammed
up : if he could once get loose, he would bear down all
before him.
Every soul that visited at our house while he was
master of it, went away abhorring it ; and Mrs. Mon-
tagu, grieved to see my meekness so imposed upon,
had thoughts of writing me on the subject an anony-
mous letter, advising me to break with him. Seward, 1
who tried at last to reconcile us, confessed his wonder
that we had lived together so long. Johnson used to
oppose and battle him, but never with his own consent:
the moment he was cool, he would always condemn
himself for exerting his superiority over a man who was
his friend, a foreigner, and poor : yet I have been told
by Mrs. Montagu that he attributed his loss of our
family to Johnson : ungrateful and ridiculous ! if it had
not been for his mediation, I would not so long have
borne trampling on, as I did for the last two years of
our acquaintance.
Not a servant, not a child, did he leave me any
authority over; if I would attempt to correct or dismiss
them, there was instant appeal to Mr. Baretti, who was
sure always to be against me in every dispute. With
Mr. Thrale I was ever cautious of contending, conscious
that a misunderstanding there could never answer, as I
have no friend or relation in the world to protect me
from the rough treatment of a husband, should he
1 See p. 68.
174 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
chuse to exert his prerogatives; but when I saw Baretti
openly urging Mr. Thrale to cut down some little fruit
trees my mother had planted and I had begged might
stand, I confess I did take an aversion to the creature,
and secretly resolved his stay should not be prolonged
by my entreaties whenever his greatness chose to take
huff and be gone. As to my eldest daughter, his be-
haviour was most ungenerous ; he was perpetually spur-
ring her to independence, telling her she had more
sense and would have a better fortune than her mother,
whose admonitions she ought therefore to despise; that
she ought to write and receive her own letters now,
and not submit to an authority I could not keep up if
she once had the spirit to challenge it ; that, if I died
in a lying-in which happened while he lived here, he
hoped Mr. Thrale would marry Miss Whitbred, 1 who
would be a pretty companion for Hester, and not tyran-
nical and overbearing like me. Was I not fortunate to
see myself once quit of a man like this ? who thought
his dignity was concerned to set me at defiance, and
who was incessantly telling lies to my prejudice in the
ears of my husband and children ? When he walked
out of the house on the 6th day of July, 1 776, 1 wrote
down what follows in my table book.
6 July, 1776. This day is made remarkable by
the departure of Mr. Baretti, who has, since October,
1773, been our almost constant inmate, companion, and,
I vainly hoped, our friend. On the I ith of November,
1773, Mr. Thrale let him have 5O/. and at our return
from France 5O/. more, besides his clothes and pocket
money : in return to all this, he instructed our eldest
1 Daughter of the brewer, Samuel Whitbread.
A CAPTIOUS TUTOR 175
daughter or thought he did and puffed her about
the town for a wit, a genius, a linguist, etc. At the
beginning of the year 1776, we purposed visiting Italy
under his conduct, but were prevented by an unfore-
seen and heavy calamity : 1 that Baretti, however, might
not be disappointed of money as well as of pleasure,
Mr. Thrale presented him with 100 guineas, which at
first calmed his wrath a little, but did not, perhaps, make
amends for his vexation ; this I am the more willing
to believe, as Dr. Johnson not being angry too, seemed
to grieve him no little, after all our preparations
made.
Now Johnson's virtue was engaged ; and he, I
doubt not, made it a point of conscience not to in-
crease the distresses of a family already oppressed with
affliction. Baretti, however, from this time grew
sullen and captious ; he went on as usual notwith-
standing, making Streatham his home, carrying on
business there, when he thought he had any to do,
and teaching his pupil at by-times when he chose so to
employ himself; for he always took his choice of hours,
and would often spitefully fix on such as were particu-
larly disagreeable to me, whom he has now not liked
a long while, if ever he did. He professed, however, a
violent attachment to our eldest daughter ; said if she
had died instead of her poor brother, he should have
destroyed himself, with many as wild expressions of
fondness. Within these few days, when my back was
turned, he would often be telling her that he would
go away and stay a month, with other threats of
the same nature ; and she, not being of a caressing or
1 The death of their son.
176 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
obliging disposition, never, I suppose, soothed his
anger or requested his stay.
Of all this, however, I can know nothing but from
her, who is very reserved, and whose kindness I cannot
so confide in as to be sure she would tell me all that
passed between them ; and her attachment is probably
greater to him than me, whom he has always en-
deavoured to lessen as much as possible, both in her
eyes and what was worse her father's, by telling
him how my parts had been over-praised by Johnson,
and over-rated by the world ; that my daughter's skill
in languages, even at the age of fourteen, would vastly
exceed mine, and such other idle stuff; which Mr.
Thrale had very little care about, but which Hetty
doubtless thought of great importance. Be this as it
may, no angry words ever passed between him and me,
except perhaps now and then a little spar or so when
company was by, in the way of raillery merely.
Yesterday, when Sir Joshua and Fitzmaurice dined
here, I addressed myself to him with great particularity
of attention, begging his company for Saturday, as
I expected ladies, and said he must come and flirt
with them, etc. My daughter in the meantime kept
on telling me that Mr. Baretti was grown very old
and very cross, would not look at her exercises, but
said he would leave this house soon, for it was no better
than Pandaemonium. Accordingly, the next day he
packed up his cloke-bag, which he had not done for
three years, and sent it to town ; and while we were
wondering what he would say about it at breakfast,
he was walking to London himself, without taking
leave of any one person, except it may be the girl,
"A VILE LYAR" 177
who owns they had much talk, in the course of which
he expressed great aversion to me and even to her,
who, he said, he once thought well of.
Now whether she had ever told the man things
that I might have said of him in his absence, by way
of provoking him to go, and so rid herself of his
tuition ; whether he was puffed up with the last 100
guineas and longed to be spending it all' Italiano;
whether he thought Mr. Thrale would call him back,
and he should be better established here than ever ;
or whether he really was idiot enough to be angry at
my threatening to whip Susan and Sophy for going
out of bounds, although he had given them leave, for
Hetty said that was the first offence he took huff at,
I never now shall know, for he never expressed him-
self as an offended man to me, except one day when
he was not shaved at the proper hour forsooth, and
then I would not quarrel with him, because nobody
was by, and I knew him be so vile a lyar that I
durst not trust his tongue with a dispute. He is
gone, however, loaded with little presents from me,
and with a large share too of my good opinion, though
I most sincerely rejoice in his departure, and hope we
shall never meet more but by chance.
Since our quarrel I had occasion to talk of him
with Tom Davies, 1 who spoke with horror of his
ferocious temper ; " and yet," says I, " there is great
sensibility about Baretti : I have seen tears often
stand in his eyes." " Indeed," replies Davies, " I
should like to have seen that sight vastly, when
even butchers weep."
1 The actor and bookseller who introduced Boswell to Johnson.
12
178 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
SOPHY STREATFIELD
I have since heard that Dr. Collier picked up a
more useful friend, a Mrs. Streatfield, a widow, high
in fortune and rather eminent both for the beauties
of person and mind ; her children, I find, he has been
educating; and her eldest daughter is just now coming
out into the world with a great character for elegance
and literature. 20 November ; 1776.
19 May, 1778. The person who wrote the title of
this book at the top of the page, on the other side
left hand in the black letter, was the identical Miss
Sophia Streatfield, 1 mentioned in Thraliana, as pupil
to poor dear Doctor Collier, after he and I had parted.
By the chance meeting of some of the currents which
keep this ocean of human life from stagnating, this
lady and myself were driven together nine months
ago at Brighthelmstone : we soon grew intimate from
having often heard of each other, and I have now the
honour and happiness of calling her my friend. Her
face is eminently pretty ; her carriage elegant ; her
heart affectionate, and her mind cultivated. There
is above all this an attractive sweetness in her manner,
which claims and promises to repay one's confidence,
and which drew from me the secret of my keeping a
Thraliana^ etc. etc. etc.
Jan, 1779. Mr. Thrale is fallen in love, really and
seriously, with Sophy Streatfield ; but there is no
wonder in that; she is very pretty, very gentle, soft,
and insinuating ; hangs about him, dances round him,
cries when she parts from him, squeezes his hand
1 See pp. 32, 39.
" IN THE MORNING POST" 179
slyly, and with her sweet eyes full of tears looks so
fondly in his face and all for love of me as she
pretends ; that I can hardly, sometimes, help laugh-
ing in her face. A man must not be a man but an
it, to resist such artillery. Marriott l said very well,
" Man flatt'ring man not always can prevail,
But woman flatt'ring man can never fail."
Murphy did not use, I think, to have a good opinion
of me, but he seems to have changed his mind this
Christmas, and to believe better of me. I am glad
on't to be sure : the suffrage of such a man is well
worth having : he sees Thrale's love of the fair S. S. I
suppose: approves my silent and patient endurance
of what I could not prevent by more rough and sincere
behaviour.
20 January, 1780. Sophy Streatfield is come to
town : she is in the Morning Post too, I see (to be in
the Morning Post is no good thing). She has won
Wedderburne's z heart from his wife, I believe, and
few married women will bear that patiently if I do ;
they will some of them wound her reputation, so that
I question whether it can recover. Lady Erskine 3
made many odd inquiries about her to me yesterday,
and winked and looked wise at her sister. The
dear S. S. must be a little on her guard ; nothing is
so spiteful as a woman robbed of a heart she thinks
she has a claim upon. She will not lose that with
1 Sir James Marriott, a judge of the Admiralty Court.
2 Lord Loughborough, later Earl of Rosslyn, Lord Chancellor
1793-1801.
3 Wife of Sir James St. Clair Erskine, the nephew and heir
of Lord Rosslyn.
i8o DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
temper, which she has taken perhaps no pains at all to
preserve : and I do not observe with any pleasure, I
fear, that my husband prefers Miss Streatfield to me,
though I must acknowledge her younger, handsomer,
and a better scholar. Of her chastity, however, I
never had a doubt : she was bred by Dr. Collier in
the strictest principles of piety and virtue ; she not
only knows she will be always chaste, but she knows
why she will be so. Mr. Thrale is now by dint of
disease quite out of the question, so I am a dis-
interested spectator; but her coquetry is very
dangerous indeed, and I wish she were married that
there might be an end on't. Mr. Thrale loves her,
however, sick or well, better by a thousand degrees
than he does me or any one else, and even now de-
sires nothing on earth half so much as the sight of
his Sophia.
" E'en from the tomb the voice of nature cries !
E'en in our ashes live their wonted fires ! "
The Saturday before Mr. Thrale was taken ill,
Saturday, ipth February he was struck Monday,
2 ist February we had a large party to tea, cards,
and supper; Miss Streatfield was one, and as Mr.
Thrale sate by her, he pressed her hand to his heart
(as she told me herself), and said, " Sophy, we shall
not enjoy this long, and to-night I will not be cheated
of my only comfort." Poor soul ! how shockingly
tender ! On the first Fryday that he spoke after his
stupor, she came to see him, and as she sate by the
bedside pitying him, " Oh," says he, " who would not
suffer even all that I have endured to be pitied by
you ! " This I heard myself.
AN UNCOMMON GIRL 181
Here is Sophy Streatfield again, handsomer than
ever, and flushed with new conquests ; the Bishop of
Chester l feels her power, I am sure ; she showed me
a letter from him that was as tender and had all the
tokens upon it as strong as ever I remember to have
seen 'em ; I repeated to her out of Pope's Homer
" Very well, Sophy," says I :
" ' Range undisturb'd among the hostile crew,
But touch not Hinchliffe, 2 Hinchliffe is my due.' "
Miss Streatfield (says my master) could have quoted
these lines in the Greek ; his saying so piqued me,
and piqued me because it was true. I wish I under-
stood Greek ! Mr. Thrale's preference of her to me
never vexed me so much as my consciousness or
fear at least that he has reason for his preference.
She has ten times my beauty, and five times my
scholarship : wit and knowledge has she none.
May> 1781. Sophy Streatfield is an incomprehen-
sible girl ; here has she been telling me such tender
passages of what passed between her and Mr. Thrale,
that she half frights me somehow, at the same time de-
claring her attachment to Vyse 3 yet her willingness
to marry Lord Loughborough. Good God ! what an
uncommon girl ! and handsome almost to perfection,
I think : delicate in her manners, soft in her voice, and
strict in her principles : I never saw such a character,
she is wholly out of my reach ; and I can only say
1 Dr. Beilby Porteus, afterwards Bishop of London (1731-
1808). Madame D'Arblay refers to S. S. and "her darling
bishop" (sub anno 1783).
2 For Hector, John Hinchliffe, Master of Trinity (1768-1788),
Bishop of Peterborough (1769-1794).
3 Dr. William Vyse, Rector of Lambeth.
i8a DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
that the man who runs mad for Sophy Streatfield
has no reason to be ashamed of his passion ; few
people, however, seem disposed to take her for life
everybody's admiration, as Mrs. Byron says, and no-
body's choice.
Streatham, January 1st, 1782. Sophy Streatfield
has begun the new year nicely with a new conquest.
Poor dear Doctor Burney ! he is now the reigning
favourite, and she spares neither pains nor caresses to
turn that good man's head, much to the vexation of
his family ; particularly my Fanny, who is naturally
provoked to see sport made of her father in his last
stage of life by a young coquet, whose sole employ-
ment in this world seems to have been winning men's
hearts on purpose to fling them away. How she con-
trives to keep bishops, and brewers, and doctors, and
directors of the East India Company, all in chains so,
and almost all at the same time, would amaze a wiser
person than me ; I can only say let us mark the end !
Hester will perhaps see her out and pronounce, like
Solon, on her wisdom and conduct. 1
FANNY BURNEY AT STREATHAM
August, 1779. Fanny Burney has been a longtime
1 The end was as Mrs. Thrale prophesies. " S. S." died un-
married in 1835. In her Diary (for 1792) Madame D'Arblay
tells of meeting her in the company of the wife of one of her old
conquests. " We now met Mrs. Porteus, and who should be
with her but the poor pretty S. S., whom so long I had not seen,
and who now lately has been finally given up by her long sought
and very injurious lover, Dr. Vyse.'
AN UNEASY GUEST 183
from me ; I was glad to see her again ; yet she makes
me miserable too in many respects, so restlessly and
apparently anxious, lest I should give myself airs of
patronage or load her with the shackles of dependance.
I live with her always in a degree of pain that precludes
friendship dare not ask her to buy me a ribbon
dare not desire her to touch the bell, lest she should
think herself injured lest she should forsooth appear
in the character of Miss Neville, and I in that of the
widow Bromley. See Murphy's Know Your Own
Mind.
Fanny Burney has kept her room here in my house
seven days, with a fever or something that she called
a fever ; I gave her every medicine and every slop with
my own hand ; took away her dirty cups, spoons, etc. ;
moved her tables : in short, was doctor, and nurse
and maid for I did not like the servants should have
additional trouble lest they should hate her for it.
And now, with the true gratitude of a wit, she tells
me that the world thinks the better of me for my
civilities to her. It does ? does it ?
Miss Burney was much admired at Bath (1780);
the puppy-men said, " She had such a drooping air
and such a timid intelligence " ; or, " a timid air," I
think it was, " and a drooping intelligence " ; never
sure was such a collection of pedantry and affectation
as filled Bath when we were on that spot. How every-
thing else and everybody set off my gallant bishop.
" Quantum lenta solent inter viburna Cupressi." Of
all the people I ever heard read verse in my whole
life, the best, the most perfect reader, is the Bishop of
Peterboro' (Hinchliffe).
184 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
July ist, 1780. Mrs. Byron, 1 who really loves me,
was disgusted at Miss Burney's carriage to me, who
have been such a friend and benefactress to her : not
an article of dress, not a ticket for public places, not
a thing in the world that she could not command from
me : yet always insolent, always pining for home,
always preferring the mode of life in St. Martin's
Street 2 to all I could do for her. She is a saucy-
spirited little puss to be sure, but I love her dearly for
all that ; and I fancy she has a real regard for me, if
she did not think it beneath the dignity of a wit,
or of what she values more the dignity of Dr.
Burney's daughter to indulge it. Such dignity !
the Lady Louisa of Leicester Square ! 3 In good
time !
1781. What a blockhead Dr. Burney is to be
always sending for his daughter home so ! what a
monkey ! is she not better and happier with me than
she can be anywhere else ? Johnson is enraged at
the silliness of their family conduct, and Mrs. Byron
disgusted ; I confess myself provoked excessively, but
I love the girl so dearly and the Doctor, too, for
that matter, only that he has such odd notions of
superiority in his own house, and will have his children
under his feet forsooth, rather than let 'em live in peace,
plenty, and comfort anywhere from home. If I did
1 Sophia Trevannion, wife of " Foul-weather Jack," grand-
mother of Lord Byron.
2 No. 35 St. Martin's Street, where Dr. Burney lived until
1788. It was formerly Newton's house. A charm ing monograph
has appeared on The House in St. Martin's Street by Miss
Constance and 'Miss Ellen Hill.
3 Alluding to a character in Evelina.
DR. CHARLES BURNEY
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
RIOTING IN THE BOROUGH 185
not provide Fanny with every wearable every wish-
able, indeed, it would not vex me to be served so ;
but to see the impossibility of compensating for the
pleasures of St. Martin's Street, makes one at once
merry and mortified.
Dr. Burney did not like his daughter should learn
Latin even of Johnson, who offered to teach her for
friendship, because then she would have been as wise
as himself forsooth, and Latin was too masculine for
Misses. A narrow-souled goose-cap the man must
be at last, agreeable and amiable all the while too,
beyond almost any other human creature. Well,
mortal man is but a paltry animal ! the best of us
have such drawbacks both upon virtue, wisdom, and
knowledge.
THE GORDON RIOTS
2Oth May, 1780. I got back to Bath again and
staid there till the riots 1 drove us all away the first
week in June : we made a dawdling journey, cross
country, to Brighthelmstone, where all was likely to be
at peace : the letters we found there, however, shewed
us how near we were to ruin here in the Borough :
where nothing but the astonishing presence of mind
shewed by Perkins 2 in amusing the mob with meat
and drink and huzzas, till Sir Philip Jennings Clerke 3
could get the troops and pack up the counting-house
bills, bonds, etc., and carry them, which he did, to
Chelsea College for safety, could have saved us from
1 The Lord George Gordon Riots.
2 See p. 21. 3 See p. 37.
186 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
actual undoing. The villains had broke in, and our
brew-house would have blazed in ten minutes, when a
property of I5o,ooo/. would have been utterly lost,
and its once flourishing possessors quite undone.
Let me stop here to give God thanks for so very
undeserved, so apparent, an interposition of Provi-
dence in our favour.
I left Mr. Thrale at Brighthelmstone and came to
town again to see what was left to be done : we have
now got arms and mean to defend ourselves by force
if further violence is intended. Sir Philip comes
every day at some hour or another good creature,
how kind he is ! and how much I ought to love him !
God knows I am not in this case wanting to my duty.
I have presented Perkins, with my Master's permis-
sion, with two hundred guineas, and a silver urn for
his lady, with his own cypher on it and this motto
Mollis responsio, Iram avertit.
THE PLEASANT PATH OF DUTY
Monday, January 29^, 1781. So now we are to
spend this winter in Grosvenor Square ; l my master
has taken a ready-furnished lodging-house there, and
we go in to-morrow. He frightened me cruelly a while
ago ; he would have Lady Shelburne's 2 house, one of
1 Cf. p. 123.
2 Wife of Sir William Petty, first Marquis of Lansdovvne and
second Earl of Shelburne. Madame D'Arblay records in her
Diary that after Mr. Thrale's death Streatham Place was
rented by Lord Shelburne for three years. See p. 211.
A COMFORTING RESOLUTION 187
the finest in London ; he would buy, he would build,
he would give twenty to thirty guineas a week for a
house. Oh Lord, thought I, the people will sure
enough throw stones at me now when they see a dying
man go to such mad expenses, and all, as they will
naturally think, to please a wife wild with the love of
expense. This was the very thing I endeavoured to
avoid by canvassing the borough for him, 1 in hopes of
being through that means tyed to the brewhouse where
I always hated to live till now, that I conclude his
constitution lost, and that the world will say / tempt
him in his weak state of body and mind to take a fine
house for me at the flashy end of the town. . . . He
however, dear creature, is as absolute, ay, and ten times
more so, than ever, since he suspects his head to be
suspected, and to Grosvenor Square we are going, and
I cannot be sorry, for it will doubtless be comfortable
enough to see one's friends commodiously, and I have
long wished to quit Harrow Corner, to be sure ; how
could one help it ? though I did
" Call round my casks each object of desire "
all last winter : but it was a heavy drag too, and what
signifies resolving never to be pleased ? I will make
myself comfortable in my new habitation, and be
thankful to God and my husband.
1 Thrale unsuccessfully contested Southwark in 1780, his
failure, according to Johnson, who wrote addresses, etc., for him,
being due to his failing health. He died in the following year
1 88 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
JOHNSON AND BARETTI AS COMPANIONS
ON A JOURNEY
Well, now I have experienced the delights of a
London winter, spent in the bosom of flattery, gayety,
and Grosvenor Square ; 'tis a poor thing, however, and
leaves a void in the mind, but I have had my compt-
ing-house duties to attend, my sick master to watch,
my little children to look after, and how much good
have I done in any way ? Not a scrap as I can see ;
the pecuniary affairs have gone on perversely : how
should they chuse [otherwise] when the sole proprietor
is incapable of giving orders, yet not so far incapable
as to be set aside ! Distress, fraud, folly, meet me at
every turn, and I am not able to fight against them all,
though endued with an iron constitution, which shakes
not by sleepless nights or days severely fretted.
Mr. Thrale talks now of going to Spa and Italy
again; how shall we drag him thither? A man who
cannot keep awake four hours at a stroke, etc. Well !
this will indeed be a tryal of one's patience ; and who
must go with us on this expedition ? Mr. Johnson !
he will indeed be the only happy person of the
party ; he values nothing under heaven but his own
mind, which is a spark from heaven, and that will be
invigorated by the addition of new ideas. If Mr.
Thrale dies on the road, Johnson will console himself
by learning how it is to travel with a corpse : and, after
all, such reasoning is the true philosophy one's heart
is a mere incumbrance would I could leave mine
behind. The children shall go to their sisters l at
1 I.e. at school.
BARETTI'S CHANCE 189
Kensington, Mrs. Cumyns may take care of them all.
God grant us a happy meeting some where and some
time \
Baretti should attend, I think ; there is no man who
has so much of every language, and can manage so
well with Johnson, is so tidy on the road, so active too
to obtain good accommodations. He is the man in
the world, I think, whom I most abhor, and who hates
and professes to hate me the most ; but what does that
signifie ? He will be careful of Mr. Thrale and Hester
whom he does love and he won't strangle me, I
suppose. Somebody we must have. Croza would
court our daughter, and Piozzi could not talk to
Johnson, nor, I suppose, do one any good but sing to
one, and how should we sing song's in a strange land?
Baretti must be the man, and I will beg it of him as a
favour. Oh, the triumph he will have ! and the lyes
he will tell ! *
DEATH OF MR. THRALE
On the Sunday, the ist of April, I went to hear the
Bishop of Peterborough 2 preach at May Fair Chapel,
and though the sermon had nothing in it particularly
pathetic, I could not keep my tears within my eyes.
I spent the evening, however, at Lady Rothes', 3 and
1 On Baretti's genius as a courier see pp. 170, 171.
2 See p. 181.
3 Jane Leslie, Countess of Rothes. Her first husband was
Mr. G. R. Evelyn, her second Sir Lucas Pepys, the eminent
physician. "There's a Countess for you!" says Madame
i 9 o DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
was cheerful. Found Sir John Lade, 1 Johnson, and
Boswell, with Mr. Thrale, at my return to the Square.
On Monday morning Mr. Evans 2 came to breakfast ;
Sir Philip 3 and Dr. Johnson to dinner so did Baretti.
Mr. Thrale eat voraciously so voraciously that, en-
couraged by Jebb 4 and Pepys, who had charged me to
do so, I checked him rather severely, and Mr. Johnson
added these remarkable words : " Sir, after the denun-
ciation of your physicians this morning, such eating is
little better than suicide." He did not, however, desist,
and Sir Philip said, he eat apparently in defiance of
control, and that it was better for us to say nothing to
him. Johnson observed that he thought so too ; and
that he spoke more from a sense of duty than a hope
of success. Baretti and these two spent the evening
with me, and I was enumerating the people who were
to meet the Indian Ambassadors on the Wednesday.
I had been to Negri's and bespoke an elegant enter-
tainment.
On the next day, Tuesday the 3rd, Mrs. Hinchliffe 6
called on me in the morning to go see Webber's draw-
ings of the South Sea rareties. 6 We met the Smelts,
D'Arblay (Diary, sub anno 1782) ; " Does not she deserve being
an Earl? for such in fact she is, being Countess in her own
right, and giving her own name to her children, who, though
sons and daughters of Mr. Evelyn and Dr. Pepys for she has
been twice married are called, the eldest Lord Lesley, and the
rest the Honourable Mr. Lesleys, and Lady Harriet and Lady
Mary."
1 See p. 169. 2 See p. 171.
3 See p. 37. 4 See p. 34.
5 Wife of the Bishop of Peterborough.
6 John Webber, R.A., accompanied Captain Cook's third
voyage as draughtsman, 1776-1780.
A CIRCLE OF BLUES 191
the Ords, 1 and numberless blues there, and displayed
our pedantry at our pleasure. Going and coming,
however, I quite teazed Mrs. Hinchliffe with my low-
spirited terrors about Mr. Thrale, who had not all this
while one symptom worse than he had had for months;
though the physicians this Tuesday morning agreed
that a continuation of such dinners as he had lately
made would soon dispatch a life so precarious and un-
certain. When I came home to dress, Piozzi, who was
in the next room teaching Hester to sing, began lament-
ing that he was engaged to Mrs. Locke 2 on the follow-
ing evening, when I had such a world of company to
meet these fine Orientals ; he had, however, engaged
Roncaglia and Sacchini to begin with, and would make
a point of coming himself at nine o'clock if possible.
I gave him the money I had collected for his benefit
35/. I remember it was a banker's note and burst
out o' crying, and said, I was sure I should not go to
it. The man was shocked, and wondered what I
meant. Nay, says I, 'tis mere lowness of spirits, for
Mr. Thrale is very well now, and is gone out in his
carriage to spit cards, as I call'd it sputar le carte
Just then came a letter from Dr. Pepys, insisting to
speak with me in the afternoon, and though there was
1 Leonard Smelt was deputy-governor to the royal princes
(1771-1781). Mrs. Ord was a great friend of Fanny Burney, "a
woman of social distinction who did not quite belong to the
' Bas bleus,' but visited and received them." (A. R. Ellis.)
2 Frederica Augusta Schaub, daughter of Lady Schaub (of
Gray's Long Story\ and wife of William Locke of Norbury Park,
a distinguished collector. Mrs. Locke became one of Fanny
Burney's dearest friends. Her Diary was intended originally
only for her sisters, "Daddy Crisp," and Mrs. Locke.
192 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
nothing very particular in the letter considering our
intimacy, I burst out o' crying again, and threw myself
into an agony, saying, I was sure Mr. Thrale would dye.
Miss Owen l came to dinner, and Mr. Thrale came
home so well ! and in such spirits ! he had invited more
people to my concert, or conversazione, or musical party,
of the next day, and was delighted to think what a
show we should make. He eat, however, more than
enormously. Six things the day before, and eight on
this day, with strong beer in such quantities ! the very
servants were frighted, and when Pepys came in the
evening he said this could not last either there must
be legal 2 restraint or certain death. Dear Mrs. Byron 3
spent the evening with me, and Mr. Crutchley 4 came
from Sunning-hill to be ready for the morrow's flash.
Johnson was at the Bishop of Chester's. I went down
in the course of the afternoon to see after my master
as usual, and found him not asleep, but sitting with his
legs up because, as he express'd it. I kissed him, and
said how good he was to be so careful of himself. He
enquired who was above, but had no disposition to
come up stairs. Miss Owen and Mrs. Byron now took
their leave. The Dr. had been gone about twenty
minutes when Hester went down to see her papa, and
1 In her Early Diary Fanny Burney thus disposes of Miss
Owen : " A relation [of Mrs. Thrale] ; good-humoured and
sensible enough ; she is a sort of butt, and, as such, a general
favourite."
2 (Note by Mrs. Thrale.) " I rejected all propositions of the
sort, and said, as he had got the money, he had the best right
to throw it away. ... I should always prefer my husband to my
children : let him do his own way."
3 See p. 184. * See p. 41.
DEATH OF MR. THRALE 193
found him on the floor. What's the meaning of this?
says she, in an agony. I chuse it, replies Mr. Thrale
firmly ; I lie so o' purpose. She ran, however, to call
his valet, who was gone out happy to leave him so
particularly well, as he thought. When my servant
went instead, Mr. Thrale bid him begone, in a firm
tone, and added that he was very well and chose to
lie so. By this time, however, Mr. Crutchley was run
down at Hetty's intreaty, and had sent to fetch Pepys
back. He was got but into Upper Brook Street, and
found his friend in a most violent fit of the apoplexy,
from which he only recovered to relapse into another,
every one growing weaker as his strength grew less,
till six o'clock on Wednesday morning, 4th April, 1781,
when he died. Sir Richard Jebb, who was fetched at
the beginning of the distress, seeing death certain,
quitted the house without even prescribing. Pepys did
all that could be done, and Johnson, who was sent for
at eleven o'clock, never left him, for while breath re-
mained he still hoped. I ventured in once, and saw
them cutting his clothes off to bleed him, but I saw
no more.
JOHNSON AT THE SOUTHWARK BREWERY
Streatham, \st May, 1781. I have now appointed
three days a week to attend at the counting-house.
If an angel from heaven had told me twenty years
ago that the man I knew by the name of Dictionary
Johnson should one day become partner with me in
a great trade, and that we should jointly or separately
13
X
i 9 4 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
sign notes, drafts, etc., for three or four thousand
pounds of a morning, how unlikely it would have
seemed ever to happen ! Unlikely is no word tho',
it would have seemed incredible, neither of us then
being worth a groat, God knows, and both as im-
measurably removed from commerce as birth, liter-
ature, and inclination could get us. Johnson, however,
who desires above all other good the accumulation of
new ideas, is but too happy with his present employ-
ment ; x and the influence I have over him, added to
his own solid judgment and a regard for truth, will at
last find it in a small degree difficult to win him
from the dirty delight of seeing his name in a new
character flaming away at the bottom of bonds and
leases.
