V.I
.
LETTERS OF SAMUEL JOHNSON
G. BIRKBECK HILL
VOL. I.
Ojforfc
PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
BY HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
LETTERS
SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.
COLLECTED AND EDITED
BY GEORGE BIRKBECK HILL, D.C.L,
PEMBROKE COLLEGE, OXFORD
EDITOR OF BOSWELL S LIFE OF JOHNSON
IN TWO VOLUMES: VOL. I
Oct. 30, 1731 Dec. ai, 1776
NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE
1892
AUG 3 1 1955
PREFACE
How extensive was Johnson s correspondence, and how much
of it has been preserved, is not perhaps generally known. He
wrote unwillingly. I know not how it happens, he told
Dr. Taylor in the year T 756, but I fancy that I write letters
with more difficulty than some other people who write nothing
but letters ; at least I find myself very unwilling to take up a
pen only to tell my friends that I am well ; and indeed I never
did exchange letters regularly but with dear Miss Boothby I .
Seven years later he wrote to Boswell : I love to see my friends,
to hear from them, to talk to them, and to talk of them ; but it
is not without a considerable effort of resolution that I prevail
upon myself to write 2 . In this he was like Goldsmith who,
apologising for his neglect in correspondence, said, No turnspit
dog gets up into his wheel with more reluctance than I sit down
to write 3 . I have seen in an Auction Catalogue an extract
from a letter by Grainger, the author of the Sugar Cane, in
which he says : When I taxed little Goldsmith for not writing
as he promised me, his answer was that he never wrote a letter
in his life ; and faith I believe him, unless to a bookseller for
money.
Nevertheless, however indolent a man may be with his
correspondence, if he lives to the age of seventy-five, and if
his letters are thought worth keeping, a great mass will be
preserved. Happily, there was one person to whom Johnson
wrote eagerly enough. His letters to Mrs. Thrale are more
than 300 in number. When he was away from Streatham,
1 Post, \. 64. 2 Life, i. 473.
3 Forster s Life of Goldsmith, ed. 1871, i. 433.
when
vi Preface.
when he was not. to use his own words to her, reposing at that
place which your kindness and Mr. Thrale s allows me to call
my home*] he longed for news. He once reproached Bosvvell
for indulging in an uneasy apprehension about his wife and
children who were 400 miles away in Edinburgh. Sir, said
he, consider how foolish you would think it in them to be
apprehensive that you are ill 2 . His trade might, as Baretti
said, be wisdom ; but there was never yet philosopher that
could bear the tooth-ache patiently, and Johnson was just as
foolish himself about My Master and My Mistress as
Boswell was about his wife and children. One June when he
was at Oxford, he was left a few days without any news from
Streatham. On the 5th he complains to his Mistress that
three days had gone by without a letter. On the 6th he
writes : If I have not a little something from you to-day, I
shall think something very calamitous has befallen us. On the
7th his apprehension is still rising. I grieve and wonder and
hope and fear about my dear friends at Streatham. But I may
have a letter this afternoon. Sure it will bring me no bad news.
If I have a letter to-day I will go away as soon as I can ; if I
have none, I will stay till this may be answered, if I do not come
back to town. On the afternoon of the same day he is comforted.
Your letter, which ought to have come on Tuesday, came not
till Wednesday. Well, now I know that there is no harm, I will
take a chaise and march away towards my own country 3 . He
delighted in the letters which Mrs. Thrale sent him. Never
imagine, he wrote, that they are long ; they are always too
short for my curiosity. I do not know that I was ever content
with a single perusal V Had he wished it he could have kept
up a correspondence with men famous in almost every path of
life, discussing those great questions that so long occupied
Rasselas and his friends, which they left with a conclusion in
which nothing is concluded. It was not that kind of letter-
writing that he loved. He neglected the members of his famous
1 Post, i. 129. 2 Life, iii. 4. 3 Post, i. 324-7. 4 Post, \. 216.
Club,
Preface. vii
Club, a set of men who, he maintained, were sufficient worthily
to fill all the chairs of a University \ So far as we know he did
not write a single letter to Edmund Burke ; he wrote more than
300 to the wife of a Southwark brewer. With such ardour did
he keep up the correspondence that in nine weeks of the summer
of 1775 he wrote to her thirty times. Let us for once be thank
ful for the old abuse of the franking system, by which these
letters were carried free of postage. Had he had to pay the
usual charge of fourpence on each he would, I fear, have
remembered, as he once bade Mrs. Thrale remember, that three
groats make a shilling 2 , and he would have written far less
frequently.
If we would judge of her share in the correspondence we must
not look so much to those of her letters which she has printed
as to the one which by some lucky chance came into Boswell s
possession. I shall present my readers/ he says, with one of
her original letters to Johnson, which will amuse them probably
more than those well-written but studied epistles which she has
inserted in her collection V The insinuation which he casts on
their genuineness can be shown to be well founded. There is no
doubt that some of them are fabrications, and clumsy fabrica
tions too 4 . She was far too inaccurate to make a successful
forger. It was not studied epistles that she sent to her old
friend, or he would have speedily cried out, Fiddle-de-dee, my
dear. What it was that delighted him in her letters we learn
from one of his answers, where he says : Such tattle as filled
your last sweet letter prevents one great inconvenience of
absence, that of returning home a stranger and an enquirer.
The variations of life consist of little things. Important innova
tions are soon heard, and easily understood. Men that meet to
talk of physicks or metaphysicks, or law or history, may be
immediately acquainted. We look at each other in silence, only
1 Life, v. 109. 2 Post, i. 161. 3 Life, iii. 421.
4 P or a curious instance see post, ii. 258, n. 3. For another apparent in
stance of her fabrication see ii. 210, n. i.
for
viii Preface.
for want of petty talk upon slight occurrences. Continue, there
fore, to write all that you would say V
Two other series of letters we owe to that strong feeling which
Johnson ever preserved for the friends of his youth a feeling
which grew stronger and stronger as life ebbed away. If he
ever took delight in anything, said Baretti, it was to converse
with some old acquaintance 2 . It was this feeling which more
than anything else attached him to Dr. Taylor, that heavy
pluralist whose thoughts were ever running on preferments,
whose size and figure and countenance and manner were that
of a hearty English Squire with the parson superinduced V It
was not, as some suspected, his hope of being Taylor s heir
which kept the friendship alive. He clung in the same kind of
way to his old schoolfellow, Henry Jackson, a low man, dull
and untaught, who wore a coarse grey coat, black waistcoat,
greasy leather breeches, and a yellow uncurled wig ; whose coun
tenance had the ruddiness which betokens one who is in no
haste to "leave his can." He gave him his guineas, and when
he died he wrote : His death was a loss, and a loss not to be
repaired, as he was one of the companions of my childhood V
Had this worthy been as ready with his pen as he was in
devising that new scheme of dressing leather by which he hoped
to mend his fortune, Johnson doubtless would have corresponded
with him too. To his old playfellow, Edmund Hector, the
Birmingham surgeon, he wrote : I am now grown very solicitous
about my old friends, with whom I passed the hours of youth
and cheerfulness, and am glad of any opportunity to revive the
memory of past pleasures. I therefore tear open a letter with
great eagerness when I know the hand in which it is super
scribed 5 . With him also he not unfrequently corresponded.
Taylor docketed the letters which he received. The last is
numbered 108. Of these Boswell had been allowed to publish
but four. In the present collection sixty-two additional letters
1 Post, ii. 19. - Post, i. 388, n. 2. 3 Life, ii. 474.
4 Life, ii. 463 ; iii. 131. 5 Post, i. 73.
are
Preface, ix
are given ; twenty-three of which, if I am not mistaken, have
never been in print before. Forty-two, therefore, remain unpub
lished ; some may have been lost, but most I suspect are hidden
away in the desks of collectors.
There are great and curious gaps in Johnson s general corre
spondence. Of the four years, 1745, 6, 7 and 8, not a single letter,
so far as I know, has been preserved. For 1755 we have as
many as 22, and for 1760 only two. He wrote most copiously
in the last few months of his life, when he was seeking relief
from his sufferings at Lichfield and Ashbourne. Deserted by
Mrs. Thrale and deprived by death of his domestic companions,
overwhelmed with disease and looking with horror on the grave
into which he was sinking, lonely and solitary, he sought on all
sides for encouragement, kindness and sympathy. Sixteen years
earlier, when distressed by illness, he had written : To roll the
weak eye of helpless anguish, and see nothing on any side but
cold indifference, will, I hope, happen to none whom I love or
value ; it may tend to withdraw the mind from life, but has no
tendency to kindle those affections which fit us for a purer and
a nobler state 1 . This cold indifference was what he seems at this
time to have been dreading. By the frequency of his letters he
strove to keep himself alive in the memory and the affections
of his friends.
In the present collection will not be found those of his letters
which were included by Boswell in the Life. In number they
are not far short of 340. For each of them I give in the proper
place the briefest notice of the person to whom it was addressed,
the date at which it was written, and the volume and page where
it will be found 2 . All the other letters which I have been able
to collect I am now publishing. I have not thought it right to
pass over any on account of their insignificance. Those which
were already in print I have found mainly in the two volumes
of Correspondence published by Mrs. Piozzi in 1788, in the
1 Post, \. 141. my edition of the Life, published by
2 The references are in all cases to the Clarendon Press.
editions
x Preface.
editions of the Life by Malone and Croker, in the Miscellanies of
the Philobiblon Society and in Notes and Queries. To the last of
these publications, a storehouse of curious and interesting matter,
I would once more express my obligations obligations shared
in by every student of the literature, history, and antiquities of
our country J . The letters in these various publications are
about 570 in number.
In addition to this, through the kindness of collectors of
autographs, and dealers, my collection is enriched with a large
number of hitherto unpublished letters. A few of them indeed
are already in print in costly private catalogues, such as Mr.
Alfred Morrison s noble volumes. These, however, are not within
the reach of the general reader. With the inclusion of these,
and of the fifteen letters which were first given in my edition of
the Life, the new letters, unless I am mistaken, amount to
between ninety and a hundred. If we add to them the large
number which are known only to the readers of Notes and
Queries and of the Miscellanies of the Philobiblon Society it will
be seen that the present Collection makes a great and important
addition to Johnsonian literature.
In my eager search after letters I have examined in the
Bodleian many hundreds of auctioneers catalogues. This part of
my task would have been greatly lightened had those catalogues
which contain descriptions of autographs been bound up sepa
rately. As it was, I found them scattered among long lists, not
only of books, but also of musical instruments, bins of wine, and
cigars. If librarians would keep apart the catalogues in which
autographs and manuscripts in general are described, students
of literature and history would have at their command a great
amount of curious material. Those of Johnson s letters of which
I found mention in these lists I have entered in their proper
places, giving moreover such abstracts of their contents as were
published by the auctioneers. Some future editor may perhaps
1 Many of these letters we owe to to Notes and Queries most careful
Professor John E. B. Mayor, who sent copies of the originals.
be
Preface. xi
be fortunate enough in many cases to get complete copies. One
series of letters I am greatly disappointed at not being able to
include in my collection. In Messrs. Sotheby and Co. s Cata
logue of Mr. F. Perkins s Library, which was sold in July, 1889,
lot 1134 is a series of twenty autograph letters of Johnson to
Mr. Perkins, Southwark, together with one from Boswell to
Perkins. They were sold for 81. It is possible that among
these twenty letters are found the five which Perkins allowed
Boswell to publish. Of none of them have I been able to get
a copy. This I the more regret as they would have thrown
light on a side of Johnson s character that is little known, and
would have let us see him engaged in what his biographer calls
the real business of life V Perkins, it will be remembered, was
the worthy superintendent of Thrale s Brewery 2 . On his
master s death he became the junior partner of the wealthy
Quakers who purchased the business. After the lapse of more
than a century, when the secret letters and papers of kings and
ministers have been given to the world, it might have been
thought that the private correspondence of a great scholar with a
superintendent of a brewery could with propriety be divulged.
Expectation must, however, be still kept waiting. Perhaps a
second hundred years must pass away before it shall be ascer
tained what was the part that Johnson took in founding the new
firm of Barclay and Perkins. Something however can even
now be known. One letter, it seems, had got separated from
the rest and this I am able to publish 3 . A passage too in one
of Johnson s letters to Mrs. Thrale 4 throws further light on the
secret transactions by which, in the year of grace 1781, Mr.
Perkins the man was changed into Mr. Perkins the master.
My chief labour has been spent on the two volumes of cor
respondence published by Mrs. Piozzi. In themselves they
required far more annotation than the other letters, for in
writing to her Johnson touched on a much greater variety
1 Life of Johnson, iv. 85. 2 Life, ii. 286, //. I. 3 Post, ii. 222.
4 Post, ii. 216.
Of
xii Preface.
of persons and subjects. He frequently introduced quotations
and literary allusions. She was a lady of some learning and
many pretensions, who had more wit and more literature, he
maintained, than even the great Mrs. Montagu ". In his
letters to his other friends these quotations and allusions are
as rare as in those to her they are abundant. I have traced
and explained them so far as I have been able, but some have
hitherto baffled my search. I have had besides to supply
the names which Mrs. Piozzi either left in blank or merely
indicated by the first letter. The frequent errors into which
she has fallen have caused me a great deal of trouble. Many
of these arose from that habit of inaccuracy of which Johnson
in vain tried to work a cure ; but some were clearly inten
tional. Of his letters not a few are carelessly inserted in the
wrong places, but of her own some, as I have already said,
are fabrications. In this part of my work I have made use
of the curious marginal notes which Baretti wrote in his copy
of the Correspondence 2 . In his conjectures, when he fills up
the blanks, he is not always right. Nevertheless, whenever he
was not under the influence of his feelings, his remarks are
often of service. The malignity which he exhibits towards
Mrs. Piozzi renders it needful to receive his general statements
with caution. He had no doubt cause for anger in the attacks
which she made on him through Johnson 3 , but the savageness
of his reply far exceeded the offence. Nevertheless in his
remarks there is often a good deal of truth. If they did
nothing else they would throw light on a man who was not
the least interesting of the little group which gathered round
the Thrales at Streatham.
I cannot but think that now that Johnson s letters are col
lected he will take a far higher rank among letter-writers than
he has as yet filled. Admirable as many of those are which
are published by Boswell, nevertheless in the Life they are
1 Post, ii. 153. 2 The book is in the British Museum.
3 Post, i. 350, 354-5.
overshadowed
Preface. xiii
overshadowed, as it were, by his superlative merit as a talker.
We hurry through them, or even skip over them, to arrive at
the passages where the larger type and the inverted commas
give signs that there we shall have good talk. His letters
may be good but his talk has no rival. But when we no
longer have it to tempt us, we shall not fail to recognise how
admirable he was in his correspondence. What a variety, more
over, does it exhibit ! We have those fine and weighty passages
in which he treated of the greatest of all arts the art of living,
and taught, as few philosophers have better taught, the manage
ment of the mind, whether it is troubled by cares or well-nigh
broken with grief. We have that strong common-sense set forth
in vigorous English, on which his friends could always draw in
their perplexities. We have, moreover, above all in his letters
to Mrs. Thrale, a playfulness and lightness of touch which will
surprise those who know him only by his formal writings. How
pleasantly, for instance, does he laugh at his friend Taylor
whose talk was of bullocks, who bred cattle almost as eagerly
as he hunted after preferments, and who was famous, it was said,
for having the largest bull in England and some of the best
sermons ". The sermons were Johnson s, and the bull Johnson
has almost made his own by the humorous way in which from
time to time he introduces him in his letters. I have seen the
great bull, he writes, and very great he is. I have seen like
wise his heir-apparent, who promises to enherit all the bulk and
all the virtues of his sire. I have seen the man who offered an
hundred guineas for the young bull, while he was yet little better
than a calf. A year later he writes : There has been a man here
to-day to take a farm. After some talk he went to see the bull,
and said that he had seen a bigger. Do you think he is likely
to get the farm ? Fifteen months later he returns to the sub
ject : Our bulls and cows are all well ; but we yet hate the man
that had seen a bigger bull 2 .
The gem of my collection is a letter from Johnson to his wife,
1 Life, Hi. 181, n. 3. s Post, i. 166, 178, 197.
which
xiv Preface.
which I owe to the liberality of Mr. William R. Smith, Barrister-
at-Law, of the Inner Temple, and of Greatham Moor, West
Liss, Hampshire, a descendant of the Rev. George Strahan, to
whose vicarage at Islington Johnson in the last years of his life
now and then went for the benefit of good air. In this letter,
full of tenderness, the fond and youthful husband addresses his
wife who was but four days short of fifty-one as my dear girl,
my charming love, and as the most amiable woman in the
world. Well ! she was twenty years older than Johnson, and
no doubt deserved some of the ridicule which Lord Macaulay
has so lavishly cast upon her. Nevertheless at the time of her
marriage she was of just the same age as was Barbara, Duchess
of Cleveland, when our great historian describes her as no longer
young, but still retaining some traces of that superb and volup
tuous loveliness which twenty years before overcame the hearts
of all men. For all we know, it was Mrs. Johnson s superb
and voluptuous loveliness which overcame the heart of the
lamented Mr. Porter, the Birmingham mercer, and it was the
traces of it which overcame young Samuel Johnson. She was
only a decent married woman ; had she been a royal harlot
Macaulay, instead of mocking her ceruse bloom, might him
self have laid on the colours with an ardour and a skill scarcely
surpassed by Sir Peter Lely.
Wherever I have been able to see the originals or to get exact
copies, I have retained Johnson s spelling. In these days of
examinations, when an excessive importance is attached to a
somewhat mean art, it may bring comfort to those who fail in it
to know that the man who by his Dictionary first set orthography
on a sure footing was not always careful to comply with his own
rulings. Thus in the following letters we find persuance/ I
cannot butt, council (those who plead a cause), happyest,
Fryday, solicite, l defense, pamflets, harrassed, do s
and dos (does), inventter, barels, cloaths (clothes), ac-
knowlegement, distresful, personale, Plimouth, imbecil-
lity, enervaiting, and devide. Johnson frequently omitted
the
Preface. xv
the sign of the genitive case, as, Bankers book, Doctors pre
scription. In writing proper names he often left out the
second final consonant, as Boswel V Cadel, Gastrel, Wraxal,
Dod, Pot. This perhaps he did by rule ; in like manner he
frequently wrote ilness. In his letters to John Nichols he
spells his correspondent s name Nichols, ; Nicols, Nichol, and
Nicol.
The information which I have given, in all cases where I could
obtain it, of the prices paid at public sales for Johnson s letters
will be of interest to collectors of autographs 2 .
I have now the pleasant task of expressing my acknowledg
ments for the help which I have received in my work. To the
owners of the original letters I have in each case done this in a
footnote. But there are two gentlemen among them, Mr. Alfred
Morrison and Mr. William R. Smith, to whom I would more
particularly express my gratitude for the liberality which has
led them to allow me to make the freest use of their large and
valuable collections of Johnsoniana. To Mr. Falconer Madan,
Fellow of Brasenose College and Assistant-Librarian of the
Bodleian, I am indebted not only for general assistance, but also
more particularly for the communication of two unpublished
anecdotes of Johnson, which he found among Dr. Philip Bliss s
notes 3 . Mr. J. L. G. Mowat, Fellow and Bursar of Pembroke
College, Oxford, I have to thank for the aid which he gave me
in deciphering, copying and collating a collection of Johnson s
letters which is kept in the Library of that Society. Mr. G.
K. Fortescue, the Superintendent of the Reading Room of the
British Museum, has once more laid me under obligation by the
kindness with which he has allowed me to draw on his wide
knowledge of books, and by the facilities which he has given me
in my visits to the Library. To Mrs. Raine Ellis I am indebted
both for the information contained in the accurate notes of her
admirable edition of the Early Diary of Frances Burney, and
1 I cannot recall a single instance in which he wrote Bos-well.
2 See in the Index, JOHNSON, autograph letters. 3 Post, ii. 438.
also
XVI
Preface.
also for the help which she has given me in clearing up difficulties
in the correspondence with Mrs. Thrale. It is greatly to be
wished that she should complete her task by publishing a new
edition of Madame D Arblay s Diary. She alone knows how
much Madame D Arblay altered what Miss Burney had written,
and how much after her death her editor contributed to this
work of mischievous and misleading revision . Mr. G. J. Camp
bell, Solicitor, of Inverness, I have to thank not only for a curious
fragment of an autograph letter of Johnson but also for the
trouble which he kindly took in gathering what information
there was still to be had about Johnson s route from Loch Ness
to Glenelg. To Mr. C. E. Doble, M.A., of the Clarendon Press,
I am once more deeply indebted for the care with which he has
read through my proof-sheets, and for the corrections and sug
gestions which he has made.
One acknowledgment comes alas too late. To a young dealer
in autographs, the late Mr. Samuel J. Davey, I owe not only
many unpublished letters, but also the original of a curious note
taken by Dr. Brocklesby of a conversation with Johnson and
Boswell on the evening of the day on which the famous physician,
1 To Mrs. Ellis I owe the following who was born at the end of last cen
tury and who died two years ago, a
sister of Dean Peacock, writing to her
said, I remember hearing a good deal
of a Mr. Harrison of Stub House,
near Kirby Hill, in Yorkshire. He
was a gentleman-farmer and country
squire, notorious for swearing and
overbearing conduct. He was said
to be a clever man and a relation of
Dr. Johnson. He had a son called
Cornelius. This man was most
likely a descendant of the Rev.
Cornelius Harrison, perpetual curate
of Darlington, who was, said John
son, the only one of my relations
who ever rose in fortune above penury
or in character above neglect t.
little incidents connected with John
son. I received them too late to insert
in their proper places in my notes.
In a pretty little book which she
published a few years ago under the
title of Sylvesira she recounts how
one day, in his lodgings at Oxford, he
was heard calling out : Wench, I
gave thee my shirt to be air d, and
thou hast brought me thy mistress s
smock (vol. i. p. 27). Mrs. Ellis
tells me that it was from her hus
band s great-uncle that the anecdote
comes. He was lodging in the same
house, and heard the cry. Kettel
Hall is most likely the scene of the
story, where Johnson had rooms in
1754*. One of her correspondents,
* Life, i. 270, n.
Post, i. 225.
William
Preface. xvii
William Hunter, died 1 . I know no man who carried on the
gentle craft of an autograph dealer with more generous ardour
than Mr. Davey. His manuscripts were not to him mere articles
of traffic. He prized them also as materials of literature, What
ever he had he was ready to place freely at the service of the
student. I can only record my deep regret that a career so full
of good promise was brought to so untimely an end.
I have done my best to make my work as accurate and as
complete as possible, but errors and omissions are sure to be
discovered. It will be shown, I fear, that in spite of all my
anxious care, letters which are in print have been left unnoticed,
and that others which I enter as new have been already pub
lished. I have been encouraged in my task by the kind, I might
even say the generous treatment which my edition of the Life
of Johnson received both from readers in general, and more
especially from men familiar with the literature and history of
the eighteenth century. I cannot but hope that this laborious
addition to Johnsonian lore and to literary history will meet with
the same friendly welcome. It is my wish to complete my task
by a new edition of the Lives of the Poets. For that, the third
and final part of my work, I have already laid the foundations.
To finish the whole building will require a long course of study
and work.
G. B. H.
February 8, 1892.
1 Post, ii. 436.
VOL. I.
ERRATA.
Vol. I. p. 92, date of letter, for 1781 read 1761.
p. 221, 1. 22, for talk reircfta.sk.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Letters published by me for the first time, whether in my edition of Boswell s
Life of Johnson or in this Collection, are marked * in the following Table.
Those now first collected from Magazines and from works printed for private circula
tion are marked f.
Those quoted in part or merely mentioned in Auctioneers Catalogues and elsewhere
are marked J.
Italics are used to show that the Letter is to be found not here but in the Life
of Johnson.
VOLUME I.
DATK LETTER
1731 ... 1 ... Oct. 30.
PAGE
~/ o-
I 734--
3
J"V i
... Nov. 25....
AW . AAUJJC5
To Ed-ward Cave.
1737...
4
...Jiily 12 ...
j>
1738...
5
... Undated ...
)!
6
,,
7
>; ;r
8
...
,, ,,
9
,,
10
,,
>
11
...
*
To Gregory Hickman. Apologises for not sending
some verses. Is yet unemployed . . . i
. Hopes for a post in Ashbourne School . 2
1 74... *12... Jan. 31
I74L.. 13. ..Jan. 31
1742-
14 ... March 31.
15 ... Undated .
16..
To Mrs. Johnson (his wife). Uneasy about a hurt
she had received. Hopes they shall never again
be separated. The best surgeon to be called in.
Garrick and Irene. Chetwood the Prompter. His
affection for her
. To Lewis Paul. Paul s spinning machine. Dr. James,
Warren, and Cave ......
. To Lewis Paul. Dr. James s proposal
. To Edward Cave.
b 2
6
8
XX
Table of Contents.
[Vol. i.
DATE
174 2 .
LETTER
. f!7... June 10
PAGE
1743
1753.
. 18... Sept. 29 ..
19. ..Dec. i ..
. *20...Jan. 3
*21... Undated .
*22... .
IS ...August .
. 24 ... April 20 .
25. ..July 12 .
26... Undated .
, yi... April^ .
28. ..May 12 .
29 ... Undated .
30... Sept. 25 .
. 31 ... March 9 .
32... April 18 .
38. ..July 29 .
34 ... Aug. 24 .
*35...Nov. i .
136 ...Dec. 10 .
*37... Undated .
*38... .
*89... .
*40... March 7 .
41 ... March 17.
42... 18.
*43...Nov. 4 .
*44 ... July ii .
, *45 ... Jan. 20 .
1Q... March S .
*47 ... March 22.
48 ...May 17 .
49 ...Sept. 26 .
. To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s treaty about a change of
livings. Lord Chesterfield. Charles of Sweden.
Duke of Devonshire. Cardinal Fleury. Peace be
tween Prussia and Hungary. Lord Carteret. Thur-
loe s State Papers ......
To Dr. Birch.
To John Levett.
. To John Levett. His wife s property. Perks an
attorney of Birmingham .....
. To [? John Levett]. Interest due to Levett
. To [? John Levett]. Very ill. Disappointed by two
to whom he had applied
. To Mr. Urban.
. To James Elphinston. Friendly feelings towards
Elphinston
. To Miss Porter. Mortgage on his house at Lichfield.
Fright caused by a black wafer. His wife s ill-health.
, To [? John Levett]. Rescued from the necessity of
borrowing ........
. To the Printer of the General Advertiser.
. To Dr. Birch.
. To James Elphinston.
j)
. To Samuel Richardson. New edition of Clarissa.
An index rerum should be added ....
. To John Newbery. Requests the loan of 2 .
. To John Newbery. Requests the loan of a guinea .
. To John Newbery. Requests the loan of a guinea .
. To William Strahan. A message from the Gentle
men Partners in the Dictionary ....
, To . Mrs. Lennox s book ....
. To William Strahan. The progress of the Dictionary
. To William Strahan. The payment to his amanuenses
. To William Strahan. The haste of his amanuenses.
Poor Stuart
, To Levett. Has sold a property to satisfy Levett
. To Dr. Taylor.
>>
. To Dr. Birch. Requests the loan of catalogues
. To Andrew Millar. Macbean and Hamilton s wager.
Requests the loan of some books ....
, To Dr. Birch. Requests the loan of Blount s Censura
. To Joseph War ton.
. To William Strahan. Dr. Bathurst s scheme .
. To Samuel Richardson. Sends a few notes on the
Dictionary. Richardson s new book
, To Samuel Richardson. Returns thanks for the first
volumes of Sir Charles Grandison* Asks for an index
10
15
16
20
21
22
23
2 3
25
26
27
27
28
28
3
30
32
32
33
34
1742-56.] Table of Contents. xxi
DATE LETTER
PAGE
I754- ..*50
...Jan.
To Dr. Birch. Requests the loan of Clarendon s
History ........
35
51
... March 8 ...
To Joseph Warton. The Adventurer. Collins the
poet. Johnson s love for Warton ....
36
*52
...[?July] ...
To William Strahan. Money to be advanced to Miss
Williams. His journey to Oxford
37
53
...July 1 6 ...
To Thomas Warton.
54
.. Nov. 21 ...
To Robert Chambers.
55
...Nov. 28 ...
To Tlioinas Warton.
56
. . . Dec. 21 ...
jj ;>
57
... Dec. 24 ...
To Joseph Warton. Collins the poet. Has been often
near his state .......
38
1755-. 58
. . . Feb. 4
To Thomas Warton.
59
...Feb.^ ...
j>
60
... Feb. 13 ...
V !!
61
...Feb. 1 ]
To the Earl of Chesterfield.
62
...Feb.
To Thomas Wartott.
63
... Feb. 26 ...
To the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford.
64
... March 20...
To Thomas Warton.
65
. . . March 2 5 ...
j? >
66
... March 29...
To Dr. Birch.
67
. . . April S
To Charles Burney.
*68
... April II ...
To Dr. Taylor. Dr. Wilson s claim. Has moved .
4
f69
...April 15 ...
To Edmund Hector. The evenings passed together
at Birmingham. Dictionary-making. Baskerville
4i
70
. . . May 6 ...
To Bcnnet Langton.
71
... May 13 ...
To Thomas Warton.
72
...June 10 ...
73
...June 24 ...
74
...July 19 ...
To [? Miss Cotterell]. Disappointed at missing her.
Baretti. Mrs. Porter the actress ....
43
75
...Aug.l ...
To Thomas Warton.
*76
...Nov. 8 ...
To Dr. Birch. Requests the loan of Wood s Athena
Oxonienses
44
77
... Dec. 23 ...
To Lewis Paul. Is very ill. Has been thrice bled .
45
78
... Dec. 30 ...
To Miss Boothby. Reduced to weakness and
misery. Resolutions of a better life. Report of
his death ........
45
79
... Dec. 31 ...
To Miss Boothby. Cannot receive his religion from
any human hand. Prescribes powdered orange-peel
for her .........
1756... 80
... Jan. i
To Miss Boothby. Her illness and his love for her .
5i
81
...Jan. 3 ...
To Miss Boothby. Dreads the news of her death
5i
82
...Jan. 3 ...
To Miss Boothby. His physicians. Three days fast
52
J83
... Jan. 6
To Lewis Paul. Is better
52
84
...Jan. 8
To Miss Boothby. Is in great trouble about her
52
85
...Jan. 9 ...
To Dr. Birch. Miss Williams s benefit .
53
86
...Jan. 13 ...
To Lewis Paul. Has by mistake opened a letter
meant for another. Mrs. Swynfen
54
XX11
Table of Contents.
[Vol. i.
DATE LETTER
1756... 87 ...Jan. 14 .
*88...Jan.
89 ...Jan.
90. ..Feb. 19 .
91... Undated .
92... March 12.
*9 3... March .
94 ... March 16.
*95 ... March 20.
96 ...April 15 .
*97 ...June 22 .
t98...July 3 i .
99 ...Sept. 25 .
100 ...Undated .
101... .
102... .
fl03...Oct. 7 .
104... Oct. 8
105... Undated
f!06... Nov. 1 8
1757 ... 107 . . . April 9 ,
f 108 ...April 1 6
109 ...June 21
110. ..June 28
..Oct. 27
1758
1759
111
112... Dec. 24
114... April 14
115 ...June i
116... Sept. 21
117. ..fan. 9
118... Jan. 13
119... Jan. 16
PAGE
, To Miss Carter. Miss Williams s benefit. Edward
Cave 55
. To John Ryland. Miss Williams s benefit . . 56
. To Cave. Tickets for the benefit . . -57
, To Samuel Richardson. Gives him a book. Inflam
mation in his eye . . . . . -57
. To Lewis Paul. Paul s goods seized for debt. Dr.
James s strange conduct ..... 58
To Lewis Paul. Will interpose with Paul s creditors 59
. To Dr. Hawkesworth. Greville s Maxims . . 60
To Samuel Richardson. Arrested for debt . . 61
To Dr. Birch. Gives him the Life of Sir Thomas
Browne ........ 62
To Joseph Warton. Warton s Essay on Pope; his
appointment at Winchester. Collins the poet . 62
. To Dr. Birch. His proposed edition of Shakespeare 64
, To Dr. Taylor. Unwillingness to write letters.
Country neighbours 64
To Lewis Paul. Paul s creditors at St. John s Gate 65
, To Lewis Paul. His boy is run away. Paul s
creditors ........ 66
. To Lewis Paul. Too ill to attend to Paul s affairs . 66
. To Lewis Paul. Paul s creditors .... 67
. To Edmund Hector. Interruption in their corre
spondence. Friendship. Subscription for his
Shakespeare. His melancholy indisposition . 67
, To Lewis Paul. Paul s creditors .... 69
. To Lewis Paul. Paul s creditors .... 70
. To Dr. Taylor. Those things most subject to delays
which we most desire to do. Their long friend
ship. Taylor s difference with his sister. Feels
a pang for the uneasiness he may have caused . 70
. To Charles O Connor.
. To Edmund Hector. The subscription to his Shake
speare. Friends of his youth . . . 7 2
. To Thomas Warton.
. To Bennet Langton.
. To Thomas Warton. Literary work for an inhabi
tant of Oxford 73
. To Charles Burney.
. To Thomas Warton.
> ??
. To Bennet Langton.
. To Mrs. Johnson (his mother). Her illness. Asks
for her forgiveness. Will pay her debts; sends
twelve guineas 75
. To Miss Porter. His mother s illness ... 76
1756-63.]
Table of Contents.
xxni
DATE
LETTER
PAGE
I759."
120
... Jan. 16 ...
To Mrs. Johnson. His affliction ....
77
121
...Jan. 18 ...
To Mrs. Johnson. His love for her
77
122
... Jan. 20 ...
To Miss Porter. Hopes to go to Lichfield
78
123
... Jan. 20 ...
To Mrs. Johnson. Her excellence. Begs for
giveness ........
78
*124
... Jan. 20 ...
To William Strahan. Bargains about Rasselas
79
125
...Jan. 23 ...
To Miss Porter. Sorrow for the loss of his mother .
Si
126
...Jan. 25 . .
To Miss Porter. Charles Howard. Will send 20
81
127
...Feb. 6 ...
To Miss Porter. Every heart must lean to some
body. Catherine Chambers. His mother s debts
82
128
...Feb. 15 ...
To Miss Porter. His mother s debts
85
129
. . . March i . . .
To Miss Porter. His mother s debts. Is very
desolate ........
86
130
... March 23...
To Miss Porter. Staple Inn. Rasselas .
86
131
... May 10 ...
To Miss Porter. Has sent copies of Rasselas to
Lichfield friends .......
37
132
... June 9
To Mrs. Montagu. Subscribers to Mrs. \Villiams s
Miscellanies .......
87
133
. . . Dec. 17 ...
To Mrs. Montagu. Asks her patronage of Mrs.
Ogle s concert
88
134
. . . Undated . . .
To Joseph Simpson.
1760...
135
... Oct. 18 ...
To Bennet Langton.
*136
... Nov. 29 ...
To Thomas Percy. Bargains with Millar about the
Reliques ........
89
I/6l ...
137
...Jan. 13 ...
To Miss Porter. His good wishes for her. Is dis
ordered by a cold ......
90
138
...June 10 ...
To Joseph Baretti.
*139
...Sept. 12 ...
To Thomas Percy. Declines Percy s invitation as
he wishes to see the Coronation ....
9 1
1762 ...
140
...June i
To Dr. Staunton.
141
...June 8 ...
To a Lady.
142
...July 20 ...
To Joseph Baretti.
143
...July 20 ...
To the Earl of Bute.
*144
...July 24 ...
To Miss Porter. His pension ....
92
145
. . . Nov. 3
To the Earl of Bute.
146
. . . Dec. 21 . . .
To Miss Reynolds. Mr. Mudge s request that he
should stand as godfather. Mr. Tolcher. His
friends at Torrington. Price of dried salmon. Is
going to Oxford ......
93
147
. . . Dec. 21 ...
To Joseph Baretti.
1763..
, 148
... Feb. 19 ...
To George Strahan. The benefit of confidence.
The study of Latin
95
149
... March 26...
To George Strahan. Latin composition .
95
150
... April 12 ...
To Miss Porter. Captain Porter s death
96
151
... April 16 ...
To George Strahan. Latin composition. Reading
for loose hours. English versification .
97
152
...July 2 ...
To George Grenville. His quarter s pension .
98
153
...Julys ...
To Miss Porter. The fortune bequeathed to her by
her brother. Hopes to visit Lichfield .
98
XXIV
Table of Contents.
[Vol. i.
DATE LETTER
1763... 154... July 12
155 ... July 14
|-156... Aug. 13
f!57 ... Aug. 1 8
*158...Aug. 25
fl59...Sept. 3
160... Sept. 20
fl61...Sept. 29
162. ..Oct. 27
163... Dec. 8
1764... 164 ... Jan. 10
f!65 ... May 22
166. ..Aug. 19
*167...Oct. 24
1765... 168... May 18
*169... Undated
170... May 25
f 171... July 1 5
172... Aug. 13
J173... Undated
*174 ... Aug. 17
fl75...0ct. 2
176... Oct. 9
177... Oct. 1 6
178. ..Oct. 17
fl79...Dec. 8
PAGE
. To Miss Porter. Catherine Chambers. House
building 99
. To George Strahan. Strahan s suspicion. Youth
rigorous in its expectations . . . .100
. To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s quarrel with his wife. The
chances of conjugal life ..... 101
. To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s fugitive wife. Charles
Howard. A melancholy mind a greater evil than
a disobedient wife . . . . . .103
. To Dr. Taylor. Advises Taylor to remove from
Ashbourne 105
. To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s correspondence with his
wife s friends; his indolence. The world has a
right to be regarded. Country towns the place
for gossip 1 06
. To George Strahan. Latin composition . . . 108
. To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s correspondence with his
wife s friends ; his perturbation of mind . .109
. To Miss Reynolds. Her projected voyage to the
Mediterranean. Ladies are timorous, yet not
cautious no
. To James Boswell.
, To Miss Porter. Sends her some presents . . 1 1 1
. To Dr. Taylor.- Taylor s agreement about his wife.
Management of the mind . . .. . . 112
. To Joshua Reynolds.
. To William Strahan. G. Strahan s entrance at
University College. W. Strahan s affair with the
University 113
. To David Garrick. Garrick s suffrage sought for his
Shakespeare . . . . . . .116
To David Garrick. Requests that places be reserved
at the Theatre . . . . .. . .117
. To George Strahan. Strahan s studies at Oxford . 118
. To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s neglect to write . .119
. To Mrs. Thrale. Hopes to visit her at Brighthelm- 1 1 9
stone 119
. To Mr. and Mrs. Thrale. Is angry at finding that
they had left Brighthelmstone . . . .120
. To Edward Lye. Lye s Anglo-Saxon and Gothic
Dictionary 121
. To Dr. Taylor. Shakespeare finished . . .122
. To Joseph Warton. Warton s subscription to Shake
speare 122
. To Charles Burney.
To Dr. Leland. Acknowledgments for his degree of
Doctor of Laws of Dublin . . . . .123
, To Edmund Hector. Receipts for his Shakespeare.
Inquires after Birmingham friends . . .124
1763-68.]
Table of Contents.
XXV
DATE LETTER
1766... 180... Jan. 14 .
181 ...Jan. 14 .
182... March 9 .
183 ...May 10 .
184 . . . Aug. 1 3 .
185 ... Aug. 21 .
186... Oct. 10 .
*187...Nov. 13 .
1767... 188. ..Feb. 14 .
189... April 21 .
190... July 20 .
191. ..Oct. 3 .
192. ..Oct. 10 .
193... Oct. 24 .
194 ...Nov. 17 .
1768... 195... March 3 .
196... March 3 .
197... March 14.
*198... March 17.
199... March 18.
200 ...March 23.
201... March 24.
202... April 18 .
203... April 19 .
204... April 28 .
205... May 23
206... May 28
207... May 28
208 ... June 17
209... June 18
210... Nov. ii
211... Dec. 2
. To Miss Porter. His house at Lichfield
. To James Bos-well.
. To Bennet Langton.
. To William Drummoml.
. To James Boszvell.
, To David Garrick. 100 of Garrick s in Tonson s
hands .........
. To Lucy Porter. His house at Lichfield
, To Mrs. Salusbury. Asks for news of Mrs. Thrale .
. To William Drtimmond.
To Mrs. Thrale. His home. Lucy Porter. Re
membrance of past years
To Mrs. Thrale. Longs to return to Streatham
To Bennet Langton.
, To William Drummond.
.To Mrs. (Miss) Aston. Walnut-trees. Solitude.
Death of Catherine Chambers ....
. To Mrs. Thrale. Southwark election
To Richard Pennick. Asks him to vote for Mr. Thrale
. To Mrs. Thrale. Southwark election. Thoughts on
death. Jack the Giant-killer ....
. To Apperley. Recommends Mr. Crosse for a
fellowship at Oriel College
To Mrs. Thrale. Southwark election
, To James Boswell.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Southwark and Oxford elections .
. To Miss Porter. Death of her aunt. The uncer
tainty of earthly comforts
To Mrs. Thrale. Has been very ill. Little Miss
Nanny Thrale
. To Mrs. Thrale. Kindness a great alleviation of
sickness. Solicitudes for others. Robert Cham
bers .........
. To Mrs. Thrale. The friendship of her house among
the felicities of life
. To F. A. Barnard. Advises about the purchase
abroad of rare books. Schoolmen and canonists.
Feudal and civil law. Editions curious, splendid,
and useful. Purchase of entire libraries. Topo
graphy. Wooden cuts. Maps. Famous printers.
Invention of printing. Early Bibles. Dangers of
infidelity and superstition .....
, To Francis Barber.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Grateful for her kindness .
. To Miss Porter. His health yet very weak. His
friends at Lichfield . . ....
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Salusbury s ill-health .
. To Mrs. Thrale. Apologises for not having written
127
127
128
129
130
132
134
35
136
136
138
140
141
142
142
148
148
149
149
XXVI
Table of Contents.
[Vol. i.
DATE LETTER
PAGE
1769... J212...
Jan. 17
...To David Garrick. A benefit for Mrs. Williams .
I 5
213...
March 31
...To Miss Flint (a letter in French). Apologises for
not having written. Miss Reynolds .
150
214...
May 1 8
,..To Mrs. Thrale. Writes that he may not be for-
151
215...
May 31
...To Thomas Warton.
216...
June 27
...To Mrs. Thrale. Anxious about her approaching
1*2
217...
June 29
...To Mrs. Thrale. Hesiod on the mixture of good
and evil. Birth of her daughter
152
218...
June 29
...To Henry Thrale. Honoured by being chosen as
53
219...
July 6
...To Mrs. Thrale. Alarming news of her health.
153
220...
Aug. 14
...To Mrs. Thrale. His journey to Lichfield. Finds
154
221...
Aug. 26
...To Mrs. Aston. A hand corn-mill
J55
222...
Sept. 9
... To James Bos we 11.
*223...
Oct. 5
...To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s demand of a living
156
*224...
Nov. 5
...To Thomas Percy. Solicits a sermon for the Ladies
i ^6
*^
225...
Nov. 9
... To James Bosivell.
1770. ..*226...
Jan. 9
... To Henry Bright. About a pupil for Bright s
157
227...
March 21
...To Dr. Farmer.
228...
May i
To Miss Porter. Suffers from rheumatism. His
cousin, Tom Johnson
i 5 8
229...
May 29
...To Miss Porter. Tom Johnson. Mr. Porter. Mr.
I *Q
230...
June 23
... To Thomas Warton.
f231...
July 2
...To Dr. Taylor. Offers to visit Taylor, who has
1 60
232...
July 7
. . . To Mrs. Thrale. Stow Hill and Borowcop Hill .
1 60
233...
July II
...To Mrs. Thrale. The Lichfield book of levies.
The revolutions of Sadler Street .
161
234...
July 14
. . . To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Salisbury s house broken into
163
235...
Jiy
... To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Cobb s strawberries. An
163
236...
July 20
...To Mrs. Thrale. Needwood Forest. Dr. Taylor s
*)
house. Books of travels
164
237...
July 23
...To Mrs. Thrale. Dr. Taylor s great bull
1 66
238...
Sept. 25
...To Francis Barber.
239...
Sept. 27
...To Dr. Warton.
240..,
Oct. 2
. . To Mr. and Mrs. Thrale. An application to Burke.
Sends a pamphlet
167
241..
. Dec. 7
... To Francis Barber.
1771 ...*242...
Jan. 25
... To Smith. Encloses bills and orders Irish cloth
167
*243..
, Feb. 2
...To John Rivington. The additions in the new
edition of his Shakespeare .
168
1769-72.]
Table of Contents.
xxvn
DATE LETTER
1771 ...*244... Feb. 18 .
245... March
246 ...March 20.
247... April 17 .
1772
248
249
... May 16 ..
...June 15 ..
250
251
252
253
...June 20 .
... June 20 .
. . . June 2 2 .
... June 25 .
254
...Julys
255
-July? .
256
257
258
...July? ..
...JulyS .,
... July 10 .
259
260
...July 15 .
...July 17 .,
261
262
263
264
...July 17 .
... July 20
... July 22
...July 24 .
265
...July 31 .
266
...Aug. 3 .
267
...Aug. 5 .,
268
269
... Aug. 29 .
. . . Dec. 1 2 .
J270
. . . Undated .
271
272
273
274
... Feb. 27 .
...Feb. 27 .
... March 14.
... March 15.
f275... April 17
276 ... Aug. 31
. To Dr. Farmer. Asks for assistance in the new
edition of his Shakespeare .....
. To Henry Thrale. Asks for a discharge for a
recruit ........
. . To Bennet Langton.
,. To Miss Langton. Replies to her censure of him
as deficient in friendship. Health the basis of all
social virtues .......
. To the Cotmtess de Boufflers.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Sends a pamphlet about a remedy
for Mrs. Salusbury ......
. . To James Boswell.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Has set out for Lichfield .
.. To Mrs. Thrale. Lichfield gossip
. . To Mrs. Thrale. Maltsters. Fifty pounds gained
by the rise upon stock .....
..To Mrs. Thrale. The Staffordshire Canal. The
great bull
. . To Mrs. Thrale. Frank and his master much im
proved ........
. To Mrs. Thrale. A matter of four wives
. To Mrs. Thrale. Invited to Hagley. Poor Ford .
, . To Mrs. Thrale. The man who had seen a bigger
bull. Malvern waters .....
.. To Mrs. Thrale. Practising chemistry .
. To Mrs. Thrale. Little to please him at Lich
field. Lucy Porter a philosopher
.. To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
.. To Mrs. Thrale. -Accused of frigidity .
. . To Mrs. Thrale. Persecuted by rheumatism
. . To Mrs. Thrale. The solitary swan and the great
bull. A laboratory at Streatham
. . To Henry Thrale. Watching for a vacant place in
a passing carriage
.. To Mrs. Thrale. Detained by Lucy Porter. Mrs.
Thrale s miscalculation
. To Mrs. Thrale. Dean Addenbroke. Green s
Museum ........
. . To Bennet Langton.
. . To David Garrick. Epitaph on Hogarth
.. To [? Thomas Cadell]. Order to bind two of his
pamphlets ........
. . To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
.. To Joseph Banks.
. . To Bennet Langton.
.. To James Boswell.
..To Dr. Taylor. Does not like to dine out on the
last day of Lent
. . To Jai/ics Boswell.
169
169
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
179
1 80
182
183
183
184
185
1 86
188
188
XXV111
Table of Contents.
[Vol. i.
DATE LETTER
PAGE
1772... f277...
Aug. 31 ..
. To Dr. Taylor. How to manage the mind. Has
no longer the same command of his attention as
of old
189
fi78...
Oct. 6 ..
. To Dr. Taylor. The fourth edition of the Dic
tionary ........
191
279...
Oct. 19 ..
.To Mrs. Thrale. Journey to Lichfield. Mr.
Thrale s money difficulties. General dearth
191
280...
Oct. 24 ..
. To Mrs. Thrale. -Her application to her uncle for
assistance. Need of saving. Price of malt
193
281...
Oct. 29 ..
. To Mrs. Thrale. Her application to her uncle
195
282...
Oct. 31 ..
. To Mrs. Thrale. Thinking on his god-child.
Bustle in the brew-house. The man who had
seen a bigger bull ......
196
283...
Nov. 4 ..
. To Mrs. Thrale. Writing when there is nothing to
107
284...
Nov. 7 ..
. To Mrs. Thrale. Her sagacity in great matters.
y i
The waterfall at Ashbourne ....
197
285...
Nov. 9 ..
. To Mrs. Thrale. The fury of housewifery. A tre
mendous year. Future profits ....
198
286...
Nov. 19 ..
. To Mrs. Thrale. A year of straggle
199
287...
Nov. 23 ..
To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Salusbury s sufferings.
Flattery
200
288...
Nov. 27 .
.. To Mrs. Thrale. Chatsworth ....
20O
289...
Dec. 3
. . To Mrs. Thrale. Better times coming .
2OI
t 290...
Dec. 5
.. To Edmund Hector. Purposes to visit him .
2O2
f291...
Dec. 12 .
... To Edmund Hector.- Returns to London. A cure
for cancer ........
203
292...
Dec. 15 .
. . To James Granger. Mr. Farmer s pamphlet.
Arthur O Toole
203
1773... 293...
Jan. 26 ..
. To Mrs. Thrale. The inequalities of human life
204
294...
Feb. 19 ..
. To Mrs. Thrale. The Southwells. Election dinners
205
295...
Feb. 24 ..
. To James Bos well.
*296...
Feb. 27 .
,.To Dr. Taylor. Has been very ill. A spelling-
book. Is no longer a match for wind and weather
2O7
00*7
71 T I,
7^i R
> t ...
ItiarCfl 4 .
298...
March 4 .
. . To the Rev. White.
299...
March 4 .
..To Dr. W. S. Johnson. The pleasure of being
remembered. A time of uncommon turbulence
expected. The state of literature. An expedition
to the Polar Ocean
2O9
300..,
March 9 .
. . To Mrs. Thrale. Dr. James. Mrs. Salusbury s
illness ........
2IO
301..
March 1 1 .
, . To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Salusbury ....
211
302..,
, March 17.
. . To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Salusbury. Grief a species
of idleness ........
212
303..,
, March 20.
. . To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Salusbury. Jackson s
copper ........
213
304..
. March 25.
.. To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Salusbury. Goldsmith and
Colman. Jennens s Hamlet ....
214
1772-73.]
Table of Contents.
XXIX
DATE LETTER
J 773 -.. 305 ...April 23
306... April 27
307. ..May 8
308. ..May 17
309... May 22
310... May 23
311. ..May 24
J312... June 23
313... >/j> 5
314... ^-. 3
315... ^w^-. 3
t316...Aug. 5
317 ... ^4z. ii
318... Aug. 12
319... Aug. 14
320... Aug. 17
321... Aug. 25
322... Aug. 28
323... Sept. 6
324... Sept. 14
325... Sept. 14
326... Sept. 21
. To Oliver Goldsmith. Proposes Boswell for the
Club 215
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Salusbury. Her change of
feeling towards Johnson . . . . .216
..To W. Bagshaw.
.. To Mrs. Thrale. Her letters never too long.
Vows. The rights of parents over children . 216
, .To Mrs. Thrale. Dr. Lawrence. A runaway
match 219
, To Mrs, Thrale. Her flattery. Celsus . .220
To Mrs. Thrale. Suffers from inflammation in the
eye. Mrs. Salusbury. Praise and flattery . .220
To Dr. Taylor. The need of exercise . . .222
. To James BosweU.
. To Dr. Taylor. Starts to-morrow for Scotland . 222
. To James Boswell.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Newark. Doncaster. York.
Northallerton. Darlington. His relations. Dur
ham. Miss Fordyce. Wandering about the
world. Newcastle. Books of travels . . 223
. To James Bos^vell.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Alnwick. Edinburgh. Dr.
Robertson. Boswell s rooms. Duchess of
Douglas. Dr. Blacklock 228
.To Mrs. Thrale. Inchkeith. St. Andrews. John
Knox. A gloomy mansion. The Library of St.
Mary s College. A cheap university. Aber-
brothick. Monboddo. Aberdeen. London pave
ment. Plaids, shoes, and cabbages. Libraries.
An old acquaintance ......
. To Mrs. Thrale. Receives the freedom of Aber
deen. No fees. Slains Castle. Dunbuys and
the Bullers of Buchan .....
To Mrs. Thrale. The verge of European life.
Want of trees. A Druid s temple. Elgin.
Macbeth. Fruit-trees. Barefoot people. Beg
gars. Nairn. Cawdor. Fort George. Sir Eyre
Coote. Inverness. Travelling on horseback.
Loch Ness. A length of shade. Inns. Fall
of Foyers. Fort Augustus. Mountain roads.
Anoch. Cocker s Arithmetic .... 238
. To Mrs. Thrale. The post in the Hebrides. Sky.
The Macdonalds and Macleods. Great estates.
Raasay 244
. To Lord Elibank.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Dunvegan. Offered an island.
Meets acquaintance. Rents raised. Anoch.
230
235
xxx Table of Contents. [Vol.
DATE LETTER I>AGI:
1773 Rest in a glen. A wild tribe. Snuff. \Vheaten
bread. His birthday. Uniformity of the High
lands. The inn at Glenelg. Sir A. Macdonald.
Isle of Sky. The use of travelling. Through
Sky on horseback. A tenant s house. Erse
songs. Prince Charles. Raasay . . . 245
327 ... Sept. 24 ...To Mrs. Thrale. Every island is a prison.
Raasay. Head-dresses. The chieftaincy of the
Macleods. Prince Charles. No foolish healths.
Dancing. Erse songs. A crowded house . . 256
328 ...Sept. 28 ...To Macleod of Macleod. Thanks him for his
kindness 260
329 ... Sept. 30 ... To Mrs. Thrale. Prisoners in Sky. Uneasy appre
hensions. The Laird of Macleod. The Highland
head-dress. Raasay. Huts and philosophers.
The old order changing. Emigration. Chapels
in ruins. Boats. Kingsburgh. Flora Mac
donald. Prince Charles s bed. Macleod s estates
and debts. Books. Laird of Muck. Highland
hospitality. Cave near Ulinish. Talisker. Minis
ters. Laird of Coll. Doge of Genoa. Pastoral
life. Cost of travelling. No custom-houses.
Meals. Knives. Silver. Bread. \Vhisky. Fuel.
Houses. Garb. Soil and climate. Animals . 261
330. ..Oct. 15 ... To Henry Thrale. Tempests. No letters . . 275
331 ... Oct. 15 ... To Mrs. Thrale. Driven by a storm to Coll. The
young Laird. Turnips. Mull .... 276
832... Oct. 23 ... To Mrs. Thrale. Travelling in Mull. Ulva. Inch
Kenneth. Sir Allan Maclean. Paradise opened
in the wild. Cave. A moonlight voyage,
lona 278
333... Oct. 23 ...To Henry Thrale. Riding through a storm to
Inverary. Ode 283
334... Oct. 26 ...To Henry Thrale. Inverary. More than two
months without a letter 284
335 ... Oct. 27 ... To the Duke of Argyle.
336... Oct. 28 ...To Mrs. Thrale. Duke of Argyle. Glen Croe.
Loch Lomond. Mr. Smollett. An honest keeper 285
337... Nov. 3 ...To Mrs. Thrale. Answers to her letters. Mrs.
Boswell. Dr. Beattie. Queeney s cabinet. Van-
sittart s envy. Sir T. Salusbury. Sir Sawney.
Boswell a good companion. The brewery. Glas
gow. Countesses of Loudoun and Eglintoune.
Auchinleck ....... 287
338... Nov. 12 ...To Mrs. Thrale. Her uncle s will. Management
of the mind. Return to Edinburgh . . .292
339... Nov. 1 8 ...To Mrs. Thrale. Birth of Ralph Thrale. Lucy
Thrale s death. Returning home . . . 294
340... A bz . 27 ... To James Bos-well.
1773-75.]
Table of Contents.
XXXI
DATE LETTER
PAGE
I774-. 341.
. Jan. ii
.To Mrs. Montagu. Apologises for his inad
vertency ........
295
*342.,
Jan. 15 .
. To Dr. Taylor. His tour to Scotland .
296
343..
.Jan. 29 .,
. To James Boswell.
344..
.Feb. 7 ..
345..
. Feb. 7
. . To George Steevens.
346..
. Feb. 21
) 5
347..
. March 5 .
?! )>
348..
. March 5 .
. To James Boswell.
J349..
. March 7 . .
. To [? William Strahan]. Literary copy-right
297
350..
. March 1 1 . .
. To Mrs. Thrale. Hopes to visit her soon
297
351..
. Undated . .
. To Mrs. Thrale. Has been bled ....
298
352..
. March 15..
. To James Boswell.
353..
. March 30..
. To Warren Hastings.
354..
. May 10
. To James Boswell.
*355..
. May 27
. To James Boswell. Introduces a lady .
299
356..
.June ii ..
. To James Boswell.
357..
July 4 ..
,, ,,
358..
Julys ..
. To Bennet Langton.
359..
. Atig. 1 6 ..
. To Robert Levett.
360..
. Oct. i
. To James Boswell.
361..
. Oct. 25 ..
. To Perkins.
362..
. Oct. 27 ..
. To James Boswell.
363..
. Nov. 26 ..
!* < ?
*364 ..
. Nov. 30
. To William Strahan. Cancels a page in the
Journey to the Western Islands ....
300
365..
. Dec. 6 . .
. To Hollyer. Money sent to Thomas Johnson .
302
366..
. Dec. 19 . .
. To John Hoole.
367..
. Dec. 20 ..
. To Warren Hastings.
*368..
. Dec. 22 . .
. To William Strahan. An apprentice to Strahan s
business. The Blue Coat School
3O -J
*36 .)..
. Dec. 22 . .
. To Dr. Taylor. The Blue Coat School. Charles
Congreve. John Wesley
-IOJ.
J77r... 370..
. Jan. 2
. To Henry Thrale. Ranelagh House. H. Heelv.
Election dinner .......
306
371..
.Jan. 14 ..
. To James Boswell.
J372..
Jan. 14 ...
. To Dr. Taylor. Journey to the Western Islands.
Charles Congreve
307
J373..
.Jan. 20 ..
. To James Macpherson (extract from the original) .
307
374..
.Jan. 2i
. To James Boaivell.
375..
.Jan. 28 ..
,,
376..
. Feb. 3
. To Mrs. Thrale. Taxation no Tyranny
308
377..
. Feb. 7 . .
. To Dr. Lawrence.
378..
. Feb. 7
. To James Boswell.
379..
. Feb.
. To Henry Thrale. Carter, the riding-school master
308
380..
. Feb. 25 ..
. To James Boswell.
*381..
. March i . .
. To WilHam Strahan. Taxation no 7yranny
309
*382..
March 3
To William Strahan. Oxford post. The Ministry.
Presentation copies of Taxation no Tyranny
310
XXX11
Table of Contents.
[Vol. i.
DATE LETTER
1775 ... 383 ...March 3 ..
J384 ... March 6 .
385 ... March 26.