A WOMAN OF BUSINESS
The power of emptying one's head of a great
thing and filling it with little ones to amuse care, is
no small power, and I am proud of being able to
write Italian verses while I am bargaining I5o,ooo/.,
and settling an event of the highest consequence to
my own and my children's welfare. David Barclay,
1 " Lord Lucan tells a very good story, which, if not precisely
exact, is certainly characteristical : that when the sale of
Thrale's brewery was going forward, Johnson appeared bustling
about, with an inkhorn and pen in his button-hole, like an
exciseman ; and on being asked what he really considered to
be the value of the property which was to be disposed of,
answered, 'We are not here to sell a parcel of boilers and vats,
but the potentiality of growing ricnbeyond the dreams of
avarice.'" (Boswell, sub anno 1781.) See p. 42.
2 See p. 41.
THRALE PLACE, STREATHAM
After painting by
SlR JOSIM'A Rl.VNOLDS
AN OBSCURE MAN 195
the rich Quaker, will treat for our brewhouse, and the
negotiation is already begun. My heart palpitates with
hope and fear my head is bursting with anxiety and
calculation ; yet I can listen to a singer and translate
verses about a knife.
Mrs. Montagu has been here ; she says I ought to
have a statue erected to me for my diligent attend-
ance on my compting-house duties. The wits and
the blues (as it is the fashion to call them) will be
happy enough, no doubt, to have me safe at the
brewery out of their way.
A VERY STRANGE THING
A very strange thing happened in the year 1776,
and I never wrote it down, I must write it down
now. A woman came to London from a distant
county to prosecute some business, and fell into
distress ; she was sullen and silent, and the people
with whom her affairs connected her advised her to
apply for assistance to some friend. What friends
can I have in London? says the woman, nobody here
knows anything of me. One can't tell that, was the
reply. Where have you lived ? I have wandered
much, says she, but I am originally from Litchfield.
Who did you know in Litchfield in your youth? Oh,
nobody of any note, I'll warrant : I knew one David
Garrick, indeed, but I once heard that he turned
strolling player, and is probably dead long ago; I
also knew . an obscure man, Samuel Johnson, very
good he was too ; but who can know anything of
196 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
poor Johnson? I was likewise acquainted with
Robert James, a quack doctor. 1 He is, I suppose, no
very reputable connection if I could find him. Thus
did this woman name and discriminate the three
best known characters in London perhaps in
Europe.
"On, BRAVE MRS. MONTAGU"
" Such," says Mrs. Montagu, " is the dignity of Mrs.
Thrale's virtue, and such her superiority in all situa-
tions of life, that nothing now is wanting but an
earthquake to show how she will behave on that
occasion." Oh, brave Mrs. Montagu ! She is a
monkey, though, to quarrel with Johnson so about
Lyttelton's life : 2 if he was a great character, nothing
said of him in that book can hurt him ; if he was not
a great character, they are bustling about nothing.
WOODCOCKS AND FOWLERS
Mr. Crutchley 3 lives now a great deal with me ; the
business of executor to Mr. Thrale's' will makes
much of his attendance necessary, and it begins to
have its full effect in seducing and attaching him to
the house, Miss Burney's being always about me is
probably another reason for his close attendance, and
1 Dr. James was educated at Lichfield. He had a Cambridge
degree, and the only reason for calling him a quack was his
patenting his famous powder in which " Dr." Goldsmith had
such pathetic faith.
2 See p. 144. 3 See p. 41.
MEANNESS AND MAGNIFICENCE 197
I believe it is so. What better could befall Miss
Burney, or indeed what better could befall him, than
to obtain a woman of honour, and character, and
reputation for superior understanding? I would be
glad, however, that he fell honestly in love with her,
and was not trick'd or trapp'd into marriage, poor
fellow ; he is no match for the arts of a novel-writer.
A mighty particular character Mr. Crutchley is :
strangely mixed up of meanness and magnificence ;
liberal and splendid in large sums and on serious
occasions, narrow and confined in the common
occurrences of life ; warm and generous in some of
his motives, frigid and suspicious, however, for
eighteen hours at least out of the twenty-four ; likely
to be duped, though always expecting fraud, and
easily disappointed in realities, though seldom flat-
tered by fancy. He is supposed by those that knew
his mother and her connections to be Mr. Thrale's
natural son, and in many things he resembles him,
but not in person : as he is both ugly and awkward.
Mr. Thrale certainly believed he was his son, and
once told me as much when Sophy Streatfield's
affair 1 was in question, but nobody could persuade
him to court the S.S. Oh ! well does the Custom-
house officer Green 2 say,
" Coquets ! leave off affected arts,
Gay fowlers at a flock of hearts ;
Woodcocks to shun your snares have skill,
You show so plain you strive to kill."
1 See p. 178 et seq.
2 Matthew Green, a clerk in the Custom-house, author of The
Spleen, 1737.
1 98 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
UNDISGRACED BY COMMERCIAL CONNECTIONS
$rd June, 1781. Well! here have I, with the grace
of God and the assistance of good friends, completed
I really think very happily the greatest event of
my life. I have sold my brewhouse to Barclay, the
rich Quaker, for I35,ooo/., to be in four years' time
paid. I have by this bargain purchased peace
and a stable fortune, restoration to my original rank
in life, and a situation undisturbed by commercial
jargon, unpolluted by commercial frauds, undisgraced
by commercial connections. They who succeed me
in the house have purchased the power of being rich
beyond the wish of rapacity, 1 and I have procured
the improbability of being made poor by flights of
the fairy, speculation. 'Tis thus that a woman and
men of feminine minds always I speak popularly
decide upon life, and chuse certain mediocrity before
probable superiority ; while, as Eton Graham 2 says
sublimely
" Nobler souls,
Fir'd with the tedious and disrelish'd good,
Seek their employment in acknowledg'd ill,
Danger, and toil, and pain."
On this principle partly, and partly on worse, was
dear Mr. Johnson something unwilling but not much
1 There is a curious similarity here to Johnson's phrase,
" the potentiality of becoming rich beyond the dreams of
avarice." See p. 194. (Hayward.)
2 George Graham, a master at Eton, author of Telemachus,
a masque, 1763.
ADIEU TO TRADE 199
at last to give up a trade by which in some years
I5,ooo/. or i6,ooo/. had undoubtedly been got, but by
which, in some years, its possessor had suffered agonies
of terror and tottered twice upon the verge of bank-
ruptcy. Well ! if thy own conscience acquit, who shall
condemn thee ? Not, I hope, the future husbands of our
daughters, though I should thinkit likelyenough ; how-
ever, as Johnson says very judiciously, they must either
think right or wrong : if they think right, let us now
think with them ; if wrong, let us never care what they
think. So adieu to brewhouse, and borough wintering ;
adieu to trade, and tradesmen's frigid approbation; may
virtue and wisdom sanctify our contract, and make
buyer and seller happy in the bargain! . . . Mrs. Montagu
has sent me her approbation in a letter exceedingly
affectionate and polite. 'Tis over now, tho', and I'll
clear my head of it and all that belongs to it ; I will
go to church, give God thanks, receive the sacrament
and forget the frauds, follies, and inconveniences of a
commercial life this day.
MRS. THRALE MEETS PIOZZI
Brighton, July 1780. I have picked up Piozzi here,
the great Italian singer. 1 He is amazingly like my
father. He shall teach Hester.
1 The date of Mrs. Thrale's first meeting with Piozzi is un-
certain. It was probably on the occasion of the famous evening
party at Dr. Burney's house in St. Martin's Street when Mrs.
Thrale burlesqued her future husband behind his back. The
story of that evening is told in detail by Madame D'Arblay in
her pompous Memoirs of Dr. Burney. Madame D'Arblay refers
200 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
A PRODIGIOUS FAVOURITE
13 August, 1780. Piozzi is become a prodigious
favourite with me, 1 he is so intelligent a creature, so
discerning, one can't help wishing for his good opinion ;
his singing surpasses everybody's for taste, tenderness,
and true elegance ; his hand on the forte piano too is so
soft, so sweet, so delicate, every tone goes to the heart,
I think, and fills the mind with emotions one would not
be without, though inconvenient enough sometimes.
He wants nothing from us : he comes for his health he
says : I see nothing ail the man but pride. The news-
papers yesterday told what all the musical folks gained,
and set Piozzi down I2OO/. o' year.
CROSS CURRENTS
August, 1781. I begin to wish in good earnest that
Miss Burneyshould make impression on Mr.Crutchley.
I think she honestly loves the man, who in his turn
the scene to the year 1777, but her recollection of dates is not
convincing evidence. The fragment from her sister Charlotte's
diary describing the same event is undated. When Mrs. Thrale
says that " the beginning of my acquaintance with Piozzi was
at Brighton, after the riots, August, '80 or so," this is not in-
consistent with her having met him before. The matter has
been discussed with disproportionate gravity, and it has too
rashly been assumed that meeting and acquaintance are
synonymous.
1 Mrs. Ellis, in her scholarly edition of the Early Diary of
Frances Burney, alters this date to 1781, and uses this entry as
a means of attacking Mrs. Thrale. The dates of Thraliana are
much more to be relied on than Madame D'Arblay's.
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
FIVE LOVELY CREATURES 201
appears to be in love with some one else Hester, I
fear. Oh ! that would indeed be unlucky ! People have
said so a long while, but I never thought it till now ;
young men and women will always be serving one so,
to be sure, if they live at all together, but I depended
on Burney keeping him steady to herself. Queeny l
behaves like an angel about it. Mr. Johnson says
the name of Crutchley comes from croixlea, the cross
meadow ; lea is a meadow, I know, and crutch, a
crutch stick, is so called from having the handle go
crosswise.
FAMILY AFFAIRS
September, 1781. My five fair daughters too! I
have so good a pretence to wish for long life to see
them settled. Like the old fellow in Lucian, one
is never at a loss for an excuse. They are five lovely
creatures to be sure, but they love not me. Is it my
fault or theirs?
\2th October, 1781. Yesterday was my wedding-
day; it was a melancholy thing to me to pass it
without the husband of my youth.
" Long tedious years may neither moan,
Sad, deserted, and alone ;
May neither long condemned to stay
Wait the second bridal day ! ! ! " 2
Let me thank God for my children, however, my
fortune, and my friends, and be contented if I cannot
be happy.
1 Hester Thrale.
2 Note by Mrs. T. : " Samuel Wesley's verses, making part of
an epithalamium."
202 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
October, 1781. My maid Margaret Rice
dreamed last night that my eldest daughter was going
to be married to Mr. Crutchley, but that Mr. Thrale
himself prevented her. An odd thing to me, who think
Mr. Crutchley is his son.
"MY POOR DR. JOHNSON"
Saturday, gth May, 1782. To-day I bring home to
Streatham my poor Dr. Johnson : he went to town a
week ago by the way of amusing himself, and got so
very ill l that I thought I should never get him home
alive.
A BURNT SONNET
2$th November, 1781. I have got my Piozzi home
at last ; he looks thin and battered, but always kindly
upon me, I think. He brought me an Italian sonnet
written in his praise by Marco Capello, which I instantly
translated of course ; but he, prudent creature, insisted
on my burning it, as he said it would inevitably get
about the town how he was praised, and how Mrs.
Thrale translated and echoed the praises, so that, says
he, I shall be torn in pieces, and you will have some
infamita said of you that will make you hate the sight
of me. He was so earnest with me that I could not
1 In a letter to Boswell a month later Dr. Johnson says, " This
year has afflicted me with a very irksome and severe disorder.
My respiration has been much impeded, and much blood has
been taken away. I am now harassed by a catarrhous cough."
ITALY AND ENGLAND 203
resist, so burnt my sonnet, which was actually very
pretty ; and now I repent I did not first write it into
the Thraliana. Over leaf, however, shall go the transla-
tion, which happens to be done very closely, and the
last stanza is particularly exact. I must put it down
while I remember it :
I
Favoured of Britain's pensive sons
Though still thy name be found,
Though royal Thames where'er he runs
Returns the flattering sound,
Though absent thou, on every joy
Her gloom privation flings,
And Pleasure, pining for employ,
Now droops her nerveless wings,
3
Yet since kind Fates thy voice restore
To charm our land again,
Return not to their rocky shore,
Nor tempt the angry main.
4
Nor is their praise of so much worth,
Nor is it justly given,
That angels sing to them on earth
Who slight the road to heaven.
He tells me Piozzi does that his own country
manners greatly disgusted him, after having been used
204 DR - JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
to ours ; but Milan is a comfortable place, I find. If
he does not fix himself for life here, he will settle to
lay his bones at Milan. The Marquis D'Araciel, his
friend and patron, who resides there, divides and dis-
putes his heart with me : I shall be loth to resign it.
FEARS OF JOHNSON'S HEALTH
17 th December ; 1781. Dear Mr. Johnson is at last
returned ; he has been a vast while away to see his
country folks at Litchfield. My fear is lest he should
grow paralytick, there are really some symptoms
already discoverable, I think, about the mouth particu-
larly. He will drive the gout away so when it comes,
and it must go somewhere. Queeny works hard with
him at the classics ; I hope she will be out of leading-
strings at least before he gets into them, as poor women
say of their children.
NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
ist January, 1782. Let me not, while censuring
the behaviour of others, however, give cause of censure
by my own. I am beginning a new year in a new
character. May it be worn decently yet lightly ! I
wish not to be rigid and fright my daughters by too
much severity. I will not be wild and give them reason
to lament the levity of my life. Resolutions, however,
are vain. To pray for God's grace is the sole way to
obtain it " Strengthen Thou, O Lord, my virtue and
TRAVELLING WITH JOHNSON 205
my understanding, preserve me from temptation, and
acquaint me with myself; fill my heart with Thy love,
restrain it by Thy fear, and keep my soul's desires fixed
wholly on that place where only true joys are to be
found, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen."
January, 1782. If nothing of all these misfortunes
[illness, etc.], however, befall one ; if for my sins God
should take from me my monitor, my friend, my in-
mate, my dear Doctor Johnson; 1 if neither I should
marry, nor the brewhouse people break ; if the ruin
of the nation should not change the situation of affairs
so that one could not receive regular remittances from
England : and if Piozzi should not pick him up a wife
and fix his abode in this country, if, therefore, and if
and if and if again all should conspire to keep my
present resolution warm, I certainly would, at the close
of the four years from the sale of the Southwark estate,
set out for Italy, with my two or three eldest girls, and
see what the world could show me.
TOWN TALK
Streatham, ^th January, 1782. I have taken a
house in Harley Street for these three months next
ensuing, and hope to have some society, not company
tho': crowds are out of the question, but people will not
1 " Travelling with Mr. Johnson / cannot bear, and leaving
him behind he could not bear, so his life or death must determine
the execution or laying aside my schemes. I wish it were within
reason to hope he could live four years." (Mrs. Piozzi's marginal
note.)
206 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
come hither on short days, and 'tis too dull to live all
alone so. The world will watch me at first, and think
I come o' husband-hunting for myself or my fair
daughters, but when I have behaved prettily for a
while, they will change their mind.
Harley Street, \^th January, 1782. The first se-
duction comes from Pepys. 1 I had a letter to-day
desiring me to dine in Wimpole Street, to meet Mrs.
Montagu and a whole army of blues, to whom I trust
my refusal will afford very pretty speculation . . . and
they may settle my character and future conduct at
their leisure. Pepys is a worthless fellow at last ; he
and his brother run about the town, spying and en-
quiring what Mrs. Thrale is to do this winter, what
friends she is to see, what men are in her confidence,
how soon she will be married, etc. ; the brother Dr.
the Medico, 2 as we call him lays wagers about me, I
find ; God forgive me, but they'll make me hate them
both, and they are no better than two fools for their
pains, for I was willing to have taken them to my
heart.
" FRIEND, FATHER, GUARDIAN, CONFIDENT "
\st February, 1782. Here is Mr. Johnson ill, very
ill indeed, and I do not see what ails him; 'tis
repelled gout, I fear, fallen on the lungs and breath of
course. What shall we do for him ? If I lose him,
I am more than undone ; friend, father, guardian, con-
1 Sir William Weller Pepys, Master in Chancery.
2 Sir Lucas Pepys, President of the Royal College of
Physicians.
SULLEN WITH THE TOWN 207
fident ! God give me health and patience. What
shall I do?
REPORTED SUITORS
Harley Street, i$tk April, 1782. When I took off
my mourning, the watchers watched me very exactly,
" but they whose hands were mightiest have found
nothing": so I shall leave the town, I hope, in a good
disposition towards me, though I am sullen enough
with the town for fancying me such an amorous idiot
that I am dying to enjoy every filthy fellow. God
knows how distant such dispositions are from the
heart and constitution of H. L. T. Lord Loughboro', 1
Sir Richard Jebb, 2 Mr. Piozzi, Mr. Selwyn, 3 Dr. John-
son, every man that comes to the house, is put in the
papers for me to marry. In good time, I wrote to-day
to beg the Morning- Herald would say no more about
me, good or bad.
ANY MAN'S EQUAL
Streatham, ijth April, 1782. I am returned to
Streatham, pretty well in health and very sound in
heart, notwithstanding the watchers and the wager-
layers, who think more of the charms of their sex by
half than I who know them better. Love and friend-
ship are distinct things, and I would go through fire
to serve many a man whom nothing less than fire
would force me to go to bed to. Somebody mentioned
1 See p. 179. 2 See p. 34.
3 George Selwyn, the wit.
208 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
my going to be married t'other day, and Johnson was
joking about it. I suppose, Sir, said I, they think
they are doing me honour with these imaginary
matches, when, perhaps the man does not exist who
would do me honour by marrying me ! This, indeed,
was said in the wild and insolent spirit of Baretti, yet
'tis nearer the truth than one would think for. A
woman of passable person, ancient family, respectable
character, uncommon talents, and three thousand a
year, has a right to think herself any man's equal, and
has nothing to seek but return of affection from what-
ever partner she pitches on. To marry for love would
therefore be rational in me, who want no advancement
of birth or fortune, and till I am in love, I will not
marry, nor perhaps then.
RESOLVE TO LEAVE STREATHAM
22nd August, 1782. An event of no small conse-
quence to our little family must here be recorded in
the Thraliana. After having long intended to go
to Italy for pleasure, we are now settling to go thither
for convenience. The establishment of expense here
at Streatham is more than my income will answer ;
my lawsuit with Lady Salusbury turns out worse in
the event and infinitely more costly than I could have
dreamed on ; 8ooo/. is supposed necessary to the pay-
ment of it, and how am I to raise 8ooo/. ?' My trees
will (after all my expectations from them) fetch but
4OOO/., the money lent Perkins on his bond i6oo/.,
the Hertfordshire copyholds may perhaps be worth
SELF-IMPORTANCE 209
IOOO/., and where is the rest to spring from ? I must
go abroad and save money. To show Italy to my
girls, and be showed it by Piozzi, has long been my
dearest wish, but to leave Mr. Johnson shocked me,
and to take him appeared impossible. His recovery,
however, from an illness we all thought dangerous,
gave me courage to speak to him on the subject, and
this day (after having been let blood) I mustered up
resolution to tell him the necessity of changing a way
of life I had long been displeased with. I added that
I had mentioned the matter to my eldest daughter,
whose prudence and solid judgment, unbiassed by
passion, is unequalled, as far as my experience has
reached ; that she approved the scheme, and meant to
partake it, though of an age when she might be sup-
posed to form connections here in England attach-
ments of the tenderest nature ; that she declared her-
self free and resolved to follow my fortunes, though
perfectly aware temptations might arise to prevent
me from ever returning a circumstance she even
mentioned herself.
Mr. Johnson thought well of the project, and wished
me to put it early in execution : seemed less con-
cerned at parting with me than I wished him : thought
his pupil Miss Thrale quite right in forbearing to
marry young, and seemed to entertain no doubt of
living to see us return rich and happy in two or three
years' time. He told Hester in my absence that he
would not go with me if I asked him. See the import-
ance of a person to himself. I fancied Mr. Johnson
could not have existed without me, forsooth, as we
have now lived together for above eighteen years. I
210 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
have so fondled him in sickness and in health. Not
a bit of it. He feels nothing in parting with me,
nothing in the least ; but thinks it a prudent scheme,
and goes to his books as usual. This is philosophy
and truth ; he always said he hated a feeler. . . .
The persecution I endure from men too who want
to marry me in good time is another reason for
my desiring to be gone. I wish to marry none of
them, and Sir Philip's 1 teazing me completed my
mortification ; to see that one can rely on nobody \
The expenses of this house, however, which are quite
past my power to check, is the true and rational cause
of our departure. In Italy we shall live with twice
the respect and at half the expense we do here ; the
language is familiar to me and I love the Italians ; I
take with me all I love in the world except my two
baby daughters, who will be left safe at school ; and
since Mr. Johnson cares nothing for the loss of my
personal friendship and company, there is no danger
of anybody else breaking their hearts. My sweet
Burney z and Mrs. Byron 3 will perhaps think they are
sorry, but my consciousness that no one can have the
cause of concern that Johnson has, and my conviction
that he has no concern at all, shall cure me of lamenting
friends left behind. 4
1 Sir P. J. Clerke (see p. 37).
2 " I have determined, therefore, to do all in my power to
bear this blow steadily." (Madame D'Arblay's Diary for August
12, 1782.)
8 See p. 184.
* " I begin to see (now everything shows it) that Johnson's
connection with me is merely an interested one ; he loved Mr.
Thrale, I believe, but only wished to find in me a careful nurse
SELF-EXAMINATION 211
August 2%th, 1782. He (Piozzi) thinks still more
than he says, that I shall give him up ; and if Queeney
made herself more amiable to me, and took the proper
methods I suppose I should.
20 September 1782, Streatham. And now I am
going to leave Streatham (I have let the house and
grounds to Lord Shelburne, 1 the expense of it eat me
up) for three years, where I lived never happily
indeed, but always easily : the more so perhaps from
the total absence of love and ambition
" Else these two passions by the way
Might chance to show us scurvy play."
To MARRY OR NOT TO MARRY
1st October, 1782. Now ! that dear little discern-
ing creature, Fanny Burney, says I'm in love with
Piozzi : very likely ; he is so amiable, so honourable,
so much above his situation by his abilities, that if
Fate had not fast bound her
With Styx nine times round her,
Sure musick and love were victorious.
But if he is ever so worthy, ever so lovely, he is below
me forsooth ! In what is he below me ? In virtue ?
I would I were above him. In understanding? I
and humble friend for his sick and his lounging hours ; yet I
really thought he could not have existed without my conversation
forsooth ! He cares more for my roast beef and plum pudden,
which he now devours too dirtily for endurance ; and since he
is glad to get rid of me, I'm sure I have good cause to desire
the getting rid of him." (Mrs. Piozzi's marginal note.)
1 See p. 1 86.
212 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
would mine were from this instant under the guardian-
ship of his. In birth? To be sure he is below me in
birth, and so is almost every man I know or have a
chance to know. But he is below me in fortune : is
mine sufficient for us both? more than amply so.
Does he deserve it by his conduct, in which he has
always united warm notions of honour with cool atten-
tion to ceconomy, the spirit of a gentleman with the
talents of a professor? How shall any man deserve
fortune, if he does not ? But I am the guardian of
five daughters by Mr. Thrale, and must not disgrace
their name and family. Was then the man my mother
chose for me of higher extraction than him I have
chosen for myself ? No, but his fortune was higher.
. . . I wanted fortune then, perhaps: do I want it
now ? Not at all ; but I am not to think about
myself; I married the first time to please my mother,
I must marry the second time to please my daughter.
I have always sacrificed my own choice to that of
others, so I must sacrifice it again : but why ? Oh,
because I am a woman of superior understanding, and
must not for the world degrade myself from my
situation in life. But if I have superior understanding,
let me at least make use of it for once, and rise to the
rank of a human being conscious of its own power to
discern good from ill. The person who has uniformly
acted by the will of others has hardly that dignity to
boast.
But once again : I am guardian to five girls ; agreed :
will this connection prejudice their bodies, souls, or
purse? My marriage may assist my health, but I
suppose it will not injure theirs. Will his company
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE 213
or companions corrupt their morals ? God forbid ; if
I did not believe him one of the best of our fellow
beings, I would reject him instantly. Can it injure
their fortunes ? Could he impoverish (if he would)
five women, to whom their father left 2O,ooo/. each,
independent almost of possibilities ? To what then
am I guardian? to their pride and prejudice? 1 and is
anything else affected by the alliance ? Now for more
solid objections. Is not the man of whom I desire
protection, a foreigner? unskilled in the laws and
language of our country ? Certainly. Is he not, as
the French say, Arbitre de mon sort? and from the
hour he possesses my person and fortune, have I any
power of decision how or where I may continue or end
my life? Is not the man, upon the continuance of
whose affection my whole happiness depends, younger
than myself, 2 and is it wise to place one's happiness on
the continuance of any man's affection ? Would it not
be painful to owe his appearance of regard more to his
honour than his love ? and is not my person, already
faded, likelier to fade sooner than his? On the other
hand, is his life a good one? and would it not be lunacy
even to risque the wretchedness of losing all situation
in the world for the sake of living with a man one
loves, and then to lose both companion and consola-
tion ? When I lost Mr. Thrale, every one was officious
to comfort and to soothe me ; but which of my children
1 A recollection, perhaps, of the famous phrase which appeared
at the end of Fanny Burney's Cecilia, published in June of this
year. Jane Austen took it from the same source.
2 " He was half a year older when our registers were both
examined." (Mrs. Piozzi's marginal note.)
2i 4 DR - JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
or quondam friends would look with kindness upon
Piozzi's widow ? If I bring children by him, must they
not be Catholics, and must not I live among people the
ritual part of whose religion I disapprove ?
These are my objections, these my fears : not those
of being censured by the world, as it is called, a com-
position of vice and folly, though 'tis surely no good
joke to be talked of
" By each affected she that tells my story,
And blesses her good stars that she was prudent."
These objections would increase in strength, too, if
my present state was a happy one, but it really is not.
I live a quiet life, but not a pleasant one. My children
govern without loving me ; my servants devour and
despise me ; my friends caress and censure me ; my
money wastes in expences I do not enjoy, and my time
in trifles I do not approve. Every one is made insolent,
and no one comfortable ; my reputation unprotected,
my heart unsatisfied, my health unsettled. I will, how-
ever, resolve on nothing. I will take a voyage to the
Continent in spring, enlarge my knowledge and repose
my purse. Change of place may turn the course of these
ideas, and external objects supply the room of internal
felicity. If he follow me, I may reject or receive at
pleasure the addresses of a man who follows on no ex-
plicit promise, nor much probability of success, for I
would really wish to marry no more without the con-
sent of my children (such I mean as are qualified to
give their opinions) ; and how should Miss Thrales ap-
prove of my marrying Mr. Piozzil Here then I rest,
and will torment my mind no longer, but commit
TOWN TATTLE 215
myself, as he advises, to the hand of Providence, and
all will end all' ottima perfezzione.
THE VICTIM OF RUMOUR
October, 1782. There is no mercy for me in this
island. I am more and more disposed to try the con-
tinent. One day the paper rings with my marriage to
Johnson, one day to Crutchley, 1 one day to Seward. 2 I
give no reason for such impertinence, but cannot deliver
myself from it. Whitbred, the rich brewer, is in love
with me too ; oh, I would rather, as Ann Page says, be
set breast deep in the earth and bowled to death with
turnips.
Mr. Crutchley bid me make a curtsey to my
daughters for keeping me out of a goal (sic), and the
newspapers insolent as he ! How shall I get through ?
How shall I get through ? I have not deserved it of
any of them, as God knows.
Philip Thicknesse 3 put it about Bath that I was a
poor girl, a mantua maker, when Mr. Thrale married
me. It is an odd thing, but Miss Thrales like, I see,
to have it believed.
1 See p. 41.
2 See p. 68.
3 Apothecary, soldier, and author. His best known work is
Junius Discovered (1789), in which he advanced the claim of
Home Tooke.
216 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
THE IRISH VOLUNTEERS
At Brighthelmstone, whither I went when I left
Streatham, 7th October 1782, I heard this comical
epigram about the Irish Volunteers :
There's not one of us all, my brave boys, but would rather
Do ought than offend great King George our good father ;
But our country, you know, my dear lads, is our mother,
And that is a much surer side than the other.
CONFESSIO AMANTIS
I had looked ill, or perhaps appeared to feel so
much, that my eldest daughter would, out of tenderness
perhaps, force me to an explanation. I could, however,
have evaded it if I would ; but my heart was bursting,
and partly from instinctive desire of unloading it
partly, I hope, from principle, too I called her into
my room and fairly told her the truth ; told her the
strength of my passion for Piozzi, the impracticability
of my living without him, the opinion I had of his
merit, and the resolution I had taken to marry him.
Of all this she could not have been ignorant before. I
confessed my attachment to him and her together with
many tears and agonies one day at Streatham ; told
them, both that I wished I had two hearts for their
sakes, but having only one I would break it between
them, and give them each ciascheduno la meta ! After
that conversation she consented to go abroad with me,
and even appointed the place (Lyons), to which Piozzi
meant to follow us. He and she talked long together
MADAME D'ARBLAY
(FANNY BURN BY)
AJ "to- painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
FANNY BURNEY AS CONFIDANT 217
on the subject ; yet her never mentioning it again made
me fear she was not fully apprized of my intent, and
though her concurrence might have been more easily
obtained when left only to my influence in a distant
country, where she would have had no friend to support
her different opinion yet I scorned to take such mean
advantage, and told her my story now, with the winter
before her in which to take her measures her guardians
at hand all displeased at the journey : and to console
her private distress I called into the room to her my
own bosom friend, my beloved Fanny Burney, whose
interest as well as judgment goes all against my mar-
riage ; whose skill in life and manners is superior to
that of any man or woman in this age or nation ; whose
knowledge of the world, ingenuity of expedient,
delicacy of conduct, and zeal in the cause, will
make her a counsellor invaluable, and leave me
destitute of every comfort, of every hope, of every
expectation.
Such are the hands to which I have cruelly commit-
ted thy cause my honourable, ardent, artless Piozzi ! !
Yet I should not deserve the union I desire with the
most disinterested of all human hearts, had I behaved
with less generosity, or endeavoured to gain by cunning
what is withheld by prejudice. Had I set my heart
upon a scoundrel, I might have done virtuously to
break it and get loose ; but the man I love, I love for
his honesty, for his tenderness of heart, his dignity of
mind, his piety to God, his duty to his mother, and his
delicacy to me. In being united to this man only can
I be happy in this world, and short will be my stay in
it, if it is not passed with him.
2i8 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
Brighthelmstone, \6th November, 1782. For him
I have been contented to reverse the laws of nature,
and request of my child that concurrence which, at my
age and a widow, I am not required either by divine
or human institutions to ask even of a parent. The
life I gave her she may now more than repay, only by
agreeing to what she will with difficulty prevent ; and
which, if she does prevent, will give her lasting remorse;
for those who stab me shall hear me groan : whereas
if she will but how can she ? gracefully or even com-
passionately consent ; if she will go abroad with me
upon the chance of his death or mine preventing our
union, and live with me till she is of age . . . per-
haps there is no heart so callous by avarice, no soul so
poisoned by prejudice, no head so feather'd by foppery,
that will forbear to excuse her when she returns to the
rich and the gay for having saved the life of 'a
mother thro' compliance, extorted by anguish,contrary
to the received opinions of the world.
Brighthelmstone^ igt/i November, 1782. What is
above written, though intended only to unload my
heart by writing it, I shewed in a transport of passion
to Queeney and to Burney. Sweet Fanny Burney
cried herself half blind over it; said there was no
resisting such pathetic eloquence, and that, if she was
the daughter instead of the friend, she should be
tempted to attend me to the altar ; but that, while
she possessed her reason, nothing should seduce her
to approve what reason itself would condemn : that
children, religion, situation, country, and character
besides the diminution of fortune by the certain loss
of 8oo/. a year, were too much to sacrifice for any one
LEGAL OBSTACLES 219
man. If, however, I were resolved to make the
sacrifice, a la bonne heure ! it was an astonishing proof
of an attachment very difficult for mortal man to repay.
I will talk no more about it.
LOVE AND LAW
London, Nov. 27, 1782. I have given my Piozzi
some hopes dear, generous, prudent, noble-minded
creature ; he will hardly permit himself to believe it
ever can be come quei promessi miracoli, says he, che
non vengono mat. For rectitude of mind and native
dignity of soul I never saw his fellow.
Dec. i, 1782. The guardians have met upon the
scheme of putting our girls in Chancery. I was
frighted at the project, not doubting but the Lord
Chancellor would stop us from leaving England, as
he would certainly see no joke in three youngheiresses,
his wards, quitting the kingdom to frisk away with
their mother into Italy: besides that I believe Mr.
Crutchley proposed it merely for a stumbling-block
to my journey, as he cannot bear to have Hester out
of his sight.
Nobody much applauded my resolution in going,
but Johnson and Cator 1 said they would not concur
in stopping me by violence, and Crutchley was forced
to content himself with intending to put the ladies
under legal protection as soon as we should be across
the sea. This measure I much applaud, for if I die
or marry in Italy their fortunes will be safer in
1 See p. 41.
220 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
Chancery than any how else. Cator l said / had a
right to say that going to Italy would benefit the
children as much as they had to say it would not; but
I replied that as I really did not mean anything but
my own private gratification by the voyage, nothing
should make me say I meant their good by it ; and
that it would be like saying I eat roast beef to mend
my daughters' complexions. The result of all is that
we certainly do go. I will pick up what knowledge
and pleasure I can here this winter to divert myself,
and perhaps my compagno fidele in distant climes and
future times, with the recollection of England and its
inhabitants, all which I shall be happy and content
to leave for him.
MRS. THRALE AND HER DAUGHTERS
January 29, 1783. Adieu to all that's dear, to all
that's lovely ; I am parted from my life, my soul, my
Piozzi. If I can get health and strength to write my
story here, 'tis all I wish for now oh misery! . . . The
cold dislike of my eldest daughter I thought might
wear away by familiarity with his merit, and that we
might live tolerably together, or, at least, part friends
1 " Cator said likewise that the attorney's bill ought to be paid
by the ladies as a bill of Mr. Thrale's, but I replied that perhaps
I might marry and give my estate away, and if so it would be
unjust that they should pay the bill which related to that estate
only. Besides, if I should leave it to Hester, says I, ... why
should Susan and Sophy and Cecilia and Harriet pay the
lawyer's bill for their sister's land ! He agreed to this plea, and
I will live on bread and water, but I will pay Norris myself.
'Tis but being a better huswife in pins." (Note by Mrs. Piozzi.)
REPUTATION AT STAKE 221
but no; her aversion increased daily, and she
communicated it to the others; they treated me in-
solently, and him very strangely running away when-
ever he came as if they saw a serpent and plotting
with their governess a cunning Italian how to invent
lyes to make me hate him, and twenty such narrow
tricks. By these means the notion of my partiality
took air, and whether Miss Thrale sent him word
slily or not I cannot tell, but on the 25th January,
1783, Mr. Crutchley came hither to conjure me not
to go to Italy ; he had heard such things, he said, and
by means next to miraculous. The next day, Sunday,
26th, Fanny Burney came, said I must marry him
instantly or give him up ; that my reputation would
be lost else.
I actually groaned with anguish, threw myself on
the bed in an agony which my fair daughter beheld
with frigid indifference. She had indeed never by
one tender word endeavoured to dissuade me from
the match, but said, coldly, that if I would abandon
my children I must; that their father had not deserved
such treatment from me ; that I should be punished
by Piozzi's neglect, for that she knew he hated me ;
and that I turned out my offspring to chance for his
sake, like puppies in a pond to swim or drown accord-
ing as Providence pleased ; that for her part she must
look herself out a place like the other servants, for my
face would she never see more. " Nor write to me ? "
said I. " I shall not, madam," replied she with a cold
sneer, " easily find out your address ; for you are going
you know not whither, I believe."
Susan and Sophy said nothing at all, but they taught
222 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
the two young ones to cry "Where are you going,
mama ? will you leave us and die as our poor papa
did ? " There was no standing that> so I wrote my
lover word that my mind was all distraction, and bid
him come to me the next morning, 2/th January
my birthday and spent the Sunday night in torture
not to be described. My falsehood to my Piozzi, my
strong affection for him, the incapacity I felt in myself
to resign the man I so adored, the hopes I had so
cherished, inclined me strongly to set them all at
defiance, and go with him to church to sanctify the
promises I had so often made him ; while the idea of
abandoning the children of my first husband, who left
me so nobly provided for, and who depended on my
attachment to his offspring, awakened the voice of
conscience, and threw me on my knees to pray for
His direction who was hereafter to judge my conduct.
His grace illuminated me, His power strengthened me,
and I flew to my daughter's bed in the morning and
told her my resolution to resign my own, my dear, my
favourite purpose, and to prefer my children's interest
to my love. She questioned my ability to make the
sacrifice ; said one word from him would undo all my
[Here two pages are missing.]
I told Dr. Johnson and Mr. Crutchley three days
ago that I had determined seeing them so averse to
it that I would not go abroad, but that, if I did not
leave England, I would leave London, where I had
not been treated to my mind, and where I had
flung away much unnecessary money with little satis-
faction ; that I was greatly in debt, and somewhat like
distress'd : that borrowing was always bad, but of one's
MONSTROUS DROLL 223
children worst : that Mr. Crutchley's objection to their
lending me their money when I had a mortgage to
offer as security, was unkind and harsh : l that I would
go live in a little way at Bath till I had paid all my
debts and cleared my income : that I would no more
be tyrannized over by people who hated or people who
plundered me, in short that I would retire and save
my money and lead this uncomfortable life no longer.
They made little or no reply, and I am resolved to do
as I declared. I will draw in my expenses, lay by
every shilling I can to pay off debts and mortgages,
and perhaps who knows ? I may in six or seven
years be freed from all incumbrances, and carry a clear
income of 25007. a year and an estate of 5oo/. in land
to the man of my heart. May I but live to discharge
my obligations to those who hate me ; it will be para-
dise to discharge them to him who loves me.
April, 1783. I will go to Bath: nor health, nor
strength, nor my children's affections, have I. My
daughter does not, I suppose, much delight in this
scheme, but why should I lead a life of delighting her,
who would not lose a shilling of interest or an ounce of
pleasure to save my life from perishing ? When I was
near losing my existence from the contentions of my
mind, and was seized with a temporary delirium in
Argyll Street, she and her two eldest sisters laughed
at my distress, and observed to dear Fanny Burney,
that it was monstrous droll. She could hardly suppress
her indignation.
Piozzi was ill. ... A sore throat, Pepys said it was,
with four ulcers in it : the people about me said it had
1 See p. 215.
224 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
been lanced, and I mentioned it slightly before the
girls. " Has he cut his own throat ? " says Miss Thrale
in her quiet manner. This was less inexcusable
because she hated him, and the other was her sister ;
though, had she exerted the good sense I thought her
possessed of, she would not have treated him so : had
she adored, and fondled, and respected him as he
deserved from her hands, and from the heroic conduct
he shewed in January when he gave into her hands,
that dismal day, all my letters containing promises of
marriage, protestations of love, etc., who knows but
she might have kept us separated ? But never did she
once caress or thank me, never treat him with common
civility, except on the very day which gave her hopes
of our final parting. Worth while to be sure it was,
to break one's heart for her ! The other two are, how-
ever, neither wiser nor kinder; all swear by her I
believe, and follow her footsteps exactly. Mr. Thrale
had not much heart, but his fair daughters have none
at all.
A COURAGEOUS PARTING
Sunday morning, 6th April, 1783. I have been
very busy preparing to go to Bath and save my
money ; the Welch settlement has been examined and
rewritten by Gator's 1 desire in such a manner that a
will can revoke it or charge the estate, or anything.
I signed my settlement yesterday, and, before I slept,
wrote my will, charging the estate with pretty near
3<DOO/. But what signifies it ? My daughters deserve
no thanks from my tenderness and they want no
1 See pp. 41, 219, 220.
LOVERS' PARTING 225
pecuniary help from my purse let me provide in
some measure, for my dear, my absent Piozzi. God
give me strength to part with him courageously. I
expect him every instant to breakfast with me for
the last time. Gracious Heavens, what words are
these ! Oh no, for mercy may we but meet again !
and without diminished kindness. Oh my love, my
love!
We did meet and part courageously. I persuaded
him to bring his old friend Mecci, who goes abroad
with him and has long been his confidant, to keep the
meeting from being too tender, the separation from
being too poignant his presence was a restraint on
our conduct, and a witness of our vows, which we re-
newed with fervour, and will keep sacred in absence,
adversity, and age. When all was over I flew to my
dearest, loveliest friend, my Fanny Burney, and
poured all my sorrows into her tender bosom. 1
VERSES TO DIVERT
Come, friendly muse ! some rhimes discover
With which to meet my dear at Dover,
Fondly to bless my wandering lover
And make him dote on dirty Dover.
Call each fair wind to waft him over,
Nor let him linger long at Dover,
But there from past fatigues recover,
And write his love some lines from Dover.
1 " My dear Mrs. Thrale spent all the morning in my room
with me." (Madame D'Arblay's Diary for 6th April, 1783.)
15
22 6 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
Too well he knows his skill to move her,
To meet him two years hence at Dover,
When happy with her handsome rover
She'll bless the day she din'd at Dover.
Russell Street, Bath, Thursday, %th May, 1783. I
sent him these verses to divert him on his passage.
Dear angel ! this day he leaves a nation to which he
was sent for my felicity perhaps, I hope for his own.
May I live but to make him happy, and hear him say
'tis me that makes him so !
JOHNSON " POOR FELLOW "
Bath, June 2^th, 1783. A stroke of the palsy has
robbed Johnson of his speech, I hear. Dreadful
event ! and I at a distance. 1 Poor fellow ! A letter
from himself, in his usual style, convinces me that
none of his faculties have failed, and his physicians
say that all present danger is over.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
June, 1783. Most sincerely do I regret the sacrifice
I have made of health, happiness, and the society of
a worthy and amiable companion, to the pride and
prejudice z of three insensible girls, who would see
1 " I have, indeed, had a very frightful blow. On the iyth of
last month, about three in the morning, as near as I can guess,
I perceived myself almost totally deprived of speech." (Johnson,
Letter to Bosvuell, July 3, 1783.)
2 See note p. 213.
EXCEEDING VALUABLE GIRLS 227
nature perish without concern. . . . were their grati-
fication the cause.
The two youngest l have, for ought I see, hearts as
impenetrable as their sister. They will all starve a
favourite animal all see with unconcern the afflictions
of a friend ; and when the anguish I suffered on their
account last winter, in Argyll Street, nearly took away
my life and reason, the younger ridiculed as a jest
those agonies which the eldest despised as a phil-
osopher. When all is said, they are exceeding
valuable girls beautiful in person, cultivated in
understanding, and well-principled in religion : high
in their notions, lofty in their carriage, and of intents
equal to their expectations ; wishing to raise their
own family by connections with some more noble . . .
and superior to any feeling of tenderness which might
clog the wheels of ambition. What, however, is my
state? who am condemned to live with girls of this
disposition ? to teach without authority ; to be heard
without esteem ; to be considered by them as their
superior in fortune, while I live by the money borrowed
from them ; and in good sense, when they have seen
me submit my judgment to theirs at the hazard of my
life and wits. Oh, 'tis a pleasant situation ! and who-
ever would wish, as the Greek lady phrased it, to
teize himself and repent of his sins, let him borrow
his children's money, be in love against their interest
and prejudice, forbear to marry by their advice, and
then shut himself up and live with them.
1 The two youngest are not included in this enumeration.
228 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
THE HAND OF GOD
Bath, Nov. 3O//&, 1783. Sophia will live and do
well ; I have saved my daughter, perhaps obtained a
friend. They are weary of seeing me suffer so, and
the eldest beg'd me yesterday not to sacrifice my life
to her convenience. She now saw my love of Piozzi
was incurable, she said. Absence had no effect on it,
and my health was going so fast she found that I
should soon be useless either to her or him. It was
the hand of God and irresistible, she added, and
begged me not to endure any longer such unnecessary
misery.
So now we may be happy if we will, and now I trust
some [ (sic) query " no " f ] other cross accident will
start up to torment us ; I wrote my lover word that
he might come and fetch me, but the Alps are covered
with snow, and if his prudence is not greater than his
affection my life will yet be lost, for it depends
on his safety. Should he come at my call, and meet
with any misfortune on the road . . . death, with
accumulated agonies, would end me. May Heaven
avert such insupportable distress !
GOOD FOR EVIL
Dec. 1783. My dearest Piozzi's Miss Chanon l is
in distress. I will send her io/. Perhaps he loved
1 "A fit of jealousy seized me the other day : some viper had
stung me up to a notion that my Piozzi was fond of a Miss Chanon.
I called him gently to account." (Thraliana, Jan. 1783.)
A GOOD XMAS WORK 229
her ; perhaps she loved him ; perhaps both ; yet I
have and will have confidence in his honour. I will
not suffer love or jealousy to narrow a heart devoted
to him. He would assist her if he were in England,
and she shall not suffer for his absence, tho' I do. She
and her father have reported many things to my pre-
judice ; she will be ashamed of herself when she sees
me forgive and assist her. O Lord, give me grace so
to return good for evil as to obtain Thy gracious
favour who died to procure the salvation of Thy pro-
fessed enemies. Tis a good Xmas work !
Miss THRALE RELENTS
Bath, Jan. 2jth, 1784. On this day twelvemonths
... oh dreadfullest of all days to me ! did I send for
my Piozzi and tell him we must part. The sight of
my countenance terrified Dr. Pepys, to whom I went
into the parlour for a moment, and the sight of the
agonies I endured in the week following would have
affected anything but interest, avarice, and pride
personified, . . . with such, however, I had to deal, so
my sorrows were unregarded. Seeing them continue
for a whole year, indeed, has mollified my strong-
hearted companions, and they now relent in earnest
and wish me happy : I would now therefore be loath
to dye, yet how shall I recruit my constitution so as
to live? The pardon certainly did arrive the very
instant of execution for I was ill beyond all power
of description, when my eldest daughter, bursting into
tears, bid me call home the man of my heart, and not
230 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
expire by slow torture in the presence of my children,
who had my life in their power. "You are dying
now" said she. " I know it," replied I, " and I should
die in peace had I but seen him once again" " Oh
send for him," said she, " send for him quickly ! "
" He is at Milan, child," replied I, " a thousand miles
off! " " Well, well," returns she, " hurry him back, or
I myself will send him an express." At these words
I revived, and have been mending ever since. This
was the first time that any of us had named the name
of Piozzi to each other since we had put our feet into
the coach to come to Bath. I had always thought it
a point of civility and prudence never to mention what
could give nothing but offence, and cause nothing but
disgust, while they desired nothing less than a revival
of old uneasiness ; so we were all silent on the subject,
and Miss Thrale thought him dead.
"NOBODY'S AFFAIR BUT OUR OWN"
2%th May, 1784. Here is the most sudden and
beautiful spring ever seen after a dismal winter: so
may God grant me a renovation of comfort after my
many and sharp afflictions. I have been to London
for a week to visit Fanny Burney, and to talk over
my intended (and I hope approaching) nuptials, 1 with
Mr. Borghi : a man, as far as I can judge in so short
an acquaintance with him, of good sense and real
honour : who loves my Piozzi, likes my conversation,
1 The use of the comma here is fascinating. It saves Mr.
Borghi, as at the eleventh hour, from any suspicion of scandal.
A NAME HIGH AS THE MONUMENT 231
and wishes to serve us sincerely. He has recom-
mended Duane to take my power of attorney, and
Gator's loss will be the less felt. Duane's name is as
high as the Monument, 1 and his being known familiarly
to Borghi will perhaps quicken his attention to our
concerns.
Dear Burney, who loves me kindly but the world
reverentially ', was, I believe, equally pained as delighted
with my visit : z ashamed to be seen in my company,
much of her fondness for me must of course be dimin-
ished ; yet she had not chatted freely so long with
anybody but Mrs. Philips, 3 that my coming was a
comfort to her. We have told all to her father, and
he behaved with the utmost propriety.
Nobody likes my settling at Milan except myself
and Piozzi : but I think 'tis nobody's affair but our
own : it seems to me quite irrational to expose our-
selves to unnecessary insults, and by going straight to
Italy all will be avoided.
MORE VERSES TO DIVERT
IQ//Z June, 1784. I sent these lines to meet Piozzi
on his return. They are better than those he liked so
last year at Dover : 4
1 Matthew Duane, a famous conveyancer and collector of
coins, a F.R.S. and F.S.A. (1707-1785).
2 " The rest of that week I devoted almost wholly to sweet
Mrs. Thrale, whose society was truly the most delightful of
cordials to me, however, at times, mixed with bitters the least
palatable." (Madame D'Arblay's Diary for May 17, 1784.)
3 Her sister, Susan Burney, newly married to Captain Phillips.
4 See p. 225.
232 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
Over mountains, rivers, vallies,
See my love returns to Calais,
After all their taunts and malice,
Ent'ring safe the gates of Calais,
While delay'd by winds he dallies,
Fretting to be kept at Calais,
Muse, prepare some sprightly sallies
To divert my dear at Calais,
Say how every rogue who rallies
Envies him who waits at Calais
For her that would disdain a Palace
Compar'd to Piozzi, Love and Calais.
24/7* June, 1784. He is set out sure enough, here
are letters from Turin to say so. ... Now the Misses
must move ; they are very loath to stir : from affection
perhaps, or perhaps from art 'tis difficult to know.
Oh 'tis, yes, it is from tenderness, they want me to go
with them to see Wilton, Stonehenge, etc. I will go
with them to be sure.
2"jth June, Sunday. We went to Wilton, and also
to Fonthill; they make an admirable and curious
contrast between ancient magnificence and modern
glare : Gothic and Grecian again, however. A man
of taste would rather possess Lord Pembroke's seat,
or indeed a single room in it ; but one feels one should
live happier at Beckford's. My daughters parted with
me at last prettily enough considering- (as the phrase
is). We shall perhaps be still better friends apart
GEORGE THE THIRD
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
MRS. PIOZZI 233
than together. Promises of correspondence and kind-
ness were very sweetly reciprocated, and the eldest
wished for Piozzi's safe return very obligingly.
I fancy two days more will absolutely bring him to
Bath. The present moments are critical and dreadful,
and would shake stronger nerves than mine ! Oh
Lord, strengthen me to do Thy will I pray.
28//Z June. I am not yet sure of seeing him again
not sure he lives, not sure he loves me yet. . . .
Should anything happen now ! ! Oh, I will not trust
myself with such a fancy : it will either kill me or
drive me distracted.
Bath, 2nd July, 1784. The happiest day of my
whole life, I think Yes, quite the happiest : my Piozzi
came home yesterday and dined with me; but my
spirits were too much agitated, my heart was too
much dilated. I was too painfully happy then ; my
sensations are more quiet to-day, and my felicity less
tumultuous. 1
MRS. PIOZZI
2$tk July, 1784. I am returned from church the
happy wife of my lovely faithful Piozzi . . . subject
of my prayers, object of my wishes, my sighs, my
reverence, my esteem. His nerves have been horribly
shaken, yet he lives, he loves me, and will be mine
for ever. He has sworn, in the face of God and the
whole Christian Church ; Catholics, Protestants, all
are witnesses. 2
1 "We shall go to London about the affairs, and there be
married in the Romish Church." (Marginal note by Mrs. Piozzi.)
2 " We were married according to the Romish Church in one
234 DR - JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
THE LIMIT OF PATIENCE
Milan, 2jth Nov., 1784. I have got Dr. Johnson's
picture here, and expect Miss Thrale's with im-
patience. I do love them dearly, as ill as they have
used me, and always shall. Poor Johnson did not
mean to use me ill. 1 He only grew upon indulgence
till patience could endure no further.
THE SATIRISTS AT WORK
Ode to Mrs. Thrale, by Samuel Johnson, LL.D.,
on their supposed approaching Nuptials :
If e'er my fingers touched the lyre,
In satire fierce, in pleasure gay,
Shall not my Thralia's smiles inspire,
Shall Sam refuse the sportive lay ?
My dearest lady, view your slave,
Behold him as your very Scrub : 2
Ready to write as author grave,
Or govern well the brewing tub.
To rich felicity thus raised,
My bosom glows with amorous fire ;
Porter no longer shall be praised,
'Tis I Myself am Thrale's Entire?
of our excursions to London, by Mr. Smith, Padre Smit as they
called him, chaplain to the Spanish Ambassador. . . . Mr.
Morgan tacked us together at St. James's, Bath, 25th July, 1784,
and on the first day I think of September, certainly the first
week, we took leave of England." (Note by Mrs. Piozzi.) Cf.
p. 51.
1 Johnson died on Dec. 13, 1784.
2 Mrs. Sullen's man -of- all - work in Farquhar's Beaux'
Stratagem.
3 " Whose fun was this ? It is better than the other." (Mrs.
Piozzi.)
A BRUTAL LETTER 235
Cervisial coctor's viduate dame,
Opinst thou this gigantick frame,
Procumbing at thy shrine,
Shall catenated by thy charms,
A captive in thy ambient arms
Perennially be thine. 1
BARETTI'S INSULTS
yd November, 1784. Yesterday I received a letter
from Mr. Baretti, full of the most flagrant and bitter
insults concerning my late marriage with Mr. Piozzi,
against whom, however, he can bring no heavier
charge than that he disputed on the road with an inn-
keeper concerning the bill in his last journey to Italy ;
while he accuses me of murder and fornication in the
grossest terms, such as I believe have scarcely ever
been used even to his old companions in Newgate, 2
whence he was released to scourge the families which
cherished, and bite the hands that have since relieved
him. Could I recollect any provocation I ever gave
the man, I should be less amazed, but he heard,
perhaps, that Johnson had written me a rough letter,
and thought he would write me a brutal one: like
the Jewish king, who, trying to imitate Solomon
without his understanding, said, " My father whipped
you with whips, but I will whip you with scorpions."
1 " Whose silly fun was this ? Soame Jenyns ? " (Mrs. Piozzi).
2 See p. 172. In 1769 Baretti was acquitted at the Old
Bailey on a charge of murdering an assailant in the Haymarket.
" Never," says Boswell, " did such a constellation of genius
enlighten the awful Sessions-house, emphatically called Justice-
hall ; Mr. Burke, Mr. Garrick, Mr. Beauclerk, and Mr. Johnson :
and undoubtedly their favourable testimony had due weight
with the court and jury."
.
236 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
DISINTERESTED CORRESPONDENTS
Milan, Dec. 7. I correspond constantly and
copiously with such of my daughters as are willing
to answer my letters, and I have at last received one
cold scrap from the eldest, which I instantly and
tenderly replied to. Mrs. Lewis too, and Miss
Nicholson, 1 have had accounts of my health, for I
found them disinterested and attached to me : those
who led the stream, or watched which way it ran,
that they might follow it, were not, I suppose,
desirous of my correspondence, and till they are so,
shall not be troubled with it.
"THESE CURSED WITS"
January, 1785. I see the English newspapers are
full of gross insolence to me: all burst out, as I
guessed it would, upon the death of Dr. Johnson.
But Mr. Boswell (who I plainly see is the author)
should let the dead escape from his malice at least. I
feel more shocked at the insults offered to Mr. Thrale's
memory than at those cast on Mr. Piozzi's person.
My present husband, thank God ! is well and happy,
and able to defend himself: but dear Mr. Thrale,
that had fostered these cursed wits so long! to be
stung by their malice even in the grave, is too cruel :
" Nor church, nor churchyards, from such fops are free." 2 POPE.
1 Mrs. Lewis was the wife of Dr. John Lewis, Dean of Ossory.
For Miss Nicholson see p. 49.
2 Probably misquoted for
" No place is sacred, not the church is free."
Prologue to the Satires. (Hayward.)
JOHNSON'S ORANGE-PEEL 237
JOHNSON'S BIOGRAPHERS
2$tk Jan., 1785. I have recovered myself suffi-
ciently to think what will be the consequence to me
of Johnson's death, but must wait the event, as all
thoughts on the future in this world are vain. Six
people have already undertaken to write his life, I
hear, of which Sir John Hawkins, Mr. Boswell, Tom
Davies, 1 and Dr. Kippis 2 are four. Piozzi says he
would have me add to the number, and so I would,
but that I think my anecdotes too few, and am afraid
of saucy answers if I send to England for others. The
saucy answers / should disregard, but my heart is
made vulnerable by my late marriage, and I am
certain that, to spite me, they would insult my
husband.
Poor Johnson ! I see they will leave nothing- untold
that I laboured so long to keep secret ; and I was so
very delicate in trying to conceal his [fancied] 3 insanity
that I retained no proofs of it, or hardly any, nor
even mentioned it in these books, lest by my dying
first they might be printed and the secret (for such
I thought it) discovered. I used to tell him in jest
that his biographers would be at a loss concerning
some orange-peel he used to keep in his pocket, and
many a joke we had about the lines that would be
published. Rescue me out of their hands, my dear,
and do it yourself, said he; Taylor, 4 Adams, 6 and
1 See p. 177.
2 Dr. Andrew Kippis, editor of the Biographia Britannica.
3 [" Sic in the MS." Hayward.] * See p. 1 18.
5 William Adams, Master of Pembroke.
238 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
Hector l will furnish you with juvenile anecdotes, and
Baretti will give you all the rest that you have not
already, for I think Baretti is a lyar only when he
speaks of himself. Oh, said I, Baretti told me yester-
day that you got by heart six pages of Machiavel's
History once, and repeated them thirty years after-
wards word for word. Why this is a gross lye, said
Johnson, I never read the book at all. Baretti
too told me of you (said I) that you once kept
sixteen cats in your chamber, and yet they scratched
your legs' to such a degree, you were forced to use
mercurial plaisters for some time after. Why this
(replied Johnson) is an unprovoked lye indeed ; I
thought the fellow would not have broken through
divine and human laws thus to make puss his heroine,
but I see I was mistaken.
USE AND ABUSE OF INFLUENCE
1786. It has always been my maxim never to in-
fluence the inclination of another : Mr. Thrale, in
consequence, lived with me seventeen and a half years,
during which time I tried but twice to persuade him
to do anything, and but once, and that in vain, to let
anything alone. Even my daughters, as soon as they
could reason, were always allowed, and even en-
couraged, by me to reason their own way, and not
suffer their respect or affection for me to mislead their
judgment. Let us keep the mind clear if we can from
1 Edmund Hector, a surgeon in Birmingham, schoolfellow of
Johnson.
MR. SMITH'S IMAGINATION 239
prejudices, or truth will never be found at all. The
worst part of this disinterested scheme is, that other
people are not of my mind, and if I resolve not to use
my lawful influence to make my children love me, the
lookers-on will soon use their unlawful influence to
make them hate me : if I scrupulously avoid persuad-
ing my husband to become a Lutheran or be of the
English church, the Romanists will be diligent to teach
him all the narrowness and bitterness of their own
unfeeling sect, and soon persuade him that it is not
delicacy but weakness makes me desist from the
combat. Well ! let me do right, and leave the con-
sequences in His hand who alone sees every action's
motive and the true cause of every effect : let me en-
deavour to please God, and to have only my own faults
and follies, not those of another, to answer for.
AN INFAMOUS PROCEEDING
1787,* May ist. It was not wrong to come home
after all, but very right The Italians would have said
we were afraid to face England, and the English would
have said we were confined abroad in prisons or con-
vents or some stuff. I find Mr. Smith 2 (one of our
daughter's guardians) told that poor baby Cecilia a
fine staring tale how my husband locked me up at
Milan and fed me on bread and water, to make the
child hate Mr. Piozzi. Good God ! What infamous
proceeding was this ! My husband never saw the
fellow, so could not have provoked him.
1 Mr. and Mrs. Piozzi returned to London in March 1787.
2 See p. 41.
2 4 o DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
A FINE ASSEMBLY
May \gth. We had a fine assembly last night in-
deed : in my best days I never had finer ; there were
near a hundred people in the rooms 1 which were
besides much admired.
SURROUNDED WITH FRIENDS
1788, January 1st, How little I thought this day
four years that I should celebrate this 1st of January,
1788, here at Bath, surrounded with friends and ad-
mirers ! The public partial to me, and almost every
individual whose kindness is worth wishing for,
sincerely attached to my husband.
Mrs. Byron z is converted by Piozzi's assiduity, she
really likes him now : and sweet Mrs. Lambert 3 told
everybody at Bath she was in love with him.
I have passed a delightful winter in spite of them,
caressed by my friends, adored by my husband, amused
with every entertainment that is going forward : what
need I think about three sullen Misses? . . . and
yet !
"TREACHEROUS BURNEYS"
August 1st. Baretti has been grossly abusive in
the European Magazine to me: that hurts me but
1 In Hanover Square. 2 See p. 184.
3 Widow of General Lambert, and sister of Sir Philip Jennings
Clerke.
BLUE BLUES 241
little ; what shocks me is that those treacherous Bur-
neys should abet and puff him. 1 He is a most un-
grateful because unprincipled wretch ; but I am sorry
that anything belonging to Dr. Burney should be so
monstrously wicked.