386 ... April i
t387 ...April 8
388 ...April 17
38!) . . . May 6
390 ... May 12
J391...May
+392... May
393 ... May 20
394... May 21
395 ... May 22
J396...May 24
397... May 25
398... May 27
399... June i
400... June 5
401 ...June 6
402 ...June 7
403... June 7
404 ... June 10
405 . . . June 1 1
406 ...June 13
407... June 17
408... June 19
PAGE
3"
312
315
Peyton and Mac-
Denmark s death.
To Mrs. Thrale. Uneasy for want of news of the
Thrales. Mr. Carter. Oxford post .
. To William Strahan. .
. To Dr. Fothergill
.To Mrs. Thrale. Bruce the traveller. Proposed
riding-school at Oxford. Clarendon trustees. Is
madeD.C.L. Flattery . .3"
.To Dr. Taylor. Strahan s apprentice. Pelted by
the patriots. Charles Congreve . 3 X 4
..To Bennet Langton.
..To the Laird of Raasay.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Her suspicions. Twiss s
Travels. Mrs. Abington. Boswell enters at
the Temple. Paoli. Wales. Gray s Letters.
Raasay offended ....
.To Dr. Leland
To George Faulkner
..To Mrs. Thrale. Sends money
bean starving. Queen of
Toleration ....
..To Bennet Langton.
..To Mrs. Thrale. Boswell s fees and journal. Mr.
Carter. Mourning-clothes. Chandler, Twiss,
Wraxall and Adair. Dr. Beattie
. . To Mrs. Thrale. Asks for his mourning-clothes .
.. To Mrs. Thrale. Has suffered from faintness. Mr.
Thrale s direction about his clothes
..To James Bos-well*
..To Mrs. Thrale. University College. Mrs. Salus-
bury s epitaph. The Clarendon trustees. Chapel
at six in the morning. Mr. Smollett .
..To Mrs. Thrale (written in French). Mrs. Salus-
bury s epitaph. W T eary of Oxford
..To Mrs. Thrale. Coulson quarrels with him.
Oxford post. Waiting for a vacancy in a coach.
Baretti and Queeney .
... To Mrs. Thrale. The riding-school. Anxious for
news . ....
... To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Salusbury s epitaph .
To Mrs. Thrale. Birmingham and Lichfield .
..To Mrs. Thrale. Friends at Lichfield. Unusual
compliments. Mrs. Salusbury s epitaph. Bos-
well s Journal . .
To Mrs. Thrale. Lichfield Amicable Society. Coll
and Boswell ..-
To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s improvements. Har
vest prospects. Sir Joshua Mawbey .
To Mrs. Thrale. Queeney s hens. Mrs. Salusbury s
epitaph. Lichfield conversation .
319
320
322
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
331
332
334
1775.]
Table of Contents.
xxxin
DATE LETTER
1775 ... 409 ... June 21
410 ... June 23
411 ... June 26
J412 ... June 29
413... July i
414... July
415... July 6
416... July [? 9]
417... July ii
418... July 12
419... July 13
420... July 15
421... July 17
422... July 20
423... July 21
424... July 24
425... July 26
426... July 29
427... Aug. i
428 ... Aug. 2
429... Aug. 5
430... Aug. 5
431 ... Aug. 27
432... Aug. 29
438... Sept. 9
J434...Sept. 9
VOL. I.
,..To Mrs. Thrale. Delights in her letters. The
Amicable Society. The Regatta. Enjoying the
world. Hoc age 335
.. To Mrs. Thrale. The Regatta. Loves the Thrales
and the Thralites 338
. . To Mrs. Thrale. Preconcerted pleasure. Queeney
at the Regatta 339
.. To Richard Green. Makes an appointment . . 340
. . To Mrs. Thrale. At Dr. Taylor s. Sir R. Chambers 340
. . To Mrs. Thrale. W T riting letters about nothing. Bad
harvests. The Regatta 341
. . To Mrs. Thrale. Boswell s Journal. Mrs. Thrale s
sons. Faction. The Ministry .... 343
. . To Mrs. Thrale. Her children .... 345
...To Mrs. Thrale. Bright and cloudy days. Mr.
Thrale s accession of fortune. Dr. Taylor s gar
dening. Taking a ramble in India . . . 345
...To Mrs. Thrale. Ashbonrne news. Mr. Langley
and Dr. Taylor at variance .... 347
. . . To Mrs. Thrale. Weak health of her children. The
riding-school. Poor Lizard .... 348
...To Mrs. Thrale. Baretti s rudeness. Her parental
resolution. Harry Thrale and an entail . . 350
,.. To Mrs. Thrale. No letter. News of Dr. Taylor.
Mr. Thrale s projects. Polish oats
...To Mrs. Thrale. Death of Ralph Thrale. The
harvest
353
354
356
357
358
...To Mrs. Thrale. Baretti. Enjoying the present.
Boswell s Journal. Mrs. Thrale s trustees .
...To Mrs. Thrale. Queeney s pretty letter. Leaving
Ashbourne ........
. . . To Mrs. Thrale. Lichfield. In the way of carriages.
No materials for his letters .....
. . . To Mrs. Thrale. Dr. Cheyne ....
...To Mrs. Thrale. Lucy Porter s fit of tenderness.
News from America. Mr. Thrale s pool. Oxford
a sullen solitude ...... 359
...To Mrs. Thrale. Their correspondence. The his
tory of one s own inind. The mind at its stationary
point ......... 361
...To Mrs. Thrale. Will take a post-chaise. The
mind at its stationary point (continued). Sophy
Thrale 363
. . . To Mrs. Desmoulins. Garrick and Hawkesworth 365
... To James Boswell.
... To Mrs. Thrale. A paper mislaid. Her forgetful-
ness. Attack of gout 366
...To Mrs. Porter. Has sent her books by the carrier 367
... To Mrs. Aston and Mrs. Gastrell .... 368
XXXIV
Table of Contents.
[Vol. i.
DATE
1775
1776.
LETTER
. 435... Stpt. 14
436 ..Sept. 1 8
437
438
439
PAGE
... Oct. 22
... Nov. 16
... Nov. 16
.. Nov. 16
. . Nov. 1 6
442... Dec. 15
443. ..Dec. 17
444 ... Dec. 17
. Dec. 21
. Dec. 2 3
.Jan. 10
445
446
. 447
448
J449 ^
450... Feb.
451... Feb. 6
..Jan. 15
452... /% 9
453. ..Feb. 13
454... /V^. 15
f455...Feb. 17
456... Feb. 19
457... Feb. 24
458... March 5
*459...March6
t460... March 7
*461... March 7 ..
462... March 12.
463... March 12.
*464 ... March 23.
465... March 25.
466 ... March 30.
467... April i .
468. ..April 4 .
J469... April 4 .
470. ..April 9 .
To James BesivelL
. To Robert Levett.
5? )
. To James Boswell.
. To Mrs. Porter.
To Dr. Taylor. Trip to France. Roving the world.
Their old friendship. The French
. To Edmund Hector. Paris. Marie Antoinette and
Queeney
. To Mrs. Montagu. Her illness ....
. To Mrs. Montagu. Replies to an invitation .
. To Mrs. Porter.
. To Mrs. Montagu. Replies to an invitation .
To James Boswell.
To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s law-suit ....
To James Boswell.
To John Wesley. Acknowledges the receipt of the
Commentary on the Bible. Wesley and the
American question
To James Boswell.
. To Archibald Hamilton. Dr. Calder and the Cyclo
pedia ........
. To James Boswell.
. To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s law-suit. Management
of the mind. Friends of one s youth .
. To Dr. Calder. The Proprietors of the Cyclopcedia
. To James Boswell.
! J)
. To Dr. Douglas. The riding-school
. To Edmund Hector. France compared with Eng
land. Charles Congreve. Valetudinarians. Mrs.
Careless. Brothers and sisters ....
To Dr. Taylor. Charles Congreve. Taylor s law
suit .........
. To James Boswell.
. To Dr. Wetherell.
. To Dr. Taylor. At Lichfield. Will start with Bos
well for Ashbourne ......
. To Mrs. Thrale. Harry Thrale s death .
. To Mrs. Thrale. Sorrow not to be indulged. A
whole system of hopes swept away
.To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale. Peyton s death.
The sufferings and fortitude of obscure life
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s behaviour
. To Dr. Taylor .......
, To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale gives up his tour to
Italy. Gratitude to the Thrales ....
368
369
37
37
37 2
372
374
375
376
} N- *
3//
377
379
380
38i
382
384
386
387
1775-76.]
Table of Contents.
XXXV
DATE LETTER
1776... 471... April II
472... April ii
*473... April 13
474 ... April 15
47 5... April
476. ..May 6
477 ... May 11
478... May 14
479... May 16
480... May 16
4&\...May 16
482... May 18
483. ..May 22
f 484 ... May 29
485 ... June 3
486... June 4
487... Junes
488... June 6
489... June 8
490 ...June 21
491 ...June 22
f 492... June 23
493... July 2
494.../w/j/ 6
495... July n
496 ...Aug. 3
f497...Aug. 3
*498...Sept. 21
*499...Oct 14
. To Miss Reynolds. Apologises for neglect. Mr. and
Mrs. Thrale much dejected ..... 389
. To the Earl of Hertford. Applies for an apartment
in Hampton Court 389
. To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s law-business. Mr. and
Mrs. Thrale ....... 390
. To Miss Reynolds. Explains why she was not re
ceived by Mrs. Thrale 391
. To James Bos-well.
. To Mrs. Thrale. His journey from Bath. Sees be
fore him to his third dinner. Political Tracts . 391
. To Mrs. Thrale. Has visited her two children.
Bennet Langton. Management of children . 393
. To Mrs. Thrale. Taylor s law-business. Boswell s
hopes. Mr. Welch ...... 394
. To Mrs. Thrale. Taylor s head full of preferments.
Dines with Wilkes. Mrs. Knowles. Steevens and
Chatterton ....... 396
. To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
. To Mrs. Boswell.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Perkins crows and triumphs. Bos-
well s return to Scotland. Mr. Twiss . . . 398
, . To Mrs. Thrale. Taylor s law- business. Sir Joshua
and the Bishop of St. Asaph. Chatterton. Mr.
Thrale takes up his restes. Danger of being
soothed into inactivity. Two Benedictines . . 400
.. To Dr. Adams. Introduces a Benedictine . . 402
, . To Henry Thrale. Suffers from the gout. Baretti.
Tyrwhitt and Chatterton ..... 403
..To Mrs. Thrale. Offers though ill to come and
see her 404
.. To Mrs. Thrale. Still suffering from the gout . 405
. . To Mrs. Thrale. The gout ..... 405
.. To Mrs. Thrale. The gout. The Benedictines . 406
.. To Miss Reynolds. Goldsmith s epitaph . . 407
. . To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
. . To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s law-business. Advises
him to persevere in drinking. Wilkes s poll as
City Chamberlain. The revolution in the Prince s
household 408
. . To James fioswell.
11
..To Francis Fowke. Joseph Fowke and Warren
Hastings ........ 409
.. To Sir Joshua Reynolds . . . . .411
,. To Miss Reynolds. Replies to a request . .411
,. To John Ryland. A play by Dr. Hawkesworth . 412
. . To William Strahan. Had sent some copy. Pro
fessor Watson. Dr. Robertson . . . ,412
XXXVI
Table of Contents.
[Vol. ii.
DATE LETTER
1776... 500... Oct. 21
*501...Nov. 14
502... Nov. 16
*503...Dec. i
*504...Dec. 2
21
. To Robert Levett.
. To John Ryland. Dr. Hawkesworth s \Yorks . 413
. To James Boswell.
. To Dr. Percy. Asks for an admission for T. Coxeter
to the Middlesex Hospital 414
To Dr. Percy. Sends information about T. Coxeter 414
To James Boswell.
APPENDICES.
A. Draft of a Letter to the Duke of Bedford in the name of Lewis Paul . 417
B. Letter to David Hume from Archibald Macdonald about the expenses &c.
of education at Oxford . . . . . . . . .418
C. Verses by David Garrick . . . . . . . . . 421
D. Letter to W. J. Mickle from James Boswell . . . . . .422
VOLUME II.
1777 ... 506... Jan. 15
507
508
509
510,
511
512,
513,
*514
515
*516
517,
518.
Feb. 1 8
. Feb. 25
. March 8 ,
March 1 1
, March 1 5
March 19,
April 9
April 1 2
, May 3
May 3
May 19 .
May 19
f519 ...May 19
.. To Mrs. Thrale. Respiration obstructed : undergoes
a course of bleeding. Dines out ... i
. . To James Boswell.
. . To George Steevens.
. . To Mrs. Aston. State of his and her health . . 2
. . To James Boswell.
..To Mrs. Aston. The management of the mind.
Gaiety a duty ....... 3
. . To Mrs. Thrale. A party at Sir Joshua s . . 4
. . To Henry Thrale. A letter of congratulation . 6
..To John Ryland. Dr. Hawkesworth s Works.
Youthful performances 7
.. To James Boswell.
. . To Dr. Taylor. H. Lucas s tragedy ... 9
. . To Charles O Connor.
..To Mrs. Thrale. Dr. Taylor s influence with the
Duke of Devonshire. The knowledge of life . 10
. . To Dr. Taylor. An entertainment at Devonshire
House. Dr. Dodd sentenced . 10
1776-7.]
Table of Contents.
xxxvn
DATE LETTER
I AGE
1777... 520.
..Jtine 20
...To the Right Hon. Charles Jenkinson.
521.
..June 22
...To Dr. Dodd.
522 .
..June 24
...To James Boswell.
523.
..June 26
...To Dr. Dodd.
524.
..Jtine 28
...To James Boswell.
525.
..June 29
...To Bennet Langton.
526.
..July 7
...To IV. Sharp.
527.
. . July 9
...To Dr. Vyse.
528.
..July 22
...To James Boswell.
529.
..July 22
...To Mrs. Boswell.
530.
. . July 2 2
... To Dr. Farmer. The Lives of the Poets .
13
531.
. . July 22
... To Dr. Vyse. Grotius s nephew .
r 4
532.
J u ty 3 l
... To Henry Thrale. Oxford. The Lives
H
533.
..Aug. 4
To Mrs. Thrale. The Lives. Gwynn the architect.
Boswell s huge bustle
15
534.
..Attg. 4
...To James Boswell.
535.
..Aug. 7
... To Mrs. Thrale. Birmingham and Lichneld. Old
friends dead. Prologue for Kelly. Dr. Dodd .
i7
536.
..Aug. 9
... To Mrs. Thrale. Dr. Dodd. Cook s Voyages
18
537.
..Aug. 13
...To Mrs. Thrale. Her pleasant tattle. Petty talk.
Scarcity of fruit. A workhouse in contemplation .
1 9
538.
..Aug. 23
... To Mrs. Thrale. Tries ipecacuanha. The great
year of a hundred thousand barrels. Mr. Brooke
of Town Mailing. Lichneld Races .
21
589.
.. Aug. 27
... To Mrs. Thrale. A new Dean. Race week. The
harvest ........
24
540.
..Aug. 30
. . . To James Boswell.
541.
Sept. i
542.
. . Sept. 6
... To Mrs. Thrale. Loitering through life. Thraliana.
543... Sept. 8
5^... Sept. ii
545 ... Sept. 13
.546... Sept. 13
547... Sept. 15
548... Sept. 1 8
549 ... Sept. 20
550... Sept. 22
551 ... Sept. 25
552... Sept. 27
Journal-keeping .... ..26
To Mrs. Thrale. -Ashbourne. Lady Lade , . 28
To James Boswell.
To Mrs. Thrale. Foolish fancies. Lady Lade. Bos
well and the Baltic expedition. Wales . . 29
To Mrs. Aston. Her illness ... -3
. To Mrs. Thrale. Arrival of Boswell at Ashbourne.
Langton s children. Great hopes for Mr. Thrale . 31
To Mrs. Thrale. His birth-day. Boswell s vivacity.
The family at Bolt Court. A memorial urn. Mr.
Thrale s ambition 33
. To Mrs. Thrale. Keddlestone and Derby. The
china-fancy. A loan to Boswell. Rattling phrases
together. Howell and the Spanish language . 34
. To Mrs. Thrale. Lord Harcourt and his dog. Ham.
The harvest 37
To Mrs. Thrale. Departure of Boswell. New
clothes. The Benedictines 39
, To Mrs. Thrale. Duke of Argyle. Mrs. Langton.
Remoteness of Brighthelmstone .... 40
XXXV111
Table of Contents.
[Vol. ii.
DATE LETTER
1777... 553. ..Sept. 29
554... Oct. 6
555. ..Oct. 13
556... Oct. 1 6
557... Oct. 22
558. ..Oct. 25
559. ..Oct. 27
560. ..Oct. 29
561... Nov. 3
562... Nov. 10
563... Nov. 20
564 ... Nov. 20
565 ... Nov. 25
. Dec. 27
. Dec. 27
PAGE
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Desmou-
lins compared. Winding. Dr. Taylor busy.
Mrs. Boswell. Boswell s Journal. Lilly lolly . 42
. To Mrs. Thrale. Always a Susy. Remoteness of
Brighthelmstone : Mr. Thrale s excavations. Dr.
Taylor s waterfall 44
. To Mrs. Thrale. Working at the Lives. Her kind
ness and Mr. Thrale s 46
. To Mrs. Thrale. Queeney s dancing. The last . 47
. To Mrs. Thrale. Lichfield. Dr. Taylor sells a cow.
Leek in the Morlands 48
. To Mrs. Thrale. Cholmondely s story. Playing
Agnes 50
, To Mrs. Thrale. Posterity the author s favourite.
Letter-writing 51
. To Mrs. Thrale. Academia Paracelsi. Mr. and
Mrs. Thrale s kindness 53
To Mrs. Thrale. Returning home. Foote s death.
The Lives ... .... 55
.To Mrs. Thrale. Summoned to Brighthelmstone.
Mr. Scrase. Mrs. Thrale s wig .... 56
To Mrs. Aston. Her health. Mrs. Gastrell . . 58
. To Mrs. Porter. Cast of his head by Nollekens . 59
. To James Boswell.
. To Mrs. Gastrell. His health and Mrs. Aston s . 60
To James Boswell.
) !>
To Thomas Cadell. Printer to the Royal Academy.
Mr. Allen 61
. To . Gwynn the Architect . . . .61
, To Saunders Welch.
. To Mrs. Porter. His bust. Present of oysters . 62
. To Mrs. Montagu. Asks for a subscription for
Davies .... -63
574 ... March 6 ... To Mrs. Montagu. Acknowledges her subscrip
tion .... .64
To James Boswell.
To Mrs. Thrale. Nine days of engagements . . 65
To Mauritius Lowe. Application to Sir Joshua and
Garrick 66
To James Boswell.
To William Strahan.
To James Elphinston. The death of a wife . . 67
To John Nichols. The Lives .... 68
To John Nichols. Life of Dryden ... 68
To Mrs. Thrale. Dr. Collier s epitaph. A print of
Mrs. Montagu. Dr. Burney robbed. Sir Joshua
painting him. Camps. Mr. Thrale s sorrow . 69
To Thomas Cadell. The Lives .... 71
566
567
1778... 568 ...Jan. 24
*569... Jan. 28
*570...Jan. 30
571... Feb. 3
572 ...Feb. 19
573 . . . March 5
575 ... April 23
576 . . . April 30
|577... May 15
578...>/j/3
579 ...July 27
580... July 27
581... July 27
582... August
583... Oct. 15
J584...Oct. 17
1777-79.]
Table of Contents.
xxxix
DATE LETTER
1778... 585. ..Oct. 24
586 ...Oct. 31
587 ... Oct. 31
588 ...Nov. 2
589 ... Nov. 2
590... Nov. 9
591... Nov. 14
592. ..Nov. 21
593. ..Nov. 21
59 4... Undated
595... Nov. 26
*596...Dec. 7
1779...
597...
Dec.
598...
Dec. 29
599...
600...
601...
Jan. 2
Jan. 2
Feb. 2
602...
Feb. 15
608
604
605
606
March i .
March 4 .
March 4 .
March 10.
607 ... March 13.
608... March 1 8.
*609... April 3 .
611. ...My/ 2
612. ..May 3
613. ..May 4
614... ^/oy 4
615 ... May 20
616... May 29
617 ... June 14
. To Mrs. Thrale. The Thrales on the springtide of
prosperity. Out-brewing Whitbread. To die is
dreadful 72
,.To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale and the black dog.
Downing. His portrait by Sir Joshua. Mrs.
Williams and Mrs. Desmoulins .... 73
. To Captain Langton.
. To Dr. Wheeler.
. To Dr. Edwards.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Honest Joseph. Levett, Williams
and Poll 75
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale and the black dog. No
love at Bolt Court. Dr. Burney at Oxford. Eve
lina. Queeney and Susy. Mr. Thrale s canal . 76
. To Mrs. Thrale. Wandering over the Steine. Ba-
retti s musical scheme. The lottery of love . 79
. To James Boswell.
. To John Nichols. The Index to the English Poets So
.. To John Nichols. The Index. Mr. Macbean . 81
..To Thomas Fitzmaurice. On the birth of a son.
Lady Shelburne 81
. To John Nichols.
. To John Hussey.
. To Mrs. Aston. Gives some account of the year past 82
. To Mrs. Porter. Sends good wishes for the new year 83
. To Mrs. Garrick. Garrick s death ... 84
. To Miss Reynolds. About some affair which he had
undertaken for her 84
. To John Nichols.
. To Mrs. Aston. Garrick s death .... 85
. To Mrs. Porter. Mr. Pearson. Mrs. Adey . . 86
.To Mrs. Thrale. Baretti s golden dream. Sends
the Lives to the king 87
. . To James Boswell.
.. To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Vesey. Bleeding and fasting.
Islington ........ 88
.. To Thomas Cadell. Breda bookseller. Copies of
the Lives lent 89
... To James Boswell.
... To John Nichols.
... To John Wesley.
...To Mrs. Aston. Had sent her the Lives.
Museum 90
... To Mrs. Porter.
... To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Watson s papers . . 91
. .. To Mrs. Thrale. The journey to Lichfield. Tom
Johnson. Greenhill Bower. Does not forget
Streatham ....... 92
...To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s illness ... 93
Green s
xl
Table of Contents.
[Vol. ii.
DATE LETTER
1779... 618..- J un e 14
619 ...June 15
620... June 17
621 ... June 19
622... June 23
623 . . . June 24
624 ... June 27
625... July 13
626. ..July 13
t627...Aug. 3
628... Sept. 9
629 ...Oct. 4
630... Oct. 5
631... Oct. 8
632. ..Oct. ii
633... Oct. 16
634... Oct. 19
t635...Oct. 19
636... Oct. 21
637.. Oct. 25
638... Oct. 25
639 ... Oct. 27
640... Oct. 28
641... Nov. 2
642... Nov. 4
643... Nov. 5
644 ...Nov. 7
645 ...Nov. 8
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s illness his tem
perate life . 95
To Henry Thrale. His friendship for Thrale . 96
To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s illness ... 97
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s illness ... 98
. To Henry Thrale. Sends him 100. Rules of
health. Exercise denned ..... 98
. To Mrs. Thrale. Cost of posting. His affection
for the Thrales 99
. To Miss Reynolds. The difficulty of getting money 100
To Charles Dilly.
. To James Boswell.
. To Dr. Taylor. A long course of physic. Mr.
Thrale s illness. Rules of health . . . 101
. To James Boswell.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Anxious about Mr. Thrale.
Money not to be spared. Subscriptions to keep
out the French 102
. To Mrs. Thrale. Boswell s report of Mr. Thrale.
Bleeding recommended 103
. To Mrs. Thrale. The history of a toe . . .104
. To Mrs. Thrale. The Thrales at Brighthelmstone.
Kept at home by gout . . . . .105
. To Mrs. Thrale. Rules of health. Rival book
sellers at Brighthelmstone. Discord in Bolt
Court 106
. To Miss Reynolds. Wants prints of his friends . 107
. To Dr. Taylor. Hopes of a Deanery. Public
affairs. Threats of an invasion. Fruit . .108
. To Mrs. Thrale. Nurses and children. The delight
of tyranny. Lady Lucan. Cumberland. Miss
Burney and Dr. Delap no
. To Mrs. Thrale. The booksellers shares in the
Lives. Fasting. Mirth spoilt by prudence. Life
of Milton 112
. To Mrs. Aston. The nation full of distress . . 114
. To James Boswell.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s will. Mrs. Lennox.
Light and airy at seventy . . . . .115
. To Mrs. Thrale. Fire at London Bridge . . 117
, To Mrs. Thrale. Miss Burney s silly note. Mrs.
Thrale s inconsistency. Stark solitude . .118
. To Mrs. Aston. Her health and his. The Inva
sion. All trade is dead . . . . .119
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Byron. Catamaran. Dis
cord in Bolt Court 121
. To Mrs. Thrale. Rumours of great losses. Need
of a religious education. Feelers. Mr. Thrale s
health. Jamaica. An epidemic cold . . 123
1779-80.]
Table of Contents.
xli
DATE LETTER
1779 ... 646 ... Nov. 13
647... Nov. 16
648... Nov. 20
j649...Dec. 2
1780... 650, ..Jan. 20
651... Undated
652... Undated
653 ...Undated
654... April 6
655 ... April 8
656... April 8
657 ... April ii
658... April 15
659... April 18
f660... April 20
*661... Undated
662... April 25
663. ..May i
664... May 7
665. ..May 8
666... May 9
667 ... May 9
668... May 23
669... May 23
670... Undated
671... May 24
672... May 25
PAGE
. To James Boswell.
To Mrs. Thrale. Her trustees. Trade. Her de
spicable dread of living in the Borough. Practising
abstinence. The composition of a hero
To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s will. The Borough
To Miss Porter. Garrick s niece. Public affairs .
. To Dr. Lawrence.
, To John Nichols. Life of Prior ....
. To John Nichols. Collins s first piece. Dr. Swan
. To John Nichols. Life of Granville .
.To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Thrale at Bath. Mrs.
Montagu. The Lives. Mr. Thrale s diet .
. To James Boswell.
. To Mrs. Porter. Mr. Thrale s health. The Lives.
Has abated much of his diet ....
. To Mrs. Thrale. Dr. Lawrence. A party at Mrs.
Vesey s. Miss Burney. Bath-Easton. Life of
Addison. Mrs. Montagu and Shakespeare
. To Mrs. Thrale. Drinking the waters. Mrs.
Byron. Mrs. Thrale courted ....
. To Mrs. Thrale. Petticoat government. Richard
son and Miss Mulso. The Contractors Bill.
Alternate diet .......
. To Dr. Taylor. Bleeding. Management of the
mind ........
. To Dr. Burney. Mrs. Ord
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s Letter to the Elec
tors. Intervals of starving. Warm water at Bath
.To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s diet. Mutual
dislike where mutual approbation is expected.
Criticisms. Mr. Melmoth. Mrs. Montagu. Mrs.
Buller. The Exhibition
. To Mrs. Thrale. The Southwark election. Mr.
Fitzmaurice .......
To Mrs. Thrale. The Southwark election
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Montagu and Mrs. Thrale.
The Southwark election. The Lives. Queeney.
Oxford University election .....
. To Thomas Warton. Apologises for opening a letter
. To Dr. Warton. Lives of Fenlon and Broome.
Winchester .......
. To Mrs. Thrale. With Burke at a Bishop s. Dr.
Taylor s law-suit .......
. To John Nichols. Rowe s Poems
. To John Nichols. Lives of Hammond and Black-
more .........
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s health. Dr. Taylor
fierce and fell. Queeney s accomplishments. The
Southwark election
126
128
129
130
130
134
135
139
141
43
144
M5
H7
J 5i
152
i 5 6
157
158
159
159
xlii
Table of Contents.
[Vol. ii.
DATE LETTER
1780... 673 ...May 25
674 ... May 30
675... June 6
*676... June 6
677 ...June 9
678... June 10 ,
679 ... June 1 2 .
680... June 14
681 ...June 15
682... June 16
683... June 16
684... June 21
685... July 4
686... July 10
687... July 27
688... July 27
689... July 28
690... Aug. I
691... Aug. 8
692 ... Aug. 14
f693... Aug. 14
694 ...Undated
695... Undated
696... Undated
697... Undated
698... Aug. 16
699... Aug. 18
. To Dr. Farmer.
, To Henry Thrale. Advice either unwelcome or
impertinent. Diet. Kept in town by the Lives .
. To Mrs. Thrale. Dr. Taylor. Her fine company
at Bath. Alternate diet
. To Dr. Taylor. Prescribes for him
. To Mrs. Thrale. Gordon Riots : Mass-house burnt.
Mr. Strahan and Lord Mansfield. Newgate burnt:
with Dr. Scott at the burning ruins. The Fleet
and King s Bench burnt. The magistrates and
the King. Thrale s brewery ....
To Mrs. Thrale. Soldiers everywhere. Lord George
Gordon sent to the Tower. Wilkes .
. To Mrs. Thrale. The streets safe. Wilkes defends
the Bank. Riots at Bath. Miss Burney. Idle
alarms. The Thrales at Brighthelmstone .
. To Mrs. Thrale. The King. The martial citizens
of the Borough
. To Mrs. Thrale. Perkins s dexterity. Sir Richard
Hotham. Renny s conversatione
. To Miss Reynolds. Her portrait of him. Corrects
her rhymes .......
. To John Nichols. -Life of Ambrose Philips .
. To Mrs. Thrale. Kept in town by the Lives. Im
provement in his health. Boswell s brother
. To Mrs. Thrale. Treatment of children. At Dr.
Burney s
. To Mrs. Thrale. Diet. Following one s genius.
Kept in town by the Lives ....
. To Mrs. Thrale. Corresponding with Queeney.
Lightsome and airy. Mrs. Cholmondeley .
. To Lord Westcote. Life of Lyttelton .
. To Lord Westcote. Lives of Lyttelton and West .
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s diet. Sends two
volumes of the Lives. Life of Young
. To Mrs. Thrale. Life of Granville. Sir John Lade
. To Mrs. Thrale. Stealing away to Italy. Sul-
picius and Saint Martin. Life at thirty-five.
Writing sentiment. Mr. Levett at fourscore
. To Mrs. Prowse. Her mother s allowance to
E. Herne. His cousin at Froome
. To John Nichols. Life of Fenton
. To John Nichols. Life of Fenton
. To John Nichols. Lives of Pope, Swift, and
Lyttelton
. To John Nichols. Proof-sheets of the Life of Pope
. To John Nichols. Life of Lyttelton
. To Mrs. Thrale. Her neglect in writing to him.
The Lives
PAGE
762
163
165
1 66
172
176
177
179
1 80
i So
182
184
185
187
189
190
191
193
195
196
197
197
197
1780-81.]
Table of Contents.
xliii
DATE LETTER
1780... lW>...Aug. 21
7Q\...Aug. 21
702 ... Aug. 24
703... Aug. 25
704... Aug. 30
705 ...Sept, 9
*706...Sept. 13
*707... Sept. 23
708... Oct. 17
709 ...Oct. 26
f710...Dec. 9
711... Dec. 30
1781 ... 712 ...Jan. 29
*7 13... March 5
PAGE
J714.
715.
716.
717.
718.
719.
. March 5 .
,. March, 14.
, . April 4 .
.Aprils
. April 7 .
, . April 9 .
720... April 10
721
722
723
724
. . April 1 1
. . April 12
, . April 1 2
, . April 14
725... April 1 6
726
727
728
f729
730
731
732
733
734
.. April 1 6
. . April 1 7
. . April 23
. . May 7
..Jime 2
, . June 10
..June 1 6
..June 23
..June 25
735... July 2
. To Dr. Seattie.
. To James Boswell.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s health. Pop-gun
batteries. Mr. Thrale s submission to a new
mind. Tour to Italy ......
To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s health. Her new
admirer. Left alone in town ....
. To a Young Clergyman.
. To Viscountess Southwell. Her husband s death.
Mauritius Lowe s pension
. To William Strahan. A new seat in Parliament for
Mr. Thrale
. To Samuel Hardy. Prophecy by action
, To James Boswell.
. To John Nichols. The Lives ....
To Mrs. Prowse. His cousin at Froome
. To Dr. Vyse. Recommends Mrs. Desmoulins as
Matron of the Charter-house ....
To Warren Hastings.
. To William Strahan. Money due to him for his
books ........
To Thomas Cadell. The Lives ....
. To James Boswell.
. To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s death his will
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Thrale s boundless kindness
. To Mrs. Thrale. Life not to be represented as
darker than it is. Driven into company
. To Dr. Vyse. Macbean s admittance to the Charter
house
. To Mrs. Thrale. Meeting of the executors .
. To Mrs. Thrale. No wisdom in useless sorrow
. To Mrs. Porter.
. To Mrs. Thrale. The world not so unjust as repre
sented ........
. To Mrs. Thrale. The executors. Talk about
partnership. She may sue and be sued
. To John Nichols. The octavo edition of the Lives
. To Mrs. Thrale. The will. The executors . .
. To Mrs. Strahan.
To Mrs. Prowse. Her mother s payment to E.Herne
. To Perkins.
To John Nichols. Copies of the Lives .
, To Bennet Langton.
To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
, To Miss Reynolds. Mrs. Thrale s custom for her
pictures
.To - - Perkins. The purchase of a share in the
brewery
198
200
202
203
204
205
206
20 7
207
208
209
211
212
213
213
214
215
216
218
218
219
2 2O
221
222
xliv
Table of Contents.
[Vol. ii.
DATE LETTER
PAGE
1781... 736...
July 9 ..
To Miss Burney. Sends a present of the Lives
222
737...
July 17 ...
To Thomas Astle.
738...
July 21 ...
To Miss Reynolds. Her writings ....
223
739...
Sept. 25 ...
To Dr. Patten. Wilson s Archaeological Dictionary.
One scholar dedicating to another
224
J740...
Oct. 15 ...
To Mauritius Lowe. Mr. Kearsley and Mr. Allen .
226
741...
Oct. 17 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Oxford. Mrs. Aston. Young
Burke. Dr. Adams
226
742...
Oct. 20 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Birmingham and Lichfield. Mrs.
Careless ........
228
743...
Oct. 23 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Her income. The advantages of
saving. The gravedo .....
229
744...
Oct. 27 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Garrick s legatees. Gloom at
Lichfield
230
745...
Oct. 31 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Her income. Susan Thrale. Miss
Porter. Goes to a ball .....
231
746...
Nov. 3 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Gasping for breath. Mrs. Porter s
illness
232
747...
Nov. 10 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Ashbourne. Evelina unknown at
Lichfield. Bishop Porteus and his father-in-law .
233
748...
Nov. 12 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Preaching and practising. Mrs.
234
749...
Nov. 14 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Dr. Taylor s milk-diet. The Bur-
t}^
neys. Consanguineous unanimity
236
750...
Nov. 24 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Piozzi. Frank s child .
2 3 8
751...
Nov. 26 ...
To Edmund Allen. His return to Bolt Court
239
752...
Dec. 3 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Captain Burney. Mr. Piozzi
240
753...
Dec. 8 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Asks her not to neglect him
2 4 I
754...
Dec. 26 ...
To John Nichols. Has had search made for a book
241
1782. ..J755...
Jan. i
To Mauritius Lowe
242
756 ...
Jan. 5 ...
To James Boswell.
757...
Jan. 17 ...
To Dr. Lawrence.
758...
Jan. 28 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Has been bled. Dreads a diminu
tion of her kindness
242
759...
Feb. 4
To Mrs. Strahan.
760...
Feb. 14 ...
To Richard Beatniffe. Mr. Levett s heir
243
761...
Feb. 16 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. His gratitude for her kindness
244
762...
Feb. 17 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Cheered by her letter .
245
763...
Feb. 21 ...
To Mrs. Thrale. Is growing better
245
764...
Feb. 27 ...
To Edmond Malone.
765...
March 2 ...
To Mrs. Porter.
766...
March 7 ...
To Edmond Malone.
767...
March 14...
To Mrs. Thrale. Bleeding .
246
768...
Marchif)...
To Mrs. Porter.
J769...
March 19...
To Mrs. Aston ... ...
247
770...
March 20...
To Captain Langton.
771...
March2i...
To Edmund Hector.
772...
Undated ...
"
J773...
March 22...
To Dr. Taylor. The silver coffee-pot .
247
1781-82.]
of Contents.
xlv
DATE LETTER
1782. ..+774. ..March 22.
775 ... March 28.
776... March 30.
777... April 8 .
778... April 24 .
779 ... April 30 .
780. ..May 8
781... May 15
782... May 20
J783...May 27
*784 ... May 28
785 . . . June 3
786... June 4
f787... June 4
788... June 8
789... June 11
790... June 12
791 ... June 13
792... June 17
t793... JulyS
794 ...fitly 22
t795... July 22
796... July 28
f797...Aug. 4
*798... Aug. 12
*799... Aug. 17
*800... Aug. 19
801.
802.
803,
804
805,
Aug. 24
, Atig. 26
. Sept. 7
. Sept. 7
. Undated
*806...Sept. 21
. To W. G. Hamilton. The Foedera . . .248
. To James Boswell.
, . To Mrs. Gastrell and Mrs. Aston. Bleeding. Change
of ministry. Mrs. Thrale s care of him . . 248
,.. To Miss Reynolds. A manuscript work of hers . 249
...To Mrs. Thrale. His dinner engagements. French
transports taken. Mr. Piozzi . . . .250
, .. To Mrs. Thrale. His engagements. Cumberland s
third night. Mrs. Sheridan. Garrick s funeral
expenses 251
.. To Mrs. Thrale. Holds phlebotomy in abhorrence 253
.. To the Rev. Mr. .
.. To George Kearsley.
. . To .A passage in the Beauties of Johnson to
be rectified 254
..To . Makes an appointment .... 254
. . To James Boswell.
. , . To Mrs. Thrale. Harassed by a cough. Sir Richard
Jebb. A sick man s dinner . . . .255
,.. To Mrs. Prowse. Acknowledges her letter . . 256
,.. To Mrs. Thrale. Her unfeeling irony . . . 256
..To Mrs. Thrale. Oxford. Dr. Edwards. Lodged
in Jesus College 257
,.. To Mrs. Thrale. Dinner engagements . . .258
.. To Mrs. Thrale. Dr. Adams. Hannah More. A
cold June 259
. . To Mrs. Thrale. His terror dispelled. Dr. Edwards s
country living ....... 260
. . To Dr. Taylor. End of the Rockingham Ministry.
The silver coffee-pot . . . . . .261
. . To Miss Lawrence.
. . To Dr. Taylor. An exchange of livings. Burke out
of office. Sir Robert Chambers and Lord Shel-
burne ........ 262
,.. To Perkins.
,..To Dr. Taylor. England sinking. Ireland. Dr.
Lawrence ........ 264
,.. To Dr. Taylor. Management of the mind . . 265
...To Dr. Taylor. Management of the mind. A violent
session expected 266
, ..To George Strahan. Strahan s difference with his
father ........ 267
, . . To James Bosit/ell.
...To Miss Lawrence.
..To James Boswell.
... To Mrs. Boswell.
...To James Boswell.
...To Dr. Taylor. Health the basis of happiness.
Lord Shelburne. The Miss Colliers . . . 269
xlvi
r fable of Contents.
[Vol. ii.
DATE LETTER
PAGE
1782. ..fS07...
Oct. 4
...To Dr. Taylor. The Miss Colliers and Mr. Flint.
Has read the Bible through. Death of Boswell s
father
269
808...
Oct. 6
... To James Compton. Dr. Vyse ....
271
*809...
Oct. 10
...To George Strahan. Strahan s difference with his
father. Disputes made public ....
272
810...
Oct. 10
...To John Nichols. Anecdotes of Bowyer. Wood s
Athenae
273
811...
Oct. 22
...To Mauritius Lowe. Congratulates him on the re
ceipt of money
274
812...
Oct. 28
. . . To John Nichols. New edition of the Lives. John
Gay. Jortin, Markland, and Thirlby
275
813...
Nov. 14
...To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
*814...
Nov. 14
... To William Strahan. His health. A great take of
herrings
276
815...
Dec. 7
... To James Boswell.
f816...
Dec. 9
...To Dr. Taylor. Advice about health. The Miss
Colliers ........
277
*817 ...
Dec. ii
... To William Strahan. Strahan s difference with his
son .........
278
818...
Dec. 20
... To Mrs. Thrale. Her neglect of him
279
J819...
, Dec. 26
. . . To Sir Joshua Reynolds. Declines an invitation .
280
820...
Dec. 31
...To Thomas Wilson.
t821...
Dec. 31
...To Dr. Taylor. The Miss Colliers. A very sickly
year
280
1783... 822.,
, Jan. 10
... To John Nichols. The History ofHinckky. Samuel
Carte. Sick and solitary .....
281
f828...
, Jan. 16
... To Dr. Taylor. Need of comfort. Mr. Flint and
the Miss Colliers ......
282
*824...
, Jan. 1 6
... To George Strahan. Strahan s difference with his
father
283
*825..
. Undated
...To George Strahan. Strahan s difference with his
father
283
826..
. Jan. 20
... To Joseph Cradock. A missing volume
284
t827..
. Jan. 21
... To Dr. Taylor. Equal representation in Parliament.
Fears a civil war . , .
285
828..
. Feb. 4
. . . To Miss Lawrence.
829..
. Feb.. 19
... To Sir Joshua Reynolds. Mason s Epistle to Sir J.
Reynolds. Sends a copy of the Lives .
286
830..
. March 4
... To Sir Joshua Reynolds. Crabbe s poem
287
J831..
. March 4
... To Dr. Scott. Asks for employment for a young man
288
832..
. April 1 2
... To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
833..
. April 1 2
...To James Barry.
834..
. April 19
To Joseph Fowke. Nuncomar. Shocks to his health.
Applies better to books. Mrs. Williams
288
835..
. April 19
... To the Mercers Company. Testifies to Mr. Comp-
ton s merits .......
290
t836..
. April 25
... To the Earl of Dartmouth. Recommends Mr. Des-
moulins ........
291
1782-83.]
Table of Contents.
xlvii
DATE LETTER
1783... 837. ..May i
838... May 2
839. ..May 8
840 ... May 24
Ml... May 31
Ml... June 2
J843... June 2
844 ... June 4
845 . . . June 5
846... June 13
847
...June 17
848
. . . June 1 7
849
...June 1 8
850
... June 19
851
. . . June 20
852
. . . June 20
853
... June 21
854
...June 23
855
... June 24
856
... June 25
857
... June 28
858
... June 30
859
...July i
860... July 3
861 ...July 3
862 ... July 5
863... July 5
864... July 5
865... July 8
J866 ...July ii
J868...Julyi 5
869... July 23
870 ...July 24
f871... July 24
872... July 26
873 ...July 30
To Mrs. Thrale. Death of a daughter. Fortuitous
friendships. Paoli. The Exhibition. James Barry
To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
To Mrs. Thrale. A course of physic. The Exhibi
tion. Loss of neighbours. Discontent at home .
. To Mr. and Miss Wilkes. Declines an invitation .
. To William Windham.
. To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
. To . Orders a set of the
PAGE
291
294
295
, To Dr. Hamilton. Relief for a poor woman
To Mrs. Thrale. Her neglect of him. More peace
at home. A thief commits suicide
. To Mrs. Thrale. Sir R. Musgrave s present.
Spending time. Dr. Lawrence. Mrs. Dobson .
. To Edmund Allen.
. To Dr. Taylor.
. To Thomas Davies.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Her frigid indifference. Attacked
by palsy. His love for her ....
. To Mrs. Thrale. Diary of his illness .
. To Mauritius Lowe. Too ill to wait on Mr. Barry
. To Mrs. Thrale. Diary of his illness. A letter
from an unknown hand
To Mrs. Thrale. Diary of his illness .
. To Mrs. Thrale. Waters his garden. Her flattery
. To Mrs. Porter. Account of his illness
. To Mrs. Thrale. His solitude ....
. To Mrs. Thrale. The great burning-glass
To Mrs. Thrale. Dines with the Club. Mr. Cator
. To Mrs. Thrale. At the Club. Has given very
few reason to hate him
. To James Boswell.
. To Mrs. Porter.
. To Mrs. Thrale. An offended physician. A parody
of his style. Queeney s silence ....
. To Susanna Thrale. Materials for a letter
To Mrs. Thrale. The first irruption of irregular
imaginations. Langton at Rochester. Wey-
mouth ........
To
l \J * * *
To William Strahan. Visit to Rochester
. To Mrs. Williams.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Journey from Rochester. A hot
summer ........
. To Sophia Thrale. Arithmetic. Wilkins s Real
Character. Noah s Ark
. To Dr. Taylor. Journey from Rochester
. To Susanna Thrale. Gluttony ....
. To W. C. Cruikshank.
296
296
298
300
34
35
35
306
37
308
39
310
3"
315
316
317
319
320
322
323
xlviii
Table of Contents.
[Vol. ii.
DATE LETTER
1783... 874..
875..
876 ... Aug. 20
877..
878..
880 ..
881
882
883,
*885.
886
887
888
889
890
891
*893
894
896,
897.
898.
*899.
900
. Aug. 26
. Aug. 29
. Sept. 3
, Sept. 9
Sept. 16
Sept. 20
Sept. 22
884 ...Sept. 22
*902.
*903.
PAGE
July and August ...To Dr. John Mudge.
Aug. 13 ...To Mrs. Thrale. Weymouth. Miss Buiney.
Common evils. The Archbishop of Tuam. No
familiar friendship left him . . . -324
To Mrs. Thrale. Mrs. Williams s sick chamber.
The world sinking round him. Johnson s grimly
ghost 326
To Mrs. Thrale. Seeks relief in change of scene . 328
To Dr. Brocklesby.
To Dr. Taylor. Opie s portrait of him . . 330
To Susanna Thrale. Description fallacious. The
survey of life dangerous. Sidney s painter. Death
of Mrs. Williams 331
To Francis Barber. A birthday dinner . .331
To Dr. Burney.
To Mrs. Thrale. Air-balloons. Meteors. Mrs.
Williams. Suffers from a sarcocele . . 332
To Mrs. Montagu. Announces the death of her
pensioner, Mrs. Williams ..... 336
To Dr. Taylor. His health 337
To Bennet Langton.
Sept. or Oct. ...To Bennet Langton.
Sept. 30 ...To James Bos-well.
. To Miss Reynolds. Sick and solitary . . . 337
. To Mr. Tomkeson. Recommends Mr. Lowe . 338
. To Mrs. Thrale. Reconciled to the gout. Mr.
Cmikshank. Peace with Mrs. Montagu. The
Stocks 338
. To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Burke. Stonehenge. Light
air . . 340
To Dr. Taylor. His health ..... 342
To Mrs. Thrale. Her instability of attention. Mrs.
Porter the tragedian ...... 343
, To Mrs. Thrale, Very solitary. Mrs. Siddons and
John Kemble. His health 344
. To Miss Reynolds. His health improved . . 346
. To Mrs. Thrale. The brewhouse robbed. Air-
balloons ........ 347
. To Mrs. Porter. Her brother s death. Mrs. Wil
liams ........ 348
. To Richard Jackson. Recommends Mr. Hooie for
the Readership of the Temple .... 349
. To Mrs. Thrale. Kinder letters from her. Old
friendships. The ostentatious waste of building.
Lord Kilmorey. The frequency of death . . 350
. To Susanna Thrale. Life chequered. The Tatler.
A generous friend . . . . . -351
. To Miss Burney. Mrs. Chapone .... 353
3.S4
Sept. 24
, Sept. 29
Oct. i
Oct. i
Oct. 6
892... Oct. 9
Oct. 20
Oct. 21
895. ..Oct. 27
. Oct. 27
. Nov. i
. Nov. 10
. Nov. 1 1
.. Nov. 13
901... Undated
. Nov. 19
. Undated . . . To Miss Burney. Cecilia
1783-84.]
Table of Contents.
xlix
DATE LETTER
1783. ..*904 ... Nov. 19
905 ... Nov. 19
906 ... Nov. 20
f907... Nov. 22
908... Nov. 22
909... Nov. 24
910... Nov. 27
911 ...Nov. 28
912 ...Nov. 29
*913 ... Nov. 29
914 ... Nov. 29
915... Dec. 3
917. ..Dec. 13
*918...Dec. -20
919... Dec. 23
920... Dec. 24
921... Dec. 27
922... Dec. 31
I784...*923... Jan. 3
924... Jan. 6
925... Jan. 12
926... Jan. 21
927 ...Jan. 21
*928... Jan. 24
929 ...Jan. 27
*930...Feb. 6
931 ...Feb. 9
932.
933.,
1-934.
935.
936.
937..
VOL I.
. Feb. 1 1
.Feb. n
. Feb. 17
. Feb. 23
. Feb. 27
. March 2
. To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s health. Need of regimen 355
To W. G. Hamilton.
To Mrs. Thrale. Sophy s illness. The need of
friendship ... . . 356
. To Dr. Taylor. Solitary. The East India Bill . 357
To Sir John Hawkins. Survivors of the Ivy Lane
Club 35 s
. To Mrs. Thrale. Sophy s illness. His convulsions
returning ...... - 359
To Mrs. Thrale. Sophy s illness . . 360
. To Mrs. Chapone.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Sophy better. The mind enlarged
by mere purposes. Arithmetic . . . .361
. To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s health. Fixed air. His
nights spasmodic ...... 362
To Mrs. Porter.
. To Sir John Hawkins. Dinner at the Queen s
Arms . 363
To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Sleepless nights. The survivors
of the Ivy Lane Club. Air-balloons . . 364
. To Dr. Taylor. Harassed by spasms . . . 365
. To Miss Reynolds. His Christmas Day dinner . 366
. To James Boswell.
. To Mrs. Thrale. The Essex Head Club. Opiates.
Want of familiar companions .... 367
. To Mrs. Thrale. W. G. Hamilton. Miss Bing-
ham. Pulsation. Attention shown him. The
Ministry . 3^8
To Dr. Taylor. His health. H. Heely . 370
. To Charles Dilly.
To Mrs. Thrale. His health. The talk of the sick.
Balloons and iron wings . . . . 37 1
. To Mrs. Thrale. Dr. Heberden s report. A sick
man s impatience. Mr. Cator. Her children . 373
. To Perkins.
. To Dr. Taylor. The tumult in government. All
the world for our enemies. Burke s Speech on
India ..... - 374
. To Richard Clark.
. To Dr. Heberben. Entreats his attendance . . 376
. To Mrs. Thrale. Opiates. The Rambler in Rus
sian .......
. To James Boswell.
. To Dr. Hamilton. Mrs. Pelle .
. To Mrs. Rogers. Admonished to make his will . 378
. To Mrs. Porter.
. To James Boswell.
Table of Contents.
[Vol. ii.
DATE LETTER
1784... 938... March 10
939... March 10
940 ... March n
941... March 16.
VL... March &.
943 ... March 20,
944 ... March 25,
945 ... March 27.
946 ...March 30.
947... April 5 .
W&... April % .
949 ...April 10 .
950... April 12 .
951 ...Aprils .
952 ... ^4/rz7 1 3 .
953 ...April 15 .
954 ... April 19 .
955 ... April 21
956... April 26
957.
958 .
959.,
960..
. April 26
, April 30
May 10
May 13
961... May 28
962 ... May 31
963 ... May 31
964 . . . June i
965 ... June 2
966 ...June 17
*967... June 19
*968 ... June 23
969... June 26
. . To Mrs. Thrale. Confidence with respect to futurity.
Relieved from the dropsy. Begs her not to reject
him from her thoughts ... .
. . To Mrs. Porter. His improved health . . .
..To Mrs. Gastrell and Mrs. Aston. His improved
health ... .
..To Mrs. Thrale. Opiates . .
.. 7"o James Bos-well.
..To Mrs. Thrale. Relieved from the dropsy.
Dying with a grace . ...
..To Susanna Thrale. Mr. Herschel. Need of
activity of attention . .
. To Bennet Langton.
. To James Boswell.
. To Ozias Humphry.
. To Bennet Langton.
. To Ozias Humphry.
. To John Nichols. J. S. Hawkins s edition of
Ignoramus ... -
. To Dr. Taylor.
. To Bennet Langton.
.To Mrs. Thrale. The
380
381
382
384
Ivy Lane Club. A
His inclination to luxury.
sick
Her
man s thoughts.
table ...
..To Mrs. Thrale. Essex Head and Ivy Lane
Clubs. Le Bas Bleu. Driving the night along.
Appetite ... 39
,.To Mrs. Thrale. Escapes from a confinement of
129 days .... 39 2
. To Mrs. Thrale. The Exhibition. The Prince of
Wales. John Howard . 393
, . To Mrs. Porter. His recovery . . 395
. To Miss Reynolds. Cost of printing her papers . 395
. To Miss Jane Langton.
. To Mrs. Thrale. No longer drives the world about.
Dr. Taylor s preferment . . 39^
. To Miss Reynolds. Negotiations with her brother 397
. To Ozias Humphry.
. To Mrs. Thrale. Going with Boswell to Oxford.
Boswell at the English Bar . 39 8
. To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
. To Dr. Hamilton. Mrs. Pelle . . 399
. To Mrs. Thrale. Visit to Oxford. Contenting a
sick man ........ 399
To Dr. Taylor. Taylor s health. Dr. Nichols s
lavish phlebotomy 401
To Dr. Taylor. Loves to travel with Boswell . 402
To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Lysons. Death of Macbean.
Asks for words of comfort ..... 403
1784.] Table of Contents. H
DATE LETTER
PACK
1784... 970..
. July 2
... To Mrs. Thrale. Her second marriage .
405
971..
.July 6
... To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
972..
. July 8
... To Mrs. Thrale. Her second marriage. Her past
kindness. Queen Mary crossing the irremeable
stream ........
407
973..
.July ii
...To James Bo swell.
974..
. July 1 1
... To Dr. Adams. Collations of Xenophon and Oppian
409
975..
.July 12
. . . To the Rev. Mr. Bagshaw.
976..
.July 12
...To Bennet Langton.
f977..
. July i 2
... To John Ryland. His wife s grave-stone
411
978..
July
... To Sir John Hawkins. Mrs. Thrale s second mar
riage
412
979..
.July 20
. . . To Dr. Brocklesby.
980..
.July 21
...To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
981..
.July 26
... To James Boswell.
982..
.July 28
983..
.July i\
... To Dr. Brocklesby.
984..
. Aug. 2
...To Dr. Burney.
985..
Aug. 5
... To Dr. Brocklesby.
986..
Aug. 7
... To John Hoole.
987..
. Aug. 12
... To Dr. Brocklesby.
988..
. Aug. 12
...To Humphrey Heely.
989 ..
Aug. 13
...To John Hoole.
990..
. Aug. 14
...To Dr. Brocklesby.
991..
. Aug. 14
...To Thomas Davies.
992..
. Aug. 1 6
...To Dr. Brocklesby.
993...
Aug. 19
994..
. Aug. 19
. . . To George Nicol.
995..
. Aug. 19
...To Sir Joshtta Reynolds.
996...
Aug. 21
...To William Windham.
997...
Aug. 2 1
... To Dr. Brocklesby.
998 ...
Aug. 21
... To Francesco Sastres. His health. Forfeits at the
Club. Sastres s projected Dictionary .
414
999...
Aug. 25
...To Bennet Langton.
1000...
Aug. 26
...To Dr. Brocklesby.
1001...
Sept. 2
)> a
1002...
Sept. 2
...To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
1003...
Sept. 2
... To Francesco Sastres. Sastres s critic. Hopes to
read Petrarch. Virgil . .
4l6
1004...
5V//. 4
...To Dr. Burney.
1005...
5V?//. 4
...To W. C. Cruikshank.
1006...
5V?//. 4
. . . To John Hoole.
1007...
Sept. 9
...To Sir Joshtta Reynolds.
1008...
5e//. 9
...To Lord Chancellor Thurlow.
1009 ...
5V?//. 9
... To Dr. Brocklesby.
1010...
Sept. ii
1011... Sept. 16 ...
1012 ... Sept. 16 ... To Francesco Sastres. Death of his friends. Essex
Head Club
lii
Table of Contents.
DATE LETTER
1784. ..1013..
f!014..
1015..
fl016
.. Sept. 1 8
.. Sept. 1 8
, . Sept. 29
, . Sept. 29
.. To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
..To John Ryland. The Flying Man. Dismal
solitude ........
. . To Dr. Brocklesby.
..To John Ryland. A sick man s pleasure in the
recovery of his friends .....
.. To William Windham.
.. To Sir Joshua Reynolds.
..To Perkins.
. . To Dr. Brocklesby.
.. To John Ryland. Mr. Payne s illness. His mind
calmer ..... .
.. To Dr. Heberden. His health .
.. To George Strahan. His health . . . .
. . To W. G. Hamilton.
. . To John Paradise.
.. To John Nichols.
,. To Francesco Sastres. -Dictionaries
. . To Dr. Taylor. How is recovery in his power ? .
.. To Dr. Brocklesby.
. . To Dr. Burney.
.. To Francesco Sastres. Materials for a letter
.. To John Ryland. Friendship. His health failing.
His wife s grave- stone ....
, . To James Bosivell.
. To Sir John Hawkins. Hasting to town
. To Mrs. Aston and Mis. Gastrell. A farewell
letter . .
. To Dr. Burney.
. To Edmund Hector.
. To - . Orders books to be sent to Dr. Adams .
. To Dr. Vyse. Asks about a relation
. To Richard Green.
. To Mrs. Porter.
. To John Nichols. The writers of the Ancient
Universal History
J1043 ... Two undated letters .
JOHNSON S DEATH AND FUNERAL.
PAGE
419
1017 .
. . Oct. 2
1018 .
.. Oct. 2
1019.
.. Oct. 4
1020.
.. Oct. 6
flO-21 .
..Oct. 6
1022.
..Oct. 13
1023 .
.. Oct. 19
1024 .
.. Oct. 20
1025.
.. Oct. 20
1026.
,. Oft. 20
1027 .,
,. Oct. 20
t!028 .
.. Oct. 23
1029..
. Oct. 25
1030..
. Nov. i
1031..
. Nov. i
f!032.
, . Nov. 4
1033..
. Nov. 5
J1084..
. Nov. 7
*1035 ..
. Undated
1036..
. Nov. 1 6
1037..
. Nov. 1 7
J1088 ..
. [? Nov.]
1039..
. Nov. 29
1040 ..
. Dec. 2
1041..
. Dec. 2
1042..
. Dec. 6
422
425
4 2 5
426
427
428
429
429
430
430
43 *
433
APPENDICES.
A. Draft of a Petition for a poor woman
B. Dr. Brocklesby s record of a conversation with Dr. Johnson
C. Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson, recorded by Dr. Bliss
D. Extract from the Diary of the Right Hon. William Windham
436
436
438
439
LETTERS OF DR. JOHNSON.
i.
To GREGORY HICKMAN .
Lichfield, Oct. 30, 1731.