MRS. GARRICK
1789, January \*jth. Mrs. Siddons dined in a
coterie of my unprovoked enemies yesterday at
Porteous's. She mentioned our concerts, and the
Erskines 2 lamented their absence from one we gave
two days ago, at which Mrs. Garrick was present and
gave a good report to the Blues. Charming Blues !
blue with venom I think ; I suppose they begin to be
ashamed of their paltry behaviour. Mrs. Garrick,
more prudent than any of them, left a loophole for
returning friendship to fasten through, and it shall
fasten : that woman has lived a very wise life, regular
and steady in her conduct, attentive to every word she
speaks and every step she treads, decorous in her
manners and graceful in her person. My fancy forms
the Queen just like Mrs. Garrick : they are country-
women 3 and have, as the phrase is, had a hard card
to play ; yet never lurched by tricksters nor subdued
by superior powers, they will rise from the table unhurt
either by others or themselves . . . having played a
1 Fanny Burney in her Diary (1788) speaks of " Baretti's late
attack upon her which I heard with great concern." See p. 63.
2 See p. 179.
3 Mrs. Garrick was a Viennese dancer, Eva Maria Violetti.
16
242 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
saving game. I have run risques to be sure, that I
have; yet
" When after some distinguished leap
She drops her pole and seems to slip,
Straight gath'ring all her active strength,
She rises higher half her length " ;
and better than now I have never stood with the world
in general, I believe. May the books 1 just sent to
press confirm the partiality of the Public !
A RATTLE ON PURPOSE
> January. I have a great deal more prudence
than people suspect me for : they think I act by chance
while I am doing nothing in the world unintentionally,
and have never, I dare say, in these last fifteen years
uttered a word to husband, or child, or servant, or
friend, without being very careful what it should be.
Often have I spoken what I have repented after, but
that was want of judgment, not of meaning. What I
said I meant to say at the time, and thought it best
to say, ... I do not err from haste or a spirit of
rattling, as people think I do : when I err, 'tis because
I make a false conclusion, not because I make no con-
clusion at all ; when I rattle, I rattle on purpose.
1 Observations and Reflection s> etc. (the Travel Book), 2 vols.,
1789-
MAKING IT UP 243
MORTIFIED CRITICS
1789, May ist. Mrs. Montagu wants to make up
with me again. I dare say she does ; but I will not be
taken and left even at the pleasure of those who are
much nearer and dearer to me than Mrs. Montagu.
We want no flash, no flattery. I never had more of
either in my life, nor ever lived half so happily : Mrs.
Montagu wrote creeping letters when she wanted my
help, or foolishly thought she did, and then turned her
back upon me and set her adherents to do the same.
I despise such conduct, and Mr. Pepys, 1 Mrs. Ord, 2
etc. now sneak about and look ashamed of themselves
well they may !
1790, March i%th. I met Miss Burney at an as-
sembly last night 'tis six years since I had seen her :
she appeared most fondly rejoyced, in good time ! and
Mrs. Locke, 3 at whose house we stumbled on each
other, pretended that she had such a regard for me,
etc. I answered with ease and coldness, but in ex-
ceedingly good hUmour : and we talked of the King
and Queen, his Majesty's illness and recovery . . .
and all ended, as it should do, with perfect indifference.
I saw Master Pepys l too and Mrs. Ord ; and only
see how foolish and how mortified the people do but
look.
Barclay and Perkins 4 live very genteelly. I dined
with them at our brewhouse one day last week. I felt
so oddly in the old house where I had lived so long.
1 Sir W. Pepys. See p. 206. 2 See p. 191.
3 See p. 191. * See p. 21.
244 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
The Pepyses find out that they have used me very
ill ... I hope they find out too that I do not care.
Seward l too sues for reconcilement underhand ... so
they do all ; and I sincerely forgive them but, like
the linnet in Metastasio
" Cauto divien per prova
N piu tradir si fa."
" When lim'd, the poor bird thus with eagerness strains,
Nor regrets his torn wing while his freedom he gains :
The loss of his plumage small time will restore,
And once tried the false twig it shall cheat him no more."
WEDDING ANNIVERSARY AT STREATHAM
1790, July 2%th. We have kept our seventh wed-
ding day and celebrated our return to this house z with
prodigious splendour and gaiety. Seventy people to
dinner. . . . Never was a pleasanter day seen, and at
night the trees and front of the house were illuminated
with coloured lamps that called forth our neighbours
from all the adjacent villages to admire and enjoy the
diversion. Many friends swear that not less than a
thousand men, women, and children might have been
counted in the house and grounds, where, though all
were admitted, nothing was stolen, lost, or broken, or
even damaged a circumstance almost incredible ;
and which gave Mr. Piozzi a high opinion of English
gratitude and respectful attachment.
1 See p. 68. 2 Streatham Place.
A STOICAL END 245
DEATH OF BARRETTI
May 8, 1789. Baretti is dead. Poor Baretti! I
am sincerely sorry for him, and as Zanga l says, " If I
lament thee, sure thy worth was great." He was a
manly character, at worst, and died, as he lived, less
like a Christian than a philosopher, refusing all
spiritual or corporeal assistance, both which he con-
sidered useless to him, and perhaps they were so. He
paid his debts, called in some single acquaintance,
told him he was dying, and drove away that Panada
conversation which friends think proper to administer
at sick-bedsides with becoming steadiness, bid him
write his brothers word that he was dead, and gently
desired a woman who waited to leave him quite alone.
No interested attendants watching for ill-deserved
legacies, no harpy relatives clung round the couch of
Baretti. He died !
" And art thou dead ? so is my enmity :
I war not with the dead."
Baretti's papers manuscripts I mean have been
all burnt by his executors without examination, they
tell me. So great was his character as a mischief-
maker, that Vincent and Fendall saw no nearer way
to safety than that hasty and compendious one.
Many people think 'tis a good thing for me, but as I
never trusted the man, I see little harm he could have
done me.
1 In Young's The Revenge.
246 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
JOURNALESE
There seems to be a language now appropriated to
the newspapers, and a very wretched and unmeaning
language it is. Yet a certain set of expressions are so
necessary to please the diurnal readers, that when
Johnson and I drew up an advertisement for charity
once, I remember the people altered our expressions
and substituted their own, with good effect too. The
other day I sent a Character of Baretti to The World,
and read it two mornings after more altered than
improved in my mind : but no matter : they will talk
of wielding a language, and of barbarous infamy, sad
stuff, to be sure, but such is the taste of the times.
They altered even my quotation from Pope ; but that
was too impudent.
LINES TO PIOZZI
While Piozzi was gone to London I worked at my
Travel Book, and wrote it in two months complete
but 'tis all to correct and copy over again. While my
husband was away I wrote him these lines : he staid
just a fortnight :
I think I've worked exceeding hard
To finish five score pages.
I write you this upon a card,
In hopes you'll pay my wages.
The servants all get drunk or mad,
This heat their blood enrages,
But your return will make me glad,
That hope one pain assuages.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF BOSWELL 247
To shew more kindness, we defy
All nations and all ages,
And quite prefer your company
To all the seven sages.
Then hasten home, oh, haste away !
And lengthen not your stages ;
We then will sing, and dance and play,
And quit awhile our cages.
ON THE APPEARANCE OF BOSWELL'S JOHNSON
May, 1791. Mr. Bos well's book is coming out,
and the wits expect me to tremble : what will the
fellow say . . . that has not been said already ?
May, 1791. I have been now laughing and crying
by turns, for two days, over Boswell's book. That
poor man should have a Bon Bouillon and be put to
bed ... he is quite light-headed, yet madmen,
drunkards, and fools tell truth, they say . . . and if
Johnson was to me the back friend he has represented
... let it cure me of ever making friendship more
with any human being.
25//z May, 1791. The death of my son, so sud-
denly, so horribly produced before my eyes now suf-
fering from the tears then shed ... so shockingly
brought forward in Boswell's two guinea book, made
me very ill this week, very ill indeed ; it would make
the modern friends all buy the work I fancy, did they
but know how sick the ancient friends had it in their
power to make me, but I had more wit than tell any
of 'em. And what is the folly among all these fellows
of wishing we may know one another in the next
248 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
world. . . . Comical enough ! when we have only
to expect deserved reproaches for breach of confidence
and cruel usage. Sure, sure I hope, rancour and re-
sentment will at least be put off in the last moments :
. . . sure, surely, we shall meet no more, except on
the great day when each is to answer to other and
before other. . . . After that I hope to keep better
company than any of them.
SIR JOHN SALUSBURY PIOZZI SALUSBURY
Italy is ruined and England threatened. I have
sent for one little boy from among my husband's
nephews. He was christenec 1 John Salusbury: 1 he
shall be naturalised, and then we wiH see whether he
will be more grateful and natural and comfortable than
Miss Thrales have been to the mother they have at
length driven to desperation.
MARRIAGE OF " QUEENY "
The Thraliana is coming to an end ; so are the
Thrales. The eldest is married now. Admiral Lord
Keith the man ; a good man for ought I hear : a rich
man for ought I am told : a brave man we have always
heard : and a wise man I trow by his choice. The
name no new one, and excellent for a charade, e.g.
A Faery my first, who to fame makes pretence ;
My second a Rock, dear Britannia's defence ;
In my third when combined will too quickly be shown
The Faery and Rock in our brave Elphin-stone.
1 See p. 66.
ADMIRAL LORD KEITH
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
LETTERS
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS TO DANIEL
AND SAMUEL LYSONS 1
" MILAN, 26th Feb., 1785.
" TELL me something of home, do : how the people
tear Mrs. Siddons 2 in pieces, and why they tear
her. How the executors and Mr. Boswell quarrel
over the remains of poor Dr. Johnson ! I saw
something of it in an English newspaper one day ;
but it only served to whet, not gratify, curiosity ; the
particulars must come from you. The booksellers
have written to me for materials or letters, but I
told them truly enough that I had left most of my
papers in England, and could do nothing till my
return."
"MILAN, -2-znd March, 1785.
" My book is getting forward, and will run well
enough among the rest ; the letters I have of Dr.
Johnson's are two hundred at least, I dare say, and
some of those from Skie are delightful they will
carry my little volume upon their back quite easily.
1 Rev. Daniel Lysons, rector of Rodmarton, author of various
works on topography. He collaborated with his brother, Samuel
Lysons, F.R.S., in Magna Brittania, 1806-1822.
2 This was the year of Mrs. Siddons's triumph in Lady
Macbeth.
*49
250 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
" Do you know who Dr. Taylor gives his anecdotes
to ? l Dr. Johnson bid me once ask him for memoirs,
if I was the survivor, and so I would, but I am afraid
of a refusal, as I guess Sir John Hawkins 2 is already
in possession of all that Dr. Taylor has to bestow.
There lives, however, at Birmingham a surgeon,
Mr. Edward Hector, 3 whom, likewise, Mr. Johnson
referred me to : he once saw Mr. Thrale and me, and,
perhaps, would be more kind, and more likely to
relate such things as I wish to hear, could you go
between us and coax him out of some intelligence ?
the story of the duck is incomparable. 4 Sir Lucas
Pepys 5 advised me not to declare to private friends
alone, but to publicly advertise my intentions of
writing anecdotes concerning Dr. Johnson : you will,
therefore, see it proclaimed in all the papers, I hope.
"VENICE, y>th April, 1785.
" My book is in very pretty forwardness, but the
letters I have in England are my best possessions.
1 Boswell had the benefit of Dr. Taylor's information.
2 Published Life and Works of Johnson, 1787-1789.
3 See p. 238.
4 The story that, when a child of three years old, he chanced
to tread upon a duckling, the eleventh of a brood, and killed it ;
upon which it is said he dictated to his mother the following
epitaph :
" Here lies good master Duck,
Whom Samuel Johnson trod on,
If it had lived, it had been good luck,
For then we'd had an odd one."
Boswell, who repeats the story given by Mrs. Piozzi and
Hawkins, declares that the lines were made by Johnson's father,
and imputed to the child from vanity.
5 See p. 206.
A MISSING LETTER 251
A propos, the papers said that Sir John Hawkins has
had his house burnt down, is it true ? Pray inquire
for a letter which I know Dr. Johnson wrote to Mr.
Barnard, 1 the King's librarian, when he was in Italy
looking for curious books ; the subject was wholly
literary and controversial, and would be most interest-
ing to the public ; I would give anything almost to
obtain a copy now, and there was a time when I
might have taken twenty copies. Do not you be as
negligent of your opportunities of improvement ; one
always repents such negligence in the end. No end
to my preachments, you'll say, but you always gave
me permission to preach to you, so I am at least a
licenziata.
" Miss Thrale has written to me from Brighthelm-
stone, and Susan and Sophy have thanked me for
a little box I sent at the same time as yours, with
female trifles in it. Mr. Piozzi is so good as to send
them some token of our existence and regard by every
opportunity, and the Venetian resident will be good-
natured and carry something, I am sure; but then
he will not get to London these ten months. I hope
you will all like him when he comes among you, and
I rather think it, he is a man of an active mind and
soft manners. What is there in this world, I wonder,
unattainable by the old maxim well persisted in of
suaviter in modo,fortiter in re? Very few things I
do think."
1 Librarian at the Queen's House (on the site of Buckingham
Palace). The letter was also lamented by Boswell (sub anno
1767) and was first printed by Croker.
252 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
"FLORENCE, itfhjune, 1785.
"It was exceedingly friendly in you to tell me
about the spitfire wits, and nothing can prove the
regard I pay to your good counsel so completely, as
the method I immediately took by writing to Mr.
Cadell, and offering him the Anecdotes. He will
probably show you my letter, perhaps publish it, in
order to convince the world that 'tis no joke at all,
and that they must wait till they have read, before
they begin to ridicule it. Meantime, I have sent Sir
Lucas Pepys l an ode, written by the Chevalier
Pindemonte, a noble Venetian, in praise of England,
with my translation over against it ; so people may
see I am at liberty to write something, and may
undertake the Memoirs of Dr. Johnson as well as
anything else. Mr. Colman 2 is right enough in his
conjectures, I dare say; but those who had a true
knowledge of our great man's mind will remember
that he preferred veracity to interest, affection or
resentment; nor suffered partiality or prejudice to
warp him from the truth. Let Mr. Boswell be sure
to keep that example in view; his old friend often
recommended it to him. . . .
" I knew the friendship of the two brothers Pepys l
would be exceedingly delightful to you ; Lady Rothes 3
is one of the best, as well as one of the most agree-
able women I know. The world was against her
once, on account of her second marriage, without
knowing why ; but she has had the good fortune to
1 See p. 206.
2 George Colman, the elder (1732-1794).
3 See p. 189.
THE LEARNED PIG 253
see her choice approved at last by family friends and
acquaintance, and I have no doubt but I shall enjoy
the same consolation, for the same icason, because
my husband deserves every day more than I could
ever have done for him, had I, as Portia says, been
' Trebled twenty times myself.' Poor soul ! he has
got the gout now, and I am writing by his bedside."
"FIRENZE, iithjuly, 1785.
" DEAR MR. LYSONS, You deserve long letters,
indeed, you are so good-natured, in writing so often
and kindly. Miss Thrale does just the reverse ; but
I will not let anything vex me, when I have so much
with which I ought to be pleased. . . . Mr. and Mrs.
Greatheed * (whose family you cannot but know) are
our constant and partial friends ; they have never been
three days apart since their acquaintance began, and
they love one another at five years end just as we
do now, I think, who hope to follow their example
for half a century at least, and then we shall be a
show, like the learned pig. 2 . . .
" I have been playing the baby, and writing
nonsense to divert our English friends here, who do
the same thing themselves, and swear they will print
the collection, and call it an Arno Miscellany. 3 Mr.
1 See p. 52.
2 The famous pig of which Miss Seward told Johnson
(Boswell, sub anno 1784). Johnson said, "the pig has no cause
to complain ; he would have been killed the first year if he had
not been educated"
3 It was finally called the Florence Miscellany, and became
the fountain-head of the Delia Cruscan atrocities in verse. See
p. 52.
254 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
Parsons and Mr. Merry are exceedingly clever, so is
Mr. Greatheed l and we have no critics to maul us, so
we laugh in peace. . . .
" It is difficult to express the esteem and fondness
shown by the Florentines of both sexes to Mrs. Great-
heed and myself, for the sincere love we bear to our
amiable husbands che bel esempio ! che care Ingle-
sine ! che copie felice ! resounds from every mouth.
Oh ! for candour and liberality of sentiment, for honest
praise and kind construction of words and actions,
Italy is the place, nor have they any idea of pretend-
ing to approve what they really do not like."
"ROME, tfh Nov., 1785.
" You do well to examine our land of mediocrities
before you come hither, whence Mr. Piozzi says he
shall be glad to return to clean rooms, neat workman-
ship, and good common sense.
" This last article reminds me of dear Dr. Johnson.
I was very sorry, indeed, to hear of his useless prayers
for the dead : z for, as the Prophet David says, it cost
more to redeem their souls, so that we must let that
alone for ever. Meantime I wish my Anecdotes may
be found less trivial than Boswell's : 3 I always hoped
that even trifles belonging to Johnson would be
welcome to the public, or what would become of my
1 See p. 52.
2 In Prayers and Meditations, edited in 1785 by Rev. Dr.
Strahan, Vicar of Islington.
3 Referring to Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides,
1785.
A PRETTY BOOK 255
book ? Did the executors publish those Prayers and
Meditations'! or, how came they printed? Do tell,
for I am earnest to hear. 1 . . .
" Will you have a pretty book as a present ? Mr.
Parsons, Mr. Greathead, Mr. Merry and myself (who
had the least share), diverted ourselves with writing
verses, while we lived together at Florence, and got
them printed but very imperfectly, as you may sup-
pose ; and I have sent a few copies to England, of
which I beg you to accept one. You must call on Mr.
Cator z for it: he lives in the Adelphi, you know. They
made me write the preface and find the motto ; but
some of the verses are very good indeed, and I hope
you will say so, as I think exceeding highly of Merry's
poetical powers." 3
"ROME, March i, 1786.
" I regret exceedingly that we [Cornelia Knight 4 ]
made acquaintance only at Naples, for many reasons :
we had great talk about Dr. Johnson, who was her
mother's friend ; her father was Captain Knight, made
Sir Joseph when the King went aboard his ship at
Portsmouth. Oh ! you have got our little book of
verses written in Tuscany safe by now ; for Miss Thrale
has thanked me for hers, and says she likes the preface.
Write to me soon, do, and tell me all the news. Miss"?
1 They were given to Dr. Strahan by Johnson in the year of
his death, with a view to being prepared for publication.
2 See p. 41.
3 Ex pede Herculem see Delia Crusca Verses, p. 52.
4 Ellis Cornelia Knight(i757-i837), companion to Queen Char-
lotte and Princess Charlotte. Her Autobiography appeared
in 1861.
256 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
Brunton l is set up as a rival to Siddons, I hear, but
sure that won't do. How droll it must be to see Mrs.
, Abingdon 2 act Scrub ! " 3
"ROME, i^th March, 1786.
" Nothing was ever more pretty, comical, and spark-
ling* than the verses about Mr. Boswell, which you tell
me are Dr. Walcot's; but, upon my honour, the world
is very rigorous ; for, if Boswell was Plutarch, nothing
but the sayings of Johnson could he record like
' Arabella's ' maid in the Female Quixote* we should
all be at a loss to keep a register of his actions, for even
her ladyship's smiles might be mentioned, as she
suggests ; but dear Dr. Johnson did not afford us many
of them. Is Mrs. Montagu convinced of my respect,
and of Mr. Boswell's flippancy ? 6 I hope so."
" MILAN, 6th July, 1786.
" Miss Nicholson's 7 never having had my letters, nor
I hers, is amazing: we thought she was gone to France,
and she, it seems, imagined us still at Milan,"
1 Afterwards the wife of Robert Merry, the Delia Cruscan.
2 Frances Abington (1737-1815), the actress who was the
original Lady Teazle.
3 The valet in Farquhar's Beaux' Stratagem.
4 Ten years later Mrs. Piozzi stood in Peter Pindar's pillory
(Bozzy and Piozzi) beside Boswell, regarding whose castigation
she is here so cheerful. Peter Pindar was John Wolcot, M.D.
(1738-1819), the satirist of George the Third.
5 Charlotte Lennox's novel of 1752.
6 This refers to the passage in the Tour to t/ie Hebrides where
Boswell reports Johnson as saying that Mrs. Thrale could not
" get through " Mrs. Montagu's Essay on Shakespeare. Mrs.
Piozzi made a feeble denial in her Anecdotes. See Boswell's
Tour, 23rd Sept. 7 See p. 49.
THE CIVILITY OF A DASH 257
"Holy Thursday (1787), HANOVER SQUARE.
"DEAR MR. LYSONS, I have found about forty
letters of Johnson's in the old trunk, which may very
well be printed ; some of them exceedingly long ones,
and of the best sort. I read two or three to Mr. Cadell,
and he liked them vastly, but will not abate of mine ;
and for the sake of his partiality I am now resolved to
be patiently tied to the stake, and if we can find six or
seven tolerable ones for each volume, he shall have
them, but let me look them over once again. No need
to expunge with salt and lemons all the names I have
crossed let the initials stand ; it is enough that I do
not name them out; civility is all I owe them, and my
attention not to offend is shown by the dash. The
preface is written, and when I get the verses from Dr.
Lort x I will not be dilatory, for I have a nice little
writing room, and a very gentleman-like man to deal
with in Mr. Cadell."
" ALFRED STREET, BATH, i-jth Nov., 1787.
" The authors of The World are vastly civil, but I
have not yet been able to get a sight of the paragraph.
Miss Lees are charming women, 2 and appear to deserve
their very uncommon success.
"With regard to my own book, 3 if no one thinks more
1 Michael Lort, D.D., Professor of Greek at Cambridge, Pre-
bendary of St. Paul's, antiquary ; a frequent guest at Mrs.
Thrale's house.
2 The sisters, Harriet and Sophia Lee, novelists and
dramatists. They were joint authors of Canterbury Tates, one
of which was the source of Byron's Werner. Sophia Lee had a
school at Bath.
3 I.e. Letters to and from Johnson, 1788.
17
258 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
about it than I have done since I saw you, woe betide
Cadell ! If anybody has stolen a letter of mine, they
will add little to their guilt, though much to their
shame by publishing it." l
"EXMOUTH, i-yd August, 1788.
" It was the heat of the summer exalted Baretti's
venom so, I am told all the vipers sting terribly this
year. He'll cool with the weather, you'll see. 2
" I wish Seward 3 and Miss Streatfield 4 would make
a match of it at last ; there would then be a collar of
SSS."
"EDINBURGH, Sthfuly, 1789.
" I am glad the book swims, poor thing! what does
Dr. Lort 5 say of it ? Yet he would have written him-
self, I fear, had it much pleased him."
"EDINBURGH, list July (1789), Tuesday.
" DEAR MR. LYSONS, I wish Cadell had sent my
money to Drummond's before he left London ; but I
warrant he forbore only before he left that it was too
little for such a book ; so means to do something
handsome just at harvest season ; ' and the genteel
1 This alludes to a letter of hers to Johnson, dated Bath, April
28, 1780 ; afterwards published by Boswell. On the margin she
has written : " This is the famous letter with which Mr. Boswell
threatened us all. He bought it of Frank the Black for half a
crown, to have a little teising in his power." (Hay ward.)
2 An unintentionally gruesome prophecy of Baretti's death in
less than a year.
3 See p. 68. 4 See p. 39 et seq. 6 See p. 257.
THE GENTEEL THING 259
thing is the genteel thing at any time,' as Goldsmith's
Bear-leader 1 says in the play."
"KESWICK, 2istjuly, 1789.
" Pray who is my enemy that writes in the British
Review"? You told me one enemy's name, and I
forgot it again ; which Review does he write for ? or
are they both the same man ? "
To the Rev. Daniel Lysons
" 4 o'clock in the morning of
Saturday 16, 1794.
" DEAR MR. LYSONS, Here are we returned home
from a concert at one house, a card assembly at a
second, a ball and supper at a third. The pain in my
side, which has tormented me all evening, should not
however have prevented my giving the girls their frolic,
and enjoying your company myself; but servants and
horses can't stand it if I can, and even Cecilia 2 consents
not to be waked in four hours after she lies down.
Excuse us all, therefore, and believe me ever truly
yours, H. L. PlOZZI."
To the Rev. Daniel Lysons
" DENBIGH, Sunday night, \$th February, 1795.
" DEAR MR. LYSONS, A thousand thanks for your
letter, and literary intelligence. I suspect the tragedy
1 Tony Lumpkin's friend at " The Three Jolly Pigeons."
2 Her youngest daughter.
2 6o DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
etc. 1 will prove a second Chattertonism ; this is an age
of imposture. What became of the philosopher in St.
Martin's Lane, who advertised a while ago that he gave
life and motion to stone figures, that moved and turned
in every direction at the word of command ? I never
saw it in the paper but once ; 'twas a curious advertise-
r ment. So is Mr. Kemble's in another way ; he has
proved himself no conjuror, sure, to get into such a
scrape, but Alexander and Statira will pull him out, I
suppose. 2 Poor dear Mrs. Siddons is never well long
together, always some torment, body or mind, or both.
Are people only sick in London (by the way), or do they
diet not of any one contagious disorder, but of various
maladies. I suspect there is disposition to mortality in
the town, sure enough, for never did I read of so many
deaths together ; these violent changes from cold to heat,
i and from heat to cold, occasion a great deal of it.
" For the Princess of Wales, I think little about her
just now, and still less about that horrid Mr. Brothers, 3
but it will be a dreadful thing to see the King and
Queen of Spain setting out upon their travels, as appears
by no means improbable,if the French are in possession
of Pampeluna. The Spaniards can fight nothing but
1 W. H. Ireland's forged tragedy of Vortigern. It was actually
produced the following year by Sheridan and Kemble at Drury
Lane, but the audience diagnosed it as a " solemn mockery."
2 He was obliged to make a public apology for indecorous
behaviour to a lady [Maria Theresa De Camp] who afterwards
became his sister-in-law [wife of Charles Kemble]. (Hayward).
3 Richard Brothers said he was descended from David, and
demanded the homage of George the Third. He died in 1824,
after spending many years in an asylum and writing some weird
books of prophecy.
A TUB TO A WHALE 261
bulls; we shall have that royal family unroosted, I verily
believe, and in a few months too. The capture of
Holland will seem a light thing in comparison of so
heavy a calamity when it comes to pass, for all the
riches of Mexico will then drop into the wrong scale.
" ' But we will not be over-exquisite
To scan the fashion of uncertain evils,'
as Milton says ; but keep out famine by liberality, and
contagion by cleanliness, as long as ever we can ; loving
our gallant seamen meantime, and rewarding them with
all the honours and profits old England has to bestow.
" I should like to read your Fast sermon ; we shall
have a very good one here, for among other comforts
Denbigh possesses that of an excellent preacher and
reader. Pray tell how the day is observed in London
and its environs: I shall be curious to hear; and do
assure you with the greatest sincerity that letters
from you and your brother are most desirable treats.
He is cruel, though, and keeps close Mum. Pray
are the Greatheeds x in town ? what do they say of Mr.
Kemble's conduct? and what of their countryman
Shakespeare's extraordinary resuscitation ? 2 It seems
to me a sort of tub to the whale, a thing to catch
attention, and detain it from other matters. When we
see Mr. Lloyd of Wickwor, whom we here justly call
the philosopher, I shall find what he thinks of the dis-
covery. Give my kindest regards to your very amiable
neighbours, Miss Pettiwards ; they must take double
care of their mother now, if possible, for all the people
past a certain age seem to be dropping off.
1 See p. 52.
2 The Ireland forgeries.
262 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
" Tis very wicked in me to send you these sixpenny-
worths of interrogations every time I feel my ignorance
of what passes in the world painful to myself, or dis-
graceful among those whom I wish to entertain ; but
whoever is rich will be borrowed from : so Adieu !
and write soon, and accept my master's l and Cecilia's
best compliments from, dear Sir, yours most faithfully,
" H. L. Piozzi."
To the Rev. Daniel Lysons
" BRYNBELLA, qth February, 1796.
" You really can scarcely believe, dear Mr. Lysons,
how much entertainment and pleasure was given us by
your agreeable and friendly letter, in which however
you do not mention your brother, but I doubt not he is
well and happy. You do not mention the high price of
provisions neither, though sufficient to make everybody
unhappy ; but this mild season, and good plenty of
coals, I trust, contribute to keep people quiet, assisted
by our new laws against sedition. 2 I have found a wise
book at last Miss Thrale sent it me on Monopoly
and Reform of Manners; printed for Faulder. It
should be given about, I think, like Hannah More's
penny books, and got by heart for a task by servants,
apprentices, etc., and much finer people, though they
are too fine by half.
1 This was the designation by which Mrs. Piozzi styled both
her husbands. The Johnsonian circle spoke of Mr. Thrale as
" The Master."
2 A characteristically unintentional stroke of irony. Mrs.
Piozzi is never more humorous than when she least designs it.
VORTIGERN 263
" The Chinese embassy l will not tempt three
guineas out of my pocket, say what they will, and say
it how they will. ^Eneas Anderson has convinced me
that it was an empty business at best.
" Your account of Shakespear's being forged and
fooled after so many years' peace and quietness most
exactly tallies with what my heart told me upon read-
ing the queen's supposed letter to him in our news-
paper. I have seen no other, but was struck with the
word amuse. She would have said pastyme. The
other phrase was hardly received in France (whence we
got it) so early as the days of Elizabeth. The dates,
however, are decisive, when you tell me she is made
to promote the amusement of a man then known to be
dead. The Earl of Leicester was ranger here of
Denbigh Green, you know; and my ancestor, Salusbury
of Bachygraig, opposed his innovation when he sought
to enclose the common for his use. The tyrant
followed him up, though, till he got his life ; and not
contented with that, brought his first cousin, Salusbury
of Llewenney, my mother's ancestor, to death like-
wise, by way of revenge ; all which shall serve as my
pretext for a good piece of the Green whenever it is
ordered for cultivation. Meantime, let me request an
early narrative of Vortigern's success. I think they
will pluck his painted vest from him, 2 but we shall see.
1 Lord Macartney's embassy of 1792-94. The Earl's own
account appeared first in his memoir by Sir John Barrow, 1807.
"A painted vest Prince Vortigern had on,
Which from a naked Pict his grandsire won."
The play was damned from the first, and Ireland fully ex-
posed by Malone.
264 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
" It has been long matter of surprise to me that
the less-instructed part of our common audiences in
London never miss being right in their judgment of a
play-, or even of the language ; for as to incidents, those
are as obvious to one set of men as to another, if prob-
able or not. But what I mean is this: when Lady
Macbeth tells them that the grooms of Duncan's
chamber she will with wine and wassail so convince,
etc., they think it (as it certainly is) perfectly right, and
in character with the times ; but let Cumberland or
Jephson use the same phrase, and say they will con-
vince a knot of friends with drink, a loud shout of
laughter would, without any instigation, burst from
the upper gallery ; every single member of which,
talked to apart, would appear to know very little, if
anything, concerning the history of their native tongue.