I have so long neglected to return you thanks for the
favour and assistance received from you at Stourbridge, that
I am afraid you have now done expecting it. I can, indeed,
make no apology, but by assuring you, that this delay, what
ever was the cause of it, proceeded neither from forgetfulness,
disrespect, nor ingratitude. Time has not made the sense of
obligation less warm, nor the thanks I return less sincere. But
while I am acknowledging one favour, I must beg another
that you would excuse the composition of the verses you
desired. Be pleased to consider, that versifying against one s
inclination is the most disagreeable thing in the world ; and
that one s own disappointment is no inviting subject ; and that
though the desire of gratifying you might have prevailed over
1 First published in the Man- been a pupil of the school about the
Chester Herald (see Gentlemarfs years 1725-6. Life, i. 50. According
Magazine, 1813, p. 18). to a writer in Notes and Queries, 5th
Nichols (Literary Anecdotes, viii. S. i. 249, Hickman whose Chris-
416) says that this letter was written tian name was Gregory was by his
on the occasion of the writer s being mother s side connected with Johnson,
rejected on his application for the See post, Letter of July 8, 1771, for
situation of Usher to the Grammar Johnson s desire to revisit Stourbridge
School at Stourbridge. Johnson had and recall the images of sixteen.
VOL. I. B my
2 Letters to Edward Cave. [A.D. 1732-33.
my dislike of it, yet it proves, upon reflection, so barren, that to
attempt to write upon it, is to undertake to build without
materials. As I am yet unemployed, I hope you will, if
any thing should offer, remember and recommend,
Sir,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
2.
To .
Lichfield, July 27, 1732. Malone states that he had seen a letter of
Johnson s to a friend dated as above, in which he says that he had
recently left Sir Wolstan Dixey s house. He then had hopes of suc
ceeding either as master or usher in the school of Ashbourne.
Boswell s Johnson, ed. 1824, i. 53, n. 2.
For Johnson s miserable life at this Leicestershire baronet s house,
see Life, i. 84.
3.
To EDWARD CAVE.
[Birmingham], November 25, 1734. Published in the Life, i. 91.
This Letter was sold by Messrs. Christie and Co. on June 5, 1888,
for 3 y.
4.
To EDWARD CAVE.
Greenwich, July 12, 1737. Published in the Life, i. 107.
This Letter was sold by Messrs. Christie and Co. on June 5, 1888,
for 4 15*.
5.
To EDWARD CAVE.
Castle Street, Wednesday Morning, , [1738]. Published in the
Life, i. 120.
6.
To EDWARD CAVE.
6 Castle Street, Monday, -, [1738]. Published in the Life, \.
121.
This Letter was sold by Messrs. Christie and Co. on June 5, 1888,
for 4 i$s.
To
Aetat. 22-29.] To Mrs. JohnSOH. 3
7.
To EDWARD CAVE.
[London, 1738]. Published in the Life, i. 122.
This Letter was sold by Messrs. Christie and Co. on June 5, 1888,
for 4 i os.
8.
To EDWARD CAVE.
[London, 1738]. Published in the Life, i. 123.
9.
To EDWARD CAVE.
[London], Wednesday, , [1738]. Published in the Life, i. 136.
10.
To EDWARD CAVE.
[London, 1738]. Published in the Life, i. 137.
This Letter was sold by Messrs. Christie and Co. on June 5, 1888,
for 46. This extraordinary price was due to one word only. Johnson
had signed himself Your s impransus? It is remarkable, writes
Boswell, that this letter concludes with a fair confession that he had
not a dinner.
11.
To EDWARD CAVE.
[London, 1738]. First published in the Life, i. 138.
12.
To JOHNSON S WIFE .
DEAREST TETTY 2 ,
After hearing that you are in so much danger, as I
apprehend from a hurt on a tendon, I shall be very uneasy
1 From the original in the pos- didate for the mastership of the
session of Mr. William R. Smith of school (ib. p. 132). His visit was
Greatham Moor, West Liss, Hants. prolonged for some months.
This Letter was probably written 2 Johnson used to name Mrs.
during Johnson s visit to Stafford- Johnson by the familiar appellation
shire and Derbyshire recorded in the of Tetly or Tetsey, which, like Betty
Life, i. 82. In August or September or Betsey, is provincially used as a
of 1739 he had, it seems, gone to contraction for Elizabeth, her Chris-
Appleby in Leicestershire, as a can- tian name. Ib. i. 98.
B 2 till
To Mrs. Johnson.
[A.D. 1739.
till I know that you are recovered, and beg that you will omit
nothing that can contribute to it, nor deny yourself any thing
that may make confinement less melancholy 1 . You have
already suffered more than I can bear to reflect upon, and
I hope more than either of us shall suffer again. One part
at least I have often flatterd myself we shall avoid for the
future, our troubles will surely never separate us more. If
M [ ] 2 does not easily succeed in his endeavours, let
him not [ ] to call in another Surgeon to consult with
him, Y [ ] have two or three visits from Ranby 3 or
Shipton, who is [ ] to be the best, for a guinea, which you
need not fear to part with on so pressing an occasion, for I can
send you twenty pouns 4 more on Monday, which I have received
this night ; I beg therefore that you will more regard my
happiness, than to expose yourself to any hazards. I still
promise myself many happy years from your tenderness and
affection, which I sometimes hope our misfortunes have not
yet deprived me of. David 5 wrote to me this day on the affair
of Irene, who is at last become a kind of Favourite among the
1 Mrs. Desmoulins told Boswell
that Mrs. Johnson indulged herself
in country air and nice living at an
unsuitable expense, while her husband
was drudging in the smoke of Lon
don. Life, i. 238.
The original is torn.
3 John Ranby, principal serjeant
surgeon to George II. Horace Wai-
pole, writing on June 29, 1743, about
the French at the battle of Dettingen,
says : I fancy their soldiery behaved
ill, by the gallantry of their officers ;
for Ranby, the King s private surgeon,
writes that he alone has 150 officers
of distinction desperately wounded
under his care. Letters, i. 255.
Ranby was surgeon also to Sir
Robert Walpole. Ib. p. 332.
4 I am not quite sure of this word.
It looks as if Johnson had written _^/
at first, and then inserted o, for
getting d.
5 David, no doubt, is David
Garrick. It was not till October 19,
1741, that he stirred up the London
world by his first appearance at
Goodman s Fields. Nevertheless, at
the date of Johnson s letter he was
intimate with the actors. He was
just dissolving partnership as a wine-
merchant with his eldest brother
Peter. Foote used to say, he re
membered Garrick living in Durham
Yard, with three quarts of vinegar in
the cellar, calling himself a wine-
merchant. It is certain, however,
adds Murphy, that he served all the
houses in the neighbourhood of the
two play-houses, and at those places
was a member of different clubs with
the actors of the time. Murphy s
Garrick, pp. 11-16. Chetwood in
his History of the Stage, p. 158,
says that Garrick s facetious good-
humour gained him entrance behind
the scenes two or three years before
he commenced actor.
Players,
Aetat. 30.]
Mrs. Johnson.
Players, Mr. Fletewood promises to give a promise in writing
that it shall be the first next season, if it cannot be introduced
now, and Chetwood the Prompter is desirous of bargaining for
the copy, and offers fifty Guineas for the right of printing after
it shall be played I . I hope it will at length reward me for my
perplexities.
Of the time which I have spent from thee, and of my dear
Lucy 2 and other affairs, my heart will be at ease on Monday
to give Thee a particular account, especially if a Letter should
inform me that thy 3 leg is better, for I hope you do not think so
unkindly of me as to imagine that I can be at rest while I be
lieve my dear Tetty in pain.
Be assured, my dear Girl 4 , that I have seen nobody in these
rambles upon which I have been forced, that has not contribute
\sic\ to confirm my esteem and affection for thee, though that
esteem and affection only contributed to encrease my unhappi-
ness when I reflected that the most amiable woman in the
1 Mr. Peter Garrick told me,
writes Boswell, that Johnson and
he went together to the Fountain
tavern, and read Irene over, and
that he afterwards solicited Mr.
Fleetwood, the patentee of Drury
Lane Theatre, to have it acted at
his house ; but Mr. Fleetwood would
not accept it, probably because it was
not patronised by some man of high
rank ; and it was not acted till 1749,
when his friend, David Garrick, was
manager of that theatre. Life, i. in.
For an account of Fleetwood, see
Davies s Life of Garrick, i. 66.
William Rufus Chetwood published
in 1749, A General History of the
Stage ; on the title-page he de
scribes himself as having been twenty
years prompter at Drury Lane. He
mentions (p. 46) that Voltaire, dur
ing his residence in England, came
frequently to the theatre. I fur
nished him every evening with the
play of the night, which he took
with him into the Orchestre, his
accustomed seat.
Johnson, in September, 1741, tried
to dispose of the copyright of his
play by the help of his friend,
Edward Cave, who wrote : I have
put Mr. Johnson s play into Mr.
Gray s [a bookseller] hands, in
order to sell it to him, if he is
inclined to buy it. . . He [Johnson]
and I are very unfit to deal with
theatrical persons. Fleetwood was
to have acted it last season, but
Johnson s diffidence or [there is a
blank in the original] prevented it.
Life, i. 153. In the end he did
better than he had hoped, for Dodsley
gave him ,100 for the copyright,
while he made ^195 by the repre
sentation. Ib. p. 198.
2 Mrs. Johnson s daughter by her
first husband. She was living either
with her relations in the country, or
else with Johnson s mother. Ib. i. no.
3 He had at first written your.
4 As Mrs. Johnson was born on
Feb. 4, 1688-9, she was only four
days short of fifty-one.
world
To Lewis Paul.
[A.D.1741.
world was exposed by my means to miseries which I could
not relieve.
I am
My charming Love
Yours
SAM: JOHNSON.
Jan. 3 ist, 1739-40 .
Lucy always sends her Duty and my Mother her Service.
To Mrs. Johnson at Mrs. Crow s in Castle Street near Cavendish Square,
London 2 .
13.
To LEWIS PAUL 3 .
St. John s Gate, January 3ist, 1740-41.
SIR,
Dr. James presses me with great warmth to remind you of
your promise, that you would exert your interest with Mr.
Warren to bring their affairs to a speedy conclusion ; this you
1 The new style was adopted in
England by 24 Geo. II (1751), which
enacted,(i) That the year 1752 should
begin on January I instead of March
25, which was then the legal com
mencement. (2) That the 3rd day of
September, 1752, should be called
the I4th. Accordingly the [legal} year
1751 had no January, February, nor
March up to the 24th inclusive, and
September wanted eleven complete
days. Penny Cyclo., first ed. xxiii. 178.
Johnson recorded in his Diary:
Jan. I, 1753, N.S. which I shall use
for the future. Jan. i had been
always popularly kept as the first
day of the year. Thus Swift wrote
to Stella on Jan. I, 1711-12: Now
I wish my dearest little MD many
happy new years. Swift s Works,
ed. 1803, xxii. 45.
2 Johnson had been lodging in
6 Castle Street since the spring of
1738. Life, i. 121. It is now called
Castle Street East.
First published in Croker s
Bo swell, p. 43.
This Letter was sold by Messrs.
Sotheby and Co. on May 10, 1875,
for /5 7-y. 6d.
In a paper by the late Robert
Cole, F.S.A., read before the British
Association at Leeds in September,
1858, quoted in Gilbert French s Life
of Samuel Crompton, 2nd ed. p. 244,
an interesting account is given of
Lewis Paul. Baines, in his History
of the Cotton Manufacture, ed. 1835,
p. 119, had stated that Arkwright
was generally believed to have in
vented the machine for spinning
cotton and wool by rollers, but that
the process had previously been
described in the specification of the
machine invented by John Wyatt.
Mr. Cole proves that to Paul alone
must be awarded the honour of the
invention. He was the son of a
Dr. Paul, and the ward of the third
Earl of Shaftesbury. Between 1729
and 1738 he invented a machine for
pinking crapes, &c. A daughter of
Johnson s godfather, Dr. Swinfen,
(afterwards Mrs. Desmoulins) learnt
know.
Aetat. 31.] To LeWlS Pdlll.
know, Sir, I have some right to insist upon, as Mr. Cave 1 was,
in some degree, diverted from attending to the arbitration by
my assiduity in expediting the agreement between you ; but I
do not imagine many arguments necessary to prevail upon Mr.
Warren to do what seems to be no less desired by him than the
Doctor. If he entertains any suspicion that I shall endeavour
to enforce the Doctor s arguments. I am willing, and more than
barely willing, to forbear all mention of the question. He that
desires only to do right, can oblige nobody by acting, and must
offend every man that expects favours. It is perhaps for this
reason that Mr. Cave seems very much inclined to resign the
office of umpire ; and since I know not whom to propose in his
place equally qualified and disinterested, and am yet desired to
propose somebody, I believe the most eligible method of deter
mining this vexatious affair will be, that each party should draw
up in a narrow compass his own state of the case, and his de
mand upon the other ; and each abate somewhat, of which him
self or his friends may think due to him by the laws of rigid
justice. This will seem a tedious method, but will, I hope, be
shortened by the desire, so often expressed on each side, of a
speedy determination. If either party can make use of me in
the art as his pupil. His first patent begin with ; 10,000 he must, or at
for spinning is dated June 24, 1738, least might, get more money in
and was for fourteen years. To twenty years than the City of London
meet the expenses he borrowed is worth. Paul, who was desirous
money from Warren, the Birming- of getting the machinery used in the
ham bookseller ; ,200 from Dr. Foundling Hospital, addressed to
Swinfen s daughter, and various the President, the Duke of Bedford,
sums from Dr. James, the inventor a letter, the draft of which is in
of the powder. He granted licenses Johnson s handwriting a . In the
to use his spindles ; thus in April, course of twenty years or so his
1740, he granted a license to Warren machine, he said, had gained him, as
for 50 spindles, in consideration of patentee, above ,20,000. He made
the debt owing to him amounting to considerable improvements in it, and
.1000 ; and to Cave a license for in 1758 obtained a new patent. He
250 spindles in consideration of a died the following year,
large sum. Dr. James wrote to [ Edward Cave was the printer of
Warren on July 17, 1740 : Yester- St. John s Gate, Clerkenwell, the
day we went to see Mr. Paul s proprietor of the Gentleman s Maga-
machine, which gave us entire satis- sine. Life, i. in.
faction. I am certain that if he could
See Appendix A.
this
8 To Lewis Paul.
[A.D. 1741.
this transaction, in which there is no opportunity for malevo
lence or prejudice to exert themselves, I shall be well satisfied
with the employment.
Mr. Cave, who knows to whom I am writing, desires me to
mention his interest, of which I need not remind you that it is
complicated with yours ; and therefore cannot be neglected by
you without opposition to motives, far stronger than the per
suasions of,
Sir,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
14.
To LEWIS PAUL .
At the Black Boy, over against Durham Yard, Strand 2 ,
March 3151, 1741.
SIR,
The hurry of removing and some other hindrances, have
kept me from writing to you since you left us, nor should I
have allowed myself the pleasure of doing it now, but that
the Doctor 3 has pressed me to offer you a proposal, which I
1 First published in Croker s Bos- as is shown by an advertisement in
well, p. 44. This Letter was sold by Arts s Birmingham Gazette of Feb.
Messrs. Sotheby and Co. on May 10, 21, 1743, offering for sale by his
1875, for 6. assignees a license for working fifty
2 On Durham Yard about the of Paul s spindles. Two years after-
year 1772 the Adelphi was erected wards a second attempt was made to
by the Scotch architects, the brothers sell. (See the Gazette of April 29,
Adam. Life, ii. 325, n. 3. Johnson 1745.) The Life of Crompton, 2nd
twice lodged in the Strand. Ib. iii. ed.p. 293. See post, Letter of April 15,
405, n. 6. 1755) where Johnson writes to
3 Dr. James, the inventor of the Hector : What news of poor War-
famous powder. His skill in physic ren ? I have not lost all my kindness
Johnson celebrated in the Lives of for him. Dr. James and Warren
the Poets. Life, i. 81. They had appear to have contracted, James to
been schoolfellows, and saw a good supply pills and vulnerary balsam,
deal of each other in London. Ib. iii. 4. and Warren to publish in numbers
Thomas Warren was the Birming- The Rational Farmer, with an Her-
ham bookseller in whose house bal; and also the American Traveller,
Johnson lived for some months in of which book Dr. James would
the year 1733, and who in 1735 seem to have been the author.
published his translation of Lobo s Messrs. Puttick and Simpson s Auc-
Voyage to Abyssinia. Ib. i. 85-7. tion Catalogue for July 29, 1867;
In 1743 Warren became bankrupt, Lot 708 : Paul Papers.
know
Aetat. si.] To Lewis Paul. 9
know not why he does not rather make himself; but his re
quest, whatever be the reason of it, is too small to be denied.
He proposes, i. To pay you immediately, or give you satis
factory security for the speedy payment of ;ico. 2. To ex
change general releases with Mr. Warren. These proposals he
makes upon the conditions formerly offered, that the bargain
for spindles shall be vacated. The securities for Mr. Warren s
debts released, and the debt of .65 remitted, with the ad
dition of this new article, that Mr. Warren shall give him the
books bought for the carrying on of their joint undertaking.
What difference this new demand may make, I cannot tell,
nor do I intend to be understood in these proposals to ex
press any of my own sentiments, but merely to write after a
dictation. I believe I have expressed the Doctor s mean
ing, but being disappointed of an interview with him, cannot
shew him this, and he generally hints his intentions somewhat
obscurely.
He is very impatient for an answer, and desires me to im
portune you for one by the return of the post. I am not willing,
in this affair, to request anything on my own account ; for you
know already, that an agreement can only be made by a com
munication of your thoughts, and a speedy agreement only by
an expeditious communication.
I hope to write soon on some more agreeable subject ; for
though, perhaps, a man cannot easily find more pleasing em
ployment than of reconciling variances, he may certainly amuse
himself better by any other business, than of interposing in con
troversies which grow every day more distant from accommo
dation, which has been hitherto my fate ; but I hope my
endeavours will be, hereafter, more successful.
I am, Sir,
Yours, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
To Mr. Lewis Paul. In Birmingham.
15.
To EDWARD CAVE.
[London, 1742.] Published in the Life, i. 155.
To
IO
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [A.D. 1742.
16.
To EDWARD CAVE.
[London, 1742.] Published in the Life, i. 156.
17.
To the Reverend DR. TAYLOR .
DEAR SIR,
The Brevity of your last Letter gives me expectation of a
longer, and I hope you will not disappoint me, for I am always
pleased to hear of your proceedings. I cannot but somewhat
wonder that Seward 2 should give his Living for the prospects
or advantages which you can offer him, and should be glad to
know your treaty more particularly. I think it not improper
to mention that there is a slight report of an intention to make
Lord Chesterfield Lieutenant 3 , of which, if I hear more, I will
inform you farther.
1 Published in Notes and Queries,
6th S. v. 303, by Professor John
E. B. Mayor, with the following note
by Mr. M. M. Holloway : These
MSS. were purchased by Sir John
Simeon, Bart., in 1861, from a de
scendant of the Pierpoint family in
Devonshire ; three only appear to
have been known to Boswell \_Life,
i. 238 ; iv. 228, 270], and about
twelve have been privately printed
for the Philobiblon Society by Sir
John Simeon, from whom I bought
the collection, and sold this portion
to the Lord Overstone. In the
reprints in the Philobiblon Society
(vol. vi) I have discovered blunders,
and therefore I feel the more grate
ful to Professor Mayor for the trouble
he has taken to secure an accurate
reprint. I have been fortunate
enough to obtain copies of other let
ters of the same series ; but there
are many which I have not seen.
For Dr. Taylor see Life, ii. 473.
2 The Rev. Thomas Seward, Rec
tor of Eyam, Derbyshire, and of
Kingsley, near Cheadle in Stafford
shire, and Canon Residentiary of
Lichfield. Boswell describes him as
a genteel well-bred dignified clergy
man, who had travelled with Lord
Charles Fitzroy, who died when
abroad. Life, ii. 467. According
to Horace Walpole, when Lord
Charles fell ill, Seward, thinking that
his life was saved by the treatment
used, began a complimentary Ode
to his physician ; but was called
down before it was finished on his
pupil s relapse, who did die ; how
ever the bard was too much pleased
with the dtbtit of his poem to throw
it away, and so finished it. Letters,
viii. 415. He was the father of the
celebrated Anna Seward (Life, ii.
467), an affected, tiresome, spiteful
and mendacious creature, who wrote
bad verses, and disgraced Walter
Scott by being one of his corre
spondents. Nay, even he went so
far as to write a preface to what is
called her Poetical Works.
I have not ascertained the nature
of Seward s treaty with Taylor.
3 Sir Robert Walpole s Ministry
I propose
Aetat. 32.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor.
1 1
I propose to get Charles of Sweden 1 ready for this winter,
and shall therefore, as I imagine, be much engaged for some
months with the Dramatic Writers, into whom I have scarcely
looked for many years 2 . Keep Irene close, you may send it
back at your leisure.
You have never let me know what you do about Mr. Car s
affair or what the official has decided. Eld 3 is only neglected,
not forgotten.
had come to an end in February of
this year. On March 6, Lord Ches
terfield wrote to Dr. Chenevix :
The public has already assigned me
different employments, and among
others that which you mention ; but
I have been offered none, I have
asked for none, and I will accept of
none till I see a little clearer into
matters than I do at present. I have
opposed measures not men. Ches
terfield s Misc. Works, iv. 226. The
employment mentioned was the Lord-
Lieutenancy of Ireland. Ib. i. 195.
He did not receive the appointment
till 1745. Ib. p. 254. The phrase
measures not men is earlier by
23 years than any instance I have
seen quoted. Mr. E. J. Payne, in his
note on the cant of Not men but
measures 1 in Burke s Present Dis
contents (1770), quotes Dr. John
Brown s Thoughts on Civil Liberty
(1765), p. 124, and Goldsmith s Good-
Natured Man (1768), Act ii, where
Lofty says : Measures, not men,
have always been my mark. Payne s
Burke, i. 274.
1 This no doubt was a play. The
two and thirty lines in The Vanity of
Human Wishes in which Swedish
Charles is drawn, have lived till
now, and are likely to live for many
an age yet. The play, had it been
written, would be as much forgotten
as Irene.
2 In his edition of Shakespeare
(published in 1765), vol. vi. 159, he
says: I was many years ago so
shocked by Cordelia s death, that I
know not whether I ever endured to
read again the last scenes of the play
till I undertook to revise them as an
editor. According to a writer in the
Gentleman s Magazine, 1843, i. 482,
Steveens says: Dr. Johnson once
assured me that when he wrote
his Irene he had never read Othello ;
but meeting with it soon afterwards,
was surprised to find that he gave in
one of his characters a speech very
strongly resembling that in which
Cassio describes the effects produced
by Desdemona s beauty on such inani
mate objects as fat guttered rocks and
congregated sands [Act ii. sc. 1. 1. 69].
The Doctor added that on making the
discovery, for fear of imputed plag
iarism he struck out the accidental
coincidence from his own tragedy.
That Johnson, who was now but
thirty-two years old, should for
many years have scarcely looked into
the dramatic writers, is a clear proof
that his friend Gilbert Walmsley was
wrong in hoping that he would
turn out a fine tragedy-writer.
3 Eld perhaps was the man men
tioned in the following passage in the
Life, iii. 326 : BOSWELL. " I drank
chocolate, Sir, this morning with Mr.
Eld ; and, to my no small surprise,
found him to be a Staffordshire
Whig, a being which I did not be
lieve had existed." JOHNSON. " Sir,
there are rascals in all countries."
BOSWELL. " Eld said, a Tory was a
creature generated between a non-
12 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [A.D. 1742.
[If the time of the Duke s government should be near ex
piration, you must cling close and redouble your importunities,
though if any confidence can be placed in his Veracity, he may
be expected to serve you more effectually when he is only a
Courtier, than while he has so much power in another Kingdom 1 .]
I am well informed that a few days ago Cardinal Fleury sent
to an eminent Banker for Money, and receiving such a reply as
the present low state of France naturally produces, sent a party
of the Guards to examine his Books and search his House, such
is the felicity of absolute Governments, but they found the
Banker no better provided than he had represented himself,
and therefore broke part of his furniture and returned 2 .
It is reported that the peace between Prussia 3 and Hungary
was produced wholly by the address of Carteret, who having
procured a copy of Broglio s orders at the very time that they
were despatched, and finding them to contain instructions very
inconsistent with a sincere alliance, sent them immediately to
the King of Prussia, who did not much regard them, till he
found that he was in persuance [sic] of them exposed without
juring parson and one s grandmother." see post, Letters of May 1 6, 1776, and
JOHNSON. "And I have always July 8, 1782.
said, the first Whig was the Devil. " 2 Voltaire describes Cardinal Fleury
1 This passage is erased in the as a minister, ne comprenant abso-
original. The Duke was no doubt lument rien a une affaire de finance.
the third Duke of Devonshire, who (Euvres de Voltaire, ed. 1819-25,
was Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland from xix. 38. A writer in the Gentleman s
1737 to 1744. Burke s Peerage, ed. Magazine for March, 1742, p. 165,
1864, p. 335. Taylor had a con- speaking of the oppressive taxation
siderable political interest in the in France says : The people are
county of Derby, which he employed everywhere ripe for rebellion ; the
to support the Devonshire family ; Ministry have demanded a loan of
for, though the schoolfellow and ten millions of livres of the financiers,
friend of Johnson, he was a Whig. to be paid the first of July.
Life, ii. 474. It is likely that Taylor 3 In Notes and Queries this is
hoped to receive from the Duke one printed Russia, but Johnson cer-
of the valuable Irish deaneries or tainly meant, and most probably
bishoprics which were so commonly wrote, Prussia. Horace Walpole
given to Englishmen. Confidence wrote four days later : We were
could be placed in his Grace s veracity, surprised last Tuesday [the 8th] with
for it was this Duke whom Johnson the great good news of the peace
commended for a dogged veracity. between the Queen [Maria Theresa]
Life, iii. 378. and the King of Prussia. Walpole s
For Taylor s greed of preferments Letters, i. 175.
assistance
Aetat. 33.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor.
assistance to the hazard of the late battle, in which it is generally
believed that he lost more than twice as many as the Austrians.
He would then trust the French no longer 1 . You see that I am
determined to write a letter, for I never was authour of so much
political Intelligence before.
I am, if the relief of uneasiness can produce obligations, more
obliged to you, for what I imagine you have now sent Miss 2 ,
than for all that you have hitherto done for me.
Thurloe s papers which cost here 8 qs. 6d?, are intended to
be reprinted in Ireland at four guineas. Methinks you should
send orders to Faulkener 4 to subscribe.
I am, Dear Sir,
Yours very affectionate, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Have you begun to write out your Letters ?
June 10, 1742 5 .
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor
at Market Bosworth, Leicestershire 6 .
1 In the Gentleman s Magazine
for July, 1742, p. 389, much the same
account is given, though Carteret s
name is not mentioned. According
to Carlyle the King of Prussia learnt
of the orders given to Broglio from
one of his prisoners, an Austrian
general who had been mortally
wounded. This man had seen a
letter from Fleury to the Queen of
Hungary, and got the King a sight
of it. History of Friedrich II, ed.
1862, iii. 580. The late battle was
that of Chotusitz or Czaslau, in
which Frederick, though he gained
the victory, lost in killed 1905, to
1052 on the side of the Austrians.
Ib. p. 574. The peace was signed at
Breslau on June n. The news of it
had reached London on the 8th ;
but in England the dates still fol
lowed the Old Style.
2 Miss, no doubt, was Johnson s
step-daughter, Lucy Porter. See
post, p. 1 8.
3 In the Register of Books for
May, 1742, in the Gentleman s Maga
zine, p. 280, I find: A Collection
of the State Papers of John Thurloe,
Esq., Secretary to Oliver Cromwell,
SH-C., price 8 14-5-. in sheets. Wood
ward and Davis.
4 George Faulkner, the prince of
Dublin printers, as Swift called him
(Swift s Works, ed. 1803, xviii. 288) ;
the associate and correspondent of
LordChesterfield(Chesterfield sJ/z .sr.
Works, iv. 291). Boswell describes
him as the famous George Faulkner.
Life, v. 44. Richardson charged
him with joining with other Dublin
booksellers in pirating Sir Charles
Grandison. Sir Charles Grandison,
2nd ed. vi. 412.
5 Horace Walpole, writing on the
same day, thus dates his letter :
June 10, the Pretender s birthday,
which, by the way, I believe he did
not expect to keep at Rome this
year, 1742. Letters, i. 173.
6 Taylor went to Christ Church
with a view to the study of the law,
To
14 To John Levett. [A.D. 1743.
18.
To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH.
[London], September 29, 1743. Published in the Life, i. 160.
19.
To JOHN LEVETT.
December i, 1743. Published in the Life, i. 160.
20.
To JOHN LEVETT *.
SIR,
I am obliged to trouble you upon an affair which I have
hardly time to explain, but in which I must beg that you will
assist as a few words will enable you to understand it better
than I do ; and the Humanity and Generosity which appeared
in your last letter give me no reason to doubt of your Com
pliance with my Request.
When I married Mrs. Johnson who was her first husband s
executrix, we by the advice of his chief Creditor made a re
signation (I suppose legal) of all his affairs to Mr. Perks an
Attorney of Birmingham. Soon afterwards Mr. Perks died,
as was supposed, without any effects, and therefore We thought
no more of the affair, but were lately accidentally informed that
a Composition is offered, and then I wrote to Birmingham for
but entering into holy orders was Lit. Anec. ix. 58.
presented to the valuable Rectory of J From the original, in the pos-
Market Bosworth in 1740, on the session of the Rev. F. R. Jefferson,
death of Mr. Beaumont Dixie. He Noman s Heath Vicarage, Tarn worth,
was supposed to have got it by pur- Bos well mentions Mr. Levett among
chase. Gisborne, the banker of Johnson s early friends belonging to
Derby, suspecting somewhat from the best families in Lichfield. Life,
the sums Taylor drew from him, i. 81. In 1761 Mr. John Levett was
marked some of the pieces; which returned for Lichfield, but on petition
presently came back, in part of the was declared to be not duly elected,
same sum, from the worthy Patron, Parl. Hist. xv. 1088. Johnson, in a
who had reason afterwards for saying letter dated a month earlier, had
" that a broken attorney made a apologised to Mr. Levett for his
notable parson." He found that he delay in paying the interest of a
had met with his match. Nichols s mortgage. Life, i. 160.
Directions
Aetat. 34.] To John Levett. 1 5
Directions how to act, and received yesterday a Letter by which
I am informed that the accounts are to be irrevocably settled on
Thursday. Having not the papers at London, there is great
danger, as I apprehend, that they cannot arrive soon enough.
I have however sent Miss Porter directions to open a Cabinet,
and bring it to you, and beg that you will find a Messenger to
make the Demand in form 1 .
Be pleased to inform Me where I may see you when you
come to town, for not to have the satisfaction of waiting upon
one for whom, on account of a long series of kindness to my
Father and myself, I have so much Respect will be a great
and uneasy Disappointment to,
Sir,
Your most humble Servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
I had forgot to inform you that your Messenger may apply to
Mr. Will" 1 Ward, Mercer in Birm. for directions where to go.
Jan. 3, 1743-4-
To Mr. Levett in Lichfield.
21.
To [PJOHN LEVETT 2 .]
SIR,
I have been hinderd from writing to you by an imagina
tion that it was necessary to write more than I had time for,
1 Light is thrown on this letter by and Elizabeth his wife, executors of
the following passage in a paper by the last will and testament of Harry
Mr. Samuel Timmins, published in Porter, late of Birmingham aforesaid,
the Transactions of the Archaeological woollen draper, deceased." Johnson
Section of the Birmingham and Mid- and his wife were almost the only
land Institute, 1876 : My friend, creditors who did not sign the deed,
Mr. Joseph Hill, says, A copy of an their seals being left void. It is
old deed which has recently come doubtful, therefore, whether they ever
into my hands, shews that a hundred obtained the amount of the com
pounds of Mrs. Johnson s fortune position, ^36 13^. 4^. See also the
was left in the hands of a Birming- Life, i. 95, n. 3.
ham attorney named Thomas Perks, 2 From the original, in the posses-
who died insolvent; and in 1745, a sion of Mr. J. H. Hodson of Lichfield.
bulky deed gave his creditors Js. ^d. It was most likely written to
in the pound. Among the creditors Mr. Levett of that town, to whom
for^ioowere"SamuelJohnson,gent., Johnson, as is shown by his Letter of
but
1 6 To Mr. Urban! [A.D. 1744.
but recollecting that business may be despatched much more
expeditiously by conversation, I beg to be informed when I can
wait on you with most convenience to yourself. I believe I
shall find means of accommodating the affair so as to give you
valuable satisfaction. You forgot to send me word what interest
is due, which I mention that you may examine, for though Mr.
Aston 1 has a receipt for interest which I got him to pay to your
Father, I cannot conveniently wait on him about it.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Golden Anchor, Holborn 2 . Sat. Morning.
22.
To [? JOHN LEVETT 3 .] No date.
SIR,
I am very ill, and unable to wait on you or meet with you.
I have been disappointed by two to whom I applied, and either
of whom might have done it without inconvenience. The gen
tleman whom I have desired to come with this has (?) offered it
on terms which may make a little longer delay, but if you have
any one with whom you can have the things necessary it may
now be done.
I am, Sir,
Your humble friend,
SAM: JOHNSON.
I had sent to you but I had forgot your lodging which you
have not mentioned in your notes.
23.
To MR. URBAN.
August, 1744. Published in the Life, ii. 164.
Dec. i, 1743 (Life, i. 161), owed the ! Johnson twice lodged in Holborn
interest of a mortgage. between the years 1741 and 1749.
1 Mr. Aston probably belonged to Life, iii. 405, n. 6.
the family of Sir Thomas Aston. Life, 3 From the original, in the pos-
i. 83. He is mentioned again, post, session of Mr. J. H. Hodson of
p. 30. Lichfield.
To
Aetat. 34.]
To James Elphinston.
SIR,
24.
To JAMES ELPHINSTON
I have for a long time intended to answer the Letter which
you were pleased to send me, and know not why I have delayed
1 First published in Memoirs of
the Life and Writings of Dr. John
son, 1785, p. 1 66.
James Elphinston most likely be
came known to Johnson through
William Strahan, the printer, who
had married his sister. The year
after the date of this letter he sug
gested and took the charge of an
edition of the Rambler at Edinburgh.
Life, i. 210. About the year 1753
he opened a school at Brompton ;
moving later on to Kensington, where
Boswell and Johnson one day dined
with him (ib. ii. 226), in a noble
mansion opposite to the King s gar
dens, with an elegant ball-room with
handsome bow-windows at the top
of the eastern division of the house.
Nichols s Lit. Anec. iii. 32. Jeremy
Bentham describes it as a spacious
mansion, having dined there on a
summer s day with Burkarti, the
Resident from the Free City of
Hamburgh, who occupied in it a
comfortable and pleasant apartment.
Bentham s Works, x. 58. In the
fourth edition of the Rambler, pub
lished in 1756, the reader is informed
in a foot-note on the first page, that
Mr. Elphinston, to whom the author
of these papers is indebted for many
elegant translations of the mottos
which are inserted from the Edin
burgh edition, now keeps an academy
for young gentlemen at Brompton,
near Kensington. Johnson, who by
his own failure knew the difficulty of
starting an academy, was willing,
it seems, in this curious way, to give
his friend, the young Scotchman, a
helping hand. He thus described
VOL. I.
him twenty years later : His inner
part is good, but his outer part is
mighty awkward. ... I would not
put a boy to him, whom I intended
for a man of learning. But for the
sons of citizens who are to learn a
little, get good morals, and then go
to trade, he may do very well. Life,
ii. 171. He had been abroad in his
youth with Carte, the Jacobite his
torian, who believed in the royal
touch, and he was himself a Non-
juror. Johnson in 1754 had recom
mended his school for the son of his
friend, Fitzherbert, but was told that
the Scotchman and Non-juror would
be insuperable objections. An Ac
count of the Life of Dr. Johnson,
1805, p. 66.
In 1778 Elphinston published that
tran slati on of Martial whi ch provoked
Burns s epigram :
O thou whom Poetry abhors,
Whom Prose has turned out of
doors,
Heard st thou that groan pro
ceed no further,
Twas laurell d Martial roaring
murder.
His brother-in-law Strahan sent
him a subscription of fifty pounds,
and said he would send him fifty
more, if he would not publish. Life,
iii. 258. Of his skill as a translator
the following may be taken as a
sample :
To SABIDIUS.
I love thee not, nor can the cause
display ;
I love thee not, poor Sab : I still
may say.
C it
i8
To Miss Porter.
[A.D. 1749.
it so long ; but that I had nothing particular either of enquiry
or information to send you; and the same reason might still
have the same consequence, but that I find, in my recluse kind
of life, that I am not likely to have much more to say at one
time than another, and that therefore I may endanger, by an
appearance of neglect long continued, the loss of such an
Acquaintance as I know not where to supply. I therefore
write now to assure you how sensible I am of the kindness you
have always expressed to me, and how much I desire the cul
tivation of that Benevolence which perhaps nothing but the
distance between us has hindered from ripening before this
time into Friendship. Of myself I have very little to say, and
of any body else less ; let me, however, be allowed one thing,
and that in my own favour ; that I am,
Dear Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
April 20, 1749.
25.
To Miss PORTER *.
Goff Square 2 , July 12, 1749.
DEAR Miss,
I am extremely obliged to you for. your letter, which
I would have answered last post, but that illness prevented me.
He introduced a new system of or
thography, and quarrelled over it with
Strahan, who, no doubt, refused, as
King s Printer, to follow his brother-
in-law in a mode of spelling of which
the following is a specimen. It is
taken from his Deddicacion To
Dhe King of his Propriety Ascer
tained in her Picture, (two quarto
volumes of about 650 pages) :
Yoor Madjesty haz dained by fixing
Inglish Speech in Inglish Orthog-
graphy to secure dhe unfading luster
ov Truith, and dhe unfailing succes
sion ov a Horrace, a Boileau, and a
Pope. Strahan nevertheless be
queathed to him an annuity of
He lived till the age of eighty-seven,
dying in 1809 ; to the last he wore
the dress which had been in fashion
early last century the coat with
flaps and buttons to the pockets and
sleeves, the powdered bag-wig with
a high toupee, a cocked hat, shoe-
buckles and an amber-headed cane.
Nichols s Lit. Anec. iii. 35.
1 First published in Croker s Bos-
well, p. 62.
2 In Dodsley s London and its
Environs, 1761, iii. 53, this place is
called Cough s Square, and is de
scribed as a very small oblong
square, with a row on each side of
handsome buildings. In what year
I have
Aetat. 39.]
To Miss Porter.
I have been often out of order of late, and have very much
neglected my affairs. You have acted very prudently with
regard to Levett s affair, which will, I think, not at all embarrass
me, for you may promise him, that the mortgage shall be taken
up at Michaelmas, or, at least, some time between that and
Christmas ; and if he requires to have it done sooner, I will
endeavour it \ I make no doubt, by that time, of either doing
it myself, or persuading some of my friends to do it for me.
Please to acquaint him with it, and let me know if he be
satisfied. When he once called on me, his name was mistaken,
and therefore I did not see him ; but, finding the mistake, wrote
to him the same day, but never heard more of him, though I
entreated him to let me know where to wait on him. You
frighted me, you little gipsy, with your black wafer, for I had
Johnson took the house is not known ;
he resided in it till March 23, 1759.
Life, iii. 405, n. 6. It is likely that
the money which he received for
Irene in February, 1749, enabled him
to live in more comfort than hitherto,
and that it was then that he moved.
It was in this house that he wrote the
main part of his Dictionary, his
Ramblers, Adventurers, many of his
Idlers, and Rasselas. It was here
that he mourned over the loss, first
of his wife and then of his mother.
It still stands, with a tablet on it to
tell its history. It is the first or
corner house on the right hand, as
you enter through the arched way
from the North-west. Ib. i. 188,
n. i.
1 On December i, 1743, Johnson
wrote to Levett to ask his forbear
ance with respect to the interest due
on a mortgage. Money no doubt
had been borrowed on the security
of the freehold house at Lichfield
which had belonged to his father,
and in which his mother was still
living. Mr. J. H. Hodson of Lich
field has in his interesting collection
of autographs the following unad-
dressed letter of Johnson s step-
C
daughter, referring to the same
affair :
I shall take it as a particular
favour if you will not mention the
ejectment, or cause it to be deliver d
to Mrs. Johnson till I have spoke to
you again, which I shall be glad to
do the first opportunity. She has
been very poorly for some time, and
is too weak at present to bear the
shock of such a thing, and I believe
the very knowing of it would almost
destroy her. I hope you need not
be under any apprehension concern
ing the Money, as I will do my utmost
endeavour to procure it as soon as
I can. Your complying with the
above request will infinitely oblige
Your humble Servant,
LUCY PORTER.
June 7.
See /#.$/, Letter of March 7, 1752.
On Johnson s death his house was
sold for ,235. Hawkins s Johnson,
p. 599. On October 20, 1887, it was
sold for /8oo to Mr. G. H. Johnson
of Southport. Daily News, Oct. 21,
1887. Mr. Johnson with a noble
spirit is preserving it as a memorial
of its great owner.
I forgot
2O
To
[A.D. 1750.
forgot you were in mourning, and was afraid your letter had
brought me ill news of my mother, whose death is one of the
few calamities on which I think with terror *. I long to know
how she does, and how you all do. Your poor mamma is come
home, but very weak 2 ; yet I hope she will grow better, else she
shall go into the country. She is now up-stairs, and knows not
of my writing.
I am, dear Miss,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
26.
To 3 .
I am very much obliged to you for your commission, which
though, I think, not absolutely necessary to me, will be ex
tremely convenient, as it will rescue me from the necessity
of soliciting a favour, which, you know, all mankind is apt
to rate not according to its real value, but to the exigence of
him that asks it. I have all the assurance that human life
allows, of being able by the time you mention of setling
[sic] the affair without any trouble, and shall consider this
exemption from the pain of borrowing as a very considerable
favour to,
Sir,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Will you spend an evening with me ? as you mention nothing
of my coming to you, I suppose it is not convenient. May
I have the pleasure of seeing you ? I am almost always at
home.
1 Carlyle, who in many ways was
like Johnson, writing about his
mother not long before her death,
said : The thing I have dreaded
all my days is perhaps now drawing
nigh. Correspondence of Emerson
and Carlyle, ed. 1883, ii. 226.
2 Mrs. Johnson, for the sake of
country air, had lodgings at Hamp-
stead. Life, i. 192.
3 From the original in the posses
sion of the Rev. Clement Price, Selby
Oak Vicarage, Birmingham. The
address and date are torn off. It is
possible that this letter was written
to Mr. Levett, and refers to the
mortgage mentioned in the letter to
Miss Porter.
To
Aetat. 4i.] To Samuel Richardson. 21
27.
To THE PRINTER OF THE GENERAL ADVERTISER.
[London, April 4, 1750.] Published in the Life, i. 227.
28.
To THE REVEREND MR. BIRCH.
Gough Square, May 12, 1750. Published in the Life, i. 226.
29.
To JAMES ELPHINSTON.
[London, 1750.] Published in the Life, i. 210.
30.
To JAMES ELPHINSTON.
[London], September 25, 1750. Published in the Life, i. 211.
81.
To SAMUEL RICHARDSON \
DEAR SIR, March 9> 1750-1.
Though Clarissa wants no help from external splendour,
I was glad to see her improved in her appearance 2 , but more
glad to find that she was now got above all fears of prolixity,
and confident enough of success to supply whatever had been
hitherto suppressed. I never indeed found a hint of any such
defalcation, but I regretted it ; for though the story is long,
every letter is short 3 .
1 Published in the Correspondence volumes Richardson says : It was
of Samuel Richardson, v. 281. resolved to present to the World the
2 The first edition of Clarissa Two First Volumes by way of Speci-
(1748) was in small print, in seven men ; and to be determined with
volumes duodecimo. The fourth regard to the rest by the Reception
edition (1751) was in large print, in those should meet with. If that
seven volumes octavo ; each contain- be favourable, Two others may soon
ing a table of contents, while at the follow ; the whole Collection being
end of the last volume is a collection ready for the Press : That is to say,
of many of the Moral and Instruc- If it be not found necessary to ab-
tive Sentiments in this History made stract or omit some of the Letters, in
by an Ingenious Gentleman and order to reduce the Bulk of the
presented to the Editor. Whole. In the Preface to the fourth
3 In the Preface to the first two edition he says : It is proper to
I wish
22
To John Newbery.
[A.D. 1751.
I wish you would add an index rerum x , that when the reader
recollects any incident, he may easily find it, which at present
he cannot do, unless he knows in which volume it is told ; for
Clarissa is not a performance to be read with eagerness, and
laid aside for ever ; but will be occasionally consulted by the
busy, the aged, and the studious 2 ; and therefore T beg that
this edition, by which I suppose posterity is to abide, may want
nothing that can facilitate its use.
I am, Sir,
Yours, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
32.
To JOHN NEWBERY 3 .
DEAR SIR,
I have just now a demand upon me for more money than
I have by me : if you could conveniently help me with two
pounds it will be a favour to
Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
April 18, 1751.
Endorsed 2oth April. Received of Mr. Newbery the sum of two
guineas for the use of Mr. Johnson, p r me.
THOS. LUCY.
observe with regard to the present
Edition that it has been thought fit
to restore many Passages, and
several Letters which were omitted
in the former merely for shortening-
sake. These are distinguished by
Dots or inverted Full-points. And
it is intended to print them sepa
rately, for the sake of doing justice
to the Purchasers of the former Edi
tions.
1 Richardson s last novel, Sir
Charles Grandison, very likely in
consequence of Johnson s request,
repeated as it was in his letter of
September 26, 1753, was furnished
with a copious Index, Historical
and Characteristical, as well as with
one to the Similes and Allusions.
In this latter we find such entries as
the following : GRANDISON, Sir
Charles, His look, To a sun-beam,
v. 332. His friends in the nuptial
procession, To the Satellites attend
ing a primary planet.
2 Lord Macaulay had read Sir
Charles Grandison so often that he
thought it probable that he could re
write it from memory. Trevelyan s
Macaulay, ed. 1877, i. 133. A curious
proof of the popularity of Clarissa
in France is shown by the fact that
Lovelace is given in Littre s Diction
ary as a French word. It is de
fined as elegant se ductenr.
3 This and the next two Letters
To
Aetat. 41.]
To John Newbery.
SIR,
33.
To JOHN NEWBERY.
I beg the favour of you to send me by the bearer a guinea,
for which I will account to you on some future production.
I am, Sir,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
July 29, 1751.
Endorsed 2gth July. Received of Mr. Newbery the sum of one
guinea for the use of Mr. Johnson.
THOS. LUCY.
The following entry is in Newbery s hand : Lent Mr. Johnson,
July 30, i i.
were first published in Prior s Life
of Goldsmith, ed. 1837, i. 340.
Goldsmith pleasantly introduces
John Newbery in the Vicar of Wake-
field, ch. xviii, as a traveller who
came up to a little ale-house in which
the Vicar was detained by illness
and by want of money. This person
was no other than the philanthropic
bookseller in St. Paul s Churchyard,
who has written so many little books
for children : he called himself their
friend, but he was the friend of all man
kind. He was no sooner alighted, but
he was in haste to be gone ; for he
was ever on business of the utmost
importance, and was at that time
actually compiling materials for the
history of one Mr. Thomas Trip. I
immediately recollected this good-
natured man s red pimpled face ;
for he had published for me against
the Deuterogamists of the age, and
from him I borrowed a few pieces to
be paid at my return. According
to a writer in the European Maga
zine for August, 1793, p. 92, Dr.
Goldsmith used to tell many pleasant
stories of Newbery, who, he said,
was the patron of more distressed
authors than any man of his time.
He is that great philosopher Jack
Whirler of The Idler, No. 19,
whose business keeps him in per
petual motion, and whose motion
always eludes his business. Haw
kins writes of him as a man of a
projecting head, a good understand
ing, and great integrity ; who by a
fortunate connection with Dr. James,
the physician, and the honest exer
tions of his own industry became the
founder of a family. Hawkins s
Johnson, p. 364. He was the vendor
of Dr. James s famous powder, in
which Goldsmith had such faith that
he took it in his last illness, in de
fiance of his doctors, and probably
thereby increased the violence of the
attack. Forster s Goldsmith, ii. 418.
Horace Walpole, who had no less
faith in it, thought that Goldsmith
might have been saved, if he had
continued it, but his physician inter
posed. Letters, vi. 72. Fielding
praises it in Amelia, Bk. viii. ch. 9,
and Cowper felt bound to honour it.
Southey s Cowper, v. 226. See also
ib. p. 126. For an interesting ac
count of Newbery and his connection
To
To John Newbery.
[A.D. 1751.
34.
To JOHN NEWBERY.
DEAR SIR, . Aug. 24, 1751-
I beg the favour of you to lend me another guinea, for
which I shall be glad of any opportunity to account with you,
as soon as any proper thing can be thought on, or which I will
repay you in a few weeks.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM : JOHNSON.
Endorsed 24th August. Received of Mr. Newbery the sum of
one guinea for the use of Mr. Johnson, p r me,
THOS. LUCY.
with Dr. James see A Bookseller of
the Last Century, by Charles Welsh.
London, 1885.
It is likely that the first of the
three sums was an advance and not
a loan, for Johnson was at this time
contributing a Life of Cheynel to
The Student, a Monthly Miscellany
published by Newbery. This Life
appeared in three successive numbers,
probably those for May, June and
July, 1751. In some of the numbers
the name of the month is omitted.
In 1758 Johnson was again working
for Newbery, who was the proprietor,
in whole or in part, of the Idler.
The advances or the loans began
again, as the two following entries
show :
May 19, 1759.
I promise to pay to Mr. Newbery
the sum of forty-two pounds nineteen
shillings and ten pence on demand,
value received.
^42 19.5-. lod. SAM: JOHNSON.
March 20, 1760.
I promise to pay to Mr. Newbery
the sum of thirty pounds upon de
mand.
^30 os. od. SAM : JOHNSON.
Prior s Goldsmith, \. 341.
From April 15, 1758 to April 5,
1760 Johnson wrote his Idlers for a
weekly newspaper in which Newbery
had some part. Life, i. 330. Ac
cording to Hawkins, a share in the
profits of this paper was Johnson s
inducement to write. Hawkins s
Johnson, p. 364. When the Idlers
were collected in volumes they were
published by Newbery, one-third of
the profits going to him and two-
thirds to the author. In an account
between the two men of the sale of
an edition in two volumes of 1500
copies Newbery took 42 is. 2,d.
and Johnson ,84 2s. ^d. Life, i. 335.
It is probable that the money for
which the receipt is given in the text
was an advance on future profits.
See the Introduction to my edition
of Johnson s Essays in The Temple
Library, p. 36.
TO
Aetat. 42.]
To William Strahan.
35.
To WILLIAM STRAHAN I .
DEAREST SIR, Nov - *
The message which you sent me by Mr. Stuart 2 I do not
consider as at all your own, but if you were contented to be
the deliverer of it to me, you must favour me so far as to
return my answer, which I have written down to spare you the
unpleasing office of doing it in your own words. You advise
me to write, I know with very kind intentions, nor do I intend
to treat your counsel with any disregard when I declare that in
the present state of the matter I shall not write - otherwise
than the words following :
That my resolution has long been, and is not now altered,
and is now less likely to be altered, that I shall not see the
Gentlemen Partners 3 till the first volume is in the press, which
they may forward or retard by dispensing or not dispensing
with the last message.
1 From the original in the posses
sion, first, of Mr. Frederick Barker,
of 41 Gunterstone Road, West Ken
sington, W., and subsequently of the
late Mr. S. J. Davey, of 47 Great
Russell Street, W. C.
William Strahan, who was born in
Edinburgh in 1715, at an early age
established himself as a printer in
London. In 1770 he purchased from
Mr. George Eyre a share of the
patent for King s Printer ; he was a
member of Parliament from 1774 to
1783, and he died in 1785. In con
junction either with Millar or Cadell
he was the publisher of works of
Blackstone, Blair, Gibbon, Hume,
Johnson, Robertson, and Adam
Smith ; and he was the printer of
Johnson s Dictionary.
2 Francis Stuart, or Stewart, was
one of the five Scotchmen whom
Johnson employed as amanuenses in
the work of his Dictionary. Life, i.
187. He died early, as is shown by
the next letter but one. In 1780
Johnson writing about him said :
The memory of him is yet fresh in
my mind ; he was an ingenious and
worthy man. Ib. iii. 421. Accord
ing to a writer in the Gent. Mag.
for 1799, p. 1171, who had been
employed in Strahan s printing works,
Stewart in a night ramble in Edin
burgh in 1736 with some of his
companions met with the mob con
ducting Captain Porteous to be
hanged ; they were next day exa
mined about it before the Town
Council, when, as Stewart used to
say, " we were found to be too drunk
to have any hand in the business."
He gave an accurate account of it in
the Edinburgh Magazine of that
time. This last statement throws
doubt on the whole narrative, for the
Scots Magazine, the first published
at Edinburgh, did not begin till 1739.
3 The Gentlemen Partners in the
Dictionary were R. and J.Dodsley, L.
Hawes, C. Hitch, J. and P. Knapton,
T. and T. Longman, and A. Millar.
Be
26
To
[A.D. 1751.
Be pleased to lay this my determination before them this
morning, for I shall think of taking my measures accordingly
to-morrow evening, only this that I mean no harm, but that
my citadel shall not be taken by storm while I can defend it,
and that if a blockade is intended, the country is under the
command of my batteries, I shall think of laying it under
contribution to-morrow Evening *.
I am, Sir,
Your most obliged, most obedient,
and most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
To Mr. Strahan.
36.
To- -.
[London], December 10, 1751.
In Messrs. Sotheby and Co. s Auction Catalogue for May 10, 1875,
Lot 83 is an autograph Letter of Dr. Johnson, one page quarto, dated
December 10, 1751. "I thought it necessary to inform you how it
happened that I seemed to give myself so little trouble about my Book,
when I gave you so much." He speaks of Lord Orrery s favourable
opinion of " our Charlotte s Book 2 ," and mentions other matters con
nected with literary subjects. It sold for 2 $s.
1 Johnson was to receive for the
Dictionary .1575 in all, paying his
assistants himself. Boswell says that
he was often goaded to dispatch,
more especially as he had received
all the copy-money by different drafts
a considerable time before he had
finished his task. Life, i. 287. It
seems probable that the partners
had threatened a blockade by
refusing the weekly contribution.
To this, Johnson replied that he was
the real master of the position ; if he
were to throw up the work in the
middle the loss which would be in
curred would fall on them and be very
heavy. By the evening of the next
day therefore they must let him have
some money, or he would strike work.
2 Our Charlotte was Mrs. Len
nox. She had published in the pre
vious winter a novel under the title
of The Memoirs of Harriet Stuart.
One evening at the Club, writes
Hawkins, Johnson proposed to us
the celebrating the birth of her first
literary child, as he called her book, by
a whole night spent in festivity. Our
supper was elegant, and he had
directed that a magnificent hot apple-
pie should make a part of it, and this
he would have stuck with bay-leaves,
because, forsooth, Mrs. Lennox was
an authoress, and had written verses ;
and further, he had prepared for her
a crown of laurel, with which, but not
till he had invoked the Muses by
some ceremonies of his own inven
tion, he encircled her brows. About
five his face shone with meridian
splendour, though his drink had
been only lemonade. Hawkins s
Johnson, p. 286.
In Messrs. Sotheby and Co. s Auc-
To
Aetat. 42.] To William Strahan. 2 7
37.
To WILLIAM STRAHAN z .
DEAR SIR,
What you tell me I am ashamed never to have thought
on I wish I had known it sooner Send me back the last
sheet ; and the last copy for correction. If you will promise
me henceforward to print a sheet a day, I will promise you to
endeavour that you shall have every day a sheet to print,
beginning next Tuesday.
I am, Sir,
Your most, &c.
SAM: JOHNSON.
To Mr. Strahan. J
38.
To WILLIAM STRAHAN 2 .
DEAR SIR,
I must desire you to add to your other civilities this one, to
go to Mr. Millar 3 and represent to him the manner of going on,
and inform him that I know not how to manage. I pay three
and twenty shillings a week to my assistants, in each instance
having much assistance from them, but they tell me they shall
tion Catalogue forNovember 27, 1889, of four pages. Johnson writing on
Lot 102 is a letter of Mrs. Lennox April 3, 1753, says, I began the
dated November 21, 1751, in which second vol. of my Dictionary, room
she writes : Mr. Johnson has in- being left in the first for Preface,
formed me of the generous concern Grammar, and History, none of them
you exprest for the severity of my yet begun. Life, i. 255. As the
critics, and your good intentions to book was published on April 15,
rescue my book from their censures, 1755 (*& i- 2 9 n - the printing
and restore me to Mr. Millar s good must have gone on very rapidly,
opinions. when a start was once made. By
1 From the original in the posses- copy he means his manuscript for
sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of printing.
41 Gunterstone Road, West Ken- This and the next letter are from
sington. First published in my the original in the possession of Mr.
edition of Boswell s Life of Johnsoti, John Waller, of 2 Artesian Road,
vol. vi. Addenda, p. xxv. Westbourne Grove. First published
In all likelihood Johnson is writing in my edition of Boswell s Life of
about the Dictionary. As the first Johnson, vol. vi. Addenda, p. xxv.
edition was in folio, a sheet consisted 3 For Andrew Mi liar, see /tf.?/, p. 30.
be
28 To- - Levett. [A.D. 1752.
be able to pull better in method, as indeed I intend they shall.
The point is to get two Guineas J .
Sir,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
To Mr. Strahan.
39.
To WILLIAM STRAHAN.
SIR,
I have often suspected that it is as you say, and have told
Mr. Dodsley of it. It proceeds from the haste of the amanuensis
to get to the end of his day s work. I have desired the passages
to be clipped close, and then perhaps for two or three leaves it
is done. But since poor Stuart s 2 time I could never get that
part of the work into regularity, and perhaps never shall. I
will try to take some more care, but can promise nothing ; when
I am told there is a sheet or two I order it away. You will find
it sometimes close ; when I make up any myself, which never
happens but when I have nobody with me, I generally clip it
close, but one cannot always be on the watch.
I am, Sir,
Your most, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
40.
To LEVETT, ESQ., in Lichfield 3 .
SIR,
I am extremely obliged to you for the long credit and kind
forbearance which I have received from you. I have sold a
property principally to satisfy you, and in consequence of that
1 The writer in the Gent. Mag. column, leaving a space between
quoted ante, p. 25, says that after each for the authorities, which were
the printing had gone on some time pasted on as they were collected by
the proprietors of the Dictionary the different amanuenses ; and in
paid Johnson through Mr. Strahan this mode the MS. was so regular
at the rate of a guinea for every that the sheets of MS. which made
sheet of MS. copy delivered. The a sheet of print could be very exactly
copy was written upon quarto post, ascertained.
and in two columns each page. See ante, p. 25, n. 2.
Johnson wrote in his own hand the 3 From the original in the posses-
words and their explanation, and sion of Mr. J. H. Hodson of Lich-
generally two or three words in each field.
sale
Aetat. 42.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 29
sale can now give you a Draught of one hundred pounds upon
a Bookseller of credit payable on the first of May and realizable
in the meantime T . If you have not any evidence of the money
paid for me by Mr. Aston I know not how to ascertain it, for
though I could make oath to a payment I cannot certainly tell
of how much, though I think, of twelve pounds 2 . Would you
be pleased to terminate the affair with Mr. J. Sympson 3 ? I
have not mentioned it to him, because I neither would employ
any one you may not desire to be employed, nor oblige you to
confess any dislike. I know not indeed that anybody needs to
be employed, for I do not doubt your candour.