For these reasons it is scarce a fair wager how this
new tragedy is received, without they bring it out in
Shakspear's name, which I do think would save it
harmless, so long as they believed the imposition.
"Meantime, I see by the newspapers people continue
to insult the king, throwing stones at him as he passes.
Methinks the very word stone should be offensive to all
his family l : one mad fool of the name persecuted
Princess Sophia, as I remember, with offers of
marriage ; and this coachmaker or coal-merchant, or
what was the anagrammatical gentleman who signed
Enots, he seems to have escaped by testimonials to his
character from the rich Democrates. I think they
are all Gall Stones, and I heartily wish we were rid of
them.
1 See p. 272.
ANNA SEWARD
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
CHARMING SIDDONS 265
" What becomes of the Beavor family ? I never write
to Mrs. Gillies, because I know she hates letters ; but
my true esteem of her brave brothers does not lessen
by absence. Mrs. D'Arblaye's new novel 1 is not
advertised yet. Somebody told me Lady Eglinton is
turned writer now she has married the son of Doctor
More ; but perhaps it was a joke. Will Miss Farren's 2
coronet never be put on ? I thought the paralytic
countess would have made way for her long ago.
" Dear, charming Siddons keeps her empire oveT 1
all hearts still, I hope ; if an Irish plan takes place in
her arrangements this spring, we shall not despair
to see her at Brynbella. Tell her so with my true
love. _1
" There is a new pamphlet supposed by Jones, the
Hutchinsonian, 3 to say that our Saviour's Coming (but
not the end of the world) is at hand. I cannot recol-
lect the title of it, but do buy and send it to Streatham
Park with any other little thing worth notice, but no
three-guinea books. I wonder who wrote the small
tract about Monopoly ; 'tis monstrously clever, and
clever only because ifs true. So is my conclusion of
this letter, saying that I am most sincerely, dear Sir,
yours, H. L. PIOZZI.
" My master unites in compliments."
1 Camilla.
2 Elizabeth Farren married the Earl of Derby in the following
year.
3 Follower of John Hutchinson, the religious symbolist (1674-
1737). He opposed Newton in his Moses 1 Principia.
266 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
To the Rev. Daniel Lysons
"BRYNBELLA, ythjuly, 1796.
" DEAR MR. LYSONS, This is a letter of mere
request, to beg remembrances from old and distant
friends. Do pray write now and then, and make me
up a good long letter of small London chat: you can
scarcely think how welcome living intelligence is to
those who have chiefly the dead to converse with, and
I work hard at old stuff all morning, and sigh for some
evening conversation about literature and politics, and
the common occurrences of the day.
" Esher or Asher, in Surrey, is a place I cannot find
in your Environs. 1 It was my grandmother's property,
and she sold it to the Pelhams ; her mother lies
buried there with a painted or coloured monument if
I recollect rightly, though 'tis many years since I saw
it. Mr. Piozzi used to promise me a drive thither,
but we never went.
" Hume says that Cardinal Wolsey retired to that
seat 2 when the king withdrew his favour from him ;
and Mr. Fitzmaurice, from whose library I borrowed
the book, queries the place, and doubts whether he
ever was there ; although Stowe tells for I remember
it how Wolsey alighted from his horse in the road
between Asher and Richmond to receive the ring
which Henry sent him, and threw himself on his knees
in the dirt from thankfulness that he was not wholly
out of favour. I wish you would set me right. Like-
1 Environs of London, by Daniel Lysons, 1792-1796.
2 In 1529 Wolsey had to leave his palace at York and reside
at Esher, near Hampton Court.
NAPOLEON 267
wise I want to know where the spot once called Castle-
risings now stands. Edward II.'s queen Isabella was
confined there to her death, but lived very grand, I
trust, for she had 3OOO/. a year, a sum equal to a royal
jointure now, I suppose. Hume says it was ten miles
from London, and it must be nearer now.
" Do Mr. Walpole's works sell, and is his Love Story
that you once read to me in them ? I liked the letters
to Hannah More mightily.
" If Mr. Bunbury's Little Gray Man is printed, do
send it hither ; the ladies at Llangollen are dying for
it. They like those old Scandinavian tales and the
imitations of them exceedingly ; and tell me about the
prince and princess of this loyal country, one province
of which alone had disgraced itself; and now no
Anglesey militiaman is spoken to by the Cymrodorion,
but all completely sent to Coventry, for nobody wants
them in Ireland.
" The mysterious expedition of Buonaparte will I
hope end at worst in revolutionising the Greek Islands,
and restoring the old names to Peloponnaesus, Eubcea,
etc. I should be sorry he ever got to India, but
waking the Turks from their long sleep will not grieve
me. The Knights of Malta make a triste figure at last ;
I suppose Mr. Weishoupt's emissaries were beforehand
with the hero of Italy, as they call him.
" My husband is particularly disgusted with the
people that exalt Buonaparte's personal courage and
valorous deeds. ' He goes nowhere unless he is
called,' says Mr. Piozzi; if he wanted to show his
prowess, why did not he come here, or to Ireland ? we
would have shown him sport ; but like Caliban, those
268 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
fellows will be wise henceforward and sue for grace,
and worship the French no more, unless they are still
greater blunderers than even 7 take them for."
To the Rev. Daniel Lysons
"BRYNBELLA, yh Jan., 1796.
" DEAR MR. LYSONS, After making repeated in-
quiries for you of all our common friends, I begin to
rfind out that the best way is to ask yourself. Dear
Siddons was always a slow correspondent, though a
kind wellwisher; and she has so much to do in good
earnest, that we must forgive her not sitting down to
write letters either of fact or sentiment ; for a little of
both these I apply to you, and beg a little chat for in-
jfprmation of what is going forward. Tell me, in the
first place, concerning your own health and your wicked
brother's, who forgets his old correspondent very shame-
fully ; after that, let the sedition bills or the Shake-
spear manuscripts take post according to the bustle
made about them in London. Make me understand
why Mr. Hayley writes Milton's life, and why Doctor
Anderson 1 publishes Johnson's. Those roads are so
beaten they will get dust in their own eyes sure, instead
of throwing any into the eyes of their readers ; at this
distance from the scene of action I cannot guess their
intents. Tell what other new books attract notice, and
what becomes of the Whig Club now 'tis divided like
Paris into sections. I fancy France will be divided
into sections at last, a bit to Royalists, another bit to
1 Robert Anderson, M.D., editor and biographer of British
Poets (I792-I795)-
IRISH GOLD 269
Republicans ; and perhaps the very name of a nation
so disgraced by crimes and follies will be lost for ever.
No matter ! I long to see Burke's letter to Arthur
Young : his predictions have the best claim to attention
of any living wight.
" Oh pray what becomes of the man l who set mankind
a staring this time last year? he is in a madhouse,
is not he ? We had a slight earthquake about eight
or ten weeks ago, and such extraordinary weather as
never did I witness; very providential sure that it
should continue so warm and mild and open while
bread remains at such an advanced price. Yesterday
the prospect was clear and bright as spring ; nor have
we seen ice hitherto ; but storms enough to blow the
very house down, and I fear prevent our West India
fleet from ever arriving at its place of destination. A
beautiful prismatic halo round the moon in an elliptic
form very elegant on Christmas Day, was said by our
rural philosophers to be a rare but certain praecursor
of tempest, and so it proved : I was, however, glad to
have seen a meteor so uncommon.
" Has your brother examined any of the gold from
our new mine in Ireland ? The Bishop showed us some,
and Mr. Lloyd, I think, sent specimens to Sir Joseph
Banks 2 it is supposed purer, and less drugged with
alloy than what comes immediately from Peru could
we but get enough of it.
1 Richard Brothers. See p. 260.
2 President of the Royal Society.
2 yo DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
To the Rev. Daniel Lysons
" BRYNBELLA, Thursday.
" DEAR MR. LYSONS, Accept a renewal of inquiries,
literary and domestic ; but 'tis for yourself I inquire ;
your brother, we know, is well and busy with his sub-
terranean discoveries. What statues has he found ?
they will be very valuable ; and tell me for mercy's
sake what this Apology for the Bible * means : we live
in fine times sure when the Bible wants an apology
from the Bishops. How is Mr. Burke's book 2 re-
ceived ? and what will his regicide peace be ? 3 I see no
signs of peace except in the books : for they make them
ready to battle in all parts of the world, and we shall
have the Turks upon us directly if we chase French
ships into their very harbours so. No matter! my
half-crown for Flo shall be willingly contributed,
though I do think seriously that the Dog Tax and
Repeal of Game Laws will have an exceeding bad
effect on the country, where gentlemen will want in-
ducements to remain when hunting and coursing and
shooting are at an end. Horses will lower in price,
however, and little oats will be sown at all. I think
democracy in all her insidiousness could not have
contrived a more certain principle of levelling, and
republicanism in all her pride could not plan more
perfect gratification than that of seeing the young
farmers' sons cocking their guns in face of a landlord
upon whom no man feeling any dependence, he will
1 By Richard Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, 1796.
2 Letter to a Noble Lord.
3 Letters on a Regicide Peace, 1797.
AN AGE OF FORGERIES 271
shelter himself among the crowds of London, and
prefer being jostled at Vauxhall by his taylor, to the
being robbed of innocent amusements by those who
were bred on his land, and fed on his bounty. 1
" Our Chester paper even now reproaches the rich
with their donations of bread and meat, which are
already styled insults on the poot^s independence ; and
Mr. Chappelow, who has been here on a visit, pro-
tested he was glad to get alive out of Norfolk, because
he had presumed to give his parishioners barley and
potatoe bread baked in his own oven. I wish you
would write me a long letter, and tell me a great deal
about the living world ; and something of the dead
too, for I see Mr. Howard's epitaph, but cannot guess
who wrote it.
" Vortigern 2 will, I trust, be condemned almost
without a hearing, so completely does the laugh go
against it. This is the age of forgeries. I never read
of so many causes celebres in that way as of late ; but
poor dear Mrs. Siddons saves Ireland awhile, I suppose,
by her ill health, and keeps Miss Lee from fame and
fortune which she expects to acquire by Almeyda?
Does Madame D' Arblay's novel promise well ? Fanny
wrote better before she was married than since, how-
ever that came about. I understand nothing concern-
ing the young baronet that lost so much at back-
1 If indignation makes verses, it does not supply syntax ; and
this sentence, which I have not attempted to correct, bears a
strong resemblance to that of the county member who described
Sir Robert Peel as " not the sort of man that you could put salt
upon his tail." (Hayward.)
2 See p. 263.
3 A tragedy by Sophia Lee, 1796.
272 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
gammon. Those tales are seldom true to the extent
they are related : much like the stories of mad dogs,
which chiefly exist in newspapers ; but I fear Lady
Westmeath's Divorce Bill, like Mrs. Mullins, will carry
conviction of her infidelity all over the world. We
knew her and her lord at Bath very well. I try every
time I write to get some intelligence of the Beavor
family, but without effect.
" Selden says marriage is the act of a man's life which
least concerns his acquaintance, yet, adds he, 'tis the
very act of his life which they most busy themselves
about. Now, Heaven knows, I never did disturb my-
self or him by Dr. Gillies's marriage, though it affected
me exceedingly ; his amiable lady and her family being
of my most favourite acquaintance, and they are all
lost to me somehow. Mr. Rogers' name has crost me
but once since we left London either : it was when he
gave evidence in favour of that anagrammatic Mr.
Stone, 1 who wrote his name backwards, as witches are
said to do ; who deal in deeds of darkness, and sing
" ' When good kings bleed we rejoice,' etc.
" How does your book of fashionable dresses go on ?
it must, I think, receive some curious additions by
what one hears and sees ; for a caricature print of a
famous fine lady who leads the Mode has already
reached poor little Denbigh."
1 On Stone's trial, the author of The Pleasures of Memory
proved a conversation with him in the streets, tending to show
that he made no mystery of that which was charged as treason-
able. (Hayward.) See p. 264.
MRS. RADCLIFFE 273
To the Rev. Daniel Lysons
" BRYNBELLA, Sunday,
(post-mark, 1796.)
" DEAR MR. LYSONS, You have at last written me
so kind and so entertaining a letter, that no paper on
my part shall be wasted in reproaches ; I thank you
very kindly, but you should never suppose me in-
formed of things which you cannot help hearing; but
they escape me easily enough. I do hear of the Arch
Duke's successes however, and of poor Italy's dis-
grace ; I hear of peace too when shall we see it ? Mr.
Ireland is a pleasant gentleman indeed, and his last
act his best act in my mind ; absolution follows con-
fession ; * I have done being angry with him now.
There is a note in Mr. Malone's pamphlet for which
I would give half a dozen publications of fifty pages
each concerning the times ; it contains my sentiments
so exactly that I may easily commend the writer's
good sense and sound judgment. The mysteries of
Carlton House surpass those of Udolpho : 2 may they
end as those do, in mere nihility. I will not quarrel
with you for making no reply to my questions about
Camilla, because I have read it myself, and because
these are really no times for any man of the living
world to waste his moments in weighing of fea-
thers; he, however, who neglects to read Burke's
last pamphlet, loses much of a very rational
pleasure.
1 After being exposed by Malone, Ireland confessed his
forgeries in his Authentic Accounts, etc., 1796.
2 Mrs. Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho, 1794.
18
274 DR - JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
I turn the page to talk of yours and your brother's
discoveries, 1 of which I honestly wish you much joy."
To the Rev. Daniel Lysons
" BRYNBELLA, Tuesday Evening, 1797.
" Could you, as you walk about and examine books
upon stalls, find me a second or third, or thirteenth-
hand History of Poetry, by Warton, or of Music, by
Hawkins; 2 I should be much obliged to you; but it
must be under a guinea price. I have the good editions
myself at Streatham Park. Your book of Ladies'
Dresses must have received curious addition, by what
I see and hear of the present fashions ; but cutting oft
hair is the foolishest among the foolish. When they
are tired of going without clothes, 'tis easy putting them
on again ; but what they will do for the poor cropt and
shorn heads, now there are no convents, I cannot guess.
" Do people rejoice now wheat falls in price ? they
made heavy lament when it was high, or do we only
sigh for peace that we may be at leisure to meditate
mischief?
" And so I see that both Ministry and Opposition
have at last agreed in one point ; they join against
the Lapdogs :
" ' So when two dogs are fighting in the streets,
With a third dog one of these two dogs meets ;
With angry teeth he bites him to the bone,
And this dog smarts for what that dog had done.'
1 On which was based Samuel Lysons's chief work, Reliquiae
Britannico-Romanae, 1801-17.
2 General History of Music, 1776, by Sir John Hawkins,
Johnson's biographer, and member of the Literary Club.
DOG DENT 275
These verses are somewhat too soft and mellifluous
for the occasion, being Fielding's, 1 but I half long to
address a doggrell epistle to Mr. Dent ; 2 he would be
as angry as Mr. Parsons, 3 no doubt, and I understand
his wrath is very great. What becomes of Ireland, I
wonder, now his solemn mockery is ended. It was a
forged bill, you see, and the public did well to protest it. 4
" If Mrs. Siddons was to work at Drury Lane all
winter and run about all summer, she would have had
no enjoyment of Putney ; and the young ones, for
whose sake she is to work and run, would never have
delighted in an out of town residence. Cecilia 5 is
coming to the scene of action, London, where / think
there were enough just such half-hatched chickens
without her and Mr. Mostyn adding to the number ;
but then they do not care what I think, so 'tis all one.
The Bishop of Bangor likes Wales no better than
she does, I suppose, but he ought not to have said so ;
because an old bishop should be wiser than a pretty
wench, and much will be endured from her, very little
from him, especially in these days ; he is got into a
cruel embarrassment.
" Tell something about our Princess of Wales and
1 From Tom Thumb the Great.
2 Who gained the nickname of Dog Dent by the piece of
legislation in question. (Hayward.)
3 See p. 52.
4 Vortigern was acted and damned on April 2, 1796. The
last audible line was
" And when this solemn mockery is o'er,"
which Kemble was accused of uttering in a manner to precipitate
the catastrophe. (Hayward.)
5 Mrs. Mostyn, the youngest daughter of Mr. Thrale.
276 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
her domestiques, and of our infant queen-expectant,
pretty creature ! I should somehow like to see that
baby l excessively. My hope is that every English
heart will devote itself to the service of so much
innocence and sweetness.
" I depend upon an excellent account of Almeyda ; 2
the epilogue is charming. Only one fault ; 'tis an epi-
logue would do for any play. I call such things verses
to be let. Prologues and epilogues should, to be perfect,
be appropriate, referring to what has been presented,
or is to present itself before the audience. This, how-
ever, is playful and pretty, and so far as I know or can
remember, quite original.
" Adieu, dear Sir, and bid your brother not quite for-
get me. The arm of an old vestal virgin kept under
ground since Agricola's time is cold compared with
the hand of his and your faithful servant,
" H. L. Piozzi."
To Samuel Lysons, Esq.
" Wednesday, loth Feb., 1808.
" DEAR MR. LYSONS, I have not written to you a
long time, and now I cannot help writing. I loved
your brother so much, and wished him happy so
sincerely, his change of life affects me, and my feelings
will not permit me to tell him so. Tell him yourself,
my good friend, and assure yourself that the account
of his wife's death in the papers gave me a sensation
1 Princess Charlotte Augusta (1796-1817), only child of
George iv. and Caroline of Brunswick.
2 See p. 271.
HOSPITAL PHRASES 277
beyond what my acquaintance with her called for.
But she was pretty when we last met, and she was
young, and it seems so odd and melancholy to look
in the grave for those one used to see at the tea-table !
Well ! you who live among the records of past life
will bear these things better ; my spirits are much
depressed by Mr. Piozzi's miserable state of health,
nor can the gaieties I hear of draw my attention from
the sorrows that I see. Mrs. Mostyn l has politely
taken a week's share of them just now while her
sons are absent, and the London winter not begun.
Our winter commenced in November, and when it
will end I know not. The mountains are still covered
with snow, and such tempestuous weather did I never
witness.
" The political wonders have increased since the sus-
pension of our correspondence so much, that we are
all tired of wondering at them ; but this new discovery
of a nest of Christians in Travancore must be con-
sidered as curious by everybody who reads of it. Tell
me the price of Buchanan's book z and its character ;
I see nothing but extracts, and those imperfect ones ;
and tell me some literary chat, remembering our
distance from all possibility of adding a new idea to
our stock, except by the voluntary subscriptions and
contributions (to use an hospital phrase) of the nobility,
gentry, and others. Hospital phrases, indeed, best
suit the dwellers at Brynbella : but Doctor Johnson
never wrong was right, pre-eminently right in this :
1 See p. 275.
2 Account of his travels by Claudius Buchanan, a teacher in
India. He returned to England in the year of this letter.
278 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
That chronic diseases are never cured: and acute
ones, if recovered from, cure themselves. The maxim
has been confirmed by my experience every day since
to me first pronounced, and I dare say the late un-
fortunate event in your own family affords it no
contradiction.
" Has your brother many children left him by his
lady, and is he living at Hempstead Court ? He had
better get to London, and lose his cares in the crowd.
" Dear Mr. Lysons, do write to me, and in the mean-
time pity me and my poor husband, whose sufferings
one should believe, on a cursory view of them, wholly
insupportable ; but God gives the courage, with the
necessity of exerting it.
" I hear all good of Mrs. Siddons."
To Samuel Lysons, Esq.
"BRYNBELLA, iind Aug.^ 1813.
" Mrs. Piozzi presents her most respectful compli-
ments to her old friend Mr. Lysons, as Governor of
the British Institution, with an earnest request that he
will protect her portraits from being copied, as she was
strictly promised before she could consent to lend
them. It would break her heart, and ruin the value
of the pictures to posterity, and now some artist living
at No. 50, Rathbone Place, who spells his name so
that she cannot read it, unless 'tis Joseph, writes to
her, begging he may copy the portrait of Dr. Johnson,
when she was hoping all the four were by this time
restored to their places at old Streatham Park. Mrs.
Piozzi wishes Mr. Lysons joy of his brother's marriage,
THE FROZEN THAMES 279
but hopes he himself is not now at Hempstead Hall,
as she knows not where to apply."
To Samuel Lysons, Esq.
"BRYNBELLA, i-jth Feb., 1814.
" DEAR MR. LYSONS, I was desired by some dispu-
tants to obtain correct information, and felt immedi-
ately that I could be sure of it from none but yourself.
The question is, What authority can be produced, for
an account given in some public print, of a frost on
the River Thames, equal or nearly equal to this last,
in the second or third centuries ? Do me the very
great kindness to let me know ; and where you read
the fact, whether in Holinshed, Stowe, Speed, or
Strype's Annals, and from what record the incident
is taken, it having been averred that no records could
then have been kept. I mean in 260 or 270 A.D. . . .
" My correspondents always begin their letters with,
You have heard so much of, etc., etc., that I am pre-
cluded hearing at all. Come now, do send me a kind
letter, and tell me if Madame D'Arblaye gets 3OOO/.
for her book or no, 1 and if Lord Byron is to be called
over about some verses z he has written, as the papers
hint. And tell me how the peacemakers will accom-
modate the Pope, and the little King of Rome too; and
the Emperor of Germany beside, whose second title
was King of the Romans, and how all this and ten
times more is to be settled, before St. David's Day.
1 The Wanderer (1814).
3 The verses beginning :
"Weep, daughter of a royal line." (Hayward.)
2 8o DR. JOHNSON'S MRS THRALE
Wonders ! wonders ! wonders ! Why Katterfelto l
and his cat never pretended to such impossibilities.
What says your brother to these days ? He used to
feel amazed at the occurrences of twenty-one years
ago; but if everything we saw so tumbled about
then, can be so easily and swiftly arranged now, much
of our horror and surprise might have been saved.
" The fire at the Custom House must have been very
dreadful ; I hope you suffered nothing but sorrow for
the general loss. Devonshire Square is a place, the
situation of which is unknown to me, but I have friends
there, who I should grieve for, if they came to any
harm.
" Adieu, dear Mr. Lysons : if I live, which no other
old goose does I think through this winter, we shall
meet at old Streatham Park, 2 and I shall once more
tell you truly, and tell you personally, how faithfully
I am yours."
1 A conjuror and quack doctor who performed in London in
the eighties.
" And Katerfelto with his hair on end,
At his own wonders, wondering for his bread."
COWPER, The Winter Evening.
2 Mrs. Piozzi gave up Brynbella to Sir John Salusbury in
1814. She occasionally visited Streatham but lived chiefly at
Bath and Clifton.
MRS. ABINGTON
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS TO
DR. GRAY 1
"BRYNBELLA, itfh Oct., 1798.
" THERE is no chance of our seeing London this next
spring ; so if we take the whole French navy, and if
in consequence they beg for peace, or if, enraged
with their worthless Directory, all the 700,000 men in
arms come home under command of some Oliver
Cromwell or some General Monk, and make a new
revolution at Paris, the taxes may some of them be
taken off, and we may all meet merrily, at least cheer-
fully, at Bath this year . . . without fear of fresh
assessments. Meanwhile, tho' all this is far more
feasible and far more probable than many a strange
event we have witnessed, I must apprehend it is no
better than a bounce.
" The odious CEgyptians, after worshipping cro-
codiles so long, will perhaps worship Buonaparte,
whose manifesto seems to have come out of one of
their mouths ; nor does your kind consolation, though
I rely with firmness on its truth, take the desired
effect.
" Surely those are the basest of nations who accept
the yoke of French democracy. Surely so trodden
1 Dr. Robert Gray, Bishop of Bristol from 1827 till his death
in 1834.
281
282 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
down as that, they never will hope to raise their hopes
again. How the wild scheme will end, how much the
slavish French will bear from their five tyrants, who
came completely from nothing and must return to
nothing back again, I guess not, but am charmed with
the strong contrast between Nelson's pious letter and
their vile agent's blasphemous proclamation. I hear
our warrior's father is a clergyman . . . how must
his and Lady Nelson's hearts leap for joy !
" Have you seen the death of a charming girl in the
papers, whose long and severe sufferings interest all
her friends, and have half broken her sweet mother's
heart ! Maria Siddons ! more lamented, I do think,
than virtue, value, and science all combined would be.
But she had youthful beauty ; and to that quality our
fond imaginations never fail to affix softness of temper
and a gentle spirit, every charm resident in female
minds. You are very happy, however, my dear Sir, as
fine things as we ladies are, to have two boys for pur-
pose of protecting your one girl. Brothers are a vast
advantage to young women, and save them from a
thousand embarrassments when they would not permit
(in these illuminated days) a parent's hand to be of
any use to them.
" I am ashamed. 'Tis this moment struck into my
head that by dear Nelson's pious ancestor you mean
the admirable writer of the Feasts and Fasts. 1 I had
no notion they were any way related, but reading over
your kind letter again 'tis plain it must be so.
" You will think me as stupid as Lord Carlisle's
cook, who begged permission to examine the library
1 Festivals and Fasts, by Robert Nelson, 1704.
MERCHANT PRINCES 283
one day, because, says he, I have been told when a
child about Nelson's feasts and fasts . . . and 'tis time
to read it in earnest, and fix upon some good receipts.
This is a fact."
"STREATHAM, Wednesday, 1800.
" Did you drink one good-humour'd glass extra-
ordinary to the health of Retrospection} which will
come to light in about a month after your own child,
and claim some of your superfluous kindness ? I hope
you did. If it ever should be in the path of those
amiable friends you introduced me to at Oxford, they
will give it a kick forward and drive it along for your
sake. Stockdale 2 is a good hoper, and seems to think
well of it upon the launch. He is a good aristocrat,
too ; I am pleas'd that it comes out from his loyal shop. 3
We are living here among the wealthy traders, mer-
chants like princes in the strictest sense, of liberality
as of revenue. One says how his neighbour such a
one has 3O,ooo/., the other 6o,coo/. a year, and I ac-
cordingly do see improvements taking place all about
London, which entered not into my thoughts a dozen
years ago.
" The library here, for example, at old Streatham
Park has been enriched with new and expensive
publications till it looks like Edwards's 4 showy shop
1 See p 2
2 John Stockdale, publisher (d. 1814). He issued Johnson's
Works in 1787.
3 He began his career as porter to John Almon, the book-
seller friend of Wilkes.
4 James Edwards, a celebrated bookseller (1757-1816), who
bought the Pinelli library at Venice, and other rare collections.
284 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
in Pall Mall. Our tenant l asked leave to purchase
some modern books as he called them, with permission
to displace the old divines which you remember stand-
ing at the bottom of the room ; and so he has indeed !
nor has that generous creature spent less than a
thousand guineas in literary amusement since he lived
here. Meanwhile some frightful hand-bills are in
circulation, expressing a dependence upon Parliament
for that relief which I doubt they have no power to
bestow.
"As far as my short sight extends, however, in-
surrection is completely left without excuse, while such
enormous alms are given round this parish as would
amaze a native of any kingdom but ours. Whilst they
dispense charity with one hand besides, I find them
active to defend their property on the other : and if
they persist in their present resolution of not being
plunder'd, I do think the agitators of evil will see
some difficulty in persuading a mob to injure houses
whence the poor are so fed, so clothed, so comforted
. . . and in each of which arms are kept to protect
those possessions which every man seems trying to
deserve.
" We were calculating three nights ago that less
than one million of pounds sterling was not given
away last year in private bounties, besides Poor's
Revenues amounting to five times that sum. I
question if Sardinia's king ever could boast such a
treasure in his coffers. Bread is at eighteen pence
the quartern loaf this day, however, and the new
Lord Mayor will have a troublesome time of it."
1 Lord Shelburne.
COMPOSITORS ON STRIKE 285
"Wednesday, jthjan., 1801.
" For my own part the world has used me to in-
dulgence, so that I feel quite astonished when I meet
a little severity. 1
" There has been very little yet. One gentleman,
in his care for my reputation as to scholarship, sent
a friend across the town yesterday to tell me that the
quotation in vol. 1st. p. 381 was quite wrong, because
Anna, not Acca, was J:he woman's name there called
upon. It was almost painful to me to tell him that,
tho' Dido's sister (like the lady's sister in Bluebeard)
was Anna, Camilla's companion in fight was Acca,
and called sister only from tenderness. Almost every
Latin quotation and many French ones are wrong
printed. . . . Mr. Gillet's rebellion among his com-
positors was a terrible stroke on poor Stockdale z and
myself, and I was forced to rout out my dirty manu-
script an hour ago to convince a Roman Catholic
critick that it was not my fault but the devil's, that
their hymn to St. John was so mangled, ist vol.
p. 251. He made no complaint of any mistake in
page 304, the same volume.
" Dear Mr. Gray, say a good word of the book in
general, and let us get out of print, and set forth a
more correct edition ; and let us never flatter ourselves
hereafter that a clean handwriting is any security
against typographical errors."
"BRYNBELLA, i$tk May, 1801.
" I have been canvassing Miss Thrales these years,
and their votes have a Q before them yet. People
1 Regarding Retrospection. 2 See p. 283.
286 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
skilled in electioneering know that letter stands for
Query . . . the steady suffrages have a P for Promise.
I used to tell the borough folks who kept our books,
they must mind their p's andq's. So must Buonaparte,
if he comes hither on call of our home Jacobins. The
wisest people I converse with say he must come, or
expose himself to danger from vindictive Frenchmen.
Things are supposed ripening for revolt in that dis-
tracted nation, whence religion and morals are more
completely banish'd as foreigners have told me
than any living creature in our comparatively quiet
land can have a notion.
" The Bishop is just now wholly inaccessible to me
indeed, though I did squeeze this frank out of him ;
because Mr. Chester, one of his nephews, is killed in
Egypt, and Mr. Piozzi is in bed with the gout, so that
I cannot go and condole . . . but no opportunity
shall be lost.
" I printed Hannah More's Village Politics here,
and paid near twelve guineas out of my own pocket-
money for its translation and dispersion ; * but when
the good news came and welcomed in this lovely
month, the master of our house prevented my
wishes, and, forbearing silly expense as to candles,
gave all his labourers and cottagers a good mess
of soup, a bit of beef in it, and a dumpling,
exactly on your principle of affording them reason
1 Village Politics was issued by Hannah More in 1792. It
was a tract in dialogue to counteract revolutionary doctrine.
Mrs. Piozzi's liberality seems not to have been unique. Hannah
More's biographer says "numerous patriotic persons printed
large editions of it at their own expense."
A. E. I. O. U. 287
to rejoyce, and a pretext for roaring out ' God save
the King!'"
"BRYNBELLA, ind Dec., 1801.
"My learning, that the people laugh at so much
more justly than they think they do, comes chiefly
from the Spectators and Tattlers, but is not sufficient
to inform me what was meant a hundred years ago
in common colloquial chat by vowellmg a man. Some
of those charming papers has this phrase : ' Such a
one, says he, has been vowell'd. by the Count, and
resolves to demand satisfaction.'