I am, Sir. with great respect,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
For any money above one hundred pounds I must beg you
to accept my Note for six months.
March 7, 1752.
41.
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR.
[London], March 17, 1752. Mentioned in the Life, i. 238.
42.
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR.
March 18, 1752. Published in the Life, i. 238.
1 I have little doubt that the This letter darkens the gloom in
property which Johnson sold was which we see the Rambler bring his
his share, or part of his share paper to its close. His wife was on
in The Rambler, the last num- her death-bed, and now we learn
ber of which was published a week that he was harassed for the pay-
after the date of this letter. On ment of a debt which he had incurred
April i of the previous year he had for the sake of his mother,
entered into an agreement with Cave 2 In a letter to Levett dated Dec. I,
about the sale of the second edition of 1743, he says: I will pay the
the first seventy numbers. (Nichols s interest (I think twelve pounds) in
Lit. Anec. viii. 415, where the two months. Life, i. 160. See ante,
year 1759 is clearly a misprint for p. 16, for mention of a receipt which
1751, for it is described as the 24th Mr. Aston had.
George II.) That Johnson subse- 3 For Joseph Simpson, one of
qnently sold the whole of his share Johnson s schoolfellows, who be-
in the future profits we know from came a barrister but fell into a dis-
Chalmers. Biog. Diet. xix. 58. sipated course of life, see Life, iii. 28.
TO
\o
To Andrew Millar.
[A.D. 1752.
SIR,
43.
To THE REVEREND MR. BIRCH
I beg the favour that if you have any catalogue by you
such as the Bibl. Thuaneana 2 , or any other of value, that you
will lend it for a few days to
Sir,
Your most humble servt,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Nov. 4, 1752.
If you leave it out directed, we will call for it.
To the Reverend Mr. Birch.
44.
To ANDREW MILLAR 3 .
SIR, July 1 1.
You seem to have entirely mistaken Mr. Macbean s errand
by objecting want of money no money was asked the whole
affair is that Mr. Macbean and Mr. Hamilton want to wager
as you and I have done, and so lay the money in your hand,
you have therefore to put the money into Macbean s hand to
be put back into yours. I have no share in the matter but
that I lend Macbean the money, that is you lend on my account.
You may easily see my end in it, that it will make both
1 From the original in the British
Museum : Sloane MSS., 4310. 300.
2 The Catalogus Bibliothecce Thu-
an<z was published in Paris in 1679.
The library had belonged to the
historian De Thou (Thuanus), whose
Historia sui Temporis in 138 books
Johnson towards the close of his life
had thoughts of translating. Life,
iv. 410. He inspired, it seems, his
young friend Windham to undertake
the task, who however did not make
much progress. Diary of the Right
Hon. W. Windham, pp. 21, 50. En
mourant de Thou laissait une biblio-
theque qui est reside celebre. Nouv.
Biog. Gen. xlv. 259. Johnson men
tions the Thuanian Catalogue in his
Account of the Harleian Library,
Works, v. 189.
3 From the original in the pos
session of Mr. Alfred Morrison of
Fonthill House.
Andrew Millar was a bookseller
in the Strand, who took the principal
charge of conducting the publication
of Johnson s Dictionary. When the
messenger who carried the last sheet
to him returned, Johnson asked him,
"Well, what did he say?" "Sir,
(answered the messenger) he said,
thank GOD I have done with him."
" I am glad (replied Johnson, with
a smile) that he thanks GOD for
any thing." : Life, \. 287. See also
Letters of Hume to Strahan, p. xxiii.
M
Aetat. 43.]
To Andrew Millar.
M and H push on the business, which is all that we both
wish.
It is therefore my advice that it be complied with, since, as
you see, there is no expense in it, but remember that I don t
care, and will not have it mentioned as any obligation on me,
but as done for the common interests T .
When I sent back your books I returned by mistake to you
a Yoimg ttpon Opium 2 , which I had from Mrs. Strahan ; please to
let me have it back.
Pray be so kind as to procure me the three following books
Law s Serious Call. 8vo. 3
Helsham s Philosophy 4 .
Present State of England last 5 .
I am, Sir, &c.
SAM: JOHNSON.
To Mr. Millar.
1 Johnson had two Macbeans
among his amanuenses, one of whom
he befriended in his old age. Life,
i. 187. Mr. Hamilton was most
likely Archibald Hamilton, the prin
ter, who had kept his coach (Mrs.
Williams said) several years sooner
than Mr. Strahan. Johnson. " He
was in the right. Life is short. The
sooner that a man begins to enjoy
his wealth the better." Ib. ii. 226.
Hamilton, it seems from this letter,
had some share in printing the Dic
tionary, though a great deal of it was
done by Strahan. Ib. iv. 321. Ap
parently for the sake of getting the
work hastened, some kind of wager
had been made by the author and
the publisher. Johnson perhaps had
wagered that he could supply copy
or manuscript faster than Millar
could get it set up in type. Macbean,
who perhaps was at the head of
Johnson s assistants, now wished to
wager against the printer. Millar
was to hold the stakes. Macbean
had no money, and Johnson had no
money, but Millar could trust Johnson
and therefore was to advance it on
his account. He was to put the
amount of the wager into Macbean s
hands, who would at once pay it back
to him as the holder of the stakes.
If Macbean lost, Millar, who would
hand over the stake to Hamilton,
would come on Johnson, who, in
his turn, would no doubt deduct
the money from Macbean s weekly
wages.
2 A Treatise on Opium. By Geo.
Young, M.D. Published by Millar in
I 753- Gent. Mag. 1753, p. 202.
3 When I was at Oxford, said
Johnson, I took up Law s Serious
Call to a Holy Life, expecting to find
it a dull book (as such books generally
are) and perhaps to laugh at it. But
I found Law quite an overmatch for
me. Life, i. 68.
4 A Course of Lectures in Natural
Philosophy, by the late Rich. Hels-
ham, M.D. Gent. Mag. 1739, p. 276.
5 Chamberlayne s Present State of
Great Britain the last edition.
To
,v
To William Strahan.
[A.D. 1753.
SIR,
45.
To THE REVEREND MR. BIRCH T .
I beg the favour of you to lend me Blount s Censura
Scriptorum z . I shall send my servant for it on Monday.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Jan. 20. To the Reverend Mr. Birch.
Endorsed 20 Jan. 1753.
46.
To THE REVEREND JOSEPH WARTON.
[London], March 8, 1753. Published in the Life, \. 253.
SIR,
47.
To WILLIAM STRAHAN 3 .
I have enclosed the Scheme 4 which I mentioned yesterday
in which the work proposed is sufficiently explained.
The Undertaker, Mr. Bathurst 5 , is a Physician of the Univer
sity of Cambridge, of about eight years standing, and will per-
1 From the original in the British
Museum : Sloane MSS. 4310. 302.
2 Sir Thomas Pope Blount s Cen
sura CelebriorumAuthorum. London,
1690, folio. It is a bibliographical
dictionary of a peculiar kind, and
may be described as a record of the
opinions of the greatest writers of all
ages on one another. Among the
celebriores authores passed over in
silence are Spenser, Shakespeare and
Milton. Diet. Nat. Biog., v. 256.
3 From the original in the posses
sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41
Gunterstone Road, West Kensing
ton. First published in my edition
of the Life, vol. vi. Addenda, p. xxi.
4 The Scheme, which if not written
by Johnson was certainly revised by
him, is given in the Addenda to my
edition of the Life, vi. xxii. It was
for a comprehensive Geographical
Dictionary.
5 Bathurst was Johnson s beloved
friend, of whom he hardly ever spoke
without tears in his eyes. Life, i.
190, n. 2. He took his degree of
Bachelor of Medicine at Peterhouse,
Cambridge, in 1745, an( l did not, it
should seem, proceed to the higher
degree. By 1753 he would have been
of eight years standing. In 1757 he
was at the Havannah, where he fell
a sacrifice to the destructive climate.
Johnson wrote to Beauclerk : The
Havannah is taken ; a conquest
too dearly obtained ; for Bathurst
died before it. Vix Priamus tanti
totaque Troja futt. Ib. i. 242, n. I.
The quotation is from Ovid, He-
roides, i. 4.
form
Aetat. 43.] To Samuel Richardson. 33
form the work m such a manner as may satisfy the publick.
No advice of mine will be wanting, but advice will be all that
I propose to contribute unless it should be thought worth while
that I should write a preface, which if desired I will do and put
my name to it. The terms which I am commissioned to offer
are these :
1. A guinea and half shall be paid for each sheet of the copy.
2. The authour will receive a Guinea and half a week from
the date of the contract.
3. As it is certain that many books will be necessary, the
Authour will at the end of the work take the books furnished
him in part of payment at prime Cost, which will be a consider
able reduction of the price of the Copy; or if it seems as
you thought yesterday no reduction, he will allow out of the
last payment fifty pounds for the use of the Books and return
them.
4. In two months after his first demand of books shall be
supplied, he purposes to write three Sheets a week and to con
tinue the same quantity to the end of the work, unless he shall
be hindered by want of Books. He does not however expect
to be always able to write according to the order of the
Alphabet but as his Books shall happen to supply him, and
therefore cannot send any part to the press till the whole is
nearly finished.
5. He undertakes as usual the Correction.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
March 22nd [probably 1753].
To Mr. Strahan.
48.
To SAMUEL RICHARDSON r .
DEAR SIR, May I7 [17 ^ ]
As you were the first that gave me any notice of this
paragraph, I send it to you with a few little notes, which I wish
1 First published in Original Let- Boswell, p. 95, under the date of
ters, edited by Rebecca Warner, May 17, 1755.
1817, p. 209. Published in Croker s This letter was written when a
VOL. I, D you
34 To Samuel Richardson. [A.D. 1753.
you would read. It is well when men of learning and penetration
busy themselves in these enquiries ; but what is their idleness
is my business. Help indeed now comes too late for me , when
a large part of my book has passed the press.
I shall be glad if these strictures appear to you not un
warrantable ; for whom should he who toils in settling a
language desire to please but him who is adorning it 2 ? I hope
your new book is printing. Macte nova virtute.
I am, dear Sir,
Most respectfully and most affectionately,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
49.
To SAMUEL RICHARDSON 3 .
DEAR SIR, September 26, 1753-
I return you my sincerest thanks for the volumes of your
new work ; but it is a kind of tyrannical kindness to give only
so much at a time, as makes more longed for; but that will
probably be thought, even of the whole, when you have given it.
I have no objection but to the preface, in which you first
mention the letters as fallen by some chance into your hands,
large part of one of Johnson s books Carter and Talbot Carres, ii. 131, 9.
had passed the press, and when a x Well might Johnson say that
new book by Richardson was likely "the English Dictionary was written
to be printing. This suits May, with little assistance of the learned,"
1753. On April 3 of that year John- for he told me that the only aid which
son recorded : I began the second he received was a paper containing
vol. of my Dictionary, room being twenty etymologies, sent to him by a
left in the first for Preface, Grammar, person then unknown, who he was
and History, none of them yet be- afterwards informed was Dr. Pearce,
gun. Life, i. 255. The first edition Bishop of Rochester. Life, i. 292.
of Sir Charles Grandison bears the 2 Johnson s admiration of Richard-
date of 1754, but the first four of the son was very great. He was one of
six volumes were published before the very few men whom he sought
the remaining two, and were reviewed after. Ib. iii. 314. In an introduc-
in the Gentleman s Magazine for tory note to the Rambler, No. 97, he
November, 1753, p. 511. Johnson, describes him as an author who has
as his next letter shows, had received enlarged the knowledge of human
a present of some of the volumes as nature.
early as September 26, and Miss 3 Published first in the Richard-
Talbot was reading them still earlier. son Correspondence, v. 283.
and
Aetat. 44.] To the Reverend Dr. Birch. 35
and afterwards mention your health as such, that you almost
despaired of going through your plan. If you were to require
my opinion which part should be changed, I should be inclined
to the suppression of that part which seems to disclaim the
composition T . What is modesty, if it deserts from truth ? Of
what use is the disguise by which nothing is concealed 2 ?
You must forgive this, because it is meant well.
I thank you once more, dear Sir, for your books ; but cannot
I prevail this time for an index ? such I wished, and shall wish,
to Clarissa 3 . Suppose that in one volume an accurate index
was made to the three works but while I am writing an
objection arises such an index to the three would look like the
preclusion of a fourth, to which I will never contribute ; for if
I cannot benefit mankind, I hope never to injure them.
I am, Sir,
Your most obliged and most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
5O.
To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH 4 .
SIR,
If you will be pleased to lend me Clarendon s History for
a few days, it will be a favour to,
Sir,
Your most humble servant.
SAM: JOHNSON.
To the Rev d Dr. Birch.
Endorsed January, 1754.
1 In the Richardson Correspond- in a young lady of higher fortune
ence this is printed competition. and born to happier hopes, he con-
2 In the preface Richardson says : tinues : Here the editor appre-
How such remarkable collections hended he should be obliged to stop
of private letters fell into the editor s by reason of his precarious state of
hands he hopes the reader will not health and a variety of avocations
think it very necessary to enquire. which claimed his first attention.
After describing how he had in 3 See ante, p. 22.
Pamela exhibited the beauty and 4 From the original in the British
superiority of virtue in an innocent Museum: Sloane MSS., 4310. 304.
and unpolished mind, and in Ctar/ssa
D 2 TO
36 To the Reverend Joseph Wart on. [A.D.1754.
51.
To THE REVEREND JOSEPH WARTON*.
DEAR SIR, Mardl 8th I754
I cannot but congratulate you upon the conclusion of a
work, in which you have borne so great a part with so much
reputation. I immediately determined that your name should
be mentioned, but the paper having been some time written,
Mr. Hawkesworth, I suppose, did not care to disorder its text,
and therefore put your eulogy in a note. He and every other
man mention your papers of Criticism with great commendation,
though not with greater than they deserve 2 .
But how little can we venture to exult in any intellectual
powers or literary attainments, when we consider the condition
of poor Collins. I knew him a few years ago full of hopes and
full of projects, versed in many languages, high in fancy, and
strong in retention. This busy and forcible mind is now under
the government of those who lately would not have been able
to comprehend the least and most narrow of its designs. What
do you hear of him ? are there hopes of his recovery ? or is he
to pass the remainder of his life in misery and degradation ?
perhaps with complete consciousness of his calamity 3 .
1 First published in Wooll s Me- but with pity and sadness. He lan-
moirs of Dr. Joseph Warton, p. 219. guished some years under that de-
2 On March 8, 1753, Johnson, pression of mind which enchains the
writing for the authors and proprie- faculties without destroying them,
tors of The Adventurer? offered Mr. and leaves reason the knowledge of
Warton two guineas for each paper right without the power of pursuing
that he should contribute. Life, i. it. These clouds which he per-
253. In the last number, published ceived gathering on his intellects he
on March 9, 1754, the day after the endeavoured to disperse by travel,
date of Johnson s letter, Hawkes- and passed into France ; but found
worth, the editor, stated in a note : himself constrained to yield to his
The pieces signed Z are by the Rev. malady, and returned. He was for
Mr. Warton, whose translation of some time confined in a house of
Virgil s Pastorals and Georgics would lunatics, and afterwards retired to
alone sufficiently distinguish him as the care of his sister in Chfchester,
a genius and a scholar. where death, in 1756, came to his
3 Johnson thus described Collins s relief. Johnson s Works, viii. 402.
state in the character which he Johnson was mistaken in the year of
wrote of him in 1763 : The latter his death. He died on June 12,
part of his life cannot be remembered I 739, unnoticed either by the Gentle-
You
Aetat. 44.]
To William Strahan.
37
You have flattered us, dear Sir, for some time, with hopes
of seeing you ; when you come you will find your reputation
increased, and with it the kindness of those friends who do
not envy you ; for success always produces either love or
hatred. I enter my name among those that love, and that love
you more and more in proportion as by writing more you are
more known ; and believe, that as you continue to diffuse among
us your integrity and learning, I shall be still with greater
esteem and affection,
Dear Sir,
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
52.
To WILLIAM STRAHAN J .
SIR,
[Perhaps written at Oxford in July, 1754.]
I shall not be long here, but in the meantime if Miss
Williams wants any money pray speak to Mr. Millar and supply
man s Magazine or the Annual
Register. Goldsmith, writing of him
a few weeks earlier, had described
him as happy if insensible of our
neglect, not raging at our ingratitude.
Enquiry into the Present State of
Polite Learning, ch. x. To this
account Johnson added the following
in his Lives of the Poets: Such
was the fate of Collins, with whom
I once delighted to converse, and
whom I yet remember with tender
ness. . . . His disorder was not
alienation of mind, but general laxity
and feebleness, a deficiency rather of
his vital than intellectual powers.
What he spoke wanted neither judg
ment nor spirit ; but a few minutes
exhausted him. Works, viii. 403.
See post, Letter of April 15, 1756.
Johnson thus mentions him in a note
on Cymbeline in his edition of Shake
speare (vii. 358) : For the obsequies
of Fidele a song was written by my
unhappy friend, Mr. William Collins
of Chichester, a man of uncommon
learning and abilities. I shall give
it a place at the end in honour of his
memory.
1 From the original in the posses
sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41
Gunterstone Road, West Kensington.
First published in my edition of the
Life, vol. vi, Addenda, p. xxvii ;
where in a note I state : Miss
Williams (the blind lady) came to
live with Johnson after his wife s
death in 1752 (ib. i. 232). The fact
that Strahan is asked to supply her
with money after speaking to Mr.
Millar seems to show that this letter
was written some time before the
publication of the Dictionary in April
1755. Millar "took the principal
charge of conducting its publication,
and Johnson "had received all the
copy-money, by different drafts, a
considerable time before he had
finished his task" (ib. i. 287).
His "journey " may have been his
her
38 To the Reverend foseph Warton, [A.D. 1754.
her, they write to me about some taxes which I wish you would
pay.
My journey will come to very little beyond the satisfaction
of knowing that there is nothing to be done, and that I leave
few advantages here to those that shall come after me.
I am, Sir, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
My compliments to Mrs. Strahan.
To Mr. Strahan.
53.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], July 16, 1754. Published in the Life, i. 270.
54.
To ROBERT CHAMBERS.
[London], November 21, 1754. Published in the Life, i. 274.
55.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], November 28, 1754. Published in the Life, i. 275.
56.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], December 21, 1754. Published in the Life, i. 276.
57.
To THE REVEREND JOSEPH WARTON T .
DEAR SIR, [London], Dec. 24th, 1754.
I am sat down to answer your kind letter, though I know
not whether I shall direct it so as that it may reach you ; the
visit to Oxford in the summer of 1754. An Account of the Life of Dr. John-
He went there, because, " I cannot," son, p. 109. That he had intended
he said, "finish my book [the Die- to pay a visit there that summer is
tionary] to my mind without visiting shown by his letter to T. Warton
the libraries" (ib. i. 270). Accord- dated June 24. Life, i. 290. His
ing to Thomas Warton " he collected letter to the same friend, dated
nothing in the libraries for his Die- August 7, leads one to think that he
tionary" (ib. n. 5). It is perhaps to had examined manuscripts during his
this failure that the latter part of the stay. On the whole I am inclined to
letter refers. assign this letter to July, 1754, though
Since writing this note I have it may belong to the following year,
discovered that Johnson visited Ox- First published in Wooll s Me-
ford in July or early in August, 1755. inoirs of Dr. Joseph Warton, p. 229.
miscarriage
Aetat. 45.] To the Reverend Thomas Warton. 39
miscarriage of it will be no great matter, as I have nothing
to send but thanks, of which I owe you many; yet, if a few
should be lost, I shall amply find them in my own mind ; and
professions of respect, of which the profession will easily be
renewed while the respect continues : and the same causes
which first produced can hardly fail to preserve it. Pray let me
know, however, whether my letter finds its way to you.
Poor dear Collins ! Let me know whether you think it would
give him pleasure if I should write to him \ I have often been
near his state 2 , and therefore have it in great commiseration.
I sincerely wish you the usual pleasures of this joyous season,
and more than the usual pleasures, those of contemplation on
the great event which this festival commemorates.
I am, dear Sir.
Your most affectionate
and humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
58.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], February 4, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 278.
59.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], February 4, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 278.
60.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], February 13, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 279.
1 Johnson wrote to Thomas War- low that he could not bear conversa-
ton on November 28, 1754: Poor tion. Once he walked from his
dear Collins ! Would a letter give lodgings opposite Christ Church to
him any pleasure ? I have a mind Trinity College [Warton s College],
to write. T. Warton says in a note but supported by his servant. N.
on this passage : Collins was at Drake s Gleaner, iv. 475.
this time on a visit to Mr. Warton ; 2 Boswell describing Johnson s
but labouring under the most deplor- hypochondria says : I am aware
able languor of body and dejection of that he himself was too ready to call
mind. Life, i. 276, n. 2. Warton such a complaint by the name of
in a letter to William Hymers says : madness. Ib. i. 65. I inherited,
In 1754 he came to Oxford for Johnson said, a vile melancholy from
change of air and amusement, where my father, which has made me mad
he stayed a month ; I saw him fre- all my life, at least not sober. Ib.
quently, but he was so weak and v. 215.
To
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [A.D. 1755.
61.
To THE EARL OF CHESTERFIELD.
[London], February 7, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 261.
62.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], February, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 279.
63.
To THE VICE-CHANCELLOR OF OXFORD.
London, February 26, 1755. Published in the Life, \. 282.
This Letter was sold by Messrs. Sotheby and Co. on May 10, 1875,
for 6 6s.
64.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], March 20, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 282.
65.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], March 25, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 283.
66.
To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH.
[London], March 29, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 285.
67.
To MR. BURNEY.
Gough Square, April 8, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 286.
68.
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR J .
SIR,
I think your draught better than Mr. Ballard s ; and the
case quite clear on Mr. B s side ; at least so far as that Dr.
Wilson 2 can have no money till the debts due out of that money
which he claims are paid. The law or custom of the Church
1 From the original in the posses- bendaries of Westminster. Le Neve s
sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41 Fast. Ecc. Angl. iii. 366. Taylor, who
Gunterstone Road, West Kensington. was also a prebendary, might have
It was sold by Messrs. Christie and had some dispute with one of them.
Co. on June 5, 1888, for ^3 y. He succeeded Thomas \Vilson in one
2 There were at this time two W T il- of his livings in 1784. Post, Letter
sons, Thomas and Christopher, Pre- of May 13, 1784.
must
Aetat. 45.]
To Edmund Hector.
must determine the rest. It seems equitable enough that he
should claim that money which was received for him, and
only wanted to be divided, if there were no prior claim, or
debt due from it.
What is the matter that one never sees you ? I am moved T ,
and I fancy I shall move again, but how oftensoever I move,
I shall be with great constancy,
Your affectionate, &c.,
April 11, 1755- SAM: JOHNSON.
To the Rev d Dr. Taylor.
69.
To EDMUND HECTOR 2 .
DEAR SIR,
I was extremely pleased to find that you have not forgotten
your old friend, who yet recollects the evenings which we have
passed together at Warren s 3 and the (illegible 4 ). As Nature,
I suppose, operates very uniformly, I believe you as well as
I are come now to that part in which the gratifications and
friendships of younger years operate very powerfully on the
1 Johnson, writing this word at the
end of one line and the beginning of
the next, divides it mo-ved. By
move he seems to imply change of
residence ; but there seems no doubt
that from about 1749 to 1759 he lived
in Gough Square. Life, iii. 405, n. 6.
The next letter moreover, written
only four days later, is dated Gough
Square. It is possible that the move
was from one house to another in the
same Square.
2 First published in Notes and
Queries, 6th S. iii. 301.
Edmund Hector was a medical
man in practice at Birmingham, the
son, it is probable, of George Hector
of Lichfield. My mother, writes
Johnson of his own birth, had a very
difficult and dangerous labour, and
was assisted by George Hector, a
man-midwife of great reputation. I
was born almost dead, and could
not cry for some time. When he had
me in his arms he said, " Here is a
brave boy." An Account of the
Life of Dr. Johnson, 1805, p. 9.
Johnson recorded in his Diary in
1781 : Hector is an old friend, the
only companion of my childhood that
passed through the school with me.
We have always loved one another.
Life, iv. 135. Hector s sister, Mrs.
Careless, was, said Johnson, the
first woman with whom I was in
love. It dropt out of my head im
perceptibly. If I had married her,
he afterwards added, it might have
been as happy for me. Ib. ii. 460-1.
3 See ante, p. 8, n. 3.
4 Swan is suggested by the pub
lisher of this letter, and with great
probability. For Warren s house,
where Johnson and Hector had
lodged, was over against the Swan
Tavern in High Street. Ib. i. 85, n. 3.
mind.
To Edmund Hector.
[A.D. 1755.
mind. Since we have again renewed our acquaintance do
not let us intermit it so long again.
The Books I think to send you in a strong box by the carrier,
and shall be obliged if you will remit the money to my mother,
who may give you a receipt in my name T .
I wish, come of wishes what will, that my work may please
you, as much as it now and then pleased me, for I did not find
dictionary making so very unpleasant as it may be thought 2 .
Mr. Baskevill 3 called on me here. I suppose you visit his
printing house, which will I think be something very con
siderable. What news of poor Warren? I have not lost all
my kindness for him, for when I remember you I naturally
remember all our connexions, which are more pleasing to me
for your sake.
I am, Sir,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Gough Square, Fleet Street, Apr. 15, 1755.
To Mr. Hector in Birmingham.
1 The books were probably the
two volumes of the Dictionary which
were published about the day on
which this letter was written. Life, i.
290, n. I. See post, Letter of Oct.
7, 1/56, where Johnson refers to Hec
tor s kindness in this matter.
2 When Stockdale expressed his
surprise that Johnson in his easy
circumstances should think of pre
paring a new edition of a tedious
scientific dictionary, " Sir," said he,
" I like that muddling work." Ib. ii.
203, n. 3. See /</, Letter of Oct. 6,
1772.
3 W. Hutton in his History of
Birmingham, ed. 1795, p. 120, gives
an interesting account of John Bas-
kerville, the famous Birmingham
printer. Born in 1706, he was first a
stone-cutter, then a writing-master,
next a japanner. His inclination
for letters induced him to turn his
thoughts towards the press. He sunk
,600 before he could produce one
letter to please himself. His first
attempt in 1756 was a quarto edition
of Virgil, price one guinea. He died
in 1775. No one could be found to
buy his types. They were refused
by both Universities, and they lay a
dead weight till purchased by a
literary society at Paris in 1779 for
^3700. From them were printed the
great editions of Voltaire s Works
published in 1785-9. Johnson in
1769 gave to the Library of Trinity
College, Oxford, a copy of the Virgil
which he had promised, he said,
many years before. Life, ii. 67.
Macaulay, in the third chapter of his
History (ed. 1874, i. 356), describes
how the magnificent editions of Bas-
kerville went forth to astonish all the
librarians of Europe. I doubt much
whether anything could have aston
ished Bodley s Librarians during the
latter half of the eighteenth century.
The Library shows signs of great
neglect during that period.
To
Aetat. 45.] To MlSS . 43
70.
To BENNET LANGTON.
[London], May 6, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 288.
71.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], May 13, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 289.
72.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], June 10, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 290
73.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], June 24, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 290.
74.
To Miss - \
MADAM, J ul y *9, 1755-
I know not how liberally your generosity would reward
those who should do you any service, when you can so kindly
acknowledge a favour which I intended only to myself. That
accidentally hearing that you were in town, I made haste to
enjoy an interval of pleasure which I found would be short,
was the natural consequence of that self-love which is always
busy in quest of happiness ; of that happiness which we often
miss when we think it near, and sometimes find when we
imagine it lost. When I had missed you, I went away disap
pointed ; and did not know that my vexation would be so
amply repaid by so kind a letter. A letter indeed can but
imperfectly supply the place of its writer, at least of such
a writer as you ; and a letter which makes me still more desire
your presence, is but a weak consolation under the necessity
1 First published in the Piozzi brought him acquainted was Miss
Letters, ii. 400. Cotterell, one of the two daughters of
Mrs. Piozzi says that it was ad- Admiral Cotterell, who lived opposite
dressed to a lady who desires that Johnson in Castle Street, Cavendish
her name may be concealed. Ib. Square (Life, i. 244).
p. 385. Baretti states in a marginal For Baretti, see Life, i. 302.
note that the lady with whom I
of
44 To tke Reverend Dr. Birch. [A.D. 1755.
of living longer without you : with this however I must be
for a time content, as much content at least as discontent will
suffer me ; for Mr. Baretti being a single being in this part
of the world, and entirely clear from all engagements, takes the
advantage of his independence, and will come before me ; for
which if I could blame him, I should punish him ; but my own
heart tells me, that he only does to me, what, if I could, I should
do to him.
I hope Mrs. ", when she came to her favourite place, found
her house dry, and her woods growing, and the breeze whistling,
and the birds singing, and her own heart dancing. And for you,
Madam, whose heart cannot yet dance to such musick, I know
not what to hope ; indeed I could hope every thing that would
please you, except that perhaps the absence of higher pleasures
is necessary to keep some little place vacant in your remem
brance for,
Madam,
Your, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
75.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], August 7, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 290.
76.
To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH 2 .
SIR,
If you can lend me for a few days Wood s Ath. Ox. 3 , it will
be a favour. My servant will call for it on Monday.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Saturday.
To the Reverend Dr. Birch.
Endorsed Nov. 8, 1755.
1 Mrs. Porter the actress, accord- Mrs. Porter. Life, i. 369 ; and on
ing to Baretti, who says, Johnson Dec. 21 of the same year : Miss
esteemed her much, whatever Mrs. Cotterell is still with Mrs. Porter.
Piozzi may insinuate of his contempt Ib. p. 382.
for theatrical folks. She lived at Q From the original in the British
High-wood-ill [sic]. Johnson wrote Museum -.Sloane MSS. 4310.
to Baretti on July 20, 1762 : Miss 3 Wood s Athena Oxonienses.
Cotterell still continues to cling to
To
Aetat.46.] To Miss Boothby. 45
77.
_ To LEWIS PAUL 1 .
DEAR SIR,
I would not have you think that I forget or neglect you.
I have never been out of doors since you saw me. On the
day after I had been with you, I was seized with a hoarseness,
which still continues ; I had then a cough so violent, that I once
fainted under its convulsions. I was afraid of my lungs. My
Physician bled me yesterday and the day before, first almost
against his will, but the next day without any contest 2 . I had
been bled once before, so that I have lost in all 54 ounces 3 .
I live on broaths, and my cough, I thank God, is much abated,
so that I can sleep. You [sic] find it impossible to fix a time for
coming to you, but as soon as the physician gives me leave,
if you can spare a bed, I will pass a week at your house 4 .
Change of air is often of use, and, I know, you will let me live
my own way. I have been pretty much dejected.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Monday, Dec. 23 5 , 1755.
To Mr. Paul.
78.
To Miss BOOTHBY 6 .
DEAR MADAM, Dec " *>> 755-
It is again midnight, and I am again alone. With what
meditation shall I amuse this waste hour of darkness and
1 First published in Croker s Bos- Kensington. His death on April 25,
well, p. 100. Corrected by me from 1759, is recorded in the Gentleman s
the original in the possession of the Magazine for that year (p. 242) as
late Mr. S. J. Davey, of 45, Great taking place at Kensington Gravel
Russell Street, London. For Lewis Pits.
Paul, see ante, p. 6. ; Monday was the 22nd.
2 In Mr. Croker s edition this is This and the five other letters to
printed without my [word wanting]. Miss Boothby were first published in
The word is not wanting, but difficult the Piozzi Letters, ii. 391-400.
to decipher. Hill Boothby, only daughter of
3 For Johnson s use of bleeding Brooke Boothby and Elizabeth Fitz-
see Life, iii. 152, n. 3. herbert, and sister of the sixth
4 Paul s house was perhaps at baronet, Sir Brooke Boothby, was
vacuity ?
46
To Miss Boothby.
[A.D. 1755.
vacuity? If I turn my thoughts upon myself, what do I per
ceive but a poor helpless being, reduced by a blast of wind to
born Oct. 27, 1708, died Jan. 16,
1756. Johnson had become ac
quainted with her on his visit to
Derbyshire, mentioned ante, p. 3,
when the daughters of some of the
Derbyshire squires showed their
good taste and good sense by desir
ing the company of the young genius,
poor and unpolished as he was.
Life, i. 83. Her friend Miss Mey-
nell, of whom Johnson said that she
had the best understanding he ever
met with in any human being (ib.\
had married Miss Boothby s relation,
William Fitzherbert, father to the
first Lord St. Helens ; a man more
generally acceptable than any
known to Johnson. Ib. iii. 148.
Nevertheless in the year 1772, in
some fit of despondency, after going
one morning to see the convicts
executed, he went to his own stable
and hanged himself with a bridle.
Ib. ii. 228, n. 3. His wife died in
1753, in the flower of her age, dis
tinguished for her piety and fine
accomplishments, as we read in the
Gentleman s Magazine for that year
(p. 148) in a notice likely enough
written by Johnson. He told Mrs.
Thrale, if we can trust that lady s
account, that her husband felt at
once afflicted and released. Her
virtues had been almost oppressive.
Piozzi s Anecdotes, p. 160. Her six
motherless children for the next three
years were under Miss Boothby s
care. An Account of the Life of Dr.
Johnson, 1805, p. 36. She and John
son kept up a long correspondence ;
thirty-two of her letters were pre
served and published, and but six of
his. Ib. pp. 33-144. I never did
exchange letters regularly, he wrote
to Dr. Taylor, but with dear Miss
Boothby. Post, p. 64. Mrs. Piozzi
gives the following account of her,
but how much of it is true cannot be
known. There is surely, to say the
least, great exaggeration in it. Dr.
Johnson told me she pushed her piety
to bigotry,her devotion to enthusiasm ;
that she somewhat disqualified herself
for the duties of this life by her
perpetual aspirations after the next ;
such was however the purity of her
mind, he said, and such the graces
of her manner, that Lord Lyttelton
and he used to strive for her prefer
ence with an emulation that occa
sioned hourly disgust, and ended in
lasting animosity : " You may see
(said he to me when the Poets Lives
were printed) that dear Boothby is
at my heart still. She would delight
in that fellow Lyttelton s company
though, all that I could do ; and I
cannot forgive even his memory the
preference given by a mind like hers.
Piozzi s Anecdotes, p. 160. Did you
not tell him he was a rascal ? Mrs.
Piozzi might have been asked in his
own words (Life, iv. 10) by any one
who had any belief in the latter part
of her story. That Miss Boothby
was a lady of some learning is shown
by a Hebrew Grammar, or the
sketch of one, composed for her own
use, and written in a character
eminently beautiful that was pre
served by her family. Piozzi Letters,
ii. 379-
She is the original of Miss Saint-
hill in The Spiritual Quixote (ed.
1773, iii. 99-183), while Sir William
and Lady Forester, with whom this
very sensible maiden lady was stay
ing, are drawn from the Fitzherberts.
Her Ladyship, we are told, was a
little inclined to the mystic, or rather
the seraphic theology. Ib. p. 101.
Boswell, who quotes with approval
the third of Johnson s letters to Miss
Boothby, says that the excellence
weakness
Aetat. 46.]
To Miss Boothby.
47
weakness and misery ? How my present distemper was brought
upon me I can give no account, but impute it to some sudden
succession of cold to heat ; such as in the common road of life
cannot be avoided, and against which no precaution can be taken.
Of the fallaciousness of hope, and the uncertainty of schemes,
every day gives some new proof ; but it is seldom heeded, till
something rather felt than seen, awakens attention. This illness,
in which I have suffered something and feared much more, has
depressed my confidence and elation ; and made me consider all
that I have promised myself, as less certain to be attained or
enjoyed. I have endeavoured to form resolutions of a better
life ; but I form them weakly, under the consciousness of an
external motive. Not that I conceive a time of sickness a time
improper for recollection and good purposes, which I believe
diseases and calamities often sent to produce, but because no
man can know how little his performance will answer to his
promises : and designs are nothing in human eyes till they are
realised by execution I .
Continue, my Dearest, your prayers for me, that no good
resolution may be vain. You think, I believe, better of me than
I deserve. I hope to be in time what I wish to be ; and what
I have hitherto satisfied myself too readily with only wishing.
Your billet brought me what I much wished to have, a proof that
I am still remembered by you at the hour in which I most desire it !
The Doctor is anxious about you. He thinks you too negli
gent of yourself; if you will promise to be cautious, I will
exchange promises, as we have already exchanged injunctions 2 .
of the others is not so apparent.
Life, iv. 57, n. 3. They are in truth
in an unnatural strain. They were
all written when Johnson was de
pressed by a severe illness and when
she was dying. He seems more
over to affect a style that would have
better become a spiritual novel.
I have not followed Mrs. Piozzi s
arrangement of these letters. I have
little doubt that they were all written
within a few days, and that Johnson
in dating two of them Jan. I and 3,
1755, mistook the year.
1 On his birthday, nine years
later, he recorded : I have now
spent fifty-five years in resolving ;
having from the earliest time almost
that I can remember been forming
schemes of a better life. I have done
nothing. Life, i. 483.
2 In her billet dated Sunday
night (Dec. 28), endorsed by John
son December, 1755, she said: I
beg you would be governed by the
good Doctor while you are sick ;
However,
48 To Miss Boothby. [A.D. 1755.
However, do not write to me more than you can easily bear ; do
not interrupt your ease to write at all.
Mr. Fitzherbert sent to-day to offer me some wine ; the people
about me say I ought to accept it, I shall therefore be obliged
to him if he will send me a bottle *.
There has gone about a report that I died to-day, which
I mention, lest you should hear it and be alarmed. You see
that I think my death may alarm you ; which for me is to think
very highly of earthly friendship. I believe it arose from the
death of one of my neighbours. You know Des Cartes s argu
ment, I think, therefore I am. It is as good a consequence,
I write, therefore I am alive. I might give another, I am alive,
therefore I love Miss Boothby ; but that I hope our friendship
may be of far longer duration than life 2 .
I am, dearest Madam,
with sincere affection,
Your, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
79.
To Miss BOOTHBY.
MY SWEET ANGEL, Dec - 3I> [ X 755]-
I have read your book 3 , I am afraid you will think without
any great improvement ; whether you can read my notes I know
not. You ought not to be offended ; I am perhaps as sincere as
the writer. In all things that terminate here I shall be much
guided by your influence, and should take or leave by your
direction ; but I cannot receive my religion from any human
hand 4 . I desire however to be instructed, and am far from
thinking myself perfect.
when you are well, do as you please. Johnson would in all probability
An Account, &c., p. 129. The good have become quite an enthusiast in
Doctor was Lawrence Johnson s point of religion, and have gone mad
physician and friend, sprung from with it. He was so strongly inclined
Milton s Lawrence, of virtuous father to it. BARETTI.
virtuous son. Life, ii. 296, n. I. 3 She had written in her last
1 I am glad you sent for the letter : As an answer to one part
hock, she replied. Mr. Fitzherbert of your letter I have sent you a
has named it more than once. An little book. An Account, &c., p.
Account, &c., p. 130. 130.
3 Had she lived some years longer 4 He would have certainly taken
I beg
Aetat.46.] To Miss Boothby. 49
I beg you to return the book when you have looked into it.
I should not have written what is in the margin, had I not had
it from you, or had I not intended to shew it you.
It affords me a new conviction, that in these books there
is little new, except new forms of expression ; which may be
sometimes taken, even by the writer, for new doctrines.
I sincerely hope that God, whom you so much desire to serve
aright, will bless you, and restore you to health, if he sees it
best. Surely no human understanding can pray for any thing
temporal otherwise than conditionally. Dear Angel, do not
forget me. My heart is full of tenderness.
It has pleased God to permit me to be much better ; which
I believe will please you.
Give me leave, who have thought much on medicine 1 , to
propose to you an easy, and I think a very probable remedy for
indigestion and lubricity of the bowels. Dr. Lawrence has told
me your case. Take an ounce of dried orange-peel finely pow
dered, divide it into scruples, and take one scruple at a time
in any manner 2 ; the best way is perhaps to drink it in a glass
it from her without ever suspecting ledge of physic (he said) I learnt
he did. BARETTI. from Dr. James, whom I helped in
I would be a Papist if I could, writing the proposals for his Dic-
he said to Boswell. I have fear tionary and also a little in the Dtc-
enough ; but an obstinate rationality tionary itself. I also learnt from Dr.
prevents me. Life, iv. 289. She Lawrence, but was then grown more
wrote to him in an earlier letter : I stubborn. Ib. iii.22. See^J/, Letters
am desirous that in the great and of May 23, 1773, and June 19, 1783-
one thing necessary you should 2 Next morning [April I, 1775] I
think as I do ; and I am persuaded won a small bet from Lady Diana
you sometime will. An Account, Beauclerk, by asking Dr. Johnson as
&c., p. loo. It is probable that her to one of his particularities, which
views were somewhat the same as her Ladyship laid I durst not do. It
the poet Cowper s, who wrote shortly seems he had been frequently ob-
before Johnson s death : We re- served at the Club to put into his
joice in the account you give us of pocket the Seville oranges, after he
Dr. Johnson. His conversion will had squeezed the juice of them into
indeed be a singular proof of the the drink which he made for him-
omnipotence of Grace ; and the more self. Beauclerk and Garrick talked
singular the more decided. of it to me, and seemed to think
Southey s Cowper, xv. 150. that he had a strange unwillingness
1 Dr. Johnson, writes Boswell to be discovered. We could not
with justice, was a great dabbler in divine what he did with them ; and
physic. Life, iii. 152. My know- this was the bold question to be put.
VOL. I. E of
5 To Miss Boothby. [A.D. i?56.
of hot red port 1 , or to eat it first and drink the wine after
it. If you mix cinnamon or nutmeg with the powder, it were
not worse ; but it will be more bulky, and so more troublesome.
This is a medicine not disgusting, not costly, easily tried, and if
not found useful, easily left off.
I would not have you offer it to the Doctor as mine.
Physicians do not love intruders ; yet do not take it without his
leave. But do not be easily put off, for it is in my opinion very
likely to help you, and not likely to do you harm ; do not take
too much in haste ; a scruple once in three hours, or about five
scruples a day, will be sufficient to begin, or less, if you find any
aversion. I think using sugar with it might be bad ; if syrup,
use old syrup of quinces : but even that I do not like. I should
think better of conserve of sloes. Has the Doctor mentioned
the bark ? in powder you could hardly take it ; perhaps you
might take the infusion.
Do not think me troublesome, I am full of care. I love you
and honour you ; and am very unwilling to lose you.
A Dieu je vous recommande 2 .
I am, Madam,
Your, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
My compliments to my dear Miss 3 .
I saw on his table the spoils of prevailed upon to tell." JOHNSON,
the preceding night, some fresh peels "Nay, Sir, you should say it more
nicely scraped and cut into pieces. emphatically : he could not be pre-
" O, Sir, (said I) I now partly see vailed upon, even by his dearest
what you do with the squeezed friends, to tell." Life, ii. 330.
oranges which you put into your I Port is not in Johnson s Dic-
pocket at the Club." JOHNSON. " I tionary, though he gives claret, hock,
have a great love for them." Bos- and sherry. I have often in my
WELL. " And pray, Sir, what do you boyhood heard port offered to a
do with them ? You scrape them it guest as red wine, while sherry was
seems, very neatly, and what next ? " spoken of as white wine.
JOHNSON. "Let them dry, Sir." 2 The true phrase is Je vous re-
BOSWELL. " And what next ? " commande a Dieu. BARETTI. Once
JOHNSON. " Nay, Sir, you shall know when Dr. Johnson was himself very
their fate no further." BOSWELL. ill he broke out into French. Ah,
" Then the world must be left in the priez Dieu pour moi he exclaimed
dark. It must be said (assuming a suddenly to Miss Burney, grasping her
mock solemnity) he scraped them, hand. Mme. D Arblay sZVaryjii. 295.
and let them dry, but what he did 3 No doubt Mr. Fitzherbert s eldest
with them next he never could be daughter.
To
Aetat. 46.] To Miss Boothby. 51
80.
To Miss BOOTHBY I .
January i, 1755 [1756]-
DEAREST MADAM,
Though I am afraid your illness leaves you little leisure
for the reception of airy civilities, yet I cannot forbear to pay
you my congratulations on the new year ; and to declare my
wishes, that your years to come may be many and happy. In
this wish indeed I include myself, who have none but you on
whom my heart reposes 2 ; yet surely I wish your good, even
though your situation were such as should permit you to
communicate no gratifications to,
Dearest, dearest Madam,
Your, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
81.
To Miss BOOTHBY.
Jan. 3, 1755 [i756]-
DEAREST MADAM,
Nobody but you can recompense me for the distress which
I suffered on Monday night. Having engaged Dr. Lawrence to
let me know, at whatever hour, the state in which he left you ;
I concluded when he staid so long, that he staid to see my
dearest expire. I was composing myself as I could to hear
what yet I hoped not to hear, when his servant brought me
word that you were better. Do you continue to grow better?
Let my dear little Miss inform me on a card. I would not
have you write lest it should hurt you, and consequently hurt
likewise,
Dearest Madam,
Your, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
1 This letter is quoted by Boswell, his step-daughter : -- Every heart
Life, iv. 57, n. 3. must lean to somebody, and I have
2 Four years later, on the death of nobody but you. Post, Letter of
his mother, he wrote to Lucy Porter, Feb. 6, 1759.
E 2 TO
To Miss Boothby.
82.
To Miss BOOTHBY.
DEAREST DEAR, Saturday, [Jan. 3, 1756].
I am extremely obliged to you for the kindness of your
enquiry. After I had written to you, Dr. Lawrence came, and
would have given some oil and sugar, but I took Rhenish 1
and water, and recovered my voice. I yet cough much, and
sleep ill. I have been visited by another Doctor to-day; but
I laughed at his Balsam of Peru 2 . I fasted on Tuesday, Wed
nesday, and Thursday, and felt neither hunger nor faintness 3 .
I have dined yesterday and to-day, and found little refresh
ment. I am not much amiss ; but can no more sleep than if
my dearest lady were angry at,
Madam,
Your, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
83.
To LEWIS PAUL.
January 6, 1756.
In Messrs. Sotheby and Go s. Auction Catalogue for May 10, 1875,
Lot 86 is an autograph Letter of Johnson to Lewis Paul, dated Jan. 6,
1756, with the post-mark Peny Post. Says that he is better, but
cannot yet go into the cold air. It sold for 2 i&s.
84.
To Miss BOOTHBY.
HONOURED MADAM, January 8 I756
I beg of you to endeavour to live. I have returned your
Law, which however I earnestly entreat you to give me 4 . I am
1 Rhenish is not defined in John- to him : Have you read Mr. Law ?
son s Dictionary, but he defines Hock not cursorily but with attention? I
as Old strong Rhenish. wish you would consider him. His
2 This doctor was, I suspect, Appeal to all that doubt I think the
James, who dealt in balsams. Ante, most clear of all his later writings.
p. 8, n. 3. An Account, &c., p. 127. It was
3 As to regular meals (said John- probably this book of hers which he
son), I have fasted from the Sunday s had borrowed and was now returning.
dinner to the Tuesday s dinner with- Law s Serious Call to a Holy Life he
out any inconvenience. Life, iii. 306. had read at Oxford. Ante, p. 30,
4 On October n, 1755, she wrote n. i.
in
Aetat. 46.]
To the Reverend Dr. Birch.
53
in great trouble ; if you can write three words to me, be pleased
to do it. I am afraid to say much, and cannot say nothing
when my dearest is in danger.
The all-merciful GOD have mercy on you.
I am, Madam,
Your, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON 1 .
85.
To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH 2 .
SIR,
Jan. 9, 1756.
Having obtained from Mr. Garrick a benefit for a gentle
woman of \word illegible^, distressed by blindness, almost the
only casualty that could have distressed her, I beg leave to
trouble you, among my other friends, with some of her tickets 4 .
1 She died on the i6th of this
month. I have heard Baretti say,
writes Mrs. Piozzi, that when this
lady died Johnson was almost dis
tracted with his grief. Piozzi s
Anecdotes, p. 161.
In writing to him Miss Boothby
now and then quoted passages from
his letters to her. I have gathered
the following fragments from the
missing correspondence.
Few are so busy as not to find
time to do what they delight in
doing. An Account, &c., p. 42.
The best intention may be trouble
some. Ib. p. 55.
Those whom we condescend to
call Great. Ib.
1 The effect of education is very
precarious. But what can be hoped
without it ? Though the harvest
may be blasted, we must yet cultivate
the ground. Ib. p. 73.
The common dialect of daily cor
respondence. Ib. p. 121.
2 First published in Croker s Bos-
well, p. i or.
Of Dr. Birch Johnson said he
had more anecdotes than any man.
Life,\. 255. He was, says Haw
kins, but a dull writer. Johnson
was used to speak of him in this
manner : " Tom is a lively rogue ;
he remembers a great deal, and can
tell many pleasant stories ; but a pen
is to Tom a torpedo, the touch of it
benumbs his hand and his brain :
Tom can talk, but he is no writer."
Hawkins s Life of Johnson, p. 209.
Horace Walpole describes him as a
worthy, good-natured soul, full of
industry and activity, and running
about like a young setting-dog in
quest of anything, new or old, and
with no parts, taste, or judgment.
Letters, vii. 326. He ran about in
more senses than one, for he once
walked round London, crossing the
Thames twice so as to take in South-
wark. The excursion took him six
hours, and he computed the circuit
at above twenty miles. Hawkins,
p. 208.
3 This word, which is something
like Lournitz, is, perhaps, the name
of the place in South Wales whence
Miss Williams came.
4 Seven years later Boswell, in
the account which he gives of his
first meeting with Johnson, says:
Your
54
To Lewis Paul.
[A.D. 1756.
Your benevolence is well known, and was, I believe, never
exerted on a more laudable occasion.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
86.
To LEWIS PAUL .
SIR,
Tuesday, Jan. 13, 1755 [i756] 2 .
I am much confused with an accident that has happened.
When your papers were brought me, I broke open the first
without reading the superscription, and when I had opened
it, found it not to belong to me. I did not read it when I found
my mistake. I see it is a very full paper, and will give you
much trouble to copy again, but perhaps it will not be neces
sary, and you may mend the seal. I am sorry for the mischance.
You will easily believe it was nothing more. If you send it me
again, the child 3 shall carry it.
For bringing Mrs. Swynfen 4 , I know not well how to attempt
He then addressed himself to
Davies : " What do you think of
Garrick? He has refused me an
order for the play for Miss Williams,
because he knows the house will be
full, and that an order would be
worth three shillings." Eager to
take any opening to get into conver
sation with him, I ventured to say,
"O Sir, I cannot think Mr. Garrick
would grudge such a trifle to you."
" Sir," said he, with a stern look, " I
have known David Garrick longer
than you have done : and I know no
right you have to talk to me on the
subject." Boswell adds in a note :
That this was a momentary sally
against Garrick there can be no
doubt ; for at Johnson s desire he
had, some years before, given a
benefit-night at his theatre to this
very person, by which she had got
two hundred pounds. Life, i. 392.
1 First published in Croker s Bos-
-well, p. 101.
This Letter was sold by Messrs.
Sotheby and Co. on May 10, 1875,
for ^3 4*.
2 This conjectural date, which is
given by Mr. Croker, I have adopted,
as well as his arrangement of the
other undated letters of the same
series. For Lewis Paul, see ante,
p. 6.
The child was perhaps his black
servant who had entered his service
in 1752. Life, i. 239. Post, p. 66, he
is described as my boy.
4 See ante, p. 6, n. 3, where it
is stated that a daughter of John
son s Godfather (Dr. Swynfen), after
wards Mrs. Desmoulins, learnt the
art of pinking crapes by Paul s
machine as his pupil. He borrowed
^200 from her, for which he gave a
bond (afterwards repaid, and the
bond given up and cancelled).
French s Life of S. Crompton, p. 255.
How nearly Mrs. Swynfen was re
lated to this lady I do not know.
it.
Aetat. 46.]
To Miss Carter.
55
it. I am not sure that her husband will be pleased, and I think
it would look too much like making myself a party, instead of
acting the part of a common friend, which I shall be very
ready to discharge. I should imagine that the best way would
be to send her word when you will call on her, and perhaps
the questions on which she is to resuscitate her remembrance,
and come to her at her own house. I really know not how to
ask her husband to send her, and I certainly will not take her
without asking him.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
87.
TO MlSS CARTER 1 .
MADAM,
From the liberty of writing to you, if I have hitherto been
deterred by the fear of your understanding, I am now encouraged
to it by the confidence of your goodness.
I am soliciting a benefit for Miss Williams, and beg that
if you can by letters influence any in her favour, and who is
there whom you cannot influence? you will be pleased to
patronise her on this occasion. Yet, for the time is short,
and as you were not in town, I did not till this day remember
that you might help us, and recollect how widely and how
rapidly light is diffused.
To every joy is appended a sorrow. The name of Miss
Carter introduces the memory of Cave. Poor dear Cave!
1 First published in Pennington s
Memoirs of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter,
ed. 1816, i. 40.
Miss Elizabeth Carter, commonly
known in later life as the learned
Mrs. Carter, was one of the three
ladies Hannah More and Fanny
Burney being the other two with
whom Johnson dined one day, when
he said : Three such women are
not to be found ; I know not where
I could find a fourth, except Mrs.
Lennox, who is superior to them all.
Life, iv. 275.
He had addressed to her an epi
gram both in Greek and Latin in the
Gentleman s Magazine for 1738, p.
210 (Johnson s Works, i. 170), and
also the following, which, I believe,
is only to be found in Pennington s
Memoirs, i. 398 :
Quid mihi cum Cultu ? Probitas
inculta nitescit,
Et juvat Ingenii vita sine arte rudis.
Ingenium et mores si pulchra pro-
bavit Elisa,
Quid majus mihi spes ambitiosa
dabit ?
I owed
56 To John Ryland. [A.D.1756.
I owed him much ; for to him I owe that I have known you .
He died, I am afraid, unexpectedly to himself, yet surely un-
burthened with any great crime ; and for the positive duties of
religion, I have yet no right to condemn him for neglect 2 .
I am with respect, which I neither owe nor pay to any other,
Madam,
Your most obedient
and most humble servant,
Gough Square, SAM: JOHNSON.
Jan. 14, 1756.
88.
To JOHN RYLAND 3 .
g IR [London, January, 1756.]
I have obtained a benefit play for Miss Williams, which yet
will not be for her benefit without the concurrence of her friends,
among which she numbers you, and therefore has troubled [you]
with tickets which she begs you will try to dispose among your
acquaintance. We both send our compliments to Mrs. Ryland,
and to the young Scholar.
I am. dear Sir,
Your affectionate humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
To Mr. Ryland.
1 Under the signature of Eliza Nichols, that Mr. Ryland should
she had been an early contributor to nowhere have been mentioned in
the Gentlemari s Magazine, of which Mr. Boswell s communicative Life
Cave was editor and proprietor. Pen- of Johnson. Lit. Anec. ix. 502. He
nington s Memoirs, p. 37. is twice mentioned, but no more
2 Cave died on January 10, 1754. than mentioned ; nevertheless he. was
In the Memoir which Johnson wrote one of Johnson s oldest and closest
of him he says : He fell into a kind friends. Perhaps Boswell passed
of lethargic insensibility, in which him over in silence, in return for his
one of the last acts of reason which keeping from him the letters which
he exerted was fondly to press the he had received from Johnson. He
hand that is now writing this little was Hawkesworth s brother-in-law,
narrative. Johnson s Works, vi. and Hawkesworth Boswell attacked
433. for his provoking effrontery. Life,
3 From the original in the pos- i. 252. An interesting paper might
session of the late Mr. S. J. Davey, be written on the intentional omis-
of 47 Great Russell Street, London. sions in the Life of Johnson.
It is remarkable, writes John John Ryland was a merchant, a
To
Aetat.46.] To Samuel Richardson. 57
89.
To MR. CAVE 1 .
DEAR SIR [London, January, 1756.]
I find this Gentleman knows more of Tickets than either
you or I ; and I wish you would be so good as to settle with
him. I fancy printed ones may serve, on good strong paper.
Let them be dated right. There should be for Box, Pit, and
Galleries.
I am, Sir,
Your, &c.,
To Mr. Cave. SAM : JOHNSON.
90.
To SAMUEL RICHARDSON 2 .
DEAR SIR, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 1756.
I return you my sincerest thanks for the favour which you
were pleased to do me two nights ago 3 . Be pleased to accept
of this little book, which is all that I have published this
winter 4 . The inflammation is come again into my eye 5 , so
that I can write very little.
I am, Sir,
Your most obliged
and most humble servant,
To Mr. Richardson. SAM: JOHNSON.
good scholar, a staunch Whig of the 2 First published in the Richard-
old school, and a dissenter. He was son Correspondence, v. 285.
a contributor to the Gentleman s 3 The nature of the favour may
Magazine, He constantly visited probably be inferred from his next
Johnson during his last illness, and letter to Richardson (post, p. 61).
supplied Nichols with several of the By his severe illness which affected
particulars in the article on Johnson his sight he must have been kept
in the Gentleman s Magazine, 1784, from earning money by his pen.
p. 957- 4 The little book was either the
1 First published in the Gentle- Abridgment of the Dictionary, ad-
man s Magazine for 1793, p. 19. vertised in the Gentleman s Maga-
Mr. Nichols conjectures with great zine for January, 1756, p. 45, or Sir
probability that this letter refers to Thomas Browne s Christian Morals
Miss Williams s benefit. Cave was with Life, advertised in the Gentle-
either the brother or the nephew of man s Magazine for March, p. 139.
the founder of the Gentleman sMaga- 5 Four days earlier he had thought
zine who had died in 1754. the inflammation cured, for on
To
58 To Lewis Paul. [A.D.1756.
91.
To LEWIS PAUL .
Cjp [London], Wednesday, [1756].
I this morning found a letter, which as you sent when my
eye was out of order, I had never read to this hour, and
therefore, now I have read, I make haste to tell you that if
I understand it right, that is, if Mr. Cave 2 be your landlord,
I believe I can favour you, and, if the difficulty still continues,
will endeavour it. They do not, I fancy, want the money,
and then they may as well seize, if they must seize, for more
or less, the property, I suppose, being equivalent to much more,
and in no danger of being removed. I am very sorry I did not
read the letter among the first things that, upon recovery, I was
able to read ; but having put it aside, it had the fate of other
things for which the proper time has been neglected. Let
me know what I shall do, or whether any thing at all is to
be done.