" I should like to know what it means. Was
there a quibble intended ? Had some fine fellow lost
money at play to some other fine fellow, and was he
forced to say I O U ? When we were at Vienna our
cicerone showed us these letters over the Arsenal, and
asked all the gentlemen in our party if we could
explain them : A. E. I. O. U. After everybody had
confessed ignorance, he said ' Austriacorum Est Im-
perare Orbi Universo,' was the device intended, and
I remember some of the company, a Frenchman, I
think, objected. Buonaparte has vowelled them
pretty well since then.
" If this phrase means picking one's name to pieces,
how terribly has poor H-nn-h M-r- been treated
during this Bristol controversy ! 1 Her health, always
feeble, has given way to their ill-usage, and those who
1 Hannah More had been bitterly attacked by a clergyman
called Bere in connection with some schools she started. Mr.
Bere's bishop came to her defence.
288 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
are near intimates tremble for the consequence. 1 We
shall go to Bath next month, and then I will try to
comfort her. A sister in affliction may have peculiar
chance for success; but, I don't know how it is, I never
was in affliction. My countenance, unlike that of old
Hamlet's ghost, was more, much more in anger than
in sorrow, and so grew less like a ghost, I do believe
in proportion as my critics charged me with loss of
youth and beauty. They had need be very young
and handsome themselves to make such nonsense
tolerated."
"No. 77 PULTNEY STREET,
" Tuesday, ijth March, 1802.
" Has it been in your way to look at a Miss Baillie's
Dramas written, not for the stage, but for purpose of
tracing the progress of the passions ? Her Tragedy
on Hatred was deservedly admired three years ago
. . . and called De Montfort? She has now published
a Comedy on Hatred very striking indeed, and posses-
sing, in my mind, wonderful merit. Miss Hamilton
wins all hearts in this town, which is full of showy
talkers. ... I get more conversation here than in
London. Our modern Plurality of Worlds is much
admired, and justly . . . my worst fear is lest, in these
daring days of bold and unauthorized conjecture, some
one should start out and go as far below, as Mr. Nares 3
has gone above, the old standard. We might then see
1 The trembling was unnecessary, as Hannah More survived
the " Blagdon controversy " for more than thirty years.
2 De Montfort was produced by Kemble and Mrs. Siddons at
Drury Lane in 1800.
3 Edward Nares, D.D., author of Plurality of Worlds
YOUNG ROSCIUS 289
printed George Psalmanazar's x speculative ideas con-
cerning the souls of brutes, and have old Cicero rum-
maged for quotations. Mr. Piozzi's notion of modern
music helps me to illustrate my own meaning. ' Varia-
tions are very entertaining,' says he, ' but I like a quick
return to the subject, which never should be too far
forsaken.' "
" BRYNBELLA, qth Jan., 1804.
" I am of your opinion that Bristol and its opulent
environs are not as safe as the metropolis, though
I hope dear Hannah More is premature with her
packages. When the lists are drawn, however, and
preparations for this grand tournament are made in
the face of all Europe so, something- must in honour
be done by the challenger, who, if he does anything,
must do some great thing, or endure that disgrace
which it seems his sole endeavour to shun. The stage
waits, as they say to Mrs. Siddons when she is slow
in changing her dress where characters require more
toilettes than one. Well, if they come now, we shall
be invaded by men with snow upon their helmets, as
Nixon the Cheshire ideot predicted long ago. 2
"BATH, Thursday zist Feb., 1805.
"Young Roscius's 3 premature powers attract uni-
1 The French " Formosan " who gulled London for three or
four years. After his confession he became a respectable hack-
writer and gained the esteem of Johnson.
2 Robert Nixon, a Cheshire idiot of the beginning of the
seventeenth century, whose prophecies were published in 1714.
3 William Henry West Betty (1791-1874), played Romeo at
the age of twelve. He is said to have made .34,000 in fifty-
six nights.
ago DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
versal attention, and I suppose that ifless than an angel
had told his parents that a bulletin of that child's health
should be necessary to quiet the anxiety of a metrop-
olis for his safety, they would not have believed the
prediction.
" Of Buonaparte's exaltation, still less appearance,
still fewer traces could have been visible a dozen years
ago ; and how his family will support their new dig-
nities remains yet to be seen.
" The Pope seems no more talked of. Is he gone
home, or going ? or will they set him down at Avignon,
and secularize old Rome at once? That scheme is
among the many one hears talked of.
" Mr Piozzi's state of health is all this while nearer
my heart than any of these things ; it is not a good
state of health, certainly, where frequent agony and
continual lameness both of hands and feet preclude all
possibility of enjoyment, and render even consolation
difficult. Yet has Mr. Piozzi tolerable appetite, and
no worse spirits than such a state of life and limbs
must necessarily produce ... so we must be con-
tented I think, and pity those who are worse off than
ourselves."
"BRYNBELLA, ist August, 1805.
" A reading lady at Bath, not a writing lady, told
me that she open'd an old book one day at an old
friend's house, and found in it by mere accident whole
pages of your predecessor Paley's Theology, parti-
cularly the passage zfoouti. finding a watch. 1 She could
1 Paley's Evidences and Natural Theology drew largely on
the eighteenth century arguments against deism.
FRAY GERUNDIO 291
not tell me the title of the book, but thought it was a
gentleman's religion she said, or the religion of a
gentleman, or some such title, but people, coming in,
she was shy of further examination. Can you guess
what she did mean ? I will answer for her veracity,
that I would ; and read nothing else but my Bible for
as long as I have to live, unless it was your Key} which
first put such a thought into my head. My comfort
is thatjj/0# are young enough to be useful; and that
every day sets you in some place whence you may
more easily and with more power, as more dignity,
dispense knowledge and practise virtue.
" Hannah More's hints 2 for the education of a young
princess is I fear but little read and tasted, though a
beautiful book ; and attracts me oftener to open it (at
least seldomer to shut it) than Mr. Roscoe's Leo X.
If I were but one dozen years younger than I am, I
would learn Hebrew."
"BRYNBELLA, \$th Nov., 1811.
" Of Fray Gerundio 3 I never heard except from
Baretti, who was always talking about him ; and as
veracity was never among Baretti's merits, it may very
possibly be more nearly connected with the translator 4
than I was aware of. Preaching is however a favourite
1 Dr. Gray's Key to the Old Testament and the Apocrypha,
1790.
2 Hints towards forming the Character of a Young Princess,
1803 a work designed for the Princess Charlotte, who died in
1817.
3 A picaresque romance, attacking the preaching friars, by
Jose Francisco de Isla, 1758 and 1770.
4 It was translated into English in 1772 by Thomas Nugent.
292 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
topic of ridicule among Spanish wits. There is a
comedy, exceedingly laughable, by Calderon della
Barca, called the Devil turned Preacher, which I
used to read thirty years ago ; but I have no books
in that language here, so it fades away too fast from
my mind. Old Macklin * used to say, there was a
geography in humour : I am convinced there is one
in oratory. That preaching which would impress a
London congregation, would roll over our folks here
and leave no trace : as the tail of the serpent comes
nearer the mouth meanwhile, extremes meet in every-
thing ; and there is a rage for pulpit instruction that
I did never observe in my younger days, but which
marked the early periods of church history, and marks
these late ones. There is likewise a visible disposition
to inordinate vices not dreamed of forty years ago, but
bearing strong resemblance to what one reads of in the
first and second centuries. Knowledge increases too
in a wonderful manner, but the science ends in a
wonder after all. Witness the aeronauts, the galvan-
ists, the vaccinators, and a long etcetera of philosophers
who turn the flame downwards, and burning our
diamonds to death, find them to be charcoal. Never
was poor Nature so put to the rack, and never of
course was she made to tell so many lies. The thing
Fourcroy 2 says which best pleases me is, that of all
our human anatomy, the brain holds out longest from
decay. Ainsi soit-il."
1 Charles Macklin is well entitled to the adjective. He died
in 1797, a centenarian.
* The celebrated French chemist who died in 1809,
BYRON 293
" BATH, 27 th Nov., 1814.
" Streatham Park was worth anyone's seeing^six
months ago. Upon some threats concerning dilapida-
tion, I set heartily to work, new fronted the house, new
fenced the whole of the 100 acres completely round ;
repaired stables, out-buildings, barns which I had no
use for ; and hothouses which are a scourge to my
purse, a millstone round my neck. 65oo/. sterling
just covers my expenses, of which 4OOO/. are paid ;
but poor old dowager as I am, the remainder kept me
marvellous low in pocket, and drives me into a nut-
shell here at Bath, where I used to live gay and grand
in Pultney Street. Direct, however, Post Office, when
you are kind enough to write, and I shall get your
letter. Count Lieven is my tenant, and pays me
liberally, but so he should ; for his dependants smoke
their tobacco in my nice new beds, and play a thousand
tricks that keep my steward, who I have left there, in
perpetual agony. I am famous for tenants you know.
So much for self.
" Lord Byron was such a favourite with the women.
We all agreed that he might throw his handkerchief;
and I rejoyce so pretty and pleasing a lady picks it
up. I knew his grandmother most intimately, Sophia
Trevanion, Admiral Byron's lady; 1 and she was a
favourite with Doctor Johnson. He would have been
glad that her grandson was a poet, and a poet he is,
in every sense of the word : ' Au moins il ne manque
que la pauvrete pour 1'etre/ as some one said of a
gentleman painter in France many years ago."
1 See p. 184.
294 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
" No. 8 GAY STREET, BATH,
" Fry day, rjth Sept. 1816.
" Well ! now am I returned to the living world
again. What do I hear ? and what do I see ? I hear
of dear Doctor Gray's new book l from every creature
that can hold one ; and I see Buonaparte's fine carriage
driven up my street by a surly-looking coachman pre-
ceded by a showy cuirassier, in the armour he wore at
Waterloo. First of the book however, because that
captivates all hearts : the other appanage is itself a
captive. The chapter treating of Josephus is the
general favourite ; how much more must it be mine,
who have been myself upon the ground trodden by
St. Paul and him. Will you laugh at me for fretting
that the Old Prediction of Ocyrrhoe the Centauress
is omitted ? The expressions are so strong.
" ' Aspicit infantem, totique salutifer orbi
Cresce puer, dixit ; tibi se mortalia saepe
Corpora debebunt : animas tibi reddere ademptas
Fas erit.'
" And again,
" ' Eque Deo Corpus fies exangue : Deusque,
Qui modo corpus eras ; et bis tua fata novabis.' 2
" Poets do oft prove prophets, as Shakespeare says
of jesters. I have, however, passed my last quarter
in a region where neither poesy nor prophecy were
1 Connexion between the Sacred Writings and the Literature
of the Jewish and Heathen Author s, 1816.
2 Ovid, Meta. ii. 637.
A BATH CAT 295
thought on, except Nixon the Chesshire fool's pre-
diction 1 that
" ' When kings are dismay'd and princes betray'd,
Our landlords shall stand with their hats in their hand
And beg of the tenants to take their land.'
" My affairs here being all settled, Streatham Park
disposed of, and my poor steward, Leak, being dead,
I have got a pretty neat house and decent establish-
ment for a widowed lady, and shall exist a true Bath
Cat for the short remainder of my life, hearing from
Salusbury 2 of his increasing family, and learning from
the libraries in this town all the popular topics Turks,
Jews, and Ex-Emperor Buonaparte, remembering still
that now my debts are all paid, and my income set
free, which was so long sequestered to pay repairs of
a house I was not rich enough to inhabit, and could
not persuade my daughters to take from me
" ' Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing
Can touch him further ' ;
as Macbeth says of Duncan when he is dead. Things
will at worst last my time I suppose."
" BATH, igth Nov., 1817.
" My dear Doctor Gray's kind letter arrived the
same day as the Queen ; 3 and such a day of gayety
and triumph Bath certainly never did witness. Now,
Lord be praised, and let us keep our wits ! was my
exclamation ; the delight of the people was boundless.
1 See p. 289. 2 Mr. Piozzi's nephew.
3 Queen Charlotte died the following year.
296 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
Everybody was on the alerte; numbers of women
(who had been presented) left their names, and some
had a notion she would send for others who did not.
Madame D'Arblaye, ci-devant Miss Burney, was be-
lieved by many to have a claim on her remembrance ;
and some prepared to sing, and some to read, and
some to talk. The illumination was more gaudy than
I ever saw London exhibit ; and a prodigious expense
was incurred by subscription to pillars, arches, and I
know not what beside. The mayor and corporation
put on new dresses, the cooks prepared a magnificent
repast, and Death x uninvited came to the dinner.
The Duke of Clarence really could not articulate the
fatal words that extinguished hope and merriment ; he
threw the paper to Lord Camden and left the room,
it was empty in five minutes. All this in one short
week !
" This is Monday ; and no news comes to Bath, so
we invent ad libitum. The favourite fable of the day
is that Prince Leopold has shot himself; and truly if
any man is to be driven distracted by the occurrences
of this life, forgetting for a moment that it is merely
a passage to the other, his wits may unsettle sur-
rounded by such irritating circumstances."
"BATH, 29^ Dec., 1817.
" My dear Doctor Gray speaks so kindly of my
youthful energies, I must really take out a new pen
1 The Princess Charlotte, only child of George IV., married
Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg in 1816 and died iQth November
1817.
OLIVER GOLDSMITH
After painting by
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
A RABBLE IN THE PUMP ROOM 297
to tell him what alone we all tell to each other that
the Queen is gone. I took some little pains to find out
who she spoke freely with and in private ; and have
reason to think it was Madame D'Arblaye, daughter
to old Dr. Burney, and wife of the Republican general,
who ran hither, sdeigning submission, as Satan says
in the Paradise Lost, either to Louis dixhuit, or to
Buonaparte. That lady, although we are on visiting
terms, was not likely, you know, to forward the recep-
tion of H. L. P., against whom she raised the grand
cry for marrying a foreigner ; and delicacy would not
permit me to squeeze among the crowds I must not
call them rabble who molested Her Majesty in the
Pump Room. The pressure there was, I am told, very
offensive indeed ; but she behaved sweetly to them
all, and seems to have succeeded in pleasing every
creature."
LETTERS TO SIR JAMES FELLOWES, ETC.
To Sir James Fellowes
" BLAKE'S HOTEL, Monday, July 31^, 1815.
" MY dear Sir James Fellowes's friendly heart will
feel pleased that the spasms he drove away returned
no more: altho' you were really scarce out of the
street before I received a cold short note from Mr.
Merrik Hoare, who married one of the sisters, 1 to say
that Lord Keith, who married the other, wished to
decline purchasing ; so here I am no whit nearer dis-
posing of Streatham Park than when I sate still in
Bath. Money spent and nothing done: but bills
thronging in every hour. Mr. Ward, the solicitor, has
sent his demand of Ii6/. i8s. 3^. I think, for expences
concerning Salusbury's marriage. I call that the
felicity bill : those which produce nothing but infelicity,
all refer to Streatham, of course. But you ran away
without your epigram translated so much apropos :
" ' Cre*anciers ! maudite canaille,
Commissaire, huissiers et recors ;
Vous aurez bien le diable au corps
Si vous emportez la muraille.'
1 Sophia Thrale.
398
THE GREAT PLAGUE 299
" Creditors ! ye cursed crew
Bailiffs, blackguards, not a few :
Look well around, for here's my all :
You've left me nothing but this wall,
And sure to give each dev'l his due,
This wall's too strong for them or you.
" I must make the most of my house now they
have left it on my hands, must I not ! may I not ?
and, like my countrymen at Waterloo, sell my life
as dear as I can. Oh terque quaterque beati ! those
who fell at the battle of St. Jean, when compared
to the miseries of Cadiz and Xeres; and oh, happy
Sir James Fellowes ! whose book, 1 well disseminated,
will save us from these horrors, or from an accumu-
lation of them ; when the Cambridge fever shall
break out again among the Lincolnshire fens, if we
have unfavourable seasons. The best years of my
temporal existence I don't mean the happiest; but
the best for powers of improvement, observation,
etc. were past in what is now Park Street, South-
wark, but then Deadman's Place ; so called because
of the pest houses which were established there
in the Great Plague of London. From clerks, and
blackguards not a few, I learn'd there that Long Lane,
Kent Street, and one other place of which the name
has slipt my memory, were exempt from infection
during the whole time of general sickness, and that
their safety was imputed to its being the residence of
tanners. I am, however, now convinced from your
1 Reports of the Pestilential Disorders of Andalusia, etc., in
1804 (1815).
300 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
book, that it was seclusion, not tan, that preserved
them. And do not, dear Sir, despise your sibyl's pre-
diction : for that God's judgments are abroad, it is
vain to deny; and though France will support the
heaviest weight of them till her phial is run out ; our
proximity, and fond inclination to connect with her,
may, and naturally will produce direful effects in many
ways upon the morals, the purses, and the health of
Great Britain.
" Do you observe that there is already a pretender
started to the Bourbon throne ? You cannot (as I can)
recollect in the very early days of the Revolution, that
Abb Sieyes declared he had saved the real Dauphin
from Robertspierre, and substituted another baby of
equal age to endure the fury of the homicides. Some
of us believed the tale, and some, the greater number,
laughed at those who did believe it. But an intelli-
gent Italian, since dead, assured me that the last Pope,
Braschi, 1 believed it ; and marked the youth in conse-
quence of that belief, with a Fleur-de-Lys upon his
leg. Whether the young man described in the news-
paper as seizing the Duchess d'Angoulesme, is that
person or another : or whether some fellow under the
influence of national insanity, imagines himself the
Dauphin; he is likely enough to disturb them and
divide their friends. Such times by the violence of
fermentation produce extraordinary virtues ; but your
incomparable Don Diego Alvarez de la Fuente 2 would
never have had his excellence of character properly
1 Pius vi.
2 Governor of Cadiz while Sir James Fellowes was there in
vestigating the pestilence in 1815.
A SAUCY PREFACE 301
appreciated, had you not been the man to hand his
fame down to posterity. yneas would have been
forgotten but for Virgil.
" I am not yet aware that any suspicion of promoting
contagion during the fearful moments you describe
lighted on the Jews : the propensity they show to deal
in old clothes makes it very likely that they should
now and then propagate infectious diseases among
their Christian persecutors, but I hope those days are
coming fast to an end ; when France has been disposed
of, their turn will come. You will find a kind word or
two for them in the first chapter of my second volume
(of Retrospection] but the last chapter in the first
volume is my favourite, and should be read before
the short dissertation on the Hebrews for twenty
reasons. I hope you like my preface, and find it
modest enough, tho' the critics had no mercy on my
sauciness.
" Well ! now the rest of this letter shall be like other
people's letters, and say how hot the streets are, and
how disagreeable London is in the summer months ;
and how sincerely happy I should have been to pass
the next six or seven weeks at Sidmouth, but that,
Oh, such speeches are not like other people's letters at
all : but that, I have not (with an income of
2OOO/. a year) 5/. to spend on myself, so encumber'd
am I with debts and taxes. Leak says he must pay
4O/. Property Tax, now, this minute. He is a good
creature, and will be a bitter loss to his poor
mistress, whenever we part ; although the keeping
him, and his wife, and his child, is dreadful, is it
not ? Since, however, in mental as in bodily plagues,
302 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
despondency brings on ruin faster than it would come
of itself:
" ' What yet remains ? but well what's left to use,
And keep good humour still, whate'er we lose.'
" The battle with Anderdon will be fought to-morrow.
I make sure of losing the field; my generals are un-
skilful. Direct Mrs. Piozzi, Bath."
To Sir James Fellowes
" BATH, August 24^, 1815.
" I could not recollect poor dear Garrick's verses yes-
terday, when we were talking on the subject : although
they were made in the library at Streatham Park and,
by Johnson's approbation and consent, substituted in-
stead of Murphy's, which he thought pedantic.
" ' Ye fair married dames who so often deplore
That a lover once blessed, is a lover no more ;
Attend to my counsel, nor blush to be taught,
That prudence must cherish what beauty has caught.
' Use the man whom you wed like your fav'rite guitar.
Though there's music in both, they are both apt to jar;
How tuneful and soft from a delicate touch ;
Not handled too roughly, nor played on too much.
' The sparrow and linnet will feed from your hand,
Grow tame by caressing, and come at command;
Exert with your husbands the same happy skill,
-For hearts, like your birds, may be tamed toyourwill.
RIVAL SINGERS 303
' Be gay and good-humoured, complying, and kind,
Turn the chief of your care from your face to your
mind,
Attractions so pleasing, resistless will prove,
And Hymen shall rivet the fetters of Love.'
Murphy's Song:
" ' Attend all ye fair, and I'll tell ye the art,
To bind every fancy with ease in your chains ;
To hold in soft fetters the conjugal heart,
And banish from Hymen his doubts and his pains.
1 When Juno accepted the cestus of Love,
At first she was handsome, she charming became ;
It taught her with skill the soft passions to move,
To kindle at once, and to keep up the flame.
' Thence flows the gay chat more than reason that
charms,
The eloquent blush that can beauty improve ;
The fond sigh, the sweet look, the soft touch that
alarms ;
With the tender disdain that renewal of love.
' Ye fair ! take the cestus, and trust to its power,
The mind unaccomplished, mere features are vain ;
When wit and good humour enliven each hour,
The Loves, Joys, and Graces will walk in your
train.' "
304 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
I
To Sir James Fellowes
"BATH, Wednesday^ "27 th September, 1815.
" I have lived to witness very great wonders, and am
told that Bramah the great mechanic 1 is in expecta-
tion of perfecting the guidance of an air balloon, so as
to exhibit in an almost miraculous manner upon West-
minster Bridge next Spring. I saw one of the first
the very first, Mongolfier, I believe, 2 go up from the
Luxembourg Gardens at Paris ; and in about an hour
after, expressing my anxiety whether Pilatre de Rosier
and his friend Charles * were gone, meaning of course
to what part of France they would be carried, a grave
man made reply : ' Je crois, Madame, qu'ils sont alleX
ces Messieurs-la, pour voir le lieu ou les vents se for-
ment.'
" What fellows Frenchmen are ! and always have been.
I long for your brother's new account of them, and if
I could turn the figures from seventy- four to forty-seven,
I would certainly go and see them myself: in a less
hazardous vehicle than an air balloon."
To Sir James Fellowes
" BATH, Tuesday night, yd Oct., 1815.
" With regard to public matters, I think Maximilian,
the witty Emperor of Germany, was not far from right
1 Joseph Bramah, the famous Yorkshire inventor, died in the
previous year.
8 Stephen and Joseph Montgolfier raised the first balloons in
1783-
3 Pilatre de Hosiers was the first to ascend in the car of a
balloon in 1783. Professor Charles was another pioneer.
DON QUIXOTE 305
when he said that he, like Agamemnon of old, was
Rex Regum (King of Kings); the King of France,
Rex Asinorum (King of Asses) ; the King of England,
Rex Diabolorum (King of Devils) though he had
not heard of the Irish mutineers of our day : the King
of Spain, Rex Hominum (King of Men). I hope they
will verify the appellation and behave like men and
gentlemen. Of dear Cervantes' merit, you must know
most, and those who do so, must most value him. I
believe there is no writer in Europe as popular, no not
Shakespear himself, who is justly the idol of his own
country: while the Spanish hero is hero of every
country: no nation that does not swarm with prints,
and resound with stories of Don Quixote; and 'tis
very likely I am quoting my own book when I say so,
but there is no remembering the crowded figures clus-
tered together in Retrospection)- We will talk of the
name-book 2 when I am grown rich ; it will do nothing
for me till I don't want it, and that day I purpose to
see on the 25th of next July, if not hindered by Los
Hatos, and cramped in my noble exertions. Nine
months, is it not, to July? Well! I have carried
many a heavy burden for nine months, and why not
a load of debt ? 'tis a new sort of burthen, but Leak
writes me word that Gillow's bill has many charges in
it that cannot be supported, so if he can heave off a
hundred weight, things will run better, and 'tis only
following your example about the vexatious tooth
bearing, and forbearing, and wearing the misery out.
" Our theatre is open, and I saw the new opera dancers
1 See p. 2.
2 Perhaps a revised edition of her British Synonymy, 1794.
20
306 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
from Mrs. Dimond's x box. La Prima Donna is the
smallest creature I ever saw, that was not a dwarf; her
husband a Colossus of a fellow, and the waltz they
dance together, just the very oddest thing I ever saw
in my life. We were talking here one morning, if you
recollect, with Miss Williams, of these Ballerinas, and
the ideas they intended to excite. The present set
excite no ideas except of dry admiration for the aston-
ishing difficulties they perform, and some serious fears
lest they should break their slender limbs in the per-
formance. Holding out one leg and one arm in a
parallel line, is destructive of all grace; and when,
after springing up to a prodigious height, they come
down on the point of one toe nothing can exceed our
wonder at its possibility, except one's joy that they
escape in safety. Music and dancing are no longer
what they were, and I grow less pleased with both
every hour
" ' Year chases year, decay pursues decay,
Still drops some joy from with'ring life away.'
" But do not let us teize dear Miss Fellowes to write ;>
it only worries her, and, whilst I am conscious of it,
cannot delight me. While secure of a friend's affec-
tionate regard, I abhor dunning them for letters ; when
my heart tells me that their kindness is growing cold,
and feels weary of keeping up an uninteresting cor-
respondence, 'tis then that silence is a mute that
strangles.
" We have an old beauty come here to Bath you
scarce can remember her one of the very very much
admired women, Lady Stanley. Poor thing ! she went
1 Wife of the co-proprietor of the Bath theatre.
NO PULING FAMILY 307
to France and Italy early in life, learned les manieres
and les tournures, and how gay a thing it was to des-
pise her husband, who was completely even with her
" ' In youth she conquer'd with so wild a rage,
As left her scarce a subject in her age :
For foreign glories, foreign joys, to roam,
No thought of peace, or happiness at home.'
" Her fortune, however, as an independent heiress, she
held fast ; and her wit and pleasantry seem but little
impaired ; but the loss of health sent her here, and she
wonders to see mine so good, so indeed do I ; but we
were no puling family; my father, both my grand-
fathers, and three uncles, all died suddenly, which
renders me more watchful of course. Never mind ;
Pope says,
" ' Act well your part, there all the honour lies.' "
To Sir James Fellowes
"BATH, \oth Oct., 1815.
" Such letters would make anybody well. I will im-
plicitly follow the advice of my incomparable friend,
and I will not advertise Streatham Park till you ap-
prove the measure. Alas, dear Sir, my wish is to
conciliate, not provoke them. Lord North's maxim,
' Amicitiae sempiternae, inimicitiae placabiles,' * is the
best in the world ; and they will perhaps one day tell
you that I have always followed it. Meanwhile, I will
not swear that the cross winds^f domestic life have
1 Best known by Christopher North's rendering in connection
with his earlier attacks on Leigh Hunt : "The animosities are
mortal : the humanities live for ever."
3 o8 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
forborne to injure my tackling, and if I can now get
home under jury masts, how thankful ought I to be !
Apropos to jury masts, what can be the meaning of
such an awkward word ? I have not a dictionary in
the room, but I dare say they mean mats de durer.
Masts that will just serve and last but for a short time.
Now if I am the worse for the musket shot of this
warring world, how reasonable is it to expect that you
should have suffered, who have been so exposed to its
heaviest artillery ! Let us never have done rejoycing
that you are returned to the bosom of your family, and
permitted to enjoy their happiness which you have
unremittingly preferred to your own.
" / was selfish, once, and but once in my life ; and
though they lost nothing by my second marriage, my
friends (as one's relations are popularly called) never
could be persuaded to forgive it ; was not it always
so ? Your Spanish Bible, in the eighteenth chapter of
Saint Matthew's Gospel, shows us how to obtain pardon
by applying to the right place and person, not to our
cruel fellow servants. . . .
" So here is reciprocation of confidence, and a con-
fession no one but your kind self could deserve or
indeed comprehend. . . .
" I remember an awkward Irish Miss once, when it
was the fashion to give sentimental toasts, making us
all look silly, because the men laughed so, who loved
rough merriment, when in reply to their request of a
sentiment, she made answer, ' What we think on most,
Sir, and talk on least.' Mrs. Hoare * and I both would
feel that to be Streatham Park.
1 Her daughter, Sophia Thrale.
ANECDOTES OF JOHNSON 309
To Sir James Fellow es
"Tuesday Night, -ztfh Oct., 1815.
" The Anecdotes of Doctor Johnson were begun at
Milan, where we first heard of his death, and so
written on, from milestone to milestone, till, arriving
at Leghorn, we shipped them off to England. Mr.
Thrale had always advised me to treasure up some of
the valuable pearls that fell from his (Johnson's) lips,
in conversation ; and Mr. Piozzi was so indignant at
the treatment I met with from his executors, that
he spirited me up to give my own account of Doctor
Johnson, in my own way ; and not send to them the
detached bits which they required with such assumed
superiority and distance of manner, although most of
them were intimates of the house till they thought it
deserted for ever. I think we must not tell your dear
father that his friend Bennet Langton was one of them.
If we do, he will not say as Dr. Johnson did, 1
" ' Sit anima mea cum Langtono.'
But my marriage had offended them all, beyond hope
of pardon.
"Now judge my transport, and my husband's when at
Rome we received letters saying the book was bought
with such avidity, that Cadell had not one copy left,
when the King sent for it at ten o'clock at night, and
he was forced to beg one from a friend, to supply his
Majesty's impatience, who sate up all night reading it.
Samuel Lysons, Esq., Keeper of the Records in the
Tower, 2 then a law student in the Temple, made my
1 Boswell, sub anno 1784. 2 See p. 249.
3 io DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
bargain with the bookseller, from whom, on my return,
I received 3OO/., a sum unexampled in those days for
so small a volume.
" And here, my dear Sir, is a truly-told anecdote of
yours and your charming family's gratefully attached,
" H. L. P."
To Sir James Fellowes
"BATH, so/A Oct., 1815.
"The next best thing to shaking a friend by the hand
is seeing his handwntmg. I am happy to read yours,
and most earnestly hope you will keep close to the
house till better days. The ladies will have sad
weather to travel in. General Garslin did me a great
deal of honour, and deserved some amusement in pay-
ment for his trouble in finding the house.
"But I have had a nice dish of flattery dressed to my
taste this morning. That grave Mr. Lucas brought
his son here, that he might see the first woman in
England forsooth. So I am now grown one of the
curiosities of Bath, it seems, and one of the Antiquities.
" This evening a chair will carry me to Mrs. Hol-
royd's, 1 to meet two other females, whom Richardson
taught the town to call old tabbies, attended, says he,
by young grimalkins. Now that's wrong; because
they are young tabbies, and when grown grey are
gris malkins, I suppose. Is not this fine nonsense
for the first woman ? Prima Donna ! in good time ! "
1 Sarah Martha Holroyd, sister of Lord Sheffield.
HOGARTH 311
To Sir James Fellowes
"y>th October, 1815.
" If dear Sir James Fellowes still continues under
discipline, this anecdote of Hogarth and of his little
friend may amuse him. My father and he were very
intimate, and he often dined with us. One day when he
had done so, my aunt and a groupe of young cousins
came in the afternoon, evenings were earlier things
than they are now, and 3 o'clock the common dinner-
hour. I had got a then new thing I suppose, which
was called Game of the Goose, 1 and felt earnest that
we children might be allowed a round table to play
at it, but was half afraid of my uncle's and my father's
grave looks. Hogarth said, good-humouredly, " / will
come, my dears, and play at it with you." Our joy
was great, and the sport began under my manage-
ment and direction. The pool rose to five shillings, a
fortune to us monkeys, and when I won it, I capered
for delight.
" But the next time we went to Leicester Fields, Mr.
Hogarth was painting, and bid me sit to him ; ' And
now look here,' said he, c I am doing this for you.
You are not fourteen years old yet, I think, but you
will be twenty-four, and this portrait will then be like
you. 'Tis the lady's last stake ; see how she hesitates
between her money and her honour. Take you care ;
I see an ardour for play in your eyes and in your
heart ; don't indulge it. I shall give you this picture
1 Goldsmith's " Royal game of Goose " in the Description
of an Author's Bedchamber. It was a game resembling
backgammon.
3 i2 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
as a warning, because I love you now, you are so good
a girl.' In a fortnight's time after that visit we went
out of town. He died somewhat suddenly, I believe,
and I never saw my poor portrait again ; till, going to
Fonthill many, many years afterward, I met it there,
and Mr. Piozzi observed the likeness when I was show-
ing him the fine house, then deserted by Mr. Beckford.
The summer before last it was exhibited in Pall Mall
as the property of Lord Charlemont. I asked Mrs.
Hoare, 1 who was admiring it, if she ever saw any
person it resembled. She said no, unless it might
once have been like me, and we turned away to look
at something else.
" With regard to play, I have been'always particular
in avoiding it, so that I scarce know whether the
inclination ever subsisted or not. The scene he drew
will certainly remind any one of poor H. L. P., and no
one but yourself knows the story.
" But I must tell you how well your dear father is,
and how heartily I made him laugh this morning at
one of my comical stories, true as the day, which I
heard a silly lady in my own country two or three
years ago ask me quite suddenly before a room full of
company, to tell her ; ' for/ says she, ' you know Mrs.
Piozzi does understand everything; what bone her son
broke at the battle of Talavera.' This was too hard a
question ; but the lady went on : ' No, no,' continued
she, ' not hard to Mrs. Piozzi. Louisa, you lost the
letter very provokingly which had the fine word in it ;
and now you laugh, you ill-natured thing, because I
can't recollect it, but Mrs. Piozzi will know in a
1 See p. 308.
FANNY KEMBLE
' After painting fry
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
A STRONG POLISH 313
minute.' Turning to me: 'It was one of your fine
words, I say, and very like fable-book.' ' I have,'
said I, ' heard that Mr. Morgan's horse fell upon him,
and perhaps broke the fibula, or small bone of his
master's leg.' ' There, there ! ' cries out the lady ;
1 1 told you Mrs. Piozzi would know it at once.' "
To Sir James Fellowes
" Sunday ; 26th November, 1815.
" We all remembered you at the Lutwyches last
Thursday, where the galanterie of the master of the
house was quite the prettiest thing presented on the
occasion. With one dying marigold, these linee :
" ' The gift of him whose heart can't vary,
How paradoxical ! Behold !
Having no gold to give my Mary,
I here present this marygold?
They received my fleurs and fleurettes very obligingly,
and shewed my worked fly, finely mounted as a fire-
screen. Well ! all that is politeness, is it not ? a strong
polish, over which everything glides and rolls and
appears to make no impression, but if you look closely
you will discern afterwards a lasting stain. Time's
daughters (the days of the year) like the daughters of
man, are deceitful ; while young and in their papa's
house, they flatter and promise the pleasures of next
July to one confiding lover, a prize in the lottery
to another: but see them come out, wrinkled and
roughened with what each of them calls unforeseen
vexations ; their votaries turn away, not as they should
do, to mansions beyond their control; but looking
3 i4 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
back, make love to a younger sister, and trust another
day.
" Yesterday did better ; Mrs. Holroyd's party : we
were a choice set indeed. But she had unluckily
asked talkers to play the part of hearers, while Mrs.
Lysons sung, and Mrs. Twiss l read. So one said the
selection of songs was a dull one ; another thought it
was foolish to be listening to Macbeth in a room,
when we had so lately seen it represented with every
additional assistance on a stage. I persuaded her to
take up Milton, and try what could be done with the
second book ; her sister read the fourth book, I remem-
ber, at Doctor Whalley's about five or six years ago,
and Sir William Weller Pepys 2 made this impromptu
while she was speaking, repeating it the moment she
had done :
r
" ' When Siddons reads from Milton's page,
Then sound and sense unite ;
Her varying tones our hearts engage
With exquisite delight :
So well those varying tones accord
With his seraphic strain ;
We hear, we feel, in every word,
His angels speak again.' "
To Sir James Fellowes
" $th November, 1815.
" I send my dear Sir James Fellowes the Synony-
mes 3 that he .may finish with the best thing I ever
1 Fanny Kemble, a sister of Mrs. Siddons. 2 See p. 206.
3 On this work (The British Synonymy\ published in 1794,
Gifford was very " savage and tartarly." " Mrs. Piozzi brought
INFAMOUS BAD ENGLISH t 315
wrote ; I send likewise my defence of his favdurite
Retrospection: they were very civil to the Sy-
nonymy ', and there was a fine eulogium on the string
of words, calling over the meaning of crush, overwhelm,
ruin, in the first volume. I have marked very few
passages, but hope you will like many."
To Sir James -Fellowes
" Wednesday, 22nd May, 1816.
" My dear Sir James has broken the Mum at last ;
and I will now tell him how we are hesitatingbetween
a convenient house on the Queen's Parade, or pretty
No. 8, Gay Street, which is particularly inconvenient
for the servants below stairs. Either of them ought
to content me well enough after how I have been
living a common expression, but infamous bad
English.
" Apropos, Charles Kemble has been here acting ;
and in some part of a comedy written by Murphy, said,
' We are like Cymon and Iphigenia in Dryden's
Fables! The ladies stared, but the scholars said he
was right ; and I said it were better be wrong than so
pedantic, for 'tis always called Iphigenia in common
use. Mr. Lutwyche held with the wise men, and he,
you know, is a good prbsodist. I quoted Pope's
Homer, gth book,
" ' Laodice, and Iphigenia fair,
And bright Crysothemis with golden hair.'
to the task an utter incapability of defining a single term in the
language."
3 i6 DR. JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE
' Oh ! ' said Mr. Mangin, ' Pope is no firm authority ; l
he calls the wife of Pluto Proserpine, as in colloquial
chat, when writing his fine ode on St. Cecilia's Day.
But old Milton disclaimed such barbarism ; he calls
her Proserpina, as in the Greek.' We all appealed
to Falconer ; dear Sir James was too far away. I know
not the success of our appeal yet."
To Sir James Fellowes
" BATH, y>th May, 1816.
" MY DEAR SIR, . . . I will be careful about sea
bathing. Dr. Gibbes bid me beware of the reaction,
but what can one do towards keeping such thing at a
distance ? Cowper says, you know, and truly and
sweetly :
" ' Fate steals along with silent tread,
Most dangerous when least we dread ;
Frowns in the storm with angry brow,
But in the sunshine strikes the blow.'
Now, don't you believe me low spirited ; few people
ever had such uniformly good spirits. Did I tell you
I had saved Murphy 2 from the general wreck ? and
that Mr. Watson Taylor wrote after me to beg him
for I57/. icxy. ; but I am no longer poor, and .when I
was, there ought surely to be some difference made
between fidelity and unkindness. When B s
1 Mr. Mangin (the author of Piozztana, 1833) had no reason
for condemning Pope. The line can be scanned without mis-
pronouncing Iphigenia.
2 Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, painted for the library at
Streatham.
THE FAITHFUL MURPHY 317
(Burneys) were treacherous, and Baretti boisterous,
against poor unoffending H. L. P., dear Murphy was
faithful found, among the faithless faithful only he :
" ' He, like his muse, no mean retreating made,
But follow'd faithful to the silent shade. 1
Equally attached to both my husbands, he lived with
us till he could in a manner live no longer ; and his
portrait is now on the easel, with that of Mr. Thrale,
coming to Bath ; my mother, whom both of them
adored, keeping them company."
APPENDIX
LETTERS BETWEEN DR. JOHNSON AND
MRS. THRALE REGARDING HER MAR-
RIAGE TO MR. PIOZZI
I
"BATH, June 30.
" MY DEAR SIR, The enclosed is a circular letter
which I have sent to all the guardians, but our friendship
demands somewhat more; it requires that I should beg
your pardon for concealing from you a connexion which
you must have heard of by many, but I suppose never
believed. Indeed, my dear Sir, it was concealed only to
save us both needless pain ; I could not have borne to
reject that counsel it would have killed me to take, and I
only tell it you now because all is irrevocably settled and
out of your power to prevent. I will say, however, that the
dread of your disapprobation has given me some anxious
moments, and though perhaps I am become by many pri-
vations the most independent woman in the world, I feel
as if acting without a parent's consent till you write kindly to
"Your faithful servant."
II
CIRCULAR LETTER
"SiR, As one of the executors of Mr. Thrale's will and
guardian to his daughters, I think it my duty to acquaint
319
320 APPENDIX
you that the three eldest left Bath last Friday for their own
house at Brighthelmstone in company with an amiable
friend, Miss Nicholson, who has sometimes resided with us
here, and in whose society they may, I think, find some
advantages and certainly no disgrace. I waited on them to
Salisbury, Wilton, etc., and offered to attend them to the
seaside myself, but they preferred this lady's company to
mine, having heard that Mr. Piozzi is coming back from
Italy, and judging perhaps by our past friendship and con-
tinued correspondence that his return would be succeeded
by our marriage.
" I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant.
" BATH, June 30, 1784."
Ill
" MADAM, If I interpret your letter right, you are
ignominiously married : if it is yet undone, let us once more
talk * together. If you have abandoned your children and
your religion, God forgive your wickedness ; if you have
forfeited your fame and your country, may your folly do no
further mischief. If the last act is yet to do, I who have
loved you, esteemed you, reverenced you, and served you?-
I who long thought you the first of womankind, entreat
that, before your fate is irrevocable, I may once more see
you. I was, I once was, Madam, most truly yours,
"SAM. JOHNSON.
"July 2, 1784.
" I will come down if you permit it."
IV
"/ufyt, 1784-
" SIR, I have this morning received from you so rough a
letter in reply to one which was both tenderly and respectfully
written, that I am forced to desire the conclusion of a
correspondence which I can bear to continue no longer.
The birth of my second husband is not meaner than that of
1 The four words which I have printed in italics are indistinctly
written, and cannot be satisfactorily made out. (Hayward.)
APPENDIX 321
my first ; his sentiments are not meaner ; his profession is
not meaner, and his superiority in what he professes-
acknowledged by all mankind. It is want of fortune, then,
that is ignominious ; the character of the man I have chosen
has no other claim to such an epithet. The religion to
which he has been always a zealous adherent will, I hope,
teach him to forgive insults he has not deserved; mine will,
I hope, enable me to bear them at once with dignity and
patience. To hear that I have forfeited my fame is indeed
the greatest insult I ever yet received. My fame is as
unsullied as snow, or I should think it unworthy of him
who must henceforth protect it.
" I write by the coach the more speedily and effectually
to prevent your coming hither. Perhaps by my fame (and
I hope it is so) you mean only that celebrity which is a
consideration of a much lower kind. I care for that only as
it may give pleasure to my husband and his friends.
" Farewell, dear Sir, and accept my best wishes. You
have always commanded my esteem, and long enjoyed the
fruits of a friendship never infringed by one harsh expression
on my part during twenty years of familiar talk. Never did
I oppose your will, or control your wish ; nor can your
unmerited severity itself lessen my regard ; but till you have
changed your opinion of Mr. Piozzi, let us converse no
more. God bless you."
V
" LONDON, July 8, 1784.
" DEAR MADAM, What you have done, however I may
lament it, I have no pretence to resent, as it has not been
injurious to me : I therefore breathe out one sigh more of
tenderness, perhaps useless, but at least sincere.
" I wish that God may grant you every blessing, that you
may be happy in this world for its short continuance, and
eternally happy in a better state ; and whatever I can
contribute to your happiness I am very ready to repay, for
that kindness which soothed twenty years of a life radically
wretched.
" Do not think slightly of the advice I now presume to
offer. Prevail upon Mr. Piozzi to settle in England : you
21
322 APPENDIX
may live here with more dignity than in Italy, and with
more security ; your rank will be higher, and your fortune
more under your own eye. I desire not to detail all my
reasons, but every argument of prudence and interest is for
England, and only some phantoms of imagination seduce
you to Italy.
" I am afraid, however, that my counsel is vain, yet I
have eased my heart by giving it.
"When Queen Mary took the resolution of sheltering
herself in England, the Archbishop of St. Andrews, attempt-
ing to dissuade her, attended on her journey ; and when they
-came to the irremeable stream that separated the two
kingdoms, walked by her side into the water, in the middle
of which he seized her bridle, and with earnestness pro-
portioned to her danger and his own affection pressed her to
return. The Queen went forward. If the paralled reaches
thus far, may it go no farther. The tears stand in my eyes.
" I am going into Derbyshire, and hope to be followed by
your good wishes, for I am, with great affection,
" Your, etc.
" Any letters that come for me hither will be sent me." l
1 In a memorandum on this letter, she says : " I wrote him a very
kind and affectionate farewell." (Hayward.)
INDEX
Abington, Frances, actress, 256.
Adams, William, friend of John-
son, 237.
Addison, Joseph, 118; his mar-
riage, 138 ; Arbiter Elegan-
tiarum, 142 ; Swift's jibe at the
Spectator, 143 ; his Drummer,
ib. ; his marriage, ib. ; his
daughter, 144; his failure in
Parliament, ib. ; his popularity,
145 ; Dennis's attack on Cato,
ib. ; his indebtedness to Otway,
145-
Aix-la-Chapelle, celebrating the
Peace of, 8.
Alfieri, Count, 84.
Allen, Ralph, benefactor of War-
burton, 156.
Amelia, Princess, 84.
Anderson, Dr. Robert, editor of
British Poets, 268.
Andreini, Giovanni, author of
Adamo, 130.
Andrews, Miles Peter, his story
of Lyttelton's ghost, 88.
Anne, Queen, a libel on, 83.
Anson, Lord, his compliance with
Pitt, 96.
Antoinette, Marie, scurrilities on,
80.
Araciel, Marquis d ; , Mr. Piozzi's
friend, 45, 51, 204.
Ashburton, Lord, his peculiar
ugliness, 103.
Ashe, ZzV/& Miss, reputed daughter
of Rodney, 85.
Aston, Molly, Johnson's jealousy
regarding her, 121.
Atlas, H.M.S., unlucky accident
to, 108.
Atterbury, Francis, his parting
present to Pope, 153.
Bachygraig, its acquisition by the
Salusbury family, 3 ; restored by
Mr. Piozzi, 65.
Baillie, Joanna, her plays, 288.
Banks, Sir Joseph, assaying Irish
gold, 269.
Barber, Francis, Boswell pur-
chases a letter from him, 258.
Barclay, David, purchaser of
Thrale's brewery, 28, 41, 42,
194.
Baretti, Giuseppe, his hostility
to Mrs. Thrale, 31 ; his jealousy
of Piozzi, 49 ; attacks Mrs.
Piozzi in the European
Magazine, 64 ; is a witness
against Mrs. Thrale, 124 ; com-
pared with Dennis, 151; as the
champion of Brutus and Antony,
169 ; his mastery of English,
170 ; his genius as a travelling
companion, 171 ; his readiness
and his ignorance, ib. ; two apt
replies, 172 ; his conduct at
Streatham, 173; his brutality,
174 ; story of his leaving
Streatham, 175 et seg. ; an
unrealised triumph, 189 ; a
brutal letter to Mrs. Piozzi,
2 35 J Johnson's view of his
lying, 238 ; his stoical death,
245 ; heat and venom, 258 ; his
praise of Fray Gerundio, 291.
323
3 2 4
INDEX
Barnard, Mr., librarian at the
Queen's House, Johnson's letter
to him, 25 1
Barre, Colonel, his portrait by
Reynolds, 103.
Barry, Colonel Henry, a friend of
Mrs. Thrale at Bath, 151.
Bath, Mrs. Thrale's description of
it, 183.
Beauclerk, Topham, Mrs. Thrale's
hatred for him, 102.
Betty, W. H. W., the Young
Roscius, 289.
Blackmore, Sir Richard, story of
his advice from Sydenham, 147.
Bodens, George, wit, 17.
Boileau, imitated by Johnson,
159-
Bolingbroke, Lord, his relations
with Pope, 155.
Bolton, Duke of, his appearance in
Roderick Random, 108 ; a cargo
of a hundred monkeys, 109.
Boothby, Miss Hill, Johnson's
correspondent, 121.
Borghi, Mr., friend of Piozzi,
250.
Boswell, James, Mrs. Thrale's
dislike for him, 1 12, 113 ; John-
son's rudeness to him, ib. ; he
puts Johnson to the question,
115; Mrs. Piozzi on his emenda-
tion of a line in the Vanity of
Human Wishes, 120 ; Mrs.
Piozzi accuses him of spitefulness,
123 ; reproves Mrs. Thrale for
inaccuracy, 124 ; his animosity
suspected by Mrs. Thrale, 236 ;
Mrs. Piozzi s first impression of
the Life of Johnson, 247 ; Dr.
Wolcot satirises him, 256 : a
"teising" letter, 258.
Bouverie, Mrs., her beauty, 81,
93-
Boyse, Samuel, his verses to Cave,
77, 78-
Bramah, Joseph, inventor, 304.
Bromfield, Dr. William, eminent
surgeon, 34.
Brothers, Richard, mad prophet,
260, 269.
Brown, Fanny, a friend of the-
Thrales, 32.
Browne, Isaac Hawkins, his taste-
for sparrow-pie, 77.
Brunton, Elizabeth (Mrs. Merry),,
actress, 256.
Buchanan, Claudius, traveller to
India, 277.
Bunbury, H. W., caricaturist, 267.
Burke, Edmund, speaking for
immediate effect, 102 ; punning
in Johnson's absence, 106 ; his
obligation to Cowley, 126.
Burke, William, Baretti's retort to-
him, 169.
Burney, Dr. Charles, his presence
during Thrale's illness, 33 ; his
turning on Johnson, 7 1 ; verses
by him, 72 ; his infatuation for
Sophy Streatfield, 182; his ideas
of family government, 184 ; dis-
approves of Latin for women r
185.
Burney, Fanny, her powers of
amusement, 32 ; her hostility
to Mr. Piozzi, 49 ; supposed to
aid Baretti, 64 ; her indignation
at Sophy Streatfield, 182 ; her
uneasiness at Streatham, 183 ;
Jerry Crutchley as possible
suitor, 196, 2OO ; Mrs. Thrale's
estimate of her concern for her,
210; her discernment, 211;
her tact, 217, 221 ; "My
dearest, loveliest friend," 225 ;
friendship and public opinion,
231 ; Mrs. Piozzi suspects her
of treachery, 241 ; meets Mrs.
Piozzi after six years, 243 ; her
style deteriorated after her
marriage, 271 ; her Wanderer,
279 ; meets the Queen in the
Pump Room at Bath, 297.
Burney, Susan (Mrs. Phillips),
231.
Bute, Lord, his unpopularity, 105.
Byng, Admiral, his disgrace, 96 ;
attacked by Mallet, 161.
Byron, Lord, a poetical innovator,
149 ; rumour regarding, 279 - r
his popularity, 293.
INDEX
325
Byron, Mrs. (Sophia Trevannion),
grandmother of Lord Byron,
182 ; on Sophy Streatfield, 182 ;
on Fanny Burney, 184 ; at
Streatham during Thrale's last
illness, 192 ; her regard for
Mrs. Thrale, 2IO ; her approval
of Mr. Piozzi, 240 ; a friend of
Johnson, 293.
<Jadell, Thomas, publisher, 257.
Carhampton, Lord, his refusal to
fight his father, 17.
Caroline, Queen, her desire to
please, 94.
Carter, Elizabeth, blue-stocking,
82.
Catamaran, the story concerning
the word, 74.
Cator, John, one of Thrale's
executors, 41, 64, 219, 224.
Cave, Edward, publisher, 78.
Cervantes, the universality of his
fame, 305.
Chamberlayne, Mr., verses by, 82.
Chambers, Sir Robert, Indian
judge, 6S.
Chanon, Miss, Mrs. Thrale's
passing jealousy of, 228.
Charlemont, Lord, owner of a
Hogarth, 22 ; his intrepid
questioning of Johnson, 121.
Charles, Professor, balloonist, 304.
Charles Edward, his life at Flor-
ence, 84.
Charlotte, Princess, death of,
296.
Charlotte Augusta, Princess, 276.
Charlotte Sophia, Princess, 105.
Chesterfield, Lord, on the pro-
nunciation of great, 125 ; his
help to Gay, 148.
Child, Miss, Piozzi's favourite
pupil, 44.
Cholmondeley, Mrs. (Mary Wof-
fington), 82.
Chudleigh, Elizabeth, self-styled
Duchess of Kingston, 70.
Churchill, Charles, satirist, 100.
Cibber, Mrs. Susannah, trag-
edienne, 161.
Clarendon, Lord, his anecdote of
Edmund Waller, 135.
Clark, Elizabeth, Milton's grand-
daughter, 130.
Clarke, Dr. Samuel, his censure
of Paradise Lost, 131.
Clerke, Sir Philip Jennings, Mr.
Thrale's request to him, 37 ; in
the Gordon Riots, 185.
Clough, Sir Richard, merchant
prince, 3.
Cobham, Viscount, 119.
Collier, Dr., Mrs. Piozzi's early
instructor, 12, 15; verses to
divert him, 23 ; his jealousy of
Hermes Harris, 24 ; his pupil's
boundless obligations, 26 ; Mrs.
Thrale's account of him, 38 ;
becomes acquainted with Sophy
Streatfield, 178.
Colman, George, the elder, 252.
Congreve, William, his Way of the
World, 1 20 ; his views on wit v.
rank, 146, 147; Johnson's eulogy
of The Mourning Bride, ib.
Conway, W. A., his esteem for
Mrs. Piozzi's conversation, 27 ;
the Piozzi MSS. in his pos-
session, 27 ; his reading of
Comus, 131.
Corbet, Lady, cousin of Mrs.
Piozzi, 17.
Cotton, Hester Maria, mother of
Mrs. Piozzi, 4, 19, 21.
Cotton, Hester Salusbury, Lady
Corbet, 17.
Cotton, Sir Lynch Salusbury,
uncle of Mrs. Piozzi, 7, 16.
Cotton, Sir Robert, great grand-
father of Mrs. Piozzi, I, 4.
Cotton, Sir Robert Salusbury,
uncle of Mrs. Piozzi, 4, 5, 7-
Coventry, Earl of, 63.
Cowley, Abraham, his dislike of
college discipline, 126 ; Burke's
indebtedness to him, ib. ;
Johnson imitates him in the
Rambler, 127 ; his diction ib. ;
compared with Virgil, 128;
his Chronicle, 162.
Cowper, Countes?, 83.
326
INDEX
Cowper, William, his originality,
149.
Crewe, Lady, her beauty, 81, 82,
93, 98.
Cromwell, Henry, friend and
correspondent of Pope, 152.
Crutchley, Jerry, his relationship
to Thrale, 41, 50; present
during Thrale's last illness, 192 ;
as Thrale's executor, 196 ; his
character, 197 ; his refusal to
court the " S.S.," ib. ; inaus-
picious love-affairs, 201, 202 ;
insolence to Mrs. Thrale, 215;
opposes Mrs. Thrale's going to
Italy, 219.
Cumberland, Richard, dramatist,
149.
Curll, Edmund, Pope's publisher,
154.
Darner, Hon. Anne, noted beauty,
Si.
Dance - Holland, Sir N. , his
portrait of Garrick, 29.
D'Arblay, Madame. See Burney,
Fanny.
Darwin, Erasmus, his Loves of the
Plants, 127.
Dashwood, Francis, Baron Le
Despencer, 101.
Davies, Thomas, his account of
Baretti's temper, 177 ; rumoured
Life of Johnson, 237.
Decker, Sir Matthew, the value
of his Christian name, 95.
Delap, Dr. John, his reproof by
Johnson, 36.
Delia Cruscan School, the, 53.
Denis, Admiral Sir Peter, 9.
Denis, Mrs., Mrs. Piozzi's school-
mistress, 9.
Dennis, John, his attack on
Addison's Cato, 145 ; his friend-
ship with Savage, 150; Savage's
epigram upon him, ib.
Dent, "Dog," 274.
Devonshire, Duchess of, 81.
Dimond, Mrs., 306.
Dixie, Sir Wolstan, his Battle of
BosTuorth, 94.
Dodd, Dr., the King's reason for
not saving him, 114.
Doddridge, Philip, his famous
epigram, 100.
Dryden, John, his All for Love,
136 ; his reproof to a flippant
critic, 137 ; his year's work, ib. ;
accused of plagiarism, 138,
139 ; his marriage, ib. ; his seats
at Will's, ib. ; his praise of
Shakespeare, 139; his transla-
tion of the Iliad, 140 ; Johnson's
appreciation of him, ib. ; his
absence of affectation, 141 ;
generally imitated, 149 ; hi*
dulness in company, 157 ;
praised by Pope, 159.
Duane, Matthew, a famous con*
veyancer, 231.
Edwards, James, bookseller, 283.
Ellis, Mrs. A. R. , editor of Fanny
Barney's Early Diary, 50.
Evans, Rev. Mr., 171, 190.
Evanson, "Goosey," 138.
Evelyn, G. R., 189.
Falmouth, Lord, a pun on his.
name, 107.
Farren, Elizabeth (Countess of
Derby), 265.
Fellowes, Captain T. (Rear-
AdmiralSirT. F.), 29.
Fellowes, Sir James, Mrs. Piozzi's
Memoirs addressed to him, 21,
96,298.
Fielding, Henry, his Tom Jone?
" not yet obsolete," 24 ; his
Tom Thumb quoted, 274.
Fielding, Sarah, David Simple,
by, 24.
Fife, Lord, his insinuation against
the Burneys, 63.
Fitzpatrick, Dr., a Jesuit physi-
cian, 1 6, 17.
Fitzpatrick, Richard, gambler, 99.
Florence, Miscellany, the, 253.
Foote, Samuel, Johnson and, 70.
Forster, John, his essay on Foote, 70.
Fortescue, William, his assistance
to Gay, 148.
3*7
Fourcroy, A. F. de, chemist, 292. ,
Fox, Lady Caroline, 69.
Fox, Charles J., verses by, 81 ;
his nonchalance, 102 ; his ad-
miration for Lady Crewe, 98.
Francis I. of France, no.
"Franciscans, The," a notorious
fraternity, 101.
Frankenstein, Mrs. Shelley's, 132.
Franklin, Benjamin, his epitaph,
103, 104.
Fray Gerundio, Baretti's praise of,
291.
Gainsborough, Thomas, story of
his painting of Lord Shelburne,
9i-
Garrick, David, Mrs. Piozzi's
earliest reminiscence of, 8 ; his
portrait used as a sign, 28 ; his
attention to money, 79 ; his
verses on Pelham, 1 10 ; Johnson
on his admission to the Club,
125 ; the means of reviving
Shakespeare's fame, 134 ; John-
son's refusal to admit above, ib. ;
his ode for the Shakespeare
"Jubilee," 1769, 139 ; his anger
at Johnson's eulogy of The
Mourning Bride, 147; deputed
by Pope to smooth Ralph's
ruffled feelings, 154; "strolling
player," 195 ; song by, 302.
Garrick, Mrs., her fine character,
36, 241.
Garth, Sir Samuel, some of his
lines attributed to Dryden, 139 ;
inspires Pope's jest on Halifax,
152.
Gay, John, helped by Chesterfield
and others, 148 ; Mrs. Johnson's
criticism, ib. ; his Trivia, ib.
George the Third, a caricature of,
83 ; his sitting up all night to
read Mrs. Piozzi's Anecdotes of
Johnson, 309.
Germaine, Sir John, his view of
the authorship of the first Gos-
pel, 95-
Gifford, William, his attack on
the Delia Cruscans, 53.
Glenbervie, Lord, 109.
Globe Theatre, the, its site, 28.
Goldsmith, Oliver, story of him
and Lord Shelburne, 91 ; in-
vited to become a party writer,
101 ; his alleged boastfulness,
113; his political originality,
149 ; " the genteel thing," 259.
Gordon Riots, the, 90, 185.
Gower, John, his tomb, 28.
Graham, George, " Eton Gra-
ham," 198.
Granville, George, Baron Lans-
downe, an imitator of Waller,
149 ; his puerile mythology, ib.
Gray, Dr. Robert, Bishop of
Bristol, Mrs. Piozzi's corre-
spondent, 281.
Gray, Thomas, his position, 149 ;
his ode on a Favourite Cat,
162.
Great, how to pronounce, 125.
Greathead, Bertie, the Delia
Cruscan poet, 53, 84, 88, 253,
254, 255, 261.
Green, Matthew, poet and custom-
house officer, 197.
Grenville, Thomas, his conduct
during the Gordon Riots, 91.
Greville, Mrs., her beauty, 82.
Gunning, Elizabeth, Duchess of
Hamilton and of Argyle, 74.
Gunning, Maria, Countess of
Coventry, 63, 74.
Halifax, Lord, connection with
Nova Scotia, 8, 13.
Halifax, Lord (Charles Mon-
tague), Pope's practical joke on
him, 152.
Halsey, Edmund, brewer, 1 19.
Hamilton, Lady Archibald, 95.
Hamilton, " Single Speech," as
author oijimius, 97.
Harris, James, author of Hermes,
23, 24, 26.
Hart, Poll, actress, 134.
Harte, Walter, his story about
Dryden, 139.
Hastings, Warren, Burke's abuse
of, 126.
INDEX
Hawkins, Sir John, his Life of
Johnson, 237, 250, 274.
Hayley, William, author of Life
of Milton, 268.
Hazlitt, William, his meeting the
Jessamy Bride, 102.
Hector, Edmund, Johnson's early
friend, 238, 250.
Herbert, Vere, daughter of Lord
Torington, great-grandmother
of Mrs. Piozzi, I.