I am now thinking about Hitch 3 . I am yet inclined to
believe that he will rather lend money upon spindles, a security
which he has found valid, than upon a property to be wrung by
the law from Dr. James, who will not pay for three box tickets
which he took 4 . It is a strange fellow. Hitch has a dislike of
February 15 he composed a prayer are sometimes dim. According to
entitled, When my Eye was re- Malone, speaking to Dr. Burney of
stored to its Use. Prayers aiid his bad eye he said, ; the dog was
Meditations, p. 27. According to never good for much. Life, i. 41,
Boswell, he did not see at all with n. 2.
one of his eyes, though its appear- J First published in Croker s Bos-
ance was little different from that of well, page 101.
the other. Life, i. 41. This seems 2 Probably William Cave, Edward
borne out by his letter to Mrs. Thrale Cave s younger brother, who in-
of May 24, I773> where he says: herited from him a competent estate.
My fever has left me a very severe Johnson s Works, vi. 434, note,
inflammation in the seeing eye. ; See 3 Perhaps Charles Hitch, one of
also Life, ii. 264, where he says, By the original proprietors of Johnson s
an inflammation in my eye I could Dictionary. Life, i. 183.
not for some time read your letter. 4 Paul had granted a license to
Nevertheless writing to Miss Porter Dr. James for the use of his in-
on May 29, 1770, he says : I am vention (Life of Crompton, p. 256,
very sorry that your eyes are bad ; and ante, p. 6), for which, it should
mine continue pretty good, but they seem, money was still due, though
James ;
Aetat. 46.]
To Lewis Paul.
59
James ; perhaps another might think better of him, but where
to find that other I know not. I can, I believe, by a third hand
have Kitch sounded ; but if it had not the appearance of de
clining the office, I should tell you, that your own negotiation
would effect more than mine. However, in both these affairs,
I am ready to do what you would have me.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
92.
SIR,
To LEWIS PAUL 1 .
I am still of opinion that they will hear me at the gate 2 ,
and I have no difficulty to speak to them, but though I hope
I can obtain a forbearance, I am confident that I shall get
nothing more, nor would any attempt to borrow of them or
sell to them have any other effect than that of disabling me
from proceeding in my just request. You may easily believe
that spindles are there in very little credit.
I will propose to a friend to speak to Mr. Hitch, you well
know it is impossible to guess what [may] be the answer when
money is to be sought. If my friend refuses the errand, what
shall we do? that must be considered. Will you then write to
him by me, as a preparative, and then see him if he gives any
countenance to the affair ? You are much more skilful in these
payment apparently was resisted.
The three box-tickets had no doubt
been taken for Miss Williams s
benefit.
1 First published in Croker s Bos-
well, page 101. An exact transcript
of the original letter, now in the
Patent Office Library, has been sent
me by the kindness of Mr. W. E.
Milliken of that Office, who writes to
me : Dr. Johnson was often a guest
in the house of Kenneth Mackenzie,
seventh and last Earl of Seaforth,
whose only child, Caroline, born
1767, was my mother s mother.
Johnson took a great fancy to Lady
Caroline as a child would fondle
her, and call her " his little Jacobitish
mistress " by no means repelled, we
may be sure, by the well-known
sympathies of her house, and by the
fact of her lineal descent, through her
mother, from Charles IPs son, the
Duke of Grafton. Thus it comes
about that I, as an infant, have been
nursed in the arms of one who, as a
little child, had herself been petted
by Dr. Johnson.
2 St. John s Gate, Clerkenwell,
where the Gentleman s Magazine
was published.
transactions
60 To Dr. Hawkeswortk.
transactions than I, and might much sooner find out a proper
person to deal with, for my friends have not much money.
Would it be wrong if you wrote a short letter for me to show
at Cave s as a kind of Credential, containing only a few lines to
mention the value of the stock, the certainty of the security, and
your desire of my interposition. That I may not seem to thrust
myself needlessly between Cave and payment, let the letter be
without dejection as if the delay was a thing rather convenient
than necessary to you. Cave cannot, I think, want forty pounds,
nor perhaps has he twice forty to spare.
I will do my best for you in both negociations, with Hitch my
best can be very little, with Cave I expect to succeed, at least
for so short a delay as to Midsummer, and think it would \sic\
as well in your letter to refer payment to Michaelmass, or Christ-
mass. If they will grant the whole of our request (for I shall
make it mine too) they may more easily grant part. But once
more you know all these things better than I.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
March 12, 1756. SAM: JOHNSON .
To Mr. Paul.
93.
To DR. HAWKESWORTH 2 .
DEAR SIR, t March -
I have been looking into the Book here and there and
I think have read a pretty fair specimen. It is written with
1 While Johnson was thus busying Maxims, Characters, and Reflections,
himself for his friend, he was, as the which had just been published a
next letter but one shows, in diffi- book, according to Boswell, which
culties himself. is entitled to much more praise than
2 From the original in the posses- it has received. Life, iv. 304.
sion of the late Mr. S. J. Davey, Ha wkes worth wrote to Greville :
of 47 Great Russell Street, London. I enclose you Johnson s letter, it
Boswell describes Hawkesworth as will cost you threepence, but I dare
living in great intimacy with John- say you will think it worth twice the
son; about the year 1752. Life, i. money. It is an original, and (as I
234. This letter was enclosed by told you it would be) expressed in
Hawkesworth to Fulke Greville in general terms, without referring to
another dated Bromley, Kent, March particular passages as new, striking,
14, 1756. It refers to Greville s delicate or recherche . You see in
uncommon
Aetat. 46.] To Samuel Richardson. 61
uncommon knowledge of mankind, which is the chief excellence
of such a book. The sentences are keenly pointed, and vigor
ously pushed, which is their second excellence. But it is too
Gallick r , and the proper names are often ill-formed or ill-chosen.
To use a French phrase, I think the good carries it over the
bad 2 . The good is in the constituent, the bad in the accidental
parts.
We cannot come to-morrow, but I purpose to be with you
on the Saturday following, to see the Spring and Mrs. Hawkes-
worth 3 .
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM.- JOHNSON.
Miss W 4 sends her compliments.
94.
To SAMUEL RICHARDSON 5 .
SIR,
I am obliged to entreat your assistance. I am now under
an arrest for five pounds eighteen shillings. Mr. Strahan, from
the first place that he has not read Johnson s habit of rarely reading
the book through; he never reads books through, see Life,\. 71; ii. 226.
any book through. . . Take his own * For his dislike of Gallicisms, see
testimony in his own words, they are ib. iii. 343. It is strange that in the
written indeed not in letters but in next sentence in his letter he should
pothooks, a kind of character which himself, to use his own words,
it will probably cost you some time babble a dialect of France.
to decipher, and perhaps at last you 2 Le bon 1 emporte sur le mal.
may not succeed. It is amusing to 3 Hawkes worth was living at Brom-
find Johnson long afterwards, when ley, where Johnson four years earlier
looking through the manuscripts had buried his wife; to which,
which Hawkesworth had left behind writes Boswell, he was probably led
him, asking : - Who was his Ama- by the residence of his friend at that
nuensis ? that small hand strikes a place. Life, i. 241.
reader with terrour. It is pale as 4 Blind Miss Williams,
well as small. Post, Letter of April 5 First published in the Gentle-
I2 j 1777- man s Magazine, 1788, p. 479, and a
According to Mme. D Arblay, Gre- second time in Murphy s Essay on
ville never met Johnson till about Johnson, ed. 1792, p. 87. On the
twenty years after the date of the margin of this letter, says Murphy,
Letter in the text. For the curious there is a memorandum in these
scene which she then witnessed see words : " March 16, 1756. Sent six
Life, iv. 304, n. 4, and Early Diary guineas. Witness, Wm. Richardson. "
of Frances Surney, ii. 285. For My friend Mr. Arthur John Butler,
whom
62 To the Reverend Joseph Warton. [A.
whom I should have received the necessary help in this case,
is not at home ; and I am afraid of not finding Mr. Millar.
If you will be so good as to send me this sum, I will very
gratefully repay you, and add it to all former obligations.
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient
and most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Gough Square, March 16, [1756].
95.
To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH J .
Mr. Johnson returns Dr. Birch thanks for his book which
sickness has obliged him to keep beyond the time intended, and
desires his acceptance of the Life of Sir Thomas Browne, by way
[of] interest for the loan 2 .
To Dr. Birch.
Endorsed March 20, 1756.
96.
To THE REVEREND JOSEPH WARTON 3 .
DEAR SIR, April i S th, 1756.
Though when you and your brother 4 were in town you did
not think my humble habitation worth a visit, yet I will not so
far give way to sullenness as not to tell you that I have lately
seen an octavo book which I suspect to be yours, though I have
not yet read above ten pages 5 . That way of publishing, without
who has done so much to make * From the original in the British
Dante known to English readers, has Museum : Sloane MSS., 4310. 31 1.
seen in the old books of Jacob Ton- s See ante, p. 57, n. 4.
son the younger, a correspondence 3 First published in Wooll s Me-
of about this period, beginning with moirs of Dr. Joseph Warton, p. 238.
a letter from Johnson to the effect 4 Thomas Warton. Johnson felt
that he was in difficulties and re- very grateful to him for the uncom-
quired assistance. The difficulty, he mon care which he had taken of his
added, was not likely to recur, "as I interest in procuring him the degree
have no other debts except to of Master of Arts. Life, i. 275.
friends." There are besides a re- 5 The octavo book was Warton s
ceipt from him and an extract from Essay on the Genius and Writings of
Tonson s ledger "To your note of Pope. Dodsley, the publisher, wrote
hand when you was arrested for to Warton on April 8 : Your Essay
debt . . . 40." is published, the price $s. bound. I
acquainting
Aetat. 46.] To the Reverend Joseph Wart on. 63
acquainting your friends, is a wicked trick x . However, I will
not so far depend upon a mere conjecture as to charge you with
a fraud which I cannot prove you to have committed.
I should be glad to hear that you are pleased with your new
situation 2 . You have now a kind of royalty, and are to be
answerable for your conduct to posterity. I suppose you care
not now to answer a letter except there be a lucky concurrence
of a post-day with a holiday. These restraints are troublesome
for a time, but custom makes them easy, with the help of some
honour, and a great deal of profit, and I doubt not but your
abilities will obtain both.
For my part, I have not lately done much. I have been ill in
the winter, and my eye has been inflamed ; but I please myself
with the hopes of doing many things, with which I have long
pleased and deceived myself.
What becomes of poor dear Collins 3 ? I wrote him a letter
which he never answered. I suppose writing is very trouble
some to him. That man is no common loss. The moralists
all talk of the uncertainty of fortune, and the transitoriness of
beauty; but it is yet more dreadful to consider that the powers
of the mind are equally liable to change ; that understanding
may make its appearance and depart, that it may blaze and
expire.
Let me not be long without a letter, and I will forgive
you the omission of the visit ; and if you can tell me that
have a pleasure in telling you that it been able to persuade the world to
is liked in general, and particularly be of his opinion as to Pope. Life,
by such as you would wish should i. 448.
like it. But you have surely not J Johnson himself for the most
kept your secret : Johnson mentioned part did not print his name on the
it to Mr. Hitch [the bookseller, no title-page, though in most cases, to
doubt] as yours. Wooll s Memoirs quote his own words, he expected
of Dr. Warton, p. 237. The second it to be known (post, Letter of Jan.
volume was not published till 1782, 20, 1759). The authorship of the
though 200 pages of it, as we are told Rambler, however, he tried to keep
in the preface, had been printed secret. Life, i. 209, n. i.
more than twenty years. When 2 In 1755 Warton was elected
Boswell in 1763 expressed his wonder second master of Winchester School,
at the delay, Johnson replied : with the management of a boarding
Why, Sir, I suppose he finds himself house. Wooll s Memoirs, p. 30.
a little disappointed in not having 3 See ante, p. 36.
you
64 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [A.D. 1756.
you are now more happy than before, you will give great
pleasure to,
Dear Sir,
Your most affectionate
and most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
97.
To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH *.
SIR,
Being, as you will find by the proposal, engaged in a work
which requires the concurrence of my friends to make it of
much benefit to me, I have taken the liberty of recommending
six receipts to your care, and do not doubt of your endeavour
to dispose of them.
I have likewise a further favour to beg. I know you have been
long a curious collector of books. If therefore you have any
of the contemporaries or ancestors of Shakespeare, it will be
of great use to lend me them for a short time ; my stock of
those authours is yet but curta supellex 2 .
I am, Sir,
Your obliged humble servant,
June 22, I 75 6. . SAM: JOHNSON. .
To the Reverend Dr. Birch.
98.
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR 3 .
DEAR SIR,
I promised to write to you, and write now rather to keep
my promise than that I have anything to say, that might not be
delayed till we meet. I know not how it happens, but I fancy
that I write letters with more difficulty than some other people,
who write nothing but letters, at least I find myself very un
willing to take up a pen, only to tell my friends that I am
well, and indeed I never did exchange letters regularly but
with dear Miss Boothby 4 .
1 From the original in the British 2 Tecum habita, et noris quam sit
Museum: Sloane MSS., 4310. 312. tibi curta supellex. Persius, iv. 52.
The work on which Johnson was 3 First published in Notes and
engaged was his edition of Shake- Queries, 6th S., v. 304.
speare. Life, i. 318, and/w/, p. 68. 4 Johnson wrote to Boswell on
However
Aetat. 46.] To LeiVlS Pdlll. 65
However let us now begin, and try who can continue punc
tuality longest. There is this use in the most useless letter, that
it shews one not to be forgotten, and they may, at least in
the beginning of friendship, or in great length of absence, keep
memory from languishing, but our friendship has been too long
to want such helps, and I hope our absence will be too short
to make them necessary.
My life admits of so little variety, that I have nothing to
relate, you who are married, and a magistrate, may have many
events to tell both foreign and domestick x . But I hope you will
have nothing to tell of unhappiness to yourself.
[I was glad of your prospect of reconciliation with Mouse-
ley (?) 2 , which is, I hope, now completed ; to have one s neighbour
one s enemy is uncomfortable in the country where good neigh
bourhood is all the pleasure that is to be had. Therefore now
you are on good terms with your Neighbours, do not differ
about trifles 3 .]
I am, dear Sir,
Your most affectionate servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
My compliments to your Lady.
July 31, 1756.
To the Rev d Dr. Taylor, at Market Bosworth, Leicestershire 4 .
99.
O TR To LEWIS PAUL S .
I would not have it thought that if I sometimes transgress
the rules of civility, I would violate the laws of friendship. If
December 8, 1763 : I love to see the same reluctance. Wordsworth s
my friends, to hear from them, to Life, ed. 1851, i. 260.
talk to them, and to talk of them ; I Before long Taylor s domestick
but it is not without a considerable events supplied correspondence
effort of resolution that I prevail enough. See post, Letter of August
upon myself to write. Life, i. 473. 13, 1763.
Goldsmith, apologising to one of his 2 See /</, Letter of November 18,
friends for his neglect in correspond- 1756.
ence, said : No turnspit dog gets up * The passage enclosed in brackets
into his wheel with more reluctance is erased in the original,
than I sit down to write. Forster s 4 Taylor was Rector of this town.
Goldsmith, i. 433. Wordsworth had 5 First published in Croker s Bos-
VOL. I. F I had
66
To Lewis Paul.
[A.D.1756.
I had heard anything from the gate J I would have informed
you, and I will send to them lest they should neglect to
transmit any accounts that they receive. I have been many
times hindered 2 from coming to you, but if by coming I could
have been of any considerable use, I would not have been
hindered. They are so cold at the gate both to the landlord
and to you, that if I could think of any body else to apply
to, I would trouble them no more. I am thinking of Dicey.
I am, Sir,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Sept. 25, 1756.
To Mr. Paul.
SIR,
100.
To LEWIS PAUL 3 .
Wednesday, [1756].
You will think I forgot you, but my boy is run away 4 , and
I know not whom to send. Besides, nothing seemed to require
much expedition, for Mr. Cave has left London almost a fort
night. They intimate at the Gate some desire to know your
determination. I will be with you in a day or two.
I am, Sir,
Your humble servant,
SAM.- JOHNSON.
101.
To LEWIS PAUL.
DEAR SIR, Saturday, [1756].
I have been really much disordered, when your last mes
sage came I was on the bed, and had not resolution to rise,
-well, p. 1 02 ; corrected by me from
the original in the possession of the
late Mr. S. J. Davey, of 47 Great
Russell Street, London.
It was sold by Messrs. Christie
and Co., on June 5, 1888, for 4.
1 St. John s Gate. Ante, p. 59.
2 Johnson has not written this
word very clearly, but both here and
just below he has, if I mistake not,
written kindred.
3 This and the next two letters
were first published in Croker s Bos-
well, p. 102.
4 The boy is no doubt Francis
Barber (ante, p. 54, n. 3), who
continued in Johnson s service from
1752 till Johnson s death, with the
exception of two intervals ; in one of
which, upon some difference with his
master, he went and served an
apothecary in Cheapside, but still
visited Dr. Johnson occasionally ;
in another he took a fancy to go to
sea. Life, i. 239, n. I.
having
Aetat. 47.] 70 Edmund Hector. 67
having had no sleep all night. I indeed had for two days no
audible voice, but am now much better, though I cannot hope
to go out very quickly.
I am, Sir,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
102.
To LEWIS PAUL.
SIR, C N date -]
I am astonished at what you tell me. I cannot well come
out to-night, but will wait on you on Monday evening. I have
been very busy, but have now some leisure. I repeat again
that I am astonished. Henry 1 is just gone out of town, but
I could send to him, if there was any likelihood of advantage
from it. I am certain it is not done with his privity, for he has
no interest in it, and he is too wise to do ill without interest !
I am, Sir,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
I am ready to do on this occasion any thing that can be
done.
103.
To EDMUND HECTOR 2 .
DEAR SIR, Oct - ?> W 6 -
After a long intermission of our correspondence you took
some time ago a very kind method of informing me that there
was no intermission of our friendship 3 , yet I know not why,
after the interchange of a letter or two, we have fallen again into
[ David Henry, an Aberdeenshire property of it at his death in 1792.
man, was born in 1710. He came He was an author as well as a printer
up to London at an early age, where and publisher. Patrick Henry, the
as a journeyman printer he lived on American statesman, was the son of
terms of intimacy with Benjamin his first cousin. Nichols s Z,z/. Anec.
Franklin and William Strahan. He iii. 423, 759.
married Cave s sister. In 1754 his 2 First published in Notes and
name appears as a partner at St. Queries, 6th S. iii. 301.
John s Gate, where he lived for 3 See ante, p. 42, n. i.
many years, possessing the freehold
F 2 our
68 To Edmund Hector. [A.D.1756.
our former silence. I remember that when we were nearer each
other we were more diligent in our correspondence, perhaps
only because we were both younger, and more ready to employ
ourselves in things not of absolute necessity. In early life every
new action or practice is a kind of experiment, which when it
has been tried, one is naturally less eager to try again. Friend
ship is indeed one of those few states of which it is reasonable to
wish the continuance through life, but the form and exercise
of friendship varies, and we grow to recollect (?) to show kindness
on important occasions without squandering our ardour in super
fluities of empty civility z .
It is not in mere civility that I write now to you but to inform
you that I have undertaken a new Edition of Shakespeare 2 , and
that the profits of it are to arise from a subscription, I therefore
solicit the interest of all my friends, and believe myself sure of
yours without solicitation. The proposals and receipts 3 may
be had from my mother, to whom I beg you to send for as many
as you can dispose of, and to remit to her money which you
or your acquaintances shall collect. Be so kind as to mention
1 This passage is very difficult a volume of pamphlets in the Bod-
to decipher. Note in Notes and leian Library (No. 141) I have found
Queries, the following entry in Malone s hand-
2 It is remarkable that at this writing :
time his fancied activity was for the The Proposals in 1756 were en-
moment so vigorous that he promised titled thus :
his work should be published before " Proposals for printing
Christmas, 1757. Yet nine years by Subscription
elapsed before it saw the light. The Dramatick Works
Life, i. 319. of
J In a copy of Harwood s History William Shakspeare.
of Lichfield in the Bodleian Library Corrected and Illustrated
one of these receipts has been in- by
serted at p. 487 : Samuel Johnson.
No. 27. Conditions.
Received of The Revd. Mr. j. That the book shall be ele-
Seward One Guinea, being the First gantly printed in eight volumes in
Payment for a Copy of SHAKE- octavo,
SPEARE S WORKS which I promise to 2. That the price to subscribers
deliver according to the Proposals. shall be Two Guineas ; one to be
SAM. JOHNSON. paid at subscribing, the other on the
The signature has been pasted on ; delivery of the book in sheets,
the receipt is in print with the ex- 3. That the work shall be pub-
ception of Mr. Seward s name, which lished in or before Christmas, 1757."
is written, but not by Johnson. In
my
Aetat. 47.] To Lewis Paul. 69
my undertaking to any other friends that I may have in your
part of the kingdom, the activity of a few solicitors may produce
great advantages to me.
I have been thinking every month of coming down into the
country, but every month has brought its hinderances T . From
that kind of melancholy indisposition which I had when we
lived together at Birmingham, I have never been free, but have
always had it operating against my health and my life with
more or less violence 2 . I hope however to see all my friends,
all that are remaining, in no very long time, and particularly you
whom I always think on with great tenderness.
I am, Sir,
Your most affectionate servant,
SAM-. JOHNSON.
To Mr. Hector, in Birmingham.
104.
To LEWIS PAUL 3 .
SIR, Oct. 8, 1756.
You think it hard by this time you cannot have a letter.
I engaged Mr. Newbery 4 , who sent me on Monday night the
note enclosed, and appeared to think the matter well settled.
On Tuesday I wrote to Mr. Henry s , but soon heard he was
out of town. I knew not what to do. I then had recourse to
young Mr. Cave 6 , who very civilly went about the business, and
came to me yesterday in the evening with this account.
Mr. Cave 7 seized, and has a man in possession.
He made a sale, and sold only a fire-shovel for four shillings.
The goods were appraised at about eighty pounds.
1 Johnson let more than twenty Sotheby and Co., on May 10, 1875,
years go by without visiting his for ,3 3^.
native town, being hindered no doubt 4 See ante, p. 22.
mainly by his poverty. Life, i. 340, 5 See ante, p. 67.
n. I. In the last seventeen years of 6 Richard Cave, Edward Cave s
his life he visited it a dozen times. nephew, who from 1754 to 1760
Ib. iii. 452. was the printer of the Gentleman s
2 See ib. i. 64, 87 for his melan- Magazine in conjunction with David
choly indisposition. Henry. Nichols s Lit. Anec. v. 58.
3 First published in Croker s Bos- 7 William Cave. Ante, p. 58,
well, p. 102. . 2.
The original was sold by Messrs.
Mr. Cave
To Dr. Taylor.
Mr. Cave will stay three weeks without any further motion
in the business, but will still keep his possession.
He expects that you should pay the expence of the seizure ;
how much it is I could not be informed.
He will stay to Christmas upon security. He is willing to
continue you tenant, or will sell the mill to any that shall work
or buy the machine. He values his mill at a thousand pounds *.
He did not come up about this business, but another.
Mr. Barker 2 , as young Mr. Cave thinks, is at Northampton.
These, Sir, are the particulars that I have gathered.
I am, Sir,
Your very humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
105.
g IR T O LEWIS PAUL 3 . [No date.]
I am no less surprised than yourself at the treatment which
you have met with, and agree with you that Mr. Cave must
impute to himself part of the discontent that he shall suffer till
the spindles are produced.
If I have any opportunity of dispelling the gloom that over
casts him at present, I shall endeavour it both for his sake and
yours ; but it is to little purpose that remonstrances are offered
to voluntary inattention or to obstinate prejudice. Cuxon in
one place and Garlick in the other leave no room for the un-
pleasing reasonings of
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
106.
TO DR. TAYLOR 4 .
DEAR SIR,
You have no great title to a very speedy answer,, yet I did
not intend to have delayed so long. I am now in doubt whether
1 The mill, I conjecture, was the Life of S. Crompton, p. 265.
place in which the 250 spindles were 3 First published in Croker s Bos-
worked for which Paul had granted well, p. 103.
a license to Edward Cave. Ante, p. 6. The original was sold by Messrs.
2 Perhaps Johnson wrote Bowker, Sotheby and Co., on May 10, 1875,
for with a man of that name Paul for j^i igs.
had been connected in business. 4 First published by the Philobiblon
you
Aetat. 47.] To Dr. Taylor. 7 :
you are not come to town, if you are double postage is a proper
fine 1 .
There is one honest reason why those things are most subject
to delays which we most desire to do. What we think of
importance we wish to do well, to do anything well requires
time, and what requires time commonly finds us too idle or
too busy to undertake it. To be idle is not the best excuse,
though if a man studies his own reformation it is the best reason
he can allege to himself, both because it is commonly true, and
because it contains no fallacy, for every man that thinks he is
idle condemns himself and has therefore a chance to endeavour
amendment, but the busy mortal has often his own commenda
tion, even when his very business is the consequence of Idleness,
when he engages himself in trifles only to put the thoughts of
more important duties out of his mind, or to gain an excuse
to his own heart for omitting them.
I am glad however that while you forgot me you were gaining
upon the affections of other people.
It is in your power to be very useful as a neighbour, a magis
trate, and a Clergyman, and he that is useful, must conduct
his life very imprudently not to be beloved. If Mousley(?) 2
makes advances, I would wish you not to reject them. You
once esteemed him, and the quarrel between you arose from
misinformation and ought to be forgotten.
When you come to town let us contrive to see one another
more frequently, at least once a week. We have both lived
long enough to bury many friends, and have therefore learned
to set a value on those who are left. Neither of us now can find
many whom he has known so long as we have known each
other. Do not let us lose our intimacy at a time when we
ought rather to think of encreasing it. We both stand almost
single in the world, I have no brother, and with your sister you
have little correspondence 3 . [But if you will take my advice, you
Society, vi. 15 ; also in Notes and to him there.
Queries, 6th S. v.324. It is endorsed : 2 The editor of this Letter in Notes
The best Letter in the World. and Queries says that the name may
Johnson directed the letter to be Morley or Moresby. It is no doubt
Market Bosworth ; if Taylor were in the person mentioned ante, p. 65.
London it would have to be forwarded 3 Johnson writing to Hector many
will
72 To Edmund Hector. [A.D. 1757.
will make some overtures of reconciliation to her. If you have
been to blame, you know it is your duty first to seek a. renewal
of kindness. If she has been faulty, you have an opportunity
to exercise the virtue of forgiveness. You must consider that
of her faults and follies no very great part is her own. Much
has been the consequence of her education, and part may
be imputed to the neglect with which you have sometime
treated her. Had you endeavoured to gain her kindness and
her confidence, you would have had more influence over her 1 .]
I hope that before I shall see you, she will have had a visit or
a letter from you. The longer you delay the more you will
sometime repent. When I am musing alone, I feel a pang for
every moment that any human being has by my peevishness
or obstinacy spent in uneasiness 2 . I know not how I have fallen
upon this, I had no thought of it, when I began the letter, [yet]
am glad that I have written it.
I am, dearest Sir,
Your most affectionate
NOV. is, 1756. SAM: JOHNSON.
To the Rev d Dr. Taylor, at Market Bosworth, Leicestershire.
107.
To CHARLES O CONNOR.
London, April 9, 1757. Published in the Life, i. 321,
108.
DEAR SIR, To EDMUND HECTOR3 -
My mother informs me that you have lately remitted her
years later said : You and I should words " You will forgive her and "
now naturally cling to one another : here inserted, not (apparently) in
we have outlived most of those who Johnson s hand, also in much darker
could pretend to rival us in each ink. Note in Notes and Queries.
other s kindness. . . . You indeed 2 I am always sorry (said Dr.
have a sister with whom you can Johnson) when I make bitter speeches,
divide the day: I have no natural and I never do it but when I am
friend left. Life, iv. 147. insufferably vexed. Mme. D Arblay s
1 The sentences in brackets have Diary, i. 131. See Life, ii. 256.
been carefully erased in much darker 3 First published in Notes and
ink, probably by Taylor, and the Queries, 6th S. iii. 321.
some
Aetat. 48.]
To \Thomas Wartori\.
73
some money for the receipts r . I am very sensibly touched by
your kindness. The Subscription though it does not quite equal
perhaps my utmost hope, for when was hope not disappointed ?
yet goes on tolerably, and the undertaking will I think be some
addition to my fortune, whatever it may be to my reputation 2 .
I rather take it unkindly that you do not from time to time
let me hear from you. I am now grown very solicitous about
my old friends, with whom I passed the hours of youth and
cheerfulness, and am glad of any opportunity to revive the
memory of past pleasures. I therefore tear open a letter with
great eagerness when I know the hand in which it is super
scribed. Your letters are always so welcome, that you need not
increase their value by making them scarce.
I am, Sir,
Your most affectionate friend,
SAM: JOHNSON.
London, Apr. 16, 1757.
To Mr. Hector in Birmingham.
109.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], June 21, 1757. Life, i. 322.
110.
To BENNET LANGTON.
[London], June 28, 1757. Published in the Life, i. 337.
111.
DEAR SIR, To [THOMAS WARTO " ^ Oct. , 7 , , 757 .
I have been thinking and talking with Mr. Allen 4 about
some literary business for an inhabitant of Oxford. Many
1 See ante, p. 68, n. 3.
2 Johnson wrote to Mr. Burney on
December 24, 1757: How my new
edition [of Shakespeare] will be re
ceived I know not ; the subscription
has not been very successful. Life,
3 Published in Croker s Boswell,
page 108, with the following note :
1 This letter was found by Mr. Peter
Cunningham, in the papers of Allen,
the printer, and was intended, no
doubt, for Thomas Warton, though
perhaps, from some change of opinion,
not forwarded to him.
4 Edmund Allen, afterwards John
son s landlord and next neighbour in
Bolt Court, for whom he had much
kindness. Life, iii. 141.
schemes
74 To Bennet Langton. [A.D. 1757-59.
schemes might be plausibly proposed, but at present these may
be sufficient, i. An Ecclesiastical History of England. In this
there are a great many materials which must be compressed into
a narrow compass. This book must not exceed 4 vols. 8vo.
2. A History of the Reformation, (not of England only, but of
Europe ;) this must not exceed the same bulk, and will be full
of [a word omitted] and very entertaining. 3. The Life of
Richard the First. 4. The Life of Edward the Confessor.
All these are works for which the requisite materials may
be found at Oxford, and any of them well executed would be
well received. I impart these designs to you in confidence, that
what you do not make use of yourself shall revert to me un-
communicated to any other. The schemes of a writer are his
property and his revenue, and therefore they must not be made
common. I am, Sir, - . .
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
112.
To MR. BURNEY.
Gough Square, December 24, 1757. First published in the Life,
i- 3 2 3-
113.
To MR. BURNEY.
London, March, 8, 1758. Published in the Life, i. 327.
114.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], April 14, 1758. Published in the Life, i. 335.
115.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], June i, 1758. Published in the Life, i. 336.
116.
To BENNET LANGTON.
[London], September 21, 1758. Published in the Life, i. 338.
117.
To BENNET LANGTON.
January 9, 1759 [misdated 1758]. Published in the Life, i. 324.
To
Aetat. 48-49.] To Mrs. Johnson (Johnsons mother). 75
118.
To MRS. JOHNSON (Johnson s mother z ).
HONOURED MADAM,
The account which Miss 2 gives me of your health pierces
my heart. God comfort and preserve you and save you, for the
sake of Jesus Christ.
I would have Miss read to you from time to time the Passion
of our Saviour, and sometimes the sentences in the Communion
Service, beginning Come unto me, all ye that travail and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest 3 !
I have just now read a physical 4 book, which inclines me to
think that a strong infusion of the bark would do you good.
Do, dear mother, try it.
Pray, send me your blessing, and forgive all that I have done
amiss to you. And whatever you would have done, and what
debts you would have paid first, or anything else that you would
direct, let Miss put it down ; I shall endeavour to obey you.
I have got twelve guineas 5 to send you, but unhappily am
1 The first seven of these Letters
to Mrs. Johnson and Miss Porter
(excluding No. 128) were published by
Malone in the fourth edition of the
Life ; the remaining five by Croker
in his Bosivell, pages 114, 115, 118.
In 1759, in the month of January,
Johnson s mother died at the great
age of ninety, an event which deeply
affected him ; not that " his mind
had acquired no firmness by the con
templation of mortality," but that
his reverential affection for her was
not abated by years, as indeed he
retained all his tender feelings even
to the latest period of his life. I have
been told that he regretted much his
not having gone to visit his mother
for several years, previous to her
death. But he was constantly en
gaged in literary labours which con
fined him to London ; and though he
had not the comfort of seeing his
aged parent, he contributed liberally
to her support. Life, i. 339.
2 Lucy Porter, his step-daughter.
3 Johnson mingles the version in
the Communion Service Come
unto me all that travail and are
heavy-laden, and I will refresh you,
with that in the Bible Come unto
me, all ye that labour and are heavy-
laden, and I will give you rest. St.
Matthew, xi. 28.
4 Johnson defines physical in its
second signification, pertaining to
the science of healing. For his
dabbling in physic, see ante, p. 49,
n. I.
5 I find in his Diary, writes
Hawkins, a note of the payment to
Mr. Allen, the printer, of six guineas,
which he had borrowed of him, and
sent to his dying mother. Hawkins s
Johnson, p. 366. Johnson, in all his
money difficulties, never seems to
have turned to his old pupil Garrick,
who could easily have helped him,
and no doubt would. Seven years
earlier, however, Johnson had drawn
at
7 6
To Miss Porter.
[A.D. 1759.
at a loss how to send it to-night. If I cannot send it to-night, it
will come by the next post x .
Pray, do not omit any thing mentioned in this letter : God
bless you for ever and ever.
I am your dutiful son,
Jan. 13, 1758 2 . SAM: JOHNSON.
To Mrs. Johnson in Lichfield.
119.
T MlSS
MY DEAR MISS,
I think myself obliged to you beyond all expression of
gratitude for your care of my dear mother. God grant it may
not be without success. Tell Kitty 3 that I shall never forget her
tenderness for her mistress. Whatever you can do, continue to
do. My heart is very full.
I hope you received twelve guineas on Monday. I found
him in Prospero (The Rambler, No.
200), and had ended his paper by
saying : I left him without any
intention of seeing him again, unless
some misfortune should restore his
understanding. 5 Reynolds, more
over, was in great prosperity, for in
1758 he had one hundred and fifty
sitters (Taylor s Reynolds, i. 157).
From him he did at one time borrow
thirty pounds, which, on his death
bed, he requested him to forgive.
Life, iv. 413.
1 Jan. 13, on which day Johnson
was writing, was Saturday. He
wrote again on Tuesday, the i6th;
Thursday, the i8th ; and Saturday,
the 2oth, for it was on the evenings
of those days of the week that mails
left London for all parts of England.
There were at this time only 123
places to which letters were sent
six times a week. Dodsley s London
and its Environs, ed. 1761, v. 219.
As is shown by Johnson s next letter,
the mail that left London for Lich
field on Saturday evening was de
livered on Monday in the morning,
as we learn from the Life, ii. 468,
where a London letter is received at
breakfast-time.
Written by mistake for 1759.
Johnson had not yet got accustomed
to the change of style, which he had
first used six years before (ante, p. 6,
n. i). Even in a letter written so far
on in the year as March I, he
falls into the same blunder (past,
p. 86).
On the outside of this letter was
written by another hand " Pray ac
knowledge the receipt of this by re
turn of post without fail." MALONE.
3 Catherine Chambers, Mrs. John
son s maid-servant. Johnson recorded
in his Diary on Sunday, Oct. 18,
1767. Yesterday, Oct. 17, at about
ten in the morning, I took my leave
for ever of my dear old friend,
Catharine Chambers, who came to
live with my mother about 1724, and
has been but little parted from us
since. She buried my father, my
brother, and my mother. She is
now fifty-eight years old. . . . We
kissed, and parted. I humbly hope
to meet again, and to part no more.
Life, ii. 43.
a way
Aetat. 49.] To Mrs.Joknson. 77
a way of sending them by means of the postmaster, after I had
written my letter, and hope they came safe T . I will send you
more in a few days. God bless you all.
I am, my dear,
Your most obliged
and most humble servant,
Jan. 16,1759. SAM: JOHNSON.
Over the leaf is a letter to my mother.
To Miss Porter, at Mrs. Johnson s, in Lichfield.
120.
To MRS. JOHNSON.
DEAR HONOURED MOTHER,
Your weakness afflicts me beyond what I am willing to
communicate to you. I do not think you unfit to face death 2 ,
but I know not how to bear the thought of losing you. En
deavour to do all you [can] for yourself. Eat as much as
you can.
I pray often for you ; do you pray for me. I have nothing to
add to my last letter.
I am, dear, dear mother,
Your dutiful son.
Jan. 16,1759- SAM: JOHNSON.
121.
To MRS. JOHNSON.
DEAR HONOURED MOTHER,
I fear you are too ill for long letters ; therefore I will only
tell you, you have from me all the regard that can possibly
1 The difficulty of sending money 2 How Johnson s truthfulness
is shown in a letter of Cowper s stands forth here ! No flattering at
dated Olney, Nov. 10, 1767 : I that dread hour. I do not think
shall be glad if you will find an op- you unfit to face death is all that
portunity of sending me six guineas he dared say even to his mother.
in a parcel by the Olney waggon " Don t compliment now," he replied
which sets out from the George, in warmly, on his own death-bed to a
Smithfield, early on Tuesday morn- friend who praised too highly the
ing, therefore it must be sent to the life which he had led. Life, iv. 410,
inn on Monday night. Southey s n. 2.
Cowper, xv. 21.
subsist
78 To Mrs. Johnson. [A.D.1759.
subsist in the heart. I pray God to bless you for evermore, for
Jesus Christ s sake. Amen.
Let Miss write to me every post z , however short.
I am, dear mother,
Your dutiful son,
Jan. 18, 1759. SAM: JOHNSON.
To Mrs. Johnson, in Lichfield.
122.
DEAR Miss, To Miss PORTER -
I will, if it be possible, come down to you 2 . God grant
I may yet [find] my dear mother breathing and sensible. Do
not tell her lest I disappoint her. If I miss to write next post,
I am on the road.
I am, my dearest Miss,
Your most humble servant,
Jan. 20, 1759. SAM: JOHNSON.
To Miss Porter, at Mrs. Johnson s, in Lichfield.
123.
To MRS. JOHNSON 3 .
DEAR HONOURED MOTHER,
Neither your condition nor your character make it fit for
me to say much. You have been the best mother, and I believe
the best woman in the world. I thank you for your indulgence
to me, and beg forgiveness of all that I have done ill, and all
that I have omitted to do well 4 . God grant you his Holy
1 Every letter which he received seven in the morning. Johnson in
would have cost him fourpence. In 1772, by which time a great deal had
the last year of Johnson s life the been done to render travelling more
charge was raised to fivepence. By rapid, took twenty-six hours in going
1812 it had gone up to ninepence, in the coach from London to Lich-
where it remained for nearly thirty field a distance of 1 16 miles. Post,
years. Penny Cyclo., ed. 1840, xviii. Letter of Oct. 19, I77 2 -
455. 3 This letter was written on the
2 Travelling was still very slow. second leaf of the preceding. -
Fielding, in Tom Jones (bk. xi. ch. MALONE.
9), published in 1749, describes a 4 In a prayer which Johnson wrote,
nobleman in his coach and six taking dated Jan. 23. The day on which my
two days to perform a journey of dear mother was buried, he says :
ninety miles, though he started at Forgive me whatever I have done
Spirit,
Aetat. 49.]
To William Strakan.
79
Spirit, and receive you to everlasting happiness, for Jesus
Christ s sake. Amen. Lord Jesus receive your spirit. Amen.
I am, dear, dear mother,
Your dutiful son,
SAM.- JOHNSON.
Jan. 20, 1759.
SIR,
124.
To WILLIAM STRAHAN T .
When I was with you last night I told you of a story which
I was preparing for the press. The title will be
The Choice of Life
or
The History of Prince of Abissinia.
unkindly to my mother, and what
ever I have omitted to do kindly.
Pr. and Med., p. 37. On Easter
Day of the same year he wrote in a
prayer : Forgive me, O Lord, what
ever my mother has suffered by my
fault. . . . And, O Lord, so far as it
may be lawful I commend unto thy
fatherly goodness my father, brother,
wife, and mother, beseeching thee to
make them happy for Jesus Christ s
sake. Croker s Bosivell, p. 823. In
this commendation, in giving their
names, he mentions them in the order
in which they had died.
1 From the original in the posses
sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41
Gunterstone Road, West Kensington.
First published in my edition of the
Life, vol. vi ; Addenda, p. xxviii.
The late Mr. Strahan, writes
Boswell, told me that Johnson wrote
Rasselas that with the profits he
might defray the expense of his
mother s funeral, and pay some little
debts which she had left. He told
Sir Joshua Reynolds, that he com
posed it in the evenings of one week,
sent it to the press in portions as it
was written, and had never since read
it over. Mr. Strahan, Mr. Johnston,
and Mr. Dodsley purchased it for a
hundred pounds, but afterwards paid
him twenty-five pounds more, when
it came to a second edition. . . .
Voltaire s Candide, written to refute
the system of Optimism, which it has
accomplished with brilliant success,
is wonderfully similar in its plan and
conduct to Johnson s Rasselas ; inso
much, that I have heard Johnson
say, that if they had not been pub
lished so closely one after the other
that there was not time for imitation,
it would have been in vain to deny
that the scheme of that which came
latest was taken from the other. Life,
1.341. That Johnson sent Rasselas to
the press in portions, as it was written,
does not seem consistent with this
letter, and Sir Joshua s memory
probably failed him on this point.
His friend Baretti said that any
other person with his reputation
would have got ,400 for it, but he
never understood the art of making
the most of his productions. Prior s
Life of Malone, p. 160.
Candide, it should seem, was pub
lished in the latter half of February,
1759. Grimm in his letter of March I
speaks of its having just appeared.
It
So
To William Strahan.
f A.D. 1759.
It will make about two volumes like little Pompadour *, that
is about one middling volume. The bargain which I made with
Mr. Johnson was seventy five pounds (or guineas) a volume, and
twenty-five pounds for the second edition. I will sell this either
at that price or for sixty 2 , the first edition of which he shall
himself fix the number, and the property then to revert to me, or
for forty pounds, and I share 3 the profit, that is retain half the
copy. I shall have occasion for thirty pounds on Monday night
when I shall deliver the book which 1 must entreat you upon
such delivery to procure me. I would have it offered to Mr.
Johnson 4 , but have no doubt of selling it, on some of the terms
mentioned.
I will not print my name, but expect it to be known 5 .
I am, dear Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Jan. 20, 1759.
Get me the money if you can.
He does not mention it in his pre
vious letter of Feb. 15. Carres. Lit.
(ed. 1829), ii. 296. This letter proves
that Rasselas was written before
Candide was published. See also
the Introduction to my edition of
Rasselas, Clarendon Press, 1887,
p. 24.
1 By little Pompadour Johnson,
I conjecture, means the second and
cheaper edition of The History of
the Marchioness de Pompadour*
The first edition was published by
Hooper in one volume, price five
shillings (Gentleman s Magazine for
Oct. 1758, p. 493), and the second in
two volumes for three shillings and
sixpence (Gentleman s Magazine for
Nov. 1758, p. 543). It is strange
however that Johnson should refer
to this book, as it is scandalous and
almost indecent.
2 In the original fifty - five
pounds written first and then scored
over.
3
In my edition of the Life, share
is misprinted have.
* Mr. Johnson, the bookseller, was,
I conjecture, W. Johnston, who, with
Strahan and Dodsley, purchased the
book. He lived in Ludgate Street.
See Nichols s Lit. Anec., iii. 727.
5 Johnson did not generally print
his name. He published anony
mously his translation of Lobe s
Voyage to Abyssinia ; London; The
Life of Savage ; The Rambler and
The Idler, both in separate numbers
and when collected in volumes ;
Rasselas j The False Alarm; Falk
land s Islands; The Patriot; and
Taxation no Tyranny ; (when these
four pamphlets were collected in a
volume he published them with the
title si Political Tracts by the Autkour
of the Rambler). He gave his name
in The Vanity of Human Wishes,
Irene, the Dictionary, his edition of
Shakespeare, the Journey to the
Western Islands, and the Lives of
the Poets.
Fielding at one time of his life
To
Aetat. 49.] To MlSS Porter. 8 1
125.
To Miss PORTER.
You will conceive my sorrow for the loss of my mother, of the
best mother. If she were to live again, surely I should behave
better to her. But she is happy, and what is past is nothing
to her ; and for me, since I cannot repair my faults to her,
I hope repentance will efface them. I return you and all those
that have been good to her my sincerest thanks, and pray God
to repay you all with infinite advantage. Write to me, and
comfort me, dear child. I shall be glad likewise, if Kitty will
write to me. I shall send a bill of twenty pounds in a few days,
which I thought to have brought to my mother; but God
suffered it not. I have not power or composure to say much
more. God bless you and bless us all.
I am, dear Miss,
Your affectionate humble servant,
Jan, 23, 1759 . " SAM: JOHNSON.
To Miss Porter in Lichfield.
126.
To Miss PORTER.
{The beginning is torn and lost?)
.
You will forgive me if I am not yet so composed as to give
any directions about any thing. But you are wiser and better
than I, and I shall be pleased with all that you shall do. It is not
boasted that he had never published speak of this prayer as being com-
even a pamphlet without setting his posed on the day on which his mother
name to it, and adds : For the sake was buried, and add : After his
of men s characters I wish all other wife s death he had allowed forty
writers were by law obliged to use days to pass before his " return to
the same method ; but till they are I life." On looking once more at the
shall no longer impose any such re- passage in Prayers and Meditations,
straint on myself. Fielding s Works, I see that I may have been mistaken,
ed. 1806, v. 413. For he adds that the prayer was
1 In a prayer which Johnson com- repeated on my fast with the ad-
posed on this event he speaks of dition. The addition is likely enough
himself as now about to return to the second part of the prayer, and it
the common comforts and business is in it that this statement is found.
of the world. Pr. and Med., p. 38. When the fast was held we are not
In a note on this (Life, \. 514) I told.
VOL. I. G Of
82
To Miss Porter.
[AD. 1759.
of any use for me now to come down ; nor can I bear the place.
If you want any directions, Mr. Howard * will advise you. The
twenty pounds I could not get a bill for to-night, but will send
it on Saturday.
I am, my dear,
Your affectionate servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Jan. 25, 1759.
127.
To Miss PORTER.
DEAR Miss,
I have no reason to forbear writing, but that it makes my
heart heavy, and I had nothing particular to say which might
not be delayed to the next post ; but had no thoughts of ceasing
to correspond with my dear Lucy, the only person now left in
the world with whom I think myself connected 2 . There needed
not my dear mother s desire, for every heart must lean to some
body, and I have nobody but you ; in whom I put all my little
affairs with too much confidence to desire you to keep receipts,
as you prudently proposed.
If you and Kitty 3 will keep the house, I think I shall like it
best. Kitty may carry on the trade for herself, keeping her own
stock apart, and laying aside any money that she receives for
any of the goods which her good mistress has left behind her.
1 Mr. Howard, whose Christian
name was Charles, was in the law,
and resided in the Close. Boswell
mentions him among Johnson s
early friends and patrons. Life, i.
80. Writing of him in a letter to
Dr. Taylor (post, August 1 8, 1763),
Johnson says : His profession has
acquainted him with matrimonial
law, and he is in himself a cool and
wise man. His daughter Mary
married in December, 1757, Dr.
Erasmus Darwin. Their third son
was Robert Waring Darwin, the
father of Charles Robert Darwin. It
is very likely that from Johnson s
friend, the cool and wise man, the
great naturalist indirectly derived
his Christian name. He was named,
it is believed, after Erasmus Dar
win s favourite son Charles, who
died from a dissection wound at
Edinburgh ; who, in his turn, was
named, we may assume, after his
mother s father, Johnson s friend. It
is interesting to find Charles Dar
win s great-grandfather described by
Johnson as a cool and wise man ;
for no man in a higher degree de
served that character than Charles
Darwin himself.
2 He had some distant relations to
whom he left legacies. Life, iv. 401,
n. 3 ; 402, n. i.
3 Catherine Chambers, Mrs, John
son s old servant. Ante, p. 76, n. 3.
I do
Aetat. 49.]
To Miss Porter.
I do not see, if this scheme be followed, any need of appraising
the books l . My mother s debts, dear mother, I suppose I may
1 His mother had carried on her
husband s trade as a bookseller ; the
books were the stock in her shop.
Life, i. 90, n. 3 ; 175, n. I. In the
Johnson MSS. at Pembroke College
are the following documents relating
to the trade as carried on by her
husband, her son Nathanael and her
self:-
To the Hon d Gilb. Walmesley Esqr.
I Memoires of Literature
for feb. and March .020
May 10, 1726. I Dit. Ap.
and May ....
I Dit. June o
I Swift s Cadenus c. . .
I memoires July, Aug. Sept.
Oct
I Phyical [sic} Diet. . .
I moyle s Works. 3 vol.
I Gullivers Travels. 2 vol.
I Glew [? i lb. of glue] .
I memoirs for Nov. and
Dec
Jan. 27, I726 7 . I Hederici
Lexicon
I Aliffs Canon and Civill
Law
~r
4 2 5
Jan. 27, 1726-7.
Received then the contents of this
Bill four pound two shillings two
pence in full of all Accounts
MICH. JOHNSON.
To the Hon d Mr. Walmesly.
I Holland on ye smallpox 029
i Republick, Aug. Sept.
Oct 030
i Nov. Decemb. ..020
I Norfolk Congress ..009
i Cornel. Nepos, De[cem-
ber] 046
I Republick, Jan. feb.
March, Ap. May ..050
i Letter from Rome . . o i 6
G
2
o
o
I
I
o
4
6
o
17
o
a
9
6
o
5
o
2
o
13
6
I
4
o
i Tryal of witnesses . . o i 6
i Republick, June, July,
Aug 030
i Sept. Oct. ...020
I
6
O
o
3
9
i
2
3
Last Bill, query where it
ended.
Human Understanding .
o
5
6
Republ. May and June
o
2
o
Dunciade and Key . . .
o
2
o
July . .
o
T
J
Here I suppose the former bill
ended.
Decemb. ye 28, 1729.
Recev 3 then the Contents of this
Bill and all Acct.
M. JOHNSON.
SIR,
I here send you the Books
togeather with an account of the
Charge of them ; the whole is
26. 6. 4, rec d 21 so that there re
mains due to me 5. 6. 4, which you
will please to remit att your Con
venient time.
I am your humble Serv 1
D. JOHNSON.
Swarkstone, Aug. 21, 1733.
On Monday and Tuesday the
third and fourth of Sept 1 will be ye
last day s of our attending the sale,
and on which day s we shall return
half a Crown in the Pound, for all
books that may be bought on those
two day s. I shall be glad to have
your company.
For Gilb* Walmesley
Esq. at His House
In Lichfield.
2 pay
8 4
To Miss Porter.
[A.D. 1759.
pay with little difficulty ; and the little trade may go silently
forward. I fancy Kitty can do nothing better; and I shall not
want to put her out of a house, where she has lived so long,
and with so much virtue. I am very sorry that she is ill, and
earnestly hope that she will soon recover ; let her know that
I have the highest value for her, and would do any thing for her
advantage. Let her think of this proposal. I do not see any
To the Hon d Gilbert Walmesley Esqr.
17 Republicks of Letters
from May 1732 to No-
ember 1733 o 17 o
I Lock on ye Longitude 006
o 17 6
Nov. loth, 1733.
Rec d then in full of this Bill and
all Accts.
SARAH JOHNSON.
To Gilbert Walmesley Esq r .
12 Republicks of Letters
from Oct. 1733 to Nov.
1734 o 12 o
Feb. 2 1 st. An Almanack
bound in veil 019
1734, May 20. The Bishops
Charge o I o
Oct. 2. A Play ....006
o 15 3
Rec d Feb. 3, 1734/5 ye contents
of this Bill in full of all accounts, I
say rec d by me,
NATH : JOHNSON.
Febru. ye 3d, 1734-5
t. d.
Mr. Walmsley paid all but 003
October was the last Re-
publick he had then
recev d
June 3oth. Popes Letters .060
12 Republicks since
o 12
o 18 3
Jan. 10, 1735.
Rec d then in full of this Bill and
all Act s.
SARAH JOHNSON.
Ashby, Jan. 31, 1 735-
SIR,
My sister Johnson desiars me to
wright in her behalf to you, there
being due to her for the parcell of
books you had of her at Swarkstone
five pund six shillings and foure
pence, you had a perticuler acount
sent you with the books, as she wase
obliged to sell of the studey of books
at a Joe rate to turn it into money,
she hoped you would have paid the
bill which she sent to Mr. Newton,
some time agoe. He reterned the
bill and said you mentiond some
mestake, which if there wase my
sister desiard him to let you so [sic]
she would desiare you to paye him
the rest, and deduct the mestake for
she desiars no moore than is justly
due to her, the interest that might
have been maid in this time will help
towards a smal mestake. She begs
you will paye the money to Mr.
Newton who will soon come to
Ashby and will i dare saye help it to
my sister Johnson. I am y r
Humble sarvant,
JAMES BATE.
At the foot is written in another
hand: N.B. I paid Mr. Newton
^5 ; but I believe s d [?] I rectify the
mistakes in Mrs. Johnson s bill,
there will be something due, tho a
trifle, to
G. WALMESLEY.
likelier
Aetat. 40.] To MlSS Porter. 85
likelier method by which she may pass the remaining part of
her life in quietness and competence.
You must have what part of the house you please, while you
are inclined to stay in it ; but I flatter myself with the hope that
you and I shall some time pass our days together \ I am very
solitary and comfortless, but will not invite you to come hither
till I can have hope of making you live here so as not to dislike
your situation. Pray, my dearest, write to me as often as you can.
I am. dear Madam,
Your affectionate humble servant.
Feb. 6, 1759. SAM: JOHNSON.
128.
To Miss PORTER 2 .
MY DEAR Miss,
I am very much pleased to find that your opinion concurs
with mine. I think all that you propose is right and beg that
you would manage every thing your own way, for I do not doubt
but I shall like all that you do.
Kitty shall be paid first, and I will send her down money
to pay the London debts afterwards, for as I have had no
connexion with the trade, it is not worth while to appear in
it now. Kitty may close her mistress s account and begin
her own. The stock she shall have as you mention. I hope
she continues to recover.
I am very much grieved at my Mother s death, and do not
love to think nor to write about it. I wish you all kinds of
good, and hope sometime to see you.
I am, dear Miss,
Your affectionate servant,
London, Feb. 15, 1759. SAM: JOHNSON.
1 Miss Porter lived on, it should Johnson given to me by Geo.
seem, in Johnson s house in Lich- Pearson, St. John s Coll. Cam. G.W.
field till she had built one of her George Pearson was probably the
own. Life, \. no, n. 3. She died son of the Rev. Mr. Pearson, of
without ever visiting London. Ib. Lichfield (Life, ii. 471 ; iv. 256),
ii. 462. whom Mr. Croker describes, in one
2 I have carelessly failed to record place, as the legatee of Lucy Porter,
the name of the correspondent to and in another place as the husband
whose kindness I am indebted for of the lady who inherited her fortune,
this unpublished letter. It is en- Croker s Boswell, Preface, p. xiv,
dorsed : An original letter of Dr. and p. 492.
To
86 To Miss Porter. [A.D. 1759.
129.
To Miss PORTER.
DEAR MADAM, March 1 7&\9\ .
I thought your last letter long in coming ; and did not
require or expect such an inventory of little things as you have
sent me. I could have taken your word for a matter of much
greater value. I am glad that Kitty is better ; let her be
paid first, as my dear, dear mother ordered, and then let me
know at once the sum necessary to discharge her other debts,
and I will find it you very soon.
I beg, my dear, that you would act for me without the least
scruple, for I can repose myself very confidently upon your
prudence, and hope we shall never have reason to love each
other less. I shall take it very kindly if you make it a rule to
write to me once at least every week, for I am now very desolate,
and am loth to be universally forgotten.
I am, dear sweet,
Your affectionate servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
130.
To Miss PORTER.
DEAR MADAM, March 2 3> 759-
I beg your pardon for having so long omitted to write.
One thing or other has put me off. I have this day moved my
things, and you are now to direct to me at Staple Inn, London 2 .
I hope, my dear, you are well, and Kitty mends. I wish her
success in her trade. I am going to publish a little story book,
1 See ante, p. 76, n. 2. Apparently he had dispersed his
2 He had left Gough Square, household, sleeping probably in his
where he had lived since 1749. Life, old house, but having no cooking
iii. 405, n. 6. On January 9 of this done there. His chambers in Staple
year (in a letter misdated 1758) he Inn are not known. I made enquiries
wrote to Langton, who had sent about them, but was informed that
him some game : I have left off the books of the Society had been
house-keeping, and therefore made destroyed in a fire.
presents of the game. Life, i. 326.
which
Aetat. 49.]
To Mrs. Montagu.
which I will send you when it is out . Write to me, my dearest
girl, for I am always glad to hear from you.
I am, my dear,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
131.
I0 >
To Miss PORTER.
DEAR MADAM,
I am almost ashamed to tell you that all your letters came
safe, and that I have been always very well, but hindered, I
hardly know how, from writing. I sent, last week, some of my
works, one for you, one for your aunt Hunter, who was with my
poor dear mother when she died, one for Mr. Howard 2 , and one
for Kitty.
I beg you, my dear, to write often to me, and tell me how you
like my little book.
I am, dear love,
Your affectionate humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
132.
To MRS. MONTAGU 3 .
MADAM, J une ^ W9-
I am desired by Mrs. Williams to sign receipts with her
name for the subscribers which you have been pleased to pro-
1 The little story book was Ras-
selas. It was reviewed in the Gentle
man s Magazine for April (p. 184),
and was no doubt published in that
month. The Gentlemaris Magazine
at this time was published at the end
of the month, or even later. Thus
the number for April, 1759, contains
news as late as April 30.
2 See ante, p. 82, n. i.
3 This and the following letter
were first published in Croker s
Bos-well, page 118.
For an account of Mrs. Montagu,
see Boswell s Johnson, ii. 88. In
1775 she gave Mrs. Williams a small
annuity. Croker s Bos-well, p. 458,
and post, Letter of Sept. 22, 1783.
The subscriptions were perhaps for
Mrs. Williams s Miscellanies, though
that volume was not published till
seven years later. Life, ii. 25.
Johnson once censured Mrs. Mon
tagu s mode of conferring charity.
If, said he, a wench wants a good
gown, do not give her a fine smelling-
bottle, because that is more delicate ;
as I once knew a lady lend the key
of her library to a poor scribbling
dependant, as if she took the woman
for an ostrich that could digest iron.
Piozzi s Anecdotes, p. 271. We learn
from Hay ward s Piozzi, i. 154, that
this lady was Mrs. Montagu.
cure,
88 To Mrs. Montagu. [A.D. 1759.
cure, and to return her humble thanks for your favour, which
was conferred with all the grace that elegance can add to
beneficence.
I am, Madam.
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
133.
To MRS. MONTAGU.