Hervey, John, the original of
Sporus, 159.
Hervey, John, Cowley's elegy on,
127.
Hill, Miss Constance, 184.
Hill, Miss Ellen, 184.
Hinchliffe, John, Bishop of Peter-
borough, 75 ; Mrs. Thrale's
special favourite, 181 ; a perfect
reader, 183.
Hoare, Mrs. (see Thrale, Sophia),
312.
Hogarth, William, Mrs. Thrale s
appearance in his Lady's Last
Stake, 22 ; story of, 311.
Holroyd, Mrs., 310, 314.
Hooke, Luke Joseph, visited by
Johnson in Paris, 155, 157.
Horneck, Catherine, "Little
Comedy," 1 02.
Horneck, Mary, "The Jessamy
Bride," 102.
Horneck, Mrs., her misfortune
through Burke's eloquence,
I O2
Hotham, Sir Charles, Mr. Thrale's
opponent, 62, 88.
Howard, Lady Elizabeth, her
marriage with Dryden, 138.
Howell, James, his story of 77ic
Hermit, 142.
Hunt, Leigh, Christopher North
and, 307.
Huntingdon, Lord, 62.
Hutchinson, John, religious sym-
bolist, 265.
Ireland, W. H., his Vortigern,
260, 261, 263, 264, 271, 273.
Isla, Jose Francisco de, 291.
Jackson, Humphrey, his impo-
sition on Mr. Thrale, 19.
Jackson, Mr., his kindness to
Mrs. Thrale, 48.
Jackson, \Villiam, the enemy of
Foote, 70.
James, Robert, M. D. , inventor of
"Powders," 196.
Jebb, Sir Richard, physician, 34,
190, 193, 207.
Jenyns, Soame, supposed author
of a skit on Mrs. Thrale, 235.
Jersey, Countess of, noted beauty,
81.
Johnson, Samuel, his introduction
to the Thrales, 19 ; his counsel
in a crisis, 20 ; his criticism of
Prior, 27 ; his encouragement to
Thrale as gourmand, 35 ; his
reproof to Dr. Delap, 36 ; one
of Thrale's executors, 41 ; his
delight in signing drafts, 42 ;
advises Mrs. Piozzi's stay in
England, 49 ; his opinion of
Foote, 70; on Junius, 97,;
annoyance at Lexiphanes, 112;
his rudeness to Boswell, 113;
his late sittings, 114; on the
staleness of general conversation,
1 16 ; his querulousness, ib. ; his
regard for Beauclerk, 117; his
regard for Mr. Thrale, 120 ; his
love of the gustful, 121 ; accused
of learning dancing, ib. ; desires
to enter Parliament, 122 ; his
opinion of Wales, 123 ; Mrs.
Piozzi accuses him of self-
interested friendship, 123 ; as a
suitor for Mrs. Thrale, ib. ;
reported reproof of Mrs. Thrale's
heartlessness, 124 ; on Garrick's
admission to the Club, 125 ; Mrs.
Thrale's comment on his pen-
ance at Uttoxeter, ib. ; imitation
of Cowley in the Rambler, 127 ;
his criticism of Milton, 129
et seq. ; his lack of ear for music,
131 ; his flattering speech to
Mrs. Montague, 136 ; on old
age, id. ; criticises Garrick's
Shakespeare Ode, 1 39; his eulogy
INDEX
329
of Shakespeare, 140 ; his praise
- of Dryden, ib. et set/. ; Garrick's
anger at his eulogy of The
Mourning Bride, 147 ; his
claiming to excel in politeness,
148 ; his wife as critic, ib. ; his
praise of Pope's Shakespeare,
153 ; his charity to Pope, 155 ;
Mrs. Thrale's account of their
;first meeting, 167 et seq. ; helps
Thrale in his candidature for
Southwark, 187 ; Mrs. Thrale's
account of him as a travelling
companion, 188 ; his warning
to Thrale, 190 ; Mrs. Thrale's
picture of his delight at the
brewery, 193; "an obscure
man, : ' 195; brought "home to
Streatham," 202 ; coaching
"Queeny," 204; "friend,
father, guardian, confident,"
.206 ; rumoured suitor for Mrs.
Thrale, 207 ; approves of Mrs.
Thrale's plan of living in Italy,
,209; hatred for "a feeler,"
210 ; Mrs. Thrale's vexation
at his seeming indifference, ib. ;
his loss of speech, 22 ; burlesque
odes as by him to Mrs. Thrale,
234 ; a swarm of prospective
biographers, 237 ; his orange-
peel, ib. ; Baretti's lying anec-
dotes, 238; the "Here lies
good master Duck " story, 250 ;
his comment on the learned pig,
253 ; his prayers for the dead,
254 ; his dictum on diseases,
277 ; his portrait, 278 ; Mrs.
Piozzi's Anecdotes, 309 ; his
praise of Langton, ib.
Johnstone, Charles, author of
Chrysal, 101.
Jones, Tom, "not yet obsolete,"
24.
Junius, identified with "Single
Speech " Hamilton, 97.
Katterfelto, Gustavus, conjuror,
280.
Keep, Mr., his definition of a
funeral, 68.
Keith, Admiral Lord, his marriage
to Hester Thrale, 248, 298.
Keith, Lady. See Thrale, Hester.
Kemble, Charles, a question of
pronunciation, 315.
Kemble, Fanny, her reading, 314.
Kemble, J. P., his production of
Vortigtrn, 260.
King, Hon. Mrs., 10, 13, 15, 16.
Kippis, Dr. Andrew, editor, 237.
Knight, Ellis Cornelia, companion
to Queen Charlotte, 255.
Knowles, Mrs., needlework artist,
"5-
Lade, Lady, sister of Mr. Thrale,
17, 21 ; Johnson's advice to her,
169.
Lade, Sir John, Johnson's pre-
scription for him, 169.
Lambert, Mrs., her admiration
for Mr. Piozzi, 240.
Langton, Bennet, Johnson's
tribute to him, 309.
Lawrence, Dr. Thomas, Johnson's
doctor, 40.
Leak, Mr., Mrs. Piozzi's steward,
295. 3i> 305-
Lee, Harriet, dramatist, 257.
Lee, Sophia, dramatist, 257, 271,
276.
Leicester, Earl of, his tyranny in
Wales, 263.
Lennox, Charlotte, novelist, 256.
Lennox, Lady Sarah, Lord Bute
prevents her royal match, 105.
Levine, Mr., ban vivant, 14.
Lewenney Hall, 2.
Lewis, Dr. John, Dean of Ossory,
236.
Lewis, Mrs., 236.
Linwood, Mary, musician and
designer, 115.
Liverpool, Lord, his ugliness, 97.
Locke, Mrs., friend of Fanny
Burney, 191.
Lort, Dr. Michael, Professor of
Greek at Cambridge, 257, 258.
Lucan, Lord, his story of Johnson
at the sale of Thrale's brewery,
194.
330
INDEX
Luurell, Simon, " King of Hell,"
17-
Lutwyche, Mr., 313.
Lycidas, Johnson's criticism of , 1 3 1 .
Lysons, Rev. Daniel, friend and
correspondent of Mrs. Piozzi,
249 et seq.
Lysons, Samuel, antiquary, the
friend and correspondent of
Mrs. Piozzi, 249 et seq.
Lyttelton, George, first Baron,
his anxiety as to punctuation,
1 14 ; Johnson's jealousy of him,
121 ; his relatives displeased
with Johnson's Life, 144 ; re-
ception of Johnson's Life, 162 ;
his second marriage, ib. ; on
auricular confession, 163.
Lyttelton, Thomas, second Baron,
the ghost story concerning, 85
et seq.
Macartney, Lord, his embassy to
China, 263.
Macclesfield, Anne, Countess of,
reputed mother of Richard
Savage, 150.
Macklin, Charles, his obiter
dictum, 292.
Malherbe, Fra^ois de, story of
his last illness, 157.
Mallet, David, his wife's histri-
onics, 161 ; his attack on Byng,
ib.
Malone, Edmund, his exposure of
Ireland's forgeries, 273.
Mangin, Edward, author of
Piozziana, 139, 148, 316.
Manucci, Count, 61.
Marlborough, Duchess of, Sarah
Jennings, 155.
Marriott, Sir James, his dictum
on flattery, 179.
Mason, William, poet, 149.
Massinger, Philip, his tomb, 28.
Melbourne, Lady, her beauty, 81.
Merry, Robert, the Delia Cruscan
poet, 53, 83, 254, 255.
Milton, John, his reputed whip-
ping at Cambridge, 129; his
danger in Italy, ib. ; Andreini's
drama, 130; Johnson's jibe at
Milton's "vein," ib. ; his grand*
daughter, ib. ; Italian influence
on his attitude to sacred topics,
131 ; Conway's reading of
Comus, ib. ; his censure by
Samuel Clarke, ib. ; his variety
of pauses, 132.
Modena, Mary Beatrice of, 149.
Montagu, Mrs. Elizabeth, her
"fertile mind," 82; her com-
pliment to Burke and Johnson,
75 ; Johnson's flattery of her,
136 ; appears as champion of
Lord Lyttelton, 144 ; her love
of money, 1 58 ; champion of
Lyttelton, 162 ; patronises
Woodhouse, the shoemaker
poet, 1 68 ; her testimonial to
Mrs. Thrale, 195 ; quarrel with
Johnson over Lyttelton, 196 ;.
eager to make up with Mrs.
Piozzi, 243 ; her Essay on
Shakespeare, 256.
Montcalm, General, his dying
prophecy, 1 08.
Montgolfier, the aeronaut, 304.
More, Hannah, her penny book-
lets, 262 ; her Village Politics,
286 ; the Blagdon controversy,
287 ; Character of a Young
Princess, 291.
More, Henry, Platonist, 142.
Mostyn, Mrs. See Thrale, Cecilia.
Mulgrave, Lord, a rough diamond,.
106.
Murphy, Arthur, his introduction.
to the Thrales, 17, 1 06 ; aa
old friend of Mr. Thrale, 167 ;
song by, compared with Gar-
rick's, 303; his portrait, 316?.
his fidelity, 367.
Nares, Dr. Edward, author, 288.
Nash, Beau, Mrs. Piozzi's recol-
lection of him, 69 ; Dr. Harring-
ton's epitaph on him, 142.
Nelson, Lord, 282.
Nelson, Robert, religious writer^
282.
Netto, Isaac, Jewish pastor, 12.
INDEX
33
Nesbitt, Mrs., sister of Mr.
Thrale, 17, 34.
Newcastle, Duchess of, Waller's
jest on her verses, 135.
Newcastle, Duke of, his opinion
of Admiral Byng, 96.
Newton, Sir Isaac, Pope's epitaph
on, 160 ; his old house occupied
by Dr. Burney, 184.
Nicholson, Miss, governess of
Mrs Thrale's daughters, 49, 5 1 ,
236, 256.
Nicholson, Peg, her attempt at
assassination, 90.
Nixon, Robert, an idiot prophet,
289, 295.
North, Christopher, his apology
to L. Hunt, 307.
North, Lord, Johnson as a possible
colleague, 122 ; his maxim,
307.
Norton, Sir Fletcher, a lampoon
on, 92.
Nugent, Thomas, translator, 291.
Ord, Mrs., almost a " blue," 191 ;
looks ashamed of herself, 243.
Otway, Thomas, his obligations to
Shakespeare, 134 ; Addison's
debt to his Alcibiades, 145.
Owen, Miss, why she was a
general favourite, 192.
Oxford, Lord, his recommendation
of Don Quixote, 147.
Pacchierotti, Gasparo, a famous
soprano, 44.
Paley, Dr. William, charges of
plagiarism against, 290.
Palmer, T. F., his transportation,
118.
Parnell, Thomas, his thirst in the
pulpit, 141 ; the originals of his
Hermit, 142.
Parsons, William, the Delia
Cruscan poet, 53, 254, 255,
274.
Pelham, Henry, Garrick's verses
on, no.
Pennant, Mary, great-grandmother
of Mrs. Piozzi, I.
Pennant, Thomas, naturalist, r,
"5-
Penrice, Anna Maria, wife of Sir
Thomas Salusbury, 10, 12.
Penrice, Sir Henry, 10, II.
Pepys, Sir Lucas, 34, 46, 48, 190,
206, 252.
Pepys, Sir W. W., "a worthless
fellow," 206 ; looks ashamed of
himself, 243 ; his impromptu on
Siddons, 314.
Percival, Bridget, great-grand-
mother of Mrs. Piozzi, I .
Perkins, Mr., his connection
with Thrale's brewery, 21 ; his
presence of mind during the
Gordon Riots, 185.
Piozzi, Gabriel, his delight in the
Salusbury pedigree, 2 ; gilding
the Lion at Bachygraig, 3; his
enchanting society, 38 ; Mrs.
Thrale's account of their ac-
quaintance, 43 ; Mr. Thrale's
admiration for him, 44; his
origin, 45 ; he leaves England, 46
et seq. ; his return and marriage,
51 et seq, ; his religious
opinions, 56 ; builds a villa in
North Wales, 64 ; his death,
66 ; limitations as a companion,
189 ; the entertainment at
Streatham prevented by Mr.
Thrale's death, 191 ; ' Mrs.
Thrale's account of their ac-
quaintance, 199; a prodigious-
favourite, 200; complimentary
verses, 202 ; Mrs. Thrale weighs
him in the balance, 211; his age,
213 ; Mrs. Thrale reveals her
secret to her family, 217 ; part-
ing with Mrs. Thrale, 225 ;
verses to divert, ib.', a momen-
tary distrust, 228 ; more verses
to divert, 232 ; his marriage,
233 ; insulting newspaper
gossip, 236 ; seventh wedding
anniversary, 244 ; more verses
by H. L. P., 246 ; his kindness
to the Misses Thrale, 251 ; his
wife's tribute to him, 253 ;
wretched health, 277 ; on
332
INDEX
modern music, 289 ; decline in
health, 290 ; his indignation at
his wife's treatment, 3(39.
Piozzi, Mrs., her pedigree, I et
seq, ; her mother's marriage, 4 ;
her parents' plaything, 5 ; visit
to Lleweney, 6 ; " Fiddle," ib. ;
instructed by Quin, 8 ; story of
Garrick, ib. ; love of horses,
10 ; her affection for her aunt
Anna II, 12 ; Dr. Collier, 13 ;
enter Mr. Thrale, 14 ; a cold
lover, 15 ; her fortune and
marriage, 16 ; birth of eldest
daughter, 18 ; Johnson's intro-
duction, 19 ; sitting to Hogarth,
22 ; first literary efforts, ib. ;
philosophical conversations with
Hermes Harris, 24 ; her obli-
gations to Dr. Collier, 26 ; a
ridiculous retrospection, 27 ;
Conway's appreciation of her
conversation, ib. ; the greatest
-event of her life, 28 ; a rival
in Sophia Streatfield, 31, 39;
Mr. Thrale's illness, 33 ; her
account of Dr. Collier, 38 ;
Piozzi's enchanting society, ib. ;
Mr. Thrale's wijl, 40 ; her sale
of the brewery, 41 ; story of her
acquaintance with Piozzi, 43 ;
her letters given to her daughter
Hester, 46 ; a kind post-office
official, 48 ; honeymoon tour,
49 ; borrowing from her
daughters, 50 ; Piozzi's return
.and marriage, 51 et seq. ; a
Protestant lady of quality, 56 ;
trials at Milan, 57 et seq. ; ill-
reports ceasing in England, 60 ;
return to England, 6 1 ; suspects
Fanny Bumey, 64 ; their villa
in North Wales, 64; Mr.
Piozzi's death, 66 ; her pro-
vision for her nephew, 67 ; a
recollection of Beau Nash, 69 ;
a rondeau, 73 ; one of the
Pleiades, 82 ; her dislike for
Boswell, 112, 113; on John-
son's late hours, 114; her
account of Old Thrale, 119;
describes Mr. Thrale as Milla-
mant, 120 ; The Three Warn-
ings, 122 ; Johnson a rumoured
suitor, 123 ; her answer to
Boswell's charge of inaccuracy,
124 ; Johnson rebukes her for
heartlessness, ib. ; on Johnson's
penance at Uttoxeter, 125 ; on
playing at cards, 133 ; on self-
education, 1 46 ; character-sketch
of Mr. Thrale, 164 et seq. ;
her account of her first meeting
Johnson, 167 ; her account of
Baretti, 170 et seq. ; Sophia
Streatfield's flirtations with Mr.
Thrale, 178 et seq.; a prophecy
fulfilled, 182 ; Fanny Burneyasa
guest, 183 ; pungent description
of Bath, ib.; Dr. Burney "a
goose-cap," 185 ; her reflections
on London society, 188 ; on
Johnson and Baretti as travelling
companions, ib. ; Piozzi's limita-
tions as a companion, 189 ;
account of Mr. Thrale's death,
191 et seq. ; description of
Johnson at the brewery, 193 ;
a woman of affairs, 194 ; adieu
to business, 198 ; her account
of her acquaintance with Piozzi,
199 et seq. ; her daughters
"love not me," 201 ; Johnson
brought home to Streatham, 202;
New Year resolutions, 204 ;
town gossip, 206, 207; "any
man's equal," 208 ; resolves to
go to Italy, 209 ; her vexation
at Johnson's indifference, 210;
Piozzi weighed in the balance,
211; the victim of rumour, 215 ;
unburdening her heart, 216;
Hester's indifference, 221 et
seq. ; heartless daughters, 224 ;
preparing for Bath, ib. ; a
courageous parting, 225 ; verses
to Mr. Piozzi, ib. ; reflections
on her daughters, 226 ; a viper's
suggestion, 228 ; slow torture,
230 ; more verses to Mr.
Piozzi, 232 ; parting with her
daughters, ib. ; the happiest day
INDEX
331
of her life, 233 ; burlesque odes
as by Johnson, 234 ; a brutal
letter from Bnrelti, 235 ; "these
cursed wits," 236 ; her opinion
of Johnson's prospective bio-
graphers, 237 ; her views on
influencing the inclination of
others, 238 ; lying slanders, 239 ;
"amused . . . and yet! ,"
240 ; Baretti's abuse, ib. ;
"those treacherous Burneys,"
241 ; standing well with the
world, 242 ; a rattle on purpose,
ib. ; false friends look ashamed,
243 ; seventh wedding anni-
versary, 244 ; her Character of
Baretli, 246 ; verses to her
husband, ib. ; her impressions of
Boswell's Life of Johnson, 247 ;
sending for Mr. noon's nephew,
248 ; Queeny 7 s marriage, ib. ;
preparing her edition of John-
son letters. 249 ; her husband's
merits, 253 ; Delia Cruscan
revelries, 253, 255 ; a crowded
evening, 259 ; gives up Bryn-
bella to Sir John Salusbury,
280 ; views on public charity,
284 ; hostile reviewers d Retro-
spection, 285; Mr. Piozzi's bad
health, 290 ; Count Lieven
makes free with Streatham
Park, 293 ; a true Bath Cat,
295 ; her life at Southwark,
299 ; advised by Mr. Thrale to
keep notes of Johnson's talk,
309 ; success of her Anecdotes,
ib. ; ' ' the '[first woman in
England," 310; "the best
thing I ever wrote," 315.
Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham,
his dictatorial ways, 96 ; on
Lord Bute, 105.
1'lumbe, Alderman, brother-in-law
i >f Mr. Thrale, his Sunday read-
ing, 155.
Plumbe, Mrs., sister of Mr.
Thrale, 17.
Pope, Alexander, ambitious of
" splendid acquaintance," 151,
his mother, ib. ; his jest on
Halifax, 152 : his pun upon his-
grotto, 1 53 ; Johnson praises
his Shakespeare, ib. ; his part-
ing with Atterbury, ib. ; his
cavalier treatment of James
Ralph, 154 ; his intrigue with
Curll, ib. ; his Essay on Man,
155; his ignorance of Boling-
broke's real opinions, ib. ;
Walpole's courtesy to him, 156 ;.
his dulness in company, 157;
his income, ib. ; his narrowness,
158; compared with Dryden r .
it>. ; his S fonts, 159; his
epitaph on Newton, 160.
Porteus, Dr. Beilby, Bishop of
Chester, his conquest by Sophy
Streatfield, 181.
Prior, Matthew, Johnson's criti-
cism on, 27 ; his extempore
lines, 146 ; his Solomon, ib.
Pritchard, Hannah, had no time
to read the whole of Macbeth, .
140.
Psalmanazar, George, the " For-
mosan," 289.
Quin, James, teaching Mrs. Piozzi
to read, 8 ; his reading of
Milton, 133 ; as Sir John
finite, 157.
Radcliffe, Mrs., her Mysteries'
surpassed, 273.
Ralph, James, his indignation at
being fetched in a cart to dinner,
154-
Reddish, Samuel, actor, 134.
Reeve, Nancy, favourite of
Dryden, 138.
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, his altitude
to his pupils, 126.
Rice, Mrs., sister of Mr. Thrale,
17-
Richardson, Samuel, Johnson's
opinion of his vanity, 70 ; hi*
friendship with Warburton, 112.
Richmond, Duke of, a plain-
spoken courtier, 105.
Rockingham, Lord, story of hi*
death, 109.
334
INDEX
Rodney, Lord, a royal attach-
ment, 84 ; his method of break-
ing the line, 109.
Rogers, Samuel, his poetical origin-
ality, 149 ; as a witness, 272.
Roscitis, Young, 289.
Roscoe, William, historian, 291.
Roscommon, Lord, his prevision
of his father's death, 134.
Rosiers, P. de, balloonist, 304.
Rothes, Countess of, wife of Sir
Lucas Pepys, 189, 252.
Rowe, Nicholas, Mrs. Piozzi's
criticism on The Fair Penitent,
142 ; story of his advice from
Sydenham, 147 ; his Letters
esteemed by women, 155.
Ryland, William, engraver and
forger, 114.
Sacchini, Antonio, musical com-
poser, 45.
Salisbury Court, I.
Saltzburg, Adam de, founder of
the Salusbury pedigree, i.
Salusbury, Henry, the Black, 2.
Salusbury, Hester, great-grand-
mother of Mrs. Piozzi, 1 , 4.
Salusbury, John, father of Mrs.
Piozzi, 4, 7, 8, 11, 15, 16.
Salusbury, Sir John Salusbury
Piozzi, 23, 66.
Salusbury, Sir Thomas, 7, IO, 12,
*3> 5-
Sandwich, Earl of, his love of
play, 98, 99; "The Francis-
cans," IOI.
Sandys, Lord, his portrait by
Reynolds, 85.
Savage, Richard, his parentage,
150 ; epigram on Dennis, tb. ;
his account of James Thomson,
1 60.
Scott, Mrs., sister of Mr. Thrale,
17-
Scott, Rev. Thomas, political
hack-writer, 101.
Scott, Sir Walter, a poetical in-
novator, 149.
Scrase, Richard, Mrs. Thrale's
" Daddy Crisp," 21.
Selwyn, George, rumoured suitor
of Mrs. Thrale, 207.
Seward, Anne, her story of the
learned pig, 253.
Seward, William, his character,
68 ; rumoured suitor of Mrs.
Thrale, 215 ; sues for reconcile-
ment with Mrs. Piozzi, 244 ; a
suitable match for the "S.S.,"
258-
Shakespeare, the sale of his plays
in the seventeenth century, 130 ;
Otway's obligation to him, 134 ;
Garrick revives his fame, ib. ;
Johnson on Pope's edition, 153.
Sheffield, John, Duke of Bucking-
ham, his self-education, 145,
146.
Shelbume, Earl of, Goldsmith and
Gainsborough and, 91 ; Rey-
nolds' portrait, 103.
Shelburne, Lady, 186.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, her
Frankenstein, 132.
Sheridan, R. B., his production of
Vortigern, 260.
Sheridan, Thomas, his lecturing,
106.
Shipley, Jonathan, Bishop of St.
Asaph, 75.
Siddons, Mrs., hostess to Mrs.
Thrale, 64 ; an entertaining day,
88 ; dining with " The Blues,"
241 ; her difficulties and
triumph, 249 ; a rival, 256 ;
her bad health, 260; an
empire 'of hearts, 265 ; a bad
correspondent, 268 ; Sir W. \Y.
Pepys s impromptu, 314,
Sidney, Lady Dorothea (Waller's
Sucharissa), 135.
Silius Italicus, imitated by Pope
and Drummond, 159.
Simple, David, Sarah Fielding's
novel, 24.
Simson, Joe, story of his marriage,
77-
Smelt, Leonard, 191.
Smith, Henry, one of Thrale's
executors, 41 ; his lying reports
about Mrs. Piozzi, 239.
INDEX
335
Southcote, Joanna, visionary, 156.
Southcote, Mr., priest in attend-
ance upon Pope, 1 56 ; his ap-
pearance in Peregrine Pickle, ib.
Southesk, Countess of, story of,
no.
Southey, Robert, a poetical in-
novator, 149.
Sporus, Pope's description of, 1 59.
Sprat, Bishop Thomas, Cowley's
biographer, 127.
Stanley, John, composer and
organist, 73.
Stanley, Lady, a faded beauty,
306.
Steele, Sir Richard, his efforts
on behalf of Addison's Cato,
143-
Stock, Joseph, Bishop of Killala,
132.
.Stockdale, John, publisher, 283,
285.
Strahan, Rev. Dr., editor of John-
son's Prayers, 255.
Streatfield, Sophia, her devotion
to Dr. Collier, 30 ; her flirta-
tions with Mr. Thrale, 31 et
se #'t 39 '78; her conquests,
179 et seq. ; an enigma,
181 ; Dr. Burney's tender
passion, 182 ; her later history,
ib. ; one invulnerable heart,
197 ; a suitable match for
Seward, 258.
Sunderland, Earl of, Henry
Spencer, 135.
Swift, Jonathan, his jibe at the
Spectator, 143 ; relations with
Stella and Mrs. Dingley, 151 ;
his Letters, 158.
Sydenham, Dr. Thomas, his pre-
scription of Don Quixote, 147.
Tarleton, Richard, actor, 28.
Taylor, Dr. John, Johnson's early
friend, 118, 123, 237, 250.
Thicknesse, Philip, his false re-
port of Mrs. Piozzi, 215.
Thomson, James, his character
described by Savage, 1 60; how
his nose was burned, ib.
Thrale, Cecilia (Mrs. Mostyn),
47, 63, 259, 275, 277.
Thrale, Henry, his introduction
to Hester Salusbury, 14 ; his
origin, ib. ; a loveless wooing,
15 ; marriage, 1 6 ; his choice
of a wife, 18 ; Humphrey Jack-
son's fraud, 19 ; Johnson's
counsel in a crisis, 20 ; his
attachment to Sophia Streatfield,
3J, 39 5 Peregrinus Domi, 32 ;
his illness, 33 ; his will, 40 ;
his admiration for Piozzi, 44 ;
account of his father, 119;
Johnson's regard for him, 120;
his wife's character-sketch of
him, 164 et seq. ; his curious
vow, 1 66 ; his brewing ambi-
tion, 168 ; contests Southwark,
187 ; an inordinate appetite,
190 ; Johnson's reproof to him,
ib. ; account of his death by
Mrs. Thrale, 191 et seq. ; the
wits insult his memory, 236 ;
advised his wife to keep notes
of Johnson's talk, 309.
Thrale, Hester (Lady Keith),
her birth, 18 ; her hostility to
Sophia Streatfield, 31 ; Mr.
Piozzi gives her all her mother's
letters, 46; under the tutelage
of Miss Nicholson, 49 ; keeping
at a distance, 62 ; Baretti's
attachment for her, 175 ; her
father's death, 192 ; Crutch ley
as a suitor, 201, 202; reading
classics with Johnson, 204 ;
approves of Mrs. Thrale's pro-
jected residence in Italy, 209 ;
Mrs. Thrale's confession of her
love of Piozzi, 217 ; her "cold
dislike " for Piozzi, 220 ; an
impenetrable heart, 227 ; her
concession, 228 ; parting from
her mother, 233 ; her marriage,
248 ; writes to Mrs. Piozzi,
251, 255, 262.
Thrale, Ralph, his manner of
educating his children, 164.
Thrale, Sophia (Hoare, Mrs.),
89, 228.
33^
INDEX
T/traliana, 22.
Thurlovv, Lord, his valet's retort,
97-
Tollemache, Lady Betty, aunt of
Mrs. Fiozzi, 4, 5.
Tonson, Jacob, his epitaph, 103.
Tooke, John Home, identified
vtith/uttius, 215.
Townshend, Charles, his bon mot
on the House of Commons, 26.
Trenck, Friedrich, 84.
Twiss, Mrs. (Fanny Kemble),
3H-
Vanbrugh, Sir John, his Provoked
Wife, 157.
Vanity of Human Wishes, The,
Mrs. Fiozzi on Boswell's
emendation for, 120.
Vestris, his famous boast, 121.
Vortigern, Sheridan and Kemble
produce it, 260, 261, 271,
273-
Vyse, Dr. \Villiam, the " injurious
lover" of Sophy Streatfield,
181, 182.
Walkingshaw, Clementina, 84.
Waller, Edmund, his rejection by
Sacharissa, 135 ; his abject
confessions, ib. ; his jest on the
Duchess of Newcastle's verses,
136 ; imitated by Granville,
149.
Walpole, Horace, his civility to
Pope, 156.
Walpole, Sir Robert, and Lord
Sandwich, 98.
Warburton, Bishop, his friendship
with Richardson, 1 1 2.
Warton, Joseph, his story about
Fope, 139.
Watson, .Richard, Bishop of
Llandaff, 270.
Webber, John, R.A., draughts-
man to Captain Cook, 190.
Wedderburn, Alexander, Earl of
Rosslyn, 103 ; his conquest by
Sophy Streatfield, 179; his
rumoured suit for Mrs. Thrale,
207.
Wellington, Duke of, a case of
conflicting evidence, 91.
Wesley, Samuel, quotation from
an epithalamium by, 201.
Westcote, Lord, his account of
the Lyttelton ghost story, 85 ;
on Johnson's Life of Lyttelton,
162 ; a friend of Mr. Thrale,
164.
Westmoreland, Earl of, 91.
Whitehead, William, 149.
Wolcot, John, satirises Boswell,.
256.
Wolsey, Cardinal, his residence at
Esher, 266.
Woodhouse, James, the shoe-
maker poet, 1 68.
Worsdale, James, the agent be-
tween Pope and Curll, 1 54.
WraXall, Sir Nathaniel W., Mrs.
Piozzi's notes on his Memoirs?
80.
Yonge, Sir William, on the pro-
nunciation of great, 125.
Young, Arthur, 269.
Young, Edward, his Revenge,
103; and his family, 118; his
Night Thoughts, 141 ; his or-
iginality, 149.
Zanelli, Cardinal, a pasquinade
on, 107.
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