MADAM, Gray>s lnn1 Dec - I7> I759>
Goodness so conspicuous as yours will be often solicited,
and perhaps sometimes solicited by those who have little pre
tension to your favour. It is now my turn to introduce a
petitioner, but such as I have reason to believe you will think
worthy of your notice. Mrs. Ogle, who kept the music-room
in Soho Square 2 , a woman who struggles with great industry
for the support of eight children, hopes by a benefit concert to
set herself free from a few debts, which she cannot otherwise
discharge. She has, I know not why, so high an opinion of me
as to believe that you will pay less regard to her application
than to mine. You know, Madam, I am sure you know, how
hard it is to deny, and therefore would not wonder at my com
pliance, though I were to suppress a motive which you know
not, the vanity of being supposed to be of any importance to
Mrs. Montagu. But though I may be willing to see the world
deceived for my advantage, I am not deceived myself, for I know
that Mrs. Ogle will owe whatever favours she shall receive from
the patronage which we humbly entreat on this occasion, much
1 Johnson, who had moved to a Madame Cornelys who took Car-
Staple Inn on March 23 of this lisle House in Soho Square, enlarged
year, had resided there but a short it, and established assemblies and
time, and was now occupying cham- balls by subscription. She had ap-
bers in Gray s Inn, whence in a few parently been there some years, as
months he moved to Inner Temple in 1764 he had said that she had
Lane. I am informed by Mr. W. enlarged her vast room. Letters,
R. Douthwaite, Librarian of Gray s iv. 302 ; v. 283. She got into diffi-
Inn and author of Gray s Inn, its culties and died in the Fleet Prison.
History and Associations, that he Cunningham s Handbook of London,
does not seem to have held chambers ed. 1850, p. 456. Perhaps Mrs. Ogle
directly from the Society. had occupied the same house.
2 Horace Walpole in 1 77 1 mentions
more
Aetat. so.] To the Reverend Thomas Percy. 89
more to your compassion for honesty in distress, than to the
request of,
Madam,
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
134.
To JOSEPH SIMPSON.
[London, 1759 ?] Published in the Life, i. 346.
Boswell ascribes this undated letter to 1759. In a note on it I have
shown that it probably belongs to a later date.
135.
To BENNET LANGTON.
[London], October 18, 1760. Published in the Life, i. 357.
136.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS PERCY .
DEAR SIR,
I went this morning to Mr. Millar 2 , and found him very
well disposed to your project. I told him the price of 3 vols.
was an hundred guineas, to which he made no objection 3 . I said
nothing of advancing any money, for he was in great haste, and
I did not at once recollect it. There is only one thing which I
1 From the original in the Dyce three volumes, and Johnson, as Percy
and Forster Libraries, Science and tells us in his Preface, had seen some
Art Department, South Kensington, of the manuscript and had urged its
communicated to me by Mr. R. publication. Shenstone wrote on
Forster Sketchley. March I, 1761 : You have perhaps
2 Andrew Millar, the great book- heard me speak of Mr. Percy ; he
seller, whom Johnson called the was in treaty with Mr. James Dods-
Maecenas of the age. Life, i. 287, ley for the publication of our best old
n. 3. ballads in three volumes. ... I pro-
J In 1761 Percy published a trans- posed the scheme for him myself.
lation from the Portuguese of a Shenstone s Works, iii. 321. Mr.
Chinese novel, Hau Kiati Chooan, in Shenstone, writes Percy in his Pre-
four volumes, and in 1 762 Mis- face, was to have borne a joint
cellaneous Pieces relating to the share in the work had not death un-
Chinese, in two volumes. His Re- happily prevented him. (He died
liques of Ancient English Poetry on Feb. n, 1763.) The bargain
did not appear till 1765; nevertheless with Millar dropped through, for it
it is no doubt this work which was was Dodsley who had the high
the subject of this letter. It was in honour of publishing the Reliques.
dislike.
To Miss Porter.
[A.D. 1761.
dislike. He wants the Sheets that are in my hands to shew to
I know not whom. In that there is yet some danger. If we
had not had this Specimen I think we should have immediately
bargained. Perhaps after all the bargain is made. You will
know from his own Letter, which he promised me to write to
night, and which, if he writes it, will make this superfluous. But,
this business being of moment, I would not appear to neglect it.
Make all compliments to Mrs. Percy \ for
Sir,
Your most humble servant,
NOV. 29, 1760. SAM: JOHNSON.
To the Rev d Mr. Percy.
137.
To Miss PORTER 2 .
Inner Temple Lane 3 , Jan. 13, 1761.
DEAREST MADAM,
I ought to have begun the new year with repairing the
omissions of the last, and to have told you sooner, what I can
1 It was to his young wife that
Percy, two years earlier, had ad
dressed those pretty lines begin
ning :-
O Nancy, wilt thou go with me,
Nor sigh to leave the flaunting
town ?
Can silent glens have charms for
thee?
The lowly cot and russet gown ?
Dodsley s Collection of Poems, ed.
1758, vi. 233, and H. B. Wheatley s
edition of the Reliques, i. Preface,
P- 72.
2 First published in Croker s Bo s-
well, 8vo. ed., p. 122.
Johnson had moved into Inner
Temple Lane in 1760. I have been
told, says Hawkins, by his neigh
bour at the corner, that during the
time he dwelt there, more inquiries
were made at his shop for Mr. John
son than for all the inhabitants put
together of both the Inner and
Middle Temple. Hawkins s Life of
Johnson, p. 383. In Dodsley s Lon
don, published in 1761, the side of
the Temple fronting the Thames is
described as lying open and airy,
and enjoying a delightful prospect
into Surrey. vol. vi. p. 104. Boswell,
thirty years after Johnson, had
chambers on the same staircase, and
here he was forcing himself to sit
some hours a-day, at the very time
that he was bringing out his Life of
Johnson. Letters of Bcswell, p. 335,
and Croker s Boswell, p. 830.
According to the Gentleman s
Magazine for 1857, part ii, p. 552,
Johnson had occupied the first
floor of No. I. On October 8 of that
year there was a sale by auction of
the floor, windows, doors, and panel
partition. They fetched ,10 $s.
The entire staircase and the outside
door with its pilasters were with
drawn from the sale, as the Benchers
wished to preserve them as relics.
The house was pulled down. It
always
Aetat. si.] To the Reverend Thomas Percy.
always tell you with truth, that I wish you long life and happi
ness, always increasing till it shall end at last in the happiness of
heaven.
I hope, my dear, you are well ; I am at present pretty much
disordered by a cold and cough ; I have just been blooded, and
hope I shall be better.
Pray give my love to Kitty. I should be glad to hear that
she goes on well.
I am, my dearest dear,
Your most affectionate servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
138.
To JOSEPH BARETTI.
London, June 10, 1761. Published in the Life, i. 361.
139.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS PERCY .
DEAR SIR,
The kindness of your invitation would tempt me to leave
pomp and tumult behind, and hasten to your retreat ; however,
as I cannot perhaps see another coronation 2 so conveniently as
stood on the site of what is now
called Johnson s Buildings.
To the kindness of Mr. H. W.
Lawrence, Sub-Treasurer of the Inner
Temple, I owe the following copy of
a Bench Table Order :
Inner Temple, Bench Table,
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1857.
Ordered that the Staircase, &c.
of Dr. Johnson s Staircase be pre
sented to the Crystal Palace Com
pany.
Mr. W. Gardiner, the Secretary
of the Crystal Palace Company, in
forms me that no trace of it can be
found. He does not think that it
was ever set up, but that it was
stored in a part of the building which
was destroyed by fire in 1866.
Charles Lamb, who in 1809 took
chambers at No. 4 of the same Lane,
says : I have two rooms on the
third floor and five rooms above, with
an inner staircase to myself, and all
new painted &c., and all for ,30 a
year ! Letters of Charles Lamb, ed.
by A. Ainger, i. 252.
1 From the original in the posses
sion of Mr. Alfred Morrison, of Font-
hill House.
This Letter was sold for $ ioj.
by Messrs. Christie & Co. on June 5,
1888. Lot 48.
- The Coronation took place on
Sept. 22. Horace Walpole wrote on
Sept. 28 : What is the finest sight
in the world ? A Coronation. What
do people talk most about ? A
Coronation. What is delightful to
have passed ? A Coronation. In
deed, one had need be a handsome
young peeress not to be fatigued to
this,
92 To Miss Porter. [A.D. 1762.
this, and I may see many young Percies, I beg your pardon for
staying till this great ceremony is over, after which I purpose to
pass some time with you, though I cannot flatter myself that I
can even then long enjoy the pleasure which your company
always gives me, and which is likewise expected from that of
Mrs. Percy, by,
Sir,
Your most affectionate
Sept. 1 2 , 1781. SAM: JOHNSON.
To the Rev d Mr. Percy, at Easton Mauduit, Northamptonshire, by
Castle Ashby.
140.
To DR. STAUNTON.
[London], June i, 1762. Published in the Life, i. 367.
4
141.
To A LADY.
[London], June 8, 1762. Published in the Life, i. 368.
142.
To JOSEPH BARETTI.
London, July 20, 1762. Published in the Life, i. 369.
143.
To THE EARL OF BUTE.
[London], July 20, 1762. Published in the Life, i. 376.
144.
To Miss PORTER .
DEAR MADAM,
If I write but seldom to you it is because it seldom happens
that I have anything to tell you that can give you pleasure, but
last Monday I was sent for by the chief Minister 2 the Earl of
death with it. Letters, iii. 444. John- Minister is in Johnson s Dictionary.
son visited Percy at his Vicarage at In 1775 he used the term Prime
Easton Maudit in 1764. Life, \. 486. Minister. Life, ii. 355. Hume in
1 From the original in the posses- 1742 speaks of Walpole as Prime
sion of the late Mr. Stamford Raffles, Minister. Hume s Essays, ed. 1742,
13 Abercromby Square, Liverpool. ii. 204. For Johnson s pension see
* Neither Premier nor Prime Life, i. 372.
Bute,
Aetat. 53.] To Miss Reynolds. 93
Bute, who told me that the King had empowered him to do
something for me ; and let me know that a pension was granted
me of three hundred a year. Be so kind as to tell Kitty.
I am, dearest Madam,
Your most affectionate
July 24 , 1762. SAM: JOHNSON.
To Miss Porter, Lichfield.
145.
To THE EARL OF BUTE.
Temple Lane, November 3, 1762. Published in the Life, i. 380.
146.
To Miss REYNOLDS z .
DEAR MADAM, Dec. 21,1762.
If Mr. Mudge should make the offer you mention, I shall
certainly comply with it, but I cannot offer myself unasked 2 . I
am much pleased to find myself so much esteemed by a man
whom I so much esteem.
Mr. Tolcher 3 is here ; full of life, full of talk, and full of en
terprise. To see brisk young fellows of seventy-four, is very
surprising to those who begin to suspect themselves of growing
old.
1 First published in Croker s Bos- Great Britain and Ireland, was born
well, page 129. in 1762. It is probable therefore
Boswell says that he had seen that it was about him that the offer
Johnson s letters to Miss Reynolds was made. See Boswell s Johnson,
(Sir Joshua s sister), but that her too i. 378, and Knight s Cyclo. of Biog.
nice delicacy would not permit them iv. 373.
to be published. Life, i. 486, n. I. 3 An alderman of Plymouth, he
2 To be a godfather. - - MlSS to whom Johnson exclaimed in his
REYNOLDS. Mr. Mudge was most mock enthusiasm, " I hate a
likely one of the sons of the Rev. Docker." CROKER. See the Life,
Zachariah Mudge, either John, the i. 379, n. 2. Northcote in Hazlitt s
celebrated surgeon, or Thomas, who Conversations (p. 288) said : Old
in 1793 or 1794 received a reward of Mr. Tolcher used to say of the
_^3,ooo from Parliament for his im- famous Pulteney " My Lord Bath
provement in the construction of always speaks in blank verse." He
chronometers. William Mudge, John gave young Northcote an introduc-
Mudge s son, famous for the part he tion to Reynolds. Leslie and Taylor s
took in the trigonometrical survey of Life of Reynolds, i. 406.
You
94 To Joseph Baretti. [A.D.1762.
You may tell at Torrington that whatever they may think, I
have not forgot Mr. Johnson s widow I , nor school Mr. Johnson s
salmon nor Dr. Morison s Idler. For the widow I shall apply
very soon to the Bishop of Bristol 2 , who is now sick. The salmon
I cannot yet learn any hope of making a profitable scheme, for
where I have inquired, which was where I think the information
very faithful, I was told that dried salmon may be bought in
London for a penny a pound ; but I shall not yet drop the
search.
For the school, a sister of Miss Carwithen s has offered herself
to Miss Williams, who sent her to Mr. Reynolds, where the
business seems to have stopped. Miss Williams thinks her well
qualified, and I am told she is a woman of elegant manners, and
of a lady-like appearance. Mr. Reynolds must be written to,
for, as she knows more of him than of me, she will probably
choose rather to treat with him.
Dr. Morison s Books shall be sent to him with my sincere
acknowledgements of all his civilities.
I am going for a few days or weeks to Oxford, that I may free
myself from a cough, which is sometimes very violent ; however,
if you design me the favour of any more letters, do not let the
uncertainty of my abode hinder you, for they will be sent after
me, and be very gladly received by,
Madam,
Your most obliged humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
147.
To JOSEPH BARETTI.
London, December 21, 1762. Published in the Life, i. 380.
1 A clergyman s widow to procure 2 Thomas Newton, a Lichfield
a pension for her. Miss REYNOLDS, man. Johnson hearing his Disser-
Johnson and Reynolds on their tour fattens on the Prophecies described
to Devonshire in the summer of this as his great work, said : - Why,
year had visited at Torrington Rey- Sir, it is Tom s great work ; but how
nolds s brother-in-law, Mr. Johnson. far it is great, or how much of it is
Leslie and Taylor s Life of Reynolds, Tom s, are other questions. Life,
IOT c IV. 2oO.
. 41$.
To
Aetat. 53.]
To George Strakan.
148.
To GEORGE STRAHAN T .
DEAR GEORGE, Feb - T 9>
I am glad that you have found the benefit of confidence,
and hope you will never want a friend to whom you may safely
disclose any painful secret. The state of your mind you had not
so concealed but that it was suspected at home, which I mention
that if any hint should be given you, it may not be imputed to
me, who have told nothing but to yourself, who had told more
than you intended 2 .
I hope you read more of Nepos, or of some other book,
than you construe to Mr. Bright 3 . The more books you look
into for your entertainment, with the greater variety of style
you will make yourself acquainted. Turner I do not know ; but
think that if Clark 4 be better, you should change it, for I shall
never be willing that you should trouble yourself with more than
one book to learn the government of words. What book that
one shall be. Mr. Bright must determine. Be but diligent in
reading and writing, and doubt not of the success. Be pleased
to make my compliments to Miss Page and the gentlemen.
I am,
Dear Sir,
Yours affectionately,
SAM: JOHNSON.
149.
To GEORGE STRAHAN 5 .
DEAR SIR, March 26, 1763.
You did not very soon answer my letter, and therefore
cannot complain that I make no great haste to answer yours.
1 First published in Croker s Bos-
well, page 129.
George Strahan, the son of William
Strahan the printer, became Vicar
of Islington. He attended Johnson
on his death-bed, and published his
Prayers and Meditations. Life, iv.
376. He was at this time at the
Abingdon Grammar School.
2 See />.$/, Letter of Aug. 19, 1782.
3 Mr. Bright was the Master of
Abingdon School.
4 I think that John Clarke is
meant, the author of books on Latin
Grammar and Composition. 1 do
not know who Turner was.
5 First published in Croker s Bos-
well, page 130.
I am
96 To Miss Porter. [A.D. 1703.
I am well enough satisfied with the proficiency that you make,
and hope that you will not relax the vigour of your diligence.
I hope you begin now to see that all is possible which was pro
fessed. Learning is a wide field, but six years spent in close
application are a long time ; and I am still of opinion, that if
you continue to consider knowledge as the most pleasing and
desirable of all acquisitions, and do not suffer your course to be
interrupted, you may take your degree not only without de
ficiency, but with great distinction.
You must still continue to write Latin. This is the most
difficult part, indeed the only part that is very difficult of your
undertaking. If you can exemplify the rules of syntax, I know
not whether it will be worth while to trouble yourself with any
more translations. You will more increase your number of
words, and advance your skill in phraseology, by making a short
theme or two every day; and when you have construed properly
a stated number of verses, it will be pleasing to go from reading
to composition, and from composition to reading. But do not
be very particular about method ; any method will do, if there
be but diligence. Let me know, if you please, once a week what
you are doing.
I am,
Dear George,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
150.
To Miss PORTER T .
MY DEAR, April 12, 1763.
The newspaper has informed me of the death of Captain
Porter 2 . I know not what to say to you, condolent 3 or con
solatory, beyond the common considerations which I suppose
you have proposed to others, and know how to apply to your
self. In all afflictions the first relief is to be asked of God.
1 First published in Croker s Bos- stately home, and making a hand-
ivell, page 130. some garden in an elevated situation
2 Miss Porter s brother, a Captain in Lichfield. Life, ii. 462.
in the Navy, left her a fortune of ten 3 Condolent is not in Johnson s
thousand pounds ; about a third of Dictionary.
which she laid out in building a
I wish
Aetat 53.] To George Strahan. 97
I wish to be informed in what condition your brother s death
has left your fortune ; if he has bequeathed you competence or
plenty, I shall sincerely rejoice ; if you are in any distress or
difficulty, I will endeavour to make what I have, or what I can
get, sufficient for us both.
I am,
Madam,
Yours affectionately,
SAM: JOHNSON.
151.
To GEORGE STRAHAN z .
DEAR SIR, A P ril l6 > J 7 6 3-
Your account of your proficience is more nearly equal,
I find, to my expectations than your own. You are angry that
a theme on which you took so much pains was at last a kind
of English Latin; what could you expect more? If at the
end of seven years you write good Latin, you will excel most of
your contemporaries : Scribendo disces scribere. It is only by
writing ill that you can attain to write well. Be but diligent
and constant, and make no doubt of success.
I will allow you but six weeks for Tully s Offices. Walker s
Particles 2 1 would not have you trouble yourself to learn at all by
heart, but look in it from time to time, and observe his notes and
remarks, and see how they are exemplified. The translation
from Clark s history will improve you, and I would have you
continue it to the end of the book.
I hope you read by the way at loose hours other books,
though you do not mention them ; for no time is to be lost ; and
what can be done with a master is but a small part of the whole.
I would have you now and then try at some English verses.
When you find that you have mistaken any thing, review the
passage carefully, and settle it in your mind.
1 First published in Croker s Bos- ing to the proprietie and elegance
well, page 130. of the Latine. London, 1655. By
2 Treatise of English Particles, William Walker, B.D.
shewing how to render them accord-
VOL. I. H Be
98 To Miss Porter. [A.D.
Be pleased to make my compliments, and those of Miss
Williams, to all our friends.
I am, dear Sir,
Yours most affectionately,
SAM: JOHNSON.
152.
To THE RIGHT HON. GEORGE GRENVILLE x .
SIR, July a, 1 763.
Be pleased to pay to the bearer seventy- five pounds, being
the quarterly payment of a pension granted by his Majesty, and
due on the 24th day of June last to, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM- JOHNSON 2 .
153.
To Miss PORTER 3 .
MY DEAREST DEAR, July s I763
I am extremely glad that so much prudence and virtue
as yours is at last awarded 4 with so large a fortune, and doubt
not but that the excellence which you have shewn in circum
stances of difficulty will continue the same in the convenience of
wealth.
I have not written to you sooner, having nothing to say,
1 Published in the Grenmlle do to any other Person breathing ;
Papers, ii. 68. He therefore most ardently begs to
George Grenville was Chancellor see Them at any Hour this after-
of the Exchequer. For the payment of noon, and He will at all Events im-
Johnson s pension see Life, i. 376, n. 2. mediately enter upon this very in-
2 Four days before the date of teresting Subject, and when once
this letter the following note had begun, there is no Danger of His
been sent, which, in its result, affected wandering upon any other : in Short,
Johnson s life scarcely less than his see Them, He must, for He assures
pension. I owe this copy of it to the Them, with the greatest Truth and
kindness of Mrs. Thomas, of Eyhorne Sincerity, that They have murder 3 d
House, Hollingbourne, near Maid- Peace and Happiness at Home,
stone, who possesses the original : South war k, 28 June, 1763.
Mr. Thrale presents His most Mr. Thrale married Miss Salus-
respectfull compliments to Mrs. and bury on the following Oct. n. Gen-
Miss Salusbury and wishes to God tlemarfs Magazine, 1763, p. 518.
He could have communicated His 3 First published in Croker s Bos-
Sentiments to Them last night, which well, page 144.
is absolutely impossible for Him to 4 Perhaps he wrote rewarded.
which
Aetat. 53.] To Miss Porter. 99
which you would not easily suppose nothing but that I love
you and wish you happy; of which you may be always assured,
whether I write or not.
I have had an inflammation in my eyes ; but it is much better,
and will be, I hope, soon quite well.
Be so good as to let me know whether you design to stay at
Lichfield this summer ; if you do, I purpose to come down.
I shall bring Frank z with me ; so that Kitty must contrive to
make two beds, or get a servant s bed at the Three Crowns 2 ,
which may be as well. As I suppose she may want sheets, and
table linen, and such things, I have sent ten pounds, which she
may lay out in conveniences. I will pay her for our board
what you think proper ; I think a guinea a week for me and the
boy.
Be pleased to give my love to Kitty.
I am, my dearest love,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
154.
To Miss PORTER 3 .
MY DEAREST LOVE, J uly I2 > I763
I had forgot my debt to poor Kitty; pray let her have the
note, and do what you can for her, for she has been always very
good. I will help her to a little more money if she wants it, and
will write. I intend that she shall have the use of the house as
long as she and I live 4 .
That there should not be room for me at the house is some
disappointment to me, but the matter is not very great. I am
sorry you have had your head filled with building, for many
reasons. It was not necessary to settle immediately for life at
any one place; you might have staid and seen more of the
world. You will not have your work done, as you do not under
stand it, but at twice the value. You might have hired a house
1 His black servant. 1776. Life, ii. 461. It is still stand-
2 The good old-fashioned inn, ing.
the very next house to that in which 3 First published in Croker s Bos-
Johnson was born and brought up, well, page 145.
where he and Boswell stayed in 4 See ante, p. 82.
H 2 at
ioo To George Strahan. [A.D. i?63.
at half the interest of the money for which you build it, if your
house cost you a thousand pounds. You might have the Palace
for twenty pounds T , and make forty of your thousand pounds ;
so in twenty years you would have saved four hundred pounds,
and still have had your thousand.
I am, dear Dear,
Yours, &c v
SAM: JOHNSON.
155.
To GEORGE STRAHAN 2 .
DEAR GEORGE,
To give pain ought always to be painful, and I am sorry
that I have been the occasion of any uneasiness to you, to whom
I hope never to [do] any thing but for your benefit or your
pleasure. Your uneasiness was without any reason on your part,
as you had written with sufficient frequency to me, and I had
only neglected to answer them, because as nothing new had
been proposed to your study, no new direction or incitement
could be offered you. But if it had happened that you had
omitted what you did not omit, and that I had for an hour,
or a week, or a much longer time, thought myself put out of
your mind by something to which presence gave that prevalence,
which presence will sometimes give even where there is the most
prudence and experience, you are not to imagine that my friend
ship is light enough to be blown away by the first cross blast, or
that my regard or kindness hangs by so slender a hair as to be
broken off by the unfelt weight of a petty offence. I love you,
and hope to love you long. You have hitherto done nothing
to dimmish my good will, and though you had done much more
than you have supposed imputed to you, my good will would
not have been diminished.
I write thus largely on this suspicion, which you have suffered
to enter your mind, because in youth we are apt to be too
1 When Boswell visited Lichfield permanent abode,
in 1776 the Bishop s Palace was - First published in Croker s Bos-
occupied by Miss Seward s father. -well, page 146; corrected by me
Life, ii. 467. Bishop Selwyn, who from the original in the possession
was appointed in 1867, was, I was of Mr. W. R. Smith, of Greatham
told, the first prelate who made it his Moor, West Liss, Hants.
rigorous
Aetat. 53.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 101
rigorous in our expectations, and to suppose that the duties of
life are to be performed with unfailing exactness and regularity;
but in our progress through life we are forced to abate much
of our demands, and to take friends such as we can find them,
not as we would make them.
These concessions every wise man is more ready to make
to others, as he knows that he shall often want them for himself ;
and when he remembers how often he fails in the observance or
cultivation of his best friends, is willing to suppose that his
friends may in their turn neglect him, without any intention to
offend him.
When therefore it shall happen, as happen it will, that you or
I have disappointed the expectation of the other, you are not
to suppose that you have lost me, or that I intended to lose you ;
nothing will remain but to repair the fault, and to go on as if it
never had been committed.
I am, Sir,
Your affectionate servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Thursday, July 14, 1763.
156.
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR .
DEAR SIR,
You may be confident that what I can do for you either by
help or counsel in this perplexity shall not be wanting, and
I take it as a proof of friendship that you have recourse to
me on this strange revolution of your domestick life.
I do not wonder that the commotion of your mind made
it difficult for you to give me a particular account, but while my
knowledge is only general, my advice must be general too.
Your first care must be of yourself and your own quiet. Do
not let this vexation take possession of your thoughts, or sink
too deeply into your heart. To have an unsuitable or unhappy
1 First published in The Miscel- Dr. Taylor and his wife which ended
lanies of the Philobiblon Society, vi. in a separation. Boswell seems to
19; afterwards by Professor J. E. B. have known nothing of this matter.
Mayor in Notes and Queries, 6th According to Nichols (Lit. Anec.
S., v. 324. It is the first of a series ix. 58) Taylor was twice married.
of letters about a quarrel between
marriage
IO2 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor, [A.D. ives.
marriage happens every day to multitudes, and you must en
deavour to bear it like your fellow sufferers by diversion at one
time and reflection at another. The happiness of conjugal life
cannot be ascertained or secured either by sense or by virtue,
and therefore its miseries may be numbered among those evils
which we cannot prevent and must only labour to endure with
patience, and palliate with judgement. If your condition is
known I should [think] it best to come from the place, that you
may not be a gazing-stock to idle people who have nobody
but you to talk of. You may live privately in a thousand places
till the novelty of the transaction is worn away. I shall be glad
to contribute to your peace by any arrangement in my power.
With respect to the Lady I so little understand her temper
that I know not what to propose. Did she go with with [sic] a
male or female companion ? With what money do you believe her
provided? To whom do you imagine she will recur for shelter?
What is the abuse of her person which she mentions ? What is
[the] danger which she resolves never again to incur ? The tale
of Hannah I suppose to be false, not that if it be true it will
justify her violence and precipitation, but it will give her con
sequent superiority in the publick opinion and in the courts of
Justice, and it will be better for you to endure hard conditions
than bring your character into a judicial disquisition.
I know you never lived very well together, but I suppose that
an outrage like this must have been preceded by some un
common degrees of discord from which you might have pro
gnosticated some odd design, or that some preparations for this
excursion must have been made, of which the recollection may
give you some direction what to conjecture, and how to proceed.
You know that I have never advised you to any thing tyran
nical or violent, and in the present case it is of great importance
to keep yourself in the right, and not injure your own right
by any intemperance of resentment or eagerness of reprisal.
For the present I think it prudent to forbear all persuit \sic\,
and all open enquiry, to wear an appearance of complete in
difference, and calmly wait the effects of time, of necessity, and
of shame. I suppose she cannot live long without your money,
and the confession of her want will probably humble her.
Whether
Aetat. 53.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 103
Whether you will inform her brother, I must leave to your
discretion, who know his character and the terms on which
you have lived. If you write to him, write like a man ill treated
but neither dejected nor enraged.
I do not know what more I can say without more knowledge
of the case, only I repeat my advice that you keep yourself
cheerful, and add that I would have [you] contribute nothing
to the publication of your own misfortune. I wondered to see
the note transcribed by a hand which I did not know.
I am, dear Sir,
Your most affectionate
SAM: JOHNSON.
August 13, 1763.
To the Rev d Dr. Taylor in Ashbourn, Derbyshire.
157.
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR \
DEAR SIR,
I have endeavoured to consider your affair according to the
knowledge which the papers that you have sent me, can afford,
and will very freely tell you what occurs to me.
Who Mr. Woodcock is I know not, but unless his character
in the world, or some particular relation to yourself, entitle him
to uncommon respect, you seem to treat him with too much
deference by soliciting his interest and condescending to plead
your cause before him, and imploring him to settle those terms
of separation which you have a right to prescribe. You are
in my opinion to consider yourself as a man injured, and instead
of making defence, to expect submission. If you desert your
self who can support you ? You needed not have confessed
so much weakness as is made appear by the tale of the half-
crown and the pocket picked by your wife s companion. How
ever nothing is done that can much hurt you.
You enquire what the fugitive Lady has in her power. She
has. I think, nothing in her power but to return home and mend
her behaviour. To obtain a separate maintenance she must
prove either cruelty to her person or infidelity to her bed, and
1 First published in The Misccl- 22 ; afterwards in Notes and Queries,
lanies of the Philobiblon Society, vi. 6th S., v. 342.
I suppose
1 04 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [A.D. 1763.
I suppose neither charge can be supported. Nature has given
women so much power that the law has very wisely given them
little z .
The Letter for Mr. Wakefield I think you do not want; it
is his part to write to you, who are ill treated by his sister.
You owe him, I think, no obligations, but have been accustomed
to act among your wife s relations with a character of inferiority
which I would advise you to take this opportunity of throwing
off for ever. Fix yourself in the resolution of exacting repara
tion for the wrong that you suffer, and think no longer that
you are to be first insulted and then to recompense by sub
mission the trouble of insulting you.
If a separate alimony should come to be stipulated I do
not see why you should by an absurd generosity pay your
wife for disobedience and elopement. What allowance will be
proper I cannot tell, but would have you consult our old friend
Mr. Howard 2 . His profession has acquainted him with matri
monial law, and he is in himself a cool and wise man. I would
not have him come to Ashbourne nor you go to Lichfield ; meet
at Tutbury 3 or some other obscure and commodious place and
talk the case at large with him, not merely as a proctor but
as a friend.
Your declaration to Mr. Woodcock that you desired nothing
to be a secret was manly and right ; persist in that strain of
talking, receive nothing, as from favour or from friendship ;
whatever you grant, you are to grant as by compassion, what
ever you keep, you are to keep by right. With Mr. Wakefield
you have no business, till he brings his sister in his hand, and
desires you to receive her.
I do not mean by all this to exclude all possibility of accom
modation ; if there is any hope of living happily or decently,
cohabitation is the most reputable for both.
1 Men, said Johnson, know that 3 Tutbury is nearly half-way be-
women are an over-match for them, tween Ashbourne and Lichfield, lying
and therefore they choose the a little off the main road. Here in
weakest or most ignorant. If they 1569, and again in 1585, Mary Queen
did not think so, they never could of Scots was imprisoned. Froude s
be afraid of women knowing as History of England, ed. 1870, ix. 33 ;
much as themselves. Life, v. 226. xi. 529.
2 See ante, p. 82, n. i.
Your
Aetat. 53.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 105
Your first care must be to procure to yourself such diversions
as may preserve you from melancholy and depression of mind,
which is a greater evil than a disobedient wife. Do not give way
to grief, nor nurse vexation in solitude ; consider that your case
is not uncommon, and that many live very happily who have
like you succeeded ill in their . . . . z connexion.
I cannot butt \sic\ think that it would be prudent to remove
from the clamours, questions, hints, and looks of the people
about you, but of this you can judge better than,
Dear Sir,
Your affectionate
Aug. 18,1763. SAM: JOHNSON.
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire.
158.
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR 2 .
DEAR SIR,
Having with some impatience reckoned upon hearing from
you these two last posts, and been disappointed, I can form
to myself no reason for the omission but your perturbation
of mind, or disorder of body arising from it, and therefore I once
more advise removal from Ashbourne as the proper remedy
both for the cause and the effect.
You perhaps ask, whither should I go ? any whither where
your case is not known, and where your presence will cause
neither looks nor whispers. Where you are the necessary sub
ject of common talk, you will not safely be at rest.
If you cannot conveniently write to me yourself let somebody
write for you to
Dear Sir,
Your most affectionate
SAM: JOHNSON.
August 25, 1763.
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire.
1 This word I cannot decipher. 2 From the original in my posses-
It looks like " uplier. " Professor sion ; first published in my edition
Mayor, Notes and Queries. of the Life, i. 472.
To
1 06 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [A.D. 1753.
159.
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I .
DEAR SIR, Se P h 3, *7 6 3-
Mr. Woodcock, whatever may be his general character,
seems to have yielded on this occasion a very easy admission to
very strong prejudices. He believes every thing against you
and nothing in your favour. I am therefore glad that his
resolution of neutrality, so vehemently declared, has set you free
from the obligation of a promise made with more frankness than
prudence to refer yourself to his decision. Your letters to him
are written with great propriety, with coolness and with spirit,
and seem to have raised his anger only by disappointing his
expectations of being considered as your protector, and being
solicited for favour and countenance. His attempts to intimidate
you are childish and indecent ; what have you to dread from the
Law ? The Law will give Mrs. Taylor no more than her due
and you do not desire to give her less.
I wish you had used the words pretended friendship and would
have [you] avoid on all occasions to declare whether, if she should
offer to return, you will or will not receive her. I do not see that
you have any thing more [to do] than to sit still, and expect
the motions of the Lady and her friends. If you think it neces
sary to retain Council [sic], I suppose you will have recourse to
Dr. Smallbrook 2 , and some able Man of the common Law or
chancery, but though you may retain them provisionally, you
need do nothing more ; for I am not of opinion that the Lady s
friends will suffer her cause to be brought into the Courts.
I do not wonder that Mr. Woodcock is somewhat incredulous
when you tell him that you do not know your own income ; pray
take care to get information, and either grow wiser or conceal
your weakness. I could hardly believe you myself when I heard
1 First published in The Miscel- Dr. Smalbroke of the Commons,
lanies of the Philobiblon Society, vi. whether a person might be permitted
28; afterwards in Notes and Queries, to practice as an advocate there
6th S., v. 343. without a doctor s degree in Civil
2 About this time [1738] John- Law. Life, \. 134.
son applied to Dr. Adams to consult
that
Aetat. 53.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 107
that a wrong letter had been sent to Woodcock by your servant
who made the packet. You are the first man who, being able to
read and write, had packets of domestick quarrels made by
a servant. Idleness in such degree, must end in slavery, and
I think you may less disgracefully be governed by your Lady
than by Mr. Hint[?]. It is a maxim that no man ever was
enslaved by influence r while he was fit to be free.
I cannot but think that Mr. Woodcock has reason on his side
when he advises the dismission of Hannah. Why should you
not dismiss her? It is more injury to her reputation to keep
her than to send her away, and the loss of her place you may
recompense by a present or some small annuity conveyed to her.
But this I would have you do not in compliance with solicitation
or advice, but as a justification of yourself to the world; the
world has always a right to be regarded 2 .
In affairs of this kind it is necessary to converse with some
intelligent man, and by considering the question in all states
to provide means of obviating every charge. It will surely be
right to spend a day with Howard. Do not on this occasion
either want money or spare it.
You seem to be so well pleased to be where you are, that
I shall not now press your removal, but do not believe that
every one who rails at your wife, wishes well to you. A small
country town is not the place in which one would chuse to
1 The word influence was much in of the Crown, almost dead and
men s mouths at this time. Hume rotten as Prerogative, has grown up
in his History of England (ed. 1773, anew, with much more strength, and
viii. 319), writing of the reign of far less odium, under the name of
Charles II, says: The Crown Influence. Payne s Burke, i. 10.
still possessed considerable power of Johnson perhaps had in mind the
opposing parliaments, and had not following lines in The Castle of In-
as yet acquired the means of in- dolence (ii. 29) :
fluencing them. Cf. also ib. vi. 163. But in prime vigour what can last
The elder Pitt, in 1766, said in Par- for ay ?
liament : I have had the honour That soul-enfeebling wizard Indo-
to serve the Crown, and if I could lence,
have submitted to influence might I whilom sung, wrought in his works
have still continued to serve. Parl. decay;
Hist. xvi. 98. Burke in 1770, in his Spread far and wide was his curs d
Thoughts on the Cause of the Present influence.
Discontents, writes : The power 2 See Life, ii. 74, n. 3.
quarrel
io8 To George Strahan. [A.D. 1753.
quarrel with a wife ; every human being in such places is
a spy.
I am, dear Sir,
Yours affectionately,
SAM: JOHNSON.
To the Rev d Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire.
160.
To GEORGE STRAHAN z .
DEAR SIR,
I should have answered your last letter sooner if I could
have given you any valuable or useful directions, but I know not
any way by which the composition of Latin verses can be much
facilitated. Of the grammatical part which comprises the know
ledge of the measure of the foot, and quantity of the syllables,
your grammar will teach you all that can be taught, and even
of that you can hardly have any thing by rule but the measure of
the foot. The quantity of syllables even of those for which rules
are given is commonly learned by practice and retained by
observation. For the poetical part, which comprises variety
of expression, propriety of terms, dexterity in selecting com
modious words, and readiness in changing their order, it will all
be produced by frequent essays, and resolute perseverance. The
less help you have the sooner you will be able to go forward
without help.
I suppose you are now ready for another author. I would
not have you dwell longer upon one book, than till your fami
liarity with its style makes it easy to you ; every new book will
for a time be difficult. Make it a rule to write something in
Latin every day, and let me know what you are now doing, and
what your scheme is to do next. Be pleased to give my
compliments to Mr. Bright, Mr. Stevenson, and Miss Page.
I am, dear Sir,
Your affectionate servant,
Sept. 20, 1763. SAM: JOHNSON.
To Mr. Strahan at the Reverend Mr. Bright s in Abingdon, Berks.
1 First published in Croker s Bos- of Mr. W. R. Smith, of Greatham
well, page 161 ; corrected by me Moor, West Liss, Hants,
from the original in the possession
To
Aetat. 54.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 1 09
161.
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR J .
DEAR SIR,
The alterations which you made in the letter, though I
cannot think they much mended it, yet did no harm, and per
haps the letter may have the effect of reducing the Lady and
her friends to terms truly moderate and reasonable by shewing
what slight account you make of menaces and terror. I no more
desire than you to bring the cause before the Courts, and if they
who are on the Lady s side can prove nothing, they have in
reality no such design. It is not likely that even if they had
proof of incontinency they would desire to produce it, or make
any other use of it, than to terrify you into their own Conditions.
Of the letter which you sent me I can form no judgement till
you let me know how it came into your hands. If the servant
who received it produced it voluntarily, I suspect that it was
written on purpose to be shewn you ; if you discovered it by
accident, it may be supposed to be written that it might be
shewn to others. I do not see that it deserves or requires any
notice on either supposition.
You suspect your housekeeper at Ashbourn of treachery, and
I doubt not that the Lady has her lower friends and spies behind
her. But let your servant be treacherous as you suppose, it is
your own fault if she has any thing to betray. Do your own
business, and keep your own secrets, and you may bid defiance
to servants and to treachery.
Your conduct with regard to Hannah has, I think, been ex
actly right ; it will be fit to keep her in sight for some months,
and let her have directions to shew herself as much as she can.
Your ill health proceeds immediately from the perturbation
of your mind. Any incident that makes a man the talk and
spectacle of the world without any addition to his honour is
naturally vexatious, but talk and looks are all the evils which
this domestick revolution has brought upon you. I knew that you
and your wife lived unquietly together, I find that provocations
1 First published in the Miscel- vi. 32 ; afterwards in Notes and
lanies of the Philobiblon Society, Queries, 6th S., v. 382.
were
no
To Miss Reynolds.
[A.D. 1763.
were greater than I had known, and do not see what you have
to regret but that you did not separate in a very short time
after you were united. You know, however, that I was always
cautious when I touched on your differences, that I never advised
extremities, and that I commonly softened rather than instigated
resentment. What passes in private can be known only to those
between whom it passes, and they who [are] ignorant of the
cause and progress of connubial differences, as all must be but
the parties themselves, cannot without rashness give any counsel
concerning them. Your determination against cohabitation with
the Lady I shall therefore pass over, with only this hint, that
you must keep it to yourself; for as by elopement she makes
herself liable to the charge of violating the marriage contract,
it will be prudent to keep her in the criminal state, by leaving
her in appearance a possibility of return, which preserves your
superiority in the contest, without taking from you the power
of limiting her future authority, and prescribing your own
conditions.
I cannot but think that by short journeys, and variety of
scenes, you may dissipate your vexation, and restore your
health, which will certainly be impaired by living where every
thing seen or heard impresses your misfortunes on your mind.
I am, dear Sir,
Your most &c. &c.,
Sept. 29, 1763. SAM : JOHNSON.
To the Rev d Dr. Taylor in Ashbourn, Derbyshire.
162.
To Miss REYNOLDS *.
Oxford, October 27, [1763].
Your letter has scarcely come time enough to make an answer
possible. I wish we could talk over the affair. I cannot go now.
1 First published in Croker s Bos-
well, page 161. Mr. Croker says in
a note that Captain, afterwards Sir
George Collier, was about to sail to
the Mediterranean, and offered Miss
Reynolds a passage ; and she ap
pears to have wished that Johnson
might be of the party. Johnson was
not aware that Captain Collier s lady
was also going. Sir Joshua had
gone to the Mediterranean in a
similar way with Captain Keppel.
Sir George Collier in 1779 was the
commander of the English Fleet in
the war against America. Annual
Register, 1779, P- 188.
I must
Aetat. 54.] To MlSS Porter.
I must finish my book z . I do not know Mr. Collier. I have
not money beforehand sufficient. How long have you known
Collier, that you should have put yourself into his hands? I
once told you that ladies were timorous, and yet not cautious.
If I might tell my thoughts to one with whom they never had
any weight, I should think it best to go through France. The
expense is not great ; I do not much like obligation, nor think
the grossness of a ship very suitable to a lady. Do not go till I
see you. I will see you as soon as I can.
I am, my dearest,
Most sincerely yours,
SAM: JOHNSON.
163.
To JAMES BOSWELL.
London, December 8, 1763. Published in the Life, i. 473.
164.
To Miss PORTER 2 .
MY DEAR, London, Jan. 10, 1764.
I was in hopes that you would have written to me before
this time, to tell me that your house was finished, and that you
were happy in it. I am sure I wish you happy. By the carrier
of this week you will receive a box, in which I have put some
books, most of which were your poor dear mamma s, and a
diamond ring, which I hope you will wear as my new year s gift.
If you receive it with as much kindness as I send it, you will not
slight it ; you will be very fond of it.
Pray give my service to Kitty 3 , who, I hope, keeps pretty
well. I know not now when I shall come down ; I believe it
will not be very soon. But I shall be glad to hear of you from
time to time.
1 If this letter is assigned to the * First published in Croker s Bos-
right year the book must have been well, page 163.
his edition of Shakespeare, which 3 Catherine Chambers. Ante, p.
was begun in 1756 and completed 76, n. 3.
in 1765.
I wish
112 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [A.D. rzea.
I wish you, my dearest, many happy years ; take what care
you can of your health.
I am, my dear,
Your affectionate humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
165.
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR .
DEAR SIR,
I congratulate you upon the happy end of so vexatious
an affair, the happyest [sic] that could be next to Reformation
and Reconcilement. You see how easily seeming difficulties are
surmounted.
That your mind should be harried, and your spirits weakened,
it is no wonder ; your whole care now should be to settle and
repair them. To this end I would have you make use of all
diversions, sports of the field abroad, improvement of your estate
or little schemes of building, and pleasing books at home ; or if
you cannot compose yourself to read, a continual succession of
easy company. Be sure never to be unemployed, go not to bed
till you sleep, and rise as soon as you wake, and give up no
hours to musing and retrospect. Be always busy_
You will hardly be quite at rest till you have talked yourself
out to some friend or other, and I think you and I might con
trive some retreat for part of the summer where we might spend
some time quietly together, the world knowing nothing of the
matter 2 .
I hear you talk of letting your house at Westminster. Why
should you let it ? Do not shew yourself either intimidated or
ashamed, but come and face mankind like one that expects not
censure but praise. You will now find that you have money
enough. Come and spend a little upon popular hospitality.
Your low spirits have given you bad counsel : you shall not
give your wife, nor your wife s friends, whose power you now
find to be nothing, the triumph of driving you out of life. If
1 First published in the Miscel- this summer at Easton Maudit, in
lanies of the Philobiblon Society, vi. Northamptonshire (Life, i. 486). It
37 ; afterwards in Notes and Queries, is possible that Taylor met him some-
6th S., v. 382. where in the neighbourhood, and
2 Johnson spent some weeks of talked himself out to him.
you
Aetat. 54.] To William Strahan. 1 1 3
you betray yourself who can support you ? All this I shall be
glad to dilate with you in a personal interview at some proper
place, where we may enjoy a few days in private.
I am, dear Sir,
Yours affectionately,
May 22, 1764. SAM: JOHNSON.
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourn, Derbyshire.
166.
To JOSHUA REYNOLDS.
Easton Maudit, August 19, 1764. Published in the Life, i. 486.
167.
To WILLIAM STRAHAN \
SIR,
I think I have pretty well disposed of my young friend
George, who, if you approve of it, will be entered next Monday
a Commoner of University College, and will be chosen next day
a Scholar of the House. The Scholarship is a trifle, but it gives
him a right, upon a vacancy, to a Fellowship of more than sixty
pounds a year if he resides, and I suppose of more than forty if
he takes a Curacy or small living 2 . The College is almost filled
with my friends, and he will be well treated 3 . The Master is
First published in my edition of phistam in perpetuum hujus Collegii
Boswell s Johnson, volume vi, Ad- Socium.
denda, p. xxx, from the original in He vacated his fellowship in 1773.
the possession of Mr. Frederick Jones had been elected Fellow on
Barker, of 41 Gunterstone Road, August 7, 1766. Life of Sir William
W T est Kensington. Jones, p. 45. His fellowship is de-
2 In the College records is the scribed as not exceeding, upon an
following entry : average, one hundred pounds.
Oct. 30-31, 1764. Candidatis 3 Among Johnson s friends belong-
examinatis electi sunt Gulielmus ing either then or later on to the Col-
Jones et Georgius Strahan in vacuas lege were the Master, Dr. Wetherell ;
Exhibitiones D ni Simonis Benet William Scott (afterwards Lord
Baronetti. Stowell) ; John Scott (afterwards
Gulielmus Jones is the famous Earl of Eldon) ; Robert Chambers
oriental scholar, Sir William Jones, (afterwards Sir Robert Chambers,
whose portrait adorns the Hall of his one of the Judges in Bengal); the
ancient College. Life, ii. 25, n. 2. Right Hon. William Windham ; and
On April 16, 1767, is found the Mr. Coulson, whose guest he was in
election of Georgium Strahan, so- June, 1775 (post, Letter of June i,
VOL. I. I informed
To William Strahan.
[A.D. 1764.
informed of the particular state of his education, and thinks,
what I think too, that for Greek he must get some private
assistance, which a servitour of the College is very well qualified
and will be very willing to afford him on very easy terms.
I must desire your opinion of this scheme by the next post,
for the opportunity will be lost if we do not now seize it, the
Scholarships being necessarily filled up on Tuesday.
I depend on your proposed allowance of a hundred a year,
which must the first year be a little enlarged because there are
some extraordinary expenses, as
Caution * (which is allowed in his last quarter) .700
Thirds 2 (He that enters upon a room pays two
thirds of the furniture that he finds, and receives
from his successor two thirds of what he pays ;
so that if he pays 20 he receives ^13 6s. 8d.,
this perhaps may be) ....
Fees at entrance, matriculation, &c., perhaps
His gown (I think) .....
12
2
O
o
2 IO
O
O
O
If you send us a Bill for about thirty pounds we shall set out
commodiously enough. You should fit him out with cloaths
and linen, and let him start fair, and it is the opinion of those whom
1775). In the Common Room there
is an engraving of him with this
inscription: Samuel Johnson, LL.D.
in hac camera communi frequens
conviva. D.D. Gulielmus Scott nuper
socius. I have drunk, said John
son, three bottles of port without
being the worse for it. University
College has witnessed this. Life,
iii. 245.
See Appendix Bfor A. Macdonald s
Letter to David Hume about an
Oxford education.
1 The caution is the sum de
posited by an undergraduate with
the College Bursar or Steward as a
security for the payment of his bat-
tells or account. Johnson in 1728
had to pay at Pembroke College the
same sum (seven pounds) that George
Strahan in 1764 had to pay at
University College. Life, i. 58, n. 2.
2 An undergraduate who entered
Queen s College in 1778 wrote to his
father : My furniture is pretty
good, and the thirds will run low, I be
lieve. Letters o/Radcliffe and James,
p. 45. Bentham, who entered Queen s
College in June, 1760, calls them
thirdings. He paid 8 for his
caution ; \ 12s. 6d. for his gown
(which, being a commoner s, would
be cheaper than Strahan s), and 7^.
for his cap and tassel.
Less than a year before the date
of Johnson s Letter he had been
attending Blackstone s lectures on
law, and detecting the lecturer s
fallacy about natural rights. Bent-
ham s Works, x. 36, 39, 45.
I consult,
Aetat. 55.]
To William Strahan.
I consult, that with your hundred a year and the petty scholar
ship he may live with great ease to himself, and credit to you *.
Let me hear as soon as is possible.
In your affair with the university, I shall not be consulted, but
I hear nothing urged against your proposal 2 .
I am, Sir,
Your humble servant,
Oct. 24, 1764. SAM: JOHNSON.
My compliments to Mrs. Strahan.
To Mr. Strahan, Printer, in New Street, Shoe-lane, London.
1 Dr. Wetherell wrote to Mr.
Strahan on May 20, 1767 : I think
myself peculiarly happy in being so
nearly connected with your son
George, whose amiable temper will
always render him a valuable mem
ber of society, and whose studies
will, I hope, benefit mankind. From
an original letter in the possession of
Mr. Frederick Barker.
2 When in February, 1767, John
son had his interview with George III,
the King asked him what they were
doing at Oxford. Johnson answered,
he could not much commend their
diligence, but that in some respects
they were mended, for they had put
their press under better regulations,
and were at that time printing Poly-
bius. Life, ii. 35. He overstated
the case. By that time not even an
editor had been secured ; one was
found by the end of the year. Ad
vances were made to him till 1787
for work done, when they came to an
end, and the edition of Polybius too.
It does not appear that a single page
of type had been set up. More than
a hundred years after the last pay
ment was made, in the Selections
from Polybius of Mr. Strachan-
Davidson, Johnson s statement was
in part made good. Nevertheless
the press had been put under better
regulations, and the first steps had
been taken in advancing it from a
state of degradation to the proud
position which it now holds. In the
Orders of the Delegates of the Press,
1758, there is the following entry,
bearing date but six days later than
that of Johnson s letter :
Tuesday, Oct. 30, 1764. At a
meeting of the Delegates of the
Press.
Ordered,
That the following articles be
made the foundation of the new
lease to be granted of the moiety of
the Printing House ; that a copy of
them be delivered to Mr. Baskett
and Mr. Eyre, and that they be
desired to give in their respective
proposals at a meeting to be held on
Tuesday the sixth of November.
(p. 41.)
The chief part of the lease con
sisted of the privilege to print Bibles
and Prayer Books. Mark Baskett
and members of his family before
him had long been tenants. His
lease was to expire at Lady Day,
1765. It seems probable that Strahan
had hoped to get a share in the lease.
Six years later he purchased from
Eyre a share of the patent for
King s Printer. Nichols s Lit. Anec.
iii. 392. From a curious manuscript
volume in the possession of the
Delegates I have been allowed to
extract the following abbreviated
account of what took place :
2 TO
u6
To David Garrick.
[A.D. 1765.
168.
To DAVID GARRICK .
DEAR SIR, May 18,1765.
I know that great regard will be had to your opinion of an
In November 1764, Mr. Basket
came to Oxford, and petitioned for a
renewal of his lease. Mr. Eyre, a
printer of London, made a somewhat
better offer. Mr. Basket s offer was
accepted by the Delegates out of
regard to the fact that he and mem
bers of his family had long been
tenants, and a note of agreement was
signed by the Vice-Chancellor on
the one part and by Mr. Basket on
the other. Mr. Eyre dispersed a
Memorial, dated Nov. 28, 1764, to
the Common Rooms setting forth
the Hardships of his Case. His
partisans maintained that Mr. Basket
did not deserve any Preference, as
he had even forfeited his Former
Lease by his great Neglect and
shamefull manner of Printing. There
was great Truth in this last Argu
ment. Mr. Basket lived upon a
Genteel Private Fortune, and neither
understood nor gave any Attention
to the Business of Printing. He left
it therefore to the Care of his Ser
vants, who employed the Presses in
printing a Great Number of small
Prayer-Books in I2mo. for Foreign
Sale : So that what Mr. Eyre al-
ledged in his Memorial was an
indisputable Fact " That most of
the Chapells in Oxford were supply d
with Folio and Quarto Prayers Book
[sic] from Cambridge." The Under
Serv ts and Press-men were a set of
Idle Drunken Men, and the House
appeared more like an Ale House
than a Printing Room.
It was very evident that a great
Majority of the Members of Con
vocation would declare against full-
filling the Agreement. The Opinion
of Councill was taken whether having
been signed by the Vice-Chancel
lor it was absolutely binding. The
answers returned by Mr. Wilbraham
were so confused and perplexed
that very little knowledge or satisfac
tion was to be obtained from them.
Mr. Norton [afterwards Sir Fletcher
Norton, first Lord Grantley ; Life,
ii. 91, 472, n. 2] return d an Answer
favourable to the Friends of Mr. Eyre
who consulted him. The lease,
partly owing to the illness of the
Vice-Chancellor, was not brought
before Convocation till his successor
entered into office.
On Oct. 21, 1765, a New Oc
casional Delegacy for Leasing out
the House &c. was appointed. On
Oct. 29, the Lease was brought
before Convocation. The Seal was
refused by a great Majority. On
Nov. 6 a new Delegacy was ap
pointed, who examined the Proposals
of different Printers, and in the end
appointed Messrs. Gill and Wright,
Stationers in Abchurch Lane, London,
who undertook to give a Bond to
indemnify the University from the
Costs of any Suit which Mr. Basket
should commence against them :
On Dec. 10 the several Proposals
were read in Convocation. There
was against Mr. Basket s being
Tenant, a great Majority. Against
Mr. Eyre a great Majority. For
Messrs. Wright and Gill a great
Majority. Their tenancy lasted till
the end of 1788. They both became
Aldermen of London ; each was
supposed to have left a fortune of
.300,000. Nichols s Lit. A nee. iii.6o4-
1 Published in the Private Corre-
Edition
Aetat. 55.]
To David Garrick.
117
Edition of Shakspeare. I desire, therefore, to secure an honest
prejudice in my favour by securing your suffrage, and that this
prejudice may really be honest, I wish you would name such
plays as you would see, and they shall be sent you by,
Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM : JOHNSON .
169.
To DAVID GARRICK 2 .
DEAR SIR,
You have many requests, and many of them must be
spondence of David Garrick, \. 183,
and Croker s Bostuell, p. 167.
1 Johnson s edition was published
in the following October. He did
not go the way to secure Garrick s
good-will, for in his Preface he re
flected on him in the following
passage : I collated such copies as
I could procure, and wished for
more, but have not found the col
lectors of those rarities very com
municative. Life, ii. 192. Dr.
Warton writing on Jan. 22, 1766,
said : Garrick is entirely off from
Johnson, and cannot, he says, for
give him his insinuating that he
withheld his old editions, which
always were open to him. Wooll s
Warton, p. 313. See the Life, v. 244,
n. 2 for Johnson s doubt whether
Garrick had ever examined one of
Shakespeare s plays from the first
scene to the last. What answer
Garrick sent to Johnson s letter is
not known ; the following letter
which he wrote to him nearly a fort
night later is given in the Garrick
Correspondence^ i. 186 :
May 31, 1765.
DEAR SIR,
My brother greatly astonished
me this morning, by asking me " if I
was a subscriber to your Shak
speare ? " I told him, yes^ that I was
one of the first, and as soon as I
heard of your intention ; and that I
gave you, at the same time, some
other names, among which were the
Duke of Devonshire, Mr. Beighton,
&c. I cannot immediately have
recourse to my memorandum, though
I remember to have seen it just
before I left England. I hope that
you will recollect it, and not think
me capable of neglecting to make
you so trifling a compliment, which
was doubly due from me, not only
on account of the respect I have
always had for your abilities, but
from the sincere regard I shall ever
pay to your friendship.
I am, Sir, your most obedient
humble servant,
DAVID GARRICK.
It is a curious fact that in the
edition of Shakespeare which John
son and Steevens published jointly in
1773, while in Johnson s Preface,
which comes first, the reflection on
Garrick remains, in Steevens Adver
tisement to the Reader which follows
it is stated that Mr. Garrick s col
lection of plays, curious and extensive
as it is, derives its greatest value
from its accessibility.
2 From the original in the posses
sion of Mr. Alfred H. Huth, Bolney
House, Ennismore Gardens, London.
There is nothing to show in what
year this Letter was written. It was
denied,
u8 To George Strahan. [A.D. 1765.
denied ", but I hope this will not be of the number, by which
you are desired to order your Boxkeeper, to reserve four places
for Dr. Bell of Westminster 2 , any night on which you intend to
appear, before Friday.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
May 25. SAM: JOHNSON.
[Written in pencil To David Garrick, Esq., Adelphi 3 .]
17O.
To GEORGE STRAHAN 4 ,
University College, Oxford.
DEAR SIR,
That I have answered neither of your letters you must not
impute to any declension of good will, but merely to the want of
something to say. I suppose you pursue your studies diligently,
and diligence will seldom fail of success. Do not tire yourself
so much with Greek one day as to be afraid of looking on it the
next ; but give it a certain portion of time, suppose four hours,
and pass the rest of the day in Latin or English. I would have
you learn French, and take in a literary journal once a month,
which will accustom you to various subjects, and inform you
what learning is going forward in the world. Do not omit to
mingle some lighter books with those of more importance ; that
which is read remisso animo is often of great use, and takes
great hold of the remembrance. However, take what course you
will, if you be diligent you will be a scholar 5 .
I am, dear Sir,
Yours affectionately,
SAM: JOHNSON.
sold by Messrs. Sotheby and Co., on 3 Garrick moved to the Adelphi
May 10, 1875, f r 2 1 S S - about 1770 or 1771, so that the letter
1 Boswell at his first meeting with belongs to a later year.
Johnson heard him complain that 4 First published in Croker s Bos-
Garrick had refused him an order well, page 168.
for the play for Miss Williams. Life, 3 G. Strahan s fellow-student Wil-
i. 392. Ham Jones, in the first two or three
2 See Life, ii. 204, n. I for the years after matriculation, not only
Rev. Dr. Bell, Prebendary of West- read with great assiduity all the
minster. Greek poets and historians of note,
To
Aetat. 55.] To Mrs. Tkrale. 119
171.
.p, ~ To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR x .
It is so long since I heard from you that I know not well
whither to write. With all your building and feasting you might
have found an hour in some wet day for the remembrance of
your old friend. I should have thought that since you have led
a life so festive and gay you would have [invited] me to partake
of your hospitality. I do not [know] but I may come, invited or
uninvited, and pass a few days with you in August or September,
unless you send me a prohibition, or let me know that I shall be
insupportably burthensome. Let me know your thoughts on
this matter, because I design to go to some place or other and
would be [loth] to produce any inconvenience for my own
gratification.
Let me know how you go on in the world, and what entertain
ment may be expected in your new room by,
Dear Sir,
Your most affectionate Servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Temple 2 , July 15, 1765.
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourn, Derbyshire.
172.
To MRS. THRALE 3 .
MADAM, London Aug 3> ^
If you have really so good an opinion of me as you express,
it will not be necessary to inform you, how unwillingly I miss
and the entire works of Plato and First published in the Miscel-
Lucian, with a vast apparatus of leaties of the Philobiblon Society, vi.
commentaries on them, and the best 39 5 afterwards in Notes and Queries,
authors in Italian, Spanish and For- 6th S. v. 383.
tuguese, but also studied deeply 2 Johnson was still living in Inner
Arabic, Persian and Hebrew. He Temple Lane, where he had resided
brought to Oxford a native of Aleppo for more than five years. Writing to
who spoke Arabic fluently, in the Taylor on the following October 2, he
hope that some of his brother-col- dates his letter Johnson s Court.
legians would take lessons from this 3 First published in the Piozzi
man and help to bear the expense of Letters, i. I. For Johnson s first
his maintenance. Life of Sir Wil- acquaintance with the Thrales, see
Ham Jones, p. 40. the Life, i. 49, 52-
the
120 To Mr. or Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1765.
the opportunity of coming to Brighthelmstone in Mr. Thrale s
company; or, since I cannot do what I wish first, how eagerly
I shall catch the second degree of pleasure, by coming to you
and him, as soon as I can dismiss my work from my hands 2 .
I am afraid to make promises even to myself; but I hope that
the week after the next will be the end of my present business.
When business is done, what remains but pleasure? and where
should pleasure be sought, but under Mrs. Thrale s influence ?
Do not blame me for a delay by which I must suffer so
much, and by which I suffer alone. If you cannot think I
am good, pray think I am mending, and that in time I may
deserve to be,
Dear Madam,
Your most obedient and
most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
173.
To MR. OR MRS. THRALE.
Autumn of 1765.
Mr. Johnson in the autumn of the next year [1765] followed us to
Brighthelmstone, whence we were gone before his arrival ; so he was
disappointed and enraged, and wrote us a letter expressive of anger
which we were very desirous to pacify, and to obtain his company again
if possible. Mr. Murphy brought him back to us again very kindly.
1 Brighthelmstone, or Brighton, regular and daily market. Gentle-
was still a small place, but was grow- man s Magazine, 1761, p. 249. Five
ing rapidly. Defoe in 1722 says that years later in the same Magazine
Bright Helmston was commonly (1766, p. 59) we read that it is a
called Bredhemston. Defoe s Tour, small ill-built town, containing six
Vol. I, Letter ii, p. 61. In 1761 it was principal streets, East Street, Black
described as being bounded on the Lion Street, Ship Street, Middle
west by a large corn field, and on the Street, West Street and North Street,
east by a fine lawn called the Steine, It is become one of the principal
which runs winding up into the places in the kingdom for the resort
country among hills to the distance of of the idle and dissipated, as well as
some miles. Though, it was added, of the diseased and infirm. See also
the town is well supplied with pro- Wooll s Memoirs of Dr. Warton,
visions, yet some inconveniencies p. 347.
are experienced from the want of a 2 His edition of Shakespeare.
Piozzi
Aetat. 55.] To [ike Rev. Edward Lye\ 1 2 1
Piozzi Anecdotes, page 126. This letter is not in Mrs. Piozzi s
Collection.
174.
To [THE REV. EDWARD LYE l ~\.
DEAR SIR,
I think you may be encouraged by the liberality of the
Archbishop to hope for more Patrons of your undertaking, and
therefore advise you to open your Subscription. The method
may perhaps be not at first to advertise but to send your pro
posal with a letter to such of the Bishops and others as you hope
to find favourers of literature, sending at the same time to all
your inferiour [?] friends, particularly to our Club 2 . When you
see how far your personal interest will carry you, an estimate may
be easily made of the probability of success, and the measures
will be easily adjusted. I would have the whole price paid at
once, which all will readily comply with, and much trouble
will be saved. In contracting with your printer, oblige him to
a certain number of Sheets weekly. If you print at London,
you will like Mr. Allen the printer better than most others.
He is a Northamptonshire Man 3 . Go on boldly, I doubt not
your Success.
1 From the original in the posses- he would go on with his work. He
sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41 lived to print about thirty sheets, but
Gunterstone Road, West Kensing- died on August 16, 1767, leaving its
ton. completion to his friend, the Rev.
Though this letter has no address Owen Manning, who published it in
I have no doubt that it was written 1772, from the press of Mr. Allen of
to the Rev. Edward Lye, Vicar of Bolt Court. Nichols s Lit. Anec.
Yardley Hastings, Northampton- ix. 751.
shire, the editor of Junius s Ety- 2 Johnson wrote to Boswell on
mologicum Anglicanum to which March 9, 1766: Mr. Lye is print-
Johnson had gone for some of his ing his Saxon and Gothick Diction-
etymologies. Lye for many years ary ; all THE CLUB subscribes.
before 1765 had been engaged on an Life, ii. 17.
Anglo-Saxon and Gothic Dictionary, 3 Mr. Lye s living was in North-
but had almost relinquished the de- amptonshire, near Easton Maudit,
sign from a dread of the labour and Dr. Percy s vicarage, where Johnson
expense. On June 25, 1765, Arch- had spent some weeks the year be-
bishop Seeker urged him to print it fore. Life, i. 486. Allen the printer
by subscription, and promised to Johnson described as one of his
subscribe .50. On July 5, Lye best and tenderest friends. Ib. iv.
replied that with this encouragement 354.
Please
122 To the Reverend Joseph Wart on. [A.D. 1765.
Please to make Mrs. Calvert the compliments of Mrs. Williams,
and of,
Dear Sir,
Your most humble Servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
We have Gothick types at London.
Aug. 17, 1765.
175.
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR x .
DEAR SIR,
You need be no longer in pain, for I received your letter,
but though when I wrote to you I expected soon to have had it
in my power to go to you, yet, as it often happens, one thing or
another has obstructed my purpose.
My Shakespeare is now out of my hands, and I do not see
what can hinder me any longer. When I find that I can come
I will write to you, for I suppose you will meet me at Derby 2 . I
think it time that we should see one another, and spend a little
of our short life together.
I am, dear Sir,
Yours affectionately,
Oct. 2, 1765. SAM: JOHNSON.
Johnson s Court, Fleet Street 3 .
176.
To THE REVEREND JOSEPH WARTON 4 .
Oct. Qth, 1765.
DEAR SIR,
Mrs. Warton uses me hardly in supposing that I could forget
so much kindness and civility as she showed me at Winchester 5 .
I remember, likewise, our conversation about St. Cross 6 . The
1 First published in the Miscel- 5 Johnson had spent two nights at
laniesof the Philobiblon Society, vi. Winchester in August, 1762, on his
4I> way to Devonshire with Reynolds.
2 Johnson did not pay his visit to Leslie and Taylor s Life of Reynolds,
the Midland Counties before the i. 214. He visited it again in 1778.
summer of 1767. Life, iii. 367.
3 For Johnson s Court, see the The ancient and beautiful
Life, ii. 5, 229, 427. pital for aged brethren about a mile
4 First published in Wooll s Life from Winchester.
of Dr. Joseph Warton, page 309.
Aetat. 56.] To the Reverend Dr. Leland. 123
desire of seeing her again will be one of the motives that will
bring me into Hampshire.
I have taken care of your book ; being so far from doubting
your subscription, that I think you have subscribed twice : you
once paid your guinea into my own hand in the garret in Gough
Square. When you light on your receipt, throw it on the fire ;
if you find a second receipt, you may have a second book z .
To tell the truth, as I felt no solicitude about this work, I
receive no great comfort from its conclusion ; but yet am well
enough pleased that the public has no farther claim upon me. I
wish you would write more frequently to,
Dear Sir,
Your affectionate humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
177.
To CHARLES BURNEY.
[London], October 16, 1765. Published in the Life, i. 500.
178.
To THE REVEREND DR. LELAND 2 .
SIR,
Among the names subscribed to the degree which I have
had the honour of receiving, from the University of Dublin, I find
none of which I have any personal knowledge but those of Dr.
Andrews and yourself.
1 Johnson had opened his sub- writing to William Burke on July 27
scription list for his edition of of this year says : I am First Lord
Shakespeare in 1756. Ante, p. 68. of the Treasury and Paymaster-
2 First published in Malone s General of the forces to my lawful
edition of the Life. and rightful sovereign King Andrews
Johnson had received from Trinity the Great. John Rooney, the porter,
College, Dublin, the degree of is my private-secretary ; and I have
Doctor of Laws. Life, i. 489. Dr. every morning a levee of chimney-
Leland was the author of a His- s weepers, paviours, carpenters, junior
tory of Ireland. Ib. ii. 255 ; iii. fellows, &c. I take bribes of hares
112. He was a frequent corre- and wild-fowl from the brewer. I do
spondent of Edmund Burke, whom he jobs; and in all respects am per-
addressed as My dear Ned. Dr. fectly a ministerial man in this little
Francis Andrews was the Provost, kingdom. Btirke Correspondence, i.
the only layman who had held that 82, 462.
office since the Restoration. Leland
Men
1 24 To Edmund Hector. [A.D. 1766.
Men can be estimated by those who know them not, only as
they are represented by those who know them ; and therefore
I flatter myself that I owe much of the pleasure which this dis
tinction gives me, to your concurrence with Dr. Andrews in
recommending me to the learned society.
Having desired the Provost to return my general thanks to
the University, I beg that you, Sir, will accept my particular and
immediate acknowledgments.
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Johnson s Court, Fleet Street,
London, Oct. 17, 1765.
179-
To EDMUND HECTOR *.
DEAR SIR,
I am very glad of a letter from you upon any occasion, but
could wish that when you had despatched business, you would give
a little more to friendship, and tell me something of your self.
The books must be had by sending to Mr. Tonson the receipts
and second payment which belongs to him 2 . Any bookseller
will do it, or any correspondent here. It would be extremely
inconvenient, and uncustomary for me to charge myself with the
distribution.
I never refuse any subscriber a new receipt when he has lost
that which he had. You have three by which you may supply
the three deficiencies. When the former receipts are found they
must be destroyed.
If Mr. Taylor 3 be my old friend, make my kindest com
pliments.
1 First published in Notes and how much he received for his labours.
Qtieries, 6th S. iii. 321. I have two very cogent reasons, he
2 The first payment for the new said, for not printing any list; one
edition of Shakespeare (a guinea) that I have lost all the names, the
had been made to Johnson, as is other that I have spent all the
shown by his receipt (ante, p. 68). money. Life, iv. in. J.andR. Ton-
The second payment was the book- son stand first in the list of book
sellers share. Had Johnson followed sellers on the ti tie-page of his Shake-
the usual custom of printing the list speare.
of subscribers we should have known 3 John Taylor, who by his in-
Bv
Aetat. 56.] To Miss Porter. 125
My heart is much set upon seeing you all again, and I hope
to visit you in the spring or summer, but many of my hopes have
been disappointed. I have no correspondence in the country,
and know not what is doing. What is become of Mr. Warren x ?
His friend Paul has been long dead 2 . And to go backwarder,
what was the fate of poor George Brylston 3 ?
A few years ago I just saluted Birmingham, but had no time
to see any friend, for I came in after midnight with a friend,
and went away in the morning 4 . When I come again I shall
surely make a longer stay ; but in the mean time should think it
an act of kindness in you to let me know something of the
present state of things, and to revive the pleasure which your
company has formerly given to,
Dear Sir,
Your affectionate and most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Dec. 8, 1765.
To Mr. Hector, in Birmingham.
180.
To Miss PORTER 5 .
Johnson s Court, Fleet Street, Jan. 14, 1766.
DEAR MADAM,
The reason why I did not answer your letters was that I
can please myself with no answer. I was loth that Kitty should
genuity in mechanical inventions printed his translation of Lobo s
and his success in trade acquired an Abyssinia. Life, i. 86. Ante, p. 8.
immense fortune. Life, i. 86. 2 Lewis Paul, Johnson s corre-
John Taylor, Esq. may justly be spondent, died on April 25, 1759.
deemed the Shakespeare or Newton Gentleman s Magazine, 1759, p. 242.
of Birmingham. He rose from See ante, p. 6.
minute beginnings to shine in the 3 Of poor George Brylston and
commercial hemisphere, as they in his fate nothing, I fear, can ever be
the poetical or philosophical. To known.
this uncommon genius we owe the 4 No doubt he passed through it
gilt button, the japanned and gilt on his way to Lichfield, where he
snuff-box, with the numerous race spent five days in. the winter of
of enamels ; also the painted snuff- 1761-2. Life, i. 370.
box. ... He died in 1775 at the age 5 First published in Croker s Bos-
of 64, after acquiring a fortune of well, page 173.
,200,000. W. Hutton s Brief His- Miss Porter had probably finished
tory of Birmingham, 1797, p. 9. her new house, and was now on the
1 The Birmingham bookseller who point of leaving Johnson s, in which
leave
126 To Miss Porter. [A.D. 1766.
leave the house till I had seen it once more, and yet for some
reasons I cannot well come during the session of parliament T .
I am unwilling to sell it, yet hardly know why. If it can be let,
it should be repaired, and I purpose to let Kitty have part of
the rent while we both live ; and wish that you would get it
surveyed, and let me know how much money will be necessary
to fit it for a tenant. I would not have you stay longer than is
convenient, and I thank you for your care of Kitty.
Do not take my omission amiss. I am sorry for it, but know
not what to say. You must act by your own prudence, and I
shall be pleased. Write to me again ; I do not design to neglect
you any more. It is great pleasure for me to hear from you ;
but this whole affair is painful to me. I wish you, my dear, many
happy years. Give my respects to Kitty.
I am, dear Madam,
Your most affectionate humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
181.
To JAMES BOSWELL.
Johnson s Court, January 14, 1766. Published in the Life, ii. 3.
182.
To BENNET LANGTON.
Johnson s Court, March 9, 1766. Published in the Life, ii. 16.
183.
To BENNET LANGTON.
Johnson s Court, May 10, 1766. Published in the Life, ii. 17.
184.
To WILLIAM DRUMMOND.
Johnson s Court, August 13, 1766. Published in the Life, ii. 27.
185.
To JAMES BOSWELL.
London, August 21, 1766. Published in the Life, ii. 20.
she had been living with his mother s stayed on in the old house.
old servant Kitty (Catherine Cham- x For an explanation of this see
bers). Kitty died in the following the Life, i. 518.
year, having, it seems probable,
TO
Aetat. 57.] To MlSS Porter. I 2 7
186.
To DAVID GARRICK T .
DEAR SIR, Oct I0 I766
I return you thanks for the present of the Dictionary, and
will take care to return you other books.
I have had it long in my mind to tell you that there is a
hundred pounds of yours in Mr. Jonson s 2 hands, if you have
not received it. I know not whether any other paper than what
I gave you be necessary. If there is anything more to be done,
I am ready to do it.
Please to make my compliments to Mrs. Garrick.
I am, Sir,
Your obliged, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
187.
To Miss PORTER 3 .
DEAR MADAM,
Soon after I had received your letter I went to Oxford 4 , and
did not return till last Saturday. I do not very clearly under
stand what need there is of my coming to Lichfield. It is now
too late in the year to repair the poor old house, if the reparation
can be delayed. Nor can I very easily discover what I can do
towards it when I come, more than pay the money which it shall
cost. The days are now grown short, and a long journey will be
uncomfortable, and I think it better to delay doing whatever
is to be done till Spring. I will come down, however, if you
desire it.
I am sorry to have no better account of poor Kitty s health.
I hope she will be better. Pray give my love to her, and desire
her not to forget my request.
I should take it kindly if you would now and then write to me,
1 Published in the Garrick Corre- Garrick s plays.
spondence, i. 245. 3 From the original in the posses-
2 The editor of the Garrick Cor- sion of the Rev. W. E. Buller, The
respondence suggests Tonson. It Vicarage, Chard.
is very likely that Jacob Tonson * For this visit to Oxford see Life,
the younger published some of ii. 25.
and
128 To Mrs. Tkrale. [A.D. 1757.
and give me an account of your own health, and let me know
how you go on in your new house.
I am, dear Madam,
Your most affectionate humble servant,
NOV. 13, 1766. SAM: JOHNSON.
To Mrs. Lucy Porter, Lichfield.
188.
To MRS. SALUSBURY T .
MADAM, . February 14, 1767.
I hope it will not be considered as one of the mere formalities
of life, when I declare, that to have heard nothing of Mrs. Thrale
for so long a time has given me pain. My uneasiness is sincere,
and therefore deserves to be relieved. I do not write to Mrs.
Thrale, lest it should give her trouble at an inconvenient time 2 -
I beg, dear Madam, to know how she does ; and shall honestly
partake of your grief if she is ill, and of your pleasure if she is
well.
I am, Madam,
Your most obliged and
most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
189.
To WILLIAM DRUMMOND.
Johnson s Court, April 21, 1767. Published in the Life, ii. 29.
190.
TO MRS. THRALE 3 .
MADAM, Lichfield, July 20, 1767.
Though I have been away so much longer than I purposed
or expected, I have found nothing that withdraws my affections
1 Piozzi Letters, 5. 3. Mrs. Salus- epitaph on her see his Works, i. 152.
bury was Mrs. Thrale s mother, wife 2 On March 3 of this year Henry
of John Salusbury of Bachy-craig, Salusbury Thrale was christened at
and daughter of Sir Thomas Cotton St. Saviour s, Southwark.
of Combermere. For Johnson s Latin 3 Piozzi Letters, \. 4.
desirous
Aetat. 57.]
To Mrs. Thrale.
129
from the friends whom I left behind, or which makes me less
desirous of reposing at that place which your kindness and Mr.
Thrale s allows me to call my home *.
Miss Lucy 2 is more kind and civil than I expected, and has
raised my esteem by many excellencies very noble and re
splendent, though a little discoloured by hoary virginity. Every
thing else recals to my remembrance years, in which I proposed
what, I am afraid, I have not done, and promised myself pleasure
which I have not found 3 . But complaint can be of no use ; and
why then should I depress your hopes by my lamentations ? I
suppose it is the condition of humanity to design what never will
be done, and to hope what never will be obtained. But among
the vain hopes, let me not number the hope which I have, of
being long,
Dear Madam,
Your, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
1 See fast, Letter of Oct. 15, 1773.
D. Lysons, describing the house at
Streatham, says : On the side of
the small common between Streat
ham and Tooting is a villa which
belonged to the late Henry Thrale,
Esq. . . . The kitchen-gardens are
remarkably spacious, and surrounded
by brick walls fourteen feet in height,
built for the reception of forcing-
frames. Adjoining the house is an
enclosure of about 100 acres, sur
rounded with a shrubbery and gravel
walk of nearly two miles in circum
ference. Environs of London, ed.
1800, iii. 482. Mrs. Piozzi later on
fronted the house, so as to make
it look wholly new. Hayward s
Piozzi, ii. 140. This interesting
spot has unhappily been swept over
by the advance of London.
2 His step-daughter, Lucy Porter.
Five years earlier, in a letter to
Baretti, he had written : My
daughter-in-law [step-daughter], from
whom I expected most, and whom I
met with sincere benevolence, has
lost the beauty and gaiety of youth,
without having gained much of the
wisdom of age. Life, i. 370. She
was born in January, 1717, and was
only seven years younger than her
step-father.
3 In his Annales (Life, i. 74) he
recorded : In 67, when I was at
Lichfield, I went to look for my
nurse s house ; and inquiring some
what obscurely was told, " this is the
house in which you were nursed." I
saw my nurse s son, to whose milk I
succeeded, reading a large Bible,
which my nurse had bought, as I
was then told, some time before her
death. An Account of the Life of
Dr. Johnson, 1805, p. 12.
VOL. I.
K
To
130 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1707.
191.
TO MRS. THRALE 1 .
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield Oct 3 I?67
You are returned, I suppose, from Brighthelmstone, and
this letter will be read at Streatham.
Sine me, liber, ibis in urbem 2 .
I have felt in this place something like the shackles of destiny.
There has not been one day of pleasure, and yet I cannot get
away 3 . But when I do come, I perhaps shall not be easily
persuaded to pass again to the other side of Styx, to venture
myself on the irremeable road 4 . I long to see you, and all
those of whom the sight is included in seeing you. Nil mihi
rescribas ; for though I have no right to say, ipsa veni, I hope
that ipse veniam 5 . Be pleased to make my compliments.
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
192.
To BENNET LANGTON.
Lichfield, October 10, 1767. Published in the Life, ii. 45.
193.
To WILLIAM DRUMMOND.
Johnson s Court, October 24, 1767. Published in the Life, ii. 30.
1 Piozzi Letters, i. 5. lowing spring he told Bos well that
2 Ovid, Tristia, i. i. I. Johnson often he had lately been a good while at
quotes Latin in his letters to Mrs. Lichfield, but had grown very weary
Thrale. Comparing her with her before he left it. BOSWELL. " I
husband he said: She is more wonder at that, Sir ; it is your native
flippant, but he has ten times her place." JOHNSON. "Why so is
learning; he is a regular scholar, Scotland your native place." 1 Life,
but her learning is that of a school- ii. 52.
boy in one of the lower forms. Life, 4 The keeper charmed, the chief
i. 494. without delay
3 In August he recorded at Lich- Passed on and took the irremeable
field in his Diary : I have been way.
disturbed and unsettled for a long Dryden s ^Eneid, vi. 424. See
time, and have been without resolu- also Pope s Iliad, xix. 312.
tion to apply to study or to business, See post, Letter of July 8, 1784,
being hindered by sudden snatches. for the irremeable stream.
Pr. and Med., p. 73. The fol- 3 Ovid, Heroides, i. 2.
TO
Aetat. 58.] To Mrs . Aston. 131
194.
To MRS. ASTON T .
MADAM, Nov - 1 7> *7(>7-
If you impute it to disrespect or inattention, that I took no
leave when I left Lichfield, you will do me great injustice. I
know you too well not to value your friendship.
When I came to Oxford I inquired after the product of our
walnut-tree, but it had, like other trees this year, but very few
nuts, and for those few I came too late. The tree, as I told you,
Madam, we cannot find to be more than thirty years old, and,
upon measuring it, I found it, at about one foot from the ground,
seven feet in circumference, and at the height of about seven
feet, the circumference is five feet and a half; it would have
been, I believe, still bigger, but that it has been lopped 2 . The
nuts are small, such as they call single nuts ; whether this
nut is of quicker growth than better I have not yet inquired ;
such as they are, I hope to send them next year.
You know, dear Madam, the liberty I took of hinting that I
did not think your present mode of life very pregnant with
happiness. Reflection has not yet changed my opinion. Solitude
excludes pleasure, and does not always secure peace 3 . Some
communication of sentiments is commonly necessary to give vent
to the imagination, and discharge the mind of its own flatu
lencies. Some lady surely might be found, in whose conversa
tion you might delight, and in whose fidelity you might repose.
The World, says Locke, has people of all sorts 4 . You will for
give me this obtrusion of my opinion ; I am sure I wish you
well.
Poor Kitty has done what we have all to do, and Lucy has
1 First published in Croker s Bos- should have attained to such a size
well, page 188. in so short a time.
Mrs. (or rather Miss) Elizabeth 3 The life of a solitary man will
Aston was the daughter of Sir be certainly miserable, but not cer-
Thomas Aston, Bart. Life, i. 83 ; tainly devout. Rasselas, ch. 21.
ii. 466, 9. 4 The Rambler, No. 160, opens
2 It seems impossible that a wal- with this quotation,
nut-tree, fast growing though it is,
K 2 the
132
To Mrs. Thrale.
[A.D 1768.
the world to begin anew I : I hope she will find some way to
more content than I left her possessing.
Be pleased to make my compliments to Mrs. Hinckley 2 and
Miss Turton.
I am, Madam,
Your most obliged and most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
195.
TO MRS. THRALE 3 .
DEAR MADAM, [New Inn Hall, Oxford 4 ], March 3, 1768.
I thought Mr. W-- had been secured. Since what I have
done is ineffectual, I doubt the power of my solicitation ; but,
to leave nothing undone, I have written to him.
1 Kitty Chambers, with whom
Lucy Porter had lived in Johnson s
house, had lately died.
2 She was related to Miss Seward.
Letters of Anna Seivard, iv. 113,
378-
3 Ptoszi Letters, \. 6.
This and some of the following
letters refer chiefly to the General
Election of 1768. Horace Walpole
wrote on March 8 : Our, and my
last, Parliament will be dissolved the
day after to-morrow. Letters, v.
89. Mr. Thrale had been elected
for Southwark at a bye-election in
Dec. 1765 (Par I. Hist.xv. 1089) and
sat till the dissolution of 1780 Life,
iii. 442. He had stood, I believe,
for Abingdon in 1754, for in the
fragment of a manuscript diary in
the possession of Mr. Mathews of St.
Giles s, Oxford, I have seen the fol
lowing entry : 1754, April 15. Mr.
Morton was chosen for Abingdon,
after a long opposition of first Col-
lington, Esq., who left ye town and
his Debts unpaid. Next Thrale,
Esq., who notwithstanding ye Super
fluity of his money was rejected to
ye Honour of Abingdon.
4 Johnson was visiting his friend
Mr. Chambers, who was now
Vinerian Professor, and lived in
New Inn Hall. Life, ii. 46. As
Principal of the Hall he had suc
ceeded Blackstone, the author of
the Commentaries, in 1766; he held
the post till his death in 1803, in
spite of his long absence in India as
Chief-Justice of Bengal. But as
there do not seem to have been any
students this mattered little. He
was succeeded by Blackstone s son
William, who was Principal till 1831,
himself generally non-resident, with
out a single member on the books
but himself. There were no rooms
in the Hall except the Head s dwell
ing-place. Cox s Recollections of
Oxford, ed. 1870, pp. 64, 193. Hearne,
writing in 1732, tells how George
Wigan, who was elected Principal in
1726, hath not had so much as one
gownsman entered at it ever since
he had it, but shutting up the
gate altogether wholly lives in
the country. Bliss s Remains of
Thomas Hearne, iii. 84. After 1831
students, or rather undergraduates,
were once more admitted. In 1887
the Hall, in virtue of a statute made
by the University Commissioners, be
came completely united with Balliol
College.
Mr. Pennick
Aetat. 58.] To the Reverend Richard Pennick. 133
Mr. Pennick I have seen, but with so little approach to inti
macy that I could not have recollected his name ; yet to him I
have inclosed a letter, which, after this information, you may use
as you think is best. I suppose it can do no harm.
Do you think there is any danger, that you are thus anxious
for a single vote ? Pray let me know, as often as you can find
a little time ; for I love to see a letter.
Be pleased to make my compliments to Mr. Thrale and Mrs.
Salusbury, and Miss Hetty, and every body. How does the
poor little maid r ?
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
196.
To THE REVEREND RICHARD PENNICK 2 .
SIR,
I am nattered by others with an honour with which I dare
not presume to flatter myself, that of having gained so much of
your kindness or regard, as that my recommendation of a
Candidate for Southwark may have some influence in determin
ing your vote at the approaching election.
As a man is willing to believe well of himself, I now indulge
1 Miss Hetty was Mrs. Thrale s Museum; ob. Jan. 29, 1803. Ib. p. 102.
eldest daughter, Esther, the Queeney Miss Burney (who spells his name
of these letters. In 1808 she married Penneck) writing of him in 1775
Admiral Lord Keith. Allardyce s says: He took so violent a passion
Life of Lord Keith, p. 348. In 1854 for a Miss Miller, an actress, that
it was stated that she was the last upon suspecting Mr. Colman was
survivor of all the persons mentioned his rival, this pious clergyman, who
in Boswell. Gentleman! s Magazine, is twice the heightt \sic\ at least of
1854, ii. 322. She died on March 31, Mr. Colman, one night, in the
1857. The poor little maid is men- streets, knocked him down when he
tioned again, post, p. 134. was quite unprepared for any attack.
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 7 ; republished . . . He is half a madman ; he looks
with corrections from the original dark and designing and altogether
in Notes and Queries, 5th S. vii. 101. ill- favoured Early Diary of
The Rev. Richard Pennick was Frances Burney, ii. 2, 9, where in an
chaplain to the Earl of Bristol in his interesting note the editor shows the
embassy to Spain in 1760, and Rec- better side of this divine s character,
tor of Abinger in Surrey from 1764 Horace Walpole wrote on Feb. n,
to 1803. He had also the living of 1773 : Colman has been half-
St. John, Southwark [which would murdered by a divine out of jealousy,
give him his vote], and was Keeper who keeps Miss Miller. Letters,
of the Reading Room in the British v. 435.
my
134 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. ives.
my vanity, by soliciting your vote and interest for Mr. Thrale,
whose encomium I shall make very compendiously, by telling
you that you would certainly vote for him if you knew him.
I ought to have waited on you with this request, even though
my right to make it had been greater. But, as the election
approaches, and I know not how long I may be detained here,
I hope you will not impute this unceremonious treatment to any
want of respect in, Sir,
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
New Inn Hall, Oxford, March 3, 1768.
To the Rev. Mr. Pennick at the Museum.
197.
TO MRS. THRALE 1 .
[Oxford], March 14, 1768.
MADAM,
My last letter came a day after its time, by being carried
too late to the post. This I mention, that you may not suspect
me of negligence. I wrote at the same time to Mr. W. in more
forcible terms than perhaps he thinks I had a right to : he has
not answered me. He and his wife are on such terms, that I
know not whether his inclination can be inferred from hers.
If I can be of any use, I will come directly to London ; but
if Mr. Thrale thinks himself certain, I have no doubt. That
they all express the same certainty, has very little effect on those
who know how many men are confident without certainty, and
positive without confidence. We have not any reason to suspect
Mr. Thrale of deceiving us or himself.
I hope all our friends at Streatham are well ; and am glad to
hope that the poor maid will recover. When the mind is drawn
toward a dying bed, how small a thing is an election ? But on
death we cannot be always thinking, and, I suppose, we need
not 2 . The thought is very dreadful !
This little dog does nothing, but I hope he will mend ; he is
1 Piozzi Letters, i. 8. of death, he said, the business of
If one was to think constantly life would stand still. Life, v. 316.
now
Aetat. 58.] To Apperley. 135
now reading Jack the Giant-killer T . Perhaps so noble a narra
tive may rouse in him the soul of enterprise.
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
198.
To APPERLEY 2 .
Sir,
I do not think that you can live anywhere without gaining
influence, and therefore believing that you cannot be without it
in Oriel College, I take the liberty of entreating you to employ
it at the approaching election of a Fellow, in favour of Mr.
Crosse, a gentleman of great merit both literary and social, and
one on whom some such benefaction is necessary in the prosecu
tion of his studies.
This address to you I make merely from zeal to serve him,
without any solicitation, and as he is a man whom I have a
desire to forward, you will, by doing what you can for him, and
doing it speedily, bestow a very great favour upon,
Sir,
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Oxford, March 17, 1768. J
To - - Apperley, Esq., at Sir W. W. Wynne s, Bart.,
in Grosvenor Square, London.
1 This little dog is of course 2 From the original in the pos-
himself. For his uses of the term session of Mr. George Pritchard,
dog see Life, vi. 298, and for his de- i, Connaught Street, Hyde Park,
fence of Jack the Giant-killer as a Who were Apperley and Crosse I
book for children, Ib. iv. 8, n. 3. do not know for certain, but most
It is, said Northcote in his old age, probably they are found in the fol-
the first book I ever read, and I lowing list :
cannot describe the pleasure it gives Apperley, Anthony, Jesus College,
me even now. I cannot look into it B.A. 1733, M.A. 1735.
without my eyes filling with tears. James, Jesus College, B.A.
I do not know what it is (whether 1728, M.A. 1731, B.M.
good or bad), but it is to me, from 1734-
early impressions, the most heroic of Crosse, John, of St. Martin s-in-the-
performances. I remember once not Fields, St. Edmund Hall,
having money to buy it, and I tran- matric. Oct. 21, 1762 ;
scribed it all out with my own hand. B.A. Dec. i, 1768.
Conversations of Northcote, p. 96. Crosse was not elected Fellow of
To
136 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1768.
199.
To MRS. THRALE .
MADAM, [Oxford], March 18, 1768.
No part of Mr. Thrale s troubles would have been trouble
some to me, if any endeavours of mine could have made them
less. But I know not that I could have done more for him, than,
in your approaching danger, I can do for you. I wish you both
well, and have little doubt of seeing you both emerge from your
difficulties.
When the election is decided, I entreat to be immediately
informed ; and when you retreat to Streatham, if I shall not
have returned to town, I hope that Mrs. Salusbury will favour
me now and then with an account of you, when you can less
conveniently give it of yourself. To be able to do nothing in
the exigence of a friend is an uneasy state, but in the most
pressing exigencies it is the natural state of humanity, and in all
has been commonly that of,
Dear Madam,
Your, &c.
SAM: JOHNSON.
200.
To JAMES BOSWELL.
Oxford, March 23, 1768. Published in the Life, ii. 58.
201.
TO MRS. THRALE 2 .
DEAR MADAM, Oxford > March 2 4> 768.
You serve me very sorrily. You may write every day to
Oriel. He was not qualified for the Hall for their active Methodism,
approaching election, which was Johnson justified their expulsion,
held on the Friday after Easter, as BOSWELL. " But, was it not hard,
he was not a B.A. ; but from his Sir, to expel them ; for I am told
standing he might have qualified had they were good beings ? " JOHNSON.
he wished. No doubt he would have " I believe they might be good
done so had he had any chance of beings ; but they were not fit to be
success. in the University of Oxford. A cow
1 Piozzi Letters, \. g. is a very good animal in the field,
Two days before this letter was but we turn her out of a garden."
written six followers of John Wesley Life, ii. 187.
were expelled from St. Edmund 2 Piozzi Letters, i. 10.
this
Aetat. 58.] To Mrs , Tkrale. 137
this place z ; and yet I do not know what is the event of the
Southwark election, though, I am sure, you ought to believe
that I am very far from indifference about it 2 . Do let me know
as soon as you can.
Our election was yesterday. Every possible influence of hope
and fear was, I believe, enforced on this occasion ; the slaves of
power, and the solicitors of favour, were driven hither from the
remotest corners of the kingdom, but judex hone stum prxtulit
utili 3 . The virtue of Oxford has once more prevailed.
The death of Sir Walter Bagot, a little before the election 4 ,
left them no great time to deliberate, and they therefore joined
to Sir Roger Newdigate their old representative, an Oxfordshire
gentleman, of no name, no great interest, nor perhaps any other
merit, than that of being on the right side. Yet when the poll
was numbered, it produced
For Sir R. Newdigate 352
Mr. Page 396
Mr. Jenkinson 198
Dr. Hay 62 5
1 In the list of daily posts (Sun- the High Church party, which in the
days excepted) established on Oct. reign of the first two Georges had
10, 1763, Oxford is entered. The been the Jacobite party, and the new
charge was threepence for a single party of the King s Friends. The
letter of one sheet. Court and City Court, wrote Horace Walpole, had
Register for 1765, p. 130. It was set up Jenkinson, one of the favourite
raised to fourpence in 1784; five- cabal, for Oxford, where he had
pence in 1797 ; sixpence in 1801 ; been bred, but he lost the election
sevenpence in 1805 ; and eightpence by a considerable majority, though
in 1812. Penny Cyclo., article Post- the favours of the Crown were now
Office. showered on that University. Me-
The poll had closed the day moirs of the Reign of George III,
before with the following result : iii. 191. In his Letters (vi. 282) Wai-
Henry Thrale .... 1248 pole describes Newdigate as a
Sir Joseph Mawbey . . 1159 man who formerly would have been
William Belcher ... 994 proud to be chief mourner at the
Jackson s Oxford Journal, March Pretender s funeral. Jenkinson had
26 *768. been Lord Bute s private secretary,
Horace, 4 Odes, ix. 41. < one of the Jesuits of the Treasury,
Five days after Bagot s death, on as Walpole calls him. He rose
Jan. 25 of this year, a new writ had through royal favour to be Earl of
been ordered, when Sir William Liverpool. Life, iii. 146. Hay (afier-
Uolben was returned. Parl. Hist. wards Sir George Hay) was a Fellow
xv ; I0 ?5. of St. John s College. He had taken
The contest had been between his degree of D.C.L. in 1741-2, and
Of
138
To Miss Porter.
[A.D. 1768.
Of this I am sure you must be glad ; for, without enquiring
into the opinions or conduct of any party, it must be for ever
pleasing to see men adhering to their principles against their
interest, especially when you consider that these voters are poor,
and never can be much less poor but by the favour of those
whom they are now opposing.
I am, &c.,
SAM : JOHNSON.
202.
To Miss PORTER T .
Oxford, April 18, 1768.
MY DEAR, DEAR LOVE,
You have had a very great loss 2 . To lose an old friend, is
to be cut off from a great part of the little pleasure that this life
allows. But such is the condition of our nature, that as we live
on we must see those whom we love drop successively, and find
was known as Dr. Hay. He was
one of the Lords of the Admiralty
(with a brief interval) from 1756 to
1765, when he was made Dean of
the Arches. Both men, in spite of
their defeat, were returned to this
Parliament, Jenkinson being elected
for two places. Parl. Hist. xvi.
432, 442, 445. In Balliol, Brasenose,
Pembroke, University, and Wor
cester not a single vote was given
against Newdigate. In Christ Church,
and in Merton which had always
been a Hanoverian stronghold, Jen
kinson had a large majority. Hay s
stronghold was St. John s, where he
received double as many votes as
Newdigate. On the list of voters is
entered Jeremy Bentham, M.A., of
Queen s College, with a Q [query]
against his name, for his right to vote
was disputed. Though he had taken
the degree of M.A. he was under age.
He voted for Jenkinson and Hay.
As there was no scrutiny the legality
of his vote was never settled. He
had been engaged, he says, partly
in reading Montesquieu and partly
in watching a chemical experiment,
when the Archbishop of York called
on him to solicit his vote for these
two candidates. Bentham s Works,
x. 48, 54. Johnson s name is not
given in the polling-list, and it is clear
that he had no vote. By his diploma
of M.A. he was entitled to one, so
long as he paid the yearly University
dues. He was doubtless hindered
by his poverty. In the Bodleian a
list of the poll is preserved, from
which I have got much of this in
formation. Among the 493 voters I
noticed only three names of any
great distinction Blackstone, Bent-
ham, and William Scott, afterwards
Lord Stowell. Only 14 of the voters
had two Christian names not quite
I in every 35.
1 First published in Malone s
edition of Bosivell.
2 The death of her aunt, Mrs.
Hunter, widow of Johnson s school
master. CROKER. She was with
my poor mother when she died,
wrote Johnson. Ante, p. 87.
our
Aetat. 58.]
To Miss Porter.
139
our circle of relation grow less and less, till we are almost
unconnected with the world ; and then it must soon be our turn
to drop into the grave. There is always this consolation, that
we have one Protector who can never be lost but by our own
fault, and every new experience of the uncertainty of all other
comforts should determine us to fix our hearts where true joys
are to be found T . All union with the inhabitants of earth must
in time be broken ; and all the hopes that terminate here, must
on [one] part or other end in disappointment.
I am glad that Mrs. Adey and Mrs. Cobb 2 do not leave you
alone. Pay my respects to them, and the Sewards, and all my
friends. When Mr. Porter 3 comes, he will direct you. Let me
know of his arrival, and I will write to him.
When I go back to London, I will take care of your
reading-glass. Whenever I can do anything for you, remember,
my dear darling, that one of my greatest pleasures is to please
you.
The punctuality of your correspondence I consider as a proof
of great regard. When we shall see each other, I know not, but
1 that so, among the sundry
and manifold changes of the world,
our hearts may surely there be fixed
where true joys are to be found.
Collect for the Fourth Sunday after
Easter.
2 Mrs. Cobb and her niece, Miss
Adey, were great admirers of Dr.
Johnson. Life, ii. 466. Miss Seward
(unhappily one of the most untruthful
of writers) says that Johnson ex
claimed : How should Moll Cobb
be a wit ? Cobb has read nothing,
Cobb knows nothing ; and where
nothing has been put into the brain
nothing can come out of it to any
purpose of rational entertainment.
Anna Seward s Letters, iii. 330. It is
probable that Mrs. Cobb and Mrs.
Adey had been with their brother
joint-owners of Edial Hall when
Johnson rented it for his academy.
3 Her surviving brother, who
died in 1783. Life, iv. 256. Miss
Seward in April, 1764, describes him
as a thin, pale personage, some
what below the middle height, with
rather too much stoop in the
shoulders, and a little more withered
by Italian suns than are our English
sober bachelors after an elapse of
only forty years, in a black velvet
coat, and a waistcoat richly em
broidered with coloured flowers upon
gold tissue ; a bag wig in crimp
buckle powdered white as the new-
shorn fleece. Miss Porter she de
scribes on the same occasion as
rustling into the drawing-room in
all the pomp of blue and white tissue
and Brussels lace, with the most
satisfied air. Anna Seward s Poeti
cal Works, ed. 1810, i. cxv. There
was this excuse for the finery, that
Mr. Porter was paying a formal call
on Miss Sarah Seward, to whom he
was engaged.
let
1 40 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1768.
let us often think on each other, and think with tenderness. Do
not forget me in your prayers. I have for a long time back been
very poorly ; but of what use is it to complain ?
Write often, for your letters always give great pleasure to
My dear,
Your most affectionate
and most humble servant,
SAM : JOHNSON.
203.
To MRS. THRALE .
MADAM, Oxford, April 19, 1768.
If I should begin with telling you what is very true, that I
have of late been very much disordered, you might perhaps
think that in the next line I should impute this disorder to my
distance from you ; but I am not yet well enough to contrive
such stratagems of compliment. I have been really very bad,
and am glad that I was not at Streatham, where I should have
been troublesome to you, and you could have given no help
to me.
I am not, however, without hopes of being better, and there
fore hear with great pleasure of the welfare of those from whom
I always expect to receive pleasure when I am capable of
receiving it, and think myself much favoured that you made so
much haste to tell me of your recovery.
I design to love little Miss Nanny very well ; but you must
let us have a Bessy some other time 2 . I suppose the Borough
bells rung for the young lady s arrival 3 . I hope she will be
happy. I will not welcome her with any words of ill-omen.
She will certainly be happy, if she be as she and all friends are
wished to be by, Madam,
Your, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
1 Piozzi Letters, i. 12. next child was named Lucy Eliza-
2 On the 1 7th the child had been beth and he was godfather,
christened Anna Maria. No doubt 3 Mr. Thrale s brewery and town-
Johnson had asked that one of Mrs. house were in the Borough of South-
Thrale s daughters should bear the wark.
name of his wife Elizabeth. The
To
Aetat. 58.] 70 Mrs. Tkrale. 141
204.
To MRS. THRALE x .
MADAM, Oxford A ? ril 28 I768
It is indeed a great alleviation of sickness to be nursed by
a mother, and it is a comfort in return to have the prospect
of being nursed by a daughter, even at that hour when all
human attention must be vain. From that social desire of being
valuable to each other, which produces kindness and officious-
ness, it proceeds, and must proceed, that there is some pleasure
in being able to give pain 2 . To roll the weak eye of helpless
anguish, and see nothing on any side but cold indifference, will,
I hope, happen to none whom I love or value ; it may tend to
withdraw the mind from life, but has no tendency to kindle those
affections which fit us for a purer and a nobler state.
Yet when any man finds himself disposed to complain with
how little care he is regarded, let him reflect how little he
contributes to the happiness of others, and how little, for the
most part, he suffers from their pains. It is perhaps not to be
lamented, that those solicitudes are not long nor frequent, which
must commonly be vain ; nor can we wonder that, in a state
in which all have so much to feel of their own evils, very few
have leisure for those of another 3 . However, it is so ordered,
that few suffer from want of assistance ; and that kindness which
could not assist, however pleasing, may be spared.
These reflections do not grow out of any discontent at
C s 4 behaviour : he has been neither negligent nor trouble
some ; nor do I love him less for having been ill in his house 5 .
1 Piozzi Letters, i. 13. reproaching us with our happiness,
2 He means, I suppose, that there while so many of our brethren are in
is some pleasure in finding that one s misery, and Life, ii. 94, where John-
sufferings are a cause of pain to son maintains that an excess of
another. sympathy would be misery to no
3 Adam Smith in his Theory of purpose.
Moral Sentiments, published in 1759, 4 Chambers.
had said (ed. 1801, ii. 27) : Before 5 Johnson said, " How few of his
we can feel much for others we friends houses would a man choose
must in some measure be at ease to be at when he is sick." He men-
ourselves. Cf. ib. i. 281, where he tioned one or two. I recollect only
attacks those whining and melan- Thrale s. Life, iv. 181. He would not
choly moralists who are perpetually have been a troublesome patient any-
There
H 2 To F. A. Barnard. [A.D. 1708.
There is no small degree of praise. I am better, having scarce
eaten for seven days. I shall come home on Saturday.
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
205.
To MRS. THRALE J .
MADAM, [Oxford], May 23, 1768.
Though I purpose to come home to-morrow 2 , I could not
omit even so long, to tell you how much I think myself favoured
by your notice. Every man is desirous to keep those friends
whom he is proud to have gained, and I count the friendship
of your house among the felicities of life.
I thank God that I am better, and am at least within hope of
being as well as you have ever known me. Let me have your
prayers.
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
2O6.
TO F. A. BARNARD 3 .
g IR May 28, 1768.
It is natural for a scholar to interest himself in an expedi
tion, undertaken, like yours, for the importation of literature ;
where, for, according to Mrs. Piozzi each ; outside passengers half-price.
(Anec. p. 275), he required less Each inside passenger was allowed
attendance, sick or well, than ever I 20 Ibs. of luggage ; above that weight
saw any human creature. a penny per Ib. was charged. Had
1 Piozzi Letters, i. 15. Johnson had heavy luggage he might
2 For his arrival in London and have sent it by the University Old
his surprising Boswell one morning Stage Wagon, which left Oxford
with a visit at his lodgings see Life, every Tuesday morning at one
ii. 59. He might have returned o clock [i.e. one hour after mid-
either by the Oxford Post- Coach, night], and arrived at the Oxford
which left at 8 a.m. ; fare 15^., no Arms in Warwick Lane every Wed-
outside passengers ; or by the Ox- nesday at three. It returned on
ford Machine which left the Bear Thursdays at nine [in the morning],
Inn, High Street, every Monday, and was at Oxford on Friday even-
Wednesday, and Friday at 6 a.m. ings. Jacksorfs Oxford Journal,
What time these coaches reached Lon- Feb. 20, 1768.
don we are not told. The Machine 3 First published in the Report of
was licensed by the Vice- Chancellor ; the Committee on Papers relating to
carried six inside passengers at icw. the Royal Librarywhich his Majesty
and
Aetat. 58.]
To F. A. Barnard.
and therefore, though, having never travelled myself, I am very
little qualified to give advice to a traveller ; yet, that I may not
seem inattentive to a design so worthy of regard, I will try
whether the present state of my health will suffer me to lay
before you what observation or report have suggested to me,
that may direct your inquiries, or facilitate your success.
Things of which the mere rarity makes the value, and which are
prized at a high rate by a wantonness rather than by use, are
always passing from poorer to richer countries ; and therefore,
though Germany and Italy were principally productive of typo
graphical curiosities, I do not much imagine that they are now
to be found there in great abundance. An eagerness for scarce
books and early editions, which prevailed among the English
about half a century ago, filled our shops with all the splendour
and nicety of literature ; and when the Harleian Catalogue r was
published, many of the books were bought for the library of the
King of France.
I believe, however, that by the diligence with which you have
enlarged the library under your care, the present stock is so
nearly exhausted, that, till new purchases supply the booksellers
with new stores, you will not be able to do much more than
glean up single books, as accident shall produce them ; this,
therefore, is the time for visiting the continent.
What addition you can hope to make by ransacking other
countries we will now consider. English literature you will not
seek in any place but in England. Classical learning is diffused
everywhere, and is not, except by accident, more copious in one
has presented to the Nation. See not Frederick Augustus, but Frede-
Centleman s Magazine, 1823, part i.
P- 347-
In a note in Croker s Boswell, p.
196, Barnard is described as Mr.,
afterwards Sir Francis, Barnard,
Librarian to King George III.
According to Nichols his name was
not Francis, but Frederick Augustus.
See Nichols s Lit. Hist. iv. 699. I
learn from Mr. R. R. Holmes, the
Librarian at Windsor Castle, that
Nichols also is mistaken, for he was
rick Augusta. So he is given in the
first volume of the Catalogue of the
Royal Library.
Boswell had been shown this letter,
but had been refused leave to print
it. Life, ii. 33, n. 4. It was Barnard
who arranged Johnson s interview
with the King. Id. There can be
little question that the present letter
was written to be shown to the King.
1 See Life, i. 153.
part
144 To F. A. Barnard. [A.D. 1768.
part of the polite world than in another. But every country has
literature of its own, which may be best gathered in its native
soil. The studies of the learned are influenced by forms of
government and modes of religion ; and, therefore, those books
are necessary and common in some places, which, where different
opinions or different manners prevail, are of little use, and for
that reason rarely to be found.
Thus in Italy you may expect to meet with canonists and
scholastic divines, in Germany with writers on the feudal laws,
and in Holland with civilians. The schoolmen and canonists
must not be neglected, for they are useful to many purposes ;
nor too anxiously sought, for their influence among us is much
lessened by the Reformation. Of the canonists at least a few
eminent writers may be sufficient. The schoolmen are of more
general value. But the feudal and civil law I cannot but
wish to see complete J . The feudal constitution is the original
of the law of property, over all the civilised part of Europe ;
and the civil law, as it is generally understood to include the
law of nations, may be called with great propriety a regal
study. Of these books, which have been often published, and
diversified by various modes of impression, a royal library
should have at least the most curious edition, the most splendid,
and the most useful. The most curious edition is commonly
the first, and the most useful may be expected among the last.
Thus, of Tully s Offices, the edition of Fust is the most curious,
and that of Graevius the most useful 2 . The most splendid the
eye will discern. With the old printers you are now become
well acquainted ; if you can find any collection of their pro
ductions to be sold, you will undoubtedly buy it ; but this can
scarcely be hoped, and you must catch up single volumes
[ Johnson wrote to Boswell on important part of the history of man-
Aug. 31, 1772 : The leisure which kind. Do not forget a design so
I cannot enjoy, it will be a pleasure worthy of a scholar who studies the
to hear that you employ upon the law of his country, and of a gentle-
antiquities of the feudal establish- man who may naturally be curious
ment. The whole system of ancient to know the condition of his own
tenures is gradually passing away ; ancestors. Life, ii. 202. See also ib.
and I wish to have the knowledge of iii. 414.
it preserved adequate and complete ; ; Fust s edition was published in
for such an institution makes a very 1465, and Graevius s in 1688.
where
Aetat. SB.] To F. A. Barnard. 145
where you can find them. In every place things often occur
where they are least expected. I was shown a Welsh grammar
written in Welsh, and printed at Milan, I believe, before any
grammar of that language had been printed here 1 . Of pur
chasing entire libraries, I know not whether the inconvenience
may not overbalance the advantage. Of libraries connected
with general views, one will have many books in common with
another. When you have bought two collections, you will find
that you have bought many books twice over, and many in
each which you have left at home, and, therefore, did not want ;
and when you have selected a small number, you will have the
rest to sell at a great loss, or to transport hither at perhaps a
greater. It will generally be more commodious to buy the few
that you want, at a price somewhat advanced, than to encumber
yourself with useless books. But libraries collected for particu
lar studies will be very valuable acquisitions. The collection
of an eminent civilian, feudist 2 , or mathematician, will perhaps
have very few superfluities. Topography or local history pre
vails much in many parts of the continent. I have been told
that scarcely a village of Italy wants its historian 3 . These
books may be generally neglected, but some will deserve
attention by the celebrity of the place, the eminence of the
authors, or the beauty of the sculptures 4 . Sculpture has always
been more cultivated among other nations than among us. The
old art of cutting on wood, which decorated the books of ancient
impression, was never carried here to any excellence ; and the
practice of engraving on copper, which succeeded, has never been
much employed among us in adorning books. The old books
with wooden cuts are to be diligently sought ; the designs were
often made by great masters, and the prints are such as cannot
1 In the Brit. Mus. Catalogue is en- 1757, p. 177, where it is stated that
tered : Welsh Grammar. By G. there is scarce a village in Italy
Roberts. Milan (?), 8. 1567. See but there is a particular history of
also William Rowlands Cambrian it. It is strange that Johnson, who
Bibliography, p. 22. generally would not listen in silence
2 Feudist is not in Johnson s Die- to an exaggeration, here circulates
tionary. He formed the word, I one so gross.
conjecture, from the French feudz ste. 4 Johnson does not give this use
3 Johnson is thinking of a passage of sculptures in his Dictionary.
in Baretti s Italian Library, ed.
VOL. I. L be
146
To F. A. Barnard.
[A.D. 1768.
be made by any artist now living. It will be of great use to
collect in every place maps of the adjacent country, and plans of
towns, buildings, and gardens. By this care you will form a
more valuable body of geography than can otherwise be had.
Many countries have been very exactly surveyed, but it must
not be expected that the exactness of actual mensuration will be
preserved, when the maps are reduced by a contracted scale,
and incorporated into a general system.
The king of Sardinia s Italian dominions are not large, yet the
maps made of them in the reign of Victor fill two Atlantic
folios *. This part of your design will deserve particular regard,
because, in this, your success will always be proportioned to
your diligence. You are too well acquainted with literary
history not to know that many books derive their value from the
reputation of the printers. Of the celebrated printers you do
not need to be informed, and if you did ; might consult Baillet,
Jugemens des S^avans 2 . The productions of Aldus are enu
merated in the Bibliotheca Graeca 3 , so that you may know
when you have them all ; which is always of use, as it prevents
needless search. The great ornaments of a library, furnished
for magnificence as well as use, are the first editions, of which,
therefore, I would not willingly neglect the mention. You
know, sir, that the annals of typography begin with the Codex,
J457 4 ; but there is great reason to believe, that there are
latent, in obscure corners, books printed before it. The secular
feast, in memory of the invention of printing, is celebrated in
the fortieth year of the century; if this tradition, therefore, is
right, the art had in 1457 been already exercised nineteen
years 5 .
1 Theatre des Etats du Due de
Savoie, published in 1700 at the
Hague. Johnson gives as one of the
meanings of Atlas, a large square
folio. By Atlantic folios he means
folios of this large square size. They
are still called Atlas folios.
2 Adrien Baillet s Jugements des
savants sur les principaux outrages
des auteurs, 9 vols., 1685-6.
3 J. A. Fabricius s Bibliotheca
Graeca, ed. 1726 ; xiii. 606.
4 Johnson most likely got his in
formation from Maittaire s Annales
Typographic^ 1719. On p. 35 we
find given as the first printed book,
Psalmorum Codex ; per Joannem
Fust et Petrum Schoeffer. Mogun-
tiae, 1457. Moguntia is Mainz.
5 Early in 1740 the third hun
dred year s feast of the noble art
and mystery of printing, discovered
There
Aetat.ss.j To F. A. Barnard. 147
There prevails among typographical antiquaries a vague
opinion, that the Bible had been printed three times before the
edition of 1462, which Calmet calls La premiere edition bien
averee. One of these editions has been lately discovered in a
convent, and transplanted into the French king s library ".
Another copy has likewise been found, but I know not whether
of the same impression, or another. These discoveries are
sufficient to raise hope and instigate inquiry. In the purchase
of old books, let me recommend to you to inquire with great
caution, whether they are perfect. In the first edition the loss
of a leaf is not easily observed. You remember how near
we both were to purchasing a mutilated Missal at a high
price.
All this perhaps you know already, and, therefore, my letter
may be of no use. I am, however, desirous to show you, that I
wish prosperity to your undertaking. One advice more I will
give, of more importance than all the rest, of which I, therefore,
hope you will have still less need. You are going into a part of
the world divided, as it is said, between bigotry and atheism :
such representations are always hyperbolical, but there is cer
tainly enough of both to alarm any mind solicitous for piety
and truth ; let not the contempt of superstition precipitate you
into infidelity, or the horror of infidelity ensnare you in super
stition. I sincerely wish you successful and happy, for
I am, Sir,
Your affectionate humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
207.
To FRANCIS BARBER.
[London], May 28, 1768. Published in the Life, ii. 62.
in 1440, was celebrated in Stras- quarto. In the Bodleian there are
burg. Gentleman s Magazine, 1740, two Bibles earlier than the edition of
p. 95. Nineteen years seems a 1462, one published as early as 1456,
mistake for seventeen years. and the other in 1460-1. The copy
1 Augustin Calmet published at in the French King s library John-
Paris in 1709-16 Conunentaire sur son saw when he visited Paris in
tous les livres de lancien et du 1775, but he had doubts about it.
nouvean Testament, in 25 vols. Life, ii. 397.
L 2 TO
148 To Miss Porter. [A .0.1768.
208.
To MRS. THRALE J .
MADAM [Johnson s Court, London,] June 17, 1768.
I know that you were not displeased to find me gone
abroad, when you were so kind as to favour me with a visit.
I find it useful to be moving; but whithersoever I may wander,
I shall not, I hope, leave behind me that gratitude and respect,
with which your attention to my health, and tenderness for my
weakness, have impressed my heart. May you be long before
you want the kindness which you have shown to,
Madam,
Your &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
209.
To Miss PORTER 2 .
MY LOVE,
It gives me great pleasure to find that you are so well
satisfied with what little things it has been in my power to
send you. I hope you will always employ me in any office
that can conduce to your convenience. My health is, I thank
God, much better ; but it is yet very weak ; and very little
things put it in a troublesome state ; but still I hope all will be
well. Pray for me.
My friends at Lichfield must not think that I forget them.
Neither Mrs. Cobb, nor Mrs. Adey, nor Miss Adey, nor Miss
Seward, nor Miss Vise, are to suppose that I have lost all
memory of their kindness. Mention me to them when you see
them. I hear Mr. Vise 3 has been lately very much in danger.
I hope he is better.
When you write again, let me know how you go on, and what
company you keep, and what you do all day. I love to think
1 Piozzi Letters, i. 15. Mr. A. Hayward s sale on March 21,
2 First published in Croker s Bos- 1890, for 8 $s. The Times, March
well, page 197 ; corrected by me 22, 1890.
from the original in the possession 3 Boswell, who writes the name
of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41 Gun- Vyse, speaks of him as the respect-
terstone Road, West Kensington. able clergyman at Lichfield, who was
One of Johnson s letters of this date, contemporary with Johnson. Life,
probably this very one, was sold at iii. 124.
on
Aetat. 59.] To Mrs. Tkrale. 149
on you, but do not know when I shall see you. Pray, write
very often. I am,
Dearest,
Your humble Servant,
June 1 8, 1768. SAM; JOHNSON.
210.
TO MRS. THRALE 1 .
MADAM, [Johnson s Court, London], Nov. 1 1, 1768.
I am sincerely sorry for you both ; nor is my grief dis
interested ; for I cannot but think the life of Mrs. Salusbury
some addition to the happiness of all that know her. How
much soever I wish to see you, I hope you will give me no
pleasure at the expence of one to whom you have so much
reason to be attentive.
I am, &c.,
SAM.- JOHNSON.
211.
TO MRS. THRALE 2 .
MADAM, Dec. 2, 1768.
I can readily find no paper that is not ruled for juridical
use 3 . You will wonder that I have not written, and indeed
I wonder too ; but I have been oddly put by 4 my purpose. If
my omission has given you any uneasiness, I have the mortifica
tion of paining that mind which I would most wish to please.
I am not, I thank God, worse than when I went ; and you have
no hope that I should grow better here. But I will show my
self to-morrow, and only write in hope that my letter will come
before me, and that you will have forgiven the negligence of,
Madam,
Your, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
1 Piozzi Letters, 5. 16. To write to W, Lucy, Zolcher [? Tol-
Mrs. Salusbury, whose life seems cher. See ante, p. 93, n. 3] Boswell."
to have been in great danger, lived 2 Piozzi Letters, i. 17.
till 1773. 3 Perhaps Johnson was visiting
In Messrs. Puttick and Simpson s his friend Mr. Welch, the Magistrate.
Auction Catalogue of March 16, 1852, Life, iii. 216.
Lot 437 is as follows : In Dr. John- 4 Put by; to turn off, to divert.
son s Autograph. "Liber Memora- J ohnson s Dictionary.
bilis [? Memorialis]. Nov. 14, 1768.
To
150 To Miss Flint. [A.D. 1760.
212.
To DAVID GARRICK.
Jan. 17, 1769.
In Messrs. Sotheby s Auction Catalogue of May 10, 1875, Lot 89
is an autograph letter of Johnson to David Garrick, \\ pages quarto,
dated Jan. 17, 1769. He speaks of his kind promise of a benefit
for Mrs. Williams ; asks him to select an appropriate play, and
hopes he will continue to make his favour as efficatious as he can.
1769, I suspect, is a misprint for 1756, for in January of that year
Garrick gave Miss Williams a benefit. I find no mention of a second.
213.
TO MlSS FLINT 1 .
MADEMOISELLE, A Londr es, Mars 31, 1769.
II faut avouer que la lettre que vous m avez fait Thoneur de
m ecrire, a etc long-terns sans reponse. Voici mon apologia.
J ai etc afflige d une maladie de violence peu supportable, &
d un lenteur bien ennuiant. Tout etat a ses droits particuliers.
On compte parmi les droits d un malade ce de manquer aux
offices de respect, et aux devoirs de reconoissance. Gene par
ses douleurs, il ne scait veiller qu a soi-meme. II ne pense qu a
se soulager, et a se retablir, peu attentif a tout autre soin, et peu
sensible a la gloire d etre traduit d une main telle que la
votre.
Neanmoins, Mademoiselle, votre merite auroit exige que je
m efforcasse a vous rendre graces de vos egards, si je 1 aurois pu
faire sans y meler des querelles. Mais comment m empescher
1 Piozzi Letters , i. 18. Mrs. the guillotine. In a list of the Eng-
Piozzi says in a note : Miss Flint lish prisoners I find her name
was a very young lady, who had entered as follows : Louise Mather
translated Johnson s Strictures at the Flint Rivarol, wife of the royalist
end of Shakespeare s Plays. Miss pamphleteer. Arrested as wife of
Reynolds had accompanied her to emigre". At Luxembourg, Austin
Paris. According to Northcote, Convent and Port Royal, April 22,
she subsequently married a M. de 1794 to July 23, 1794. Her father
Reveral ; being left a widow she was was a teacher of languages. She
guillotined with her only son in the died 1821. Englishmen in the
Reign of Terror. Northcote s Rey- French Revolution, by John G.
nolds, i. 201. Whatever may have Alger, 1889, p. 345.
been the fate of her son, she escaped
de
Aetat. 59.] To Mrs. Thrale. 151
de me plaindre de ces appas par lesquelles vous avez gagne sur
1 esprit de Mademoiselle Reynolds jusqu a ce qu elle ne se sou-
vient plus ni de sa patrie ni de ses amis. C est peu de nous
louer, c est peu de repandre nos ouvrages par des traductions les
plus belles, pendant que vous nous privez du plaisir de voir
Mademoiselle Reynolds & de 1 ecouter. Enfin, Mademoiselle,
il faut etre moins aimable, arm que nous vous aimions plus.
Je suis,
Mademoiselle,
Votre tres humble &
Obeissant Serviteur,
SAM: JOHNSON.
214.
To MRS. THRALE .
MADAM, [London], May 18, 1769
Now I know you want to be forgetting me, but I do not
want to be forgotten, and would rather send you letters, like
Prestos, 2 , than suffer myself to slip out of your memory. That
I should forget you, there is no danger ; for I have time enough
to think both by night and day; and he that has leisure for any
thing that is not present, always turns his mind to that which he
likes best.
One reason for thinking on you is, that I must for a while be
content with thinking, for our affairs will not suffer me to come
home till Saturday.
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
215.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
[London], May 31, 1769. Published in the Life, ii. 67.
1 Piozzi Letters, i. 19. Journal to Stella, Works, ed. 1803,
2 August 2, 1711. The Secretary xxi. 270. Johnson said that the Letters
and I have been walking three or which composed this Journal have
four hours to-day. The Duchess of some odd attraction. Life,iv.\ ]J,n.
Shrewsbury asked him, was not that 2. By Deane Swift s edition of Swift s
Dr. Dr., and she could not say my Letters (1768) Presto had lately be-
name in English, but said Dr. Presto, come known as Swift s name,
which is Italian for Swift. Swift s
To
152 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. i?69.
216.
TO MRS. THRALE 1 .
DEAR MADAM, New Inn Hal1 [ xford >] J une 2 7> 1769-
I had your note sent hither ; and can easily spare the pine
apple, and be satisfied with the reason for which it was sent.
Though I hope I shall never want any new memorials to keep
you in my mind, yet I am glad to find you solicitous not to be
forgotten, though I should not deserve to be remembered if there
could be any reason for such solicitude.
The pain and sickness which you suffer, you may bear to feel
and I to think on with less impatience on your part, and less
grief on mine, because the crisis is within view. I will not
encrease your uneasiness with mine. I hope I grow better. I am
very cautious, and very timorous 2 . Whether fear and caution
do much for me, I can hardly tell. Time will perhaps do more
than both.
I purpose to come to town in a few days, but I suppose
I must not see you. I will, however, call on Mr. Thrale in the
Borough, and shall hope to be soon informed that your trouble
is over, and that you are well enough to resume your care
for that which yet continues, and which your kindness may
sometimes alleviate.
I am, &c.,
SAM : JOHNSON.
217.
TO MRS. THRALE 3 .
MADAM, Oxford, June 29, 1769.
Hesiod, who was very wise in his time, though nothing to
such wise people as we, says, that the evil of the worst times has
some good mingled with it 4 . Hesiod was in the right. These
1 Piozzi Letters, i. 20. On September 18 he recorded in
Johnson had been at Oxford his journal : This year has been
almost a month, perhaps longer (Life, wholly spent in a slow progress of
ii. 67), so that it is probable that some recovery. Pr. and Med., p. 85.
of his letters to Mrs. Thrale are 3 P 102 zi Letters, i. 21.
missing. He was the guest no doubt 4 aXX eyun-??? K! rola-i juejui ^erai
of Chambers (ante, p. 132, n. 4). e o^Xa KaKolaiv, HESIOD, Works
2 During this visit he seldom or and Days, 1. 179.
never dined out. Life, ii. 68, n. I.
times
Aetat. 59.] To Mrs. Thrale. 153
times are not much to my mind ; I am not well ; but in these
times you are safe, and have brought a pretty little Miss.
I always wished it might be a Miss, and now that wish is
gratified, nothing remains but that I entreat you to take care of
yourself; for whatever number of girls or boys you may give us,
we are far from being certain that any of them will ever do for
us what you can do ; it is certain that they cannot now do
it, and the ability which they want, they are not likely to gain
but by your precepts and your example ; by an example of
excellence, and by the admonitions of truth.
Mr. Thrale tells me, that my furlough is shortened ; I am
always ready to obey orders ; I have not yet found any place
from which I shall not willingly depart to come back to
you.
I am, dearest Lady,
Your, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
218.
TO MR. THRALE 1 .
CJR New Inn Hall, Oxford, June 29, 1769.
That Mrs. Thrale is safely past through her danger is
an event at which nobody but yourself can rejoice more than I
rejoice. I think myself very much honoured by the choice that
you have been pleased to make of me to become related to the
little maiden 2 . Let me know when she will want me, and
I will very punctually wait on her.
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
219.
TO MRS. THRALE 3 .
DEAREST MADAM, J ul y 6 > J 7 6 9-
Though I am to come home to-morrow, I would not let the
alarming letter which I received this morning be without notice.
Dear Madam, take all possible care of your health. How near
1 Piozzi Letters, i. 23. Ante, p. 140. For her death, see
2 She was born on June 22, and post, Letter of Nov. 18, 1773.
christened Lucy Elizabeth. He had 3 Piozzi Letters, i. 23.
asked that he might have a Bessy.
we
To Mrs. Thrale.
[A.D. 1769.
we always are to danger ! I hope your danger is now past ;
but that fear, which is the necessary effect of danger, must
remain always with us. I hope my little Miss is well. Surely
I shall be very fond of her. In a year and half she will run
and talk. But how much ill may happen in a year and half !
Let us however hope for the better side of possibility, and think
that I may then and afterwards continue to be,
Madam,
Your, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
220.
To MRS. THRALE .
MADAM, Lichfield, August 14, 1769.
I set out on Thursday morning, and found my companion,
to whom I was very much a stranger, more agreeable than
I expected. We went cheerfully forward, and passed the night
at Coventry 2 . We came in late, and went out early; and
therefore I did not send for my cousin Tom 3 ; but I design to
make him some amends for the omission.
Next day we came early to Lucy, who was, I believe, glad to
see us. She had saved her best gooseberries upon the tree
for me ; and, as Steele says, / was neither too proud nor too wise
to gather them. I have rambled a very little inter fontes et
flumina nota*, but I am not yet well. They have cut down the
trees in George Lane 5 . Evelyn, in his book of Forest Trees,
1 Piozzi Letters, i. 24.
2 Coventry is ninety miles from
London ; Lichfield is twenty-six
miles farther. Paterson s British
Itinerary, i. 149.
3 Johnson mentions his cousin,
Tom Johnson, in his Letters of
May I, 1770, where he calls him my
nearest relation, of Dec. 6, I774,and
May 29, 1779. In his will he left a
bequest to his descendants. Life, iv.
403, 440.
Hie inter flumina nota
Et fontes sacros frigus captabis
opacum.
VIRGIL. Eclogues, i. 52.
Johnson again quotes these lines
inaccurately, post, Letter of July 8,
1771. In 1783 he said: I have
this year read all Virgil through ;
the Eclogues I have almost all by
heart. Life, iv. 218.
5 I was, says Johnson, by my
father s persuasion put to one Mar-
cleWjCommonly called Bellison,the ser
vant, or wife of a servant of my father,
to be nursed in George Lane, where I
used to call when I was a bigger boy,
and eat fruit in the garden, which
was full of trees. Here it was dis
covered that my eyes were bad. . . .
My mother visited me every day,
tells
Aetat. 59.] To Mrs. Aston. 155
tells us of wicked men that cut down trees, and never prospered
afterwards 1 ; yet nothing has deterred these audacious alder
men from violating the Hamadryads of George Lane. As an
impartial traveller I must however tell, that in Stow-street,
where I left a draw-well, I have found a pump ; but the lading-
well in this ill-fated George Lane lies shamefully neglected.
I am going to-day or to-morrow to Ashbourne ; but I am at
a loss how I shall get back in time to London. Here are only
chance coaches, so that there is no certainty of a place. If I do
not come, let it not hinder your journey. I can be but a
few days behind you ; and I will follow in the Brighthelmstone
coach. But I hope to come.
I took care to tell Miss Porter, that I have got another Lucy.
I hope she is well. Tell Mrs. Salusbury, that I beg her stay at
Streatham, for little Lucy s sake.
I am, &c.,
SAM.- JOHNSON.
221.
To MRS. ASTON 2 .
MADAM Brighthelmstone, August 26, 1769.
I suppose you have received the mill : the whole apparatus
seemed to be perfect, except that there is wanting a little tin
spout at the bottom, and some ring or knob, on which the bag that
catches the meal is to be hung. When these are added, I hope
you will be able to grind your own bread, and treat me with a
cake made by yourself, of meal from your own corn of your own
grinding 3 .
I was glad, Madam, to see you so well, and hope your health
will long increase, and then long continue.
I am, Madam,
Your most obedient servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
and used to go different ways, that z Silva : or a Discourse of Forest
her assiduity might not expose her Trees. By John Evelyn, ed. 1776,
to ridicule, and often left her fan or pp. 633-643.
glove behind her that she might 2 First published in Croker s Bos-
have a pretence to come back un- well, page 198.
expected; but she never discovered For Mrs. Aston, see ante, p. 131, n.\.
any token of neglect. Annals, 3 In the April number of the
P- 10. Gentleman s Magazine for this year
To
156
the Reverend Thomas Percy. [A.D. 1709,
222.
To JAMES BOSWELL.
Brighthelmstone, September 9, 1769. Published in the Life, ii. 70.
223.
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR T .
DEAR SIR,
I got very well to London, and went on the next Monday
to Brighthelmston, from which I am now returned. I think you
might write to me, and let me know what became of your
demand of the living 2 , and other occurrences of your life. I am
not fully determined against coming this winter again into your
corner of the world, but I have got no settled plan. Write
to me however.
I am, Sir,
Your most, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Oct. 5, 1769.
224.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS PERCY 3 .
SIR,
I am desired by some Ladies who support a Charity School
on Snow hill, to solicit you for a Charity Sermon, to be
(p. 177) there are a print and descrip
tion of a hand-cornmill invented by
Samuel and Sampson Freeth of
Birmingham.
1 From the original in the posses
sion of Mr. Alan Stenning of St.
Stephen s Club.
It was franked by Mr. Thrale.
- Johnson, writing to Mrs. Thrale
about Taylor on May 16, 1776, says :
Livings and preferments, as if he
were in want with twenty children,
run in his head. Taylor seems to
have been successful in his demand,
for I find in the Gentleman s Maga
zine for October of this year (p. 511),
under Ecclesiastical Preferments,
Rev. Dr. Taylor to the living of
St. Botolph, Aldersgate.
3 From the original in the Dyce
and Forster Libraries, South Ken
sington Museum, sent me by Mr.
R. F. Sketchley.
The Ladies Charity School which
was founded in King Street, Snow
Hill, in 1702, still flourishes, having
been transferred first to John Street,
Bedford Row, next to Queen Square,
Bloomsbury, and lastly to Powis
Gardens, Netting Hill. Boswell
mentions Johnson s old friend Mrs.
Gardiner, the wife of a tallow-chand
ler, not in the learned way, but a
worthy good woman, as very zealous
for its support (Life, i. 242 ; iv. 246).
So also was Miss Williams, who left
her little substance to the school
(ib. iv. 241) amounting, as the old
books of the Institution still show,
to ^357- In it are preserved her
tea-spoons and portrait ; also a set
of spoons which in all likelihood
preached
Aetat. 60.] To the Reverend Henry Bright. 157
preached either the last Sunday of this month, or the first of the
next. This application had been made sooner if you had been
in town, but I hope it is not yet too late, and that if you
can comply without great inconvenience you will not refuse.
They meet on Wednesday, and desire to know your determina
tion to-morrow. I hope you will not refuse them, for I have a
great esteem of some of them, and I think you may appear with
great propriety on such occasions.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
NOV. 5 , 1769. . . SAM: JOHNSON.
Please to send your answer to Mrs. Williams, for I shall not
be in town.
To the Reverend Mr. Percy.
225.
To JAMES BOSWELL.
London, November 9, 1769. Published in the Life, ii. no.
226.
To THE REVEREND HENRY BRIGHT r .
g IR Johnson s Court, Fleet Street, Jan. 9, 1770.
I would gladly be informed if you are willing to take
were Johnson s. He was one of the Vicarage House, St. Sepulchre s,
subscribers from the year 1777 till Nov. 8, 1769.
his death. It afforded a hint for The Rev. Mr. Percy, Chaplain to
the story of Betty Broom in the his Grace the Duke of Northumber-
Idler, Nos. 26 and 29 (ib. iv. 246). land and the Rev. Mr. Butler of
On March 12, 1783, as the Minutes Charlotte Street Chapel, have pro-
show : Dr. Johnson, having turn, mised to preach for these children
presents Mary Ann Austin, daughter on Sunday, 26 instant.
of Charles and Amey Austin, living Vicarage House, St. Sepulchre s,
at the top of Goswell Street, at one Dec. 13, 1769.
Mr. Mason s, near the prison bar. Mr. Treasurer reported that there
Mrs. Thrale was both a subscriber was collected at the Charity Sermons
and a manager. See an article in preached (Nov. 26 last) by the Rev.
The Speaker for March 22, 1890, in Mr. Percy and the Rev. Mr. Butler
which I have given an account of ^23 i6s. iod
Johnson s connection with this in- I am indebted for these extracts to
stitution. Miss Anne C. Moore, the Honorary
The following extracts from the Secretary of the Charity.
Minute Book of the Institution shew * From the original in the British
the result of Johnson s applica- Museum : StoweMSS., 685.
tion - Henry Bright was Master of
another
158
To Miss Porter.
[A.D. 1770.
another pupil, in the same manner as Mr. Strahan was taken.
You will, I think, have more trouble with him, and therefore
ought to have a higher price.
I shall [be] at Oxford on Fryday \sic\ and Saturday next T ,
when if you cannot come over, I shall expect a letter from you.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM : JOHNSON.
227.
To THE REVEREND DR. FARMER.
Johnson s Court, March 21, 1770. Published in the Life, ii. 114.
228.
To Miss PORTER 2 .
DEAREST MADAM, Ma ^ I77a
Among other causes that have hindered me from answering
your last kind letter, is a tedious and painful rheumatism, that
has afflicted me for many weeks, and still continues to molest
me 3 . I hope you are well, and will long keep your health and
your cheerfulness.
One reason why I delayed to write was, my uncertainty how
to answer your letter. I like the thought of giving away the
money very well ; but when I consider that Tom Johnson 4 is my
nearest relation, and that he is now old and in great want ; that
he was my playfellow in childhood, and has never done any thing
to offend me ; I am in doubt, whether I ought not rather give it
him than any other.
Of this, my dear, I would have your opinion. I would
willingly please you, and I know that you will be pleased best
with what you think right. Tell me your mind, and do not
Abingdon Grammar School. Ante,
p. 95.
1 Of this visit to Oxford there is
no mention elsewhere.
2 First published in Croker s Bos-
well, page 214.
3 He describes his sufferings from
this illness in his Diary, and ends by
saying : The pain harasses me
much ; yet many have the disease
perhaps in a much higher degree,
with want of food, fire, and covering,
which I find thus grievous, with all
the succours that riches and kind
ness can buy and give. (He was
staying at Mr. Thrale s.) Pr. and
Meet. p. 94.
4 Ante, p. 154, n. 3.
learn
Aetat. eo.] To Miss Porter. 1 59
learn of me to neglect writing ; for it is a very sorry trick, though
it be mine.
Your brother T is well ; I saw him to-day, and thought it long
since I saw him before : it seems he has called often, and could
not find me.
I am, my dear,
Your affectionate humble servant,
SAM : JOHNSON.
229.
To Miss PORTER 2 .
MY DEAREST DEAR, London > Ma ^ 2 9 1 77-
I am very sorry that your eyes are bad ; take great care
of them, especially by candlelight. Mine continue pretty good,
but they are sometimes dim 3 . My rheumatism grows gradually
better. I have considered your letter, and am willing that the
whole money should go where you, my dear, originally intended.
I hope to help Tom some other way. So that matter is over.
Dr. Taylor has invited me to pass some time with him at
Ashbourne ; if I come, you may be sure that I shall take you
and Lichfield in my way. When I am nearer coming, I will
send you word.
Of Mr. Porter I have seen very little, but I know not that it
is his fault, for he says that he often calls, and never finds me ;
I am sorry for it, for I love him. Mr. Mathias 4 has lately had a
great deal of money left him, of which you have probably heard
already.
I am. my dearest,
Your most obedient servant,
SAM : JOHNSON.
230.
To THE REVEREND THOMAS WARTON.
London, June 23, 1770. Published in the Life, ii. 114.
1 Miss Porter s second brother, gentleman of this name and his
who died in 1783. Life, iv. 256. sister are more than once mentioned
2 First published in Croker s Bos- in Miss Sevvard s Correspondence,
well, page 214. Miss Burney mentions also a Mr.
3 See ante, p. 57, n. 5. Mathias as paying her at the end of
4 Johnson mentions him again, 1786 her salary at Court. Mme.
post, Letter of April 8, 1780. A D Arblay s Diary, iii. 257.
TO
160 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D.mo.
231.
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR *.
DEAR SIR,
I hope the danger that has threatened you is now over, and
that you have nothing now to overcome but that languor which
must necessarily succeed a disorder so violent as yours. Re
covery is a state which requires great caution, and I entreat you
not to be negligent of yourself.
I am now at Lichfield, and if my company can afford you
either help or entertainment I am ready to come to you. If you
can write let me know from yourself the state of your health ;
if writing is difficult, let me hear by some other hand. Be very
careful of yourself.
I am, dear Sir,
Your most humble servant,
,.,,.,, T SAM: JOHNSON.
Lichfield, July 2, 1770.
232.
TO MRS. THRALE 2 .
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, July 7, 1770.
I thought I should have heard something to-day about
Streatham ; but there is no letter ; and I need some consolation,
for Rheumatism is come again, though in a less degree than
formerly. I reckon to go next week to Ashbourne, and will try
to bring you the dimensions of the great bull 3 . The skies and
the ground are all so wet, that I have been very little abroad ;
and Mrs. Aston is from home, so that I have no motive to walk.
When she is at home, she lives on the top of Stow Hill 4 , and I
1 First published in the Miscel- slopes from the east end of the
lanies of the Philobiblon Society, Cathedral, and forms with ^its old
v i_ 42. g re Y tower on the banks of its lake
2 Piozzi Letters, \. 2,6. so lovely a landscape, that Thomas
3 Sz&post, p. 1 66. Day, the author of Sandford and
4 Boswell describes Mrs. Aston Merton, was at this time educating
and her widowed sister Mrs. Gastrell an orphan girl of thirteen with the
as having each a house and garden intention of fitting her to be his wife,
and pleasure-ground, prettily situated He had given her the name of
upon Stow Hill, a gentle eminence, Sabrina Sidney, in honour of the
adjoining to Lichfield. Life, ii. 47- river Severn and Algernon Sidney.
It was in a pleasant house in the Johnson might well have seen her,
little green valley of Stow, that for all the ladies of the place kindly
commonly
Aetat. eo.] 70 Mrs. Thrale. 1 6 1
commonly climb up to see her once a day. There is nothing
there now but the empty nest. I hope Streatham will long be
the place I .
To write to you about Lichfield is of no use, for you never saw
Stow-pool, nor Borowcop-hill. I believe you may find Borow or
Boroughcop-hill in my Dictionary, under cop or cob 2 . No
body here knows what the name imports.
I have taken the liberty to enclose a letter ; for, though you
do not know it, three groats make a shilling 3 .
I am, dearest Madam,
Yours, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
233.
TO MRS. THRALE 4 .
MADAM, Lichfield, July il, 1770.
Since my last letter nothing extraordinary has happened.
Rheumatism, which has been very troublesome, is grown better.
I have not yet seen Dr. Taylor, and July runs fast away. I shall
not have much time for him, if he delays much longer to come
or send. Mr. Grene, the apothecary 5 , has found a book, which
took notice of her. The education English troops.
which Day gave her was successful, ! The postage on a letter to Lich-
but she went counter to some of his field, a place more than 80 and less
fancies, and he would not marry her. than 140 miles from London, was
Seward s Memoirs of Dr. Darwin, at this time fourpence. Dodsley s
p. 22, and Memoirs of R. L. Edge- London, v. 211. On the letter en-
ivorth, pp. 135, 150, 218. closed by Johnson an extra charge
Johnson wrote some Latin verses of the same amount would have been
on the little stream that flows in the made ; but the packet no doubt was
valley, which begin : directed to Mr. Thrale, who, being a
Errat adhuc vitreus per prata member of Parliament, would receive
virentia rivus, it free of charge. The enclosed
Quo toties lavi membra tenella letter, being franked by Thrale,
puer. Works, \. 163. would also go free. A groat there-
1 The sentence seems imperfect. fore was saved either to Johnson, or
1 Johnson defines Cop as The more probably to his correspondent,
head, the top of anything; anything for letters were very rarely prepaid ;
arising to a head. He does not in- a groat, he seems to say, is of some
stance Borowcop Hill. In the Ann. importance, for three make a shil-
Reg. for 1775, part I, p. 134 a , men- ling,
tion is made of Cop s Hill in Boston, 4 Piozzi Letters, i. 27.
whence the Americans fired on the 5 For Mr. Green and his Museum
a In this volume of the Ann. Reg. there are three pages each numbered 134.
VOL. I. M tells
l62
To Mrs. Thrale.
[A.D. 1770.
tells who paid levies in our parish, and how much they paid,
above an hundred years ago. Do you not think we study this
book hard ? Nothing is like going to the bottom of things.
Many families that paid the parish rates are now extinct, like
the race of Hercules J . Pulvis et umbra sumus 2 . What is
nearest us touches us most. The passions rise higher at do
mestic than at imperial tragedies. I am not wholly unaffected
by the revolutions of Sadler-street 3 ; nor can forbear to mourn a
little when old names vanish away, and new come into their place.
Do not imagine, Madam, that I wrote this letter for the sake
of these philosophical meditations ; for when I began it, I had
see Life, ii. 465. Erasmus Darwin,
writing on December 17, 1790, says :
I remember Mr. Green of Lich-
field, who is now growing very old,
once told me his retail business [as
an apothecary] by means of his
show-shop and many-coloured win
dow produced him ^100 a year. C.
Darwin s Life of Erasmus Darwin,
p. 38. In the same letter, speak
ing of a young man who was think
ing of settling at Lichfield as an
apothecary or surgeon, and of the
means of getting acquainted with
people, Darwin says : Fourthly
card assemblies, I think at Lich
field surgeons are not admitted as
they are here [Derby] ; but they are
to dancing assemblies.
1 Ut tamen Herculeae superes-
sent semina gentis, &c.
OviD, Fasti, ii. 237.
2 HORACE, 4 Odes, vii. 16.
3 At the corner of Sadler Street,
now known as Market Street, John
son s house stood. Among the revo
lutions of the town the watchmen s
bills had not disappeared. In a note
in his Shakespeare on Dogberry s
charge to the Watch, only have a
care that your bills be not stolen
(Much Ado About Nothing, Act iii.
scene 4), he says : A bill is still
carried by the watchmen at Lich
field. The Watch, as I was informed
at Lichfield, used to be called
" dozeners a ." The twelve bills they
bore were always carried till very
lately in the Court of Array ; they
are still preserved in the Guild Hall.
This Court of Array was a survival
of old times. The Statutes of Array
by which Commissioners were em
powered to take in each county a re
view of all the freemen able to bear
arms, &c. were repealed in the
reign of James I. Notwithstanding
the Bailiffs have constantly held a
manorial court on Green Hill at the
same time as the view of men and
arms according to ancient charter
and prescription. Harwood s His
tory of Lichfield, p. 354.
John Howard, who visited the
City Gaol three years later, describes
it as having the rooms too small
and close. No yard, no water, no
straw. Allowance \s. 6d. a week.
Out of this allowance the wretched
prisoner had to buy all that he
needed. State of the Prisons, &.C.,
ed. 1777, p. 329.
a In Jersey there are in each parish several vinteniers, each of whom has the
charge of a particular vintaine into which the parishes are divided. Casarea: The
Island of fersey, ed. 1840, p. 126.
neither
Aetat. GO.] To Mrs, Thrale. 163
neither Mr.Grene, nor his book, in my thoughts; but was resolved
to write, and did not know what I had to send, but my respects
to Mrs. Salusbury, and Mr. Thrale, and Harry x , and the Misses.
I am, dearest Madam,
Yours, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
234.
TO MRS. THRALE 2 .
DEAR MADAM, Lichfieid, July 14, 1770.
When any calamity is suffered, the first thing to be re
membered is, how much has been escaped. The house might
have been entered by ruffians when Mrs. Salusbury had been in
it, and who can tell what horrours might have followed !
I thought you would in time compliment your compliments
away. Nothing goes well when I am from you, for when I am
from you the house is robbed 3 . You must therefore suppose,
that if I had been with you, the robbery would not have been.
But it was not our gang 4 . I should have had no interest.
Your loss, I am afraid, is very great ; but the loss of patience
would have been greater.
My rheumatism torments me very much, though not as in
the winter. I think I shall go to Ashbourne on Monday or
Tuesday.
You will be pleased to make all my compliments.
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
235.
TO MRS. THRALE 5 .
DEAR MADAM, Lichfieid, July, [1770].
Do not say that I never write to you, and do not think
that I expected to find any friends here that could make me
1 Mrs. Thrale s son who died 4 Johnson s gang must have
suddenly six years later when John- been a cant word of the Streatham
son was in Lichfieid. Life, ii. 468. set. Baretti belonged to it, as Mrs.
2 Piozzi Letters, \. 28. Thrale s answer showed. Piozzi
3 Mrs. Salusbury s house in town Letters, i. 30.
was robbed of goods and linen to a 5 Piozzi Letters, i. 289.
large amount, while she was absent This Letter Mrs. Piozzi carelessly
at Streatham. Note by Mrs. Piozzi. inserts among those of 1775, though
M 2 wish
164
To Mrs. Thralc.
[A.D. 1770.
wish to prolong my stay. For your strawberries, however, I have
no care. Mrs. Cobb has strawberries, and will give me as long
as they last ; and she has cherries too. Of the strawberries at
Streatham I consign my part to Miss and Harry. I hope Susy
grows, and Lucy begins to walk. Though this rainy weather
confines us all in the house, I have neither frolicked nor fretted.
In the tumult, whatever it was, at your house, I hope my
countrywomen either had no part, or behaved well. I told Mr.
Heartwell, about three days ago, how well Warren was liked in
her place.
I have passed one day at Birmingham with my old friend
Hector there s a name and his sister, an old love T . My
mistress is grown much older than my friend.
O, quid habes illius, illius
Quae spirabat amores,
Quse me surpuerat mihi 2 .
Time will impair the body, and uses us well if it spares the
mind.
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
236.
TO MRS. THRALE 3 .
DEAR MADAM, , \ Ashboume, July 20, 1770.
I hope your complaint 4 , however troublesome, is without
danger ; for your danger involves us all. When you were ill
before, it was agreed that if you were lost, hope would be lost
with you ; for such another there was no expectation of
finding.
I came hither on Wednesday, having staid one night at a
in it is mention of Johnson s little
god-daughter, Lucy, who died in
1773. It belongs no doubt to July,
1770, when the child was thirteen
months old, and might be beginning
to walk.
1 Mrs. Careless, a clergyman s
widow.
ii. 459.
Post, p. 202, and Life,
2 Of her, of her what now remains,
Who breathed the loves, who
charmed the swains,
And snatched me from my
heart ?
FRANCIS, Horace, Odes, iv. 13. 18.
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 3 1 .
4 She had suffered from an odious
sore throat. Ib. p. 30.
lodge
Aetat. 60.]
To Mrs. Thrale.
lodge in the forest of Nedewood r . Dr. Taylor s is a very
pleasant house, with a lawn and a lake, and twenty deer and
five fawns upon the lawn 2 . Whether I shall by any light see
Matlock I do not yet know 3 .
Let us not yet have done rejoicing that Mrs. Salusbury was
not in the house. The robbery will be a noble tale when we
meet again.
That Baretti s book would please you all I made no doubt.
I know not whether the world has ever seen such Travels before 4 .
1 June 6, 1785. There are not, I
apprehend, less than a thousand
acres of oak timber now standing in
Needwood Forest : a quantity of
which few other forests of the king
dom can at present boast. W.
Marshall s Rural Economy of the
Midland Counties, ii. 357. In 1798
the forest was said to cover nearly
ten thousand acres. Shaw s History
of Staffordshire, p. 65. Landor in
one of his Imaginary Conversations
makes Johnson say : In my English
travels I saw gossamer formerly in
Needwood Forest, five miles from
Lichfield ; latterly my travels were
in Scotland, where there was no
plant to support it. Lander s Works,
ed. 1876, iv. 221.
2 For Boswell s description of Dr.
Taylor s house see Life, ii. 473. In
Nichols s Lit. Anec., ix. 62, there is
the following note :
Inscription by Dr. Johnson on
Dr. Taylor s house at Ashbourn :
" Stet domus haec donee Testudo
perambulet orbem,
Et donee fluctus ebibat Formica
marines."
This is false metre ; read
" Ebibat et donee fluctus formica
marines."
I am informed by the Rev. Francis
Jourdain, Vicar of Ashbourne, that
Dr. Taylor s house is practically as
he left it, the coat of arms still re
maining in the entrance hall. The
garden, however, has been altered,
the lake has been filled up, and the
stream diverted.
3 Mrs. Thrale in a letter which he
had just received had said : Mr.
Thrale particularly vexes lest you
should not see Matlock on a moon
light night. Piozzi Letters, i. 31.
He visited it in their company four
years later. Life, v. 430.
4 Baretti s Journey from London
to Genoa, in four small volumes, is
noticed in the Gentleman s Maga
zine for July of this year (p. 323). It
must have met with a quick sale, for
at least two more editions were pub
lished before the end of the year. In
his Preface he says : I have spared
no pains to carry my reader in some
measure along with me ; to make
him see what I saw, hear what I
heard, feel what I felt, and even
think and fancy whatever I thought
and fancied myself. Should this
method prove agreeable, and procure
the honour of a favourable reception
to my work, I shall owe it in a
great part to my most revered friend,
Dr. Samuel Johnson, who suggested
it to me, just as I was setting out on
my first journey to Spain. In a
marginal note on Johnson s letter
Baretti says: Johnson does not
tell it, but he never could think that
the petty adventures told in it were
true : they are however all true to
a tittle in spite of his incredulity.
Those
1 66 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D.mo.
Those whose lot it is to ramble can seldom write, and those who
know how to write very seldom ramble. If Sidney had gone, as
he desired, the great voyage with Drake, there would probably
have been such a narrative as would have equally satisfied the
poet and philosopher 1 .
I have learned since I left you, that the names of two of the
Pleiades were Coccymo and Lampado 2 .
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
237.
TO MRS. THRALE 3 .
DEAREST MADAM, Ashboume, July 23, 1770.
There had not been so long an interval between my two
last letters, but that when I came hither I did not at first under
stand the hours of the post.
I have seen the great bull ; and very great he is. I have seen
likewise his heir apparent, who promises to inherit all the bulk
and all the virtues of his sire. I have seen the man who offered
an hundred guineas for the young bull, while he was yet little
better than a calf 4 . Matlock, I am afraid, I shall not see, but I
Johnson told Boswell that writers (xiii. 25) are found Coccymo and
of travels were more defective than Lampatho. Smith s Clas. Diet.
any other writers. Life, ii. 377. See 3 Piozzi Letters, i. 32.
also /<?.?/, Letter of August 12, 1773. 4 Dr. Taylor was remarkable for
1 The next step which Sir Philip having the finest breed of milch
Sidney intended into the world was cows in Derbyshire or perhaps in
an expedition of his own projecting, England ; he sold one some time
wherein he fashioned the whole body, before his death for 160 guineas, and
with purpose to become head of it a heifer for 70 guineas. Mr. Mar-
himself. I mean the last employ- shall [Rural Economy, &c., i. 18]
ment but one of Sir Francis Drake says, " In the Midland District,
to the West Indies. Fulke Grevil s where the land is titheable, the tithe
Life of Sir Philip Sidney, ed. 1652, is seldom taken in kind. I met with
p. 81. only one instance, Bosworth Field,
2 The allusion, writes Mrs. by Dr. Taylor." He had frequently
Piozzi, is to a search made at that talked of leaving his .fortune to
time by the Streatham coterie for Johnson. He died February 29,
female names ending in O. I never 1788, worth about .1,200 a year,
heard a word of that Coterie. - besides personalities to a very con-
BARETTI. In the list of the Pleiades siderable amount. Nichols s Lit.
given by the scholiast of Theocritus Anec. ix. 63. See Life, iii. 150.
purpose
Aetat. 6i.] To Mr. Smith. 167
purpose to see Dovedale ; and after all this seeing, I hope to see
you.
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
238.
To FRANCIS BARBER.
London, September 25, 1770. Published in the Life, ii. 115.
239.
To THE REVEREND DR. JOSEPH WARTON.
[London], September 27, 1770. Published in the Life, ii. 115.
24O.
To MR. AND MRS. THRALE 1 .
Mr. Johnson flatters himself that there is no need of informing
Mr. Thrale that the application required was made to Mr.
Burke, or Mrs. Thrale, that he wishes her every thing that friend
ship can wish her. He has sent her a pamphlet to amuse her in
her confinement, which he would not have shown to more than
Mr. Thrale, and Mrs. Salusbury.
Johnson s Court, Oct. 2, [1770].
241.
To FRANCIS BARBER.
[London], December 7, 1770. Published in the Life, ii. 116.
242.
To MR. SMITH 2 .
SIR,
I beg leave to give you again the trouble which you were so
1 From the original in the posses- 1773 ; neither could it have been
sion of Mrs. Thomas, of Eyhorne The False Alarm, which was written
House, Maidstone. at the Thrales house, and read to Mr.
It seems probable that this letter Thrale the moment it was finished,
was written in 1770. Mrs. Salus- Life, ii. in. I am surprised to find
bury died on June 18, 1773. If that Falkland s Islands was written
the pamphlet was, as seems likely, so long before its publication, though
one of Johnson s, it was Falkland s Johnson does speak of the much
Islands, which was published in lingering of my own and much of
March, 1771. It was neither The the ministry in getting it out. Ib.
Patriot nor Taxation no Tyranny, ii. 135.
both of which were written after 2 From the original in the posses-
kind
1 68 To John Rivington. [A.D. 1771.
kind as to take last year of cashing [?] these bills and paying
them.
Be pleased to send me some Irish Cloath for 12 Shirts at 4
yards to a shirt, the price may be from %s. 6d. to 4s. the yard.
The piece which you sent in the summer to Mrs. Williams, you
may charge to me.
I inclose, as I did last year, a bill of 50 which I beg to know
whether you receive. You need send back no money, but
a state of the account between us.
I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
As I remember, there was a surplus of about ten pounds in
your hands last year.
January 25, 1771.
To Mr. Smith.
243.
To JOHN RIVINGTON l .
SIR,
When Mr. Steevens treated with you about the new im
pression of Shakespeare, he agreed with \sii\ the additions now
made should be printed by themselves for the benefit of former
purchasers. As some of my subscribers may think themselves
ill treated, it is proper to advertise our intention, and I shall
be glad to see it done in one or more of the papers next week.
I am, Sir,
Your humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
Feb. 2, 1771. J
To Mr. Rivington, Bookseller.
sion of Mr. Alfred Morrison, of Font- From the original in the posses-
hill House. sion of Messrs. Robson and Kars-
This Letter was sold by Messrs. lake, 23 Coventry Street, Hay-
Sotheby and Co., on May 10, 1875, market.
for 2 los. (Lot 90), and on June 5, Johnson s Shakespeare, which was
1 888, by Messrs. Christie and Co., for first published in 1765 and had
4 los. (Lot 43). reached a second edition, was re-
Mr. Smith was perhaps Henry published by George Steevens in
Smith, Thrale s relation and ex- 1773. Life, ii. 204. Rivington was
ecutor. Post, Letters of April 5 one of the proprietors, and no doubt
and 17, 1781. acted for the others. At the end of
To
Aetat. 61.]
To Henry Thrale.
169
SIR,
244.
To THE REV. DR. RICHARD FARMER x .
Some time ago Mr. Steevens and I took the liberty of
sending a catalogue in hope of some improvement and aug
mentation. Mr. Steevens, who undertakes the whole care of
this impression, begins to fancy that he wants it.
I have done very little to the book ; but by the plunder of your
pamphlet, and the authorities which Mr. Steevens has very
diligently collected, I think it will be somewhat improved. If
you could spare us any thing we should think your communi
cation a great favour. I hope amongst us all Shakespeare will
be better understood. You have already done your part,, and
when you have finished what I am told you are now projecting
will leave I believe much fewer difficulties to future criticks.
I am. Sir,
Your most humble servant,
SA&: JOHNSON.
Johnson s Court, Fleet Street, Feb. 18, 1771.
245.
To HENRY THRALE 2 .
DEAR SIR, [London], March, 1771.
In the Shrewsbury, an East India ship, commanded by
vol. x is an Appendix of 45 unpaged
leaves. Very possibly it was printed
separately and sent to the sub
scribers to the two earlier editions.
No copy of such a separate publica
tion is in the British Museum.
King s College, has collected an
account of all the translations which
Shakspeare might have seen and
used. He wishes his catalogue to be
perfect, and therefore intreats that
you will favour him by the insertion
c From the original in the posses- of such additions as the accuracy of
sion of Mr. Thomas Thring, of 2 your inquiries has enabled you to
Thornhill Villas, Weymouth. "
T
bought it, he informs me, of a
bookseller at Salisbury some fifty
years ago.
Though it bears no address, there
is no doubt that it was written to
the Rev. Dr. Farmer, Master of
Emanuel College, Cambridge. Bos-
well publishes a second letter to him
written a month later, in which
Johnson says : Mr. Steevens, a
very ingenious gentleman, lately of
make. Life, ii. 114. Farmer had
published in 1767 An Essay on the
Learning of Shakespeare, which
Johnson praised. Ib. iii. 38, n. 6.
Steevens in the Advertisement to the
Reader in his and Johnson s Shake
speare acknowledges Dr. Farmer s
assistance. Appendix ii of vol. x
consists of many pages of his Ob
servations.
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 33.
Captain
170
To Bennet Langton.
[A.D. 1771.
Captain Jones, there is one Thomas Coxeter, who lately enlisted
as a soldier in the Company s service z . He repents of his ad
venture, and has written to his sister, who brings this letter, to
procure him his discharge. He is the son of a gentleman, who
was once my friend 2 ; and the boy was himself a favourite with
my wife. I shall therefore think it a great favour, if you will be
pleased to use your influence with Sir George Colebrook 3 , that
he may be discharged. The request is not great; for he is
slight and feeble, and worth nothing but to those who value him
for some other merit than his own 4 .
I am. &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
246.
To BENNET LANGTON.
[London], March 20, 1771. Published in the Life, ii. 135.
1 The Company must have had
difficulty in raising troops in Eng
land, for in the Gentleman s Maga
zine for March of this year (p. 141)
it is stated that one of their recruit
ing officers had returned from Ger
many bringing with him five hun
dred men from the Duchy of
Wirtemburg only.
2 See Life, iii. 158, for the collec
tion of the minor poets which Coxeter
had made. He was educated at
Trinity College, Oxford, and coming
to London worked for the book
sellers. He died on April 19, 1747.
Johnson assisted his orphan daughter.
Nichols s Lit. Anec. ii. 512. Among
the Promotions announced in the
Gent. Mag. I find his name in the
list for the February before his
death (p. 103) entered for a very
poor piece of preferment : Tho.
Coxeter Esq.; elected secretary to
the committee of subscribers for
purchasing materials for Mr. Carte s
History of England.
3 May i, 1774. Sir George Col-
brooke, a citizen, and martyr to what
is called speculation, had his pic
tures sold by auction last week.
Walpole s Letters, vi. 81. I pro
fessed myself sincerely grieved when
accumulated distresses crushed Sir
G. Colebrook s family, and I was so.
"Your own prosperity," said John
son, " may possibly have so far
increased the natural tenderness of
your heart that for aught I know
you may be a little sorry ; but it is
sufficient for a plain man if he does
not laugh when he sees a fine new
house tumble down all on a sudden,
and a snug cottage stand by ready
to receive the owner, whose birth
entitled him to nothing better, and
whose limbs are left him to go to
work again with. Piozzi Anecdotes,
p. 89.
4 See post, Letter of December i,
1776, for Johnson s attempt to get
the young man admitted into a
hospital.
To
Aetat. 61.]
To Miss Langton.
171
247.
To Miss LANGTON J .
MADAM, London, April 17, 1771.
If I could have flattered myself that my letters could have
given pleasure, or have alleviated pain, I should not have
omitted to write to a lady to whom I do sincerely wish every
increase of pleasure, and every mitigation of uneasiness.
I knew, dear Madam, that a very heavy affliction 2 had fallen
upon you ; but it was one of those which the established course
of nature makes necessary, and to which kind words give no
relief. Success is, on these occasions, to be expected only from
time 3 .
Your censure of me, as deficient in friendship, is therefore too
severe. I have neither been unfriendly, nor intentionally uncivil.
The notice with which you have honoured me, I have neither
forgotten, nor remembered without pleasure.
The calamity of ill health, your brother will tell you that
I have had, since I saw you, sufficient reason to know and to
pity 4 . But this is another evil against which we can receive
little help from one another. I can only advise you, and I advise
you with great earnestness, to do nothing that may hurt you,
and to reject nothing that may do you good. To preserve
health is a moral and religious duty : for health is the basis
of all social virtues ; we can be useful no longer than while we
are well 5 .
If the family knows that you receive this letter,, you will be
pleased to make my compliments.
1 First published in the Gentle
man s Magazine for 1800, page
915.
Miss Langton was Bennet Lang-
ton s sister. She died in 1791. Ib.
2 It is possible that Johnson refers
to the death of her father, old Mr.
Langton, which had taken place in
1769, as I learn from the Gentle
man s Magazine, 1824, part ii. p. 8.
3 While grief is fresh every at
tempt to divert only irritates. You
must wait till grief be digested,
and then amusement will dissipate
the remains of it. Life, iii. 28.
1 He recorded on his next birth
day (Sept. 1 8) : For the last year
I have been slowly recovering both
from the violence of my last illness,
and, I think, from the general
disease of my life. Pr. and Med.
p. 104.
5 See post, Letter of March 15,
1777, where he says : Gaiety is a
duty when health requires it.
I flatter
172
To Mrs. Thrale.
[A.D. 1771.
I flatter myself with the hopes of seeing Langton after Lady
Rothes s recovery * ; and then I hope that you and I shall renew
our conferences, and that I shall find you willing as formerly to
talk and to hear ; and shall be again admitted to the honour
of being,
Madam,
Your most obedient
and most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
248.
To THE COUNTESS. DE BOUFFLERS.
May 1 6, 1771. Published in the Life, ii. 405, and Piozzi Letters, i. 34.
For the date, see note in the Life.
249.
To MRS. THRALE, 2 .
DEAR MADAM, [London], June 15, 1771.
It seems strange that I should live a week so near you, and
yet never see you. I have been once to enquire after you, and
when I have written this note am going again. The use of
the pamphlet the letter will shew, which lies at the proper page.
When Mr. L shews so much attention, it cannot become me
to shew less. What to think of the case I know not ; the rela
tion has all appearance of truth ; and one great argument is, that
the only danger is in not believing. The water can, I think, do
no harm ; Dr. Wall thinks it may do good 3 . If Mrs. Salusbury
1 Langton which Johnson hoped
to see was not his friend of that
name, but the Lincolnshire village.
His letter to Bennet Langton dated
August 29 of this year (Life, ii. 142)
shews that he had been expected
there. Lady Rothes, who had been
married on May 24, 1770 (Gentle
man s Magazine, 1770, p. 278), was
expecting to be confined ; it was
after her recovery that the visit was
to be paid. There is no need for
Mr. Croker s conjectural alteration of
the date of the letter.
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 35.
Mrs. Salusbury, Mrs. Thrale s
mother, to whom the letter refers,
died of cancer on June 18, 1773. Pr.
and Med., p. 128. Probably the
disorder had begun its attack.
3 The water was laurel-water ;
post, p. 179. Dr. Wall was not
Martin Wall the Oxford physician
with whom Boswell and Johnson
drank tea in 1784 (Life, iv. 292), for
he had not by this time taken his
degree in medicine ; but his father,
Dr. John Wall, of Worcester. See
Gentleman s Magazine, 1756, p. 572,
for his Treatise on the Malvern
Waters.
should
Aetat. ei] To Mrs. Thrale, 173
should think fit to go before you can go with her, I will attend
her, if she will accept of my company, with great readiness, at
my own expence, and if I am in the country will come back.
I need not tell you, that I hope you are with the necessary
exceptions all well, or that
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
250.
To JAMES BOSWELL.
London, June 20, 1771. Published in the Life, ii. 140.
251.
To MRS. THRALE \
DEAR MADAM, Thursday, June 20, 1771.
This night, at nine o clock, Sam. Johnson and Francis Barber
Esquires, set out in the Lichfield stage ; Francis is indeed rather
upon it. What adventures we may meet with who can tell ?
I shall write when I come to Lichfield, and hope to hear in
return, that you are safe, and Mrs. Salusbury better, and all the
rest as well as I left them.
I am, &c.,
SAM.- JOHNSON.
252.
To MRS. THRALE 2 .
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, June 22, 1771.
Last night I came safe to Lichfield ; this day I was visited
by Mrs. Cobb. This afternoon I went to Mrs. Aston, where I
found Miss T 3 , and waited on her home. Miss T wears
spectacles, and can hardly climb the stiles. I was not tired at
all, either last night or to-day. Miss Porter is very kind to me.
Her dog and cats are all well.
In all this there is nothing very memorable, but sands form
1 Piozzi Letters, \. 36. 2 Piozzi Letters, i. 37.
The journey to Lichfield by the 5 Perhaps Miss Turton whose
stage-coach a distance of 1 16 miles death is mentioned in the Letter of
took twenty-six hours ; post, p. 191. August 13, 1777.
Barber was Johnson s black servant.
the
1 74 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1771.
the mountain I . I hope to hear from Streatham of a greater
event, that a new being is born that shall in time write such
letters as this, and that another being is safe that she may
continue to write such. She can indeed do many other things ;
she can add to the pleasure of many lives, and among others to
that of
Her most obedient and
most humble servant,
SAM: JOHNSON.
253.
To MRS. THRALE 2 .
DEAR MADAM, [Lichfieid], June 25, 1771.
All your troubles, I hope, are now past, and the little stranger
safe in the cradle. You have then nothing to do but survey the
lawn from your windows, and see Lucy try to run after Harry.
Here things go wrong. They have cut down another tree 3 , but
they do not yet grow very rich. I enquired of my barber after
another barber; that barber, says he, is dead, and his son has
left off, to turn maltster. Maltsters, I believe, do not get much
money. The price of barley and the king s duty are known, and
their profit is never suffered to rise high 4 . But there is often
a rise upon stock. There may as well be a fall .Very seldom.
There are those in this town that have not a farthing less this
year than fifty pounds by the rise upon stock 5 . Did you think
there had been yet left a city in England, where the gain of fifty
pounds in a year would be mentioned with emphasis ?
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
1 Think nought a trifle, though it the different taxes upon malt amount
small appear ; to six shillings a quarter. Wealth
Small sands the mountains, mo- of Nations, iii. 356-7.
ments make the year, 5 Johnson refers, I suppose, to the
And trifles life. rise in value of the stock of malt.
YOUNG S Love of Fame, Satire vi. He may however be speaking of
2 Piozzi Letters, \. 38. the funds. The Three per Cents.
3 See ante, p. 154. Reduced which on Jan. 4 were at
4 Adam Smith says that the 77f had risen by June 26 to 88.
opportunities of defrauding the re- Gentleman s Magazine, 1771, pp.
venue are much greater in a brewery 48, 288.
than in a malt-house. He adds that
To
Aetat. 61.]
To Mrs. Thrale.
175
254.
To MRS. THRALE r .
DEAR MADAM, Ashboume, July 3 , 1771.
Last Saturday I came to Ashbourne; the dangers or the
pleasures of the journey I have at present no disposition to
recount ; else might I paint the beauties of my native plains ;
might I tell of the smiles of nature, and the charms of art 2 :
else might I relate how I crossed the Staffordshire canal, one of
the great efforts of human labour, and human contrivance ;
which, from the bridge on which I viewed it, passed away on
either side, and loses itself in distant regions, uniting waters that
nature had divided, and dividing lands which nature had united 3 .
I might tell how these reflections fermented in my mind till the
chaise stopped at Ashbourne, at Ashbourne in the Peak. Let
not the barren name of the Peak terrify you ; I have never
wanted strawberries and cream. The great bull 4 has no disease
but age. I hope in time to be like the great bull ; and hope you
will be like him too a hundred years hence.
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
255.
To MRS. THRALE S .
DEAR MADAM, Ashbourne, July 7, 1771.
No news yet of *****. Our expectations were premature.
Poor Dr. Taylor is ill, and under my government ; you know
1 Piozzi Letters, i. 39.
2 But what avail her unexhausted
stores,
Her blooming mountains and her
sunny shores,
With all the gifts that heaven and
earth impart,
The smiles of nature and the
charms of art,
While proud oppression in her
valleys reigns,
And tyranny usurps her happy
plains ?
ADDISON. A Letter from Italy,
Works, i. 35.
3 In the Gentleman s Magazine for
July of this year (p. 296) there is a
plan of the Grand Canal from the
Trent to the Mersey, of which about
45 miles had been completed, from
the mouth of the Derwent in Derby
shire to Stone in Staffordshire. It
was this portion that Johnson crossed.
When the canal was completed in all
its length the waters of the Irish
Sea and the German Ocean were
united.
4 See ante, p. 160.
5 Piozzi Letters, i. 40.
that
176 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1771.
that the act J of government is learned by obedience ; I hope I
can govern very tolerably.
The old rheumatism is come again into my face and mouth,
but nothing yet to the lumbago ; however, having so long thought
it gone, I do not like its return.
Miss Porter was much pleased to be mentioned in your letter,
and is sure that I have spoken better of her than she desired.
She holds that both Frank and his master are much improved.
The master, she says, is not half so lounging and untidy as he
was, there was no such thing last year as getting him off his
chair.
Be pleased to make my compliments to every body.
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
256.
To MRS. THRALE 2 .
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield > J ul ? 7 ^> w-
Once more I sit down to write, and hope you will once more
be willing to read it.
Last Sunday an old acquaintance found me out, not. I think,
a school-fellow, but one with whom I played perhaps before I
went to school. I had not seen him for forty years, but was
glad to find him alive. He has had, as he phrased it, a matter
of four wives 3 , for which neither you nor I like him much the
better ; but after all his marriages he is poor, and has now, at
sixty-six, two very young children.
Such, Madam, are the strange things of which we that travel
come to the knowledge. We see mores hominum multorum*.
1 Johnson, I believe, wrote not matter when thus used as space or
act but art, and not desired but de- quantity nearly computed. We may
serred. compare Launcelot s Here s a small
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 41. trifle of wives, in The Merchant of
There is an error in the date of Venice, Act ii. sc. 2.
this letter. On July 7 of this year 4 Horace, Ars Poetica, ]. 142:
Johnson, as the last letter shews, Qui mores hominum multoruin
was not at Lichfield but Ashbourne. vidit, et urbes.
3 Perhaps the old acquaintance Manners and towns of various
was one Jackson mentioned by Bos- nations viewed.
well, Life, ii. 463. FRANCIS, Horace, Ars Poet. 1.
Johnson in his Dictionary defines 142.
You
Aetat. 6i.] 70 Mrs . 7^ hr ale . 177
You that waste your lives over a book at home, must take life
upon trust.
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
257.
To MRS. THRALE 1 .
DEAREST MADAM, Ashboume, July 8, 1771-
Indifference is indeed a strange word in a letter from me to
you 2 . Which way could it possibly creep in? I do not re
member any moment, for a very long time past, when I could
use it without contradiction from my own thoughts.
This naughty baby stays so long that I am afraid it will be
a giant, like king Richard. I suppose I shall be able to tell it,
Teeth hadst thou in thy head when thou wert born V I wish
your pains and your danger over.
Dr. Taylor is better, and is gone out in the chaise. My rheu
matism is better too.
I would have been glad to go to Hagley, in compliance with
Mr. Lyttelton s kind invitation, for beside the pleasure of his
conversation, I should have had the opportunity of recollecting
past times, and wandering per monies notos et flumina nota, of
recalling the images of sixteen, and reviewing my conversations
with poor Ford 4 . But this year will not bring this gratification
1 Piozzi Letters, i. 42. Life, v. 456-7. See post, Letter of
2 Indifference does not occur in Aug. 13, 1777. Johnson at the age
any previous letter. She referred, of fifteen, by the advice of his
perhaps, to a passage in Letter 260, cousin, the Rev. Mr. Ford, had been
which is, I suspect, misdated. sent to school at Stourbridge, two or
3 When thou ivast born. three miles from Hagley. There he
3 Henry VI, Act v. sc. 6. remained a little more than a year.
4 Mr. Lyttelton was William Life \. 49. Speaking of Ford he
Henry Lyttelton, created Lord West- said : Sir, he was my acquaintance
cote in 1776, and Lord Lyttelton in and relation, my mother s nephew.
1794. He was living at this time at He had purchased a living in the
a house called Little Hagley. John- country, but not simoniacally. I
son visiting him in September, 1774, never saw him but in the country,
in company with the Thrales, re- I have been told he was a man of
corded: We went to Hagley, great parts; very profligate, but I
where we were disappointed of the never heard he was impious. Ib. iii.
respect and kindness that we ex- 348.
pected. . . . We made haste away For the Latin quotation in the
from a place where all were offended. text, see ante, p. 154, n. 4.
VOL. I. N within
I 7 8
To Mrs. Thrale,
[A.D. 1771-
within my power. I promised Taylor a month. Every thing is
done here to please me ; and his ill health is a strong reason
against desertion.
I return all the compliments, and hope I may add some at last
to this wicked, tiresome, dilatory bantling z .
I am, &c.,
SAM: JOHNSON.
258.
To MRS. THRALE 2 .
DEAREST MADAM, . r Ashboume, July 10, 1771-
I am obliged to my friend Harry, for his remembrance ; but
think it a little hard that I hear nothing from Miss.
There has been a man here to-day to take a farm. After
some talk he went to see the bull, and said that he had seen
a bigger 3 . Do you think he is likely to get the farm ?
Toujours strawberries and cream 4 .
Dr. Taylor is much better, and my rheumatism is less painful.
Let me hear in return as much good of you and of Mrs. Salus-
bury. You despise the Dog and Duck ; things that are at hand
are always slighted. I remember that Dr. Grevil, of Gloucester,
sent for that water when his wife was in the same danger ; but he
lived near Malvern, and you live near the Dog and Duck 5 . Thus,
in difficult cases, we naturally trust most what we least know.
Why Bromfield 6 , supposing that a lotion can do good, should
1 Johnson in his Dictionary intro
duces a conject 
